spared to conduct it with the ability and fairness which at present are so conspicuous. I can do very little to increase its circulation, but any little that I can do, will be done with pleasure.

A Baptist minister who finds himself too straitened to subscribe, (to whom, however, a friend enables us to send it) writes,

I sincerely wish I were able, not only to pay for my own subscription, but also for several more to do missionary work among those who have not become acquainted with your magazine. I heartily sympathize with you in your work and in the trials it brings. But in no other way can a reform, such as you have begun, succeed.

I was pleased to read in the National Baptist's notice of your book words to this effect, "That while unconvinced of the truth of your theory, yet it is written in so reverent a spirit that it ought to be welcomed as a contribution to the discussion of this important and growing question." Coming from a theological professor such words are significant and encouraging. I hope that you may be sustained by divine power in your noble work.

A Presbyterian minister writes from the West,

I earnestly hope the Magazine will be continued. The discouraging circumstances of its publication do not prove that the work is not favored of the Lord. The Reformation itself would have been condemned by this test. Truth must always make its way in the midst of difficulties. I truly like the magazine, and earnestly await its arrival every month.

Another minister of the same faith says:

I hope and pray that you may not be compelled to suspend the publication of your magazine. I wish I were able to promise substantial aid.

If you have not sent Spurgeon a copy of your book, I should very much like to have you do so. I have read many of his sermons with interest and profit, and admire his faithful preaching of the gospel. Sometimes in his preaching of hell in the old

way, I think there is a plainly perceptible protest of his heart against it. I wish he could see the way of preaching this doctrine indicated in your October number, page 304. His system would be more congenial to his benevolent Christian spirit, if he should see his way clear to adopt your doctrine of a redemptive resurrection, as it does not call for any swerving from the essential doctrines of the deity of Christ and redemption only through his blood.

It seems to me that you have not so much given a new interpretation to the Scriptures, as you have called attention to that large class of neglected passages which seem plainly to contain these teachings when pointed out.

An intelligent lady, the widow of an eminent Episcopal clergyman, writes:

I hope you may not feel obliged to give up the magazine. "WORDS OF RECONCILIATION are too precious now to be unspoken, and though all Christians reading your Words" may not agree with all of them, the spirit and drift of them and the temper in which they are voiced must heartily unite all who love the things that make for peace and catholicity. It would seem also to be especially a matter of regret, that after all you have ventured for the sake of free discussion, you should not, now that you are quite untrammelled, be heard more widely than before.

The above letter contains also an offer of aid. A generous subscription also accompanies the following:

While I feel the need of such instruction to be very great, I have not the opportunity of forming a correct judgment of its For myself I should deeply regret the loss of your magazine, and earnestly hope its discontinuance may not be found a necessary step.

success.

A physician also writes from Central New York.

more.

I was glad to hear that you had some encouraging responses from your subscribers. I hope ere this you have received many If necessary I will double the amount promised in my former letter. I am very anxious that you be sustained in this work, and desire to do my part.

A Christian brother writes from Brooklyn.

Dear Brother: My heart is with your testimony for God and his truth. May He bless you abundantly in your noble work. I am longing to see all things reconciled to Him: Satan and his work destroyed, his chief work which is death, that climax of evil to which all evil tends. I know that our God hates death and because He so abhors it, He is going to destroy it; making a final end of it. "O death I will be thy plagues, O grave, I will be thy destruction, repentance (change of mind) will be hid from mine eyes." For this purpose was the Son of God manifest, and He through death will destroy him that hath the power of death that is the devil. Thank God for this good news! Now we see not all things put under Him, but we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor, after he tasted death for every man, thank His holy name. I thank our God he has counted you worthy to bear witness for his Name's sake. May the spirit of glory and of God rest upon you and all that are yours. From your brother in the blessed hope.

An old friend and Presbyterian elder writes:

I have never seen your views satisfactorily refuted by any arguments yet brought forth, and yet I hesitate to avow them too strongly, although appealing so strongly to heart, sense and reason, lest I might make a mistake. I pray God may enlighten you more and more.

I confess I do not know what to do with the Old Testament prophecies when read in the light of our standards. I can't help feeling that they give an awfully distorted view of the character of God. From the standpoint of redemptive resurrection the whole Bible, Old as well as New, glows with a new meaning and a joyful, hopeful lustre that is impossible when viewed in the light of our Standards. And so with the character of God, and the whole scheme of redemption in its relation to ages past and ages to come. I pray God may enlighten you more and more. I feel that you ought not to give up the " Words" if you can at all see your way clear to continue. None of your reviewers have yet gone to the bottom of your argument.

WORDS OF RECONCILIATION.

VOL. IV.]

DECEMBER, 1888.

[No. 12.

ANNOUNCEMENT.

ter.

We have decided to continue this magazine. This seems to us to be God's will, and therefore our duty, in the matOur friends and subscribers who have been concerned about its future may now be assured that we shall go on with the work. And to them we shall continue to look for aid in widening the circle of its readers and the area of its influence. Some of them have offered substantial aid. Others have encouraged us by expressions of earnest sympathy. For both sympathy and support we are sincerely grateful.

The difficulties of sustaining this work are by no means. removed; and yet we are satisfied that it ought not to be given up. The need for it was never more imperative. This journal is filling a place which no other, either in this country or abroad, occupies. It has been the special mission of this magazine to preach the gospel of the resurrection. That gospel has not yet been received in its fullness by the Church. If it had, it would not have been so easy for the enemy to beguile some of her own children into the fatal error that Christianity can survive the surrender of the miracle of the resurrection. It is around this citadel of

our faith that the battle is being waged. Is the resurrection of Jesus a mere mythical appendage of the Christian faith, or is it the cornerstone? No satisfactory defence of the faith once delivered to the saints can be made except from the high ground concerning this doctrine which this magazine occupies. We have insisted that the Scripture becomes a pretense, the plan of the world a jumble, and the future of the human race a blank without this provision to restore to it life from the dead. In insisting that the restoration of all carries with. it blessing for all, but graded according to fitness, we have sought, while guarding against the danger of universalism, to expose the current libel on the character of God by which this provision becomes to all but the redeemed Church an unutterable curse. To set this view before the Church we were serving in the ministry of the Gospel, as opposed to its creed of despair which it has already virtually abandoned, we employed the pages of this magazine and scattered them widely among its ministers. The result of this effort is known to our readers. Having discharged this duty to that Church, and given our testimony far and wide, it would seem that we might now lay down this burden. But the evidences have been so strong and numerous that the work is filling a unique and much needed place in the Church, that we dare not refuse the time and toil required to carry it on. We have also increasing evidence that many of our fellow Christians have been enlightened and profited by it. This has been testified in numerous letters, from some of which we have given extracts. In the absence of a congregation to which we might minister in person the Word of Life, it has been a source of thankfulness to know that some