Review and Herald, Vol. 52, No. 9. (8/22/1878)

Review and Herald

Aug 22, 1878

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 22, 1878

JUDAS AND THE POTTER'S FIELD.

By W. H. Littlejohn

BY ELD. W. H. LITTLEJOHN.

That there is a seeming discrepancy between the statements found in Matt. 27:3–8 and Acts 1:18, few persons will be disposed to deny, and some have based thereupon an argument against the authenticity of the Scriptures themselves.

Having been interrogated respecting the manner in which these apparent contradictions can be reconciled, I offer the following suggestions: Discrepancies of the nature of those under consideration are frequently allowed to have too much weight in determining the measure of our faith in the Scriptures. We are too apt to fasten our attention upon a single flaw in the record and to continue turning the subject over and over in our mind, until the difficulty becomes unduly magnified to that extent that we are ready to set aside the great mass of evidence by which the inspiration of the Bible is proved, and conclude that it is altogether unworthy of our confidence because we are unable to harmonize all its statements. Such a course is dangerous in the extreme, as any student of the word may learn by consulting his own experience. Who is there that has been an habitual reader of the Scriptures but can recall many difficulties of the nature of the one in question, which troubled him at one or another period in his life grievously, and yet which were subsequently entirely dispelled by the acquisition of additional light? Sometimes this light has come through the discovery of an imperfection in the translation; sometimes through the perception of the fact that his own theory was wrong, and sometimes from the knowledge of a failure on his part to place the right construction upon the language itself. But if these things be so, then prudence would surely dictate that the better course would be to lay hold of the pillars of our confidence with a firm grasp, believing that reflection, and the aid of the Holy Spirit obtained in answer to prayer, will in time bring us the desired relief. To do otherwise would be to act as the individual would who should refuse to believe that the sun is the source of light because of the dark spots that are found upon its surface.

We now proceed to an examination of the passages which are supposed to contain the contradictory statements in question. They are as follows: “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.” Matt. 27:3–8. The other text is as follows: “Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.” Acts 1:18.

In entering upon our work we concede frankly, that, after having examined several commentaries, we have not been able to find in them an explanation of these texts which has been wholly satisfactory to our own mind.

We also admit that there is apparently a grave discrepancy in the two accounts, and one which enables the infidel to make quite a show of logic in his charge against the Bible, of historical inaccuracy.

But let us move cautiously in the direction of our conclusions. Is there necessarily a contradiction here?

We answer, That depends entirely upon whether it is possible that both of the accounts may be true. If by any fair inference we can conclude that Matthew and Peter—who otherwise have been found to be reliable and straightforward men—were in possession of facts which do not appear on the record, and which, if understood, would relieve the embarrassment of the situation, then they are entitled to the benefit of that conclusion. Who, for example, has not listened to the stories of two individuals who had witnessed the same transaction, and discovered in their statements, as given, apparent disagreements which were really serious in their nature, and which could be only satisfactorily disposed of after questioning had brought out additional explanations? Who, also, having witnessed the effect of explanations, would not feel, in every instance where two of his friends had given conflicting narrations of the same affair, that to each should be accorded the benefit of all doubts as to the possibility that certain additional facts would in due time be brought out, which would prove them to have been honest and correct in what they said?

Giving, therefore, Matthew and Peter the advantage of the same charity which we extend to others, we inquire whether it is not possible that both of them have told the truth.

In other words, is it not possible that Matthew was right in saying that the high priests bought the field with the money; and also that Peter was right in saying that Judas himself bought the field? In answering this question in the affirmative, as we shall do, we appeal to a known and universally acknowledged principle of the law which is formulated as follows: “Qui facit per alium, facit per se;” i. e., “He who acts through another, acts for himself;” i. e., There may be two or more parties to the same transaction, each of whom may be held responsible for a given action, and each may properly be said, in common parlance, to have done the deed in question. For example: It is a very common thing at the present time for men to state that Gen. Grant crushed the Southern rebellion. Now the statement is accepted as literally correct; and yet it would be equally admissible for one to say that the army crushed the rebellion, or to state that the president, under whom Gen. Grant acted, crushed the rebellion. Gen. Grant executed the orders of the executive, and, therefore, he may properly be said to have achieved the victory in question; or—from another standpoint—the president, who gave those orders, might be properly represented as the one who brought about the grand result.

Now turning again to the matter of the purchase of the potter’s field, we readily perceive that if Judas gave his consent to the transaction, and the priests took the money and bought the field for a burial place, the inspired writers would be justified; the one in saying that Judas bought the field, and the other in saying that it was purchased by the priests.

But can we supply the missing link in the chain of evidence? I answer, No.

It is neither stated that Judas consented to the purchase of the field with the money, nor is it declared by any one that he refused to do so. We have preserved to us but a fragment of the conversation that occurred between him and the priests. We cannot tell what was said in addition to what has been recorded. We do not know but that several other interviews may have taken place concerning the matter before his final suicide. The priests did not know what to do with the money. They evidently debated the matter at length; and who shall say that in some of these conversations—or even during the one that is alluded to in the record—they might not have persuaded the conscience-smitten apostle to give his consent to the buying of the land, and that Peter, being made aware of the actual state of things, might not have spoken of Judas as the purchaser, from the fact that he reasoned as we reason at the present time, that what one does by another, he also does of himself?

To our mind, this conclusion is much more natural and reasonable than it would be to impeach the characters of Peter and Matthew of dishonesty or inaccuracy, when the general tenor of their writings, after having stood the test of the criticism of ages, proves them to have been men of both intelligence and candor.

Not only so, but we also conceive that in the very difficulty that has been raised there may be found strong presumptive evidence of the authenticity of the Scriptures themselves; since if Matthew never reconciled the statements which are found in his gospel that relate to this matter, and if Peter never uttered the words concerning the same which Luke attributed to him, then the accounts given are doubtless a forgery. But who does not perceive that an individual possessing sufficient shrewdness and capacity to produce out of his own brain the books which he has attributed to Matthew and Luke, must have been a man of too great acuteness to have failed to perceive the lack of harmony between the statements which he had put into the mouths of these two individuals; and that having perceived the same he would have corrected it, lest it should bring his work into disrepute? The fact, therefore, that the apparent discrepancy has been allowed to stand, is proof that the book of Matthew and the book of Acts were not the product of one mind; and that, having been written by two individuals, those individuals are in all probability the ones whose names are attached to them.

RELIABILITY OF BIBLE RECORDS.

It is the peculiarity of the Bible, of the Old Testament especially, to be exceedingly minute in its details. It speaks very frequently of the topography of the countries to which it refers. It also speaks, with great carefulness apparently, concerning certain kingdoms and dynasties, certain emperors, and courts, and peoples. Now it has been impossible, up to within a few years, to verify these statements, and they have been of such an extraordinary nature that even scholars have looked upon them askance, and felt that some apology was possibly due in explaining them. Nineveh and Babylon are referred to again and again in the Old Testament, but Nineveh and Babylon are buried, and have been for ages. Those old dynasties have been blotted out by the on-coming armies from whose battle-spears the flag of victory floated. The dusts of time have settled down on the banks of the Euphrates, and buried its palaces out of sight.

Since that time, the world has been very busy. The old Roman empire cracked, fell, crumbled, and was almost forgotten. Modern times, with the power of a mill-stream, came rushing on, its events flowing in inconceivable rapidity, and men cared nothing for the past, but everything for the future. Then the crusades filled men’s minds and hearts, and millions left their homes in Western Europe on a pilgrimage in which they carried the spear and the sword, and the result of which was victory in battle. They marched league after league, from country to country, until at last they stood on the hill-top that overlooked Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher. Then, next, came the printing-press, and our minds were so stirred and inspired by it, that nothing engaged attention except the immense advantages of every new day, and the golden possibilities that were within reach. So, for the last two thousand years and more, the world has been so busy in thinking of to-morrow, that it has forgotten all about yesterday.

But thirty years ago, a scholar traveled along the banks of the Euphrates, and seeing these mounds, determined to unearth their secrets. At immense expense, and great pains, the work was partially achieved, and in this vast cemetery of history was found buried a palace. The excavations went on, until it was possible to enter the palace. It was sadly broken, to be sure, but yet enough remained to make us all glad and happy. The “Chamber of Records” was discovered, spoken of in the Old Testament, and in it were thousands of tablets, on which, as in so many volumes, the history of the past had been inscribed. They were written in an unknown tongue, but modern scholarship attacked the problem and solved it, and to-day the secret is being told. More and more is being discovered every year. Tablet after tablet, recording events hitherto unattainable, has been read, and, curiously enough, the Record Chamber found under those sands, corroborates the old story of Genesis, and in such a minute way that our confidence in the book, as a historical record, is put beyond a peradventure. For instance, in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis, we have an account of the invasion of

Palestine in the time of Abraham. Of course it has been until now impossible to verify the statements of the writer of this book, but within thirty years tablets have been found which have told the same story. Genesis has been vindicated by the inscriptions on the sandstone and marble which have been found in the Chamber of Records by the banks of the Euphrates.

Is it not a curious fact that while science, with its strong hand, is trying to tear down, these researches are building up the Bible, and that while philosophy is calling in question some of the doctrines of the New Testament, these researches are corroborating even the details of the Old? It makes the Book still dearer to us, and I have no doubt that when all these tablets are found, and when they shall be read, one after another, we shall find such irresistible corroboration of Holy Writ that the Old Testament will blaze with a new light. We shall enjoy an increased faith in that Jehovah who guided and guarded the Israelites, and who was revealed as the world’s Father, by the life and the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.—Hepworth.

ONLY A GRAVE.

By Mary A. Davis

Genesis 23.

Before the sons of Heth alone he stood, That princely, white-haired man, with anguish bowed; The loved one, of his home the joy and light, Must be forever hidden from his sight; Though Hebron’s vale before him wide and fair, He had no title to possession there. “I am a stranger in your midst,” he said; “Grant me a place wherein to lay my dead.”

And this is he to whom, in life’s glad morning, When called, an exile, from his home away, From friend and kindred, to an unknown country, In trusting faith to take his lonely way, A wondrous promise had Jehovah given, A pledge that bore the signet seal of Heaven: His children as the stars, a mighty nation; That goodly land forevermore his own; And far adown the dim and distant ages, He sees Messiah reign on David’s throne. Glories untold upon his vision gleam, Glories surpassing mortal’s brightest dream.

Yet he homeless stands before Machpelah’s cave, His sole possession, for the loved a grave. Heir of the world by the pledged word of Heaven, To him no heritage on earth was given.

Only a grave! pilgrims like him below, No home, no dwelling-place on earth we know; Only at night rest for the weary head, Only a grave to shield the precious dead.

Only a grave! we hide our loved with weeping, And hasten forward on our lonely way; God has our treasures safely in his keeping, The night is waning and we may not stay. E’en now the dawn on the far heavens we see; The day is breaking, and the shadows flee!

Only a grave! yet give no place to sadness; When the loved sleepers waken from the tomb, We shall remember, with what untold gladness, Our heritage is not this world of gloom. Unchanged His word through all the ages fled Since the patriarch was numbered with the dead.

Not here, not here lies the fair land of promise, Nor here the weary spirit may find rest: But “over yonder,” on the plains of Eden, With him, the “father of the faithful,” blessed. Never our treasure there may death despoil, Never a grave shall mar that holy soil.

MARY A. DAVIS.

Battle Creek, Mich.

WHAT MANNER OF PERSONS OUGHT YE TO BE?

By Mrs. M. B. Powell

“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” 2 Peter 3:11, 12. The “day of God” is near at hand. We believe it hasteth greatly. How important, then, that we have our conversation “in Heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour” (Phil. 3:20), “and that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” Rom. 13:11.

Are we “kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another; not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer”? Have we that love for the law of God that enables us to work no ill to our neighbor? The apostle James says, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” Chap. 1:26. He also admonishes us, “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law; but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.” Chap. 4:11.

Are we striving faithfully to perform every known duty, neglecting nothing? James says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” Chap. 4:17. Are we trying to improve all the talents committed to our care, thus becoming “the light of the world”? Or are we burying them in the dust and rubbish of earth; thereby becoming dwarfs and imbeciles, and, perhaps, slothfully losing eternal life? “Our Saviour said in one of his parables, ‘And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth.’” Matt. 25:30.

Have we commenced the toilsome ascent of Peter’s ladder of sanctification? For truly we must “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” Phil. 2:12. Says Peter, “Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” 2 Peter 1:5-7. And he says if we do these things we shall “never fall” and an entrance shall be ministered unto us “abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

All these Christian graces are to be blended by our faith and works, into a character that shall stand the test of the Judgment. Who is sufficient for these things? How dreadful the thought that if we offend, or break the law of God, in one point, we are guilty of all. Yet we have the promise that the grace of God is sufficient for us, and that our Saviour will be with us “alway, even unto the end of the world.” We know not how soon our cases will be brought up in judgment, to be decided; then how important that we take heed what manner of persons we are in all holy conversation and godliness.

Mrs. M. B. Powell.

INCREASE OF CRIME.

I clip from the Sedalia Democrat of June 30, the following on the increase of crime:—

“It is a remarkable fact that within the last decade crime has increased in this country nearly thirty per cent. As society advances to a higher plane of civilization, its vices augment. Its restraining influences do not keep pace with the opportunities it affords to the lawless elements which enter so largely into all communities. Philosophers and moralists have speculated upon the causes which produce these conditions, but no adequate explanation has ever been given of the social disease. The most reasonable theory, however, for the increase of crime, is the laxity of punishment. In this country, more than any other, the avenues of escape from the penalties of misdeeds are opened or closed in the degree that the criminal has little or much money.” J. G. Wood.

THE MILLENNIUM AT HAND.

By L. McCoy

[It is refreshing to one’s feelings, this hot weather, to be regaled with the idea that we are just on the threshold of the millennium of universal peace and brotherhood; that, notwithstanding the gigantic preparations for war and blood-shed throughout the world, the true interpretation of them is “peace,” and that it will be conquered, without the shedding of a drop of blood; and that soon the angel (the peace society) of Rev. 20:1 will have vanquished Satan, and they will peacefully enter into an armistice for one thousand years!

But the novel and ingenious manner of sustaining such sophistry by Scripture proof is seen in the following extract from a letter addressed to the late annual peace convention at Iowa City, by a prominent elder and writer in the Disciple church, and published in the Record and Evangelist.

L. McCoy.]

The terrible civil war in the United States, under the immediate influence and in the face of your society’s operations; the grand preparations for war by all nations following the Russo-Turkish war, and the war-portending attitude of the Old World, seem to crush our hopes of peace; but to my mind there is nothing disheartening in them. They are but the final struggle of his Satanic Majesty to choke the mighty millstones of peace and good will, ere he is chained for a thousand years; for he is not a stranger to John’s vision. Rev. 20.

“And I saw an angel [the peace society] come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan [who is a murderer, another name for warrior; for war and murder are near akin if not one and the same], and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal [the ratification of the proclamation of peace among the nations] upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season.”

I believe the time for chaining Satan is near at hand, and your society has had much to do in bringing this about, if indeed it is not the angel which John saw “with a great chain”—enlightened public sentiment—“in his hand.” The victory of Mr. Richards in the British Parliament, the resolution of the United States Congress, the settlement of the “Alabama” difficulty, the Spanish trouble, and others, upon the principle of peaceable arbitration, together with the present effort to put an end to the “Eastern Question” without shedding any more human blood or the destruction of property, with the general feeling of the people against war, all indicate to me that the time draweth nigh. It is not safe nor wise to dogmatize on such questions, especially in reference to the time when this shall come to pass. I will, however, call attention to some points I think clearly shown by John in a vision given him while on the lonely Isle of Patmos. See Rev. 12.

John saw “a woman”—symbol of a church—“clothed with the sun”—Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, who has arisen with healing in his beams—and “a crown”—the symbol of authority—“of twelve stars”—the twelve apostles—“on her head,” and the moon was under her feet; “and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” “And she brought forth a man-child”—civil liberty—“who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne”—God took especial charge of the principles of civil liberty and religious toleration when they were announced to the world. “And the woman”—the church in the persons of the Pilgrims—“fled into the wilderness”—the wilds of the American forests—“where she hath a place prepared of God”—there was a providence of God in the discovery of this country—“that they should feed her there a thousand, two hundred, and threescore days”—a day for a year gives us twelve hundred and sixty years.

The Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620, to this add two hundred and sixty (260) and you have 1880. Now add to the two hundred and sixty years one thousand years of peace during which there will be no war, and you have the time of the church’s sojourn in the wilderness. Now I expect from this and other dates to see the end of the world’s deception by the binding of Satan in the proclamation of universal peace within the next five years, or at the farthest, in the decade following 1880.

WILL SIN AND SATAN ALWAYS EXIST?

By Alice M. Harper

Some profess to believe that sin and sinners will always continue; “for,” say they, “the world was destroyed by a flood, and Sodom destroyed by fire, and still we see sin and sinners, and thus it will always be; sin will never be obliterated.” But such persons, I think, are not acquainted with the teachings of the Scriptures. Nor do such ever stop to consider that the originator of evil has not yet been destroyed. Most certainly, sin will continue as long as the first great cause exists, and while the inhabitants of our earth are fallen beings. But when Satan shall have been destroyed, and the earth is peopled by those who are made equal with the angels, and are fashioned like unto the blessed Saviour, then sin will cease to exist.

Some take the position that there is no such being as Satan; but we find in Holy Writ abundant proof both of his existence and of his final destruction. The prophet Ezekiel says of the originator of sin (Satan), “I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee; it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. . . . Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.” Chap. 28:18, 19. The Revelator, speaking of the thousand years during which the earth will lie desolate, says, “When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison [the desolate earth], and shall go out to deceive the nations . . . of the earth . . . to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they [Satan and sinners] went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of Heaven, and devoured

them.” Rev. 20:7-9. Then there will be no more sin; for Satan himself, and all sinners, are consumed in the fire from God.

We also hear the sweet singer of Israel exclaiming, “Thine enemies, O Lord, shall perish.” “A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.” “Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God.” Ps. 92:9; 97:3; 139:19. And in Mal. 4:1, we find the following testimony on this point: “The day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Let us read also what the prophet Isaiah says: “And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.” Isa. 1:28. We might quote many other scriptures to prove this point, but these are sufficient.

We learn that after this the Lord will have a clean universe; the earth will be restored to all its Eden loveliness and beauty, and the righteous will inherit the land and dwell therein forever. Oh, blessed thought to those who are trying to be overcomers!

ALICE M. HARPER.

FRIEND SORROW.

By Adelaide A. Proctor

Do not cheat thy heart, and tell her “Grief will pass away; Hope for fairer times in future, And forget to-day.”

Tell her, if you will, that Sorrow Need not come in vain; Tell her that the lesson taught her Far outweighs the pain.

Cheat her not with the old comfort (Soon she will forget); Bitter truth, alas! but matter Rather for regret. Bid her not seek other pleasures, Turn to other things; Rather, nurse her aged Sorrow Till the captive sings.

Bid her rather go forth bravely, And the stranger greet, Not as foe, with shield and buckler, But as dear friends meet. Bid her with a strong grasp hold her By the dusky wings, And she'll whisper, low and gently, Blessings that she brings.

—Adelaide A. Proctor.

DRYING UP.

The gradual “shrinkage” of Turkey, in spite of British support and sympathy, is well presented in the following from the Philadelphia Public Ledger:—

“Any one who will take the trouble to look at a map of Turkey in Europe dating back about sixty years, and compare that with the new map sketched by the treaty of San Stefano as modified by the Berlin Congress, will be able to form a judgment of a march of progress that is pressing the Ottoman power out of Europe. Then, the northern boundary of Turkey extended to the Carpathian Mountains, and eastward of the river Sereth it embraced Moldavia as far north nearly as the 47th degree of north latitude. That map embraced also what is now the kingdom of Greece. It covered all of Servia and Bosnia. But by the year 1830 the northern frontier of Turkey was driven back from the Carpathians to the south bank of the Danube; the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia being emancipated from Turkish domination, and subject only to the payment of an annual tribute in money to the Porte. South of the Danube, the Servians had won a similar emancipation for their country. Greece also had been enabled to establish her independence. Then, as recently, the Turk was truculent and obstinate. Russia and Great Britain proposed to make Greece a tributary state, retaining the sovereignty of the Porte. This was refused, and the result was the utter destruction of the powerful Turkish fleet at Navarino, and the erection of the independent kingdom of Greece. Thus Turkey in Europe was pressed back on all sides. Now, the northern boundary, which was so recently at the Danube, has been driven south to the Balkans. Roumania and Servia have ceased even to be tributary, and have taken their place among independent States. Bosnia has gone under the protection of Austria, as Roumania did under that of Russia, in 1829. ‘Rectified’ boundaries give Turkish territory to Servia, Montenegro, and Greece. Bulgaria takes the place of Roumania as a self-governing principality, having no dependence on the Porte, and paying only an annual tribute. Even south of the Balkans the power of the Turk is crippled, for Roumelia is to have ‘home rule’ under a Christian governor. And so again the frontier of Turkey in Europe is pressed back on all sides, until the territory left is but the shadow of what it was sixty years ago. To produce this result has been the policy and the battle of Russia for more than half a century; for nearly that space of time it has been the struggle of some of the other ‘powers’ to maintain the ‘integrity’ of the Turkish empire. Which policy has succeeded, and which failed, the comparison of maps at intervals of twenty-five years will show. Turkey in Europe has been shriveled up in the last half century. It is shrinking back and back toward Asia, and, though all the ‘powers’ but Russia should unite their forces to maintain the Ottoman system in Europe, there is a manifest destiny visible in the history of the last fifty years that must defeat them.”

THE LIFE TO COME.

By Eliza H. Morton

The Christian doubts not that there is a life to come. Indeed, this hope is the inspiration of religion. The resurrection of Christ has opened the door of that other life, and gleams of its glory reach us, even here. This world, at best, presents but few attractions. It may charm the senses for a season, but its beauty fades. Time leaves its impress upon the work of man's hand. Disease preys upon the most beautiful living forms, and death visits every household. The careless worldling, at times, feels the insecurity and uncertainty of earthly things and would fain be “as though he had not been.”

Oh, the crushing despair, the hopeless agony, of a soul adrift upon the wild, tempestuous waves of a worthless life! No hope, no light, no comfort! The future a chaos of blackness, and the past an ever-present bitterness!

When sorrow overtakes the Christian, he is not left alone to battle with its cruel power. The strong arm of the Mighty One sustains him, and the sharpness of the trial is softened by the gentleness of His love. When death hovers like a dark cloud over the soul, then the hope of the “other life” shines in all its beauty. Earth grows dim, Heaven draws near, and glory makes the heart light. Oh, the life to come! What power in those words! a life of light and bloom! a life of joy and peace! a life of rest and happiness! a life of endless years! Moments are fleeting that will decide our eternal destiny.

Dear reader, will you spurn the “gift of God”? Will you lose everything in the pursuit of a horrible despair? Better far improve the present and begin at once to form a true and lovely character; for the “pure in heart” alone will taste the sweetness of futurity. ELIZA H. MORTON.

THE CASE OF BRO. MITCHELL.

By C. O. Taylor

To-day Bro. S. P. Mitchell leaves jail and returns to his family. He has nobly endured the penalty of the unjust law against working on Sunday, knowing that it was for obeying a higher law. His incarceration has produced much talk. It has caused the truth to be thought of, and decisions have been made for or against it. It has done much to get the Sabbath and the State law before the minds of the people.

As I have been in communication with him weekly, and sometimes oftener, I will give a few extracts from his letters. Under date of July 5, after his trial and before he was sentenced, he says: “I am glad to be able to assure you that my faith in the Sabbath is not weakened while viewing my surroundings. I often pray for an increase of faith and understanding, faith to take hold of God’s truth, and understanding to apply it as he would have it applied.”

In a letter of July 25 he said that he had been suffering with sore throat; and that the doctor had pronounced his case bad, and the judge had advised him to pay his fine and go home. The doctor insisted that he should do so, saying that if he did not he would probably go home with consumption so deeply seated that he would never recover. Then he says, “But after looking the matter square in the face, I have decided that it is my duty to remain.”

In the same letter he says: “I am more than glad to know that the prayers of good people are offered for me. Perhaps it is in answer to their prayers that I have been able to do what I believe to be duty. I have strong faith in Seventh-day Adventists, and therefore most earnestly desire their prayers. I stand in much need of faith, hope, and charity, the three great elements in the Christian character.”

In closing the same letter he says: “My family came to see me yesterday. My baby was quite sick, and has been for a week. It was extremely difficult to get the little fellow to consent to go home without me.”

Aug. 1, after saying that friends were advising him to pay his fine, that the quickest way to get out of the difficulty was the best, etc., he says: “But that course never seemed best to me, and yet it required a great deal of decision to refuse the advice and help of friends. But I thank God that I was able to do it, for I now feel sure that it was right. If I am able to do just a little good, I shall be glad. I would be willing to stay here while life lasts, if I knew that by so doing I was working for the Master in the best way that I am able to work.”

In a letter dated Aug. 5, after acknowledging the receipt of letters from friends in this State (Georgia), and from the North, he says: “You can only guess how much I appreciate such kind attentions. I am very thankful to God for what I believe he has called on me to do. My throat is much better, and, this difficulty excepted, I am feeling quite well.”

I have written two articles, and sent them to be published in a Brooks county paper. The first was on the constitution of the general government, relating to free worship; the second, on the State constitution and the Sunday law. The first was published, and replied to by the editor. His reply was more to my second article. I have sent him a rejoinder. From what I can learn, he does not intend to publish this reply nor my second article. He undertook to show that the State authorities had a right to enact laws contrary to the constitution; but he made a bad job of it, and a worse one when he tried to show from the Bible that the Sabbath has been changed.

Out of this imprisonment and agitation I expect God will bring good to his cause and people. The harvest is fast ripening. We are of good hope and cheer.

C. O. Taylor.

VIRGINIA T. AND M. SOCIETY.

By Robert Sawyer; S. A. Keyser

The quarterly meeting of the Virginia Tract Society was held at Soliloquy, July 6 and 7, 1878. The meeting was called to order by the director. Opened with prayer by Bro. Fultz. The report of the last quarterly meeting was read and accepted. The report of the quarter just closed was then read. A summary of the two is as follows:—

No. of families visited, 99 “ ” letters written, 42 “ ” new subscribers for REVIEW, 3 “ ” ” ” REFORMER, 2 “ ” ” ” SIGNS, 1 “ ” periodicals distributed, 858 “ ” Annuals, 63 Tracts and pamphlets dist’d, pp., 27,343 Money rec’d by donations, $5.50 “ ” from book sales, 9.25 “ ” ” new subscribers, 4.50 Total, $19.25

The following resolutions were unanimously adopted:—

Resolved, That we sympathize with Bro. and Sr. White in their afflictions, and unite our prayers with theirs for their recovery to health and strength; and that we cordially invite them to make their home with us, and receive the benefit of this mild and salubrious climate.

Resolved, That we return our heartfelt thanks to Bro. and Sr. Lane for the words of encouragement and good counsel in their late address to the church in this State.

ROBERT SAWYER, Director. S. A. KEYSER, Sec.

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