Earlier text: Christ Enthroned WithinThe Need of the Spirit
By O. L. STILLMAN
NEVER was there a time when the Holy Spirit was as much needed as at the present time. But God's tender love is with us, and has been through the ages past. A deeper and wider experience in religious things is to come to God's people. Christ is our example. It is always safe to be meek and lowly and tender-hearted, but at the same time we are to stand firm as a rock for the teachings of Christ. Christ tells us to pray always. It is necessary for him to pray all night, how is it with us weak mortals of earth, who pray so little? Seventh-day Adventists have a strong battle to fight with Satan and all the allied hosts of evil. He will plan in every way to lead God's people astray. The harder we try to live close to God, the more determinedly Satan will endeavor to deceive us. The Holy Spirit, our promised comforter, our guide into all truth, awaits our reception now. We can not afford to travel this journey without him. We should pray earnestly for the gift of that Comforter, and hold ourselves in glad willingness to follow where he leads. A True Expression of Love
By Chas. P. Whitford
My love for my fellow men is demonstrated by the extent to which I am willing to serve them. A willingness to sacrifice in service is the highest possible expression of love. We are sometimes deeply moved at the recital of the need of our fellows. We feel tears coming to our eyes, and our hearts throb. That is a right kind of feeling, but the test of genuine love is something more than an emotion of feeling. The genuineness of true love finds expression in rendering service to others,—even that service which counts life as naught in comparison to the well-being of all God's children. The same principle holds good in our relations to God. True religion is action, having service as its chief purpose and sacrifice as its method. We may feel the presence of the sweet and tender influence of the Spirit of Christ in our hearts, but if we are not willing to render cheerful, loving obedience to all God's commandments, we thereby give evidence that we have not perfect love for God. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5 · 3. Love to God finds expression in service; in obedience by the sacrifice of ease, comfort, and convenience. If we would to-day give body and mind and heart and will to this obedience, to this service, to this sacrifice, we should know then in actual experience what religion is in its essence. And no one can realize what true religion is unless he puts into practise these three principles. Let us then devote our lives to obedience, service, and sacrifice, and we will breathe, the spirit of a great helpfulness, and from our lives there will flow love, light, and life to our fellow men. Christian Conservation
By Wilbert W. White
The mountains of Holy Scripture are being divested of their forests. Floods of infidelity and arid wastes in spiritual life must follow. We need a Christian conservation movement. I have just read my friend Dr. David G. Wylie's article on “Essential Doctrines of Christianity.” He enumerates the following as such:—- The divine authority of the Scriptures.
- The virgin birth of Jesus.
- The sacrificial death of Christ.
- The bodily resurrection of Christ.
- The supernatural in the Bible and the life of Jesus.
Passing by any comment upon the above, it appears to me that there must soon come a return to new study of the evidences that the Bible as a whole is true, for if there is not good and sufficient reason for accepting the message of the Bible as a whole as supernatural, I, for one, have no particular interest in studying or teaching it. Let its trees be cut down. If, I say, its message in its entirety as the Bible itself interprets itself, and, if you please, corrects itself,—if, I say, there is not good and sufficient reason for accepting the message of the Bible as a whole as a unique revelation from God himself, then there is no future for us. Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die, if the dead are not raised. Life and immortality are brought to light in the gospel, which I insist is the Bible as a whole, or the quest is vain. The church of Christ has accepted the apostolic teaching concerning God and Christ; and this as a whole is true, or as a whole it is false. Let Not the Issue Be Obscured
Let not the issue be obscured. It is the message as a whole with which we must deal. We always lose vantage-ground when we allow the adversary to limit us to this miracle or that, to this doctrine or that, in our defense of the gospel. Each part is to be defended in its setting. Reasons which might appear cogent against a doctrine or a statement in isolation may not be weighty in the light of the context. The context here is Genesis to Revelation. In passing, one might refer to the short-cut argument of Wesley about the Bible. Wesley said: “The Bible was written either by good men or by bad men. It could not have been written by bad men because its message condemns such. It was therefore written by good men, and is true.” Again I say, Let us not allow any one to confuse us as to the issue to-day. It is not, Is this doctrine or that doctrine true? It is this: Is the Bible as a whole true, or is it not true? Has God given a special, unique, supernatural, divine revelation, or has he not done so? That is the question. If God has given such a revelation, it is in the Bible, and I repeat, The Bible as a whole is true, or it is false as a whole. The Bible Studied Brings About Belief That It Is of Supernatural Origin
Let me explain exactly what I mean. In doing so, I proceed in the direction of doing what I am continually advocating to be the thing to do to bring about belief that the Bible is of distinctly supernatural origin according to its own repeated allegation,—I proceed to study the Bible itself. It is its own best defender. What is the Bible?—It is a collection of threescore and six booklets, each of which is distinct and unique; each coming from a specific situation and having a distinct aim and message. What do these sixty-six booklets, which, “by a happy solecism,” since the thirteenth century have been called the Bible,—what do they teach? They “principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.” To elucidate this and interpret it, we say, The Bible teaches that God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, through Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, is the redeemer from sin and destruction, and that therefore man is under obligation to love the Lord his God with all his heart and mind and strength, and his neighbor as himself. Recall the words of Exodus 20: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” How Account for the System of Truth Which the Bible Presents
This article will become too long if I give more than a hint further. Ridicule it as many may, the Bible presents a system of truth which, considering the various sources of parts of the Bible, is inexplicable except on the hypothesis of its supernatural origin. Acceptance of its message in obedience thereto proves the hypothesis. With what has already been said about the Redeemer, note what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15. Nowhere is he more positive in making the issue about the truth of the resurrection of our Lord. (Resurrection always meant bodily resurrection to the apostles.) “Your faith is vain,” said he, “if Christ be not risen.” “Ye are yet in your sins.” Sins is the word I wish to note here. In the Bible as a whole the following ideas are inseparable: Man, sin, bondage, redemption, mercy, forgiveness, repentance, life, obedience. See if you can find in human thought or philosophy the two ideas—forgiveness and justice—together. But they are natural in the supernatural thought of the Bible. “He is faithful and just to forgive.” Men talk of God’s mercy when they think of forgiveness; God speaks of justice. See how Paul begins his famous fifteenth chapter to the Corinthians. I paraphrase: You will remember that when I was with you, the first thing I told you was that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he rose again according to the Scriptures. Later in the chapter he speaks of the Lord’s return to earth. I return to the thesis, The Bible as a whole is true, or as a whole it is false. The Bible Does the Business for Which It Was Made
I am on a fast express as I write. This train is doing the business for which it was made. There are some scratches on the woodwork, and some dust is on the windows; and if we should stop the train and take it to pieces, I should not wonder if more or less fault could be found with it. We may be sure that if we were all off here in the country critically examining the wheels and bolts of this train, as some theological seminaries are now examining the joints and curves of the Bible, it would be late next week before we could reach Nashville. The Bible is doing the business for which it was made whenever it is given half a chance, and the Bible as a whole is true. I add, only those who take the Bible as a whole as true, and faithfully follow its prescription for a holy life, are properly accredited as its critics. What is the verdict of such critics?—It is that the Bible is true.—Wilbert W. White, in the Bible Record, June, 1911. Out in the Storm
By Clarence H. Urner
WHY should he fear to be alone, What is there in himself to fear? Does he not walk with conscience clear, And God in heaven is on his throne? The song of cheer he tries to sing, Slain of the wind, falls at his feet; But in his soul his trust is sweet, Whate'er his rayless path may bring. What is there in his fate to curse? The Lord of heaven is sovereign here; And he is God of atom, sphere, Of planet, system, universe. Out in the storm he needs must tread Rough ways to him unknown, untrod; His soul is brave, for God is God Of chasm below as heaven o'erhead. Out under starless skies to-night With winds ahowl like beasts of prey, He onward gropes his darkened way, Assured his steps will lead to light. The earth affords no richer treasure than a good friend. He is ready to serve you with his money, his hand, his brain, and his heart. You may not need his money; and if you are a true friend, you will not care so much for his money as for some other things. You may not need his helping hand; but you will need his brain and heart. You will need his counsel and good will. You are more concerned to know what he thinks of you and how he feels toward you than what he can do for you. Some friendships, like eggs, are easily broken. They never were sound. Selfish friendships are common, but utterly worthless. Some persons act in a friendly way because they think they see a chance to make a gain out of you. Refuse one of their selfish demands and they will leave you. “A man that hath friends must show himself friendly.”—North-western Christian Advocate. Editorial Correspondence
By F. M. W.
COLLEGE VIEW, NEBR., JAN. 19, 1912. IMPORTANT denominational interests are centered at this place. Here is located Union College, the largest and one of the oldest educational institutions of the denomination. Formerly it operated departments of instruction for the German, Danish-Norwegian, and Swedish, in connection with a large English department. Two years ago the foreign departments were discontinued, and separate institutions established for the preparation of workers in these tongues. This naturally reduced the general enrolment of the school. The present attendance, however, numbers over two hundred ninety. An excellent spirit seems to actuate the students. The very large majority are preparing for direct work in connection with this movement. Many will go out to sell the printed page; others will engage in Bible work and in the preaching of the Word; some will labor in connection with the various conferences of the home field, and some in other lands. Already nearly two hundred students from this school have found places in the mission fields. This is but an earnest of the greater number who, we believe, will go out in the future. One has only to look into the bright, earnest faces of the young men and women in this and similar educational institutions to see there the hope of the speedy completion of this message in the future. These are the men and women who will grow into the responsibility of to-morrow, and who will go forth to meet the trials and difficulties which must be encountered in the carrying of this message to earth's remotest bounds. Prof. Frederick Griggs and his earnest associates are doing excellent work in this important institution. The curriculum of study is generous and practical, affording an excellent opportunity for the young men and women who desire to obtain a liberal education to fit them for a part in this great work. At this place is also located one of our four large publishing houses in the United States, the International Publishing Association. Established in the autumn of 1903, this publishing house was beset by many difficulties, and passed through a severe struggle incident to the establishment of its work. It is succeeding admirably now. Publications are issued in the German, Danish-Norwegian, and Swedish tongues. Four regular periodicals are issued in German: the Christlicher Hausfreund, a sixteen-page weekly, with Theodore Valentiner editor; the Deutscher Arbeiter, an eight-page biweekly, with G. W. Erfurth editor; a monthly paper for the youth, and a missionary quarterly. In the Danish-Norwegian is printed the Evangeliets Sendebud, with C. A. Thorp editor; the Missionaeren, with Hansigne Strunge, editor; and a health quarterly, Lys over Landet. Tidens Tecken och Sions Vaktare is the name of the leading Swedish paper, a sixteen-page weekly, with Alfred Vermelin editor. The Signalen, an eight-page monthly, with Bettie Svenson editor, is likewise issued in the Swedish tongue. These periodicals have a growing circulation and are creating a large constituency of readers. God is using them for the accomplishment of a great work in the giving of the message to the foreign nationalities in this country. The annual sale of literature for the association has increased from sixteen thousand dollars in 1906 to over thirty-eight thousand dollars in 1911, more than double the output in the last six years. Here is found a company of devoted and faithful workers who, under God, are laboring hard to spread abroad among their own nationalities a saving knowledge of the gospel message for this time. Brother F. F. Byington is the manager of the association. The Nebraska Sanitarium, one of our oldest medical institutions, was established at College View some fifteen years ago. We are pleased to note many improvements in the institution since our last visit. Much has been done in the way of needed repairs and improvements. Here is being demonstrated that faithful medical attention in the care of patients, with the manifestation of a kindly Christian spirit, will succeed in accomplishing much for afflicted humanity and in winning souls to Christ without costly and expensive buildings. Three nurses’ classes are in operation, and the institution has an excellent class of young people preparing to go out in the cause of medical missions. Drs. Orville Rockwell and Amy Humphrey are doing good work with the facilities with which they have to labor. Recently Elder Lars Neilson has taken charge of the institution as business manager, and is carrying forward the work with faithfulness. Elder H. R. Johnson is doing good work as chaplain. The branch sanitarium at Hastings is making a place for itself in the hearts of its constituency, and an excellent report comes of the work that is being carried forward by Dr. O. H. Hahn as medical superintendent and Brother W. A. Williams as business manager. One of the largest churches of the denomination is centered at College View. Elder F. M. Burg has oversight of its spiritual interests in addition to his work as Bible instructor in the college. A great responsibility is thrown upon the conference and the church officers in this large congregation of Sabbath-keepers. It is to be hoped that those who have come here for the education of their children, or otherwise, may obtain that preparation for service which will enable scores to go out from this great center as light-bearers in connection with this closing work. The spirit of the gospel is the spirit of diffusion, of giving. Our large churches should be great training centers from which workers will be going out continually into needy fields. As stated last week, the ministerial institute has opened most encouragingly. Three lines of instruction are being carried forward; namely, the message, the messenger, and the power of the messenger, or the Holy Spirit. Elders Daniells, Thompson, and Salisbury are giving some excellent instruction. Two hundred fifty conference workers are in attendance, nearly as large a number as attended the General Conference held at this place fifteen years ago. This of itself indicates the wonderful strides being made by this great movement with which we are connected. We are nearing the time of its final triumph. God’s people are reaching out after that mighty power from heaven which will bring the work to a speedy close. May we all have a part in this glorious refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and be fitted more efficiently to carry forward the message committed to us. A more detailed account of the special work of the convention will be given next week. Unrest and Peace
By W. W. P.
The prophecies concerning the last days are both full and definite. Almost every condition, political, religious, social, and economic, is portrayed in clear language. With such minute delineation of the events occurring in the last generation, there is little excuse for being ignorant of the time. Prominent among the latter-day signs are these enumerated in our Lord's great prophecy:— “And there shall be signs in the sun,9 and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Luke 21: 25, 26. In apparent contradiction of this description of a wide-spread condition of unrest, and of evil forebodings, is the prophecy describing the last-day peace movement. This is expressed in these words:— “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. For ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” 1 Thess. 5: 1-6. It is only necessary to call attention to current history in order that the fulfilment of both these conditions may be plainly seen. In an article in the Literary Digest of January 13, entitled “A Year of Unrest,” we find extracts from various papers in which an attempt is made to analyze the record of the year 1911. The opening sentence of this article runs thus:— Looking back over 1911 all the editorial commentators seem to agree that its salient characteristic was a wide-spread and profound unrest. In support of this statement, quotations are made from various papers, among them the Nashville Tennessean, whose summary of the disturbances of the year we quote in full:— China emerged from three hundred years of Manchu bondage and astounded the universe. Diaz fell, and disclosed to the world the fact that what was popularly supposed to be a formidable government, well guarded and defended, was merely an empty shell. All Europe has been in a turmoil over Morocco. By grabbing Tripoli Italy provoked a war with Turkey which promises to be of long duration. Honduras and several of the other Central American states have been in constant guerrilla warfare. Portugal has undergone a political upheaval which at times threatened the new republic and resulted in actual fighting in the northern part of the country. Persia clashed with Russia, and is threatened with dismemberment. And all this in the face of the great peace movement fathered by Andrew Carnegie and backed by many of the world's greatest leaders. Yet, in spite of the fact that one third of the world's population has been involved in actual wars, the chaotic and unsettled conditions in the other countries have been more ominous and disturbing, perhaps, than the real war. The fight in the United States against business combinations and the great industrial war in England are far-reaching in their effect. In American elections, the spirit of protest against machine control was manifested everywhere. Socialist candidates polled unprecedented votes. Women were enfranchised in California in spite of the opposition of a railway machine, and all over the nation there was evidence of unwillingness to have public officials dominated by trusts. The shocking confession by the McNamaras that they were responsible for the destruction of the Los Angeles Times plant probably created a greater sensation than any other single event of the year in the United States. All the world was horrified that such a crime should be committed by men who claimed to be advancing the interests of organized labor. Discord marked both national and international affairs the world over in 1911, and 1912 can scarcely duplicate such a record of bloodshed and strife. This summary is not the product of a fevered brain or of a disordered imagination. It is simply a matter-of-fact statement of facts so well known that they require no proof, being easily called to mind by the average man. It is very significant, however, that the prophecy which foretold these conditions is being so unmistakably fulfilled that the student of current history, although not a student of prophecy, in writing an outline of some of the most striking occurrences of 1911, fills in the details of the picture outlined in a few master-strokes in the prophetic view given by our Lord. Any unprejudiced person ought to admit without hesitation that the time foreseen and foretold is now here. The facts meet the specifications of the prophecy. During this same year of “wide-spread and profound unrest” there has been a wide-spread peace movement. A donation of ten million dollars has been made by one of the American captains of industry, the income of which is to be used in promoting peace among the nations. Various gatherings have been held at which men of wide influence have spoken in favor of universal peace. The President of the United States is now urging the Senate to ratify arbitration treaties with two of the leading nations of the world, the purpose of which is to foster a permanent condition of peace, and silver-tongued orators are foretelling in beautiful, flowing sentences a time not far off when all differences between the nations will be settled by arbitration, and the civilized world will be at peace. Surely there is heard the cry of peace and safety. These are only two of the large number of predictions setting forth conditions in the last days, but these two are quite striking in view of the apparent contradiction involved in them. No false prophet would have predicted a situation which, judging from a human standpoint, would be so unlikely to exist. The clear fulfilment, therefore, of these two predictions is striking testimony to the fact that we are living in the last days. The only thing which will bring permanent peace to a world groaning under the weight of sin and so terribly disturbed by the elements of strife and commotion is the coming of the Prince of Peace. And his coming hasteth. Following the Flight of the Message
By William Ambrose Spicer
HARDLY a mail-steamer leaves port in Europe or America that is not bearing some printed page proclaiming the coming of the Lord. Along most of the highways, and in many a byway, all over the earth, the living witnesses to the third angel's message are found. With all the land yet unpossessed, the distribution over the earth of the literature of the message and of those who bear it, is nevertheless something remarkable. A few years ago one might rarely meet a Seventh-day Adventist in foreign travel. It is not so now. Last summer, for instance, on the way to the Friedensau council, I had but a day in London. Going across Trafalgar Square, in the heart of that great city of seven millions, I met face to face one of the English believers. Going on a day's journey to Magdeburg, Germany (where I did not know we had believers), I was accosted on the street by two sisters whom I had met a year or so before at camp-meeting. The two experiences, coming so closely together, seemed a suggestion of the way in which believers in the advent message are continually crossing one another's paths up and down the world. To-day I am writing from the Canal Zone, away to the southward, and all along this great highway of commerce I have been daily meeting believers rejoicing in the “blessed hope.” The Lord has set his hand to plant the witnesses all through this dark world; and thank God their numbers are increasing in every zone, with every passing year. In this half-week of waiting for ship connections southward to Ecuador, I have had the privilege of meeting with our people at various points along the Panama Railway. At Colon, which is the headquarters of our West Caribbean Conference, the brethren are just completing their conference office building, with book depository and meeting-hall below, and rooms for two or three families above. These facilities are needed, as since the fire a year ago, that destroyed10 the union conference printing-plant and led to its removal to Jamaica, the church in Colon and Cristobal has had no proper meeting-place. Elder H. C. Goodrich, president of the conference, lives here, also Brother G. C. Jenks, the field canvassing agent. The book work has developed strongly the last year, and we shall see yet greater work done with the publications in this polyglot region. The systematic training of the canvasser has borne the usual fruit in South Central America. It is cheering to see it. Out at Mount Hope, two miles up the canal, we had a splendid Sabbath congregation. The believers are mostly West Indian brethren, some of whom learned the truth in the islands. Last evening here in Panama City, at the Pacific entrance to the canal, we had a good congregation filling their small meeting-hall to overflowing. There is the nucleus of a good company already gathering in the old city of Panama, where Elder B. E. Connerly and his wife are working. This is a typical Spanish American city; and no small one either. The population is about thirty-five thousand. It is good to see the work of God moving on alongside this mighty engineering undertaking. The canal is the greatest piece of excavating ever undertaken by human hands. What a task it is to pierce the isthmus that has divided the great seas since the flood. But modern engineering is pushing the work swiftly to completion. How quickly and easily the power of God threw up that great chain of mountains and hills that binds the two continents together, from Alaska to the Strait of Magellan; and this same power in hearts to-day along this highway is doing the mightiest works of all, in the transformations of character. All the combined engineering skill of earth could no more convert a heart than create a star. It is instructive to see the most powerful work of man and the mighty work of God contrasted as it is here. And to visit our brethren and sisters in their homes and to join with them in meetings has been the most interesting of all the experiences in these few days along the Canal Zone. But the work of the canal construction has its missionary side, more interesting to us than its merely commercial or political significance. This is one of the providences of God in this generation, for the hastening on of the last message. The highways are being prepared, and seas and continents are being bridged or channeled for the swift work that is to be done in the closing days. What a blessing in our own work has been the Suez Canal, with its short road for our missionaries to southern Asia! Count de Lesseps, the French engineer, scored a great triumph there; and we thank God for it to-day. The great French engineer failed here in Panama. The time for so great a task had not quite come. Now the American government is completing the work begun by the French. It was in 1879 that De Lesseps began the task. As one looks at the old machinery then in use, it is plainly apparent that the undertaking, with such tools, was a hopeless one. But with the new time have come new and marvelous engineering appliances. The great dredgers and shovels now at work seem like intelligent human giants, tearing at obstructions, and uprooting mountains. It is a wonderful display of natural forces harnessed and directed by the mind of man. This is the age of machinery and of quick motion. To us who know why all these things have come in this generation, there is a wonderful lesson in the mighty undertaking going swiftly on here. And I believe that many men who are working at it feel somehow the pressure of Providence upon them to make haste. So it has been with many of the men who have opened new highways or pierced continents. And whether or not they themselves have recognized this impulse from without urging them on, we know that they have been agents of Providence preparing the way of the message in these last days. We may apply to them the words of the Lord to Cyrus: “I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.” W. A. S. (To be continued) A Great Republic
By C. M. S.
In the New York Evening Journal of January 18, appeared a remarkable editorial in double-column style, and large bold-faced type. The article deals with the return of the newly appointed cardinals of the Catholic Church, and eulogizes the institution whose interests they are to serve. In this eulogy of the cardinals and the church occurs the following remarkable language:— To understand the long life, the power that has lasted through centuries, the purpose that continues unchanged as men come and go within the great Catholic Church, it is necessary to realize that that church was the first great republic of our era, and that it is a great republic now. . . . Because of the weakness due to accident of birth, dynasties and kingdoms and empires changed, melted, and disappeared. But the Catholic Church went forward through the centuries, steadily, gaining in power, because from the first the government of the church was a republican form of government. . . . The cardinals, a body of learned and powerful men, themselves selected because of special ability and regardless of birth or rank, elect in their turn the Pope to rule the church — just as our electoral college was established by the founders of this government to elect a president. . . . Many a royal and imperial accident of birth throughout the centuries knew what it was to bow his head, to the chosen ruler of the church, chosen because of ability, knowledge, devotion, and chosen on the basis of true republican government. . . . Cardinal Farley, welcomed with respect and pleasure by the entire citizenship, represents in his person the republican system of government that has done so much to make the Catholic Church the greatest useful power in the world. . . . It is well for those that read about him in this country to know that the church which has made him a cardinal has been for many centuries as truly republican in government as the system that puts a president in the White House. For years the National Reform party has been claiming that the theocracy of ancient Israel was a republican form of government, and on the basis of this claim they have been trying to turn the government of the United States into a theocracy so that it might be more truly republican; but this claim of a Catholic editor that the Roman Catholic Church is the truest form of republican government, is one of the most astonishing statements that has ever appeared in an American journal. Not only is the Catholic Church not a republican form of government, but it is utterly opposed to the entire republican idea of government. The representative idea of government is a government of the people, for the people, and by the people, the people themselves ruling themselves and appointing their own executive. There is nothing of this sort in the Catholic Church. The Pope of Rome is elected by the college of cardinals, and the college of cardinals is not elected by the people, but is appointed by the Pope. It is thus the very opposite of a republican form of government. It is a government of the people by a class without any respect to the wishes of the people. The cardinals elect the Pope and the Pope appoints the cardinals; the cardinals in turn elect another Pope and the Pope appoints more cardinals. The people have absolutely nothing to say about who shall be their ruler in this system of government. The fundamental theory upon which republicanism is based is that the authority of government is derived from the people. But the fundamental theory of the Papacy is the very antithesis of this. Said the present Pope, in an encyclical issued in August, 1910, condemning that democratic French organization called the Sillon:— The Sillon attributes primordially all public authority to the people from whom it is derived by the governments, but in such a manner that the origin of authority continues to reside in the people. This doctrine is contrary to the traditional doctrine of the church, and has been condemned formally by Leo XIII.11 It is impossible to state more clearly than these two latest popes have stated it, that the Papacy is unalterably opposed to republicanism in principle and condemns it both in principle and practise. More than this, the Pope is not an executive in the sense that the president of a republican form of government is an executive. The president of a republic is elected by the people to carry into effect laws which the people make. The Pope is elected by a group of men appointed by himself or previous popes, not for the purpose of carrying out laws made by the people, but to make laws for the people to carry out, whether they desire to do so or not. The idea of rule by the people and responsibility of the Pope to the people never has been sanctioned by the Catholic hierarchy and never will be. The papal government is a government for the purpose of ruling the people as it will and not as they will, — a government wholly irresponsible so far as the people are concerned. When the people elect a president, that president is held amenable to the laws of the realm, and if he goes contrary to those laws, he is impeached and turned out of office; but the Pope makes the laws and compels the people to obey, and is accredited with infallibility. There is no impeachment of a pope, and no rule by which he can be governed by any other human being in the world. That system in place of being a republican form of government is the farthest possible remove from anything of that sort. Next to a republic comes the limited monarchy, the monarch ruling under a constitution, but the Papacy is not even a limited monarchy. It is an absolute monarchy in both temporalities and spiritualities without any constitution to govern it, or any rules, laws, or regulations by which the chief can be impeached in case his conduct is questioned. The president of a republic is a ruler in a liberal sense of the word. He is the servant of the people. The Pope of Rome is not a servant of the people in any sense of the word. He is ruler of all who will permit him to hold sovereignty over them. In a republican form of government there is a supreme court whose business it is to interpret the law, and its decision is final; it can not be reversed even by the chief executive himself. There is nothing of the kind in the papal system. The head of that system is the ruler, the legislator, the supreme court. He can not be impeached, his decisions can not be reversed, and no binding law can be made for his people that he does not make. Between the hierarchy of Rome and a republican form of government there is absolutely no point of resemblance. Whatever the one does the other is in the very nature of the case estopped from doing. The papal system is not even a poor counterfeit of the republican form of government. It is its complete antithesis. C. M. S.