The regular monthly meeting of the Oakland Health and Temperance Club was held in the S. D. A. Church, Sunday evening, Feb. 15, 1880.
No special inducements were held out to secure a large attendance, yet a goodly number assembled at the appointed time to show their interest in this good work.
The programme for the evening was as follows:—
Singing, “A Better Day is Coming.” Congregation.
Prayer.
Secretary's report of last meeting.
Reading new Constitution and By-Laws.
Song, “Moonlight on the Lake.” Quartette.
Essay, “Temperance.” Miss. B. C. Stickney.
Singing, “Temperance Rally.” Congregation.
Address by the Leader.
Distributing Certificates to Members.
Song, “Good Time Coming.” Quartette.
Select Readings. J. E. White.
Song, “Tobacco, written for this occasion.” Male Quartette.
Passing Pledge Papers, Remarks, etc.
Singing, “Overcoming.” Congregation.
The exercises occupied about an hour and a half and were listened to with marked attention.
Six persons signed the pledge, making a total of 101 now belonging to the Club.
The new Constitution and By-Laws for local clubs were adopted as a whole.
The long looked-for Certificates for those who had signed the Teetotal Pledge having arrived, they were distributed to those that had paid the initiation fee. These Certificates are beautiful in themselves and would be an ornament to any parlor. We hope to see them on the walls of very many in this place.
Heretofore it has been impossible to hold regular monthly meetings, but we feel determined to push the work more vigorously, and if possible, hold our meetings regularly every month.
We see the evils of intemperance on every hand, how it is sapping at the very foundation of society, and we feel that there is great importance attached to this work. We believe it to be the duty of every man, woman and child, to do all in their power to stay this mighty evil, and if possible, eradicate it from our land.
We want to see every member of our Club actively engaged in this work, and to this end it is purposed to appoint two or more persons at each meeting to prepare something of general interest for the next meeting. By this means we hope to make our meetings lively and interesting and not have to depend upon outside help, altogether.
As a result of this meeting we are happy to state that four young men laboring in the Pacific Press office, who were addicted to the use of that filthy weed, tobacco, have signed the Anti-Rum and Tobacco Pledge.
Altogether the meeting was one of encouragement and profit, and we hope to see many more of the same kind.
C. H. JONES, Secretary.
ONE-IDEA MEN.
PEOPLE who work earnestly in any reform are sometimes called one-idea people. The phrase is complimentary; a man with one idea and that a good one is much better than a man with no ideas at all, or with a number of very poor ones. Paul was a “one-idea man” who determined to know nothing but Christ, who said: “This one thing I do, . . . I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” The world is indebted to men of one idea for its inventions, its discoveries, and its great moral and religious reformations. A boy may scatter powder along a curb-stone and then set fire to it. A flash follows, that is all. The same quantity of powder put into a pistol sends a ball straight to its mark. Many a man lives such a purposeless life, that it amounts to no more than the flash. The same amount of energy concentrated on some one worthy object would be a power for good that would be felt. We like to see men have one true idea or good purpose, and live for it.
Look for example at the one idea of temperance, and try to measure it. Is it a narrow or shallow idea? How many interests of our daily life does it touch? Narrow! It is broad enough to touch every home in our land. There are diseases that are epidemic but they are confined to certain localities. But look north, south, east, or west, and we see the rum-fiend at work, blighting homes and breaking hearts. Shallow! It is high enough and deep enough to touch heaven above and the world of darkness below. It is almost too trite to be repeated, that most of the death-bed and State prison confessions of criminals give liquor drinking as the cause of ruin of both body and soul.
This temperance idea reaches out and touches our financial interests. It deals with the question whether thousands of men shall continue to be what they are now, consumers and destroyers simply, or become producers. And whether large numbers of farmers, who are producers, shall have their produce turned into a curse by being made into intoxicants, or be helpers in society.
It reaches down into the pocket of every man, woman and child. Intemperance takes from the pockets of the many and puts into the pockets of the few. It takes the hard-earned results of useful toil, and puts them into the pockets of worse than useless greed. It lays a tax on every house and shop and inch of land, to pay for the mischief done by the few in pauper and criminal making. The question of temperance or intemperance is one that touches society in all its interests and relations. If our temperance men are one-idea men, their idea has a breadth and hight and depth that may well make them feel that their object in living is a worthy one.—The Christian.
TEMPERANCE DEPARTMENT.
A FANATICAL MAN.
KIND friend put your glass on the table
Untouched, and listen to me.
You say I'm a temperance fanatic—
Mayhap I have reason to be.
It is years since we parted at college,
Let us talk over times passed away,
And see of companions and class-mates,
Who's dead, and who's living to-day.
There were ten of us came off together :
Here are two—now what of the eight ?
But a few days ago I saw William—
He who beat us all in debate.
He was rich, you know; now he is needy.
I asked where his fortune all went;
He tipped up a glass as he answered,
"I drank it down so—every cent."
Then Ralph, who bore the first honor,
He took to the bar, as you know,
But another bar claimed his attention,
And business progressed rather slow.
He died of the tremens, poor fellow!
His talents would rank with the first,
And to think of his dying ere forty—
A prey to the demon of thirst.
Then Bob, irrepressible Robert—
Who always took lead in our fun—
The gayest and wildest of fellows,
Yet the kindest and best hearted one.
Well, he went to prison—life sentence;
He took too much liquor one day,
And a spree, that began in good feeling,
Ended up with a stabbing affray.
Then there was that young prince of topers,
That high-headed Archibald West;
He never was known to be tipsy,
Yet he drank more than all of the rest.
Ah! he's reaping the crop of his sowing—
His son loves the cup, and has not
A stomach of steel like his father,
And already the boy is a sot.
I made Tom a visit last summer,
You remember Tom—quiet and mild.
Well, he makes the most fretful of husbands;
I pity his wife and his child.
He's pleasant enough in the evening,
As he sips his hot toddy and ale,
But all the forenoon he's a terror—
Cross, headache, snappish and pale.
And George—who was called Claus Adonis—
Who turned women's head with a smile,
That straight-limbed and graceful Apollo,
Who took a "dram once in a while."
Oh, Charles, you could scarcely believe it,
But the fellow's a sight to behold;
His nose is as red as a lobster,
He's bloated, and blear-eyed, and old.
Then Herbert—he's traveling somewhere.
But one more remains—Henry Lee;
And you know, from the deck of a steamer
He fell, and was lost out at sea.
A friend, who was with him, since told me
That Hank was light-headed from drink,
And that's how he so lost his balance;
'Twas the general opinion, I think.
So, Charles, when I name o'er our class-mates
Who all tipped the glass now and then,
I think that woes might have been saved them
If they had been temperance men.
You, I own, seem untouched by drink's dangers.
Yet your future we neither can scan,
And I really feel safer for being
A very fanatical man.
WHEN DOES THE SIN COMMENCE?
By John Bright
To drink deeply—to be drunk—is a sin; this is not denied. At what point does the taking of strong drink become a sin? The state in which the body is when not excited by intoxicating drink is its proper and natural state; drunkenness the state farthest removed from it. The state of drunkenness is a state of sin. At what state does it become sin? We suppose a man perfectly sober who has not tasted anything that can intoxicate; one glass excites him, and to some extent disturbs the state of sobriety, and so far destroys it; another glass excites him still more; a third fires his eye, loosens his tongue, inflames his passion; a fourth increases all this; a fifth makes him foolish and partly insane; a sixth makes him a savage; a seventh or eighth makes him stupid—a senseless, degraded mass; his reason is quenched, and his faculties are for a time destroyed. Every noble and generous principle within him withers, and the image of God is polluted and defiled. This is sin, awful sin; for drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But where does the sin begin? At the first glass, at the first step towards complete intoxication, or at the sixth, or seventh, or eighth? Is not every step from the natural state of the system toward that of stupid intoxication an advance in sin, and a yielding to the unwearied tempter of the soul?—John Bright.
WHAT WILL YOU TAKE?
How often this question is asked by men accustomed to the use of intoxicating drinks. Suppose we put the question in a more practical way? Will you have ten cents' worth of poison? Will you take a pain in the head? Will you take a rush of blood to the heart? Will you take a stab in the lungs? Will you take a blister on the mucous membrane? Will you take a nauseating sickness of the stomach? Will you take redness of the eyes, or black eyes? Will you take a tint of red for your nose? Will you take a rum-bud for your face? Will you take an offensive breath? Will you take a touch of delirium tremens? Suppose we change the question a little. Will you take something to drink which will make you more thirsty than you were before you drank it! There would be some sense in asking a man out at the elbows to take a coat, or in asking a bare-headed man to take a hat, or in asking a shoeless man to take a pair of boots, or in asking a hungry man to take something to eat; but it is a piece of insane absurdity to ask a man to take something to drink—that which will not quench thirst. Why should he take something? Will it make him stronger, wiser, better? No; a thousand times no! It will make him weaker; it will make him idiotic and base; it will make him an enemy to himself, and a shame to his name.—Ex.
LIQUOR DID IT.
By Editor
Not long since there appeared in the SIGNS an article headed, "Who Killed that Man?" This question may be put to thousands of untimely deaths occurring in our land, and as invariably be answered, "Liquor Did It."
A most heart-rending affair happened adjoining our city a few weeks since. A young lady and her sister of twelve years were out walking, when partly concealed by some bushes they were espied by a man, who, under the influence of liquor, imagined he saw a wildcat and fired, both were shot. The elder was seriously wounded and the younger fatally.
Another distressing occurrence is that of the death of a lady on Second street, the 3d inst. In going across the street for some bread she was struck by a shot fired in a saloon, where the keeper and customer were firing at each other. She was instantly killed.
Stricter Beneficiary Application Questions
A NEW and more stringent form for Beneficiary applications has been adopted by the A. O. U. W. Grand Lodge. The following are some of the questions introduced: Has the applicant ever used intoxicating liquors? If so, state whether daily or occasionally, and explicitly to what extent? Is he now in the daily habit of using intoxicating liquors? If so how many times daily? Has he ever been intoxicated? If so, how often and when last? Does he use morphine or opium in any form? Does he use tobacco? To what extent?—Pacific States Watchman.
MOTIVES OF GRATITUDE.
MAN, so fearfully and so wonderfully made, was not left unprotected and unprovided for, an outcast on the earth. On the contrary, by day and by night alike, an Eye has watched for his happiness that never slumbers—an arm has been stretched out for his defense that never tires. It is that arm that sustains him during the helplessness of childhood, that shields him amid the perils of youth, and props his enfeebled constitution when sinking beneath the infirmities of age. To none are mercies conveyed by accident. It was God that kindled that sun that lights the laborer by day, and planted those stars that guide the wanderer by night. His are those showers that bring forward the harvest, and his those dews that ripen the vintage. The good and the bad alike experience his care, and subsist upon his bounty. Not even the veriest wretch can deny that God has fed and clothed him—that he has nourished and brought him up. And are there no motives in these considerations to induce rebellious man to return to his allegiance? Is God, then, a friend that may be forgotten? His mercies, too; deserve they no requital? Ah, shall this earth of ours be cursed forever with the crime of cold ingratitude?—and yonder heavens, which have witnessed God’s goodness, always hear him say, in reference to the race and the abode of man: "There, in that ungrateful world, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me?"
—President Nott.
ITEMS OF NEWS.
By Editor
-Senator Blaine was fifty years old on the last day of January.
-Small-pox is creating great ravages among the Sioux at Spotted Tail Agency.
-A fire in Hornellsville, N. Y., Feb. 15th, destroyed property to the amount of $50,000.
-The bakers, barbers, etc., are petitioning the California Legislature for Sunday laws.
-Prof Nordenskjold in the Vega has arrived at Naples, and had a magnificent reception.
-Letters patent was granted to Thomas A. Edison, on the 27th ult., for his new electric lamp.
-The English Liberals have been defeated in the late elections at Liverpool and Southwork.
-A bill has passed the New York Legislature giving the women the privilege of voting for school officers.
-King John, of Abyssinia, in addition to a war with Egypt, has an internal revolution on his hands.
-The total expenditure and loss of resources to France by the Franco-Prussian war was $2,787,800,000.
-Trinity church, New York, was burned Feb. 11. The building and organ cost $135,000; insured for $57,000.
-Philadelphia and St. Louis are both moving to send ship-loads of grain and provisions to famine stricken Ireland.
-A bill to abolish primogeniture is to be introduced by the British Government at the next session of Parliament.
-A severe tornado passed over Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 12, doing considerable damage to church spires and roofs.
-The Steamer Constance, coal-laden, from Cardiff for Malta, foundered off Land's End, and all but two of the crew were lost.
-Four men were killed and one injured by the explosion of the boiler in a saw-mill at Randolph, N. H., on the 17th inst.
-The Steamer Tokio, which carried a small party of Seventh-Day Baptist missionaries to China, has arrived safely at Hong Kong.
-An increase of from 6 to 10 per cent in wages goes into effect March 1st, in the Amoskeag, Manchester and Stark mills, Manchester, N. H.
-Benjamin Moran, American Minister to Portugal, is said to be an almost helpless paralytic, and it is feared he must abandon his post.
-Two hundred families of Philadelphia Quakers will form a colony in Minnesota on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, next spring.
-Illinois farm products amounted to $200,000,000 last year, which is double the product of all the gold and silver mines in the United States.
-For the fourth time during the present century the Lake of Zurich is frozen over. The Lakes of Morat, Neufchatel and Bienne and the River Arve are also frozen over.
-The editor of the Hollister Enterprise, was fatally shot by the editor of the Telegraph at that place Feb. 12th as the culmination of a newspaper quarrel between the parties.
-The Empire Warehouse, Chicago, was destroyed by fire Feb. 15th. The loss on building and contents is in the vicinity of half a million of dollars; insured for about $175,000.
-By the collapsing of an elevator in Chicago, Feb. 12th, 125,000 bushels of wheat were spilled on the ground, and a twelve-stone mill adjoining was ruined. Loss estimated at $200,000.
-The miners in the Scharley mines, Breslau, have indulged in riotous proceedings, demolishing the buildings at the mouth of the pit, destroying the books, and maltreating the officials.
-The command of Captain Rucker, which had been on the trail of hostile Indians in New Mexico, came up with them Feb. 8th, in the San Andreas mountains, and was utterly routed by them.
-In Lower California political strife prevails, and long-named generals with armies of fifty men at their backs shake their armies and breathe death and devastation across the borders of contiguous States.
-General Grant and party left Havana for Vera Cruz on the 13th inst. Just before leaving Cuba the train bearing the party was ditched and they were compelled to pass the night on a lonely plantation.
-A violent storm on the Atlantic, Feb. 1st, is reported by vessels arriving at Eastern ports. The Guion steamer Wyoming had an entire deck watch of eight men disabled, two having their legs broken.
-The Pioneer and Mission woolen mills, San Francisco, employing 500 Chinese, and the Oakland jute mills, employing between 700 and 800, have discharged all of their hands and closed their mills, until it shall have been decided whether the State has the right to restrict corporations in their choice of labor.
-Letters received from Japan give the information that the mission established in Tokio, by the Woman's Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was completely swept away by the late fires.
-The daily papers teem with Presidential possibilities, to the exclusion of other news. Blaine seems to take the lead among the Republicans, while with the Democrats Bayard and Thurman are about equally strong.
-Baroness Burdett-Coutts has decided to devote the sum of $2,500,000, to the amelioration of the condition of the Irish peasantry. The money will be invested in land which will be let to small tenants in long leases and at moderate rents.
-A demonstration of the San Francisco workingmen is in progress. A large delegation of unemployed men are visiting the various corporations, and demanding that they discharge the Chinese in their employ, and substitute white labor therefor.
-Between 6,000 and 7,000 seaman's libraries are kept on the water by the American Seaman's Friend Society, the number of volumes being over 300,000. Many thousand vessels are, however, still in need of books, and gifts and donations are solicited by the Society in furtherance of their good work.
-The dining-room and guard-room of the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg, were blown up by Nihilist conspirators on the 16th inst. by means of a mine placed under the guard-room. Five soldiers were killed and thirty-five wounded. The lives of the imperial family were saved by the fact of their being behind time.
-The contract existing for a long time between the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. and the overland railroads has been dissolved, and low passenger rates between California and the East result therefrom. Rates are now as follows: Steamer, to New York, cabin, $75; steerage, $45; overland, first-class, $100; second-class, $75; emigrant, $45.
-A noble instance of true Christian charity, which illustrates forcibly the Master's injunction as to not letting your right hand know what your left hand does, is announced by the secretary of the London, England, Hospital. They have received a splendid Christmas box in the shape of an anonymous contribution of $25,000 to the funds of that charity.
-Considerable excitement is said to have been caused in Lyons by a discovery which purports to give to flax all the qualities and appearance of silk. It has long been known that silk is soluble, not only in powerful acids, but also in soda and chloride of zinc, and it is said that these qualities are made use of in the new process. A company is being formed with a capital of $6,000,000 for the manufacture of the new textile.
European Conference Postponed
By Editor
We learn that the General Conference Committee have thought it advisable that Brn. S. N. Haskell and W. C. White spend some three months in California before their contemplated visit to Europe. The European Conference is therefore postponed till some time in the coming summer.
PRIZE POEM.
By Editor
For the best original temperance poem, with chorus, suitable to be set to music, sent to the Signs of the Times before March 15, 1880, we will give a prize of $10. Right is reserved to use any or all words received. Send in productions as early as possible, stating with each that you are competing for the prize.
LEMOORE.
By M. C. Israel
Meetings were commenced here Jan. 16 by Brother J. L. Wood and continued every evening besides Sabbath and Sundays until Feb. 2. I joined him Jan. 23. We visited nearly all of the members of the church at their homes besides others who were investigating. The church have almost unanimously adopted tithing, "one-third" and the teetotal pledge. A temperance club of forty members was organized. Bro. L. A. Scott was elected leader, and Sr. Jennie Yoakum, secretary and treasurer. Sixteen new members were added to the T. and M. Society. Twenty-two SIGNS were added to the club making sixty copies.
Quite a lively interest is taken in the missionary work. Seven new members had been brought into the church by efforts put forth by the members in furnishing the SIGNS and other reading matter and visiting. Nearly all of these were very much prejudiced against the truth but by careful management they were led to see its harmony and consistency and now rejoice in the light.
Nearly every family of Sabbath keepers are now taking the SIGNS, Review and Good Health. The church library is in good demand, and an effort is being made to furnish all with the reading matter that has been recommended through the Review. The Sabbath-school numbers between fifty and sixty. The maps and Bro. Bell's questions are used. Quite a lively interest is taken by both adults and children in having good lessons, and in being able to answer when their names are called for questions in review. A club of eighteen Instructors is taken at present but we hope to see it soon increased to double that number.
The Lord has blessed the work here. Eleven were baptized, three added to the membership of the church, making forty-five, besides quite a number who are keeping the Sabbath and who expect soon to unite in church fellowship. We are now holding meetings in the Lake Side district with the Lone Oak church. We go from here to Locust Grove and will be at Fairview Sabbath and Sunday Feb. 21 and 22, and the following week at Central Colony. M. C. ISRAEL.
OBITUARY.
DIED, at Temperance Colony, Fresno county, California, January 10, 1880, of lung fever Claud O., son, and only child of Brother Horace, and Sister Amanda Munn, aged 7 months. MRS. J. W. BEALL.
DIED, near Springfield, Lane County, Oregon, January 26, 1880, of brain fever, Homer O., son of Brother W. E. and Sister N. A. Davis, aged 7 years, 1 month and 23 days. Funeral services by the writer. Text Jer. 31:16, 17. W. R. YOUNG.
DIED, at Jackson, Amador county, California, January 29, 1880, my dear mother, Mary M. Hill, aged 86 years. She was born in Worthington, Mass., Jan. 12, 1794. Your paper, the SIGNS, was a great comfort to her in her declining years. M. A. BOARMAN.
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT.
By Editor
"Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully," (margin, negligently). Jer. 48:10.
RECEIVED FOR THE SIGNS.
$2.00 EACH. Jackson Furguson 7-7, Mrs Wm Gobin 7-6, Geo Walter 7-1, E R Powers 7-1, James Caviness 7-7, I H Thompson 7-7, E A Brown 7-6, Elisha Fipps 7-6, Della Frisbie 7-6, Mary Whalen 7-1, J F Flory 7-11, Jane Coolidge 7-6, Mrs A A Blond 7-6, Wm Everington (2 copies) 7-6, A J Stover 7-6, Wm Everington 7-6, M B Jaycox 7-6, B L Whitney 7-6, E A Gorham 7-1, J T Ross 7-8, D Guile 7-6 W T Barr (2 copies) 7-6, Wm B Evans (2 copies) 7-6, Mrs Mary E Smith 7-6, E G Holter (2 copies) 7-6.
$1.50 EACH. Lenora M Place 7-7, Thos Kingsbury 7-9, William Eaton 7-6, Mrs J N Fuller 7-1.
$1.25 EACH. Susan Shayton 7-6, Wm Colivar 7-6, E G Stone 7-6, Thomas Scott 7-6, Thomas Johnson 7-6, M C Warren 7-6, Mrs S Hough 7-6, Mrs J Martin 7-6, John B Frese 7-6, Miss Martha Landon 7-6.
$1.00 EACH. John Kingsbury 7-6, Robert Kingsbury 7-6, Isabella Wells 7-6, H A Whittaker 6-1, Mary Legro 6-31, Eliza J Connick 6-31, Ruth Layton 7-6, Mrs Jesse Dorcas 7-6, Marshall Brothers 7-6, C H O Neal 6-31, W L Gentry 6-31, T H Wakeman 7-7, A G Miller 7-6, J D Rockey 7-6, S H Hillegass 7-6, G C Beach 7-6, M M Disney 7-6, J S Osborn 7-6, A A Disney 7-6, I K Millikins 7-0, David Renegar 7-6, H C Furguson 6-32, Mrs Louisa Miller 7-6, J B Dymott 6-30.
MISCELLANEOUS. M Herrick 75c 7-1, Miss Ellen Read 50c 6-30, Frank J Coon (2 copies) 65c 6-20, J J Packer 2.15, 7-15, G M Heller 50c 6-8, Lizzie McKenzie (15 copies) 15.00, 7-6, C W Nutting (10 copies) 10.00, 7-6, V M Society Jamaica Vt (30 copies) 30.00, 7-8, Mrs A H Bradford (3 copies) 3.00, 7-6, Samuel B Branton 60c 6-30, Boston Bidgood (3 copies) 3.00, 7-6, John Watson (3 copies) 3.75, 7-6, Adaline Farnsworth (9 copies) 9.00, 7-6, Battle Creek V M Society (200 copies) 200.00, 7-6, G H Petefish (6 copies) 6.00, 7-6, S P Gorgenson 50c 6-19, S D A Church Hickny Corners Mich (10 copies) 10.00, 7-6, John F Chubb (4 copies) 4.00, 7-6, Ambrose White (20 copies) 20.00, 7-6, Mrs M H Randall (5 copies) 5.00, 7-6, Mrs W B Mason (5 copies) 5.00, 7-6, Milton Weller 48c 6-24, J W Edmondson 48c 6-24, Wm A Stanford 48c 6-24, Mrs Margaret Willitts 48c 6-24, Olle Sammerson 48c 6-24, L A Thurston (8 copies) 8.00, 7-6, Wm Arnold (6 copies) 6.00, 7-6, Wm Carpenter (6 copies) 6.00, 7-6, Herbert Carpenter (9 copies) 9.00, 7-6.
CAL PUBLISHING FUND.
Mrs Cook 10.00, F J and E R Otis 20.00,
RECEIVED ON ACCOUNT.
New York T and M Society 75.00, Virginia T and M Society 10.00,
SHALL WE HAVE THE BIBLE?
By R. F. Cottrell
For more than twenty years it has been evident to me that this is to be the great question of our day. At a time when increasing light is beaming forth from the Scriptures of truth, according to the prediction of prophecy, Dan. 12:4, 10, infidelity, under new and insidious forms, rears its mighty and unblushing face, and with "progress" for its motto, it intends to do nothing short of sinking the Bible to oblivion and banishing its faith from among mankind. And it is not only the outside, non-professing world that is being, and will be, affected by this movement, but the professed friends of the Bible are giving up the faith, and many of them are doing their best to help forward the increasing infidelity of the times, some in an open, and others in a covert, way. These profess great reverence for God, while, from what they are pleased to call the light of science, they teach principles clearly atheistic. Modern spiritualism, which commenced its public work in 1848, struck the key-note of "progression," and the latent and covered infidelity of men of all grades and in all stations has been, and is being, rapidly developed.
What causes have prepared the way and led to this unparalleled raid against the Bible and the Christian faith? How does it happen that such gross infidelity is so suddenly developed, even among professed believers in the revelation of the Bible.
The deep depravity of the human heart, the "carnal mind" which is enmity against God, is not subject to his law, cannot, and will not be, naturally chooses to disbelieve and disobey God. Men are infidels because they choose to be. Pride, the evil root from whence sprung the first sin, 1 Tim. 3:6; Isa. 14:12-14; Eze. 28:12-17, holds the heart from yielding to God. And the improvements of our day in arts and sciences, the inventions and achievements of men, tend to foster pride, and make man deify himself, and wish to dethrone the Almighty.
But it is "withal, a very polished age;" and infidelity, not willing to bravely fight under its own proper banner, and wear its own proper uniform—not willing openly to proclaim its own atheism—makes profession of "devout belief in God" and "steals the livery of the court of Heaven to serve the devil in." It will even profess faith in the Bible, provided it be allowed to interpret it to its liking. And this is the grand point. Here is the point where professed Christians have set an example for unbelievers of every grade to nullify the claims of the Scriptures. The Bible has been interpreted to suit every creed, and uphold every departure from its plainest teachings and requirements. The learned Origen early set the example of interpreting the plain statements of the Scriptures allegorically; and infidels now will refer to him, when they wish to set aside what the Scriptures declare. The plea is that they do not mean what they say; but something else; anything which the interpreter judges most desirable, that which will establish his own faith and practice.
Take a few examples in which Christians have laid a foundation for infidels to build upon. To avoid the rocks of materialism, they have described God as a being "without body, parts, or passions," not dwelling in any place in particular, but being as truly in any one place as in any other; setting aside those scriptures which speak of his dwelling place, his holy habitation, in the heavens, whence he looks down to earth upon the children of men. Infidelity chimes in: God is everywhere and in everything; as much in a rock or tree as anywhere else. He pervades all nature; is the God of nature; and the artful leave us to infer, while the less cautious bring out their own conclusion, as one did in my presence recently, that there is no God but nature. What will our Christian friends say to this? They have laid the foundation, others build thereon.
Again, take the plain and very explicit duty of keeping the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Christians will read this precept which clearly enjoins the keeping of a specified day, the seventh of the seven, because that was the day on which God rested, and which he blessed and sanctified, that is, separated it from the other days of the week and appointed it to be a sacred memorial of himself and his creative work, and after reading the commandment as it is, will begin to tell you that it does not mean what it says, in words something like the following: "It is very clear that the design of this commandment is to require that one-seventh portion of our time, namely, one day in seven, should be kept holy to the Lord, as a Sabbath day or day of rest." The text does not say this at all; but this is what they think it must mean. It would be no more absurd to interpret the first commandment—"Thou shalt have no other gods before me"—to mean that we must make choice of a god whom we will worship, and have no other.
This commandment is not so explicit as the fourth. The "me" of the first commandment is dependent for its identity on the facts which are stated in connection with the fourth. Take these explanatory facts from the Sabbath commandment, and you may not only choose your own day for a Sabbath, but you may choose the god you will worship. This shows what interpretation can do. Those who would have no Sabbath and no God drink with avidity such interpretations. Many of them have sense and reason enough to know that if the Sabbath precept does not specify a particular day which all are required to keep, then there is no sacred day, and we may choose one day in seven or ten, or no day at all. The tendency and logical sequence of such interpretation is no-Sabbathism; and those who would have their lager beer and amusements on Sunday are able to see it. For to teach that the commandment, as originally given, requires no particular day, but only one day in seven, and on the top of this, that the day of the Sabbath has been changed (from one indefinite and unspecified day to another), and now requires us to honor a particular Sunday, is much more than preposterously absurd; how much more, language is incapable of expressing!
We might add other instances of Christian interpretation that foster infidelity (and perhaps will at another time), but these are enough to show that the professed friends of the Bible, with their interpretations, have opened the way for the enemies of God and revelation to force upon us the great question of the day, namely, Shall we have the Bible? Nothing answers the purpose of infidelity better than the large license of interpretation which the friends of the Bible have put into their hands.
Now the only hope for those who would retain the Bible is in returning to what it says, instead of telling what it must mean. It would be well for interpreters to take the advice of Wm. Tyndale, who was the first to translate the New Testament from the original Greek into the English, in 1526, under the heading, "To the Reader," he says, "Marke the playne and manyfest places of the Scriptures, and in doubtfull places, se thou adde no interpretacion contrary to them: but (as Paul sayth) let all be conformable and agreynge to the faith."
These interpretations have worked, and are working, mischief. Better lay them aside, and let the Bible speak for itself. A poet has sung,
"God is his own interpreter."
So let it be.
R. F. COTTRELL.
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT.
By H. P. Riton
I MENTIONED in a previous report that I had availed myself of my profession as a means of carrying the message among persons whom it would otherwise be difficult to reach. This has enabled me to make a wide circle of new acquaintances, to all of whom I have been able to announce the true Sabbath and the nearness of our Lord's coming kingdom.
Medical men here, as a rule, are almost all materialists, and the fact that a doctor announced Christ's coming and professed to work in his name, caused no small sensation in Alexandria. I was accordingly invited to meet a number of persons, of various persuasions and tenets, who were desirous to hear from me directly the "new things" I had commenced to announce. Our conference was held last Sunday, in the office of a mutual friend. It was a little room, in dimensions about ten feet by six; and in it we were assembled, twelve in number, including Bro. Rupp and another brother of our church. Together we represented five churches,—Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Anglican, and American, the latter the Seventh-day Adventist. All of them, with the exception of the Adventists, lighted their cigars at the commencement of the conference, and the effect, in the little room in which we were packed may be better imagined than described.82
What a conference! I prayed God to help me with his Spirit, and only with his powerful aid could I have answered the weighty questions which were propounded by Jews, deists, materialists, and spiritualists, every one of which would have required a lengthy discussion in itself. Tobacco opened the discourse, and its influence in shortening life was spoken of; this enabled me, by comparison, to introduce the subject of the new kingdom, where life instead of being short will be eternal. Among the questions propounded were these. Why should God allow man to suffer, instead of at once establishing his kingdom? Why did he allow man to fall? What need had he to put man to the proof, if he knew all things that would be? Why did he permit the continuance of the rebellion of Satan? Why should he in the Judgment condemn pagan nations that had never heard of his law or of Christ?
Then we were led to the question of the divine origin of Jesus, by an Israelite friend. I took him to the 18th chapter of Deuteronomy, and showed him that Jesus had given proofs laid down by Moses of his being the true prophet from among their brethren, whom they should hear. He admitted that whoever acknowledges Moses must acknowledge Christ, but confessed that hitherto monetary pursuits had prevented him from investigating whether Moses himself was worthy of credence. Such is, indeed, now the condition to which the greater part of the children of Abraham are reduced. Rabbinical tradition, like papal tradition, leads to utter incredulity. Spiritualism formed the closing topic of discourse, and I was invited to a spiritual seance; however, for manifest reasons, I declined to go. My Hebrew friend rather surprised me by saying that he invoked the aid of God, whom he acknowledges, in his magnetizing operations.
I am glad to say that all were so much pleased with the answers I gave them, that they expressed a desire for another conference, which I hope we will soon hold. How glad I would be if Bro. Andrews, with his long and deep Biblical experience, could aid us with his presence.
Our meetings are now held every week, at our house, and new hearers are coming in who take an interest in the word spoken. Our brethren in Naples still work actively, and report new friends gained to the Sabbath of the Lord. Bro. Bertola has gone to Odessa, in Russia, where we hope he may be able to sow some good seed.
We were invited last evening to a wedding in the church of our Arab brethren, whom I mentioned in a former letter. The ceremony was interesting; the bride was only fourteen years old. Bro. Rupp spoke in Italian, and his words were translated into Arabic. These worthy brethren take a great interest in prophecy, and would willingly listen to us and read our tracts; but their language places an almost insurmountable barrier between us.
May God give us much fruit, and enable us to raise "an altar to the Lord in the midst of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof," to "be for a sign and a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt." Isa. 19 : 19, 20.
December 4, 1879. H. P. RITON.