Who can tell its evils? Who can estimate the injury the tongue has effected in the earth? Great nations have engaged in war from the angry word of its chief ruler; families have been ruined by the idle rumor of thoughtless tattlers, whose imaginations have furnished food for the gossip of communities, and many fair reputations have been tarnished by its foul contact.
The tongue is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Alas! that it should be so. People do not think of the reputation of their cotemporaries, nor do they generally care as they ought. Israel criticized Moses, which shows how natural it is to find fault with and criticize the best acts of the best of men.
Dear reader, are you free from this charge? Is your tongue free from this kind of poison? Can you and I say we are free? I have no doubt there are those who will read this who are in a great measure, perhaps wholly, free from this sin; but they are few. The sin of evil-speaking is one of universal practice, and perhaps not one in a million of earth’s inhabitants is clear.
None but those who have felt the poisonous tooth of slander can realize how much harm can be done by a word.
You perhaps wish to be useful to your neighbor; but you find the slanderer has anticipated you, and your influence is injured, and you must give up for that time at least.
Oftentimes good people speak unadvisedly, and the influence of those who could be useful is weakened and injured.
I have often thought that in the church people are more free to speak evil than in the world, for this reason: If they speak evil of a man of the world, they would be in danger of the law; but they know their good brother will not sue. This is a strong assertion, but in very many cases it is certainly true.
Oh! it is a great thing to bridle the tongue; it is also a good thing to put a good construction upon what we hear said by our cotemporaries, whether brethren or not.
Some are trained to criticize; they look you from head to foot. If a button is off, these persons observe it, and make remarks; and in time, they grow to be disagreeable and unhappy; and their criticisms take on the same type.
How different those who are trained in an opposite direction, and how different the influence. Jos. Clarke.
Church Debt.
The Boston Transcript enters protest against the prevailing habit of religious denominations of “going in debt” for fine church edifices. It is admitted that few churches, except the Roman Catholic, have been recently constructed in Boston without incurring liabilities far from justifiable; and that these have proved to be enormous burdens upon the congregations, restricting all holy influences, and too often causing ill-feeling between pastor and people. When these vast and elegant structures are built and the debt incurred, the necessity follows that they must be crowded with rich people, who can buy pews at great prices, pay high taxes, and give largely toward the liquidation of the debt. Hence the necessity for a pastor who can draw! The pulpit is put upon the same standing as the stage of a theater, and whether actor or preacher, he is the best man who can in the quickest time and the more continuously draw his house.
This wretched habit (for it seems to have become such in large cities) of getting into debt seems to stand by itself among the unrighteous things of the world which are permitted to increase without suitable reprehension. A merchant, a bank, or any public institution, gets into debt and must immediately fail. A poor man or woman goes beyond his or her means and meets the consequences in public disdain or odium. But churches are permitted to be built, and to linger on under a load of debt and unfulfilled promises to pay. We do not see any heeded warning taken from previous precedent. In fact, incumbents of parishes, even, allow them so to be built, knowing all the time how far the excess of expenditure will exceed the means of payment. Where is the clergyman who will have the courage to say to any building committee, “Gentlemen, I will preach to you if you will build the church without a debt. If you go one cent beyond your means I shall not be your pastor.”—Sel.
Indictment of King Alcohol.
THE history of King Alcohol is a history of shame and corruption, of cruelty and crime, of rage and ruin.
He has taken the glow of health from the cheek, and placed there the reddish hue of the wine cup.
He has taken luster from the eye, and made it dim and bloodshot.
He has taken beauty and comeliness from the face, and left it ill-shaped and bloated.
He has taken firmness and elasticity from the step, and made it faltering and treacherous.
He has taken vigor from the arm, and left flabbiness and weakness.
He has taken vitality from the blood, and filled it with poison and the seeds of disease and death.
He has transformed this body, fearfully and wonderfully made, God's masterpiece of mechanism, into a vile, loathsome, stinking mass of humanity.
He has entered the brain, the temple of thought, dethroned reason, and made it reel with folly.
He has taken the beam of intelligence from the eye, and left in exchange the stupid stare of idiocy and dullness.
He has taken the impress of ennobled manhood from the face, and left the mark of sensuality and brutishness.
He has taken cunning from the hands, and turned them from deeds of usefulness to become instruments of brutality and murder.
He has broken the ties of friendship, and planted the seeds of enmity.
He has made the kind, indulgent father a brute, a tyrant, a murderer.
He has transformed the kind and affectionate mother into a very fiend of brutish incarnation.
He has made obedient sons and daughters the breakers of hearts and the destroyers of homes.
He has taken luxuries from off the table, and compelled men to cry on account of famine, and to beg for bread.
He has stolen men's palaces and given them hovels in exchange.
He has robbed men of valuable acres, and given them not even a decent burial-place in death.
He has filled our streets and highways with violence and lawlessness.
He has complicated our laws and crowded our courts.
He has filled to overflowing houses of correction and penitentiaries.
He has peopled with his multitudes our poorhouses.
He has straitened us for room in our insane asylums.
He has taken away faith, hope, and charity—yea, all that is lovely and of good report—and given despair, infidelity, enmity, and all the emotions and deeds of wickedness.
He has banished Christ from the heart, and created hell within it.
He has wrecked and enfeebled the bodies, shattered and destroyed the minds, imperiled and damned the souls of our fellow-men.
These are counts of the indictment. Let the world judge of the truth.—Sel.
NEW SECT IN INDIA.
A remarkable movement, headed by a native, says The Friend of India, has set in among the people of Eastern Bengal. The leader has a number of followers who read the Scriptures and endeavor to live after the example of the apostles and the early Christians. They are vegetarians, and discard the use of medicine, seeking the cure of sickness by prayer to Christ. Such movements, outside of the church, and mingled as they are with error, show how the gospel influence is growing strong in India, and is awakening men's attention to its truths.
Akron, Erie Co., N. Y.
By Chas. B. Reynolds
Pitched the sixty-feet tent in the public park in the village of Akron, evening after the Sabbath, July 10, 1875. Commenced meetings first-day morning, and continued them every evening (except Aug. 12), and on Sabbath and first-days morning and afternoon, until Aug. 29.
The tent was very badly mildewed and riddled with holes, yet not one meeting was prevented by rain. From the tent entrance, we could look out upon six churches, Methodist, Free Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Catholic. The opposition was fierce, persistent, and, in some instances, malignant. We not only had to meet the opposition and attacks of ministers in the village, but a no-day Adventist was sent for. He preached two evenings, and declared that “it was an insult to offer God’s law—this code of ten commandments—to any true Christian, as a code to govern, or rule to live by.” Next came a Disciple, who fully explained the difference between the two covenants. “Under the old covenant, which was the ten commandments, there was no law against drunkenness, but there was against Sabbath-breaking. Under the new and better covenant, there was no law against Sabbath-breaking, but there was against drunkenness.”
First-day, Aug. 29, baptized five. Twelve signed the covenant to keep all the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Two of this number embraced the Sabbath under the labors of Eld. N. V. Hull, of the Seventh-day Baptists, during his pastorate at Clarence, some twelve or fifteen years ago. Eld. Hull stopped to see friends here on his return from our General Conference, and, in compliance with our solicitation, delivered a most powerful and effective discourse before a very large gathering. The tent was crowded to its utmost capacity. His subject was, “Sunday is not the Sabbath,” and he most effectually answered every point raised by a minister who had delivered a sermon on “Sunday is the Sabbath” in the Presbyterian church that morning. Eld. Hull is much loved and respected by all classes of people throughout this section of the country, notwithstanding his “keeping Saturday for Sunday.”
The twelve who comprise the little company at Akron are all heads of families, persons of mature judgment, who fully realize that the way they have chosen is the way of the cross; but they have determined to walk in the light, looking in humble love and confidence to the promised help of Jesus to enable them to overcome and gain the victory. “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him.”
CHAS. B. REYNOLDS.
Howard Co., Mo.
By J. H. Rogers; L. R. Long
CAME to this county with the tent at the solicitation of some desiring to hear. After remaining twelve days, took down the tent to ship for the camp-meeting. As the result of our labors, some twelve or more are keeping the Sabbath. All the country is deeply stirred; we purpose returning after Conference awhile.
At Salisbury six decided for the truth. Three were baptized. Many are halting on the Sabbath question there.
J. H. ROGERS,
L. R. LONG.
The Way Opening.
By Anna J. Carlstedt
It was the desire of my heart before I left Battle Creek last spring to have the truth in some way presented to the people of this island. A few numbers of the Voice of Truth and Advent Tidende have been sent to this place by the Michigan Tract Society. I think that they have done good in leading some to investigate present truth. I am thankful for what I have seen of the workings of the Spirit of God since I came here, although I do not know that any one has yet taken a stand for the truth; but hearts have been made tender by it, and as I have tried to use my influence in its behalf the blessing of the Lord has rested upon me and others.
God has opened the way before me, both in the public meetings and in the private circles, and freedom has been granted me to present the truth to the people. There are meetings conducted here in both the English and Danish languages. I have tried to use my influence in both as the way has been opened. I have also tried by the help of God to treat others with courtesy and respect, and have received the same in return. The people are very friendly to me, and I love to go out among them to tell them of our soon-coming Saviour, and how to prepare to meet him. But to do this is not always convenient; for this is comparatively a new country, and the best way to travel here is on foot.
There are some Danish individuals here who are very much in favor of the truth. The publications given out in that language have been well read; some of them have gone from house to house, until they are almost worn out. I understand that there are but few here that have not in some way heard the truth. My sister and myself are the only ones that have tried to spread it here. I have the hope that there will, not very far in the future, be a church raised up here that will glorify God in keeping all of his commandments.
I need some Danish tracts. I need but a few; and these I must have—not so much for the Danish people—but there is another nationality here that I shall try to reach by them—the Icelandic. There are people living not very far from here who are well educated both in the Icelandic and in the Danish. From them I shall try to get directions to people in Iceland who may read the Danish. I shall then send them some publications, and write them letters, telling why they have been sent. I am not yet acquainted with any of the Icelanders, but my heart has been burdened for them. I have taken it to the Lord in prayer, and he has given me the assurance by his Spirit that there are some among them that will love the truth more than tradition. I do believe that the time will soon come that the sober-minded people of old Iceland will have the present truth in their own language. May the Lord hasten the time is my prayer.
ANNA J. CARLSTEDT.
Door Co., Wis., Aug. 15, 1875.
The New England Conference.
By S. N. Haskell; M. Wood
The New England Conference held its sixth annual session in connection with the camp-meeting at South Lancaster, as per appointment in REVIEW. The President in the chair. The delegates being called for, eighteen responded representing fifteen churches.
Voted, That the company in Marlow, N. H., be received under the watchcare of this Conference and that Sr. Seaman be received as a delegate.
Voted, That the company in Ipswich, Mass., be received into the Conference, with Bro. Israel to represent them.
A letter was read from the friends in New Jersey and vicinity, whereupon it was voted that they be received into this Conference. Minutes of the previous meeting read and accepted.
Voted, That Bro. White, Smith, Lane, and all the brethren present who are in good standing with any church of the Seventh-day Adventists, be invited to take a part in the deliberations of the meeting.
Voted, That the Chair appoint the several committees.
The following were appointed: On Resolutions, Eld. U. Smith, Eld. P. C. Rodman, and L. W. Hastings. On Credentials and Licenses, C. W. Comings, J. T. Ashly and M. Wood. On Nominations, L. W. Hastings, C. W. Comings, C. K. Farnsworth. Auditing Committee, C. W. Comings, Samuel Twing, D. R. Leighton, Frances Gould, C. L. Davis, H. A. Weston.
At this point Bro. White made some interesting remarks. Adjourned to call of the Chair.
SECOND SESSION.
Prayer by Eld. E. B. Lane. Committee on Nominations reported the following officers for the ensuing year, which were unanimously elected: President, Eld. S. N. Haskell; Secretary, Miss M. Huntley; Treasurer, H. B. Stratton; Executive Committee, Josiah Webber and J. C. Tucker; Camp-meeting Committee, J. C. Tucker, S. Martin, and C. W. Comings.
Committee on Credentials and Licenses recommended that the credentials of Eld. S. N. Haskell and Eld. P. C. Rodman be renewed, and that licenses be granted to L. W. Hastings and D. A. Robinson. It was voted to grant credentials and licenses to the above-mentioned individuals.
Voted, That a committee of three be selected by the Chair, who, with the Conference Committee, shall advise with those receiving credentials and licenses.
Voted, To donate two hundred dollars to the General Conference.
Adjourned to call of the Chair.
THIRD SESSION.
Committee on Resolutions reported the following, which, after interesting remarks, were unanimously adopted. The fourth and sixth resolutions were adopted by a rising vote of the congregation.
Whereas, The Lord has come near to bring light and freedom in a great measure into this meeting,
Resolved, That we hereby express our gratitude to God for his interposition in our behalf.
Resolved, That we gratefully recognize the instrumentality of which he has made use in this matter, the earnest labors of Bro. and Sr. White and Bro. Smith, who have borne their faithful and instructive testimony to us.
Resolved, That we will endeavor not to let slip the important lessons and admonitions we have received, but will live them out, and thus improve upon the blessings God has given us.
Resolved, That we hereby express our interest in the remarks of those of our Seventh-day Baptist brethren who have favored us with their presence and testimony at this meeting.
Resolved, That we recognize in the presence of brethren from California, Michigan, New York, Vermont, Maine, and the87New England Conference, all cordially united in the truth, and speaking the same thing, an index of the unity of this work, the world over. Therefore,
Resolved, That in the progress of the truth in Europe, on the Pacific Coast, and in the wonderful openings presenting themselves in all directions, we rejoice as heartily as though these tokens of good were all manifested in our own Conference.
Resolved, That in view of the openings of the providence of God before this message, we pledge ourselves to renewed exertions in the work of promulgating this truth for the year to come.
Adjourned sine die.
Eld. S. N. Haskell, Pres.
M. Wood, Sec.
REST ELSEWHERE.
Life is the battle field;
No stay of strife is here;
Press on till victory you obtain,
There will be “rest elsewhere.”
Life is the harvest field;
’T is toil, and sweat, and care;
Reap down the grain—the fruits bring in,
There will be “rest elsewhere.”
Life is like the ocean voyage—
A storm, a calm, a fear.
Look to the chart, the compass watch,
And you will “rest elsewhere.”
Press to the mark—hold fast the truth—
On Jesus cast your care;
On him the soul may sweetly rest,
Till borne to “rest elsewhere.”
—Sel.
Tent-Meeting in Vermont.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
The outside interest was such at the close of the Vermont Camp-meeting that it was thought best for me to remain and follow it up. So we pitched the old tent in the village of Essex Junction, about half a mile from the camp-ground. It is a new railroad town of about six hundred inhabitants. Bro. Hutchins and Whitford remained to help me.
We found the people very friendly. They took us to their homes, and brought into the tent an abundance of food, so that our expenses were very light. We met no opposition; but the people turned out well and gave good attention. I have not seen so good an interest this summer. It remained good to the end. The last day we had more out than any time before.
I remained just two weeks, and was then compelled to leave to reach the Kansas Camp-meeting. We sold over ten dollars’ worth of books, obtained four paying subscribers for the REVIEW, and a dozen took a decided stand on the truth. These, too, are good, reliable persons. Many more confessed the truth, and seemed almost persuaded to obey it. Bro. Hutchins remains to carry on the work. He will hold meetings in the Union House.
The last Sabbath we had a good meeting. About thirty brethren and sisters came in from the adjoining towns and took part in our meeting. Several of those who had just received the truth spoke with deep feeling and tears. This did us good. We expect now to see a good church here.
But the old tent is used up, or, rather, rotted out. It is some twelve or fifteen years old, and is about as strong as so much paper. One evening, just as we began meeting, there came a little gust of wind with a heavy shower. The ropes broke and let the tent down upon us. No one was hurt, but all were thoroughly wet, and our meeting was broken up. I now expect to return to Vermont in a few weeks and labor there a year or so. If so, we must have a new tent. I see no reason why new churches cannot be raised up in Vermont as well as elsewhere. At any rate, our short effort this time has encouraged us much to hope so.
D. M. CANRIGHT.
Waterloo, Iowa.
By O. M. Olds
By request, I have given five discourses in this place. One has commenced to keep the Sabbath; others are convinced, yet halting. In our last meeting, ten covenanted to meet regularly for worship on the Sabbath, and others who were detained by sickness will join this number. I think the difficulties which have stood in the way of God’s work here are in a large measure removed. The Spirit of God seems to be moving upon the hearts of those who love the truth, and the way seems to be opening for a more skillful and experienced laborer.
In answer to the many calls which I have received to labor in different places, I would say, My circumstances are such that it will be necessary for me to desist from further public effort for the present, but your letters will be sent to the proper parties for consideration. I love this work. May God’s blessing rest upon it.
O. M. OLDS.
Albion, Sept. 1, 1875
By H. M. Kenyon
Indiana.
After the close of our good camp-meeting at Battle Creek, in company with Bro Harvey I returned to Indiana. We pitched the tent at Albion, the county seat of Noble Co. Sabbath, Aug. 21, I met with the friends at Ligonier. Here is quite a company of Sabbath-keepers who embraced the truth while the tent was there in June last. Had a good meeting with them. We felt that the Spirit of the Lord was with us. Sunday, Aug. 22, commenced meetings in the tent at Albion. Have now given twelve discourses. Our congregations are not large, averaging from one to three hundred, but there is a good interest to hear manifested on the part of those that attend.
Bro. Lane has spent a part of the time at La Grange, to strengthen the few that have but recently embraced the truth at that place.
I never felt like devoting my whole being to the service of God as I do at the present time. The affliction I have been so recently called to pass through I mean shall prove a blessing to me. While I try to draw near to the Lord, and consecrate myself more fully to him, I think I have some indications that he is drawing near to me. I wish to labor in the good cause of the Lord until the battle shall be over, and the victory gained, and then I hope to be among the favored few who shall share everlasting life in the kingdom of God.
H. M. Kenyon.
Albion, Sept. 1, 1875
Falls City, Neb., Sept. 1, 1875
By Matthew Wing
Nebraska.
I am glad to be able to report some degree of success for the truth in this part of the field. I came to Nebraska about eight weeks ago. Found Bro. C. L. Boyd and G. V. Kilgore engaged in a series of meetings in the tent, which was then pitched at Seward. There was some interest manifested, and but little opposition. I remained with them a few days, and then went to Crete, intending to give a series of lectures there, but the way did not seem to open in that place, and after an effort of one week, somewhat discouraged, I returned to the tent.
I then went to Salem, Richardson Co., where I commenced a series of lectures, July 21, with a full house. I gave thirty-two lectures in all, and sixteen manifested a determination to keep all the commandments of God. The blessing of the Lord was with us, and our meetings seemed to be attended with the solemn influence of the Holy Spirit. The interest was good until the last. I had but little opposition. The presiding elder of the M. E. church replied to my discourse on the state of the dead. He treated me very unfairly, and made many assertions, but he utterly failed to prove his points. I do not think he made any converts or many friends, neither did the truth sustain any loss by his effort.
I came to Falls City, Aug. 25. Have given seven discourses. The interest is good, and I am in hopes some good may be done here. I go back to Salem to-morrow to hold meetings over Sabbath and Sunday. I expect to resume my lectures here Monday evening, and to continue as long as the interest may demand. My health is better than it has been for years, for which I feel very thankful. I believe that it is only through the aid of the Great Physician that I am able to have a part in the last message. MATTHEW WING.
Falls City, Neb., Sept. 1, 1875
Let us Be more in Earnest.
By J. M. Gallemore
Of all professed Christians, Seventh-day Adventists ought to be the most earnest and devout. So far as our knowledge of them extends they are; but shall we not see them rising higher and higher in the scale of Christian perfection? Christians must and will grow in the love and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, and in the love and knowledge of the truth. With the important truths intrusted to us, and with the light that is shining upon our pathway, there is a fearful responsibility resting upon us. There is very much more required of those to whom much light is given than of those who, as yet, have not been permitted to see this light.
As a denomination, we are firm in the belief that the proclamation of the third angel’s message, given to mankind just prior to the second advent of our Saviour to redeem his people, is entrusted to us. This message is sounding louder and louder, and there is every evidence that the hand of the Lord is in the work. As we are assured that the message is now being given which must ripen the world either for destruction or the kingdom of God, the conclusion follows that the last generation is now on the stage of action. If the last generation is not now living, the message is being given too soon; for it belongs to that generation which must witness the closing scenes of our dispensation. So, then, if the message is right, it is also a fact that there are those now giving the message, and those hearing it, who must live until the Lord shall appear; hence time must be short.
As a people, do we realize the responsibility resting upon us? May the Lord enable us to realize it more and more, and may we grow more deeply in earnest in the cause. Living, as we have every reason for believing that we do, in the hour of God’s Judgment, in the time of the atoning and cleansing work of our great High Priest, how solemn, how earnest, how prayerful, how watchful, and how diligent, we ought to be. Remember, we are waiting in the outer courts for the Lord to come and crown his watching, anxious, and toiling people, with the gift of eternal life.
J. M. Gallemore.
Salisbury, Mo.
DON'T FIRE TOO HIGH.
Speak to men in language they can understand. A few days since, a gentleman made one of a little company of spectators at a velocipede exhibition. He turned to a plain looking young man and said, “It must be very fatiguing; don’t you think so?” “I don’t know what you mean,” was his answer. He stumbled at the word fatiguing. The gentleman saw it, and said, “It must make them very tired.” “Oh, yes,” he quickly responded. Ministers should remember not to fire over people’s heads. Truth must be put in simple language, and illustrated by metaphors familiar to all. Call the sun a sun—not a luminary. Don’t call the sky “an azure vault”—call it the sky. Don’t talk of the “economy of grace,” for your plainer hearers will at once revert to the kitchen.
Reverence.
If there is a country in the world where reverence and respect ought to be inculcated as cardinal virtues on the part of the young toward the aged, and on the part of every one toward those morally, intellectually, or spiritually superior, it is this, where all the habits, institutions and ideas tend toward a self-assertive and democratic equality, at par with the traditions in all ages of respectful homage paid by the inferior to the superior, by the low to the high, by the ignorant to the cultivated, by the helpless and dependent to their protectors and providers.
Undoubtedly in the Old-World idea of superiority there was much that was objectionable, arbitrary, and the mere result of caste spirit; but in our eagerness to get rid of the wickedness and injustice, have we not lost sight of the underlying principle which recognizes obligation, seeks to honor goodness, and pays a just homage to nobility of purpose and action?
The man that is capable of reverence is worthy of respect. It presupposes an innate truth and appreciation which goes far to supply the possible absence of the higher intellectual powers and faculties, while, added to these, it gives the charm of modesty and unselfishness, the absence of which no brilliancy of mental gifts can atone for. But we are fast getting rid, not only of all reverence for things high and holy and sacred, but of common respect toward those to whom we are under the highest obligations. The boy who is taught that he is “just as good as anybody,” and much better than anything that preceded him, scoffs at his father, bullies his mother, abuses those who are weaker than himself, and recognizes himself as no one's debtor. Is that good for the boy? Is it not better that he should be taught to respect and honor the best and the noblest—those who have lived, those who have thought, those who have written, those who have in any way sacrificed themselves for him or added to that sum of the world's achievements of which he stands as the representative, but to which he has not yet contributed anything?
Republics are proverbially ungrateful, but the ingratitude is not alone a national characteristic; it penetrates the remotest recesses of our modern society, and clouds the better qualities which distinguish its members as individuals. Admiration for the good, recognition of service, are overstepped by jealousy and ambition, and by the efforts which each one makes to distinguish himself above his neighbor. The true republican idea of honor and credit based upon merit is lost sight of, and distinction is sought at the expense of honor and credit rather than as the natural outgrowth of them. Offset this tendency in republican ideas, then, with the exaction of respect from children toward those who are older, toward those who know more, and a reverential homage toward those to whom they are under obligations for life, and for that truest and noblest and most worthy in the past, and the present that makes life to us so desirable.
We all in our lives tender faith and trust and devotion to something or other. It may be a man or a woman, it may be a party in power, it may be an institution, it may be money-bags, ill directed or well directed it is not so much matter; the point is that all men and women are capable of it, and may therefore be trained to bestow it in the proper direction and upon worthy objects. Let us reinstate reverence, then, in its place as one of the higher virtues, and inculcate it not alone by precept but by example.—Sel.
Distribute the Tracts.
By J. R. Purinton
LAST winter I began to feel that I was a poor lost sinner, and that I must do something to gain salvation or make my bed in the cold, silent grave a condemned man. I attended religious revivals in the popular churches, but found no hope at these meetings. All seemed to me to be a mass of contradiction and confusion. I asked my Heavenly Father to direct me to his chosen people, that I might learn of them my duty, and receive of them instructions and aid to assist me out of the gloomy wilderness of error. I desired to find that straight and narrow path in which none but God's chosen people ever walk. My prayer was answered. In looking over some old papers in a waste basket, I found one leaf of a tract. In reading it I became interested upon the Sabbath question, and in searching for another leaf I found the tract, “Who Changed the Sabbath?” In this tract I found food for my hungry soul. Except the Holy Bible, this one tract has been of vastly more service to me than all other religious books or papers I had before perused. It revealed to me the broken and down-trodden commandments of the great Jehovah. It has brought to light God's chosen people, who have the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This one tract has opened the way, and others have become interested.
We cannot all become preachers, but God has provided a work for us all. I know many poor souls who never attend church and never will hear the truths of the gospel unless presented to them at their homes. Because they live in shabby hovels, preachers will not visit them. Preachers seem to think they have no business in such dismal-looking dens. In this they err. All who are working for God and his cause alone should make it a point to enter these humble homes, to visit and seek out the hundredth sheep that has strayed so far from the flock, remembering there is great joy in Heaven over even one sinner that repenteth.
If all who are able would do all they can to furnish the poor with our publications, they might perhaps do vastly more good than they imagine. If you cannot yourself go around and distribute tracts, remember that there are many who would make the best possible use of a few of our publications were they able to purchase them. Who will not do all he can for the advancement of this glorious cause? Let each one of us ask, Am I doing all I can? We have but a few more days in which we can work. Then let us be up and doing, knowing that our Lord will soon come and call for the talent he has given us. J. R. PURINTON.
Forget his Broom.
Some years ago there was a crossing-sweeper in Dublin, with his broom, at the corner; and, in all probability, his highest thoughts were to keep the crossing clean, and look for the pence. One day a lawyer put his hand upon his shoulder, and said to him:—
“My good fellow, do you know that you are heir to a fortune of ten thousand pounds a year?”
“Do you mean it?” he said.
“I do,” was the answer. “I have just received the information. I am sure that you are the man.” The man was convinced. He left his corner, he walked away, he forgot his broom, and he made haste to seek his inheritance. Like the woman of Samaria, who “left her water-pot” by Jacob’s well, and hastened to the city to proclaim the presence of the Messiah whom she had seen, so this poor man, filled with strange thoughts of wealth and plenty, forsook his labors and forgot his broom.
But are there not many who talk of their title to a heavenly and eternal heritage, who yet hold fast the broom, and cling to all the cares and trifles and follies of this wretched world? O man of earth, look up! God has provided some better thing for mortals than worldly gain or worldly good. Drop your muck-rake, forget your broom, and seek an eternal heritage, a never-fading crown.—Sel.
Work and Play.
Whoever has had experience with children must have observed how much work they can be induced to accomplish if it is only presented to them under the name of play. In drawing light brush to burn, a gang of boys will do a great deal of work, if they have faith that the performance is all fun; but if called upon to pile on the sticks as a matter of duty, the fire loses its heat of enthusiasm and bright hues of pleasure, and only the ashes of dissatisfaction fly before the young lads’ eyes.
The same fact is observed in school work. The same operation will be performed with different spirit according to the way in which it is presented—whether as a piece of work or play. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” And all play and no work makes Jack a lazy boy. The judicious teacher will present a task as work or amusement, according to the effect he wishes to produce on his pupils’ minds. It is not enough to tickle the child’s fancy with the novelties of learning; nor is it enough to arouse in him the spirit of inquiry or a passion for books. The bulk of mankind make their living by drudgery; so while giving the child a little of the self-forgetting enthusiasm of the philosopher, or imparting to him a touch of the fine frenzy of the poet, the teacher should not neglect to cultivate in him some of the perseverance of the plodder and the patient faithfulness of the drudge.
The time comes to everybody when work cannot be disguised in the garments of pleasure, and the school should not send children into the world unprepared for such an event. We would advise teachers in this matter as follows: When you want simply to have children acquire the greatest amount of information in the shortest time, let lessons be a pleasure; but when you want to train them to habits of industry, let work be presented to them as work undisguised. Alternate the monotonous grind of duty with well-directed mental dissipation, and Jack will be neither a dull boy nor a lazy one.—National Teachers’ Magazine.
The Scotch Martyr.
Richard Cameron, hunted like a deer upon the mountains, went by night from place to place, wherever he could find some of the scattered sheep, till he came to Hyndbottom, where he preached to a large congregation, while a guard was set to give notice if the soldiers approached. After pressing Christ upon his hearers with the most thrilling eloquence, he closed by saying:—
“We offer him to all you that dwell hereabouts; and what say ye? Will ye take him? We take as testimony these hills and mountains that we offered him to you this day. Look at them now, for they are all witnesses, and when ye are dying, they shall come before your face, And we take you to be witnesses one against another, that we have invited and urged you to come to Christ, and yet ye would not.”
The whole congregation began to weep. Pausing again a few minutes, he added with great sweetness and solemnity, “Angels are going up to report before the throne what every one’s choice has been this day, and will say, ‘There are some in these parishes that have received the Lord Jesus Christ, and he has become their Lord;’ then there will be a great shout; for this will be welcome news there.”
The whole congregation wept. Strong men, as well as women and children, stood, as one said, as if their faces had been washed with a shower of rain. And many that day declared themselves on the Lord’s side.
It was his last sermon. As he passed away across the moors in company with two friends, the troopers overtook them. They ran till he fell down exhausted, and as they raised him up the soldiers fired, and he fell, as they plunged into a ravine. The soldiers passed on and left him, and his friends returned. They found him alive; he knew them, and said:—
“I am dying, I am dying; but I am happy, happy, HAPPY; and if I had a thousand lives, I would willingly lay them all down, one after another, for Christ’s sake. Oh, it is sweet to suffer for Christ! Many a pleasant hour have I spent in religious ordinance; but I have never spent a happier season than that since these balls passed through my body! I shall see Him whom my soul loveth and who gave himself for me. I know that God has received me for Jesus’ sake. I feel it, I feel it in my heart. He has sealed me unto the day of redemption. I now die as a witness for Christ, and what a privilege is that. Bear my love to my dear parents and sister at Marion. Tell them not to weep, but continue steadfast in the faith, and not to fear a suffering lot for Christ.”
“Oh, he is near me. I think I see him. I leave my love to all my suffering brothers and sisters. I forgive my murderers. Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”
Two or three hard breaths, and he was gone. They gathered the blooming heather and strewed it in his grave—gently laid him down on the moor where he fell, and strewed more heather blossoms over his loved form, and left him alone, and went on their way, to do and suffer the like for Christ.
Oh, how far we have fallen from the vigor of that piety! Is it not possible, by a voluntary offering of ourselves to Christ, to cultivate something of such strength and energy? Now, almost universally, outward prosperity generates indolence and indolence weakness, till the very life of religion perishes from the soul and the church.—Sel.