� 4eacki "h le � "Behold, I ca...kocils, h/ly � 420,s;,' OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, FIFTH-DAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1882. I my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22 : 12. VOLUME 8. NUMBER 37. THE day has been dark and doleful, A day of wind and rain, With the sound of ghostly fingers Upon the window-pane; And never a gleam of sunshine The cold gray sky has crossed In this day for sad remembrance Of what our lives have lost. Weary with vain regretting For things that could not be, Weary with counting over The graves in memory, I ope ed the Book of comfort And in its pages read What one of the grand old prophets In time of trouble said. I heard, like a voice from Heaven, The royal singer's song � • Of faith in Eternal Goodness To triumph over wrong. The day may be wild with tempest, But in patient trust abide, And remember the sweet old promise Of light at the eventide. And lo! as I read the chapter So dear to the weary heart, I saw the clouds at sunset Like curtains swing apart. And it seemed like a glimpse of Heaven, That touched my eyes like balm As I sat in the sunset glory Repeating the sweet old psalm. —Ebert E. Rexford. 6,entral gtrtide5. Bible Sanctification. BY. MRS. E. G. WHITE. DANIEL'S TEMPERANCE PRINCIPLES. THE prophet Daniel was an illustrious charac- ter. He was a bright example of what men may become when united with the God of wisdom. A brief account of the life of this holy man of God is left on record for the encouragement of those who should afterward be called to endure trial and temptation. When the people of Israel, their king, nobles, and priests, were carried into captivity, four of their number were selected to serve in the court of the king of Babylon. One of these was Daniel, who early gave promise of the remarkable ability developed in later years. These youth were all of princely birth, and are described as " children in whom was no blemish, but well-favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them." Perceiving the superior talents of these youthful captives, King Nebuchadnezzar determined to prepare them to fill important poe' _ions in his kingdom. That they might be � qualified for their life at court, according to oriental custom, they were to be taught the language of the Chaldeans, and to be subjected for three years to a thorough course of physical and intellectual discipline. The youth in this school of training were not only to be admitted to the royal palace, but it was provided that they should eat of the meat, and drink of the wine, which came from the king's table. In all this the king considered that he was not only bestowing great honor upon Daniel possessed the grace of genuine meekness. He was true, firm, and noble. He sought to live in peace with all, while he was unbending as the lofty cedar wherever principle was involved. In everything that did not come in collision with his allegiance to God, he was respectful and obedient to those who had authority over him; but he had so high a sense of the claims of God that the requirements of earthly rulers were held subor- dinate. He would not be induced by any selfish consideration to swerve from his duty. The character of Daniel is presented to the world as a striking example of what God's grace can make of men fallen by nature and corrupted by sin. The record of his noble, self-denying life is an encouragement to our common humanity. From it we may gather strength to nobly resist temptation, and firmly, and in the grace of meek- ness, stand for the right under the severest trial. Daniel might have found a plausible excuse to depart from his strictly temperate habits; but the approval of God was dearer to him than the favor of the most powerful earthly potentate—dearer even than life itself. Having by his courteous conduct obtained favor with Melzar, the officer in charge of the Hebrew youth, Daniel made a request that they might not eat of the king's meat, or drink of his wine. Melzar feared that should he comply with this request, he might incur the displeasure of the king, and thus endanger his own life. Like many at the present day, he thought that an abstemious diet would render these youth pale and sickly in appearance, and deficient in muscular strength, while the luxurious food from the king's table would make them ruddy and beautiful, and would promote physical and mental activity. Daniel requested that the matter be decided by a ten-days' trial, the Hebrew youth during this brief period being permitted to eat of simple food, while their companions partook of the kin's dainties. The request was finally granted, and then Daniel felt assured that he had gained his case. Although but a youth, he had seen the injurious effects of wine and luxurious living upon physical and mental health. At the end of the ten days the result was found to be quite the opposite of Melzar's expectations. Not only in personal appearance, but in physical activity and mental vigor, those who had been temperate in their habits exhibited a marked superiority over their companions who had in- dulged appetite. As a result of this trial, Daniel and his associates were permitted to continue their simple diet during the whole course of their training for the duties of the kingdom. The Lord regarded with approval the firmness and self-denial of these Hebrew youth, and his blessing attended them. He "gave them knowl- edge and skill in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams." At the expiration of the three years of training, when their ability and acquirements were tested by the king, he "found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm." The life of Daniel is an inspired illustration of what constitutes a sanctified character. It pre- sents a lesson for all, and especially for the young. A strict compliance with the requirements of God is beneficial to the health of body and mind. In . order to reach the highest standard of moral and intellectual attainments, it is necessary to seek wisdom and strength from God, and to observe strict temperance in all the habits of life. In the experience of Daniel and his companions we have an instance of the triumph of principle over temp- tation to indulge the appetite. It shows us that through religious principle young men may tri- umph over the lusts of the flesh, and remain true to God's requirements, even though it cost them a great sacrifice. What if Daniel and his companions had made a compromise with those heathen officers, and had yielded to the pressure of the occasion, by eating and drinking as was customary with the Baby- lonians ? That single instance of departure from principle would have weakened their sense of right and their abhorrence of wrong. Indulgence of appetite would have involved the sacrifice of physical vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual power. One wrong step would probably have led to others, until, their connection with Heaven being severed, they would have been swept away by temptation. God has said, " Them that honor me, I will honor." While Daniel clung to his God with unwavering trust, the spirit of prophetic power came upon him. While he was instructed of man in the duties of court life, he was taught of God to read the mysteries of future ages, and to present to coming generations, through figures and simil- itudes, the wonderful things that would come to pass in tha last days. HE that waits for an opportunity to do much at once, may breathe out his life in idle wishes, and regret, in the last hour, his useless intentions and barren zeal. HE preaches well that lives well. Eke ,*ign5 � 'Las. PUBLISHED WEEKLY, FOR THE S. D. A. MISSIONARY SOCIETY. (For Terms, etc., See Last Page.) Entered at the Post-Office in. Oakland, Cal. LIGHT Arr them, but securing for them the best physical and mental development that could be attained. Among the viands placed before the king were swine's flesh and other meats which were declared unclean by the law of Moses, and which the Hebrews had been expressly forbidden to eat. Here Daniel was brought to a severe test. Should he adhere to the teachings of his fathers concern- ing meats and drinks, and offend the king, and probably lose not only his position but his life ? or should he disregard the commandment of the Lord, and retain the favor of the king, thus secur- ing great intellectual advantages and the most flattering worldly prospects ? Daniel did not long hesitate. He decided to stand firm in his integrity, let the result be what it might. He " purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank." There are many among professed Christians to-day who would decide that Daniel was too particular, and would pronounce him narrow and bigoted. They consider the matter of eating and drinking as of too little consequence to require such a decided stand,—one involving the probable sacrifice of every earthly advantage. But those who reason thus will find in the day of Judgment that they turned from God's express requirements, and set up their own opinion as a standard of right and wrong. They will find that what seemed to them unimportant was not so regarded of God. His requirements should be sacredly obeyed. Those who accept and obey one of his precepts because it is convenient to do so, while they reject another because its observance would require a sacrifice, lower the standard of right, and by their example lead others to lightly regard the holy law of God. "Thus saith the Lord" is to be our rule in all things. Daniel was subjected to the severest tempta- tions that can assail the youth of to-day; yet he was true to the religious instruction received in early life. He was surrounded with influences calculated to subvert those who would v acillate between principle and inclination; yet the word of God presents him as a faultless character. Daniel dared not trust to his own moral power. Prayer was to him a necessity. He made God his strength, and the fear of God was continually before him in all the transactions of his life. 434 � THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �Vol.. 8, No. 37. Nature and Extent of Coming Judgments. words of Paul; " For if they escaped not who re- �Jerusalem Our Mother. fused him that spake on earth, much more shall Now that there is to be, at some period of time, not we escape, if we turn away from him that � BY ELD. WILLIAM COVERT. an utter destruction of all the inhabitants of the speaketh from, heaven, whose voice then shook the earth, no one who reads the prophecies can deny. earth; but now he hath promised, saying, Yet FROM the time that it was revealed that Christ Had we the privilege of framing the testimony once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven." should bring salvation to man, a period of about to our own liking, it would be impossible to pre- Hob. 12 : 25, 26. � four thousand years intervened before his intro- sent it in language more clear and emphatic. I � Again, the prophet says, "They shall go into duction as the Messiah. to the Jewish people. will now notice a few points in these passages the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the But during this period all the manifestations of which will serve the twofold purpose of showing earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of God's glory and his grace were made in view of the identity of these with certain events spoken his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the the great truth that the Son of God had become of in the New Testament, and of locating the earth." Isa. 2 :`19. See verses 10-12, 17-21; surety for man. And during this time a typical chronology of these judgments, or fixing the time also chap. 13 : 6-13. And with these agree the service was established in an earthly temple, in of their execution. � words of John, " And the heavens departed as a Old Jerusalem. Here, for a time, was the glory This warning is to be given—not because the scroll when it is rolled together; and every of God manifested. 1 Kings 8: 10, 11. This con- day of the Lord is nearly expired, nor yet because mountain and island were moved out of their nection was forever severed in the midst of the it is come, but—because the day of the Lord is com- places. And the kings of the earth, and the great covenant week. Dan. 9 : 27; Matt. 23 : 37, 38. ing ; it is near, and hasteth greatly. The people men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, The Lord's glory was removed from the temple are to be warned of those events which are to and the mighty men, and every bondman, and in Old Jerusalem, and the word spoken by Christ transpire when that day is ushered in. And this every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in was fulfilled: she was left desolate and forsaken. shows that these judgments are identical with the rocks of the mountains, and said to the His own presence and power had been manifested those spoken of in the Revelation, which will be mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from in her, but it will no more comfort and bless this inflicted in close connection with the coming of the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and forsaken city. the Son of man. See the promise to the church from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day But there is a Jerusalem above which must of Philadelphia. " Because thou hast kept the of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to have been the theater of Christ's glory before it word of my patience, I also will keep thee from stand." Rev. 6 : 14-17. And Paul shows that the was manifested in the metropolis of Judea. See the hour of temptation, which shall come upon wrath of the Lamb is manifested at his coming, Gal. 4:22-31. I will offer some thoughts which all the world, to try them that dwell upon the for it is at that time that he takes vengeance. suggest themselves to my mind in reading John earth. Behold I come quickly; hold that fast 2 Thess. 1 : 7, 8. And' thus it is clearly proved 14:1-3; Jude 6; and Isa. 58: 1-8. which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." that all these judgments come on the earth at the � The heavenly city is the bride of the king's Rev. 3 : 10, 11. � second advent, and not afterward. � Son. Matt. 22: 1, 2. Yet be had been united to This alarm is sounded when a great battle, or � 5. When these judgments come, God' s people will this bride at one time before the celebration of universal war, is pending. It is said in the time be delivered. It has been claimed that there are the nuptials mentioned in this parable. Doubt- of the sixth plague, " And I saw three unclean exceptions to these general declarations, which is less Christ, the maker and husband of this city, spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the true only if the righteous can be said. to form an had often assembled the heavenly host within her dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and exceptional class. But I think the claim is not jasper walls even before Satan's revolt. There out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they just; instead of the righteous being exceptions to the morning stars sang together, and the sons of are the spirits of devils working miracles, which these declarations, they are a separate class, to God shouted for joy. There were the habitations go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whom these declarations will not apply. And of angels, and there their "first estate." But on whole world, to gather them to the battle of that there are no exceptions of the wicked. There account of their sympathy and co-operation with great day of God Almighty." And that this coin- can be only two classes—the righteous and the the chief of sinners they were expelled from their cides with the others in time, and is fulfilled at wicked. The Scriptures do not teach that there heavenly abode, thus leaving their mansions the second advent, is proved by the next verse, is a class between those who are under the law, unoccupied. Soon after this event Adam and "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that and those under grace. There is no recognized Eve were overcome by the wicked one, and it watcheth." Rev. 16 : 13, 15. � middle ground between condemnation and justifi- then became necessary that the Son of God 3, The kings and nations shall certainly drink of cation and there is no justification except through should enter upon the plan of redemption. In the wrath of God. Even if they refuse, their faith in Christ. And if vengeance be taken " on order to accomplish this, he must identify himself refusal is of no avail; it is too late. This threat- them that know not God, and that obey not the more closely with the children of men, and thus ening must be identical with that of the third gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, " of course they in time he transferred a measure of his glory to the angel's message of Rev. 14 : 9-12, which refers to only will escape who know God and obey the earthly Jerusalem. In this manner the heavenly the plagues (under which the great battle will be gospel• � city is forsaken for a small moment. See Isa. fought), in which it is said they " shall drink of When the Lord says " he will plead with all 54: 6-8. As Sarah the wife of Abraham's youth, the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured flesh," it is to " give them that are wicked to the felt grieved in spirit at Hagar for a time, thinking out without mixture into the cup of his indigna- sword." Jer. 25 : 31. He will "lay the land deso- she had gained the affections of her husband, so tion." By comparison, we learn that Eze. 9 : 5, 6, late; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of Jerusalem above is represented in the allegory as is parallel with these, where this order is given it." Isa. 13 : 9. Again, when the earth is utterly aggrieved, reproached, and put to shame. As to them that have the slaughter weapons: "Let emptied, "the inhabitants of the earth are burned, Hagar and Ishmael were cast out of Abraham's not your eye spare, neither have ye pity. Slay and few men left." Isa. 24 : 6. Who these few family because of their skepticism arid jealousy in utterly old and young, both maids, and little men are, may be learned from verses 13, 14. regard to the child of promise, so Old Jerusalem children, and women." These all refer directly When thus it shall be in the midst of the land and all her skeptical sons were rejected when to the time when the Saviour ceases to plead with among the people, there shall be as the shaking Christ's glory is again manifested in the heavenly the Father in behalf of sinful men, and judgment of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when city. without mercy is made manifest. � the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voice; � As Hagar had for a time supposed that her son 4. The voice of God is heard from on high in the they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord. " The was heir to Abraham's property, so had Old Jeru- midst of these awful scenes. In the description righteous will sing their triumph when the judg- salem concluded that her sons were entitled to quoted from Jer. 25, it is said, " The Lord shall ments of God are made manifest upon the nations. all of God's blessings. Yet how vain her hopes I roar from on high, and utter his voice from his Rev. 15 : 1-3. The few men are not " left " upon How transient her glory! holy habitation;" " he shall give a shout as they the earth, else the earth would not be made waste � But glorious things are spoken of the city of that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants and " utterly emptied, " but they are left from the God. Instead of having only household servants of the earth." When Joel foretold the gathering burning. � in which to glory, she is to know a mother's love. of all nations, and all the heathen to the valley of The prophet Joel says, " The Lord also shall Every mansion is to be occupied by her own Jehoshaphat, he said, " The sun and the moon roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jeru- happy sons and daughters. Although she is shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw salem; and the heavens and earth shall shake." longing for the time when her children can enjoy their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Jeremiah, speaking of the same time and event, a mother's presence, she has the consolation of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the says, He shall " shout against all the inhabitants of knowing that they are only away at school, and heavens and the earth shall shake." Joel 3 : the land." But Joel adds, " But the Lord will be that they are being taught by her Lord. Isa. 15, 16. In the book of Revelation, we are in- the hope of his people, and the strength of the chil- 54:13. She is invited to sing while the place of formed that this takes place at the closing of dren of Israel." Daniel had a view of the same her tent is being enlarged. Her husband pos- the plagues. " And the seventh angel poured overthrow of the nations, and to him the angel senses both skill and means to make the reception out his vial into the air, and there came a great said, "There shall be a time of trouble, such as of her children an occasion of songs and thankful voice out of the temple of Heaven, from the throne, never was since there was a nation even to that joy. Though she has stood for ages yet she is saying, It is done." Rev. 16 : 17. Jesus says, as same time; and at that time thy people shall be de- New Jerusalem. New to her Lord and new to her quoted, when the sixth vial is poured out, under livered, every one that shall be found written in children. Well may we "rejoice with Jerusalem which the nations are gathered to battle, " Be- the book. " Dan. 12 :1. This is when Michael and be glad with her," and " be delighted with hold, I come quickly." Therefore all must admit stands up, or reigns. It is also when " many of the abundance of her glory." For the Lord " will that the pouring out of the seventh and last them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall extend peace to her like a river." We "shall be plague, when the voice of God is heard, is in im- awake." It is therefore evident that this deliv- borne upon her sides and dandled upon her knees." mediate connection with the coming of Christ. erance takes place at the coming of Christ, and She is " created a rejoicing and her people a joy." And of this time, the Saviour said, " Immediately not at any future time. Proof on this point might Her children will eat the fruit of life and drink at after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be greatly enlarged from the New Testament, the fountain of youth. Thus will the thought of be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, but it cannot be necessary. � EDITOR. � " mother " be enshrined in our hearts forever, for and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the pow- � we shall dwell long in the land which our "Father" ers of the heavens shall be shaken, and THEN shall � HE is a great simpleton who imagines that the shall give us. appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. " chief' power of wealth is to supply wants. In � • � Matt. 24, : 29, 30. But the prophet says it is the ninety cases out of a hundred it creates more � THAT is not criticism that does not point out voice of God from on high that shakes " the pow- wants than it supplies. Money and contentment excellencies as well as defects; it is simply fault- ers of the heavens," and with this agree the do not always go hand in hand.—Ex. � finding. • SEPTEMBER 28, 1882. �TEIE SIGNS OF THE � 435 "Bring Us Not over Jordan." An Eighty Pound Hailstone. Not Worth Minding. • VERY different from this was the prayer of Moses. It was a great grief to him that his feet could not tread the promised land. His earnest petition was: " I pray thee, let me go over, and see the great land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon." But he must be content with a distant view of it from the top of Pisgah. But it was the request of the children of Reuben and the children of Gad that they might be allowed to stop short and dwell on the hither side. When they had come to the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, they said unto Moses: " Let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan." And the reason given for this request was be- cause they bad a very great multitude of cattle, and they saw that that land was a place for cat- tle. They cared more for that land than they did for Canaan, that had so long been the land of promise to them and to their fathers. They despised the pleasant land. And thus has it always been, and still is with respect to great numbers. Their hearts are set on their earthly possessions, and they allow them to keep them from Heaven. They set a higher value upon these than they do upon durable riches; and in the pursuit and enjoyment of them they run the risk of losing an heavenly inherit- ance. " How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God ? " How many, by their eagerness to gain them, neglect the one thing needful, and are damned in destruction and perdition 1 And how many that thus are but " scarcely saved," escaping as with the skin of their teeth. So was it with Lot when, for the sake of his cattle, he chose the plains of the Jor- dan, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. And in the Saviour's parable of the great supper, when the invitation was given, " Come, for all things are now ready," one of those that were bidden said, " I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them. I pray thee have me excused." With one man it is riches in one form, and with another in another. It may be cattle, or farms, or stocks, or gold and silver, it all amounts to the same thing. It is the accursed love of the world in some of its alluring forms. It hinders them from giving that attention to their soul that its importance demands, and the result is that it debars them from Heaven. Virtually their prayer is, " Bring us not over Jordan." They cling to earthly things, and the final result is that these become their only por- tion. There is need for the caution, " Take heed, and beware of covetousness."—H. S., in Advance. How He Became Satisfied. A GREAT many boys mistake their calling, but all such are not fortunate enough to find out in as good season as did this one. It is said that Rufus Choate, the great lawyer, was once in New Hampshire making a plea, when a boy, the son of a farmer, resolved to leave the plow, and be- come a lawyer like Rufus Choate. He accord- ingly went to Boston, called on Mr. Choate, and said to him: " I heard you plead in our town, and I have a desire to become a lawyer like you. Will you teach me how ? " " As well as I can," said the great lawyer. " Come and sit down." Taking down a copy of Blackstone, he said: " Read this until I come back, and I will see how you get on." The poor boy began. An hour passed. His back ached, his head ached, his legs ached. He knew not how to study. Every moment became a torture. He wanted air. Another hour passed, and Mr. Choate came and asked:— " How do you get on ? " " Get on ! Why, do you have :to read such stuff as this ? " " Yes. " " How much of it ?" " All there is on these shelves, and more," look- ing about the great library. " How long will it take ? " " Well, it has taken me more than twenty-five years." " How much do you get ? " " My board and clothes." " Is that all ?" " Well, that is about all I have gained as yet." " Then," said the boy, " I will go back to the ploughing. The work is not near as hard, and pays better." THE Scientific American quotes the following from the Salina (Kansas) Journal. It would seem that in the terrible storms that are now occurring, God is giving a warning of the end. The account given below reminds us of the treasures of the hail, " which God has reserved against the time of trouble. " See Job 38 : 22, 23; Rev. 16 : 21. " Considerable excitement was caused in our city last Tuesday evening by the announcement that a hailstone weighing eighty pounds had fallen six miles west of Salina, near the railroad track. An inquiry into the matter revealed the following facts : A party of railroad section men were at work Tuesday afternoon, several miles west of town, when the hail-storm came upon them. Mr. ar tin Ellwood, the foreman of the party, relates that near where they were at work hailstones of the weight of four or five pounds were falling, and that returning toward Salina, the stones increased in size, until his party dis- covered a huge mass of ice weighing, as near as he could judge, in the neighborhood of eighty pounds. At this place the party found the ground covered with hail as if a wintry storm had passed over the land. Besides securing the mammoth chunk of ice, Mr. Ellwood secured a hailstone something over a foot long, three or four inches in diameter, and shaped like a cigar. These " specimens " were placed upon a hand car and brought to Salina. Mr. W. J. Hagler, the North Santa Fe merchant, became the possessor of the larger piece, and saved it from dissolving by plac- ing it in sawdust at his store. Crowds of people went down to see it Tuesday afternoon, and many were the theories concerning the mysterious visi- tor. At evening its dimensions were 29 x 16 x 2 inches. " Make It Short. A STORY is told of a school, the pupils of which, on the eve of a summer vacation, got very weary of the long speeches with which the committee en- tertained them. When the president of the board of trustees at last arose to address them, he com- menced by saying, " Well, children, what sort of a speech shall I make?" and then al ting a little, as if waiting for an answer, while gathering up his thoughts, to his surprise, up went a little boy's hand, in a distant part of the room. Thinking that there might be an idea behind it which could be turned to good account, he invited the owner of it to speak out; but was somewhat taken aback when the boy said, "Make a short one! " He proceeded to act upon the suggestion, to the great satisfaction of the children. It requires great wisdom to speak short, and sometimes still greater wisdom not to speak at all. We remember a missionary meeting where an effort was being made to raise funds for the pur- pose of scattering gospel light and truth. At this meeting, after an earnest appeal had been made, and we thought that the prospect was fair for raising two or three thousand dollars, one or two men arose, and instead of offering their own lib- eral subscriptions, made speeches which seemed lengthy and tedious, exhorting other people to give money, some of which they might, perhaps, have given themselves. But before they had fin- ished, the interest and enthusiasm of the meeting was so dead that it was utterly impossible to re- suscitate it. We should judge that these speeches damaged the subscriptions to the extent of per- haps five or ten dollars a minute. Some man, complaining of the high price, at Niagara Falls, said that it cost a dollar to pay a man for opening his mouth and another dollar to get him to shut it. � In this case, we judge that a dollar invested in shutting each of these mouths would have been a very profitable investment, so far as the inter- ests of the collection were concerned. Blessed is the man who speaks short, for he shall be asked to speak again; and when work is to be done, and a number of persons are to speak, the man who wearies the audience, and absorbs an undue pro- portion of time, needs to be instructed in the sim- ple elements of common sense, as well as to be reminded of the command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."—Selected. WE judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.—Longfellow. WHAT a world of trouble, time, and nerve irrita- tion would be saved, if boys, and men too, would learn to never mind trifling annoyances. Only the other day we overheard one boy telling another what a third boy had said about him, and urging him to "lick him." "Oh," said the second boy, " 'tisn't worth minding. He knows it aini so, and I won't stoop to his level by taking any notice of it." We inwardly thought, " That's a very wise head on young shoulders." It reminded us of two men, one of whom started on a foot journey of one hundred and fifty miles or so. Two days later, the other man followed in the same road, and on the fourth day overtook the first one. The latter remarked: " This is the worst and slowest road I ever traveled. There is the greatest lot of snarling, barking little dogs I ever saw, and it has taken half my time to drive them off." " Why," said the second man, "I didn't pay any attention to them, but came right along as if they weren't there." Half the time of many boys and men is wasted in fighting trifles. A certain circuit judge was always sure of meeting some cutting or sneering remarks from a self-conceited lawyer when he came to a certain town in his rounds. This was repeated one day at dinner, when a gentleman present said: "Judge, why don't you squelch that fellow ?" The Judge, dropping his knife and fork, and placing his chin upon his hands, and his elbows on the table, remarked: "Up in our town a widow woman has a dog that, whenever the moon shines, goes out upon the steps and barks away at it all night." Stopping short, he quietly resumed eating. After waiting some time, it was asked: " Well, Judge, what of the dog and the moon ? "—" Oh, the moon keeps on shining," he said.—Sel. Jonah's Successors. THERE can be no doubt that Jonah has his suc- cessors in the ministry. There are those who would like to run away from their appointed work because of its trials. Here is a case in point: A minister who served a large congrega- tion, came home one day in great trouble, and told his wife that he was almost out of heart, and felt very much like resigning his place, and giving up his work. " And what makes you feel that way ? " re- sponded his wife. " Well," said the minister, " everything seems to be going wrong. It is so difficult to keep people interested in religion, and so many seem to be almost wholly indifferent." " So you would like to have everybody and everything just right, would you ? " said the wife. " That is it." " Very well," continued the wife, " then you could resign; then your work would not be needed. But as things are, you should hold firmly your place, for the reason you have given is just why you should work on." He was not the first min- ister that was prompted to do right by the com- mon sense and grace of his wife.—Baptist Weekly. CIVIL RIGHTS OP NEGROES.—The Methodist COM, ments on the fact that its African brethren are beginning to stand up for their rights with the vigor and dignity that afford the best promise of their winning them. The recent case of Bishop Payne is in point, where the conference at which he was expected to preside marched in a body to the office of the railway on which he had been insulted, and exacted an apology and such repara- tion as the case admitted of. Another case is that of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Confer- ence that recently met at Poughkeepsie, which appointed a committee to wait upon the officers of a steamboat company whose underlings had denied the courtesies that were there due to one of the Bishops of the Church one of its college professers, and several of their ministers. The committee secured an apology. A GOOD PRAYER.—All church-goers may prof- itably pray this prayer, offered by a South Sea Islander just as the meeting was breaking up: " 0 God, we are about to go to our respective homes. Let not the words we have heard be like the fine clothes we wear, soon to be taken off and folded away in a box till another Sabbath comes round. Rather, let thy truth be like the tattoo on our bodies, ineffaceable till death." On which our great High Priest offered himself for the sins of the world ? I will answer in the language of the most ap- proved expounders of the word of God. Thusiasterion, an altar. " That the altar here signifies the sacrifice offered upon the altar, is plain from this, that of this altar they were to eat. So they that eat of the Jewish sacrifices are said to be partakers of the altar." (Patrick Lowth, Arnold, Whitby, Lowman.) "I AM rich enough," said Pope to Swift. " I can afford to give away a hundred pounds a year. I would not crawl upon the earth without doing a little good. I will enjoy the pleasure of what I give by giving it while I live and seeing another enjoy it. When I die I should be ashamed to leave enough for a monument, if a wanting friend was above ground." That speech of Pope's was enough to immortalize him, independent of his philosophic verse.—Sel. 43g � TH � 1 SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �VoL. 8, No. 37. Sanctification vs. Sanctificationism. " THE ALTAR SANCTIFIETFI THE GIFT."—SOUND WORDS Vs. A SOUND OF WORDS. THERE is a difference. The difference is wider than the sea. On that pivotal difference pre- cious doctrines and vital experiences turn. In- dulge me. I am not about t , put forth my hand to steady the ark. It is my humble pur- pose to ask a few questions about the " teams " which volunteered to haul the cart. It is pertinent to say that I am far from oppos- ing or undervaluing the doctrine of entire sancti- fication, or perfect love. I have read most of the notable books published on that great topic, and for three privileged years it was my joy to at- tend, weekly, in the spacious parlors of Mrs. Bishop Hamline, a meeting specially designed to promote the experience. From that meeting men and women have gone forth to spread Script- ural holiness in many lands. Confidently, I have the best of reasons for assurance that the doctrine is true and the experience attainable. The very preciousness of the doctrine suggests the high expediency of having it truly and ably taught. Incompetency, shallowness, " sanctified vanity" here may, and probably will, work incalculable mischief. Yet incongruously enough, there is no other experimentalism in religion which mistaken and unqualified persons attempt to teach with such flippant and offensive dogmatism. To select a particular or two, which will serve as both proof' and illustration, let me instance a stereotyped formulary, to which Mrs. Palmer's use of the terms has given countenance, and which widely prevails. The seeker for sanctification is addressed in set phrases thus: " You lay all on the altar, don't you ? Don't the Bible say that the altar sancti- fies the gift? Do you want any better reason for believing than the word of the Lord ? Now you are all on the altar. The altar sanctifies the gift. If the word of the Lord is true, you are sanctified. Profess it. Mind nothing about your feelings. Don't wait for any evidence. Isn't the word of God evidence enough ? Profess it; rise right up and profess it, and give God the glory!" Such is the formula. Doubtless many devout and somewhat disciplined and instructed minds reach beyond this clumsy but well-meant scaf- folding, grasp the substance of truth, and are saved. But it is too sorrowfully obvious that many habitual verbalists, like some of their teachers, get only a mechanical sense from the mechanical teaching, and—as a good woman, now in the blessed enjoyment of the grace, said was true in her own case—" profess themselves to death." The result is disastrous. Forget- ting, or never having known, that "the end of the commandment is charity (love) out of a pure heart and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned, from which some having swerved, have turned aside to vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm," these unfortunate ones in- stantly set up for teachers, with loud and irrever- ent professions, and a bigotry as bitter and exact- ing as that of a Pharisee. This short and easy method of confusing the sincere, and inflating the conceited, so long as it passed as a rude drift of inexact speech, could be left to the corrective effect of reflection. But when a fluent sciolist sets criticism at defiance, and perverts the Scripture to find support for the error as a doctrine and model of full salvation, it is made to occupy a prominence which renders further silence akin to sin. Let us briefly exam- ine the authority for a verbiage with which the lips of many honest persons have become unprof- itably familiar. In Matt. 23 : 19, our Lord rebukes the Phari- sees: " Ye fools and blind ! for whether is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? " In Heb. 13 : 10, Paul says : " We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle." Ergo, Christ is the altar on which we offer ourselves. And the altar sancti- fies the gift I Is not that plain ? It certainly has a captivat- ing sound, because the "name that charms our fears " is in it. But is it a just interpretation ? A logician will demand to know whether the nexus, the main point which carries all the rest, is provable. If Paul does not mean that Christ is the altar, then the logomachy of the superfi- cialist expends itself for naught. Simple souls WHERE, WHAT, WHO, IS THE ALTAR? It is .Paul who says we have an altar of which they have no right to eat who serve the taber- nacle. Did men eat the Jewish altar, or the sacrifice? Recently a very wordy teacher said in my hearing, that McKnight and all the Chris- tian scholars said Paul meant Christ. When I ventured to correct him, thinking I might save him from making himself an object of contempt or ridicule, he became much excited and declared that he didn't care what critics said. He had the word of the Lord for it, and he would stick to that. -Unfortunate for the critics ! But really the man appeared incapable of discriminating between a sacrifice of consecration and a sacrifice of expiation. Nor did he appear to apprehend the patent fact that every man who discourses upon a Scriptural theme necessarily gives an in- terpretation of the Scriptures. The question then arises with respect to the point in dispute, whether it is wiser to take the consensus of de- vout scholars who have given their lives to the study of the sacred Scriptures, or the shallow and self-assertive notions of a probably well-meaning but illiterate and very self-confident talker. The notion of a literal altar of expiation other than the cross in the Christian church, comes from the Church of Rome, whose priests assume to offer the very body of Christ anew as often as they elevate the host. The same theory has tinged the language of the Church of England, and of some writers outside of both these com- munions. The Jewish altar " sanctified the gift," not by penetrating the offering with any new quality, but simply and solely by making visible the dedication of the offering to God. It sancti- fied the gift as the temple sanctified the gold. The renunciation of ownership on the part of the offerer, the dedication to God, was the main ele- ment in the transaction, and the altar made vis- ible that fact. Any expiatory virtue came through the worshiper's faith in the coming sacrifice of Calvary. In the Christian dispensa- tion, then, WHAT IS THE ALTAR " We have an altar—that is, a sacrifice upon an altar—namely: Christ, who was sacrificed on the altar of the cross." (Benson.) " The altar' to which he here dently the cross on which the great made."—(Barnes.) " Altar, the cross—the Camper Gray.) " The altar is here put for the sacrifice on the altar." (Clarke.) " The altar is that on which Jesus offered up himself to sanctify his people."—(The Bible Com- mentary, approved by the church of England.) " Thusiasterion, an altar. The cross of Christ, on which his body was sacrificed." (Bengal.) " Here, by a usual metonymy, the altar is put for the sacrifice, as is plain from the apostle's adding, ' of which they have no right to eA.' " (McKnight.) " The altar is not Christ himself (Bugenhagen, Biesenthal, etc.), nor the table of the Lord's Supper (Bohn and others), nor an expiatory ar- rangement in general (Mich., Stier, Tholluck, etc.), but the cross on Golgotha. (Thorn., Aqui., Este, Bengal.) (Critical, doctrinal, and homilet- ical commentary, by Lange, Schaff, Bengel, Auberlin, C. J. Riggenbach and others.) " We have an altar—the cross of Christ." (Wesley.) I will not consume space with further quota- tions. Let any devout person ask himself, first, When was the one all-sufficient sacrifice offered ? Secondly, Where was the sacrifice offered ? Thirdly, On what was the sacrifice offered ? The answers will not linger nor mislead. It was made when Jesus died; made on Calvary; made on the cross. What wonder then that Paul (very unlike a verbalist who asks, " What can the cross do ? the cross sanctifies nothing ") should exclaim, " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [whereby] the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." There is no impropriety in speaking of an altar of consecration, by which figure we mean a sol- emn dedication to God; or an altar of prayer, as conceptually descriptive of any place where we offer our supplications before the Lord. Nor ought we to object to the common expressions that God sanctifies us, Christ sanctifies us, the Spirit sanctifies us. God the father sanctifies us as the originating cause. He loved us, and set forth Christ " to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins." Christ is the meritorious cause of our sanctification, inasmuch as he "purchased eternal redemption for us." The truth is the instrumental cause—" Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." (Let no man pervert Scripture, and degrade his own in- tellect by confoundincr 6 " truth " in this last quota- tion with the eternal Logos, the embodied God- head.) The Holy Spirit is the efficient cause. We are saved " by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost." Conven- tional speech cannot be held in leading-strings; but when we attempt the technical exactness of teachers, especially of the priceless doctrine of fullness in Christ, perfect love, or entire sanctifi- cation, it is desirable to give no uncertain sound. God the Father governs and upholds, Christ re- deems, the spirit sanctifies. An altar of conse- cration is anywhere where we make a solemn self-renunciation or entire surrender to God. Our " bodies " are offered " a living sacrifice," not of expiation, but of dedication to holy uses. There is but one priest of expiation, Jesus; one altar of expiation, the cross; one sacrifice of expiation, Christ Jesus the Lord, who tasted death for every man; not by offering his humanity on the altar of his divinity, which turgidity leaves to intelli- gence no Christ either for priest or sacrifice. The divinity without the humanity is not Christ. The humanity without the divinity is not Christ. The human-divine Christ is a perfect Saviour, and through him we have a perfect salvation.—Cal. Christian Advocate. will be misled to their hurt, but no one is edified. IS CHRIST THE ALTAR ? The answer to this question settles the contro- versy. Christ is a priest, even a high priest, for- ever, after the order of Melchisedec. Heb. 2 : 17; 3 : 1; 4:14, 15: 5 : 5-10; 7 : 26; 8 : 1; 10 : 21. Christ is a sacrifice, an offering. "Neither by the blood of goats an calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." Heb. 9 : 12; 13 : 14. " But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Heb. 9 : 26. "By the which will [of the Father] we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Heb. 10 : 10. " But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on the right hand of God." Heb. 10 : 12. So much is clearly taught. Christ is priest and expiatory sacrifice. lie is the only priest and the only expiatory sacri- fice. Even he, " if he were on earth, should not [now] be a priest, seeing that there [they] are priests that offer gifts according to the law; " and the law of ceremonial offerings ceased to convey significance or obligation when Christ offered himself' once for all.'' Heb. 8 : 4. " Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our proession." Heb. 4 : 14. So much is clear. Our Lord is priest and sacrifice. There is no earthly priest of expiation, and no sacrifice to be offered by men but the sacrifice of dedica- tion to God. Now, victim, refers is evi- sacrifice was Christ." (J. SEPTEMBER 28, 1882. � TEI Fi] SIGNS OF THE TIMES. � 437 c*abliath-#chwal. Lesson for October 7.—John XVII. THE prayer which comprises the whole of this chapter, was probably uttered by Christ just before he reached the garden of Gethsemane. See chap. 18:1. The warnings and instruction con- tained in the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters, were given while on their way to the garden. The " Speaker's Commentary " supposes that they stopped at the temple on their way to the garden, and that the discourse was delivered in the tem- ple court. Certain expressions in the text give color to this view. Christ prayed first for him- self, next for his disciples, and then for all who should afterward believe on him through their word. Barnes says in his " Notes :" " It adds much to the interest of this prayer that it was offered in the stillness of the night, in the open air, and in the peculiarly tender circumstances in which Jesus and his apostles were. It is the longest prayer recorded in the New Testament. It was offered on the most tender and solemn occasion that has ever occurred in our world, and it is perhaps the most sublime composition to be found anywhere. Jesus was about to die. Hav- ing expressed his love to his disciples, and. made known to them his last desires, he now commends them to the protection and blessing of the God of grace. This prayer is moreover a specimen of his intercession, and evinces the interest which he felt in behalf of all who should become his followers in all ages of the world." " THAT he [the Son] should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." Christ is the only source of eternal life revealed in the Bible. Without him no one can hope to obtain it. He suffered in order that " whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Eternal life is nowhere promised to the wicked. This cannot be evaded by saying, as Dr. Clarke does, that " men who are not saved by the grace of Christ, do not live, they only exist," and that therefore only the righteous have eternal life, although all mon exist to all eternity; for the simple terms life and death are used, and con- trasted. Thus, " The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6 : 23. The rich man in the mansion, or the poor boy in the street with only rags to shield him from the storm; the man in the prime of life, rejoicing in the fullest meas- ure of health and strength, or the helpless invalid whose body is racked with pain; the child of God, whose only thought is to glorify his Maker, and who lives continually in his presence, and the wretched sinner who has sold himself to Satan, and whose purposes and desires are " only evil continually,"—these all live, only under different conditions. If they die, they are all reduced to the same condition. The righteous are promised eternal life; but from this simple statement we cannot learn whether they will be happy or not; we are dependent upon other scriptures for a knowledge of the condition of the righteous during eternity. The wicked are threatened with death. This means that they will lose life, and not that they will continue to live, but under changed circumstances. " AND this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." That is, a knowledge of God and of Christ is that which will bring eternal life; and eternal life will so surely follow from a knowl- edge of God, that he who possesses this knowledge, may be said to have eternal life. The complete realization of the gift, however, is a future event. " Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6: 54. See also verse 40. " That they might know thee." On this expres- sion, Barnes says: " The word know here, as in other places, expresses more than a mere specula- tive acquaintance with the character and perfec- tions of God. It includes all the impressions on the mind and life which a just view of God and of the Saviour is fitted to produce. It includes, of course, love, reverence, obedience, honor, grati- tude, supreme affection. To know God as he is is to know and regard him as a lawgiver, a sover- eign, a parent, a friend. It is to yield the whole soul to him, and strivii to obey his law." Com- pare, also, with this text, 1 John 2: 3, and Matt. 19: 17. " I PRAY for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine." Jesus does not mean by this expres- sion to exclude all worldlings from an interest in his intercession; for John says: " And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world." In this instance Christ is praying especially for his dis- ciples. It was of the utmost importance that they should be preserved, and that their strength should not fail, for they were to be the bearers of light to the world. Afterward (verse 20), he includes all who should believe on him, even down to the end of time. And this practically includes all, for " whosoever will" may come. "I PRAY not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." Christ foresaw persecutions and afflic- tions for his followers. But he did not pray that they might speedily be removed from these perils, and from the temptations of this evil world, but that they might be kept blameless in the midst of wickedness. We learn that we are " appointed" to suffer affliction. 1 Thess. 3 : 3. " Tribulation worketh patience." Rom. 5 : 3. These very trials, that seem so bard to be borne, are the means by which God purifies his people and fits them for their eternal reward. See 2 Cor. 4: 17, 18. If we had everything that we desire, and had no trials or persecution, we should become so much in love with this present world that we would not make an effort to gain the world to come. W e would become like the world, and thus lose favor with God. The afflictions that we may have to undergo should tend to draw our minds from this earth to the heavenly inherit- ance. And when we think of that, we will nat- urally be led to consider what we must do in order to gain it, and by this means we will be kept unspotted from the world. " SANCTIFY them through thy truth; thy word is truth." The following comments of Dr. Barnes' are valuable: "Sanctification in the heart of the Christian is progressive. It consists in his becom- ing more like God, and less attached to the world; in his getting the ascendency over evil thoughts, and passions, and impure desires; and in his becoming more and more weaned from earthly objects, and attached to these things which are unseen and eternal. The word also means to con- secrate, to set apart to a holy office or purpose." All this can be done only by obedience to the word of God. " THAT they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." It was not the design of Christ that there should be divisions in his church. No stretch of interpretation can find any warrant in the Bible for the numerous sects now in existence. It is by being sanctified through the truth that God's people are to be one. There will be no dif- ferences in regard to doctrines or anything else, among those who have the union for which Christ prayed. That it is possible for all to see alike, the following text proves: "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be per- fectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment." 1 Cor. 1 : 10. The apostles continually exhort to this unity. It is true that there are true Christians in all denominations, who do not yet " see eye to eye; " but God, by his Spirit, will eventually bring all who love him, " in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God." Dr. Clarke's comment on John 17 : 21 is to the point: " This prayer was literally answered to the first believers, who were all of one heart and of one soul. Acts 4: 12. And why is it that believers are not in the same spirit now? Because they neither attend to the example, nor to the truth of Christ." " THAT the world may believe that thou hast sent me." The numerous divisions, and the dis- agreement in regard to faith and practice, among those who profess to be followers of the same Lord, and to be guided by the same inspired word, are the strongest arguments that infidels can have against Christianity. If all who profess Christ were " of one heart and of one soul," what might they not accomplish in the way of converting souls to God! Christians are not to be distin- guished by the name they bear, nor by wealth or popularity, nor by any badge, but by their perfect harmony in word and in deed, and by their love for one another. � E. J. W. ONE of the greatest helps in the Sabbath-school work is a love for the work. What we really love to do, we generally try to do well. Love is the grand impetus in the Christian race. If the love of God is truly in our hearts, we shall seek to do our duty, and advance his truth by every means within reach. NEW MUSIC! THE LAST IS THE BEST! JUST published by GEO. D. RUSSELL, 126 Tremont St., Bos- ton, a new book of music, 160 pages, entitled PEARLY PORTALS. BY D. S. HAKES, The music and words of this book are mostly entirely new, and well adapted to the Sabbath-school and social circle. It is receiving the most unqualified praise from all who have ex- amined it. The music is of a high order throughout and yet not at all difficult. Per copy, 35 cents ; $3.60 per dozen. B )und, 50 cents ; $5.00 per dozen. Address, �Siam OF THE Tmrxs, Oakland, Cal. BIBLE SANCTIFICATION: A CONTRAST OF TRUE AND FALSE THEORIES. BY MRS. E. G. WHITE. Tins is a pamphlet of only 84 pages, but its value is not to be judged by its size. � It is just what its title indi- cates: a faithful presentation of Bible truth on this important subject, and an exposure of the false theories prevailing in regard to it. Every believer in Bible truth should read it. Buy it, read it, and lend it to your neighbor. Price 10 cts. Address, � SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. THOUGHTS ON REVELATION, CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL. BY ELDER U. SMITH. Tins work presents every verse in the book of Revelation with such remarks as serve to illustrate or explain the meaning of the text. It is a new and harmonious exposition of that important book, and is designed to create an interest in its study. 416 pp. ifil1,25„ Address, � SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. Or, REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Mich. REVISED EDITION—JUST ISSUED. THOUGHTS ON BAPTISM. BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER. Being an examination of its ACTION, SUBJECTS, and RELATIONS. Also, a brief consideration of the Historical Evidences of Trine Immersion. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Price, postpaid, Paper Covers, 25c.; Flexible Cloth, 350. Address, � SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR. AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY PAPER FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN, DEVOTED TO MORAL, MENTAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. This paper is not devoted to insipid stories and religious fiction, but is filled with a great variety of that kind of reading which tends to the healthful development of the youthful mind. Its pages are made bright by the choicest illustrative pictures, and its columns are always full of useful information. As a Sabbath-school and Lesson paper. it is suited to the wants of scholars and teachers, and is calculated to increase the interest of all who read it, in thorough Bible study. The Sabbath-school Department contains two series of lessons, one for children and one for youth. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE, 75 CENTS A YEAR. All new subscribers paying the above price will receive the "Child's Poems " as a premium without extra charge. TERMS TO CLUBS, PAID IN ADVANCE. Price per Copy, Post-paid. 5 to 10 copies, � 60 cents a year. 10 copies and upward � 50 cents a year. Subscripticn for 5 to 10 copies will be taken for , ix months. Larger clubs may be paid for quarterly. ..t.'ddress YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR. Battle Creek, Mich. Or, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. Eke ($ign5 of Oe &um "Can ye not discern the signs of the times ?" J. H. WAGGONER, � EDITOR. J . N. ANDREWS, CORRESPONDING EDITORS. URIAII SMITH, OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1882. Scriptural Meaning of the Word Soul. 438 � THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. � VoL. 8, No. 37. INQUIRIES are frequently coming to us for informa- tion on the subject of the soul. It will and must re- main an open question until there can be some agree- ment as to the nature of the authority by which it may be settled. Unfortunately the world is getting farther and farther from the only true standard, the Bible, and placing more reliance on science-often " falsely so- called "-and philosophy. The Bible doctrine of the origin of man is largely disputed even by men who pre- tend to be teachers of the Bible. Where this is the case there is little use to offer Bible proof on the subject of the nature of man. But this is the only kind of proof we accept on such subjects; therefore we offer no other. That part of the religious world which believes in the immortality of the human soul, to this day accepts the sophistries of Plato as sound reasoning, and his conclu- sions as the highest form• of truth. Yet all are aware that Plato was ignorant of the revelation which the Creator had given concerning the origin of man. His philosophy was drawn from that of the Egyptians. And it is well known that Egypt has been the favorite home for speculative philosophy both inside and outside the Christian Church. What do the Scriptures teach concerning the soul ? We might here raise the query whether the Bible treats man as a being possessed of inherent immortality, of independent powers of existence, or as a frail, feeble, dependent creature, who will surely and utterly perish without divine help. But this is not our purpose at present. We wish to examine, as briefly as possible, the usage of the Bible in regard to the term " soul." It must be borne in mind that we have no lexicon in the Scriptures. Our ideas of Scripture definitions are de- rived entirely from Scripture usage. The English word " soul " is, in the Old Testament. translated from three words in the Hebrew. One, n'dee-vah, occurs but once; Job 30 : 15. Job is recount- ing the treatment which he received of his enemies. " Terrors are turned upon me; they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud." Gesenius gives the definition of this word as follows: " Nobility; trop. elevated and happy state, excellency. Job 30: 15." It has reference in the text to the great change which has taken place in Job's condition; those who had honored him before, then held him in contempt. He had fallen from his elevated and happy state, and his enemies rejoiced over him. It certainly has no ref- erence to anything which we now call the soul, and it seems strange that the translators so rendered it. As it occurs in no other place we can learn nothing further concerning it. Another is n'shah-mah. This occurs twenty-four times. It is from the root nah-sham, to breathe. It is translated breath seventeen times, referring to both man and beasts. See Gen. 7:21-23. Translated blast three times; spirit, twice; inspiration, once; and soul, once. Gesenius thinks it is equivalent to one definition of neh-phe.sh in one text, Prov. 20: 27. " The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord." It is rendered soul in Isa. 57 : 16. " For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made." In this text Gesenius gives it the definition of " breath, anima, vital spirit." These two words have but very little to do with the question of the soul. The other Hebrew word is neh-phesh. From this the term "soul" is always translated in the Old Testament, except in the two instances just noticed. It is trans- lated forty-three different ways, but this fact has no bearing whatever on its signification. It occurs 754 times, and is translated " soul " 472 times. It is trans- lated person twenty-six times, in the following texts:- Gen. 14:21. And the king of Sodom said, Give me the persons. 36:6. And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, etc. Ex. 16:16. Gather of it every man according to his � 1 Kings 20:32. Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I pray eating, an omer for every man, according to the number thee, let me live. of your persons, etc. � Esther 4:13. Think not with thyself that thou shalt Lev. 27:2. When a man shall make a singular vow, escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation. � Esther 9:31. As they had decreed for themselves Num. 5: 6. When a man or woman shall commit and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their any sin . . . and that person be guilty, etc. � cry. Num. 19:18. And a clean person shall take hyssop, � Job 18:4. He teareth himself in his anger. and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, � Job 32:2. Against Job was his wrath kindled, be- and upon all the vessels, and upon all the persons that cause he justified himself rather than God. were there, etc. � Job 36:14. They die in youth, and their life is 31 : 19. Whosoever hath killed any person [neh- among the unclean. phesh, soul], and whosoever hath touched any slain, etc. � Ps. 35:25. Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so Verse 35. And thirty and two thousond persons in would we have it. all of women, etc. In this text the word women is from � Ps. 105:18. Whose feet they hurt with fetters; he the same original, soul. � [his soul] was laid in iron. Verse 40. And the persons were sixteen thousand; Ps. 131:2. Surely I have behaved and quieted my- of which the Lord's tribute was thirty and two persons. self, as a child, etc. Verse 46. And sixteen thousand persons. � Prov. 16:26. Re that laboreth, laboreth for himself; 35:11. That the slayer may flee thither which killeth for his mouth craveth it of him. any person unawares. � Isa. 5:14. Therefore hell hath enlarged herself [her Verse 15. That every one that killeth any person soul], and opened her mouth without measure. unawares may flee thither. � Isa. 46:2. They stoop, they bow down together; they Verse 30. Whosoever killeth any person, the mur- could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone derer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses; into captivity. but one witness shall not testify against any person to � Isa. 47:14. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire cause him to die. � shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from Dent. 10: 22. Thy fathers went down into Egypt with the power of the flame. threescore and ten persons. � Jer. 3:11. The backsliding Israel bath justified herself. 27:25. Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an � Jer. 17:21. Take heed to yourselves, and bear no innocent person. � burden on the Sabbath-day. Josh. 20: 3. That the slayer that killeth any person Jer. 37:9. Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chal- unawares and unwittingly may flee thither. �deans shall surely depart from us. Verse 9. •The same. Whosoever killeth any person. � Amos 2:14. The strong shall not strengthen his 1 Sam. 22:22. I have occasioned the death of all the force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself. persons of thy father's house. � Verse 15. Neither shall he that rideth the horse 2 Sam. 14:14. We must needs die, � . neither deliver himself. doth God respect any person. � Jonah 4:8. And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die. Prov. 28:17. A man that doeth violence to the blood In all these twenty-eight instances the idea of per- of any person shall flee to the pit. Jer. 43:6. And the king's daughters, and every per- sonality is as clearly given as in those texts in which the word person is used. How could it be more clearly son that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had left, etc. � expressed in this text: " His soul was laid in iron," Jer. 52 : 29. In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezz ar i.e., he was laid in iron. Ps. 105:18. And in this: "The Lord hath sworn by his soul," i. e., by himself. he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty and two persons. � And so in all cases where the translators have rendered Verse 30. -carried away captive of the Jews seven neh-phesh by the pronouns. hundred and forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred. � Healdsburgh College. Ex. 12:16. No manner of work shall be done in that the incorporation will be fully effected by tha time them, save that which every man must eat. �so that certificates may be issuad then. It would 1 Chron. 5:21. And they took away their cattle; be better still if some could redeem their pledges by . . and of men an hundred thousand. Oct. 1, and thus enable the Trustees to meet some obli- Isa. 49:7. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of gations before camp-meeting. It is important that our brethren bring their children Israel, his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, etc. to the camp-meeting, and it is no small object to get all In these three texts the word man (neh-phesh) is the the young people interested in the school. It will be equivalent of person in the others. an excellent opportunity &rail to take observations of Under the same head come all the personal pronouns, the school premises, get acquainted with the teachers, as in the following texts:- � and learn the present and future prospects of this en- Gen. 37: 21. And Reuben heard it, . . . and said, terprise, and their own duties in reference to it. Let us not kill him. There have been calculations made for a term of Num. 23:10. Let me [neh-phesh, literally, my soul] Biblical instruction in the College immediately after the die the death of the righteous. Deut. 4:15. Take ye therefore good heed unto your- camp-meeting. Arrangements for this term will be perfected at the camp-meeting, and all who desire to selves, for ye saw no manner of similitude, etc. enter this class should be at the meeting. Especially Deut. 19:6. Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the those who intend to labor in the ministry should be slayer, . . . and slay him. � there. It is our opinion that ten weeks is too short a Dent. 22:26. As when a man riseth against his term, as most of those who need this instruction ought neighbor, and slayeth him, even so is this matter. � to take lessons in history, grammar, and writing, and Josh. 23:11. Take good heed therefore unto your- nothing will more effectually frustrate the design of the selves, that ye love the Lord your God. � work than for them to take too many studies at once. 1 Kings 19:4. And he requested for himself that he But we will not anticipate. Come to the meeting where might die. � the whole matter will be discussed and settled. Ezek. 16:5. Thou wast cast out into the open field, � BY very favorable providences, for which we feel to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast truly grateful, we have been able to do much more in born. � educational matters, since the Sacramento camp-meet- Ezek. 17:17. Casting up mounts, and building forts, ing, than anyone even imagined would be possible in to cut off many persons. � one year. Having an excellent school-building pur- Ezek. 27:13. They traded the persons of men and chased, a school in successful operation, and a conven- vessels of brass in thy market. Compare Rev. 18:13. � ient boarding-house under process of erection, upon Ezek. 33: 6. If the sword come and take any person consultation it was decided to organize and incorporate from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, etc. the College before the coming camp-meeting. When t If the reader will substitute soul for person in the the advantages afforded by this early action are pre- above texts he will find that they will correspond to rented to the brethren we are confident that it will m scores of texts which have similar meaning where the meet with their appro val. We hope that all who made word soul is used. � pledges to the school will b e ready to pay them by the To this list properly belong such texts as the follow- time of the camp-meeting. And all our people ought in to be ready to take stock at that time. We expect g:- 411. SEPTEMBER 28, 1882. �THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. � 439 The Third Angel's Message of Rev. XIV. THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES. THE terrible penalty threatened by the third angel is divided into two parts. 1. The wine of God's wrath. 2. The torment in fire and brimstone. The wine of God's wrath is shown in Rev. 15 :1, 7, to be the seven last plagues. " And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God.'' " And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God who liveth forever and ever." That the seven last plagues are future, and that they are the means by which God will destroy the living wicked from the earth at the last day, is shown by the following facts:- The wrath of God, as threatened by the third angel, is poured out in the seven last plagues; for the first plague is inflicted on the very class that the third angel threatens. Compare Rev. 14: 9, 10; 16 :1, 2. This fact proves that the plagues must be future when the third angel's message is given; and it also proves the identity of the wrath of God without mixture, and the seven last plagues. We have shown that the plagues and the wrath of God without mixture are the same. And wrath with- out mixture must be wrath with nothing else; that is wrath without mercy. God has not yet visited the earth with unmixed wrath; nor can he while our great High Priest ministers in the heavenly sanctuary, and stays the wrath of God by his intercession for sinful men. When the plagues are poured out, mercy has given place to vengeance. Hence it is that the seven angels are represented as receiving the vials of the wrath of God—the seven last plagues—after the opening of the temple of God in Heaven. If we turn to Rev. 11 :15-19, we shall find that the opening of the temple in Heaven is an event that transpires under the sounding of the seventh angel. And that account concludes with a brief state- ment of the events of the seventh vial or last plague. Now if we turn to chaps. 15 :5-8; 16 :1-21, we shall read an expanded view of the facts stated in chap. 11 : 15-19, and shall find that the two accounts conclude in the same manner, viz., with the events of the last plague. These scriptures show that the seven angels do not receive the vials of the wrath of God to pour out upon the earth until the temple in Heaven is opened. That temple is opened under the voice of the seventh angel. The third woe is by reason of the voice of the seventh angel. Chap. 8 :13; 9 :12; 11 :14. The seven plagues are poured out under the sounding of that an- gel; hence the plagues are future, and constitute the third woe. The seven last plagues are poured out on the living wicked, but the second part of the penalty affixed to the warning of the third angel is not inflicted until the end of the thousand years, when all the wicked are raised and suffer it together. This part of the penalty we will now consider. "He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever," etc. The final perdition of un- godly men in the lake of fire, is without doubt the sub- ject of these awful words. That we may rightly under- stand this text we call attention to several important facts. 1. The punishment of the wicked will be inflicted upon them on this earth; for the final conflagration of our globe is to constitute the lake of fire in which they are rewarded, each according to his works. " Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; much more the wicked and the sinner." Prov. 11 : 31. " But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men.', 2 Pet. 3 : 7. "But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Rev. 21:8. "For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4 :1. " And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth. Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them." Rev. 20 :7-9. The prophet Isaiah (chap. 34) describes the final conflagration of our globe in language which is a com- plete parallel to that of the third angel in describing the punishment of the wicked. Those who contend that Isaiah refers only to ancient Idumea must admit that the period of time described in this strong language must finally come to an end. And those who admit that Isaiah, in the language we are about to quote, refers to the conflagration of our earth will find, what follows, ample proof that that scene will finally close. "For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever; fiom generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever." Chap. 34 : 8-10. But this terrific scene of final conflagration is not to last throughout unlimited duration. For the earth having been burned, and all its elements melted, new heavens and new earth are to follow, as the present earth succeeded to that which was destroyed by water. And in the earth thus made new the righteous are to be reccompensed. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also; and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of per- sons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godli- ness; looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ? Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Pet. 3:10-13. " And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was sea." Rev. 21:1. Thus, however dreadful and long-continued the punishment of the wicked will be (for each is to be punished according to his deserts), that punishment will finally result in the utter destruction of all trans- gressors. All the wicked will God destroy. Ps. 145: 20. They shall die the second death. Rev. 21:8; Rom. 6:23; Eze. 1:4, 20. They shall perish, being consumed into smoke. Ps. 37:10, 20, 38. They shall be punished with everlasting destruction, being burned up in un- quenchable fire. 2 Thess. 1:9; Matt. 3:12. And thus, having been consumed root and branch, they shall be as though they had not been. Mal. 4 :1. Obadiah 16. (To be Continued.) Still Troublesome. THE war in Egypt, so far as pertains to active hos- tilities, is at an end; but the trouble to which this episode in the Eastern question has given rise, is in no degree abated. On the contrary, it now assumes larger proportions, inasmuch as the interests of other powers besides England now come into the question in ref- erence to the settlement of the status of Egypt. When France and Germany so unexpectedly left England to herself in the Egyptian struggle, England announced that if she bore the burden of the war alone, she would, when the victory was won, consult her own interests alone in the disposition to be made of Egypt. This stirred considerable feeling in the hearts of these pow- ers, but not enough to cause them at that time to act. Now, however, that the war is over, and England is in a position to carry out her intentions, the other powers will not be slow to act, nor modest in their demands; and serious complications may result. The following dispatches explain themselves:— " LONDON, Sept. 17.—The ultimate fate of Egypt excites keen discussion. The strongest feeling prevails that what has been gallantly won by the sword must not be whittled away by diplomacy; and Gladstone will have a difficult task to reconcile the wishes of the coun- try with the demands of Europe. " NEW YORK, Sept. 17.—A Sun cablegram says: The Eastern question is no nearer a conclusion, and the "unspeakable Turk" remains as difficult a problem for European statesmen as ever. Now that the war is ended, a question only partly foreseen arises: How will England avail herself of the position she has gained? The general apprehension of the European press seems to be that if left to herself she will scuttle the country and establish herself as the sole tuarantrix of the canal, or that she will bodily annex it, and bid defiance to the powers." The San Francisco Chronicle, of Sept. 19, 1882, in an article entitled the " Beginning of the End," has the following paragraph, which shows how narrowly the Turkish power in Europe has escaped final extinction in the recent trouble, and how slight an event may still bring on that catastrophe. It allows• but a few years at the longest, and in any event, for the continuance of that power. It says:— "Had the Sultan been left to his own counsel, it is probable that he might have interfered by force to drive the English from Alexandria two months ago. In that case, Constantinople would now be in British possession, and the empire of the Turk ended forever in Europe, whatever disposition future wars should have made of the carcass. The timely assistance of a conference of the powers saved Constantinople for a few years longer to its present possessors. But the events of the summer of 1882 have instructed, not the Turks only, but all the world besides, upon the feebleness of the Moslem power, and what comparatively trifling accidents might terminate it in favor of a great maritime nation like England." A London dispatch to the New York World, of Sep- tember 22, gives the following : " The Government is now beginning to realize the truth that there are many and great difficulties to be encountered in the process of arranging Egyptian affairs. Gambettist organs in Paris, to begin with, are demanding the re- vival of the joint control, with influence in the affairs of Egypt utterly unc:iminished. At present, however, the British Government does not seem disposed to con- sent to any such proposition. The old control is -be- lieved to have had a great share in producing Arabi and the national party in Egypt, and consequently to have led to the war. Further, it is held that France has no right to enter Egypt on equal terms with En- gland, having declined to take any part in putting down Arabi's insurrection. The irritation in France at being thus calmly and conspicuously elbowed out of the way, can naturally be imagined, and is evidently increasing every day, and may give rise to serious com- plications." � U. S. Couldn't Do Better. AFTER examining at some length the efforts of learned divines to give a definition of the antithetical and op- posite terms, " life " and " death," as used in the Script- ures, J. H. Pettingill, in his " Life Everlasting," p. 198, makes a generous recognition of the earnestness, sincer- ity, and ability, of their efforts in this direction, as quoted below. The difficulty under which these divines labor, is that they are under the necessity of making terms which are essentially opposites, mean substan- tially the same thing, in order to harmonize them with the current theology to the defense of which they are committed. Life to the righteous of course means con- tinued existence, with the inseparable accompaniment of everything which would contribute to the highest degree of happiness. But death to the wicked, which should be just the opposite in everything, not excepting the idea of existence itself, must be made to denote also continued existence, only with different accompani- ments. How to accomplish this is the problem with which they wrestle, some in one way, some in another but all of them betraying the embarrassment of their cause, and the weakness in which they find themselves involved. The latest stretch of agony in the line of definition is from Prof. C. M. Mead, who says: "Life means vitalizedness,' and Death is a state of unvital- izedness ' or rather devitalizedness!' " On which Mr. P. says:— " We certainly have a great deal of pity for the dis- tress these good Christian brethren labor under in get- ting at some definition of these two words—Life and Death—that will make them mean pretty much the same for both classes—that is, that will allow the dead sinner to live forever as well as the saint. No doubt they are very worthy brethren, and learned, and able' and are doing the very best they can. The fault is in the cause they are trying to maintain. Nobody could do better at it. The Old Serpent himself could not prove what he said in the same line." �U. S. THE members of the Southern California M. E. Conference have bound themselves by a resolution not to perform the marriage ceremony for parties who have been divorced on other than Scriptural grounds. no more 440 � TIlE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �Vol,. 8, No. 37. give Attistiifrit The Massacre in Alexandria. THE following account of the late massacre at Alexandria, is substantially as given by Sister Ribton and her daughter. It had been the custom of Brn. Rupp, Allegretti, and De Vito, to meet at Dr. Ribton's house each Sunday afternoon, and, after selecting suitable tracts and papers for distribution on ships, to visit such as might be in the harbor, distribute reading matter, talk with the sailors, and, when opportu- nity presented itself, to hold religious services on board the vessels. Saturday, May 27, Dervish Pasha arrived in Alexandria from Constantinople, and virtually took command. The following day the soldiers patrolled the streets with fixed bayo- nets, and on account of the excitement, Dr. Rib- ton did not go out. On the next Sunday, also, the ships were not visited. The consuls, by a public proclamation, besought the people not to make any demonstrations, v.nd the day passed off quietly. It was reported that Arabi had guaran- teed the safety of all Christians while he bad command. Sunday, the 11th of June, the friends assembled at Dr. Ribton's, intending to visit the ships. One of the number stated that there had been a fight on the street between a Maltese and an Arab, in which the latter was killed. Dr. Ribton was very busy writing, and at first was not inclined to go out; but his daughter, thinking that he looked tired, and that the fresh air would do him good, urged him to do so, at the same time inquiring if it was necessary that he should write so continu- ously. He replied that he wished to finish what he was writing so that if' anything happened to him, others could have the light Which God had given to him, and added: "If I die before I finish it, you must finish it," referring to some notes that were to be copied. Neither Dr. Ribton nor his daughter knew of the fight on the street, and finally they both decided to go. The party, which included the three gentlemen previously named, Dr. Ribton, his daughter Nina, and their landlord's wife and child, and its nurse, left the house at about four P. M. Sister Ribton, as was her custom, immedi- ately retired to her room for the purpose of seek- ing God's blessing upon their work. She thinks that they had not been gone more than five minutes before she heard an unusual. noise from without, which caused her much uneasiness. Soon she heard the sound of breaking glass, and a loud and rapid knocking on the street-door. Dr. .Rib- ton was living in a large three-story house with several other families. She reached out and called to the door-keeper, " What is it? pray, -What is it?" He replied that some drunken Greeks were making a row in the street. Still the noise increased, and a lot of goods were shoved in at the door for safe keeping. After locking her door, Sister Ribton ran to the top of the house, where those living in the house were assembled, and looking over the parapet into the street, she says: "An indescribable scene met my sight. I tried again and again to focus an eye- glass on the crowd,but failed. The uproar and con- fusion was something awful. People seemed to fall, but I could not determine definitely. House- hold and shop effects were taken and hurled about. Windows and doors were broken into. People were barricading their houses against much op- position. Finally our landlord, a Syrian Arab Christian, commanded us to lie down, for if the crowd should see us we would be killed. Some, however, would peep over the parapet. "The massacre in our quarter lasted until 6 or 6 : 30, P. m. Soon after it ceased, De Vito came to see me. He was attacked while returning from the harbor, and could scarcely tell how he escaped. An Arab struck at him, but he warded off the blow with his umbrella. At 9 r. M., Nina was brought to me in safety, but covered with bruises, and portions of her clothing saturated with blood." From Nina's account we give the following. While on board the ships she noticed that the officers were using their eye-glasses in the direc- tion of the English men of war, and that these ships were signaling to each other in an unusual manner. The flags were running up and down very fast. On board ono of the vessels Rupp asked what this signaling meant, but received no satisfactory answer. The Arab who took them in his boat from one ship to another, becoming very angry at some affront that was given him, gave expression to violent threats against the Chris- tians, and they had intimation that something had happened on shore, but were not alarmed. On arriving at the landing, they found several vessels, but noticed that no one was landing from them. Two or three Arab officers were standing on shore, to prevent, it was said, the mariners from landing. The absurdity of so small a force opposing the mariners caused our friends con- siderable merriment, and the remark was made by one of the party, " What fools these Arabs are, and what ideas they have of themselves and for- eign forces." We give Nina's account of what followed, in her own words: " Up to this moment we had not the slightest idea that any danger was at hand. Several other small boat-loads landed, and pre- ceded us. We met our bow nqb (door-keeper) with another Arab, carrying large sticks in their hands, of whom we inquired, What is the mat- ter? Who sent you here ? ' They replied that they had come for our landlord's wife and child. They then said something in Arabic, which I did not understand, and Mrs. — became very much frightened. 1 said, Pray, what is the matter ? ' She replied, � am so frightened I cannot under- stand a word be is saying.' The only thing I could understand from her that they said, was, 'Hurry home, for there has been a great row, and now it is over. You must hurry home before any- thing more happens.' " We afterward learned that the massacre bad been fixed at 6 r. m., when all the Europeans would be out walking or driving with their wives and children, so that they could be easily made way with; but the Maltese affair taking place at 2 r. 31. had hastened matters. It prinQipally took place in the great square, and did not reach the part where we were to pass until about 6 o'clock. When we landed we found, to our surprise, the gate closed, which w is not usually done till 9 P. m. We passed through a small passage at one side, where there were from fifteen to twenty soldiers. A little farther on we saw soldiers posted right and left, flourishing their bayonets. They cried out to us to 'Go on, go on.' We had not gone far before we saw some Arabs dragging a dead man by the feet. Still we thought that the fight was over, and that we might get home before there was any more commotion. In less than five minutes, however, we met a crowd of people rushing toward us, followed by Arabs who were beating them with their clubs. Seeing them coming, I said to papa, 'Let us turn into this narrow street;" but he thought it not best to do so. The soldiers immediately closed in behind us, and pressed us forward, with their bayonets, among the deathly strokes of the Arabs' clubs. We bad agreed to keep together, but Allegretti and De Vito became separated from us, also papa for a few steps. Rupp tried to seize my hand, but the pressure of the crowd soon separated us, and I saw him turn to the left in the direction of the police station, we supposed to seek protection, and where he was stabbed to death by the soldiers. " The moment Rupp let go my hand, I saw papa fall, and then I fell, but soon rose again, and saw him rise from the ground near by me, and run back to the side of the street, in a stooping posi- tion. But the blows soon felled him again. I came near him, and stood defending my head with my arms, and noticed that he did not move. Still the beating went on. Soon some Arabs began to lift him by the feet to take him away. At this moment a big Arab seized me and rushed back the way we had come. I resisted, but a soldier threatened me with his bayonet, and told me to go on or he would kill me. Thus by forcibly dragging, or carrying me, the Arab took me into a by-street. As I was crying, 'Papa,' he told me to be quiet or he would kill me, and that my father was dead; but I thought that he was deceiv- ing me. Several tried to strike me, but he pre- vented them from doing so. As we were passing a house a Sheik rushed out and demanded me. The Arab refused to give me up, but the Sheik was the stronger, especially as I struggled to get away. The Sheik took me into his house, and his wife and daughter were very kind. They were alarmed by my crying, and made me stop, for they said people would come in and kill us all. An Englishman and a Frenchman had also taken refuge there. The whole affair, from the attack on us till I was carried away, lasted but three or four minutes. The yelling and blows were fear- ful. One would strike a person, and another would finish killing him, and still another would drag him away. "After a while our door-keeper came for me with a servant from our house, but I was afraid to go with them. Then the Sheik's wife dressed me in an Arab's veil and sent her brother with us. Thus disguised I went with them to my mother, but they cautioned me not to speak in the street. On the way I had to step in pools of blood. When I got home, blood was found on the shoul- ders of my dress where the bloody clubs struck me. All the lower part of my dress and my shoes were stained with blood from the street. I received blows on my side, back of my neck and head, on my right shoulder and arm." Vigorous measures were taken to recover the bodies of Dr. Ribton and his companions, but it was not until Tuesday morning that Sister Ribton heard anything from them. She then went to the hospital to which her husband's body bad been removed, but could only recognize it by his hair. After killing their victims, the Arabs dis- figured them by dragging them on the ground by the feet, face downward. Sister Ribton and her daughter remained in their house until Friday, when, through the kind- ness of an American gentleman, they reached a vessel which was under command of the English. It was only by tact that they succeeded in reach- ing the vessel without being robbed. The charges for the carriage and boat were enormous, and they were obliged to " bribe the Arabs right and left " in order to get through the city. On board this vessel they remained until Monday night, when they were transferred to a coal vessel, and placed in the hold, where they nearly suffocated. From this suffering condition they were relieved Wed- nesday. The next week Saturday they arrived at Malta, where they took passage on a vessel bound from Australia to London, and arrived there on the thirteenth of July. On Wednesday evening, the ninteenth, they left for Ireland, and arrived at Sr. Ribton's sister's the twenty-first of July. � S. N. HASKELL. Tract and Missionary Societies. ARE they necessary? and who should be mem- bers? These aro questions often propounded, and, being of such vast importance, are worthy of serious consideration. That those who realize little or nothing of the magnitude of our work in bearing the last message of warning to the world, stand aloof, I do not wonder. For the special object of enlisting the co-operation of some who do love the truth, and are anxious to have others brought under its hallowed influence, I present the following:— It is absolutely necessary that we have system in doing our work, and very desirable that all who are workers, be united together. Our Father has given to his children a diversity of talents. To some, a financial ability; to others, more of a love for literary attainments. Circumstances may have favored the cultivation and the growth of these natural qualifications, to the neglect of others, so that the latter are exceedingly small. Persons of each of these classes embrace this present truth. They are surrounded by those who are sitting in darkness, and will perish un- less their minds are illuminated with the light of this message. Their souls reach out for their salvation. But what can be done? The Brother A or Sister B who has property, orders a club of twenty or fifty SIGNS, circulates, and mails them weekly to different parties; but, with no personal effort, the probabilities are against their success. God has made us social beings. A word "fitly spoken " would be to some of those readers like an apple of gold in a picture of silver. But, unfortunately, Bro. A is not prepared to " fitly " speak that encouraging or convincing word, and the good seed is left to die for want of proper care. And very probably Bro. A becomes dis- couraged, thinks that' is not the way to sow seed, discontinues his SIGNS, and himself becomes, at best, like a fruitless branch, and is " nigh unto cursing." How is it with Sister C or Brother D? They have an education and a desire to work, but are destitute of the means necessary to pay for a large supply of reading matter, pay postage, etc. They, however, cannot be idle, and by writing letters, are setting forth the principles of our SEPTEMBER 28, 1882. �THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. � 441 faith. The process is laborious; it takes so much of their time that but few subjects can be served. Can anything be done to make each of these persons more efficient in his efforts? Certainly; but let these different talents unite, and the in- fluence of each is increased many fold. But this would be a missionary society. • Permit me to correct the idea that it is " un- fortunate " that one person is not endowed with such a diversity of talent that he can work independent of others. Our Father has made us social beings, and has ordained that " as iron sharpeneth iron so a man sharpeneth the counte- nance of his friend." You know how that is. One piece of iron, called a hammer, pounds an- other piece designed for a knife. Another piece of iron, called a file, is next called into action. Now, with the united influence of iron Nos. 1 and 3, No. 2 is made a sharp and keen and effectual instrument, for either good or evil. We will not say it is unfortunate that No. 2 cannot make itself into a blade, but rather that it is fortunate that it can receive the assistance of its fellows of the same class. Now as with the iron, so with these two classes of missionary workers. What one cannot do, that, by the grace of God, the other may accom- plish, and thus each may become a fruitful branch, on which precious fruit may abound. In many things, we stand reproved by the Great Teacher, for being less wise in our work than the children of this world. Will we not heed the admonition, and from him take warning? My brother and sister who are now standing aloof from the society, do you believe the Lord's testimony, that as " iron sharpeneth iron," you can sharpen the love, and inspire the zeal of others ? or do you disbelieve ? Do you say you can do but little, and therefore your membership will not aid the society ? But somebody is watch- ing, and being influenced, and will do as you do. And this is not all; you do not know what the result will be if you get among others, where you will be taken through this hammering and tem- pering, and filing process. You may come out a real, effectual, and useful instrument. If you simply give, as you are able, and let others use your means according to their judg- ment, you are deprived of a blessed experience obtained by being connected with its use your- self. In seeking directly for the salvation of some particular soul, there is an incentive to con- nect with God which nothing else will give; an enlarging of soul which nothing else will pro- mote. There are sixty-nine members of the N. P. T. and M. Society. We want 200 thoroughly organized and equipped—I mean, we want 131 earnest souls to bring $131, as membership fees, and unite their efforts with ours in the blessed work. Are any of you waiting because you fear some one else will receive a more honorable part of the work than yourself? It is an honor to have any connection with the work of God. To be a co-laborer with God is greater than to be a king; and he has the most desirable position who has the most to do, and the closest connection with God. � CHAS. L. BOYD. Salem, Oregon. Seaman's Mission, San Francisco. ITEMS OF INTEREST FOR AUGUST. Ship .1 � B --. The first mate of this ves- sel seemed much interested. He promised to write. The steward was a convert from Cathol- icism to the Protestant faith. He acknowledged that the Roman Catholic Church had changed the Sabbath, and questioned their right. He promised to thoroughly investigate our positions, and write to me. Three sailors signed the tem- perance pledge. The captain of the ship Iti•—, was much im- pressed with our views. He did not belong to any denomination, but seemed to have a desire to follow the Lord. He said that he could not feel at home with the churches of to-day, on account of the spirit of worldliness which seemed to pre- dominate. The first mate of the ship A— S—H— is a firm believer in the soon-coming of the Lord, and acknowledged that the seventh day is the Sabbath. He promised to study the matter fur- ther, and write. On the ship R—, we found interested ones. The captain, first mate, and sail-maker were all attentive. The first mate is a professing Chris- tian, but said that he was weak in the hour of temptation, on account of lack of earnest prayer. He was much encouraged by our visit, and we felt that the Lord manifested himself to us. The sail-maker said he would come back again if he was spared, and learn more of us as a people. The carpenter also seemed to think seriously of the facts presented to him. Let us pray for the light to shine into these willing minds. The mate of the ship C— showed an unusual interest for ono who heard the truth for the first time. He fully believed the Bible, and seemed anxious to know more of the truth. He believed the seventh-day Sabbath to be right, but wanted to study further before concluding his decision. The seed is sown; may our Heavenly Father water it with his spirit. We believe there is rea- son for rejoicing in this case, and we ask the prayers of all in his behalf. Ship B— C—. Three men on this vessel were much interested. They were from New South Wales, and two of them were converted under the labor of a missionary in Sydney. We believe their conversion was genuine, for a -will- ingness to follow the direction of the Spirit was manifested. We hope to report more fully on this case next month, and ask the prayers of all in their behalf. Four signed the temperance pledge. Ship I—of E—. The captain was much in- terested, and will study, and report. The carpenter has a knowledge of the Sabbath, and believes the seventh day to be the right day. Two of his friends in Port Patrick, Scotland, are keeping the Sabbath. Their names and addresses were taken, and will be forwarded to Bro. Loughborough, and the result made known on receipt of news from him. The Vigilant Missionasy work is advancing the truth more rapidly than we have any idea of. The Master's hand is seen in its' direction. Bro. Loughborough says that three persons whose names were obtained through ship work, have subscribed for the SIGNS for three months, and another has renewed her subscription. He also states that Bro. David Young, of the ship Moray- shire, has signed the covenant. Brother Young has written three letters to him, and states that he tried to present the truth carefully to his friends in Scotland, and they had him arrested. After keeping him three days in prison, he was set at liberty, in answer to prayer, and the cost of the proceedings fell on his persecutors. He says that some of his relatives are drinking the truth down. Thus it spreads. This brother is consid- ered by our brethren in England to be a thorough Sabbath-keeper. To God be all the praise for his conversion. Brother Tay has accompanied me in my visit- ing, and will take charge of the ships visiting Oaland wharf. His knowledge of the truth, and his former seafaring life ' will aid materially in this branch of the work. We expect a busier season this fall than last. The Master has precious jewels which may be gathered by means of this mission, and we pray that we may be deemed worthy to labor to the end, and bring souls to the knowledge of life everlasting through our Lord Jesus Christ. � II. C. PALMER. San Francisco. ON the 1st day of June we began tent-meetings in this city. We closed them and took down our tent on the 3d day of September. During the time we moved the tent once, thus holding two series of meetings. We had as good freedom in preaching the present truth in these meetings as we ever enjoyed. The Lord was present with his Spirit and blessing many times. As we canvassed the different points of our faith, our confidence was made stronger and our hone brighter. We did not have as large an attendance from the outside as we had hoped for, but the most of those who did attend were steady hearers, and became deeply interested. Our congregation was never less than fifty, and sometimes reached three hundred. The result has been up to this date, that ten have joined the church, eight of whom decided to keep the Sabbath during our effort here with the tent. Sixteen have signed the covenant to keep all the commandments of God and faith of Jesus, who have not yet joined the church. We hope for most of these to join not far in the future. There aro also a few who are keeping the Sabbath who have not signed the covenant. Some of these we hope will come fully into the truth. Quito a large amount of books was sold, and many tracts were given away. Voluntary con- tributions were received to the amount of $79.60. But this is not all. The church has been built up and greatly strengthened by the meetings. Wrongs of long standing have been adjusted, and there seems now to be a good degree of love and fellowship existing. The church has withdrawn fellowship from three of its members, which leaves it in a better condition spiritually. When we began tent-meetings here the first of June, the Sabbath-meeting was attended by about forty. Now the number is fully double. The Sabbath-school has increased at least one third. Courage has filled the hearts of the de- sponding; life and energy has taken the place of a careless indifference. There has been a general reviving in every branch of the work, and we hope for good results. The Lord is blessing the church by giving them his Spirit, and they have gained an experience that will be valuable to them as they go through the perils before us. I. D. VAN HORN. San Francisco, Sept. 19, 1882. Hollister and Salinas. B OLLISTER.—The work in this place is moving forward slowly. Since taking down the tent wo have found many who were interested, whO had attended but a few of our meetings. We have been visiting these, and holding four or five meet- ings per week in a good hall, which was offered free of charge. The attendance is small, and most of the work is done by visiting. Eight have signed the covenant, and several others are obey- ing the commandments. We have baptism next week. SALINAS.—We were with the church in this place Sabbath the 16th, gave three discourses, warning them against the dangers which threaten to impede their progress. Found four more ready to sign the covenant. The work is onward in Salinas, and will surely prosper. But those con- nected with the cause of Christ will have to learn to " endure hardness as good soldiers of the cross of Christ." Those who cease to exalt self and seek him with their whole heart, the Lord will keep " from the strife of tongues." Ps. 31 :20 It is time for all to forget self and exalt God and his truth. Hollister, Cal., Sept. 22, 1882. G. D. BALLOU, A. BRORSEN. A GOOD EXAMPLE.—A poodle dog belonging to a gentleman in Chester, England, was in the habit of not only going to church, but remaining quietly in the pew during service, whether his master was there or not. One Sunday the dam at the head of the lake in that neighborhood gave way, so that the whole road was inundated. The congregation, in consequence, consisted of a few who came from some cottages close by, but nobody attended from the great house. The clergyman informed the lady that while reading the Psalms, he saw his friend, the poodle, come slowly up the aisle, dripping with wet, having swam about a quarter of a mile to get to church. He went, as usual, into the pew, and remained to the end of the service. How plainly manifest is the goodness of God in giving us one day in seven in which to rest. The mind grows weary with care, the body be- comes exhausted with labor, and how blessed is the rest to both. More than this, the soul is benefited; it becomes renewed and strengthened by worship. Those who obey the command to keep the Sabbath holy, reap the benefit the Maker designed, while those who disobey lose both spiritually and temporally. No matter where the skeptical thought origi- nates, or how it gets across our minds, we see at once that it flattens the level of life and every aspiration. It narrows the horizon of our outlook, and makes our character less vigorous. The gospel is not simply a philosophy of religion, or law of life; but it is an apocalypse, showing the heavens to our thought, and so bringing its spirit- ual benedictions to every heart and lifo.—Dr. B. S. Storrs. 442 � THE SIGNS OF TIT I- TIMES. VoL. 8, No. 37. Zite e nm 01 1C THE RIVER. FAR up on the mountain the river begins— I saw it, a thread in the sun. Then it grew to a brook, and through dell and through nook It dimpled and danced in its fun. A ribbon of silver, it sparkled along Over meadows be-sprinkled with gold; With a twist and a twirl, and a loop and a curl Through the pastures the rivulet rolled. Then on to the valleys it leaped and it laughed, Till it stronger and stiller became; On its banks the tall trees rocked their boughs in the breeze, And the lilies were tapers aflame. The children threw pebbles, and shouted with glee At the circles they made in the stream; And the white fisher boat, sent so lightly afloat, Drifted off like a sail in a dream. Deep-hearted, the mirth of its baby life past, It toiled for the grinding of corn; Its shores heard the beat of the lumberman's feet; His raft on its current was borne. At inl t and cove where its harbors were fair, Vast cities arose in their pride, And the wealth of their streets came from beautiful fleets, Forth launched on its affluent tide. The glorious river swept on to the sea, The sea that engirdles the land; But I saw it begin in a thread I could spin, Like a cobweb of silk, in my hand. And I thought of the river that flows from the throne; Of the love that is deathless and free; Of the grace of his peace that shall ever increase, Christ-given to you and to me. Far up on the mountain and near to the sky, The cup full of water is seen, That is brimmed till its tide carries benisons wide Where the dales and the meadows ar3 green. Is thy soul like a cup ? Let its little be given, Not stinted nor churlish to One Who will fill thee with love, and thy faithfulness prove, And bless thee in shadow and sun. —Margaret E. Sangster. Lutetia. SUCH a flutter as the boys and girls of Mr. Pres- cott's class were in They had been given what they called a riddle, and as yet not one of them had guessed it. It was simply a word, about which they were each to write a paper to be read at the Wednesday exercises. The word was " Lutetia." Not one of the thirteen knew what it meant. " It is a girl's name!" Alice said, tossing back her curls. "I suppose she was some old queen or princess, who wore millions of dollars' worth of diamonds, and let her subjects starve." But the others exclaimed against this. It wasn't spelled right for the name of a woman. Fanny Lewis was sure of this, for her own grand- mother's name was Letitia. Who should know better than she how to spell it? So they wondered, and argued, and looked in the dictionary in vain, and groaned over Mr. Prescott's rule that none of them should ask their elders. " How are we to know things if we can't ask our fathers and mothers, or our big brothers home from College? " Kate Briggs wondered. " Books are the fellows to ask," said Stevie Brooks. So they asked all the books they could think of that would be likely to know, and learned nothing. Wednesday morning came, and the class were ready—for fun. Every one of them had made up a story about " Lutetia," and put it on paper; and each of them meant to declare that to the best of their knowledge it was the original story. One had made her a queen; another a nun; another a wonderful old grandmother; another a Gypsy fortune-teller. Nora Williams, the youngest girl in the class, and, if it must be confessed, the most unpopular (I don't know for what reason, unless because she wore faded, ill-fitting clothes, and thick boots), had been out of school for a week, and only ap- peared again on Wednesday. Somebody asked her if she had her paper ready for the afternoon. Yes, she said she met Mr. Prescott on the street, and he told her the subject, but she hadn't more than a dozen lines ; she hadn't had time to study it out. Nobody was intimate enough with her to ask what she had found to study, so they con- tented themselves with giggling, and wondered what her dozen lines were about. It so happened that her name was the last one called, and she sat in wide-eyed wonder while the rest of her class read their queer, made-up stories, written as ..hough they were true. " Mine isn't at all like the others," she said doubtfully to Mr. Prescott, as she went to the platform, " it's just the truth." Then she read simply a statement that " Lute- tia " was just a huddle of mud huts, and nobody knew it was going to be wonderful. Then she told a little bit about the city after it received its now name; how the river Seine wound around and made two little islands, named " La Cite " and " St. Louis;" and that it was on the St. Louis side that the poor little forgotten Lutetia set up its mud huts. Then she said just a word or two about the wonderful " Hotel des Invalides," built for poor and wounded soldiers, and large enough to hold eight thousand of them at a time. Only a very little did Nora know about Lutetia, it is true, nor about Paris either, for that matter ; but the beauty of it was, as Mr. Prescott said, that little was the truth, and could be added to when- ever Nora had a chance to learn more. " How in the world did she find it out ?" won- dered the rest when they met to talk it over. They decided to ask her. Why," she said, "mother sent me on an errand to Dr. Carter's, and I waited in the li- brary while the doctor wrote a note for me to leave at the office, and 1 saw an encyclopedia there, and I happened to open it at Paris, and I happened to see the name "Lutetia." and there I found all I know." Nora was still a few minutes, and then, with her eyes very bright, said:— "I don't know whether I ought to say the rest or not ; but I don't know as it is quite right to say it all happened. I didn't know what to write, and I had no books to help me, so I prayed about it every night and morning, and I think maybe God let the encyclopedia open to just that place." Some of the boys laughed, and one of them whistled, and another said, " You're a queer chick 1" But some way, they all liked Nora bet- ter after that. —The Pansy. The Memory of Children. THE farmer has his crib wherein he stores his grain; the merchant has his store-house wherein he lays up his merchandise; and every lad has a shelf in his brain whereon he puts all his knowl- edge. How curious it is that a boy, like a mer- chant, can take account of stock and ascertain how much he has gained in the knowledge of things. But if he should undertake to make an inventory of all, it would take years to complete it, if indeed his lifetime would be sufficient for the purpose. Those who have most carefully considered the immense number of facts that a small boy has learned, are of the opinion that a lad at the age of five years has then acquired more than he can by any possibility add to during the remaining years of his life. He retains in his memory every separate fact. He has mastered the ordinary, every-day laws of his being. He has become familiar with the ordi- nary laws of nature. He has learned language, an achievement which has not been attained by anyone over five years of age. Of some twenty- eight well attested cases of infants having been carried away by wild animals and recovered, not one could be taught to talk. And further, a child learns several languages at the same time with the same ease with which he masters one. If the father, mother, and nurse be of different nationalities, and each speaks to the child in his veracular, he learns the three languages without apparent effort, and never fails of addressing each in the proper tongue. It is otherwise with adults. It is said of a certain missionary, who devoted much time to the acquisition of a foreign lan- guage, that with all his effort he was outstripped by his children, who were allowed to come in contact with the children of the natives, and that he was obliged frequently to call his little ones to supply- a word. It was a child who corrected his parent's prayer that " God would cat the Indians," the words eat and save being similar. The mind and memory of a child has no affinity for principles. It deals only in facts. Rules are to them a hindrance. Age has recourse to asso- ciation to assist memory; but children have no such occasion. For this reason a child can learn to spell much more easily than a man. it is seldom that a man can wholly correct his lack of early education in this regard. There was a colored school in the city of Provi- dence some years ago, in which the younger scholars were restless, on account of the restraint to which they were not accustomed. The teacher deputized one of the older pupils to hear them spell, as a means of quiet. In a short time they became famous in this particular, and the High School would hardly have dared to meet them in a spelling-match. The writer, together with the late Dr. Arnold, selected one hundred of the hardest words in the dictionary with which to examine these little girls and boys—such words as daguerreotype, belleslettres, diarrhoea, and the like—and no fail- ure was made till the ninety-eighth word. Had rules been given them for doubling the consonants, or in any other regard, they would not only have been of no advantage, but a hin- drance. If a child is compelled to learn rules instead of facts, it is an occasion for the interfer- ence of the society to prevent cruelty to children. Was there ever a child who so overcame the laws of its being as to be interested in grammar, which is nothing but rules ? If so, it was phenomenal.— Examiner. "More Than a Hundred Pounds." " HENRY," said his father, one day, " can you make up your mind to live at home and be a farmer ? " " I would rather be a tanner than a farmer, replied Henry. " Very well," responded his father, who was willing to let Henry follow his own tastes, as he was now seventeen years old. " Very well, my son, I will try to find a place for you." Very shortly after a place was found for Mas- ter Henry with a good Quaker. When the youth presented himself at the tannery, the honest Quaker said:— " Henry, if thee will be a good boy, I will do well by thee; if not, I will send thee home again. All the bargain that 1 will make by thee is that thee shall do as well by me as 1 do by thee." " Very well, sir," said Henry, " I will try what I can do." Henry now went to work with a hearty good will. He worked hard, read his Bible, was steady, honest, and good-natured. The Quaker liked him. He liked the Quaker. Hence the Quaker was satisfied. Henry was happy, and the years of his apprenticeship passed pleasantly away. Just before Henry became of age, his master said to him:— " Henry, I think of making thee a nice present when thy time is out." Henry smiled pleasantly at this scrap of news, and said, " I shall be happy to receive any gift you may please to make me, sir." Then the Quaker looked knowingly at Henry, and added, " I cannot tell thee now what the present is to be, but it shall be worth more than a hundred pounds to thee! " " More than a hundred pounds! " said Henry to himself, his eyes sparkling at the thought of such a costly gift. " What can it be ?" That was the puzzling question which buzzed about like a bee in Henry's brain from that time until the day before he was of age. On that day the Quaker said to him:-- " Henry, thy time is out to-morrow; I will take thee and thy present home to-day." Henry breathed freely on hearing these words. Dressing himself in his best suit, he soon joined the Quaker, but could see nothing that looked like a gift worth more than a hundred pounds. He puzzled himself about it all the way, and said to himself, " Perhaps the Quaker has forgot- ten it." At last they reached Henry's home. After he had been greeted by his friends, the Quaker turned to him and said:— " Henry, I will give thy present to thy father." " As you please, sir," said Henry, now on the very tiptoe of expectation. " Well," said the Quaker, speaking to Henry's father, " Thy son is the best boy I ever had." Then turning to Henry, he added, " This is thy present, Henry—A GOOD NAME." Henry blushed; perhaps he felt a little dis- appointed because his golden visions were so sud- denly spirited away. But his sensible father was delighted, and said to the Quaker, who was smil- ing a little waggishly:— " I would rather hear you say that of my son, sir, than to see you give him all the money you are worth; for a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.' " SEPTEMBER 28, 1882. � THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. � 443 Arrangements for Camp-Meeting. FARES. ALL who go by rail will have to come to San Fran- cisco first. The only reduction on the Central Pacific Railroad from usual rates, is by chartered cars. Seat- ing capacity, fifty adults. For children from five to twelve, half fare. Round trip as follows:— Woodland, $194 for car; to each person � $ 3.88 Fresno. $435, � " " " " � 6 6 � 8.75 � Lemoore, $550, " " " " 11.00 SACRAMENTO. Our friends from this place can take advantage of rates already existing, which are as low as $1.50 each way. SALINAS AND CASTROVILLE. Tickets for the camp-meeting and return will be sold at these stations,—$8.80 from Salinas, and $7.00 from Castroville, including camp-meeting baggage; no re- duction can be obtained for intermediate places, except for a larger number than will be likely to come. HEALDSBURGH AND SAN FRANCISCO. The San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad Com- pany have reduced the fare for us to $4.00 round trip, including 100 pounds of baggage, each. They have also kindly offered to give us a free pass for two tons of our camp-meeting freight, each way. Our brethren will find it best to have one of their number to each car, or each company to attend to the baggage and have it checked as if it was all his own. By doing this you will not be likely to have to pay anything extra for baggage. Some having more and some less than the rate allowed will not average over the 100 pounds each. TENTS. All who wish to be provided with tents, already pitched on the ground when they arrive, had better apply by letter, or otherwise, to the undersigned or G. D. Hager, Pacific Press, Oakland, at once, so that provision can be made in time. The rates will be as usual. Trains leave San Francisco for Healdsburgh at 7:10 A. M., 4:50 P. M., via San Rafael. 2:30 P. M., via Donahue. � M. C. ISRAEL. Religious Notes. —Barnes, the " mountain evangelist," is drawing great crowds in Indianapolis, by the excitement which he has raised. —Rev. Otis Gibson, of San Francisco, in his sermon before the Methodist Conference, held in Oakland last week, urged his hearers to work together for the preser- vation and enforcement of the Sunday Law. —Dr. Edward B. Pusey, of the Church of England, died in London, Sept. 16. From his zeal in advocating ritualism, that movement took his name, and was known as Puseyism. Although nominally a Protestant, he was actually a Catholic, believing all the Catholic dogmas, and was instrumental in leading many Prot- estants to the Romish Church. Of him, it was truly said that " he ate the bread of England, and worked for Rome." Could his influence die with him, the world would be better off. —The Vidette states that Judge Terry, the author of the anti-Sunday plank in the Democratic platform, " has got them into difficulty with God about the fourth commandment." We think our contemporary must be troubled with defective vision. We have seen nothing in the platform of either party concerning the fourth commandment, although they have had a good deal to say about Sunday. It is a fact, however, that most of the people, the Vidette included, are directly opposed, in practice, to the fourth commandment; a,nd we have the authority of the Scriptures for saying that, unless they act in harmony with its teachings, they will get into serious and irremediab'e difficulty with its author. —A young Methodist preacher, who had a tendency to " liberality," was advised by his pre, iding elder to devote himself to the work of saving souls, and the Cal. Christian Advocate, says: "We think. first of all, that a young minister should be a religious man, and then if lie thinks his business is not chic-fly to save souls, he ought instantly to quit preaching, and go to selling dry goods, or to some other profitable work. We, too, join the old elder, and with considerable modesty advise young ministers to try to save the people. 0 friend, ministers, for Christ's sake, let Darwin and Huxley alone, and preach Jesus and the resurrection." To all of which we say, Amen. We are only too glad to be able to agree with our contemporary. —The S. S. Times says there was never a 'country in greater danger from love of riches and the pursuit of wealth, than our own, and quotes the following from the American: "That covetousness is a more abound- ing sin in this land and age, than even intemperance, we shall not atop to prove. Any who may ask proofs of it s .ow that they have made very scanty observation of the moral condition of the country. Net only d it pervade the world' outside the churches; it is a deadly dry-rot in the churches themselves. So low have we got, that the right of a man to give his whole energy to :vetting money for money's sake, is no longer questioned; outside the pulpit, and rarely enough in it." And in this, too, the Bible student sees evidence that we are in the last days. See Jas. 5:1-3. —It seems that in the mind of Rev. E. H. King, pastor of the First M. E. Church, of Birmingham, Ala., the privileges of the gospel are to be accorded only to white persons. Color, and not character, is the test of fellowship. Very lately, Rev. C. L. Harris, pastor of the African M. E. Church, attended a service at the church of which Mr. King is pastor, and his presence caused some trouble, whereupon Mr. King issued the following card in the local paper: " In view of certain occurrences, and a misapprehension which exists in the minds of some, I desire to make the following-, statement through the columns of your paper: The First Metho- dist Episcopal Church in this city, of which I am pas- tor, is ior white persons exclusively, and colored persons are not invited or expected to attend." That such a man should occupy a pulpit, is a libel on the Chris- tianity that he pretends to teach. —Talk no more of the blindness of the early dis- ciples, in supposing that the Messiah was about to over- throw the Roman power, and sit on the throne as a temporal ruler, and that they would be advanced to high rank. In this nineteenth century, a man writes to the New York Weekly Witness, on the subject, "Shall Christians Vote ?" and says: " If the world- lings are the only ones who ought to vote and enter politics, and rule the nation generally, what will Christ do for officers when his kingdom shall rule• the whole earth?" Christ said: " My kingdom is not of this world," and " Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's," plainly showing a distinction between earthly govern- ments and his own. But modern Christians ignore this distinction, and think that by their votes they can Christianize this nation. The blindness of the Jews was slight, compared with that of their modern fol- lowers. —The religio-political leaders are piling up the authority for Sunday-keeping. One of them in a recent lecture said: "Sunday, as a day of rest and recreation, is not a new thing with us. It was not first discovered and introduced in America. No, the Spanish Cavaliers brought it with them from Spain to Florida; the Hol- landers engrafted it upon the old Holland purchase in New York and Pennsylvania; the descendants and fol- lowers of Frederick the Great planted it upon American soil and gave it root upon every spot where their indus- trious hands have touched our land; the Mayflower landed it upon Plymouth Rock; and France gave it expression in Louisiana. Indeed, it is a custom of our country, brought here from the fatherland. Dear to all men, and injurious to none." That is a formidable array, but we have something stronger than that for the true Sabbath. The Creator of the heavens and earth, in whose sight " the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance," has said to all men, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou shalt not do any work." Whom shall we follow, the creature or the Creator ? —If it were not so serious a matter it would be amus- ing to notice the inconsistencies in the popular com- ments on Mark 13, the subject of the international S. S. lessons. The Independent, on verse 25, makes " the powers that are in the heavens," mean the literal con- stellations. But on the verse following, And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds," &c., it says: " Probably still figurative. We cannot tell how far the figure goes; very likely through the whole description." That is, Christ's coming in clouds is figur- ative. Let us see how that interpretation will stand. In Acts 1:9-11 we are told that when Christ ascended, a cloud received him out of the sight of his disciples, and that two men in white apparel told them that he would come again in the same manner that they had seen him go into heaven. That is, that he would come in clouds, personally and visibly. See Rev. 1:7. But we are told that his coming in clouds is figurative; then of course his ascent must have been figurative. Then he didn't really ascend. But perhaps it was only a figurative Christ that is spoken of, and the angels were also figurative, and the disciples existed only in figure. Who knows? Oh, for a little sanctified com- mon sense in Biblical interpretation! —The Catholic Mirror, of Baltimore, announces the organization of the Catholic American Union of Cuy- ahoga County, Ohio, the political objects of which are " to support honest and just measures for the general good of the public, and honest and competent men for office, regardless of their religious belief or opinions, and to oppose men who deny to their Catholic fellow- citizens equal rights and liberty before the law." This certainly seems to be a harmless society, but one of the conditions of membership is this: "No one can become a member of this organization except he acknowledge implicit obedience in spiritual affairs to the constituted ecclesiastical head of the diocese." And the creed which all members of the Catholic Church are required to subscribe to, contains the following: " I promise and swear true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, prince of the apostles and vicar of Jesus Christ." When it is remembered that with Catholics Rome is always chief, it will be seen that the organi- zation is not so harmless as it seems. It will be objected that this obedience required is only in spiritual matters; but ecclesiastical and civil matters blend together in the Catholic mind, as shown by the history of the past. this, however, they do not differ much from the I majority of the Protestants of to-day. News and Notes. At Sevenford, County Mayo, Ireland, a thousand ejectment decrees have been issued against the tenants of one estate. —The town of Susanville, Cal., was nearly destroyed by fire on the 23rd inst. It is supposed to have been the work of an incendiary. —A contract has been signed for the laying of a telegraph cable between Lisbon, Portugal, and the United States, touching at the Azores. —Heavy floods have occurred in Northern Italy. The city of Trent is submerged. Verona is also inundated. Very many houses have been carried away. No loss of life is reported. At every station on the Russian railroads is a griev- ance book, in which the traveler may inscribe his wrongs in any language he likes, and which is periodically read by the authorities. On a recent Sunday, the visitors at Ridgeway Park, a summer resort near Philadelphia, drank $3,300 worth of beer. That is, they paid that much for beer; it was really worth nothing. —Vast prairie fires have been raging in Western Ne- braska. The heavy cattle ranges are in the devastated section, and unless rain comes, great loss is expected. Two men were fatally burned. —Dispatches from the South say that the yellow fever epidemic shows no decrease. At Brownsville, Tex., the river has driven many citizens from their homes. A large part of the city is inundated. —A considerable part of Iceland is suffering from famine, and there seems to be no means of getting re- lief. An extremely cold winter, followed by a summer in which the crops were scanty has caused the loss of most of the live-stock. Several companies of troops have been ordered to Fort Douglas, near Salt Lake, Utah. It is intimated that the reason for strengthening the forces at Fort Douglas is anticipated trouble from the Mormons dur- ing the approaching election, which is to be under the supervision of the Utah Commissioners. —An applicant for naturalization, who appeared be- fore a judge in San Francisco, in response to the question, "Do you believe in a Republican form of government? " replied, " No, sir; I don't believe in any goverment ex- cept my church." When the question was repeated, the same answer was given, and his application was denied. The papers contain the account of the carrying off of a little child who was playing near her home in Brooklyn, N. Y. After three days, during which time the police searched in vain, the child was accidentally found by a private citizen. For many reasons, besides the danger of kidnaping, the street is an unsafe place for children. It has been deemed a fact worthy of telegraphing across the continent, and probably to Europe, that Presi- dent Arthur, in default of other conveyance, actually rode in a lumber wagon, arid the chronicler adds that " the President was not ashamed to be seen in his trav- eling rig." If he had been, Americans would have good cause to be ashamed of him. —The heaviest rain-storm that has been known for many years has prevailed in the East, for several days. Bridges, houses, and railroad tracks have been washed away, and travel has been suspended. The storm seems to have been most severe in Eastern New York and New Jersey. It is impossible to make any estimate of the amount of damage done. —We have received a circular from the Warner Astronomical Observatory, in regard to the new comet, and stating as a " significant fact " that two comets were discovered on the same day. In the absence of any further information we are left to suppose that the only thing of which it is significant is that two men chanced to be on the lookout for comets at the same time. —Secretary Teller has decided that the Indian police may be furnished with revolvers for the better enforce- ment of their official authority, but the custom of sup- plying them with the best improved breech-loading rifles will b discontinued. No rifles and no fixed ammuni- tion for breech-loaders will hereafter be placed in the hands of any Indians, by the department. This decis- ion will commend itself to the good sense of all. The liquor dealers in the East are becoming alarmed, and, strange to say, the cause of their alarm is the rapid increase of prohibition, which they say is powerless against the liquor traffic. The Liquor Deal- er's Convention of Illinois conclude that they will favor a license system which shall make the trade respectable. As soon as they have succeeded in making the liquor traffic respectable, we will inform our readers of the fact. —The Married Woman's Property Bill, which has recently passed both houses of Parliament, repeals the provisions of the common law which made the husband absolute owner of his wife's property. A married woman can now hold and dispose of property, and make contracts, as if she were a single woman. The Inde- pendent, speaking of this advance over the old law of England, which made a woman in reality the slave of her husband, predicts that this growth will continue until women are politically enfranchised and vote on the same basis as men. 444 � THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �VOL. 8, No. 37. Eke *igits of Of (him. OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1882. Camp-Meetings. INDIANA, Marion, KANSAS, Moline, KENTUCKY, Custar, CALIFORNIA, Healdsburgh, TENNESSEE, � ALABAMA, Choctaw Co., Oct. 2-9. " 5-19. " 4-10. " 5-16. " 12-17. " 18-24. Sler FOR " Camp-meeting Arrangements," see preced- ing page. It is important—examine with care. Paying Pledges. AT the camp-meeting last year pledges were made to a considerable amount toward the payment of church debts. Recently, among other sums given, Bro. M. J. Church, of Fresno, paid $1,000 on the debt on San Francisco church. This is timely help, and a great relief to San Francisco. " Who'll be the next ? " Sanctification. THE excellent articles on this subject, by Mrs. E. G White, will be given in several numbers, and we bespeak for them a careful reading. And we think we need not apologize to our readers for giving another article on the same subject on the fourth page (whole number 436) of this paper. It is from the California Christian Advocate. We are pleased to find such an article in the Advocate. It is sound doctrine, and clear in statement, and cannot fail to have a good effect wherever it is read. Camp-Meeting Prospects. THE prospects for a successful camp-meeting in this State were never better than at this time. There has been an early rain in California, since which the weather is warm, and there is every probability that it may continue so for some time, as is usually the case after the first rain in this State. Our Job Office has got out the best looking poster, or large advertising sheet of the camp-meeting, that we have ever seen for any such meeting. It is a splendid advertisement of both the meeting and the office. The number of preachers who will be present is larger than at any previous annual gathering in Cali_ fornia. It will be a favorable circumstance that a few wearied ones will not have to bear the entire burden Of this meeting. And the present political crisis in this State makes our work very important at this time. Every one who loves the truth ought to be inquiring *hat he can do to further the good work. Come one—come all. Come early, and stay till the close. Death of Dr. Ribton. The College Boarding-House. OUR new building is progressing well under the hands of the few men at work on it, but more men are needed on the job. We want a number of first-class carpenters. Any such coming to Healdsburgh with a view to work- ing on the building after camp-meeting, would do well to bring his tools, so that he can begin work without delay after the meeting closes. � W. C. WHITE. Special Edition of the Signs. WE have dropped the name Supplement, because it did not exactly express the idea which we wished to convey, and named our campaign edition the "Special Edition." The present Sunday excitement in California is the first installment of that which is to shake the whole nation. Believing that our brethren everywhere ought to understand the progress of this work here, we have mailed the first two numbers together to all our regular subscribers, and to all the tract societies. The pages are stereotyped, and a large number has already been printed. And we think our brethren need all the num- bers, that they may understand the matter until the end. Soon after the election, we presume it will be possible to give all necessary attention to it in the regu- lar edition. The sending out of these two numbers has involved considerable outlay, and we ask those who receive them to assist us in the work. And we hope we may receive many orders for all the numbers. One society in the East has already ordered one hundred copies. Railroad Accident at Temescal. LAST Friday afternoon, at 6 o'clock, the dummy on the road from Temescal to the University ran over and killed a young man by the name of Albert Wright. He was a deaf mute. The engineer made the following statement, which we copy from the Oakland Times:— " He states that at the time of the accident he saw a large crowd of people crossing the track, and kept his bell ringing; that the boiler in the engine concealed the right-hand side of the track from view, and the first intimation he had of the accident was hearing the dinner-pail of deceased knock against the dummy, and feeling the jolt as the engine passed over his body; that he had the reverse lever on at the time, and no steam on; that the engine was stopped within its length, and that he got out of his cab and helped to carry the in- jured man into the hotel." He made the same statement before the coroner's jury, who exonorated him from blame. That may be all right; but what about the management in using a track where large crowds daily cross, with such an arrangement that the engineer cannot see the whole of the track ahead of him ? There is work for another jury in that case. By the loss of her son, Sister Wright loses her earthly dependence for support. But she has the sympathy of many friends, and, above all, has "the blessed hope " to sustain her. , St. Helena Health Retreat. AFTER many unavoidable delays the Health Retreat is in operation as a Sanitarium. According to the announcement made some time since in the SIGNS, Dr. Chase is now at Crystal Springs as a resident physician, with Mrs. Dr. C. F. Young as assistant. Now is the time for those who wish to assist this important enterprise to come forward, for improvements and additions must be made, especially to the bathing department. Means are needed which ought to be furnished very soon in order to increase its facilities and usefulness. A large patronage is expected as soon as the facilities will war- rant advertising for it. No time ought to be lost, for the work which can and should be done there is much needed. (pfrointraent5, Healdsburgh Camp-Ground, Hassett's Grove. • THROUGH the kindness of Mr. Hassett, we will occupy the same grove for our camp-meeting that we occupied three years ago. All who were there will remember it as being a very pleasant place. The cars run close to the grove, and will stop during the time of the meeting, to leave passengers and their baggage. Those coming to the meeting can ask the conductor to leave them there. We can get horses fed at Mr. Hassett's barn for $1.50 per week per head, or pastured for $1.00. Will as many of the brethren as can, come three or foar days before the meeting commences to assist in making prepatations ? And we would extend an earnest invitation to every brother and sister in the State to be present. We believe these privileges in the future will be very few. The last conflict of the people of God with the powers of the earth, is fast approaching. Come up to this important gathering and let us all seek the Lord together, and get our spiritual strength renewed, that we may be able to go through the conflict and come out on the side of victory. � N. C. MC'CLURE. V. HARMON. D. HAGAR. California Conference. THE eleventh annual meeting of the California Con- ference will be held in connection with the camp- meeting at Healdsburgh, commencing October 5, 1882. Every organized church of twenty or less members is entitled to one delegate, and an additional one for every fifteen members over that number. Unorganized com- panies and isolated brethren should also be represented in person or by letter, so that the wants of the cause in the State may be known. Ministers and licentiates, and others laboring in the Conference, are requested to make out a written report of labor, time, and expenses, to October 1, the close of the present Conference year, and hand it in at the first session. Conference business will be disposed of during the early part of the meeting, that all the time possible may be devoted to spiritual matters;• delegates are therefore requested to be on the ground at the com- mencement. All letters pertaining to Conference busi- ness should be addressed to Mrs. Barbara C. Rice, Healdsburgh. Brethren and Sisters, we would invite every one of you to read Mal. 3:10, and fulfill that scripture that we may have the promised blessing at our camp-meet- ing, and also that the expenses of the Conference which have been larger than usual this year, may be met. We have purchased three new preaching tents, a 50 ft., a 40 ft., and a 24x36 ft. We have had more laborers in the field this year than ever before, which will ac- count for the increase of expenses. Church Clerks and Treasurers will please bring their books. � CAL. CONFERENCE COMMITTEE. California State T. and M. Society. THE next annual meeting of the California T. and M. Society will be held in connection with the camp- meeting at Healdsburgh, commencing Oct. 5, 1882. As far as consistent all pledges to this society or the Reserve Fund should be paid at or before the meeting. All District Secretaries and Church Librarians are requested to have their books there that they may be audited. � ALICE MORRISON, Secretary. California Sabbath-School Association. THE fifth annual session of the California Seventh- day Adventist Sabbath-school Association, will be held in connection with the camp-meeting at Healdsburgh, commencing Oct. 5, 1882. It is hoped that each school in the State will be represented. The Secretary of each school is requested to brinc, or send the school and class record-books to the meeting, for examination by a committee to be appointed for that work. W. C. WHITE, Pres. Model Sabbath-School. As IS usual at our camp-meetings, there will be a Bible-school held each Sabbath of the meeting, at 8:45 A. M. All are invited to join the school. The Senior and Intermediate Divisions will use the regular lessons in the Youth's Instructor for those Sab- baths. All the Primary classes will unite in using Lessons No. 27 and 28 of Book No. 3. For the very little ones, lessons are being prepared about the Garden of Eden. Let ^ � ,ny as can, bring Instructors containing lessor � •-w first and second Sabbaths of October. The ci � 'essons will be printed for distribution on the g. � W. C. WHITE. Cali. � Ti. and T. Society. THE third ann. and Temperance So, the camp-meeting ,at October 5, 1882. THE SIGNS OF �TIMES, PUBLISHED WEEKLY, AT OAR. � POR THE Missionary Society of Sever � Adventists. A twelve-page Religious Family Paper, deg �liscussion of the Prophecies, Signs of the Times, Second Coming i � Harmony of the Law and Gospel, with Departments devoted to � ,ce, The Home. Circle, The Missionary Work, and the Sabbath•schoL Price Per Year, � ----- � - � - � - � $2.00 In Clubs of five or more copies to one address, to be u � is- sionary Work, � - - - - - — �1.50 Address, � SIGNS OF THE TIMES � xl, Cal. -OR- REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, ELD. J. N. LOUGH �Ravens- Michigan. � wood, Shirley � ithamp - Miss ELIZA THAYER, Sec. N. E. Tract � ton, England. Society, South Lancaster, Mass. W. L Raymond, G � wort. THE article from Elder Haskell in this week's paper on the massacre in Alexandria and the death of Dr. Ribton, will be read with great interest. We have anxiously waited for some particulars of this sad event, and we are glad that, by reason of Bro. Haskell's visit, we are enabled to publish an authentic account, given by members of Dr. Ribton's family. Thus for the pres- ent ends the missionary work of Sabbath-keepers in Northern Africa. But God, who makes the wrath of man to praise him, can turn even this to the advance- ment of his truth. We cannot see how, but faith trusts where sight fails. The N. Y. Independent kindly advised our people to present the matter to the Secretary of State. But these missionaries were not American citizens. of the California Health be held in connection with Cal„ to commence WAGGONER, Pres.