“SIN is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3: 4. The law is a rule by which right is known. A law which comprehends every righteous principle, would be a perfect law, and could be correctly termed righteousness. Such is the character of the ten-commandment law: “All Thy commandments are righteousness.” Ps. 119: 172; 19: 7; Isa. 51: 7; 42: 21; Deut. 6: 25.
Such a law would be a transcript of God’s mind, hence unchangeable in its form, and eternal in its duration. Such are the commandments: “All his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” Ps. 111: 7, 8; 89: 34.
Hence sin is to depart from the right way, and become unlike God. There can be no excuse for sin, no reason why man should sin; for sin is stepping from right, into wrong. It is anomalous, a violation of all law, and if a good and sufficient excuse can be rendered, then it is not sin; for a good and sufficient reason justifies the act; and if the act is justified, it is in harmony with the law, hence cannot be sin. Therefore, to confess sin, and drag along a reason why the act was committed, is a dishonor and stigma upon the law and its Author; for it is virtually saying, that in view of the circumstances the act was justifiable; hence the law was wrong; and as the law made no provision for the act, we sit in judgment on the law and its Author. Excuses for sin will be sought for in proportion as the enormity of sin is seen and felt, and the hideousness of it is estimated according to the importance attached to the law; and as the law is honored so is its Author.
To find ourselves sinners and be not condemned, because we were honest, is an awful mixing of light and darkness, and compromising God with sin. It shows a judgment and conscience which are unsafe to follow. Sin is sin, whether it be realized or not. “If a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.” Lev. 5: 17. When the sin came to the knowledge of the transgressor, then an offering was brought and confession made. Lev. 4: 14, 15.
There is a sort of moral dyspepsia in the world, arising from a diseased consciousness, ever desiring to be right, but continually found in the wrong, ever seeking to palliate the sin with a plea of honesty. By carefully reading the fifty-first Psalm, some light may be obtained how to look upon sin, and what kind of a confession and prayer will be found acceptable to God. God calls for true-hearted, whole-souled, Christians. Who will be one? S. N. HASKELL.
Obituary Notices.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.
He has gone, but the promise is that he shall come again from the land of the enemy. While attending meetings in Battle Creek, I received, April 4, a telegram from home, stating that my child was very sick. I left on the night train for home, feeling confident he would not live. I arrived at home the 7th, and found my baby very sick with the canker-rash. It had settled on his lungs, and there was no help for him. We tried to relieve him from his pain and suffering, but could not until death came and tore him from our embrace and we were obliged to lay him away in the cold grave to rest until the last trump shall sound, and this mortal put on immortality, and the saying be brought to pass that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. How consoling the promise of God is in this time of affliction, “Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord, and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.” In the language of the poet we can say:
“We have laid him away in deep sadness.
Yet not without hope in our breast;
For again he will join us with gladness,
And enter the heavenly rest.
We shall greet him at home, we shall greet him,
Where nothing can ever divide,
Where sickness or death cannot harm him,
Nor tear him again from our side.”
J. B. GOODRICH.
Hartland, Me., April 25, 1870.
Died, of scrofula, at Deerfield, Minn., March 14, 1870, Wilson B. Kelsey, son of C. and A. R. Kelsey, aged 8 years, 2 months, and 5 days. He bore his sickness with much patience, and, we trust, rests in hope. Funeral services by F. W. Morse. CALVIN KELSEY.
To Correspondents.
M. P. MARTIN: The Septuagint, Syriac, and Samaritan versions read Gen. 2:2. “And on the sixth day God ended his work.” This, says Dr. Clarke, is the genuine reading. The word rendered rested, properly signifies to cease. See Bush’s notes on Gen. 2. The Creator performed no part of his work on the seventh day.
P. C. TRUMAN: The 14th of Zechariah has been the subject of a great deal of study, and no little random speculation. We have never seen an exposition which was able to make a satisfactory application of all the particulars. Some of its declarations seem to bring to view prominent events which can be quite definitely located, while others are not so clear. We may, however, safely settle down on this conclusion, that there is nothing here which, properly understood, can be construed to conflict with the plain declarations found in other parts of the Bible respecting the events of the future.
Church Festivals.
For the benefit of the correspondent who made the inquiry in REVIEW of April 19, 1870, respecting a “Church Festival” held in Sigourney, Iowa, we give the following response:
Sigourney, Iowa, May 1, 1870.
U. SMITH, Ed. of Review and Herald,Battle Creek, Mich.,Dear Brother: You make inquiry in REVIEW AND HERALD of April 18, as to the correctness of an item clipped from the Sigourney (Iowa) News, on the subject of “Church Festivals.” We assure you that the statements made in said article are substantially true, and related here by a member of said M. E. church.
Yours in the cause of truth,
L. McCOY.
Appointments.
And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand. ## Camp-Meeting Appointments.
General Camp-meetings of S. D. Adventists are to be held in the west as follows:—
Marion, Iowa, June 9–14.
Nora, Ill., “ 16–21.
Dodge Center, Minn., “ 28–28.
Kilbourn City, Wisconsin, June 30, to July 5.
These meetings are designed to be occasions of a general rally of the Sabbath-keepers in their respective States. See more particular notice in previous REVIEWS. ## Illinois and Wisconsin State Conference.
THE next annual session of the Illinois and Wisconsin State Conference of S. D. Adventists, will be held in connection with the Illinois Camp-meeting near Nora, on the Illinois Central R. R., to commence Thursday, June 16, 1870. We hope every church in the Conference will be represented by delegates. They should come prepared to make the reports called for by the Constitution, viz., a written report of their standing, their losses and additions during the year; also the yearly amount of their S. B. funds. They should be able to give the amount of money paid by their churches during the year to ministers and the treasurer. Let each church appoint its delegates in season. Each church is entitled to one delegate. If they have thirty-five members, two; and one delegate for every additional fifteen members.
ILL. AND WIS. STATE CONF. COM. ## Wisconsin Camp-Meeting.
PROVIDENCE permitting, there will be a camp-meeting held at Kilbourn City, on the line of the Milwaukee and La Crosse R. R., one mile from the depot, on the farm of Stephen Hungerford, to commence Thursday, June 30, 1870, and continue five days. Bro. and Sr. White and other speakers will be present. We hope there will be a general attendance of the friends of the cause throughout the Conference. We also extend a cordial invitation to those in other States. Come, brethren and sisters, and bring with you as many as you can of your neighbors who may be interested. We expect this will be the best meeting ever held in Wisconsin. Come with your tents and provisions to take care of yourselves. There will be one or more of the large 60 feet tents on the ground. Feed and provisions can be had on the ground.
WIS. AND ILL. CAMP-MEETING COM. THERE will a Quarterly Meeting of the Chesaning, St. Charles, and Tittabawasse churches, at Chesanings, Sabbath, May 14, 1870. We give a cordial invitation to the Owosso church, also to all others who can, to attend. Cannot some preacher attend?
J. O. THOMPSON, Clerk. WE have received the two following appointments for Monthly Meetings in Maine. The friends there will understand whether they conflict with each other, or not, and if they do, correct in next REVIEW.
THE next Monthly Meeting for Southern Maine will be held at Richmond, in the Reed meeting-house, Sabbath and first-day, May 21 and 22. Meeting Friday evening previous at 5 o'clock.
L. L. HOWARD. THE next Monthly Meeting of the Southern District of Maine, will be held with the church in Woodstock, May 28 and 29. Bro. Goodrich will attend, no providence preventing, to stop as long as the interest demands.
By order of the Committee.
GEO. W. BARKER. THE next Quarterly Meeting of the church of Mackford, Wis., will be held the first Sabbath in June. It is hoped that all the scattered brethren will attend or report by letter, as this quarter ends the Conference year.
Come prepared to pay all arrearages, and rearrange S. B.
G. W. SHELDON. THE next Quarterly Meeting of the church of Albany, Wis., will be May 21 and 22, 1870. A general invitation is extended to all. Eld. T. M. Stewart is expected. We wish all our brethren and sisters to be prompt at these meetings, and come prepared to settle up their S. B. indebtedness, all of it.
G. L. HOLIDAY.
A Tiny Battery Across the Atlantic
So wonderful are the present achievements of science that a message has been sent across the Atlantic by a battery composed of a common gun cap, containing a narrow strip of zinc soldered to a copper wire, and charged with a drop of water from the ocean. A tear would have answered as well as the ocean drop. And this tiny battery was able to generate sufficient force to send its impulse from continent to continent, and write its story in another hemisphere.
American Sunday School Worker
We have received No. 5, Vol. 1, of the American Sunday School Worker, published by J. W. McIntyre, St. Louis, Mo. Its writers represent all sections and denominations. It appears, so far as we can judge from this number, to be an excellent magazine for parents and teachers, inculcating principles which will be of use in the management of schools and the training of the young. The Youth's Instructor considers it among the best of its exchanges.
Report from Bro. Cornell.
By Merritt E. Cornell
LAST Sabbath and first-day were profitable days to the cause here in Boston. The subjects of Baptism and Organization were considered. Eleven were baptized and steps were taken toward organization. Bro. J. B. Witherell was chosen leader, and Bro. Geo. H. Murphy, Clerk.
The concourse assembled at the water near Old Harbor, composed of both Catholics and Protestants, listened with marked attention to remarks on the prerequisites and design of Christian baptism. A policeman was present, and as good order was maintained as we have generally in the country.
Yesterday was our last day in Berea hall, but prayer meetings are appointed in both Chelsea and Boston and will be kept up till our public meetings are resumed. I must have a short period of rest before the tent campaign.
The remains of our dear Bro. John A. Johnson were received in good order, and we were all much pleased with the interest manifested by the friends at Battle Creek, in sending him back to his friends in so becoming a manner. Also we are glad of the tender Christian regard, manifested in taking in, and caring for, a sick stranger.
The funeral was held on Sunday at the Broadway Baptist church, but there was not that sympathy manifested on the part of the church we should have been glad to see, four of the first mourners being members. Our people manifested due respect for the deceased, and becoming Christian sympathy for the mourning friends, many of them of their own accord occupying the mourner's seats, and following with them to the burial.
Dear Johnny sleeps in “Garden Cemetery,” awaiting the last trump's call for the sleeping millions to “awake and sing.”
M. E. CORNELL.
South Boston, May 2, 1870.
Frugality Toward Passions
“If a man,” says Beecher, “will be frugal toward his passions, he can afford to be generous toward his higher nature;” that is, if a man does not waste his property in rum, tobacco, sprees, lawsuits, vanity and show off, he can store his house with books and papers, and his mind with their contents.
Annexed to each receipt in the following list, is the Volume and Number of the REVIEW & HERALD to which the money receipted pays,—which should correspond with the Numbers on the Papers. If money for the paper is not in due time acknowledged, immediate notice of the omission should then be given.
$1.00 each. Catherine Holden 36-21, J A Crouch 36-21, Jennie Cornstone 36-21, Wm F Grouse 36-1, D F Bartlett 36-21, C Lamberton 36-1, H Waggoner 35-21, A G O'Reilly 35-21, Geo H Murphy 36-21, Carrie A Orcutt 36-21, Wm H Webb 36-21, J Chase 36-20, Milo Downer 36-21, David P Safford 36-21, Emeline Wallace 36-21, Mrs S Tykner 35-1, Wm Pagnurst 36-21, R Pilmer 36-21.
$2.00 each. B G Robb 37-18, M Salisbury 38-1, C B Eels 37-20, J Schwartz 37-24, J L Miller 37-18, J S Smith 38-1, Morris Phinney 37-9, Andrew Basset 37-9, Asa Olmstead 37-9, Smith Sharp 37-8, G J Sharp 37-8, Maria L Brown 37-21, E V Clark 37-17, H P Wakefield 37-1, Robert Peebles 37-20, Mrs N Dennison 38-1, Geo Brown 37-1, T Newman 38-20, A M McIntosh 36-16, Samuel Bush 37-21.
Miscellaneous. Peter Stevens 50c 36-20, S S Jones $3.00 37-6, E D U Green 1.30 36-21, R L Ainsworth 75c 36-21, Mrs E H Part 25c 36-10, Mrs J H Aldrich 1.61 36-16, A R Bennett 1.50 37-10.
Books Sent by Mail.
S T Chamberlain $1.60, J Chamberlain 50c, M H Chamberlain 66c, J K Chamberlain 10c, J P Chamberlain 58c, A Basset 25c, A Avery 1.00, M A Conrad 50c, J Matteson 1.50, George McDowell 35c, Mrs G Rhodes 17c, A B Williams 17c, Amos Babcock 17c, Mary J Shattuck 50c, Mary Losey 70c, S S Jones 1.00, L Wheeler 25c, H S Gurney 20c, M S Wilson 1.12, Henry M Bourne 35c, Mrs E D C Green 4.70, B C Sweet 25c, A D Beers 75c, Mrs C Lindsay 1.37, James Parshall 25c, Rebecca Aldrich 14c, C Lamberton 15c, Geo Benton 35c, Silas G Goss 50c, S Emery 3.25, Fanny Glascock 68c, D W Johnson 25c, Mrs N Dennison 1.09, Wm H Ellis 1.50, Joseph Bates 3.94.
Michigan Conference Fund.
Church at Salem Center $10.00.
General Conference Missionary Fund.
Mary Armitage $5.00, M S and E G Merriam 1.00, Fanny Glascock 14.32, Church at Salem Center 10.00.
Received on Book and Tract Fund.
Alice Avery $5.00, Martha D Adamson 5.00, John Roberts 50c, Mrs Catherine Lindsay 63c, T Newman 50c.
Cash Received on Account.
Mrs Mary J Shattuck 50c, J H Morrison $7.00.
Michigan Tent and Owosso Camp-meeting Expenses.
F H and S J Houghtling $10.00, J L Miller 5.00.
Michigan Tent and Owosso Camp-meeting Expenses.
A D Beers $2.00.
Books Sent by Express.
A H Clymer, Finley, Hancock Co., Ohio, $12.04.
The Young Men’s Christian Association and Archery
We learn from our exchanges that the Young Men's Christian Association of Brooklyn, not long since offered a gold medal, valued at $100, to the lady who could show most proficiency in the practice of archery. A Miss Cook, over eleven other competitors, secured the medal which was accordingly presented to her. It bore the following inscription: “Presented to Miss Jennie Cook by the Young Men's Christian Association of Brooklyn, E. D., for her superiority and skill with bow and arrow. Brooklyn, E. D., April 19, 1870.”
These Young Men's Christian Associations are numerous all through the country. They are termed “the right arm of the church.” But, judging from the above paragraph, what kind of Christianity are they trying to promote? What end are they laboring to secure? What has Christianity to do with shooting with bows and arrows? What has it especially to call out young ladies to acquire this useful and womanly accomplishment? We have heard of a class of persons in New York, who have become so enamored of the ancient classics, that they have adopted the ancient heathen worship, and regularly engage, with their consecrated priest of Jupiter, robed and mitred, in offering sacrifices to that heathen divinity. So if this movement was for the purpose of giving a practical illustration of the old Amazons of Grecian fable, it would not seem so strange, provided it was inaugurated by a society within whose province such a movement would legitimately come. But when this is put forward by the Young Men's Christian Association, an Association composed professedly of Christians, and expressly designed to defend, cherish, and promote, the principles of a pure Christianity—here is where the puzzle comes in: What kind of Christianity is it?