PUBLISHED WEEKLY, FOR THE 
S. D. A. MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 
[For terms, etc., see last page.] 
Entered at the Post Office at Oakland, Cal. 
OUR PRAYERS. 
ART thou not weary of our selfish prayers, 
Forever crying, "Help me, save me, Lord :" 
We stay fenced in by petty fears and cares, 
Nor hear the song outside, nor join its vast accord. 
Is not the need of other souls our need ? 
After desire the helpful act must go, 
As the strong wind bears on the winged seed 
To some bare spot of earth, and leaves it there to grow. 
Still are we saying, "Teach us how to pray. " 
0 teach us how to love, and then our prayer 
Through other lives will find its upward way. 
As plants together seek and find sweet life and air. 
—Selected. 
6twera1 Articles. 
Constitutional Amendment. 
BY ELD. W. H. LITTLEJOHN. 
"Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22 : 12. 
VOLUME 8. 
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, FIFTH-DAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1882. 
NUMBER 8. 
Tiate *gliz Di the ccEinitB. 
TURNING from the secular phase of this subject, 
let us regard it for a moment from the religious 
stand-point. 
Is there anything in the purpose itself which 
is worthy of the cost at which alone it can be 
realized ? in other words, since the object aimed 
at is ostensibly that of bringing the nation up to 
the point of a general regard for the first day of 
the week as a Sabbath, would such a result be 
one which should be profoundly desired ? 
We reply that this will depend altogether upon 
circumstances. In this case, as in the first, mere 
cessation from labor on that day, which is not 
prompted by a regard for the will and approval 
of Jehovah, could afford no relief to a nation 
which is seeking to avert divine displeasure, since 
there is no element in the act itself calculated to 
recommend it to the favor of Heaven. To illus-
trate: The individual sentenced to solitary con-
finement in the State's Prison is precluded from 
the possibility of laboring on the Sunday; will 
any one therefore argue that there is any merit 
in his inaction on that day? Again: The heathen 
nations, in common with the majority of the Chris-
tian world, have many of them regarded the Sun-
day as a sacred day; should we presume, therefore, 
that they are looked upon by the Almighty more 
complacently on this account ? You answer No; 
and urge, as a reason for this reply, that they 
have been engaged in a false worship, and have 
not been actuated by any regard for the true God. 
Where, then, is the line ? Manifestly, right here: 
The men who honor God by the keeping of any 
day must be prompted by the conviction that they 
are doing it in strict and cheerful obedience to a 
divine command. 
Here, then, is the crucible in which we will try 
the metal of this modern movement. If, when 
their grand design shall be accomplished—as the 
result of many labors and toils—and, even though 
before their purpose is attained, it shall be found 
necessary for them to reach their object through 
a conflict intensely bitter and impassioned on the 
part of the opposition, we shall witness the spec- 
tacle of a nation bowing submissively to the law 
and will of God in the humble and fervent observ-
ance of a weekly rest of divine appointment, it 
will be the grandest triumph which history has 
recorded. No treasure of gold—we were about 
to say no sacrifice of life—would be too great a 
price to pay for so glorious a victory. Let it be 
understood, however, that this must be a volun-
tary and intelligent worship on the part, at least, 
of the mass of the people. 
But will this be true, should our friends com-
pass the great object of their ambition ? Let us 
inquire once more after their intentions. What 
is it they advocate ? The answer is, A universal 
regard for the first day of the week, as the Sab-
bath of the Lord. 
But what is the authority upon which the 
majority of them rest their argument for the 
proposed Observance ? Is it merely pecuniary 
advantage ? No, say they, it is out of a sincere 
regard for the God of Heaven, and a conscientious 
desire to fulfill his law. But this implies religious 
duty. So far, so good. It also clearly sets forth 
the fact that God has a law, and a Sabbath which 
it enforces. The appeal, ther
efore, must inevita-
bly be to that law, as the proper instrument from 
which to instruct the people. 
To that they must be brought, again and again. 
Its import must be patiently taught, its sacredness 
must be thoroughly inculcated. Let them but be 
satisfied by sound logic that the divine statute is 
explicit in its demands for a strict observance of 
the first day of the week, let them be thoroughly 
educated into the idea that they are under its 
jurisdiction, and let them be instructed that this 
whole movement proceeds upon this religious con- 
viction' 
 and you have laid a foundation which 
will uphold a structure of imposing dimensions 
and enduring character, the corner-stone whereof 
is the fear of God, and an acknowledgement of 
his presence in the affairs of men. But how is it 
in the case in question ? Is the commandment of 
a nature such as to support, in every particular, 
the tenets presented by the reform under consid-
eration ? This is really the vital point. Let it 
speak for itself. It is the fourth of the decalogue 
which is urged. "Remember the Sabbath day, 
to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and 
do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sab-
bath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not 
do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, 
thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy 
cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 
for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, 
the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the 
seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sab-
bath day, and hallowed it." 
If this is not a Sabbath law, then there is none 
in existence; for, mark it this is the only instance 
in all the Scriptures in which it will be claimed 
by any one that we have a positive command for 
the observance of the Sabbath. So far, therefore, 
as the first day of the week is concerned, its 
friends have this advantage, that, if they but 
succeed in resting it upon this commandment, 
their labor is ended; for it—i. e., the command-
ment—has no rival. All that is needed, conse-
quently, is a clear, pointed exegesis showing that 
the day in question is the one, the observance of 
which the divine Lawgiver has required. But, 
unfortunately, such an exegesis would be beset 
with difficulties. To begin with, Who shall be 
able to harmonize the declaration which the com-
mandment contains in these words, " The seventh, 
day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it 
thou shalt not do any work," with the utterance 
of those who, on the contrary, say that the first 
day is the Sabbath of the Lord and must be ob-
served as such ? The divine Lawgiver—as if de-
termined that there shall be no room for debate 
in regard to the day which he had in his mind—
has identified it in a manner such as to leave no 
room to dispute. In the first place, he announces 
his willingness that six days of the week should 
be devoted to secular employment, " Six days 
shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:" then 
follows the disjunctive, " but—the seventh day is 
the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt 
not do any work." Here it is made plain that it 
is the " Sabbath of the Lord " upon which we are 
to rest. �• 
Again passing over the intermediate space, we 
come to the close of the commandment, in which 
he sets forth three important transactions by 
which that was constituted the Sabbath, and by 
which it may ever be recognized. He says, " For 
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the 
sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh 
day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, 
and hallowed it." That is, the day which we are 
to keep as the Sabbath of the Lord is the one 
upon which he rested, which he blessed, and which 
he hallowed. Therefore, before the first day of 
the week can, with any show of reason, be kept 
in fulfillment of this commandment, i. e., before 
it can be regarded as the " Sabbath of the Lord," 
it must be shown that, at some time, God has 
rested upon it, blessed, and hallowed it. But this 
would be a difficult task; for not only are the 
Scriptures silent, so far as the affirmation of this 
fact is concerned with reference to the first day 
of the week, but, on the contrary, they positively, 
declare that it was the very day upon which Je-
hovah entered upon the stupendous undertaking of 
making a world. Should additional evidence be 
required on this point, i. e., that the last day of 
the week, and not the first, is the one which Je-
hovah intended to sanctify, we have but to cite 
the intelligent reader to the fact that Moses, the 
prophets, the Lord himself, the holy women after 
his death, and the whole Jewish nation—in whose 
language the decalogue was given—are, and have 
been, unanimous in placing this construction upon 
the Sabbatic law. 
Should any, however, perceiving the dilemma 
into which they are thrown by the effort to enforce 
their view in the use of the law, as it was origi-
nally given, seek relief in the position that it was 
so far amended in the days of Christ as to admit 
of the substitution of the day of his resurrection 
for that of God's rest at the end of creation week, 
we reply, If such a fact can be clearly made out, 
it would certainly furnish the very help which is 
needed just at this juncture, and without which, 
confusion must inevitably characterize the move-
ments of those who feel the necessity of a Sab-
batic law for the keeping of Sunday. 
Let us, therefore, investigate this most impor-
tant point. Is it true that the Son of God did so 
change the phraseology of the commandment of 
the Father that, from his time forward, its utter-
ances have not only justified the secularizing of 
the last, but have also enforced, by the penalty 
of eternal death, a strictly religious regard for 
the first day of the week, on the part of both the 
Jewish and Gentile world ? Now this, if accom-
plished, was no trifling affair, and could not have 
been done in a corner; since it involved the guilt 
or innocence, the life or death, of countless mil-
lions of men and women, whose condemnation in 
the day of Judgment for the violation of Sunday 
sanctity would turn, of necessity, upon the words 
of one who both bad the power to change, and 
had brought the knowledge of that change clearly 
before them. Certain it is, therefore—since God 
does not first judge, and legislate afterward—all 
the light which is necessary for the proper eluci-
dation of this subject is now to be found in his 
written word. To this, then, we turn; and with 
a profound conviction that the language of Christ 
was true in its largest sense, " If any man will 
do his will he shall know of the doctrine "—we 
inquire, Where is it stated, in so many words, that 
God made the amendment in question ? 
Should the response be returned, as it certainly 
must be, that such a statement is not to be found 
within the lids of the Bible, we answer that this is 
a concession which, most assuredly, will greatly 
embarrass our friends in the proposed reform. 
Sagacious men will not be slow in discovering its 
bearing upon the subject, and it will be very diffi-
cult to explain such an omission to the satisfaction 
of cautious and reflecting minds. Should it be 
suggested, however, that—notwithstanding the 
fact the change has not been set forth in so many 
words—it has nevertheless occurred, and is there- 
86 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �VoL. 8, No. 8. 
Prominent Bible Doctrine. 
for an amended law are very many indications of 
a wide-spread conviction—though undefined and 
hardly recognized by the individuals themselves 
—that the fact upon which they place so much 
stress, is after all, one in regard to which there 
are serious doubts in their own minds. As an il-
lustration of this, we have but to call attention to 
two things. First, on each Lord's day, so-called, 
thousands of congregations—after devoutly listen-
ing to the reading of the fourth commandment of 
the decalogue, word for word, syllable for syllable, 
letter for letter, precisely as it was written upon 
the table of stone by the finger of God—are in the 
habit of responding with solemn cadence to the 
utterances of the preacher, " 0 Lord, incline our 
hearts to keep this law." Now this prayer means 
something, or nothing. It is either an expression 
of desire, on the part of those employing it, for 
grace to enable them rightly to observe the com-
mandment as it reads—seventh day and all—or 
else it is a solemn mockery, which must inevitably 
provoke the wrath of Heaven. These people, 
therefore, judging from the most charitable stand-
point, are witnesses—unconscious though they 
may be of the fact—of a generally pervading 
opinion that the verbiage of the fourth command-
ment has not been changed, and that it is as a 
whole as binding as ever. Second, nor is it simply 
true that those only who have a liturgy have com-
mitted themselves to this idea. It is astonishing 
to what extent it has crept into creeds, confessions 
of faith, church disciplines, and documents of a 
like nature. But among the most striking of all 
evidences of its universality, when properly under-
stood, is the practice of nearly all religious de-
nominations, of printing, for general distribution 
among the Sunday-school scholars, verbatim 
copies of the decalogue, as given in the twentieth 
chapter of Exodus. Yet this practice would be a 
pernicious one, and worthy of the most severe 
censure, as calculated to lead astray and deceive 
the minds of the young, if it were really true that 
this code, in at least one very important particular, 
failed to meet the facts in the case, as it regards 
present duty. In view of these considerations, a 
change of the base of operations becomes indis- 
pensable. A commandment, altered in its expres-
sions so as to vary its import, and yet no one ac-
quainted with the exact terms in which it is at 
present couched—and all, in reality, being so 
skeptical upon the point that even its most ardent 
advocates reason as if it had never occurred— 
would certainly furnish a foundation altogether 
insufficient for the mighty superstructure of a great 
reform, which proposes, ere the accomplishment 
of its mission, to revolutionize the State. 
IF Christian professors were rightly instructed 
in reference to the coming of our Lord, we believe 
that much of the indifference and worldliness 
which at present prevails, wculd be put away. 
How could they regard Christ's appearing as cer-
tain, and the momentous event (as far as the best 
students of prophecy can ascertain) as near at 
hand, and yet be unconcerned and negligent? 
Belief in the truth of this doctrine, if, indeed, it is 
not allowed to swallow up their interest in' other 
important doctrines, must have a salutary effect 
upon their minds. It must inspire them with a 
spirit of watchfulness and prayerfulness and holy 
expectation, and lead them to live in a state of 
constant readiness. And convinced of the terrible 
judgments that will come upon the ungodly, they 
would be led to increased fidelity and earnestness 
in the discharge of their obligations to a sin-
blighted world. This great truth, therefore, 
should have due attention from every Christian 
teacher. Let none henceforth ignore this truth, 
or pass it by in silence. And let none, either 
through ignorance or prejudice, oppose it; but let 
all search the Scriptures that right views of this 
doctrine may be discovered, and when discovered, 
spread far and wide. 
But there is a great tendency amongst some to 
try to fasten the charge of heresy on any who 
may venture to advocate views of Christian doc-
trine different from those which they have been 
taught in early life. But though we may get 
outside the theology of the sects, if we are still in 
the company of Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Jesus, 
and Paul, what matter ? Though we may get out 
of the beaten path a little, and walk in a way in 
which but few are found, if w,e are led there by 
light of reason and the light of divine revelation, 
what matter ? Better hold the truth in company 
fore binding, we answer : Although the trans-
action upon the face of it, to say the least, would 
be a singular one, if an alteration has really been 
made, the next thing to be ascertained is its pre-
cise nature. We have already seen that the first 
law was very explicit in its statements ; and all 
are conversant with the fact that to it was given 
the greatest publicity, and that it was uttered by 
the voice, and written by the finger of God, under 
the most imposing circumstances. 'cow, if Christ 
—whose power to do so we shall not question here 
—has really undertaken the task of adding to, or 
taking from, this most sacred precept, will some 
one furnish us with an authentic copy of the statute, 
as amended ? Now this is a reasonable and just 
request. To declare simply that a change has oc-
curred, without making known precisely what 
that change is, is but to bewilder and confuse. 
Conscious of this fact, the State is always ex, 
 
tremely careful to give to its citizens—in the most 
public manner—every variation which is made in 
its enactments, lest the loyal man should be in-
capable of proving his fidelity by obedience, or the 
disloyal justify his violation upon the plea of 
necessary ignorance. Shall man be more just than 
his maker ? Shall Christ—who, in every other 
respect, has, in matters of duty, furnished us with 
line upon line, and precept upon precept—be found, 
at last, upon this most important point, to have 
been unmindful of the highest interests of his 
followers ? Most assuredly not. He that never 
slumbereth nor sleepeth, He that knoweth the end 
from the beginning, He who bath said, "Where 
there is no law there is no transgression," has 
certainly never required his people to occupy a 
position in the face of their enemies so extremely 
embarrassing as that in which they would be com-
pelled to ignore the plainest dictates of reason 
and Scripture, by seeking to condemn in the world 
a practice which is not necessarily immoral in it-
self, and -against which there is no explicit de-
nunciation of the Bible. Who, then, we inquire 
again, will furnish us from the sacred page the 
precept so remodeled as to meet the exigences of 
this case ? Is it larger or more condensed than be- 
fore ? Does the first clause read, "Remember the 
Sabbath day, to keep it holy ?" If so, it is well. 
Is the second in order expressed in these words, 
" Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work ?" 
This, again, is good. But how is it with the 
third, " The seventh day is the Sabbath of the 
Lord thy God ; in it thou shalt not do any work ?" 
Here, unquestionably, the change must begin. 
Who among us, therefore, can produce the divine 
warrant for a reading of this passage which shall 
make it harmonize with the keeping of Sunday ? 
Who dare declare, upon his veracity, that he has 
ever discovered in the sacred word an instance in 
which it has been so re-written as to read, " But 
the first day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God ; 
in it thou shalt not do any work ?" 
Furthermore, passing over the instructions in 
regard to sons, daughters, stranger, etc., what has 
the pen of the divine remodeler done with the 
reason of the commandment as found in the words, 
"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, 
the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the 
seventh day ; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sab-
bath day, and hallowed it ?" Has that been 
stricken out- altogether ? Or, is there a glaring 
inconsistency in the remodeled statute, by which 
it is made to state that the first day of the week, 
instead of the seventh, is now the Sabbath of the 
Lord our God, because of the fact that in the 
creation of the world, God rested upon, blessed, 
and hallowed, the latter ? These are weighty 
questions. Upon them, virtually, turns the issue 
of an amended law. For, to amend, is so to change 
or alter as to vary the duty of a subject ; and if 
no one is capable of informing definitely and 
particularly in regard to the precise variations of 
the phraseology, then, of course, no one is able to 
decide just how far our course of action should de-
viate from what it has been hitherto, in order to 
meet the demands of the divine will as now ex-
pressed, in a rule which has never been seen, and 
which no hand would venture to trace with any 
claim to exactitude. Who, then, we inquire again, 
is sufficient for this task ? Not one among the 
millions of Protestants who are so earnestly 
clamoring for the sanctity of the day in question, 
will seriously lay claim to the ability to perform 
that which would at once elevate him to a position 
—in view of the relief which it would bring to 
thousands of troubled minds—more exalted than 
that of any saint or martyr who'has ever lived. 
Nor is this all ; behind all this pretentious claim 
with the few than cling to error in company with 
the many. The truly wise, from the beginning 
until now, have been in the minority. The fact 
that the greater part of Christendom may believe 
certain doctrines does not stamp them as infallible. 
Because some students of prophecy have been 
foolish enough to fix the date of the second ad-
vent, and time has proved that they were wrong, 
many sneer at the subject and try to turn it into 
ridicule. But is this wise ? Is it not indeed tri-
fling with what is sacred? Christ declares that 
he will come again, but with equal plainness he 
declares that the day and the hour of his coming 
are unknown. Should the great truth, therefore, 
be sneered at or openly denied, because some, 
from various prophecies and signs of the times, 
have erred in trying to fix the time of his coming ? 
But let it be remembered that to question or deny 
the second advent is a far graver error, and one 
attended with far more evil consequences, than 
the one which excites so much ridicule. They 
make merry with the blunders of a few writers 
who have given dates (and they are but few who 
have done this); but they make blunders them-
selves much greater and far more inexcusable. 
The second coming of Christ is taught in vari. 
ous promises that are given to the church; it is 
clearly intimated in many of the threatenings to 
the wicked; and it is published in a multitude of 
prophecies. Persons who have not given atten-
tion to this subject have no idea of the great 
prominence which is given to it in the Holy 
Scriptures. They overlook, it may be unwit-
tingiy, numerous passages which refer to it.—Rev. 
Silas Henn, England. 
"In Everything Give Thanks." 
PERHAPS there is no command in the Bible that 
puts Christians more to the test than this. Life 
at best has much work and many burdens. By 
far the majority in the world, whether in the 
pulpit or the pew, the shop or the home, labor 
early and late with little compensation. For the 
mother it is the old round of daily care, the turn-
ing of dresses inside out, planning, hoping, work:11g 
after the children are asleep; for the father it is 
the constant work at the bench, on the farm, or 
over the counter, amid the wearing competition 
of business, till the brain whirls and ho longs for 
a place where he can sit alone for a moment and 
commune with himself. Life is not the rosy 
thing he looked out upon when he was a boy. 
He hardly finds time to look at a paper to see 
what the great busy world is doing around him. 
He is trying to do his duty. But is he giving 
God thanks ? Is life a psalm of praise to him ? is 
he thankful for each day with its dark hours and 
struggles ? 
Perhaps we are in work that is thoroughly 
uncongenial as well as confining; and yet do we 
carry a merry heart that doeth good like a med- 
icine ? Perhaps we are with those who fail to 
appreciate our ability or effort. We find the 
world grasping and each one living for himself. 
Others step in to fill the places we hoped to ob-
tain. Sickness, death even, comes to those who 
are dear to us; yet do we take all as from one 
who knows the end from the beginning, and do 
we in everything give thanks? 
We are perhaps conscious of having made a 
failure on some public occasion where we had 
hoped to do ourselves great credit. Are we con-
tent to leave this with God if we have done our 
best ? It is easy to be thankful for the successes 
of life, but it is poor Christian living that is not 
thankful amid its ills. 
What a world this would be if Christians lived 
up to this high privilege, command even, to be 
constantly thankful. In such a state of mind 
there is no gloom, no fault-finding with the place 
where God puts us; no irritability, no envy that 
another has succeeded, no distrust, but sunshine 
and peace and hope, Let us take this for our 
motto, for one week at least; " In everything give 
thanks." It will be a short, blessed week, and 
God will be honored.—Congregationalist. 
No TIME FOR DOUBTS.—When Dr. 1VIarshman 
was a young man, and at home, he was frequently 
the subject of doubts and fears. On his return 
from India, after nearly thirty years' residence 
and labor there, William Jay said to him—" Well, 
Doctor, how about doubts and fears ?" "Haven't 
had time for them," was the answer. 
" REJOICE in the Lord always." 
FEBRUARY 23, 1882. �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
87 
The Lord's Prayer. Matt. 6 : 9-13. 
Manners and the Bible. 
THERE is no " model letter-writer" comparable 
to the New Testament. Let a young man study 
the letters of St. Paul, and it will have an infi-
nitely better effect on his style than the letters of 
Lord Chesterfield, and this quite apart from the 
effect of their moral and spiritual influence. The 
mere intellectual atmosphere of them will be ele-
vating and refining to an astonishing degree. 
And here we may remark on the influence of 
the Bible on mere manners. It invariably makes 
its readers more courteous and polite, and just, 
too, in proportion to the degree in which they are 
imbued with its spirit and teaching. Let a rough 
boor become converted, and let him begin to read 
and love his Bible, and he grows upward toward 
the gentleman from that hour. " The entrance 
of thy words giveth light; it giveth understand-
ing unto the simple." It cannot be otherwise, 
because the Bible brings his mind perpetually into 
" good society." He may be wholly cut off from 
this in the actual world—though a religious poor 
man has here an advantage over his irreligious 
compeer, for, at any rate, on Sundays he comes 
into contact with superior society in at least the 
pulpit of his church or chapel—but when he 
reads his Bible he is brought into the society of 
the highest and most refined minds that ever 
existed. And how can it but be that all this 
should, perhaps insensibly, but at the same time 
very certainly, elevate, polish, and refine ? " He 
that walketh with wise men shall be wise;" or, 
as the Persian proverb beautifully expresses it, 
" Even the pebble will become fragrant if it lie 
beside the rose;" and he that thus enjoys the 
society of gentlemen can hardly fail to become 
one too. 
Experience has shown this: other things being 
equal, as the acquaintance of men with their Bible, 
so their mien and manners in regard to.the stand- 
ard of mere gentility. Does a parent wish to 
introduce his child into " good society ?" Let 
him introduce him into a love of his Bible. Are 
young men and young women ambitious of self-
culture even in regard to manners ? And would 
they like to enter a good school of deportment ? 
Let them enter into the society of the characters 
of the Bible. 
But does some sharp reader say, How is it, 
then, that instances of discourtesy occur among 
professing Christians ? My reply is, first, that it 
is one thing to be a professing Christian, and an-
other thing to be a real and worthy one; sec-
ondly, that it is quite possible to be a truly con-
verted one, and yet be very far from being a model 
or a winsome one; thirdly, that even in the case 
of an uncourteous Christian, depend upon it the 
man's native bearishness would have been vastly 
more bearish if he had not been a Christian. In 
such a case, it is not the Christianity of the man 
that is to blame, but rather his defect of it. He 
is a defective Christian because he has neglected 
the special duty "to put off concerning the former 
conversation the old man "—in his case, that very 
ugly old man—and to put on by self-discipline, 
culture and prayer, gentleness and courtesy, and 
all the other graces of the new man. 
Christianity recognizes the fact that Christians 
have faults. But it does not allow them, and it 
urges us to correct them. " I speak this to your 
shame," said St. Paul to Christians. And there is 
much now that may be spoken to our shame; and 
we fear that want of courtesy and true gracious-
ness is very conspicuous under this category. 
But when the Spirit of God says to us by St. 
Peter, "Adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour 
in all things," sure we are that he would have us 
specially remember that exhortation which he 
gives by the same apostle—" Be courteous."—
From Winsome Christianity, by the Rev. Richard 
Glover. 
John Bunyan as a Preacher. 
THE world-wide fame of Bunyan as a writer has 
somewhat thrown into the shade his character as 
a preacher, but it is not less true that in the latter 
capacity he was distinguished by rare gifts and 
extraordinary success. When Charles II. once 
asked Dr. Owen (one of the greatest divines of 
that age), " How a learned man, such as he, could 
sit and listen to an illiterate tinker ?" Dr. Owen 
replied, ." May it please your Majesty, could 1 
possess that tinker's gift for preaching, I would 
most gladly relinquish all my learning." 
Bunyan often preached in the open air for the 
very good reason that the enly available buildings 
were much too small to accommodate the crowds 
that flocked to hear him. His friend, Charles 
Doe, says : " When Mr. Bunyan preached in Lon-
don, if there were but one day's notice given, 
there would be more people come together to hear 
him than the meeting-house would hold. I have 
seen, to hear him preach, by my computation, 
about twelve hundred at a morning lecture by 
seven o'clock on a working day, in the dark 
winter time. 1 also computed about three thou-
sand that came to hear him one Lord's day in 
London, at a town's end meeting-house, so that 
half were fain to go back again for want of room, 
and then himself was fain, at a back door, to be 
pulled almost over people to get up stairs to his 
pulpit." 
Even during his twelve year's imprisonment in 
Bedford Jail he was not altogether debarred from 
preaching. By the favor of the jailor he was 
allowed to leave the prison,' not merely to visit his 
family, but to undertake longer journeys to Lon-
don, Reading, or elsewhere. It is said that dur-
ing this period he visited the latter town and 
preached, disguised as a carter with a whip in his 
hand. Once when absent from jail he became so 
uneasy, that though the time had not arrived at 
which he had promised the jailor to return, he re-
solved to do so at once. As the hour was late, 
the jailor was surprised to see him and complained 
of being called out of his bed to re-admit him. 
But one of his enemies, suspecting the lenity with 
which Bunyan was treated, arrived shortly after, 
and demanded to know whether the prisoners 
were all safe. Being assured that they were, he 
went on to ask whether Bunyan was in custody. 
" Yes," was the reply. " Let me see him." Bun-
yan was called and appeared in reply to the sum- 
mons. When the inquisitor had departed, the 
jailor said to his prisoner : " You may go out 
when you will, for you know better when to 
return than I can tell you." 
His vigorous Anglo-Saxon words, his intense 
earnestness, his command of Scripture illustration, 
his graphic description of the terrible consequen-
ces of sin, and his eloquent setting forth of the 
peerless glories and attractions of the Saviour of 
sinners, gave him, under God, ready entrance to 
the heart of his hearers. " Whoso can speak well 
is a Man," said Martin Luther, and seldom has the 
saying been more finely exemplified than in the 
case of Bunyan.—Christian Herald. 
A Few Vulgarisms. 
ASKING questions, private and personal, is one 
vular habit, and telling your own business, which 
no one wants to hear, is another. Asking the 
cost of a present that has been made to you; 
"pumping " a servant to hear what has been 
given by way of parting vail; loud talking in 
public; hard staring at table, insolent disrespect 
to husband, wife, sister or brother; showing tem-
per in trifles and making scenes in public; show-
ing an embarrassing amount of fondness and 
making love in public; covert sneers, of which 
people can see the animus if they do not always 
understand the drift; persistent egotism, which 
talks, itself, itself, itself, only itself, and cannot 
even feign the most passing interest in another; 
detraction of friends and it may be of relations—
a husband telling of his wife's unpleasantness, a 
wife complaining of her husband's faults; the 
bold assumption of superiority, and the servile 
confession of infinite unworthiness; all these are 
signs and evidences of vulgarity—vulgarity of 
a far worse type than that which eats its fish 
with a steel knife, and says " you was " and 
" each of the men were." In fact, true vulgarity 
resolves into that central point of evil—selfishness. 
The unselfish can never be really vulgar. They 
may be uncouth, but they cannot be more; while 
the best top-dressing of manner to be found in 
the whole world cannot make the substance re-
fined, where that one foul canker of egotism and 
indifference to others lies at the heart of things.—
Ex. 
THE tendency of the church to fondle and pet 
persons brought from the lowest depths of wick-
edness, more than they do those who have never 
fallen into such disgrace, and thus to put a price 
on infamy at the expense of respectability, is thus 
commented on by a writer in the St. Louis Evan-
gelist: "When Paul remembered his past sins of 
persecuting the church of Christ, he said he was 
not meet to be called an apostle. He did not 
think his sin was any credit to him. He confessed 
his sins with tears hot with repentance. He never 
referred to them with smiles and jokes, aiming to 
create laughter. lie never hinted that he was a 
better preacher because he was such a bad sinner. 
Many of our modern reformers do these things, 
and many Christian people endorse them by lis-
tening to them and laughing at their rehearsals 
of drunkenness and dishonesty.—Seleeted. 
As A lady and her daughter were passing out 
of the church door the child bade good-bye to a 
very poorly dressed little girl. " How did you 
come to know her ?" inquired the surprised mother. 
" Why, you see, mamma, she came into our Sun-
day-school alone, and I made a place for her on 
my seat, and I smiled, and she smiled, and then 
we were acquainted." It would be a good rule 
for grown-up people in church. If you are in 
first, and a stranger enters, make room for him 
and smile, and then he will smile, and you will 
be acquainted.—Sel. 
IT is a great deal better to live holy than to 
talk about it. We are told to let our light shine, 
and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody 
that it does. The light will be its own witness. 
Light-houses don't ring bells and fire cannon to 
call attention to their shining; they just shine.—
Moody. 
A CERTAIN preacher was very warmly com-
mended by one of his hearers: The flattered man 
was pleased, but he was taken down a peg when 
the flatterer added: " I don't believe in any preach-
ing at all; and yours comes as near to none as 
any I have ever heard." 
" OUR FATHER." " Not your Father alone, or 
mine, especially, but the Father of all the nations 
on the face of the earth. Acts 17 : 26 ; Rom. 
8 : 15-17. " Who art in Heaven." God has a 
home ; he who has implanted a love of home in 
our hearts, certainly has a home of his own. See 
2 Chron. 6 : 21, 30. " Hallowed be thy name." 
Reverence for God and all his attributes is one of 
the most important elements of worship and de-
votion. See Lev. 22 : 32. 
Thy kingdom come." The kingdom here es- 
pecially referred to, is the kingdom of glory, to be 
established upon the earth made new. See 2 Peter 
3 : 13 ; Isa. 65 : 17 ; Rev. 21 : 1. " Thy will be 
done on earth as it is in Heaven." Never will 
this petition be realized to its full extent till the 
earth is made new. See Rev. 21 :1-5; Isa. 65 : 17- 
25. �
"Give us this day our daily bread." God alone 
can give us fruitful seasons and rebuke the de-
stroyers of the fruits of the earth. He can keep 
us alive even in famine. Mal. 3 : 11 ; Isa. 33 : 16. 
We should not be over-anxious about to-morrow's 
supply. See Matt. 6.: 34. " And forgive us our 
debts as we forgive our debtors." Here is the 
most difficult and hazardous of all petitions. 
Who would dare to even think or speak evil of 
any one, after making this petition to God. Often 
it is as if one would say, Let others attack me in 
my reputation and my estate, as I have dealt with 
theirs. What a terrible state of things would 
presently be inaugurated if God would literally 
answer this prayer. See Matt. 7 : 12. When 
making this petition we should not forget to ask 
for help to love our enemies. 
"And lead us not into temptation." Here is 
where so many fail ; they feel strong in them-
selves, and when tried by tempting baits they are 
trapped at once ; defalcations, coveteousness, lust, 
and all varieties of wickedness have each a trap 
or snare peculiar to themselves ; and these are 
God's detectives. Reader, let us pray, that we 
may be forewarned, to detect the snare and flee the 
first appearance of evil. 2 Peter 2 : 9. 
" But deliver us from evil." If all would daily 
and hourly present to God this petition, how many 
dreadful accidents by land and sea -would be 
avoided, and how many lives of holiness would be, 
instead of the moral wrecks we see, everywhere in 
this world. See John 17 : 15. 
" For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and 
the glory forever. Amen." See Rev. 5 : 13, 14. 
Let us daily present this sublime, comprehensive 
prayer slowly, carefully, reverently, grasping as 
far as possible its far-reaching, elevating spirit, 
concentrating all our powers upon each petition. 
JOSEPH CLARKE. 
88 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
VoL. 8, No. 8. 
sidered himself fully empowered to proceed with 
the building of the city and the wall ; and it is 
evident that he understood, further, that the con-
ditional prophecies concerning his people were 
then fulfilled, from the closing word of that prayer 
in which he says, " Should we again break thy 
commandments, and join in affinity with the 
people of these abominations, wouldst thou not be 
angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that 
there should be no remnant nor escaping?" 
6. Reckoning from the commission to Nehe-
miah, B. c. 444, the dates throughout are entirely 
disarranged ; for from that point the troublous 
times which were to attend the building of the 
street and wall, did not last seven weeks, or forty-
nine years. Reckoning from that date, the sixty-
nine weeks or 483 years, which were to extend to 
the Messiah the Prince, bring us to A. D. 40 ; but 
Jesus was baptized of John in Jordan and the 
voice of his Father was heard from heaven declar-
ing him his Son, in A. D. 27, thirteen years before 
According to this calculation, the midst of the last 
or seventieth, week, which is marked by the'. 
crucifixion, is placed in A. D. 44, but the crucifixion 
took place in A. D. 31, thirteen years previous. 
And lastly, the seventy weeks, or 490 years, dated 
from the twentieth of Artaxerxes, extend to A. D. 
47, with absolutely nothing to mark their ter- 
mination. Hence if that be the year, and the grant 
to Nehemiah the event from which to reckon, the 
prophecy has proved a failure. As it is, it only 
proves that theory a failure which dates the sev-
enty weeks from Nehemiah's commission in the 
twentieth of Artaxerxes. 
7. Will these dates harmonize if we reckon from 
the decree of Ezra ? Let us see. In this case, 
457 B. C. is our starting-point. Forty-nine years 
were allotted to the building of the city and the 
wall. On this point, Prideaux, Connec., vol. i, p. 
322, says : " In the fifteenth year of Darius 
Nothus, ended the first seven weeks of Daniel's 
prophecy. For then the restoration of the church 
and state of the Jews in Jerusalem arid Judea was 
fully finished, in that last act of reformation which 
is recorded in the thirteenth chapter of Nehemiah, 
from the twenty-third verse to the end of the 
chapter, just forty-nine years after it had been 
commenced by Ezra, in the seventh year of Arta-
xerxes Longimanus. 
So far we find harmony. Let us apply the 
measuring-rod of the prophecy still further. 
Sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years, were to extend to 
Messiah the Prince. Dating from B. C. 457, they 
end in A. D. 27. And what event then occurred ? 
Luke thus informs us : " Now when all the people 
were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also, 
being baptized, and praying, the heaven was 
opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily 
shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came 
from Heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved 
son ; in thee I am well pleased." Luke 3 : 21, 22, 
margin A. D. 27. After this, Jesus came " into 
Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of 
God, and saying, The time is fulfilled." The time 
here mentioned must have been some specific, de-
finite, and predicted period ; but no prophetic 
period can be found then terminating, except the 
sixty-nine weeks of the prophecy of Daniel, which 
were to extend to Messiah the Prince. The Mes-
siah had now COMH and with his own lips he an-
nounced the termination of that period which was 
to be marked by his manifestation.* 
CHAPTER IX.-THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 
VERSE 25. Know therefore and understand, that from the 
going forth of the commandment to restore and to build 
Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, 
and threescore and two weeks : the street shall be built 
again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26. And after 
threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not 
for himself ; and the people of the prince that shall come, 
shall destroy the city and the sanctuary ; and the end thereof 
shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations 
are determined. 27. And he shall confirm the covenant with 
many for one week ; and in the midst of the week he shall 
cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease, and for the over-
spreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even 
until the consummation, and that determined shall be 
poured upon the desolate. 
The angel now gives to Daniel the event which 
la to mark the commencement of the seventy 
weeks. They were to date from the going forth 
of a commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. 
And not only is the event given which was to de-
termine the time of the commencement of this 
period, but those events also which were to trans-
pire at its close. Thus a double test is provided 
by which to try the application of this prophecy. 
But more than this, the period of seventy weeks is 
divided into three grand divisions, and one of 
these is again divided, and the intermediate events 
are given which were to mark the termination of 
each one of these divisions. If now, we can find 
a date which will harmonize with all these events, 
we have, beyond a doubt, the true application ; 
for none but that which is correct could meet and 
fulfill so many conditions. Let the reader take in 
at one view the points of harmony to be made, 
that he may be the better prepared to guard 
against a false application. First, we are to find 
at the commencement of the period, a command- 
ment going forth to restore and build Jerusalem. 
To• this work of restoration seven weeks are 
allotted. As we reach the end of this first division, 
seven weeks from the commencement, we are to 
Lid, secondly, Jerusalem, in its material aspect, 
restored, the work of building the street and the 
:wall fully accomplished. From this point, sixty-
:two weeks are measured off ; and as we reach the 
termination of this division, sixty-nine weeks from 
the beginning, we are to see, thirdly, the mani-
festation, before the world, of Messiah the Prince. 
One .week more is given us, completing the sev-
enty. And, fourthly, in the midst of this week, 
the Messiah is to be cut off, and cause the sacrifice 
and oblation to cease ; and, fifthly, when the last 
week of that period which was allotted to the 
Jews as the time during which they were to be the 
special people of God expires, we naturally look 
for the going forth of the blessing and work of 
God to other people. 
We now inquire for the date which will har-
monize wii.h all these particulars. The command 
was to include more than mere building. There 
was to be restoration ; .by which we must under-
stand all the forms and regulations of civil, pol-
itical, and judicial society. When did such a com-
mand go forth ? At the time these words were 
spoken to Daniel, Jerusalem lay in complete and 
utter desolation, and had thus been lying for sev-
enty years. The restoration pointed to in the 
future, must be its restoration from this desolation. 
We then inquire, When and how was Jerusalem 
restored after the seventy years' captivity ? 
There are but four events that can be taken as 
answering to the commandment to restore and 
build Jerusalem. These are, 1. The decree of 
Cyrus for the re-building of the house of God, B. C. 
536. Ez. 1 : 1-4. 2. The decree of Darius for the 
prosecution of that work which had been hindered, 
B. c. 519. Ez. 6 : 1-12. 3. The decree of Arta-
xerxes to Ezra, B. c.-557. Ezra 7. 4. The com-
mission to Nehemiah from the same king in his 
twentieth year, B. C. 444. Neh. 2. 
Dating from the first two of these decrees, the 
seventy weeks, being weeks of' years, 490 years in 
all, would fall many years short of reaching even 
to the Christian era ; besides, these decrees had 
reference principally to the restoration of the 
temple and the temple-worship of the Jews, and 
not to the restoration of their civil state and polity, 
all of which. must be included in the expression, 
" to restore and build Jerusalem." 
These made a commencement of the work. 
They were preliminary to what was afterward 
accomplished. But of themselves they are alto-
gether insufficient, both in their dates and in their 
nature, to meet the requirements of the prophecy; 
and thus failing in every respect, they cannot be 
brought into the controversy as marking the point 
from which the seventy weeks are to date. The 
only question now lies between the decrees which 
were granted to Ezra and to Nehemiah. 
The facts between which we are to decide here, 
are briefly these : In 457 B. C., a decree was 
granted to Ezra by the Persian emperor, Arta-
xerxes Longimanus, to go up to Jerusalem with 
as many of his people as were minded to go with 
him. The commission granted him an unlimited 
amount of treasure to beautify the house of God, 
procure offerings for its service, and to do what-
ever else might seem good unto him. It empow-
ered him to ordain laws, set magistrates and 
judges, and execute punishment even unto death; 
in other words, to restore the Jewish state, civil 
and ecclesiastical, according to the law of God and 
the ancient customs of that people. Inspiration 
has seen fit to preserve this decree ; and a full and 
accurate copy of it is given in the seventh chapter 
of the book of Ezra. In the original this decree is 
given, not in Hebrew, like the rest of the book of 
Ezra, but in Chaldaic (or Eastern Aramaic), the 
language then used at Babylon and thus we are 
furnished with the original document, by virtue of 
which Ezra was authorized to restore and build 
Jerusalem. 
Thirteen years after this, in the twentieth year 
of the same king, B. c. 144, Nehemiah sought and 
obtained permission to go up to Jerusalem. Neh. 
2. Permission was granted him, but we have no 
evidence that it was anything more than verbal. 
It pertained to him individually, nothing being 
said about others going up with him. The king 
asked him how long a journey he wished to make, 
and when he would return. He received letters 
to the governors beyond the river, to help him on 
his way to Judah, and an order to the king's forest 
ihr timber for beams, etc. When he arrived at 
Jerusalem, he found rulers and priests, nobles and 
people, already engaged in the work of building 
Jerusalem. Neh. 2 : 16. These were, of course, 
acting under the decree given to Ezra thirteen 
years before. And finally, Nehemiah, having ar-
rived at Jerusalem, finished the work he came to 
accomplish, in fifty-two days. Neh. 6 : 15. 
Now which of these commissions, Ezra's or 
Nehemiah's, constitutes the decree fbr the restora-
tion of Jerusalem, from which the seventy weeks 
are to be dated ? It hardly seems that there can 
be any question on this point. 
The grant to Nehemiah cannot be called a 
decree. It was necessary that a Persian decree 
should be put in writing, and signed by the king. 
Dan. 6 : 8. Such was the document given to Ezra; 
but Nehemiah had nothing of the kind, his com-
mission being only verbal. If it be said that the 
letters given him constituted the decree, then the 
decree was issued, not to Nehemiah, but to the 
governors beyond the river ; besides, these would 
constitute a series of decrees, and not one decree, 
as the prophecy contemplates. 
The occasion of Nehemiah's petition to the 
king for permission to go up to Jerusalem was the 
report which certain ones, returning, had brought 
from thence, that those in the province were in 
great. affliction and reproach, that the wall of 
Jerusalem was also broken down and the gates 
thereof burnt with fire. Neh. 1. Whose work 
were these walls and gates that were broken down 
and burned with fire ? Evidently the work of 
Ezra and his associates ; for it cannot for a 
moment be 'supposed that the utter destruction of 
the city by Nebuchadnezzar, 144 years previous 
to that time, would have been reported to Nehe-
miah as a matter of news, nor that he would have 
considered it, as he evidently did, a fresh mis-
fortune calling for a fresh expression of grief. A 
decree, therefore, authorizing the building of 
these, had gone forth previous to the grant to 
Nehemiah. 
if any should contend that Nehemiah's com-
mission must be a decree, because the object, of his 
request was that he might build the city, it is suffi-
cient to reply as shown above, that gates and 
walls had been built previous to his going up ; 
besides, the work of building which he went to 
perform was accomplished in fifty-two days ; 
whereas, the prophecy allows for the building of 
the city, seven weeks, or forty-nine years. 
There was nothing granted to Nehemiah 
which was not embraced in the decree to Ezra ; 
while the latter had all the forms and conditions 
of a decree, and was vastly more ample in its pro-
visions. 
It is evident from the prayer of Ezra, as re- 
*Luke declares that Jesus "began to be about thirty years 
of age " at the time of his baptism ; Luke '2: 23 ; and almost 
immediately after this he entered upon his ministry. How, 
then, could his ministry commence in A. D. :27, and he still be 
of the age named by Luke ? The answer to this question is 
found in the fact that Christ was born between three and 
four years before the beginning of the Christian Era, that is, 
before the year marked A. D. 1. The mistake of dating the 
Christian Era something over three years this side of the 
birth of Christ, instead of dating it from the year of his birth, 
as it was designed to be, arose on this wise : One of the most 
important of ancient eras was that reckoned from the build-
ing of the city of Rome--ah urbe condita, expressed by the 
abreviation A. U. c., or more briefly u. c. In the year which 
is now numbered A. D. 532, Dyonisius Exiguus, a Scythian 
by birth and a Roman Abbot, who flourished in the reign of 
Justinian, invented the Christian Era. According to the best 
evidence at his command, he placed the birth of Christ in the 
year u. c. 753. But Christ was born before the death of 
Herod ; and it was afterward ascertained on the clearest ev-
idence that the death of Herod occurred in April u. c. 750. 
Allowing a few months for the events recorded in Christ's 
life before the time of Herod's death, his birth is carried back 
to the latter part of U. c. 749, a little over three years before 
A. D. 1. Christ was therefore thirty years of age in A. D. 27. 
" The Vulgar [common] Era began to prevail in the West 
about the time of Charles Martel, and Pope Gregory II. A. 
D. 730 ; but was not sanctioned by any public Acts or Re-
scripts, till the first German Synod, in the time of Carolo- 
Thoughts on Daniel. 
BY ELD. U. SMITH. 
corded in chapter 9 : 9, of his book, that be con- manna, Duke of the Franks, which, in the preface, was said 
FEBRUARY 23, 1882. �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
89 
Here again is indisputable harmony. But fur-
ther : the Messiah was to confirm the covenant 
with many for one week. This would be the last 
week of the seventy, or the last seven years of the 
490. In the midst of the week, the prophecy in-
forms us, he should cause the sacrifice and ob-
lation to cease. These Jewish ordinances, point-
ing to the death of Christ, could cease only at the 
cross ; and there they did virtually come to an 
end, though the outward observance was kept up 
till the .lestruction of Jerusalem A. D. 70. After 
threescore and two weeks, according to the record, 
the Messiah was to be cut off. It is the same as 
if it had read, And after threescore and two weeks, 
in the midst of the seventieth week, shall Messiah 
be cut off and cause the sacrifice and oblation to 
cease. Now as the word midst here means middle, 
according to an abundance of authority which we 
might produce, if necessary, the crucifixion is de-
finitely located in the middle of the seventieth 
week. 
.abbath-riurtIl. 
The Infirm Woman Healed. 
LUKE 13 : 10-17. 
WE take the following paragraph from Scott's 
comments on this scripture:— 
" This woman must have attended the worship 
of God with great difficulty, as she was so bowed 
together, that she could in no wise lift up her-
self,' but was forced to go almost double. The 
calamity under which she had so lone.
h 
 labored, 
would in general have been considered as a very 
remarkable disease, arising from some known or 
unknown natural cause; but it was at that time 
justly ascribed to an evil spirit; so that in fact 
Satan had bound her eighteen years.' Our Lord, 
seeine•
r' 
 her in this afflicted state, called her to him, 
and by his word, attended with the laying on of 
his hands, immediately restored her; and, being 
made straight, she glorified God before all, for 
this most desirable and unexpected deliverance. 
But the ruler of the synagogue, who evidently 
hated the doctrine, and envied the honor of Christ, 
yet attempted to veil his enmity with the appear-
ance of singular piety, told the people in anger, 
that they ought to come for healing other days, 
and not on the holy rest of the Sabbath; as if the 
woman had come to the synagogue on purpose 
for a cure; or as if a word and a touch, attended 
with so powerful and beneficent an effect, could 
break the Sabbath! The malice and hypocrisy of 
the man were therefore evident, and our Lord 
severely rebuked him; showing, that none, even 
of the Scribes and Pharisees, scrupled to water 
their cattle on the Sabbath-day, though it was 
attended with some labor, and was necessary only 
to preserve the animals ro
m �
the uneasiness of a 
day's thirst, or the owner from some temporal 
loss which might result from it; and could it then 
be questoned, whether it were right to relieve a 
rational creature, a descendant of Abraham 
(probaby an heir of his faith), from her long-
continued calamity, on that holy day; even if it 
had been effected by labor? This reply was so 
satisfactory and conclusive, that it silenced and 
put to shame the ruler, and all the other adver-
saries of Jesus, and caused the people to rejoice 
in his glor:ous miracles, as so many proofs of his 
being the promised Messiah." 
Notice how the ruler of the synagogue tried to 
stir up popular feeling against Jesus. Although 
Jesus and the woman were the only parties to 
the transaction, and had there been any guilt, 
he alone was responsible, yet the ruler did not 
reprove him, but "said unto the people, There are 
six days in which men ought to work; in them, 
therefore, come and be healed, and not on the 
Sabbath-day." 
The reader will also notice how adroitly Jesus 
vindicated his action; taking the Pharisees on their 
own ground. On the ground that they were for-
bidden to bear a burden on the Sabbath-day, they 
could not carry water to a thirsty animal, but 
could "loose" it and lead it to the water. Christ's 
argument, then, was: If it is allowable to loose a 
beast on the Sabbath-day, and lead him to water, 
that it may not suffer even for one day, how much 
to be assembled Anno ab incarnations Porn. 742, 11 Calendas 
Maii.' But it was not established till the time of pope Eu-
genius IV. A. D. 1431, who ordered this era to be used in the 
public Registers ; according to Mariana and others. "—Hales' 
Chronology vol. i, pp. 83, 84. See also "Life of our Lord," 
by S. J._ Andrews. 
more allowable must it not be, that this woman 
who has been bound, and suffering, for eighteen 
years, should be loosed from this bond on the 
Sabbath ? The argument was unanswerable, and 
convicted them at once of hypocrisy. As show-
ing the completeness of their defeat, the Vulgate 
in this instance, affords a good commentary. The 
word for " they were ashamed," is erubescebant, 
" they began to grow red in the face, to blush." 
Thoughts on John 10 : 27-29. 
MY sheep hear my voice, and I know them, 
and they follow me; and I give unto them eter-
nal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall 
any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, 
which gave them me, is greater than all; and no 
man is able to pluck them out of my Father's 
hand." This scripture should fill every follower 
of Christ with encouragement. So long as they 
hear his voice, and follow where it leads, they 
are safe. No one, not even Satan, can snatch 
them away. God is " greater than all." Though 
trials and temptations may come, "God is faithful, 
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that 
ye are able; but will with the temptation provide 
a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 
1 Cor. 10 : 13. Christ also says: " In the world 
ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; 
I have overcome the world." John 16 : 33. And 
to strengthen the assurance, he adds: " I and my 
Father are one." When both the Father and the 
Son unite for man's salvation what confidence 
may we feel! 
But while we gain courage from the fact that 
he is " able to save them to the uttermost that 
come unto God by him," we are not to be pre-
sumptuous. Jesus said, " No man is able to pluck 
them out of my Father's hand," but be did not 
say that no man could take himself out. This 
scripture has been perverted, and made to teach 
that no follower of Christ can fall away. That 
this view is incorrect, is shown by many passages. 
We are exhorted thus: " Hold that fast which 
thou hast, that no man take thy crown." Rev. 
3 : 11. We are told also: " He that shall endure 
unto the end, the same shall be saved." Matt. 
24 : 13. For positive testimony, see Heb. 6 : 4-6. 
Our Lord says also: " If a man abide not in me, 
he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and 
men gather them, and cast them into the fire. 
and they are burned." John 15 : 6. See also 
Rev. 4 : 2-5; 3 : 16. 
The case, then, stands thus: So long as we hear 
the voice of Christ, and are content to follow him, 
trusting him humbly and implicitly, no harm can 
befall us; his strength will enable us to repel all 
attacks; but when we begin to trust ourselves, 
we take ourselves out of his hands; or refusing 
longer to listen to his voice, we are cast out. Lot 
us all heed the words of the apostle Paul: " Be-
cause of unbelief they were broken off, and thou 
standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear." 
E. J. W. 
Jesus at the Feast of the Dedication. 
IT was now near the end of Khislev—the cold 
month—equivalent to part of our November and 
December. The twenty-fifth of the month, which, 
according to Wiesoler, fell this year, on the 20th 
of December, was, with the next seven days, a 
time of universal rejoicing ; for the Dedication 
Festival, in commemoration of the renewal of the 
temple worship, after its suspension under Anti-
ochus Epiphanes, was held through the week. 
Jesus, ever pleased to mingle in innocent joys, 
and glad to seize the opportunity for proclaiming 
the now kingdom, which the gatherings of the 
season afforded, once more returned to Jerusalem 
to attend it. He had been in the neighborhood 
since the feast of tabernacles, nearly three months 
before, and this visit would be the last, till. his 
final entry, to die. 
The weather had been wet and rough, so that 
he was fain to avail himself, like the crowds, of 
the shelter of the arcade running along the east 
side of the temple inclosure, known as Solomon's 
porch, from a fragment of the first temple, left 
standing by Nebuchadnezzar. 
The rain drove the people from the open courts, 
and Jesus, like others, was in the porch, appar-
ently without his disciples. The time was fitted 
to wake the old temptation of ambition, had it 
had any charms. How easily might he eclipse 
the hero of all this rejoicing, and by his super-
natural powers achieve victories,, compared with 
which those of Judas MaccabEeus would be nothing! 
But he had far nobler aims. 
The Pharisaic party, themselves, may have had 
such secret thoughts in connection with him. Be 
this as it may, they now suddenly came and began 
to ask him if he would not, at last, relieve their 
minds by some direct and express declaration 
whether he were the Messiah or not. " We have 
waited long and anxiously," said they, " for some 
decisive word. If thou art the Messiah, tell us 
openly." 
" I have already told you," answered Jesus, 
"both by the witness of the miracles I have done 
in my Father's name, and in words, but you have 
not believed me, because, as I said not long ago, 
you are not my disciples, or, as I love to call 
them, my sheep. if you had been, you would 
have believed in me. You may, yourselves, see 
that you are not of my flock, for those who are so, 
listen to my voice, and I know them, and they 
follow me, as sheep know and listen to the voice 
of their shepherd, and are known by him, and 
follow him. Nothing, indeed, can be more close 
and abiding than my relations to them, for I lead 
them not to mere earthly good, but give them 
eternal life, and am their shepherd hereafter as 
well as here ; taking care that they shall never 
perish, and that no one, even beyond death, shall 
snatch them out of my hand. Moreover, being in 
my hand, they are, in effect, in that of my Father, 
for he is ever with me, and works by me. He 
gave them to me at first, and he still guards them, 
nor can any one snatch them from his hands, for 
he is greater than all the powers of earth and 
hell. Wonder not if I speak of their being both 
in my Father's hands and in mine, for I and the 
Father are One." 
The excitable, fanatical crowd had listened 
patiently till the last words, which seemed the 
most audacious blasphemy—a claim of essential 
oneness with the Almighty. In a moment they 
were once more scattered in search of stones, with 
which to kill him, for what they deemed his crime, 
and presently gathered round him with them, to 
fell him to the earth. But Jesus remained undis-
mayed. " I have done many great works of 
mercy," said he calmly, " which show that the 
Father is with me, because they could only come 
from the presence of his power. They are enough 
to show you that he thinks me no blaspemer. For 
which of these mighty works will you stone me ?" 
"We would not think of stoning thee for a good 
work," answered the crowd ; " it is for your blas-
phemy---that you, a man, should make yourself 
God.' 
" Is it not written in your law," replied Jesus, 
" of the rulers of Israel, the representatives and 
earthly embodiments of the majesty of Jehovah, 
your invisible king, �
said ye are gods 1' If God 
himself called them gods, to whom this utterance 
of his came,--oud you cannot deny the authority 
of Scripture,—how can you say of me,—whom the 
Father has consecrated to a far higher office than 
ruler, or even prophet—to that of Messiah ; and 
whom he has not only thus set apart to this great 
office, but sent into the world clothed with the 
mighty powers I have shown, and the fullness of 
grace and truth you now see in me.—that I blas-
pheme, because I have said I am God's Son? Your 
unbelief in me, which is the ground of the charge, 
would have some excuse if I did not perform such 
works as prove me to have been sent by my 
Father. But if 1 do such works, then believe 
them, if you will not believe me ' • that you may 
thus learn and know that what I have said is true 
—that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." 
They had waited for a retractation, but had 
heard a defense. Instantly hands were thrust out 
on every side to lay hold on him, and lead him 
outside the temple to stone him ; but he shrank 
back into the crowd, and passing through it, es-
caped.—Geikie. 
Ir a teacher is questioning a scholar about the 
scholar's personal feelings or history, he may 
properly ask a question without knowing what 
answer to expect. But if the question is about 
the lesson of the day, or about any great truth or 
doctrine, the teacher ought to have in mind the 
answer ho looks for, before he shapes the ques-
tion ; and then the question ought to be so 
shaped as to bring just that answer—as the only 
proper one. Nine times out of ten, a poor answer 
is evidence of a poorer question, in a Sunday-school 
class.—S. S. Times. 
A GOOD teacher is always a good learner. 
90 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
VoL. 8, No. 8. 
male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 
And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and 
heirs according to the promise." Gal. 3 : 28, 29. And 
so also of the token: that is no more circumcision which 
is outward in the flesh, but circumcision is that of the 
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter. But if these 
terms are thus enlarged, and all admit that they are, 
there is no incongruity in having the land itself enlarged 
in like manner. 
In Rom. 4 : 11, the token, circumcision, is entitled a 
sign and seal. Eph. 1 :13, 14, says, " Ye were sealed 
with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of 
our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased 
possession." We here learn that the inheritance, already 
purchased, is yet to be redeemed, and we receive the 
token, earnest, or assurance, thereof until its redemption. 
The sign reaches no further than to the thing signified; 
and we have the earnest or assurance reaching to the 
point of realization, but it would be no assurance beyond 
that point. But as the earnest reaches to the redemp-
tion, it is clear that our inheritance cannot be fully 
realized till the purchased possession is redeemed. This 
proves conclusively that the earth renewed, or new 
earth, is the subject of the promise of the Abrahamic 
covenant. And Jesus, the heir and mediator, is now 
ministering for individuals of both dispensations, or for 
transgressions under both covenants, that " they which 
are called might receive the promise of eternal inherit-
ance." Heb. 9 :15. All who lived under the first cove-
nant were transgressors; of course, they forfeited the 
promised blessings of that covenant. But Jesus secures 
to the faithful among them an eternal inheritance-not 
a mere temporal possession; and not under the curse as 
it is at this time, but redeemed. So that the hope of all 
is now made to rest on the promise of " an inheritance 
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.', 
1 Pet. 1 :4. As before said, to inherit is to possess 
through heirship; and if we receive an inheritance re-
deemed, incorruptible, and undefiled, these conditions 
must necessarily be attached to the possession named in 
the will. This will is the Abrahamic covenant; Jesus 
is its " testator " and mediator: the earth redeemed from 
the curse is the promised possession; and the faithful in 
Christ, of every tongue and nation, are the heirs. 
2. The Kingdom. A few remarks only are required on 
this subject. It will be remembered that the promises 
of the kingdom to the descendants of Jacob were con-
ditional, and that they were forfeited under the old 
covenant; and the kingdom can now only be obtained 
by obtaining an interest in Jesus, the son and heir of 
David. See Ps. 89 :20-37. The fact that they forfeited 
and lost their right to the kingdom is stated directly by 
the Saviour, in Matt. 21 :43: " Therefore I say unto you, 
The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given 
to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." And 
again, it is said that the poor of this world, rich in faith, 
are " heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to 
them that love him." James 2 :5. 
Poverty of spirit and love to God, not birth or natural 
descent, are the requisites to heirship of the kingdom. 
And to the righteous of " all nations " the King will 
say: " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king-
dom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." 
Matt. 25 : 31-34. 
Zite 
i.git0 �
tht Tfinme. 
"Can ye not discern the signs of the times ?" 
J. H. WAGGONER, �
 EDITOR. 
 
J. N. ANDREWS, t CORRESPONDING EDITORS. 
URIAH SMITH, 
OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1882. 
Promises to Israel. 
IN our former articles we noticed to whom the prom-
ises were made, namely, to the seed of Abraham, with-
out regard to their birth or nationality; also the time 
and manner of their fulfillment. We will now briefly 
examine the promises themselves, that is, the subject 
matters promised. and this examination will confirm the 
conclusion to which we arrived in the previous articles. 
1. The Land. The promise of the land cannot be 
fulfilled under the old covenant, for, (1) They forfeited 
all claims under that covenant. (2) That has passed 
away and been superceded by the new. (3) It is an 
offense against the new covenant, or the gospel, to revive 
or " build again " the old. Gal. 2 :18. (4) The priests, 
or mediators, of that covenant, could not take away their 
sins, Heb. 10 :1-4, and, therefore, they could not recover 
under it, what they lost by transgression. These points 
are sufficient to settle the question. 
And this is confirmed by the word of the Lord who 
gave as a reason for making a new covenant with them, 
that they had broken the other. Although he had 
promised to be their God, and that they should be to 
him a peculiar treasure above all people, yet by reason 
of their rebellion, he could not consistently perform his 
promise, and so he " regarded them not." As trans-
gressors of his law, they were not peculiar; they were 
not holy; but were like other sinful nations. And if 
they had any claim under that covenant, it could not 
have been abolished without infringing on their rights. 
Surely, it is plain enough that, to secure the land, they 
must comply with the conditions of the new covenant, 
the only one that can possibly convey a good title to the 
inheritance. 
And what is the inheritance, or land, promised under 
the new covenant ? As the original promise was made 
to Abraham and confirmed in Christ, we must look to 
both for an answer to this question; for Christ is media-
tor and first heir, and it can only be received through 
him, and, of course, under the covenant of which he is 
the mediator. 
To Abraham was promised a land for an everlasting 
possession; and circumcision was instituted as a token 
of this covenant. Now, our opponents assume that a 
certain part of the earth in its present form and con-
dition must be conferred on his descendants to meet the 
promise; as the promise, they say, embraced only the 
land that he saw; but he did not see all of the present 
earth, nor any of the new earth. What he saw will 
doubtless be given to him, but not that only, nor in the 
condition in which he saw it. Of this promise, Paul 
says, " For the promise that he should be the heir of 
the world was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through 
the law, but through the righteousness of faith." Rom. 
4 : 13. Then Abraham is heir of the world. " By faith 
he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange 
country," as other faithful ones, who, with him, " con-
fessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the 
earth." Heb. 11 :9, 13. 
Again, Christ is the seed to whom the promises were 
made; Gal. 3 :16. He is the heir of the world, and the 
Father has promised to give to him " the uttermost parts 
of the earth for a p-issession." Ps. 2 : 8. As he is the 
heir, so his people are " joint-heirs" with him; and by 
eason of this joint-heirship with Christ, " the meek shall 
inherit the earth." To inherit is to receive by heirship; 
but there is no promise or heirship by which we can 
receive the earth, except that to Abraham; and Christ 
is heir as Abraham's seed. Hence, the Abrahamic prom- 
ise embraced " the earth," even to its " uttermost parts." 
The land which the children of Israel possessed under 
Joshua, is shown in Heb. 3 and 4, to be typical of the 
true rest which remains to the people of God. 
If we look at the terms seed and token, as used in the 
covenant with Abraham, we shall find that in the New 
Testament there is a change from their outward and 
apparent to their real and more extended signification 
The seed of Abraham was supposed to be only his literal 
posterity; but now we learn that " there is neither Jew 
nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither 
What Is Sin? 
A WRITER in a professedly religious paper gives his 
opinion of Bible truth in the following words:- 
" That wickedness or righteousness will only be de-
termined by the gospel, and not by the law, especially 
to the people of the gospel age, I think is clearly shown 
by the Scriptures." 
The writer is a man of some learning, and has spent 
many years in the ministry, yet prejudice has so blinded 
his mind that he cannot see the force of the simplest 
and plainest expressions in the New Testament. John 
says: " 'Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the 
law, for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 
3 :4. And Paul's language is explicit and unmistakable 
in its import. Of his own experience he said: " I had 
not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known 
lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." 
Rom. 7 : 7. And again he said: " By the law is the 
knowledge of sin." Rom. 3 : 20. No man ever sin-
cerely comes to Christ-no man is ever genuinely con-
verted-unless he is truly convicted of sin, and is thus 
made to feel his need of a Saviour. This conviction is 
only by the law, for " sin. is transgression of the law," 
and "by the law is the knowledge of sin," and Paul 
says that without the law he would not have known that 
he was a sinner. In these New Testament evidences 
is found a complete vindication of the words of the 
Psalmist: " The law of the Lord is perfect, converting 
the soul." Ps. 19 :7. The conversions of antinomian-
ism are all spurious. The preaching of no-lawism is 
not the preaching of the gospel of Christ; it is a per-
version of the gospel. 
The context of the words quoted from Rom. 3 shows 
that we are not mistaken in referring them to the law 
of God, the ten commandments. 
It is a law by which no flesh shall be justified. 
Verse 20. This is not the law of Christ, or the gospel' 
for justification comes only by the gospel. There is no 
justification in a broken law, especially if the law is 
"holy, and just, and good" It only condemns-proves 
the transgressor a sinner, and thus leads him to seek a 
Saviour from his transgressions and the curse. See Gal. 
3 :12-24. 
It is a law of which the sinner cannot avail him-
self in having the "righteousness of God" conferred 
upon him. Verse 21. 
It is a law which is not made void, but established 
by faith. Verse 31. It is thus shown to be distinct 
from faith, or the gospel, for, " The law is not of faith." 
Gal. 3 :12. 
It is the law which was given to the Jews, of which 
Paul says: " Unto them were committed the oracles of 
God." Verse 2. Of these Stephen also spoke when he 
said that Moses received at Mount Sinai " the lively 
oracles to give unto us." Acts 7 :38. 
This law has jurisdiction over all, for it is distinctly 
shown that if these oracles given to the Jews were made 
of no effect, God could riot judge the world. Rom. 3 : 
2-6. Both Jews and Gentiles have transgressed it, and 
all the world are by it proved guilty before God. Verses 
9-19. 
Paul also taught " repentance toward God;" for re-
pentance is of sin, and sin is transgression of the law, 
and the law of God we have all transgressed; " and 
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ;" for Jesus Christ is 
the mediator between God and man; the only way of 
salvation from sin. And the last warning message of 
this dispensation-" The true advent message," or "pres-
ent truth "-says: "Here are they that keep the com- 
mandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." They 
honor both the Father and the Son, in the law and the 
gospel. They believe in genuine repentance as well as 
a living faith. 
The relation of the gospel of Christ and the law of 
God is exactly the relation of the pardon of a Governor 
and the statute of a State. No one would ever dare to 
say that the law of the State was abolished to give room 
for the pardon of the Governor, or that the pardon makes 
void and supersedes the statute. It is reserved for pro- 
fessed teachers of the gospel-for the preachers of reli-
gious antinomianism-to utter such absurdities. And, 
oh, shame! this they call the gospel of Christ. Surely 
the perils of the last days are come, and covenant break-
ers with an abundant profession of godliness, deny the 
power thereof, and are striving to remove its very foun-
dations. Ps. 11 :3. "It is time for thee, Lord, to work; 
for they have made void thy law." Ps. 119 :126. 
The "Hour of Judgment," and the "Day 
of Judgment." 
THE following article we published in 1875, to meet 
the inquiries of a young friend who was diligently study-
ing the doctrines of the Bible. For the benefit of other 
students we republish it, though we hope and trust that 
the cautions to young ministers are not called for now 
as they were then:- 
Instances not a few have been found where brethren 
have made calculations on the proportionate length of 
these two periods, and the result has always been that 
they have ascertained, to their own satisfaction, just 
when the Third Angel's Message will close! They first 
take for granted that the day of Judgment is just 1,000 
years in length, and dividing this sum by twenty-four, 
to find one hour of the day, and commencing the hour 
in 1844, they easily determine the time when the hour 
will expire. 
The day of Judgment " covers more than the period 
during which the saints assist in judging the world. It 
includes the execution of the Judgment, or the destruc-
tion of the wicked." This is an important part of the 
work of the Judgment day. On this point we offer the 
following extract as decisive:- 
" An effort has been made to maintain the Age to 
Come by first assuming that the day of the Lord is iden- 
FEBRUARY 23, 1882. �
THE SIG-1\TS OF TH IH TIMES. �
91 
tical with the 1000 years of Rev. 20, and then quoting 
Zech. 14, to show that a certain series of events will 
transpire on the earth during the 1000 years, because 
they transpire 'in that day.' But the day of the Lord is 
more than 1000 years in length; it both commences be-
fore, and reaches beyond the 1000 years of Rev. 20. 
Peter does not give the length of that day, as has been 
inferred from 2 Pet. 3 : 8, 9. He there refers solely to 
the faithfulness of God, saying that his longsuffering 
withholds the execution of his judgments on the scoffers; 
yet this is no evidence of slackness, as his promise is as-
sure 1000 years hence as if fulfilled to-day. With man, 
haste is necessary to the performance of his promise, as 
his life is but a hand-breadth; but not so with God, who 
is 'from everlasting to everlasting.' 
" The day of the Lord commences before the second 
advent. It has been shown that the voice of God shakes 
the heavens and the earth before the Saviour comes. 
And Isa. 2 shows that they are shaken in that day. 
Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear 
of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty 
looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of 
men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be 
exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts 
shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and 
upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be 
brought low.' Verses 10-12. In that day a man shall 
cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they 
made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and 
to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into 
the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and 
for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake 
terribly the earth.' Verses 20, 21. Also chap. 13 :6-13. 
The great battle is in that day. Eze. 13 : 5; Rev. 16 :14. 
It is frequently called the day of the Lord's anger, the 
day of his wrath, etc. And as in the seven last plagues 
is filled up the wrath of God,' Rev. 15 :1, and the bat-
tle of that day is under the seventh plague, and the voice 
of God shakes the heavens and the earth in that day 
before the advent, it appears that that day commences 
with the pouring out of the plagues, at the close of the 
day of salvation.' And therefore it commences before 
the 1000 years of Rev. 20. 
" Again, the wicked are not raised till the 1000 years 
are finished; and Peter says the heavens and earth which 
are now are reserved unto fire against the day of Judg_ 
ment and perdition of ungodly men; and that in that 
day of the Lord the heavens shall pass away with a 
great noise, and the elements melt with fervent heat. 
Thus we find that the resurrection of the wicked, the 
execution of the Judgment, and the passing away of the 
heavens and earth, all take place in the day of the Lord, 
but after the termination of the 1000 years. Therefore, 
again, the day of the Lord and the 1000 years of Rev. 
20 cannot be identical. 
" Because Peter says a day with the Lord is as a 
thousand years, we have no more warrant to infer that 
'the day of the Lord' is just 1000 years in length than 
that the day of salvation' is of that length; and that 
day has already existed nearly two thousand years."—
Refutation of Age to Come, pp. 135-137. 
Granting that the day of the Lord is 1000 years in 
length, it would be easy to show that our view of the 
events of the 1000 years is incorrect. Then the advo-
cates of the Age to Come would have the advantage of 
us. But when we prove that the day of the Lord, or the 
day of Judgment is more than 1000 years in length they 
lose their case, and our view is established to a cer-
tainty. 
Again, it cannot be proved that the dispensations do 
not overlap each other, as was the case with the past 
and present dispensations. We do not insist on this 
point, but it is impossible to show that the work of the 
hour of Judgment of Rev. 14 ; 6, 7, is not a part of the 
work of the great day of Judgment. Be that as it may, 
no one can possibly tell how long a period will transpire 
between the 1000 years of Rev. 20, and the entire des-
truction or "perdition of ungodly men." Therefore no 
one can tell how long the day of Judgment will be, and 
of course no one can tell what would be the length of 
one-twenty-fourth part of it. And thus we justify by 
the plain facts of Scripture the expression that " there 
is no time in the Third Angel's Message." 
If the oath of the angel in Rev. 10 : 5-7, who swore 
that " there shall be time no longer," was fulfilled in the 
first message, and the time there referred to is prophetic 
time, as we all believe, that is a strong confirmation of 
our position. We therefore invite students and young 
ministers, among whom these speculations are generally 
found, to study more concerning the duties and the 
Spirit of this message, and let the time alone. 
The fate of other time-setters should be a warning to 
all the inexperienced. 
The Change of the Sabbath not Taught in 
the Old Testament. 
THE argument for the change of the Sabbath is so 
meager and unsatisfactory in the New Testament that 
those who are determined to maintain the doctrine go to 
the Old Testament to find additional evidence. But 
the kind of evidence obtained from thence is far from 
helping the case. One of these proofs for the, change of 
the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the 
week is found in the fact that the law prescribed that 
the first-fruits of barley harvest should be offered on the 
morrow after the Sabbath. Lev. 23 : 10, 11. But there 
was not one word said in the law relative to this morrow 
after the Sabbath, having itself a Sabbatic character; 
and moreover it was not a weekly but an annual cele-
bration. Whatever sacredness was to be accorded to 
Sunday on the strength of this type would relate to one 
Sunday in the year and no more: a very poor founda-
tion for the weekly celebration of that day. It appears 
to have typified the fact that Christ, the first-fruits of 
them that slept, was to arise from the dead on the day 
after the Sabbath; but there is nothing indicating that 
this day was itself to become the Sabbath in the place 
of the day which preceded it, and which God called by 
that name. It came only once in the year, and not like 
the Sabbath once each week. 
The second proof is like the first, Fifty days after 
the offering of the first-fruits of barley harvest, the first-
fruits of wheat harvest were to be offered. This also 
was on "the morrow after the Sabbath." In this case, 
the law did prescribe that the day on which this offer-
ing was to be made should not be a day of servile labor. 
Lev. 23 :15-21. But this also was done in the case of 
the fifteenth and twenty-first days of the first month 
and of the first, tenth, fifteenth, and twenty-second days 
of the seventh month. Lev. 23 : 6-8, 24, 25, 27-32, 34-
36. Here are six annual Sabbaths, which would come 
sometimes on one day of the week and sometimes on 
another. They occur in the same chapter with the ones 
under consideration. If the day after the Sabbath, on 
which no servile work was to be done, was, for that rea-
son, to be the Sabbath of the new dispensation in the 
place of the ancient seventh-day Sabbath, then here are 
six more just such Sabbaths which come sometimes on 
one day of the week and sometimes on another, being 
regulated by the day of the month. But these all were 
only ceremonial Sabbaths, and were in no way con-
nected with the ancient Sabbath of the seventh day. 
Besides this, no one of them came weekly, but each of 
them came once each year, and no more. If the argu-
ment proves anything, it proves that in place of the 
ancient Sabbath we have seven new sabbaths for the 
gospel dispensation. But as these are not weekly but 
annual, the gospel dispensation has seven sabbaths a 
year instead of fifty-two. Such is the result of this 
kind of proof of the change of the Sabbath. 
But in Ps. 118 : 24, it is said: "This is th day which 
the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." 
Of course this text is produced to prove the change of 
the Sabbath, although there is not in it any mention of 
any such change. In verse 22 it is said, " The stone 
which the builders refused is become the head-stone of 
the corner." This stone is no doubt the Saviour. It is 
claimed that he became the head of the corner by rising 
from the dead. But no text teaches this. He did not 
become the head of the corner till his ascension; for he 
was to be made the chief corner-stone in Sion. Thus it 
is said by Peter:— 
" Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Be-
hold, I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious." 
1 Pet. 2 :6; Isa. 28 :16. The Sion where this stone was 
laid is thus mentioned by Paul: " But ye are come unto 
Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the 
heavenly Jerusalem . . . . and to Jesus the Media-
tor of the new covenant." Heb 12 : 22, 24. 
He did not become the head-stone of the corner till 
he had been made High Priest and mediator, and head 
of the church. Paul tells us when this was by saying 
that the Father exalted Christ " according to the work-
ing of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, 
when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his 
own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all 
principality, and power, . . . and hath put all things 
under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all 
things to the church." Eph. 1 : 19-22. 
He did not therefore become the head-stone of the 
corner till he was constituted such by the act of the 
Father after his ascension to the heavenly Sion. The 
conclusion that the day on which Christ arose from the 
dead ought to be kept in the place of the day or-
dained in the commandment is therefore without the 
slightest authority in this text. If a literal day were 
intended, it must be the day of the ascension. And 
even then, no man could say that this new day super-
seded the ancient Sabbath, and released us from the ob-
ligation of the fourth commandment. 
But Ps. 118 is quoted in the New Testament both be-
fore and after the resurrection of Christ, under such 
circumstances as to call out the mention of the change 
of the Sabbath if such change were taught in the New 
Testament. Thus the Saviour, a few days before his 
death, quoted the words respecting the stone which the 
builders refused being made the head of the corner. 
Matt. 21 :42. He spoke of the Gentiles being chosen 
in the place of the Jews, and had an excellent opportu-
nity to speak of the first day being chosen in the place 
of the seventh, had this psalm in this place taught such 
a doctrine. 
But a short time after Christ had arisen, Peter 
preached from those words to the Jews. Acts 4 :11. If 
Christ's resurrection had changed the Sabbath, and if 
this psalm taught that change, Peter had not only an 
excellent opportunity to set forth that change, but he 
was under obligation to do it, for the new day must now 
be kept in the place of the old seventh day. But he 
was silent respecting such change. and so were the ene-
mies of the apostles throughout the book of Acts, a sure 
proof that the apostles never made such change either 
by precept or example. 
" The day which the Lord hath made " is not there-
fore a new Sabbath to take the place of the day or-
dained in the commandment, but it is such a day as 
that mentioned by Christ in John 8 : 56: "Your father 
Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and 
was glad." It is the whole period of the gospel dispen-
sation in which we are to " rejoice evermore." 1 Thess. 
5 : 16. 
The sacred writers who lived at the time when this 
change is said to have taken place are totally silent re-
specting it, though they mention the Sabbath itself and 
the day to which it is said to have been changed, and 
this too in recording the very event which is said to 
have changed it. 
The evangelists did not lack opportunity for re-
cording the change of the Sabbath, were there one to 
record, for they had the most suitable one which it was 
possible to have. 
They did not want for reasons for making this rec-
ord, if this change were a matter of fact, because man's 
duty toward God is directly involved in it. 
They could not be ignorant of the change if it 
were actually made, for the gospels were not written till 
some years after the resurrection, some of them being 
written about a quarter of a century after that event, 
and one of them upwards of sixty years after it. And, 
moreover, the evangelists were inspired of the Holy 
Spirit. 
iBut they preserved an absolute silence respecting 
this alleged change; and this silence under the condi-
tions above stated proves beyond all dispute that the 
change in question never was made by divine authority. 
How much better it would be to keep the fourth com-
mandment than to change it for reasons which will not 
stand the inspection of the Judgment. �
J. N. A. 
A Few Indications. 
IT is unfortunate for those who &aim that the present 
Sunday agitation is only a temperance movement, that 
the facts do not agree with their statements. The law 
itself, as has been shown, is purely a Sunday law; and 
the speeches of some of the leaders in the movement, 
show that their object is the better observance of the 
Sunday by all classes. The terms "sanitary regulation," 
police regulation," and " temperance movement " are 
given to the law, in order that it may be popular with a 
certain class who do not readily discern its real import. 
Brother Frank Lamb, who has been laboring in Cas-
troville and vicinity, this winter, related to us the follow-
ing incident that came under his personal observation; 
which shows the spirit that actuates some, at least, of 
the defenders of the Sunday: In the course of his labor 
a German, who was a blacksmith by trade, commenced 
to keep the Sabbath. It was necessary, however, that 
he devote six days to his labor. and as he now closed his 
shop on Sabbath, he opened it on Sunday. The next 
day one of the trustees of the Presbyterian Church had 
him arrested for working on Sunday. He was convicted, 
and sentenced to pay a fine of twelve dollars, or spend 
twelve days in jail. He chose the latter. The jail 
accommodations, however, were so wretched, that after 
four days' imprisonment he paid the remainder of his 
fine and was released, and returned to his work, still 
determined to keep the commandment—to work six 
days and rest the seventh. 
Soon after this, a minister of the Presbyterian Church 
—a man of standing in the community—preached a 
sermon on the enforcement of the Sunday, in which he 
said that no sacrifice was too great for the Government 
to make in enforcing the Sunday Law, even to the 
taking of life! 
It cannot be urged that such utterances as these are 
contrary to the spirit of the movement. At the last 
mass-meeting held in Oakland, one of the leading min-
isters advised his hearers to deal with none who would 
not close on Sunday. He said that he had been dealing 
with a man who kept open on Sunday, but should do so 
no more. It was not that the man was engaged in an 
illegitimate business, but that he engaged in it on Sun-
day. 
It is true that there are many who deprecate any such 
language—who respect the religious convictions of 
others. There are those who think that the movement 
can be confined to the closing of saloons. Such will 
sometime see their mistake. It does not take long for 
such a movement to pass beyond the control of the 
conservative few. It is easier to start a fire than to put 
it out. 
But we have no idea that even these conservative ones 
will take warning. We do not write with any such 
object. The " sure word of prophecy" shows that a re-
ligious persecution will come, and we see at present the 
premonitory symptoms. We would do nothing either 
to help or hinder the movement, except to sound the 
warning cry, that in that time of trouble all who will, 
may have the truth of God for their shield and buckler. 
E. J. W. 
Ttite tftlissionarp. 
Among the Churches. 
92 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
VoL. 8, No. 8. 
ARBUCKLE. 
SABBATH, Dec 31, I spent at Arbuckle. Here I 
spoke to the church twice on Sabbath, and once 
on first-day. The Lord gave me freedom. 
The believers in present truth here are few in 
number, and some of them are very unfavorably 
situated, their families not being united in the 
faith. Those who are thus striving alone to obey 
God, have trials, temptations, and opposition to 
encounter, of which others know nothing. They 
need our sympathy and our prayers. 
Some are struggling with poverty, but this need 
not prevent them from obtaining the eternal 
ric-tes. All should seek, so far as possible, the 
most favorable position for perfecting a Christian 
character. This is a duty which we owe to our-
seives, to society, and to God. We should en-
deavor to become intelligent Christians, growing 
in grace, and in knowledge of the truth. Those 
whose advantages are few, should not feel that 
they are therefore excused from effort for self-im-
provement. The most illiterate may be elevated, 
sanctified, and ennobled by the Spirit and the 
word of God. If the love of Christ dwells in the 
heart, we shall not be content to keep a low level, 
and shall not associate with those who will have 
no influence to increase our aspiration after 
knowledge or holiness. 
A sore trial has been brought upon the little 
company here, by the course of their leader. 
Since he was chosen elder of the church he has 
repeatedly attended dancing parties with his wife 
and daughter. This is the first instance of the 
kind that I have ever met among our churches. 
I was greatly surprised that one who had a 
knowledge of our faith could thus unite with the 
ungodly. Even if he has so little spiritual dis-
cernment as to see no wrong in this fascinating 
pleasure, he can but know that be is placing a 
stone of stumbling in the way of others. Lie 
knows that he is wounding his brethren. What 
say the Scriptures concerning these things ? " If 
meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no 
flesh while the world standeth." And again, 
" Let us not therefore judge one another any 
more, but judge this rather, that no man put a 
stumbling-block or an occasion to fall, in his 
brother's way." 
But dancing, as practiced at the present day, is 
detrimental to the health of soul and body. 
Theater-going, dancing, card-playing, gambling, 
inebriety, are all steps in the path of vice and 
dissipation. He who, having received the light 
of present truth, will yet persist in venturing into 
this path, is unworthy of the name of Christian. 
What attractions can this elder of the church find 
in the dance-hall? is he in this godless company 
fitting himself to exert a proper influence over 
the flock of God ? The so-called little things of 
life, the little acts of faith or sacrifice, go to make 
up the sum of Christian character and influence. 
It is the spirit of Christ manifested at home, in 
the field, in the workshop, in the church, that 
makes men living epistles, known and read of all. 
The state of the world in the last days is de-
clared by our Saviour to be similar to that which 
existed before the flood. Men were wholly ab-
sorbed in the things of this life. They forgot the 
claims of their Maker, and thought only of self-
gratification. God's people are not to pursue such 
a course. Their example and influence should be 
such as to win men away from selfish aims and 
sensual indulgence, to higher motives and purer 
joys. The history of the antediluvians is recorded 
as a warning to us. We are living in a most 
solemn period of earth's history. The divine 
judgments are again to be poured out upon the 
world. The prophet declares that God's people 
are not in darkness, that the day of wrath should 
overtake them as a thief. They should be men 
and women of serious thought and earnest prayer. 
Those whose hearts are cheered by the presence 
of an indwelling Saviour, will have no disposition 
to resort to places of worldly amusement. A 
Christian family is ono in which the love of 
Christ is the spring of action, the precepts of 
God's word the rule of life. Those who can turn 
away from the sacred influences of truth to en-
gage in the frivolous and exciting pleasures of 
the world, are regarded by our Saviour as show-
ing contempt for himself. Jesus will not abide in 
any household, to guide and bless them, unless 
they first relinquish the sinful customs, practices, 
and amusements of the world. All who refuse to 
comply with these conditions are thereby bidding 
him depart from them. And how dreadful are 
the words he utters, as in sorrow he turns away, 
—" Your house is left unto you desolate." Deso-
late indeed must be that home from which the 
presence of Christ is withdrawn! 
The religion of the Bible takes men as they are, 
with all their wants and weaknesses. It satisfies 
the restless cravings of the mind, ennobles the 
aspirations, purifies the heart. When Christ is 
formed within, the hope of glory, the true, joyous 
life of the soul begins. Those who feed upon the 
bread of life, so freely provided in the store-house 
of God's word, will become strong and vigorous 
tb labor for Christ and for their fellow-men. 
A great responsibility rests upon the husband 
—house-band—to bind the household together, 
by the ties of kindness, love, and harmony. In 
the patriarchal ages, the husband and father was 
the priest of his own household. And still it is 
his duty to invoke in their behalf the divine bless-
ing, and to instruct and guide them in the way 
of life. Alas that his influence should ever be 
exerted to lead them into folly and dissipation! 
When about to accompany his wife and children 
to the theater or the ball room, let the professed 
Christian ask himself, Can I seek God's blessing 
upon the scene of pleasure? Would my Master 
be a guest at such a place? Will angels minister 
to me there ? Can I there lot my light so shine 
before men, that they may be led to glorify God ? 
Worldlings themselves look upon these amuse-
ments as inconsistent with the Christian's profes- 
sion. The following incident expresses the feel-
ing which is entertained by many: A young lady 
professing to be a Christian had been gliding 
through the mazes of the dance, in a fashionable 
ball-room, when in conversation with another 
lady who lived only for this world, she revealed 
the fact that she was a member of a Christian 
church. " What! " exclaimed the other, " are 
you a Christian ?" " I am," was the answer. 
Whereupon she received the stinging rebuke, 
" Then why are you here?" 
Ours is a solemn faith. We profess to be giving 
the last message of warning to the world. In our 
religious life we should be in advance of every 
other people upon earth. We must rise above the 
standard of public opinion, even in a professedly 
Christian community, if we would have our char-
acter without fault in the day of God. When the 
final hour shall come, and the shadows of death 
gather about the soul, shall we regret that we 
have visited so few places of amusement? that 
we have joined in so few dances ? Shall we re-
gret that religion has debarred us from scenes of 
revelry, profanity, and mirth ? Will not many, 
rather, bitterly regret that precious time has been 
squandered, golden opportunities neglected, by 
following inclination rather than duty? 
God's word declares that our Saviour is soon to 
Come in the clouds of heaven, with power and 
great glory. We are admonished to watch, and 
wait, and pray for his appearing. Yet notwith-
standing the testimony of the Scriptures, unbelief 
is expressed everywhere. Even ministers of the 
gospel are teaching that the day of God may not 
come for thousands of years. And while the 
world is enshrouded in darkness, and the night 
of doom is fast approaching, let us who are of the 
day be sober. By the intensity of our faith, the 
purity of our love, let us show that we believe 
the end of all things to be at hand. If God has 
given us light from Heaven, he requires us to 
reflect that light to the world. Christ is soon to 
act as Judge, where now he officiates as mediator. 
When he shall come, he will reward every man 
according to his works. The test in that day 
will not be, What did you profess? to what 
church did you belong ? But it will then be asked, 
What character was developed in your life? Only 
to those who have been faithful, to those who 
have done well, will the Saviour say,' Well done, 
good and faithful servant." 
MRS. E. G. WHITE. 
Encouraging Letter. 
TILE following letter was received by one of our, 
missionary workers. It is only one out of many' 
 
that are constantly being received. The misAon- 
Ill 
ary workers surely have cause to thank God, and 
take courage. There is nothing that yields so 
large returns on the investment. " In the morn-
ing sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold 
not thy hand ; for thou knowest not whether shall 
prosper, either this or that, or whether they both 
shall be alike good." 
HIGH-STREET, PORTISHEAD, S03,131ERSETSHIRE, 
JANUARY 29, 1882. 
DEAR FRIEND AND BROTHER : I had thought 
you were unwell or absent from home as the SIGNS 
had stopped coming as usual from you. But I was 
delighted to again see them. I take this oppor-
tunity of writing to you, as in all probability it 
will be the last letter from me to you. Firstly, 
then, let me again sincerely thank you for all past 
kindness and the interest you have exhibited to-
wards me and my welfare. God reward you here-
after abundantly. I may say that it is owing in 
a very great measure to you and your society that 
the step I am about to take, was prompted in my 
mind. 
Through a careful study of those treasures 
" Thoughts on Daniel " and " Revelation " I have 
been led to realize the frailty of everything human. 
I have seen the sure and certain soon-coming of 
Christ as a rewarder of those who overcome all sin; 
I have seen the grand truth that he alone now 
possesses immortality. This is firmly established 
in my heart. But above all I have seen the 
blessedness and honor of working for his glory. 
These are the fruits of your influence, mainly. 
Had you never stepped on board the British 
barque Alastor, and sat down with me in that 
cabin to discuss man's mortality and non-posses-
sion of a never-dying soul (which to me then was 
a dear and cherished theory), I should never have 
received those precious books I have mentioned. 
Well, step by step I have been led onward by a 
way unknown to me, and 'to•day I find myself in 
communication with the London Missionary So-
ciety. I have offered myself as a worker in the 
pioneer mission field around Lake Tanganyki, 
Central Africa, where few white men have ever 
been. I expect to go, if it can be arranged, about 
May next, along with a Captain Hare. There, God 
helping me, I will live, and, if he will, die in the 
service of Christ, among half-savage Africans. 
My mind is fully made up. I hope my life may 
be spared many years to sound the glorious news 
in that hitherto unknown region. 
FEBRUARY 23, 1882. �THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
93 
1 write to you these particulars in order that 
you may convey the intelligence to those dear 
brothers and sisters who are engaged in ship-
visiting. You are at liberty to read this to them, 
and may they never be discouraged because fruit 
to their labor be not immediately visible. God 
sent me to Oakland. He sent you to me. He 
now sends me to Africa. By and by he will not 
send but come and receive me to himself. How 
mysterious are his ways. There are some jewels 
for his crown out in that dark corner of this earth. 
I have the honor of polishing them ready for his 
acceptance. I verily believe he will bless me and 
give me many precious souls. Dear Brother 
P �
, go on in your work. Although there 
are some of your ideas I cannot fully receive, yet 
I wish you God speed. The foundation is right. 
I shall expect a last letter from you at once; not 
only from you, but a few words from any who 
remember me. Have a prayer-meeting, a real 
gathering of Christians, some evening, and pray 
for me believingly, that I may have the indwell-
ing of the Holy Spirit always. Let this be the 
one burden of your prayer that I may receive the 
Holy Ghost. I have thought much of the higher 
life lately. Pray, then, unitedly that this power 
may descend and abide with me. I do covet the 
prayers of God's children. Will you give me this 
request then. Ask your people; nay, not only in 
Oakland but throughout your connections to ap-
point a certain day when they are met together 
for worship to supplicate at God's throne for this 
especial blessing for me. Write and tell me if you 
do so that I may join with you and be ready for 
the answer. It must come in answer to believing 
prayer. Good bye, dear friend, may you be use-
ful until death in winning many more to the 
Saviour. In love, yours ever, �A. J. S. 
Missionary Letters. 
WHAT follows is a copy of a private letter sent 
from a sister living alone doing missionary work. 
It breathes the true missionary spirit; we therefore 
take the liberty to send it for publication. �
• 
S. N. H. 
I feel new courage and strength in the mission- 
ary work as the new year comes. I find many 
interested readers of the SIGNS; perhaps it will 
cheer you to know about it, for I know your 
heart is in the work. After sending SIGNS and 
then a postal, one man replies: " VERY DEAR 
SISTER IN CHRIST: I write a few lines to thank 
you for your kindness in sending me the SIGNS. 
I have read with deep interest, and have been 
strengthened thereby. I have been searching 
to find what God says in his word, about the Sab-
bath. It is evident that Christ rose in the morn-
ing of the first day of the week, and met with 
the eleven in the evening of the same day as they 
met for prayer. Now my heart is fixed to keep 
every commandment. I want instruction in re-
gard to the Sabbath. I feel that every command-
ment is binding on God's people. I want light 
on this one subject. Pray for me that I may 
find the light so much needed. Now I intend to 
subscribe for your valuable paper. Shall continue 
to pass them to those that will be glad to read 
them, of whom there is a goodly number in this 
place. And now my prayer is that God will bless 
you in your labor of love. Yours in the bonds of 
Christian love." 
I sent him Sabbath and Sunday tracts, and 
wrote him a long letter. He writes again and 
says: " Your kind letter came, and I just thank 
you fbr those tracts you so kindly sent me; it is 
the true light taught in God's word. I. am per-
fectly satisfied that tne seventh day is the Sab-
bath, and will keep it to the best of my ability, 
God helping me. May I ask one question ? God 
commands to keep the seventh day as the Sab-
bath; the law of the land says, keep the first day 
as the Sabbath. Since I examined those tracts, I 
have commenced to keep the Sabbath according 
to God's law; therefore I keep two days. Please 
give me advice on this point, and accept my heart-
felt thanks for your kindness in sending those 
papers. I received rich instruction from them. I 
feel that you have been a great help to me. May 
God bless you in your labor of love, is my prayer. 
Your brother in Christ." This man lives in Illi-
nois. A woman in Minnesota writes: "I have 
received your papers, and read them with in-
terest. 1 think them very good; we are poor but 
will try and send you something for them. Have 
saved them, and will send them to my neighbors. 
I think it very kind and disinterested in you to 
send these papers to strangers. Thank you very 
much for them. We take only one small paper, 
and feel the need of good papers to read." An-
other says: "I received the papers and read them 
with pleasure. Thank you for your kindness in 
sending them. They suit my ideas better than 
anything I've seen. I see no reason why the 
fourth commandment should be left out; keep 
one, keep all." She sent me two names, and 
writes again, saying, " How can I thank you 
enough for those papers. My neighbors also are 
very much interested in them." Sent me two 
more names. 
Last week I visited a man to whom I have sent 
the SIGNS a long time. I asked, " How about the 
paper, Mr. S ?" He said, " Oh, that paper, I cannot 
tell you how much I think of it; the year is out, 
and I was afraid you would stop it." " Then you 
don't want me to stop sending it." "No! I can-
not do without itl At first I would'nt look at it! 
It came for months, and I was so prejudiced, 
thought I never would read it, but you kept send-
ing it, and sending it, and sending it. Finally I 
thought I would look at it a little, and the 
moment I commenced to read, I became inter-
ested, and the more I read, the more interested I 
became, and now cannot spare it. I see they aro 
missionary papers. Do they cost you anything? " 
I explained that my papers cost $15,00 and I 
braided hats for them, besides remailing. "Is it 
possible ? Why do you do it! I cannot compre-
hend it." " I said, this is God's truth, I know it. He 
has given me precious light upon it. What shall 
I do with it, keep it to myself? hide it under a 
bushel ? I cannot do it. So I am trying to show 
it to others. Oh, the heartfelt prayers that go 
out with these papers. They cannot help reach-
ing the honest-hearted." He was deeply moved. 
I said " we think the end is very near. What do 
you think about it?" "I think everything indi-
cates it. Now I want to help a little. Will pay 
for my paper, and one for a friend, but my wife 
must never know it. She wont object to its com-
ing, but would, if she knew I paid for it, and this 
friend may never read it, and perhaps will curse 
it, but his mother and sisters will read it. You 
must send them as you do now, that no one may 
mistrust. I hand them to my neighbors; one 
woman said, tell Mrs. M. to send me the paper, I 
never saw such, papers.'" I said, " How does Mrs. 
B. like it, (a neighbor of his). I have sent it 
since last summer." Well I don't know, he said, 
"but I can tell you who reads it: The minister 
that boards there. Keep on sending." So I thank 
the Lord and take courage. 
I had almost felt that the ground here had 
been burnt over, and it was useless to try to 
overcome the bitter prejudice. • But this is the 
Lord's work. Our business is to " sow the seed." 
Ile will take care of results. What an honor to 
have a place among the workers. What can 
give us an experience like this missionary work. 
I wish every Seventh-day Adventist would take 
hold of it, then there would be no necessity of 
our ministers going around among the churches 
to arouse them. May the Lord help us to awake. 
Zeinv.erance. 
A Story tor Moderate Drinkers. 
AN old friend of the late Judge Fletcher, of 
Boston, related to the writer many years ago, the 
following characteristic anecdote: Mr. Fletcher, 
when a young man, boarded in the old Exchange 
Coffee House. Without much consideration, he 
had fallen in with the drinking fashion of the 
day, so far as to have a glass of spirits and water 
brought to his room every night, to be taken on 
going to bed as a " night-cap." One night an 
unusual press of company prevented the bar-
keeper from carrying up Mr. Fletcher's night-
dram. The squire didn't regard it as quite the 
thing for him to go to the bar and get his grog, 
and so he went to bed without his " night-cap." 
But sleep he could not. All night he tumbled 
about for lack of his accustomed drink. And as 
he did so, his active and discriminating mind 
worked diligently. Next morning, on getting 
up, weary and worn by his restless night,- Mr. 
Fletcher went directly to the barkeeper: "Mr.--, 
you didn't bring up my brandy and water last 
night, and, as a consequence, I have slept little or 
none all night." 
The bartender was very sorry. This neglect 
should not occur again. "Not so," rejoined Mr. 
• 
Fletcher. "Never bring me another drop of 
liquor unless 1 order it. If it has come to this, 
that I can't sleep without the help of a tumbler 
of toddy, it is high time. that I stopped, and broke 
up the dangerous habit." 
From that day Mr. Fleteher became a thorough-
going temperance man—The Canada Casket. 
The Drink Shop's Record. 
WHEN the war closed seventeen years ago, and 
the nation had its dead sons and widowed wives, 
sad mothers and children, it had an enormous debt. 
It had cost the United States Government, the 
States, and cities, and towns of the North no less 
than $6,165,237,000 to complete the war. It had 
cost the South not less than $2,000.000,000, mak-
ing a total expense to the country of $8,165,237,000. 
It is a sad and terrible record. But let it be 
remembered that every year since the war closed, 
the people of our country have paid alone for 
alcoholic drinks more than $600,000.000. Or in 
fifteen years the sum of $9,000,000,000. In this 
we count, not the vast and far-reaching and 
enormous sums of money expended and lost 
through degradation and crime, which the poor 
and the rich have expended through accursed 
drink, but simply the drink bill of the Nation. 
The reader may add to this the cost of crime, 
poverty, idiocy, loss of productive labor, etc. But 
the drink bill alone of these fifteen years would 
have paid every dollar of the cost of the war, and 
left remaining on hand for good uses $834,783,000. 
This is a commonly known fact. It is enough to 
startle our nation, and make the Christian people 
reel with wonder. What have we for these 
wasted resources of our fair land? What remun-
eration comes to us for the expenditure of money 
for the seething, liquid fire? Ask our homes of 
disgrace, poverty, and ignorance! Ask our homes 
of sorrow, of shame, of bereavement, of broken 
vows, and utter helplessness? Ask our city pris-
ons, our jails, our penitentiaries, and our insane 
asylums, all filled with victims of strong drink. 
Ask the court-room, the poor fellow pinioned on 
the gallows and dropping into eternity; ask these 
what we have to show for our drink bill! 
During four years of civil war it was estimated 
that 1,000,000 lives were lost, but in these seventeen 
years which have passed since they fell, this war 
of intemperance has murdered not less than seven 
or eight times that number of our fellow-beings. 
Natis, the king of Sparta, had erected a sorcerous 
figure of his wife Apego, royally clad, and into 
the hideous embrace of this gorgeously-clad 
machine, he thrust those he would punish. The 
sharp irons which were concealed under the 
clothing of the hellish machine proved the death 
of many a poor man who was clasped in its iron 
arms. Such is the awful and inhuman and hellish 
structure, the whisky traffic, whose sorcerous and 
lecherous arms are around the nation. It ought 
to cry out to God for speedy deliverance.—Relig-
ious Telescope. 
An Outrage. 
AN Indianapolis child became a smoker under 
two years of age, beginning with very mild cigar-
ettes, which his mother taught him to use in order 
to keep him quiet, and soon taking to strong 
cigars with great enjoyment. But at four he is in 
a hospital, undergoing treatment for spinal 
troubles brought on by the effect of the tobacco on 
his nerves.—Ex. 
The only wonderful thing about this is that any 
mother could do so foolish a thing. The result is 
a natural consequence. If the mother had 
systematically drugged her child with any other 
poison, she would have been arrested, but tobacco 
is a legitimate poison. 
A SALOON keeper of questionable honesty went 
to a lawyer to consult him about commencing an 
action for defamation against a fellow townsman. 
" The scoundrel," said he fiercely, " has robbed 
me of my character." " Ah, has he? Are you 
sure of that fact?" replied the attorney; " if so, 
for heaven's sake let him go; for it is the luckiest 
thing that ever happened to you."—Ex. 
� 
A YOUNG lady who bad been married a short 
time lately told a " bosom friend " that there was 
only one thing more astonishing than the readi-
ness with which Ned gave up smoking when they 
became engaged, and that was the rapidity with 
which he took to it again after they were married. 
94 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
VOL. 8, No. 8. 
'Thebentz Tircir. 
AT CLOSE OF DAY. 
Ir you sit down at set of sun, 
And count the acts that you have done, 
And counting find 
One self-denying act, one word 
That eased the heart of him who heard; 
One glance most kind, 
That fell like sunshine where it went, 
Then you may count that day well spent. 
But if through all the livelong day 
You've cheered no heart by yea or nay; 
If through it all 
You've nothing done that you can trace, 
That brought the sunshine to one face; 
No act most small, 
That helped some soul, and nothing cost, 
Then count that day as worse than lost. 
Poorly Rich. 
" OH dear, how I do hate to be poor!" sighed 
Mrs. Manners, as she laid down the fifth shirt she 
was making. 
There are various kinds of poverty. Mrs. 
Manners would have been called rich by any shop-
girl in New York, but she felt very poor, and 
Scripture, as well as common sense, tells us that 
as a man " thinketh in his heart, so is he." Her 
husband was book-keeper in a great iron manu-
factory; they had no children, they were not in 
debt, and on their pleasant flat, keeping one ser-
vant, Mrs. Manners need not even have made her 
husband's shirts if she preferred to put them out 
or buy them. Still she was unhappy; she wanted 
a house of her own, a sealskin sacque, a velvet 
dress, a library full of books, plenty of silver, 
china, pictures, for her tastes were refined as well 
as luxurious. She was discontented, in fact; and 
it went to John Manners' heart to see the line 
deepen on her white forehead and gloom gather 
in her bright eyes day by day; but he could not 
help it. 
"Just look at Mr. C. and .Mr. D.," she often 
said to him. " They began as poor boys, and 
now they are rolling in money. I am sure you're 
just as smart as they are, John. Why don't we 
get rich ?" 
John Manners could not answer. The truth 
was, such people as Mr. C. and Mr. D. are excep-
tional; they had remarkable business talent and 
great energy. John Manners had neither; he 
was rather a slow-molded man, industrious, pa-
tient, honest, and good-tempered; a man most 
attentive to and careful of his wife, and painfully 
anxious to make her happy and contented. 
Caroline Dart was a farmer's daughter, a neigh-
bor of Parson Manners, and when the clergy-
man's son went into the Thor Iron Works, instead 
of studying for the ministry, every body in Staf-
ford was surprised; but John had no wish to be 
a clergyman, and he did wish to marry Carry 
Dart, whom be had loved ever since their school-
days. It had seemed great promotion to Carry 
to leave teaching district school and go to live in 
the city, when John got a rise in his salary, and 
could ask her to marry him at last; and it seemed 
to him nobody could be happier than he, with 
enough to live on and lay by, arid a dear, thrifty, 
smiling wife to welcome him home from work. 
But when the novelty wore off Carry was by no 
means smiling or happy. She had been a person-
age in Stafford; here she was nobody. There all 
knew her, and her dark red silk wedding-dress, 
which she had earned by teaching, was almost 
too gorgeous to wear to church; here it was 
hardly good enough, and her bonnet was entirely 
out of style. However, she had good taste and 
nimble fingers, and soon wore as fashionable gar-
ments as other people, if they were of poor ma-
terial. But she wanted better things, and to that 
end saved, spared, pinched in food and fire, and 
fretted in a helpless sort of way, at last sending 
her servant away and undertaking the work her-
self. But city air, stairs, want of outdoor exer- 
cise, and hard work, soon told on her aspect, at 
least. She grew thin and sallow, and did not 
like to look in the glass; still, she consoled herself 
with thinking of the handsome set of furniture 
she had at last been able to buy—a set of heavy, 
carved walnut with damask upholstery, that filled 
up that tiny parlor in the most comfortless fash-
ion. Then John began to have dispepsia. .Why 
not? She gave him the poorest sort of meat, 
badly cooked; bread from a cheap bakery that, 
of course, had to be adulterated to be sold cheaply; 
stale vegetables, bought at half price; no fruit, 
eggs, fresh fish, or savory soups; and, besides 
these dreary meals, her dreary face at the other 
end of the table did not add to that cheerfulness 
so necessary to assist digestion. After a few 
years John's work became very much harder. 
The heads of the firm proposed to him to have a 
clerk, but he saw here a prospect to make more 
money, and, as he thought of Carry, his heart 
grew light, and he offered to do the extra work 
at night if they would give him the extra salary. 
Of course they consented. John was better fitted 
for their wants than any stranger, who would 
have to be taught, drilled, admitted into their 
private affairs, and, perhaps, after all, prove un-
trustworthy. If Carry was lonely evenings she 
did not say so; it was so good to have John mak-
ing more money And, as she was not now 
obliged to spend her evenings playing backgam-
mon with him or talking over the daily news, or 
going to the evening meetings of the church to 
which they belonged, she had just so much more 
time, and, to improve it, got copying to do from 
a lawyer's office. She did so hope they would 
have a house of their own some time; and if ever 
the lovely, rosy children she met with their nurses, 
walking out on the avenue, as she traversed it on 
her way to get her work, sent a pang of covetous 
admiration through her human heart, she sternly 
repressed it; children were such a dreadful ex-
pense, they could never, never afford it. 
So things went on for five years. John grew 
thin and haggard every year; his hair began to 
show grey threads, and his skin was lifeless and 
sallow. He never had time to go anywhere. If 
his Sunday-school class asked him to go with 
them on any church excursion, he had no time. 
If a friend called in on Sunday evening after 
church—for they had made a few acquaintances= 
and asked if he were going to some cheap con-
cert, or free lecture, the answer was invariably 
"No, I have no time; I have so much to do." 
And Carry gave the same answer. Even on the 
legal holidays they took no outings, except to 
wander up into the park if it were summer—a 
pleasure free to the poorest; or to attend church 
on Thanksgiving Days, and Christmas at some 
other church than their own, with better music 
and finer decorations than they should see else-
where: To tell the truth, most of these holidays 
John spent on the sofa, half asleep; rest was 
more to him than pleasure. He had long been 
obliged when ten years of his married life were 
over, to give up Sunday-school and second service; 
indeed, he nodded so often during the morning 
sermon that he came home with a very vague 
idea of its subject; and Carry could not help him 
much, for she too was worn, sallow, weary all the 
time, but still crying out for money, breathing a 
secret aspiration for wealth in her heart continu-
ally, and speaking aloud from that abundance. 
It seemed to her the one solid good of this world. 
Of course, you couldn't carry it to the next, that 
she knew, but oh, what pleasure it would give 
her here ! What was there money could not give 
and bring ? 
She meant to be a good woman, she meant to 
do her duty; any clothes she could not possibly 
cut over or turn any more she gave to the woman 
who washed for her, who had five small children; 
she sometimes gave stale food to a beggar. Money 
she could not give, it was too precious; so when 
the contribution box was passed in church she 
did not see it, and when the collector called she 
was always out of change; but meantime her 
bank-book grew more and more agreeable to look 
at, and she wrote for two lawyers, she had drilled 
herself so faithfully to write clearly and fast. 
Then John was offered still another chance to 
increase his income; he could draw well—that is, 
copy; and the engineer of the Thor Iron Works 
was perfecting a new invention; some draughts-
man was necessary to duplicate his drawings of 
machinery, and write out specifications and direc-
tions. John could do this if he could be helped 
in his writing. So Carry went up town with him 
every morning, and did his work while he worked 
for the engineer. This involved cold meals with 
the exception of breakfast, which she rose early 
to prepare, leaving her dishes to wash at her re-
turn. And after an evening of copying briefs, 
she was too tired to make John the hot coffee, 
the bit of milk-toast, or the dropped egg he had 
been accustomed to. It was cheaper and easier 
to give him a glass of beer, a bun, and a pickle. 
But after that year John grew more pale and 
thin; his eyes troubled him, his back began to 
ache; and Carry was too irritable herself to pity 
or comfort him. One day he went alone to see a 
doctor. It was Sunday, and the people were 
coming home from the second service. He felt 
so giddy and queer, that he turned out of the av-
enue, down which he was walking, into a side 
street to avoid them; and as he passed an open 
window in a house on the corner, he heard a clear 
voice singing to an organ accompaniment that 
most beautiful of sentences, 
"Rest in the Lord ! oh, rest in the Lord! 
Wait patiently for him, and he shall give thee thy heart's 
desire." 
John leaned against the railing of the garden 
for a moment. "Rest in the Lord?" Why, he 
had almost forgotten him! He had worked so 
hard for his heart's desire—no, for Carry's—that 
he had not had time to rest, even in the father-
hood of his God. He thought of his boyhood; 
of his good old father so long unseen; of his 
Christian experience and hope so rusted and cor-
roded; of the treasure not laid up in heaven,—
and his heart smote him. He found his way to 
the doctor's office as if he were walking in a dream; 
his waxy yellow pallor told a sure story to the 
experienced eye fastened upon him; but Dr. Blair 
made his examination and listened to his patient's 
story with forebearing silence. 
"You are not at all well," he said quietly, as 
he laid John's hand down. " You have worked 
yourself out; a man can't do more than he can, 
Mr. Manners, and you have tried to do it for 
years. You must have absolute rest, country air, 
plenty of fresh milk; and you must not worry." 
John laughed, but the laughter was hollow. 
" That is to say, doctor, I must give up my 
work, and my prospects,—and everything! "—he 
meant Carry. 
"A man's life consisteth not in the abundance 
of the things that he possesseth," said the doctor 
solemnly. "I tell you frankly Mr. Manners, it is 
a matter of life and death with you." 
John fainted. Dr. Blair rang the bell. 
"Sam, fetch a spoonful of brandy, quick! then 
send round the carriage." 
And when John was able to be taken home, the 
doctor carried him there in his coupe, and helped 
him up the stair. Carry was shocked to see him. 
Whatever love her small heart held for him 
awoke now, and alarmed her. She put him on 
the sofa tenderly enough, and made him a cup of 
tea. But she thought the faintness and weakness 
he still showed would pass away, for the doctor 
had not time to stop and explain the case, and 
John could not, in his deep love for her, bring 
himself yet to tell her of his sentence. He had 
loved her with all the strength of his nature, but 
the love had shown itself in deeds instead of 
words and caresses, and she had entertained the 
angel unaware. "Greater love bath no man 
than this, that a man lay down his life for his 
friends," and in his weak, human measure John 
had indeed laid down his life without being con-
scious of his utter sacrifice. He lay there half 
awake, not thinking now of Carry or his money 
—her money, rather. Through his mind ran the 
perfect cadence, "Rest in the Lord." In the 
grasp of fatal disease, ignorant yet that it was 
fatal, the straying child came back to his Father. 
Old words thronged his mind, old prayers stirred 
his pale lips, the prodigal's humble utterance, the 
cry of the publican, the agonized outcry of the 
sinking disciple,—all these he whispered, so softly 
no mortal ear could hear. Then a dream of peace 
seemed to steal upon his weariness; a sense of 
rest and relief relaxed all his tense nerves, and 
soothed his whirling brain; he smiled and put his 
hand out, groping for One invisible and fell asleep. 
When Carry came to rouse him at bed-time, he 
was dead. 
Now she had plenty of money! John had in-
sured his life heavily, and paid his premiums so 
punctually and so long that even the insurance 
companies dared not try to contest payment: 
then they had both put their savings into good 
investments by advice, and doubled their capital 
over and over. Mrs. John Manners was worth 
at least sixty thousand dollars, owing to her hus-
band's death and the rise in stocks recently. 
But where was John? She knew now how he 
had guarded and cherished and sweetened her 
poor, toiling, selfish life ; how he had given up 
home and peace and pleasure, all that makes life 
sweet to a man, in order to satisfy her eager, 
wretched hunger for wealth; she had made her-
self loveless and friendless in her devotion to the 
muck-rake, and the crown over her head had 
FEBRUARY 23, 1882. 
El: SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
95 
a 
been so long unseen, unvalued, it was at last taken 
away. Where now was her omnipotent money ? 
It could not bring back John. She had herself 
helped him surely and steadily into his grave, for 
the doctor told her frankly and sharply that he 
had worked himself to death. Sixty thousand 
pangs of remorse and regret lay in her hoarded 
dollars, and could not be evaded. She must take 
up her desolate life, her irreparable loss, her tor-
menting money, and carry them all out of the 
city she could no longer endure, back to the home 
she now dreaded. One more awful lesson to the 
hungerer for this world's goods, that now, as of 
old, "There is that maketh himself rich yet bath 
nothing" 1—Rose Terry Cooke, in S. S. Times. 
AN American Jew, who performs in a circus 
in St. Petersburg, has been ordered to quit the cap-
ital, on account of his religion. The account does 
not state of what religion a circus man should be. 
—Censcer. 
Religious Notes. 
—There are 247 Congregational Churches in Michigan. 
—At Cairo, Egypt, 10,000 students are annually 
trained in the Koran within a single institution. 
—Cincinnati has eighteen Methodist Churches. The 
highest salary is $2,500, the lowest $385. 
—The members of the Old South Church at Boston 
have voted Rev. Dr. Manning life pay of $4,000 a year. 
—The Baptist Weekly shows by statistics that beside 
the donations for missions of 178 churches and 64 indi-
viduals, the contributions of that church average eleven 
cents per member. 
—William Jennings, a noted polygamist, and Superin-
tendent of the Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institute, 
has been elected Mayor of Salt Lake City. Only the 
Mormon ticket was in the field. 
:"'--An example for American churches is set by the 
Fort Street Congregational Church in Honolulu, Sand-
wich Islands. This church has never had a debt, raises 
its yearly revenue in a single evening, and pays its pas-
tor's salary in advance. 
—The question has arisen at St. Thomas, Canada, 
whether a man who rents a pew at church can use it for 
a sleeping apartment during the hours of service. The 
courts decide that a pew is like a berth in a sleeping-
car, and a man can sleep in it if he chooses. 
—The Bible Banner (Philadelphia), of Feb. 9, utters 
a strong protest against the course of the World's Crisis 
(Boston). It says: " While it is open to publish anything 
that will help forward its plans, even down to appeals 
to prejudice, there is not space in it for corrections of 
misstatements, or for statement, of facts that are adverse 
to the personal or party interests of its managers." 
—A man was arrested in Oakland last week for ped-
dling " Paine's Age of Reason," without a license. He 
claimed exemption from license, on the ground that the 
" Age of Reason " was a religious work, and was ac-
quitted accordingly. Bob Ingersoll may now come to 
the front as a religious teacher. He is not much less 
orthodox than many ministers of high standing in the 
church. 
—Dr. Kendrick, writing from Rome to the Examiner, 
gives his impression of Romish ceremonies as follows. 
At the famous church of Ara Celi I saw the represen-
tation of the sacred Bambino exposed in a grotto with 
a perspective of distant fields and shepherds. This was 
rather pretty, and well adapted to please children. In-
.deed this, according to my view, is the conclusion of the 
_whole matter—when the ceremonies of the Romish 
Church are not revolting, they are of a sort to please—
children. I do not wonder that Luther's visit to Rome 
made him a Protestant. I only wonder how such visits 
ever work the other way, and end in turning Protes-
tants into Romanists." 
—The Rev. Mr. Miln, who succeeded Dr. Collyer as 
pastor of the Unity Church in Chicago, has been dis-
missed, on account of some startling statements made 
by him in a recent sermon. He disavowed all belief in 
what he termed " speculative Christianity," such as the 
tence of a personal God, the doctrine of the resur- 
ction, the existence of Heaven or hell, and the immor-
tality of the soul. He declared that he could not be-
lieve what he could not understand by unaided human 
reason. This was too much. Unitarians care very little 
for orthodox beliefs, but the man who believes nothing 
that he cannot understand by hunain reason alone, has 
too short a creed even for them. 
—The Second Baptist Church of St. Louis recently 
installed a new pastor who had formerly been a Presby-
terian. The church accepted his Presbyterian ordina-
tion and did not re-ordain him, and nearly all the Bap-
tist papers are condemning the action. The Examiner 
makes the point that no Baptist Church would think of 
ordaining a man who had never been baptized, and, on 
the same principle, ought not to recognize ordinations 
given by unbaptized Presbyters. It says: " The fact 
that Pedobaptists believe infants to be fit subjects for 
baptism, and that sprinkling is baptism, has not the 
weight of a feather in Baptists' beliefs. We hold these 
substitutions to be perpetual and enormous evils, and 
we dare not by word or sign indicate our fellowship for 
them." 
News and Notes. 
Bellevue, Mich., was nearly destroyed by fire, on 
the 19th inst. 
—President Angell. of Michigan University, has re-
turned from China. 
—The mercury stood at zero at Yreka, Shasta Co., 
Cal., on the 19th inst. 
—Nearly 480 tons of meat unfit for food were seized 
in the London markets last year. 
—California wheat is being shipped to St. Louis via 
the Southern and Texas Pacific Railroads. 
The largest steam-ship ever built in California, was 
recently launched in San Francisco, to be used in the 
Mexican trade. 
—By an explosion in a coal-mine in Durham County, 
England, the 16th inst., 120 persons were entombed. 
Thirty of the miners were rescued. 
—Ko Kun Hua, the Professor of Chinese at Harvard 
University, died of pneumonia, on the 14th inst. He 
held the Chinese rank of Mandarin. 
—One thousand of the workmen on the Panama 
Canal have died of fever. Out of a party of thirty 
Belgian mechanics, eighteen have died. 
—A dispatch from Paris, last week, said that failures 
were occurring in all parts of the country, and the mar-
kets would be depressed for at least sixty days. 
—It is estimated that as the result of the persecution 
of Jews in Russia, 100,000 Jewish families have been 
reduced to poverty, and property has been destroyed to 
the extent of £16,000,000. 
—New York has only one acre in public parks to ev-
ery 1,371 inhabitants, Chicago has one to every 252, 
Philadelphia one to every 282, and San Francisco has 
one to every 198 inhabitants. 
—An eight-year-old boy has died at Point St. Charles, 
Canada, from the excessive use of liquor. The Coro-
ner's jury brought in a verdict of willful murder against 
the persons who gave him the liquor. 
—A dispatch from Ione, Amador Co., Cal., Feb. 19, 
says : " The weather has been capricious for a whole 
week. We have had rain, hail, sleet, thunder, light-
ning, snow, frost, and ice, besides balmy spring airs." 
 
It is reported that the coronation of the Czar has 
been postponed until September. Until the coronation 
takes place, he cannot be considered as really Emperor, 
but his fear of the nihilists evidently outweighs his de-
sire for the coronation. 
—Kaleidoscopes are useful as well as amusing. They 
are made by New York opticians, with very expensive 
lenses, and are used by architects and carpet designers, 
to furnish models for designs. They also furnish many 
designs for round stained glass windows. 
—The Supreme Court of Kansas has decided uncon-
stitutional so much of the prohibitory law as prescribes 
punishment for drunkenness, on the ground that the 
provision was not expressed in the title of the bill. The 
Court holds that persons legally possessing liquor can 
drink it or give it away. 
—The business center of Haverhill, Mass., was de-
stroyed by fire, the 17th inst. The territory burned em-
braces the largest part of the boot and shoe manufact-
urers. Over one hundred shoe factories, representing 
about 200 firms, are destroyed, and 2,000 people are 
thrown out of employment. The loss is $2,700,000. 
—The old homestead of Admiral Porter, at Chester, 
Pa., was burned February 17. A portion of it was oc-
cupied by a Professor Jackson, as a manufactory of fire-
works. While the firemen were playing on the flames, 
an explosion occurred, killing seventeen instantly, and 
wounding twenty-one others, some of them fatally. 
—The citizens of Greenwood, Steuben County, N. Y., 
having resisted the sale of town property, levied on un-
der judgment for interest on the town bonds issued in 
aid of a railroad never built, the government has issued 
a proclamation declaring Greenwood in a state of insur-
rection, and warning the people to desist from opposi-
tion to the execution of the law. 
The most horrible outrages are still being perpe-
trated upon inoffensive Jews in Russia. At Odessa, pe-
troleum was poured on a man's head and set on fire, and 
the man died in great agony. Subsequently many chil-
dren were mercilessly killed. The General commanding 
the troops, when appealed to for assistance, said it was 
not worth while to risk the soldiers' lives. 
—Great loss is suffered by the farmers in the Missis-
sippi Valley, on account of the overflow of the river. 
For three weeks it has rained almost constantly, and 
the river has been steadily rising. Helena, Ark., is 
flooded. The report says that now there is but a dreary 
watery waste, extending fully fifteen miles inland from 
either bank. The destruction to dwellings, stock, and 
lands cannot now be estimated. 
—The Russian General Skobeloff, in a recent speech 
to some Servian students, said that Russia had hitherto 
been held in check by Germany, and that the sword 
was the only means which the Russians had of ridding 
themselves of the incubus. He declared that the strug-
gle between the Slays and Teutons was inevitable, and 
it would be long, sanguinary, and terrible, but that the 
Slays would triumph; that safety lay in the union of 
the Slays with France, against their common enemy. 
The German papers are very indignant. The Frem-
denblatt says the speech is significant because thousands 
of Russians hold the same views. 
—After some discussion, the Anti-Polygamy Bill 
passed the Senate, February 16, by a viva voce vote in 
which no negative responses were heard. The Bill pro-
vides that Every person who has a husband or wife 
living, who, in a Territory or other place over which the 
United States has exclusive jurisdiction, hereafter mar-
ries another, whether married or single, and any man 
who hereafter simultaneously, or on the same day, mar-
ries more than one woman in a Territory or other place 
over which the United States has exclusive jurisdiction, 
is guilty of polygamy, and shall be punished by a fine 
of not more than $500 and by imprisonment for a term 
of not more than five years. It also provides that no 
polygamist or bigamist shall be entitled to vote at any 
election, or be eligible to election to, or entitled to hold, 
any office or place of public trust 
Appointments. 
Oakland and San Francisco. 
OAKLAND.—Church N. E. corner Clay and 13th Streets. 
Meeting every Sabbath (Saturday) at 11 A. M. Preaching 
every second and fourth Sunday evening of each month. 
Prayer-meeting every Tuesday evening. Eld. J. H. Wag-
goner, Pastor. Sabbath-school at 9:30 A. M. W. C. White, 
Superintendent. Seats always free. 
SAN FRANCISCO.—Church on Laguna Street, between Mc-
Allister and Tyler Streets. Meeting every Sabbath (Satur-
day) at 11 A. M. Prayer-meeting Wednesday evening. M. 
C. Israel, Elder. No regular preaching. Sabbath-school at 
9:45 A. M. E. A. Stockton, Superintendent. Street-cars of 
the Hayes Valley Line, and Central and Lone Mountain Line, 
pass close to the meeting-house. 
SMITH'S COMPREHENSIVE DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 
EW EDITION, octavo size, 1,200 pages. with many important additions 
VI 
and improvements from the works of the 1110S. eminent scholars, 
commentators and travelers. It is designed to 13L 
A COMPLETE GUI DE 
In regard to the pronunciation and signification of Scriptural names; 
the solution of difficulties respecting the interpretation, authority and 
harmony of the Old and New Testaments ; the history and description 
of Biblical customs, events, places, persons, animals, plants, etc. 
In this book it is designed to make everything intelligible to those 
who understand only the English language, and to place them as nearly 
as possible on a level with the scbols.rs who are familiar with the original 
languages of the Scriptures. 
All the words in eke vocabulary are pronounced and divided into sylla-
bles, and words or parts of words are respelled whenever this is necessary 
to indicate the pronunciation. 
The book contains numerous maps, and is abundantly supplied with 
superior engravings, which are of real utility to the student. 
No one who desires to study the Scriptures intelligently will be with-
out a copy of this most excellent book, as its price is within the reach 
of al 
in cloth 
�$5.00 
Price,
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in library binding �
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Address, 
 
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. 
A MINE OF INFORMATION. 
History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week 
BY ELD. J. N. ANDREWS. 
T
HE Bible record of the Sabbath; the secular history con-
cerning it; the successive steps by which the change to 
the first day was made ; and the work of restoration, are 
given in detail. 
EVERY TEXT OF SCRIPTURE 
Concerning the Sabbath is commented on at length; and the 
COMPLETE TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS 
In regard to the Sabbath and first day is given. The com-
parative merits of the seventh and the first day Sabbaths are 
fully shown. A copious index enables the reader to find the 
comments on any text, or the statement of any historian. 
Of-Should be read by everybody. 528 pp. Price, $1.25. 
Address, �
PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal. 
A BOOK FOR THE TIMES. 
The Religious Amendment to the Constitution : 
OR 
THE SABBATH, THE SUNDAY, THE CHANGE 
AND THE RESTITUTION. 
T
HE object of the proposed Constitutional Amendment' 
together with the authority for it, is fully canvassed. 
The views of the leaders of the parties both for and against 
the Amendment are fairly given in this book. 
tff-The present agitation of the Sunday Law makes this 
book especially interesting and instructive at this time. 
Bound in cloth, 380 pp. �
Price, $1.00. 
Address, �
PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal. 
COMPANION TO THE REVISED NEW TESTAMENT. 
Explaining the Reasons for the Changes made in the Revised 
Edition, with 
Explanations to the Appendix of the Revised 
New Testament, 
Which contains the Changes Suggested by the American 
Committee but were not assented to by the English Committee. 
Paper covers, 8vo., 25 cents. Cloth. 16mo., 75 cents. 
Address, �PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal. 
THE UNITED STATES IN PROPHECY. 
BY ELD. U. SMITH. 
THIS is a full exposition of a portion of prophecy which applies t. 
our own Government, showing the position the United States holds 
in prophecy, and the part it has to act in the closing scenes of time. 
THE SUNDAY MOVEMENT, 
Which is now attracting such general attention, is thoroughly canvassed; 
and abundant testimony is given to prove that in a few years this will 
be the 
YOUNG'S ANALYTICAL CONCORDANCE 
TO THE 
HOLY SCRIPTURES. 
T
HE latest and most complete work of the kind ever 
published is now offered at a price within the reach of 
EVERY BIBLE STUDENT. 
This book places in the hands of every earnest student, 
knowledge heretofore limited to a very few. 
IT CONTAINS ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN 'THOUSAND MORE 
WORDS. 
Than Cruden's Unabridged Concordance. It gives every 
English word, also the Hebrew and Greek original words, 
with their pronounciation and literal meaning. The Greek 
and Hebrew words are transliterated so that they are intel-
ligible to any English reader. 
5 A complete index of the original words is added, refer-
ring them to the English words under which they are found. 
Price, postpaid, $3.25. 
Address, �
PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal. 
ALL-IMPORTANT QUESTION 
In this country. Facts and statistics are largely presented, showing in 
the most conclusive manner that this government is the one pointed out 
in the prophecy quoted. 200 pages. Bound, 40 cents. Paper covers, 
20 cents. 
Address, 
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. 
Turkey Morocco, boards 
 4.50 �
. , 
Turkey Morocco, limp �
 4.50 
665. Levant, Divinity circuit, kid-lined, silk sewed, flexible back, 
�
and band 
 6.75 
MINION 8 vo. (Size 5 x 71 x11 inches.) 
705. Persian Morocco, limp �
 4.60 
Turkey Morocco, boards �
 5.50 
Turkey Morocco, limp �
 5.50 
715. Levant, Divinity circuit, kid-lined, silk sewed, flexible back, 
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and band �
 
715k As No 715, with round covers �
 8.50 
By mail, Post-paid. 
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Address, �PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal. 
8.00 
96 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
VoL. 8, No 8. 
As WE are making up this form we hear of the death 
of Bro. T. M. Chapman, of Petaluma. All the friends 
of the cause on this coast will mourn with us over this 
sad intelligence. The whole family is in affliction with 
severe sickness. We can give no particulars this week. 
LAST Sabbath was a day of unusual interest to the 
church in Oakland. Sister White gave a very impress-
ive discourse from Matt. 25, the parable of the talents. 
It was well received, and we trust the effect will be last-
ing. The meeting of the leaders of the districts of the 
Oakland Church, in the afternoon, was also interesting 
and profi table. 
Bro. Israel reports an excellent meeting in San Fran-
cisco last Sabbath. This church has gone to work vig-
orously, and the effect is just what might be expected-
it is rising in the work. 
Missionary Work in California. 
THE ship work in San Francisco Bay is increasing in 
interest and importance continually. 
The number of letters written, as reported for a spec-
ified time, by the Society in Oakland, was 129, and the 
number of answers received, 48. The proportion of 
answers to the number written is growing larger, show-
ing an increasing interest among the people. 
A mission station-a central point from which to 
carry on the missionary work-is greatly needed in 
North Carolina. Our workers here find that an inter-
esting field, to which they are not able to do justice. 
The church of San Francisco is not large, and has not 
much means with which to work, but has a large field 
and much to do in that city. Its club of 145 SIGNS is 
altogether too small for their wants, but they are not 
able to take as many as they need. The Oakland 
church uses 500 missionary club SIGNS, and these do 
not supply the calls of the workers. Will not some of 
our able brethren in those small churches which com-
plain that they do not find much to do, assist these city 
societies in their great work ? 
And Sacramento needs help as much as do the cities 
on the bay. Bro. and Sister McClure and Bro. Scott are 
making a thorough canvass of that city. But how they 
will obtain a sufficient number of the Sunday Law 
tract, or even of the periodicals, to meet the wants of 
the cause there, is not yet determined. 
About 650 extra copies of last week's SIGNS, Feb. 16, 
were appropriated to the ship work. Beside these, an 
order for 1,000 extra copies came from the California 
Missionary Society after the form was taken from the 
press. Fortunately it was not broken, and the required 
number was printed. May God bless both the work and 
the workers. Our hearts are more cheered with these 
evidences of the progress of the good cause than we could 
be by finding great earthly treasures. 
Our office was never more driven with an abundance 
of work for outside parties than at present. We cannot 
afford to lose one-sixth of that time in which Jehovah 
has told us to do all our work. 
"Sunday Law! 
" ENFORCEMENT of the Christian Sabbath. A Vindi-
cation of the Commandment of God, and the Position 
of the Seventh-day Adventists." 
This is the title of a 32-page tract, mostly solid bour-
geois type, just printed at this Office. The body of it is 
composed of the three editorial articles which appeared 
in the SIGNS of Dec. 8, 15, and 22, 1881, entitled, " En-
forcement of the Christian Sabbath.'" It has also a 
preface of one page, as follows:- 
This Tract contains three editorial articles which were 
published in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES of the dates of 
December 8, 15, and 22,1881. The SIGNS OF THE TIMES 
is the organ of the Seventh-day Adventists, published 
in Oakland, Cal., at the Pacific Press Publishing House. 
It advocates the observance of ." the Sabbath day ac-
cording to the commandment " (Luke 23 :56), and the 
people who publish it-the Seventh-day Adventists-
are conscientious and strict keepers of the fourth com-
mandment of the Decalogue as given by Jehovah him-
self. The commandment is too plain to admit of any 
substitution, and too sacred to admit of any evasion. 
We cannot suffer anything to stand between us and our 
duty to the Creator of heaven and earth; why should 
we be made offenders for this? 
A warrant having been served on the Superintendent 
of the Pacific Press for keeping the establishment open 
on Sunday, we think that justice to ourselves, but more 
than all else, to the holy law of God, which we endeavor 
to keep and to defend, demands that we give these arti-
cles a more extensive circulation, that our fellow-citi-
zens may better understand the reasons of our position 
which, to some, appears uselessly singular. 
We have not inquired whether the warrant against 
our Office was sworn out by the friends or the enemies 
of the Sunday Law; this has no bearing on the fact 
that a popular effort is being made by the friends of 
Sunday to enforce its observance on all classes without 
exception. They who kindle a fire are responsible for 
the consequences; and they must not plead that they 
could not control it after it was started. 
We have looked for this political agitation of the 
Sunday question for thirty years past; events are prov-
ing that we did not read the " sure word of prophecy " 
in vain. And we ask the reader not to dismiss this 
subject from his mind because of any possible decision 
of the Supreme Court or action of the Legislature of 
California, for this agitation will be laid here only to 
increase the demand for a " Religious Amendment of 
the Constitution of the United States." Such an Amend-
ment is the only hope for an efficient and universal 
Sunday Law. The prophecy in Rev. 13 and 14 clearly 
indicates that this will be the result of this clamor for 
Sunday enforcement. They who are now inventing 
popular reasons for substituting a church festival or 
secular " regulation" for the commandment of God, 
" know not what they do." 
This is a sufficient explanation of the circumstances 
which immediately call for the circulation of the Tract 
at this time. It also contains the leading editorial of 
last week's SIGNS, entitled, " Our Position." This is a 
defense from the false charge raised against us by some 
unscrupulous professedly-temperance people, that we 
are joining hands with the basest elements of society. 
If this were a temperance law we would advocate 
its enforcement to the best of our ability. But it is a 
Sunday law-a law in the interest of somebody's reli-
gion, but not of ours-and we have no manner of in-
terest in its enforcement. We ask for no law but that 
which the Lord has furnished in the decalogue, for the 
enforcement of the true Sabbath, the Sabbath of the 
Bible. Is it reasonable to ask us to assist in compelling 
people, against their wills and convictions, to keep a 
spurious Sabbath, when we only persuade them to keep 
the genuine Sabbath ? We stand on Bible ground. 
" Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we per-
suade men." 2 Cor. 5 :11. We are willing to be " am-
bassadors for Christ." Verse 20. He has given us no 
commission to act as executioners. It is a pity that 
Protestant clergymen will unite to resurrect the Inqui- 
sition. This Tract ought to be circulated by tens of 
thousands in every part of California. To do this, and 
to carry on successfully other missionary work in Oak-
land and San Francisco, 
MONEY IS WANTED! 
There are brethren in this State, who, personally, do 
very little missionary work, who have means which they 
could spare without depriving themselves of any of 
the comforts of life. They have never seen the time 
when they could do so much good with their means as 
the present. The interest to read is awakened; the 
way is open; the work must be done now. Will they 
respond to this call, and immediately send some means 
to this Office to be appropriated to this special work ? 
The Spirit of It. 
THE Sunday-enforcement agitation is doing just what 
has been pointed out in our publications-it is stirring 
up the " bad blood " of both parties in the controversy; 
that is, of those who are favoring the enforcement, and 
of those who are resisting it. It is stated in one of the 
Oakland papers that the disagreement of the jury in 
the recent trial was largely owing to the impression 
that the movement originated in the First Congrega-
tional Church! This may not be a very good reason; 
but it must be remembered that the pastor of that 
church advised his people not to deal with those who 
violated the Sunday. If all non-believers should com-
bine and resolve not to deal with any member of the 
Congregational Church, it would not be pleasing to 
the D. D., but it would only be carrying out the spirit 
of his own- action and advice. 
In the trial in question, the lawyers had a warm time 
-in fact the Judge could not control them so as to keep 
order, except by threatening to commit both parties for 
contempt. The jury had a sharp contention, and some 
on the outside, who overheard some of it, thought it 
would end in a fight. And these things are but the 
beginning of troubles. It is destined to bring more 
trouble upon the nation than any political question 
which has ever yet been agitated in the United States. 
TEACHERS' BIBLES-OXFORD EDITION. 
ACKNOWLEDGED to be the best in the market, and celebrated for 
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would be at a loss anywhere, or at any time, in the preparation of his 
lesson. With the notes and tables are embodied the results of the most 
recent and authentic research of Biblical scholars, and it is believed that 
nothing has been omitted that can be desired in a 
TEACHER'S BIBLE. 
The following list is a careful selection of the best styles; 
NOS. �PEARL 16 mo. (Size 4 x 5 x 11 inches.) 
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505. Persian Morocco, limp 
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OUR COUNTRY'S FUTURE FORETOLD, 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, Al OAKLAND, CAL., FOR TUE �Nip s.:4 
Missionary Society of Seventh-day Adventists. 
A twelve-page Religions Family Paper, devoted to a discussion of the 
Prophecies, Signs of the Times, Second Coming of Christ, Harmony of the 
Law and Gospel, with Domartments devoted to Temperance, The Home 
LIrcle, The Missionary WoPlt, and the Sabbath-school. 
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--OR- 
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ELD. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, Eta% ens 
wood, Shirley Road, Southamp-
ton, England. 
W. L. Raymond, Gaston, Oregon. 
 
 
 
 
Our Publications in England. 
ANY of the books, pamphlets, and tracts issued at this 
Office may be obtained of Eld. J. N . Loughborough, Ravens-
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also receive subscriptions for our periodicals. 
Or, �SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, California. 
Ul! 
zg1tz DI the 'Times. 
OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1882.