Earlier text: REASONS FOR THREE IMMERSIONSPROPHETIC PROSPECT FOR 1881.
THE beginning of 1881 shows us the world in a more alarming condition than it has appeared in even in years when a war has been imminent between two great nations. Were it not for the unfailing word of Scripture prophecy, we might be at a loss to account for the growing rampancy of wickedness and the hopelessness of the struggle of right against wrong. It requires no small measure of humiliation to take a true view of human nature as it has been since the fall. Consequently, worldly philosophers prefer to see in the spread of civilization and in the increasing justice of legislation, signs that the love of truth is becoming universal, and that individual selfishness will not always dominate human affairs, while far too many Christian believers persist in putting a figurative interpretation upon every declaration of God's word which does not seem to encourage the hope that the church is now on the way to victory. But the teaching of the Bible is that deliverance, not victory, is to be the hope of the church. There is something awfully certain in whatever God once declares will come to pass. At a time when the Israelites were flushed with conquest, and their name was a terror to the mightiest nations upon the earth, Moses recorded the decree that they would become "a proverb and a by-word among all nations" (Deut. 28: 37). That has been literally fulfilled in the reproachful term "a Jew." Moses also wrote, "The Lord shall scatter thee among all people from the one end of the earth even unto the other" (verse 64). And that has literally come to pass. He said, further, "Ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you" (verse 68). And profane history tells us that even that extraordinary prediction was literally fulfilled in the Alexandrian slave-market after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Once more, when Tyre was one of the magnificent capitals of the world, the Lord God declared, "I will make her like the top of a rock; it shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea" (Ezek. 26: 4, 5). And these words, in no figurative or spiritual sense, but exactly and literally, describe the site of that great city to-day. Again, when Babylon was "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldee's excellency," its doom was announced with minute particularity, viz., that it would be overthrown and never be inhabited again, that the wandering tribes of the desert and the shepherds on the plains would avoid it, and that it would become a habitation of wild beasts (Isa. 13: 19-22). All that has come to pass, as any eastern traveler can see to-day, not in a spiritual or general sense, but literally and particularly. Regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, it was foretold that he would come in the tribe of Judah and in the line of David, and that he would be born of a virgin. Events proved that "Judah" meant Judah, and not the Jewish race; and that "David" meant David, and not any royal line; while "a virgin" typified no social or spiritual condition, but simply meant Mary, the wife of Joseph, in her virginity. The numerous prophecies regarding the life and death of our Lord were equally explicit, and their fulfillment was equally literal. Now let us take a glance at of the world, and see, on the one hand, how far it agrees with what the prophecies tell us is coming, and, on the other, with what we might expect if there were any power in education or civilization to overcome sin. 1. What is known in Europe as the Eastern question has not advanced one step toward a solution since the beginning of 1880. The succession of the Liberal Government in England, to which many people looked for a speedy settlement of Turkish difficulties, has been followed by no measure of consequence in that direction. Matters seem to be standing still under the development of God's further purposes. There is no prospect whatever of an improvement in the financial condition of Turkey, and without such an improvement there can be no change for the better in its administration. Meanwhile the insurrectionary spirit excited in the subject populations by the late wars gives safe promise of another outbreak at no distant day; and that will call for or lead to the armed intervention of some of the great powers of Europe, with the usual danger of a war between those powers themselves. 2. The imagination palls at the thought of the next European war, for which twelve millions of armed men are kept waiting in silent mockery of the hope that the reign of peace is in a fair way to begin upon the earth. A few days ago one of the daily papers, not over-well versed in the Bible, but with a shrewd practical view of the condition of public affairs, wrote as follows:— "The world has never yet seen war on a national scale. There have been, as in 1812-13-14, many armies, and those numerically as well as otherwise formidable, engaged simultaneously on one theatre. In 1870 the Germans employed several large armies, and the French, too, made considerable levies. But all the conditions of war are different from what they were in the Napoleonic era, and since 1870 several nations have turned or are turning almost their entire population into soldiers. When war occurs again among the great Continental powers there will be such a sight presented as never was seen before. There will be in the first line a chain of armies furnished with superb material; in the rear will be the reserves of trained troops exceeding in number the biggest armies of former times; and these reserves will rest on a succession of strong fortresses and intrenched camps held by enormous garrisons." If we remember with this that every year adds to the improvements in the torpedoes, mitrailleuses, Gatling guns, and other engines for wholesale destruction of human life, it will appear that God knew more about the nineteenth century before the Christian era than we know about it now. 3. The Afghan war is standing still like the Eastern question. In this swiftly-moving age, twelve months more have gone past without a settlement of the relations between Afghanistan and the Indian Government. At the time we write this article it is uncertain what security the new Ameer, Abdurrahman Khan, has for his throne, and in what sense the British frontier is to be protected; while the rebel leader, Ayoob Khan, is at large, able to boast of having destroyed a British force near Candahar, and to laugh over the slaughter in cold blood of a British officer whom he had captured as a prisoner of war. 4. Lastly, the condition of things in Ireland seems enough to open the eyes of the blindest to the gloomy prospect before the world and to the corruption which lies beneath the veneer of its civilization. It is for the first time in history that a Government has tolerated total insecurity of life, liberty, and property without the excuse of war or revolution. A large part of Ireland has been for months past in a state corresponding with the state of Paris during the Commune or North India during the Mutiny of 1857, with this difference—that in the last two cases the murder and violence were stopped as fast as guns and soldiers could stop them, whereas to-day in Ireland the authorities seem to have neither the ability nor the disposition to interfere to any effectual purpose. A lethargy born of an increasingly blunted national moral sense has apparently taken possession of the Government. Even a few years ago such a condition of things would not have been possible; but the principle of the supremacy of the people above the law is gaining ground, and the world is hastening to the state in which it was before the flood—"corrupt before God and filled with violence." (Gen. 6: 11.) It is doubtful if any nostrum of legislation can now restore civil order in the country. The leading London papers are agreed in expressions of opinion like the following: "Coercive acts a few months ago would have been effective, but now they will be useless. The people have learned their power to well to be cowed. This revolution cannot end without bloodshed unless capitulation be made to the Land League, which is out of the question. The rising may be small and ineffective, but it is considered inevitable by many who are familiar with the state of the country. It is beyond question that no land bill, however extreme, will satisfy the Land League, and the movement should be considered in all its significance. According to the clear and repeated utterances of members of the League Executive, the Land League movement is not a movement for the purpose of bringing rent down, but a movement for the purpose of making the tenants the owners of the land." Before concluding these observations on the civil and political indications of the New Year, we will remind our readers that the past year has been signalized on our own continent by an official protest of the United States Secretary of War against the defenceless condition of our sea-coast, and against the shortsightedness of letting our fortifications and munitions of war fall far behind the standard required to meet the armaments of European nations who may one day be our enemies. Is not this the beginning of an apprehension that America may not be able to keep out of the national convulsions that are to precede the coming of our Lord? The above is from the Christian Herald and Signs of our Times for January 6, 1881. There are many other things which indicate the near approach of the end, some of which it goes on to mention, and the article closes with the truthful statement that notwithstanding this, "these things will take place so naturally, and will be explained so plausibly by the wise men of the world, that the last day will come as a snare 'on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth' (Luke 21: 35). Therefore the warning is seven times repeated in the gospels, Watch." PHILOSOPHICAL ARGUMENTS.
By B. L. Aldrich
TO CONTINUE: It is said we do not become cognizant of the qualities and conditions of ourselves by the same process as of material objects. This fact is not wholly denied. But we do affirm that for such a reason there is no evidence of an immortal, separate being, within us. No cause can be assigned to any phenomena, unless the proper steps are taken to show their connection. We can perceive abstract qualities, as truly as tangible objects, although the former are not to be told by their dimensions. I do claim, however, that there is a real sense of physical feeling within, as when the chest feels pent up with swollen grief. But sense or no sense, there is not, in consciousness of states and qualities, any correct inference of an immortal soul. Great caution is required in reasoning, in order to avoid the common mistake of inventing causes. Such things must be discovered. Phenomena must be clearly derived from, or traced back to, the cause assigned. Indifference to this principle has exposed all the philosophical arguments in support of the immortal soul doctrine to easy attack. It is not satisfactory to show consciousness of qualities and states of feeling, and then, ignoring all laws, leap to the unwarranted conclusion that they originate in a hypothecated essence. Causes are not ascertained in that way. Causes are determined by deduction, laws by induction. After having discovered the laws by induction, we reason for the origin by the aid of analogy. It is one thing to co-ordinate facts under laws, and quite another to find the antecedent agent, which, through the laws, produces the facts. All which the argument under review proves is the existence and operation of certain laws; but whether they are the result of physical organism created by God, or are enacted and administered by an internal inhabitant, is the real question. Getting the fact of the laws is the second step, and must follow immediately the consciousness of conditions and qualities. The laws, however, are not the soul. The fact, to illustrate, that a red flag will enrage a bull, betrays a law of that animal's organism; namely, if it sees a red flag, it will get mad. Does this law prove that this animal has an immortal soul? No; it proves the fact that some power made the law—it might have been this power or that, either of which is the very object of proof. God stands behind law, and projects the display of all its phenomena. If the soul, so called, is the sub-ordinate legislator, ruling the moods of the man, it occupies the position of a veritable god. Why should the poor, victimized body be made to suffer the penalty of a merely mechanical service in the cause of a wholly reprehensible and morally accountable soul, if God is just? The body, as a mere instrument, should have been created insensible to the punishment of evil, since a tyrant recreant to his office, misused it. The thief should be hung and not his body, the helpless slave. I am, also, of the opinion that men, by assigning an independent soul as the cause of human phenomena, not only confound modes of action with cause, but make it a titular deity or plenipotentiary vicar to preside arbitrarily over this complex machinery while the Creator is absent. Every star, and, in fact, the whole universe, might be managed by similar gods. Out of this total independence of self, no doubt, comes the modern infidel doctrine of evolution, whereby the race will survive through its fittest representatives, all the while improving, until its present conception of God is realized in self-development. A subordinate god granted, and it soon aspires to the44first place. Humanity is full of invidious self-assumption above all that is revealed as God, and his only begotten Son. The very fact that men bring the Bible under criticism, and attempt by sophistry to maintain what it positively denies, is sufficient evidence of this. To sum up, the argument just considered is the non causa pro causa—the substituting of laws for the cause of the facts they exhibit. The sun shines, not because it has a soul, but because such is the law of its nature. So man has thoughts, invention, capacity for development (qualities), envy, anger, fear (conditions), because the law of his nature produces them. God is the soul of all laws. Again, it is said that man's capacity for unlimited development is another proof of his immortal nature. Animals can come up to a certain limit of improvement, and then advance no farther. Man, however, is not thus restricted; he can go on ad libitum. Let it be remembered first, that the assertion that man can go on in unlimited development by the tendency of his own nature, is yet to be proven. We must prove ourselves wiser than the ancients, which has never been done. The arresting force of senility which gradually brings mental acquirements to a stand-still, and then forces them in a reverse direction, and finally, the interposition of death, beyond which to say there is continued existence and progress is the sheerest begging of the question,—these circumstances effectually disprove the argument in question to be true. If man is capable of unlimited development, what have you to say of the "lean and slippered pantaloon which sans taste, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans everything," when the "grasshopper becomes a burden," when the representative and elaborative faculty, the memory and all, fade away like the hue of the leaf in autumn. The corn-stalk is a specimen of development. First, the blade, then the full corn in the ear, then the ripening, then death. This is a picture of man so far as the impediments of sin allow him to properly complete his course. The development in the latter proves no more than that in the former. Animals, too, are all susceptible of improvement. The elephant, the horse, the dog, the mocking bird, are very tractable to a certain extent, the same as man is. Butler, in his celebrated "Analogy," acknowledges this difficulty of the arguments proving too much, and tries to extricate himself by the nonsense, that animals, while capable of improvement, can never attain to moral accountability. He says they may be immortal, but never in the future moral. Wonderful information! Darwin, and all evolutionists, say they can attain to a sphere of moral sense, but not after death;—that we were once animals, but now we are moral beings. They took up Butler where he left off, and carried him to a perfectly logical conclusion. When a man sets out on a wrong road let him go to the end of it, and see what he will find there; but never let him confess to be wrong. As to the argument that man has more ability, and can do more things than the animal, which fact gives him a soul, it may be said that the beaver can throw a dam across a stream, a feat the musk-rat cannot perform, hence the former is immortal; or that a rose can bloom, and the stone cannot; or India rubber can stretch, and cast iron cannot; hence roses and India rubber have immortal souls. This is all that argument amounts to. It would also make geniuses immortal, and men of small mind mortal, which again is evolutionism emphasized. It is a proof based on comparative qualities which should refer us to law, and not to cause. In the next article will be considered the visions of the dying. EVERLASTING FIRE.
By M. H. Brown
THE language of the Saviour in Matt. 25:41 is frequently quoted to prove eternal torment, and although quoted with great confidence, we think that those who compare scripture with scripture will see that it comes far short of teaching an endless hell for the finally lost. We shall take no issue with the advocates of endless misery in regard to the definition of everlasting and eternal in Matt. 25; for with them we agree that these words here mean never-ending. This admission in no way helps our opponents, as we shall presently see. An element or action may produce results which are everlasting or eternal, and yet the element or action itself may be of short duration. Paul, in Heb. 5:9, speaks of eternal salvation. Will the process of saving men always be going on, and never be accomplished? Certainly not; but the results secured by the great plan of salvation will be eternal. Again, in Heb. 6:2, Paul speaks of eternal judgment. Will the work of judgment be endless in duration? If it is, then the punishment of the wicked will never come; for men are not punished till after they are judged. The idea expressed simply is, that the results of the judgment are eternal; that is, the decisions rendered are final and irreversible, and from them there is no appeal. In Heb. 9:12, Paul speaks also of eternal redemption, not that Christ will never complete that work, but that the results secured will be endless; for those who share in that redemption will never again be brought under the cruel power of death or the curse and stain of sin. Will God be engaged in judging men throughout the endless ages of eternity, and never get them judged? Will he always be engaged in redeeming men, and never secure their redemption? Then he may carry on the process of burning the wicked, and never get them burned; but the Scriptures say they shall be burned up, root and branch. Mal. 4:1. Therefore we cannot avoid the conclusion that the everlasting fire under consideration is not eternal in its duration, but the results of the fire are eternal, because the judgment pronounced and the penalty executed are eternal, irrevocable and final. No resurrection morn will ever greet the eyes of those who are cast into that lake of fire which produces the second death; but the blackness of darkness forever will enshroud them, as they sink into that long night of oblivion which knows no waking. The Lord has shown us, in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, what results eternal fire will produce. Jude says that those cities, in suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, are set forth as an example. Jude 7. Peter tells us the result of that conflagration: they were turned into ashes. 2 Peter 2:6. And what is to hinder such a result in the cases of the wicked? Do we ever find them compared in the Scriptures to enduring and imperishable substances? Never. On the contrary, they are always likened to the most perishable and inflammable substances, such as chaff, dried branches, thorns, briers, and stubble. Why has Inspiration used such comparisons? Is it to mislead the mind, and darken the subject? We believe not. We believe they teach the complete destruction of the wicked as plainly and forcibly as language can express it. When the wicked become ashes under the feet of the righteous, as Malachi declares in his prophecy (4:3), no one will doubt that the results of the everlasting fire into which the wicked are cast, were clearly seen in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were set forth as an ensample to those that after should live ungodly. 2 Pet. 2:6. The Missionary.
By S. N. Haskell
THE absence of earnest, heart-felt prayer in connection with missionary work is the reason why much labor is unfruitful. Says the Saviour, “Without me ye can do nothing.” The efficiency of prayer was taught by him, both by precept and example. “Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive,” were words addressed to his disciples. Prayer was ever mingled with his labors, and in this he is our example. With strong cries and tears he poured out his soul unto God, and was heard. Was it in his own behalf, that he might receive honor and glory, that his prayers often ascended all night long from the solitude of the mountains? Nay, verily. It was for the human family, for its individual members. And we, who profess to be his representatives, to have partaken of his spirit, shall we not feel for others? If we do not, our profession is vain, we have not the mind that was in Christ. “He that goeth forth, and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” This language indicates great earnestness and deep feeling, such as it would be impossible to disconnect with earnest prayer. It is those whose burden for souls is so great that they will, with tears, plead with God for his blessing, who here have the promise of sheaves in return for their labor. They go forth, they do something, and with this doing they connect a tearful, anxious solicitude for those who are the recipients of their efforts. Again, “they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” The following extract from a private letter received a short time since, while interesting in other respects, gives a good illustration of the efficiency of prayer in connection with missionary labor:— “I never had much idea as to where Christ’s kingdom was to be until I found about a year ago, from reading the Restitution and comparing its assertions with the Bible, that it was to be on the earth. I had been told by so-called “reverends” that it was in Heaven, but was not satisfied about it, and of myself could get no definite basis to work on. I became dissatisfied with the manner in which our Sunday-school was conducted, and remained at home Sundays and read my Bible studiously. I commenced again the study where my mother, at her knee, commenced teaching me, viz., at the twentieth chapter of Exodus. Then I compared the whole ten commandments with the teachings of Christ and the apostles in the New Testament, and, strange as it may appear, I could not find that any of them had been changed or annulled in any way. I decided that I would try to live better than in the past, and I prayed that God would give me light, and help me to follow more nearly in the footsteps of Jesus. “After several days of anguish and anxiety I determined to talk with the different ministers and get their views. Accordingly I saw Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopal ministers, but could get no consolation. The next Sunday I was alone in my office, and, after communing with God in prayer and tears, it seemed to me that a great burden had been lifted from my mind and heart. Something prompted me to go and see Mr. ——. I had heard Elders —— and —— speak here in a tent four or five years ago, and knew that Mr. —— was a S. D. Adventist. So I called on him, and in conversation, asked him if he thought there was such a thing as the Holy Spirit leading a man to the truth or helping him in deciding. He said, Yes. I then told him my history, my prayers and desires. He actually shed tears for joy. Said he, ‘We have been praying for you for weeks. At our prayer-meetings we have for some time made you a subject of special prayer.’ This was all news to me. All these weeks I had been striving for light, and they had been pleading for me also. “I had a long talk with Bro. —— on the Sabbath, the kingdom, baptism, etc. I worked the next Sabbath, however, but it seemed to me as if I was not doing right. The next day, Sunday, I went to see Bro. —— again, and told him that I had come to the conclusion that I must keep the Sabbath and that by so doing I would probably45lose my situation which brought me $60.00 per month. We prayed to God to guide me in this matter. I requested an interview with my employer, who was a superintendent of a railroad. This was granted, and I told him what my convictions were and handed in my resignation, telling him that I did not suppose my services would be longer needed if I did not work on Saturday. We talked for an hour and a half, and before we parted he said: ‘Mr. —— I am glad you were frank in this matter, and you have not lowered yourself in my estimation. I shall not accept of your resignation. You can report your salary at the end of the month as $60.00, the same as usual, and I will furnish a man to take your place Saturdays, and will pay him for that day.’ So I did not lose anything in a financial point of view. “I work six days in the office each week, yet some days I have thirty minutes to an hour leisure. This time I devote to the cause of truth. I have only been in the faith seven short months yet I have from time to time sent out hundreds of papers, Signs, Reviews, Instructors, College Records, Good Healths, tracts, etc. God is good in giving me the Sabbath, and allowing me to retain my situation. I pay the tithe and spend from four to nine dollars per month for missionary purposes. I am sending out now about one hundred papers per week. On these I only pay postage, as friends have kindly donated the papers. When they are gone I will go down into my pocket-book and find some more.” LORENZO DOW ON BAD THOUGHTS.
SOMEBODY once said to Lorenzo Dow, who was a very eccentric, strolling preacher:— "Mr. Dow, I don't know what to do. Bad thoughts trouble me very much. They come into my head, and I don't know how to keep them out. How can I help doing wrong, if it is wrong to have bad thoughts?" Mr. D. replied: "We can't keep birds from flying over our heads, but we can keep them from building nests in our hair. Do you ask how you can drive away these bad thoughts, and keep them from making nests in your mind? Why, just as we exclude thistles from the lands, by putting in so much good seed there is no room left for them to grow. Keep the mind busy with something innocent and useful, and leave no trace for the intruder." Daniel Webster was a good judge of preachers and of preaching. He once said, "Many ministers take their texts from Paul and preach from the newspapers. When they do, I prefer to enjoy my own thoughts rather than to listen. If they would preach more to individuals and less to the crowds, there would not be so much complaint of the decline of true religion." Continents and Oceans in Creation
PROFESSOR Dana finds his opinion confirmed by the results of the “Challenger” expedition, that the elevations of the earth called continents, and depression, called oceans, “were formed as such in the first instance,” and that they are not the result of upheavals, as Lyell supposed. As science learns, it approaches the truth that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”—N. Y. Observer. HOW A BOSTON D. D. GAVE UP TOBACCO.
The devotee of tobacco who trifles with the habit is a slave laughing in his chains. The man who pours scorn on the Anti-Tobacco Reform shows a pitiable ignorance of what is indispensable to elevate and save our race. In my abject slavery I was not given to smoke. An English gentleman once offered Orestes Bronson his snuff-box. "No, no!" said the Catholic priest. "I don't serve the devil in that shape; I chew." I came under the same category with Orestes, and belonged to that portion of the animal creation that "chew the cud." I rolled the sin as a sweet morsel under my tongue twenty years and more. It gave me as a city pastor, intolerable annoyance; and was, I may say in truth, a blighting curse upon my ministry. My sorrows and tribulations in this quarter were many and severe, and it may not be amiss to state a few as examples. In my parochial duties, I would sometimes be walking up Washington street and see a deacon of my church with whom I must come into close quarters, and in so doing expose my abominable habit. Indignant, chagrined, I would spitefully eject my quid, resolve never to resume its use, do my best to cleanse my mouth and protect my breath, and cordially greet my deacon. The evening would pass, the night would pass, with but little trouble. The morning, however, would come with unearthly and insatiable cravings; and it seemed as though I would "give my kingdom" for a bit of pig-tail or Cavendish! I would take to my study, feverish and half delirious, or drive for a sermon or lecture. But it was all in vain; all thought was spell-bound. I would walk the diagonal of my room, rub my throbbing temples, and at last, in utter despair, rap upon the bannister and cry, "John! John! get me some tobacco!"" The tobacco would come, and I would eat it as greedily as an ox eats green clover. My delirium tremens would pass away, my mind would become clear and calm, and I would drive on my sermon respecting self-denial, or consecration to God, or battling the "world, the flesh, and the devil," in Jehu style! O! I now hate tobacco! It makes hypocrites of ministers; it made a hypocrite of me. A short time would pass on, and a similiar flare-up would occur. I would see before me in my walks some sister of my church, who would expect a few kind words from her pastor, in an interview rather unavoidable. But the thought would occur, O! she will see my mouth! She will detect a habit which she loathes, and which I try to despise. I would cast out the abomination; I would resolve never to use another particle—never; and, with the apparent innocence of a child, greet the sister with usual salutations as her pastor and friend. I repeat it, I abhor tobacco. It makes hypocrites of ministers; it made me a hypocrite! These are specimens of my battles with this most popular poison on the globe. At length, however, I fought the last battle with this Apollyon. It was in this wise. I called on a dying man, a member of my church. The good brother, on the verge of the grave, made many confessions; and among the rest he said: "Tobacco has been an idol with me. It has brought me to this death-bed, and I shall die a happier man if I leave my testimony against it; and I wish my testimony to be written." I wrote from his dictation. We raised him from his pillow; and the last time he ever used his pen he affixed his name to a humble confession that he had sinned against God in ruining his health and cutting short his life by the use of tobacco. This was a trying moment. My reflections were painful. I was in agony. A dying brother giving his testimony against a sin of which I, his pastor, was guilty! I resolved then as I never resolved before. I called to God to witness that I renounced tobacco totally and forever; and, God be thanked! I can now say in truth, I renounced it totally and forever. The next morning I took my study. The conflict was terrible. Hell seemed to be let loose upon my soul. Delirium tremens was getting the complete mastery. I saw, or thought I saw, Satan enter my study and present to my choice "Cavendish," "Ladies' twist," "Honey Dew," and all the infernal paraphernalia of a fashionable tobacco saloon. I heard him, or thought I heard him say: "Come, doctor, why do you spurn me? Try me again. You can think, you can write, if you try me again." At this point God gave me unwonted courage and resolution. I remembered Luther's successful conflict when he hurled his ink-stand at the devil, and I cried aloud: "You black, slimy, nauseous fiend, begone, begone!" And the tobacco demon left my study, and left me, forever; an epoch in my ministry. Reader, if you never used tobacco, but sit in judgment upon my statement and count it visionary, allow me to tell you that you are as ignorant as a Hottentot about this whole matter. On the other hand, if you are a victim of the "weed," and call us extravagant, we ask you to make the experiment—give it up as a finality, once and forever. Otherwise, good friend, please hold your peace.—N. Y. Independent. PRESENT, PRESSING NEED.
By I. D. Van Horn
THERE is a very pressing want in the North Pacific Conference at the present time that should be known by all our people. This great need is means to carry on the T. and M. work: The State Secretary has on hand a large supply of tracts of almost every kind, tracts on health and temperance as well as others, which if our people would purchase, and pay for them would relieve us much. But each district I suppose does not order because the demands are not great, for not one-tenth is being done in the church T. and M. societies that might be. Now to relieve our present indebtedness at the Signs Office which they are calling for, and have a present demand for, let me propose to each and all of our people, every brother, sister, and child who loves the precious present truth, to donate from one to five dollars each to the Conference T. and M. fund this present quarter. Do it at once at the beginning of the quarter. Where there are churches of our people, let each one pay to the librarian, or elder, or clerk, and let them send by money order or registered letter, to the Conference Secretary, Mrs. A. P. Van Horn, Beaverton, Oregon. Let all the scattered ones who have a heart and cheerful willingness to lift in this direction, send in their offerings. Come brethren and friends rally to the work and by your sacrifices show your faith in the great and glorious work of God in these last days. The cause of God has claims upon you which you should not throw off. Precious souls are appealing to you for help. Hear their cry and place within their reach the light that has made your own heart glad, and which will be a means of salvation if followed to the end. The world may remember very little about us a year after we are gone. No thought, no deed may be connected with our names beyond some narrow circle of loving hearts. There may be no place for us in any record written with a man's pen. But what does that matter if our names, dear friends, are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, with this for sole epitaph—"A disciple"? That single phrase is the noblest summary of a life. A thinker? a hero? a great man? a millionaire? No, "A disciple." That says all. May it be your epitaph and mine! Faith Beyond the Reach of Science
By F. W. Robertson
THERE is a power in the soul, quite separate from the intellect, by which God is felt. Faith stands serenely far above the reach of the atheism of science. It does not rest on the wonderful, but on the eternal wisdom and goodness of God. The revelation of the Son was to proclaim a Father, not a mystery. No science can sweep away the everlasting love which the heart feels, and which the intellect does not even pretend to judge or recognize.—F. W. Robertson. Pride Costs More Than Hunger
PRIDE costs more than hunger, thirst, or cold. Temperance.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
THE following items are of great interest, as showing the alarming increase of intemperance in our country. The amount of beer consumed in the United States in 1880, was 414,000,000 gallons. This gives an average of more than eight and one-fourth gallons for every man, woman, and child, and is twice as much as was consumed in 1870. The increased use of beer, however, did not diminish the amount of other and stronger liquor used, as is seen by the fact that the tax on whisky was nearly $9,000,000 more in 1880 than in the preceding year. This increase in the consumption of liquor is entirely disproportionate to the increase in population, and shows that, among individuals, the appetite for strong drink is rapidly increasing. We need not be surprised at this, for the natural result of the use of any stimulant, so called, is to create a desire for more; and the milder forms simply create a desire for the stronger. In intemperance, as in every form of sin, the less leads to the greater. Whenever there is an increase in the amount of beer and light wine consumed, there will be a corresponding increase in the amount of stronger liquor consumed. The natural inference from these facts would be that, as intemperance is increasing, we should work more earnestly for the enlightenment of the people in regard to true temperance principles. But all do not reason in the same way. A prominent daily journal, in commenting on the above statistics, draws the conclusion that we are a thirsty people, and that, as temperance societies will never be able to make much headway against the popular demand for intoxicating beverages, the best thing we can do is to try to turn the attention of the people from strong liquors to good beer, and light, California wine. To say nothing of the expression, "good beer," which is equivalent to "harmless poison," the above reasoning is very strange. It is of a nature to increase the evil rather than to limit it. The desire to acquire property without rendering an equivalent is becoming more common, and it would be as reasonable to say that instead of vainly trying to stop the increase of crime, we should turn the attention of people to stealing small sums only. This reasoning is an illustration of the common expression that, "of two evils, we should choose the less;" but this saying, like most others in common use, contains an error. Let us rather take this for our guide, "of two evils, shun both." A bill has passed both branches of the Vermont Legislature which makes any place of resort, where liquor is sold or given away, or where gambling is allowed, a nuisance, and the place is shut up. The keeper is fined from twenty to two hundred dollars and imprisonment for three months. The Spendthrift and the Thief
The spendthrift and the thief are twins. When a man goes to the opera about four or five times in a week, drinks a social glass, smokes the best cigars, and plays for fun with "gentlemen," draw poker for a ten-dollar stake he is educating himself up to the point of tapping a till or abstracting a bank bill from his employer's money.