"The King's daughter is all glorious within."Ps. 45:13.
WE have seen that the sanctuary, whence issue the living waters, is a perfect revelation of the everlasting Gospel; and that Christ, the Incarnate Word, was another perfect revelation and manifestation of the same Gospel. Jesus was the promise and prophecy of the sanctuary perfectly fulfilled. In His heart the divine law was written, and that heart was the seat of mercy, and boundless, limitless love. His whole life was glorified by the divine presence, and all His actions were under the constant guidance of the Spirit. Thus His soul was a perfect sanctuary for God's indwelling.
But all this promise of the sanctuary was for us all as well as for Jesus. It was God showing His spiritual Israel how He wanted to dwell in them. Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are. His experience sums up all human experience. So, also, in the sanctuary every phase of the soul's experience in Christ is revealed, and we shall not be surprised to learn that everything about the sanctuary was symbolical and full of meaning. While in Jesus this meaning and promise of the sanctuary were fully realized, in the Christian, sad to relate, we often see God's plan incomplete, and His perfect pattern marred by the resistance of our wills to His.
The outer covering of the sanctuary was of badger skin, a material of no great beauty, but perhaps well adapted to protect from the weather. It is easy to imagine a Canaanite of the olden days, one who has heard of the power of Israel's God, and the glory of His sanctuary, gazing down upon this tabernacle from some adjacent eminence. He sees only the badger-skin covering. I think I hear him say: "Is this the sanctuary I have heard so much about? There is no beauty there." Even so of Jesus it was said, "There is no beauty that we should desire Him." The beauty of the Christian is an internal not an external beauty. The priest who had been within the sanctuary could tell of the beauty of blue and purple, and scarlet and fine-twined linen wrought with cunning needlework; he could tell of the glory of gold and of precious stones, and, most of all, of the glory of the shekinah presence that filled and flooded the place. He who was without, saw only the badgers' skins. So Christ is the "Rose of Sharon," the "Lily of the valley," "the chiefest among ten thousand," the One "altogether lovely," to those who have been within and seen Him as He is. So of the Christian, "whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."
If that ancient onlooker had cared to investigate a little more closely, he would have found just under the badger skins, the ram skins dyed red. These were the skins of rams offered in sacrifice, and were dyed red to represent their own spilt blood, given freely for others. "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save." My name is "The Word of God." I am "clothed with a vesture dipped in blood." "The blood is the life." This is the same truth, either in the sanctuary, the Christ, or the Christian. Perhaps there is no beauty on the outside, but look a little deeper, there is the greatest beauty that earth or heaven can know. The life is being given,—given freely for others,—made mighty, too, even in the Christian by the Christ within, "mighty to save."
Look a little deeper still, O ancient observer! Just underneath the ram skins dyed red, thou wilt see the goats' hair cloth, from the goats that were always used for a sin-offering on the day of atonement. Look deeper still, and you will behold the fine linen wrought with hovering angel forms waiting to do God's bidding, and all the glory of the shining lamps, the beaten gold, and of the shekinah presence. So of the Christ, so of the Christian—no external beauty, it may be. But he who looks more closely will discover that the life is freely given,—given in the Christian through Christ's indwelling Spirit and power. He who looks more closely still will discern that this free giving of the life, or of Christ's life in us, is making an atonement, and is the only thing that can ever make us one with Him who is the "fountain of life," and who, therefore, freely gives His life to all. We must never forget that "without shedding of blood,"—without giving of life,—"there is no remission."
A still deeper look into the innermost truth of the sanctuary will show that this giving of the life, which makes us one with God, is the very basis of that fine linen of righteousness, and of all that inner glory of the tabernacle, which is God's glory,—the glory of His righteousness. It is only when our lives are thus given, and we are one with Him, that His law is really written in our hearts as it was in the sanctuary, so that His will becomes our will. Then, just as the angel forms wrought by fine needlework into the inner covering of the sanctuary, hovered ever around the shekinah presence, just as in heaven the angels that excel in strength "harken unto the voice of His word," so when His will is our will, our eyes will ever be toward the Lord, waiting His slightest word or gesture of command, and all our aims, hopes, ambitions, and impulses will hover near, glad and eager to do His bidding.
The pattern of all this was shown to Moses in the mount. It was the pattern of what God wanted to work out in his life, and in ours also. Jesus also was transfigured in the "holy mount"—not the same mountain, but in each case a mountain made holy by God's presence. Jesus also saw the pattern of what He was to be,—saw Himself, not as He was, poor, despised, rejected, without "where to lay His head," but glorified as He will be in the eternal kingdom. He heard also God's voice saying to Him, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Moses came down from that mountain to years of care, temptation, and trial, and to a sad and lonely death, before being permitted to enter the promised land. Jesus came down from that mount of transfiguration to Gethsemane and Calvary.
So God sometimes takes us up into the mountain summit with Him. For a moment we see ourselves, not merely as we are, incomplete, imperfect, and sinful, but we catch a glimpse of what we are to be in His eternal purpose. Heaven's glory is around and within. The soul is a sanctuary for His presence, built by His own power and after His own perfect pattern, and God's voice so sweetly whispers to the soul, "This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." But when God gives us such an experience, it is not a presage of ease and comfort in this life. Indeed, the soul whom God takes up into the "holy mount" with Him, has ceased, with God, to look for his own ease and comfort, in looking for the good of others. Such a transfiguration, such a revelation to us of God's pattern, to be wrought out in our lives, is invariably a preparation for service, for trial, for crucifixion here, but also for resurrection into a larger, a glorified life. The lonely grave will find its angel of resurrection to contend with Satan and roll away the stone. The true land of promise is not so near Mount Sinai, nor even to Mount Pisgah's summit, as to the unknown grave in Nebo's lonely mountain—unknown to man, but well known to Him who watcheth over all. No experience of trial or of suffering, while we walk with Him, not even death itself if we die in Him, can take us away from the realization of His perfect pattern for us.
Surely, with Paul, we may say: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
WHAT IS NOW DEMANDED.
WHAT men now demand and always have demanded is some infallible standard of truth. If destiny depends upon conduct and belief, he wants to know what are the principles of right conduct and what are the doctrines to be believed. He wants to find something in the domain of morals and of faith of which he can say of a surety: "This is truth." He may admit of speculation upon scientific subjects, social questions, economic propositions and other questions of like order; but he is not content with speculations upon these questions which affect happiness, welfare, and eternal destiny. That is why a positive faith is the one which is most readily accepted.
And herein lies the weakness of what is denominated the "higher criticism." The higher criticism removes from the common mind something of confidence in the Bible as an infallible standard of truth. A secular paper of New York, speaking to this thought, very justly and pertinently says: "The weakness of every attempt to reconcile faith and the higher criticism by asserting that while the Bible is not in itself infallible it contains infallible truth, is that it throws upon every individual the personal responsibility of sifting the truth in the book from the error. This is a duty which can not be delegated either to critic or to spiritual adviser. The passages of the Bible are not bracketed and marked, 'This is true,' and, 'This is not true,' and there is no knowledge taught in seminary or college which gives assurance of infallible discrimination. If some is truth and some is error and there is no authority outside of the Bible itself to guide the reader, the church may as well disband, for its very foundations are unsettled."6
The common mind is dependent; it is not independent. In its dependence and helplessness and inability to know the truth, it leans upon that book which has been presented to it as containing the ultimate truth. How then is it robbed, if that which it fondly thought was infallible is taken away from it! It is adrift upon a tumultuous sea without compass. That the Bible contains infallible truth is not enough to know. It is the possibility of error which destroys confidence. Left to himself, one man's truth may be rejected as error by another. If elimination once begins, where is the process to end? Where shall the ultimate truth be found? The Bible was not given of God to a race of philosophers, but to a race of weak, fallible, erring, and misguided men. It was given as a guide, to be a manual of instruction so plain that even a fool may not err therein. So regarding it, it meets man's need. He feels that here is something under which the finger of God may write: "This is true."—Methodist Recorder.
THE CRAZE FOR MAMMON.
By Walter B. Vassar
BY REV. WALTER B. VASSAR.
A NYTHING abnormal fails of proper balance, and a faculty gone astray needs righting for proper living. Nothing can be seen in its true light till the eyes see it from a correct focus; and eyes greedy for gold are wrongly set in their sockets.
A few illustrations may help to view the folly of mammon worship. If my neighbor has never displayed a musical faculty, this awakens no surprise on my part or on the part of his other neighbors, tho all of us may be given over to music. We simply see that music is not his forte, and he is none the worse fellow for that.
If in the circle of our acquaintance every other man or woman is not a poet or a poetess, we recognize that poets are never made, but born, and hold our friends in no less esteem, tho they may not even appreciate poetry.
If the artistic faculty has never come into the life of other friends as one of the highest blessings of heaven, we do not feel warranted in cutting their acquaintance.
But in the business world if our associates are not each and every man a money maker, we draw the line sharply; for here only birds of a feather can with comfort flock together. Mammon demands that all qualify themselves to double the almighty dollar, and the craze increases as the dollars double. No matter what the business, the question is not as to its respectability, but its profitableness, not as to its mutual helpfulness in trade, but the ability to coin money, as the money passes through the fingers of commerce.
And so we find ourselves at the close of the greatest century since creation's dawn, a race of money-getters and mammon-worshipers, and the "golden calf" the idol of millions of hearts.
Nor does the craze stop with those who are engaged in the more strictly commercial callings. He whose book sells the widest, not from virtue in the book, but from the popularity of the writer, he whose songs are the widest sung, not because of the sublimeness of the melody, but because the author is on the crest of the wave, and the shekels roll his way, these are the men to whom we turn and cry, "These are thy gods, O ye people!"
And, more than this—alas, pity 'tis true!—the preacher of righteousness, he who is set for the defense of truth, God's oracle, is swept in the mighty current; and the question is not, Can he convert sinners from error's ways? but, Can he command big pay? This is the all-important question, and the aisles of the church, as the avenues of trade, resound with mammon's mighty call for worshipers.
But men who sell themselves for gold will perish with their gains. He who barters all for silver will not be satisfied. Life has ever been, and ever will be, more precious than meat, and the body more precious than raiment.
Hamilton, N. Y.
A VISIT TO OTTAWA, ONTARIO.
By F. D. Starr
DOUBTLESS the readers of the SIGNS are aware of the fact that this city was visited last spring by a devastating fire. It was my privilege a few days ago to pass through a portion of the "burnt district" of this unfortunate city. It is said that the territory covered by the fire extended about two miles and in places nearly half that width. It would be difficult to imagine a more impressive object lesson on the transitory nature of earthly possessions than a view of this burnt territory presents. To see the ragged stone walls pointing in their mute and irregular manner away from earth, and the desolate door-yards, where once had been luxury and beauty, was a scene to awe the mind and touch the heart with tender emotion.
It is even advertised as an object of special attraction for the railway excursions to visit the "burnt district" of the city. Many of the people were at their midday meal when the fire commenced, and before night the holocaust was pretty much over. The fearful work had been done; ten thousand or more people were homeless, and fifteen hundred dwellings were in ashes. Their destruction came as a traveler, with rapid march, and their want as an armed man.
Friends, where do you want your treasure? All this world is soon to be known to the universe as the "Burnt District," to lie waste 1,000 years, and the inhabitants of other worlds are going to accept the invitation to come and see the impressive and horrid sight. The Bible says to all, "Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations He hath made in the earth." Ps. 46:8.
The prophet Jeremiah looked forward to this scene: "I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger." Jer. 4:26. How foolish to lay up treasure here to be consumed away into smoke! How wise to lay up treasure where the fires will never burn it! Where are your treasures? The great day of destruction and fire is right before us.
One of the peculiarities of this fire was the bewilderment and lack of sense manifested by those whose homes were consuming. This is but a shadow to the confusion and dismay of the worldling in the great burning day.
F. D. STARR.
TRINE IMMERSION.
By Clarence Santee
THERE is but one form of baptism known to the New Testament where water is used, and that is immersion. All who baptisto—all who bury—agree in this.
There is, however, a class who believe that, to fulfil the injunctions of the Scriptures, the candidate should be buried three times, once in the name of the Father, once in the name of the Son, and once in the name of the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit. Matt. 28:19, 20 is quoted to sustain this idea.
Why baptize at all? First, we are to repent of our sins (Acts 2:38), and acknowledge that the sin has brought death. One who has not repented of sin is not a fit subject for baptism. "Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. Repentance is not simply the sorrow of the world for the results of an evil course, but a turning away from that evil course, or from the transgression of the law—a clearing of self. 2 Cor. 7:10, 11.
When we confess, God forgives. 1 John 1:9. The old man of sin is crucified with Christ. Rom. 6:6. Self then is dead. Verse 11. "Ye are dead" (Col. 3:3), "crucified" (Gal. 2:20).
What, then, is the next step?—Deliverance from this dead body. Paul says, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?" Rom. 7:24, margin. How can I be delivered?—By burying the dead and rising with Christ's life, or putting on Christ.
In Rom. 6:3 it is stated that we are "baptized into Jesus Christ." In this act we put on Christ. Gal. 3:27. "As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." Now as to the number of times necessary to baptize. When Paul says we have "one baptism" (Eph. 4:5), he certainly does not refer to form at all, but to the one thing. The question then is, Have we one immersion, or three? Paul answers, "One" immersion. Why then baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost? 1. We repent toward God. Acts 20:21. We sinned toward Him, or, as "sin is the transgression of the law," we transgress His law, and "the wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23.
2. We get forgiveness in Christ. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." 2 Cor. 5:19. We show our faith in His willingness to receive us in Christ, and meeting Him there, by being put into Christ in immersion.
3. In the name of the Holy Spirit. Christ says, "No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him."7John 6:44. How are we, then, drawn, or what means does the Father use to draw us to Christ?—The Holy Ghost or Spirit. John 14:26; 16:13, etc. Its office, to convince of sin. John 16:8, margin. "He will guide you." Verse 13.
But we receive that Spirit in Christ. Rom. 8:1, 2, 9. In fact, being put into the Son, brings us into connection with both Father and Spirit. Gal. 4:6. We get all through His death and resurrection. "We are buried with Him." Rom. 6:4. This likeness to His death refers to being "planted together," Christ and I, not my being planted alone in the likeness of His death. "Buried with Him," "planted together," "buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him." Col. 2:12.
How often can I be buried with Him?—Just as many times as He was buried, no more. "He died unto sin once." Rom. 6:10. "Christ was once offered." Heb. 9:28, 26. We can be buried but once with Him. We can die but once with Him. (This is speaking of the one experience at baptism.) We can not die once with the Father, for He did not die. We can not be buried once with Him, for He was not buried. We can not die or be buried with the Holy Spirit, for it did not die, nor was it buried. Buried with Christ, we show our faith in all, and receive both Father and Spirit in Him. When Christ died, He was erect upon the cross, with arms outstretched, His head bowed upon His bosom. There was no plan for His burial at all. Death should precede burial. Burial should not be arranged for until after death. Any other course would be unnatural. The form of baptism, or burial, does not embrace His dying, but when buried, with arms folded across His breast, they laid Him away out of sight.
We are buried with Him. He rises up. We are raised up together with Him. Then with our old life—dead body of sin—buried forever in His grave, we live His life while here, and appear in glory when He comes. Col. 3:3, 4. CLARENCE SANTEE.
“THE MORNING COMETH.”
Lo! from his Eastern heights sublime,
I hear the herald's joyous warning;
Day's glory deepens; far upclimb
The rosy splendors of the morning;
See yon triumphant steeds of light
Chase the retreating hosts of night;
The valleys sing, the hills rejoice,
And sounds aloft one cheering voice,
“'Tis coming. Yes, 'tis coming.”
'Tis coming. Yes, our night of tears
Shall fade before Immanuel's glory,
Which now, to gild our earth, appears,
Foretold in ancient song and story,
Foretold in that seraphic strain,
With notes which haunt our world again;
For, traveling through the shadowy years,
The Just, the Merciful, appears.
Behold! the Lord is coming.
—Zion's Herald.
A SOUND MIND.
By Geo. M. Brown
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Phil. 2:5.
THE mind of Christ is described in verses 7 and 8. It was an unselfish mind, one from which all thoughts of self-serving were excluded. "He humbled Himself. . . . Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him." There is the perfect example. The life and work of Christ show us that the path leading to the heights of true success runs through the valley of humiliation.
Peter admonishes us to be clothed with humility; and what a fitting garb for sinful, erring mortals to wear! Through pride Satan was transformed from the "anointed cherub that covereth," "perfect" in his ways, to a murderer, a liar, and the father of it. Eze. 28:14, 15; John 8:44. The desire to exalt himself was his ruin; for he said, "I will be like the Most High." Isa. 14:14.
Adam and Eve fell because of a desire to become like God in their own way, in other words, through exalting self. Gen. 3:1-6. They followed Satan's example, and became sinners.
As Christians we are to follow Christ; but "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God;" for "the carnal mind is enmity against God." 1 Cor. 2:14; Rom. 8:7.
It is clear, then, that the mind of Christ, which we are exhorted to have, is a new mind; and it is not something that we get by our own efforts, but is the free gift of God. 2 Tim. 1:7. When received, it enables us to think the thoughts of God, unselfish, pure, and noble. Every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 2 Cor. 10:5. He lives in us, and works "both to will [think] and to do [express His thoughts in word and action] of His good pleasure." Gal. 2:20; Phil. 2:13.
This is God's way of exalting man; for when our thoughts are the thoughts of God, then our ways will be His ways, and they will be as far superior to the old thoughts and ways as the heavens are higher than the earth. Isa. 55:7-9.
This is the true intellectual culture. The sound mind resists the specious deceptions of Satan, and delights in meditating upon the grand and lofty truths of nature and revelation.
Then let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt us in His own good time and way, always remembering the promise, "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." Ps. 84:11.
GEO. M. BROWN.
Humboldt, Neb.
TRIALS.
By F. W. Hiddelson
WHAT is a trial?—It is the fire that tests the soul. Without these soul fires the Christian's experience would be robbed of its strength and power. The lives of the primitive Christians shine forth with such a brilliant luster because of the severe trials through which they passed. Remove from their history an account of these and their lives become commonplace. "But they had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy); they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." "Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection." Hence, or because of this, the halo of their lives permeates the darkest solitude of this sinful world.
Trials is the furnace in which God would consume the dross of our nature. The hundred and forty-four thousand stand before the throne without fault because of the heat of the furnace through which they pass. "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." They have lived the life of the Lamb, and that was one of great suffering. It was hatred for love, cursing for blessing. It was weary days and painful, agonizing nights. It was barren deserts and flowerless gardens, abuse and cruelty, with nails and cross and spear and thorny crown.
"Behold, I will send My Messenger, and He shall prepare the way before Me. . . . But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appearth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap; and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." Mal. 3:1.
In order, then, that we may be able to offer unto the Lord an "offering in righteousness," the refining process must be applied. Peter says, "Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." 1 Peter 4:12, 13. "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations." James 1:2. We can see, then, that these trials should be the subject of rejoicing, as they are ordered by a kind providence to fit and prepare us for some better place which God has for us. Peter declares we are "living stones," built up into a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Then how precious in God's sight are these trials that He permits to come to us! They are hammer and chisel in His loving hand to remove the rough corners. They are brush and sandpaper to fit and polish us for the place He would have us fill in His glorious temple. No wonder that "the trial of your faith is more precious than gold." Why?—That ye "might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ."
No act in the life of the great Bernard Palissy, the potter preacher, shows more fortitude than when by careful thought he had come to the conclusion that the glazing on the Italian pottery had been placed there by intense heat, and he, determining to prove it, stood six days and nights by the blazing furnace, hoping to see the glazing fuse, but, finding it would not, and his fuel fast going, and no money to buy more, seized the chairs, smashed them to pieces, and threw them into the flame.
His family, who had been watching him as he watched the furnace, began to think him insane, and they pleaded with him, but his only reply was, "More heat, more heat;" and when the chairs gave out, he broke the table to pieces and threw it onto the fire, and then other articles of furniture, until the limit of his power and strength was exhausted, when, lo and behold, the glazing melted, and with a cry of victory upon his lips, he fell exhausted to the floor!
God could use a man like that, and we soon find him one of the leaders in the great reformation in France. As the intense heat puts the gloss on the pottery, so the fires of affliction polish the human soul and cause it to shine to the glory of its heavenly Father. Then welcome the cross, that brings us nearer to our God.
By the dim light of the candle, Paul could write from his narrow inner prison in Rome, while by faith he pillowed his head on the breast of Jesus, "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." And let all God's faithful children say, "Amen."
F. W. HIDDLESON.
WATCH AND PRAY.
CHRISTIAN, seek not yet repose;
Hear thy guardian angel say:
"Thou art in the midst of foes;
Watch and pray.
"Gird thy heavenly armor on,
Wear it ever night and day;
Ambushed lies the evil one;
Watch and pray.
"Watch, as if on that alone
Hung the issue of the day;
Pray, that help may be sent down;
Watch and pray.”
—Charlotte Elliott.
The Trouble of Impatience
My mind was ruffled with small cares to-day,
And I said pettish words, and did not keep
Long-suffering patience well; and now how deep
My trouble for this sin!
—Henry Septimus Sutton.
PLAGUE RIOTS AT CAWNPORE.
Not many days ago there came over the wires from India the information that the government in India had decided to make less stringent regulations in regard to the plague; but there was no indication that the officials were practically forced to do this on account of the growing hostility of the natives. The following extract from a letter to the New York Observer, by Rev. J. J. Lucas, explains the necessity for this step :—
"It is now four years since the plague made its appearance in Bombay, and in spite of all the efforts of government, it has been as virulent the last few months as at any time since it appeared. City after city has been smitten, and now for some months it has taken root in Calcutta. No one really knows the number of deaths, as the people refuse to report such cases as long as they can, in order to escape the plague regulations, especially the segregation of the patients in hospitals provided by the government. Last week the Hindus and Mohammedans of the city of Cawnpore united, and without a word of warning, made a rush for the Plague Hospital, burning it to the ground in broad daylight, killing four or five policemen who were on duty at the hospital, and throwing their bodies into the burning building.
"The troops were called out, but the mob defied them, and when scattered in one place they gathered quickly in another. The European women and children on the railway lines fled for protection to the railway station and spent the night there. The ladies of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Mission, with native Christian girls, took refuge in the church. No provisions could be had from the city. The servants of Europeans were waylaid by the mob and robbed of the provisions they were taking to the European quarter of the city. All the shops and mills were closed, and business suspended for several days. Sir Anthony McDonnell, governor of the province, hastened to Cawnpore, and by the issue of a proclamation practically leaving the plague regulations in the hands of the people, restored quiet. Thus the mob overawed the authorities and had their way.
"This has opened the eyes of not a few to see what a seething volcano we sleep on in India, one ready to burst forth at any time and swallow up every European and Christian in the country. One of the remarkable features of the riot is the sudden and cordial union of the Hindus and Mohammedans, both bodies seemingly at one in the determination to sweep away the plague regulations, and failing that to—well, do what they can to sweep away the British Government. The most monstrous stories were circulated to arouse the animosity of the people, i. e., that the government burns to death the sick in the plague hospitals, and thus strives to stamp out the plague. During the riot a report was circulated that the government intended poisoning the water in the water works and thus bring the people of the city to terms. When such stories are circulated and believed, one understands how quickly the mass of the people, only seven in a hundred able to read, can be aroused by designing men and incited to deeds of cruelty and violence."
The English Government dares not risk the possibility of an Indian rebellion while its hands are so thoroughly tied in Africa and China. s.
PROTESTANTISM IN FRANCE.
By L. A. P.
WHILE Protestantism is growing in France, there is said to be a steadily increasing hostility to it among the masses of the people. The greater share of this opposition is of course from Roman Catholics, who constitute the majority of the masses. There is a ready and constant demand for anti-Protestant literature, in which extravagant language is used, sounding, says the New York Observer,
wonderfully like the writings of some of the Catholic theologians on the eve of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
It is asserted that there can be no just cause for this opposition, inasmuch as the Protestants are law-abiding and peaceable citizens. The Observer attempts to give an answer to the question why they incite such increasing hostility. It says:—
“The question is a difficult one to answer, tho the fact that Protestants are prosperous and hold many official posts does, as indicating the possession of qualities not shared by Catholics, afford a partial explanation. It is only partial, however, because, singularly enough, the French agnostics are quite as hostile to the Protestants as are French Catholics. The very men who profess contempt for Catholicism, unite with the Catholics in condemning the Protestant, and, apparently, because he is not a Catholic. This would indicate that the antipathy is caused not by difference of religious belief, but by different habits of thought. And the theory is borne out by the fact that neither the spread of the doctrine of Voltaire, nor the Revolution, nor the process of secularization which followed the Franco-Prussian war, ever greatly modified the hatred of Protestantism. The Protestant has never been allowed a place in popular esteem alongside the agnostic. Catholicism is so much a habit of life with the mass of the French people, so much a point of view, that it looks at everything through Catholic spectacles, failing even to discover anything disgraceful in St. Bartholomew. It may ignore the church and ridicule its rites, but it retains the inherited prejudices of that faith. This is the chief cause of the hostility to Protestantism, the fact that the latter looks out upon the world from a different view point from that of Catholicism. The Protestant judges men and things on their merits, the Catholic accepts the judgment of his church, and the independence of the former naturally offends him. Aside from this hatred of Catholicism, there are, of course, other reasons for the French hatred of Protestantism, the chief perhaps being that Protestants are so often of foreign blood, and bear foreign names, and that in scholarship they hold the supremacy. But the chief cause is differing habit of mind. Nevertheless, Protestantism is growing in France, having now regained the strength it had when the Huguenot persecution began.”
Yet Protestants, like Préssense, tell us that French Protestants have lost their power.
It should be emphasized, tho, that what the Observer calls a differing habit of mind accounting for this hostility, is a habit of mind almost wholly, if not entirely, the result, through ages, of Catholic teaching. Even the French agnostics, if they are not backsliders from the Catholic faith, have been trained through generations of this influence. In the end, the matter of religion will be found to be wholly responsible for the attitude, except as there may be inconsistent Protestants whose individual lives give the lie to their profession. In this sense it is a habit of mind, and a habit which affects the French Protestant—the Huguenot—just as it affects the English, or American, or German, or true Protestant of any other nationality,—it changes him from bondage to liberty, the glorious freedom of the sons of God.
