p. 8 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 7. (2/15/1899)

“WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?”

By A. Smith

And the Bible Answer.

“ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3:23. If all have sinned, I am certainly one of the number. But “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15); and since I am a sinner, Jesus came to save me.

“God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

Therefore God so loved me that He gave His Son to die that I “should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

But what must I do to be saved?—“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31.

But I am so wicked that I am not fit to be a Christian. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Rom. 7:24.

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; tho your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; tho they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isa. 1:18.

“Let not conscience make you linger, Nor of fitness fondly dream; All the fitness He requireth Is to feel your need of Him.”

I do feel my need of Jesus, but how can I go to Him? where shall I find Him?

“The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.” Ps. 145:18.

“Before they call, I will answer; and while they yet are speaking, I will hear.” Isa. 65:24.

God is faithful; He will do just as He promises. Then will I ask Jesus to bring all the sins of my life to my remembrance, so that I may confess them and be forgiven.

“Just as I am, without one plea But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come! “Just as I am, and waiting not To rid my soul of one dark blot, To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come, I come! “Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; Because Thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come! “Just as I am, Thy love I own Has broken every barrier down; Now to be Thine, and Thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come, I come!”

The repentant sinner says: “O Lord, I confess that I have grievously sinned against Thee, What more can I do? Forgive me.” “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. Then can he say: “I believe Thou hast forgiven me, and that I am Thine. I will rejoice in Thy salvation.” A. SMITH.

ARE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS ABOLISHED?

By C. H. Bliss

THIS may seem like a strange question. Yet there are some who answer it in the affirmative. The writer has often been referred to 2 Cor. 3:7 as proof that the law is abolished. But before examining this text let us notice what this position involves. 1. If the Ten-Commandment law is done away, we are under no obligation to observe any commandment of the law until such commandment is re-enacted. If “Thou shalt not kill” has always been obligatory upon man, it has never been done away, or abolished. But if the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross, and thus done away, there must have been a time when even this precept, the sixth of the Decalogue, could have been violated with impunity. But such a proposition is too absurd to be argued.

In Rom. 3:31 we read, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid.” To “make void” (καταργέω) is to do away, abolish. See Eph. 2:15, where the same word is applied to the law of ceremonies or ordinances. Thus Rom. 3:31 is a plain statement that the law is not done away. That this refers to the Ten Commandments is shown by Rom. 2:21, 22; but it does not include circumcision or the law of ceremonies. Verse 25; see also Rom. 7:7, where reference is made to the Ten Commandments. This law is called “holy,” “just,” “spiritual,” “good.” Verses 12, 14. Paul delighted in this law, and God sent His Son that its righteous precepts might be fulfilled in us. Rom. 8:3, 4.

But does 2 Cor. 3:7 teach that the Ten Commandments are done away? In verse 3 we are told that the law written on stone is now by the Spirit of God written on the heart. Now the letter of a law written on stone, or in a book, or taught by a priest, has no power in it to impart life to the one who reads or hears. At the best it can only tell what ought to be done; and if we have failed, it speaks to us in words of condemnation. Thus it condemns, or kills, the transgressor.

“But the Spirit giveth life.” Verse 6.

In John 8 we have the record of one brought to Christ condemned by the law. A company of Jews were prepared to execute the penalty, death. Our Saviour removed the condemnation (not the law) by extending pardon, and exhorting the sinner to “go, and sin no more.” But whence comes this power to overcome evil habits, to “go, and sin no more”? “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.” John 1:12. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” “For He shall save His people from their sins.” “Sin is the transgression of the law.” “He was manifested to take away our sins.” “Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not.” Thus through Christ the Spirit ministers pardon and peace; and with this pardon there comes power to obey. It is thus that the Spirit gives life.

But what is meant in verse 7 by the ministration of death written on stone? “Ministration” is from the Greek διακονία, service. The office of a diakonas (from dia and konas, a servant), one who is dusty from running; a minister of a church. Liddell and Scott. See also Groves Greek and English Concordance. That the Ten Commandments only were written on stone see Deut. 10:4. How, then, could the ministration of death (service of the minister) be written on stone? The law was what caused that service; and the service of the minister was the administering of the law, which, when separated from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, carries with it only condemnation and death. A similar expression is found in 2 Kings 4:40. “There is death in the pot.” Here the effect is used for the cause.

But the ministration of the Spirit, the new covenant, is life and peace. Under it the law is removed from stone, and written in the heart. See Heb. 8:10. With it there comes spiritual life, which ministers power to the believer to obey its spiritual precepts. Thus we are freed from bondage, from condemnation, and brought into the glorious liberty of the laws of God. This is freedom from sin (the transgression of the law) both past and present.

THE PRIVILEGE OF SERVICE.

ONLY by service can we come into harmony with God’s plan. There is only one comprehensive plan, the plan of God, which appears in the creation and preservation of the universe, and nothing is of value except as it serves some useful purpose in that plan. In the material universe we see harmony, because everything falls into its place in the comprehensive plan of God, and serves the ends for which it was created. But in human society there is much discord and trouble, and it all arises from one cause, a refusal to serve God, a refusal to come into harmony with His moral plan for the government of His children. All things work together for good to them that serve God, for service is love in action. Such persons find that they are working with, rather than against, God’s perfect plan. But, on the other hand, those who refuse to serve put themselves out of harmony with God and His way of doing things, and by so doing they find more and more, or, if they do not discover the fact, it is nevertheless the case, that all things work against them. Things do not come their way because they are going the wrong way.—The Advance.

Toil Is the Law

By John Ruskin

If you want knowledge, you must toil for it; if food, you must toil for it, and if pleasure, you must toil for it. Toil is the law. Pleasure comes through toil and not by self-indulgence and indolence. When one gets to love work, his life is a happy one.—John Ruskin.

Immortality Comes to the Fit

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

IMMORTALITY will come to him who is fit for it, and he who would be a great soul in future must be a great soul now.—Emerson.

God Is Like a Mother

“How much God is like a mother! He not only watches the footsteps of His children, but He listens to hear their cry.”

Insist on Yourself; Never Imitate

"INSIST on yourself; never imitate. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him."

Experience Teaches Like No Other

By Thomas Carlyle

EXPERIENCE does take dreadfully high school wages, but he teaches like no other.—Carlyle.

SAVED IN THE CHILD-BEARING.

IT is true, as stated by the apostle Peter, that there are some things in Paul's writings "hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction." 2 Peter 3:16. It is not that these things may not be understood, but the meaning does not lie on the surface. By faithful study he who is stable (that is, he who is grounded in the truth of God, which is clearly revealed—learned in the Scriptures) may understand them. Those who go astray by such passages are those who wrest or tear them from their connection and from other plainly-revealed principles of truth, and form from them an opinion contrary to the truth.

This is true of the expression found in 1 Tim. 2:15, "Notwithstanding she shall be saved in child-bearing." Let us examine it.

Paul's subject is that we should labor and pray for the salvation of all mankind. The two classes into which the race is divided—man and woman—are referred to. Verses 8-12. To illustrate, the apostle referred to the two classes in the beginning, the father and mother of the race, and the cause of the fall. "Adam [the man] was first formed, then Eve [the woman, 'the mother of all living.'] Gen. 3:20]. And Adam [the man, for Adam means man] was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in child-bearing, if they continue in faith and charity [love] and holiness with sobriety."

The woman was deceived by Satan. The man yielded because the woman had yielded. Satan deceived the woman through his subtility; the woman beguiled the man. The race had fallen. But a ray of hope pierced the darkness. Through her, who had been first in transgression, should salvation come. We read in the history given: "I will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it [he] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen. 3:15. Salvation, then, was to come through the seed of the woman. Pains and sorrows would accompany births, and the number would be greatly multiplied. Gen. 3:16. Yet through these pains and sorrows would come Him who would redeem the earth race. And this is just what is stated in 1 Tim. 2:15: "Notwithstanding she shall be saved in child-bearing." The Revised Version reads according to the literal Greek, "the child-bearing." This points us back to the beginning of the race and its fall, as do also the previous verses. She who through her sin brought sin upon her seed, or those to whom she would give birth, would be saved by her Seed, who should come through the child-bearing. The promised Seed of the woman would be the One through whom existence, fruiting, and life would come to all. The Seed of the seed, the "holy Child" of the child-bearing, is the "Way, the Truth, and the Life."

But are not all saved through the Seed? Then why is it said that "she [woman] shall be saved in the child-bearing"?—They are words of comfort to woman, through whom sin first came. Altho she was in the transgression, she may be comforted that, through her, through the means of child-bearing, is to come the One who not only saves her but the race.

But the fact that through woman was to come the Redeemer, is not all that is requisite to her salvation. Faith and charity (love) and continuance therein, are necessary on her part, as well as upon the part of all who are saved. All, male or female, must have that faith which purifies the heart (Acts 15:9), that love which obeys all of God's commandments and counts them not grievous (1 John 5:3), the faith that worketh by love (Gal. 5:6). All who have such faith are in Christ, it matters not their sex, or race, or nation. "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Gal. 3:27, 28. And any theory which makes a woman's salvation depend on her individual child-bearing is contrary to the Word of God, and is of the devil. But all who have faith and love and continue therein, the child-bearing, through which has been manifested God's matchless grace and boundless love—the gift of His Son and our Saviour—will save and save forever. And this text, like all others which speak of salvation, brings us to the only way of salvation,--our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Specimen of the World's Wisdom.

Of ancient times the Scripture says that "the world by wisdom knew not God." 1 Cor. 1:21. The same is as true to-day as it ever was, "wisdom" in this phrase meaning the world's wisdom. The world's wisdom does not bring men any nearer to God now than it ever did, for the reason that it is "foolishness with God." Chap. 3:19. "The wisdom of their wise men shall perish." Isa. 29:14. Christ is "the wisdom of God," therefore all the wisdom that God recognizes is concentrated in Christ. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." Col. 3:16. Of the world the same apostle says, "Professing themselves to

be wise, they became fools" (Rom. 1:22), and "changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator." In the light of this law of cause and effect, read the following concerning the death and burial of a monkey by a lodge of the order of Elks in this "Christian nation," in this "enlightened" nineteenth century. It is from a special despatch to the New York World:—

When Judge was found dead the other morning, the members of the Camden Lodge of Elks mourned. To-night he was buried. Wrapped in a shroud of shimmering white satin, his little face bearing a look of calm resignation, Judge lay in state all day in the parlor of the Elks' home in Market Street. The body was in a handsome coffin, covered with white brocade silk, with a plate-glass top and silver-plated handles. At the four corners burned candles. At the head lay a wreath of handsome roses and carnations; at the foot Judge's favorite toys. After the services the body was taken to the garden surrounding the worsted mills of Howland Croft, Sons & Co., Broadway and Jefferson Street, and buried beside Mr. Croft's dead pets.

HEAVEN GAVE THE BEST.

By T.

THERE is no treasure that is prized by a true and natural father so highly as a faithful and only son. There is nothing that he would not give to save such a son from disease and death. If he is dangerously ill, the very best medical skill obtainable is employed. And so devoted is the fond father to his son that he would not only give up every dollar of his wealth, but even his life is not held too precious to sacrifice for his beloved offspring. Ask the fond mother, as she presses her first-born son to her bosom, what she prizes as the dearest thing on earth. Her beaming eyes, as she raises them from beholding her treasure, will tell you the deep sentiments of her heart.

Fathers and mothers, suppose that you were called upon to make the most priceless gift that is within your power to bestow in order that you might show your fervent love to another. Would houses or lands or silver or gold or any other treasure of wealth be equal to a well-beloved son? There are many treasures that we may prize very highly, but none of them are so priceless in their unspeakable value as our children.

Then when our heavenly Father gave us His Son, He gave us the very dearest, the most incalculably priceless, the most touchingly tender gift that divine love could bestow. Is it any marvel that one apostle should say to us, "God is love"? And what consolation in the words of another apostle, saying, "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"! And that precious text (John 3:16) must ever become dearer and dearer to us, and filled with a deeper and ever still deeper meaning. Let us read it again together, for, while it is "the old, old story," yet it is also the new, new story that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

God commends His love toward us by the rich Gift with which He has paid the price of our salvation. And had He not loved us beyond the powers of human language to describe or human intellect to fathom, how could He have given us "His only-begotten Son"? It was love, the deepest, the fullest, and the tenderest love, that led our heavenly Father to lavish upon humanity the richest treasure of His heart.

He manifested that love toward us in order that He might win us from the ways of sin and death back to His haven of rest and righteousness. When such loving-kindness is fully manifested toward us, how can we find it in our hearts to resist it?

And since Heaven has bestowed upon us the choicest gift in its possession, with what devotion should we render our very best service to our heavenly Father in return! He has given us the best that He has; can we be ungrateful enough to give Him anything short of our best? With the Lord's rich gift before our minds, can we find it in our hearts to hold anything in reserve?

We are altogether worthless. Our nature is that of sin. When we look upon our lives and characters we find them full of defects, and we wonder what the Lord can see in us that He wants. But He loves us, regardless of all our sins, and wants us for Himself. And since He made no reserve, but gave His best gift for our ransom, this should cause a well of gratitude to spring up within our hearts that would lead us to place all upon the altar.

O, if we would only take the time to reflect upon our Father's love, what changes would be wrought in our lives! We could not be so ungrateful as to make any reserve in our devotion to Him. And when the Lord asks us to yield to Him fully it is not that He may receive some selfish benefit out of it, but that we may be brought back to the peaceable ways of righteousness and joy. And in changing our night into day, our mourning into gladness, our sin into righteousness, He finds His own infinite delight. It is worth our while to place what there is of us wholly in our Father's hands. It is base ingratitude not to do it.

SPIRITUALISM.

What It Claims to Be; The Bible Definition of It; Is It a Subject of Prophecy?

What It Claims to Be.

SPIRITUALISM claims to reveal the unknown by means of communication with the spirits of the dead. Says Mr. Hudson Tuttle: "During the comparatively brief period that systematic communication with the spirit world has been made possible, millions have been convinced that they have received messages from their departed friends." Every chamber of the "unknown" into which the Spiritualist seeks to enter, is invariably by the doorway of communion with the "spirits of the dead." This fact is uncontroverted, and to state it is all that is necessary.

The Bible Definition.

Mankind quite generally has been led to believe that an immortal spirit leaves the body at death to enter the invisible world, and in that realm knows not only what is to be known, but is also fully aware of what is transpiring on earth. But it has not been proven that man is in possession of such a spirit. Nevertheless, since it has been so generally taught and believed that there is consciousness in death, is it any marvel that such a class of persons as the Spiritualists should arise, and seek to communicate with the dead?

But the Bible plainly says that "the dead know not anything." Eccl. 9:5. Also please read carefully the following texts: Ps. 146:2-4; Ps. 6:4, 5; Job 14:10-12; John 5:28, 29; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 15:51-54. From the reading of the foregoing texts, it is very evident that man quietly sleeps in the grave, wholly oblivious to what is transpiring anywhere, till the time comes for the voice of the Son of God to arouse him from his slumber of death. And the idea that it is possible to converse with the dead is most assuredly a mistake.

Then has the medium's claim of spirit communication no foundation? and is it all simply some tricks of human devising? By no means! But the Bible makes it plain that these spirits that answer the call of the medium are not the spirits of the dead, and the same Book also throws some rays of light on what they really are.

The comforting truth is presented in the Word of God that heavenly angels are sent to minister to the heirs of salvation. Read the following texts upon the subject: Heb. 1:7, 14; 2 Kings 6:16, 17; 19:35; Ps. 34:7; Dan. 6:22; Ps. 91:11; Matt. 18:10; Acts 12:7-11. Many other texts will doubtless come to the mind of the reader, but no more need be added to show that God has a multitude of good angels working with Him for the salvation of mankind.

We also learn that there were angels who sinned (2 Peter 2:4), and that kept not their first estate (Jude 6). The chief of these fallen angels is Satan, and Christ represents him as having a kingdom (Matt. 12:26); he is called the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). Satan is a pure Hebrew word transferred to the English language, and is defined as "an adversary," "an enemy," "an accuser." Hence the kingdom over which he presides is devoted to evil.

The Master speaks of the devil as a murderer and liar from the beginning. John 8:44. The work of this whole kingdom of evil spirits over which Satan presides is devoted to deception. Rev. 16:14. In 2 Thess. 2:8-12 we are told that Satan is to work with all power and lying wonders in his final great deceptions.

We conclude, then, that the facts are clearly established:—

(a) That there are good angels who visit us to assist us in leading lives of purity and holiness.

(b) That there are angels who sinned and are now devoted to evil.

(c) And as the one visits us for purposes of good, so the other is constantly seeking to deceive the children of men, and lead them into evil.

(d) The spirit that comes to the medium represents itself as being a dead friend, but it has been shown by the Bible that the dead are unconscious, and consequently unable to respond to the call of the medium. The conclusion is therefore unavoidable that the spirit controlling the medium is a fallen angel working to deceive.

A Subject of Prophecy.

The development and spreading of Spiritualism during the last half century is phenomenal. What does it indicate? For an answer read Matt. 24:24; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Thess. 2:8-12. By reading the context from which these scriptures are taken, it is clearly to be seen that the second coming of Christ and the "latter times" is the theme under consideration. And the texts just cited show conclusively that the deceptions of Satan in wonder-working power are one of the signs to show us when the Saviour's coming is near.

It was formerly considered that only the ignorant and superstitious could be led away into Spiritualism. But nowadays the Spiritualists publish among their adherents long lists of the crowned heads and nobility of the Old World, as well as the names of men and women in every quarter of the earth noted for their learning and prominent positions. Read Rev. 16:13, 14, and see how clearly it is being fulfilled in the facts just stated. As has been shown, the devils or fallen angels are devoted to the work of deception, and their skill in this direction becomes so great that it is found to be one of the marked signs of the coming of Christ and the end of time. But in their deceptions they do not appear as evil angels, but would fain make us believe that they are "angels of light." See 2 Cor. 11:14.

Rev. 16:13, 14, already referred to, says that these spirits of devils go to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. The expression, "the kings of the earth," shows very plainly that the men at the very head of society and affairs will be among the enticed.

We now have before our minds, in a few Scripture texts, the predictions. What do we see about us? Our papers contain daily announcements of Spiritualistic meetings that are being largely attended by the leading men of the world, as well as those in humbler positions. And not only are we met with these meetings, but our leading papers and magazines are continually discussing the so-called "spirit phenomena." The articles may not always purport to be discussing Spiritualism, but will treat of hypnotism, psychology, mesmerism, telepathy, Christian Science, etc., etc. These words, however, should be as fully identified with Spiritualism as the word "Spiritualism" itself.

It must be clearly evident to the seeker for truth that the scriptures cited in the foregoing pages show that the second coming of Christ is to be immediately preceded by the mighty working of the fallen angels. All their arts of cunning deception will be used to lead men to eternal ruin. But God in His Word has put us on our guard so that we need not be deceived.

Reader, let us carefully study the Word of God so that we may know what these things mean, and thus be prepared to escape the deception. Jesus is coming again soon, and if we give ourselves to Him now, and let Him teach us by His Word, He will prepare us to meet every deception, and to stand with Him at last. Amid the difficulties and wonder-working deceptions of this time, Jesus, the loving Redeemer, is a tower of refuge and strength. Let us accept Him now, that we may be ready at His coming to enter into His eternal joys. T.

Apostles' Creed.

By E. B. R.

WHERE did the apostles' creed originate? E. B. R.

It did not originate with the apostles. In its present form it can be traced back, the Schaff-Herzog Cyclopedia tells us, to the beginning of the sixth or the close of the fifth century. It was made up in those days when men thought it necessary to define and interpret the Word of God.

913. The Laying on of Hands.

WHAT is meant by the laying on of hands? Does it mean the same as confirmation does in the Episcopal Church? or does it mean the same as it did in the apostles' days, the imparting of the Holy Ghost?

The only true confirmation, or establishment in Christ, is by the Spirit of God. See Rom. 1:11; 1 Cor. 1:6-8. The only laying on of hands that ought to be practised by Christians is that which existed in the primitive church.

914. The Sabbath and Tobacco.

By William Warren Prescott

CAN a man keep the Sabbath and use tobacco? W. W. P.

Yes, and no. He can rest on the seventh day, not knowing or realizing the wrong of tobacco-using; he may in a measure know Christ and His rest; but to keep the Sabbath of the Lord in the fullest sense is to know the rest of God, the rest of perfect peace.

But to know God's rest we must know God's works, "which God afore prepared that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:10. We could not conceive that God has prepared tobacco-using as one of the works in which we should walk, could we? Nor has He prepared any other hurtful habit for that purpose.

CATHOLIC RELICS.

By Editor

On December 18 a portion of one of the thigh bones of Saint Anthony of Padua was exposed for veneration in a church in New York City. A Protestant paper in the East spoke of the affair as "gross superstition," and an "abominable imposture," etc.

The editor of the Catholic Mirror thinks he finds much Scripture in favor of this "veneration of relics," and expresses deep pity and contempt for the "grossly ignorant preachers" of the Protestant faith. He says that for the benefit of these ignorant Protestants "we will henceforth advocate with unremitting earnestness the study of God's written Word."

We trust sincerely that the editor of the Mirror will stick to this good resolution. And we hope that he will urge Catholics as well as Protestants to faithfully and carefully study "God's written Word." And we trust that as they read the Book of God, it will not be through the biased eyesight of creed-bound prejudice, but that all will come to the living Word and drink in its deep and satisfying spiritual truth.

God is our heavenly Father, and He has given us His written Word. The respect that we owe to our Lord should lead us to come to Him direct through His Word, and not feel that we are dependent upon some one to tell us what our Father "means" by His Word. His Word "means" what it says, and once we learn the truth of this great fact, we can find comfort and strength and happiness and complete contentment in reading and meditating upon these sure and living words of God. T.

THE KING AMONG NATIONS IN HIS HALL.

By Thomas Wentworth Higginson

[By Thomas Wentworth Higginson, in Saturday Evening Post.]

If we must accept imperialism under the name of expansion; if we must lay the policy of Washington forever aside; if we must set up our flag all over the globe to follow the morning drum-beat of England, let it be so, tho not without some final words of plain speaking. But, above all things, do not let us throw dust on the memory of our fathers, or ignore the stupendous work they did. Nothing in the present phase of discussion seems to me so curious as the assumption, more and more constantly made, that this nation has pursued a policy of selfish isolation, or needs to apologize for having done no more. Let us consider this a moment.

There are two forms of usefulness: that exerted by a man or nation through staying at home and bringing others within his sphere of influence, or that of going abroad and hunting up opportunities. The fine old writer, John Selden, in his 'Table Talk,' in speaking of the early English kings, does not tell us what foreign wars they waged, but he says, 'The king himself used to eat in the hall, and his knife with him, and thus he understood men.' King Richard, neglecting his kingdom to wage useless war for the Holy Sepulchre, was not so fine a figure, or worth so much to the world, as this king, who learned to understand men by remaining in his own hall, and welcoming them there.

This nation of ours has hitherto been such a king among nations. I saw at the Queen's Jubilee last year, in London, the hitherto unknown premiers of English colonies,—places sometimes little and unimportant,—summoned from all parts of the world to pose as representatives of the glory of England; and I said to a member of the Privy Council: 'Why not recognize the fact that there are in the United States three times as many natives of the British Isles as are to be found in all the British colonies put together?' He said in reply, 'That is our skeleton in the closet; we do not speak of that.' (For the exact figures, see Dilke's 'Problems of Greater Britain,' page 17, and Besant's 'Rise of the Empire,' page 116.) Which is greater, to receive the subjects of another government and bid them prosper, or to send our own children to fight and die in creating new colonies?

That which is spoken of so lightly by the imperialists of to-day, as if it were a merely trivial duty, has been the magnificent work of continental expansion. This was impossible for England, having no continent to expand in. It was universally recognized that England, like Holland, must shrink into insignificance, or else colonize; but for a nation stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific there is no such alternative. There could be no insignificance for it.

The nation which has seen its own self-governing States multiply from thirteen to fifty, which has sacrificed nearly half a million lives to abolish slavery within its borders; which has spread its inventions and its natural products over all the earth, does not need to apologize for itself. Whatever faults have been charged upon the American, no one has ever called him a drone upon the earth's surface. The test of his success is not in the colonies which he has sent out to the islands of the sea, nor the military expeditions by which he governed them, but in the way in which he has brought the natives of far-off islands,—for instance, the British,—to take refuge with him. When Sir Charles Dilke writes, 'The English emigrant still resorts mainly to the United States,' he vindicates our claim to the world's gratitude more than if he could give a list of a hundred of our colonies.

ANOTHER WAR.

By C. M. S.

THE strained relations existing in the Philippines between the American forces and those of the Filipinos have culminated in war. So acute had the situation become that it needed but a sentry's challenge to precipitate hostilities. The challenge was given on the night of February 4 by an American sentry. It was ignored by three Filipinos. The sentry's rifle spoke, and was defiantly answered by a Filipino field-piece. The Filipinos charged, and the reports placed their losses at 2,000 killed, 3,500 wounded, and 5,000 taken prisoners. What this really means may be faintly realized by reading the following extract from a report written by an eyewitness:—

"Your correspondent went over the fighting ground yesterday afternoon to make an examination of the position that had been held by the enemy, and from which they had been driven with great slaughter. There is no denying the fact that the Filipinos will stand fire. The ground in every direction bore evidence of this. On all sides were lying dead natives, their bodies, in some instances, being full of bullet holes. A majority of the dead were lying with their heads toward the line of the American advance, showing that they had fallen fighting desperately.

"To the north and south of the city, where the shells of the Charleston, Callao, and Monadnock reached the flanks of the Filipinos, the slaughter was sickening. I saw a number of bodies which had been literally torn into shreds by the fire from the war ships. In some places the shells had torn great holes in the earth, and around these were scattered dead bodies. On all sides the scene was one of terrible desolation, and what on Saturday had been a smiling landscape was now marked with the ravages of war.

"I went to Santa Mesa, San Juan del Monte, Santa Ana, San Pedro Macati, and Lomas, and other places, from which our troops had driven the enemy, and the scene in and around each was identical. The great number of dead showed that the little natives were not lacking in courage, but no courage could have withstood the terrible rain of death that fell upon the Filipinos as the Americans approached their positions."

No sadder picture than this has been painted during the war. The pitiable spectacle, and all it means, is beyond the power of words to portray. And the saddest part of it is that professed liberty-loving and liberty-giving Americans have turned their guns upon liberty-loving and liberty-seeking children of oppression in a foreign land. Whatever may be the government's design in regard to the liberties which shall be bestowed upon that people, there are at least 2,000 of them who will never experience liberty except that which they have found in death.

While it is not the Christian's province to be a censor over the acts of Caesar, he can not help regretting that Caesar did not condescend to break his imperialistic silence toward an inferior people long enough to assure them of their ultimate freedom when order had been restored. Such assurance would, without doubt, have quieted the nervousness of that struggling people and averted the great loss of life on both sides which the opposite policy has now occasioned. C. M. S.

Polygamy, and More

By Editor

Polygamy, and More.—We do not believe in polygamy. We do not see how the United States House of Representatives can do otherwise than to refuse Mr. Roberts, representative-elect from Utah, a seat in that body. He is a legitimate result of the union of Church and State which exists in Utah and will exist as long as the Mormon Church holds the power. But we wish to suggest that there is a greater evil threatening America than polygamous Utah, and that is a general union of Church and State, for which pre-eminently the Roman Catholic Church has ever stood sponsor, and which many professedly Protestant bodies are blindly following. The Catholic Church is now advancing to her goal in this nation through the favor of press and politicians with wonderful strides. These "Protestants" who are working for a religious amendment to the Constitution and a national Sunday law are furthering the aims of Rome. And this constitutes a peril to the Republic, the Government, the nation, a hundred-fold more dangerous than the perils of polygamy. Let those who love liberty consider this.

Continue reading: THE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS