THE heat of summer is past, and we are approaching that season of the year when more time can be devoted to the tract and missionary work. The officers of the various Tract Societies should be laying their plans to enter the missionary field with renewed courage and zeal. As we see the present truth extending its influence in every direction, and permeating the public mind, broader plans should be laid and executed with caution and zeal.
There never was a more important time than now. Instead of the contemptuous sneer with which at times in the past we have been spoken of in the secular papers, classing us with those disorganized bodies that call themselves Adventists, there is a disposition to do us justice. The public generally are beginning to understand the difference between Seventh-day Adventists and those who are constantly setting the time for Christ to come, and dwelling upon some peculiar hobby of their own invention. This is owing largely to our orderly camp-meetings, and also to the extensive distribution of our periodicals and publications, and their influence upon the public mind.
We have reached an important crisis in this work. To fold our hands and slacken our energies at the present time is a sin which will bring upon us a curse no less awful than that which came upon Meroz. To rush madly forward without duly considering the importance of the work is a crime of no less magnitude. Plans for operation wisely laid by those whom God has so well fitted for the task by their long experience in this work should be cheerfully executed, and pushed forward with courage at whatever cost.
The utility of the Tract Societies has been proved. Their united strength and ability to accomplish almost anything they undertake, by way of spreading the truth, is a problem which has been practically demonstrated. Therefore, the question is no longer whether or not much can be done. But the question is, How shall we direct our efforts so that the greatest amount of good can be accomplished in the brief space of time we have allotted us.
Soon the Hygienic Almanac for 1876 will be ready to be placed in the hands of those interested in the principles of health reform. One hundred thousand copies is a small number to be judiciously distributed, if all unitedly engage in the work. We have some ten thousand members of the Tract Society and not one need plead that he can do nothing in this direction. All have friends, and every family wants an almanac. One hundred and fifty thousand firesides should have a Hygienic Almanac this coming autumn. It is the determination of those who have the matter in charge to have it the best almanac in the world. More particulars concerning it will be given hereafter.
Then there is the Health Reformer, which should by no means be neglected. Hundreds are rejoicing to-day in present truth to whom the Reformer was its pioneer. We have a knowledge of facts which justifies us when we say that there is no health journal which is as acceptable to all classes as this. It is religious, but not sectarian. It offers health and happiness to the thousands who practically embrace the wholesome principles which it contains. Those conducting it are men who fear God, and understand well how to meet the reading masses.
The Signs of the Times and the Review and Herald, our weekly denominational periodicals, should find not less than a hundred thousand interested new readers this coming season. The Youth's Instructor, also, should not be forgotten by the missionary workers. There are many Sunday-schools to-day that welcome its monthly visits, and hundreds more would be glad of it, were it properly presented before them. There are families, too, in every community that would esteem it a privilege to pay the small subscription price for the wholesome instruction it contains.
And there are the Tidende and the Harold which each successive month find their way into different parts of the world, wherever the Swedish, Danish or Norwegian language is spoken. Their circulation should be increased. In the missionary work no barrier of nationality or color exists. All are invited to become members of the Tract and Missionary Societies, and to co-operate for the advancement of the cause of God. God "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." "Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us?" "There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all, and in all."
To save confusion at the Office, the business should be done through your State Secretaries, unless special arrangements are made by the Tract Societies to have it done otherwise. Then if mistakes occur they can easily be rectified. For all business done in this manner the Tract Society becomes responsible. The secretary should have a stated time (not less than once or more than twice a week) when all business should be sent to the Office. The money received can be paid by the members of each district to the director of the same, and he will see that it goes to its place of destination. For particulars of officers' duties see the True Missionary, bound, which every Tract Society should have on hand for its officers and members.
To all our old members we say, Be sure you have the armor on in season, and see how many individuals who have recently embraced the truth can be brought into working order. Precious souls have embraced the truth by reading, and by the tent labor in different parts of this country and also in other portions of the world during this past season. They should be instructed in the missionary work, and invited to share in the benefits of the Tract Societies, as well as in its sacrificing labor.
The great Sabbath truth is extending to every part of the globe as never before. People are calling for our publications both at home and abroad. And now is the time for us to act our part in warning the world. Our influence should be upon the right side. We should examine well our hearts, ever keeping in mind that this is God's work, and that it is those who have clean hands and pure hearts that God makes instrumental in doing good.— S. N. HASKELL, in Review and Herald.
A Valuable Diamond Found in Newburyport
It is reported that a rough diamond has been found at Newburyport (Mass.) mines, valued at $5,000.
THE following remarks of Dr. Clarke on the pronoun in this text are clear on the point. The only wonder is that any should be found who will deny a conclusion so evident :—
"It may be supposed that this mode of interpretation is contradicted by the 28th verse— And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant ; but that the pronoun HE refers to the Lord, and not to Moses, is sufficiently proved by the parallel place, Deut. 10 : 1-4. 'At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first— and I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables. And I hewed two tables of stone as at the first— and HE wrote on the tables according to the first writing.' This determines the business, and proves that God wrote the second as well as the first, and that the pronoun in the 28th verse of this chapter refers to the Lord, and not to Moses. By this mode of interpretation all contradiction is removed."
Dr. Clarke correctly considered that the other view makes the Scriptures contradict themselves. Such a result will be carefully avoided by all who love truth more than a short-lived victory.
J. H. W.
"A Word for the Sabbath."
By William Clarence White
In its new form revised and enlarged this little poem is a gem sparkling with truth, which should ornament every library. The beauty of the poem and the ingenious style in which the absurdities of false theories are laid bare, and the just claims of truth vindicated, make it interesting to all, and peculiarly adapted to arrest the attention of those who would not read it in any other form than that of rhyme.
We will give a few passages from the first part of the poem. After a sad view of the widespread error which followed the first great sin, truth is pictured as standing firm, and
"‘Mong all the mighty truths that God has given,
To fit mankind to share a home in Heaven,
One fair, illustrious stands, and e'er hath stood,
Since God first made the world and called it good;
One mighty truth and to our purpose quite,
To show how error dims men's mental sight.
'Tis thus expressed in plainest, simplest terms,
As He in wisdom sacred truth affirms:
“ Six days for man's own work did Heaven accord,
The seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord.
The seventh day God sanctified and blest,
And set apart for man, a day of rest.
“ That day is binding on his creatures still;
And all must keep it who would do his will.
And since the mass of all enlightened men
Observe a day God did not give us then,
A day of rest—however they may view it—
We question now the right by which they do it;
The right by which they boldly set aside
The only day that God e'er sanctified;
Then strive to place upon the vacant throne,
Another day he ne'er has called his own.
“ The fact which first we claim, and justly too,
Which we contend no one can prove untrue,
Is this: Since God at first the Sabbath made,
He has not placed another in its stead.
Though men may search, no record they will find,
Where he has changed the day to suit mankind;
No record that he ever took away
The blessing which he gave the seventh day;
And surely none in any age or clime,
Where he has blest aught else as holy time;
Therefore, we say, according to God's will,
What was the Sabbath then is Sabbath still;
Firm is the pillar set, we cannot move it,
The world say it is changed and they must prove it.
“ And this to do, and set the thing at rest,
Many have sought the field and done their best;
To prove this point, many have sternly fought;
And most absurd the arguments they've brought.
But, bad for the assertions which they make,
Scarce any two the same position take;
And so they find, at last, unlucky elves,
The heft of battle is among themselves.
Here only they agree : to prove somehow,
The seventh is not the Sabbath now;
And to this end they arguments employ
Which do each other totally destroy.”"
Again, after showing that the Sabbath was instituted in Eden, the position that it was given to the Jews alone at Sinai is thus considered:—
"Say, you who claim, and speak as though you knew,
That it was given only for the Jew,
Were our first parents Jews? If so, then how
Are not all earth's great nations Jewish now?
Or, if long years successive rolled away,
E're national divisions held their sway,
And e're the Jews arose, who were to know
What blessings from the Sabbath flow,
For whom alone it was designed, you say—
Why made so long before 't was needed, pray?
“ Narrow and groveling must that theory prove,
Which thus would limit God's eternal love;
And such would dictate man's omniscient Friend,
And say how far his blessings shall extend.
But narrower-minded still are those who say
That God should e're his Sabbath take away;
That he, what first unbounded wisdom planned,
A blessing for mankind in every land,
What he to herald, did such pomp employ—
Should finally repent of and destroy.
Those who, with such plain facts before their eyes,
Still view this noon-day question on this wise,
To make their crooked views harmonious,
And talk consistently, must reason thus:—
“ Though God at first supposed it would be best
That all mankind should have a day of rest,
Soon by experience he wiser grew!
And saw for all mankind it would not do!
So he confined it to a single place,
And charged it only on a single race;
And with such limits hedged it round about
That soon its term of life should all run out!”"
We would like to give a few lines from other chapters, viz., The Sabbath Not Abolished, Apostolic Example, and Vain Philosophy, in which the author, Eld. U. Smith, has contrasted the claims of Sunday and the Sabbath, but space will not admit. But we would say to every one, send to the Office for the poem, and place it before your friends.
W. C. W.
Trials Make Victories and Joy Precious
WERE it not for the scorching drought we should not appreciate the refreshing shower. With less conflict, we would have less victories; with less trial, less joy.
Complaint Against Fortune
COMPLAINT against fortune is often a masked apology for indolence.
Living Only for Ourselves
We can never die too early for others when we live only for ourselves.
A Singular River.
A New York Herald correspondent, writing from the Black Hills, says: "A most remarkable stream was discovered and appropriately named Amphibious Creek. Its waters sink into and rise from the earth many times in their journey from their original spring to the south fork of the Cheyenne. A well-worn bed extends all the way, showing that in the wet season a torrent flows on the surface. But at the present time not a vestige of the current may be seen for miles after it disappears, until it suddenly bubbles up again from the rocks and rolls onward to the next point of descent into its subterranean channel. Streams of this character are so common on the great plains that they are not thought remarkable, but they are rarely found among mountains, for the reason that the substrata is usually composed of solid rock lying not far below the surface, and affording no room for a sub-passage through the sand, if that should happen to compose the soil."
The City Above.
By Josiah Clarke
"For he looked for a city, which hath foundations, whose maker and builder is God." Heb. 11:10.
The city here spoken of is doubtless the same as that mentioned in Rev. 21, also the paradise of 2 Cor. 12:4 and Rev. 22. The clause "which hath foundations," is doubtless the twelve foundations of Rev. 21, verse 14; the first a jasper, the second a chalcedony, etc. (Verses 19, 20).
Paradise is where the tree of life is; for it is promised in Rev. 2:7 that "To him that overcometh, will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." And the tree of life is in the New Jerusalem; for it is said, in Rev. 22:2, "in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life." And the personal pronoun "it" refers to the Holy City of Rev. 21:2, for the 22 chapter of Revelation is a continued account of the city of Revelation 21; doubtless the paradise to which Paul was taken in his vision, mentioned in 2 Cor. 12:4.
This Jerusalem is said by Paul, in Galatians 4:26, to be the mother of us all. In what sense is Jerusalem above the mother of us all?
It appears from the Bible, that there is a city yet to appear, coming from Heaven to earth; see Rev. 21:2, and that city is the Jerusalem now above, in Heaven, Galatians 4:26; and this city is of vast dimensions and of surpassing glory and beauty; see Rev. 21 and 22. This city is called the bride; see Rev. 21:2. Also in 2 Esdras 7:26, it is said that "the time shall come that those tokens which I have told thee shall come to pass, and the bride shall appear, and she coming forth shall be seen, that now is withdrawn from the earth." Also in 2 Esdras 13:36, it is said that Zion shall come, and be showed to all men, being prepared and builded, like as thou sawest the hill graven without hands; see Dan. 2:34, 35.
The city above, the bride, the Jerusalem, then, is no less than the Paradise, the Eden, of Genesis 2 and 3, from which man was created; thus the mother of us all. It was desolate when Adam was excluded from it, and will remain so until its original possessor returns to claim its glories through the Mediator. It is called the desolate in Galatians 4:27, as it is contrasted with the earthly Jerusalem of verse 25.
It is a vast city, as to its size (see "Thoughts on Revelation," page 312), and dates back to the creation of the world, and it is very fitting that the volume of holy writ should begin and end with an account of Paradise.
Paradise, then, with its lofty walls of jasper, its pearly gates, its streets of gold, its twelve foundations of precious stones, with its tree and river of life, and its garden inclosed, stands waiting the resurrection of Adam, who, through Christ his Redeemer, and for his own posterity, will, with abounding praise, take joyful possession.
Now it waits its time. Its original possessor is banished and sleeping in quiet repose. But time hastens on, and soon he will awake, a conqueror over death, through Jesus Christ; and great will be his joy and surprise to see his beloved Eden again, no more to be driven forth, a fugitive from justice, but renewed in heart and in form he will there view his work, left so suddenly and sadly six thousand years ago, and will take up the thread of life where he left it when he tasted the forbidden fruit and fell. JOS. CLARKE.
Work Among the Swedes.
By James Sawyer
A FEW months ago, a gentleman in a tea store in Portland, Maine, wrote, saying that he would act as agent for Swedish publications, and would ask no compensation for so doing. A few packages of tracts were sent him; and this place being, as we supposed, on the route of travel from Sweden in Europe to New Sweden in Maine, we expected to hear from these tracts again.
June 27, we received a letter from our friend in Portland, stating that he had sold the most of the tracts among the Baptists; that they were thankful for them, and desired more; and that some approved of the doctrines set forth in them, and would like to be informed on other points of our faith.
A few weeks ago we received the following:—
"PORTLAND, ME., June 7, 1875.
"To the Svensk Harold: I lately received your paper, and have read a great deal in it, and I find its contents to be very precious, because in every way it shows me that God's word is the 'Book of Books,' wherein all treasures lie. I wish you would send me a bound volume of your paper for 1874. Please send it to J. P. Gelott, New Sweden, Maine. I also ask you to send the Harold, from the beginning of this year, to the address of Charles J. Gelott, 94 Brackett street, Portland, Maine."
One brother from St. Paul, Minnesota, lately wrote: "Three are now keeping the Sabbath here, and others are investigating." This result was brought about mostly by the distribution of tracts and the Harold.
Another friend from Brooklyn, New York, writes: "Please send me a copy of your paper. Perhaps I shall become a subscriber." In a few weeks we received a subscription from a person in that place.
Another in St. Cloud, Minnesota, writes: "I saw an advertisement in your paper of a tract, entitled, 'Seven Reasons for Sunday-keeping Examined.' I am undecided what to do. I wish to know whether the Sunday should be kept holy or not; so I write that I may become informed. Please send me something to show how the Sabbath was changed."
The following is an extract from a letter from a friend in Sweden, in answer to one which was sent about six weeks before:—
"STARRARP, June 25, 1875.
"DEAR FRIEND: Yours of the 5th of last May I received yesterday, and it was all the more welcome because it was unexpected, and especially because it was from an Englishman, one in whose language I always had an interest, although I never have had an opportunity of learning its elementary principles. At the same time that I received your letter, I also received three copies of the Advent Review and a few copies of the Svensk Harold, for which I am very thankful.
"It is a great encouragement and consolation to me to see the teachings of God's word therein set forth in their purity. We seldom hear of this being done, because the taste of the readers is so perverted that healthful food is not relished with wholesome seasoning, but it must be mixed with sweetmeats, in order to be made palatable.
"I will say I was fortunate in borrowing a few numbers of the Svensk Harold, and in them I saw some things about the kingdom set forth in a correct manner.
"You ask me about my residence. Soon I shall have none; for I know not what day I, with my family, shall become outcasts under the bare heaven. Where I am now, I have been teacher for twenty years. The religious freedom which you have in America is not found here. The State here makes her subjects Christians, and woe to him who will not become such an one. It is, however, such Christianity as one may pray to be delivered from.
"It is the daughter of harlots who, by her servants the priests, under the color of law and justice, forces me from house and home, clothes and food. I cannot rely upon her doctrines. I cannot associate with her and drink of the wine of her fornication. Here I am without friends or brethren, as a lone sparrow upon the house-top. My condition is far from pleasant. Unbelief says, Where shall I find a table in the wilderness? God's word says, 'Fear not; for I am with thee.' In friendship, J. EKDAHL."
Another writes from Chicago that five have lately embraced the truth in that city. Several subscriptions have been sent in from that place of late. The people have a desire to read, and the publications in the Swedish can be circulated much more extensively than they have been. Will the brethren please search out the Swedes in localities where they reside, and send in names to the Svensk Advent Harold?
JAMES SAWYER.
A Tract and A Prayer.
By M. Wood
A TRACT, of itself, is of but little value; but if God's blessing rests upon it to the converting of one soul, that tract has proved a world of good. We cannot bless our own efforts any more than we can cause the seed sown in the earth to take root. We are wholly dependent upon God, and did we realize it more fully, and learn to wait patiently until his blessing was poured out upon our labors, we should see more accomplished in the T. & M. Societies than is now made manifest.
Some two years ago a tract was given to a lady in our neighborhood, accompanied with a prayer that God's blessing might attend it. A few months ago this lady took her stand with the people of God. She has embraced the whole truth. Her family, who have bitterly opposed, are now yielding to the Holy Spirit. Our publications, which they would once have spurned as a loathsome thing, they now read with interest.
So the work moves all over the field. We have but to take courage, and buckle on the armor anew, trusting in the Lord and the power of his might. We must be willing to work for ourselves, and then God will work with us, and there will be a wonderful change wrought in our condition. We shall grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, and become living witnesses for the cause we profess to love.
M. Wood.
Sabbath-Schools and Foreign Missions.
In an essay delivered before the Sabbath School Institute at Walworth, Wisconsin, and published in the Sabbath Recorder, the writer, in trying to impress the school with the importance and necessity of Foreign Missions, speaks of the peculiar characteristics and religions of the natives of Hindostan, China, and India in these words:—
“They do not worship the one true God, but idols graven by their own hands. They have no knowledge of the divine government, or of the laws of God with regard to sin and its consequences as revealed to us in the Bible. They have, it is true, an idea of some overruling power, for it seems agreeable to the plans of the All Wise that all created intelligences should turn instinctively to a first great cause; and as they have no conception of the true God they imagine the world to be under the control of some reigning deities, who, like themselves, are both ignorant, capricious and wicked. They have likewise a form of religion, but it is the creature of ignorance and superstition, the vain imaginings of a perverted and misguided people. We can hardly feel like calling it a religion, it is so different in all its appointments and effects from the dear religion of Christ which we profess to follow.
“But we must remember that as there are gods many and lords many, so also there are religions many, but only one true God and one true religion, the religion of Christ our Saviour. They entertain the most erroneous ideas with regard to the real nature of the present state of existence; they believe that their present good and evil actions are not produced by the volition of their own will, but are the result of the actions of the past birth, and that their present actions give rise to the whole character and conduct of the following birth. They believe in the doctrine of transmigration of soul; therefore, when they die they expect to immediately arise into birth again in some other body, in that of a dog, a cat, or a mere worm, and if they have committed some great crime they expect to fall, for a time, into some one of the awful states of torment described in the ‘Shaster,’ a book containing all the institutions and ceremonies of the Hindoo religion; this book they hold in great reverence, believing it to be of divine origin. So we can see how in their ignorance they would rigorously carry into practice all its requirements.
“No Hindoo, unless he has given all his wealth to the priest, or has performed some wonderful act of merit, or unless he drown himself in some sacred river, or perish on the funeral pile, has the least hope of happiness after death. Those who are supposed to attain happiness are said to ascend to the heaven of the gods, where for a limited period they enjoy an unbounded indulgence in sensual gratification. This is the only heaven held out to a Hindoo, and held out to him on such fearful conditions that the mass find it impossible to accept.
“In remote antiquity we find that heathen nations lived in fear of some great malignant spirit or spirits, who ruled over the countries where they dwelt, and, to obtain the favor of these deities, they sacrificed whatever was the most valuable, and on great occasions human victims were offered. On one of these times we are informed that Xerxes, the Persian, burned alive nine young men and nine young women, belonging to the country he was traveling through, to obtain the favor of the gods. In this he followed the example of his wife, for she condemned fourteen Persian children, of illustrious birth, to be offered in the same manner to the deity who reigned beneath the earth. The practice of shedding human blood before the altars of their gods was not peculiar to the Persians alone, for the Romans, in the first ages of their republic, sacrificed children to the Goddess Mania. In later periods, numerous gladiators have bled at the tombs of the nobles to appease the ghosts of the departed.
“The Carthagenians, when they were defeated by the Tyrant of Sicily, attributed their disgrace to the anger of the gods, and offered two hundred children, taken from the most distinguished families in Carthage. The Spartans, the Gauls, the Swedes and the Danes all had the same heathenish customs.”
A plan was also suggested by which all could assist in sending light to these benighted heathens, and that was by appropriating a certain portion of the funds of each school towards supporting some of the heathen children in a Christian foreign school, that they might early read the Bible, and learn from its pages of God and his holy Sabbath.
Health Department.
"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." 3 John 2.
Regularity at Meals.
SYSTEM, method, regularity and promptness are necessary elements of success in any department of effort. Accuracy is secured in the arts, skill in mechanical pursuits, and eminence in science, by a proper regard to these conditions. The business man who meets his financial engagements a month after date, soon becomes familiar with the import of "protests" and failures, and yet it is not more certainly true of him that disaster follows a disregard of these conditions than it is of men occupying almost any position in life. He who treats this body like a worthless machine, instead of a complicated arrangement of organs and adjustments, will at some time be convinced that the violation of a law of this physical structure is certainly visited by a penalty, a penalty never averted by any amount of penitence unattended by improved habits.367This body, as a condition of health and vigor, demands exercise, succeeded by rest. If overtasked and underfed, its powers necessarily diminish, and become more or less diseased. The supply of strength and health is secured, in part, at least, by the daily food, which is designed to repair the waste occasioned by the taxing of both body and mind. Rest and sleep render this supply still more available. The regularity with which the need of rest and sleep is indicated, is shown with as much certainty in the appetite, if normal, plainly showing that our meals should be taken at stated periods.
The necessity of this regularity is not wholly based on the wants of the body as connected with the waste resulting from exercise, but in part on the fact that we are creatures of habit, while it is manifest that our constitution favors this, suggesting the idea of a regular routine, not only in regard to employments, but in all respects. The stomach, so to speak, expects its meals at regular intervals, and is able to conform to almost any reasonable arrangement. As if endowed with intelligence, it seems to demand periodical rest, while making the necessary arrangements for the next labor, the digestion of the next meal. During this time, and even before, the several glands of the mouth, stomach, etc., are engaged in the secretion of the necessary juices to aid in this digestion, making these preparations with a remarkable precision and system. And, in this connection, it may be remarked that, this supply is just sufficient to meet the wants of the body—never more than is needed, in perfect health. The stomach may, indeed, adapt itself to existing circumstances, digesting a meal in three, four, or five hours, often imperfectly, it is true, yet it seems to demand that there shall be a uniformity of the intervening periods, about the same from day to day. If, for example, the dinner hour is at 2 o'clock, instead of 12, the hunger returns at that time, the individual suffering no marked or special inconvenience by the change, after a few days, especially if the change is understood in advance, the stomach adapting itself to the temporary exigencies, at least to a certain extent. Abrupt changes are always unfavorable, always tending to derange the organs of digestion.
A certain amount of time is demanded for the digestion and assimilation of the various articles of food, varying from one hour to between five and six, while, of necessity, any material variation from the usual time of taking our meals, must produce confusion. If, for example, a meal has been taken demanding five hours for digestion, and before the expiration of that time another is taken, it is manifest that a part of the labor of the stomach must remain unperformed, a part of the food remaining in the stomach. As a necessary consequence, this undigested food mingles with the new supply, producing confusion and derangement. But still worse, ordinary food will not long remain in any warm place, of the temperature of the stomach, without undergoing the process of fermentation, proceeding to an actual decay and putrefaction. This fermentation is the direct cause of the gas in the stomach, known as "wind," and sometimes ignorantly supposed to be common air.
Of course, this fermented, putrid food never can make good blood for the nourishment of the body, but poisons it, being practically the same as eating fermented and putrid food. The same principles apply to the custom of taking luncheons, especially at bed-time. Like the body as a whole, the stomach demands rest, one or two hours at least between each meal, which is only secured by some system. If fruits, even titbits of any kinds, are taken between the usual hours of the meals, it is impossible to escape the natural penalty, the necessary taxing of the stomach, an unnatural wasting of its powers, often attended by inflammation and general disease. Indeed, that hydraheaded disease, dyspepsia, is mainly attributable to this irregularity and haste in eating, instead of being, as sometimes supposed, a "mysterious dispensation of Providence." There is no mystery about it, resulting as it does in the usual order of sequence.—The Household.
The Warning Cry.
By A. G. C.
"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Rev. 18:4.
Would the mariner cling to the drifting ship
That is worn with toil and age,
Because it has been a gallant boat
And conquered the wild sea's rage?
"My fathers rode in this brave old bark
When its timbers were strong and new;
And a craft that was good enough for them
Will carry me safely through."
And a house that is generations old,
Whose beams were stanch and sound,
But are gilding now to the touch of time,
And sinking upon the ground;
Would we say "That here I lived in youth,
And here my loved ones died;
And if it was safe enough for them,
I ought to be satisfied."
Now, there is a ship (a mystical ship)
That has stood the shock of years;
And there is a house—a quaint old house—
That was built in blood and tears.
But the first was rotten ages gone,
And the last is sear and gray;
It is propped with pride, and wealth, and fame
And the blood is washed away.
A cry—a fearful warning cry—
Is thrilling through the world;
"Come out of her my people," come,
Lest when the "plagues" are hurled
Upon this "Babylon," ye partake.
Alas, this woeful cup
Is filled with famine, mourning, death
To those who drink it up!
Will this doleful cry go out unheard
Can it pass unheeded by?
Oh, do not stay by this stricken ship
Eternally to die.
A. G. C.
San Francisco.
Missionary Department
“In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.” Eccl. 11 : 6.
A Safe Calculation.
By James White
MANY say they cannot make a living and keep the Sabbath; they cannot afford to lose the time. On this a mechanic in Hollister, Cal., said that he knew many men who managed to live, who spent half their wages at the saloons. Some of them spend in one night the wages of three or four days. Said he, 'They who work six days, and spend half their wages at the saloons do not as well as they who work five days and save all their wages for the support of their families.'
How plain it is, and they who embrace this message thoroughly, not only save their time and wages by avoiding many of the temptations into which so many others fall, but by discarding tobacco, tea, coffee, and such useless and injurious articles, they save enough to supply many of the necessaries of life, and do for the cause of God beside. A sister in one of the States sent us $50.00 to aid the cause, and in her letter said it was only what she had saved on tea and coffee expenses during the year preceding! Many professors of religion would scarcely be able to sleep in peace if they should give as much for religious purposes as their tobacco costs them! Are these followers of Christ? Is the love of God shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto them? Are they proving their discipleship by cross-bearing and self-denial? 'Be not deceived; God is not mocked.'
J. H. W.
A Warning Voice in Denmark.
[THE following was translated from the Advent Tidende (a Danish paper) by Bro. A. B. Oyen. It is another evidence that the Lord is in this work, and that he is working upon the hearts of the people.]
"Den Danske Pioner [a Danish, political paper published in Omaha, Neb.] states that Pastor Frandberg has severed his connection with the State church in Denmark, and that he is now proclaiming before the people the soon coming of Christ and the end of the world. He held a grove-meeting June 27, this year at Bornholm. He had called the attention of the people beforehand, through the papers, to the texts in Daniel, Joel, and the Revelation, touching these points. And when the time of the meeting came, about two thousand persons gathered together to hear him. He tried to convince his hearers that there is a probability that the day of the Lord will come in the present generation. He has many followers, and his sermons make a deep impression."
Till He Comes.
In the churchyard of Hurstmonceux, not far from the venerable ruin of that name, is a short quotation from Scripture on the tombstone of one well known and loved, whose life is so graphically pictured in "The Annals of a Quiet Life." "Till he come" was the simple yet pregnant inscription. Well did it express the faith hope and love of the departed!
"Till he come." The body sleeps in the quiet grave until that day when the Lord shall come. "If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." What a glorious hope! "The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Such was the hope expressed by the inscription, "Till he come."
Death is not the hope of the Christian. Falling asleep is but an incident. We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our body of humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto his body of glory.
There is a great difference between holding the doctrine of the second coming, and "waiting for his Son from Heaven." One may hold the doctrine very clearly and intellectually, nay combatively, and be but a tinkling cymbal. "To wait for his Son in Heaven," as did the thessalonians, manifests a power of walk and conversation in holiness. "He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be dilligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless"—Observer.