IN commenting on the position of certain authors on the relations of the death of Christ, it was remarked that pardon, during probation, is not absolute, but relative. It is conditional, as the Scriptures clearly show. God never disregards the claims of his law—of justice. In forgiving the sinner so that he escapes the penalty he has deserved, God does not overlook the crime, or treat it as a matter to be lightly passed over. But he transfers the sin to another who bears it in his stead, and suffers for him. The sin was counted as still existing—an offense against Heaven's King. This is further shown by the action of the priest on the day of atonement. His service did not end with cleansing the sanctuary, or in blotting out the sins of the people from the book of judgment. The sin still existed, though they were cleansed; and it was removed from the presence of God to another object.
Two goats were presented before the Lord, and lots were cast upon them; one to be a sin offering, to be slain, the blood of which was sprinkled in the sanctuary; the other for a scape-goat, which was not slain, and concerning which the priest took no action till after the Atonement was made. Let not the reader mistake the import of this expression. We do not say that the priest took no action with the scape-goat until after the sin offering was slain. The statement reaches far beyond that; he took no action concerning the scape-goat until after he had taken the blood of the sin offering into the sanctuary and exercised his priestly office there in blotting out the sins of the people. If this distinction be well considered it may prepare the mind to see the truth concerning the object and antitype of the scape-goat. It has been supposed that this goat was also a type of Christ; but that is a supposition for which the Scriptures give not the least warrant.
Some authors consider that, as the sin offering typified the crucified Saviour, so the scape-goat presented alive before the Lord typified the Lord as risen for the justification of his people. But this view is inadmissible from the order of the service. We notice that,
1. The goat was slain as a sin offering; this typified the death of Christ on Calvary.
2. The priest took the blood and went into the sanctuary for the people; this typified the risen Saviour going into "Heaven itself, by his own blood, to appear in the presence of God for us."
3. After he had made an end of reconciling the holies, that is, after the atonement was fully made in the sanctuary, then the priest brought the live goat and laid both his hands upon the head of the goat, and confessed over him the sins of the children of Israel, putting them upon the head of the goat. This must certainly typify something in the future to be performed after the sanctuary in Heaven is cleansed. But the sins placed on the scape-goat can be of those only who have "afflicted their souls," and are accepted of God, for they who are impenitent and continue to transgress the law of God, bear their own sins—their sins are on their own heads. And when the sins of God's people have been transferred through the priest to the sanctuary of God, and from thence removed to the head of the scape-goat, the goat is then sent, away to "a land not inhabited," and there "let go," or caused to remain. And by this it is clearly seen that the pardon of sin is relative; that the sin is removed from the penitent believer only by transfer; but such transfer does not destroy or put out of existence the sin, as a future action in reference to it is appointed by the Lord.
There is something analogous to this in the New Testament, and it accords with the meaning of Lev. 16:8, as given by reputable authorities. The Hebrew word for scape-goat as given in the margin of Lev. 16:8, is Azazel.
On this verse, Jenks in his Comprehensive Commentary remarks, "Scape-goat." See different opinions in Bochart. Spencer, after the oldest opinions of the Hebrews and Christians, thinks Azazel is the name of the devil; and so Rosenmuller, whom see. The Syriac has Azazil, the angel (strong one) who revolted." The devil is evidently here pointed out. Thus we have the definition of the Scripture term in two ancient languages, with the oldest opinion of the Christians in favor of the view that the scape-goat is a type of Satan.
Charles Beecher in his work, "Redeemer and Redeemed," makes an argument that the name Azazel refers to Satan, from which we extract as follows:—
"The use of the preposition implies it. The same preposition is used on both lots, La-Yehovah, La Azazel; and if the one indicates a person, it seems natural the other should, especially considering the act of casting lots. If one is Jehovah, the other would seem for some other person or being; not one for Jehovah, and the other for the goat itself.
"What goes to confirm this is, that the most ancient paraphrases and translations treat Azazel as a proper name. The Chaldee paraphrase and the targums of Onkelos and Jonathan would certainly have translated it if it was not a proper name, but they did not. The Septuagint, or oldest Greek version, renders it by ἀποπομπαῖος [apopompaīos], a word applied by the Greeks to a malign deity, sometimes appeased by sacrifices.
"Another confirmation is found in the book of Enoch, where the name Azazel, evidently a corruption of Azazel, is given to one of the fallen angels, thus plainly showing what was the prevalent understanding of the Jews at that day.
"Still another evidence is found in the Arabic, where Azazel is employed as the name of the evil spirit.
"In addition to these, we have the evidence of the Jewish work Zohar, and of the Cabalistic and Rabbinical writers. They tell us that the following proverb was current among the Jews: 'On the day of atonement, a gift to Sammail.' Hence Moses Gerundinensis feels called to say that it is not a sacrifice, but only done because commanded by God.
"Another step in the evidence is when we find this same opinion passing from the Jewish to the early Christian Church. Origen was the most learned of the Fathers, and on such a point as this, the meaning of a Hebrew word, his testimony is reliable. Says Origen: 'He who is called in the Septuagint ἀποπομπαῖος, and in the Hebrew Azazel, is no other than the devil.'
"Lastly, a circumstance is mentioned of the emperor Julian, the apostate, that confirms the argument. He brought as an objection against the Bible, that Moses commanded a sacrifice to the evil spirit. An objection he never could have thought of, had not Azazel been generally regarded as a proper name.
"In view, then, of the difficulties attending any other meaning, and the accumulated evidence in favor of this, Hengstenberg affirms, with great confidence, that Azazel cannot be anything else but another name for Satan." Pp. 67, 68.
Also on the opinion that the scape-goat typified the Saviour after his resurrection, Mr. Beecher has the following:—
"Matthew Henry says: 'The slain goat was a type of Christ dying for our sins, the scape-goat a type of Christ rising again for our resurrection.' But he forgets that the goat was so unclean that its touch rendered the man by whom it was sent, unclean, and necessitated a thorough washing. Was Christ unclean in his resurrection? It is said, 1 Tim. 3:16, that he was 'justified in the Spirit,' and Rom. 4:25, 'He was delivered for our offenses, but raised for our justification.' Purity is the grand idea associated with Christ's resurrection, and therefore such a view of the type is manifestly impossible."
Irenæus, writing in A. D. 185, quotes an elder's words against Marcus, who was accused of heresy, as follows:—
"Marcus, thou former of idols, inspector of portents, skilled in consulting the stars, and deep in the black arts of magic. Ever by tricks such as these confirming the doctrines of error. Furnishing signs unto those involved by thee in deception, wonders of power that is utterly severed from God, and apostate, which Satan, thy true father, enables thee still to accomplish, by means of Azazel, that fallen, yet mighty angel. Thus making thee precursor of his own impious actions.'—Irenæus against Heresies, Book 1, chap. xv, p. 68.
This shows that such an opinion was held by Christians at that time.
(To be concluded.)
Great Authors.
By Editor
THE AGE AT WHICH MANY OF THEIR BEST WORKS HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED.
A LIST of the men and women of genius who have died at or about the early age of thirty-seven, and secured for themselves an undisputed place in the ranks of the immortals, would occupy not the least brilliant portion of the record of the illustrious dead. It is astonishing how many men, whose names are a household possession in every civilized country, have done all their best work after thirty-seven, and who would never have been heard of, or at the best would have shone only as the smaller lights of literature, if they had been carried off at the age of which Byron, Shelley, Burns, and Raphael closed their careers. And when we come to look at what Milton did after thirty-seven, what Goethe and a thousand others did after the same age, and how little they had done before it, we cannot estimate how much richer the world might have been had those bright intellects which were cut off in their earliest prime been permitted to give thirty or forty years of additional work to the world.
It is certain that thirty or forty more years would have cooled the blood of Byron, and carried him out of what we all know, and what literary history has stigmatized, as Byronism; but it is as impossible to forecast what would have been the result as to predict from "Werther" the development that ended in "Faust." Who can foresee what Shelley would have done, in the full ripeness of his splendid power, during another quarter of a century, and if he had died, say, at the age of Shakespeare? Burns, too, we know, dreamed of great works, and when he died there were literary movements in the air which might have turned his labors and his life into a new channel.
Miss Austen and Charlotte Bronte were rather more than thirty-seven when they died, but they died at an age at which George Eliot had not written a single novel. One or two translations, an essay or two in the Westminster Review, and the "Scenes of Clerical Life," were all that had come from the hand of the subsequent author of "Adam Bede" and "Daniel Deronda." But given a fatal chill or a fever at thirty-seven, and the long series of works with which George Eliot has enriched English literature would have had no existence; in other words, there would have been no George Eliot.
A consideration of this kind should entirely modify our comparative estimate and criticism of distinguished men. Nothing is commoner, for example, among Germans, and among cultivated Englishmen as well, than to ascribe to Goethe a genius far transcending Schiller's. The comparison is made between the whole body of Goethe's literary work, extending over upwards of eighty years of exceptional healthy activity, and the product of poor Schiller's117mutilated existence stretching to scarcely more than one-half that term, with a large portion of it belonging to the period of childhood and youth. But, had Goethe died at the same age as Schiller, he would have had a poorer result to show than Schiller has. He would have had a great deal less than Byron in pure poetical work, incomparably less also than Shelley, and, in respect of genuine poetry expressing the simple feelings of the heart and an apprehension of the beauty of nature, he would have stood at an immeasurable distance behind even the unlettered Burns.
The above, from the London Standard, we publish, not because we are particularly interested in all the names mentioned, but for the important lesson it contains. It seems to be quite well settled that if a person takes proper care of himself, of a long life the last half is the best for good work. And this shows the importance of so regarding the laws of life and health as to prolong life as much as possible, that our lives may be as successful as they possibly can be in efficient service to God and humanity. The world is constantly being robbed of labor to which it has a right, by the imprudence, carelessness, or recklessness of its inhabitants. There are almost countless suicides beside those which are recorded as such. If we shorten our days by our own actions, in any way, we "rob God," to whom we owe the service of our lives and of all our powers.
EDITOR.
Liberality.
By R. F. Cottrell
Liberality is a good thing, especially when exercised in the use of that which we may claim as our own; but we are often inclined to be more liberal with others' goods than with our own.
Sectarian bigotry and exclusiveness have prevailed to such a degree that a reaction has set in, and many now pride themselves upon their extreme liberality. It is well to cherish the spirit of liberality, and to extend our sympathies and good wishes to those not of our creed, even if we have to yield that which costs us a struggle; but liberality in some seems to consist in leveling all distinction between truth and error, and fellowshiping all conflicting creeds, and making divine truth of little importance. In other words, the truth of God is yielded for the sake of union. They are liberal to the extent that they will waive what they know to be the divine requirement; and this they esteem a real virtue. This I call a liberality with things which belong to God, and not to themselves.
To make myself better understood, I use the following illustration: A Baptist minister, conversing with some of his friends, to evince his liberality of sentiment and feeling, stated that he had acted as pastor of a Congregational Church for a year, and enjoyed the best of feeling. Said he, "I loved those brethren, and our hearts seemed knit together, so that I felt loth to part with them. Of course," said he, "I did not teach them my views of baptism. They knew my views, but I did not urge them upon them." This is the tenor of the conversation.
Now that man, being a Baptist, and being professedly acting under the apostolic commission to teach all nations and baptize, spent a whole year in teaching a congregation of unbaptized persons, according to the best of his knowledge and belief, and never once presented this duty to them.
This looks like being liberal in that which was not his own. What right had he to rob God by suppressing his truth, and defraud men by keeping back a portion of the truth which it was their interest to know and obey?
This is a sample of modern liberality,—a liberality which places the truth of God upon a level with the doctrines and commandments of men. And this is the basis of the modern idea of Christian union. If they would propose a union by renouncing their errors, giving up that which is decidedly the property of sinful humanity, and holding to all that which the word of God plainly enjoins, that would be a union that would please God. Then would the church all "speak the same thing," and there would be "no division" among them. They would be liberal of that which is their own, and not of that which belongs to God.
But we are told that men do not see things alike. That to one the Bible teaches immersion, to another sprinkling, to another pouring. To one it teaches a seventh-day Sabbath, to another a first-day Sabbath. If this is so, the fault is in the Bible, and it were better to throw it away; and this they virtually do, when they propose a union which ignores its teachings, putting no difference between truth and error,—between the commandments of God and the doctrines of men.
R. F. COTTRELL.
NO MORE TO DO.
By S. J. G. Thayer
BY S. J. G. THAYER.
ONE by one they are passing away,
The strongest, the brave, and the true.
They have toiled through the heat of the long summer day,
They have borne heavy burdens for us who yet stay;
They have borne with our murmuring all the long way;
For them there is no more to do.
One by one they are closing their eyes,
The watchmen so faithful and true;
They have warned us of breakers and lowering skies,
And when we were down they have helped us to rise,
And we oft have repaid them with fault-finding cries,—
For them there is no more to do.
One by one they are folding their hands,
In token they've no more to do.
The work has been started in far away lands,
Grown broader and stronger wherever it stands,
And the blessing of God has supplied its demands;
To him is the glory all due.
One by one they are going to rest,
The weary, the worn, and the true;
No more to be censured, and sorely opprest
While for us and the world giving all, and their best.
The pain is all over—the resting how blest—
For them there is no more to do.
Few are now left us to stand for the right,
Of the old ones—the tried and the true.
Though their voices are sounding with power and might,
Yet we know they've grown feeble and weak in the fight,
And we fear that they too will soon pass from our sight,
Where for them there is no more to do.
Hearts are made sad, and the tear-drops will start
When faileth our faithful and true,
But the words of the martyr will come to the heart,
And they ever do courage and comfort impart,
"God reigns;" should the workers to-day all depart,
His work he will carry safe through.
One by one they are laying it down,
The sword they've been wielding so long,
O who will come forward from hill-side and town,
And gird on the armor, and fight for the crown?
The long whitened fields are grown sere and brown,
It's time for the weak to be strong.
One by one they are passing away,
The old pioneers so true,
Oh, green be the graves where our loving ones stay,
And sweet be the resting till dawn of the day,
And glad the awakening at morning's first ray,
With life everlasting in view.
The Deception of Partial Obedience
PEOPLE are very ready to make a little obedience go a great ways. Saul met Samuel merrily professing, "I have performed the commandment of the Lord," when he had really disobeyed it. The worst of men, those who make their living out of their sins, yet take great comfort in their compensating virtues. They imagine that if they are kind to their families they are very good people, even though they make their living by breaking up the families of other people.
Seven Rules for Christians.
By Brownlow North
1. NEVER neglect daily private prayer; and when you pray, remember that God is present, and that he hears your prayers. Heb. 11: 6.
2. Never neglect daily private Bible-reading; and when you read, remember that God is speaking to you, and that you are to believe and act upon what he says. I believe all backsliding begins with the neglect of these two rules. John 5: 39.
3. Never profess to ask God for anything which you do not want. Tell him the truth about yourself, however bad it makes you; and then ask him, for Christ's sake, to forgive you what you are, and make you what you ought to be. John 4: 24.
4. Never let a day pass without trying to do something for Jesus. Every night reflect on what Jesus has done for you, and then ask yourself, "What have I done to-day for Him?" Matt. 5: 13-16.
5. If ever you are in doubt as to a thing's being right or wrong, go to your room, and kneel down and ask God's blessing upon it. Col. 3: 17. If you cannot do this, it is wrong. Rom. 14: 23.
6. Never take your Christianity from Christians, or argue that, because such and such people do so and so, therefore you may. 2 Cor. 10: 12. You are to ask yourself, "How would Christ act in my place?" and strive to follow him. John 10: 27.
7. Never believe what you feel if it contradicts God's word. Ask yourself, "Can what I feel be true if God's word is true?" and if both cannot be true, believe God, and make your own heart the liar. Rom 3: 4; 1 John 5: 10: 11.—Brownlow North.
Grip.
A VERY important attachment of cable-line street cars is the "grip"—a little apparatus connecting the car with the cable. From this idea or text the Christian at Work discourses as follows:—
"This little word has come to have lately quite a significance to the average citizen of New York and Brooklyn. The running of the cars on the great bridge was delayed for months in order to perfect the grip of the cars on the endless cable. When at length they were started, it was found that the cars would lose their grip, and run back to their starting point, causing vexatious delays, reducing the amount of travel on the bridge, and by just so much impairing its usefulness and increasing the liability to accident. It is much the same way with many Christians in our churches. They lack grip. They start well, and for a season run well, and then suddenly lose their grip and run back. Grip is a Christian virtue, or ought to be. It means taking hold rightly, and then continuing to hold on tightly. It is grip which carries us up over hills of difficulty and lands us at the Golden Gate. It is a firm grip on the endless chain of God's promises that will carry us up over every obstacle into the realm that lies clear, shining above the mists and shadows that darken the valley below. Yes, grip is a Christian virtue."
Seeing God in Every Event
It is a sad commentary on human nature that it takes danger to remind us of our sins. The frightful storm made the children of Israel recognize their sin. What a pity that people will not oftener remember God and duty without waiting for sickness or danger. God is as truly in the ordinary events of nature as in the miracle. We ought to cultivate a habit of seeing God in every event of life.
The Teachability of the Wise
THOSE who already know most are commonly the most desirous of knowing more. The wisest are ever the most teachable.
SAUL was about to journey to Damascus upon his own business; but he was determined to accomplish a double purpose, by searching out, as he went, all the believers in Christ. For this purpose he obtained letters from the high priest to read in the synagogues, which authorized him to seize all those who were suspected of being believers in Jesus, and to send them by messengers to Jerusalem, there to be tried and punished. He set out upon his way, full of the strength and vigor of manhood, and the fire of a mistaken zeal.
As the weary travelers neared Damascus, the eyes of Saul rested with pleasure upon the fertile land, the beautiful gardens, the fruitful orchards, and the cool streams that ran murmuring amid the fresh, green shrubbery. It was very refreshing to look upon such a scene after a long, wearisome journey over a desolate waste. While Saul and his companions were gazing and admiring, suddenly a light above the brightness of the sun shone round about him, "and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."
The scene was one of the greatest confusion. The companions of Saul were stricken with terror, and almost blinded by the intensity of the light. They heard the voice, but saw no one, and to them all was unintelligible and mysterious. But Saul, lying prostrate upon the ground, understood the words that were spoken, and saw clearly before him the Son of God. One look upon that glorious Being imprinted his image forever upon the soul of the stricken Jew. The words struck home to his heart with appalling force. A flood of light poured in upon the darkened chambers of his mind, revealing his ignorance and error. He saw that, while imagining himself to be zealously serving God in persecuting the followers of Christ, he had in reality been doing the work of Satan.
He saw his folly in resting his faith upon the assurances of the priests and rulers, whose sacred office had given them great influence over his mind, and caused him to believe that the story of the resurrection was an artificial fabrication of the disciples of Jesus. Now that Christ was revealed to Saul, the sermon of Stephen was brought forcibly to his mind. Those words which the priests had pronounced blasphemy, now appeared to him as truth and verity. In that time of wonderful illumination, his mind acted with remarkable rapidity. He traced down through prophetic history, and saw that the rejection of Jesus by the Jews, his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension had been foretold by the prophets, and proved him to be the promised Messiah. He remembered the words of Stephen: "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God;" and he knew that the dying saint had looked upon the kingdom of glory.
In that terrible moment he remembered that the holy Stephen had been sacrificed by his consent; and that through his instrumentality many worthy saints had met their death by cruel persecution.
"And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do." No doubt entered the mind of Saul that this was the veritable Jesus of Nazareth who spoke to him, and that he was indeed the long-looked-for Messiah, the Consolation and Redeemer of Israel. And now this Jesus, who had, while teaching upon earth, spoken in parables to his hearers, using familiar objects to illustrate his meaning, likened the work of Saul, in persecuting the followers of Christ, to kicking against the pricks. Those forcible words illustrated the fact that it would be impossible for any man to stay the onward progress of the truth of Christ. It would march on to triumph and victory, while every effort to stay it would result in injury to the opposer.
The Saviour had spoken to Saul through Stephen, whose clear reasoning from the Scriptures could not be controverted. The learned Jew had seen the face of the martyr reflecting the light of Christ's glory, and looking like the face of an angel. He had witnessed his forbearance toward his enemies, and his forgiveness of them. He had further witnessed the fortitude and cheerful resignation of other believers in Jesus while tormented and afflicted, some of whom had yielded up their lives with rejoicing for their faith's sake.
He had struggled entire nights against conviction, and had always ended the matter by avowing his belief that Jesus was not the Messiah, that he was an imposter, and his followers were deluded fanatics. Now Christ speaks to Saul with his own voice and identifies himself with his suffering people. Saul, in persecuting the followers of Jesus, had struck directly against the Lord of Heaven.
In falsely accusing and testifying against them, he had accused and testified against the Saviour of the world. Here it is plainly seen that Christ suffers in the person of his saints.
When the effulgent glory was withdrawn, and Saul arose from the earth, he found himself totally deprived of sight. The brightness of Christ's glory had been too intense for his mortal sight, and when it was removed the blackness of night settled upon his vision. He believed that his blindness was the punishment of God for his cruel persecution of the followers of Jesus. He groped about in terrible darkness, and his companions, in fear and amazement, led him by the hand into Damascus. How different from what he had anticipated was his entrance into that city!
Helpless, and tortured by remorse, he felt himself to be under sentence of death, and knew not what further disposition the Lord would make of him. He was taken to the house of the disciple Judas, and there he remained, solitary and alone, studying upon the strange revelation, that had broken up all his plans, and changed the entire current of his life. He passed three days in perfect blindness, occupying that terrible time with reflection, repentance, and earnest prayer, neither eating nor drinking during that entire period.
He was in lonely seclusion; he had no communication with the church, for they had been warned of the purpose of his journey to Damascus by the believers in Jerusalem; and they believed that he was acting a part the better to carry out his design of persecuting them. He had no desire to appeal to the unconverted Jews, for he knew they would not listen to or heed his statements. He seemed to be utterly shut out from human sympathy; and he reflected, and prayed with a thoroughly broken and repentant spirit.—Mrs. E. G. White, in The Great Controversy.
The Wisdom of Leaving Questions Open
A GREAT part of practical wisdom consists in the simple art of letting perplexing questions remain open; and, conversely, one of the greatest, as well as one of the commonest, mistakes which men make, is to imagine that all questions must be settled before one can go calmly on in the quiet business of duty-doing. If it is discouraging that one cannot read all the books written in illustration of the Bible, the fact is encouraging that one does not need to read them all to be wise unto salvation.
Sustain the Sabbath-School.
By James F. Chalfant
If the Sabbath-school had no reference to the ultimate conversion of the children—if it did not look at all to the future connection of the scholars with the visible church—I would still say to every parent, and every citizen, and every well-wisher of society, Sustain it! Sustain it by your money, counsel, and presence. Why? Because, of all the conservative influences brought to bear on society in the nineteenth century, I know of none greater than the Sabbath-school. It is a well-established fact that man's physical and intellectual nature demands cessation from ordinary labor one-seventh of his time; that he can and will do more in six days, one week with another, for years, than if he were to work regularly the seventh day. It is just as fully established that what man needs for recuperation is not so much entire freedom from physical or mental exercise as a change to that kind that will meet a felt want of his nature not met in ordinary work. The Sabbath-school does this precisely. It combines, at once, pleasant mental discipline with social and moral influences which have a strengthening and purifying effect on both body and mind. But, besides this, leaving out of view the religious element, proper Sabbath-school instruction imbeds in the youthful heart a system of morals which is acknowledged by all, even infidels, as being purer and more elevating than any ever given to man—a system which, accepted and acted upon, always throws a charm around the domestic circle, vitalizes and strengthens all the better impulses of our nature, restrains and controls our passions, removing strife and discord, making better husbands, wives, parents, children, and citizens; and, because they do, they conserve, in a pre-eminent degree, the interests of society, and ought, therefore, to be sustained from considerations entirely outside of their religious bearings.—Rev. James F. Chalfant.
Getting and Keeping.
THERE are Sabbath-schools which are always drawing in new scholars, without increasing the number of their scholars; just as there are preachers who are always drawing in new hearers, without increasing the size of their congregations; or, again, as there are newspapers which are always getting new subscribers without increasing their subscription list. It is one thing to have; it is another thing to hold. Having is essential to holding. So, again, is holding essential to having. In the long run, holding has quite as much to do with making a good school as having. A Massachusetts superintendent, writing about his methods of work, gives this as one of his principles of Sabbath-school conduct: "Keep in the school all who are there to-day, and the school will increase." There is a great truth in that statement of the case. Looking after the scholars who belong to the school is one of the most important features of Sabbath-school effort. Unless this is attended to, the scholars will suffer; so also with the school. Yet many scholars are coming into our schools to be neglected, and to drift out again unnoticed and uncared for. Can you show a good account of all the scholars who have been brought into your school during the past year? If any of them have left your school, do you know just when and why? Are you now following up the absent scholars, week by week, in order to their bringing back again? If you are, you are doing well, so far. If you are not, you are neglecting an all-important duty.—S. S. Times.
The Profit of Godliness
Of all the pursuits for profit, there is nothing equal to godliness; for "godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."
Temperance.
By Rev. Jas. Brand
Only Evil Continually.
1. THE liquor traffic, as it now exists, is the child of a master passion for money, just as drunkenness is the child of a master passion for drink. The deterioration of the moral sense, the decay of will power, the loss of manhood, are the characteristics of the drunkard. He becomes the slave of one tyrant passion. He becomes supremely selfish. The same is true of the liquor-seller. His aim is not malicious, but simply selfish. The temptation to make money easily, rapidly, without work, without giving an equivalent—that is the ruling principle. The result is the same as with the drinker—the lowering of manhood, the loss of the moral sense, the decay of conscience, the warping of the judgment, the defiance of all rights, human or divine, which interfere with the gratification of the master passion. It has all the malignity and relentless cruelty of pure selfishness. The grand indictment which Christian civilization is compelled to bring against the liquor traffic is that, like drunkenness itself, it is a violation of a great law of nature. It is a systematic violation of the Golden Rule. It is the opposite of love. The man behind the bar is not doing, cannot do, “as he would be done by.” He cannot love his neighbor as himself. The traffic is simply a system of preying upon the weaknesses of fellow-men for personal gain.
2. The nature of the business appears in the Satanic genius it develops for discovering the weak and vulnerable points of human nature, and concentrating its forces there to win and infatuate its victims. A drunkard, while breaking almost all other ties and obligations, is always fatally loyal to his tempter. He will perjure himself in court rather than betray his destroyer. A deadly friendship is cemented between them which no considerations of love or duty can break till the victim becomes a penniless wreck—then he is kicked out of doors.
3. The traffic is almost resistless from its ubiquity. It is everywhere. It follows the track of Christianity around the world. It is now found wherever there are temptable men. It waits till Christian civilization opens the commerce of the world, and then it rushes in and disputes with the missionary every foot of territory in heathen lands. It goes in advance of the church and the school to our Western frontier, and lays the foundations of society in the interest of the trade. The saloon is found in every hamlet and at every cross-roads. Country boys who are too remote from any church ever to hear a sermon, are still within easy reach of some saloon. In our great cities, not only the inexperienced are entrapped, but men, who under Christian philanthropy have reformed, find a thousand demon hands reached out to pull them down again.
4. This tremendous scourge of mankind gains additional power for evil by its natural connection with and affinity for all other forms of crime. Everything known to be debasing to human nature and dangerous to society is directly promoted by this universal vice. The dram-shop and the brothel are twin institutions. Six-sevenths of the prostitutes of New York drink. They all find their business promoted by the saloon. The gambler, the thief, the libertine, the office-seeker, and the city jurymen who have no other occupation but to sit as arbiters in liquor cases, find their natural head-quarters in the saloon. Fashionable liquor-dealers, who live in gilded houses, may resent such facts; but the magnificence of a criminal cannot change the moral law. The man who makes his living by the sale of intoxicating liquors in the fashionable saloon or hotel of the great city, and the poor Irishman who does the same in a shanty at the cross-roads, belong to the same gang, and are drawn by the very nature of their business down to the same infamous level with drunkards, gamblers, prostitutes, thieves, and conspirators against law, and constitute the peril of the nation.—Rev. Jas. Brand.
THE TRIPLE PLEDGE.
By Thomas R. Thompson
STRONG DRINK.
We will not buy, we will not make,
We will not use, we will not take,
Wine, cider, beer, rum, whisky, gin;
Because they lead mankind to sin.
TOBACCO.
We will not smoke the smokers' pets,
Those little things called cigarettes.
We will not chew, we will not snuff,
Or waste our time in playing puff.
PROFANITY.
We will not curse, though many dare
Open their lips to curse and swear.
Our words shall be both pure and plain;
We will not take God's name in vain.
—Thomas R. Thompson.
Intemperance in Washington.
THE Commissioners of the District of Columbia have presented to Congress a new revenue bill, removing most of the restrictions upon the liquor traffic, and which, if passed, will give the rum-sellers complete possession of the field. The existing law provides that the consent of a majority of the property owners on the square must be obtained before a groggery can be opened. This amounts in some places to practical prohibition. But the present bill relieves the liquor-seller of this burden, permits him to settle down wherever he can find an opening, and then before the nuisance can be abated, the sober Christian people have to go to work and get the signatures of a majority of the property owners and residents, asking for his removal. As might be expected, this measure has called forth the vigorous and determined opposition of the whole temperance forces of the District, and several largely attended meetings have been held to give expression to the Christian sentiment of the community on the matter. It is hardly possible that Congress will disregard the remonstrances and protests that have been made against the bill. Still, the past shows us that we have little to hope for from Congress. Under Congressional rule Washington has more facilities for making drunkards than any other city of the Union. There are now 1,198 drinking-places, which is one to every 150 men, women, and children. For the accommodation of members who found it rather irksome to go a block for their gin, the basement of the Capitol has been turned into a liquor saloon. Here is what Senator Frye said on the matter, when the question of adopting a rule prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors in the basement of the Senate chamber was up for discussion:—
“Why, Mr. President, I have seen a restaurant of one of these Houses become an open, notorious, low, miserable groggery. I have seen a man with his pantaloons inside his boots, with his coarse blouse on, standing up at the bar of a restaurant of one of the Houses of Congress, and drinking miserable whisky out of a cup.
MR. VANCE—“A tin cup?”
MR. FRYE—“Out of a crockery cup; and I have seen whisky ordered again and again. They called it ‘tea.’ It was brought on and placed on the table in a cup put into a saucer, and called ‘tea,’ and anybody, outside or inside, member of Congress or clerk, or a man from the town, could step in and step up to that bar and order his ‘tea,’ and drink it out of a cup.”
And this “groggery” is still open, and the members may be seen at any time taking their ‘tea.’ The hope, therefore, of securing temperance legislation from such a body, is certainly a dim and distant one.—Corr. Christian Statesman.