Earlier text: CHRISTIAN PERFECTIONI am indeed glad you have made it my privilege to write to you; for it gives me much satisfaction to know that the lines which I write will not be unnoticed. I am grateful to my Father for raising you up to do the work you are doing. But I must confess to you that all the while you were talking on the raising of children, I could easily say amen, also while you were talking on the home, or rather on the marriage relation, till you said that there is no reason why one should be divorced. That came so near home to my heart that it almost crushed me. From that time on till the close of the meeting I was very rebellious. I said, “I wish I had never come to camp-meeting, and that I had never heard of Sister Henry.” I continued to grow worse and worse, and for one week could neither eat nor sleep. I said that I would die before I would acknowledge to my divorced husband that I had done wrong in being separated from him. Last Sabbath I felt that I was at a place where I must decide that day whether I would confess my wrong, ask forgiveness, or give up in despair and be lost. I told our elder, who was at camp-meeting and heard the message, my state of mind, and with four others we sought God earnestly for power and guidance in the matter. Before this time I had read the Bible and Testimonies most constantly since the camp-meeting, to see if you were not mistaken; but instead, I found positive proof that you were right, such as 1 Cor. 6: 16, etc. Then I read 1 Cor. 7: 10–16. Verse 15 brought such a crushing weight upon me that I could scarcely breathe at times, as I remembered that I compelled my husband to leave against his will. I told him that he could not abide under my roof any longer. Therefore God did not call me to peace, and I felt under bondage. Then I read that we were one flesh,—“No more twain, but one flesh,”—and on down to the ninth verse of the nineteenth chapter of Matthew, where it says, “Whosoever marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” This again brought condemnation to my soul; for my divorced husband is married again. I have heretofore felt so mean toward them both that I could not be happy in Jesus; but since I have read this in this light, it has taken all hatred out of my heart; and for the first time in my life I have had the weight of that awful sin laid on my heart, as if I had done it myself; for I feel that in driving my husband out I caused the whole thing—the woman living with him to live in sin also. What makes it worse is that my husband pleaded earnestly with me to the very last for me not to be divorced; and if I would not be his wife, to just let him provide for me and the children, and let him come to see us once in a while, if I would not let him live in the house. I would not even allow this. I thought he had so disgraced me and the children that I could never face the world and recognize him. Then after I was divorced, he made the same propositions repeatedly until a few days before he was married. He said he never would marry if he could support us and come to see us. I feel that I am a far worse sinner in God's sight than ever my husband was. I was so proud, stubborn, and unforgiving. A better man to wife and children never lived. I have always said this, because it was, and is, true. No man ever provided better. I never knew what it was to want, and never expected to work only as I desired for my own amusement. In the divorce he was prohibited from ever coming on my place, or visiting the children. Not only has the weight of these things come upon me, but the salvation of his family. I now believe I know how Jesus felt when in the garden of Gethsemane, when all our sins were laid upon him; and now I can have compassion in the way he does. As I said before, last Sabbath I felt that I must decide that day what I would do. After facing the thought of being shot by the present wife, the disgrace and loss of all my friends, I promised to follow my convictions and ask forgiveness. To do this I must go to —, for I felt it too sacred a thing to write on paper. I went to my husband's mother, and to all the family, and confessed and asked forgiveness wherein I had wronged them. I found that not a weight had been laid upon me in vain. His mother told me that she could not tell me how it had all hurt her, and that when the trouble began, she was almost ready to accept the Sabbath and all our faith, but had held back, stumbling over me. She also said that the rest of the family were stumbling over me, and that whenever the subject of religion was brought up, it would result in a finger being pointed at me. They were all very kind to me, and forgave me with tears in their eyes. I went to my husband and the woman with whom he is living, and the Lord worked marvelously. They both forgave me, but it took grace, faith, and consecration to stand it. I was not treated the best—far from it; but the Lord gave the victory, and finally gave me a hearing. I told them I had not come to separate them, but to ask forgiveness from both, and to tell them what things the Lord had caused me to suffer because of this trouble. What is right to do in our case? I felt humiliated to the ground, and thought that my friends and neighbors would all turn against me; but as I have told them what I have done, and read the Scriptures to them, every one promises to stand by me. More than one has said, with tears in her eyes, “Oh, why don't the ministers preach these things? They are so plain, and would stop so much trouble.” One neighbor said that she had been wishing one of her sisters would get a divorce from her husband, but now she was going to show her the scriptures on that subject, and do her part to make her sister and brother-in-law happy. I feel as Moses did about Israel when he wanted to be blotted out with them if they were not saved. If my husband is not saved, I want my name blotted out too. Oh what shall I do? Pray for us. It is of no use to indulge in vain regrets for that which is past, and which can not be repaired. The only thing now is, by a true repentance and confession, such as will fully satisfy the conviction that God writes upon your heart, and a genuine faith in him who has given you light, to obtain victory over this work of Satan in your home, and relief from the burden. This you must have in order to have any strength to go forward in the difficult way in which you must walk. You ask my advice concerning the future. This I can not give. You must obtain instruction directly from the Spirit and word of God. I would not venture to indicate by one word what ought to be your course. It is your privilege to come into that relation to the Spirit of God that you will know for yourself. Instruction first hand from the Great Teacher is to be obtained if possible. Anything that comes second hand loses at least a portion of its value and reliability. The only thing that I can do is to advise great deliberation; no hasty movements of any description. See that you do not lay up for yourself further regrets by any step that you may take. I am sure that as you have been led thus far, you will find the Lord at your right hand continually. He will not show too many steps in advance; but step by step, as you study to know what the will of the Lord is with a willingness to walk according to it, he will lead you. But remember that self must be utterly crucified. Your letter of October 2 is at hand. I am glad that you have obtained so correct a view of the subject in which you are so deeply interested. Anything in human life that is not in perfect harmony with the principles upon which the home and social conditions were to have been arranged in the beginning, has simply been tolerated by the Lord because of the inability of men and women to comprehend the truth, and through his fatherly mercy, his desire to give us an opportunity to learn what is his will. While he is very lenient with every person who is stumbling along in darkness, he requires perfect conformity to all that has been seen as truth and righteousness. There are times of ignorance, and there are conditions of ignorance, at which God winks; but when the light comes, he requires every man and woman to repent. You ask me to explain Deut. 24: 1–4. It needs no explanation. It means exactly what it says. All the conditions by which a man and woman are permitted to separate and are ever permitted to marry again, are because of their blindness and hardness of heart, and their neglect to understand the principles of the gospel as they were taught from the beginning; but the condition that is made concerning this matter in verse 4, and also as it is repeated in Jer. 3: 1, is given as a check to this iniquitous and ruinous social possibility; and I believe that God would forever recognize such commingling of men and women in the marriage relation as abominable. In my former letter to you, if you still have it, and refer to it, you will see that I decline to give you any advice. I told you that it was your privilege to know directly from the word and Spirit of God what he would have you and your discarded husband do. You have in these scriptures — Deut. 24: 4; Jer. 3: 1 — as plain a statement concerning the mind of God in this matter as could be put into words; and everything in the future, both for yourself and him, will depend upon whether you love God and the principles of truth and purity and eternal life better than you do the passing comforts and pleasures of this world. There is nothing left for two persons situated as you are but to bring forth fruits meet for repentance, such as will bring you into perfect harmony with God's pure thought of the family relation. I would not have said this much to you if you had not asked for an explanation of this very plain scripture. It needs no explanation. Whatever provision God makes for the hardness of man's heart is only to make it possible for him eventually to come into clearer light, where he will see the truth as it abides forever in the mind of the eternal Judge of all men. In Jer. 3: 1 you will find the unsavory name that God gives to the act that is contemplated in a former husband taking his wife again after she has lived with another man. I can say no more without going further in the matter of determining this question for you than I feel warranted in doing. Whatever is done must be through the enlightenment of your own heart and mind by the Spirit of God and his word. But I enjoin upon you to be true to God and his word as you value your soul's salvation, and the salvation of the man who has been your husband, and also the salvation of your children, who are to be educated through the solution of this domestic problem so that they will know purity from impurity, and learn to fear to offend God. I will refer you to the confession and promise found in Jer. 3: 25 and 4: 1; and as you take both of these into your heart, you will be comforted of the Lord. It was right of you to go to the home of this man and make confession to him and his present companion. In that you followed the Spirit of the Lord. Follow this Spirit as he abides in his word forever, and you will have peace; but peace must come through crucifixion of self. I do not think I will write to Mr. —. I will instead ask you to send him this letter, or to write to him yourself, making extracts from it which will cover the question that he has asked. You must settle this question each for yourselves before God; but remember that this woman, who is not a Christian, who is in danger of falling to the ground and to eternal death between you two, is upon your souls. Her blood will be upon you if you fail to do that which God clearly indicates is right. Mr. —'s relation to you and to her he must himself settle with Him to whom alone he has to answer. If you are burdened for the salvation of your husband instead of for your own personal relief from the consequences of sin, the Lord will not leave you to carry your burden alone. You say that you are trusting in God, and fear no evil. No evil can come to you so long as you trust and obey God; for all things work together for good to them who love him. The scriptures that have been brought to your mind may be your comfort. You have taken up a deadly thing into your hand; but if you will truly follow the light, and breathe it in as God will give it to you, you will not be poisoned by it, and he will be with you to the end if you follow him. Waiting.
By Caroline L. Elliott
I am waiting for the coming of my dear Redeemer Lord,
I am resting on his promise, in his precious, priceless word;
And although he seems to tarry, yet I know he'll surely come,
And take his own, his ransomed, to his bright and blissful home. When I waken in the morning, ere the dawning of the day,
I lift my soul to his dear side, and watch, and praise, and pray;
For it may be in the morning I shall hear his blessed voice,
Triumphant o'er the waves of time, bid all his own rejoice. Then, in the noontide splendor of the sun's meridian light,
When the busy world's surroundings need, our armor should be bright,
'Tis sweet to turn aside our thoughts from the carking cares of life,
And think, Perhaps 't is now he'll come 'mid the battle and the strife. Then, when the shadowy wing of night spreads darkness on the land,
Ere soft slumbers close my senses, I yield all into his hand,—
My body, soul, and spirit—self,—all I ask him safe to keep,
And, thinking on his precious blood, I fain would fall asleep; For it may be while I'm sleeping the Archangel's trump will sound—
Then, oh, what a glorious waking, to be all in Jesus found!
Yes! but whether in the morning, or the noontide, or the night,
It rocks little to the Christian soul, whose light is in his light; For, no matter when he cometh—oh, what praise for truth like this!
When he comes, we shall be like him, “we shall see him as he is.” — Mrs. Caroline L. Elliott, in the London Christian. A physician communicated through Farm, Stock, and Home the following experience, which is commended to parents of cross and irritable children:— “Three years ago a kind, conscientious mother said to me: ‘The greatest trial of my life is that my children quarrel so with each other. I can not understand the reason. Nothing they do annoys me so much; and by teaching, persuasion, and punishment I have been unable to change their habit.’ Hoping to give her aid, I asked many questions—among other things in regard to diet. She told me they were great meat-eaters. Her husband and brother must have meat three times a day, and the children often ate scarcely anything else. I told her of the bear that was kept in the museum in Gressen; when fed on bread only, it was quiet and tractable,—even children could play with it with impunity,—but a few days’ feeding upon meat would make it ferocious, quarrelsome, and dangerous.” “She agreed to try the experiment upon her children, and did change their diet to fruits, grains, and vegetables,—milk toast, graham and cornmeal gems, wheatlet and oatmeal mush and milk, etc., for breakfast and lunch, with vegetables and graham bread at dinner, and fruit, fruit puddings, or mushes molded in cups with fruit sauce, for dessert. This required tact, study, and perseverance; but she was more than amply paid. In less than a month she could see a difference in the habits of her children, and a year later she testified that it could hardly be recognized as the same family. The children were cheerful, playful, gleeful, full of spirit; but instead of being fretful and quarrelsome, were kind, benevolent, and considerate to each other. They were also more than ordinarily exempt from acute attacks of fever and inflammation.” “Do you think I shall need my jacket, mother?” asked a young woman setting out on an autumn walk with her mother. “I don’t know. I can’t judge for you,” was the reply, as the older woman buttoned her own garment closer, and started down the road. A moment’s pause—then the girl turned back with a prudent air, saying, “Perhaps I had better take it,” and hurried in for the wrap. An observer who stood on the piazza, shivering in the sharp air, was surprised and rather shocked at the mother’s seeming indifference; but the more she thought about the little scene, the more she came to recognize the parent’s wisdom in dealing with her grown daughter, who, at twenty, was certainly old enough to take care of herself. Had the girl been ordered to carry the jacket, she would no doubt have remonstrated, and, perhaps, fretted at the burden. At least, her laziness would have been spared even this small decision. As it was, with prudent foresight and memory of past colds, she settled the question as wisely as her mother could wish. How many parents could have refrained from advice? How many would have thrown the responsibility on the girl instead of treating her like a child?—Not many. Yet upon such a course depends good feeling and good comradeship between half-grown daughter and mother, son and father, as well as that cultivation of self-dependence and strong individuality so important in later life. The world has little respect for the man or woman who avoids making decisions, and is constantly subject to another’s will or opinion. It admires, on the other hand, those who know their own mind, and are not afraid to express it when occasion demands. But self-reliance is a quality that comes by cultivation and experience. Young people must be trained very early to think and decide for themselves. When they are mere children, parents may place alternatives before them, and let them learn by experience the wisdom or unwisdom of their choice. They may be given small responsibilities that will develop self-confidence. By being trusted in many little ways, they may learn self-respect. In point of fact, the average parents do too much for their children. They plan for them, work for them, supply their wants, bear their burdens, and wish to shield them from all that is disagreeable or evil. Sons and daughters have no opportunity to become strong so long as they are treated like infants. Overzealous parents must be made to realize that they are producing weak, clinging, vacillating men and women, unable to stand alone, and incompetent for the battle of life. Surely we should all choose to be, and to have our children become, the strong-minded ones who are sought as confidants and counselors, and have learned not only to live their own lives, but to give strength and support to their neighbors. DEATH OF A GREAT DOG.
By Editor
Chicago Times-Herald—Editorial. In the opinion of the experts who run kennel shows, there may have been greater dogs than Bozzie, the remarkable collie that died from poisoning in Chicago, Thursday; but no one who ever witnessed her wonderful performances will acknowledge it. Other valuable dogs are chiefly noteworthy on account of their pedigrees and “points” under the eye and tape of the judge in the ring, or perhaps for their superior gifts in the field or chase. They win fame for excelling in dog-like qualities according to breed and class. But in Bozzie was developed something that made her more than dog, something so near the human, and a gift in some way transcending the intelligence of man, that we are not likely ever to see her like again. It is only a few day since Bozzie gave an exhibition of her powers before members of the university club. She added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided as accurately and rapidly as a well-trained schoolboy. Bozzie had no words to give her answers, but gave them in quick, short barks. When the numbers ran over eleven or twelve, she would divide her barks, as two barks, then a pause, and four more barks, for twenty-four. On the occasion just referred to she was asked the number of those present. After taking note of them as a well-trained collie might of a flock of sheep, she barked off the number correctly. Then she was asked, “How many wear glasses?” Taking a rapid survey of the room, she barked three times. She was wrong, and was told to try again. This time she poked around among those present, and found a fourth wearer of glasses who had been completely hidden from her casual glance, and then she gave her four sharp barks with an emphasis that challenged dispute. On one of her welcome visits to the Times-Herald building, Bozzie was asked how many persons were in the business office. After inspecting the whole department, she barked twenty-six in her peculiar method of two and six. She was then asked, “How many are women?” and promptly answered Four. This was thought to be a mistake, for only three were visible. So Bozzie was asked to try again. But she stuck to her four barks, and running behind one of the desks indicated where the fourth girl was hidden by the top of the desk as she bent over her work. Similar instances of Bozzie’s remarkable arithmetical gifts could be multiplied indefinitely. It remains, however, to speak of the inexplicable feats she performed, which discount those of legerdemain and enter the domain of the marvelous if not incredible. An observer would be asked to place his hand on Bozzie’s head and think of a number. In response to her master, she would bark out the number. Her owner, George B. Clason, to whom we tender the sympathy of all who knew Bozzie and love dogs, would retire from the room, and the dog would give the correct answer all the same. She could be blindfolded,263 and in silence the company would fix its thoughts on a number indicated by one holding up fingers. Bozzie would instantly respond with the corresponding number of barks. On one occasion when Bozzie visited the office of the Times-Herald, she was asked to tell the age of Peter, the colored sentinel of the editorial rooms. Peter was asked to place his hand on Bozzie’s head, and think of the two figures representing his age. Without hesitation or a word spoken, Bozzie barked four times. Then, after a pause, she barked eight times, hesitated, and gave a half-hearted yelp for nine. During this performance Peter’s face was a study of mingled amazement, incredulity, and awe. When Bozzie had stumbled over the ninth bark, Mr. Clason asked Peter how he had thought of his age. Peter explained that he first fixed his mind on forty-eight; but while Bozzie was barking, he bethought himself that he was nearer forty-nine than forty-eight years old, and so began questioning mentally whether he should not have given himself the benefit of one more year’s experience in this vale of tears. By what process of mental telegraphy did this dog read the thoughts of Peter or anyone concentrating them on numerals? This is a question that baffles the wisdom of the wisest; and yet this dog, the victim of as criminal a piece of brutality as was ever committed, performed it without hesitation and without mistake. Bozzie was as beautiful and gentle as she was gifted beyond her kind. “Order my steps as Thou shalt please,
And let me be
Careless of comfort, pleasure, ease:
Made like to thee. “Order my steps, nor let me fall
On slippery ways;
Or, fallen, hear me when I call,
In love upraise.” To EVERY child of God this is a precious comfort. God leads the way. Through a diversity of intricate paths, beset with difficulties, God leads. He knows the nearest way home for every wandering lost one. Follow him! How few do. In our anxiety for some one else, we forget to follow. Then comes the chiding: “If I will that he [the other follower] tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.” I am able to lead each one individually. The task is not too great for me. Follow me. Jesus does not lead brethren apart. It is only when they as individuals stop following him, that they get into trouble. But it is not simply for the follower’s own salvation that Jesus specially is leading. And this fact increases a hundredfold the importance for him to lead. Who but Jesus Christ could have directed Peter in his work, permitting him to be cast into prison, delivering him at just the right time, to compass the salvation of souls? Who could have directed Philip to meet the eunuch at just the right time? Paul, John, and the rest, were likewise individually directed in their daily work by Jesus, personally operating by his delegated representative, the Holy Spirit. Now these faithful ones are dead. Jesus is looking for followers still. As a people we have been studying the message and the needs of the people the last winter. All this to us may prove in vain unless we consent to be led by the Lord. He may have permitted some complication to develop in some one’s life near you, that through you he might work a work to accomplish his salvation. Remember the complication of the fiery furnace, of the lions’ den, of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. These were permitted to come, but God brought honor and glory to his own name and to his faithful individual followers, by using instruments of clay to triumph over the human impossibility. Will you be led? Are you willing to renounce sin, that you may be led? Are you willing to be led into difficult places, where you will have to fast and pray for victory? Daniel was willing, Elijah was willing, Christ also learned obedience by the things he suffered while his Father had him by the hand leading him. These decisions now will affect both our salvation and the salvation of many about us. God desires thus to lead us all. Shall we obediently, lovingly, patiently, follow him on to complete victory, whose “going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth”? The Small Boy in the House.
Mrs. Sangster has this wise word for the mothers of the small boys of to-day — the men of to-morrow:— “Look out, too, that the small boy is welcome in the parlor and in the sitting-room. Let him stay where mother is, and bring his friends into the house, which should never be too nice or too richly furnished for his occupation. A boy who is freely given a place to play in the house, or out of doors, will not deface furniture, nor slide down the balusters. A place of his own he should have, and if he sometimes makes a little more noise than you think quite opportune, never mind; keep him happy and good. These two adjectives are nearly always found in conjunction; for the good boy is a happy one, and a happy boy is good. “Keep your small boy’s confidence; encourage him to tell you the happenings of his day, and never be astonished at anything he says, at least not to the point of shocked amazement. Pleased amazement is rather flattering than otherwise. “Give the little fellow an opportunity to earn some money. Let him have his regular daily ‘chores,’ something which he is responsible for, and which he will be expected to attend to faithfully, but over and above this, let him weed the garden or go on errands or perform some allotted task, for which you will pay him. Nothing helps to develop real character in a lad more certainly than having work to do which has a certain commercial value — work which is worth doing, and which is done well. “Lastly, bring the love and the fear of God to bear as a continual influence on your boy, not by word only, but by your own example, and always refer matters of which you and he are in doubt to the test of, What would Christ say about this? What would the Lord have me do? Life which keeps hold on the invisible is the only life after all for us and for our precious children.”—Selected. Christianity Makes a Man a Gentleman
“CHRISTIANITY makes a man a gentleman.” MAY STUDY OF THE FIELD: PART I.
(Text-book, May Magazine.) 1. When, and by whom, was Jamaica discovered? 2. What was the fate of its early inhabitants? 3. At what date was it occupied by the English? 4. Who were the maroons? Tell what you can of the slaves. 5. Describe the earthquake of 1692. Mention a text of Scripture that seems to describe the history of this people. 6. Give the population of Jamaica, and the leading nationalities represented. 7. How have almost all parts of the island been made accessible to the traveler? Why is this significant? 8. Describe Jamaica. Why is it an important place for missionary work? Do NOT lose sight of the connection between this lesson and the previous chapter. Chapter 12 is the climax in the prophecy. The description of “The Time of Trouble,” chapter 39 of “Great Controversy,” should be read in connection with the study of verse 1. Fearing that all may not have access to that book, we quote the following thrilling statement: “The ‘time of trouble such as never was,’ is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess, and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation can not reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God.” Another statement from the same author is this: “When this time of trouble comes, every case is decided; there is no longer probation, no longer mercy for the impenitent. The seal of the living God is upon his people.” Can it be that we stand upon the threshold of such events as are here portrayed, and are yet “too indolent” to gain the experience that will enable us to pass through them successfully? What is “indolent”? May the dear Lord forgive us this sin, and may this study of his word arouse us out of it before it is too late. 1. To what event does “that time” refer? 2. Who is Michael? Give texts. 3. What is meant by the standing up of Michael? 4. What is the nature of the time of trouble mentioned? 5. Give reasons why verse 2 can not refer either to the general resurrection of the righteous or of the wicked. 6. Connect with this verse the other scriptures referred to in our text-book, to show the time and extent of this special resurrection. 7. How much brightness and majesty and length of days is involved in the promise to those who are teachers of the truth? 8. Estimate as well as words can the profit gained and the loss sustained in obeying God. 1. Sifted of side issues, what is the Eastern question, and what the prophetic solution? What reasons may be given why this question is of solemn import to every person? 2. Give a brief description of the time of trouble. See “Great Controversy,” pages 613-634. 3. Describe briefly the glorious deliverance of God’s people. See “Great Controversy,” pages 635-652. 4. What does the Bible teach concerning the different resurrections, both general and special? Give texts. SHALL SUNDAY BE THE “LORD’S DAY”?
Latin Races Have Used the “Dominico” Since 314.
[In the Catholic Mirror of April 7, 1900, there was printed the following article from Archbishop Martinelli, apostolic delegate of the pope to the United States. We reprint it, headings, signature, and all, just as it appeared in the Mirror. This contribution to the Sunday question from that source is of peculiar interest just at this time. Study it closely. It will be found full of subtle meaning.—ED.] The Latin races have used the word “Dominico,” or day of the Lord, to designate the first day of the week since the reign of Pope Sylvester I, who ruled the church from A. D. 312 to 337. From the beginning, we find that all those people who derive their language from the Latin—the Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese—do not honor a heathen god in the specific title which they give to the day which we call holy, but they call it, as we do in ecclesiastic Latin, Lord’s day—“Dominico” in Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, and “Dimanche” in French. The change which the Christian church made from the Sabbath to Sunday is too well known to need discussion. The early followers of Christ chose the first day of the week as the day of prayer rather than the last, mainly to commemorate his glorious resurrection. The teachings of the early Fathers tell us that the Holy Ghost descended upon the disciples on Whit Sunday, or Pentecost, and this constitutes another reason for the change. The observance of the Sunday or day of rest does not emanate from the natural law, which would indeed require us to worship the author of nature during parts of every day rather than during a whole day of every week. There is no divine law which commands us to commemorate Sunday. The observance is purely of ecclesiastical origin, dating, however, from the time of the apostles. But as we have no trace of the Sabbath being observed among the Hebrews before the time of Moses, we need not question the authority of the apostles to sanctify Sunday and set it apart as the day on which we honor the resurrection of the Son of God. The Anglo-Saxon word “Sunday” is the name given to honor the sun, the divinity considered the most powerful in heathen mythology. The names of the other days of the week are chosen to honor some other divinity; as, Monday, Luna, the moon; Tuesday, Mardi, Mars, the god of war; Wednesday, Woden, or Mercury; Thursday, or Thorday, the day on which Jupiter was remembered; Friday was dedicated to Venus; and Saturday to Saturn, the father of Jupiter and Neptune. I believe that all Christian people should proclaim their belief in the Son of God by honoring his name in the day which they have chosen to consecrate to him. This great country is a Christian country, and by adopting the word “Lord’s day,” or “Sunday,” to honor the Word Incarnate, it will bear witness of the truth. In the Latin we used to say “Dies de Dominus,” but this was considered too cumbersome for ordinary use, so the name has become simply Dominico. There will be some means of simplifying the English word to meet the popular requirements. We follow the New Testament as our guide, and we will find therein many reasons for calling the first day of the week the “Lord’s day.” Thus, there is but one passage in the New Testament in which we find the first day mentioned specifically as the Lord’s day; namely, in the Apocalypse 1:10. In Acts 20:7 we are told that St. Paul abode seven days at Troas, and that on the first day of the week the disciples came together to break bread. We have every reason, both from revelation and from tradition, to consecrate the first day of the week to the Son of God, and to name it for him is consistently and religiously to put in practice the theory of our belief. I am interested in this discussion, and I hope that it will bear good fruits among the believers in Christ in this country.—Archbishop Martinelli, Delegate Apostolic to the United States.