B « B ^3g$g^ jg :«3g3g3g3g^ S 3g35 ■ ■■ ■ ■ ■■■■■■ ■ l liiniiiiinimiimmimnintiiii i^i LIBRARY O^CONGRESSTII Shelf jbj£A- UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. CENTENARY VOICES; ^M A PART OF THE WORK OF THE WOMEN THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH, lot co»o»** 9 \ 'S CENTENARY YEAR TO THE PRESENT TTMK PHILADELPHIA: WOMAN'S CENTENARY ASSOCIATION. 1886. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, by M. LOUISE THOMAS, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. COLLINS PRINTING HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA. THOSE WISE AND FAITHFUL MINISTERS WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT AND CO-OPERATION MADE THE WORK POSSIBLE. THEIR NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. PREFACE. I make no apology for these pages. Their intent is to encourage the women of the church to persevere in well-doing. If deeds of faith, love, and perseverance are of any value in the Christian character, then to record them is a duty we owe both to the workers and to the world. Hence we believe that acts such as are here grouped together must serve as a stimulus to others in the wa} T of religious life and duty. It is the merest outline of a work almost without parallel for brave, heroic, self-sacrificing industry, and a thorough, careful, business-like organization of means and resources. The Woman's Centenary Association grew up out of conditions unusually sterile, and obstacles most difficult to meet and overcome. No attempt had been made, previous to that of the Murray Fund, to unite the people in any enterprise for the general good; and a feeling existed in many minds not merely indifferent, but decidedly opposed to broad universal missionary effort. There had never been any formal attempt to plant the Universalist Church on foreign soil, and infinite faith and courage have been exercised to win the people step by step to a generous recognition of the fact that Universal means all men everywhere; first the home, then the home Church, then the State, then the general body elected to serve the Church, and, finally, the Church universal throughout the world, without distinction of race or degree. All must be saved and come unto a knowledge of the truth. (v) yi PREFACE. The Act of Incorporation given herein is the only one of the kind existing in the Church. It gives us a legal right under the protection of the United States laws, and subject to the directing power of the central body of the Church, to which the W. C. A. is auxiliary, to plant our banner in any land under the sun. The Treasurer's reports at the close of the volume will show how wide a territory has been reached, how money has been used to help the most distant states and territories, and how tangible expressions of sympathy have come from points where no organized church has ever existed. Some will declare that statistics are dry and unprofit- able reading; but I do not think so. They are nobly inspiring and full of hope for the future. No thinking mind can afford to be without them as a reference when any work is to be undertaken which seems hard and difficult, and when the laborers are few and weak. Christian zeal and courage, directed by faith, may re- move mountains. Multiply our graces, Chiefly love and fear ; And, dear Lord, the chiefest, Grace to persevere. M. LOUISE THOMAS. Tacony, Philadelphia, Fa, CONTENTS. PAGE Act of Incorporation ix Charter xi Constitution xiii By-Laws xv Officers xix Patrons xx Life Members xxi Form of Bequest xxii Introduction xxiii i. A Circular Letter. By C. A. S I 1. A Calm Inquiry. By Rev. Hosea Ballou, D.D I 2. What is Universalism ? By Rev. T. J. Sawyer, D.D 5 3. Which Power will Triumph? By Rev. J. G. Adams 9 4. God's Promises. By Mrs. M. A. Adams 13 5. The Love of God. By Rev. C. W. Tomlinson 17 6. Divine and Human Agency. By Rev. T. B. Thayer, D.D.... 21 7. The Contrast. By Rev. G. T. Flanders, D.D 25 8. All Things. By Rev. J. G. Adams 29 9. God the Saviour of All Men. By Rev. G. Rogers ^ 10. Who will be Saved ? By Rev. M. Ballou 37 11. Probation Perpetual. By Rev. B. F. Bowles 41 12. God is not Mocked. By G. R. A 45 13. Two Hundred and Thirteen Questions Without Answers. By Rev. A. C. Thomas 49 14. Question of Inheritance. By Rev. L. J. Fletcher 57 15. Am I a Christian ? By Rev. E. Hathaway 61 16. What Must I Do to be Saved? By Rev. G. Bailey 65 17. Plea for Light. By Rev. C. W. Biddle 69 18. Wisdom of God. By Rev. T. B. Thayer, D.D ^jt, 19. Here and Heaven. By Rev. G. H. Vibbert 77 20. The Comfort of the Gospel. By Rev. J. S. Dodge 81 21. Let us Pray. By Rev. J. W. Hanson 85 22. Five Things. By A. C. T 89 23. He Doeth all Things Well. By G. R. A 93 24. More Questions Without Answers. By Rev. A. C. Thomas... 97 25. Thanksgiving Day. By Rev. A. C. Thomas 101 26. Confession of Faith 108 27. Universalism is True 109 28. What the Bible does not Contain no (vii) Vlll CONTENTS. PAGE 29. Are Universalists Christians? m 30. Mission of Christ 112 31. Six Reasons 113 32. Which Do You Believe? 115 23- Man's Duty to God 116 34. Repentance. By Rev. W. S. Balch, D.D 119 35. Goodand Evil. By Rev. M. Ballou 123 36. Punishment and Forgiveness. By Rev. W. S. Balch, D.D....127 37. Universalism in Death. By Rev. H. Bacon 131 38. Will You Think of It? By Rev. T. J. Sawyer, D.D 135 39. Change after Death. By Rev. J. Gallager 139 40. Sin — Punishment — Forgiveness. By Rev. T. B. Thayer, D.D... 143 41. God's Will, Promise, and Oath. By Rev. J. W. Hanson, D.D... 147 42. Good in Evil. By Rev. T. B. Thayer, D.D 151 43. Is Thy House in Order? By Rev. T. B. Thayer, D.D 155 44. Lessons of Sorrow. By Rev. T. B. Thayer, D.D 157 45. Earthly Tent— Heavenly House. By Rev. T. B. Thayer, D.D. . 1 59 46. Through Tribulation. By Rev. T. B. Thayer, D.D 163 47. Bible Creed. By Rev. D. Skinner , 167 48. The Doomed Wolf. By Rev. A. C. Thomas 171 49. A Personal Devil. By Rev. W. H. Ryder, D.D 175 50. Universalist Belief 183 51. Will You Answer? By Rev. Wm. Taylor, M.D 184 52. Endless Punishment. By Rev. A. C Thomas 185 53. Thoughts Concerning Hell. By Rev. M. Ballou 189 54. Can you Believe? By Rev. T. B. Thayer, D.D 193 55. Important Facts. By Rev. A. C. Thomas 197 56. Scripture Doctrine of the Devil By Rev. T. B. Thayer, D.D.. 201 57. End of the World. By Rev. A. C. Thomas 205 58. World to Come. By Rev. T. B. Thayer, D.D 209 59. This Generation. By Rev. A. C. Thomas 213 60. Truth and Reason Against Creeds. By Rev. T.B.Thayer, D.D. .21 7 61. Everlasting Destruction. By Rev. A. C. Thomas 221 62. Quench not the Spirit. By Rev. A. C. Thomas 225 63. Can you Apply It ? By Rev. A. C. Thomas 229 64. He Will Rest in His Love. By Rev. A. C. Thomas .233 65. The Divine Law. By Rev. A. C. Thomas 237 66. The Safe Side. By Rev. A. C. Thomas 241 67. The New Birth. By Rev. A. C. Thomas 245 68. Universal and Special. By Rev. T. B. Thayer, D.D 249 Treasurer's Reports 253 ACT OF INCORPORATION. Act of Congress providing for the creation of Corporations in the District of Columbia by General Law. Approved May 5, 1870. Sect. 3. And be it further enacted, That any three or more persons, of full age, citizens of the United States, a majority of whom shall be citizens of this District, who desire to associate themselves for benevolent, charitable, educational, literary, musical, scientific, religious, or missionary purposes, including societies formed for mutual improvement, or for the promotion of the arts, may make, sign, and acknowledge before any officer authorized to take the ac- knowledgment of deeds in this District, and file in the office of the register of deeds, to be recorded by him, a certificate in writing, in which shall be stated the name or title by which such society shall be known in law, the particular business and objects of such society, the number of trustees, directors, or managers of such society, for the first year of its existence. Upon filing a certificate, as aforesaid, the persons who shall have signed and acknowledged such certificate, and their associates and successors, shall thereupon, by virtue of this act, be a body politic and corporate, by the name stated in such certificate ; and by that name they and their successors may have and use a common seal, and the same may alter and change at pleasure, and may make such by-laws ; and they and their successors, by their corporate name, shall in law be capable of taking, receiving, purchasing, and holding real and personal estate necessary for the purposes of said society, as stated in said certificate, and may sell and convey the same ; to elect officers and agents of such society for the man- agement of its business. The society so incorporated may annually, or oftener, elect from its members, its trustees, directors, or managers, at such time and place, in such manner as may be specified in its by-laws, who shall have the control and management of the affairs and funds of said society, a majority of whom shall be a quorum for the transaction of business, and whenever any vacancy shall happen among such trustees, directors, or managers by death, resignation, or otherwise, such vacancy shall be filled in such manner as shall be provided by the by-laws of said society. The provisions of this act shall not extend to, nor apply to, any association or individual who shall, in the certificate filed with the register of deeds, use or specify a name or style the same as that of any previously existing incorporated body in the District of Columbia. (ix) X ACT OF INCORPORATION. Any corporation formed under this act shall be capable of taking, holding, or receiving any property, real or personal, by virtue of any gift, purchase, devise, or bequest, necessary for the purposes of said society, as stated in said certificate, or in any other manner. The trustees, directors, or stockholders of any existing benevo- lent, charitable, educational, musical, literary, scientific, religious, or missionary corporation, including societies formed for mutual improvement, may, by conforming to the requirements of the sev- eral sections of this act, reincorporate themselves, or continue their existing corporate* powers under this act, or may change their name, stating in their certificate the original name of such corpo- ration, as well as their new name assumed ; and all the property and effects of such existing corporation shall vest in, and belong to, the corporation so reincorporated or continued. Corporations under this division may be organized for any term not exceeding twenty years, the term to be stated in the certificate mentioned in the first section. The corporations formed under this act may sell and dispose of any real estate they may acquire by purchase, gift, or devise, as follows : Whenever any lot purchased for the use of the corpora- tion, or any building erected thereon, shall become ineligible for the uses for which said lot was purchased, or said building erected, to be determined by a vote of two-thirds of the shares of the stock of said corporation, or the members of said corporation, at a meet- ing of the stockholders, or corporators, or members of said corpo- ration, specially called for that purpose, the proceedings of which meeting shall be duly entered in the records of said corporation, said lot or building may be sold, and the proceeds thereof may be vested in another lot, or in the erection of another building, or both. When any real estate shall have been devised or given to any such corporation for any specified benevolent purpose aforesaid, and where, by a vote of three-fourths of the stock held by the stockholders, or three-fourths of the corporators, if no shares of stock have been created, of any corporation formed under this act, then by a vote of three-fourths of the members thereof, at a meet- ing called for the purpose, of which such stockholders, or corpo- rators, or members as aforesaid shall have at least ten days' notice, the said corporation shall determine to surrender their corporate powers, and cease to act under the same, said real and personal estate, so acquired as aforesaid, shall be sold at public auction, proper notice of the time and place of said sale having been given, and the proceeds of said sale equitably distributed among the stock- holders or corporators aforesaid, or disposed of for the promotion and advancement of the objects for which such corporation was originally organized : Provided, That no corporation created by this section shall hold real estate more than five years, except so much as shall be necessary for the purposes named in its certificate. CHARTER. Whereas Malinda F. S. Kelsey, Harriet M. Blanchard, Georgiana A Rowley, Susan K. Turner, Sarah S. Grosh, Augusta J. Chapin, F* J M Whitcomb, M. Louise Thomas, and Caroline A. Soule did, on the 24th day of September, A. D. 1873, file in the office of the Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia a certificate for the nurnoseof incorporating the " Woman's Centenary Association of the United States," as will more fully and at large appear, refer- ence being had to said certificate of incorporation recorded in Liber Deeds of Incorporation, D. C 3 folio 312; and Whereas said Association has been, since its incorporation, con- tinuously in existence, and in a prosperous condition ; and Whereas it has been determined by said Association, to con- tinue the organization thereof for the purposes named m said certificate under and by virtue of the provisions ot the Act of Congress?' approved Ma/ 5, 1870, entitled « An Act to Provide for the Creation of Corporations in the District of Columbia under the name and style hereinafter assumed and mentioned, and to reincorporate said Association under said new and assumed name, as authorized by section 548 of the revised statutes, relating to the District of Columbia. Be it therefore known, that Malinda F. S. Kelsey, Harriet M. Blanch- ard, Susan K. Turner, and Sarah S. Grosh, all of Washington, Dis- trict of Columbia, and F. J. M. Whitcomb, of Nunda. New York, Au- gustaJ. Chapin, of Eden, Michigan, Caroline A. Soule, of Glasgow, Scotland, M. Louise Thomas, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mary M. Dean and Emily L. Sherwood, of Washington, District of Colum- bia, Orphia E. Cantwell, of North Attleboro, Massachusetts Eliza R. Hanson, of Chicago, Illinois, and Martha A. Adams, of Melrose Highlands, Massachusetts, for themselves, their associates and successors in office, being desirous of availing themselves of the provisions of the hereinbefore recited Act of Congress, hereby con- stitute themselves, their associates and successors m office a body politic and corporate, under the name and style of the Woman s Centenary Association of the Universalist Church. The object of this Association is to promote the interests ot the Universalist Church throughout the world, and particularly in the United States. , xi v Xll CHARTER. The following members now constitute, and are here named, as the present Executive Board of Managers of the " Woman's Cen- tenary Association of the Universalist Church.*'* viz: Mrs. If. Louise Thomas. President ; Mrs. Elizabeth D. Browne. Recording Secretary; Mrs. Orphia E. Cantwell, Corresponding Secretary: Mrs. Eliza R. Hanson, Northwest Corresponding Secretary; Mrs. Martha A. Adams. Treasurer. The corporation hereby recreated, to continue for the period of twenty years from the date hereof. Doue at the eitv of Washington, in the District of Columbia, this 11th day of May," A. D. 1882. Malihda F. S. Kelset, [seal ] Haksiet M. Blaxchakd, [seal.] SaKAH S. GrROSH, [SEAL.] M. Louise Thomas, [seal.] Mast M. Dea>\ [seal.] Emily L. Shekwood, [seal.] Orphia E. Cantwell, [seal.] Eliza R. Hanson, [seal. J Maetha A. Adams, [seal.] Signed and sealed in the presence of A. B. Ghosh, Wm. W. Dean. District of Columbia, ss. I, Warren C. Stone, a notary public in and for the District afore- said, do hereby certify that Malinda F. S. Kelsey, Harriet M. Blaneh- ard. Sarah S. Grosh, M. Louise Thomas. Mary M. Dean. Emily L. Sherwood, Orphia E. Cantwell, Eliza R. Hanson, and Martha A. Adams, parties to a certain certificate of incorporation, bearing date on the 11th day of May, A. D. 1S^2. and hereto annexed, personally appeared before me in the District aforesaid, the said Malinda F. S. Kelsey, Harriet M. Blanchard. Sarah S. Grosh. M. Louise Thomas. Mary M. Dean. Emily L. Sherwood, Orphia E. Cantwell, Eliza R. Hanson, and Martha A. Adams, being personally well known to me to be the persons who executed said certificate, and acknowledged the same to be their act and deed for the pur- poses therein named. Given under mv hand and notarial seal this eleventh (11th) day of May. A. D. 1882. [seal.] Wakkex C. Stone, .V. tary Public. CONSTITUTION. ARTICLE I.— Name. This body shall he known as " The Woman's Centenary Associa- tion of the Universalist Church." ARTICLE II.— How Constituted. This Association shall be composed of all women in the United States, District of Columbia, Territories, and British Provinces, who shall each pay annually into the funds of the Association the sum of one dollar or more ; and a payment of twenty-five dollars shall constitute her a life member ; and of one hundred dollars, at any one time, shall constitute her a patron. Men may also be ad mitted to membership on the same terms with women ; but they shall not be allowed to vote, nor to hold any office in the Associa- tion. ARTICLE III.— Powers. 1. This Association shall establish, by dues for membership, do- nations, and bequests, a fund, the interest of which shall be devoted annually to defray the expenses and promote the objects of the Association, and the interests of the Universalist Church. 2. In addition to the interest of the fund, the Executive Board may appropriate the annual membership dues of any one year, to promote such objects and interests ; but no donations or bequests, to be held in trust for any special purpose, shall be used, except to execute such special object and trust. ARTICLE IV.— Officers. The officers of this Association shall consist of a President, a Vice-President for each State, District of Columbia, Territory, and Province, one Recording Secretary, one or more Corresponding Sec- retaries, and a Treasurer. The President, the Secretaries, the Treasurer, and the Chairman of the Publishing Committee (pro- vided for in the By-Laws), shall constitute the Executive Board of Managers of the Association. (xiii) \>v baJlot • k«*4 and ; am.,; BY-LAWS. I. Duties of Officers. 1. Of the President. — She shall preside at all meetings of the Association and of the Executive Board, call such special meetings as shall he deemed necessary, appoint all committees, unless other- wise ordered, and exercise a general supervision of the work. In her absence, at any annual meeting, the Vice-President of that State, Territory, Province, or District in which the meeting is held, shall preside in her stead. In her absence at any executive meeting the Board shall elect a President pro tern, from its own members. 2. Of the Vice-Presidents. — Each Vice-President shall take the general supervision of the work in her particular State, Terri- tory, District, or Province; appoint such committees in each parish as shall in her opinion be necessary to perfect the work; receive all moneys, and pay over semi-annually to the Treasurer such a proportion as the Executive Board shall declare the national trea- sury entitled to receive; and preserve and keep on file the names and post-office address of all memberships. 3. Of the Recording SECRETARY.—The Recording Secretary shall keep a record of all the important work performed by the Associa- tion, and submit a report of the same annually; she shall have the custody of all books, papers, and other documents belonging to the Association the custody of which is not otherwise provided for, and she shall safely keep and hold them under such regulations as the Association may from time to time prescribe, and shall de- liver them to her successor. She shall give due notice of all ses- sions of the Association and of the Executive Board, and all pro- posed amendments to the Constitution as therein, and to these By- Laws as herein set forth. Immediately after the close of every annual meeting she shall give written notice of their appointment to the members of all committees, and to all others elected or ap- p >inte I to any duty, stating the duty to be performed, and request- ing an immediate answer accepting or declining the appointment ; and she shall promptly report to the Executive Board the result of such correspondence. She shall attest all public acts of the Asso- ciation, and all orders drawn upon the Treasurer. She shall pre- pare and transmit annually to the Secretary of the General Con- (xv) vention a report of moneys received during the year, and the public work done. She shall perform such other duties as the Asso- ciation shall from time to time prescribe. 4. Of the Corresponding Secretary. — The Corresponding Sec- retary or Secretaries, shall receive and-answer all letters of inquiry, and submit an annual report to the Association. The Eastern Cor- responding Secretary (if there be two), shall have charge of all the foreign correspondence coming over the Atlantic, and all the home correspondence in the Eastern, Middle, and Atlantic Southern States, the District of Columbia, and the British Provinces ; the Western Corresponding Secretary shall have charge of all the cor- respondence coming over the Pacific, and all the home correspond- ence in the Territories and all the Southern and Western States not named in the Eastern Division. 5. Op the Treasurer. — The Treasurer shall keep full and accu- rate accounts of all the moneys received. She shall pay all orders passed by the Executive Board, and signed by the President and Recording Secretary ; and shall submit a report of all receipts and expenditures by items to the Association at the annual meeting. She shall hold the title papers, or evidences of stock, or other pro- perty belonging to the Association, and shall submit the same to the inspection of the Executive Board whenever required to do so. The Executive Board shall require her to give security for the faithful performance of her duties. 6. Of the Executive Board. — The Executive Board shall have power to fill all vacancies occurring in their Board or in office dur- ing the residue of the current year, and dispose of and convey real estate, and purchase, assign, transfer, and satisfy all secu- rities, loans, stocks, and execute mortgages for purchase-money under the corporate seal, attested by the President and Treasurer, and the same to acknowledge or prove for recording. They may donate funds for the objects of the Association. The Executive Board shall, immediately after the annual meeting, appoint a standing Committee of Publication for the printing of books, tracts, and other documents required by the Association, and the Chairman thereof shall be constituted a member of said Board, and shall render to the annual meeting a report of the work, receipts, and expenditures of said committee, and of the stock on hand at the close of each year. Each member of the Executive Board may vote on any measure proposed by the President, such proposition and each vote thereon to be in writing, and sent by mail, or other- wise ; and the decision of the majority of the Board shall be recorded by the Recording Secretary, and shall bind the Associa- tion. II. Sessions. The Association shall hold three sessions during the annual meeting. The first session shall be at an hour appointed by the Executive Board, and shall include only the members of the Ex- ecutive Board, the Vice-Presidents, and such members as may have been employed in some special work. The afternoon session may be public, and devoted to hearing reports of the officers of the Ex- ecutive Board, and of the Vice-Presidents; to elections, to resolu- tions of approval of retiring officers, and of condolence on the death of eminent friends of the cause ; and to other business presented by the Executive Board. The evening session maybe more general in character, under the direction and control of the Executive Board. Should the church be occupied by the General Convention when a meeting of the Association is desirable, the Executive Board may engage a suitable place for the meeting ; and the President may call special meetings on succeeding days of the Convention, to con- tinue or complete the business of the Association, avoiding, if pos- sible, interference with the meetings of the Convention. III. Organization. At the hour designated for the business meeting the President, or, in her absence, the Vice-President, designated in By-Law 1, or the Recording Secretary shall call the meeting to order, and cause the session to be opened with prayer. The President shall appoint the committees for the session : 1. On Nominations ; 2. On Elections ; 3. On New Business ; 4. On Special Subjects. IV. Order of Business. 1. Calling the roll of the Executive Board and of the Vice-Presi- dents. 2. Reading the minutes of the last annuaj session. 3. Report of the Recording Secretary. 4. Report of the Corresponding Secretary or Secretaries. 5. Report of the Treasurer. 6. Report of the Executive Board. 7. Report of the Publishing Committee. 8. Special Reports, as of work done by Home or Foreign Mission- aries, unless reserved by the President for the evening session. 9. Report of Committee on Nominations. 10. Election of Officers. 11. New Business. Before the adjournment the minutes shall be read for correction. V. Committees. 1. The Committee on Nominations shall report the names of mem- bers for officers of the Executive Board, and for Vice-Presidents. 2. The Committee on Elections shall prepare voting papers. The names of nominees shall be voted upon singly or in groups, as the Nominating Committee or the Association may deside. 3. 2 XV111 BY-LAWS. The Committee on New Business shall report whatever new work seems necessary to be undertaken by the Association — changes proposed in the Constitution or By-Laws — or whatever shall seem to tbem of valid consideration for the future interests of the Asso- ciation. 4. The Committtee on Special Subjects may report pub- licly at the afternoon session, or privately to the Executive Board at a special meeting of the officers. VI. Rules of Order. The ordinary parliamentary rules shall govern the proceedings of this Association. VII. Amendments. These By-Laws may be altered or amended at any annual ses- sion of the Association by a vote of two-thirds of the members present — one month's notice of such alteration or amendment having been publicly given. VIII. Auditing Committees. Auditing Committees may be appointed, either by the President or the Association, at points convenient for those having books and papers to be audited. EXECUTIVE BOARD. President, — Mrs. M. Louise Thomas, Tacony, Philadelphia, Pa. Rec. Secretary. — Mrs. E. D. Browne, Honeoye Falls, N. Y. Cor. Secretary.— Mrs. Emily L. Sherwood, Washington, D. C. N. W. Cor. Secretary. — Mrs. H. E. Lough, Columbus, Ohio. Treasurer. — Mrs. M. M. Dean, Washington, D. C. Publishing Committee. — Rev. C. A. Soule, Fordhara, N. Y. VICE-PRESIDENTS. Maine . Njew Hampshire Vermont Massachusetts Rhode Island connecticut New York . New Jersey . Pennsylvania Maryland West Virginia Dist. of Columbia, North Carolina Florida Kentucky Ohio Michigan Indiana Illinois Missouri Louisiana Texas . Wisconsin- Iowa Minnesota Kansas Nebraska California . Washington Ter, Idaho Territory Wyoming Ter. Canada Scotland England Ireland Mrs. C. A. Quinby, Augusta. " Loretta Foster, Weare Centre. " L. M. Smiley, Richmond. " Maria H. Bray, W. Gloucester. Miss Marietta Mason, Pawtucket. Mrs. Amy A. Ellis, Hartford. " Lucy O. Bucklin, Little Falls. " Anna E. Hitchcock, Newark. " John Mason, Jr., P. 0. Box 47, Philada. " R. H. Pullman, Baltimore. " C. E. Cunningham, Worthington. " Emily L. Sherwood, Washington. " Julia E. Outlaw, Outlaw's Bridge, Dover, Craven County. " F. J. M. Whitcomb, M.D., Tarpon Springs. Miss E. Belle Woodruff, Louisville. Mrs. B. F. Thomas, Hamilton. " Sarah A. Gorton, Charlotte. " Emily E. Newcomb, Huntington. " Orphia E. Cantwell, Chicago. " S. G. Hull, Kansas City. " A. M. Newton, New Orleans. " J. L. Dewey, Seely. " E. R. Coleman, Milwaukee. " B. F. Rogers, Stuart. " F. R. E. Cornell, Minneapolis. " A. C. Pierce, Junction City. " K. A. M. Chapin, Lincoln. " Marian E. Baker, Oakland. ► " J. M. Howe, Lewiston, Idaho. Mr. J. W. Fisher, Cheyenne. Mrs. W. S. Goodell, Smithville, Ontario. Miss Mary Mitchell, Glasgow. Mrs. Rev. R. Spear, London. " Rev. A. Gordon, Belfast. (xix) PATRONS. Mrs. Maria S. Robbins, . . . . . New York. " P. T. Barnum, . . . . . . Connecticut. " Lyman Bickford, . . . . . New York. " Caroline A. Moore, ..... " Carrie A. Wright, ..... Minnesota. " Laura M. Hitchcock, .... New York. LIFE MEMBERS. Mrs. L. H. Hopkins, " Mary L. Draper, " Martha A. Adams, " Mark Fay, " Candace Palmer, " A. J. Hodges, . " Lucy Peck, " M. Louise Thomas, " L. A. Thompson, Rev. Olympia Brown Willis, Mrs. J. I. Case, " Daniel J enks, " Sarah Fish, Mr. E. L. Draper, Mrs. H. B. Sanders, . " Jane E. Day, " Mary Cragin, " Mary A. Simonds, Rev. Caroline A. Soule, Mr. H. N. Higinbotham, Mrs. A. B. Perry, Miss Mary A. Mayo, . Mrs. E. M. Gray, M.D., Rev. C. F. Lefebre, D.D., Mrs. Phoebe D. Arnold, " Lewis Day, " Emma F. Campbell, Mr. John R. Campbell, Mrs. George C. Thomas, Mr. George B. Adams, Mrs. Henry F. Barrows, " Laura M. Hitchcock " L. Richardson, . " Lyman Bickford, " Cynthia Proctor, (xx) New Jersey. Massachusetts. Ohio. Illinois. Wisconsin. Pennsylvania. Illinois. Wisconsin. Massachusetts. Illinois. Massachusetts. Scotland. Illinois. Massachusetts. New York. Wisconsin. Rhode Island. Massachusetts. Pennsylvania. Massachusetts. New York. LIFE MEMBERS. Mrs. Mary Howe Green, " Betsy (). Mcintosh, . " Abby P. Wakefield, . " Helen M. Kirkpatrick, 11 Eliza Maynard, " Harmony Counrad (in memoriam), by her daughter, Mrs. Jennie C " Mary L. Goddard, 11 M. G. Harrington, 11 A.M. Simmons, " L. E. Adams, . " Ruth Martin (in memoriam), 11 Edward Gale, . " S. R. Lawrence, " J. E. Earll Brown, . " S. E. Pierpont, . " Frances Jane Merriam, 11 Maria R. Baker, " Carrie A. Wright, Mr. Jonas F. Barber, Mrs. Mary L. Cook, . " J. P. Stow, " J. C. Lewis, " A. T. Foster, " Sophia M. Damon, " Augusta CM. Graves, " E. J. Lockwood, " George W. Townsend, " Richmond Fiske, 11 Benjamin Pierce, Miss Helen M. Gale, . Mrs. Jonas Pierce, " Sarah J. Inness, " Laura M. Hitchcock, 11 N. M. Thresher, 11 Pamelia W. Knight, . " Elvira G. Wiley, " Minerva M. B. Searls, " Ellen L. Churchill, . Rev. Lotta D. Crosley, Mrs. Armenia S. White, . " Lucy Barnum Partch, " Cornelia M. Jackson, " Mrs. Alfred Woodman, Massachusetts. New York. Massachusetts. New York. Illinois. Massachusetts. New York. Massachusetts. Minnesota. Vermont. Connecticut. Vermont. New York. Massachusetts. Pennsylvania. Missouri. New York. Massachusetts. New York. Ohio. New Hampshire. Iowa. Rhode Island. Maine. FORM OF A BEQUEST. LEGACY OF MONEY. I give and bequeath unto " The Woman's Centenary Associa- tion " of the Universalist Church of North America, incorporated Sept. 1 8, A. D. 1873, the sum of , to be paid to the Treasurer for the time being, for the uses of the Asso- ciation. DEVISE OF REAL ESTATE. I give and devise unto "The Woman's Centenary Associa- tion " of the Universalist Church of North America, and its suc- cessors, incorporated Sept. 18, A, D. 1873 [here describe the property or ground-rent], together with the appurtenances, in fee simple. f$g^ a By act of Assembly in the State of Pennsylvania, 26th April, 1855, a devise or bequest to charitable uses is void, unless the same be done by Will, attested by two credible and disinterested witnesses, AT least thirty days before the decease of the testator. A subscription of $1 constitutes a contributor for one year. A subscription of $25 constitutes a life contributor. A subscription of $100 constitutes a patron. ( xxii ) INTRODUCTION. The story of the Woman's Centenary Association must always hold a brilliant place in the annals of the Universalist Church. Its significant name marks the grand uprising of the women of our Church when its first hundred years of life on this continent was just closing. Until then, they had done their noble work in the most quiet way, living out the doctrines they professed ; min- istering faithfully to the wants of the parish to which they were attached; giving of their means, more or less, to the Educational and Ecclesiastical Institutions then in existence ; attending as mute spectators the Associations and Conventions ; subscribing to the denominational journals, and some of them contributing also to their columns; buying our denominational books, and not un fre- quently writing them; suffering martyrdom, many of them, in the early history of the Church; suffering martyrdom, some of them, even in later years. They were women to be proud of, those early Universalist wives and mothers; and though only a few of their names have been rescued from oblivion, they are all written, we believe, in the Lamb's Book of Life. Towards the close of our first century though there was grow- ing in the hearts of some of the daughters of these faithful elder members a feeling that there were opportunities opening for wo- man's work that had never come before; that the times demanded something more than merely individual help; that a sisterhood of workers was needed. The i esult of this feeling was a determina- tion to unite under some significant name, and celebrate in some suitable way the centenary year of the Church, whose doctrines had done so much for them and theirs. In September, 1869, the General Convention met in the city of Buffalo, N. Y., and a part of its programme was to plan the raising of a large sum of money to be known as the Murray Fund, the in- terest of which should be always at the service of the Universalist Church. While the members of the council deliberated in the auditorium above, the women, who had come up from many differ- ent States, assembled in the Sunday-school room below, conscious of a desire to do something, but with no very distinct idea of what that something was. Unaccustomed to associated work, knowing very little of one another, uncertain each one of her own capacity, it was with a curious mixture of desire and doubt that they came ( xxiii ) XXIV INTRODUCTION. together. One thing though was clear, and it was plainly indi- cated by the fire in every eye, and the resolution written on every countenance, that something grand was going to be attempted ; something new was going to be proposed. Mrs. D. C. Tomlinson was elected Chairman, Mrs. F. J. M. Whit- comb Secretary. Mrs. Eliza Bailey offered prayer. Mrs. Caroline A. Soule, for the first time in her life, "spoke in meeting." She explained the motives that had called them together, the opportuni- ties that opened, the work that could be done. Others came for- ward and addressed the meeting, that strange meeting, made up of women who never before had ventured to utter aloud their thoughts, save in the home and social circle. The council above, learning of the meeting below, delegated the Rev. D. C. Tomlinson to go down and learn what it all meant. He came and encouraged the women in an earnest and eloquent speech. As the result of two hours' conference then and there, the Woman's Centenary Aid Associa- tion was organized, its purpose being to assist the General Conven- tion in raising the Murray Fund. The secretary hastily prepared a report. Mrs. Soule, with the mere scrap of paper in her hand, was led by the Rev. Mr. Tomlinson into the council and to the platform, and read the report to the crowd of members and guests that filled the church. Mr. Tomlinson and the president of the council, the Rev. J. G. Bartholomew, entered into further explana- tions. The people seemed electrified with the novel idea — the women of the Church rising en masse, as willing workers, hopeful helpers! A call was made for memberships. As the result of a very few moments' effort, the sum of $273 was collected, and then and there was started the Murray Fund. In the afternoon a second meeting was held by the women. A constitution was prepared and adopted, officers elected, and the plans for work laid out. No definite sum was agreed upon, but there was a determination registered in every heart to raise what should be considered indeed a help to the General Convention. The officers elected to do the work of the Association were as fol- lows : — President, Mrs. Caroline A. Soule ; Recording Secretary, Mrs. D. C. Tomlinson ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. F. J. M. Whitcomb ; Treasurer, Mrs. M. A. Adams. Vice-President for Maine, Mrs. J. A. Stockwell; for New Hampshire, Mrs. S. H. McCollester ; Ver- mont, Mrs. J. H. Farnsworth; Massachusetts, Mrs. H. A. Bingham; Connecticut, Mrs. C. A. Skinner ; Rhode Island, Mrs. L. W. Bal- l<>u ; New York, Mrs. L. W. Brown ; Pennsylvania, Mrs. M. Louise Thomas; New Jersey, Mrs C. M. Norton; Maryland, Mrs. J. H. Mason; District of Columbia, Mrs. A. B. Grosh; Virginia, Mrs. S. J. Wardwell; Ohio, Mrs. 0. E. Cantwell; Indiana, Mrs. A. W. Bruce; Illinois, Mrs. G. B. Marsh; Michigan, Mrs. H. L. Hay- ward; Minnesota, Mrs. Paris Gibson; Wisconsin, Mrs. E. T. Wilkes ; Iowa, Mrs. W. R. Chamberlain; Missouri, Mrs. S. Hull; Kansas, Mrs. L. Denman ; California, Mrs. J. Hale ; Nebraska, Mrs. J. D. Monell. Of these officers, Mrs. J. H. Farnsworth, Mrs. H. INTRODUCTION. XX v A. Bingham, Mrs. C. M. Norton, and Mrs. J. D. Monell have passed a\\ ay. The corner-stone of the Murray Fund was laid by the Illinois branch of the Woman's Centenary Aid Association, five hundred dollars being sent to the treasurer of the General Convention, as the net profits of an entertainment held in the vestry of St. Paul's Church, Chicago. The total amount of the money raised by the Woman's Centenary Aid Association was $35,974.26' ; the expenses of the work were $773.73; donation to the ladies of the Buffalo Church, which building had been burned after the meetings of 1869, $200; given to the treasurer of the General Convention for the Murray Fund, $35,000.53. Nearly 13,000 women became members, their gifts ranging from to $1 to $100, $200, $300, and, in one case, reaching as high as $1000. The success of the Association was very wonderful, when all things are considered. It exceeded, indeed, the most buoyant hopes of its friends. But its success was the result of the tireless toil of the officers and members, aided by the enthusiasm of the Church, and blessed by the Head of the Church, the All-Father. The series of brilliant meetings held in many of our prominent cities during the winter of 1869, and the spring and summer of 1870, culminated in that called in the Universalist Church in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 21, 1870, where the women of our Church held their first national gathering — when the overflow filled the vestry and two other churches. The work of the Woman's Centenary Aid Association was then completed, it having more than fulfilled its promises to the General Convention. This success was only a stimulant though to the thoughtful ones. They felt that if so much could be accomplished in one year, in a series of years there might be even grander re- sults; not that they could hope for equal pecuniary gains each year, but they could hope to raise something that would greatly help the work of our Church in its efforts to evangelize the world. Besides, there was a social and spiritual gain to the members them- selves in this associated work that could not be lightly parted with. Territorial, even national lines, were blotted out from the sight of these earnest workers; and like the doctrines of their Church, their enlarged hearts desired to gather in all peoples, all nations ; they desired to help where our help was needed, no matter the name of the nation, no matter the color or clan. A meeting of the members was called in Philadelphia, on Wed- nesday, September 20, 1871, for the purpose of dissolving the Aid Association, and organizing one for independent work. Two sessions of the Aid Association were held in the vestry of the church of the Messiah, Mrs. Soule presiding in the morning, but delegating Mrs. H. A. Bingham to the chair in the afternoon, being herself prostrated by sudden illness. Miss Amanda Lane was elected Secretary pro tern. The work of the Centenary Year was re-called, and that of the year succeeding, which latter was mainly gathering XXVI INTRODUCTION. up the fragments, or making whole the piece. The records of the Secretary were exhibited, a heavy volume of beautifully writ- ten names, embracing those of the thirteen thousand members. The records of the Treasurer were also exhibited, an equally pon- derous volume, the book-keeping that of a well-trained mathema- tician. After several hours' careful consideration of the subject, a new organization was effected, its name the same grandly significant one, save that the word Aid was dropped. A constitution was pre- sented to the meeting by the committee to whom it had been re- ferred, Mesdames Thomas, Adams, and Bingham. It was discussed and voted upon clause by clause, and finally adopted as a whole. Under this constitution the Association worked for eleven years, from 1871 to 1882, with only the change of one word in all those years. The work of the Association was decided upon by vote. It was to assist weak parishes, foster poor Sunday-schools, help to edu- cate worthy women students for the ministry, relieve the wants of sick or disabled preachers, ministers' widows and orphans, dis- tribute denominational literature, and do both home and foreign missionary work. A department of specified gifts was afterwards organized by which any member or non-member may present money or gifts to the Executive Board, for such special purpose as they shall choose, and the money or gifts will be at once passed over to the individual, institution, or organization named by the giver. Through this channel many thousands of dollars have passed, the largest gift of tbe kind being that of Mrs. Chloe Pierce, of Sharps- ville, Pa., who gave $10,000 towards the endowment of a Woman Professorship in Buchtel College ; the next largest that of Miss H. H. Fay, who gave $3000 for the purchase of an organ for the Universalist Church in Washington, D. C. The officers elected at the Philadelphia meeting were the same as those that had served during the Centenary Year, except where health or the pressure of home duty forbade a re-election. Up to the present date, 1886, the Association has had but two Presidents, Mrs. Caroline A. Soule, who served till 1880, and Mrs. M. Louise Thomas, who succeeded her at that time. It has had but two Trea- surers, Mrs. M. A. Adams, who served till 1883, and Mrs. M. M. Dean, who succeeded her. It has had six Recording Secretaries, Mrs. D. C. Tomlison, Miss Amanda Lane, Mrs. A. B. Grosh, Rev. Miss F. E. Kolloch, Mrs. A. M. Hall, and Mrs. E. D. Browne. It has had four Corresponding Secretaries, Mrs. F. J. Whitcomb, Miss Ellen E. Miles, Mrs. O. E. Cantwell, and Mrs. Emily L. Sherwood. Its N. W. Corresponding Secretaries have been Mrs. G. B. Marsh, Mrs. E. R. Hanson, and Mrs. Helen E. Lough. Of the Executive Board only one member has passed away, Mrs. E. R. Hanson, who died at her home in Blue Island, 111,, on the ltith of September, 1885, after a painful illness of two years. Its Vice-Presidents have been : Maine, Mrs. J. A. Stockwell, Miss Eleanor Laurence, Mrs. G. W. Case, and Mrs. C. A. ■Quinby ; New Hampshire, Mrs. INTRODUCTION. XXVll S. II. MeCollester, Mrs. Annie Glover, Mrs. E. J. Jaquette, Mrs. G. L. Demurest, Mrs. Loretta Foster; Vermont, Mrs. J. II. Farnsworth, Mrs. M. II. Harris, Rev. Annette J. Shaw, Mrs. L. M. Smiley ; Massachusetts, Mrs. H. A. Bingham, Miss Amanda Lane, Mrs. II. A. Potter, Mrs. M. L. Draper, Mrs. L. C. Start, Mrs. M. H. Bray ; Connecticut, Mrs. C. A. Skinner, Mrs. M. C. Webster (now Mrs. M. C. Billings), Mrs. 0. P. Amies, Mrs. Amy A. Ellis ; Rhode Island, Mrs. L. W. Ballon. Mrs. S. C. Carpenter, Mrs. C. W. Hoi brook. Mrs. C- M. Ja.kson ; New York, Mrs. L. W. Brown, Mrs. S. C. Hodman, Mrs. Crowell, Mrs. Lucy G. Bucklin; New Jersey, Mrs. C. M. Nor- ton, Mrs. Anna E. Hitchcock, Miss Mary Norton ; Delaware, Mrs. J. T. Goodrich ; Pennsylvania, Mrs. M. L. Thomas, Mrs. John Mason, Jr. ; Maryland, Mrs. L. H. Mason, Mrs. M. Kemp, Mrs. R. A. Tichmore, Mrs. R. H. Pullman; Virginia, Mrs. S. J. Wardwell ; Vest Virginia, Mrs. Wm, A. Jones, Mrs. Abbie W. Lott, Mrs. Q, E. Cunningham ; District of Columbia, Mrs. A. B. Grosh, Miss C. Gove, Mrs. A. Kelsey, Mrs. E. L. Sherwood; North Carolina, Mrs. Hope Bain, Mrs. Julia E. Outlaw ; South Carolina, Mrs. D. B. Clay- ton ; Georgia, Mrs. L. F. W. Andrews ; Alabama, Mrs. J. C. Bur- riss ; Florida, Miss H. H. Fay, Miss Fanny Ransom, Mrs. F. J. M. Whitcomb, M.D. ; Kentucky, Miss Jennie Gifforct, Mrs. Waters, Mrs. J. W. Henley, Miss E. Belle Woodruff; Ohio, Mrs. 0. E. Cant- well, Mrs. D. C. Tomlinson, Mrs. Helen E. Lough, Mrs. B. F. Thomas ; Michigan, Mrs. H. L. Hayward, Rev. Mrs. F. W.Gillette, Mrs. S. A. Peterman, Miss Mary A. Johnson, Mrs. E. L. Rexford, Mrs. Sarah A. Gorton ; Indiana, Mrs. A. W. Bruce, Mrs. M. Crosley, Mrs. C. L. Bassett, Mrs. Emily E. Newcomb ; Illinois, Mrs. Gr. B. Marsh, Mrs. W. H. Ryder, Mrs. W. S. Brookins, Mrs. M. C. Swan, Rev. An- nette J. Shaw ; Missouri, Mrs. S. Hull ; Mississippi, Mrs. T. H. Rush ; Arkansas, Mrs. EliThornberg ; Louisiana, Mrs. G. H. Deere, Mrs. S. J. McLean, Mrs. A. M. Newton ; Texas, Mrs. L. A. Cook, Mrs. Haw- kins Boon, Mrs. James Billings, Mrs. J. L. Dewey ; Wisconsin, Rev. Mrs. E. T. Wilkes, Miss Ruth Graham, Mrs. A.'C. Fish, Mrs. M. G. Todd, Mrs. H. W. Hale, Mrs. E. R. Coleman; Iowa, Mrs. W. R. Chamberlain, Mrs. M. P. Kingman, Mrs. W. P. Payne, Mrs. A. K. Powers, Rev. Mrs. Gillette, Mrs. A. B. Lewis, Mrs. B. F. Rogers ; Minnesota, Mrs. Paris Gibsen, Mrs. Dr. Goodwin, Mrs. R. Blakely, Mrs. H. P. Morrison, Mrs. F. R. E. Cornell ; Kansas, Mrs. L. Den- man, Mrs. J. H. Ballou, Rev. Mrs. S. M. Barnes, Mrs. A. C. Pearce; Colorado, Mrs. G. Collins, Rev. Mrs. E. T. Wilkes, Mrs. M. E. Hayward ; Nebraska, Mrs. J. D. Monell, Mrs. S. R. Fairbanks, Rev. Mrs. M. J. DeLong, Mrs. K. A. M. Chapin ; Utah Territory, Mrs. Addie Bascom ; California, Mrs. J. Hale, Mrs. Alpheus Bull, Mrs. W. H. Sears, Mrs. Baker ; Oregon, Mrs. A. Morrison, Mrs. 8. A. McAlister ; Washington Territory, Mrs. S. A. McAlister ; Idaho, Mrs. J. M. Howe ; Wyoming Territory, J. W. Fisher, Mrs. G. A. Seabright; Canada, Mrs. E. G. Shaw, Mrs. W. S. Goodell ; Scot- land, Mrs. J. U. Mitchell, Mrs. A. Reid, Mrs. M. Crosley, Miss Mary McL. Mitchell ; England, Mrs. Pollard, Mrs. Robert Spears ; Ire- land, Mrs. Alexander Gordon. Of these officers, the following are XXY111 INTRODUCTION. deceased : Mrs. J. H. Farnworth, Mrs. H. A. Bingham (in 1877) ; Mrs. C. M. Norton, Miss H. H. Fay (in 1885) ; Mrs. James Billings, Mrs. H. P. Morrison (in Vienna, Austria, while on a European jour- ney, in the autumn of 1880) ; Mrs. J. D. Monell (in San Francisco, Cal., in 1885). The Association has never failed to hold a meeting at the time and place of the General Convention. In 1872, it met in annual session in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mrs. Soule in the chair. In 1873, in Washington, District of Columbia, Mrs. Soule in the chair. In 1874, in New York City, Mrs. Soule in the chair. In 1875, in Lynn, Massachusetts, Mrs. Helen A. Potter, Vice-President for Massachusetts, in the chair, Mrs. Soule being detained on the Atlantic by an unexpectedly rough voyage. In 1876, in Ro- chester, New York, Mrs. Soule in the chair. In 1877, in Chicago, Illinois, Mrs. Soule in the chair. In 1878, in Providence, Rhode Island, Mrs. M. L. Draper, Vice-President for Massachusetts, in the chair. In 1879, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Rev. Mrs. F. W. Gil- lette, Vice-President for Iowa, in the chair. In 1880, in Hudson, New York, Mrs. L. G. Bucklin, Vice-President for New York, in the chair. In 1881, in Detroit, Michigan, Mrs. Thomas in the chair. In 1882, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mrs. Thomas in the chair. In 1883, in Washington, District of Columbia, Mrs. Thomas in the chair. In 1884, in Peoria, Illinois, Mrs. Thomas in the chair. In 1885, in Brooklyn, New York, Mrs. Thomas in the chair. At the session in Cincinnati, in 1872, the subject of assisting Scotland was first introduced to the General Convention and Woman's Centenary Association, in an eloquent speech by Rev. J. S. Cantwell, D.D. Neither organization felt prepared to give offi- cially ; but many members of both gave freely of money and lite- rature and the #er m-thought of the Scottish mission was then and there conceived. At the session in Washington, District of Columbia, 1873, the first report of the Publication Committee, Mrs. M. Louise Thomas, was received, showing that the wishes of the Association had been complied with, and the tract department thoroughly organized. The first issue of their valuable little helps were then distri- buted, the series numbering twelve. A little later, additional ones were published, making the number fifty-two. To these others have been now added, making the whole number sixty- eight. The total number of pages distributed by the Association since that time, till October, 1885, is 4,412,970, and they have been sent to almost every part of the inhabited earth. And not only tracts, but thousands upon thousands of denominational papers have been scattered over the different continents and islands of the sea through this department, and many thousands of valuable books and pamphlets. During this session, 1873, the Asssciation became incorporated, receiving its charter from the District of Columbia, under a special act of Congress, the charter dating Sept. 18, 1873. The names signed to the document as incorporators, are INTRODUCTION. XXIX Caroline A. Soule, M. Louise Thomas, F. J. M. Whitcomb, Augusta Chapin, Sarah S. Grosh, Susan K. Turner, Georgian a A. Rowley, Harriet M. Blanchard, Malinda F. S. Kelsey, the four last named being residents of the District of Columbia, to meet the require- ments of the law. Subscribing witnesses, A. B. Grosh, Joshua ];. Norton. It was signed in the house of A. B. Grosh, and after- wards regularly recorded, and the charter handed to the corpora- tors. At the session in New York City, in 1874, the troubles between the Association and the General Convention, which had grown out of the criticisms of some of the brethren regarding the independ- ent action of the women in denominational affairs, were amicably adjusted. The President of the Association was admitted to the floor of the Convention, and her statements in regard to the loyalty of the women to the Head of the Church, the All-Father, and to the General Convention, as the highest ecclesiastical power in the Church, were received with applause, and the two bodies resolved henceforth to work hand-in-hand, heart-to-heart. During this year the subject of the Scottish mission took definite shape. An appeal to the General Convention for help from the few friends in Scotland was turned over to the Association by a committee from that body. As the result of mature deliberation, it was voted that the sum of $250 per annum be sent, in quarterly instalments, for the purpose of starting a mission in Edinburgh, to the applicant delegated to accept and properly to use the said or any sum voted. During this year, with a view to increase the pecuniary returns, and otherwise strengthen the Association, the office of General Superintendent was created, and the President was cordially in- vited to accept the arduous position. Disregarding her own desires for a continuance of her quiet work in journalism, which permit- ted "evenings at home," she acceded to the desires of the Board, and in April began her travels, which were continued over nine months, during which time they extended from the extreme east- ern part of Maine to the Missouri River, including all the New England, Middle, and Midwest States. She worked not only for the Association per se, but for schools, colleges, churches in debt, and for Sunday-schools ; any and everything denominational, that needed help, received a portion of her time and energies. With a long list of appointments in hand, she left the West the 14th of Jan. 1ST"), on special business connected with woman's work in the U. S. A., expecting to return in the space of two weeks. A sudden prostration of health forbade any further work, and with the hope of finding the rest so greatly needed she sailed for Eu- rope in May. During her absence she spent several months in Scotland, becoming acquainted with our scattered friends, and learning their needs ; preaching for them, as her health would per- mit, helping to organize the Scottish Universalist Convention, and assisting in the dedication of* the only church edifice owned by the Universalists of North Britain, that in Stenhousmuir, Larbert. XXX INTRODUCTION. She returned in October of the same year ; hut in consequence of contrary winds, a day too late to attend the annual meeting in Lynn, Massachusetts. Ascertaining while in Scotland that the money voted to the Edin- burgh mission was not so applied, she represented the case to the trustees of the General Convention, on her return, and by their advice and approbation, the same sum was afterwards voted to be sent to the Scottish Universalist Convention, to be applied as its trustees should direct. It is a pleasure to know that a part of the sum went to pay the debt on the Stenhousmuir church, and thus gives the Association a secret feeling of part-ownership in that little "kirk." In 1876 the W. C. A. received an appeal from the Scottish breth- ren for a missionary to be sent to them, for a period of not less than two years, and the desire was that the President of the W. C. A. be the person sent. Many months of careful deliberation were given to the pros and cons of the weighty matter, and the deci- sion finally reached was that Mrs. Soule be sent to Scotland as the missionary of W. C. A., at a salary of $850, Mrs. Soule believing, from her six months' acquaintance with Scottish life, that she could live creditably upon this modest sum. In 1877, at the session in Chicago, the whole matter of the Scot- tish mission was brought up to the assembled members, and enthu- siastically approved. Before sailing, the President, by request of Western members, devoted several months to missionary work in Nebraska, preaching in Lincoln, York, and Tecumseh, and organi- zing the Universalist Church in the latter place. Several weeks of missionary work were also given to Indiana and Ohio. The missionary sailed for Glasgow in May, 1878, remaining in Scotland till Sept. 1882, the original time being extended at the request of the Scottish people. Her ministrations were not confined to Scot- land, but extended to Ireland, the Isle of Man, and England. In Aug. 1882, her successor, the Rev. Marion Crosley, sailed for Scot- land, he being the missionary elected by the board at a salary of $1600. Mr. Crosley remained there till Aug. 1884, when he re- turned, the expectation being that the Rev. J. W. Hanson, D.D., would immediately succeed him. The long and painful illness of Dr. Hanson's wife forbidding the execution of this plan, the Asso- ciation engaged, ad interim, at the sum of $400 per annum, the services of the Rev. Mr. Smith, an ex-chaplain of the Established Church, who had been deposed for heresy. In Oct. 1885, the Association requested the Rev. Dr. Hanson to succeed Mr. Smith, at as early a date as possible, the death of his beloved wife leaving him free to break up his home this side the ocean. The new mis- sionary sailed for Scotland on the 13th of February, and began work in Glasgow Feb. 28th, 1886. It is entirely due to the efforts of .the W. C. A. that we have a mission station " over the sea." St. Paul's Universalist Church, in Glasgow, Scotland, was organized by the first missionary of the W. C. A. in March, 1879, with a Sunday-school, conference and prayer- INTRODUCTION. XXXI meetings, church library, and all the necessities for active religious work. The first melodeon was the gift of the first pastor, Mrs. Soule, as was also the communion set, the money for the latter having been given to her by her very dear old friend, Rev. C. P. Le Fevre, D.D., as a personal souvenir for her own use ; and she, taking the gift as an answer to her prayer that God would give her money to buy a communion set, at once devoted " the draft" to that sacred pui pose." During her work in Glasgow, the missionary was formally ordained to the work of the Universalist ministry by the Scot- tish Convention, being the first time in Europe that the rite was conferred on a woman. In May, 1SS2, a meeting of the incorporators was held in the city of Washington, D. C, and measures taken to secure a new charter, under a new set of by-laws, said charter dating May 11, 1882, to continue twenty years. Early in the winter of 1883 the Association granted to the Rev. James Billings, under its seal, power to collect memberships' fees in Texas, and appropriate them to missionary work, acting always in harmony with the Vice-President of that State, and thus in- augurated what is known now as the Texan Mission. In 1884 it supplemented this with a gift of $1 00 per annum from its treasury. In 1885 it doubled the gift, sending $200, which sum has also been given by the General Convention. The Connecticut branch of the W. C. A. has also aided this mission to a considerable ex- tent, both by collections at its annual meetings, and the private gifts of members. The treasurer's reports will show that large sums of money have been given annually to all our home missions, while the books of the tract department reveal the fact that more than two-thirds of the tracts published have been given away, instead of being sold, and that thousands of denominational papers have passed through the hands of the Publishing Committee to mission stations in this and other lands. Such, briefly told, is the record of the W. C. A. Thousands of pages would not hold all the interesting incidents connected with its sixteen years of work. Full of stern realities, and equally full of sweet romance has been its life, x>rose and poetry counting equal pages. That it may live and labor under its present sanctified name, till, at least, Sept. 1969, is the sacred wish of its first Presi- dent, Caroline A. Soule. "CONTENT." Fordham, N. Y. 1886. THE RIGHT MUST WIN. Workmen of God ! oh, lose not heart, But learn what God is like ; And in the darkest battlefield, Thou shalt know where to strike. Thrice blest is he to whom is given The instinct that can tell That Grod is on the field when He Is most invisible. Blest too is he who can divine Where real right doth lie, And dares to take the side that seems Wrong to man's blindfold eye. Then learn to scorn the praise of men, And learn to lose with God ; For Jesus won the world through shame 3 And beckons thee His road. Gfod's glory is a wondrous thing, Most strange in all its ways ; And of all things on earth, least like What men agree to praise. Muse on His justice, downcast soul ! Muse and take better heart ; Back with thine angel to the field, And bravely do thy part. For right is right, since God is God, And right the day must win ; To doubt would be disloyalty, To falter would be sin. ( xxxii ) No. 1. WOMAN'S CENTENARY ASSOCIATION. A CIRCULAR LETTER. THE women of the Universalist Church of America were first organized for National denominational work in September, 1869. Previous to that date, they had earned a brilliant record as workers, but it was individual and local. Every Parish, Association and State Convention had its women helpers — earnest, hopeful, faithful sisters — without whose industrious hands, thoughtful heads and loyal hearts, our cause, in their immediate neighborhoods, must have often languished, and perhaps have died. It was due to the zeal, attention and self-sacrifice of our women, quite as much as of our men, that Universalism accomplished so much in the first century of its existence in this country. When, in the spring and summer of 1869, the work of the Centenary Year was projected, it occurred to a few thoughtful persons that the women of the Church should take an active part in whatever effort was made, and that they should organ- ize an association specially for this purpose. But, though the question was often discussed, no definite result was attained. When, however, at the session of the General Convention, at Buffalo, N. Y., in September of that year, the magnitude of the Centenary work became apparent, it was felt that all the forces of the denomination must be brought to bear upon the work of the coming year ; and, as a result, on the morning of the third day of the session, a meeting was called in the vestry of the church, and The Woman's Centenary Aid Associa- tion was duly organized. The new Association being accepted as a co-worker for the year, and the enthusiasm of the people at white heat, it was proposed that a canvass for membership be made, which was done, and the foundation laid of our Memorial Fund, the amount raised being $273.00. That day marked an era in the history of our women, for many who had never before lifted their voices in public, spoke ably and eloquently. On that day our women for the first time realized the power that they had been in the past, that they were in the present, and might be in the future. The officers of The Woman's Centenary Aid Association consisted of a President, Recording and Corresponding Secre- tary, and Treasurer, who constituted the Executive Board, and a Vice-President for each State and Territory. The women elected to fill these offices were : Mrs. Caroline A. Soule, Presi- dent ; Mrs. D. C. Tomlinson, Recording Secretary ; Mrs. F. J. M. Whitcomb, Corresponding Secretary ; Mrs. J. G. Adams, 2 WOMAN S CENTENARY ASSOCIATION. Treasurer ; Vice-President for Maine, Mrs. J. A. Stockwell ; for New Hampshire, Mrs. S. H. McCollester ; Vermont, Mrs. J. H. Farnsworth ; Massachusetts, Mrs. H. A. Bingham ; Connecticut, Mrs. C. A. Skinner ; Rhode Island, Mrs. L. W. Ballou ; New York, Mrs. L. W. Brown ; Pennsylvania, Mrs. A. C. Thomas ; New Jersey, Mrs. C. M. Norton ; Maryland, Mrs. J. H. Mason ; District of Columbia, Mrs, A. B. Grosh ; Virginia, Mrs. S. J. Wardwell ; Ohio, Mrs. J. S. Cantwell ; Indiana, Mrs. A. W. Bruce ; Illinois, Mrs. G. B. Marsh ; Michigan, Mrs. H. L. Hay ward ; Minnesota, Mrs. Paris Gib- son ; Wisconsin, Mrs. E. T. Wilkes ; Iowa, Mrs. W. R. Cham- berlain ; Missouri, Mrs. J. G. Hull ; Kansas, Mrs. L. Denman ; California, Mrs. J. Hale ; Nebraska, Mrs. J. D. Monell. The corner-stone of the Murray Fund Was laid by the Illinois branch of the Woman's Centenary Aid Association, the vice-president for that State, Mrs. G. B. Marsh, sending the handsome sum of $500 to the General Convention, early in the winter of 1869 — it being the net profits of an entertainment held in the vestry of St. Paul's Church, Chicago — the first entertainment ever gotten up by the women of our Church for a National denominational purpose. The total amount of money raised by the Woman's Centenary Aid Association was $35,974.26 ; the expenses were $773.73; donation to the Buffalo church, $200 ; put into the treasury of the General Convention for the Murray Fund, $35,000 53. Nearly 13,000 women became members, their contributions varying from $1 to $100, $200, $300, and in one case reaching as high as $1000. Organized for one year's existence only, to do a special work, the Association was to be dissolved at the Centenary Meeting, in Gloucester, Mass., September, 1870. But a portion of the reports being at that time defective, it was unanimously decided to continue the organization another year, under the same name and with the same officers. The success of the Association during the Centenary Year was far beyond the hopes of its most sanguine friends, while the social and spiritual good accomplished was more than commensurate with the pecuniary results. The series of glorious meetings held by its officers in different sections of the country, during the winter of 1869 and the spring and summer of 1870, culminated in the immense concourse which gathered in the Universalist Church at Gloucester, on the evening of Wednesday, September 21, 1870. On Wednesday, the 20th of September, 1871, the Woman's Centenary Aid Association met in Philadelphia, Pa., for the purpose of giving a resume Of its work, and dissolving its organization. But the social and spiritual good resulting from its two years' existence had been so great, and the pecuniary results so promising, it was decided that a force so important should not be lost to the denomination. Consequently a new organization was effected under the name of the Woman's WOMAN S CENTENARY ASSOCIATION. 3 Centenary Association. Two sessions were held, at the second of which a constitution was adopted, the purpose and possibilities of the Association stated, and the special work to which the annual memberships of the first should be appro- priated decided upon. The officers elected to do the work of the Association were the same as those who had so faithfully served it through the Centenary season, except where circum- stances forbade acceptance of the position. The first annual- meeting of the Woman's Centenary Association was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday, September 19, 1872. The report of the Treasurer showed that the total amount raised during the first year of the organization was Si, 373. 50, nineteen States being represented in that sum. The expenditures were a gift to Jefferson Liberal Institute, Wisconsin, of $500 ; to Rev. S. J. McMorris, of $27 ; a pulpit Bible to the parish at Lincoln, Nebraska, $15 ; printing, post- age, drafts, &c, $37.15. Total, $579.15; balance, $794.35. The first gift of the Association was the Bible above named, which was forwarded from the Pennsylvania branch. The officers elected for the year closing September, 1873, were : Mrs. Caroline A. Soule, President ; Mrs. F. J. M. Whit- comb, Corresponding Secretary ; Miss Amanda Lane, Record- ing Secretary ; Mrs. J. G. Adams, Treasurer ; Vice-President for Maine, Miss Eleanor Lawrence ; New Hampshire, Mrs. E. J. Jaquith ; Vermont, Mrs. M. H. Harris ; Massachusetts, Miss Amanda Lane; Connecticut, Mrs. M. C. Webster; Rhode Island, Mrs. S. C. Carpenter; New York, Mrs. George Hoffman ; Pennsylvania, Mrs. A. C. Thomas ; New Jersey, Mrs. F. Hitch- cock ; Ohio, Mrs. D. C. Tomlinson ; Indiana, Mrs. M. Crosley ; Illinois, Mrs. G. B. Marsh ; Michigan, Mrs. H. L. Hay ward ; Minnesota, Mrs. Paris Gibson ; Missouri, Mrs. J. G. Hull ; Ne- braska, Mrs. J. D. Monell; District of Columbia, Miss Caddie Gore ; Wisconsin, Miss Ruth Graham ; Kentucky, Miss Jennie Gifford; Virginia, Mrs. Abbie C. Lott. In December, 1872, the Executive Board organized a de- partment to be known as Specified Gifts. By this, any person, member or non-member, may present money or gift of any kind, to the Executive Board, for such special purpose as they shall name, and the money or gift will be at once passed over to the individual, institution or organization named by the donor. This department went at once into operation, seven gifts being sent to individuals and organizations in as many days. In May, 1873, tne Executive Board decided to appropriate so much of the balance still in the treasury as was not needed for the actual expenses of the Association, to the publication of a series of tracts, believing that to be the wisest use to which the money could be applied under the resolution passed at Philadelphia, September, 1871. The purpose of the Woman's Centenary Association is, in general, to foster the cause of Universalism in our country, 4 WOMAN S CENTENARY ASSOCIATION. — in particular, to distribute our denominational literature ; to establish Sunday Schools in waste places., and assist in sus- taining them till they become self-supporting ; to foster weak parishes and needy kistitutions of learning ; to aid. in the education of students for the ministry ; to help those sick or aged ministers who would suffer if pecuniary aid were with- held ; to relieve the necessities of ministers' widows and or- phans, where poverty is their portion ; and to build up the Missionary enterprise. The possibilities of the Woman's Centenary Association are of the grandest character. It has within itself the elements of a power which, in twenty-five years, would give an impetus to the Universalist Church, which seems now too marvellous for belief. Consider a few points. Our Centenary Book shows the names of nearly 13,000 Universalist women. Now, make it an even number, say 12,000, and let each one of these give one dollar a year, and we have $12,000 at the end of the first year. We invest $5,000 towards a Permanent Fund, and we use $7,000 for our annual work. We do this for twenty-five years, and what is the result ? We have a Permanent Fund of $125,000, and we have expended $175,000 for denomina- tional work. And this, too, without counting the annual inter- est of our Permanent Fund ! Splendid results ! What will they cost each of those 12,000 women ? Did you ever count the cost of this stupendous work ? We have counted it for you. // is not quite two cents a week ! Is there a woman in our denomination who cannot save two cents a week — who will not save two cents a week — when the pOAver of pennies is thus demonstrated ? Now, double these figures, nay, treble them, for it is possible to find 36,000 women in our country generous enough to give one dollar annually to our Association, and we have, in twenty- five years, a Permanent Fund of $375,000, and have spent $525,000 ! And this without counting interest. Now look ahead, and see the second Centennial celebration in America. See the Woman's Centenary Association gathered together to hear, among other things, the report of its treasurer. What is the value of its possessions,* counting only 36,000 members ? From an annual investment of $15,000, we have a Permanent Fund of $1,500,000 ! Expended for denominational purposes in the last century, $2,100,000! And still we count no interest, for remembering that money doubles in about ten years, we learn that our first investment of $15,000 will, in a hundred years, have amounted to $15,360,000! Nay, we have not counted the interest, for the munificence of the figures makes our brain dizzy ! Universalist women of America ! Will you not consider these possibilities ? Will you not give two cents a week to the Woman's Centenary Association ? c. a. s. Woman's Centenary Association. 4 No.l. A CALM INQUIRY. THERE are some truths so manifest, that they are re- ceived alike by all who bear the Christian name. Of this number is the proposition that the Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works, (Ps. cxlv. 9.) This is not a sectarian tenet, but a truth universally ac- knowledged. All Christians believe that God is good and merciful in some way, and at some period, to every creature he has made. Those, for instance, who believe that he created all mankind for future bliss and glory, but that some will nevertheless become infinitely wretched, merely through the obstinate abuse of their own free wills — those, who main- tain this position, maintain also that God is good to these irre- claimable sinners, in bringing them into existence, in providing for them an all-sufficient Saviour, in granting to them a day of probation, and in the unwearied invitations of his Spirit, urging them to repentance and salvation. In short, Christians of every denomination strenuously assert the simple fact that the Lord is good to all, that his tender mercies are over all his works ; although they differ in determining how long this will continue to be the case, and in what particular respects this goodness is exercised. We are now prepared to use that fact as a standard by which to try the correctness of other tenets. And we shall accordingly bring to this test the common doctrine of endless misery ; for we are confident that, to preserve consistency, either that doctrine, or our proposition, must be abandoned. That the reader may enter upon the subject with all the advantage of preparation, it is proper that he be apprised, in the plainest manner, of the peculiar character of our under- taking. We repeat, then, that we shall now proceed to show that the common doctrine of endless misery, necessarily con- tradicts our proposition, taken in any sense whatsoever ; and that it would inevitably prove that, to some, the Lord is not good in any possible way, nor at any period of their exist- ence : neither in creating nor in preserving them ; nor in giving them temporal comforts ; nor in sending his Son to die for them ; nor, finally, in consigning them to endless woe. We are taught, by the doctrine in question, that God knew from eternity that some of mankind, if" created, would become infinite sufferers in their existence, either through their own perverseness, or his inexorable decree ; and still we are taught 2 A CALM INQUIRY. that, with all this foresight, he voluntarily brought them into being. Was this an act of goodness towards them ? or, is it possible that their Maker could have thought he was conferring a benefit upon them, foreseeing, as he did, the eventual result ? No, indeed ; in the very act, God must have known that it would be mercy beyond comparison, to relent, and leave the yet unconscious beings uncreated. Will it be said that, as the uncontrollable Governor of the universe, he had a sover- eign right to act his pleasure in this case ? Be it so, then. Still, he knew it was not good for those wretches, to bring them into existence. Infinite cruelty could not have devised a more complete gratification than the introducing of such an existence, knowing that never-ending torment would ensue. We may, indeed, be told in reply, that God's infallible knowledge of their approaching doom, did by no means necessitate them to incur it ; that he endowed them with power competent in every respect, to avoid the tremendous conse- quences which he still knew they would suffer; and that if they neglect the means, theirs alone is the fault. But what relation has this to our subject ? Admit the truth of the reply to the utmost extent, it gives no color of goodness to the conduct with which their Maker has been charged : it does not show that their creation was a mercy to them ; nor, that God expected it would prove to be such. The parent who voluntarily places his child on a fatal precipice, whence he knows it will fall, though through its mere carelessness, is not the more merciful in so doing, for having warned it, knowingly in vain, of the danger, or for having provided it with useless means of preservation. What would we think to hear such a father impudently maintaining on this ground the goodness of his act ? In vain would he attempt to silence the condemning voice of justice, by showing that his child was a free agent, and capable of preventing the catastrophe, had it only obeyed him. Let us but know that the parent foresaw the consequence which has actually occurred, and that cir- cumstance decides the case : the blood of his child, negligent though it was, is on his soul. There is not a plainer principle in morals, than that the expected result of a perfectly delib- erate and voluntary act, determines the nature of the motive. When an action is performed from the expectation that the consequences will be beneficent, the motive is good ; and in the opposite case, malignant. And if our heavenly Father has created any, in clear knowledge that their being will prove to them an endless curse, no piety can suppress the conviction that he was not good to them in so doing. The supposition of their free will does not affect his conduct ; it can only im- plicate them in folly. Having seen that the doctrine of endless misery denies that A CALM INQUIRY. 3 God was good in creating its victims, we may now proceed to the fact that it also denies his goodness in preserving them. It is not uncommon to hear pathetic declamations on the astonishing mercy and long suffering of God, in con- tinuing the lives of those who, it is said, he knows will endure his eternal vengeance. But does he not likewise know that they are the meanwhile increasing the weight of that guilt which is to sink them deeper and deeper in the horrible pit of despair? Does not the Allwise know that each succeeding moment adds new fury to the intolerable hell that awaits them ? Why, then, does he not, in mercy, cease to protract their lives, and stop the accumulation of endless wrath ? It cannot be pretended that he continues them here, in hope that they will at length repent ; for it is admitted that he knows they will not. The father, who intentionally neglects to call his child to an account till it may grow wicked enough to occasion ten-fold torture in the way of retribution, is humane and affectionate, compared with what this doctrine represents our Father in heaven. We have sought for the mercy of God towards the sup- posed heirs of endless woe : we have sought it in their crea- tion, and in their preservation ; but in vain. Will it now be said that the Lord is good and merciful towards them at least, when he provides for them the comforts of this life, the gitts of fortune, and the endearments of society ? But the doctrine under consideration does not allow us even this pitiful re- source. It teaches that all these flattering enjoyments are to be brought into the condemning account, at that tremendous bar where hope expires, and mercy is unknown. If so, what are they but deceitful poisons, pleasing, indeed, for a few short days, but revenging the momentary delight with eternal agony ? And can we so belie our convictions as to pretend that he who should administer them in clear view of this, their final operation, would be good and merciful in so doing? Nor is the gift of his Son, nor the invitations of his Spirit, according to this same doctrine, anything else than curses without measure and without end to some of mankind. Why should God cause his Son to taste death for them, knowing that, so far from its doing them good, it would but augment their torments to all eternity ! They must answer with their souls, it is said, for the infinite sacrifice. Why, too, should he persist, or even begin, in obtruding upon them those gracious invitations and calls which are so soon to assume the voice of eternal condemnation ! It is folly to pretend that he expects, by repeating them, to bring those to repentance who he knows will be forever impenitent. We may here be told, again, that if the heirs of endless misery refuse to yield to the calls of God, and to accept an 4 A CALM INQUIRY. offered Saviour, their obstinacy is their own fault. All this we may freely admit ; but as has been intimated, this conside- ration affects the conduct of the creature only, not that of the Creator. Man's guilt in perverting his privileges can hardly be accounted proof that it was good in God to take advantage beforehand of his known dereliction, in order to force upon him the very privileges which it was foreseen would become an absolute curse. The physician who gives medicine which he knows will be abused by the patient to his destruction, has no pretensions to mercy in so doing, notwithstanding the criminality of the victim. If, then, the doctrine of endless misery does, in effect, neces- sarily deny that God is good to all, either in their creation or preservation, in their temporal comforts, in the gift of his Son, and the invitations of his Spirit; in short, if it denies, as it manifestly does, the mercy of the Creator towards some of mankind, in every possible scene on this side the grave, it contradicts the great fundamental truth expressed in our pro- position, and must, therefore, be pronounced false. Its warmest advocates will not ask us to look to scenes beyond the grave, in search of mercy to the finally miserable. There, according to that doctrine, all heaven storms with wrath upon the helpless wretches. The vast machinery which has been so long preparing for their torture is put in full operation. Their past momentary delights are brought forward to upbraid them ; the useless calls to repentance, with which they had once been pursued, now exact the long-delayed but cherished demand of vengeance ; their once slighted means of salvation come in to increase their torture ; and the death of their re- jected Saviour is made the choicest dart to transfix them with immortal pangs. Their omniscient Judge, who, through time, had foreseen the result of all, now beholds it realized. They bewail their existence ; they bitterly mourn the protraction of their lives ; they blaspheme heaven in their sufferings. Eternity rolls on ; but the arm of a vindictive God tires not. His wrath is as lasting as his throne. With this horrible result naturally closes the examination proposed. The reader will judge for himself, we trust, whether the doctrine in question does not involve a denial of our pro- position ; whether it does not necessarily impute to God a total want of goodness and mercy towards some of his off- spring. In this examination, it will be recollected, we have taken the doctrine under its most plausible form, that of free- will. And we scarcely need remark, that if the doctrine, with all this advantage, is still incompatible with infinite goodness, it is impossible to render it less so by any amend- ment, short of denying the foreknowledge of God. h. b. 2d - Woman's Centenary Association. 4 No. 2. WHAT IS UNIVERSALIS*!? THE word Universalism is used in two senses: First, as the name of a single distinctive doctrine ; and, secondly as the common appellation of a whole system of faith. These different uses of the word must be kept in mind, in order to avoid misapprehensions, into which the learned sometimes ( arelessly fall. I will endeavor to make it clear. Universalism, in its simple and proper theological sense is the doctrine of universal salvation ; or, in other words, of the final holiness and happiness of all mankind, to be effected by the grace of God, through the ministry of his Son, Jesus Christ. This is well known to be no novel doctrine in the world. It is as old as Christianity itself, and has been believed and taught by some of the best and most learned men in the Chris- tian Church, and in almost every period of her history. It is " remarked by Doederlein, that the more distinguished for learn- ing any one was, in Christian antiquity, the more he cherished and defended the hope that punishment would ultimately come to an end. And Olshausen, another learned German, says that Universalism is, without doubt, deeply rooted in noble minds ; it is an expression of the longing for perfected harmony in the universe. Believed, as Universalism has been, and still is, by men so widely separated by space and time, men of almost every variety of creed in the Church, and of school in philosophy, we cannot expect to find an agreement among them, except on this and a few connected doctrines. Such a thing would in the nature of the case be impossible. In ancient times, there were orthodox and heretics alike, who believed in the final salvation of all men ; and in modern times, we find members of almost every Christian communion, Greek, Romish, Lutheran, Church of England, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Unita- rian, Friends, etc., etc., differing widely in many respects, but all agreeing in this one Divine truth, that God loves all men, and will have them to be saved; that Christ gave himself a ransom for all, and that all will ultimately be brought to holi- ness and heaven. When, therefore, it is said that any individual, of either ancient or modern times, and especially beyond the limits of 2 wo4T ISUNIVERSALISM? the United States, was a Universalist, it is by no means to be inferred that he adopted the system of faith now generally maintained by the Universalist denomination in this country. Origen, while he lived, was a most honored member of the orthodox church,but was voted a heretic two or three centuries after his death ; Tillotson was an archbishop, and Newton, a bishop of the English church ; Reinhard and Jung Stilling were evangelical Lutherans ; Oberlin, the world-known pasto. of Waldbach, was a French Protestant ; William Law, the author of the Serious Call, was a mystic ; Theophilus Lindsey was a Unitarian ; James Relly, a Calvinistic Trinitarian ; Dr. Priestly, a believer in Philosophical necessity ; and the Ger- mans, Beyer and Bochshammer, advocates of freedom of the will ; but all were believers in universal salvation, or the final holiness and happiness of all mankind. Though Universalism, in this simple and proper sense, has existed in almost all ages of the Church, it is only within the last century, I think, that a denomination has been formed, holding this as its distinctive doctrine, and taking its name from this peculiar feature of its faith. At the present time, the denomination of Universalists is confined chiefly to the United States, although it by no means embraces all here who believe in the doctrine of Universalism, and of course does not in- clude the great numbers who entertain this faith in England, Scotland, France, Germany, and the other more enlightened parts of Europe, and who, for the most part, stand connected with the Protestant churches in those countries. The moment a distinct denomination was established, and Universalists came into a separate communion, and maintained a separate worship, it naturally happened that a gradual as- similation should take place among their hitherto, in many respects, discordant opinions, and a general system of faith grew up, which should be adopted by the great mass of the denomination, and be in some of its features peculiar to itself. And, as this work went on, both the Universalists and their neighbors would feel the want of some common name, by which to designate the system thus formed ; and what word more convenient or natural for this purpose than Universal- ism ? The analogies of the language suggested, if they did not require, such an application of the word. This, then, is the second and wider meaning of the term we are considering. In this sense it comprehends the whole system of faith, maintained by the Universalists as a denomination. If it be asked, then, what Universalism in this large sense is — that is, what Uni- versalists, as a denomination, believe — I reply : I. That Universalists believe and teach the authenticity, genuineness, and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, in the same manner as they are held by Christians generally. They WHAT IS UNIVERSALIS*!? 3 believe that the Old and New Testaments contain the re- vealed will of God; and, with all Protestants, they maintain that the Bible is the only and sufficient rule of faith and practice. 2. Universalists believe and teach the existence of the one living and true God, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all worlds, beings, and things. They believe that God is self- existent, independent, and eternal ; omniscient and omni- present ; infinite in wisdom, goodness, and power; injustice, mercy and truth. With Saint Paul they say, "To us there is but one God, even the Father," (1 Cor. viii. 6.) They believe God to be the universal Father of mankind; the Father of spirits, (Heb. xii. 9;) our Father in heaven, (Matt. vi. 9;) who loves the whole human family, without exception, even while they are yet sinners, (Rom. v. 8 ;) who is kind to the unthankful and to the evil, (Luke vi. 35 ;) and who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. In one word, they believe that God is love, (1 John iv. 8.) 3. Universalists believe and teach, that to manifest his love for the human race, God sent his Son Jesus Christ into the world, to reveal more perfectly the divine character and pur- poses, and finally, through death and the resurrection, to bring life and immortality to light. They believe that Christ is the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of his person, (Heb. i. 3 ;) they believe that he is appointed by the Father heir of all things (Heb. i. 2 ;) and is Lord of all, (Acts x. 36;) and that he must reign till he has subdued all things to himself, when he himself will deliver up the kingdom to the Father that God may be all in all, (1 Cor. xv. 25, 28.) Thus he will save his people from their sins, (Matt. i. 21 ;) and be what inspiration proclaims him to be, the Saviour of the world ',( 1 John iv. 14.) To this end they believe he gave himself a ransom for all, (1 Tim. ii. 6 ;) and tasted death for every man, (Heb. ii. 9;) for God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, (2 Cor. v. 19.) 4. Universalists believe in the Holy Spirit, the spirit of God, the spirit of truth, the Comforter, whose fruits in the believing soul are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, etc., (Gal. v. 22.) 5. Universalists believe in the importance and indispensable necessity of repentance, that is, a godly sorrow for sin, and a true reformation of heart and life. 6. Universalists believe in a new birth, or a change of heart, effected in the soul by a cordial belief of gospel truth, accom- panied by the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit. 7. Universalists believe in the importance of good works, not to purchase salvation, or gain the love of God — for salva- tion is of grace alone, and God loves even his enemies — but as the natural fruits of the gospel cordially received, the evi- 7 4 WHAT IS UNIVERSAL1SM? dences of indwelling grace, and because they are good and profitable to men, (i John iv. 9; v. 1, 2; Rom. xiii. 16.; 8. Universalists believe in a just and equitable, and at the same time a parental, administration of the divine govern- ment ; m which God renders to every man according to his works, (Ps. lxii. 12 ;) so that he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons, (Col. hi. 25.) Beyond this state of rewards and pun- ishments, they believe a state of immortal felicity will be con- ferred upon the whole human family, as a free gift, (Rom. v. 12-21,) by the infinite grace of the Father, through Christ Jesus, (Eph. ii. 4-9.) 9. Universalists believe in the universal resurrection of the dead ; for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, (1 Cor. xv. 22.) 10. Universalists believe in a life and immortality for the human race beyond the grave, where the mortal shall put on immortality, and where men can die no more, but shall be as the angels, and be children of God, (2 Tim. i. 10 ; Luke xx. 27.) .11. Universalists believe that, in the fulness of time, God will bring together all things in Christ, (Eph. i. 9, 10,) when, in the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow of things in heaven and in earth, and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, (Phil. ii. 10, 11;) when, as by one man's disobedience, many are made sinners, so, by the obedience of one, shall the same many be made righteous, (Rom. v. 19;) in one word, when Christ shall have taken away the sin of the world, accomplished the great mission on which he came, done the will of God, seen the fruits of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied, (Isa. liii. 1 1 ;) and God be all in all. It cannot be said, perhaps, that Universalists are fully agreed on all points of doctrine, though I believe few or no exceptions could be taken to the above statements. I doubt not, there exists as good a degree of harmony, both of faith and feeling, among them as is to be found in any sect of equal numbers in the United States. They differ in their views of the freedom of the will, some adopting the doctrine of Edwards, and others that of his opposers ; and also upon the place and duration of punishment, some believing in limited punishment in the future state, and others not. Such, in few words, is Universalism. May the reader impar- tially read, candidly consider, and, like the Bereans of old, search the Scriptures daily, whether these things be so. Happy are the people who know the joyful sound. t. j. s. "Woman's Centenary Association. No. 3. WHICH POWER WILL TRIUMPH ? THERE is a conflict going on in the moral universe. Our Scriptures are full of this instruction, and human expe- rience constantly verifies it. Men, in ignorance and perverseness, are sinning against God and wronging their own souls. Flesh lusteth against spirit, and spirit against flesh. So we read the lives of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, saints. Even the holiest one who walked our earth was assailed of evil — was tempted to violate the divine law. His perfect humanity and heavenliness triumphed. " Get thee behind me, Satan ; thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Paul found a law (power) in his members warring against the law of his mind — his spiritual nature — and found strength and hope only in that dispensation which he was com- missioned of Christ to declare to the world. Sin has been, sin is, and will be. There is but one power that can overcome it. That power is the righteousness of which God is the source and essence. Is this power the strongest, and will it prevail ? The Scrip- tures answer: " The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever." For even as the Apocrypha tells us, " Righteousness is immor- tal." And the New Testament affirms, " That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through right- eousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord," (Isa. xxxii. 17; Book of Wisdom i. 15; Rom. v. 21.) God's right is the ruling, controlling, overcoming power. The good is to tri- umph over the evil. So God is ever indicating in his admin- istration. So he directs man in the Gospel to imitate him. "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Surely he does not require of his offspring that which he him- self has no design to do. " All his ways are in righteousness.'' Who are the powers engaged in this conflict against evil ? Answer, God, Christ, and all good spirits in the universe, against the perverse human will and all opposing wills in the universe. God is the strongest power in the universe, and this power controls evil. It is the power of goodness, and permits evil only as a means to an end. We cannot see the force of the statement, that because evil now exists, it may always exist 2 WHICH POWER WILL TRIUMPH? under the divine rule. If evil were an end, and God could possibly rest in it as one of the results of his government, this statement would have strength. But no such revelation ib given us. " He will rest in his love," (Zeph. iii. 17.) This is what the Scriptures affirm of him. Almighty Love ! What is there in moral evil — in sin, that can baffle its power ? It folds the universe in its embrace ; finds no competitor able to cir- cumvent its intentions ; fears no foreign interference ; but worketh all things after the council of its own will. Christ is the representative of the Father's love. He was sent by the Father, and had the Father's interest in humanity — in all souls. He can never have less interest in them than he had when he labored, wrought, prayed, suffered and died for them here. He is " the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." He can never rest but in the fulfilment of his desires in reference to every human object of his love. " He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied," (Isa. liii. 11.) Angels and all good spirits in the universe are interested in this conflict. It is eminently and gloriously theirs. And they are engaged to bring about the end it contemplates. They are God's ministers to those of less strength and life who need their heavenly aid. We cannot think of heaven but in sym- pathy with the needy, blinded, stricken, perishing ones of hu- manity. This is the meaning of those words of Jesus, "Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth," (Luke xv. 7.) The Christian heaven never withholds its sympathy for all the wanting and woeful in the universe. Its joy will be com- plete when all souls know and love and serve God ; and never until that good is accomplished. That old error in theology, that the saints in heaven will be indifferent through all eternity to the sufferings of the lost in hell, is an outrage on all that is human or divine. It will die out as humanity has healthful growth in " the glorious gospel of the blessed God." And now, as to the final result of the conflict. This is ex- plicitly declared in the Scriptures. Christ came "to be the Saviour of the world," in the full and complete meaning of this affirmation. His reign in our world shall one day be re- alized. Jewish and Christian prophecy alike affirm it. "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. The kingdoms of this world " are to " become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever," (Rev. xi. 15.) So will Christ reign wherever his saving grace is needed by strayed or lost spirits. " For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell ; and having made peace by the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things on earth or things in heaven. — Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given WHICH POWER WILL TRIUMPH? 3 him a name which is above every name ; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," (Col. i. 20; Phil. ii. 9.) The nature of this sub- jugation Paul clearly states in his First Epistle to the Corin- thians. " For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." The subjugation on the part of all other souls is in agreement with that of Christ the Head of humanity to the Father. " The Son shall be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all," (1 Cor. xv. 25, 26, 28.) Will it be said that God will not force men into heaven who do not have the disposition to go there ? Granted. But he intends that all men shall have the disposition — the will — to go there, just as the prodigal in the parable had the will to go to his father, after he had wasted his substance and came to himself. How does any man get into heaven here ? or how does he at last come to himself? Is the will with which he finally determines to obey the heavenly law, a will that he origi- nates himself? Or is it of God, who gave persecuting Saul the will to become a believer in Christ, and a chief of the Apostles in the building up of his kingdom ? He thus acknowledges God's work with sinners : " You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins," (Eph. ii. I.) He who influences one can influence all. " Thy people shall be willing in the day of my power," is the olden word. Man is to take a part in his own salvation ; is to work it out, as God works in him. This is the divine ordination. Man can have salvation in no other way. It would not be his salvation if he could. No, God will force none into heaven against their will. Jesus said that if he were lifted up from the earth, he would draw all men unto him, (John xii. 32.) But let us understand that the final salvation of no soul is left to itself alone. It is not what poor man may or may not conclude to make of himself. The question of all others is, What is God's purpose ? With what will he be satisfied r Never with the final unreconciliation of any soul. His highest goodness is not to will for the creature only what he in his folly may will for himself. Here are God's will and pleasure and purpose all set forth with remarkable clearness by the Apostle : " Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, accord- ing to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him," (Eph. i. 9, 10.) What is his will, pleasure and purpose, is sure of accomplishment. 4 WHICH POWER WILL TRIUMPH? He " will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth," (i Tim. ii. 4.) Let us know, also, that this conflict is a personal experience. All souls must enter upon it, and know something of its reality ; all have more or less of this strife with evil. And for our encouragement through it all, we have the great fact that there has been human triumph without human failure. " The man Christ Jesus " has put temptation, sin, death, hell, under his feet. He is our brother and helper. We may be made mighty in him, in whom we see never defeat but victory. And, furthermore, this view of the conflict is most hopeful and cheering to every true philanthropist and reformer, who would labor for the moral improvement, the spiritual exalta- tion of humanity. Every blow struck for the truth, every effort made for the promotion and reign of righteousness, is so much accomplished toward the grand result. The faithful warrior may die, but his cause never. He may fall in the midst of the conflict ; but his assurance has been truthfully and gloriously sung : " Another hand thy sword shall wield, Another hand thy standard wave, Till from the trumpet mouth is pealed The blast of triumph o'er thy grave ! " In this great conflict, then, there can be no doubt as to the final triumph. The strongest power will be victorious. It is said of the Duke of Wellington, that when in the thickest of that terrible strife at Waterloo, he threw himself into one of the unbroken squares of his infantry, saying to his officers, " Hard fighting, this, gentlemen ; but we will see who can hold out the longest ! " And the ability of that infantry to endure the longest on that day, settled the future of Europe for genera- tions. Let us have as strong faith in the heavenly forces as this distinguished leader did in the earthly ; in the ability of these forces to hold out the longest, and finally accomplish the victory of truth and righteousness with all nations and all souls. The forces of the Almighty will be the last in the field. " The battle is the Lord's." T. G. A. Woman's Centenary Association. No. 4. GOD'S PROMISES. IN EDEN. — I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed : it saall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. To Abraham. —And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do ; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him ? And the Lord said unto Abraham, In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Gen.xviii. 17 ; Gen. xii. 3. To Moses. — For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me, him shall ye hear in all things, whatso- ever he shall say unto you. All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Acts iii. 22; Numb. xiv. 21. To David. — I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn to David my servant, Thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Psalm Ixxxix. 3, 4. To Isaiah. — The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations ; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongi e shall swear. Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Isa. Iii. 10 ; xiv. 23. 24. To Jeremiah. — Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord ; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel, and to the house of Judah. Jer. xxxi. 31, 33, 34; xxxiii. 14. To Ezekiel. — Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them ; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore. Ezek. xxxvii. 26, 28. 2 GOD S PROMISES. To Daniel (in Prophecy). — I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and lan- guages should serve him : his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. Dan. vii. 13, 14. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that fol- low after as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these things. For the prophecy came not in olden time by the will of men, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Acts iii. 24; 2 Pet. i. 21. Through Christ. — Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets ; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Matt. v. 17. All things are delivered unto me of my Father. Matt. xi. 27. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in' the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Matt, xxviii. 18, 19, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned ; but he that believeth not is condemned already ; because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John iii. 16-19. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hands. John iii. 35. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed from death unto life. John iii. 24. I am the bread of life ; he that cometh to me, shall never hunger ; and he that believeth on me, shall never thirst. All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. John vi. 35, 37-39. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. John xii. 32, 47. GOD S PROMISES. 3 I am the way and the truth and the life ; no man cometh unto the Father but by me. John xiv. 6. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him ; but ye know him ; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. John xiv. 16, 17. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. John xvii. 2, 3. Through Apostles. — This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. Acts ii. 32, 33. Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Acts ii. 38, 39. Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you : Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Acts iii. 19-21. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniqui- ties. Acts iii. 25, 26. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things ; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. Acts v. 31, 32. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again : As it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Acts xiii. 32, 33. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered, that the offence might abound ; but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound ; that, as 15 4 GOD S PROMISES. sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign, through righteousness, unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. v. 19-21. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope : because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Rom. viii. 20, 21. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. Rom. xiv. 9, 11. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy which shall be destroyed is death. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. xv. 22, 25, 26, 28, 57. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, say- ing, In thee shall all nations be blessed. Gal. iii. 8. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mysten pf his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. Ephes. i. 8-10. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil. ii. 9-1 1. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell : And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. Col. i. 19, 20. Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Cor. vii. 1. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. Heb. x. 23. For all the promises of God in Christ, are Yea, and in him Amen, to the glory of God by us. 2 Cor. i. 20. M. A. A. Woman's Centenary Association. 16 No. 5. THE LOVE OF GOD. THE old covenant spoke of Law ; the new speaks of Love. Take all other words out of the gospel, but leave that, and the gospel remains ; take that out, yet leave all else, the gospel is gone. That is the "glad tidings of great joy unto all people." Jesus stands for the Love of God. He himself declared, " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." In that saying we have the substance of the whole gospel. Observe — i. Who entertained this love. Men shrink away from God. The thought of him strikes terror to their souls. They con- ceive of him as severe in his justice, unapproachable in his holiness, awful in his majesty, unrelenting in his exactions terrible in his wrath. They picture him as intent only upon insuring his own glory ; and that glory the exercise of an omnipotent will that knows no compassion outside of inexor able law. They place Jesus between themselves and God, that he may shield them from the hot blasts of divine dis- pleasure. But it was not his own love of which Jesus dis- coursed : it was the love of God, and of his own as it evi- denced and illustrated that of God. He insisted upon standing aside, that he might obstruct no one's view of Him whose representative and likeness he claimed to be. When a disciple besought him, " Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us," the answer came, " Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me ? . . . Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me ? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; and the Father, that dwelleth in me, doeth the works." Thus Jesus is Emmanuel — God with us. His compassion is God's compassion; his love is God's love. God and Christ are not the opposite poles of affectional nature — God all unrelenting justice, and Jesus all overflowing tenderness. God is at once the infinitely just and the infinitely loving. He is " a just God and a Saviour." God loved the world. God sent his Son. Impelled by his love, God put into operation the agencies of redemption. We shal' reverence God when we fully comprehend this. We shall not hide from him, as Adam did, and as weak, blind man has ever done; but we shall be drawn to him, as the child — 2 THE LOVE OF GOD. erring and sinful as it may feel itself to be, — is diawn to the parent who sorrows with a deep, loving sorrow over its guilti- ness. We shall not flee to Jesus to save us from God ; but we shall go to him saying, as Philip did, "Show us the Father, and it sumceth us." 2. The subject of this love. "God so loved the world.' ' All are familiar with the thought that God loves the righteous. And so he does. But how we deprive God's love of its vital power in our souls, when we think of it as confined to those who love and serve him ! How it seizes upon our whole being with redeeming power when we really comprehend it as pictured by the Saviour in that most beautiful of his parables, the Prodigal Son ! In that graphic sketch, Jesus says to the wandering sons of men, feeding upon the husks of unright- eousness, " Behold a faint semblance of your Father in heaven ! " If, " Even with us below, The one rebellious son more thought and love Than all the rest will in a parent move, God stirring in us; then how strong the glow Of God's great heart our sorrows to relieve ! " " Dead in trespasses and sins," he loves us still. " While we were yet sinners,'' his love was manifested " in that Christ died for us." Taking Jesus as the likeness of God, we measure that love by the cross. No sympathies there restricted to the little band of faithful ones ; no prayers limited to desires for the chosen few ; no blessings only for those whose kindness had ministered to his wants. But, for that crowd rioting in his blood, the prayer that softens the stony heart of the Roman cen- turion, " Father, forgive them ; for they know not what they do." That opens up to us visions of the divine. That shows us the heart of God, and proves it the heart of the Father, in which there is room enough for all his children, and a separate place for each. Kind and good parents who make happy homes for all their children are conscious that among those children they have favorites ; that this child has a larger place in their affections than that one. But the apostle, summing up the perfectness of God, described him as "without partiality.'' " God so loves the world," as he loves the saintliest and best. His love approves or condemns, rewards or punishes, smiles or frowns ; but it is love — love that spends, and exhausts not, in its devotion to our needs. To the sick it is a physician ; to the whole, peace. It calls the sinner to repentance out of the same deep tenderness of regard that it fills the righteous with joy. When we knew him not, " God so loved the — >rld." 18 THE LOVE OF GOD. 3 3. What this love impelled God to do. " God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son." The mother who buckled the armor upon the son, who was not only the pride of her heart, but the solace of her widowhood, and her sole and faithful worldly dependence ; who buckled it on, scarce able to see for the scalding tears that were wrung from over- strained affections, — bidding him, the while, God-speed in the service of his country, — knew what it was to give. She testi- fied her esteem for the country which gave worth to her bless- ings, by laying her all upon its altar. But when we were enemies to God, he gave his only begotten Son to die for us. God so loved the unloving that he gave him who dwelled in his own bosom to effect their rescue. Prophets and inspired ones had been stoned, sawn asunder, given to the sword, whilst pleading with sinners. Could clemency be required to do more ? May not God forget to be merciful ? In the depth of her suffering for sin, Zion did cry out, "God hath forgotten me ! " But what was the reply ? " Can a woman forget her infant child, that she should not have compassion on her son ? Yea, they may forget ; yet will not I forget thee. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.'' And so, though prophets had been slain in heaps, " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son." 4. For w^hat ? What was the danger he sought to avert ? Our whole understanding of the gospel turns upon our answer to that inquiry. Life dwarfs into insignificance, or reaches out into blessed possibilities, according as v e do or do not put this danger, and the deliverance from it, entire±y out of the life that now is. What aimless beings drift through our streets ! What torpid, drivelling Christians the best of us are ! How far from being animated, guided, fashioned by a divine idea of life ! We make religion a secondary thing ; compel it to wait our convenience ; admit it only into the chinks and crevices of our being. Engaged in grossness and selfish seekings, we leave God standing at the door of our hearts knocking, and waiting to fill all life for us with the divine. W T hy do we thus ? Is it not that we think the divine life is not for time, but for eternity, and redemption belongs to the world to come ? But see ! What death is there in life ? Life's richest, most sought-for fruit, that men strain every nerve and sell their souls to get, turns to dry dust in the hands. The tickets in this lottery prove all to be blanks. When the fever is over, and men are obliged to con- fess to themselves that they have spent all their days chasing phantoms, they join the cry that Solomon raised when he, too found life destitute of juices, " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity ! '' Call that life ? Think God placed us here for that ? If it be not death, what is death? It is not death for the quickened soul to slip the cord that binds it to the flesh. But to have the 19 4 THE LOVE OF GOD. soul itself insensible to the divinest things of being ; to have the image of God within buried in sensuality ; the moral nature, that ought to respond to every heaven-breath that passes over it, and reflect every sunlit cloud from its pure surface, — to have that stagnant and foul ; to have love extinct and virtue ban- ished, hope gone out, communion with heaven shut off. and fellowship held only with the base — is not that death ? What countless souls have gone down into it, yet never known its name ! — perished, in the most emphatic Scripture sense, and never known the meaning of life ! To seek and to save such lost, God gave his only begotten Son. To reclaim such per- ishing ones, was the Redeemer's mission. This sin-reeking earth was to be made the abode of glorified souls, heaven let- ting down its beauty and fragrance to fill men with a conscious- ness and love of the divine. 5. How this was to be accomplished. Not by unfounded emotionalism. The emotion must itself have its cause in the deep convictions of the soul. Hence, " Whosoever believeth in him should not perish." Faith in Christ; not any mystic power resulting from belief in some theological scheme or sys- tem ; but the perfectly simple and intelligible power of those convictions concerning God and his beneficent providence, and concerning man and the sources of his life and peace, for which Jesus stands in the perfectness of his spirit and teaching, — this was to save a perishing world. Trust in that love which the Saviour taught and displayed ; rest in its blessed assurances of care ; nearness to the Father in childlike communion ; Christ taken as the pattern of all true life ; earnest endeavors, amid whatever weakness and failures, to reach his standard of purity and love ; — this is faith in Christ, faith which catechisms and creeds may help us to attain, but which no catechisms or creeds can ever substitute. Faith in Christ is that persuasion of the immeasurable' love of the Father which makes his service our delight. 6. The " everlasting life " which such faith brings the soul. Our crude conceptions and doctrines of postponement empty such phrases of their meaning and inspiration. The life of which Jesus tells us, we think of as belonging to the disem- bodied soul ; as though the soul embodied were not the same in its nature as it shall be hereafter. We need to learn the meaning of the arousing message of the Saviour, and of his forerunner, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." The record is, "He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life." The soul is the subject of the Saviour's reign ; and the soul does not wait to be — it is. For it, " this is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." John xvii. 3. c. w. t. Woman's Centenary Associaticn. No. 6. DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. FOR as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater ; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it," (Isa. lv. 10, n.) Can anything be more direct and conclusive than this pro- clamation of the efficiency of the divine will and spirit in the salvation of mankind? Was it ever known that the rain came down from heaven and went back again without water- ing the earth ? Was it ever known that God failed to restore the earth in spring time, and make it bud and bring forth ? Never! Just as surely, then, as the rain does not return to the heavens without doing the work for which it was sent, so surely the word of God shall not return to him void. As certainly as the forces of nature in spring renew and freshen the earth into life, and beauty, and abundance, so certainly shall his truth, the gospel of his grace, renovate and restore the moral world to its primeval beauty and purity. And this is the argument and witness of God himself, to show that, having infinite spirit- ual power, he will use it for the salvation of mankind, as efficiently as he uses his infinite physical power in the crea- tion and renewal of the earth. But there are other texts going directly, without comparison, to the same result. " For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord ; I wilt put my laws into their minds, a?id write them in their hearts , and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people : and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord — for all shall knew me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I re- member no more," (Heb. viii. 10-12.) Observe, here, not only the universality of the phraseology, but the absoluteness of it. God says, I will put my law in their hearts — they shall be my people, and they shall know, and their sins and iniqui- ties shall be put away. He not only has the moral power to change and save them, but he delares he will employ it to this er.d. " There is no God beside me ; a just God and a Saviour. 2 DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth ; for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return. That unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear, surely shall say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength — to him shall men come ; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed," (Isa. xlv. 21-25.) Here we have the same direct and unqualified lan- guage from the Lord himself, affirming the truth, that the in- fi nite energies of his Spirit will be used in renewing the soul of man unto righteousness. There are no conditions nor contin- gencies here — "be ye saved " — " every knee shall bow " — absolute and certain, wrought out by the will of God, whose omnipotence cannot fail of its end. It may be said in reply to the preceding reasoning, that this is simply compelling men to be saved without regard to their voluntary action. We answer, No ; for all this is done in har- mony with spiritual laws and man's freedom. There is no compulsion, no force. The comparison of the garden and the rain is still in place. The earth is not compelled mechanically to bud and bring forth, and there is no violation of atmos- pheric laws when the rain falls. The seed do not lose their freedom or individuality as seed, because the air, and rain, and sunshine, operating through the soil, develop the germ within, and push out into leaf, and bud, and blossom, and fruit. So with the soul of man ; there is no violation of law, no loss of freedom, no conflict of forces, when the spirit of God, acting with the truth, sends in the light upon the darkened mind, quickens the affections, and lifts the whole being into the eter- nal life of faith and love. Paul was as free when he preached the Gospel as when he persecuted the disciples ; and he fol- lowed the impulses of his heart as truly, when he asked, sub- missively, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " as when he left the Damascus gate, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter ! " The only difference was that, in the meantime, God had changed his heart ; or, in other words, the truth and light of heaven had streamed in upon his soul, and he willingly and rejoicingly followed their lead. And the philosophy of this method of conversion and sal- vation which Paul had experimentally known in his own soul, he afterwards asserted and illustrated in his letter to the He- brew believers : " Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ." Chap. xiii. In our anxiety to assert the freedom of man's will we must not forget that God is free as well as man ; free to choose, free DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 3 to work. It is said that, if God influences man so as to make the result certain, then he is not free, he cannot do as he pleases. But if man can so abuse his freedom as to defeat the purpose of God, then God is not free ; he cannot do as he pleases. Suppose Paul had possessed a "free agency" which would not yield to the enlightening influences of the Holy Spirit — suppose in the exercise of his freedom, he had chosen to re- main Saul, the persecutor, instead of becoming Paul, the Apos- tle, according to the purpose of God ; whose freedom would have been the greatest? whose will the strongest? But is not the principle involved in this case the same operating in the case of every soul finally wrecked and ruined ? If God created man for endless happiness and glory, and man abuses his agency to his endless destruction — if God is not free to bring him to heaven, and man is free to go to hell ; whose freedom is mightiest in this case ? whose will prevails ? and whose plans are overthrown ? Look at the following record : " And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and An- drew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. And he said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw two breth- ren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets ; and he callea them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him,''' (Matt. iv. 18-22.) "And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the Receipt of Custom, and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose tip and followed him," (Luke v. 27.) Now were these men compelled to Leave all and follow Jesus, in any sense that implied unwillingness on their part ? Was their " free agency " violated, or did they follow their own wishes and preferences ? Of course, the last. They were just as free, acted just as entirely out of their own hearts, when they became the disciples of Jesus, as when they followed theii former occupations. God had a new and higher work foi them ; and when the time came, and the work was ready for them, they were ready for the work. And Peter, and Andrew, and James, and John went into the ministry of the Gospel as cheerfully as they ever went out upon the Lake of Galilee to fish. And Matthew, the tax-gatherer, even celebrates his abandonment of the custom-house, and his conversion and obedience to the call of Christ, by a joyful gathering of his former business associates and friends, (Luke v. 29.) Do we compel the drunkard into temperance when, by showing him the evil of his course, and the benefits and bless- ings of a temperate life, and helping him to conquer his raging 4 DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. appetite, we restore him to himself and his family a reformed and happy man ? And when the abandoned outcast, the depraved and hardened criminal, is subdued into tears and penitence by the earnest prayers and exhortations, by the per- severing labor of love in his behalf; and finally shakes off the palsy of his sin, and enters gladly upon a new life of virtue and holiness — when thus he faces about towards heaven, is he forced to it in any sense that does not make the force a joy and a triumph to him? in any sense that does not leave him, heart and soul, free as the air he breathes ? Did ever a re- formed sinner complain that he was driven into reformation against his will ? And when through their much patience and gentleness, and long-suffering affection, a disobedient and wilful child is brought to the feet of his parents in shame and repentance, is any violence done to his freedom as a moral being ? Is it not rather that, instructed by their teachings, and overcome by their love, he chooses what they choose for him, and so his will and theirs come into concurrence and unity. Was the Prodigal Son any less free in wish or feeling, in purpose or will, when, taught by his folly, and influenced by his circumstances, and compelled, if you will, by his sufferings, he said, " I will arise, and go to my Father," than when he " gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance in riotous living" ? Not one iota less free ; but infinitely wiser by his sorrowful experience, and willing henceforth to be guided by his father, and to find rest and peace in the dear old home which gave him such lov- ing welcome back. This thought is beautifully and forcibly urged by John Wesley : " You know how God wrought in your own soul. He did not take away your understanding, but enlightened and strengthened it. He did not destroy any of your affec- tions : rather they were more vigorous than before. Least of all did he take away your liberty." The result, then, is substantially this : That God's power over spirit is as absolute as is his power over matter — that he can do his will as easily, and that he will 'do it as certainly, in the moral world as in the material world — that he not only has the power to lead his children from darkness into light, from un- belief and sin into faith and righteousness, to take away their evil heart and give them a new heart and a new spirit, and finally to reconcile and restore all things to himself; but that "in the dispensation of the fulness of times," he will do it, teaching through Christ, sanctifying through his Holy Spirit, and so establishing the reign of Love and Holiness throughout the universe forever more ! T. b. t. Woman's Centenary A sociation. 24 No. 7. THE CONTRAST. WE here hold up to the light, in bold antagonism, the Bible and the doctrine of endless punishment as held by its most prominent advocates, ancient and modern. We begin with the Presbyterian Catechism. — " The punishment of sin in the world to come, is most grievous torments in both soul and body without intermission, in hell-fire forever! " — Confession of Faith, p. 1 86. Bible. — " Great is thy mercy toward me ; and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell ! " Ps. lxxxvi. 13. Dr. Barrow, (Episcopalian.) — " In the state of everlasting death our bodies shall be afflicted by a sulphurous flame." — Sawyer s Endless Punishment, p. 134. Bible. — "And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain ; for the former things are passed away." Rev. xxi. 4. Christopher Love. — " The ear shall be tormented with the yellings and hideous outcries of the damned. Their cursings and their hymns, howling their tunes, and blas- phemies their ditties." — E. P., p. 142. Bible. — " I have sworn by myself, the word hath gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return $3^> That unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear, surely shall say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength." Isa. xlv. 22-24. Bishop Taylor, (Episcopalian.) — " We are amazed to think of the inhumanity of Phalaris, who roasted men in his brazen bull ; this was joy in respect to that fire of hell, which penetrates the very entrails of the body without consuming them ! " — Works, p. 390. Bible. — " He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil i Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful!" Dr. Dwight, (Presbyterian.) — " Not a sigh can he (a damned soul) breathe, not a tear can he shed, not a sorrow can he unfold, not a prayer can he utter with a hope of being befriended, heard, or regarded ! " — Works, vol. v., p. 500. 25 1 2 THE CONTRAST. Bible. — "Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee; thou wilt have a desire to the work of thy hands ! " Job xiv. 15. Bonaventure. — " If one of the damned were brought into this world, it were sufficient to infect the whole earth. Neither shall the devils send forth a better smell ! " — Taylor's Works, p. 390. Bible. — "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh awav the .sin of the world ! " John i. 29. Drexelius — " He (the rich man) is burnt up with thirst, and has nothing for his food but smoke and sulphur ! "— E. P., p. 144. Bible. — " And in this mountain (kingdom of Christ. Dr. A. Clarke) shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things. . . . He will swallow up death in victory ; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces." Isa. xxv. 6-8. Rev. Isaac Ambrose. — "The damned shall be packed like brick in a kiln, and be so bound that they can not move a limb, nor even the eyelid ; and while thus fixed, the Almighty shall blow the fires of hell through them for- ever ! " — Sermon on Doomsday . Bible. — " And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven." Rev. Thomas Boston. — "The godly husband will say amen to the damnation of her who lay in his bosom ; and the godly wife shall applaud the justice of the judge in the con- demnation of her ungodly husband ! The godly parents say hallelujah at the passing of the sentence against their un- godly child ; and the godly child shall from his heart approve the damnation of his wicked parents ! — the father who begat him, and the mother who bore him ! " — Four-Fold State. Bible. — " That God may be all in all ! " 1 Cor. xv. 28. Dr. Edwards. — " The sight of hell torments will exalt the happiness of the saints forever!" — Sermon on Eternity of Hell Torme?its. Bible. — "And whether one member suffer, all the mem- bers suffer with it ; or, one member be honored, all the mem- bers rejoice with it." 1 Cor. xii, 26. Dr. Jonathan Edwards. — " The God, who holds you ovei the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked !" - - Sermon on Hell Torme7its. 26 THE CONTRAST. 3 B ble. — "The Lord is good unto all, and Irs tender mercies are over all his works." Ps. cxlv. 9. Dr. Griffin. — "Let imagination stretch its wings and follow the excruciated soul through ages of unutterable en- durance — through fire intense enough to melt down all the planets. . . . And still it hears the tormented soul exclaim, thy agony is just begun ! " — E. P., p. 169. Bible. — " The Lord will not cast off forever ! neither will he be always wroth ! " Isa. lvii. 16 ; Lam. iii. 31. John Calvin. — "Put forth now your virulence against God, who precipitates into eternal death harmless infants torn from their mothers' breasts ! " — Tract ThcoL, Art. xiv. Bible. — " Suffer little children to come unto me, and for- bid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God." Arthur Hildorsham. — "You have heard it evidently proved: 1. That all infants and sinners deserve damnation. 2. That many infants have been vessels of wrath, and fire- brands of hell! " Bible. — " And he took them (little children) in his arms, and put his hands upon them and blessed them." Markx. 16. Methodist Catechism, (Cincinnati, 1849, No. 1.) — "Did their sin (our first parents') hurt any besides themselves? A. Yes; all mankind. — Q. How did it hurt them? A. All mankind are born in sin, so that their hearts are corrupt, and inclined only to evil. — Q. But will he (Christ) save all man- kind ? A. He will not; only those who repent and believe. (This, of course, involves infant damnation.) But again — Q. What will become of those who do not repent and forsake their sins, and believe in Christ and obey him ? A. When they die, they will be cast into hell ! " Bible. — " And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." John xii. 32. American Board of Foreign Missions. — "Within the last thirty years a whole generation of five hundred millions have gone down to eternal death ! " — E. P., p. 180. Bible. — " That, in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him." Eph. i. 9, 10. Bishop Bascom, (Methodist.) — "Which way you turn your eyes through all the rolling vast, instead of hope and succor, wailing millions, and yourself among them, are on every side thrown up and broken, a living wreck upon the burning strand of hell ! " — Sermon, p. 170. 27 4 THE CONTRAST. Bible. — "I will ransom them from the power of hell (kades). I will redeem them from death. Oh, death, I will be thy plague ! Oh, hell [hades), I WILL BE THY DE- STRUCTION ! " Hos. xiii. 14. Rev. Mr. Davidson, (Presbyterian, 1869,) before the Theo- logical School, Xenia, Ohio. — "With chains like these, every link burning into the throbbing heart, is bound .each doomed, damned soul, on a bed of burning marl, under an iron roof, and dripping with torrents ot unquenchable fire." Bible. — "And EVERY CREATURE which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and All that are in them, heard I saying : Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Rev. v. 13. A Sight of Hell, (London Tract for Children.) — " Listen to the tremendous, the horrible uproar of millions and millions and millions of tormented creatures mad with the fury of hell. Oh, the screams of fear, the groanings of horror, the yells of rage, the cries of pain, the shouts of agony, the shrieks of despair, from millions on millions. There you can hear them roaring like lions, hissing like serpents, howling like dogs, and wailing like dragons. There you hear the gnashing of teeth and the fearful blasphemies of the devils. Above all, you hear the roaring of the thunder of God's anger, which shakes hell to its foundations." Bible. — " Oh, death, where is thy sting ! Oh, hell [hades), where is thy victory ! " 1 Cor. xv. 55. Enough ! The doctrine of endless punishment, reader, both in its old time and in its modern aspect, is now before you. Is it not enough to sicken and appall the stoutest heart ? Is it not a daring denial of the Word of God ? Are you, my dear friend, believing this doctrine ? Are you in the Church, or out of the Church, in any way countenancing or support- ing it ? This should be to you a serious question. Will you ponder it conscientiously and solemnly ? How beautiful and comforting the words of God which we have here set before you, and how full of horror and blasphemy the words of men ! Will you believe the words of God, and endeavor to enjoy and live them ? Will you endeavor to make known, and induce your friends to believe the glorious doctrine which they impart ? God help you, reader, honestly and righteously to decide ; and may the fruit of your decision be joy and peace in believing for evermore. G. t. f. Woman's Centenary Association. 28 No. S. "ALL THINGS." IN attendance at a prayer-meeting in Somerset Street, Boston, not long ago, the leader of the meeting, Dr. Cullis (founder of the "Consumptive's Home"), aftei some very appropriate and impressive introductory remarks, related a conversation which he had that morning held with a poor, sick and afflicted woman somewhere in the city. To comfort her in her sorrows, he very wisely quoted and urged upon her attention that sweet passage of the heavenly word, "All things work together for good to them that love God." This seemed at first to give her encouragement, until another and another tribulation came up in mind, and was mentioned to him. But at every new statement of her doubting and per- plexity, her spiritual adviser went back to those words so ex- pressive of the all-sufficiency and completeness of the divine supply. " All things, — All things ! " was the emphatic reply to each new affirmation of the many trials of the afflicted one ; until at the close of the interview, the sorrowing soul seemed to see the dealings of the merciful Father in a clearer light than before. I was impressed with the significance of that application of these words of the Christian Scriptures. He who made it justly rested in the plainness and truthfulness of them. He was fully persuaded that " all things" there meant what the words imply. The brief but excellent address of the speaker awakened these thoughts, to which I would invite the reader's attention. With equal truthfulness and propriety may we speak of the Scriptures, wherein the purpose of God in the final salvation of all his children is spoken of. We wish that our Christian brethren, who yet fail to see by faith the redemption of ail souls through the one common Lord and Saviour, could more clearly understand the positiveness and comprehensiveness with which this truth is stated in the New Testament. The object of Christ's coming into the world was, that he might be the world's Saviour. It was not to appease the Father's wrath that he was sent, or came of his own accord ; but to commend the Father's love. The coming of Christ to man originated with the Father. " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth 2 ALL THINGS. in him should not perish, but have everlasting life ; for God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved, ' ; (John hi. 16, 17.) The believer now enjoys a present salvation, such as all shall ulti- mately realize, in accordance with the divine purpose, and by the effectual working of the divine power. Christ himself makes his own statement of the extent of his work, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me," (John xii. 32.) And his apostles, in the beginning of their min- istry, affirmed that the mission of their Master involved "the restitution of all things, spoken of by the mouth of all God's holy prophets since the world began," (Acts hi. 21.) But, as the afflicted woman in the account just noted was in readiness to urge new causes for doubting the all-sufficiency of God's loving kindness, even so are there many of God's children inclined to raise objections against this affirmation of the extent of his saving grace to all unbelieving and sin- stricken souls. Let us notice a few of them : 1. All men are not Christ's; only those are his who here believe in him. But what saith the Scripture ? " The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand," (John hi. 35.) What "all things" here spoken of includes, Jesus himself explains : "As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." — "All that the Father hath given me, shall come unto me; and him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." — " God hath spoken unto us in these last days by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things," (John xvii. 2 ; vi. 37 ; Heb. i. 2.) Jesus will have what rightfully belongs to him ; he will claim the " all things " of which he is heir. 2. The threatenings of the Scriptures forbid this hope of the final salvation of all souls. Not so. The law is not against the promises. Paul asked and answered this question long ago : "Is the law, then, against the promises of God ? God forbid," (Gal. hi. 21.) The "everlasting punishment" and "everlasting destruction" threatened in the Scriptures are not a contradiction of that grace the working of which is so plainly affirmed by the apostle : "Where sin abounded grace did much more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord," (Rom. v. 20, 21 ) The "everlasting punishment" shall be succeeded by this .dispensation of saving grace, as was the "everlasting priesthood" of Aaron by that of him whose priesthood was "not after the law of a carnal ccm- mandment, but after the power of an endless life ; " the 30 ALL THINGS. 3 •everlasting destruction" by that salvation coming of him, who said, " O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thy help,'' (Hos. xiii. 9.) The threatenings and punishments of God are all consistent with his wisdom and love. He is " a just God and a Saviour." If his children sin against him, " he will visit their trans- gressions with a rod and their iniquities with stripes ; never- theless, his loving kindness will he not take from them, noi sillier his faithfulness to fail," (Psalm lxxxix. 30-33.) His sav- ing grace is indicated by what he has done for man. " He that spared not his own Son, but freely delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ?" (Rom. viii. 32.) He will effect his beneficent purposes with his offspring according to the working of that power by which he is able to subdue all things unto himself. All that the threatenings imply will be fulfilled ; so will " all things ' in- cluded in the Christian covenant of redemption. 3. But all men do not come to Christ in this life ; how can they be saved ? By that same grace which superabounds sin everywhere and always. What is death, that it should stand in the way of this grace ? He who loves man here will he not love him with an equal love as he passes into another sphere of being ? Is not Christ Lord of both worlds ? And does not his work extend wherever it is needed in the accom- plishment of the divine purpose ? Listen, as we read of his will, pleasure and purpose: "Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence ; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself; that, in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him," (Eph. i. 8, 9, 10.) And again, "For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell ; and having made peace by the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven," (Col. i. 19, 20.) If there are things in heaven (or in other spheres of being) as well as on the earth which need reconciliation, who shall limit the work of the " heir of all things" ? God, then, is the infinite and loving helper of his children. His resources are adequate to meet all their wants. He is constantly calling them to the joy and life of his heavenly service. He will be all that they here need, according as they trust in him ; he will be all that they need and cannot obtain without his paternal aid, wherever in his universe they may have being. " For of him, and through him, and to him are ALL things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." j. G. A. Woman's Centenary Association. 3i THE DYING BELIEF. Th© Doctrine of Endless Woe is built altogether upon mistranslations, or misinterpretations of the Scriptures, and is destined to pass away Canon Farrar is one of the first scholars of the century ; and in his declarations, quoted below, he does but substantially express the conclusions to which nearly all writers have come, who have made the Scriptures, in the original, a study. May God speed the day when an implicit confidence in His infinite Love and Justice, shall fill and inspire the hearts of all (From a Sermon preached in Westminster Abbey, by Canon Farrar, on Sunday, November 11th, 1877.) "If this awful doctrine (the doctrine of endless woe) had to be decided by texts, then the original language must be appealed to, and interpreted in its proper and historical sig- nificance. They would have to be interpreted not in that sense which makes them convey a thousand notions which did not originally belong to them. Now, I ask you," continued the preacher, very solemnly, "where would be the popular teachings about hell if we calmly and deliberately erased from our English Bibles the three words, 'damnation,' 'hell,' 'and everlasting?' Yet I say unhesitatingly — I say, claiming the fullest right to speak with the authority of knowledge — I say, with the calmest and most unflinching sense of responsibility— I say, standing here in the sight of God and of my Saviour, and, it may be, of the angels and the spirits of the dead— that not one of those words ought to stand any longer in our English Bibles ; and that being, in our present acceptation of them, simply mistranslations, they most unquestionably will not stand in tbe revised version of the Bible if the revisers have understood their duty." *'This is a candid and welcome, though tardy, admission." It is what the Uniyersalist Church has always affiimed. " Humanili'' s insh'nct long ago arrived at this conclusion: enjoyment of it, however, has been interrupted only by tbe class to which the reverend speaker belongs.'"' , 32 No. 9. GOD THE SAVIOUR OF ALL MEN. ("""* OD is expressly called " the Saviour of all men," (i Tim. y iv. 10.) In what sense can he be consistently so called, except in a final sense? All surely are not saved now; they are not saved from sin, suffering, death, — nor, if the doc- trine of ceaseless suffering be true, from hell, for thousands are hourly descending thither. I am aware that it is assumed by some that he is the Saviour of all men merely by having placed them in a salvable state ; but then I also know that this is sheer nonsense ; for if they had been out of a salvable con- dition, they could never have been put into it. Would a sensible physician talk of putting an incurable patient into a curable state ? Men were either always salvable, or they were not. If they were not, they could not be made so ; if they were, they did not require to be made so. But what is meant by God being the Saviour, " especially of them that believe ? " Whatever it may mean, it certainly does not mean that he is their Saviour only, for he is also "the Saviour of all men." If I save ten out of a score of persons from a burning house, or any other danger, am I warranted in calling myself the saviour of the score ? I can surely not be considered the saviour of the portion that perished ! And al- though I had made great exertion for the rescue of the whole, still I was in fact but the deliverer of those who by my means were actually delivered. The true meaning, however, of God being called "the Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe," is, that the latter class are saved in the present life, while the formei are not. The latter are entered into rest (Heb. iv. 3,) but unbelievers are yet in the wilderness of sin and consequent trouble. The latter class are justified by faith, and have peace with God, (Rom. v. 1 ;) but unbelievers are " without God, and without hope in the world." The latter class are quickened from death in trespasses and sins, (Eph. ii. 1 ;) but unbelievers are still in death and condemnation. Here then is the special salvation, in contradistinction to that which is common to all, or to which mai.kind are destined in common. It will not do for the Calvinist to seek a subterfuge here in the assumption that all does not mean all ; for, however such 32 2 GOD THE SAVIOUR OF ALL MEN. plea may avail him in some instances, it cannot in this; nor, indeed, in scarcely any, where salvation is concerned, which shall be made sufficiently evident. "And he is the propitia- tion for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world," (i John ii. 2.) Here a part is spoken of in distinction from the whole, and both the whole and the part are embraced in the propitiation treated of. How, then, can any be endlessly damned for those sins for which Christ has propi- tiated ? It will perhaps be assumed that " these are our original sins only." It is easy to make assumption, but those who thus assume must be greatly indebted to our good grace if we allow it ; for there is not in the Scripture one particle of warrant for it, either direct or implied. " Thou hast put all things in sub- jection under his feet, for in that he put all things in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him," (Heb. ii. 8.) Here all things are contrasted with nothing. What language could be more clear in its signification ? And their being put in subjection under Christ cannot mean that his power over them is established, for that is the case at pre'sent : "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth," (Matt, xxviii. 18.) It implies a subjection of a different kind — a moral subjection — reconciliation — allegiance. "But," says the objector, "there must be some mistake here, for in looking over the world we find many who both live and die without manifesting any subjection to Christ. How, then, can it be that all are put under him, in the sense for which you contend?" — Now it so happens, that the apostle has anticipated this very objection. " But now," saith he, "we see not yet all things put under him ; but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." The fact, then, it seems, of Christ having died for all, was considered by the writer a sufficient guarantee, that the universal subjection which it was designed to effect, shall infallibly be brought about. In the following text, the absolute sense which the apostle means to convey by the word " all," is, if possible, still more explicitly established. " For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then all were dead — and that he died for all," (2 Cor. v. 14.) According to the argument here, if one did not die for all, then all were not dead — if he died for a part only, then that part only were dead ; but — " he died for all." The same writer, in this letter to Timothy, exhorts that be- sides praying to God for kings and others in authority, " sup- plications, intercessions, prayers, and giving of thanks be made for all men." Will any think of limiting the word " all " in 34 GOD THE SAVIOUR OF ALL MEN. 3 this instance ? The object of so praying for all is stated to be, " that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator betwixt God and men — the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time," (1 Tim. ii. 1-8.) The same all for whom it is our duty to pray, are the subjects for whom Christ died and mediates, and whom God will have to be saved. Mark, the truth is here represented as agreeing with the salvation of all ; and, of course, as disagree- ing with the ultimate damnation of any ; for, if any portion of the human race is to be finally lost, a knowledge of the truth would not consist with the salvation of that portion, as the truth could only teach them that they were to be damned. The object of God's will in that case would be an impossibil- ity, — and it does not consist with infinite wisdom to will im- possibilities, — for only that part of mankind could be saved by coming to a knowledge of the truth, with whose salvation that truth agreed. It may be here said that the command to pray for all may not have been meant in a universal sense, for Christ expressly says, on one occasion, " I pray not for the world." True, Christ was then praying particularly for his apostles that they might be kept together, and guarded against the allurements of a wicked world. But read on : " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." Here, you perceive, the perdition takes a wider compass. Proceed farther, then : " That the world may believe that thou hast sent me;" and, again, "that the world may know that thou hast sent me," (John xvii. 9-23.) We find, then, that the Saviour does include all men in his prayer; and what think you, reader, will the object of that prayer ever be fulfilled ? Let us go next to those passages in which the number to be saved is made to correspond to the number that have sinned. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Well, what further concerning those all ? " Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," (Rom. iii. 23, 24.) "For as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life," (Rom. v. 19.) It is immediately added, " For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedi- ence of one shall many be made righteous." The same many that were made sinners shall — not may be, perhaps, or perchance, — but s/ia//he made righteous. Say, if you please, this means but a part. Well, then, a part became sinners, and 35 4 GOD THE SAVIOUR OF ALL MEN. th<\l part shall be made righteous, and that part which did not become sinners, of course, does not need to be made righteous, so that we are brought to the same result at last ; all shall be made righteous, — God's oath is pledged for it, — and the prayers of Christ, and of every benevolent heart, are centred in it. But a remark touching that word " many." It does not prop- erly represent the Greek term, which should have been ren- dered the mass or the multitude, as is evident both from what goes before and follows ; for Paul is laboring to show that the provision of divine grace is commensurate with the demand for it, and even more than commensurate ; for the divine de- termination was, that man might be full aware of his depen- dence and sinfulness, and to this end the law was given to gauge the debt of his guilt, and throw him upon the mercy of God for deliverance. Hence saith the apostle, " Moreover, the law en- tered that the offence might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound ; that, as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign, through righteousness, unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord," (Rom. v. 20, 21.) " God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all," (Rom. xi. 32.) " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," (1 Cor. xv. 22.) The word Adam here doubtless means the fleshly nature we possess from him, in which nature we all die. Christ stands for the heav- .enly nature, in which we shall all be made alive. " And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly," (1 Cor. xv. 49.) From all these in- stances it must be manifest that the word " all," when applied to man's salvation, requires to be understood in its strict and absolute sense ; and hence as God is called " the Saviour of all men," the entire race must ultimately be saved. I close the argument with the following quotation from Rev. William Vidler : " Whenever, therefore, we meet with th& word all, in connection with any point of doctrine, it always means literally and mathematically the whole, including all its parts ; but where it is used historically, it frequently admits of hyperbole. If any man can find a single exception to this rule in the whole Bible, he is invited to make it known." G. R. Woman's Centenary Association. 36 No. lO. WHO WILL BE SAVED? THE word salvation may refer to a deliverance from any evil, or evils, temporal or spiritual, present or to come. Peter's exclamation, (Matt. xiv. 30,) "Lord, save me," embraced, evidently, nothing more nor less than a request for deliverance from temporal evil — the saving of life. Many cases of a similar kind occur in the sacred writings ; but it is not supposed by any one, that the salvation which Christ came to effect was of this character, farther than it was attendant on his higher mission, which was addressed to the soul. Christian salvation is, properly, a deliverance of the soul, either from present or prospective evils, or both. And it may aid us essentially in disposing of the inquiry, " Who will be saved? " to settle, first, this previous question — Is the evil from which Christ saves, present or future ; or does ii em- brace both ? 1. Christ's language (Luke xix. 10) is, "The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost ; " and this points clearly to deliverance from an evil which then existed. It is a fact, worthy of especial notice here, that in the ten or twelve instances in which the word lost is used in the New Testament, and applied to sinful man, either in parables or otherwise, it is particularly referred, in each case, to past or present time. In no instance, that I can discover, is there any allusion to future time. " I am not sent out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," (Matt. xv. 24,) says our Saviour, and his commands to the Apostles was similar, (Matt. x. 6,) "Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel." And Christ says of those select few given him, "none of them is lost but the son of perdition," (John xvii. 12.) So in all the other cases, reference is made to the time in such a manner as to show conclusively that the lost state of man belongs to the present life. It was from this lost state — this present sinful condition — that Jesus came to save man. Hence it is said, that he " gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world," (Gal. i. 4.) 2. That this is the nature of Christian salvation, is still further evident, from the fact that Christ's mission is never spoken of as designed to prepare men to guard against a future evil, but, in most cases, its object is explicitly stated to be the removal of present difficulty — a deliverance from a present evil and suffering condition. It will be seen in all those pas- sages which speak of Christ as saving men from sin, that not the most distant allusion is made to anything beyond the mere 37 2 WHO WILL BE SAVED? sinful state itself. " Thou shalt call his name Jesus (Saviour) 4 for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. i. 21.) 3. It would seem, from the teaching and from the labors o x most sects, that they supposed the office of the Saviour re- garded chiefly a prospective evil — one to which men were only exposed ; not one already existing. True, they speak of saving men from sin, but not on account of anything in itself — only as a means of rescuing them from something beyond it, that is still more awful — from hell. Hence it is supposed, that the righteous only will in reality be saved, and that the wicked will be lost ; but this is wholly absurd. To be saved, in a Christian sense, a man must be a sinner. None but sinners will or can be saved. As Christ said to the Jews, (Luke v. 31, 32,) " They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." What did he mean by this language ? Plainly this : The religious Jews supposed that they were much better than other people. They deemed themselves righteous, and others wicked. They were vexed that Christ should have anything to do with publicans and sinners ; and he takes them up on their own ground, reducing their objection to an absurdity. Thus, he says : I am a physician — I am a Saviour. If you Pharisees, who are so fearful about my saving anybody but yourselves, are, in reality, as good as you profess to be — if you are really righteous, as you claim, you need no saving, any more than a healthy man needs medicine. As Saviour, I have nothing to do with you. I did not come to call the righteous. But those Gentiles, those publicans and sinners, if they are as bad as you believe them, they are the very persons who most need my assistance. If they are sinners, they need a Saviour, as the sick man needs a physician ; and I am specially com- missioned to redeem them — to call sinners to repentance. How plain and forcible is this argument of Christ! How completely did it silence their cavils ! 4. The false claim of the Pharisees is set up at the present day in a similar manner. Modern professors say that there are two radically different classes on earth, now : they, the right- eous, and ££/ No. 14. QUESTION OF INHERITANCE. INTO the streets of New York, one cold night in December, a beautiful and innocent girl went forth in search of her father. He was a poor inebriate, had been several days from home, and his wife was dying. His daughter knew that he sometimes frequented the lowest class of dram-shops, but, as her mother had called for him, she braved all danger, and re- solved, if possible, to find and bring him home. In her anxious search, she entered where degraded and even desperate men were carousing ; but her presence hushed their oaths, and caused them to answer honestly, saying, " He is not here," and allowed her to pass out, without a word of insult. On and on she went, until, unconsciously, she was at the most dangerous place, for virtue to enter, in that vile portion of the city. Just at that moment, a stranger was at her side, who whispered low, but earnestly, saying to her, " Not there ! you must not go there ! " She was startled, and turned to look at him, when he covered his face with his hands, and said, "Do not look at me, Miss; I am not fit to be seen by you. But I have a sister, some- where, and thoughts of her make me wish to save you. You will be lost if you remain here a moment longer." Instinctively she trusted him. His earnest, nervous, almost agonizing words made her feel that he spake truly, and she fled like a startled fawn. The man followed her till she was in a place of safety, and then pausing and leaning against a pillar, in a darkened doorway, he burst into tears. He knew that he had saved the girl. He was conscious of having acted nobly ; and lifting up his hands, he said, " Thank God ! there is one spark of goodness in me yet." This man was one of the most hardened in that resort of criminals, yet he had in his heart one spark of righteousness, ready to kindle and blaze beneath the appointed influence. It came in a thought of his sister, which the beauty and inno- cence of that heroic girl awakened, and he hurried to the Mission, told his story to the Good Samaritan in that refuge of the penitent, and by the assistance of Christian friendship and God's grace he turned from his evil ways. Reader, you understand, and are pleased with this touch- ing story ; and now be thoughtful for a moment, while you peruse the argument that it will help to illustrate and enforce. The story suggests, as a fact, that there is no one in this world so utterly destitute of goodness as to have no interest in the kingdom of Heaven, or righteousness, in this life. It 57 2 QUESTION OF INHERITANCE. teaches us that into every soul comes some right-thinking, some pure-desiring, some Christ-like motive, small as it may- be ; and we know that right thoughts, desires and motives are inseparable from righteousness. The man who saved that girl had been a degraded and desperate sinner. He was a thief, a robber, and, possibly, worse still ; yet there was one pure sentiment and feeling in his soul, which, called forth and brought into action, swayed his whole nature, and made him, for a moment, a moral hero. Suppose, now, that just as his work of mercy was completed, just as his lips had uttered the words, " Thank God I there is one spark of goodness in me yet," he had been stricken down by some of the demons from whose hands he had saved that girl, and sent forward into the spirit life, a victim to the wrath of those who had lost so fair a prize. What do you think that God would have said to him ? What kind of a reception would he have met from Jesus, who sits at the right hand of God ? What would you have said, had you stood by the great white throne, in such a moment, commanded to speak in the place of God and Christ ? Would you not have said, "Poor sin-abused soul! By your deeds of evil in the earthly life, by your impure desires and wicked acts, by the unrighteous surroundings against which you did not contend, and from which you did not separate yourself, you are unfitted for those joys and glories of the spirit life which others have sought by prayer and faithfulness, and are prepared to appreciate. You have kept the spirit in darkness ; you have dwarfed its powers, hindered its progress, and perverted its inclinations, and now you must listen to the sentence which involves a just and terrible retri- bution, ' The unrighteous cannot inherit the kingdom of God!'" As a believer in the Holy Scriptures, in the words of the Son of God, you say that such must have been your decision ; and you are doubtless right. No such man, in such a con- dition, is fitted to inherit the kingdom of God, as it is established in this world, or as it exists in the world to come. But, do such facts and decision exclude such souls from any participation in God's kingdom ? Must a soul, listening to such a sentence, be eternally shut out from heaven ? Before we answer this question, let us mark well a very im- portant fact which will help us to answer understanding^ and truly. Suppose that here is a young man who inherits the estate of his father ; how much of that estate can he enter upon ? Is only half, or three-fourths of it his, or is the whole of it his ? It is very easy to decide this question. There is no room for doubt in regard to it. If we inherit anything, we have it in its entirety ; we have the whole of it. We may inherit the half of a thing, or any fractional part of a thing ; and in such case, so much, no less or more, is ours. 5* QUESTION OF INHERITANCE. 3 And what is true of a farm, or material fortune of any kind, is true of a virtue, a combination of virtues, or a kingdom of Christian excellencies. If we inherit anything, we have all there is of it. Yet when a father says to his son, " You cannot inherit my estate," he does not say that he shall have no part or interest in it. Let us apply this truth to the matter under consideration. "The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God." The man who saved the girl was unrighteous, and therefore could not inherit that kingdom. But was he shut out from all share in it ? Had he gone up to be judged, in the very act of saving that girl, would God have shut him out from every gleam of heavenly light, and every pulsation of heavenly joy ? What would be your decision, could you speak for God, and fix the eternal destiny of such a soul ? What do you think the loving and merciful Jesus would say to such an immortal, just arrived before his judgment-seat ? Would he not, must he not, even in strictest justice, have said, " Sinner, thou hast lived a fearful life ; thou hast been far gone in unrighteousness ; the heavenly influences within thee have been almost extinguished, but that last act of thine was prompted by a pure desire. An angel was sent to test thee, and see if there was anything noble in thee, and he found some embers of righteousness that his breath kindled to a feeble flame. Let them live. Let the breezes of a higher and purer land fan them, till the flame increases, and burns in divine splendor. What good thou hast, shall live ; but because it is so small a power, so feeble a light, it cannot stand in the blaze of heavenly glory. Thou canst not inherit the fulness, the entirety of the kingdom of righteousness ; but thou shalt inherit just as much as thou hast of purity and good- ness within thee. " Begin, now, at the base of the mountain of thy spiritual possibilities, and climb where thy feet should have trodden in the mortal sphere ; and as, from epoch to epoch, thou shalt inherit all of heaven thou art prepared to appreciate and enjoy, know, and forget not, that thou wouldst have stood higher, and inherited more, if thou hadst been faithful in the earth." Reader, do you not think that Jesus, who said to one of old, " Go, and sin no more ; " and who prayed for his murderers, saying, " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," would address such a soul in a spirit of divine justice, seasoned -<.o it h mercy ? And do you not think that God would say, " Amen ? " Do you not believe that in such a case, he would make that last exclamation of the sinner a central power in the life of the soul, a point of harmony, amid all its clashing discords and antagonisms, until all desires, motives, and acts, should accord with the music of angelic life ? Please bear in mind that in these suppositions we have put the case of such a sinner in the worst form possible ; just as it 59 4 QUESTION OF INHERITANCE. would be if, leaving earth at the moment of his one noble and really Christ-like act, he had carried all his lusts and passions with him, and standing before God, had nothing but that one holy impulse and act to commend him to the divine favor. But shall we enter the immortal life with the earthly lusts and appetites, desires and passions ? Will the glutton here, be tempted to gluttony there ? Will those drunkards here, be consumed by a thirst for intoxicating drinks there ? Will impure desires cling to them through the transfer of life, and cause them to sin there, as here ? St. Paul assures us that sinful desires originate in the earthly nature, and common sense confirms that doctrine. " The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary, the one to the other." The lusts of the flesh are these: " Adultery, fornication, un- cleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, mur- ders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, good- ness, faith, meekness, temperance." Gal. v. 17-23. The Apostle says, that those who obey the lusts of the flesh, and do the things first named, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Such sinners are unrighteous, and cannot, from the very nature of their condition, enter into the fulness of heavenly peace, joy, and glory. Those who do any one of these things, are unrighteous ; and just in proportion to the amount of their unrighteousness, they will fail to inherit the kingdom of God, here in this world, and there in the spirit life ; for the king- dom of heaven consists in "righteousness, peace, and joy, in the Holy Ghost." Rom. xiv. 17. Now it is very certain that it would be a most difficult thing to find a man or woman in the earth who is absolutely and entirely righteous. " All have sinned and gone out of the way," and if we say that no unrighteous person will ever be admitted to any of the joys of heaven, where will the best of us land ? Reader, the share of heaven inherited by you and me, here or hereafter, will depend upon our efforts, Christ helping us, to be righteous. Here rests one high and powerful motive to Christian life. But thanks be to God, who has promised us a release from the sinful enticings of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and an existence in a spiritual body, where our capacities, such as they are, when we begin that life, will find better opportunities of development, and our souls spring to higher attainments of the kingdom of God, through growth in righteousness, than are possessed by the best of men and women in the earthly life. Seek ye therefore great store of righteousness, that ye may enter into great fulness of the joy of God's kingdom. L- J- F- Woman's Centenary Association. No. 15. AM I A CHRISTIAN? T F I am not, can I be ? " The first of these questions you _L can best answer for yourself; the other I will endeavor to answer for you : You can. To make ourselves clear upon this subject, let us consider, candidly and prayerfully, what it is to be a Christian. A very natural answer would be, " To follow Christ." And these are the Saviour's words, "Follow Me." When the question was asked of the disciples in after time, their reply invariably was, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" or be a Christian. But here arises a difficulty. If we are disposed to accept this direction of the Apostles, then we are met at the very threshold of many of the churches in our midst, with a defi- nition of the belief, what it shall be. And differing so much as they do, we are in doubt what to do. Hearts sincere in feeling ; aching hearts, apprehensive to the last degree of a failure to be Christian, on every hand are bewildered over the question. That which concerns us so much, upon which our peace on earth and hope of eternal life depends, and which we feel should be plain, remains un- answered. Still, " 'Tis the point I long to know, — Oft it causes anxious thought, — Do I love the Lord, or no ? Am I his, or am I not ? " And the doubt will remain, the perplexity be as troubling, till this question is solved with that freedom of mind which God intends his children to possess in their investigations of truth, and to every soul it is made by himself a personal matter. Let us understand that there are two senses in which an individual may be said to be Christian — only one, however, that shall fully abide the apostolic test. "Am I a Christian?" I maybe "outwardly," that is, by name; and I may be "inwardly," that is, by the spirit. The first I may have chosen, and it is entirely proper; of it I should not be ashamed ; but the second I must possess, for that is essential. By name I may signify that I believe in the Scriptures, and all they declare about Christ. I may accept this and properly be called Christian. I may believe that Jesus was divine, and sent of his Father to save sinners. 7 61 i 2 AM I A CHRISTIAN? But let us reflect : this requires only the assent of the mind — that is, simply belief about him. It is only opinion about Christianity, and not yet belief in it. It is the first step toward being a Christian, but not yet far enough taken ; the heart has not sent in its allegiance. A man standing outside all religious bodies, saying, " I accept all you claim of the Christian religion," yet refusing to place himself under its direction, disclaiming all fellowship with Christian effort, not lifting a finger to further the Gospel's interests, could hardly claim to possess the spirit of the Master, or fully substantiate before the Scriptures, which he acknowl- edges as truth, " belief in him." Let us understand that believing about a truth and believing in it, are quite different states of mind, leading to different results in the individual life. Believing about a truth declared, may leave one as indifferent to its success as possibly can be. While to believe in it, would be not only to rejoice in its pros- perity, but to put the whole soul into the work. Therefore to believe about Christ, all that is written of him in the Bible, and only that, shall leave the heart as destitute of faith and trust, as is the sandy desert of fruit and vegeta- tion. Morality might be in this world with this class of Chris- tians ; and science and philosophy might flourish, which we do not condemn, being essential to human progress and the acknowledged handmaids of religion ; but Christian faith, the world's hope at last, would perish. Most beautifully is this set forth by McDonald in his Robert Falconer, when he says, " I count faith in Christ better than any belief about him, even the greatest — or about any- thing else." Let us look up the word and see how well it will bear this definition. It may assist us in determining this question. Three times only is it found in the Bible. In the Acts of the Apostles it is first used in this form — " the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch." This was some time after the crucifixion of our Lord. It was after the conversion of Paul, and while the Apostles were laboring to spread the gospel by preaching, and organizing churches. The name arose most naturally from the disciples being followers of Christ, the same as we term the followers of Mohammed Mohammedans, and the followers of Plato, Pla- tonists. We cannot use the' word without connecting Jesus, in the thought, with it. It was used the second time of which we have any record, by King Agrippa, in his reply to Paul's argument before him of the necessity of a saving belief in Christ, in these words : "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian," — indicating that this ruler was on the point of accepting the religion of the Saviour. It reached his mind — he admitted its reasonable- ness, but his heart refused allegiance. If that had been given, the "almost" would have given place to the "entirely," and 62 AM I A CHRISTIAN? 3 the man would have become a Christian. He went as far as thousands go in our day, but stopped where thousands now stop, and come short of the divine glory. The third and last time found in the Scriptures, it was em- ployed by Peter in exhorting his brethren to greater faithful- ness in the cause, and not to be ashamed of the name nor the religion which it represented. Taking these three instances in which the word occurs in the New Testament, no other sense can be indicated of it, than that it denotes discipleship, fealty to the Christian cause. Christians at that day were those who gave in their ad- herence to Christ, and who supported by word, work, and material means the cause of heaven, which he, the divine Saviour, came to represent. And it means all that now. A Christian cannot be an indifferent soul. He must accept the name, and honor it with his daily life. Christians, therefore, are followers of Christ, in the sense that they accept him as their teacher in heavenly truth, and their director in spiritual life. They are his disciples, because they follow the Saviour to learn of these things. This may assist us in determining the question we are con- sidering, "What it is to be a Christian." Placing yourself under the direction of that divine teacher who was sent of God, and submitting to him in all things that tend to your moral character and spiritual peace of mind. To me, this answers in a plain way, yet most fully, our in- quiry. That man is a Christian who thus places himself, and he will advance in the true life of the soul, and be built up in Christian character, as he thus consecrates the powers of his being. Belief in Christ must lie at the foundation of all our religious work ; and so true to the principles which he has laid down in his word, and made most vital in his life, must be our re- ligious profession, that we shall live by them, in the very breath we breathe in our mortal existence. Reader, in view of the question at the head of this article, may I ask what you are expecting in your desire to be a Christian ? Is it a new birth, such a change in your mental and moral constitution as shall enable you to have faith so clear, radiant, penetrating, that you may delve at once into the mysteries of the eternal spirit ? And then to that faith have added a char- acter, such as would be impossible of angelic improvement ? If this, and that may be your trouble, then you are wrong in your expectation, and it is such thinking that hinders you from being a Christian and taking your proper position in a Christian church, and having the help of its ordinances. If Christianity contemplates such a condition of human souls, it can be only as the ultimate of its work. The dis- ciples, even, who followed the Master as his " beloved,'' they felt the need of constant prayer, " Lord increase our faith." 63 4 AM I A CHRISTIAN? And the Apostle Paul, in his epistle to the church, was con- stant in his appeals for the members to "go on unto a higher form of life;" "to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ the Lord." To be a Christian is to believe in Christ ; take his word of direction, and his counsel in your whole life-work. It is placing yourself under the Saviour's teaching, and being entirely willing to abide his commandments. So you may not know the alphabet of Christian doctrine ; you come to Jesus to learn it, to commence there. You may be in doubt of many things, as was Thomas, even so far as to be on the brink of infidelity in regard to religion ; you come to the Saviour to have it removed. You may be weak in moral ability, and be guilty of great sins : you throw yourself upon the mercy of heaven, which you shall learn is great and ever active in man's behalf, and find ultimate recovery from them all. And this shall be your encouragement. If you thus come, and consecrate yourself to the service, applying your powers through the helps furnished by Christianity, — the word of truth, prayer, and the services of the sanctuary, not having the feeling that you must be perfect, but realizing all the time your need of being better, then heaven will as surely smile upon your effort and bless you, as the sun shines upon the earth and blesses by its genial warmth the vegetation upon its surface. Then let me appeal : For what are you waiting, to be a Christian, and an active church member ? Is it to be good ? Never will you be good by waiting for it ; goodness comes not by waiting. Are you waiting till the law of God in yoit shall be fulfilled ? Do you think that by waiting you will be en- abled to fulfil it ? And are you waiting for a new heart to be thrust into you by the grace of the Almighty ? With that notion you will never be a Christian. It is for you to accept your Cre- ator's love, which you acknowledge is over all, and live by it. Are you still in doubt, and feel unprepared for so important a step as the Christian religion requires of you, in view of its responsibilities ? Here are your helps : and the glorious promises of heaven, which Christ in his gospel has revealed, are yours, for your inspiration and life. " Come," implores the heavenly voice ; " come, just as you are ; you need no other fitness, no other preparation. You desire to be a Christian, and may be one." And such a faith as the Gospel grants ! a good Father over you ; a divine Saviour by your side ; and the assurance of eternal blessedness ! What is there to hinder ? It is all hope. Reader, may God inspire you by his holy spirit to the work, and to such devotion in it that you shall not fail to become a Christian. E. H. Woman's Centenary Associalicn. 64 No. 16. WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? DO you ever ask yourself this question ? Do you ask it of those who can give you a proper answer? Do you ask it of the Bible ? Do you ask it of your God ? It is an important question. No one can neglect it with safety. He who refuses to seek a right answer to it, does it at his peril. It is to be asked, not once, or twice, or any given number of times, in one's life, and then dismissed, as if the things to be done may be attended to, and the work be thus accomplished, once and forever. But it is a question to be asked each day and hour, so long as life lasts. All desire to be saved. No thoughtful person who has heard of the salvation that the gospel offers, but wishes to obtain and enjoy the benefit of it. For the purposes of this appeal, we will not trouble ourselves for the exact exegesis of the passage in which it is found — Acts xvi. 30. Possibly, as some have argued, the jailor only sought to learn what he must do to escape the penalty of the law for having failed to keep his prisoners safely, as he was commanded to do. There is, however, a higher meaning to the question, as it is asked by ourselves. We wish to be saved, in the Gospel sense of the word. That is the purpose for which a Saviour was given. Jesus came to save us. For that were his teachings. For it were all the events of his wonderful life ; and for it was his appalling death on the cross. All the influences of the Gospel are given, that through them we may be saved. The idea of being saved, implies that there is something to be saved from. There are evil conditions from which to be delivered, and dangers to be averted. Do people anxiously inquire what those evil conditions are, and what the danger is ? Do they desire to be informed how they may escape them ? Clear ideas concerning these things are requisite in order to be saved. 1. First of all, we need to be saved from sin. All men are sinners. In nothing is the Bible more clear and emphatic than in its declaration of universal human depravity. He has read the Scriptures to little profit, who has not learned this truth. " For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Rom. iii. 23. " For that all have sinned." Rom. v. 12. " There is none that doeth good, no, not one." Ps. xiv. 3. While these and similar passages may have been adduced, in many instances, to prove doctrines to which they give no 65 1 2 WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? support, they yet assert as truth, that all men are guilty in the sight of God. And this is a truth of which every man is conscious. No one can look into his own heart, and not find there the sad- dest evidences of his own shortcomings. Every one knows that he is a sinner. All are compelled to acknowledge that they are ungrateful, undutiful, and disobedient children of the infinite and ever-loving Father. To provide a remedy for this universal moral disease lurk- ing in human souls, was a Saviour given. The angel that foretold his birth, declared that he should " save his people from their sins." Matt. i. 21. John the Baptist, "when he saw him coming unto him," exclaimed, " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John i. 29. St. Peter testifies, " Unto you first, God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." And St. Paul tells us that Jesus " gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus ii. 14. No truth is more emphatically declared in the Scriptures, than that Christ came to save men from sin. The means through which this salvation is attained, is, be- lief in Christ. " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John iii. 16. " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts xvi. 31. This belief, to be efficacious, must be heartfelt. It is the full and entire acceptance of him as our personal Saviour. It is the consecration of ourselves, all we are, and all we hope to be, to his service. It is to become like him, who " was in all points tempted like as wc are, yet without sin," Heb. iv. 15, and who, having "suffered, being tempted, is able to succor them that are tempted." Heb. ii. 18. Are you thus saved ? If not, seek the salvation which Christ gives, without delay. " Behold, now is the accepted time ; be- hold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. vi. 2. 2. We need to be saved from error. Much confusion pre- vails in people's minds on religious subjects. Not only are there " lords many, and gods many," but also many conflict- ing opinions among those who believe in the same God, trust in the same Saviour, and accept the same Gospel. They are bewildered by the many cries of " Lo, here ! and lo, there ! " How shall we determine what the true doctrine is ? Not by consulting the creeds of the churches. They are but the work of fallible men. The Athanasian and Nicene Creeds, the Thirty-nine Articles of the Episcopal Church, the Five Points of Calvin, and the Creed of Arminius, are equally and entirely without authority, and all more or less erroneous. The Apostles' Creed, so called, was not written till many years after the martyrdom of the apostles. We are to look to no 66 WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? 3 church, to no ecclesiastical council, and to no leader in the church, be he Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Swedenborg, Channing, or Ballou, for the light we need. They may help us to under- stand the deep things of the spirit. But none of them saw all the truth. Not all of them together comprehended " all mys- teries, and all knowledge." But there is an infallible Teacher. There is an always safe Guide. That Teacher is Christ ; that Guide was sent from heaven. We have his life, written by his immediate followers. He is brought before us in the four Gospels. His words are preserved for our reading. No one who faithfully studies them, can greatly err. We shall learn that God is a Father, more willing to give good things to his children, than the best of earthly parents to theirs ; that Jesus came from the Father to tell us of his love, and to win us to him ; that by being con- verted, and becoming as little children, we shall find our heaven within us, and thus have eternal or spiritual life ; and that Jesus will finally draw all men unto himself, and save a world. These simple truths are so clearly set forth in the words of Christ, that he who carefully and prayerfully reads them, cannot greatly err. And if he has any doubts concern- ing them, he can easily test them, by trying to live them. " If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God." John vii. 17. 3. We need to be saved from religious indifference. And this will inevitably follow our salvation from sin and error. When one has made Christ his personal Saviour, and has wrought his way out from all superstitious beliefs, seeing God as he is, and feeling his love, he cannot be longer indifferent, passionless and cold. His heart will be warm. His affections will be enlisted. His feelings will be stirred in behalf of the things that have so greatly blessed him. In him will be realized the truth of the prophet's words : " They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as the eagles ; they shall run and not be weary ; and they shall walk and not faint." Is. xl. 31. He will not search for excuses for neglecting religious things. He will not seek for apologies for inattention. He will earnestly endeavor to live a life of Christian consecration and Christian activity. His heart will swell with the liveliest emotions of joy. His lips will delight to speak a Father's praise. His acts will be those of obedience to a Father's will. The whole spirit of his life will be the spirit of Christian love. His hands will be ready for every good work. They will be stretched out in generous aid to the needy. They will be open and free for the furtherance of the truth. They will work with alacrity, and give with liberality, for the support of the church. And this man, thus saved from sin, error and religious indifference, will never excuse himself from church attendance, but will always delight to meet with those who make our Zions vocal with praise and prayer. 67 4 WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? The reader will perceive that it is no outward evil from which he is to be saved. He need never fear anything outside of himself, An outward hell is but the horrid dream of a mind enslaved to superstition. It should not awaken one anxious thought in a person of common intelligence. The things to be feared are those within him — the perversity of his own heart, the evil devices of his mind, the wrong motives by which he is influenced, the blinding errors of his judgment, and his own indifference and deadness to spiritual things. These are the things that work his injury, and that bring upon him the swift retributions of a just God. Here is the source of his dissatisfaction with himself, of his restless longing for the excitement that comes of unhallowed pleasures, and of the degradation and misery which the sinner constantly feels. They are the things from which he should pray, and endeavor to be saved. To escape them, is to obtain the salvation which our Lord came to bring us. The pure and holy state of mind which results from this Christian salvation, constitutes the heaven we should earnestly seek. Heaven is not so much a place, as it is the state of the individual soul. To be free from sin, and to be ever alive to Christian duty, is to be in heaven, and to have a heaven within and all around us. It is to experience the truth of the Saviour's declaration, that "the kingdom of God is within," Luke xvii. 21 ; and it is the joy of those who have "passed from death unto life." Obtain this, and you are already saved ! When our Saviour declared: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemna- tion ; but is passed from death unto life," John v. 24, he uttered a truth for all time to come. It holds good to-day. He who believes in Christ, loves him, follows him, and is per- vaded by his spirit, — already has everlasting life, the true life, the spiritual life, in his soul. The weight of no condemna- tion presses upon him. He is passed from spiritual death unto spiritual life. The work for which Christ came is already wrought within him. Sin is conquered, and the heavenly life begun. For him the question, " What must I do to be saved ? " has been asked, and answered. Henceforth his course is onward and upward. Doubts are past, and the way of the Christian life lies plainly revealed before him. " The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." G. B Y. Woman's Centenary Association. 68 No. 17. A PLEA FOR LIGHT. LET the light into your houses. It is bright, warm, and free. Why not have plenty of it ? Throw open the shutters, and let the cheerful sunlight fill the room with its glory. Say with the little girl who sprang forward to kiss the sunbeam on the carpet where she was playing, "There! I 've kissed the morning." We need to let the morning kiss our dwellings. Homes would be happier if they had more of heaven's sweet light. And the light is so universal, and so free ! It is one of the few things that the government does not tax. The sun shines for all, and I wish that every house-builder, and every house-keeper would adopt the saying of Gcethe, and exclaim, " Light ! more light still ! " We know that houses are most healthy that have the light ; that epidemics run to the shady side of the street ; that homes are cheerful, children happy, flowers fragrant, gardens fruit- ful, when the precious sunlight warms and cheers them. I don't wonder that in the beginning God said " Let there be light," for with the light came beauty, comfort, and health. And so when we make a plea for light, we really make a plea for God ; for when an inspired Apostle would best repre- sent him, the testimony is, "God is light and in him is no darkness at all." We say therefore to all, Set your houses to the light. Glorify your homes. Live where the sunbeams fall. But having the light, means more than this. You may have light everywhere. Not only your home wants light, but your heart wants it also. There is sunshine for the soul, to brighten and cheer it. You are not required to live in this world in darkness and gloom. Life is not to be a " house of bondage " with bars and bolts, where we are to mourn and weep. I know that human life and the present world are often repre- sented as a scene of hardship and woe. But this is all a mistake. We are not only to have the sweet sunlight in the houses where we eat and sleep, but we are building houses of character and happiness, and hope, and these are to be made bright and warm by the light that streams from God into our being. And so I say there is light not only for our homes, but for our hearts. It is our duty here also to open the windows and doors of our nature and let in the light. In the name of re- ligion, as well as in the name of health, we make a plea for sunshine, for the bright side. Now the world wants light. It 69 1 2 A PLEA FOR LIGHT. has had darkness, shadow, gloom, fear, long enough, and God knows it has been wretched enough because of it. Even religion, which certainly, if anything should bring brightness and peace, has been turned into a frowning cloud to make men fear and tremble. Don't be afraid, I beseech you, to let in the light of faith and hope. Open all the windows of your nature. As they say in the East, " Orient yotirself" Look toward the Orient, — the East, — where the light comes from. Let your heart, like the flowers, follow the light. The Gospel is the light. Jesus said, " I am come a light into the world." He did not come a cloud, a shadow, a frown. It was not the darkness of divine wrath that came. No ; he came a light.. " The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." " I am the light of the world." That single word light tells us all about the religion of Jesus. Before Christ came, darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people. The people sat in the region and shadow of death. But with the Gospel a light sprung up. It does for our hearts just what the sun does for our homes. It drives away all darkness, fear, and gloom. And here is the test by which we can tell the true from the false religion. Any religion that cannot justly be termed light can never be called the Christian religion. A religion that carries with it darkness and despair, cannot be the true re- ligion, for the true religion is called Light. Trace the influ- ence of religious systems, and you can soon decide upon their merits. History is full of the darkening effects of false systems of theology. They have filled nature, and humanity, and death, and eternity with terrors. They have banished all the freshness and beauty from life. Such systems, it is certain, cannot represent Christianity, for that came a light into the world, and such, we know, are never the results of light. The word light can represent only a cheerful, happy, hopeful religion, and we are not surprised to see that the Gospel throws a radiance upon God, upon man, upon duty, upon sorrow, upon the grave, and upon immortal- ity. While all these have been shrouded in darkness by other systems, as viewed by Christianity they are relieved by the light of the divine purpose and goodness, and lifted into the glory of heaven. They are not involved in triple darkness as with Albert Barnes, or mixed with " a cruel bitter " as with Saurin, or in the shadow of " an eclipse "as with Dr. Hodge, but set in the light of God's Fatherhood, and blend in the great plan of redemption. Jesus brought light where before was the darkness of super- stition and fear. Hearts were heavy-laden, souls were subject to bondage, and by reason of error that had crept in from paganism and human philosophy, men were oppressed and scattered abroad, as sheep without a shepherd. But the Gospel produced no such results. Old Simeon recognized it 7o A PLEA FOR LIGHT. 3 at once ns the light that should Lighten the Gentiles, and be the glory of God's people Israel. Moreover, the Gospel is appropriately termed the Light because it is adapted to the nature of the soul, as plainly as the light of the sun is fitted for the human eye. Light and sight, soul and truth, arc related. The eye of the mind is adjusted to the rays of the Gospel. And this teaches us that religion is not something foreign to our nature, and intro- duced by arbitrary rules, finding us ruined and. disorganized by " original sin," but something for which our nature calls, just as the eye demands the light of heaven. It is not to change our nature, but to warm and enlighten it, coming from God to his needy and waiting children, and to be gladly accepted, as we would hail the brightness of the morning. God sends the one, as he sends the other, giving us natures that call for both, and bidding us open the eye of the soul to truth and. grace, as he bids us open the eyes of our bodies to the light of the sun. But every man has a duty with reference to the light of the Gospel, as he has with reference to the light of the day. God gives it, we must 7-eceive it. We must keep the windows of our hearts open. We must keep the eye of the mind clear and free. We must not let sin and error put their fingers to our eyes and close them to the blessed light of God's truth. Christ warned the disciples that the light that was in them might become darkness. He said, " Work while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you." All this implies duties with reference to this light. The mind, like the body, may voluntarily close the eyes and exclude the light. What- ever light, therefore, we have, it is our duty to improve it and let our light shine before men. That man may be said really to believe in the light who makes himself active in it, and who is bright and cheerful and happy because of it. What matters it whether there be any light, to one who shuts himself up, bolting and barring every avenue to his nature, and so cuts himself off from everything warm and genial ? Practically, he is as much in the dark as if there were no sun in the heavens. " The light shineth into the darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not." It is our duty to welcome the light when it comes. If the sun shines we may, at least, be expected to keep our eyes open. If we have a religion that has the light in it, it was given us for a purpose. When the light of the morning comes we are expected to awake and go to work. Light means not only happiness and pleasure, but duty and labor. He poorly improves the sunshine who spends all his time in an ecstacy of delight over it, rubbing his hands, and telling what a "glorious" and "blessed" thing it is. He would do better to break up the soil, and scatter seeds of love and grace, in order that the light may be blessed in bringing in the harvest. It is a great privilege to be permitted to work in the light. 71 4 A PLEA FOR LIGHT. Many believe in darkness, and do all the work of life in gloom and shadow. Their faith gives them no inspiration. They do not see light in anything or beyond anything. Such people might have some excuse for indifference and idleness. But those who have a faith that is full of light, that does so much to irradiate life, death, and eternity, should never sit down in aimless admiration of their religion, but arouse themselves to duty, and work earnestly that the light of the same Gospel may bless and cheer others. We are to be Gospel reflectors, Chris- tian radiators. Otherwise we ought to be ashamed to enjoy the light of religion. In short, this light ought to make the believer just like itself. We read of " the children of light." Children, in the Scripture sense, are imitators. If they are wicked, they are called children of darkness — children of the evil one, of the devil — children of disobedience. If they are good and true, they are children of the light. Thus we are to look and act, and be like the light in which we believe. A flower is a child of the light. If grown in darkness, it will be colorless. The butterfly is a child of the light. The light gives it all its varied hues. Nature owes all its beauty to the light. An infant deprived of light would grow up to be an idiot. We need that the light of divine truth should make us its children — should so penetrate and fill us, that we become like the light in which we believe. And a religion of light will not make us slaves and " eye servants," moving us by fear of punishment or the hope of reward — but it will sweeten, and warm, and enlighten, and elevate, till, like the flower, we turn our faces toward our benefactor, and follow it all the day long. We are to be children of the light. " Love makes the service liberty.'' And this religion of light will not only make us like itself, but it will draw us all together. Having the same light, we will love the same things. Religion not only cheers, but it unites ; not only inspires, but organ- izes. If the light falls rightly upon souls, they will find each other, and know each other, and work together in its radiance. Prof. Henry says that two rays of light may be so thrown upon each other as to produce darkness. We should never combine the light of our hearts in this way, but so mingle it in the church, and in the Sunday-school, and in practical re- ligion, as to produce one warm and invigorating beam of love and truth, that shall bless the worlds " Walk in the light ! and thine shall be A path, though thorny, bright ; For God himself shall dwell with thee, And God himself is light." C. W. B. Woman's Centenary Association. 72 No. 18. THE WISDOM OF GOD. IN the use of the word "wisdom," which is more popular than precise, we mean chiefly knowledge — knowledge of all things and all events ; knowledge which embraces all possibilities, and excludes all contingencies. This is a neces- sary element in the character of Deity — a part of his essence. We cannot take away the attribute of omniscience, and leave the idea of God and creator perfect. All things are of God ; creation is but the out-birth of his thought and action ; all events flow from the causes which his will has set in motion, and, therefore, of necessity, he knows all things as the original cause of all things. The Bible sets forth the doctrine of God's omniscience in clearest terms. The past, the present, and the future, are all one to him, as the darkness and the light are one. The future cannot hide him any more than the darkness. Eternity can- not teach him anything new. There can be no additions to his knowledge, by the occur- rence of events which he did not foresee or anticipate ; events or results which were not embraced in his original plan. Nothing can come to pass by the action of causes outside of himself, causes independent of his will, and self-creative. Both the character of God as sole creator, as the Alpha and Omega of the universe, and the Scriptures as the authorized exponent of his attributes, establish beyond controversy the fact that all things are known unto him from the beginning to the end. He knows what is to be, and he shows the knowl- edge in the spirit of prophecy, by foretelling the events before they come to pass. He knows the thoughts and purposes of the hearts of all the children of men, the evil and the good ; marks all their ways, counts their steps, and numbers the very hairs of their heads. Every thing, thought, word, desire, action, event, lies open, naked before his all-seeing eye ; from the establishment of a solar system, or the destruction of a nation, down to the idle word, or the heart-pulse of the ob- scurest mortal on earth ; yea, down to the least interests of the invisible animalculae. " His understanding is infinite ; he is perfect in knowledge." The logical deductions from these premises are obvious to every one who has given any thought to the subject. The divine knowledge embraces the future and final condition of every soul of man, and did embrace it from the beginning as a part and portion of the original plan of God, inherent in the very purpose and end had in view in the creation of man. 73 I 2 THE WISDOM OF GOD. Let us consider this well. Far back in the solitudes of eternity, neither man nor the earth had an existence. It was entirely optional with God whether he would or not shape this earth, and set it running through its orbit ; whether he would or not create such a being as man, and put him here to live out his threescore years and ten. There was no power nor influence outside of his own choice to compel him to create. He was perfectly free to do or leave undone. But he chose to do ; he determined to create just such a world as we live in, and just such a race of creatures as man- kind. Of course he did not do this without a motive, without some specific object in view, and some clearly defined plan or method by which this object was to be obtained. He could not foreordain the end, without a foreordination of the means necessary to do it. We cannot suppose he began the work of creation, as the man of the parables began to build his house, without counting the cost, or considering whether he were able to finish or not. Let us now take the case of a single soul, and follow it through its various experiences to the close of its earthly course, and its entrance upon the scenes of its future and final destiny. By the will of God this soul exists. Why did he bring it into being ? Was it from caprice or sudden impulse, without a motive or a plan, without knowing what he should do with it, or what was to become of it ? Or did he enter upon the solemn work of giving existence to this immortal creature for a good and satisfactory reason, knowing perfectly what he was doing, seeing into all the future of its life in time and eternity, having a distinct and settled purpose in regard to its destination, and having all the agencies appointed and arranged by which this purpose was to be accomplished ? Certainly this last. The very idea of infinite knowledge, of unerring and all-comprehensive wisdom, compels to this con- clusion. Of course, then, it follows, that in creating this soul with a specific end in view, with a predetermined object to be realized, he would endow it with reference to this end and object. Whatever moral powers and faculties, whatever physical passions and propensities, whatever strength or weak- ness, knowledge or ignorance, entered into the organization of this being, it would be with a perfect foresight of their operative relations to the plan with which, or the specific destiny for which he was created. All his attributes of spirit and body, all his intellectual and moral qualities, would be harmonized with this plan. Nothing would be allowed to enter into his composition, which would work to the defeat of this plan. This is implied in the very notion or conception of plan. He would not create this immortal being for a fore- ordained destiny, and then endow him with moral and mental qualities, which he distinctly saw would, and of course therefore intended should, forever prevent it from realizing that destiny. Let us have this in a more definite form. "By the decree 74 THE WISDOM OF GOD. 3 of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others fore- ordained to everlasting death. These angels and men thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchange- ably determined, and their number is so certain and definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished.'' Now suppose the soul, whose case is under review, was one of the number "foreordained to everlasting death; " suppose God had, at the time of its creation, purposed and predeter- mined that it should, in common phrase, be damned ; is it likely he would bestow upon it such spiritual faculties and tendencies, and surround it with such heavenly influences as would surely work out its salvation? Suppose, on the other hand, that this soul was one of the number " predestined unto everlasting life," can we for a moment believe that he who created it, and in creating it had the choice of what it should and what it should not be, would endow it with any powers or agencies which he knew certainly would forever prevent it from attaining to this everlasting life ? Or, in briefer phrase, if God intended this soul for hell, would he send a Saviour into the world to bring it to heaven ? And if he intended it for heaven, would he send a devil into the world to drag it down to hell ? This places the subject in its true position. If a single soul be damned, it is because it was created for this end, foreseen and foreordained. It was the original thought and plan of God in creating it, and not because he has made a mistake: not because the soul is anything different from what he ex- pected ; not because its faculties have been so perverted, to his great grief, that the design of its creation is defeated. But for those who also believe in the infinite goodness of God this ground is impossible. It is impossible to believe that " God is love," as the apostle declares, (i John iv.,) and at the same time believe that he deliberately sat down to the work of giving existence to an immortal soul, only that he might make that existence an endless curse to it! There can be no more awful blasphemy than this yoking together infinite and ever- lasting love with infinite and everlasting woe. But one conclusion, therefore, remains, — that God at the time of creating this soul — and the argument is from one soul to all souls — intended it for everlasting life and blessedness ; for an endless growth in knowledge, in spiritual power and heavenly glory. This was his purpose. Hence we have sueh testimonies as these: " Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power ; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created," Rev. iv. II. " Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, accord- ing to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself; that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him," Eph. i. 4 THE WISDOM OF GOD. And now the argument for his infinite wisdom returns with irresistible force. Creating with this design, he of course arranged his plan of operations, and ordered his government and laws in reference to it. The nature he bestowed on man, the mental forces, the moral sentiments, the religious element, the bodily appetites, were all harmonized to this central thought and aim. The divine omniscience took in all the possibilities and certainties of his life, determined all the circumstances of his lot, foresaw all the influences, however subtle and inap- preciable by us, which would act on him ; and prearranged that they should, directly or indirectly, contribute to the pur- posed result ; and to the development and glory of " the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, and of his unsearchable judgments," Rom. xi. Let us say all we can here of the " free agency" of man, of the obstinacy and depravity of the human heart, of the rejec- tion of the offers and conditions of salvation ; and after all the argument founded upon the Scriptural statement, that, " known unto God are all his works from the beginning to the end," furnishes a simple and final reply to it. God either did, or did not, foresee all these difficulties (if there be any diffi- culties with God) when he devised his plan of creation and redemption. If he did not foresee them, then he does not know " all his works from the beginning to the end " — but the Bible affirms that he does. He did, therefore, foresee all these difficulties, and foreseeing, of course, he provided against them, and adjusted his plan with express reference to over- coming them. We must not forget that both the use and the abuse of the freedom of man, lay within the sweep of God's omniscience at the time of creating him. If he had foreseen that man would so abuse this moral freedom as to defeat his purpose in creating, he would have arranged it differently. And as he did not arrange it differently, we need have no fears of its being a hindrance in the way of the fulfilment of that pur- pose. Whatever, therefore, the measure of man's freedom, it was embraced in the original plan of his creation, and is perfectly consistent with the aim and end of that plan, viz. : the highest perfection and blessedness of which he is constitutionally capable. To this result the wisdom of God is pledged ; and all the foreseen means for its accomplishment lie within the reach, and ready at the fitting time for the use of that Almighty power which " worketh all things after the counsel of his own will," Eph. i. T. b. T. Woman's Centenary Association. 76 No. 19. HERE AND HEAVEN. BY heaven I mean not so much a place as a state, a con- • dition of holiness and bliss. That God has prepared a place for the heavenly minded, I have no doubt ; a place in which the surroundings minister to the purest longings and most refined taste for beauty and splendor, to describe which perfectly, language is inadequate. Yet, I repeat, heaven is a state, to which place and time are subservient. Is it not highly probable that the same facts in regard to identity will obtain in heaven as here ? I am conscious that I am not the same person mentally, spiritually, that is, as re- gards development, that I was ten years ago, yet I am con- scious that I still exist with more or less breadth of mind, with more spiritual experience. And if I live ten, fifteen, twenty years more, I shall be a different person, mentally and spirit- ually, that is, as regards development : yet I shall preserve my personal identity, memory, consciousness of the present. Is it not probable that this will continue forever ? At death I may be conscious that a change has been wrought in me ; yet may I not be conscious of being the same person who lived on the earth ? This is our first school. We are very ignorant here. Call death, if you please, graduation or Commencement Day, or say that ages after death we shall be conscious of wondrous strength in all our energies, of marvellous increase in mental and spiritual attainments. Shall we not be the same persons ages hence ? We shall not be in heaven unless we preserve our identity. We shall know ourselves and know each other there. Scripture seems to indicate that we are to be raised to heaven ; that identity will be preserved. What did the Saviour mean except that the disciples should know him in heaven, when he said : "I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. . . . Let not your hearts be troubled, in my Father's, house are many mansions." Paul teaches self-conscious re- union in heaven. " Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know as I am known. ... I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those which are asleep, that ye sorrow- not even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." Paul was strengthened and cheered by the thought that he should see Jesus, and be 8 77 i 2 HERE AND HEAVEN. with him. " For me to die is gain. For I am in a strait be- twixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better. . . . And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." All the comfort would be taken out of the Gospel, if we are not to pre- serve hereafter our personal identity, and therefore to know and to love each other. We may believe that when we go into heaven, we shall find a land of wonder and of ineffable mystery. All about us will lie realms of glory and of light, which we may explore with ever fresh enthusiasm, and may press forward and upward, gathering unwasting wealth for mind and spirit. " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man," the glories which shall stimulate our powers in the heavenly home. Here men have shown far-reaching wisdom, have swept the earth and the heavens with their scientific vision. But when the mind is freed from fleshly limitations, and breathes the air of the pure spirit world, we shall be conscious of far more comprehensive pov/ers of mind and will, go with surer foot or fly on steadier wing to learn of the immortal glories. Will the soul's questionings of the Infinite and his ways ever be answered? Yes — we shall go on as God reveals limitless fields of research, and opens for our thirsty souls exhaustless fountains of wisdom, The great and good of all ages may bear us company, and impart to us from their wisdom. The Great Teacher will be there. He will teach us and lead us evermore. In that home, we shall begin like children, it may be, but with faculties strengthening ever ; with ardent zeal we may go onward, at every step filled with amazement at the resources of the Most High who hast prepared for us a " city which hath founda- tions." So heaven is a place of rest. Not of inaction and lazy quiet, but bare poverty and exacting, merciless toil cannot in- trude upon its active and blessed employments. The laborer need not there be startled from his rest by sound of bell or beam of rising sun to engage in wasting and ill-paid labor. There toil brings sure rewards, and exacts no tribute of pain or unrest. There each soul finds its appropriate work, and has every means of development and blessedness. There labor is pleasure and a renewal of delights. There toil and rest are friends, and neither is shunned or sought in vain. " As we come into conscious harmony with the God of Life, as we come into the communion, into the very life of Christ — in that spiritual harmony we shall find rest. Rest, not sleep, not inaction, but the repose that accords with the nobler effort — the peace that is compatible with toil. Rest which is not a dream of celestial idleness, but the harmony of the grandest action." In heaven the rich and poor meet together, for the Lord has 78 HERE AND HEAVEN. 3 brought them all home at last. Through what troubles, out of what distresses many come, barely escaping with the mark of starvation and the stiff finger of the cold upon them ! Running the gauntlet of a thousand yelling and fierce tempta- tions, staggering, bleeding and wounded by the thick falling strokes of misfortune, they have gained home, and they are safe there. Hunger and thirst, nor burning heat, nor chilling winds, can trouble them more. They are fed, they are warmed, they are clad, and they fear no evil. They are abundantly satisfied with the plenty of their Father's house. They are rich in unwasting treasures. The distinctions, factitious, un- real, that made the rich despise the poor, and the poor envy the rich, that separated children of one family, are not known in the " household of God." Heaven is desirable, and it cannot be moved, because it is built upon foundations of righteousness. Purity watches at the gate, and challenges every soul that seeks entrance therein. Before any soul can enter heaven, it must be freed from sin, and made holy. It is a " new creature " in Christ, transformed by Faith and Hope and Love. Heaven furnishes inspiration for work, and the hope of it keeps thousands in the way of righteousness. Say what you may of the worth of the motive, no doubt that hope of heaven does help multitudes to resist sin and to strive for holiness. The thought of its peace, its rest, its circle of friends, has nerved weary souls and upheld hearts ready to sink and perish. Home keeps our loved ones. Not its splendor, not its rest, not its ministry of hope, of beauty and of quiet gives us its essential blessedness. The faces that shine there, the voices that greet us, the eyes that beam on us, the arms that embrace us, the hearts that beat responsive to ours, these make home the best place. Home is where the heart is. But we cannot keep our dear ones there, our arms cannot hold them. They go away and do not come back. There are empty chairs in the home, and voices we have loved to hear are silent. We shall find them all in heaven. In the church yard, by gray headstones, in graves fragrant with flowers and dewy with tears, do you think they sleep there ? No ! no ! The body to dust, the spirit to God who gave it. The home circles will be filled again. We shall meet our friends there. And the circle shall not be broken. With arms extended wide, they will meet us. Will they wait for us to cross the river ? Shall we not see them in the gloom when the floods roar about us ? Beyond the rushing waters shall we not catch the gleaming of their white robes, as they beckon to us from the other shore ? Shall we not hear them singing the old songs — songs of welcome ? Lo ! they crowd to the river's bank and watch us with joy as we cross. I shall meet my child there, shall know and love her for aye ! The only child, a daughter of a poor widow in the north of 79 4 HERE AND HEAVEN. England, fell into sin and ran away to London. She went on for a year in the mad course of such unfortunates, and then — health, beauty, self-respect, friends gone — she longed to get home. One midnight in November, she came to the doorstep of her mother's cottage. Lifting her hand wearily to the latch, she felt it yield to her pressure, she opened the door and found the fire carefully kept on the hearth. She sank by it, until, in the early morning, her mother aroused her, and weeping, thanked God that her daughter had come at last. "Mother," said the daughter, " how dared you sleep with the door unbarred ? You used to bar it when I was at home." " Daughter," said the mother, " I knew how it would be. I knew that every door would be shut and bolted against you. I thought God would send you home to me, and I wanted you to find your mother's door unbarred, for my heart has always longed for you, and since you went away I have never fastened the door." If the mother had barred the door — losing patience and hope, and, steeling her heart, had refused her wandering daughter entrance and welcome, would not her character have lost that element that always has made the thought of mother sacred, and helpful, and glorious ? If God the Father bars the gate of the heavenly city, and refuses admittance to hi? returning children, would not the act rob his character of all that has made it dear, and worthy of veneration and love ? " The gates of it shall not be shut at all 'by day ; for there shall be no night there." The gates of the city are " ajar," that the prodigals, tired of husks and riotous living, and starvation and wandering, may come home and find abundant entrance and welcome. The whole circle at home, and to be with us forever ! Count your jewels, mother! The babe a day old; the fair-haired child, whose toys dropped from its white hand, and whose head rests under the daisies ; the youth, cut down on the threshold ; the husband, whose arm could no longer hold you ; the father and mother, gray -haired and peaceful-eyed. Do you miss one ? They will be all at home. " And thus, in the grand and final consummation, the hap- piness of each shall multiply and overflow in the wishes and participation of the happiness of all : the universe shall sound with congratulation, and all souls shall break forth in an eter- nal hallelujah of praise transcending praise, and glory trans- cending glory, to God and the Lamb ! " " We with rejoicing antedate the chorus, Blending our voices with the holy anthem, Shouting forever to his praise and glory, O hallelujah!" G. H. V. Woman's Centenary Association. 80 No. 20. THE COMFORT OF THE GOSPEL. ONE of the first public promises of Jesus Christ was, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be com- forted ; " and among the last words which preceded his death, he said, " I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you." The whole story of his life and teaching proves that it was, in his mind, a prominent part of the purpose of his life to comfort the distressed. Indeed, we might feel sure of this from even a scanty knowledge of his character. Small and narrow minds are content with schemes for benefiting mankind which require everybody to be strong and prosperous ; but our Saviour was himself too strong and great to despise the feeble ; and while he abundantly encourages and demands the exercise of our best powers, he has still forbearance for our weakness, patience with our errors, and comfort for our grief. It is the object of this little sheet to suggest to those who are in any trouble, some of the comforting assurances and helps which the gospel of Jesus Christ offers to those that mourn. I. While life goes smoothly, we are apt to fancy that we manage it all ourselves ; but when trouble of any kind comes, then we feel, perhaps for the first time, that there is another Power than our own concerned in fashioning our fortunes. Some people quietly submit to this control, and others fight stubbornly against it : some think they understand what it means, while others find it a hopeless riddle. But to all of us comes, soon or late, the conviction that a power not of our- selves is taking a large part in the lives we lead. This power is called Fate, or chance, or law ; or it is at- tributed to such deities as men may variously worship ; but it is our privilege to know that the power which controls us is the will of God. And having this knowledge, we become anxious, when life seems to go wrong, to know something about the character of this great being, on whose will we hang. Now, one of the conspicuous sources of comfort in the Gospel, is the clear view which Jesus gave the world of the character of God. He does not undertake to make us under- stand exactly what God is doing with us all the time ; for we must be as wise as God to understand all his wisdom. But, since this may not be, Jesus shows us what kind of Ruler we have, that we may feel safe under his sway. The Gospel presents God as an Infinite Father, far above all mistake or surprise or failure, and far removed from all malice 81 1 2 THE COMFORT OF THE GOSPEL. or injustice or unkindness : a Father so wise that he has not brought into existence any larger family than he can thoroughly take care of; so generous that he will sacrifice everything to the welfare of his children ; so strong that he can sweep from his presence anything that may oppose his fatherly designs. Of course this Father will make his children obey, for it is a foolish affection that rears disobedient children ; and because they do not always readily obey, these children must at times be punished. Besides, even an earthly father has many schemes which his children do not understand, and in carrying them out he must take many steps which they would wish different. How much more must the Father of infinite wisdom do many things, in dealing with his human family, which seem to us dark and strange ! But a trustful child is satisfied to know that his father is in charge ; and so a trustful heart, sore with its trouble, weary with the puzzling course of life, needs only to remember that the Father of mercies is shaping all its fortunes, to find the comfort which the Gospel promises. How many have found this comfort ! Not wise enough to understand life's course, not strong enough to fight a winning battle, countless multitudes, of every age and race and rank, have come up out of great tribulation through simple, child- like trust in the unfailing goodness of God. II. From such a view of God's character, we may feel cer- tain that he will accomplish whatever he undertakes, and will accomplish it wisely and kindly. And this assurance would be quite enough if we were all strong and great. To be sure that all the various ways of the world are at last to result in a great issue which shall satisfy a being so infinitely right as God, must be all the satisfaction an archangel Could desire. But we are not archangels ; and the desire will creep into our troubled minds, to know if the result which is to crown all will also satisfy us. To be sure, it is evidence of our weakness that we ask such a question, and cannot calmly trust God till the end shall come. But the fact remains that we a7'e weak, and we do ask that question, " Shall we be satisfied at last?" And since the Gospel was not given only for the great and strong, the pros- perous and happy, therefore this longing question of the feeble and faltering finds gracious answer in the Gospel. It is not enough that we are told the Saviour goes forth "conquering and to conquer," that "he must reign till he hath put all enemies under, his feet," and other promises which give assurance to our faith in the might and victory of the Gospel ; for when our hearts are sore and drooping we sometimes feel as if the prospect of this general triumph did little to relieve our private heart-ache. Wise and pious men have felt so, and have sadly told their uncomforted grief. And yet nothing can surpass the plainness with which the promises of the Gospel speak to our hearts, the tenderness 82 THE COMFORT OF THE GOSPEL. 3 with which they foretell not only victory for justice and truth, but joy for every soul. " Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. . . . Let not your heart be troubled ; ye believe in God, believe also in me. . . . Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. ... Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. . . . God shall wipe away all tears from their faces." These words are not the announcement of a cold and forcible victory, but the assurances of a tender Friend that his love will prevail at last. And when they are coupled with many passages which foretell the universal extent of the Saviour's triumph, they answer every doubt and satisfy all desires. Whatever our present grief, we may confidently look for the day when it shall annoy no more. We may not be any more able to understand why we are afflicted, than if we had no hope. Nor need we weary ourselves with a fruitless effort to deter- mine exactly how we and all the rest are to be brought into peace and safety. It would be charming to know these things, but after all it is little important that we do not know them, if only the end be sure. We only need confidence in the doctor and assurance that we shall get well, to make us willingly sub- mit to treatment the most strange and mysterious. And so we only need confidence in God, with the strong conviction which his promise gives, to feel the comfort of an assured hope, and to bear bravely every trial. For after all, it is not merely an assurance of the distant end which God's promises give us ; but besides, the assurance that at the very moment of our sharpest pang, he is working for our welfare. It is not that we have unhappily fallen into difficulties out of which the divine help will just barely rescue us at last ; that would be something, but that is very far from all. In a world where God rules with steady power and an assured result, we may be certain that all he does or sanctions, tends to hasten or perfect the end he seeks. Therefore not only do the strength and pleasure and ample rewards of life tend directly to the salvation of the world, but no less surely the punishments of sin, the disappointments and trials, the burden of life and the shadow of death, all have their necessary part in preparing for us the joy that is to come, or in preparing us to receive it. Has any heart a sorrow so hopeless that it will not find comfort in such a faith ? III. But when we are in trouble we want a friend near us. And Jesus adds to all his other gifts, when he makes us feel how near God is to all his children. We may not merely know about God ; we may ourselves know him. We may not only feel sure that he is governing our lives ; we may per- ceive the very touch of his hand upon us. Learned men reason very finely about the existence of God, about the possibility of our knowing him, about the usefulness of praying to him. Their conclusions are sometimes very 83 4 THE COMFORT OF THE GOSPEL. interesting, when we have time and heart to attend to them ; but when sorrow comes we feel a" need of something more than this. If God cares for us we want him then to come and help us. And it is because the Gospel has helped men to feel God's presence, until they have grown sure of his help as they are of life, and have found him such a Comforter as all the world cannot yield, that no reasoning or opposition has ever yet shaken the faith on which the Gospel securely rests. To see this intimacy with God most plainly shown, we need only look at the life of Jesus. Every word, every act, all the customary bearing of his person and his life, show that he was never for a moment insensible of God's presence. And if we feel that this is what we need, (as indeed it is,) then we have only to set about a diligent imitation of the Saviour's life. The effort always to do right, the habitual thought of our dependence on God, and the constant habit of prayer, will, step by step, lead the heart into a close familiarity with that dear Father whose presence is always with us. Little by little the whole world opens new meanings to a mind thus striving to imitate the Lord. The regularity and inflexible order of the universe is but the visible sovereignty of God's royal will ; the moral rectitude of things, which slowly vindicates the right and defeats the wrong, grows to the mani- fest spectacle of God's judgment-seat, ruling all souls ; the un- failing combination of events, now simple and now wondrously complex, by which cause evolves effect, and to-day makes ready for to-morrow, become the tangible presence of unfailing wisdom, serene and boundless ; and the grace and harmony which flow through all his works, the beauty of the seasons, the charms of knowledge, the tender satisfaction of human love, become to this awakened soul the living expression of that love divine which embraces and solicits every heart, until the beatitude comes manifestly true, " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." If there is comfort in the faithful sympathy of a human friend beside us, who perhaps can give us no other help, how shall we fail to prize the presence of that infinite Friend who never leaves us, who can always succor, and whose ways seem dark only because the wisdom which works our welfare is greater than our own ? These suggestions are designed to point out where that comfort may be found which is promised to those who mourn. There will not cease to be sorrow and trial in the world, for all that can be said or believed. They are God's instruments, and they will long remain. But wherever amid the darkness of affliction a soul learns the divine lesson of humble and patient trust, and finds the unspeakable treasure of intimacy with God, there the promise is fulfilled, and they that mourn are comforted. J. s. D. Woman's Centenary Association. 84 No. 21. "LET US PRAY." THE impulse to prayer is natural, and therefore universal to mankind. All human beings are at times impelled to utter that divine language, which is to the soul what speech is to the body. But men direct their devotions to different ideals, and are inspired by different motives. Doubt, fear, love, and all the varied emotions to which the human soul is subject, impel worship, which is as often offered in ignorance as by enlightened worshippers. But our Saviour has taught us how to pray as we should, not ignorantly, but in enlightened faith. Christian prayer is true prayer, inspired by the right spirit, and directed to the true idea of God. All men are commanded to address him as " Our Father." Then God is the universal parent. Therefore no Christian has a right to address him by any other name than Father. And if he be the Father of all, not only does he love all, and care for all, but all human beings are members of his family, bound by mutual obligations and fraternal ties, so that every Christian who obeys and imitates his Saviour in his devotions, every time he prays announces the great doctrines of the universal fatherhood and the universal brotherhood. Faith in " Our Father" is the basis and essence of all piety and all morality ; of all man's duties to his Maker and to his brethren. Hence the Apostle in more explicit terms bids Christians offer petitions for the final welfare of all human souls. He says, (i Tim. ii. 1-6,) " I exhort, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men : ... for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all me?i to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ fesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. But when we address God as a universal Father, who will finally redeem all his children, we must believe that our prayer will be answered. The Apostle tells us, (i Tim. ii. 8,) "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." Rom xiv. 23, " Whatever is not of faith is sin." Can men as Christians pray for universal salvation, and preach, and work, and fight against it ? Can they ask for this great blessing, and even disbelieve it ? Can they refrain from beseeching God, daily, for it ? No. If they do not ask 85 1 2 LET US PRAY. for it in their prayers, or if they ask it without full faith that their prayer will be granted, or if they deny the final accom- plishment of the petition, or if they do not exert themselves to fulfil this sublime request, then they do not offer genuine Christian worship. We must not pray for the salvation of all, unless we believe our prayer will be answered. But we are commanded to pray in faith, nothing doubting, that all may be saved. Therefore, as the salvation of all is the supreme theme of Christian worship, it must be a final result. This is plainly taught in the language of Christ and the Apostles, and is amply included in the Divine model, in which all men are placed under perpetual obligation to pray daily : " Our Father, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, (the will that all come to the knowledge of the truth,) deliver us (the family) from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory." How can one ask all this in faith, unless he be a Universalist ? True Christian " faith is the substance of things hoped for," Gal. i. 31, the universal reign of holiness and happiness. Brethren and sisters in the Abrahamic faith ! This should be the constant burthen of our worship. In obedience to our Master and Exemplar, we should daily call on God to hasten his triumph over sin, by the redemption of universal human- ity. To accelerate the work we desire to see accomplished, we must fervently pray for it. God has so organized and en- dowed us that we cannot arouse our best energies, or en- courage our holiest purposes and resolves, or stir the deepest springs of being, setting all the soul's powers in resistless motion towards goodness and God, except as we employ the agency of prayer. And only as we obey our Saviour, and practise this ministration, can we expect to cause our church to grow, and our principles to triumph in the world. Archimedes said, " Give me a fulcrum for my lever, and I will move the earth." We find our fulcrum in our views of prayer, but the lever is powerless unless and until we employ it. If we keep continually in mind the duty of reinforcing our energies by worship, and by daily practice recuperate our strength, we shall, with our faith in the result we ask for, not only bless ourselves with foretastes of heaven, but the efforts we put forth in worship will accelerate the consummation. Only let the people called Universalists add to their faultless theory a corresponding fervor, and a devotional zeal to match its intellectual perfection, and no obduracy could withstand its appeals, and no obstacle could long hinder its triumphant advance. We need the quenchless zeal of John Knox, who in an ecstacy of devotion cried: "Lord, give me Scotland, or I die ! " We need to fill out the symmetry of our truths by a corresponding soul of devotion. Too often our faith is a cada- LET US PRAY. 3 ver, a statue, a form, without a soul. Only as we hold it in the spirit of the Lord's Prayer, do we appreciate it at its value. Our heads are right, only our hearts are deficient. We have all the light we need, but we require more warmth. Only let us give to our perfect doctrines the impetus of devotional fer- vor, and we should impel our principles into millions of wait- ing hearts. We cannot suppose that our prayers will alter the Divine character, or change the Divine plans or purposes, but we do know our prayers will change us for the better. We do not desire to change God, whom to change would be to mar, but we do desire to lift ourselves out of sloth and indifference, into spiritual life and activity. The final consummation in which we believe only becomes a blessing to us, as we labor with all our souls to hasten it, and we cannot labor at our best except as we pray for its advent. " Prayer is the Christian's vital breath ; The Christian's native air; His watchword at the gates of death; He enters heaven by prayer." We are not living at our best ; we are not fortifying ourselves against temptation ; we are not preparing against the day of trial and bereavement ; we are not growing into the stature of true Christian manhood and womanhood ; we are not setting forward the blessed faith we cherish, unless our souls hold con- tinual communion with our Heavenly Father. As Universalists we believe that every prayer we offer for human salvation will finally be answered. As Christians we have the example of Christ, and in the Lord's Prayer we have the model of true devotion. 1. We discard all obsequiousness in worship, and recognize the single and all-comprehending relation of Fatherhood, thus making our worship filial, and implying every possible paternal and fraternal duty and obligation. When we say "Our Father," we profess to love God supremely, and man universally. 2. We profess to hallow the sacred name of Father, by never ascribing any other than parental conduct to God. 3. We pray for the coming of the divine kingdom, and in proportion as we pray sincerely, we shall labor to hasten its coming. 4. We pray in faith that God's will in us, in others, in all mankind may be accomplished, as it only can be in the purifi- cation of all moral beings, the holiness of God's intelligent universe. 5. We recognize our dependence on God, as we ask for the bread that perishes, and the bread of heaven ; and we ask in confidence of him what he is more ready to bestow than we are to implore. 87 4 LET US PRAY. 6. Forgiveness of others is inculcated, as we forgive, and as he forgives us. 7. Deliverance from temptation and protection from evil is besought, while, 8. All things are confessed to be his : the rule in all hearts, power over all, and the glory of redeeming all, " of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things." The Lord's Prayer is the Universalist profession of faith. It includes all the essential doctrines of Christianity, and all the duties of the Christian life. We accept its teachings theoretically, we have full faith in the blessed doctrines it in- culcates. And when its grand ideas become vitalized in the heart's experience, and incarnated in daily life ; when those who accept "the faith once delivered to the saints" shall possess it with a prayerful fervor corresponding to its, glorious proportions, when the devotion of our people shall fill out the measure of the truths they hold, and thus the soul shall fully animate the body ; in one word, when the Lord's Prayer shall be the perpetual aspiration of all believers, the working plan of thought, feeling, life, then will Zion put on her beautiful garments, and shaking herself from the dust, shall fill the earth with salvation. The Lord hasten the glad and glorious day ! j. w. H. TO me, O Lord, thy meanest creature, kneeling, Conscious of weakness, ignorance, sin and shame, Give such a force of holy thought and feeling, That I may live to glorify thy name : That I may conquer base desire and passion, That I may rise o'er selfish thought and will, O'ercome the world's allurement, threat and fashion, Walk humbly, softly, leaning on thee still. For their sake, too, the faithful, wise and bold, Whose generous love has been my pride and stay, Those who have found in me some trace of gold, For their sake purify my lead and clay. And let not all the pains and toil be wasted, Spent on my youth by saints now gone to rest, Nor that deep sorrow my Redeemer tasted, When on his soul the guilt of man was pressed. Let all this goodness by my mind be seen, Let all this mercy on my heart be sealed: Lord, if thou wilt, thy power can make me clean ; O speak the word, — thy servant shall be healed. Woman's Centenary Association. 88 No. 22. FIVE THINGS. What is the Almighty ? I. God is Light, and in him is no darkness at all, I John i. 5 ; the Father of lights, from whom cometh down every good gift and every perfect gift. Jas. i. 17. God is a Spirit, and the Father of Spirits. John iv. 24; Heb. xii. 9. Our Father in heaven ; one God and Father of all. Matt. vi. 9 ; Eph. iv. 6. He is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 2 Cor. i. 3. God is Love, 1 John iv. 8 ; and the Father of glory. Eph. i. 1. II. The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King : He will save us. Isa. xxxiii. 22. All his laws and judgments are within the circumscription of a Father's purpose. Our God is a consuming fire. Heb. xii. 29. Gold, silver, precious stones. ... If any man's work abide, he shall receive a reward. . . . Wood, hay, stubble. ... If any man's works be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. 1 Cor. iii. 15. III. He is the living God, as contradistinguished from dead idols. Ps. lxxxiv. 2. He is the vital good, God over all, blessed forever. Rom. ix. 5. He is not awake in wrath, nor asleep in indifference, but ever-living, ever-operative in his harmonious relations and attributes. Goodness prompts, wisdom plans, power executes, and all are banded in the highest and noblest aims by infinite and everlasting love. Rev. iv. 11. IV. He is the true God, as contradistinguished from the changeable and partial lords many and gods many of false theories. 1 Cor. viii. 5. Christianity corrects even the narrow notions of Judaism, in declaring that God is no respecter of persons. Acts x. 34. A knowledge of the true God, as re- vealed through Christ, is eternal life. John xvii. 3. He is the King eternal, immortal, invisible, — the only wise God, — to whom be honor and glory forever and ever. 1 Tim. i. 17. V. He is the Saviour of all, especially of believers, 1 Tim. iv. 10. If the declaration were that the living God is the Saviour of those only who believe, the sense would be restricted ; but believers are specially saved, which confirms the testimony that he is the Saviour of all, in his final purpose. Gal. vi. 10; 1 Tim. v. 17. God hath concluded all in unbelief, that he might have mercy on all. For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things, to whom be glory forever. Rom. xi. 89 1 2 FIVE THINGS. What think ye of Christ ? I. He is the bright morning star, Rev. xxii. 16, and the Sun of Righteousness, Mai. iv. 2. He is the Mediator between God and men, 1 Tim. ii. 5, himself being the Son of God, ac- cording to the spirit, and the Son of Man according to the flesh. The Divinity sanctified the Humanity, and he was one with the Father in spirit and in purpose. John x. 30. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. 2 Cor. v. 19. To this end he was the Mediator of a better covenant than the law, because established in better promises. Heb. viii. 6. II. He is the Image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature. Col. i. 15. We may learn the character of God by studying the Life of the Redeemer. His miracles were of mercy — not of cruelty. His love could not be quenched by many waters. He is the same to-day, yesterday and for- ever. Heb. xiii. 8. Those for whom the image lived and died, the invisible God will certainly save and sanctify. III. He is the Witness of God. He came into the world to bear witness unto the truth. John xviii. 37. He is the faith- ful Witness, Rev. i. 5, and therefore the true light ; for whatso- ever doth make manifest is light. Eph. v. 13. Christ created no truth, but bore witness to the truth. He counter-worked death, and brought life and immortality to light. 2 Tim. i. 10. IV. He is the Lord of all, Acts x. 36, both of the dead and the living. Rom. xiv. 9. This universal lordship is — 1st. By Gift. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hands. John iii. 35. 2d. By Redemption. He gave him- self a ransom for all — a testimony in due time. 1 Tim. ii. 6. 3d. By Coronation. He was crowned with the glory and honor of tasting death for every man. Heb. ii. 9. 4th. By Inheri- tance. He is heir of all things. Heb. i. 2. V. He is the Saviour of the world, 1 John iv. 14, witnessed in many figures and symbols. He was the Lamb, without blemish or spot, appointed to take away the sin of the world. 1 Pet. i. 19 ; John i. 29. He is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. Mai. iii. 2. The mission of Christ shall be effectual, and '-he devil and all his works shall be destroyed. Heb. ii. 14; 1 John iii. 8. What God cannot do. I. The declaration, With God all things are possible, Matt, xix. 26, may, without disparagement, be received with qualifi- cation. For we read that God cannot lie, and that it is impos- sible for him to lie. Titus i. 2 ; Heb. vi. 18. God is not a man that he should lie, or the son of man, that he should repent. Numb, xxiii. 19. All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do, and since he cannot be ignorant of anything, or violate his word, he cannot be weak, unjust, or unmerciful. 90 FIVE THINGS. 3 II. God cannot deny himself. 2 Tim. ii. 13. In case we deny him, by ingratitude or disobedience, there is a sense in which he may deny its, but he cannot so deny us as to deny himself. Final, permanent evil is impossible under the government of an infinitely just and merciful God. His ear is ever open to the pleadings or needs of lost or perishing souls. III. God cannot be tempted of evil. Jas. i. 13. He is purely a spiritual being. We are his offspring in spirit — a divine genos, or genus, Acts xvii. 28, — but we are also partakers of flesh and blood. Heb. ii. 14-17. Christ also himself likewise took part of the same, being made like unto his brethren, and was tempted in all points like as we are tempted, yet without sin. Heb. iv. 15. God cannot even be tempted. IV. Consequently, he cannot sin. This is true of God, abso- lutely, and is affirmed of him who is born of God. 1 John iii. 9. The previous form of expression, namely, that such an one doth not commit sin, better conforms to the fact declared of Christ that he did no sin. 1 Pet. ii. 22. Yet it is true, in the largest sense, that a soul cannot sin when influenced by the spirit of God. He cannot sin. V. He cannot save man in sin. Sin is linked with condem- nation in the relation of cause and effect. Gospel salvation is deliverance, not directly from punishment, but from sin itself, and from sinful desires. Acts iii. 26 ; Titus ii. 14. Hence we always associate purity and blessedness in the issue of the Kingdom of Christ. Without holiness no man can see the Lord. Heb. xii. 14. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matt. v. 8. What God will not do. I. He will not contend forever, nor be always wroth, for the spirit should fail before him and the souls he has made. Isa. lvii. 16. Persons who hold that he will be always wroth, should at least assign as good a reason why he will as he has given why he will not. For a small moment have I forsaken thee. ... In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a mo- ment. . . . My kindness shall not depart from thee ; neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, who hath mercy on thee. Isa. liv. 7-10. II. He will not utterly take from us his loving-kindness, not- withstanding his visitations for wrong. Ps. lxxxix. 33. Justice and mercy are not opposite qualities in him, but kindred attri- butes, working out his plans of ultimate universal harmony. Ps. lxii. 12. A just God and a Saviour. . . . Unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear ; surely shall say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Isa. xlv. III. He will not cast off for ever. Lam. iii. 31-33. The con- tingent declaration to Solomon, " If thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever," 1 Chron. xxviii. 9, relates to him as a king, (as Saul had previously been rejected, 1 Sam. xv. 26,) 9i 4 FIVE THINGS. and not to Solomon as an individual. God's judgments may even destroy the material organism ; but the spirit, of which only is he the Father, he will not cast off forever. IV. He will not repent. Numb, xxiii. 19; Jer. iv. 28. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance, Rom. xi. 29 ; that is, without change in him. One dispensation may super- sede another, but the ultimate purpose is the same continu- ously. His immutability is the safety of sinners. I am the Lord ; I change not ; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not con- sumed. Mai. hi. 6. V. He will not give his glory to another. Isa. xlii. 8. Sal- vation is of God only, and he will not transfer his glory. It is enough that man enjoys its blessings. Jesus was crowned with special glory and honor, as the anointed Saviour of the race ; but the final universal confession that he is Lord, is to be to the glory of God the Father. Phil. ii. 11, 12. What God will do. I. He will render to every man according to his deeds. Rom. ii. 6. 1. He will render : there is no if in the case. 2. To every man : there is no exception. 3. According to his deeds, whether good or evil, and not simply according to his professions or his faith. 4. According to his deeds — that is, his own deeds — not the deeds of another. 5. According to his deeds. II. He will do all his pleasure, and his counsel shall stand. Isa. xlvi. 10. He has no pleasure in iniquity, and none in misery of any sort. He sent his Son on a mission of salvation, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Isa. liii. 10. III. He will have all men to be saved, both preceptively and absolutely — not by continuing in error, but by coming to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Tim. ii. 4. Salvation is not a thing of outward force, but of inward conviction and persuasion. It is completed, in the grandest sense, when our will is in har- mony with the will of God. IV. He will bring the blind by a way they know not. He will make darkness light before them, and will not forsake them. Isa. xlii. 16. He will write his law in every mind and heart. He will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities he will remember no more. Heb. viii. 10-13. V. He will swallow up death in victory, and wipe away tears from off all faces. Isa. xxv. 8. O glorious era ! Death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed. Hades shall be despoiled of its victory over men, 1 Cor. xv. 26, 55, and tears and sorrow shall be known no more. A. c. T. Womau's Centenary Association. 92 No. 23. HE DOETH ALL THINGS WELL. MANY of God's dealings toward men, it is often claimed, cannot be explained in accordance with human notions of what is kind and good. If God is a purely benevolent being, we are asked, why does he permit the ravages of cholera and other dreadful diseases ? Why did he allow sin to enter the world to spoil men's happiness ? Why does he allow one set of birds and animals to kill and live upon the life-blood of another set ? Why does he allow the winter's cold to freeze the poor and make the landscape desolate ? Why does he not let trees bear fruit all the year round, so that none would starve ? Why is not the world we live in like the Garden of Eden ? Why does he permit suffering of any kind whatever ? These questions are frequently asked to prove the assertion that if God permits suffering here he can, with equal con- sistency, permit endless suffering hereafter. "Some men," it has been observed, "have invented a rose-colored theory to the contrary ; but, in the face of all these evidences of the wrath of God towards a fallen world, it is clear that Universal- ism is merely sentimentalism." All these test cases have been squarely met and consistently answered by Universalists. In the first place, had there been no cholera or other con- tagious diseases, there would have been no sanitary provisions to avert such calamities — dead carcasses would be allowed to rot in the streets, foul odors would fill the air, and our cities might possibly become extremely filthy. These diseases are the penalties of violated laws of health. They had their birth in filth and sloth; and it is an evidence of goodness on the part of God, that, unlike some sentimentalists, he has the firm- ness to insist upon obedience to the laws he has made for the benefit of his children. When we consider that man is an immortal creature, with eternity before him, it would appear probable that sin was allowed to enter the world, to be, on the whole and in the long run, a blessing in disguise. God wanted to throw men upon their own resources, to make characters out of them. How could he accomplish this except by making them free moral agents, to be really tried and tempted ? To sin is to offend God, and is never to be excused. God wants men to overcome all temptations, and is displeased with those who have not principle enough to try to master their propensities. 9 93 I 2 HE DOETH ALL THINGS WELL. But there is an admirable wisdom displayed by the Creator in placing man in a worse condition, that he might find his happiness in working his way into a better. Man finds his purest happiness, not in the indolent enjoyment of unearned blessings, but in overcoming obstacles, in surmounting difficul- ties ; and every change for the better, every triumph over difficulty, is a direct source of happiness. Therefore, had God at the outset created man the very highest sort of an intelli- gence, instead of making him an ignorant creature, with every- thing to win, everything to learn, and with temptations to resist and overcome, he would not have displayed half the benevo- lence and thoughtful planning that led our Heavenly Father to make man " subject to vanity," and yet capable of reforma- tion, progress, and development. Yet our argument would fall to the ground if sin and its consequences are to be perpetual. There would be no mercy, kindness, wisdom, nor careful forethought displayed, but in their stead the most stupendous blundering, if this state cf affairs will defeat God's design to bless men — if it will require any of the human race to be put into an endless hell.* If Universalism be not true, the vexed problem of evil will remain unsolved forever. A future state of universal happi- ness and obedience to rational laws is necessary to vindicate the character of God, who is described in the beautiful lan- guage of the catechism as "A spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." How much more rational to believe that God, with thoughtfulness and foresight, with that perfec- tion of carefulness, that exquisiteness of skill (the evidences of which are stamped upon every created thing), has made it as certain as the fulfilment of prophecy, that eventually all men will outgrow the desire to sin. Let us turn abruptly to another test case. Animals that live upon the life-blood of another species, spring from a hiding- place upon their prey with the rapidity of lightning. They do not worry and toy with their game. It is only the pampered, well-fed house-cat that plays with the mouse before killing it. The wild cat of nature kills in an instant. Nature seems to have carefully guarded against a cruel, lingering death of pain. The lion is furnished with a powerful claw, that brings instant unconsciousness. A mouse or a hawk, unless it be a mother with young, is not missed any more by its fellows than a tree is missed by a forest. Their young, whose eyes are as yet * See T. Southwood Smith's Illustrations of the Divine Government : " The great design of the Deity is to bring all his intelligent offspring to a state of purity and happiness. . . . This doctrine reconciles every difficulty and throws a glorious and cheering light on all divine dispen- sations. If it be true, everything was planned and is guided by benevo- lence, and everything will terminate in ever-increasing felicity to all." . . . See also chapter first of Thayer's Theology of Universalism. 94 HE DOETH ALL THINGS WELL. 3 unopened, have not consciousness enough to make a death by starvation reflect anything like cruelty on God's part. Wisdom is displayed even in this arrangement. These animals, which serve as food, reproduce their species so fast that, unless they were thinned out, they would overrun the earth, produce famine, and thus bring upon themselves a lingering death of starvation. Mere animal life is little higher in the scale than the life of plants and trees. They are dis- tinguished from these by a capability of feeling pain, and should be killed in an instant. It is, therefore, not an evidence of cruelty that the Creator allows one set of animals to feed upon the life-blood of another set; it is no more cruel to kill a sheep for food than to chop down a tree, provided death, 01 at least unconsciousness, is brought about at once. There was wisdom even in creating winter, which makes the landscape bare and freezes the poor. If there were no winter, and if the earth and trees brought forth food continu- ally, the landscape would never be bleak, nor would the poor starve. But, then, who would work for a living? Men would become indolent, and time would hang most heavily upon their hands. Winter throws them upon their own resources. It develops them by compelling them to provide for its ap- proach. It is the mother of all noble achievements. Trade, railroads, books, science, and civilization are her offspring. Winter compels men to weave garments, to build homes, and to store up food. If there is anything dear to us in the thought of home, if home is a thing to be loved, it is because God has created the cold and cheerless winter. If the human race were living in the Garden of Eden, and summer were perpetual, and if men could lie down in the forests with no damp dews, spiders, mosquitoes, or poisonous reptiles to annoy them, then there would be no such endearing thing as home. Every night children would lie around loose in the woods, and men would go to sleep where they pleased. There would be no necessity for houses ; there would be nothing to draw families around a common fireside. The higher civilization, enterprise, taste, and skill of the inhabitants of cold countries, compared with those of hot climates, is sharply marked. Thus, time after time, have all these test cases been critically analyzed, and God's pure and infinite benevolence been vin- dicated. Time after time have Universalists amply proved that there is nothing unfatherly about his nature. How much more reasonable to believe that when God created winter it was really one of the kindest things he could do, than to be- lieve God designed that Adam should remain spotlessly inno- cent in a garden where summer was perpetual, with nothing to do, with no difficulties to overcome, and no triumphs to gain, than that the cold north winds are among the evidences that man is under God's dreadful wrath and curse. But turning from the phases of creation that many find it difficult to understand, we find abounding evidences that 4 HE DOETH ALL THINGS WELL. eloquently avow the Father's thoughtful care. Every year a bounteous harvest gives man his food ; and even the healing of a scar has a lesson of love to teach us. While day unto day uttereth speech, proclaiming God's love, night after night the heavens are kindled with a glorious vision of his power. A myriad of worlds, many larger than our own, sparkle like diamonds as they swim unsupported through space ; and I have often thought that one of the reasons why these stars, though many millions of miles away, were brought within the range of our human eyesight, was to furnish us with a per- petual evidence that our Father in heaven is as mighty as he is good. With him, who formed the worlds that inhabit space, nothing is impossible. Science, with a voice of marvellous melody, joins the song of universal nature, to sing that "God is love." Every day she transforms supposed curses into blessings. She brings out of poisons the most useful medicines and most brilliant colors. She boldly grasps cases which men once supposed revealed a malignant phase of God's character, and with her wonderful discoveries, each one worthy to be heralded with a rapturous Te Deum, proves them to be blessings in disguise. The very fire-damp, that was once the dread of the miner, now lights our cities ; and if there are discords that we cannot as yet understand, shall we lose our confidence in God when the great voice of nature and the whole sweep of revelation alike proclaim that he is love, and that he deals affectionately and wisely with the children of his care ? The God of nature created men for the sole purpose of rendering their whole existence enjoyable. Certainly he did not from all eternity look into the far distant future of any individual soul, and create it with the perfect knowledge that it would with positive certainty gravitate toward hell. The Father of all men, of whom we read in the Bible, would have left uncreated any soul that he could not save. When, every day, I see evidences of exquisite perfection stamped on each inferior part of creation, I have my confidence strengthened in the belief that God had not broken down when he came to make the master-piece, the human mind. If man at present is by no means perfect, it is not because there is any mistake about God's plan, or because he has created something he cannot control. It was because he designed to do all things well that he made men relatively imperfect, that they might develop into a noble perfection ; and he who stands at the helm of the universe will remain faithful at his post, guiding the frail bark of our humanity through many storms, until it is at last safely anchored in a haven of rest. g. r. a. Woman's Centenary Association. 96 No. 24. More Questions Without Answers. "We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting. To thee all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein. To thee, cherubim and seraphim continually do cry, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth ! Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of