nen' qkrfirlt5. 
Christ's Triumph for Us. 
Faltered at the Post-Office in Oakland, Cal. 
THE DAWN- IS _BRIG-I-IT_F',NING-! 
SAINTS of God! the dawn is brightening, 
Token of our coming Lord! 
O'er the earth the field is wditening; 
Louder rings the Master's word,—
" Pray for reapers 
In the harvest of the Itord." 
Feebly now they toil in sadness, 
Weeping o'er the waste around, 
Slowly gathering grains of gladness, 
While their echoing cries resound,— 
" Pray that reapers 
In God's harvest may abound." 
Now, 0 Lord, fulfill thy pleasure, 
Breathe upon thy chosen band, 
And, with pentecostal measure, 
Send forth reapers o'er our land— 
Faithful reapers, 
Gathering sheaves for thy right hand. 
Soon shall end the time of weeping; 
Soon the reaping time will come, 
Heaven and earth together keeping 
God's eternal harvest home! 
Saints and angels 
Shout the world's great harvest home! 
—Selected. 
" Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22 :12. 
VOLUME 9. 
OAKLAND. CALIFORNIA, FIFTH—DAY, APRIL 5, 1883. 
NUMBER 14. 
S. D. A. MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 
(For Terms, etc., See Last Page.) 
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE. 
AT the birth of Christ, Satan saw the plains 
of Bethlehem illuminated with the brilliant glory 
of a multitude of heavenly angels. He heard 
their song, " Glory to God in the highest, and on 
earth peace, good-will toward men." The prince 
of darkness- saw the amazed shepherds filled 
with fear as they beheld the illuminated plains. 
They trembled before the exhibitions of bewil-
dering glory which seemed to entrance their 
senses. The rebel chief himself trembled at the 
proclamation of the angel to the shepherds, " Fear 
not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great 
joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you 
is born this day, in the city of, David, a Saviour, 
which is Christ the Lord." He had met with 
good success in devising a plan to ruin men, and 
he had become bold and powerful. He had con-
trolled the minds and bodies of men from Adam 
down to the first appearing of Christ. But now 
Satan was troubled and alarmed for his kingdom 
and his life. 
The song of the heavenly messengers pro-
claiming the advent of the Saviour to a fallen 
world, and the joy expressed at this great event, 
Satan knew boded no good to himself. Dark 
forebodings were awakened in his mind as to 
the influence this advent to the world would have 
upon his kingdom. He queried if this was not 
the coming One who would contest his power 
and overthrow his kingdom. He looked upon 
Christ from his birth as his rival. He stirred the 
envy and jealousy of Herod to destroy Christ 
by insinuating to him that his power and his 
kingdom were to be given to this new king. 
Satan imbued Herod with the very feelings and 
fears that disturbed his own mind. He inspired 
the corrupt mind of Herod to slay all the children 
in Bethlehem who were two years old and under, 
which plan he thought would succeed in ridding 
the earth of the infant king. 
But against his plans, Satan sees a higher 
power at work. Angels of God protected the 
life of the infant Redeemer. Joseph was warned 
in a dream to flee into Egypt, that in a heathen 
land he might find an asylum for the world's 
Redeemer. Satan followed him from infancy to 
childhood, and from childhood to manhood, in-
venting means and ways to allure him from his 
allegiance to God, and 'overcome him with his 
subtle temptations. The unsullied purity of the 
childhood, youth, and manhood, of Christ which 
Satan could not taint, annoyed him exceedingly. 
All his darts and arrows of temptation fell harm-
less before the Son of God. And when he found 
that all his temptations prevailed nothing in 
moving Christ from the steadfast integrity, or 
in marring the spotless purity of the youthful 
Galilean, he was perplexed and enraged. He 
looked upon this youth as an enemy that he 
must dread and fear. 
That there should be one who walked the 
earth with moral power to withstand all his 
temptations, who resisted all his attractive bribes 
to allure him to sin, and over whom he could 
obtain no advantage to separate from God, chafed 
and enraged his satanic majesty. 
The childhood, youth, and manhood of John, 
who came in the spirit and power of Elijah to 
do a special work in preparing the way for the 
world's Redeemer, were marked with firmness 
and moral power. Satan could not move his 
integrity. When the voice of this prophet was 
heard in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way 
of the Lord, make his paths straight," Satan was 
afraid for his kingdom. He felt that the voice, 
sounding forth in trumpet tones in the wilder-
ness, caused sinners under his control to tremble. 
He saw that his power over many was broken. 
The sinfulness of sin was revealed in such a 
manner that men became alarmed; and some, by 
repentance of their sins, found the favor of God, 
and gained moral power to resist his temptations. 
He was on the ground at the time when Christ 
presented himself to John for baptism. He beard 
the majestic voice resounding through Heaven 
and echoing through the earth like peals of thun-
der. He saw the lightnings flash from the cloud-
less heavens, and heard the fearful words from 
Jehovah, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I 
am well pleased." He saw the brightness of the 
Father's glory overshadowing the form of Jesus, 
thus pointing out in that crowd the One whom 
he acknowledged as his Son with unmistakable 
asEiurance. The circumstances connected with 
this baptismal scene had aroused the most in-
tense hatred in the breast of Satan. He knew 
then for a certainty that unless he could overcome 
Christ, from thenceforth there would be a limita-
tion of his Dower. He understood that the com-
munication from the throne of God signified that 
Heaven was more directly accessible to man. 
As Satan had led man to sin, he had hoped 
that God's abhorrence of sin would forever sepa-
rate him from man, and break the connecting 
link between Heaven and earth. The opening 
heavens, in connection with the voice of God 
addressing his Son, was like a death-knell to 
Satan. He feared that God was now to unite 
man more fully to himself, and give power to 
overcome his devices. And for this purpose 
Christ had come from the royal courts to the 
earth. Satan was well acquainted with the posi-
tion of honor Christ had held in Heaven as the 
Son of God, the beloved of the Father. And 
that he should leave Heaven, and come to this 
world as a man, filled him with apprehension for 
his safety. He could not comprehend the mystery 
of this great sacrifice for the benefit of fallen man. 
He knew that the value of Heaven far exceeded 
the anticipation and appreciation of fallen man. 
The most costly treasures of the world, he knew, 
would not compare with its worth. As he had 
lost through his rebellion all the riches and pure 
glories of Heaven, he was determined to be re-
venged by causing as many as he could to under-
value Heaven, and to place their affections upon 
earthly treasures. 
It was incomprehensible to the selfish soul of 
Satan that there could exist benevolence and love 
for the deceived race so great as to induce the 
Prince of Heaven to leave his home and come 
to a world marred with sin and seared with the 
curse. He had knowledge of the inestimable 
value of eternal riches that man had not. He 
had experienced the pure contentment, the peace, 
exalted holiness, and unalloyed joys of the heav-
enly abode. He had realized, before his rebellion, 
the satisfaction of the full approval of God. He 
had once a full appreciation of the glory that 
enshrouded the Father, and knew that there was 
no limit to his power. 
Satan knew what he had lost. He now feared 
that his empire over the world was to be con-
tested, his right disputed, and his power broken. 
He knew, through prophecy, that a Saviour was 
predicted, and that his kingdom would not be 
established in earthly triumph and with worldly 
honor and display. He knew that ancient proph-
ecies foretold a kingdom to be established by 
the Prince of Heaven upon the earth, which he 
claimed as his dominion. This kingdom would 
embrace all the kingdoms of the world, and then 
his power and his glory would cease, and he 
would receive his retribution for the sins he had 
introduced into the world, and for the misery he 
had brought upon man. He knew that every-
thing which concerned his prosperity was pend-
ing upon his success or failure in overcoming 
Christ with his temptations in the wilderness. 
He brought to bear upon Christ every artifice 
and force of his powerful temptations to allure 
him from his allegiance. 
It is impossible for man to know the strength 
of Satan's temptations to the Son of God. Ev-
ery temptation that seems so afflicting to man in 
his daily life, so difficult to resist and overcome, 
was brought to bear upon the Son of God in as 
much greater degree as his excellence of char-
acter was superior to that of fallen man. 
Christ was tempted in all points like as we 
are. As man's representative, he stood the closest 
test and proving of God. He met the strongest 
force of Satan. His most wily temptations Christ 
has tested and conquered in behalf of man. It 
is impossible for man to be tempted above what 
he is able to bear while he relies upon Jesus, the 
infinite Conqueror. 
REBUKED.—A few years ago, as a stranger rose 
in one of our city pulpits to begin the service, 
several of the congregation began to leave the 
church. He was a lame man, and the pulpit was 
located near the doors. 
" Wait a moment, my friends," said the preacher, 
" till I get my hat, and I'll go with you." 
Down he came, limping, hat in hand, and left 
the church. This abrupt closing of the services 
taught the people that there was at least one 
minister who would not be treated with contempt. 
On a certain occasion, the eloquent Dr. E. H. 
Chapin, being sick, was compelled to ask a friend 
to preach for him. As the stranger rose to an-
nounce the opening hymn, a score of persons rose 
to go out. This clergyman also was equal to such 
an emergency. 
" �
said, " who came here to worship Dr. 
Chapin will please leave now; but those who came 
to worship God will sing the forty-third hymn." 
That stopped the exodus. 
THE great end of a good education is to form 
a reasonable man. 
THE more honesty a man has the less he affects 
the air of a saint. 
ins of Ike �
i'Irte5. 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, FOR THE 
Why Not Found Out Before? 
WHEN we have clearly proved from the Bible 
that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and should 
be kept, Sunday-keepers say, " If this is so, why 
was it not found out before ? " And because 
pious and learned men have lived and died with-
out keeping the seventh-day Sabbath, they claim 
that it cannot be right. The fallacy of this argu-
ment may be readily shown. 
First, such reasoners judge the Bible by the 
opinions and actions of poor, fallible man. In-
stead of reading the Bible to learn what men 
ought to do, the37 inquire what men have done, to 
learn what the Bible should mean. 
Secondly, this objection has always been urged 
against every reformation in religion. On this 
principle, we must never learn anything which 
our fathers did not know. 
God's truth is always progressive—new truths 
being brought out and old truths revived in dif-
ferent ages, as circumstances may require. To 
each generation God gives additional light, some 
truth that he has not given before. In many 
cases the people are brought back to doctrines 
which have been lost sight of for generations. 
So of the Sabbath. In the providence of God, 
the time has now come when light is being given, 
and a reformation is being wrought upon this 
subject. 
It was foretold in prophecy that the papacy 
would change God's Sabbath, and enforce that 
change for 1260 years. This is the reason it was 
not found out before. In Dan. 7 we have the 
prophecy of the four kingdoms. It is univers-
ally agreed that the last of these represents 
Rome, and that the blasphemous horn is a sym-
bol of the papacy. Verse 25 says, "He shall 
speak great words against the Most High, and 
shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and 
think to change times and laws; and they shall 
be given into his hand until a time and times 
and the dividing of time." How exactly have 
the popes fulfilled this prophecy ! They have 
blasphemed God and slain his saints. But this 
power was also to think to change times and 
laws. Whose laws and times? Those of the 
Most High; for it is against God that the beast 
makes war. Human laws are constantly chang-
ing, so it would be nothing remarkable that 
these should be changed. But that a man should 
think to change the law and times of God would 
be remarkable. Beyond doubt, then, the proph-
ecy refers to God's law and God's holy time. 
Is there any precept in that law relating to 
time ? Just one, and only one—the Sabbath com-
mand. The other commandments say nothing 
about time, while this relates to nothing else. 
Time is inseparably connected with this com-
mandment, so that to change the commandment 
would be to change the time. The prophecy 
said the pope should think to change God's laws 
and times. But God's law relates to no time ex-
cept the weekly Sabbath. Hence we have here 
the most explicit prediction that the papacy was 
to change the Sabbath of the fourth command-
ment. 
Has the pope changed the Sabbath ? Yes, em-
phatically; the proof is abundant. 1. The law 
plainly says, " The seventh day is the Sabbath." 
Ex. 20 : 8-11. 2. The New Testament is entirely 
silent about any change of the Sabbath by Christ 
or the apostles. 3. But since the rise of the pa-
pacy, we find that some one has changed the 
Sabbath; for the Catholics and most Protestants 
now keep the first day, instead of the seventh 
day which the law requires. 4. History shows 
that the pope did make this change of the Sab-
bath. See " History of the Sabbath," by An-
drews. 5. The Catholics confess that they did it. 
Listen to the following from a Catholic cate-
chism:— 
" Ques. Have you any other way of proving 
that the church has power'to institute festivals of 
precept ? 
".Ans. Had she not such power, she could not 
have done that in which all modern religionists 
agree with her,—she could not have substituted 
the observance of Sunday, the first day of the 
week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh 
day, a change for which there is no Scriptural 
authority."—Doctrinal Catechism, p. 101. 
" Ques. How prove you that the church hath 
power to institute feasts and holy days ? 
" Ans. By the very act of changing the Sab-
bath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of."—
Abridgment of Christian Doctrine. 
158 �
TIlE SIGNS OF TEI �
 TIMES. �
Vol,. 9, No. 14. 
How could evidence be any clearer ? The pope, 
then, did change the Sabbath, according to the 
prophecy. 
Now the prophecies just as clearly predict that 
this breach in the law of God will be repaired and 
the Sabbath restored in the last days. Thus in 
Dan. 7 : 25, before quoted, after stating that the 
papacy would persecute the saints, and change 
times and laws, the prophet says, " And they shall 
be given into his hand until a time and times and 
the dividing of time." This period is just 1260 
years. See any commentary. God's laws and 
times are to be given into his hand until this spec-
ified time. This is equivalent to saying that 
they will be taken out of his hand at the expira-
tion of that time. So even here the restoration-
of the Sabbath at the end of the 1260 years is 
strongly implied. 
In Rev. 12 : 14 is a prediction of the same period, 
during which the dragon persecutes the woman, 
the church, as stated in Daniel. When the time 
is expired, we and a remnant people keeping all the 
commandments of God. Thus, "And the dragon 
was wroth with the woman, and went to make 
war with the remnant of her seed, which keep 
the commandments of God, and have the testi-
mony of Jesus Christ." Verse 17. This is after 
the close of the 1260 years, the period after which 
the law and Sabbath were to be taken out of the 
pope's hand, according to Dan. 7 : 25. What do 
we find here ? 1.. A persecuted people. 2. The 
remnant of the church,--the last church, or those 
living at the time of the second advent. This, 
then, brings us to the last days. 3. The special 
peculiarity of this people is that they keep the com-
mandments of God. This certainly indicates that 
all these commandments had not been kept be-
fore this time, but that here a people will be 
raised up who will keep them. Notice that this 
observance of the commandments brings upon 
them hatred and persecution. This plainlyshows 
that they are keeping some one of these com-
mandments that is not generally kept; for people 
are not persecuted for doing what everybody else 
is doing. But those that keep the Sabbath are 
persecuted, as the prophecy foretells. 
Now let us consider the law of God. Except 
the Sabbath commandment, people are agreed in 
keeping all of the ten commandments. But let 
a man step out to keep the Sabbath command-
ment just as it reads,—" The seventh day is the 
Sabbath," and he immediately becomes peculiar, 
and brings upon himself hatred and persecution, 
as we see wherever the Sabbath question is agi-
tated. This is just what the prophecy foretold; 
and it is this day fulfilled before our eyes in the 
Sabbath reform. 
Another striking prediction of this reformation 
concerning the law of God is found in Rev. 14 : 9 
-12. It is here stated that just preceding the 
second advent of Christ, to reap the harvest of the 
earth, verses 14-16, a message will be given, to 
bring out and prepare a people for that event. 
Of those thus brought out it says, "Here are they 
that keep the commandments of God, and the 
faith of Jesus." Verse 12. " Here are they." 
Where ? Just before Christ is seen coming in the 
clouds. Verse 14. The time, then, is the same as 
that of the remnant of Rev. 12: 17, above con-
sidered. What is the peculiarity of this people ? 
They keep the commandments of God. This, again, 
is just what was said of the remnant in chap. 12 : 
17. In the mind of God this must be an impor-
tant fact, since it is repeated twice in so close con-
nection. The expression, "Here are they that 
keep the commandments of God," implies that 
the custom of keeping the commandments of God 
is quite unusual at this time. 
Then in the last days there will be a reforma-
tion in some way touching the commandments. 
It must be upon the Sabbath; for all are agreed 
upon the other nine. But through the influence 
of the papacy the Sabbath commandment has 
been ignorantly broken till of late. Now, how-
ever, just at the time mentioned in the third 
angel's message, Rev. 14 : 9-12, thousands are 
turning to keep the Sabbath. The movement is 
wide-spread and rapidly increasing. It embraces 
many countries and languages. The prophecy 
has become fact. Take heed how you reject it. 
Here, again, we have the reason why this truth 
was not found out before.—it was reserved to be 
the last testing message to the world. 
In the book of Ezekiel is another prophecy of 
the restoration of the Sabbath in the last days. 
First, the prophet speaks of false teachers as neg-
lecting to do God's work due in the last days. 
Chap. 13 : 4-11. He says that certain " gaps " 
were to be built up, verse 5; but they refuse to 
build. These gaps were to be made up, that 
the people of God might " stand in the battle in 
the day of the Lord." Verse 5. All the Script- 
ures locate " the day of the Lord " at the second 
advent, when "the battle of that great day of 
God Almighty " is to transpire. Rev. 16 : 14. At 
that time the wrath of God will be poured out in 
the seven last plagues, Rev. 16, the last of which 
will be great hailstones from heaven. Verse 21. 
God's saints need a special prepdration to stand 
then. Ezekiel refers to this and to the great hail-
stones 'which will fall, and says these gaps " 
must be made up, that the people of God may 
stand at that time, but that these false teachers 
will not do it. They see " vanity and lying divi- 
nation, saying, The Lord saith; and the Lord 
bath not sent them." Verse 6. Also they cried, 
" Peace, and there was no peace." Verse 10. In 
1 Thess. 5 : 1-4, Paul locates this peace-and-safety 
cry just before the second advent. 
All these points show the time of which Eze-
kiel speaks. He says, " One built up a wall, and, 
lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar." 
Verse 10. In Eze. 22, where the Same subject is 
again brought up, we find that the gap is the 
breach made in the law of God by breaking down 
the Sabbath commandment. Read verses 25 to 
30, and you will see that the same teachers are 
referred to, the " daubing with untempered mor- 
tar," the " seeing vanity and divining lies unto 
them, saying Thus saith the Lord God, when the 
Lord hath not spoken." He sought for a man to 
make up the hedge and " stand in the gap," and 
found none. 
In verse 26 he throws aside the figure, and 
plainly says it is the law of God and the Sabbath 
which they are violating. "Her priests have 
violated my law." Even the priests are breaking 
the law of God. Which precept? " And have pro- 
faned mine holy things [his holy Sabbath]; they 
have put no difference between the holy and pro-
fane [between the Sabbath and the secular, work- 
ing days]; neither have they showed difference 
between the unclean, and the clean, and have hid 
their eyes from my Sabbaths." This is the trouble. 
They are violating God's law by hiding their eyes 
from the Sabbath, and refusing to prepare a peo-
ple for the day of the Lord by building up that 
gap. 
In Isa. 58 the same work of building up "the 
gap " and repairing " the breach " by restoring 
the Sabbath, is foretold. The Lord first com- 
mands to cry aloud and show his people their sins. 
Verse 1. Among other things he says that they 
who do so " shall build the old waste places; thou 
shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; 
and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, 
The restorer of paths to dwell in." Verse 12. Some 
important reformation is here spoken of. Some-
thing that has been neglected for ages must now 
be restored. Those who do this work will repair 
" the breach ;" the same as in Ezekiel. It is 
the Sabbath, as the very next verse, in which 
the conditions are stated, shows. " If thou turn 
away thy foot from the Sabbath." God's Sab-
bath is being trampled in the dust. Men have 
their feet upon it. They have had them there 
for " many generations." Now if they will take 
them off, they will be called the repairers of the 
breach. 
This prophecy shows that after the Sabbath 
has been neglected and trodden under foot for 
" many generations," there will be a reformation 
upon that point, and the holy Sabbath will again 
be honored. This is just the work which Seventh-
day Adventists are now doing. Will you have a 
part in it? 
lsa. 5.6 also predicts the restoration of the Sab-
bath in the last days. In verse 1 the Lord says, 
" My salvation is near to come." This must be a 
short time before the coming of Christ. Heb. 9 : 
28; 1 Pet.1 : 5. At that time " blessed is the man 
. . . . that layeth hold on it; that keepeth 
the Sabbath from polluting it." Isa. 56 : 2. You 
cannot lay hold of what you are already holding. 
But here a blessing is pronounced on all who will 
lay hold on the Sabbath and keep it at that time. 
All the prophets, then, have foretold that in the 
last days there will be a work of reformation con-
cerning the law of God and his holy Sabbath. 
The time has come, and the work has commenced. 
Reader do not reject the law of God : do not hide 
your eyes from his holy Sabbath. 
A DANGER foreseen is half avoided. 
APRIL 5, 1883. �THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
159 
For Rest Simply. 
A SHORT time ago an Adventist preacher made 
some inquiries of the Independent concerning the 
Sunday Law question, and received a reply, of 
which the following is a portion:— 
" We can only repeat that it is a great disad-
vantage to be in the minority. People there may 
be right; but they must suffer and submit. With 
the Seventh-day people it is a matter of religion 
and conscience. They must rest Saturday, and 
may, generally should, work Sunday; but the 
State has no quarrel with their conscience and 
religion, and no favor for the religion of the other 
citizens. All the State wants is that the citizens 
shall have one day in seven for rest; not for re-
ligion. Which day it shall be the majority must 
decide; but the law should be very considerate of 
those whose conscience requires another day. 
They should be allowed to work Sunday if they 
do not disturb the rest of the majority. If they 
insist on so working as to interfere with the rest-
day of the majority, they must either move or be 
moved away. We are sorry, but there is no help 
for it." 
The Sabbath Recorder, after reading the Independ- 
ent's reply, takes that paper to task in the fol- 
lowing forcible manner:— 
" Now we should like to ask the Independent a 
question or two: If the Sunday of the State is 
for rest simply, having no regard for the con-
science of the minority, and no favors for the re-
ligious opinions or preferences of the majority, 
then why is it needed at all ? Does the fact that 
a few persons, more or less, choose to pursue their 
regular avocations on any given day prevent all 
the world besides from resting on that day if they 
choose to do so ? It is probable that a majority 
of the business men, especially in our large cities, 
suspend business on our national holidays, as 
Washington's birthday, Thanksgiving, etc., and 
so make it a rest-day. Do they rest any the less on 
those days' because, forsooth, the railroads run 
their regular trains, and a few men keep open 
stores, shops, or mills ? On public holidays many 
people prefer to go on excursions, with extra rail-
road trains, banners, and bands of music. Does 
that prevent those who prefer to do so from stay-
ing quietly at home and resting ? How, then,, f 
Sunday is simply for rest, can the ordinary labor 
of a few persons on that day be any serious inter-
ference with the resting privileges of the major-
ity ? Some men have found it necessary to take a 
day or a week or a month from business for rest, 
and they get it, and with it returning health and 
vigor, although the great majority of mankind 
have kept the very air full of the hum and clat-
ter of business. If a few men can rest effect-
ually with business going on all about them, 
ought not the majority—the great majority--to be 
able to rest without invoking the aid of the State, 
even though a few people, here and there--a very 
few--choose to go quietly about their regular bus-
iness, never very noisy ? We have noticed that 
when for any reason people have chosen to. do so, 
they have been able to rest, irrespective of the 
activities of business or pleasure-seeking on the 
part of other people, on every day of the week, 
except Sunday. But when Sunday comes, and 
the majority of the people have suspended busi-
ness, if' a few persons conscientiously go about 
their legitimate work, forthwith a great cry is 
raised, These few people are so disturbing the 
rest of the people, they must quit, move or be 
moved.' Is it not the baldest nonsense to plead 
for the Sunday law on any such ground? If the 
Christian people of this land did not want to pre- 
serve the traditional sanctity of Sunday as a day 
of religious worship; if they were not conscious 
that such sanctity cannot be maintained by any 
authority' from the word of God; if, in a word, 
the religious element were taken out of this ques-
tion, it would cease to have an advocate." 
The Mystery of Gravitation and of God. 
THE most incomprehensible things are accepted 
as facts, and on them science is built. Gravita-
tion is believed in by the most skeptical people. 
There are people who talk about it as though 
they could see, handle, and taste it. But that is 
not the way a true scientist talks. In a recent 
lecture Prof. C. A. Young, of Princeton College, 
used the following language: " Do not under-
stand me at all as saying that there is no mys- 
tery about the planets' motions. There is just 
the one single mystery—gravitation—and it is a 
very profound one. How it is that an atom of 
matter can attract another atom, no matter how 
great the distance, no matter what intervening 
substance there may be; how it will act upon it, 
or at least behave as if it acted upon it, I do 
not know; I cannot tell. Whether they 'are 
pushed together by means of an intervening 
ether, or what is the action, I cannot understand. 
It stands with me along with the fact that when 
I will that my arm shall rise it rises. It is in-
scrutable. All the explanations that have been 
given of it seem to me merely to darken counsel 
with words and no understanding. They do not 
remove the difficulty at all. If I were to say what 
I really believe, it would be that the motions of 
the spheres of the material universe stand in 
some such relation to Him in whom all things ex-
ist, the ever-present and omnipotent God, as the 
motions of my body do to my will—I do not 
know how, and never expect to know." We 
dare say there will be wiseacres to sneer at the 
Professor for introducing the name of God into 
an astronomical lecture, on the ground that God 
is incomprehensible. But why, then, should in-
comprehensible gravitation be in the lecture ?—
ZIT. Y. Christian Advocate. 
The World's Law Book. 
IN the general exercises of a village Sunday-
school recently, the superintendent read the ten 
commandments as given on Mount Sinai. The 
binding of the large Bible used on the occasion 
was unusual and peculiar. It was that of ordi-
nary law books—smooth sheepskin, with red up-
per title and dark lower title. This was a trivial 
matter, but it was suggestive. 
The Bible is a book of laws; God's law to the 
world, every word of it—statements, warnings, 
threatenings, entreaties, invitations, promises, of-
fers of pardon, mercy, and full salvation. But 
are not the invitations and proffers of mercy 
matters of choice to men ? Yes; but God com-
mands men to choose them. The Bible " is a 
book where more is understood than expressed." 
The intimation of a wish by the parent is law to 
a loving and obedient child. So God's will, though 
made known in the mildest whisper of a sugges-
tion, is law. Disobedience is at the soul's peril. 
Having disobeyed, salvation is purely of sover-
eign grace. And this grace men are commanded 
to seek and accept. Men convicted of sin, and 
realizing their peril because of their sins, seek 
deliverance. They seek it, however, in their own 
way and by methods of their own. God com-
mands them to seek it in his way. They that 
thus seek, find. This is God's law of grace. In-
stances have been known among men where crim-
inals have refused the pardon granted, and insisted 
upon remaining in prison. They have been ejected 
from the prison and liberty forced upon them. 
God never forces pardon and salvation on any 
one. They must accept it or perish. 
The divine law is letter and spirit. Acceptable 
obedience is not that of the letter merely; nor 
merely of what men may conceive to be the 
spirit of the law; but the obedience of both let-
ter and spirit as the one interprets the other, an 
interpretation which sacrifices neither. God's law 
is obeyed in the spirit of it when with the heart we 
submit to the letter. A disposition, or a deter-
mination, to evade God's law is manifest disobe-
dience. The character of the action is colored 
by the disposition and desire of the heart. With 
God, this disposition and intent of the heart is 
everything. Men evade human laws. No man 
can successfully evade the divine law. God's 
" commandments .ire exceeding broad." 
Sophistry and falsehood, when God's law inter-
feres with our wishes and plans, are natural to 
the human heart. A child being asked if in do- 
ing a certain thing he had not broken one of 
God's commandments, said " he didn't know, but 
he guessed he had cracked it." Another child, be-
ing told that it was wrong to drive horses on 
Sunday except in such a case as of a physician 
called to visit the sick, said, "Play this is a doc- 
tor's horse," and snapped his whip at his imagi-
nary steed. These were children, but how like 
men they reasoned. At a church fair, a member 
desiring to raise some money on the cake which 
was intended as a gift to the pastor, proposed 
that chances be sold, and the drawing be so ar-
ranged that the prize should come to the pastor. 
The late William H. Seward once stirred our 
nation by asserting the doctrine of a " Higher 
Law " than man's will. God's law is the highest 
law in the universe. From it there is no appeal. 
Nor shall one jot or tittle fail of its full accom-
plishment. Our law-makers, our various execu-
tives, as well as the sovereign people, who are 
too often law-breakers; should understand this. 
Chief-Justice Horn blower declared the Bible to 
be "the standard of righteousness." Daniel Web-
ster, the great expounder of constitutional law, 
said, " It is the book of all others for lawyers as 
well as divines." 
However God's word may be bound, every one 
should remember that it is God's law to men, and 
by it men will be judged in the last great day.—
B. W. I., in .4.7IT. Y. Examiner. 
A Man Tries Tight Lacing. 
RICHARD A. PROCTOR, the well-known lecturer 
on astronomy, once tried the experiment of wear-
ing a corset and thus describes the result: When 
the subject of corset-wearing was under discus-
sion in the pages of the English Mechanic, I was 
struck with the apparent weight of evidence in 
favor of tight lacing. I was, in particular, struck 
by the evidence of some as to its use in reducing 
corpulence. I was corpulent. I also was dis-
posed, as I am still, to take an interest in scien-
tific experiment. I thought I would give this 
matter a fair trial. I read all the instructions, 
carefully followed them and varied the time of 
applying pressure with that ' perfectly stiff busk' 
about which correspondents were so enthusiastic. 
I was foolish enough to try the thing for a mat-
ter of four weeks. Then I laughed at myself as 
a hopeless idiot and determined to give up the at-
tempt to reduce by artificial means that super-
abundance of fat on which only starvation and 
much exercise, or the air of America, has ever 
had any real reducing influence. But I was reck-
oning without my host. As the Chinese lady 
suffers, I am told, when her feet-bindings are 
taken off, and as the flat-headed baby howls when 
his head-boards are removed, so for a while was it 
with me. I found myself manifestly better in 
stays. I laughed at myself no longer. I was 
too angry with myself to laugh. I would as 
soon have condemned myself to using crutches 
all the time as to wearing always a busk. But 
for one month of folly I had to endure three 
months of discomfort. At the end of about that 
time I was my own man again."---Chicago Times. 
Long Trains. 
WHAT Emperor William thinks of the long 
trains of ladies' ball-dresses may be gleaned from 
a conversation he had at the recent court ball 
with the young and charming wife of a foreign 
military attache, who appeared with one of those 
long trains prescribed by the etiquette of her own 
country, and also worn at Berlin by the non-
dancing ladies of riper " youth." The Emperor, 
noticing that the afbresaid young lady had not 
joined the dancers, inquired, in his most affable 
way, the reason why, anci received the frank 
reply: " For the simple reason, your Majesty, 
that nobody asked me to dance." " Then let me 
tell you," said the Emperor, with a smiling 
glance at her enormous train, " that my officers 
are evidently afraid of playing sad havoc with 
your lovely dress;" jestingly adding: "If I had 
had the slightest power in matters of fashion, I 
should never have tolerated those cumbersome 
trains at balls. Unfortunately, I have been 
utterly powerless in this respect thus far, but I 
sincerely rejoice at the prospect of Dame Fashion 
speedily and sympathetically coming round to 
my views once more." 
THE first thing is to make your sermon plain. 
Mr. Bloomfield preached on the text " The fool 
hath said in his heart, There is no God.'" Wish-
ing to find out how it pleased his people, he called 
a poor foolish man to the pulpit and asked him 
how he liked the sermon. The reply, which 
made Bloomfield a sadder and a wiser man,was: 
" Well, sir, I must say I can't agree with you. 
In spite of all you've said, I think there must be 
a God." 
THE man who walks " a thousand miles in a 
thousand hours " is more generally admired than 
he who walks uprightly through three-score years 
and ten. 
160 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �VoL. 9, No. 14. 
A Letter to the Disciples of the Lord. 
BY ROSWELL F. COTTRELL. 
Concluded. 
THE SABBATH HAS ALWAYS KEPT GOOD COMPANY. 
IT is a common saying that a man is known by 
the company he keeps. If he associates with 
good, respectable company, he is considered re-
spectable; but if he chooses vicious and dissolute 
companions, he must bear their character. 
God, instead of associating the Sabbath with 
Jewish ordinances, which pointed to Christ, and 
were abolished by his death, placed it in company 
with nine moral precepts, which are, in the nature 
of things, obligatory on every son and daughter 
of Adam. This was not done without some good 
reason. If I were asked the reason, I would 
humbly suggest that the Sabbath was of a nature 
entirely different from Jewish rites, having neither 
beginning nor ending together with them. And 
that its obligation is as universal and unlimited 
as that of its nine companions. Brethren, I re-
peat it, there was a reason for this; and I insist 
upon your giving me a reason, coinciding with 
your views of the Sabbath's being done away, or 
that you admit that I have given the true one. 
0, thou short-lived Jewish institution! How 
didst thou contrive to forsake thy fellows, and to 
ingratiate thyself into the very midst of an im-
mortal company ? Thou ordinance which was 
against us, which was contrary to us! By what 
foul means didst thou induce our Saviour to say, 
thou wast made for us ? Thou beggarly element 
to which the Galatians, who were idolaters before 
their conversion, desired again to be in bondage! 
What infinite trouble and perplexity hast thou, 
by thy intrusion, caused the priesthood! But for 
thee, the dissecting-knife need never have been 
applied to God's law—that law, which, in the 
words of an apostle, "is spiritual—is holy, just 
and good." How many of my beloved brethren 
have, by thy means, been induced to attempt to 
dash in pieces God's law—by the use of Paul's 
comparison between the minister of the law, and 
the ministers of the gospel, 2 Cor. 3, and thus to 
leave God without a law, while they might pick 
up the pieces, selecting the nine and rejecting thee! 
My dear brethren, how has the Sabbath been 
slandered by the lovers of God and his truth! 
THE MONUMENT.—AN EXTRACT. 
" We will now suppose that a person wander- 
ing through the streets of some great city, sud-
denly comes to an inclosure containing a collec-
tion of spacious and beautiful buildings. On in-
quiring, he finds that they are designed for a be-
nevolent purpose-- say, a home for friendless and 
indigent females. He obtains permission to enter 
the inclosure, and the first thing which attracts 
his attention is an imposing monument, upon 
which is an inscription to the effect that the 
groUnd was given, the buildings erected, and the 
institution endowed by the munificence of one 
John Howard; and that this monument was raised 
to commemorate the ffict. We will next suppose 
that after this monument has stood unmutilated 
for many years some person undertakes to de-
molish it, and builditanother in its place, for the 
purpose of commemorating a different event; or, 
.if he should not choose to build a monument en- 
tirely new, that he removes the slab containing 
the inscription, and substitutes another having a 
new inscription. an inscription which leaves out 
the name of John Howard, making no allusion to 
him, nor to the object for which he had caused 
those buildings to be erected. Would not the 
person who would act thus show that he did not 
feel towards the name and memory of John 
Howard as he ought to feel ? Would it not be 
natural to infer that he harbored some enmity 
against him ? that he did not wish his name 
perpetuated ? or. that he hated the work itself. 
and did not wish such a monument of godlike 
benevolence to he kept in memory? Some such 
inference, we think, would be perfectly natural. 
Indeed, we see no room for any other, unless it be 
this, that the destroyer of the monument was 
actuated by the mere love of mischief. 
" The advocates of the first day of the week 
may take notice that we have spoken this parable 
against them. The Sabbath is a monument up-
on which is the plain and unmistakable inscrip-
tion, that Jehovah created the worlds; that by 
power, wisdom and goodness, he formed and per-
fected all in six days, and rested on the seventh; 
and that for the purpose of commemorating this 
fact, the monument was erected, so that men 
might have no excuse for atheism, and none for 
idolatry. Ho! all ye that pass by, the wayfar- 
ing man and the fool, as well as the philosopher 
and the learned, stop—read—and know that 
Jehovah is the Creator of all things. Those who 
deny the obligation of the Sabbath under the 
gospel, are represented by the man who tears 
down the monument, and builds another in its 
place. Those who pretend to admit the perpe-
tuity of the Sabbath, but contend for a change of 
the day, on the ground of the work of redemp-
tion, are represented by the man who secretly 
removes the slab containing the inscription, and 
substitutes another, with a different inscription. 
And now, so far' as the design of the Sabbath is 
concerned, what difference does it make whether 
the monument be altogether demolished and a 
new one built, or merely the slab of inscription 
removed, and another substituted. Practically, 
it makes no difference. The advocates of both 
these seemingly different views, are agreed in 
their object. They both desire to maintain the 
observance of a day different from that which 
the law of the Sabbath enjoins, and both desire 
it on the same grounds. They both wish to have 
the first day of the week considered holy, and 
not the seventh; and both are governed, in this 
by a desire of commemorating—not the creation, 
but—the wdrk of redemption. 
" Must we, therefore, conclude that the advo-
cates of the first-day observance are actuated by a 
feeling of enmity against Jehovah, as the Author 
of creation, and that they desire that his name 
should no longer be had in remembrance on this 
account? Must we conclude that they despise the 
work of creation—that they see so little of 
beauty and glory in it—so little of benevolence 
and goodness—that they think it unworthy of 
any farther commemoration? We had supposed 
that it were enough for unregenerate sinners to 
cherish enmity against Jehovah as the God of 
creation. ' The CARNAL mind is enmity against 
God.' We had supposed that when one was crea- 
ted anew in Christ Jesus, his enmity was destroyed, 
and that he then loved to contemplate Jehovah as 
the Author of his existence, and of all created 
things, and that he began to love the law which 
Jehovah, as Creator, enjoined. We always thought 
that the effect of redemption was to open the eyes 
to see, not only the beauty of redemption itself, but 
the beauty and glory of creation, and the good- 
ness and benevolence of Jehovah as displayed in 
the works of his hand. This, at any rate, is our 
experience; and it is passing strange if the effect 
of redemption on every heart to which it is ap-
plied, is not to eradicate everything like atheism, 
and to create that faith which is firmly persuaded 
that God exists, Heb. 11 : 6, Ps. 14 : 1, and that 
the worlds were framed by the word of his power. 
Heb. 11 : 3. 
" But we are persuaded that our first-day breth-
ren do not mean what their practice so clearly 
implies. Still we cannot forbear asking why they 
go about to tear down the monument which pro-
claims Jehovah as the Creator of the. world ? 
Why seek to demolish that which was set up for 
the very purpose of being a standing testimony 
against atheism and idolatry. Surely you do not 
mean to strike hands with infidels and heathens! 
Or why seek to alter the inscription which God 
originally placed upon this monument? Why 
seek to make it tell a different story, as if the old 
one were too old to be repeated any longer? You 
may, perhaps, reply that a monumental institu- 
tion, to proclaim Jehovah as the God of creation, 
is not necessary, inasmuch as it is so abundantly 
proclaimed by the works of his hands. If so, 
then it was never necessary; and for four thou- 
sand years the Sabbath was a useless institution. 
The truth is, men are just as apt to be infidels 
now as they ever were, and the Sabbath is just 
as necessary now, as a testimony against their 
infidelity, as it ever was. Why, then, seek to 
destroy the Sabbath, or to modify it, and alter its 
character, so that it can no longer be recognized 
as commemorative of creation ? We are aston-
ished that Christians will act thus. 
" But that which makes their course in regard 
to the Sabbath still worse, is that they attempt to 
father it upon Jesus Christ! The Church of 
Rome, with all her impiety, has never been guilty 
of this. But you, who call yourselves Protes- 
tants, allege that Christ tore down the monu-
ment which God had set up to be a witness 
against atheism and idolatry! You allege, at 
least, that he began to batter and deface the in- 
scription, and gave his apostles instructions to 
complete the work of demolition after his resur-
rection! If Jesus Christ were an atheist; if he 
taught that the world came into existence by 
chance, without any forming hand; if he desired 
to spread this belief' among men, and blot out, as 
far as possible, everything which attests that 
Jehovah was the Creator—we should suppose 
that one of the first things he would undertake 
would be to destroy the Sabbath. But if, on the 
contrary, he came to declare the glory of the 
Father; if he came to bear testimony against in-
fidelity, and by his redeeming power to lead men 
back to the acknowledgment and worship of the 
Creator, as we know he did, it stands to reason 
that he would honor the Sabbath, that he would 
enforce it by his example, and that he would say 
of this, as of any other divine precept, �
come 
not to destroy the law—one jot or one tittle shall 
in no wise pass from it, till all be fullfiled." 
APOSTOLIC EXAMPLE 
Is in favor of the Sabbath. The apostles never 
broke the Sabbath, nor were they accused of it, 
after the resurrection, by their most bitter ene-
mies. And think you those fault-finding Jews 
would have kept silence on this point if they had 
broken it, or sought to introduce another day in 
its stead? On the contrary, they continued to 
speak of the Sabbath as of an institution which 
really existed, without calling it old or Jewish. 
It was Paul's custom to preach in the synagogues 
on the Sabbath. Acts 17 : 2. You reply, It was 
because they could find the Jews assembled on 
that day. Very well. They might have appointed 
meetings on the first day occasionally, if they 
observed that day at all. On one occasion as 
they were going out of the synagogue, the Gen-
tiles asked Paul to preach to them on the next 
Sabbath. Acts 14 : 42. If that request had been 
made to a modern preacher, he would have re-
plied, You need not wait for another Jewish Sab-
bath; to-morrow is Lord's day, we will preach 
to you to-morrow. It is marvelous how silent the 
apostles were in regard to this new' institution. 
When Paul was at Corinth he labored at his 
trade of tent making, but when the Sabbath 
came, he was found at the synagogue persuading 
both Jews and Greeks. Here, when the chief 
ruler of the synagogue and many of the Corin-
thians believed, an excellent opportunity pre-
sented itself for the apostle to introduce the new 
institution. But here, as everywhere else, he was 
silent in regard to it. But he preached every Sab-
bath, and continued there a year and six months. 
Now, brethren, if you can examine this sub-
ject without prejudice, I have not a doubt that 
you will come to the conclusion that the Sabbath 
was made for us. If you can forget your early 
teaching, you will not find a hint at the new in-
stitution in the Old or New Testament, if we ex-
cept Daniel 7 : 25. The phrase, "Lord's day," is 
found but once in the Bible, Rev. 1 : 10, and that 
rule of interpretation which would apply it to 
the first day, would prove from the Bible that we 
all ought to hang ourselves. One solitary instance 
is recorded of the disciples meeting on the 'first 
evening of the week, Acts 20 : 7, but not a hint is 
given of this being a custom. The direction, " Let 
each of you lay by him in store," would never 
hale suggested the idea of meeting together, to 
any rational mind, had it not been connected with 
the words, " first of the week." But these last 
words occurring but twice in the New Testament 
except in the evangelists, some good use must be 
made of them where they do occur; as, where 
timber is scarce, every crooked tree must be used 
for something. It is truly said of biased minds, 
"They first get their tenets, then make it their care 
To search out such scripture as best will compare; 
And when they have found that which suits them the best, 
Thy falsely construe it and skip all the rest." 
Brethren, read the Book as for the fir t time on 
this subject, saying in your hearts, God's will, not 
mine, be done, and the result will be a reformation 
which will honor God, and promote his cause on 
earth. 
SELF-RESPECT is as necessary an element of true 
manhood as egotism is repulsive. A man who 
cannot respect himself is to be commiserated, as 
is he whose excessive humility forbids proper 
self-appreciation; but the man who on false phi-
losophy refuses to maintain proper self-respect 
needs an educative influence and process which 
shall tone up his value of his own manhood to 
its proper pitch.—Golden Rule: 
APRIL 5, 1883. �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
161 
Recreation for Christians. 
As a people Seventh day,Adventists labor too 
hard, without allowing themselves change or 
periods of rest. Recreation is needful to those 
who are engaged in physical labor, and is still 
more essential for those whose labor is principally 
mental. It is not essential to our salvation, nor 
for the glory of God, to keep the mind laboring 
constantly and excessively, even upon religious 
themes. There are amusements which we can-
not approve, because Heaven condemns them, 
such as dancing, card playing, chess, checkers, 
etc. These amusements open the door for great 
evil, producing in some minds a passion for 
those plays which lead to gambling and dissipa-
tion. All such plays should be condemned by 
Christians, and something perfectly harmless 
should be substituted in their place. 
Our holidays should not be spent in patterning 
after the world, yet they should not be passed by 
unnoticed, for this will bring dissatisfaction to our 
children. On these days when there is danger 
that our children will be exposed to evil influences, 
and become corrupted by the pleasures and ex-
citement of the world, let the parents study to get 
up something to take the place of more dangerous 
amusements. Give your children to understand 
that you have their good and happiness in view. 
Let several families living in a city or village 
unite and leave the occupations which have taxed 
them physically and mentally, and make an ex-
cursion into the country, to the side of a fine 
lake, or to a nice grove, where the scenery of 
nature is beautiful. They should provide them-
selves with plain, hygienic food, the very best 
fruits and grains, and spread their table under 
the shade of some tree, or under the canopy of 
heaven. The ride, the exercise, and the scenery 
will quicken the appetite, and they can enjoy a 
repast which kings might envy. 
On such occasions parents and children should 
feel free from care, labors or perplexities. Par-
ents should become children with their children, 
making everything as pleasant for them as pos-
sible. Let the whole day be given to recreation. 
Exercise in the open air, for those whose employ-
ment has been within doors and sedentary, will 
be beneficial to health. All who can, should feel 
it a duty to pursue this course. Nothing will be 
lost, and much gained. They can return to their 
occupations with new life and new courage to 
engage in their labor with zeal, and they are bet-
ter prepared to resist disease. 
MRS. E. G. WHITE. 
Scripture Coincidences. 
" AND in those days, when the number of the disci-
ples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the 
Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows 
were neglected in the daily ministration." Acts 6 : 1. 
I find an instance of consistency without de-
sign in this passage, 'on comparing it with Jose-
phus. It seems that when the disciples became 
more numerous, a jealousy began to discover 
itself between the Grecians and the Hebrews. 
The circumstance is casually mentioned by St. 
Luke, as the accident which gave occasion to the 
appointment of deacons; yet how strictly char-
acteristic is it of the country and times in which 
it is said to have happened. 
" There was a disturbance at Caesarea," writes 
Josephus, "between the Jews and Syrians respect-
ing the equal enjoyment of civil rights; the Jews 
laying claim to precedence because Herod, who 
was a Jew, had founded the city; the Syrians, on 
the other hand, admitting this, but maintaining 
that Caesarea was originally called the Tower of 
Straton, and did not then contain a single Jew." 
(Antiq. xx. 7, § 7.) In the end the two parties 
broke out into open war. This was when Felix 
was governor. On one occasion, under Florus, 
we read of 20,000 Jews perishing at Csarea by 
the hands of the Greek or Syrian part of the 
population. (Bel. Jud. II. 18. 1.) And again we 
are told that " fearful troubles prevailed through-
out all Syria, each city dividing itself into two ar-
mies and the safety of the one consisted in fore-
stalling the violence of the other. Thus the people 
passed their days in blood and their nights in ter-
ror." (Bel. Jud. H. 15. 2.) 
It is most improbable that the writer of the 
Acts, if be were making up a story, should have 
bethought himself of a circumstance at once so 
unimportant as this murmuring of the Grecians 
against the Hebrews, and yet so truly descriptive 
of the people where his scene was laid. This 
little incident (the more. trifling the better for 
our purpose) carries with it the strongest marks 
of truth; and, like the single watch-word, is a 
voucher for the general honesty of the party that 
utters it. Indeed, the establishment of one fact 
may be thought in itself to entail the credibility 
of many more. If' it be certain that there was a 
murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews 
because their widows were neglected in the daily 
ministration, then it is probable that there was a 
common fund out of which widows were main-
tained; that mLny sold their possessions to con-
tribute to this fund; that it must have been a 
strong motive which could urge to such a dis-
posal of their property; that no motive could be 
so likely as their conviction of the truth of Chris-
tianity; and that such a conviction could spring 
out of nothing so surely as the evidence of mir-
acles. I do not say that all these matters neces-
sarily follow from the certainty of the first simple 
fact, but I say that admitting it, they all follow 
in a train of very natural consequence. 
"And after certain days King Agrippa and Bernice 
came unto Caesarea to salute Festus." Acts 25 : 13. 
This Agrippa (Agrippa Minor) had succeeded, 
by permission of Claudius, to the territories of 
his uncle Herod; at least, Trachonitas, Batanma, 
and Abilene, were confirmed to him. From this 
passage in the Acts it appears, as might be ex-
pected, that he was anxious to be well with the 
Roman Government, and accordingly that he 
lost no time in paying his respects to Festus, the 
new representative of that Government in Judea. 
It is a singular and minute coincidence well 
worth our notice, that Josephus records instances 
of this same Agrippa's obsequiousness to Roman 
authorities, of precisely the same kind. "About 
this time," says he, " King _Agrippa went to Alex-
andria, to salute Alexander, who had been sent by 
Nero to govern Egypt." (Bel. Jud. II. 15. § 1.) 
And again (what is yet more to our purpose,) 
we read, on another occasion, that Bernice accom-
panied Agrippa in one of these visits of ceremony; 
for having appointed Varus to take care of their 
kingdom in their absence, "they went to Berytus 
with the intention of meeting Gessius (Florus) the 
Roman governor ofJudea." (Jos. Life, § 11.) 
This is a case singularly parallel to that in the 
Acts: for Gessius Florus held the very same office, 
in the same country, as Felix. 
" And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and 
Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the 
place of hearing, with the chief captains and principal 
men of the city, at Festus' commandment Paul was 
brought forth." Acts 25 : 23. 
It might seem extraordinary that Bernice 
should be present on such an occasion—that a. 
woman should take any share in an affair, one 
would have supposed, foreign to her, and exclu-
sively belonging to the other sex. But here 
again we have another proof of the veracity and 
accuracy of the sacred writings. For when 
Agrippa (the same Agrippa) endeavored to com-
bat the spirit of rebellion which was beginning 
to show itself amongst the Jews, and addressed 
them in that famous speech given in Josephus, 
which throws so much light on the power and 
provincial polity of the Romans, he first of all 
" placed his sister Bernice (the same Bernice) in a 
conspicuous situation, upon the house of the Asa-
m,onieans, which was above the gallery, at the 
passage to the upper city, where the bridge joined 
the temple to the gallery; " and then he spoke 
to the people. And when his oration was ended, 
we read that "both he and his sister shed tears, 
and so repressed much violence in the multitude." 
(Bel. Jud. H. 16. § 3.) 
There is another passage, occurring in the life 
of Josephus, which is no less valuable; for it 
serves to show yet further the political impor-
tance of Bernice, and bow much she was in the 
habit of acting with Agrippa on all public occa-
sions. One Philip, who was governor of Gamala 
and the country about it, under Agrippa, had oc-
casion to communicate with the latter, probably 
on the subject of his escape from Jerusalem, 
where he had been recently in danger, and of 
his return to his own station. The transaction is 
thus described:— 
" He wrote to Agrippa and Bernice, and gave 
the letters to one of his freedmen to carry to 
Varus, who at that time was procurator of the 
kingdom, which the sovereigns (i. e. the king and 
his sister-wife) had intrusted him withal, while 
they were gone to Berytus to meet Gessius. 
When Varus had received these letters of Philip, 
and had learned that he was in safety, he was 
very uneasy at it, supposing that he should ap-
pear useless to the sovereigns now Philip was 
come." (Josephus' Life, § 11:)--From Blunt' s "Un-
designed Coincidences." 
Dry Rot in the Churches. 
WE hear a great deal spoken nowadays of the 
want of religion in the churches. The press 
never ceases to hurl the accusation against us 
that all life is dying out of every Christian de-
nomination; that we require sensational preachers 
to fill our pews, and absurdly grotesque titles to 
their sermons; that the dear, blessed, old-time re-
ligion is not sufficient to save soils; that we must 
be remodeled, some of our so-called effete supersti-
tion done away with, and in a placid, nineteenth 
century manner, reclining in our luxurious arm-
chairs, think about our duties as Christians! As 
long as we contribute to the cause of Christ in all 
the various channels (and if we are rich we won't 
feel that much), and on Sunday make our appear-
ance with our families at morning service, and 
perhaps when we have a leisure evening we make 
our appearance at prayer-meeting, and offer up a 
soulless petition because we fancy it is expected 
of us, we imagine we have done our full duty. 
O members of churches of the present day, it is 
just such conduct as this that makes religion, to 
u-e a Scripture phrase. awful in its significance, 
" stink in the nostrils" of the world now! The 
devil loves Christians of this type. They do no 
harm to his kingdom, and if they save their own 
souls it is all they do. They go to their Master 
empty handed at the last great day! But do they 
save their own souls? That is the question. We 
read in the Scriptures, " The kingdom of Heaven 
suffereth by violence, and the violent take it by 
force." That means, surely, earnestness on our 
part if we hope to win the blessing. Tae power 
of the Holy Ghost is not going to come into a 
church that is half dead, whose members pray at 
the weekly prayer-meeting like so many parrots, 
and with little more feeling. Can such prayers 
as these reach the Almighty and bring down the 
blessing? Instead, they only serve to clog more 
the feelings of the man or woman who utters 
them. If we cannot, like Jacob, wrestle with 
God in heart-felt earnestness, and fee. alone with 
Him though even in a crowd, then do not let us 
pray at all; and if we spent more time on 'our 
knees, in our closets, and never attempted to pray 
in public till we felt we could not help it, that the 
Holy Ghost was urging us on, THEN, brethren, the 
blessing would come, the revival would begin, 
there would be a stirring among the dry bones, 
and the churches would live again. 
Religion, we are told by the scoffers of the 
present day, has become a mere machinery, and 
this reproach, to a great extent, has become true. 
Where is the fire of the magnificent days of 
Wesley ? where the strength of the thunders of 
Luther? What would that great reformer say, 
could he visit the Protestant churches of every 
denomination now ? " Is this the babe, for which 
I suffered," he would say, " this boneless, puny 
thing ? Did I wage war with the Titians of 
Roman Catholicism to bring the world to this ? 
Where is the spirit of the men who fought, bled, 
and died for the church. Have their sons lost 
all the fire, that there is little or no real earnest-
ness among the people of God ? " 0 for some of 
that laughed-at enthusiasm, that spirit the world 
calls fanaticism! Let us have one such enthusiast, 
one such fanatic in a church, and he would kindle 
life in the others. One man who would not care if 
he were called a fool for the Lord's sake, but put-
ting his hand to the plough would heave up the 
dead bones, and make them cry aloud to the 
Lord once more. What a comfort he would be to 
the minister who sees no reward of his ministry, 
whose heart is well nigh fainting at the barren-
ness round him.—Christian at Work. 
LORD BEACONSFIELD said there were many people 
who would resolve to lead virtuous lives on the 
principle that " virtue is its own reward," if they 
could only get the reward in advance. But the 
trouble with those people would be that, having re-
ceived the reward in advance, they would have a 
call in another direction, and the virtuous life would 
go by default. 
BRAINS cannot be measured by the size of the 
head, nor eloquence by the extent of the mouth. 
igit,5 of tiy 
"Can ye not discern the signs of the times ?" 
J. H. WAGGONER, �
 EDITOR. 
J. N. ANDREWS, 
k_,ORRESPONDING EDITORS. 
URIAH SMITH, 
OABLANb, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, APRIL 5, 1883. 
Questions of the Christian Advocate. 
162 �
THE SIGNS OF TH 
IR, TIM 
IR:S. �VoL. 9, No. 14. 
with the Church to enforce their tradition. As far as 
we had any party preferences in the late campaign, 
we sympathized with those who sought to restrain the 
sale of liquors every day, and to remove the curse from 
the whole week. But these the Advocate opposed right 
heartily. And now it tries to cover up the incon-
sistency of its course by casting slurs on those who 
stood true to their religious principles. 
Concerning our paraphrase of its remarks on the• two 
men traveling round the world, it says:— 
The two Methodists going in opposite directions 
around the world, or toward either pole, would have 
piety and sense enough, we hope, to conform to the 
customs of the people they met, and to worship gladly 
and cheerfully with God's people in any latitude," &c. 
Exactly; we think they would so conform," es- 
pecially if the editor of the Advocate were their coun-
selor. With the Mohammedans they would keep Fri-
day, which, according to the Advocate, is just as ac- 
ceptable as Saturday or Sunday. Thus far has Method-
ism descended. But we are glad to express our opinion 
that Seventh-day Adventists might prove to be "Non-
conformists." They would turn away from every " cus-
tom of the people they met" which was not in con-
formity with the Bible and the law of God, however 
"pious " its intent, or however " religious " its adherents. 
These are our answers. We are glad the Advocate 
asked the questions, thus giving us a suitable oppor-
tunity to define our position on these several points. 
We feel very friendly toward its editor, and are well 
satisfied with the result of our article on the "Same 
Identical Time." It has accomplished just what we 
desired. Now we have only one desire unsatisfied in 
regard to the Advocate. The Methodist publishing 
houses issued a book written by a Mr. Armstrong, in- 
troduced and indorsed by a Dr. Huntington, against 
the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, the seventh 
day, in which he professed to give an exposition of the 
original of Ex. 16. This exposition we sharply criti-
cised, as we thought it justly deserved, claiming that 
it not only erred in its position on the grammar of the 
Hebrew, but it misrepresented the original text. We 
called upon the editor of the Advocate, believing him 
to be a scholar, to point out the error, if any existed, 
in our criticism of their work. Of this he has taken 
no notice. If Mr. Armstrong's work cannot be defended, 
it stands as a willful misrepresentation of the sacred 
text, and an abuse of its English readers who could not 
detect the deception practiced. We regret that such 
a denomination as the Methodist should make itself 
responsible for such a work. The Sabbath cause needs 
to resort to no such subterfuges. In this we rejoice. 
It is so strongly and so plainly taught in the Scriptures 
that we rest upon it with the " full assurance of faith." 
Thank God for the clear light of his holy command-
ments. 
ACCORDING to promise we proceed to answer the 
questions asked by the Christian Advocate. 
When does an Adventist Sabbath begin, Friday 
at 6 P. M., or Friday night at 12 P. M.? When does it 
end ?" 
We cannot tell. We have heard of " the American 
Sabbath," and several other kinds of Sabbaths, but 
never of " an Adventist Sabbath." We never heard 
of the institution of such a Sabbath, nor have we seen 
any law for its observance. If such a Sabbath exists, 
it must be as destitute of divine authority as the so-
called " Christian Sabbath." The Bible is silent in 
regard to both. 
But of " the Sabbath of the Lord thy God "—the 
seventh day—we can give definite information. As it 
is found in the Bible some might imagine that a " Doc-
tor of Divinity " did not need to be enlightened in 
regard to it. But that is hardly a safe rule by which 
to judge; or if it is, the editor of the Advocate is an 
exception. Each day consists of an evening and a 
morning; the evening coming first, as darkness was 
upon the earth before light. See 'Gen. 1. And the 
Lord always recognized this order of the day, as in 
Lev. 23:32: " From even unto even shall ye celebrate 
your Sabbath." The believing Jews would not bring 
their sick to the Saviour upon the Sabbath, but " at 
even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all 
that were diseased." Mark 1 :21-32. If the Doctor 
will take a Concordance he will find other texts which 
teach the same thing. When he finds something in 
the Bible to indicate that the day begins at midnight, 
we hope he will inform us. 
If a Seventh-day Adventist and an ordinary 
Baptist should go into partnership, and the Adventist 
keep Saturday and work Sunday, and the Baptist work 
Saturday and keep Sunday, their business would run 
continually, and would that be right ?" 
No; it would not be right, were the Baptist ordinary 
or extraordinary. The Adventist would not keep the 
Sabbath under such circumstances, because his action 
would be contrary to the divine law. We suppose, 
however, that the " ordinary Baptist " would " keep 
Sunday" well enough, because there is no divine law 
governing such an observance. 
3. Is it not best and most in accordance with the 
divine command, that all who love God's law in any 
country should agree •to keep holy a certain day as the 
Sabbath ?" 
We answer: Yes, provided they agree to keep the 
day which the divine commandment. enjoins. But if 
they choose another day and substitute that for the 
Sabbath of. the Lord God; we answer, No. And in that 
case it would make no difference how universal the 
agreement might be, for numbers cannot make it right 
to set aside the divine requirement. " Thou shalt not 
follow a multitude to do evil." If the Sabbath is a 
question of agreement, to be settled by the majority, 
we invite the Doctor to point out the Bible provision 
for the election! " The seventh day is the Sabbath of 
the Lord thy God; IN IT thou shalt not do any work." 
The Doctor ought to know enough about the principles 
of law to know that if its provisions and obligations 
and terms are to be settled by the agreement of the 
subjects, then it is no law—its authority has teas. d. 
And this is just what these theories of " agreement," 
or "any day," or "the seventh part of time," are doing; 
they are breaking down the authority of the fourth 
commandment. 
"4. Is it wise or pious for Adventists to unite with 
infidels and saloon-keepers in breaking down all legal 
barriers to a day of rest and worship ?" 
 
It is not right for Adventists or any others to join 
with infidels and saloon-keepers to aid them in any- 
thing contrary to divine law and morality. But it is 
right to do what we know to be right, no matter who 
else does the same. Principles are above men. We 
won' d rather do right with an infidel than to do wrong 
with the editor of the Christian Advocate. In 1880 
we voted for James A. Garfield, and we knew all the 
time that infidels and saloon-keepers were voting for 
him also. In 1882 our rights, both civil and religious, 
were being assailed, and we resisted the assault without 
caring who was with us or who was against us. Our 
opponents talk as if we ought to willingly submit to 
any injustice because it is done in the interests of their 
religion. But we do not suppose that imprisonment in 
dark dungeons was any sweeter, or that the fire of 
torture burned any less fiercely, because inflicted by 
" the church," and professedly " for the glory of God." 
We ask the editor of the Advocate if the issue of 
the last election in California was one of saloon keep-
ing, or of a day of rest and worship ? Notice the fol-
lowing points: 1. The columns of the Advocate in-
formed us that the subject of temperance was not 
broached in the Sacramento Convention. That Con-
vention did exactly what the League of Freedom asked 
it to do, both in the, framing of its platform and the 
nomination of its candidates. This we know, for we 
heard the request, and we saw the result. And Mr. 
Shaeffer, who said he represented the liquor interest, 
promised for himself and his associates to support the 
Sunday Law if they would ignore the temperance 
question. This the editor of the Advocate knows full 
well, and therefore his insinuations proceed from preju- 
dice and �
not at all from any principle involved. 
And he and his ministerial associates did• all in their 
power to break up the Prohibition Party, and to elect 
the candidate chosen by the League of Freedom; the 
candidate of the Convention which ignored the tem-
perance question, just as the " liquor interest " requested 
it to do. 
2. The Supreme Court decided that the Sunday Law 
was not a law for or against any religion, but purely 
a civil matter. As such only, and as " a police regu-
lation," it was advocated by the "Home Protection 
Association." If it was a question of "worship;" if 
anybody's religion was involved, then the campaign for 
Sunday was carried on in the most hypocritical manner. 
If the Advocate is right, then the law was clearly un-
constitutional, and has wisely been expunged from our 
statute books, for it "discriminated" in favor of some-
body's " worship " and against somebody else's. If the 
law contained any " legal barriers " for a " day of wor-
ship," it was to the detriment of the worship of those 
who observed the day " as originally given " by the 
Creator. Then the minority of the Supreme Court was 
right, and the majority erred in their decision. We 
can extend this answer, but shall let the subject rest 
unless the unjust insinuation which the question con- 
tains is repeated. 
We have enjoyed a "day of rest and worship" for 
the last thirty years without the aid of any " legal 
barriers" of human devising. We had the sanction of 
the law of God, and with this we were satisfied. The 
laws of man barely tolerated our rest and worship, and 
sometimes not even that, taking the whole command-
ment into account. Yet we found "the Sabbath a 
delight," see Isa. 58 :13, 14; and our delight in it—our 
joy of Christian devotion—could not have been in-
creased by any act of the legislature! We pity those 
" Christians " who cannot enjoy their worship unless it 
is sustained and enforced by the statutes of the State. 
We are thankful that our religion is not of that kind. 
We recommend to them the reading of the eleventh 
chapter of Hebrews, and the " History of the Refor-
mation." 
" 5. If the Lord should come and find the Signs of 
the Times working with the enemies of his religion to 
rob the poor man of his day of rest, and to give liquor-
sellers unrestrained liberty to make his day a great 
curse instead of a blessing, what would our neighbor 
do about it ?" 
"If" all that should come to pass we suppose we 
should do just what our neighbor of the Advocate will 
do," if he is found in that day breaking the Sabbath 
of the Lord God and teaching men so. But we are 
making, and hope to continue to make, most strenuous 
efforts not to be found working with the enemies of the 
Lord and of his holy day. So far as " the poor man's 
day of rest " is concerned, if he chooses to rest on Sun-
day, the State has made provision for his benefit by 
making it a legal holiday. That is as far as "police 
regulations " or " sanitary measures" can extend. If 
men had not conspired against the Lord's Sabbath and 
elevated the " day of the sun" above it, the sanctions 
of the divine law would be efficient to protect all rights. 
But the modern Scribes and Pharisees, having made 
void the commandment of God through their tradition, 
are wondrously solicitous that the State shall unite 
Errors in Education. 
UNDER the head of " Mathematics and Youthful 
Delirium," the Los Angeles 'Mirror gives us the follow-
ing sensible paragraph:— 
An eight-year old Baltimore girl died recently from 
congestion of the brain, caused, the doctor's certificate 
says, by over-study. This poor little victim of the vi-
cious cramming and forcing process in education raved 
in her delirium about problems in long division which 
she tried to solve. One particular sum she went over 
and over again. Whenever there came a pause in her 
monotonous calculations, there was sure to be a wail of 
despair, and then she would recommence the sum.' The 
system which fosters, permits or makes possible a result 
so deplorable as this, is wrong and criminal. It is a 
crime against life and health for educators to heap bur-
dens upon children of tender years which are too great 
for them to bear, and it should be prohibited by law. 
Even where the hot-bed process does not produce ill-
health and broken constitutions—results too often seen 
in our public schools—it results in little substantial and 
permanent good to the pupil, whose youthful and tender 
brain is overtaxed to such an extent that repugnance 
to study ensues, and the lessons learned by rote, and 
recited parrot-like in school, are soon forgotten when the 
child has passed the portals of the school-room and gone 
out to wrestle with the practical affairs of life. A judi-
cious combination of mental, moral, and physical train-
ing should be the golden mean aimed at by school 
boards, superintendents, and teachers. A sound mind 
in a sound body—a healthy and vigorous brain and a 
true heart." 
We spoke at some length on this subject in a recent 
number of the SIGNS. • It is not only making a mistake, 
it is committing a crime against the young, to spur them 
on to overstudy, and this while depriving them of op-
portunities for healthful exercise. Many of the school 
girls, especially in the cities, take very little exercise 
• 
APRIL 5, 1883. �THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
163 
except jumping the rope, which adds to the evil; for it 
is generally conceded by physicians that jumping the 
rope is about the worst method of taking exercise that 
is in practice. 
" The law of use " stands among the most important 
of all laws. Exercise taken in useful employment is 
the best, because it not only exercises the muscles but 
tends to the cultivation of right habits, and fits the per-
son for usefulness in after life. We consider it one of 
the most desirable points in a school that labor be con-
nected with study, and look forward with pleasure to 
the time when this shall be brought about in the 
Healdsburg College. 
Calls to the camp-Meetings. 
that I could do but little in any capacity. In the 
providence of God I am now in every respect the most 
favorably situated that I have ever been during my 
pilgrimage life: I enjoy the peace of Jesus, and will 
do what I can. In my husband's death I was deprived 
of an able helper; but the Lord is good, and I am 
grateful for his mercy, his care, and his tender love. 
It would give me great pleasure to meet my dear 
brethren and sisters in camp-meeting. I feel the love of 
Jesus burning in my soul. I love to talk this out and 
to write it out. My prayers shall be, that God may 
bless you at your camp-meetings, and that your souls 
may be refreshed by his grace. If God bids me leave 
my writing to attend these meetings or to speak to the 
people in different places, I hope to hear and obey his 
voice. �
MRS. E. G. WHITE. 
Healdsburg, Cal., March 26,1883. 
The Two Covenants. 
volume with care, he heartily approves of all that it 
enjoins, and will obey all its precepts; and that he 
wishes to consummate the covenant which they have 
made concerning all its words. 
The reader can see the difference between the cove-
nant and the law. The contracting parties have made 
a covenant concerning all the words of the law. In 
the primary sense of the word covenant, that agreement 
between the emperor and the young man is the cove- 
nant. In the secondary sense, the law of Russia is the 
covenant, as being the condition on which the agree-
ment rests. Yet, when the covenant which the parties 
have made concerning all the words of the law of Russia 
is spoken of, there is a clear, plain, and unmistakable 
reference to the contract, and not to the law. 
We will now suppose that the young man falls under 
evil influences, and breaks the law of Russia in many 
particulars. The emperor informs him that the cove-
nant between them is at an end, being rendered null 
and void by his transgression. Question: What is it 
that the young man has destroyed by his evil course ? 
Is it the law of Russia ? By no means. That rests up-
on the sovereign authority of the emperor, and not upon 
the obedience of this young man. But what is it, then, 
that is abrogated ? Simply the contract which they 
have made concerning the law of the empire. It was 
in the power of either party to violate its conditions, 
and thus to release the other from the obligation of the 
covenant. This the young man had done; and thus, by 
his own act, he had terminated the covenant. 
But we will further suppose that the emperor, out of 
pity for the inexperience of the young man, and in 
view of the great temptations which surrounded him, 
and moved by feelings of true benevolence, makes a 
second proposition to him. He says, " I will make a 
new covenant with you, not according to the one which 
you broke; for I will this time, by means of faithful in-
struction, put my law in your heart; and if you break 
it, I will give you an opportunity by genuine repent-
ance to find forgiveness, and to prove yourself a man 
worthy of my favor." 
Suppose, now, that this young man is told that his 
violation of the first covenant had destroyed the law of 
Russia, and that the new covenant was framed expressly 
to enable him to disregard the law of that empire; who 
does not see that such counsel would be ruinous for him 
to follow ? And who does not also see that great as is 
the care of the emperor to save that young man, his 
care that the law of Russia shall be obeyed is still 
greater ? Who will say that the abrogation of the 
first of these covenants, or the establishment of the 
second one, rendered null and void the law of the 
empire of Russia ? 
With a few words concerning the allegory in Isa. 54, 
and Gal. 4 :21-31, this subject shall be concluded. 1. 
The two women, Hagar and Sarah, represent, not the 
law and the gospel, but old Jerusalem and Jerusalem 
above. For the mothers of the two families are not the 
covenants, but the Jerusalems. See verses 25-31. 2• 
The two covenants, whereby God is in his worship con-
nected with these two Jerusalems, are represented by 
the _relation which Abraham sustained to these two 
women. 3. The children of old Jerusalem are the 
natural descendants of Abraham. 4. Those of the new 
Jerusalem are those who are his children by faith and 
obedience. John 8:39. 5. The bondage of old Je-
rusalem was not caused by the law of God, but by sin. 
John 8 :32-36. 6. The freedom of the children of the 
heavenly Jerusalem is not their liberty to violate the 
law of God, but their freedom from sin. Rom. 8 :1-7. 
7. Those who are not under the law, but under grace, 
have been pardoned in consequence of faith and re-
pentance. Rom. 3 :19-31. 8. Finally, our heirship is 
under the new covenant, not under the o,d. We have 
deliverance from sin through the blood of Christ, but 
not permission to violate the law of God. The design 
of the new covenant is to rescue us from the condemna-
tion of the law, and not leave us till the law of God is 
made a part of our very being, and its righteousness 
fulfilled in our lives. The old Jerusalem, with its 
sanctuary, its ark, and its priesthood, has passed away. 
But Jerusalem which is above is our mother; and in its 
sanctuary is found, not alone our High Priest with his 
atoning blood, but also the ark of God, wherein is that 
law which the new covenant writes in our hearts. Rev. 
11 :19. �
J. N. A. 
THE employment of some poor mortals is to cultivate 
a bad temper. 
FROM Washington Territory and from the East come 
urgent requests that I attend the camp-meetings. I 
_2,m .compelled to say, I cannot attend camp-meetings 
this season, either East or West. I am now engaged in 
important writing that I have for six years been trying 
to accomplish. Year after year I have broken -away 
from this work to attend camp-meetings. In these 
meetings I have felt the condition of our people and 
have labored most earnestly in their behalf, not spar-
ing myself. When I had gone the round of the camp-
meetings, I found myself so worn and exhausted that 
I could not take hold of my writing with success. 
The last two summers I was brought very near to 
the gates of death, and as I felt that it might please 
the Lord to let me rest in the grave, I had most pain-
ful regrets that my writings were not completed. In 
the providence of God my life is spared, and my health 
once more restored. I thank the Lord for his mercy 
and loving-kindness to me. I have felt ready to go 
east or west, if my duty were made plain; but in an-
swer to my prayer, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to 
do ?" the answer comes to me, " Rest in peace until 
the Lord bids you go." 
I have not been idle. Since the Lord raised me up 
at the camp-meeting in Healdsburg, I have visited 
Santa Rosa, Oakland, San Francisco, Petaluma, For-
estville, and Ukiah, and have labored in Healdsburg, 
frequently speaking on the Sabbath and on Sunday 
evening. In four weeks I gave ten discourses, traveled 
two hundred miles, and wrote two hundred pages. 
This was too much for my strength. After laboring 
Sabbath and Sunday I was unable to write on Monday. 
I was weary in all my work. I now speak only once 
each week, and can accomplish considerably more 
writing. 
My brethren who urge me to attend camp-meeting 
and to visit them are anxiously inquiring, When shall 
we have Vol. 4, Spirit of Prophecy ? I can now answer 
them, In a few weeks my work on this book will be 
completed. But there are other important works that 
require attention as soon as this shall be finished. I 
am now more than fifty years old. You are not igno-
rant of the manner of my labors among you. I have 
taxed my physical and mental powers to the utmost, 
and I cannot flatter myself that there are yet before 
me many years of labor. I may fall at my post at any 
moment. While I have physical and mental ability, I 
will do the work which is most needed by our people. 
The Lord has provided me good assistants. I have 
when traveling labored at great disadvantage. I have 
written in the depot, on the cars, under my tent at 
camp-meeting, often speaking until exhausted and then 
rising at three o'clock in the morning and writing from 
six to fifteen pages before breakfast. I dare not longer 
pursue this course. I cannot now endure taxing labor 
as in earlier years. 
My good brethren send their urgent calls, with prom-
ises to pay my fare and to pay me for my time; this is 
all I expect of them, it is all they are able to do. But 
they leave little idea of the expense incurred by these 
journeys. To accomplish the amount of writing that I 
do, I find it necessary to employ several helpers, the 
best that I can obtain. I have paid their traveling 
expenses, to the amount of hundreds of dollars. In 
my absence I pay them for their time, to do what they 
can, but they necessarily work at great disadvantage. 
Traveling is expensive. I cannot take my helpers 
where I go, and should I do so I could not furnish them 
with work while I am engaged in labor in camp-meet-
ings. 
It has been most difficult to obtain the right kind of 
assistants as copyists and as house-keepers. Cheap and 
inefficient help would cause me so much perplexity 
( Concluded. ) 
WHEN, the work of our High Priest is thus completed, 
and the saints made meet for their inheritance in light, 
the consummation of the new covenant hastens. The 
Saviour can no longer bear to have his people so far 
from him. It is the good pleasure of the Father to give 
them the kingdom. He must show them the glory that 
Christ had with him before the world was. John 27 : 24. 
So he sends his Son for them, to bring them to himself. 
1 Thess. 4 :14. And Jesus, having made all his saints 
immortal, and taken them into his Father's presence, 
celebrates his marriage supper, serving his saints in per-
son, and drinking anew, with them, the fruit of the 
vine in the kingdom of God, which he had not before 
tasted since the night when he gave them the cup rep- 
resenting the new covenant in his blood. 1 Cor. 15 :51-
55; John 14 :1-3; Rev. 19 :7-9; Luke 12 :36, 37; 
22 :15-20. Then they sit with Christ in thrones of 
judgment while the cases of the wicked are examined 
(1 Cor. 6 :1-3; Rev. 20 :1-4); and after the execution of 
the judgment, when the lake of fire has given place to 
the new creation, then the immortal saints shall receive 
the eternal inheritance in the new earth. And thus 
John describes this grand consummation of the new 
covenant when he says: "And I heard a great voice out 
of Heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with 
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be 
his people, and God himself shall be with them, and 
be their God." Rev. 21. :3. 
" And they shall teach no more every man his neigh-
bor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; 
for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto 
the greatest of them, saith the Lord." Jer. 31 :34. 
And thus Isaiah describes this state of things when all 
shall know the Lord: "The sun shall be no more thy 
light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon 
give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee 
an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun 
shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon with-
draw itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting 
light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 
THY PEOPLE ALSO SHALL BE ALL RIGHTEOtS; they 
shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my plant-
ing, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A 
little one shall become a thousand, and a small one 
a strong nation; I the Lord will hasten it in his time." 
Isa. 60 :19-22. And thus the grand result may be 
stated in one sentence: God is all in all. 
The relation of the law of God to the two covenants 
has been, by many persons, strangely misunderstood. 
But, having stated the Bible doctrine of the law and 
covenants, let us now illustrate it. A young American 
visits Russia, and, by a remarkable turn of events, 
attracts the attention of the emperor. That monarch, 
becoming interested in the young man, proceeds to make 
a covenant with him. He says to him, " You see my 
wealth, my power, my greatness; and you have already 
formed some acquaintance with me. I propose now to 
t ke you for my special friend, and to be a special 
friend to you on this condition: That you obey the law 
of this realm." To this, the young man gladly assents. 
The emperor then places in his hand the Volume con-
taining the law of the empire. This the young man 
carefully reads. When he has thus read the volume, 
the emperor calls up the whole matter anew. He says, 
You have now read the volume concerning which we 
have entered into covenant. Do you now choose to 
make this a firm covenant, or do you now decline so to 
do ?" The young man replies that, having read the 
164 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �Vol.,. 9, No. 14. 
Is It a Violation of the Sabbath? 
FROM a gentleman in Iowa we have received the fol-
lowing:— 
" Several of my Adventist neighbors claim to conform 
to all the teachings of the Bible, and still they tend to 
a great many horses, cattle, and hogs, and hitch up and 
drive their horses some nine miles to meeting on Satur-
day; I claim that every one of these acts is in direct 
violation of passages in the Bible. I refer to the fourth 
commandment, Ex. 23 :12; 31:15, etc. �
F. C." 
In answering this we will leave the hogs out of the 
question, and consider the stock merely as horses and 
cattle,—animals that are useful to man. The hog was 
an unclean animal long before the time of Moses, and 
his nature remains the same under the gospel dispensa-
tion. Man may be purified by the gospel; the hog 
never can. He is simply a scavenger, and should no 
more be raised and eaten than should the vulture or the 
buzzard. If the Sabbath is ever desecrated by the care 
of animals, it is certainly done when that care is be-
stowed upon the filthy swine. 
But, hogs aside, is it a violation of the Sabbath to 
take care of stock on that day ? The answering of 
another question will go far toward settling this. Is it 
right to keep stock at all ? Most certainly it is, will be 
the reply of everybody. The commandment itself 
recognizes that cattle will be kept. They are necessary 
to man's existence. Then we answer that the person 
who has such a Pharisaic regard for the Sabbath that 
he will let the dumb brutes which are dependent on 
him suffer for food and water, would do well to " go and 
learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not 
sacrifice." The Scribes and Pharisees accused Jesus of 
breaking the Sabbath, because he healed the sick on 
that day; but he showed them, Luke 13 : 11-17, that to 
relieve the sick of their infirmities was as proper as to 
lead their dumb animals to water in order that they 
might not suffer. Both are acts of mercy, and as such 
may be done on the Sabbath-day, upon which it is 
lawful to do good. 
Of course judgment must be used. We have simply 
stated the bare fact that it is proper to care for stock on 
the Sabbath. But we are aware that unnecessary work 
is performed on the Sabbath; many things are done 
that might have been provided for the day before; but 
this does not disprove the truth of our statement. 
Now as to hitching up a team and driving to meeting. 
Whether or not this is a violation of the commandment 
depends on the purpose for which we go to meeting. 
The commandment says " Six days shalt thou labor, 
and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath 
of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." 
It forbids the doing of any work, and yet, by the ex- 
press command of God, the priests did manual labor on 
the Sabbath-day, in preparing and changing the show- 
bread, and making extra offerings, and were of course 
blameless. See Lev. 24 : 5-8; Num. 28 :9, 10; Matt. 
12 : 5. Why were they blameless ? Because they were 
doing the Lord's work. Then we learn that kv hen the 
commandment says that we shall not do any work it 
means that we shall not do our own work. So if we go 
to meeting simply for a pleasant drive, or to exchange 
gossip with acquaintances whom we cannot conveniently 
meet on any other day, it is undoubtedly a sin; but if 
we go to worship God, it is pleasing to him. This will 
answer the objection on Ex. 23 : 12. If men may do 
certain work (the Lord's work) on the Sabbath without 
violating the commandment, then it is evident that they 
may use their beasts whenever it is necessary to the ac-
complishment of that work. 
" It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath-day." This 
means not merely that we are permitted to do good on 
the Sabbath-day, but that we are under obligation to 
do so; "lawful " means, conformable to law; consti-
tuted by law." If we do not do good on the Sabbath-
day, then we are Sabbath-breakers. To lie in bed the 
greater part or the whole of the Sabbath, unless on ac-
count of sickness, or to lazily lounge about the house, 
is most emphatically a violation of the fourth command-
ment. 
We do not know our friend's religious opinions, but 
we judge him to be one who does not keep the Sabbath, 
and who seeks to justify himself in his course by mag-
nifying the real or imaginary faults of others. This is 
very frequently done. But if this be his position he has 
condemned himself, for if he means what he says when 
he criticises the action of his neighbors, he believes that 
the Bible teaches the observance of the seventh day. 
Then we would tell him in all kindness that their mis- 
deeds will not justify him. If his net,,,hbors are doing 
wrong, that will not excuse him for doing wrong too. 
If his neighbors do violate the Sabbath, that will not 
take away a particle of his guilt if he breaks it also. 
His only course is to set them an example of well-doing. 
But let him be careful not to base his action on a dis-
torted view of a single passage. The Bible is not divided 
against itself, and no one can go astray who follows its 
teachings as a whole. As the gospel is of no force with-
out the law, so the law cannot be understood without 
the gospel. " See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh " 
both in the Old Testament and in the New. E. J. W. 
ght Alli55ionam 
Be Not Weary in Well-Doing. 
BY ELD. S. N. HASKELL. 
THERE are many forcible expressions in the 
Scriptures which show the importance of Christ's 
followers laboring for the salvation of others. 
The Scriptures also clearly indicate that it is not 
those efforts which outwardly appear to be the 
greatest which accomplish the most good. There 
is an unseen providence which shapes circum-
stances and controls events, thus making our 
efforts fruitful. God gives success more in pro-
portion to the love we have than the amount we 
do. The widow's two mites were recorded by 
the angels as more than the " much" which was 
cast into the treasury by the rich men. For this 
reason all who have the love of God in the heart 
should ever labor with hope and courage, how-
ever small and weak their efforts. 
Several years ago some unknown person sent 
the SIGNS OF THE TIMES to friends in Massachu-
setts, who made no use of it, not even reading 
a single page. Finally they moved away, and 
in time occupied a house in which a family had 
lived who also had received the SIGNS, but ap- 
parently without any good result. It so hap-
pened that the last two pages of one number 
were left in the house, and the family above re-
ferred to found them. Curiosity led the wife to 
read them, and, not knowing what paper it was, 
she became deeply interested in it, so that after 
re-reading and calling her husband's attention to 
it, she laid it carefully away, where it remained 
some two years, when it was found and read 
again. 
"Husband," said she one day, " we ought to 
take a religious paper," and proposed sending for 
the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. " That is an Adventist 
paper, you do not want that," was the prompt 
reply. They then noticed the advertisement of 
the Review and Herald, and, after sending for a 
sample number, subscribed for it. Its weekly 
visits became more and more welcome. They 
sent for tracts and books, which were eagerly 
perused, and which led them to study the Bible 
as they had never done before. 
About last Christmas the wife decided that she 
could no longer break the Sabbath of the Lord, 
and quietly commenced to observe it. Her hus-
band returning from his work found her studying 
her Sabbath-school lesson. "It seems like Sun-
day here," he remarked. "Not Sunday, but the 
Sabbath," was the response. These words were 
accompanied by the Holy Spirit to his heart, and 
he could not forget them. He invited his em-
ployer to call upon him the next day, so that he 
might inform him of his intention to keep the 
Sabbath. As they had other company, this con-
versation was postponed until the following Sun-
day, when he stated his convictions, adding that 
he had decided not to break another Sabbath, 
and that he presumed that his services would 
not be wanted longer. Said his employer, "if 
these are your honest sentiments I will not lay 
a straw in your way," and his work was con-
tinued. The next Sabbath he observed with his 
wife. 
They had never made a profession of religion, 
but now the family altar was erected, and he 
became convicted with reference to some useless 
habits, such as the use of tobacco. Could he 
chew the weed to the glory of God? Was it 
spending the money which God's providence had 
given him for that which would honor and glorify 
his Creator? He renounced the filthy habit, and 
found peace in so doing. 
He also felt that God had claims upon him 
with respect to temporal matters, and that he 
should acknowledge his goodness in providing 
for his physical wants. " Ye have robbed me," 
says the prophet. His heart was tender, and 
he believed God. He therefore commenced "upon 
the first day of the week to lay aside as God had 
prospered him "; and from that time forward he 
conscientiously laid aside one tithe of what he 
received for his support, thus fulfilling the in-
structions of Christ in Luke 11 : 42; Matt. 23 : 23. 
Results of Missionary Labor. 
MEMBERS of our V. M. Society have lately re-
ceived quite a number of interesting letters, and 
have been much encouraged. Thinking the read-
ing of a few extracts of some of them in the 
SIGNS might have the same effect upon missionary 
workers generally, I send you the following:— 
A gentleman from Canada says: " I assure you 
I still value those papers. I am always very2-
thankful for them. I always deliver them to 
some friend as soon as I am through with them, 
so they lose no power. I cannot give my views 
on the Sabbath question. I am, however, deeply' 
interested." 
Another gentleman from Texas writes: " I 
have received the tracts and SIGNS OF THE TIMES, 
and I must say that I feel truly thankful to you 
for them. I am pleased with the spirit of their 
teachings and principles, so far as I understand 
them. I am an old man, a member of the Meth-
odist Church. I strive to live as becomes the fol-
lower of the Lord Jesus, and to show forth his 
praise, not only with my lips but in my life. I 
have frequently asked the question of Methodist 
and Baptist ministers, Who changed the Sab-
bath?' The question has never been satisfac-
torily answered to my mind.' 
A lady of Oregon writes: " I have read your 
letter over several times, also the papers and 
tracts, and humbly asked for divine guidance 
and understanding. I told you if I became con-
vinced of error I would surely try to do my duty. 
I now acknowledge that I am convinced that the 
change of the Sabbath was not made nor sanc-
tioned in the days of Christ or the apostles, and 
that it is wrong to keep any other than the Lord's 
Sabbath. I am not ashamed to own my convic-
tions. Pray for me that I may be led aright." 
A lady of this State who became interested a 
few years ago upon hearing a few sermons, and 
who has since become a subscriber for the SIGNS, 
says: "I love the doctrine. It has done me 
good; given me health, strength, and peace of 
mind." 
Another lady of this State writes: " I thank 
you sincerely for papers and pamphlets received. 
I am interested in all things pertaining to the 
better understanding of religious truths. I am 
not a member of any church, but have always 
had reverence for Christianity and the Bible as I 
have understood it. I will thankfully receive 
and read anything you may send me." 
A good Baptist lady from Illinois promises 
that she will thoroughly investigate the Sabbath 
question, that she is very much pleased with the 
papers and incloses money to subscribe for it 
herself during the coming year. 
While we have had so many favorable letters, 
we have also received answers from some who 
turn away from the word of " Him that speak-
eth from Heaven," fulfilling the words of 2 Tim. 
4: 3, 4. A worthy divine of the Baptist Church 
of this State says: As to your views of keeping 
the commandments I prefer John's teachings to 
that of the old decalogue, by which no flesh can 
be saved. We were glad to hear that the brother 
believes in following John's teachings, for there 
are many precious exhortations and promises in 
his writings concerning the keeping of the com-
mandments to those who will heed. We mention 
a few references: 1 John 3 : 4; 5 : 2, 3; 2 : 3, 4; �
,, • 
John 14 : 15, 24; and if he could accept any other 
authority than John, he will find in Jas. 4 : 12 that 
there is one Lawgiver; in Isa. 33 : 22 that the 
Lord is our Lawgiver; in Rom. 3 : 31 that Christ 
establishes the law, but does not make it void. 
In Matt. 5 : 17 again Christ admonishes his disci-
ples: "Think not that I am come to destroy the 
law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy but 
to fulfill;" and in verse 19 of the same chapter 
he gives the result of breaking and also of keep-
the law, &c. We feel assured that with careful 
study the brother cannot dispense with the law. 
MRS. H. P. GRAY, Librarian. 
Lemoore, Cal., March 25. 
Good News From a Far Country. 
[THE following is from a letter recently re-
ceived from Bro. Drew. It speaks for itself, and 
breathes the true spirit. Encouraging reports are 
constantly received from different portions of this 
country and the Old World, clearly indicating that 
God has gone before us in preparing hearts for 
the reception of his truth. �
S. N. HASKELL.] 
Never before did I undertake to write a letter 
to any one with a heart so full of gratitude to 
God for his goodness to me, as the one I now 
write to you. I know that the mercies of God 
are great to us, and his love is infinite, surpassing 
all understanding. I know from experience for 
the last thirteen years that the great God is lead-
ing his people in the third angel's message, and if 
we are faithful we shall finally triumph. The 
last quarter of the old year was a hard and try- 
,. �
ring one, but we are happy to state that we never 
enjoyed so much of the blessing of God since we 
heard the message, as during the last quarter. 
The last six weeks of the old quarter, I sold 
nearly or quite 60,000 pages of books and tracts. 
During the quarter just ended I sold 90,000 pages, 
and loaned 15,000, and gave away 5,000. That 
is certainly good for old England. 
Last Monday a Swedish Sabbath-keeper passed 
through here en route to Kansas. I gave him a 
paper and a tract. I noticed he looked hard at 
me, and when I went on deck he came and said, 
You Advente? I said, Yes. He smote his breast 
and said, Me Advente and gave me a good shaking 
of the hand. He could not speak a word of English, 
so I found one that could and asked him if he 
knew Bro. Matteson; he said, Yes, also Sister 
Rasmussen and Bro. Rosquist. I would have 
given quite a sum to be able to talk with him 
directly. 
Last week I found a captain who was border-
ing on infidelity. I had a long talk with him and 
sold him $8.00 worth of books, and when I left 
he gave me $5.00 more. He is going to settle 
among our people in Lower California, on account 
of the asthma. I have visited him and his family 
and prayed with them. They have left their 
ship, and are going home by steamship, with the 
view of settling his affairs, and thence to Battle 
Creek for two or three weeks, and thence to 
Lower California. I have prayed even during 
the silent hours of the night that our feeble 
efforts may be blessed, and he become a child of 
God. 
You spoke about Israel sitting still. I presume 
they were not so nervous as 1 am, for to sit still 
would be death to me. I love the work too well 
to sit still, and I want no one about me who is 
lazy. A lazy Christian is a terrible curse to himself 
and to the cause of God. I look upon the wants 
of the cause here as my family. 
I know without the least shadow of a doubt 
that God is leading his people, and I would not 
do the least thing to mar the good work. But 
what I have written in this letter is the true 
sentiment of my mind. I am still laboring for 
Mr. �
, and I pray that God will open the way 
to get him interested in our books on prophecy. 
He has taken the " Home Hand-book," etc., to the 
amount of $20.00, but no books on the prophecies. 
Just now the work is rather slack, but we still 
find enough to do. I am anxious to become 
strong in God, skillful in his warfare, faithful to 
his precious cause, and with you and all the faith-
ful at last stand on Mount Zion. 
Among the Churches. 
SAN PASQUAL.—This is a beautiful little valley 
about thirty-five miles northeast of San Diego. 
The church is composed of those who have moved 
from different parts of the State. It has been so 
Af'ar from our fields of labor that they have had 
but little ministerial help. With quite a number 
the spirit of the world had very much affected 
their interest in spiritual things. In the several 
meetings we held we tried to set before the peo-
ple the dangers, duties, and privileges of Chris-
tians who are waiting for the coming of the Lord. 
At the quarterly meeting, at which nearly all the 
members of the church were present, confessions 
were quite freely made, and resolutions formed 
to try to follow the Saviour more closely in the 
future. This opened the way for the Spirit of 
the Lord to come in, and we had an excellent 
meeting, at the close of which a brother and his 
daughter who had embraced the truth through 
APRIL 5, 1883. 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
165 
missionary efforts, were baptized. At a meeting 
in the evening arrangements were made to raise 
the club of SIGNS. from fourteen to forty copies. 
The plan of placing small packages of tracts in 
the hands of all in the vicinity who will read, 
was adopted; also of making a systematic effort 
to get the message before the people of the dis-
trict by mailing a few copies of the SIGNS to 
them, and following up the work with other 
reading matter as they become interested. 
Los ANGELES.-1 returned to this place to at-
tend quarterly meetings, which were held March 
23, 24. The interest was good; nearly all the 
members were present. Officers were elected for 
the coming year. As the roll was called, each 
one responded with encouraging testimonies, after 
which all participated in the celebration of the 
ordinances. On Sunday morning, the oldest 
daughter of the Elder (Bro. G. W. Danforth) 
was baptized, and joined the church. We held 
preaching service at 11 A. M., and a missionary 
meeting at 2 P. M. 
We pray that the blessing of 
the Lord will be with his people in these places 
as they try to do his will and hold up the light. 
Oakland, March 30, 1883. �
M. C. ISRAEL. 
Petaluma, California. 
IN company with Bro. Ings 1 spent a few days 
at Petaluma, and held five meetings. Two per-
sons, who have become interested through the 
missionary work of friends, took a stand for the 
truth by being baptized and joining the church, 
covenanting to keep " the commandments of God 
and the faith of Jesus." Here, as in other parts 
of the State, there seems to be a need of a general 
effort being put forth to strengthen the cause. 
W. M. HEALEY. 
gtinperanct. 
Cider and Cider Drunkards. 
MANY persons call themselves "total abstainers," 
but will not refuse " a little " or a great deal "good 
old cider." It is cider that stands between 
many families and temperance principles. It is 
not our intention to excommunicate the man who 
takes " a little very hard cider for billiousness," 
nor to grieve the spirit of the venerable old gentle-
man who finds it a good " phlegm-cutter." What 
'we want to show is that " hard cider" is a very 
intoxicating and destructive sort of liquor. It 
contains from eight to ten per cent. of absolute 
alcohol, that is, a glass full of cider is equal to a 
glass of the same size one-fourth full of brandy, 
which contains less than fifty per cent. But it is 
not the alcohol alone that accounts for the differ-
ent sorts of drunkenness. A marked difference 
often exists between beer, wine, rum, gin, brandy, 
and whisky drunkards; in the general condition 
of the habitual toper; and in the actions of the 
drunkards when drunk. 
Cider drunkards are, generally speaking, the 
most morose, the crossest, ugliest, and most un-
manageable of all; and when drunk, they stay 
drunk the longest, and sober up the most slowly. 
An eminent physician, speaking of one of those 
men who had been virtually drunk all winter, said, 
"He has drunk so much cider that it has turned 
what milk of human kindness he had into vine-
gar." One of the best farmers in New England 
broke his wife's heart by continued ugliness and 
abuse, and came at last to poverty through cider. 
In being taken by him through his cellar, and 
shown seven varieties of cider, the writer said, 
" Just the number of evil spirits that made the 
last state of a certain man worse than his first." 
" 0," said the victim, " a little good cider does no-
body any harm." But in a short time it ruined 
him. A few years ago, when apples .were unusu-
ally plenty, a farmer in Rhode Island put down 
for home use forty barrels of cider. Before the 
spring three of the six of which his family was 
composed had drunk themselves to death, and 
one of the survivors was injured in a drunken 
melee. 
We are stirred to write on " cider and cider 
drunkards " just now, by the testimony recently 
given before Surrogate Coffin at White Plains, N. 
Y. Westchester 'County is famous for cider, and 
the daughter of the testator, who was a farmer, 
testified that her father was in the habit of drink-
ing excessively, being frequently intoxicated with 
cider. On one occasion ho lighted a number of 
candles, placed them on the table, and dared any 
one to blow them out. On another occasion, he 
filled a barrel full of hay and placed it on the 
floor of the barn, and then set the hay on fire. 
At another time he filled a stove with ashes, and 
then said he'would like to see any one of his fam-
ily kindle a fire in it. Once he attempted to cut 
the throat of one of his daughters. He was ar-
rested in 1868 and again in 1870, on complaint of 
his wife, for cruel treatment. He was sent to the 
county jail, and subsequently to the penitentiary. 
There is plenty of evidence that the song of a 
" little more cider too," is often the song of the 
drunkard.—Christian Advocate. 
A Fair Test. 
FAIR tests of the value of total abstinence from 
alcoholic drinks is much to be desired. An 
English life insurance compdny has furnished one 
of great value. It has a temperance section and 
a general section. Into the first it admits only 
persons who have been total abstainers for some 
years. This test is not applied in the general sec-
tion. For the twelve years, 1868-1880, the ex-
pected deaths in the general section (according to 
the rules in use for ascertaining the expectations 
of life) were 3,743, and the actual deaths were 
3,744. In the temperance section, according to 
the same rules, the expected deaths were 2,184, 
and the actual deaths only 1,566—that is to say 
618 less than the deaths to be expected under the 
general rules. .This shows a saving of life equal 
to nearly thirty per cent. for the whole period. 
This seems to us to present a very fair test of the 
value of total abstinence. To be sure, no one 
would question the destructive power of excessive 
drinking; but the general section is not made up 
of excessive drinkers. Men of such habits are ex-
cluded from the general section. It is, therefore, 
a comparison between total abstinence and what 
is called moderate drinking.—Ex. 
A CONTRIBUTOR to the Tribune furnishes that 
paper some information about the manufacture 
of cigars in New York, which can hardly be 
agreeable reading for smokers. Five-eighths of 
all the cigars that are sold in New York City, he 
states, are made in east-side tenements by Bohe-
mian families, who perform all the various proc-
esses of manufacture in their dirty rooms, where 
they not only work but also eat and sleep. The to-
bacco is wet down and spread upon the floor over 
night, and is trodden upon meanwhile by the fam-
ily in the pursuit of their domestic operations. 
In the morning, while it is yet damp and soiled, it 
is stripped from the stems by the children, while 
the women make the fillers, and the men of the 
family roll and trim the cigars, turning out 
seven hundred in a day, which are duly branded 
with some high-sounding Spanish name and sold 
for an imported article. And the children who 
aid in the manufacture of these bundles of filth, 
are kept steadily at work for fourteen hours a 
day. They are more to be pitied than the people 
who willingly smoke the cigars, for they cannot 
help themselves. 
THE New York Times has a startling warning 
for tobacco-users. A gentleman of wealth and 
culture, with a cigar in his mouth, passed out of 
an instrument-maker's establishment as a pro-
fessor of microscopy entered it. The wealthy 
gentleman was himself an amateur in the use of 
the microscope, and had just been trying the power 
of one upon a drop of blood from his finger. The 
instrument was still adjusted on the counter, and 
the professor glanced at it. Inquiring of the pro-
prietor who the gentleman was, he informed him 
that he was his best customer, buying largely of 
his instruments. " And this is a drop of blood 
from his finger ? " asked the professor. To the 
affirmative answer he said, " Very well, tell your 
best customer, if you can without impertinence, 
that unless he stops smoking at once he has not 
many months to live." He did not stop, but 
left for Europe in a few weeks to recruit his fail-
ing strength, and in a short time his death was 
announced from Paris, the doctors styling his 
disease " a general breaking-up." 
Dr. HAMMOND, formerly surgeon-general of the 
United States army, says: " I know of no pos-
sible condition which renders the use of whisky, 
gin, rum, or brandy necessary or proper." 
166 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �VoL. 9, No. 14. 
ghe 
NOBILITY. 
TRUE worth is in beiqg not seeming; 
In dding each day that goes by 
Some little good—not in the dreaming 
Of great things to do by and by. 
For whatever men say in blindness, 
And spite of the fancies of youth, 
There's nothing so kingly as kindness, 
And nothing so royal as truth. 
We get back our mete as we measure, 
We cannot do wrong and feel right; 
Nor can we give pain and gain pleasure, 
For justice avenges each slight. 
The air for the wing of the sparrow, 
The bush for the robin and wren, 
But always the path that is narrow 
And strait for the children of men. 
We cannot make bargains for blisses, 
Nor catch them like fishes in nets; 
And sometimes the things our life miss es 
Help more than the things which it gets. 
For good lieth not in pursuing 
Nor gaining of great nor of small; 
But just in the doing, and doing 
As we would be done by, is all. 
Through envy, through malice, through hating, 
Against the world, early and late, 
No jot of our courage abating, 
Our part is to work, and to wait. 
And slight is the sting of his trouble 
Whose winnings are less than his worth; 
For he who is honest is noble, 
Whatever his fortuns or birth. 
—Alice Cary. 
A Successful Failure. 
You would not have said that John Hammond 
looked in the least like a hero, a square-shouldered, 
rough-handed fellow of fifteen, wearing a very 
happy-go-lucky checked shirt and blue overalls. 
Those blue overalls had seen service, as their ir-
regular patches bore witness; driving the cows 
through the morning dew, hoeing, milking, and 
tramping the fields, they, and others like them, 
had been of John's wearing apparel for as many 
years as he cared to remember. And of course no 
boy takes pains to look back at the days when he 
wore short skirts and pinafores; he imagines life 
begins when he puts on boots and jacket and 
trousers. But, although John was a country fel-
low, with rather a steady and monotonous round 
of work before him, and no very brilliant pros-
pects in the future, as far as eye could see, he had, 
like all boys worth anything, ambitions of his 
own. 
His father was a hard-working man who had, 
as a boy, lived on a large,' rather barren farm 
which he had at last been able to purchase with 
his jealously treasured " savings," and held natur-
ally the belief that his son would work and im-
prove the same land after he had grown old, died, 
and left it. 
John had other thoughts; he felt in himself an 
ability for pursuits different from the one his 
father chose. That was well enough; boy as he 
was, he saw it to be a noble and dignified thing 
to till the ground and make it fair with orchard 
and garden, but all men were not intended by 
nature for the same work. He had a genuine love 
for mechanical pursuits, and there was a cunning 
at his fingers' ends which seemed to promise a real 
bent toward making and fashioning. It was bet-
ter to be a carpenter, even, than a farmer, but 
best of all would be engineering; the building of 
stupendous bridges and laying out of long lines 
of railroads. 
His mother knew all these longings. Most 
mothers do find out their boys' inclination, I fancy, 
in the right kind of family. " I wish you could 
have all the learning you want, Johnnie," she said, 
one morning, fondly patting the rough head that 
lay on her ironing-table. Then, getting a fresh 
iron from the stove and skillfully "trying it " with 
her finger, she went on, " but I don't think it 
would do any good to talk it over with father. 
He wouldn't hear to it, because he thinks farm-
ing's good enough for anybody. And besides 
that, you know there isn't any money." 
" Yes, I rather guess I do," said John, dolefully. 
Then catching the troubled look on his mother's 
face, he said bravely, " But don't be bothered, I 
can stand it, any how." There was a good deal of 
real tenderness between his mother and himself. 
That night, as John was bringing in the wood to 
fi the great box by the kitchen stove, an idea 
struck him; such a bright id a that he stopped 
short, and nearly let fall an armful of kindlings. 
"I'll do it! " he said aloud. " No, nothing, 
mother, I was only talking to_ myself," as Mrs. 
Hammond came out in time to hear the excla-
mation. 
Just after dark John might have been seen 
going up the neatly-kept walk that led to the 
minister's trim little house. His only concession 
to the importance of making a call all by himself 
had consisted in brushing his hair very smoothly 
and polishing his square, determined face with 
soap and water till it shone again. It would not 
have done to put his best clothes on, for, aside from 
the fact that they made him ill at ease, he had 
been careful that no one at home should suspect 
his absence on any unusual errand. Yes, the min-
ister was at home and would be glad to see John 
alone. The boy's heart beat loudly as he was 
ushered into the study; ministers were in his mind 
inseparably connected with churches, communion 
tables, and funerals, and nothing but the impor-
tance of his present errand could have induced 
him to encounter one alone. Mr. Burns was a 
hearty jovial-looking man. 
" Glad to see you, John," he said, warmly, ris-
ing from his study table, and greeting him, John 
thought proudly, just as if he were a grown man. 
" Now, this is nice to have you come by your-
self for a call." 
"I wanted to ask you a question," said John, 
choking a little in his awkwardness, choosing the 
extreme edge of his chair as presenting greater 
advantages than a larger surface. �
I want to go 
to school and have a real business, different from 
farming, and I thought you'd know better about 
such things than anybody here. We haven't got 
any money, and I want to know what to do." 
It seemed a very long speech to the boy, when 
he bad finished, and his heart beat alarmingly 
at his own daring. 
" Ah!" said the minister, rubbing his chin, and 
eyeing the boy sharply. " So you want a profes-
sion. Have you talked with your father? " No, 
sir, but mother knows about it. I thought it 
wasn't any use to speak to father, till I could see 
a way to do it. He'd say no, unless he could see 
some real sense in it." 
" Yes, I understand, and it was wise of you to 
think of it. Do you want to go to college ? or 
haven't you got as far as settling that ?" 
So John, encouraged by the kind tone and ap-
parent interest of his listener, went on to talk of 
his plans more freely than he had ever told them 
to any one. The minister listened, put in a word 
now and then, and at the end gave a nod of ap-
proval. 
" I think something must be done for you, my 
boy," he said heartily. " But I can't say a word 
more till I've thought it all over, and when I 
have, I'll either send for you or go up and see 
your father. Will that do ?" 
It would do beautifully, John thought, and he 
went away delighted beyond reason. And in the 
days which followed he did very little but whistle 
and toss his cap up into the air at uncertain inter-
vals, rousing in his mother homely fears that 
" John wasn't well, because his appetite was so 
poor." 
But after waiting, the day came when the min-
ister called and asked to see his father. John, on 
his way from a neighbor's, saw the two in close 
conclave near the kitchen window, and, in a 
ridiculous desperation, ran into the barn to hide 
on the highest hay-mow of all. No one came to 
find him, a fact not to be wondered at, consider-
ing that the hay-mow is not a common resort for 
families in general, however well the boys may 
know its fragrant, dusty corners. Finally he 
crept out and went into the house, rather shame-
faced but very conspicuously unconscious of any 
out-of-the-way occurrence. His mother, rather 
flushed and excited, was laying the supper-table; 
his father, by the window, was reading the Bell-
brook Gazette upside down. 
" So you want to go to school," said the father, 
at last, rather gruffly. " Why didn't you come 
to me about it first ?" 
John's heart sank into his boots at the tone. 
" I thought Mr. Burns might know best whether 
it was foolish or not, and—and—" 
" Oh, tell the boy, father," broke out his mother. 
" It's a shame to keep him waiting. And don't 
you see, he's ready to cry." 
It all came out then, and I am not sure, good as 
the news was, that John did not cry after all. 
He was to study with the minister that winter, 
mathematics and general English branches, and 
the next fall enter the Boston Institute of Tech-
nology. His father would mortgage the river 
pasture, or perhaps sell it for the money necessary 
for the first year's expenses; they could not plan 
beyond _that. Perhaps then the boy's ability 
would have proved itself worth the borrowing of 
money, if he Oared to pledge himself for its pay-
ment when he had gotten to the point of earning 
it for himself. How John worked that winter at 
books and " chores" no other boy, without an 
object in life would ever believe. And when sum-
mer came, a little tired but still enthusiastic, he 
was all hope for the coming fall term at school. 
Mr. Burns praised his scholarship and ability 
without measure, and the father, at first agreeing 
to the plan under protest, and because the min-
ister declared it to be the best thing, grew prouder 
than ever of his boy, and willing that he should 
make his way in the world, let the farm pass into 
what hands it would. 
But there came a morning--and I am sorry tti 
tell this part of the story—when the little house-
hold was all in confusion, and the village doctor 
was looked for with as much anxiety as if he 
carried the keys of life in his black case. Mr. 
Hammond had had a stroke of paralysis, and the 
doctor could only say, pityingly, that there was not 
immediate danger of his death, but that he must 
be a helpless man always. The farmer moaned 
and tried to speak. The good doctor's voice had 
not been low enough, and from outside the door 
the verdict had reached the sick man's ears. 
John was close by his father's side, half terrified 
by his drawn face. The moan came again, and 
he put his own face down to translate the half 
articulate sound. " The farm ? the work ?" he 
questioned. The eyes brightened with assent. 
" Oh, father, don't bother about that. I shall 
stay at hone. I'll take care of the farm just as 
you would." And he kept his promise. 
Sick people, through weakness and pity of 
themselves, cannot always be generous, and it is 
a question whether Farmer Hammond ever quite 
understood the sacrifice his son made for him. 
His mind became a little cloudy by bodily illness, 
and as no one ever reminded him that John had 
hoped for a different life, he forgot the fact alto-
gether. 
Do you know how a hard blow sometimes 
hardens character, and changes the boy into the 
man in the space of days ? It was so with John. 
He put his own plans resolutely aside, and took 
on his shoulders the burden of his father's work, 
hiring when it was necessary, but bending all his 
energies toward making the farm pay. And it 
did as farms go; there was never much ready 
money in the family purse, but there were fields 
of grain, a cellar stocked with vegetable beauties, 
and thriving live-stock as witnesses of success. 
Beyond that, his father had been made as happy 
as a man so disabled ever could be. 
When, after years, the father died, it was too 
late for the accomplishment of John's boyish pur-
poses. If you should ask him to-day how he re-
gards his life, it is probable he would tell you that 
it seems a failure, but his townsmen tell a differ-
ent story. Cheery, helpful, and brave, he never 
fails a friend, and has made the very best of the 
place duty seemed to mark out for him. I could 
show you a score of intelligent articles from his 
pen on various agricultural subjects; I could re-
count dozens of his brave deeds, but the story of 
his life dwindles down to the one moral,--that, al-
though circumstances may deny a man what he 
longs for most, he can succeed in becoming good 
and great at heart in spite of them. And, after 
all, character is the only thing worth striving 
for.—Boston Budget. 
Something About Spiders. 
THE spiders, large Epeiridw, which produce 
silk, inhabit the hottest countries. They are re" 
resented in our latitudes by a few species of in-
ferior size, the most common of which, the Epeira 
diadema, is very numerous in the gardens in au-
tumn, and may be remarked by the regularly 
shaped webs which it weaves among the bushes. 
These delicate gauzes, however, give only an im-
perfect idea of the webs that are woven by the 
larger spiders of tropical regions. In India, the 
Sunda Islands, Madagascar, Reunion, and Mauri-
tius, the Epeirce construct webs of extraordinary 
dimensions, and the traveler has frequent cause 
to admire the threads which he finds strung 
across the water-courses and fastened on the op-
posite side. The threads of these spiders are of 
itele, 
APRIL 5, 1883. �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
167 
different kinds, arid proceed from different glands. 
The silk which is wrapped around the cocoons is 
not the same that is spun in the webs, and may 
be of an entirely different color. The silks of 
various .Epeine were brought to Europe by trav-
elers in the seventeenth century, and excited 
admiration by their firmness and brilliancy. Ex-
periments were tried in making cloth and gloves 
from them, but they were found to have no pow-
ers of endurance. Louis XIV., wishing to en-
courage a new art, had a coat made - of the silk, 
but was glad to take it off the first day, for it 
suffered a rent every time he moved. These ef-
forts appear to have been made with the silk of 
the webs. That unrolled from the cocoons proved 
to be the stronger. M. Bon, in 1709, carded from 
the cocoons a silk which he described as much finer 
and stronger than ordinary silk, and which, he 
claimed,,was fitted to make any kind of fabrics. 
•n Spain, Raymondo Maria de Tremezer, between 
1777 and 1791, made several articles as bright and 
fine as silk, from the threads of the Epeirce diadema. 
Mr. Rolt, an English merchant, was able to exhibit 
to the Society of Arts a specimen thread twenty 
thousand feet long, that had been spun by twenty-
two spiders in less than two hours, and which 
was five times as fine as the thread of the silk-
worm. Alcide d'Orbigny asserted that he had 
garments, able to sustain considerable wear, made 
in South America from spider's silk.—Popular 
Science Monthly. 
Religious Notes. 
—There are 577 different editions of the Bible in the 
public library of Stuttgart, printed in over 100 lan-
guages. 
—We learn that in the town of Hull, England, there 
were last year 1,223 convictions for Sunday trading, 
and but 1,597 in all the rest of the kingdom. 
Preliminary steps have been taken by the Seventh-
day Baptists of the United States toward publishing a 
Seventh-day Baptist Quarterly. The first number will 
be issued as soon a sufficient number of names is re-
ceived to warrant the undertaking. 
A Catholic Chinese Mission has been started in 
San Francisco, which is under the patronage of Rome 
itself. It has the special sanction of the pope, and its 
head is a relative of the Papal Secretary of State. 
About sixty Chinese pupils are now in attendance. In 
May, four priests will arrive from Rome, who have 
been commissioned by the pope to labor among the 
Indians of California. They will establish their head-
quarters at Clear Lake. 
" A bill has been introduced into the Connecticut 
House of Representatives for the purpose of amending 
the divorce law so that divorces may be granted on the 
gro...nds of general misconduct." Why not further 
amend and grant a divorce whenever a wife shall wear 
an ill-fitting dress or a husband shall fail to brush his 
hair before sitting down to a meal ? —for that is about 
what the " misconduct" clause can be stretched to 
include.—Christian at Work. 
President Merrill E. Gates, in an article in the 
Independent, well says: "In order to do what is right, 
we must first know what is right. Dwelling upon 
thoughts of God and duty renders stronger the power 
of conscience. We need to study carefully how to 
apply in our own daily lives the moral law, which the 
seeing power of conscience reveals to us. In no life 
does righteousness grow of itself, neglected, or against 
the choice of the intelligent will." 
Mr. Spurgeon says of the Salvation Army pro-
ceedings: "It is time that somebody spoke, now that 
the attempt is made to make men religious by turning 
all religion into a game of soldiers. Because they would 
not hinder anything that promised well, Christian men 
have borne with much that grieved them, but there is 
a point beyond which long-suffering charity cannot go. 
That point is nearly reached; even the most ultra-
tolerant must feel that hope has been disappointed, 
and fear now takes its place." 
 
—Rev. Heber Newton's reason for giving his sermons 
On the "Right and Wrong Uses of the Bible" is in 
substance this: Men are losing faith in the Bible; they 
do not believe concerning it as they u-ed to; there is 
danger that they will throw it away entirely. To pre-
vent this he tells them that the Bible does not teach 
what they used to think it did; that they need not 
cease to believe the Bible, because it really teaches 
just what they think it ought. This preaching is on 
the principle, " Tell me what you believe, andI will 
preach it to you." Such preaching is becoming alto-
gether too common. 
—Joseph Cook states that in India, according to an 
authentic and most recent official statement, there are 
21,000,000 widows, fully one-half of whom were never 
wives. This arises from tine fact that child marriage 
is the rule, a girl often being betrothed in infancy. If 
the person to whom she is betrothed, and whom she 
may never have seen, dies, she is considered a widow, 
and must so remain throt gh life, occt pying the most 
menial position, allowed but oi.e meal a day, considered 
as merely a thing, a proper subject upon which to prac-
tice extreme cruelty. And yet in India the religion 
flourishes which infidels extol as superior to the Chris-
tian religion. 
—The Christian Herald says: "There is not a syl-
lable in all the word of God which would indicate that 
a union of the different denominations is possible, much 
less desirable and Scriptural." The Herald might have 
truthfully added that there is not a syllable in the word 
of God to indicate that the existence of different de-
nominations is desirable or Scriptural. Our Saviour 
prayed that his disciples, and also all that should be-
lieve on him through their word, might be one; and 
Paul teaches, Eph. 4 :13, that we will not arrive at the 
state of " a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature 
of the fullness of Christ," until we "come in the unity 
of the faith." 
—A writer in the Occident, near the close of a long 
article on " Infant Baptism " says, " The baptism of 
their children is not to be neglected by believers for 
many reasons, chiefly because it is commanded of the 
Lord," and yet does not tell us where this command-
ment may be found. But perhaps he thought it was 
of no use to try to hunt up the commandment, since he 
says that the baptism of a child " neither makes him a 
member of the church on earth, nor gives him any title 
to the privileges of the church in Heaven." From 
which we conclude that he himself is not very clear as 
to the use of infant baptism anyway; and we are sure 
that a perusal of his article has not enlightened us in 
the least. 
—The New York Examiner (Baptist) publishes an 
article entitled, " Wherein Moses and Jesus Are One," 
showing that there is no conflict between Moses and 
Christ—between the Old and the New Testaments. 
Following is the closing paragraph: " The idea of obe-
dience to God is an idea uniquely peculiar to the Bible 
as a book of revealed religion. It belopgs equally to 
the Old Testament and the New. The Old Testament 
and the New are thus shown to be, by overwhelming 
probability, 'one agreeing system of religious truth. 
They are certainly thus shown, be they true or be they 
false, to be at any rate indivisibly one in essence and 
spirit. You cannot throw away the Old Testament 
and keep the New. The principle of obedience, con-
spicuously . ommon to the two, unites them indissolubly, 
as in character so in destiny." 
—" Grace Greenwood," writing to the Independent, 
from Paris, France, uses the following language, which 
might well have been written as a comment on Luke 
21:25, 26: " But the new year seems thus far to be 
outdoing its predecessor; almost every day's record 
being of disaster, loss, suffering, tragedies, and most 
unnatural horrors. The elements seem to be in a state 
of anarchy—fires, explosions, and overflows, shipwrecks 
and land-slides; the subsidence of towns, the moving 
of mountains, the flooding and firing of mines alter-
nately appall us. From Ireland comes the strange story 
of an ancient reliable bog taking suddenly to traveling 
and whelming acres of cultivated land. All that we 
lack are earthquakes and tidal waves; but the new 
year • may have them also in store for us. Here in 
France we have been spared physical, disasters; but the 
political ground seems a little shaky. . . . The Gov-
ernment has been and is in a condition of perplexity, 
to designate it by no stronger term." 
News and Notes. 
The estimated reduction of the public debt for 
March is $9,500,000. 
—Additional outrages by the Apaches are reported 
from Arizona and New Mexico. 
—A Pittsburg pawnbroker has discovered that 99 per 
cent. of the money he lends is spent for strong drink. 
—Of the forty-seven prisoners in the jail at Portland, 
Or., six are boys under twenty years of age, and five are 
charged with murder. 
A cloud-burst occurred in the hills near Merced, 
Cal., during the recent storm, and a large number of 
sheep were carried off by the torrent. 
—A conductor in Massachusetts has been found guilty 
of manslaughter for disobeying orders and causing a 
collision that resulted in the death of three persons. 
—A land-slide on the Cincinnati and Southern Rail-
road, near Mason, 0., March 30, threw a passenger train 
from the track, injuring sixty persons, some of them it 
is feared fatally. 
A number of coal barges got adrift at Pittsburg, 
Pa., the 31st ult., and were swept down the river. Sev-
eral other barges and boats containing grain and coal 
were sunk by them. 
An unprecedented amount of snow fell in North Car-
olina last week. The snow was reported, March 26, as 
over two feet deep at Greenboro, and ,hree feet at Hen-
derson, with no abatement in the storm. 
Ogden, U. T.. is said to be so full of gamblers and 
roughs from the North and West that it is dangerous 
for the citizens to go out on the streets after dark, the 
police being powerless to arrest the offenders. 
—There are now 6.000 men at work on the Panama 
Canal, and work is said to be progressing satisfactorily. 
It is estimated by engineers that the entire canal, forty-
six miles in length, will be completed in seven years. 
—Quite a severe earthquake was felt the morning of 
the 29th ult., in many parts of this State. There were 
three distinct shocks, of sufficient force to shake plaster-
ing from the walls. As usual, many persons were very 
much frightened. 
—The study of Latin has been made compulsory in 
the high school of Charleston, S. C. Instead of the 
attendance diminishing, as was feared, it has increased, 
and the principal reports that the change has had a 
_good effect on the mental development of the pupils. 
—It was decided in the courts in New York that 
policemen should be allowed full pay during sick r ess, 
since which time sickness has increased to an alarming 
extent. The Police Commissioners say that in-mediate 
legislation is necessary to save the force from demorali-
zation. 
—The Geographical Society of Germany advocates 
the resumption of Polar expeditions. And we would 
further suggest that the Geographical Society of Ger-
many be sent out on the next expedition. If the mem-
bers should ever return they would know vastly more 
about the Polar regions than they possibly can from 
reading the published accounts, or listening to the 
stories of returned explorers. 
—A conversation was recently carried on by means 
of the telephone, between two persons. one of whom was 
in New York, and the other in Cleveland. As these 
places are 600 miles apart, the promise that conversation 
will yet be carried on between New York and San Fran-
cisco or London, seems not improbable. 
—A New Jersey boy who started West to exterminate 
Indians, was armed with four dime novels. Dime nov-
els may be more destructive to human life than toy 
pistols and bowie knives, but the trouble would be for a 
boy to get an Indian to hold still long enough to read 
him several chapters of the blood-freezing fiction.—Ex. 
—President Chadbourne, of the Massachusetts Prison 
Commission, when visiting the State Reform School at 
Westboro, inquired how many of the young criminals 
came from farms. The Superintendent after making 
investigation reported to him: " There is not a single 
boy here whose father is or has been a farmer." Com-
ment is unnecessary. 
—A morning paper has in one dispatch the account of 
the killing of five children by beinc,
b 
 shot through " sport." 
There should be a lunatic asylum for the special accom-
modation of those who don't know that guns are not 
toys with which children are to be amused; and until 
such asylum is built the penitentiary would serve ad-
mirably as a substitute. 
—A socialist manifesto is in circulation in the south-
ern part of Russia, inviting people to avail themselves 
of the coming fetes on the coronation of the Czar to 
pillage the houses of the nobles and the Jews. A 
deputation of nobles has gone to St. Petersburg to ask 
Count Tolstoi, Minister of the Interior, to provide for 
the protection of their property. 
—From a London cable dispatch of March 31, we 
extract the following: "The infernal machines seized 
at Liverpool on Wednesday were of a very formidAble 
character. Each consisted of a well-make tin cylinder 
containing two gallons of explosive material, the whole 
covered with an outer casing of canvas, neatly stitched. 
The throwina
b 
 of the package against the ground would 
have sufficed to explode it quite as effectively as a fuse, 
which was also provided. The police authorities say 
this capture frustrated two attempts to blow up Govern-
ment buildings, one in Liverpool, the other in Man-
chester. Both explosions were to have been effected 
this week, and experts assert that the machines are 
identical in power with the one used at 'Westminster. 
These occurrences and the threats to blow up the post-
office keep the Dublin military on sentry duty in Lon-
don, and menacing letters received in every direction 
make the public feverish. There is no calm, temperate 
consideration of the subject. Whatever danger really 
exists is exaggerated, and the people are in a condition 
of thorough scare." 
THE SPIRIT OF GOD: ITS OFFICES AND 
MANIFESTATIONS TO THE END 
OF THE CHRISTIAN AGE. 
BY ELDER J. H. WAGGONER. 
Tins is a brief but ;comprehensive argument on the solemn and im 
p lrtant subject of the Spirit of God. Its chapters embrace the following 
heads: The Holy Spirit of Promise; The Power from on High; Circum-
cision of the Heart; The Unity of the Faith; The Law and the Testi-
mony; Try the Spirits; The Great Commission; Gifts in the Reformation; 
In the Present Century; Spirit of Prophecy Restored. These are sub-
jects of vital importance to all, and especially to those who are looking 
for the return of their Lord. 144 pp. Price, 15 cents. 
Address, �
SIGNS OF TIIE �
Oakland, 
BIBLE SANCTIFICATION: 
A CONTRAST OF 
TRUE AND FALSE THEORIES. 
BY MRS. E. G. WuITE. 
Tins is a pamphlet of only 84 pages, but its value is not to be judged 
by its size. It is just what its title indicates: a faithful presentation of 
Bible truth on this important subject, and an exposure of the false theo-
ries prevailing in regard to it. Every believer in Bible truth should read 
it. �
Buy it, read it, and lend it to your neighbor. Price 10 cts. 
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. 
�
111 
168 �
THE SIGNS OF TIT i-g, TIM �
. �Vol-- 9, No. 14. 
Eke *ign5 of tie Cinte5, 
OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, APRIL 5, 1883. 
A PRESS of other matters prevented the preparation 
of an article on "Justification by Faith" for this num-
ber. It will appear next week. 
This number concludes the articles on the Two Cove-
nants. We hope all the readers of the SIGNS have 
read them with care. They are well worth a careful 
perusal. 
Brother Andrews furnishes us articles on the first six 
chapters of Zechariah, which will be of interest to all. 
The first will appear in our next issue. 
Special attention is called to Sister White's article 
in this paper on attending the camp-meetings. 
See notice of the annual meeting of the Publishing 
Association. 
The appointment and remarks in this paper concern-
ing quarterly meetings refer to the Missionary Societies. 
The quarterly meetings of the churches in the Con-
ference have been held. 
Questions Answered. 
J. T. C.—We have no definite opinion to give at pres-
ent on Zech. 11 :7. We may refer to it at some other 
time. 
S. E. M.—Spiritual death is the opposite of spiritual 
life; it is a state of sin. Adam lost his righteousness or 
died spiritually when he transgressed. It was no part of 
the penalty of the divine law, unless God threatened to 
make Adam a sinner. But such a thought is both ab-
surd and impious. 
Your other question is rather obscure. 
MRS. A. J. H.—We cannot explain Isa. 65: 20. We 
have seen a number of " explanations," none of which 
were satisfactory to us. We cannot understand the view 
you speak of more than you can. It cannot be the truth. 
R. C. B.—We will notice your communication at our 
earliest convenience. 
N. R. P.—Your questions concerning Melchisedec 
cannot be answered. If they could the words of Paul 
in Heb. 7 would not hold good. For an exposition of 
the subject we refer you to the pamphlet on the " Age to 
Come," for sale at this Office. 
14. G. H.—We have not seen the book to which you 
refer. You will find a complete and very clear exposi- 
tion of the 2,300 days of Dan. 8, in the book entitled 
" The Sanctuary and its Cleansing," for sale at this 
Office; price $1.00. 
" IN Matt. 24 :29, we read: The powers of the heav-
ens shall be shaken.' Will not this be the last of those 
signs which Christ gave the disciples of the second 
advent? and will it be a literal shaking`? I see some 
able writers convey the idea that the falling stars of 
1833 is the last of those signs. �
R. It." 
There were but three signs given by the Saviour in 
Matt. 24. The shaking of the powers of heaven takes 
place when the Lord comes, and is not given as a warn-
ing that they may know when the advent is near. 
For a thorough examination of this subject we refer 
you to the pamphlet on the Age to Come, published 
by S. D. Adventists. It may be had at this office or 
at Battle Creek. Probably it may be found at a depos- 
itory in your own district. 
Is It in the New Version ? 
A WRITER in the World's Crisis is trying to prove 
that Sabbatarians break the Sabbath law. Among 
other things he says:— 
" The law requires them not to travel more than a 
Sabbath day's ,journey,—a trifle over one English mile. 
How can those attend church on that day who live at 
a greater distance ?" 
We are always pleased to get help to understand the 
obligations of the law. In this case we are entirely 
dependent on the writer in the Crisis; we confess to 
our own incompetency to learn our duty from the Bible 
—if his statement is correct! We hope he will not 
desert us in our dilemma, but answer the following 
queries:— 
Where, in the Sabbath law, can we learn that we 
'must not go more than a Sabbath day's journey, even 
going to church? Please give the chapter and verse. 
And in what text may we learn the distance of a Sab-
bath day's journey ? " To the law, and to the testi- 
mony." 
Saints' Inheritance. 
THE pamphlet of this name, once so well known to 
Seventh-day Adventists, has been out of print for some 
time. Eld. Loughborough, the author, has carefully 
revised it, in fact re-written it, and it has just been 
issued at this Office. It is a complete gathering of the 
Scripture evidences concerning the new earth which is 
to be prepared for the people of God. It is written in 
an attractive style, and will be read with interest by all. 
80 pages; price 10 cents. 
Money-rate of Iniquity. 
AT a meeting of ministers in Chicago it was declared 
that the traffic in liquors is " debauching our youth, 
corrupting our politics, impairing the value of our prop-
erty, jeopardizing our lives, insulting our laws, and pol-
luting our commerce." And what do you think was 
advised as the proper method of dealing with such a 
terrible evil ? By a vote of 75 to 15 it was resolved 
that it is expedient to raise the license of saloons to 
$500 ! Don't chain the tiger or kill the mad dog. In-
crease the " tax " on him and let him run. But we do 
injustice to the tiger and the mad dog. There is no 
parallel. They may kill a few outright, but they cannot 
debauch our youth--the worst crime of all--nor corrupt 
our politics; neither can they greatly injure our com-
merce. It is to be feared that the liquor traffic has de-
bauched our churches and corrupted our ministry, as 
well as blinded our legislators. 
Divine Plan of Church Finance. 
ALL our readers know the opinions of the Seventh-
Day Adventists in regard to the proper method of rais-
ing money for religious purposes. All our churches to 
a greater or less extent follow the Scripture rule of 
tithing. It is purely a voluntary matter, but it is 
largely followed among us. And we are pleased with 
every effort to introduce the system in any church 
work in every denomination. We have received sam-
ples of tracts on this subject which are prepared for 
gratuitous distribution, written by "A Layman." 
Their titles are as follows:— 
No. 1.—What We Owe. 
No. 2.—Some Questions and Answers. 
No. 3.—Thanksgiving Ann. 
No. 4.—Divine Plan of Church Finance. 
And to these is added one specially to ministers: 
No. 5.—What you Owe. This relates to the duty of 
pastors to present the subject to their congregations. 
We intend to send for some of the tracts to circulate, 
and we invite our ministers and the officers of our 
churches to do the same. They can be ordered together 
or by the numbers. Address THOMAS KANE, 439 War-
ren Avenue, Chicago. 
UNDER the head of " A Temperance Item," we find 
the following in the Oakland Times of last Monday 
morning:— 
" On last Sunday James Miller's son was hunting 
rabbits on his father's ranch, near the Green School-
house, and ran into an old squirrel hole. He reached 
his hand in and pulled out some wool, made another 
grab and felt something bite him, and pulled his hand 
out with a large tarantula fastened to the third finger 
of his right hand. He pulled him loose and killed 
him, and then started for the house. Mr. F. Hartman 
was called and gave the boy all the whisky he could 
drink. He has fully recovered. Mr. Miller expresses 
his heartfelt thanks for the kind act of Mr. Hartman 
in saving his son's life after the poisonous bite of a 
tarantula.—Livermore Valley Review. 
" We forget just where the moral of this interesting 
story comes in." 
 
It needs no " moral." It is simply a matter of fact 
that alcohol has a chemical affinity for certain kinds of 
poison, and therefore acts as a neutralizer or antidote 
to them. But a chemist would laugh at the idea that 
this fact proves that it is good for a daily drink. Quite 
the reverse. 
CALIFORNIA has had an abundance of rain during 
the last two weeks. It has been general, covering the 
whole State, and " there are millions in it." 
The Quarterly Meetings. 
THE time for holding the quarterly meetings of the 
Tract and Missionary Society is given in another col-
umn. We cannot overestimate the importance of the 
work in which we are engaged. The prophet says, 
" The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and 
Stockholders' Meeting. 
PURSUANT to article 6, section 2 of the By-Laws of 
the Pacific S. D. A. Publishing Association, the eighth 
annual meeting of the stockholders of said Association 
will be held at the Pacific Press Office, corner of Castro 
and Twelfth Streets, Oakland, Cal., on Monday, April 
23, 1883, at 9:30 A. M., for the purpose of electing a 
board of five directors, and transacting such other busi-
ness as may come before the meeting. 
W. K. VICKERY, Secretary. 
Quarterly Meetings. 
THE usual time for holding Church and T. and M. 
quarterly meetings will be April 7, 8. District quar-
terly meetings April 14, 15. Blanks for reports have 
been sent out to all the Tract Societies and scattered 
members in the State, and we ask that every member 
be prompt to return these filled out, that there may be 
a full report of labor at the State quarterly meeting. 
M. C. ISRAEL. 
State Quarterly Meeting. 
THE California State Quarterly meeting of the Tract 
and Missionary Society will be held in Oakland, April 
21, 22. As this will be an unusually important meet-
ing a general attendance is expected. All directors, 
secretaries, and librarians are especially invited, and 
all others who can come. �M. C. ISRAEL, 
Vice-Pres. T. and M. Society. 
No preventing providence I will spend Sabbath and 
first-day, April 14, 15, at Lakeport, holding such meet-
ings as the brethren there may appoint. 
W. M. HEALEY. 
Southern Camp-Meeting. 
WE cannot state definitely the place where this meet-
ing will be held; it will probably commence May 10; it 
will be held in Tulare County. Brethren Harvey Gray, 
Peter Scatzghini, and W. R. Smith, have been appointed 
a camp-meeting committee, and as soon as they can 
decide on the locality more definite notice will be given. 
We hope all the brethren and sisters of Fresno and 
Tulare Counties will arrange to be there, and quite a 
number from Los Angeles. We expect Elders Haskell, 
Waggoner, and Sister White, will be on the list of 
speakers that will attend. 
S. N. HASKELL, 
I. D. VAN HORN, Cal. Conf. Committee. 
M. C. ISRAEL, 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, AT OAKLAND, CAL., FOR THE 
Missionary Society of Seventh-day Adventists. 
A twelve-page Religious Family Paper, devoted to a discussion of the 
Prophecies, Signs of the Times, Second Coming of Christ, Harmony of the 
Law and Gospel, with Departments devoted to Temperance, The Home 
Circle, the Missionary Work, and the Sabbath-school. 
Price Per Year, �
- �
• �
- �
- �
- �
- �
- �
- �
$2.00 
In Clubs of five or more copies to one address, to be used in Mis- 
sionary Work, �
1.50 
Address, �
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. 
—OR— 
REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, 
ELD. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, RAVENS- 
Michigan. �
wood, Shirley Road, Southamp. 
MRS. ELIZA PALMER, Sec. N. E. Tract �
ton, England. 
Society, South Lancaster, Mass. 
MRS. C. L. BOYD, Salem, Oregon. 
S. E. WHITEIS, Sec. Nebraska T. & M. Society, Fremont, Neb. 
hasteth greatly." The work that the Lord has in-
trusted to his people at this time to do is of more im- 
portance than all other enterprises in the world besides. 
The Missionary Society is one of the great agencies 
for carrying on this work, therefore it is necessary that 
its officers and leading members should meet together, 
if possible, as often as once in three months, to council 
together and seek the Lord for wisdom, and a deeper 
consecration to his service, and that ways and means 
may be devised whereby the work may be carried on 
more efficiently. This State Quarterly Meeting will be 
one of more than usual interest, as at this time the 
wants of the cause in all parts of the Conference will 
be considered, and labor as far as can be for the com-
ing tent season will be planned. It is the only general 
meeting that will be held before the fall camp-meeting. 
The annual meeting of the Publishing Association will 
also be held at this time. 
Elder Haskell and Sister White will be here; and 
we hope that our ministers and licentiates, directors, 
secretaries, and librarians, and all others who, can, will 
be present. Let every district in the State be well rep f 
resented. We feel sure that God will bless our united 
efforts to advance his cause. Let all the church and 
district meetings be held, and we hope every member 
of the society will consider it a duty to fill out a report 
and hand to the librarian; those who are not con-
nected with any church society can send theirs to the 
State Secretary, Miss Alice Morrison, Oakland, Cal., so 
that we may have a full report at the State meeting of 
what labor is being done. �
M. C. ISRAEL. 
• 
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