Earlier text: WHO CHANGED THE SABBATH?NEVER had prophecy greater circumstances of improbability to overcome, and never was prediction more completely fulfilled than in the case of the prophecy recorded in Isaiah 19:7: “The paper-reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and everything sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.” The indispensable papyrus in the time of Isaiah flourished through the whole of the Thebaid, Heptanomos, and the Delta, as the three divisions of ancient Egypt were named. Of its utility no European reader can form an adequate idea. Stringent laws were established for its protection and cultivation, and from its first appearance to maturity, the papyrus was considered to be under the special care of local deities; it was planted, tended, and cut with an almost religious ceremonial. Adaptable for various uses, not only paper, cloth, and brushes, but the roughest and most delicate manufactures were produced from it alike. Sails, cordage, and baskets for shipping, sandals, hats, skirts, carpets, chairs, and seats for domestic service, were made of it. Men and animals fed upon the tender shoots. A sirup was obtained and medicine extracted from it. It formed the cradle of the Nubian baby; it decorated the canopy of Pharaoh’s throne; it was scattered in processions through the streets; it was painted on the houses; it was wrought in granite on the temples. The Egyptian ladies twined the living blossoms in their hair, or wore it in chains around their necks as an amulet. Princes, priests, and peasants, offered it on the altar in commemoration of the dead. The papyrus was the plaything of the child and the scepter of the god, the glory of the country, the staple of its commerce, and the hieroglyphic emblem of its name. By withholding the supply of the papyrus, Ptolemy Philadelphus was enabled to repress the formation of a rival library by the Pergamean kings; while, by opening the markets of the Delta, the poetry of Greece and the philosophy of Rome were transmitted throughout the whole of the then known world. Alas for the permanence of mundane glories! Thirty centuries of oppression, superstition, and neglect, have dried up the artificial lakes in which the plant was cultivated. Rush after rush has been cut down to warm an Arab’s bath, or litter a pasha’s horse, and no successors have been planted. The hot wind of the south, and the sands of the desert, have exterminated the lovely paper rush in the empire of the Pharaohs, and there is not a single indigenous papyrus in the whole of Egypt proper. A stream in Sicily, and the marshes of Merom in Palestine, alone contain the nearly extinct vegetable; and in the conservatories of London, Sion, and Kew, England actually possesses more living papyri than can be found from Syene to Alexandria.—Treasury. Old Things Passed Away.
By P. A. Clough
WHILE conversing recently with a young friend, and trying to impress upon his mind the importance of keeping all the commandments of God, he quoted these words, “Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” “Now,” said he, “I often hear this text urged as an objection to the law of God; and if it does not refer to that, if it does not prove that the law was abolished at the cross of Christ, what does it mean?” I readily turned to the text, and read: “Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Cor. 5: 17. Ah! then, the apostle was not talking about the law, but about the conversion of the man who had transgressed that law. If any man be in Christ, if he has humbly sought for pardon of all his sins by repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is indeed a new creature. Glorious transformation! old things, with him, will have passed away, and all things become new. Godly sorrow will work out such a thorough reform in that man’s life that it will be evident to all. If he has transgressed the law of God he will endeavor to do it no more; if he has been faithless in the atoning blood of Jesus, he will be so no more; in fact, he will be so humble, and live so near the Lord, that you will not be under the necessity of asking his neighbor in order to ascertain whether he is a Christian or not. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Matt. 7: 20. And while I reason on these things, and think of the simplicity of the word of God to those who earnestly seek to understand, my heart grows sad to think that so many who profess to be teachers in Israel will so persistently shut their ears and harden their hearts to the truth, and thus lead others on to destruction, “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof,” “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Tim. 3: 5, 7. “They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” Matt. 15: 14. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” “Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” Isa. 5: 20, 24. P. A. CLOUGH. Preparation Day.
By JOS. CLARKE.
AND that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. Luke 23:54. No important work, or duty, or ordinance, involving uniform action or practice, can be well performed without thorough preparation. The national festival of the Fourth of July is preceded by expensive and laborious works of arrangement and preparation; and we judge of the success very much by the skill and thoroughness of the preparations, and no one would think of enjoying the Fourth if all the arrangements and labors of the occasion were deferred till the day arrived. A great national festival is contemplated, to be realized in 1876; and already the extensive plans and arrangements are being made, so that the day or year may be one of joy, not wearisome labor and perplexity. To come at once to the subject: we will say that, to properly observe the Sabbath, the previous day must be one of preparation. It is more necessary than in the above-mentioned cases, as labor is forbidden; and in this consists very much the virtue of the day, freedom from perplexity, labor, and care. In the race of life, the Sabbath is a stopping place, to interrupt the tide of worldliness, which, without the Sabbath, would soon destroy what little remains to man of goodness, and virtue, and benevolence; and without this day of rest, our wearied bodies and minds would sink in weariness, or be devoured by selfishness and greed, or sink in sloth and inaction, or run into weakness and shame, as we see the heathens of Asia and Africa. “What is worth doing, is worth doing well,” applies with great force to all religious duties, and especially to the Sabbath; and he who waits till the Sabbath to prepare for its celebration will find it a burden, for angels will not attend in such a house nor in such a heart. Once a week is none too often to right up one's affairs; and then is the time to post your books, clean up your surroundings, put things in order and readiness for the next week, as well as for the Sabbath; and when the sun sets, it finds you calm and collected, and then angels will delight to attend you; and you will, if faithful in your Christian life, enjoy the day; and you will find the ensuing week a prosperous one for your work. Do nothing carelessly; God despises the slack, loose work of the idler. THE following extracts from The Rambler, a Roman Catholic magazine, show that the persecuting spirit of that church remains unchanged, and that if it had the power it would be quick to reproduce its former scenes of torture and blood:— “The church has persecuted, and on principle; there is no denying the fact; but the principle is one of policy and prudence, not of dogma, and in the present state of the world she rarely acts upon it; not that in itself the principle is indefensible, even on moral grounds, for the punishment of a religious offense by imprisonment and death is in itself no more incompatible with reason or with the Christian spirit than the infliction of the same punishment on the thief and murderer.”—January, 1854, p. 2. “For our own selves, we are prepared to maintain that it is no more morally wrong to put a man to death for heresy than for murder; that in many cases persecution for religious opinions is not only permissible, but highly advisable and necessary.”—June, 1849. And Catholic Opinion for Dec. 9, 1872 comparing the overthrow of the Commune in France with the Huguenot massacre says:— “It was the duty of the sovereign to enforce the law against such miscreants (the Huguenots,) to bring them to trial, to hang them right and left. The good brought out of evil was gratifying to good men. Legitimate authority was secured, and the hornets that threatened France with devastation were destroyed; the deliverance of France was hailed with joy by Europe, and this happy result was commemorated as an act of the divine vengeance. The exterminating angel was represented on a medal struck at Rome, as charging sword in hand the flying rebels, and the inscription told who those rebels were: ‘Ugonotorum strages.’” Those who desire to see an original of the papal medal, may do so by going to the medal-room of the British Museum, and the French medals, by a visit to the Paris Mint. Luther's Advice to Preachers on Simple Sermons
MARTIN LUTHER gave some good advice to a preacher of the gospel, which is not altogether out of date:— “Let all thy sermons be of the simplest. Look not to the princes; but to the simple, unwise, rude, and unlearned people; for the prince is made of the same stuff. If I, in my sermons, were to regard Philip Melanchthon and the other doctors, I should do no good; but I preach in the simplest way to the unlearned, and that pleases all. (I keep the Hebrew and the Greek for the times when we learned men are alone together. Then we can talk such crabbed stuff they may well wonder at us in Heaven).” The Change of the Sabbath not Taught in the Old Testament.
By John Nevins Andrews
THE argument for the change of the Sabbath is so meager and unsatisfactory in the New Testament that those who are determined to maintain the doctrine go to the Old Testament to find additional evidence. But the kind of evidence obtained from thence is far from helping the case. One of these proofs for the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first-day of the week is found in the fact that the law prescribed that the first-fruits of barley harvest should be offered on the morrow after the Sabbath. Lev. 23:10, 11. But there was not one word said in the law relative to this morrow after the Sabbath, having itself a Sabbatic character; and moreover it was not a weekly but an annual celebration. Whatever sacredness was to be accorded to Sunday on the strength of this type would relate to one Sunday in the year and no more; a very poor foundation for the weekly celebration of that day. It appears to have typified the fact that Christ, the first fruits of them that slept, was to arise from the dead on the day after the Sabbath; but there is nothing indicating that this day was itself to become the Sabbath in the place of the day which preceded it, and which God called by that name. It came only once in the year, and not like the Sabbath once each week. The second proof is like the first. Fifty days after the offering of the first-fruits of barley harvest, the first-fruits of wheat harvest were to be offered. This also was on “the morrow after the Sabbath.” In this case, the law did prescribe that the day on which this offering was to be made should not be a day of servile labor. Lev. 23:15–21. But this also was done in the case of the fifteenth and twenty-first days of the first month and of the first, tenth, fifteenth, and twenty-second days of the seventh month. Lev. 23:6–8, 24, 25, 27–32, 34–36. Here are six annual Sabbaths, which would come sometimes on one day of the week and sometimes on another. They occur in the same chapter with the ones under consideration. If the day after the Sabbath, on which no servile work was to be done, was, for that reason, to be the Sabbath of the new dispensation in the place of the ancient seventh-day Sabbath, then here are six more just such Sabbaths which come sometimes on one day of the week and sometimes on another, being regulated by the day of the month. But these all were only ceremonial Sabbaths, and were in no way connected with the ancient Sabbath of the seventh day. Besides this, no one of them came weekly, but each of them came once each year, and no more. If the argument proves anything, it proves that in the place of the ancient Sabbath we have seven new sabbaths for the gospel dispensation. But as these are not weekly but annual, the gospel dispensation has seven sabbaths a year instead of fifty-two. Such is the result of this kind of proof of the change of the Sabbath. But in Ps. 118:24, it is said: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Of course this text is produced to prove the change of the Sabbath, although there is not in it any mention of any such change. In verse 22 it is said, “The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner.” This stone is no doubt the Saviour. It is claimed that he became the head of the corner by rising from the dead. But no text teaches this. He did not become the head of the corner till his ascension; for he was to be made the chief corner-stone in Sion. Thus it is said by Peter:— “Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious.” 1 Pet. 2:6; Isa. 28:16. The Sion where this stone was laid is thus mentioned by Paul: “But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem . . . . and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant.” Heb. 12:22, 24. He did not become the head-stone of the corner till he had been made High Priest and mediator, and head of the church. Paul tells us when this was by saying that the Father exalted Christ “according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, . . . and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church.” Eph. 1:19–22. He did not, therefore, become the head-stone of the corner till he was constituted such by the act of the Father after his ascension to the heavenly Sion. The conclusion that the day on which Christ arose from the dead ought to be kept in the place of the day ordained in the commandment is therefore without the slightest authority in this text. If a literal day were intended, it must be the day of the ascension. And even then, no man could say that this new day superseded the ancient Sabbath, and released us from the obligation of the fourth commandment. But Ps. 118 is quoted in the New Testament both before and after the resurrection of Christ, under such circumstances as to call out the mention of the change of the Sabbath if such change were taught in the New Testament. Thus the Saviour, a few days before his death, quoted the words respecting the stone which the builders rejected being made the head of the corner. Matt. 21:42. He spoke of the Gentiles being chosen in the place of the Jews, and had an excellent opportunity to speak of the first day being chosen in the place of the seventh, had this psalm in this place taught such a doctrine. But a short time after Christ had arisen, Peter preached from these words to the Jews. Acts 4:11. If Christ’s resurrection had changed the Sabbath, and if this psalm taught that change, Peter had not only an excellent opportunity to set forth that change, but he was under obligation to do it, for the new day must now be kept in the place of the old seventh day. But he was silent respecting such change, and so were the enemies of the apostles throughout the book of Acts, a sure proof that the apostles never made such change either by precept or example. “The day which the Lord hath made” is not therefore a new Sabbath to take the place of the day ordained in the commandment, but it is such a day as that mentioned by Christ in John 8:56: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.” It is the whole period of the gospel dispensation in which we are to “rejoice evermore.” 1 Thess 5:16. The sacred writers who lived at the time when this change is said to have taken place are totally silent respecting it, though they mention the Sabbath itself, and the day to which it is said to have been changed, and this too in recording the very event which is said to have changed it. 1. The evangelists did not lack opportunity for recording the change of the Sabbath, were there one to record, for they had the most suitable one which it was possible to have. 2. They did not want for reasons for making this record, if this change were a matter of fact, because man’s duty toward God is directly involved in it. 3. They could not be ignorant of the change if it were actually made, for the gospels were not written till some years after the resurrection, some of them being written about a quarter of a century after that event, and one of them upwards of sixty years after it. And, moreover, the evangelists were inspired of the Holy Spirit. 4. But they preserved an absolute silence respecting this alleged change; and this silence under the conditions above stated proves beyond all dispute that the change in question never was made by divine authority. How much better it would be to keep the fourth commandment than to change it for reasons which will not stand the inspection of the Judgment. J. N. A. Gathering of the Elect.
By Uriah Smith
“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matt. 24:31. How rich in all that is precious to the Christian is this promise. Wandering an exile in this evil world, separated from the few of like precious faith, he longs for the companionship of the righteous, the communion of saints. Here he shall obtain it; for all the good shall be gathered, not from one land only, but from all lands; not from one age only, but from all ages: the great harvest of all the good, coming up in long and glorious procession, while angels shout the harvest home, and the timbrels of Heaven sound forth in joyous concert, and a song unheard, unknown, before, in the universe, the song of the redeemed, shall add its marvelous notes of rapture and melody to the universal jubilee. So shall the saints be gathered, to be joyful in each other's presence forever and ever, “While the glory of God, like a molten sea,
Bathes the immortal company.” Angels of God will be the agents in this work of gathering. They minister to the saints all through their earthly history; shall they not, then, with alacrity perform the last, crowning act of their ministry and bear them upward to the presence of their Lord? Have they ever been known to hesitate at a command of Christ? But he shall send them to gather his elect: and they shall go forth gladly, speedily, irresistibly, on their errands of mercy. “Gather my saints together unto me,” says God, “those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” “The angel of the Lord campeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” The Bible is full of declarations concerning the work of the angels that excel in strength for the people of God. Thanks be to God for their invaluable and holy ministry. This gathering has nothing in it but that which is desirable. The saints can but sigh and pray for it. Like Job, they cry out for the presence of God. Like David, they cannot be satisfied till they awake in his likeness. In this mortal condition we groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon. We can but be upon tiptoe for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body. Our eyes are open for its visions; our ears are waiting to catch the sounds of the heavenly music, and our hearts are beating in anticipation of its infinite joy. Our appetites are growing sharp for the marriage supper. We cry out for the living God, and long to come into his presence. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. No news more welcome than to know that the command has gone forth from the Lord to his angels, Gather together unto me my elect from the four winds of heaven. The place of the gathering has nothing but attraction. Jesus, the fairest among ten thousands, is there. The throne of God and the Lamb, in the glory of which the sun disappears as the stars vanish in the light of day, are there. The city of jasper and gold, whose builder and maker is God, is there. The river of life, sparkling with the glory of God, and flowing from his throne in infinite purity and peace, is there. The tree of life, with its healing leaves and life-giving fruit, is there. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Noah, Job, and Daniel, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, everything lovely and good in society, will be there. Visions of beauty are there; fields of living green, flowers that never fade, streams that never dry, products in variety that never end, fruits that never decay, crowns that never dim, harps that know no discord, and whatever else a taste purified from sin and raised to the plane of immortality could conceive of, or think desirable, will be there. We must be there. We must bask in the forgiving smiles of a God to whom we have become reconciled, and sin no more; we must have access to that exhaustless fount of vitality, the fruit of the tree of life, and never die; we must repose under the shadow of its leaves, which are for the service of the nations, and never again grow weary; we must drink from the life-giving fountain, and thirst nevermore; we must bathe in its silvery spray, and be refreshed; we must walk on its golden sands, and feel that we are no longer exiles; we must exchange the cross for the crown, and feel that the days of our humiliation are ended; we must lay down the staff and take the palm branch, and feel that the journey is done; we must put off the rent garments of our warfare, for the white robes of triumph, and feel that the conflict is ended and the victory gained; we must exchange the toil-worn, dusty girdle of our pilgrimage, for the glorious vesture of immortality, and feel that sin and the curse can nevermore pollute us. Oh! day of rest and triumph, and every good, delay not thy dawning. Let the angels at once be sent to gather the elect. Let that promise be fulfilled which bears in its train these matchless glories. “But hush, my soul, nor dare repine,
The time my God appoints is best,
While here to do his will be mine,
And his to fix my time of rest.” What Use Shall We Make of Our School?
By George I. Butler
It is not necessary to tell the readers of the REVIEW that we have a school in successful operation. There has been so much said upon this point that they are tolerably familiar with the fact. Its progress thus far has been very encouraging. Two years ago last spring our present plan of a school was entered upon, more as an experiment than anything else. We thought we had light to show us that a school was a necessity. Bro. Bell commenced in the old wooden building near the river, up stairs, expecting there would be but a few scholars at first. But so many came in that these quarters were made very uncomfortable. After a time, the school had to go to the meeting-house, which was kindly opened by the church. Here they got along for awhile, but not very comfortably. Finally last winter the new Office building was used for school purposes. This it was thought would be amply sufficient; but even this was quite full during the winter term. Of course the school was not as large during spring and warm weather. But our new school building which is going up will doubtless be ready by the winter term, and this we feel sure will furnish sufficient capacity for all desiring to attend. We are glad to say also, in regard to the character of the school, that the universal testimony of all who have attended is, that it is excellent. It is thorough, and although we have labored under the greatest disadvantages, changing quarters, lacking apparatus and sufficient room, yet we feel sure that those who have attended are well satisfied with the instruction given. Here is a school where moral and religious influences are made important. Daily lessons in the Bible itself are given. Lectures upon the most important religious subjects are given daily. The teachers are Christian men, who talk and pray, and labor with their pupils for their well-being. Prayer-meetings of the scholars are held. And already several who came with no religious interest have gone away hopefully converted. We mean to have this school one where our people generally will feel secure in sending their children, expecting they will be under influences favorable to their spiritual good. A committee of persons of judgment and piety is appointed to specially look after the surroundings and doings of those who attend the school to shield them from bad influences. By the commencement of the winter term, we expect to have competent teachers in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, French, Swedish, and Danish, besides our own language. We now have them in most of these. We mean business. And we are determined to place within the reach of45 our people, and all other moral persons, desiring to attend, first-class school privileges, where individuals may have the benefits of mental instruction and discipline under favorable circumstances. Now the question is, what use are we going to make of these facilities? Our people have liberally supplied the means for school purposes. They have shown their faith by works. The readiness with which our people subscribed upwards of fifty thousand dollars last season, for the furnishing of educational facilities, was truly surprising. It showed that they feel an interest in education, and have a true faith in the final result of this work. And above all, it showed that they are determined to do on their part what is necessary to place within the reach of those who might be useful in the work of God in sounding the truth to other nations, and our own, the very facilities which they require. When they do this, their responsibility in this direction has been discharged. Those who ought to be benefited, and be prepared for usefulness by these agencies, are left without excuse, if they do not avail themselves of them. We think the time has come when there should be a general interest among our people upon the subject of education. It is not for the purpose of making a show, or for reputation, that we desire this; but we desire it that we may be useful. As we have a great work to do, as a people, we want to be in the best manner qualified to do it. We want that instruction and mental discipline that will enable us to use our natural powers to the very best advantage possible. This is the true object of education. And while education for its own object is important, that we may be well qualified to do the ordinary duties of life, in common with our neighbors and fellow-men, with us it is specially important, in connection with the closing work of mercy for the world. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of education in the ordinary uses of life. Any young person starts out in life's battle with five times the prospect of making it a success when his mind is properly educated that he does when it is not. There is a high premium on intelligence, and a heavy discount on ignorance even in this world. A man cannot be truly intelligent without education. I care not what business a man may choose for a livelihood, his chances are far higher for success in it with education than without it. To be sure, men may get education without attending school. But the school furnishes special opportunities for obtaining it which are not to be found elsewhere. This is the purpose for which schools are provided all over our land. If I thought time was to go on a thousand years I should far rather leave my children with their minds well instructed and disciplined by study, with nothing of this world's goods, than to have them possess thousands of gold and silver without education. In the latter case, their property would doubtless be a curse to them: while in the former, they could soon provide themselves with property and be able to fill a useful station in the world. The mind is the noblest part of man. Education brings the mind up to its highest capacity when properly conducted. As a general rule the world's benefactors have been educated men. It is a sad sight to see noble powers lie comparatively useless because uncultivated. Many cases of this kind are seen around us, of men who might have been able to fill important positions. It may well be doubted if many of those in high positions are better qualified by nature to fill them than others unthought of. Favorable circumstances and educational surroundings developed their powers and gave them the lead. There are those who make their own career because endowed with great force of character and natural capacity. But such cases are comparatively rare. In the cases of most, education has done the work. To that mind which is thoroughly instructed and disciplined by education there are opened many avenues of high and pure enjoyment which are not to the ignorant. The taste improves by the process of cultivation. The realm of thought and fancy opens to such a one, and its joys are immeasurably superior to those of the uneducated. What a charm there is in the conversation of the refined and intellectual. We linger long and yearningly in such society, and it almost seems that a new life opens before us in such surroundings. How far above the low and sordid we may be lifted in pure intellectual enjoyment. If I had no higher, religious motive, I would earnestly seek an education for its own object, for the joys it brings, the success it will help to give, and the elevation and refinement it will tend to impart. But when we consider the great field of usefulness which education opens to the ardent soul thirsting for knowledge, then we perceive a motive much higher. If we can understand the lesson taught by the parable of the talents, we are all responsible for the use we make of the capacity God has given us. We cannot decide the measure of capacity originally imparted. God gives us what he pleases. But he has given us power to increase that capacity. If a person therefore makes no effort in this direction, but contents himself in leaving it small when he might make it large by use and education, what can we call this but a criminal waste? Wherein is it less objectionable than to put the original talent given of God to a bad use or to no use at all? Can any sensible person doubt that education doubles our capacity for usefulness? I do not say by this that a man may not educate himself without attending school. He can, but not as easily. Schools make education comparatively easy. Books of excellent character are provided. Teachers of experience and ability are in attendance. Surrounding influences are favorable. Everything is leading in the right direction. We can satisfy ourselves anywhere by looking around us that the person with a trained mind has all the advantage on his side. Especially is this true of those who propose to act as public teachers of the people. In this age of education a person who goes out to teach others religious truth ought to go well prepared to present such truth in a manner to interest his hearers. It is no good sign for a person to undertake to do this who cannot use the king's English properly. The hearer at once draws the inference that if a person has not intelligence to do that he is not qualified to instruct in things far higher and more difficult to reach. With school-houses almost at every corner, it is hardly pardonable in one who undertakes the responsible duties of a religious teacher to be unacquainted with the common branches taught in every school district. And we respectfully suggest if there are those whom the Lord has called to labor in this higher capacity, who have not had sufficient educational facilities to obtain this amount of knowledge, that the Lord will gladly wait till they can obtain it before they stand before the public. For the increase of good that such a person might accomplish with this amount of knowledge would more than compensate for the loss of time involved. We see a great work before us to be done. We see the time coming when scores and hundreds of missionaries will go from this land to other lands to sound forth the last message of warning. Our young men should be preparing for this. Facilities are being rapidly provided. Earnest, ardent students are desired, hundreds in number, to qualify themselves for usefulness to help in some sphere. Our people have something to do besides getting rich and sitting down upon the stool of do-nothing. We want to see a general interest among our young people in the subject of genuine education. And there are many in middle age who may be benefited if they are really willing to take right hold. We know of a President of one of our State Conferences, who is filling a most useful position in the cause to-day, who is seriously contemplating taking one or two terms at our school. He had no educational privileges in his younger days, being an early settler in the West. Who shall say this is not a truly noble resolve? I think it is. And I say, God speed, to such as have had no chances for education in their youth, who are willing to put up with the inconvenience and mortification of placing themselves beside children, that they may qualify themselves for higher usefulness. But what a reproach this example would be to young people who can go as well as not, who are willing to remain in ignorance rather than to put themselves to the inconvenience of study and expense. We want to see among our people a thirst for knowledge. We want them second to no people in respect to true education—that which shall enlarge their capacity for usefulness. Great fields are open for such in which to do good. The facilities are now being provided. We believe the Lord is coming soon, and this is one great reason why our people should prepare themselves to sound the message everywhere. We have no great respect for that kind of education which is provided in many theological schools. We would not spend years in poring over heathen mythology and the opinions of the fathers and the commentators, but would rather come directly to the source of true knowledge, God's holy word. It is not so much what men say about it as what God himself says that we want to understand. But we want hundreds of our people to take three, six, twelve, eighteen, or twenty-four months' schooling, as soon as they can consistently do so. We wish, however, to say in this connection, that, as a general rule, the practice of undertaking to attend school before one has earned the money to do so is objectionable. We cannot advise young persons to go to Battle Creek, and throw themselves upon the church, expecting board and tuition, merely giving their promise to pay at some indefinite time in the future. We regard this not the best course. Let young men earn the means to attend school by good, honest labor, and then they will prize the education which it brings. It may well be doubted whether persons who are unwilling to do this will benefit the cause of God much with their education. Good, honest, hard work, and habits of self-reliance are of great value, and always command respect. There may be exceptional cases, where parties should be helped; but let others decide to offer the help, and not the party go begging it. Where there are so many opportunities for earning means as there are in our country, persons with a fair amount of energy can raise money to attend school. I know it can be done by personal experience, and by thousands of living examples. There is a premium on energy everywhere. It is a good trait to encourage. Friends of the cause, young and middle aged, we have an excellent school preparing for your benefit. Will you make it the means of great improvement to yourselves? Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, July 18, 1874. Walking in the Way of Truth and Virtue
WHATEVER is done by those around you, be yourself fully determined to walk in the way approved by truth and virtue. Spirit Pictures.
By Uriah Smith
In number 2, present volume, we spoke of a number of spirit photographs which had been presented to this Office. The artist we learn has abandoned that method of taking pictures, and now under “spirit control” draws them with a pencil. We have just been shown some specimens of the latter kind. They consist of large sheets on which are grouped a number of principal portraits, around which are smaller ones, while into every available space, the drapery, the hair, and even the iris of the eyes are worked innumerable faces, of all forms and features. Some of these are recognized by certain ones, as fair likenesses of their friends who have departed this life. From two to five hours are employed in working up a large picture as above described. And considering the time, and the means employed, they are well executed. We have no hesitation in saying that they are such as we think no one could produce in that time in his normal condition. With many, the proof that there is some invisible, or preternatural, intelligence at work in the phenomena of spiritualism is sufficient to satisfy them that all that spiritualism claims for itself is true. This might be a consistent conclusion, did not God’s word reveal to us the fact that there is in the invisible world a class of wicked intelligences whose work and object is by fraud to deceive, and by deception to ruin, us, and that in the last days they were to work with unwonted power. Every new development but confirms our views in this matter. We still believe, as we have for years believed, that we are to see more wonderful manifestations in this direction than anything which has yet appeared. The present is a testing time with the world. Old forms and systems and theologies are to be tried, broken up, and sifted, and new assimilations and combinations are to be formed. There is a truth abroad in the world that is able to sanctify and save; and following hard after it comes a huge system of deceivableness and unrighteousness that is destined to draw under its influence every one in whose heart the truth for this time is not received and obeyed from an appreciation of its value, and love for its principles.