/ ' ' "Behold I come quickly, and my rewarll is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12. VOLUME 12. OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, FIFTH-DAY> JANUARY 14, 1886. NUMBER 2. PUBLISHED WEEKLY, FOR THE International Tract and Missionary Society. (For terms, etc., see last page.) Entered at the Post-Office in Oakland. GOD'::3 PROMISES. LoRD, I believe! The cross of care That crowds upon my tired heart, I bring to thee! No other love Could lift the load, relieve the smart. Strength for the day thy promise gives; Because thou art, thy !Servant lives. Lord, I believe! The rain of tears That dims the weeping eyes to-night, Can never hide thy rainbow arch, Thy sign of love and life and light! In mystic grandeur, calm and high, It arches o'er my western sky. Lord, I believe! The Babel sonnds That ring upon my weary ear, Drown not the still, small voice that speaks In steadfast accents, true and clear. Lord, here am I! Thy will reveal, As at thy blessed feet I kneel. Lord, I believe! The cross is hard, The night is dark, and long the road; Can I forget the form that bowed 'Neath sharper cross and heavier load,- The wounded feet that here have trod, And marked with blood the shuddering sod? Lord, I believe! Mine unbelief, My weakness, and my wrong, forgive! Tried. trembling, troubled, let me touch Thy garment's hem, and I shall live. For, wounded, sinful, though I be, God's promises are all for me. -Advance. ®tntral ~rtirlrz. Christian H om.es. BY MRS. E. G. WHITE. OuR time, our strength, and our energies be- long to God; and if they are consecrated to his service, our light will shine. It will affect first and most strongly those in our own homes, wbo are most intimately associated with us; but it :will extend beyond the borne, even to "the world." To many it will be a snvor of life unto life; but there are some who will refuse to see the light, or to walk in it. rrhey are of that class spoken of by our Saviour, when be said: "And this is the condemnation, that lio·bt is come into the world, and men loved da1lness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." Such are in a very dangerous position; but their course does uot excuse any of us from letting our light shine. Suppose that because some ship had disre- garded his warning beae:on, and gone to pieces on the rocks, tbe ligbthouse-kccpur sbould put out his lights, and Sfty, "I will pay no more at- tention to the lighthouse;" what would be the consequence? But that is not the way be does. H0 keeps bis lights burning all night, throwing their beams far out into the darkness, for tbe benefit of every mariner that comes within tbo da11gerous reaeh of rocks and shoals. Were some ship to be wrecked because the lights went out, it would be telegraphed over the If these children bad been properly trained world that on such a night, at such a point, a and disciplined, if they had been brought up in ship went to pieces on tbe rocks because there the nurture and admonition of tbe Lord, heav- wa.s no 1 ight in the tower. But if some ships enly angels would be in your homes. If you are wrecked becnnse they pay no attention to were true home missionaries, in your daily lire the light, the lighthouse-keeper is guiltless; exemplifying the teaebings of the word of God, they were warned, but they paid no heed. you would be preparing yourselves for a wider \Vbat if the light in tho household should go field of usefulness, and at the same time fitting out? rl'hen everv· one in that bouse would be your children to stand by your side, as efficient in darkness; and" the result would be as disas-workers iu the cause of God. What an impres- trous as thuugh the light were to go out in tbe sion it makes upon society to see a family united lighthouse tower. Souls are looking at you, in the -vvork and service of the I1ord. Such a fellow-CbriRtians, to see whether you are family is a powerful discourse in favor of the drunken -vvitb tbe cares of this life, or arc pre-reality of Christianity. Others see that there paring for the future, immortal life. rrbey will is an influence at work in tbe family that af- watcb to see what the influence of your life is, fects tbe children, and that the God of Abraham and whether you are true missionaries at home, is with them. And that which has such a pow- training your children for Heaven. erful influence on the children is felt beyond The Christian's first duty is in the home. the home, and affects other lives. If the homes Fathers and mothers, yours is a great responsi-of' professed Christians had a right religions bility. You are prepttring your uhildren for mould, they would exert a mighty influence for lifo or for death; yon are training them for an good. r:rhey would indeed be the "light of the abiding place here in the earth, for selrgratifi- wol'ld." cation in this life, or for the immortal life, Lo A well-ordered Christian household is an ar- praise God forever. And which shall it be? It gument that tbe infidel cannot resist. He finds should be tbe burden of your life to have every no place for his cavils. And the children of child that God has committed to your trust re- such a household are prepared to meet the ceive the divine mould. Your children should sophistries of infidelity. They have accepted be tangbt to control their tempers and to cultt- the Bible as the basis of their faith, and they vate a loving, Christlike spirit,. So direct them have a firm foundation that cannot be swept that they will love tbe service of God, that they away by the in-coming tide of skepticiRm. will take more pleasure in going to the house Said Christ, "Ye are the light of the world." of worship than to places of amusement. He has committed talents to our keeping. Teach them that religion is a living principle. What are we doing with bis intrusted gifts? Had l been brought up with the idea that re- Are we letting our light shine by using them ligion is a mere feeling, my life would have been for his glory and the benefit of our fellow-men, a useless one. But I never let feeling come be-or nre we using them to advance our own selfish t'dom to train your child1·en for a place in his will find him precious to your soul, and all kingdom, to l:lecure for them a life that will en-Heaven will be at your commanJ.. "If we walk dure as long as the throne of Jehovah? in the light, as He is in the light," we shall have But bow mauy mothers there are wbo are so the companionship of holy angels. To "Joshua" far from God that they devote their time to it was said, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts: 1f their own gratification, and leave their children thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt to be cared for by unconsecrated bands. Or keep my charge," "I will give thee places to perhaps the mother sits at her work night after vvalk among these that stand ·by." And who night, while her children go to bed without a a1·e "these that stand by"? They are tbe an- prayer or a good-night kiss. She does not bind gols of God. Joshua must have a living, con- their tender hearts to her own l'Y tbe cords of fidiug trust in God every day; and then angels love; for sbe is "too busy." And is t!Jis as God would walk with him, and the power of God would have it? No, indeed! Something has would rest upon him in all bis labors. taken away tbe mother's reason, and what iP. rl'hen, Chrit>tian friends, fathers and mothers, it? Is it not a de::-~iro to meet the world's let your light grow dim-no, never! Let your standard and to conJ'om1. to its customs? heart grow faint, or your bands weary-no, Some may wonder why it is that we say so never! Aml by and by the portal::-; of the mnuh about home religion a11d the children. It celestial city will be opened to you; and you is becanse of the terrible neglect of homed nties may present yourselves and your childt·en be- on the part of so many. As the servants of fore tbe throne, saying, "Here am I, and tbe God, parents, you are responsible for tbA cbil-children -..v hom thou hath given me." And dren eommitted to your cnre. Many of tbem wl.Jat a reward for faithfulness that will be, to are growiug up ''"itl.Jou~ reverence, growing up J see your children crowned with immortal life careless and irreligious, unthankful and unholy. in the beautiful city of God l 18 [2} THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. Vol!.. 12, No. 2. Proxy in Religion. instrumentalities are concerned, is the individ- ual soul. It is not ]earuing, not the printing cross should there also read his commission. To him to whom the Master says," Go, work!" the church has no right to say, "Come, pay for your pew, and be idle." Thirdly, let every or- ganization of Christians be founded, not upon the hospital idea, the lecture-bureau iden, the social-club idea, but upon the anny idea. Camp followers and sutlers are of little use in battle: - Rev. li'. Mason North, in lnd11pendent. THE art of getting our duties done by others press, not the pulpit, not the churc·h, but the ~as come into high favor in recent years. It man. The true light is kindled in, and radiates 1s· practiced with the most ingenious skill eYery-from, personal character. The world sees the where. A man may, from his well-cushioned way to God by the light of flaming hearts. To pew ns a center, by the magic touch of a few shade the light by any medium, however artis- coins upon the passing contribution-box, reach tically wrought, is to diminish the power of the the whole circuit of his obligations to God's gospel. Neither sociul power, nor intellectuftl work, and go home to his dinner, his newRpaper, power, nor what is called the power of truth, and his nap with complacency and a quiet con-must be substituted for the power of the soul. Walk by Faith. science. A mother can get her children off to Now, in the growth of Christianity, bas this Sunday-school, and then rest fl'om all further power of the individual increased? Are there How HARD it is for a Christian to realize that responsibility for their religious instruction. A to-day relatively more or fevvel' souls who, im-walking by faith is uot walking by sight. All Sunday-school te:wher may make the connec- b~ed with holy zeal and flashing forth the di-of us are willing to trust God as far as we can tion between the mysterious mechanism of the vme light, are bringing direct influence to bear see; but only now and then are we ready to International system and her class on Sunday, upon other souls? Here, for example, is a church trust God against all appearances. In no one and, after turning the crank for the requisite of six hundred members. Eloquence is in the matter is our proneness to distrust the promises time, content herself that the system has dis-pulpit, art in the windows, at the organ, and in of God more likely to show itHelf than in our charged her entire obligation for her. The wo-the choir stalls; wealth and propriety are in treatment of the duty of Christian giving. A man of benevolence-fully posted. by the Char-the pews; and the number of souls saved an-struggle at this point perplexes a reader hom ities Bureau of Information, with a bundle of nually can be counted upon the fingers of the Northern New York, who writes: "In regard soup tickets and the certificates of the ''Clear-hands-perhaps on those of one band. Of these to the pr~vilege of giving, I feel deeply; yet ing-bouse for Consolidated Charities" in her bundred:3: what proportion do their religious through e1rcumst::wces too numerous to trouble band-can, while entertaining her friends in work themselves, and what proportion do theirs you with, I cannot decide on it satisfaotorily. her drawing-room, "dispose of" every "case" by proxy? How many of these voices are ever I hope you can help me. It seems to me that which appeals to her bounty. 'l'be devout beard in prayer or testimony'? How many are the Bible rule of 'one-tenth' is a safe and sure cburchmn.n, who finds his son or his neighbor watching and praying for unsaved souls: and one; but ~ bav.e been a little staggered by the in spit·itnal darkness, feels the agreeable meri-bow many are valiantly serving the Lord by remark of a fr1end, who said that rule applied toriousness of having done his whole duty when substitute'( Unquestionably it must be ad- to one's income, and not to the wages of a me- he bas advised the inquirer for salvation to mitted that the direct personal influence and chanie or to the salar·y of a teacher. l1"'or in- '' consult the minister." work of individual Christians are the least used stance, if a man with a family of two or three The fact is, we are in an epoch of marvelous forces that the cbnreh bas to-day. persons earns thirteen dollars a week, is it jus- inventivencRs. The new cotton-picking ma- Nor is it difficult to perceive bow the proxy tice to his _family to give one-tenth to charity chine, which, with two men and a mule, can do plan diminishes spiritun,l power in the individ-or cbnrcb work? Should a teacher on three the work of forty me11, is an agricultural in-ual, and so in the church. .For, first, much of hundred a year, with others besides herself to stance of what is now going on in the sphere of the initial force is loRt in the necessary fi'iction tbi~k of, giv11 thirty dollars away? Suppose, philanthropy and practical Christianity. :Th1:ules of so complicated a system as that of Christian ber'-ndes this, she bas neither time nor stre1wth and machines have largely taken the place of work in this u,ge. Heat is indeed developed; to do any Christian work except whn.t co~es men; or, to save the statement from unpleasant but it is tho beat of wear, not of power. In to her in connection with her daily duty, and allusions to a useful though often misunderstood many a church more treasures of strength and a Sunday-school class; is it her duty to deny fr:iend of humanity, ecclesiastical cont1·ivances wisdom are exhausted in supplying oil to pro-herself the pleasure of Rystematic giving? Or, are being widely substituted for the power of teet the bearings than are available for the do you think that, out of the scanty amount. the individual. It is not alone in politics that direct purposes for which the whole machine is she should give one-tenth?" ' the man is bidden by the machine. contrived. \Vhat aee wages and a salary, if they are not Christians have acquired the habit-and that Secondly, any man-and here we must re-income? But perhaps that objector who has puz- quite naturally-of "pointing with pride" member that "whether one member suffer, all zled o?r correspondent meant to say, that one- to the woJJderfnl development of the church. the members suffer with it "-any man vvho tenth Is to be giventotbeLord onlywhenitcan be Even her enemies bear witness to her greatness avoids religions duty and personal contact with spared without feeling it. There is a good deal by the ingenuity and force with which they the unsaved suffers inevitable loss; the loss of of that sort of reading the requirements of duty, seek to depreciate her. The opportunities and sensibility, then of sympathy, and hence of among Christian people. There are those who resources of the church have increased incalcu-motive power. Ceasing to work for others, he honestly do not consider the obligation of the ]ably, and her appliances have multiplied a thon-ceases to care for them, and dwarfs his power tithe of one's income as binding under the Chris- sand-fold; but in the very midst of this chorus to the stunted possibilities of the collection plate, tian Jaw. But as we rend the Scriptures, tbis of self-gratulation the question meets us: Is and the worse than fruitless formality of heart-obligation, like that of the Sabbath, preceded there an increuse of force proportional to the less prayer. ' the Mosaic law, and is recognized also under increase of facilities? Is there a possibility And, thirdly, power is gone when the sense the Christian dispensation. This being the that the mechanism of Christianity may retard of responsibility is gone. There is something case, we look upon one-tenth of the believer's or destroy its power? horrible in the eomplacency with which the income, like one-seventh of his time, as belong- It is clearly not enough to prove by figures, majority of Christians watch tbeie unsaved fel-ing, of right, to the Lord. either of arithmetic, or of speech, or of geom-low-voyagers sinh beneath the waves. Multi- It is therefore not a question whether the be- etry-for the demonstration by diagram is now tudes, elearly, are ignorant that in the gospel liever thinks be ean afford it or not. He has very popular-that there is numerical growth, economy, the conversion of a soul carries with no more right to keep that one-tenth for his and that wealth and socin1 inflnence are in-it u commission to work. Responsibility should own benefit, than be bas to steal a like amount creased. lmperia1 Rome after a time lost force rest upon the individual; he escapes it, and from one of his fellows. And because this is by gaining territory. With a limited water-sup-leaves it upon the church. his duty, be will find, as a practical matter, that ply, the more ditches for irrigation a farmer digs, The perfection of organization is not that he can more easily live within nine-tenths of the poorer crops be will gather. Admit the which relieves from pert>onal responsibility, but his income than within ten-tenths. Not until increase in the church; does it mean more ter-that which widens the upplication of personal. a believer has paid to the Lord the one-teuth ritory and more ditches, or more power? Pe-power. And we may well suspect the genuine-that belongs absolutely to the Lord, can he ter Bayne sornewbere sn.ys, "Some men are ness of that gro·wth which enlarges the organi-begin to give, of his choice, to the Lord. As a ever rendy to ride upon the car of civilization zation and diminishes tbe consciousness. It is practical matter, it iRa more cornmon thing for while oLbcrs push." There is an increase in very probably the growth of disease. If, then, a poor Christian to give one-tenth of his in<..:ome · the church. ls it of those who ride or those there be a rea.] menace in this tendency to bury to the I1ord, than for a rich Christian to do it. who push? Is the increment one of weight or tho power of the individual beneath the compli-It didn't look to the widow of Zarephath as if of power? cations of an over-organized system, is there she could retdly afford to give so large ~t share It should certainly be clear to us that the any way of averting such a ca.l:Jmity? There of bor scanty piLLance to the .Lord as the Lord's multiplication of facilities-in things religions is space for only one or two general suggestions. prophet a~ked for; but she bad faith enough to or things secular-is the multiplicn.tion of bin- And firl:lt, let religious teachers and leadert> do aR she was directed by the Lord to do; and drances, unless there is also a relative gain in aim directly at the development of spiritual she found that a part vvas greater than the the operating force. A scythe iH better than a force in the person, ra,tber than at the elabora-whole, when the part was used wisely. \Tho- mowing machine to the man who has no horses. tion of mechanism in the chureh. Christ's is ever, in any part of the wol'id, has a faith like \ViLh a compound le,·er a mechanic should be still the true method. He gave the world not, that widow's, will be most likely to have an ex- able to lift more tbau with a simple one; other-primarily, an organization, but a group of con-perience like hers.-S. S. TintP-S. wise the very complications of the former pre-verted men. Secondly, demand from converted vent the results possible with tbe latter. Now I men the active labor of converted men. Every the gospel's center of force, as far as human mun who reads his purdon at the foot of the EVERY misery missed is a new mercy.-Isaac Walton. JANUARY 14, 1886. Brief H,e:flections and Arguments. MEN refuse to keep the Sabbath of the Lord because the commandment is not repeated in the New Testament; and ,yet they observe the :first day of the week, for which there is no com- mandment in either the Old or the New. This s~ows that they are governed by custom, and not by revelation or reason. Those who ·would have the moral law of God abolished, close their eyes to two important things: 1. That the presumptive evidence is all in favor of the continuance of the moral code of the all-wi::;e and unchangeable God; and 2. That the Lord Jesus, instead of destroying it, affirmed the perpetuity of every jot and tittle of it, "till Heaven and earth pass." ~iatt. 5 : 17-19. Those who quote Reb. 4: 3, "For we which have believed do enter into rest," emphasizing do enter to make it appear that the rest referred to "is enjoyed by the believer here in this pres- ent life," need to be told that in order to ex- press th'at idea it should read, " We that have believed have ente1·ed into rest." As it stands, it. is in perfect harmony with the exhortation of the apostle in the same chapter: "Let u::; [be- lievers] labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall," or come short of it. Paul was converted to the Christian religion some years after all the J e\u2022Visb sabbaths were nailed to the cross, and c0nsequently were no more. If the weekly Sabbath was included with those, there was no Sabbath during his Christian experience and ministry. But the in- spired recorder of his travels and labors fre- quently teliB us what Paul did on the Sabbath, without any qualifying term suc;h as old or Jew- ish. If tbere was no Sabbath then, this lan- guage is well calculated to mislead the reader; but if there was a Sabbath tht:m, there is one now, unless it has been abolished since the apostle's labors were put upon record. While Paul waB at Corinth, it is recorded of him that "he reasoned in the synagogue eve1·y Sabbath." If the first clay of the week was the Sabbath at that time, the Jews opened their synagogue every :first day of the week, either because they had uhanged their day of worship to that day, or to accommodate the Christians, who, if tradition be true, had kept the first day during the twenty years that passed between the resurrection of Christ and Paul's labor::; at Corinth. But if Paul accommodated himself to the Jews, and these meetings were held on the day they ever had been, and still are, in the habit of observing, it follows that the first day of the week: was not the Sabbath at that time; for if it were, it would certainly be iP.cluded in the term "every Sabbath." Now if the first day of the week was not the Sabbath tweuty years after the resurrection of Christ, when did it become the Sabbath? R. JJ'. CoTTRELL. Christian Trust vs. Ung·odly Trust. TRUST is not always a Christian virtue. To trust one's self to a rotten plank, when a safe footing can properly be obtained elsewhere, may be a folly or a crime, according to the mo- tive which directed the action. This thought is suggesteJ by the recent words of a would-be theological prophet, who, forecasting the creed of the future, announces, as one of the elements of its fourfold belief, faith in the " drift of things." Faith in the drift of thingtl ! Alack! that is like enough to be the too common faith of the future; for it has been the commoner faith of the past. No transgressor of God's commnndments, no drunkard, no impure person, no deceiver of other men, but bas unlimited faith in the drift of things. Every day sees him sink deeper into the mire, every day, perhaps, makes his desire for deliverance more feeble; yet every day sees him eherishing the same old faith that some time things will take a turn, and he will come out all right. We might THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. (S) 19 more safely trust ourselves to the drift above Niagara tbrm to this treacherous "drift of things." This faith in the drift of things is not the faith of the Christin,n. His is ~1. personal trust in a personal Saviour,-through whose good providence he has faith, not in the drift of things, but in their settled march, acuording to God's ordering, from evil to good, and from cor- ruption to incol'l'uption.-8. S. Times. The Belg·:iau Strug·gle for Education. THE little kingdom of Belgium is a strong- hold of Roman Catholicism of the extreme type. Out of a popnltLtion of 5,000,000, not 50,000 are nominal Protestants. The c;hurch bas ruled the people with a firm hand, and with a bold affirmatiotJ of its divine right so to do. To maintain this hold, it must of necessity have the direct.ion of national education. This it their adversaries. It may be hoped, therefore, that the Belgian school issue will have a peace- able solution, when sober second thought has time to assert itself. W bat effect the threatened Encyclical of the pope against the Liberals may have is not cer- tain, but it may be expeuted to bring more sharply to the front in Belgium the real issue, which there, as in France, underlies the school question-that of the entire separation of church and State. 'rhe conflict will be long and se- vere, and, ns in the present contention, the dif- ficulties of the genuine Liberals may be inten- sified by the fed the sacra- Irata dynam-in .~o~s a:kataluton-accord~ng to ment to children who attended the public.: the strength ?f hfe Ind}~soluble. T?~ wnt~r to schools, and to their parents as well. It was the Hebrews IS contras;tmg. the Lev1t1Cal pnests not that the eductttion law banished religion with oue High PrieBt in the Heavens. 'riley from the schools althouah it discarded church were many, " because they \u00b7Vere not suffered emblems; for an' hour e:ch day was allotted to to con ti 11 u~ by reason of death; but he: because the priest for instruction. This, however, was be abideth forever, hath ct pTiesthood that doth not the control which the church demanded, not pass to cmother·." Mnrgin, R. V., v. 24. He and the privileo·e was refused with scorn. The abideth because be "was dead, and is alive for- struggle over the sc;hools was severe in the ex-ever more." And it is cer~ain that he." clieth treme, and the interest of the nation was roused no more," because he now hveth by a life that to a burHing heat. At t!Je expiration of three is in its nature i~d,issotuble. . . years, the Clerical schools still held a majority But were tbe life of all men thus mdtssol~ble, of the children; but the superiority of the Gov-where were th~ force. ~f the writer'~ :eason~ng? ernment institutions was beginning slowly to He reasons as 1f the. hfe of the Levi.tlC~l prtests tell. waR mortal, and as 1f they lost their hves, one The violence of the Clericals naturally beaat after another, by death. Such a terminable life violence in return on the part of the Radic;~ls. as that of mortal man is sharply contrasted In a conservative country like Beleats, still continued to impel their march towards the frontiers of Europe. rrbe power of the Sienpi, their implacaule ene- mies, which extended above 300U miles from east to west, must btwe gradually oppressed them by the weight and terror of a formidable lleighborbood; and the flight of the tribes of Scythia would inevitably tend to increase the strength, or to contract the territories, of the Hum;. The harsh and obscure appellatiOilS of those tribes would offend the car, without in- forming the understauding, of the reader; but I cannot suppress the very nu tural suspicion, that the Huns of the North derived a consider- able reinforeement from the ruin of the dynasty of the South, which, i.n the course of the tb ird century, submilted to the dominion of China; that the bravest warriors marched away in search of their free nnd adventurous couiitry- men; and that, as they had been divided by prosperity, they were easily re-united by tbe common hardships of their adverse fen-tune. The Huns, wi tb their flocks and herds, their wives and children, their dependents and allies, were transported to the west of the Volga; and they boldly advanced to invade the coun- try of the Alani, a pastoral people who occu- pied, or wasted, an extensive tract of the deserts of Scythia. "The plains between the Volga and the Tanais were covered wi Lb the tents of the Alani, but their name and manners were diffused over the wide extent of their conquests; and the painted tribes of the Agatbyrsi and Geloni were confounded among their n.t:-sals. 'To- wards the north, they penetrated i11to the frozen regions of Siberia, among the savages who were accustomed, in their rage or hunge1·, to the taste of b uman flesh; and their south- ern inroads were pnsbed as far as the confines of Persia and India. The mixture of Sarmatic and German blood had contributed to improve the features of the Alani, to whiten their swar- thy complexions, and to tinge their hair with a yellowish cast, which is seldom found in the Tartar race. They were less deformed in their persons, less brutish in their manners, than the Huns; but they did not yield to those formida- ble barbarians in their martial and independent spirit; in the love of freeJom, which rejected even the use of domestic slaves; and in the love of arms, which considered war and rapine as the pleasure aud the glory of mankind. A naked scimitar, fixed in the ground, was the only object of their religious worship; the scalps of their enemies formed the costly trap- pings of their horses; and they viewed, with pity and conlempt, the pusillanimous warriors who patiently expected the infirmities of age and the tortures of lingering disease. On the banks of the Tanai;:,, the military power of the Huns and the Alani encountered each other with equal valor, but with unequal success. The Huns prevailed in the bloody contest; the king of the Alani was slain; and the remains of the vanquished nation were dispersed by the ordi- nary alternative of flight or submission. A colony of exiles found a secure refuge in the mountains of Caucasus between the .Euxine and the Caspian, where they still preserve their name and their indepe11dence. Another colony advanced, with more intrepid courage, towards the shores of the Baltic; atisociated themselves with. the northern tribes of Germany; and shared the spoil of the Roman provinces of Gaul and Spain. But the greatest part of the nation of the Alani embraced the offers of an honorable and advantageous union; and the Huns, who esteemed the valor of their less fortunate enemies, proceeded, with an increase of numbers and confidence, to invade the limits of the Gothic Empire. "The great Hcnnanric, whose dominions ex- tended from the Baltic to the .Euxine, enjoyed, in the full maturity of age and reputation, the iruit of his victories, w ben [A. D. 375] he was alarmed by the formidable approach of a host of unknown enemieti, on whom his barbar- ous subjects might, without injustice, bestow the epithet of barbarians. The numbers, the strength, the rapid motions, and the implacable <.;ruelty of the Huns, wore felt, and dreaded, and magnified by the astonished Goths, who beheld tbcil' fieldt:J and villages consttmed with flames and deluged with indiscriminate slaugh- ter. To tbese real terrors, they added tbe sur- prise and abhorrence which were exuited by the shrill voice, the uncouth gestures, and the strange deformity of tue Huns. "rrhese savages of Seythia were compared (and the picture bad some l'esemblance) to the aoima.ls who walked very awkwardly on two legs; and to the misshapen figures, the 1'ennini, which were often placed on the bridges of an- tiquity. They were distinguished fl'om the rest of the human species by their broad shoulders, flat noses, and small black eyes deeply buried in the head; and as they were almost destitute of beards, they never either enjoyed the manly graces of youth or the venerable aspect of age. A fabulous origin was assigned, worthy of their form and manners, that the wit<.;hes of Scytbia, who, ior their foul and deadly practices, had been driven from society, bad copulated in the desert with infernal spirits; and that the Huns were the off!:>pring of this execrable conjunction. The tale, so full of horror and absurdity, was clined to second than to repel the invaRion of the Huns. One of the chiefs of the Roxolani had formerly deserted the standard of Hermanric, and the cruel tyrant had condemned the inno- cent wife of the traitor to be torn asunder hy wild hon•es. The brothers of that unfortunate woman seized tbe favorable moment of reveuge. The aged king of the Goths la1Jguished some time afLer the dangerous wonnd which he re- ceived from their daggers; but the conduct of the war was retarded by his infirmities; and the public councils of the nations were dis- tracted by a spirit of jealousy and discord. "His death, which ha3 been imputed to his own despair, left the reins of government in the hands of Witbimer, who, with the doubtful aid of some Scythian mercenaries, maintdy for the disC'ase creates the disrase, the remedy being introduced to cure that which with- out it would never have existed! Such an absurd- ity is too puerile to be entertained for a moment. The gospel mu:;t relate to somC'thing outside of and prior to itself. Since the gospel saves from sin, it is evident that sin existed before the go;pel, and that it continues to exist so long as the gospel exists; and since sin is the transgression of the law, it is just as evident that the law existed before there was sin, and, con:;equently, before there was any gospel or any need of it, and that it exists as long, at least, as the gospel exists. The testimony of men can never add force to that of the Bible; but to show that the view taken here is not a peculiar one among Christians, we quote from two men, both eminent for scholarship and piety:- " The ordinary method of God is to convict sin- ners by the law, and that only. The gospel is not the means which God hath ordained, or which our Lord himself used, for this end. \Ve have no au- thority in Scripture fur applying it thus, nor any ground to think it will prove effect.ual. Nor have we any more ground to expect this from the nature of the thi11g. 'They that be whole,' as our Lord himself observes, 'need not a physician, but they that are sick.' It is absurd, therefore, to offer a phy- sician to them that are whole, or that at least im- agine themselves so to be. You are first to con- vince them that they are sick; otherwise they will not thank you for your labor. It i.~ equally absurd to offer Christ to these whose heart is whole, having never yet been broken. It is, in the proper sense, casting pearls before swine. Doubtless they will trample them under foot; and it is no more than you have reason to expect, if they also turn again and rend you."-lVesley's Wo1·ks, Vol. 1, Sermon 35. "The law of God, in it:; great and solemn injunc- tions, should be distinctly set forth. Our congrega- tions should be gathered RS around the base of Mount Sinai, while from its summit is heard the voice of God in those commandments which are un- alterable and eternal in their character. The effect of these utterances will be, that consciences will be awakened, and hearts will tremble. Some will say, with Moses, 'I do exceedingly fear and quake,' when they behold the majesty of the law, the purity of God, and their own impurity. Others may be re- pelled, and will say, 'Let not God speak to us any more.' Some will object to the stern ness of the law, and will s::ty, 'Prophesy smooth things;' but still that law must be preached. It brings the sinner to a recognition of his sins in having transgressed God·s holy law, and shows him the fearfulness of the doom which is impending over him. "The law must be followed by the gospel; the awakened sinner must be pointed to the Saviour, that he may see and feel that, deep as are the stains of his transgressions, the blood. of Christ can wash th<:'m all away. Tltere are mvn character suffers loss. with which to bless his follow-men and glorify The day of' trial is before us; Hhall we stand his .Maker, was justly angry at his ingratitude. acquit ted or condemned? You who believe This parable illustrates the sin and danger of, that the Lord iH soon to come, will show yonr a self-serving life. Poor are the devotees of faith by your 'vVorks. 'l 1be Judgment is to sit, mammon. They have embezzled the Lo1·d's the books are to be opened; and evet·y man will goods, placed their own name where God's name receive as his works have been. \Ve are !lOW should be written, and rubbed tbe soul of his troet:l in the Lord's garden, and be says, ''By love and favor. "So is be that layeth up treas-their fruits ye shall know them." If our faith ure for himself, and is not rich toward God.'' bas not Jed us to deny self, to make any and 'rhere are a greater number following the exam- every sacrifiue to save the souls of our fellow- pie of the foolish rich man than we imagine. Tbe men, it will 110t save us. worship due to God is given to money. That Every excuse which men offer for neglecting which can satisfy the earthly, sensufll faculties to obey God's requirementi::l in regard to the use is sought as the highest good. Many show of their property, is an evidence of rebellion that they will not trust God's promises, but are agrtinst him. 'fbe plea of the unprofitaulo serv- trusting to property for happiness. They may ant is man's plea tu-day, that the Lord ba,s no call themselves r·ich, bnt God calls them poor. right to req ui1·e his servants to em ploy their Men who claim to ncknowledge God, forget him time and ability in making money for him. and disown him. They turn from the heavenly But God requires of none of us that ·which it is treasure for worldly pleasures and enjoyments, not for our best interest to do. Many would be until the patience of God is exhausted, and he loth to put into ,;.;,ords the reason they se- says, "This night thy soul shall be required of cretly cheriRh to vindicate themselves and si- thee." '' Lo, this is the man that m:.Lde not lence their 01. 11 conscience; but they are no less God his strength, but trusted in the abundance brillging upon thGm,'elves the denunciation pro- of his riches." nounced upon t ·e unpt.::-fi.table servant. ''Take These warnings are for us, and it is for our the talent from h;m," will be heard by many interest to heed them. 'fhey should be repeated unwilling ears. as earnestly, and set home as pointedly, as is W bat wrong have one? may be asked. the gospel of salvation through Christ. But The nm;wer comes, Yot\ tied up yonr Lora's though so plainly given by our Lord himself, money in large barns, in which to beRtow your but few dwell upon these lessons, because tbey goods. You bound up bis means iu a fine honse, would disturb the complacency of the rich man in expensive carpets, furniture, and goodly who Jives for selfish enjoyment. l.inisters have things, ·while souls were left to pe1·isb in their but little to do wiLh these sharp warnings. sins. You buried your talents because you did God's professed people are not told of their not love God and his cause half so well as you danger. They follow the example of the fool-loved yourself. God and man lust all the prof- ish rich man, and flaLter themselves they have its your means would have brought if rightly all that the soui requires. employed. rro-day the Lord is diRappoiu ted in Listen to the words of your Redeemer: "'If you. He looked for a precious offering of grat- riches increase, set not your heart upon them.' itude, but no returns are made for his wondrous Riches are mine. I have placed them in your love and his great sacrifiee for you. Do you in- hands to be wisely employed in my ser·dce, to quire, Of what have 1 to repent ?-Of a godless, aid the suffering, to im·est in opening the gos-self-loving, self-pleasing life. You have uot re- pel to those who arc in darkness. Riches mnst fleeted the light of a godly example. You said not be your trust, your god, or your saviour." plainly, I claim my portion as my own. The channels for doillg good are many, and I hope to see our brethren and sisters im- they stand wide open. Your barns are larg~, proving the little remaining moment of proba- too large already. lf they overflow, instead of tiona,ry time. Brethren, be not deceived; God building larger, send your treasure before you is not moc:ked. The cxcuBes you have prepared into Heaven. 'l'bere are widows to feed, or-for the Judgment will not stand the test. Let phans to be ta.ken under the gu:lrdiansbip of us see active, energetic workers, who are look- your home, and share your ample stores; there ing for their Lord's return, and who are ready are souls perishing for the bread of life; mis-to present the talents they have traded upon, sions a.re to be supported, meeting-houses to be saying, Here, Lord, thy five talents have gained built. If God's ca.use demands a part, not only other five talents; thy two talentH have gained of your interest, but of your principal, you are other two. \Vhere are the G-od-fearing work- to give back to him his own. He calls upon ers? 1Jet them come to the front. Tb~ Lord you to sow now, that you ma,y reap your ba,r-is coming. You have no time to lose. You are vest witb eternal joy. not to do as did the inha.bitants of the antedilu- God's gifts increase as they are imparted. vian world,-plant and build, eat and drink, We see this illustrated in the uase of the poor marry and give in marriage, the same as the widow whom the prophet Eli:::dm, by a miracle, careless vYorldling. Let tho books of Heaven relieved :from debt. Sbe bad only 011e jar of preseut a different record from that which now oil; but tbe prophet told her to bon·ow vet'isels appears. .Make baste to redeem the time; pro- of her neighbors, and the oil poured from that vide yourselves bags which wax not old, a one jar con tin ned to flow till all the vessels were treasure in the heavens that faileth not. filled. 'l'he supply ueased only when no more E. G-. WHITE. vel::!sels were brought to receive it. So it will be now. So long as we let the gifts of God flow into channels of good, tho Lord will supply the flow. Christ says to his sons and daughters, "Ye are the light of the world." But wuo gave you I ight? You diu not have it in yoLl naturally. God is the source of light; the truth bas shone MoRAL courage is more worth having than physical, not only because it is a higher Yirtue, but because the demand for it is mot·e conRLant. Physical courage is a virtue wbiuh is almost always put away in the lumber-room. Moral colll·age is wanted day by day.-Set. i11to our hearts, to be reflected to others. 'rrue STUDY to be patient in bearing with the de- love to God will produue love to ma.n. This is 1 , fecti::l and infirmities of other~, of what sort so- what we need,-love that is patient, sel.f-sacri-ever t!Jey be; for L!Jat thou thyself al~o ha:->t ficing, persevering, intelligent, practical. many which must be suffered by othen;.-Set. 26 [10] r::I-,HE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. VoL. 12, No. 2. The Mission at Melbourne. IT has now been about six months since we landed on the shores of Australia, and the read- ers of the SIGNS have been informed from time to time about the country, and the progress of the work, through articles from the pen of Elder Haskell. He bas been absent from here about two months. We have had a tent made, forty by sixty-four feet, and set up in North Fitzroy, one of the suburbs of Melbourne, and forty-three meetings have been held in it. Dur- ing the first twenty-three of these, the average attendance was about one hundred. Since that time the weather has been unfavorable, and the attenclance not so large. The interest from the first bas ~een good, and the same persons, to quite· a l:xi·ge extent, have followed up the meetings. A gentleman who kindly furnished us an organ, and bas played and led the singing part of the time, "said, " Your congregation is composed of the earnest, thinking people of the neigh borbood." The people of that locality have been stirred, as the evidences of the near coming of the Lord, and kindred events, have been presented to them from the Scriptures, and what they must do in order to be prepared for that time. The truth has caused anxious thought, and so~e sleepless nights, for those who are C<'>nscientiou:::~ and want to obey God. Twenty-three have already signed the cove- nant. This includes those who were interested before the meeting and W'Jl'e keepiT1·g the Sab- bath. There are tbir~j adult Sabbath-keepers here besides those of'us wl~~·o came from Amer- ica. Quite a numr 1""{0 )re are studying how they can arrange, ' . '..fJusiness so that they can keep the Sabbftt,.....-/ The sound bas gone out about this "new re- ligion," as it is called, and the locality of the tent i.s not the only place where the people are being moved by it. I will state one or two in- stances. Abont two months after we came here, a· man from South Melbourne called in and got two'· copies of the SIGNS, and a tract, ''The Second Advent," and became much inter- ested; he attended several Sabbath meetings, and opened the way for us to bold Bible-readings with his friends. As the result thus far, six, all beads of families, are obeying tho truth, and do- ing good missionary work in that place; so that quite a number of others are deeply interested and attend our meetings when they can. An- other man from :Footscray, hearing through them of us, ·came one evening to a Bible-read- ing. He went home and lay awake the rest of the night thinking about what he had read. He came again, bringing two of his brethren. They bought a set of Bible-readings and ob- tained other reading matter, which they took home and studied. 'rhe result is that six adnl ts in that place have accepted the truth even to pa}ing tithes. One of them has purchased a full set of the "Testimonies," and another has -engaged them. 1:bey are also sending the silent messengers, and our" able minister" (the SIGNs) out in all directions to their friends, and so the truth is moving on. About thirty-five tbousftnd periodicals, mostly SIGNS, have been distl'ibuted. Twenty-seven public libraries .}Jave been supplied with bound books, SIGNs;-Good Health, and Pacific 1-fealth Journal. Quite a number of ships and steam- ers have been supplied with reading; but lately we have not been able to attend to the shipping much, we are so short of help. We have quite a list; of subscribers to our periodicals. 'fhe Pacific Health Journal is quite a favorite here, as. well as the Good Health, among the temper- ance people, and we shall be glad to welcome it . every month, instead of every two months, as at present. The book sales at the tent amount to $35; donations, about $65. It has been decided to commence the publi- cation of a sixteen-page monthly paper, to be called B1:ble Ed~o and Signs of the 'Pi·;nes. The firS:t volume will commene;e with the new year. 'rhis is very much needed, as the people wi1l patroni.ze a paper published here, that will be identified with the country, and discuss issues in its different departments that will properly come up, and should be noticed in Ruch a paper. There are many reasons that make it neces- sary to have a paper published here as soon as possible. Our heal tb and temperance period- icals and publications are highly appreciated by the health and temperance societies here tbr.t have received them. Letters have been received from them by us to this effect. The temper- ance organization have a large hall and temper- ance book depot in Melbourne, and are agents to take subscriptions or to sell any of our period- icals or publications. The prospects here are encouraging; and we think that those who embrace the truth will do all they can to support and extend the work, but we need laborers and means to assist in get- ting it well starLed. We are all well and of good courage, and we ask the continuance of the prayers of the peo- ple of God: that our work may be wrongb t in him, and that it may move forward rapidly. We thank our good brethren of California for their generous donation of dried fruit, and shaH continue to feel thankful for months to come, as we partake of it. M .. 0. IsRAEL. Melbou1·1ze, Australia, Dec. 2, 1885. ~nmm~ntar)l. NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON. The Captivity of Judah. (J:1nuary 24. 2 Kings 25: 1--12.) THE lesson drawn bv Jeremiah from the obe- dience of the faithful Rechabites, was unheeded by the king and people of Judah and Jerusalem. J eboiakim died, after a reign of eleveu years, and J ehoiachin his son reigned in his stead; but his reign continued only three months, hnd N ebucbadnezzar came again to Jerusalem and besieged it. "And J eboiachim the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, be, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers." ':rhe king of Babylon, at that time, took the treasures of the house of the Lord, and all tho golden vessels of the temple; and all, with king Jehoiacbin, and all his family, and all the mighty of the land, and the Cl'aftsmen and smiths, carried he captive to Baby Jon, leav- ing only the" poorest sort of people" in the land. J eboiacbin was kept in prison at Babylon till the death of N ebucbadnezzar, a period of thirty- seven years. Then '.h:vil-merodach became king of Babylon, and took J ehoiacbin out of prison, and "spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon;" thus he remained all the days of his life. See 2 Kings 24: 8-16; 25:27-30. and live." But the sin of Judah was" written with a pen of iron and with a point of a dia- mond;" it was gra'en upon the tablets of their hearts and upon the horns of their altars; ftnd Zedekiah only "helped forward the a:ffiiction." HE broke his covenant; be violated his oath; be rebelled against his king; and he sent" am- bassadors in to Egypt that they might give him horses and much people." Then came· npon him the judgment that was implied in his·. oath, and in his acceptance of the name Zede- kiah -the judgment of J ebovah. For said the Lord: ''Shall be proftendily resisted the siege. 'fhen at Zede- kiah's request Pbnraoh sent an army out of 1~gypt to draw away tbe king of Babylon. rrbis gave Zedekiah reneVi'ed confidence, and he sent to ask J eremiab fol' a word from the Lord, and be got it. The Lord said: "Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Cbaldeans shall tmrely depart from us; for they shall not depart,. For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Ohaldeans that fight against yon, and there remained but wounded men amo11g them, yet should they rifle up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire." J er. 37 : 9, 10. '.rHE Cbaldean army suspended the siege to go and meet the Egyptian army, and tbe11 Jer- emiah st::J.1-ted out of the city to go into the land of Benjamin; and when be was passing the gate of Benjamin, the captain of the ward arrested him, and accused him of going over to the Cbal- deans; for wbicb ''the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison" in a dungeon in the bouse of J onatban the scribe. While be was there Zedekiah again vVHEN N ebucbadnezzar took Jeboia.chin pris-sent and bad him brought's·ecretly to the king's oner, be chose Mattaniab, another son of Jo- house, and asked if there was any word from siah,· and made him king, and changed his. name the Lord. "And Jeremiah said, 'rbero is; for, to Zedekiah. The reason that the name was said be, thou shalt be delivered into the band changed was this: When N ebuebadnezzar chose of the king of Babylon." Then J eremiab asked Mattaniab to be king, Mattaniah entered into a the king not to allow him to be committed solemn covenant; gave his band, and took an again to the dungeon, which was granted, oath before God thnt be would be a faithful sub-and orders vvere given that be should remain ject, in all things, to the king of Babylon. in the court of the prison, and have a piece of Then it was, and upon this covenant and this I bread daily as long as there was any in the ofttb, that N ebuchadnezzar changed the name,/ city. Jer. 37: 11-21. and gave him that of Zedekiah, that is, "rrhe ------ judgment of J ebovab ;" thus placing upon him a NExT, the princes came to Zedekiah and said: constant reminder of his obligation before God, "We beseech thee, let this man be put to death; and that, if he violated his oath, be would for thus be weakeneth the bands of the men of incur the judgment of God. If Zedekiah bad war that remain in this city, and the bands of kept this covenant, the kingdom would even all the people, in speaking such words unto then have stood; for the Lord bad said to Zed-them; for this man seeketh not the welfare of ekiah, "Bring your necks under the yoke of the this people, but the burt. Then Zedekiah the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, king said: Behold, he i8 in your band; for the JANUARY 14, 1886. king is not he that can do anything against you. 1'ben took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malcbiab the son of Ram- melech, that was in the court of the prison; and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; so Jeremiah sunk in the mire." Jer. 38. THE Babylonian army soon returned and re- newed the siege of Jerusalem, and in the elev- enth year of;, Zedekinh, and on the 11inth day of the fourth month, the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the ''vay of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden (now the Cbaldeos were against the city round about); and the king went the way to- ward the plain. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his a.rmy were scat- tered from him. So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Rib- lab; and they gave judgment upon him. And they slew tho sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound bim with fetLers of brass, and carried him to Babylon." THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. [11] 27 7. By what general name were the people of vail of the sanctuary. And the p~iest shall put God designated at this time ?--The children of some of the blood upon tbe horns of the al ta.r lRrael. of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in 8. What was the origin of this title? the tabernacle of the congregation; and· shnlb "And he said, Thy name shall be called no pom· n,ll the blood of the bullock at the bottom more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast of the altar of burnt offering~ which is at the thou power with God and with men, and hast door of the tabernacle of the congregation." prevailed." Gen. 32: 28. Lev. 4: 5-7. 9. Into how many tribes was Israel divided? 20. State the chief difference between these "All these are the twelve tribes of Israel; tviro offerings. and this is it that their father spoke unto them, 21. When the priest or the whole congrega- and blessed them; every one a.oc:ording to his tion sinned, bow were their sins transferred to blessing be blessed them." Gen. 49 : 28. See the sanctuarv? also Ex. 1: 1-5. "And the ~priest shn,ll dip bi:3 finger in the 10. Vvbo were to minister in the sanetuary'? blood,andsprinkleofthe blood seven times before He b. 8 : 4, 5; 9 : 6. the Lord, before the vail of the sanctuary." 11. 'Vhat tribe was selected to do the service "And the priest sb~tll dip his Jinger in some of of the tabernacle? .N um. 3 : 5-7. the blood, and sprinkle it seven time·s before 12. \Vbat particular family of this tribe was the Lord, even before the vail." Lev. 4: 6, 17. chosen to fill the sacred office of the priest- 22. vVhen one of the commou people sinned, hood? Num. 3: 10. was the blood of his Gffering taken into the 13 . .Describe the regular daily offering and sanctuary? · service oftbe sanctuary. "And the priest sbn.ll take of the blood ''Now this is that wbieh thou shalt offer upon thereof with his finger, and -put it upon the the a! tar; two lambs of' the first year, day by horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall day continually. The one lamb thou sbalt of-pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of fer in the morning; and the other lamb thou the altar." Lev. 4: 30. shalt offer at even: and with the one lamb a 23. Then bow were his sins transferred to tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourLh part the sanctuary? 1'HEN the fifth month, the seventh day ofthe of a bin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a "Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offer- month, "came N ebuzar-adnn, captain. of tbe bin of wine for a drink offering. And the other ing in the holy place, seeing iit.ls most holy, guard, a servant of tbe king of Babylon, unto lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity Jerusalem; and he burnt the house ofthe J..1ord, thereto according to the meat offering of the of the congregation, to make atonement fo:r and the king's house, and all the houses of J e-morning, and according to the drink offering them before tbe Lord? Behold, the blood of it rusalem, and every great man's house burnt he thereof, for a sweet savor, an offering made by was not brought in within the holy place; ye. with fire." And be broke down the wallR of J e-fire unto the Lord." "And Aaron shall burn should indeed have n it in the holy place1 rnsalem; and all the remnant of the people did thereon sweet incense every morning; when he as I commanded." c1. 10: 17, 18. N ebuzar-adan carry a way to Babylon; and all dresseth the lamps, be shall burn incense upon 24. Were the prt .. partake of ap the sin the vessels of gold, of silver, and of brass; and it. And when Aaron ligbteth the lamps at offerings? the two great pillars of brass which Solomon even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual "And no sin ofi'ering, whereof any of the had made; and the bt·azen sea and the bases; incense before the Lord, throughout your gen-blood is brought into the taberllacle of the con- " the brass of all these vessels was without eratio118." Ex. 29: 38-41; 30: 7, 8. gregation to reconcile ·vvitba.l in the holy place, weight." (See 2 Kings 25: 8-17.) And so J4. How did the offerings on the Sabbath shall be eaten; it shall be burnt in the fire." was completed the captivity of Judah. A few differ from those of other days? l1ev. 6: 30. of the very poor of the land were left to be ,, And on the Sabbath day two lambs of the 25. Where were all these sertiCOI'l performed? vine-dressers and husbandmen, and over these first year witbont spot, and two tenth deals of "This shall be a continual bumt offering the king or Babylon appointed Gedaliah the flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and throughout your generations at the door of the son of Ahikam, governor, but be was murdered the drink: offering thereof; this is the burnt of-tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord, soon afterward, a.;'d tb~n ~11 the rem~inder. fl~ring of every Sabbath, beHide the continual where I will meet you, to speak there unto arose and fled to Egypt for fear of the kmg of burnt offering, and his drink offering." Num. thee." Ex. 29: 42. the Cbaldces; and thus the land was left deso- 28: 9, 10. ~ "Now when these things were thus ordained, late," to fulfill the word of the J.Jord by the 15. vVben an individual sinned what wa11 he the priests went always into the first taberna- moutb of Jeremiah, until the land bad enjoyed required to do? ' cle> accomplishing the serYiee of God." Heb. her Sabbaths; for as }ong as she lay desolate "And if any one of the common people sin 9: 6. See also l.Jev. 4: 17, 18. she kept Sabbath, to fulfill three-score and ten throuu-h io·norance while be doeth somewhat 26. "\Vbat change was made in the continual years." 2 Kings 25: 22-26; 2 Chron. 36 : 21. again~t a~r of the' commandments of the Lord round of service which we have described? A. T. J. concerning things which ought not to be done, "But into the second went the high priest and be guilty; or if his sin, which he bath alone once every year, not without blood,-which THE SANCTUARY, ITS SERVICE, ETC. sinned, come to his knowledge; then be shall he offered for himself, and for the errors of the Services of the Earthly Sanctuary. bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female people." Heb. 9: 7. without blemish, fo1~ his sin which he hath ---------- . d " L 4 27 28 THERE is only one way to attain the power of stnne . ev. : '" . 1 · · f 1 k' d h .. (Lesson for Sabbath, Jan. 23.) 16. What disposition was made of the blood? c ear wntmg or o c ear spea mg, an t at 1. GIVE a brief description of the sanctuary "And the priest t~hall take of the blood thereof way is through clear thinking. When a Sun- built hy Mo::-:es. with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the day-school teacher comes before his class and 2. Name the furniture of the holy place, and altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the talks for twenty minutes, wi~hout making a and give itA arrangement. blood thereof at the bottom of the altar." Lev. single clear statement of truth in that time, the 3. Describe tl&!:l .fumiture of the most holy 4 30 trouble is not so much with his inability to say place. :17.· Where did this altar stand? what be wants to say, as with the mental sloth 4. Where was the altar of burnt offering lo- 18. vVben a priest sinned, what was required which has prevented him from forming a clear cated? of him ·t conception of the truth to be taught. There is "And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt of- "If a priest that is anointed do sin accord-really, after all, no better rule for clear speaking fering before the door of the tabernacle of the ing to the sin of the people, then let him bring than the epigrammatic one: Know exactly what tent of the congregation." Ex. 40: 6. for his sin, which be hath sinned, a yonng bull-you want to say, and then-say it.-S. S. 5. What was its use? ock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin of-Tirnes. "And be put the altar of burnt offering fering. And be shall bring the bullock unto WHATEVER else the teacher of a primary by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the tbe door of the tabernacle of the congregation class believes or disbelieves, be ought surely to congregation, and offered upon it the burnt of-before the Lord; and shall lay his band upon believe, through and through, in childhood re- fering n.nd the meat offering, as the Lord com-the bullock's head, and kill the bullock before ligion, and not for a moment entertain the idea manded Moses." Ex. 40 : 29. the Lord." Lev. 4: 3, 4. that a child must get along-into his teens before 6. What stood between this altar and the J 9. What was done with the blood of his of-becoming a. Christian. Multitudes of clildren sanctuary? fering? have been lost to the church because of false "Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and "And the priest that is anointed sba.ll take ideas in this matter. The statement is made, his foot also of brass, to wash withal; and thou of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the tnber-and we believe it to be true, that those who are shalt P.ut it between the tabernacle of the con-, n~cle _of the c~ngregation; aud theyriest ~ball ~onverted in cbil~bood. are ~ui~e a~ .generally gregatwn ~n~, the altar, and thou shalt put, d1p his finger. m the ~lood, and sprmkl~ of the I hkely to hold ou~ ~~ th()~r Chnstian, life as those water therem. Ex. 30: 18. blood seven times before the Lord, before the who become CbrJstians m later years.-Sel. 28 [12] THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. VoL. 12, No. 2. .. THE LOOM O:H' LLB'E. ALL day, all night, I can hear the jar Of the loom of life, and near and far It thrills with its deep and muffled sound, As the tireless wheels go round and round. Busily, ceaselessly, goes the loom In the light of clay and the midnight's gloom; The wheels are turning early and)atc, And the woof is wound in the warp of fate. Click, click!. there's a thread of love woven in; Click, click! and another of wrong aud sin; What a checkered thing will this life be When we see it unrolled in eternity. Time, with a face like mystery, And hands as busy as hands can be, Sits at the loom--wi'th warp outspread, To catch in its meshes each glancing thread. When shall this wonderful web be done? In a tho,usand· years, perhaps, or one, Or to-m-orrow. Who knoweth? Not you nor I; :;J?~.t the wheels turn on, and the shuttles fly. · A·h, sad-eyed weaver, the years are slow; But each one is nearer the end, I know, And some day the last thread shall be woven in,- God grant it be love instead of sin. Are we spinners of woof for this life-web, say? Do we furnish the weaver a thread each day? It were better, then, 0 my friend, to spin A beautiful thread than a thrt:ad of sin. In the Wheel House. -Sel. "You might as well come inside here, Johnny," said the pilot of one of our large steamboats to a boy who stood shivering on the hurricane deck. The lad turned a pale, anxious face, and with a pitiful attempt at a smile, said,. "Thank you, sir,'"but I thought there was no admittance here." "Oh, once in a while we let a friend in," said the pilot, kindly, and with a sweeping glance that took hi~ companion in from top to toe, and seemed to penetrate to his inmost soul. "Where're you bound?" he continued, vvitb a hearty brusqueness from which no offense could be taken. "I don't know exactly," the lad answered. "I'm going to Boston first, that is-" "Yes, tbat'l::l about what I thought," the pilot interrupted, "if you can manage to get there. Let me tell you something, my boy. A man in my position bas every opportunity in the world to study character; and as quick as my eyes lit upon your face, I knew that you were running away from home." The only response to this was a hasty turn- ing away of the head, and a quick, gasping sigh which sounded forlorn from one so young. "And I wouldn't be afraid to wager this steamboat that you have got a mother living, and more than that, as kind and lo-ving a mother as ever drew breath. You wonder bow I know all this," the man continued, his eyes fixed on the waste of water before him, and his steady hands guiding t)le great craft with perfect ease and precision; "·but you <:arry your mother about in your face: my lad, and your eyes are a bad give-away," he added with a smile. "Now I am going to tell you a story. You are about sixteen, 1 take it? Yes, I thought so. Well I was a vear older when I concluded-I knew more than my mother and all the rest of my relations, and skipped, just as you have. You feel that you have been the victim of injustice, and all the right in the universe is on your side. That was my case, but 1 was a fool, and so are you. There is no necessity of entering into particu- lars; but I was jealous of my older brothers, and made myself believe that they were in col- lusion to keep me out of money that honestly belonged to me. I wanted some of the prop- erty that was eventually coming to me, to travel with. I was wild to see the world, and the ridicule of my brothers, and my mother's apparent sympathy with them, made me des- perate. Well, one rumpus followed another, my mother all the time trying to shvw me how un- just and ridiculous my demands were, until one day I threw all affection and decency to the winds, and ran away. "Now the point that I particularly want to make in this yarn, my lad, and which I would give a great many dollars to impress upon oth- ers, is, that any follow with a grain of honest love in his heart for his mother, is pretty sure to have something to regret as long as he lives if be hurts tha.t mother by doing what you and I have done. In a moment of anger we say to ourselves thflt no one cares for us, and we care for nobody; and then some trouble comes along, and we find too late that we have only deceived ourselves. Now I tramped up and dvwn the earth for six months without sending a line home, or bearing a word from home; but at last there came a day when sickness from exposure and labor beyond my years and my strength drove me back. Not to stay or to make myself known to any one, but to take-or, I would rather say, steal-some money, or some valua- bles which I could convert into money, to bridge over the present emergency. You bad no idea that you were talking with a man that had been tempted like that, eh? vVell, I said to myself that I was simply taking a small share of what was mine by right. There was $10,000 held in trust for me, and it was a great pity if I could not ha.ve enough of it to pur- ehase food and medicine. I will do myself the credit to say that there did not appear to be any :flaws in that argument then, and that in every other respect l was an honest lad. '' 1L required no skill to let myself into my motbor's house. To slip the catch from one of the bauk-parlor windows was the work of a moment. My mother always kept her money in a. desk in the :-;itting-room adjoiiJing her bed- room. I had written a note to leave there, tell- ing her my reasons for appropriatillg the money. 1t makes my blood run cold as my thought goes back to the horrors of that night. As I softly raised the vvindow and crept into the room, 1 was struck, it seemed to me, with the chill of death. I had no fear of being caugbt-I knew the wnvs of the house too well fot· that-and I was ne~'er in my life very much afraid of ally- thing or anybody. It was a chill tbat, seemed to strike clear through me, causing my teeth to chatter and my heart to feel like a lump of ice in my bosom. 'l'hese were novel seusations, and I tried to analyze them; but it was of no use. I found that I literally did not dare to move band or foot in this awful blaekness. I knew where the matches were formerly kept, and could have reached them by a couple of steps, but how to take those steps was the question. At last, by a supreme effort of the will, I groped my way to the mantelpiece. There were two matches in the box. I sLruck one, and my hand shook so that I was afraid it would go out before I could look about me. But it lasted long errougb, my lad, to show me a sight which nearly killed me on tbe spot. Just in front of me, by the folding doors, was a coffin, and I ki1ew then tbn,t it was the presence of death in the room that bad sent such a chill through every fiber of my being. At this crisis, my boy, I realized the criminality of my conduct to the fullest extent. In some form or other it always comes home to ever)'body but the most hardened and depraved; and it's my opinion that somewhere, sometime, even these are brought to an understanding of the torture they have inflicted upon others. ''I must look and see what face it was shut away from sight in this narrow bed; but bow could I? . They tell us that in great crises peo- ple sometimes have a quick and awful glimpse of all they have done in their lives. I seemed to remember everything my mother had ever said to me, all her kisses, her tears, the prayers I had said at her knee, all my own heartless- ness, every mean and cruel word I bad ever spoken, every single act of disobedience. I bad come to-night to rob her, and hacl found her in her coffin. But perhaps it might not be. It was not impossible tbaL some one else in the bouse could have died, I told myself But no ! Some agonizing intuition seemed to tell me that it was my mother, and I had killed ber. God forbid that I should not be able to do some good with this terrible experience! I have faced some dangers since, been in some tight places; but there is nothing seen or un oen thnt would ever be to me what it was to strike that one remaining match and open that coffin lid. ·with a deRpcration whicl.t no pen or tongue can describe, 1 forced myself toward the folding doors, and then, after a pause in which tue beating of the heart ROLmded in my ears like the roar of artillery, I ignited the match and raised the lid; but the little blaze only flashed out for a second, leaving me in total darkness again. Then tho lid fell from my hand with a sharp cliek, and a moment afterwards my eldest brother and a friend rushed in and discovered me. "'Mother?' I gasped, pointing in my unut- terable agony to the coffin. "'Alive and well,' was the joyful awrwer; and that was the last I knew for several dayR. "The poor lifeless body that had 1-tion was rule 13, providing that no intoxi- cating liquors be sold in the Capitol. Mr. Frye explained that the committee thought it dealt \Vith a subject that ought to be left to eacb bouse separately, and the committee had therefore recommended Lhat the rule be struck out. lr. Ingalls thought that if it was intended to legis- late on prohibition, the Senate, the House, and the President should all be called upon to do their share. He thought the matter of exclud- ing liquor from the Capitol, one of legislation rather thar1 of action by the Senate in its indi- vidual capacity. On tbe committee's proposition to strike out tho rule, the yeas and nays were demanded, and resulted: yeas, 20; nays, 36. The yehs were, Messrs. Beck, Brown, Call, Cockrell, Coke, Eustis, Gray, Hampton, Harris, Ingalls, Jackson, Kenna, Manderson, Maxey, .Morgan, Ransom, Riddleberger, Vest, Walthal and Vom·hoes. Mr. Riddleberger rose and in- sisted that if there was to be prohibiLion in the Capitol, it should begin with the committee rooms, and a senator should be made liable to fine and imprisonrnent for keeping whisky in his committee-room. ".Mr. Vest said be bad no committee, but was opposed to the rule as setting up a system of espionage. Every one knew that if a senator wanted liquor in his committee-room be would have it, and would visit the severest punishment A WO:MAN may be handsome or remarkably in bis power on any clerk who would" inform" attractive in various ways; but if she is not per-on him. The whole thing was simply an at- son ally neat, she cannot hope to win admiration. tempt to meet a fanatical spirit in the country Fine clothes cannot conceal the slattern. A ·on this question, to which Mr. Vest would not young woman with her hair always in disorder, give countenance. and her clothes banging about her as if sus- "Ur. Cockrell offered an amendment to the pended from a prop, is always repulsive. "Slat-effect that any senator or member of Congress tern" is written on her person from tbe crown violating the rule should be liable to expulsion. of ber bead to the solos of ber feet; and if sbe It looked very small, be said, for senators to be wins a husband, he will in all probability turn passing rules for the purpose of inflicting pun- out an idler or a drunkard. The bringing ishment on committee clerks for 'conniving' up of daughters to be able to work, act, and at the use of whisky in the Capitol, when it talk like honest, sonf::lible young women, is was notorious that distinguished senators, who the especin.l task of all moLhers; and in the voted to keep this 1rule in, kept intoxicating industrial ranks there is imposed also the prime liquors in their committee-rooms. He (Mr. obligation of learning bow to respect household Cockrell) had never had any liquor in tho Cup- work for its own sake, and the comfort and ito!, but it was useless to deny that it had been happiness it will bring in the future. House-kept there by senators. work must be done by somebody, and it might ".M.r. Ingalls sent to the desk a copy of the bettor be well than ill done.-Sel. bill of fare of the Senate Cafe, at \V hich he sup- ''EDUCATION commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within bearing of little children tends toward the formation of charac- ter." Endeavor always to talk your best be- fore your children. 'l'hey hunger perpetually for new ideas. They will learn with pleasure from the lips of parents what they deem it drudgery to stndy in books; and even if they have the misfortune to be deprived of many educational advaotages, they will grow np in- telligent if they enjoy in childhood the privilege of listening daily to tbe conversation of intelli- gent people. We sometimes see people who are the life of every community whic:h they en- ter, dull, silent, and uninteresting at home among their children. If they have not mental activity and mental stores sufficient for .both, let them first use w bat they have for their own households. A silent borne is a dull place for young people,-a place from which they will eRcape if they can. How much useful informa- tion, on the other bnnd, is often given in a pleasant famiiy conversation, and what uncon- scious, but excellent mental training in lively, social argument. Cultivate to the utmost the grace of conversation.-Boston Budget. posed the senators took lunch. The clerk, at lr. Ingalls's request, read aloud tbe wine list with the prices of the different brand8, muc:h to the amusement of the senators. Under the bead of 'Madeira wines' he found 'Black- burn's Reserve,' the reading of w bich was greeted with shouts of laughter, and some one was heard to say, sotto voce, 'Good for Joe.' vVhen another brand was announced as 'bot- tled expressly for the United States Senate Cafe,' the laughter was renewed, and on the conclusion of the reading Mr. Butler expressed his surprise that the clerk bad not found 'coJJ tea ' on tb e list. "Mr. Cockre1l said be disliked drunkenness anywhere, but bad seen more of it among the senators, than the employes of the Senate. Senators kept whisky in their rooms, and in- vi Led their friends to go there. If the Senate was not fit to stop that, it was not fit for self- government. Be bad known an appropria- tion bill to be occasionaliy delayed because of intoxication among subordinates, and be bad known t.be Senate to be adjourned because of the condition of some of its members. He would not say that the Senate bad to adjourn in consequence of it; but certain senators had been in such condition that tb~ public business could not have been carried on, as diRc:ussion would have been indefinitely prolonged. Sena- tors knew, 1\ir. Cockrell added, that his .·point was well taken. "Mr. Frye said be bad been told by ex-Sena- tor Simon Gameron and ex-Senator Hamlin, that twell Ly or thirty years ago the Senate bad been found time and again without a quorum becan8e more than a quorum were drunk; that they bad seen a distinguished senator, after several at- tempts to rise in his place, fall became of drunk- enness. .Mr. Frye himself remembered w ben the night sessions of the Honf::le of Representa- tives we.re broken up by dr11nken members. Things had very much improved sinee then. Mr. Frye regretted tbe remarks of the Missouri senator (Mr. Cockrell) as conveying to tbe country the impression that-so many senators were drunk during the ordinary business of tbe Senate, that the Senate bad to be adjourned on account of drunkenness. "Mr. Cockrell said he had not so stated; he bad never seen so many 8enators under the in- fluence of liquor that the public business could not be transacted-had IJever seen anything even approaching that; but be bad seen two or three or more senator8-a mere minority-so completely under the influence of whisky in the discm>sions that the Senate, for tbe sake of decency, bad adjourned. He did not think he bad ever seen more than half a dozen at one time in that condition, and he could give the names if senators desired them. "Mr. Maxey regretted that an impression 8hould be <.:onveyed to tbe conn try that tbe Senate was a band of drunkards and debauchees. He bad served in many deliberative bodies, and bad never seen a more sober or well-ordered body of men than the United States 8enate. ".Mr. Logan did not know that the sale of wines merely would be obn_9xious· to tbe rule; but the word 'vinous' did not appear in tb.e rule, and a distinction existed in law between vinous and spiritous liquors. "Mr. Teller, as one wbo bad never tasted liq- uor of any kind in his life, thought that tbe Senate ought to set a good example in this mat- ter, but could not favor Mr. Cockrell's amend- ment, because of the severity of the puniFib ment. He did not think tbe Senate merited all that had been said of it; yet there .was much truth in it. "Mr. Ingalls thought the vote on this rule a declaration that tbe 8enate was in favor of tem- perance, and the inference might be drawn that those voting to strike out the rnle were in fa- vor of inebriety. He happened to represent, in part, a State that bad declared very affirma- tively for prohibition, but be had felt called upon to vote against the rule. He thought it his duty to show the country that those who voted tor the rnle were entirely cognizant of the prac- tices that bad prevailed, in violation of it. "Mr. Cockrell's amendment was disagreed to -yeas 20, nays 38. On motion of Mr. Edmunds, the clause providing for the dismissal of c:lerks wbo should 'connive' at the use of liquors was stricken out, in order to make the rule har- monize with tbe sense of the Senate on Mr. Cockrell's amendment. ..With that clause out, the rule was adopted by a viva voce vote." Conversation at the Table. A CHEERFUL temper charms the stom acb. Pleasant, social com pan ions will help us to di- gest what might otherwise prove unmanagea- ble. An Engli:::;bman, without observing the laws of exercise or sleep, will digest an enor- mous dinner and preserve his sLomacb. It iR his two hours of chatting and good fellowship. Let him eat the same quantity in the rapid restaurant fashion, sitting aloue, and he would soon be a wretched dyspeptic. r_t'he infiuenc13 of a quiet, social temper upon the stomach is one of the curious facts 'about digestion.-Sel. 30 [H] THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. VoL. 12, No. 2. €leaning and Polishing Con1pounds. ONE of the great problems of a housekeeper's life is how to keep her house and its belongings clean. There must be a. continual wadare against dirt, dnst, and tarnish, ar1d any weapon which prom-ises to be effective in this warfare is welcomed~with delight. This is well known to the numerous manufacturers and venders of silver polishes," magic cleaning fluids," etc., etc., new kinds-or, at least, new names for old kinds-of which . are ::q_:>pearing every day. They are put up in attractive forms, in fancy boxes and bottles, and twenty-five cents seems little enough to pay for all the wonders they are said to accom1jlish. The eilver ,_polil::lbes, for example, are almost infinite in ifflmber, and the housekeeper is tempted to try caoh new one as it comes out, to see if it will not prove more efficacious than the last. If we go to the root of this matter, and consider the number of known substances which will effect the desired end, namely, that of cleaning and poli"shing silver or silver plate, we shall find that they are very few. 'The solids used for this purpose are whiting-whi0h is calcium carbonate, more or less pure-diato- maceous earth, :finely pulverized sand, and rouge, which is :fine red .oxide of iron; the liquid!:!, al- cohol and ammonia, whose office is to remove grease. In thirty-eight different "kinds" of silver powders and liquid preparations for clean- ing silver, examined in the " Woman's Labora- tory," at the Massachusetts Institute of Tet!h- nology, no other substance was found. tiome were mi.xtures of two or three of these ingredi- ents, some were simply :fine whiting, or perhaps :fine precipitated caleium carbonate, or diato- maceous earth. The liquid preparation~:\ con- sisted of alcohol or ammonia., with oalcium ca.r- bonate, t,he bottle t·eq uiriug to be shnkon before using. The only prep:tration which has been found differing irom these mentioned is one la- beled, "A complete electro-plating battery in a. bottle." This contains a solution of silver cyanide, and deposits a thin :film of silver on the artide to which it is applied. It il::l not a desirable preparation to have in the house, as it is_ extremely poil::lonous, aud does not bear on its label sufficient warning in regard to its use. It is useless to try these new and wonderful oompounds, one ai'Ler another, using money in this way without any compensating gain; it iB better to decide upon what to uce, w bat will best effect the purpose, and procure that, know- ing its composition and i~s properties. .No safe solvent for the compounds of silver which pro- duce tarnish has been found-that is, no solvent which will not affect the silver itself. The ac- tion of whiting, rouge, sand, and diatomaoeous earth, i~ simply to rub off the taruish, although some silver is inevitably removed in the process. It is of great importance that these substances should be so fine as not to scratch the silver; and unless we have the time and patience to float off the :fine particles from the coarse whit- ing to be obtained at the grocer's, as our grand- mother did, it is better to buy the :fine precipi- tated chalk (calcium carbonate), and pay the price asked for it. Diatomaceous earth, known commonly as "electro-silicon," is a most excellent substance for removing tarnish from silver. It consists of microscopic siliceous skeletons of diatones (min- ute sea animals), which are found in some lo- calities in immense deposits in the earth. Its composition is the same as that of sand; but, being so very :fine, it will not scratch, as any but the most :finely powdered sand must do. Ammonia and alcohol are useful, and if a few drops of ammonia water be added to the water in which silver is washed, and the articles rubbed briskly afterward with a piece of cha- mois skin, it will be found often that a rubbing with powder is unnecessary.-Marie Glover Hol- rnan, in Clvristian Union. ~tttH5 anti ~nteSJ. RELIGIOUS. -There are twenty-six missionary vessels operat- ing in t:-onnection with the various mission stations of the world. -Workers in shops aud industrial establishments in Russia are instigating a mvvement in favor of Sunday rest. -The Baltimore Catholic Mirror estimates the colored Catholic population of the United States at 100,000. -The recently completed Cathedral of Moscow, designed to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon I., cost $10,000,000, and was fifty ycard iu building. -A missionary in Western India, aided by the American Tract Society, has prepared and published a beautifully illustrated Bible Dictionary in the native language. -It is not quiLe twenty-five years since a Protest- ant sermon was preached in Mexico for the first time. Now, there are ninety-eight ordained min- isters, representing five different denominations, at work in that country. -In defiance of the law, five young girls were recently initiated as nuns in the Hospital San Gio- vanni, in Rome. One of them, a girl of fifteen, of uucomrnon beauty, fainted during the ceremony. The populace suspected compulsion, and a riot was with ditliculty averted. -The ladies of the Methodist Woman's Mission- ary Society in India have started a new::;paper de- ::;igned especially for the zenana ladies. It is issued fortnightly from their press iu Luckuow in the Urdi and Hindi languages, and it is proposed to start a similar paper in Calcutta in the Bengali language. -The triumph of the British forces in Burmah opens Upper Burmah, with its 4,000,000 people, to tile free en trance of the gospel, as well as toW estern trade. Aud missionaries, with the Bible which they have translated, a Christian literature, and earnest native helpers, are ready to begin their labors with- out delay. -Thirty-nine French priests, who recently pre- sumed to dictate to the people under their spiritual charge how they should vote, were deprived of their Goverument stipeuJs for interference in political matters. 'l'he B1:.,;hop of Pamiers remonstrated with M. Goblet, the M1nister of Public Instruction and Ecclesiastical Affairs, but to no purpose. The Min- ister stc.tLed that while he would uphold the church, lle would "exact from the clergy the same obedience that was exacted fromotherState-paid officials." His course was approved in the Chamber of Deputies by a vote of 331 to 167. Thereupon it was resolved that M. Goblet's speech and the result of the vote "hould be printed and placarded throughout the country. -There are three Protestant colleges in the Turk- ish Empire,-Robert College in Constantinople, the Syrian Protestant College near Beyroot, and another college at Aintab. Each of these is in successful operation. There is also a theological seminary at Marsovan, which, since 1867, has sent out eighty graduates into the mission field. Last spring the Protestant community of Marsovan petitioned the American Board to elevate this school to the "posi- tion and work of a college," and accompanied their petition with a pledge of over $3,000 toward the ex}Jense. The missionaries are greatly encouraged by the "readines:-> mapifested by the people to put their sons under stroug Protestant influence for the sake of an education." SECULAR. -Dakota and Montana are anxious to be admitted into the Union as States. -Han Qua, a Chinese banker of Canton, is said to be worth $1,400,000,000. -The steamer W. D, Chipley sunk in the Chatta- hoochie River, January 2; six lives were lost. -It is stated that 60,000,000 people speak the German language; 45,000,000 the French; and 100,- 000,000 the English. -The committee which has been trying to find out how so many millions are spent every year iu ruuning the city government of New York, found that in one department it has cost the ciLy $7,0UO a year to keep the records of two weekly meetings of the commissioners. In other places the same waste of money has been discovered. -January 3 was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the accession of Emperor William to the throne 0f Prusaia. -A company in Manchester, England, have a contract for building a railway from the Upper to the Lower Cougo. -January 9, a severe storm was raging along the coast of Great Britain. Many wrecks are reported, with serious loss of life. -The Greek Government has sent a note to the Powers, vigorously prote::;ting against the union of Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia. -A telegram from Mandalay, Burmah, dated January 6, states that 10,000 rebels are scouring the country within a radius of twenty miles of the cap- ital. -Floods in Vermont, New York, and Pennsyl- vania have done much damgae to property. Near Harrisburg a train was wrecked by the giving way of a bridge, and two men were drowued. -David Stuart, a prominent Mormon bishop, thinks he can be a polygamist aud a good, law-abiJ- ing citizen too. Judge Powers thiuks differently, and has sentenced him to six month::;' imprisonment and to pay a fine of $300. -About one o'clock in the morning, January 9, a fire broke out in Ladies' Hall, a brick building con- nected with Oberlin College, in wllicll 250 students were sleeping. No lives were lost; but the hall was completely destroyed. The loss is estimated at $50,000. -Postmaster-General Vilas is making himself very unpopular in tbe West by his sweeping reduc- tions in the mail service to the small tow us. lVlany frontier towns that have been receiving a daily mail have been reduced to a tri-weeklyor semi-weekly mail. The mo;:;t promiuent men in the West are protesting against the chauge. -The striking miners in the Monongahela Val- ley, Pa., have resumed work. Au operator estimates their loss in wages at fully $1,500,000. 'l'he opera- tors also have lost, but how mueh they will not say. Tl1e strike lasted four months, and was the mo::;t; stubbornly contested struggle ever known on the river. Fully six thousand men were engaged in it. -Ad vices from Cairo, Egypt, state that the Arabs lost six Lhousand men in their recent battle with the British. It is reported that some Mahdist fanatics have since penetrated the Briti::;h Jines at Saukin, aud attacked the soldiers in the town. :Furious fighting followed, in which a number of English soldiers were killed or wounded. -The authorities of Chattanooga, Teun., are en- forcing the Sunday law against tile saloon-keepers. The whisky men say that they have been diserim- inated against, and they will test the law to its full scope. So tl1ey have sworn out nearly one hundred warrants against those engaf!;ed iu all the trades and professions that do business on Sunday. -The bishop of the Gal way diocese, Ireland, says that in Gal way all labor ita::; pract.ically ceased. · Between 400 and 500 laborers are absolutely de::;ti- tute, aud are only kept alive by charity, or by the pawniug of a few personal effects. A meeting or 5,- UOO unemployed workiugrnen was held January 8, at which speeches of a socialistic character were made. -German financiers are taking an interest in the development of railroads in China. It has been publicly announced that the Deutsch Bank, the Discount Company of Berlin, and the Krup}J Iron Works Company will immeJiately send delegates to China with a view to negoLiating with that Govern- ment in the matter of establishing a system of rail- roads in the empire. -A terrific storm, wider in extent and more fierce of character than has been known before for years, raged throughout the Eastern States, Janu- ary 6-9. The cold was intense; throughout Dakota the thermometer ranged from 20 to 40 degrees below zero. Trains were blocked, and telegraphic commu- nication was interrupted. Many wrecks on the Atlantic coast are reported, with considerable loss of life. -There is a project on foot for the construction of a ship canal from Liverpool to Manchester. The plan is to make Manchester a port of entry for every cotton ship having freight for that city, as the eost of transporting cotton from Liverpool to lancbei:iter is about as great as the cost of freight from Ameri- can ports to Liverpool. The d.ist.ance is thiny-iive miles, and the estimated cost of the canal is $50,- 000,000. JANUARY 14, 1886. THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. [15] 31 -Sixteen convicts who were employed in the mines at Coal Hill, Ark., effected their escape, Jan- uary 6. Two of them were captured. -The British Empire, with an area of 8,557,658 square miles-more than a sixth of all the land on the globe-and embracing under its rule a sixth part of the !inhabitants of the world, is the largest and m·ost populous empire in the world. Russia raiVJ.k'S second in territorial extent, embracing 8,352,- 930 sqlil.are miles. The United States is third, con- taining 3,580,242 square mile~. including Alaska. Close Con uection. THE engineers who directed the work of the IEloosac tunnel started two gangs of men from . opposite sides of the mount. So accurate was ttheir survey, that when they met midway in the mount, the walls of the excavations, ap- proaching from the different starting-points, joined within less than an inch. Tho practical working of the bore proved the scientific accu- racy ot the survey. Man, starting from the side of his human need, reaching upward to- ward God, is met by the revelation m Christ misingly opposed. to anything tending toward a union of Church and State, either in n~me or intact. TERMS. SINGLE COPY, per year 50 cents. To foreign countries, single subscriptions, post- paid • 2s. Address, AMERICAN SENTINEL, 1059 Castro Street, Oakland, Cal. QUR COUNTRY, THE MARY EL OF NATIONS. ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE, AND lVHAT THE BIBLE SAYS OJi~ I'l'. BY URIAH SMITH, Author of ''Thoughts un Daniel and the Revelation," "The Sanctuary and Its Cleansing," "Smith's Diagram of Parliamentary Rules, "Man's Nature and Destiny," etc. The past of our country is read in history; its present is before the eves of e'ery wide-awake observer; its future-what is that to be? We may judge something of the future by the past and the evident tendencies of the present; but who would not like to read it in a more certain light? A book is now offered, carefully and candidly discuss- ing-this mo~t fascinating theme. Present issues are accounted for, and future results clearly shown. IS THE BIBLE AN OBSOLE'l'E BOOK? Or do its predictions reach to our own times? Other great nations of the world are subjects of prophecy; why not our owu? As surely as history is history, and logic is logic, the Scriptures predicted nearly ei~·hteen hn'lrlred years ago the rise 'of· this Government, showing that it would- .. 1. Aritie w the Western Hemisphere; 2. Arise in the present cen- tury; 3. Occupy territory previously unknown; 4. Come up peace- fully; 5. Reach great power; tl. Proclaim civil and religious liberty; 7. Be a republic; fl. Be a Protestant nation; 9. Be the birth-place of Modern Spiritualism; and 10. Present the most marvelous exhibition of national development the world has ever seen. So explicit is prophecy in regard. to this nation; and the reader will find every point sustained by indubitable Scripture evidence and historical testimony. THE SUNDAY QUESTION, Fast coming to be a leading political issue, is discussed from the standpoint of its relation to the Government. "THE MARVEL OF NATIO.NS" Is a volume of nearly 300 pages, and contains numerous illustrations. The type is large and clear, the printing and paper excellent. Bound only in cloth, 111'1d sent, post-paid, for $1.00. We will send The American Sentinel, an eight-page monthly paper, one year, and the above book, post-paid, for $1.25. PACIFIC AND HEALTH JOURNAL TEMPERANCE ADVOCATE. A 24-page bi-monthly devoted to the dissemination of true temperance principles and instructi.on in the art of pre~erving health. It is emphatically a journal for theJ people, containing what everybody wants to know, and is thoroughly practical. Its range of subjects is unlim" ited, embracing everything that in any way affects the health. Its articles being short and lJointed, it is speci- ally adapted to farmers, mechanics, and housekeepers, who have but little leisure for reading. It is just the journal that every family needs, and may be read with profit by e\u00b7ery member. Price, 50 cents per year. Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal. CASH RECIHVED oN AccouNT.-Florida T and M So-ACT IV .E ciety $1.38, Tenn T and M Society $10. AGENTS FOR THE WAN'.rED ORDERS :B""'OR'W ARDED. BooKs SEN'!' BY FREJGHT.-Review and Herald, Mrs E T Palmer, L C Chadwick. BooKS SENT BY ExPRESs.-G H Heald, Eld N C Me Clure, C H Peach. THOUGHTS ON BAPTISM. BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER. AN EXAMINATION OF THE ACTION, SUBJECTS, AND RE- LATIONS OF THE ORDINANCE OF BAPTISM. Also, a Brief Refutation of the HISTORICAL CLAIMS FOR TRINE IMMERSION. SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. Prices, post-paid,-In flexible cloth, 35 cents; paper CCT~1·s, l!J cents. Address. SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. 'Or, REVIEW AND HERALD Battle Creek, M1ch. PACIFIC COAST STATES AND~ TERRITORIES FOR FAST -SELLING SUBSCRIPTION BOOKS. "Breakfast, Dinner and Supper," "Parson's Hand Book of Forms," "Horne Hand Book of Hyg·iene," "Thoughts on Daniel ,11-nd the Re1•elation,'" "The Great Controversy between Christ and Sa- tan," the new steel engravin~, "Christ the Way of Life," and many other STANDARD ami POPULAR WORKS, which sell rapidly and give uni1·ersal satisfaction. Liberal discounts to agents. Write for terms and territory. Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Subscriptiun Book Department, Oakland, Cal. THE MINISTRATION OF ANGELS • BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT. ALso giving an exposition of the origin, history, and destiny of Satan. 144 pp. Price, ~0 cents. Address1 SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. 32 [16] THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. Vol... 12, No. 2. OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, JANUARY 14, 1886. ~ WE send no papers from this office withot ~pay in advauce, unless hy specia,l arrangement. vVhen persons receive copies without orde1 ing them, they are sent by other parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. Persons thus receiving copies of the :::iiGNS are not indebted to the oftice, and will not be calle<.l upon for pay. Ple::tse read the papers and hand them to your friends to read. THE post-office address of Elder Wm. Ings is HealdsLurg, Cal. THE report of the contributions in California to the European missions will be given next week. WITH thanks we acknowledge the courtesy of the Hon. Secretary of the Interior, for public documents furnished. WE are requested to announce that boys or girls may be had-particularly boys-for service at wages, for indenture, or for legal adoption, by applying, with recommendations, to E,. T. Dooley, sup't Boys and Girls' Aid Society, 68 Clemen tina Street, San Francisco. Meeting in Oakland. ON account of our absence and the sickness of our son, the quarterly meeting of the Oakland church was postponed to January 9. Though feeling greatly ~orn 'vvith our labor, we spoke in the morning to a large congregation of nppreciative hearers. In the afternoon the usual church services were held, and the ordinances observed. The attendance was large, and it was a good dny to all. An Evil Disease. THE following from the San Francisco Chronicle we commend to the practical consideration of all paren Is nnd teachers:- "Of the flood of novels which has deluged the lit- erary market during the last twelve-montb, the less said the better. The greater part of them have al- re~d,v been relegated to the upper shelves of the libraries, where, it is to be hoped, they will be al- lowed to remain. Between rending them and com- plete mental idlene:,s it would be diflicult to say ·which is worse, so thorougbly false are the ideals of life which tlley present. The appetite for these worthless novPls grows with whn tit feeds on; and if the present mania for devouring current fiction con- tinues, we may have the patl1ologist.s discussing a ne,w disease or modern civilization-the novel-read- ing habit. It destroys all taste for bet.ter litern ture, and is one of the mostpernicionsresultsof the book- making proce.sses . . To counteract this growing ten- dency for worthless literature should be one of the objects of all teachers who have the cause of o-enu- ine education near at.heart. Tl1ey can do mu~h in the class room to inculcate a taste for good literature, and in no other way can they exert so wholesome an influence for good upon. their pupils." This pernicious habit is becoming more and more prevalent, and pareBts and teachers cannot be too eamest, nor too diligeu t, in counteracting the baleful in fl. uence of the "flood of novels" which deluges the country. A taste for good reading can be cultivated; it can be done easily if begun in time; but when this novel-reading habit, which the Chronicle properly terms a" disease," is once acquired, it is as hard to overcome as is any other habit of intemperance; for this is intemperance, men tal intemperance it is true, but nO!le the less real, and none the less destructive, on that account. We said "none the less real and none the less destructive." We might better say that because it is mental it is the rather nw1·e destruct- ive; for Ly this "disease" the mind is so debased the will is so weakened, that it is impossible for th~ individual to resist the evil that is met on every band, to say nothing of the evil that is instilled into the mind by the very reading itself. \Vhat are you reading? What are your children reading? Bowling-Alley Religion. THE Christians in San Francisco are unable to draw the line between the church and the bowling alley. It has been a long time known that the Young Men's Christian Association has a bowling alley below its hall, as a means of attracting young men to the Christian influences of its hall and meet- ings! It would no doubt add much to the interest, and attract greater numbers, if it would add a bill- iard table and card playing. And still there would be a large number who would turn a deaf ear to the calls to" Come," until there was added a saloon as a meaus of grace. A report in the ChTonicle ot a recent noon-day meeting in the hall of the assod- ation speaks of a speech of Rev. Aaron Williams, as follows:- " The latter gentleman, who was some time ago e.iected from the hall on a cllarge of disturbing tl1e meeting by his severe denunciation of the gymna- sium and bowling aile~' connected with the associa- tion, renewed his attacks in a mo::;t energetic man- ner. He said that Christian influences were all the more necessary in the church and the family because tuere was so much infidelity in the schools and such temptation~ to evil courses presented to the young on every s1de. He had Leen assured by a public- school superintend<·nt that eight out of ten of the public-school teachers were infidels, and even in this Young Men's Christian Association there wns an at- tempt to serve both Christ and the devil-Christ above and the devil in the gymnasium nncl bowling alley below. 'Let us be one thi11g or the otl1er,' ]Je said, 'Christ's or the devil's. \Ve cannot be both. \Ve cannot serve two masters. The proceedings in the gymnasium on New Year's Day, as described in the daily press of the next day, were a scandal and a shame,' and he would consider himself a traitor to tl1e cause of Cl1rist if he d.id not denounce sueh do- ings under the name of Christiallity. Mr. Williams spoke with much earn est ness and hic communication. The temperature throughout Da- kota is stated to be from 20 to 40 degrees below zero, with a wild blizzard blowing. A telegram from· Fargo says the thermomflter registered 27 degrees below at noon. Yesterday was described as the roughest experience that the city bad yet had in the way of boistrous weather. Bismarck reported a high wind with the thermometer 35 degrees below zero. A high wind is prevailing at Sioux City, and the temperature is 20 degr<>es below. Omaha registered 20 degrees below. Telegraphic communication with Omaha has been cut nearly all clay. California tele- grams were being sent by way of St. Paul and the Northern Pacific, with only one wire working. A telegram from Des Moines, Iowa. says the cold wave conlinues there, with a high wind and drifting snow. All through trnins west of there are blocked, :wd the brnnch roads are snowed under. The Cbicngo and Burlington trains are stuck fast in the drifts about fifteen miles south of Des Moines. The Wa- bnsh road south from that city is badly drifted. The Fort Dodge and N nrrow-guage roads have been abandoned." A dispatch from St. Paul, January 9, says the cold wave is broken, and adds: "The lowest temper- ature reRched was at Minnedosa, Manitoba, where the thermometer registered 52 degrees below zero. On the Nol'thern Pacific, from Brainerd to Fargo, the temperature varies irom 27 to 51 degrcP-s below zero, the latter at \Vnclen a." A dispatch from La Junta, CoL, on the Santa Fe road, of January 9, S