No. 10.

VOL.

11.

AUCKLAND,

N.Z., OCTOBER, 1891.

TWOPENCE.

remarks at the heads of the objecting Synodsmen, and concluded its article thus:
'The noble spirit of some of the members shows that the resolution would have been differently worded only for the necessity of compromise. The Synod is made to pray that God would restore Mr. Spurgeon to health, but not to occupy the Tabernacle or conduct his orphanages any more. The obvious unseernliness of imposing such conditions on the Hearer of Prayer must strike the more reasonable members of the Synod, who may illness of the Rev. O. H. Spurgeon also cease to wonder why it is that the Church is not more in has evoked a world - wide feeling of touch with the earnestness and intelligence and practical good regret and sympathy, and very many sense of the age. '

~~~~~~~~HE

From America we always expect to hear of something new and startling. The latest item of information is, that in the New York Legislature a Bill was recently introduced providing for the expenditure annually of $50,000 towards the erection of monuments to prominent citizens! This is indeed a striking proposition, and if carried out, will it not open a wide door for bribery and political corruption 1 Even the greatest jobs ever perpetrated in this glorious country would look small beside those created by this opportunity. The gravest difficulty one would imagine would be the annual selection of recipients for this high honour. Who would be the judges : the Government 1 If so, what an opportunity it will give the Oabinet to manipulate the votes of aspirants to the unique position of having a monument erected by the Government during their lifetime. And yet, if the people are to have the choice of selection, the difficulty would only be increased; for history This action has given the secular press of the colonies teaches us that the hero of to-day may be reviled to-morrow, once more the opportunity to point out to ministers of public opinion is such a fickle thing. Perhaps the New York ers are thinking seriously that religion how little of the spirit of their Master they possess. :rhe Sydney Mm'wing Herald in particular waxed righteously the present unrestricted immigration that is allowed in the indignant over the matter, and launched some very scathing State will, in the course of time, entirely wipe out the

have been the messages, tender and heartfelt, to the eminent invalid. And amidst all this the discussion in the Sydney Diocesan Synod is the more astonishing. This worthy body, when assembled for the conduct of its regular business, had Mr. Spurgeon's afflicted condition brought before its notice by the Rev. J'. Vaughan, who moved a resolution expressing the Synod's heartfelt sympathy with Mr. Spurgeon, praying the Great Head of the Church might graciously restore Him to health, that he may continue his important work. It was on this rock that the Synod came to grief, for immediately after this resolution had been moved, one reverend gentleman rose and began to discuss the question of schism, declaring that 1\11'. Spurgeon had been guilty of this sin, which, he said, was, in his opinion, the most effective weapon to afflict the Ohurch of God that had eve!' been designed by the enemy of God, and, said he, 'Mr. Spurgeon was distinguished as a teacher of false doctrine, eminent as a leader of schism, and remarkable for his hostility to the Church of England.' A rather acrimonious discussion ensued, and at length a resolution embodying all that was contained in the first, bar the schism clause, was carried by the Synod with only two dissentient voices.

We are pleased to note by the latest advices from England that Mr. Spurgeon is now on a fair way to complete restoration to health and strength, and would express the hope that many,years of usefulness will yet be cranted to this faithful servant of God. ,..,.

~,-

/
.~

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THE BIBLE STANDARD.

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1891.

typical American subject, and they are therefore anxious to preserve his type to futurity. It is a fact that America is opening her eyes to the perception of the folly and danger of further encouragement being given in this direction, ninety-six thousand immigrants having arrived from the Continent of Europe during the seven months ending January, 189l. We might ask what object is served in erecting monuments to our fellow men. It is generally supposed that the populace honour and cherish the services of the person whose likeness they perpetuate; but after all it is far better, if done at all, to let it remain the opportunity for private initiat~on rather than for it to become a law that every worthy citizen may have a monument erected to immortalize his memory. Truly patriotic men would never desire such a reminder, for those who, for the purpose of serving, defending, or protecting their country, conduct themselves with valour, fidelity, and humanity, coupled with the virtues of a devout and holy life, will most assuredly receive the esteem, admiration, and the applause of their grateful country. 'But better than martial woeand the pageant of civicsorrow, Better than praise of to-day or the statue we build to-morrow, Better than honourand glory and history's iron pen, Is th~ thought of duty doneand the love of his fellow-men.' The determination of Sir Charles Dilke to re-enter public life has aroused an amount of indignation in England that does credit to the Empire. This gentleman solemnly declared in his own house to Mr. Price Hughes that he would never return to public life, until he had vindicated his character. This pledge he has deliberately violated, and we need no longer put any trust in his protestations of innocence. In one of his first speeches he makes a violent attack upon Mr. Stead, by which means he hopes to make people believe that the whole controversy is merely a personal issue between himself and Mr. Stead. But this is altogether 'too thin,' as many of England's leading clergy -both Anglican and Nonconformist-together with a host of other eminent men in conjunction with Mr. Stead, have uttered a vigorous protest against his re-entering Parliament. Never was a protest signed by representatives of the Christian Churches with such promptitude and received such a multitude of signatures in so short a time. Sir Charles Dilke boasts that these are 'not a large proportion' out of the total number of ministers of religion in the country! But, in spite of all his desperate efforts, he has not yet secured the public adhesion of one single minister or layman who is a representative man in anyone branch of the Church. A mere handful of well-meaning men, perhaps, have persuaded themselves he is innocent, and lend him their support; but not one of them are on an equality with the great names of both men and women who have signed the protest. Sit, Charles may, perhaps, think the public have short memories. At any rate, if they have, the leading journals of England are determined that these memories shall be refreshed, and rightly so. The Times, in a leading article,

says, 'Sir Charles Dilke is precisely in the same position as on the day following the delivery of the verdict in the Divorce Court. ,He has indeed published a pamphlet for the benefit of his intended constituency, but has refuted nothing. He has prosecuted no one for perjury. He has merely reiterated-not upon oath -statements which, when he made them upon oath, a British jury did not believe. The educated opinion of his countrymen has not been changed by anything that he has done, written, 01' said since' the trial.' The Australian Colonies have, during the past month, been favoured with a considerable share of attention at the hands of English journalists, and it certainly should not be for want of good advice if we do not succeed in our efforts to build up a 'Greater Britain.' The facilities now afforded of travelling are such that anyone can leave their business and, in the time ordinarily allotted for a holiday, can go round the colonies and see all that is to be seen. This facility of travel, and the fact that the colonies are making great efforts at federation, have undoubtedly been the means of bringing us more prominently into notice, and will account for the large number of distinguished visitors to our shores. There seems to be, in visiting a new country-no matter how much we may have read about it-always the expectation of seeing something novel and strange. Hence it may be that some of our recent visitors have been more than usually keen-sighted, and have consequently written accounts of us that, while we read them, we blush at our failings and imperfections, no matter how much laudation may accompany them. Mr. David Christie Murray, the distinguished author, who has but just completed his tour of the colonies, has published in the Coraenvporarq Review some of his impressions, and, knowing him to be a man of sound judgment and of considerable experience in the world, his words will naturally carry great weight. He says it is his opinion that the climate of Australia i~ so altering the people that it will be impossible to preserve the European characteristics in the northern districts. The people are becoming addicted to slang of a meagre and vulgar character. To blasphemy and irreverence they are addicted to the last degree, To sum up, he says, they are one of the most prosperous, rowdy, drunken peoples in the world. The country is filled with feverish, reckless energy, everybody hurrying along to get rich. He extends a tribute of praise to the energy being displayed for the furtherance of art and literature, says they are commercially moral, and winds up by stating that the exquisite scenery of the land is only waiting the advent of noble genius to commemorate its beauties. The Times deems the subject worthy of a leader, and says that the results of the courage and enterprise of the colonists have never been exceeded in the same ~pace of time. They have worked magic, ancl have altogether a marvellous record. Mr. Francis Adams, another but not so well known

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147

critic, is more pessimistic than any other. He finds considerable fault with the colonist. He deems the native-born Australians to have high-str-ung temperaments, alternately displaying languor and activity, somewhat tainted with cruelty, Melbourne he pronounces as pagan! while Sydney has not yet got entirely rid of the taint of convictism. Mr. Adams is very harsh, and not altogether truthful. That people born in a tropical climate should exhibit languor and then activity is but a natural result of climatic conditions, for which we must not blame the natives. But when Mr. Adams says that Melbourne is pagan we wonder if he has any idea of what paganism really was. Pagan Rome,for instance,and Melbourne should, we imagine, present differences as wide apart as the Poles. No; Melbourne may be bad in some respects, but never pagan. '1'0 some of the comments of these writers, however, we must plead guilty. That slang is becoming-nay, has become-so prevalent that one can scarcely heal' anything else in our streets is a deplorable fact, and that the rising generation especially are blasphemous and irreverent is also, alas, too true. Why these things should be so it may be hard to say, unless it is that children in the colonies get too much liberty and are away from parental control too often, and are thus thrown into each other's society to such a degree that all hope of reclaiming them seems futile. However, observations by men who have such good opportunities to view us as we are should not altogether be despised. There has probably been something that has impressed the minds of each of the writers and has caused them to write in the strain they have, and we shall do well, as a nation, if we take these remarks to heart and do what lies in our power to eradicate the dark spots that appear on our otherwise fair escutcheon. 'Ye regret to hear that the Rev. Dr. Dale, President of the Congregationalist Council, is in very feeble health. His work at the late conference proved too much for his strength, and he had a serious attack of illness. Happily Sir Andrew Clark, his medical adviser, reports that there is no cause for alarm, and, with complete rest, it is hoped that Dr. Dale will soon recover. He is to be relieved of some of his work by the appointment of an assistant minister. 'I'he admiration with which the Doctor is regarded by his own denomination was amply shown at the Council; but Dr. Dale, not less than Mr. Spurgeon, is the property of all the Churches, and the news of his serious illness will quicken sympathy among Christians in all parts of the world. The disastrous strike in the Auckland boot trade, after lingering nearly six months, has come to an end by the men resuming work, and thus practically giving up the conflict. Upwards of .6,000, representing the hard-earned wages of their fellow-craftsmen, has been spent in strikepay. After all the excitement and strife attendant upon the early stages of this war, it will be well for the men to think well over the matter and decide in their minds

whether it is not better for both masters and men to Le contented wi.th a fair remuneration, than for either one side or the other to take such extreme measures and thereby bring stagnation and ruin upon a very important industry. Viewing this matter from an outsider's stand-point, we are inclined to think the men were standing in their own light when they refused to accept the' local statement' whenthey had the opportunity; for we are convinced that under it a competent tradesman, by being industrious, can earn more at this trade when work is brisk than a large number of other tradesmen. Of course there will be discontents among all classes, but such should not have it in their power to agitate and spread an ill feeling abroad between master and man. Let wiser counsels prevail, and let men be at the head of the various trade unions who are competent to judge impartially, men with broad views of the rights of both labour and capital; and above all, let not the trade jealousies of the North and South Islands have anything further to do in fomenting strife as it had in the past. The Auckland manufacturers, as a whole, are generous, lenient, well-deserving men, many of them having risen to their position by their perseverance and industry from amongst the ranks of the operatives, and are therefore in a fit position to judge all the P1'O& and cons of the various disputes that will occasionally rise. Germany, as we stated a month or two ago, has experimented in social legislation by passing a national compulsory insurance law. Strange to say, France is to be the next nation to follow in the wake. M. Constans, Minister of the Interior, has deemed the time suitable for the introduction of an Old Age Insurance Bill, by which the French working classes.secure a pension of 12 to .24 per annum after attaining sixty-five. Similar to the provisions of the German measure, employers and the State contribute a share of the premiums, the State grant being calculated to ultimately amount to no less a sum than foul' millions per annum. England, so far, is quite behindhand in this business. Mr. Chamberlain, who is working hard, has not yet been able to produce what will be a practical scheme. He does not yet see it is necessary for the scheme to be compulsory, and, until he does see this, nothing he may bring out will be a success. The classes which this matter will most benefit are unfortunately amongst the most improvident and withal the most independent in the world, and, unless the scheme be made compulsory, it will be of no practical service to those it most desires to benefit.

Be polite to your children. Do you expect them to be mindful of your welfare 1 1'0 grow glad at your approach 1 To bound away to do yoUI' pleasure before y0111' request is half spoken 7 Then with all your dignity and authority mingle politeness. Give it a niche in your household temples. Only then will you have the true secret of sending out into the world really finished gentlemen and ladies. He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do any.

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1891

\tbeoaopb\?
THE death of Madame B1avatsky will hasten, it is expected the downfall of the Theosophical Society. Of all the Spiritualistic fads the world has ever seen this is, perhaps, the most extraordinary. Madame Blavatsky was by birth a Russian, and was from childhood accustomed to clairvoyancy. She married early in life a man nearly seventy years of age, with whom she lived only a few months, and afterwards wandered about the world for twenty years, always' on the look-out for wonders and mysteries,' until in 1875 she founded this society in New York. Her idea in starting this society, she says, was, in a general way, to make known to the world the existence of Eastern Initiates possessing knowledge and power beyond those of ordinary humanity! She afterwards entert.ained the idea of a 'spiritual' crusade, which would lead converts into 'the path' of occult science. We are well acquainted with many of the tricks that the ordinary spiritualistio mediums resort to in order to bamboozle their audiences, but the revelations that Madame received were on a far greater scale than was evel' before attempted. Having lived a great part of her life in India among those who believe in the existence of an unseen brotherhood of sublime sages, known as the Mahatmas, dwelling among the inaccessible peaks of Thibet, she readily adopted their views, and became one of the greatest exponents of esoteric science. To be the recipient of a message from the' brotherhood,' to hear a voice that none else heard, was, perhaps, the meanest of her acquirements. She proclaimed herself as the directly commissioned messenger of the celestial hierarchy, charged by them to reveal the path by which anyone who was worthy and willing might enter into direct communion with these sublime intelligences! At her cremation her disciples thus summed np the spirit of her teaching :--' A clean life, an open mind, a pure heart, an eager intellect, an un veiled spiritual perception, a brotherl iness for all, a courageous endurance of personal injustice, a constant eye to the ideal of human progress and perfection which the sacred science depicts. These are the golden stairs up the steps of which the learner may climb to the templeof divine wisdom.' Fine words, indeed, but put side by side with a statement in Lucifer as to her probable future personality-re-incarnation being one of the fundamental doctrines of the society--and their grandeur is tarnished, and their beauty tainted and robbed of all their charm :-' Her last incarnation before the one just completed was in the person of a member of her own recent family, an aunt, who died prematurely. Before that she had been a Hindoo woman of considerable occult attainments with eager hopes and aspirations concerning the people to whom she then belonged. Her transfer to another nationality seems to have been connected in some way with a belief on her part that she would be better able from the fulcrum of a European birth to further the interests of the Hindoo race. As regards the future, it seel~1sver}' unlikely that she would have another female

incarnation in succession to her last. The highest teaching has been to the effect that alternations occur in almost all cases after a short series of incarnation in the same sex. Her own wish in this matter pointed very strongly to a masculine incarnation this time, and her expectation that this wish would be realized was very confident, ' With the ancients the belief in the transmigration of souls was common enough, and is it not a remarkable thing that at the close of the nineteenth century a woman should be the teacher of such an iniquitous doctrine 1 and what is worse, that otherwise sensible men and women should believe it 1 Did we not believe the truth of what Paul wrote to the Thessalonian Church we might, perhaps, be inclined to give a little credence to what she taught; but with the apostle we join and warn others that in these latter days forerunners of the Antichrist will appear,. ' whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.' Again, in his Epistle to Timothy, he says :-' The Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrmes of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.' In a recent letter from a native Christian minister of Ceylon, published in the J{ethodisl Times, we learn that Buddhism, after lying dormant for a long period, has been revived with great energy, and, coupled with the pernicious doctrines of Theosophy, which was introduced into the island by Madame Blavatsky, the native population are aroused to a pitch of fanaticism that has placed the Christian population in danger of their lives at any moment from the fury and zeal of the Buddhist priests, The Cingalese are making rapid strides, with what we might term an imitation policy, admiring, as they do, the many efforts put forth in our communities for the furtherance of Christianity. They have established Buddhist Sunday schools, Buddhist carols, Buddhist class meetings. They have extended their educational policy,and opened new schools. They possessprinting presses, which issue journals in the vernacular ; a tract society; and lay preachers are also amongst their methods. In fact, they have borrowed everything from Christianity except the living, vital principle itself; and the main cause of all this as they themselves tell us, are the teachings of Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott, whose advent they hailed as they would have done a second Buddha ; and thus has it come to pass that an effete Oriental religious system, which was' not dead but sleeping,' has been revived with all its horrors by the Satanic influence brought to bear upon , it under the guise of Western civilization. U. S. ----+---When people thank God they are not as other men are, the other men often thank God for it too. In misinterpreting a man's motives Y0U sometimes reveal to him the bent of your own mind,

bCTOBER. 1891.

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149

1R.Bnt)eraon, jl.jl.ID., on 1buman 'IDeatin~.

1PtlbIisl)e~ 1887.-B

IT is to be regretted that men of piety, learning, and ability, who write on some Scriptural subjects with care and calmness, should, when writing on the destiny of man, put aside these qualities, become special pleaders, suppressing verities and insinuating falsities. Jas. Grant and J. N. Darby are sad examples, and Dr. Anderson's book is disfigured the same way, but not to the same extent. The Doctor is candid on some things, and makes admissions that are pleasing to note. A comparison of his 'Coming Prince' with his' Destiny of Man' exhibits the unpleasant feature already noted. The first five chapters deal with the larger hope, and the Doctor admits 'that what men call heresy proves sometimes to be the truth of God.' In chapter vi. he asks-What is life ~ and proceeds to discuss the' meaning of aionios (everlasting), and says 'that the solemn language of the Scriptures loses all its significance The Doctor asserts that 'Adam died the day he ate, i.e., unless we understand the word to describe the quality of a change took place in his condition and relationship with life, and not duration merely.' This is begging the question. Life is spoken of in God-separation of the creature from his God; this, and Scripture as short, long, 01' everlasting. There are other nothing less than this, surely is death in its fulness.' This terms-clear and expressive-that teach what pertains to reasoning ignores the facts recorded; the changes in life. He labours to show that everlasting means for ever, condition are shown. He was not separated from God; he as if we denied it. "rVeaffirm it as strongly as he does, was clothed, comforted, etc. The punishment is clear, and noting the same exceptions. To dilate on the meaning of was no present deprivation of life. Please note that if the this word is beating the air. He truly shows that the idea formulated be death, it is the first, the death natural term' immortality' occurs in the New Testament but thrice 930 years after the second. Then the penalty after judg-once to God, twice to man-where, he says, 'the believer ment, that death would be the third, as the Scripture teems it the second, all should be convinced. Spiritual death is is described as a mortal destined to put on immortality'a valuable admission. Again,' The words for life are zoe a term not in Holy Writ. It is man-made. The Doctor and bios. Biology can tell us about bios, but of zoe it knows says: 'One point remains, and it is incomparably the most be the death which is the penalty of nothing-zoe is life intrinsic; bios, life in manifestation, important-whatever sin, that death was endured by Christ. If, then, death for life extrinsic. It seems strange, therefore, that any who profess to follow Holy Writ should contend for the expres- ever be it, did this death befall the blessed Lord r I sion, "the immortality of the soul.'" Just what we say. remark that the Doctor omits to note what force this query , Death came into the world by sin, and is the penalty. It would have if it bore on the suffering eternal torment. He is appointed unto men once to die, and after death the presses his question on the ground 'that we say, when the judgment; but the penalty of sin must follow the judgment, organism is dissolved, the man is no 1110re.' and not precede it. The death, therefore, which is the penalty of sin cannot be natural death.' "rVesay yes to the time preceding the penalty; we rejoice that the appointment for death is for once only, to believers and unbelievers alike. "Ve warn all to avoid the second death, the wages of sin, for it is avoidable. The Doctor asserts 'that death ordinary is not its deepest meaning.' This is true; the deepest meaning is in the second death. Having assumed that death is a crisis only, he puts his crucial query-' As the crisis we call death is merely a change of condition, why should we suppose that the death that follows judgment will be anything else ~' We answer, there is no room for a supposition; revelation of everlasting destruction, as resulting from the second death, precludes such, and nonrevelation of the nature of the future penalty would be a fearful thought considering the justice of God. He narrows the issue fairly. ' If the death which is the penalty of sin Not so. "rVesay no more to us, but known to God, who will raise him. The Doctor further says: 'We declare the body to be no part of the man, so that when the Lord gave up his human soul he perfectly satisfied the death that claimed man as his due.' 'That if Jesus had been the son of David only, he could not legally rise from the dead.' I ask is not that true ~ No son of David only could give his soul as a ransom for any, and not even redeem his own. The fact is prominent in Scripture that Jesus was a sinless victim. Peter, in Acts, tells us that death could not hold Him, and why; and Rom. i. tells us He was declared the Son of God, with power by the resurrection from the dead. Endless death in due time is the destiny of the sinner, as endless life is the gift to the saint. Jesus, sinless, could not be held for ever, yet He gave, as He says, His life. The Doctor objects to the statement 'that the natural

be thy extinction of the sinner's being, the doctrine of conditional immortality is a divine truth; if it be a changed condition of existence, the doctrine is a sheet' delusion.' We turn to Scripture in English, and find nothing of continued being after the second death--nay, we find declaration of non-being. ,Ve ask the learned as to the original terms, 'endless torment,' or 'extinction of life.' We are told in reply that to translate black white would not be so bad as to make the words used-the strongest words in Greek for destruction-to mean continued living in misery. Further, that all the illustrations of the penalty in Scripture are opposed to such an idea. The Doctor rightly places the penalty after judgment. Can he, or anyone, show a passage that gives the idea of continued living after the penalty is inflicted ~ We ask in vain for such. A case is cited as a test-Balaam and his ass both dead. Query'Vas death the end of both ~ Answer--It was of the ass, but not of the man, except upon earth. If Balaam cannot pa8s the Judgment seat, his end will be to be burned.

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immortality of man is a theory of heathen philosophers, engrafted on Christianity in post apostolic days.' I cite his brother, J. N. Darby, in reply, who says.: 'The term "immortal soul" never proceeded from the lips of the apostles or early Christians, that it came from the Platonists, and got in use in the Church about the time of Origen.' The Doctor himself admits previously that believers are destined to put on immortality. 1 Cor. xv. says when. I am sorry to note that the Doctor lowers himself to use the old bogey annihilation. It is discreditable in anyone. He objects to the quotation, 'The soul that sinneth it shall die,' as trading on the English language. He admits that his side have led the way, and claims rightly that it means the person. That we also say. Further, though he thinks it wrong to trade so, yet he, Grant, and Darby are in this method wholesale merchants, giving the meaning of the original in one place, while keeping to the translation in the other, just as it suits their theory. He then makes a notable admission, 'that the Scripture in the original does not speak of the death of the body. In either case it is the man who dies, not his body, or his soul.' I would add what dies is buried, and is raised; and if, as the Doctor says, it is the man, say that is just. our claim. He says the' onus of proof lies with those who affirm tl;e destruction of the wicked.' True on our part we say the same as to eternal torment, 'Lndare willing to let revelation determine. He challenges the citations from the Old Testament as to the doom of the wicked, asks if five clear passages can be found; allows Dan. xii. 2; but puts Enoch out of the canon. Why 7 Surely Enoch said what J ude records. I fear he has not searched carefully. I read in R.V., 'The wicked shall be returned into Sheol,' etc. The Doctor admits, as he says' to clear the ground,' that' the language of the New Testament describing the destruction of the lost is perfectly consistent with the doctrine of conditional immortality,' and then tries to show that destruction means something less, viz., ruin. He cites 'the classics, the use of the word in Magna Charta by the ill-taught barons, and by the Irish peasantry on the West Coast, who, if injured, say I am destroyed. I prefer the use of the term in the New Testament. Referring to Rev. xx., he is nOGsure there will be a lake of fire; it may be a figure.

sinfulness of rejecting the atonement, so when it is demanded whether Christ endured everlasting torment, the best reply is to expose the latent error of the query.' The Doctor here reasons apart from revelation. I understand he makes a special sin, and everlasting torment as a special punishment. Certainly to reject Christ adds to the rejector's guilt; but the Jews did that, yet the offer of pardon was made to them at Pentecost and after. I think the best reply to the query is to promise never to declare the untruth of eternal torment, rather than by trying to mystify. Heb. vi. alludes to the worst of sinners, and says their end is to be burned. The error is in the Doctor's theology, not latent but active. He says: 'If the penalty of sin be natural death, then the cl'y on the cross cannot be accounted for.' Now as death natural comes upon believer and uubeliever alike, and as the Doctor places the penalty death after the judgment, he ought not to ask such a question. Yet take Ps. iii and Ps. xvi. The predictions are that the Lord's soul, 01', as Dr. Anderson rightly puts it, the Lord's Self, was made an offering for sin, poured out unto death, and was to be buried. The fulfilment was to the letter, as the facts show, as Peter explains in the second chapter of Acts, as the Lord declares of Himself being buried three days, and the harmony is complete; otherwise it is discord. The conclusion the Doctor arrives at is strangely diverse. from the logical outcome of his admissions, nor is it in harmony with his brethren's declarations. J t is this, 'The destiny of the wicked is a mystery.' I read that the wrath of God is revealed towards such, so no secret or mystery. This revelation is precise and particular. I commend the reader to Hastings' 'Pauline Theology,' to 'Constable's 'Nature and Duration/ and ask such to carefully test their writings by the word of God. The Doctor allows that' the Cr6j.tor has power to extinguish the creature.' ' Scripture assumes the continued existence of the Adamic life. The resurrection is a proof; judgment and hell are proofs.' I prefer that as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. Is it not a strange argument to quote judgment, followed by a death penalty, as a proof of continued life 7 The Doctor is severe on orthodoxy. He says: 'If heaven be the fool's paradise of hymnology, the conventual hell myth will be accepted as its counterpart. If the He protests manfully against 'the awful, overwhelming redeemed are to sit in one vast surpliced choir, to spend thought of myriads doomed to exist in a scene of unutterable eternity in song, why should not the lost he battened down horror; that while Christ shall have His thousands, the in some huge dungeon, with no occupation save to bewail Devil shall have millions; that little children, in countless their doom7' I presume the Doctor means one fiction is as numbers, whose life was quenched ere ever they had fairly well warranted as the other. How much higher are God's launched on the sea of sin, shall be herded with the vilest revelations, admitted as only given in part! The Doctor and the worst of men, and trampled on by devils, in time gives valuable information in an appendix as to the words used in Scripture relating to the destiny of man. I rejoice to grow like them, and that they shall be so for ever and at the admissions made in the book. As a whole it is a ever. The record of the Augustine doctrine of the damna- great advance, in much better tone than Grant or Darby. tion of infants is one of the darkest chapters of theology.' It will be a great aid to those who can discriminate when This is vigorous and justifiable writing. The Doctor writes: truth sways the writer's mind, or when he is influenced by , Some penalty was truly borne by Christ. His resurrection his surroundings. A man of his ability and zeal cannot remain where he is. It will be good for him and for truth is proof that every claim was satisfied.' This we fully when he emerges entirely from the darkness of human endorse, but the following is hard to understand 01' accept: traditions into the true light of revelation as to the 'The sufferings of the sin - bearer did not include the destiny of man. E.C.

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'Ulncle IDanieI'5 :fl3ible <tla55.

From' Words of Truth,' 8.-THE
'THERE NATURAL

MAN-Continued. on this subject,' con-

is much positive

teaching

tinned Uncle Daniel' and I would like if possible in this lesson to refer to a number of testimonies that in the clearest and most unmistakeable language show the condition of the natural man; and I shall ask the class to select these references. By consulting the marginal references in your Bibles you will have a sufficient guide.' 'I find this positive statement in Job iv. 17,' said Arthur Sinclair : , "Shall mortal man be more just than Goa? shall man be more pure than his Maker '1" , 'This certainly does not teach that man is immortal. But does not the adjective mortal refer to the body l' queried Uncle Daniel.' 'Hardly that alone,' answered Arthur. 'The noun which it qualifies is man not body, and the other adjectives in the same text, "just" and "pure," apply to the same term. That which can be spoken of as just, and that can manifest purity, must be the responsible agent, and could hardly be the body, according to the popular conception. If it is the soul that is just and pure, then it is the soul also that is mortal.' , I don't see how we can get away from your logic,' said Uncle Daniel. 'Has somebody else a testimony?' Mrs Percy answered that to her mind the fourteenth chapter of Job was very conclusive, beginning: 'Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth as a flower and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not,'-and ending with the hope of resurrection in answer to the question, 'If a man die shall he li ve again l' Robert Passmore thought it would be impossible to find words or similes more expressive of entire destruction than in the following from Joh xx. 7, 8. , He shall perish forever like his own dung; they which have seen him shall say, where is he? He shall flyaway as a dream, and shall not be found; yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.' , Here is a Scripture that rather takes the conceit out of a man,' said David Gordon, as he read Ecc. iii. 18-20. , I said in mine heart concerning the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth the beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath so that a man hath no pro-eminence above beast, for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of a man that goeth upward and the spirit of a beast that goeth downward to the earth ?'

'There is an interesting point connected with this Scripture that I wish to call attention to,' said Uncle Daniel. ' Arthur will you please turn to the word" breath" in Young's Concordance, and tell us what Hebrew word the term in verse 19 is translated from.'

Arthur looked as requested, and answered that the original Hebrew word was Ruach: , Now turn to "the word "spirit" and inform us as to the Hebrew original of the word in verse 21,' said Uncle Daniel. The answer was the same. 'You will observe,' said Uncle Daniel, 'that the translators have used an expression which rather pulled the wool over our eyes. It would not sound well in some ears to say of men and beasts, "Yea, they have all one spirit," yet the word here is the same as is used below in the question, "'Vho knoweth the Spi1'it of man that goeth upwards, &c." In my humble opinion it would have been less confusing and more honest to have either used the word breath or spirit in both instances. The Revised V ersion uses .the same terms, but in the margin the word " spirit" is given as a reference from verse 19. The rendering of verse 21 you will notice is much less ambiguous: "vVho knoweth the spirit of man whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goeth downward to the earth 1" , Reference was made to Psa. cxlvi. 3, 1, and cxv. 17, as follows: , Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man in Wh0111 there is no help. His breath &oeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish.' , The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.' 'That last text don't sound much like these words of a hymn we ~mng last Sunday,' remarked Mary Douglass : , I'll praise my Maker with my breath, And when my voice is hushed in death Praise shall my nobler parts employ." 'If you will turn to Isa. xxxviii, 17, 18,' said Uncle Daniel, 'you will find another Scripture that flatly contradicts the same hymn book. This is in connection with the case of Hezekiah who had in answer to prayer received assurance that his life would be preserved for another fifteen years, and he praised God for deliverance in these words: , "Behold for peace I have had great bitterness; but Thou hast in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back. For the grave cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee, they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth. The living, the living, they shall praise Thee, as I do this day." ~ 'Is it not remarkable,' queried Uncle Daniel, 'that Hezekiah should have been so ignorant, as to speak of his soul being delivered from a pit of corruptron, when being a good soul it would have immediately gone to glory 1 and then again, what occasion for rejoicing could it be because a soul was prevented from entering that Elysium 1 There was some occasion, however, for such a grave misunderstanding, inasmuch as the prophet had said to him, "Thou shalt die and not live." Had he said thou shalt die and by that means enter a higher state of life, the case would not have seemed so desperate. 'There are many other Scriptures bearing on this subject,' continued Uncle Daniel, 'but they would only be cumulating evidence, and certainly enough has been read to forever set at rest this question, and to teach man to be humble, and if he would have life eternal go to the Life Giver who " so loved the world that He gave His only begotten SOl1 that whosoever believeth on Him might not perish but have everlasting life." 'For our next lesson we will Jook further into the question of redemption, having special reference to the resurrection of the dead.' With a parting exhortation to all present to look carefully over their notes of the lesson and prayerfuIJy read the testimonies, the class adjourned. (1'0 be continued.}

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THE

BIBLE STANDARD.

OCTOBER, 189i.

engaged in and the hopes he entertained of his mission in Italy being yet more successful than ever. From a brief report of a lecture by a Napier minister . ~\)\o.' ~~ lll~~ . that appeared in a local paper a few days since we are confident that our mission in New Zealand is not yet ~ MONTHLY ORGAN t 0t!V~C3 OF THB ~)~~ complete. The rev. gentleman while lecturing on the Now Zealand Evangelistic and Publication Association. existence of God is reported to have said of the ontological view of the existence of God that He existed because EDITED BY GEO. ALDRIDGE. mankind had formed an idea of a God. The idea of a God AS;:,ISTED BY SPECIAL CONTHIBUTOHS. was the idea of perfection of existence and, therefore, as It2fr The Editor wishes it to be understood that. while he exercises a there can be no idea without its corresponding actuality, ge~ra! supervision over the articles and correspondence appearing in the Stasuian-d, responsibility for sentiments expressed rests upon the indivi- the fact. that men had an idea of a God proved the existence dual writer. . of a God. Of course, the fact of a God's existence could not be actually proved, and neither could the existence of men; but the inference that a God existed was quite' as rational as the inference that man existed. No man had WE arc glad to report that our Brother Aldridge, the ever seen any other man, but had only seen the man's editor of this journal, is improving in health. The.inflambody and inferred from that the existence of the man mation of his eyes, that caused him such pain and so himself. So from nature man could infer the existence of many sleepless nights is much reduced, and he is able to a God! get refreshing sleep. Our brother has been hospitably entertained by the friends in Sydney. A visit was paid to ~oing ? Newcastle, where Bra. Aldridge says he was ' royally entertained.' From last advices he was on the eve of a A~lOXGthe many things that are troubling and perplexing visit to Melbourne from whence he purposed going to the minds of Christian men and women of this nineteenth Adelaide, having received an earnest invitation to visit the century is one of very great importance, acknowledged to be . church there. From Adelaide our brother will probably s(}by all who have the well-being of mankind at heart, and return to Auckland via the Bluff, so that our southern whose desire is that they lllay be able to do something th'lt' friends will also have the pleasure of a visit from him. shall, if not stop, help to alleviate some of the miseries and We much rejoice that all things are working together for want that is rife on every hand. Schemes of all kinds have good. By the temporary illness of our brother we, in been started, philanthropists by the thousand, and people Auckland, have been thrown more upon our own resources, who are not rich in this world's goods but rich in sympathy, and have had the burden of the work to carry on. 'Without have tried and, thank God, ani trying to stem the growing being egoistic we will say that the brethren have rallied evils that seem to accumulate as fast as the help comes, till nobly in our hour of need, and to all helping hands we we stand aghast and raise our eyes to the heavens and say, would accord our heartfelt thanks, more especially to those 'How long, 0 God, how long!' shall this state of things who, perhaps not believing in the special views we advocate, last 1 How long ere the nations shall beat their swords into have still manifested a truly Christian spirit in the aid they ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks 1 and the have rendered us, remembering that they did it not unto refrain comes sure and certain from the prophet of the Lord men but unto the Lord; and our brethren scattered over in, Isaiah ii. 2 and 3: 'And it shall come to pass in the last the Australian colonies have been cheered and strengthened days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be by the visit of Bra. Aldridge. established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted One thing we, in Auckland, must. bear in mind and it is above the hills and all nations shall flow into it. And this-that when our Editor returns home and is enabled to many people shall go and say, come ye and let us go up to resume work again some means must be adopted whereby the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of his labours may be lightened. We have saddled the willing J acob ; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk ill horse too' freely and the natural result has followed. We his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the firmly believe that Bra. Aldridge has a future before him. word of the Lord from Jerusalem.' If he is spared and the Lord tarries the world will yet hear 'What, you say, do you mean to tell us that we shall not more of him. He has talents latent within him that only have a better state of affairs till then 1 This is speaking of require time and occasion to develop, therefore let us not the time of the millenium when Christ shall have the reins destroy the opportunity he may yet have of doing more of government, and then we all know and believe that this valiant battle for the furtherance of the truth. state of things shall pertain; but it is now we are speaking From Glasgow we are pleased to hear of the success that about, it is now we are devising and planning, it is now attended our Scotch brethren in their 35th Annual July that men need help. Then it will be quite an easy matter Meeting; Stirring addresses were made by the prominent to be good because the government will be pure, the laws mem bel'S of the movement, and a letter from Oscar Cocorda, pure, the whole world will be open to the eyes of the Lord. the Italian evangelist, was read detailing the work he Was But we are speaking of now, in the times of human govern-

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Bssociation

1Rotea.

'tlUlbatare we

OCTOBER,

189i.

THE BtBLE STANDARD.

153

ments, when our best motives are mistaken, our determina- the preacher of the Word, and should have as much heart tions to do good are frustrated and laughed at, and worst and zeal placed into it as any other part of God's service. of all when those of the household of faith, those we love And not till we' realise this in every department of God's as we love our own souls, those that we would do all that service shall our work be accepted. Holiness unto the lay in our power to help, misunderstand us. If it were only Lord means whole-heartedness unto the Lord. As Paul the unregenerate world lost in self, in mammon, in pleasure, puts it ill his letter to the Romans in Chap. xii. 1, 2: 'I that we speak of, we could soon repair the breach, nay, beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to tlcere would be no breach, for the breach is caused by those present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to who profess to love Christ-by their inconsistencies. God, which is your reasonable service. And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the What, do you lay this heavy charge to the churches-the only means of distributing the V{ord of the living God 1 renewing of your mind, that ye may proye what is the good, Do you mean to tell us that that is the cause of so much and acceptable, and perfect will of God.' I should like you to remember, dear reader, that what 1 faithlessness in the world, so much scepticism or rationalism, so much theosophy or spiritualism? Dare I make bold have written is to professed followers of Christ-those that enough to say it-yes, that is the cause pure and simple, are asking what is the best thing to be done to push illustrated ill a thousand ways; but hest of all by one's forward the truth of God. 'IV ell I know of no more contact with the world. Let us go to the world for example effectual plan than to commence at one's self. To see that and see. The other day I was solicited for a subscription the desires are in accordance with His will. Let us not go. on behalf of a widow. After some conversation on the to the battle of the Lord with fear and trembling, but matter a gentleman standing by said it was a good cause strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. I have and worthy of a Christian. Truly so, it may be worthy listened to discourses by men who, though imperfect in of Christ, but where is the man that is doing as Christ did? their delivery, have captivated and held me while they Where is the church that does not put self to the fore spoke, because they spoke as the oracles of God. The instead of Christ? It's all very well to call one's self a words were simple but forcible, as all truth is, and although Christian, but where are the men that are doing as He did? not altogether palatable was nevertheless truth. It is more I was silenced, yet not disheartened; I was silenced, but of this kind of thing we want-practical godliness, careless not because I could not speak; I was silenced, outwardly, of what man may say 01' think, but zealous for Christ and but my heart responded in prayer, 0 God make us, thy His truth. Might we not with profit listen to the words of servants, faithful. The thrust has stuck in my heart ever Paul, where he refers to God's words in 2 Cor. vi. 17: since; I am a professed follower of Christ. I was alluded 'Come ye out from among them and be ye separate, saith to in the accusation as much as all Christendom and I felt the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; and I will receive it and acknowledge it. Of course I know it is very easy to you, and will be to you a Father and ye shall be to me make a sweeping accusation like this, but I likewise know sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having that if there had been 110 truth in it I should not have felt it. therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves Lately in our morning service onc of the brethren from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness speaking said, 'Dear friends, when I compare my life with in the fear of God.' the teachings of Jesus Christ I must confess I am a hypocrite, for I am not living up to His teachings.' Now this is it, dear reader, this is the testing point; not what men may say 01' think of us, but how are we living according to the teachings of J esus Christ. It is not what best we can do for others; this is the wrong way to look at it. It should be Lord teach me to do Thy will. It should be OIlI' meat and drink to do the will of our Father which is in heaven. Well, say you, this is just what I mean. But still it is a personal question, still it is submission, still it is reliance, still it is His work and not OUj'S, and the success of His work is through Him. And if the result is not what we should wish, we should not be disheartened, and if our hearts are right with His we would not be, for we would believe what we have read in Isaiah ii. in His own appointed way He will bring all His will to come to pass.

w.

$un~a\? $cl)OOI 1Reform.

THE Rev. Chas, Hargrove, M.A., at the annual meeting of the Sunday School Association, in a paper he read advocated some radical changes in the existing Sunday-school system. Sunday schools, he says, should be for Sunday scholars, and must be such as to best respond to their needs, it being the boys and girls who make up the schools and not the ministers and teachers ; and the successful schools will be those which most readily adapt themselves to the changing condition of young people.

Sunday schools of to-day have much of the same system as they had when some of our elders were young men, and when social conditions of child life, especially in England, Then must we sit and twist our thumbs 1 No, brethren, were very different to what they are now Religion should no! Ten thousand times no! But if our position is the be taught in our Sunday schools; but teachers are more humble one of a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord let' us afraid and more conscious of their incapacity in this respect do it with all our hearts. It is as honourable, it is as than in any other. He would abolish the tenus 'school' and 'scholars,' necessary, it is as much a part of the service of God as

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THE BIBLE STANbARb.

OCTOBER,

189i.

certainly putting aside as much as possible all that is suggestive of the unpleasing aspect of these terms. Nobody wants to go to school on Sunday, neither those who get too much of it during the week nor th", who get nun, and have got out of the way of it. New and more pleasant associations are wanted, with a new vocabulary, not drawn' from the day school discipline.

'Ne gIve an d recomSuppose we had a weekly 'At Home' for children and mend the careful perusal of It by our readers, young people connected with the congregation, and certain as an evidence of the signs of the times. kindly men and women undertook to be hosts and welcome Mr. Ben Tillett said he did not often get a chance to talk the guests. There would be groups arranged according to to real, swell folk, and he felt that all honour had been age and predilection instead of classes, each group to have bestowed upon him in being permitted to talk to them. He its own room, which it should be their pride to keep clean, hoped that many had come here in dead earnest to find out comfortable, and pretty. Instead of lessons they would what working men really required. Some, he was afraid, have conversation, the business of the host being to win l would go back to John Stuart Mill, and find out that he the confidence of his guests and keep the tone of the talk was their best friend, and that the old law of supply and up to the mark. There slt"ould be no examination, no demand was the law to go on with still for a few years . .prizes, no punishments, no standing out, no scolding. The There might not be many, but there would be some, discipline should be that of good society, the manners especially if they had interest to look to as shareholders. those of the drawing-room. The present school is purely Some folks said to working people: "Why don't you go to voluntary as regards the elder scholars. No command is church? Why don't you try to be respectable l' He might obtained over them save by kindness or to bribe them by tell them, in rugged language, t.hat the Church would have treats, clubs, and entertainments. The little ones are sent to wake up, or the people would find a Church for themby their parents. As they get older, even if sent they will selves. (Cheers.) The Churches had better get hold of play truant if they do not like the school. 'Ve take pains the people in their raw state, for, if they once got a Church, with the infants but lose the men and women in the period the present Church people would have to come to their between infancy and adult age. Let what is now the meetings, as working people might do to this. He believed Sunday school be another and a brighter home to them and that at the bottom of all Church or-ganizations there was the teacher a friend. Let the contrast with the necessary human sympathy as the basis. He was assured that there discipline, the strict silence, and compulsory posture of the was an element of religion in every working man. With week-day task be salient. Let the host endeavour to regard to the Church organization, some of their members inspire confidence; not only ask questions, but let the had been capitalists, and they could not get over the cornguests ask him; teach it is rude to laugh at the remarks petitive mania, while the pOOl'working folks stood outside of a fellow-guest, even if they are not very wise. Let him and saw them clutching at each other's throats, and not take the one chair while all the rest sit on forms. Let squabbling over some parts of religion, while human interests the feeling be one of equality. with mutual respect, as all were left to go to wrack. The common sense of the working members of. one congregation. And there should be a people had saved them. If it had not been for their common limit of members in the Sunday club or 'At Home,' instead sense, religion as an institution would long ago have been of, as now, that anyone comes who likes, stays as long as overturned. When it was said that the working classes he likes, and goes when he likes. It should be a privilege were in" the hands of the agitators, he could only say, to belong, a privilege extended to the largest suitable 'Good luck to the agitators.' He did not believe they number, but limited just the same as we limit the number would ever wake up if they were not agitated-some of of invitations to any entertainment. vVe get in all we them.' It was said that the agitators were causing trouble, can, and trust to natural selection" to preserve to our but there was a peculiar fascination about an agitator, was Church the fittest. We should aim to spend all our care there not 'I The working classes would not come to church, upon them, choose them just as we choose our friends; and because their clothes were not good, because there were the fittest will not be the best dressed, but the most earnest cushioned seats, and because, when they did come, they and apt, and especia~ly those whose parents are our fellow- were cocked up at the back of the church. (Cries of ' No,' worshippers. and' Freedom. ') Freedom ? Yes; but it had to be pur chased at the price of a pew rent. (' No.') He was glad Men often forget the graves of the dead. We tread often, that imputation was denied, and hoped it was carried out times without knowing it upon the resting-place of some one. ' in practice. He wanted to tell the religious people of the But God knows where every sleeper is. Years may pass country that the working classes were to be won, S:wages and through that long period no man may know where they as they were, the people would come out to those who went lay, but God knows, and in the day of His own appointing down to them with ripe wisdom and scholarship, and keener He will call everyone forth to receive the reward of the deeds insight into the life of the people. Working men did not done in the body. I believe in Agnostics because they were such. They followed

a~~T 8'
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".

{the Jmpeacbment of the <!burcbes b\? tbe 1l'(Llorliingctaeeee,

the Triennial Conference of the London
I:i U nitarians, held in May, ". 1". B e. T'II ett w. s M n 1 a

..' I below a brief report of his s~eecI

invited to speak to the assembly.

1,

OCTOBER,

1891.

THE BIBLE STAKlJ~~RD.

thing's worth of their own. He would wish them, by belief and conviction, to imitate Christ, Whom working men believed to be the greatest democrat that ever lived. (Cheers.) 'V hat was the worth of education, what was the worth of riper wisdom and larger experience, if, before they made a step forward, they must have everything cut and dried'1 That was the argument to the youth who was told never to go to the water until he had learned to swim. If their hearts were in the right place, their brains would soon get there; and if they came out in sympathy, they would soon find the way to help. Only the will was wanting, and the deed would soon follow. He asked them, in the name of the working classes, in the name of God, in the name of the Christ- Who knew not where to lay His head, and Who found His greatest enjoyment in the highways and byeways, and amongst the poor people-in the name of love, in the name of human justice, to come out and help those who were labouring amongst the poor, bettering their work if they could, but not standing drivelling and sneering, and with carping criticism pulling them back by the skirts. (Applause.)

them because they believed, whatever might be their religion or irreligion, they at least had hearts; and the Churches stood impeached to-day by the working classes, because they had not followed out what a previous speaker was talking about as regarded getting economic knowledge, and imparting information, so that the minds of the masses, the great currents and streams of human life, might be guided and held in with the hand of love, as God held them in with His great big hand. He had not come to deliver an elaborate treatise, but to tell the Churches that there was work for them to do, instead of squabbling among each other. Ministers, instead of being satisfied to preach to the four walls of the churches or the chapels, would go out into the highways and the byeways. As Walt Whitman said, it was personal contact that would purify human beings. The more the culture, the more the power; the greater the love in the hearts of the people who went to the poor, the larger would be the result. They could not manipulate the working classes in a pew, with a few wise or a few goodygoody tracts. When the stomach was empty, and the home bare, and the body almost denuded, the working man would not believe in ministers, having regard to the wealth and the poverty that there was in the land. 'Y orking men were getting awfully cute. They knew that about two, thirds of the annual earnings of the nation went to about ~ne-sixth of the nation. They knew that there were 5,000,000 people living in such a state that the sayage in the heart of Africa was much to be preferred to the savage in the heart of the East End slums. They believed, 'and were becoming conscious of the fact, that the press, that the pulpit, that the Parliament, were manipulated in the interest of the profit-monger, and the land-monger, and the interest-monger. If the Church people kept in their respectable pews, and in their respectable clothes, they must not blame working people if they did wrong. Every working man in the country had a right to sympathy. Every human being had a right to the ear of the Church, and to her protection, and to her comfort; and he had a right to all the great benefits that religion could bestow. There was no need to be afraid of secular and freethinking literature. -Whatever there might be ill it, working people might be trusted to take only what was good. There had not come from the Church that certain and unhesitating voice, which would say to the people, 'Come under the wings of our love, shelter beneath the Church, so that we may battle for you, as the Church did in past ages.' Instead of grumbling, he wished there was more religion in the Churches, as much as he wished there was more outside the Churches. In the aggregate, what had the Church done 1 It had maintained its respectability, and that was about all. (' Hear, hear.') Yet no man would have the boldness to say that the- people had not been moving without the Churches. The great mass of the people had been moving, and were moving to-day. He would ask them in all earnestness to go out into the big openworld, They' were always talking about the love of Christ, and always ready to give that, but never ready to give a far-

-\tenn\?60n the ~oet ~ropbet.

I'r is a fact, which no one can deny, that during the last twenty years a very large number of Protestant Christian people have utterly revolted from the frightful doctrine so long taught in the churches, i.e., that Almighty Goel would torture forever in endless and inconceivable agony, in fire and brimstone, the bodies and souls of all who died wicked, and unconverted. And, seeing that Christ Himself declared few travel the narrow road, and many the broad road, it follows that a necessary part of that awful belief is that the majority of the human race, men, women, and children, must suffer torments forever. But many have begun to see that such teaching really transforms Him, 'Whose mercy endureth forever' into a Being infinitely diabolical, a Being possessed of a remorseless cruelty-a cruelty which would be pronounced infamous if practised by any man in this world. Indeed, only the vilest tyrant that ever lived could act in such a way as it has been taught the just and good God will hereafter eternally act. No wonder that not a few thinking men, such as John Stuart Mill, refused to have anything to do with a religion that taught so wicked and cruelly unjust a doctrine, as that eternal sinning and suffering must be the destiny of the majority of the human race. Ezekiel's words are applicable to such teaching, "Yith lies ye have gt'ieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad.' May not God complain of being 'wounded in the house of His friends l' Besides, is it not perfectly astonishing that though the Old Testament says, 'The soul that sinneth, it shall die;' and the New Testament declares that death is the wages of sin, and that God can destroy body and soul in Gehenna fire, yet men persist in teaching that the soul is immortal, and must live forever? Again, Ezekiel's words apply, for such teaching professes, 'to save the souls alive that should not live,' and 'strengthens the hand of the wicked by promising him life.'

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OCTOBER,

1891.

Now a growing number of Christian people while holdinz tenaciously to man's natural immortality (they say the so~l is the real man, the hody only an outer covering), yet shrink from believing that God will inflict eternal suffering upon some of His creatures; they think it not credible, not consistent with God's character, and, therefore, indulge a hope that all, or nearly all, will eventually be saved. This school of thought if; known by the name of 'The Larger Hope.' It is only a hope, for they candidly acknowledge that Scripture does not directly teach this, but they collect together a few isolated passages, and build upon so precarious and unstable a foundation, their speculative theory. They call it 'larger hope,' because it is one of infinitely larger extent than is generally permitted by the majority of Christians. Tennyson, is the Poet Prophet, and Archdeacon Farrar, the eloquent exponent of those who embrace this form of relief from the hideous nightmare of J onathan Edwards' hell, where men, 'Oh, miserable condition, burn forever, weep forever, rage forever!' A goodly number of these Nonconformists, from what used to be the Established Faith, have boldly gone right over to Universalism, ., a belief that the day will come when all lost ones shall have been saved, delivered, rescued from the burning pit, thatin course of time hell shall be emptied of its inhabitants, and all of woman born be reconciled to God; but not so courageous are others. Whilst rejecting, 'Life only in Christ' views, they say it is so saddening to think that untold millions will lose their lives, and, after resurrection and judgment, perish like brute beasts; yet, th:se are not satisfied that Scripture distinctly teaches 'U niversal Salvation,' and, just as a drowning man clutches a straw in yery despair, so these good, tender-hearted, compassionate souls have hailed as a heaven-sent prophet the poet, Alfred Tennyson, who has inspired them with what he calls 'a larger hope.' 'Ve are all familiar with his poem' In Memoriam, ' and the celebrated lines commencing, Oh, yet we trust that somehow good Will be the final goal of ill, and ending, I stretch lame hands of faith, and call '1'0 what I feel is Lord of all, And faintly trust the larger hope. This is very beautiful and touching, and if God .had wrapped Himself up in impenetrable silence and had given no revela tion of His purpose concerning the finally un saved, then we couldn't do better than follow Tennyson's lead, and with a desperate despair hope and trust that hereafter, Not one life shall be destroyed, Or cast as rubbish to the void, 'When God hath made the pile complete. But we resrard this hope that 'not one life shall be destroyed' as "'danO"erously erroneous, for the Bible distinctly asserts that some people' will lose their lives,' their eternal life because as Christ said, 'Ye will not come unto Me that ye may have life;' and, also, John the Baptist declared that God will burn the chaff, or as Tennyson calls it, 'the rubbish,' with un quenchable fire; a:nd Malachi says tha:t the only visible remnant of the wicked 111 that awful day WIll be 'ashes!' So the revelation is that, when God makes up or completes the number of His saints (what Tennyson calls 'making the pile complete') there will be lives destr?yed, and rubbish (that is' the carcases of the men that have smned acainst Me ') cast to the void, i.e., disappeared, clean gone, b~rnt away by the eternal fires. But really this' larger hope' as set forth by Tennyson, is hardly to be treated seriously. He begins by saying, ,'" e trust that sornehowthus confessinz he doesn't know and cannot even guess how, That is to say, his trust is simply a creature of his own

brain, it has no foundation in any of God's promises. he continues, Behold, we know not anything!

And

Then he's not a safe guide. IV ould you sencl your girl to learn music from one who candidly confessed, 'I know not anything about music r Is this how Paul and the Apos tIes preached 1 'Men and brethren-behold we know not anything, we can but trust that somehow, some clay, and by some means, some of the Gentiles may be saved.' Why, the world would have drowned their speech in shrieks of laughter, and wondered at their audacity and folly in setting up as public teachers, when they thus naively confessed they didn't know anything at all about what they were going to teach. But Tennyson continues, So runs my dream; but what am I'f An infant crying for the light: And with no language but a cry. We cannot accept as a religious teacher (however we admire the genius of the poet), a man who frankly confesses that on this particular subject he 'knows not anything, '. and that so far as knowledge of the future is concerned, he is but' an infant.' Shame upon Tennyson for being' an infant' in Biblical knowledge; when he has God's revelation close at hand which clearly reveals, in broad outline, God's purposes concerning the future. Paul's rebuke comes to him, and those who follow him: 'When by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers j ye have need that some one teach you again. the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food. For everyone that useth milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.' We want something more solid to feed upon than the milk of a mere hope; we crave for what Paul calls 'strong meat' (solid food, R.V.) and we must have as religious leaders, 'fullgrown men, even those who, byreasonof use, have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.' One is reminded of God's threatening to Israel, that if they ceased to walk in the light of the Lord (which means, according to His written revelation, as given through Moses and others), He would 'give children to be their princes, and infants should rule over them. ' No, we want something more clear, definite, robust, manly, strong, than It mere hope-s-and not a strong hope either do they invite us to share, but a hope in which we are bidden to only faintly trust. Alfred 'I'ennyson, the poet prophet, hasn't much to offer us. At any rate, rightly or wrongly, we have some clear and definite views concerning the future. These views we profess to derive from Scripture, from the whole of the Scriptures, Genesis to Revelation. And to us the Bible speaks with no uncertain sound. Man, it tells us, is mortal being; but God offers to confer immortality upon all who are connected by a living faith with the Lord Jesus Christ ; and, as to the generations who have never heard this message, we are assured of the future immortality of many among them, for saith the Apostle Peter, ' I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is acceptable to Him.' This is the largest hope God gives us, and we are content. 'Justice and judgment are the foundations of His throne.' 'Ye shall not give up the sure, certain, distinct teaching of the Bible for so dim, shadowy, unsatisfactory a thing as this 'larger hope,' which even Tennyson himself dares only to 'faintly trust.' 'Ve will not leave the safe and solid rock of 'Life only in Christ,' as revealed in the Scriptures, for the treacherous quicksands of a man-invented 'Larger Hope.' 'So runs my dream,' says the poet prophet. Quite so; it is but a vision at the best, and we dare not confide in the 'baseless fabric of a dream.' C. C. Bnowx, 'I'imaru,

OCTOBER,

1891.

THE BIBLE STANDARD .

157

~~~1~~~,_
'11

'-1 '(! be 1'"0 nt e

~
...:rr'~

~~

v- ~~~

er'. 1e l~
~

I
'1 ~

:f13o~s' <tlubs.
IN the June number of Smibne1,.Mr. E. <T. WeJ:dell has ~n interesting paper, full of suggestions for the philanthropic, in an article on boys' clubs. The first club of this kind was formed in New York ~n 18!8. SO~le lal'l'i~ins p~'oved very troublesome, and police aid was invoked III yam, so the lady in charge of the club meeting invited them in to have coffee and cake, and they were afterwards the best behaved in the club, Still further developments in this direction have taken place since then, and the managers now concentrate- their energies in teaching trades. In addition, they have a gymnasium, a library, and a small printing press, from which issues the Boys' Club 01'gan. Savings' banks~~al'e attached to these clubs, and several have debating societies. Concerts, magic lantern and conjuring entertainments are frequently given. The following bit of advice is given to those who may be contemplating starting anything akin to this. 'Don't go in for boys' clubs unless you feel a personal interest in the boys themselves. If you care enough for boys to look below the surface, you will find under those little breasts hearts eager to respond to the love and sympathy, of which they get so little elsewhere, and which will do more than anything else ever can to counteract the dangerous influences of the streets, and make them honest, true, and law-abiding citizens.'

eJ

1boeing ant> ~l'a~ing.

SAID Farmer Jones in a whining tone, To his good old neighbour Gray, , 1\'e worn my knees through to the bone, But it ain't no use to pray. , Your corn looks just twice as good as mine, Though you don't pretend to be A shinin' light in the church to shine, An' tell salvation's free. , I've prayed to the Lord a thousand times For to make that 'ere corn grow; An' why yourn beats it so an' climbs I'd give a deal to know.' Said Farmer Gray to his neighbour JoneTn his IJ uiet and easy way, ''''hen prayers get mixed with lazy bones They don t make fannin' ]lay. , You I' weeds, I notice, are good and tall, T n spi te of all yonr prayel'~ ; You mfl,Ypmy for corn till the heavens fall, If you don' flig up the tares. , T mix my prayers with a little toil, Along in every roll' ; An' I work this mixture into the soil, Quite vig'rous with fl,hoe. 'An' I've discovered, though still in sin, As sure as YOllare born, This kind of compost well worked in, }lakeH pretty decent corn,

Mr. jborace 'JL. 1bastings.

THE following

lately in the Chrieby our readers, to whom, if not personally, yet by his writings, H. L. Hastings is well known as an able and fearless exponent of the doe, ~o while I'm praying I use my hoe, All' do lily level best, trinesof 'Life in Christ,' and the 'Coming Kingdom.' We feel To keep flown the weed along each row, sure that all who love these truths, will sympathise with An' the Lord, 'he does the rest. . this servant of Christ in his financial difficulty, and that , It's well for to pray, both night an' morn, this appeal will not be made in vain. As every farmer knows ; , Sir,-To a large number of your readers, Mr H. L. Hastings, But the place to pray for thrifty corn of 47, Cornhill, Boston, U.S.A., must be known by name as one Is right between the rows. of the most interesting, intelligent, vigorous, self-denying, and successful evangelists on th is planet. His works on " Inspiration , Yon must use your hands while praying, though, of the Bible," and other topics, circulated by hundreds of thou. If an answer you would get, sands, both here and in America, and his monthly periodical, For prayer-worn knees an' a rusty hoe The Christian, have been sold too cheaply to bring much profit to Xever raised a big crop yet. the author and publisher, though profiting multitudes by their , An' so I believe, my good old friend, perusal in matters relating to the sal vation of both souls and bodies. It was he who instigated and published that "ConIf you mean to win the day, cordance to the Greek Testament," edited by Professor Hudson, From ploughing, clean to the harvest's end, which lay at the right hand of all our revisers of the New Testa. You mnst hoe as well as pray.' ment in the Jerusalem Chamber. c This most excellent man fl.J1(1 his noble wife, whose lives corWhen the excellent Christian Schwartz was about to end respond with their teaching, have, in addition to their other good his long and devoted missionary life in India, he said, in works, made their house a home for all kinds of waifs and strays view of all the Lord's goodness to him, 'I make Christ my in, Boston. Mr H. is increasing in age, and in the midst of unheir '-and then by his will made provision as far as his ceasing public labours finds himself compelled to sell his very valuable library to satisfy some pressing obligation. To prevent worldly means would go. for carrying on the work of Christ this trouble.I do not doubt that the American Churches will gladly among the heathen after he would be gone. We can think consider the wonderful toils of this worker both for Gocl and man. of but one addition to this plan: to make Christ first of all But will not some Englishmen who have known of his writings, the partner of our daily toils and profits. 'and of his toils in the Loudon slums, delight to have a share in letter, which appeared

tian

World, will be read with interest

158

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

OOTOBER, 1891

rendering honour to this first-class hardy soldier of Jesus Christ, See that your note contains name and address, and reaches by contributing to the passing requirements of his business as a me not later than the 18th of the month. Competitors in printer of useful books and tracts? No doubt, he will be someDo not keep back, what vexed with me on reading these lines; but the truth is, the South must post by the 18th. that after a long life I have scarcely known any man equal to this though you cannot solve every question. marvellous H_ L. Hastings as an all-round social and spiritual worker for the common people, and there are thousands in America THE APOSTLE OF THE GEKTILES. and England who will confirm this estimate. '~{ay I, therefore, venture to ask your readers for some immeTENTH SET. diate aid towards a contribution of 500, which I wish to raise Paul's Second Missionarg Journe f.s-s Acts. xv, 36. without delay, to help in clearing the way to future usefulness. 1. In which of his epistles does Paul refer to Barnabas ? (G1!Ve Contributions can be sent, either direct to H. I,. Hastings, 47, Cornhill, Boston, U.S.A.; or (whether bycheque or P.O.O.) to three referencess. 2. In which of his epistles does he refer to Mark '! (Give two Yours truly, , EDWARD \VHlTI-:. rcferencess. 'Hilda's Mount, Mill hill, London, N. \V.' 3. \Vhere do we read of a quarrel hetween Paul and Peter? 4. In which of his epistles does Peter refer to Paul? 5. Find the first mention of Silas in the Book of Acts. 6. 'Where do we read of Timothy's mother and grandmother? 7. Give the name of a church to which he was sent by Paul. MANY a noisy sceptic would snbside under a little pointed 8. Wa Timothy ever in Rome '! catechizing. When he is worrying himself to find out how 9. Quote two or three of Paul's expressions which show t.hat Cain got his wife, or abusing all Christians as frauds and Timothy was much loved by him. hypocrites, it is well to turn the tables for the time, and 10. 'Vas Timothy ever in prison?

B 'lI~oun~ U:urn.

begin to question him a little. 'So, then,' said an evangelist to one of these' unruly and vain talkers,' 'you believe that all Christians are hypocritical !'-' Yes, sir; Ohristianity is a sham; nothing else.' -' Well, let me ask you, young man, have you had a mother since your infant years T-' 0 yes, sir.'-' And was she a professor of religion 1'-' Yes, sir,' said the young mall unhe~itatingiy.-' And did she live consistently with her profession ?'-' 0 yes; I believe mother was a good woman.' -' 'Yell, then, you either belip.ve that your mother lived in communion with Ohrist, or else you believe that she was a hypocrite. Which was it T-' Hold on!' exclaimed the young man.-' Which j which was it l' , I-I--didn'tmean-like-that; wait and hear me,' stammered the excited man.-' Which l' again solemnly asked the evangelist; and when no answer came, he said: 'For shame, young man, to fling at your sainted mother that she was a hypocrite' You know from her life that Christianity is real" TheJcowardly sceptic was silenced, and afterwards the evangelist saw him ata prayer-meeting connected with his church, trembling under a sense of gnilt.-SELEOTED .

ANSWE]{S
1. John v, 6-8.

TO THE NINTH

SET.

2. Zeus and Herllles (MCtI'g'tnvj Revised Velsioll). 3. Acts xxviii. 6. 4. The Temple was at the entrance of the city (Revised Ve?sion). 5. 2 Sam. i. 2; Job i. 20. 6. Nature or disposition (see Revised Velsion). 7. Athens (Acts xvii, 22). 8. 2 Tim. iii. 2. 9. Gains (Acts xx. 4). 10. Lystra, Iconium, Antioch in Pisidia, Pergn, Attalia (Acts xiv, 21-25).

RF:SULTS.-All correct : Helen Brewster, L. Falkner. Nine and part No. 10: Bertha Aldridge. Nine correct: James French, William Norries, Eight COITeet: Margaret Green, Fannv French, Sydney Smith. Seven COITeet nd part No.. "!: \V. J udkins, Six correct : Florence Steadman, \Ve received answers to the Seventh Set too late, from Jessie Neil and Martha Gregg.We hope our young friends in the South have not given up answering as we have not had any communicnt.ions from them lately.
C01TeCt

E.

MPETITORS of age. answers children. It sent

must be under will are be

eighteen that
~COTl.

years the of the

understood

the entire

No. 5, (Second Series). An Israelitish leader who conquered the host of :\'Iidian. A cunning hunter. A prophet, a native of Elkosh. One whom the Lord refused for His anointed. The wife of Zebedee. The second son of Kohath, The chief ruler of the Synagogue at Corinth. The initials ant! finals will give the names of two books of the Bible.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

HINTS. Begin with the present set. Do not write the questions, but send the answers . numbered to correspond with the questions, and state where y01t found. them. 'W rite in ink

ANi::lWER TO No. 4 (Second Series). (Gen. i. 26. JOSEPH'S COFFIN. Exod. xiii, 19. Jos. xxiv, 30.)
to be foricardeo: to M"

Ans'Wel's to both competitions ]((t1'Ctngaltape Road, A uckland.

Fallcner,

----,

OCTOBER.

1891.

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

.159

ttbe metboNet

J8cumentcaI ccuncu.

By the time this issue is in the hands

of our readers the Second Ecumenical Oonference of the Methodist bodies will have commenced its sittings in Washington. It is expected that this Conference will be of immense importance to the Methodists of the world. Great representative congresses and councils have in the past done more than anything else to shape Church history. Nothing can equal the influence of what is said by the picked representatives of organized bodies of men when they meet together for counsel and the declaration of opinion.

hearted man, though only forty-five years old. 'Need I add,' said the sister in her letter, 'what became of her? Her story is that of Annie Ohapman, one of the Whitechapel victims.' That was my sister.'

'1'0 'I'HE; EDITOH

OF 'l'UE

EIBLl!:

S'l'ANDAHD.

This Conference will have rigidly excluded from its pro. gramme of subjects tor discussion all reference to ecclesiastical systems 01' doctrinal positions, and, as will be noted, have gone in for those questions which are uppermost in' men's minds the wide world o'er. The programme of subjects, as finally arranged, is as follows :-.' Ecumenical Method ism,' 'The Christian Church; its Essential Unity and Genuine Catholicity,' 'The Church and Scientific 'l'hought,' 'The Church and Her Agencies,' 'Education,' 'Homanism,' 'Temperance,' 'Social Problems,' ':Missions,' 'War and l'eace,' 'The Church and Public Morality,' 'The Outlook.' 'lYe anticipate some pleasure and profit in the perusal of some at least of the speeches.

Srn,-It is a great pity that with the grand message that we have to proclaim so little is done in real missionary work. Some years ago we had two evangelists in the field who did good work till. by a mistaken policy, they were settled at two small townships, where they succeeded ill gathering churches that, like many more, cannot do without preachers to themselves; and thus the work of spreading the truth is hindered, if not stopped. Now, if we ever hope to have the ancient Gospel preached and
practised in every town in New Zealand,
\1\'0

will have to COlTIC back to

1!Ulbttecbapel lDictim.
THE Rev .. John McN eil, in his speech at the Presbyterian Synod, created quite ,L sensation by telling the following tale: He was speaking of temperance, and said that last Sunday, when he preached a temperance sermon at the Tabernacle he received a letter that had been written by a . lady on the danger of the use at communion of fermented wine. The lady in her letter told a sad story of an inherited passion for drink. There were four or five of them--several brothers and two sisters-the children of intemperate parents. Her sister had unfortunately inherited the craving, and before she was fourteen had taken to drink. The others became converted, and did all in their power to cure their sister, but it was no use. The sister at length married comfortably and children were born. But the craving for drink, grew greater and greater, and at length she was sent to a home for inebriates, where she stayed a year. She left apparently, said the sister, a changed woman. Soon after, however, her husband caught a severe cold, and before going out one morning drank a glass of hot whisky --taking care, however, not to do so in the presence of his wife. Then, as was his custom before leaving, he kissed his wife. At once the fumes of alcohol passed through her, and in all hour she was a drunk and roaring woman. She went from worse to worse, and at last left her husband and her children, one of them a cripple through her drnnkeness. The husband died two years ago, a white-haired and broken-

apostolic methods, and instead of every church keeping their evangelist at home, send them to preach in 'the region round about:' not with an occasional week-night lecture, but for a month at, a time, In so doing we will be imitating the Church at Antioch that sent ont Paul and Barnabas, and the Church of 'I'hessalonloa which sounded forth the Word in Macedonia and Aehaia. But some will say, . How can we do without our preaching brother l' My reply is that there are thousands of Churches, live ones, too, that have no paid preacher. but preach the Word offeetlvcly, winning souls to Christ. ,Vc are too much under the power of custom-the custom of one preacher and one sermon. If the evangelist was away tor a month would it not be better to try :1change-Gospel songs am] several earnest appeals! It seems to me this was done at Corinth, for Paul says the unbeliever coming in would be eonvinced of all. But, another difficulty is money. Can we find the means! Yes. I :11n confident that if the Scriptural plan was adopted the money would be forthcoming. 'I'he travelling expense is about the only one, for in most places there are brethren who would gladly find the preachers in board, and glad help in the: work If the Church has not the means of paying travelling expenses some brother will find the money. I have offered to find it for the Otago district. I would earnestly commend the Scriptural plan to the brethren, believing, as I do, that it would be for the gOO(] of ~lleChurch, the salvation of sinners, and the glory of God.
.J. NEIL.

AUCKLAN~.-:We go on our way rejoicing day by day, looking for the realisation of the hope of our salvation through Christ .Iesus our Lord. 'Ve are very much pleased to report zreat improvement in Bro. Aldridge's health generally, but his eye~ are not yet well. He has received the greatest kindness everywhere he has gone from friends and acquaintances. Judging from the great interest being taken in the Industrial Exhibition we expect it will be a success. 'Ve do not intend the Exhibition to be anythinz more than an encouragement to the children and VOllIlO' peo.ple to .turn their leisure 1l100?-ents profitable n,?COl~nt,f~)l' w~ t? believe WIth Dr. 'Yatts that' Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.' THAMES.-No report from here for two months. is as the saying goes, 'No news is good news.' Let us hope it

DUNEDlN.-The meetings here continue to be well attended, the addresses given by Bro, Carr being interesting to his hearers. Brethren Rowlandson, Lawrence, Le Quesne, and Sincoek have been elected to fill the offices of deacoris, and are, by God's help determined toassist Bra. C3;lT in his evangelistic work. Thongl; not as yet seeing much fruit for our labour, we are content 'to

160

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

OCTOBER,

1891.

leave the results in God's hands, believing He will give the increase. Last month we held our Sunday Scholars' Industrial Exhibition, which was opened by Bro. Can at Stuart Street Hall. There were a large number of parents and friends present. On the whole the exhibits formed a very creditable display, especially when we take into consideration the youth of some of the scholars. After the inspection of the various articles there was a musical entertainment by the school choir and others. There was also a cake competition, in which eleven young ladies were successful in winning prizes. \\' e are sorry space will not permit giving names.

~()e :fl3ibleStanbarb.

The BIBLE STANDARD can he ordered direct from the Publisher, J. M. FUEKCH,Sussex Street, Surrey Hills, Auckland, or obtained from any of the Agcnt.s. PRICE per annum, post freo ... 2s. 6d. beyond New Zealand, per annum, post free 38. Od.

AGENTS FOR THE BIBU:

NEW ZEALAND.

STANDARD

current 1Rews ano 1Rotes.

The area of the United States and territories is 3,539,702 square miles and contains 2,160,252,780 acres. During the six years ending 1888 the war expenditure of the seven great (European Powers amounted to 974 millions sterling! The translation of the late Bishop Magee from Peterborough to York actually cost him 7,000! As a natural result his family are left in want, and struggling with poverty. An English cartoon represents John Bull as giving General Booth $500,000, saying: 'Go and save the submerged tenth.' \Vith the other hand he gives the saloon keeper $500,000,000, and bids him' Go on submerging the masses.' Durin~ the month Auckland has lost by death two well-known and much-respected clergymen, the Rev. \VI1l. Tehbs, Incumbent of St. ::\Iatthew's, and the Rev. Alexander Reid, Principal of the ". esleyan Training College, Three Kings. The Rev. J. WilIiams, M.A., Vicar of Bullerton, occupied the pulpit of the Fountain-street Primitive Methodist Chapel, Leek, and preached all earnest sermon from the words of Christ, 'I am the door.' Never before in Leek has all Anglican clergyman occupied a Nonconformist pulpit. The Union Steamship Company, with it accustomed liberality, has placed at the disposal of General Booth an all-round ticket from Sydney to ::\Ielbourne, via New Zealand. The progress of the General through South Africa has been triumphant. The Governor and all the leading men of the colony accorded him an enthusiastic welcome. The Methodists of England are nobly endeavouring to counteract the evils of the race- course. During race meetings they held services, distributed Testaments and tracts. While these good people are working for their couutry and their fellow-men, the English House of Commons shows its utter disregard of the many appeals made to it to do something to repress the evils of the race-course by adjourning for the Derby day! Shipping disasters in Victoria for the month have rarely been equalled. In Port Phillip, on 28th August, the steamers Gambia and Easby collided, and many lives were lost. Heart-rending scenes occurred, and acts of heroism are reported of the survivors. On the 6th September the barque Fiji, from Hamburg, with a cargo of 200 tons of dynamite, went ashore on the Victorian coast, and owing to the inefficiency of the Iife-saving apparatus some eleven persons were drowned. A Society, called the Christian Community, was formed in London by the French Refugees who came over from France in the reign of Louis XV., some two hundred years ago, and is still in active operation. A band of faithful workers carries on its missions, which consist chiefly of evangelistic services in workhouses, infirmaries, and casual wards, while free breakfasts, teas and suppers, are provided for the needy at the Society's premises, 'I'hrall-street, All Orphan Girls' Home is another branch of the work, and a Children's Holiday Home in Kent is still another item of their extensive work for the betterment of the social and spiritual condition of the poor in England. Further information has reached Paris respecting the discovery of the mummies of the priestesses of Amnion made by 1\1. Grebant and other French excavators near Thebes during the course of their researches in Upper Eg,J'pt. Close to the sal" cophagus of a queen, M. Grebant had saw that the earth had not yet been upturned, so he directed excavations to be made, and 180 coffins of mummies were dug up. These receptacles contained the dead Ammonite ecclesiastics, male and female, all ranged in a subterranean gallery. There were about ftfty statuettes of Osiris, each containing a papyrus. The first coffins taken up are assigned to the twenty-first, dynasty. The gate of a tomb which was well preserved was found. It was the burial place of a priestess of Hathor, named Ament, dating from the epoch of the eleventh dynasty. M. Grebant is of opinion that the sarcophagi were put in the position in which they were found about three thousand years ago, since which time the soil around them has remained untouched until now.

Auckland-Mr. C. Mackay, Bookseller, Grey-street, " Mr. C. Mackay, Bookseller, Karangahape Road. Ashburton-Mr. H. G. Flower. Dunedin-Mr. James Neil, George-street, " Mr. Aitken, Arcade. Gisborne-:\1r. A. Slack. Hamilton-Mr. ohn Steadman. Hoteo North-Mr. John Wilson. Invercargill-Neil's Botanic Dispensary. Kamo-Mr. J. Heape. Kaia por=-Mr. James Holland. Milton-Mr. Gregg. New Plymouth-Mr. Fred. Goodacre, Courtnay Road. Timaru-s-Mr. J. Rowbotham, Cash Store, Church Street Thames-Mr. E. H. Taylor l\Jr. 'N. H. Cropp, " Mr. [odder, Bookseller. Wangaloa-Mr. Taylor. Wellington-Mr. J. M.. Miller, Dixon Street. Waimare=-Mr, D. R. Buckingham.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

Stepney=-Mr. C. Gamble, Magill Road.

NEW SOUTH WALES.

Sydney-i-Mr.

\V. R. Carr, Coachhuilder, Rowe-street, Woolahra,

Communications to the Editor 10 be addressed:-GEO. ALDRIDGE, Kyber Pass, Auckland. All Communications to the Association to be addressed to the Secretary, \VM. RA'J'TRA Y, Victoria Avenue, off Eden Terrace, Auckland. ----

CHURCH

OF CHRIST

Hold services as under :Aucx r.xxn-i-Foresters' Hall, Karangahape Road. Sunday, at I I o'clock a.rn., Fellowship Meeting. 6.45 p.rn., Lecture on some important Bible Theme. Sunday School at 3. Wednesday evening, Bible Class at 7.30. Evangelist's address=-Geo. Aldridge, Kyber Pass. GrsBoRNE-;VIeeting held in private houses. Address=-Mr. A Slack. North Gisborne. DUNEDl:\,-Oddfellows' Hall, Smart-street. Sunday, at 11 a.m., Fellowship Meeting. Lecture at 6.45. Sunday School at 2.45. Prayer Meeting and Bible Class every Friday evening at 7.30. Evangelist's Address-Edwin Cur, Stafford Street. TI1A:-rEs- Pollen Street Lecture Hall. Sunday, at II a, m., Fellowship Meeting. Evening Service at 6.30. Sunday School at 2.30. Bible Class every \Vednesday evening at 7.30. Evangelist's Address-E. H. Taylor, Thames. MEl.ROURNE-Eastern Arcade, Bourke-streer. Sunday, at 5.30 p.m., Fellowship ~Ieeting. Lecture at 7 p.rn. Bible Class Tuesday Evening, at 7.45. SVDNEY-\\'arwick Hall, Station Street, Newrown. Morning meeting at 1I. Bible Class Wednesday at 7.45. Secretary's nddress=-W. Warner, 16 Piu-street, Redfern. Printed by H. BRETT, Evening Star Office, Shortland-street, for the New Zealand Evangelistic and Publication Association, and published by J, M. FRENCH, Sussex Street, Surrey Hills, Auckland. OCTOBER, 1891.