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HOW AND WHEN

The World Will End:

REV, JOSEPH WILD, M.A.D.D.

Pastor of Bond Street Congregational Church, Toronto;

Author of Works on "The Lost Ten Tribes and 1882," " Manasseh
AND THE United States;" and so on.

Jfottrtk (Edition.

TORONTO :
GEORGE VIRTUE, PUBLISHER.

'"jif^.

TORONTO :
C. BLACKETT ROBINSON, PRINTER,
JORDAN STREET.

^y t) ;

PREFACE.

'vx■^•v^^.Nxx^^^^^\M

I'his Fourth Edition is sent forth to the public with
gratitude. Like most Authors I am vain enough, or
reasonable enough, to feel pleased with the generous
reception this, and my other books, have had. This
work has passed through several editions, in a few
years, in the United States, Britain and Australia.
God be praised ! I trust the readers have been
benefited.

I am a firm believer in the Ten Lost Tribe theory.
The twelve tribes of Jacob were divided into two
Houses, two Governments, two People, as we read
in I Kings xii. One was called the House of Judah,
the other the House of Israel. From that time to a
future point each House had a distinct mission — pro-
phecies, both temporal and spiritual, apply to them
separately and jointly, and should not be confounded.
The House of Judah is found to-day in the Jews, and
the House of Israel in an organized form in Great
Britain and the United States.

One tribe of the House of Israel had to have in
the latter day a separate organization ; this ,^as the

IV.

PREFACE.

tribe of Manasseh. Jacob said, as we read in Gen.
xlviii. 19, that it was to be a people and be great ;
so now is this propliecy fulfilled in the United States.

It will be necessary for the Canadian reader to
remember that these sermons, or Sunday evening
lectures, were delivered in the Union Congregational
Church of Brooklyn, New York, while I was the
pastor. The church, though large, was always filled
to overflowing to hear them, though the church was
wedged in between Beecher'sand Talmage's churches.
Of course many of the illustrations and much of the
language is American. A person of another country
reading this book must keep this in mind. Also it is
well tQ remember that the language is sermonic.
There is a difference in style between speaking and
writing directly to a people.

There is no difference in the subject matter of
this edition and the others, save in this Preface and
the leaving out the Prefaces to the other editions.
I pray the good Lord to bless the reading to one
and all. — Amen.

JOSEPH WILD.

Toronto, yuly 1st, 1886.

CONTENTS.

DISCOURSE I.

THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

PAGE

The Rephaim — Who they were — The Nephilim — Who
they were — Geology, archaeology and Scripture
harmonized — Problem for Atheists — Who built
and dwelt in the cities of Bashan — American Pre-
Adamic relics — Remains of giants — The Irish
mixed with giants 15

DISCOURSE II.

MORE ABOUT THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

The Nephilim, Rephaim and Gibborim — Forcible
intermarriage — Population before the flood — Who
Cain's wife was — Pre-Adamic civilization — The '
Bible and science — Materialism and Spiritualism
— Destruction of the Nephilim — Who tempted
Eve — Origin of idolatry, mythology and Irish
giants — Spiritual likes and dislikes — Why mad
dogs dread water 28

DISCOURSE III.

THE NEGRO.

His origin — Why he is black — Common human kin-
dred — Great negroes of antiquity — The mark of
Cain — Evolution analyzed — The colour of Adam —

VI.

CONTENTS.

PAOK

Climatic influence on plants and men — Colours
of Shein, Ham and Japheth — The confusion of
tongues — Miscegenation impossible 43

DISCOURSE IV.

THE NliGRO gUESTION.

Meaning of Ethiopia — Duty of the negroes — Send
them to Africa — The cost less than keeping them
— God's law of retribution — Our Indian policy —
California and the Chinese — Hen Butler and Zach
Chandler as philanthropists — The national col-
oured convention — Bishop Haven and miscegen-
ation — Morley Funshon's marriages — Real cause
of the rebellion — Napoleon the Great and Prussia
— Moral ideas must rule material one,; — Russia
and Turkey — Disraeli in "Tancred" — Africa
England's future market 57

DISC0URS2 V.

COMMUNISM.

The first commune — Extent and power — No special
legislation against race or colour— -The Monroe
doctrine — What the liquor traffic costs the nation
— Level the poor upward, not the rich downward
— Differences of communism, socialism and nihil-
ism

DISCOURSE VI.

MANASSEH AND COMMUNISM.

Time of the millennium— Communism of the Gospel —
The future system of government — The three
heads of Israel and Judah — America a type of the
Millennial government — Growth of socialism —
True relations of employer and worker 87

CONTENTS.

Vli.

DISCCURSE VII.

KING, PKOPLK AND GOD ONK.

PACK

Modern science to be excelled by the Urim and Thum-
mim — Solution of coninmnism — True principle of
taxation — Level people upward — Monopolists "are
one with the devil " — The church should have no
poor— Kin};s disappearing — Tribute to Mr. Hergh
— The great Christian commune coming loi

DISCOURSE VIII.

SPIRITUALISM.

Its rules and evidences — What it means and teaches
— Fastidious mediums — Molly Fancher — A. J.
Davis— Seeing the mvisible — The fiasco in Everett
Hall — Jugglery, sleight-of-hand and spiritualism —
Relation of spirit and matter — the theory of vision
-r-The power of absolution — What spiritualists
should accomplish ii6

DISCOURSE IX.

MORE ABOUT SPIRITUALISM.

Spiritualisni of John — Spiritualism from Adam to John
— Spiritual power should be proved Ly miracles —
Our relations with the invisiole — Spirit space —
Nature's freaks — Prodigies — Personal mysterious
experience — Somna mbulism — personal identity —
Freaks of memory — Touching illustration — Future
of spiritualism — Its mysteries 130

DISCOURSE X.

SPIRITUALISM AND PHILOSOPHY.

The spirit in man — Trinity in humanity — Breath not
the spirit — The change at death — Philosophy of

i I

vui.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

dreams — What Scripture teaches — A wonderful
drodm — Experiments to produce dreams — Mes-
merism — Telephonic communication — Art of
pocket-picking iUustrated ; 145

DISCOURSE XI.

SPIRITUALISM FINISHED,

The known and unknown — Material and spiritual
changes — Truth and reason clearing away super-
stition — John Wesley's " Invisible World " — Mo-
hammedanism — Mormonism — Ann Lee, Johanna
Southcott and Swedenborg — Assertions no proof
— Schroederites, Shertzites and Buchananites —
Special revelations delusive — The Bible sufficient
— Christ in the grave 160

DISCOURSE XII.

Christ's w^ork in hades.

♦' Standard " Theology — W^hy Jesus remained in the
grave three days— AVhere He went and what He
did — Jewish traditional notions of death — French
horrors — Location of Hades — Thief on the cross
- here he went — Binding Satan — Conquermg
Dc^th— Theological and Devilological extremes —
" Give the devil his due " — Work of the Holy
Spirit

175

DISCOURSE XIII.

Christ's forty days' work.

God no respecter of persons — Law of entail — Give the
poor the advantages of the rich — Sons of God —
The two Adams — No Herodic theology — Salvation
for children, insane and heathen — Obligation to
christianize the heathen — What Christ did after
His resurrection 1S9

CONTENTS.

IX.

DISCOURSE XIV.

THE JEWS.

PAGE

Balaam's prophecies — The freedman's exodus — An-
cient generalship — The twelve tribes and the Zo-
diac — The stars proclaim salvation — The prayer
of blood — How it was answered — Return of Israel
and the Jews to Palestine — Conquest of the
world by Israel approaching — Numerical power
of Israel and Judah — Slaughter at the siege of
Jerusalem —Attempts to rebuild Jerusalem — Gen-
tile persecution — Rothschild, Disraeli, Gambetta
and Bismarck — Coming union of Judah and Israel
— Jews revolutionary leaders — Judah's wail 203

DISCOURSE XV.

EYE TO EYE.

Denominationalism foretold by the prophets — Its uses
— Sectarian pomp — Professional duties- -Criticism
of Rev. H. W. Beecher — Cause of his successes
and failures — Dr. Talmage — Mr. Beecher's im-
provement in theology and morality — " The par-
alyzed arm " — Gough on temperance — Growth of
liberality among the clergy — The empty boasts of
Rome — Hell better than the inquisition — Finding
the lost tribes and occupation of Palestine — Pro-
gress of Israel's identification 219

DISCOURSE XVI.

TIME OF CHRISTIAN UNITY.

Pure language and one consent — Nature of the mil-
lennium — How it will come — Rosh Hashana — The
Pyramid — Unfulfilled prophecy — The work before
us in 1879-^Bible promises — Cui bono — The Revo-
lution and the ivt^elUon — Abraham Lmcoln's
political ideas— God's purpises 233

CONTENTS.

DISCOURSE XVII.

THY WILL BE DONE.

PAGE

How to pray — Vain repetitions — The ten tribes and
the gospel — Eccentricity of a bachelor minister —
Shape of Noah's ark — Seward and Lincoln — The
polar expeditions — Their benefits — Political bear-
ings of lost Israel's discovery 247

DISCOURSE XVIII.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

Oriental braijds — The Christian brand — Weights and
measures which rob the poor — French revolution-
ists and infidels — Warning to workingmen — The
metrical system the offspring of infidelity — The
question in Congress — Cost of the imposition —
Profits for new rings — The metric congress of
1875 — Pyramid measures — Standards of Israel —
Why God is not in the constitution 261

DISCOURSE XIX.

JUST WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

Theoretical and practical religion — Christ on earth —
The Bible on weights and measures — What con-
stitutes just weights and measures — Advantage of
uniformity — Origin of the music scale — Porphyry
coffer — Our measures based on natural propor-
tions. — Infidel measures — Justice to the poor —
Dollars and cents — Pyramid measures 275

DISCOURSE XX.

ARK OF THE COVENANT.

Dr. Wild's visit to Tara — Ancient Irish History —
Palace of Tea Tephi— The harp of Tara and the

CONTENTS.

XI.

PAOU

harp of David — Description of Tara — The patriots'
monument — Why Tara is not explored — ReUcs of
ancient skill — An exploration society formed —
Questions for the Church of Rome — Tara once the
religious capital of the world — Whereabouts of the
ark of the covenant — Porphyry coffer — Wonderful
comcidence — Description of the ark — The Irish
mile — Whence it came— Freemasonry — Origin of
its traditions and mysteries 289

DISCOURSE XXI.

THE ARK AND MASONRY.

Difference in the fear of God and the fear of men —
Pinnock's Catechism — Origin of the Irish people —
Tara destroyed by Rome — The reason why —
Catholics begging and the pope dying with thirty
millions — The war between Rome and Constanti-
nople — *' Spiritual obligation to a foreigner is
political insecurity " — Abyssinian claims — The
ark in Tara — The proofs — Freemasonry — Ben-
hadad and Ahab masons — Why Rome opposes
masonry — Jeremiah founded the ninth degree —
. The Jesuits — Jacob's pillar 303

DISCOURSE XXII.

JACOB S PILLOW.

Legal punishment in olden times — Faults of modern
preaching-Valuable stones--The Koh-i-noor--The
Millearium-- Egyptian obelisks— Cleopatra's needle
— Jacob's stone Historical references to it — Once
in Ireland — Stolen by Scotland and then by Eng-
land — The coronation chair in Westminster — De-
scription of Jacob's stone — Ancient names of Ire-
land — The Blarney stone — How it originated 320

Xil.

CONTENTS.

DISCOURSE XXIII.

THE CORNER.

PAGE

The coronation stone — Jacob's pillar — Joshua's cove-
nant — What a corner means — The Bible and
Hebrew meaning — Commercial corners — The next
President — Philosophy in hospitality — The first
degree — The north-east corner— Solar and polar
forces — Barbarous ancient customs — The Jewish
return — The Pope's checkmate — English oppres-
sion — Roughshod conquest — Our Indian policy... 334

DISCOURSE XXIV.

IDENTIFICATION AND REV. MR. BEECHER.

Dr. Wild on H. W. Beecher — "A little river in mid-
"^ ocean " — What the Scriptures teach of the lost
tribes and their whereabouts — Herodotus, Dio-
dorus, Josephus and many other historians versus
Mr. Beecher — The scattering and gathering of
Israel — A flippant remark and " toss of the head "
no argument — Fair discussion — The Bible the
authority and no man 349

11 !'

DISCOURSE XXV.

^ PROPHETIC CONFERENCE.

The late prophetic conference — Its mistakes, its suc-
cess and failure, its make-up — Bishop Nicholson
and others 363

DISCOURSE XXVI.

THE FIRST RESURRECTION.

Dr. Gordon's essay — The blindness of the conference

on some important points 377

CONTENTS.

xin.

DISCOURSE XXVII.

'TRANSLATION.

PAGE

The conference muddle — Clothing the truth "with
mystery and division " — Objects of Christ's ad-
vent — Transfiguration, transubstantiation and
translation — How the world will end 392

DISCOURSE XXVIII.

)rde

HOW THE WORLD WILL END.

An orderly and reasonable close — " Poisonous and
subtle " theology— Christ present to the end-
Origin of sin — Power of good and evil — Infidel
scientists — Vorticose motion — The last man —
Monkey evolution — Manasseh's future — Signs of
the Millennium 405

THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

DISCOURSE I.

THE REPIIAIM — WHO THEY WERE — THE NEPHILIM — WHO THeY
WERE — GEOLOGY, ARCHEOLOGY, AND SCRIPTURE HARMONIZED
— PROBLEM FOR ATHEISTS — WHO BUILT AND DWELT IN THE
CITIES OF BASHAN — AMERICAN PRE-ADAMIC RELICS — REMAINS
OF GIANTS — THE IRISH MIXED WITH THE GIANTS.

Text— Job xxvi. 5.^^

" Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the

inhabitants thereof."

F you examine this text, you will find
the word thiitgs in italics ; and it is so
for the purpose that you may know
that it is not in the Hebrew, but was
put there by the translators of the Bible to make
the sense of the Hebrew plainer. All the italicized
words of the Old and New Testaments are simply
supplied by the translators to make the sense of
Hebrew and Greek more complete when conveyed
in English. Languages are seldom equal in letters,

THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

! '■•

I'l

I '
I,'

sound or ideas ; it is, therefore, very difficult some-
times to express the exact thought of one language
in another. To overcome the difficulty certain
words are supplied. In the Bible all the words so
supplied are printed in italics. A language may
very appropriately be compared to a suit of clothes.
The Hebrew language fitted on the Hebrew mind
very nicely, but when you come to cut out a suit in
English by the exact Hebrew pattern, then you will
find it will not fit on the English mind at every
point ; to make it do so you supply some pieces of
English. Now, that you may know when these
English pieces are supplied, the translators marked
them by having them printed in italics. In other
books and writings the authors use italics to em-
phasize some particular word or idea they wish the
reader to specially notice. It is very important, in
translating Hebrew or Greek into English, that we
convey nothing more nor less than the original idea,
for the Scriptures are a divine revelation. Inspira-
tion was and is responsible for the manner of their
first form, but not for tiunscribed or translated
forms.

It sometimes happens, however, that the itali-
cized words supplied by our translators do not now
convey the original idea. In the course of years
words change their meaning, and some become
obsolete. In Rev. :iLyi\\. 2, we read that the tree of
life bears twelve manner of fruits. The natural
inference ' from such a reading is, that this tree of
life bears twelve kinds of fruit. The Greek idea.

i:i

THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

however, is, that the tree yielded twelve crops per
year ; as explained in the same verse, " yielded her
fruit every month," there being twelve months in a
year. You will sec that the words tnanner of are
in italics. In the new translation, soon to come
forth, it is to be hoped that these and other defects
will be remedied. Much confusion prevails at this
day, in theological circles, because our translators
did not follow a uniform rule in rendering certain
Hebrew and Greek words. Nay, I know certain
sects and denominations which had their very origin
in th?se deficiencies. And quite a number of theo-
ries now stoutly preached and maintained are
supported from these defects. If one be learned
and generous, in and with the originals, these faults
of our translation will do such a one no harm. But
the fact is, most of the sects, denominations and
theories had their origin with men and women who
were ignorant of the original languages of the
Bible ; so much so, in many cases, that learning
was at a discount with them, and ignorance was
both a glory and a qualification. Once these sects,
denominations and theories are established, they
produce from among themselves those who are
learned, and who from a sense of honour and obliga-
tion become defenders ; as naturally so as children
of humble birth cover over or defend their parents
once they become rich and fashionable.

It is unfortunate, for the common reader, that
the word dead should be the corresponding term
of several Hebrew words ; and that these Hebrew
B

Illl

THE MEN HEFOKE ADAM.

I I'm

;^^; i

words have very different meanings, while the
English word dead carries but one meaning, and
cannot therefore convey to the reader's mind the
Hebrew idea. The word dead in the text is from
the Hebrew word Rephaim, and this word Rephaim
is the name of a certain order of creatures who
inhabited this world long before Adam ; some of
which continued to live as late as the reign of King
David, say about the year 1050 B.C. So the text,
when properly read, will read, " The Rephaim were
formed from under the water with the inhabitants
thereof" But man, of our kind, was formed of the
dust of the ground. The Rephaim gave their name
to a valley near Jerusalem. In Joshua xv. 8, as
you will see, it is called "The Valley of the Giants."
You ask who these Rephaim were, and we
answer you in the best and shortest way we can.
In doing so we desire to impress on your minds
the importance of a knowledge of this people ; also
of another race of creatures, brought to our know-
ledge in the book of Genesis, called in the Hebrew
Nephilim — both of these people preceding Adam
on this earth. A better knowledge of these races
will help us wonderfully in understanding the Scrip-
tures, especially the books of Moses. We will see
how science and theology are mutually related and
confirmatory one of another, instead of being op-
posite and antagonistic, as they are oftentimes by
many supposed to be. Geology, archaeology, eth-
nology, philology, history and inspiration are made
to converge to one glorious centre of harmony and

THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

unity. The first man Adam, the time of his begin-
ning, his line of march, his successors and their
work and number, have constantly been in opposi-
tion to the teachings of these several sciences — so
much so that science and religion have been well-
nigh divorced. Geology wanted time, vast and
almost incomputable, in which to construct the
earth ; beginning far back in time long ago, at a
very small point, and coming slowly up through the
successive ages, evolutions and epochs to the present
day. Theologians were, as a rule, unwilling to
allow so much time. They were greedy and jealous
for the name and honour of the Creator, under the
conviction that the Bible only allowed about 6,000
years for all the accomplished facts of nature and
Providence. When pressed to the wall, then they
read anew the opening verse of Genesis, which, to
the surprise of many, flung back a gift of time,
liberal enough and equal to the most extravagant
demand. " In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth." Ah ! who shall tell us, in
days, months, or years, the measure of the distance
from that beginning till now ? Heaven kindly in-
forms us what He first began to do, but leaves
untold the tale of time. The first few days, surely,
were Lord days — not sun, nor stars, nor earth days.
Who, then, shall resolve them into earth time?
Divine problems are hard to solve. *' What shall it
profit a man if he lose his own soul and gain the
whole world ? " Answer some of you, who are so
precise and exacting. What is the difference, and

THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

ii '\

what is the quantity of this unknown value ? Or, if
this simple problem of difference cannot be found,
perhaps you can tell the careless and unbelieving
how they can escape '* if they neglect so great a
salvation." It would be worldly wealth in your
hand, praise on your head, confusion and ruin to the
church of Jesus — three things for which some long,
aim at and desire.

Archaeology has had its complaints and objec-
tions, which of late years it has urged with great
force against the chronology of the Bible, and unity
of the human family. Evidences of an older race
than the Adamic it has found in caves, lake dwell-
ings and instruments, and had therefore hastily
concluded that the Scriptures were not inspired.
But, lo and behold ! what shall be done now, for it
plainly appears in the Bible, and has been taught
there for centuries, that other races have inhabited
this earth than the race of Adam ; that they pre-
ceded Adam in time, and some of them were con-
temporary with Adam's descendants for hundreds
of years. We know now who built and dwelt in
the giant cities of Bashan. We now understand
how it comes to pass that the houses and forts in
these long-desolate cities are so large, strong and
massive ; and why the doorways are some fourteen
leet high and six feet broad. Here lived the
Rephaim. In Bashan at this very moment are
scores of deserted cities. They were so solidly
and massively constructed that though they have
been deserted for four thousand years by their first

THK MKN KKKORK ADAM.

owners, they arc not in ruin. Any one of you,
with a little cleaning, could move immediately into
one of these houses. The walls, jointing, doors,
and so on, are all perfect. If you were some hnc,
clear morning to go on the top of the roof, sup-
posing your house to be in the old deserted city
of Salcah, you would be able to see not less than
thirty of these lonely and desolate cities. Will
you then wonder any more at the extravagances
of Mo.ses, in Deut. iii. 4, where and when he says
in speaking of his conquest over Og. the King of
Bashan : ** And we took all his cities at that time,
there was not a city which we took not from them,
three score cities, all the region of Argob, the
kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were
fenced with high walls, gates, and bars ; besides
unwalled towns a great many." These remains tell
us of a time long ago, of a people that have entirely
become extinct on earth. Of these strange folks
the Bible takes notice, and gives just enough of
information concerning them to enable us to locate
them, and separate their works from the Adamic
ruins. The researches and teachings of archaeology
do not therefore upset Bible history and Bible
teaching, *as some think and proclaim.

All over the world the remains and evidences of
a distinct civilization from that of Adam and his
descendants have been found. None, however, have
been found above ground that demand more years
than to the time of the Noahic flood ; while in
caves, in the bottom of lakes and buried under-

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THE MEN HEFORE ADAM.

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ground, ruins have been discovered that in time
and nature antedate the creation of Adam. On
this continent we have proofs of the Rephaim and
Nephilim. Their skeletons have been found and
forts of gigantic proportions in dimensions and
material ; the doors, outlets and inlets always cor-
responding to the stature of these Rephaim and
Nephilim giants ; or as sometimes called in the
Scriptures, " men of renown." Mementos of these
people a few years ago were numerous. As our
civilization moved westward they were plentifully
discovered. Some of the movable kind were
deposited in the various museums of the world,
but by far the greatest portion of them have
been destroyed. The barrows, cairns, tumuli, and
mounds, where were deposited their dead, have
been ruthlessly despoiled. The skeletons, when
exposed to the air, soon dissolved into dust.
Several hundred of their graveyard mounds have
been found in the Mississippi valley. From the
quantity of skeleton dust in some of them, we know
millions must have been buried. There was one of
these large mounds near Wheeling, on the river
Ohio ; it was fifty rods in circumference and ninety
feet in perpendicular height. At Marietta, on the
Ohio, was found one of their forts protected by
gateways, moats and walls for several miles. The
main fort itself inclosed some fifty acres of land.
Over all this, when first discovered, was a forest of
trees growing, and which, to all appearance, had
lived and grown there for two or three thousand

THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

years, for the soil was on an average twenty feet
deep. Indeed, the entire banks of the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers were dotted with forts. The
whole valley of the Mississippi was diked, and cul-
tivated like a garden, and the great Mississippi was
made to do duty like the Nile in Egypt, namely,
water and manure the land. The whole pre-Indian
history of this continent gives confirmatory testi-
mony in favour of the Genesis history of the Bible.
The Rephaim and Nephilim were giants ; and so,
wherever we find traces of their occupation, there
we find corresponding greatness in what they left.
Their houses were large, their graves were large,
their very staffs were large, being some fourteen
feet in length and proportionate in thickness and
weight.

At Eagle Point, on the Mississippi, some few
years ago, was found a double-chambered house
or temple. In digging for the Dubuque and Min-
nesota Railway the workmen came upon it. In
the second room, which was about thirty-six feet
long, they found twenty-four human skeletons sit-
ting in a half circle ; just like the circle made by
the first quarter of a new moon. In the very
centre sat a chief, as was evident from his position,
his size, and the large sceptre which he held in his
right hand. This sceptre was made of brass and
tin, finished with gold. The chief must have been
some twelve feet in height and equally well propor-
tioned. The twenty-four were about ten feet. An
effort was made to preserve these remains, but in a

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THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

very few hours they turned into fine dust. The
sceptre, some linen and some few metallic remains
are all that have been preserved, most of which are
lodged in the Iowa Institute. These skeletons
were doubtless .some of the Rephaim or Nephilim,
who perished at the time of the flood. It may
strike you as curious or as a strange coincidence
to read from Rev. iv. 4, that "round about the
throne were four and twenty seats, and upon the
seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting." And
in their centre sat the chief One, the Saviour on
His throne. Of course the very nature of the flood
will naturally forbid many of the antediluvian
remains being extant at this day, either of the
Adamic or the Rephaim. Let me call your attention
to what Job, xxii. 1$, says: " Hasi thou marked
the old way which wicked men have trodden ? Which
were cut down out of time^ whose foundation was
overflown with a flood'' Take it, my friends, for
an accepted fact, that the Bible is commensurate
with all truth, and freely and intelligently responds
to all truthful discoveries in geology, archaeology,
or any other ology.

Some think that the flood was not universal.
Well, on this matter I am ready to believe that it
was not universal in equal intensity. It was a
catastrophe specially permitted to destroy the de-
scendants of Adam and the mixed races who had
come from a union of the Nephilim and Rephaim
and the daughters of Adam. But it is well known
that a disorganization of the extent and nature of

THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

the flood could not spend all its force in the East.
The irregularity and disorganization incident to
such a flood must, in the very nature of things,
have affected more or less the whole earth. I
believe it destroyed all the Adamic race but Noah
and his family. And more, I believe it destroyed
entirely the whole race of the Nephilim, so that
none of these survived. But of the Rephaim, some
lived on past the flood, while many were cut off",
leaving, however, a small remnant. This remnant
appeared in the times of Moses to be living in and
about Canaan. Their clan-tribal names were Ana-
kims, Emim, Zamzummim, Gibborim, Horims and
Avims. Moses — Deut. ii. 9 — in speaking of the
country of the Moabites, says : " The Emims dwelt
therein in times past, a people great, and many, and
tall, as the Anakims, which also were accounted
giants as the Anakims ; but the Moabites called
them Emims." Then he tells us that the children
of Esau destroyed the Horims. And of the land
of Ammon he says : " That also was accounted a
land of giants : giants dwelt therein in olden time ;
and the Ammonites called them Zamzummims ; a
people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims."
The Avims, which dwelt in Hazerim, the Caphto-
rims destroyed. " Og, the king of Bashan, which
was of the remnant of the giants ; he reigned in
Mount Hermon and in Salcah." — Jos. xii. 4. And
in Deut. iii. ii, Moses tells us that his bedstead was
preserved in Rabbath, of the children of Ammon.
" Nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits

THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

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the breadth of it." It is very reasonable that the
houses in old Salcah, where he reigned, should be
large ; and so they are. In this ungodly and dis-
believing age the tenantless houses, forts and gates
of old Salcah bear witness for God and the Bible.
King Og was one of the Rephaim, of whom Goliath,
of Gath, was a lineal descendant. The word Goliath
means an exile. The Rephaim, when driven out of
their own land, went and joined in with the Philis-
tines ; so he was an exile. He must have been a
noble successor of King Og. It must have been a
grand sight to have seen him, clad in his coat of
mail that weighed 5,000 shekels of brass, with an
helmet of brass on the head ; his legs wrapped in
greaves of brass, with a target of brass between his
shoulders, and in his hand a spear like a weaver's
beam, the head alone of which weighed 600 shekels
of iron. But with all his greatness and protection
he fell before the stripling son of Jesse. It was
ordained of heaven that both the Nephilim and
Rephaim should perish from earth. Thus were the
children of Israel commanded to destroy them.

We have said that the remnant of the Rephaim
took shelter among the Philistines. Among this
people they lingered for a time, then finally dis-
appeared. In 2 Sam. xxi. 1 5, we have an account
of the slaying of Ishbi-benob, which was of the
sons of the giant. Then Sibbechai the Husha-
thite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the
giants. Elhanan, the Bethlehemite, slew the giant
brother of Goliath, the Gittite. " And there was yet

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THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature,
that had on every hand six fingers, and on every
foot six toes, four and twenty in number ; and he
also was born to the ^iant." He was slain by
Jonathan, the son of Shimeah. Thus passed away
the giants, or Rephaim ; the traces of which we
have in the Irish giants ; for a portion of the Irish
nation are the ancient Philistines. Of Irish, or of
Irish parentage, more giants have been born than
of any other race. This same fact is a link in the
chain of their descent in favour of their Phoenician
origin, as they, or part of them, proudly claim.

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ADAM.

DISCOURSE II.

THE NEPHILIM, REPHAIM AND GIBBORIM — FORCIBLE INTERMAR-

RIAGE — POPULATION BEFORE THE FLOOD — WHO CAIN'S WIFE
WAS — PRE-ADAMIC CIVILIZATION — THE BIBLE AND SCIENCE
— MATERIALISM AND SPIRITUALISM — DESTRUCTION OF THE
NEPHILIM — WHO TEMPTED EVE — ORIGIN OF IDOLATRY, MYTH-
OLOGY AND IRISH GIANTS — SPIRITUAL LIKES AND DISLIKES
— WHY MAD DOGS DREAD WATER.

Text — Isaiah xxvi. 13, 14.

" O Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dom-
inion over us ; but by thee only will we make mention of thy
name. They are dead, they shall not live ; they are deceased,
they shall not rise : therefore hast thou visited and destroyed
them, and made all their memory to perish."

AST Sunday evening I called your
attention to the Scriptural history of
the Nephilim, Rephaim and Gibborim.
They were a peculiar class of persons
who lived on this earth long before the time of
Adam, excepting the Gibborim, for they were the
children of intermarriage between the Rephaim,

MORE AHOUT THK MKN 15EFORK ADAM. 29

Nephilim and the fair daughters of Adam. As the
word Gibborim means, they were great, strong, and
violent. In our translation they are called "mighty
men" which were of old, " men of renown." The
word Nephilim comes from the Hebrew word
Naphal, and means to fall. Hence the Nephilim
were a race of creatures who had fallen away, by
violence, from some high estate. They were prob-
ably the angels which kept not their first estate,
referred to by Jude in his general epistle, and also
by Peter in his second epistle. They are called
sons of God and giants in the Bible. As " sons of
God they saw the daughters of men that they were
fair ; " that is, the daughters of Adam ; " and they
took them wives of all which they chose." The real
meaning of this passage is that the Nephilim took
wives from among the descendants of Adam by
force and violence at first : then the Adamites began
to consent to such intermarriages, and this was dis-
pleasing to God. " And the Lord said. My Spirit
shall not always strive with man, for that he also is
flesh." — Gen. vi. 3. From this we learn that even
the descendants of Adam had become corrupt and
fleshly in their desires and pursuits. " There were
giants (Nephilim) in the earth in those days ; and
also after that, when the sons of God (Nephilim of
God) came in unto the daughters of men (daughters
of Adam), and they bare children unto them, the
same being mighty men (Gibborim) which were of
old, men of renown." God seeing the combined
wickedness of the people, He resolved to destroy
the earth.

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30 MORE ABOUT THE MEN HEFORE ADAM.

From the divine record we learn why the Noahic
flood was sent. It was sent to destroy from the
earth the Nephilim, Gibborim and all the descend-
ants of Adam, excepting Noah and his family.
The sweep of these avenging waters was to be from
man to beast, and creeping things and fowls of the
air. The destruction at this time must have been
terrible, for the number of inhabitants must have
been very large. It is impossible to tell the number
of the Nephilim; doubtless they were very numerous
and widely scattered over the face of all the earth.
Their universality and number are witnessed to in
a striking manner by their remains and mementos.
On the Adamic line there must have been a vast
population, far exceeding the common estimate ;
not, however, as large as Dr. Gurney and some others
reckon, for they think that the population before
the flood exceeded the population of to-day by
many times. We know that from the patriarch
Jacob there sprang some 3,000,000 in the space of
450 years, notwithstanding the Egyptians slaugh-
tered the children of the Hebrews. The average
of life then was about forty years. If two persons
in 450 years give us 3,000,000, life's average being
forty years, how many would two persons give us
in 2,000 years, life's average being 400 years? Allow
five to a family ; some allow seven. This mode of
calculation will convince any one how possible and
even probable it was that the antediluvians were
quite numerous ; but especially so when we add
to the Adamites the Nephilim, It is not ^n im-

MOKE ABOUT THE MEN BEFORE ADAM. 3 1

probable suggestion to say that Cain, wandering
from the presence of the Lord, went among the
Nephilim in the land of Nod, and, being evil dis-
posed, he took a wife from among them. Anyway,
Cain confessed that he was afraid to go abroad,
for, as he says, " every one that findeth me shall slay
me." Of whom was he afraid ? Why, he was afraid
of the Nephilim. But the Lord made a sign unto
Cain that it should not so be ; it is not that He set
a mark upon Cain. But as the rainbow was made
and set for a sign to Noah that God would not any
more drown the world, so He gave Cain a sign or
token that no one should kill him.

Seeing so many people lived before the flood,
you very reasonably ask why we have not more
traces . and evidences of these ancient folks and
their civilization ? The answer is that the violence
and extent in time and territory of such a catas-
trophe renders it impossible. Science teaches us
that the present beds of the seas and oceans were
the uplands of antediluvian days ; that, in fact, the
ocean changed its place entirely. On the highest
hills and mountains we have marine deposits, going
to show that these hills and mountains were once
under water. Be as conservative as we may in
limiting the force and extent of the Noahic flood,
we are nevertheless driven to the conclusion that it
was very destructive, and that it wrought wonderful
changes on this earth. Listen to Job xxii. 1 5 :
" Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men
have trodden ? Which were cut down out of time ;

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32 MORE ABOUT THE MEN HEFORE ADAM.

whose foundation was overflown with a flood."
Still, as we pointed out to you last Sunday, we
have scientific proof of such a catastrophe, and
more, we have abundance of evidence in the depart-
ment of archa-'ology of a pre-Adamite civilization
— a peculiar civilization, just such as the Scriptures
would warrant ; a civilization that was not only
pre-Adamic, but conterminous with the Adamic up
to the flood. The most formidable objections
against Christianity and the inspiration of the
Bible arc at once both baseless and unreasonable.
It is this all-comprehensive feature of the Bible that
proclaims it to be of divine origin. It is equal to
all discoveries, all developments and all progress.
It responds to the growth of mind and pure demands
of the age, as the forces of nature wait the develop-
ing genius of man. Electricity is as old as Adam,
but it was in the earth and air, silent and inopera-
tive, so far as being voluntarily controlled, until
man had grown able to recognize its presence and
enlist its services. Thus the Bible awaits the growth
of mind. And as surely as men grow wiser, so most
assuredly will the Bible be better and better under-
stood. I am sorry to say that many professed Chris-
tians wilfully set themselves against this law of Bible
expansion and do their very best to limit it, just
as some men set themselves against the improve-
ments of the age ; while, on the other hand, some
of our scientific men hate to acknowledge that the
Bible is so all-comprehensive, for it breaks the
springs of their infidelity and makes vain and void

MORE ABOUT TIIK MKN HKKOKK AIMM. 33

their boasting and claims. Tlic Bible is a grand,
good old book, and there is more in it than the
wisest of us have as yet got out of it.

The book of Job is accounted by all to be very
old. Have you ever studied over the pages of this
book ? If you have you surely must have frequently
wondered how the author knew so much in that
dark age and supposed infancy of man. Let me
quote a few lines of a scientific cast from chapter
xxxviiii. 30 : " The waters are hid as with a stone
when the face of the deep is frozen." Is not that
precise and expressive for a man in that far-off age
and country, in which ice was very rare, if there at
all. Again : " Canst thou bind the sweet influences
of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion ? Canst
thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Or
canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons." Those
are profound questions of a scientific kind ; the
language is beautifully astronomical. The very
questions convey some of the sublimest truths of
astronomical science. Take the first question.
"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades ? "
The Pleiades are the seven stars, called in Hebrew
cimah, which means an axle, that on or around which
something turns. Now, a few years ago, Professor
Madler, the German astronomer, was awarded a
gold medal by the scientific societies in Europe.
And why ? Because he was the first to advance
the hypothesis of the existence of a central body
in the stellar universe, about which ail else in our
system revolved. He fixed as that preponderating
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34 MOKK ABOUT THK MKN BEFORE ADAM.

mass upon the Pleiades, and upon the brightest
star of that group, namely, Alcyone, as the very
centre. Yet from Job we learn this scientific fact,
and Professor Madler had no special claim for such
a discovery, nor had he any right to such a medal,
unless he was a lineal descendant and heir of Job.
The real ^ruth of the matter is, that the church in
past time got so completely into the habit of spiritu-
alizing everything in the Bible, that nobody expected
to find it a book of material facts. But heaven be
thanked for this improved day. It is very curious
to note that the ground long ago abandoned by
the church has been taken up by our Spiritualistic
friends. They are going in earnest to materialize
spirits, while the churches, in a majority of cases,
are busy spiritualizing the material. Our spiritu-
alizing fathers were quite cunning after all, for on
the hell side they had things pretty solid. The pit
was deep, wide and strongly built ; the fire was
large, real, hot and searching ; the brimstone was
plenty and good ; the devils were fierce, powerful
and numerous. In this liquid lake-pit of fire and
brimstone were writhing and groaning, wailing and
burning, sinking and rising, myriads of souls of all
ages, countries and kindreds. To this hellish hell
they had been foreordained, predestinated, elected
and reprobatively remanded and consigned from
all eternity for the glory of God. This was, and is,
the material theology of some. This was theology
and materialism with a vengeance ; a theology
whose vengeance and materialism is only equalled
by its ignorance and lack of charity.

MORE ABOUT THE MEN BEFORE ADAM. 35

ire was

A brother minister who was present last Sunday
evening has written to me his opinion. He thinks
that I take the Bible too much in a literal sense,
and this view he has heard several other ministers
maintain. In my sermons on the ten lost tribes
that was the one great fault. In answer, I take
the liberty to say that my constant aim is to get at
the goldon mean, which I suspect lies somewhere
between the two extremes taught and defended by
the old school theologians and the Spiritualist.s. If
my friend and brother will think the matter over
carefully, he very likely will change his vic'y< , be-
cause he will discover a positive unfairness in the
old school mode of interpretation. How came it
about that these very orthodox teachers could make
hell so literal and material, and heaven so spiritual
and finely ethereal ? Perhaps my friend sees no-
thing unfair, but I do, in making out the Jews and
their prophecies literal, so far as curses and punish-
ments go, and then, calling himself a Gentile, steals
the good part of the prophecies by spiritualizing
them. All the bad belongs to the Jews, and all
the bad is literal ; but all the good belongs to the
Gentiles, who are spiritual Israel, and all the good
promises are spiritual, and, therefore, belong to
spiritual Israel. Let me say that I hope the day
is not far distant when such a disingenuous mode
of interpreting the Scriptures will not be practised.

The Noahic flood was a divine remedy, and
though it was a calamity, it was at the same time a
benevolent visitation. The supremacy of evil and

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the majesty of sin made a divine interference neces-
sary to stay the increasing and multiplying agencies
of vTong. God will not run a probationary world,
when the lost exceed the saved. To have con-
tinued the old world with its imagination, heart and
continued practice of evil, would have made God
responsible for such a sequence. The Christian
student can easily believe in the flood, because it is
so recorded in the divine revelation. The scientist
and intidel cannot reasonably object to it, because
geology teaches and affirms that at least six greater
catastrophes than this have taken place in and on
this earth. In this kind of thing the Bible asks but
little from any man's faith. A man wants faith,
great faith, and much faith in the miraculous, if he
would be a good geologist.

Sublimely terrible, widespread and wonderfully
complete were some of the changes pointed out by
geology. So complete some of these revolutions
that hardly a vestige of animal or vegetable kinds
were left to survive, so as to pass from one dispen-
sation to another. In the fifth epoch all life is
new, both in the animal and vegetable domains.
New kinds of birds fill the air, animals the forests
and fish the waters. The shrubs, grasses, plants
and trees are new. In all these grand revolutions
the Creator had a purpose, for He does nothing
without a reason. So you see the Noahic visitation
is a simple and small event in comparison to some
brought to our notice by geology. It no doubt
destroyed much. I do not think that all the differ-

MORE ABOUT THE MEN BEFORE ADAM. 3/

ent kinds of plants, birds, beast, fish and order of
beings that lived before the flood survived. Some
of them were cut off entirely, and new ones have
taken place. The Nephilim and the Nephilim-Gib-
borim were entirely destroyed. Not one of them
lived after the flood. They survived as spiritual
beings only, and as such they wandered about the
earth till Christ conquered them, and assigned and
confined them to a more suitable place, as we
pointed out to you in the sermon on Christ's work
in the grave, or sheoL

After the flood the Rephaim became more pro-
minent ; they intermarried with the descendants of
Noah and produced another lot of Gibborim, that
is, a mixed race. The word Rephaim comes from
Kapha, and means " tall and powerful." Their clan-
tribal names are Emims, Anakims, Horims, Zam-
zummims and Avims. (See Deut. ii. lo.) In the
Old Testament they are frequently called " Sons of
God," "Lords," "Giants," "Gods" and "Dead."
All these names are specially expressive. Because
they were large and powerful they received these
titles of gods, lords, giants and dead. Scores of
passages refer to them, and can only be intelligibly
understood by having a knowledge of them. The
tempter said to Eve, " Ye shall be as gods, know-
ing good and evil." And without doubt it was
one of the Nephilim who tempted Eve, hence,
said God, " I will put enmity between thee and
the woman, and between thy seed and her seed."
The psalmist, referring to these very Nephilim,

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several times calls them beasts ; and Moses said
the serpent was more subtil than any beast of
the field. These gods and lords God repeatedly
commanded Israel not to worship or serve. " God
spake these words, saying, I am the Lord thy
God, which brought thee out of the land of Eygpt,
out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have
no gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image^ or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth :
thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve
them." Here we see the first commandment refers
to the gods ; the second to the image of these gods.
These gods were veritable facts and persons. The
whole of heathen r^y'^''- logy had its origin from
these actual gods, who once lived on earth ; then,
when they were destroyed, monstrous images were
made to stand in their places. " God standeth in
the congregation of the mighty (Rephaim) ; He
judgeth among the gods." Again, " I have said ye
are gods, and all of you are children of the Most
High ; but ye shall die like men!' How plain the
words of the psalmist here. Of course the Rephaim
are the offsprings of God ; b^it they were to die.
Images couldn't die like meih A ntoreth, Chemosh,
Milcom, Baal, Adrammelech, ^\n nmelech, and so
on, are some of these deified Rephaim. These are
the gods that die ; but our God liveth forever.
They perish ; but our God remaineth. They are
mighty, and gods ; but our god is Almighty and

MORE ABOUT THE MEN BEFORE ADAM. 39

judgeth among the gods. In this manner does God
compare and contrast Himself with them. These
gods our God commanded the children of Israel to
destroy, and they finally executed this command,
til! not a Rephaim remains on earth at this day.
Traces of the Gibborim are faintly discerned along
the line of the descendants of the Philistines.

You will now readily understand the text, " Oh
Lord our God, other lords besides Thee have had
dominion over us." It will now be apparent who
these other lords were. " They are dead ; they
shall not live." The word dead here is from
methinty and has reference to the bodies of the
Rephaim. These bodies, Isaiah tells us, will never
have a resurrection. " They are deceased, they shall
not rise." The word deceased, here, is about the
only place where the word Rephaim is so rendered.
But how significant ; the body is dead and will
never live again ; and, though the Rephaim are
living in spirit, they shall not rise. Their doom is
to live forever without a resurrection. This punish-
ment and doom is the secret of the great desire
some of the demon spirits had for bodies. Having
once lived in bodies, they knew how to enter them
and control them. Well might one of these de-
parted Rephaim dispute with Michael the archangel
about the body of Moses — Jude i. 9. Among the
spirits that visited the earth in the days of our
Saviour, we may easily distinguish a Nephilim from
a Rephaim. The Nephilim, if found near water,
always prayed the Saviour not to send them into

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40 MORE ABOUT THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

it. We have a beautiful example of at once their
main desire and yet ignorance, and the masterly-
comprehension of Jesus, in Luke viii. 31. Some
devils, or Nephilim of the legion band, were assailed
by the Saviour ; " And they besought Him that He
would not command them to go into the deep."
They even preferred to enter some swine that were
roaming on the Gadarene hills. Their request was
granted ; for well the Saviour knew that even the
instinct of the swine would lead them to the
waters. Thus were the poor devils overreached.
Animals are noted for instinctive guidance in their
selection of an antidote. The deer, if bitten by a
snake, immediately runs in search of an antidotal
herb. These Nephilim spirits didn't like the water,
because, at the time of the flood, they were drowned
from the earth. Thus it is recorded of these spirits,
that they were not only afraid of water, but, when
expelled from bodies, they sought dry places.
" When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he
walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and find-
eth none." — Matt. xii. 43.

These peculiarities may strike you as strange
and unreasonable ; it is for the reason that we know
so little of the mode and manner of spiritual exist-
ence. Why, may I ask you, does a mad dog dread
water, and for what reason will this species of mad-
ness in man reveal itself first on, or at the sight of,
water? Some people think Scriptural facts hard
to believe, when within the range of their own
observation they have analogous facts equally as

MORE ABOUT THE MEN BEFORE ADAM. 4 1

curious. Some sixteen years before Earl Richmond
was appointed Governor of Canada, he was bitten
by a rabid fox in England. He was charged by
his physicians not to go near water in rapid and
spray-like motion. He visited a place in Ontario
called Lyndhurst. At this place he stepped from
his carriage to look at some waterfalls that were
tumbling over the rock. He looked but a short
time before he gave signs of madness, immediately
assuming the manner and attitude of a fox. All
mysteries are not recorded in the Bible.

The Rephaim — Job xxvi. 5 tells us — came from
under the waters. '^ Dead things are formed from
under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof" The
word dead here in Hebrew is Rephaim. Hence he
tells us where they came from. Perhaps they lived
in the inside of the earth before the flood, and when
the foundations of the great deep were broken up
they came to the surface. Many hold to the theory
that the inside of the earth is even now inhabited.
They came from somewhere, we must all admit. I
have not time to argue the point further now.
They preferred to live in caves, among the rocks,
and to be near water. They are no doubt the ori-
ginal Troglodytes of which scientific men find so
many evidences in the earth. Coming out of these
caves and holes, they looked as if they had come
from under the water, and as if they were dead
folks coming forth ; perhaps this is what Job means.
The text informs us that they are now all destroyed,
and can never live again in bodily natures. But in

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42 MORE ABOUT THE MEN BEFORE ADAM.

this same chapter Isaiah says for us, that " thy
dead men shall live ; together with my dead body
shall they arise." We are to live again, and have a
resurrection in Christ. Let us rejoice in our great
privileges.

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THE NEGRO.

DISCOURSE III.

HIS ORIGIN — WHY HE IS BLACK — COMMON HUMAN KINDRED-
GREAT NEGROES OF ANTIQUITY — THE MARK OF CAIN — EVOLU-
TION ANALYZED — THE COLOUR OF ADAM — CLIMATIC INFLU-
ENCE ON PLANTS AND MEN— COLOURS OF SHEM, HAM AND
JAPHETH — THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES — MISCEGENATION
IMPOSSIBLE.

Text— Song of Solomon, i. 6.

" Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun
hath looked upon me : my mother's children were angry with
me ; they made me the keeper of the vineyards ; but mine own
vineyard have I not kept."

ANGUAGE could not well be more ex-
pressive than the words of our text, as
to the origin of colour and reason of
slavery in the negro race. The black-
ness of skin is here attributed to the
sun, " because the sun hath looked upon me." Then
the oneness of origin of those whom the sun hath
blackened, with those of other colour, is stated in

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THE NEGRO.

the words " my mother's children." Those so black-
ened claim the same mother as those who are not.
We also learn that this difference in colour gave
rise to anger, distinction, alienation, inferiority and
superiority among the children of the same mother.
Those upon whom the sun had looked so effectu-
ally were despised and accounted inferior. In fact,
blackness became synonymous with inferiority, and
inferiority became synonymous with subjection and
servitude. Or, as graphically stated in the text :
"My mother's children were angry with me; they
made me keeper of the vineyards'' They were de-
prived of the right and reward of self-labour —
" Mine own vineyards have I not kept." How
concise and precise, how simple and scientific, the
delineation in the text, touching the origin of the
negro and the introduction of slavery. Bible-like,
great scientific facts stated in a few modest words.
Of Bible language we may indeed say Multum in
parvo, much in little. You may travel far and
read much to be posted on the negro question,
before you can get a better and clearer idea on this
subject than is given in our text. The Jews of old
were wont to say "to the law and to the testimony"
to test and to try questions in dispute ; so say we.
The Bible is more comprehensive and cosmographic
than most people think. I have been pleased to
learn through several letters received, and been
gratified to know from personal conversation with
several of our scientific men, that the sermons I
preached on the pre-Adamite Nephilim and Re-

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THE NEGRO.

phaim have done good in this direction. They all
admit that the Bible is more scientific and compre-
hensive than they had heretofore thought. It is
not necessary that because a man is rich that he
must be jewelled and showy, yet such we know is
often the case. Uniformity on this line of conduct
has fixed a false standard of judgment. There are,
however, some beautiful and noble exceptions of
men who are rich and powerful, but at the same
time simple and modest. Thus men writing on
these subjects, are, as a rule, gaudy and extrava-
gant ; they are exceedingly speculative and tauto-
logical. But the sacred writers are simple, chaste
and expressive, and because they are so, many
suppose that the truths taught are equally simple
and limited. Many theologians are to blame in
this matter. They have not been as judicious, cul-
tured and liberal in these things as they ought to
have been. Their bigotry and narrowness have
tended to diminish the grandeur and scope of the
Scriptures. From this theological standard many
scientific men have been led unwisely to form their
estimate of the good book. Naturally somewhat
prejudiced and anxious to be looked upon as dis-
coverers and revealers of new things and theories,
it was agreeable to them, to their pride and fancy,
to account the Bible a non-scientific work. In my
sermons on the Nephilim and Rephaim, I pointed
out to you how that the Scriptures taught and
recognized the existence of races of men outside of
the Adamic line, and that these very races meet the

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demands of science ; not only harmonized science
and revelation, but beautifully and intelligently
opened up many parts of the Bible, which other-
wise were difficult to understand and reconcile
with late discoveries in archaeology. God said to
Adam and Eve : " Be fruitful, and multiply and
replenish the earth," implying that it had been
occupied before, for so means the word replenish.
This is the meaning and idea again when "God
blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them :
Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth.

Appropriately, at this point, we may ask what
the Bible has to say on the negro question. We
see what it says in the text, and we know also the
remarkable saying of Paul to the Athenians, namely,
that God has " made of one blood all nations of men
for to dwell on all the face of the earthy and hath
determined the times before appointed^ and the bounds
of their habitation." — Acts xvii. 26. Some interpret
this passage to mean that the several races of men,
red, black and white, are identical in blood like-
ness, not in time or place of origin ; that we all
have red blood and warm blood. But such an
interpretation cuts the passage entirely loose from
the context, and swings wide of the aim and teaching
of Paul. The very doctrine which Paul is seeking
to instil into the mind of his Athenian audience
was the unity of the human races in parentage,
brotherhood and God-relation ; that they were all
the children of God, and all equally precious in
His sight. The passage, I believe, very emphati-

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THE NEGRO.

cally teaches the unity of the present races. The
whole tenor of the Gospel proceeds on this principle
in its provisions and offers : " For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!' —
Rom. X. 13. It is not for whosoever of the white
race, or red, but whosoever, black or white, bond or
free, Jew or Greek. We are taught that God is the
Saviour of all men. In the commission to preach
the Gospel there is no limitation. It is, Go ye into
all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature;
or. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations. There
is no limitation in time, territory, or races. It is
all the world, every creature to the end of time.
Now, it seems to me that if the negro had not
been human ; had not been of like origin and of
equal privilege with white men, there would have
been some hints of this in the great commission.
Touching the origin of the female part of the
human family, we find the Scriptures very clear.
The primary design of our creation was to fill the
world with a righteous seed. " And did not He
make one? Yet had He the residue of the Spirit.
And wherefore one? That He might seek a godly
seed." — Mai. ii. 15. Of course the same God that
made one Eve, or wife, could have made twenty
if he had so chosen. Surely the residue of the
Spirit was with Him. Only the good were intended
to be born, but the entrance of sin made an increase
of births necessary. " Unto the woman He said, I
will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception!'
We all believe that sorrow was multiplied, and as

THE NEGRO.

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surely were births. It is in u.*^ sense, and for this
reason, that Adam changed his wife's name from
Isha (woman) to Chavah (Eve), which means
mother of a// living. She was not made at first to
be the mother of a sinful race, only the mother of
the good ; but in the order of Providence, because
of sin, her who was to be the mother only of a
godly seed is made the mother of sinners ; thus
was she the mother of all living. The descendants
of Adam were commanded repeatedly to destroy
the Nephilim and Rephaim from off the face of
the earth ; but I find no such command given to
the white race to destroy the men of colour. I,
therefore, believe that the Scriptures teach the
unity of the present human races. Indeed, early
church history is in harmony with the Scriptures
on this point. Niger was one of the prophets of
the church at Anti-^ch, and this coloured teacher
helped to ordain ' and Barnabas ; he laid his

black hand on their heads. (Acts xiii. i.) Many
of the church fathers, as the early Christian leaders
are called, were black, not mentioning such men as
Euclid, the father of geometry, and the great Car-
thaginian general, Hannibal, who were of the same
colour.

You now ask how the negro became black ? In
trying to account for diversity of colour, men as
usual have gone to strange extremes. On a theo-
logical line the answer has been that blackness
was the curse of Cain ; that because of his sin, in
murdering his brother Abel, he was marked, and

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with many this is bch'cvcd to be the beginning of
the coloured race. It is curious to read the specu-
lations of the ancient fathers on the mark of Cain.
Besides thinking it was black, some thought it was
a sad countenance ; some that it- was blood spots
which he couldn't wipe out ; some that it was a
large horn growing out of the forehead ; some that
it was Abel's dog following him wherever he went ;
some that it was the circle of a rising sun on the
head ; some that it was the letter Tan on the fore-
head, which is the first letter beginning Tesfmba,
meaning, in the Hebrew, repentance ; and some
that he was made indestructible, so that the sword
could not pierce him, or fire burn him, or water
drown him. After the murder of Abel we find
Cain expressing his fears to God, stating that he
was ifraid to go away, because every one finding
him would kill him. The Lord is represented as
saying that it should not so be ; in other words
the Lord promised protection to Cain : " Vayyasem
Yehovah laqayen oth labilatte hakotJi-otho kal-
inotsao." "And the Lord gave to Cain a covenant
sign that none should kill him " is a better render-
ing of the Hebrew text than : "And the Lord set
a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill
him." In' this sense the rainbow was given as a
(oth) sign that the world should no more be
drowned. The answer, then, that colour began
with Cain is not satisfactory.

But what reply does science give to this ques-
tion } I may say that the scientific answer is, very
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THE NEGRO.

generally, that the negro is a distinct race — dis-
tinct in. parentage, time and origin. Reduced to
a common-sense meaning, they generally believe'
that the negro is a link in the chain of develop-
ment lower down, and preceding the Malayan or
copper-coloured race, just as the Malayan precedes
the white man. The negro is a connecting link
between the Malayan and the gorilla, and the
gorilla connects the negro and monkey, and so on
dv')wn to a very tiny beginning. This kind of an
answer is on the same plan as the following : Sup-
pose a poor negro from Africa should be set down
suddenly in New York, and I appointed to be his
guide. The first thing I showed him should be
one of our large ocean steamers. On seeing it he
immediately asks me who made it, or where, or
how it came to be .-* Oh ! I say, 1 will show you.
So I take him to see a large sailing vessel. I then
tell him that the steamer came out of it ; but he
goes on questioning, asking then where the sailing
vessel came from. I say it came out of a schooner,
and the schooner came out of a scow, and the scow
came out of a punt, and the punt came out of a
hollow log, and so on down to a small chip of
wood. If my poor visitor believes what I tell
him, he most certainly is a man of great faith.
These numerous answers, however, are not really
scientific, they are evasive and deceptive. The
order of development is as I told him — from the
chip and log to the steamer. Plan based on prin-
ciples pervades all. But the planner should not

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THE NEGRO.

be lost sight of, for the punt will not throw off
the scow without the planner. And we should
not forget, though there is uniformity and oneness
of principle, and things that are analogous in all, yet
they are each in their time and place independent
creations. So I reckon that there is uniformity in
all nature and principle, and much that is analo-
gous ; still that neither does away with the need
and fact of a designer, nor the independent crea-
tion of each order of creatures. From the floating
chip to the magnificent steamer there is continuity
and unity; but, at the same time, there is inde-
pendence and individuality. So, from the crawling
worm to noble man, there is an ascending unity,
but withal the independence of individuality is left
intact.

The best answer will be that which -is at once
scientific. Scriptural and natural. Such an answer
I believe to be possible. But it is all-important to
begin right. In order to do so, let me ask you,
what colour was Adam .'' I do not think he was
either black or white, for black and white are
extremes which are the direct result of climate.
Names at first were very expressive, not nominal
and meaningless as now. Our first parent is called
Adam, and so called by Jehovah. All agree that
the word means red. Why did God call Adam so }
I presume because Adam in appearance was red.
Here, then, is the point of beginning, a point of
great importance. You must remember that our
first parents in Eden were void of dress and arti-

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ficial covering^. As the face is now exposed, so
originally was the whole person. The colour of a
clean, healthy face in a moderate clime to-day is a
beautiful red. Red is the strong colour, and in
olden times was indicative of honour and power.
Thus in the Edenic condition and state would the
whole body appear and be. Paul says : " God
has made us of one blood {haimatos) — all nations."
Here the sacred writer conveys a double meaning :
1st. That we are made from one man — "TV ex
henos." 2nd. We were all of one colour or blood
once. Hence, however diverse in colour the dif-
ferent nations of men may now be, we were origi-
nally of one colour, and that was red. Black and
white I believe to be climatic sequences. Before
the flood, when men's lives covered seven or eight
hundred years, clime could make an impression
that it cannot now. Besides, I believe the atmos-
pheric conditions that prevailed before the flood
were very different from what they now are, and,
in accounting for colour, we must take these facts
into consideration. Climatic agency must not be
left out of any theory that would answer the origin
of colour of the different races of men. Our text
thoroughly recognizes climatic influence as a factor.
Nature bears witness in every zone on this point,
both in the vegetable and animal kingdoms. The
colour of flowers deepens and intensifies as we ap-
proach the equator, and the contrary is the case
as we approach the north. The yellow buttercup
becomes almost black as it nears the equator, and

THE NEGRO.

whiter and lighter as it nears the north. The bears
of the north are white and those of the south are
black.

With these facts in view, I believe that the de-
scendants of Cain became black as they spread
eastward and southward. Those of Abel went
northward and westward, and they became white.
And Seth, remaining in and about the country of
Eden, retained most of the original colour. Black,
red and white are the three imprints of nature : all
other colours are simple modifications of one or
more of these. Thus, in storing up the stock seed
in the ark for the replanting of the new- washed
earth, it would be necessary that a family of each of
these after their kind should be saved, and so they
were. The patriarch Noah is called their father,
agreeable to the custom of those days, as Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob are claimed as fathers. I do not
understand that Noah was the direct father of Shem,
Ham and Japheth, but being a patriarch and leader,
he was their father by Divine appointment. Shem
only was his direct son, whose vital force had not
been impaired by blood mixture or climatic varia-
tions. Thus it is that this same Shem lives some
thirty years after Abraham's death. You have in
the names of these three sons a clue to their colour.
Japheth, in the Hebrew root, means white, Shem
means red, and Ham means black. Why should
they be called white, red and black if they were all
of one colour .-* And how is it that their descend-
ants answered for a time in the early history of the
world to these coloured facts }

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These three sons being acclimated, it was the
design that each should repair to that part of the
earth best suited for them. So Heaven bid Noah
and his sons to multiply and replenish the earth.
That is, He bid them to scatter abroad. But they
set to work and built the Tower of Babel, "Lest,"
as they say, " we be scattered abroad upon the face
of the earthy The sin of Babel is apparent. Red,
black and white, as on this continent at this day,
were bound to live together and no doubt to inter-
marry. This was not then, and is not now, the will
of Heaven. So, by the strategy of the confusion of
tongues, they are scattered abroad to fill out the
purpose of Providence. God had a place for each
of these divisions in which it would be best for
themselves and each other. The bounds Divinely
appointed, man's aversion to Heaven's will, and his
love of gain, has caused them to trespass beyond
these. The miscegenation of the races is effectually
stayed at a certain point. If half and half, the off-
springs of black and white are born, they cannot
propagate themselves beyond the fourth generation.
A quadroon down south in the old days of slavery
was childless, and for this reason, though beautiful
when young, she brought a low price in the market.
When the prophet Balak advised intermarriage
between the children of Israel and some of the
Arabians, God forbid them, telling them that He
would punish the sins of the father upon the child-
ren's children to the third and fourth generation.
Thus far this evil goes, and, for physiological rea-
sons, it can ^o no further.

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THE NEGRO.

Scientists made a great ado some years ago
because they found in the ruins of the Temple of
Karnak, in Egypt, a large slab on which were carved
out in bas-relief figures of a white man, red man
and black man. The monument was made out to
be 3,500 years old, running up to within a few
hundred years of the flood. From this revelation
it was thought that the Bible doctrine of the unity
of the human family was entirely upset. Such,
however, instead of upsetting the Bible, in my
humble opinion, only confirms it.

Structurally, intellectually and morally there is
no radical difference between the black and white,
except what can be accounted for by climatic
influence and other attendant conditions. The
retreating forehead, projecting chin, large feet and
wool hair are the results of clime, usage and diet.
Dr. Livingstone tells us that the native negroes in
some portions of Africa were as finely formed as
his own native Highlanders were. The country in
which they were living was high, salubrious and
healthy. The negroes stolen as slaves were such as
inhabited the marshy, low lands of the continent.
The Jews of Nubia are black, and a small settle-
ment found in China are olive. Refined families
moving years ago into the Western wood soon
changed their colour and appearance. The climate
of the whole earth is rapidly changing, and the
whole change is favourable to the white races and
detrimental to the red and black, and as time
moves on this will become more and more so. The

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consequence is, and will be, they will perish, die out.
Though the whole human family is a unit in
origin, they are not in relation, trust and destiny.
The relation was prophetically stated by Noah
when he woke from his wine sleep : "And he saidy
Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be
unto his brethren!^ "And he said^ Blessed be the
Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant,
God shall enlarge fapheth, and he shall dwell in the
tents of Shem, and Caiman shall be his servant. —
Gen. xi. 25. Here we have stated the true relation
of these three races. Shem is to have pre-eminence.
Japheth is even to dwell in the tents of Shem. The
red-faced and healthy Saxons of the past and to-
day are the Shemites, and are, therefore, pre-emi-
nent. How marvellous and interesting the ways of
Heaven among men ! How comprehensive and
sublime the teachings of Holy Writ ! I trust what
I have said will lead you nearer to God, and increase
your love and good-will to man.

THE NEGRO QUESTION.

DISCOURSE IV.

MEANING OF ETHIOPIA — DUTY OF THE NEGROES — SEND THEM TO
AFRICA — THE COST LESS THAN KEEPING THEM — GOD'S LAW
OF RETRIBUTION— OUR INDIAN POLICY — CALIFORNIA AND THE
CHINESE — BEN BUTLER AND ZACH CHANDLER AS PHILAN-
THROPISTS — THE NATIONAL COLOURED CONVENTION — BISHOP
HAVEN AND MISCEGENATION — MORLEY PUNSHON'S MARRIAGES
— REAL CAUSE OF THE REBELLION — NAPOLEON THE GREAT
AND PP^ JSiA — MORAL IDEAS MUST RULE MATERIAL ONES —
. RUSSIA AND TURKEY — DISRAELI IN " TANCRED" — AFRICA ENG-
LAND'S FUTURE MARKET.

Text — Psalm Ixviii. 31.

" Ethiopia shall soon stretch'out her hands unto God."

N Scriptural phraseology this word Ethi-
opia stands generally for the country
of Africa, the second largest of the
continents of the earth. The word

itself, when analyzed, reveals a nice bit of history.

which otherwise would be very difficult to get at.

As a word it is compounded from four others. The

E in Hebrew, Arabic and all primary Oriental

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THE NEGRO QUESTION.

languages, stands for the female gender, mother or
beginning. T/ii is simply an abbreviation of Theos,
which means God. Opi is from Ophis^ meaning a
serpent. A means location or country. These
ineaningjs put together read as follows : First God,
serpent, country ; in other words, Ethiopia was the
first country that had a serpent for a God. This
vast country has had a strange and chequered
history. Early in the world's career it was assigned
by Heaven to Ham and his descendants. These
people became conditioned and acclimated to this
portion of the earth. Here they prospered and
multiplied. Once on a time they were as powerful
as any people may be in their God-appointed place,
but now they are scattered, weak, and, upon the
whole, degraded. Nor can they ever become strong,
prosperous, and peaceably settled, except in their
God-appointed home. This the enlightened and
scattered portion will not believe. They do not
want to go back to the land of their fathers. They
very naturally prefer to five among the white folks
and share of their civilization, even to intermarrying,
and this idea many of the white folks are unwilling
to admit. But both black and white should
remember that though God did make of one blood
all nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth,
" He hath determined the times before appointed,
and the bounds of their habitation^ We cannot grow
wheat in every place, because it is too hot or too
cold. The coloured problem is a Providential one,
and cannot be settled unless all parties are willing

THE NEGRO QUESTION.

to accept Heaven's will. Politicians are too partisan
in their theories, and others are too mercenary, and
the blacks, themselves, are too selfish. We have a
nigger in the fence, both socially and politically, in
this country.

In nature we have Flora and Fauna circles. In
this arrangement we perceive the Divine will. In
one Flora circle certain plants will grow ; if trans-
planted beyond their own circle, existence becomes
a struggle. The same is true of the Fauna circle.
Animals will live and flourish best in their God-
appointed domain ; if carried beyond, a war for
existence begins which brings into play the Dar-
winian theory — the survival of the fittest. ISow,
what is true of the animal and vegetable species
is also true of the several races of men. In the
same circle black and white cannot be equal. The
Indians' naturally, though unmercifully, perish in
our presence, and now that the negroes are no
longer slaves, they, too, will perish, if they seek
equality and abide in our midst. The duty of the
country is clear as to what we should do with
them. The vast continent of Africa awaits their
return, and the duty of the government is to aid
them. Of course many will demur against this
course, because such an undertaking will be expen-
sive. Now, such an objection would be of some
account if their staying was not costly Who will
take the trouble to examine the cost of each negro
now living in the country ? Any one so under-
taking will find that each coloured person has

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THE NKGRO QUESTION.

cost $2,000 at least, the interest of which this
generation has been, and is, paying, and the next
will have to pay. In this estimate is included the
national. State, municipal and other debts. By
the ungodly trafific in slavery we made gain for a
time, but this gain became finally our loss, and
Heaven has made us pay the same back. White
folks stole them from their own Ethiopia, and
hellish cruelty and bondage-tyranny destroyed
thousands of these people. African mothers wept
for the loss of their children, but Providence per-
mitted the law of retribution to come in force,
and thousands of white mothers have wept and
mourned for loved ones slain, crippled and punished
during our late war, and especially that portion
of our country which was the most guilty in this
matter. The equity of Adoni-bezek has been
meted out unto us, " But Adoni-bezek fled ; and
they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut
off his thumbs and his great toes. And Adoni-
bezek said, Three-score and ten kings, having their
thumbs and great toes cut off, gathered their meat
under my table : as I have done so God hath requited
me!' — Judges i. 6. Thus said an ancient Canaan-
itish king whom Joshua despoiled. The fact is
the act of emancipation is only half complete.
The negroes were stolen from their own country,
removed into a circle not theirs, and those who
stole them should seek to put them back in their
own land. As truly as God is preserving the land
of Palestine for the Jews, so truly is He keeping

TFIK NKdKO ()irKSTI()N,

and now opening up the vast continent of Africa
for the sons of Ham. We admit it will cost
money to complete such an emancipation as this,
but let me tell you that if they stay in our midst
it will be at a far greater cost. We have, indeed,
" a nigger in the fence." Peace policy is the best
and cheapest. Let us heed the teachings of
nature and God. Better by far to have given the
Indians a piece of their own country, and at all
hazards made them keep it, and keep ourselves
from coveting and stealing it. The past forty
years our government has spent on the Indians
$480,000,000. In other words : for our treachery
and cruelty toward this people Providence has
made each Indian cost us $1,600. On this, too,
we have to pay interest. And yet men talk about
taxation. If we wish to lessen taxes, get back
commercial prosperity, peace, plenty and security,
let us do justly, then Heaven will smile upon our
work and land.

Many object to the coloured people being sent
back to Africa because it would be cruel to force
them. One thing we cannot deny, it was cruel
to bring them away. It is painful to put one's
shoulder out of joint, and, in most cases, I suppose,
it is painful to put it in. But before this objection
can have force we must first try. It is certain that
thousands, yea, tens of thousands, would jump at
the chance to be sent to Liberia. The Coloniza-
tion Society aims to do this very thing, but it is
limited in its operations for want of funds. I hold

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THK NK(;K() (.)UKSTI()N.

that what they do the Government should do.
The United States should join with England.
England should prepare the way, open up Africa
— this she is doing — and we should furnish the
people, who, by training and experience, are now
competent to found States and homes in Africa.
While God has punished us for our guilt in slavery
He has blessed the slaves themselves. For no' one
can truthfully say but what the coloured people
of the United States are better off every way by
having been brought to this country. Even in
the worst days of slavery they were better off
every way, taken as a whole, than they would have
been had they been left in their own land. The
coloured people have no reason to grumble, except
that by comparison they are not as secure and
comfortable as the white folks. But they are more
comfortable and in every way better than their
unstolen relatives in Africa, or than they would
have been had they remained. I am a friend of
the negro race, have always been so, and would
not noM' do them an injustice knowingly. But I
must say that this question is far too important
fa degree in our political economy and legislation.
The Bostonians arouse to a pitch of frenzy, gather
together in mass meetings, pass resolutions, and
raise large subscriptions, on hearing that a few
negroes were leaving the South for the West, but
say nothing of California's rude assaults on the
Chinese, nor the rush of thousands of white men
into the Indian Territory — once the Government

4ii

HIE nk(;ro (jukstion.

had set it apart for the poor Indians. In my
opinion the negro would be as uninteresting an
individual to the Bostonians as a Chinaman if he
had no political qualification. Imagine the gene-
rosity and magnanimous charitable gifts to this
down-trodden race by Benjamin F. Butler and
Zachariah Chandler. The National Coloured Con-
vention has just closed this year's session at Nash-
ville. Before closing they adopted a resolution
demanding better education, and recommending
that the Legislatures of the States be memorialized
to adopt compulsory systems, and to dispense with
separate schools for the two races. Congress is
asked to give $3(X),cxx), the amount of unclaimed
bounty of coloured soldiers and sailors of the
Federal army during the late war, to be used in
establishing and maintaining an industrial and
technical school for coloured youth in the unoccu-
pied buildings at Harper's Ferry, or at any other
place of easy access. The tender of 20,ocx) acres
of land, by General B. F. Butler, and homes for
100 families, by Senator Chandler, were accepted.
The committee on permanent organization reported
the constitution of the permanent society to be
known as the "American Protective Society to
Prevent Injustice to Coloured People." Its objects
are to foster a National Union ; to protect civil
and political rights ; to facilitate educational and
moral improvements ; to encourage agricultural
and business capacity ; to encourage the purchase
of agricultural land and removal from all States

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THE NKdKO ()UKSTION.

where coloured people are unjustly treated ; to
improve sanitary relations among coloured people ;
to authorize the organization of the society by the
enrolment of a majority of the members of this
conference. This society is to be governed by the
officers elect of this and each successive annual
conference, who shall hold office for one year. A
resolution on emigration, asking Congress to ap-
propriate $50,000 to aid in the removal of the
coloured people to the Territories was adopted.
The coloured people are entitled to an education,
and by all means let it be compulsory. But when
they ask that separate schools be abolished they
ask too much, and seek a union that nature and
human instinct forbids. They ask an appropria-
tion from Congress of $50,000 to aid in removing
the blacks from all those States where they are
unjustly treated. That, in fact, means every State,
because the ideal standard of equality entertained
by them, and unwisely fostered by scheming poli-
ticians, cannot be granted in any State, North or
South. My friend, Gilbert Haven, one of the
bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, is a
widower, and he so thoroughly believes in the
equality of the blacks with the whites that he
thinks they ought to intermarry. Now, for myself,
I would not by force or law forbid the good bishop
to marry a black damsel, and yet, if he were to do
so, I should not think he did well or acted wisely.
But if Bishop Haven wishes to force his ideas upon
me, or upon the country, then that would alter the

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THE NEGRO QUESTION.

matter very much. Marrying is all right, and free-
dom of choice is right within certain limits ; for
the laws of consanguinity and affinity do most
assuredly limit the freedom of choice, and wisely
so. The English have for twenty years succes-
sively tried to pass a law in Parliament to permit
a widower to marry his deceased wife's sister. Last
week the bill was voted on in the House of Lords
and lost, although the Prince of Wales made a
speech in its favour and rallied his f-^>nds. Now
there are plenty of people who thi sk iiis restric-
tion silly, and I am one of the pltiity. But how
would you reconcile the following.^ Eight years
ago next May the General Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church was held in the
Academy of Music in this city. I was a delegate
to it from Canada. The Rev. Morley Punshon,
the English Methodist orator, was there also from
Canada. Dr. Punshon had married his deceased
wife's sister, and left England for Canada to evade
the law. This estimable lady has since died, and
the good doctor returned to England, and there
being no more sisters left he married, the third
time, somebody else. I was at a dinner party in
one of the mansions of this city during the confer-
ence. At this party we had several distinguished
Methodist ministers. In the after-dinner conver-
sation the question of Punshon's marriage came up
for social debate. Out of eleven of us eight thought
the English law of restriction was bad, and three
thought it was just and good. But what surprised
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me was that two of the three believed in the mix-
ture and intermarriage of blacks and whites, and
they thought that Congress was right in passing
a general law on this subject overriding all State
laws so as to make such marriages legal. Now,
for the life of me, I cannot understand how a man
can think it unlawful for a widower to marry his
wife's sister, and right for a black man to marry
a white woman. I am certain of this, that if I
were a widower I would rather marry my wife's
sister than the best and blackest negress I ever
saw. As a minister I will never perform the mar-
riage ceremony between a black and a white person.
I had the chance but once, and that was in Canada,
and I had asked them three Siindays ; that is, I
had published the banns of marriage for them. This
saved them paying six dollars for a license. I went
on the Monday to the house, and found a mixed
gathering ready to witness the wedding and take
part in the marriage festivities. But on learning
that the man was black and the woman white I
refused to wed them. But that didn't prevent
them, for they went right off to a Presbyterian
minister and got the job done.

** There is a nigger in the fence." By this saying
people generally mean that there is something hid-
den, something black. When a party advocates and
talks loud about one thing, and still means and ai is
at another, then there is said to be a nigger in th *
fence. The thing hid wouldn't do to bring to the
surface. So in connection with this whole coloured

THE NEGRO QUESTION.

question, there is a nigger in the fence. I am hardly
prepared to believe that Ben Butler is so in love
with the coloured people that from pure attachment
to them he gives 20,(X)0 acres of land. Now, in
many things I admire General Butler, especially for
his independence. But after all there are few per-
sons whose independence is so independent as not
to contain some little political craft. I think that
Senator Chandler gives 100 homes with the con-
sciousness that the gift is good policy. Because if
these two men were moved to deeds of charity by
distress and suffering, they would ere this have
raised their voices on behalf of the poor Indians,
who have passed through sufferings twice told those
of the negroes. I wish to God some leading poli-
tician would get the Indians a vote, for in my
opinion he then would procure them protection and
respect. It is because the black has a vote, and the
red and olive have not, that the black is a prominent
and preferred colour.

Had not the fathers given to the slaves of the
South a political quality, making three negroes
equal to one white man, slavery would have been
in existence to-day. This thing God permitted to
the intent that the very precaution taken to protect
and propagate this evil should in due time be the
cause of its overthrow. And so it has come to
pass. The Southern legislators wished to keep
equal voting powers with the North so as to control
the Government and protect their interests in the
special direction of slavery. The slaves couldn't

THE NEGRO QUESTION.

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vote, but their masters could for them. To increase
their voting power was but to increase the number
of slaves. This led to the struggle in Kansas. The
freedom of the slaves came that this voting quantity
might be taken out of the hands of the Southern
whites. The late war was for the purpose of retain-
ing it in the South. But though the war is past
and the negroes are free, still, having a vote, the
negro is still a disturbing element. The very idea
that led to the late war and emancipation will lead
to their finally leaving this country for their God-
appointed home in Africa. Of all the features of
the Divine government, there is none that is so
wonderful as that which permits men to destroy
the evil they wish to maintain. Our fathers gave
the negro a voting quality that they might preserve
and propagate slavery for ever, and this very thing
led to its overthrow. And now that power has been
augmented for the very purpose on man's part of
making and continuing the negro an American citi-
zen. But, as in the other case, the means to pre-
serve became the agent of conservative destruction,
so will it in this latter case. We will fight over the
negro until we all get disgusted, and the negroes
themselves weary and restive, until both parties will
think it best for the sons of Ham to go to Africa.
Ethiopa is already beginning to stretch out her
hands, imploring the children of Ham to return to
the land of their fathers.

When Bonaparte overran Europe and wasted
and conquered and subjected Prussia, he imposed

THE NKGRO QUESTION.

conditions on the Prussians that were intended to
keep them forever after a minor power, so as never
again to menace Franpce. He took away two-thirds
of the territory, and with it as many of the people.
And to secure Prussian imbecility, he took a guar-
antee from them that they should never have more
than 40,0CX) of a standing army. To keep this
guarantee they began the famous system of mili-
tary rotation, that is, they kept 40,CXX) and every
year retired 10,000, and so it came to pass that the
whole country became an army, so that when Prussia
got strong enough to disregard the limitation clause,
she still kept up the rotation system ; hence came
about her vast and well-trained army. This limita-
tion of Napoleon I. was the overthrow of Napoleon
III. The very thing which Bonaparte thought to
keep Prussia down with was the means of her rise.
The very thing he thought would secure the Napo-
leonic dynasty was the final means of its destruc-
tion. And so the safeguards thrown around the
coloured race will finally lead to their removal from
this country.

One thing has been finally brought out in con-
nection with negro emancipation, namely, that a
moral idea is superior to a physical or temporal
one. The interest of the people at large on this
question arose from a conviction that slavery was
morally wrong, and being so, it took precedent over
gain. This same idea was avowed and accepted by
the world in the late Russian war. The Bulgarian,
being a Turkish subject, had grievances of a reli-

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THE NEGRO QUESTION.

gious or moral kind. These the Sultan failed to
redress. But Russia took them up, and by this
proclaimed that a moral wrong is the greatest kind
of a wrong, and that such wrongs are not covered
or limited by any nation. On this precedent one
country can compel another to do a fair thing
morally, and so it will come to pass that we and
other nations shall see the will of Heaven on the
ngero question, and that will show us their place
and home. This heavenly will shall become a con-
viction, a moral right ; to delay to carry it out will
be a moral wrong. As the Hebrews were finally
delivered from Egypt, even the Egyptians who had
fought to keep them at last urging them away, and
willingly aiding them with means to go, so it will be
with the negroes of this country. God will make
both the negroes and white folks willing, and the
day is not far off when the people will be willing
for Congress to vote for more than $50,000, not to
aid them to go West, but across the sea to Africa.
There is a vast country of almost unlimited resources
in every way suited to the coloured race. Of course
it needs to be reduced to order. God has His ser-
vant Israel-England at work on this line getting
the house ready.

Benjamin Disraeli, in his novel, "Tancred,"
makes Consul Pasqualigo say, " The English must
have markets ; very just, said Barizy of the Tower ;
there will be a great opening here." Barizy
referred to Palestine and Syria. For he says just
before, having reference to English occupation of

THE NEGRO QUESTION.

Palestine, that Lord Palmerston will never rest till
he gets Jerusalem. How strange that the Premier
of England, who is in Lord Palmerston's place,
should have so written more than thirty years ago,
and live himself to be the Earl of Beaconsfield and
agent in the hands of Providence to bring the
same to pass. Africa is the next great market of
the world for England. The languishing and
drooping interests of commerce in England will
be revived by the opening up of Africa. The
money spent by the English people in favour of
the Africans in stopping the slave trade, God will
repay. The nation and people who serve God
will receive a good reward. It is a wonder how
the English people would permit themselves to be
taxed for the supression of the slave trade ; no
other nation or people would do anything of the
kind. The day of repaying is near at hand. Africa
will go into the hands of England, and at once an
immense market will be opened up. America
will contribute by emigration and again on the
line of universal concord and peace, England-Israel
and America-Manasseh will be one. The order of
Israel's march is from God. First she sends mis-
sionaries, then a consul, then a general, then a
fight, then conquest, then annexation, and then
trade. Thus is it that in so many instances the
church has contributed to commercial prosperity.
The army of England hardly ever precedes the
missionary. The result of England's conquests
in Africa shall be that there will be formed another

THE NEGRO QUESTION.

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dominion after the model of the Dominion of
Canada. Advocating this very thing, a new book,
by Major-General Sir Arthur Cunynghame, has
just been issued in England. The author has had
great experience in African colonies. " There is a
nigger in the fence," but he will be got out by-
and-bye. May the day hasten that shall bring
them peace and prosperity.

• III

' I m

COMMUNISM

DISCOURSE V.

THE FIRST COMMUNE — EXTENT AND POWER — NO SPECIAL LEGISLA-
TION AGAINST RACE OR COLOUR — THE MONROE DOCTRINE —
WHAT THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC COSTS THE NATION — LEVEL THE
POOR UPWARD, NOT THE RICH DOWNWARD —DIFFERENCES OF
COMMUNISM, SOCIALISM AND NIHILISM.

Text — Acts ii. 44.

"And all that believed were together, and had all things

common.

ERE we have a short account of a com-
mune that came into existence in Jeru-
salem a few days after the memorable
feast of Pentecost. At this time the
Holy Spirit had manifested itself through human
agencies in a remarkable degree, imparting pecu-
liar power and gifts unto the followers of Jesus.
Now, it is our intention to bring the commune
question before you in two or three sermons : to
trace the origin, aims and probable results of such
an organization. The importance of this question
at this time none will deny. In the past it has

COMMUNISM.

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played an important part in the rise and fall of
nations ; affecting, and materially shaping, the
social, religious and political conditions of societies,
churches and states. And now it is a factor of no
mean proportion in the state, church and society.
At present it is the problem that puzzles the
governments of Europe. It threatens their very
existence. It produces disquiet and uncertainty
for to-day, and is prophetic with terror for to-
morrow. Its forces and agents are widespread,
and yet at the same time very largely hidden. But
enough is known and seen to enlist the careful
consideration of the thoughtful and intelligent of
every nation.

In the United States we are not so completely
isolated as we are apt to think from the politics
and governments of Europe. Our ill-begotten and
worse continued policy of protection does not pro-
tert us from foreign influences that are antagonistic
to our welfare and prosperity. The foreigner
brings to this continent more than his clothes, old
chests of tools and money. He brings quite fre-
quently his infidelity, his antipathy to all govern-
ment restraint, his reckless ideas of socialism and
liberty. Many of them are like slaves set free ;
they know not the price and use of liberty ; hence
they confront both God and the law of the land in
violating the holy Sabbath, and in their demands
and claims of political freedom. True, they have
been as slaves, many of them, in their own country.
There they have been counted as minors, as

COMMUNISM.

children, in politics and religion ; for the church
and state nave be *n leagued together ; and by-
means of a select few, the many have been gov-
ern* I, having neither voice nor vote in the making
or changing of laws. No wonder then that once
they are settled here they should go to such
extremes. They are to be pitied ; but we are to
be on the alert to keep society pure, the cliurch free,
the Stages strong and the p^overnment compact.
Through these people the accumulated wrongs of
generations cry for revenge. They want no church,
because the church oppressed and persecuted their
fathers in times gone by ; they want no rulers over
them, because the rulers under which their fathers
lived tyrannized over them, They ask a freedom
which would virtually destroy freedom and bring
ruin to the church, and war and confusion in the
state, and uncertainty and insecurity to the social
relations of society. This country has a high
commission and a great work to perform on behalf
of coming generations and the whole world. It
has rated man at a higher valuation than ever
before. It has enlarged his status, increased his
privileges and augmented his power. Every citizen
is made a guardian ; the people are sovereign.
Hence our danger if we are not careful, and our
security and strength it we are. We give to each
man a double-edged sword, not to make an on-
slaught upon our liberties, but to defend them.
Let us be true to our commission ; and as we have
proclaimed the brotherhood of man over colour

COMMUNISM

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and race, let us not go back upon our own record.
For all communes must start here and end here ;
equality of birth and equality before the law, both
of heaven and earth. The atonement has been
offered ; the price paid for the redemption of
citizenship in this country. It was a big sacrifice
of tens of thousands of white men, for negroes to
become, and be accounted in status and law, black
men. The burden of the price is on us, and will
be on the next generation, in our debt and taxes,
a debt of some two thousand millions. In 1865
the annual interest was ii$ 1 5 1 ,ooo,chdo ; the debt
equal to $yS per head. This year it is $94,000,000 ;
the debt $41 per capita. Thirteen years ago the
annual interest per capita was $4.25, now it is
only $2. But this tells us the cost of raising one
portion of the human family into the brotherhood
of equality. Our religion costs us per year a little
less than a dollar per capita. So far then the first
principles of a true commune are established in
this land. So far as we can be, we are all free-
born, of equal standing before the law, and in the
security of life and in the pursuit of happiness.
What more ?

But what means this cry from the golden State
of California, " down with the Chinese " ? Who are
the Chinese ? What have they done ? How comes
it that special legislation is asked for, and against
this people ? How is it that a tax is put upon their
right of sojourn in our land, and that before they
can labour they must have a license and pay a

:iH

COMMUNISM.

special tax ? Commune men, is this freedom? Is
this what your labour reform means — special legis-
lation, special taxation on colour and race, license
to labour ? Oh ! shame on you and any of your ilk
that will try and throw us back against our own
bloody record ; that will wade through seas of
blood to redeem the black, and then curse the
olive! Boast not again that you are Irishmen ; for
Irishmen have too often and long been unjustly
discriminated against. Tarnish not the beautiful
record of your countrymen, whose name has ever
been synonymous with charity, courage and fair play.
Let the wrongs done to your fathers by special
legislation and discrimination of race appeal to you
on behalf of the poor Chinaman. Seek no reform,
advocate no cause, stand by no organization that
shall make colour again a test of humanity and
race a qualification for right to labour. You accuse
the Chinaman of labouring too cheaply. Never
mind, but remember this that cheap labour means
cheap living. Go in for making things so cheap
and plentiful that the poor may have what now
only the rich can get. Be a true labour reformer, a
true communist, for such I proclaim myself to be.
The religion I profess, the gospel I preach forces
me to be. I do not understand the gospel, or the
system of communism, that to be great myself I
must belittle others ; that to give myself a time,
place and reward for labour, I must debar others
from working. I do not understand the spirit and
intent of the gospel of Jesus, that either in China or

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America one man shall pay a tax to be a citizen,
and get a license ere he can labour, while another,
who is foreign-born also, shall be free. In the com-
mune at Jerusalem they had all things common.

It is the duty of the pulpit as well as the State
to study this commune question ; to study it while
it is in a formative condition, so as to incorporate
into its very being those great principles of the
gospel of Jesus and brotherhood of man, as made
manifest by the Saviour, who proclaimed Himself
one with the Father and His true followers, one
with Him as He was one with the Father. Thus
does the gospel teach that we are children of one
Father and brethren in the household of faith.
It is our duty to care one for another, and seek
each other's interest for time and eternity. Sub-
scribing to the doctrine of the brotherhood of man,
in the fatherhood of God, we send the gospel of
Jesus to the heathen, making known unto them
their high privilege and relation in Christ. So
Paul taught and preached in Athens, when he
said unto the Athenians that God had " made of
one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all
the face of the earth, and hath determined the
times before appointed and the bounds of their
habitation." — Acts xvii., 26. Here Paul teaches
the oneness of the human family ; the rights of
this family — all nations to dwell on all the face of
the earth. The times and bounds are reserved in
the hands of God. If we leave this commune
question and agitation to its present leaders, we

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COMMUNISM.

have in reserve a terrible future ; yes, even in the
United States. The famous Monroe doctrine, that
we take no part in European affairs, is like a jug-
handle, very much one sided. It says what we
will do, but takes no note of what they will do to
us. One form of communism is called the Inter-
nationale. In this form it is to be dreaded. It is
here that it can, and will crowd the United States
in a few years, for the Internationale is the fed-
erated form of national commune. This Inter-
nationale seeks to federate the communism of
France, the socialism of Germany, the Nihilism
of Russia, the Chartism of England and the labour-
socialism of America. The headquarters of inter-
nationalism, at present, is in Italy. By yesterday's
despatches we learn that trouble was created in
Florence because a leading member of the Inter-
nationale was killed in a duel, and that the soldiers
had to be kept in for fear of the populace. Italy
largely owes its unity to this society, for this
society aided her in her struggles with France,
Austria and the chui :h of Rome to independence.
In studying the commune question we find
it very diversified, widespread and successful at
times through the last two thousand years. It is
by no means a new thing, nor are we for a moment
to suppose that there is no reason for such a thing,
or to think that all its aims are violent and revo-
lutionary. Our ideas of communism are very apt
to be coloured by the blood and revelry of the com-
mune of Paris. We think of the reign of terror

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of 1 79 1 and 1 87 1, in Paris, when the communists
ran riot, when laws were suspended, and com-
munistic vengeance sallied forth to be revenged
on kings, priests and royalists ; when men and
women were slaughtered as cattle ; when the
Jacobins, Montagnards and Girondists were a
trinity, led by such men as Robespierre, Danton,
Manuel and Tallien. Or when in 1871 the people
ran wildly through the streets of Paris, crying
Vive le Commune, and men like Blanqui, Varlin,
Duval, Pyat, Grousset, Flourens and Cluseret,
urged them on to revolution and death. If this
were all communism had to show, or all it aimed
at, then we might reject it and cast it out as a
thing unfit for society. But, properly expounded
and carefully analyzed, we will find communism
to be worthy of our notice, not simply from fear,
but from the good that it contains and fore-
shadows.

The world is in a bad state. There are too
many poor and too few rich folks ; there are too
many ignorant, starved and cruelly treated, for the
-^w that are wise, well-fed and free. Nature and
labour are easily equal to our necessities, especially
with the improvements of this day, yet too many
cannot find work, and the few who do work have
more than their share, and are poorly paid often ;
while the rich are slothful and eager to escape
their share of the burden of life ; and their in-
dulgence, luxury and passion of fashion imposes
upon society a great quantity of work that were

COMMUNISM.

better undone than done, but which to perform
calls off men from the callings that are essential
and profitable. If society could resolve back to
primitive simplicity, or accept the principles and
conditions imposed by the gospel, the whole
world might soon have plenty to eat, drink and
wear ; with little labour all might easily be placed
in a condition of education, plenty and comfort.
Two-thirds of the world's labourers are engaged in
that which, considered by the standard of essen-
tials, are needless. Take, for instance, the drink-
ing customs of the age, and calculate the loss to
society thus entailed. I am not now pleading
temperance, but simply mean for you to consider
that which is consumed in mere indulgence ; the
unnecessary, as judged by any rule where men
dnnk to drunkenness and drink for pleasure and
habit. The cost of the drinkincr habits of this
country alone, as furnished by the government
return, is five hundred and ninety-five million
dollars, which simply means thirteen dollars for
each person in the whole country. Now what is
drank unknown to the government is no small
portion ; so much, I believe, that this vast amount
may all be reckoned as superfluous. Then our
smoking, chewing and snuffing costs us some ten
dollars apiece. Thus we have twenty-three dol-
lars for non-essentials. In the Shaker societies,
thirty-three dollars is all that is allowed a woman
for dress for a year. But this is not the whole
cost by a long way ; for it is easy to sec that a
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man who spends his money thus, deprives him-
self of food, clothing and house furniture of the
quality, quantity and variety he would have did
he not so spend his means. Thus, if he didn't
smoke and drink to excess, many million bushels
of wheat, and much more of meats and vegetables
would be demanded ; and manufactories would
have one-third more to do than now in every
essential department ; taxes would be greatl^ les-
sened by diminished crime. In New York city
alone the licenses yielded $300,000, and 'the pau-
pers cost $7,000,000. The whole estimate for edu-
cation was only about $3,000,000 ; and for the
whole State of New York, for the year 1878, about
$11,000,000. But at the same time $7P,ooo,ooo
were spent for liquor ; and of drinkers some
63,000 are arrested per year. Thus it will be seen
that these customs deprive the country of much
valuable labour and lessen the demand for the
articles of essential trade and commerce, and foist
on the good and upright the necessity and expense
of taking care of them. Is it any wonder the
world is in a bad state, and that men long for a
change ?

Think of the millions of men called off from the
useful pursuits of life to be soldiers, and of the
cost ; and their part of useful labour has to Ijc
done by others ; and in such countries as Germany,
Russia, France, England, and so on, the cost of
government and state pride. Tt is astonishing
that the masses are as quiet and obedient as they

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COMMUNISM.

are. Such impositions and ungodlike extremes on
and in a portion of the human family, Christ came
to destroy. Not that we are to destroy these dis-
tinctions by physical force, but by the power and
love force in the gospel, as in Jerusalem. The
commune spoken of in the text was the result of
the terchings of Christ. The love of Christ con-
tains the true elements of a commune. And when
the principles of the doctrines of Christ are accepted
and His love experienced, then the world will be
one vast commune, having all things common that
a purified society will need and command. The
communists of our day seek to equalize men and
things by leveling down and dispersing ; to bring
the rich man down to the poor man, distributing
the lands and wealth of the rich, and so making
all equal, which, indeed, if done to day would be
undone to-morrow. To equalize men without, and
not first equalize them within, is nonsense. Daniel
O'Connell's scheme of free lands and free and equal
tenants proved the folly of such a policy. The
gospel levels upwards ; for the poor and masses
need to be lifted higher up than the rich need
bringing down. The spirit of the gospel com-
mune will cut off from the rich the nonsensical
and useless and sinful indulgences, and it will give
honesty, sobriety and opportunities of wealth to
the poor. Thus will the rich and poor meet to-
gether on the platform of the golden mean of
human need and pleasure. The reformers and

COMMUNISM.

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agitators of to-day should study well the origin
and principle contained in the commune at Jeru-
salem. This commune was voluntary ; it was an
out-growth 'id embodiment of the love of God.
The Great 'i acher had taught charity, brotherly
love and good-will towards men. For He, though
He was rich, had for their sakes and ours become
poor that He might bring us all to God. He had
taught them that he who would be greatest in His
kingdom should be the servant of all. His doc-
trines are emphatically the doctrines of peace and
good-will.

The burden and waste of society are the price
of sin ; and to lighten our burdens in taxes or
labour, to make the rich man more generous or the
poor man more noble, we can best do so by teach-
ing, and preaching and practising the doctrines of
Christ. As a country we pay $29,000,000 in pen-
sions per year ; and why, and what for ? For the
waste and burdens of the late war. More than
half of our revenue goes each year to pay interest
on debt incurred. Think that for the past forty
years we have spent on an average, each year,
$12,000,000, or $480,000,000 in all, in killing and
keeping the Indians in subjection. Surely it is
not difficult to see where much of the waste and
burden of society comes in, nor is it very difflruH
to see the best and grandest remedy. Jesus Hf
Nazareth was no iilean reformer. His principles
were not unreasonable or inapplicable. I do not

COMMUNISM.

argue that the churches of to-day are all exponents
of His life and doctrines. No ; but this I do argue
— that, as yet, no better or more effectual doctrines
have been taught. Ferdinand Lasalle or Karl
Marx are not to be compared with Him, or their
teachings with His.

Communism in its present shape I freely avow
I do not like. I am a workingman myself, am in-
terested in all that pertains to a workingman.. I
have made this commune question a matter of
study, and I find, to my sorrow, that wherever it
is organized and has leaders, the great factor of
Christianity is left out. For this very reason the
organization in its present shape is dangerous and
threatening to the peace and security of society.
The communists hold that all property should be
held in common and divided equally among the
people ; no one permitted to accumulate wealth.
This is the chief feature of cummunism as taught
in France. The socialism of Germany is only
another name for the commune, and, after all,
communism in Germany is different from com-
munism in France. The socialists of Germany not
only believe in a division of property, but they
believe in the abolition of marriage and equality
socially. The Nihilists of Russia are communists,
l)ut while they believe all of what French and Ger-
man communists do, they go farther. They be-
lieve in an equal division of property, abolition of
marriage and social equality, and annihilation of

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COMMUNISM.

religion and worship. Thus they are fitly called
Nihilists, for they seek to destroy all the props
and stays of society.

American communism is as yet only developing,
and what it will be in maturity it is difficult to define.
We will see what socialism in America is likely.to
be next Sabbath evening.

:'• i

MANASSEH AND COMMUNISM.

DISCOURSE VI

TIME OF THE MILLENNIUM — COMMUNISM OF THt r.OSPEL — THE
FUTURE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT — THE THREE HEADS OF
ISRAEL AND JUDAH — AMERICA A TYPE OF THE MILLENNIAL
GOVERNMENT — GROWTH OF SOCIALISM — TRUE RELATIONS OF
EMPLOYER AND WORKER,

Text — 2 Tim. iii. i. \ J

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall

come."

TAKE it for granted that the last days
spoken of in the text answer to the
present times. These last days are the
days that immediately precede the mil-
lennium. The exact time of the millennium no one
can definitely fix. The best any one can reasonably
do in this matter is to approximate the beginning
of this glorious day. " For of that day and hour
knovveth no man ; no, not the angels of heaven,"
said the Saviour to his disciples. But, though the
day and hour are hid, the approach and nearness
of such a time may be discerned and accurately
known ; this the Saviour Himself taught the dis-

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ciplcs. "And He spake to them a parable: Be-
hold the fig tree and all the trees ; when they shoot
forth ye see and know of your own selves that sum-
mer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye
sec these things come to pass, knozv ye that the King-
dofn of God is nigh at Jia^id'' — Luke xxi. 29. Tho
generation which the Saviour was then addressing
would not pass away before all these things began
their fulfilling. The very seeds of the millennium
were then being planted ; the spirit and laws were
being imparted and enacted that would shape the
destiny of nations and ultimate in a regenerated
earth and millennium day. Heaven and earth
might pass away rather than that these words
spoken by the Saviour should fail of their fulfil-
ment.

At the day of the Pentecost the first fruits of
these seeds and expression of spirit and manifesta-
tion of laws were all made to appear by a special
and supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. " And
when they had prayed, the place was shaken whc re
they were assembled together, and they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the
Word of God vith boldness. And the multitude
of them that believed were of one heart and of one
soul ; neither said any of them that aught of the
things which he possessed were his own ; but they
had all things common, and with great power gave
the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus; and great grace was upon them all. Neither
were there any among them that lacked, for as

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MANASSEH AND COMMUNISM.

many as were possessors of lands or houses, sold
them, and broup^ht the price of the things that were
sold and laid them down at the apostles' feet ; and
distribution was made unto every man according
as he had need." — Acts iv. 31. In science, plants
have been produced from seeds in a few hours by
means of extra- 'rdinary agencies and forces of elec-
tricity and a combination of needful gases, so that
a plant has been produced in a few hours that
ordinaril) takes several weeks. Crystals that ask
centuries in which to mature by the laws of nature
are produced in a few moments by the art of
chemistry. We have a factory in Brooklyn here
which makes an ai:ificial stoic — the coignet, which
is quite generally used tor the front of first-class
houses. This sLone is said to be equal to any
natural stone, and much superior in many points,
because it can, in the making, be moulded to any
design and shape. The natural stone is the growth
of years ; this is only the product of a few hours.
To understand the intent r.nd signs of the da>' of
pentecost wc must remcmbsjr that while they were
supernatural they were at the same time natural.
Science and art in the things referred to do not
despise the laws of nature, but quicken them, and
speed them to their results. So the extraordinary
outpouring of the Holy Spirit at pentecost did not
override 6r destroy laws, but hasten them to their
sequence. If ever again the world shall possess the
same measure and power of the Divine presence,
either by a sudden outpouring or the slow accumu-

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lation of ages, then again we will have the same
manifestation, the same spirit, the same laws, the
same charity, the same brotherly love, the same com-
munistic state of society. For the doctrines of Christ
and the love of Christ could have none other effect.
It is as plain to me as noonday, that if we deny the
doctrines of Christ and be void of His love, then we
cannot establish a commune that will stand or be
just. The love-power of the father and mother pro-
vide better for the children than any and all laws
could make them. Let the human family become
one in Christ, having His spirit, being children of one
Heavenly Father, then the same operative force of
love will constrain men to mind the things of each
other, to help each other, to provide one for another
as competence and need agree.

The day of pentecost was a typical beginning of
a grand end. It was in miniature what the world
will be in its ripened fulness ; it was an exhibition
and production of that power of the gospel ; it
revealed the power, and showed what the gospel
could make men be and do. They had all things
common, and that common was plenty and good ;
so it will be in the millennium coming. They were
all of one mind ; so it will be again. There were
strangers from many countries, of many languages,
yet they were of one tongue and one consent ; so it
will be again. After the battle of Arrnageddon,
God promises to " turn to the people a pure language
that they may all call upon the name of the Lord,
to serve Him with one consent." — Zeph. iii. 9. The

MANASSEH AND COMMUNISM.

promises of a regaling plenty are time upon time
repeated by the prophets. After this battle and the
gathering of Israel and Judah there is to be no more
famine. Increase in the stall, orchard and field are
specially characteristics of those days. " They shall
come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow
together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and
for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock
and of the herd ; and their souls shall be as a waterec^
garden, and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
And I will satiate the souls of the priests with fat-
ness, and My people shall be satisfied with My good-
ness, saith the Lord." — Jer. xxx. 12. What more
could anybody ask than God promises for the days
to come ? People to be of one mind, one soul, one
language, plenty and gladness, freedom and security
in the fullest form. No famines, no pestilence, no
wars ; all men, that is, each head of a family, a land
owner. The whole world will then be one vast com-
mune, having only one king, one throne, and he who
reigns will reign in righteousness, chosen of Heaven
and guided by God. The United States, England,
France, Prussia, Austria, Russia and all nations will
federate to this throne : In Washington there will
be a president, also in London, and Paris, and Berlin,
Moscow and all of the great centres left. That the
kingly power will be removed from each country, I
do not mean to say ; nor that these countries will
have no rulers, or that such rulers will live in these
cities ; but I use these cities as standing for the
countries. No doubt America will have another

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capital ; one more centra! to the increased represen-
tation and enlarged territory. The English throne
is the only throne that will be preserved, because it
is a continuation of David's, and it will move from
London, and in place of it and the king there will
be a chair with a president in it, who will be elected
by the people. For when God does the great things
promised, or " that good thing I have promised ; "
thus saith the Lord, as the prophet says, "I will re-
store thy judges as at the first, and thy councillors
as at the beginning." — Ls. i. 26. Ranks and titles
will be done away. The privileged nobility in every
country will be reduced to the rank and level of the
establishment of a republic. At that time "their
nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor
shall proceed from the midst of them ; and I will
cause him (the king) to draw near, and he shall
approach unto Me, for who is this that engaged his
heart to approach unto Me ? saith the Lord." — Jer.
XXX. 21.

It is en this line of thought we may see the Di-
vine intention in His promise to Manasseh. For I
am one of those who believe in the promises made
to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his sons and their
posterity. I believe both in the spiritual and in the
temporal portion of those promises, neither do I
wish to eclipse the temporal by the spiritual, nor the
spiritual by the temporal. Old Jacob blessed Man-
asseh as well as Ephraim. He said that Manasseh
should become a people, and he also was to be great.
Jacob said of Ephraim and Manasseh that they were

MANASSEIl AND COMMUNISM.

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to grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
Judah v/as selected as the head, on the spiritual line;
from him was to come the great Ruler, Christ. Reu-
ben was naturally the heir on the temporal side, but
he was cut off for unbecoming conduct, and his birth-
right privileges given over to Joseph's sons. " Now
the sons of Reuben, the first born of Israel (for he
was the first born ; but, forasmuch as he defiled his
father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons
of Joseph, the son of Israel — and the genealogy is
not to be reckoned after the birthright — for Judah
prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the
chief ruler, but the birthright was Joseph's)" — i
Chron. v. i. The fact is plain ; there are three heads.
Judah's is on the throne of E|avid, and the throne of
Christ, for of Him is the chief ruler in Heaven and
earth. Ephraim, as one of the sons of Joseph, was
to be a head, namely, of a nation peculiarly his own
and a company of nations. Manasseh was to be a
great people also. The headships I find just as fore-
told by the old patriarch. Judah is chief ruler on
the throne of England, as Victoria is of the tribe of
Judah by the flesh. On the spiritual side of Judah's
headship Jesus Christ is in Heaven head over all,
for all power is His in earth and in heaven. Ephraim
I find to be a nation in England and a company of
nations in her colonies. Manasseh I find to be a
great people in the United States. These two tribes
were to dwell together in their island home. There
they were to renew their strength and multiply ; the
place was to become too small for them, hence Man-

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asseh will leave and become a distinct people ; then
after he has left, the people shall multiply, so as to
again ask for room to dwell ; thus shall Ephrrim
begin to colonize. " P'or thy waste and desolate
places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even
now be too narrow, by reason of the inhabitants, and
they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. The
children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost
the other, shall say again in thine ear, the place is too
strait for me ; give place to me that I may dwell." —
Is. xlix. 19-20. Ephraim stands for the ten tribes,
but Manasseh represents himself . The tribes first
fought their way to Britain and destroyed the early
Britons. The people who had oppresed them they
left behind in the East, hence it was called the land
of their destruction, and they that once swallowed
them up were then far away.

America has a grand commission, a glorious
work to perform, and victory will perch upon the
banner of Manasseh at last. She will, as "the
daughter of my dispersed," carry a noble offering
unto the Lord of Hosts. But for us and our chil-
dren much remains to be done. We have much to
learn and unlearn. We especially need to know
our providential place and functions.

The United States are God's great providential
stomach, in which He intends to eat up much of
the past. As the fleshy stomach performs the
office of digesting the mixture of foods and drinks,
and making one body from the whole, so Provi-
dence intends that this country shall digest the

MANASSEH AND COMMUNISM.

conflict of ages. Into this stomach shall be poured
all the climatic races of men — the black, red, olive
and white — and they are to become one — E Pluri-
bus Unum. They are to become one politically,
religiously and socially, as guided by an intelligent
instinct. It was hard for us to digest the black
man ; it gave the country a terrible and agonizing
fit of dyspepsia, but, thank heaven ! he was eaten,
swallowed, digested, and incorporated into the
body of the brotherhood of man in God. Now
the Chinaman is given us to eat ; he, too, is tough
and sticks in the throats of some, but he will be
digested in due time, and so with the poor Indian.
It is the special providence of this country that all
men, of every country, race and colour, may dwell
together in peace and harmony, and on this grand,
small scale, give to the world a type of the mil-
lennium day ; how, by separate States with one
head, chosen from the people and amenable to the
people, a country can be ruled. Seeing the end
and design of Providence in our very existence,
let us not flinch from duty, or turn aside from
fear. Let us remember these are the last days,
or troublesome times. The few verses following
the text will %\\q. you some idea of the next
few years to come. Nineteen virtues eradicated
out of a majority of society, and as many opposing
vices installed in their place — for if the light is
gone, we have darkness left.

The signs of a fierce struggle are visible in our
national sky, and of a fearful upturning of the

manassp:h and communism.

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foundations of society. A storm is brewing that
will burst upon us ere long. We need not be gifted
with a prophetic mind to descry some things that
are ahead. We see that communism in France
means an equalization of property — that the gov-
ernment own all, and the people be the govern-
ment. The chartism of England means very
nearly the same. The English government have
already conformed to this principle in some meas-
ures. They have possessed themselves of the tele-
graph, and very largely of the railways ; in such
cases the profits go to the people. In Germany,
however, communism is called socialism, and it
means the abrogation of the marriage relation —
society put on a level, socially. In that respect,
they are like the Oneida community in this State.
Communism is at present the farthest advanced
in Germany. It is looming up, as I forewarned
you some few years ago. In i860 it could hardly
be said to have an existence, but at the last elec-
tion one-tenth of the votes cast were socialistic,
they are both bold and strong in the Reichstag.
The following quotation will show you something
of its spirit, taken from a speech of Herr Hassel-
mann, a leading socialist : —

London, October II.

A Berlin dispatch to the Times says : " In the
Reichstag, yesterday, during debate on the anti-
socialist bill, Herr Hasselmann, a well-known
socialist agitator, made a violent though clever

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MANASSEH AND COMMUNISM.

speech, beginning- and ending with threats of vio-
lence and bloodshed, as results of repressive legis-
lation. He said that the people would hold those
responsible for the bloodshed who helped to frame
and carry the bill. In concluding his speech Herr
Hasselmann declared that if the pacific endeavours
of socialism were repressed the day would come
when the socialists would take up arms and fight
against their tyrants. The president of the Reichs-
tag interrupted Herr Hasselmann, called him to
order, and said that the speech was an incitement
to rebellion. Herr Hasselmann repeated his words
and was again called to order amidst loud and
indignant protests. He went on to say : ' I am not
personally in favour of revolution. I prefer pacific
means ; but if we are forced to fight we shall know
how to fight, and I shall be proud to lay my life on
the field of honour. Let Prince Bismarck remem-
ber the i8th of March, 1848.'"

The ladies have taken hold of it there. In the
Spring of this year the lady socialists of Berlin held
a conference of some 1^200 representatives. Frau
Hahn was chosen chairwoman. One of the mem-
bers of the national legislature, Herr Most, made
a speech, which was revolutionary in its aims, and
appeals against the sacred relations of society and
the church. In Paris, a short time ago, as many
as 100,000 persons followed, in funeral march, one
of their order to the grave. And in Berlin, when
Augustus Heinsch was buried, 10,000 persons were
in the possession, and he was buried in a cemetery
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over whose gate was written : *' There is no here
after, and no meeting again."

The Nihilists of Russia seek to level property
and society socially, and do away with religion
altogether. This society is at once the weakness
and dread of Russia. Its strength is seen, when a
jury refuses to convict Vera Sassulitch, who assas-
sinated Gen. Trepoff. The internationalism of
Italy seeks to federate all these societies together
and force a state of government and society agree-
able to their desires, which is to take possession of
the world. Seeing what communism under differ-
ent names is abroad, we surely are not incurious of
its aims and conditions in our own land. In the
United States it is yet in its infancy, and it is an
uncertain quantity, still it is here and it is fed from
importation and contagion. Outwardly, it is hete-
rogeneous, but really when carefully analyzed it is
homogeneous. By all fair reasoning this country
ought to be as unfriendly and destructive to com-
munism, as taught abroad, as Ireland is to venom-
ous reptiles. But it is not with what ought to
have been we must deal, but with what actually is.
It is patent to every serious observer that every
shade of communism, as taught abroad, has a
standing and representation here. Of communes
of a religious character we have more than all the
world put together, yet only one was started by
an American, namely the Oneida commune, by
Mr. Noyes, the Amanaites, Harmonists, Separat-
ists, Shakers, Perfectionists, Icarians, and many

MANASSEH AND COMMUNISM.

others as described by Charles Nordhoff, in his
work entitled " The Communistic Societies of the
United States." Why should this country be un-
friendly to communism ? because here the very
liberty claimed and sought after by such societies
is enjoyed.

We have none of the abominations and excesses
of aristocracy-titled families and costly royalty en-
tailed upon us. We have rated man high and
trusted him with much. Even ignorance, poverty
and immorality do not debar a man from being an
individual sovereign — having a say in making laws
and rulers by his voting power. In this thing we
have gone to an extreme, and in it is our danger.
For we have put into the hands of ignorance, pov-
erty and immorality the use and keeping of very
precious gifts. Let us haste to enlighten, to enrich
and ennoble the masses, that these gifts may be
rightly and wisely kept and used.

To-day a socialistic picnic has been held in
Ridgewood park, under the patronage of the Social-
istic labour party of Brooklyn. This irreverence
and Sabbath-breaking is a bad feature of American
communism. Workingmen have nought to gain,
but much to lose, by doing anything to lessen the
power of Christianity in the land. True, there are
many needful reforms to be brought about ; yet
capital and labour will have to understand each
other better, and take each other into a more inti-
mate relation. Our government has been very
imprudent and improvident in creating monopolies

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MANASSEH AND COMMUNISM.

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and wasting the heritage of the people's land.
We cannot expect a railway to pay which cost
eighty million dollars, when the stockholders double
that amount ; that is, water their stock one-half,
and then expect seven per cent, interest on one
hundred and sixty million dollars. And, because
their profits in hard times won't pay that interest,
they fall back upon the workingman and lower his
wages. True, again, many bought these stocks at
advanced prices ; still it is no reason why the
workingman should be made to pay. I presume
there is hardly a railway in the country but what
would pay interest upon the bona fide investments.
To adjust the accumulated grievances of the past
is going to tax the best talent in the country, and
the best and wisest legislation. We need the mo.st
vigorous and prompt attention to the education of
the young, and the boldest, and yet most loving,
efforts of the church. Manasseh is going to be
severely tried by political factions, monopolists and
communistic elements. Let us prepare for the
day, and be found on the Lord's side — especially
you who are of the working class. In God you
have a true friend ; in His religion, the true spirit
and principles of a world-wide commune.

Next Sunday evening we will notice the com-
mune that will finally be established, and how and
where,

KING. PEOPLE AND GOD ONE.

DISCOURSE VII.

MODERN SCIENCE TO BE EXCELLED BV THE URIM AND THUMMIM
— SOLUTION OF COMMUNISM— TRUE PRINCIPLE OF TAXATION
— LFVEL PEOPLE UPWARD — MONOPOLISTS " ARE ONE WITH
THE devil" — THE CHURCH SHOULD HAVE NO POOR KINGS
DISAPPEARING — TRIBtrTE TO MR. BERGH — THE GREAT CHRIS-
TIAN COMMUNE COMING.

Text— Zachariah xii. 8.

"In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jeru-
salem, and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as
David ; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of
the Lord before them."

|HE word David in the tpxt is used in a
generic sense ; just as we use the words
king, emperor or president ; like as the
Egyptian ruler was called Pharaoh. It
is a title given in prophecy to the successor of David
on the throne of David. At the time spoken of, a
king will reign in righteousness ; he will be firmly
established upon his throne in Jerusalem, with most
of the nations of the earth federated to it. Being
in the heavenly line of kings, he will be emphatically
a king by divine right ; a successor of David and a

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forerunner and type of Christ. " Behold the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a
righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper
and shall execute justice and judgment in the earth."
— Jer. xxiii. 5. This king will be instructed and
guided by heavenly wisdom and light, like as in the
kingdom of Israel and Judah in olden times. The
ark of the covenant and in the Urim and Thummim,
now buried in the ruins of Tara, in Ireland, or some-
where else, will be brought to view and used for
sacred purposes. For this end these things were hid
by the prophet Jeremiah from the greed and destruc-
tion of Nebuchadnezzar, when he destroyed Jerusa-
lem and despoiled the temple of its rich and precious
furniture. In that day a new temple will have been
built, as laid out by Ezekiel in the last chapters of
his prophecies, and these Mosaic instruments and
symbols of the divine presence will again be installed
in theii ght place to fulfill the functions originally
intended. They will constitute and be a phonograph
far surppassing Prof Edison's and an agephone
greatly exceeding that of Israel D. Jewett, and a
telemachon much in advance of Prof C. W. Siemen's.
Spiritualism, pure and undefiled, will then be an
established fact ; heaven and earth will be near each
other, and God and man will be en rapport. The
gleaming, visible majesty of the Divine presence
will again rest between the cherubim on the mercy-
seat. The shekinah shall once more write, speak
and execute the will of heaven on earth. That por-
tion of the Lord's prayer in which we ask that the

klNC, I'KOPLK AND GOD ONK.

103

will of God may be done on earth as in heaven, will
then be well nigh answered.

In the text we learn that God, the king and the
people are to be one, a three-fold cord. The king
is to be to the peoi51e as the angel of the covenant,
which led and defended the hosts of Israel and
Judah through the wilderness. The poorest, nay
the feeblest among them, shall be equal to the
king; equal rights and privileges accorded to all —
as in the beloved gospel of Jesus — "the rich and
poor dwelt together, the Lord is the maker of them
all " ; so at this time the king and people shall be
equal. A commune is yet to be established that
shall be as safe as it will be generous, and as gener-
ous as the needs of humanity. It will not take much
to run a world, in labour or law, when every man
becomes willing to assume his share. Ten thousand
laws and ten thousand luxuries will then become
obsolete. A person honestly disposed can easily
keep the laws of this country, though he be ignorant
of nine-tenths of them. The better a man is, the
less are his claims, for he throws away all useless
luxuries and extravagances ; the more honest a man
is the more does he retire laws ; for of the many
laws, few will ask aught at his hands.

In the communistic societies of this country we
have some remarkable examples of what joint
labour and brotherhood can accomplish. Take the
Shakers, and we see what a little toil will produce,
when divided according to the ability. Leaving
out their idiosyncrasies of faith — looking at them

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104

KING, PEOPLE AND GOD ONE.

as a family from a material point, and we see the
commune question solved. Superintendent Pils-
bury reports the receipts of the state prison, Sin^
Sing, for the past year to be $43,000 over expendi-
ture. Four years ago, when this* prison was under
political inspectors, the deficit used to be $50,000
or so per year. Here, in a commune, or brother-
hood of prisoners, we see how joint labour can be
made productive. Our marvellous progress in the
arts and sciences, as indicated in modern inven-
tions and appliances, is fast reducing labour to
exercise, and toil to business. If the next fifty
years be as fruitful in inventions as the past fifty,
labour and toil will be reduced to a very low point.
The coarser quality of toil and the burden of labour
will be entirely removed from muscle to steam, from
brain to machinery. Man will be displaced by
nature, that he again may become its lord — at least
• its servant — rather than its slave as heretofore.

By means of machinery now one man in iron
and steel work can produce as much as eighty did
fifty years ago ; in mining, as much as fifty ; in
navigation and transportation, as much as one
hundred and seventy-five ; in sewing, as much as
sixty ; in shoemaking, as much as four hundred ;
in knitting, as much as two thousand ; in weaving,
as much as three hundred ; in printing, as much
as five hundred ; in farming, as much as seven.
And so in every department there is an enormous
displacement of human labour by the use of ma-
chinery. This improvement will continue until

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KING, PEOPLK AND GOD ONE.

105

man's needs will be easily supplied. Then it will
not be necessary to en.^lave the many to keep the
few. Then, rare things, and needed things, and
precious things, will become so plentiful and cor-
respondingly cheap, that the poor will be able to
have what now only the rich can get. Taxes will
then be much less, and a better and wiser means
of raising them will be adopted. Taxes will be
light, and thus things will be cheaper ; hence the
con.-5umption greater. The little tax on much will
raise more for the revenue than the much tax on
the little. This problem the English government
solved a few years ago ; taxes were decreased and
the revenue correspondingly increased. Then, for
the first time, the English exchequer had a surplus
of income over its outgo. People v/ill use more
and a better quality if things are cheap. Every
thing we need wants to be produced so cheaply
and plentifully that all can have that need, like
corn and wheat in the Western States : a bushel
of corn for ten cents, a bushel of wheat for twenty
cents ; then all may have bread. Charity would
then have her binding bands loose ; for to feed a
destitute family would be no great sacrifice with
grain so cheap and plenty.

I am a communist. I do not, however, wish the
riches of the rich divided to me, but riches so multi-
plied that I become rich. I would rather level
society upward than downward. I do not want the
intelligence taken from the learned and divided
among the ignorant, but the ignorant instructed,

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KING, PEOPLE AND GOD ONE.

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and so made equal to the learned. I believe in
levelling upward. In God's rich earth, air and sun,
there is enough for all. If workingmen who are
now complaining of hard times understood the
secret of their power, the times could soon be made
better. We are afflicted as a nation, like other
nations in Europe, with having too many mechanics,
and by far too few farmers. Every country should
do that which it can do the best, the easiest and
cheapest ; if so, our special province and work is
clear. Away with protection. Let us feed the
world ; for this we can do. Chicago, in 1838, ex-
ported seventy-eight bushels of corn, now she can
export corn and wheat by the millions of bushels.
We are now only poor comparatively. Think of
the world a hundred years ago. The following
from a paper of that time will give us some idea of
hard times :

In 1776, Dunlop's Weekly Packet, published in
Philadelphia, contained a brief advertisement to
the effect that the city cart for broken victuals
made its rounds every evening, and householders
were urged to contribute, as the need of the pris-
oners was great. Our exchanges for the same
week in 1876 contain the brief announcement that
the wheat crop of the West promises to be fair.
It is worth our while to look into the meaning of
the two notices. The prisoners were in truth near
starvation, their allowance being half of a four-
penny black loaf per diem ; for all else they were
dependent on the refuse from kitchens, collected

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KING, PEOPLE AND GOD ONE.

[07

each day in a barrow. Prisoner.s in England at
that date were worse off, being chained in cages
and left to beg loudly for food from passers-by.
Fifteen years later, during Washington's adminis-
tration, the need of the poorer classes in the capi-
tal of the new Republic was so great that footpads
attacked men on the principal streets. In London,
hangings of the purloiners of loaves of bread were
frequent. The rich as well as the poor lived on
oats and barley, and they were scarce enough.
"Only a wealthy family," says Eden, in 1797,
''could afford in Cumberland a peck of wheat
flour yearly, and that at Christmas. Not a penny
white loaf was to be found in towns as large as
Carlisle." Meat was a luxury almost unknown to
the English and French peasant. In short, there
was not enough food in the civilized world for its
inhabitants. The gnawings of hunger drove as
many emigrants to our shores as did religious per-
secution ; and if Louis XVI. could have filled the
empty stomachs of the Jacquerie, there is every
probability that he might have died comfortably
in his bed. America brought very little food then
into the world's market ; the narrow strip of soil
rescued from the forest, along the sea coast, barely
sufficed to feed her own colonists, and that so
scantily that the influx of a small number of
troops into a province produced a famine. In
Asia, the need of new producing fields was felt
more sharply then than in Europe ; and it has in-
creased with every year since. So near to famine

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KING, PEOPLE AND GOD ONE.

does the overcrowding of population bring the
poorer classes of China, that the practice of in-
fanticide pleads a horrible sort of quasi justifica-
tion on the ground of humanity. Thousands of
families live the year round on the yield of a scanty
rice field.

Manasseh should become the great bread sup-
plier of the world ; he should not try to be a world
in himself The aristocratic families of Europe
have long and persistently tried to be a distinct
world of themselves, and married and intermar-
ried ; but Heaven soon bars their way by making
them childless, first warning them by feeble and
imbecile heirs, then He finally cuts them off. We
need not, and ought not, to be suffering as we are.
A country whose food products surpass her de-
mand ought to be impregnable to crises like what
we are now passing through. But the affliction is
Heaven's warning against our selfishness, extrava-
gance and corruption. Take China as an example.
Fifty years ago we exported to that country over
$6,000,000 worth, and last year only about a mil-
lion. Oh ! for some christian statesman who will
lead the people, and shape the policy of this country
agreeably to its divine intent.

A sick man will keep experimenting in medi-
cine because he is sick ; so men will keep organiz-
ing and agitating as long as the country is sick.
And surely the country is sick, when for the nine
months of this year we have had 8,678 failures
with liabilities at $197,000,000. While some of

KING, PEOPLE AND GOD ONE.

109

these failures are honest, we know that many of
them are the result of a rascality unprecedented.
No wonder that Kearneyism, or any other ism
that proposes a change, should find favour with
the masses. Nor do we need to wonder that the
working-class is being estranged from the masters
and rich folks when we think of the swindling of
the past and laxity of the law. The position of
the ruling class in the country is one of insecurity
and danger. The masses will not much longer go
hungry and idle in the midst of plenty. The past
two summers we had warning of the temper and
spirit of society. The wild yell of an enraged mob
will be heard in the street ere long if master minds
and loving hearts do not take matters in hand.
The leaders among the working-class, as a rule,
are unsafe ; they are dangerous.

The work-people — the people who need assist-
ance — need to be taught many things ; especially do
they need to be taught better and more rational
feelings towards society, or the rich. * * *
They are as sheep that have no shepherd. Nobody
cares to teach or guide them, except those who are
labouring for a complete re-organization of society
on a plan which rejects the results of the world's
experience, culture and civilization ; and which
seeks the abolition of nationality, art, religion, sci-
ence and individual property. Christianity intro-
duces a higher element into human society, and
substitutes fraternal justice for the other law. The
potion needs will, spirit, life — a conviction of the

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KING, PEOPLE AND (iOI) ONE.

imperative necessity of strenuous work for self-
preservation on the part of the superior and culti-
vated classes. The fraternal relations of the people
need to be strengthened, or else the times will
grow worse for all classes, until all the people will
suffer the effect of the evils which now press most
sharply upon the workingmen.

We are afflicted in this land, as well as they arc
in some other lands, with too many princes and
kings. We have railway kings, iron kings, silver
kings, political kings, bank kings, and kings of
many kinds. They are not like the king spoken
of in the text ; they are not one with the poor and
feeble, neither are they one with God. But they
are one among themselves and one with the devil.
Civilization, especially Christian civilization, as it
progresses destroys gods and kings. The next fifty
years will be specially devoted to this work.

When a missionary goes to the heathen, his
first, continued, and last work, is to destroy gods by
the substitution of the one true and living God in
their place. Men are not naturally infidels ; they do
not go without a god. Infidelity is only a product
of a superior civilization, and comes as naturally
as the gout to the nobility, the lazy and well-fed.
The heathen, not knowing the true God, yields to
the instinctive promptings of his nature, and makes
one ; or installs the sun, moon, stars, winds, beasts,
rivers and mountains into gods. So men feel the
instincts of brotherhood, and, not being guided
aright, they club together in iniquity. Others, more

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KING, PEOI'LE AND GOD ONE.

I I I

zealous and intelligent, seek to realize a brother-
hood ; hence the many efforts to form communistic
societies. The best form of brotherhood ought to
be found within a church. The church, sincere and
saved of Christ, should approach quite near to Pen-
tecostal times. There should be no real want of
the essentials of life among members of a church.
Church membership should put a man of honest
and loving endeavour beyond want. No man should
say he lacks aught of the essentials, if a church
membe , Every church should keep its own poor.
I would not serve any, for any price, that would let
a member perish, or be forced to go to the world or
corporation for relief. The rich in Christ must help
the worthy and needy poor. In the church, the
true commune should start and perfect itself. Of
course such a rule of charity practised will render
it necessary for the minister and members to be
careful who they admit, and how each and every
member walks and lives. It is a shame for any
church or minister to permit one of their own fold
to go to the ungodly to beg bread. Every corpora-
tion should look after the sinner, and every church
after the saints.

This part of Christianity our Quaker friends
have finely exemplified. This part also our brethren
of Judah have well kept. The late Pope Pius
would not have died with $30,000,000 in the bank if
this principle had full sway in the Catholic church.
Roman Catholicism is a failure, because it impov-
erishes and keeps poor the poor of its persuasion.

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KING, I'EOPLK AND GOD ONK.

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As the kin^ in the text is to be one with God, and
the feeblest one with Him ; so the Pope, professing
to be just this, namely, God's vicegerent on earth,
should have been more exemplary. The Czar of
Russia, the Emperor of Prussia, the Queen of Eng-
land, each of which professes to be heads of tbe
Church, namely, the Greek, Lutheran and P^pisco-
palian, should draw nearer to God and the people
to answer the meaning of the text. Thank heaven
that there is coming a time when the earth shall be
content with one king. This work I see is nobly
pushing on.

In Christendom there are thirty-six reigning
sovereigns. Ten of these are Roman Catholic ; of
the remaining twenty-six, two of them, the Czar
and the King of Greece, belong to the Greek
Church ; twenty- four of them are Protestants,
namely, sixteen Lutherans, and three belong to
the Reformed Church, and one, the Queen of Eng-
land, to the Episcopalian. She has, however, under
her a great number of Catholics and Hindoos, and
she has more Mohammedan subjects than Protes-
tants. The Emperor of Russia and the Queen of
England have been used very extensively to be-
head kings and queens, and the work must go on
until there will be only one left.

Take India, for instance. Here are sixteen
large nations, of many different languages ; now
these sixteen kings have been destroyed, and the
Empress of India, the Queen of England, has been
installed in their plact. The Indian nations con-
quered are :

KINfi, PFOPLK AND COH ONK.

113

1. The Bengalesc nation, 36,003,000 of a popu-
lation.

2. The TelufTus, with a population of 14,000,000.

3. The Tamils, who numbered 16,000,000.

4. The Malayan counted 3,000,000.

5. The Canarese, 8,000,000.

6. The Mahrattas, 13,000,000.

7. The Oriya, 5,000,000.

8. The Santhals, 5,000,000.

9. The Guzarathis, 6,000,000.

10. The Sindis, 1,000,000.

11. The Shihks and Punjabis, i.?,ooo,ooo.

12. The Hindusthanis, 80,000,000.

13. The Burmese, 3,000,000.

14. The Assamese, 3,000,000.

15. The Cingalese, 2,000,000.

16. The hill races, 1,000,000 ; a total of 208,-
000,000. Besides, in many of the fifty-six colonies
of the British Empire, kings were wont to reign.

Again, take Germany, and here many kings have
been destroyed, and many more will soon be. Of
all the countries of the world, none is so afflicted
with kings, princes, dukes and titled lordlings.
From this king-bed nearly all the kings and princes
and rulers of Christendom have come. Germany,
at present, has twenty-four sovereign kings, dukes,
and princes. This does not include the Emperors
of Prussia or Austria. In the late war with Austria,
Prussia took the heads off four kings, namely,
Hanover, Hesse, Hamburg and Holstein. Of
course, Bavaria, Wurtemburg, Mecklenburg, Baden
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KINCJ, PKOI'LK AND (iOI) ONR

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and many others arc doubly kinj;cd — for the Kin^
of Prussia is king of kings, or emperor. Of these
kingdoms some are quite small, but taxes to sustain
kingly pomp and courtly parade are needed and
drawn from the people.

Russia, too, is engaged taking off the heads of
kings. Eight crowns have been joined to this
empire, which are the following : Siberia, Crimea,
Krusinia, Finland, Poland, Kasan, Astrakan and
Kiew ; and Russia is after more. This centraliza-
tion must go on until the great battle of Arma^
geddon. The rulers will then be few and great,
and when conquered only one will be left.

The communistic movement is on the same line.
The work of decapitation will go on. God can,
does, and is now using saints and sinners in bring-
ing about His glorious purposes.

In Greenwood Cemetery, near the main entrance,
there is a monument erected to a Frenchman, Louis
Bonard. This man, when living among us, believed
in the transmigration of souls — that when we die
our souls may enter this world again as a horse,
a cow, a dog or bird. This belief we may think
strange, and ask what good can come from such
a faith. Ah, see how God converts the fancies
and machinations of men to His own glory and
our good. Louis Bonard was quite wealthy, care-
ful and provident while living ; when he died he
left much of his well-earned fortune for benevolent
purposes. Among his bequests was one of $200,000
to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,

KINd, I'EOl'Ll-: AND (iOl) ONK.

Indeed, he made that society what it is, and Mr.
Hergh is at the head nobly doing his part now.
Is it not strange that such a fancy faith as Bonard
had should be made to answer such a good end ?
It saves us from offensive sights of rickety and
lame horses being pounded by savage drivers ; by
suppressing the passions of men, which naturally
would have found vent, and thereby have grown.
A man may, by being at liberty to pound a horse,
easily cultivate a passion that will expend itself on
men. So the benign influences do not stop with
the beast, but flow on to man and society. Thus
does the good Lord control the issues of the nations.
He is coming nearer to us, and the world is ap-
proaching nearer to Him. He will yet have a
throne and king obedient to heavenly teaching —
a throne in which all shall find protection, even
the feeblest. May the day hasten, through war or
peace.

™

SPIRITUALISM

DISCOURSE VIII.

' : -I

■■J

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ITS RULES AND EVIDENCES — WHAT IT MEANS AND TEACHES —
FASTIDIOUS MEDIUMS — MOLLY FANCHER — A. J. DAVIS — SEE-
ING THE INVISIBLE — THE FIASCO IN EVERETT HALL — JUG-
GLERY, SLEIGHT-OF-HAND AND SPIRITUALISM — RELATION OF
SPIRIT AND MATTER — THE THEORY OF VISION — THE POWER
OF ABSOLUTION — WHAT SPIRITUALISTS SHOULD ACCOMPLISH.

Text — ist Thess., v. 21.
'• Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

HE Apostle Paul was a man of much
learning and great experience. From
his life before his conversion, as well
as after, we judge him to have been
very conservative — one not easily changed in his
opinions, or " tossed to and fro and carried about
with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men
and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to
deceive." The conservative character of Paul gave
great weight and authority t© his utterances, en-
abling him to speak the truth in love and grow
up into Christ in all things. By birth, according
to the flesh, he was an Israelite ; by heirship he

fi : '

sri RITUALISM.

T T

was a free citizen of the Roman Empire; by edu-
cation a Greek ; by faith a Jew ; by profession and
conversion a Christian ; in secular calling a scribe
and politician, which he gave up to become an
apostle and tentmaker. Such was the man who,
under inspiration, uttered the liberal exhortation
contained in our text : " Prove all things ;" that is,
test, try and carefully analyze ; hold fast the good,
and, of course, throw away the bad. Following his
advice, we venture this evening to consider spiri-
tualism ; to subject it to a fair and honest criticism,
withou*: fear or favour ; to analyze it and test its
claims. And here we may say that every science
has its own laws and rules of evidence, and by these
judgment should be given. And so spiritualism
must be judged by rules and evidences peculiar to
itself Many disbelievers in spiritualism, by ne-
glecting to follow this course in their examination
and testing, have done an injustice to spiritualists ;
while, on the other hand, many of the spiritualists
have been unwilling to be so judged, and thus have
weakened the cause they meant to sustain. We
should accept of no theory, or profess no doctrine
or ism that will not respond to the plumb, the
level and the square of the truth and light. In
practical masonry these instruments are for guid-
ance and testing ; they do not create. If the wall
is not perpendicular, the plumb shows it, but does
not make it so. If the table be uneven, the level
shows it, and the square points out the true angle.
So theories and doctrines are not made false and

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SPIRITUALISM.

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untenable by being tested ; but, of course, the false-
ness and untenability of both may appear under
a proper test and examination. Truth is mighty,
and its defenders should ever be bold and free, not
keeping guard in timid dread. " Prove all things,
and hold fast the good," is the command.

By spiritualism is meant the theory, ism or doc-
trine of spirits, having special reference to human
spirits in bodies and ou^ of bodies, in time and in
eternity, in this world and the next. The theory
is that under certain conditions the spirits of the
invisible world can act upon spirits in this ; that
thev can visit this v/orld and make known their
presence, and even identify by a process called
materialization ; that is, they can become visible
to sight, touch and hearing. All this is claimed
and vouched for. And in doctrinal form it is
claimed that from their advanced position and
superior attainments they can instruct, guide and
entertain us in such a way and manner and on
things so essential and important, that we actually
have a new revelation — a revelation that can be
made available intellectually, morally and spiri-
tually ; and, indeed, in every department of science
and experience. The conditions of revelation, we
are sorry to say, are rather embarrassing and sus-
picious, for they are intimately related to special
times, persons and furniture. These visitors from
spirit-land are very fastidious as to the time of
visitation ; generally, I believe, preferring the even-
ing. In this there may be nothing extraordinary.

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SPIRITUALISM.

119

for it is a well-known fact that evangelists prefer
the evening, especially during the fall and winter
seasons, for revival work. In the matter of person
they are even more fastidious and select. Out of
the millions there are only here and there one
through whom they can or choose to appear. On
an average it is allowed that one medium in every
ten thousand may be found. Nature, as a rule,
seems to prepare them by a process of affliction,
by scarlet fever, brain fever, spinal disease, or some
strange accident, as in the case of Miss Molly
Fancher. If not so prepared, the mediumistic
quality must be gained by a peculiar and arduous
process of fasting and seclusion, so as to subject
the physical organism into complete subordination
to the m.ental or spiritual power of man. By this
latter mode of preparation the well-known medium,
Andrew Jackson Davis, was qualified. Speaking
on this point, Mr. Davis gives us to understand
that he followed in the footsteps of the prophet
Daniel, for he says : " Now, I undertake to say that
Daniel could never have had any such experience
unless he had abstained from food. I had to adopt
a system of fasting for three months before I could
begin my clairvoyant investigations, and during the
progress of those investigations I have had to con-
tinue the system, though rot to such an extreme
degree." In this manner he emancipated the men-
tal from the physical, and attained to a state of
lucidity that could see beyond time, through the
material into eternity and the invisible.

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SPIRITUALISM.

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But it is in the furniture and surrounding condi-
tions that these spirit-land visitors are the most
fastidious and preferential and precise. They gen-
erally want a peculiarly-constructed cabinet, with
curtains, door and \/indow. They are often con-
ditioned on the weather or electric state of the
atmosphere. They ask an audience that is mag-
netically positive — in other words, an audience that
is in sympathy with them. Most generally they
want but a very dim light. When the medium is
about to give an extraordinary exhibition they
then prefer that his person shall be sacred, for if
handled and searched at such a time the current en
rapport is broken between the medium and spirit.
To illustrate this point, let me call your attention
to an incident that occurred last Sunday evening
in Everett Hall, which is but a stone's throw from
here. While we were assembled here last Sun-
day evening, another, and I believe a very select
audience, were assembled in Everett Hall to be
instructed in spiritualism by a young man from
Philadelphia by the name of Albert James. This
young man was looked upon as a wonderful materi-
alizing medium ; one of the first and best in the
spiritualistic fraternity. Mr. Miller, the president
of the Brooklyn Spiritualist Society, had seen and
heard Mr. James in Philadelphia, and was greatly
charmed ; so much so, that he wrote a commendatory
article in a spiritualistic paper called the Banner of
Light. He also invited Mr. James to visit Brooklyn.
On the Saturday evening Mr. James appeared

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SPIRITUALISM.

121

before a large and refined audience composed of
lawyers, physicians, manufacturers, merchants, au-
thors and ministers. From all accounts he nearly
captivated his audience. He materialized for them
an Oriental prince in full Oriental style, manner and
costume ; also the gladiator Claudius, of ancient
Rome, and a famous Indian chief. The material-
izations were so complete and wonderful that the
audience were some carried away, some dumb-
founded, and some few still disbelieved. To meet
the wishes of all parties, a Sunday evening seance
was arranged. Fifty gentlemen were selected to
test and examine the medium. Mr. Thomas Tice
was the chairman of the committee of fifty. This
Thomas must be some kin to doubting Thomas of
Scripture fame, for notwithstanding Mr. James'
request that his person and clothes be regarded as
sacred, this Thomas, moved by doubt, peered into
the cabinet after the medium had begun to get
ready to materialize, and, seeing the coat of the
medium, he caught it up and rushed out into the
audience, crying, " His coat is stuffed." For a few
moments the spirits visible and invisible held a
pandemonium. The coat, on being examined, was
found to have a few nicely-constructed pockets in-
side the lining, in which were found a small the-
atrical outfit of light, gauzy silken material — in
fact, the very costumes of the Oriental prince, gladi-
ator and Indian chief. The company asked for
the medium, but he was spiritualized ; at any rate he
could not be found. His agent, a Mr. Oakey, stood

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SPIRITUALISM.

.1. !

his ground and expressed great surprise, and like a
gentleman paid back the admission fee. Thus
ended another of the so-called materialization
seances. Of course, we do not say that this ex-
posure, added to many others of like kind, entirely
upsets the theory or doctrine of spiritualism ; for if
so judged, few theories or doctrines would stand.
But this we do say, that such exposures do weaken
in a terrible degree the professions and claims of
spiritualism.

Touching spiritualism, we venture to say, with
little fear of successful contradiction, that nothing
can be submitted in proof of this theory that is super-
sensuous, super-spiritual or supernatural. Nay,
more, I will hold myself responsible to make known
to you and the world any such fact, if communi-
cated to me on reliable authority. The evidences
submitted in proof of spiritualism, so far as I am
aware, do not super-bound the natural phenomena
of existing facts and sequences inclosed in nature.
Everything the best medium has done, or the best
thing done by any spirit in any seance or exhibition,
can be done without the aid of spirits or spirits' influ-
ence. If this statement be true, it then rationally
follows that the theory and doctrines of spiritualism
are not well founded. The fact is, taking the mean-
ing of spiritualism as expounded by the spiritualists
themselves, there is no such thing. For it is a simple
law of evidence that a theory or doctrine can only
find recognition and demand our faith, when such
theory or doctrine is new and worthy, by revealing,

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SPIRITUALISM.

123

or having that which none other can have, or can
do in part or in whole what none other can. Every-
thing done, or even reasonably claimed to have been
bone, can be done as easily, perfectly and com-
pletely without recourse to spirits of invisible kind.
We submit a, id do not deny that rare and wonder-
ful things have been done by certain mediums ;
things indeed that will not submit to the ordinary
rules of interpretations ; they are extraordinary,
but not so extraordinary as to reach beyond the
bounds of nature.

To mi ke this matter plainer, take the exhibi-
tions and doings of such men as Profs. Houdin,
Heller, McAllister, Anderson, and ofher sHight-of-
hand men, and you see, hear and touch things,
tricks and results far beyond aught or any of the
best spiritualistic mediums ever did. Indeed, the
comparison throws into shade the spiritualistic
phenomena of to-day. But these professors of
secret magic and sleight-of-hand cunning lay no
claim to spiritual influence. If they choose to do
so, they could explain all they do ; and in hundreds
of cases they have done so. Some of the great-
est mysteries, when explained, are as simple as
ABC; as simple, I trow, as the exhibition of the
gorgeous Oriental prince by Mr. James. Before
spiritualism can claim our homage, she must do
better than, and superior to, the ancient juggler or
sleight-of-hand men of to-day. Except your right-
eousness exceeds that of the magicians, you cannot
enter into the temple of wisdom.

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I do not say that spiritualism is impossible, or
that there is no such thing ; for I presume, as spirit
and matter are delicately connected and related in
man, so all nature may be delicately related to the
invisible. Spirit impinges on matter in man and
matter on spirit. Our being reaches farther and
touches more than we see or know. The fine and
impalpable, the imponderable and ethereal, forms
of matter are but little understood. If one be in
harmony with nature within and without, he is by
such a blessing actuallj'^ rendered unfit to be a
medium, or to detect the presence and motion of
matter in these finer forms of existence. Let a
man have neuralgia if he wants to be sensitive
to a draught which in perfect health he could
not detect. If you want to make a weather Old
Probability of a man give him rheumatism, and
then the marrow in the bones will be equal to
quicksilver in the barometer and readily forecast a
storm. Give a person the gout, and he will tell
you the electrical state of the atmosphere. It is
designed of Providence that man in harmony is
man in innocence in a large degree. The world is
moving rapidly around on its axis, and at the
same time whirling through space. Of this we are
unconscious, because of the harmony. If it were to
stop suddenly, then we would know it. Thus, by
injuries and diseases, persons are partly ungeared
from the harmony of nature, hence they become
sensitive, they become abnormal, and, of course,
unusual. Syncope, coma, catalepsy and trance

SPIRITUALISM.

125

states are unnatural, but at the same time they are
naturally unnatural. An irregular verb is naturally
irregular as the regular is regular. The capabilities
of the mind, senses and body in such states are but
little known ; not enough to construct a science
from.

Take a real good clairvoyant or a mesmeric
subject and the exhibitions are simply marvellous.
The spirit seems competent to act independent of
the senses ; matter is no longer a barrier to the
sight ; another's soul chamber is no longer secret ;
they can at times declare our thoughts, see through
us, through a house, or mountain. This is simply
wonderful, but only so because they are in an
abnormal condition. Really, speaking the truth,
there is but little more of the mysterious about a
clairvoyant seeing through the back of the head
than the front. For when we look out through the
eyes we look through and see through matter.
Now the wonder reaUy is how we see at all.
Mechanically-organized glass in the shape of a
telescope adds an immense range to the visual
powers of the mind of things far and distant.
Organized in another way, a little different, and
the microscope reveals wonders in us, about us and
beneath us. All the time we know, however, that
it is rtot the telescope nor microscope nor eye that
sees, but the spirit. And when we learn this :
that while the spirit-sight is dependent in general
upon organization, it must be itself independent ;
and it may at times act independently of the usual

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organization. All the spiritual phenomena of the
Bible peculiar to seeing are thus explained. To
see spiritual visitors, as in the case of the patriarch
Abraham and other noted instances, was only to
be made independent of the usual mode. The
same God who could give us power to see through
the matter of the eye could permit His servants
to see independently occasionally. Thus the
prophet EHsha prayed for his servant that he might
have this privilege, and it was granted. The
young man saw with his natural eyes the Syrian
host around the tent, but he saw not the heavenly
host camping around. His sight was grooved to
matter. In answer to Elisha's prayer the sight
wa ) made free. " And the Lord opened the eyes
of the young man ; and he saw : and, behold, the
mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire
round about Elisha." — 2nd Kings vi. 17. Bible
spiritualism was exceptional, and always for some
benevolent purpose. It was on the line and aimed
at the same end as all other kinds of divine lessons
and training.

What was miraculous in the cases recorded in
the Bible some have had born in them in a lesser
degree. While they have not been able to see
spirits, they have been enabled by some strange
constitutional idiosyncrasy to read another's
thoughts, to enter into the privacy of another's
mind. Take Professor Brown, the mind-reader,
as an example on this point. In his exhibitions
Jie certainly acts very fair, open and honest. The

SPIRITUALISM.

127

results are really astonishing, still he does not
claim any spiritual aid or interference. Had he
been mindful to do so when he first went before
the public, he would have ranked as a first-class
medium. Now this species of mind-power is some
related to the power Peter had, as a divine gift,
when he could look inside of Ananias and Sapphira
and declare their hidden thoughts. This gift our
Shaker friends say they have now. Paul could
speak many languages which he had learned by
hard study, and there were many at Pentecost
who got in a moment what it took Paul years to
learn — they had the gift of tongues. Among the
fourteen special and miraculous gifts at Pentecost,
one was to discern spirits. This gift eminently
qualified the apostles to pronounce on a man's
sins whether they were forgiven or not. If persons
acted hypocritically and claimed to be forgiven
when they were not, such hypocrisy would be
detected by the apostles, so the apostles would not
forgive them. True, many arrogate to themselves
this power to-day, among whom we may mention
the Roman Catholic priests. But it is very clear
that no one should assume such a divine preroga-
tive unless they have the divine seal of commission
in the gift of discerning of spirits. The disciples
had the miraculous endowment of healing the
sick ; and any in our day assuming to be likewise
endowed must give proof of such endowment by
healing the sick also.

I hold it to be agreeable with the rules of com-
mon-sense interpretation that ^nv person or class

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of persons, proclaiming to have a new and superior
revelation, or to be divinely and specially endowed,
must give suitable and corresponding proofs of the
same. Spiritualism or any other ism must be sub-
ject to such a rule of judgment. If our spiritualistic
friends ^laim to have a new and valuable revelation,
they are in all fairness obligated to make known
something new : something that could not and
would not otherwise be known. To confirm the
individuality and distinctness of such revelation,
they must reveal some individualism of truth or
truths. And if they wish to confirm the existence
of such revelation by exhibited experiments, then
they must do something that cannot be done by
the art of jugglering, by sleight-of-hand, by necro-
mancy, by astrology, by mesmerism, by clairvoy-
ancy, by hysteria, by epilepsy, by catalepsy, by
syncope, by trance, by peculiar and varied idosyn-
crasies of lunacy, by mind-reading, by magnetism,
by electricity, or by any and every force and agency
outside of their claimed revelation. For it is evi-
dent that we should not find a new father for
things already fathered, nor claim that to be new
which is old, nor attribute a supernatural origin to
an effect that is known to be natural ; and if any-
thing occurs for which we cannot find an adequate
natural cause, we must not hastily conclude that
it is of supernatural origin. Indeed, we have no
right to account for any given fact by saying it is
supernatural until we have exhausted all natural
resources. Prove all things is the divine injunction.

Sri RITUALISM.

129

The subject of spiritualism is now an important
one to consider : important from what is claimed
and proof submitted, and from the millions of
intelligent, earnest and sincere followers. It is not
to be judged by its faults, nor by the hypocritical
and mercenary parasites attaching themselves to
it ; nor have we so judged it, but by what the best
and purest of its followers say it is.

Next Sabbath evening we will compare some of
the mysteries of human nature with the teaching
of spiritualism.

il*^. .■.VC.-j. i".

MORE ABOUT SPIRITUALISM.

DISCOURSE IX

ii'?

'^■'■f.

SPIRITUALISM OF JOHN — SPIRITUALISM FROM ADAM TO JOHN-
SPIRITUAL POWER SHOULD BE PROVED BY MIRACLES — OUR
RELATIONS WITH THE INVISIBLE— SPIRIT SPACE— NATURE'S
FREAKS— PRODIGIES — PERSONAL MYSTERIOUS EXPERIENCE-
SOMNAMBULISM — PERSONAL IDENTITY — FREAKS OF MEMORY
— TOUCHING ILLUSTRATION — FUTURE OF SPIRITUALISM —
ITS MYSTERIES.

Text — ist John iv. i.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God ; because inany false prophets are gone out
into the world."

ISTORY and tradition agree in fixing the
death of John about the close of the first
century. Many years he survived ail
the other apostles. He was a man of
wealth, of a loving disposition, and of great influence.
The night before the crucifixion of our Saviour, we
find him present in the palace of the high priest,
while the Saviour was being accused and tried
before Annas. Among the angry and impatient
multitude who crowded the hall, John appears.

MORE ABOUT Sl'IRITUALFSM.

131

His goodness, influence and wealth command their
respect, and shield him from insult or arrest. His
power is seen by the little incident of Peter's intro-
duction, John, learning that Peter was at the door,
immediately went and passed him in. As recorded
in his own language — John xviii. 16: "But Peter
stood at the door without. Then went out that
other disciple, which was known unto the high
priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and
brought in Peter." To John the Saviour committed
the keeping of his mother, Mary. Through this
apostle the divine volume of inspiration is fittingly
closed. John was, indeed, a spiritualist of the
highest order. To him, on the Isle of Patmos,
was granted visions and revelations of surpassing
grandeur and of thrilling interest. He was, in-
deed, a seer, permitted to be en rapport with
heaven, spirit-land and spirits. Down through the
centuries, to the end of time, this seer saw the rise
and fall of empires, the creation and demolition of
thrones, the march and strife of nations, the con-
flicts and war of races, the varying and checkered
career of truth in contest with error and supersti-
tion, and finally the conquest and universal victory
of Jesus and His kingdom. Thus was he pre-
eminently qualified to advise the church of God.
In his day the spirit of anti-Christ had begun to
develop, and the spirit of superstition to prevail.
No wonder, then, that he should send forth his
warning voice, cautioning the infant church, say-
ing : " Beloved, believe not every spirit." But he

132

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bids them try — that is, examine and test the spirits,
because many false prophets, or teachers, were
gone abroad. He then submitted a simple rule,
by which they were to know the good spirits from
the bad : " Hereby know ye the Spirit of God.
Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit
that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is not of God." By this rule we, in this
day, must test the claims and manifestations of
spiritualism. This is the rule that Christians and
all believers in the inspiration of the Bible must
use. Those who do not so believe will then test
and try spiritualism by the rules of science. One
or other of these modes all must accept, and abide
the decision.

Spiritualism in the c^nb before Christ was in-
tensely and generally prevalent ; and not less so
in Christ's time, any one familiar with the Old
Testament and the life and work of Christ will
admit. Good and bad angels, demons, or the
spirits once human, and Satan and his angels are
often brought to our notice as agents of mercy or
messengers of wrath. Their work and visitations
are curiously interwoven into Jewish history. But
Paul, when speaking of the v/orV^^ or age we live in,
gives hints of some radical rh; i? e between this
dispensation and that. " For unto iiie angels hath
He not put in subjection the world to come, whereof
we speak." — Heb. ii. 5. How, then, and by what
method, does Providence administer, if not by

MORE ABOUT SPIRITUALISM.

133

angels and spirits ? The answer is clear. It is by
human agencies. This human agency was, how-
ever, in the beginning of the Christian dispensation
strangely supplemented by miraculous endow-
ments, comprising some fourteen distinct gifts.
By this means the apostles and many of the early
followers of Jesus were enabled to establish their
divine commission, and prove the spiritual by the
miraculous, natural — as the Saviour did on one
occasion to convince the Jews ; for He said unto
them, " That ye may know that the Son of Man
has power on earth to forgive sins, He said unto
the sick man, ' Arise, take up thy bed, and walk.' "
Of course, the people could not see whether He
forgave sins or not ; this, indeed, they doubted ;
but to convince them that He could. He did some-
thing which they could see, which was equally as
impossible. So Paul tells us that God gave witness
"both with signs and wonders, and with divers
miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to
His own will." Heaven sealed humanity with a
divine seal, to the end that they might plant and
set up the kingdom of Christ. And after it was
once fairly established, then the extraordinary gifts
and endowments were withdrawn. God miracu-
lously endowed Adam with speech, but Cain had
to learn from Adam. So at first the church had
neither time nor means to learn language, hence
God gave them languages. But their successors
would have to learn them. So the church, in its
missionary department, is learning ; hundreds of
students are now at work preparing.

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While, then, we admit spiritualism to have been
a fact from Adam down to John, does it follow,
and have we reason to believe that it is a fact
now ? This I would answer by saying : Certainly
not, in the same sense and fulness. The old dis-
pensation was displaced by the new ; but by this
we do not understand that none of the old is
incorporated into the new. We have forms and
ceremonies now, but not of so intense a character
as of old ; we have priest and sacrifice — Temple
and Shechinah, but not so visible and distinct as
the Hebrews had. Their Shechinah they could
see ; our Shechinah, the Holy Spirit, we cannot see,
yet the latter is as real as the first, and touches
every man that cometh into the world ; for a
measure of divine influence is manifestly given
unto all, that if they will they may profit thereby.
The Holy Spirit is a guide, instructor, memory
prompter, comforter and helper. And as the spiri-
tual is superior to the material, there may be
within certain limits, times, persons and peculiar
circumstances, distinct spiritual agencies employed
even now. Paul tells us, in the last verse of the
first chapter of Hebrews, that angels are " minis-
tering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation." So far I can consci-
entiously go with our spiritualistic friends, and I
can join hands and heart with them in searching
after truth ; and with them I long to get nearer
the spiritual world. And I am willing that weak
human nature shall be aided lawfully by any new

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135

source of power, visible or invisible. I am also
willing to admit that there are some rare and varied
phenomena lying between the positive known world
and the greater unknown ; things we dimly see,
touch and hear — so dimly, indeed, that we cannot
as yet know to which world they belong, the visible
or invisible. In this we have nothing strange ;
for science is equally as well puzzled to define the
connecting links between the vegetable and animal,
or between the animal and man. No one knows,
as yet, whether the common sponge is a vegetable
or an animal.

Human nature is not yet wholly fathomed nor
its powers completely defined. How much we
touch, how far we reach, and what is the measure
of the sceptre power we hold in ourselves, we yet
wait to know. The mode and manner of a spirit's
existence, its relation to time and space, have, as
yet, been illy defined and poorly understood. It is
easy for a person to say that he does not believe
that seven devils or demons could enter into Mary
Magdalene ; but any one denying it should first
prove how much space a spirit takes, and then
prove the contents of space in a body. Denial
is no argument. A man's ignorance should not
be the groundwork of his belief The byways
and possibilities of nature are beyond computation.
Had some persons seen Adam made, they would,
scientifically, have jumped to the conclusion that
all else of hh kind would so come into the world.
But we should always remember that the Divine

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is not circumscribed and limited by revelations ;
equal results and sequences are attained by diver-
sified methods. Hence Eve was human, but not
made like Adam. Cain was born, yet he was a
man like Adam. And Christ in His incarnation is
humanity produced again in a different way from
the others. The last manifestation limits our vision,
but we should be wise enough not to make the
same the limitation of created energy.

Look at the St. Benoit twins, and then find the
law for such a production ; the Siamese twins and
thousands of nature's byway productions, and
because they are uncommon we have no law that
will account for them. Prior to such births, science
would have declared them impossible. If one
knew only a simple birth, they would not guess or
suppose that four could be born at once. Thus
we judge that because, as a rule, only one spirit
lives, hides and abides for a time in these bodies,
therefore seven spirits could not be in one body at
the same time. But any man making such a decla-
ration is either very ignorant or superlatively wise.
Nature has played some curious and gigantic freaks
since she first began— monsters in every depart-
ment, intellectually, morally, spiritually. Take as
^n instance the boy Holland, of Monroe County,
Kentucky. In him you have a mathematical pro-
digy. He could solve more easily and correctly
mathematical problems than any mathematically-
trained student ever did. This he could do before
he could write or h^d learned figures. When asked

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a question he closed his eyes and then told it off.
When asked how he did it, he said he didn't do it,
but that he saw it in the realm of the mind. Now
nature produced this prodigy by making the boy
epileptic. It is remarkably strange that nature's
defects are our most perfect wonders. Blind Tom,
the African musician, had born in him rhythm,
melody and musical aptitude. In all other facul-
ties he was defective. For several years I myself
had the ability to read figures, and quote who'e
pages from books read years before. This I did by
closing my eyes. Then on a sort of front view the
figures or book would appear ; ihe same I would
then read off. In quoting figures and dates I often
resorted to this source. Now I am not, nor ever
was, an epileptic, but I had in a lesser degree the
same faculty the boy Holland had. And stranger
still is the fading away of this power. Some few
years ago I narrowly escaped from a house on fire.
The nervous shock I then received left my mind as
other men's in this respect. But beside this I suf-
fured a more serious deprivation, which I now for
the first time make known. Before the fire I was
quite familiar with Latin, Greek, Hebrew and some
German, but after, I found the German entirely
gone from my command, and but faint traces of the
other languages left. In Greek and Hebrew, by
hard study, I am somewhat restored. I do not
think these things are gone forever ; they are not
annihilated, they are yet a part of myself, although
not voluntarily at my command. But supposing I

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was put into an abnormal condition, then these
hidden facts nnight be the most prominent and
perfect. In the raging of a fever or wounding of
the body, especially the head ; or if I were thrown
into a mesmeric or a clairvoyant state ; or if I
had faith so as to concentrate the forces of the
mind by believing myself en rapport with some
departed spirits — it would not be necessary that I
was really en rapport with a spirit, but only that I
believed myself to be so ; the spirit is not essential,
but the faith is. The somnambulist can walk dizzy
heights and perform feats which in a wakeful state
he neither dares to undertake nor accomplish, for
the reason that the faculties of the mind in such a
sleeping condition are centralized.

I believe personal identity implies continuity,
though in a healthy condition the whole line of the
continuity cannot be seen at one time, or be pro-
duced at the will of the memory. Identity includes
all we ever came in contact with, both visible and
invisible, voluntarily, or involuntarily. A case in
point to illustrate this is the following : The Rev
Mr. Evans, the noted Welsh preacher, had for
many years a poor illiterate woman as a servant.
Some time after she had left Mr. Evans she was
taken sick and put into a hospital. In the par-
oxysms incidental to her disease, she would read
off passages from the Bible by memory, both in
the Hebrew and Greek, with a readiness and per-
fection that was marvellous. Her former illiterate
condition being well known, these paroxysmal ex-

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139

hibitions were looked upon as being miraculous ;
by some she was thought to be en rapport, with
spirits. A number of learned gentlemen interested
in the case tried to solve the mystery. They traced
back her career to the time when she was a servant
for Mr. Evans. They found that her sleeping-
room was next to the preacher's study, and that
he was in the habit of reading aloud in the stillness
of the night from the Bible in the Hebrew and
Greek languages. The hearihg from room to room
was quite easy. The explanation to this strange
phenomenon is that the reading was imprinted
upon her mind by some process as yet not fully
understood ; and with her it was both involuntary
and unperceived. The state into which she was
thrown by the paroxysm of the disease, persons
can be thrown into scores of other ways, both vol-
untarily and involuntarily. In such states they
can reveal and do wonders to themselves and
others, manifesting an ability which in % normal
state they would be utte ly strangers to. The
servant- woman we have spoken of could not,
before or after her sickness, read Hebrew or Greek,
and what is more, she didn't know anything about
them.

Science teaches us that the human body is an
epitome of the material world ; that we have in the
body, in more or less quantity, all the elements
composing the earth — oxygen, carbon, iron and so
on. Not disputing this point, allow m.e to say that
I believe the Ego, the spirit, the man — that is, the

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whole personnel of one's being — includes all we
ever came in contact with, by touch, taste, sight,
hearing or smelling, and all we ever thought
within, and that our memory or faculty of recollec-
tion, in the best of us, can discern or reveal but a
very small percentage of the same in our natural
state. The first two years of our life we learn a
great deal ; on the knowledge then gained we plant
all the rest. But much we then learn we are not
conscious of; neither is it subject to memory or
recollection. A person drowning or falling from a
building will instantaneously see the whole line of
identity and continuity, even back to the first
thoughts. I know a man myself, who fell from the
roof of a house and had such a revelation, and the
beauty of it was that, when he got better, he found
his mind and memory of persons and things much
clearer and stronger. My honoured father, now in
heaven, told me of a remarkable case that will bear
out the^ame idea. A friend of his had a deed to
a valuable piece of property put in his keeping.
The property became subject to law. The person
who owned the deed requested the friend to
produce it. He began to hunt for it ; being
precious, he had put it away carefully, and had
forgotten where. He failed, however, to find it at
that time. The case in court was lost, and all be-
cause this deed was not produced. Father's friend
was sorely blamed, and even charged with bribery.
Years passed away, and by accident this friend
was nearly drowned. While drowning he had a

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141

revelation of his whole life, and he saw himself
putting away the deed. On being restored, he
went to the place and found it.

The unconscious part of our being, I think, is
larger than the conscious ; by ordinary methods it
is unexplorable, but by extraordinary means it is
sometimes brought to light ; and it is facts like
these that strip spiritualism of £ome of its most
wonderful features. At an after-dinner chat on
board the Great Eastern in the fall of 1862, I
thiqk — anyway, it was while returning from a visit
to Europe — a lady repeated the following incident,
and asked me for an explanation. She said her
mother died when she was a few months old, the
father immediately emigrating to America. She
had been on her first visit to England. Soon after
leaving London on the cars, everything began to
look natural, as if she had passed that way hun-
dreds of times. She could anticipate the buildings
and scenery miles ahead. The old homestead she
had never seen ; and her father died in New Orleans
when she was less than three years old, so she
could not have had the place described to her by
him. She only knew the name of the rural village
where she was born. But on landing there, she
walked straight to the house and knew it, and the
several rooms, especially the one where she was
nursed most. They were distant relatives living
there. She missed from the dining-room an old
mahogany cupboard, and asked where it was.
They told her that a cupboard they once had, and

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it stood where she pointed out. My answer was,
that this cupboard, rooms, hou.w and scenery she
saw when a baby, and that that part of the mind
was opened up by excitement and interest. The
late Charles Dickens mentions a case somewhat
similar in his own experience, and quotes several
others. On this principle many of the mysteries
of death are made plain, and some argue our pre-
existence from such facts

In Canada I knew a little girl that was sick nigh
unto death. She had been adopted. Her mother
died when she was a few months old ; her father
migrated to the Western States. The adopted
parents never wished the child to know aught but
that they were its real parents. During the little
girl's sickness, at the time she was thought to
be dying her face brightened and she seemed
charmed, and her pale little face became radiant
and angelic. She seer^ed enchanted with some-
thing she' saw, but w) we who were by could
not see. She from that time rallied and got better.
On my next visit I spoke to her about the beauti-
ful trance-like state we thought she had passed
through. She then repeated to me what she saw.
One figure had attracted her attention more than
all. It was the figure of a woman that was more
beautiful than she could describe. All the time
this figure seemed to call her and invite her, and
she says, " Oh, I did long to go to her. I believe
she would have been my mother in Heaven."
Now, the fact is, from the description the girl gave

III

MOUK AISOUT SI'IklTUAMSM.

«43

of the woman, it was her real mother. And to
prove this, a friend had her likeness, which we put
among a number of others some time after she was
well, without her knowing our intention ; we
showed them to her one day. On picking up the
likeness of her dead mother, she turned pale and
seemed frightened, and then exclaimed, " Why,
that is the woman I saw when sick ! " Now, in a
case like this, I recognize spiritualism ; a spiritual-
ism that neither offends our affection nor staggers
our faith, nor opposes reason, nor confronts the
teachings of the Divine Word. That which can be
accounted for on natural principles we receive as
such, and that which contains a divine element we
as cheerfully accept. I presume we have much to
learn. In science new forces and a more practical
application of old forces are being discovered. So
perchance, the testing and experimenting in the
circles of spiritualism may discover something new,
or improve the application of some old things.
Scientific investigators often stumble upon some-
thing they are not seeking, while seeking after that
they do not find.

Spiritualism has to grow and become a power in
the world, for it is one of those forces that is to
contribute to, and ally with anti-Christ at the time
of the battle of Armageddon ; hence its growth is
certain. And what is more, it will have to divide
into two factions or parties, one of which will be
very conservative and respectful and reverential
toward Christianity and the Bible ; the other will

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reject the Bible as an authority, and Christianity
as a fraud. They will believe in and have com-
munion with evil spirits. I wish, in no wise, in this
course of sermons, to speak unkindly of any. I
do not wish to stand in the way of any sincere
effort to develop the mind and bring Heaven and
earth together, and spirits living in time and eter-
nity near to each other. But with all my liberality
I shall preach as I believe, to the end of your
salvation.

Next Sunday evening we will consider some-
thing of the mysteries of spiritualism.

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SPIRITUALISM AND PHILOSOPHY.

DI SCOURSE X.

THE SPIRIT IN MAN — TRINITY IN HUMANITY — BREATH NOT THE
SPIRIT — THE CHANGE AT DEATH — PHILOSOPHY OF DREAMS
— WHAT SCRIPTURE TEACHES — A WONDERFUL DREAM— EX-
PERIMENTS TO PRODUCE DREAMS— MESMERISM— TELEPHONIC
COMMUNICATION — ART OF POCKET-PICKING ILLUSTRATED.

' <

Text— Job xxxii. 8.

" But there is a spirit in man : and the inspiration of the
Almighty giveth them understanding."

|AN on completion is a trinity, whose
parts are body, soul and spirit. The
first man was both made and created.
The Adam, or body, was formed from
the dust of the ground ; the soul and spirit were*
created. The making and creating are beautifully
expressed in the following language of inspiration :
" And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life, ana man became a living soul." — Gen. ii. 7.
The word /ife in the Hebrew is in the plural — it is
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chayyim — for in completeness man has bodily life,
soul life and spirit life. There is something very
singular in this trinity rule that permeates all the
known forms and kinds of material life. The ^^'g
has two coverings, with the life principle hid in the
yolk. The outer covering may be said to be more
material, rougher and less organized than the sec-
ond. The third, or principle of life, mostly evades
sight, but not locality. We cannot find the exact
point of life in the yolk of the egg, yet we know
it to be there, and by the mother hen it can be
warmed into existence, visibility and individuality.
In trinity form the earth was finished and laid out.
First, the rough and larger outer world. Second,
we have the region of Eden, which in clime, soil
and production was superior to the outer world.
Then, in the third place, we have Paradise ; here
all nature culminated into a sublime equilibrium
and fulness. The same trinity rule was observed
in the construction of the tabernacle and temple.
First, we have the outer court, common and open
to all. The second court was elective and selec-
tive ; only they of Jewish faith could enter there.
But the third court, or holy of holies, was more
select still ; here the high priest, and he alone,
could enter. God communed with one at a time
through the Shechinah. The outer court had all
light, the second was lighted by two windows, but
the third had no light from without ; it was illu-
mined from within. God met man in the holy of
holies to instruct him. He came to man that way,

SIMKITIJALISM AMD IM III-C )S( )IMIN .

147

but man approached Him through the two courts.
Now apply this trinity rule to man, and you
will the more readily see his dignity and relation
to the universe and his Creator. Man is the true
temple of which the temple and tabernacle of old
were but faint types. His body is the outer court,
the outer world, the shell. It is open to all, and
the light is not measured to it through windows ;
it is rough and less organized than the soul, for in
the body we have the seeds of disease, as in the
world outside of Eden there were thorns and nox-
ious weeds. The soul, however, is an advance on
the body, as was Eden to earth, and the second
temple court to the first. The eyes graduate the
light — they are the two windows through which
the soul is lighted ; and by the lids of the eyes the
soul may be selective and elective of men and
things. The spirit corresponds to the life-centre
of the egg, the paradise in Eden, and the holy of
holies in the temple. And as Jehovah entered "the
temple through the holy place, so now He enters
into man and communes with him in and through
the spirit. Men entered the temple the other way ;
so must they enter into spiritual commune one with
another. God alone met the high priest, and God
alone can move and commune with our spirits in-
dependently of material things and senses of the
body. All earthly things must approach us from
without, but God meets us from within. The light
of the holy of holies was the Shechinah, or divine
presence, so the light of the spirit is now by divine

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inspiration. " Know ye not that ye are the temple
of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.'
— 1st Cor. iii. 16. Accepting man as a trichotomous
being — that is, a being having body, soul and spirit
— we can the better understand his relation to the
world, spirits and his Creator. Paul prayed that
the Thessalonians might be sanctified wholly, and
the measure of this whole is seen in his explanation
when he says body, soul and spirit ; and these
words are neither tautological nor synonymous.
In the Greek we have Soma for body, Psyche for
soul, and Pneuma for spirit. Many carelessly
make the words soul and spirit to be and mean
the same ; and some even go further, and make all
these words synonymous, and so try to make out
that man is a mere animal. And some theologians
and Christian sects argue that the soul and spirit
cease at death, but at the general resurrection will
be raised up. Some say only the good, while
others teach all will be raised. They tell us that
the soul or spirit means only breath. But all such
reasoning and reasoners belong to the outer court ;
they are in the world and have not passed the
shell through the soul to the centre of life. The
good and pious Stephen did not commit his breath
unto God when being stoned to death, but he com-
mitted his spirit : " Kurie Jason dexai to Pneuma
mou " — Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. He com-
mitted the same that our Lord did as He expired
on the cross : " And when Jesus had cried with a
loud voice, He said, ' Father, into Thy hands I com-

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SPIRITUALISM AND PHILOSOPHY.

149

mend My spirit ; * and having said thus He gave up
the ghost." — Luke xxiii. 46. The word spirit here
is also, in Greek, Pneuma, and if it means breath in
Stephen's case, so also in the Saviour's. Inspira-
tion, however, does not choose words carelessly.

I believe man bodily to be an epitome of the
material earth ; that in the body of Adam all the
elementary substances composing this world were
incorporated, more or less. He was thus em-
phatically of the earth and in sympathy with it all.
The body I believe to be folded on the soul, and
shaped by the soul, and the gleamings of the coun-
tenance are the reflex of the soul, through the fleshy
veil. The soul in essence is an epitome of all
substantive existences between rough matter and
pure spirit, and it therefore connects matter and
spirit, and contains in itself properties allied to
both, and yet at the same time it has, and is, what
neither of the others has, or is. When persons die,
then they become dichotomous, that is, composed of
soul and spirit. Heaven will begin immediately to
develop the soul into an agreement with its sur-
roundings, " For we that are in this tabernacle do
groan, being burdened ; not for that we would be
unclothed, but clothed upon, with our house which
is in heaven." — 2nd Cor. v. 4. That is with the
soul-body, which, because of its essential nature,
reaches into and touches heaven now, and is the
body of the. spirit for heaven. The forces and
faculty of the soul respond to their new, but natural
condition, as naturally as the lungs of the new-born

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SPIRITUALISM AND PHILOSOPHY.

infant respond to breath for the first time, in its
new surroundings, or as the eyes gradually open to
the light. And as the lungs are ready, and waiting
birth to be active, so now, in us are the forces and
faculties of the soul waiting the second birth, which
we call death.

The centre of the body is the fleshy heart. The
centre of the soul is through the brain, and the
spirit is centreless. If a person be struck a sudden
blow, the vibration ends in the heart, for the first
centre, then passes to the brain. If a person be
frightened, the brain is first affected, then it passes
the wave of palpitating sympathy to the heart.
The mind can be moved from without through the
various channels of the senses. And it can origi-
nate thoughts from within — this we all know by
experience. These centres Daniel refers to when
he says : " I (Daniel) was grieved in my spirit, in
the midst of my body, and the visions of my head
troubled me." — Dan. vii. 15. Here Daniel locates
two centres — midst of body, the heart, and the
other in the head or brain, but the spirit is assigned
no special locality. Bego Nedaneth. The soul shook
in his body like a sword in the scabbard. Sensa-
tion belongs to the body, will to the soul, and
reason to the spirit.

As to spirit, no one can say more, or give a
better exposition of it, than by saying it is what
it is, namely, spirit. It is a creation, not being
made ; it can only be described by itself. This
simple definition may not be enough with some.

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151

but whether it is or not we are all aware of the
impossibility of describing an essence or element,
except by its properties or by comparison. Gold
is gold. Am I asked what gold is, I can but say
it is gold. If asked of what it is made, I again
answer that it is made of gold. I could say what
it is like, and tell some of its properties ; that is all.
The essence even of matter no one yet knows ; the
properties and peculiarities we may explain. And
by the comparison of the soul we can define the
domain and difference of the one from the other,
just as we can by comparison tell the difference of
gold and iron. Thank God for the fact that our
intuitions and conceptions are superior to reason
and explanation. We know more than we can ex-
plain, and are persuaded of things undefinable.

Elihu, when speaking to Job, in the words of
our text tells us that there is a spirit in man. This
expression we can as easily understand as if he had
said the holy of holies was in the temple. And
his saying, that the inspiration of the Almighty
gave it understanding, is as readily comprehended
as if he had said that the Shechinah was the light
and guidance of the holy of holies. I accept,
and most surely believe, that it is possible for a
person to be, in this life, in a state of en rapport
with the divine, and that the better and purer we
are the more distinct and intense will such rela-
tion be. This shade of spiritualism the Scriptures
teach and human experience confirms : "The secret
of the Lord is with the righteous ; " and again,

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" What man is he that feareth the Lord ? him shall
he teach in the way that he shall choose." It is,
however, very difficult to separate the divine part
from the human, for what the Divine does He docs
it so kindly and naturally. Divine energy mixes
.so delicately with human energy that it really
appears to be all human. In a person that is truly
good the divine and human blend so completely
that there is no jarring, and the effect in our expe-
rience is to but one identity. As gently as the
flower-bud drinks in sunlight and heat, the good
and pure-minded sip of divine inspiration ; as
naturally as the rose makes fragrant the air, the
good man makes known the divine. The colours
and aroma are but another form of the sun's visi-
bility in copartnership with the flower. So the
beauties and graces that most adorn and ennoble
humanity are the result of a copartnership between
God and man. In nature this copartnership is
very manifest, both in the vegetable and animal
kingdoms. Look, for instance, at the potato. In
its natural state it is a pulpy bulb, and of no great
service. Sir Walter Raleigh, in 1586, took some
of these plants from Virginia to England, and
there began to experiment on them — that is, he
began to co-work with God ; to infuse into a divine
sequence a human quantity, and he succeeded.
Now, then, look at this pulpy bulb when the divine
and the human dwell together in it, and you will
see a vast difference. Even wheat in its natural
state is a mere grass, the grain or seed being soft

SPIRITUALISM AND PHILOSOPHY.

153

and pulpy ; but when man joins the divine, by
creeping into these head-seed, how different in
value and appearance. Man naturally and alone
is very different from man en rapport with God.

The divine quantity and presence may be dis-
cerned in conjunction with the human, but how it
enters or the exact measure of that quantity is a
problem to solve of greater difficulty. I will
submit a dream of mine as an illustration. On the
2nd of August, 1862, I intended to leave Gla.sgow,
Scotland, in a steamship for Quebec. I was to meet
there the Rev. W. Halstead, a minister now living
and preaching in Canada. We started from Canada
together, and had travelled together considerably in
Europe. The night of August 1st, I was sleeping
in the old homestead for the last time, as I thought
That night I had a dream, which I told to my dear
old mother, and she refused to let me leave. I
dreamed that the ship left Glasgow all right, and
proceeded on its way safely, till, in the middle of
one night, it ran on a rock near the Straits of Belle
Isle. I thought I was asleep, and was suddenly
awoke by the sudden crash. I leaped from my
berth, and started for the deck. The first thing
happening was a splash of cold water covering me.
I rushed out on deck and ran against the captain,
who was standing against one of the masts, and I
heard him exclaim distinctly, *' Oh, God ! " I saw the
island rock looming up in the darkness, while the
vessel was stranded on a ledge of the same. The
captain ordered the passengers to be transferred to

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the island. When my turn came, I slipped in get-
ting into the small boat and fell into the water, and
so awoke out of the dream. The dream itself I
cared but little for, and had no sjxicial faith in it,
but out of deference to my aged jiarents, I con-
sented to stay. I wrote a letter to Mr. Halstcad
to meet him in Canada, telling him why I was stay-
ing behind. Now, strange to say, what I had
dreamed was the literal experience of Mr. Halstead.
except the falling in the water. The vessel stranded
at the place I .saw, at the time, and under the con-
ditions of the dream. He was wet with the splash
of water ; he ran against the captain, and heard
him exclaim, ** Oh, God ! " Before he reached his
home or had received my letter, he wrote one to
meet me, giving these particulars. Thus our letters
confirmed one the other. And an interview after-
ward made the whole still plainer and clearer. The
vessel and passengers were all finally saved. Now
it is pertinent to the subject to ask how that dream
was produced. Was it by a divine impression, or
some spirit, or by the concatenation of related
events in the relation of cause and effect, like
as the barometer forecasts a weather change ?
Many of the scientists would choose the latter
mode as an answer. Spiritualists would prefer the
second. I prefer to believe it to be the divine
direct ; and more, I believe if I had gone that I
would have bfeen drowned — that the slip I made
in getting into the little boat would have ended in
my being lost, as it was dark and rough. There is

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a passage in Job xxxiii. 14 meets the point
exactly : " For God speaks once, yea twice ; yet
man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of
the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in
slumberings upon the bed ; then He openeth the
cars of men, and sealeth their instruction, that He
may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide
pride from man. He keepeth back his .soul from
the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword."

We should not forget that when the Divine
does interfere with us. He accepts the laws of His
own creation, and subjects His action of interfer-
ence to the laws embodied in our being. Hence
if He instruct us by a dream it will be as a natural
dream. If He give us new thoughts, they will be
produced as naturally as other thoughts, just as if
we had done it all. A certain French savant has
been experimenting on dreamology, and he has
succeeded in producing quite a number and variety
of dreams. By touching some part of the face
with something hot he gets a certain kind of
dream, and by laying a piece of cold steel on the
forehead another kind, and by wetting the lips with
acids or sweets, other kinds, and by tying and
compressing different parts of the body a responsive
variety of dreams is the result. I presume the
process is very similar to phrenological manipula- .
tions by a mesmerizer upon the person of his subject.

The Divine and the human use the same set of
organs or faculties, in producing results. One man
can act on another, but what is the medium on

156

SIMKITUALISM AND I'lIILOSOPHY.

5
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which floats the wave impulse of volition we do
not know. The real orator, by self-action, pro-
duces a surplus of energy, and it is conveyed from
him to the vast audience. His soul overflows,
and as noiselessly as oil runs from vessel to vessel
so the overflow passes from soul to soul till they arc
all of one mind, and that is simply the mind-state
of the orator. He weeps, so do they ; he is angry,
so feel they. An orator in such a case may very
appropriately be compared to a magnetic machine,
which, when put in operation, generates its own
electricity enough to fill to overflowing hundreds
of persons. This oratorical state is oftentimes
unwittingly produced. Two persons together in
quiet and meditation think intensely, and, to the
surprise of both, they are about to ask each other
the very same question. The explanation is that
the strongest of the two flowed over, imperceptibly,
into the other, and thus the unity. Some people
can telephonically communicate one with another
miles apart, even over the sea. When I was a
boy, about fourteen, I was going part of the way
home — for part of the way was lonely — with the
Rev. George Herod ; he was a primitive Metho-
dist preacher in England, and died a couple of
years ago. At this time he had been preaching
at a week-night service. We were journeying on
quietly together, when he stopped suddenly and
stood, as if in agony and pain, a few moments,
then breathing heavily he exclaimed : " Thank
God, my dear daughter is safe ! " I asked him,

SPIRrniAI.lSM AND I'llILOSOI'HV

'57

somewhat timidly, what was the matter. " Oh,
nothing special," he said, " save my daughter, Mrs.
So-and-so, has just been delivered of a child." We
were then in Lancashire, in Kngland, and the
daughter was in Ireland. The reverend gentle-
men told me that he and his daughter often com-
municated one with the other, I was interested
to know if the incident he spoke of was a fact, and,
to my surprise, found it to be so.

Agreeable with this very line of thought is an
incident in my own experience. A few years ago
I was walking down Broadway in company with
the Rev. Mr. Moment, now pastor of Spring Street
Presbyterian Church, New York. In my overcoat
I had a little outside ticket pocket, in which, alter
making a small purchase, I put the change from a
five-dollar bill. It was afternoon, and the usual
crowds were wending their way up street and we
were going down, when, over against St. Paul's
Church, I saw, some little distance in front of me,
a stylish young gentleman. In an instant my
mind singled him out from all the rest, and at the
same time something seemed to say within me.
" He is going to pick your pocket." The time
was short. He passed by. I felt a slight touch
on the side, and was about to lift up my cane to
strike him, but the crowd barred the way. We
walked on a few steps, and then stopped and
searched the pocket. Sure enough, it was empty,
except a few loose cents. The explanation I have
for this is that this young man saw me make the

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SPIRITUALISM AND IMITLOSOPMY.

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purchase, for I made it at a little stand on the side-
walk, and put the money in this pocket. On ap-
proaching me the intensity of his purpose over-
flowed his mind and entered into me. This is the
only time I ever had my pocket picked, and I
naturally hope it will be the last.

There are certain other phenomena connected
with my experience which I dread to be familiar
with, nor am I able to account for them satisfac-
torily. Take the following as a sample : Often-
times when I go into the presence of a sick person,
on my first visit, I am immediately told whether
they will live or die ; but such information is
always contrary to the opinion of physician and
friends. That is, when all parties think the sick
one will get better, I will be told they will die ;
and when all parties think the sick one will die, 1
will be told they will live. The same thing will
occur when I am baptizing a child that is sick. A
few weeks ago I was called from a wedding to
baptize a child that was supposed to be dying. In
the very midst of the ceremony we stopped, think-
ing the child was gasping its death gasp. I after-
wards proceeded. Now, while they were so ex-
cited in fear and sorrow, I could hardly keep from
laughing at the secret communicated to me that
the child was to live. In these cases I am afraid
to say anything. In this last case I did put my
hand on the head of the child and said to the
mother, " Your child will live." But what I most
dread and dislike in this kind of previsionary

SFMRITUAIJSM AND PHILOSOPHY,

159

knowledge is that while preaching, at certain times,
a funeral sermon, the next person comes in my
mind that I will have to do it for, and at that time
they will be well.

Humanity is nature's grandest puzzle and great-
est enigma of created things. I believe in souliza-
tion, and that persons thrown into an abnormal
state, either voluntarily or involuntarily, can see
and act independently of the body. That spirits
can materialize, I do not think has yet been proved.
Spirits may affect my spirit, and thx- move me
through soul and bodily organizati' n ". good or
bad results.

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SPIRITUALISM FINISHED.

DISCOURSE XI.

THE KNOWN AND UNKNOWN — MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL CHANGES
— TRUTH AND REASON CLEARING AWAY SUPERSTITION —
JOHN WESLEY'S "INVISIBLE WORLD" — MOHAMMEDANISM —
MORMONISM — ANN LEE, JOHANNA SOUTHCOTT AND SWEDEN-
BORG — ASSERTIONS NO PROOF — SHROEDERITES, SHERTZITES
AND BUCHANANITES — SPECIAL REVELATIONS DELUSIVE — THE
BIBLE SUFFICIENT— CHRIST IN THE GRAVE.

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Text — ist Cor. xiii. 9.
" For we know in part, and we prophesy in part."

|HE world in which we live is geo-
graphically divided into two parts : the
northern hemisphere and the southern
hemisphere. The world of truth is
divided into two parts : the known and the un-
known. Reason holds sovereign sway over tlie
known, and faith commands the unknown. In the
two geographical hemispheres the solid material is
unequally divided : in the northern there is m* re
than in the southern. This unequal distribution t f
the more solid material gives rise to the complex
and irregular motion of the earth on its axis. If

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SPIRITUALISM FINISHED.

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the solid material of the earth were equally allotted
to the two hemispheres, then the revolution of the
earth on its axis would be perpendicular with the
' plane of the earth's orbit, and we would have equal
day and night and equal seasons all round the
world. The northern half, being heavier than the
southern, tilts the axis of the earth and thus pro-
duces the extremes of heat and cold, and so affects
the vegetable and animal. But science teaches us
that this difference in weight in the two hemi-
spheres is gradually disappearing. The southern
half is gaining on the northern half The oldest
land is north, and the newest and youngest is
south. Well, to the north the land is old and
settled, the fires have gone out ; but to the south
the land is in a state of unrest, the volcanoes are
numerous and active. In consequence of this un-
equalization remarkable climatic changes are visible.
The fauna and flora circles of southern latitudes are
extending northward. The ministers and forces of
nature are busy converting the invisible into the
visible. Every living thing, both in the vegetable
and animal domain, is contributing to this end,
more or less. The plant feeds upon the volatile
gases and invisible elements, some of which have
been in plant-life before, and some have not ; it
drinks in sunlight and sunheat, and by the law of
growth and death makes visible the invisible. Sun-
light and heat are solidified ; thus the solid is
increasing, and the invisible is decreasing. It is no
exaggeration to say that a lump of coal is a piece
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SPIKI'lUALISM FINISHED.

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of cold sun. In such a piece we have light, heat
and force in a latent condition. A piece of chalk
is composed of a number of minute marine crea-
tures. Chalk, when analyzed, is found to be
carbonic acid and quicklime ; but it cannot as yet
be produced from them except in God's appointed
way. It is the production of marine globigerina,
the innumerable skeletons of which form a large
part of the bottom of the great Atlantic. They
make and produce what science cannot, even when
it has the material on hand. Innumerable coral
are at work on the same line in many parts of the
great oceans and seas. If these marine creatures
are put into a vessel of filtered water, they still go
on to build themselves up and multiply ; when
dead, their tiny bodies make the coral rock. Of
some kinds we have the beautiful coral necklace.
Where and how they get the material none can
say, except that their tiny organs lay hold on
matter which to us is invisible, and thus in their
bodies solidify the imponderable and unseen.
What they do, every living thing does. It is plain
that solid matter is increasing, and this means that
matter invisible is decreasing. The first visible
form of the earth was an ocean, or globe of water,
as seen by Moses. Here the laws of visible creation
start, and they will go on until they reach the
points seen and foretold by the apocalyptic seer,
when he said, " and I saw a new heaven and a new
earth ; for the first heaven and the first earth were
passed away ; and there was no more sea'' Impor-

SPIRITUALISM MNISIIEI).

163

tant changes are taking place in the nnaterial realm ;
and the changes taking place in the spiritual are
no less important. The hemisphere of the known
is enlarging, the sovereignty of reason is expanding,
becoming more glorious and visible every day. As
the missionary destroys gods many among the
heathen, that he may make known the one true
God and Father of all, so reason is destroying
spirits, supernatural phenomena and the multiplied
sources of superstition, making known that there is
but little of the supersensual, supernatural or super-
spiritual connected with this life. But as the
destroying of heathen gods does not imply there is
no God at all, neither are we to infer that there is
none of the supersensual, supernatural or super-
spiritual connected with this life. But while reason
is clearing these cobwebs of superstition away, and
purifying the air and earth from spirits, the spiritu-
alism of this day, I have no hesitation in saying, is
busy at work in an opposite direction, in a majority
of cases. No one in these days need really believe
that Luther really saw the devil, although he did
hurl his inkstand at his sable majesty. No one
need to believe one-quarter of what Mr. Wesley
wrote in his book called "The Invisible World."
No doubt John Wesley was j;rue to his convictions ;
and many of the weird occurrences which took
place in the famous parsonage at Epworth, while
they were marvellous and peculiar, could now be
easily explained without having recourse to in-
visible spirits. When a boy I read his " Invisible

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164

SPIRITUALISM FINISHED.

ii ;

World," and well do I remember one night being
left in the room alone reading from it, until my
hair fairly stood on end, and I walked backward
to my bedroom. This work some few years ago
was bought up by Mr. Wesley's followers and
destroyed ; so there are few copies at present in
existence. Is it any wonder one of the Wesleys
should have poetized these views and their
sequences ? Of these angels he sings :

Angels our march oppose,

Who still in strength excel ;
Our secret, sworn, eternal foes,

Countless, invisible.

From thrones of glory driven.

By flaming vengeance hurl'd.
They throng the air, and darken heaven,

And rule this lower world.

It had been better still if, besides buying up the
book spoken of, they could have erased from memo-
ry and propagated experience its unwholesome
effects. In this theory there is a golden mean,
which infidels and the superstitious do strangely
miss, and missing, go to disgusting extremes.

It should be our duty and delight to teach the
coming generation wholesome and conservative
truths on this point* ist — That the Scriptures
teach us that the devil and his angels are not now
permitted to roam the earth to scare and torment
its inhabitants. On this point let us make the
rising race free ; give them a wide berth, a pure
air and a free earth, both in daylight and dark-

.SPIRITUALISM KINISIIEI).

165

ness. Let them, by trainin<r, come in possession of
a greater liberty than wc had, because of our false
views and superstitions. Teach them that Christ
rules, and that He will take care of the devil and
hi^imps ; for this very purpose He died, "that He
might destroy him that had power over death, that
is the devil" 2nd — Let them know that all human
spirits who are in the other world of a bad dispo-
sition are assigned, confined and restrained, just
like our criminals here. The very word " demon "
means this. Hence they can never injure us, or
appear to us by materialization, seances or any
other kind of manipulations. As soon might their
dead bodies walk abroad as that these spirits should
have the freedom some claim for Jthem. 3rd — We
saw last Sunday evening that the angels, or minis-
tering spirits, of this disf)ensation are good disem-
bodied spirits, and that in a limited sense, and on
special occasions, God may use them. But both the
time and occasion are with God to determine. Thev
are not at the beck and call of this one and that
one. 4th — That God Himself is a Spirit, who is
everywhere present.

The importance of correct views on Spiritualism
you will see at once, if you will consider the claims
set forth and organizations built up and maintained
on this theory. Mohammed, the great prophet of
Arabia, and promulgator and originator of Islam-
ism, claimed to be a Spiritualist, to have intercourse
with the Almighty and spirits. This being admit-
ted, it is easy to see what would follow. He taught

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SIM RITUALISM KINISIIKD.

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himself to be God's chosen prophet, and his own
ideas and teachings to have come from God. It is
plain that any so believing him would believe that
resistance to him would be resistance to God. On
this false foundation millions rest their faith. *

Mormonism, like Mohammedanism, is founded
on pretended spiritual revelation. Joseph Smith, the
Vermonter, and New York farmer, claimed to have
had visions and special revelations. He was accus-
tomed tobe en rapport with spirits. In one of his
visions two angels appeared to him denouncing
all existing denominations, and giving him direc-
tions as to how and when to form a new church.
Thus the vain and corrupt visions of this Spiri-
tualist became tfie chief corner-stone of a new
religion. Ha^'ing persuaded others that he was
chosen of heaven, they could not readily refuse
his teachings ; for what heaven teaches, be it black
as midnight, loathsome as leprosy, or cruel as death,
it must be right. Thus we have at this moment
Mormon wives and Mormon daughters pleading
before Congress the righteousness of their cause,
and for the recognition and continuance of the
same. The strength of a false faith is clearly seen
in its power to displace the true, to change laws
and customs. It surely is a thing of power that
will make a woman willing to take a half, or quarter,
or, for that, a twentieth part of a man, and be as
content with such a fractional part as if she had
the whole. It cannot be that this offspring of super-
stitious pride and lust will much longer remain.

SI'IRITUALISM KINISIIEI).

167

There are many sects, societies and churches who
claim distinction and authority from no higher
source than the Mormons, to whose moraUty none
can object, and many of whose doctrines we accept.
But we must repudiate their authority, and reject
their specialties and discriminating distinctions.
Take as an example the Shakers. To the morality
and honest endeavour of this people we offer no
objections ; but we do protest against their special
claims to inspiration, either by visions or by Spiri-
tualism. We do not accept their utterances,although
they claim inspiration for them, as being supple-
mentary to the divine word, the Bible. We know
that Mother Ann Lee, in the year 1770, gave out
that she had been favoured with a revelation from
heaven. This some believed ; hence rose Shaker-
ism in its present form. We do not believe she
had such a revelation ; for if we were to believe
her, we would soon be on a sea of confusion. The
confusion would not be so great if she were the
only one demanding our faith ; but the fact is that
scores of others set up just such claims, and, judged
by the laws of evidence, one claim is equally as
valid and trustworthy as another.

Johanna Southcott began her public mission
about the same time Mother Ann Lee did. So at
the same period England had two female prophets,
one busy in the great centre, Manchester, and the
other in London, and both equally arrogating to
themselves the spirit of inspiration. Ann Lee
taught that in her the female part of Christ was

1 68

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incarnated. Johanna Southcott at the same time
would have her followers and the world believe
that Christ W(juld come a second time by beinj;
born of her. In comparinj^ these two wonderful
characters we are obli^^ed to credit Mother Lee with
the greatest shrewdness, i'he manner of Christ's
incarnation in her was of such a nature that none
could disprove it. liut the child Christ, born of
Johanna Southcott, turned out to be a girl, and this
slight miscalculation upset her claims and threw her
followers into confusion. The golden cradle they
had prepared for the infant Christ was rudely confis-
cated by some of her disappointed adherents. But
even after this sad mishap the society did not be-
come extinct. Human nature will take in a wonder-
ful amount of humbuggery when presented in the
name of religion. Men seem greedy in accepting
,'! y kind of a belief if it will free them from the
pure and simple doctrines of practice and experi-
ence taught by our bl( ssed Lord. Faith on the
line of the ridiculous and superstitious is easily
commanded. Thus it comes to pass that some men
are giants in the faith of disbelief, and weaker than
babies in gospel faith. If asked to support the
mission cause they arc cranky, and at once make
haste to avow their disbelief or plead an extra-
ordinary poverty. They think it weak and simple
for people to believe in the inspiration of the pro-
phets and apostles, and commendable and a sign of
a strong mind to take in the maudlin utterances of
mediums and scientific humbugs. For such things

SPlklTUAMSM KINISIIKI).

169

the}' have I'luch faith, much praise and inucl\ muncy.
If I had to selcr a leader from the vast array
of iispirational claimants, my choice would be
the Swedish seer of Stockholm, Emanuel Swcden-
borg. But believing, as 1 do, that the days of
special inspiration ended with the apostles, and
that we have in the Old and New Testament a
full and a sufficient revelation, I cannot allow
even the claims of l.manut ' Swedenbor^. I look
upon him as being by far the best and most prof-
itable clairvoyant the world has ever bad. Many
of his works 1 have read with care and to great
profit. Still, I cannot consent to enroll him
among the prophets and apostle.s. His travels
through other worlds and visits to heaven were
extensive and numerous, according to his own
telling. Of cout'sc, not having been there, I can-
not disprove ; but at the same time 1 can and do
disbelieve him in these things. A man may make
statements and set forth an array of supposed
facts which are entirely beyond disproof, and that
can only be simply believed or disbelieved. If a
person assuming to have been to heaven, and
there to have seen the angel Gabriel, should tell
me that Gabriel had four big toes and four
thumbs, what could I do with such a statement,
•myself never having seen Gabriel ? All I could
do is to disbelieve, of course ; I could not, from
the very nature of the fact disprove it. And,
strange to say, many think if you cannot disprove
a thing, that the thing must be true. Such, how-
ever, is not always the case.

I70

SI'IklTUALiSM IINISIIKI).

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This doctrine of the supernatural,- as affectinj^^
individuals, is without doubt the most dangerous
of all doctrines. Ncjnc has been so absurd, so
mischievous, so destructive and so obstructive to
the spread of the gospel of Jesus and the recep-
tion of true inspiration. If we once open the door
and allow such things, then we have to admit a
motley crowd of fanatics and humbugs of every
kind and nature, very sparingly interspersed here
and there with an intelligent one. Look right
around us, go over into New York city, and dur-
ing the past year we have three new societies
coming into existence, all basing their claims on
the supernatural.

First — Henry Schroeder's new millennial church
was launched into existence a few months ago.
It is fully equipped with articles of faith, and laws
and rules of service. Hut what does he claim ?
you ask. Why, he teaches that he is especially
called of God, and by supernatural visitations he
has been qualified. Hear him speak : " It has
been revealed to me that all crimes, suicides,
insanities, idiocies, arc the result of absence from
God. We are surrounded by numberless evil
spirits who influence us more than most people
dream of By earnest prayer my body has devel-
oped, until gradually my body has been brought *
to such a condition that I can feel the presence of
spirits about me. They take me by the hand as
genially and heartily as can any of you. They
touch me on the shoulder, greeting me in various

SI'IKITUAMSM KFNISIfKI).

17'

ways, and accompanyinjij mc from one place to an-
other. Not infrequent!/ evil spirits come to annoy
mc, and I have to drive them from my house."
God first appeared unto him in his house, by three
distinct knocks on a table. Admitting such reve-
lation, we must admit his teachings.

Second — We have the society presided over b)'
a Mrs. Catherine Schertz. It with the one just
established in Boston are modelled after, and come
from, one in Kngland. They are called " Christian
Israelites." On the lost tribes they have some
peculiar views. They are the nucleus of the one
hundred and forty and four thousand that are to
j^ather to receive Christ, whom they expect will
.soon come for them, not for any other. You
naturally suppose I would be interested in this
society, as they claim to be Israelites. Hut I have
not much faith in their views, for as in other cases,
the founder, who was an Englishman, will have us
believe that his spiritual vision was enlarged by a
.special Providence in the year 1822. I confess I
shy off from any one immediately they begin to
tell mc they are special favourites with God and
are permitted to have remarkable visions and visits
from spirits. My confidence in the Bible, as a
sufficient revelation, naturally predispcses me to
reject such claims.

Third — We have the " Woman's church," a new
religious organization just formed in New York
under the lead and by means of the instruction of
Prof. Dr. J. R. Buchanan. The doctor is at the

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SPIKITUALISM FINISH Kl).

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head of the New York Psychometric Society, and
from this society most of the ladies come who
make up the number of the new church. They
have no creed but the " Divine Spirit." As it
directs, so will they walk, talk and live. Dr. Bu-
chanan is a leader among our Spiritualistic friends.
In speaking of this new society, he says : " This
is the first organization in the society of divine
love and wisdom which we expect will, in due
time, if its course is wise, embrace the best and
wisest of both sexes throughout Christendom. It
does not propose to antagonize or destroy other
denominations." With this slight mooring it is
hard to say whither such a society will drift, and
what it will accomplish. Past examples, founded
on like foundations, guarantee but little. When
people believe that they can have private and
preferential instruction from God or spirits, it is
impossible to tell what their utterances will be ;
and no matter how contradictory one may be to
the other and contrary to common sense, if each
is endorsed by heaven then there must be conflict
and contention. If we believe all that this class
of people say, then our ideas of the Divine want
remodelling ; for the queerest and most unreason-
able things have been attributed to God by this
kind of folk.s.

In what are called the orthodox bodies this
thing of special revelation is at times very hurtful.
I heard, not long ago, a lady, who is actively en-
gaged in the temperance cause, state that one

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SPIRITUALISM FlNISIIt;D.

173

Sunday, during a sacramental occasion in Dr. Bud-
dington's church, she had a special revelation for-
bidding her to take of the wine. This she be-
lieved and meant to always carry out, and she
was commissioned to make it known unto others
that they might do likewise. Last December a
holiness convention was held in the Johnson Street
M. E. Church. But their special profession of
entire sanctification and divine guidance did not
.save them from confusion, and what I would call
unholy conduct and conversation one toward an-
other ; so much so, that the second day they split
into two. And then, a day or two after, we had
them in the public journals, each trying to justify
himself, contradicting one another. The fact is,
it is not possible for such a society to be built up.
They are a nuisance, as a rule, in any church ; but
they prosper better within some church than they
would if alone. They get it into their head, not
heart, that they are better than others ; and being
perfect and divinely guided, neither minister nor
anybody else can Jo aught with them except dis-
pute. They take offence the easiest, get vexed
the soonest, of any class of people I ever met.
True, I have met a few that I have thought were
as perfect and good as humanity can well be in a
world like this ; but they did not intrude their
goodness on the public by loud confessions, show,
and odious comparisons, but were rather of a retir-
ing disposition, and full of charity. Let us remem-
ber that we are all children of one Father, who is

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SJ'IRITUALISM FINISHED.

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no respecter of persons ; who giveth to all freely,
and upbraideth not. His Bible and the Holy
Spirit are a sufficient revelation and guide, without
any supplements.

Next Sabbath evening I will answer the ques-
tion, " Why Jesus remained in the grave three
days, and what He did in that time."

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DISCOURSE XII.

STANDARD THEOLOCiV — WHY JESUS REMAINED IN THE GRAVE
THREE DAYS — WHERE HE WENT AND WHAT HE DID — JEWISH
TRADITIONAL NOTIONS OF DEATH — FRENCH HORRORS — LOCA-
TION OF HADES — THIEF ON THE CROSS — WHERE HE WENT —
HINDING SATAN — CONyUERIN(i DEATH — THEOLOGICAL AND
DEVILOLOGICAL EXTREMES — " GIVE THE DEVIL HIS DUE "
-WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Text— Col. ii. 15.

" And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show
of them openly, triumphing over them in it."

T is important that we should have a
proper estimate of the Saviour, and
correct views of His mission, work
and life. And so it would be with
men of common sense, if our mode of instruction
was better adjusted to human need and liberty.
The theological schools and colleges of the land,
as a rule, do not teach the students how to think
and judge for themselves. They prefer rather to
do the thinking for them, and foist upon them the
formulated inferences and deductions of the sect

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CHRIST'S WORK IN HADES.

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or denomination to which they belong, which, if
one go back a little, they find to centre in two or
three leaders who had most to do with the origina-
tion of such sects or denominations. The utter-
ances of such men are called "standards." The
student accounted best qualified is the one who
most faithfully accepts the standards, and can best
preach them and defend them. In the course of
ages the standards are enlarged by some all-power-
ful individual. Thus, if we look at a school of
some old denomination, we will find the standards
large and contradictory, and ill adapted to the
present times. Look, for instance, at the Catholic
church as one of the oldest organizations, and you
will find their standards wonderful and varying,
contradictory and opposite as light and darkness.
The saints, feast and fast days, times and rules of
prayers, orders and authorities, are as numerous as
the days of the year. A student in one of their
schools has got something to do to know all, so as
to teach all the standards contain. If the Philip-
pian jailer had fallen upon our times with his
simple, earnest question, asking, " Men and brethren,
what shall I do to be saved ? " he would have been
as surprised as unfortunate when he got the answer.
If we only had one man from each church deputed
to answer him, what a babel of answers there would
be. Why, it would take some of the deputies
weeks to get through. Thank heaven for the sim-
ple and refreshing answer given by Paul : " Believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."

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CHRIST S WORK IN HADES.

177

So I wish you to believe what the divine word
teaches ; to take it as the standard, your guide and
authority. Let me simply teach you to the end,
and in such a manner that you may teach your-
selves, and be ready at all times to give them that
ask, a reason of the hope within you.

In nis discourse I wish to ask and answer the
question : Why Jesus remained in the grave three
days? and where He went in spirit? and what He
did?

It was a part of the traditional faith of the Jews
that it took the spirit three days to fully vacate the
body. They believed that the light of three dif-
ferent days must touch the corpse or tomb. With
the dawn of light of the third day the spirit was
entirely freed. Their faith did not require three
days of twenty-four hours, but three daylights. So
if a body was buried on Friday afternoon and raised
on Sunday morning with the dawn of light, it
would, by their law of traditional faith, have been
really dead, and would be spoken of by them as
having been dead and in the grave three days. To
this end Christ delayed the raising of Lazarus out
of the grave till the fourth day — till even the body
was known to be corrupt — that He might fully
prove His resurrection power. The daughter of
Jairus, and the widow's son at Nain, He had
raised, but the three days not having been fulfilled
in the time of their death, these cases could not be
submitted as full proof Thus He goes in Lazarus'
case beyond the allotted time. From whence the

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CHRIST'S WORK IN HADES.

Jews got this idea, or the reasons on which they
relied, I am not able to inform you. Such an idea
they had. To meet this idea and to prove His death
to be real, as ji Iged by their own law, our Saviour
met and complied with the same. Though He was
pronounced dead by the soldiers when upon the
cro.ss, yet they believed that a body might revive
any time before the light of the third day of its
own accord — not after that. Thus judged by the
extreme law of tradition, the Jews could not gain-
say the real death of Christ.

Tradition is oftentimes very fanciful and curi-
ous, but generally originates in .some fanciful or
reasonable cause, the effect remaining long after the
knov/ledgc of the cause has been forgotten. The
simple statement made by Matthew (xxiv. 27) has
been carefully incorporated into architecture, for
it gave orientation to churches and cathedrals by
causing them to stand east and west. It fixed the
place of the sacred altar. It entered the graveyard
and determined our position there. " For as the
lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even
unto the west, so shall also the coming of the
Son of Man be." Hence we are buried with our
feet to the east, that we m^y arise in due form lu
.see and meet the Lord at His coming. The bodies
of the good and had are planted in sure ami t iM Ullli
hope of a resurrection ; and eacb in its place made
to silently poim the way of His return to raise the
dead and judge the world. The Swedenborgians
teach that the spirit remains in the body for a

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CHRISTS WORK IN HADES.

179

short time after death — about three days — some-
times more, sometimes less. Swedenborg himself
says : '* The spirit of man, after the separation, re-
mains a little while in the body, then the spirit is
resuscitated by the Lord." The manner and mode
of the spirit's exit from the body, both science and
theology have tried to determine. So far little
light has been thrown on the subject. It yet re-
mains as one of those problems which experience
alone can solve. We entered this life unconsciously
and by a way we knew not at the time ; so I think
death is but another birth, carrying us higher up
on the plane of existence, and the ways and man-
ner of this birth will not be well understood till we
have passed beyond.

In the time of the French revolution — 1793 —
when the Jacobins were rioting and revelling in
blood, a nuj liber of savants banded together to
test by experience how long it took a person to
die. The victims of the guillotine were subjected
to shameful and outrageous treatment. The head
of the famous Charlotte Corday, the assassin of
Murat, was picked up for test immediately it fell
from the blocR. One of these worshippers of reason
held it by the long flowing hair till others smote
the cheek and spat in the face, and in other ways
disgustingly tempted the departing spirit. The
countenance responded with the blush of shame, re-
venge and disgust, as the several insults demanded.
For thirty minutes consciousness seemed present in

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CHRIST'S WORK IN HADES.

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the bodiless head. But with all that was done,
little, if any, further light was thrown on the mode
and manner of the spirit's departure from the tem-
ple-house of clay.

But on the death of Christ, where did He go in
spirit ? The catechism says '* He descended into
hell." The scriptures teach that He went into the
invisible, or the world of spirits. It is well to
remember that the heaven and hell of this present
time are neither the same in condition or location
as the heaven and hell of the Old Testament.
That invisible world to which Christ went is not
the Shummayim, or, as wc translate it, the "heaven."
From this heaven He came with attending angels
to be incarnated at Bethlehem, and to this heaven
He ascended from the Mount of Olives when He
had finished His work. The name of this invisible
world to which He went, in Hebrew is Sheol ; it is
translated in the Old Testament, "hell," "grave,"
" pit," and " suffering." It means the place and
state of departed spirits — good and bad and un-
judged angels. They all seemed to have dwelt
together, the distinction simply being in state —
that is, the experience of each. It was not neces-
sary — neither were they — that Paul and Silas
should be miserable or equal to the other prisoners
in the Philippian jail. The same condition and pro-
miscuous mingling of the good and bad of human
kind and bad of the angel kind prevailed on earth.
Evil spirits took actual possession of some folks

Christ's work in hades.

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in those days ; throwing them into paroxysms
of savage revenge, causing them to afflict them-
selves and others and to dwell among the tombs.
The Jews believed that, as to location, Sheol was
inside of the earth. They also believed that Sheol
was divided into three departments or chambers.
In the first the good of human kind lived, in the
second the bad, and in the third the devil-angels.
The first place was spoken of as Paradise ; the
second was called Gehenna, or place of burning ;
the third was called in the Hebrew, Tophet, and in
the Greek, Tartarus, a place of darkness. To each
of these departments the admittance was through
a door or gate. Hence the frequent reference in
the Bible to the gates, doors and chambers of
death, and the constant idea of going down when
one died.

No one can read the Bible intelligently unless
they understand the primary ideas of the Jewish
mind. The Divine conforms to these ideas in His
revelation ; but it docs not follow that they are
literally true, but true in such a sense that truth
of greater importance can be conveyed by them.
When the sacred writers represent God as speak-
ing, saying Ujx instance, " And God said, let there
be light," we understand the meaning. So when
the sun is spoken of as rising and setting, it does
not follow that God did literally speak, or that the
sun does rise and set, but by speaking of these
things in this manner the truth designed is more

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easily and more correctly imparted. How easy to
understand passages like the following : " Thuugh
they dig into hell, thence shall My hand take them.
Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee
at thy coming." And take Eph. iv. 9: Paul, speak-
ing of Christ, says, "Now that He ascended, what
is it ; but that He also descended first into the
lower parts of the earth." Christ, in Revelation,
is declared to be alive forevermorc, and to have
the keys of death and hell. That memorable, and
with many, difficult passage, where Christ on the
cross said in answer to one of the thieves, " This
day shalt thou be with Me in paradise," is at once
understood if we keep in mind the Jewish ideas of
the invisible. In going to the chamber or depart-
ment of devils, Christ would naturally pass through
paradise, and so leave the thief there. Into the
heaven tliat Christ promised to prepare, that where
He dwelt His people might also dwell, no one of
human kind had up to that been. In this sense
Peter says of David at Pentecost, that he had not
ascended into the heavens. Jesus said to Nicode-
mus that " no man had ascended up into heaven
but He that came down," namely, Himself.

The fact is, as I have said before, the Bible is a
book that beautifully responds to the laws and
rules of common sense, and if men would only
read and interpret it in a common-sense way in-
stead of by their preconceived ideas, they would
rejoice in its simple, but at the same time sublime

CKkIST's WOftK IN HADF.S.

1«3

teachings. 1 trust you now understand the place
and the supposed location where Christ went while
His body slept in the tomb.

Let us now ask what He went into Slieol for,
And we shall rtnd the Scriptures ready with an
answer. The passage most to the point is that in
Heb. ii. 14, which reads as follows: "Forasmuch,
then, as the children are partakers of flesh and
blood, I fe also Himself likewise took part of the
same, that through death He might destroy him
that ha(l the power of death — that is, the devil."
In this statement you have two distinct items : first,
to destroy the levil, and .ccond, to destroy his
power over death. Il does not mean that the
sequence of the dew., or death, will cease on
earth ; for the devil's influence is now in the
world, and will be for some time, "working in the
children of disobedience." And death continues
on as ever. But it means that Christ conquered
the devil and took him an J his angels and bound
them, removing them, and so completely restrained
them that they were no longer left free to roam
the earth, to posses.-; men, women and children,
or to dwell in tombs. In that death-land Satan
seems to have had great power and liberty, as he
had in life- land in those days. Because of this
power Satan is spoken of as having power over
death, the meaning of which is that he had power
over and in death-land. That power and his cor-
responding power on earth was taken from him.
Christ took the keys of death and hell. In Christ's

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CHRIST'S WORK IN HADES.

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hand is all power in heaven and on earth. This
sovereignty of Jesus Charles Wesley has neatly
set forth in one of his hymns, where he sings :

Jesus — the name high over all,

In hell, or earth, or sky ;
Angels and men before it fall.

And devils fear and fly.

Death itself and its effects were not destroyed
till Christ rose from the dead. He went beyond
death and came back, not only having conquered
the retaining power of death, but He vanquished
the very effects. Christ being spotless and pure,
without the seeds and sequences of death in Him,
He could not have died a natural death, so He
died a voluntary one. He laid down His life.
" No man taketh it from Me," He said ; and as He
laid it down so He took it up. It was not enough
for Him to conquer death in and over Himself;
but He must and did, thank heaven, conquer it
in man, for man, and over man. All this He did ;
for thus we rea'd Matt, xxvii. 52 : "And the graves
were opened ; and many bodies of the saints which
slept arose, and came out of the graves after His
resurrection."

The connecting dispensations of a providence
that hinge on to a universe so vast and complex,
and that are timed by dial hands adjusted to an
eternity is, and naturally must ever be, beyond our
power to solve and wholly comprehend. Who this
lordly chief of spirit-land was and where he origin-
ated, how he became rebellious, and why and how,

CHRIST'S WORK IN HADES.

185

when fallen, he should be permitted to have such
privileges, power and influence, I know not, ex-
cepting so far as revelation informs me. He was a
chief, ruling over principalities and powers ; these
Christ spoiled, and dethroned him. He and his
influences were contrary to man's spiritual welfare,
and as Christ had come to redeem man from evil,
without and within, it is reasonable that He should
destroy these principalities and powers. Jesus had
at least once before contended with this great chief;
for He says to the seventy disciples, who were filled
with joy because the devils were subject to them,
" I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."
Perhaps the Saviour here refers to the time when
jvar raged in heaven. One thing is certain : both
the devil, his angels and demons knew the mission
and purpose of Jesus ; for they would confess His
Sonship and acknowledge His sovereignty, saying,
" What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son
of God ? Art Thou come hither to torment u^
before the time ? " — Matt. viii. 29.

Some deny the existence of such a personage
altogether, as they do, or are tempted to do, every-
thing they do not understand ; for we have men
who presume to think that the Almighty would
do nothing beyond their comprehension. The-
ology has gone to forbidden extremes on devil-
ology, as on many other ologies, and by this means
has provoked opposition, which, because it had to
contend with an extreme, went to an extreme
also. There are few things more offensive, to my

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CHRIST'S WORK IN HADES.

experience and ideas of honour, than to hear pro-
fessed Christians talk in fellowship-meetings the
way they do about the devil. It is a current say-
ing, " Give the devil his due," but the fact is they
give him more than his due. If they have been
cold and indifferent, or have been guilty of some
overt folly, they invariably say that they have been
sorely tempted of the devil. Such folks haven't at
heart enough of the truth to tell the truth. They
are not honourable enough to father their own sins.
They forget that " every man is tempted, when he
is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then,
when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin ; and
sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do
not err, my beloved brethren." — James i. 14. The
Jews of old had a scapegoat, on which they laid all
their sins ; and many of our Christian friends of to-
day make a scapegoat out of the devil. One would
fancy some people to be very important, if we
judge them by the fact of the devil's anxiety to
get them, and the good Lord's fear of losing them ;
for, according to their story, the Lord is always
busy trying them, passing them through the deep
water, hot fires and terrible afflictions. They are
shuttlecocked between God and the devil in a
shameful way, according to their own telling.
They are not aware that such confessions demean
Christ and His work. Christ took on Him flesh
and blood that He might die, and enter the spirit-
realm that way ; and there destroy Satan — and I
believe He did, " Or else, how can one enter into

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CHRISTS WORK IN HADES.

187

a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except
he first bind the strong man ; then he will spoil
his house." — Matt. xii. 24.

As the blessed Saviour neared the death hour,
He foresaw the struggle into which He had to
enter. He saw the house and the strong man in it.
Heaven even became audibly interested. '* Now is
my soul troubled, and what shall I say ? Father,
save Me from this hour ; but for this cause came I
unto this hour." Thus we hear Him confess the
purpose of His mission. A voice from heaven
spake good cheer to Him. The people could not
make out what the voice was. Some thought it
was thunder ; others said an angel spake to Him.
Jesus answered and said, " This voice came not
because of Me, but for your sakes. Now is the
judgment of this world ; ?tow shall the prince of
this world be cast out!' — John xii. 27. That is, the
voice came to strengthen Me while I fight out a
deliverance for you. " Hereafter I will not talk
much with you, for the prince of this world cometh,
and hath nothing in Me." That Christ did cast the
devil out I do believe, in spite of all the multitude
of confessions to the contrary. The Holy Spirit
came to take the place of the devil, for he was sent
because Jesus had gone to the Father, and the
prince of this world had been judged. (See John
xvi. 8.)

Now, to do the work assigned, it was necessary,
as we have seen, that Jesus should die, that so He
might enter spiritland on the same plane that the

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CHRISTS WORK IN HADES.

bodiless spirits had. It was during the time of
death that He conquered the devil, the principali-
ties and powers. When he rose from the grave
He began another work on the same line and next
in order. This work it took Him forty days to
perform.

Next Sunday evening we will ask and answer
the question : Why Christ remained forty days on
earth after His resurrection, where He went, and
what He did ?

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DISCOURSE XIII.

GOD NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS — LAW OF ENTAIL — GIVE THE
POOR THE ADVANTAGES OF THE RICH — SONS OF GOD — THE
TWO ADAMS — NO HERODIC THEOLOGY — SALVATION FOR CHIL-
DREN, INSANE AND HEATHEN — OBLIGATION TO CHRISTIANIZE
THE HEATHEN — WHAT CHRIST DID AFTER HIS RESURREC-
TION,

Text— ist Peter iv. 6.

" For this cause was the Gospel preached also to them that
are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the
flesh, but live according to God in the spirit."

T is time upon time repeated in the Bible
that God is no respecter of persons. If
we look at the human race we will find
a wide difference in the condition of the
individuals. Conditionally, there is a vast differ-
ence in the opportunities, and equally so in the
accountability of a person living before the time of
Noah and now, or one living in the days of Moses
or Jesus. I was born of Christian parents, in a
Christian family, in a Christian country, and to me

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CHRIST S FORTY DAYS WORK.

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a Christian age. At the same time there was born
another person in the jungles of Africa, of pagan
parents, in a heathen land, and to him an idola-
trous age. We were both born without our indi-
vidual consent being solicited as to the place,
conditions and age. These things were in the
hands of Providence, and, at first sight, seemr. to
affirm of the Almighty that He is a respecter of
persons. But in His word we are assured that He
is not ; for there we learn that accountability, judg-
ment and compensation in the life to come are
adapted to, and commensurate with, this diversity
of age and individual condition. It is written,
" Surely the Judge of all the earth will do right."
Comparing individual with individual, country with
country, and age with age, we have in this life and
this world the inferior and the superior ; but the
very aim of the government of God, as adminis-
tered through Christ, is to destroy the inferior and
restore man and nature to the superlative status of
the original design of creation, hence, " God is in
Christ reconciling the world unto Himself."

When man and nature are fully reconciled and
restored they will have been under three distinct
forms of government. The first, that which pre-
vailed in Eden ere sin entered ; the second is the
one now in operation — it is temporary, remedial
and provisional ; the third will be inaugurated
after the general judgment. Up to that point
Christ will bear rule. " Tken cometh the end^ when
He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God,

CHRIST'S FORTY DAYS' WORK.

191

even the Father ; when He shall have put down all
rule and all authority and power ; and when all
things shall be subdued unto Him ; then shall the
Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all
things under Him, that God may be all in all^ —
ist Cor. XV. 28. Then there will be a new heaven
and a new earth, in which will dwell righteousness,
as recorded by Peter. Then there will be no in-
ferior dispensations. The inferior dispensations
of the present government are the results of sin.
Christ tells us that it was the will of His Father
which sent Him, that of all which was given Him
He was to lose nothing, but to raise it up again at
the last day. — John vi. 39.

If one would study theology to advantage, he
must study the office and relations of the two
Adams to the whole human family. The second
Adam, Christ, seeks to remedy the defects and
sequences entailed by the first Adam. This law of
entailment seems unjust to many ; and because it
is not rightly understood, much confusion and error
prevails. We accept it in nature and in families.
We there perceive it to be operative, and, though
oftentimes cruel, yet we know it is natural, and
therefore right, in the present state of things. The
children of the rich inherit superior conditions to
those of the poor ; the children of the good have a
great advantage over the children of the wicked.
All this is patent to the most cursorv observer.
The best remedy for such entailments is not to de-
stroy the law and isolate man from man and law

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from nature. We must have an established order
of sequence. Twice two make four ; wheat planted
brings forth wheat. Now, if the law of sequence
were not in existence, we would be in utter con-
fusion. If, for instance, twice two should some-
times make five or eleven, or wheat when sown
should produce potatoes or nuts, then business
would be brought to ruin and education would be
impossible. Peace, harmony and progress are
bassed on the established laws of cause and effect.
And if such entailment be necessary and advanta-
geous in temporal things, surely it would be more
so in spiritual things. " Be not deceived ; God is
not mocked ; for whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the
flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but he that
soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life
everlasting." — Gal. vi. 7. What, then, is the best
remedy ? Most certainly not to destroy all to-
gether, nor to equalize by mixing the poor child's
condition with that of the rich, so that they meet
half-way ; it is not to get a morality from the
compounding of the good and bad together. But
the best and wisest remedy is to give the poor
children the advantages of the rich and make the
bad as good as the good. This is the very remedy
proposed by the Gospel of Jesus. It is to make all
good, happy and safe.

Whatever came upon the human family through
the first Adam will be adjusted in due time by the
second Adam. All sufl*ering that is entailed by

riiRisT's lORTv days' work.

'93

all the earthly Adams going before us, and all en-
tailer' inferiority of conditions and inequalities,
will be removed, and the individual rewarded and
judged agreeable to a law that will take into con-
sideration the full force of the law of sequence.
** As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made
alive." It is not our fault we die, neither does it
depend upon our merit that we be made alive at
the resurrection. We are born in sin and shapen
in iniquity ; but this kind of sin will not condemn
us, nor will this iniquity of shape exclude us from
heaven. " Because we thus judge, that if One
died for all, then were all dead ; and that He died
for all, that they which live should not henceforth
live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for
them and rose again." — 2nd Cor. v. 14. No man
will be damned in eternity who did not damn him-
self on earth. Every one lost in eternity will have
first been lost in time, not because of Adam, or
any other person, but because they prefer darkness
to light, and take their pleasure in unrighteous-
ness. So far as damnation goes, every person is
as isolated as was the first Adam ; and as literally
and as really as he did, so must they choose their
own condemnation. I thank my God that I have
as much faith in the second Adam, Jesus, as I
have in the first. And I believe that the fortune
of wealth entailed by the second Adam is equal to
the poverty entailed by the first. The first Adam
did succeed in making us sons of men ; the second
Adam did indeed become a son of man, that we
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Christ's forty days' work.

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might again be made the sons of God ; " which
was the son o( Enos, which was the son of Seth,
which was the son of Adam, which was the son of
God." — Luke iii. 38. Had Adam not sinned, we
would have been born the sons of God ; by sin He
made us sons of men. The second Adam, how-
ever, makes us sons of God again.

This federating of the whole human family in
the two Adams was a wonderful device of Him
who is strong to deliver, and fruitful in making a
way for our escape. It is ignorance of the rela-
tion of these two Adams that leads msn to make
such fearful and uncharitable mistakes in theology.
Why, last week, should a conference of ministers
in New York city have before them the question
of infant salvation, and find themselves unable
to agree, and so retire the question, stating that
it was one of those mysteries wh'ch God did not
mean we should understand ? Might they not
have known that infancy, death, and limitations
of knowledge in the child were the sequences of
the first Adam ; but in the second Adam, the
Blessed Lord, they have life, maturity and heaven.?
"Where there is no law there is no transgression;"
and we also read that " Sin is the transgression of
the law." " Except we be converted and become
as little children, we cannot enter into the kingdom
of heaven." Did we know better the relation the
two Adams sustain to us, we would be spared those
ignorant, harsh, unchristian and un scriptural har-
angues that we are so often treated to at missionary

CHRIST'S FORTY OAVS* WORK.

195

meetings, where the sympathies of the people are
moved and their feLrs excited by portraying to
them the terrible condition of the pagans and
heathens, who are being swept from time, millions
per year, by an avenging God, into hell. Why men
are so impatient and anxious to multiply the lost
and crowd the regions of the damned, I know not.
They give to God, Jesus and heaven but a small
number. They strangely demean the work and
wisdom of God by allowing the devil and hell such
success and number. I want nothing to do with a
theology that savours of Herodianism by slaughter-
ing the infants ; that will send all or any of the
insane, who were born so, to the place of despair,
and that will so unmercifully condemn the pagan.
I look upon the Gospel in its purchase and appli-
cation as the very essence of equity and love. I
say with Paul — Roms. ii. 10 — " Glory, honour and
peace to every man that worketh good, for there is
no if^pect of persons with God." And here, in this
very chapter, Paul gives us the law of judgment in
such cases. The Gentile or heathen are ju^lged by
the laws of nature as within them and without.
The Cnristian is judged by the law of revelation.
He is amenable to both kinds of law ; " For as
many as have sinned without law shall also perish
without law ; and as many as have sinned in the
law shall be judged by the law (for not the hearers
of the law are just before God, but the doers of the
law shall be justified ; for when the Gentiles, which
have not the law — that is, Bible law — do by nature

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CHRIST'S FORTY DAYS' WORK.

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the things contained in the law, these, having not
the lav/, are a law unto themselves, which shov/ the
work of the law written in their hearts, their con-
science also bearing witness, and their thoughts the
meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another).
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men
by Jesus Christ." The plain teaching of the Scrip-
ture on this point is that the heathen are judged by
a law suited to them — not one suited to us. By
that law they stand or fall as we stand or fall by
our law. They will be amenable to that law until
we give them the law of the Gospel ; then they
will stand or fall as we do. On the side of wrong
this is heaven's rule : " He that doeth wrong shall
receive for the wrong which he has done ; and there
is no respect of persons." — Col. iii. 25.

This plea for children, the insane, and the hea-
then, will s^^ewhat expose me to the shafts of
those ortho^ ox brethren whose zeal runs before
reason, and whose anxiety sours their love. But
whether it does or not, if error be within the range,
I much prefer to err on mercy's side. A few lines
from Lord Byron's poem on the visions of judg-
ment are to the point. This poem was really a
satire on poor King George the Third :

God save the King ! It is a large economy
In God to save the like ; but if He will
Be saving, all the better ; for not one am I
Of those who think damnation better still.
Know this is unpopular. I know
'Tis blasphemous; I know one may be damn'd
For hoping no one else may e'er be so.

CHRIST'S FORTY DAYS' WORK.

197

The plain matter of fact is that more have gone
to heaven without faith than with faith, since Christ's
death. To the best of us, Christ is righteousness,
wisdom and sanctification, without which none of
us could meet the standard of heavenly qualifica-
tion of Tightness, wiseness and pureness. We all of
us must partake of the pious qualification in Christ,
more or less. The amount assigned by the good
Lord to any individual has respect to his ability,
opportunity and condition. So if a child, a hea-
then or a Christian live up to these conditions, they
will be saved, however limited in rightness, wiseness
or pureness. After the best endeavour of any human
creature has been put forth, then to all such Christ
stands good to qualify them for heaven. Whether
they have had faith or no faith, or whether they
have had a Bible or no Bible, or whether they have
known of Jesus or not known, if they did the best
they could they will be saved. For " God will
render to every man according to his deeds " ; or,
as stated in other words by Peter, " The Father
who, without respect of persons, judgeth accord-
ing to every man's work." The mother covers the
weakness and ignorance of her child ; she is its
wisdom and strength, till strength and wisdom are
developed for self-protection and qualification. So
God, in His infinite love in Christ, covers every
child of Adam. In His hands none are lost, but
when old enough and self-qualified, many, prodigal-
like, take themselves from His care.

Some may argue from what I state that if many

198

CHRIST'S FORTY DAYS' WORK.

of the heathen are being saved now, why send
them the Gospel ? The answer is, because they
have a right to its superior power to bless and de-
velop them. Of course, when they get the Gospel
some will be saved and some lost, as now ; but
childhood and heathenhood are not permanent and
stationary conditions. The child is designed for
manhood, and the obligation of training is on the
parent, not on the child. So obligation of training
the heathen into the manhood of Christianity is
on the Christian Church. The child will not ask
to be seui to school, neither will the heathen ask
for missionaries ; but the child and the heathen
must be taught. Because we know that some of
the present number of children will turn out bad
— some will no doubt grow up to be hung — still,
whatever the consequence may be, we must train
them up to manhood ; they have a right to be
men, and it is our duty to train them. Thus it
matters not to the Church whether some of the
heathen, if Christianized, will turn out bad and be
lost ; it is the Church's duty to give them the
Gospel. We should send them the Gospel because
it is our duty, and because they have a right to it
from us without their asking for it, and irrespec-
tive of the use they will make of it. These are the
reasons for sending the Gospel to heathen lands ;
not because, as some teach and plead, that the
poor heathen are being damned ; that God, in His
providence, has made no provision for their sal-
vs^tion in their present state. Such pleading is a

CHRIST'S PT'RTY DAYS' WORK.

199

libel on God, and a shameful subterfuge made use
of to extort more money for missionary purposes.
God's ways and methods will finally prevail, and,
if presented to the public, will produce a more
liberal response.

We have now seen how vast and complete the
provisions of the atonement are for this life, since
Jesus rose from the dead. And the apostle tells
us in the text that this earth-rule was applied to
all those who died before His resurrection. To
them the Gospel was preached that they might be
judged according to or like men in the flesh. But
when was this Gospel preached and by whom ?
We answer it was preached by Jesus during the
forty days that intervened between His resurrec-
tion and ascension. The ministers employed by
Him were certain chosen ones, representatives of
the different nations and people. These parties
were raised from the dead by Christ immediately
after His own resurrection, as recorded in Matt,
xxvii. 52, "And the graves were opened, and
many bodies of the saints which slept arose and
came out of their graves after His resurrection."
This is the first resurrection about which people
blunder so much. It is the "better resurrection,"
which some of the worthies attained to, as spoken
of in Heb. xi. 35. These are the ones whom John
saw on the thrones in heaven, to whom judgment
had been given, and are now reigning with Christ.
The thousand years spoken of means a complete
dispensation ; here it means the dispensation of

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CHRIST'S FORTY DAYS' WORK.

Christ. A day with God is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as a day, because a day is
a complete fact, implying a beginning and an end.
So these worthies began with Christ to reign, and
will reign until the end, or judgment day.

Last Sunday evening we saw Christ entering
the invisible world to conquer death and the devil.
Then, when this conquest was complete. He went
to the invisible again. Now, the work of redemp-
tion being complete, the atonement made, the same
could be preached to the dead, as the text tells us,
that they might be judged by the same law as we
are ; for Christ was " put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit, by which also He went and
preached to the spirits in prison." — i Peter iii. i8.
The atonement was for sins past as well as to
come; for God set forth Jesus "to be a propitia-
tion through faith in His blood, to declare His
righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past, through the forbearance of God." — Romans
iii. 25. Having bound the strong man, the devil,
then Christ began to spoil his house. It is fair to
conclude that all who died before the work of the
atonement was complete should have the Gospel
offered to them, and by it stand or fall. All the
old patriarchs died in the faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off, and
were persuaded of them." And, as said in another
place : " And these all, having obtained a good
report through faith, received not the promise ;
God having provided some better thing for us,

CHRIST'S FORTY DAYS' WORK.

20 1

that they without us should not be made perfect."
— Heb. xi. 40. None who died before Christ's
resurrection went into heaven. To have gone into
heaven before would have been to go in on credit,
for the way into the holy of holies, or heaven, had
not yet been opened up. So Paul tells us, Heb.
ix. 15: "For this cause He is the Mediator of the
New Testament that, by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under
the first testament, they which are called might
receive the promise of eternal inheritance."

The teachings of the Bible on this point I take
to be, that all who died before Christ's time had
tlie offers of the Gospel ; that the Saviour took
forty days in which to do this work ; then all who
accepted Him went with Him to heaven. " He
led captivity captive, and gave gifts even unto the
rebellious." The Saviour told His disciples before
His death that He would go and prepare a place
for them ; " that where I am there ye may be also."
Now we know the Saviour said He came forth
from the Father, and He told the disciples that
He would return unto the Father. He offered this
prayer : '* Father, I will that they also, whom Thou
hast given Me, be with Me where I am, that they
may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me."
— John xvii. 24. To have clear views of the mis-
sion of the Saviour's forty days' work helps won-
derfully to open u~p Old Testament history, and
reconcile many apparent difficulties. It shows us
how rich and grand, how complete and equitable,

202

CHRIST'S FORTY DAYS* WORK.

the Gospel of Jesus is to all in every condition,
age and nation. The forty days gave one day to
each century from Adam down to that time. Each
day's work covered a century, and doubtless the
order of appeal of Christ and His resurrected min-
isters was beginning with the first century, so down
to the last. From that point time renumbered. It
was written by the prophet that the Saviour should
see the travail of His soul and be satisfied. Some
people try to give Him but few souls. I believe
He will have many, and that He would not be
satisfied if hell had so many and heaven so few.
It is well that John tells us that outside of the
direct seed of Abraham he beheld in heaven "a
great multitude, which no man could number, of
all nations and kindreds and people and tongues."
Let us remember this : that the salvation provided
in Christ is a great one, and those who neglect it
will find their lot with a despairing minority.

:!;. ,1

THE JEWS,

DISCOURSE XIV.

BALAAM'S PROPHECIES — THE FREEDMEN'S EXODUS— ANCIENT GEN-
ERALSHIP — THE TWELVE TRIBES AND THE ZODIAC — THE
STARS PROCLAIM SALVATION — THE PRAYER OF BLOOD — HOW
IT WAS ANSWERED — RETURN OF ISRAEL AND THE JEWS TO
PALESTINE — CONQUEST OF THE WORLD BY ISRAEL APPROACH-
ING — NUMERICAL POWER OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH — SLAUGHTER
AT THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM — ATTEMPTS TO REBUILD JERU-
SALEM — GENTILE PERSECUTION — ROTHSCHILD, DISRAELI,
GAMBETTA AND BISMARCK — COMING UNION OF JUDAH AND
ISRAEL — JEWS REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS — JUDAH S WAIL.

Text — Matt, xxvii. 25.

"Then answered all the people, and said His blood be on us,

and on our children."

ALAK was the king of Moab at the
time the children of Israel were pass-
ing through a portion of that country
on their way from Egypt to Canaan.
He sought to stay them in their march, and turn
them aside from their God-appointed route. To
this end Balak sent for the famous prophet and
medium of Pethor. The Elders of Moab and
Median "departed with the rewards of divination

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THE JEWS.

in their hand ; and they came unto Balaam and
spake unto him the words of .Balak." At first
Balaam refused the invitation, but tempted by per-
suasion and a bribe he finally consents, with the
agreement that he is only to prophesy what the
Lord puts in his mouth. The vision of an angel
and reproof of the beast on which he was riding
are given to convince him of wrong. Balaam
repents, and God permits him to visit Balak with
the understanding that he should speak only what
God would put in his mouth. Balak made every
provision by building altars, sacrificing and other-
wise, then he took Balaam on one of the high
places of the mountains of Moab, from whence he
could see the encamped hosts of Israel, and bid
him curse them. Balaam went into his usual trance
state, but the Lord directed his tongue and instead
of curses he uttered prophetic praises. He said
that the hosts of Israel would dwell alone and not
be reckoned among the nations, and that Jacob
and Israel would be numerous. Balak changes
Balaarrt's position to where he could not see all
the tents of Israel, thinking this would help the
prophet to boldness, but the change was not suc-
cessful, for Balaam declared that they had the
shout of a king in their camp, that enchantment
and divination could not prevail against Jacob and
Israel ; that the people were to be as a lion, cour-
ageous and strong. Again Balak changes Balaam's
position ; this time he is to try to curse Israel from
the top of Peor. This third time Balaam left off

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the enchantments. This is beautifully put by the
sacred writer when he says :

"And when Balaam saw that it pleased the
Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times,
to seek for enchantments, but he set his face to-
ward the wilderness.

"And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw
Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes ;
and the Spirit of God came upon him.

" And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam
the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes
are open had said :

"He hath said, which heard the words of God,
which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into
a trance, but having his eyes open :

" How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy
tabernacles, O Israel !

" As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens
by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which
the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside
the waters.

" He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and
his seed shall be in many waters, and his king
shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall
be exalted.

" God brought him forth out of Egypt ; he hath
as it were the strength of a unicorn ; he shall eat
up the nations his enemies, and shall break their
bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.
" He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a
great lion ; who shall stir him up .? Blessed is he

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that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth
thee." — Numb. xxiv. 1-9.

To properly understand this beautiful descrip-
tion of tented Israel, let me invite your attention
to the very remarkable mode and rules governing
their encampment. Keep in your mind that here
were some three millions of people; a nation in-
deed on the march, with enemies before and be-
hind — an exodus of freedmen, to which the exodus
of coloured folk now going on from the South to
the West is a small affair. We talk of great gene-
rals, but who will compare to Moses ; we praise the
commissary department of this scientific day, but
what country has one to compare with that of
Israel ? We think ourselves wise these days, but
we should not forget that much of the wisdom of
to-day is the forgotten knowledge of our fathers
before us. The fathers of these wandering children
had long before mapped out the starry heavens.
The twelve zodiacal signs and twelve Hebrew tribes
are not accidental by any means. It is as curious
as it is wonderful that the tribes represent these
signs, and that when they were encamped they
actually cut the figure on earth of the zodiacal
figure of the heavens. Each tribe knew its place
in camp or on the march, by the zodiacal signs in
the night sky above it. You need not wonder at
the lavished praise of Balaam when looking from
the top of Peor on the plains of Moab when he
says : " How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and
thy tabernacles, O Israel." To the zodiacal signs

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THE JEWS.

207

there is a fine reference in the question put to Job
by the Lord, ** Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in
his season ? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his
sons ? " And who but the God-directed and guided
Moses could bring forth Mazzaroth from Egypt
and guide Arcturus through the wilderness ? Both
Mazzaroth and Arcturus mean the twelve zodiacal
signs. In this proud and boastful day we know
but little of the scientific teachings and meanings
of the Bible. We carelessly and ignorantly use
the things and facts as if we had originated them.

Is it not marvellous that the twelve sons of
Jacob each had, as his private signet, one of the signs
of the zodiac, and these signets became tribal ? For
instance, the figure of Aquarius, the first of these
signs, stood for the first-born, Reuben. The
special time and nature represented by these signs
are all taken notice of in the patriarch's blessing of
his twelve sons. The signet of Reuben was Aqua-
rius, which means water. So Jacob said of Reuben
that he would be as unstable as water. The twelve
signs are as follows, with their meaning :

Reuben — Aquarius, meaning water pouring.

Simeon — Pisces, means fishes ; which stands for
multitude.

Levi — Libra, means scales ; and stands for
weighing.

Judah — Leo, means lion ; in Hebrew, distinction.

Dan — Scorpio, a scorpion ; in Hebrew, conflict.

Naphtali — Capricornus, a goat ; in Hebrew,
cut off.

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Gad — Aries, a ram ; in Hebrew, sent forth.

Asher — Sagittarius, an archer; in Hebrew, a
destroyer.

Issachar — Cancer, a crab ; in Hebrew, holding
fast.

Zebukm — Virgo, a virgin ; in Hebrew, purity.

Joseph — Taurus, a bull ; in Hebrew, coming.

Henjamin — Gemini, twins ; in Hebrew, united.

Had I time I could show you how each of
these signs enter into the prophetic blessing of the
twelve sons. To understand these signs, look at
your almanacs. Now, was it not suitable that to
Levi should be assigned Libra, the scales, to the
tribe that would be expected to teach the law }
Was it not natural, knowing what we now know,
that the sign of Dan should be the scorpion, which
means conflict ? Has not this tribe had conflicts }
Their history says yes, with emphasis. And so
with all there is an appropriateness. In a higher
sense, also, did the signs of the zodiac teach, for
they taught the whole plan of salvation in Christ,
the whole Christian dispensation from the insta-
bility of Reuben, as found in Adam's fall, to Gemi-
ni, of Benjamin. Gemini, meaning twins, it teaches
that we will all be united in one person named
Christ. Benjamin was both the son of sorrow and
son of my right hand or deliverer ; so was Christ.
Joseph has Taurus, or bull, which means coming.
You ask what is coming ; I answer, the millennium
is coming, for the sign of unity is last, and it has to
be brought about by England, or the Saxon race,

THE [KWS.

209

for the comitifj is throu^li the bull. It was because
the zodiacs taught the plan of salvation that the
wise men knew the star and coming^ of Christ.
Faul in his noble defence before Agrippa said of a
certain thing that it was not done in a corner. So
we say the plan of salvation has not been hid away
in a corner ; it is not a private affair, either in its
provisions or evidences. By signs in heaven and
multiplied evidences on earth, with the state and
expectations of the nations, the Jews might have
known that Jesus was the Christ. He was true to
prophecy in person, time and place. But they
rejected Him, they hated His person, and feared
His influence. When the royal gift of pardon was
put in their hand by the dream-awed Pilate, in their
madness they chose Barabbas, the notable prisoner
and robber, in place of the meek and lowly Jesus.
From the record given us by the Evangelist
Matthew, we learn that the Roman governor Pilate
was desirous of liberating Jesus. When all means
of doing so had been exhausted, he flung both
himself and his noble prisoner on their clemency,
saying to the blood-thirsting and impatient crowd,
" What shall I do, then, with Jesus, which is called
Christ .!*" They all say unto him, "Let Him be
crucified ! " One more plea Pilate put before them
by asking, "What evil hath He done V But they
cried out the more, saying, " Let Him be cruci-
fied !" When Pilate saw that he could prevail
nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he
;took water and washed his hands before the multi-

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tude, ''saying, " I am innocent of the blood of this
just person ; see ye to it." Then answered all the
people and said, " His blood be on us, and on
our children." What a prayer, what a request !
What a legacy asked for entailment upon the chil-
dren ! This prayer was a fact, but whether it was
or not, this we all know, the answer has been most
terribly fulfilled. From that moment a wall of
blood was built, which since then to now has been
a wall of separation. The hound follows on the
scented trail of the fox, and so on the scented trail
of blood may the Christian student follow the Jews
in their course down the ages and wanderings to
and fro on the earth. A testimony sealed with
biood this people offer to all the world in favour of
a God, a Providence, the Bible and Jesus. None
of the learned theologians of our day are bold
enough to symbolize or spiritualize the curses al-
lotted to Judah in prophecy. Nay, they all rather
take a pride in havmg so material and tangible a
proof for reference and confirmation. Ignorance
is not so ignorant as to overlook this fact. But it
is passing strange that the prophetic blessings fall-
ing to the Jews now and in the future have both
by the learned and the ignorant been spiritualized
and immaterialized. Not content with appropri-
ating the curses to Judah, they have unbecomingly
taken to themselves his blessings. Most people
and teachers have a faint idea that somehow, some
time, the Jews will be gathered back to Palestine.
But I am at a loss to see how Judah ca.i return

THE JEWS.

211

without Israel. The prophecies generally yoke
them together in any such enterprise. "Lo, the
days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again
the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, and I
will cause them to return to the land that I gave
to their fathers, and they shall possess it." Scores
of ti-nes, directly and indirectly, do the Scriptures
teach the return of these two houses and people.
Yet the pulpit is guilty of making these two houses
one, these two peoples one, and the blessings and
curses are indiscriminately given to one or the
other. Hosea i. 2 says : " Then shall the children
of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered
together, and appoint themselves one head, and
they shall come up out of the land, for great shall
be the day of Jezreel." I repeat what I have said
before, that no man can read the Bible intelligently
or in any great degree interpret prophecy who
does not and will not accept the God-revealed dis-
tinction between the house of Judah and house of
Israel. A writer would be no more guilty, or less
ignorant as to real fact, who should write the
history of our country for the last twenty years,
and use the house of the Yankees and the house
of Indians synonymously, than are those who in
writing and speaking confound the two people^
Israel and Judah.

"The Lord removed Israel out of His sight, as
He had said by all His servants, the prophets." —
2 Kings xvii. 23. But Judah was to be scattered
abroad in the face of all nations. Judah never was

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to be lost, and he never has been. Many times it
would have been a blessing if he could have been
lost, for then he might have escaped the sword,
persecution and death. God had foretold that they
would be few in number, they should be bereaved
of their children, they should be a proverb and a
reproach among the nations of the earth. The
promises of God to the patriarchs have been a
grand failure, so far, if the Jews only comprise the
heirs of Jacob. Castaway Israel was to be fruitful
and prosperous, and powerful in the latter days.
Some of the descendants of Abraham must be a
nation, a company of nations. The Jews are not ;
are the promises a failure ^ No, by no means, for
Israel is filling the world with his offsprings and
conquests, as found in the Saxons. Whoever Israel
is, to him is conquest promised, both of people and
lands. And if we are not lost Israel coming to
light, why then we are Gentiles, and as such we
will in due time have to be subject to Israel, for
all the Gentile nations and kings are to give in
their allegiance to him. To Israel the kings of
the earth are to go and learn of his ways and serve
his God. Theology as usually expounded presents
a poor future to us and our children. For if we
are not Israel, then England will have to yield
up her vast dominion, and the United States their
independence. For the people called Israel are
the heirs to blessings of number, territory, con-
quest, and plenty. This line of theology does not
stop its course of humiliation here. For, accord-

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THE JEWS.

213

ing to the great teachers, the ten lost tribes, who
were to be numerous, powerful and prosperous,
are to turn up some day out of the few poor
Indians left. They will have to turn up soon in
this quarter, or there will be no Indians left to
manufacture Israelites out of. Or some poor, de-
graded tribes of Africa, or some savage tribe or
tribes on some of the South Sea Islands. Won-
derful teachers, sublime theology ! Be it known,
whoever Israel is, to them all the rest of men and
nations are to be in a measure subject. The be-
reaved house of Judah numbers about nine mil-
lions; this house that was to be few. It is com-
posed of two tribes. How many ought we to ex-
pect the prosperous house of Israel to be this year
of our Lord, 1879.? A house, you will remember,
numbering eleven tribes, including Manasseh. Will
an honest and fair inference send us to some out-
of-the-way place, to some small and degraded
people, to find the house of Israel ? Nonsense !
A man might as well set up a hotel in Greenwood
Cemeteiy and expect to be sustained by the pa-
tronage of the slumbering dead, as that this house
should be found in any such place. In the pres-
ence of such teaching humility lies dead at the
feet of conceit, and wisdom goes mourning about
the streets because her children act unwisely.

"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword,
and they shall be led away captives into all na-
tions ; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of
the Gentiles, until the time of the Gentiles be ful-

214

THE JEWS.

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filled." — I.uke xxi. 24. Three of the four items
of this passajje have been literally ^ulfiUeJ. They
did, indeed, fall by the edge of the sword in the
year 70, when Jerusalem was besieged and de-
stroyed by the Romans. Nothing on record can
be more horrible than the slaughter and suffering
of the Jews at that time. Tier upon tier of dead
bodies formed actual barricades, and blood like a
river ran through the city of David. A time when
gaunt famine smothered the instinct of the mother,
so that she fed upon the dead carcass of her own
child. A time when thousands were maddened by
hunger and crazed by the tasting of blood, bur-
rowed in the piles of the dead and suffocated.
Within that small city perished a million or more.
To bring it home, we may say that more Jews
perished at that time than 'all put together of the
sick, wounded, and slain in both the Northern and
Southern armies m our late war. " Let His blood
be upon us, and on our children." Brethren of
Judah, your prayer and request have been most
literally answered. Well might your Messiah and
our Jesus weep as He looked down from the
Heights of Olivet and say : " O Jerusalem, Jeru-
salem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest
them which are sent unto thee, how often would I
have gathered thy children together, even as a hen
gathereth her brood under her wings, and ye would
not ! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."
— Luke xiii. 34. Down through the years saw the
Saviour. He saw this awful visitation, this wreck

THE TEWS.

215

and ruin. From thence the few spared were scat-
tered as captives. The city in ruins, the land
desolate, the children in captivity ; what a picture !
And yet men cry out for a sign, an evidence of
Christianity, a proof of the Bible. God help us.
A few years after it was destroyed, Hadrian, the
Roman Emperor, built a new city on the ruins of
the old one, calling it Elia Capitolina, and forbid
the Jews to enter there on the penalty of death.
On the contrary, in the fourth century, Julian, the
Apostate, said he would make the words of the
Saviour a lie and prophecy a failure. He would
build the temple and reinhabit the city again with
Jews, but though the Jews were willing and Julian
was strong, the thing was a failure ; earthquakes
shook down the walls, and fire-balls bursting forth
from out of the ground slew the workmen, until
all was abandoned.

The Jew in all his wanderings has been marked.
As the prophet said, "the show of their counten-
ance doth witness against them." Nations have
vied one with another as to which could be most
cruel toward them. They have been the subjects of
special legislation and taxation. What a page of
history theirs is, all blotted with tears and spotted
with blood. The Roman emperors Verus, Com-
modus, Constantine, and most of their successors ;
the popes, kihgs and queens, especially in Europe,
seemed to take delight in restraining them of their
liberty, confiscating their property, and banishing
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anomaly the mode and manner of their living has
been. A race without a leader, a people without a
king, a nation without a government. In 1269
a French law provided that all Jews, male or
female, living in the kingdom, should wear a
wheel-shaped piece of yellow cloth as big as the
palm of the hand on the breast and back of their
outer garments. Any Jew detected without this
badge could be stripped and his clothes confiscated.
" Let His blood be upon us and our children."
How literally this has been fulfilled, because if you
analyze the cause of this hatred toward the Jews
you will find its source to be Jesus. They have
been Christian nations who have chiefly done the
persecutions. And why have they hated the Jews }
The best answer is, because the Jews hated Jesus.
The Jews in He.od's hall in Jerusalem little knew,
when they spat on the face of Jesus, how through
the centuries it should be done unto their descend-
ants. Before the expulsion of the Jews from Spain
in 1492 it was lawful for any one on any of the
church feast or fast days, to spit in the face of a
Jew. Famines, pestilences, plagues, earthquakes,
arid remarkable accidents were commonly attri-
buted to them, in consequence of which thousands
of them were put to death at a time. It is strange
that the Man of Galilee, a Jew of Judah, should be
the Jesus of the Christian nations, and the Jews,
His brethren after the flesh, the most cursed and
hated. One would naturally suppose that the Jew
v'ould have been honoured and welcomed into

THE [EWS.

217

Christian society everywhere, because that they had
given to the world a Christ, a Jew Saviour. Their
hatred of Jesus has been as wilful and persistent
as the persecutions of the Christians toward them.
In this rejection we can discern the spirit, its nature
and strength, that gave rise to the prayer of the
text. And in the dread persecutions which they
have suffered" we perceive the prayer has been
answered. The people for whom God wrought
miracles have been, and even now are, a living
miracle for God, His word and His providence.

The Jews are now citizens in every civilized
country, excepting Spain and Russia. And to-day
in legislation and commerce they are the most
powerful of any people. Put together Baron
Rothschild with his money, Disraeli with his
power in England, and Gambetta in France, and
Bismarck in Prussia, and many other Jews, or
those of Jewish origin, in places of trust and
power in and over the nations, and you have a
centralization, a stupendous power in a narrow
circle. This is necessary, for Judah and Israel are
to be one stick again. (See Ezekiel xxxvii. 16.)
And if the Jews are to be restored to Palestine, it
is necessary that Judah come to the front and
unite with Israel and Providence in bringing about
the same. Some time ago I pointed out to you
that Judah's cup would not be full till after the
reign of Anti-Christ. Many Jews are to follow
this strange person. They rejected the Saviour,
and the Saviour told them that in the last days one

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would come in His own name ; him they would
receive. If you look abroad you will see what an
agitated force Judah is becoming. The best and
most trusty leaders of the Commune in France are
Jews, of the Socialists in Germany, of the Nihilists
in Russia and of the Internationals of Europe.
The three medical students tried in Berlin last
week for maintaining secret connection with the
Nihilists are Jews, named Gerewitz, Arohnson and
Liebermann. The world on every side and in
every phase illumes the page of prophecy and
interprets the mind of God.

Their long dark night of persecution is nearly
o'er, and the day-dawn of a better day is hastening
on. God is giving them place, favour and power.
He kept' them back from owning any other lands,
but He has preserved the land He gave to their
fathers for them. The latter rains are beginning
to fall again in that land of desolation. The
mosque of Omar shall e'er long give way to the
temple of Judah. The plaintive cry of the pil-
grim Jews under the ruined walls shall be hushed.
^^ AH bene, AH bene ; bene bethka ; bekarob^bim-
keira, bimheira ; beyamenu bekarob." Which
means, " Lord, build. Lord, build ; build Thy house
speedily, in haste, in haste ; even in our day build
Thy house speedily." Amen ; so mote it be.

EYE TO EYE.

DISCOURSE XV.

DENOMINATIONALISM FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS — ITS USES —
SECTARIAN POMP— PROFESSIONAL DUTIES — CRITICISM OF REV.
H. W. BEECHER — CAUSES OF HIS SUCCESSES AND FAILURES
— DR. TALMAGE — MR. BEECHER'S IMPROVEMENT IN THEOLO-
GY AND MORALITY — "THE PARALYZED ARM" — GOUGH ON
TEMPERANCE — GROWTH OF LIBERALITY AMONG THE CLERGY
— THE EMPTY BOASTS OF ROME — HELL BETTER THAN THE
INQUISITION — FINDING THE LOST TRIBES AND OCCUPATION

OF PALESTINE — PROGRESS OF ISRAEL'S IDENTIFICATION.

Text — Isaiah Hi. 8.

"Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice
together shall they sing : for they shall see eye to eye, when the
Lord shall bring again Zion."

HE time and state of things here spoken
of by the prophet every Christian can
devoutly desire. And so desiring, we
should naturally labour to hasten on
so glorious a day. Now, many Christians deplore
and unreasonably lament the division of the church
into so many sects, parties and denominations.

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They speak of these divisions as if they were posi-
tively wrong and sinful. They seem to forget that
man is progressive, and that there are incipient stc[)s
and degrees in this law of progress. Children arc
children, and it is a good thing for mature persons
to keep this in mind, for if we forget, we will very
naturally fall into the error of demanding from them
wisdom and conduct inconsistent with their ages.
Childlike conduct is consistent with childhood.
Sects, parties and denominations are consistent
facts along the line of centuries. Neither the church
nor the world arc matured enough in knowledge
and charity to be a unity in doctrine and form. In
due time they will be. Childhood precedes man-
hood, and these existing divisions as reasonably
precede the perfect day of union. Men of the
world, and some men of the church, are never wfeary
of berating the doctrines of Christianity because of
the divisions. Such folks might just as well, and
as reasonably, berate childhood. They fail to dis-
cern the intentions of God and the signs of the
times.

The Prophets forecast this very condition of the
church, and, thank Heaven, they also forecast the
higher and more glorious condition of the church's
state, union and universal accord. Isaiah, in his
forty-fourth chapter, speaking of these very days
of the state of the church in Israel, says : " And
they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows
by the watercourses. O^e shall say, I am the Lord's;
and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob;

KYK TO EYK.

221

and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the
Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israeli
And lest we should think all this would be outside
of Providence, the prophet goes on to say : *' Thus
saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and His redeemer,
the Lord of Hosts, I am the first, and I am the last ;
and beside me there is no God. And who, as I,
shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for
me, since I appointed the ancient people f And the
things that are coming, and shall come, let them
show unto them." Truly sects have been as willow
trees, and they have vied one with another as to
which should have the best name. Just let your
mind glance at the different names and titles of
the several denominations, and you will see how
pompous and proud they have sought to be. How
some have tried by a name to contain the whole
church, or to condemn others. Hence we have
Catholic, Holy, Apostolic, Christian, even Bible
Christians, Disciples, Israelites, Free, United, Spir-
itualists, and so by the score. Now, I take it for
granted that most of the so-called orthodox
churches, and even some others, are Catholic in
design. Holy in purpose. Apostolic in authority.
Christian in spirit. Disciples in intercourse, Israel-
ites in descent. Free in action, United, Fraternal
and Spiritualists in faith. As to the several de-
nominations the one called Catholic is no more
so than some others, and they who claim to be
A'postolic are not more so than their neighbours.
The " Christians " are not the only Christians in the

222

lOYK TO EYE.

world, neither are the " Disciples " the only follow-
ers and scholars of Jesus. "The Free Church " is
no freer than the rest, nor is the "United" any
more so than many others. The *' Spiritualists "
are far more material in faith and practice than
many other sects. The fact is, names are a delu-
sion, very often they are empty and vain, mislead-
ing and presumptuous. Jesus gave the test of dis-
cipleship at the beginning, which will be the true
test to the end. '^By this shall all men knoiv that
ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another y
The true brotherhood of Christianity must be
known by fruits of good works. Christ invited the
critical generations of His day to judge Him by
His works. " Believe Me for the very works' sake."
And we, His followers, should rise to this high sta-
tion of judgment. We should not only be willing
to have our words and confessions critically ana-
lyzed and judged, but to have our works so canvas-
sed ; we should invite men's faith to our creeds
through our works. Whether we invite them or
not to so approach us they will. The world is
keen enough and wise enough to judge professing
Christians by this rule ; it is a good rule, it is a hard
rule, but just as fair as it is just and hard. By the
rule of creeds many are called ; by this rule of
work? few are chosen.

Denominationalism has been and yet is a means
to a glorious end. Sects and parties will vanish in
due time, as light increases and charity abounds.
God in providence has a purpose in permitting and

'iWP

EYE TO EYE.

223

blessing these numerous divisions. They are edu-
cational in practice, and unifying in aim. This fact
is grandly set forth by Paul in ICphesians, fourth
chapter, when referring to the organization of the
infant church. *' And He gave some, apostles ; and
some, prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some,
pastors and teachers." And why this diversity?
The answer i§ given : " For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ," that is the church of Christ.
In the first place we have five orders — apostUb,
prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. These
five, in practical operation, are for three things, to
perfect the saints, make successful the ministry, and
so complete the Church. If you ask how long this
tliversity will exist, and when these means will have
answered their end, the answer is, *' Till zve all come
in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."
Thus we see the Gospel aim is unity. This period
and state of unity the prophets repeatedly forecast.
It is the time when the lamb and the lion shall
dwell together in peace.

I am happy in the thought that this diversity
leads to unity, and that the good Lord can work
up all this material of sects and parties to His own
glory and the success of His Church. This view
enables me to regard kindly and act charitably
toward all Christian denominations, for they are of
God, and working for God. What more could I

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EYK TO EYE.

ask ? Hear the utterances of the Holy Spirit
through the gifted Paul of Tarsus, when writing to
the Corinthians : " Now there are diversities of gifts,
but the same spirit. And there are differences of
administrations, but the same Lord. And there
are diversities of operations, but it is the same God
which zvorketh all in all!' Glorious truth ! God
working all in all. The perfect manhood in Christ
is developing, the day of union is drawing near ;
aye, the time is near at hand when the watchman
on the walls of Zion shall see "eye to eye." And
rest assured, dear friends, that when the ministers
see '" eye to eye," their congregations will not be far
behind. Experience and observation leads me to
say at this point that the ministry are more preju-
diced and bigoted than the laity. Many men
honestly engaged in a calling should seek to de-
stroy it, and their success should be measured on
this line. The medical man should teach and prac-
tise, so that we could do more and more, better and
better, without him, and he is the best doctor who
can remove his patients furthest from him in need
and dependence. Of course there are some doctors
who, through ignorance, or gain, may seek to make
their patients dependent upon them, but just so far
as they succeed at this point are they defective.
The minister's business is to so preach and teach
that his congregation become equal to him in
knowledge and experience, to remove them from a
state of dependence to one of independence, so
that they will be wise and good, whether he visits

J-o'*-.:'ii! ■\d:.:(iili. Cj^iW

EYE TO EYE.

225

them or exhorts them or prays with them. His
success should narrow the sphere of his labour.
He should preach temperance so effectually that
he will not have a drunkard in his congregation to
preach to, and honesty, brotherly love and pity so
earnestly and clearly that his people will all become
true Christians. He should teach them the princi-
ples of benevolence so completely that he will have
no need to harangue and urge them to do their
duty in money matters, because they will do so
from self-love and conviction of duty. These
things are the true measure of a minister's success.
Some ministers, like some doctors, prefer to have
their congregations dependent upon them. The
time should come, and no doubt will, when neither
ministers nor doctors will be wanted, when the
people shall be wise enough and good enough to be
their own priest, and prudent and healthy enough
to be their own doctor.

The mother's duty is to train her child in such
a way that it will become independent of her — that
is, able to care for itself. The son or daughter that
can soonest and best do this is the greatest honour
to the parents. But some parents are fond of doing
everything for their children, and the consequence
is such children are always dependent and very
unfit to battle with the world.

The schoolmaster should so tej^ch and instruct
that the pupil will become equal to himself A
successful teacher will narrow his sphere every day.
The best master is he who can get his scholar

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226

EYK TO EYE.

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soonest to that point where he cannot teach him
any more. Success must be measured on this line,
even if success be the death-knell to out grandest
powers. An intimate friend of the Rev. Henry
Ward Beecher, one who is a member of his church,
and has heard him preach for twenty-three years,
said to me the other day, " Doctor, I think Beecher
has failed in his preaching talents greatly these last
few years ; don't you think so ? " I said I supposed
he had, judged by one rule, and he had not when
judged by another. To me it seems that Mr.
Beecher was raised up for a special purpose and
work ; that purpose he has answered and the work
has been accomplished, and his success has natur-
ally paralyzed him to a great c\ crnt. Mr. Beecher
took hold of the slavery cause vvhen it was hardly
a cause at all. Into this cause he flung his whole
soul, to sink or swim with it. It was a grand cause
and he was just as grand a man as it was a cause.
With gladiatorial skill and giant-like strength he
fought this great evil until the day of victory. This
victory, however, cost him the right arm of power
as a preacher. He did, as every successful labourer
should, namely, destroy his own power. In no
other cause can Mr. Beecher ever be m> eloquent,
earnest and successful. Without dcu- ^ every im-
partial man will acknowledge that the negroes are
as much indebted to him as any other man of this
country. And besides this slavery question, another
factor of Dower slipped out of his hands at the
same time. The Republicans came into office and

EYE TO EYE.

227

with them he was in intense sympathy. He had
been accustomed to lash with unsparing and inimit-
able eloquence, and criticise with fearless vehemence,
the Democrats. Of course when his own party
were in power he had not the same freedom in
criticising anyway ; he didn't use it if he had. He
made one bold effort to be free in the time of John-
son's Presidency, but his congregation and friends
warned him to be still. Mindful of their warning
he retired from the throne of government criticism.
The Credit Mobilier scandal was before the public
a few years ago. I then listened for his voice but
heard it not. Speaker Colfax retired under its
weight ; he was an intimate friend, but not a word
in defence or excuse. My neighbour, Rev. Dr.
Talmage, I remember, ran into the arena and
shouted aloud the innocence of Colfax, and a few
Sundays after he ran in again and proclaimed that
Jay Cooke was a Heaven-chosen man. I simply
thought that my friend Talmage had chosen a poor
time to sound the praise of these two men.

Now, to judge Mr. Beecher on the slavery and
Democratic line, we will have to conclude that he
has waned in preaching power ; but if we judge
him on the theological or moral line, I think he
has improved. If the Democrats should get in
power next general election, then life will, in some
degree, flow into the paralyzed arm of Mr. Beecher.
It is with him as it is with J. B. Gough, the great
temperance orator. They both are at home on a
special subject. Mr. Gough is nothing extra when

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228

EYE TO EYE.

he undertakes to lecture on any other topic than
temperance. I heard him some two years ago on
another subject ; the effort was weak, the matter
dry and uninteresting, except at one point where
he touched on the drunkard's home ; then I saw
Gough. Gough in the flash of the eye, Gough in
the arms and legs. And Gough I heard and felt
in the voice. Ah ! it was the same Gough I had
heard in England when I was a young man. I was
really glad just to get a glimpse of him once more.
And just so the Beecher of another day may be
seen occasionally in Plymouth Church. Now, of
course, on the slavery question Mr. Beecher and
other watchmen on the walls of Zion see eye to eye.
The material fact of the text, on which is grafted
a spiritual idea, is as follows : Ancient cities were
walled around ; on the walls watchmen were sta-
tioned through the night to guard the city. The
respective portion allotted to each was the half
way between certain towers built on the walls.
When it was dark each watchman left his tower
and walked till they met each other, then they
knew there was no enemy between them. As the
light dawned they would not need to walk the
entire distance between them, because the light
would enable them to see that there was no enemy.
Thus they had less and less to walk as the light
increased, until, in the full light of day, they could
sit in their tower and see " eye to eye." The pro-
phet likens the church to a city with its walls and
watchmen. This church-city he calls Zion. The

iiifi

EYE TO EYK.

229

priests or ministers are the watchmen. In the
darkness of the ages past they have not been able
to see eye to eye. As it often happened with
watchmen, darkness generated fear, and fear gene-
rated imaginary enemies, so the hmited know-
ledge and charity of the past have given rise to
fear and imaginary foes among the ministers. But
with increasing light comes clear sight and greater
confidence. Ministers are beginning to see eye to
eye ; a better day is dawning upon the church.
Men cannot and dare not be as illiberal as they
were a few years ago. For centuries the two great
churches claiming jurisdiction over the civilized
nations and parts of Asia loved darkness rather
than light. The Latin and Greek churches rest
under a fearful condemnation for those dark cen-
turies. Take, for instance, the claim of the Latin,
or Catholic, Church. This church asserts that it
has been in existence and jurisdiction from the
Saviour's time till now, and that for centuries they
were the only church in existence, and had sole
charge of Europe. Allowing this boastful claim,
then I ask what sort of a church was that which
could permit such darkness, that did so little for
the people ? It is a sorry total this church has to
show of eighteen hundred years of rule. Did not
they make this claim, and here and there an his-
torian tell us that the church was in existence, we
surely would not suspect its presence. One would
almost as soon look for and expect to find an
orthodox church in hell as in Europe during the

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dark ages. And many poor souls were better off
in hell, if to hell they went, and there the church
assumed to send them by the thousands, through
the flame, stake, inquisition and dungeon. It is no
compliment to our Catholic friends to tell and
persuade us that they were in existence then, nay,
more, that they had all power, being the only church.
A Jew would cover himself with as much glory
who should prove to me that he was a direct de-
scendant of Judas Iscariot, and he would equally
commend himself to my favour. The ignorance of
the populace (and even not half of the priests could
read or write, according to the historians), the pov-
erty and degradation of the multitude, is terrible
to read of A church or Christianity that could
create no better conditions than these should cease
to exist ; at least it should not claim patronage and
honour at our hands.

Thank heaven the past is past, and the cheer-
ing present is our portion and an inviting future.
The prophet declares that we are to see "eye to
eye." You ask, When shall we see "eye to eye"?
The prophet says when the Lord shall bring again
Zion. What does bring again Zion mean ? It
means the return of the Jews and Israelites to
Palestine. It is the time referred to by the pro-
phet Hosea, when he says : " Then shall the children
of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered
together and appoint themselves one head, and they
shall come up out of the land ; for great shall be
the day of Jezreel." The finding and identifying

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of the ten lost tribes of Israel is the work set oppo-
site this age. One truth presupposes another, and
consequently one truth must go before another. A
man must learn his alphabet ere he can set up
for a good reader ; a man must be somewhat of a
mathematician before he can become an astrono-
mer. There is a time for our first set of teeth, and
equally so for the second. There was to be a time
for these tribes to be out of sight, literally lost to
themselves and others ; and surely there is to be a
time when they are to be found. It is the finding
of them that will overwhelm the world with a con-
viction of God's faithfulness, wisdom and love. His
word and providence and the condition of things
will be a trinity of light ; and this light will be so
clear and commanding that all men will see the
will and purpose of heaven. "And their seed shall
be known among the Gentiles and their offspring
among the people ; all that see them shall acknow-
ledge them — that they are the seed which the Lord
hath blessed." — Isa. Ixi. 9. It is not the seed which
He cursed — the Jews — but Israel whom He hath
chosen ; His inheritance that are to be found, known
and acknowledged. The Jews have never been
lost ; everybody admits that they are Jews.

The blessings next in order and the work of
the church all hinge on the identification of Israel.
We are right abreast of it, and cannot move suc-
cessfully except on this appointed line. The church
and ministers have long been praying and labour-
ing that we might see eye to eye ; the time, work

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and condition preparatory to this glorious state they
refuse to accept. They cannot much longer refuse,
I think. Some ministers think I ought to be put
down — that is, stopped from advocating this theory.
The very effort they are making is only putting me
up, and, what is ten thousand times better, advanc-
ing this glorious cause. The New York Indepen-
dent must give another call lor volunteers to do this
work. "Oh! for harmony!" cries one ; "Oh! that
we may all be united," says another. Such persons
forget how and when the desire of their souls will
be gratified. Hear the words of Zephaniah : ''For
then will I turn to the people a pure language,
that they may all call upon the name of the Lord
to serve Him with one consent!' When is this ''for
then''? It is, my dear friends, just after the battle
of Armageddon. Supposing this theory to be true,
what profit? This I will answer more fully next
Sabbath.

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TIME OF CHRISTIAN UNITY.

DISCOURSE XVI.

PURE LANGUAGE AND ONE CONSENT — NATURE OF THE MILLEN-
NIUM — HOW IT WILL COME — ROSH HASHANA — THE PYRA-
MID —UNFULFILLED PROPHECY — THE WORK BEFORE US IN
1879— BIBLE PROMISES— CUI BONO — THE REVOLUTION AND
THE REBELLION — ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S POLITICAL IDEAS —
god's PURPOSES.

Text — Zephaniah iii. g.

"For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that
they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with
one consent."

T surely will be . blessed day when
the numerous and various creeds of
Christendom and the world shall be-
come one, and that one pure and free
from error, and when all Christians shall work
shoulder to shoulder. The word language in the
text means a pure confession, or, as it is in Hebrew,
clean lips. The word consent means united action,
and in Hebrew it is shoulder. The idea of united
action is very nicely conveyed by the word shoulder.
This pureness of creed and concert of effort are to

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characterize the whole church of God at a given
time as expressed in the phrase : ''For thai ivill I
turn to the people!' God promises to bestow this
gift of union on the church. For such a period
every Christian can sincerely pray and labour to
hasten it on. It is a fallacy entertained by many
who suppose they cannot do aught to aid Provi-
dence. They forget that God works by means, and
so far as man is concerned, these means can in a
measure be aided or retarded as they pass through
the sphere of man's freedom. This idea Peter
accepts and expresses when he exhorts us to look
for this millennial day and hasten its coming. The
millennium is an individual fact ere it can be col-
lective and universal. The millennium in a man is
when he is sanctified wholly, body, soul and spirit,
in a Christian sense. The millennium in the world,
in its highest type, is when all men are sanctified.
It is not an event that will be forced upon us.
Neither is it an event that is disconnected from, or
independent of, man's freedom. It will be a natu-
ral sequence coming into existence reasonably and
gradually. It will be the completion, reward, suc-
cess and crown of the multiplied agencies and means
that have gone before. It will dawn on the world
as naturally as the quiet and serenity of a summer's
morn after the thundering, darkness and rain of the
night past. The error of the Milllennialists has
been, and still is — they have looked upon this great
fact as an effect without cause, a result indepen-
dent of means and not at all conditional on human

TIME OF CIIKIS'IIAN UNITY.

235

freedom. As a gift they have believed that God
could consistently bestow it upon the world at any
time, cither past or present, say for eighteen hun-
dred years. And as a state they have believed
that the good Lord could have produced it at any
moment quite irrespective of means, the state of
the world or human freedom. It is with them an
event entirely independent of worldly conditions,
an event which God could precipitate upon the
earth at any time. Hence, with these views, they
have been in a waiting and expecting attitude for
eighteen hundred years. And millions of them
have died disappointed, as millions more will, for
the simple reason they have had to die and go to
Christ instead of His coming to them and for them.
On this matter of the millennium, it does seem
to me that the Scriptures teach plainly. Does not
common sense teach us that the millennium is both
a gift and a result — a result on man's part and
gift on God's part ? As a result it is preceded by
certain other results and conditions, of which are
the appearance of Anti-Chriet, the two witnesses,
the finding of the ten lost tribes, and they along
with the Jews restored to Palestine, and the great
and terrible battle of Armageddon, and unusual and
unexampled commotions in nature of earthquakes,
storms, floods, crime, pestilence, famine and death.
Of course, some are ready to argue that many of
these facts have transpired ; for instance, they say
Anti-Christ has appeared, and so also have the two
witnesses, there have been famines, wars, crime, pesti-

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lence and earthquake. Now, suppose we grant all
this, yet it is plain that some of these facts are not
yet fulfilled. Most certainly no one will argue that
the battle of Armageddon has taken place, and if
they should, yet surely they will admit that the ten
lost tribes are not found, and if this is not true no
one can say the Jews have been restored to Pales-
tine. Last Thursday, September i8th, 1879, was
the first day of the year of the world 5640, accord-
ing to the calculation of our brethren the Jews. On
that morning they began to keep the festival of
Rosh Hashana. To the nine million Jews scattered
over all the face of the earth it was a welcome and
sacred day. It reminded them of the giving of the
law on Mount Sinai some three thousand three
hundred and one years ago. In the various syna-
gogues the ram's horn was blown, calling these
scattered children to worship In like manner it
has been blown 3,301 times ; is yet to be blown
fifty-six times more ; then shall Judaism cease in
Judah as it did in Israel 1879 years since. Till
then the world shall *have two Sabbaths and two
modes of time counting : then the year of the world
shall change into the year of our Lord, and the last
day of the week shall become the first with our
brethren of Judah. Could any one pass these
people in their holiday attire on our street last
Thursday, and not feel and see the presence of God
in history? I think not. In Egypt God has a
witness that stands in majestic grandeur and solemn
silence, a very marvel in construction, form and

TIME OI- CHRISTIAN UNITY.

237

age ; I mean the great pyramid of Gizeh. But sub-
lime as this witness is, the black-haired, dark-eyed,
Hebrew-tongued and miUion-headed Jew is still
more so. Oh, what a monumental fact these wan-
dering, homeless, nationless and governmentless
people are ! That they are indeed the children of
Abraham and the followers of Moses none can deny.
One might as well talk of a starless sky, a day with-
out sun, or a tideless ocean, as talk of Christ's
coming or the millennium day while Palestine lies
desolate, Israel unfound and the Jew ungathered.

Why should any man of sane mind, professing
to have an acquaintance with the teaching of the
Bible, tell us that Armageddon is past ? Because
it is plainly taught by the prophets and the New
Testament authors that it is to be the last great
battle, and that it takes place in Palestine at a
time when Israel is found and acknowledged, the
Jews settled, nay, the very face of the country is
to be geographically changed by the earthquake
attending the same. Let me say again that the
work assigned to this generation and the fact oppo-
site 1879 is the finding and acknowledging of Israel.
All the other great facts are in abeyance, waiting
for the fulfilment of this. This is the Red Sea
before us. There is no retreat or escape. Forward
is the command, and duty's way is through this sea.
There is no union promised to the Church except
the other side of these waters. We are to see eye
to eye, but not tnl God shall bring again Zion.
Why do men pray and labour for a union that is

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not now in order ? Why should we strive to fore-
stall Providence and change the order of providen-
tial precedence? As we cannot have the desired
clearness of sight, the union of denominations, the
merging of all creeds into one, the shoulder to
shoulder effort, the time of no sorrow, of universal
peace and safety, of plenty and good-will to all
until Israel is found and acknowledged, why not at
once labour to find and make known this people
whom God said He had formed for Himself to show
forth His praise ? Is it not strange that Christians
don't want to be Israel ? They forget that to Israel
all the great promises and blessings of the patri-
archs pertain. They prefer to remain Gentiles.
Perhaps they are loath to being called Israel be-
cause they know that a responsibility equal to the
promises would rest upon them. Let me speak to
you, Saxons and Christians : " Hear ye this. Oh !
house of Jacob, which are called by the name of
Israel," as Isaiah says, xlviii. i. But what shall we
hear ? you ask. I answer, hear the word of God,
when He says of Israel through Jeremiah xxxii. 37,
" Behold I will gather them out of all countries,
whither I have driven them in Mine anger, and in
My fury and in great wrath ; and I will bring them
again to this place, and I will cause them to dwell
safely ; and they shall be My people, and I will be
their God ; and I will give them one heart and one
way^ that they may fear Me forever, for the good of
them and of their children after them. And I will
make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will

't: :'

TIME OF CHRISTIAN UNITY.

239

not turn away from them to do them good ; but
I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall
not depart from Me. Yea, I will rejoice over them
to do them good, and I will plant them in this
land assuredly with My zvhole heart and with My
whole soul. For thus saith the Lord : like as I
have brought all this great evil upon this people,
so will I bring upon them all the good that I have
promised them." Could language be more em-
phatic, clear and assuring. I trow not. I care not
who takes up this subject, they will find them-
selves embarrassed by the number and richness of
Bible passages confirming the same — passages that
are simple, plain and open, which none can well
misunderstand, for their meaning lies on the face
of them. To comprehend the word on this sub-
ject one needs no theological acumen, no equivo-
cating, no humming and hacking, no falling back
on supposed mistranslations, and no random spiri-
tualizing. I have no hesitation in saying that there
are laymen in this church who would confound
in scriptural argument any Doctor of Divinity in
this city. The thing has already been done several
times.

Let any person, for instance, take the passage
just quoted. God speaks of Israel and Judah in
that chapter. He speaks of them as scattered
into all countries, driven forth from their own land
by the fury and anger of God. Then this same
God says He will gather them and put them in
their own land, and cause them to dwell safely,

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and that Judah and Israel then should be of one
heart and of one way, and should be a blessing for
them and their children after them. Then He
says He will make an everlasting covenant with
them, the consequence of which is to be they will
never more depart from God, and God will rejoice
over them to do them good, for He will plant them
in their own land, as He says, assuredly with His
whole heart and whole soul. And just as certainly
as He had visited them with the evils He pro-
mised, so as certainly will He bring upon them
all the good He had promised them. I ask in the
name of common sense could language be more
emphatic and plain ? We are to see eye to eye
when God brings them to Zion, and more, we are
to have a pure language and a oneness of consent
in calling upon God, and yet more, we are to be
of one heart and one way. With Israel lost, and
Judah scattered, both away from their own landy
ministers and laymen are praying for and labour-
ing for, and waiting for, an eye to eye condition, for
a shoulder to shoulder effort, for a pure language
and union of confession, and for a oneness of heart
and way. Could you well suppose anything more
contradictory ? They whine about and scout at
the idea of their being Israel. They would much
rather be Jews, spiritually, handsomely handing
over the material promises of punishmeilt to the
poor Jew, and stealing, by a process of spiritualiza-
tion, his promised blessings. They won't be Jews,
materially, but, as there are some fine promised

TIME OF CHRISTIAN UNITY.

241

blessings in the future falling to the lot of Judah,
they have no objection to being considered Jews,
spiritually. Noble-minded heroes, magnanimous
brethren ! But it is a pity, my dear brethren, that
even those great spiritual blessings which you so
much desire, and so commonly appropriate to your-
selves by being spiritualized Jews, cannot be attained
till Israel is found, acknowledged and representa-
tively planted in the land of Palestine. So, even
your theory binds you to labour with me and others
to find these lost tribes, for everywhere the Bible
teaches that Judah and Israel return together, and
that the grandest blessings ever to fall upon the
church and the world are held in abeyance till then.
Cui bono — what profit is this theory ? Much
every way, as you see ; for the blessings in reserve
are those the church aims at, that Providence is
preparing the world to receive — to receive, how-
ever, in His own appointed way. And surely it
is profitable to harmonize with the Divine, as much
so in the spiritual as the material realm. That
farmer is w ise who works to harmonize with God
in nature. So, spiritually, they are the wisest who
harmonize with God in Providence. The practi-
cal bearing of this subject is manifold ; it is full
of wealth and comfort, of strength and security.
People do blindly and ignorantly very often that
which could have been done clearly and know-
ingly much better some other way. The way we
freed the slaves of this country is not the only
way they could have been freed ; nor are we ob-
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liged to believe it was the best way. I grant it
was the best way under the circumstances ; the
circumstances, however, were not the best. Now,
had we known the mind of God we would have
seen a more excellent way, as revealed in this very
subject. For instance, had the English known that
they were Israel, or the ten lost tribes, then they
would easily have seen that the tribe of Manas-
seh had to have a distinct identity and nation-
ality, that they were in the latter days to be a
separate people — a great people. If so seeing,
then they would not have gone to war with the
American colonists, for they would have seen the
mind of Providence in the matter, and hence would
not have arrayed themselves against God and their
brethren of Manasseh. In this day both English-
men and Americans see and confess the error and
blunder of that war. The lives lost, treasure spent,
and hate engendered — all might have been spared
had they known that they were Israel, and that the
time appointed of God was at hand for Manasseh
to go forth. Ignorance here was costly. Will you
yet say, Cui bono — what good is this theory ? How
the mysteries of that day are revealed ! England
then had conquered several colonies, and many
more since. She has only, however, lost one, and
that is this country. Then, as now, she could bid
defiance to the world, sweep the seas, intimidate
Europe, overawe the heathen nations — indeed dic-
tate to the whole world ; but when she sought to
fight againsc Providence, her navy and veteran regi-

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TIME OF CHRISTIAN UNITY.

243

ments were of no avail. Long ago the destiny and
results had been foretold. Jacob had said that
Joseph should run over the wall, and that Ephraim
should be " a nation and a company of nations,"
and that Manasseh should be " a people and a great
people." So England failed, and the patriarch's
words became true.

Our late civil war could not have occurred had
this theory been known and accepted. All would
have seen that it was impossible to make two na-
tions out of Manasseh. We must not persuade
ourselves that these things had to be, but simply
they have been. The a la Talmage theory is in
suspense. Many do not believe that one needs to
do evil in order to know what evil is. Nay, the
fact is, so closely does public opinion cut at this
point that many good people doubt even the pro-
priety of going to see evil, and some even go far-
ther and believe my friend and neighbour. Dr. Tal-
mage, did wrong ^'n visiting those places of incest
and ill-fame in New York. For myself, I had rather
known the joys of temperance by living a life of
temperance than to find it out by intemperate ex-
perience. Thus it were not needful for this country
to go to war to know the mind of God. True, by
means of the war the finger of God was made very
manifest. Have you ever thought that the two
special things sought were a division of the country
and the maintenance of slavery ? In both the war
was a failure. From prophecy two things are clear ;
first, that Manasseh was to be only one nation, and

244

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second, that one of Israel's as well as Manasseh's
special duties was to liberate the slave, not only in
his own borders, but in all the world. This, of
course, they have very nearly accomplished, but it
is as interesting as curious to see how Providence
forced the issues, and what chief agents he selected
for the work. Take for instance the honoured
Abraham Lincoln. When he was elected President
he was a thorough believer in the right of rebellion,
and a pro-slavery man south of Mason's and Dixon's
line ; that is, he believed in the rights of the South-
eners and slavery as it was, but not in its extension.
These were his ideas even after the war had begun.
He commanded both Generals Fremont and Hunter
to restore to their owners certain coloured " contra-
bands " whom they had freed in the south-west.
Lincoln's one aim at the beginning of the war was
to preserve the Union. That he believed in rebel-
lion let me prove from two of his speeches. In the
first session of the Thirtieth Congress, during the
Mexican war, he said : " Any people anywhere,
being inclined and having the power, have the
right to rise up and shake off the existing gov-
ernment, and form a new one that suits them bet-
ter. This is a most valuable, a most sacred right
— a right which we hope and believe is to liberate
the world. Nor is this right confined to sole cases
in which the whole people of an existing govern-
ment may choose to exercise it. Any portion of
such people that can may revolutionize and make
their own of so much of the territory as they in-

TIME OF CHRISTIAN UNITY.

245

habit. More than this, a majority of any portion
of such people may revolutionize, putting down a
minority, intermingled with, or near about them,
who oppose this movement." The last clause, you
see, favoured llnited States interference in the
Mexican strife. That you may see that Mr. Lin-
coln had not changed his mind on the right of
rebellion, I will quote an extract from his inaugural
address of March 4th, 1861 : "Suppose you go
to war, you cannot fight always ; and when after
much loss on both sides, and no gain on either,
you cease fighting, the identical questions as to
terms of intercourse are again upon you. This
country, with its institutions, belongs to the people
who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary
of the existing government, they can exercise their
constitutional right of amending, or their revolu-
tionary right to dismember or overthrow, it." How
marvellous the ways of Providence ! The very man
who believed in the right of rebellion is made
to crush out one, and he who would not allow half
a dozen contrabands to be made free by Generals
is to-day held in grateful remembrance, if for one
thing more than another, that he issued a proclama-
tion freeing 4,ooo,cxx) slaves.

The lesson these events and examples teach is
valuable. They should convince us that whether
we as individuals let, or will, the counsels of Heaven
stand secure. We may surely learn how valuable
this theory of Israel's identification is, especially
to us. If we fail to recognize it we will have again

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to pay dearly for our ignorance. God's purpose
will be fulfilled though we may be ignorant or wise,
for or against. But to be wise is far better than
being ignorant, and to do the will of God in His
own way is better than that He should bring to
pass His purpose against our wills. Let us all say,
" Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven."

THY WILL BE DONE.

DISCOURSE XVII

HOW TO PRAY — VAIN REPETITIONS — THE TEN TRIBES AND THE
GOSPEL — ECCENTRICITY OF A BACHELOR MINISTER — SHAPE
OF NOAH'S ark — SEWARD AND LINCOLN — THE POLAR EXPE-
DITIONS — THEIR BENEFITS — POLITICAL BEARINGS OF LOST
ISRAEL'S DISCOVERY.

Text — Matt. vi. lo.

" Thy kingdom come ; Thy will be done in earth, as it is in

heaven."

UR text is a part of the Lord's prayer.
From Luke we learn |:hat the disciples
asked the Saviour to teach them how
to pray, as John the Baptist had taught
his followers. The Saviour gave them a sample,
in this memorable prayer, for the very purpose that
their prayers might be short and pointed. He wished
them to avoid length and "vain repetitions," to stand
in simple and direct contrast to the heathen around
them. However, in this, as in many other cases,
the Saviour's meaning has been perverted by the
very opposite being done of what was intended.
Out of good men often make evil, while out of evil

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God often brings good. Instead of the prayer being
taken as a sample, it has been accepted /// toio,
and it has been oftener repeated than any other.
Imagine what a beautiful example of consistency
we have in the venerable divine who closes up a
long and tedious prayer by the Lord's prayer, who
persists in repeating it at every turn. Some rituals
provide for its repetition a dozen times a Sabbath.
It is terrible what humanity we crowd into our
religious services, and how much of the Divine we
leave out. " After this manner therefore i)ray yc,"
not after the manner of the heathen, vainly repeat-
ing, and who are foolish enough to think that they
will be heard because of their much speaking ; nay,
nor after the prescribed forms of the hierarchy.
Our prayer should be measured and qualified by
our real wants and gratitude. It does not take
the writer long to record the agonizing prayer of the
sorrowing Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane on
the night before His crucifixion. Voluble and
confident Peter Was not long in formulating and
uttering his petition when he felt himself sinking in
the troubled waters of the Sea of Galilee ; and be-
ginning to sink, he cried, saying, " Lord, save me."
The conscience-smitten gaoler of Philippi was not
long in voicing into prayer his plea for salvation —
" Sirs, what must I do to be saved." The muc/i of
the Pharisee's prayer was /iU/e, but the /tU/e of the
Publican's was 7nuc/L When men have the sincer-
ity of Peter, the conviction of the gaoler, and the
sorrow of the Publican, they will neither be long

THY WILL I!K DONK.

249

nor tautolo^Mcal in i)rayin^, but they will be sim-
ple, plain, pointed and direct. Prayer to be avail-
ing on our i)art must be the real exponent of our
faith, desire and condition, and on the Divine side
it must be in accordance with the will of God.
"This is the confidence that we have in Ilim, that
if we ask anything acctjrding to His will. He heareth
us." — I John V. 14.

Our hopes and fears, desires and affections, should
all be bounded b^ the will of God for time and
eternity. This, you think, is a true and simple
statement, one that all Christians will readily accept.
Don't be in a hurry, my dear friends, in your con-
clusions. The last two .Sunday evenings I have
pointed out to you that such is not the case, (jod,
indeed, has plainly taught us when and how the
great blessings we so much desire and pray for can
be attained. Oneness of heart, oneness of spirit,
oneness of way, oneness of consent, oneness of effort,
and oneness of language. More, we are plainly in-
structed as to the preparatory means and condi-
tion going before and preceding these grand facts.
Among these prei)aratory facts are the finding of
Israel, or the lost tribes, and the gathering of the
Jews into their own land. Then, and not before,
may we expect the great blessings enumerated.
Then will be the time of the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit on Judah, Israel and the world. "When I
have brought them again from the people, and
gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am
sanctified in them in the sight of many nations ;

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then shall they know that I am the Lord their
God, which caused them to be led into captivity
among the heathen ; but I have gathered them into
their own land, and have left none of them any
more there. Neither will I hide My face any more
from them, for I have poured out My Spirit upon
the house of Israel, saith the Lord God." — Lzek.
xxxix. 27-29. Pentecost was a type of the out-
pouring of the last days. Then is the time that
God will make a new covenant. /' Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of
Lsrael and the house of Judah with the seed of man,
and the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass,
that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up,
and to break down, and to destroy, and to afflict,
so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant,
saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the
Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel, and the house of Judah, not accord-
ing to the covenant I made with their fathers, in
the day that I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt ; which My covenant thej^
brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith
the Loi^. But this shall be the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel ; after those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their
God, and they shall be my people." — Jer. xxxi.
27-33. And so the prophet goes on testifying in
full assurance. The gathering could not be plainer,
nor assurance more complete. And yet, strange to

THY WILL BF DONE.

251

say, the majority of Christians s.iy they won't have
it so. They repeat tlie Lord's prayer, asking that
the will of God may be done on earth, as it is done
in heaven. But when that will is pointed out to
them, as revealed in the order of Providential pro-
cedure, they refuse obedience, and ^o so far as to
speak harshly of us who are willing that God's will
should be done. We are not going to get vexed
because God has "chosen Israel as Mis inheritance,"
and that Me has "formed this people for Himself,
that they might show forth His praise." We simply
believe that He has not cast away Israel forever.
*' God forbid," for " I am also an Israelite."

The Jews would not receive Christ. " He came
unto His own, and His own received Him not"
Who were His own ? The Jews, in a literal sense ;
for as Paul says in Hebrews, " It is evident our
Lord sprang out of Judah." Christ came to those
who received Him. God foresaw and foretold that
Israel in Benjamin would accept Him ; hence the
remarkable saying of the Saviour, " I am not sent
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Shall we say Jesus was faulty in seeking out the
Israelites ? Shall we call him heterodoxical ? Not
so, say my brethren. But then if Christ was not
heterodoxical in seeking out lost Israel, how is it
that I am charged with heterodoxy for following
in His footsteps in this matter? Have I, and
others of like mind, mistaken the instruction of the
blessed Master, which is, " But go rather to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel"? So, indeed, said

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THY WILL BE DONE.

Jesus to His Disciples. What do I understand by
this command? Why, I simply take it to mean
that the Gospel was first to be offered to the lost
sheep of Israel, and Lirough them to all the world.
*' Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any
city of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go rather
(that is, first) to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel." — Matt. x. 6. This commission the Jews
actually understood, for at the time the Saviour
threatened to hide Himself from them, they sur-
mised as to where He would go. Then said the
Jews among themselves, " Whither will He go that
we shall not find Him ? Will He go unto the dis-
persed among the Gentiles?" — John vii. 35. But
v/hat objection, had even the Jews against His
visiting the lost ones of Israel ? Why, namely, that
if he went teaching these scattered ones His doc-
trine, the Gentiles would perchance learn it, and
that would be awful in their estimation. But that
was the very order of Divine procedure then and
nov/. Gentile perfection, spiritually and tempo-
rally, socially and morally, and politically and com-
mercially, must come through Israel. Britain and
America are responsible to the nations of the earth
for the performance of these great things ; and
accountable to God for the same. To be of Israel
means something. It is a title of honour and dig-
nity, and also of labour and responsibility.

In that time-honoured institution, the Fulton
street noonday prayer-meeting in New York, the
past week, a bachelor reveretid brother arose to

THY WILL BE DONE.

253

speak, and said : " Brethren, we must preach Christ
and not any new-fangled notion. Why, in the
neighbouring city (that is, Brooklyn) a minister has
been preaching on the prophecies for the past three
years, and all this time only two or three souls
have been converted." Now this dear bachelor
brother knows about as much of the Gospel as he
does of married life. He has not yet learned that
" the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
— Rev. xix. 10. So that those who bear b. * nd
noblect testimony for Jesus are those wh. do so
through prophecy. Let me kindly commend the
following portion of Holy Writ to him and his
friends : " We have also a more sure word of pro-
phecy ; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,
as unto a light that siiineth in a dark place, until
the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scrip-
ture is of any private interpretation. For the pro-
phecy came not in the olden time by the will of
man ; but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost." — 2 Peter i. 19. Hope
my brother will not be alarmed because he now
learns that the prophecy is from the will of God,
and good men wrote the same under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit, and that therefore it is a more
sure Vv'ord. I trust that the propheci^^s will be to
him as a light that shines in a dark place. And I
take great pleasure in informing him and all others
that this prophecy work is not patented, that it is
not a thing of private interpretation. So wade in,

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dear brethren, and bear testimony for Jesus ; and
then, instead of two or three souls being converted
in three years, you may be as happily rewarded as
myself, and have near a hundred. Let us all repeat
the Lord's prayer, especially the text part, and then
let us be as willing in our hearts, as with our lips,
for the Lord's will to be done.

It is poor policy for any one to dispute the
Divine method of doing things. When God laid
out the Garden of Eden, it is likely it was well
done. Albeit I can but think that if some of my
brethren had been there, they would have demurred
at some parts. It is fair to presume that Noah's
ark was well constructed, although it was wrong
side up as judged by the ships of our day. I mean
it was flat-bottomed and roofed, the top being like
the under side of our big boats. But it was all
right for the time, place and purpose. Some of our
reverend carpenters no doubt could have suggested
some improvements. In the construction of the
tabernacle Moses was pinned down to a Divine
plan, for " See, saith He, that thou make all things
according to the pattern shewed to thee on the
Mount." — Heb. viii. 5. It was needful for Moses,
as well as for us, to learn that God has a will as to
how things should be done, and more, we should
not only learn His will, but be ready to do it. If
God chose to call Abraham, and from him raise up
a distinct people, that branched off into twelve
tribes, well and good ; and equally so if He gave to
these tribes a distinct place in time and work. Let

THY WILL BE DONE.

255

US count it all right that He selected the land of
Palestine. The earth is the Lord's, and therefore
He has a right to first choice. It is nothing against
this choice if a citizen of the proud commonwealth
of the little State of Rhode Island should think the
Lord might have done better had He waited for
his State. And just so, if God intends to bring to
light lost Israel, and through them evangelize the
world, and restore the Jews again to their fathers'
land. Why should we grumble because He has
made so much of the glorious future, to bring about
the recognition of Israel and restoration of the
Jews? Have I not shown you by a score of proof
texts from the Bible what the pleasure of the Lord
is in this matter? Then shall we not be willing to
say, "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven"?
Whether you or I take part in this great work or
not, it will be done. " Judah shall yet be saved, and
Israel shall dwell safely." " Therefore behold the
days come," saith the Lord — not Dr. Wild, Edward
Hine, or Philo-Israel, but the Lord — " that they
shall no more say. The Lord liveth, which brought
up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ;
but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which
led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north
country, and from all countries whither I had
driven them ; and they shall dwell in their own
land." — Jer. xxiii. 7, 8.

I am well aware that this work will not be ac-
complished in a day. The bondaged tribes in
Egypt would not accept the Lord's deliverance

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through Moses when he first went among them ;
still, it was as much the foreordained will of Hea-
ven that they should be freed, as that the)' should
be in bondage. And, just as surely as Israel have
been lost, so surely shall they be found. More
than forty years Moses and others had to work
and wait ere the people were willing to accept the
proffered deliverance. Let us remember that God
in Providence works two ways ; His sword is two-
edged. Man can only, as a rule, work one. Paul
was the apostle to the Gentiles ; and Peter, who was
set against them, was instrumental in bringing the
Gentile question into the Jewish council of his
brethren in Jerusalem. The case would indeed
have been very much prejudiced had it been forced
in through Paul. Peter's dream and Cornelius's
were set one against the other. An out-and-out
Gentile, and an Italian soldier at that, was Corne-
lius. Peter was an out-and-out opponent of the
Gentiles, but our Heavenly Father brought them
peacefully together. And, strange to say, it is the
great opponent of the Gentiles who first extends to
them the hand of brotherly love and equality. It
is he who is arraigned before the council, and it is
the narrow-minded Peter that was caused to say in
self-defence : " Forasmuch then as God gave them
the like gift as He did unto us, who believed in the
Lord Jesus Christ, what was I, that I could with-
stand God?" — Acts xi. 17. Now, Peter had with-
stood God, Paul and others on that point up to
that time : at last his self-will yielded to the will of

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THY WILL BE DONE.

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God. So on this important question Providence is
working double-handed. The Hon. William Seward
was a superior man in intellect, influence, and on
the slavery question, to Abraham Lincoln, but
when the choice of a candidate fell to the lot of the
anti-slavery party for the first time, poor and almost
unknown Lincoln was chosen instead of the well-
known William Seward. Mr. Lincoln was only an
abolitionist north and west of Mason's and Dixon's
line, but Mr. Seward was an abolitionist both
North and South. There would have been no war
had Seward been elected, for the North would not
at that time have sustained one simply to free the
slaves. But Mr. Lincoln being half-and-half, the
rising of the South was the more offensive to the
North, for though slavery was the prime cause of
the war, it was not the front or apparent one.
Slavery thus hid, the dismemberment of the Union
was the cause apparent ; this gave union at once
to the divided North, and so brought on the great
struggle. This result was to show Manasseh that
he could not be two nations, and the retired issue
was brought to light, and the slaves were made free.
Last Sunday evening we pointed out to you how
a knowledge on this identification question would
have saved us from that war. Cm bono, what is the
good of this theory ?

For upward of 400 years men have been trying
to find a north-east or north-west passage, that is,
to pass from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans
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through the island seas surrounding the North Pole.
Numerous expeditions have been fitted out by pri-
vate enterprise, as well as by the various Govern-
ments of the world. Our enterprising neighbour,
the Herald man, Mr. Ben net, who so grandly open-
ed up the dark continent of Africa through a
Stanley, has sent forth the Jeanette to pierce the
Pole, and plough a way through these northern
seas. We can but hope that his noble efforts will
meet with great success. England, France, Swe-
den, and latterly this country, have vied with each
other as to who should first find a passage-way.
Many vessels and lives have been lost in this effort,
and millions of money spent. Cui bono! What is
it all about } What good is it .? Much, every way,
yet with the mass of people it will be a long time
before they can understand this good. It was won-
derful news to the scientific world that came a few
weeks ago, that Professor Nordenskjold, under the
direction and patronage of the Swedish Govern-
ment, had succeeded in passing through the Arctic
Ocean from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The efforts
of hundreds of years have at last been crowned
with victory. The Swedish Government has won
an honour that any of the other Governments could
reasonably covet, especially England, which has
spent so much blood and treasure to accomplish
the work. Thousands of bodies, besides Sir John
Franklin's, are preserved in those ice-covered val-
leys and bays. The work j^roposed, however, is

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259

only half-done. The North Pole must be reached
at all hazards and costs. Including all the best
efforts, we have not reached it nearer than a thou-
sand miles. But one expedition after another keeps
penetrating a little further, and some day, ere long,
I think, the work will be done and the prize gained.
And what then .-* you say. It is hard to say, for
the benefits to be derived are numerous, some of
which will be purely scientific ; others commercial,
and some theological. I suppose some of you ladies
know what soda is, and the different forms in
which it is used. We use it in soap, and in making
of biscuits, and so on. In the whole world there
has only been found one kryolite mine, and that is
at the very north end of Greenland. Now kryolite
yields the natural commercial soda. Half of what
this mine produces comes to this country, and is
manufactured. The Pennsylvania Salt Company
of Pittsburg have a monopoly in this business. In
this mine more than one hundred men are at work,
and the portion which the Danish Government
allows to come to this country employs some twenty
vessels to carry the same from Iviktut to Philadel-
phia. Of course commercial soda can be, and is,
made by artificial means. This mine, you see, gives
us the natural article, hence it is cheaper for us, and
besides it aids trade, and by this means the kryo-
lite mine enters into our interests. This I just call
your attention to, that you may not think this north
is wholly separated from us. This question of

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Israel's identification is more intimately inwrought
in our spiritual, social, commercial and political
well-bein<4 than many are apt to think. Next Sun-
day evening I will call your attention as to how it
is going to force us all to consider it, whether we
will or not. It is coming up in a political shape,
as you will see.

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WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

DISCOURSE XVIII

ORIENTAL BRANDS — THE CHRISTIAN BRAND, WEIGHTS AND MEA-
SURES WHICH ROB THE POOR — FRENCH REVOLUTIONISTS
AND INFIDELS — WARNING TO WORKINGMEN — THE METRICAL
SYSTEM THE OFFSPRING OF INFIDELITY — THE QUESTION IN
CONGRESS — COST OF THE IMPOSITION — PROFITS FOR NEW
RINGS — THE METRIC CONGRESS OF 1875 — PYRAMID MEASURES
— STANDARDS OF ISRAEL — WHY GOD IS NOT IN THE CONSTI-
TUTION.

Text — Rev. xiii. 17.

" And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark,
or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

ITH the Orientals it is an old and very
general custom to mark or brand one
another. The forehead and hand were
the parts of the body chosen for this
purpose ; their manner of dress sanctioned this
choice. The forehead was an open and conspicu-
ous part of the face, made the more prominent by
the turban they wore. With the men the rest of
the face was covered by the beard, which was luxu-

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riantly cultivated and prized in the East ; the
women were wont to veil their faces, all but the
forehead. Slaves were so marked with thfe number
or sign of their master, and the idolatrous enthu-
siast would in like manner carry the sign-mark of
his favourite god. The sign was at once an evi-
dence of subjection and ownership. Slaves of
higher rank and the more modest devotees of the
gods were marked in the hand,:;o that their owner-
ship and subjection were not so boldly proclaimed.
The branding was done with a red-hot iron, having
on it the letters or sign. These were burningly
stamped in the flesh, and immediately some indel-
ible liquid was poured into the scorched furrows.
Soldiers, in loyalty to a beloved general, would have
their motto so stamped, and generals would ex-
press their fidelity to the king in like manner.
These marks o signs were widely different. The
slaves of Caesir were marked with an olive, leaf ;
some adopted certain numbers ; in such cases they
would speak of such signs as being the number of
such and such a man. Persons marked both on
the forehead and hand pledged themselves in a
double sense to the effect that they would openly
and secretly further the interests of their master
or god. These preliminary remarks, I hope, will
help you to a better understanding of the sacred
writers when and wherever they graft a spiritual
idea on a natural one. I will cite a few passages
to make this clearer :

The prophet Zechariah refers to a time when

I! :i':

WEIGHTS AND MEASURKS.

263

certain false prophets would be exposed. These
prophets, when exposed, would fain hide the mark
in their hand. lie rc[)rescnts one oi them as being
asked if he were a ^ rophet, and he answers and
says : " I am no prophet ; I am a husbandman ;
for man taught nie to keep cattle from my youth.
And one shall say unto him, What arc these wounds
(that is, marks) in thine hands ? Then he shall
answer, "'hose with whu h I was vvounded in the
house of my friends." — xiii. 5. Thus, you see, with
a knowledge of Oriental customs a passage like
this is made the clearer. The false prophet, in time
of danger, wishes to deny that he ever was an idola-
trous prophet ; he avows he was an husbandman
even from his youth ; and when the very sign of
his prophetic office is pointed out to him he tries
to get out of the difficulty by saying he was
wounded in the house of his friends — that is, his
friends at some time marked him against his own
will. To this custom Ezekiel refers where he says :
" Go through the midst of the cit}', through the
midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the fore-
heads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the
abominations that be done in the midst thereof."
Whenever these facts are used in a figurative sense
you will find that only the forehead is used to
symbolize that which is good. Christians are not
marked in the hand, but in the forehead. Chris-
tianity is neither a private nor secret fact ; a person
cannot be a Christian privately. Thi"^, in Revela-
tion, it is said : " Hurt not the earth, neither the

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sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants
of our God in their foreheads" — not privately
on the hand. Sin, however, is symbolized both
by the open mark of the forehead and the hid-
den sign of the hand, because sin is both openly
and secretly done. I am sorry to say, and more so
to be forced to believe, that many professing Chris-
in these days are hand-marked sinners. Privately
they have the devil's mark in their palm. If all
members so stigmatized, whose names are on our
church rolls, were erased, I am afraid the total
would be greatly diminished.

The revelator points out a time when Anti-
Christ and the beast shall form an alliance, and then
they will seek to control the course and modes of
commerce. They will seek to make all trade and
traders conform to a standard of their own be-
getting. They will have a system of weights and
measures peculiar to themselves, one that will rob
the poor and make the rich richer, and one that
will fit nicely on to their infidel ideas. Avarice
will be their motive power, and their standard a
varying and uncertain quantity that will ignore
the existence of God, and the finished, unvarying,
honest, equal, impartial and ultimate God-given
standards of nature. They will even venture to
take a straight measure from the fourth part of a
varying circle, in preference to the fourth part of a
straight line that is ever unchangeable. Such a
course, you are ready to say, would be silly and
ridiculous in the extreme, for any schoolboy would

ll 'M

WKRillTS AND MKASURKS.

265

know better than that. Will it change your opinion,
or in any wise mend the matter, if I tell you that
such a thing has been done, and doi ^ by men
claiming to be superior scientists, by savants who
dethroned God, and fell at the feet of a "God-
dess of Reason " and said : This be our God ? In
the citj^ of Paris, France, in the year 1792, these
God-orphaned children met in council to devise a
better system of measures of length, liquids, weights
and time. They wished, because they had just
freed themselves from the tyranny of a long line of
kings, to be equally free from the King of kings,
the Lord of earth and heaven. On January 21st,
1793, they brought forth from prison their unfortu-
nate King Louis XVI. to the guillotine. Then v as
established the famous " Republic," which, meteor-
like, sped its way and ran its course in fourteen
years. On the guillotine of reason they proudly
proclaimed to the world that they had also be-
headed the Christians' God. In their measure of
time they divided the year into twelve months
of thirty days each, and these months they deci-
maled, and so had the week to consist of ten days
each, the last to be a rest day. This division of
the year left them five days on hand ; these they
generously disposed of by constituting them into
festival days, which they scientifically called san
cullotidides.

The royal King David once brought down on
himself the displeasure of Heaven, and God, through
the prophet, gave David a choice of punishment,

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that he might fall into His liands, or into the hands
of men. David's experience with both parties soon
fixed his choice, for he chose to fall into the hands
of God, rather than into the hands of man. And
so may we choose and prefer. Think of a repub-
lic offering- to the workingman thirty-six rsst days
instead (;f the God-appointed fifty-two. The pro-
visions of a just God are more liberal than the free-
will offering of a Godless republic. The experience
of the past should give us, especially the working-
class, the Davidic wisdom of choice. And I warn
you now, as I have heretofore the working-class of
this country, to beware of such pretenders. God-
less agitators are burden-bringers, tax-imposers and
liberty-crushers. The republic of 1792 is gone ; it
surged to view and identity on a tide of blood, and
after a few brief years it sank from sight in its own
gory v/aves. But not so with its new measure
system. Thank heaven, part of that sank with it ;
and pity the earth that any should still remain.

What the French savants did is nothing to you,
I suppose some of you will say, and hastily you
may declare your indifference about the metrical
system of measurement. One thing, however, is
very certain : you cannot much longer rcmiiin in-
different. Very soon you will be forced to con-
sider this question, for it will soon enter into every
home and every pocket. Already you have paid
taxes for it, but only as a drop to a shower if you
do not arouse to resist. This infidel metric sys-
tem was before our Congress at its last session.

WF^GHTS AND MEASURES.

267

Committees were busy getting information on the
subject, and large rings are already formed to push
it through Congress and make this system com-
pulsory. It is legalized already. . This was done
in 1866 for this country, and in England in 1864.
This French metric system has been adopted and
made compulsory in France, Belgium, Holland,
Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Colum-
bia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Chili, and
the Argentine Confederation and Uruguay, In
Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden it is
partly in use. So you see the spirit of Anti-Christ
is in the world. In these countries no man can
buy or sell unless he has the mark — the name or
number of the beast. The promoters of this sys-
tem have worked stealthily, having, as we see,
gotten it legalized. Not one in a thousand knows
anything about this question, its import, purpose
and aim. If the day ever comes that it shall be
made compulsory in this country, then the multi-
tude will awake to a realization of the tyranny,
cost and imposition that will have been forced
upon them. Then the arithmetic you have learned
shall be of no use any longer. You go to the
grocer, and he begins to talk of decas, hcctos,
myrias, steres, and of litres, metres, millimetres,
centimetres, and so on. You will be for some time
a little puzzled, and perhaps you w'lll want him to
accommodate you by selling to you in the old way.
He will answer you that he dare not ; his measures
then will be altogether different. The old ones he

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will have to give up or destroy. You may buy
from him a litre or delitre of potatoes, but no longer
a bushel or half-bushel. If you go to a store to get
a yard of cloth you will find it impossible, but they
will sell you a metre or a centimetre. Yards, feet,
inches, gallons, quarts, pints, tons, pounds and
ounces will be no more. The change proposed is
as radical and confusing as the difference between
Christianity and infidelity.

The bewilderment of the country on the adop-
tion of this Gallo-metricalized system is finely illus-
trated by ^Professor Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer
Royal of Scotland, in his grand work, "Our In-
heritance in the Pyramid." I will borrow a point
from him to show the absurdity of this system.
An old lady inquires at some milk store the price
of a pint of milk, and is told by the storekeeper
that he " dare not sell her that measure for it is
against the law." He, however, sets to work and
makes a calculation and he finds he can sell "o'028
of a litre, which is not far from half-a-pint, and
that its price is only 0'o666, etc., of a franco-
bungus, or positively dirt-cheap, if she can only
see it." Will not the old lady be appalled ? and
how ever will '^he be able to perceive all the bear-
ings of this state of affairs so instantly as to make
her small means go to the same distance in mar-
keting, for a Icfrge family, as they had been wont
to do before ? The fact is it will not only confuse
old ladies, but the whole community. It will revo-
lutionize every machine shop in the country, and

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

269

necessitate a change in the gauge and stroke of the
engine and the lathe. Our children will require new
text -books, the grocers and druggists new measures,
the mechanic new tools. If it should become the
compulsory law of this land it will cost the country-
millions of dollars. The House of Representatives,
in November, 1877, asked three questions from the
various heads of departments of the Government.
First — What objections are there to making the
metrical system of weights and measures obliga-
tory .-* Second — How long a preliminary notice is
necessary for the same without detriment to the
public service ? Third — What objections are there,
if any, to making the same system obligatory be-
tween individuals, and what is the earliest date
that can be set for such obligatory use throughout
the United States ? The various officers responded,
each and all condemning, in part or whole, in their
answer. Not one of them was out-and-out in favour
of such a change. This being so you are tempted
to conclude that there is no danger of it ever be-
coming law. If you hastily so conclude it must be
that you are ignorant of the strength and organized
design of the promoters of this system. Already
great trade rings are formed to make this system
compulsory. They have lots of money and influ-
ence. These rings expect to receive the mark and
number of the Government to manufacture, for all
these new standards will needs be made under Gov-
ernment supervision and sanction to the end that
there may be uniformity. Some Mr. Fairbanks

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WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

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will have a fine job in making the new scales, some
book firm in issuing new school-books, and some
glass factory in producing new drug glass measures_
The change will be enormous, the rings strong, the
monopolies great. The Postmaster- General says
in his report that the expenses immediately would
be $124,000,000. This gigantic fraud threatens to
unsettle the commerce of this country and force us
into a mode of doing business that will deny our
origin.

Unto whom or what shall we liken the men who
invented this system, as well as those who accept
their Godless conclusions ? I have read in ancient
history, of -one Pygmalion who was so enamoured
with his maiden love that he, at great cost of time
and labour, had her image carved in snow-white
marble and placed in his studio. It came to pass
that he forgot the living maiden and satisfied him-
self with the statue. He exchanged the living
beauty for a cold marble figure. So these Pygma-
lion scientists pretend to be satisfied with the
meteric system. They exchange the man-com-
mensurate and earth-commensurate and God-given
system we now have, for one that is lifeless, non-
commensurate and ill-suited to man. A boy has
some notion now what an inch is, as the breadth of
his thumb, or what a foot is, or cubit from tip of
fingers to elbow, and the sacred cubit the length of
the arm. A yard is a stately step, two of which
are a fathom, and that is again the height of a '^ood-
sizcd man. Neither in man or nature arc metres

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WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

271

or litres found. A half a metre is no quantity no
nnore than half a litre. Still a boy would have
some idea what a half a foot was, or half a yard.
Let us stick close to God and nature and refuse
these man-begotten systems.

This question, coming up at this time, is not an
accident, for as the tiuie of Anti-Christ is nearing,
so the preparatory signs are appearing. And is it
not strange that Israel England stands out boldly
refusing to accept this system ? At the Metrical
convention of December, 1875, called together by
?Vance, there were present twenty-two nations.
There was one lacking that spoiled all, namely,
England. She had no accredited agent. The Uni-
ted States were represented by Hon. Mr. Noyes,
our ambassador at Paris at that time. It was con-
cluded forthwith to establish an International Metri-
cal bureau at Paris. This part our Government has
not yet sanctioned, and I hope never will. The
president of that International committee said
more than he knew when writing complainingly to
Mr. Noyes. He, Mons. Iba/ie::;, said, " It would be
greatly to be regretted if the Anglo-Saxon world
determined to maintain, definitely, a separate posi-
tion in regard to weights and measures." He knew
not, being ignorant that these Anglo-Saxons are
God's chosen people,. Israel, and therefore it is not
for them to deny Him in their business. To their
fathers God long ago said : " Ye shall do no un-
righteousness, in judgment, in mete-yard, in weight
or in measure ; just balances, just weights, a just

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WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

ephah and a just hin shall ye have. I am the Lord
your God which brought you out of the land of
Egypt. Therefore shall ye oh erve all my statutes
and judgments, and do them. I am the Lord." —
Lev. xix. 35. From the Divine word we learn God
had regulated weights and measures by statutes.
This simply implies that they had certain ultimate
standards to appeal to, so as to adjust those they
were daily using. How and when they got their
standards I know not. The architectural measure-
ment of the tabernacle and the temple came from
God ; the pattern was from heaven. The Jewish
system of weights and measures is in close affinity
with ours now in use, and they both plainly refer
to the great pyramid. The difference between ours
and theirs is just what the greed of the ages would
warrant. Our inch is a thousandth part less than
the pyramid. Our pint measure is a little less.
The porphyry coffer in the pyramid is an earth,
man and God-commensurate standard. It is not
to be accounted for on the line of accident. The
point is too fine and scientific that this porphyry
coffer, or stone trough, in the pyramid should be of
the same cubical contc nts as the ark of the cove-
nant in the Holy of Holie*; Who'^ver mude one
made or knew of both. Where, 1 ask, were the
standards of Israel kept .-* The true answer is, they
were kept in the Holy of Holies. That famous
Aaron's rod was like our yard stick in purpose.
The pot of manna uas the liquid standard measure.
The English nation have been wont and do now

11 ii J

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

273

keep their standards in that sacred and holy place,
Westminster Abbey. ** Thou shalt not have in thy
bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou
shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a
great and a small ; but thou shalt have a perfect
and just weight, a perfect and just measure shall
thou have, that thy days may be lengthened in the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for all
that do such things, and all that do unrighteously,
are an abomination unto the Lord thy God." —
Deut. XXV. 13. On honest dealing God speaks
plainly : " A false balance is abomination to the
Lord, but a just weight is His delight." — Prov. xi. i.
Just as the blessed Jesus is man's standard in
all spiritual matters, and he was God, man and
earth-commensurate. He touches all, and is rela-
ted to all. He is the heaven-given standard. The
French of 1792 rejected Him also. We in this
country are divided between the French system
and that of Israel. As introduced by Thomas
Jefferson, we have the decimal system in part. The
French idea also crept into our Constitution and
left it Godless. Facts are stubborn things. It is
marvellous how manifest the spirit of prophecy is
m Ihe history, place, condition, agitations, relation
and evpn idiosyncrasies of the nations of the earth.
What Is the profit whether we be Israelites or not.-*
You surely will see with me it is of great importance.
.Vnd they who set at naught this theory to-day will
in the course of a few years be forced to consider it.

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WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

A pamphlet has been written that ought to be put
into every politician's hands. It is by Chas. I ati-
mer, civil engineer, of Cleveland, Ohio, entitled :
" The French Metric System, or the Battle of Stan-
dards." More next Sunday evening.

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JUST WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

DISCOURSE XIX.

THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL RELIGION — CHRIST ON EARTH — THE
BIBLE ON WEIGHTS AND MEASURES — WHAT CONSTITUTES
JUST WEIGHTS AND MEASURES — ADVANTAGE OF UNIFORMITY
— ORIGIN OF THE MUSIC SCALE — PORPHYRY COFFER — OUR
MEASURES BASED ON NATURAL PROPORTIONS — INFIDEL MEA-
SURES — JUSTICE TO THE POOR — DOLLARS AND CENTS — PYRA-
MID MEASURES.

Text — Leviticus xix. 35.

"Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in mete-yard, in

weight or in measure."

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T is the will of heaven that men should
deal honestly one with another, that
right, not might, -^hould govern all
human intercourse and trade. When
a man has a theory he naturally desires to apply
it, and he will seek the best time and place for such
application. So if a man construct some valuable
machine, he will desire to have it operate where it
will be most successful, in the grandest, greatest
and most useful sphere. Christianity is no ejccep-

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JUST WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

tion to this general rule, although many try to per-
suade themselves that it is. As a system it is both
theoretical and practical ; it is both a fact of faith
and practice. It is not so much the theoretical part
of a man's religion that I am interested in and rela-
ted to as the practical, because no man can be
wholly isolated in this life. I am interested in the
religion of everybody, especially in the practical
part, and as sure as I have, or any one else has,
religion, so surely should we seek to operate the
same in the most important department of life,
where we will have the best and greatest opportu-
nities for its exercises. Accepting the departmental
division of life, may I not ask which is the best and
most important in a practical sense ? That of the
the family, church, or commercial ? To find out
which of these three is the best for the purpose
spoken of we must ascertain which commands and
gets the most of our time, thought, labour and
capital. For myself I believe the commercial to
be the first and most important, taking the average
of society at large. A majority of men spend more
time, exercise more thought, bestow more labour
and invest more capital in the commercial depart-
ment than any other ; this is especially true of the
poorer and working-classes. Here, then, is the best
and grandest field for the practice of Christianity:
here we will find the finest opportunity and the
best chances for the display of Christian virtues.
Because this is so, here also Christianity is put to
its greatest test. In this department it has been

JUST WKfCIHTS ANP MRASURHS.

277

a lamentable failure. Is inhere else has the Chris-
tian profession been so dishonoured and put to
open shame. The past few years have furnished
some most appalling instances. The very pillars
of justice seemed honeycombed. Staid, Puritan
and heretofore honest New Enp^l ind has of late
tellingly, vcngefully and frequently assaulted the
tame and good name of the Pilgrim P'athers.

in the family, affection .iclps each member to
practise the golden rule one toward another ; in
business this motive aid is absent. In tUc church
association, the time and quiet of the sanctury,
the Sabbath with its ministrations, ill contrib .te
toward helping men to be good. On Mondav morn-
ing these aids to a better life are retired, .v. id men
go forth to labour, dependent on jusiice alone.
Oftentimes the whole of the association of their
business is against them. Mercy and love are not
wanted. Justice, stern and cold, as defined by
law and custom, now holds sovereign sway. The
humble and devout worshipper of yesterday has
not only changed his clothins^ but his very look,
voice and demeanour ; all are changed. The loving
husband, the tender and mild-mannered father,
it is hard to discern, sometimes, in the exacting,
rough and thorough plodding business man. So
defective have Christians been in this department
that business men don't give a straw's weight or
value to a man's profession and church relations
these days. It has come to be quite generally un-
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business, no more than politics. This opinion a
portion of the Church help to confirm, for they
talk and harangue men on Sundays and at prayer-
meetings to get religion instead of doing religion.
Most churches are plagued with such bores, per-
sons in whom no confidence is placed whatso-
ever by those who know them. Any one of us,
acquainted at all with men and things, knows per-
fectly well that religion theoretically is a long way
off religion practically. We need to urge men, by
exhortation and example, to practise what they
already know. A man's religion should be equal
to his life in time, place and doing, so that at no
time or place a man can be found without his re-
ligion. Well do I know that this sermon will be
spoken of as being non-spiritual, lacking the ele-
ments of a true gospel discourse, by this pious class
of folks. Thank heaven, the Union Congregation
Church has but few of these in her fold, and they
are seldom present when I preach, and rarely visit
a prayer-meeting that I lead, and when they do
they are mute, critical observers. By this state-
ment I do not wish the stranger in my hearing to
suppose our prayer-meetings are dull, prosy, or
poorly attended ; on the contrary, they are large,
lively, and intensely spiritual and profitable. Our
church will grandly compare with any in the country
for honesty, integrity and piety in its member-
ship. We try in this church to approach the bles-
sed Jesus through humanity ; through humanity
sick, weary and carewcyn, distressed and despised.

JUST WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

279

We believe Him. easier found this way, and better
pleased when so found. We give the cup of cold
water in His name and hear Him say through the
thirsty one ; " Inasmuch as ye did it unto the least
of one of these, ye did it unto Me." My dear
friends, Jesus is yet in the world. He is still going
to and fro in the earth. He is incarnated on earth
as well as in heaven. Ecce Homo. Behold the
man. Behold Him in that careworn widow, in that
helpless and suffering neighbour, in that afflicted
wife of a drunken husband, in those half-clad or-
phans, in the patient prisoner. Jesus is sick and in
prison, visit Him ; He is hungry and naked, feed
and clothe Him. He is a stranger and thirsty,
take Him in and treat Him kindly, and give Him
to drink. Ecce Homo. Behold the man, not best
and oftenest in "a private prayer-meeting where all
present are of good reputation, well fed, richly
clothed, kindly housed, and have money in bonds
and in the banks, as some of you have. Remember
he is no respecter of persons, though you are, and
court Him and approach Him as if He were. No,
no, my friends, go tell them in that fashionable ari.d
very select prayer-meeting that Jesus whom they
seek is not there. He is gone on before unto Gali-
lee. This Galilee country was a poor country, never-
theless Jesus says, " Go tell My brethren that they
go into Galilee, and there shall they see Me." Oh,
for a practical gospel.

Let us look our religion in the face and see
how and where it will best suit. The text gives

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US the mind of God. The Hebrevv nation heaven
designed should be a model one ; for th's reason
God devised through inspiration its form of gov-
vernment. This government did not recognize
any religion for the simple reason it was religion.
The Hebrew religion can only be seen and under-
stood by taking in the whole life of the nation.
They were religious in eating, drinking, working,
socially, civilly, ecclesiastically, politically and sani-
tarily. They had no interest or relations but what
were provided for and contained. The Hebrew
religion was not an afterthought imposed upon the
people. They could not in the strictest sense be
Hebrews and be irreligious, neither could they be
religious and not be Hebrews. There were no
church and state with them, for the church had no
existence of itself, neither had the state, both these
factors it took to make the Hebrews. It is no won-
der then that Jehovah should so minutely provide
for every shade of interest and intercourse. And
when we remember that much of a nation's life is a
trade life, we shall be prepared to expect provision
and rules for the regulation of the same. These
provisions would of necessity conserve the people's
interest, and God-like, they would be righteous,
equitable, and impartial ; they would not favour the
rich at the expense of the poor — in their applica-
tion they would rest justly and fairly on all. But
if this people were to do no unrighteousness in
judgment, mete-yard, weight and measure, it is at
once evident that they must know what right was

i-5

J«!-;H1' i

JUST WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

281

in this matter. It would not do for every one to
have a mete-yard, or measure, or weight of their
own. To the end that trade might be honestly
and fairly conducted it would be necessary that
they should have some standard. All weights and
measures conforming to such a standard would
give uniformity and impartiality in all their trading.
Frequently Jehovah appeals to the people to be
honest in these matters, to accept the appointed
standard, and not in anywise to deal unfairly one
with another. He said to them, "Thou shalt not
have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.
Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures,
a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect
and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt
thou have." And he even adds to the fulfilment of
this precept a promise, " That thy days may be
lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee." And further. He expresses His dis-
pleasure against any double dealing. " For all that
do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are
an abomination unto the Lord thy God." — Deut,
XXV. 13-16.

Finding Jehovah is so particular about His peo-
ple having just weights and perfect measures, we
are naturally forced to ask what constituted a just
weight and a just measure, The answer to this
question is, that the weights and measures used
by the people were such as agreeid with some stand-
ard, and this standard would be carefully preserved
in some appropriate place. From time to time

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copies of this standard would be made and dis-
tributed to the authorities throughout the land.
These authorities would appoint certain persons as
agents whose business it would be to visit all doing
trade in a public way, and see if their weights and
measures were just and right. All persons using
one standard would make trading uniform, easier
and more stable. It would help men to be honest,
because it would be equitable and fair between the
buyer and seller, the rich and the poor, the stranger
and the citizen. We have agents in our city and
all through the land who do this very thing ; so
that a yard may be a yard in Maine or California,
and a pound a pound all around, a pint a pint in
every State. We all know that this is much better
than that each State should have a yard, pound and
pint of their own. The advantage seen in this uni-
formity, as applied to the States, grandly expresses
and shows us what a blessing it would be if all the
world were uniform in like manner. We simply
want in commerce what we have in music. The
Christian Church in the early centuries, though
having one gospel, found that when citizens of dif-
ferent nations and languages came together that
they could not worship harmoniously in the musical
part of the service. This was for the reason that the
diatonic scale was different in the several countries;
that is, the note scales were diverse in tone and
quantity, just like a people having different weights
and measures. The church fathers tried for hun-
dreds of years to introduce some uniform scale, so

JUST WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

283

that singing would be uniform, and no matter what
the language of persons might be, that when they
came together they should be able to sing harmo-
niously. This task at first sight you would think
impossible to accomplish, but whatever the original
difficulties were they have been overcome, and now
Germans, Frenchmen, Italians, Swedes and English
can meet together for the first time and each take
part in rendering a piece of music. Guido, a Bene-
dictine monk, born aj: Arezzo, about the latter part
of the tenth century, took the hymn of St, John the
Baptist and assigned a special and fixed character
to the first syllables. A quantity that was natural
to the human voice in any lanj^uage, and because
it was natural it was therefore universal. The hymn
is as follows :

Ut queant laxis
Resonare fibris
Mira gestorum
Famuli tuorum
Solve polluti
Labii reatum
Sanctae Johannes.

The first syllable ut was afterwards changed into
do by the famous composer, Gio Mario Bononcini,
for the sake of euphony. With this change you
see the first syllables are Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La,
Sa. This simple invention determined the intona-
tion of every fiote, making it possible for musi-
cians, singers, composers and instrumentalists of all
countries to understand each other ; for it gave one
and the same language to the musical world. What

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this invention was to the musical world we want for
the commercial. We want some uniform scale of
weights and measures.

In the great pyramid at Egypt, in that curious
stone trough, otherwise called porphyry coffer, we
have just such a scale or standard as I have pointed
out before. That standard nearly corresponded to
the Hebrew one, hence it is no marvel that the ark
of the covenant in the Holy of Holies should be
equal in cubical contents to the porphyry coffer.
We are all obliged to acknowledge that the Hebrews
had a standard ; without such standard the exhorta-
tions, directions and threatenings would be with-
out a foundation. God bid this people have just
weights and measures because they knew what was
just. Aaron's rod and the pot of manna were mov-
able standards, while the ark was the ultimate ap-
peal. Thus were it necessary to keep these things
in so holy a place that they might not be tampered
with. The ultimate standard should be earth-com-
mensurate, so that if burnt, or lost, it could easily be
restored. And a set of measures taken from such
a standard should be man-commensurate, so that
a man by knowing himself will have some idea, as,
for instance, what idea has a boy of an inch if you
tell him it is the five-hundred-millionth part of the
axis of the earth ; you give him a proper answer,
still he will have no idea what the quantity of an
inch is, if he have never been shown. If you tell
him it is about the breadth of a man's thumb, he
gets an idea of its quantity at once. If he shall

JUST WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

285

ask what the axis of the earth is, tell him it is an
imaginary straight line running through the very
centre of the earth from North to South. If a
pole was pushed through it would be in length
500,500,000 thumb-breadths ; and so you go on
and tell him a foot is twelve of these inches, three
feet a yard, or the length of his arm. The French
metre is thirty-nine and one-third inches long ; it
was intended to be the ten-millionth of the fourth
part of a circle — a circle that would go round the
world starting from Paris. It is a bulky and un-
handy measure, and, as any one may know, it is
an unscientific thing. Though the offspring of a
republic, it is the enemy of the poor man. It is
void of earth, man and Gospel relations. Mirabile
dictUy wonderful to tell, some of the wise ones in
our land want this standard adopted and made
compulsory. The imprint and influence of that
Godless republic of 1792 is on our constitution. It
was French influence that left our valuable con-
stitution without the name of God, and that same
influence is still at work, even to change the God-
given standard we now have for those man-begot-
ten. No man, or set of men, can deal honestly who
use the metric system, because, in the first place,
their ultimate standard is a variable and inconstant
one. How, then, can copies therefrom be perfect }
Secondly, it ignores God, God in nature and God
in man. Thirdly, it is partial and unequal. A
poor man goes into a store and asks what cheese is
a pound. The answer is ten cents. Give me a

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quarter of a pound, he says. The price really is
two and one-half cents. Of course he cannot pay
it. The difficulty is easily obviated by the store-
keeper saying three cents. Now in this case ho
who needs protection most is robbed. He pays his
three cents, and, having bought some bread, he goes
into a milk-shop and asks how much milk is per
quart. Five cents, answers the storekeeper. I will
take a pint. Now, again, the poor man is in trouble,
The buyer and seller cannot deal squarely. And
again the difficulty is got over by chnrging the poor
man three cents. This is wisdom ; this is the equity
some people are clamouring to have the Congress
introduce and make compulsory. Our decimal
system in money is only partially that of the French,
but with the partial quantity we see how unjust
it is.

Our present system, as we)! as that used in Eng-
land, is not wholly perfect, but with all its imper-
fections it is more perfect than the boasted metre of
the French. The poor man referred to would have
had no difficulty with his cheese and milk if his ten
cents were even converted into the English system.
He would have had sixpence ; out of this he could
have paid honestly for all he bought. Cheese, six-
pence per pound, would be three half-pennies per
quarter, and also with his milk. A man should not
be robbed because he is poor. Strange as it may
appear, the advocates of the metrical system pre-
tend it will be a good thing for the workingman.
Jn this system two halves are not equal to a whole.

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JUST WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

287

If you don't believe this, go on to one of our street-
car'^ and take two of your children with you. The
sign says : fare, five cents ; children half price. You
hand the conductor ten cents ; he at once demands
another cent. His half of five cents is three cents.
This kind of a half doubled is six cents. It is no
use for you to say that half of five cents is two and
one-half, and two twos and a half are five. Again
this is an injustice. This fault we tried to remedy
in our money system by having quarter dollar
pieces. If with a little touch of the metric system
we find it so inconvenient what would be the con-
sequence if we adopted as a whole ?

The United States have the mission and rd/e of
the tribe of Manasseh to fulfil On the reverse
of our great seal we have the figure of a pyramid.
This tells us of our origin, and should teach us
how to act in the question of the metric system.
God has caused us to do unwittingly many things,
for I doubt not but that the whole of our seal's
device and designs are Providential. God and the
pyramid are remarkably visible in our whole history.
Take another instance. The king's chamber in the
pyramid is 412,^ inches long and 206^ broad. Is it
not rather strange that the good honest dollar of
the fathers in weight was 41 2| grains ? Their
half dollar was 206^ grains. Again, the pyramid
is 232^ sacred cubits high, and our gold eagle, the
unit of our gold coinage, 232^ grains — a very close
approximation. Neither for these things nor for our
seal can any man g«ve a reason excepting that they

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happened so. Dear friends, in all these things
there is visible the finger of God. Let us not be
deceived nor imposed upon by allowing the metric
system to become compulsory. We do not want
trade dollars, but God dollars. God has done much
for us ; let us not exclude Him from commerce,
but rather bring Him nearer.

ARK OF THE COVENANT,

DISCOURSE XX.

DR. WILDS VISIT TO TARA — ANCIENT IRISH HISTORY — PALACE
OF TEA TEPHI — THE HARP OF TARA AND THE HARP OF DAVID
— DESCRIPTION OF TARA— THE PATRIOTS' MONUMENT — WHY
TARA IS NOT EXPLORED — RELICS OF ANCIENT SKILL — AN EX-
PLORATION SOCIETY FORMED— yUESTIONS FOR THE CHURCH
OF ROME — TARA ONCE THE RELIGIOUS CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
— WHEREABOUTS OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT— PORPHYRY
COFFER — WONDERFUL COINCIDENCE — DESCRIPTION OF THE
ARK — THE IRISH MILE — WHENCE IT CAME — FREEMASONRY —
ORIGIN OF ITS TRADITIONS AND MYSTERIES.

Text— Jer. iii. i6. vJ

"And it shall come to par-s, when ye be multiplied and in-
creased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say
no more, the ark of The covenant of the Lord ; neither shall it
com*, o mind, iieither shall they remember it, neither shall
they visit it, neither shall that be done any more."

|HIS world is large, and in it are many
queer things. Those that are seen and
known by no means include the whole.
The things unknown are probably as
queer and numerous as the known. In the present
vegetable world, life assumes some 250,000 different
forms in the garden, field, forest and waters, and
subsisting on this vast variety of vegetable, directly
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and indirectly, we have not less than 400,000 dif-
ferent forms of animal life. And yet this vast total
and variety sink into insignificance when compared
with the myriad kinds of life that have perished in
the bygone ages of the world. The truth is the
whole of the solid earth had passed through the
maw of pre-existing generations of life. Much of
it has been eaten over and over again. We do,
indeed, tread the dust of the departed millions.
On my last visit to the mounds of Tara I begged a
drink of water from an Irish mother sitting in front
of a little cottage. The water was given to me
with a witty benediction. I found it to be cool,
sparkling and refreshing ; and yet, for ought I
know, it might once have been a part of the foun-
tain of tears that flowed down the furrowed cheeks
of the prophet Jeremiah. And as I ascended those
hills I might have trodden under foot the dust that
once, an organized form, shone forth in beauty
and grace in the sweet countenance of Tea Tephi,
the lovely princess of the East, and daughter of
Zedekiah. Tradition casts a halo of glory on, and
around, and under these little hills of New Grange,
once Tara, and once Lothair Croffin. And pro-
phetic revelation finds here a resting-place of hope
in the wilderness of time. Fate and destiny make
the barren quietness of theje knolls both interesting
and beautiful.

That you may the more readily understand me,
when speaking of this famous spot and the events
connected with it, I will take the liberty to describe

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ARK OF THE COVENANT.

291

it in a short way : Step back in Irish history three
thousand years, and you shall find Ireland then, as
now, divided into four provinces. About this
period Ulster, the northern of the provinces, rises
to pre-eminence. The King of Ulster soon be-
comes the acknowledged head and leader, in mat-
ters pertaining to the whole island. He was, be-
sides being king over his own province, the Gen-
eral-in-chief. In time of war he commanded and
led the united forces. The capital of Ulster, and
place of residence at that time, was called Lothair
Croffin. As years passed by this king increased
in power, and the city in numbers, wealth and in-
fluence. The people of Ulster were distinct from
all the rest ; distinct in race, religion and enter-
prise. They were called Fir-Bolgoes — that is the
Divine Folks. They were superior in architecture,
and wonderful in their skill in the use of metals.
In the sixth century before Christ — dates vary at
this point — Tigernach and O'Flaherty say .he
seventh ; but any way, whatever difference of date,
all the historians pledge the same great facts,
that about this period a wonderful man made his
appearance^ who soon became the virtual ruler of
Ulster. He was not the actual king, but he ruled
the king, and he was obeyed by the king and his
authority acknowledged. His name was Ollam
Folia, the Divine Man. Ask any historian who
was the greatest king, man, or person, Ireland ever
had, and they will tell you Ollam Folia. Look up
into the dome of the Four Courts in Dublin, and

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you will see his medallion in dasso relievo. He soon
changed the laws, instituted a form of responsible
government and parliament, and turned the people
from idolatry to pure worship. Historians tell us
also that he had a beautiful Princess with him, and
her he married to Eochaid, the King. He had also
with him a precious and peculiar stone, and many
other wonderful things. He founded a large college,
the Mur Ollam. He had the name of the city
changed from Lothair Croffin to Tara, and this
word Tara means law ; it is the word Arat or
Ararat spelled backward. For Noah went forth
from Mount Ararat to begin a new civilization for
the world ; so at Tara a new order of things were
instituted, nothing less than a new civilization, a
civilization that has moved on from that day to this ;
and in the whole world, at this very moment, there
is none to compare to it. For this Princess, Tea
Tephi, there was built an immense palace — that is,
immense for those days. Eight hundred years
after, in the reign of Cormac Ulfada, it was stand-
ing in all its glory. In a rare and curious old manu-
script, now in the library of Trinity College, Dublin,
we have a remarkable description of this residence.
It was 900 feet square, and fifty-six feet in height.
Admittance was through twelve porches and twelve
doors. Inside it was divided by two halls running
at right angles. Each wing had twelve divisions
with sixteen attendants attached to each. Here
1,000 guests were fed daily, besides the princes,
orators, engravers, and workers in gold and silver,

ARK OF THE COVENANT.

men of science and historians. Here were the head-
quarters of the harpists and musicians, which make
the halls of Tara so famous in history. And, by
the way, let me say that the harp of Tara is 6qual
to, and like the harp of David. This very harp is
a strong link in the chain of evidence that the
people of ancient Ulster were Danites. This harp is
not to be confounded with the Egyptian, because
they were different in shape, tone and scale,
and nowhere have these Jewish harps been found
but in Ireland, except in Wales ; and the Welsh
being of the tribe of Simeon, which was always
near Dan, this is in its way a further proof. The
Irish poet's words are world-wide :

The harp that once through Tara's halls.

But what a change from those days of glory to
these ! Where now is Tara ? and where now is the
magnificent palace of Teamor, or Tephi ? Suppose
you are in Ireland, on the banks of the river Boyne,
between Drogheda and Slane, in the county of
Meath, in the ancient limits of the Province of
Ulster. Now let us do a little exploring. Turning
from the river, we shall find the road gradually
ascending, for a little over a mile ; then we are at
the base of a numWr of little hills, from the top of
which you have a quiet and beautiful agricultural
scene. The hills themselves seem dry and barren.
No wonder ; for they are largely artificial, and all
under are numerous ruins, holes, caves and vaults,
into which a person can go but a little way, because

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of the dust of these marvellous remains. See over
to the right, there, some men have been quarrying ;
ney ound, however, the stone loose, cut and shaped ;
or aey were quarried long ago, and built in walls
now alien in. That knoll in the centre is called
" Croppy hill," for there are buried a large number
of the insurgents of the rebellion of 1798. The big,
square stone, or monument, is the only tombstone
that marks the resting-place of the slaughtered
patriots. It is about four feet square, and some
seven feet high, and it is equally as deep in the
ground as out. This remarkable stone stood on
one of the other hillocks for centuries. When, how,
and why it was first put there, no one seems able to
tell. Whatever the original design was, it has
been lost sight of. It doubtless was an important
witness, and had a secret and a story that one
would like to have heard and known. The brave
Croppies, however, have changed its mission, and
it now points out to the traveller their resting place.
Many wonder why these ruins are not at once
explored. In connection with this wonder, we
should remember that it is now private property
and that the owners, as well as the tenants, are
averse to such proceedings. Here, in former years,
explorations were conducted on a small scale, and
many curious and antique ornaments, instruments
and implements, made of gold, and silver, and bronze,
were found attesting the wealth and splendour of
this ancient city. The tumulus of New Grange —
that is the name given now to one of these little

ARK OF THE C0VF:NANT.

295

hills — covered about two acres, rising some seventy
feet in height. It was long resorted to as a quarry-
by the settlers round about. This mound appeared
to be the ruins of one vast building, covered with a
thin costing of soil. The stones were massive in
size, weighing from ten to twelve tons each. There
are no natural quarries near by, so that these must
have been carried there from a distance. This
mound was first opened up in 1699 by a road-
master, who began to dig in it for stones to repair
the road. While so doing he came upon a gallery
pathway sixty feet in length, twenty-four inches in
breadth, and eighteen inches in height. This pass-
ageway was roofed with enormous slabs. At the
end of the passageway was a chamber, which, from
its shape and furniture, indicated that it was but an
ante-room of some large temple. I apprehend that
the day is not far distant when these ruins will be
thoroughly explored, and the secrets and wealth so
long buried brought to light. In England a society
has been formed with this object in view, and are
receiving voluntary contributions for this purpose.
Of course it will be an expensive undertaking.
Governmental permission, as well as private consent,
will have to be gained. And it is known that the
Catholic Authorities are much opposed to such pro-
ceedings, and they will very naturally oppose it all
they can. This grand old city, which for more than
a thousand years was the capital of Ireland, and
more, the successor to Jerusalem, and thus the reli-
gious capital of the world, on whose throne sat to

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rule and reign 142 monarchs of the Fir-Bolgo, that
is of the tribe of Dan.

Do you ask why such a city was destroyed }
Well you may ; but who shall answer you ? Let
me give you a little advice, and at the same time
solicit a favour, especially some of you, my Catho-
lic friends, whom I am pleased to see present with
us this evening. Ask the priests and Catholics of
the 1 7th of March why Tara is no more ? Ask
these one-day-in-the-year panegyrizers and poor
practisers of the faith and princely charity of St.
Patrick why the city in which he spent so much
time and loved was destroyed ? When you hear
the eloquent priest quote the lines, " The harp
that once through Tara's halls," ask him why it
does not sound there now ? Ask these boastful
successors of St. Peter and brave defenders of St.
Patrick, by what authority, and at whose command,
and for what reason the so-called Si. RtiadJiam
and the bishops, in the year 565, took their bells
" which they rung hardly," says the historian, " and
cursed the king ?ind place, and prayed God that
no king or queen ever after would or could dwell
in Tarace ; and that it would be waste forever with-
out court or palace "? Perhaps these real successors
of Ruadham may teel that the very suggestion of
these questions will put them in a suspicious posi-
tion before the public, and their impatience may
prompt them to give an early answer and not wait
the coming 17th of March. If so, well and good.
Give us the answer through press or pulpit ; or,

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ARK OF THE COVENANT.

297

perhaps they may refuse to answer on the court
plea that they are not obliged to criminate them-
selves. Lest you should not get an answer I will
give you one :

Tara, from the time it changed its name from
Lothair Croffin, stood forth in name and fact a v^it-
ness for the God of Jacob and a pure religion. It
bore unimpeachable testimony to David's throne
and heirs, and to the faith and virtues of St. Pat-
rick. It was the Jerusalem of God for the time
being, and hence the spiritual capital of the whole
earth. The ark of the covenant made the Holy
of Holies, and the Holy of Holies made the tem-
ple, and the temple made Jerusalem, and Jerusalem
made Canaan, and Canaan made the world. From
between the cherubim God shone forth and spake,
and from this centre He spread abroad. Heaven
touched earth through the ark of the covenant.
Here was the centre of Providence, that from thence
radiated through all the world. The ark of the
covenant marks the centre of God's government.
When Nebuchadnezzar despoiled the temple in Jeru-
salem we learn what he destroyed and what he took
with him of the temple furniture to Babylon, even
to tongs and cups, and small and apparently non-
valuable things. But not a word does the sacred
historian say about the ark. Before the despoiling
of Nebuchadnezzar it was there, but after that it is
never mentioned as a thing present and known. It
is agreed on all sides that it disappeared at this
time. It was not put into the temple when it was

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repaired un Jer Nehemiah. When the temple was
afterwards destroyed it does not appear, and in the
new temple it was not. Surely a thing so sacred
and wonderful could not have been stolen or de-
stroyed without some of the sacred writers noticing
the same. The concurrent testimony of all who
have made the matter a subject of investigation is
that it was hidden by the Jews. You now inquire
who did it, and where was it hidden, and will it
ever be found .'* These three questions I believe I
can reasonably answer. If in my answers I lack
definiteness and clearness you must remember that
the very hiding was done for this very purpose, that
the hiders and place might not be readily known
till the time appointed. The place of its hiding
will be Providentially brought to light as the time
draws near of its being needed again, for when
Israel and Judah return to Palestine it is to go
before them ; hence it cannot much longer remain
hid, for the signs of their return are multiplying
and culminating. The new temple which they will
build in Jerusalem, as described by Ezekiel, on their
return, will be again its final resting-place. As
before, it will first, after coming to light, have a
tabernacle house, a movable one. Then it will rest
in a temporary place in Jerusalem until the temple
be completed.

It maybe profitable just here for me to describe
the ark to you. We have three arks mentioned
in the Old Testament. First — The ark of Noah ;
This word ark comes from the Hebrew word Tebah.

ARK OF THE COVENANT.

299

Second — We have the ark of bulrushes, in which
Moses was saved and found ; here also the word
ark is from Tebah, Third — We have the ark of the
covenant ; this word ark comes from the Hebrew
word Aron ; it means a chest. It was called the ark
of God, ark of the law and ark of the covenant. It
was literally a box of an oblong shape made of
shittim wood, or what is known now as acacia, all
covered with gold. It was two and a half cubits
long, one and a half broad and one and a Half deep.
In this special dimension there no doubt is a Divine
intent aiid science, glimpses of which we begin to
discern, since it has been found that the stone chest,
or as called, porphyry coffer, in the king's cham-
ber in the great pyramid in Egypt, has just the
same cubical contents as the ark of the covenant
Porphyry coffer was the only piece of furniture in
the king's chamber, and the ark was the only piece
in the Holy of Holies. The laver in which the
priests washed their feet was also the same size ;
and had Solomon's molten sea of water been emp-
tied into the king's chamber, it would just have
filled it, or if it had been emptied into the Holy
of Holies, it would have been all the same. Here
are some very striking coincidents for scientific men
and infidels. The pyramid in the days of Moses
was a sealed building ; it was not open till in the
ninth century. Then the meaning and science em-
bodied in the whole building and epitomized in the
coffers were not understood. Science was not able
then to tell the interpretation thereof, and even in

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300

ARK OF THE COVENANT.

this finished day this witness of the Lord is but
partly understood. (See Is. xix. 19.) But how
surprising that these analogies should exist, of such
a nature and kind, as to entirely exclude all acci-
dent. Oh ! what a witness this pyrannid is. A
standing miracle of inspiration enwrought in a
monument of stone, with a sphinx cherub looking
intently on, as if trying to pierce through the stone
vail 184 feet thick and see the mystery contained
therein.* Ah! the size of the ark of the covenant
means more than we yet comprehend. As the
pyramid symbolizes and expresses the shape, den-
sity, weight, motion and distance of the earth from
the sun, so the Holy of Holies symbolizes more
than this generation yet knows. And as the coffer
is earth-related, and in its lines and contents ex-
presses and teaches the most perfect standard for
measures, of dry, liquid or any other kind, so no
doubt the ark was meant to be a standard of weights
and measures between the Just One and the people
He had chosen; for this Just One loveth just
weights and measures.

I do not account it an accident that Englishmen
should sell wheat by the quarter, for they are of
Israel. This quarter of theirs is eight bushels, four
of which would exactly fill the porphyry coffer, or
the ark of the covenant ; and if weighed, these
thirty-two bushels of wheat, allowing as they an-
ciently did, seventy pounds to the bushel, would
make 2,240 pounds, or a ton, which we still persist
quaintly to call twenty hundredweight, which is

ARK OK THE COVKNANT.

301

an infidel name to a Christian quantity ; like as
we say a hundredweight, meaning thereby 112
pounds. Neither is it an accident that the Irish
mile should be exactly 2,240 yards, for Dan lived
in Ireland. All these quantities, while aptly chosen,
are not arbitrarily so, for they might have been
more or less ; but being Divine they are scientific,
and they proclaim the origin of the people and
their faith and God.

If you read the chapter from which the text
is taken, you will notice the prophet addressing
Israel as then being in the north. He points out
to them something that shall happen in the latter
days, when they are multiplied in the land. The
text, to be properly understood, needs the light
which Freemasons can throw on it, for it refers to
a ceremony connected with the ark, or tradition
concerning it, which is practised among the Royal
Arch Masons. Several of the higher degrees refef
to the ark. But in one there is a direct reference
to the hiding and finding of the ark. The whole
degree is based upon the ark being lost. And with-
out doubt it was first instituted to keep in mind the
place of hiding. And if the ark were discovered to-
morrow these sacred ceremonies of Freemasonry
would be meaningless, although they have been
practised for hundreds of years. Then the mem-
bers of this degree would indeed " say no more the
ark of the covenant of the Lord," for once found
they could not so exclaim. "Neither shall it come
to mind," as a secret, " neither shall they remember

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it," because they will be relieved of their trust.
" Neither shall they visit it," as they do now in their
ceremony. "Neither shall that be done anymore;"
that is, once the ark is found the purpose of the
degree will have been accomplished, and hence will
cease to exist. The Masonic brother of high de-
gree will easily take in the points of this text. He
will see at once that if the ark be found, then the
typical ceremony in connection with the finding will
be done away. He will no longer penetrate to the
bottom of certain arches. Freemasonry has a con-
nection and meaning in Israel that it never had nor
can have outside.

My time is gone. I will continue the subject of
finding the ark next Sunday evening. Then you
will likely agree with me as to the place of its rest

THE ARK AND MASONRY.

DISCOURSE XXI.

DIFFERENCE IN THE FEAR OF GOD AND THE FEAR OF MEN —
PINNOCK'S CATECHISM — ORIGIN OF THE IRISH PEOPLE — TARA
DESTROYED BY ROME — THE REASON WHY — CATHOLICS BEG-
GING AND THE POPE DYING WITH THIRTY MILLIONS — THE
WAR BETWEEN ROME AND CONSTANTINOPLE — "SPIRITUAL
OBLIGATION TO A FOREIGNER IS POLITICAL INSECURITY" —
ABYSSINIAN CLAIMS — THE ARK IN TARA — THE PROOFS — FREE-
MASONRY — BENHADAD AND AHAB MASONS — WHY ROME OP-
POSES MASONRY — JEREMIAH FOUNDED THE NINTH DEGREE
— THE JESUITS — JACOB'S PIIXAR.

Text — Isaiah xxiv. 15. ^^

" Wherefore, glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of
the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea."

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HE permissive exhortation of the text
arises out of the waste and desolation
of the land. The nine tribes of Israel
had just been carried captive into As-
syria, the land was utterly emptied and
utterly spoiled. This state of things the prophet Isa-
iah bemoans. He says, "the city is left desolate, and

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the gate is smitten with destruction." But in this
vision of widespread luin hope springs to view. As
when the gathering of the olives and grapes was
done there still remained some few on the trees and
in the vineyard, which, by shaking and gleaning,
could be gathered ; so in spite of the general and
terrible captivity of the tribes some few had escaped.
The escaped ones were of the tribes of Dan and
Simeon, the miners and shippers of Israel in those
days. Afloat in their ships and securely dwelling
in the isles of the Western Sea, they were beyond
the devastating arm of the Assyrian king. Thus
as the seed-stock of Israel the prophet says of them,
" They shall lift up their voice, thev shall sing for
the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from
the sea." Then comes in the permissive exhorta-
tion of the text, which, when literally rendered, is
even more expressive than in the present form,
" Wherefore glorify ye the Lord by the [/rim ; the
name of the Lord God of Israel in the Islands of
the Western Sea." The word fires in the text is
from the Hebrew word Bahurim, and means with,
or by the Urim. The illuminated brightness of the
Urim and Thummim when used in matters of reve-
lation -would easily suggest fires as an appropriate
rendering.

Tradition, history and prophecy fix upon Ire-
land, " the isle of the saints," as having a peculiar
and special place in Providence. The pre-eminence
in wealth and learning, peace and strife, idolatry and
religion, prosperity and decay, servility, weakness

THE ARK AND MASONRY.

305

and division of the southern, and manly defiance,
independence and unity of the northern races, and
indeed the whole career of the land and people can
only be understood and explained from a prophetic
standpoint. This no doubt is the island of which
the prophet says : " To the Island he will repay
recompense ; so shall they fear the na7ne of the
Loi'd from the west." All histories agree in point-
ing out the way of this God-fear. It went from
Ireland to Scotland, to England and the continent
of Europe. The God-fear that came from the east,
on this same route to Ireland is a man and saint's
fear. It is a fear whose source was, and is to this
day, Rome. It puts a man in the place of God,
and priests in the office of angels. These two fears
are widely different in origin and influence. The
fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, while the
fear of man is the source of ignorance and begin-
ning of slavery. No writer can do justice to the
colonial history of New England who does not
recognize a distinction between the Pilgrims and
Puritans. Unpardonable injustice has been done
to the memory and character of the brave and
generous Pilgrims by some writers on this account.
A double colonization is the key that unlocks and
makes plain and truthful New England history.
So a double colonization must be taken into an
account by any one who wishes to solve the pro-
blems of Irish history. The two races that have to
do with Irish settlement are the old Canaanites
and the Danites, men of Israel. To confirm this,

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let me quote from Pinnock's catechism, a catechism
on the history of Ireland, printed more than fifty
years ago :

Q. What do the Irish say of themselves ?

A. They have ever been singularly zealous in
the assertion of their Scythian origin, and describe
the adventures of their ancestors from the neigh-
bourhood of the Caspian Sea, to Egypt and Spain,
from whence they proceeded to Ireland, under the
sons of Milesius.

Q. Were those the only settlers in the island ?

A. No; we find circumstantial accounts of some
earlier colonies, called Fomorians, Nemedians, Tu-
ath de Danans and Firbolgs, with one of which
came the mysterious stone now under the corona-
tion chair in Westminster Abbey, and called Jacob's
pillar, or pillow, in the English, Scotch and Irish
histories.

Q. Were all these colonies of the Japhetian
families ?

A. Yes, with the exception of the Fomorians,
who describe themselves as being descended from
Shem, and as having left Africa rather than reside
amongst the seed of Ham, which had been cursed
by Noah.

Q. Has any light been thrown upon the other
colonies ?

A. Yes ; a late writer (the author of precur-
sory proofs that the Israelites came from Egypt
into Ireland, and that the Druids expected the
Messiah) has undertaken to show that the For-

THE ARK AND MASONRY.

307

morians were of a higher origin than even the
Milesians.

Q. Upon what foundation ?

A. He asserts that some of the tribes of Joseph
were separated from the Hebrew family at a very
early period ; that they were the heirs of very sin-
gular blessings for the latter days, and that they
were the Formorians from Africa who made a set-
tlement in Ireland.

Q. What authority does he produce ?

A. Several passages of Scripture, some of the
Rabbinical writings, passages of Irish history, cer-
tain ancient monuments, coins and customs, and the
similarity between the Irish and Hebrew languages.

Q. What language was spoken by the natives ?

A. One of very great antiquity, which General
Valiancy paid considerable attention to the exami-
nation of. It appears to be a compound of the
Phoenician and the Hebrew, as that learned linguist
and antiquarian has not only published several
thousand words which are alike in Hebrew and Irish,
but has also shown a striking similarity between
the Irish and Carthaginian. Then follow passages
comparing both languages.

Q. What studies are desirable to promote a know-
ledge of Irish history ?

A. The Hebrew, Chaldaic, Arabic, Phcenician,
Irish and other ancient languages, as well as the
few ancient monuments, coins, etc., which remain
among the Irish and their descendants, in North
Britain.

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Q. What monuments are remaining?

A. A number of stones, generally twelve in a
circle, with one standing in the centre, called Druid
circles ; such circles abound in Scotland and Ire-
land, which was anciently the chief seat of Druid-
ism. They also have altar-stones, called cromlechs,
on which they sacrifice the first-born of their flocks.

Q. What are these circles supposed ta refer to ?

A. They greatly puzzled the most learned anti-
quarians of different ages and countries.

Q. At what time in the early history of Ireland
is that country said to have arrived at its highest
political perfection ?

A. In the reign of their favourite monarch,
OUam Fodlah, who reigned 950 years before the
birth of Christ.

Q. What is recorded of him worthy of notice?

A. That he instituted the great Fes^ or triennial
parliament, which was held at Teamor, or Tara, etc.

The digest of Pinnock is sustained by nearly all
Irish historians. Many have written to me asking
what writers taught what I have stated to you the
last two Sundays. I will supply such with a short
list of Irish historians :

Hall's " Ireland." (2 vols.)

Moore's " History of Ireland."

Boate's " Natural History of Ireland."

Dr. Ledwich's " Exploration of Tara, etc."

Keating's " Irish History."

Conwell's "Antiquarian Researches of Ireland."

Hollinshed's "History of Settlement of Ireland."

THE ARK AND MASONRY.

309

Arrian Alexander's " History of Settlement of
Ireland."

Owen Counnellan's "Annals of Ireland."

O'Riley's " History of Ireland, and Dictionary."

O'Flaherty's " History of Ireland, and Diction-
ary."

Froude, and others, who treat of Irish history
as part of English history.

O'Donovan's " Grammar Dictionary."

Kelley's " Cambrensis Eversus." (Vol. I.)

O'Brien's " Irish Dictionary."

Cox's " Hibernia Anglicana."

MacAwlgaid (" Dinn Seanches ") on the harp,
500 years B.C.

Leacan, Gildas, Neunius and Ware's "Antiqui-
ty of Ireland."

Astle on the Irish language ; Dr. Noyes and Dr.
Conwell on the monuments of Ireland.

Prophecy, history and tradition elect Ireland as
an important factor in the course and spread of
Christianity. The centre of Ireland for hundreds
of years was the city of Tara. Last Sabbath even-
ing we called your attention to its ruins. This
city was destroyed at the command of Rome. Be-
cause while it stood it pledged a throne^ a people
and a religion. The throne was God's chosen one,
being the continuation of David's — as England's
is of Scotland's, and Scotland's of Ireland's. The
people were His elect, and therefore intrusted with
a Divine mission. The religion was ordained of
heaven, protected by heaven, free from idolatry,

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THE ARK AND MASONRY.

saints or image worship, teaching that the Lord
their God was one God. It had a ceremony that
was grandly typical and previsionary of a coming
Messiah and a simpler sen'ice. In all these things
it stood in the way of Romish machinations and
ambitions. It was a proud and pure protest against
Rome's unholy claims. Tara was a temporary
Jerusalem, the then religious capital of the world ;
this Rome wanted to be, therefore Tara was de-
stroyed to make way for Rome, which soon after
proclaimed herself the new Jerusalem. The king
on Tara's throne was naturally the head of the
church, for protection ; this the pope wished, there-
fore Tara was overturned. The memory and influ-
ence of Jeremiah still clung to Tara. Rome there-
fore installed St. Patrick in his place, carefully con-
necting him with Rome, and to aid this saintly plot
Tara was wasted. Jeremiah is not the only good
man that Rome has supplanted. In the Roman-
ist reaction that took place in Bohemia in the
beginning of the 17th century they supplanted
the memory, piety and influence of John Huss by
John Von Nepomuk. And the virtues and cele-
brations, rightfully belonging to Huss, are given
to the Romish legendary s?int, John Von Nepo-
muk. The curse of Tara has been also the curse
of Ireland. Rome robbed, plundered and cursed
this famous city, and since then the whole island
as far as she could. What could the islanders
expect from a power that would so unreasonably
destroy so fair a city ? Those hillocks and mounds

THE ARK AND MASONRY.

311

and covered ruins have a strange story to tell.
Fiction and facts are sometimes wonderful. But
can aught exceed in the story of fiction the tales of
woe and desolation witnessed to by this slumbering
city? What a country old Ireland is! What a
people ! Poor Pius IX., dying in prison and an
exile in the gorgeous and magnificent palace of St.
Peter, leaving a private fortune of $30,CXX),000, this
and much more ; while at the same time many of
his devout followers in Ireland were sent begging
to Protestant doors that the pence of Peter might
not be lackmg. Fiction and fact : the ruins of Tara,
Pius I X. and $30,000,000, a Catholic begging for
Peter's pence at a Protestant door.

This triple crown both Protestant and Catholic
nations have most earnestly and desperately sought
to possess ; from this source have come many wars,
much jealousy and national animosity. The kings
of these nations longed to be accepted as the genu-
ine successors of Melchisedec, that is to be the head
priest of the Most High God, and kiitg of Saletfty
the spiritual capital ; also to be king of kings^ an
authority and title sought to be expressed in the
word emperor. Tara stood in the way of the un-
scrupulous contenders for hundreds of years, but
finally the city was overthrow^ by the crafty agents
of Rome, and a large portion of Ireland was cap-
tured, sold and enslaved, and remains so to this
day. Then, once Ireland was won, the patriarch of
Rome proclaimed himself Melchisedec, or spiritual
head, the city of Rome an independent sovereignty,

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with this patriarchal Melchisedec as the king. After
this was attained the struggle continued till his
sovereignty and jurisdiction over all kings, princes,
rulers and countries was proclaimed and acknow-
ledged by a large number. Then commenced the
fierce and long-continued contentions between Rome
and Constantinople for supremacy. This quarrel
resulted in a division of the church into what was
called the East and West, or Greek and Latin
churches. Rome stands as representative of the
Latin, and Russia as representative of the Greek.
The late war between Russia and Turkey was for
this same bone. Members of the Greek church
were subjects of Turkey, citizens of Turkey and
residents of Turkey, but, as the spiritual head, the
Czar claimed a right to manage them spiritually,
even though their religion conflicted with their ob-
ligations politically. The late Crimean war was
waged by Russia for precedence, place and influ-
ence in the old city of Jerusalem. In all these wars
one thing is made plain, and should be carefully
noted, especially by Catholics and governments,
namely, that these spiritual heads, be they popes or
kings, claim it as a duty and privilege to interfere
with the subjects of another country. Through
spiritual relation and authority they can meddle
with the political and social relations of another
government and people. When and wherever they
have had power they have done so. It is a solemn
fact, sealed with the blood of millions, that no
country is or can be safe that owes spiritual fidelity

THE ARK AND MASONRY.

313

to another country or foreign head. Ireland is not
free and cannot be safe until Ireland is esteemed as
good as It?ly, and Irishmen equal to Italians. Men
may come, and men may go, and this will remain
forever true, that spiritual obligation to a foreigner
is spiritual insecurity at home. In times of peace
there is no conflict apparently ; hence men count
such relations innocent and harmless, but the mad-
ness of the thing is in the very fact that such sub-
jects holding a double relation, spiritually foreign
and politically home, may be divided just at the
very time they should be united. This is a point
of weakness in our own country, and is even now
felt at all the legislative centres ; and in the day of
trial coming on us it will be felt most terribly. Ice
is hard and will bear quite a weight in cold weather,
but in the day of heat it softens ; so men are now
loyal and brave who in the heat of coming conflicts
will not be so.

We have seen why Tara was destroyed. We
have seen also how and why it became the chief
seat of power for centuries. The ark made the
Holy of Holies, and it the temple and the temple
Jerusalem. We have seen how three things kept
together, the royal seed of David, the throne of
David, and the ark of the covenant. We have
proved to you that the English throne is a continu-
ation of David's throne ; that Queen Victoria is on
the line of David. This throne and seed can be
traced back safely to Tara. But where is the ark ?
When Nebuchadnezzar robbed the temple, no ac-

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count is given of his taking it. The prophet Jere-
miah was the only prophet in Judah at that time.
He, as all will agree, was the lawful custodian of
the sacred furniture of the temple. We know that
in his charge were put the remnant of the royal
seed, Zedekiah's daughters. Jewish historians uni-
formly agree that Jeremiah took the ark and hid it
somewhere. We have an account of the prophet
hiding several things. After the spoliation of the
temple, Jeremiah bought a piece ol land in Ana-
thoth, a little north of Jerusalem, in the territory of
of Benjamin. Here he buried certain deeds in
earthen vessels, that they might continue many
days. " For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel, Houses and fields and vineyards shall
be possessed again in this land." — Jer. xxxii. 15.
After he fled into Egypt he was commanded to
take certain great stones and "hide them in the
clay in the brick-kiln, which is at the entrance of
Pharaoh's house, in Tahpanhes." — Jer. xliii. 8. We
also read that his prophecies against Babylon were
given in charge of Seraiah, with the command that
he bury the same in the Euphrates. — Jer. li. 63.
Whatever was buried, I believe was done so with
the intent that the same would be resurrected in
these last days, and be strong witnesses for God,
His people and His providence. One thing is cer-
tain, and that is, that the Jews credit Jeremiah with
the hiding of the ark. In the Jewish Apocrypha,
second book of Maccabees, and second chapter,
we read " that the prophet, being warned of God,

TIIK ARK AND MASONRY.

315

commanded the tabernacle and the ark to go with
him as he went forth into the mountain, where
Moses climbed up and saw the heritage of God.
And when Jeremiah came thither he found a hollow
cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and the ark
and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door.
And some of those that followed him came to mark
the way, but they could not find it." This is the
best the Jews could do with this question. Of
course the Book of Maccabees is a Jewish imitation
of the Scriptures ; and because it is an imitation, it
is excessive, and consequently without weight as
an authority. The writer is not content with the ark
being removed, but removes the tabernacle, altar
of incense ; and these are not moved in the ordinary
way, but are made miraculously to move after Jere-
miah. The ark being specially hid, it is plain that
so definite a description of the place of hiding
would have upset the whole calculation. The
Abyssinians claim to have the real ark. These
people are worshippers now according to the old
Mosaic economy. They have twelve arks that are
exactly alike, eleven of which were made from the
pattern of the original one, to the intent that the
true one might not be known.

The actual hiding place of the ark very naturally
must be difficult to determine. At the same time
nearly everybody believes it is hid away, and that
it will come to light some day. From all I have
heard, read and known, I am mostly in favour of
Tara as the place of its rest ; by a series of argu-

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ments wc end there. This ancient place is a marvel-
lous centre of Hebrew history, from which radiate
some wonderful facts. By circumstantial evidence,
and logical consequences, Tara is as much and as
surely pointed out as other places are rejected. Of
the scorco o^ Hebrew words in the Irish language
there is one that is very significant, namely, mer-
gech. This word means a sacred depository, and
as such it was applied to Tea Tephi's sepulchre,
but it even means more than a grave. Perhaps it
was the name of the place in which the ark was
hid. In the ruins of Tara, Tephi was buried. An
old Irish bard speaks of the same in the following
lines :

Tephi was her name ; she excelled all virgins ;
Wretched for him who had to entomb her ;
Sixty feet of correct measurement
Were marked as a sepulchre to enshrine her.

The ark was in the west of the tabernacle — so
it is in the west now. The altars stood in the west
in the old churches of Ulster, as stands to-day the
altar in St. Peter's at Rome. At pontifical high mass
the Pope stands at the west of the altar facing the
people. This is the point of the setting sun. The
pattern and place tell from whence it came — Yar-
ifi'Eirin, the land in the west or setting sun. With-
out intending any disrespect, let me say all other
altars in Catholic churches are askew, and the
priests worshipping with back to the people are
poor imitators of Jeremiah or even the Pope.

Another line of argument in favour of Tara may

THE ARK AND MASONRY.

317

be submitted from Freemasonry, this ancient and
most honourable institution. The prophet Jeremiah
no doubt was a Mason, and one of hijjh degree ;
this was, on the human side, his passport from
country to country. The ancient Kluxsdim, or Chal-
deans, as we say in our Bible, were the heirs of
Shem, whose family built the Pyramid. Abraham
came from the land of the Khasdim. He was
Khesed, trustworthy, for that is what the Hebrew
word translated Chaldee means. If you wish for
an instance of this applied, read ist Kings x.v. 31.
Ben-hadad, the proud and haughty insulter of
Ahab, was finally defeated by the host of Israel,
and a craven fugitive he fled and hid in an inner
chamber in a house in Aphek. At this point of
despair his servants, knowing their master to be a
Khesed, or Mason, told him they had heard that
the kings of Israel were so also. Some of them,
attired as Masons, prepared to test Ahab. With
their aprons on and a cable tow around their neck,
they entered into Ahab's presence, saluting him,
saying : " Thy servant, Ben-hadad, saith, I pray
thee, let me live." And he said, " Is he yet alive ?
He is my brother.'' Now the men did diligently
observe whether anything would come from him
(that is, whether he would make a sign or not), and
did hastily catch it ; and they said, " Thy brother
Ben-hadad " (giving back the sign to Ahab). Then
he said, " Go ye ; bring him." Thus at once they
were friends. Ahab even invited him into his car-
riage, but the people understood not the conduct of
Ahab toward Ben-hadad.

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THE ARK AND MASONRY.

Jeremiah, I believe, founded a degree in Masonry
upon the hiding of the ark, and which degree, as
recorded by hirri, will continue till the time it is
found. (See Jer. iii. i6.) The prophet was a Grand
Master. This accounts for Masonry of this degree
pointing to Ireland as the place of its origin ; from
there it went to Scotland, which at this day has the
oldest and purest Masonry. Mother Kilwinning
Lodge dates from 1 128 A.D. And, strange to say,
the same authorities that overturned Tara have
often tried to destroy Masonry. There is no one
institution they hate and fear so much, although
this church for the first six centuries was the patron
of Masonry. The Benedictines, as every one knows,
were Masons, and they included popes, kings and
the influential of their day. The Benedictines were
the builders of the great cathedrals and massive
structures of those ages. The very words /r<?^ a7fd
accepted mean that Masons were free from the re-
strictions of the bulls and edicts of the popes. So
the very name, Free and Accepted, is a monument,
like the name Tara. Bishop Gilmour warns his
flock in Ohio not to touch Masonry. The fact is,
the whole order of the Romish Church is taken
from Masonry ; it was copied from the Grand
Master down to the Entered Apprentice. It is not
that the Romish Church hates all secret societies ;
no, no ! for within her pale are several of her own
creation. The Mason, the nearer he lives up to his
oath, the better he will be in himself and towards
others. But take a Jesuit — this is an oath-bound

THE ARK AND MASONRY.

319

secret society — and the nearer he lives up to his
oath the more wicked he will be in himself, and the
more dangerous to all " heretics " or non-Catholics.
A good Mason is a good man ; a good Jesuit is a
bad man, for the very keeping of his oath obliges
him to be so.

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JACOB'S PILLOW.

DISCOURSE XXII.

LEGAL PUNISHMENT IN OLDEN TIMES — FAULTS OF MODERN
PREACHING — VALUABLE STONES — THE KOH-I-NOOR — THE
MILLEARIUM — EGYPTIAN OBELISKS — CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE—
JACOB'S STONE — HISTORICAL REFERENCES TO IT — ONCE LN
IRELAND — STOLEN BY SCOTLAND AND THEN BY ENGLAND—
THE CORONATION CHAIR IN WESTMINSTER — DESCRIPTION OF
JACOB'S STONE — ANCIENT NAMES OF IRELAND — THE BLARNEY
STONE — HOW IT ORIGINATED.

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Text — Psa. cxviii. 22, 23. "^ — *

" The stone which the builders refused is become the head-
stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous
in our eyes."

MATERIAL fact should be properly
understood before We venture to graft
thereon a spiritual meaning, for the
nature and limitc.i; n? of the material
naturally enter into the spiriiUL.- ^^norance in the
first case begets in the second erroi and excess. In
olden times one of the many modes of punishment
was to cast the victim into a pit of mire. This mire
was a clay puddle, which would allow the person to

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JACOB'S PILLOW.

321

sink over head, unless they spread out their hands
and thus increased the surface of resistance. Sunk
up to the armpits, they would be thoroughly im-
prisoned and incapable of extricating themselves.
Indee: , the more they tried alone, the deeper and
faster would they become. Into such a pit the
prophet Jeremiah was once cast, and to all human
appearance he would have perished but for the
timely aid of a certain negro servant in the royal
household of Zedekiah, by the name of Ebed-melech.
By the consent of King Zedekiah, Jeremiah was put
into the dungeon of Malchiah, and into the pit he
was lowered with cords. " And in the dungeon there
was no water, but mire ; so Jeremiah sunk in the
mire." — Jer. xxxviii. 6-13. This coloured friend
pleaded successfully for Jeremiah's deliverance,
"Then the king commanded Ebed-melech, the
Ethiopian, saying. Take from hence thirty men
with thee, and take up Jeremiah out of the dungeon
before he die. So Ebed-melech took the men with
him, and went into the house of the king under the
treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old
rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the
dungeon to Jeremiah. And Ebed-melech, the
Ethiopian, [said unto Jeremiah, Put now these
old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine arm-
holes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. So
they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up
out of the dungeon." Some of you would rather
have died than be saved by a negro. You would
have wanted silk or satin instead of the old rags.

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Take it for granted, dear friends, that you do well
to be saved, no matter as to the particular style of
the agent and means. Better go to heaven in home-
spun than down to hell in silk. In cases like these
the end does surely justify the means. Here, then,
you have a material fact ; let me now call your at-
tention to the spiritualization of the same, and see
how neatly and intelligently the graft is put on.
David represents himself as a sinner in the pit of
sin crying for help. At last the King of Kings
hears his cry, then exclaims David : " He brought
me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry
clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established
my goings." — Ps. xl. 2. Knowing the natural fact,
how easy to comprehend the spiritual. One of
the greatest faults of the pulpit this day is the
loose and excessive way it has of spiritualizing
everything. Theology is a muddle, because men
wilfully remain ignorant of material facts when
expounding the Bible, providence and history. In
this, Israel, every man does as he chooses, hence
uniformity and success are sadly lacking. Of this
statement we have a remarkable example in the
method and manner generally applied in the expo-
sition of our text. Theologians and commentators
fight shy of the natural history of this stone ; they
make haste to spiritualize it. Give the public the
natural and so enable them to do their own graft-
ing or spiritualizing. The stone spoken of in the
text was, and no doubt now is, a veritable fact. It
has a remarkable history ; it was refused by some

JACOB'S PILLOW.

323

builders, and after this became the head-stone of
some corner. The rejection and acceptation on
the part of men seemed purely accidental, but only
so seemingly, for it was the Lord's doing. Meas-
ured by a human standard, its career has been
accidental, its rejection and reception a thing of
chance. Being only a stone, an inanimate object,
of no intrinsic value, it may well be marvellous in
our eyes. Have you ever seen a stone that would
meet all these requirements ? What stone is there
in the known world worthless intrinsically and yet
priceless in value because of its historical relation,
veneration and association ? We want a stone that
has a wonderful record, one that is head over all
other stones, to fit on to the sublime description
of the text. Where shall we find it? Shall we
find it in the Koh-i-noor, the great and valuable
diamond possessed by Queen Victoria ? The word
Koh-i-noor means a mountain of light. This pre-
cious stone has a strange and checkered history. I
saw it in the world's fair of 1862. According to
Hindoo legend it was found in a Golconda mine.
For centuries it was an object of veneration among
the Hindoos. To keep it, and get it, many fierce
wars were waged. When the British conquered
and annexed Punjab, Maharajah Dhuleep Singh
gave it as a present to the Queen of England. As
it was originally, it was the largest and purest dia-
mond in the world. It was of great value, though
small, say about the size of a hen's egg cut in two.
But with all the special features of this gem it still
falls far short of meeting the text.

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JACOB'S PILLOW.

I have looked in a hole in the wall of St. Swith-
in's Church, in London, and I saw another wonder-
ful stone, which, to preserve it, and yet to show it,
has been built thus in the wall. It is the ancient
Millearium, or measuring stone. When London
was first located this stone is supposed to have
been put into the ground, and thu^ have been a
centre from which alj measures began and ended.
From it to any point was such and such a distance.
It was a starting-point for surveying. From ancient
design and service this one is valuable ; still, though
so rich in service and design, it is not the stone of
the text. In this same historic city of London,
another wonderful stone was added during the past
year, namely, Cleopatra's Needle. It is a granite
obelisk, which at one time stood with another in
front of the Temple of On^ in Egypt. The city of
On was in Goshen ; here Abraham sojourned and
saw it, so also the sons of the patriarch Jacob, and
their enslaved descendants. Joseph lived in On.
What a cluster of associations gather around this
stone. It has a recorded existence of nearly 5,000
years. It is allowed to be the oldest obelisk exist-
ing. There used to be at On three pair of obelisks ;
this being brought away leaves only one there.*

* Since this was first written this only one has been im-
ported into the United States, and now stands in Central Park,
New York. Very fitting that this pair of obelisks that once
stood in the front of the Temple of On, where Ephraim and
Manasseh were born, should one be with Ephraim in England
and the other with Manasseh in the United States. Rather a
singular coincidence.

JACOB'S PILLOW.

325

The others are in Constantinople, Rome and Paris.
The one in London is nearly seventy feet high.
Its breadth at its widest part is seven feet and
five inches on two sides, and seven feet and ten
and one-half inches on the others. This large
granite shaft has been moved about considerably.
It had to be moved several hundred miles from
the quarry, then for 1,600 years it rested at On,
then it was moved to Alexandria, and from there
some 3,000 miles to London. Its weight is 186
tons, and its cubic measurement 2,529 feet. You
will freely grant to this pilgrim stone a history ;
but wonderful as it is we want one still more so to
meet the demands of our text.

In searching for the stone of the text you would
be very much surprised how many people and na-
tions have claimed to have it. Early Spanish his-
tory is full of references to such a stone. The same
is true of Danish, Irish and Scottish histories. Eng-
lish history begins to notice it about the tenth cen-
tury, and as the centuries pass the references and
interest increase. History, both profane and sacred,
goes to show without doubt the existence of such
a thing. The legends and miraculous doings of
such a stone pledge its existence somewhere. The
Hebrews had one to which they often refer. You
do not require that I give you historical references
and proof, for so I could, if necessary, any amount,
but you wish to know where the stone now is. In
answering you I am a little puzzled to know whether
to begin at the end as a beginning, or at the begin-

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ning and trace it down to the end. I will, however,
start at the end for a beginning. In Westminster
Abbey, London, England, there is a very peculiar
stone. In this Abbey is kept the coronation chair;
it is a large, solid, old-fashioned chair, that is all.
In place of castors it is supported by four carved
lions with the faces outward. About nine inches
from the floor there is a bottom-board ; between
the seat and this board there is kept a curious
stone. In its present shape it is an oblong square,
some twenty-two inches long, thirteen inches broad
and eleven inches deep. It is of a bluish steel-like
colour, mixed with some veins of red. At each end
there i'^ an iron ring, much worn and rusted. The
stone looks old, and it is cracking to pieces, and
would long since have been in pieces if it had not
been carefully preserved. In this one place it has
rested for 583 years. During this period it has
only been moved once. It was taken out that
Oliver Cromwell, the Manassehite, might be in-
stalled as Lord Protector on it, he refusing to enter
the Abbey or sit in the regular coronation chair,
knowing not, I suppose, how unconsciously he was
fulfilling prophecy. No doubt he and his followers,
especially those who so vehemently urged him to
be crowned as a king, knew no more, and perhaps
cared as little, about fulfilling prophecy as did the
Roman soldiers who fell to casting lots for the
vesture of their crucified Lord.

Here, then, at last we have come upon a singular
stone, one as wonderful as it is singular. This, no

JACOB S PILLOW.

327

doubt, is the one of the text. This is the stone of
stones, the pillow and pillar of Jacob, the stone
witness and monument of Judah and Israel. As
profane as well as sacred history calls for a stone,
we now respond and say here it is. No stone, be
it diamond, sapphire or topaz, can compare in
value to this. The Koh-i-noor sinks in prestige
and worth beside this ragged old stone. Diamonds
may be bought and sold — this stone cannot. No
one has enough money to buy it, and none of the
nations, thank Heaven, are strong enough to take
it. 'There is no one thing in England to compare
in value with this. It is the most important, sacred
and venerated, as well as influential, inanimate ob-
ject or thing in existence. King Edward in 1296
took it from John Baliol, King of the Scots, and
since then England has been its guardian. In
that war they took from the Scots more than this
stone, for they plundered them of money, records
and royal regalia. In the treaty of Northampton,
held in 1328, it was decided that England should
return to the Scots what they had stolen ; but did
they do so ? no, for while they gave up the records
and royal regalia, they utterly refused to yield up
the old ragged stone. At the same time the Scots
would have preferred to have lost all else and saved
it. Events like these enable us to estimate the value
and wealth of association clustering around this
curious relic. Its present position, influence and
remarkable journeying force us to say : " This is
the Lord's doing," for in very deed " it is marvellous
in our eyes."

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JACOBS PILLOW.

We have seen that this stone came from Scot-
land to England : its pedigree and transfer at this
point of history none dispute — the record is clear
and acceptable. Of course the further we go back
in time the less positive and clear will the data of
its identity and journeying appear. This is so in
every other case, so we must not demand more
evidence for this thing than we usually do in other
matters of this kind. The account of its migrations
and rest in Scotland may be gathered from nume-
rous authors. In reading ancient histories that have

•

reference to Ireland and Scotland we should bear
in mind that Ireland is called Scotia Major and
Scotland Scotia Minor. The Rev. Mr. Glover,
M.A., remarks in his writings : " Wherever in an-
cient writing the word and nation Scot occurs it
relates to Ireland and not to Scotland or the Scots.
Ireland was formerly Scotia Major, when the Celtic
settlement in Argyleshire was held to be Scotia the
Less, Latinized ultimately into Scotia Minor. John
Duns Scotus, the great Irish scholar and divine,
whose tomb is one of the notabilities of Cologne, is
simply John Duns, the Irishman. The Scots col-
lege and monastery in Ratisbon, on the Danube, is
an- Irish foundation, and for that reason called to
this day the Scots Foundation." Scotland was
settled chiefly from Ireland at first. Ireland was
called Yar-in, Eirin also, and meant the Land in
the West, or Setting Sun ; hence the Land in Dark-
ness, so called at times by some historians. Skotos^
from which came the word Scotia^ means darkness.

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JACOBS PILLOW.

329

Thus it came to pass that the people of Scotia
began to be called Scot-ish — that is men of Scotia.
The people of Major Scotia called themselves Yar-
ish. This ending term of Ish is the Hebrew word
for man.

History tells us that Bishop Columba died with
his head resting upon this stone in the Abbey of
lona, in 637 A.D. Because of tlJs event many
writers of a latter day are inclined to begin the
stone here, making out that because the sainted
bishop happened to die with his head on it that
it became superstitiously venerated and valued.
This accounting is very far from being satisfac-
tory to students of history in this line. For the
real fact is there is more said and written about
this wonderful stone before this event happened
than since. The probable and most reasonable
interpretation of the bishop's dying conduct is that
knowing of its traditional history, and believing
that it was a pillar and witness of God, since it
once was the pillow on which Jacob rested his
head and dreamed the well-known dream, he, the
bishop, would naturally desire to pillow his dying
head thereon. From Keating's History of Ireland
we learn that Fergus the Great, son of Earc,
having subdued a part of Scotland, proclaimed
himself the king, and he thereupon sent an embassy
to his brother, Murtagh, son of Earc, requesting
him to send him this stone, that he might sit upon
it at the time of his inauguration. Whereupon the
stone was sent to him, and he received the crown

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JACOB'S PILLOW.

of Scotland upon it. This v about 530 A.D.
From this time on it remained m Scotland, till it
was removed by the victorious Prince Edward in
1296 A.D. to England.

Tracing the migration of this wonderful stone
has landed us in Ireland. The Irish historians arc
very lavish in their praise of the wonders and virtue
of this ancient relic. They attribute to it a voice,
wisdom and locomotion. It was exceedingly talis-
manic in their opinion. To touch it, or see it, or
hear it, was a blessing ; if those so favoured chanced
to be afflicted they were at once restored and made
well. In the Ecstacy or Prophecy of Con of the
Hundred Battles, it is recorded that Con went to
Tara, accompanied by three Druids and three poets,
to make heavenly or other watches and incantations.
While standing in the usual place in the morning,
Con happened to tread upon a stone, and the stone
immediately shrieked mder his feet, so as to be
heard all over Tara throughout all Bregia, that

is, East Meath. This is a specimen of the historical
excesses of the ancient Irish writers. But history,
stripped of all excesses, and voided from Icgendery
colouring, still proclaims the existence of such a
stone. The famous Blarney stone is only a faint
imitation of this.

You now ask from where it came to Ireland ?
I may answer you this question by saying that
nearly all the old writers state that it belonged to
the Tuatha de Danans, that is, the Irish Danites.
And more, they say that it was brought there by

B I

JACOB'S PILLOW.

331

Ollam Folia, or a divine man, whom vvc have shown
you is none other person than the prophet Jeremiah.
Rev. Matthew Kelly, one of the Maynooth profes-
sors, acknowledges and says : " The Irish writers
unanimously attribute the introduction of the Lia
Fail to the Tuatha de Damms!' The name of this
stone in the Irish lanjjuage is Lia Fail. The name
is half Irish and half Hebrew. Lia is Celtic-Irish,
and means a precious stone. Fail is Hebrew, and
means wonderful. The general interpretation of
Lia Fail is stone of destiny, or stone of fate. This
idea is often expressed in the poems of the old
Celtic bards. Sir Walter Scott gives us a transla-
tion of one of them, and renders Lia Fail sacred
stone :

Unless the fates are faithless grown,

And prophets' voice be vain,
Where'er is found this sacred stone

The wanderer's race shall reign.

There is another Hebrew-Irish name for it,
namely, Bdeu Gedoulak, and Gedoula/i, in Hebrew,
means the majesty of God. Hence Eden Gedoidah
means the stone of the majesty of God. This
stone, no doubt, is the Hebrew, Eben Schethia^
or, as translated, chief corner si^ne. It is the
dream-miracle stone which Jacob set up for a
pillar, or God's house. — Gen. xxviii. 22. From
that time it became sacred and precious. The
Jews cared for it, and carefully guarded it. It no
doubt fell into the hands of Jeremiah, and by him
was brought to Tara, Ireland, with the ark of the

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covenant On it Tea Tephi was crowned. And
on it kings and queens have been crowned for
2,400 years. It passed from Ireland to Scotland,
and on it was crowned Fergus I., at lona, 530
A,D., and then through Kenneth II., who was
crowned King of Scots and Picts in 787 at Scone
in Pictia, and so down to King James I. to the
present Queen of England. What this stone did
and was to Joshua and the people so it is to Israel
to-day. Joshua pledged a covenant with the people
and this stone. Eden Chezaut was a witness. — Jos.
xxiv. 26.

Do you any longer wonder in your minds why
this stone is so precious. I could give you a hun-
dred-fold more evidence than I have, but enough
has been submitted to give you an insight into
the meaning of my text, and a meaning to history
as well. The present direct custodian, Dean Stan-
ley, in his book entitled " Memorials of Westmin-
ster," says : " This precious relic is the one prime-
val monument which binds together the whole
empire. The iron rings, the battered surface, the
crack which has all but rent its solid mass asun-
der bear witness to its long migrations. It is em-
bedded in the heart of the English monarchy, an
element of poetic, patriarchal, heathen times, like
Araunah's rocky threshing floor in the midst of
the Tem.ple of Solomon, carries back our thoughts
to races and customs now almost extinct — a link
which unites the throne of England with the tra-
ditions of Tara and lona." And he might have

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JACOB S PILLOW.

333

added with Canaan, Jerusalem and Bethel. Many
will wonder why more is not said in the Bible
about this stone ; yet many may confess that they
know but a little part of what is written of it
therein. Ilany notable things well known to the
Hebrews are but sparingly mentioned. Take, as
an instance, the brazen serpent made by Moses.
Of it, after being used for the smitten one in the
wilderness, we hear nothing for 700 years, and only
then because King Hezekiah destroys it. The
name, intrinsic value and strange migrations of
this most wonderful stone, do most emphatically
prove the words of our text. The seed of Abraham,
the tribes of Jacob, and the throne of David are
firmly linked together. The stone in Westminster
Abbey may not be the very identical one on which
Jacob rested his head, but whether it be or not, the
very idea of the English having and using such a
stone points them out to be the children of Jacob,
the Lost Tribes of Israel. It is the Lord's doing.
It is marvellous in our eyes.

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''THE CORNER."

DISCOURSE XXIII.

THE CORONATION STONE — JACOB'S PILLAR — JOSHUA's COVENANT
— WHAT A CORNER MEANS — THE BIBLE AND HEBREW MEAN-
ING — COMMERCIAL CORNERS — THE NEXT PRESIDENT — PHIL-
OSOPHY IN HOSPITALITY — THE FIRST DEGREE — THE NORTH-
EAST CORNER — SOLAR AND POLAR FORCES — BARBAROUS
ANCIENT CUSTOMS — THE JEWISH RETURN — THE POPE'S
CHECKMATE — ENGLISH OPPRESSION — ROUGHSHOD CONQUEST
— OUR INDIAN POLICY.

Text— Zech. x. 4. [^

" Out of Him came forth the corner, out of Him the nail, out
of Him the battle bow, out of Him every oppressor together."

AST Sunday evening we called your
attention to Jacob's Pillar. In history
this stone has various names. Being
sacredly preserved in the Coronation
Chair in Westminster Abbey, London, England, it
is called by English writers lately the Cornonation
Stone. Sometimes it is named Jacob's Stone,
Jacob's Pillar, and tlie Ragged Old pillow on the
night of his memorable dream at Luz. No doubt

THE CORNER.

335

it was some way more appropriate in size and shape
for a pillow than many or any other lying around.
Recognizing the divine nature of the dream, and
wishing to commemorate the same, he took the
stone and anointed it, and set it up for a Pillar, that
it might be a witness-Stone. In Scotch and Irish
histories, the Stone of Destiny, the Stone Wonder-
ful, the Stones of Fate, Sacred Stone, Lia Faily
and Ancient Irish Muniment. The Hebrew word
for a common stone is Eben. Jacob took a com-
mon stone for a witness of so great an event, a
witness in honour of the wonderful fact that God
can and does visit man. After he had anointed it,
and changed it from a pillow to a pillar, he gave it
a new name, calling it Bethel, which means the
House of God. This is the first recorded instance
of the consecration of a common stone among the
Hebrews, a fact however which was often imitated
by them in later years. From that time on the
stone so selected and anointed became sacred, and
through all the wandering and history of the He-
brew people, its presence can be detected by direct
or figurative references to it. " From thence is the
shepherd, the stone o{ Israel" says this same Jacob
in his dying benediction to Joseph. From the
origin and connection of this stone it is easy to see
how it would become a precious and prominent
thing with the Hebrews.

When Joshua made a covenant with all the
Tribes of Israel at Shechem, this stone is made a
witness. In the Hebrew it is Eben Gedoulah, and

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336

THE CORNER.

it is translated great stone. The real meaning,
however, of Gedoulah is Majesty of God. "And
Joshua said unto all the people, behold, this stone
shall be as a witness unto us ; for it hath heard all
the words of the Lord, which He spake unto us,
and shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye
deny your God." — Jos. xxiv. 27. Eben Chezaut, as
used in this verse, means the Pillar Witness of
Jacob, and Eben Schethia means a Foundation
Pillar. This, then, you see, is the stone which the
proud building Pharisees and Sadducees rejected,
for it was a divine testimony in Israel. And not
less guilty than they are many in our day who
reject this witness. What a monument it is ! How
simple and yet wonderful a thing ! in itself of no
price, and yet because it is the real Eben Gedou-
lah, the Majesty of God, and Heirloom of Israel
and Signet of Judah, it is beyond price. How are
the mighty confounded with the simple. Christ
built no monument, but Herod and Agrippa both
had one built to keep them in remembrance, but
they have long since dissolved to dust. Jesus did,
however, institute a simple feast, tastings of bread
and wine. Here is a monument surviving the ages,
growing and endearing the millions to His name,
life and death more and more. How mighty the
simple things of Heaven are when so ordained.
How strange that a common stone should have
such a history, such veneration, such influence and
such a resting-place, the royal chair of earth's great-
est and grandest throne, and in that wonderful tern-

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THE CORNER.

337

pie of renown the Abbey of Westminster. Surely,
as we pointed out last Sunday, it is the Lord's
doing and it is marvellous in our eyes. And thus
said and sung the hosts of Israel and Judah in their
procession when they took possession of the thresh-
ing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite as a site for the
temple of God. Then and there they installed this
stone as the Chief Corner-stone, giving it a tempo-
rary house and cover till it was inclosed in the Tem-
ple of Solomon. With a knowledge of the literal
fact I think you will be competent to at once com-
prehend the meaning of the text.

If you will read through the chapter from which
we take our text, it will be apparent to you that
the prophet Zechariah is referring to the latter
times, to the times when Judah and Israel are again
gathered in their own land. "And I will strengthen
the house of Judah, and I will save the house of
Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them,
for 1 have mercy upon them, and they shall be
as though I had not cast them off; for I am the
Lord their God and will hear them." — Verse 6
Now at that time and in connection with the gath-
ering and union of Judah and Israel there is to
come forth from the house of Judah, or out of Ju-
dah a corner, a nail and a bozv. What does the
text teach us by these figures of speech .'' Keeping
in mind the stone, as the literal fact, and where it
is and who really owns it, I think the meaning and
teaching will be as plain as it is beautiful. Let
me aid you by calling your attention to the mean-
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338

THI. CORNER.

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ing of the word corner. In Hebrew it is Phennah,
which means strongs great , prominent, disthiguisJied.
Thus in the Scriptures, princes, chiefs and rulers
are called corners for the simple reason that they
are strong, great, prominent and distinguished.
Balaam said : " I shall see Him, but not now ; I
shall behold Him, but not nigh ; there shall come
a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of
Israel and shall smite the corners of Moab and
destroy all the children of Sheth — Numb. xxiv. 17.
Here the word translated corners is in the Hebrew
princes. Thus the teaching is that there would
come forth from Jacob a ruler that would smite the
princes of Moab. "And Saul said, Draw ye hither
all the chief oi the people, and know and see where-
in this sin hath been this day." — i Sam. xiv. 38.
Here the word chief in the Hebrew is corners, which
of course meant the chiefs.

A stone, corner and king, or any great person,
began very soon in Hebrew history to be corre-
sponding terms ; one word could be used for an-
other. The oriental mode of speech favoured this
interchange very much. You can, I suppose, readily
see how a stone and person can be great but not
so easily how a corner can. Of course, in business
circles, you are aware that they make and have
what they call corners. Men get up corners in
stocks on Wall Street. In the wheat market cor-
ners are formed. Indeed, in all the great avenues
of commerce such a thing is done from time to
time. A man during the past week got up a cor-

THE CORNER.

339

ner in fish. These commercial corners are simply
the centralization of certain commodities in the
hands of one or more persons giving them power
to regulate the sale and price. Politically speaking
it is the rule of a small minority over a majority.
Agreeable with this general understanding and
mode of interpretation you would easily understand
me if I said that next week there would come a
corner out of Vanderbilt or Jay Gould, or that there
would be a corner in the wheat or fish markets. If
we visited Washington and looked in upon the new
Congress and heard several new members speak,
you would not be at a loss to know my meaning if
I pointed out a person and said he is going to be a
corner in this Congress. In our conversation we
might be led to canvass the question as to who will
be the next President. Our conversation would be
accounted intelligent if you said it is my opinion
the next corner will come out of Ohio, and I said
no, the next will come out of New York State.
Why would we be puzzled to interpret our text
then } The prophet says after a certain time that
a corner will come out of Judah. Literally, he no
doubt refers to Jacob's stone ; secondarily, to the
king or queen who will be upon Jacob's throne at
that time ; and primarily, to Jesus, whose throne
and person is so grandly typified in David's throne
and seed.

It is a fault to be deplored that we so habitu-
ally depart from the rules of common sense in our
efforts of Bible interpretation. The book is indeed

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THE CORNER.

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an extraordinary one, but this should not tempt us
to depart from the plain and practical rules which
govern us in cvery-day life. A farmer's wife, born
and brought up in the country, receives a visit from
some rich relatives. She sets to work to entertain
them. She is specially anxious about her table,
her whole skill is concentrated on cooking. She
concludes that her city visitors want sweetmeats,
cakes, pies, puddings and fresh meat. She goes to
work and provides these things. To her astonish-
ment the cakes and puddings are a failure, the
meat is not nicely done. She is fretted because
of the failure. Her visitors are not over pleased,
because these very thiiigs which the good house-
wife gave them they get in the city so much better.
The good woman has set aside the wisdom of ex-
perience. She was guilty of trying to provide
extras on a line where she wasn't extra, and to
be superior at the point where she was the most
inferior. Had she taken advantage of her wealth
of experience and given them a boiled dinner, or
ham and eggs, and such things as she was most
accustomed to, then success would have crowned
her efforts. The city visitors would have been
delighted. There is a philosophy in presenting
our strongest points over against the weakest of
others. Her wealthy city visitors were strong in
experience on the line of cakes and fresh beef, but
not on country pudding, boiled dinner, and ham

the visitors,

eggs.

things

good

because they are fresh and sweet, and done up

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THE CORNER.

341

better than they are accustomed to get them. Just
so do some people err when they read and inter-
pret the Bible ; they assume some extra method
and forego the experience of practical life.

Remembering that the Hebrews had an extra-
ordinary stone in their midst, then all figurative,
typical and historical references to the same can
be readily understood. Take the figurative idea
of a corner, always bearing in mind, whether con-
sidering the natural or figurative, that something
pre-eminent, great and distinguished is meant.
When a building is properly oriented, that is, when
its four sides face east, west, south and north, you
have four corners. These corners are not of equal
interest or importance. The north-east is the cor-
ner, and why so, you ask. We answer: because it
is the point where two heavenly forces meet, and
being of equal strength, neutralize one the other,
hence this point is the weakest and strrmgest.
Here, however, is the point of rest, the only quiet
point in the building. It is the perfect point.
Here light and darkness meet, the light of the
east and the brooding darkness of the north. The
sun exercises a powerful influence on the earth.
It draws it towards it. In an orchard or forest the
east may be detected from the direction the trees
mostly lean ; for, naturally, they lean to the east.
In this is visible a part of the attractive power of
the sun. But from the pole point of the heavens
there comes a great force which vibrates through
all matter, magnetizing every atom of earth. The

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THE CORNER.

sun force and pole force meet and neutralize each
other at the north-east corner. In this scientific
fact we have the long-continued custom of corner-
stone laying. This stone is generally larger than
the rest. It is a stay to the building. Laying
hold of two angles of the wall it links them to-
gether in itself. It consumes all the vibrating and
disjointing influence coming from the sun and pole.
A building not properly compassed will crack in
the joints and fall to pieces sooner than one that
is. Because the great pyramid of Egypt was care-
fully oriented it has kept through thousands of
years compact, although it rose to the height of
486 feet. The higher a building goes the more it
is exposed in this matter.

I presume I have some Free Masons here. If
so, you will remember that as an Entered Appren-
tice you were conducted at one time to the North-
east Corner. You stood there, Masonically, an
upright man, and received instruction. But if I
were to ask why you were placed in that corner,
in preference to the other, perhaps not every one
could answer me why a candidate in search of
light is taken to the darkest corner of the lodge.
From what we have said, I think you will see the
philosophy of the act. This is the perfect point,
the perfect point of beginning, a point answering
suitably to the Apprentice Degree. I have taken
the liberty to answer in part for you, knowing that
it is no new thing that an Entered Apprentice
should have a sponsor voice in his behalf. An-

TUK CORNER.

343

other part of corner-stone laying is not so scien-
tifically related. I refer to the custom of putting
something under the stone. The origin of this
rite is rather curious. The ancients believed that
where the body was there would the spirit linger.
While in this enlightened age many of us pooh-
pooh such an idea, yet withal we sometimes have
faint touches of such a faith, when we pass a lonely
graveyard in the dark, or when left alone in a room
with a dead body. From this conviction it came
to pass that in laying the corner-stone of some
temple the king would slay his eldest son, and put
the corpse under it, with the impression that the
spirit would guard the temple and keep foul spirits
away. In course of time, for further security, they
added to this crime the slaying of the youngest
son, writing his name on the top stone with his
blood, taking out the eyes and putting them there-
on. Referring to the building of Jericho, "Joshua
adjured them at that time, saying, cursed be the
man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth
this city, Jericho ; he shall (may) \a.y the foundation
thereof in his Jirst-dorn, and in h\s youngest son shall
(may) he set up the gates of it." — Jos. vi. 26. With
all this precaution it would not stand. A long time
after this a man took a cherem, a sacred oath (like
the laws of the Medes and Persians, or like the
vow Jephthah took), that he would build Jericho.
" In his day did Hiel, the Bethelite, build Jericho ;
he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his first-

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THE CORNER.

dorn, and seJ up the gates thereof in his youngest sou
Segiib, According to the Word of the Lord, which
He spake by Joshua, the son of Nun." — i Kiny^s
xvi. 34. Referring to this custom, and spirituali-
zing the same for Christ and His holy temple of
living stones, Zechariah iii. 9, says : " For behold
the stone that I have laid before Joshua, upon one
stone shall be seven eyes ; behold, I will engrave
the graving thereof, saith the Lord of Hosts."
Having a knowledge of the customs and ideas of
the ancients and of the literal facts, we need not
blunder very seriously in reading and expounding
the Scriptures.

Out of Judah was to come forth a corner. How
will this be fulfilled .'* We answer, beautifully. If
we take it to mean a corner-stone, why, that stone
of stones is owned by Queen Victoria, and the
Queen is of David, as we have proved to you be-
fore, and David was of Judah. If it refer to a
chief, or ruler, literally, it is equally answerable by
saying that England's throne will prepare the way
for the opening up of Palestine, and the rulers on
that throne will lead the Jews back to their own
land. As a corner, or corner-stone, the Jews are
now, and must in the future, build politically upon
the English throne for their return. Mind you, it
is not out of Israel such a corner was to come,
but out of Judah. The Saxon race are Israel, but
their sovereign is of Judah, and the sovereignty
really owns the stone. If you take this corner

nil

THK CORNKR.

345

in a spiritual sense, then it follows that Jesus, ouf
blessed Saviour, should be of Judah. It is evident,
says Paul, that our Lord came of Judah. Christ
is, indeed, emphatically the corner ; He is the real
King, the real stone. As in the corner-stone the
forces meet, so in Him meet heaven and earth.
He is the perfect one. Beinj^ like Him we become
perfect, we are at peace. His eyes are seven, per-
fect, on the stone of Zion. His name is engraved
on this stone in blood. He is the copestone. The
top stone of the Lord's witness, the pyramid of
Egypt, was a pyramid itself; it completed all the
rest, so Christ completed us. You will see at once
how important a witness the old ragged stone is.
How necessary it was that it should journey with
the royal seed and throne of David. It was neces-
sary that the people should not own it ; so it is a
royal stone on which the sovereigns of Judah from
David to Victoria have been crowned.

" Out of him the nail." This word nail in He-
brew is Yatad, and means accommodation, strength,
or security. The teaching of the text literally is that
out of Judah will come accommodation, strength
and security for Israel and the world. A nail, or
pin, which is the* same thing was of great service
in an Eastern house. Very often the rooms were
only made of heavy curtains, which hung upon the
nail or wooden pin in the wall. In this sense they
were accommodating ; the people could hang things
upon them. Again, a nail was driven in for strength
and security. At the time of a feast, increased ac-

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346

THE CORNER.

commodation was needed ; a wedding for instance.
The master of the assembly would drive in more
nails ; understanding his business, he would drive
them where they would be safe and strong. So,
says the p/eacher, " The words of the wise are as
goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of as-
semblies." — Eccl. xii. II. And in Ezra ix. 8 we
read : "And now for a little space grace hath been
shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a rem-
nant to escape, and to give us a nail in His holy
place." Here it means an accommodation and
secure abode or place of worship. Speaking of
Eliakim, Isaiah xxii. 23, says : "And I will fasten
him as a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a
glorious throne to his father's house. And they
shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's
house." From these passages you see the figura-
tive use of the word nail. Turn to the English
throne, and figuratively and naturally it will re-
spond. That throne has been an accommodation
to the world in liberty and commerce. Italy and
the Pope would have been supreme to-day had it
not been for this throne. It has been glorious se-
curity and strength, say what you like and hate it
that choose. And more and more will this strength
and security have to appear as the years roll on.

" Out of Him the battle-bow." This word bow
in Hebrew is Ekeshat^ and means defence ^x help.
A bow in those early days was a thing of defence.
Thus will England's throne have to open up Pales-
tine, help the Jews to return, and protect them.

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THE CORNER.

347

This is her God-appointed work, hence God will
give her the land, Palestine, and by permitting
other nations to be embroiled, give her also the
opportunity to settle it.

" Out of Him every oppressor together." Look-
ing at this statement in the light of history, we
shall find it to have been fulfilled in a remarkable
manner. What tyrant kings and rulers they have
been. For although from them was to come so
much good, yet with others they werr to be op-
pressors. And England looked at tc «]. , wide of
Providential intention, is one of the most exacting
and tyrannical governments on the face of the
earth ; not so much in herself, but in \e.r conquest
and rule over other people. Her desire is her will,
and that is her way, and no matter how Russia
com.plains, or Germany grumbles, she seems to ride
rough-shod over all. Some talk of her prestige
being gone ; that is all nonsense — they simply mis-
take her improvement in discretion for waning
courage. And we in this country, being as we are
Mannassehites, are stung to silence and shorn of
the opportunity of criticising because of our shame-
ful treatment of the poor Indians. Our opportu-
nities and temptations to oppression have been few
because our country was large ; still, though few,
we have not been slow to improve them. The
years of Southern slavery, the hunting of Indians
on the plains, and the late assault on the Chinese,
are facts that link us in kinship to Judah and Israel.
If we apply this spiritually it must be as Paul says :

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THE CORNER.

" Who is it that condemneth ? It is Christ who has
risen from the dead." Jesus will indeed be an op-
pressive witness against us should we neglect His
offers of grace and pardon. Remember what is
written, Matthew xxi. 44 : "And whosoever shall
fall on this stone shall be broken ; but on whom-
soever it shall fall it will grind him to powder."
Fall on Him in repentance that He fall not on you
in judgment.

! f.

IDENTIFICATION AND REV. MR.

BEECHER.

DISCOURSE XXIV.

DR. WILD ON H. W. BEECHER — "A LITTLE RIVER IN MID-OCEAN
— WHAT THE SCRIPTURES TEACH OF THE LOST TRIBES AND
THEIR WHEREABOUTS — HERODOTUS, DIODORUS, JOSEPHUS
AND MANY OTHER HISTORIANS, VERSUS MR. BEECHER— THE
SCATTERING AND GATHERING OF ISRAEL — A FLIPPANT RE-
MARK AND "TOSS OF THE HEAD" NO ARGUMENT — FAIR DIS-
CUSSION — THE BIBLE THE AUTHORITY, AND NO MAN.

Text — ^Jer. xxxi. lo. \^

" Hear the word of the Lord, oh ye nations, and declare it
in the isles afar off, and say, he that scattered Israel will gather
him, and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock."

O declares the prophet Jeremiah in the
name of the Lord of Hosts, namely,
that the Lord who scattered Israel will
also gather him. My esteemed neigh-
bour, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, believes in the
scattering part of the text, but not in the gathering.
The other Sunday he said in his pulpit ; " Some
folks are troubling themselves in hunting iox the

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350 IDENTIFICATION AND MR. BEECHER.

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ten lost tribes ; they might as well hunt for a little
river in mid-ocean." This statement several have
informed me of by letters, and three persons by per-
sonal interview. Each and all desire to know what I
think of it. In answer I may say that I think Mr.
Beecher is mistaken, and that I prefer the state-
ment of Jeremiah to his. Many ministers are ready
to deny, but denial is not sufficient. They pooh-
pooh the idea of the ten tribes ever being found,
evidently under the impression that the idea is only
man-begotten and not taught in the Bible. They
err on the same plane that the Sadducees of old did
with respect to a future life. The Sadducees did
not think that the books of Moses, which they had
accepted as authoritative, taught a future existence.
The Saviour said to them : " Ye do err, not know-
ing the Scriptures nor the power of God." Mr.
Beecher and many others err for the very same
reason the Sadducees did. This whole sermon I
could make up easily of quotations from the Bible
proving that Israel, or the ten lost tribes, are to be
gathered together again ; in fact, the statements of
their gathering are more numerous than of their
scattering. Nearly everybody believes the tribes
to be scattered and lost, so I will not take up your
time with proving what is so generally accepted.
Bible truths are often halved, one part being ac-
cepted freely and the other half rejected. The
body returns to the earth from whence it came ;
few disbelieve this ; but the same authority says
the spirit returns unto God who gave it. This

IDENTIFICATION AND MR. BEECHER. 35 1

many find hard to receive, although these two facts
are equally set forth in the Bible, yet many separate
them, believing one and rejecting the other ; so,
many believe in the lost tribes but do not believe
in the found tribes ; still the same Good Book that
teaches one fact teaches the other.

The same rule holds good with respect to the
Jews. Who will deny but that they have been
scattered and persecuted as foretold by the pro-
phets ? No one ventures to spiritualize the Jews,
or their past and present history, but hundreds of
ministers are not ashamed to spiritualize them and
their blessings in the future. Judah, with them, is
literal in the past, and spiritual in the future ;
scattered materially, gathered spiritually. The
Palestine they left and were driven out of is a real
earthly land, but the Palestine to which they are to
be restored is a spiritual land. Can anything be
more unfair } What to such ministers are the say-
ings of the prophets but unmeaning utterances ?
Taking the following as a sample : " In those days
the house of Judah shall walk with the house of
Israel, and they shall come together out of the
land of the north to the land I have given as an
inheritance to your fathers." The prophet Hosea,
in the first chapter, foretold the scattered and mer-
ciless and forsaken condition of Israel, and the
rejection and casting off of Judah for a time. His
daughter, Lo-ruhamah, was a sign of scattered
Israel. His son, Lo-ammi, was a sign for Judah,
which were to be rejected from, being the people of

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352 IDENTIFICATION AND MR. BEECHER.

God. But he says in the tenth and eleventh verses :
"Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be
as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured
nor numbered ; and it shall come to pass that in
the place where it was said unto them, Ye arc not
My people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are
the sons of the living God." Then, after they are
once recognized, Israel will cease to be Lo-ruhamah,
and become Ruhamah, which means having obtained
niercy, and will say unto their brethren of the Jews,
Ammi, that is, my people. They will see them-
selves to be of the same family, as brother and
sister, and they will become friends, as the direct
descendants of Abraham, and heirs of the patri-
archal promises. Then shall the children of Jndah
and the chiliren of Israel be gathered together, and
appoint themselves one head, and they shall come
up out of the land, for great shall be the day of
Jezreel " — that is, the day of their return to the land
of Palestine. Jehovah declared that He would sow
Israel among the nations of the earth. This all
admit has been done. But He says, also : " I will
sow her (Israel) unto Me in the earth ; and I will
have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy;
and I will say to them which were not My people,
Thou art My people ; and they shall say, Thou art
My God." — Hos. ii. 23. The same idea is expressed
by Zechariah, x. 6 : " And I will strengthen the
house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph
(that is Israel), and I will bring them again to place
them, for J .have mercy upon them ; and they shall

IDENTIFICATION AND MR. BEECIIER. 353

be as though I had not cast them off ; for I am the
Lord their God, and will hear them. I will hiss
for them and gather them, for I have redeemed
them, and they shall increase as they have in-
creased. And I will sow them among the people ;
and they shall remember me in far countries, and
they shall live with their children, and turn again."

In a few years Mr. Beecher and others will see
this matter in a different light. They will discern
the difference between the house of Israel, the ten
lost tribes, as they are known, and the house of
Judah, cr the Jews of our day. Once a man can
get into his head this God-revealed distinction, the
Bible and providence and national history will
be viewed in a new light. But though these two
houses are so very different, especially from the
time they divided under Rehoboam and became
two separate nations, not one minister in a thou-
sand believes in a difference. The house of Israel's
first king was Jeroboam. This house had some
nineteen kings and existed some 250 years, and
then were carried captive about 725 years before
Christ. " In the ninth year of Hosea the king of
Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into
Assyria. For the children of Israel walked in all
the sins of Jeroboam which he did. Until the
Lord removed Israel out of His sight, as He had
said by all His servants, the prophets. So was
Israel carried away out of their own land to Assy-
ria unto this day." — 2 Kings xvii. 23. The house
of Judah was carried captive some 135 years later,
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354 IDENTIFICATION AND MR. BEECHER.

remaining in Babylon for seventy years, then they
returned and remained in one form and another
till the year 70, when the Romans took Jerusalem
from them and they fell by the sword, and were
driven away into all countries, and Jerusalem was
left to be trodden under foot of the Gentiles. But
thank Heaven the treading is not to continue for-
ever, only *' until the times of the Gentiles be ful-
filled." — Luke xxi. 24. The ceasing of the treading
down of Jerusalem by the Gentiles corresponds to
the discovery of the ten tribes. This discovery will
be among themselves first, by their own partial
blindness being removed. This point Paul makes
very clear. " For I would not, brethren, that ye
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should
be wise in your own conceits ; t/iai blindness in part
is happened to Israel^ until the fulness of the Gentiles
be come in!' — Romans xi. 25. We must remember
that Paul was an Israelite, and from the chapter
quoted, he is by inspiration treating on the very
subject we are now expounding. Hear him speak,
friend Beecher. " I say then, hath God cast away
His people } God forbid. For I am an Israelite,
of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not cast away His people whom he fore-
knew." With little discernment any one can see
that there are three parties in Paul's argument.
First, there is the good olive, which is Israel, who
in Benjamin had received Christ, while the Jews
had rejected Him. "Christ came to His own and
they received Him not." Who were His own .-* we

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IDENTIFICATION AND MR. BEECHER. 355

answer, the Jews. " For it is evident that our Lord
sprang out of Judah." — Hebrews vii. 14. Who
received Him ? we answer, Israel in Benjamin.
The second party spoken of is the natural branches,
namely, the Jews broken off Why were they
broken off.? Paul says because of their unbelief.
And more, he says that by faith they may yet be
grafted in, or on again. The third party is the
wild olive, which any one can see is none other
than the Gentiles. In this good olive, the Gentiles,
who are wild-by-nature olives, and the natural
branch unbelieving-olives, the Jews, may be and are
being now grafted. May I not then ask Mr.
Beecher and all of like views, how can the Gentiles
and Jews be grafted on the good olive Israel, if
Israel is lost beyond recovery } And isn't it rather
queer that men can believe in the broken off
branches, the Jews, and the wild olives, the Gen-
tiles, and not believe in the good and natural
olives, the Israelites, or ten lost tribes } The few
and disbelieving Jews who compose the two tribes,
as they and everybody else admit, are in existence,
known and believed in as a positive fact, number-
ing upward of 9,000,000 in all the world. But the
ten tribes, who were to be as numerous as the sands
of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered,
and were to be divorced from the Mosaic law and
accept Jesus, they forsooth are lost forever. " You
might as well search for a little brook stream in
mid-ocean as try to find them."

So, according to these brave objectors, two

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356 IDENTIFICATION AND MR. BEECHER.

tribes may live and be known to the tune of about
9,cxx>,ooo, but the ten tribes, to whom the promise
of fruitfulness was made, are to be so few that they
can never be found or known, although the children
of the divorced mother were to be far more numer-
ous than they of the wife, J udah, says the prophet.
This people that are lost beyond finding are the
very people God chose for Himself. He calls them
" His servants," " His witnesses," " His chosen,"
"His inheritance," "His people," and many such
endearing and special names. Jesus said of Him-
self, knowing His rejection of the Jews, " I have
other sheep which are not of this fold." Again, in
another place He said, " I am not sent but unto the
lost sheep of the house of Israel." In commissioning
His disciples He said, " Go not into the way of the
Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter
2 not. But go rather to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel." — Matt. x. 6. The Saviour on one
occasion reproved the Pharisees, and He told them
that the time would come when they would seek
Him but would not find Him. "Then said the
Jews among themselves, whither will He go, that
we shall not find Him } Will He go unto the dis-
persed among the Gentiles V — John vii. 35. Peter
addressed his Epistle to these scattered ones in
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Bithynia and Asia.
And James sent his to the twelve tribes which were
scattered abroad. The scriptures tally with history
in recognizing the fact that the ten tribes never
returned to Palestine after their captivity. In Cen-

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IDENTlFICAnON AND MR. RFECIIKR. 357

tral Asia they were located, and for about 800 years
they are known, ar you see, by many scriptural
references. The prophets knew they were there,
Christ and the disciples knew ; and the histori-
ans, Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus, Homer, Ptolemy,
Pliny and Josephus refer to them ; and many others.
It is after this they were to be lost to mm but not
to God, that the (^rand purposes of Providence
might be accomplished. The promi-ses made to the
Patriarchs, both temporal and spiritual, / believe,
and so I accept both a spiritual and a material
Israel, a spiritual and material kingdom, a spiritual
and material throne.

Identity, survival and supremacy are pledged of
Israel, or the ten lost tribes, beyond a doubt. As
soon may heaven and earth pass away than that
they should be permanently lost. Let me quote
one passage as a sample of the many on this point :
" Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a
light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and
the stars for a light by night, which divideth the
sea when the waves thereof roar. The Lord of
Hosts is His name. If these ordinances depart
from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of
Israel also shall cease from being a nation before
Me forever. — Jer. xxxi. 35. Language of assurance
could not be stronger. As a nation, they will natu-
rajly have a country, a people, a government, a
throne and a ruler, and because they are chosen
to be God's executive, and they are to be numer-
ous and powerful, it reasonably follows that they

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358 IDENTIFICATION AND MR. BEECHEk.

will not be as a little river in mid-ocean. I will
take the liberty to quote from the eighteenth page
of my new book, ** The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel
and 1882," and present to you a few of the distin-
guishing features that are to characterize Israel and
so bring them to light: "i. They were to be lost.

2. They were to be divorced from the Mosaic law.

3. They were to lose their name. 4. They were to
lose their Uingnage, 5. They were to possess the
isles of the sea, coasts of the earth, waste and deso-
late places ; to inherit the portion of the Gentiles,
their seed, lands and cities. 6. They are to be great
and successful colonizers. 7. Before them other
people are to die out. 8. They are to be a head
nation. 9. To be a company of nations. 10. To
be great in war, on land and sea. 11. To be fa-
mous as lenders of money. 12. To have a monarchy.
13. To be keepers of the Sabbath. 14. To have
David's throne and seed ruling over them. 1 5. They
are to possess Palestine and invite their brethren of
Judah to return. And I might repeat some sixty
positive marks and distinctions setting forth Israel,
and yet men wilfully persist in confounding them
with the Jews, or else looking for this great and
favoured people of the Lord among the lowest of
human kind, Indians, Africans, and so on." And
some, like Mr. Beecher, think they are clear gone
for ever. But, guided by the prophets and history,
Mr. Beecher ought to read Is. Ixi. 9, and believe
it. Let me give it you : "And their seed shall be
known among the Gentiles and their offspring

IDENTIFICATION AND MR. HRFXHER. 3S9

amonjj^ the people ; all that see them shall acknow-
ledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord
liath blessed." I now call upon Mr. Beccher and
all my brethren to acknowledge the seed whom
God hath chosen and called His own.

Some argue that the ten tribes went back with
the Jews from the Babylonian captivity. This is
not sustained by history, Scriptures, or common
sense. The prophets Ezra and Nehemiah do not
say they did. The only part of Israel that re-
turned to Palestine at that time was Benjamin.
The ten tribes could not then have returned, be-
cause for when Israel and Judah return they are
to have one head and one king. The Jews never
had a king after that return. There cannot be a
third return. But God does say that He will set
" His hand again the second time to recover the
remnant of His people which shall be left" in the
several parts of the earth. "And He shall set up
an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the
outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed
of Judah from the four corners of the earth." — Is.
xi. II. This great gathering is to be on a line of
the deliverance of the whole people, like as from
Egypt, as the prophet shows. The first deliver-
ance was but a type of the one to come. After
the second deliverance is accomplished and passed,
and the throne and people are once again settled
in the land of their fathers, then they will com-
memorate it as we do our glorious Fourth of July.
Hear what the prophet says : " In His days Judah

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360 IDENTIFICATION AND MR. BB:ECHER.

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shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely, and
this is the name whereby He shall be called, the
Lord our righteousness. Therefore, behold the
days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more
say, * The Lord liveth, which brought up the chil-
dren of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' dut the
Lord liveth^ which brought tip and which led the
seed of the house of Israel out of the 7iorth country
and from all countries whither I had driven tJievi,
and they shall dwell in their oivn landr — Jer. xxiii.
6. Now it is plain that the Babylonian captivity
could not be the second recovery, because it was
only partial in number, and they were not then
scattered in all countries. They vere not a speci-
ally good people after they returned. They were
too few in number to make an apt comparison.
Again, we know that couldn't be the second de-
liverance, because, firsts they are to have a king
after their return ; second, they are to be one na-
tion. The two sticks spoken of by Ezekiel, chap-
ter xxxvii., are to become one. "And the sticks
whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand be-
fore their eyes. And say unto them, ' Thus saith
the Lord God ;' behold 1 will take the children of
Israel from among the heathen, whither they be
gone, and I will gather them on every side and
bring them into their own land. And I will make
them one nation in the land upon the mountains
of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all ;
and they shall be no more two nations^ neither shall
they be divided into tivo kingdoms any more." In

IDENTIFICATION AND MR. BEECHER

361

the third place, they are never to be pulled up any-
more. "And I will bring again the captivity of
My people Israel, and they shall build the waste
cities and inhabit them ; and they shall plant vine-
yards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also
make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And
1 v/ill plant them upon their own land, and they
shall no more be pulled up out of their own land
which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God."
— Amos ix. 14. The Jews were pulled up out of
Paleytine in the year 70, hence the second return
has not yet taken place. In the fourth place, in
the second return Israel and Judah are to be joined
together in unending friendship and political union.
In t\i^ fifth place, after this Israel and Judah are
to be at peace with each other. In the sixth place,
the prophet Zechariah wrote his prophecies after
the Jews returned from Babylon, and he speaks of
Israel as then scattered. ** But they shall be as
though I had not cast them off; for I am the Lord
their God, and will hear them." — Zech. x. 6. Thus
it is as clear as noondcy that Israel has yet to
return as well as Judah. Israel being very numer-
ous, only a portion of them can go. The rate stated
by Jer. iii. 14 is one of a city and two of a family.
Of course Palestine wouldn't hold all the seed of
Israel — tliis vast people that my friend Beecher
and others cannot see — for this reason only a rem-
nant of them will return, but the Jews will return
so generally that they all may be said to have gone.
" The remnant shall return, even the remnant of

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362 IDENTIFICATION AND MR. BEECHER.

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Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy
people Israel be as the sands of the sea, yet a
remnant of them shall return. The consumption
decreed shall overflow with righteousness." — Is. x.
21-2. And thus, my dear friends, I might go on
quoting passage after passage, but enough for once.
This subject is so plainly taught in the Bible that
you don't have to hunt for passages, or twist or
misapply them when found. If Mr. Beecher, or
any other man, can answer this sermon, why, let
them do so. I don't want it answered by a toss
of the head and a laughing denial, but a fair, square
answer. And if they cannot answer it, why, say
so. I am inclined to think that my friend Beecher
will, after this, if he shall read, be able to see who
the Israelites are.

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PROPHETIC CONFERENCE.

DISCOURSE XXV.

THE LATE PROPHETIC CONFERENCE — ITS MISTAKES, ITS SUCCESS
AND FAILURE, ITS MAKE-UP — BISHOP NICHOLSON AND OTHERS.

Text — ^Jeremiah xxiii. ai. '^

I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran ; I have not
spoken to them, yet they prophesied."

HE famous Prophetic Conference has
closed. It has rendered a verdict and
given it to the world. The delibera-
tions and conclusions are now a matter
of record. Having been given to the world, they
now belong to the world ; and, as such, we are at
liberty, without being counted rude, to criticise the
essays read, and analyze the verdict. During the
several sessions held this privilege was not per-
mitted. Had there been some little liberty for
friendly criticism, the reputation and authority of
this Conference would have been purer and stronger.
I do not mean that discussions and debates should
have been indulged in, but that, when an essay
had been read, a short time should have been
allotted for cjuestion-asking — the answer to have

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been given by the essayist. By this means the
strength or weakness of each production would
have appeared. Since the Conference closed it is
more and more apparent that the whole affair was
too one-sided to be effectual in its results and
authority.

Some of you may ask : Who called this Confer-
ence and what was it called for ? and where did it
meet? and what did it expect to accomplish .? and
what is the final result .<* 1 hese questions we will
answer in a brief way. First — For the past few
years a number of ministers, who agree on the
doctrine of the second advent of Christ, have met
together once a year to study this question. Last
summer, at their meeting at Clifton Springs, in
New York, they resolved to call such a Conference.
Secondly — It was called for the purpose of lifting
up into prominence and inviting the church's atten-
tion to this doctrine. Thirdly — It met in the
Church of Holy Trinity, Madison Avenue and
Forty-second Street, New York city, on the 30th
and 31st of October, and 1st of November, 1878.
The rector of this church is the eloquent and earn-
est minister of Christ, Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, Jr.
Fourthly — They expected to produce greater unity
and clearness concerning this doctrine among them-
selves, to encourage, enlighten, and comfort one
another besides, and chiefly to force the considera-
tion of this glorious doctrine on public attention
especially the Christian portioi . Fiithly — It is yet
difficult to judge of the results. My own opinion

PROPHETIC CONFERENCE.

365

is, that it did not meet fully ths callers' expecta-
tion. It was too formal, too conservative to be as
successful as anticipated. However, .wisdom comes
very often from experience ; hence the next one
may have many virtues which this lacked.

The callers of this Conference numbered some
124. Ainong them were bishops, professors, min-
isters, and several noted laymen. The denomina-
tional caste of the callers is interesting to note.
Including the committee, they were : Presbyterians,
45; Baptists, 28; Episcopalians, 17; Congrega-
tionalists, 10; Methodists, 6; Reform Episcopa-
lians, 2 ; Dutch Reform, 2 ; Lutherans, i, and
undenominational, 13. The relative proportion of
the several denominations has taken the public by
surprise. The staid and orthodox Presbyterians
are first. Now, who would have thought this ? A
prominent minister of this body expressed to me
his surprise, at one of the sessions, that the Presby-
terian Church should be so deeply tainted with
fanaticism, as he called it. Had the Methodists,
he said, been 45, and the Presbyterians 6, he would
not have been so much surprised. Then — think of
it — our practical friends, the Baptists, being second
in order ; a body that heretofore has been supposed
to be as wide from adventism as from open com-
munism, or baptismal sprinkling. Where is the
Rev. Justin D. Fulton these days .'* Why does he
not lift up his voice at such an outrage ? for, present
and active in said conference was Rev. T. Penticost,
and one of the strongest essayists was Rev. Dr. A.

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J. Gordon, of the Clarendon Street Baptist Church,
Boston, Mass. Nay, even his friends, the Rev. Dr.
Jeffreys, of this city, and Rev. J. Hyatt Smith,
were regular ai endants at the several sessions of the
Conference, but above and beyond all, who would
have thought that the refined and traditionally-
grooved Episcopalians would have been so gener-
ously represented by bishops, rectors and ministers.
Most certainly, this Conference was a unique gath-
ering. Those bodies generally supposed to be the
farthest removed from exritement and strange
doctrines had the largest representation. The end
of the world, or second coming of Christ, is surely
at hand.

The charity of this Conference rose to a sublime
height on the afternoon of the second day, when
thj venerable Rev. Dr. Tyng addressed the vast
audience, and declared his sympathy with the
meeting, and then called on the next speaker, who
was none other than the Rev. W. R. Nicholson,
one of the bishops of the Reform Episcopalian
Church, The relation of these two men, in time
of speaking, was most assuredly providential. Tn
what contrast does the venerable and large-hearted
Dr. Tyng stand to the Rev. Dr. Sullivan — an Kpja-
copalian minister ot Chicago — who, in a petty
letter, excused and apologized for his nou alliiiJ-
ance, because the Conference was recognizing this
same Bishop Nicholson ? He could not permit
himself to associate with men i)f schism, or take
part with men who claimed authority to preach

PROPHETIC CONFERENCE.

367

the Gospel, unauthorized by his church. Christ
needs to come more fully in many hearts to make
room for more of His Spirit and the expressions
of His love. " Let the mind which was in Christ
Jesus richly dwell in you." The attendance was
large. The commodious and beautiful tdifice was
filled at each session. Among the audience could
be seen scores of ministers of every denomination,
besides the vast number which filled the temporary
extended platform. In all these things the Con-
ference may be called a success.

Yet, taking in the whole scope and work of the
Conference, I am inclined to think that the final
effect will be disastrous to church unity. I would
not be at all surprised if it should lead to the
organization of another new church. The alliance
that was held a few years ago, in New York city,
gave impetus, lurin and decision to the present
Reform Episcopalian Church. The large number
of prominent men of the several denominations
agreeing on this doctrine, and laying such stress
upon it, will bring them closer and closer together,
and more and more alienate them from others of
opposite views.

The increasing number, favour and authority of
evangelists roaming through the country at large
are, as is well known, nine out of ten of them, Ad-
ventists. These men have at their command all
the Young Men's Christian Associations of the
land. The members of these associations are being
trained to like mode of labour and thought. Both

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the evangelists and the Young Men's Christian As-
sociations, as a rule, are working outside of church
organizations. The final result, I apprehend, will
be an agitation, and then a split. The second ad-
vent doctrine which the Conference set forth is by
no means scriptural in the order they present it.
As a doctrine, we may freely say that it is the
most winning and fascinating of all, and for this
very reason it is the most dangerous and destruc-
tive. Society has been lifted up, and thrown down,
by the enthusiasm of this doctrine many times, and
no doubt will be so again. The fascination is so
great that few of the adherents escape without
being wounded ; and once they accept it, they are
carried away so completely by the enthusiasm that
they are no longer able to reason unbiasedly, or
interpret the teachings of the Scriptures truly. To
some of you this may sound strange, but an appeal
to history will steady your nerves, and convince you
that I am not wide of the mark in the statement.
The several essays read at the Conference were
the productions of the ablest men of the land hold-
ing these views. They were advised beforehand
to prepare them ; the subjects were carefully divid-
ed, and each part given to the strongest man on
said part. This being so, we have a fair chance
to refute the teachings of said Conference, for if the
doctrine be weak in the essays, it is because the
error corresponds to the weakness ; and because
able men have done their best, I feel the more free
to criticise. Surely the essayists themselves would

PROPHETIC CONFERENCE.

369

not object to mine, or anybody's criticism, if done
in a spirit of charity and fairness. For your sake,
who look to me for instruction, I will point out a
few of the glaring errors taught. For to examine
the whole would take months.

Now it is well for me to state here that I am
a believer in the millennium — a time of universal
peace — when every virtue of grace will abound in
experience and practice ; when the curse will be
removed from nature and a regaling plenty be the
natural and regular production — a plenty that will
equal our wants ; a time when naught shall hurt
or destroy in all God's holy mountain — that is,
specially His chosen land, Palestine ; a time when
all shall know the Lord, whom to know is life eter-
nal ; when one neighbour shall not have to say unto
another, " Knowest thou the Lord?" for all shall
know Him, from the least unto the greatest ; a time
when the sword shall be beaten into a ploughshare
and the spear into a pruning-hook, and nations
shall learn war no more; a time when Israel and
Judcih shall dwell in their own land. I believe
that a king will reign in righteousness and princes
shall rule in judgment. I believe Christ began to
come when He became king by right of His own
sacrifice: when He said, ''All pozver in heaven and
in earth is given unto me," then He had begun to
come executively. So He said, '* Go ye into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature ;
and lo, / am with you alzvays, even unto the end of
the world." I believe in four comings of Christ,
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I'KOrUKTIC CONKKRKNCK.

First — When 1 (c came to redeem, when He was in-
carnated. Second — When He be^an to come ex-
ecutively. Hence the saying, " ]]c ye also ready,
for in such an hour as yc think not, the Son of man
Cometh." This could not by any possible means
refer to His atlvent-coming, although so quoted and
.so used in the late Conference. To tell the people
He was talking to, who would only live a few years
at most, to be ready, for in such an hour as they
thought not the Son of man would come would
be a sophistry of which Christ would not be guilt)-.
Third — When He came to Paul on His way to
Damascus. Fourth — When He shall come to clr)so
His dispensation.

According to the advent-teaching Christ de-
ceived them, for He knew that He would not come
for hundreds of years in person again. There is as
much sense in so applying this passage — as I heard
several of the essayists quote the Saviour's words :
" Let not your lieart be troubled, yc believe in
God, believe also in Me. In My Father's hou ,e
there are many mansions ; if it were not so, I
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you. And if T go and prepare a place for you, T
will come again and receive you unto Myself; that
where I am, there yc may be also." — John xiv.
1-3. Of this passage they make much. But is it
not plain that the place prepared is in heaven ? Is
it not plain that He comes for them ? We ask
how, why ; most assuredly executively — at the time
of death. The place prepared is where He Himself

PROPHETIC c:ONFEKEN( E.

371

was gninpj to be. And He is in Heaven. Have
the disciples been waiting for the coming of Christ
till now, or has Christ brcn for them ere this ? Is
Christ yet working away, preparing the place, and
if He has been working this 1800 years, keeping
the poor disciples out in the cold, how long will it
take Him yet? Answer, ye prophets, who claim
to be sent by God. Nearly all the parables have
reference to Christ's executive coming. It is for
this coming we, especially the past generations of
men, must be ready, watch and specially prepare.

To put ihc infant church on its guard against
Christ's personal ad\'cnt is ridiculous. For the end
spoken of by Chrisi and the sacred writers was
beyond war, earthquakes, ^igns in heaven and on
earth. Many false Christs were to appear and de-
ceive the people — wars and rumours of wars, nation
rising against nation. A great falling away had to
take place, but ere this could be the Gospel had
to be preached and many converted to make this
possible. Anti-Christ had to appear ; the Holy
Land to be re-> ccupied. The Jews, said the Savi-
our, " Shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall
be led away captives into all nations, and Jerusalem
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."

After long wandering the Jews and Israelites
are to be gathered together. 'Now it in patent to
every one that it would take some time for these
things to be accomplished. How, then, could the
repeated caution by the Saviour in the parables

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have reference to His advent ? Did not the Spirit
foretell that in the latter days, or times, some should
depart from the faith? "This know also, that in
the last days perilous times shall come." And yet,
with all these things to come to pass, the Confer-
ence would have us believe that the doctrine of the
advent was a doctrine of the early church fathers —
that they expected Christ in their day. To say the
least, it speaks poorly for the fathers. We do not
esteem a man wise who expects summer in this
country in November and December — especially
that these months have their own time and work.
It is no use for one to try to annihilate these
months. Though the day and hour of Christ's ad-
vent are not to be known, surely we are not so much
at sea as to expect Him all along ? One cannot
tell when summer will exactly set in ; still, we are
wise enough not to expect it to set in suddenly in
the middle of the winter.

Hundreds of events had to be marked out which
had to occur before Christ's return to the earth.
Let any one read the prophetic chart of the future,
from the time of Christ, and he will be surprised
at the many and mighty events that are to transpire
ere the millennium dawns on this earth. " Repent
ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may
be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall
come from the pres^ce of the Lord : and He shall
send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto
you." Here the sending of Christ is spiritual, in
the sense that He will take up His abode in every

PROPHETIC CONFERENCE.

373

heart, and abide with them. Christ formed within
the hope of glory : but of the personal coming, the
writer says : " Whom the Heaven must receive
until the times of restitution of all things which
God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy
prophets since the world began." — Acts iii. 20.
Christ ascended into Heaven from Olivet, all
agree. Now do you ask how long He will stay
there ? The answer is clear — until the times of
the restitution of all things. Were the things
foretold by the prophets all fulfilled 1800 ye?rs
ago ? Certainly not. Then no good theologian
could be an Adventist in the infant church. Are
all the forerunning events spoken of by the prophets
fulfilled now ? We answer, no. Things are not
yet restored — apokatastaseos^ that is, as the Greek
literally means, are not yet in order. Then if this
be so, Christ cannot yet come.

In the finished and finely-produced essay, by
Bishop Nicholson, on the gathering of Israel, I
find these words : " Oh, this restoration of Israel
is the very centre of God's gracious purpose con-
cerning the world." In this I concur with the
bishop, and here I may say that I think his essay
was the very finest of the whole lot — upon the
whole, the most consistent. Had the worthy
bishop had a definite idea of the words Israel and
Judah, he would have written very differently.
Sometimes he had, but at other times he would
use the words as interchangeable. He makes out
there will be two gatherings. One, the first, will

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be brought about by natural n«eans, and it will and
has to take place before the JAdvent. His words
are : " Israel's recovery before the advent will
come about in a natural and ordinary way." If
these statements be correct, and I believe it is the
plain teaching of the Bible, that Israel will be
restored before Christ's advent — why, then should
men hug so tenaciously the doctrine of a now
momentarily expectation of Christ's personal ad-
vent, when all admit that the tribes are not
gathered ? And why was the conference so un-
wise and short-sighted as to put on record the
following resolution before it broke up : " Reso-
lution third — This second coming of the Lord
Jesus is everywhere in the Scriptures represented
as imminent, and may occur at any moment ; yet
the precise day and hour thereof is unknown to
man and known only to God"? This resolution
and the quotation from Bishop Nicholson clash ;
but that is nothing, for I find nearly every speaker
clashing with common sense. Each speaker was
terribly guilty of one thing — that was quoting
Scripture texts disconnectedly. They each seemed
anxious to have as much Scripture proof as pos-
sible, without the faintest regard to the meaning
of such quotation in its connection. It was one
of these simple mistakes that led Bishop Nicholson
astray on the two gatherings. He takes from
Isaiah, nth chapter, a quotation, where God states
He will set His hand a secofid time to recover His
people, Israel and Judah. Out of this he con-

Prophetic con fekence.

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eludes two gatherings. But on the face of the
passage it is evident that this gathering is second,
simply by counting the one from Egypt the first
— as reference and comparison is made to the
Egyptians' deliverance. This is the passage :

11. And it shall come to pass in that day, that
the Lord shall .set His hand again the second time
to recover the remnant of His people, which shall
be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from
Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam and from
Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of
the sea.

12. A.nd He shall set up an ensign for the
nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four
corners of the earth.

13. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and
the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim
shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex
Ephraim.

14. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the
Philistines toward the west ; they shall .spoil them
of the east together, they shall lay their hand upon
Edom and Moab ; and the children of Ammon
shall obey them.

15. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the
tongue of the Egyptian Sea ; and with His mighty
wind shall He shake His hand over the river, and
shall smite it in the seven streams, and make me7i
go over dryshod.

16. And there shall be a highway for the rem-

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nant of His people which shall be left from Assyria;
like as it was to Israel in the day that He came up
out of the land of Egypt.

From Egypt the whole people were delivered,
so in this both Jews and Isrelites. The Babylonian
deliverance was only a partial one, then only the
Jews of the tribes of Judah, Levi and Benjamin.

It is wonderful what a man can prove from the
Scriptures if he be allowed to quote passages dis-
connectedly. By this process I could prove any
one of you ought to hang himself It is written
of Judas " that he departed and went and hanged
himself" The Saviour says : " Go and do thou like-
wise." It is always necessary to have respect unto
the context of a passage. The Saviour here said
so to a lawyer. The person he was to go and do
like was the good Samaritan. Now next Sunday
evening we will take up their famous doctrine of
the first resurrection, and you will be surprised at
the random quotations made. Surely the text is
true with reference to the late prophetic conference.
They have run of their own accord, and prophesied
in their own name.

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THE FIRST RESURRECTION.

DISCOURSE XXVI.

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DR. GORDON S ESSAY — THE BLINDNESS OF THE CONFERENCE ON

SOME IMPORTANT POINTS.

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Text — Matthew xxvii. 52, 53. _y

" And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints
which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrec-
tion, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."

N this sermon we desire to call your
attention to the doctrine of the first
immortal resurrection, to show when it
occurred and who were its subjects.
At the late Prophetic Conference, a paper was read
by the Rev. Dr. A. J. Gordon, of the Clarendon
Street Baptist Church, Boston, Mass., entitled, " The
First Resurrection." By the Conference this paper
was well received ; by many it was regarded as
being the very best essay read. The only rival it
was supposed to have was the paper by Bishop
Nicholson on the gathering of Israel. Dr. Gordon
is a man, I should judge, of about forty-five years
of age. He is finely proportioned, physically, of
light complexion, short hair, clean-shaven face,

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THE FIRST RESURRECTION.

weighing about 190 pounds. PI is general appear-
ance is that of generosity, sincerity and intelligence
equally and beautifully blending. As a speaker,
he is clear and distinct in utterance, forcible and
attractive in manner. In the Baptist denomination
his character is good, and his reputation is pure.
By common consent he was accepted as one of the
leaders in the Conference. The doctrine and theory
of the first resurrection, as propounded by him, the
Conference delighted to accept and indorse. In
this discourse we will kindly criticise Dr. Gordon's
paper, and show you that the doctrine set forth by
him is not Scriptural as a whole ; at many points it
is weak and anti-Scriptural.

In the Bible we have it recorded that two per-
sons were translated, namely, Enoch and Elijah.
In the sermon on the two witnesses some time ago,
we gave you our opinion on Moses, stating that he
was translated. But passing by Moses, and accept-
ing the immortal change of Enoch and Elijah, we
have two types of the great and marvellous change
that will be wrought on the saints living on the
earth when Christ comes again.

There are eight distinct resurrections mentioned,
three in the Old and five in the New Testament.
1st. The child of the widow of Zarephath, raised by
the prophet Elijah. — i Kings xvii. 22. 2nd. The
child of the Shunammite woman, raised by the
prophet Elisha. — 2 Kings iv. 32-37. 3rd. The dead
Moabitish soldier, whose body in haste and fear
was thrown into the tomb of Elisha. " And when

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the man was let down, and touched the bones of
Elisha, he revived and stood up on his feet." — 2nd
Kings xiii. 21. 4th. The daughter of Jairus, raised
by the Saviour. — Luke viii. 54-55. 5th. The widow's
son at Nain, raised by the blessed Master. — Luke
vii. 14-15. 6th. Lazarus at Bethany was called
forth to life by Jesus. — John xi. 43-44. 7th. The
benevolent Tabitha, or Dorcas, of Joppa, raised by
the apostle Peter. — Acts x. 40-41. 8th. Eutychus,
who fell asleep under one of Paul's sermons at
Troas, and dropped from his seat, which was in a
window, and was killed, but restored to life by the
apostle Paul. — Acts xx. 9-12. Besides these, no
doubt many others were raised, both by the Saviour
and His apostles ; for when the Saviour sent them
forth He told them to preach, saying, " The king-
dom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse
the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils ; freely ye
have received, freely give." — Matt. x. 7-8. All that
the Saviour and the apostles did is not recorded ;
for, as John says of the Saviour : " There are also
many other things which Jesus did, the which, if
they should be written every one, I suppose that
even the world itself could not contain the books
that should be written."

This is certain, there are at least eight persons
in eternity who have died twice, mortally, and three
who have never yet died once. Besides, there are
many there who have been resurrected, according
to the words of our text. What number the word
*' many " in the text represents, it is difficult to say.

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A clue to this number we have in the great pyramid
in Egypt. In the grand gallery, thirty-three inches
from the entrance, there is a deep pit through the
floor leading to a certain chamber below. From
this point there are fifty-six miniature graves, in
bas-relief beautifully carved in the polished side
wall — they are empty. The symbolism of the
grand gallery stands for the dispensation of Christ ;
inches being accounted for years. The open pit
thirty-three inches in from the entrance, represents
Christ, who was buried at about the age of thirty-
three. The mouth of the pit is rugged and very
irregular, as if it had been burst through from below.
By pyramidologists it is very generally agreed upon
that this pit symbolizes Christ's resurrection ; His
bursting of the barriers of the grave ; His conquest
over death ; while the fifty-six empty graves grandly
symbolize the orderly resurrection of the many who
came o*ut of their graves aff.er His resurrection. It
is a rather notable fact that the pit mouth measures
fifty-six inches. Also, in the science of number,
seven stands for perfection, or the good, and eight
for the world, or bad, and these multiplied one by
the other give fifty-six — the resurrection will be of
both the good and bad. This pyramid is the sign
and witness of the Lord of Hosts, set in Egypt, or
as Isaiah xix. 19 has it: "In that day shall there
be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of
Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the
Lord. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness
unto the Lord of Hosts in the land of Egypt ; for

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they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppres-
sors, and He shall send them a Saviour and a great
on J, and He shall deliver them." In one sense,
this passage may teach the deliverance of the chil-
dren of Israel from Egypt under Moses. But in its
grandest and truest symbolism it teaches the deliv-
erance of the dead spoken of in the text by Christ.
^^ Ante e anastasis e prote!' This is the first resur-
rection. First in time, first in the Testament record.
To Dr. Gordon and members of the late Confer-
ence, we state, without fear of contradiction, the
first resurrection is past ; it is an accomplished fact ;
it is not an event for the future.

It is a remarkable fact that none of the essayists
of the late Conference quoted this passage ; but
the reason is plain, for the facts of the text upset
all their calculations. Dr. Gordon carefully began
his essay by taking up the figurative and symbolic
passage of Rev., 20th chapter. It had been better
for him and the Conference, had he begun at the
other end of the New Testament. One of the
plainest rules of Scripture exegesis is to interpret
the mysterious and symbolic parts by the natural
and simple. This simple rule the Conference very
significantly and generally reversed. Had they not
done so, they would most assuredly have seen
that the first resurrection is past. And if one read
the 20th chapter of Revelation in the light of the
text, the whole will naturally corroborate* and sus-
tain it. This chapter is an epitome of much that
has gone before. John sums up as Dr. Gordon,

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did at the close of his essay. The chapter bcj^n'tis
with Christ coming to redeem, and ends with the
general and final judgment. So naturally the two
last chapters have reference to the new heaven
and new earth that will be after judgment.

Let us examine this famous chapter, which i.«,
the one great stronghold of all who believe in two
resurrections to come. John says : " And I saw
an angel come down from heaven, having the key
of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his
hand." The angel here spoken of Dr. Gordon be-
lieves stands for Christ. So do I. For if we in-
quire who is set forth as having the key of this pit,
we shall find that Christ claims to have it. " I am
He that liveth and was dead ; and behold, I am
alive forevermore, Amen ; and have the keys of
hell and death." — Rev. i. i8. John, in the second
and third verses, then says that this angel "laid
hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the
devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him
up and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive
the nations no more till the thousand years shall
be fulfilled ; and after that he must be loosed a
little season." Now, what is set forth as the spec-
ial work of the angel — Christ — I believe He has
done. So St. Paul teaches, not figuratively, but
plainly, in Hebrews ii. 14 : " Forasmuch then as
the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He
also Himself likewise took part of the same ; that
through death He might destroy him that had the

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power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage." The event spoken of by-
Paul is not a future one, but a thing of the past.
The devil's presence in the world now is found in
the spirit of disobedience, which workcth in the un-
godly. Ik'tween the death on the cross, and the
resurrcc tiun, Christ went into this spirit land, and
conquered the devil and his angels. Before His
incarnation and during His life, the devil had the
privilege of going to and fro in heaven and on
earth. His angels could enter into persons. They
were a terror in the land of Judca. The devils
knew Jesus, His work and mission. In the Gada-
rene country the Saviour met two of the wildest
and fiercest of their kind leaping from the tombs.
When they saw Jesus approaching them they cried
out saying, " What have we to do with Thee, Jesus,
Thou son of God ? art Thou come hither to tor-
ment us before the time ? " — Matt. viii. 29. Satan,
before Christ conquered him, was the "prince of
this v/orld," " prince of the power of the air," " the
god of this world." The blessed Jesus knew what
was His work. He said to His disciples, " Now
is the judgment of this world ; now shall the prince
of this world be cast out." — John xii. 31. The
devil was the strong one Christ bound that he
might despoil him. He had conquered Satan once
before. And he said unto them, "I beheld Satan
as lightning falling from heaven." As he neared
His crucifixion and the great gladiatorial contest.

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He said to His disciples, " Hereafter I will not
talk much with you, for the prince of this world
Cometh, and hath nothing in Me." The Holy
Spirit accepts this judgment and teaches it. " Of
judgment, because the prince of this world is
judged."

The text tells us that Christ rose from the dead.
That we all believe. It also says that many of the
saints rose, and the writer carefully puts in this
clause, "after the resurrection." The order of the
resurrection the Scriptures very beautifully point
out : First, Christ ; second, the first-fruits ; third,
those at Christ's coming. The text gives to Christ
the first place, agreeing with Paul in writing to the
Colossians, when he says, " And He is the head of
the body, the Church ; who is the begirming, the
first born frofn the dead, that in all things He
might have the pre-eminence." If Christ only had
risen from the dead, His work would have been
very in mplete ; for in Him was no sin — hence
none oi the seeds of death. He laid down His life,
and He took it up again. We, as mortals, cannot
lay ours down ; it is taken from us, whether we
will or not. Neither could we take it up of our-
selves. Christ is our deliverer and our resurrec-
tion. To have simply conquered death in His own
person would not have been sufficient. He must
conquer it in man, over man, and for man. In
order to complete His work it was necessary to
raise some as first-fruits, that from these the coming
harvest might be judged. It is plain that Christ has

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not only conquered sin besides death in Himself,
but in and for some of our kind. These, thus
raised, are evidences of His victory and pledges of
our resurrection. They are the first-fruits, with
Himself, of them that slept. As Enoch and Elijah
are types and assurances of those who will be
changed at the last day, so these trophies of Christ
are the sure tokens of His victory and types of our
own resurrection. With these He ascended up on
high and made an open show of them. If a man
die, shall he live again ? asks Job. This question
is sublimely and satisfactorily answered in the text.
Our assurance in Christ is that we shall have an
eternal life of body, soul and spirit — painless and
deathless. He came not to destroy, but that we
might have life more abundantly. The first-fruits
are like the following harvest. Christ returned not
to heaven alone without specimens of His glorious
work. When ascending from Olivet these raised
ones were with Him, and he sent two of tlitm
back to tell the disciples, who were gazing after
Him, what to do and expect. "And while they
looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He went up,
behold two men stood by them in white apparel."
the word rendered " men " is andres^ and means
two men. Who were they ? They had bodies all
glorious and complete. The answer is plain — they
were two of the many raised with Christ.

The theory that puts off the first resurrection
to the future leaves Christ's work very incomplete
and unsatisfactory. *' Every man in his own order."
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Ekastos de en to idto tagtnati. That tagma means
a band, a cohort or division, none will deny. Christ
was first ; then those who had suffered death for
His sake — some of the old patriarchs and prophets,
no doubt. " For the testimony of Jesus is the
sprit of prophecy." Pepelekisrnenon means such as
were beheaded with an axe. Now the parties
mentioned by Paul to the Hebrews, in the latter
part of the eleventh chapter, give us some idea who
the parties were who were raised. After mention-
ing over a number of worthies, he says : '* And
others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that
they might obtain a better resurrection." The
theory of Dr. Gordon, and the Conference, sends
the Captain to heaven alone, without any cohort or
saints attending Him. We believe He ascended
with these saints, and made an open show of them
as he passed principalities and powers, as Paul says.
It is not written that Christ is the first-fruit, but the
first-fruits^ the word fruit being in the plural. The
Greek word aparche is applied in Greek to the offer-
ing or first-fruits, and the usus loquendi of the Greek
compels us to employ more than one, hence, Christ
alone would not meet the Greek idea of aparche.
What is meant by the term a thousand years?
We answer, a round and complete period of time.
In the numerical symbolism of the Bible and gene-
ral interpretation of the learned, as well as the
ancient church fathers, a thousand stood for per-
fection — for universal perfection — as seven stands
for perfection of a part, or one thing. A thousand

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means perfection of many parts and things. When
appHed to Providence within the bounds of the dis-
pensation of grace, it means from Christ's first
coming to redeem to His final coming to close and
judge the world. And in this chapter it is so used,
for the chapter closes with the general judgment ;
after which, very naturally, come the new heavens
and new earth. Dr. Gordon and the Conference were
ignorant at a point which the inspired word had
given them caution not to be, for Peter says : " But,
beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing : that
one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and
a thousand years as one day,"

In the fourth, fifth and sixth verses of this
twentieth chapter of Revelation John goes on
to say :

"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them,
and judgment was given unto them; and I saw
the souls of them that were beheaded for the wit-
ness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which
had not worshipped the beast, neither his image,
neither had received His mark upon their foreheads,
or in their hands ; and they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand years.

" But the rest of the dead lived not again until
the thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection.

" Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the
first resurrection ; on such the second death hath
no power, but they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

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THE FIRST RESURRECTION.

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This John sees after Christ has bound Satan ;
then he says, "And I saw thrones, and they sat
upon them, and judgment was given to them." It
is very pertinent, just here, to ask who are meant
by t//ey and t/iem f We answer, those that were
raised with Christ ; and they are to live and reign
with Christ a thousand years, that is, to the end of
the world. But the rest of the dead will not live
in a resurrected state till the end of time ; and it
was surely blessed and holy to have part in such a
resurrection. The passage is made difficult because
John interjects a scene and a fact that to him and
to us as yet is future, but will be made manifest in
connection with the loosening of Satan for a short
time ; for he is to be let loose for a season. The
time of this loosening of Satan no one need mis-
take, for it is the time of Anti-Christ, the great
battle of Gog and Magog with the hosts of Israel
and Judah in Palestine. On this point prophecy
converges clearly, and makes the interpretation
safe and very unanimous. The passage interjected
in the fourth verse is this : " And I saw the souls
of them that were beheaded for the witness of
Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not
worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had
received his mark upon their foreheads or in their
hands." Now the scene interjected ends, and John
goes on and says, "And they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand years," that is, they whom, in
the first part of the verse, he saw on the thrones,
The fact is, Dr. Gordon cannot claim a resurrection

THE FIRST RESURRECTION.

389

of these, for they will not be dead in time for Christ's
first advent. It is as clear as noonday that the
parties spoken of by John as being beheaded are
to be slain when the beast and Anti-Christ are en-
throned and slain because they refuse to worship
the beast or receive his mark. All will agree that
the beast is not yet enthroned, the Jews not gathered,
and the person of Anti-Christ has not yet appeared.
How, then, in the face of all this, can Dr. Gordon
and the Conference declare that Christ may come
at any moment ? If He came now His beheaded
souls would not be ready.

This beast is not yet fully visible ; he is to join
with the dragon and Anti-Christ, and will try and
force all the world to receive his mark in their hand
and on their forehead ; and without these marks no
man is to do business. (See Rev. xiii.)

Dr. Gordon lays great stress on ^^ Ante e anas-
tasis e prote." This is resurrection the first. So I
believe that John referred to the first resurrection,
which in the text is a fact ; and the resurrection
which the Conference believes in and advocates
will in all fairness be the second. To sustain his
argument, he quotes from 2 Thess. iv. 16, " For
the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with
the trump of God ; and the dead in Christ shall
rise first" The word first here, he thinks, teaches
a precedence in a resurrection yet to come. But
any one can see in a moment that this is not the
meaning. The Thessalonians began to be dis-

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THE FIRST RESURRECTION.

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turbed about the dead, as to how and when they
would be raised up. They supposed that those
who remain to be translated would some way or
other prevent the dead from being resurrected.
Keeping this thought in your mind, while I read
to you the 13th, 14th and 15th verses, all will
appear reasonable. " But I would not have you to
be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are
asleep ; that ye sorrow not, even as others which
have no hope ; for if we believe that Jesus died
and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with Him ; for this we say
unto you by the word of the Lord : that we which
are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord
shall not prevent them which are asleep ; for the
Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with
the trump of God ; and the dead in Christ shall
rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them." On the
very face of it, we see that the word first means
that the dead will be raised before the living are
changed, so that those living to be translated at
Christ's coming cannot prevent them that are
asleep, for they shall be raised 'before the living
are changed.

The same idea Paul teaches in i Cor. xv. 52 :
" In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet ; for the trumpet shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed!' So you see that raised first simply

THE FIRST RESURRECTION.

391

means not before the wicked or any others, but
before the translation of the saints. The order is :
first, Christ descending ; second, the Archangel's
shout ; third, the trumpet blast ; fourth, the dead
raised, and fifth, the living changed. The general
order commencing at the beginning is : first, Christ ;
second, the first-fruits ; third, all the dead at Christ's
coming ; fourth, the translation of the saints.
These points you will see for yourselves, and so
seeing, it will be apparent to you how great and
grievous were the mistakes of the late Prophetic
Conference. There are many other points I desire
to take up, such as Paul's desire to attain unto
the resurrection of the dead. He became an
Apostle by extraordinary means. Christ came
specially from Heaven to call and qualify him.
For an Apostle had to see with the natural eye
and hear with the natural ear the very person of
Christ. All this was granted Paul. He was born
o:it of due time. So he thought he might be born
out of due time in the resurrection matter. That
is, have a special one, as he had had a special call to
his Apostleship. More next Sunday.

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TRANSLATION,

DISCOURSE XXVII.

9'i

THE CONFERENCE MUDDLE — CLOTHING THE TRUTH "WITH
MYSTERY AND DIVISION " — OBJECTS OF CHRIST'S ADVENT —
TRANSFIGURATION, TRANSUBSTANTIATION AND TRANSLATION
— HOW THE WORLD WILL END.

Text — I Cor. xv. 51-52.

" Behold, I show you a mystery : we shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump ; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead
shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

N this discourse we desire to call your
attention to the doctrine of the trans-
lation of the Saints, having especial
reference to the teachings of the late
Prophetic Conference on this point.
Noting the wit, wisdom and piety of the Confer-
ence, the public were naturally led to expect that
they would simplify some of the mysteries of reve-
lation. In this, however, we are obliged to con-
fess the Conference a failure. Not content with
one resurrection, nor two, they made out that
there are yet four resurrections to take place,
namely : First, the resurrection of the just ; this

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TRANSLATION.

393

will take place at the time of Christ's advent. The
second resurrection will include what are called the
tribulation saints, meaning thereby those saints
who will be slain during the time of Anti-Christ.
They will be raised when Christ returns with His
saints who had been translated some seventy-five
years or so before, and the just dead who had been
raised at that time — both of which will have been
with Christ in the air somewhere during the
seventy-five years of tribulation. With these Christ
comes a second time. The first time he came only
in the air, soaring around like an eagle among
the clouds, and being met by His translated and
raised ones. The second time He comes He
brings these translated and raised ones back with
Him to the earth. With these, and at this time,
Christ will establish His kingdom on earth, being
Himself the king, and certain favoured ones His
princes. This will be the millennium, and it is
supposed to last for a thousand years.

When these thousand years are ended, the
devil, by some means, will get out of his prison,
and raise a fearful row. He will upturn the nations,
and play havoc with the saints and kingdom of
Jesus. But finally, he will be suppressed, and, with
his angels, cast into hell fire, and shut up forevqr.

Then the third resurrection will take place — of
the righteous that have died since the second resur-
rection. And, fourthly, the sinners, from Adam's
time to the end of the world, will be raised. No
one can deny but that they will have had a long

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TRANSLATION.

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sleep. After this wc have the judgment, then the
real end of time — the dawn of eternity. The devil
and his an^^cls, and the condemned sinners, will bo
hid away and separated from the rest of the universe
for ever. Christ's real, lasting and glorious king-
dom in the new heavens and new earth will be set
up, no more to decay or pass away.

The Conference idea of the doctrine of the
translation of the saints is somewhat mixed. For
making out the translation to take place at Christ's
next coming, and from this point first advent, they
are forced to have another translation at the end
of the world unless they allow that all will have
died, of mortal kind, and thus end the world by
depopulating it gradually. Then, when the last
mortal person dies, be the same saint or sinner, a
a man or woman, the world will end. For at the
end of the millennium Christ will leave this world
for a short time. His absence will give Satan a
good chance, for this is the time appointed for him
to be let loose for a little season. From heaven
Christ will return jwith angels, and the saints that
have died during the thousand years, and during
the time of Satan's freedom. He will put an end
to Satan's rule, raise the dead, and change, or trans-
late the living, unless, as we have said before, they
have all died, which I presume no member of the
Conference would argue.

The first translation, by way of distinction, is
called the " Rapture," and according to the verdict
of the Conference, it may take place any day, or

TRANSI,ATION.

395

any moment from now onward. Nay, one of the
most prominent speakers said that "Christ might
come ere the Conference was over." In this advent
Christ will be personal, but yet only visible to the
privileged few. Nothing strange in sky, air, or
earth will be seen by the ungodly and unqualified
saints. These favoured few and chosen ones will
simply disappear without any noise or commotion.
If this advent take place in the day time in this
country — and I hope it will, if it takes place at all
— then certain men and women will be missing —
some at their homes, some at their business, some
sick and some well. Men returning home from
their day's toil will inquire of the servant or children
for rriamma, but no one can account for the absence.*
Wives will wait dinner for their husbands, and be-
come, no doubt, impatient ; but the husband will
not file in an appearance. Then there will be, I
imagine, a general and terrified rush of mothers,
fathers, sons, daughters, husbands and wives to the
police-stations in every precinct, giving '^he alarm
of the missing ones. Telegrams will pass from city
to city, from country to country ; and amidst the
wild commotion and amazement, the solemn fact
will be revealed that the saints have been translated.
If it should occur in the night, as of course it must
in some parts of the world, still let us hope that the
United States will not be so unfortunate. Then
the terror will be intensified, for wives will wal«E
up and find no husbands, and husbands no wives,

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TRANSLATION.

children no mother, some no father ; mourninpf and
wailing will make the night hideous and alarming,
as when the Egyptians bemoaned the loss of tlicir
first-born. Thoughts of abduction, of kidnapping,
of foul play and murder will fill the minds (^f the
bereaved ones at first. Unjust and unholy thoughts
will find expression, and many of the departed
saints will be charged with eloping. But when the
real truth becomes known, the sad dispensation will
modify and assuage the passions and griefs of the
unfortunate left behind. By the teachings of the
Conference, business will go on without any great
apparent change. A few pulpits will be vacant,
such as the First Presbyterian Church in St. Louis,
*or the Clarendon Street Baptist Church, Boston,
Mass., or the Church of Holy Trinity, on Madison
Avenue, New York, and a few such, but nothing
more.

You will at once see, that instead of the Con-
ference making the doctrines of Jesus plainer and
fewer, they have clothed them with more of mystery
and division. The doctrine of the translation of
the saints as presented by them is not wholesome
in its effects for good. It is selfish in its operation,
and expresses and reflects a divine form of govern-
ment that is weak and very incompetent. The
whole doctrine, as so advocated, presents a govern-
ment shorn of strength, and a ruler whose wisdom
it not equal to the follies and genius of sin ; but,
especially, does it depreciate the unity and contin-
uity of God's government and His love. Think of

rUANSLATlON.

yj7

Christ taking a few away, and lifting them up in
mid-air to meet f lim and be with Him, and actu-
ally taking them away to roam in some cloud-girt
region — in some clysian abode for about seventy-
five years — and leaving the world and the rest of
His church on earth, void of its purest and best, to
fight, struggle, endure and suffer the years of tribu-
lation ; then coming back after a time with these
choice ones to quell the strife of earth, to heal the
wounds of sin, to pity His suffering church that has
waded through the blood and carnage of tribulation
— He who by His very presence can hush to dread
silence the warring hosts of Anti-Christ, the beast
and the dragon. He whose voice in the day of
His incarnation spoke to the ruffled sea of Galilee,
and the wind and waves subsided obedient to His
command, will then speak to the angry hosts of hell
on earth, and Satan and his hosts shall quail to
terrified submission. He who, once on a time,
turned over the tables of the money-changers and
drove out from the temple the trading multitude,
and by whom a simple cord was made a scorpion
lash of revenge. Shall it be said that He descends
in the air to decoy and take away the pure ones
from among men, and then hide away to revel with
His chosen ones, while the church remaining on earth
shall heave and throe in agony and despair against
the unrestrained and hell-led hosts of the ungodly
multitude ? We answer, no ! because if ever Jesus
returns to earth, or in the air, to work miracles, and
depart from the usual form of administrating His

II I.

398

TRANSLATION.

government, it will not be to aeprive the world of
the good and the true, and weaken His church, and
give unusual opportunities to the ungodly, but to
strengthen His church, encourage His people, and
restrain the forces of sin and hell. The prayer of
the blessed Master holds good and prevails now :
" I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of
the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from
the evil. — John xvii. 15. The views of the late Con-
ference on the translation of the saints are alto-
gether too aristocratic and too little democratic for
me to accept.

I believe in the translation of the saints, but
only in one, and that this event will take place at
the end of the world. It is the way the world will
end. When a boy I often wondered how the world
would close up. I very naturally thought that men
would live and die until only one person would be
left and he would own everything. The last person
I thought I would like to be. Riper years have
made me acquainted with God's grand revelation
on this point. How pleasant it is to turn from the
jangling and wrangling of men and conferences to
the simple and beautiful teachings of heaven as
given us in the Bible. As taught by Paul — Eph. i.
9 — " God has made known unto us the mystery of
His will, according to His good pleasure which He
hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensa-
tion of the fulness of times He might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which
are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in

TRANSLATION.

399

Him." Not by gathering a part now, another part
some other time, but gathering all the time until
the complement originally intended, as to number,
be completed, I am not one of those who believe
that creation and Providence are accidental. In all
there is wisdom, purpose and precision. God knew
how many He desired of human beings for this
world. The law of procreation is not now outside
of Providential rule and regulation. Sin entering
necessitated a change of Providential administra-
tion. Death and resurrection are both the sequence
of sin and also the doctrine of the translation of the
saints. But for sin, as far as we can discern, hu-
manity would have multiplied sinless and death-
less up to the point of the God-designed number.
The atonement of Christ and all the economy of
grace in heaven and earth seek to accomplish this
and this alone : to put the earth and the inhabitants
in the condition they would have been had not sin
entered the world.

The present government is temporary. But by
and by it will have run its course and answered its
ends. " And I have put My words in thy mouth,
and I have covered thee in the shadow of Mine
hand, that I may plant the heavens and lay the
foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou
art My people." — Is. li. i6. Through nature changes
are going on that wilj ultimate in a renewed earth ;
the earth now is getting ready, and is kept in store
for its own regeneration and purifying fire, when,
phcenix-like, it shall come forth fire-begotten and

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TRANSLATION.

made anew. A home for the human saints whose
home had temporarily been in heaven. The mission
of Christ was for this very purpose. " For I came
down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but
the will of Him that sent Me ; and this is the
Father's will which hath sent Me, that of all which
He hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day!^ — John vi. 38. This
point is made evident by the very commission given
unto our first parents after they had sinned. "And
unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply
thy sorrow and thy conception." Because some of
the vessels would be unclean and unfit, others would
have to be made in their place. That is, sin makes
the number to be born more than would have been
had there been no sin. Thus Eve, who was origi-
nally designed to be the mother of the good and
pure only, was constituted the mother of both good
and bad ; so Adam changed her name to note the
event. "And Adam called his wife's name Eve,
because she was the mother of all living."

In years to come this number will begin to com-
plete, then births will cease. The last born will be
called children though they be a hundred years old.
The life of men, then, will be as the life of a tree
for continuance, and an old man will not die til! he
has filled out his days. Then they will " teach no
more every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying know the Lord ; for they shall all
know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest
of them, saith the Lord." — Jer. xxxi. 34. God will

TRANSLATION.

401

close up things orderly, kindly, peaceably and wisely
Christ will not close the world while many are just
being born or dying, nor will he wait till the last
man dies ; but as soon as the number is completed,
intended for the new earth, Christ will descend with
his bodiless saints — giving them all a new and
spiritual body — then changing the millions that
will be living ; a change that will transform them
from time into eternity, from mortality to immor-
tality, from a material body to a spiritual body,
from weakness to power. The millions thus trans-
formed finding themselves equal with those who
have been resurrected, will break forth into spon-
taneous thanksgiving, saying, " Oh, death, where
is thy sting ? Oh, grave, where is thy victory ?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin
is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." — i Cor.
XV. 55.

We read in this same chapter that the last enemy
that shall be destroyed is death. It is at Christ's
final coming this destruction will take place. "Then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written :
* Death is swallowed up in victory.'" And why and
how swallowed up ? Because there will not be a liv-
ing person liable to death, all having been changed ;
nor a dead person not resurrected, for Christ will
raise them all up at the last day.

There are three words in common use which it
is well to understand. The first is transfiguration.
This is when the mortal is changed into a glorified
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402

TRANSLATION.

appearance ; it is mortality gilded over with glory ;
mortality made radiant and refulgent in the pres-
ence of the sheen of the spirit-land, as the face of
Moses on returning from the mount ; Christ and
His disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. The
second word is transubstantiation. This simply
means the translation of a spirit back within the
bounds and signs and limitations of the material.
The conversion of the sacramental elements of bread
and wine in the Lord's supper is transubstantia-
tion. Our Roman Catholic friends believe in this
doctrine — that the very bread and wine are changed
into the very body and blood of Christ. The
change thus effected is declared to be so perfect
and complete that, by connection and concomit-
tance, the soul and divinity of Christ co-exist with
His flesh and blood, under the species of bread
and wine. Thus the elements, and every particle
thereof, contain Christ whole and entire, divinity,
humanity, soul, body and blood, with all their
component parts. Transubstantiation is a trans-
lation from eternity to time, from the infinite to
the finite — the very opposite of translation.

The third word is translation ; it means and
embraces all the special qualities of transfiguration
and transubstantiation. The body of the translated
saints will be all radiant and glorious within and
without, shining as the brightness of the firmament
of stars. It will be immortal and infinite in dura-
tion and fitness. Christ will raise the dead first,
for the dead in Christ shall rise first — then those

TRANSLATION.

403

alive will be changed. " The dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed." This is
the Scripture order, but not the Conference order,
as we pointed out to you last Sabbath evening.
We shall not all sleep, that is — die ; but we shall
all be changed — for death carries us into eternity,
changes us from the mortal to the immortal ; so
translation will change those living from time to
eternity ; thus we will all be changed, but not all
sleep.

The Conference also holds to two judgments.
The first will take place when Christ comes with
His saints to end the tribulation. This is called a
judgment of the quick, a sort of national judgment.
The second will take place at the end of the mil-
lennium, on the great white throne. The translated
saints, however, they believe, as do the Plymouth
Brethren, will not be subject to a trial or judgment.
But believe me, dear friends, and believe so as to
prepare for judgment — " For we must all stand
before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is
written, *As I live, saith the Lord, every knee
shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall con-
fess to God.' So then every one of us shall give
an account of himself to God." — Rom. xiv. 10.

The doctrine of the translation of the saints, as
taught by the late Conference, I think to be wrong,
as to time, place and persons. There is one happy
conclusion amidst all this confusion. It is that the
real Christian soul may contain in itself all these

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TRANSLATION.

doctrines. That is, if you are ready and always
prepared to die, you then are grandly prepared to
live, or for the coming of the blessed Jesus, or the
end of the world. Let me exhort you to be ever
so prepared. Rest in peace, wait in hope and
labour in love.

HOW THE WORLD WILL END.

DISCOURSE XXVIII.

AN ORDINARY AND REASONABLE CLOSE — " POISONOUS AND SUBTLE"
THEOLOGY — CHRIST PRESENT TO THE END — ORIGIN OF SIN —
POWER OF GOOD AND EVIL — INFIDEL SCIENTISTS — VORTICOSE
MOTION— THE LAST MAN — MONKEY EVOLUTION— MANASSEF'S
FUTURE — SIGNS OF THE MILLENNIUM.

Text — ist Cor. xv. 28.

" And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then
shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all
things under Him, that God may be all in all."

r i 1;

AST Sabbath evening we pointed out to
you God's method of closing this world.
We learn from His word that it will be
closed in an orderly and reasonable way.
The divine ideal will yet be attained, not by a rash
exercise of power, wide of wisdom, or void of love,
but by such means as will be consociate with the
known character and being of the Creator. God
will not at any time trample upon His own estab-
lished laws, as found in man or nature. If man be
free, then God will deal with him as a free-agent.
Man alone must barter away his own freedom ; it
will not be taken from him by any overmastering

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HOW THE WORLD WILL END.

power. By his owp fault he may narrow the realm
of freedom, and make restraint necessary. It is not
the fault of the law, or the presiding judge, that
arrests and condemns the criminal ; it is the crimi-
nal's own fault. We deprecate that kind of theology
which looks upon the Creator as an Infinite Giant,
who is holding Himself in reserve, waiting a favour-
able opportunity to swoop down on this world,
wreaking vengeance on its puny inhabitants, who
will waste and destroy all before Him, and who
will satiate a long, pent-up desire by an exercise of
power that none or aught can withstand.

Many seem to think that God can do all they
give Him to do. With a sort of triumphant air,
they ask this question: Cannot God do as He
likes, and set up His kingdom whenever He
chooses } To this we answer, Yes, God can do as
He likes ; but He will not like to do that which
would be contradictory, or that would despise His
own laws in nature, or trample upon and set at
nuught the gifts and endowments of man. He will
never like to forestall His own judgment, or set at
naught the revelation He has given us. God is
consistent in His bearings toward all, yea, even
with the sinner as well as the saint. If He could,
by a simple exercise of the will, annihilate the
power and sequence of sin, and such an exercise
should be consistent. He would do it in a moment,
for He desires all to be saved. The trouble is that
men are not thus saved, and God does not so act.
Any one who believes that God has in reserve such

How THE WORLD WILL END.

407

power, and that He could rightcuusly exercise it
at any moment, and yet does not, presents a view
of the Divine that my whole soul shrinks from.
They make God responsible for the woes and wail-
ings of earth, and the bitterness and torments of
the hereafter. Take it for granted, dear friends,
that God ever and always has and will use all the
power He can for the benefit of His creatures.
There is no margin between His power and loving
disposition. His wisdom goes to the uttermost,
backed by power and prompted by love, to rescue
the lost, and bless all.

By certain questions some kinds of theological
theories are established and maintained. They
are poisonous and subtle, deceiving the multitude.
Notwithstanding all this they seem simple, clear
and reasonable. The question is put, the consent
is given ; then deductions and inferences are readily
drawn, which, from the assumed premises, are cor-
rect. But the premises are defective and deceitful.
The pith of the errors attaching to Adventism is to
be found in this question and consent : Cannot God
do as He likes .-^ He most assuredly can, we all
answer. But we soon divide when we come to
define what His like is. One class of interpreters
look upon His like as a thing by itself, not cur-
tailed, limited or circumscribed by aught past,
present or future ; the other class look upon His
like as being curtailed, limited and circumscribed
by all that is past and present ; and that the past
and present do most certainly set bounds to the

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HOW THE WORLD WILL KNI).

future. On this account we can rely upon God
and trust in His government, for He is not arbi-
trary, impulsive or unreasonable ; but He is stead-
fast and true to wisdom and law. We advise the
first class of interpreters to haul in their banner,
and no longer proclaim to the world their ignor-
ance. Christ is coming every day. He is marching
on most gloriously. He promised to be with His
church to the end ; and as His church enlarges, so
does He in presence and power.

It is very needful that we should have a correct
view of the divine ideal of this world. What did
God intend this world to be when He created our
first parents ? In another way let me ask. What
would have been the condition of man and nature
if sin had not entered into this world ? A true
answer to this question is all important, because
whatever man and nature would have been on a
sinless line of existence, that is God's ideal. The
atonement and redemption in Christ, with all the
means and agencies in Heaven, hell or earth, aim
at reproducing this ideal. It is God's intention to
throw both man and nature back into the original
condition ; to subject and subdue all things, even
Jesus, that God may be all in all. I believe God
will yet have this very world so renewed and
changed, and so inhabited with sinless human, but
immortal men and women as He originally designed
to have it had not sin entered.

The introduction of sin made a change of gov-
ernment necessary — a new creation on man's part.

now TllK WORLD WILL END.

409

The first creation was in Adam. In him and with
him we died ; but the curse, dealli and sequences
of the first Adam are all to be removed from us in
due time by the second Adam. " As in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
" Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the
law, beinj; made a curse for us." No man will be
condemned for Adam's sake ; every man will be
condemned on his own responsibility. Thus says
Paul : " Therefore do we labour and suffer reproach
because we trust in the living God, who is the
Saviour of all men, especially f them that believe."
It isn't our sin that brings death, but Adam's. It
isn't our goodness that brings the resurrection, but
Christ's. Christ has saved all men once ; many he
will have saved twice. Those who in riper years
and responsibility have sinned and believed on Him
for the forgiveness of sin, are saved twice. He is
the Saviour of all men — specially of them that
believe.

This divine ideal we can easily come at by what
Paul says to the Ephesians : " For we are His work-
manship created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them." God's ideal is to have a sinless,
deathless and happy world, where man and nature
shall be sweetly and kindly adjusted one to the
other, and both in harmony with His bounteous
goodness.

Sin was not introduced by God into this world ;
it is not a thing He willed into existence. It being

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HOW THK WOKI.I) WIIJ. KNI>.

a thin^' outside of God, it follows, as it came so
must it retire. It came from the competence of
goodness, and so must it be overcome. I regard
sin as an accident, yet not a thing of chance, but of
endowed competence. Man's god-like gift of free-
dom and will-power are all sufficient to originate
sin and ^i.e a reason for sin's entrance into this
world. Sin is not, as to the past, eternal, therefore
it cannot be its own author. Goodness being the
very opposite, could not, from its very nature, be
the author of sin. Sin or evil, touching the human
family, originated in man's gift of freedom. Sin is
a derangement, and as such it must be counter-
acted, else desolation and destruction must fall
upon the universe. Through Christ it is to be
resisted and overcome, so far as possible. With
reference to this world it will entirely be overcome
— not a vestige of it will be found in the new
heavens and new earth. The triumphs of sin and
Satan are not to be forever.

Let me quote from a sermon of my own which
I gave you some time ago : " It is very important
that we have clear conceptions of the nature and
design of Providence with respect to this world ;
also the relation of Heaven to this earth, now and
in time to come ; for each individual is a part of the
earth, and each individual is related to Heaven.
None of us can afford to be incurious of the future.
If we desire to know what the destiny of tnis earth
is, and what is to be our fate, we should study God's
word and providence.

HOW THE WORLD WH.L END.

411

" The Creator had a desipjn when He made the
world — He had a purpose in man's creation which
was in harmony with His exalted character and
infinite attributes. That this design implied beauty,
peace, security, harmony, is a just inference from a
reasonable conception of God as all-wise, all-power-
ful and all-good. This perfect conception of the
Creator does not agree at present with the condi-
tions of the world. Something is wrong. The
divine verdict at the end of six days' work could
not now be given, for then * God saw everything
that he had made, and, behold, it was very ^ooc'.'
Surely an enemy hath entered into the world-field
and sown tares. Sin has entered into the world
with its blighting and disorganizing effect through
man. Freedom was a part of the rich endowment
of Adam. It is in this that manhood chiefly resides.
It is this that lifts him above the beast and allies
him to Heaven. The limitation and possibilities
of the creature do not imply any imperfection in
the Creator. If man be created, sin becomes possi-
ble, not from defect, but rather from the fact of his
perfect endowment. Two and two are four. If
two mountains are made, of necessity we have a
valley ; and it is not easy to conceive of two moun-
tains without a valley ; neither is it easy to con-
ceive of man without his ability to do good or evil.
Every agent is limited by the instrument. The
engine limits steam ; the child, the teacher. So
the Divine limits Himself when He goes forth in
creation. Sin perverts the divine purpose and ruins

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412

HOW THE WORLD WILL END.

man ; but the Divine is fruitful in devising a means
of deliverance. If the first purpose, in and through
Adam, fails, another way is opened np in Christ —
a way equally honourable to the creature and
Creator." It is on this line of thought that we can
profitably study, and rightly understand, how this
world will end. By an unskilful stroke with his
hammer the lapidary taps the precious gem of its
light, reducing, by one stroke, a sapphire to a com-
mon topaz. Formerly a stone so reduced was
beyond retrievement ; but lately science aids, and
now, by exposing such a depreciated sapphire to
the concentrated rays of the sun, and skill in grind-
ing of the facets, the stone can be restored, yea,
sometimes even enhanced in beauty and value.
What science has done in this direction Christ has
done for man ; sin reduced him to a common topaz,
Christ restores him back to a sapphire of beauty
and grace. Through Adam, who was the son of
God, we became sons of men ; through Christ we
become sons of God. God is in Christ reconciling
the world unto Himself, and He will succeed. The
glorified in Heaven know He will, for when Christ
returned to Heaven after His work of redemption
they sang a new song, which in the first part
recounted the triumphs of His work, their own
exalted position as kings and priests to God ; but
the last part was of a glorious hope, namely, that
they would yet reign on the earth. " And they
sang a new song, saying : Thou art worthy to take
the book and to open the seals thereof, for Thou

HOW THE WORLD WILL END.

413

wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by Thy
blood, out of every kindred and tongue, and people
and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings
and priests. And we shall reign on the earth." —
Rev. V.

The pride of man constantly tempts him to
relieve himself of obligation and dependence. This
is very plainly seen in this day. The best and
mightiest efforts of the scientists in accounting for
the origin of the things, forces and laws of nature
are removing God as far from us and all these
things as they can. By certain methods of com-
putation they carry us back to a time long ago —
one school to nine hundred thousand millions of
years. Another, somewhat more modest, sees the
infancy of this world three hundred thousand
millions of years ago. Here they pretended to
find the infant strong and healthy, so that from
that point it could do without a God. Through
all the changes, evolutions and revolutions from
that time to this, they need no ruler. Here, in
this far-off age, they find a vorticose motion germ
with a potency and promise of all that has followed
and will follow. They trace back the earth, sun
and stars to a liquid state, this to a gaseous one,
and then to an ethereal condition, and so on to
the primordial vorticose motions. This is their
God, their beginning ; law and development in
place of God and Providence. So far back and so
small is the beginning that one can truly say we

414

EiOW THE WORLD WILL END.

need no God, or to feel any obligation to the vor-
ticose fluid motions.

The end of the world and all things will come
in like manner ; ail resolving back into vorticose
motion, if not farther. By the term vorticose
motion, the scientist wishes to convey to our mind
the faintest, the very smallest, form of matter's
primordial existence that it is possible to con-
ceive. Ere we get to this point, many ends will
have been reached — the end of man, animals,
vegetables, solid earths, waters, and so on. The
" scientists " are about as much divided as to how
man will finish his race on earth, as are the differ-
ent sects of Adventists. We will give you a few
of these opinions, that you may see how unscientific
" science " is, in point of unity, when it comes to
dispose of man from the * a ""h. Of these theories
there are ten I will mention :

1st. The surface of the earth is steadily dimin-
ishing ; elevated regions are being lowered and the
seas are filling up. The land by and by will all
be submerged, and the last man will starve to
death.

2nd. The ice is gradually accumulating at the
north pole, and melting away at the south pole ;
the consequence will be in due time the earth will
change its centre of gravity sud< .'/ ; then there
will be an awful catastrophe, a flood iike unto the
Noahic. The last man will be drowned.

3rd. The earth cannot always escape a collision
with some comet ; when such collision occurs

HOW THE WORLD WILL END.

415

there will be a mingling of air and cemetery gas
— causing an explosion. The last man will be
blown up.

4th. There is a retarding medium in space,
which is causing a gradual loss of velocity in the
planets and the earth ; the law of gravitation will
draw them all nearer to the sun as they decrease
in speed, till finally they will fall into the sun.
The last man, of course, will be sunstruck.

5th. The amount of water on the earth is slowly
diminishing, and in consequence of this the air is
losing in quantity and quality. Finally, the earth
will become an arid waste, like the moon. The
last man will be suffocated.

6th. Other suns have disappeared, and ours
must in its turn, and sooner or later blaze up and
then disappear. The intense heat of the conflagra-
tion will, of course, kill every living thing. The
last man will be burnt up.

7th. The sun's heat is gradually decreasing and
the temperature cooling, The cold will increase
by the glacial zones enlarging and spreading to the
equator, until the habitable space will be a mere
nothing. The last man will be frozen to death.

8th. The gradual cooling of the earth will pro-
duce enormous fissures, like those in the moon.
The surface will become unstable, forcing the
inhabitants to betake themselves to caves. The
last man will be crushed to death, and buried at
the same time.

9th. The centrifugal force is increasing, and in

. Ji

4i6

HOW THE WORLD WHJ. END.

time the centripetal force will fail to hold the earth
together, hence it will break up into small pieces.
The last man will fall into space.

loth. Evolutionary retrogression ; this means
that the unfolding law of evolution, will in due
time, become an infolding one. Man being the
extreme of evolution, he will begin to infold back.
The last man will go back to a monkey, the
monkey to something else, and so on.

I am a lover of science, but I thank heaven that
we have more than the teaching of scientists. We
have a revelation that opens up to us our origin,
and grandly forecasts our future. Hear the simple
and sublime utterance of revelation : " In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
And as to human origin we read : " So God created
man in His own image ; in the image of God
created He him ; male and female created He
them." Here we have information and statements
that convert into foolishness the theory of vorticose
fluid motions and evolution. The earth is the
Lord's and the work of His hands, and not the
product of vorticose motions. We are His work-
manship and not the sequences of monkey evolu-
tion. Our origin is grand, our Father is God, and
our destiny is beyond and above the wreck of
matter and crush of worlds. "Through faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the
word of God."

The time and manner of the end of the world,
cind ipan's career on it, are contained \n the Bible ;

HOW THE WORLD WILL KND.

417

" For this they are willingly ignorant of, that by
the word of God the heavens were of old, and the
earth standing out of the water and in the water.
Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed
with water, perished. But the heavens and the
earth, which are now, by the same word are kept
in store reserved unto fire against the day of judg-
ment and perdition of ungodly men." — 2 Peter iii.
5-7. The philosophy and theology we teach and
preach lay hold of God as the Author of the Uni-
verse, and as the ever-present, living and interesting
Ruler. We believe He has made known in His
word His purpose for our guidance, that we might
rest in peace or labour in hope.

The world will not end yet, friends. The times
are, however, ripening fast on one side for victory
and the millennium, and on the other for corruption
and death. The time of Gentile rule is fast draw-
ing to a close, but not yet ended. The suffering and
captivity of Judah are nearly past. The recogni-
tion and conquest of Israel is flashing on the world,
revealing the chosen instruments of God. But be
not deceived ; the end is not yet. Before the mom
of the millennium dawns on the world, the lost tribes
of Israel and the followers of Jesus will perish by
the million in heroically struggling for God and the
right. Israel England will have to prepare the
way of the Lord through heathen lands and hostile
nations. But God is with her, so victory will perch
upon her banners at last. And Manasseh, the
United States, cannot much longer remain incurious
2C

I ;

.ill

4i«S

H(3\V rifK WORLD WILL END.

and indifferent of the future, for in Providence he
has a place and a work assigned to him. In a few
years he will have to show his hand, and declare
that he is on the Lord's side, and one of the tribes
of Israel. There will not be a man of us in a few
more years, even in this God-blessed land of free-
dom and abounding plenty, but what will be forced
to take issue in the coming and impending
struggles.

The relief promised by the late Conference is
uncertain and unwarranted. It were well if the
blessed Jesus could come — as its members have
persuaded themselves He will — if by His coming
He could turn aside the threatening storm. But
we declare now, and repeat what we before have
said, that we do not desire Him to come to call
from the church and the world the best of its citi-
zens and most faithful followers. We shall want
the earnest and beloved Brother Tyng, Jr., the
sincere and eloquent brethren, Drs. Gordon, Brooks
and Nichols, and many others. For we believe
that instead of these brethren being rapture- caught
and bound, they will be left on earth to do battle
for Jesus. Be content, brethren, with Christ in
your heart and Christ in His church. The pur-
poses of Providence are flowing on to a sublime
fulfilment through Israel and Judah. Let not your
faith betray you into extravagant and unwarranted
expectation. Work where most needed at the
point and on the line of God's appointed way.
The next step in revelation is the finding and

HOW THE WORLD WILL END.

419

recognition of Israel ; then the union of Israel and
Judah ; then the restoration of Father Abraham's
land. On this line you will see the stately steppings
of Jehovah. Fall in and march to duty and victory
— not in the sky, but on earth.

I think we should be slow to persuade ourselves,
and still slower in teaching others, that death is an
enemy to the Christian, or that the delay of Christ's
personal coming interferes with Christian hope and
experience. Paul said, ** To live is Christ, and to
die is gainr " And he desired to depart and be
with Christ, which is far better," — Phil. i. 23. I
think it is just as easy to die and go to Christ and
be in heaven, as it would be to be translated and
meet Him in the air. And it is as good to hope to
spend the thousand years in heaven with Christ, as
to reign on earth with Him during this number of
years. There is nothing lost in the experience of
the real Christian, whether Christ's coming is pre-
millennium or post-millennium, if to be absent
from the body is to be present with Christ. The
reason why Adventists generally fall into the belief
of the sleep of the soul, or that man is only mortal
— having no spirit as distinct from the body — is
chargeable to those who depreciate dying and
going to heaven, and make everything to Christ's
personal presence on earth. Get ready for dying,
and heaven, friends, then you are ready for the
post-millennium or pre-millennium advent

I believe there will be a millennium, the begin-
ning of which is not far distant. I believe that it

420

HOW TMK \VORI>D WILL I:N1).

will last for a thousand years, towards the close ot
which births will cease, old men will be old, chil-
dren, or those last born, will be an hundred years
old. The milJennium will close by Christ coming —
changing all then living from mortality into immor-
tality. Then death will indeed be swallowed up
in victory — then will be the judgment. Then the
world will be renovated by fire — and made anew,
to be the abode of the millions of the redeemed
forever. Peace and good-will to all.

''^m^^

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