The Present Truth, vol. 12

October 22, 1896

“Front Page” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

It is easy enough for the Christian to believe that God will intervene to help in great trials and desperate necessities. But very often it is taken for granted that the Lord is too great to give attention to small details of life, the little burdens that it is thought can be endured alone or worried through with in some way. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 673.1

But it is precisely in this way-trying to carry the little cares ourselves-that we most frequently fail. The word of the Lord is, “Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you.” All care, in small affairs and great ones, is to be left with Him, and He will do the caring. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 673.2

“Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit.” It is because God is so great that He dwells with the humble and the poor who are rich toward God; and as He lives with them, He can understand the perplexing cares that come to humble homes. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 673.3

There was once a widow in Zarephath whose little store of food was nearly gone, and it was a time of famine. God knew when the barrel of meal was all but empty and the cruse of oil nearly dry. Just then the prophet Elijah came, asking her to share the little that remained with him. She did so, and the barrel of meal wasted not and the cruise of oil failed not until the famine was passed. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 673.4

God apparently added to her cares by sending a man who promised at first to be a burden to her, but when she accepted the Lord’s word and shared her little with a stranger she found it God’s way of preserving her life. He knew the exact moment when she needed special help. And it is very likely that all through those months of famine there were but a few handfuls of meal and a little oil in the larder at any time. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 673.5

In the days of Elisha the sons of the prophets were felling trees along the Jordan, in order to build a larger house to dwell in. “But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water.” It does not seem a great calamity, but axes were probably more expensive in those days than with us now; and, worse still for the poor man, it was not his own. “Alas master!” He cried to Elisha, “for it was borrowed.” And then by Elisha’s word, the Lord caused the iron head to swim upon the surface of the river, and the young man took it up again. It was not too small a matter for the Lord to help the man out of his dilemma. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 673.6

God is ready to carry the little burdens as well as the great ones. He knows what makes up human life, and how galling the little worries are to the spirits of men. The one who has no strength cannot bear up under the smallest of loads. We have absolutely no strength of our own. He gives all we have; and it is misusing His gifts and distrusting His comforting presence to shut Him out of any experience that comes in life. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 674.1

“Is Christendom Ready for It?” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

“All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” Jesus Christ said it, and He told His disciples to put up his weapon. In Revelation 13:the Spirit of God alludes to the sufferings and persecutions of the last days and repeats Christ’s statement about those who take the sword. Even Dr. Parker, who has so often spoken for Christian principle in protests against State-taught religion, whether Anglican or Nonconformists, and against trying to force people to keep Sunday, now says:- PTUK October 22, 1896, page 674.2

For my own part I do not see how a European war is to be avoided. It may be the only solution of many problems. A day of judgment is due. The civilised world is sinking into irreligiousness, materialism, and self-indulgence, and is finding its main pleasure in competitive and debilitating frivolities. It may be, God forbid! that the only way of return to a healthy, religious, and moral state lies through horrors infinitely greater than those which have made Armenia a field of blood. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 674.3

If this were in a protest against war it would be different. “When Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” It may be that the only thing that will teach the churches of Christendom that Christ spoke truly about the results of taking the sword is to have the truth demonstrated in general desolation and carnage. But it is not for the church to pray for the judgments of God to fall. The cloud of Divine wrath is hanging low over the world. Instead of praying for it to fall men will do well to ask whether they are prepared and whether their flocks are prepared to render their accounts before God for themselves and for sinners who are to be warned of coming judgments. To some God says, “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.” PTUK October 22, 1896, page 674.4

“‘But They Made Light of It’” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

In one of His parable’s Christ likens the kingdom of heaven to a king who had bidden guests to the wedding feast in honour of the marriage of his son, and when all was prepared those whom he had invited failed to come. The description of their action is most characteristic and life-like. It is applicable to all peoples in every age. “But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise; and the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.” PTUK October 22, 1896, page 674.5

To-day, under our very eyes, we continually see this re-enacted, in that they to whom the message of the Gospel is sent go their own ways to their farms and merchandise, regardless of the earnest invitation which the Lord of heaven himself so graciously extends to them,-and not only do they go their own ways but they do, to-day, even make light of the invitation, criticise, doubt, misinterpret, and disbelieve, its language and its purpose; yes, go so far as to deny its authority, and yet farther, ridicule the idea of the existence of the Great King Himself. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 674.6

Although they do not fall under the immediate observation of many of us, yet there are still to-day, as there always have been, that remnant, also, who despitefully use the servants of the King, and slay them. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 674.7

They are, however, by far in the majority who make light of the message and the invitation. The refusal of by far the greater number is in the form, simply, of thoughtless, careless neglect. Perhaps the most, when taxed with their neglect, would reply in mild astonishment that they had never received any invitation. They forget that every copy of the myriads of Bibles distributed throughout all the world contains a record of the invitation which has been directed to them personally, and that thus it is possible for all the world to testify to the fact of the gracious bidding, and that He who declares himself unbidden only convicts himself of insolently thoughtless neglect. He has received the gracious written word of his King, but has laid it aside unread; or, if he has opened it, his eyes have glanced through it so cursorily as to have utterly failed in comprehending its purport and in perceiving its personal character. Whom, then, can they blame if when the appointed hour is past they find that they have lost a golden opportunity? Surely none but themselvesiu PTUK October 22, 1896, page 674.8

In the hour of the realisation of his great, irremediable, and eternal loss, no human soul will be able to lay the responsibility for the position in which he finds himself upon another being,-much less upon his God. “Many are called, but few are chosen,” and those who find themselves in outer darkness will only be able to accuse themselves of failing or refusing to accept the invitation of the Father, and the accompanying wedding robes of righteousness which the Son proffers to all. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 674.9

“Sects in Russia” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

“The numbers of the various Russian sectaries appeared to show,” says a newspaper, “a steady increase despite all the severe measures devised for their suppression during the last decade. The official returns showed that there are at present 70,000 sectarians in the government of Nijni-Novgorod, 51,000 in Saratoff, and 81,000 in Samara. In the eparchiate of Viatka there are 70,000, in Tcheringoff 50,000, and in Blatzk 182,000. In Siberia, also, sectarianism appears to be rapidly spreading among the mixed population. In the eparchiate of Irkutsk there are now 30,000 sectarians, in Tomsk 82,000, and in the Don eparchiate 106,000. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 674.10

And as though to show the futility of exacting genuine conformity by law, in Russia, where the lines have been held so firmly and heartlessly, there are more of the most extravagant and fanatical movements constantly springing up than in any other country we know of. It is the natural fruit of a policy of repression. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 674.11

“The Promises to Israel. Life from the Word” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

The Jews found it difficult to believe the words of Christ, that He would give them Himself to eat. They said, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” Jesus repeated the statement still more emphatically, and then said, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” PTUK October 22, 1896, page 675.1

If each one of them could have eaten of the flesh of Christ as He stood there, and the flesh which they ate had been replaced, so that they could continue to eat of it, taking it into their stomachs, and assimilating it, they would have received no lasting benefit from it. No spiritual good would have come to them. That was what they had in reality already done, when they ate of the bread which came from the life that was in His body; but they had not profited by it. So if the Romish claim were true, that the priests have power to transform the bread into the actual flesh of Christ, there would be no profit in it. People might eat of it, and be as wicked as ever. “The flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 675.2

“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” Psalm 33:6. He spoke and said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so.” Genesis 1:11. All plant life is but the manifestation of the life of the word of the Lord. The life that was in His word caused the corn to grow in the beginning, and that same life has caused it to grow ever since. Therefore all the food that men have to eat is that which comes from the word of God. We cannot see the life in a grain of wheat, but when we eat the bread that is made from it, we experience it. But the physical strength which we receive from the food is but the working of the word of the Lord. Now if we do not recognise and acknowledge God in this, we get nothing but physical strength; but if in everything we see and acknowledge God, we receive of His life of righteousness. He says, “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:6. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 675.3

When God directs our paths, those ways will be right; for “as for God, His way is perfect.” Psalm 18:30. The people who ate of the loaves in the desert, did not believe the Lord, and did not recognise His life, and so they derived no spiritual life from it. So it was with the children of Israel in the desert. “They believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation; though He had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, and had rained down upon them manna to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.” Psalm 78:22-24. So although they were indeed feeding upon the life of Christ, they received no spiritual life, because of their blind unbelief. In the giving of the manna God was giving the same lesson that Christ gave the multitude in the desert, namely, that His word is life, and that “man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” PTUK October 22, 1896, page 675.4

The manna was the test of their loyalty to the law of God, and especially to the Sabbath as a seal of that law. But in the manna they were taking in Christ, if they had only realised it. Therefore we are to learn that if we but allow Christ to dwell in our hearts by faith in His word,-not a part only, but the whole,-He will bring into our lives the keeping of the whole law, including the Sabbath. Every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God is necessary for our lives. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 675.5

It is customary among Christians to return thanks whenever they eat. There is just as much reason for giving thanks when we drink, or when we receive any other of God’s blessings. “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” The trouble is that giving thanks is so often a mere form. It is often done because it has become the custom, and not from the heart. What does it really mean? Just this: That our food and drink, and everything necessary for our life, comes from God. It is all a manifestation of His love for us. But since “God is love,” the manifestation of His love is but the manifestation of His life. In partaking of the bounties of His love, we are in reality partaking of Him. Now if we continually recognise this, and knowledge it, whether we eat, or drink, or whatsoever we do call, all will be done to the glory of God. We shall live as in His immediate presence. Knowing that His life is righteousness, and that His word is His life, our thanks for food will be thanks for His word. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 675.6

Who cannot see that such a life must necessarily be a righteous life? With our daily food we shall be feeding upon Christ, and so of course upon His righteousness. This is what God wishes us to learn from the account of the giving of the manna. It was their life, and if they had recognised Christ in it, their life would have been the righteousness of the law. But our daily food comes from God just as surely as theirs did. May we learn a lesson that they neglected. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 675.7

A LESSON OF EQUALITY

In the account of the giving of the manna, we find the statement often repeated, that “they gathered it every man according to his eating.” They were also told to gather it for them that were in the tents. “And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack.” Exodus 16:17, 18. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 675.8

There is something wonderful about this. It seems as though there was a miracle in it, and so there was in a sense; but the miracle did not consist in one man’s large amount suddenly shrinking in the measure, and another man’s half empty measure mysteriously filling up. The Apostle Paul helps us to an understanding of it. Writing to the Corinthian brethren, concerning giving, he said: “I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened; but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance may also be a supply for your want; that there may be equality; as it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.” 2 Corinthians 13:13-15. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 676.1

The miracle was a miracle of the grace of God in giving. He that gathered much had nothing over; because he divided with some one who had little, or who had not been able to gather any; and thus he that gathered little had no lack. And so we find that there in the wilderness there was the same principle acted upon that was in the church after the day of Pentecost. “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 was 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 was there any among them that lacked.” Acts 4:32-34. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 676.2

We talk much about the faults of the ancient Israelites; it is well sometimes to consider the other side. With all their faults, they had none except such as are common to men. They were no worse than people generally are, and they sometimes rose to heights of faith and trust that are rarely seen. We need not suppose that they always kept up this kindness, and that there were not greedy ones among them. Even so it was in the church whose history is given in the Acts of the Apostles. But it is enough for us to know what they did at least part of the time, and to know that God approved it. God gave them bread abundantly. Their part was simply to gather it. There was therefore no reason why they should not divide with their needy brethren. Indeed, as we look at it from this distance, it seems the most natural thing in the world to do. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 676.3

But our condition is the same as theirs. We have nothing except that which comes from God. He gives it, and the most that we can do is to gather His bounty. Therefore we ought not to consider any of our possessions as our own, but to hold them simply in trust for Him. But take notice that this is far different from all modern schemes of communism. It is not a dividing of property by law, but a daily giving by the strong to the weak. No one laid up anything for the future, leaving others destitute of present provisions, but trusted God for his daily supply. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 676.4

That sort of communism cannot be attained by any human plans. It is the result of the love of God in the heart. “Whoso hath this world’s goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” This grace and this love characterise the true Israel. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 676.5

“But Another Step” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

At the third annual gathering of the National Federation of Sunday Societies lately held at Newcastle, the following resolution was unanimously passed:- PTUK October 22, 1896, page 676.6

“That in the opinion of this congress the conclusion of the second report of the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Lord’s Day Act 21, George III., chapter 49, namely, that the existing law conformed substantially with the wishes and sentiments of the English people, is erroneous; that the judges of the land have more clearly interpreted the wishes and sentiments of the English people when, in giving judgment in the action taken by the Lord’s Day Society, they declared that the prosecution on the Lord’s Day Act ought never to have been entered upon, and have given as their opinion that the Lord’s Day Act, under which it was possible for the promoters of exhibitions, lectures, and concerts of an elevating character on Sundays to be prosecuted, ought to be repealed, as being out of harmony with the spirit of our time.” PTUK October 22, 1896, page 676.7

In the discussion which ensued upon the presentation of this resolution many of the speakers took the ground that the total repeal of the “Lord’s Day Act of George III.,” should be demanded. It is but a step from this expression, and the views maintained in this discussion to an appreciation and application of the pure principles which should discriminate between the sphere of civil law and the domain of true religion. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 676.8

“The Second Commandment and Art” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

Once in a while some one asks why it is that the second commandment, prohibiting the making of graven images or likenesses of anything in heaven or earth, does not prohibit photography, sculpture, and such arts. The modified clause, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them,” is a part of the commandment itself and shows the application of it. To stop before coming to this clause is to arbitrarily break the precept in two, and thus to destroy the sense of it. For the interpretation which is thus put upon it would no less interfere with what is commonly called art, than with the art of the shoemaker, the tailor, or any artisan who makes anything like any other thing. Our correspondent in this case writes a very pretty hand, but he makes his letters after the likeness of letters which have been seen before. The Lord means what He says, and there need be no confusion as to the language used if accepted in the natural sense. Immediately after speaking the law the Lord gave directions for making cherubims of beaten gold for the ark of the testament, and figures of angels in the curtains of the sanctuary, and by His Spirit specially gave Aholiab and others skill to execute them. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 676.9

“Relics of Bitter Days” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

Relics of Bitter Days .-A newspaper says: “An interesting discovering has been made in the town of Boskoop, in South Holland. When the church tower was being taken down last spring, five little books were found walled in it, and Professor Acquoy, of Leyden, to whom they were sent, has now published an account of them. All of them are religious books which were in secret use at the hagepreeken, or hedge-preachings, at the time of the Spanish persecution, and they must have lain concealed in the tower of Boskoop for over 300 years.” Those were the days when the Spanish dragoons were sent to teach the people of the Netherlands the proper form of worship, as established by papal and civil law. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 676.10

“Use of Alcohol in Hospitals” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

The latest available returns from the largest London hospitals show, says a newspaper, a notable growth of non-alcoholic principles in the treatment of disease. The item of expenditure on alcohol shows a steady decline. In one institution, at which the expenditure on malt liquor is ?652, there has been a decrease of ?252 during the last thirty years, or a steady decline year by year. Out of ten hospitals only two have failed to decrease their expenditure to a very remarkable extent. The consumption of wine and spirits has also diminished correspondingly. At the London Hospital in twenty years this item of expenditure has dropped almost ?1,000-from ?1,462 to ?525. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.1

“Items of Interest” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

-The Kaiser is building a gigantic cathedral in Berlin, the dome of which is to eclipse that of St. Peter’s at Rome. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.2

-The snuff boxes which etiquette requires the Czar to present to chief officials where he visits, are said to coat ?500 each. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.3

-The catches of herrings off Yarmouth have been phenomenal. One day about 8,000,000 fish were landed, the sale price bring twenty a penny. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.4

-The bubonic plague is spreading in India. Owing to the state of the crops a famine is feared. Siberia is also threatened with famine, the crops having been damaged by floods. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.5

-Two members of the Cabinet have stated that separate action by England at any time in the Turkish crisis would have certainly led to a conflict with several European Powers. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.6

-France has secured orders from China for reconstructing the Foochow arsenal which French guns destroyed some years ago. Of course the reconstruction is at China’s expense. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.7

-The entire province of Dongola is now said to be cleared of hostile Dervishes. Panic is reported as reigning in Omdurman where the Khalifa is, as they are fearing an immediate attack. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.8

-A Spanish officer in Celia is reported as saying that he despairs of conquering the Cubans, who are able to evade decisive engagements, and are inflicting great loss on the Spanish forces. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.9

-The final settlement of the Matabele rising was reached last week, if reports are true, and native chiefs have been appointed as heads of various districts, to represent the blacks. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.10

-London’s milk bill is computed at ?1,500,000 per year, and of this it is said that at least between ?70,000 and ?80,000 has been paid for water-with which dishonest dealers have diluted their milk. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.11

-The Evangelical Church in Darmstadt, where the Czar and Czarina visited, refused to join in a celebration in their honour because the Czarina had abjured Protestantism when she joined the Greek Catholic Church at her marriage. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.12

-The most common name of babies in England and Scotland is Smith. The English Smiths are 1 in 72 of the infant population; the Scotch baby Smith is 1 in 70, but he has a rival in MacDonald, who claims about the same proportion. In Ireland the Murphy baby is 1 in 75. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.13

-Leaders of the dock workers are suggesting that the workers shirk their duties and do as little as possible in order to force the companies to pay more wages. The companies threaten to discharge those who are thought to be following this new programme, and both sides are preparing for an international strike of dock workers. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.14

-Disastrous effects have been felt at Ostend and along the Belgian coast from what is thought to have been some submarine disturbance in the nature of an earthquake. About four o'clock on Tuesday, Oct. 13, the sea suddenly became greatly disturbed and rose abnormally;-flooding some of the streets of Ostend to the depth of five and six feet. Several small boasts along the coast were capsised, and six men drowned. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 686.15

“Back Page” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

A missionary of the London Missionary Society, recently arrived from Madagascar, says that the Jesuit policy, under the French administration, is to get the Protestant missionaries out of the island by fair means or foul. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 688.1

The Pope thanks the Queen for the measure of liberty which Roman Catholics enjoy in England and the public exercise of their religion. Has he ever remonstrated with Spain, or Austria, or other Catholic countries for persecuting Protestants who are continually suffering under the ban of the authorities? Of course not. The Pope’s admiration of such liberty is confined to places where Catholics are in the minority. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 688.2

No little anxiety exists in the minds of Protestants in the Church of England as to the appointment of a successor to the late Archbishop of Canterbury. The late Dr. Benson, by the Lincoln judgment, gave the advanced High Church party the decided advantage of official recognition, and Ritualism has held its own way ever since. It would be in accordance with the precedents if the still more advanced Ritualist were chosen to the Archbishopric. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 688.3

“The Old Act Lives” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

The Old Act Lives .-At Okehampton Petty Sessions two chimney-sweeps have been summoned and fined for an offense against the Lord’s Day Observance Act. It seems that they contracted with the military authorities to sweep thirty chimneys at the Royal Artillery camp at Dartmoor. In carrying out the contract the two men worked on Sunday, Sept. 27, for eight hours. The penalty imposed amounted to five shillings and costs. Offended religion has been vindicated, and the military chimneys and those who were occupied in labour upon them must remain idle on Sunday, but how about the military arms, and accoutrements, and those who use them in time of peace or war? But it will be said that military necessities are supreme. It is true that they are so considered, and that that proves the supremacy of the military idea over the world. Mankind lives under a military despotism. The peaceful chimney-sweep may not cleanse a smoking chimney on Sunday, but the gunners must stand to their smoking cannon without consideration of God’s words, “Remember the Sabbath day,” and “thou shalt not kill.” PTUK October 22, 1896, page 688.4

“‘With Perplexity’” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

“With Perplexity.” -Jesus said that one of the signs of the approach of the second advent would be “distress of nations, with perplexity.” There has always been distress and perplexity in the world, but it must be that as the end draws near the conditions will be more serious. Nothing need be said to those who watch the newspapers as to the increasing tension in the affairs of the nations, and already they are feeling acutely the distress and perplexity which must increase to the end. The nations cannot arm to the teeth and spend their strength getting ready to fight one another without demoralising the people and encouraging internal discontent and violence. A member of Parliament recently said that the European nations were afraid of being involved in a war lest revolution should break out at home. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 688.5

“Symptoms” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

Symptoms .-The Standard, commenting on the perplexity in business circles the other day, said:- PTUK October 22, 1896, page 688.6

Everything appears solid and well-protected, and yet the City is not comfortable. Why, it is most difficult to say. From some aspects, the most perplexing point about the City is that it should be perplexed. Men seem out of heart. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 688.7

As probable causes of a lack of confidence, the disturbed conditions in America are referred to, together with “the threatened break-down in Spain,” and the “dubious condition of Turkey.” Added to this is the general impression that ere long the powers will have to “clear the air” by fighting out a few of their differences, or be crushed by the weight of their own armaments. Truly “the nations are angry.” PTUK October 22, 1896, page 688.8

“Depravity of the Stage” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

Depravity of the Stage .-The stage caters to a corrupt public taste, and still further corrupts it, so that every year, as the time comes for renewing the music hall licenses, it is evident that there is increasing depravity. Some friends of social purity braved the sarcasm of the press and called the attention of the authorities to the specific instances of how the stage ministers to vice and coarse vulgarity. But it was of no avail. Even journals which are full of zeal for politico-religious moral reforms, sagely counselled the objectors not to be prudish. And so the music-halls and theatres will continue to draw the kind of audiences which demand that kind of amusement, and will do their part in increasing the work of those who are trying to rescue the victims of the reign of folly and shallow gaiety and vice. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 688.9

“Lopping off the Branches” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

Lopping off the Branches .-Many times those who protest against the coarser vulgarities of the stage think to emphasise their protests by giving their approval of other features. It is a mistake, and calculated to do more harm than their protests can do good. The other day, at the Church Congress, a well-known preacher condemned the commonest sort of theatricals, and advised his hearers to patronise only the best. But the whole tree is bad; the axe should be laid at the root. One of the very plays mentioned approvingly is shown by press notices to consist, in part, of personating characters contemplating vice and crime. At the best, the stage ministers only to worldliness and amusement, but it rarely stops there. Dramatic critics in the press tell how artistically some great actor expresses the character of the supposed villain or weakling in the play. But no one can act wickedness and vice, or enjoy seeing it acted, who knows the Lord. It is a moral impossibility. The fact is that the character of the stage is a good index of the social conditions which are tending toward the end which the apostle declared would be reached as evil men “wax worse and worse.” PTUK October 22, 1896, page 688.10

“In Foreign Languages” The Present Truth, 12, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

In Foreign Languages .-The volume of literature going out from the various publishing branches of our Society is by no means insignificant, measured by any standard, but the greater portion of it is in the English and the leading European languages. However, a good beginning has been made in foreign languages, and we are informed that the principles for which this paper speaks are being advanced by publications in Arabic, Basuto, Bengali, Bohemian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Esthonian, Finnish, French, German, Hawaiian, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, a Kaffir, Lettish, Livonian, Maori, Polish, Portuguese, Armenian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Tahitian, Turkish, and last, but not least, Welsh. We hope to see the list rapidly increase. PTUK October 22, 1896, page 688.11