"Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12. 
VOLUME 12. 
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, FIFTH-DAY, JANUARY 28, 1886. 
NUMBER 4. 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, FOR THE 
(For terms, etc., see last page.) 
people from them, and destroy their influence. Scriptures and earnest, wrestlir.g prayer, he 
They were filled with J)lide, love of ostentation, may become "a workman that needeth not to 
and desire for praise; and they despised the hu-
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of 
mility and self-denial of Jesus. 
They hated the truth." Labor on, then, while the day lasts, 
purity while they feared the power of his teach-you who have been called to preach the good 
International Tract and Missionary Society. ings. 
They refused to accept him themselves, news of salvation through Christ; for the 
and bent all their energies to hinder others night cometh, wherein no man can work. 
God 
from believing in him. No wonder he brought has called us to labor in his vineyard, and if we 
against them the terrible accusation: "Ye have neglect our duty, souls will be lost through our 
Entered at the Post.Office in. Oakland. 
T"W"O LEA VF.S. 
(JOHN 15 :4.) 
Two beautiful leaves hung side by side; 
One proudly thought 'twas two strongly tied 
To the tree that its very life supplied. 
It twisted and twirled and was never still; 
It murmured, complained, and sighed, until 
It was free to follow its own sweet will. 
Awhile it floated in balmy air; 
The butterflies said it was very fair, 
The soft winds tossed it here and there; 
Then it fluttered down from sunny skies, 
A faded, forgotten thing, to lie 
Alone on the cold, damp earth, and-die. 
The other lea.£ was content to be 
Where it was placed on the parent tree, 
Knowing, though bound, 'twas most surely f1·ee. 
So it lived and grew, in sweet content 
Doing each day's work, 'till, the summer spent, 
With autumn fruitage the boughs were bent. 
The fruit was golden and fair to see, 
And the leaf rejoiced exceedingly, 
For was not the leaf a par-t of the tree 1 
Shall I read the moral, 0 soul, to thee? 
Christ says, "Y e cannot fruitful be, 
Except, by faith, ye abide in me." 
-Grass Valley Methodist. 
~rtic.Itz. 
"Preach the Word." 
BY :M:RS. E. G. WHITE. 
taken away the key of knowledge. 
Ye entered unfaithfulness. 
· 
not in yourselves, and them that were entering 
Though the servants of Christ may, at times, 
in ye hindered." 
feel almost disheartened as they see how many 
It is no argument against the truth that there obstacles there are in the way of Christian liv-
are few who are willing to accept it. 
Few ac-ing, and how slowly the work of God seems to 
cepted the world's Redeemer. 
'l,hough the advance, their duty remains the same. 
They 
multitude flocked around him, eager to receive are to sow the seed of truth beside all waters. 
tern poral blessings, yet he sadly declared: "Y e A const!:tnt effort to promote personal piety 
will not come to me that ye might have life." should be seen in all their public labors. 
They 
Men are now no more favorable to practical should not preach sermon after sermon on doc-
godliness; they are just as intently seeking trinal subjects alone. Practical godliness should 
earthly good, to the neglect of eternal riches. find a place in every discourse, and the dis-
And reformers of the present day will meet courses should be short and to the point. 
with the same discouragements as did their 
The minister should not merely present the 
Master. 
truth from the desk, but as the shepherd of the 
Of the people in his day Christ said: "For flock he should care for the sheep and the 
ibis people's heart is waxed gross, and their lambs, searching out the lost and straying, and 
ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they bringing them back to the fold. 
He should 
have closed; lest at any time they should see visit every family, not merely as a guest to en-
with their eves, and hear with their ears, and joy their hospitality, but to inquire into the 
should unde;stand with their heart, and should spiritual condition of every member of the 
be converted, and I should heal them." The household. 
His own soul must be imbued with 
Jews willfully closed their eyes and their ears, the love of God; then by kindly courtesy he 
and barred their hearts with prejudice, lest may win his way to the hearts of all, and labor 
they should see a better way, and be aroused successfully for parents and children, entreating, 
from their dream of security. 
The people of warning, encouraging, as the case demands. 
the present generation a1·e pursuing a similar Let him seek to keep the church alive, and 
course. New truths are constantly unfolding; laboring with him for the conversion of sinners. 
new and clearer light is shining upon the path-This is good generalship; and the results will 
way of God's people. But the great mass of be found far better than if the minister per-
mankind are satisfied with their present condi-formed all the work alone. 
tion, and are unwilling to exchange error for 
Jesus bids his people, "Go forward." 
The 
truth. But we are to be s~nctified through minister may labor for the people, bnt he can-
obedience to the truth. 
For want of this Bible not take the reRponsibility that God has placed 
sanctification, the soul of many a professed upon them. 
There are higher attainments for 
Christian has become a desecrated shrine, the us, there is a purer love, a deeper experience, if 
haunt of hollow formalism, of selfishness and we will consecrate ourselves to God, and humbly 
"SANCTIFY them through thy truth; thy hypocrisy, pride and pasfl.ion. 
. 
take him at his word. 
The reason why we 
word is truth," was the pr:tyer of Christ for his 
It is harder to reach the hearts of men to-have no greater confidence and joy, is that we 
disciples. 
In every age God bas committed to day than it was twenty years ago. 
The most are not sanctified through obedience to the 
hifl. people some special truth which is directly convincing arguments may be presented, and truth. There is in us an evil heart of unbelief. 
opposed to the desires and purposes of the hu-yet sinners seem as far from repentance as ever. Our heavenly Father is more willing to give 
man heart, and which tends to separate his The work of the faithful mini.ster is no child's the Holy Spirit to those who ask him than are 
church from the world; and it has been the play. 
Earnest, untiring effort is required to earthly parents to give good gifts to their chil-
duty of his ministers to proclaim this truth, wrench the prey of Satan from his grasp. But dren. 
':rhen let us shake off the spiritual sloth 
whether men would hear or forbear. 
God will sustain hit:lservants in the work which that dishoners him and imperils our own souls. 
When Christ came as the teacher and guide he himself has committed to their hands. 
Said If we draw near to God, he will draw near to 
of mankind, be brongbt to them truths glowing Christ to his disciples, as they toiled upon the us. 
We must not wait for better opportunities, 
with the light of Heaven, showing in. contrast Sen of Galilee, "Follow me, and I will make for strong persuasions, or for holier tempers. 
the darkness of error, and revealing the super-you fishers of men." 
"\Vhen the gospel net is vVe can do nothing for ourselves. 
vVe muRt 
stition, self-righteousness, and bigotry of that cast, tbore should be a watching by the net, trnst to the power of Jesus to save us. 
He is 
age. 
His heart overflowed with love for the with tears and earnest prayers. Let the work-holding out to us the crown of life, and shall we 
poor, the ignol'ant, the affiicted, and the fallen. ers determine not to let the net go till it is not accept it? Let us come to him just as we 
He healed the sick, comfot·ted the desponding, drawn ashore, with the fruit of their labor. are, and we shall find him a present help in our 
cast out devils, raised the dead, and preached t.o Sometimes, indeed, we may say with Peter, time of need. 
all the words of eternal life. 
But illany who "We have toiled all the night and have taken 
The sweet sense of sins forgiven, the light 
listened to the divine 'l'eacher received his nothing;" but still it is the Master's command, and love which Christ alone can give, fill the 
words 'Nilh little favor. 
IJ..'be priests and elders, as of old, "J.Jet down the net on the right side soul with peace and joy. The assurance that 
the professed expositors of divine truth, were of the ship,"-work on in faith, and God will we are under the protection of Omnipotence 
sending forth no rays of light. ln their self-
give success. 
imparts courage and confidence, inspires a hope 
righteousness they held themselves aloof from 
Whatever the trials and difficulties that the that is "as an anchor of the soul, both sure and 
the benighted people, who needed instruction ambassador of Christ may have to meet, he can steadfast, and which entereth into that within 
and guidance. 
When Jesus took up the work carry them all to God in prayer. He can weep the vail." This assurance is a source of strength 
'vhic.:h they had left undone, they felt that his between the porch and the altar, pleading, I unknown to the worldling or to the half-hearted 
life wns a constant rebuke to them, and they/" Spare thy people, 0 Lord, and give not thine: professor. 
So long as we have the presence of 
feared that he would turn the hearts of the heritage to reproach." And by study of the' our Saviour, difficulties cannot dismay nor dan-
50 [2) 
'1-,HE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
VoL. 12, No. 4. 
gers appall us; and we are ready cheerfully to 
perform whatever duty God requires of us. If 
we were only as free to speak of the blessings 
we receive from God as we are to talk of our 
doubts and discouragements, we should enjoy 
far more of his presence. 
Our kind heavenly 
Father declares: "Whoso offereth praise glori-
£eth me." Let us praise him more, and com-
plain less; let us talk more of the love and 
wondrous power of our Redeemer, and we shall 
be brought nearer and nea1·er to him, int.o closer 
and still closer relations with him in whom our 
hope centers. 
Shall we not consecrate ourselves to God 
without reserve? Christ, the King of glory, 
gave bimRelf a ransom for us. 
C:.tn we with-
hold anything from him? Shall we think our 
poor, unworthy selves too precious) our time or 
property too valuable, to give to J osuK? 
No, 
no; the deepest homage of our hearts, the most 
skillful service of our bands, our talents of 
ability and of means.-all are but too poor an 
offering to bring to Him who was slain, and bas 
redeemed us to God by his blood "out of every 
kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." 
Jesus Only. 
IT is very probable that Christ's transfi~ura­
tion took plaoe upon Mount Hermon. 
The out-
look from that snmmit carried the eye from 
Lebanon, with its dindom of glittering ice, south-
'vard to the Rilvery mirror of Gennesaret; but 
it was not that vision of nntural beauty that the 
discipleR looked at chiefly; they saw "JeRus 
only." 
Two illustrions propbetR, Mof'es and 
Elijah, h:1d just made their miraculous appear-
ance on the top of the mount; but neither of 
these mighty men nppeared any longer to the 
disciples' view; tl~y "saw no man save Jesus 
onfy." 
In this exnression we £nd tbe clue to the 
power of ap~stolic prenebing. 
That solitary 
flyure on the mount became the central £~ure 
to 
..... the eyes and hearts of the apostles. 'one 
person occupied their thoughts; one person 
£lled all their most effective discourses. It was 
no Rnch benevolent c:hnrletan as poor Rrman has 
lately attempted to portray; it was the omnip-
ot('nt nnd holy ~on of God. 
They saw in him 
"God rnnnifest in the flesh;" they saw in him 
an infinite Redeemer, a divine model, an ever-
Jiving interce~sor nnd friend. And they saw 
no one Ra\e .TP.sus on1y. 
Paul gave ntteranco to 
the heat·t of the whole apostolic brotherhood 
when he said, ''I detrrmined to know nothing 
Rmon.g yon, Rave J esnR Christ, and him cruci-
£ed." Has not tbis boon the key-note to the 
best sermons of the best ministers ever since? 
Is not. that the most powerfnl sermon that is 
the most lnminous with Christ? 
Depend upon 
it that the pnlpit. the Sabbat.h-scbool, and the 
volume which God bonorR with the richest ~:me­
cess, are those which present "no man save 
J eSllR Ollly." 
Here. too, is a clue to the best method of deal-
ing with :nvnkenC'd and inquiring hearts. 
We 
are too prone 1 o send the unconverted to a 
prayer-meeting, or to reading good books. or to 
listening to some popular Boanerges. The ex-
perienceR of many a troubled inquirer have 
been somewhat like those of the woman to 
wbom a faithful minister once said,-
" Have you been in the habit of attending 
church?" 
"YeA, I have been to every church in town; 
but the little comfort I get soon goes away 
again, and leaves me as bad as before." 
'"Do vou read tbe Bible at home?" 
"Sir, .. I am always reading the Bible; some-
timoR T get a little comfort; but it soon ]eaves 
me nR wretched as ever." 
" Have you prayed for peace? " 
"Oh ! sir, I am praying all the day long; 
sometimes I get a little peace after praying; 
but I soon lose it. 
I am a miserable woman." 
"Now, madam, when you went to church, or 
l 
prayed, or read your Bible, did you 
these means to give you comfort?" 
rely on would enchain his view on entering the gates 
"I think I did." 
"To whom did you pray?" 
"To God, sir; to whom else should I pray?" 
"Now rend this verse, 'Come unto me, and 
I will give you rest.' Jesus said this. 
Have 
you gone to Jesus for rest?" 
The lady looked amazed, and tears welled up 
into her eyes. 
J.Jight burst in upon her heart, 
like nnto tbe light that :flooded Mount Hermon 
on tbe transfiguration morn. 
Everything else 
that she bad been looking at-church, Bible, 
mercy seat, and minister-all disappeared, and 
to her wondering, believing eyes there remained 
no man save Jesus only. 
She was liberated 
from years of bondage on the spot. The scales 
fell from her eyes, nne! the spiritual fetters from 
her soul. 
J eRus only could do that work of de-
liverance; but he did not do it until she looked 
to him alone. 
This incident, which has been given at length 
in one of tbe American Tract Society's narra-
tives, reached us dnring the £rst years of our 
ministry. 
vVith this "open secret" in our 
hand, we approached the first Roman Catholic 
thnt ever attended upon our preaching. 
He 
bad turned his troubled eye for n long time to 
tbe holy virgin, and to sainted martyrs in the 
calendar. He had often been to a priest, never 
to a Saviour. 
We set before him Jesus only. 
He looked up and sn,w the I1amb of God that 
taketh away tbe sin of the ·world. 
"My Rom-
ish mother," said be to us) "would burn up my 
Bible if she knew I bnd one in mv house·." 
But 
sbe could not burn out the blessed Jesus from 
his emancipated and happy heart. 
Next we took this simple revelation to a poor 
invalid of threescore and ten. His sight was 
failing, and tbe vision of his mind was as~ blurred 
and dim as the vision of his body. 
We set be-
fore him, in our poor way, Jesus only. 
The old 
man could hn.rdly see the little grandchild who 
rend aloud to him. 
But be could see Jesus with 
the eye of faith. 
The patriarch wbo had hard-
ened under seventy years of sin, became a little 
child. The skepticism of a lifetime vanished 
when the Holy Spirit revealed to his searching, 
yearning look the divine form of a Saviour cru-
ci£ed. 
vVe never forgot these lessons learned in our 
ministerinl boyhood. 
.!from that time to thiR, 
we have found that the only sure way of bring-
ing light and pence to anxious inquirers is to 
direct them awny from themRelYes, away hom 
ritualities and stereotyped forms, away from 
agencies of every kind, away from everything 
save Jesns only. 
John the BaptiRt held the es-
sence of the go~pel on his tongue when he cried 
out, "Behold tho Lnmb of God, who taketh 
away the sin of the world." 
My anxious friend, 
be assured that you never will £nd pardon for 
the past, and bope for the future; you never 
will know how to live, or be prepared to die, 
until you look to Jes~"s only. 
Here is a hint for deRponding CbristianR. 
You are hamssed with doubts. 
Without are 
:fightings, and within are fears. 
Why? Be-
c:auRe you have tried to live on frames and feel-
ings, and they ebb and flow lih:e the sea-tide. 
You hnve rested on past experienees, and not 
on n present Saviour. Yon b ave looked at 
yourself too much, and not to him who is made 
to you righteousness and full redemption. 
Do 
you long for light, pence, strength, assurance, 
joy? Then do your duty, and look to Jesus 
only. 
When the godly minded Oliphant was on his 
dying bed, they read to him that beautiful pas-
sage in the seventh chapter of Revelation, 
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes." 
(It is the passage which poor Burns 
could never read with a dry eye.) The old 
man exclaimed, "Perhaps that is so. 
The Bi-
ble tells me tbnt there is no weeping in Heaven; 
but I know I shall cry the £rst time I see my 
Saviour!" 
He was right. The £rst object that 
of glory, would not be tlie jeweled walls, or tbe 
shining ranks of the seraphim. It vvortld not 
be the parent who bore him, or the pastor who 
taught him the way of life. But amid tbe myr-
iad glories, the thousand wonders, of that won-
derf'Ul world of light and joy, the believer's eye, 
in its £rst enrapturing vision, sball "see no 
man save JEsus ONLY."-T. L. Cuyler. 
What Is Love? 
THIS is a most important question to every 
Bible student; for without love, faith and hope 
must end in destruction. 
But what is love? 
Says one, "Love is an affectionate feehng." 
But affectionate feeling is only a part of love. 
Suppose a young man shows signs of affec-
tionate feeling for his father. He cannot bear 
to hear the ]east intimation against his father, 
and be often talks in highest praise of him. 
But be bas little regard for his father's wishes. 
He does not exert himself to help his father, 
and is unwilling to forsake bad company and 
break off b:.td habits. 
Snppose a young lady 
weeps over the sick-bed of that mother who 
recovers to again do all the heavy drudgery, 
while the tender-hearted, affectionate young 
lady seeks her own pleasure, or chooses light 
and plensant work. What is such affection 
worth? 
IR it love, or only a part of love? 
The apostle exhorts us thus: "My little 
children, let us not love in word [only], nor in 
tongue; but in deed [doing] and in truth." 
1 John 3: 18. 
But the Bible in various wavs 
defineR love. 
In Rom. 13: 10, we have a good 
definition: "Love iR the fulfilling [keeping] of 
the law." 
The Bible will .bear me out in the 
idea that the keeping of the law is the proof of 
perfected love. 
If antinomians think that Paul meant to 
teach that love exempts them from keeping tbe 
law, they have only to read other scriptures to 
find tbemselvoR miRtaken. Why were the J ewR 
required to abide by the decalogue? 
Answer: 
Dout. 6 : 5: "And thon sbnJt love the l.Jord 
thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy 
soul, and with all thy might." I1ev. 19: 18: 
"But thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 
I am the Lord." 
Then it was with the Jews 
ag it is with us. 
They were to love, and to 
prove their love by endeavoring to keep the 
Jaw of God.' 
No one can maintain that tbe commandments 
of God do not include tbe decalogue. 
"And 
hereby [by this] we do know that we know him, 
if we keep his commandments. He that saith, 
I know birn, and keepetb not hiR commnnd-
ments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 
But vvhoRo keepeth his word [or law], in him 
verily is the love of God perfected." 
1 John 2: 
3-5. "Whosoever hatetb his brother is a mur-
derer; and ye know that no murderer bath 
eternal life abiding in him." 
1 John 3: 15. 
John here alludes to the sixth commandment, 
and to bate is the opposite of to love. "By 
this we know tb:.tt we love the ehildren of God, 
when we love God, and keep his command-
ments. 
.For this is the love of God, that we 
keep his commandments; and his command-
ments are not grieYous." 
1 John 5 : 2. 3. 
"His commandm'ents are not grievous,· to 
tboRe who truly love God. · 
Dear reader, are you 'villing; to prove your 
love by beint:!; numbered witb tbe last remnant 
of the church," 'vhieb keep tbe commandments 
of God. and have the testimony of Jesus 
Christ" (Rev. 12:17); also "t.hat keep the 
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus"'? 
Rev. 14: 12. 
·EPsiLON. 
THERE is something to think of in this story. 
Sam Jones tells of a bard-lonking old dri1nkard 
wbo replied to Bob Ingert~oll, when be Raid there 
was no bell, "Be mighty sure with proof.'3, Bob; 
for there are a great many of us who are de-
pending on ye." 
JANUARY 28, 1886. 
Whither are They Tending? 
EvENTs, as they are passing, are viewed by 
the student of prophecy with an anxious eye. 
He sees in them the fulfillment of God's ancient 
predictions; and it not only inspires him with 
confidence in the word of God, but showB him 
where we are in the world's history. 
God has 
seen fit to reveal in his word events which fol-
iow in consecutive order till we behold the Lord 
of glorv as he descends to earth for his people. 
The four great monarchies predicted in Dan-
iel, chapters 2 and 7, have fulfilled the work 
assiKned them by the prophecy. 
We . have 
reached the end of the 2300 days of Damel 8; 
and the momentous work of cleansing the heav-
enly sanctuary, which we understand to be the 
work of judging the righteous, is now in prog-
ress. 
The visions of John, recorded in the book of 
Revelation, we look upon as being nearly ful-
filled; the only portion yet unfulfilled being the 
closing part of the message of chapter 14: 9-12, 
and the work of the two-horned beast of chap-
ter 13 : 11-17. The first we consider is already 
in such a condition that the work can be pushed 
to completion in a very short time.. The sec_ond, 
which is the last link in that particular cham of 
symbols, and reaches to .the second co.ming of 
Christ, we desire to notiCe more particularly, 
and determine, if possible, its condition. 
Our people took the position, more than thirty-
five yeam ago, that this two-horned beaRt sym-
bolized the United States; that the dragon 
voice of verse 11 would yet be heard in free 
America in the way of religious persecutions; 
and that these persecutions would result fi·om 
trying to enforce the mark of the papal b~ast of 
verses ~6, 17, which we have shown agam and 
again from both the pulpit an-d the press, to be the 
obser~ance of Sunday, after it has been clearly 
brought to our minds that the seventh day, or 
Saturday, and not Sunday, is t~e. Lord's Sab-
bath and the issue has been fully JOmed between 
the l~w of the two-horned beast and the law of 
God. 
We have believed and often taught that 
those who take their stand upon the Bible Sab-
b~lth knowinO" that the precept enjoins the 
seve~th and n~t the first day of the week, will 
be the special objects of the wrath of those 
who are enforcing the rigid Sunday laws which 
are to be enacted by this Goverument. 
When we began to present these views to 
the public, we met wi~h ridi.c~le on ev~ry band 
at the idea of persecutiOn ariswg herem Amer-
ica. "The freedom of our laws and institu-
tions," said many, "will never permit a loyal 
citizen to be misused on account of conscien-
tiously adopting a religion whose moral ten-
dency is good, even though it should be at 
variance with the religion of his neighbor." 
Yet, notwithstanding the assurances of our 
nu.tional Constitution, and the jeers of those 
who opposed our teachings, we considered the 
prophecy clear, and fearlessly taught it wher-
ever we went. 
It has now been more than a score of years 
since a party has arisen in our midst with the 
avowed object of so amending the Constitution 
of the United States as to acknowledge Christ 
as the king of nations, and the law of God as 
the fundamental principle in the supreme law 
of the hmd. 
Of course we could not object to 
this if Christ himself were to interpret the 
Father's law. 
He says not one jot or tittle of 
the law shall pass away. Matt. 5: 18. 
And ac-
cording to this interpretation, the seventh-day 
Sabbath is still the proper one for us to observe, 
because it, and no other, is taught in the law 
of which every jot and tittle is to remain in 
force. 
But, says the "National Reform Asso-
ciation:' (tho name assumed by those working 
for the above chang;e in the national Constitu-
tion), the law of God now requires the o.bserv-
ance of Sunday, and we must have strmgent 
Sunday laws and require all to observe thorn, 
no mutter whether ChrisLian or infidel, Sunday 
OF THE TIMES. 
[,B) 51 
' 
observer or Sabbatarian. The end to which But rather, since we think the position of our 
this association is working is just what we h~we people is clearly proved, that the enforcemm1t 
seen in the prophecy, and taught as widely of Sunday by law is nothing less than tbe 
as our facilities would allow. 
Now, those op-enforcement of the mark of the beast (Rev. 13 : 
posing us, seeing this movement at work, can-16, 17), it will ultimately bring upon its adher-
not laugh so heartily at us. 
Many of them. ents the unmingled wrath of u.n offend~d God. 
say, "AltL.ough this association is asRiduously Rev. 14 : 9-11. 
working in the direction which the prophecy 
We are fully aware that there are hundreds 
indicates, yet it cannot be brought about in our who are now zealously working for this Sunday 
day. 
Public sentiment cannot be made ripe movement who have not had their minds called 
for it so soon." 
We think, however, that all to the nature of the work they are doing aR set 
the prophetic word conspires to show that the forth in the prophecy, who will abandon their 
last generation is reached, and that those now designs when they are properly in formed. 
Io 
living will see the complete fulfillment of this the sight of God no one is responsible for wrong 
prophecy. Our convictions in this are strength-positions until he bas had opportunity to know 
ened when we see other agents aside from the better. But opportunity to inform ourselves 
"National Reform Party,. entering the field to b1·ings responsibility. John 9 : 41; 15 : 22. 
assist in this work. 
Public sentiment is getting very strong in 
We have always stood firmly for the cause of favor of this Sunday law; even men who make 
temperance, and lent a hand whc:mever we could no profession of religion will say that we should 
to uproot the evils of strong drink. 
We have have a law to compel men to keep Sunday. 
even gone farther, and taught that the truly And when we con~ider that such a strong or-
temperate man would abstain fi·om the use of ganization as the Woman's Christian Temper-
tobacco and other hurtful indulgences. 
we· ance Union, com posed of the most zealous 
have been rejoiced at the good work done by temperance women in the land, and the PTohi-
the Prohibitionists and the Woman's Christian bition party, are allied with the Nabonal Re-
Temperance Union. But we are sorry indeed formers in working for a strict Sunday law: we 
to see the solid alliance forming between tb.e must see that it is highly probable that a senti-
above organizations and the "National Reform ment will soon be formed strong enough to pass 
AssociaLion." According to the Christian States-the law and inflict its penal tie~·L 
rnan of Sept. 24, 1885, the organ of the "Reform 
In a re!mblic like ours, public sentiment soon 
Association," the platform of the Ohio Prohibi-becomes law. For example, take the late rebell-
tionists declares "for a Christian and civil Sab-ion. 
As late as 1860, any one viewing things 
bath." And tbe Statesman in the same issue calls as they then appeared, would not eXJ)ect the 
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union its manumission of the slaves in five years from 
"noble ally and helper." In its iRsue of July that time. 
Yet the sentiment w.-as already 
9: Hl85, it recordtt with mnch enthusiasm the formed, and in that brief space the rebellion 
nomination by the ProhibitionisLs of Rev. A. B. arose and was suppressed, and every slave 
Leonard, D. D., for Uovemor of Ohio. 
After made free. 
So in this case; there is a larg-e 
stating that he is a zealous worker for the cause corps of workers moulding public sen-timent in 
of National Reform (the main reform they seem favor of this Sunday law. 
And as soon as they 
to be working for is the enfoecement of Sunday get the matter worked up a little more, they 
observance by law), they add: "This is the class can have laws passed to suit them; and the 
of men whom the Prohibition party is bringing dragon voice will be heat·d, tbe image to the 
to the front. lt will be a glorious day for the beast set up, and the mal'lr enforced with all 
cause of National Reform when such a party the energy of blinded and corrupted religious 
triumphs." 
A recent utterance of the National zeal. 
Woman's Oheistian Temperance Union is that 
vVe hope that our readers will carefully con-
" Politics shall also be redeemed and taken from sider this question, and see where they stand. 
the hands of the prince of this wo1·ld and given The prophecy is clear when earnestly and 
into the bands of our Lord and his Uhrist." pra,yerl"ully studied; and those who reject God's 
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union has plain commandment, and labor to enforce a day 
recently adopted a depart ·nont in its work for which he has never commanded or made holy, 
bringing about the moee strict observance of will certainly be found at last fighting against 
Sunday. And Mrs. M. E. Ste.J?heuson, Superin-
him. 
And now, while it is our privilege to in-
tendent of the department ot Sabbath observ-form ourselvea and choose the right, let us be 
ance for Pennsylvania, in reporting the progress wise and do it, and avoid the fearful conse-
of her work to the Statesman, says: "In this quences of rejectin()' the word of God. 
first report it will not be thought out of place 
0 
A. 0. TArT. 
to glance at the reasons for the establi:-<hment 
of this branch of Woman's Christian Temper-
ance Union work, that the wisdom which sug-
gested it may be justified in every mind. 
The 
maintenance of our Sabb~Lth law::), and the right 
observance of the Lord's day, are not only 
worthy objects in themselves, but are vitally 
connected with the tempuance reformation." 
In concludiug bur report, she adds: "Our cause, 
therefore, is linked inseparably with the canse 
of the Sabbath. 
We stand or fall with it. If 
America is to lose her Sabbath, she will not be-
come a temperate nation. In working for the 
suppression of Sabbath desecration, we are do-
ing that which must be done before the temper-
ance reformation can prevail." 
The above statements clearly show bow these 
three bodies of active workers ~Lre rapidly mak-
ing their cause one. 
And while we are made 
glad to see the cause of temperance advaccing, 
it saddens us to see this Sunday mo'ement 
brought into it. If Sunday sanctity were es-
tablished by divine authority, it would be differ-
SPEAKING of public assemblies, was there ever 
yet a great meeting in which some part of the 
exercises was not wearisome to the majority of 
the listeners? Where two or three are gathered 
together, there always appears some one who 
thinks the others will be edified by listening 
exclusively to him, and who cannot see that 
they want to hear that other man. 
The" Spec-
tatoi·" recently heard a somewhat prosy speaker 
consume sixty-five mortal minutes in torturing 
an audience who were waiting to hear another 
man; and, t.o make it worse, be seemed to think 
the storm of applause which greeted his retire-
ment from the speaker's desk was an exhibition 
of approval and not of relief. 
Committees of 
arrangements may find it impossible or ungra-
cious to restrain a fluent tongue; but, in justice 
to a long-suffering but patient public, they ought 
to place it at that point in the programme where 
it will work the least harm; viz., the end. 
-CM·istian Union. 
ent. But sinee it is a usurper, and has only 
IT is pleasant to remember that by doing our 
the authority of men for its establishment, we best in our station, however humble it may be, 
must raise our voice against it, and call the at-wo can each serve Jesus just as acceptably as 
tention of all to the fact that God asks no one. those who occupy the most responsible posi-
to do such a work as is proposed for Sunday! Lions. 
52 ['J 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
VoL. 12, No. 4. 
The Ostrogoths and the Visigoths. 
casion the talent~ ?f the general were found to I through th.e secret paths, to the most sequeste~ed 
be of more prevmlmg efficacy than the weapons: places, whwb had been chosen to secure the m-
(Continued.) 
and discipline of the troops. 
':Che valor of the: habitants, the cattle, and the magazines of corn. 
"UNDER the name of judges, Alavivus and Goths was so ably directed by the genius of vVith the assistance of such guides, nothing 
Fritigern were the leaders of the Visigotbs in Fritigern, that they broke, by a close and vig-could remain impervious, or inaccessible; resist-
peace and war; and tbe authority which they orous attack, the ranks of the Roman legions. ance was fatal; flight was impracticable; and 
derived from their birth was ratified by the Lupicinus left his arms and standards, his trib-the patient submission of helpless innocence 
fi·ee consent of the nation. 
In a season of tr::tn-unes and his bravest soldiers, on the field of seldom found mercy from the barbarian con-
quillity their power might have been equal as battle; and their useless courage served only to queror. 
well as their rank; but as soon as their country-protect the ignominious flight of their leader. 
"In the course of these depredations, a great 
men were exasperated by hunger and oppres-'That successful day put an end to the dist1·ess of number of the children of the Goths, who had 
sion, the superior abilities of Fritigern assumed the ba1·bar1'ans, and the security of the Romans j been sold into captivity, were restored to the 
the military command, which he was qualified from that day, the Goths, renouncing the precari-embraces of their afflicted parents; but these 
to exercise for the public welfare. 
He restrained ous condit-ion of strange1·s and exiles, assumed tender interviews, which might have revived 
the impatient spirit of the Visigoths till the the cl~aracter of citizens and masters, claimed an and cherished in their minds some sentiments 
injuries and insults of their tyrants should jus-a-bsolute dominion over the possessors of land, and of humanity, tended only to stimulate their 
tify their resistance, in the opinion of mankind; held, in their own right, the northern provinces oj native fierceness by the desire of revenge. 
but he was not disposed to sacrifice any solid the empire, which are bounded by the Danube.' They listened, with eager attention, to the 
advantages for the empty praise of justice and Such are the words of the Gothic historian, who complaints of their captive children, who had 
moderation. 
celebrates, with rude eloquence, the glory of suffered the most cruel indignities from the lust-
" Sensible of the benefits which would result his countrymen. 
ful or angry passions of their masters; and the 
from the union of the Gothic powers under the 
"But the dominion of the barbarians was ex-same cruelties, the same indignities, were se-
same standard, he secretly cultivated the friend-.ercised only for the purposes of rapine and de-verely retaliated on the sons and daughters of 
ship of the Ostrogotbs; and while he professed an struction. As they had been deprived, by the the Romans." 
implicit obedience to the orders of the Roman ministers of the emperor, of the common bene-
"The imprudence of Valens and his ministers 
generals, be proceeded by slow marches towards fits of nature, and the fair intercourse of social had introduced into the heart of the empire a 
Marcianopolis, the capital of the lower Mresia, life, they retaliated the injustice on the subjects nation of ~nemies; but the Visigoths might 
about seventy miles from the banks of the Dan-of the empire; and the crimes of Lupicinus even yet have been reconciled, by the manly 
ube. 
On that fatal spot the flames of discord were expiated by the ruin of the peaceful bus-confession of past errors, and the sincere per-
and mutual hatred burst forth into a dreadful bandmen of Thrace, the conflagration of their formance of former engagements. These heal-
conflagration. Lupicinus had invited the Gothic villages, and the massacre, or captivity, of their ing and temperate measures seemed to concur 
chiefs to a splendid enterainment, and their mar-innocent families. 
The report of the Gothic with the timorous disposition of the sovereign 
tial train remained under arms at the entrance victory was soon diffused over the adjacent of the East; but, on this occasion alone, Valens 
of the palace. But the gates of the city were country; and while it filled the minds of the was brave, and his unreasonable bravery was 
strictly guarded; and the barbarians were Romans with terror and dismay, their own fatal to himself and to his subjects. He declared 
sternly excluded from the use of a plentiful hasty imprudence contributed to increase the [A. D. 377] his intention of marching from An-
market, to which they asserted their equal forces of Fritigern, and the calamitie~; of the tioch to Constantinople, to subdue this danger-
claim of subjects and allies. 
province. 
ous rebellion; and, as he was not ignorant of 
"Their humble prayers were rejected with in-
"Some time before the great emigration, a the difficulties of the enterprise, he solicited the 
solence and derision; and as their patience was numerous body of Goths, under the command assistance of his nephew, the Emperor Gratian, 
now exhausted, the townsmen, the soldierA, and of Suerid and Colias, had been received into the who commanded all the forces of the West. 
the Goths, were soon involved in a conflict of protection and service of the empire. They The veteran troops were hastily recalled from 
passionate altercation and angry reproaches. 
were encamped under the walls of Hadrianople; the defense of Armenia; that important front-
"A blow was imprudently given, a sword but the ministers of Valens were anxious to re-ier was abandoned to the discretion of Sapor; 
was hastily drawn; and the first blood that was move them beyond the Hellespont, at a distance and the immediate conduct of the Gothic war 
spilt in this accidental quarrel became the sig-from the dangerous temptation which might so was intrusted, during the absence of Valens, to 
nal of a long and destructive war. In the midst easily be communicated by the neighborhood, his lieutenants, Trajan and Profuturus, two gen-
of noise and brutal intemperance, Lupicinus was and the success of their countrymen. There-erals who indulged themselves in a very false and 
informed, by a secret messenger, that many of speetful submission with which they yielded to favorable opinion of their own abilities. 
hiR soldiers were slain and despoiled of their the order of their march, might be considered 
"On their arrival in Thrace, they were joined 
arms; and as he was already inflamed by wine as a proof of their fidelity; and their moderate by Richomer, count of the domestics; and the 
and oppressed by sleep) he issued a rash com-request of a sufficient allowance of provisions, auxiliaries of the West, that marched under his 
mand that their death t:;bould be avenged by the and of a delay of only two days, was expressed in banner, were composed of the Ga1Jic legions, re-
massacre of the guards of Fritigern and Alavi-the most dutiful terms. 
But the first magistrate duced indeed by a spirit of desertion to the vain 
vus. 
The clamorous shouts and dying groans of Badrianople, incensed by some disorders appearances of strength and numbers. In a 
apprised Fritigern of his extreme danger; and which had been committed at his country-house, council of war, which was influenced by pride 
as he possessed the calm and intrepid spirit ot refused this indulgence; and arming against rather than by reason, it was resolved to seek, 
a hero, be saw that he was lost if he allowed a them the inhabitants and manufacturers of a and to encounter the barbarians, who lay en-
moment of deliberation to the man who had so populous city, he urged, with hostile threats, camped in the spacious and fertile meadows 
deeply injured him. 
'A trifling dispute,' said their instant departure. 
near the most southern of the six mouths of 
the Gothic leader, with a firm but gentle tone ot 
"The barbarians stood silent and amazed, till the Danube. Their camp was surrounded by 
voice, 'appears to have arisen between the two they were exasperated by the insulting clamors the usual fortification of wagons; and the bar-
nations; but it may be productive of the most and missile weapons of the populace; but when barians, secure within the vast circle of the in-
dangerous consequences, unless the tumult is patience or contempt was fatigued, they crushed closure, enjoyed the fruits of their valor and 
immediately pacified by the assurance of our the undisciplined multitude, inflicted many a the spoils of the province. In the midst of ri-
safety and the authority of our presence.' 
shameful wound on the backs of their flying otous intemperance, the watchful Fritigern ob-
"At these words, Fritigern and his compan-enemies, and despoiled them of the splendid served the motions, and penetrated the designs, 
ions drew their s'vvords, opened their passage armor which they were unworthy to bear. of the Romans. He perceived that the num-
through the unresisting crowd which filled the 'rhe resemblance of their sufferings and their bers of the enemy were continually increasing; 
palace, the streets, and the gates of Marcianop-action soon united thiR vietorious detachment and, as he understood their intention of attack-
olis, and, mounting their horses, hastily van-to the nation of the Visigoths; the troops of ing his rear as soon as the scarcity of forage 
ished from the eyes of the astonished Romans. Colias and Suerid expected the approach of the should oblige him to remove his camp, he re-
The generals of the Goths were saluted by the great .B'ritigern, ranged themselves under his called to their standard his predatory detach-
fierce and joyful acclamations of the camp; war standard, and signalized their ardor in the ments, which covered the adjacent country. 
was instantly resolved, and the resolution was siege of Hadrianople. But the resistance of 
"As soon as they discried the :flaming beacons, 
executed without delay; the banners of the na-the garrison informed the barbarians, that, in they obeyed, with incredible speed, the signal _ 
tion were displayed according to the custom of the attack of regular fortifications, the efforts of their leader; the camp was filled with the 
their ancestors; and the air resounded with the of unskillful courage are seldom effectual. martial crowd of barbarians; their impatient 
harsh and mournful music of the barbarian Their general acknowledged his error, raised clamors demanded the battle, and their tu-
trumpet. The weak and guilty Lupicinus, who the siege, declared that 'he was at peace with multuous zeal was approved and animated by 
had dared to provoke, who had neglected to stone walls,' and revenged his disappointment the spirit of their chiefs. 
The evening was al-
destroy, and who still presumed to despise, his on the adjacent co':lntry. 
. 
ready far advanced; and the two armies pre-
formidable enemy, marched against the Goths, 
"He accepted w1th pleasure the useful rem-pared themselves for the approaching combat, 
at the head of such a military force as could be forcement of hardy workmen, who labored in which was deferred only till the dawn of day. 
collected on this sudden emergency. 
the gold mines of 'rhrace, for the emolument, \Vbi1e the trumpets sounded to arms, the un-
" The barbarians expected his approach about and under the lash, of an unfeeling master; and i daunted courage of the Goths was confirmed by 
nine miles from Marcianopolis; and on this oc-theRe new associates condnctrrl thC' barbarians,' the mutual obligation of a solemn oath; and as 
JANUARY 28, 1886. 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
[fi] 53 
they advanced to meet the enemy, tb~ ~ude 
sono-s which celebrated the glory of their fore-
fathe;.s were mino-led with their fierce and dis-
sonant' outcries; ~nd opposed to the ar~i_ficial 
harmony of the Romtw shout. 
Som~ military 
skill was displayed by F_ritiger~ to gam the ad-
vantage of a commandwg emmence; but ~he 
bloody conflict, which began an.d ende.d With 
the light was maintained on e1ther s1de by 
the perso~al and obstinate efforts of strength, 
valor, and agility. 
. 
"The legions of Armenia supported their 
fame in arms· but they were oppressed by the 
irresistible w~io-ht 0f the hostile multitude; the 
left wing of th~ Romans was th:·own i?to dis-
order and the field was strewn wtth tbmr man-
gled ~arcasses. This p~rtial defeat was bal-
anced, however, by partial success; and w?en 
the two armies. at a late hour of the evenmg, 
retreated to th~ir respeetive camps, nei~her of 
them could claim the honors, or the effects, of 
a decisive victory. 
The real loss wa~ more se. 
verely felt by the Romans i.n proportwn to the 
smallness of their numbers; but the Goths were 
so deeply confounded and dismayed. by this vig-
orous, and perhaps unexpecte.d ~es1stan~e, that. 
they remained seven days w1thm t~e Circle of 
their fortifications. 
Such funeral ntes as the 
circumstances of the time and place would ad-
mit, were piously discharged. to .so~e ?fficers of 
distinguished rank; but the mdiscrimm~te vul-
gar was left unburied on the plain.. Their flesh 
was greedily devoured by the birds of prey, 
which, in that age, enjoyed very freq~Ient and 
delicious feasts· and several years afterwards 
the white and 'naked bones which covered the 
wide extent of the fields, peesented to the eyes 
of Ammianus a dreadful monument of the bat-
tle of Salices."-Dec. and Fall, chap. 26, pa1·. 
16, 17. 
A. T. J. 
(To be continued.) 
"Will God Bring with Hin1.'' 
NoT a few have been confirmed in their faith 
that the righteous dead :go to Heaven. when 
they die by this expresRion. 
They pomt to 
1 Thess. '4: 14, and say, 'l'bat proves it. 
~be 
text reads: "For if we believe that Jesus dted 
and rose ao-11.in, even so them also which sleep 
in Jesus will God bring with him." 
The sub-
ject in this and the following verses is the com-
ing of the Lord 11.nd the resurre~tion of. the 
dead. 
Overlookino-the last part of the subJeCt, 
and seeing only th~ coming o~ Chr~st, it is said, 
How can the saints come With him wbell be 
comes unless they are now in Heaven? This 
inquiry arises from a ~isal?l)I'ebension of the 
meaning of the word w~th m t?e text. That 
it does not mean in company, wlll appear from 
another text. "Buried with him in baptism, 
wherein also ye are risen with him<' 
Col. 2.: 
12. 
Here the word with occurs twice, and It 
clearly appears tbat it cannot mean in connec-
tion, but simply in like manner or resemblance. 
Even so it is in the text first quoted. 
There 
the death and resurrection of Christ are plainly 
mentioned· and if we but give the word with 
the same ;neaning, the true sense of .the ~ext 
will be clearly seen. 
Christ died; his saints 
have died· for tbat is the meaning of the word 
sleep, her~ used. 
God raised Christ fr?m the 
dead, and when be (Christ) comes. ag~m, God 
will raise his people from the dead m hke man-
nM· as Christ was raised. 
E. R. J ON~s. 
IT must ever be remembered that efficient 
activity can sprino-only from deep heart-relig-
ion. 
We must first sit at Jesus's feet, and 
then ministry will follow as naturally as the 
harvest follows the f:>Owing.-Presbyterian. 
IF we desire the respect of others, we must 
first learn t,o respect ourselves, which we cannot 
do properly so long as we continue to do what 
we know to be wrong. 
Preparation for Prayer-Meeting. 
IT is a real pity that so many J?rayer-meet-
ings are spoiled which by a very ht~le tbou~ht 
and effort could be made intensely mterestmg 
and helpful. 
Many times it is the fault of ~he 
leader. He seems to have made no preparatiOn 
whatever for conducting the meeting. He does 
not know what chapter he wants to read, and 
he turns over half the Bible before be finds one 
with which be is satisfied. 
He has selected no 
hymns~ and, when the time for singin.g com~s, 
he inflicts long pauses upon the meetmg while 
he searches nervously through the hymn-book 
for sometbin o-that will do to announce. 
Or 
perhaps it is ~ver-p1:eparation which t~e _leader 
brings to the meetmg,-too . much Scripture-
reading, too long a prayer, qmte too much talk-
ing. 
. 
. 
Which of these blemishes IA the mof:lt hurtful, 
it is bard to decide. 
To conduct a prayer-meet-
ing well, there should always. be preparation, 
and each portion should be. brief. The leader 
should know just what he will read, and. sh~uld 
never read many verses; just what he .will smg, 
and should never sing m~tny stanzas; JUSt w~at 
be will say, and should never speak ~any .mm-
utes. 
Preparation, promptness, brevity, v~vac­
city, life, and true devotion, are some ot the 
essential elements needed to make a good 
prayer-meeting.-Sel. 
--------~--------
"Every Sabbath." 
"And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, 
and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." Acts 18 : 4. 
THE no-Sabbath man can find his theory 
abundantly refuted by reading the Acts of 
the Aposties. The .inspii:ed writer repeatedly 
declares that certam tbmgs were done upon 
the Sabbath. This could not be true if no Sab-
bath existed at the time. 
Hence the Sabbath 
had not ceased at the cross, but still existed 
when the labors and travels of Paul were re-
corded. 
Paul was in the habit of preaching on the 
Sabbath day. But it is objected by no-Sabbath 
and first-day-Sabbath men, that Paul di~ not 
himself observe the "Jewish Sabbath," but only 
preached to the Jews that day, because he could 
then find them assembled. 
· 
Very well. 
"'What day o~· the week was that? 
"All admit that the J ew1sh Sabbath was the 
seventh day of the week, or Saturday." 
But look at this fi'iend. 
Paul abode at 
Corinth a considerab'le length .of time, laboring 
at the trade of ton t·makiug on other days, 
while be reasoned in the synagogue every Sab-
bath persuadiuo-both the Jews and the Greeks. 
Mark, the ins~ired record says " every Sab-
bath." Now if these meetings were held on 
the seventh day, that was the only Sabbath 
existing at that time; for they were held every 
Sabbath. But if the first day was the Sab-
bath at that time, then Paul reasoned in the 
synao-ogne every first-day, or Sunday. 
Hence 
the lows must have changed their day of meet-
ing in the synagogue to tb.e (so-called) "Chri~­
tian Sabbath." No one Will pretend that thts 
was the case. 
Hence the first day was not 
the Sabbath at this time. 
R. F. CoTTRELL. 
Religion in Politics. 
and possess one that is selfis? and wo~ldly. No 
politician of t?-~ay can be. m possessiOn of the 
spirit and rehgwn of Chnst. 
We do not say 
that no Christian can hold an office :m?er tb.e 
governments of the present time;. f?r 1t IS posst-
ble that somewhere a true Cbrtst1an may he 
persuaded by the people to accept an office 
which he would not politically seek. 
Such 
cases, however, it must be .acknowledged, are 
not easily found. 
The mult1tude of o~ce-seek­
ers makes it necessary for all who obtat? .offices 
to do those things which the Ho~y Spint and 
the o-ospel of Christ will not sanctwn. 
"\V
5hat we need is so much of the religion of 
Christ that there will be no desire in our hearts 
to enter upon a politicalli~e? or hold o~ces in the 
Government that are pohtwally obtamed.-Sel. 
Blessedness in Mourning. 
A sTATE of happiness is not always the state 
of highest blessedness. 
Our really best days, 
wben we learn the most and grow the most, are 
not always nor usually our gladdest days. It 
was our Lord himself who said, "Blessed are 
they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." 
The beatitude is not for those who laugh, but 
for those who weep. The meaning must be that 
God has blessino-s which he can give only when 
the heart is in ~orrow or pain; and that God's 
comfort which makes the beatitude, is such a 
preciou~ and enriching experience that it .is quite · 
worth while to mourn that we may gam that 
beatitude. 
The comfort far more than compen-
sates for the grief, and we ~annot ge~ the ,com-
fort unless we have the grief. 
One rmght m·ead 
the coming of night; but he wo~1ld nev.er know 
of the glory of the heavens, wtth their starry 
splendors, if night did ~ot C?~e. And. we 
should never see t?e g~or1ous divme pr?~1s~s, 
nor :r:ealize the precwus JOYS and hopes of lJhris-
tian faith, if the shadow of sorrow never deep-
ened about us. 
The child never fully under-
stands the sweetness and gentleness of the 
mother's love, until it is sick or suffering; and 
we can never experience the blessedness ~f be-
ina-drawn close to God's heart, and comforted 
by
0
him "as one whom his motb~r comfo~·te!,h," 
if we do not have pain or gnef. 
So It IS a 
blessed thing to mourn, just to have God com-
fort us.-S. 8. Times. 
Aln1s at the Temple Gate. 
ROBERT INGERSOLL asked his hearers the other 
evening, whether a poor wretch, arriving . in 
town without a dollar in his pocket, would m-
quire the way to a Presbyterial"! de~con's bouse; 
and they greeted the sally With Immense ~p­
plause. 
He was trying to get off .a ~mart satire 
on the meanness of orthodox Ch nstians as con-
trasted with the generosity of infidels; bu~ ?e 
missed his aim. 
Everybody knows that mims-
ters, and other well-known Christian people, 
are the first to be besieged by beggars. 
I have 
frequently said to these persons, "Why do .Y?U 
come here? 
\Vhy do you always go to muns-
ters' houses?" The invariable answer is, that 
they think they will be more likely to receive 
sympathy and help there than .elsew~ere .. 
We might retort the questwn of the JOlly 
lecturer and ask whether a poor stranger was 
ever kn~wn to inquire where the infidels of the 
town lived, or whether a person in any sorrow 
"WE need more religion in our politics," says was ever known to seek out an infidel to afford 
a writer in a new religious paper. If he had bim comfort. 
Will the man wbo goes about 
said, We need less of politics in our religion,: ridiculing Christianity tell his audience th~ next 
the statement would have been clearly on the time he lectures, where they can find an mfidel 
side of truth. 
While we may not say that true hospital, or refuge of any kind for pove~ty and 
religion is antagonistic to earthly la:v~ and .gov-distress, or any society. eomposed of I.nfide.ls 
ernments, we do say that the pobttcs ot the which seeks out and relieves the s~fferm~, m 
present day are detrimental ~o the c~use .of this country or in any o~her on the face of the 
Christ, destroying largely the mterest m spu·-earth ?-Chr·istian Intell~gence·r. 
itual things. 
. 
The political world IS most corrupt, and who-
ever, having the spirit of Christ, enters up?n 
the arena of political life, must lose that spirit, 
THERE is no short cut to excellence. In ev-
ery department of' human achievon:ent superi· 
ority and success are based upon totl.-Sel. 
54 [a] 
THE BIG NS OF THE TIMES. 
VoL. 12, No. 4. 
"Can ye not discern the signs of the times?" 
J. H. wAGGONER, 
-
-
EDITOR. 
E. J. wAGGONER, t 
AsSISTANT EDITORS. 
ALoNzo T. J(jNEs, r 
URIAH SMITH, 
} 
" N H 
CORRESPONDING EDITORS. 
8. 
. 
ASKJ::LL, 
OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, JANUARY 28, 1886. 
The Coming-of a Literal Christ. 
THE necessity for taking the interpretation of 
figures, symbols, and parables literally, is shown in 
the fact that they ho take them "figuratively," or 
"spiritually," have never been able to decide among 
themselves how, or to what, they ::;hall be applied. 
This spiritualizing system, which denies the literal 
interpretation of the Scriptures, unsettles every prin-
ciple of true faith, and makes the Bible a mere play-
thing for every man's fancy. This is illustrated in 
their treatment of this very subject we are now 
discussing. We can not enumerate all the views of 
the spir·itual advent, but we will name a few of 
them. 
1. When Christ said he would come again, he 
meant that he would come in judgment upon the 
Jewish nation, which was fulfilled in the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem by the Romans. This view used 
to be the refuge of Universalism, but for nearly half 
a century past it has been largely advocated by 
those who do not openly indorse Universalism. 
2. He came on the day of pentecost, by the power 
of the Spirit, to set up his spiritual kingdom. 
3. His second coming is in the hearts of his people, 
as our correspondent says. But this is again re-
solved into several theories, as (1) It occurs at con-
version; (2) It is in the perfection of Christian 
graces; (3) It r-efers to a more complete manifesta-
tion of power-in the gospel. 
4. His coming is at the death of his saints, when 
he comes to take their spirits to glory. 
It must be evident to every one that the tendency 
of this spiritualizing system is to befog the Script-
ures. By it the word of God is made to mean every-
thing and nothing. According to it, the plainest 
declarations of the Bible are robbed of their tangi-
bility, and are made the private property of every 
dreamer. 
Before examining the direct Scripture 
proofs, we will briefly notice these positions. 
l. His second coming was not at Jerusalem's de-
struction; for the prophecies speak of that coming 
after Jerusalem was destroyed. 1 John 3:2; Rev. 
1: 7; 14: 14; 22 : 12; etc. The "great tribulation" 
spoken of in Matt. 24, which some claim was ful-
filled at the destruction of Jerusalem, was not 
connected with the coming of Christ; for the o'igns 
of his coming were to occur after that tribulation. 
See verses 29, 30. 
2. On that day of pentecost, his work as priest in 
Heaven just commenced; but his second coming is 
at the close, not at the beginning of his priesthood. 
And there are a great many prophecies or promises 
of his coming which were written after that day. 
3. The assertion that his second coming is in the 
hearts of the people, does not really mean anything. 
It is an accepted law of language that that which 
may be applied to many things, specifies nothing. 
They who put forth this theory, do not, and cannot, 
.agree upon its application. 
4. The theory that his second coming is at the 
death of each individual saint, is too absurd to de-
serve a moment's notice. Can a second coming 
occur a million of times? When such vagaries are 
advanced by professed Christian teachers, it is no 
w9~der that infidelity prevails; for people will con-
sider themselves justified in rejecting a book which, 
' 
according to its own expounders, is responsible for This is a weighty scripture on a most important 
such contradictory and absurd theories. 
subject. We are all sorrowing, all mourners; we all 
The direct proof that the coming of Christ is lit-have dear ones who are asleep. The sympathy of 
eral and yet future, will be seen to be positive, clear, Paul was stirr0d in their behalf, and he left his tes-
and to P.ffectually overthrow all opposing theories. timony on record for all bereaved ones. If he would 
John 21:21-23 contains sufficient evidence that not have them ignorant, he will give them informa-
the death of a saint is not the coming of Christ. In tion suitable to remove their ignorance. If he would 
answer to a question concerning the apostle John, not that they should sorrow hopelessly, he will lay 
Jesus replied: "If I will that he tarry till I come, before them the true ground of hope concerning 
what is that to thee?" From this the disciples got their sleeping ones. Let us mark well how he ac-
the idea that he would tarry till the Saviour should complishes his purpose. 
come, and accordingly we read: "Then went this 
"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, 
saying abroad among the brethren, that that disci-even so them also that sleep in Jesus will God bring 
ple should not die; yet Jesus said not unto him, with him." It was" the God of peace that brought 
He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I again from the dead our Lord Jesus." He b. 13 : 20. 
come, what is that to thee?" 
Our Lord slept in the grave, as our loved ones are 
Here there is a contrast presented between death now sleeping; he was brought from the dead, and if 
and the coming of Christ, not only in the belief of they sleep in him, they will be brought with him 
the disciples, but in the words of the record which from the dead. 
The word "with" does not relate 
was written many years after the words were spoken. to time in this text, but manner. As Paul said in 
We will number a few evidences that are unmis-Rom. 6:4, 5: "We are buried with him by hap-
takable in their meaning. 
tism." Not buried at the same time that he was, 
1. "I came forth from the Father, and am come but, "planted together in the likeness of his death." 
into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to A person may be buried in baptism a score of times; 
the Father." John 16:28. He did literally come yet if the Scripture conditions are not met, if he is 
forth from the Father and come into the world; and not planted in the likeness of the Saviour's death, 
he did leave the ·world and return unto the Father. he is not buried with him. The subject introduced 
We have no difficulty in understanding his words. by Paul to his brethren in the Thessalonian church 
But again he said: "In my Father's house are many is that of hope (not yet seen) concerning sleeping 
mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. ones. He continues: "For thi::~ we say unto you by 
I go to prepare a place for you. 
And if I go and the word of the Lord," -this is no fancy, no specu-
prepare a place for you, I will come again, and re-lation, no pleasing fable, but something sure as 
ceive you unoo myself; that where I am, there ye Heaven's throne,-" that we who are alive and re-
may be also." 
Admitting, as all do, that he came main unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent 
into the wor1d from the Father, and that he re-[precede, have any preference or advantage over] 
turned to his Father, by what rule can we deny his them who are asleep. For the Lor·d himself shall 
declaration that he will come again? We insist descend from Heaven with a shout, and with the 
that it is simply a question of faith, whether we voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." 
will or will not believe his word of promise that he Let the reader note carefully every statement made 
will come again. In such a connection, with his by the apostle, and see if this can be fulfilled ex-
own word before us, that he came from the Father cept by the descent or coming of "the Lord him-
and returned unto the Father, which we know he self." "And the dead in Christ shall rise first." Not 
actually did, to attempt to explain, or to interpret, jir·st, that is, before the other dead arise; they will 
his p:t:omise that he will come again, is an insult to indeed rise first in that sense, but that is not the 
the speaker. 
subject of this scripture. But, we shall not precede 
2. In fulfillment of his word, that he would re-them in being glorified with our Saviour; they will 
turn unto the Father, he went with them to Mount rise first, "then we which are alive and remain shall 
Olivet, and instructed them concerning things be caught up together with them in the clouds, to 
future. 
And thus it is written: "And when he had meet the Lord in the air; and so [in this manner] 
spoken these things, while they beheld, he was shall we ever be with the Lord." 
taken up; and a ~loud received him out of their 
Is this all the instruction he has to offer to assuage 
sight." Thus his words were fulfilled so far. 
Now, the grief of those who sorrow for their dead friends? 
in regard to the promise that he made: "And while Has he not a word to say about their present bliss in 
they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went "the home of the soul"? Are they not even now 
up, behold, two men stood by them in white ap-bright angels before the throne of God? Not a 
parel; who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why word on these points; but having given them what 
stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, "the word of the Lord" teaches, he closes with the 
who i::~ taken up from you into heaven, shall so come admonition: "Wherefore comfort one another with 
in like manner as ye have seen him go into these words." 
heaven." Acts 1:9-11. 
He proposed to give them instruction to remove 
Again we say it is only Hn insult to the speakers their ignorance concerning the dead in Christ, and 
to ask what these words mean. "This same Jesus," to assuage their grief by giving them the true 
not the Roman army; not a representative; not the ground of hope. And what did his instruction em-
Spirit in man's heart at conversion: not a blessing brace~ Just these three points: (1) The Lord will 
in the hour of death; but this same Jesus whom come; (2) The dead will rise; 
(3) The living 
they saw visibly and literally ascend up to heaven, (saints) will be caught up together with them, and 
"shall so come, in like manner as ye have seen him thus they will be forever together and-better than· 
go into heaven." They did not see Titus coming or all else-with the Lord. We will not tire the pa-
going; they did not see any one converted; they tience of the reader by trying to read into this text 
did not see any one die. They saw Jesus himself any of the theories of spiritualizers of the s.eco~d 
literally ascend up to heaven. And Jesus himself-advent. If the Lord himself does not come,-and if 
the same person-shall in like manner come, visibly the dead do not arise, and if they who live at that 
and literally. Nothing less than this will fulfill the time are not caught up in the clouds with the risen 
words of Jesus and his angels. 
saints, then Paul neither removed their ign<?r-ance, 
3. Some members of the church in Thessalonica nor gave them the ground of hope. Then the sorrow-
had fallen asleep in death, and Paul wrote to in-ing ones have nothing with which to comfort one 
struct and comfort the church. 1 '!'hess. 4:13-18. another. Then they, too, are without hope. 
And 
Said he: " But I would not have you to be ignorant, this is but the beginning of the difficulties which 
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye environ these spiritualistic theories; this is but one 
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." of many texts which are perverted by those theories, 
JANUARY 28, 1886. 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
[71 55 
and turned from a plain revelation into fanciful 
words. But Paul spoke by "the word of the Lord," 
and w:e should be very careful lest we pervert His 
words to onr own confusion; for the word of God 
cannot be trifled with by us and we be held guilt-
less. 
Nature of the Law. 
(Concluded.) 
A MOMENT's thought will show any one the folly 
of supposing that the law may be kept in spirit and 
not in letter. 
Can a man worship gods of gold, or 
stone, or brass, and yet have a proper regard for the 
God that made heaven and earth r Can a man 
blaspheme the name of God, and at the same time 
have perfect love and reverence in his heart? Is it 
possible to wantonly violate the letter of the sixth 
commandment, by taking human life, and yet have 
no trace of enmity, hut only perfect love in the 
heart? ·wm a man deliberately and persistently 
take the goods of others, if he has no covetous de-
sires in his heart? And does not everybody know 
that the committing of adultery is only the out-
ward manifestation of the lust that burns within? 
There can be but one answer to these questions· 
Even so there can be 110 spiritual obedience without 
obedience to the letter as well. 
The ~tatement of the wise man, that to keep the 
comm!Otndments is the whole duty of man, and of 
Christ, that whosoever shall do anrl teach them shall 
be called great in the kingdom of Heaven, prepares 
us for the truth stated by the apostle, in Rom. 2 : 
13:-
" For not the hearers of the law are just before 
God, but the doers of the law shall bejm;tified." 
Since to keep the commandments of God is the 
whole duty of man, of course the one who keeps the 
law will be justified; a man can never be justly 
condemned, when he does his whole duty. We will 
not, at this time, inquire just how comprehensive 
the term "the doers of the law" i~, nor whether or 
not there are any such. For the present we shall be 
content with the truth, which allows of uo exception, 
namely, that "the doers of the law shall be justi-
fied." 
In Rom. 6:23 we read that "the wages of sin is 
death." But if a man never sins, he will never re-
ceive the wages therefor, and consequently the doer 
of 'the law will live. And this, again, is no more 
than we find plainly stated in Rom. 10:5: "For 
Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the 
Jaw, That the man which doeth those things shall 
live by them." The man whom the law justifies-
the one who is really a doer of all its requirements 
-will certainly live. Now it is a self-evident fact 
that when God made a perfect, holy, and just law, 
h~ designed that all his subjects should obey it. 
And since the law, when it is kept, gives life, we can 
see the force of the apostle's statement, that the 
law "was ordained to life." Rom. 7: 10. 
As we 
shall hereafter see more fully, the law was given 
that man might ever keep in harmony with God's 
will, in which condition he must necessarily have 
life. 
There is just one more point which we wish to 
bring out concerning the nature of the law. Let 
the reader mark it closely; for in the future consid-
er~tion of this subject it will often be referred to, as 
it~.i-eally covers the whole ground; upon it every-
t}\lp~(el~fdepends. David says (Ps. 119: 172), "My 
topgue · s'hall speak of thy word; for all thy com-
mandments are righteousness." This is really noth-
ing mor~; thitn is brougp.t out in Ps. 19: 7, and other 
texts; 'brtt it l
1eads to another text which materially 
widens' t1-I'e range of our view of the law of God. In 
Isa·. 51 :6, we read:-
·u Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon 
the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away 
like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a gar-
ment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like 
manner; but my salvation shall be forever, and my 
righteousness shall not be abolished." 
Abolish the righteousness of God? of course not; 
but what is the righteousness of God? The very 
next verse tells us of what the Lord, through his 
prophet, is here spea.ki ng. 
We proceed: "Hearken 
unto me, ye that know rigl1 teousness, the people in 
whose heart is my law." The conclusion to be drawn 
is very evident. The people who know righteous-
ness are they in whose hearts God's law is enshrined; 
they know righteousness, because the law is itself 
righteousness (Ps. 119: 172); and not only is it 
righteousness in the abstract, but it is the righteous-
ness of God. This is an expression which the apos-
tle Paul often uses in referring to the law. 
What an exalted idea of the law of God does this 
give us! To say that it is perfect may convey vari-
ous ideas to different persons, for many would be 
apt to measure the law by their own standard of 
perfection; but when we learn that it is "the right-
eousness of God," we know that it must be infinite 
in its breadth. The law is a transcript of God's 
character, a photograph of character which is infi-
nite in its perf~ction. It is his nature represented 
in words, for the benefit of his creatures, so that 
they may know what is required of them if they 
would be partakers of the divine nature. God says 
to man, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." 1 Pet. 1:16. 
But wiLhout some description of the holiness of God, 
it would be impossible for man to know how he 
should order his life; for "the way of man is not in 
himself; it if not in man that walketh to direct his 
steps." J er. 10 : 23. 
Since the law is "the righteousness of God"-a 
brief yet comprehensive description of his character 
-it may properly be termed the way of the Lord. 
And so in Isa. 55:8, 9, we have an additional 
evidence of the exceeding greatness of that law: 
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither 
are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the 
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways 
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your 
thoughts." The holiness of God's law is just as 
much superior to any goodness that man possesses 
as God is greater than man. The law of God, then, 
is very justly called his 'Way, and since those who 
become acquainted with God by walking in the way 
with him, are at peace (Job 22: 21), it follows that a 
proper term for the law is, "the way of peace." It 
is the ten commandments, then, to which Paul re-
fers, when, speaking of the universal wickedness of 
mankind, he says: "Destruction and misery are in 
their ways, and the way of peace have they not 
known; there is no fear of God before their eyes." 
Rom. 3 : 16-18. This idea is still further proved by 
Isa. 48: 18: "0 that thou hadst hearkened to my 
commandment! then had thy peace been as a river, 
and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." 
The law of God is also called the t1·uth. 
" Thy 
righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and 
thy law is the truth." Ps. 119: 142. It is the very 
perfection of truth, since it is the expression of 
God's character. This point is brought out in Rom. 
2:17-20. Paul there says:-
" Behold, thou art called a Jew, and res test in the 
law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his 
will, and approvest the things that are more excel-
lent, being instructed out of the law; and art confi-
dent that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a 
light of them which are in darkness, an instructor 
of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the 
form of knowledge and of the truth in the law." 
In that justly celebrated work, "The Life and 
Epistles of the Apostle Paul," by Conybeare and 
Howson, the last clause of the above text is thus 
rendered: "Possessing in the law the perfect pattern 
of knowledge and of truth." This accurately de-
scribes the law, which is such a perfect pattern of 
truth that whosoever follows it will live a life of 
perfect truth. It is because it is perfect truth that 
it enables the one who is instructed in it to "try 
the things which differ" (see margin of verse 18), or, 
as Conybeare and Howson render it, to "give judg-
ment upon good or evil." 
It is impossible for mortal tongue ever to express, 
or even for mortal intellect ever to comprehend, the 
breadth, the beauty, and the perfection of God's law. 
There is in it abundant food for meditation both 
day and night; and the more we learn of it, the 
more we can appreciate the psalmist's glowing de-
scriptions of it, and his exhortations to continually 
study it. But as man, by searching, can never find 
out God, so that he can fully comprehend all his 
attributes, so no man, even when glorified and made 
immortal, can ever exhaust the law of God. 
On 
earth, as we meditate in the law, we can only ex-
claim, "0 the depth of the riches both of the wis-
dom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are 
his judgments. and his ways past finding out!" and 
in Heaven, even to the countless ages of eternity, 
as in the glory of his presence we are permitted to 
look with unvailed eyes upon Him whose character 
is portrayed in the teo commandments, our wonder 
will not cease, and we can only join witll the angelic 
beings that support his throne, in saying, "Holy, 
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty." 
E. J. w. 
"The Abiding Sabbath." 
THE late Hon. Richard Fletcher, of Boston, Mass., 
by his last will, establbhed in charge of the trustees 
of Dartmouth College, "a fund from the income of 
which they were to offer, once in two years, a prize 
of $500 for the essay best adapted" to counteract 
"the numerous and powerful influences constantly 
active in drawing professed Christians into fatal 
conformity with the world, both in spirit and prac-
tice." The fifth time of offering the prize fell in 
1883. Accordingly the trustees of the fund aud of 
Dartmouth College selected, as the "specific theme" 
of the desired essay, "The Perpetual Obligation of 
the Lord's Day," and offered the five-hundred-dollar 
pnze for the best. The committee of award was 
composed of the following gentlemen: "Prof. Will-
iam Thompson, D. D., Prof. Llewellyn Pratt, D. D., 
and Rev. George M. Stone, D. D., all of Hartford, 
Conn." This committee, "after a careful and thor-
ough examination," awarded the prize to an essay 
which proved to have been written by Rev. George ' 
Elliot, of West Union, Iowa. The essay, entitled 
"The Abiding Sabbath," appeared in 1884, and was 
issued from the press of the American Tract Society 
in the winter of 1884-5, in the form of a book of 
two hundred and eighty pages. 
A copy of the work 
has been in our hands some time, for notice, but, 
until now, we have not had time to give it the at-
tention that we desired. 
For more than a quarter of a century, Seventh-
day Adventists have known, have preached, and 
have written, that the Sabbath question would yet 
be the leading question in the United States, not 
alone in religion, but in politics as well; or, as we 
might rather say, in the religio-political form that is 
soon to be given to the American Union. This we 
have known all these years; but, until within a few 
years, our opponents have thought that we were 
counting the Sabbath question of undue importance. 
Now, howe-ver, even they are constrained to admit 
that that question is fast assuming the place of first 
importance in the affairs of the country, and so 
confess that we have been only in the right about 
it all the time. Knowing the importance of the 
question, not only in itself, but also because of the 
prominence it is soon to assume in national affairs, 
we shall always endeavor, as far as in us lies, to keep 
our readers informed on the subject in all its bear-
ings. "The Abiding Sabbath," being one of the 
latest as well as one of the most authoritative dis-
cussions of the question as to why we should keep. 
56 [S) 
'l-,HE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
VoL. 12, No. 4. 
Sunday instead of the Sabbath of the Lord, we ask 
the attention of our readers while we examine the 
the main points of the argument. 
The book is divided into three parts-" Sabbath 
of Nature," "Sabbath of the Law," and" Sabbath of 
Redemption." Vve shall quote quite largely from the 
first two parts, and that without argument, there 
being in fact no room for argument between us, be-
cause the author of "The Abiding Sabbath," in 
these two parts, proves to perfection the perpetual 
obligation of the seventh-day as the Sabbath, and 
that is exactly what we believe. We ask our read-
ers to carefully preserve his argument on the "Sab-
bath of Nature" and the "Sabbath of the Law," 
which we quote, (1) because it is excellent reading, 
and (2) because we want them to see clearly, by 
what curious freaks of logic it is, that after abso-
lutely demonstrating the perpetual obligation of the 
seventh day, another day entirely is the one to be 
observed. 
He says most truly:-
" The Sabbath is an institution as old as the com-
pletion of the world. . .. It shares with marriage 
the glory of being the sole relic saved to the fallen 
race from the lost paradise. One is the foundation 
of the family, and consequently of the State; the 
other is equally necessary to worship and the church. 
These two fair and fragrant roses man bore with him 
from the blighted bliss of Eden. 
"It is not, however, the mere fact of age that 
lends sacredness to these institutions; for years alone 
cannot give consecration or compel regard to any-
thing which does not possesR in itself some inherent 
sanctity or dignity. It is in the circumstances of 
its first institution, and in its essential character, 
that we must hope to discover the necessity and 
holiness of the Sabbath day. 
"'God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, 
because that in it he had rested from all his work 
which God created and made.' Gen. 2:3. Such is 
the sublimely simple statement which forms the last 
strain of that magnificent hymn of creation which 
is our only glimpse into the beginning of things. It 
is surely consistent with sound common sense and 
sound interpretation to see in these words much 
more than a mere anticipation of the theocratic 
Sabbath of Israel. It seems absurd to express in 
words what some have implied in their reasonings 
on this passage: 'God rested on the seventh day; 
therefore 2,500 years afterwards he blessed and 
sanctified it.' The same form of language is used 
to describe what took place on the seventh day as 
in relating what took place in the six preceding 
days. 
"It is certain that a first reading of this passaj:!:e 
conveys to the mind the idea that the sanctification 
of the Sabbath as a day of rest took place at the 
very close of the creative week. That such was the 
case would probably never have been denied, if the 
denial had not been necessary to support a peculiar 
view. 
Doubt in regard to this proleptic interpreta-
tion is sustained by the recent discovery of mention 
of a day of rest in the Assyrian account of creation, 
which is believed to antedate Moses by nearly six 
hundred years, and the further discovery of the act-
ual observance of a Sabbath in Babylonia long 
before the time of the Mosaic institution. Is not 
God saving his facts, in Egyptian tombs, on Assyr-
ian bricks, and in all historic remains everywhere, 
that, at every crisis of his truth, when even the 
mouths of believers are silenced by the tumult of 
doubt, thr. very 'stones' may 'cry out'? 
"A special authority attacheR itself to the primi-
tive revelation. Whatever critical opinions may 
assert concerning the early history of the world, to 
the Christian the testimony of Jesus Christ remains 
in force to the high obligation of the Edenic law. 
In reproving the corruptions of the marriage rela-
tion which had arisen under the Mosaic code, he 
reverts to the primitive law: 'From the beginning 
it was not so.' That is to say, the law of the begin-
ning is supreme. Whatever institutions were given 
"There is a still deeper sense in which the exam-
to man then were given for all time. There is given pie of Deity reveals this obligation. Suppose the 
thus to marriage, and to its related institution, the question to be asked, How can we know that any 
Sabbath, a permanent character and authority precept is moral in its meaning and authority, and 
which transcend the Hebrew legislation in their not simply a positive and arbitrary command'? 
universal and binding force. 
Those elements of What better answer could be given to this inquiry 
truth which were given to the infant race, are the than to say that a moral precept must have the 
possession of humanity, and not of the Jew alone; ground of its existence in the nature of God? Our 
they are the alphabet of all the growing knowledge of highest conception of the moral Jaw is to regard it as 
man, not to be forgotten as the world grows old, but the transcript of the divine nature .... No more 
to be borne with him in all his wanderings, to last perfect vindication of the moral character of a law 
through all changes, and be his guide up those can be given than to show that it is a rule of the 
rugged steeps by which he must climb to the loftier divine conduct; that it has been imposed upon his 
summits of his nobler destiny. 
own activity by that infinite Will which is the su-
"Not to a single race, but to man; not to man preme authority both in the physical and moral 
alone, but to the whole creation; not to the c.reated government of the universe. That law to which 
things alone, but to the Creator himself, came the the Creator submits his own being must be of abso-
benediction of the first Sabbath. Its significance lute binding force upon every creature made in his 
extends beyond the narrow limits of Judaism, to all image. Such is the law of the Sabbath. 'God 
races, and perhaps to all worlds. It is a law spoken rested the seventh day,' and by so doing has given 
uot simply through the lawgiver of a chosen people, to the law of the Sabbath the highest and strongest 
but declared in the presence of a finished heaven sanction possible even to Deity. In no conceivable 
and earth. The declaration in Genesia fumishes way could the Almighty so perfectly and with snch 
the best commentary on the saying of Jesus: 'The unchallengeable authority declare, not simply his 
Sabbath was made for man.' For man, universal will in a positive institution, but the essentially 
humanity, it was given with its benediction. 
moral character of the precept, as by revealing his 
"The reason of the institution of the Sabbath is own self-subjection to the rule which he imposes on 
one which possesses an unchanging interest and im-his creatures. 
portance to all mankind. The theme of the crea-
''Its obligation is addressed, not to man's physical 
tiou is not peculiar to Israel, nor is worship of the nature alone, but to man as a spiritual being, made 
Creator confined to the children of Abraham. 
The in the image of God; it is laid, not only on his 
primary article of every religious creed, and the bodily powers and natnral underRtanding, but upon 
foundation of all true religion, is faith in one God his moral reason as right., and upon his conscience 
as the Maker of all things. Against atheism, whh:~h as a duty. It is therefore bounded by no limits of 
denies the existence of God; against materialism, time, place, or circumstance, but is of universal and 
which denies that this visible universe has its roots perpetual authority. 
in the unseen; against secularism, which denies the 
''The Sabbath is therefore shown to be given in 
need of worship, the Sabbath is therefore an eternal the beginning to all men; to have the lofty sanction 
witness. It symbolically commemorates that crea-of the example of God; to be rooted in the eternal 
tive power which spoke all things into being, the world; to be the witness of the most important 
wisdom which ordered their adaptations and bar-truths possible for man to knovv; to be a blessing to 
mony, and the love which made, as well as pro-man's nature; to inclose a duty of worship to God. 
nouuced, all 'very good.' It is set as the perpetual By all these revealings which are given by the in-
guardian of man against that spiritual infirmity stitution at its first ordainment, we are justified in 
which has everywhere led him to a denial of the believing that it has a moral meaning within it, and 
God who made him, or to the degradation of that 
God into a creature made with his own hands .... imposes upon all races and generations of men an 
"While the reason remains, the law remains. unchanging and unrelaxed obligation of dutiful ob-
The reason of the Sabbath is to be found in the fact servance.'' 
of creation; it is God's one monument set in human 
history to that great event; and so long as the truth 
of creation and the knowledge of a Creator have 
any value to human thought, any authority over 
the human conscience, or make any appeal to human 
affections, so long the law and the institution of the 
Sabbath will abide with lasting instruction and un-
diminished obligation. 
"God 're~:ted the seventh day from all his work 
which he had made.' Such is the record, declared 
in the beginning, embodied in the decalogue, and 
confirmed by the epistle to the Hebrews. 
It is a 
statement not easily to be understood at the first 
glance. 'Hast thou not known r hast thou not 
heard, thai the everlasting God, the Lord, the Crea-
tor of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary r' 
Isa. 40 : 28. If be is never weary, how can we say 
of him that he rests? . . . God is a Spirit, and 
the only rest which he can know is that supreme re-
pose which only the Spirit can know-in the fulfill-
ment of his purpose and the completeness as well as 
the completion of his work. Just as, in the solemn 
pauses between the creative days, he pronounced his 
creatures 'very good/ so did he rejoice over the fin-
ishing of his work, resting in the perfect satisfaction 
of an accomplished plan; not to restore his wasted 
energy, as man rests, but to signify that in the com-
ing of man the creative idea has found its consum-
mation and crown. Such is the rest possible to a 
purely spiritual being-the rest of a completed 
work. 
\Ve have quoted more than half of the whole first 
chapter; but we have no apology to make. We 
honestly thank Mr. Elliott that he has enabled us 
to lay before our readers so masterly a demonstra-
tion of the perpetual and universal obligation of 
the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord. We 
ask our readers to study it carefully; for it is a vin-
dication of principles that are eternal, and that no 
ingenuity of man can undermine. 
Next week, if the Lord will, we shall notice his 
"Sabbath of the Law "-the fourth commandment. 
.A. T. J. 
The Lord Pitiful. 
THE Lord will hear. He knows how strong are 
the inclinations of the natnral heart, and he will 
help in every time of temptation. Have you fallen 
into sin? Then without delay seek God for mercy 
and pardon. When David was convicted of his sin, 
he poured out his soul in penitence and humiliation 
before God. He felt that he could endure the loss 
of his crown, but he could not be deprived of the 
favor of God. 
Mercy is still extended to the sinner. 
The Lord is calling to us in all our wanderings, 
"Return, ye bac.ksliding children, and I will heal 
your backslidings.'' The blessing of God may be 
ours, if we will heed the pleading voice of his 
Spirit. "Like as a father pitieth his children, so 
the Lord pltieth them that fear him.'' 
E. G. w. 
JANUARY 28, 1886. 
THE BIG NS OF THE TIMES. 
[91 57 
Letter fron1 New Zealand. 
WE left ~1:elbourne for New Zealand October 
8, and bad a pleasant trip. 
We expected to 
visit, in about one month, the principal places, 
and establish agencies in each city for the sale 
of our publications, and return to ~elb_ourn~. 
'rbis is one of our methods of operatwg m th1s 
coantry. 
At Auckland we met with a class of people 
who in some respects resemble first-day Ad-
ventists in America. 
They hold the same views 
on the nature of man and the second coming 
of Christ, but differ widely as to the events 
connected with his coming. 
We were invited 
by this society to present our views and to s~t 
forth the difference between us and them. 
Tbts 
we freely did; and it resulte~ in ~ friend~y dis-
cussion of the Sabbath questwn w1th the1r pas-
tor for two evenings. He took no new position 
against the Sabbath, unless it was to deny ~?e 
meaning of the word Kadash, rendered sanct1fy, 
Gen. 2: 3 (as given by G-esenius ~nd over twenty 
other eminent scholars to whiCh we referl'ed 
him), viz., to appoint. The proof h~ offered for 
this waR that it was rendered appomt but ouce 
in tho Bible (Joshua 20: 7), and even in that 
place it is rendered ~ifferen tly. in the new ver-
sion. 
vVe refened htm to 2 Kmgs 10: 20; Joel 
1: 14; 2: 15; Zeph. 1: 7; Ex. 19: 12, 23, as il-
lustrative of the meaning of the word; but he 
said that as it did not re~td appoint in those 
places, it did not mean appoint. 
He claimed 
that the patriarchs could remember the weeks 
without remembering the Sabbath (which vvas 
the only thing given to mark the weekly cycle); 
that the Sabbath originnted in the wilderness 
thirty days before the children of Israel came 
to Sinai· and that it. with the ten command-
ments, '~as given to the Jews only, and was for 
them to observe now and in the future age. 
Thus this man vil'tually denied the reason 
which God gave in Ex. 20 : 11 for the observ-
ance of the Sabbath: " For in six days the 
Lord made heaven and eal'th, the sea, and all 
that in them is, and rested the seventh day; 
wherefot·e the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, 
and hallowed it." He also cln.imed that Matt. 
5:17-20; 19:17; Luke 10:25-27; Matt. 24: 
20; James 1 : 23-25; 2 : 10-12; and that portion 
of Romans where the perpetuity of the law 
is taught, refer exclnsi•ely to tlte Jews; that 
Christ brought in all that was necessary (ac-
cordingly tbe first commandment was gtven to 
the Christian church through the devil. 
Matt. 
4: 10). 
In response to a question, he acknowl-
edged that he could not find the second com-
mandment; but the others were all right, he 
said, with the exception ,~,f the tourth,-they 
were all there, he reiterated with great assur-
ance, except the tiabbath. 
It is also the position of their pastor (he 
has of late been giving them a brief expositi011 
of the book of Revelation), that the prophecy 
of that book is all consecutive. 
I did not fully 
understand at what particular point we are at 
the present time in this book. 
These people 
also hold that in a thousand years in the future 
there will be an opportunity for all to be saved. 
It can readily be seen that this view tends to 
laxity in the morals of the people, as they can, 
if this be true, go on in sin now and be saved 
at last. 
As rapid a growth in grace cannot be 
expected with people holding such views as 
with those who believe that the present is the 
only time of salvation. This view is a recon-
struction of the temporal mellennium taught by 
vVhitby in the sixteenth century. It would be 
unjust, however, to say that all these people 
hold this doctrine, for they do not. 
In fact, 
there are hardly any two of them that agree 
on all points. There are some worthy members 
among them. 
A few nobly took their stand on the truth; 
one, Ed ward Hare, who acts as general agent 
for our publications in the north part of New 
Zealand. 
Already he has taken between one 
and two hundred orders for volume four, "Great 
Controversy." 
The only way that the truth 
can go forward successfully in this city is by a 
tent being pitched and a course of religiou8 
discoueses given. We trust the seed sown dur-
ing our stay here, which was about five weeks, 
will prepare the way for a tent. 
From Auckland we went to Kaeo, which is 
160 miles north on the Kaeo River, four miles 
from the bay. The scenery here is delightful, 
the winding paths on the mountain sides and 
through the vall_·ys, better adapted for those on 
horse-back and toot passengers than wheeled 
vehides, forcibly reminded me of the valleys and 
winding paths of the Alps where the "\Valden-
ses lived for so many centuries. 
vVe remained 
with this people three weeks, and held meet~ 
ings almost constantly. 
Of them it might be 
said, as was said of the Bereans, "They were 
more noble than those in Thessalonica. in that 
they received the word with all readin~ss of 
mind, and searched the Scriptures daily whether 
tbese things were so." 
We became acquainted 
with M:r. Joseph Hare, who had been a school 
teacher in the north of Ireland for twenty 
years, and a Bible-reader in one of the churches. 
When they excluded the Bible fi·om the schools, 
he left, and came to this country. 
He has a 
large family of children and step-children, all 
of whom are teetotalers and only one of them 
uses tobacco. 
As we became acquainted with 
them, and saw their earnestness to learn how 
to live healthfully as well as to live acceptably 
in God's sight in other respects, also to have 
their children educated in Bible truths, our 
heart was drawn out for them. 
The entit·e 
community are a hospitable people. 
From our 
experience and the Bible record, we believe 
that the fear of God aad hospitality are of near 
kin to each other. 
Their ideas of health re-
form are owing in part to the fact that a few 
years since the Health Reformer· found its way 
among them and left its influence. 
One of 
them that embraced the Sabbath is a young 
man who had preached for the Methodists. 
He sa.ils for America to loam further of the 
truth and the co~ntry. We hope he may re-
turn to preach the message to the people of 
New Zealand. 
Quite a number of families at this place took 
their stand on the truth and will hereafter hold 
their meetings on the Sabbath. 
We know of 
no field where a godly minister and his wife 
by their example aud instruction could accom-
pli~h more good than in this country. 
~rbe 
night before we lei't, there was a social meeting 
held at the hall, where about twenty-five of the 
friends met. 
After taking refeeshrnent they 
spent about two hours in remarks, singing, and 
playing on the organ; when finally Mr. Hare 
senior presented me, with a few appeopriate 
remarks, a purse containing a chec.:k of no 
mean sum as a token of appreciation of what. 
they had beard. 
We hope to visit them again 
before we return to AmeL·ica, which, a(~cording 
to present arran gem en t, will be in April or .lYiay. 
The reports we get from Australia are also en-
cour·aging. At the last report, twenty-six had 
signed the covenant. 
We are satisfied that 
God has a people in these colonies, and that the 
time has come for them to have the truth. lf 
it was God's order, we would as willingly de-
vote the remainder of our life among this peo-
ple as in our native land. 
We expect to leave 
this week Thursday for Melbourne. 
There are 
many openings already in this colony for labor. 
S. N.H. 
Auckland, N. Z., Dec. 21, 1885. 
A Letter from British Guiana. 
A LETTER received not long smce at this office 
feom a brother in Georgetown, British Guiana, 
who recently embraced present truth through 
reading the SIGNS, says:-
" It is with great pleasure that I address you 
on the subject of the Jause of Adventism. It 
causes me to rejoice that I, an unworthy child of 
God, should be an instrument in the hand of 
Providence to aid in carrying this last message 
to the wol'ld. 
.Even in the once benighted spot 
whet·e I first went on my arrival in British 
Guiana, and spoke a word for the Master, there 
are those who stand up for UhrisL 
"This month finds me battling with foes 
without and foes within, having been robbed of 
the amount of $25.00. 
I am thel'efore left with-
out money; yet there are some of willing minds 
who desire that the truth be established in this 
dark part of the colony. 
'l'he demand for our 
reading matter is great. 
Two in this vicinity, 
together with Brother George Amsterdam, have 
decided to obey the truth. Elder Daniel and 
his wife have also taken their stand on the Lord's 
side. 
He preached in his church on the evening 
of December 5 a most impressive sermon on 
the Third Angel's Message, to an attentive audi-
ence~ thus arousing the people to inquiry. 
Two 
more ·orders were received to-day for the SIGNS 
OF THE TIMES. 
Mr. Daniel will also act as agent 
for the SIGNS. 
"Please send me, by mail, three copies of 
'Man's Nature and Destiny,' and two of each 
number of 'The Great Controversy.' 
One of 
these sets is ordured by a minister of the A. M:. 
E. Cb urch, who bas been convinced of the truth-
fulness of our doctrine. 
Please continue my 
club of ten SIGNS during 1886. 
"The Lol'd bas begun to work in Georgetown, 
among those of other faiths, and our publica-
tions are much sought after. Send the word, 
don't fail; for the Lord has gone ont before hii 
people. 
rro-morrow, Sabbath, December 12, 
we bold our first public gathering for worship 
in this place." -----------------
Labor in Nevada. 
MY field of labor during the last two months 
has been at St. Clair, Stillwater, Wadsworth, 
and Reno. 
As the result of labor perfonned at 
different times, I had the pleasure of baptizing 
two and receiving the sincere promises of five 
others thaL they would prepare for baptism in 
the near future. 
I alRo received the names of 
two persons on the covena.Il t. 
Fifty-eigb t dol-
lars was raised during the holidays for mission 
and church purposes. 
At Stillwater several persons acknowledged 
the truth presented, and one expressed a deter-
mination to live a Christian life. ·At Wads-
worth a gentleman promised to arrange his 
affairs in such a manner that he and his wife 
might be able to keep the Lord's Sabbath. 
1 attended quarterly meeting at Reno, trans-
acLed some cburcb business, and held a mission-
ary meeting in which twenty copies of the SIGNs 
and thirty of the A rne'rican Sentinel were added 
to the clubs already being taken. 
One member 
was added to tho society, and thus the work 
progresses. 
My aJdress, for a number of weeks, will be 
Carson City, Nev. 
G. W. CoLCORD. 
How MUCH needless worry and anxiety there 
is in many Christian hearts I How prone we 
are to forget the infinite supplies in our Father's 
store-hom:~e! 0 
anxious 
t~oul, whether dis-
tressed in reference to spiritual or secular 
matters, trust God-" casting all your care 
upon him, for he cal'eth for you." "Be careful 
for nothing [ i. e., h;we no anxious care], but in 
T 
S 
d 
·t t' 
h 
h d 
I d' 
eve1·ything, by pmyer and supplication with 
HE 
un ay ag1 a IOn 
as reac e 
eveQ n 1a. 
. . 
' 
A recent paper says: "A movement for securing the tbanksgtv~?g, !et your requests be made known 
closing of sllops on Sunday is gaining favor among junto God. 
Stud.y M.att. 10: 29-31 and Luke 
the Hindoos of Calcutta." 
12: 6, 7. 
Have fa1th m God.-Sel. 
-
----------------
fiR rio] 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
VoL. 12, No. 4. 
Home Missionaries. 
MANY professed Christians are layin£; upon 
the f'onttdation-stone, wood, bay, and stubble, 
whicb the fires of tbe lnst day will consume. 
':riley engage in work that '-'VCaries, work that 
occupie:-~ ~olden honrs; bnt it is not work that 
need L•e done. 
Tbeir· time is occupied, their en-
er!lie:-~ .exhausted. in th<ll whiuh will britt!! no 
pr.ecinnl::ll'ettrr·nse.it.het·ill thi:-~lifeorin tbet'uture, 
immortal life. 
Wbat a dift'ot'elloe will be seen 
when 8piritual work en.~a~es the mind: wben 
the talettts at·e employed in Lhe service of Jes.ns! 
The li.~ht that he has giv,.;n u~ will then sbtne 
f()t'tb in direct, conc~entntteu rayR to others. 
All 
th:Lt we do for J eRn!-l will e11able us to enjoy tbi!-l 
life better·. 
Oh that all could see, as l have 
seen, the joy or th•lHe who ha\u00b7e labored to tbo 
be:::;t of their nb lity, i11 hnmility and meekne:'S. 
to help ~Oitll::l to eome to J 0::\ll:'! 
On, the joy 
tl.wt will be realized by I he Wdrkcr~ when tht~ 
son!:; san.:d t llt'()lt!lh I !Jei r i ll~ll'ltmeltlal i ty ex-
pre:-~~ tht~it· gratil.llde i11 the 11�II:'ion:; above! 
Wllile Chri:;t will be glot·ified a:; tl1e 01tly Re· 
deemer, t.l.wre will be <til-overflowing of' gratitude 
from the Raved f(H· tbe human ill~lrumelltalitior:; 
emtdoyed in their t-iah'ation. 
rrheit· gratil ude 
to thotle who rc:-;cueu t bum will fin<..! expresl"lion 
in woru:; like the:-;e: '' 1 wa:; pnn-ati11g a coun-;e 
that was a dti'hOilor and an olfe11Re to my Re-
deemer; you ma11if'e:-;ted a love for my soul; you 
opened to me the wonl of God. 
l wn::; 011 the 
brink of ruin; your JWa.yet·s, your te:u·l'ul en-
treaties, your earnest interest, atTe::;ted my at-
tention. 
I thought that you muRt have the 
truth or you would not be so earnest for the 
salvation of others. 
I read the word of God 
for mvself and found that what you had told 
me w~s tb~ tru~h. I am saved, and 1 will prair:;e 
my Redeemer for his matchless mercy and 
pardoning love." 
. 
Those who thinl< they can do but little, should 
improve every opportunity to do that little. .It 
may be the smn.llest link in the longest cham. 
S~parated from other .influen?es, it m:Ly appeat·. 
of little worth; but m Gods great cba111 of 
circumstanees it may be t.he link whieb connects 
a soul to He~wen. All can do something if they 
will; but too often selfishness prevents them 
from doing what they might, until the souls 
whom they might have saved, are beyond t?e 
reach of b umnn effort. 
Dear brethren and SiS-
ters, you need divine enligbten~ent .. vVben 
you have such a close connectwn With the 
world's Redeemer as you should have, you will 
be led to make prompt, determined, personal 
efforts to save youe fellow-men. 
rl'he future of God's people lies·in the present. 
He has given us a. time of probation in which 
our fideliLy to him is to be tested. It is now 
that the test. is being applied. 
'l'ime, strength, 
means, light; and mental abilities are intrusted 
to us. 
·what use are we making of these gifts? 
How are we standino-the test? 
Do we realize 
that our eternal weif'are is determined by our 
present course of action? If we fail to honor 
God here by mnking a right use of our trusts, 
we would not honor him if taken to Heaven. 
If we prove untuilhful to the lesser respon-
sibiliticR, bow can God put upon us those 
weio·htier eternal reRponsibilities wbieb every 
inh~biLant of Heaven mu!it bead 1n tho:;e 
who are eleanseJ and rcneweu, the fruiLs 
will uppear, not only in their conf'e:-;sion ol' 
sins but in tlleir co11uuct towuru otllers. If 
any' man have llOt the spirit of Chri::.;t, be il::l 
none of hiR. 
Cbt·ist gave himself a sacrifiee 
to !:?ave pcriHhing siuners. lle conse11teJ to 
poYerty bucaut:le be could thus bet:lt reach the 
poor and the oppee~:~sed; be could thus best 
Ulltkrst:tnd their· privations au<..! sorrows. lt 
was l11~:~ gt'eaL love for our souh~ that led uim to 
ret IOU I tOe the eujoy men ttl of llea ven, an <..I eYen 
the l'umt'ur.t~:~ ol' tb1s lit'e; a11d it' we lw'e hil-l 
spirit in-our hearts, it will ~e ~u:utilested ,i~J a. 
sitnil:u oarueHltte~:~::; to t~ave penBhlllg Bouls. 
1 he 
nu;a::mre of Christ's love that we possess, will 
he evidenced by the course we pursue. 
God is 
test.ino-us to see whether we ba,·e chosen Christ 
or ma~mon as our ma~ter. His word plainly 
declares that we cannot :::;er1e both. 
MRs. E. G. WHITE. 
Sufferings of the Judsons. 
( Contiuued.) 
THE next morning, I sent .Moung Ing to as-
certain the situation ()f your brother, and give 
him food, if still living. 
He Roon returned, 
with the intelligence that .Mr. J LldRon and all 
the white foreio·ners were confined in the death 
P'rison, vvith tCt·ee pairs of iron fetters eac:h, 
and fasle11eu to a long pole, to prevent their 
movi11g! 
'l'he point or my anguish 11ow was, 
1 hat 1 was a pt·i:::;oller my:::;elf, and could make 
no effortl"l for tbe relcaHe or the mis:-~ionaries. 
1 
lJegg• d an<..! e11trented the magi:-;Lmte to allow 
me to go to some member ot' Government to 
·state my ca::::e; but he saiu be <..lid not <..!are to 
cont'ellt, !'or fear 1 ~hould make my esuape. I 
ttext wrote a note to 011e of the king's t>i:::;ters, 
with whom 1 hau been intimate, rcque:-sting her 
to u:::;e her i11flucnc:e for the re!cn~:~e of the Le:wb-
er·s. 
'l'llu note wn::; ret.ul'lled with this me::Jt>age: 
8he ''did 110t understanu tt;" wbicb was a polite 
refut:l:tl Lo i11terfere; though I afterwtu·Js n.sc:el'-
taineu that she had an auxious deBire to assi::Jt 
UH, but dared 110t, on accollnt of the queen. 
The dny draggou henvily nway, and another 
ureadf'ul nio·ht wa:::; before me. 
1 endeavored to 
soften the t~elings of the guard by giving them 
tea and cigars for the night; so that they al-
loweu me to remain in~ide of my room without. 
threatening, as they did the nigbt before. 
But 
the iuea of your brother being stretched on the 
bare floor, in irons and confinement, haunted 
my min<..! like a specter, and prevented my ob-
taining any quiet sleep, though nature was al-
mor:;t exltn.ur:;ted. 
On the tbirJ day, I sent a message to the 
governor of the city, who bas the entire direc-
tion of prison affairs, to allow me to visit him 
with a present. 
'l'his had the desired effect, 
and be immediately seut orders to the guards 
to permit my going into town. 
The governor 
received me pleasantly, and asked me what I 
wanterl.. 
1 stated to him the situation of the 
foreigners, and particularly that of the teaeh-
ers who were Americans, and had nothing to 
do 'with the war. 
He told me it was not in his 
power to release them from prison or irons, 
but that be could make their situation more 
comfortable; there was his head officer, with 
whom I must consult relative to the means. 
The officer, who proved to be one of the city 
writers, and whose countenance at the fin;t 
glance presented the most perfect assemblage 
of all the evil passions attached to human na-
ture, took me aRide, and endeavored. t0 convince 
me, that myself, as well as the prtsoners, was 
entirely at his uisposal; that our future comfort 
must depend on my liberality in regard to pres-
ents· and that these must be made in a pri'\u00b7ate 
way' anJ unknown to any officer in the G-overn-
ment! "\Vhat must I do," said I, "to obtain 
u mitigation of the present sufferings of the 
two teaubers?" "Pay to me," saiJ he, "tvvo 
bundreu tic~ds [about a hunurcJ uollar:3], two 
piecel::l of fine cloth, and two piec~s of hai.JJ ker-
chiefs." 
1 bad taken money wtth me m the 
mor11illo-· out· llouse bein<r two miles from the 
prit:Jon, !'could uot eusily ~eturn. 
'l'bis I of_fer~u 
Lo tbe writer, tLilU begged be would not lllBt::;t 
on the oLber articleR: as they were not in my 
posses::;ion. 
He hesitat0d for some time; feat·-
i no-to lose sight of so much money, be con-
cl~dcd to take it, promising to relieve the 
tcaehers from their mor';t paiuful situation. 
1 procured an order from the governor for 
my adnllll:lllce into pt·iBoll; but the seus:tlion 
produt·ed uy meetillg your bl'Otllel' ill that 
w·retdwd, hor·ricl :::;itua.tion, aud the atl'ucti11g 
scene which ensued, I will not attempt to Je-
scribo. 
~ir. Judson crawled to the door of the 
prison,-for I was never allowed to enter,-
gave me ~ome direction~ relative to his release; 
but before we e;ould make any arrangement, I 
was ordered to depart by those iron-hearted 
jailers, who could not endure to see us enjoy the 
poor consolatioll of meeting in that .miserable 
place. 
In vain I pleaded the order from the 
governor for my admittance; they again ban;bly 
repeated, "Depart, or we will pull you out." 
The same evening the mis!:iionarios, together 
with the other foreip;ner·s, who paid an equal 
snrn, were taken out 'of the common prison, and 
confined in an open shed in the prit3on inclosut·e. 
He1·e I was :1llowed to send them food, and 
mats to sleep on, but was not permitted to enter 
again Jor several days. 
.My next object was to get a petition pre.-
sellted to the queen; but. no person beinp: ad-
mitted into the palace who was in diRgrace 
with his majeRty, 1 sought to present it through 
the medium ot' her b1·otbor's wife. '·I hn,J vis-
ited her itl better days, and received particular 
markt-5 of her fnvor. 
But now times were al-
tered; Mr. Judson was in prison, and I in dis-
Lt·c.ss, which was a sufficient reason for giving 
me a cold reception. 
I took a present of con-
::Jiderable value. 
She was lolling on her carpet 
as I entered, with her attendants around her. 
1 waited not for the usual question to a-suppli-
ant, 
4' What do you :want?" but in a bold, 
earnest, yet respectful manner, stated our dis-
tresses and our wrongs, and begged her assist-
ance. 
She partly rnised her bead, opened the 
present I bud brought, and coolly replied, 
" Your case is not singular; all the foreigners 
are treated alike." 
"But it is singu,lar," said I; 
"the teachers are Americans; they are minis· 
ters of religion, have nothing to do with war or 
politics, and came to Ava in obedienr.e to the 
king's command. 
They have never done any-
thing to deserve such treatment, and is it right 
tbey should be treated thus?" "The king 
does as be pleases," said she; "I am not the 
king; what can I do?" 
"You can state tbeil' 
case to the queen, and obtain their release," 
replied I. "Place yonrself in my situation; 
were you in America, your husband, innocent 
of crime, thrown into prison, in irons, and you 
a solitary, unprotected female, what would you 
do?" 
With a slight degree of feeling, she 
said," I will present your petition; come again 
to-morrow." I returned to the house with con-
siderable hope that the speedy release of the 
missionaries was at band. But the next day, 
Mr. Gouger's property, to the amount of fifty 
thousand rupees, was taken and carried to the 
palace. 
'rhe officers, on their return, politely 
informed me that they should visit ou1· house on 
the morrow. 
I felt obliged for this infot·ma-
tion, and accordingly made preparations to re-
ceive tbem, by secreting as many little articlee 
as possible, together with contliderable silver, as 
I knew, if the war should be protracted, we 
should be in a state of starvation withouL it. 
Bnt mv mind was in a dreadful state of agita-
tion, l~st it should be discovered, and cause my· 
being thrown into prit:lon. 
And bad it been 
possible to procure money from any other quar-
ter, I should not have ventured on such a step. 
-Lives of the Judsons. 
(Concluded next week.) 
How DEEPLY rooted is the feeJing that relig-
ion has a chief value with referunoe to the life 
beyond tho grave. 
This is illustrated in the 
familiar Rtory of the woman who, when asked 
if her sick husband wouldn't like a neighbor-
ing clergyman to call and sec him, answered . 
promptly," Ob no! he's not so sick as all that !
1
' 
Again it is grimly suggested in the common 
diRplay of the full address of sexton and under-
taker on the outer wall of a city church, e\Ten 
where no name of a pastor appears,-in case a 
man wan Led bel p for the liYing instead of the . 
dead. 
Rdigion has its bearings on the life that _ 
to come, but not to the neglect of this life.-Sel. 
JANUARY 28, 1886. 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
[ll] 59 
~nmmtntarJl. 
NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON. 
The Fiery Furnace. 
image. 
Of course Shadrach, :M:eshach, and 
Abodnego, being principal officers, were there; 
a11d a]f)o of course they refused to obey the 
king's command. It was told the king imme-
diately, and be called them up and asked them 
about it. 
Thinking that perhaps it was inad-
vertence, and that they bad not intentionally 
disobeyed, be asked them, "Is it true [is it of 
(February 7· Dan. 3: l6-28·, 
. 
. purpose, mnrgin; is it a Laid plan, Hebrew] 0 
AT tbe end ~f the three years. schoolmg of Shadracb, Mcsbach, and Abednego, do not ye 
the Hebrew children, r~ferred tom laHt week's serve my gods, nor worship the golden image 
les~on, .they were reqmred to undergo an ex-
which I have set up?" Then be repeated his 
am1natwn upon what they had leamed. 
The command to them direct and he received a 
king himself conducted the examination, "And direct answer in which he' learned that it was 
among_ them .all was found no~e like Daniel, "of purpose," that it was because of a "laid 
Hanamah, M_Ishael, a_nd Azar1a_h; therefore plan,'' that they refused to worship the image 
stood they before the l{]ng. 
And mall matters which he had set up. 
of wisdom and understanding that the king in-
-=------
quired of them, be found them ten times better 
"SHADRACH, Mesbach, and Abednego an-
than all the magicians and astrologers that were swered and said to the king, 0 N ebuebadnez-
in all his realm." 
Dan. 1 : 19, 20. 
zar, we are not careful to answer thee in this 
matter. If it be so, our G-od whom we serve is 
SHORTLY afterward, king N ebuchadnezzar able to deliver ns from the burning :fiery furnace, 
had his dream of the great image, in which was and he will deliver us out of thine band, 0 Iring. 
represented the course of empire fi'om his day But if not, be it known unto thee, 0 king, that 
to the end of the world. 'rhe dream made a we will not serve thy gods nor worship the gol-
deep impression on his mind, but he could not den image which thou hast set up." 
~rbey 
possibly recall wbnt' he bad seen. He was so were immediately bound, and were plunged 
exercised in mind over it, in trying to recall it, into the midst of the furnace, with it already 
that he could not sleep, and he finally called heated seven times hotter than it was usual to 
for the magicians, astl"ologers, SOl'Cererfl, and beat it. But they were no sooner fallen into 
Chaldenns, that they might tell him ·what be the furnace than Nebuchadnezzar was almost 
bad dreamed. 
Daniel and his three brethren, petrified with astonishment. He cried to his 
however, were not brought in among these, counselors, "Did not we cast ti1ree men bo'Und 
probably on account of their youth. None of in to the midst of the :fi1·e? '' 
They replied, 
all these that came could tell the king anythi11g "·'l1rue, 0 king." But be answered, "Lo, 1 see 
at all about what be wanted to know, by which fou?· men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, 
he discovered their imposture, and commanded and they have no burt; and the f01·m of the 
that they should be killed. 
Although Daniul fou,rth is like the Son of God.'' 
Then they were 
and his brethren were bv some means over-called forth. 
looked in the eall to gatbe1~ the wise men before 
the king, they were not missed when the offi-
cers went to execute the decree of death upon 
all such. 
THEY were found, and were about to be taken 
to execution when Daniel asked to be taken 
to the king. 
His request was gnmted, and he 
asked time and he would tell all the king's mat-
ter. 
Then God showed the ~bing to Daniel in 
a night vision: and f::lO the whole matter with 
its meaning was shown to the king. 
" Then 
the king made Daniel a great man, and gave 
him many great gifts, and made him ruler over 
the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the 
governors over all the wise men of Babylon. 
Then Daniel requested of the king, nnd be set 
Sbadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the 
affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel 
sat in the gate of the king." 
THESE events occurred in the second year of 
the reign of N ebucbadnezzar, about 603 B. c. 
The event which is the subject of the lesson for 
to-day was about twenty-three years afterward. 
During this time, N ebuchadnezzar had made 
an expedition into Egypt and laid it waste. 
There he had opportunity to see a coloHsal 
image which had been set up by Rameses ll., 
the "king who knew not Joseph." 
This im-
age with its pedestal was 115 feet high, and 
weighed 1,200 tons. It is supposed that it was 
in imitation of this image, that N ebuchadnez-
zar erected his, in his ambition to excel in 
things great all surrounding kingdoms. 
See 
Christian at Work, July 9, 1885, page 651. 
THus God delivered tboRe who trusted in him. 
And tbuR be vindicated the principle that, we 
are bound to resist the la'-'VS of men, when they 
are against. the bw or word of God. 
Daniel's 
deliverance from the lion's den, and the deliv-
erance of the apostles from prison more than 
once, a1·e only additional assertions of the prin-
ciple that, " We ought to obey God r:tt her than 
men." 
Acts 5: 29. 
'1
1his Jesson is of vital 
importance to every Sunday-school scholar in 
tLis Union. 
FOI' the National Reform Party 
has set itself to make an image to the papsJ 
power, and to compel all men, under pai11s and 
penalties, to worship both the papal po>ver and 
its image, and this in direct violation of the 
plain comm:mdment of God. 
And eaeh one 
wbo lives the natural course of life, will be 
called upon, and that soon, to decide for himself 
whether he will "worship Him that made 
Heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fount-
ains of waters" (Rev. 14: 6-12); or whether 
be will renounce allegiance to God and worship 
the papal power and the National Reform im-
age to it in the United States. 
The command-
ment of God says, "The seventh day is the Sab-
bath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not 
do any work." ln defiance of this command-
ment, and upon the sole authority of the Cath-
olic Church, the National Reformers are going 
to enact a law by which they can compel every-
body to keep Sunday. 
But, "If any man wor-
ship the beast and his image, 
. 
. 
. he shall 
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is 
poured out without mixture into the cup of his 
indignation. 
. 
. 
Here is the patience of 
the saints; here are they that keep the com-
WHEN N ebuchadnezzar had set up his image, mandments of God and the faith of Jesus.'' 
he "sent to gather together the princes, the Rev. 14: 9-12. 
A. T. J. 
governors, and the captains, the judges, the I 
"BE not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the 
treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all desolation of the wicked, when it cometh; for 
the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedi-the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall 
cation of the image." 
Dan. 3 : 2. 
When they keep thy foot from being taken." 
had all come, and all was ready, "Then a her-
ald cried aloud" the command that when the 
"IF thy children will keep my covenant and 
soun4 of all the music was heard, all the assem-my testimony that I shall teach them, their 
bly sliould fall down and worship the great children shall also sit upon thy throne forever." 
THE SANCTUARY, ITS SERVICE, ETC. 
History of the Earthly Sanctuat·y. 
(Lesson 5. 
Sabbath, February 6.) 
1. 
How many years before C!Jri8t, did Israel 
leave Egypt? 
1491. 
(See mxodus 12, margin.) 
2. 
How long wns it from the exodus to the 
setting up of the tabernacle by MoRes? 
"And it came to pass in the first month in 
the second year, on the first day of the month, 
that the tabernacle Witt! reared up." 
Ex. +O: 
17. 
3. 
Where was it first located? Num. 9: 
1, 5. 
4. 
How long did it remain in this place? 
Num. 10: 11, 12. 
5. 
In what place was it first pitched after 
entering the land of Canaan? Josh. 4: 19. 
6. 
Where was it next located? 
"And the whole congregation of the child1·en 
of Israel assembled together at Sbilob, and set 
up the tabernacle of the congregation there; 
and the land was subdued before them." 
Josh. 
18: 1. 
7. 
vVhat finally took the place of the sanct-
uary that Moses built? 
1 Kingf::l 6:1, 2. 
8. 
Where was thi~ temple erected? 
"'rhen Solomon began to bnild the house of 
the }_;ord at Jerusalem in Mount NJoriah, where 
the [;ord appeared UlltO David his father, in 
the place that David had prepared in the thresh-
ing-floor of 0l'll an the J ebusite." 
2 Ch ron. 3: 1. 
9. 
What remarkable event occu1-red on this 
spot nine hundred years before? 
Gen. 22: 2. 
10. 
When did this building cease to be their 
central place of worship? 
2 Chron. 36: 6, 7, 
16-19. 
(B. C. 588.) 
11. 
How long was thiR captivity to continue? 
"To fulfill the word of tho Lord by the mouth 
of Jeremiah, until the land bad enjoyed her 
Qabbaths; for as loiJg as she Jay desolate she 
kept Sabbath, to fulfill tbreescorc and ten 
years." 
2 Chron. 36 : 21. 
12. 
After the close of this captivity, what 
provision was made for another temple? Ezra 
1 : 1, 5. 
13. 
When was the work completed? 
"And this house was finished on the third 
day of the month Adnr, which was in the sixth 
year of tho reign of Darius the king." Ezra 6: 
15. 
(Margin, B. c. 515.) 
14. 
Wl1at next occurs in the history of the 
sanctuary? 
(See oote.) 
15. 
Whnt mournful words did our Saviour 
utter with refm·ence to this building? 
"Behold. your bouse is left uoto yon deso-
late." 
M:at.t. 23 : 38 
16. 
What miraculous event occurred indi-
cating that tho sauredness of the sanctuary 
was forever gone? 
"And, behold, the vail of the temple was re11t 
in twain from the top to the bottom; and the 
earth did quake, and the rocks rent." 
Matt. 
27: 51. 
17. 
When and by whom was the sanctuary 
destroyed ?-By the Roman army under Titus, 
A. D. 70. 
18. 
How many years bad now passed since 
Moses set up the sanctuary in the wilderness 0f 
Sinai? 
Note. 
NoTE.-About 500 years after the completion 
of the temple by Ezra, the edifice sadly needed 
repairing. 
Herod the Great, desirous of ingra-
tiating himself with the Jews, decided to re-
build it. The old one was pulled down to its 
foundation, and the building of the new begl!n 
B. c. 19. It was completed in A. D. 27. It was 
to this building that the Jews referred when 
they Raid to the Saviour at his first passover, 
in the spring of A. D. 28, "Forty and six years 
was this temple in building." John 2: 20. 
A.c-
cording to Haggai's prophecy, the Desire of 
all nations had now come to this temple. 
60 [1!] 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
Vol.. 12, No. 4. 
~Itt ~nmt ~irclt. 
NOTHING IS LOST. 
NOTHING is lost; the drop of dew 
Which trembles on the leaf or flower 
Is but exhaled to fall anew 
In summer's thunder shower; 
Perchance to shine within the bow 
. That fronts the sun at fall of day, 
Perchance to sparkle in the flow 
Of fountains far away. 
Nothing is lost; the tiniest seed, 
By wild birds borne or breezes blown, 
Finds something suited to its need 
Wherein 'tis sown and grown. 
The language of some household song, 
The perfume of some cherished flower, 
Though· gone from outward sense, belong 
To memory's after hour. 
So with our words; or harsh or kind, 
Uttered, they're all forgot; 
They have their influence on the mind, 
Pass on, but perish not. 
So with our deeds; for good or ill, 
They have their power scarce understood; 
Then let us use our better will 
To make them rife with good! 
-Sel. 
"The Stinging-Tree." 
"How MANY curious things there are in na-
ture!" exclaimed Harry vVebb, as be threw 
down the paper he had been reading. 
"Yes, indeed!" replied his Aunt Mary. 
"There are many wonderful things in nature. 
But to what do you now especially allude?" 
"I have just seen an account of the stinging-
tree. Please do tell me more about it. 
Does 
it actually sting?" 
"So it seems, Harry, from all accounts we 
have of it. 
Though called a tree, the U?·ticag-
igas is more of a thriftY_ s~rub; for in Austr~li~, 
its native place, where It 1s very abun.dant, It IS 
found in groves from two to three wcbes to 
fifteen or twenty feet in height. It is classed 
among the nettl~s. 
The lea~es are alterna.te, 
large, and peculiar, from being covered w1.th 
short silvery hair, which, when shaken, em1ts 
a fin~, pungent dust, most irritatin.g to the ski.n 
and nostrils. 
We are told that 1f touched 1t 
causes acute pain of the arm, accompanied by a 
burning sensation, particularly in the shoulder 
and under the arm, where small lumps often 
rise. 
" One writer says: 'The stinging-tree bears 
fruit of a pinkish flesh color, ban.gi~g i~ c.lus-
ters so inviting that a stranger 1s 1rresist1bly 
tempted to pluck it, but seldom more than once; 
for thoucrh the raspberry-like berries are harm-
less in themselves, some contact with the leaf 
is almost unavoidable. The blacks are said to 
eat the fruit; but for this I cannot vouch, 
though I have tasted one or two at odd times 
and found them very pleasant. The worst of 
this nettle is the tendency it exhibits to shoot 
up wherever a clearing has been effected. 
ln 
passing through the wagon tracks cut through 
the sc~ub, groat caution was necessary to avoid 
the young 'i)lants that cropped up even in a few 
weeks.' 
But, .Harry, Providence, who watches 
over all, bas cauRed this plant to emit a disa-
greeable odor, so one by using caution may 
avoid being stung." 
"How very painful the sting must be. 
Does 
it last long, Aunt Mary?" 
"A considerable time, I should think from all 
I hear. A traveler tells us that at times, while 
shooting wild turkeys in the groves, be has en-
tirely forgotten the stinging-tree until. made 
aware of its proximity by its smell: when, look-
ing about, he bas unexpectedly found himself in 
a little forest of them. 
Only once was he stung, 
·and but slightly; but its effect, he says, w~s 
very cnrious. It left no mark; but tbe pam 
·was maddening, and for months afterward, the 
part, when touched, was tender; al~o in n:iny 
weather or when the spot got wet m washmg. 
"Though this stinging-tree leaves 
~ most 
painful effect, it does not kill, as some pOisonous 
things do. lt is painful enough, ho .. vever; for 
this same traveler assures us that he bas seen 
a man who treats ordinary pain lightly, actu-
ally roll on the ground in agony after being 
stung." 
"Does it torment animals in the same way, 
Aunt Mary?" 
"Yes; horses have been known to become so 
maddened by the stinging-tree as to rush abont 
frantic, and on any one attempting to approach 
them, to tear about open-mouthed, ready to 
bite. In some instances tbey have had to be 
shot. 
And dogs, too, rush about, whining pit-
eously and biting pieces from the affected part. 
But, strange to say, it docs not seem to injn~·e 
cattle, w bich dash through the scrubs full of It, 
without receivin~ any damage. This fact is 
well known to all bushmen." 
"I don't think I should like to come in con-
tact wi tb it," said Harry musingly. "It is 
well that it bas a peculiar S!l.lell of its own to 
warn people of that country l':tway from it." 
"If all understood and took heed to the warn-
ing in time, Harry. But even when told about 
the odor and the effects of the sting, some are 
incredulous, others careless, and do not mind 
the warning. It is just so all over tbe world. 
There are some who seem utterly unwilling to 
li::3ten to or profit by the experience or warning 
voice of another." 
· 
" Why, Aunt Mary, I should suppose any one 
in his senses, if told bow dreadl'ul this shrub is 
likely to sting, if too near it, would give it a 
wide berth. 
I'm sure I should, heedless as you 
sometimes sav 1 am." 
"Ah, Harry, that might be; but do?'t be too 
confident that you are any more certam to beAd 
a warning voice than any other person. 
Just 
see how many people, though warned, dally 
with the wine-cup. It not only bas a strong 
odor of its own, but the Bible, out· guide through 
life, tells all who will listen: 'J.Jook not tbou 
upon the wine when it is rod, when it giveth 
its color in the cup, when it moveth itself 
aright. At the last 1t biteth like a serpent, and 
stingeth like an adder.' 
"Here you see, dear Harry, is a full warning, 
so that all w.bo persistently partake of it know 
that at last it will sting like an acldel', and in so 
doing destroy both soul and body. 
The imme-
diate efl'octs are not so great as from the oting-
ing-tree, or a living serpent, but worse in actu-
ally destroying the human form." 
. 
Harry for a moment seemed to be m deep 
thought, then looking up to his Aunt Mary, he 
said with much emotion,-
"Aunt Mary, 1 shall not forget the account 
you have just given me of the stinging-tree, 
nor of that which stingeth like an adder, and 
is, as you say, still worse in its effects. And 1 
shall try to steer clear of it all my life." 
"And warn others from it, too, my dear boy, 
as you would from some deadly poison. 
'None 
liveth unto himself;' we all have a work to do, 
and must ever strive by precept and example 
to accomplish what we can while here in the 
1.aster's vineyard."-J. K. Bloomfield, inN. Y. 
Obse1·ver. 
Good Breeding'. 
THE importance of good breeding cannot well 
be overestimated. 
But what is good breeding'? 
This is hardly to be understood as synonymous 
with good manners, though certainly involving 
them. Nor is it quite the same thing as ex-
emplary or agreeable behavior, though likely 
to insure it. 
Good manners, polished behavior. 
is always the product of practice, discipline, 
perfection herein being reached only when 
these manners become habitual, natural, and 
instructive. 
rrrue courtesy, meanwhile, involves some-
thing deeper than mere motions or manners. 
It has its seat in the heart, its root in the moral 
nature. 
.Fundamentally, it consists in an in-
ward, kindly, neighborly, and tender feeling 
towards every one; an interest in, and a de-
sire to promote, everybody's welfare. 
Genuine 
courtesy, in a word, is born of love, springs from 
a benevolent disposition, a brotherly, chivalric 
impulse. 
But what is good breeding? It consists in 
this in ward principle of will, and the out-
ward habit of graceful demeanor combined; 
it consists of the aforesaid in ward gracious 
impulse: rooted in the heart, and finding 
natural outward expression, or interpretation, 
through that diaciplined elegance of deportment 
of which I have spoken. 
To the inward im-
pulse, or sentiment, duly awakened, the out-
ward, educated habit naturally and instinctively 
responds; and we have the deportment or car-
riage of the truly polished, or accomplished 
gentleman or lady. 
These twin prir1cipleR, the inward nurture 
and the outward culture or training, working 
together, underlie what, in the highest sense, is 
to be uuderstood as good breeding.-Northern 
Ch1·istian Advocate. 
The Bottom. Drawer. 
I SAW my wife pull out the bottom drawer of 
the old family bureau this evening, and I went 
softly out and wandered up and down until I 
knew Abe bad gone to her sewing. 
vYe have 
some things laid away in that dtawer which 
the gold of kings could not buy, and yet they 
are relics which grieve us both until our hearts 
are sore. 
I haven't looked at them for a year, 
but I remember each article. 
There are two 
worn shoes, a little chip hat with part of the 
rim gone; stockings, trousers, and a coat, two 
or three spools, biLs of broken crockery, a whip, 
and several toys. 
Wife-poor thing-goes to 
the drawer every day of her life and prays 
over it, and lets her tears fall on the precious 
articles; but I dare not go. 
Sometimes we speak of little Jack, but not 
often. It has been a long time, but somehow 
we can't get over grieving. He was a burst of 
sunshine in our lives, and his going away has 
been like covering our every-day existence with 
a pall. 
Sometimes when we sit alone even-
ings, I wriLing and she sewing, a child on the 
street will call as our boy used to, and we will 
both start up with a wild hope, only to find the 
darkness more of a burden than ever. It is so 
still and quiet now. 
I look up to the wit1dow 
where hi~ blue eyes used to sparkle at my com-
ing; but he is not there. 
I listen for his pat-
tering feet, his merry shouts, and his ringing 
laugh; but there is no sound,-no one to climb 
over my knee, no one to search my poekets and 
tease for presents, and I never find the chair 
turned over, the uroom down, or a rope tied to 
the door knob. 
I want some one to tease me for my knife; 
to ride on my shoulders; to lose my ax; to fol-
low me to the gate, and to be there when I 
come home; to call" good night, papa;" for the 
little bed is now empty;-and wife misses him 
still more. There are no little feet to wash, no 
prayers to say, no voice teasing for a lump of 
sugar, or sobbing with pain of a burt toe; and 
she would give her own life, almost, to wake 
at midnight and look across to the crib and see 
our boy, as she used to.-Sel. 
EvERY word of unkindness, eYery unfair, 
hard judgment, every trembling regard of the 
outward, and fearless disregard of the inward 
life, is a siding with the spirit of evil against 
the spirit of good. 
IT is the silent things, the unconscious influ-
ence of our lives, that make the deepest and 
most lasting impressions, and not the things that 
make most noise and that men observe and talk 
the most about. 
JANUARY 28, 1886. 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
[13] 61 
Remarkable Men10ries. 
THERE was a Corsican boy who could rehearse 
forty thousand words, whether sense or non-
sense as thev were dictated, and then repeat 
tbein' in the vreversed order without makiug a 
single mistake. A physician, about sixty years 
ago, could repeat the whole of" Paradise Lost,." 
without a mistake although he had not read 1t 
for twenty years. 'Euler, the great mathemati-
cian, when be became blind; could repeat the 
whole of Virgil's "1Eneid," and could remember. 
the first line and the last line on every page of 
the particular edition which he ha~ been accus-
tomed to read before be became bhnd. 
One kind of retentive memory may be consid-
~red as the result of sheer work, a determination 
toward one particular achievement without ref-
erence either to cultivation or to memory on 
other subjects. This is frequently show~ by 
persons in bumble life in regard to the Bible. 
An old beirgarman at Stirling, known about 
fifty years ~go as "Blind Alick," afforded a? 
instance of this. 
He knew the whole of the BI-
ble by heart, insomuch that, if a sentence was 
read to him, he could name the book, chapter, 
and verse; or, if the book, chapter, and verse 
were named be could give the exact words. 
A gentle1~an, to test him, repeated a ve1~se, 
purposely making one verbal inaccuracy. Alwk 
hesitated, named the place where. the p~~s:-;~1ge 
was to be found, but at the same time pomtmg 
out the verba1 error. 
The same gentleman 
asked him to repeat the nintietb verse of ~he 
seventh chapter of the book of Numbers. Ahck· 
almost instantly replied: "'There is no such 
verse. The chapter has only eighty-nine ver-
ses." 
Gassendi had acquired by heart six thou-
sand Latin verses; and, in order to give his 
memory exercise, be was in the b~bit daily of 
reciting six hundred verses from different lan-
guages.-To1'onto Globe. 
A Cheerful H01ne. 
A SINGLE bitter word may disquiet an entire 
family for a whole day; one glance cast a gloom 
over the household; while a smile, like a gleam 
of sunshine, may light up the darkest hours. 
.Like unexpected flowers, which spring up along 
our path full of freshness, fragrance, and beauty, 
so do kind words and gentle acts and sweet 
dispositions make glad the home where peace 
and harmony dwell. 
No matter bow humble 
the home; if it be thus garnished with grace 
and S\Veetened with kindness and smiles, the 
heart will turn lovingly toward it from all the 
tumults of the world. Toward tho cheerful 
home the children gather "as clouds and as 
doves to the window." 
And the influences of homes perpetuate them-
selves. The gentle grace of the mother lives 
in the daughter long after her bead is pillowed 
in the dust' of the earth; and fatherly kindness 
finds iLs echo in the nobility and courtesy of 
sons who come to wear his mantle and fill his 
place. 
The class of men that disturb and disorder 
and distress the world are not those born anu 
nutured amid the hallowed influences of Chris-
tian homes, but rather those whose early life 
bas been amid scenes of trouble and vexation; 
who started wrong in the pilgrimage, and whose 
course is one of disaster to themselves and 
trouble to those around tbem.-Sel. 
I MORE than doubt whether, until our small 
services are sweet with divine affection, our 
great ones, if such we are capable of, will ever 
have the same Christian flavor about them. 
-
JJacDonald. 
REMEMBER you have not a sinew whose law 
of strength is not action; you have not a faculty 
of body, mind, or soul whose law of improve-
ment is not energy. 
HE who waits to do a great deal at once, will 
never do anything. 
~ealth anti 
Health and Temperance. 
HEALTH and temperance are words often as-
sociated too·ether· and these qualities naturally 
Tobacco, King of Hard Times. 
go to(rethe~ beca~se there is a natural relation 
. 
. 
. 
. 
botw;en th~m. But the natural order is, tern-
IN Its annual trade review the CbJCa.~o Inter-perance first and boaJth as the result. The 
Ocean says that "altho.ugb tob.acco IS really I true order or' quaiities in the work of the refor-
classed among the luxunes, yet tts use .has bed mation of our race is, faith, courage, knowledge, 
come. so genel'al and t.h~ bab1t.s of smoking an 
temperance. patience, gouliuess, brotherly kind-
chewmir so fixed that It Iscons1derod and treated 
_1-
't.' 
t:: 
• 
' 
· 
• · • 
• 
ness, cuar1 ·y. 
as a necessity by a largo maJOrity of c?nsumers. 
vVithout faith in the work we undertake 
Bence its sale is less affected by hard times than nothing irOOd will be ac(!omplisbed. 
Faith in~ 
~any ?ther lines.of _goode, the ?nly clas~ to BU~ spit·es co~rage, the second necessary qualifica-
f~r bem.g fin~ bra~~ds of chewmg tobacco an 
tion. 
But blind faith and fool-hardy coUI·age 
high-pn~ed Clga~·s. 
. 
'lvill not answer the purpose. Knowledge is 
By th1s sh?wmg, It appears. that th.e most necessary to direct our efforts. A knowledge 
selfish, offensive, and enervatmg habit that of the organization of our being and of our 
ever set the brand of filth upon the garn:t.mts relation to surroundinir objects .their adapta-
and its stench upon the breath of an .eniJght-tion to our use or oLberwise ~f their hurtful 
ened people h~s r.isen ~roudly supenor to a tendencies, lays' tb~ foundatio~ for true tern per-
~eneral stagna~
1?n m busmess, and made a sat-ance. Temperance leads to health aud patient 
Isfactory record 111 tbe.trade of one 0~ the dull-endurance· tbe want of it is disastrous in these 
est of year.s. 
vVh~t ht~le stretc.h of eco~om!£. respects. ',rhese steps lead on to godliness, 
was made m the du·octJOn of this necessit~ 
brotherly kindness, and charity; and these pre-
civilized exiRtence was not forced upon labormg pare a person for the finisbin ~; touch of immor-
men, whose outcry of mea~er wage~ and la~k tality-the perfect reformati~n and restoration 
of employment resounded h:om one end of t. e of m~n to temperance, health, and happiness 
country to tLe other. 
No; It was the b.osses m forever. 
R. F. CoT'l'RELL. 
the financial world who were forced mto re-
trenchment in tobacco. 
':Che year 1885 voiced many a complaint of 
labor against corporate power, charging that it 
sought to reduce wages to a point ~hat would 
deprive the working man of the barest comforts 
of life; but it seems that all the force of organ-
ized capital waR not able to take from the la-
borer the gentle sol<we of his pipe or the RU-
preme comfort of his quid. Labor strikeR 
abounded; strikes against proposed reduction 
of wages and strikes for advance; strikes to 
compel the discharge of objectionable men .and 
strikes because of the disebarge of favorites; 
strikes on rail way and street-car lines, and in 
iron mills and cotton factories; strikes against 
labor-saving machines and against cheap for-
eign labor. 
In the aggregate an enormous 
amount of wages was lost because unearned, 
and in hundreds of homes the most abject pov-
erty ruled; but the incense from the tobacco-
pipe never ceased to ascend, and the laborer 
continued to expe0torate as freely as when 
work was plenty and wages were good. 
Children, we are told, went supperless to bed, 
and from lack of books and clothing, were un-
able to accept the proffer of free education, and 
families suffered for coal; but the pipe was by 
extra exertion kept warm. 
Such luxuries as 
sugar, butter, syrup, and meat had to succumb 
in many a working man's home to the inexora-
ble demand of bard times; but when it came to 
the actual necessities. the dowr..-trodden laborer 
produced his plug and pipe, and was consoled. 
Not only was the devotee of tobacco-of the 
cheap grades-not reduced to the dire extrem-
ity of want, in conjunction with this prime 
necessity, but he even, as the records show, 
scorned economy 1 herein. It was his oppressor, 
the man of means, perhaps even the ouious cor-
poration shark, who was forced to retrench 
upon quality, and substitute for his luxury of 
fine-cut the rank plug that is the poor man's 
solace. Let no one think that the laboring 
class of this favored country is entirely bereft 
of comfort, so long as the tobacco sales of a 
dull fi11ancial year report an increase of fi·om 
5 to 20 per cent. on all of the cheaper g-rades. 
Coal is a luxury, upon which the family can 
afford, in a financial pinch, to economize. 
School books can be dispensed with. Clothing 
can be patched and turned and made to do 
double duty by deft fingers in the poorest home. 
Sonp-houses can bo resorted to if the pinch gets 
sharp enough; but tobacco reigns through all, 
king of bard times.-Set. 
TEMPERANCE is one of the Christian graces. 
Malt Liquors. 
IT is very probable that were the claim to be 
made that the people of the United States con-
sume a greater quantity of liquors per capita 
than those of any other nation, it would be sus-
tained by official facts and figures. The report 
of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for 
the year closed June 30, places the consumption 
of malt liquors for that time at 17,573,723 bar-
rels, an increase over the figures or the preced-
ing year of 1,147,673 barrels. Reducing the 
reported consumption of last year to gallons, 
gives 702,941:),920 gallons as the quantity of 
malt liquors consumed in the U nit~d States 
during the twelve months. 
On the basis of the 
canvass of population for.ll:)80, the consumption 
of malt liquors per capita was over fourteen 
gallons; and if it be assumed that the entire 
quantity was drunk by the male population 
alone, the figures would give over twenty· eight 
gallons for the consumption of every man and 
male child in the United States. If the calcu-
lation be based on an estimate of 55,000,000 as 
the present popnlation of the United States, it 
will be found that our consumption of malt 
liqnors for the period stated was equal to a frac-
tion over twelve gallons for every man, woman, 
and child, in the country. 
Here is a gigantic sin, in the guiRe of a per-
sonal enjoyment, from which the temperance 
people seek to cleanse our land. 
May they suc-
ceed !-Sel. 
Slow Eating. 
THE idea of rest and recreation and delibera-
tion in eating, no longer occupies the thought 
of the American boy, much less of the business 
man. 
Yet the power of life depends as mucb 
upon this as upon any one conduct of life. A 
thorough digestion not only 
Ie~ves the mimi 
clear and the nervous sy8tem placid, but so pro-
vides the physical and mental machinery with 
its propelling power as to make thought as nat-
ural as if it were a phy~ieal function. It is not 
difficult to see in the work, as well as in the 
writings of some men, the traces of a bad phys-
ical condition. Emerson overstated the case 
when be stated that the sick man is on the road 
to rascality, but, nevertheless, did indicate what 
is true, that a man in a chronic state of embar-
rassed digestion i8 out of gear with himself and 
the rest of mankind. 
vVe believe that the foun-
dation of many an incapacity is laid in this want 
of quiet, deliberate eating.-The Independent. 
62 [14) 
THE BIG NS OF THE TIMES. 
VoL. 12, No. 4. 
Unsubdued. 
IT is written that the carnal mind is not sub-
ject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. 
It is a palpable fact that many persons, some of 
whom have natned the name of Christ, have 
never been brought into real subjection to the 
law of God. 
'l'hey have yielded a formal or 
fei()'ned obedience, but in reality they are their 
c 
L d" b 
own masters. They say, "Lord, 
or , 
ut 
they do not the things which the Lord com-
mands. 
They have openly confessed him to 
be their Master· but they have done it with so 
many provit~os ~nd mental reservations that in 
truth they have never been ruled by the law 
and mind of Christ. 
Our Redeemer is exalted to the right band of 
God to be .~a Prince" as well as "a Saviour;" 
and' the apostle says: "Let all the house of 
Israel know assuredly, that God bath made that 
same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord 
and Christ." 
Acts 2: 36. 
He is thus not only 
the Christ, the anointed Saviour, but he is the 
Lord, the Ruler who claims the right to rule 
and control the thoughts, and wordR, and acts 
of the sons of men. 
And there is no real sub-
jection to him until this fact be appreciated and 
acted upon· and then, having taken Christ's 
yoke upon ~s and learned of him, we find re~t 
to our soulA becanse his yoke is easy, and h1s 
burden is light. 
But so long. as ~he~e is insub-
ordination, so long as the subJectwn_ 1s a ~atter 
of form, so long as persons only y1eld fmgned 
obedience and practically refuse to aeknowledge_ 
him as their l;ord a11cl Master, and the Ruler of 
all their Lives, so lo11g they are nnsub~ued, and 
hence the strUO'O']e and conflict must go on. 
bb 
h. 
l 
When persons are ready to ~ake 1m, not on y 
as their Saviour, but as the1r Master, and are 
as willino-to receive his commands as they are 
to accept his promises and his blessing~, then 
it will be well with them. But to this day 
there are multitudes who acknowledge Christ as 
Ruler, and still obey men rather ~han God, and 
their inquiry is not> "What will please the 
Lord?" but, '"' What is in accordance with the 
usages, customs, methods, and manners of the 
people?" 
There are some who openly acknowledge 
Christ as a leader, but who still are led by 
men aHd often in ways which conscience does 
not ;tpprove, and which the command of Christ 
forbids. 
'rhere are some who aeknowledge Christ as 
"rea~her, bnt who still receive for doctrines 
commandments of men, and take heed to what 
human leaders have prescribed, rather than to 
what God has ordained and appointed. 
The Lord desireR the unity of his people, but 
men labor to separate and disunite them. The 
Lord desires his children to be separated from 
the world; but in many insta11ces 
tho~;e who 
have named his name still mingle in all the 
pleasures, follies, vanities, fashions, and enjoy-
ments which the world affords. 
Christ calls up-
on his people to deny themselves, and take up 
their cross, and follow him. 
But many do not 
deny themselves, they do not take up tho cross, 
they do no.t follow Christ; and still they call 
themselves by his name while following the 
devices of their own hearts. 
The great difficulty with such persons is, they 
are not in subjection to the will and the word of 
the livin.<r God. 
They are unsubdued, uncon-
quered. They have never fully settled it that 
CbriBt is their Master. 
They are willing that 
he sh"'bnld save them, but they are not willing 
that he should rule them. 
But if he is our 
Saviour, he must be our Ruler. If we desire 
his rest, we must take his yoke. If we are to 
partake of the blessing of his groat salvation, we 
are to be conquered by him, so subdued that 
ou1· \Yhole lives shall be brought into subjection 
to his v;ill; so that not only our acts, but also 
our tho~tgbts shall be under his supreme con-
trol, brought into captivity to Ch L'ist, and held 
in sweet subjection to him.-Sd. 
RELIGIOUS. 
-The new British Parliament will have more 
than eighty Catholic members. 
One of them is from 
Scotland, the first returned from that country since 
the Reformation. 
-Protestant missionaries have gained a foothold 
in Corea, a country which was long closed against 
the gospel. 
A. colporter who has been laboring two 
year::; in Seoul, the capital, reports seventy men d.e-
sirous of joining a Christian church, and one In 
another city reports twenty. 
-As the Russian dissenters from the Greek 
Church are strictly forbidden to print any books in 
Russia, they have recently opened a large printing 
office in Roumania. A. number of pamphlets have 
been published there, defending the dissenters 
against the attacks of the orthordox church. These 
pamphlets are having a large circulation in Russia, 
to the consternation of the clergymen of the estab-
lished church. 
-It is stated on the authority of statistics pub-
lished by the Biblical Institute of Stuttgart, that 
there are twenty-six Bi ule societies in Germany, 
be:;ides numerous branch associations and the three 
agencies of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 
During the past year, these societies have sold and 
given away 515,062 copies of the Bible; and since 
the work commenced in 1712, 19,914,316 copies have 
been distributed. The estimated circulation of the 
Scriptures in the whole world since the beginning 
of the present century, is 200,000,000 copies. Of this 
number, 120,000,000 copies are placed to the credtt 
of the British, 50,000,000 to the American, and 30,-
000,000 to all the other Bible societies. During the 
past year, these various societies dispo.:;ed of over 
1,500,000 Bibles. 
-The London T1·uth gives currency to an "edify-
ing anecdote" of a vicar of the Church of England. 
He receives an income of £1,500 a year, out of 
which he used to pay a curate £20 a year for doing 
nearly all the work of llls parish. 
The curate asked 
{,<.) have his salary raised to £25, and was promptly 
dismissed. 
The vicar then found another curate 
who offered his services for nothing, on condition 
that he was allowed to live in the vicar's house. 
Being an abi:ientee, the vicar agreed; and subse-
quently, when the new curate asked for a small sal-
ary, the worthy parson magnanimously consented 
to let him take in lodgers. This i::~ entirely charac-
teristic of the way livings are disposed of in the 
Church of England. It is no wonder that the pres-
ent Parliament contains more than two hundr<>d 
members who are in favor of disestablishment in 
England, Wales, and Scotland. 
-Bismarck invited the pope to arbitrate between 
Germauy and Spain in reference to· the Caroline 
Islands. The pope accepted the honor with many 
thanks. Then Leo conferred decorations of the Or-
der of Christ on Pri nee Bismarck and the Prussian 
Minister to the Vatican, and Etn peror \Villiam re-
turned the com pi imen t by decoraLi ng the Cardinal 
Secretary of State and his assistants. And uow the 
pope, ever watchful and alert to advance Catholic 
mterests, thinks he may venture to ask a favor. 
So 
he has petitioned the Emperor to grant Catholic 
missions in German colonies the same rights that 
Protestant missions enjoy. 
But Emperor William 
will not allow French Jesuit missionaries in hi::; 
newly annexed colonies in Western Africa, well 
knowing that th€se French Jesuits are always trou-
blesome political intriguers. The request, as a lend-
irw religious paper ::~ays, ''is characteristic of Rome, 
wl~ich always seeks and demands 'freedom of wor-
ship,' except where it has full and sole control." 
-The French vintage returns, which have just 
been published, show that the vintage of 1885 is 20 
per cent. below that of 1884. 
-The Government of Madagascar has consented 
to have a French Minister Resident at the capital 
attended by a French guard. 
-Over three thousand new buildings were erected 
in Minneapolis, Minn., during the past year, the 
entire cost aggregating nearly $10,000,000. 
-The Edmunds Anti-Mormon bill has passed the 
Senate. The Mormons have employed a strong 
lobby to defeat it in the House if possible. 
-The farmers and peasants of Germany are peti-
tioning the Government for the restoration of silver 
currency, and against the single gold standard. 
-Quite a sharp rivalry exists between German 
and English capitalists as to which shall have the 
construction of the new railroads to be built in 
China. 
-English papers state that $1,000,000,000 of 
Irish property, and $500,000,000 of Irish mortga~e 
bonds are substantially owned by Englishmen. 
This fact greatly complicate!:! the difficulties of the 
Irish question. 
-A.n explosion in a coal mine at Newburg, W. 
Va., January 21, imprisoned thuty-nine miners. 
Three of the bodies have been recovered. Explosive 
gas iR still present in the mine in large volume, and 
there is danger of auother explosion. 
-During the last thirty years, wars among 
"Christian nations" have cost the lives of two mill-
ion men, and the expenditure of $15,000,000,000, a 
sum' too great to be fully realized. The yearly ex-
penditure of these Hations on standing armies is 
$2,500,000,000. 
-A. writer in the Ove1·land Afonthly states that 
there are now in this country about five thousand 
public libraries of three thousand volumeR or more. 
These contain in the aggregate, at least thirteen 
million books, and are maintained at an annual 
cost of not les::; than $1,500,000. 
-vVhen the French invaded Madagascar, they 
probably expected an easy triu;llph over a weak and 
helpless country. But a letter from Antanarivo, 
the capital city, to an English paper, gives an ac-
count of two battles in which the French were 
utterly defeated, and compelled to retreat before the 
victodous Hova,:. 
-A. gentleman connected with the National Bu-
reau or Statistics, on returning from a visit to the 
Western Territories, said that the Mormons of Utah 
regard the United States as their greatest enemy, 
and the smouldering fire of an armed conflict be-
tween them and the Government is held in check 
only by the troops at Camp Duglass. 
-An enormous haystack at Lemberg, Bavaria, 
which had been the resort of homeless wanderers, 
burned down recently while an unusually large num-
ber were sleeping beneath its shelter. Twenty dead 
bodies have been taken from the ruins, and it is be-
lieved that many others perished. The haystack 
probably took fire from the ashes of a pipe. 
-A.n insurrectionary movement under native 
princes iu Burmah is daily gaining in strength. A. 
son of the king has ten thousand armed meu under 
his command. British troops sent out to reconnoiter 
have returned to Mandalay with the loss of several 
men killed or wounded in a skirmish with the 
Dacoi ts. Much uneasiuess prevails regarding the 
situation. 
-The Mormons residing in Pima County, So~tth­
ern Arizona, are asking the Governor for arms 
on the ground that they want to defend them-
selves from the Apaches. 
As the Mormon colony is 
known to have always been friendly to the Apaches, 
frequently supplying them with food and horses, it 
is believed that their design is to secure the arms 
for the hostile Indians. 
-Last week was a week of storms throughout a 
large part of California. On Wednesday, in San 
SECULAR. 
Francisco, the storm became a hurricane. Much 
-The damage to the vegetable crop in Frorida dama~~ .was done. in the way. of unroofin~ an_d 
b the recent cold snap is estimated at $500 000. 
demohsh_JUg_ houses, 
e~c., and all day teleg1aplnc 
Y 
. 
' . 
communication was entirely cut off. 
In many local-
-~(ossuth tlunks tha.t a war between Au~tna an_d
1 
iLies destructive floods are reported, and in some 
~ul'sia .for supremacy m the Balkan Pemnsula Is cases, persons have been killed or seriously injured 
1mpend1ng. 
• 
-Marie Augustine, a colored woman, died in New 
-A telegt:am from Truckee •. Nev., January 19, 
Orleans January 15, at the a()'e of 125 years. She sta~es that for ~wo days a funous s~orm had been 
was bor'n in Africa, and was b~ought to this country ~~gJnf there.d 'I he ~.
1
1~~ ~~~'8 nea{~£ six. f~et de~ ohn 
as a slave when she was twenty years old. 
ed~ aza, an lwas s tlb 
ad 
.~t~tg. 
etwin t wfias 
fJg ' 
-Five persons, members of one family, have died 
recently trotn trichinosis, in the vicinity of Pitts-
burgh, Pa., and ft'ars are entertained for the lives of 
the three remaining members of the family. 
an 
111 some p aces 
e 
n s were wen y-ve eet 
deep. January 21, 22, onl' of the worst blizzards 
known among the railroads for years was ragiug in 
Mi nnewta. 
At St. Vincent the thermometer was 
57 degrees below zero. 
JANUARY 28, 1886. 
Waiting for What? 
MANY are to be found in our churches who 
know the truth and approve it. 
They mean 
one day to be decided followers of Christ; but 
at present something binders them. 
Is this 
you~ state o( soul? :Listen to me while I press 
upon your conscience a simple question. 
Do 
not turn away from it; sit down aud answer it 
if you can: vVhat are you waiting for? 
Are you waiting till you a1·e siclc and nigh. 
unto death? Surely you will not toll me that 
is. a convenient season. 
When your body is 
racked. with pain,-when your mind is distracted 
with all kinds of anxious thoughts,-is this a 
time to begin the mighty work of acquaintance 
with God?· 
Are you waiting till you have leisure? And 
when do you expect to have more· time than 
you have now? Every year you live seems 
shorter than the last; you find more to think 
of or to do, and less power and opportunity to 
do it. 
And, after all, you know not whether 
you may live to see another year. Boast not 
yourRclf of to-monow-now is the time. 
Are you waiting till your hea1·t is perfectly fit 
and ready·? That will never be. It will al-
ways be corrupt and sinful-a bubbling fount-
ain, full of evil. 
Delay not; better begin as 
you are. 
Are you waiting till the devil will let you come 
to Ch1·ist without trottble? 
That will never be. 
If you '''ould be saved, you must fight for it. 
Are you waiting till the gate is wide open? 
1rbat will never be. It will not alter. It is 
wide enough for the chief of sinners, if he 
comes in a Lhum ble and self-abased spirit. But 
if th<~re is any little sin you are resolved not to 
give up, you will never, with all your struggling, 
get in. 
And are you waiting because sorne few Chr?·s-
tians are inconsistent, and sonu>, professon fall 
away? 
Hear the word of the Lord Jesus, 
"·what is that to thee? follow thou me." 
Oh, lingering friend, are not your excuses 
broken reeds? Are nut your reasonings and 
defenses unprofitable .and vain? 
Be honest·; 
confess the truth. 
You have no good reason 
for waiting. 
This day I charge yon to throw 
away indecision. wait no longer, be decided 
for ChriRt; lest waiting, your soul should be lost 
-forever lost.-Rev. J. C. Ryle. 
WE would willingly have others perfect, yet 
we amend not our own fau1ts.-Thornas a Kernpis. 
Testimouials 
FoR "THOUGHTS 
ON DANIEL AND THE REVELATION.'' 
El~er J. 0. qo:Iiss, ~elbourne, Australia, says: After 
carefully exam1nmg " Thoughts on Daniel and the Rev-
elation," I can cheerfully recommend it as a work well 
calculated_ to impart instruction upon what has formerly 
been considered dark and mysterious. 
The movement of 
the_JJ_ations, in past ages of the world, and the peculiar 
position of leading governme_nts at the present time, with 
the .probable result of pendmg diplomatic measures are 
by the author set forth in a most clear and forcible ~an­
n~r from the prophetic stand-point. 
In a word, it is a 
mme of useful knowledge to all, and especially valuable 
as a text book for Bible students. 
Ron. W. C. Edsell, Otsego, Michigan says: I consider 
these "Thoughts" a good explanatio~ of the Book of 
Daniel and the Revelation, and well calculated to en-
lighten people on those subjects. 
A well-known minister in Texas writes: I 
have no 
he~itancy in saying that "Thoughts on Daniel and the 
Revelation," ?Y U. Smith, is the best commentary on 
these prop~ec1es exant. 
The style .is attractive, and can-
not fa1l to mterest the common Bible reader. 
Its histori-
qal references, adjusted as they are with the statements 
of the prophet, will confirm the believer and convict the 
doubting. 
Elder ~· A. St. John, St. Helena, California: I have 
several t1mes carefully read Smith's 
work entitled 
"Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation," and haven~ 
hesitancy in pronouncing it a work of inestimable value. 
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THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
[S] 63 
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the Light of Nature and Revelation," by Elder J. H. 
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THE GREAT CONTROVERSY 
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CHRIS1' AND SATAN FRO§! TILE DE-
S1'RUGTION 011' JRRUSALEJ£ TO 
THE END Oli' 1'IJl1E. 
BY MRS. E. G. WUITE, 
Author of "The Life of Christ," "Sketches from the Life of Paul " 
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prophecy given while viewing Jerusalem frum the Mount of Oliv-::c;, in 
which he outlines the hbtory of the whule dispensation, it skt t<.:he~ 
the fulfillment. It pictures the siege and orerthrow of Jerusalem, 
at d the destruction of the Temple. It calls our attention tu the bit-
t\ r persecutions of the Christians in the first centuries, and notes the 
rise and growth of the Papacy. 
It gives a clear conception of the 
character and influeuce of the Walclenses, who, thruug-h centuries of 
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sionary efforts prepared the uat1ons of Europe for the Reformation. 
Brief and lifelike sketches are given of the works, the successes, 
and the persecutions of Wyc:liffe, Luther, Tyndalc, Huss, Jerome, 
Knox, and other reformers and martyrs. 
Considerable space is g·iven to the life, work, and influence of later 
reformers aud great religious leaders, such as George Whitefield, the 
Wesleys, and William Miller, and this is followed by chapters treat· 
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64 [16] 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
VoL. 12, No. 4. 
OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, JANUARY 28, 1886. 
~We 
send no papers from this office without pay in 
advance, unless by special arrangement. "When persons 
receive copies without ordering them, they are sent by other 
parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. 
Persons thus receiving copies of the SIGNS are not indebted 
to the office, and will not be called upon for pay. 
Please 
read the papers and hand them to your friends to read. 
THE articles in this number of the SIGNS are val-
uable. We trust they will be carefully read. 
BROTHER ROBERT HARE has arrived from New 
Zealand. to go to Healdsburg College. He does not 
yet know bow long he will remain in America. 
THE first number of the Bible Echo and Signs 
of the Times is just received. Monthly, 16 pages, 
published in Melbourne, Australia. It is the same 
size of this paper, well printed. Success to it. 
UNDER date of January 22, the Eastern dispatches 
give an account of another "blizzard" extending 
from Minnesota to Kansas. They seem to grow 
worse and worse, St. Paul rC'porting this one as 
"the worst known for years." The thermometer 
went down to 57 degrees below zero. 
All trains 
from Kansas City west, were abandoned. 
There has been no cold weather and no snow-
bound trains in California; but the elements were 
antic on the 20th over a large part of the State. At 
the Golden Gate the wind was registered seventy-
two miles an hour. Telegraphic communication was 
cut off from the city in every direction-not a sin-
gle wire working during the afternoon and night. 
Much damage was done, not only along the coast, 
but b the interior. Many buildings were thrown 
down and very many more injured. "Mechanics' 
Pavilion," in San Francisco, was partly unroofed. 
The rain also fell in torrents, and the railroads 
were as badly demoralized as the telegraph lines. 
We think there was not a railroad in the State 
which remained unbroken. And bard rains contin-
ued several days. On the 19th Los Angeles suffered 
the severest flood it has ever known. What next? 
Use of Skating· Rinks. 
IT has been a great pleasure to us to read the 
report of the Twelfth Annual Session of theN. W. 
C. T. U., held at Philadelphia last fall. 
The pro-
ceedings would do credit to any deliberative body 
that ever convened. The address of the President, 
Miss Willard, was a strong document. But there 
was one paragraph which we much regretted to find 
in this address. It is as follows:-
"I was much impressed by a suggestion of Mrs. 
to enter these abodes of impurity and death. There 
is much in the power of association. If girls go 
there one night to meeting, they will feel more free 
to go to the same place the next night for sport. 
Let them be taught to shun the rink as they would 
the pest-bouse. 
Sabbath-Schools, Attention! 
AT the last session of the General Conference, a 
resolution was adopted indorsing the standing rule 
of our Sabbath-school Associations in regard to tak-
ing offerings on the Sabbath. 
The question of how these contributions should 
be used came up for consideration at a meeting of 
the General Sabbath-school Association. The mat-
ter was pretty thoroughly discussed, and it was the 
unanimous opinion that it was best to connect some 
missionary enterprise with the giving, and not use 
all the contributions for the running expenses of 
the school. In this way it was thought a missionary 
spirit would be cultivated, and our children taught 
true benevolence. 
Several worthy objects to which our contributions 
could be given were mentioned. 
Among these the 
wants of our Foreign Missions-their destitute cir-
cumstances, the difficulties under which our breth-
ren have to labor, etc., were presented. After care-
ful consideration, a resolution was unanimously 
adopted, recommending all our Sabbath-schools 
throughout the world, to donate a part of their class 
contributions the first quarter to the Central Ew·o-
pean Mission; the second quarter to the Scand'ina-
vian Mission; the third quarter to the B1'itish 
11--fission; and the fou1·th quarter to the Australian 
11--fission. 
We heartily indorse this recommendation, and 
now we want to know how the Sabbath-schools in 
California regard it. The enterprise is certainly a 
noble one, and should enlist the sympathy and co-
operation of every one. If we only knew of the 
trials and persecutions our brethren have to meet 
in these missions, our hearts would be touched, and 
we would feel anxious to do all we could to help 
them. 
There is no compulsion in this matter. 
Each 
school is left to decide for itself how much, if any-
thing, it will donate to this enterprise. Some 
school~ are very small, and may not be able to do 
much; but we know it will be a source of encour-
agement to our brethren to know that we are in 
sympathy with them, and trying to help what we 
can. 
We hope to have a hearty response from every 
school in the California Conference. Let us remem-
ber thaL "it is more blessed to give than to receive." 
I hope that none of our schools will lose the bless-
ing vouchsafed to us. 
Donations should be sent, at the close of each 
quarter, to the State secretary, Mrs. Josie L. Baker, 
care Pacifi'c Press, Oakland, Cal. 
C. H. JoNES, 
P1·es. Cal. 8. 8. Asso. 
Geilde's Life of Christ. 
Phinney, of Ohio, that popular places of assembly 
are being furnished to our hand in the skating rinks 
now to be found in nearly every town and village. 
Perhaps this is the bright side of what has seemed a 
very 'dark Providence.' Let me urge that we here 
resolve to try the experiment of holdi11g meetings in 
these rinks, and in depot waiting rooms, vacant 
stores, reading-rooms, or any place where the great 
out-door population that will not go to church, can 
be induced to congregate.'' 
THE" Life and Words of Christ," by Cunningham 
Do You Want to Move? 
THIS is a moving, restless age. We are very 
often asked for advice in regard to some place to 
which to move. To some of our own people-we do 
not exactly know to whom-we can offer a little ad-
vice. But, in the first place, we shall presume that 
you want to move where you can do some good. If 
your moLives are only selfish and worldly, we have 
no interest in your moving. And, 
1. Do not move to Battle CTeek. Rest assured 
you are not wanted there, unless you have received 
a special invitation from those who have charge of 
the work there. They who go where they know 
they are not wanted are generally of little use any-
where. 
2. There are openings in the South where fami-
lies can be of great use. 
Tennessee, Mississippi, 
the Carolinas, Georgia, etc., offer great inducements 
to those who have the spirit of the mission~ry work 
in their hearts. Land is easily obtained, and they 
who have judgment and a will to do, may find 
abundant opportunities for usefulness. 
Families 
who live hygienically, and have the tact to exert 
an influence without appearing obtrusive, will be 
well rewarded for their efforts in that field. The 
climate will be found agreeable, and the country 
healthful, especially back from the rivers. 
3. Brother Haskell writes from Auckland: "The 
condition of things here is such that it seems if we 
had a good person of experience, say a man and hi::; 
wife, it would be the upbuilding of the cause here 
when I leave. There are some eight or ten who are 
convinced on the Sabbath here, and I think as 
many more who would take their stand if there 
was some one to go ahead and take the charge of 
meetings.'' This is but one of many openings in 
New Zealand and Australia, where judicious fami-
lies could be of immense service to the cause. 
Among all our people there ought to be scores of 
families who could fill just such openings. 
4. But do not decide to go until you have taken 
counsel of those who are authorized to advise in 
such matters. They know the circumstances, and 
are qnalified to judge who is best fitted to fill these 
openings. 
In some branches of the missionary work we are 
doing quite well; but there are many other ways 
and means which we have not yet begun to improve. 
JIIIissiona1·y families are wanted. 
Pitiful Incleed. 
IN I-Iarper's Weekly for Dec. 26, 1885, we find the 
following:-
"l
r. August Belmont, the banker, still entertains 
a deep atfection for his dog Sailor, which died some 
time ago at his farm on Long Island. The photo-
grapher who, at his request, made a photograph of 
the dead animal, relates that Mr. Belmout's exhibi-
tion of grief was pitiful when looking at the picture, 
which, however, he did not accept, because it was so 
uulike the animal at his best." 
A pitiful exhibition indeed, it must have been. 
And. if any element was lacking to complete the 
pitiful picture, it is amply supplied when Harper's 
lVeekly relates the pitiful circumstance, with evi-
dent signs of sympathy and approval. 
A man who had every opportunity to know, testi-Geikie, D. D., is widely known as oue of the most 
tied that the remorseless sacrifice of young females interesting and helpful books published. 
The au-
THE SIGNS 0 F THE· TIMES, 
in London, the exposure of which so horrified the thor has by a clear description of the country and 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, A'r OAKLA;I'o, CAL., FOR THE 
people, and by a grouping of historical facts, given 
. 
. 
. 
. 
world, was greatly facilitated by the skating rinks. such an introduction as better prepares the miud to InternatiOnal Tract and MISSIOnary Society. 
Inexperienced girls were there thrown into the an understanding of the acts of .Jesus. Beginning 1 
society of strangers, and the excitement of the occa-with a description of the Holy Land, and picturing 
A sixteen-pag-e Religious Family Paper, devoted to a discussion of 
sion made them an easy prey to the villains who Palestine at the time of Christ, he then gives an ac-the Prophecies, Signs of the Times, Second Coming of Christ, Har-
count of the reign of Herod. These, wiLh a chapter mony of the Law and Gospel; :vith Depart~1e~ts devoteJ to Health 
went there for such conquests. And it bas been on the Jewish world in the time of Christ, and an-und Temperance, the Home Cucle, the Mtsstonary Work, and the 
stated by observers and law oiBcers that the skating other about the Rabbis and their ideas respecting Sabbath-school. 
rinks in the cities of America are a most fruitful the Messiah, enable us to see a wealth of meaning 
Price Per Year, post-paid, 
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means of the ruin of young females. 
in the words and acts of Christ which usually are i.n clubs of five or more copies to one name and address, to be 
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but poorly understood. Over 800 pp. 60 cts. post-
used in Missionary work, each, 
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But, It may. be as~ed, why not turn ,them to goo.d paid to places in the United States and Canada; to To foreig-n countries, single subscriptions, post-paid, 
lOs 
account, as Miss Willard recommends~ Because It J'oreign countries, 3s. 
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, 
Addt·ess, 
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, 
ia not safe to give such encouragement to the young Oakland, Cal. 
Twelfth and Castro Streets, OAKLAND, CAL., u.s. A