HERE is a brief record of the zeal of a statistician, most suggestive of the evils which result from the usual indifference to the waifs of society:—
Some of the most curious and remarkable criminal statistics ever obtained have been given to the public by Dr. Harris of New York. His attention was called, some time since, to a county on the upper Hudson, which showed a remarkable proportion of crime and poverty to the whole population—four hundred and eighty of its forty thousand inhabitants being in the records a little, he found certain names continually appearing. Becoming interested in the subject, he concluded to search the genealogies of these families, and, after a thorough investigation, he discovered that from a young girl named “Margaret”—who was left adrift, nobody remembers how, in a village of the county, seventy years ago, and, in the absence of an almshouse, was left to grow up as best she could—have descended two hundred criminals.
As an illustration of this remarkable record, in one single generation of her unhappy line there were twenty children; of these, three died in their infancy and seventeen survived to maturity. Of the seventeen, nine served in the State Prison for high crimes an aggregate term of fifty years, while the others were frequent inmates of jails and penitentiaries and almshouses. The whole number of this girl's descendants, through six generations, is nine hundred, and, besides the two hundred who are on record as criminals, a large number have been idiots, imbeciles, drunkards, lunatics, prostitutes and paupers. A stronger argument for careful treatment of pauper children than these figures could hardly be found.—Springfield Republican.
The End of the World.
By H. Wren
BEFORE hearing directly upon the subject, I had made up my mind to something like a conclusion that the end of the world must be near from a process of reasoning somewhat as follows: All things are governed by laws; and great events do not come to pass by accident; though their causes may often be unobserved.
This law applies to God in all his actions, and to all the movements of history, as much as to those matters which constitute the materials of science. Nothing takes place in history until history is ready for it; and God will perform no act—not even the least, certainly not such a one as the destruction of the human race—until the proper time has come for that act to be done.
What condition of the affairs of this world would indicate that its destruction might not be out of keeping with that fitness of things which reason always requires for its assent? Such a condition would appear likely to be that in which God could prevail on no more of the inhabitants of the world to keep his law nor persuade them to accept of his mercy; and when sin had become enthroned to such an extent in terrestrial affairs that he would be virtually excluded from a place among men.
Such a condition appeared to me to be well nigh reached in the history of the present times. God seems to have made the circuit of the world seeking to establish his laws and to lavish his mercies. He began far in the East, at the very spot where the race began its westward course around the world. He pleaded with men there until they reached a point where they did not like to retain him in their thoughts, and he gave them up to themselves; then to the west directed his course, in search of men who would be willing to retain him in their minds, and his last efforts have been and still are being made on the extreme verge of the world to which revolution and migration have driven men. For three hundred years he seems to have almost exhausted even divine love and power in Western Europe and America, and at last the people of these lands appear to have become weary of him, and turned, or are about to turn, from him. Where shall he go when once the western world joins the Orient in a universal rejection of his authority and mercy? Will he return to the Old World? There does not seem to be good reason to believe he ever returns to a nation when once he has abandoned it. Will he visit some new and rising empire to sow the seeds of truth in soil not preoccupied? There is no such a rising empire; no new people is forming on the face of the earth; and there is no room for any to form; the world is full; the end is reached geographically; and neither men nor God can find a place in this world for further empire. Breathless we sit and think. What next? A point is reached where a conflict seems not improbable. Will God retire from the earth and leave it in undisturbed possession of his enemies, or will he seize, by an act of power, a world which he cannot induce, by goodness and mercy, to obey him? Reason here adopts the conclusion that he will, in such a crisis, justify the shout of universal intelligences, “The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth,” which inspiration teaches is to rise almost amid the very fires of the last day. H. WREN.
Knox Co. Mo., May 23, 1875.
“Genius of Toleration.”
By Wm. Penniman
The following, which is copied from the Church Union, shows that the Jews are attempting to conquer the “spirit of intolerance;” but they will learn that even a $30,000 dollar statue will not impede the progress of the intolerant spirit, or overthrow the prophecy of Rev. 13 : 11-17.
Wm. Penniman.
“The Hebrew citizens of the United States are preparing a statue to be placed in Fairmount Park, during the Centennial exhibition. The central figure is named the Genius of Toleration. It is an erect female figure, eight feet high. In her left hand she holds the Constitution. The right is outspread, protecting a youthful figure underneath, which stands with clasped hands and upturned eyes and represents Religion. The main figure is clothed in armor, but the mantle of peace descends from the left shoulder to the right foot, and at her foot is an American eagle grasping in his talons the conquered spirit of Intolerance. The pedestal and statue will stand twenty feet in height, and will cost thirty thousand dollars. The sculptor, Mr. Ezekiel, a Jew is a native of Richmond, Va., but his studio is in Rome.”
THE GREAT INVITATION.
Attend, my friends and neighbors,
A moment to my call;
I have an invitation,
I give it unto all;
A splendid exhibition
Is shortly to begin;
I'll give you a description,
And urge you to come in.
A theater capacious,
Twelve thousand furlongs square,
Stands on its twelve foundations
Of precious jewels rare;
The ceiling is of jasper,
The floor of purest gold;
Oh, be prepared to view it!
Its glories can't be told.
Almost six-thousand seasons,
With unexampled cost,
The feast has been preparing;
There has no time been lost;
'Twill shortly now be ready;
Oh, then do not delay!
Be sure to gain admittance,
And oh! apply to-day.
It needs no light of candle,
Nor yet of silver moon,
The sun will be confounded,
When at the brightest noon,
The glories of the Bridegroom
Shall far outvie his rays
Throughout the spacious building
In one unclouded blaze.
Ask you of the conditions,
And who may take a share?
The King makes free provisions,
And all are welcome here;
The king, the lord, the debtor,
The bondman, and the slave;
Do but apply in season,
Admittance you shall have. —Sel.
Rome in Europe and America.
Rome needs all the consolation she can get from subservient legislators and civic authorities in the United States and Canada to console her for the great losses she is incurring in Europe.
1st. She has lost the temporal power to which she clung and still clings with deathlike tenacity.
2d. There is the disbandment of communities and monastic orders, including the Jesuits in Italy.
3d. Roman Catholics in Russia appear to be turning over to the orthodox Russian Church, of which the Czar is the head.
4th. Germany bids fair to become, in some respects, like England under Henry VIII. By the short process of enacting and enforcing laws, the ecclesiastics of Rome are to be brought into submission to the State, or deprived of their revenues, and banished. Germany is not willing to pay and protect her worst enemies whilst plotting against her. The apprehended renewal of the conflict with France renders it specially necessary for Germany to guard against internal enemies, and Bismarck is fully equal to Henry VIII. for determination and courage. Of course he runs great danger of assassination, for the spirit of Rome, like the spirit of slavery and the spirit of liquor-selling, sticks at nothing.
Altogether the vast power of the Papal See seems to be getting pretty well pared down in Europe, and in these circumstances it would not be altogether astonishing if the pope should advise his devoted adherents in Italy and Germany to emigrate to the United States.
But while the pope’s temporal power and his grasp on all Europe for three hundred years is waning and crumbling away, and his minions are taking umbrage in the homes of a free people, many a Censer reader may feel disposed to let this powerful hater of all liberty plant his forces in our midst without apprehending any danger. But “the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” Through fire and blood the noble founders of this nation marched into the possession of that freedom which the pope in Rome and the cardinal in America are ever vigorously assailing. Let none of us be deceived, says the New York Witness, by the fact that in England and America, Rome’s lands of promise, she is seemingly decent and lamb-like. In these countries she is not herself at all; she is biding her time. The whole world should be often told that the Italian Gavazzi, or the French-Canadian Chiniquy, dare not, except by risking their lives, declare the truth in sections where Rome is supreme. There is no freedom of speech in this nineteenth century where Rome bears rule. In Mexico, the Romanish home, our Protestant missionaries are murdered in cold blood. Stones assail the head of Chiniquy in Lower Canada. Let us not be deceived; violence is still Rome’s weapon. When our war was going on, Cardinal McCloskey’s master sent his blessing to Jeff Davis and the Southern Confederacy. It didn’t avail much. It was natural that the pope, himself the mightiest slaveholder of all, should cast in his lot with those misguided Americans who struggled to keep the African in chains. God be praised that we triumphed against both pope and slaveholder.
For three hundred years two systems have existed side by side. By their fruits let them be judged. Italy is at last redeeming herself from the thraldom of Rome. Our Bibles thick as snowflakes are being scattered through that kingdom. The light of God’s Book makes the Vatican uncomfortable. The old gentleman who claims to do the thinking for mankind has some thoughts of moving. His temporal power is gone. Why should not the nations rejoice. Shall we encourage him or his cardinal troop here in this land of the Puritans? God forbid. The first thing he would do in getting power among us would be to hew down our liberty trees and burn our Bibles, and fulminate his anathemas against our institutions. We have no occasion longer to try these spirits of Rome. Cardinal McCloskey will be expected to work harder than ever against our Bible, our schools and institutions.
Sons of America, your ancestors left the old world to enjoy freedom from Rome in the new. Let the cardinal’s hat be a reminder to us all of our origin and our destiny, and, unless we shut our eyes, we can not fail to see the fearful progress this enemy of our liberty is making. Perhaps we cannot place a clearer view of existing facts before the Censer readers, and in so small a compass, as in the following table of increase of Romanism in the U. S. from 1790 to 1875.
Never say you will do presently what your conscience tells you should be done now. No man ever shaped his own destiny, or the destiny of others, wisely and well, who dealt much in presentlies. Look at nature; she never postpones. When the time arrives for the buds to open, they open—for the leaves to fall, they fall. Look upward; the shining worlds never put off their rising or their settings. The comets, even, erratic as they are, keep their appointments, and eclipses are always punctual to the minute. There are no delays in any of the movements of the universe which have been predetermined by the absolute fiat of the Creator. Procrastination among the stars might involve the destruction of innumerable systems; procrastination in the operations of nature on this earth might result in famine, pestilence, and the blotting out of the human race.
Man, however, being a free agent, can postpone the performance of his duty—and he does so, too, frequently to his own destruction. The drafts drawn by indolence upon the future are pretty sure to be dishonored. Make now your banker. Do not say you will economize presently, for presently you may be bankrupt; nor that you will repent or make atonement presently, for presently you may be judged. Bear in mind the important fact, taught alike by the history of nations, rulers, and private individuals, that in at least three cases out of five, presently is too late!
Crime Unabated and Unabating.
By Uriah Smith
Bro. Wood, of Boston, has sent us a copy of the Boston Daily Herald of May 24, 1875, the statements of which suggest and justify the heading of these lines. It will be sufficient to quote the headings of some of the paragraphs as they stand in dark array in its columns from the first page to the last, giving a panorama of the moving world of to-day:—
“Distressing tragedy in Barrington, N. H. A man accidentally killed by his son, while firing at burglars.”
“The tragedy at Pittsfield.” One of a company of young men, all under the influence of liquor, deliberately shoots another with a revolver.
“A wife-beater falls dead while making his escape.”
“A Sabbath-day horror. A terrible tragedy in Warren Avenue. A five-year-old girl the inoffending victim. Attempt to conceal the body in the belfry.” This case is more fully noticed in another column.
“Bold assault in Temple Place.”
“The Osceola Fire. Loss much greater than at first reported. Thieves at work.”
“The grasshopper plague. Kansas City visited by the pests. Citizens destroying them by the bushel.”
“Another crisis threatened in France.”
“Conflagration in Lexington, Ky. Loss $100,000.”
“Portland banker in trouble. Cheating on false pretenses.”
“Murder in Pittsfield. A teamster shot dead by a truckman, without provocation.”
“An intoxicated woman pursued by roughs.”
“Sad sequel to the Abraham Jackson defalcation . Isaac C. Jackson, aged 75, bondsman, dies in consequence. So the drama deepens into tragedy.”
“The Sabbath-day horror” again. More about the Mabel Young murder.
“Extraordinary scene in Fulton's church in Brooklyn. The pastor publicly accused of lying.”
“Three children starved to death near Sedalia, Mo.”
“Another attempted murder. A young woman fiendishly assaulted in Summer street.”
Is not this sufficient for the record which one journal furnishes of one day's doings? We submit the question to the candid decision of the reader whether or not we have reached days like the days of Noah, when the earth was filled with violence, Gen. 6:11, or like the days of Lot, when the inhabitants of the wicked cities of the plain were filled with lust. Gen. 19; Luke 17:26-29. We may depend upon it, this is a true feature of the days wherein the Son of man shall be revealed. U. S.
The Whole Counsel of God.
By J. H. W.
Paul said he had not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God. A failure in this respect is often fatal to both speaker and hearer; to writer and reader. We are persuaded that the disagreement and confusion in the world—the theological and denominational differences—are largely owing to a partial or one-sided presentation of truth. Men build up theories on certain classes of texts, without regard to the direct teachings of other texts. Plausible inferences are drawn which are contradicted by Scripture. So we might deny the divinity of Christ by quoting the text in which he is called “the man Christ Jesus,” and ignoring other scriptures which speak further of his nature. Again, we might deny his humanity, and hence the incarnation, by quoting John 1:1-3, and shutting our eyes to all testimony but that. But the whole truth is found by bringing the two classes of texts together, by which it is shown that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
Those theories which are thus built upon a one-sided view or partial presentation of truth, are as erroneous as though they were not built upon Scripture at all. This is not a harsh judgment, though it may seem to be so. For, by hiding the full intent of the Scriptures, they are perverted, and thus made to teach dangerous error. And oftentimes such error is more dangerous than that which is not based on Scripture at all; a perversion or abuse of Scripture is worse than even a neglect of Scripture. An error having a perversion of Scripture for its foundation is the most dangerous of all errors. It is an error having the apparent sanction of Scripture to sustain it. It is the very worst form of deception, because our reverence for the authority of Scripture is made to serve the cause of error.
We were led to this train of thought by receiving a letter from Davenport, Iowa (not for publication), in which the writer takes exceptions to the “Declaration of Principles” put forth by Seventh-day Adventists, accusing us of inconsistency and of contradicting the Scriptures, because we declare our belief that “God is eternal, infinite in wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, truth, and mercy; unchangeable,” &c., and again speak of the time when “the work of mercy for the world is finished.”
1. Our correspondent wishes us to re-examine our ground—“to examine carefully the ground you occupy in relation to the mercy of God, which you say is infinite, terminating at the coming of Jesus Christ,” &c.
If we had ever said that the mercy of God will terminate at the coming of Christ, or at any other time, there would be just ground for strong condemnation of our language. We are firm in the belief that “his mercy endureth forever.” But that his “work of mercy” for a class or for certain individuals will be finished, is plainly taught in the Bible. See the manifestation of that mercy as recorded in Ps. 136:13-15. He divided the Red Sea, and made Israel to pass through it, “but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea; for his mercy endureth forever.” Was it mercy toward the Egyptians that caused him to overthrow them in the Red Sea? No; it was a judgment on them, for the deliverance of his people, toward whom his mercy was manifested.
2. The writer says that the anger of God is temporary, and “endureth only for a moment.” Then he must admit that it is consistent with the eternal mercy of God that he is angry with the wicked. Is anger a demonstration of mercy or of justice? Is it not evident that infinite justice, which we also ascribe to God, demands some action toward sin and sinners? And what is it? A correct answer to this will show when his anger will cease. “For yet a very little while and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.” Isa. 10:25. “All the wicked will he destroy.” Ps. 145:20. “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction.” 2 Thess. 1:9. And very many others.
3. We are referred to the fact that Christ died for all. We were aware of it, and also that some are wicked enough to “deny the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” Jesus is the only Saviour, who grants repentance and the remission of sin; but the time will come when he will resign the office of mediator, and come, “taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
4. He quoted that “God is the God of salvation.” True; and they who accept his salvation will partake of it eternally. And he has set forth his Son Jesus that through faith in his blood we may receive remission of sins that are past, “that he may be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” Rom. 3:26. He was given, that “whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. “He that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark 16:16. The text which says he is a God of salvation, is true, and it presents the truth in one light. That which says, “Our God is a consuming fire,” is also true; and it is just as much infidelity to deny the second as the first. Fire shall descend from the presence of God, and destroy the wicked. Ps. 97:3; Rev. 20:9; Mal. 4:1.
5. The writer says God will destroy sin and sinners, which we verily believe; and that he will do this “through death.” But here he mistakes. It was through the death of Christ that this is effected. Jesus by dying and rising from the dead obtained power over him who had power over death. As the “enemy” of his saints, death will be destroyed. But our friend says death will be destroyed by “rising from the dead all that have been destroyed by death,” for he says when they are raised from the dead they will all live forever. This is not scriptural. Paul says there will be a resurrection of the unjust. Christ says that the evil-doers will come forth to the resurrection of damnation. Again, Paul says of the righteous, they will be raised incorruptible; but of the wicked, they shall reap corruption. 1 Cor. 15, and Gal. 6. And Revelation says that they who do not have part in the first resurrection will suffer the “second death.” Rev. 20. The “blessed and holy” have part in the first resurrection. The unjust and unholy come forth to the resurrection of damnation, and to the second death. This harmonizes all the Scriptures; and reconciles mercy and justice, and does violence to neither.
6. He says God’s “purpose” in creating man was that he should have dominion over the earth, and this is said, “not of one man, but of the race; not a single exception,” &c. But both man and the earth were cursed after this purpose was declared. Now we believe in the redemption, by which the curse will be removed; and the just, the believers in Christ, and they who fear God, will have this “purpose” fulfilled in them. “The meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” “But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.” “For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.” Ps. 37:11, 20, 22; &c.
7. We also believe that Christ came to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself; and we believe this is done in all them who cease to sin; who are justified by faith; who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. They will reign with him forever. But to them who do not believe; who deny the Lord that died for them; who count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing; who do despite to the Spirit of grace, there is reserved tribulation and anguish, indignation and wrath; for they “treasure up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” Rom. 2.
8. We also believe the time will come when there will be no more curse. And that will be when the enemies of the Lord are cut off; when the wicked are destroyed; when they are even as if they had not been. And this is a proof of the mercy of God, working with justice. Infinite justice will be honored. “The wages of sin is death.” Justice will be satisfied with the execution of the sentence. And mercy will rejoice that sin and suffering are not perpetuated by the power of the Almighty. We hail with joy the thought that the time will come when the universe will be purified from the defilement of sin; when every creature in Heaven, and in the earth, and in the sea, shall give glory and honor to Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb.
Our friend, who says he belongs to no party, has shown considerable familiarity with the Scriptures, and ingenuity in presenting a theory. But we are certain that he cannot harmonize the Bible with his view, and we invite him candidly to examine both sides of the question, and to discard that theory which virtually ignores one class of texts, and which, professing to exalt the mercy of God, really dishonors him by commuting his justice. May the Spirit of God guide him into all truth. J. H. W.
Why We Reject It.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
OUR reasons for rejecting the common doctrine of the immortality of the soul and conscious state of the dead are many and strong.
1. We reject it because the Bible nowhere teaches it; and this is sufficient ground for the rejection of any doctrine.
2. We reject it because it is the very cornerstone and foundation of the blasphemous doctrine of modern spiritualism. The assumption of the immortality of the soul and conscious existence after death, is the thing upon which spiritualism is built. Spiritualists are simply carrying out the legitimate results of Christian teaching upon this point.
Ministers often say that our departed friends are not dead, that their departed spirits are hovering around us, that they know what we are doing or saying. They often relate cases where they claim that departed spirits have been seen and talked with. If this is so, why should not these friends seek to communicate with the living? Why is it unreasonable that they should? Why is it wrong? Having gone thus far they cannot reasonably refuse to go farther and admit just what spiritualists claim. Thousands and millions of them are rapidly doing this.
3. We reject it because it is the very foundation of the doctrine of eternal torment, a doctrine181which is at once unscriptural, unreasonable, and a blasphemy against the character of God, and one which has driven multitudes to infidelity. Reader, did you ever seriously consider the horrors of an orthodox hell, such a hell to last eternally, and conscious, sensitive souls, embracing the majority of mankind, to be kept in a burning hell millions upon millions of ages? What is the use of such a hell? It certainly cannot benefit the bad for they are lost beyond hope. Can the merciful God delight in such a scene? Will it add to the happiness of the angels? Is it necessary in order to keep the saints in subjection? Who can defend this awful doctrine and still justify the ways of God to men? Reader, you know that the enlightenment of this age will not tolerate this horrid doctrine longer. It has got to be given up either tacitly or squarely. Few ministers openly preach it any more. Why not be frank and honest, and squarely renounce what no one believes, but what is a reproach to God and the Bible? What is more reasonable than that God should destroy the wicked, turn them back to dust, and let their miserable existence cease? Let us reason together, saith the Lord.
4. We reject it because it is the foundation for universalism, a doctrine which is squarely subversive of the Bible, and the pure religion of Jesus Christ. It justifies sin and lulls the sinner into fatal security. But universalism is the natural rebound from eternal torment. Granting the immortality of the soul, it is the only escape from an endless hell. But it is the height of presumption and absurdity, as well as a square contradiction of the plainest Bible teachings. The assumption that vile, hardened, and unrepenting sinners, who have spent their life in cursing God and abusing his people, should be taken right into the joys of Heaven, we reject in the name of the Bible and reason.
5. We reject this doctrine because it is the very foundation of purgatory, that abominable doctrine upon which priests and popes have fattened for ages. If the dead are sleeping in their graves, then purgatory is a lie.
6. We reject the doctrine of the conscious state of the dead because it is unreasonable and undesirable. It teaches that the body is not the real man, that the real person is an immaterial, invisible sort of an essence, thinner than the lightest air. What can there be desirable in such an existence? Who delights to think of a friend in such a form? You can neither handle them, touch them, nor embrace them. Again, what kind of a Heaven must it be for our dead friends if they know all that is transpiring upon the earth. A mother dies, leaving a family of small children in poverty. They are scattered here and there, left to hunger and suffer. They are whipped and abused, and knocked around from pillar to post. They come up without education, and they learn only vice and crime. They live disgraceful lives which end in shame. How must that mother feel if she sees all this? She sees them hungering, but cannot feed them; sees them abused, but cannot interfere; hears their cries, but cannot relieve them. She sees them coming up in a way which she knows will end in shame here and eternal torment hereafter, yet she is powerless to lift her finger or speak a word. That were hell itself to the heart of a loving mother.
Again, a mother is saved, but her children, bone of her bone, flesh of her flesh, whom she has nursed, fed, cherished, and loved dearer than life itself, these children are cast into the burning flames before her eyes. She knows it, she sees it. While she is in Heaven she knows they are in hell. After she has been there one thousand years she thinks of her children. Where are they? Writhing in the torments of hell. Ages roll on, and still she remembers that down there in a lake of fire are her offspring at this very moment suffering untold agonies of devouring fire. Reader, is that desirable? No; indeed. We have a better God than that.
7. We reject this doctrine because the doctrine of the sleep of the dead is not only scriptural, but reasonable and beautiful. It teaches that at death, all, both old and young, both saint and sinner, quietly rest in the grave till the resurrection. While the saints are not in Heaven, the wicked are not in torment. What is there so terrible about this? To those in sound sleep there is no lapse of time. Abel’s sleep will seem no longer to him than to the saint who has been dead but a year. See that anxious mother watch over her restless, crying baby. She rocks it and sings to it till at last it falls into a sleep. Softly she lays it in the cradle, and remarks, The little dear has now forgotten all its troubles. It is asleep. Is that terrible? Is that something to be dreaded? After the cares, labors, and anxieties of the day, how sweet to lie down and forget it in quiet slumber! Do you dread that? Do you call it awful? No. Why, then, should we think it a strange thing, a thing to be dreaded, that we should quietly, sweetly sleep in death till the Lifegiver comes? Then when the trump of God shall sound, all the saints of every age, and from every nation, shall awake and come up again. Husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, shall all arise together to meet the Lord in the air. Then with Jesus and all the holy angels, they shall ascend to the shining gates of Heaven. At the same time and all together, the redeemed hosts march into the celestial city. What a grand day of triumph that will be! How much more beautiful this than for the saints silently to pass off to Heaven one at a time, and leave their friends behind as the common theory teaches. Brethren, the doctrine of the sleep of the dead is one of the most reasonable and beautiful of all the doctrines of the Bible.
8. We reject the conscious state of the dead because it utterly subverts other fundamental doctrines of the Bible. First: The Judgment. Nothing is more plainly, emphatically, and repeatedly taught in the Bible than that there will be a day of general Judgment in the end of the world, in which all men, good and bad, shall be judged, and then rewarded according to their deeds. But if the righteous go immediately to Heaven at death, and the wicked to hell, what is the use of a future Judgment? How absurd the idea that, after a soul has been in hell or Heaven for thousands of years, God should call it up to Judgment, and solemnly sit in judgment upon it to decide whether it should be saved or damned! Such a scene could be nothing but a solemn farce. No, brethren, God’s word is more consistent than that. Secondly: The second advent. If the righteous go to Heaven at death, right into the presence of Christ, and God, and glory, what care they for the second advent of Christ. They are saved, they are immortal, they are with the angels, they are in the presence of God and their Redeemer; they are pure and happy. Then why should they long for the second advent of Christ to the earth? No; they would not.
It is a noticeable fact that those who hold this doctrine are gradually but surely coming to ignore the doctrine of the personal second coming of Christ. They have no place for it in their theory, and hence, consistently drop it out. But how different when we come to the Bible. There it is everything. There it is longed for, and prayed for. There it is held up as a terror to the wicked, and the great hope of the righteous. A theory which subverts such a great fundamental doctrine as this should be rejected, and by the grace of God we do reject it. Thirdly: The resurrection. If the soul can live separate from, and independent of, the body; if it can think, and live, and act; if it can be like the angels; if this body is simply a prison-house, a cage in which it is tied down; if the soul is more free separate from the body than in the body, then when the spirit has once gained its freedom from this clog of clay, why should this body ever be resurrected, and the soul thrust into it again? Of what use will be the resurrection? There could be no sense in it whatever. Hence, again, those who believe in the immortality of the soul place but little stress upon the resurrection. D. M. C.
Our Mission to the World.
By James White
If the message of Rev. 14: 9-12, be what we have taught—and we are confident that we have not been mistaken in the nature of this work—then we have a world-wide message which is yet to reach “many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” And if this work is to increase, and soon reach proportions, power, and light, properly illustrated by the angel that John saw “come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory,” may we not now expect to see evidences in the different nations of the preparatory work for that glorious final triumph of the truth of God?
Most interesting reports have come from Eld. J. N. Andrews, missionary to Europe. The reports possess great interest to the general reader; but that, just now, in a providential way, there is found such a body of well-instructed, well-tried, devoted, and intelligent Christian Sabbath-keepers in Prussia is a matter of thrilling interest to all the especial friends of the cause. This intelligence gives great encouragement to all who wish a part in missionary work. Those who accept fully and intelligently the positions of Seventh-day Adventists upon the messages of the fourteenth chapter of Revelation, in connection with other portions of that book, will see in the extension of the message to the nations, and the providential hand of God in the work, evidences of the soon accomplishment of the great work of the last message, and consequently of the soon coming of Christ, which rank highest among the signals, that that day is at hand. Prophecy must and will be fulfilled. The last warning to prepare must be given. The coming of Christ and the last Judgment hasten on. Now, while the day lasts, is the time to work. We may circulate our publications, and use our means to help the cause now. Soon it will be too late.
The president of our General Conference has ordered the value of $500 in United States currency from the Missionary Treasury at Battle Creek, Mich., to Eld. Andrews to use in meeting the general wants of the cause in Europe. Our brethren in the States raised $4,000 some three years since for this very purpose. It has been waiting, and $3,000 still wait to be judiciously used in foreign missionary work. Let our friends in Europe be taught the importance of doing what they can to carry on the work, while our American brethren should hold themselves ready with willing hands and cheerful hearts to do the rest. J. W.
A Most Fiendish Murder.
By Uriah Smith
A LITTLE girl, Mabel H. Young, five years of age, was most wantonly and brutally murdered in Boston, Mass., on Sunday, May 23, at the Baptist church, in the vicinity of Chester Park, at the conclusion of the Sunday-school exercises, while the church was still thronged with people, and, finally, by the sexton of the church himself! These facts, array them as we will, present a climax of horror hard to be paralleled. The little child, being missed soon after the service, by her aunt, in whose care she attended the place, search was made for her, and she was shortly found in the lofty belfry, with her skull crushed and face horribly mangled, the instrument employed being a heavy club. Of this most astonishing phase of crime the Detroit Evening News says:—
“Another horrible murder!
“Scene, Boston, the boasted center of American culture.
“More precisely, the vicinity of Chester Park, one of the most respectable, and indeed aristocratic, quarters of the city.
“In fact, a Baptist church, on the corner of two highly respectable thoroughfares—much as Woodward avenue and Winder street might be in Detroit.
“Time: Sabbath afternoon; Sabbath-school just dismissed, and the building still thronged with teachers and children.
“Victim, an innocent child of five years.
“The grand-daughter of one of Boston’s most prominent merchants.
“Murderer, the trusted sexton of the church.
“Object, none.
“When this pass is reached, whose life is safe?
“What place a sanctuary?
“Parents! friends of humanity! social scientists! Christians! what will you do—what can be done, to stop this brutal, savage thirst for human blood, with which our sensibilities are almost daily shocked?”
The Boston Herald says in reference to this event:—
“Parents may well tremble when even the Sabbath sanctuary becomes a place for the slaughter of the innocents.” U. S.