—Senator Ben Hill, of Georgia, died at Atlanta, Aug. 16, in his sixtieth year.
—San Francisco has a "Woman's Protective League," the object of which is to furnish employment to working girls.
—The British are now occupying Port Said, and have forbidden entry to merchant vessels at both ends of the Suez Canal.
—The twentieth session of the State Normal School at San Jose, Cal., opened last week with 459 students in attendance.
—The Iowa State Register is very severe on those prohibition advocates who are grossly intemperate in the use of tobacco.
—Governor Foster says it costs Ohio $3,000,000 a year to support its poor, and that $2,500,000 of that is directly chargeable to the liquor traffic.
—Engineer Melville, of the lost Jeanette, has succeeded in finding the dead bodies of DeLong and his companions, and will return to this country in a few weeks.
—News from Peru states that the war is becoming one of extermination. The excesses of Chilean troops in the interior has excited the populace, who are rising against the troops.
—The Northern Pacific Railway has completed two additional sections of its road. One is in Idaho, and the other in Montana. The two sections cover about 140 miles.
—A masked man stopped three little boys in Oakland, one night last week, and presenting a pistol, demanded their money. He received one dime as the reward of his courageous act.
—The village of Lindeburden, West Prussia, has been burned, and 200 persons rendered homeless. Only one house was saved, and the crops, which had just been harvested, were destroyed.
—The First National Bank of Kewanee, Ill., was robbed in open day, Aug. 14, by two men, who locked the cashier and his assistant into the vault while they secured $20,000 and walked off.
—Agricultural distress is assuming alarming proportions in Andalusia, Spain, in consequence of the poor harvest and want of labor. Frequent collisions occur between the peasantry and the police.
—Persons found guilty of outrageous assaults in Ireland, are given heavy punishment. Three men were sentenced ten, fifteen, and twenty years' imprisonment, respectively, and another to imprisonment for life.
—The great scarcity of corn is causing serious trouble in Nicaragua. The dryness of the season threatens a famine. The September crop, upon which the people are entirely dependent for food, it is feared will be a total failure.
—The Western Distillers' Association passed a resolution at Chicago favoring the enforcement of Sunday observance laws and judicious license laws, and opposing the policy of the saloon men in uniting with political parties for the purpose of advancing their interests.
—Private telegrams received in London say that the troubles in Corea have culminated in a general insurrection, and the king and queen have been assassinated. The Japanese Legation was attacked by natives belonging to the anti-foreign party. A Japanese man-of-war has been dispatched to Seoul River.
—An attempt was made, Aug. 13, to wreck a passenger train on the Pittsburg and Lake Erie Railroad. Over a thousand men, women, and children were on board, returning from a picnic. A large beam was discovered on the track just in time to prevent the train from being thrown down a bank forty feet high.
—A destructive tornado visited Bangor, Me., Aug. 15. The rain fell in sheets, and was accompanied by incessant thunder and lightning. Buildings were blown down; roofs taken off; chimneys demolished, and signs and awnings carried away. A vast amount of damage was done to orchards. The loss is between $50,000 and $100,000.
—The National News states that petitions are increasing from Chambers of Commerce throughout Germany to Bismarck in regard to the indemnification of German merchants who suffered by the riots in Alexandria, and the National Zeitung adds that the question of the amount of the compensation may form the subject of discussion between the German and Egyptian Cabinets hereafter.
—In 1872 not less than 53,000 Government schools were established in Japan, conducted on European principles, the average of schools being one to every 640 inhabitants. In two years the number of schools was augmented until the pupils exceeded 400,000. Two years ago there were 2,319,000 pupils, and, from such accounts as may be gathered, last year the total number was near 3,000,000. The number of girls attending school is very small in proportion to the boys.
—The certified copy of the amended law giving the Government power to fill vacancies in county and territorial offices in Utah has been received. The county officers of twenty-four counties, from Probate Judge to Justices of the Peace, are to be appointed. The church organ, after receiving instructions from John Taylor, advocates vigorous resistance to this law. The Mormons have employed four of the leading lawyers of Salt Lake City, and have raised $10,000 for the purpose of fighting the law.
—E. Dwyer Gray, of Dublin, member of Parliament, and proprietor of the Freeman's Journal, was sentenced, on the 16th, to three months' imprisonment and £500 fine for publishing a letter accusing a jury of being drunk on the night when they found a certain prisoner guilty of murder. No time was given him to prove the truth of the charges, and the sentence is quite generally denounced as an outrage. It has aroused the indignation of the people against the Government. Gray was Lord Mayor of Dublin for 1880.
—Western Texas has been visited by heavy rains that have done much damage. The rain fall is estimated at six feet. The plains, where it is supposed never to rain, have the appearance of a sea. The flooded section begins near Abilene and extends west for nearly 300 miles, including the country from the Brazos to the Pecos River. Miles of the track of the Texas and Pacific road have been damaged, and in several places serious wash-outs have occurred. Four miles of the track west of Abilene were washed away, and trains cannot cross. Transfers have to be made. In one spot 400 yards of track and embankment were washed away and will have to be entirely rebuilt.
—The new law restricting Chinese immigration is giving the officials some trouble. The following is a specimen: The Collector of Port Townsend, W. T., asks what he shall do in the case where a Chinaman, who had enlisted in an American port as a sailor, and who has served out his term of enlistment, wants to land where he enlisted. Under the provisions of the new law, the Collector says it is clear that he shall not be allowed to land; but there is a conflict as between the new and the former law in regard to sailors. Under the shipping agreement with the Chinaman, the Captain of the vessel bound himself to land the Chinaman in an American port. If he fails to do so, he is subject to a fine under the Maritime Law. If he does land the Chinaman, he will be subject to a heavier fine under the Chinese Restrictive Act. Judge French, acting Secretary of the Treasury, says that this case is the most complicated that has been presented to him. He says he intends to refer the entire point to the next session of Congress. In the meantime he is not exactly certain what shall be done with the Chinaman in this particular case.
THE NATURE AND TENDENCY OF MODERN SPIRITUALISM.
By Joseph Harvey Waggoner
BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.
This is a thorough exposure of the system of spiritualism. The author has carefully studied the subject, and has given such copious extracts from a large library of spiritualist publications, as to fully condemn them in their teachings and their practices, by their own testimony. It is also shown from the prophetic scriptures that spiritualism is one of the most impressive signs of the times. 184 pp. Price, 20 cents.
This question has developed the people known as Seventh-day Adventists, and is the pivotal doctrine upon which their applications of prophecy largely depend. It explains the past Advent movement, shows why those who looked for the Lord in 1844 were disappointed, reveals the fact so essential to be understood, that no prophetic period reaches to the second coming of Christ, and shows where we are, and what we are to expect in the future. But the greatest beauty of the subject is seen in the light it throws upon the progressive steps of the remedial system, the type and shadows of the former dispensation, and the position and work of our Lord in the present. It determines absolutely the question of the nearness of the second coming of Christ, the perpetuity of the law of God, the nature and time of the atonement, and the work of Judgment that precedes Christ's coming. A knowledge of this subject is indispensable to a correct application of the more important prophecies pertaining to the present time. 352 pp. $1.00. Condensed edition, paper, 224 pp., 30 cents.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
Or, REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Mich.
REVISED EDITION—JUST ISSUED.
By John Harvey Waggoner
THOUGHTS ON BAPTISM.
BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.
Being an examination of its ACTION, SUBJECTS, and RELATIONS.
Also, a brief consideration of the
Historical Evidences of Trine Immersion.
Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged.
Price, postpaid, Paper Covers, 25c.; Flexible Cloth, 35c.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
REVISED EDITION--JUST ISSUED.
By Eld. J. H. Waggoner
THOUGHTS ON BAPTISM.
BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.
Being an examination of its ACTION, SUBJECTS, and RELATIONS.
Also, a brief consideration of the Historical Evidences of Trine Immersion.
Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged.
Price, postpaid, Paper Covers, 25c.; Flexible Cloth, 35c.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
Eastern Affairs.
WE have said but little in regard to the trouble in Egypt, not because there is any less trouble, or any signs of reconciliation, but because so little confidence can be placed in most of the news that is received.
Affairs are growing more and more complicated. There has been some skirmishing between the English and Arabi's troops, but as has been expressed, they are not doing much fighting, but simply "looking at each other very hard." Arabi's position is reported as being very strong, and it will require a strong force to dislodge him.
Turkey, meanwhile, is receding from her position as an ally of England, and has refused to send troops to Egypt. The Sultan promised everything that was asked, and proclaimed Arabi a rebel and ordered him to lay down his arms, but was all the time, doubtless, in sympathy with him. The Sultan's willingness to promise is unlimited, and equaled only by his duplicity.
Russia is also preparing for war, and is only awaiting a time when the attention of the nations shall be called in another direction, to seize on the Turkish possessions.
A St. Petersburg dispatch says: "It is believed at Erzroom, in Armenia, that Russia is about to occupy the whole of Asia Minor to the Bosporous. Owing to the undefended state of this part of Turkey, the Russians could easily do this without much bloodshed."
A dispatch to the Daily Telegraph says: "It is no secret that Russia is concentrating a formidable army in the Caucasus. The army, it is estimated, will number 48,000 men."
This number may be exaggerated, but the fact remains that Russia covets this territory, and means to have it. When she makes the attempt, war may be expected such as Europe has never known before.
“A Working Church.”
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
THE following extract from a pastor’s report to the California Christian Advocate will show what, in the minds of some, a church must do in order to merit the name given above:—
“The —— M. E. Church has been honored with the title ‘a working church,’ and when I tell you of some of its doings, you will grant that the name is well deserved.
“On the Fourth of July, the ladies of our church and congregation gave an entertainment, and sold ice-cream and lemonade, realizing $42 net as the result.
“Then a few of our ladies concluded to surprise the pastor and family by giving them a ‘pound party,’ and at once went to work. On the afternoon of the 25th, the pastor and family were invited to spend the afternoon at Brother C. C. Scott’s, and returned in the evening just in time to see the friends, representing various sects and parties, thronging the parsonage, and bringing with them their gifts, till the table was loaded with good and useful pounds, all over-weight. As the evening was delightful, many occupied the yard, where seats had been provided. The —— brass band was in attendance, and enlivened the occasion with soul-stirring strains of music.
“At the proper time the ladies served the large company—at least one hundred and fifty—with ice-cream and cake.
“At a late hour the friends retired, leaving us enriched to the amount of nearly $80 in cash and goods. Everybody seemed well pleased, and surely this first ‘pound party’ in —— was a complete success; and too much credit cannot be awarded to those who had the matter in hand. May our dear Heavenly Father bless and reward each one of these kind-hearted friends, is our sincere prayer.”
Certainly no one can doubt that the title “a working church” has been fairly earned, but there may arise a question as to the kind of work—whether good or bad. Did the Saviour have reference to “pound parties” and “ice-cream and lemonade festivals,” when he said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven?” Is this the kind of work that is going to convert the world and bring in the millennium?
A recent number of the Advocate says of Seventh-day Adventists: “Their perverts, when made, are left in utter destitution of the aids which are necessary in securing growth in grace and in spirituality.” Putting the two things together, we judge that in its estimation “pound parties” and “ice-cream festivals,” are necessary aids to growth in grace and spirituality! We are willing that Methodist churches should monopolize all such “aids.” Should any Seventh-day Adventist church substitute the holding of pound parties for its regular missionary work, we would not call it “a working church,” but should say that its members were among the last-day professors whom Paul describes as “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” 2 Tim. 3:1-5.
E. J. W.
Time of Our Camp-Meeting
We this week insert Sept. 21 as the time for commencing the California camp-meeting. There will be a final consultation next week of all parties, some of whom could not be seen early enough for this week. It may be that the time will be changed a little; but Sept. 21 is likely to be the time. Positive information next week. There is every indication that our work is fast drawing toward its close. The “image of the beast” will soon be formed. Now is the time to awake to action. Let all come up to the camp-meeting this year. It is an important time. “Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”
The Outcome of It.
THE Monterey County Republican Convention gave expression to its sentiments on the Sunday Law as follows :—
" WHEREAS, The Democratic party of California has declared in favor of abolishing that long-cherished and time-honored institution, the American Sabbath, the proper observance of which as a day of rest is the prime factor of good society and good government and promotion of the peace, prosperity, and happiness of our people; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Republican party of Monterey County, in convention assembled, is unalterably opposed to the repeal of the so-called Sunday Law, and in favor of such additional legislation as experience has demonstrated will render its enforcement more certain and its provisions more effective, and the delegates chosen by this convention are hereby pledged to do their utmost to have incorporated in the State platform of the Republican party a plank embodying the declaration of the sentiment herein expressed."
The above resolution gives evidence of what we have many times stated, that the present Sunday Law is far too inefficient to suit the minds of the Church-and-State people. There is no reason why anybody should be taken unawares by the union of church and State, which is sure to come soon. Then, as a Sunday-Law speaker recently said, "let the minority abide the consequences."
That Troublesome Sunday.
It does not trouble us; we can dispose of it very quickly, and to the satisfaction of every one who prefers evidence, either of Scripture or history, to his feelings or prejudices. But if there is any one thing which, more than any other thing, gives trouble to its friends, it is "the venerable day of the sun," the Sunday. A well-known religious paper contains the following:—
"In an essay read before the Baptist Ministers' Conference in Philadelphia the other day, the essayist began by declaring that 'there is nothing in the fourth commandment to determine which day in the week should be observed.' 'The seventh day is the Sabbath,' doesn't that tell 'which day in the week should be observed?' So we read. The trouble with this exegesis is that it is born of a desire to find in the fourth commandment as it stands the father of our latter-day Sunday. The truth is, the fourth commandment does prescribe a specific day as the Sabbath, as any Hebrew observing any other day instead would have speedily discovered. As all mere civic and ceremonial statutes fell with the coming of Christ, who showed himself and his disciples to be superior to a specific day, it was relegated to the Christian church to select any one day or not. This the church did not do immediately, but a little later selected the day of Christ's resurrection as the Christian Sabbath, yet did not make it the idle day it was to the Jews. So it is we have Sunday, the Lord's day for our Sabbath, and doubtless will have to the end of time."
This goes even beyond the claim of the Catholic Church. It not only makes the church the author of the Sunday institution, but it sets aside the fourth commandment entirely. It also tells an important truth, namely, that the Sunday was not selected "immediately" as a day of observance. "A little later!" Yes, after the "falling away" had come, and "the man of sin" was revealed. 2 Thess. 2:1–8.
San Francisco.
By I. D. Van Horn
OUR tent-meeting is still in progress. Average attendance now about one hundred. A good portion of these are regular, and seem deeply interested. Conviction of duty is strongly resting on the minds of many who attend. The cross may be too heavy for some, but a few are deciding for the truth.
Yesterday, Sabbath, August 19, we had one of the best meetings we ever enjoyed in this church. The Spirit of the Lord was present to a degree that was felt by all. At the close of the meeting two more joined the church, making six accessions up to this date. Eleven more are keeping the Sabbath, five of whom have signed the covenant.
Brother and Sister McClure are doing good work by visiting interested parties. This kind of work is productive of much good in a series of meetings with a tent.
The church as a whole is being benefited and strengthened by the effort made with the tent this season in this city. We hope soon to see a united band of devoted brethren and sisters in Christ, engaged in the one great object of pushing forward the last message of mercy.
August 20, 1882. I. D. VAN HORN.
A MINE OF INFORMATION.
By John Nevins Andrews
History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week
BY ELD. J. N. ANDREWS.
THE Bible record of the Sabbath; the secular history concerning it; the successive steps by which the change to the first day was made; and the work of restoration, are given in detail.
EVERY TEXT OF SCRIPTURE
Concerning the Sabbath is commented on at length; and the
COMPLETE TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS
In regard to the Sabbath and first day is given. The comparative merits of the seventh and the first day Sabbaths are fully shown. A copious index enables the reader to find the comments on any text, or the statement of any historian.
Should be read by everybody. 528 pp. Price, $1.25.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
A BOOK FOR THE TIMES.
The Religious Amendment to the Constitution:
OR
THE SABBATH, THE SUNDAY, THE CHANGE
AND THE RESTITUTION.
THE object of the proposed Constitutional Amendment, together with the authority for it, is fully canvassed.
The views of the leaders of the parties both for and against the Amendment are fairly given in this book.
☞ The present agitation of the Sunday Law makes this book especially interesting and instructive at this time.
Bound in cloth, 380 pp. Price, $1.00.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
BIBLE SANCTIFICATION:
A CONTRAST OF TRUE AND FALSE THEORIES.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
THIS is a pamphlet of only 84 pages, but its value is not to be judged by its size. It is just what its title indicates: a faithful presentation of Bible truth on this important subject, and an exposure of the false theories prevailing in regard to it. Every believer in Bible truth should read it. Buy it, read it, and lend it to your neighbor. Price 10 cts.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES,
By Editor
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, AT OAKLAND, CAL., FOR THE
Missionary Society of Seventh-day Adventists.
A twelve-page Religious Family Paper, devoted to a discussion of the Prophecies, Signs of the Times, Second Coming of Christ, Harmony of the Law and Gospel, with Departments devoted to Temperance, The Home Circle, The Missionary Work, and the Sabbath-school.
Price Per Year, . . . . . . . . . $2.00
in Clubs of five or more copies to one address, to be used in Missionary Work, . . . . . . . . . 1.50
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
—OR—
REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Michigan.
MISS ELIZA THAYER, Sec. N. E. Tract Society, South Lancaster, Mass.
ELD. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, Ravenswood, Shirley Road, Southampton, England.
W. L. RAYMOND, Gaston, Oregon.
Camp-Meetings.
VERMONT, Montpelier, Aug. 31 to Sept. 5.
ILLINOIS, Watseka, Sept. 5-12.
PENNSYLVANIA, Olean, N. Y., " 12-18.
MISSOURI, — " 14-19.
NEW YORK, Union Square, Oswego Co., " 20-26.
NEBRASKA, — " 20-26.
CALIFORNIA, Healdsburgh, Sept. 21-
MICHIGAN, Lansing, Sept. 27 to Oct. 2.
INDIANA, Marion, Oct. 2-9.
KENTUCKY, Custar, " 4-10.
TENNESSEE, — " 12-17.