car *g-nz 01 the Ziritt6. 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, FOR THE 
S. D. A. MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 
[ For terms, etc., see last page.] 
WILL IT BE ? 
BY MARY BRULAND. 
WHEN the crowns are given, of gold so bright, 
Which the saints shall wear in that world of light; 
As Jesus places them on each fair brow, 
As they at his feet shall lowly bow, 
Will a crown be given to me ? 
There'll be music, too, more sweet to the ear, 
Than ever the dwellers on earth shall hear. 
When the beautiful harps to the saints are given, 
In that home above, our home in Heaven, 
Will a harp be given to me ? 
There are garments, too, so fair, and so white, 
Which the saints will receive in that world of light. 
There is nothing on earth that can compare 
With the beautiful robes the saints shall wear. 
Will white robes be given to me ? 
Oh! that beautiful home ! There is no night, 
For the Saviour himself will be the light. 
When the ransomed ones are gathered at home, 
And Jesus has said to each the Well done," 
Will that home be given to me ? 
Albion, N. Y. 
" Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."—Rev. 22 : 12. 
VOLUME 7. �
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, FIFTH-DAY, MARCH 31, 1881. �
NUMBER 13. 
THE DEATH OF MOSES. 
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE. 
WHEN Moses had ended his • last words to 
Israel, he turned from the congregation, and in 
silence and alone he made his way up the mount-
ain side. He went to Pisgah, the loftiest ridge, 
and then to Nebo, the highest point on that ridge. 
Upon that lonely height he stood, and gazed with 
undimmed eyes upon the scene spread out on 
every side. Far away to the west lay the blue 
waters of the Great Sea; in the north, snowy Her-
mon stood out against the sky; to the east was 
the table-land of Moab, and beyond lay Bashan, 
the scene of Israel's triumph; and away to the 
south stretched the desert of their long wander-
ings. 
In solitude, Moses reviewed his life of vicissi-
tudes and hardships since he turned from courtly 
honors and from a prospective kingdom in Egypt, 
to, cast in- his lot with God's chosen people. He 
called to mind those long years in the desert with 
the flocks of Jethro, the appearance of the angel 
in the burning bush, and his own call to deliver 
Israel. He again beheld the mighty miracles of 
God's power in the plagues upon Egypt, the won-
derful passage through the Red Sea, the symbol 
of God's presence in the cloud and the pillar of 
fire, the water bursting from the rock, the daily 
bread descending from heaven with the falling 
dew, the victories which the Lord had given 
them over their enemies, their quiet and secure 
repose in the midst of a vast wilderness, and-the 
unsurpassed glory, and majesty of the divine pres-
ence which had been revealed to him. As he 
reviewed these things, he was overwhelmed with 
a sense of the goodness and power of God. His 
promises were sure to Israel. When they were 
faithful and cbedient, no good thing promised had 
been withheld from them. 
Moses had been disappointed and grieved by 
the continual rebellion of Israel. Notwithstand- 
ing-all' his prayers and labors during their forty 
years' journeying, only two of all the adults in 
the vast army that left Egypt, were found so 
faithful that they could see the promised land. 
As Moses reviewed the result of his labor, his life 
of trial and sacrifice seemed to have been almost 
in vain. 
Yet he regretted not the burdens he had borne 
for an ungrateful people. He knew that his mis 
sion and work were of God's own appointing 
When first called to lead Israel from the house o 
bondage, he shrank from the responsibility, and 
entreated the Lord to qhoose some man bette 
qualified to execute this sacred work. Hi 
request was not granted. Since he had taken up 
the work, he had not laid it down, nor cast aside 
the burden. When the Lord had proposed to 
release him, and destroy rebellious Israel, Moses 
could not consent. He chose still to bear the 
burden which had been placed upon him. 
The servant of God had enjoyed special tokens 
of the divine favor; he had obtained a rich expe-
rience during his travels in the wilderness, in 
witnessing the manifestations of God's power and 
glory; and in reviewing the scenes of his life, he 
concluded that he hdel made a wise decision in 
choosing to suffer affliction with the people of 
God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for 
a season. 
As Moses looked back upon his experience as a 
leader of God's people, only one wrong act marred 
the illustrious record. If he could atone for that 
one transgression, he .would not shrink from 
death. He was assured that repentance, humili-
ation, and faith in the Promised One, who was to 
die man's sacrifice, were all that od required. 
In humility and faith, Moses again confessed his 
sin, and implored pardon in the name of Jesus. 
Angels of God presented to Moses a panoramic 
view of the land of promise. Every part of the 
country was spread out before him, not faint and 
uncertain in the dim distance, but standing out 
clear, distinct, and beautiful to his delighted vis-
ion. He seemed to be looking upon a second 
Eden. There were mountains clothed with 
cedars of Lebanon, hills gray with olives, and fra-
grant with the odor of the vintage, wide green 
plains bright with flowers and rich in fruitfulness, 
the palm-trees of the tropics side by side with 
waving fields of wheat and b.arley, sunny valleys 
musical with the ripple of brooks and the song of 
birds, goodly elites, and fair gardens, lakes rich 
in " the abundance of the sea," grazing flocks 
upon the hill-sides, and even amid the rocks a 
place for the wild bee to secrete its treasures. It 
was indeed such a land as Moses, inspired by the 
Spirit of God, had described to Israel: " Blessed 
of the Lord, . . . for the precious things of 
heaven, for the dew and for the deep that couch-
eth beneath, and for the precious fruits brought 
forth by the sun, . . and for the chief things of 
the ancient mountains, . . . and for the precious 
things of the earth and fullness thereof." 
As the glories of the promised land faded from 
his sight, a scene of deeper interest passed before 
,him. He was permitted to look down the stream 
of time, and to behold the first advent of our Sav- 
iour. He saw Jesus as a babe at Bethlehem. He 
heard the voices of the angelic host break forth 
in that glad song of praise to God and peace on 
earth. He beheld Christ's humble life in Naza- 
reth, his ministry of love and sympathy and heal-
ing, his rejection by a proud and unbelieving 
nation, the agony in Gethsemane, the betrayal, 
the cruel mockery and scourging, and that last 
crowning act of nailing him to the tree. Moses 
saw that as he had lifted up the serpent in the 
wilderness, so the Son of God must be lifted upon 1 
the cross, to give his life a saorifice for men, that 
whosoever would believe on him should "not per-
ish, but have eternal life." 
Grief, amazement, indignation, and horror filled t 
the heart of Moses, as he viewed the hypocrisy t 
and Satanic hatred manifested by the Jewish c 
nation against their Redeemer, the mighty angel 
who had gone before their fathers and wrought 
so wonderfully for them in all their journeyings. h 
Tie heard Christ's agonizing cry, " My God, my e 
God, why hast thou forsaken me?" He saw him a 
rise from the dead, and ascend to his Father, n 
escorted by adoring angels. He saw the shining a 
6entra1 Articles. 
- portals open to receieve him, and the hosts of 
Heaven welcoming their Commander with songs 
f of everlasting triumph. As Moses looked upon 
the scene, his countenance shone with a holy radi- 
r ance. How small appeared his own trials and 
s sacrifices when compared with those of the Son of 
God ! He rejoiced that he had been permitted, 
even in a small measure, to be a partaker in the 
sufferings of Christ. 
Again the vision faded, and his eye rested upon 
the land of Canaan, as it spread out in the dis-
tance. Then, like a tired warrior, he lay down 
to rest. " So Moses, the servant of the Lord, 
died there in the land of Moab, according to the 
word of the Lord. And he buried him in a val-
ley in the land of Moab, over against Beth Peor; 
but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this 
day." 
Many who had been unwilling to heed the 
counsels of Moses while he was with them would 
now be in danger of committing idolatry over his 
dead body. Hence his resting-place was con-
cealed from men. But angels of God buried the 
body of his faithful servant, and watched over the 
lonely grave. 
The life of Moses was marked with supreme 
love to God. His piety, humility, and forbear- �
• 
ance, had given him a strong influence over the 
host of Israel. His-zeal and his faith in God 
were greater than those of any other man upon 
the earth. He had often addressed his people in 
words of stirring eloquence. No one knew b tter 
than he how to move the affections of his hear rs. 
He conducted all matters connected with t:13 
religious interests of the people with great wis-
dom. 
Satan exulted that he had succeeded in causing 
Moses to sin against God. For this transgres-
sion, Moses came under the dominion of death. 
Ba his life not been marred with that one sin, 
in failing to give to God the glory of bringing 
water from the rock, he would have entered the-. 
promised land, and would have been translated 
to Heaven without seeing death. But the serv-
ant of God was not long permitted to remain in 
the tomb. Christ himself, with the angels who- 
buried Moses, came down from Heaven, and'
called forth the sleeping saint, and bore him up 
in triumph to the city of God. 
As the Prince of life and the shining ones 
approached the grave, they were opposed by 
Satan with his company of evil angels, who were 
determined that the power of death should not be 
broken. But the glory attending the Scn of God 
compelled the hosts of darkness to fall back. 
Satan insolently claimed the body of Moses 
because of his one transgression. Christ conde-
scended to enter into no dispute with his adver-
sary but meekly referred all to his Father, say-
ing, " The Lord rebuke thee." Moses had humbly 
repented of his sin, no stain rested upon his char-
acter, and his name in Heaven's book of records 
stood untarnished. By the power of his word, 
Christ opened the prison-house, and set death's 
captive free. 
Upon the mount of transfiguration, Moses was 
present, with Elijah, who had been translated. 
They were sent as the bearers of light and glory 
from the Father to his dear Son. Such is the 
ast scene revealed to mortal vision in the history 
of that man so highly honored of God. 
Moses was a type of Christ. He received the 
words from the mouth of God, and spoke them to 
he people. God saw fit to discipline Moses in 
he school of affliction and poverty, before he 
ould be prepared to lead the armies of Israel in 
their travels from Egypt to the earthly Canaan. 
The Israel of God who are now passing on to the 
eavenly Canaan have a Captain who needed no 
arthly teaching, to perfect him for his mission as 
divine Leader. He manifested no human weak-
ess or imperfection; yet he died to obtain for us 
n entrance into the promised land. 
146 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
VoL. 7, No. 13. 
• 
were affected by it. It disturbed over fifteen 
millions of square miles of the earth's surfate. 
The tidal wave from the sea first rolled in onto 
the land fifty feet high in some places, in others, 
sixty feet, and then traveled to the West indias 
at a height of twenty feet, and at the rate of 
about eight miles per minute. It also rolled 
northward eight or ten feet in height, and all 
night long thundered on the shores of England." 
In view of such evidence, who can doubt but 
that this earthquake was the
: opening event of 
the sixth seal? 
" And the sun became black as sackcloth of 
hair." " And the moon became as blood." 
" And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, 
even as a fig-tree easteth her untimely figs when 
she is shaken of a mighty wind." 
It will be noticed that " the fearful sights" and 
"great signs from heaVen," came in 1837, just 
four years after the falling of the stars. 
" And the heavens departed as a scroll when 
it is rolled together," which brings the great day 
of his wrath. Where, then, do we find " this 
generation?" Between the last sign, the falling 
stars, which was fulfilled November 13, 1833, and 
the rolling together of the heavens as a scroll, of 
which the apostle declares that it will come as a 
thief in the night. 
We will now briefly allude to the remaining 
verses, which closely precede the one containing 
our subject. There is some difference of opinion 
as to what is meant by the words, " sign of the 
Son of man in heaven." The allusion to the 
" coming of the Son of man," directly follows the 
mention of the shaking of the " powers of the 
heavens," in Mark and Luke. Mark says: " And 
then shall they see the Son of man," etc. The 
language of Luke is similar. It is therefore plain. 
that in this event the SA of man himself is the 
sign; or, at least, his sudden appearance in the 
cloud, which at first will appear small, but will 
increase in size as quickly as the lightning's flash. 
" For as the lightning cometh out of the east 
and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the 
coming of the Son of man be." The shaking of 
the powers of the heavens, the personal and 
visible coming of Christ, and the gathering of the 
elect, are future events, and cannot be spiritualized 
away in the past. These events have not been 
seen in any age, but according to' he " sure word 
of prophecy.," they will be seen by " this genera- 
tion." 
Our Saviour taught his disciples of the nearness 
of his coming by the parable of the fig-tree, say-
ing: " When his branch is yet tender, and putteth 
forth leaves, ye know that summer is High. So 
likewise ye, when ye shall se% all these things 
[do not guess, think, or imagine], know that it is 
near, even At the doors." We trust it will now 
be seen what is implied by "all these things" of 
the second question. 
Three times in succession our Lord seems to 
have impressed the minds of his disciples with 
the nearness of his coming to " this generation." 
To make his words more impressive the second 
time, he said: " Verily I say unto you, This 
generation shall not pass, till all these things be 
fulfilled." And again the third time, " Heaven 
and earth shall pass away, but my words shall 
not pass away.
" 
 
Having shown the complete fulfillment of 
these things," we will now present a few words 
in regard to 
that the passage means, ' that day and hour none 
THIS GENERATION. 
BY WM. PENNIMAN. 
(Continued.) 
S. S. BREWER, in a work on " The Kingdom of 
God, and the Signs of the Times," says of January 
25, 1837 (speaking of "fearful sights and great 
signs"), "The very heavens for a short time 
seemed to be on fire, and the snow upon the 
ground much resembled blood and fire, which 
was so alarming in appearance as to cause the 
solemn inquiry 'by some, who were out at the 
time, if the day of Judgment had come, and 
caused the animals to tremble with fear." Mr. 
Brewer quotes from a London paper, dated Sep. 
tember 5, 1839, concerning a wonderful phenom-
ena that occurred there, of which the writer 
declares: " The consternation in the metropolis 
was very great; it had a most alarming appear-
ance, and was like that occasioned by a terrific 
fire. There were to be seen mingled with it, vol-
umes of smoke. Every beholder seemed con-
vinced that it was a tremendous conflagration." 
The reader can judge how well this corresponds 
with the prediction of the prophet Joel: " And I 
will show wonders in the heavens, and in the 
earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The 
sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon 
into blood, before the great and the terrible day 
of the Lord come." 
Henry Jones, in his Celestial Phenomena, quotes 
a clergyman, who states that " during a pro-
tracted meeting, suddenly, through the windows, 
,the whole house was filled with the most vivid 
.and fiery light, so alarming in its appearance, 
that several of the audience shrieked aloud, and 
all was disorder and commotion; many rushed 
for the doors." 
Another article, dated Fort Leavenworth, Mo., 
March 20, 1843, states: " On the 14th of Feb-
ruary we had the most remarkable phenomenon 
here that I ever heard of, except the falling stars. 
At 3 A. M., the moon, that had been obscured by 
a cloud for some hours, burst forth of a deep, 
blood red color, with a black cross, of equal pro- 
portions, over the face, but not extending beyond 
the rim, while on the sides small pieces of a rain-
bow were visible." " After continuing in this 
way for about, an hour, the color of the 'cross 
changed to its ordinary hue, and it became a 
silvery white," etc.. 
 
Liteh's Exposition, vol. 1, p. 153, states: " On 
the night of the earthquake (referring to the one 
of which Mr. Beadle, of Aleppo, gave an account 
in the Missionary herald of June, 1842) there was 
something peculiar in the atmosphere, the moon 
appearing as red. as blood. This greatly alarmed 
the inhabitants, who were continually crying out, 
Now we shall hear the trumpet sound, and the 
dead will rise! the day of Judgment has arrived."' 
Another, among the many evidences of the 
positive nearness of the end of the world, and 
that these signs are given to the last generation, 
is the fact that " we are now under the very last 
phase of the sixth seal." "And I beheld when 
he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was 
a great earthquake; and the sun became black as 
sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 
and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even 
as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she 
is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven 
.departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; 
.and every mountain and island were moved out 
of their places." Rev. 6 : 12-14. 
The careful reader will notice the order of the 
fulfillment of these events, and also the harmony 
- of the Scripture records of the same. 
1. " And I beheld when he had opened the 
sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake." 
1Putnam's'" World's Progress," page 303, concern-
ing the great earthquake at Lisbon, of November 
1, 1775, says: " In about eight minutes most of 
the houses and upwards of 50,000 of the inhab-
itants were swallowed up, and whole streets 
buried. The cities of Cambra, Oporto, and Braga, 
suffered dreadfully, and St. Ubez was wholly over-
turned. In Spain, a large part of Malaga became 
ruins; one half of Taj, in Morocco, was destroyed, 
and more than 12,000 Arabs perished there; 
about half of the island of Maderia became waste, 
and 2,000 houses in the island of Metalmi, in the 
Archipelago, were overthrown. This awful earth- 
quake extended 5,000 miles, even to Scotland." 
D. T. Taylor, in a work entitled, " The Coming 
Earthquake," says of it: " The earthquake at 
Lisbon, November 1, 1755, was doubtless the 
maketh known, neither the angels, nor the Son, 
but the Father.' It is 'true the word has some-
times that meaning, as in 1 Cor. 2 : 2." 
If we are to take the language of the 36th 
verse in the sense that no man knows anything 
of the time, then certainly we must understand 
that the angels and the Son of God know nothing 
about it. Christ will know the time of his second 
coming, the holy angels who accompany him will 
know of it, and. so will man, for we read (Dan. 
12 : 9, 10) , " And he said, Go thy way, Daniel ; 
for the words are closed and sealed till the time 
of the end. Many shall be purified and made 
white and tried; but the wicked shall do wick-
edly; and none of the wicked shall understand; 
but the wise shall understand." In the 4th verse 
the angel said to Daniel, "Shut up the words, and 
seal the book even to the time of the end; many 
shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be 
increased." We have every reason to believe 
that we are now living in the " time of the end" 
when this book is open, and that the " wise " will 
increase in knowledge, and though they may not, 
or will not, know the day or the hour of Christ's 
coming, yet just as surely as they know that 
summer is near when the " fig-tree putteth forth 
leaves," just so surely they will know when 
they see " all these things " fulfilled that " it is 
near even at the doors." The consistent Advent-
ist therefore will not set time or attempt to make 
it known, but will leave this thing for the infinite 
wisdom of God. But, says the objector, are you 
not setting the time in saying " this generation" 
will witness the end? The word of God says it 
will, yet does not set the time, the day, hour, nor 
even the year when the end will come. 
It has been seen that, according to Greenfield, 
generation means a family, race, or generation 
of men, and that so far as time is concerned, 
Smith's Bible Dictionary makes it indefinite. In 
the patriarchial age it was one hundred years. In 
modern times, according to Smith and Barnes, 
about forty years. Therefore it may now be 
more or less than this period. Taking the posi-
tion that the beginning of the fulfillment of "these 
things " which "this generation " was to witness 
commenced with the darkening of the sun in 
May, 1780, then nearly one hundred and one 
years have already passed. Nearly forty-eight 
years have passed since the falling of the stars, 
Nov. 13, 1833. It may be asked if the time of the 
longest generation, one hundred years, and of the 
shortest, about forty, has not already passed. In 
reply let it be borne in mind, that the language 
does not imply that any definite or certain time 
will pass, but that this generation, race, or family 
will. not pass till " all these things" be fulfilled. 
We know not how many of the generation will 
survive. If only ten are alive it will answer to 
the fulfillment of the prophecy. Yes, if even one 
is alive it could be truly said, " This generation 
shall not pass," etc. Many who saw the last sign, 
or the falling of the stars, may live to see the end, 
perhaps but very few who saw the first, or the 
darkening of the sun, will. It is very evident 
that the language does not imply that all who 
have witnessed any of these signs will see the end. 
Some of the best Biblical chronologists make 
the date of the flood nearly or about 2000 A. M. 
Christ came about 4000 A. M. Then according to 
the best chronologists the world is nearly 6000 
years old from the creation, or will be in about 
119 years (if time lasts), or in A. D. 2000. Chro-
nologists can not be positive in regard to the cor-
rectness of all dates, and it is thought by some 
that there was a mistake in the reckoning in the 
days of the Judges, this being the case (and mis-
takes may have been made in other dates) we 
may be much nearer the end of the 6000 years 
than most imagine. Again, eminent writers of 
different theological schools think that some 
 
great event is near at hand, some say the millen-
nium, and some one thing, and some another; but 
all agree that we must look for some great change 
soon. Even some scientists predict this. 
(To be Continued.) 
Gon's agency does not exclude nor supersede 
our instrumentality. He gives the increase, but 
Paul must plant, and Apollos water. �
fur- 
nishes the wind, but we are to spread the sails. 
He gives, but we gather. Prayer and diligence, 
dependence and activity, harmonize in the Script-
ures, and are only inconsistent in the crudeness 
of ignorant and foolish men.—Wm. Jay. 
� 
THE way to bliss lies not on beds of down. 
most extensive that, ever occurred. Europe, Asia, 
Africa, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean, means sometimes to make known or to reveal, and 
TIME SETTING. 
We are taught in the 36th verse of this chapter 
that no man maketh known the time. " But of 
that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the 
angels of Heaven, but my Father only." The 
correct rendering of this is, " But of that day and 
hour maketh known no man, no, not the angels 
of Heaven [Mark adds, " neither the Son" ] , but 
my Father only." Says Campbell : " Macknight 
argues that the term known is here used as a 
causative, in the Hebrew sense of the conguga-
tion hiphil, that is, to make known. His [Christ's] 
answer is just equivalent to saying, The Father 
will make it known when it pleases him ; but he 
has not authorized man, angel, nor the Son, to 
make it known. Just in this sense Paul uses the 
term know, 1 Cor. 2 : 2: ' I came to you making 
known the testimony of God ; for I determined 
to make known nothing among you but a crucified 
Christ.' " 
Albert Barnes also favors this rendering: " Oth-
ers have said that the verb rendered knoweth, 
MARCH 31, 1881. �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
147 
ETERNAL LIFE. 
BY ELD. R. F. COTTRELL. 
THE gift of God is eternal life." " There 
shall be no more death." 
Without life there can be no enjoyment. All 
other good would exist in vain to us, unless we 
had life. Hence the promise of eternal life is 
intended to include all good—perfect happiness, 
and that for eternity. No other term could ex-
press so much as this. It comprehends all that 
is desirable. 
Death deprives of all enjoyment. But there 
might be exemption from death and still be pain 
and trouble. Hence to the promise that there 
shall be no more death, it is added, "neither 
sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any 
more pain." Thus all unhappiness is excluded 
forever. 
What could be added to the " exceeding great 
and precious promises" of God ? What motive 
could be set before us to " escape the corruption 
that is in the world," if the hope of a life that 
shall run parallel with the future eternity of God, 
and the consideration of that love which has pur-
chased it at so great a cost, should fail? It is 
even to be made " partakers of the divine nature," 
and' "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." 
What more could be promised ? 
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
him should not perish but have everlasting life." 
What wondrous love! What an infinite sacrifice 
by Him " who gave himself for us!" and how 
transcendent the gift bestowed! 
It is for us. We may have the gift on condition 
of overcoming sin and self—on condition of fol-
lowing our self-denying Lord. Our names are 
in the book of life; but there is danger of their 
being blotted out. Rev. 3 : 5. Shall we not 
choose to follow Christ, and live ? 
DR. SCOTT'S COMMENTS ON THE LAW. 
BY FRANK STARR. 
WHEN so many are teaching the abrogation of 
the law of God, it seems refreshing to read, on 
this point, the logical productions of those who 
wrote before this lawless sentiment had gained 
such ascendency, and whose writings were so 
generally accepted half a century ago. We here 
give some extracts from the voluminous com-
mentary of Dr. Thomas Scott. 
In his "Practical Observations " on the 20th of 
Exodus, he says: " This law, which is so exten-
sive that we cannot measure it, so spiritual that 
we cannot evade it, and so reasonable that we 
cannot find fault with it, will be the rule of the 
future judgment of God, as it is of the present 
conduct of man. Nor would it consist with the 
glory of the Lord's perfections, the honor of his 
government, the interests of his universal and 
everlasting kingdom, or even with the felicity of 
his rational creatures, to reverse, repeal, or relax 
one precept of it; for it is all perfectly holy, just 
and good.' . . . . But can it then be possible, if 
the law be so holy and excellent, and such honor 
have been put upon it by the obedience and suf-
ferings of the incarnate Son of God, that any 
redeemed sinner should be allowed to disobey it? 
It is absurdity, impossibility, blasphemy! " How 
could the truth be more plainly stated ? 
Concerning the sufferings of Christ, as por-
trayed in the 22d- Psalm, he says: "Here we be-
hold the eternal justice and holiness of our God; 
the immutable excellency and obligation of his 
law, the inconceivable odiousness and guilt of sin. 
. . . . Let the Antinomian consider whether the 
Saviour thus honored the divine law, to purchase 
him the liberty of despising it? " 
The distinction between the moral law and the 
ceremonial, is thus stated in his notes on Ex. 34 : 
27, 28 : " Moses wrote in a book the judicial and 
ceremonial precepts he had received; . . . . but 
God himself (as it is evident from texts referred 
to in the margin), wrote the ten commandments, 
the substance of the moral law, on the tables of 
stone. This difference strongly marked the per-
manency and perpetual obligation of the moral 
law, and the inferior importance 'and temporary 
obligation of the ceremonial institutions, and of 
the judicial law, except as coincident with the 
moral." Of chap. 24 : 12, he says: " The Lord 
called Moses to come up to him into the mount to 
receive the law, even the commandments, which God 
himself had written on two tables of stone, as well 
as spoken himself from the mount. Thus a pecul-
iar honor was put on the moral law, and it was 
authenticated in another manner than either the 
judgments or the ritual institutions." One who 
officiated as Minister of the Gospel, made the as-
sertion to me that the moral law was written on 
one table of stone, and the ceremonial on the 
other. The only proof claimed for this groundless 
statement, was the verse just noticed. 
Many suppose that the judicial precepts given 
to the Jews were very oppressive. Concerning 
them Dr. Scott says, commenting on Deut. 4 : 8: 
" Their laws also, whether moral or judicial, in pro-
portion as they are examined and compared with 
the laws of other nations, will appear to every 
impartial judge most equitable and excellent." 
 
On Neh. 9 : 13: " The judgments given to Israel 
were more consistent with the true difference 
betwixt right and wrong, and the relative pro-
portion of crimes and punishments, than the 
municipal laws of any other country have been." 
Also in explaining Ex. 21 :1, he says: "Judgments. 
This word here means judicial laws, or rules of 
judgment, by which the magistrates and judges 
should proceed in determining causes, and trying 
criminals. Making some allowance for the cir-
cumstances varying in different ages and nations, 
there is a spirit of equity in these laws, which is 
Well worthy of being transfused into those of any 
State." 
Speaking of salvation through Christ, in his 
observations on Psalm 37, he states: " They (the 
righteous) are accepted through the merits, be-
cause they are partakers of the Spirit, of Christ, 
and bring forth the fruits of the Spirit." The 
fruits of the Spirit are such feelings and actions 
as are in harmony with the requirements of the 
law of God. Gal. 5 : 22, 23. These are necessary 
in order that the atonement may avail for us. 
There is a tendency to divide the word of truth 
in such a way as to set aside whatever is contrary 
to the carnal heart. But those who do this, 
wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction. 
Terrible denunciations are pronounced against 
those who thus take away from the book of God. 
Springfield, Mich., March, 14, 1881. 
IMPERFECTIONS OF CHRISTIANS. 
MR. MOODY a few years ago prayed that people 
might " keep their eyes on the Master and not on 
the imperfections of Christians." The faults of 
Christians, individual or collective, are as meet 
subjects for criticism as those of any other indi-
vidual or class, but to point them out or to use 
them as arguments against Christianity, or a re-
ligious life or profession, is the very silliest grade 
of folly. Every Christian man and woman, how-
ever loftly their aspirations, and however sincere 
their professions, must of necessity have imperfec-
tions, but not one of them can be due to the Chris-
tianity they have adopted; they are all due to 
our common humanity; due to the non-Christianity 
which the fault finders naturally profess, and do 
not try to surmount. It would be as just to con-
demn or denounce American citizenship, because 
some Americans are in the penitentiary, when it 
is clear that their citizenship had no bearing what-
ever upon their criminality. In the distillation of 
sweet essences and perfumes, the evil odors. of 
dregs and impurities which go over with the pu-
rified extract, are difficult to eliminate; and so 
when men and women who have been sinners, 
undertake to step up into a higher life, it is -quite 
natural to suppose that some of the old impuri-
ties with which their unchristian experience had 
familiarized their consciences, should cling to their 
garments.—Rescue. 
WHO CARES FOR ME?" 
A POOR, lone woman sat one evening, thinking 
how sad was her condition. She was old and al-
most helpless, with little of this world's goods 
which she could call her own. " Who cares for 
me?" thought she. Suddenly this verse came to 
her remembrance: " For we have not an High 
Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling 
of our infirmities." 
It was like a flood of golden sunshine. Her 
doubts and fears were all gone. What need of 
earthly friends to cheer and soothe her declining 
years? Jesus knew her every care and sorrow, 
and he, "the Lord of glory," was touched with 
the feeling of her infirmities. How precious is 
the thought that we can all have such a friend in 
every season of trial and distress! " I will not 
leave you comfortless," are the Saviour's gracious 
words. " My peace I give unto you; not as the 
world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your 
hart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." 
MY HEART'S DESIRE. 
BY A. J. ROSE LOVEJOY. 
ONLY to do my duty; only in faith to stand, 
To love my blessed Master, and honor his command. 
Only to work for Jesus, whatever I may do, 
Knowing his eye beholds me, and approves me too. 
Only to follow, in meekness, the shining path He made; 
In every, and all surroundings, my will at His feet be laid. 
To work while the day is shining, knowing that night full 
soon 
Will come with the day's declining, and bring the hour of 
doom. 
That only my lamp be lighted, that oil be in my cruse, 
Nor light, nor truth be slighted, or blessings 'ere abuse. 
Only (though most unworthy), to abide within the Vine 
To heed each heavenly warning, and work while yet there's 
time. 
Travel life's road with patience, and cling to the goodly pearl, 
Be proof against temptation, and darts that enemies hurl. 
To love and do His commandments, to turn from worldly strife, 
To set my face toward Zion, and win eternal life. 
That I may be up and doing, at the midnight cry of the blest, 
No sleep or slumber wooing, from my eternal rest. 
Thus only to do my duty, in love and faith to stand, 
To welcome "The King in his beauty," and dwell in the 
promised land. 
Oakland, Feb. a, 1881. 
AN UNSEEN WITNESS. 
THERE is a little machine made something like 
a clock, which can be fastened on a carriage and 
in some way connected with the motion of the 
wheels. It is so arranged that it marks off cor-
rectly the number of miles that the carriage runs. 
A stable-keeper once had one upon his carriage 
that he kept for letting, and by this means he 
could tell just how many miles any one went who 
hired his carriage. 
Two young men once hired it to go to a town 
some ten miles distant. Instead of simply going 
and returning, as they promised to do, they rode 
to another town some five miles farther, thus 
making the distance they passed over, going and 
coming, some thirty miles. 
When they returned, the owner of the estab-
lishment, without being noticed by the young 
men, glanced upon the face of the measuring in-
strument and discovered how many miles they 
had traveled. 
" Where have you been?" he then asked of 
them. 
" Where we said we were going," was the an-
swer. 
" Have you not been farther than that?" 
" Oh, no!" they answered. 
" How many miles have you been in all?" 
" Twenty." 
He touched the spring, the cover opened, and 
there, on the face of the instrument, the thirty 
miles were found recorded. 
The young men were astonished at this unerr-
ing testimony of an unseen witness that they had 
carried with them all the way. 
Thus has God placed a recording witness in 
our hearts. Wherever we go we carry it with 
us. He keeps it wound up and in order. With-
out our thinking of it, it records all our acts, all 
our words, and all our thoughts.—Sunday-School 
Journal. 
OWN UP. 
THE best answer the church can render to mod-
ern infidelity is to confess its sins and forsake 
them. The worst type of infidelity with which 
Christianity has to contend is found in the church, 
in its wide departure from the spirit, lessons, 
examples and simple commandments of its founder, 
in the insincerity, indifference, worldly-minded-
ness, vapory show, and unchristian conduct, of 
those who profess to be its representatives and 
defenders. "The fruit of the spirit in all good-
ness, righteousness and truth" is looked for, but 
is not found. Instead, much parade and preten-
sion are conspicuous in formal and showy services, 
sectarian ambition and strifes. Infidels see, judge, 
and oppose Christianity, not on its merit, but 
from what they see and know of the conduct and 
character of its professors. Serious, thoughtful 
people see and hesitate where there is such a 
wide discrepancy between profession and practice. 
Let the true principles, the intention, object, spirit, 
and power, of Christianity be made distinctly man-
ifest in the daily conduct and conversation of all 
professing it. No better answer need be ren-
dered to refute and remove modern infidelity. Let 
all liberal minded men and women try it and see. 
—New Covenant. 
RICHES have wings, and grandeur is a dream. 
148 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
Vol,. 7, No. 13. 
luted altar—a fire that sends up the tainted cloud 
of heaven-daring blasphemies to mock a Saviour's 
love for a ruined world. But " the way of the 
transgressor is hard," and neither paints nor 
patches, princely robes, nor bold and reckless airs, 
can allay the wretched anguish of the guilty soul. 
Close on the path of transgression comes the 
devouring scourge which drinks up every pleasure 
of the heart and leaves it to desolation and sor-
row. And if there is a God in heaven or truth 
upon the earth, the votary of sensual pleasure 
will " mourn at the last, when his flesh and body 
are consumed, and cry how I hated instruction 
and my heart despised reproof, and have not 
obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine 
ear to them that instructed me." He will seek, 
yet seek in vain, like Esau, that the penalty of 
his transgression may be abated while he gives 
himself up to pursue the lusts of his own heart. 
We say he will forever seek, for it is folly to pre-
sume that he who now stalks through the world, 
the living epitome of a walking and breathing 
hell, until he falters under the ruinous blight of 
his iniquities, and hobbles down to a grave of 
wretched infamy, will in the resurrection find in 
himself a heart to be delighted with the songs of 
the redeemed in Paradise. No, for even here, his 
habits of sin grow with his growth and strengthen 
with his strength, until he is bound, as it were, 
by the chains of sinful lust, and these shall drag 
him downwards through the dark ways of iniquity 
to the chambers of eternal death. Neither in the 
eternal world will he find any place of repentance 
or change in God, though he may seek it carefully 
with tears. He may seek this repentance as did 
the rich man in hell, when he lifted up his eyes 
being in torment, and cried for a drop of water 
to cool his parched tongue. He may seek it with 
piteous groans or blasphemous howlings, but 
devils will mock his wretchedness, and heaven to 
him would be the severest part of hell.—Selected. 
CATHOLICISM AND PROGRESS. 
PROMINENT upon the mountains and in the fields 
throughout New Mexico we see large crosses pro-
claiming that the lands were claimed for Christ 
long ago. There they stand as proof that these 
people have for centuries honored the King of 
kings. 
All this worship has been that inspired by the 
Catholic church. Everything is named for Saint 
Mary, or Saint Michael, or Saint Somebodyelse; 
hnd it is a very pertinent inquiry, Why have 
these people made no more advancement? Why 
do they hold on their even, ignorant way, century 
after century? Why do they still build with sun- 
dried brick, and plow with wooden plows? If 
Christianity is helpful to man, why has it not 
brought these devotees on to better things? The 
march of the western European and American 
Christianity has been steadily forward, while this 
Catholic civilization is just what it was ages ago. 
The Catholic church has indeed been the repos-
itory of the literature and traditions and wealth 
of the ages past, and we honor her conservatism 
in that it has preserved to us of to-day ancient 
manuscripts, monuments, and customs, which are 
of unutterable value to modern science and relig-
ion. Yet what shackles has she not forged for 
the race which has been under her sway. 
To-day in New Mexico, the modern thought and 
progress, the outgrowth of general liberty and 
individual freedom, is putting itself alongside and 
in telling contrast with the superstition and abject 
servitude of this effete system. 
Put the New Mexican burro (pack donkey) 
beside the railway train; the Indian runner 
against the telegraph, or the trumpet with the tel- 
ephone, and we may be able to conceive a key 
which will unlock the mystery of why these long 
inhabited plains, valleys, and healthful plateaus 
remain such arid wastes; why these rich mines 
are left undeveloped; why these towns and cities 
hold their same monotonous round; why there is 
no seeking for better things, no improvement; 
why these Indians under Christian tutorage so 
absolutely, have not outgrown their disposition 
to worship every image of every thing under the 
heavens, as they did in their untaught wildness. 
Perhaps it is because the Catholic system is one 
glorifying and imitating the fathers. The very 
use of the word Saint, as applied to one and another 
worthy, and these new churches, new places, and 
new enterprises of the new world being all dedi-
cated to, and called after, some one of them, is proof 
that the whole system of religion is one of living 
in and living over the dead past. 
THE SORROWS OF ESA U. 
Afterwards, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was re-
jected; for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it care-
fully with tears.—Heb. 12 : 17. 
FAINT and weary, the son of the patriarch came 
back from his hunting tour. He had mused by 
the way on his hard and sorry fortune. The spirit 
of enterprise had died in his bosom, and hope 
had left him to the peevishness of indolence and 
unsatisfied sensuality; when he met with his 
brother preparing pottage of lentils for his own 
refreshment. It was an evil hour for Esau; the 
slave of appetite, he counted not, at that moment, 
the worth of character, friends, or prospects. 
Feigning himself ready to die with hunger, he 
quickly made a covenant with his brother, to 
part with all that was truly valuable on earth, 
tor the means of gratifying his propensity to 
ghittony, for this once. He was determined to 
have this one dinner, if he might starve in per-
dition forever as its penalty. The birthright so 
unceremoniously disposed of, was the covenant 
of Heaven's favor. It was understood and seen 
by him, but despised by his infidel heart ---God's 
covenant with Abraham and his father of the 
possession of the land of Canaan to them and 
their posterity, and the heavenly inheritance of 
which this was the earnest and representation. 
lie could look upon the fat valleys of Achor, the 
beauty of Zion, and Lebanon's towering cedars, 
and feel that the possession of Canaan's land was 
a worthless toy in comparison with a mess of pot-
tage. But, what was more, he could renounce 
his claims to a benignant Providence here, and 
a heavenly paradise hereafter, for the gratifica-
tions of an hour, that would work the bitterness 
of death forever. 
But there was another day—the two youth had 
grown up to manhood. The venerable Isaac had 
come to the period of life when the infirmities of 
age admonished him that the duties of this world 
should be arranged, that, in his appointed hour, 
he might sleep with his fathers in peace. As 
high-priest of his household, he was on a certain 
day to consecrate the heir of the sacred covenant. 
His eye rested on Esau, his first-born; he sent 
him away to gather preparations for the solemn 
ceremonial. But God suffered Jacob to come in 
for the old man's priestly blessing; the claim to 
which he had long since purchased. He approved 
and sanctified the consecration ; though He des-
pised and abhorred the intervention of Rebecca's 
intrigues and falsehoods as a means of bringing it 
about; as a fair representation of Jacob's proper 
claims was all that was needed. 
Esau came back from the field, not faint and 
weary now, bearing a dish of savory meats with 
which he fondly hoped to procure his father's bless- 
ing. But the birthright which had been sold for 
a mess of pottage, could not be re-purchased by a 
dish of savory venison. He had chosen to indulge 
his sensual appetite once, and he might retain his 
savory meats now, in the room of the blessing he 
had bartered away. As he learned the unwel-
come truth, that the sacred ceremony was passed, 
and he himself was a servant among his kin-
dred; " he stood before his father and cried with 
an exceeding great and bitter cry, Bless me, even 
me also, 0 my father.' " But he found no place 
of change in this transaction, though he sought it 
carefully with tears. The sale of his birthright 
had, as it were, turned the current of the stream 
to the pent-up vale, whose fair and beauteous 
landscape was lost in consequence beneath the ac-
cumulating waters. A small transaction, in itself, 
but mighty in its consequences. 
In the case of Esau there is solemn instruction 
and warning to every youthful heart. For who-
ever like Esau, chooses present gratification re- 
gardless of future good, �
the end, find that 
the consequences are pain and remorse, and inev-
itable ruin. 
There was no special judgment of God that visi-
ted Esau, no destroying flood as came on the an-
tediluvian world, no storm of meteoric fire as des-
cended on the plains of Sodom, no formal pour-
ing out of the vials of divine wrath; but his cries 
and bitter tears were only the legitimate result of 
his own conduct. It is as the course of the sun 
in the firmament, or any great law of nature, 
that the votaries of sensuality and lust shall find 
wretchedness in life, bitterness in death, with ac-
cumulating horrors hovering beyond the dreadful 
valley. Vain regrets, nor cries, nor bitter tears, 
can ever bring back to the sensualized soul the 
heavenly peace of innocence and virtue. Another 
and a strange fire is enkindled on the heart's pol- 
If everything pertaining to this world is treated 
as wholly unworthy of us, and if we think of and 
desire only the world to come, we dwarf this 
present, God-given world, and its possibilities of 
development of mind and soul. Such is the Cath-
olic religion. Tinder such a system we might 
expect the heroism of the -past to be magnified 
and the present to be regarded as of little value. 
If by any means one has broken through the con-
ventionalities of his age and made his mark, he 
is regarded as more than human; he becomes a 
divine man, a saint. But the self-depreciating 
worshiper never conceives that what Saint So-
and-so has done, he himself may do, and never 
applies the past as a stimulus for present or fut-
ure development. Thus the base principle of the 
whole Catholic system of religion is opposed to 
all progress. 
But added to this, their cultivation of ignorance, 
(if the expression may be allowed,) their fostering 
of superstition, their sales of indulgences, and 
their acceptance of forms of worship in lieu of the 
spirit, all these tend directly and surely against 
the higher progress of the human mind, and make 
their believers content to live in mud houses and 
eke out miserable existences without hope for bet-
ter things.—Golden Censer. 
DO YOUR OWN FISHING. 
You'LL never catch any of the golden fish that 
swim in the world's waters by standing with 
your hands in your pockets and watching an-
other hold the pole. It is a thing that cannot 
be done. If you expect fish, you will have to 
dig your own bait, put the tempting morsel on 
your own hook, throw in your own line, hold 
your own rod and closely watch for the nib-
bles. Seeing another's cork go under, won't do 
you the least particle of good; loafing upon the 
shore and gaping at others while spreading and 
drawing nets, won't fill either your stomach 
or barrel. You might just as well attempt by 
taking hold of the straps of your boots to carry 
your sluggish avordupois over a mud puddle. 
The one is about as sensible as the other. You 
have got to fish for yourself—even "cutting bait" 
won't answer. It is the only pathway to success. 
Fish don't come for the whistling or the wishing. 
They are wary and have to be tempted. If you 
expect to have them, you have got to "go for 
them," in more senses than one. 
Do your own fishing. The world is a great 
herring pond, and your chance is as good as that 
of your neighbor, if you choose the right kind of 
bait, use diligence, have patience, and take advan-
tage of tide and time. Golden fishes swim about 
in plenty and are caught, but another cannot do 
it for you. Every successful man owes independ-
ence to his individual energy and enterprise. 
Standing on a rock all the day and looking and 
hoping never yet filled a basket. Here is a story 
to the point and you can " hook " success upon 
it if you follow its precepts:— 
A young man stood listlessly watching some 
anglers on a bridge. He was poor and dejected. 
At last approaching a basket filled with whole-
some looking fish, he sighed:— 
"If now I had these I would be happy. I could 
sell them for a good price, and buy me food and 
lodgings." 
"I will give you just as many, and just as 
good fish," said the owner, who had chanced to 
overhear his words, "if you will do me a trifling 
favor." 
"And what's that?" asked the other. 
" Only to tend this line till I come back, I wish 
to go on a short errand." 
The proposal was gladly accepted. The old 
man was gone so long that the young man began 
to be impatient. Meanwhile the hungry fish 
snapped greedily at the baited hook, and the 
young man lost all his depression in pulling them 
in; and when the owner of the line returned, he 
had caught a large number. Counting out from 
them as many as were in the basket, and present-
ing them to the young man, the old fisherman 
said :— 
"I fulfill my promise from the fish you have 
caught, to teach you whenever you see others 
earning what you need, to waste no time in 
fruitless wishing, but cast a line for yourself." 
IF we would succeed in the work of saving 
souls, we must secure the help of God. 
�
 
To change and to be better are two different 
things. 
MARCH 31, 1881. 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
149 
Zht �
choot. 
LESSON FOR PACIFIC COAST—SABBATH, APRIL 9. 
Christ's Miracle at the Pool of Bethesda.—John 5:1-18. 
LESSON COMMENTS. 
" AFTER this there was a feast of the Jews; and 
Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at 
Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is 
called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having 
five porches. In these lay a great multitude of 
impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting 
for the moving of the water. For an angel went 
down at a certain season into the pool, and troub-
led the water; whosoever then first after the 
troubling of the water stepped in was made whole 
of whatsoever disease he had." 
Many suffering from different maladies visited 
this pool; but so great was the crowd at the ap-
pointed time, that they rushed forward, trampling 
under foot men, women, and children, weaker 
than themselves. 
One man had been afflicted by an incurable dis-
ease for thirty-eight years, and he had repeatedly 
visited the pool. Those who pitied his helpless-
ness would bear him to and fro at the time when 
the waters were supposed to be troubled. But 
those stronger than himself would rush in before 
him and seize the opportunity that he coveted. 
Jesus visited this retreat of misery, and his eye 
rested upon this helpless invalid. The poor creat-
ure was weak and desparing, but as the looked-
for moment arrived, he gathered his feeble ener-
gies in a last effort to reach the water, but, just 
as he had almost gained his object, another stepped 
in before him. He, crept back to his pallet to die. 
But a pitying face bends over him, saying, "Wilt 
thou be made whole ?" The desponding man 
looked up, thinking it might be some one who 
had come to assist him into the pool; but the 
faint glow of encouragement faded • out of his 
heart when he remembered that it was too late, 
his opportunity for that time was gone, and, in 
his state of sickness and exposure, he could scarcely 
hope that he might live to see another. 
He turned away wearily, saying, " Sir, I have 
no man, when the water is troubled, to put me 
into the pool; but while I am coming, another 
steppeth down before me." Poor man! how could 
he hope to contend successfully with the self-
ish, scrambling crowd! Jesus did not ask this 
wretched sufferer to exercise faith in him; but 
with a voice of command said, " Rise, take up 
thy bed, and walk." A sudden vigor was com-
municated to the paralyzed cripple. His whole 
being was stirred with a healing power, new 
blood and strength leaped into every limb and 
member. He bounded to his feet in obedience to 
the Saviour's command, and stooped to take up 
his bed, which was only a simple rug and blanket. 
As he straightened himself again, with a sense .of 
delight at standing upon his feet after so many 
years of helpless infirmity, he looked around for 
his deliverer, but he was nowhere to be seen. 
Jesus was lost in the crowd, and the restored 
paralytic feared that he would not know him 
again if he should see him. He was disappointed, 
for he longed to pour forth his gratitude to the 
stranger. As he hurried on toward Jerusalem, 
with firm, free step, praising God as he went, 
and rejoicing in his new-found strength, he met 
the Pharisees' 
 and immediately related to them 
the wonderful cure he had experienced. He was 
surprised at the coolness with which they listened 
to his story. 
Presently they interrupted him by asking why 
he was carrying that bed on the Sabbath day. 
They sternly reminded him that it was not law-
ful for him to bear burdens upon the Lord's day. 
In his joy the man had forgotten that it was the 
Sabbath; yet he felt no condemnation for obey-
ing the command of one who had power from 
God to perform so wonderful a miracle. He an-
swered boldly, " He that made me whole, the 
same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk." 
The Pharisees were not delighted at the cure 
which had been effected upon this poor invalid 
of thirty-eight years. They overlooked the object 
of the wonderful miracle, and, with their charac-
teristic bigotry, seized upon the act as a violation 
of the Sabbath law. 
They excused the restored man from blame, 
but appeared shocked at the guilt of him who 
had assumed the responsibility of ordering a man 
to take up his bed upon the Sabbath day. They 
asked him who it was that had done this thing, 
but he could not enlighten them on that subject. 
These rulers knew very well that only one per-
son had shown himself able to do this deed; but 
they wished to get direct proof that it was Jesus, 
for they then hoped to be able to condemn him 
as a Sabbath-breaker. They considered that he 
had not only broken the law in healing the sick 
man on the Sabbath, but had committed an act 
of sacrilege in bidding him take up his bed and 
bear it away. 
Jesus did not come into the world to lessen the 
dignity of the law, but to exalt it. The Jews had 
perverted it by their traditions and misconcep-
tions. They had made it a yoke of bondage. 
Their meaningless exactions and requirements 
had become a by-word among all other nations. 
Especially was the Sabbath hedged in by all man-
ner of senseless restrictions which made that 
holy day almost unendurable. A Jew was not 
allowed to kindle a fire upon the Sabbath, nor 
even to light a candle on that day. The views 
of the people were so narrow 'that they had be 
come slaves to their own useless regulations. 
They did not reflect that if these necessary du-
ties of life were sins they were fully as guilty in 
employing others to perform them as in doing 
them themselves. They thought salvation was 
restricted to the Jews, and the condition of all 
others, being entirely hopeless, could neither be-
improved nor made worse. But a just God has 
given no commandment which cannot be consist-
ently kept by all. 
Soon after, Jesus met the man he had healed 
in the temple. He had come to bring a trespass-
offering, a sin-offering, and a thank-offering for 
the great mercy he had received. Jesus, finding 
him among the worshipers, made himself known 
to him. The great Physician addressed him with 
a timely warning, " Behold, thou art made whole; 
sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." 
The healed man was overjoyed to behold his 
deliverer, and ignorant of the malice which the 
Jews held against Jesus, informed the Pharisees, 
who had before questioned him, that this was he 
who had wrought the wondrous cure. The Jew-
ish dignitaries had only waited for proof that it 
was Jesus; from the first they had been confident 
that it could be no other. Now, a great uproar 
ensued in the court of the temple; for they sought 
to slay Jesus, but were prevented by the people, 
many of whom recognized in him a friend who 
had healed them from their infirmities and re- 
lieved their sorrows. �
E. G. WHITE. 
RABBINICAL PRECEPTS CONCERNING 
THE SABBATH. 
THE Scribes had elaborated from the command 
of Moses a vast array of prohibitions and injunc-
tions, covering the whole of social, individual, and 
public life, and carried it to the extreme of ridic-. 
ulous caricature. Lengthened rules were pre-
scribed as to the kinds of knots which might 
legally be tied on Sabbath. The camel-driver's 
knot and the sailor's were unlawful, and it was 
equally illegal to tie or to loose them. A knot 
which could be untied with one hand might be 
undone. A shoe or sandal, a woman's cup, a wine 
or oil-skin, or a flesh-pot might be tied. A pitcher 
at a spring might be tied to the body-sash, but 
not with a cord. . . . 
The quantity of food that might be carried on 
Sabbath from one place to another was duly set-
tled. It must be less in bulk than a dried fig; if 
of honey, only as much as would anoint a wound; 
if water, as much as would make eye-salve; if 
paper, as much as would be put in a phylactery; 
if ink, as much as would form two letters. 
To kindle or extinguish a fire on the Sabbath 
was a great desecration of the day, nor was even 
sickness allowed to violate Rabbinical rules. It 
was forbidden to give an emetic on Sabbath—to 
set a broken bone, or put back a dislocated joint, 
though some Rabbis, more liberal, held that 
whatever endangered life made the Sabbath law 
void, "for the commands were given to Israel 
only that they might live by them." One who 
was buried under ruins on Sabbath, might be dug 
for and taken out, if alive, but if dead, he was to 
be left where he was till the Sabbath was over. 
The holy day began with sunset on Friday, 
and ended with the sunset of Saturday, but as 
the disappearance of the sun was the only mark 
of the time, its commencement was different on a 
hill-top and in a valley. If it were cloudy, the 
hens going to roost was the signal. The begin-
ning and close of the Sabbath were announced 
by a trumpet from the Temple, and in the differ- 
ent towns. From the decline of the sun on Fri-
day, to its setting, was Sabbath eve, and no work 
which would continue into the hours of the Sab-
bath, could be done in this interval. All food 
must be prepared, all vessels washed, and all 
lights kindled before sunset. The money girdle 
must be taken off, and all tools laid aside. "On 
Friday, before the beginning of the Sabbath," 
said one law, "no one must go out of his house 
with a needle or a pen, lest he forget to lay them 
aside before the Sabbath opens. Every one must 
also search his pockets at that time, to see that 
there is nothing left in them with which it is for-
bidden to go out on the Sabbath." The refine-
ments of Rabbinical casuistry were, indeed, end-
less. To wear one kind of sandals was carrying 
a burden, while to wear another kind was not. 
One might carry a burden on his shoulder, but it 
must not be slung between two. It was unlaw-
ful to go out with wooden sandals or shoes which 
had nails in the soles, or with a shoe and a slips 
per, unless one foot were hurt. It was unlawful 
for any one to carry a loaf on the public street, 
but if two carried it, it was not unlawful. Even 
in hell the lost had rest from their torments on 
its sacred hours, and the waters of Bethesda 
might be troubled on other days, bat were still 
and unmoved on this. 
In an insincere age such excessive strictness 
led to constant evasions by Pharisees and Saddu-
cees alike. To escape the restrictions which lim-
ited a journey on Sabbath to 2,000 cubits from a 
town or city, they carried food on Friday evening 
to a spot that distance beyond the walls, and as-
sumed, by a fiction, that this made that spot 
also their dwelling. They could thus on the Sab-
bath walk the full distance to it, and an equal 
distance beyond it, this journey being only the 
legal distance from the fictitious place of resi-
dence ! To make it lawful to eat together on the 
Sabbath the Rabbis put chains across the two 
ends of a street, in which the members of a spe-
cial fraternity lived; and called it a single dwell-
ing! . . . 
The priests and Rabbis, thus secretly indulgent 
to themselves, but austerely strict before the 
world, found an opportunity in the cure at Be-
thesda for parading their hollow puritanism, and 
at the same time raising a charge against Jesus, 
for the man had been healed on the Sabbath, and 
had been told to carry his sleeping-mat with him 
to his home. This was enough. Met in the 
street carrying his pallet, by one of these purists, 
he had been reprimanded for doing so as contrary 
to the law, and had shielded himself by the com-
mand of him who had miraculously cured him. It 
was not till some time after, when Jesus had 
come upon him in the temple, that he knew the 
name of his benefactor, for Jesus had hurried 
away from the pool, after curing him, to avoid 
exciting the multitude round. 
The above from Geikie's " Life of Christ," pp. 
448-450, shows some of the many senseless re-
strictions which had been placed upon the Sab-
bath law in the time of Christ. Instead of being 
the blessing designed, they had made it a burden. 
As stated by another:— 
"Jesus answered their accusations by declaring, 
My father worketh hitherto, and I work.' All 
days are God's in which to carry out his great 
plans for the human race. If the Jews' interpre-
tation of the law was correct, then Jehovah was 
at fault, whose work had upheld and quickened 
creation since first he laid the foundations of the 
earth. Should God forbid the sun to do its office 
upon the Sabbath, cut off its genial rays from 
warming the earth and nourishing vegetation ? 
Must the system of worlds stand still through 
that holy day ? Should he command the babbling 
brooks to stay their course from watering the 
fields and forests, and bid the advancing and 
receding waves to still their ceaseless ebbing and 
flowing ? Must the wheat and corn stop growing, 
and the ripening cluster defer its purple bloom for 
a single day? Must the waving trees and the 
delicate flowers put forth no bud nor blossom on 
the Sabbath ? 
" Jesus sought to impress upon the narrow 
minds of the Jews a sense of the folly of their view 
of the Sabbath. Heaven's work never ceases for 
a. moment, and men should never rest from doing 
good. The Sabbath law forbids labor on the 
sanctified rest-day of the Lord. The toil that 
gains a livelihood must cease; no labor for worldly 
pleasure or profit is lawful upon the Lord's day; 
but the work of Christ in healing the sick did 
honor to the holy Sabbath." 
150 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
VoL. 7, No. 13. 
EDITORS. 
J. II. WAGGONER, 
�
RESIDENT EDITOR. 
OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, MARCH 31, 1881. 
CONSISTENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN 
STATESMAN. 
WE have several times had occasion to speak of the 
inconsistency of the Christian Statesman, the organ of 
the party which seeks a Religious Amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States. We now have oc-
casion to call attention to its consistency. We scarcely 
know how we should regard this: whether to rejoice, 
or not. When the principles of a party are wrong, we 
are often pleased to see them act inconsistently, as they 
thereby preserve the integrity of their action. But on 
the whole we are pleased that the Statesman has at 
last taken a consistent position, and that it can no 
longer hide behind a profession of good will to those 
Christians for whom it has no feelings of good will in 
fact. 
In a discussion with Eld. W. H. Littlejohn, the editor 
of the Statesman charged the Seventh-day Adventists 
with inconsistency because they opposed the Religious 
Amendment of the Constitution. He claimed that as 
long as we recognized the Bible as the supreme law, 
we ought to join in an effort to incorporate it in our 
civil government so as to bring to its determination 
every question of right or wrong under our government. 
But we insist, and always have insisted, that the 
Religious Amendment party have never sought to 
bring questions in our civil policy to the test of the 
Bible. The only test proposed is that of the decisions 
of our civil courts, and they, of course, are expected to 
give force to the ideas of the persons who make the 
law, that is, of the majority. The one thing, more 
than all others, for which the Statesman is laboring, is 
the enforcement of the Sabbath by our general govern-
ment. But it wants the " Christian Sabbath," or as 
some of their writers term it, the " American Sabbath," 
thus sustained by the authority of the Constitution. 
But the Bible knows nothing of a "Christian Sabbath," 
or of an " American Sabbath." The commandment of 
God as written in the Bible, says, " The seventh day is 
the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Would the States-
man and its party be willing to have the Federal Courts 
decide the Sabbath controversy by the plain reading 
of the law of God ? We well know they would not. 
They would have our government administered on an 
entirely new basis, and one unknown to any govern-
ment heretofore, either human or divine. They would 
have the courts render their decisions, not by the terms 
of the law, but by inferences drawn from that which is 
not law. 
We have further claimed that if their ideas were 
carried into practice the result would be a persecution 
of the minority for their religious principles; an entire 
subversion of the rights of those who choose to keep 
the Bible Sabbath—the seventh day; for that is the 
only day which the Bible recognizes as the weekly 
Sabbath. But the Statesman, while it advocated the 
enforcement of Sunday as the Sabbath to the entire 
exclusion of the seventh day, still claimed that there 
would be no persecution; that nobody's rights would 
be infringed upon in the least; and that the observers 
of the seventh day were needlessly and foolishly 
alarmed at the prospect of the success of the Religious 
Amendment party. Speaking of the Seventh-day 
Adventists, it used the following language:— 
From the beginning of the National Reform move-
ment, they have regarded it as the first step toward the 
persecution which they as keepers of the seventh day 
will endure when our Sabbath laws are revived and 
enforced. One cannot but smile at their apprehensions 
of the success of a movement which would not harm a 
hair of their heads, but their fears are sincere enough 
for all that." 
Here was its inconsistency. We could not give it 
credit for so great a degree of ignorance as would be 
necessary in any one to prevent his seeing that their 
efforts would lead to the very results which it dis-
claimed. Indeed, one of the writers of that party, who 
was a vice-president of the association, used the follow-
ing language:— 
" But it may be asked, Would not the Jew be denied 
equality of rights by legislation protecting the Chris-
tian Sabbath, and ignoring the Jewish ? " 
The Statesman affected to smile at the fears of those 
who apprehended a denial of anybody's rights under 
their amendment. But the writer of the above ques-
tion gave a quite different answer, as follows:— 
The answer is, We are not a Jewish, but a Chris- 
tian, nation; therefore our legislation must be con-
formed to the institutions and spirit of Christianity. 
This is absolutely necessary from the nature of the 
case." 
Thus " their witness agreed not together." And 
now we come to a test of results. The laws of Penn-
sylvania are both unjust and severely strict against 
those who keep the seventh day. At different times 
members of the Seventh-day Baptist church have been 
fined and imprisoned for laboring upon Sunday, while 
they kept the seventh day religiously and conscien. 
tiously. Senator Jones, of Philadelphia, has labored 
with a noble zeal for the passage of a bill to protect in 
their religious rights those who keep the seventh day. 
In the Statesman of March 3, 1881, is the following 
communication (copied) with remarks by the editor:— 
" The accompanying bill, No. 122, has just been 
handed to us, with the statement that it has already 
passed a second reading in the legislature of Pennsyl-
vania. Its enactment will tend toward the destruction 
of the Christian Sabbath in this commonwealth. It is 
very desirable that the bill should be understood by 
our people, and that numerous and emphatic protests 
be adopted and forwarded immediately. We therefore 
request that you publish it. 
" Yours truly, �
FELIX R. BRUNOT, 
ELLIOTT E. SWIFT." 
Most of our readers will recognize Mr. Brunot as the 
leading spirit of the Amendment Association, and its 
President for a number of years. The bill referred to is 
entitled, " An act to protect religious liberty and to 
provide for the relief of persons who observe the sev-
enth day of the week as the Sabbath, and to exempt 
them from the penalties of the act of Assembly of April 
22, 1794." 
This bill is one for relief and exemption from certain 
penalties under certain conditions. It does not propose 
to give religious equality to those who keep the seventh 
day. It is a bill for toleration merely. But even this 
is too much for the advocates of the Religious Amend-
ment of the Constitution. The Statesman, in its com-
ments, says:— 
" There is undoubtedly a hardship in imposing penal- 
ties upon those who, religiously observing the seventh 
day as the Sabbath, follow their usual avocations on 
the first day, or Sunday. But the question arises 
whether it is desirable to recognize two Sabbaths. The 
act of 1794, forbidding worldly employment on Sunday, 
has been binding on the Jews and all others who keep 
the seventh day as their Sabbath. The answer to the 
facts set forth in the preamble to the bill under discus-
sion is, that declarations and acts in favor of liberty of 
conscience are not inconsistent with Sunday laws. As 
a civil and political institution, the establishment and 
regulation of the Sabbath is within the powers of the 
civil government, and Sunday laws are not intended to 
enforce religion, but to protect the social customs and 
institutions of the people. There cannot be a separate 
Sabbath for every sect which chooses to fix on a differ-
ent day, and the interests of the few must always yield 
to the demands of the many." 
The editor approaches the subject mincingly, as if at 
least half ashamed to publicly go back on its past pro-
fession of good will to Sabbath-keepers. It might with 
good reason be ashamed of the evasions contained in 
the above paragraph. Why does it persistently ask 
for governmental protection of the first day as the Chris-
tian Sabbath, and as in the interest of Christianity, if, 
as it now says, " Sunday laws are not intended to 
enforce religion, but to protect the social customs and 
institutions of the people "? Is it ready to admit that 
the keeping of Sunday is not a religious act, and that 
Sunday, after all, is not a Christian Sabbath, but a 
Sabbath of custom—an institution of the people? The 
keeping of the seventh day is a religious act, a duty 
plainly enjoined in the Bible. If, then, Sunday laws 
are not enforced in the interest of religion, how can 
the Statesman claim that the amendment movement, 
which it has before avowed will result in the protec- 
tion and enforcement of Sunday, has for its object the 
subordination of all things in our government to the 
Bible and its institutions? 
Again it says " that declarations and acts in favor of 
liberty of conscience are not inconsistent with the Sun- 
day laws." Oh, of course not; for what right has any 
one to have a conscience which will not accept of Sun-
day as a substitute for the Bible Sabbath? We are 
reminded of the oft-repeated declaration of principle 
which actuated the early settlers of New England, to 
grant to every one the right to worship God according 
to "the dictates of his own conscience—provided that 
his conscience did not lead him to be a Baptist or a 
Quaker ! " According to his own conscience," provided 
his conscience co-incides with ours, or will be guided 
by ours. This is the religious liberty advocated by the 
Statesman. 
We are sick of this religio-political casuistry, 
indulged in by the Statesman and its party. It is a 
casuistry worthy of the Jesuits, and its tendency is 
toward a Jesuitical institution, namely, the Inquisition. 
Step by step the " true inwardness " of their system of 
ethics comes to light, and every step justifies the esti- 
mate we have already put upon the object of that 
party. We are continually receiving confirmations of 
our views of the prophecy of chapters 13 and 14 of the 
Revelations, and of the coming time of trouble, to be 
brought by wicked powers, upon those who " keep the 
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." 
But we have no fear for the result, for the Lord 
"preserveth the souls of the saints; he delivereth them 
out of the hand of the wicked." Ps. 97 : 10. " Blessed 
are all they that put their trust in dim." Ps. 2 : 20. 
J. H. W. 
HAVE MIRACLES CEASED? 
THIS question of an inquirer is answered in the Ex-
aminer and Chronicle by William Hague, D. D. In this 
answer are the following words:— 
Miracles have ceased. It was divinely predicted 
that they should cease. In indoctrinating the Greek 
converts at Corinth, in whose view the faculty of speech 
in foreign tongues had come to be the chief exponent 
of the miracle-working power, Paul declared the en-
dowment to be transient, not, like the interior graces 
wrought by the Spirit, abiding forever; and so, in 
marked contrast, he affirmed of the tongues' (1 Cor. 
13 :8), they shall cease.' They did cease. The en-
dowment fulfilled its purpose and passed away." 
Even though the Doctor's assertion were an undis-
puted fact, we dispute the right of even a D. D. to thus 
misconstrue and misapply the words of inspiration. 
We can easily understand the apostle's words, quoted 
by Dr. Hague, if we take them in their connection 
We read as follows:— 
"Charity never faileth; but whether there be prophe-
cies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they 
shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall van-
ish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in 
part. But when that which is perfect is come, then 
that which is in part shall be done away. When I 
was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, 
I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put 
away childish things. For now we see through a glass, 
darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but 
then shall I know even as also I am known." 1 Cor. 
13 : 8-12. 
According to this scripture these things shall cease 
or vanish away " when that which is perfect is come." 
But when that perfect is come, then they who " prophesy 
in part," and even with the gift of prophecy "see 
through a glass darkly," shall see face to face, and know 
even as they are known. Has such a time come ? 
It is a truth plainly revealed in the Scriptures that 
" the saints shall judge the world." But they are not 
now qualified for such an office, because they do not un-
derstand the motives and intentions of their fellow-men 
—they cannot discern " the thoughts and intents of the 
heart." But by and by, " when this mortal shall put 
on immortality," present impediments shall be removed ; 
and in view of that, the apostle enjoins, "Judge noth-
ing before the time, until the Lord come." 1 Cor. 4 : 5. 
When the Lord comes, and the saints are " changed, 
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," then they 
who saw as through a glass and prophesied in part, 
will know as they are known, and " that which is in 
part " will no longer be needed. It " shall be done 
away." 
We insist that this is the plain meaning and intent 
of the apostle's language; and, therefore, if these gifts 
*ignz o f#u Zintm 
"Can ye not discern the signs of the times ? " 
JAMES WHITE, 
J. N. ANDREWS, 
ITRIAH SMITH, 
MARCH 31, 1881. 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
151 
of the Spirit have ceased, either in whole or in part, 
the reason must be found outside of what Paul wrote 
to the Corinthians. �
J, H. W. 
QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 
PLEASE explain in the SIGNS Mark 9 : 43-48, 
" Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not 
quenched." �
S. H. 
We copy the following remarks on this passage from 
the book entitled, " Man's Nature and Destiny," by 
Elder Uriah Smith:— 
" These passages are relied on with as much as-
surance, perhaps, as any, to prove the eternal misery 
of the reprobate. If this language had never been used 
by any of the inspired writers of the Scriptures, till it 
was thus used in the New Testament, it might be urged 
with some degree of plausibility, as an expressive 
imagery of eternal torment. But, even in this case, it 
might be replied that fire, so far as we have any expe-
rience with it, or knowledge of its nature, invariably 
consumes that upon which it preys, and hence must be 
a symbol of complete destruction; and that the expres- 
sion, as it occurs in Mark 9 : 44, can denote nothing less 
than the utter consumption of those who are cast into 
that fire. 
" But this expression was one which was well known 
and understood by those whom Christ was addressing. 
Isaiah and Jeremiah frequently use the figure of the 
undying worm and quenchless fire. In their familiar 
scriptures the people daily read these expressions. Let 
us see what idea they would derive from them. We 
turn to Jeremiah 17 :27, and read:— 
" But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the 
Sabbath day, and not bear a burden, even entering in 
at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then 
will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall 
devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be 
quenched.' 
" From this text we certainly can learn the meaning 
that was attached to the expression, unquenchable 
fire,' by the Hebrew people. This fire was not to be 
quenched, therefore it was unquenchable. But it was 
to be kindled in the gates of Jerusalem, and devour the 
palaces thereof. It was therefore literal, natural fire. 
But how could a fire of this kind, thus kindled, be 
supposed to be a fire that would burn eternally ? They 
certainly would not so understand it. No more should 
we. Moreover, this threatening of the Lord by Jere-
miah was fulfilled. 2 Chron. 36 :19: And they burnt 
the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, 
and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and de-
stroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.' Verse 21. To 
fulfill the word of the Lord by Jeremiah.' Thus Je-
rusalem was burned according to Jeremiah's prediction 
that it should be consumed in unquenchable fire. But 
how long did that fire burn ? Only till it had reduced 
to ashes the gates and palaces on which it preyed. 
Unquenchable fire is therefore simply a fire that is not 
quenched, or does, not cease, till it has entirely con-
sumed that which causes or supports it. Then it dies 
out of itself, because there is nothing more to burn. 
The expression does not mean a fire that must abso- 
lutely eternally burn, and that consequently all that is 
cast therein to feed the flame must forever be preserved 
by having the portion consumed immediately renewed." 
Both the worm and the fire are presented as the 
means of the destruction of carcasses; see Isa. 66 : 24. 
For very clear evidence of this see also Matt. 3 : 12; 
" He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 
The fire of the day of perdition of the ungodly will 
have the same effect upon the wicked that a fire which 
could not be quenched would have upon chaff. Rev. 
20 :9, says prophetically of that day: " And fire came 
down from God out of Heaven, and devoured them." 
Malachi says it " shall burn them up, saith the Lord of 
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." 
Mal. 4 : 1. Ps. 37 :20 says: " The enemies of the Lord 
shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into 
smoke shall they consume away." 
This is &very small part of the Scripture testimony 
as to the effect which the fire of perdition will have 
upon the finally unregenerate. 
How do you prove that 1 Tim. 4 : 3, 4, does not 
permit the use of every kind of flesh, that of swine in- 
cluded ? �
W. H. 
That there is some limitation to this language every-
body believes; at least we do not believe that there 
are any civilized people who hold that every living creat-
ure is good for food and was designed to be eaten. 
Every poisonous filthy reptile is a living creature, and 
so is man. Are they all good for food ? Now we think 
the limitation is shown in verse 5: " For it is sanctified 
by the word of God and prayer." The word of God 
did indeed sanctify or "set apart " certain animals the 
flesh of which might be eaten; and it expressly forbade 
the use of others. Swine were among the beasts not 
permitted to be eaten,—they were unclean. By Gen. 
9 we learn that the distinction between clean and 
unclean beasts did not have its origin in the Levitical 
law. It existed before the flood. Swine were unclean 
before the Jews as a people existed. We need_ no. 
argument to prove to us that they are unclean now. 
What evidence from Scriptures have we that this 
is the only world whose inhabitants have sinned ? 
We are not aware that any such evidence exists. 
Does Rom. 14 :5, 6, prove that there is no day 
now binding as the Sabbath ? 
It does not; evidently it has no reference to that 
subject. Here again we claim a necessary limitation 
of the language. See the context, "One man believeth 
that he may eat all things; another, who is weak, eateth 
herbs." This shows, as Dr. Edwards well argues in his 
" Sabbath Manual," that the subject is not the moral 
law. Now turn to Ex. 16 :4, and we find the term 
" every day " used where it does not include the weekly 
Sabbath. They were to gather a certain rate of manna 
every day, but were not to gather it on the seventh 
day, which is the Sabbath. In things of a secular or 
merely ceremonial nature, as in these two passages, 
every day does not include the Sabbath of the Lord. 
J. H. W. 
RIGHT.EOUS 111EASUREMEHT. 
" With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you 
again." Matt. 7 : 2. 
THESE words were uttered by our Lord as a warning 
to his people. He wished them to understand that 
wrong doing should bring calamity and sorrow upon 
the wrong doer. Now he even declares that the very 
kind of evil which we cause others shall come back 
upon ourselves. We have many notable instances of 
this in the Bible. 
Jacob acted an extremely unbrotherly part toward 
Esau, and an inexcusable and wicked deception toward 
his father. He had to flee for his life. He fell into 
the hands of Laban, who, though his own uncle, acted 
toward him in the same deceitful and cruel manner 
that he had acted toward Esau. In fact, the deception 
of Laban was the cause of lasting misery in the family 
relations of Jacob, till it finally brought about the sale 
of Joseph as a slave to be carried into Egypt. For 
some twenty-two years, Jacob supposed his son torn in 
pieces of a wild beast. For Joseph was 17 years old 
when his brethren sold him, and was 30 years of age 
when he stood before Pharaoh. Shortly after this the 
seven years of plenty came on, and in the second year 
of the famine Jacob came into Egypt. 
The sorrows of Jacob's life, and some of them were 
very serious, cover a period of more than fifty years, 
and are distinctly traceable to his own wrong acts. 
His sorrows seemed to have ended when he found 
Joseph in Egypt. But how long a period it was before 
his captivity was turned ! What a man sows, that he 
shall reap. It can never pay to do wrong. 
David is another example of receiving back in kind 
for the wrongs committed. Read his wicked conduct 
toward Uriah. Then read the retribution that followed 
through all the rest of his life, and principally in his 
own family, too. See the sad history of Amnon and 
Tamar, of the rebellion and unnatural crimes of Absa-
lom. See 2 Sam. 11-19. Even Adonijah's rebellion 
and death may be considered a part of this retribution. 
Sin never pays only in its own kind. �
J. N. A. 
PARLEYING WITH TEMPTATION. 
WE are in a world of temptations. We cannot es-
cape them. Fortunately the temptations themselves 
are not sins. The sin lies in yielding; and the yielding 
is almost invariably preceded by a parley. Parleying 
with temptation is the grand avenue to all the sins 
which the tempter would have us commit. If we can 
close up this, we fortify ourselves against many dangers. 
What is meant by parleying with temptation is most 
strikingly illustrated in the history of Balaam. When 
the messengers of the king of Moab came to him with 
splendid offers, if he would come and curse Israel, the 
Lord expressly told him not to go with them. A 
second deputation arrives with richer bribes and more 
imposing honors. Under an affectation of piety he 
says, " Tarry ye also here this night, that I may know 
what the Lord will say unto me more." God had once 
expressly forbidden him. Of that he was well aware. 
But the offers were tempting. The prize was worth 
securing. And now could not he, notwithstanding 
God's prohibition, some way secure the reward consist-
ently with duty ? He gave his mind up to the unlaw-
ful study of how to reconcile these two things. And 
because he loved the ways of unrighteousness more than 
his duty to God, God gave him up to follow his own 
ways; and the sad results are known to all. 
The human mind reasons now just as it did then; 
and thousands are substantially following the steps of 
Balaam. There are four principal ways in which we 
give the tempter access to us, and even solicit his as-
saults. 
The first is when we re-open for debate a question 
which has once been decided. Our first judgments are 
the best. They spring from the intuitive perceptions 
of conscience before it is biased by after thoughts. 
Subsequent considerations are too often but the plead-
ings of selfishness or dishonesty to escape from the con-
victions of conscience. If Balaam, once expressly 
informed by God of his duty, and decided in that di-
rection, had adhered to that decision, he would have 
been safe. But he re-opened the question for further 
discussion. Perhaps the question was not fully settled 
after all. Perhaps it could be decided in some way 
which would allow him to receive the reward which he 
so much coveted. Here was his first great stride to-
ward his fearful fall. And so it is with us. Therefore 
when a question has once passed the tribunal of con-
science, and been decided in accordance with clear 
perceptions of right, take your stand immovably upon 
that decision. Let the enemy understand that that is 
not a debatable question. This will save much after 
trouble. 
The second way in which we weaken ourselves in 
the face of the enemy is when we do not at once sub-
jugate the inward inclination which leads to the out-
ward act. All things spring from within. Out of the 
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Every 
act can be traced to some inward motive. If these 
motives are right and pure, such will also be the actions 
which follow; if they are evil and impure, the actions 
will bear the same character. These hidden springs, 
therefore, need to be carefully watched. And when 
an inclination enters the heart which will lead to evil, 
subjugate it, suppress it, nip it in the bud, don't let it 
mature. This is the easiest, quickest, surest, way to 
avoid the evils which will follow if this is not accom-
plished. The secret inclination in Balaam's heart, 
which eventually matured into such bitter results, was 
the love of honor and gain. Could he not in some way 
secure these ? This was the object of his parley; and 
this was the great cause of his fall; for the apostle 
mentions as his chief characteristic, that he " loved the 
wages of unrighteousness." These secret inclinations 
being allowed to prevail, soon gain the understanding • 
by special pleas addressed to it, and finally the will is 
drawn in, and the guilty deed is at once executed. 
Lay the axe at the root, suppress the inward inclina-
tion. The strength of the temptation is then gone. 
The third way of parleying with temptation is to 
throw ourselves into circumstances of trial relying upon 
our own strength. The Christian's strength is wholly 
in God. The Bible seeks to inculcate a true conviction 
of human weakness and guilt as the basis of all accept-
able action. And the Christian's sense of weakness is 
his strength; for it leads him to rely upon an unfailing 
arm. And it operates also in another direction; for 
feeling his weakness, he shuns temptation; and tempta-
tion shunned is powerless. The serpent cannot charm 
when we turn from him. These considerations teach 
us, first of all, to fly from temptation; but when we are 
thrust out where we are obliged to grapple face to face 
with the foe, then rely on God for help and strength. 
With every temptation he is able to make a way of 
escape. 
The last and fatal stage is reached when conscience 
becomes a party in the conspiracy with evil, and sin is 
made to look consistent with duty. So long as a person 
will acknowledge right principles, there is hope of him, 
however reckless he may appear. There is some ground 
upon which a reform may be based. But when the 
conscience is brought into that place where it will bear 
a false testimony, and the distinction between right 
and wrong is broken down, then the person is wholly 
given up to evil. Here is the great danger. Conscience 
may be perverted; it may be seared; it may become 
152 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
VoL. 7, No. 13. 
Why does the prophet speak so disrespectfully of 
these outward services, when every one of them was 
commanded in the ceremonial law ? Not because they 
were not all right in their proper place, and a duty 
under other circumstances; for they were. But be-
cause the real service of the heart, and obedience to 
principles of justice, mercy, and the love of God, were 
lacking. They set the form before the substance of 
religion. Where the latter is left out, and men con-
tent themselves with the form, God abhors it. In the 
old dispensation, the forms of religion embraced various 
finds of offerings and sacrifices, attendance upon feasts 
and new moons, circumcision, and priestly ministrations, 
prayers and fasting. In this dispensation, we have 
attendance upon divine worship, the ordinances of 
baptism, and the Lord's supper, prayer and fasting; 
and these are of divine appointment. Man has added 
to these in some churches various rites, prostrations, 
crossings, changes of apparel, and offerings of incense, 
etc., which God never commanded, of which it might 
well be said, " Who hath required this at your hand ?" 
evil. Alas for the victim, when he reaches that stage 
in self-deception. Hence the necessity of guarding 
well the conscience. Hence the value of a Christian 
education. Welcome, anything which will enlighten 
the mind, and restrain from sin. Welcome, anything 
which, though it may not entirely restrain from sin, 
will render it uncomfortable. Something is gained 
even then. Failing to secure the enjoyment falsely 
promised, the transgressor may turn to seek what re-
ward there is to virtue. 
" Every man," says the apostle, " is tempted when he 
is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then 
when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and 
sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Such 
is the insidious entrance of evil; such is its awful re-
sult. We have spoken of some of the more usual ave-
nues of its approach. If these can all be guarded we 
have but little to fear; and it is all summed up in one 
sentence: Don't parley with temptation. �
U. S. 
"WHEREWITH SHALL I COME BEFORE 
THE LORD?" 
BY ELD. GEO. I. BUTLER. 
THIS expression occurs in a very remarkable passage 
in the prophet Micah, chap. 6, verses 6-8, which reads 
as follows: " Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, 
and bow myself before the high God ? shall I come 
before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year 
old ? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of 
rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil ? shall I 
give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my 
body for the sin of my soul ? He hath showed thee, 
O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require 
of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to 
walk humbly with thy God ?" We call this scripture 
remarkable because, perhaps, in no other in the blessed 
Bible is the real nature of genuine religion made more 
clear, and its relative importance distinguished more 
forcibly, from mere outward service. Outward cere-
monies and services have their place, and a certain 
degree of importance, in our divine religion. But we 
must never forget that this importance is very small in 
comparison with the service of the heart, and obe-
dience to those principles which perfect a Christian 
character. Perhaps there is no question of greater 
importance than this, " Wherewith shall I come before 
the Lord " in a way which will be acceptable to him ? 
It should be the study of every created being how we 
may answer the end of our creation, and live in a man-
ner acceptable to God. It is always prominent in the 
mind of every good man. 
A sense of man's accountability to God, and the fear 
arising from a sense of guilt because not at peace with 
him, has doubtless been at the foundation of every 
false system of religion in our world. Satan, the arch- 
deceiver, when he could not wholly quiet men's con- 
sciences because of this sense of guilt, has taken de- 
light in misdirecting their efforts to pacify its striv- 
ings. The great mistake seen in all false religions, and 
in all formal professors of the genuine, is the one cor- 
rected in this text; the prominence accorded to out-
ward forms and service, and the neglect of the heart 
service and the principles of justice, mercy, and obe-
dience to God. It is wowlerful what zeal the heathen 
show in maintaining their systems of false religion; 
enough to put to shame many professors of the true. 
Their pilgrimages, penances, sacrifices, and painful 
rites, are such that few professors of Christianity would 
ever think of enduring as much for Christ's sake. But 
these are all outward services. Many forms of Chris-
tianity have degenerated mainly to ritual and ceremo-
nies. This is always the tendency in times of back-
sliding and formality. Then professors are all the 
more strenuous for the forms. So it was with the 
ancient Jewish church. With what vigor does the 
prophet Isaiah denounce the formal professors in his 
day: " To what purpose is the multitude of your sacri- 
fices unto me ? saith the Lord. I am full of the burnt- 
offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I de-
light not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he 
goats. . . . Bring no more vain oblations; . . . the 
new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I 
cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn 
meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts 
my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me; I am 
weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your 
hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye 
make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are 
full of blood." Isa. 1:11-15. 
the gtlizzionarn. 
WAYSIDE PREACHING. 
PART FIRST. 
THE day was intensely hot, and the weary mis-
sionary sat alone in his zayat looking haggard 
and careworn. All day long he had repeated 
over and over again, as he could find listeners, 
such simple truths as mothers teach the little 
children on their knees. Among those who 
passed by, some scoffed, others were indifferent, 
but no one had cared to listen to the gracious 
message he had to give. 
If he could only do something to fill up these 
tedious intervals. He might read, but no; this 
was a work to which he must not give a divided. 
mind. While his face was hidden by a book, 
some poor native might lose his last chance of 
hearing the words of life. " God reigns, God 
Almighty reigns," he repeated, " and I have given 
myself to him, soul and body, for time and eter-
nity. His will be done." Still the day seemed 
long; and with aching head and heavy heart he 
took up a little Burmese tract, as familiar to him 
as his own name, and began to read aloud. At-
tracted by his foreign accent, the passers-by 
turned their heads a moment to listen and then 
scornfully passed on. Finally a coarsely clad 
water-bearer lowered the vessel from her head 
and seated herself to listen. But the reading did 
not please her. Grinning in angry derision until 
her wrinkled visage became positively hideous, 
she arose, muttering to herself, " Jesus Christ ! 
no nigban* ! ha, ha, ha ! " 
With a sinking heart the missionary is about 
to lay aside his tract, when another shadow falls 
upon the path. A tall, dignified, aristocratic 
man leading a little boy, whose bright, button-
like eyes are in perfect keeping with his dancing 
little feet, passes by. 
" Papa ! papa ! " said the boy, with a merry 
little skip, " Look, look, papa! there is Jesus 
Christ's man." " Jesus Christ's man " raised his 
eyes from the book which he could read just as 
well without eyes, and bestowed one of his bright-
est smiles upon the little stranger, and received 
in return a pleased but faithful recognition. The 
father did not speak or turn his head, but a ray 
of sunshine went down into the missionary's 
heart from those happy little eyes. Somehow he 
felt that his hour's reading had not been in vain, 
and he continued it with increased earnestness 
and emphasis. A priest wrapped his yellow robes 
about him, and sat down upon the steps, as 
though for a moments' rest. Then another 
stranger, a philosopher, came boldly up mad seated 
himself on the mat. 
At night, in his closet, the missionary remem-
bered both philosopher and priest; pleaded long 
and earnestly for the scoffing old water-bearer; 
and felt a warm tear stealing to his eye, as he 
presented the case of the tall stranger and the 
laughing, dancing ray of sunshine at his side. 
Day after day went by, as hot, as dusty, and 
bringing as many feverish winds as ever; but the 
hours were less wearisome because of the little 
buds of promise which had been formed. Every 
day the stranger carried the same imperturable 
face past the zayat, and the child made some 
silent advance towards friendship with the mis-
sionary. One day, as they came in sight, the 
missionary beckoned with his hand and the child 
with a single bound, came to his knee. 
" Moung, Moung ! " exclaimed the father in a 
tone of surprise blended with anger. But the 
child was back again in a moment, with a gay 
colored madras handkerchief wound around his 
head,. and his eyes sparkling and dancing with 
joy. " You have a very fine boy there, sir," said 
the missionary, in a tone intended to be concilia-
tory. The stranger turned with a low bow and 
then hastened away. 
" I do not think that zayat a very good place 
to go, Moung, Moung," said the father, gravely, 
when they were well out of hearing, " These 
white foreigners are �
." He did not say what, 
but shook his head with a mysterious meaning. 
The boy's eyes grew larger and deeper, as he 
continued to look up into his father's face in won-
dering silence. 
" Papa," at length said he. 
" What, my son." 
*A state of complete and endless lest, or annihilation to which the Bur-
mese hoped to attain, after passing through almost endless transmigra-
tions. 
In Catholic churches, the visitor is astonished, if 
unaccustomed to the sight, to see the faithful making 
the sign of the cross, counting their beads, and at the 
prostrations, adorations, and devotional movements, in 
which all present participate with a wonderful unction. 
Yet many of those present he may know make nothing 
of swearing, and fighting, and cheating, while others 
may really be sincere. This outward service may 
affect the imagination, and satisfy its votaries that 
they are God's children, but it is a grand deception. 
Our Protestant churches may as really rely upon their 
forms as the other. No doubt millions satisfy them-
selves with occasional formal prayer, attendance upon 
worship, participation in the ordinances of baptism 
and the Lord's supper, as much as the Catholic in his 
forms. The great things which God requires is a 
character imbued with love for justice, mercy, and 
communion with God. Where these are found in the 
heart and life, the outward services, prescribed by the 
word of life, will be acceptable and profitable. Prayer 
and attendance upon divine worship will be a means 
of bringing the blessing of God to the soul, and they 
will result in a closer communion with the great source 
of spiritual life. The Lord's Supper will be a true 
feast of the Lord where we partake of him spiritually. 
But without these principles prevailing in the heart, 
all outward services are empty mockery, which God 
abhors. We may pour out "rivers of oil," "give our 
first-born for our transgression;" or our bodies to be 
burned, and all these sacrifices will avail us nothing. 
" If we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not 
hear us." 
" Wherewith shall we come before the Lord " ac-
ceptably ? By " doing justly," " loving mercy," and 
" walking humbly with God." From the heart we 
must repent of (that is, turn away from) our past sins, 
accepting the great offering made through Christ for 
the transgressions which are past, and through the 
strength which he will impart, live honest, pure, and 
holy lives, hating all iniquity. This kind of religion 
God will regard, and man must respect. All other is 
but filthy rags. 
AT a recent prayer-meeting in Ashfield, Mass., a 
member of a Congregational church brought a charge 
of infidelity against the pastor, founded on his exposi-
tion of the Bible account of the creation, in which the 
clergyman explained the six days as periods not of 
twenty-four hours each, but of much greater length, 
according to the widely received teachings of modern 
scientists. The congregation, with scarcely an excep-
tion, sustained their minister, and the name of the dis-
satisfied member was on Sunday dropped from the roll 
of the church at his own request.—Christian Union. 
FRANK LESLIE'S Budget does up its science in the 
following manner:— 
Jack (aged ten years or under): " I trust, Tommy, 
that you believe in the non-essentiality of a pre-exist-
ent first cause." Tommy: " Oh, certainly. At least, I 
go no further back than the primordial atomic glob-
ule."—[Exeunt, driving their hoops.] 
LIFE'S evening will take its character from the day 
which has preceded it. 
As we must render an account of every idle word, so 
must we also of our idle silence.—Ambrose. 
MARCH 31, 1881. 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
153 
" You will not be angry ?" 
" Angry ?" The soft smile on that stern, 
bearded face was a sufficient answer. 
" Is it true that she,—my mother "— 
" Hush, Moung Moung ! 
" Is it true that my mother prayed to the Lord 
Jesus Christ? " 
" Who dares to tell you so ? " 
" I must not say, papa; the one who told me 
said it was as much as life is worth to talk of such 
things to your son. Did she papa ? " 
" That is a very pretty turban the foreigner 
gave you." 
"Did she ?" 
" And makes your bright eyes brighter than 
ever." 
" Did my mother pray to the Lord •Jesus 
Christ ?" 
" There, there ! you have talked enough, my 
boy," said the father gloomily; and the two con-
tinued their walk in silence. 
Upon inquiry the missionary learned that this* 
man was a writer under the government, a very 
respectable man, but haughty and reserved. 
"Does the teacher remember," continued the 
missionary's informant, " that three or four years 
ago a young woman came to you for medicine " 
The missionary smiled, " I should have a won-
derful memory, Shuay-bay, if I carried all my 
applicants for medicine in it." 
" But this one was not like other women. She 
had the face of an angel, and her voice—the 
teacher must remember her voice. It was like 
the silvery chimes of the pagoda bells at midnight. 
She was the favorite wife of the sah-ya, and this 
little boy, her only child, was very ill. She did 
not dare ask you to the house, or even send a 
servant for the medicine, for her husband was 
one of the most violent persecutors." 
" Ay, I do recollect her, by her distress, and 
her warm gratitude. And so this is her child ! 
What has become of the mother? " 
" Has the teacher forgotten putting a gospel of 
Matthew in her hand, and saying that it con- 
tained medicine for her, for that she was afflicted 
with a worse disease tha
n �
the fever of her little 
son; and then lifting up his hands and praying 
very solemnly ? " 
" I do not recall the circumstance, but what 
came of it ? " 
" They say," answered the Burman, lowering 
his voice, and casting an investigating glance 
around him—" they say the medicine cured her. 
She read the book nights, while watching by her 
baby; and then she would kneel down and pray 
as the teacher had done. At last her husband 
got the book." 
" W hat did he do with it ?" 
" Only burned it. But she was a tender little 
creature, and could not bear his look; so, as the 
baby got out of danger, she took the fever and 
died. She got courage as she drew near the end, 
and begged her husband to send for you. He is 
not a hard hearted man; and she was more than 
life and soul to him, but he would not send. 
And so she died, talking to the last moment of 
the Lord Jesus, and calling on every body around 
her to love him and worship none but him." 
" Is this true, Shway-bay ? " 
"I know nothing about it4teacher, it's not safe 
to know anything. The sah-ya has taken an 
oath to destroy every body having too good a 
memory. But "—andthe man looked cautiously 
around him—" does the teacher think that little 
Burman children are likely to run into the arms 
of foreigners without being taught ? " 
" Aha ! say you so, Shway-bay? " 
"I say nothing, teacher." 
The missionary seemed lost in thought and his 
assistant passed on his way.—Memoirs of Adoniram 
Judson. 
(To be Continued.) 
GLEANINGS FROM THE EASTERN FIELD. 
MINNESOTA, Anawauk, Le Sueur Co.—Brn. D. C. 
Burch and E. A. Curtis report as the result of a 
series of meetings begun in this place in January, 
that " seventeen have signed the covenant, nearly 
all of whom are heads of families. With only one 
exception, they have thrown away their tobacco. 
A Sabbath-school of thirty-two members has been 
organized, and there is prospect of quite an in-
crease soon." 
INDIANA, New London.—Feb. 15, Brn. J. M. 
Rees and Wm. Covert began meetings in this 
place, which lasted ten days. Of these Bro. 
Covert says: " A good degree of the Spirit of God 
was enjoyed throughout. Much prejudice was 
removed. There was a good attendance from the 
village and vicinity. Twenty-two meetings were 
held. Eight applied for membership in the 
church, and will shortly be baptized and received 
into fellowship." 
ALABAMA, Washington Co.—Eld. C. 0. Taylor, 
writing Feb. 24, says: " I have just returned 
from this county. Bro. Elliott has been there at 
different times for the past year. About twelve 
were keeping the Sabbath. The outside interest 
was very great, and many were halting betweetil 
two opinions. The halting ones were very much 
helped, on this wise: A minister sent an appoint-
ment, and with it a request that all who were 
' on the fence' would remain there till he came, 
and he would help them off. He came last Sun-
day. The interest was very great. The house 
could not hold the people, and the meeting was 
in the open air. One gentlem
an and his daughter 
came twenty miles on. horseback; another came 
seventeen miles. The effort on the part of the 
opposition to God's truth was very weak. The 
position taken was, that we cannot keep the law; 
that it is done away, and the first day is the Sab-
bath. It was not difficult to overthrow his asser-
tions, and the truth gained a great victory. The 
gentleman who came seventeen miles remarked 
to me that the minister did not prove his points. 
In his closing remarks he admitted that the law 
is in force, by saying, As to the law, if it lay in 
a good man's way he would take it up, or do it, 
and not go around it,' 
" The day was a high day for the truth in all 
that section. Those obeying were strengthened. 
Some who were ' on the fence' made haste to 
keep all God's commandments. Others were 
anxious to hear more of the new doctrine. The 
lovers of truth have commenced to build a meet-
ing-house." 
Zemptranrc. 
ANTI-TOBACCO. 
-UNDER the heading, " A text from an anti-to-
bacco tract," a daily paper gives an account of an 
old man in the East, whose clothing was set on 
fire by his pipe while he was in the woods, and 
who nearly lost his life in consequence. This 
instance doubtless created quite a sensation in 
the vicinity where it occurred; but why should it 
be taken as a text for an anti-tobacco tract? If 
there is nothing wrong in smoking itself, then 
this accident argues nothing against tobacco, but 
should rather furnish a text against the careless 
handling of fire. The fact is, the writer of the 
paragraph knew, as all intelligent men do, that 
tobacco-smoking is in itself wrong, and thought 
that this accident would furnish an argument 
against the practice. But why take this isolated 
instance as a text? There are thousands of men 
all over the country, who are burning not only 
their own clothes, but the clothes of wife and 
children. Not only this, but they are burning up 
themselves, scorching their throats, destroying 
their lungs, deadening their brains, and making 
themselves obnoxious to decent people. And yet 
nobody cries " Fire ! " How can we stop the 
conflagration ? �
E. J. WAGGONER. 
DANGERS OF MODERATE DRINKING. 
LET me point out to you three false lights 
which have been hung out by hands that ought 
to have shrunk from the deed. These false.lights 
may tempt many a young man to steer away 
from the safe channel of total abstinence. The 
first one is that God's word approves and sanc-
tions the use of alcoholic beverages ! For one 
hundred years American slavery was buttressed 
by the same plea, that the Bible sanctioned it. 
But since the battle of Appomatox, the sharpest 
eye never discovered such a passage. Now the 
teachings of Scripture may be summed up in four 
heads :- 
The Bible in various passages points out the 
evils and the perils of intoxicating drinks. It 
never pronounces a blessing on an intoxicant, and 
often warns men against its use. Several pass-
ages forbid such use. 
The Bible in several passages approves and 
commends abstinence from intoxicating bevera-
ges. There is not a single verse in this book 
which condemns total abstinence. 
The whole spirit of the word of God teaches 
self-control and self-denial, both for our own sakes 
and for the good of our fellow-men. The only 
passage in which the word "moderation" occurs, 
has no reference whatever to moderate drinking. 
It has not the faintest reference to the use of bev-
erages. The word itself translated signifies con-
stancy, calmness, quietness. 
Every passage in the Bible is to be studied 
in the light of the whole book. The whole book 
teaches the same truths which God has written 
upon our bodily constitution. If alcohol poisons 
the body, disorders the brain, corrupts the char- 
acter, damns the manhood, and destroys the soul, 
it is forbidden by the whole volume of the revealed 
word. 
The second sophistry is that wine and ale and 
other alcoholic beverages are creatures of God, to 
be not refused, but used in "moderation and with 
thanksgiving." I have heard that quoted since 
I was a child. As to alcoholic beverages being 
good creatures of God to be used with thanksgiv-
ing, I deny as an absurdity. Alcohol is not a 
"good creature" of the God of love; for it is no-
where to be found in the whole domain of nature. 
While the Almighty has created innumerable foun- 
tains of sparkling water, he never created a gill 
of alcohol ! It is the simple product of the fer- 
menting vat and distillery. It is born of vegeta- 
ble decay. God made the golden corn to nourish 
and sustain his mighty family; but distillation 
throws the golden grain into a vat of rottenness, 
and presses out of the rotting mass the fiery juice 
of alcohol. God hung the purple clusters on the 
vine to gladden the human eye and the palate ; 
but fermentation turns the pure blood of the 
grape into the maddening intoxicant. God crea-
ted poppies, but he never created opium. If he 
did create it, are there not poisons known in nat-
ure that may be sometimes sparingly used as a 
medicine, but common sense forbids them as a 
beverage? 
The last sophistry that has been hung up to 
throw its delusive light at a dangerous gateway, 
is the following sentence uttered lately by a min- 
isterial brother, whom I love as a friend, but reject 
as a safe teacher of ethics. 1 quote his words 
exactly. He says: "A third moral error of the 
total abstinence theory is its assumption that 
moderate drinking leads to drunkenness. The 
millions upon millions of our race who have been 
accustomed to drink wine and who never knew 
drunkenness, stand up against this atrocious 
dogma. And yet this dogma has actually become 
an axiom with the total abstinence reformers, and 
they would disdain to argue it." Yes, I do dis- 
dain to argue it, as much as I would disdain to 
argue that Fulton street leads to Fulton Ferry. 
All human observation settles that. I do not say 
that every one that goes down Fulton street enters 
the gate at the ferry, but I do say that those who 
are in the ferry-house must have gone through 
that street. If my learned friend simply meant 
to say that a very moderate drinker is not an 
enslaved drunkard, and may never become a 
drunkard, we grant it. We grant that Niagara 
rapids are not Niagara cataract. We grant, too, 
that some men who have launched their boats 
far up toward the head of the rapids have pulled 
out of the stream and have reached the shore. 
But this we declare, that just so long as Niagara 
rapids tend toward the cataract and draw with 
an increasing suction and momentum toward the 
cataract, so long by the immutable law of God 
will every use of alcoholic stimulants tend to 
drunkenness and draw to destruction. That some 
have resisted it and have not been drawn over 
does not alter the character of the tendency. 
There is not a moderate drinker in this house 
who is not constantly resisting the tendency 
while he remains a moderate drinker. I set 
before you all, the clear, straight channel of total 
abstinence. It is a safe channel, strewn with no 
wrecks of health, and wrecks of homes, or wrecks 
of hearts or eternal hopes. It has guided mill-
ions to competence and comfort and cleanliness 
of life. It has borne thousands to the cross of 
Christ. God has blessed the honest efforts of 
pulpit and platform and press to guide men and 
women into this safe channel, and as long as this 
pulpit stands, the true light shall shine on the 
safe channel, and no wife, or mother, or daughter, 
or sister, shall ever call me to account and charge 
upon my example, or the utterances from this 
pulpit, the wreck of a son, or a brother, or a hus- 
band, for time or for eternity. All I ask is to be 
on the safe side, on God's side, for this world and 
for the life everlasting.—T. L. Cuyler. 
154 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
Vol,. 7, No. 13. 
ctiChr �tircie. 
ROWING AGAINST THE TIDE. 
IT is easy to glide with the ripples 
Adown the stream of time, 
To flow with the course of the river, 
Like music to some old rhyme; 
But ah ! it takes courage and patience 
Against its current to ride; 
And we must have strength from Heaven 
When rowing against the tide. 
We may float on the river's, surface 
While our oars scarce touch the stream, 
And visions of early glory 
On our dazzling sight may gleam; 
We forget that on before us 
The dashing torrents roar, 
And, while we are idly dreaming, 
Its waters will carry us o'er. 
But a few—ah, would there were many!-- 
Row up the " stream of life; " 
They struggle against its surges, 
And mind neither toil nor strife, 
Though weary and faint with labor, 
Singing triumphant, they ride; 
For Christ is the hero's Captain 
When rowing against the tide. 
Far on through the hazy distance, 
Like a mist on a distant shore, 
They see the walls of a city, 
With its banner floating o'er. 
Seen through a glass so darkly 
They almost mistake their way; 
But faith throws light on their harbor, 
When darkness shuts out their day. 
And shall we be one of that number 
Who mind no toil nor pain ? 
Shall we mourn the loss of earthly joys 
When we have a crown to gain ? 
Or shall we glide on with the river, 
With death at the end of our ride, 
While our brother, with Heaven before him, 
Is rowing against the tide ? 
MRS. RAYNOR'S SYSTEM. 
MRS. RAYNOR'S neatness was a proverb in the 
neighborhood in which she lived; her brother 
called her "painfully neat," and sometimes 
thought, when driven almost desperate by her 
" system," that he would buy a farm for himself, 
and never again take any of his brother-in-law's 
land on shares. But once when he spoke about 
it while haying in the field, Aaron seemed to feel 
so bad, that he promised not to make the change 
for some time, anyhow. 
" Poor Aaron," thought Jack, when he saw 
how troubled was his brother-in-law's face, "he 
is worried at the bare idea that I might go off 
and leave him to that rigorous system of Emma's. 
For his sake I'll wait awhile; and I owe him some 
consideration, for if it hadn't been for me, he 
would never have met Emma." 
Aaron Raynor was a very quiet man, bat never 
had much to say on any subject; it was seldom, 
indeed, that he gave vent to his views on any-
thing save the farm work, but he thought a great 
deal, and if Emma had only been able to read his 
thoughts, she would have been saddened, perhaps, 
by their desponding and regretful tendency. He 
was, however, a faithful, kind husband, who did 
all in his power to lighten his wife's burdens, and 
had he not lived in an atmosphere of fault-finding, 
would have been both genial and affectionate. 
The unhappiness and regret which pervaded 
the atmosphere of the Raynor home had its rise in 
the system, that terrible system which was the 
one law which governed Emma's life. She ate, 
drank, and slept by it, and never guessed that 
she made the lives of her husband and brother 
unhappy by her strict adherence to it. 
Every Monday morning the washing was done, 
rain or shine, and frequently on a rainy day, Jack 
and Aaron coming into the big kitchen wet and 
tired, and longing for seats by the fire, found the 
stove surrounded by chairs, all filled with damp 
clothes from which a steam rose slowly, while 
across the room were stretched ropes on which 
hung the " small pieces." It wasn't very cheer-
ful, certainly, but Aaron never complained, for it 
wasn't his way to complain about anything, and 
Emma never took any notice when Jack found 
fault. 
On Tuesday the ironing was done, and well 
done, too. Every towel, no matter how old and 
worn, was faithfully smoothed, and folded evenly; 
the shirts were ironed on both sides, and the 
neighbors often remarked that the linen worn by 
Jack and Aaron would have done credit to a 
Chinese laundry. 
On Wednesday the baking and churning were 
done; on Thursday the house was thoroughly 
swept and cleaned from garret to cellar; on 
Friday the mending and little jobs were scrupu-
lously attended to, and Saturday was devoted to 
baking and cleaning generally. Delicious bread, 
cakes and pies came forth from the capacious 
oven to be stored away on the pantry shelves, 
and the kitchen and hall floors were made mar-
velously white and clean by the vigorous use of 
soap and sand. 
No matter what happened, the system went on 
as usual—nothing was allowed to interrupt that. 
Aaron never thought of such a thing as coming 
into the house without first removing his boots in 
the little entry by the kitchen door, and putting 
on his slippers, which were always in readiness 
in a neat bag; and he submitted to his wife's rule 
of retiring precisely at nine P. M., without a word 
of rebellion. 
If Jack, in his careless indifference, sometimes 
crossed the white kitchen floor in his muddy 
boots, his sister, much to his annoyance, followed 
close behind him with a cloth in her hand, ani 
carefully wiped up his tracks, with an expression 
on her face which spoke volumes, and distressed 
him more than a good round scolding would have 
done. 
Emma was unaware that her system was rap-
idly destroying her good looks. She had been a 
pretty, pleasant girl in the days when Aaron had 
courted her; a little prim and precise, perhaps, 
but not given to lectures on neatness and order. 
She lived with two maiden aunts, who had taken 
pains with her bringing up, and thoroughly im-
bued her with their system of housekeeping. 
Mrs. Raynor would not have a servant, for serv-
ants were so " slack and disorderly," and she 
preferred to see after her household affairs her-
self, unconscious that her voice was from much 
fault-finding becoming a fretful, querulous whine; 
that lines were marring the beauty of her 
white forehead, and crow's feet gathering around 
her eyes; that her elasticity and energy were less 
with every day, and that she was deteriorating 
both physically and intellectually. 
"If I ever marry," said Jack, one evening, sud-
denly dropping on the floor the newspaper he 
had been reading by the center table, " I shall 
insist upon my wife's keeping a stout girl to help 
her. You don't seem to be aware of it, Emma, 
but you are working yourself into your grave." 
Mrs. Raynor rose from her seat to pick up the 
newspaper, folded it neatly and laid it on the 
table. Then she took up her mending again, 
saying as she seated herself:— 
" I could not endure a hired 'girl in the house, 
Jack. They are all so slovenly and neglectful. 
Mary never could remember to rub off the kettle 
in the morning when she filled it; Bridget always 
forgot to hang up the broom, and Hannah used 
to spill things over the stove. I tried all three 
thoroughly, and decided never to have another 
girl." 
" Well, those are only minor evils compared to 
your becoming a fretful invalid, or dying of over-
work. Brooms are cheap, and what did it matter 
if the kettle was dusty occasionally." 
" Jack!" Emma's tone was one of horrified 
disapproval. "It is the principle of the thing 
more than all else. I never could, if I tried fifty 
years, find a girl with any system about her." 
Jack only smiled grimly in reply. 
" And I will say this in my own praise," pursued 
Emma, " nobody could gather a teaspoonfull of 
dust in my house after I have swept it, if they 
searched from garret to cellar." 
" True," said Jack. " It would be a waste of 
time to try." 
" If you ever do marry," said Emma, paying no 
attention to her brother's sarcastic tone, " I hope 
your wife will be orderly and neat. You have no 
system about you, and if she is no better, I pity 
the house you live in—it will always be at sixes 
and sevens." 
 
"I would rather it would look like a pig-sty than 
that Fan—my wife—should overwork herself as 
you do in keeping it clean and neat. Aaron, you 
really ought to put a stop to Emma's perpetual 
trifling with her health and strength." 
Jack had expected only a smile and a sigh from 
his brother-in-law in answer, but to his surprise 
Aaron spoke:— 
" I've talked to her about it often," he said, " but 
it will be necessary for her to have a severe lesson 
before she will learn common sense. I made up 
my mind a year ago that I would say no more 
to her on the subject." 
" Common sense!" said Emma, " I don't under- 
stand you. Would you have me sit with my 
hands in my lap and see the dirt rot the floors 
through, and the stove go to pieces with rust?" 
" No," said Aaron, " but I would have you rest 
whenever you are tired. I would not have you 
polish the stove every Wednesday and Saturday, 
no matter how much else there is to attend to; 
and mop the kitchen and hall floors at regular 
intervals, even if suffering under a severe cold, 
which is liable to be increased by any impru-
dence." 
" I never had a severe illness, Aaron." 
" That is no surety that you never will have 
one," said her husband. 
" No; but I am well enough always. I've often 
felt under the weather, of course, but have always 
worked it off. There isn't a lazy bone in my 
body." 
" If you were taken sick, the house would be 
handed over to the tender mercies of a servant. 
That fact, if no other, ought to make you pru-
dent, and careful of your health," said Jack. 
"And another thing; when we come in at night, 
you are completely tired out, and consequently 
depressed and often fretful. Now, if you hus-
banded your strength, you would feel bright and 
cheerful every evening. Women who work as 
you do, wear out before they reach middle age, 
or else go insane. Farmers' wives help largely 
to keep the insane asylums full. And it makes 
such a difference to a man whether his wife is 
glum and cross, or —" 
" It seems to me," interrupted Emma, " that 
Jack has a great deal to say lately about wives. 
I hope he won't bring home one of those Hopson 
girls and ask me to welcome her." 
" And why not ?" asked Jack with a sudden 
flush. 
" Your eyes ought to tell you why not," 
answered Emma, " their house is forever littered 
up with all sorts of trash. Books, newspapers, 
birds and plants scattered all around the best 
parlor, and no attempt to systematize the work of 
the house." 
" The family is very large," said Jack, " and of 
course the girls can't keep things in such apple-
pie order as you do. But they are all amiable 
and full of fun—it's a treat to go there." 
" Less fun and more work would be better for 
the house," said Emma. " I don't mean to say 
that I ever saw soiled curtains there, or rusty 
knives, but there seems to be no system about 
the work. Now I should have each girl perform 
certain duties on certain days —" 
" In short, make herself into a patent machine 
to go by regular winding," interrupted Jack. 
" Well, Emma, perhaps it is as well to tell you 
now as any time that I am engaged to Fanny 
Hopson, and we are to be married in May." 
 
"Jack!" 
It was all Emma could say, so shocked was she 
at this piece of news. 
" Of course you pity me from the bottom of 
your heart," said Jack, " but no machine woman 
for me! I've had enough of systems, and I should 
hate Fanny if she followed me around to wipe up 
the tracks I made on the kitchen floor, or made 
a point of washing the windows at a certain hour 
on certain days of the week." 
And with this parting shot Jack walked out 
of the room. 
The first thing Emma did when the door closed, 
was to set Jack's chair in its own particular place 
against the wall, next to remark to her hus-
band that she hoped Providence would interpose 
to save Jack from the certain misery which would 
be the result of a marriage with a girl who had 
no system about her work. 
One Monday morning Aaron rose as usual at 
day-break, and went out to attend to the chores. 
He left his wife asleep as he supposed, and was 
glad that she should have the rest, for she had 
complained of a severe headache the night before. 
He expected, however, to find her at work in the 
kitchen when he came in with the milk; but she 
was not there, and no preparation had been made 
for breakfast. Surprised and alarmed, he went 
upstairs to the bedroom. 
Are you sick, Emma?" he asked, going to the 
'side of the bed. 
She turned restlessly on her pillow, an anxious 
expression on her face. 
Don't throw away those soap suds," she said, 
" I want them to mop the floor when I get these 
clothes out." 
Even in her delirium she knew the day of the 
week and washed as usual. 
MARCH 31, 1881. �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. �
155 
RELIGIOUS PUBLICATIONS 
But the washings were done without her for —An extensive forest fire is reported along the line 
many weeks to come. It was Fanny Hopson who of the Lehigh and Susquehannah Railroad to Pennsyl- 
vania, and between Attleboro and Mansfield, Mass. 
took charge of the house, claiming it as her 
privilege to do so, and Jack and Aaron were —A lady obtained a private audience with the 
only too glad to have her instead of an ignorant Pope, a �
murder 
nd warned him that the d Cardinal 
 
ay and hour were 
domestic. It is to be feared that the stove was fixed for the �
omself and �
were 
domestic. 
polished quite so often as it had been under —The farmers in Carson valley fear their crops will 
Emma's reign, and the kitchen floor was not be destroyed the coming season by grasshoppers, as the 
quite so white, but Jack and Aaron were made land in that valley is covered with grasshopper eggs. 
thoroughly comfortable in every way. �
—Track-laying has been commenced on the Oregon 
At last Mrs. Raynor was pronounced out of side of the Columbia River, above the Lower Cascades, 
danger; but it was long before she was well. on the 0. R. & N. Co.'s line between Portland and The 
There were months of weary convalescence more Dalles. 
—A railroad man of prominence estimates that at 
trying than her dangerous illness had been; days least eight thousand miles of new track will be laid in 
when she could not hear a door closed without the United States and Mexico within the next twelve 
pain, and hour upon hour when she wept over months. 
the slightest jar to her quiet and calm. She had 
ample time to review her past, and recall to mind �
Oscar de la Fayette, a grandson of Gen. La Fayette, 
one of the French representatives to the celebration at 
its many mistakes and follies; more time than Yorktown, has been dangerously ill, and is now reported 
she needed to become convinced that she bad to be dead. 
acted without wisdom or discretion; time to think �
—By a'law recently passed, opium smoking is a mis- 
of the wreck she had become through carrying demeanor in California, and three young men have been 
out the system she bad so thoroughly believed in; fined in Marysville $1.00 each, or 100 days in prison 
time to learn to loathe that system, and to resolve for the offense. 
to be a different woman and a better wife should —Virginia City, Nev., seems to be on the " down 
she ever regain her health. �
grade." There is a fissure reported " all along the 
She learned to love Fanny, who, in May, had side of Mt. Davidson, from Bullion ravine to Carson 
quietly married Jack, and continued her duties street," which has severed the water main and is in-
as if nothing had occurred, and had long talks creasing in size. 
with her young sister-in-law to whom she dtan- �
—The Boers have accepted the British terms, includ- 
fided her most sacred thoughts and desires. �
ins the cessation of war and the appointment of a 
Royal Commission. Peace is regarded as certain. 
In midsummer Jack and Fanny moved to a England seems to have been guided by a spirit of jus-
home of their own, and again Emma took in her tice in this case. 
hands the reigns of household government. But 
--The latest news up to our going to press from the 
she had learned a lesson. Her long and expensive Union Pacific railroad is that the floods have not yet 
st 
illness had taught her that she could not trifle with abated, the destruction is great, and the telegraph down 
r �
her health as she had done, and much thought where it cannot be reached, so that news from the 
II �
during her convalescence had convinced her flooded district is not full. �
- 
4 �
that she had no right to trifle with her husband's —A report from Nice says: The Italian Opera House 
P. �
happiness either. Many things were now neg- was burned March 22. The fire broke out at the begin- 
.- �
lected, the performance of which had once been ning of the performance. The bodies of nearly one 
0- 
�
�
hundred persons who were suffocated were taken out, 
considered a sacred duty, and the servant whom and it is known that over one hundred men and women 
Aaron had hired to help in the house was not perished in the flames. 
dismissed for allowing the dust to gather occasion- �
—An abolitionist banquet was held in Madrid, March 
ally on the kitchen mantel, or scolded roundly 23, at which several Senators and Deputies, also Dem-
for inattention to the rainmarks on the window ocrats and Radicals, and West Indian members were 
panes. �
present, speeches were made insisting upon the urgent 
In short, the house on the old farm became truly necessity of abolishing the species of slavery which is 
a home to Aaron, and happiness reigned where still continued in Cuba under another name. 
once discontent had been king. No further —Thomas M. Halpin, aged 58, and widely known as 
lectures were needed from Jack; for Mrs. Raynor's an Irish leader, died in Chicago, March 27. The de-
system had taken wings to itself, and flown away ceased was Secretary of the Irish Confederation move- 
forever.—The Household. �
ment in 1843, and was associated with D'Arcy McGee 
in the publication of the New York Nation. He was 
a member of the Illinois Legislature from 1872 to 1876. 
—The feeling of disaffection grows in British Colum-
bia. The resolutions of the Government concerning 
the Island Railway and providing for an appeal to the 
Queen, came before the House at Victoria, March 23. 
The Attorney-General made a speech in favor of the 
resolutions. He recited Canada's gross breaches of 
faith, and said the only recourse left the province was 
to appeal to the Queen. 
—The last steamer from Japan brought news of a 
great fire in Tokio on the 11th of February. It appears 
that there were consumed, in the short space of nine 
hours,. on forty-four streets, 7416 houses, warehouses, 
etc. The destructions caused by these fearful confla-
grations is very great. The fire of January 25th con-
sumed about 10,000 houses, so that about one-tenth of 
the city has been destroyed in two fires. 
—The spirit of lawlessness and murder is loose in the 
world. A correspondent says the petards in the recent 
explosion in Madrid were sprung at ten at night, when 
the streets were much crowded. One explosion near 
Alcala street, caused indescribable confusion, the peo-
ple running away frantically. Arrests made, have led 
to the discovery of a large petard full of powder and 
glycerine, near the church of San Justo. 
In Paris the editor of the Citoyen, has been sen-
tenced to six months imprisonment and 2000 francs 
fine, and the manager of that journal to three months 
and 2000 francs fine; the editor of the Jouvenil to six 
months and 2000 francs, and the manager of the Revolu-
tion Soeiale to same, and Rochefort and Del Pere, editor 
and manager of the Intransigeant, to 1000 francs each 
for articles applauding the assassination of the Czar. 
The opening of the Arizona route to the East 
promises to give an impetus to business all along the 
line. A Kansas City special says: The first train from 
San Francisco over the Banana line arrived here this 
morning, in charge of Conductor Hallet. The train 
consisted of twelve cars. The coaches were all crowded 
and seventy-five through passengers were aboard. The 
run was the most remarkable on record, the train hav-
ing left San Francisco on time, was on time at every 
station on the long line, 2300 miles, and arrived here 
on time. A large party of Chicago capitalists arrived 
here by the Chicago and Alton Road this morning, en 
route to New Mexico and Arizona, to invest in mines, 
and left this evening for the West on the Atchison, 
Topeka and Santa Fe Road, 
ITEMS OF �
WS'. 
—John Hopkins University has conferred the degree 
of LL.D. on President Hayes. 
—The N. Y. World says that Beecher has announced 
that he will complete his " Life of Christ." 
—Beecher is trying to get up a revival in Plymouth 
church, but with little prospect of success. 
—A telegram from Geneva says that if Sophie Pieoff-
ski is condemned and executed, the Czar will perish. 
—The plague has appeared at Kufa, ninety miles 
south of Bagdad. The mortality in Wedjib is increasing. 
—It is estimated that $600,000 of specie were pur-
chased in open market for America, March 23, in Lon-
don. 
—We have the usual wail in the papers of impend-
ing war in Europe, but none of this is news. But it will 
come. 
—The emigration from Germany to America is so 
large that the steamship companies have to charter 
extra steamers. 
—The Sultan has sent a communication to his 
Egyptian agent, asking a contingent of Egyptian troops 
in event of war. 
— Russian proposals for arranging international meas-
ures for the extirpation of the Nihilists are favorably 
received in Berlin. 
—Gen. Grant has resigned the presidency of the 
World's Fair in New Yor. Other interests demand 
all his time and attention. 
A Berlin correspondent of the London Times says 
that whole villages of Germany are preparing to emi-
grate to Illinois and Nebraska. 
The Canadian Pacific Railroad, so far as completed, 
has cost $45,526,827, and during the last three years it 
was operated at a loss of almost $2,000,000. 
Blaine has been printer, editor, and school-teacher. 
Postmaster-General James was once a printer. The 
type-case is fairly represented in the Cabinet. 
—Judge Treat, of the United States Court, has de-
cided that the Singer sewing machine patents having 
expired, anybody can manufacture the machines. 
—The Thomas Corwin is now being fitted out for an-
other Arctic cruise. She will leave about May 1st, with 
instructions to search for the Jeannette and the miss-
ing whalers. 
Published and for sale at this Wile, and by " Review and Herald," 
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History of the Sabbath and First Day of the 'Week io, 
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The Sanctuary and the 2300 Days of Dan. 8 :14. By 
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or the Lord. 352 pp. �
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Thoughts on, Daniel, critical and practical. By Elder U. 
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Life of Wm. Miller, with portrait. This book gives inter-
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Life of Elder Joseph Bates, relating his experience of 
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Life Sketches of Elder James and Mrs. E. G. White. 
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MUSICAL MESSENGER. 
THE second number of the Musical Messenger has 
come to our table. It is enlarged to a 12-page journal, 
and contains more music than the first number. It is 
published in Battle Creek, Mich,, by J. E. White, the 
publisher of the Song Anchor, with which many of our 
re aders are so well acquainted. Price only 50 cents a 
year. 
THE NORTH PACIFIC CAMP-MEETING 
FOR 1881. 
IT has been fully decided by the Executive Com-
mittee of this Conference to hold our camp-meeting 
this year the last week in the month of June. It will 
commence on the evening of the 22d and close the 
morning of the 28th. The place of the meeting will be 
at Cornelius, Washington county. There is a fine grove 
at this place, and it will take but a small amount of 
work to make the location every way pleasant for our 
yearly convocation. We hope that all our brethren 
and sisters will make a special effort to attend. More 
particulars will be given soon. �
I. D. VAN HORN. 
READ AND REPORT. 
TO CHURCH OFFICERS. 
I SEND you this week your regular quarterly blanks, 
with some important additions. Let them be carefully 
filled out within the week following the quarterly 
meeting, or as soon thereafter as consistent. We hope 
to hear from every church and company of Sabbath-
keepers at the specified time. Report as fully as possi-
ble. If any fail to get their blanks in season, drop me 
a line, and I will immediately forward them. 
OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, MARCH 31, 1881. 
_MEETINGS ITV CALIFORNIA. 
SINCE the arrival of Eld. Corliss a series of meetings 
has been, and is still being, held in Oakland, with 
good results. There is a marked increase of religious 
interest in the church and in the Sabbath-school. The 
school has grown the present quarter so that its mem-
bership is over two hundred. Some very interesting 
cases of conversion have greatly encouraged us all. 
Last Sabbath the "resident editor" attended meet-
ing in San Francisco. The meeting was good, and in 
some respects of special interest to us. More than one 
were ready to testify that " God is good to Israel." 
Eld. Healey and others are advertised to commence 
tent meetings in Los Angeles, April 1. 
Elders Haskell and Rice are in Tulare county. 
We must express our gratification with the condition 
of things as we find them at the office of the SIGNS on 
our return from the East. 
156 �
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
 
 
 
VoL. 7, No. 13. 
 
 
KALLOCH ACQUITTED. 
AFTER an unusually long trial in a San Francisco 
court, the jury pronounced I. M:‘Kalloch not guilty of 
the murder of Charles de Young. Not satisfied with 
this travesty of justice, the friends of Kalloch took the 
horses from the hack in which he was riding to his 
home, and attaching a long rope, drew the hack them- 
selves, with acclamations of triumph. The papers of 
the country, east and west, speak of the transaction in 
terms of the deepest condemnation, and as a disgrace to 
San Francisco. It is a triumph of the same element by 
the aid of which Denis Kearney held the city in 
dread for so many months. There was not the shadow 
of an excuse for this shooting on the ground of aveng-
ing the assault made on the elder Kalloch, as De 
Young's trial for that was set for the week following 
his death. 
We think the present jury system is utterly at fault, 
by which people who have intelligence sufficient to 
read the papers are rejected from service. An upright, 
intelligent citizen, who has carefully read every word 
which has been published in the newspapers, may be 
the best prepared to analyze the evidence, and give a 
verdict according to the facts presented in court. 
But words are idle now. The deed is done, and its 
influence upon society in its estimate of the value of 
human life it is impossible to stay. We have been able 
to maintain a calm complacency over the whole trans-
action by reading the 37th Psalm. 
ici.rt,g tri titt �
m. 
OUR WEEKLIES. 
WE wish to say a word to all lovers of present truth 
in behalf of the Review anal Herald. It is the church 
paper of the denomination, and should be in the house 
of every Seventh-day Adventist. It contains informa-
tion which no one can afford to dispense with. It 
should not be superseded by the SIGNS in any hous ehold, 
as the object and place of the two papers are quite 
different. Not different in respect to publishing and 
advocating the great doctrine of the Lord's coming 
according to Rev. 14, for both do this. But the SIGNS 
is not specially a church paper, but a pioneer paper, 
published under the auspices of the Tract and Mission-
ary Society. Between these papers there can never 
be any rivalry; the providence and Spirit of God has 
clearly assigned to each its place in this great work, 
and they who wish to work in the cause, and keep 
pace with its progress, want both the SIGNS and Review. 
We hope our ministers and tract workers will not cease 
their efforts until the Review is in every family where 
the faith is professed. 
We are not speaking this specially for the Pacific 
coast, though we do mean this. We are informed by 
the ministers that there are many families of believers 
in the Eastern States where the Review is not taken. 
We remember years in the past when this was not so. 
Every one who loved the truth, loved and read our 
church paper. Would that we might speedily see that, 
time again. 
A GOOD ONE. 
THE Christian at Work hits the nail squarely in the 
following short paragraph:— 
"If, as the Advance says, no one of the Ten Com-
mandments has ever been modified, how comes it that 
the Christian church to-day observes the first instead 
of the seventh day . . the Sabbath of the Lord thy 
God' ? Or is the Advance a seventh-day journal ? " 
The light is spreading so fast, and attention is being 
called to the truth so extensively, that this slip-shod 
method of sliding round the fourth commandment can-
not escape notice. Has one of the ten commandments 
been modified ? If so, by whom ? If one, why not all ? 
If not, are not the churches of the age occupying a 
very unenviable position ? 
Where are they that keep 
the commandments of God ? Rev, .14 :12. 
AN ERROR CORRECTED. 
A FRIEND in Edinburgh, as well as one in Maldon, 
England, calf attention to an item in the SIGNS pub-
lished some time ago, copied from another paper, the 
item commencing thus : "An exchange says," etc., giv-
ing statistics of various matters. Among other things 
it says the salary of the Bishop of London is £50,000, 
whereas in fact it is only £10,000. The question is 
then asked, " Where is the authority ? " 
Our reply is, We do not know. We do not know to 
what " exchange" the paper referred from which we 
copied. In such cases we do as editors generally do,—
copy items from other papers which, if correct in some 
respects, and containing nothing apparently improb-
able, we do not stop to verify in every particular. But 
we are always pleased to be corrected, and shall make 
speedy acknowledgement when corrected. 
We can easily imagine how the error was made ; 
10,000 is nearly $50,000. The pound mark has been 
TO MEMBERS. 
It is expected that you will bring your tithes with 
you to the quarterly meeting on Sunday, and hand to 
your S. B. Treasurer. Those who have conscientiously 
laid aside the " tithe and offerings " of that with which 
"God hath prospered" them, every first day of the 
week, as instructed in Matt. 23 : 23 ; 1 Cor. 16 : 1-3, will 
be ready to pay it in to the general treasury of the 
Conference. Says the Apostle, " None of us liveth to 
himself." On you, my brethren, depends in a great 
measure the faithfulness of your officers to report at 
the proper time. In order to make out their report 
they need yours. "He that is faithful in that which 
is least is faithful also in much." 
J. D. RICE, Sec. Cal. Coq: 
P. S. My address is, Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal. 
BY a reference to the label on your paper, you will 
readily see to what time you have paid your sub-
scription. Money received for the SIGNS will not be 
receipted in the paper, as a change of figures on the 
address labels will in all cases be a sufficient receipt. 
If these changes do not appear in due time, or if books 
ordered by mail are not received, notice should be 
given. All other business will be acknowledged in this 
column. 
ApilDintment5. 
DISTRICT No. 8 will hold its quarterly meeting in 
San Francisco in connection with the Church Quarterly 
meeting, Sabbath, April 9. 
M. C. ISRAEL. 
THE quarterly meeting for District No 3, will be 
held at the church in St Helena, Sunday, April 10, at 
7 P. M. A general attendance is desired as important 
business may come up before the meeting. 
JOHN MAVITY, Director. 
OUR next District Quarterly Meeting will be held 
in Petaluma, Sabbath and Sunday, April 9 and 10. 
We earnestly hope we may have some one to preach 
to us, and we desire to have a general attendance of 
the brethren from all the churches in the district. 
T. M. CHAPMAN, Director. 
THE quarterly meeting of the church Tract and 
Missionary Society of Oakland will be held in this city 
evening after the Sabbath, April 9, in connection with 
the quarterly meeting of Dist. No. 7, at which time a 
general attendance is requested. 
W. J. BOSTWICK, Director. 
ANNUAL MEETING. 
PURSUANT to the statutes of the State of California, 
notice is hereby given that the regular annual meeting 
of the Society of the Seventh-day Adventist church, 
of Oakland, will be held at the house of worship, corner 
of Clay and Thirteenth streets, Wednesday, April 6, 
1881, at 7 o'clock P. M., for the purpose of electing a 
Board of five Trustees, and transacting such other busi-
ness as may come before the meeting. Members will 
bear in mind the necessity of prompt and general 
attendance, that the proceedings may fully comply 
with the legal requirements. 
By order of the President, 
G. A. BAKER, Secretary. 
TEMPERANCE TRACTS. 
TEN CENTS will secure a select package of stirring Temperance Tracts, 
containing one hundred pages of facts, figures and pointed argu-
ments against intemperance in all its forms. The following constitute 
the package:- 
Alcohol,
package: 
 What is it ?-True Temperance.-Tobacco-Poisoning.-Tobacco-
Using a Cause of Disease.-Tobacco-Using a Relic of Barbarism.-Evil 
Effects of Tea and Coffee.-Ten Arguments for Tea and Coffce Answered. 
-The Cause and Cure of Intemperance.-The Drunkard's Arguments 
Answered.-Alcoholic Medication.- Principles of Health Reform. 
TWENTY-FIVE CENT PACKAGE. 
A larger package, costing 25 cents, contains 248 pages in eighteen 
tracts. In addition to the above eleven, it has the following Health and 
Temperance Tracts, which are larger:- 
Wine and the Bible.-Alcoholic Poison.-Moral and Social Effects of 
Alcohol.- -Pork; the Dangers of its Use.-Tea and Coffee.-Healthful 
Clothing.-Dyspepsia. 
ONE DOLLAR PACKAGE.-HEALTH BOOKS. 
In addition to the above, we will send the following valuable Health 
Books for one dollar:- 
Diphtheria (new edition illustrated), price 30 cents.-Healthful Cookery, 
25 cents.-Proper Diet for Man, 15 cents. 
Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal. 
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, AT OAKLAND, CAL., FOR THE 
IIISSIOICIRY SOCIETY OF SEIEIITH-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 PBR YEAR, �....... �. �
412.00 
In clubs of five or more copies to one address, to be used for Mis- 
sionary work, each �
• 
1.50 
Address, �
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. 
—OR— 
REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, ELDER J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, Ravens- 
Mich. �
wood, Shirley Road, Southampton, 
Miss Es ize THAYER, Secretary N. E. England. 
Tract Society, So Lancaster, Mass. MRS. A. P. "VAN HORN, Beaverton, Or 
substituted for the sign of the dollar by somebody—by 
whom we do not know. 
Our friendly correspondent says:— 
" Your exchange, on England, gives figures as to 
crime in London, which are apparently equally correct. 
But even supposing them to be substantially true, they 
do not prove that the Modern Babylon' is a whit 
worse than any of the large towns of the old or new 
world. A poor consolation, I allow." 
So we think. But the largest cities always appear 
at disadvantage in these statistical records. Still, for 
an enlightened nation, claimed to be first in the list as 
a Christian nation, the condition of London is anything 
but gratifying. Our friend adds :— 
" Perhaps you could kindly let your readers know 
the statistics of crime in New York, and the salary of 
Dr. H. W. Beecher." 
We do not feel flattered by comparing the state of 
morals in New York, or in San Francisco, with that of 
any other part of the world. It was not to make any 
such comparison that the item was published. We 
understand that the salary of H. W. Beecher is about 
half as much as that of the Bishop of London, and 
about five times as much as he would receive if he 
taught a theology more scriptural and less pleasing to 
the popular " liberal " sentiment of this degenerate age.