The Watchtower, October 1, 1889

VOL. X. ALLEGHENY, PA., OCTOBER, 1889. NO. 12.

Zion's Watch Tower

AND

HERALD OF CHRIST'S PRESENCE.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY.

TOWER PUBLISHING COMPANY.

BUSINESS OFFICE: No. 151 Robinson St., Allegheny, Pa. C. T. RUSSELL, EDITOR.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.

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TO POOR SAINTS.

This paper will be sent free to the interested of the Lord's poor, who will send a card yearly requesting it. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat--yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." And you who have it-- "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently--and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." --`ISAIAH 55:1,2`.

Entered as SECOND CLASS MAIL MATTER, at the P.O., Allegheny, Pa.

VIEW FROM THE TOWER.

KNOWLEDGE INCREASED AND ITS RESULTS.

--CONTINUED FROM SEPTEMBER.--

Let us point out briefly some of the faults of the present social structure. Though in doing so we shall most frequently refer to social conditions prevalent in Europe, it is not because America has a perfect social system, but because our system being already a great reform over the others, the evils of the old system will thus be made the more apparent. Consider then,--

(1) The Law of Primogeniture--under which among the "Royal" and "Noble" families the eldest son or eldest daughter inherits the honorable station and titles and landed estates, while the younger sons are provided with sinecures, in the way of military or naval office, or a ministry in the Established Church, at good, comfortable salaries.

By this means, the vast land-holdings of Great Britain and other countries of Europe (the basis of all power and wealth) are retained in the hands of the favored families, just as royalty is. And it is by the power and influence of these favored families that the majority of the important and profitable and honorable political and ecclesiastical offices are filled by their faithful relatives and henchmen-- often regardless of the value of their services, or even of their capacities for service.

The public, without their consent, directly or indirectly, pay for the maintenance of these "royal" and "noble" families, whose services though sometimes valuable are often useless, because that is and has been the form or arrangement of society there for centuries past; and because to rebel against it would be regarded as treason, and would involve a revolution and probably a civil war. For the grandees of the long-favored class have come to regard it as their God-given right to rule "the common people" and to tax them, for their maintenance above them in every respect.

And while the "noble" and "royal" class is actually a minority, it is a plurality in influence, because there is always a multitude of hangers-on who either as tradesmen, servants, clerks, appointees or tenants have their interests joined with it, and thus share indirectly the fortunes of the favored class. These constitute the large class of "conservatives," whose interests are mixed, and who wisely seek to preserve peace and to bring about gradually a social reform which will clip the wings of royalty and nobility, one feather at a time, and elevate the common people, and give them their rights and privileges as men, piecemeal.

Nowhere in Europe has this conservative reform worked so well as in Great Britain. Gradually the people have sought and very gradually they have been attaining their rights, until now they have a voice and share in the government of themselves. But the more their knowledge increases, the more they realize that the privileges accorded them in the past were forced from the grasp of aristocracy, and were not favors at all, but their just rights. And the more they study the subject, the more they realize (especially in the light of the example of "Liberty enlightening the world," in the great Republic of America) that they have not yet obtained all their God-given rights; for they are gradually learning that the present power, titles, influence and landed estate of the favored class were not obtained as the gifts and favors of God, nor generally by honest industry and frugality; but were "seized" and appropriated in the long-ago by the ancestors of the present holders,--at a time when the motto was, "MIGHT makes RIGHT."

As the people come to see that the land is the basis of power and wealth, they realize that they are largely at the mercy of the aristocratic land-lords upon whose lands they raise their food and upon which they have built their houses. They see that every child born in the land increases the value of the land and thus its rental value, and thus also the wealth of the lords and nobles, and the wealth, the influence and the power of all of the favored class, and decreases proportionately the value of labor and its influence. They see that governmental reform has gone about as far as it possibly can go under the present organization of society. They see that the land-power must in some manner be revolutionized, so that it will be more evenly divided among the sober, industrious, and growingly intelligent people.

All thoughtful men can see that because of the increased light it will be necessary to distribute the power, influence and other advantages accruing from ownership of the soil more generally than at present among the people; otherwise all respect for title to land from possession will soon be lost, and public sentiment will cease to protect by jury-verdicts, or by police and army service, the extravagant claims and titles of the few, as against themselves, the public, the many.

There is in mankind in general a sense of honor and honesty which under favorable circumstances is disposed to respect the rights of each other: (1) To all improvements, representing either mental or physical or machine labor put upon land to the enhancement of its value, such as buildings, fencing, shrubbery, cultivation, etc. (2) To possession of land of which a man is said in law to be "seized;" whether he got first possession by original discovery when the land was wild, unclaimed and unused, or whether it represents by purchase the energy and frugality of one or more generations. (3) Even if it could be proved that the title to property in the remote past came by fraud or by war, during the "dark ages," the majority of public sentiment agrees not to ignore present titles and interests of present innocent and honest holders.

Nevertheless there is a limit to honor, honesty and generosity among the masses of men, beyond which it would be imprudent for the land-holding element to permit their case to go. When it comes to the point, as it has now done in Great Britain, where the population is greater than the soil under tillage will support in later-day decency and comfort, and where the landlords refuse to sell, and where the tenants would be unable to purchase by reason of long paying as rent all that the land would produce over the actual and bare necessities of life, the danger line is reached. There is danger not only of the masses refusing to protect the few in their claimed and hitherto recognized "rights" and wrongs, but there is danger of the sense of honor and respect for vested rights becoming soured into the very vinegar of hatred and envy, which would cancel and abolish forever all present claims and titles to the soil, as well as to royalty and general favoritism.

Ah! laugh the Lords, such a prognostication is contradicted by all history. There have been agitations on the land question and other questions in the past very similar to these now in progress in Ireland and Scotland. History repeats itself. The results of present agitations will be the same as those of the past--the survival of the fittest. Royalty has not only the land, but the money and the brains and the control. We will stick to our colors. The result will favor us. We have conceded to the people all we can or will concede; for the more we concede the more they demand. To concede more than at present, would be to concede and give up all our power and advantage; and we will never do that. The people must learn to respect the law of supply and demand, and must not come whining to us of what they would like and what they do not like. If they do not want to live on our lands and pay the rents we demand, let them emigrate to America or elsewhere. As long as they have oats and potatoes they need not starve. What need have they for more? Ambition and knowledge are curses to the poor; they get dissatisfied with their lot in life and the station in society assigned them by Providence. If their families become too numerous for such portions of the soil as we wish to rent, let them break their families and their family ties and let them remember that they have no rights whatever that we and our families are bound to respect. The facts that for centuries they and their fathers have lived upon the soil and have really given it its value, and that they have paid us and our fathers rents which would amount to hundreds of times the value of the lands, and that upon these rents our families have lived in elegance and luxury,--all this passes for nothing. We have the power; the present organization, its present laws and regulations, recognize our authority under the general law of supply and demand. The supply of people is plentiful and ever increasing, and the demand and value is consequently on the decrease. The supply of land is limited and its proportion of acreage to population decreasing, and the demand and value is consequently increasing. This law of supply and demand suits us, and it cannot be changed under the present organization of society. And we hold the key of power and do not fear a revolution. We have the Church, and the influence and wealth which secures the army and navy, and we have all the intelligent people upon our side, who all see that they would risk much in our overthrow.

But, "when they shall say, 'Peace and safety,' then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail." They seem to overlook the fact that times are changed; that many are running to and fro, and knowledge is increased greatly among the common people. Superstitions and reverence for men and laws and customs are

fading out fast. History, in its records of the past efforts of the people for liberty and rights, social, financial and political, states the fact that the few could and did gain the victory over the many, because of the greater intelligence of the few which enabled them to use the leverage

of power upon the fulcrum of superstition and thus to control the masses. The conditions are all changed, as we have seen the Prophet Daniel foretold, by the increase of knowledge. "Knowledge is power!" It sets free the slaves of superstition. It tells them that the earth is the Lord's, and that he gave its soil as well as its air and its water to the children of men in common, and not to a favored class; and that each may seize and hold only so much as he can and will use and cultivate; especially after vacant or "wild" lands are all taken up. It tells them that though all men are not equal, (some men having a superiority and fitness, moral, mental or physical, over and above other men, which qualifies them for the more important positions and honors and trusts of the public service,) yet all men are free to do anything that is right or good in the service of their fellow-men that they may be found the most capable of doing. In a word, knowledge shows that class distinctions which make anything else than character and ability the tests of the right to do all the ruling of the world, are not to be tolerated, and are not authorized either by reason or by God's Word.

The fact that we have cited Great Britain as an illustration should not be understood as implying that its aristocracy and its common people exhibit the extremes on this question. Quite to the contrary. The extremes of society are much wider in other countries of Europe, and the injustice practiced upon the common people greater, because, more degraded, they will submit to it. Increase of knowledge is the remedy for all. The following clipping from the Fortnightly Review tells of a much wider difference in Hungary. The correspondent says:--

"Aristocratic traditions still prevail, and a nobleman thinks nothing of flogging a peasant whom he finds straying in his park, or directing his game-keeper to set man-traps for poachers. A friend of mine, who lately rented some shooting from a Hungarian nobleman, was informed by the game-keeper of the latter how he had treated a poacher whom he once found in his master's preserves with some wires in his hand. He twisted the wires into a noose, with which he hung the man to a tree, and waited till his victim's face became black before letting him down. This process he repeated three or four times, until he considered the punishment adequate.

"It is sad to see the wretched peasants, who are requisitioned as 'beaters,' paraded before a battue on a bitterly cold morning, and again paraded in the evening, while their clothing is searched by the gamekeeper before they are given their scanty pay and allowed to return to the villages, sometimes many miles distant, from which they have been summoned."

And the same or even worse conditions prevailed in France until the Revolution, in the end of the last century, when the people arose and confiscated property and abolished the privileges of the aristocratic class. All know of the terrible state of affairs that overthrow of aristocracy and royalty caused. The streets literally ran with blood and for a while anarchy prevailed. And as the Lord shows us through the Prophet Daniel that the knowledge now being shed abroad will bring about the great time of trouble, such as was not since there was a nation, so he shows through the symbols of John the Revelator that the French Revolution was a picture and foretaste of that great trouble coming upon the whole civilized world.

The coming trouble will be a period of divine judgment upon the kingdoms of so-called "Christendom" and upon the nominal church so closely yoked to them, none the less because it comes about in a natural way. It will render vengeance and justice to those who have misrepresented God's character and plans for the upholding of their own false systems political and ecclesiastical; and who in the name of God's church, in the name of Christ's kingdom, and in the name of his law and authority, have abused their power and influence selfishly, and frequently presented more of the spirit and methods of Satan than of Christ.

Beloved, followers of Christ, avenge not yourselves. Wait ye on the Lord. He will establish a righteous administration of government shortly, and is already preparing his implements (unknown to the world) by which the present rule shall be brought to an end and the control of earth given to a truly royal class (Christ and the Church), whose perfection and love shall secure to men every advantage, and shall bring the willing and obedient up by restitution to that grand perfection of Eden, lost by sin. And then the dominion of earth shall again be given to again competent man.

(To be continued.)

EXTRACTS FROM INTERESTING LETTERS.

[The following letter from a Brother who is a minister and the editor of a prominent religious journal will be read with interest. As it was not written for publication we withhold the name of the writer and his journal.--EDITOR.]

Excelsior, Mo.

DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL:--For the first time in my life have I found my own views so forcibly presented as you present them. In so far as I have this day read MILLENNIAL DAWN, Vol. I., I certainly will want Vol. II. I have with an open Bible figured out substantially the same Plan of Salvation, as set forth by your felicitous pen and warm hearted intelligence. I may write you more fully when I have gone through your entire course. To tell you plainly, I have hesitated about advocating my views, though clear to me, for so great difference exists as compared with the received theology, and the mass of the nominal church, that I have hesitated, needing more light, backbone or perhaps spirit, to declare fully what I believed I saw as the Plan of God.

I have not read enough of your book to really now know that we are together, but such have been my own exercises, yea, I might say, ordeals as this most captivating system beautifully unfolded to my mental, moral and spiritual vision, as I studied Holy Writ. Excuse haste; I am on the eve of leaving home for a few days, but felt I must write you.

Your Brother.

Kansas.

DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL:--Last winter I read a copy of ZION'S WATCH TOWER and found it so interesting that I at once subscribed for it and sent for a copy of THE PLAN OF THE AGES. I found what I had been seeking for, the truth in regard to the real purpose of God. Now I see that in Adam we lost all and through Christ, the second Adam, we regain "that which was lost." I see the present position and relation of man toward his Creator, the real object of the present dispensation, as well as the time and object of the second advent. Also in regard to eternal torment, the present accountability or free moral agency of man, the fate of those who die in infancy, the insane, the heathen and the unbelievers; also why there is so much indifference manifested in regard to the religion of Jesus Christ, and how to account for the disgraceful, hypocritical and inconsistent conduct of many of those who profess to be Christians. I had long since suspected that there was something wrong in so-called Orthodoxy, but owing to religious impressions inculcated in early days, the opposition manifested by the clergy and professed Christians in general, when explanation was demanded or doubts expressed in regard to the correctness of the doctrines as formulated in their church creeds, and the want on my part of sufficient light on these subjects, I could not find my way out of Babylon, but was left groping in darkness, till it pleased God through your instrumentality to lift up the veil, when, behold! old things of darkness passed away and all things became new.

To-day I feel as a new man, free from the spirit of sectarianism and formalism, emancipated from all bondage to the creeds and traditions of men. Hence all things are looked at from a different standpoint. Society in all its ramifications, whether it be considered in a religious, political or social sense, has an entirely different aspect from what it formerly had. A flood of light has been thrown over the world, and though darkness yet covers the earth, those who are watching can see that "the morning cometh." All who earnestly desire to know the truth and abide therein who read THE PLAN OF THE AGES and THE TIME IS AT HAND, receive such blessings and partake of such joys as tongue cannot express.

May God's blessing rest upon you and your companion. Yours in Christ,

R. E. W__________.

Seward, Neb.

TOWER TRACT SOCIETY:--Fortunately I got hold of the little tract on The Wages of Sin, and I find it contains more good sound sense than I am used to hearing. I wish you would send me something else equally good, and prices. I will order the PLAN OF THE AGES soon. J. R. S__________.

Ocean Grove, N.J.

BRETHREN--THOUGH STRANGERS:--By mere accident, or providentially, I have just met your Tract, "Old Theology," on CALAMITIES, and I hunger for more of this bread. I am an old pastor of the M. E. Church and am packing up for a journey near at hand, being 75 years old. I am sorry I had not met you or your Old Theology years ago. Pray, who are you? Some of like faith I met in London and in Paris a year ago and admired much.

Can you send me your two Tracts (a copy of each) Nos. 1 and 2, with any other short publications that will tell me of your faith? Do you publish a paper? If so send me a sample copy, and I will try to extend your list.

I am delighted with your Tract No. 2, and hope to learn more of Bible truth from your standpoint. By sending more in this line you will cheer and comfort. Yours in the Master, G. C. B__________.

Pittsburg.

TOWER TRACT SOCIETY, FRIENDS:--On last Sunday morning as the writer was boarding the street car, a pleasant looking gentleman handed him a little tract--The Old Theology--"CALAMITIES, AND WHY GOD PERMITS THEM." It was read with very much interest; and I drop this line to inquire what particular sect it is that is spreading this interpretation of the Scriptures? I am not a member of any church, unless a birthright in the Hicksite Quaker Church would make me one; but Jesus is the adoration of my soul, and the perfect ideal of my conception. How strange that the Church in main understandeth him not, and how strange that the Bible seems to be a sealed book to most of its members.

Will you kindly send to the above address a copy of the paper mentioned on page 32 of above named tract, and oblige Yours sincerely, C. B__________.

[The above three letters are given as samples of letters continually coming to hand, which show that the Old Theology Tracts are reaching some who have ears to hear the good tidings. Tract No. 2 seems to give the best results with new ears. All who have not seen it should order a sample copy, free. Tract No. 3-- "PROTESTANTS, AWAKE!" will be ready shortly.]

La Fayette.

DEAR BRO. RUSSELL:--Your kind letter received. Of course I am rejoiced to see your appreciation of the service we are enabled to do; hope the Lord is pleased with our efforts.

At Frankfort my box on the street (pulpit) was below the level of the side walk and over this high curb which lined the walk one man laughingly remarked, how the people with bright, open eyes and eager manner stretched their necks to hear, not losing a word. Who could hesitate to preach with such listeners? No doubt you would like to be out in this preaching field also--How I wish you could be. It quickens me greatly to see an interest so keen. Some think me a powerful preacher, but I am not; but the truth has made me free, and the poor sheep are so hungry.

I shall make an effort to sell more of DAWN, Vol. II. I see with Bro. Rogers how much we need a few who have the whalebone effect of the two DAWNS. I sold two Vol. II. to-day on the merit of Vol. I., and to such we do a great service, a double service, as Bro. Rogers also says.

I enclose Bro. Weimar's letter. His family are among the things to be left behind, but when we see how he loves them, his sacrifice, as seen in his long absence from them, is sweet to God.

I find the workers all encouraged though difficulties abound--less hurry and strife on their part, and more confidence and continuousness and trust to God to produce results.

I think many might find old or young colporteurs to represent them, and ought to do so. I have one lady agent here who has sold some. If we had many agents and each sold but a few the aggregate would be large.

Mrs. A. wishes to join in kind regards and Christian love to you and Sister Russell. Dear Bro. Russell, much love, and may grace and peace in the Holy Spirit be yours. Ever in Christ, J. B. ADAMSON.

Steubenville.

DEAR BRO. RUSSELL:--As this is a day of rest, I have a little leisure to write. I must let you know that the words of the holy Scriptures (`1 Pet. 4:1-7`) which you proclaimed on the first Lord's day of this month [Sept.] are still stimulating me for the service of the Anointed.

I met two brethren at East Liverpool who were at the Passover last April. We had of course an "Emmaus" talk together, conversing about the things which are being brought about through the invisible parousia of the Chief and Head Reaper-- the King of kings and Lord of lords-- our glorious Spirit-Bridegroom! O what a privilege to be in the great harvest-work that is now going on. I also met a distant relative of yours, a physician, and had a short conversation with him. Before I got through he bought the first and second Vols. He read several chapters of Vol. I. before I left the town. I met him again just before leaving, and he said that he was well pleased with the contents of the work so far. I then recommended the Z.W.T. to him.

I also met a certain Israelite, a God-fearing man, who upon my introduction of MILLENNIAL DAWN was all ear to hear, especially when I told him about the "restitution," and that the God of heaven through their Messiah was about to "set up" the long-promised Kingdom as foretold through Daniel, the prophet, and all through the Holy Writings. I asked him whether he believed what God had declared. He answered very emphatically --"Yes!" He also believed in the restoration of the Jewish race to Palestine, and I was surprised to find him well informed and versed on these topics according to the Law and the Prophets. After the conversation with him, he bought the first and second Vols. and said: "If I like it, I will also get that journal," which I meanwhile had recommended to him. And leaving him he said, "I am glad that I have met you," to which I responded and wished him the Hebrew-departure.

I also met an old soldier who was much taken with name and contents of MILLENNIAL DAWN. He bought the first Vol., and as my lodging-place was near his home I had opportunity to talk to him several times and he was willing to hear.

Monday, the 9th of this month, I left L__________, and arrived safely at Steubenville. I went right to work, beginning at the depot, and sold the remainder of that day 18 copies of DAWN; Tuesday 22; Wednesday __________; Thursday 32; Friday 18; and Saturday 31. On Wednesday I toiled all day, a long day, too, but I "caught nothing." It reminded me of `John 21:3`. But on Thursday I did well, as you see.

Yours in the service of the Anointed, and with kind regards to all at the office and at home. J. A. WEIMAR.

THY WILL BE DONE.

We see not, know not; all our way

Is night; with thee alone is day.

From out the torrent's troubled drift,

Above the storm our prayer we lift,

Thy will be done!

The flesh may fail, the heart may faint;

But who are we to make complaint,

Or dare to plead in times like these

The weakness of our love of ease?

Thy will be done!

We take with solemn thankfulness

Our burden up, nor ask it less,

And count it joy that even we

May suffer, serve, or wait on thee,

Whose will be done!

Though dim as yet in tint and line,

We trace thy picture's wise design,

And thank thee that our age supplies

The dark relief of sacrifice,

Thy will be done!

And if in our unworthiness

Thy sacrificial wine we press,

If from thy ordeal's heated bars

Our feet are seamed with crimson scars,

Thy will be done!

If, for the age to come, this hour

Of trial hath vicarious power,

And, blest by thee, our present pain

Be liberty's eternal gain,

Thy will be done!

Strike, thou the Master, we thy keys,

The anthem of thy destinies!

The minor of thy loftier strain,

Our hearts shall beat the old refrain,

Thy will be done! --Whittier.

MR. TALMAGE'S VISION OF THE MILLENNIUM.

"The night is far spent; the day is at hand." --`Rom. 13:12`.--

In the midst of the great revolutions of thought in this wonderfully revolutionary period which the Scriptures term "The Day of Jehovah"--"the day of his preparation" for the Millennial reign of Christ, it is refreshing to observe that the dim outlines of God's real purpose are already beginning to dawn upon the minds of sincere thinkers who are not yet prepared for such a radical transformation of their theological views as God's plan of the ages makes manifest to others of God's believing watchmen on the towers of Zion.

While echoes from the pulpits of eminent theologians in the great cities savor strongly of the rankest infidelity, which strikes at the very foundation doctrine of Christianity--the atonement through the precious blood of Christ--we see that a few are beginning to get their eyes open to the real truth. They begin to see "men as trees walking;" and as the signs of the Master's presence become more and more manifest in the events of this day of his presence, all who preserve the attitude of disciples will be led into clearer light more or less rapidly, according to the measure of their earnestness, diligence and freedom from sectarian and other prejudices. Below we give some extracts from Mr. Talmage's discourse of Sunday, Sept. 8th, on the above text--"The day is at hand" --which we consider quite remarkable.

They give evidence that Mr. Talmage is getting awake, though he has not yet arisen from the old creed bed which is evidently too short for him and its coverings uncomfortably narrow. (`Isa. 28:20`.) Yet, rubbing his eyes, he recollects the divine promise of coming day as he hears the great clock of the ages strike the hours of early morning, and sincere faith and the noble impulses of a generous nature catch the inspiration of the prophet-apostle, and he re-echoes his words--"The night is far spent; the day is at hand!" While we cannot endorse all that this eminent Christian brother says on the subject, but must here and there offer criticism, yet we rejoice that the gentleman and his thousands of hearers and readers have been brought face to face with so much truth so forcibly and so widely promulgated. Mr. Talmage said:--

"I find a ray of the dawn in the compression of the world's distances. What a slow, snail-like, almost impossible thing would have been the world's rectification with 1,400,000,000 of population and no facile means of communication; but now, through telegraphy for the eye and telephonic intimacy for the ear, and through steamboating and railroading, the 25,000 miles of the world's circumference are shriveling up into insignificant brevity. Hong Kong is nearer to New York than a few years ago New Haven was; Bombay, Moscow, Madras, Melbourne within speaking distance. Purchase a telegraph chart, and by the blue lines see the telegraphs of the land, and by the red lines the cables under the ocean. You see what opportunity this is going to give for the final movements of Christianity. A fortress may be months or years in building, but after it is constructed it may do all its work in twenty minutes. Christianity has been planting its batteries for nineteen centuries, and may go on in the work through other centuries; but when those batteries are thoroughly planted, and those fortresses are fully built, they may do all their work in twenty-four hours.

"The world sometimes derides the Church for slowness of movement. Is science any quicker? Did it not take science 5,652 years to find out so simple a thing as the circulation of the human blood? With the earth and the sky full of electricity, science took 5,800 years before it even guessed that there was any practical use that might be made of this subtle and mighty element. When good men take possession of all these scientific forces, and all these agencies of invention, I do not know that the redemption of the world will be more than the work of half a day. Do we not read the queen's speech at the proroguing of Parliament the day before in London? If that be so, is it anything marvelous to believe that in twenty-four hours a divine communication can reach the whole earth? Suppose Christ should descend on the nations-- many expect that Christ will come among the nations personally--suppose that tomorrow morning the Son of God from a hovering cloud should descend upon these cities. Would not that fact be known all the world over in twenty-four hours.

"Suppose he should present his Gospel in a few words saying: 'I am the Son of God. I come to pardon all your sins and to heal all your sorrow; to prove that I am a supernatural being, I have just descended from the clouds; do you believe me, and do you believe me now?' Why, all the telegraph stations of the earth would be crowded as none of them were ever crowded, just after a shipwreck. I tell you all these things to show it is not among the impossibilities or even the improbabilities that Christ will conquer the whole earth, and do it instanter, when the time comes."

Here, after drawing an excellent lesson, Brother Talmage greatly mars it by one of his astounding suppositions. His difficulty is, that he is depending too much upon his own imagination and has not noted that God's Word reveals exactly what his great work is, and how it will be done when his "due time" shall have arrived, and that he has not left us to our various and imperfect suppositions.

It is a fact abundantly supported by Scripture as well as by common sense, as Mr. T. intimates, that the past six thousand years have been God's time for preparing the world (by many sad disappointments) for his blessing and kingdom, and also for preparing those who shall be God's agents and instruments in that work of general blessing. The first 1656 years of earth's history, down to the Deluge-- the period of the ministration of angels-- showed to angels and to men the inability of angels to recover fallen man. In fact, by the fall there of some of the angels (Compare `Heb. 2:5`; `Jude 6`; and `2 Pet. 2:4,5`, with `Gen. 6:2-4`.) it became manifest that evil was very contaminating and demoralizing even to the pure, and could only be dealt with as a plague --stamped out. During the Jewish age, God illustrated through Israel and the Law that by the deeds of the law no flesh could be justified in God's sight and that the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin, but were at the very most types or illustrations pointing forward to the "better sacrifices" which God had intended from the very first. Thus 4000 years elapsed before even a basis of reconciliation between God and his condemned human creatures had been provided. And yet, the delay had not been too long, for the record is that it was "in due time God sent forth his Son" to redeem the world and thus to lay the foundation for their reconciliation with God. Now over 1800 years more have elapsed, and God's Word declares that his work during this period has been the electing or selecting of a very choice class from among men--a worthy remnant of Israel who received Messiah at his first advent (including the apostles) and a similarly faithful and tried class from among all nations since--in all a "little flock," "a peculiar people," "a royal

priest-hood." And these have been "called" under the express promise that when a fore-ordained number shall have been selected and tried and found worthy, then this select company shall be made glorious spiritual beings and be united with Christ Jesus their Lord, in order that as joint-heirs with him they may be the promised "Seed" (`Gen. 12:2,3`; compare `Gal. 3:16,29`) in which all the families of the earth shall be blessed. These are "called" to suffer with Christ in the present time (to thus show their love and devotion to him and the truth) and to reign with him in an age to follow this, in which, they are told, they are to judge [grant trial to] the world and also angels. (See `1 Cor. 6:2,3`.) And it is to the end that they may be very sympathetic judges and teachers (kings and priests unto God and for men) that, as their leader was, they now are required to be tempted in all points.

But while agreeing that the past 6000 years have gotten fully ready for the conquest of the world for God, we must dissent from the view expressed by Brother Talmage, that this conquest will be accomplished in a day of twenty-four hours. That Immanuel, the new king, who is to take his great power and reign, establishing that Kingdom of God, for which he taught us to pray, "Thy Kingdom come," could, if he desired, introduce it by a marvelous demonstration in the sky that would affright the world and convince all men of his "all power in heaven and in earth," we do not for one moment question. And that by such a process he could wring from every throat the cry, "I believe," we do not dispute. But such is not the work which our Lord comes to do, is our objection. The Scriptures declare a different object and a different method. To bend the knee and cry, "I believe," is not the sum of God's requirements. If so, Christ's reign might indeed terminate quickly--in a day of twenty-four hours. But if it is to be thus sudden and by an outward display of power, where was the use of the long preparation? Why spend 1800 years selecting and educating and disciplining the elect church for that oft declared work of reigning with Christ and judging the world in righteousness, if the entire period of reigning and judging is to be twenty-four hours? And if the plan should be carried out as Mr. Talmage suggests, wherein would be found the usefulness of the great preparations God has been making for this coming work?--the telegraphs and telephones and printing presses, etc.: would they not be next to useless for such a conquest? If this be the method, it might have been carried out without any of these latter-day preparations and long ago. Had such been his method our Lord could have appeared in such a cloud and waiting there for 24 hours, he could in thunder tones have spoken to and been seen by every living creature of earth far more forcibly than by descending to one of the great cities, to telegraph and telephone his arrival all over the world, or to have newspaper Extras of his proclamation gotten out on lightning presses and sent by Limited Mail trains.

But no; with no such unseemly haste will God's great plan, for which the past six thousand years have been only the preparatory steps, be consummated. How apt we are to get into a hurry and to expect God to do so too. How apt we are to forget what the prophet declared and the apostle repeated that a thousand years in God's sight are but as yesterday, a day with the Lord as a thousand years with men. Christ comes to reign; "he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet;" and he shall reign, and the church of the first resurrection with him, for "a thousand years."--`1 Cor. 15:25`; `Rev. 20:2,4`.

When he who redeemed all in due time, shall likewise in due time set up his kingdom, it will be so ordered that it will afford ample opportunity for the overcoming saints, as his joint-heirs, to put fully into exercise in dealing with the sick, deaf and blind world all the preparatory lessons which they have received in the present age;--restoring the willing ones back to all the favors and blessings lost in Adam and redeemed for them by Christ's all-sufficient ransom-sacrifice.

The telegraph, telephone, improved printing presses and rapid mail service will each and all, too, have their part to do in that great work of carrying the "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (`Luke 2:10`); in testifying in due time, to all, the ransom accomplished, the reconciliation possible, and the conditions of the new covenant; in causing the knowledge of the Lord to fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. --`1 Tim. 2:5,6`; `Isa. 11:9`; `Hab. 2:14`.

It will not be sufficient that men shall cry out, "I believe;" for devils also believe and tremble. The reign of Christ will not be for the purpose of showing how many can be brought to believe; but for the purpose of testing and trying the world, after they have come to a knowledge of the truth--after they have "believed," to prove whether they shall will to be in harmony with God and obedient to him and his perfect law of love. God proposes to give back through Christ perfect life and all that man lost through disobedience, but only to such as accept of Christ, as Redeemer and King, and who, surrendering self-will, shall come so fully into harmony with God that they will hate sin and love righteousness. And before giving everlasting life to any, God proposes to take more than a mere profession; hence the coming age is called an age of judgment--an age of trial and testing, in which all mankind (except the few who have full knowledge, and hence full trial, now) will be tried fully, justly, impartially, with every favorable opportunity, before Christ, the Judge of all. (`Acts 17:31`.) Then these who love sin and will to serve it will be separated as

goats from those "sheep" whose delight is in the law of the Lord (love). The one class shall receive the blessing and gift of God--everlasting life--while the other shall receive the penalty of sin--death-- this time "the second death," the result of the second trial, as the first death was the result of the first trial of our race representatively in Adam. But, because an individual condemnation, the result of a full, complete, individual trial, under full knowledge and with every advantage, it is a finality with them--an everlasting cessation of life, from which there will be no awakening, from which none will ever be redeemed--for "Christ dieth no more." (`Rom. 6:9`.) His work is to be so thorough and complete as to need no patching. He will reign until all enemies are put under his feet--subdued, destroyed. (`1 Cor. 15:25`.) Let us note, however, that the word enemies here applies not to the ignorant millions who have never known the Lord, but only to those who, when brought to a full knowledge and full ability, are willingly and knowingly the opponents of righteousness. So then, the great work, just at hand, is not the work of a twenty-four hour day, but the great, grand, God-like work of the Millennial day. It is this great "Day of Christ" that is at hand; announced by the great clock of the ages. Look further, look closer, Brother Talmage!

But though not clearly discerning the particulars of the great day, Mr. T. sees much, and much more clearly than many others. He continues:--

"There are foretokenings in the air. Something great is going to happen. I do not think that Jupiter is going to run us down or that the axle of the world is going to break, but I mean something great for the world's blessing, and not for the world's damage, is going to happen. I think the world has had it hard enough. Enough, the London plagues. Enough, the Asiatic choleras. Enough, the wars. Enough, the shipwrecks. Enough, the conflagrations. I think our world could stand right well a procession of prosperities and triumphs."

Ah yes! Men should begin to see that the imperfections of climate, and disturbances and irregularities of air, sea and land are not the best that God has power to do for man, and would not be good enough for the friends of God; but they are parts of the curse, parts of the penalty of sin, which are to be done away under the glorious reign of Immanuel, when, through him, God shall wipe away all tears, and when there shall be no more curse. But Brother Talmage is in error, when he says, "Enough" of these has been already experienced. God's Word declares that there is yet a great and final shaking up of church and world to take place. (`Heb. 12:26-28`.) Daniel's prophecy speaks of it and locates it right here, saying, "At that time shall Michael [Christ] stand up [assume control], and there shall be a time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation." (`Dan. 12:1`.) The apostle `James (5:1-7`) also foretold this trouble. Thank God that, though a severe lesson, it will be a final one, bringing the world to its senses. After it the peoples will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain [kingdom] of the Lord. He will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths."--`Isa. 2:2-4`.

Mr. Talmage continues:--

"Better be on the lookout. Better have your observatories open toward the heavens, and the lenses of your most powerful telescopes well polished. Better have all your Leyden jars ready for some new pulsation of mighty influence. Better have new fonts of type in your printing-offices to set up some astounding good news. Better have some new banner that has never been carried, ready for sudden processions. Better have the bells in your church towers well hung, and the rope within reach, that you may ring out the marriage of the King's Son."

Good! Brother Talmage. We are glad to see that you with us are looking for the union of the Bridegroom to his long-espoused bride, the church. Yes, then the marriage bells, the joyous bells, may well be rung! for then the Spirit and the Bride shall say, Come, and whosoever will may come and take of the water of life freely. --`Rev. 22:17`.

But Mr. Talmage seems to get a still closer and a clearer view of coming events, and their results, as he proceeds, for he adds:--

"Cleanse all your court-houses, for the Judge of all the earth may appear. Let all your legislative halls be gilded, for the great Lawgiver may be about to come. Drive off the thrones of despotism all the occupants, for the King of heaven and earth may be about to reign."

What is this we hear? Has Mr. Talmage turned "Socialist?" Hear him: "Drive off the thrones of despotism all the occupants; for the King of heaven and earth may be about to reign." Aye, this is socialism--of the heavenly, Bible sort, however. Surely the utterer of these words remembered that it was written by the prophet, "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall break in pieces and consume all these." (`Dan. 2:44`.) It is a mistake to suppose that the great ones of earth, now in power, will recognize the principles of the new era, the Day at hand, and voluntarily resign the power and offices which at so great cost they have so long held on to. No; as Mr. Talmage puts it, they will have to be driven off their thrones. [The saints, however, fight not with carnal weapons and will have nothing to do with this driving.] It is this necessary driving of the political kings and money kings of the world out of power, this cleansing of legislation and the courts of justice, that must come so surely as the new King comes, and the new Day, that will cause the great time of trouble foretold by the apostles and prophets. He continues:--

"One more ray of the Dawn I see in facts chronological and mathematical. Come now, do not let us do another stroke of work until we have settled one matter. What is going to be the final issue of this great conquest between sin and righteousness? Which is going to prove himself the stronger, God or Diabolus? Is this world going to be all garden or all desert? Now let us have that matter settled. If we believe Isaiah and Ezekiel and Hosea, and Micah and Malachi, and John and Peter, and Paul and Christ, we believe that it is going to be all garden."

Hark! That is the Restitution note, Vox Jubilante! Praise the Lord! Brother Talmage must have been studying as well as resting during his summer vacation. He has found a stop in the Grand Organ of divine harmonies that he never found before. Praise the Lord! we are delighted to know that he has an ear and a voice for this restitution music--the new song. He has, no doubt, given attention to the Apostle Peter's announcement; for in his words above, he almost quotes Peter's expression in `Acts 3:19-21`: "Times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom the heaven must retain until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." Well begun, go on, Brother Talmage and, as promised, let us hear from you this vox jubilante of restitution frequently hereafter.* Mr. Talmage proceeds:--

"But let us have it settled. Let us know whether we are working on toward a success or toward a dead failure. If you are in a cyclone off the Florida coast, and the captain assures you the vessel is staunch and the winds are changing for a better quarter, and he is sure he will bring you safe into the harbor, you patiently submit to present distress with the thought of safe arrival. Now I want to know whether we are coming on toward dismay, darkness and defeat, or on toward light and blessedness. [Surely one or the other.] You and I believe the latter, and if so, every year we spend is one year subtracted from the world's woe, and every event that passes, whether bright or dark, brings us one event nearer a happy consummation: and by all that is inexorable in chronology and mathematics I commend you to good cheer and courage. If there is anything in arithmetic, if you subtract two from five and leave three, then by every rolling sun we are going on toward a magnificent terminus. Then, every winter passed is one severity less for our poor world. Then, every summer gone by brings us nearer unfading arborescence. Put your algebra down on the top of your Bible and rejoice."

No; no, Brother Talmage, it is the Bible, not the algebra, that is fulfilling. Let us, then, keep the Bible on top--and let us keep it open. It is the light to our path, the lantern to our footsteps; therefore we are not in darkness that that day should overtake us as a thief. (`1 Thes. 5:4`.) Let us lift up the lamp and keep it uncovered. Let the light shine. He proceeds:

"It is nearer morning at three o'clock than it is at two; if it is nearer morning at 4 o'clock than it is at three, then we are nearer the dawn of the world's deliverance. God's clock seems to go very slowly, but the pendulum swings and the hands move, and it will yet strike noon.

"There is a class of phenomena which makes me think that the spiritual and the heavenly world may, after a while, make a demonstration in this world which will bring all moral and spiritual things to a climax. Now, I am no spiritualist; but every intelligent man has noticed that there are strange and mysterious things which indicate to him that perhaps the spiritual world is not so far off as sometimes we conjecture, and that after a while from the spiritual and heavenly world there may be a demonstration upon our world for its betterment. We call it magnetism, or we call it mesmerism, or we call it electricity, because we want some term to cover up our ignorance. I do not know what that is. I never heard an audible voice from the other world. I am persuaded of this, however, that the veil between this world and the next is getting thinner and thinner, and that perhaps, after a while, at the call of God--not at the call of the Davenport Brothers, or Andrew Jackson Davis--some of the old spiritual warriors, some of the spirits of other days, mighty for God--a Joshua, or a Caleb, or a David, or a Paul--may come down and help us in this battle against unrighteousness.

"Oh, how I would like to have them here--him of the Red Sea, him of the valley of Ajalon, him of Mars Hill. History says that Robert Clayton, of the English cavalry, at the close of a war, bought up the old cavalry horses, lest they be turned to drudgery and hard work, and bought a piece of ground at Navesmire heath and turned those old war horses into the thickest and richest pasture to spend the rest of their days for what they had done in other days. One day a thunderstorm came up, and these war horses mistook the thunder of the skies for the thunder of battle, and they wheeled into line--no riders on their backs--they wheeled into line ready for the fray. And I doubt me whether, when the last thunder of this battle for God and truth goes booming through the heavens, the old Scriptural warriors can keep their places on their thrones. Methinks they will spring into the fight and exchange crown for helmet, and palm branch for weapon, and come down out of the King's galleries into the arena, crying: 'Make room! I must fight in this great Armageddon.'"

After removing much of the rich hyperbole and rhetorical clothing from this mental picture, we find beneath it all something more real perhaps than even Brother Talmage realized in this passage. The Lord, the apostles and all the overcomers of the Gospel age will indeed be present in the earth and take a part in the great conflict, figuratively called "the Battle of the Great Day of God Almighty." But not visibly, nor with carnal weapons, need they be looked for, but as spirit-beings, powerful and yet invisible, like the angels, as we have found the Scriptures to plainly teach. (See DAWN, Vol. II.) There is indeed to be, and that ere long, a great demonstration by the heavenly church and a restoration of olden-time communication between heaven and earth (`Gen. 18:1,2`; `19:1`; `Luke 22:43`; `Matt. 4:11`) of which Spiritism's lying wonders and communications are but slanderous counterfeits of Satan, to deceive and lead into error and to the rejection of the Redeemer, if it were possible, the very elect. Thank God, his Word shows clearly and positively that the enemy hath now but a short time and will soon be bound, restrained, that he can deceive no more during the thousand years of Christ's reign.

And there will be others here toward the close of this "battle"--the patriarchs and prophets of old, "until John," will be joining in at the last, after the last members of the body of Christ have been "changed" from human to spiritual beings. And these, though not bloody warriors, will be visible men--perfected MEN. "Ye shall see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom." Not from the skies shall these light down, but from the dust of the earth they shall be awaked perfect men, samples of the grand estate to which all may attain by obedience to the regulations of that Millennial Kingdom--of which these perfect ones will be the earthly representatives and exponents.

As the overcomers of the Gospel age are to be joint-heirs with Christ, sharers of the new spiritual dominion over earth, which is to bless all the families of the earth, so the overcomers of the previous time, though not called to heavenly honors and nature, are to be associated in the Kingdom work of blessing as the earthly seed of Abraham, who shall inherit the earthly portions of the promises made to Abraham (`Rom. 4:12-16,17`), that the promise might be sure unto all (both parts of) the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but unto that also which is of the faith of Abraham [aside from the Law]--who typified him in whom he believed, even God.

*In his discourse Mr. T. intimated that like as a new set of reeds with a new stop had been put into the organ in his Tabernacle, so he had added a new set of harmonies to his mental organism, to which the discourse quoted from gives the tone and key;--and he declared that it should be heard frequently during the pastoral year just begun.

Of these noble old patriarchs [fathers] in whose genealogy Mary and Jesus are found, it is written: "Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes [rulers, chief ones] in all the earth." (`Psa. 45:16`.) And this will be literally fulfilled when Christ as King appoints those resurrected and perfected men as the rulers, exemplars, and teachers of men. For they were his fathers in the sense of being Mary's progenitors, and they will become Christ's children and he their everlasting father, and father to all men who shall be restored to the Eden-lost perfection and to everlasting life, in that he who redeemed the world

is to be also the Restorer and Life-giver (Father) to all the willing and obedient. Mr. Talmage closed his discourse thus:--

"Brother! brother! all I am afraid of is, not that Christ will lose the battle, but that you and I will not get into it quick enough to do something worthy of our blood-bought immortality. O Christ! how shall I meet Thee, Thou of the scarred brow, and the scarred back, and the scarred hand, and the scarred foot, and the scarred breast, if I have no scars or wounds gotten in the service? It shall not be so. I step out to-day in front of the battle. Come on, you foes of God, I dare you to the combat. Come on, with pens dipped in malignancy. Come on, with tongues forked and viperine and adderous. Come on, I defy you! Come on! I bare my brow, I uncover my heart. Strike! I cannot see my Lord until I have been hurt for Christ. If we do not suffer with Him on earth we cannot glorify with Him in heaven. Take good heart. On! On! On! See! the skies have brightened! See! the hour is about to come! Pick out all the cheeriest of the anthems. Let the orchestra string their best instruments. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand."

Grand sentiments, noble resolves, which our hearts, one and all, we trust, re-echo-- faithfulness to Christ, self-sacrifice in his service, in the service of the truth, at any cost, gladly, heartily, quickly, before "the night cometh, wherein no man can work." For, though the glad morning is drawing close, the prophet warns us that the short, but sharp, terrible time of trouble precedes it, saying: The morning cometh, but a night also.

But heed not the shadows, fear not the trouble, if you are a member of the faithful consecrated, "The King's Own," for he is on your side as well as you on his side. He has promised, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. He has, even when telling us of the troubles impending at the present time, said, "Then lift up your heads and rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh." And praise God for the light which now shows that the redemption or glorification of the church, the body of Christ, is but the first step in the great Redeemer's saving and restoring work, and that full opportunity of deliverance from sin and death shall yet be granted to every creature by the great Deliverer.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CREED.

The New York Herald, discussing the proposed change of the creed of the Presbyterian Church, makes the following editorial comment on the subject:--

"If the Christian of a century ago were to return to New York he would find almost nothing to remind him of his own time except the creed of the Presbyterian Church, and he would wonder why, in the progressive evolution, visible everywhere else, that alone remains unchanged. If he caught the spirit of our time he would see that we are just as eager for the eternal verities, far broader in our charities, more generous in our bequests, and quite as earnest in our pleas for public and private morality as he and his contemporaries were. For that matter he would discover with mingled surprise and gratitude that the chief reason why young men turn away from a clerical career is that they are too conscientious to subscribe to doctrines which neither brain nor heart will allow them to accept.

"Here, for instance, is an illustrious example of the stern theology of the old school. We take it from Edwards' works, and from a sermon which curdled the blood of the last generation. The preacher singed the sinner with the flames not of an avenging but rather of a revengeful justice. Dr. Edwards says:--

"'The God that holds you sinners over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you. He will crush you under his feet without mercy. He will crush out your blood and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on His garments so as to stain all his raiment.'

"After a sermon on that line of thought it would seem to be somewhat difficult to repeat the Lord's Prayer. The Fatherhood of God would not be easily established on that statement, and the parable of the shepherd wandering in the dark over hill and through dale to find the one lost sheep after the ninety nine had been safely folded is robbed of all its significance.

"Imagine, if you can, Dr. John Hall or Dr. Howard Crosby, the soundness of whose faith is beyond question, indorsing such language and pronouncing it a fair description of God's relation to the human race. And yet it is strictly within the limits of the creed of a century ago, a creed which the younger Presbyterians desire to have modified. If it is true, why not emphasize it boldly, and if it is not true, why not revise the dogmas which appear to have raised a revolt in the Church?

"The doctrine of foreordination, with its logical consequences, has broken many a man's head and heart. The picture of a burning lake, where writhing wretches curse the day of their birth and execrate the Deity who doomed them to unending misery 'for His own pleasure,' seals the lips of an ardent man who is filled with the desire to bless and help and save a falling world. His eloquence would be that of despair without a ray of hope. He turns from the pulpit and chooses the profession of the law.

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