“The sun is very hot on this side of the boat,” said a portly gentleman, who, with two ladies, was standing on the deck of a large steamboat.
“It is boiling,” said one of the ladies, fretfully raising a tiny parasol. “It will ruin my complexion, and on the other end of the boat it is blowing a perfect gale; for my part I don’t see any pleasure in it.”
“Nor I,” said the other. “It is hollow like all other so-called pleasures. I don’t believe there is such a thing in the world as happiness. I would be glad to find even peace; but the more you cry, ‘Peace, peace,’ the more you feel there is no peace.”
They were startled by a voice saying, “Oh, that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river.”
Turning, they saw an old man leaning on a cane; for he was evidently past his threescore and ten years. His garments were coarse and ill-fitting, though they were carefully brushed; and the ladies drew back with a dignified air. The gentleman was about to order the intruder away, but his gaze was fixed afar off on the calm flowing water of the river, and they contented themselves by drawing away.
The lady who had last spoken leaned over the side of the boat, and looked for a time down into the water; then she said:— “That wasn’t a bad comparison of the old fellow’s about peace flowing as a river. Just think of it; calm, but deep, never-ceasing, never-ending, lost only in an ocean of the same. I would give the world for such a peace as that.”
“There is a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God.” The old man was still gazing at the blue waters, and perhaps was speaking aloud unconsciously; but an angry exclamation escaped from the lips of the gentleman, and they walked hastily away.
Meeting the captain, the gentleman said, “Captain, why did you take that crazy man on board?”
“What crazy man, Mr. Potter? Oh!” as his eyes followed Mr. Potter’s, “that is old Father Reid. He is no more crazy than I am. He used to be a wealthy merchant, but failed. He paid his creditors in full, but it left himself penniless. He says it was a blessed day for him; for it led him to seek for rest and peace where alone they may be found. He is the happiest man I ever saw, and I meet a great many men in my trips up and down the river,” and the busy captain bowed and passed on.
In the afternoon a thunderstorm arose, the lightnings flashed, the thunder pealed, the water foamed, while the boat shook as if it were a reed at the mercy of the storm. The passengers were terrified, ladies shrieked, and even sturdy men turned pale. Loud and clear above the tumult rose the voice of Father Reid:— “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled; though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof; . . . God shall help us, and that right early.”
The terror-stricken passengers almost felt as though he were a prophet; for even as he spoke the clouds broke, and though the rain fell gently, a beautiful bow spanned the waters.
“Behold!” said Father Reid, “behold the sign of God’s promise, and be at peace!” and he quietly slipped out of the cabin, followed by Miss Potter, who grasped his hand, and asked, “Sir, how can I obtain this rest and peace?”
He looked at her with eyes full of love and pity, and said gently, “Jesus said, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’”
“I have heard that often before,” said she, “but it seems new.”
“Yes, it is the old, old story, yet ever new; but it is all you can do. Only trust Him and follow him; then, indeed, the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your mind and heart through Jesus Christ.”—Sailor’s Magazine.
EDUCATION
By Eliza H. Morton
Many Christians have an idea that an education glues the mind to earthly things, and causes its possessor to seek after fame and worldly honor till he loses sight of Heaven and immortal glory. This I think is a mistake. God has given man certain faculties which are susceptible of infinite improvement, and has spread out before the “children of men” his great book of nature—the whole universe. Nothing can be more evident than that the all-wise Creator designed that man should improve all the powers of his mind, exercise all the members of his body, cultivate all the emotions of his heart, round all his energies into a harmonious whole and become a perfect human being.
Superior natural abilities do not lessen the necessity for education. Genius and stupidity are inexcusable if they neglect the means of culture within their reach.
Our happiness in this life is greatly enhanced by an education. The fields of knowledge are wide, rich, and beautiful, and the hills of science, though steep, contain rich treasures and present glorious views of the surrounding country. The cultivated intellect takes pleasure in the minutest atoms of God’s creation. Nothing is too small to escape its notice. It holds communion with the great minds of all ages and drinks deep draughts from the fountain of truth.
Combine with intellectual culture a tender conscience, a healthy body, and correct religious and moral sentiments, and man becomes a noble being, and has within himself sources of happiness which the ignorant know not of. Fine feelings and great susceptibility to pain or pleasure always accompany mental culture. This being the case, the beauties of religion are seen more clearly and its comforting realities felt more forcibly by the learned than by the unlearned.
As to the future life, we know not how our happiness there may be affected by the right use of our talents here, but we do know that the purpose of God in creating man, is so vast and sublime that its glories can only be faintly conceived by the most cultivated mind. Let us then improve all our powers, that we may hereafter become glad citizens of the eternal kingdom of God.
ELIZA H. MORTON.
Allen’s Corner, Me.
Heavenly Love and Human Infirmities
WHEN we are least moved by heavenly love we sympathize least with human infirmities; so, also, when we are fullest of heavenly love we are most compassionate to human misery, and best fitted to cope with the troubles and infirmities that beset us.
REVIVALISTS
There are some noted revivalists who really do more harm than good, in a long run, though they secure the reputation of doing a great work for the church. They teach the passions of men, and leave their judgments uninstructed; so the people are moved by a blind impulse while the emotional enthusiasm surrounds them, after which they relax into dormancy. While the emotional fever is high, many of them are taken into the church, void of devotion, save what is sympathetic, imparted by the sensational fire of others. When the outward sensation subsides their interest abates, and they are left high and dry on the church banks, as monuments of high-water freshets, never produced by the springs of grace, but by the surface water of human excitement; and there they lie for people to stumble over.
These so-called revivalists study every possible method to produce an excitement on a popular scale, knowing that there is only a surface element of vital religion in the whole programme, instead of dealing honestly with judgment-bound men, in striving for a radical heart-work in the light of revealed truth, which shows men wherein they are lost, what remedy is provided, and what the ultimate redemption will be.
It is one thing to plan and work to produce a short-lived sensation, under the name of “revival,” and quite another thing to persuade men to come to God’s unchangeable plan, and receive a baptism of divinity that will outlive surface excitement. The secret of the gospel is to get men to believe God and obey him—not to blindly float in the element of surface excitement. Men must “believe the gospel”—then what is it?—Bible Banner.
THE SANCTUARY.
By Uriah Smith
Twenty-fourth Paper.—The Earth not the Sanctuary.
Having seen that the new covenant must have a sanctuary corresponding to that of the old, and that there must be something now recognized by the Bible as the sanctuary, the next step in the inquiry is to try to ascertain what this is. And here we are met by a variety of conflicting views which demand examination.
It is claimed by some that this earth is now the sanctuary.
By others, that it takes earth and Heaven together to constitute the sanctuary; the earth being the first apartment, and all Heaven the second.
By a third class it is claimed that the land of Canaan is now the sanctuary.
And a fourth class take the word in a more figurative sense, and apply it to the church.
Is the earth the sanctuary? We reply, No; and the reasons for this answer are at hand.
1. Definition of the word. According to Webster, Walker, Cruden, and the Bible, the term, sanctuary is defined to mean, “A holy place, a sacred place, a dwelling place for the Most High.” Is the earth such a place? or has it been such since sin entered therein to mar and defile it? We know it has not; and this fact alone is sufficient to strangle forever the idea that this earth is the sanctuary.
2. The antitypical nature of the new covenant sanctuary. As we have seen, the sanctuary of the former dispensation was a type of the sanctuary of the present, whatever it may be. Is it now the earth? Then the former sanctuary prefigured it. But in what respect did it represent this earth? Can it for a moment be supposed that Moses when in the mount was shown this earth as a pattern from which he was to erect the sanctuary, and that the nearest resemblance he could make of it was an oblong building ten cubits in width, and three times that number in length? And we might extend the same inquiry to the furniture of the sanctuary. What is there on this earth that answers as the antitype of the ark, the altar of incense, the golden candlestick, and the table of show bread? But this line of thought need not be pursued further to show the utter absurdity of such a view.
3. The use of the term. The word sanctuary occurs 146 times in the Bible, but is not in a single instance applied to the earth. The only texts which any one could imagine to have even a shadow of an application to this earth, are Isa. 60:13; Eze. 37:26–28; Rev. 21:1–3. But these refer, not to the present but to the future, and show simply that this earth renewed is the place where the tabernacle of God will be located hereafter.
4. But finally, if the earth is the sanctuary now, it was just as much the sanctuary in the former dispensation. No change has taken place by which it has become the sanctuary now any more than it must have been then. But Paul says that the tabernacle built by Moses was the sanctuary then; hence the earth was not then the sanctuary, and therefore is not the sanctuary now.
This view being such apparent folly, what shall we say of that view which makes this earth only a part of the sanctuary and looks to Heaven for the rest? It is strange that any person of common intelligence should conceive such an idea, or for a moment endeavor seriously to defend it. The only apology we can make for it is, that its advocates, misled by our common translation, suppose that the Bible calls Heaven the most holy place. But this is no apology; for no one has a right to set himself forth as a religious teacher, who on a point so plain is not acquainted with the correct reading.
The principles already presented on this subject go far toward proving the incorrectness of those views which apply the sanctuary to the land of Canaan or the church. See reasons 1, 2, 3 and 4 above stated. To prove the land of Canaan the sanctuary, appeal is made to Ex. 15:17. But if this text proves that Canaan was ever the sanctuary, it was the sanctuary then, and of that covenant. But here come these good words of Paul again, which declare that the land of Canaan was not the sanctuary then, but that the tabernacle built by Moses was. This is sufficient to settle this point. But some will not be satisfied without a further notice of a few texts. Let Ex. 15:17, then, be explained by Ps. 78:53, 54, 69. David here speaks of the same events to which Moses referred. Moses gave them as matters of prediction, David, living after their accomplishment, as matters of history. What Moses in the poetical license of his fervent song of triumph speaks of as the inheritance and sanctuary, David says in more explicit terms was the border of the sanctuary, and adds that the sanctuary was something which was built therein.
Good king Jehoshaphat makes the same distinction. 2 Chron. 20:7–9. He speaks of the land which had been given them, and the sanctuary which they had built therein, and then says that that sanctuary was the house (Solomon’s temple) before which they stood. There is no mistaking such language, and any confusion in regard to the relation of the sanctuary to the land of Canaan is wholly inexcusable.
Isa. 63:18 refers to the overthrow and treading down of the house of God, the sanctuary of that time, stated in 2 Chron. 36:17–20, and Isa. 60:13 simply speaks of the new earth as the future glorious place of the sanctuary.
The land of Canaan was not, and is not, the sanctuary, but simply the place where the typical sanctuary was located.
As regards the church, it is never once called the sanctuary. Ps. 114:4 speaks of Judah as God’s sanctuary. But this at most would only prove that a portion of the church constitutes the sanctuary, not the whole, as Judah was only one of the twelve tribes. But again, when was Judah thus called the sanctuary? When Israel went out of Egypt. And what does Paul tell us was then the sanctuary? The tabernacle built by Moses. This settles the question again. Why then is Judah called the sanctuary? Simply because Mount Zion was located in Judah, and on Mount Zion the sanctuary was built.
But if Judah, or the whole church was the sanctuary then, it would not be the sanctuary now; for the sanctuary of that dispensation has given place to the sanctuary of the new.
But if the church could be shown to be the sanctuary at any time, it could not even then be the sanctuary of Dan. 8:13, 14, the only one under discussion, for the church is expressly spoken of in connection with that as the host, or worshipers, related thereto. Here the church and the sanctuary are certainly separate and distinct objects.
U. S.
Alabama.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
[The following report from Eld. Canright came too late for the Progress Department, but we give it here, feeling confident that the readers of the REVIEW will be especially interested in it.]
I left Tennessee May 31, and went to Coosa County, Alabama, which is in the central part of the State, near Montgomery. Here I found Bro. Vanzandt, who has lately embraced the Sabbath and the Advent faith. He has been a Methodist minister about fifty years; he was also a member of the State legislature for a long time, and has traveled and preached extensively all over the State.
A few years ago he became especially interested in the soon coming of Christ, which he has freely preached all over the Conference. He has also published and circulated a book upon that subject. He says that one-half the ministers of the Conference are convinced upon that point. Since he has embraced the Lord's Sabbath, he has constantly preached upon it everywhere, even before the State Conference. A large number of ministers are investigating the subject, and some see the truth now. Bro. V. has been earnest and persevering in getting the truth before his brethren. I believe he will see fruits of it soon.189
On Sunday we attended a Baptist monthly meeting near there. Two Baptist ministers were in attendance. A funeral sermon had to be preached in the morning. The minister regretted this, as he wanted me to preach all the time; so he spoke short, and I followed with an hour's sermon on the Advent. The house was full and I never had better attention anywhere. Both ministers told me that they were wholly with us on the second advent, and that the people generally in this section are being awakened upon that subject. In the afternoon I spoke on the signs of the times in another place three miles distant. I had nearly all of my first audience there, with many others. The people seemed to be hungry for the truth and they received it eagerly. I spoke again at night at Bro. Vanzandt's. His house was full. It was a solemn meeting. I was repeatedly and strongly urged to stay and give a course of lectures. But knowing that it was not best to begin what I could not stay to follow up, I had to deny them.
I dined with Bro. Jones, a Baptist minister, who also attended my meetings. He is wholly unsettled on the second advent, and is now about convinced on the Sabbath. He is a conscientious man and wants to know the truth; hence I expect he will soon keep the Lord's Sabbath. He subscribed for the REVIEW.
I had a long and interesting talk with a county superintendent of schools. He was perfectly delighted with the truth concerning the nature of man, the punishment of the wicked, the saints' inheritance, etc. He said he would do anything to hear lectures upon that doctrine. This is the way I found all with whom I conversed. The people know nothing whatever of our people or of our work. There is little prejudice to meet. But most of the people have lost confidence in the churches and are confused, not knowing where to go for light. I believe the Lord pities them, and is opening the way for them to see the light. There are quite a number of scattered Sabbath observers in the State already, who are all at work. Bro. V. needs more books to circulate, the History of the Sabbath especially.
But the poverty and destitution of the South, at least as far as I have traveled in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, are distressing. At the best, the land is a poor, light soil, and much of it very rough and uneven. It is worth only from twenty-five cents to five dollars per acre—the most of it only a dollar. I judge that not more than one acre in three hundred is cultivated. Plantation after plantation once cultivated now lies barren. Little of the wheat will yield over three or four bushels to the acre, and other crops accordingly. But this is due in a measure to the wretched manner in which farming is done in the South.
Except in the villages, I did not see a single window or a pane of glass, either in a dwelling house, school-house, or meeting-house! Carpets, cook stoves, etc., are scarcely known. The people live almost exclusively on pork, coffee, and corn bread. Fruit and vegetables are scarcely used at all. Yet almost all kinds of fruit, berries, and vegetables will grow in abundance.
Nearly all the people see that they are making a mistake in this, and say that they must change. I am satisfied that it would not be hard to make a change in this respect with those who embrace the truth. Water is abundant and most excellent, and the air is pure and healthful.
Every man with whom I talked is glad that slavery is no more. All see that it has ruined their country. It has kept down public schools and compelled the great mass to grow up in ignorance. Even now, in the country, they have no schools to amount to anything. All are anxious for Northern men to come among them and show them how to farm, how to have schools, etc.
The churches, except in the cities, contribute almost nothing at all to the support of preaching. Preachers labor for nothing and support themselves, or nearly so. This custom, together with the poverty of the people, must be considered before we send men here to labor. But I am satisfied that there are many honest souls here, and that the present truth is destined soon to make a mighty stir in the South.
D. M. Canright.
Washington City, D. C., June 7.
MISSOURI CAMP-MEETING.
By James White
The Missouri Camp-meeting is now past. With the exception of rain on sixth-day, the weather has been cool and fine. The location was very pleasant—on a mound covered with second growth of sufficient size—when it was reached from Kingsville depot by a long and difficult road. Here our friends made a similar mistake in locating their annual camp-meeting to that made by our good people in Kansas. In both cases these meetings were located away from the railroads, in thinly settled parts of the country, and where the carriage roads to them are very bad.
But we were greatly disappointed in the attendance, especially on Sunday, it being much larger than could be reasonably expected. This was very remarkable in Missouri. The audience was very large. Some estimated it as high as two thousand. There were probably fifteen hundred persons present; and these were the very best people in the country. The liberal attendance and good hearing under the circumstances show what might have been accomplished at a proper location on the railroad. We might have reached five or ten thousand people with the voice of truth as easily as fifteen hundred, had the meetings been properly located.
And then these country people are so frequently behind time. In both cases, in leaving the Kansas and Missouri meetings, the time of the departure of the trains was reported by mistake too late, and in both cases we were just in time to see the trains move off and leave us. And in both cases we were detained just twenty-four hours when moments were the finest gold to us. In the last case circumstances were somewhat trying. We had spoken three times on second-day, were laboring with cases too unreasonable to mention until midnight, then in the morning took down our tent and packed our trunks while the good brethren were in prayer-meeting, rushed things together, and off to the depot, when we were too weary to sit up, drove our horses over a rough road three miles, to be just one minute too late. Well, as trying and wrong as these things are, they cannot be helped only in one way; that is, by locating the meetings properly next year, and having a care not to make the tedious travels and arduous labors of those who are worn in battle unnecessarily severe.
There were on the ground seventeen family tents, besides the large congregation tent, and another large tent divided into family rooms, and several covered wagons in which families lived in true emigrant style. Mrs. W. and the writer took “turn about,” as the Missourians say, in preaching, and generally had freedom. The labor to move the people was harder in Missouri than in Kansas, yet by earnest appeals a goodly number came forward, the church was much revived, and thirteen were baptized.
One event of the meeting deserves especial attention. We refer to the ordination of Brn. Chaffee and Wood, in which Elders Rogers and Long took part. The occasion was impressive. The Missouri Conference now has four ordained ministers, besides several who receive papers from the Conference to improve their gifts as speakers.
The executive committee, including the president, are taken from the brethren outside of the ministry, and are men of prompt, executive ability. This takes a burden from the ministers, and lets important responsibilities rest where they properly belong.
It is proper that we should here express thanks for the attentions we received on the Missouri Camp-ground. What we have said concerning locating the meeting, and some other things which seemed to follow as a consequence, we note for future benefit. We cannot attend camp-meetings each week at a distance from railroads. And the time has come to let our light shine before the crowds in a manner to favorably impress the public. J. W.
THE COMING EUROPEAN WAR.
From an article on this subject in the Chicago Daily Tribune of June 6, we take the following. Like others of the many articles now appearing in the papers in regard to the Eastern Question, it speaks of the suddenness with which matters in the East may be brought to a crisis. The “little breeze” of a year ago is now “developed into a tempest.” The conflict may be avoided, but “the events of one day may precipitate it.” Hence the interest and anxiety with which all the world are watching events in that quarter. How much more so if they could read their startling significance as can the student of prophecy. The Tribune says:—
“It is to prevent the absorption of Constantinople by Russia and to seal up the Bosphorus against her that England is now moving her fleets. Russia, while ostensibly remaining quiet and urging a pacific settlement, is in reality engaged in active warfare against Turkey. Servia, Bulgaria, and Roumania swarm with her agents, exciting disaffection among the people. The Servian troops, which are now ranged on the frontier, are officered by Russian generals. She holds the Slavic provinces like hounds at the leash, ready to let them slip at the proper moment. She has already many war vessels in the Black Sea, and has issued orders for the construction of many more. If she can obtain control of the Bosphorus she will not only have an outlet to the Mediterranean, but she will never again relinquish her hold upon it. Once in possession, she threatens Egypt, compels England to hold Alexandria in order to defend the Suez Canal, and threatens not only to cut off England’s route to Asia, but to endanger her Asiatic possession. Once in possession of the Bosphorus and locking it up, she holds Asia at her mercy. She will sweep down the Euphrates to the Persian Gulf through Turkey in Asia.
“She already holds Turkistan, and will drive the weak powers, Persia, Cabool, and Beloochistan, before her like chaff before the wind, thus reaching the borders of Hindostan and threatening British India. All this hangs upon the possession of Constantinople. The little breeze which began in Herzegovina a year ago has now developed into a tempest, and the dreaded Eastern question is forced upon England again. Diplomacy may once more ward off the conflict; the events of one day may precipitate it. In case it comes, the map of Europe must be reconstructed. Roumania, Bulgaria, Constantinople, the Bosphorus, all go to Russia; Servia, Bosnia, and Montenegro, to Austria, forming a colossal Pan-Slavonic Empire; Macedonia and Thessaly, to Greece; Northern Austria, to Germany, whose cunning Chancellor sits like a spider in his web, watching the flies buzzing about him. What goes to England? She will take Egypt, if France will allow it. Meanwhile, the Russians will be between her and India. There may be another Crimean war, but this time England will not have France, Italy, and Austria to help her.”
WHICH IS IT?
By R. F. Cottrell
Is the book of Revelation a hidden mystery or a revelation? Is its meaning “concealed under the apostle’s words”? or are these words used by the Spirit of God “to show to his servants” that which was to come to pass in the near future? The following extracts are taken from notes and comments in a family Bible. After stating some views that have been given by expositors on the seals and trumpets of the book of Revelation, the author speaks of chapters 10 and 11 in this way: “On comparing the affairs of the book with Dan. 8 and 9, and Eze. 2 and 3, several things appear to be similar in both, but no exposition can be given of their meaning.” Then he says:—
“The remainder of the book has been, and continues to be, the source of controversy; questions have been raised upon it that have distracted the Christian world. Into these we shall not enter, because we hold it to be impossible that mortal man can explain the mystery concealed under the apostle’s words.”
Now compare this idea of a “mystery concealed” under inexplicable words, of which no exposition can be given of their meaning,” the declarations of the Spirit itself concerning the nature and design of the book—“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. . . . Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein.”
What the Spirit of God calls a revelation, that is, something revealed, men call an inexplicable mystery; and that which “God gave to show to the servants of Jesus Christ” concerning events, they hold to be a “mystery concealed,” something of which “no exposition can be given of its meaning.” If this be so, the reader is not “blessed,” for he does not understand, and cannot; it is in vain to try. And he does not “keep those things which are written therein,” for he does not know what they are.
The fearful warning and threatening of unmingled wrath against those who shall worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark, he cannot heed, because it is impossible for him to know what is meant by these terms; and the commandments of the message (Rev. 14: 9) he cannot keep, not knowing what they are.
And he may, with apparent modesty and reverence, conclude, with our author, that, as the commandments of God have been, and still are, a “source of controversy,” questions have been raised upon them “that have distracted the Christian world,” it is better not to enter into these, it being quite impossible for mortal man to understand what God requires.
Look at it. High Heaven has sent us a letter and has pronounced a special blessing upon those who read it and heed its behests. If the receiver says he cannot read it, it is impossible to understand it, and therefore he will not be to blame if he does not heed its injunctions. If this position is true, of course he is not to blame. But is this the way to treat a communication from God? Did you ever receive a letter from a dear friend, pronounce it impossible to read it, and so not try? I never gave up that way. Our editor forwarded a communication to me which he said he could not read; I did not blame him for not taking time, in the midst of his pressing duties, to decipher it; by a determined effort I mastered it. And why not take the time, and make the effort, to read the last great prophecy of the book of God, especially as he has pronounced his special blessing upon the effort? Oh, that men who profess godliness would cease to insult the Majesty of Heaven, by treating what he has communicated to us for our good, even for our eternal salvation, as an incomprehensible mystery!
R. F. COTTRELL.
NEW TENTS.
By A. S. Hutchins
HAVING laid the subject of purchasing a new sixty-foot tent before two district T. & M. quarterly meetings, and also our State quarterly meeting at Berkshire, and found the united voice of the brethren to be in favor of having a new tent, we now feel free to present the subject to our brethren and sisters throughout our entire Conference.
I know the times are hard to raise money. But the work of the Lord must not stop. It has too many friends to stop here. And “a friend in need is a friend indeed.” Pledges already made for the tent, though not as large in some cases as we could reasonably have expected, give us courage.
We have the terms of Martin and Sons, tent manufacturers of Boston, for their best 12 oz. duck roof, with lighter wall, which all think we had better take. One of these tents, all ready to pitch, with freight added, will cost not far from three hundred and fifty dollars. Only about one-third of that sum is pledged yet. But the new tent must come in time for our soon-coming camp-meeting, and, if necessary, we shall call again on some who have pledged lightly, considering their ability, and also on some of the rich brethren who have not felt able to help in this enterprise.
We shall call up this subject in districts No. 2 and 3, and raise what we can. And we invite our brethren and friends in Dist. No. 5 to make their pledges at once to the director, Bro. D. Wilcox, Jamaica, Vt. We further invite the scattered brethren and sisters who have not yet had a chance to pledge, to send their pledges to the director in their district, or send to my address, Irasburgh, Vt.
Pledges should be paid at once, if convenient; if not, please pay at the camp-meeting. Yet if absolutely necessary, we will accept of pledges to be paid later. And when the time of our annual gathering shall come, if the Lord shall favor us with the tent, may we not beseechingly look unto the General Conference Committee to send us help to give a course of lectures?
Of small tents for family use I would say, If any of our brethren wish to purchase such for the next camp-meeting, they would do well to correspond with Bro. Lewis Bean, Bordoville, Vt., who is ready to manufacture such tents as you may wish at reasonable prices. Let preparations for the camp-meeting be made in season, and as extensive as needful to honor Him who giveth us all blessings. A. S. HUTCHINS.
Science and Scripture.
Science is being used of late to the detriment of Scripture—or, rather, that which passes current as science. It is said that science disproves the Bible account of creation. Geology is distorted to conflict with the Bible. In a recent number of the Atlantic Monthly, Mr. Twain, in a jovial manner, thus refers to this method of computing the past from what we see of the present; and his conclusions are as reliable as the arguments used to invalidate the Bible:—
“The Mississippi between Cairo and New Orleans was 1,215 miles long 176 years ago. It was 1,180 after the cut-off of 1722. It was 1,040 after the American Bend cut-off (some sixteen or seventeen years ago). It has lost 67 miles since. Consequently its length is only 973 miles at present. Now, if I wanted to be one of those ponderous scientific people, and ‘let on’ to prove what had occurred in the remote past by what had occurred in a given time in the recent past, or what will occur in the far future by what has occurred in late years, what an opportunity there is here!”
“Geology never had such a chance, nor such exact data to argue from. Nor ‘development of species,’ either! Glacial epochs are great things, but they are vague—vague. Please observe: In the space of 176 years the lower Mississippi has shortened itself 242 miles. That is an average of a trifle over one mile and a third per year. Therefore, any calm person who is not blind or idiotic, can see that in the old Oolitic Silurian period, just a million years ago next November, the lower Mississippi river was upward of 1,300,000 miles long, and stuck out over the gulf of Mexico like a fishing rod.”
“And by the same token any person can see that 742 years from now the lower Mississippi will be only a mile and three-quarters long, and Cairo and New Orleans will have joined their streets together, and be plodding comfortably along under a single mayor and a mutual board of aldermen. There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesome returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact!”—Sel.
SACRIFICE
By J. CLARKE
Sacrifice implies a loss, a voluntary surrender of something, or some act of self-denial, or of suffering or of obedience, either to render service to God or to benefit our fellow-men; or to bring ourselves into conformity to the law of God, by denial of the dictates of the carnal mind in behalf of goodness and virtue.
The spirit of sacrifice implies a constant willingness to render sacrifice to God of whatever we may possess which may be of benefit to his cause in the great work of salvation, and to deny ourselves the indulgence of any thing which may in any wise hinder the progress of the work of God in our own hearts or in the minds of others.
The best illustration we can point out to show what the spirit of sacrifice is, in all its manifestations, may be viewed by all in the life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ; for others he suffered poverty, fatigue, dishonor and reproach, ignominy and death. Our Lord gave us this example, not to make a display for idle talk, or to satisfy an arbitrary pride, or to form or establish a useless precedent for his followers, that they might be weighed down by certain rules, or subjected to suffering unnecessarily, or to being tempted for the diversion of higher intelligences.
Had man not fallen from his first estate, no call would have been made for sacrifice or self-denial; but man has fallen very low, yet not so low but Christ offers to reinstate him again higher than before, on conditions reasonable and just in view of natural and moral law. To do this, our Lord has undertaken a vast work, extending through thousands of years—a work in itself vast in its reach, and laborious and painful in its workings and its minute details, rendered so by the perverse nature of the heart of man.
Man, to fit himself for this salvation, must understand its workings or he could not appreciate it, and in order to do this he must sacrifice.
J. CLARKE.
PRAY FOR US.
By H. A. St. John
If the apostle Paul needed the prayers of his brethren, how much more the servants of God in these last days. Dear brethren in Ohio, I know you are interested in the success of the truth and the salvation of souls in our Conference. Let your prayers, as so many sharp sickles, go with those that go out to labor for souls. To the place of secret prayer, brethren and sisters, in behalf of those brethren that labor with tents this summer. Let children and youth pray, let all pray for the special blessing of God to rest upon each tent's company.
Several of these brethren are inexperienced, and feel greatly their weakness. This is the way they should feel. May every soul of them fully realize that their ability to accomplish permanent good depends upon their being co-workers with Jesus and holy angels. We hope they may have precious seasons in seeking God alone and together. But they need your prayers, brethren; do not forget them even for a single day. H. A. ST. JOHN.
District No. 6 T. & M. Society
By M. A. Green
TO THE MEMBERS OF DIST. NO. 6, VT. T. & M. SOCIETY.
Dear Brethren and Sisters: My heart is stirred within me, and I feel that we mustarouse and be in earnest, exercising faith and never doubting God's word. We must not rest satisfied with the present figures on our reports or with present attainments in grace, but be more zealous to overcome and reach out after others. Let us be diligent to scatter seeds of truth. The third angel's message is indeed to this dark world a shining light. Oh, who will walk in its light, and be saved by its truths?
“God requires that all should be self-sacrificing workers. Every part of the truth has a practical application to our daily lives. Blessed are they that hear the word of the Lord and keep it. Hearing is not enough; we must act; we must do.”
In the missionary cause there is a chance to act and to act now. Is there not some poor soul, starving for the bread of life, who may be reached by words of love and good cheer? Let us look about with our eyes wide open, and sympathies enlisted. Let us arouse and be active, and, by the aid of the Spirit, fruit to the glory of God will be the result. Let us labor on, watching for souls as they that must give an account of time spent or misspent, trusting in God for help, strength and wisdom; for soon the harvest will be past. M. A. GREEN.