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" Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12.  
VOLUME 10.  OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, FIFTH-DAY, JUNE 5, 1884.  NUMBER 22.  
IK AF TLJC CKES.  
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, FOR THE  
International Tract and Missionary Society  
(For terms, etc., see last page.)  
Entered at the Post-Office in Oakland.  
'DO" .A.S WD^I.L ^VS * S_A_Y."  
" Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say.  
Luke 6 :46i  
DOWN from the heaven above me  
Comes the voice  of the crucified;  
The day of the Lord is dawning,  
And he who believes must be tried;  
Must be weighed in the balance and proven,  
Whether wanting in love he be;  
If, by daily cross ignoring,  
He hath failed to show faith in me.  
Faith without works is lifeless,  
And no fruit to my honor can bear.  
They who do the will of my Father,  
For the crucial fire prepare;  
Who simply obey, ne'er repining,  
That for fruitage they wait '' many  days; "  
Who trust for the sun's promised shining,  
And in "sowing" make no delays.  
And God who weigheth, doth measure  
Not so much the results that are shown,  
As the love that prompts the endeavor  
To fulfill his behests when known.  
—Mrs. M. S. Beers, in Y. M. C. A. Bulletin.  
DTENML QtMM.  
Importance of Cherishing- Light.*  
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.  
JESUS said to his disciples: " Whosoever hear- 
eth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I  
will liken him unto a wise man, which built his  
house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and  
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat 
upon that house, and it fell not;  for it was  
founded upon a rock. And every one that  
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them  
not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which  
built his house upon the sand; and the rain de- 
scended, and the floods came, and the winds  
blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell; and  
great was the fall of it."  
In this text is shown the difference between  
the doers of Christ's word and those who are 
merely idle hearers. Jesus taught by symbols.  
He illustrated his lessons by familiar objects in  
nature, that whenever his hearers should see  
these objects, the lesson might be suggested to  
their minds. The lily of the valley, the grass of  
the field, the springing grain, the singing birds,  
and even the homely scenes in a fisherman's  
life, became silent but impressive preachers of  
the word of life. A high standard was kept  
before the disciples. They were taught that a  
pure faith would purify and ennoble them; and  
that unless their righteousness should exceed  
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,  
they should in no case enter the kingdom of 
Heaven.  
Peter, John, and Judas are representative  
„*?oeorrks in the 6 °'clock morning meeting at Oakland, Cal., April 2Z, loo4.. *  

men, types of two classes of hearers. They 
each had the privilege of associating with Christ  
and learning of him; but how different were  
the characters they developed! Peter and John  
were doers of the word, and their lives were  
molded by the  instructions of the Master.  
Judas also heard his teachings on the very 
points where he was deficient. The leading  
traits in the character of Judas were covetous- 
ness and self-esteem. Jesus knew of his dis- 
honest practices, and understood the danger to 
which he was exposed; yet notwithstanding  
his defects, he was chosen as one of the twelve  
who were to be intimately associated with the 
world's Redeemer. Jesus would give this err- 
ing one every opportunity to reform. The  
light should shine upon his heart; he should 
see the contrast between truth and errorf and 
decide intelligently between them. Jesus did  
not openly rebuke  him, but gave lessons that  
he might apply to his own case if he sincerely  
wished to reform. Selfishness, covetousness, and  
dishonesty were presented in their true char  
acter, so that he could see how offensive these  
traits were in the sight of God.  
When the teachings of Christ reproved Peter  
and John, they were careful to reform. The  
transforming grace of God was in their hearts 
Their minds expanded, and day by day they  
grew more like the divine Teacher. Judas, on  
the contrary, was proud, self-sufficient, and inde  
pendent. Although enjoying the exalted priv  
lege of being  closely connected with Christ  
the words of life found no lodgment in his  
heart; and he went on from one degree of unbe  
lief to another until his character was firmly  
fixed in the wrong direction. He might have  
had the wisdom that comes from above to guide  
him into all truth; but he rejected the counsel of  
God, and the evil he had cherished gained an  
overmastering influence, bringing soul and bodv  
into subjection to the cruel power' of Satan.  
Judas had excellent traits of character, and  
might have been a great blessing to the church  
had he been steadfast, and resisted temptation;  
but he was treasurer, and this position gave  
him an opportunity to practice dishonesty  
Had he been humble and teachable, he would 
have set about the work of reform when his  
conscience was awakened, and he saw the sin- 
fulness of his course. But he sinned against  
light and knowledge; and instead of "beino- 
softened and subdued by the lessons of Christ^  
his heart became harder and more unimpressi-
ble.  
We may learn an important lesson from the  
experience of Judas. We maybe called disci- 
ples of Christ; we may hold our religious convic- 
tions firmly,  and be able to present clear, con- 
nected arguments in their support; and yet,  
like Judas, we may hold the truth in unright-
eousness. If we would be sanctified through  
the truth, we must hold it in the love and fear  
of God. It is a duty we owe to ourselves to  
cultivate self-reliance and independence of char- 
acter; but these traits must  be blended with  
meekness and humility. When we trust to our  
own wisdom and judgment, as a large number 
do, we are in the sure path to shame and con- 
fusion of face. It is only through divine grace 
that we can overcome the defects in our char- 
acter; but unless we make continued efforts to  
subdue them, they will become stronger, as in  
the case of Judas. Every indulgence in sin  
prepares the way for renewed and excessive in- 

dulgence, until at last the tempter has full con- 
trol of the mind.  
After God has shown individuals their sins  
and given them grace to overcome, and his  
Spirit has been long striving with them, he  
will not work a miracle to prevent the sure re- 
sult of resisting that Spirit and persisting in a 
wrong course. There is a boundary to his grace  
and mercy; and when this boundary is passed,  
the aid of his Spirit, so wickedly refused and  
insulted, is withdrawn, and the soul is given 
over to the worst of tyrants,—the power" of a  
perverted will. If we are closely connected  
with sacred things, and yet do not realize their  
importance, the heart will become so hard that  
the most earnest appeals will not move it to 
contrition. We must-cherish every ray of light.  
We must work intelligently to form our char- 
acters after the divine model, continually striv- 
ing, with all the powers God has given us, to  
reach the high standard set before us in his 
word.  
Testimonies are borne in these meetings that  
the_ truth is precious, the truth is everything.  
So it is; but the truth is nothing to any of us un- 
less we are sanctified through  it. Has its influ- 
ence made you better men and women ? Has it  
improved your life and character ? Unless the  
truth is accomplishing the object for which it is  
designed in transforming you into the image of  
Christ, it were better if you had never professed  
to believe it; for you w'ill mislead others. The 
salvation of our own souls and the souls of those  
with whom we associate is of the first impor- 
tance, while the things of this life are secondary;  
but Satan is ever scheming to reverse this order'  
and interpose the world between the soul and  
its eternal interests.  
Many do not exalt the truth, but degrade it  
by their unchristian course. They neglect to  
improve the  privilege given them to become ac- 
quainted with Christ and his love. This knowl-
edge is a sure defense; but whatever tends to  
draw the mind from the love of Jesus, whether  
it be the deceitful heart within or an ensnaring 
world without, is of Satan, and will bring dark- 
ness and death. &  
Some who are present this morning must  
know that they have uncorrected faults which  
they are excusing and cherishing. Dear breth- 
ren and sisters, you cannot have a more favor- 
able time to confess these faults one to another  
and pray one for another, than in this meeting.  
Jesus is present; but evil angels are here also  
to preoccupy the field. They will endeavor to  
gain an entrance to the heart by suggesting  
doubts, so that no permanent good impressions  
shall be made. Shall we allow them to have  
the victory ? We see how it was with Judas 
One neglect to heed the words of Christ pre- 
pared the way for another. The first neglect 
was a seed which produced its harvest in resist- 
ance to the Spirit of God; and with each  
admonition that he slighted, he became less  
inclined to appreciate and cherish the lessons  
that gave him a knowledge of himself.  
God sends messages of instruction, of reproof  
of warning. Do not flatter yourself that he 
does not denounce the particular sins that you  
Jove. Do not imagine that by some means you 
can enter into life without being free from moral  
pollution. If we would live with Jesus in the  
mansions that he has gone to prepare, we  
must be like him here in this world. We must  
be diligent to set our hearts in order. Let us


338  THE SIGKTSTS OF THE TIMES. VOL. 10, No. 23.  
greatly fear  self-deception. Let us cover  up  
nothing, but be true to our own souls. Let us  
study to have the meekness and humility of  
Christ. An opportunity is now afforded us to  
become pure in heart and spotless in character.  
Though the enemj^ presses in his temptations,  
coming in upon us like a flood, the Spirit of the 
Lord will lift up a standard against him. We 
may find a present help in Jesus; but we must  
seek this help through earnest, persevering  
prayer. In the closet, in the family circle, as  
we walk the streets, and while our hands en-
gage in labor, we may pray, and the Lord will  
hear us.  
There is no excuse for continuing in sin. No  
man is obliged to do evil, and be lost. Every  
one who perishes destroys his own soul. The  
provisions of grace are ample. Jesus is plead- 
ing in our behalf, and there is mercy for even  
the most guilty and sinful. Let us take hold of  
the strength of Jesus. He loves us wit h a love 
that is inexpressible; let us respond to that  
love.  
Christ "the End of the Law."  
THERE are three ideas that are fundamental  
in Paul's letter to the Romans, and, indeed, in  
Paul's entire 'scheme of thought. These are 
the ideas of "law," "righteousness," and "faith." 
All three have their places and their significant 
relation to each other, in the sentence under  
consideration: "Christ is the end of the law for 
righteousness to every  one that believefh."  
The term " law," in the apostle's usage, varies  
in its meaning. At one time it designates the  
ritual economy of Israel. At another it desig- 
nates the specific divine enactments which have 
their tersest expression in the " Ten Words,"  
and which, thus expressed, represent the entire  
moral legislation of Moses as distinguished from  
merely ceremonial legislation. Frequently, also,  
the apostle uses the word "law" to designate  
the generic holy requirement of God—that is, 
the elemental and universal moral law which 
has its ground in the nature of God. Law,  
thus conceived, is wrought into the human soul,  
so that every man feels, because he is man, 
the obligation of Tightness.  
Now, what is meant by "law" in the apos- 
tolic sentence before us? It cannot be simply  
the ritual law. It must be the expressed divine  
command, or the inherent divine requirement,  
to wThich conscience witnesses, that man shall  
do and be right. In Avhat sense, then, is Christ  
the "end" of the law? Many have said that, 
in the case of those who believe in Christ, the  
law is abrogated, or, at least, that its claim has 
been " satisfied," b}^ the righteousness and suf- 
ferings of Christ. Just what the word " satis- 
fied," as applied to law, means, is not clear,  
though, as often used, it seems to have the  
force of " annulled," or " done away with."  
But, thus construed, is the saying " Christ is the  
end of the law" true? Is God's requirement  
that man shall be righteous ever abrogated?  
Then there is an end of all morality, and sal- 
vation becomes unmoral, if not immoral. Is 
not the believer in Christ bound by the obliga- 
tion to be pure, honest, and holy? Did Christ 
in any way relax the claims of holy law ? Did  
his " work of atonement" terminate in the re- 
lease of men from any one of those claims?  
Certainly Paul is the last man in the world to  
reply affirmatively to these questions. If he  
seems to us to do so it is evident that we have  
not got the right view of his teachings.  
We are  helped to a clear understanding of  
these words, " Christ is the end of the law of  
righteousness," by remembering that " end " in  
Greek, as often also in English, does not neces- 
sarily mean termination or cessation, \>wt fulfill-
ment. In fact, we have the testimony of such  
Greek lexicographers as Jjiddell and Scott, and  
Drisler, and the distinguished Cremer, that the 
word here used, telos, never means simply termi- 
nation, but " fulfillment," " completion," and  

even " the highest point," " the ideal." This is  
the word that Peter uses in his first epistle  (1  
Peter 1 : 9), where he says: "Receiving the end  
of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." 
Here, evidently, " end " cannot mean termina- 
tion, and must mean fulfillment. We read, then,  
"Christ is the fulfillment of the law for (that is,  
unto eis) righteousness." In Christ the obliga-
tion of righteousness is met and fulfilled; not  
for man, as if there were no further claim on  
man, but by man—actually by the man Christ, 
and prophetically by the believer in Christ  
through the mediation of faith.  
These words must be construed in the light  
of preceding revelation. Man is sinful. He  
has not kept God's law, and, therefore, has not  
lived righteously. But he ought to be righteous.  
He is under the commandment of law without,  
and the imperative of conscience within, neither  
of which he can escape. As a sinner he is un- 
der penalty; and penalty already works in his  
morally disorganized nature. In Christ the holi- 
ness and love of God are supremely manifested.  
Atonement is made in the divine compassion,  
which, through suffering, quenches wrath and 
lifts the ban of condemnation. Christ is the  
Saviour of men, not by the law, for law saves no  
one except through obedience, and man does 
not really obey until he is already saved; nor  
from'the law, for the law is "holy, and just,  
and good;" something to be honored and ac-
cepted, not to be escaped. He is a Saviour by  
virtue of the grace and power wThereby he  
" translates" the sinner, through an inner, not  
an outer change, from a state of conflict into a 
state of harmony with the law. Salvation is just  
this process of bringing the soul into that spirit 
in which the law is fulfilled by ceasing to be  
mere enactment or imperative, and becoming im-
pulse and motive. This process is begun and 
carried on to completion through faith.  
Herein lies the real power of Christianity—  
that it is the revelation of a personal Saviour,  
who draws to himself the interest and confi- 
dence of the sinful soul and begets in it new  
moral purpose. We know we ought to be and  
to do right; but we are bound in evil habit.  
Bighteousness, as a mere abstraction, has no  
power to renew us. Law, as mere enactment, 
is incapable of touching our hearts. But Christ,  
in whom righteousness and law are embodied  
and suffused with the beauty of gracious love,  
lays hold of our hearts, touches the springs of  
desire and volition, wakens us to righteous im-
pulses, and through our faith, becomes in us the  
fulfillment of the law unto righteousness. By 
faith we enter into a truly righteous disposition,  
because by faith we are joined to him in love. 
We cannot love an abstraction; but we can love  
a concrete being, in wThom the law7 is revealed 
as the rythmic movement of a perfect life. We 
cannot trust in a proposition; but we can trust  
in a Person in whom is embodied all excellence  
of truth and grace.  
The Pharisaic idea of righteousness was arti- 
ficial and false. The Pharisee sought to manu- 
facture a righteousness by doing things that  
had no vital relation to the hear, and character. 
He lived under a law of works. He built him-
self up in self-flattering virtues and austerities.  
He fasted, and counted his fasts as if they were  
intrinsically meritorious. He gave tithes, and  
claimed credit with God to the full extent of the 
money's worth. His religious life was a kind  
of commercial affair,  entirely apart from real  
spirituality. Against this idea Paul flung the  
combined weight of his passionate speech and 
his intense personality. He opposed to it his  
spiritual insight, his clear common sense, his  
close-knitted" argument, and his resistless elo-
quence. He fought it as a deadly heresy to be  
destroyed at all hazards.  
This Pharisaic idea of righteousness, though  
Jewish, was also pagan. The pagan sought to 
propitiate the gods by sacrifices that were trib- 
utes or bribes, or he did things which he thought 
raised his own value in the eyes of the Supreme  

Being. But righteousness never consists in do-
ing things, but in being something. It is a re-
lation of heart, and mind, and will—that is, of 
the thinking, willing, feeling personality—to  
God. And righteousness is not begun until love  
is wakened, and love has its spring in faith.  
In the moral government and development of  
man, law is necessary. Its enactments are reg- 
ulative and tuitionarv. We must be schooled  
by compulsion, by command and penalty, into  
a sense of our wrongness and need. But law  
can have no renewing influence on a sinner.  
Only as love comes in to kindle aspiration and  
beget hope does law begin to pass into the heart  
as a freely accepted principle of life; and love 
works effectually only through the medium of 
trust.  
Law must pass into life before there can be  
freedom; and only in freedom is real righteous-
ness possible. No soul that is scourged to right  
action is righteous. It must choose to be right;  
and choice has its source in the heart. "With  
the heart man believeth unto righteousness."  
Over against law as enactment is set the life in  
which is the fulfillment of law and the comple- 
tion of righteousness. Christ is the law realized  
in life. He perfectly obeyed the law, because  
the law was in him an element of holy liberty.  
He could say: " I delight to do thy will, O God."  
In his concrete re-expression of law, Christ is  
also the personal embodiment and revelation of 
divine love. Thus, while law alone is compul-
sory, he, as law and love in one, is supremely 
attractive. He draws us upward toward him-
self, into the very atmosphere and impulse of  
righteousness. He subdues us by his tender,  
pitiful feeling for us. He inspires us by his  
powerful aid. He gives the heart an uplifting  
aim; and that aim is not perfection in the observ-
ance of rules, but likeness to himself. Right- 
eousness is not to be found in scrupulous, ascetic  
practices—a kind of moral gymnastics—but in  
Christlikeness. As that condition is progress- 
ively attained, the law passes into fulfillment 
within us. He wrho loves Christ loves righteous- 
ness, and so is transformed in his deepest im-
pulses. He is assimilated to the character of  
him whom he loves.  
Christ is, then, the end of the law for right- 
eousness; not the abrogation of the law, but its  
re-enactment in the sphere of the individual soul.  
The atonement has its clear efficacy and suffi-
cientfruit in this that the requirement of the law  
is fulfilled in us who are in Christ Jesus. There  
is the deepest philosophy in Paul's statement of  
the doctrine of salvation. He makes no error in  
his insight or slip in his logic. The whole proc- 
ess is conditioned on faith. To many who look  
at Christianity superficially this seems an arbi- 
trary condition. And it is arbitrary; it is even  
immoral, if we think of believing as a mere men- 
tal act having efficacy in itself. It then becomes  
like any other act that is done for merit's sake 
by the ascetic or devotee. Faith is then a fetish.  
It is a Pharisaic "work." But faith really be- 
ing trust in a Divine Person—the revealed and  
revealing God—it involves the abandonment of  
will and life to the gracious influence and sweet 
rule of God. It is "letting God love us " out of  
our degradation and weakness and sin. It is 
letting God save us through his free grace in  
Christ Jesus. The right temper in which we  
are put by the faith that his love wakens be- 
comes the fruitful soil in which are sown the vi- 
tal seeds of all virtues. Bighteousness springs 
up in the warmth of holy love as flowTers spring  
up in the  wooing sunshine. Hence it comes  
that the trusting soul has new and strange  
choices which reveal a growing appetite for  
goodness. Then, too, the "sinner saved by  
grace"  begins, at first feebly and tremblingly,  
but with increasing strength to say, " I delight  
to do thy will, O God."  
To say that man must have faith in order to  
be saved is like saying that he must have breath  
before he can speak and act.  
In conclusion, the practical import of the


MAY 22, 1884.  THE SiaisTS OF THE TIMES.  339  
statement we have been studying, and of the 
whole epistle, on the threefold theme—" law," 
" righteousness," and "faith"—is this: Law, as  
generic obligation or as specific enactment, is,  
in a very important sense, external to the sin- 
ner. It presses upon him with all its weight of  
command and penal sanction. If he is  ever to  
be saved—that is, if he is ever to be righteous  
—the law must pass within him, and become a 
free, internal impulse. Obedience must rise in 
the spontaneous choices of his heart.  
Ilow can this be accomplished? Not by any  
compulsion, not by any fiction of imputed right-
eousness, not by any hard will-work and ascetic  
discipline, but by FAITH, by the acquaintance of  
the soul with God in Christ, by the sinner's com-
ing into love with Christ through the revelation  
of Christ's grace and beauty, and by the minis- 
try of that Spirit whom Christ unceasingly be- 
stows.—Rev. Philip S. Moxom, in N. Y. Inde- 
pendent.  
"How Is the Amendment to Be Carried  
Out Practically?"  
THIS question is asked by Rev. J. C. K  
Milligan, in the Christian Statesman of Feb. 21  
1884, and is answered by him as follows: "In  
brief, its adoption will at once make the moral- 
ity of the  ten commandments to be the supreme  
law of the land, and anything in the State Con-
stitutions and laws that is contrary to them 
will become unconstitutional. But the changes  
will come gradually, and probably only after 
the whole fram-ework of Bible Legislation has  
been thoroughly canvassed by Congress and  
State Legislatures, by the Supreme Courts of  
the United States and of the several States, and  
by lawyers and citizens generally."  
Then what will that be but to re-open the  
whole course of religious controversy, from the 
Council of Nice to this day? And when the  
whole nation is thus plunged into religious con-
troversy, who shall decide whether Congress or  
the State Legislature is correct? Who shall  
decide between lawyers and citizens generally, 
or between lawyers themselves, or citizens, or 
congressmen themselves?  
Dr. M'Allister's answer is, "The conflict of  
individual opinion will inevitably lead to anarch-
ical conflict of legislative action, unless there  
is an acknowledged standard to which appeal 
can and must be made. The law of the Bible,  
by the proposed amendment, is made the su- 
preme standard in deciding all moral questions 
in the administration of the government." (See 
his Cleveland Convention speech, Statesman, 
Dec. 27,1883.)  
But it is not a sufficient answer to say that  
"the Bible is the standard and source of appeal;"  
because the Bible is just what all the contro- 
versy and "conflict of opinion " is about. And to  
say that there the Bible is to be the source of  
appeal, is only to say that the very subject of 
controversy is to be the standard by which to  
decide the controversy. It is plain, therefore,  
that there must be something to which appeal 
may be made, and which can interpret the  
Scriptures, and decide between the disputants, 
as to what the truth of the question is; and  
this decision must, in the very nature of the  
case, be final. It cannot be the courts, because  
they are parties to the controversy, and again, 
because there are certain principles of law  
which courts recognize in their decisions; such 
as this: " When words are plain in a written law,  
there is an end to all construction. They must  
be followed.." (See Hon. John A. Bingham, in  
" Impeachment of Johnson," p. 23.) And this: 
" The words of a statute, if of common use, are  
to be taken in their natural, plain, obvious, and  
ordinary signification and import."—Kent's Com-
mentaries, section 462. These principles will  
not be accepted by the Amendment party.  
To illustrate: Suppose the Amendment is se- 
cured, and, therefore, the ten commandments  
are the supreme law of this nation. I, to be  

lo}'al to my Government, as well as loyal to my  
God, take up the Bible, find the ten command- 
ments, and begin to study diligently to learn  
what is my duty under this Government. I am  
taught by these fundamental principles in the  
interpretation of law, that "when words are  
plain in a written law, there  is an end to all  
construction; they must be followed." And  
having this plain rule, from the Hon. John. A. 
Bingham, for my guide, and believing that the 
Congress of the United States made no mistake 
when  it chose Mr. Bingham as the Special  
Judge Advocate to conduct the trial of the as- 
sassins of President Lincoln, and again when it  
chose him to conduct its impeachment of Presi- 
dent Johnson; therefore believing him to be a  
safe guide in the interpretation of law, and hav- 
ing also the plain directions of Chancellor Kent,  
I proceed to the inquiry, as to what is required 
of me by the ten commandments. I come to  
the fourth commandment. I read. " The sev- 
enth day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. 
In it thou shalt not do any work." I apply  
my rule, thus: (1) This is a written law; (2) the 
words are plain,—"The seventh day is the Sab- 
bath." Now if I find what da}T is the seventh  
day, my duty is plain. I turn to that subject, 
and I find that all the sources of inquiry to  
which I apply, answer with one voice, "The  
day commonly called Saturday is the seventh  
day." Having found the seventh day, and the  
words being "plain," (3) "there is an end to all  
construction," " they must be followed."  Now I  
apply Chancellor Kent's rule, that by the tes- 
timony of two witnesses I may be right. First,  
are the words of this statute such as are of 
" common use " ? I read the statute over care- 
fully, and I find not a single word that is not of  
common use, and not one which I do not under-
stand. Then I must take them "in their  
natural, plain, obvious, and ordinary significa-
tion and import." Therefore, by these plain 
principles of the highest authority, I am com- 
pelled to admit that the seventh day is the Sab- 
bath, and also to keep it as such.  
Having now learned my duty in relation to  
the Sabbath, and having kept it, I proceed to 
learn and obey the rest of the commandment.  
I read just as plainly as the other, "Six days 
shalt thou labor." When the Sabbath is past,  
1 go to work on the first day of the week, that 
I may work the six "working days." But my  
neighbor sees me at work, and calls out to me,  
" Halloa ! Why are you working on the Sab- 
bath?" I reply, This day is not Sabbath, and 
therefore 1 am not working on the Sabbath. I  
kept Sabbath yesterday. He answers, " Oh !  
that was the Jewish Sabbath that you kept.  
This day is the Christian Sabbath; this is now 
a Christian Government, and the Christian Sab- 
bath must and shall be kept." I refuse to yield  
to that argument, and here is a "conflict of in- 
dividual opinion." He has me arrested, and  
brought to trial. Suppose I providentially ob-
tain the services of Hon. John A. Bingham to  
defend my cause, and he, by his consummate 
ability, convinces court and jury that from the  
plainest reading of the statute I have obeyed 
the supreme law of the land, and am therefore 
innocent. And now suppose that just here the  
prosecution enters the plea that that is not the  
correct interpretation of the commandment; that, 
correctly interpreted, it means, not the definite 
seventh day, but "one day in seven." Mr. 
Bingham insists that, by the fundamental rules  
of law, it must mean the seventh day. They  
reply, "Are we to apply the rules of civil law 
in the interpretation of a religious question?  
This is-a religious subject, and it must be de- 
cided, and the commandment interpreted, in ac-
cordance with the Christian sentiment of this 
Christian Government. We are the majority, 
and the majority must decide."  
Now in such a case as this, is it not plain that  
the Bible will not be the source of appeal, but  
that it will be the Church as the interpreter of  
the Bible, which must render the final decision?  

Plainly, Yes. Is this an unjust illustration, or  
an unfair conclusion ? Let us have their own  
words for answer. Please read again the ques- 
tion at the head of this article,  and to the last  
word of that quotation connect the following  
and read right onward; for it belongs there:  
"The churches and the pulpits have much to  
do with shaping and forming opinions on all  
moral questions, and with interpretations of 
Scripture on moral and civil . . . points;  
and it is probable that in the almost universal  
gathering of our citizens about these, the .  
. final decision of most points will be de- 
veloped there. . . . There is certainly no  
class of citizens more intelligent, patriotic, and  
trustworthy than the leaders and teachers in  
our churches." (?)  
So, then, the church is to be the grand inter- 
preter, and is to render the "final decisions" in 
this universal controversy. And again we are  
brought face to face with the image to the pa- 
pal church. It was in this way that Bome 
placed herself as the one single interpreter of  
the Scriptures. Whenever a conflict of opinion  
occurred, it was brought immediately to the  
notice of the church, and she must decide as to 
what was the Scripture in the case, and which 
one of the disputants was in the right; conse- 
quently, no opinion could be held, and no duty 
practiced, which she chose to declare unscript- 
ural. Therefore, if the Scriptures Avere to be 
interpreted alone by her, and conduct was to 
be regulated alone by  her decisions, it is ma?^i- 
fest that the more the people read the Script-
ures, the more was she annoyed by new con-
troversies and by the necessity of rendering 
new decisions; and then why should she not pro- 
hibit the laity from reading the Scriptures?  
Besides, where was the use of the laity read- 
ing the Scriptures anyhow, when none but the  
clergy could interpret?  
Will the national reformers prohibit our read- 
ing and interpreting the Scriptures ? If not,  
why not? Would it not be vastly better to do  
so at once then to be kept in a constant whirl 
of "interpretations," and decisions? Then they  
could regulate the faith and practice of their so-
called Christian government by bulls issued, as 
occasion required, " in Domino salutem et apos- 
talicam benedictionem." This would save them  
a vast deal of labor, and doubtless would work  
just as well.  
Seriously, now, from reading the Christian  
Statesman, and studying this movement, how is 
it possible for any one to doubt that the " im-
age to the beast" is to be formed in this United 
States Government, and that it is at the very 
doors? And we fully agree with them that  
their movement does decidedly " contemplate  
sufficiently practical ends."—Alonzo T. Jones, in  
Review and Herald.  
Spare Not the Truth.  
No MAN has any right to make that which he  
believes to be the truth of God any less exact-
ing, less sharp or clear, because he thinks his  
fellow-men will not accept it if he states it in its  
blankest and baldest form. I read an incident  
in a newspaper the other day that seems to me 
to illustrate this point. A tired and dusty trav- 
eler was leaning against a lamp-post in the city  
of Rochester, and he turned and looked around  
him and asked a boy, " How far is it to Farm- 
ington?" The boy answered, "Eight miles."  
"Do you think it is so far as that?" said the  
poor, tired traveler. " Well, seeing that you  
are so tired, I will call it seven miles." The  
boy, with his heart overflowing with kindness,  
pitied the exhausted traveler, and chose to call 
it seven miles. I know that I have seen state- 
ments of the truth that have dictated the same  
answer. Never make the road from Bochester  
to Farmington seven miles when you know it is  
eight. Do not do a wrong to truth out of re- 
gard for the feelings of those who have not the 
courage to obey it all.—Sel.


340  VOL. 10, No. 21.  
Restitution of All Things.  
THE Bible is eminently a practical book; its  
great object is to make the man of God perfect; 
to thoroughly furnish him unto all good works.  
2 Tim. 3 : 15-17. To this purpose it presents  
duties, warnings, and promises, holding out in- 
ducements by every means to lead us into the  
path of life and peace. It gives both history  
and prophecy, spreading out before us the past,  
the present, and the future. Here we have 
the only reliable cosmogony—the only " science  
of sufficient reasons" of the origin of the 
heavens and the earth. Here only can we  
learn the future of man and bis dwelling-place. 
Peter says: "By the word of God the heavens  
were of old, and the earth standing out of the 
water and in the water; whereby the world  
that then was, being overflowed with water,  
perished. But the heavens and the earth which  
are now, by the same word are kept in store,  
reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment  
and perdition of ungodly men." And in that  
day of the Lord " the heavens shall pass away  
with a great noise, and the elements shall melt  
with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works  
that are therein shall be burned up." "Never-
theless we, according to his promise, look for a  
new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth  
righteousness." 2 Peter 3 : 5-7, 10, 13.  
The world was once overflowed with water;  
the foundations of the great deep were broken  
up; the earth  was a wreck; its surface was so  
changed as perhaps not to be recognized by  
those who beheld it before; and its inhabitants,  
except eight souls who were tossed upon the  
boisterous deep, were gone—all gone. Its gay  
and busy  millions suddenly disappeared.  
The Lord promised that there should not be  
" any more a flood to destroy the earth." But  
he did not promise that the earth should not  
any more be destroyed. As it once " perished "  
by water, so it will once more perish, but by fire. 
"The heavens and the earth which are now,"  
are presented in contrast with those before the  
flood. But the material is the same; the earth  
is only changed in its form or features. So it  
will be with the new heavens and earth; there  
will be a second change, wrought by the agency  
of fire, and the earth will come forth purified 
from all the works of a fallen race. Then will  
the " purchased possession " be redeemed from  
the curse, and the glorified saints shall possess  
"the kingdom prepared from the foundation of  
the world," even " the first dominion." And  
then " God shall wipe away all tears from their  
eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither 
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any  
more pain; for the former things are passed 
away." There is blessedness, there is joy,  
there is glory, far beyond our conception; as it  
is written, " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,  
neither have entered into the heart of man, the  
things which God hath prepared for them that  
love him."  
" No more fatigue, no more distress, '  
No sin nor death can reach that plase; 
No tears shall mingle with the songs 
That warble from immortal tongues."  
Reader, is there not infinite value in the  
atonement ? Is not the blood of Christ pre- 
cious? Does not the eternal inheritance, the  
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,  
present attractions beyond all else of which 
your heart has conceived? Does not eternal  
life in the kingdom of God appear a boon most 
precious? Then join with all the saints in  
blessing God for the rich provision through his  
Son, and for the word, the Holy Book, wherein  
alone such matchless grace, and such endless  
joys are revealed. Without the revelation of  
God's will, how uncertain, how dark would all 
appear! Without this, who should teach us 
the knowledge of God? who should acquaint  
us with the principles of morality and truth, 
by which we may honor and please our Cre-
ator? who should lead the fallen, erring one  

to a remedy for sin, wherein justice and mercy  
may be harmonized ? Only eternity can reveal,  
and only immortalized beings can realize, how  
great is our indebtedness to God for his word. 
Happy the man who can say,  
"Holy Bible, book divine,  
Precious treasure, thou art mine."  
But to them who despise the riches of his  
grace, and scorn his counsel and will none of 
his reproof, there is another revelation in the  
word of God. He has not only sent redemp- 
tion to his people, but prepared for his enemies  
a doom commensurate with their crime.  
Having shown that obedience to the law,  
and acceptance of the gospel, are necessary to  
salvation; that salvation on any other terms  
would be derogatory to the character and Gov-
ernment of God, it follows necessarily that  
those who reject tbese terms cannot be saved. 
The penalty of their sins hangs over them,  
soon to descend upon their guilty heads; for in 
strict justice God reserves the wicked to the 
day of Judgment to be punished. 2 Pet. 2 : 9.  
And as eternal life is the gift of God, so they  
who do not seek it through the Son, must of  
necessity receive the wages of their sin, which  
is death. "He that believeth not the Son  
shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth 
on him."  
There are two resurrections taught in the  
Bible; for what the impenitent lose involunta- 
rily by the sin of Adam, will be restored to  
them without regard to their will and action.  
Besides the resurrection of life, already noticed,  
there is also " the resurrection of damnation."  
They who have part in the first resurrection 
are blessed and holy; on them the second death 
shall have no power. They are raised in 
power, in glory, in incorruption, while they  
that sow to the flesh, "shall of the flesh reap  
corruption." Gal. 6 : 8. They will be subject  
to the second death. Once they die on account  
of Adam's sin; from this state they are raised  
by Christ. But the second time they die on 
account of their OAvn sin; and from this death  
there is no redemption. No hope is held out  
for those who fall under its power. No resur-
rection morning dawns upon the darkness and  
gloom of the second death.  
In examining the type of the scape-goat, we  
found the devil confined in the abyss for one 
thousand years. At the end of that period, all  
the inhabitants of the grave are called forth;  
the wicked of ail ages stand up in life, and the  
great enemy of God and man is once more 
among the victims of his deceptions. He has 
borne the heavy burden of many sins placed 
upon his head, but his punishment yet awaits  
him. The Judgment has been sitting, and its 
decisions remain to be executed. But with the  
certainty of destruction before him, his ma-
lignity is not abated. His hatred to the ever- 
glorious Son of God and to the saints, who,  
through the blood of their Master, have over- 
come his deceptions and his power, leads him 
to instigate the risen nations to raise their arms  
once more against their Maker. Yain effort!  
Those who now think they can oppose his  
power with success, find then how fatalty they  
have been mistaken. "And fire came down  
from God out of Heaven and devoured them."  
Rev. 20 : 9. As once this earth was overflowed  
with w ater, then it will be overspread with fire. 
This is that " day of Judgment and perdition of 
ungodly men," to which this sin-cursed earth is  
" kept in store." This is that terrible day 
"that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud,  
yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble;  
and the day that cometh shall burn them up, 
saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them 
neither root nor branch." High ascends " the  
smoke of their torment," who have often  
mocked at the judgments of God; for "the  
vicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord  
shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume;  
into smoke shall they consume away." Ps. 37 :  

20. And as it is written that the Lord "smote  
Egypt in their first-born, and overthrew Pha-
raoh and his host in the Red Sea; for his mercy 
endureth forever;" Ps. 136 : 10, 15; so in the  
terrors of that great, that burning day, we be- 
hold the power of Jesus' blood; for he suffered 
"that through death he might destroy him that  
had the power of death, that is the devil."  
Heb. 2:13. And with him all his works are  
destroyed. 1 John 3 :8. This ends the world's  
great controversy.  
When "everlasting destruction from the pres- 
ence of the Lord and from the glory of his  
power," is visited upon the wicked; when the  
righteous are introduced " to an inheritance in- 
corruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not 
away," the record of the great future is briefly  
given. No elaborate description of that eter-
nity of joy is offered; for words cannot describe  
all its glories; nor could our minds, always hav- 
ing associated with meaner things, appreciate  
the description. But we are permitted by faith  
in the sacred revelation, to look beyond the  
scene of terror, which we have been consider- 
ing. The fury of the crackling flames exhausts  
itself; where the seething fires burned deep and 
fierce they languish for want of prey. As the 
smoke rolls up from the earth, there is revealed  
to our view a scene both grand and lovely; its  
surpassing beauty words cannot express; but  
above it all a voice is heard, " Behold I make  
all things new!" And now awakes the univer-
sal chorus: "And every creature which is in 
Heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, 
and such as are in the sea, and all that are in  
them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and  
glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon  
the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and  
ever." The universe again is free from sin.  
Redemption's work is done. Beyond lies the  
vast ocean of eternity, all radiant with glory.  
Here the mind gladly rests in contemplation  
of the heavenly scene. And now, while yet the 
scoffer, who has never had a thought of the  
eternal and infinite justice of God, declares  
that the Atonement is unnecessary, what fitting  
words of wisdom shall I choose to persuade him 
of its truth, and check his irreverent railing ?  
How weak the effort a mortal puts forth to  
frame an argument worthy of the theme.  
From that dying agony; from that precious  
flowing blood; from that interceding grace;  
from that bright resurrection morn; from the  
earth made new; from that far more exceed- 
ing and eternal weight of glory, I  turn and  
look at my own heart; and looking there, O man, 
your scoffing is vain. That glory I long to 
possess; that blood, that grace, that love, 1  
need to fit me for the presence of my God. 
And shall I, a worthless worm of earth, defiled  
by sin, behold that glory and enjoy it  forever ?  
Then truly God is love. Nothing but love di- 
vine can perfect a work so great. And to him  
alone, the God of grace, I look for "victory 
through our Lord Jesus Christ."  
Reader, may you and I find it there.  
EDITOR.  
But One Journey.  
HORATIO SEYMOUR says : " When I was a  
young man, there lived in our neighborhood a 
farmer who was usually reported to be a very  
liberal man, and uncommon upright in his deal- 
ings. When he had any of the produce of his 
farm to dispose of, he made it an invariable rule  
to give good measure—or, rather, more than  
would be required of him. One of his friends  
observing him frequently doing so, questioned 
him as to why he did it; he told him he gave  
too much, and said it was to his disadvantage.  
Now, mark the answer of this excellent man: 
£ God has permitted me but one journey  
through the world, and when I am gone I can-
not return to rectify mistakes.' The old farm- 
er's mistakes were of the sort he did not want  
to rectify."


JUNE 12, 1884.  THE SIGNS OE THE TIMES.  341  
The "Days" of Romans 14.  
" ONE man esteemeth one day above another;  
another esteemeth every day alike. Let every  
man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He 
that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the 
Lord; and he that regardeth not the day to the  
Lord, he doth not regard it." Eom. 14: 5, 6.  
These words are regarded by many as furnish- 
ing evidence that under the gospel the Sabbath  
is no longer of divine obligation; that there is 
now no difference in days, as the phrase "every  
day" must include the Sabbath.  
1. It is Avell,'in every case, that we look to the  
consequences following every decision we form.  
This proposition is eminently true in relation to  
the conclusions we arrive at, based on the state-
ments made by Bible writers, and notably so in  
the ones contained in the quotation made above.  
2. Eom. 5 : 17-19 as certainly teaches uni- 
versal or non-conditional salvation as Eom. 14 :  
5. 6 teaches non-Sabbath obligation. Both are  
absolutely non-Scriptural doctrines. If the first  
is an error, the second is also.  
.3. If Eom. 14 : 5, 6 teaches that the Sabbath  
has lost its sacred character, and is a common  
day, then it has lost its place in the law; the law  
has suffered change or loss in one of its parts,  
which is plainly contrary to the Saviour's words  
in Matt. 5 : 17-20. One jot or tittle was not to  
pass from the law till heaven and earth pass. 
Heaven and earth yet remain, therefore the law  
of which the Sabbath is a part, yet remains 
The law mentioned here could not have been  
the ceremonial, as that passed away more than  
1800 years ago.  
4. If the construction in question be sound  
then the apostle is arrayed against himself in 
Rom. 2 : 25-27; 3 :19, 31. These passages prove 
the moral obligation of the law. The Sabbath 
is a component part of the law, therefore it is of  
present obligation.  
5. The phrase "every day" includes the day  
of which the apostle speaks. These days are  
evidently annual and do not comprehend the 
weekly Sabbath. They are evidently the same  
as brought to view in Col. 2 : 16, the holy days 
and sabbath-days, which were shadows of  
things to come. See Lev. 23 : 37. These sab- 
baths and days were different from the Sabbath  
of the Lord. Yerse 38. No one was to be  
judged in regard to these, but the law of which  
the Sabbath is a part will judge and find guilty.  
Rom. 3  : 19; Jas. 2 : 12; Jno. 12 : 48. ' Jesus  
spoke the law in Matt. 5 : 17-20. It was the  
ground of.righteousness, without which no one  
can enter the kingdom. So the expression  
"every day" does not necessarily include the  
weekly Sabbath, any more than "every-day"  
clothes include the special suit one wears on  
Sabbath or on Sunday. When we say a man 
"works every day" we do not mean to include  
his weekly rest-day. "Every day" in Ex. 16 :  
4, 21 did not include the Sabbath. Yerse 26.  
The people were to gather the manna every  
day. but on the Sabbath there was none. So  
"every day" in Rom. 14 : 5 may not include the 
Sabbath, and cannot without doing destructive  
violence to the teachings of both Jesus and 
Paul.  
6. The argument of all days alike is used  
mostly by those who believe in no Sabbath at  
all, and there is some consistency, at least, on the  
part of such persons, but there is none at all on  
the part of those who believe in what they call  
the " Christian Sabbath." If the first day of the 
week has been set apart for rest and worship, 
and has had divine honors conferred upon it, as  
this class of individuals positively insist, then 
this day is of a different character from all 
others, and all this talk about being  fully per- 
suaded in our own mind which day we shall 
keep is sheer nonsense, and is simply a shift to  
evade the claims of the Sabbath, a flimsy excuse  
to avoid duty.  
7. Finally, to sum up, the " days " of Rom. 14 :  
5, 6 are the every day of a particular class of  

days, viz., the annual feasts and sabbath-days 
of the typical system. Lev. 23. These were  
to cease, Hos. 2 : 11, and did cease at the cross.  
Col. 2 : 14-17. The weekly Sabbath cannot be  
among them, because it was not a shadow but  
a memorial, pointing back and not forward, and  
because the law of which the Sabbath is a part 
isyetof obligation. N. J. BOWERS.  
Evil Not a Qualification for Good.  
WHEN the apostle Paul returned from Damas- 
cus to Jerusalem, he was very anxious to preach  
the gospel upon the very ground where he  had  
formerly persecuted the followers of Christ. 
He no doubt felt that it was due to the cause 
he had so bitterly opposed, to the Master he 
had so flagrantly dishonored, and to the people  
he had so cruelly persecuted, that he should  
bear the cross, acknowledge his error, and as 
far as possible counteract his former influence  
by laboring to build up that which he had en- 
deavored to pull down. He seems also to have  
had the impression that his former course and 
position would add to his influence amongst the  
people when he should appear as an advocate  
of the way he had so fiercely denounced.  
But the Lord regarded the matter in  a differ- 
ent light. He cautioned the apostle, "Make 
haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem;  
for they will not receive thy testimony concern- 
ing me." Paul was disposed to  argue the case,  
and presented the fact that they knew how he 
had imprisoned believers and beat them in the  
synagogues, and the part he had acted in the 
death of Stephen. But an all-wise God did not  
recognize this as a qualification for the ministry.  
This was the very reason that the Jews would  
not hear his testimony—they regarded him as 
a traitor. And the sequel proved that, to the 
end of his career, even the Christian Jews en- 
tertained strong prejudice against him.  
It is not uncommon in modern times for " re- 
formed" culprits or drunkards to be pressed to  
the front, or themselves seek prominence be-
cause of' their former wickedness. To reform  
is commendable, and a self-sacrificing labor in  
behalf of right is fitting for any one who has  
been addicted to vice of whatever character;  
but to suppose that they are better fitted for  
usefulness, or better calculated to have a good  
influence in the world, is a great mistake. A 
career of viciousness can in no way qualify a  
man for good works or good influence. Wicked 
men have reformed and led lives of usefulness,  
but they have all experienced the fact that their  
former wrong-doing was a bar to their peace  
and a detriment to their success. Every one of'  
them have realized that lives of uprightness 
would have been far preferable in the way of  
preparation for useful labor.  
There have been instances of so-called " re- 
formed " individuals being thrust upon the pub- 
lic for speculative purposes, who would " draw "  
large audiences and pass for successful reform- 
ers; but they have generally left behind but little  
evidence of good results. In such cases a maud- 
lin sympathy has been aroused by advertising, 
and the people have supposed that they were  
encouraging reform by listening to the details  
of infamous lives; while the multitudes gathered 
out of curiosity would be hailed as a token of 
success on the part of the hero of the hour. 
But it is a false notion of encouragement to a  
life of rectitude, when the wicked experiences  
of the "reformed" are made the object of popu- 
lar recognition and applause.  
A few years ago a "reformed" circus man- 
ager imposed upon the good people of Califor- 
nia as a temperance lecturer, and regaled many  
audiences with stories of his brutality when un-
der the influence of alcohol. These were his  
only qualifications, yet he succeeded in getting 
a license to preach. But his career was short;  
he proved a defaulter with funds collected os- 
tensibly for benevolent purposes, and finally 
went back to the circus. It is doubtful if, with  

all his sensational demonstrations, a single trace  
of good accomplished by him can be found.  
Another case was that of a " reformed convict"  
who was "encouraged" to make a lecturing  
tour of the State. The inducement offered to  
the public was that he had been an inmate of fif- 
teen prisons, and his "lecture" was comprised of  
the particulars of his evil deeds. As might 
have been expected, his "reformation" soon  
ended; but there were many people who thought  
that he might be the means of doing much good, 
on account of his practical kno wledge of evil.  
These cases are not cited as being at all sim- 
ilar to that of Paul. But when men . send out  
reformers whose qualifications are largely based 
upon past wickedness, they invariably cite the 
case of Paul as a precedent. This is a mistake, 
and is not only an insult to the wisdom of 
God, but a positive injury to the cause of re- 
form. The great apostle's wrong-doing was not 
through wantonness, but through ignorance. 
His cruelty was actuated by a zeal for what he  
supposed to be the honor of God. He had been 
devoutly religious and exceedingly earnest, and  
could not have been induced to pursue the  
course he did if he had not thought it was  
pleasing to God. It was for these traits that  
God denominated him a "chosen vessel."  
When, in after years, Paul made selection of  
fellow-workers, we do not read that he chose 
those who had been notoriously wicked. The 
ease of Timothy is in point. He was "well re- 
ported of by the brethren, was possessed of un-
feigned faith," and had been taught the Script-
ures from his youth by his grandmother and 
mother. It matters not how thorough may be 
the change of heart in a wicked man, the results  
of a vicious course will follow him to his grave.  
It will be a blur upon his capabilities and a drag  
upon his efforts. No matter how faithful his la- 
bors, they would have been better without the  
taint of "wicked lewdness." One does not need  
indulgence in sin to realize its horror. It shows  
for itself. No teacher was ever so successful as 
the sinless One. W. N. GLENN.  
WE took up a "great" morning paper and  
found a report of a large and powerful meeting 
held the night before. It was disposed of in  
five lines, full of blunders. But a  row in a slum  
found a graphic reporter who rejoiced in half a 
column of  unstinted rhetoric. Is it conceivable  
that persons who have intelligence enough to  
read newspapers care for the reports of every  
dr unken fight that happens in the lowest p,arts  
of the earth? We would not be swift to find  
fault, and certainly we would not be unjust or  
censorious; but we are anxious to know if it is  
not possible to raise the standard—the moral  
standard of journalism? When we reflect on  
the mighty possibilities of usefulness in news- 
papers, read as they are with avidity by millions  
of people, and when we bear in mind that  
morals and manners are immensely affected for  
good or evil by this almost omnipotent agency,  
we are constrained to ask the attention of those 
who control it, to their high responsibilities. 
We know just where the trouble is, and how  
easy it is to say, "Must give the news, and make  
the paper bright, lively, racy, popular." Yes,  
make it all that, but make it clean also. Let it  
be wholesome, pure, elevating. Let us have  
done with the old devil's plea that " we must  
give what the people want; if one paper does 
not serve up the scandal, they will get one that 
does." Thus bad men justify themselves in a 
thousand things that are wrong. If the people  
like the evil, let us not pander to their depraved 
appetites. If others will, let us leave them the  
profit of it, and they will get their reward.  
Observer.  
READING the Bible, praying, going to church,  
and giving money to the poor, are all good things,  
if we have love also; otherwise they are worth 
nothing. "Love is the fulfilling of the law."


342  THE SIQINTS OF THE TIMES. 342  
IE SHBLIHTK-SCTOL  
LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST—JUNE 15.  
ACTS, CHAPTER 26 : 24—27: 14.  
OUR last lesson closed with Paul's speech be- 
fore Agrippa. The last two verses of this de- 
fense (Acts 26 : 22, 23), are worthy of more ex-
tended notice than the limited space last week  
allowed. We quote: " Having therefore ob- 
tained help of God, I continue unto this day,  
witnessing both to small and great, saying none  
other things than those which the prophets and 
Moses did say should come: That Christ should 
suffer, and that he should be the first that 
should rise from the dead, and should show  
light unto the people, and to the Gentiles."  
These verses alone are sufficient to refute the  
somewhat prevalent idea that the doctrine of 
immortality through Christ was unknown to 
the Old Testament writers. The apostles were  
not foolish enough to make assertions without  
any authority  to back them up. Paul himself  
had written, " For we preach  no If ourselves, but  
Christ Jesus the Lord." 2 Cor. 4 : 5. But their  
only means of proving Jesus to be the Messiah,  
were the prophecies." They could testify that  
one Jesus of Nazareth had been crucified and  
raised from the dead, but what of it? This  
would have availed nothing, had they not been  
able to prove from the Old Testament, the only 
Scripture then in existence, that these very  
things were predicted to occur at a definite  
time, and for a special purpose. Both Moses  
and the prophets declared, not only that Christ  
should suffer, but also the reason for his suffer- 
Even before Moses, we learn that the  mg.  
gospel had been preached to Abraham. 
3  

Gal.  

We know that some, as Enoch and Elijah, went  
to Heaven without seeing death—were made  
immortal—but this was only  by virtue of the  
same promise, for immortality is brought to 
light only through the gospel. 2 Tim. 1:10.  
Their translation was possible only because the  
resurrection of Jesus was an assured fact (by  
promise), and the same power that made them 
immortal through translation, could make oth- 
ers immortal through a resurrection.  
WHEN Paul touched upon the resurrection  
from the dead, Festus cried out, "Paul, thou  
art beside thyself; much learning doth make 
thee mad." This preaching was to him foolish- 
ness. There was  nothing in philosophy that  
could explain the fact of a resurrection. He 
had, doubtless, seen Paul bending over his  
rusty parchment copy of the Old Testament,  
and he concluded that intense application had  
turned his brain. But Paul courteously replied,  
" I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak  
forth the words of truth and soberness." Well  
might he say this, for they were the words of  
the Bible. Philosophy is jnst as powerless as  
ever to explain the doctrine of the resurrection;  
its professed devotees may scoff at the simple 
faith of the unlearned Christian; but  it is nev- 
ertheless true that the words of truth and rea- 
son are to be found, above all other places, m  
the word of God. The doctrine of the resur- 
rection is a most reasonable one. not because it  
can be grasped by human reason, but because  
it is founded upon the unchanging wrord of the  
eternal God. It is consistent with the highest  
reason to believe what he says, whether we  
understand it or not.  

departure, he was started off in chains. This  
would seem to be one of the occasions illustrat- 
ing the fact that God's ways " are past finding  
out;" but it is probable that had the apostle  
been set at liberty he would have been waylaid  
and killed. His keepers were also his protect-
ors, and by this means was fulfilled the Lord's  
promise to him at Damascus of deliverance  
"from the people" (the Jews).  Chap. 26 :17.  
Verily, " all things work together for good to 
them that love God, to them who are the called  
according to his purpose." Eom. 8: 28.  
VERSE 23 has been the source of much per- 
plexity and controversy. It is certain that  
many were raised from the dead before Christ 
was—Lazarus, the son of the widow of Nain,  
and others—even hundreds of years before he  
came to earth. Many, to avoid this seeming 
contradiction of  facts, have  concluded that the  
text means that Christ was the first who should  
rise to immortality. But the text does not  
say so, and we have no means of proving that  
such is the case. The Revised Version follows  
the original more closely in this instance than  
does that of King James. It reads thus: "How  
that the Christ must suffer, and how that 
he first by the resurrection of the dead should 
proclaim light both to the people and to the  
Gentiles." 'Not that Christ should be the first  
absolutely to rise from the dead, but to proclaim  
through that resurrection light to the world.  
There were many that were raised prior to  
the time of Christ,"but their resurrection gave 
no pledge that another would be raised. And  
they themselves were raised only by virtue of  
the promise that Christ would pass through the  
gates of death and come forth a triumphant 
conqueror, bearing the keys of death and the  
orave. This promise was made before any man  
had fallen under the power of death; he was the  
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  
But God " calleth those things which be not as 
though they were." A thing promised by him  
is just as sure as though already fulfilled. With  
this thought in mind we may  even consider that  
Christ was actually the first to rise from the  
dead, for his resurrction was as well assured as  
was his death; and he was "slain from the  
foundation of the world. And since this prom-
ise was the pledge of immortality, it is a matter  
of no more wonder that men should be raised  
to immortality before the time of Christ than  
that they should be raised from the dead at all.  
We do not say that all who  were raised were  
made immortal (of this we are not informed), 
but there is certainly nothing in this text to for- 
bid the idea that some were made immortal,  

PAUL could appeal to Agrippa as he could not  
to Festus. "Believest  thou the prophets? I  
know that thou believest." Since he understood  
and believed the prophets, and Paul had shown  
their accurate fulfillment in the person and work  
of Christ, his declaration, "Almost thou per-
suadest me to be a Christian," was almost a  
necessary consequence. Had it not  been for  
his wicked heart, the source of unbelief, he could  
have omitted the "almost." We do not believe,  
with some, that these words of Agrippa were 
uttered in a sneering manner, but that they  
were forced from him, even against his will,  
by the power of the apostle's reasoning.  

PAUL was favored in having for companions  
two faithful fellow-laborers, Luke and Aristar- 
chus. These were voluntary attendants, al-
though Paul mentions Aristarchus as a " fellow- 
prisoner" at Rome. Col. 4:10. And it appears 
that the centurion, who had charge of the 
prisoners (there were others besides Paul, chap.  
27:1), was disposed to favor the apostle. In  
" Sketches from the Life of Paul  " we find this  
interesting reference:—  
;£ The voyage began prosperously, and the  
day after they started, they cast anchor in the  
harbor of Si'don. Here Julius, the centurion  
who had listened to the apostle's address be- 
fore Agrippa, and had thus been favorably dis-
posed toward him,' courteously  entreated Paul,'  
and being informed that there were Christians  
in the place, he 'gave him liberty to go unto  
his friends to refresh himself.' The favor was  
highly appreciated by the apostle, who was in 
feeble health, and but scantily provided with  
comforts for the long journey. His brief stay  
in Sidon was like an oasis in his barren and  
dreary path, and proved a comfort and encour-
agement to him during the anxious weeks upon  
the storm-tossed sea."  
THE reply of Paul showed him  to be at once  
a perfect gentleman and a perfect Christian. 1 
would to God, that not only thou, but also all  
that hear me this day, were both almost and  
altogether such as I am except these bonds."  
If Paul had passed his life among courtiers, he 
could not have framed a more delicate and for- 
cible rejoinder. And this shows that commun  
ion with God and his word may be depended  
upon to give men a true polish, not excelled by 
that of the most skilled worldly diplomat, But  
how many professed Christians are there who 
would dare make the reply that Paul made?  
How many are living so near to God, leading  
such holy lives, as to be able to say to all around 
them " I would to God that you were altogether  
such as I am." ?  I fear that the most of us would  
hesitate. And yet Paul had attained no height  
of godliness that is not possible to all. It is not  
only the privilege but the duty of all to be like  
Christ, so that when he sits as a refiner and puri- 
fier of silver, he may rejoice to see his own  
image reflected in us, that when he shall appear  
we may be able to see him as he is. E. J. W.  
Paul's Departure for Rome.  
THIS is the only instance on record of a Chris- 
tian minister starting to a foreign country as a 
missionary in the guise of a State prisoner  
Two years before, the Lord had  made known  
his design to send Paul to Rome. Acts 23 :11.  
During all this time he was kept as a prisoner  
at Csesarea,  and when the time came for his  

ALTHOUGH this voyage was fraught with  
danger, there were'opportunities for witnessing  
to the truth, and the power and wisdom of the  
God whom Paul worshiped was peculiarly man- 
ifested. It is often supposed that, although the  
minister's advice may be very good in spiritual  
things, his judgment in temporal matters is un-
reliable; but it was demonstrated in the attempt 
to pass from Fair Havens to Phenice, a haven  
of Crete, that the " thoroughly furnished " man 
of God may have practical knowledge outside of  
his special calling. Paul warned the centurion  
and the master of the ship that the trip (al- 
though but about thirty-four miles) would be  
" with hurt and much damage" to the ship and  
lading, as well as endangering the lives of those  
on board. Chap. 27:10. But they and the 
passengers desired to go, and the counsel of  
God through his servant was set at naught. 
They soon learned, however, that they had  
made a great mistake in trusting to their own 
wishes for guidance, and that the advice of the  
inspired prisoner would have been much to their  
advantage temporally, if heeded. The Third  
Angel's Message has developed many instances  
of shipwrecked faith and business hopes through  
a disregard of the advice of'God's tried servants  
in temporal affairs.  
" WHEN the south wind blew softly," they  
supposed that they had obtained their purpose,  
and set sail. Chap. 27:13. How many fortunes 
and souls have been wrecked upon that soft 
south wind—favorable appearances. The flat-
tering inducements for speculative investment  
of means have lured the judgment away from 
the wants of the Lord's cause, and his caution 
to " lay up your treasure in Heaven " has been  
disregarded. The deceptive pleasures and dis- 
play of the world have weaned the affections and  
shut out a desire for the "far more exceeding  
and eternal weight of glory." The delusive  
popularity of false doctrine leads many to sup- 
pose they have "obtained their purpose," and 
they believe the wisdom of man rather than the 
things which are spoken by inspiration. Men  
prefer to walk by sight rather than trust the


JUNE 12, 1884.  THE SIGNS OE THE TIMES.  343  
word of the Lord. The soft south winds of Sa-
tan are blowing in every sea, "with all deceiva- 
bleness of unrighteousness in them that perish, 
because they receive not the love of the truth,  
that they might be saved." 2 Thess. 2:10.  
W. N. GLENN.  
Books for Bible Students.  
ON page 349 we present a list of valuable  
books for all wrho have any interest in Bible 
study, both in and out of the Sabbath-school.  
There is a dearth of this class of books even  
among professing Christians. There are very  
few  who have even a partial supply of such helps  
as are found in this list. Yery often we find a  
family, even in very moderate circumstances,  
who have been flattered or coaxed by some  
book agent into buying some expensive volume  
or set of volumes, which lie useless on their  
book-shelves, the reading of which would prove 
not only a loss of time but -a curse to the family.  
Such will excuse themselves from buying sub-
stantial literature on the plea of poverty, or 
want of time to read. There ought to be a re- 
form among the people everywhere in the mat- 
ter of buying books. We do not keep the com- 
pany of worthless men, nor should we buy  
worthless books.  
There is pressing need of helps to Bible  
study. I know of but one or twro Sabbath-
schools that are not suffering spiritual loss 
every week for want of them. The superintend-
ents and teachers should take this matter in  
hand, and raise a fund for the purchase of a 
good library of books for their schools. The 
weeks, months, and years are rolling by, and 
our youth and middle-aged scholars are not  
making the advancement they should, simply 
for want of books to read in connection with  
the study of the Bible. The youth and children  
will read something and that will be the books  
that are nearest at hand. Get these books and  
put them where the children can have access to  
them, and set them a good example by reading  
them instead of poring over several columns of  
newspaper trash every week.  
To individuals and families we say, Tou need  
the books mentioned in this list for yourselves  
and your friends. No agent will come and press  
you to buy them. While your thought is called  
to the matter, sit down and look the list over,  
and order at once those you would like. If you  
wish to make a present of a book to a friend,  
here is an excellent list from which to select,  
and nothing but good can come to any who  
read them. To tbe friend of' Christianity we  
say, Beform in the matter of buying books, and  
henceforth purchase such as will give informa- 
tion on matters of eternal consequence. To the  
young we would say, Lay by a few dimes each 
month, and then order such books as you may 
need, as fast as you get the money. Every 
good book you read is so much treasure laid up 
with which to develop character. Youth is the  
time to sow seed, and let it be good seed, for 
you will surety have to reap the harvest. And 
to the Sabbath-school officers and teachers we  
say, Wake up, wake up, and purchase libraries  
for your schools. Do not try to get all the  
books you want at once, but get a good supply  
now, and then get more as you can. Raise a 
fund by subscription if necessary, and order the 
books at once. Nothing will encourage the 
youth and children more than to supply them  
with books. We are suffering great loss by not 
having proper i*eading matter in connection  
with our study of the Bible. Do not wait till  
next month or next year, but turn over a new 
leaf by ordering at once such as you-most need.  
G. D. BALLOU,  
Pres. Gal. S. S. Association.  
THE Sabbath-scliool is fast growing in impor- 
tance as a medium of missionary wTork, and its  
efficacy is acknowledged upon every side.  

NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.  
JUNE 22—ROM.. 13 :1-10.  
YERSE 1 : " Let every soul be subject unto the  
higher powers, for there is no power but of God;  
the powers that be are ordained of God." By 
the " higher powers" is meant those who are in  
authority in the earth. Submission to authority  
is one of the chief requisites; it lies at the foun- 
dation of all goodness. It is everywhere taught  
in the Bible. The child that is disobedient to  
his parents, or the man who despises the author- 
ity of the Government, cannot be submissive to 
tbe will of God. To teach children perfect sub- 
mission to authority wrhen they are young, is to 
prepare them to be good citizens of the State,  
and humble followers of God.  
"THE powers that  be are ordained of God."  
That is, God has appointed that there should be  
governments in the earth. Paul has reference 
more to authority in tbe abstract than to indi- 
vidual rulers. God has ordered that there  
should be government; but it does not follow  
that the men in authority are always men that  
he would approve. We read that in the re-
deemed state there will be nations and kings, 
who will bring their glory and honor into the  
New Jerusalem. Rev. 21. We may learn,  
therefore, that God has no sympathy with an- 
archy and contusion. Those who are trying to  
overthrow existing forms of government are not  
doing a work which God approves; a Christian  
cannot engage in such a work. And right here 
it is worth while to notice that socialists, commu- 
nists, and nihilists are almost invariably atheists, 
as much opposed to the government of God as  
they are to earthly powrers.  
" WHOSOEVER therefore resisteth the power re- 
sisteth the ordinance of God." These words of  
Paul are greatly misapprehended by many. 
They do not teach that we are to obey every  
human ordinance. No Christian is justified in 
resisting authority, and yet it may be absolutely 
necessary for him to disobey the commands of  
x-ulers. For instance: The apostles w^ere often  
commanded by those highest in authority not  
to preach in the name of Jesus, but they paid  
no attention to this command, saying, " We  
ought to obey God rather than men." Here  
was a case where the laws of men were in op- 
position to those of God. Such laws they were 
warranted in disobeying, but we will see that  
they did not resist authority. They said noth-
ing against the rulers, and did not try to create 
any insurrection among the people; they sub- 
mitted to authority and took their punishment  
without a word of complaint. When the hearts 
of the people w^ere with the apostles, in conse- 
quence of the wonderful miracles they had per- 
formed, they might easily have organized a force 
that would have compelled the rulers to revoke  
their unjust decrees, or even to flee from office.  
In the course which they did pursue, all Chris- 
tains have an example to follow.  
IN the ninth and tenth verses we find a state- 
ment of our duties as citizens, aiid of the rights  
of rulers. The last five commandments are 
quoted as comprising the whole of the law, with  
the statement that " if there be any other com-
mandment it is briefly comprehended in this  
saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
as thyself." To do this, Paul says, is to fulfill  
the law. Now he has not said anything about 
idolatry, image-worship, profane swearing, or 
Sabbath-breaking.  Why not ? Was it because  
he regarded these things as of no consequence?  
No; but because he wTas writing about our duty  
as citizens, and not concerning our special duty  
to God. That this is not all the law, we know  
from our Saviour's w^ords. He places, " Thou  
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,"  
first, as being greater than the one which Paul  

quotes, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy-
self." Paul does not repudiate that first and  
great commandment, as is abundantly show7n  
in his writings elsewhere; but he only quotes  
so much of the law as is applicable to the case  
in hand. And there is a thought here for those 
who w^ould have special  legislation by earthly  
rulers on matters of religion. If all our duty  
as citizens of the State is comprehended in this  
saying, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy-
self," then it surely follows that all the powers 
of the rulers of the State are comprised in see- 
ing that the people obey that law. To this ex- 
tent they are God's ministers (servants). He 
intrusts to them the enforcing of laws, the vio- 
lation of which w^ould work ill to man; beyond  
this they have no right to go.  
" HE that loveth another [literally, the  
other] hath fulfilled the law." That is, he 
obeys all the law that relates merely to our 
duty to man. No one can kill  another, steal  
from him, bear false witness against him, violate  
the chastity of any of his family, or covet his  
goods, and at the same time love him. If be  
loves his neighbor as he does himself, he will 
not offend in any of these points, and then he  
will be doing all that human laws can require 
of him. But after he does this, there yet re-
mains his duty to God, as covered by the first  
and great commandment. If he does not fulfill  
this law-, he is amenable to God alone; and if 
those that resist earthly rulers receive to them- 
selves damnation, wrho can measure the guilt of  
him who refuses to render to God the honor  
that is due him? E. J. W.  
Spirit of tlie Mormon Hierarchy.  
A LATE number of the Independent contains a  
series of articles from leading men in Utah in 
answer to certain questions concerning Mor- 
monism, asked by Joseph Cook. The following, 
an extract from the letter of Dr. McNiece, pas- 
tor of the Presbyterian Church, Salt Lake City,  
will show that Mormonism is not simply vile,  
but that it is exceedingly cruel:—  
"The only protection to tbe life and property  
of Americans here, which they can rely on,  
grows out of the fact that the governor, the  
secretary of Utah, and the higher court judges 
are Americans, and represent the American  
ideas of government. These officers are now  
appointed by the American people through the  
president and Congress; and the governor is  
armed with absolute veto power. That is, the  
Mormon legislature can pass no law over the 
governor's veto. Now, let Utah become a  
State, and let the governor, judges, and all other 
officers be the representatives of the priesthood, 
as they inevitably would be; every intelligent  
American here knows and feels that the sooner  
he got out of Utah the better. I have heard  
this view expressed again and again by the 
most intelligent and courageous men here. 
And from wrhat I have seen of the bitter, anti- 
American and diabolical spirit of the priesthood,  
during the nearly seven years of my residence  
in Utah, I believe that opinion is altogether too 
well grounded. If' Utah were to become a 
State, I believe the life of no Christian teacher 
or minister would be safe in Utah outside of  
this city and Ogden, where the Americans are  
mainly concentrated. With a brave and effi- 
cient governor, and with American courts, wTe  
have not been able in the rural towns to prevent  
the midnight stoning of' the windows in the 
houses occupied by our teachers and ministers.  
Life has been thus endangered again and again.  
Our school houses and churches have been re- 
peatedly injured and set on fire. What would 
we do if the governor and the judges were  
Mormons, under control of the priesthood, as 
they would be if Utah were a State?"  
THE word of the Lord challenges scrutiny.


344  THE SIGKTSTS OF THE TIMES.  VOL. 10, No. 23.  
CJJT DIGITS OF % CIME^  
" Can ye not discern the signs of the times ? "  
J. H. WAGGONER, EDITOR.  
E. ,R. WAGGONER, ASSISTANT EDITOR.  
CJRIAH SMITH, - - CORRESPONDING EDITOR.  
OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY,  JUNE 5, 1884.  
"Know That He Is Near.  
(Continued)  
THE view that the image is not yet smitten, that  
"the stone" has not yet appeared in history as it 
appeared in the prophecy, is confirmed by an exam- 
ination of chapter 7. First, however, we notice 
that many expositors have seemed to entirely over- 
look the result of the smiting. They represent the 
stone as having smitten the image by the proclama-
tion of the gospel in the first century, and the result  
to be the conversion of the world; the subduing of  
the nations to the truth. But  the prophecy says the  
image was smitten on the feet, later than A. D. 483, 
and the result was the destruction of the nations; 
they were "broken to pieces together, and became  
like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and  
the wind carried them away, that no place was 
found for them." Dan. 2:35. This accords with  
the second Psalm, where the Father says to the Son:  
" Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for 
thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the 
earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them  
with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces  
like a potter's vessel." Ps. 2 :8, 9. How anybody  
can distort this language into a conversion of the 
world, even of all the heathen, is more than we can  
imagine. See Ps. 110 :1, 2; Jer.  25 :15-38; Heb. 10:  
12, 13; 2 Thess. 1:7-10.  
In Dan. 7 there is a very important historical fact  
presented which is not found in Dan. 2. When the 
image was complete, and the toes developed, nothing  
further was noticed until the stone appeared—until  
the kingdom of God was set up. But in Dan. 7 it is  
different. After the ten horns, which are the ten  
kingdoms, appeared upon the fourth beast, " another 
little horn" arose among them; another power ap-
peared upon the scene. Its appearance and actions  
were peculiar. It was a little horn; it was small 
when it was first seen. Its look was more stout 
than its fellows; it became stronger than they were. 
It had eyes like the eyes of a man, not like the eyes  
of a beast; it was cunning and far-seeing. It had a  
mouth speaking great things, even great words  
against the Most High; it was arrogant and blasphe- 
mous. Three of the first horns were plucked up be-
fore it.  
None of the other horns had any description given  
of them or of their work. More interest and im-
portance seemed to be attached to this than to the 
others. The question may be asked: Why was not 
this noticed in chapter 2, seeing it is one of the most  
interesting objects in this series of symbols? The  
anwer is found in the fact before noticed, that each  
subsequent vision of this series of events contains  
something additional to that which preceded it. And  
here is shown the necessity of locating the ten king- 
doms, and the appropriateness of Dr. Scott's nam- 
ing them "the ten primary kingdoms." These ten  
kingdoms, as  they first came up, appeared by the  
year A. D. 483. At that time the Roman bishops  
were assuming power by virtue of their position in 
the chief city of the empire, and this power was  
gradually guaranteed to them by the civil authority. 
Thus, in the council of Nice, A. D. 325, it was decreed  
that the primacy belonged to the bishop of Rome.  
Constantine conferred the power of a magistrate of 
the chief rank upon the bishop of Rome. He also  
transferred his court to Constantinople, which opened  
the way for the Roman bishop to exercise authority  

in full in "old Rome;" and the sure foundation for  
this was laid by a decree of Justinian, issued in 535,  
which was carried into effect in 538.  
It was indeed small at the first; its head was a  
Christian bishop,—a professed representative of the 
Son of God, who said, "My kingdom is not of this  
world." It was diverse from the others; it was an 
ecclesiastical power. Its look was more stout than  
its fellows; when it assumed control of civil affairs 
it ruled over the strongest kingdoms, and there was  
not a king on earth who dared to resist its will or  
to provoke its wrath. It spoke great words against  
the Most High; it was the only power which ever  
acknowledged the true God, Jehovah of the Bible,  
and at the same time assumed the titles and preroga-
tives of the true God, and legislated upon the Bible, 
the word of God. It wore out the saints of the Most  
High; the Roman apostate church literally fulfilled 
this; it was not content with a distressing persecu-
tion of a few years at a time, as pagan Rome had  
been before it, but it carried on a persistent and re- 
lentless warfare against the followers of the Lamb  
of God, who cling to the Bible, century after century,  
Until many millions were slain. Truly it wore them  
out. And it thought to change times and laws. It  
set aside the second commandment altogether, and  
changed the Sabbath of the Lord into the festival 
of the day of the sun. And three kingdoms were 
subdued before it in the establishing of its su- 
premacy. It stands alone before the world, as hav- 
ing fulfilled the prophecy in all these particulars.  
And how long was it said this power should con- 
tinue? Until "the time came that the saints pos-
sessed the kingdom." We know by the words  of  
Jesus exactly when  the saints shall possess the king- 
dom. It is " when the Son of man shall come in his 
glory, and all the holy angels with him." Matt. 25 : 
31-34. And Paul, speaking of this same power, says 
it shall be destroyed by the brightness of the Lord's  
coming. 2 Thess. 2 :1-8. And with his destruction  
is linked the destruction of all the kings of the  
earth. Comp. Rev. 19 :11-21.  
There is one more point to be noticed in Dan. 7.  
It is that of time. We have seen that the image 
completed, of chap. 2, comes down to A. D. 483; and  
that the foundation for the exercise of civil power  
by the bishop of Rome was fully laid by Justinian  
in A. D. 538. In Dan. 7 :25 the saints are said to be 
given into the hand (power) of this little horn " un-
til a time and times and the dividing of time." Of  
this period Dr. Scott says:—  
" Thus matters would be left in his hands till a  
time, and times, and the dividing of time, that is, for  
three years and a half, or forty-two months, which,  
reckoning thirty days to a month (and this was the 
general computation), make just one thousand two 
hundred and sixty days; and these prophetic days 
signify one thousand two hundred and sixty years,  
a number which we shall repeatedly meet with in 
the Revelation of St. John."  
It is easy to prove that Dr. Scott is correct in this  
computation. And any doubt about the correctness  
of locating the beginning of that period with the  
decree of Justinian is dispelled by the fulfillment of  
the time; for Pope Pius VI. was made a prisoner of  
State in 1798, just one thousand two hundred and  
sixty years after Justinian's decree took effect. 
Such a harmony of the prophecy with a fulfilling  
event places the matter beyond question. Though  
the papacy was not destroyed, and the prophecy 
shows that it would not be destroyed at that time, 
the power to wear out the saints was then lost, and 
has never been restored. Thus, while Dan. 2 brings  
us down to 483, and then looks forward to the set- 
ting up of the kingdom, Dan. 7 brings us down to  
1798, and then looks forward to the same event—the 
setting up of the kingdom and giving it to the saints 
of the Most High. This is the ultimate, and in the 
language of the Scriptures, " the effect of every vis- 
ion."  
By an unmistakable series of events we are now  

brought from the days of Nebuchadnezzar to thi/  
very beginning of the present century. But this  
line of prophecy is not exhausted. In our next  
number we will trace this subject farther, and show  
that the prophecy reaches to our own day, and en- 
ables us to understandingly answer the question, 
" Watchman, what of the night ? "  
(To be continued.)  
Impressive Lesson from Isa. 10 :3.  
RECENT events in London, New York, Pittsburg,  
and some minor places, are well calculated to cause  
monied men to reflect on the uncertainties of  
earthly treasures. Life itself is so uncertain that  
any great amount of money hoarded up is  practi- 
cally worthless. Well did the Saviour put the ques-
tion to the rich man, when his life was to be taken  
away: "Then whose shall those things be which  
thou hast provided ?" What millionare can imagine  
what will become of his wealth in the event of his  
death? There are several cases now in law in Cali-
fornia in which fortunes are being expended; the  
profits of lives of toil are going into the hands of  
the lawyers, even while the owners of the money or  
property are yet living. We know men who possess  
tens and almost hundreds of thousands, which, if 
they should die, would pass into other hands, and in  
some instances we may safely say there would be no  
reasonable probability of their lawful heirs getting 
enough to supply their wants. In such cases every  
one would at once decide that there is miscalcula- 
tion; that safe calculators would put it in such a  
shape .that to their heirs would be secured a com- 
fortable living. But that is not so easily done as 
many imagine. The family of the man of small  
means is better assured of a comfortable living in 
the event of'his death, than is the family of the 
man of great wealth. The estate which promises 
rich returns to the lawyers will be most likely to be  
attacked. No will can be framed so as to stand the  
test of litigation; if it  cannot be broken directly, it  
can be kept in court till the property is exhausted. 
We have known cases where the testator was de- 
clared to have been insane when he made his will,  
when no one ever suspected such a thing while lie 
was living.  
To some people there seems to be a charm in the  
idea of having large possessions. We have known 
men who held on to their many acres, as though  
their last hope was centered in possessing them,  
while the mortgages were so heavy and the interest  
so high that every dollar they could raise passed  
into the hands of money lenders. They were not 
only poor men, but they were working without  
wages for money lenders, without the least prospect  
that anything could be saved to their families if  
they should die. "This also is vanity and vexation 
of spirit." Worst of all, we have known some pro-
fessed Adventists in this very condition.  
But we started out to speak of some recent events.  
We refer to failures of banks and brokers. Fre- 
quently the papers record the failure of some  
"heavy" firm, some old and "very reliable" bank 
which reckoned its assets by millions. Depositors 
who placed their money in their hands considered 
it safe—safer than if they always held it in their  
own hands. But in these times of speculation we 
can have no assurance that any bank is safe. Men  
who have money to deposit or to invest do well to 
consider carefully before placing it.  
We speak now especially to our own people; to  
those who profess to believe that we are in the last  
days—that " the end of all things is at hand." We 
have not a word to say against being " diligent in 
business." But we do insist that with this we should  
also be "fervent in Spirit serving the Lord." So  
great diligence in business as to exhaust all our time,  
talent, and strength in the service of the world ia 
the highway to ruin. The god of this world blinds


JUNE 5, 1884.  THE 8IGXS OE THE TIMES.  345  
the minds of the multitude, not entirely excepting  
those who profess to be seeking for an "eternal  
weigh t of glory." 2 Cor. 4. Some retain more money  
or property in their hands than is profitable to 
themselves; more than a just regard for the claims of 
God, whose stewards they are, will allow. And  
some risk their money, and suffer loss, who ought to 
place it where it will serve the cause' of God, but in- 
stead they place it where it promises a larger per  
cent, interest. We have known individuals, who  
, professed our faith, to lose money in speculative en- 
terprises when the cause greatly needed the means,  
and offered reasonably large interest. And we have  
known two reasons to be offered for such  a proceed- 
ing: 1. That they werepromised higher interest than  
our institutions would offer. 2. That " church prop-
erty " is not considered as safe a risk as other prop-
erty I  
Now while "solid" banks are breaking; while  
" heavy " firms are failing; while mortgages are often  
proving unprofitable and unsafe investments, we 
can point with pleasure to the fact that our institu- 
tions have always paid a reasonable interest on  
loans, and no one has ever lost a dollar by loaning  
to any branch of the work which is being carried  
on by the Seventh-day Adventists. And we are 
very confident that no one ever will lose by placing  
means in this work. Our publishing houses, colleges,  
sanitariums, and even our churches are the very  
safest places in the world for loans. This work is  
increasing in facilities, in extent, and in strength;  
it must succeed, and it will always be a safe place  
for money, talent, or labor.  
This question of deposits is one which will in- 
crease in interest as time wears away. By and by 
the cause of God will not need all the means which  
will be seeking a place of safety. It will become  
more and more apparent that merely worldly insti- 
tutions are unsafe places to deposit money. And  
they to whom God intrusts his work are conscien- 
tious in regard to receiving and using means given  
or loaned to this cause and work. Toward the close  
of the "first message " men urged money on to the 
publishing houses, which was refused. So will it be  
in this message. Many will be brought to confess 
that they acted unwisely in handling their means;  
in depositing it in unsafe hands, or in investing  
it for money profit merely, when it might have been  
doing good service in the cause of truth, and making  
a fair return also to its owners.  
We headed this article, " Impressive Lesson from  
Is a. 10 :3." The recent losses to depositors in Europe  
and America have led us to call the attention of  
those who have means in their hands to an exposi- 
tion of this Scripture. The verse reads thus:—  
" And what will ye do in the day of visitation,  
and in the desolation which shall come from far?  
to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye  
leave your glory ? "  
Worldly help, worldly glory and honor, will be a  
poor refuge "in the day of visitation, and in the day 
of desolation" which is coming. They who have  
carefully studied chapter 8 of this prophecy will 
have no difficulty in locating the expressions of this  
verse in this chapter. But we have not time to  
speak on that point now. We wish to call attention 
to the words of both the lexicons and commentaries  
bearing on this scripture.  
Gesenius gives several definitions to the verbal  
root of the word "glory;" we give here the first two  
as follows: "1. To be heavy. 2. In the sense of  
abundance, to be great, abundant, to be rich in any- 
thing." Of the substantive itself his first definition  
is: "1. Abundance, substance, riches, wealth. Nah.  

ment is striking: "By the word glory here . . .  
he probably means their riches, wealth, magnifi- 
cence. Thus Ps. 49:17; 'For when he dieth he  
shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend  
after him.' The word leave here is used in the sense  
of deposit, or commit for safe keeping. In the time  
of the invasion that shall come up like a tempest on 
the land, where will you deposit your property so  
that it shall be safe ? "  
When the day of visitation and the desolation  
shall come; when men shall be looking in every di-
rection for a safe place of deposit for the means to  
which they have so tenaciously and unwisely clung,  
they cannot plead that the trouble has come upon  
them without warning. God has foreseen the per- 
plexity into which they will be brought, and given  
them sufficient warning. But they let it pass un- 
heeded. They trusted that their money would de- 
liver them in every trial; that it would serve them  
in every emergency. How great will be their dis-
appointment when they discover that it is itself the  
means of their greatest perplexity and trial.  
Treasures may be laid up in Heaven, but they  
must pass through certain channels; they must be  
made to serve the cause of God and his truth. In  
order to this, they must be used when the cause  
of truth has need of them. The time is coming in  
this message when believers in the present truth can  
neither buy nor sell. The man of large possessions,  
who has trusted in "uncertain riches," will be poor—  
miserably poor—in that day. The man who' has  
used his means to serve the cause of God and hu- 
manity will be rich. His treasure will be in Heaven  
—just where he is going. Prudent man! he sent his  
means ahead, that he might find them safe at the  
end of his journey.  
We invite the careful and prayerful attention of  
men of means, of depositors, to the impressive lesson  
of Isa. 10 :3. Where will you deposit your wealth  
in the day of visitation ? What will you do with 
your "cash on hand " when you can neither buy nor 
sell without renouncing your faith? "Lord in- 
crease our faith," and teach us the danger of delays.  

know, the International lessons are necessarily non- 
sectarian, being simply portions of the Bible selected 
by the lesson committee. While all the Sunday- 
schools in the country study the same portion of  
Scripture at the same time, each denomination or  
journal may publish its own notes and comments.  
Since the SIGNS is a Bible expositor, to comment  
on these lessons will be directly in the line of our  
work. We therefore begin this week to acid these to  
our own lesson notes. To those unacquainted with 
this series, we will say now for all time, that there 
are only twelve lessons in each quarter; each school  
can use whatever it desires for the thirteenth lesson.  
There will therefore be no notes next week.  
As in the past, we will endeavor to make these  
notes of interest and profit to all; but we shall also  
get them out in time so that those who desire may 
use them in preparing their lessons. We believe  
that this move will be appreciated by all our present  
readers, and by thousands yet  to come. E. J. w.  
Tlie Publishing- Association.  
Our Sabbath-School Department.  
2 :10 [Eng. 9]; Ps. 49 :17; Isa. 10 : 3; Gen. 31 :1."  
Scott gives as the sense of the passage: " To whose  
keeping would they commit their ill-gotten riches,  
in which they gloried, and with which they then 
lived in splendor and luxury."  
Barnes is very clear on this point, and his com- 

IT has been our aim to make this department of  
our paper one of general interest. From the very 
nature of our work the Sabbath-school department  
of the SIGNS must be different from that of any  
other paper. The SIGNS is a missionary paper, de- 
voted to an exposition of the great truths of the Bible,  
especially thos'e for the last days, and as such it goes  
to all parts of the world, and is read  by all classes  
of people. Its circulation is not confined to our own  
people, but thousands not of our faith, and many  
with no well-defined belief in Christianity, read it  
with interest. Of the thousands of readers of the  
SIGNS, comparatively few study the Sabbath-school 
lessons upon which it comments, the great majority  
using the international series; and those who study  
the lessons published in the Youth's Instructor, are  
so widely scattered that many do not get the SIGNS 
in time to make the notes of immediate use in prepar- 
ing their lesson.  
All these things have been taken into account in  
preparing our Sabbath-school department, and we  
have endeavored to make the notes and comments 
of such a nature as would interest the general 
reader. The mission of the SIGNS is such that we  
cannot afford to have any part of it of merely local  
interest. We have evidence from Sabbath-school  
teachers and scholars that this department has been  
useful to them in their work; and we know that it 
has not been unappreciated by the larger class  
whom we have had in mind.  
But there are many who study the International  
lessons, who would derive more direct benefit if the  
SIGNS contained notes on that series also, and we  
have decided to meet this want. As all doubtless  

PROGRESS OF THE WOEK.  
WE know our friends will be anxious to learn how  
the work is prospering at this office, and what has  
been clone with reference to the recommendation of 
our brethren and the vote of the Directors to pur-
chase the adjoining property and prepare to enlarge  
our business during the coming year.  
First. In regard to our work, we would say that our  
experience since the annual meeting has demon- 
strated the fact that action in this matter  was taken  
none too soon. Every department of the office is  
crowded to overflowing. Our presses are running  
night and day and are still far behind. We have  
never seen so much work in the office and so much  
ahead as at the present time.  
Through the efforts of our friends the SIGNS is fast  
increasing its circulation, and we trust that before 
the summer is ended we can report the circulation 
doubled. Very encouraging reports come to us al-
most every clay, from different parts of the field, in  
regard to the good work that is being done by this  
paper, but the Judgment alone will reveal what has 
really been accomplished.  
The copy for " Great Controversy," Vol. 4, is in  
the hands of the printers and rapidly approaching  
completion. We hope to have this book ready for  
most of the Eastern camp-meetings. We bespeak 
for it an extensive circulation. This volume will  
be handled by the Tract and Missionary Societies, 
as a subscription book, and every family visited as  
far as possible. Already  large orders have been re- 
ceived and placed on file, to be filled as soon as the 
book is completed. From what we have seen of the  
manuscript, we feel to say it is just what our people  
need at the present time. Its sale will not be con- 
fined to our people alone, as it contains articles of  
thrilling interest to all.  
The amount of job work done by this office is only  
limited by our capacity. We could get much more to  
do if we only had the facilities to handle it. As it  
is, we only choose the largest and best firms and turn 
away the rest. We are determined that our denom- 
inational work shall stand first. But in order to do 
our own work to advantage we need two more cylin- 
der presses. We have been corresponding with  
parties in the East in regard to this, and find that  
two presses such as we need will cost, landed here, 
not less than five thousand dollars.  
'Second. In regard to the property, we are happy  
to state that the lot on Twelfth Street has been 
bought and paid for. The one on Eleventh Street is  
only waiting until we can satisfy ourselves in re-
gard to the title. This will be decided within a  
week, and then we are all ready to bore a well, and  
put up a tank-house and stable.  
That you may see about what the improvements  
contemplated will cost, we submit the following


346  THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.  VOL. 10, No. 22.  
statement, which is only approximate on the last  
two items:—  
Lot on 12th street, 50x100 feet.... $3,000 
Lot on 11th street, 50x100 feet.... 3,000 
Stable, tank-house, and well 3,000 
Two new cylinder presses 5,000  
Total $14,000  
There are two houses on these lots that must be  
moved off. They can be sold for from twelve to fif-
teen hundred dollars. Then we would be glad to 
sell a portion of the lot on Tweflth Street—say 30x75  
feet front, to some of our brethren who would put  
up a lodging-house where those laboring in the office  
could find good lodging-rooms, at reasonable rates, 
close to the office and boarding-house—something  
which they are not able to do now. Rents are very  
high here in Oakland, and it is almost impossible to  
get rooms. Our present boarding-house is not large 
enough to accommodate one-half of the persons that 
board there, with rooms. This would be a good in- 
vestment for some of our brethren, and a real help 
to the cause, as well. If we can sell a portion of  
this lot and the two houses above referred to, it will  
reduce the outlay to about ten thousand dollars.  
At the last annual meeting, the brethren in coun- 
cil over this matter decided that it was best to pur- 
chase this property and make these improvements.  
Now the question arises, How shall the money be  
raised to pay for them ? We hope we shall not be 
obliged to go to persons who have no interest in our  
work for a loan. We prefer to keep it all within our 
own ranks. The call has been made and some have  
already responded. One brother places a thousand  
dollars here without interest, to be used in this work.  
Another has loaned us five thousand dollars at a low 
rate of interest. As we have to pay cash for the lots 
and presses, and shall not be able to sell the houses 
for some time, we still need from six to eight thou- 
sand dollars to carry forward the Avork. If any of our  
brethren or sisters have money at their command  
we would be glad to correspond with them with ref- 
erence to placing it here. Remember, we do not ask  
you to give it, unless you wish to take stock An-
other way in which we might find considerable re-
lief is for those who are in debt to the office to make  
a special effort to square up their accounts now.  
The last annual report showed that we had about  
eighteen thousand dollars in outlying bills. This  
is mostly among our own people, and we know it is  
sure to come sometime, but what a help it would be  
if we had it now.  
We are not branching  out in this way simply to  
accommodate outside patronage, but to carry for- 
ward our own legitimate work—the spread of the 
Third Angel's Message. This is a missionary enter-
prise. God's hand is in it. He is leading us out to  
take broader views of the work, and thus be prepared  
for what is before us. If we are only faithful to the 
trust that God has committed to us, the work will 
increase rapidly from this time on.  
Our work will not be confined to the Pacific Coast  
alone, hut other fields will demand our attention. 
Already the islands of the Pacific are calling for 
help, and avast field is opened before us in Australia  
and New Zealand. The SIGNS office will be the 
great distributing point for all our printed matter 
for these new countries, and we hope that not only 
the truth will be printed and published here, but  
that workers will be raised up, qualified to enter 
these new fields and carry on the work.  
The time has come for earnest, energetic action.  
Let us show our faith by our works.  
C. H. JONES.  
THE people of Indianapolis intend to make a test  
case of the playing of base-ball there on Sunday by  
the Cincinnati Club. Much excitement was caused,  
as this was the first game ever played in that city  
on Sunday, and the players were arrested the same  
night.  

The Work in San Francisco.  
SINCE our good meeting in Oakland, San Fran- 
cisco has been the headquarters of a training  
class preparatory to usefulness in the great  
harvest-field. Bros. L. A. Scott and A. La Rue 
have been members of this class, and if Provi- 
idence permit, they will soon leave this port for  
the Sandwich Islands, to enter upon the work  
assigned them. Bro. Robbing, who has long  
followed the seas, has been preparing himself  
to engage in the ship missionary work in this 
city. Bro. Rieck was with us, but has now gone  
to his field of labor in Nevada. Bro. Owen, who 
is intending to devote his time to the cause of  
God, is also getting instructions in regard to his  
duties as city colporter.  
In the preparation of these brethren for their  
various duties, the spiritual interest has not been  
neglected. Lessons on prophecy have been 
given, and 1  trust profitably to all concerned.  
The work of this class has not wholty been to 
study,  but to put in practice the lessons taught.  
In consequence, hundreds of families have been  
visited, and their attention called to the leading  
points of our faith. Books and tracts have been  
sold, and thousands of pages loaned, and we hope  
to see some fruit from this labor.  
The church in this city has been greatly en- 
couraged by the presence of these brethren, and  
has caught the missionary spirit, and is tak- 
ing hold of the work with a will, and the good  
effects are seen in our meetings. The prayer 
and missionary meeting has nearly doubled in  
numbers, and our Sabbath meetings are excel- 
lent. Last Sabbath was a day that will be long 
remembered on account of the presence of God  
by his Spirit. Hearts were made tender, con-
fessions were made, and all felt that it was good  
to be there. This church is increasing in num- 
bers, strangers are constantly in attendance, and  
what they need is a good, earnest laborer who 
could devote his whole time to the interest of  
the work in this city. " W here are the reapers?''  
The ship work is increasing in interest and  
importance. Nineteen steamers leaving here  
for various ports and countries are supplied with  
files of the SIGNS placed in holders. Many of  
the officers of these ships are taking an interest 
in distributing our publications.  
There has been a longing demand for some- 
thing that would more especially call the atten-
tion of the traveling public to our work, and we 
trust the case is met in a model piece of furni-
ture now manufactured by Bro. Stockton, of this  
city. This case is one foot five inches long, ten  
and one-half inches wide, and four inches thick  
at the base. It has eight pockets long enough 
to take in a tract, eight inches deep, and three- 
fourths of an inch wide. These distributers are  
used for free distributions and loaning libraries.  
On the base-board of the loaning library, in gilt 
letters, are the following words: "Read and 
Return. This free loaning library is furnished  
by the International Missionary Society, 1059 
Castro Street, Oakland, Cal. Correspondence So- 
licited." In this case is placed the seven pam- 
phlets of the "Life of Christ," etc., by Mrs. F.  
G. White;" Matthew Twenty-four," "Truth  
Found," "Saints' Inheritance," and the seven  
pamphlets containing a miscellany of our tracts.  
This case is designed for the social hall or read-
ing-rooms on steamers.  
Another case is designed for the second  
cabins, restaurants, hotels, factories, depots, 
post-offices, and, in fact, all public places where  
there are readers. On this is the following in- 
scription, " Choice Reading Free." The reading  
matter in this case is furnished for free distribu- 
tion by the International Missionary Society,  
1059 Castro Street, Oakland, Cal. Correspond- 
ence Solicited." This case is designed to dis-
tribute tracts, SIGNS, Instructors, Good Health,  
Review, and Sabbath Sentinel. This case is an  

ornament, and will grace any reading-room,  
and is received with favor. The cost of the  
distributer is trifling, about $1.50.  
This will be a new feature in our work, and  
will give work to many to keep the cases supplied.  
The friends in this city are taking hold of the  
enterprise with a will, and already many places  
have been found for them. I expect that, not 
far in the future, these cases  or something better  
will be found in all prominent places, offering 
their contents to thousands of souls.  
In addition to our present facilities for doing*  
ship work, we are having a small sail-boat built,  
in which we can visit the ships anchored in the  
bay, and those at different points near San Fran- 
cisco. On this boat, there will be an arrange-
ment to hold an assortment of our publications,  
and then we shall be enabled to fill any order 
desired. All ships leaving this port take with  
them supplies of reading matter. Sales of our  
publications are made, and some items of an  
encouraging nature are gathered from in-
terested readers.  
In closing this report, 1 will add, that while  
engaged here with my brethren in learning how  
to better prepare ourselves for usefulness in the  
Master's cause, we have had some of the sweet 
Spirit of God with us; nothing has occurred to 
mar our peace, and to God be all the praise.  
WM. INGS.  
May 25, 1884.  
The Canada Camp-Meeting-.  
THIS meeting will be held in the public park,  
in the pleasant village of Waterloo, P. Q., June  
26 to July 1. In connection with the camp- 
meeting there will be held the annual session  
of the Canada Conference, and meetings of the  
Tract Society, and Sabbath-school Association.  
We have been greatly favored in securing a  
good location convenient to railroad. No bet-
ter season of the year could be selected for  
farmers'to leave their work. W e expect to see  
a general attendance of all our brethren at this  
meeting. All need the benefit of our annual  
gathering. God's servants will come a great  
distance to speak to us; they will have impor- 
tant messages, and just what we all need.  
Are you living near to God and enjoying his  
blessing from day to day? Then you are  
needed at the camp-meeting. Bring the bless-
ing of God with you. Let your light shine, and  
help to lighten up others who may be in dark- 
ness. Bring your unconverted friends. You  
may thus help them to find the Saviour. Here 
is a golden opportunity for you to do mission- 
ary work. Are you backslidden from God, and 
an idler in his vineyard? 1 would that I might 
say something that would arouse you to see the  
importance of coming to this meeting. You  
cannot afford to lose this opportunity. We  
want to make this the best camp-meeting ever  
held in Canada. The villages and country all  
around the vicinity of the camp-meeting are  
being thoroughly canvassed for the SIGNS.  
Thousands of pages of other reading matter  
have been circulated, and, as a result, many 
have become interested in the truth.  
We extend a cordial invitation to our breth- 
ren in northern Vermont to attend. Free re-
turn checks will be given over the railroads,  
and the steam-boat on Lake Magog.  
R. S. OWEN.  
South Stukely, P. Q., May 28, 1884.  
THERE are, in round numbers, 300,000 idol  
temples in China, estimated to have cost $1,000,- 
000,000. The money spent upon them annually,  
in repairs alone, is enormous. In Soochow one  
man has recently given $70,000 for repairing 
one of the temples, thus expecting great merit.  
OP the Moravian Church, one in every fifty- 
eight of the members is a missionary. The con- 
sequence is that their converts number more 
than four times the brotherhood.


JUNE 5, 1884.  THE ©laisrs OF THE TIMES.  347  
Camp-Meeting- in Wisconsin.  
THE annual camp-meeting and Conference in  
Wisconsin is to be held at Baraboo, June 18-23.  
The location is favorable for a large portion of  
the State. The community is an intelligent  
and hospitable one. Two years ago our meet-
ing was held there, with good results. This  
year the prospect is very encouraging for even  
a better meeting.  
Our people are awakening to the importance  
of the work before us, and new interest  is taken  
in the different branches of the work. We be-
lieve God is moving upon us by his Spirit to 
engage in his cause as never before. We are 
assured of the presence of those who are well  
qualified to teach the way of God.  
Preparations will be made to secure the com- 
fort of all. The grounds are pleasant; plenty  
of good tents will be provided, for rent at rea-
sonable rates. A well-supplied book-stand will 
contain a full line of our publications, Bibles, 
and other good reading matter. Above  all, we  
hope for and expect the crowning blessing, the  
presence of the good Spirit of God. Important 
steps in relation to our work will be considered.  
We would most cordially invite the readers  
of' the SIGNS OP THE TIMES to attend this meet-
ing. We invite our friends to use their influ- 
ence to induce others to come. People of other 
denominations will be welcomed kindly. The  
youth and unconverted should be urged to  
come. Great care  and expense are undertaken  
to make this meeting successful. We ask all to  
unite with us in seeking God's blessing, which  
alone can enable us to secure our object.  
Baraboo is located on tbe C. and N. W. Rail- 
road, forty miles north of Madison. Those 
coming by rail will pay full fare one way, and 
return at one-fifth fare. The meeting will open  
Wednesday evening, June 18, and close the fol- 
lowing Tuesday. COMMITTEE.  
Time Is Precious.  
WE are hastening to the Judgment. Each  
has an individual case to be decided. The de-
cision will be eternal. W hen once made it never 
can be reversed. It will be life or death, saved  
or lost, eternal life or everlasting destruction.  
And this momentous and everlastingly irreversi-
ble decision depends upon the manner in which 
we spend a brief period of time—the little while 
that lies between us and the decisive moment.  
Eternal destinies hang upon this little span of  
time. How important then that it is spent  
aright! How prodigal to squander the precious  
moments, the hours, the days, of wThich it is com-
posed !  
Precious  time ! the price of eternity put into  
our hands ! Who of us values it as we ought?  
I fear I do not. Yet it is my earnest desire and  
prayer to God that I may value it and improve 
it as I ought. It is only by the help of divine  
grace that this can be done. Who is sufficient  
for this? The answer is, and the only answer,  
Our sufficiency is of God. He condescends to  
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask—ask in  
faith, nothing wavering—and are ready to do  
the will of God in all things. " And whatsoever  
we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his  
commandments, and do those  things that are  
pleasing in his sight." 1 John 3 : 22. " If ye  
abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye  
shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto  
you." John 15 : 7.  
Prayer and faith and labor must be combined.  
And he who labors unselfishly for others' good, 
laborsbestfor himself;  and such labor persevered  
in will not lose its great reward. There must  
be a constant and enduring effort; but through  
the help of God we may finally triumph.  
Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory  
through our Lord Jesus Christ.  
E. E. COTTRELL.  
THE Lord our God is mighty to save.  

The Marks of God's Hand in Missions.  
THE progress of missionary advance has been  
supernaturally rapid. In the Hawaiian Isles, in  
five years, results were reached that mere hu-
man power could never have compassed; and 
ordinary Christian activity would have been  
fitly rewarded, if such results had crowned the 
work of fifty years. The unique triumphs of  
the gospel among the Karens were like the  
strides of a giant with his "seven-league"  
boots, in comparison with the common rate of  
progress. As to Japan, President Seelye, at 
the meeting of the American Board, at Syra- 
cuse, calmly affirmed in 1879, and it was con- 
firmed by that immense assembly, that "never  
before has the gospel wrought such great and  
speedy changes as during the past seven years  
in Japan. It is not only the most remarkable  
chapter in the history of modern missions, but  
there is nothing in the history of the world to  
compare with it. We talk about the early tri- 
umphs of Christianity; but the early records of  
the church, bright as they may be, pale in the  
light of what is taking place before our eyes at  
the present time. Even Madagascar offers  
nothing to compare with Japan."  
Africa was for thousands of years emphatic- 
ally the dark continent. Yet so rapidly is mis- 
sionary exploration going forward that our  
maps of yesterday are scarce accurate to-day,  
and will be obsolete to-morrow.  
At Harpoot, on the Euphrates, we find one  
little mission church multiplying itself into  
fourteen, with 418 church members, eleven na- 
tive pastors, more than half' of them supported  
by these native churches, twelve licensed native 
preachers, twenty-one native teachers, and  
forty-one other helpers. Of pupils. 2,041: and 
scores of unpaid laborers are continually going  
forth to tell the wonderful story of Christ, under  
the inward impulse of love for souls. The peo- 
ple are very poor, yet so liberal that- the faith- 
fully paid tithes of ten converted families en- 
able their native pastors to live on a level with  
their people. And all this the outgrowth of a 
single church, in a single missionary station, in.  
less than twelve years, at a cost not exceeding  
in all $15'J,000—the cost of one modern church 
edifice.  
Yes. these iittie churches on the Euphrates,  
gathered from native converts in Eastern  
Turkey, are. perhaps, tbe best illustrations in  
modem times of the three great principles of 
church life: "self-government, self-support, and 
sel f-prop agation.;'  
Study the career of San Qua I a, the converted  
Karen, the first, baptized by Dr. Judson, who  
preached his first sermon in the hearing of  
Quala. Baptized in 1830, his first thought was  
to tell others of Jesus. He aided in translating  
the New Testament into the Karen tongue, for  
fifteen years guided the missionaries through  
the jungles of Tavoy and M.ergui, and planted  
new churchcs. He himself began to preach 
and organize churches in January, 1854. Be- 
fore the close of that year, he had formed nine  
churches, with 741 converts. In less than three  
years the nine churches had grown to thirty, and  
the converts to 2.127. He did his work in the 
spirit of Paul, and like him, without salary.  
Offered a position by the English Government 
as overseer of a wild tribe of mountain Karens,  
this apostolic convert nobly replied,  "1 cannot  
do it—I will not have the money. I will not  
mix up God's work with Government work.  
There are others to do this thing, employ them.  
As for me, I will continue the work in which I 
have been engaged." At this very time his  
poverty was such that he was  compelled to  
leave his lovely wife at Tavoy, and take up his 
lonely pilgrimage among his people. All mo- 
tives appealed to, that touch greed or ease,  
failed to move him; and he still went on, eat-
ing his bread with the children of poverty,  
that he might the better win to Christ. One  
such man is an unanswerable proof that the  

supernatural element is not eliminated either  
from modern conversion or labor.  
" Just here," says Dr. Anderson, "is the grand  
defect in the practical Christianity of our age.  
It responds not as it should do to the calls of  
God's providence." And this, wath the culpable  
ignorance prevailing as to the facts, and the  
awful skepticism that abounds as to the lost es- 
tate of the heathen, is sufficient to make God  
the foe of his own people, but for the infinite 
riches of his forbearance.  
The voice of the Lord is heard out of the  
midst of the cloud: "Speak unto the children 
of Israel that they go forward." And while  
this voice peals in our ears, as with tones of 
thunder,  behold, a way is opened by divine  
power, as through the very midst of the sea !  
It is for us individually to obey. This matter  
is a personal summons to every disciple. We  
must not lose ourselves in the mass, nor hide 
behind that vague abstraction, the church.  
Every one of us must give account of himself  
unto God. We must die alone; and alone con- 
front the open books of God. You and I must 
simply move, whoever else stands still, and 
move in the direction of divine leading. In 
the secret place of prayer, in the thick dark- 
ness, where God dwells, in the silence, solitude,  
seclusion, secrecy of the closet, we must ask  
in candor, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to  
do ? " Let the focalized light of the Skekinah 
in all its intensity shine upon us, piercing and  
dissolving all the veils behind w^hich we hide,  
and disguise even from ourselves our true mo- 
tives and ambitions. And let that light search 
and smite, us; it shall be a kindness, as the 
anointing chrism of excellent oil that shall not 
break our head. No man is fit to preach the  
gospel till, like Saul, he is separated unto God 
for the work unto which God has chosen him.  
He who is not ready to go wherever God sends  
him, is really sent nowhere. His commission is  
not put in his hands until he waits, with bowed  
head and humble heart, to be kept at home or  
carried far hence unto the Gentiles.—Rev. Ar- 
thur T. Pierson, D. D., in Christian at Work.  
What a Little  Book Did.  
MR. S. A. BLACKWOOD relates the following  
remarkable incident:—  
He was traveling on the top of a coach from  
London to Croydon, and after discussing the  
topics of the day with one who sat beside him,  
he turned the conversation to the things of  
Heaven, to the disgust of another passenger sit-
ting near, who talked of "canting hypocrites,"  
etc., and when the coach stopped left his seat. 
In descending, the pocket of his coat opened, 
and Mr. Blackwood dropped in the little book 
entitled "Eternal Life." When the gentleman  
reached home and emptied his pockets he found,  
amongst other things, a small book that he knew  
nothing of, and, reading its title, he at once 
guessed who had put it there, and in his rage  
he tore it to pieces, and threw it inside the fen- 
der. When he returned from town the next day  
his ire was increased by finding the pieces on  
his toilet table. He immediately rung the bell,  
and asked the servant why they had not  
been destroyed. And when she replied that  
in gathering them up she had seen the word  
"eternity," and did not like to burn them, she in 
anger was ordered from his presence. When  
the servant had gone he began to look for the 
word that had so arrested her attention, and  
then he sought to connect sentences by strips 
of paper that one buys around stamps, and man- 
aged in this way to f sten the book together, 
and became converted by reading it.  
One day when Mr. Blackwood was walking  
in Cheapside he was startled by the exclama-
tion, "You are the man!" and a ragged book  
was held up to his astonished gazeT He dis-
claimed all knowledge of that particular book,  
and was then informed of the circumstances  
related above..—British Evangelist.


348 THE SIGKTSTS OF THE TIMES. VOL. 10, No. 23.  
)tttttt  
" WIIA.T THEY SAY."  
WOULDST thou know what troubles many,  
What annoys them night and day ?  
Not a frightful myth or robber,  
But the specter, " What they say."  
' What they say! " It haunts the maiden  
When the hat or dress she buys,  
Goads the matron tiil she maketh  
Husband's purse a sacrifice.  
To the orator it clingeth,  
Daunts the statesman in his dream,  
With the pulpit-teacher stealeth  
'Tween him and his highest theme.  
' What they say! " Weil, let them say it,  
Airy echo, fleet as dew,  
When they've breathed it, 'tis forgotten,  
They who hear forget it too.  
Wouldst thou know what rules the miflion ?  
Themis, with her ancient sway ?  
Pomp and tramp of banner'd legions ?  
No; the bubble, " What they say! "  
—Mrs. L. H. Sigourney.  
My Brother's Keeper.  
THE* cars on the 11 A. M. train, from New  
York, were crowded. Every seat was occupied.  
As the whistle sounded, a tall, fine-looking gen- 
tleman walked with a quick, nervous step and  
gloomy face through the cars.  
There was only one vacant place. He paused  
before that. The occupant wTas also a gentle- 
man, short and stout, sitting close by the win- 
dow, his head  bowed upon his clasped hands,  
that rested on the top of a gold-headed cane.  
He did not look up as the new-comer dropped 
into his seat, and he, in turn, soon became ob-
livious of his companion.  
They both were absorbed in great sorrow,  
and the burden pressed so heavily on their  
hearts that they could not speak, as hour after 
hour slipped away, as mile after mile was passed  
over, and took no note of anything out of the  
car or in.  
It was dark before they reached their desti- 
nation, but neither seemed to heed the fact that  
they both alighted at the same small station.  
One carriage was in waiting, and when both  
found themselves in that, rapidly wheeling  
along over a hard road in the cloud}7, moon- 
less evening, each shrunk back into his own  
corner without a word.  
After an hour's drive they both alighted at  
the door of a large educational institution.  
Two servants met them. They presented their 
cards, and both received the greeting:—  
" You were expected." 
After following the servants up a long flight  
of marble stairs, they ..separated, one being 
taken into a reception room at the right of the  
main corridor, the other into a parlor at the  
left. Here each was met by a teacher who  
had been praying for strength and wisdom to 
guide her through the interview.  
The tall gentleman's grief was beyond ex- 
pression. His only child, as beautiful as a work  
of art,  as good as she was beautiful, had been  
suddenly stricken down while engaged in her 
studies, and death took her before it was pos- 
sible to summon her friends. Her shrouded  
form now lay in its casket, in her room, await- 
ing her father's coming to bear her to Green  
wood.  
The short man's grief was no le«e bitter, but  
it had more of resentment and less of pathos.  
His beautiful, only child wTas in her room, under  
lock and key, protestingly awaiting her father's 
coming to bear her aw&y forever from the in- 
stitution that she had disgraced, back to the  
world that would not receive her, to the home  
whose happiness she had blasted, to the mother 
whose heart she had broken.  
E'ach father was inconsolable, and at last each  
was told of the sorrow of the other.  

Their meeting now, after the long, silent, ab- 
sorbed day that they had passed side by side, 
was pathetic in the extreme. Their grief had  
now found vent in words, as they paced up and  
down the long corridor, arm in arm.  
" Oh^that my daughter had died 1" cried the  
short gentleman in agony of spirit. " Then I 
could take her home to her mother and lay her  
away in the family cemetery, under the pines,  
in all her maidenly purity. Could I do that, I  
would consider myself the happiest of men, even 
though all a father's love, and pride, and hope,  
and joy, were buried in her grave. I could then  
have mourned for her  openly; I could have re- 
ceived the sympathy of my friends. Now,  
there is no place for her in the world. She  
will be dead and not buried. I must tear 
her image from my heart. I must ignore her  
name. I cannot bear it."  
They walked the whole length of the long  
corridor, before the tall man said:—  
" There is weight  in your words. I find a  
sort of comfort in them. I would rather have  
my daughter taken to her lonely grave in her  
purity, with only the memory of her sweet 
Christian graces to carry with me through life,- 
than your burden of sorrow. I can see that 
the Lord has been good to me, inasmuch as he  
has made my grief' less hopeless than yours. 
My daughter was fit to die. She was almost  
an angel here on earth. The Lord might have  
taken your daughter also, but he has mercifully  
spared her that she may find the way to better  
life and walk in it to the end.  
"It is possible!" groaned the disconsolate  
father, " there are no home influences to guide  
her in that way, and she has profited nothing  
here. I cannot bring myself to speak to her.  
I would not see her, were it possible for me to  
evade it. Her life is blasted; I know not what  
to do with her."  
There was another long silence, broken at  
length by the tall gentleman, who paused in his  
walk and spoke with great earnestness.  
" Wife and I are going to Europe," he said.  
" We shall sail in less than a week. We have  
lived for our daughter ever since she was given  
to us, trying to fit her to be useful in the world.  
The Lord has taken her. Will you not let us  
us have your daughter to cross the ocean  
with? My wife is a judicious, motherly, Chris-
tian woman. You need not fear to trust her  
with us."  
" I cannot afford it," was the reply. " I was  
straining the last nerve to keep her here, hop- 
ing to fit her to help herself.  Now she will be  
an increased expense to me."  
" I will assume everything of that kind, the  
same as if she  were my own daughter," said  
the kind-hearted gentleman, "and consider that  
I am paid if I may be permitted to save your  
daughter, with her reputation unsullied befoi'e  
the cruel world, that yet knows nothing of her  
indiscretion. Let us talk it over with the pre-
ceptress."  
An hour later, when that excellent woman  
went to the unhappy young girl's room, and  
told her the plan that had been fixed upon that  
she should go away with her father, and her 
father's friend, to accompany the body of her  
classmate to its burial, and within the  week  
should sail for Europe, she threw herself at the  
preceptress' feet, completely broken-hearted,  
and cried:—  
" Why is this gentleman so good to me, to  
poor, obstinate, willful, rebellious me?"  
" Because he is a Christian," said the lady,  
"and because his wife is a Christian, and he  
knows that she will be glad to guide your way- 
ward steps, and try to lead you to the Saviour."  
" I will try to do right 1" cried the girl,  
who before had been so hard and rebellious,  
only speaking when she had something to say  
to grieve her friends. " The dear girl who lies  
dead in No 40 was a Christian,  and that helped  
her to die as peacefully as if she were but going  
to sleep. You are a Christian, and it has helped  

you to bear with me and to keep my many in- 
discretions from publicity. Now this gentle- 
man and his wife are Christians and they are  
determined to try to save me from myself. O  
madam, will you pray with me and for me, that 
they may succeed ? "  
As the preceptress agonized in prayer with  
the young, high-spirited, reckless girl, the tw^o  
stricken fathers were on their knees in the par-
lor, seeking for strength and wisdom, and the  
comfort in sorrow that cometh only from God.  
When the father who had declared that he  
could not see his daughter, and the daughter  
who had maintained that she would not see her  
father, met, it was with pity on one hand, and  
with contrition on the other, softened by the  
new-found hope both had that night expressed.  
The going back was less bitter than the com- 
ing. The two men sat side by side like broth- 
ers now. The young girl in the seat in front 
of them felt that she had a heart in her bosom  
in the place of the cold stone she had carried  
so long.  
To-day that young woman is a cultivated,  
useful, Christian woman, as beautiful in spirit  
as in person. The sad episode in her girl-
life was saved from publicity by her going 
abroad. As she cheers, comforts, and brightens 
the declining footsteps of her parents and her 
foster-parents, she blesses the kind Father who, 
in the time of her sore need, sent, to care for 
her, children of the Heavenly King, and not  
children of the world.—Advance.  
Good Enough for Home.  
" WHY do you put on that forlorn old dress?"  
asked Emily Manners of her cousin Lydia, one  
morning after she had spent the night at Lyd- 
ia's house.  
The dress in question was a spotted, faded,  
old summer silk, which only looked the more  
forlorn for its once fashionable trimmings, now  
crumpled and frayed.  
"Oh, anything is good enough for home!"  
said Lydia, hastily pinning on a soiled collar;  
and twisting up her hair in a ragged knot, she  
went down to breakfast.  
"Your hair is coming down," said Emily. 
" Oh, never mind. It's good enough for  
home," said Lydia, carelessly. Lydia had been  
visiting at Emily's home, and had alwTays ap- 
peared in the prettiest of morning dresses, and  
with neat hair, and dainty collars and cuffs;  
but now that she was back again among her  
brothers and sisters, and with her parents, she  
seemed to think anything would answer, and 
went about, untidy and rough, in soiled finery. 
At her uncle's she had been pleasant and polite,  
and had won golden opinions from all; but  
with her own family her manners were as care-
less as her dress; she seemed to think that  
courtesy and kindness were too expensive for  
home wear, and that anything was good enough  
for home.  
There are too many people who, like Lydia,  
seem to think that anything will do for home. 
Young men who are polite and pleasant in out-
side society are rude to their mothers, and snarl  
at their sisters; and girls who, among strangers, 
are all gayety and animation, never make an ex-
ertion to please their own family.  
It is a wretched way to turn always the  
smoothest side to the world, and the roughest  
and coarsest to one's nearest and dearest friends.  
—Child:s World.  
THE first paper floor ever laid will be laid in  
Indianapolis within the next sixty days. This  
flooring is made by pasting and pressing strawT 
boards together under a powerful hydraulic 
press, in the same wTay as the discs of the pa- 
per car-wheels are made. When these blocks  
are perfectly seasoned and dried, they are sawed  
into flooring boards and laid with the edge of  
the paper forming the surface of the floor.  
This  surface is sandpapered perfectly smooth.


JUNE 5, 1884.  349  
Funeral of a Gypsy Queen.  
GANNIE JEFFERS, queen of the gypsies of  
the United States, died at Greenfield, Tenn., 
on March 10, and was buried at Dayton, Ohio.  
April 27. The gypsies were encamped all about  
the city to the number of about 1,500, traveling 
by wagon from all parts of the country. The  
queen was embalmed and laid out in Nashville,  
Tenn., immediately upon her death, and when  
brought to this city, where her tribe own con- 
siderable property and a large lot in Woodland 
Cemetery, where lies buried a former queen  
and king of the gypsy tribes in this nation  
she looked beautiful indeed. She was in £ 
handsome casket made of the finest wood, lined  
with the finest silks and satins, and decorated 
with gold and jewels. In the cemetery, wher  
she wTas buried to-day amid the the most touch- 
ing and imposing ceremonies, the lot belonging  
to the gypsies is marked by an exquisite monu- 
ment of granite, shipped here from Greece.  
The funeral procession, which was composed  
entirely of gypsies, formed in the  northern sec- 
tion of the city and marched to the southern  
extremity of the city, where the cemetery is  
located. The crowd of people was immense.  
At the grave a rope was stretched around it,  
leaving an inclosure large enough for the 
mourners to stand. The crowd surged up  
against this rope, bending it almost to break- 
ing. The  mounds in the  vicinity were trodden  
on; boys and men sat on tombstones and filled  
the trees and every place that would afford an  
opportunity of seeing what was going on. The  
funeral services were Christian, being conducted  
by one of the leading pastors of this city with  
the choir of his church. The wife of the rever- 
end gentleman accompanied the mourning hus- 
band. The grave was sunk in the ground  
about ten feet. It was a square pit about ten  
by eight feet in dimensions. At the bottom  
was a box made of stone slabs and in this box  
the coffin was laid by the side of another, that  
of a daughter of the deceased. She was only 
ten years old and died in 1866, but the body had 
been exhumed to be placed beside the mother.  
There  were stifled cries and sobs as the mourn- 
ers gathered about the grave, and several broke  
out in loud cries as the coffin was lowered.  
The preacher referred to the deceased, whom he  
had known personally in life. She had been a 
Christian, he said,  and the Bible she had worn  
with reading was placed at her feet now that  
she was dead. At the conclusion of his re- 
marks the choir sang " The Sweet By-and-By,"  
and the services closed. But the most affecting  
scene was when the great stone was about to  
be lifted by means of a derrick close at hand  
and the stone box containing the coffin closed.  
The sons and daughters climbed down to the  
coffin to take their last farewell, the latter being  
lifted into the grave. Their sobs and cries filled  
the air and were echoed by the mourners that  
stood on the brink of the grave. They threw  
themselves prostrate on the coffin, kissing the  
wood, and it was only with great difficulty they  
were prevailed on to come out of the grave, 
and they were assisted out finally after much' 
entreaty. By means of the derrick the stone 
lid was then put into position and the dirt  
thrown upon it. A huge monument will be  
erected over the grave—a life-size statue of  
white marble of the dead gypsy queen.  
Praying- Mothers.  
BLESSED is the man who, like Samuel of old,  
has a praying mother. It is the mother who 
shapes our life more than any one else. From  
her we inherit our strongest tendencies. Her  
early care and instruction give tone and direc- 
tion to our character and life. In nine cases  
out often, as is the mother so will be the child. 
Blessed then the man whose mother's heart is  
the home of prayer. Who can begin to estimate  

the power and influence of her pleading with  
God? Who can tell how  deeply her prayers  
affect the future, and turn towards her child the  
loving care of the heavenly Father? Indeed,  
we may believe that a mother's prayers are  
never lost, but cling to us for our weal through  
time and eternity. Priceless is this best of  
treasures. Would that all mothers were pray- 
ing mothers. Were there more Hannahs there 
would be more Samuels; and the world would 
be a great deal richer and better than it now  
is.—Sel.  
The Sin of Fretting.  
THERE is one sin which it seems to me is ev- 
erywhere and by everybody underestimated, 
and quite too much overlooked in valuations of  
character. It is the sin of fretting. It is as 
common as air, as speech—so common that un- 
less it rises above its usual monotone, we clo not  
even observe it. Watch any ordinary coming  
together of people, and see how many minutes  
it will be before somebody frets—that is, makes  
more or less complaining statements of' some-
thing or other, which most probably every one 
in the room, or the car, or the street-corner, as  
it may be, knew before, and which most proba-
bly nobody can help. Why say anything about 
it? It is cold, it is  hot, it is wet, it is dry;  
somebody has broken an appointment; ill-cooked  
meal; stupidity or bad faith somewhere has re-
sulted in discomfort. There are always plenty  
of things to fret about. It is simply astonish- 
ing how much annoyance and discomfort may  
be found in the  course of every day's living,  
even at the simplest, if one only keeps a sharp 
eye out on that side of things. Even Holy 
Writ says we are born to trouble as the sparks  
fly upward. But even to the sparks flying up- 
ward, in the blackest smoke, there is a blue sky 
above; and the less time they waste on the  
road, the sooner they will reach it. Fretting is 
all time wasted on the road.—Sel.  
Overwork.  
A LARGE amount of sentimental stuff gets into  
print about men killing themselves by over- 
work. In nine out of ten cases of this kind, the  
true cause of death will be found to be some-
thing besides overwork. We all know profes-
sional and business men who work harder than  
they ought, and yet, by taking good care of  
themselves in the way of diet, exercise, etc.,  
manage to enjoy good health and wear a cheer-
ful, hearty look. Those who die from "over- 
work" generally use liquors and tobacco with- 
out moderation, keep late hours, and indulge in 
hazardous speculations outside of their legit- 
imate business. Late hours, liquor, and tobacco  
engender weak nerves and upset the functions  
of the body, while anxiety over speculative 
schemes acts on the brain. With these evil 
agencies working against a man, some slight 
exposure brings on an attack of illness and the  
whole body being weakened, gives way in a  
very short time. The sudden illness and speedy  
demise baffle medical skill; the stricken family  
and shocked friends are told that overwork was  
the cause of death, and the press deplores the 
tendency of our civilization to kill people by 
overwork, when the real cause of nine-tenths  
of these deaths is as outlined above.—Pacific  
Rural Press.  
MANY a child goes astray, not because there  
is a want of prayer or virtue at home, but sim- 
ply because home lacks sunshine. A child needs  
smiles as much as flowers need sunbeams. 
Children look little beyond the present moment.  
If a thing pleases they are apt to seek it; if it  
displeases they are prone to avoid it. If home  
is the place where faces are sour, and words  
harsh, and fault-finding is ever in the ascendant,  
they will spend as many hours as possible else- 
where.  

j^OOKS FOR BIBLE STUDENTS,  
SABBATH-SCHOOLS, AND  
THE HOME CIRCLE.  
TUB following books have been selected with great care, and are  
highly recommended for general use. They ought to be  in every  
Sabbath-school and family, and no library is complete without them.  
The commentaries and books of reference are the standard ones of  
our time. We have divided the list into four classes as follows:—  
COMMENTARIES AND REFERENCES.  
Clark's Commentary (6 vols, sheep) $24 00 
Barnes' Notes on the New Testament (11 voR) 16 50  
" " " " Psalms (3 vols.) 4 50 
" " " Isaiah (2 vols.) 3 00  
" " " Daniel (1 vol.) \ 50  
" " Job (2 vols.) 3 00  
Young's Analytical Concordance 3 25 
Cruden's Complete " 1 75  
The Comprehensive Bible Dictionary (sheep) 6 00  
" " (cloth) 5 00  
Dictionary of the Bible (American  Tract Society ed.) 1 25  
Bible Atlas and Gazetteer 2 00  
Hand-book of Bible Geography 2 50  
Hand-book of Bible Mannet'6 and Customs 2 50  
Home's Introduction to the Study of the Scriptures 5 00  
Prideaux's Connexion (2 vols.) 4 00  
Blunt's Coincidences and Paley's Evidences 1 50 
The Temple and Its Services 125  
Jewish Social Life 1 25 
Old Testament Ethics Vindicated 1 50  
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. «  
Geikie's Life of Christ (large print) 1 75  
" " " " (small print) 75  
Hanna's Life of Christ 2 00 
Andrews'  Life of Our Lord 3 00  
Life of the Apostle Paul (C. & H.) 1 00  
Sketches from the Life of Paul 80 
Palestine for the Young 1 00  
From Exile to Overthrow, a History of the Jews 1 25 
Story of the Bible, for children, Illustrated 1 00 
Giant Cities of Basban. .. 1 00  
A Ride through Palestine 2 00  
Mt. Sinai, Petra, and the Desert 80  
Jordan and its Valley and the Dead Sea 80  
Josephus' Antiquities  of the Jews, Illustrated 3 00  
Dowling's History of  Romanism (half morocco) 4 75  
" " " " (cloth) 4 00  
D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation (5 vols, in one) 1 50  
Gibbon's History of Rome (6 vols.) 5 00  
History of the Waldenses  90  
Wharey's Church History 60  
Sanctuary and Its Cleansing 1 00  
FOR THE FAMILY.  
Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Illustrated 1 00  
Home Making 1 00 
Week Day Religion 1 00  
Every-day Duties 1 00  
The Old Red House 125  
Records of S. V. S. Wilder 1 25  
Mtiller's Life of Trust 150  
David Livingstone .... 1 25  
Fables of Infidelity 1 75  
Nelson on Infidelity 90  
Companion to the Bible 1 75  
FOR S. S. OFFICERS AND TEACHERS.  
The Church School and Its Officers 75  
The Teacher's Hand-book 75  
History of Sunda3'-schools 75 
Sunday-school Hand-book 1 00  
Teachers' Guide 1 00  
Model Superintendent 1 00  
The Art of Questioning 15 
The Art of Securing Attention 15  
The Use of Illustrations 15  
SABBATH-SCHOOL MAPS.  
(Cloth, without rollers.)  
Eight-sheet Map of Palestine, 81x116 in §12  50  
Eight-sheet Map Illustrating the Travels of St. Paul, 81x116 in. 12 50  
Peninsula of Mt. Sinai, 52x72 in 5 00 
Old Testament Map of Palestine, 41x58 3 00  
" " " " " 28x41 150  
New " " " " 41x58 3 00  
" " " " 28x41 1 50  
Any of the above books or maps sent post-paid on receipt of price.  
Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.  
RATTER AND SPIRIT;  
OR,  
THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN THOUGHT.  
BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.  
A PHILOSOPHICAL argument on an important theme, indicated by  
its title. 66 pp. Price, 10 cents.  
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.


350  THE SIGKTSTS OF THE TIMES.  VOL. 10, No. 23.  
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Christ the Way of Life.  
WE have a new stock of this beautiful and instructive  
STEEL PLATE ENGRAVING, with keys in  the Danish, Swed- 
ish, German, French, and English languages.  
The design of this engraving is to present at one view  
the leading events in the history of man as related to the  
divine plan of redemption, from the time of the first sin  
and the  fall, to the final restoration of the race to the  
Paradise of God.  
Its central figure is that of Christ hanging upon the  
cruel cross. By taking our position at the foot of the  
cross, we look backward in the history of man, and trace 
the steps which have led to the scenes of Calvary. The  
scenes which suggest the provisions of the gospel are en- 
acted in the shadow of the cross, which is cast far back 
over the history of the race, reaching even to the gates of  
Eden.  
The " Way of Life " as a work of art, commends itself  
to all lovers of the beautiful. Unlike many religious alle- 
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but by its skillful grouping, and  its harmonious combina- 
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and suggests abundant food for thought.  
THE KEY.  
An elegant 12-mo. pamphlet of 48 pages, containing a  
description of every part of the picture, and an impress 
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graving.  
Price, printed in first-class style on heavy plate paper,  
size 22x28 inches $1.50  
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—What is now called the Soudan, in Africa, is said  
to be precisely the Ethiopia of the Bible.  
—The total number of Methodist annual confer- 
ences is ninety-nine, and of mission stations four-
teen.  
—There were 272 Mormon immigrants landed at  
New York May 27, accompanied by seventeen re- 
turning missionaries.  
According to Rabbi Levy,of this city, May 30  
(Decoration Lay) was the anniversary of the giv- 
ing of the law on Mt. Sinai.  
The Cincinnati Commercial Gazette states that  
out of a population of 280,000 there are in that city  
less than 14,000 members of evangelical churches.  
—The African Methodist Episcopal General Con- 
vention at Baltimore has refused to strike from its 
discipline the admonition against the ijse of tobacco.  
—The Baptist Missionary Union has decided to  
commence work in the Congo River country. Africa, 
immediately, expending not less than $30,000 annu- 
ally.  
The Bethel Mission Church of East Boston,  
Mass., has been presented with a boat, which  will  
be named the Glad Tidings. This boat will visit  
vessels in the harbors Sundays, to distribute papers,  
magazines, and religious periodicals.  
—This is the age for supplying the world with the  
Bible. The beginning  of this century it existed in  
but fifty languages. Now, its truths can be read in  
250 dialects and languages. In the world there are  
more than 1,500 Bible Societies, all organized since 
1804.  
—The Episcopal bishop of Argyle, during a recent  
visit to Jerusalam, celebrated the communion at  
the holy sepulcher. The priests there took him to  
be a Roman Catholic from his dress and practices,  
and allowed him to say " mass " at Calvary, present-
ing him with the candles for that purpose.  
—The fraternal delegates from the English Wes- 
leyan Church, attending the General Conference in  
Philadelphia, expressed great surprise at the Par- 
liamentary customs prevailing in that body. They  
noticed no hesitation in appealing from the decision 
of the presiding bishop. One of them remarked  
" If our president should rule out the Ten Command-
ments, no member would think of appealing." Is 
this what they call the liberty of the gospel ?  
—At the recent anniversary of Yale Theological  
Seminary, the new Congregational creed was the sub  
ject of discussion by the alumni and ministers pres- 
ent. There were various criticisms upon the creed  
but the following from Dr. Todd, upon creeds in  
general, will serve as a summary. He thought that  
if there were to be a statement of Congregationalism  
it would need to be very long—extending to several 
hundred thousand articles; for, according to his ob-
servation, every individual Congregationalist would  
need an article to himself.  
—The colored enthusiast in Georgia who has  
worked himself into the belief that he is the Mes  
siah is a good instance of the ease with which any  
adventurer who thoroughly believes in himself, or  
has the requisite persuasive power, may gain a fol- 
lowing. This Georgia negro is so ignorant that he 
is sure in the end to be exposed, but if he had ouly  
a little more intelligence he might establish a church  
which would soon be powerful. Mormonism was  
founded by men who were very ignorant and whose  
claims to divine guidance were as idle as those of 
this colored fanatic, yet it has grown more rapidly 
than many creeds founded on truth and virtue.— 
S. P. Chronicle.  

—Prof. Austin Phelps has an article in a late In- 
dependent, occupying nearly a page, on the eternal 
torment of the wicked. There are two brief quota-
tions in the entire article, one from Swedenborg, and  
one from the Bible, the latter being this: "Rocks and  
mountains fall on us." But then of what use would 
it have been to quote from the Bible, since it teaches  
just the opposite of the position taken by the Pro- 
fessor. Inasmuch as he started out to prove what  
he did, we like the article better  because it contains  
no scripture. Bible texts would seem out of place.  
—The Central Presbyterian notices that in the  
new "Teaching of the Apostles" the preference is 
given to "running water" for baptism, and then 
says, "It appears to us that an inference can be  
drawn here." And that lets us into the whole of  
the argument for sprinkling or pouring. Watch for  
a chance to draw an inference, even though the  
ground of that inference may be in an apocryphal  
work. In this case the inference is that few " run-
ning " streams are deep enough to allow of submer-
sion, and, therefore, since the writer of the document  
preferred " that kind of water for baptism, immer- 
sion could not have been practiced, and consequently  
we ought not to practice it ! Great is the theology  
of the Pedobaptists ! Ancient warriors were exer- 
cised in drawing the bow. Modern Christian war- 
riors must be experts in drawing an inference.  
—The Sunday evening services in the Reformed  
Church on the Heights, Brooklyn, N. Y., have been  
changed to a musical service.  The pastor stated as  
his reason for so doing, that comparatively few at- 
tended the evening service, and that those who did 
attend did so for conscience's sake rather than from 
real desire. "He believed that there were many  
members of Christian families that were necessa-
rily detained in the morning, and that many of the  
young men indulged in a Sunday morning nap:  
that Sunday evening they were dressed and bound  
to go somewhere, and he believed in making the serv-
ice of the church so attractive that they would 
come there; that many souls had been wafted to 
heaven on the wings of song." It would seem that  
this pastor has found a different answer than the 
one usually given to the question, —  
" Must I be carried to the skies  
On flowery beds of ease ?"  
SECULAR.  
—A fire in Portland, Or., May 29, destroved prop- 
erty to the amount of $50,000. "  
—The salary of the sub-treasurer at San Fran- 
cisco has been fixed at $4,500.  
—Immigrants have been arriving at Quebec, Can- 
ada, lately, at the rate of 3,000 a week.  
—Two hundred colored laborers left Chattanooga,  
recently, to work on farms in California.  
—Decoration Day was quite generally observed  
by the principal cities and towns of this State.  
—The French Government is proposing to try the  
experiment of taxing imported cattle and cereals.  
—Oregon and Washington Territory have been  
visited by generous rains, and good crops are con-
sidered certain.  
—The Massachusetts Legislature is investigating  
grave charges of bribery of some of its members by  
the gas companies.  
—A cloud-burst near the Nebraska and Colorado  
line, May 31, destroyed a large cattle camp, and  
drowned eleven men.  
—Advices from Brazos, Texas, state that the floods  
are destroying crops, and carrying off  farm im- 
provements at an alarming rate.  
—A large warehouse, known as the Cooper Build- 
ing, in Baltimore, suddenly fell on the 30th ult., and  
eight men were crushed to death.  
—A university will be opened in Iceland next  
year. Heretofore Icelandic students have received  
college instruction in Copenhagen.  
—Silk operators from China will be allowed to land  
at New Orleans to attend the Exposition. There  
will probably be a large representation.  
—Enormous quantities of goods are said to be  
smuggled from this country into Mexico. A corre- 
spondent of the Boston Herald says that some New  
York firms make a specialty of this contraband busi- 
ness.  
—The Court House of Wilson County, Texas, was  
burned by incendiaries on the night of "May 28. All  
the court records, together with all the records of  
deeds, mortgages, etc., were consumed. There was  
a large number of criminal cases pending.


JUNE 12, 1884.  THE SIGNS OE THE TIMES.  351  
—In licensing a saloon at Watseka, 111., recently,  
the authorities provided that there should be no  
screens or curtains to obstruct the view from the 
street.  
—The National Greenback Convention,  held at  
Indianapolis last week, nominated General Butler  
for president, and Gen. A. M. West, of Mississippi,  
for vice-president.  
—The fellow arrested for burning the Clarendon  
Hotel, Portland, Or., is said to be willing to confess 
the crime and tell who hired him to do it, for a  
money consideration.  
—Hanly, one of the parties in a prize fight in Ne- 
braska, a short time ago, has been sentenced to three  
years in the penitentiary, after a trial at Omaha.  
His case will be appealed.  
—The river Nile is rising rapidly, and it is now  
hoped that General Gordon will be able to escape 
from Khartoum in armed boats, and open communi-
cation with Berber and Cairo.  
—The Judiciary Committee of the Senate has re- 
ported a proposed Constitutional amendment in-
creasing the presidential term to six years, and lim- 
iting the incumbency to one term.  
—Another victory for Satan is assured in the  
legal decision against the Government and in favor 
of the Louisana Lottery Co. The Norristown Her-
ald says that members of churches addicted to peri- 
odical fairs will be pleased to learn the fact.  
—The corner of the London detective office at  
Scotland Yard was blown off to a height of thirty  
feet, May 30, and several policemen were injured. 
Sixteen pockets of dynamite, with fuse attached  
were also found under the Nelson monument in Traf- 
algar square.  
—The New York State Board of Health report a  
revolting state of affairs in the cow stables at Bliss-
ville, near New York City. Pleuro-pneumonia exists  
to an alarming extent; the diseased cattle are milked, 
until nearly dying, when they are killed and the  
carcasses smuggled into the New York market and  
sold for food.  
—Chas. A. Dana, being asked his opinion as to the  
lending issue in the coming presidential campaign  
gives his opinion thus: "The form of the leading  
issue remains to be determined, but the real ques- 
tion will be an effort on the part of the Democrats  
to turn out the Republicans, and an effort on the  
part of the Republicans to keep the power they  
have possessed for a quarter of a century."  
—Renewed activity on the part of Russian Nihil- 
ists is reported from Moscow. A new manifesto has  
been issued, threatening the life of the Czar. He is  
reminded that in 1881 he was warned that a con- 
stitutional form of Government must be formed, and  
a parliament of representatives of the people. But 
the revolutionists have waited in vain until this 
time for action toward that end; consequently he  
may expect to be dealt with as his father was.  
Many arrests have been made of both men and 
women.  
—Regarding the improved accommodations for  
third-class passengers on the Union Pacific Railroad, 
the San Francisco Chronicle says: "The company 
has just discarded those old rattle-traps for a new  
style of emigrant sleeping-car, neat in appearance,  
and although not finished in the elegant style of  
first-class sleepers, have upper and lower berths 
constructed upon the same principle. The lower  
berths afford two seats, facing each other, which at 
night are pushed together to  form beds. In the  
upper berths their surplus bedding can be stowed  
during the day-time. Passengers are expected to  
furnish their own mattresses, and, as a general thing, 
include a few cents' worth of cloth curtains, which  
are hung around the berths to complete their pri- 
vacy. Each passenger on presenting his emigrant 
ticket at Ogden or Omaha is handed a berth check,  
showing the location of his berth, and this estab-
lishes his title, as is the case on the Central Pacific  
emigrant cars. In distributing checks, those who  
are similar in appearance are given berths in the  
same car and others who would prefer to be with 
their own class or nationality are also placed in cars 
by themselves. All berths are free. Emigrant pas- 
sengers are carried to and from Kansas City or 
Omaha on the regular express trains instead of on 
the slow freight as heretofore, thus saving over two  
days' travel. There is but one change of cars from 
Chicago to Ogden, and third-class passengers from  
this city for Chicago leave Ogden at 9:30 A. M., and  
arrive at Chicago at 7 A. M. on the third day. A  
Union Pacific ticket agent told a Chronicle reporter  
that, under the new system, third-class travel had  
greatly increased, and would doubtless assume un- 
wonted proportions during the next few months."  

Written and Unwritten Sermons.  
IN an article on this subject, Dr. Peabody ad- 
vocates written sermons, claiming that the min-
ister may feel his subject just as intensely if he 
reads his sermon as if he simply spoke it? He  
adds: "As for the interest of the hearers 
doubt not there are moments when the extem- 
pore preacher can rouse and startle his hearers  
as he could not were he reading his sermon; but  
I doubt whether he can sustain their unflagging 
attention as he could with a well-written dis- 
course."  
We make the above quotation for the purpose  
of introducing the following comment upon it  
by the Christian at Work, which we think is  
very apt. It is short; but it seems to us that  
no more need be said:—  
"In all this, one phase of the matter seems  
to be lost sight of, and it is this: What is the  
object of the  sermon ? If it be to convict and  
convince men of sin, to lead them to a Saviour,  
to stir men up to worthy deeds, to induce to the  
truer conviction of life, then we believe the un- 
written discourse will best promote these ends.  
If the aim of the preacher is to defeat an an- 
tagonist, to declare a philosophical system, to  
please the intellectual tastes of his readers, to  
set forth the truths of the gospel in a way the  
farthest possible removed from ordinary speech  
and thought, then the minister not possessing  
the power of unwritten discourse would best 
remedy his deficiencies by the substitute of 
sermon paper. Imagine Demosthenes to have 
stirred up the Greeks by reading from a papy- 
rus, or Cicero to have impeached Cataline by  
holding up a parchment before his eyes, or St.  
Paul to have defended himself before Agrippa,  
or preached bis matchless sermon on Mars  
Hill, from the cursive sheep-skin, or Wesley, or  
Whitefield, Harlin, Page, Finney or Moody, to 
have resorted to carefully prepared foolscap  
for leading sinners to Christ! To use a para- 
doxical phrase, 'the thought is unthinkable.'  
Paper-mills were instituted to remedy the de-
ficiency of nature. About the time that min- 
isters and public speakers become providentially 
incapacitated for putting forth their utterances  
—save as they were inscribed on prepared rag- 
pulp— paper was discovered and paper-mills  
invented. Ever since then the argument has 
been going up to the skies that paper is a ne-
cessity, and paper-mills Heaven's last best gift  
to man. The fact is, the change of the ser- 
monic method and the invention of paper-mill  
machinery were synchronous. That paper is  
essential to the modern sermon is true. That  
the modern sermon is essential to the conver-
sion of the world—well, that is another ques- 
tion."  
WHEN a wicked m m has had the sweetness,  
it may break his heart to think what a bitter  
cup is kept for the last; but when the godly  
have had the bitterest here, it may sweeten all  
to think of what remains.—Baxter.  
THE Lord regards not oratory in prayer;  
your broken expressions, yea, your groans and  
sighs, please him more than all the eloquence 
of the world.—Flavel.  
NICKLSON.—Died, of hydrocephalus, at 914 La- 
guna Street, San Francisco, Cal., May 26, 1884, An- 
drew Nicklson, the only child of C. and Eliza Nickl- 
son. aged 11 months and 12 days. Remarks at the  
funeral by the writer, from ICor. 15:26: "The last 
enemy that shall be destroyed is death."  
WM. INGS.  
O'NEILL.—Died, at Southsea, England, January  
30, 1884, James O'Neill, aged 72 years. Deceased  
was the father of Captain James O'Neill, of Sidney,  
New South Wales, Australia.  
[Australian papers please copy. J  

T  
EMPEEANCE PACKAGES.  
WB have put up in packages three different assortments of our  
health and temperance works which we will furnish, post-paid, at the 
prices named.  
Ten Cent Package.  
The smallest package contains 100 pages in thirteen tracts, as fol- 
lows:—  
True Temperance—Alcohol, What is it?—Our Nation's Curse—Cause  
and Cure of Intemperance—Effects of Intemperance—The Drunk-
ard's Arguments Answered—Alcoholic Medication—Alcoholic Poison  
—Tobacco Poisoning—Tobacco-Using a Cause of Disease—Tobacco-Us- 
ing a Relic of Barbarism—Evil Effects of Tea and Coffee—Ten Argu-
ments on Tea and Coffee.  
Forty Cent Package.  
The second package, costing forty cents, post-paid, contains the  
above list and the following in addition;—  
Pork, the Dangers of its Use—Diphtheria, its Causes, Prevention,  
and Proper Treatment. By J. H. Kellogg, M. D, This book should  
be in every household. Its instructions, if faithfully carried out, will  
save many a precious life.  
One Dollar Package.  
The third package, costing$1,00, post-paid, contains in addition to  
the above:—  
Proper Diet for Man, price 15c—The Uses of Water, price 25c—Dys- 
pepsia, Its Cause and Cure, price 25c.  
The object in arranging these packages is to get them in a conven- 
ient form for sale and for selection.  
Address SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal,  
rp HE  COMING CONFLICT.  
OR  
. THE GREAT ISSUE NOW PENDING  
IN THIS COUNTRY.  
BY ELD. W. H. L1TTLEJOIIN.  
THIS book contains a complete history of the rise and progress o  
the National Reform Party, together with an exegesis of the las  
portion of the thirteenth chapter of the book of Revelation, assign-
ing to the United States its proper place in prophecy.  
EMPHATICALLY A BOOK FOR THE TIMES.  
434 pages, in muslin covers, and will be mailed to any addres  
post-paid, for !  
Address,  SIGNS OF TflE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.  
QUE COUNTEY'S FUTUEE FORETOLD.  
THE UNITED STATES IN PROPHECY.  
BY ELD. U. SMITH.  
THIS is a full exposition of a portion of prophecy which applies  
to our own Government, showing the position the United States  
holds in prophecy, and the part it has to act in the closing scenes of  
time.  
THE SUNDAY MOVEMENT,  
Which is now attracting such general attention, is thoroughly can- 
vassed, and abundant testimony is given to prove that it is fast com-
ng to be tue ALL-Uii'OiiTANT QUESTION in thL country. Deal- 
with our own  land and applying to our own time. Of surpassing  
interest to every American reader New edition; revised and en-
larged. Cloth, 225 pp., 75cts. Paper covers, new edition, condensed, 
186 pp., 25cts.  
ddress, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.  
rj} HE  NATURE AND TENDENCY  
OF MODEEN SPIRITUALISM.  
BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.  
THIS is a thorough expose of the system of Spiritualism. The  
author has carefully studied the subject, and has given such copious  
extracts from a large library of Spiritualist publications, as to fully 
condemn them in their teaching.; and in their practices, by their  own  
testimony.  
It is also shown fro n the prophetic; scriptures that Spiritualism is  
one of the most impressive signs of the times.  
184 pp. Prioe, 20 cents.  
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.  
gIBLE SANCTIFICATION:  
A CONTRAST OF  
TRUE AND FALSE THEORIES.  
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.  
THIS is a pamphlet of only 84 pages, but its value is not to be  
judged by its size. It is just what its title indicates : a faithful pre-
sentation of Bible truth on this important subject, and an exposure  
of the false theories prevailing in regard to it. Every believer in  
Bible truth should read it. Buy it, read it, and lend it to your  
neighbor. Price, 10 cents.  
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.


352  THE siaisrs OE THE TIMES.  VOL. 10, No. 22  
t digits of tljc (Limes.  
OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, JUNE 5, 1884.  
Camp-Meetings for 1884.  
PENNSYLVANIA, Emporium June 11-17  
WISCONSIN, Baraboo " 17-23  
MINNESOTA, Mankato-. " 19-24 
NORTH PACIFIC, East Portland, (Sellwood) " 19-30  
DAKOTA, Madison ... -. .June 25 to July 1  
CANADA., Waterloo " 26 to " 1  
NEW YOEK, Aug. 14-26 
NEW ENGLAND, Aug. 20 to Sept. 2 
VERMONT,  " 29 to " 8  
MAINE, - - - Sept. 4-15  
GENERAL CONFERENCE COMMITTEE.  
Various Matters.  
THE editor of the SIGNS, in company with Elder  
W. C. White, Mrs.,E. G.,White, Elder J. N. Lough- 
borough, Professor Brownsberger, and Elder Wm.  
Ings and wife, left San Francisco on the steamer  
Oregon, Friday, May 30, to attend the camp-meet- 
ings in Washington Territory and Oregon. They  
will return about the middle of July. Until the 
first of  July, personal correspondence to them  
should be addressed to East Portland, Oregon.  
LET everybody that is interested in temperance  
work examine our "Assorted Temperance Pack-
ages" advertised in another column. W. C. T.  
Unions, Good Templar Societies, and other temper- 
ance organizations could do no better work for the 
cause of temperance than to circulate these pack- 
ages. We are confident that nowhere else can so  
much temperance literature be obtained, of so good 
a quality, for the price at which these packages are  
offered.  
OUR temperance department is crowded out this  
week by the extra amount of Sabbath-school matter.  
We will make up for it next week. Meanwhile,  
that no one may be in doubt as to how we stand on  
this question, we will say that the use of intoxica-
ting liquor is destructive to both soul and body, and  
a sin against God, and that the liquor tratfic, more  
than anything else, is responsible for the vice and 
misery in the land. We believe, moreover, that no  
man, or class of men, or State, has any right to li- 
cense any one to commit sin, or prey upon another.  
A BROTHER writes that he has obtained over  
400 trial subscribers to the SIGNS in the city of  
Baraboo, Wis. In one day he has taken as many as  
twenty-eight subscriptions, and never less than four-
teen in one day. Such reports as this are encourag-
ing, not only to the publishers of the SIGNS, but to  
all who are working to spread the truths which it  
advocates. Our friends in all parts of the field have  
evidently "a mind to work," and we confidently ex-
pect that their efforts will double our subscription  
list during the present year.  
WE hope that the two articles in this week's paper,  
entitled, "The Publishing Association," and "Im-
pressive Lesson from Isa. 10:3," will receive more  
than a casual reading. Especially would we recom-
mend them to those who believe that the publishing 
work is to be the chief agent in carrying the last 
message. As to the safety  of the office as a place of  
deposit, we have the testimony of all who have  
means deposited here. At the last annual meeting,  
there were many who said that they had never had  
a moment's anxiety concerning money deposited in  
the office of publication. In marked contrast with  
this is the statement of a prominent politician at the  
Chicago convention, that business men of New York  
dared not turn their backs on that city to attend  
the convention, lest they should fail up. As  has  
been demonstrated, their presence at home is no  
surety of safety.  
The office is not recemmended as a safe place of  
deposit on the simple ground that its managers are  

upright men, for many honest men have been ruined 
in the recent panic, through no fault of their own;  
but we recommend it especially because it is engaged 
in the work of the Lord, which cannot fail. The  
deposits may not yield a very large income at pres- 
ent, bu£ they will bring an infinite per cent, in the  
world to come.  
THE Pennsylvania Conference of Seventh-day  
Adventists is one of the smallest in point of num- 
bers, but it is alive to the wants of the cause, and  
the workers are thoroughly in earnest. The T. and  
M. Secretary writes that one man in that Conference 
took 124 orders for "Thoughts on Daniel and the 
Revelation," in twenty days, and in the meantime  
took seventy orders for the SIGNS, though he was not  
making a specialty of the SIGNS canvass. We can  
say for ourselves that it would be a matter of inter- 
est to know what such a canvasser could do for the 
SIGNS if he should make it a specialty for a little  
while. Besides the club taken by the State, Penn- 
sylvania ordered 2,000 copies of the SIGNS, with sup-
plement attached, for the purpose of advertising their 
camp-meeting. Such efforts to spread the truth can- 
not fail of success.  
Answers to Correspondents.  
S. A. D.—You will find your question concerning  
the origin of Satan fully answered in the pamphlet 
entitled, "Ministration of Angels; and the Origin,  
History, and Destiny of Satan," published at this  
office. Price, 20 cents.  
A. C. B.—(1.) You will find the reference in  
'' Thoughts on Daniel," chap, 9., paragraph marked,  
" 7." Or, " Prideaux's Connex.," Vol. I„ p. 322. (2.)  
The fifth month of the Jewish Calendar answers to 
our August-September. We see no difficulty in 
locating an event in the autumn which occurred in  
the fifth month.  
J. C. W.—It would take more than one number of  
the SIGNS to give a full explanation of the doctrine 
of future punishment. In brief, we can say that  at  
the last day the wicked "go away into everlasting 
punishment," Matt. 25 :46; that this punishment 
is death; see Rom. 6:23; Eze. 18:26; that Paul 
puts these two points together when he says that  
those who " know not God, and that obey not the 
gospel," " shall be punished with everlasting de-
struction." 2 Thess. 1:8, 9. Articles on this subject  
appear at frequent intervals in the SIGNS.  
Editorial Responsibility.  
A GENTLEMAN who announces himself as a free- 
thinker, sends us a communication devoted to a crit- 
icism of the matter contained in the SIGNS, which 
he classes among the literature of the insane. In a  
note he says, " If the article appears, please send me 
a copy, and I'll subscribe, believing you to be strong 
enough in the faith to give all a fair hearing—a rare 
quality in religious editors."  
We notice this merely on account of an idea  
which is too prevalent. It is that a journal, in  
order to be fair, must publish everything—give as  
much space to the opposite as it does to those views  
which it especially advocates. Many editors seem  
to favor this idea and publish the opinion of every-
body, thinking to relieve themselves of all responsi- 
bility by saying that " the editor does not hold him-
self responsible for the opinions of correspondents."  
We do not believe a man can shirk responsibility in 
that way. A journal is a teacher, and the managers 
are as responsible for what it teaches as though they  
spoke orally from the pulpit. If a teacher has con- 
victions on any great question, he should speak 
them boldly and unequivocally; if he has none of 
his own, let him hold his peace, and not be a mere  
mouth-piece for others.  
There are thousands of papers devoted to politics,  
sensational literature, and infidelity. People who  

wish reading matter on a special subject, know  
where to find it. The SIGNS OF THE TIMES is just  
what its name implies, and is devoted to the spread  
of Bible truth, especially that which most concerns  
the present time. There are many journals that are  
trying to tear down what we are trying to build up;  
we do not propose to give any aid or comfort to the  
enemy. We do not mean that any one shall say  
that we have given an uncertain sound in our warn- 
ing. While we cannot give even a synopsis of the 
entire truth in  anyone issue, we mean to see that no  
error is printed. When we are requested to publish 
error, except it be for the express purpose of point-
ing out that error, so that people may shun it, we  
will reply as did Nehemiah, "I am doing a great  
work, so that I cannot come down; why should the  
work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to 
you?"  
The Old Testament Student.  
THE May number of this journal is on our table.  
It is always of interest; a really useful publication. 
The article on "The Scriptural Conception of' the 
Glory of God," by Professor Smith, of Lane Theolo-
gical Seminary, is of more than ordinary interest. 
The paper, however, on "The Doctrine of Future 
Life in the Old Testament," is far below the average 
of its articles. It gives altogether too much credit 
to the speculations and traditions of the nations in 
moulding the beliefs of the writers of the Scriptures,  
and not enough to divine inspiration. We shall 
notice this hereafter. 
Southern California Methodist Quarterly.  
THIS is a journal of 20 pages, pamphlet form,  
published in Los Angeles, edited by Rev. R. W. C. 
Farnsworth, who is now Presiding Elder of Los 
Angeles District. Mr. Farnsworth became known 
to many in California by the publication of the  
splendid work, "A Southern California Paradise."  
The Quarterly (No. 2) contains a good article 
headed, "What Shall We Do with  the Whisky  
Traffic ? " And its entire contents must be of live 
interest to the denomination, by whom it ought to  
be well patronized.  
Ready for Delivery.  
THE tract distributers ordered at the Oakland  
meeting in April are now ready. Will those who 
have paid for them, drop a card immediately to 
Anna Ingels, Pacific Press, and say where and how  
they shall be forwarded. Also those who have 
ordered but not paid for them, will please remit to  
Anna Ingels, Pacific Press, and give instruction how 
they may be sent. WM. INGS.  
May 29,1884.  
rpiIOUGHTS ON REVELATION.  
CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL.  
By ELD. U. SMITH  
THIS work presents  every verse in the book of Revelation,  with  
such remarks as serve to illustrate or explain the meaning' of the 
text. It is a new and harmonious exposition of that important book, 
and is designed to create an interest in its study.  
416 pp. Price, 11.25.  
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.  
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES,  
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, AT OAKLAND, CAL., FOR THE  
International Tract and Missionary Society.  
A sixteen-page Religious Family Paper, devoted to a discussion of  
the Prophecies, Signs of the Times, Second Coming of Christ, Har-
mony of the Law and Gospel; with Departments devoted to Tem-
perance, The Home Circle, the Missionary  Work, and the Sabbath- 
school. *  
Price Per Year, $2.00  
In Clubs of five or more copies to one address, to be used in Mis- 
sionary Work, 150  
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.