Earlier text: THE SANCTUARY OF THE BIBLEThe Order of Events in the Judgment.
By John Nevins Andrews
THE fact that the resurrection of the righteous is declarative of their acceptance in the sight of God, and, therefore, proof that the investigation and decision of their cases precede that event, has been very distinctly stated by some of the clearest minds in the Advent ranks. The late Sylvester Bliss, for many years editor of the Advent Herald, thus states the case:— "We are inclined to the opinion that the judgment is after death and before the resurrection; and that before that event the acts of all men will be adjudicated; so that the resurrection of the righteous is their full acquittal and redemption—their sins being blotted out when the time of refreshing shall have come (Acts 3:19); while the fact that the wicked are not raised [for 1000 years], proves that they were previously condemned." Advent Shield, p. 366, published in 1845. He saw the fact perfectly distinct that there can be no trial of the righteous after they have been made immortal. But it is very evident that he did not well understand when and how the examination of their cases should take place. Elder Josiah Litch, one of the ablest writers in the early history of the Advent movement, states this subject even more distinctly than Mr. Bliss. In his Prophetic Expositions, written in 1842, on pp. 49-54, he uses the following language:— "THE MEANING OF THE TERM 'JUDGE.'" "1. It is used in the Bible in the sense of a trial according to law and evidence; the idea being drawn from a civil or criminal court . . . "2. It signifies a penal judgment; or the execution of judgment. "The terms are both used in reference to the judgment of the human race. All men will be brought to trial, or into judgment, and all their deeds and their moral characters will be examined, and their everlasting states will be determined by the evidence produced from God's books, including the book of life, which will decide the moral character and everlasting destiny of each individual of Adam's race. If their names are found in 'the book of life,' they will be saved; and if not found there, they will be cast into the lake of fire, the second death. But the degree of reward or punishment will be graduated by what each one has done . . . "THE TRIAL MUST PRECEDE THE EXECUTION." "This is so clear a proposition that it is sufficient to state it. No human tribunal would think of executing judgment on a prisoner until after his trial; much less will God. He will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil. "But the resurrection is the retribution or execution of judgment; for they that have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life. We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.' 'In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.' Here is clearly a retribution in the resurrection. It will be administered when the saints are raised. But no more certainly than they that have done evil will come forth damned, or 'to the resurrection of damnation.' They will come forth to shame and everlasting contempt. The saints will be raised and be caught up at once to meet the Lord in the air, to be forever with the Lord. There can be no general judgment or trial after the resurrection. The resurrection is the separating process, and they will never be mingled again, after the saints are raised, no matter how long or short the period to elapse between the two resurrections; it is all the same so far as the separation which the resurrection produces is concerned. If there is no more than a second which elapses between the two resurrections, the separation it makes is final. "These two senses of the judgment are recognized in Rev. 20:12. 'And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.' This is the trial of the dead in the invisible and spiritual world, before Jesus Christ comes in the clouds of heaven. The only evidence on which the trial proceeds is, the books and the book of life. "They tell the whole story, and we must abide the issue of the trial on that testimony. The dead, as dead, were judged. Then follows, in the next verse, the penal judgment, in connection with the resurrection: 'The sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged [judgment was executed on them] every man according to their works.' There is no reference here to a trial or to the opening of the books; but simply a penal judgment. Judgment will be executed, finally, on each party; the righteous and the wicked, each one at the time of their resurrection; the righteous at the first resurrection, and the wicked at the final resurrection. "GOD, THE 'ANCIENT OF DAYS,' WILL PRESIDE IN THE TRIAL." "1. Daniel 7:9, 10, presents the Ancient of days coming on his throne of fiery flame; the judgment is set and the books opened. He is distinct from the Son of man, spoken of in verse 13, when he comes to the Ancient of days. "2. Revelation 20:12, tells us it is God, before whom the dead stand and are judged. "THE SON OF MAN WILL EXECUTE THE JUDGMENT." "Thus the Saviour declares, John 5:27: 'And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.' Also 2 Cor. 5:10: 'For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.' "Also Paul's testimony in the Acts of the Apostles: God 'hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.' What we are assured of by the resurrection of Christ, is the execution, in the resurrection, of a righteous judgment on all men. "THE TIME OF THE TRIAL OF THE DEAD." "Is it under the opening of the sixth seal of Revelation sixth chapter, where the servants of God are sealed. . . . And under the seventh seal (chap. 8:1) when there is silence in heaven about the space of half an hour; when the great Mediator ceases to plead for sinners, the day of grace ends; then the judgment or trial will proceed on the living inhabitants of the earth. That done, Christ will appear in the clouds of heaven, and come to the Ancient of days and the scene of trial, to announce the verdict with a shout, and deliver all his saints as soon as they are declared innocent, or justified, and raise them to eternal life in the twinkling of an eye. We are now justified by faith; we must, however, be declared justified at the day of judgment, before the effects of the fall will be taken away, and the saints be restored to God's perfect image and glory. "THE TWENTY-FIFTH CHAPTER OF MATTHEW." "This chapter does not, as has been supposed, describe the great trial, but the separation between the righteous and wicked, which will be accomplished by the resurrection of the just. And when the separation is accomplished, Christ will address each party, and show why he has made this separation. But through the whole scene, he acts the part of the executor of judgment . . . [Query. Did the judgment, or trial of the dead, begin to sit when they took away the Papal dominion in 1798? See Dan. 7:26, compared with Dan. 7:9, 10.]" The reader cannot fail to be deeply interested in these extracts from Bliss and Litch. We do not indorse every idea. Indeed, there is a degree of confusion in the language which shows that the subject was not wholly clear. Thus while Elder L. teaches that the session of the judgment must be before Christ comes, and even though it might have commenced at the end of the 1260 days, he seems also to teach that Christ comes to this tribunal when he descends to earth. This cannot be as has been fully shown in a former article. But this reasoning of Elder Litch, relative to the investigation and decision of the cases of the righteous before the resurrection is weighty and conclusive. It is worthy of notice that he places this judgment of the righteous at the tribunal of the Father, as presented in Dan. 7. He believed that this part of the judgment work was to be fulfilled while the living were yet in probation; for he suggested that it commenced in 1798 with the ending of the 1260 years. These able writers saw the fact that this work must take place before the resurrection of the just, but they did not see the time and place for the work. They did not see the heavenly sanctuary, and therefore had no clear idea of the concluding work of human probation, as presented to us in the Saviour's ministration before the ark of God's testament. The temple of God in heaven reveals the very nature of this work, and the prophetic periods mark its time. The proclamation of the angel that the hour of his judgment is come, and his solemn oath to the time, gives to mankind the knowledge of this great work, and the certainty that the present is the time of the dead that they should be judged. This doctrine is of the highest practical importance. It shows that we are now in the antitype of the great day of atonement. Our business should be the affliction of our souls and the confession of our sins. J. N. A. The Sabbath Made for Man.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
"THE Sabbath was made for man," Mark 2: 27. As this text stands in our English Bible it gives the Sabbath to the universal family of man. It cannot be forced to mean otherwise. It contradicts the position that the Sabbath was intended only for a portion of the great family of man. But in the original Greek it reads, The Sabbath was made for the man, and not the man for the Sabbath. This gives it to Adam, the head of the human race, and through him to all his posterity. Is Adam the father of the Jews, and not of the Gentiles also? The Sabbath was made. Then there was a time when it was made. What was the state of things when it was made? Only two human beings were in existence, Adam and his wife. They were created on the sixth day of the week, and on the seventh day the foundation of the Sabbath was laid. God rested. This was the first or the preliminary act in making the Sabbath; but the institution was not completed on that day. After he had rested throughout the day and consequently the day was past, he blessed and sanctified the seventh day, because that in it he had rested. Now the Sabbath was complete. The sanctifying of the day was the setting it apart for man's observance; and the next seventh day was the first one for man to keep. So the Sabbath was made for the man. Man was first created, then the Sabbath. The relation of man and the Sabbath to each other may be illustrated by that of Adam and Eve. Says Paul, Adam was first formed, then Eve. 1 Tim. 2:13. Again, Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 1 Cor. 11:9. In this last quotation the proper names of Adam and Eve are not mentioned. Nor are they mentioned in the connection. Yet who doubts that the man and the woman refer directly to them? There is no more reason to doubt that in the expression, "The Sabbath was made for the man," reference is made to the man and the Sabbath which came into existence in the same order in which the man and the woman did, and in the same delightful paradise in which they dwelt. As the Sabbath was made for man while in his innocence in his Eden home; so when man and Eden are restored in the new earth, the holy Sabbath will still exist. See Isa. 66: 22, 23. Then it will be fully understood that the Sabbath was made for man, and hence was never "against" him or "contrary" to him, and never was taken away being nailed to the cross of man's Redeemer.
R. F. COTTRELL. (Condensed from Review and Herald.) SPRINGFIELD.—Elder Waggoner reports the interest here very good. He writes: "Some are persuaded that these things are so. Some who appeared to be much interested fell away when the Sabbath was presented. The prevailing excuse raised by the ministry was, that we cannot tell when the seventh day comes. This delusion was dispelled on Sunday evening to the conviction of a good audience. We hope for good results." CHESTER CROSS ROADS.—Brethren Guilford and Gates write: "We closed our meetings at Parkman, July 23, and pitched our tent here and began meetings the 17th. Nearly a hundred were at our first meeting, and on Sunday evening about three hundred were present. Many admit that we are right on the Sabbath, and some have commenced to keep it, while others are still investigating. We organized a Sabbath-school of about twenty-five members." NEW LONDON.—Elder Decker reports from tent No. 1: "We closed our meetings here July 28. Twenty-four have accepted the truth. Three of these were keeping the Sabbath when we came to this place. Brother Whipple, of Fremont, did a good work here in canvassing for our periodicals. The Congregationalists have granted us the free use of their meeting-house in which to hold Sabbath meetings." CLAY BANKS.—Brethren Olsen and Clausen report from tent No. 2: "We have now given fourteen discourses at this place, partly in English, and partly in Norwegian. We commenced with a very fair congregation. The attendance and interest have been steadily increasing, in both languages." MUKWONGO.—Brethren Olds and Crandall report from tent No. 4: "We closed our meetings in this place last evening. Eleven have signed the covenant to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The truth has many warm friends in and around this place. They have looked well after our wants, and have donated $14.35. There is here none of that bitter prejudice that we sometimes find." DEBELLO.—Brethren Johnson and Hoen write: "We have been here nearly seven weeks. At first we spoke in Norwegian; and as there were many Americans who wished to have the same things preached to them, we gave a condensed course of lectures in English. The Lord has blessed our work much; for although we have had much opposition, yet about twenty-five have commenced to keep the Sabbath. Last Sabbath we organized a Sabbath-school of over forty members." BONAPARTE.—Elder McCoy writes, August 1: "Have given ten discourses here. The interest is increasing. The average attendance is one hundred and fifty. Many who have not attended church for years are interested. We are now canvassing the life and death question. The Sabbath question comes next. The people are friendly, and bestow many favors." HICKORY CORNERS. —Elders Frisbie and Steward report: "Our meetings still continue every evening. Last Sabbath over fifty were out. Our attendance is small. Some have decided to keep the Sabbath, and we hope for others." PIERSON.—Meetings closed in this place July 28. Twenty adults have decided to keep all the commandments. Among them are some who have never before given themselves to God. FORT SCOTT.—Brethren Cook and Santee write, August 1: "Our meetings still continue. We have spoken three times on the Sabbath question. Laboring in towns is slow work, but the interest is permanent. Some are deciding to obey God. There is work for a minister here for the next three months. The daily paper gives us space for a sermon in each issue." SYRACUSE.—Meetings closed in this place July 28. Twenty-one signed the covenant to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. How this word should ring in our ears. It is nearly equivalent to the word of Jesus, "watch." We should remember the name of the Lord our God. Ps. 20 : 7. Remember the shortness of time given us to prepare to meet God. Ps. 89 : 47. In pleasure let us remember the days of darkness. Eccl. 12 : 1. Remember to break not his covenant. Jer. 14 : 21. Let us do all this, that the Lord in wrath may remember mercy. Hab. 3 : 2. The Lord in giving his holy law tells us to ☞ "remember the Sabbath." He knew that man would be in danger of forgetting this great memorial of the true God; and when the commandment is written it begins with the word "remember." This shows it was an existing institution at that time; for they could not remember that which they did not know. We read that the seventh day is the Sabbath, by this we know which day of the week it is. But when does the day begin and end? In the first chapter of Genesis we read that the days of creation week began with the evening. In Lev. 23 : 32 we read, "From even unto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath." But at what hour does the even begin? This is answered in the direction given about uncleanness. Those who had touched the carcass of an unclean beast were "unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water. And when the sun is down, he shall be clean." Lev. 22 : 6-7. The even then is at sundown, and the Sabbath begins at that time. We think God was very good in having the Sabbath begin at sundown, instead of at any particular hour of the day. Suppose he had commenced it at six o'clock, as some suppose, it would have been much more difficult to remember. In latitudes far from the equator the hour of six o'clock would, in winter, come long after dark, and if one did not have a watch or clock at hand, he might make a mistake of an hour or so. And in the mid-summer, if busily engaged, he would be liable to forget the exact hour. But the setting sun will surely remind him of the approach of God's holy day; thus the Lord helps us to keep his sacred law. But how could men remember the approach of the Sabbath if it began at midnight, the time most Sunday-keepers commence their day, when, ordinarily, men would be asleep? But the command to remember in this case, is no more inconsistent than the Sunday institution itself. Let us remember God's memorial to keep it holy, and be very careful not to do as I have known some to, work up to the time of darkness on Friday night and call that sunset; but on the next day as soon as the sun has disappeared behind the top of the highest hill, say, There, the sun is down, the Sabbath has closed. Let us give God a full day, and "call the Sabbath a delight." Isa. 58, 13. It is said of Dr. Heman Humphrey, that in the early part of his ministry—perhaps his first pastoral charge—a member of the congregation, whom for convenience we will call farmer Jones, took a great dislike to him, regarding him as an upstart and a fop, and declared that he would never go to hear him again, nor permit any of his family to do so, and that if he ever visited his house he would send him out! The matter coming to the ears of the pastor, he concluded that was the very family, above all others that needed a visit. Accordingly, on the first leisure day he put his thought into execution, resolving, however, that on that occasion he would not say a word on the subject of religion, or about church matters. On his arrival at the house, he received a cordial welcome from Mrs. Jones. After a few of the ordinary compliments about the weather, health, etc., he inquired for Mr. Jones. The lady, with some apparent trepidation, answered that he was in the field cutting grain. Mr. Humphrey proposed to walk out and see him, as he thought it not proper to call him in from his harvest work. The lady, with a trembling voice, advised him not to do so, frankly stating that Mr. Jones had taken such a strange dislike to him that she feared he would insult him. "Oh, certainly not," said Mr. Humphrey; "and if I have done anything to offend him, I all the more wish to see him, so that I may make it right." And, being pointed the way, he made for the field, and found farmer Jones there alone, just as he had finished a "round," and was whetting his scythe for another. Laying down the cradle he gave the pastor a slight recognition with a nod over his left shoulder in reply to his hearty "good morning" then stepped aside to help himself to a drink of water. Meanwhile Mr. Humphrey picked up the cradle, felt the edge of the newly-whetted scythe, remarking, "It has a keen edge. I should think this a good scythe." "Very good," said Mr. Jones, rather pleased at the compliment to his trusty blade. Then taking it by the handle as if to try the heft and hang of the cradle, Mr. Humphrey gave it a little swing, remarking, "I believe I could cradle with that instrument pretty well myself. With your leave Mr. Jones, I'll try it a round." Surprised that the parson should make any pretensions in that direction, Mr. Jones answered, "all right," and following after him he soon discovered that the parson was no novice at the business. The round accomplished, Mr. Humphrey handed back the cradle with an additional compliment to its excellency. Then said Mr. Jones, "Won't you come into the house with me, Mr Humphrey?" "Well, yes," said the latter, "if it will not be a trespass on your time." "Oh, no," said Jones, looking at the sun, "it's pretty near noon at any rate, and you will stay and take dinner with us." To the house they went. In due time the good wife had the dinner ready, and a good dinner it was. On invitation by the host, the parson asked a blessing; then the dinner disposed of, and after an hour or two of pleasant conversation, Mr. Humphrey bade them good-bye, which was followed by a cordial invitation, "Call again." The next day, Farmer J., meeting one of his neighbors, said to him, with an air of no little satisfaction, "The parson called to see me yesterday, and cradled a round. I used to think I was something of a cradler, but, I tell you, the parson can beat me." On the following Sabbath Mr. J., with his family, was at church, and not long after was converted, became a fast friend of the pastor, and a devoted and useful Christian—Sel. Proffered Mercy.
By Ellen G. White
THE tears of Christ on the mount of Olivet, when he was being escorted with triumph and hosannas into Jerusalem just prior to his crucifixion were wrung from a broken heart because his love was spurned, and his mercy despised. He saw just before him, in his coming crucifixion, the consummation of the guilt of Jerusalem. Before him was the sheep gate through which for centuries the victims for sacrifice had been conducted. It was soon to open for the great Antitype, who should be taken by wicked hands and slain for the sins of the world. It rent the heart of Christ to pronounce the doom of the city of his love. His body swayed like a cedar before the tempest. He then uttered in a voice broken by grief, “Oh that thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day the things that belong unto thy peace.” He hesitated, must the irrevocable sentence be pronounced. “But now they are hid from thine eyes.” This sentence of the Saviour and his tears were not alone for Jerusalem that lay before him, its temple flashing in the sunlight, but for those in all time who slight the proffered mercies of Christ, reject present privileges, the voice of admonition and warning, and continue in disobedience to God. Present unbelief and impenitence are welding the fetters which bind souls in the bondage of doubt and despair. The temple of the soul is desecrated by sin, as the courts of the temple at Jerusalem was desecrated by unholy traffic and confusion. The heart of rebellious man is open to robbers, and has become a den of thieves. He who was purchased at the infinite price of the agony and death of the Son of God becomes like the blighted fig-tree, withered to its very roots under the righteous vengeance of a rejected God. We are not responsible for the sin of the Jews in rejecting Christ, but the solemn period of our responsibility is when light, truth and warnings come directly to us. Christ said to Philip, “Have I been so long with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?” It is not the servants of Christ, the bearers of his message whom we reject; but the Master who delegated them to act for him, and sound his warning. Jesus Christ has been a long time with us in mercies and warnings, and yet we have not known him. Christ says, Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life. When entreaties, tears, and patient efforts are in vain, the terrible doom pronounced over Jerusalem must be pronounced over the sinner. While mercy lingers, the golden opportunity still remains to repent and be saved through Christ. Has the temple of the soul been desecrated by unholy shrines? While the sun of righteousness still lingers, loath to remove his rays from those who have slighted his blessings, there is still time to repent, and make your peace with God. Christ calls the sinner, In this, thy day, seek those things which will make for your peace both in this life, and the life beyond the grave. He invites you who are stricken with sin to come with your burdens, and he will relieve you. He will cleanse you from the defilement of sin, and give you moral fitness for his kingdom. Despite your indifference or scorn he urges you to accept his love and mercy.
E. G. W. "I TRUST everything under God," said Lord Brougham, "to habit, upon which, in all ages, the lawgiver, as well as the schoolmaster, has mainly, placed his reliance; habit, which makes everything easy, and casts all difficulties upon the deviation from a wonted course. Make sobriety a habit, and intemperance will be hateful; make prudence a habit, and reckless profligacy will be as contrary to the nature of the child as to any of your lordships. Give a child the habit of sacredly regarding the truth, of carefully respecting the property of others, of scrupulously abstaining from all acts of improvidence which can involve him in distress, he will just as likely think of rushing into an element in which he cannot breath, as of lying, cheating, or of stealing." Science and Religion.
By W. M. H.
WE are often told that science is opposed to religion, and that one of them must soon yield up the conflict. We find that atheists have seized upon nearly every known science to prove that there cannot be a personal, living God, who created all things, There are many of these men now who tell us that all these ideas of God must soon give way to scientific discoveries. It is useless to talk to them from a Bible standpoint, because they say, “We deny the existence of God, and so of course do not believe in any of his revelations.” They say, “You know of God only by faith: you have not seen him. You say he created the earth and every living thing upon it, but you do not know it. We believe only what we can demonstrate and prove by science.” Well what can these wise men prove? Oh! they can tell us about the formation of the earth, that it must have been millions of years in coming to its present state. Then they say that animal life has been developing for many ages to bring it up toward perfection. But I ask, how do you know that these things are so? “Oh,” says one, “we know the earth has been millions of years in forming by the cooling process which we see is constantly going on. But how do you know that this process has been going on at this rate for millions of years? Might it not have been more rapid at one period than another? They think not. Yes; they think not, but they do not know it has not. Then in regard to man and other animals, if they have been developing from lower orders for ages, we ask, Where did the first germ of life come from? Can they tell? No; but the believer in God can. He says, “Life came from God.” Now, reader, I ask you if there is not more reason in the religious view of this matter than in that advanced by atheists, and which they attempt to prove by science. They, like us, find a limit to their research, but we can go beyond them, at least one degree. OVER and over again,
No matter which way I turn,
I always find in the Book of Life,
Some lesson I have to learn.
I must take my turn at the mill;
I must grind out the golden grain;
I must work at my task with a resolute will,
Over and over again. We cannot measure the need
Of even the tiniest flower,
Nor check the flow of the golden sands
That run through a single hour.
But the morning dews must fall,
And the sun and summer rain
Must do their part and perform it all,
Over and over again. Over and over again
The brook through the meadow flows,
And over and over again
The ponderous mill-wheel goes.
Once doing will not suffice,
Though doing be not in vain;
And a blessing, falling once or twice,
May come if we try again. The path that has once been trod
Is never so rough to the feet;
And the lesson we once have learned
Is never so hard to repeat.
Though sorrowful tears may fall,
And the heart to its depths be driven
With storm and tempest; we need them all
To render us meet for heaven. NEAR the foot of a mountain, crossed by a much-traveled road, a delicious fountain of water gushed from the rock, which by a little effort could be brought within the reach of travelers and animals passing by. Mr. Sawyer, the owner of the land, gave it this direction, and placed a wide trough for the reception of the water. Many a panting team was refreshed thereby, and many a traveler tasted the cool and sparkling beverage. "Father," said Robert Harmer, as they came along and saw Mr. Sawyer at work, "what does Mr. Sawyer do that for?" "To do good," was the reply. "What good will it do him? He will never want to use the water." "His object is to do good to others. Great numbers will be benefited by this act of his." "But they won't know that he did it, and he won't get any credit for it." "He does it to do good, and not to get credit for it. Happiness is gained by doing good, not in getting credit for it. He knows that he has made an unselfish effort to do good, and God knows it; hence it is no matter whether others know it or not." Mr. Sawyer did a good work in opening a refreshing fountain by the wayside. Moral fountains may be opened by the wayside for refreshing pilgrims—travelers for eternity. One sets an example of strict integrity in the midst of great temptations. The sight is as refreshing to a tempted pilgrim as is a fountain to a thirsty traveler. One sets an example of Christian thankfulness and trust in God. It may refresh many a pilgrim who is careful and troubled about many things. One sets an example of forgiveness and of returning good for evil. It may refresh and invigorate for duty many who are smarting under a sense of injustice, and tried with temptations to revenge. We may thus open fountains by the wayside. We may not know how many we may thus benefit; but God knows.—Sel. The Christian character is not made up of a few great acts, during one's life-time, but it is interwoven throughout from beginning to end with unnumbered little deeds of kindness. The man who conquers a nation, or discovers a planet, may have a world-wide fame, and yet be destitute of the smallest Christian virtue. That poor old widow, living in yonder cottage, scarcely known five miles from home, may have a name written with angel fingers in the Lamb's book of Life. Though poor herself, yet all her life long she has been full of sympathy, pitiful to the poor, and abounding in deeds of kindness. It is not the tall oak on yonder hill, with wide-spreading branches, that makes the hill beautiful and useful to the farmer; but unnumbered thousands of little blades of grass, giving food to his cattle and pasturage to his flocks. It is not one great, mighty Amazon, running through the center of the earth, that waters it and makes it fruitful; but ten thousand times ten thousand little springs, and rills, and brooks, gushing up on the hill-sides and in the valleys, that causes the flowers to bloom, and the meadows and orchards to flourish. It is not one great, eloquent sermon, or one great donation, or one great act of self-denial, that makes up the sum of Christian life; it is the love of Christ in the heart, showing itself in unnumbered loving words, and acts of tenderness and benevolence toward the poor and suffering ones of humanity. As the beauty of the world is set off by a graceful variety, so it is with the Scriptures. There are sublime truths that the most aspiring reason of man cannot over-step. There are more plain and easy truths, on which the weakest capacity may converse with delight and satisfaction. No man is offended with his garden for having a shady thicket in it ; neither should we be offended with the word of God, that among so many fair and open walks we here and there meet with a thicket that the eye of human wisdom cannot look through. EVIDENCES FROM EXPERIENCE.
HAVING seen that the unequivocal testimony of both anatomy and physiology is decidedly in favor of a vegetable diet, and as strongly opposed to the use of animal food, let us now notice if actual experience corroborates their testimony, and inculcates the same great truth; if we find this to be the case, we must consider it well established upon a firm, substantial basis of fact. Without number have been the elaborately wrought and very plausible theories which have vanished into thin air, when subjected to this trying ordeal. Many times has the attempt been made to compel facts to conform to an arbitrary and unsound theory; but such an effort is preposterous, and never has resulted otherwise than disastrously. Facts are stubborn things, and must be squarely met. This is the manner in which we expect to deal with them, and here we find our great strength; for we require that our opponents shall do the same. We shall not attempt to give anything like an exhaustive treatise on this branch of the subject, but merely call attention to a few of the many facts which have a bearing upon it. But now for the facts. History, both profane and sacred, favors the idea that for many years after the creation man subsisted exclusively upon vegetable food, and by so doing attained to a remarkable age and wonderful physical development. This was in exact accordance with the divine command, "And thou shalt eat the herb of the field." And as we see with what facility the South Sea Islanders, with the inhabitants of other tropical countries, supply all their alimentary wants from such sources as the plantain, bread tree, cocoa, date, yam, etc., all of which are found wild, growing without tillage, we can readily conceive that, in the early days of man's history, when the earth was sparsely populated and the soil yet in its virgin richness and fertility, an abundance of nutritious vegetable food could be obtained with scarcely any effort. After the flood, when the first permission to eat meat was granted, the race rapidly deteriorated both in physical development and in longevity. If we admit the position held by some that meat was eaten before the flood, we have sufficient evidence of its evil effects in the state of the world immediately preceding that event. Never, before nor since, has the world witnessed a period when anarchy, violence, iniquity, and crime, were so universally prevalent as then. So many times is this fact referred to in the Bible that no further evidence is necessary. Among the nations of antiquity, the records of whose brave and noble deeds adorn the pages of history, we find many evidences of the superior character of vegetable food as a diet for man. All are familiar with the heroic exploits of the noble Spartans, who seldom tasted meat, their food not only consisting of the simplest kind of vegetables, but also being very moderate in quantity. And while all will readily admit their superiority in a physical point of view, their mental superiority is no less apparent. How often do we hear reference made to the famous Spartan king, Lycurgus, as being a model legislator; and when was any nation ever more happy and prosperous than were the Spartans under his wise and auspicious reign? Then there was the renowned philosopher and teacher, Pythagoras, who from religious scruples refrained from the use, as food, of anything which had ever possessed animal life. Although he held many erroneous views, in common with the rest of mankind at that time, the depth and force of his reasoning, and the accuracy of his conclusions, together with the astonishing sharpness of his perception, which enabled him to conceive and describe the scheme of the planetary system, which only modern science has been able to satisfactorily and clearly demonstrate, have seldom been equaled by man. All of his followers, many of whom were illustrious characters, adhered strictly to the same regimen with himself. Again, there were the Egyptians, at whose great metropolis gathered great men and master minds from all quarters of the then known world, to avail themselves of the special advantages there afforded them of acquiring a knowledge of the arts and sciences which at that time flourished there as nowhere else. Upon examination, we find that at this period of their history the Egyptians abstained almost entirely from the use of animals as food on account of their religion, being firm believers in the doctrine of metempsychosis, or transmigration. We may also mention the first Arcadians, whose subsistence was acorns, or, as some allege, chestnuts. Likewise, the early Argives are represented as searching the woods in quest of their food, the wild pea. Hesiod, in lauding the golden age of the poets, which was that of acorn-eating, sang, "The fields, as yet untilled, the fruits afford,
And fill a sumptuous and unenvied board."
Ovid thus describes the people of those ages:— "Content with food which nature freely bred,
On wildings and on strawberries they fed;
Cornels and bramble-berries gave the rest,
And fallen acorns furnished out a feast."