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Signs of the Times, Vol. 6, No. 32.

General Articles
Earlier text: THE MUCK-RAKE

ALMA, MICHIGAN, CAMP-MEETING.

By James White

THE camp-meeting held at Alma, Gratiot county, Mich., August 5-10, has been one of the best ever held in the State. There were thirty-six tents on the ground, including the large chapel tent, 50x76, the one partitioned for families, the book-stand, the provision stand, and the dining hall.
On the Sabbath, the large tent was crowded with brethren and sisters gathered mostly from Gratiot and adjacent counties. The services were solemn and profitable. At the close of Mrs. White's discourse Sabbath afternoon, two rows of seats, running the entire length of the tent, were vacated to receive penitents. And while these seats were being filled by backsliders and those who had made no profession of faith in Christ, the time was also occupied with testimonies of deep interest from those who were seeking the Lord.
This service continued with unabating interest till 5 P. M., when more than an hour was spent in social meetings in the tents. And at 6 o'clock the large congregation was seated in order, the seekers occupying the center seats; but this division of the congregation was now greatly increased, showing that the good work had enlarged in the family tent meetings.
Sunday forenoon the audience listened with the closest attention to the writer on the subject of Christ in the Old and New Testaments. The order was excellent. We never spoke to a more orderly, intelligent, and earnestly interested people. This meeting has favorably tested the candid people of Alma and vicinity.
The railroads failed to fulfill their promises to run excursion trains, for which the managers of the meeting, and the speakers, felt grateful, as there were no seats, and no need of those who might come on the Sunday trains to have a good time in their way.
Mrs. W. spoke to a crowd in the afternoon, nearly half of whom stood upon their feet in the heat and dust for more than an hour. She had been upon the slow train from California nine days when she reached Battle Creek. There she stopped off one train, and we passed on to Jackson the evening of the 4th, and Thursday, the 5th, we reached the Alma camp-ground. To-day, the 9th, Mrs. W. is prostrated with exhaustion and fever. As we write, at 7 P. M., she is improving, and we are preparing to take the train to-morrow at 6 A. M.
Before us are the camp-meetings for Canada, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Battle Creek, Mich. May the Lord go before us to prepare the way, and go with us in this work. J. W.

EXAMINATION OF A FAMOUS FALSEHOOD.

By John Nevins Andrews

CERTAIN doctors of divinity have made a special effort to show that the "stated day" of Pliny's epistle is the first day of the week. For this purpose they adduce a fabulous narrative which the more reliable church historians have not deemed worthy of record. The argument is this: That in Pliny's time and afterward, that is, from the close of the first century and onward, whenever the Christians were brought before their persecutors for examination, they were asked whether they had kept the Lord's day, this term being used to designate the first day of the week. And hence two facts are asserted to be established: 1. That when Pliny says that the Christians who were examined by him were accustomed to meet on a stated day, that day was undoubtedly the first day of the week. 2. That the observance of the first day of the week was the grand test by which Christians were known to their heathen persecutors. 3. That Lord's day was the name by which the first day of the week was known in the time of Pliny, a few years after the death of John. To prove these points, Dr. Edwards makes the following statement:—
"Hence the fact that their persecutors, when they wished to know whether men were Christians, were accustomed to put to them this question, viz., Dominicum servasti?—'Hast thou kept the Lord's day?' If they had they were Christians; This was the badge of their Christianity, in distinction from Jews and pagans. And if they said they had, and would not recant, they must be put to death. And what, when they continued steadfast, was their answer? 'Christianus sum; intermittere non possum;'—'I am a Christian; I cannot omit it.' It is a badge of my religion, and the man who assumes it must of course keep the Lord's day, because it is the will of his Lord; and should he abandon it, he would be an apostate from his religion."
Mr. Gurney, an English first-day writer of some note, uses the same argument and for the same purpose. The importance attached to this statement, and the prominence given to it by the advocates of first-day sacredness, render it proper that its merits should be examined. Dr. Edwards gives no authority for his statement; but Mr. Gurney traces the story to Dr. Andrews, bishop of Winchester, who claimed to have taken it from the Acta Martyrum, an ancient collection of the acts of the martyrs. It was in the early part of the seventeenth century that Bishop Andrews first brought this forward in his speech in the court of Star Chamber, against Thraske, who was accused before that arbitrary tribunal of maintaining the heretical opinion that Christians are bound to keep the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord. The story was first produced, therefore, for the purpose of confounding an observer of the Sabbath when on trial by his enemies for keeping that day. Sir Wm. Domville, an able anti-Sabbatarian writer, thus traces out the matter:—
"The bishop, as we have seen, refers to the Acta of the martyrs as justifying his assertion respecting the question, Dominicum servasti? but he does not cite a single instance from them in which that question was put. We are left therefore to hunt out the instances for ourselves, wherever, if anywhere, they are to be found. The most complete collection of the memoirs and legends still extant, relative to the lives and sufferings of the Christian martyrs, is that by Ruinart, entitled, 'Acta primorum Martyrum sincera et selecta.' I have carefully consulted that work, and I take upon myself to affirm that among the questions there stated to have been put to the martyrs in and before the time of Pliny, and for nearly two hundred years afterwards, the question, Dominicum servasti? does not once occur; nor any equivalent question."
This shows at once that no proof can be obtained from this quarter, either that the "stated day" of Pliny was the first day of the week, or that the martyrs of the early church were tested by the question whether they had observed it or not. It also shows the statement to be false that the martyrs of Pliny's time called Sunday the Lord's day and kept it as such.
After quoting all the questions put to the martyrs in and before Pliny's time, and thus proving that no such question as is alleged, was put to them, Domville says:—
"This much may suffice to show that Dominicum servasti? was no question in Pliny's time, as Mr. Gurney intends us to believe it was. I have, however, still other proof of Mr. Gurney's unfair dealing with the subject, but I defer stating it for the present, that I may proceed in the inquiry, What may have been the authority on which Bishop Andrews relied when stating that Dominicum servasti? was ever a usual question put by the heathen persecutors? I shall with this view pass over the martyrdoms which intervened between Pliny's time and the fourth century, as they contain nothing to the purpose, and shall come at once to that martyrdom the narrative of which was, I have no doubt, the source from which Bishop Andrews derived his question, Dominicum servasti? 'Hold you the Lord's day?' This martyrdom happened A. D. 304. The sufferers were Saturninus and his four sons, and several other persons. They were taken to Carthage. In the account given of their examinations by him, the phrases, 'CELEBRARE Dominicum,' and 'AGERE Dominicum,' frequently occur, but in no instance is the verb 'servare' used in reference to Dominicum. I mention this chiefly to show that when Bishop Andrews, alluding, as no doubt he does, to the narrative of this martyrdom, says the question was servasti? it is very clear he had not his author at hand, and that in trusting to his memory, he coined a phrase of his own."
Domville quotes at length the conversation between the proconsul and the martyrs, which is quite similar in most respects to Gurney's and Edward's quotation from Andrews. He then adds:—
"The narrative of the martyrdom of Saturninus being the only one which has the appearance of supporting the assertion of Bishop Andrews, that, 'Hold you the Lord's day?' was the usual question to the martyrs, what if I should prove that even this narrative affords no support to that assertion? yet nothing is more easy than this proof; for Bishop Andrews has quite mistaken the meaning of the word Dominicum in translating it 'the Lord's day.' It had no such meaning. It was a barbarous word in use among some of the ecclesiastical writers in, and subsequent to, the fourth century, to express sometimes a church, and at other times the Lord's-supper, but NEVER the Lord's day. My authorities on this point are,—
"1. Ruinart, who, upon the word Dominicum, in the narrative of the martyrdom of Saturninus, has a note, in which he says it is a word signifying the Lord's supper ('Dominicum vero desinat sacra mysteria'), and he quotes Tertullian and Cyprian in support of this interpretation.
"2. The editors of the Benedictine edition of St. Augustine's works. They state that the word Dominicum has the two meanings of a church and the Lord's supper. For the former they quote among other authorities, a canon of the council of Neo Cesarea. For the latter meaning they quote Cyprian, and refer also to St. Augustine's account of his conference with the Donatists, in which allusion is made to the narrative of the martyrdom of Saturninus.
"3. Gesner, who, in his Latin Thesaurus published in 1749, gives both meanings to the word Dominicum. For that of the Lord's supper he quotes Cyprian; for that of a church he quotes Cyprian and also Hillary."
Domville states other facts of interest bearing on this point, and then pays his respects to Mr. Gurney as follows:—
"It thus appearing that the reference made by Bishop Andrews to the 'Acts of Martyrs' completely fails to establish his dictum respecting the question alleged to have been put to the martyrs, and it also appearing that there existed strong and obvious reasons for not placing implicit reliance upon that dictum, what are we to think of Mr. Gurney's regard for truth, when we find he does not scruple to tell his readers that the 'stated day' mentioned in Pliny's letter as that on which the Christians held their religious assemblies, was 'clearly the first day of the week,' is proved by the very question which it was customary for the Roman persecutors to address to the martyrs, Dominicum servasti?—'Hast thou kept the Lord's day?' For this unqualified assertion, prefixed as it is by the word 'clearly,' in order to make it the more impressive, Mr. Gurney is without any excuse."
The justice of Domville's language cannot be questioned when he characterizes this favorite first-day argument as—
"One of those daring misstatements of facts so frequent in theological writings, and which, from the confident tone so generally assumed by the writers on such occasions, are usually received without examination, and allowed, in consequence, to pass current for truth."
The investigation to which this statement has been subjected, shows, 1. That no such question as, Hast thou kept the Lord's day? is upon record as proposed to the martyrs in the time of Pliny. 2. That no such question was asked to any martyr prior to the commencement of the fourth century. 3. That a single instance of martyrdom in which any question of the kind was asked, is all that can be claimed. 4. That in this one case, which is all that has even the slightest appearance of sustaining the story under examination, a correct translation of the original Latin shows that the question had no relation whatever to the observance of Sunday! All this has been upon the assumption that the Acta Martyrum, in which this story is found, is an authentic work. Let Mosheim testify relative to the character of this work for veracity:—
"As to those accounts which have come down to us under the title of Acta Martyrum, or, the Acts of the Martyrs, their authority is certainly for the most part of a very questionable nature; indeed, speaking generally, it might be coming nearer to the truth, perhaps, were we to say that they are entitled to no sort of credit whatever."
Such is the authority of the work from which this story is taken. It is not strange that first-day historians should leave the repetition of it to theologians.
Such are the facts respecting this extraordinary falsehood. They constitute so complete an exposure of this famous historical argument for Sunday as to consign it to the just contempt of all honest men. But this is too valuable an argument to be lightly surrendered, and moreover it is as truthful as are certain other of the historical arguments for Sunday. It will not do to give up this argument because of its dishonesty; for others will have to go with it for possessing the same character.
J. N. A.

GRUMBLING.

GRUMBLING is rarely done by any one who has a fair show of reason for grumbling. Those who are worst off are, as a rule, least likely to complain of their condition. Whenever you hear a person tell of the hard lot he has, you can feel pretty sure that he is better off than most of his fellows—so well off that he has time to grumble. Here, for example, while the mercury is in the nineties, a set of men just across the street from us, in a close upper room, with its low ceiling and its poor draught, are at work on metal soldering with blow-pipes over blazing gas-jets, with never a thought of growling about the weather. They laugh merrily, and take things easy. In the restaurant on the lower floor of a neighboring building a stout gentleman of leisure sits in a wicker chair, with his shirt collar unbuttoned, and swings heavily a large palm-leaf fan, while he sips an iced lemonade, and groans out after each sip that this terrible weather is intolerable, and will be the death of him if it lasts two days more. And so it is all the way along in life. The more comfort, the more grumbling. That is the way of the world.

BALLARD'S FALLS, KANSAS.

By Joseph Lamont; L. D. Santee

THE interest in this place continues good. Seventeen have been added to the church, and besides these, two or three families are keeping the Sabbath. Yesterday there was an attempt made to disprove the Sabbath and bolster up Sunday. The effort was very weak, owing to an entire lack of Bible evidence. It was reviewed in the afternoon before about four hundred. Calls for labor are coming in from every side; one of us will probably fill some of these calls, while the other holds the fort under the canvas. Many are studying to know the truth, some of whom we trust will obey. We could labor to advantage in this country for the coming year. May the Lord give wisdom to move judiciously.
Aug. 2. JOSEPH LAMONT. L. D. SANTEE.

A FEW QUESTIONS ANSWERED.

By G. W. Amadon

A FRIEND asks:— “1. Is Peter the rock on which the church is built?
  1. What shall we understand about the church having power to bind and loose things in Heaven?
  2. Was the apostle Peter the first bishop and pope of Rome?”
ANS. 1. The text to which the first question relates is Matt. 16:18: “And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” In this scripture two different Greek words are used for Peter and rock. The word translated “Peter” is petros, and according to the standard Greek Lexicon of Liddell and Scott, it means, “a stone, a piece of rock,” such as lie loose upon stony ground, and which may be used; such as were thrown by ancient warriors in war. Petros occurs as a common noun but once; John 1:42; in all other places it is used as a proper name for Peter. The adjective petrodes, “stony,” derived from petros, occurs in the following places: Matt. 13:5, 20; Mark 4:5, 16.
The word translated “rock” is petra, and is defined by Liddell and Scott, and others, to be “a rock, ledge, cliff, or shelf of rock.” The classical lexicon just mentioned says, “There is no example in good authors of petra being used, like petros for a single stone.” Pickering's lexicon says the same. This would convey the idea that petros applied to a small, movable stone, while petra referred to a ledge, cliff, or huge boulder. The word petra occurs in the Greek New Testament in the following passages: Matt. 7:24, 25; 16:18; 27:51, 60; Mark 15:46; Luke 6:48; 8:6, 13; Rom. 9:33; 1 Cor. 10:4; 1 Peter 2:8; Rev. 6:15, 16. This use of the word petra is quite explanatory of itself. The passage in Matt. 16:18 may be paraphrased thus: “I say unto thee that thou art Peter [petros, a little stone], and upon this rock [petra, rock, or foundation-stone, referring to Christ himself], I will build my church, and the gates of hell [hades, the grave], shall not prevail against it.”
2. The power of binding and loosing, mentioned in Matt. 16:19, as being imparted to Peter, from chap. 18:18, seems to be imparted as fully to all true believers. It quite evidently refers to church discipline, and may mean this: When a church, standing in the light of truth, is led by the Holy Spirit to take action in the case of members, to receive, or to dismiss, in all probability that very action is ratified in Heaven. The same thing is taught in John 20:22, 23, where the risen Saviour, having breathed on his disciples—not Peter only, but all of them—said: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain they are retained.”
Some commentators understand that the reason why Christ addressed Peter as having “the keys of the kingdom,” was because he first was to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and so open the door of faith to them. See Acts, 10th chapter.
3. In reference to Peter having been the first bishop or pope of Rome, many eminent writers protest that Peter never saw Rome. Certainly there is not the most distant hint in the New Testament that he was ever there or ever addressed them a letter, inspired or uninspired. But he does write with much fervor “to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,” 1 Pet. 1:1; and he also refers to the church at Babylon, 1 Pet. 5:13. See also his travels mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. But note, in all this, there is not a single hint of Rome, and much less is there an intimation that Peter had been there, and was their first bishop! That is purely a Roman Catholic invention.
The “Encyclopedia Americana,” under the word Peter, well says: “The tradition that he [Peter] went to Rome, and was crucified there, in the year 67, rests only on the legends of the Roman Church, on which, also, the pope rests his claim to be considered the successor of this apostle.” We may also add that Paul says he was “not a whit behind the chiefest of the apostles.” 2 Cor. 11:5. If the popish view is correct about Peter's exalted place among the apostles and being the first bishop of Rome, then Paul must be mistaken. Which shall we believe, Roman Catholic tradition, or the divinely inspired apostle Paul?
G. W. AMADON.

The Secret History of Our Enemies

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.

The Noble Mind Has No Resentments

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

S. N. Haskell.
The noble mind has no resentments.

The Missionary.

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

PERSEVERE.

USELESS indeed repinings are, They but increase our pain; The noblest way is, when we fail, To rise and try again. No matter how a storm may rage, Let love a fabric rear; And as we toil our cry shall be, "Look up, and persevere."

LUTHER'S TIME AND OURS.

THE work of the gospel is truly a missionary work. Webster defines a missionary as "one who is sent upon a mission;" and a mission as "an errand, commission, or duty upon which one is sent." Since the fall of man, God has communicated to him great and important truths through human instrumentality. These truths embrace the pardon, reproof, and hope, as well as announcements of judgments that should come upon the earth. Those to whom God has committed these errands of mercy are missionaries.
These messages are from one source, and have in view one object, the salvation of the human family. They have varied in their nature as the times and circumstances made them a necessity.
To the reformers was given the work of exposing some of the errors and corruptions of the Papacy. The Bible became to them a new book, a precious treasure. From its pages the light of truth has continued to shine with untold luster, bringing to view one error after another of the Romish church.
Seventh-day Adventists, in common with many in other denominations, look upon these bodies as occupying a position far below the Scripture standard. There are, however, many individuals connected with them, especially in their early history, who possessed the true missionary spirit, the true spirit of reform. The truths of God's word are as precious now as they were then. Satan possesses the same hatred to the Christian religion as then, and he will, if possible, plant his hellish banner right in the midst of God's people. But the salvation of precious souls is as much to be desired now as when the thunders of the reformation were sounding throughout Europe.
The success of the work in the days of Luther, the rapidity with which the reformation spread, and the extent of its influence, cannot be attributed to those men alone whose names are so familiar in history. They alone could have done but little, but in the more humble walks of life were men and women who received the light, and in their sphere of action acted as nobly their part in disseminating the light of truth, as did these men. Of their history, we know but little, yet a record of their acts of faith, deeds of benevolence, fortitude and sacrifice, are faithfully chronicled in the ledger of Heaven; and when the heavenly tribunal sits, and the rewards are given, they will receive their reward as surely and as completely as those whose names have been handed down to us.
The followers of Jesus Christ are called upon to identify their interests with the cause of Christ, to cherish in their hearts, carry out in their lives, and so far as they are able, present to others those truths which have been revealed to them. In doing this they become true missionaries.
Men are not now tortured and put to death because of their faith, but it is still true that "whosoever will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God." Character is as really tested in the humble relation we may sustain to God's work as in the most prominent positions. The promise is to him who gives the cup of cold water, rather than to the one who receives it.
The sacrifices here involved cause many to falter, and even turn away from the Christian course. The sacrifices we make for the upbuilding of the cause of present truth; the denying of self to advance the work of God, and making our personal interests secondary in every respect to the work of the third angel's message, is lifting at the great wheel of reform, and by it we show how much of the missionary spirit we possess. God now regards those who study and plan to help forward his precious cause as he ever has done. It is not the high sounding title, but the faithfulness and devotion to the work in the sphere which the providence of God assigns us, that brings God's blessing and connects us with Heaven. S. N. HASKELL.

RENO, NEVADA.

By William M. Healey

NEVADA has a reputation of being "rough," both as regards its country and its society, and no doubt she deserves the appellation; but there are some as honest, conscientious souls in this State as can be found anywhere. Here in Reno we have a little company that are trying to keep all the commandments of God, and are willing to do their part in advancing the cause of truth.
The church at St. Clair are now in a prosperous condition; they have pledged to pay tithes for the year 1880, and that the amount should not fall below $350. One brother remarked that probably they would need to double that amount to support the cause if a minister came to labor in the State. Another brother said that if they could have a good laborer he would expect to see the cause supported if it took one-half of his income. This church raised $58.75 to purchase a T. and M. library. Where is the earnest, conscientious man who can be sent to occupy this field of labor?
We find it necessary to return to California in a few days, but feel that our visit here has not been in vain, although poor health (having had an ague chill about every three weeks) has prevented our doing all that we could otherwise have done for the outside interest. The brethren raised by donation the amount needed to pay the expenses of my visit to them.
Aug. 16, 1880. W. M. HEALEY.

THE CAUSE IN ENGLAND.

By John Norton Loughborough

We have now held twenty-six meetings in the tent at Romsey. We have quite thoroughly canvassed the immortality question, and now advance to the subject of the law and Sabbath. Interest to hear has been quite good thus far. Hope it may increase.
While holding these meetings we have also held eighteen meetings at Ravenswood, Southampton, and can report some addition to our numbers, and increase of interest there.
The fast-day, July 24, was observed by our people. Before receiving the notice we had appointed a baptism for that day. We met at 10:30 A. M., and after spending near an hour in prayers for the special objects mentioned in the call for the fast, and especially praying for Bro. Andrews, we retired to our baptismal font where three were baptized. This makes twenty-one who have been baptized at Southampton.
We requested all our people to spend the closing moments of the Sabbath in special prayer for Bro. Andrews, while at our house we should anoint him with oil as directed in James. This we did and felt the presence of the Spirit of God, witnessing the acceptance of the petitions offered in his behalf. Now, after ten days, we can report he has gained in strength from that very hour, so much so that he has been able to speak with less difficulty and to accomplish much writing, which was very difficult for him to do before. We praise God for these tokens of his mercy and favor to his servant. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
Aug. 3, 1880.

FENTON, MICHIGAN.

By J. O. Corliss; E. P. Daniels

During the past week the interest in the meetings here has been encouraging. Last Sunday forenoon we organized a church of fourteen members. Others are keeping the Sabbath, who will soon unite with them. We feel grateful to God for his presence and help, and to our brethren and sisters for their prayers. We believe you will still remember us in your daily devotions.
J. O. CORLISS. E. P. DANIELS.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

By Ole Andres Olsen

Held meetings here July 23-25. We appreciate the help rendered by Bro. Canright, and trust it will be blessed to the good of the church. The brethren from Battle Creek who were stopping at Chicago at this time added much to the interest of the meetings. Seven persons were baptized, two united with the church, and others will soon. Of those baptized, five were Americans.
Aug. 3. O. A. OLSEN.

Temperance.

By M. K. White

INTEMPERANCE VS. STRENGTH.

THE practicability of farming on strictly temperance principles has been tested by many successful experiments. Among the earliest of these was that of S. V. S. Wilder, the founder of the American Tract Society, and for twenty-five years its president. Mr. Wilder was a strictly temperate man, not only in drinking, but in eating; usually rising from the table, as he said, "with a disposition to go another slice." In the early stages of temperance reform, he abandoned the then common habit of using and offering wine at the table. But he was not long satisfied with a silent example. He early entered into the aggressive war against the giant sin intemperance under the wise and zealous leadership of such men as Dr. Lyman Beecher and Dr. Justin Edwards. The latter was his amanuensis and helper in the publication of the tract entitled, "The Well-Conducted Farm," which was a veritable history of the temperance principles introduced on his own farm of six hundred acres in Bolton, Mass.
He first requested his workmen to dispense with the usual daily portion of ardent spirits, promising them any amount of nourishing food and drink, and additional wages at the close of the year, if they would. The experiment of temperance farming succeeded admirably, and was followed the next year by the additional stipulation that no workman should in any way secure or use those poisons.
At the close of the year those who were at first offended and threatened to leave the farm, were the first to testify to the improvement resulting from the new plan. One of these came to Mr. Wilder, and with tears in his eyes, said,—
"Sir, I thought you were very hard, in keeping us from drinking rum, I had always been accustomed to it, and thought that I could not do without it. And for the first three months, it was hard, very hard. I had such a caving in here," putting his hands up to his side. "But, as you gave us good wages, and good pay, and the rest resolved to stand it without rum, I thought I would. And now I am well and happy. I work with ease, sleep sweetly, and when I get up in the morning, instead of having, as I used to, my mouth and throat so full of cobwebs as to be spitting cotton wool all the time, my mouth and throat are clear as a-whistle, I feel active, have a good appetite, and can eat anything.
"Formerly, when I worked hard I was at night tired, and could not sleep. When I got up in the morning, I was so sore and stiff, so filled up in my throat, and my appetite was so gone, that I could do nothing till I had taken a glass of rum and molasses. I then stood it till breakfast. But my breakfast did not relish, and what I took did not seem to nourish me. Soon after I got to work I was so hollow and so tired, that I felt desperately ugly till 11 o'clock. Then I took a new vamper. And by the strength of that I got on till dinner. Then I must have a little more to give me an appetite. At three o'clock in the afternoon I must have recourse to the hair of the same dog, to keep up my sinking spirits. And thus I got along till night. Then I must have a little to sharpen appetite for supper.
"Thus I continued year after year, undermining a constitution which was naturally robust, and growing worse and worse until I came under your wise and excellent regulations; and now I am cured. I can do more labor than when I took spirits, without half the fatigue. If a man would give me the same wages that you do, and a dollar a day in addition, to return to the practice of drinking rum, I would laugh at him."
During the last years of his life, Mr. Wilder was a sworn enemy of narcotic, as well as alcoholic, indulgence. In a letter to a friend he thus describes a circumstance which caused him to renounce the habit of snuff-taking. He says:—
"Finding myself, a little over a month since, in the stage from Providence to Worcester, with a person who had still in appearance the remains of a gentleman, and remarking that at every public house he drank brandy, or some other liquid fire, as often as our stage horses drank pure water, I at length asked him if he found the liquor on that route so remarkable for its superior quality as to induce him to have frequent recourse to it, and if he really thought it did him any good.
"As to its quality, sir,' said he, 'I am not aware that it is better than what I find in other sections of our country, but I am sure what little I drink does me good, and my health is excellent—that is to say, with some few exceptions. On rising in the morning, it is true I feel somewhat ugly and depressed, but a good glass of sling sets me to rights, and by occasionally taking a glass through the day, I feel in good spirits until bedtime; and if, as it sometimes happens, I have little or no appetite for my meals, a moderate glass of brandy and water will generally create an appetite, and enable me to relish my food, though I am sometimes troubled with indigestion; but I never make a practice of drinking to my injury.'
"Well, sir,' said I, 'I have the satisfaction to assure you that my health is excellent also, without experiencing any of the ills of which you complain, having confined myself principally to pure water for several years past, and for the last thirty years I am not aware of having drank half a pint of ardent spirits.'
"On saying this, I had the misfortune, or as it has eventuated, I may say the good fortune, of taking a pinch of snuff.
"Pray, sir,' said the gentleman, 'do you think that snuff, of which, to say the least, you seem to take a pinch as often as I take grog, does you any good?'
"Sir,' I replied, 'I exceedingly regret the necessity which obliges me to have recourse to this vile practice, but in consequence of feeble eyes, my physician recommended snuff as the best remedy, and in accordance with his prescription, I have been compelled to take it for several years."
"Well, sir,' said the gentleman, 'your case is precisely mine. I have a feeble stomach, and I have long been compelled to take an occasional drop of spirits for its relief and restoration.'
"Is it possible,' said I to myself, 'that my taking snuff should serve as a pretext for drunkards to ruin perhaps both soul and body?' and I silently resolved that eyes or no eyes, by the grace of God assisting, I would desist from taking a pinch of snuff for one month; and if, at the expiration of that period, my eyes suffered no inconvenience, I would forever renounce the pernicious practice.
"In order to enable me the better to test the strength of my resolution to resist temptation, I merely transferred my box from my waistcoat to my pantaloons pocket, where it has remained for one month, without my having taken a single pinch of the poisonous drug; and my eyes, praised be God, having suffered thus far no inconvenience, I herewith have the pleasure and satisfaction of sending you my snuff-box, which please to receive as a trophy of a victory gained, the grace of God assisting, by one who was once an inveterate snuff-taker, but who now considers himself emancipated from this sinful and disgusting habit, and who recommends to all other snuff-takers, or chewers, or smokers of tobacco, to go and do likewise."
By these two instances we see the fallacy of the idea that liquor or narcotics give permanent strength or benefit to the user. Mr. Wilder himself at the age of fourscore is said to have been a living argument for temperance. The testimony of a gentleman who had traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as in this country, was that he had never seen so fine a looking man in point of health and personal appearance as Mr. Wilder. Few men could say as he at the age of eighty, that he had no aches nor pains, nor had he known headache or toothache in his whole experience. Noble example of true temperance. Would there were more such.
"I must tell you of one little girl about twelve years of age. Last December I was talking with the family about signing the pledge, and she was very anxious to do so; but her mother thought that she was too young, she could not understand it. I saw her two or three months afterward and she wanted to know if I had the pledge paper yet. When I told her that I had, she said, 'I want to sign it, but mamma won't let me. Well, I know if I sign any of the pledges and then break them, I have broken my word, and done wrong, and if I sign any of them I have signed it to keep for a lifetime.' But at our meeting she came to me and wanted her name put on the pledge paper, as her mother had said she might, so I gave her the pencil and paper and she walked up to the desk and signed the teetotal pledge. She has been in the habit of using coffee, but said she knew she had to give it up and was glad of it, and that now she should try to get her schoolmates to sign the pledge also.
"Since our last meeting our membership has increased from fifty-seven to sixty-three. Two men, who have used tobacco for many years, said they were going to give it up and sign the pledge at the next meeting. The people were very anxious that the meeting should be held as often as every two weeks, and quite a number offered to help us.
"The president had given me the charge of getting up an interest in the neighborhood where we held meetings, so I went to work and first obtained permission to use the house, if the teacher would let me have the key. This was not very difficult, as the teacher is a temperance worker herself. Then I posted notices of the meeting along the road and talked about it to nearly everyone I met, and the result of it was, that with the help and blessing of the Lord, we had a large gathering and everyone seemed interested."
Who shall we hear from next?

ENCOURAGING FOR TEMPERANCE WORKERS.

By Editor

SOME of the letters received from our temperance workers in this State are very encouraging; and as we do not feel like keeping all the good things to ourself we give extracts occasionally for the benefit of others. A letter just received from the secretary of a club located where there are about half a dozen members of our church, shows what may be accomplished among our friends and neighbors. She writes:
We had a large attendance at our last meeting, the school-house being about filled; and we are very much encouraged to press on. The evening was devoted to declamations by the children and others, singing, and reading portions of the Temperance Budget. Three teetotal members were added to our list.

AN UNSANCTIFIED SMELL.

A CHRISTIAN worker from Boston was holding some evangelistic services in a neighboring town. At the conclusion of one of the meetings a deacon of the church came to him and said,—
"So, you think you are sanctified, do you?" "Well, yes, I rather think I am." "Then you think that you can't sin any more?" "Oh, no! I do not think that; I am afraid I shall."
"Well," said the deacon, "I don't think I am sanctified."
"No," replied the brother, with a little hesitation and deliberation, "I should not think you were; you don't smell like a sanctified man."
The deacon was soaked with tobacco from head to foot. The conversation closed; he went home and thought. For the first time in his life the idea dawned on him that there was any difference between the smell of a sanctified man and an old tobacco-user. He could not readily dismiss the matter from his mind. The words stuck to him, until at length he renounced the filthy weed, and now it is to be hoped smells more like a sanctified man. Surely when men lay apart "all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness," pipes and tobacco will be quite likely to be discarded with the other abominations.—The Wayside.
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