kind and arbitrary manner. She was an apostle, speaking under the influinformed of her husband's pleasure, and ence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. his guests were seated in another room. (We repeat it:) "Wives, submit yourAll that she asked of him was to leave selves unto your own husbands as unto a lighted candle with her, that she the Lord." The wife, therefore, who might dress herself by it. She soon does not thus submit, disobeys the was up and prepared the supper, and Lord." But this injunction is not an served it up to them; and as kindly arbitrary one, nor unreasonable, nor as by the husband had been promised. unjust. It results necessarily from the The money was then paid over to him, marriage relation. Hence, the apostle and the guests departed. The husband proceeds to enforce it by adding: "For now sat down, and the wife did up her the husband is the head of the wife, work. As she was about preparing even as Christ is the head of the again for bed, he addressed her thus :- church; and he is the Saviour of the "How is it that you can be so kind, body. Therefore," he continues, "as affectionate, and obedient always to me, the church is subject unto Christ, so let while I treat you so badly?" She an- the wives be to their own husbands in every swered: "I am a Christian, and my re-thing" (Eph. v. 22-24.) ligion requires me to love, honor, and obey you. Besides," she added, "this life is short, and I look for my good things in another world. As I have no reason to hope that you will share with me in them, I feel it to be my duty not to cross you in anything, and contribute all that I can to your happiness here." This reply proved a dagger to his soul. It was as the heaping of coals of fire upon his head. All his misconduct now arose like a mountain before him. He felt himself a wretched, lost, undone sinner. He cried for mercy, and asked his wife to pray for him. She kneeled down and prayed for him then; his convictions increased, and he found no peace till he found it in an application of that blood which cleanseth from all sins. He humbled himself before God. He repented and forsook his evil ways, and found mercy. Here, the unbelieving husband was sanctified by the wife. He was won by her chaste conversation, coupled with fear, because she was subject to him. "But God hath called us to peace," says the apostle, and then adds: "For what knowest thou, O wife! whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or what knowest thou, O man! whether thou shalt save thy wife? But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches" (1 Cor. vii. 16-17.) I have said that it is the duty of the wife "to obey her husband in every thing that she is to submit to him as to the Lord." Is this my saying simply? Is it only my inference, deduction my opinion? Not so. It is the plain, unequivocal, authoritative injunction of It matters not," I have said above, "if some of the husband's requisitions appear to be arbitrary and unreasonable." I now add: And they may really be so. So they were in the Brockport case. No one can justify that husband, but every one that wife. Had she not obeyed his arbitrary and unreasonable commands as well as others, not only would her own lot have been far more unhappy than it was, but she would not have saved her husband. But suppose a husband commands his wife to violate some known command of God-to be accessory with him in committing theft, robbery, or murder? Or suppose he forbids her making the Christian profession by being baptized? I answer: Whenever and wherever the laws of man conflict with the law of God, we should obey God rather than man. To commit theft, robbery, or murder, would ever be sin, because prohibited by heaven, and no command of a husband enforcing it could make it otherwise. And the confession of Christ before the world, is ever a duty; for our Lord has said, "Whosoever denieth me before men, him will I deny before my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. x.-33.) Again: "And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life shall find it" (Matt. x. 38-39.) Were a believing wife to ask my advice on the subject of making a public profession of religion, and, at the same time, inform me that she had not named it to her husband, and had every reason to believe that he would oppose her in it; or, were a minor son or daughter to ask it, saying, "I believe my father or my mother, if consulted, would forbid it," I would say, "confer not with flesh and blood, but obey God. And it is better to obey him, without disobeying a husband or a parent, than to do it against their commands." But suppose that the husband, in forbidding his wife to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, threatens her with abandonment as the consequence? We have the answer of an Apostle directly in point: "But," says he, "if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not in bondage in such cases.' Whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter, husband or wife, more than Christ, is not worthy of him; and if any of us seek to save his life, by disobeying him, he shall lose it." We are commanded by the Lord to obey civil rulers, and to submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. To 66 ordinance" here, as every 'every thing" which a husband may 66 to enjoin upon a wife, there is the exception of whatever is forbidden by God I know of no other. Would we be happy, therefore—(I now address myself to all)-we must give our hearts and our whole persons to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must become Christians-we must be married to Him, and become His bride. Then must we obey Him in all things whatsoever He has commanded. Then would we, as husbands and as wives, be happy, the short life we are to live in the flesh, (but especially wives, for such, in the order of heaven, are here first addressed; and what is enjoined on them, obedience, is ever practicable, and their compliance stands in the important relation of cause to the continued, complacent love of their husbands,) let us study, let us understand and heed the marriage relation— And each fulfil our part, CHRISTIAN v. MODERN SOCIETY. There are 6000 criminals in the city of New York. Three-fourths of these criminals are actually foreign Roman Catholics. There are upwards of 7000 liquor sellers: of these 5597 are fo these figures are upon despotic governments, where the priests debase, poison, and tyrannize over the ignorant minds of the masses, and despots rule over their bodies! Is there no mental or bodily salvation in all this? Surely abolitionism is needed in these governments. A TRULY Christian society is favorable to the development of principles which are in harmony with the truths of divine revelation. Temperance and peace are peculiarly grateful to such a community. Its members aim to prac-reigners. What an awful comment tice whatsoever things are venerable, just, pure, benevolent, and of good fame. Paul exhorts Christians to embody these principles in their lives, adding with marked emphasis, " and the God of peace will be with you." Let every disciple of Christ attentively consider and practice the principles thus inculcated, and society would speedily assume a very different character to that which at present attaches to it. We have been led into this train of thought by a perusal of an article which appears in the Christian Evangelist for June, 1854, on the social character of New York. A more appalling picture of society could scarcely be drawn. But we will quote the writer's own words. Enclosed I send you the report of the Young Men's Christian Association. These infidel, insolent, and stall-fed priests, first deprave these poor sheep of all their hard, honest earnings, and then ship them to America to control our elections, and overturn our institutions. What a terrible comment these figures are upon the holy catholic church! These thousands of foreigners are members of the holy catholic church. There are more criminals, members of this diabolical church, sent to the state prison of New York, than were ever sent from the Baptist denomination a since the settlement of America in the whole United States. There are greater number of the members of this church sent from St. Louis to the Penitentiary at Jefferson City, than from all the Protestant parties in the State of Missouri every year! Yet this nefarious mystery of sin must be palmed off upon the credulity of mankind for Christianity. Our Saviour said, the tree is known by its fruits-its results. Its fruits-crimes of every kind, and of the deepest hue, in great abundance. Can that be a good tree, which is laden with all sorts of crimes in great profusion? Can holiness produce unholiness, infamy, and crimes? What an unblushing and barefaced falsehood, to call that church holy, which is the mother of abominations! What a lesson do these figures teach the cities and states of the Union upon liquor license and liquor selling. What a fruitful source of crime and misery is liquor drinking and liquor vending! What a noble band the young men connected with the Association are! Will not the young men in all great cities institute similar societies for the same purpose, viz. to furnish statistics for publication. What lessons do the ancient cities teach modern cities! What has been the fate of the once most famous cities in the ancient world for trade and commerce? Trade is a fluctuating thing. It passed from Tyre to Alexandria, from Alexandria to Venice, from Venice to Antwerp, and from Antwerp to Amsterdam and London the English rivaling the Dutch as the French are rivaling both. Trade is a plant of tender growth, and it requires sun, soil, and fine seasons to make it thrive and flourish. It will not grow like the palm tree, which, with the more weight and pressure, rises the higher. Liberty is a friend to trade, as trade is to liberty. But the greatest enemy to both is licentiousness, which tramples upon all law and lawful authority, encourages riots and tumults, promotes drunkenness and debauchery, sticks at nothing to supply its extravagance, practices every art of illicit gain, ruins credit, ruins trade, and will, in the end, ruin liberty itself. Neither kingdoms nor commonwealths, neither public companies nor private persons, can long carry on a beneficial, flourishing trade, without virtue and what virtue teaches-sobriety, a habit of self government, industry, frugality, modesty, honesty, justice, punctuality, humanity, the love of God and man, and the worship of God. The ancient Jewish prophets teach us how the ancient cities lost their trade; and the like causes will always produce the like results. Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth? The Lord of Hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. Thus says the Lord God, "O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas-thy builders have perfected thy beauty. By the multitude of thy merchandize they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned; therefore will I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth from the midst of thee fire, and it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people, shall be astonished at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more" (Isaiah xxiii. 8-8; Ezekiel xxvii. 3-4, xxviii. 5-10.) Who does not know that Rome gave not merely laws to that gigantic empire, but that Rome was the empire; so, when by corruption, she sank under the weight of her own sins, the empire fell as if a shock of palsy had smitten every limb and fibre? Who does not know that in the great population of France, Paris is not only the keystone of the kingdom, but that Paris is France, and the nation rushes into republicanism or the Reign of Terror, or leaps into despotism, just as that city says? It is the mighty heart of that mighty nation, and throb as it may, it sends its own pulsations through all parts of the kingdom and of the world. The government is there-the wealth is there -and the power concentrated there sends forth its decisions loud as mighty thunderings, and terrible as the voice of many waters. What can prevent the great cities from becoming awful charnel houses except the Bible, and the religion of the Bible? When great cities, in modern times, throw off the authority of the Bible, the angel of woe does not now come as he came to Sodom, with the phial of wrath in his hand; not as he paused over Babylon, with the millstone in his hand; not as he stood in Jerusalem, waving the drawn sword; not in the shock of war, as he hurled Nineveh from her old foundations, and trampled Jerusalem under foot; but he comes now unseen, and cuts the cords which bind men to conscience; and the city is cursed by being only a wide gate-way into perdition. JACOB CREATH. THE "HARBINGER" AND MATERIALISM. MR. EDITOR,--Having received during the last three years edification and consolation from the pages of the Harbinger, I feel it to be my duty to tender my sincere thanks to yourself and the brethren who have kindly supplied suitable articles for such a periodical. At the same time permit me to express my ardent desire for its dissemination, especially amongst the sick and afflicted. Unlike the various sects around us, who take every opportunity of promulgating their tracts and periodicals far and wide, we appear to be content to stand idly by and look on. The Harbinger should certainly be spread amongst the people of the various denominations in all parts of our habitable globe. It has been said by some of the brethren, the people will not receive it, and if you attempt to press it upon them they will soon look upon you with a jaundiced eye and eject you from their society, True it is, the prudence of the wise carried too far but heightens the absurdity of the foolish, and thus unhap. pily throws additional discredit upon the path of research and reformation. But although we may have snares, temptations, and obstacles besetting the path of reform, it is our duty to struggle onward; not forgetting that it is the Master's will, that whilst his people are doing good, or endeavoring so to do, they shall be building themselves up in spiritual vigor and mental power. It cannot be denied that the cause of reform in religion, politics, and social economy has suffered, and not undeservedly, from the faults and vagaries of those who have in all ages of the world offered themselves as reformers. This being a fact affirmed in all ages of the world's history, we who are now standing out before the world as reformers, seeing how thorny and difficult this path has always been, must be wakeful, that we do not suffer shipwreck in this voice of many waters, which most assuredly is likely, if we continue to stand idly by while the largest portion of men are estranged from our Master, and while strife, oppression, bloodshed, and evil rule throughout the world. Christians should study every problem of humanity which is displayed before them, and do what they can for multitudes both near and at a distance. It should be true, and known to be true, that they are incessantly occupied in studying the temporal and eternal interests of men; that they are ready to go forward upon every occasion and every moment when relief can be afforded, sorrow soothed, suffering alleviated— when any reform can be effected with advantage in the mode of accomplishing it, and permanent results for the end. May we, then, be up and doing. It should be known and felt by the masses of degraded and suffering men, that we Christians seize every opportunity of laboring for their good. These few remarks have been called forth by the apathy evincible in the congregations of the Reformation. I would suggest, then, the necessity for the spread of the Harbinger; also, a plan whereby I think it might be accomplished so as to be conducive to the glory of our Heavenly Father and our neighbors' eternal welfare. Before doing so, I have somewhat to say, in all charity, respecting Brother Black's communications and your strictures thereon. In the last number, which I have now before me, at page 248, I find some singular remarkssuch remarks, methinks, would certainly retard the progress of the Harbinger. It would appear, my brother, you have fallen into an error in using such language as is contained in your Note. It has a testy appearance. And again, the interdiction, "Any further communications on materialism cannot appear!" I cannot see (and I think I have read carefully) why you should call them materialist communications. This I see, our Brother Black has wisely pursued the inductive method. He has evidently exercised first the perceptive and then the reasoning powers, and a popular author helps us here, telling us, "Since philosophers have agreed to exercise first the perceptive and then the reasoning powers-- first to collect facts, then and thence to frame theories --there has been a harmony in their coöperation, and a fruitful harvest resulting from their labors, both comparatively unknown to the persons and times of the sophists and schoolmen engaged in rearing specious structures on the basis of imagined data." Christianity was presented to the world in the shape of facts-it was a grand exhibition of the inductive method of philosophy. In pursuing the inductive method the Christian no longer inquires what the facts should be, but what they are; he collects them by diligence and observation, and employs facts as the only proper basis of his generalizations. If any facts, however strange, be reported by credible witnesses, he endeavors to place himself in a situation to observe them. If this be impracticable, he will not array his preconceived notions against unexceptionable testimony. Such has been the course pursued by Bacon, and by the disciples of our Master. These appealed to facts as the basis of belief, and warned their brethren against the prevalent "philosophy" which was far from being inductive. "The Greeks sought after wisdom" -after plausible hypotheses, therefore rejected the facts, and the true wisdom. The Sophists, the self-styled philosophers, held the same position as many in our day who array a priori argument, barely plausible, against facts well attested. Brother Black appeals to the candid reader, inquiring if he is not, in quoting certain passages from the writings of the great Apostles, examining fundamental portions? I, for one, must certainly reply in the affirmative, and to prevent him from continuing his contributions, would appear to be the ear saying to the eye, I have no need of you. The various sects are kept in slavery and awe by such a practice. So soon as they observe a man adventuring on new ground or unused investigations, they look upon him as in the path of danger, if not in the road to destruction. Thus is born a stern and immovable conservatism, which reverences prudence more than TRUTH, which fears error more than it loves wisdom. Into this error we may fall; yea, Ephraim's position may be ours, who, although taught by the Almighty to go, became like a silly dove. It is difficult to detect all the errors, fallacies, and temptations which have lain in the path of Reformers, and on which some of the most beautiful and richlyladen vessels ever freighted with human interests have suffered wreck and destruction. How needful, then, that we take heed unto our ways, lest in an unguarded moment we be found to build again the things which we destroyed. Let our Brother John Black be permitted to speak out; let us have the benefit of his unwearied labors, and judge for ourselves. We have much to learn, and mayhap we may learn from him what we should not from Brother Campbell, and from Brother Campbell what we should not from Brother Black. I remember when I joined the congregation of Christ, the scorn depicted on the features of some who had been friends while they stoutly proclaimed me a Campbellite, which I denied; for, at that time, I knew nothing of either Brother Campbell or his writings. Since which I am happy to confess, my mind has been much improved, and many important portions of the Scriptures made plain, by reading Brother Campbell's works, for which I am truly thankful to him. If, however, Brother Black's communications must give way because of Brother Campbell's essay on the important words LIFE and DEATH, I have no hesitation in saying, we shall continue to be named Campbellites by many to whom we may be desirous of introducing this valuable monthly. In our next, the Lord willing, I will proceed with a plan for its dissemination. REMARKS BY THE EDITOR. Brother Davison is very kind and liberal in his expression of good wishes for the circulation of the Harbinger, and we feel much obliged to him for communicating his sympathy in such refreshing language. A practical exemplification of a similar spirit by all the brethren would, under existing circumstances, be very gratifying to us, and greatly advantageous to others. An extended circulation of the Harbinger certainly ought to be obtained. It is matter of deep regret, that the invaluable Essays which appear from month to month in its pages, should be read by comparatively so few of the community. But the truth must be spoken |