Earlier text: Worldly Wisdom on the SabbathThe Third Angel's Message of Rev. XIV.
THE rejection of the truth of God leaves men the captives of Satan, and the subjects of his deception. 2 Thess. 2:9–12. The greater the light which men reject, the greater the power of deception and darkness which will come upon them. The Advent message has been given more fully in the United States than in any other country, and by the mass it has been rejected. This refusal to walk in the light has left them exposed to this great deception of Satan. The third angel gives warning of the danger that is coming, that men may make their escape if they will. Another religious power enforces the claims of the first beast and his image, and causeth the world to receive his mark. What is this mark of the beast? It is the mark of that beast to whom the image was made—the first beast. Rev. 19:20; 16:2. But it is enforced by the two-horned beast. Hence, we understand it is an institution of papacy enforced by Protestantism. The beast and his image unite in this thing, in opposition to the saints who are engaged in keeping the commandments of God. Have we an institution of the papal apostasy which the civil power supports, and to which the religious world pays homage? We have. It is found in a weekly Sabbath, which the "man of sin" has placed in the stead of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. If we turn to the law of God, we shall find that the fourth commandment alone points out Jehovah. The first three forbid the worship of false gods, and blasphemy. The last six pertain wholly to our duty to our fellow-men. Not one of these nine commandments points out the true God. But the Sabbath commandment points out the true God as that being who in six days created heaven and earth, and rested upon the seventh. By the observance of the sanctified rest-day of the Creator he is acknowledged as the true God, in distinction from every object upon which the eye can rest, in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath. The being that created all these things is God. Such is the teaching of the fourth commandment. But the Scriptures plainly predict that the man of sin should exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, and should "THINK TO CHANGE TIMES AND LAWS." 2 Thess. 2; Dan. 7:25. It is not said that he should be able to change them; but he should think to do it; or, as the Catholic version reads, "he shall think himself able to change times and laws." They are not the times and laws of men which he thinks to change, for these he might be able to change, as other powers have done; but it is an act of arrogance in which he does not succeed. The times and laws of God are doubtless intended. This apostasy began in the apostolic age: 2 Thess. 2:7. It has resulted in the perfect development of the man of sin and of his blasphemous acts, among which we may name the change of the fourth commandment. No one can produce any other authority for changing the Sabbath than Romish traditions. Listen to the following cutting reproof from a Romanist:— "The word of God commandeth the seventh day to be the Sabbath of our Lord, and to be kept holy; you [Protestants], without any precept of scripture, change it to the first day of the week, only authorized by our traditions. Divers English Puritans oppose against this point, that the observation of the first day is proved out of scripture, where it is said the first day of the week. Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10. Have they not spun a fair thread in quoting from these places? If we should produce no better for purgatory and prayers for the dead, invocations of the saints, and the like, they might have good cause indeed to laugh us to scorn." Notwithstanding the fourth commandment in the plainest terms enjoins the observance of the sanctified rest-day of the Lord, almost all the world now wonder after the beast, and observe the pagan festival of Sunday, which the great apostasy has substituted for the holy Sabbath. By the observance of the Sabbath, men acknowledge the great Creator as their God. But when they understandingly choose in its stead the sabbath of the man of sin, they acknowledge him as above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, and as able to change the times and laws of God. There is no evading this point. If we observe the Sabbath of the Lord, and that of the apostasy also, we only make the man of sin equal with God. But when we profane the Lord's Sabbath, and observe in its stead the Romish festival of Sunday, we acknowledge the papacy above God, and able to change his times and laws. We speak of those who have the light of truth and act contrary to it. Those who have never yet understood that the observance of Sunday is a tradition of the fathers which makes void the fourth commandment, are not referred to. It is the bringing of this sabbath of the apostasy to the test that will constitute it the mark of that power that should think to change times and laws. There is no other papal institution that directly sets aside one of the ten commandments, that the whole Protestant world observes. This mark is very conspicuous in the forehead or hand, and signifies not a literal mark, but a public profession, or act, that all may see or know. The number of the name of the beast is also to be enforced as a test of submission to him. This name which is said to be that of a man, is seen, without doubt, in the title of Vicar of the Son of God, which the pope has caused to be inscribed upon his miter. It is written in Latin, and the numeral letters employed make the sum of 666. The design of this test is to cause men to acknowledge the authority of the papacy. Let us now return to the final work of the ten-horned beast. We have spoken of the prominent part which the ten-horned beast is to act in the great conflict before us, by means of miracles which he works through the agency of the unclean spirits. But it is important to notice that in all this he acts as the ally and assistant of the first beast, and himself fills a secondary place. Rev. 13:12, 14, 17; 19:20. He works miracles, but not to secure worship to himself, for he acts as a prophet in causing men to worship the first beast, and his image, and to receive his mark. He gives the first place to the beast in that he causes him to be worshiped, and he takes the second place himself in that he works miracles as a prophet, that he may cause men to worship that beast. The two-horned beast does all this in the sight of the first beast, and we have good evidence that that beast does not content himself to be simply a spectator. He will be, if possible, more active in his own behalf than is the two-horned beast to act for him. It is evident from Rev. 16:13, 14, that miracles will be wrought in the name of the first beast no less than in that of the second. Indeed, we may conclude that the work of the first beast will be greater in the eyes of men than will that of the second, for the first receives worship from men, while the second is content to work miracles, not that he may himself receive worship, but that he may promote the worship of the first. The Spirit of God marks a time, not yet arrived, but which will arrive in the great crisis before us, when all that dwell upon the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life, will worship the papal beast. Rev. 13:8. Satan marshals his host for the great battle, not for the purpose of having them destroyed, but that he may by them destroy the people of God from the earth. He seeks to deceive them by the miracles; and then to slay those whom he cannot thus deceive. Satan's final effort to destroy the people of God, through the joint effort of these two wicked powers, is thus distinctly stated: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. 12:17. The persons upon whom Satan makes this war must be the last generation of the people of God. We can see from this text the great cause of his enmity toward the church in the final conflict. These persons are keeping the commandments of God, and this implies that they keep them all, for to break one of them is to become a transgressor. James 2:10. He determines to destroy the commandment-keepers from the face of the earth. Through the first beast he has sought to change the law of God, especially the fourth commandment. Dan. 7:25. Now he stirs up the two beasts to make war upon the people of God. They act in union in fighting against Christ. Rev. 17:14; 19:20. And we know the nature of this conflict in which the false prophet participates by means of his miracles, by what is said concerning the object of these miracles in Rev. 13:14–17. He decrees that all men shall receive the mark, which, as we have shown, is the papal institution of Sunday observance in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord. And this shows the test to which the people of God will be brought with respect to his commandments. What then is it to worship the beast? for this is the most prominent of the acts against which the wrath of God, without mixture of mercy, is denounced; and all the world are to unite in this act. It is worthy of notice that at the conclusion of this dreadful warning the saints are introduced in the act of keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Thus we may understand that the worship of the beast and his image, and the reception of his mark, is the opposite of keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The question which each man must decide is simply this: Shall I acknowledge God by keeping his commandments, or shall I acknowledge the authority of the beast to change the law of God? This will show whom men worship; for whenever any civil or ecclesiastical law conflicts with the law of God, that power is worshiped which is obeyed in preference to the other "Know ye not, to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?" Rom. 6:16. The earth itself is made to worship the beast when it is made to rest from cultivation on the day of his appointment, and is not allowed thus to rest upon the day which God has commanded. Foolish Perplexity.
By Uriah Smith
The blank bewilderment into which grave doctors of divinity run whenever they are obliged to touch upon the doctrine of the second coming of Christ, would be amusing, if it were not so serious and important a subject. The international Sunday-school lesson was recently upon this question as brought to view in Mark 13, and the S. S. Times of Sept. 2, 1882, reports the difficulties in which President Woolsey finds himself involved, as this subject comes in his way. In the course of the prophecy Christ says, "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be done," verse 30; and forthwith expositors begin to stagger helplessly over the declaration. This means, they say, that all that Christ had previously said in reference to his coming, etc., was to take place while those then present were still living; but yet no such coming as predicted did take place in their day. What, then, can be done with the passage? President Woolsey gives up the difficulty as insoluble. If it was left to the future to correct misapprehensions, this would imply, he thinks that the "imperfect apprehensions of the disciples have entered into the gospels." If they were inspired to write the gospels, we imagine all their misapprehensions would have been corrected. The Independent says: "The passage is surrounded with very grave difficulties which the Sunday-school expositor had better look boldly in the face and then pass on." Would it not rather be better for a person when he finds himself following a principle of exegesis, which, when applied to certain passages of Scripture, obliges him to stare at them awhile as "insoluble difficulties," and then pass them by—would it not be better for him under these circumstances to conclude that there is something wrong with his principle of interpretation, and seek a better one, knowing that when the right one is found, what would otherwise be insoluble difficulties in the Scriptures, will be found to be but consistent parts of one harmonious whole. There is said to be in the city of Rome a room whose walls are covered with tracings, which, to the beholder as he enters, appear to be only a mass of inextricable confusion. But when he reaches a certain point in the room, immediately all lines fall into their proper places; well-defined and shapely figures appear in due order and proportion; unity of design is seen throughout the whole; and a series of entrancing views and fairy forms greets the eye, and fills the beholder with delight. So with the Scriptures. When the true point of perspective is reached in a correct system of interpretation, those parts which appeared like inharmonies and insoluble difficulties, assume their proper place and proportion in the prophetic scheme, and all is consistent and clear. That which gives these expositors trouble in our Lord's prophecy concerning his coming, especially, is the declaration, "This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled;" the phrase, "these things," including his second coming with his holy angels in power and great glory. They assume that the words, "this generation," mean those then living whom Christ personally addressed, and no such coming as described428 took place in their day. Then Christ uttered a false prediction, or their system of interpretation is wrong. Think of a Christian's looking the first of these positions boldly in the face and then passing on—yes, passing on with the conviction in his heart, it must be, either that the record of Christ's words is incorrect, or that his words themselves are not to be trusted, and that the New Testament is not an inspired book. What a splendid chance for the infidel to help these men out of their dilemma on this wise: "You are right, Mr. Woolsey, the difficulty is insoluble. The record is incorrect. The prediction was false. The disciples were full of misapprehensions, and these appear as fatal defects in their writings. You might as well take your stand with us openly, as you do virtually, that the New Testament is not inspired, and is hence not only no better than any other book, but not half as good as most other books." But we inquire. Do the words, "this generation," mean those then living, to whom Christ spoke? We venture to affirm that they do not, but that Christ referred in this language to those who would be alive far in the future from his day, when the events predicted were to occur, and who would witness their fulfillment. And in support of this position we offer this law of prophetic language: that in prophecies of consecutive events, concerning long periods of time, the writer passes down with the events as though himself present when they occur, using the present tense for the future, and speaking of the people at different stages in the line of the prophecy by using pronouns of the first and second persons, instead of pronouns of the third person. Examples: "Unto us a child is born." Isa. 9:6. This was a prophecy of the first advent of Christ, uttered over seven hundred years before the event occurred; and here the present tense is used for the future—"is born" instead of "shall be born." Again, "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." Isa. 9:2. This was fulfilled by the preaching of Christ more than seven hundred years afterward, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim, according to Matt. 4:12-16. But here both the present and past tenses are used for the future. In Isa. 61:1, we read: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek," etc. Over seven centuries afterward, Christ, preaching in Nazareth, quoted this very prophecy, and said, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." Yet Isaiah in the prediction uses verbs in the present and past tenses, and a personal pronoun in the first person: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me," etc. Here it is evident that Isaiah goes forward to the time of Christ when this would be fulfilled, and putting himself in the place of Christ, writes as though Christ himself were speaking. So Paul, addressing the church just before the coming of the Lord, uses a pronoun in the second person: "Ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thess. 5:4. Again he uses the first person: "We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:15. But he did not mean himself and associates; for when some of his Thessalonian brethren gathered from this that the day of Christ was imminent, he assured them in the second epistle that the day of Christ was not then at hand, but was far distant from their day, after the development and long career of the great papal apostasy. 2 Thess. 2:1-5. Again he uses similar language in 1 Cor. 15:51, 52: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump." In this he refers not to himself and his personal associates, but to those who would be living when the time should come for the trump of God to announce the revelation of his Son from Heaven. Just in this sense we believe the Lord uses the expression, "this generation;" and then all is easy and plain. He simply goes forward to the time when the great signs of his coming which he foretold should take place, and addresses the generation which should witness them by using a pronoun in the second person: "When ye shall see all these things, know that he [margin] is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation [which shall see these things] shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled." Matt. 24:33, 34. Why do not our divinity physicians fall into trouble over the prophecies quoted above from Isaiah? They cannot, because the fulfillment is plainly recorded in the New Testament. But the very same principle is involved in our Lord's prophecy of his second coming, which now becomes to them such an "insoluble difficulty." It does not fall within the scope of this article to prove, as might easily be done, that the generation is now living to which the language applies, and which is not to pass till the great consummation is witnessed. But is it not deplorable that those who are set for the defense of the gospel, to whom the people look for light and instruction, take a prophecy which applies to our own time, and give it a false application to a time now eighteen hundred years in the past, and, by so doing, involve the Scriptures in a fatal contradiction, to the scandal of Christians and the joy of infidelity? U. S. The Spirit As a Guide.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
WHEN Christ told his disciples that he was about to go away, and that they could not follow him, their hearts were filled with sorrow and anxiety. They dreaded to face an unfriendly world alone. He had been their guide and instructor, and they had learned much from his teachings. They knew of no one who could fill his place. Peter had echoed the sentiments of all the disciples when, in answer to Christ's inquiry if they also would go away, he said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." They knew that no one else could do for them what Jesus had done; and the thought of being separated from him was a sad one. To comfort them, Christ gave them the assurance that he would come again and receive them unto himself, and that by this means they could again be with him. But even this promise was not sufficient, for there would still intervene a long period during which they would be left alone. How could they get along without the presence and counsel of their Lord? Again Jesus meets the difficulty by promising that whatsoever they should ask in his name should be done for them; and he added, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth." John 14:16, 17. This Spirit was to be sent in his name, and was to take his place until his return. Said Christ, "I will not leave you comfortless [orphans]; I will come to you." This coming does not refer to his personal, visible coming, when he will receive his people to himself, but to the Spirit who should come in his name. The Spirit was to be their guide, to prepare them for his coming at the last day. The offices of the Spirit are many; but there is a special one pointed out in this discourse of our Lord. Said he, "These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:25, 26. It is as a teacher that the Spirit is here brought to view. Many persons entertain very erroneous views as to the manner in which the Spirit operates. They imagine that it will teach them something which the Bible does not contain. The Mormons claim that the canon of inspiration is not yet full, but that new and additional truths have been revealed to them. Others who would not for a moment admit this position, make a claim that is in reality the same. When certain Bible truths are presented to them for their observance, they excuse themselves from all responsibility in the matter by saying that they are led by the Spirit of God, and do not feel it their duty to do that particular thing. They say the Spirit was given to guide into all truth; and, consequently, if it was necessary to obey that portion of the Scripture, it would have been brought to their notice. The fact that they do not feel impressed to obey, is proof to their minds that there is no necessity for obedience. To such persons the Bible is of no account; they make its truth depend entirely upon their own feelings. And they actually charge God with the inconsistency of authorizing his Spirit to speak in contradiction of his revealed word. The fact that God cannot lie should convince anyone that his Spirit and his word must always be in harmony. Christ prayed for his disciples, "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." The psalmist David said, "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth." From these passages we learn that when Christ said, "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth," he meant that the Spirit would lead them into a proper understanding of that which had already been revealed. He plainly stated this when he said, "He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." Many things that Christ said were not understood at the time; but they were made plain by the Spirit, after Christ had ascended to Heaven. And it is thus that the Spirit teaches us now; it leads those who are humble and teachable into a proper understanding of the written word of God. Paul gives testimony on this point which is not uncertain. In Eph. 6:13-17, he describes the Christian's armor. The following is the concluding portion: "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Christ said that when the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, should come, he would "reprove [convince] the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." Paul says that "by the law is the knowledge of sin." Both these passages are harmonized by the one quoted from Paul to the Ephesians. The Spirit does indeed convince of sin, but it is by impressing on the minds and hearts of men the claims of God's word. The Bible is the sword, the instrument by which the Spirit pierces the heart and lays bare its wickedness. The Spirit is the active agent, but the word of God is that through which it works. The two always act in unison. We should look with suspicion upon any spirit that counsels opposition to the word of God. John tells us that there are many spirits, and that we are to try them. In Isaiah we are told by what we are to try them: "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them." Isa. 8:20. It is the spirit of darkness that leads men to act contrary to the word of God. Other testimony as to the harmony of the Spirit with the word is reserved for a future article. E. J. W. A NUMBER of the friends and patrons of Healdsburgh College assembled in Oakland, Cal., at the S. D. A. church, Monday, Sept. 11, 1882, at 9:30 A. M., for the purpose of associating themselves in a body corporate in pursuance of the laws of California. W. C. White stated the object of the meeting, and moved that Elder J. H. Waggoner be appointed temporary chairman. The motion was carried, and by vote S. Brownsberger was also appointed to act as secretary pro tem. After the opening exercises, which consisted of singing a hymn, and prayer offered by Eld. U. Smith, subscription of stock was called for. Twenty-one persons subscribed stock, in all, amounting to seven thousand five hundred and forty dollars, over five thousand of which was paid in. At the suggestion of the chairman a committee of three, consisting of S. Brownsberger, Wm. Saunders, and Uriah Smith was elected to draft by-laws. This committee, after some delay, submitted by-laws to the meeting for adoption. By motion the report of the committee was received and acted upon, section by section, and, after making such amendments as were deemed best, the report was adopted as the By-Laws of this body. The election of seven Trustees, to serve until the next annual election in December, was then entered upon. On motion the chairman was empowered to appoint a committee of three to suggest candidates for election. W. C. White, Eld. M. C. Israel, and W. N. Glenn were appointed that committee. The committee after consultation presented the names of the following persons as candidates for election:— Eld. J. H. Waggoner, S. Brownsberger, Eld. M. C. Israel, Wm. Saunders, M. J. Church, John Morrison, and W. C. White. All of whom were elected by ballot. On motion the chairman was authorized to appoint a committee of three to complete the business of incorporation, and also another committee of three to provide a corporation seal, a stock-book, and such other books as the business of the organization may necessitate. F. M. Husted, W. C. White, and Eld. M. C. Israel were appointed the committee on incorporation, and429 W. C. White, Eld. U. Smith, and S. Brownsberger, the Committee to provide the seal and corporation books. The following Articles of Incorporation were also read, voted upon article by article, and unanimously adopted at this meeting:— We, the undersigned, in pursuance of the general provisions of the law of the State of California for the formation of Incorporations, desiring to avail ourselves of the privileges and powers granted and conferred by said law, and to become incorporated under said provisions, do hereby associate ourselves together as a body corporate for the purpose of founding and managing an institution of learning, for the instruction of students of both sexes in the Sciences, Languages, the Holy Scriptures, and Mechanical and Agricultural pursuits, and to instruct females in the theory and practice of general house-keeping, and to hold real estate and erect suitable buildings for the accomplishment of the objects herein named. 1. The name of this Incorporation shall be Healdsburgh College. 2. Its object shall be such as is set forth in the foregoing preamble. 3. It shall be located in the town of Healdsburgh, County of Sonoma, and State of California. 4. The term of the existence of this Incorporation shall be fifty (50) years. 5. The number of Trustees of said Incorporation shall be seven; and the names and residences of the Trustees who are chosen for the first year are as follows:— W. C. White, Oakland, California.
Eld. J. H. Waggoner, Oakland, California.
Wm. Saunders, Woodland, California.
M. J. Church, Fresno, California.
Eld. M. C. Israel, Oakland, California.
John Morrison, Healdsburgh, California.
S. Brownsberger, Healdsburgh, California. 6. The amount of Capital stock of this Incorporation shall be One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000), divided into ten thousand shares (10,000) at ten dollars ($10) each. 7. The amount of stock subscribed is as follows:— |
Dol'rs. |
Shr's. |
|
Dol'rs. |
Shr's. |
|---|
| Wm. Saunders |
100 |
10 |
E. A. Dyke |
20 |
2 |
| Eld. M. C. Israel |
50 |
5 |
S. Baker |
10 |
1 |
| Eld. U. Smith |
10 |
1 |
Eld. J. H. Waggoner |
50 |
5 |
| J. W. Cronkrite |
20 |
2 |
W. C. White |
100 |
10 |
| M. J. Church |
2,000 |
200 |
Mrs. Mary Beatty |
10 |
1 |
| N. C. McClure |
10 |
1 |
S. Brownsberger |
20 |
2 |
| Mrs. F. L. McClure |
10 |
1 |
Mrs. S. Brownsberger |
20 |
2 |
| Jas. J. Hannan |
20 |
2 |
F. M. Husted |
10 |
1 |
| Wm. Beatty |
10 |
1 |
Wm. N. Glenn |
10 |
1 |
| John Morrison |
50 |
5 |
Eld. I. D. Van Horn |
10 |
1 |
| Mary Scott |
5,000 |
500 |
|
|
|
After the adoption of these Articles the meeting adjourned, sine die. J. H. WAGGONER, Chairman.
S. BROWNSBERGER, Secretary. The Small Boy's First Smoke.
I NEVER shall forget the sight of that boy. Somehow or other he had picked up the idea that it was a manly thing to smoke. The older boys thought it was manly. They smoked in the street as they came to school, and as they went home. The small boy felt very small as he saw them doing such a manly thing and reflected that he had never learned how to do it. Somebody had told him that the first smoke would make him dreadfully sick. He asked the bigger boys about this, and they told him that it was even so. But they advised him to try it even if it did make him sick for a day or two, for they had all been sick with it, and had got well again. The idea of being sick was not a pleasant one to the small boy, but he thought he would risk it, for the prospect of soon getting well again was pleasant enough to make up for it. So the small boy got two large cigars. Exactly how and where he got them I never knew, but I think some of the older boys gave them to him. At all events he felt very proud when he got them, and marched off in a happy frame of mind because he was now going to be as big as anybody else, and quite as much of a man. This happened nearly forty years ago, which to some of my young readers may seem a long while; yet the picture of that small boy is photographed on my mind so clearly that it cannot be rubbed out. I saw him after he had enjoyed his smoke on the sly, and unbeknown to his parents. The enjoyment was all over, and it was time for the misery to come along. The misery had come in full force, and had taken possession of the whole boy. The poor fellow was crouching in the shelter of a large cellar door, looking as if he wanted to escape from the sight of every other human being. At best he was not a handsome lad. He had short and bristly red hair, a low forehead, a pug nose, and one squinting eye. His face was covered with freckles, and his mouth was not of a pleasant shape. Now that he was suffering from the effects of the tobacco, every feature showed evidence of pain, and his whole expression was one of most horrible ugliness. He sat doubled up like a jackknife in a position of great discomfort. The frightful groans he was uttering showed the strife that was going on within him. One of the big boys was standing near him, and telling him to be a man and not mind it, for it would soon be over. To the wretched sufferer this was cold comfort. The very ugly little boy continued to writhe, and groan, and twist his face into ever so many uncouth shapes. To look at him anybody would have supposed he had by this time found out all that he needed to learn about smoking, and that he would never touch tobacco again. As for me, I had now seen and learned all I wanted to on the subject. Had every friend I had in the world come to me just then, each one offering me a lot of the choicest Havana cigars, I would not have been tempted by their generosity. It was enough for me to see that suffering little rascal writhe and look ugly, and to know that he had nobody to sympathize with him, and that in addition to the sufferings I had seen, he would yet suffer the thrashing his father would give him on hearing of the transaction. I thought that if smokers had to go through all this sorry experience in order to learn to smoke, they might do so if it made them happy, but I wanted none of it. All the enjoyment to be derived by a boy from making a chimney of himself for the puffing out of ill-smelling smoke, would never pay for going through what that ugly boy was enduring. However manly it might seem to strut around with a cigar, and puff it like a man puffs, and hold it between thumb and finger as a man holds it, and spit as a man spits, that small boy looked anything but manly, and there was nothing in his appearance that looked like leading to manliness. There were a great many reasons why I never learned to use tobacco, but the experience of this awful boy was the one which made the most marked impression on me. Whenever I have been tempted to smoke, the image of that suffering little wretch has come up in my mind so vividly as to discourage me from the attempt. If my first cigar will make me look as he did, and feel as he felt, I will never, never smoke it. And somebody may ask about the boy. Did he ever smoke again, or was that first smoke enough for him? He got over his evil feelings, and learned to smoke and be "manly" like the other boys. He became a clergyman. I met him a few years ago at a railway station. He was in a crowd at the ticket-office, and was selfishly puffing his smoke in other people's faces without asking them whether they liked it or not. The picture of his first smoke came at once to me, and I seemed to see him in all his youthful ugliness. He was a slave to the power of the weed that had at first so badly nauseated him.—Selected. A GOOD many people spend all their life hunting for the place in this world which they were intended to fill. They never settle down to anything with any sort of restful or contented feeling. What they are doing now is not by any means the work that is suited to their abilities. They have a sunny idea of a very noble life which they would like to reach, in which their powers would find free scope, and where they could make a very bright subject. But in their present position they cannot be much of anything, and there is little use to try. Their life is a humdrum and prosy routine, and they can accomplish nothing really worthy and beautiful. So they go on discontented with their own lot and sighing for another; and while they sigh, the years glide away, and soon they will come to an end, to find they have missed every opportunity of doing anything worthy of an immortal being in the passage to eternity. The truth is, one’s vocation is never some far-off possibility. It is always the simple round of duties that the passing hour brings. No day is commonplace if we only had eyes to see its splendor. There is no duty that comes to our hand but that brings to us the possibility of kingly service.—Sunday School Times. Religion and Practical Training
By Horace Bushnell
Religion is that nobler half of life without which nothing stands in a true balance. It wants the same kind of practical training as the other side, and will marvelously help and steady that. —Dr. Bushnell. During the present week an item of business called us to the office of a gentleman in this city who believes that every man has a divine right to take a drink whenever he feels like it, and that the man who does not know enough to stop before he gets drunk is a very inferior specimen of the genus homo, and might as well drink himself to death as not. During the conversation that ensued, the temperance question came in for its share of attention. Some remarks were made by those present about the exhilarating effects of good lager in hot weather, and the folly of attempting by legislation to stop its manufacture and sale. A stranger present said: "A little over a year ago I was in Wisconsin. It was harvest-time. A gang of men were employed by a wealthy farmer to gather a large harvest. The table which this farmer spread before his men was richly laden with everything that heart could wish. In addition to all the substantials and delicacies that the faithful housewife could prepare, I was greatly surprised to find a goblet by each plate filled with rye whisky." The narration of this fact turned the conversation away from beer to whisky, when the gentleman in whose office we were, proceeded to relate the following instance: "Not very long since I was visiting a celebrated distillery not a thousand miles distant from Detroit. The owner of that distillery is professedly a temperance man, and is one of our wealthiest and most influential citizens. The nephew of the proprietor was showing me through the establishment, and taking a good deal of pains to explain everything that I saw. In one part of the institution I noticed two iron tanks about six feet in diameter and four or five feet high. One of these tanks was full and the other about half full of what I supposed to be whisky. Actuated by motives of curiosity, I approached one of the tanks, and was about to examine the contents by touching the surface with my fingers, when the gentleman who was conducting me through the distillery yelled at me at the top of his voice, 'Don't touch that! Don't touch that!' 'Why not,' I said coolly. 'What harm in just touching the surface.' 'Harm,' he ejaculated, excitedly, 'why that will take the end of your finger right off!' 'Take the end of my finger off!' I exclaimed, 'why so? Is that anything more than whisky?' 'Yes,' said he, 'that is something more than whisky. It is fusil oil.' 'Fusil oil!' I ejaculated. 'Fusil oil!' I was startled, for I knew that fusil oil would have done all to my fingers that he had said if I had touched it. It is powerful enough to bite a gun-barrel off. I looked at him somewhat savagely, and said, 'Do you mean to say that you make use of that stuff in the manufacture of your whiskies? Is that the kind of stuff you just offered me to drink?' He had just urged me to try some of his whisky. 'We have some good stuff,' he replied, somewhat meekly. He then went on to explain about as follows: 'To tell you the truth, we have some grain here that is not very good. It was in the warehouse on one of the docks at Chicago at the time of the great fire, and when the dock burned, it ran down into the river. After lying in the river about a year, it was taken out, and we bought it to manufacture into whisky. Of course, after lying in the Chicago River for that length of time, there is not much strength left in it, and we are compelled to make use of fusil oil to tone it up a little.' 'But what do you do with the stuff?' I inquired. 'Oh, we don't know where it is sold,' said he. 'It is all sent East; none of our customers about home get any of it.' 'But,' said I, 'somebody must get it.' 'None of our home customers get any of this,' he repeated. "This," continued our friend, "cured me of whisky drinking."—The Lever.