War News.—It is reported that arrangements have now been completed for the exchange of the two newspaper men recently captured by the Spanish in Cuba. Two officers recently captured by the American blockading squadron will be exchanged for the newspaper men.—One of the scouts belonging to Admiral Sampson’s fleet has captured a Spanish gunboat, and is towing it into port.—The new Spanish ministry has declared its intention to prosecute the war till exhaustion calls a halt. Its second fleet is ready to sail, but it is not known whether its destination will be the Atlantic shores of North America or the Philippine Islands. Spain has recently received from railway grants $48,250,000, which will be used in the prosecution of the war. The Spanish populace welcomed the commander of the Montserrat at Corunna, on May 22, with demonstrations of the wildest enthusiasm, on account of his having run the blockade of Cuba and escaped again to his home port.—A report from Paris states that France is indignant because the cables from Cuba have been cut, and will ask the powers to protest against it.—Señor Polo y Bernabe, recent Spanish minister to the United States, whose presence in Canada was giving Washington officials much uneasiness, has sailed for Spain, leaving his charge d’affaires to carry on whatever work he had inaugurated.—Two United States cruisers picked up the cable at Santiago de Cuba, on May 18, and succeeded in cutting it while under fire from the batteries on shore. The fire was returned by the cruisers.—The cruiser Charleston and the monitor Monterey have been ordered from San Francisco to the Philippines. It is expected that the Monterey will have to be towed the entire distance of nearly 7,000 miles, on account of her small coal capacity.—Re-enforcements for the Philippines have been arriving at San Francisco during the week from Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. The transports City of Sydney, City of Peking, and Australia have been loaded with troops for the Philippines, and will start at once, convoyed by the cruiser Charleston from Honolulu.—A despatch from Admiral Dewey states that he is still maintaining the blockade of Manila, and has made arrangements for the transfer of foreigners to Cavite in case of an uprising of the Spanish soldiers, who have threatened to seize the stores because they have not been paid or provisioned.—A detachment of Cuban volunteers sailed from Florida for Cuba on May 18 with a large consignment of supplies, ammunition, rifles, and light artillery for the insurgents.—The great naval battle which has been expected for many days in West Indian waters has not yet occurred, and the whereabouts of the Spanish fleet, if known, are not divulged.
Casualties and Calamities.—The continued rise in the price of bread in Germany is causing renewed agitation among the Liberals and Socialists, who are blaming the government for the present conditions. The present price of bread is fifty per cent. above the price at which it sold in January last, and fears of famine are expressed, especially in the south of Germany.—Six men were drowned at Springdale, Pennsylvania, on May 19, while attempting to cross the Alleghany River on a raft. The raft was swamped by the swift current, and only four of the ten it carried reached the shore alive.—A great fire broke out in the Zollern mine, at Dortmund, Prussia, on May 22, and it is believed that the forty-five imprisoned miners have perished.—About 3,000 people took part in a riot at Bhowanipoor, India, on May 22, and for three hours the police were powerless to disperse them.—The first regiment of Missouri infantry were in a railroad wreck between Chattanooga and Chickamauga, Tennessee, on May 21. One of the volunteers was killed, and a number so seriously injured that they are expected to die.—A succession of avalanches swept down from Valdez glacier, in the Alaska mountains, on April 30 and May 1 and 2, completely covering a number of tents and burying their occupants. Sixty men and women were dug out of the mass of snow and ice, several of whom afterwards died from their injuries; three were taken out dead, and it is believed that several lost their lives whose bodies were not recovered.—Four men were crushed to death in a cavern at the Hematite ore mines near Mayorsville, Pennsylvania, on May 21.—A tornado passed through the northwestern part of Arkansas on May 19, destroying a large amount of property and causing considerable loss of life.
European Affairs.—The queen regent of Spain having personally appealed to the pope to command the clergy in Spain to abstain from all Carlist agitation, the pope, on May 22, replied to the queen that he would compel the observance of the strictest neutrality. This response is considered to be a severe rebuke to the Spanish Government, which has been deaf to the councils of the pope.—Señor Puigcerver, minister of finance, a member of the new Spanish cabinet, has refused to adopt the income tax, by which it was expected to raise a large sum for the prosecution of the war. This is believed to portend another cabinet crisis for Spain.—The Spanish cruiser Isabel II., while at anchor in San Juan, Porto Rico, on May 22, fired on the British steamer Roth, which had arrived at that port after the bombardment. The Spanish claim that the shot was fired by mistake, but the British claim that it was the intention of the Spaniards to cripple the vessel so that it could not leave, as it was loaded with coal.—Switzerland, by a direct vote of the people, has decided to purchase the railroads throughout the republic, and have them operated by the government.
Cuba.—Hunger is beginning to be felt in Havana, while eggs are selling at ten cents each, and milk from twenty to twenty-five cents per glass. The size of a loaf of bread has been reduced one-half, and all the available food supplies are under military control. A special despatch states that the Cubans are fighting their way to the coast to join American landing parties. President Bartolome Masso has issued a proclamation to the people of Cuba expressing gratitude to the United States for assistance in the present war, declaring that the only object of the rebellion is to establish a just and stable government, and calling upon Spaniards and Autonomists to join the cause of liberty.
Inventions.—Experiments are being made in the Russian army with tall observation towers, which may be readily unjointed and distributed among the men on the march. In their drills with these towers squads of sixty men can erect complete structures in twenty minutes.—A Chicago inventor has produced an aerial camera which is capable of photographing objects at great distances. It is sent up into the air attached to a balloon, adjusted at a certain angle, and operated from the ground. The Secretary of War at Washington is investigating the device with a view to using it in the war in Cuba.
Rebellions.—A critical state of affairs exists in the Samoan Islands, where another native war seems inevitable. The rebels have raised their flag in defiance of Malietoa’s government, and runners are carrying the war message from camp to camp. A German war ship is on her way to the islands, and an American vessel is also expected to visit the group.—By the defeat of the Venezuela rebel leader, General Hernandez, the rebellion has been practically put down. Many were killed in the engagement, which resulted in the defeat of the rebels.
—The public and press of Russia are manifesting great interest in the future of the Philippine Islands, and much hostility is manifest toward any scheme by which the United States, England, Germany, individually or jointly, are to have possession of the islands. Some of the newspapers are urging the government to obtain from Spain a lease of some of the Philippines, that Russia may have a base of supplies and a pretext for intervention.
—The French Government has ordered a copy made of the famous picture “The Battle of Yorktown,” which now adorns the National Gallery at Versailles, and it will be sent to the embassy at Washington. The picture shows the surrender of Lord Cornwallis to General Washington, and its presentation at this time is regarded as a delicate compliment.
—A despatch from Vienna states that it is learned that the friendly advances made by Great Britain to Japan have borne fruit, and that an Anglo-Japanese understanding has been reached, comprehending all eventualities which may occur in the East, as well as the consequences of the present war between the United States and Spain.
—The Jewish rabbis of Baltimore, Maryland, have united in an effort to secure a better attendance at synagog and temple by agreeing not to solemnize marriages between those who do not attend service at some Jewish house of worship, and not to officiate at funerals of those who fail to go to synagog.
—The second trial of M. Emile Zola for criminal libel against certain officers of the French army who conducted the Esterhazy court-martial, was begun in Versailles, France, on May 23.
—Edward Bellamy, author of “Looking Backward,” died at his home in Chicopee Falls, Mass., on May 22.
—United States Minister Angell has entered a protest with the Turkish Government against the action of the Turkish authorities in refusing to grant passports to Americans to travel in the interior. It is reported that these passports are withheld only from American and British subjects.
—The pall-bearers at the funeral of William E. Gladstone were the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the Marquis of Salisbury, the Earl of Kimberly, the Earl of Rosebery, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Arthur Balfour, and Sir William Vernon Harcourt.
—The Russian Government has notified Great Britain that she has withdrawn the embargo recently placed upon foreigners wishing to visit Talien-wan, and it will no longer be necessary for foreigners to carry passports vised by Russian consuls.
A GOOD TRACT FOR USE.
By Clarence Santee
“THE Great Threefold Message” is just out as No. 47 of Apples of Gold Library series. It ought to be read by every Seventh-day Adventist, put in every reading-rack, and in the hands of every person who will read. Sometimes I fear that we are passing by the great foundation-stones of the message in our haste after something new. This tract is presented in such a way that people will read. Let the tract societies send in large orders for this tract and follow other publications that have been put out, with this tract, that you will find second to none. It has three illustrations, and contains sixteen pages. Price, one cent. Thousands of these ought to be used in Iowa before the evenings become short. Send them by letter, and in every way. I think the first general effort for 1898 may well be made with this tract.—Clarence Santee, in Workers’ Bulletin.
WORDS OF TRUTH, No. 10.
The above title is true in more senses than one. This tract will be a great help to those laboring for unbelievers, infidels, or atheists. It must carry conviction to the doubting and strength to the weak.
The author, Mrs. S. M. I. Henry, writes in a most impressive and powerful manner of her own experience, and has produced a tract that should be used in every neighborhood. Its title is, First a Willing Mind, Then All. Price, 1 cent.
Iowa Workers’ Bulletin
By Editor
At the present writing we have received orders for 10,842 copies of the new tract, “The Alarm of War,” and orders are still coming in every day. The demand for it has been so great that the publishers have been unable to keep up with their orders; hence there has been more or less delay in filling the orders we have received. We trust this has not been a source of discouragement to any. We are so glad to know that so many thousands of pages bearing the truth of God, have been scattered in our State. We trust that much more may yet be done with it. Some of the societies have found it necessary to increase their first order. Some are selling the tracts with good success.
Iowa Workers’ Bulletin
The Kansas Worker
THE Topeka missionary society has ordered one thousand of the tract “The Alarm of War.” Several societies have ordered one or two hundred of them. How many has your society ordered? Right now, while the war fever is so intense, is just the time to strike with these tracts. Price, 2 cents each.
The Kansas Worker
THE MISSIONARY MAGAZINE
Organ of the Seventh-day Adventist Foreign Mission Board, a journal alive with missionary information, especially with that which pertains to the work and movements of the missionaries of the denomination.
Published monthly at 25 cents per year, 50 cents to foreign countries.
Send subscriptions to the publishers, 1730 North Fifteenth Street, Philadelphia, Pa., or to your tract societies.
Advertisements at usual rates solicited.
THE TALENTS.
By M. C. Wilcox
By M. C. Wilcox. A brief essay on “The Parable of the Talents,” showing that the talents represent the various gifts of the Spirit which God bestows as he will upon those who are consecrated to him, with the duties and blessed privileges involved therein. Bible Students’ Library, No. 77; 16 pp., price 2 cents.
BOOKS THAT ARE SELLING
PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS, or the Great Conflict between Good and Evil, as Illustrated in the Lives of Holy Men of Old.
By Mrs. E. G. White.
This book treats upon the themes of Bible history—themes not in themselves new, but so presented here as to give them a new significance. Beginning with the rebellion in heaven, the author shows why sin was permitted, why Satan was not destroyed, and why man was tested, gives a thrilling description of man’s temptation and fall, and rehearses the plan of redemption devised for his salvation. The life of each of the patriarchs, from Adam to King David, is carefully scanned, and from each a lesson is drawn. This volume traces the great conflict between good and evil from its inception down through the centuries to the time of David’s death, and shows God’s wonderful love for mankind by His dealings with the “holy men of old.” The book contains over 760 octavo pages. It is printed from clear new electrotypes, on a fine quality of tinted paper. Its pages are adorned with more than 50 engravings, over 30 of which are full page, and many were designed and engraved especially for this book, and at great expense, by an artist in Paris, France. Sold only by subscription. Complete outfit 90 cts., post-paid.
THE GREAT CONTROVERSY BETWEEN CHRIST AND SATAN.
By Mrs. E. G. White.
This volume presents the most wonderful and intensely interesting history that has ever been written of the great conflict between Christianity and the powers of darkness, as illustrated in the lives of Christian martyrs and reformers on the one hand, and wicked men and persecuting powers on the other. Beginning with our Lord’s great prophecy given while viewing Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, this book outlines the history of the whole dispensation down to the time when “sin and sinners are no more, God’s entire universe is clean, and the great controversy is forever ended.” It contains 39 full-page illustrations, nearly all of them new and specially engraved. It is printed on fine tinted paper, beautifully and substantially bound, and contains 700 octavo pages. Nearly two hundred thousand copies have already been sold. Sold by subscription only. Canvassing outfit 90 cts., post-paid.
PROPHECIES OF JESUS.
By Elder J. G. Matteson.
This book was first published in Swedish and Danish, and has run through several editions in those languages. It has been thoroughly revised by the author, with careful attention to its adaptability to the English-speaking people; and additional matter of a peculiarly timely character has been added.
It is divided into four parts. Part 1 treats on the prophetic utterances of Christ. Part 2 takes up the predictions of the apostles, and marks their fulfilment. Part 3 treats on the great prophecies of Daniel, and gives the historical evidence of their fulfilment. Part 4 treats on the prophecies of John as recorded in the Revelation.
“Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow,” is the basis of thought all through the book, and that part of the prophecy referring especially to our time is carefully dwelt upon. The book contains 566 pages, printed on finely-calendered paper, and is embellished with thirty-four full-page illustrations. Canvassing outfit 90 cts., post-paid.
THE TWO REPUBLICS.
By Alonzo T. Jones.
Of great importance to every American citizen. A comparative history of the two greatest republics, Rome and the United States. The study of years and the collaboration of many volumes, are presented in a concise and pleasing manner. In reviewing the history of the Roman Republic, the rocks upon which she stranded are clearly pointed out.
The “Two Republics” comprises 896 octavo pages, and is printed from new electrotypes, on fine, tinted paper, beautifully and substantially bound, and is illustrated with 67 full-page engravings.
“The Two Republics” gives evidence of patient research and sound thinking.—Daily Press, Philadelphia.
The book is essentially important to the philosophic student of history.—Daily Reporter, Logansport, Ind.
Every person in America who values the heritage of an untrammeled conscience, and would be armed intellectually against encroachments upon our civil liberty, should read “The Two Republics.”—Rocky Mountain Daily News.
It seems to us as though it has left nothing unsaid which needed to be said on this subject.—The Sun, New York.
Canvassing outfit 90 cts., post-paid.
Pacific Press Publishing Company,
Oakland, Cal.
39 Bond Street, New York City.
18 West 5th Street, Kansas City, Mo.
Our Valuable Premium Offer
By Editor
To any one, either old or new subscriber, sending us $3.00, we will send the SIGNS OF THE TIMES one year, and a Bible worth more than the price asked for both the SIGNS and the Bible. An opportunity, therefore, to get the paper free.
If you either need a Bible for yourself, or desire to invest in a handsome present for a friend, don’t fail to remember that we have what you want.
The Bible is substantially bound in morocco, divinity circuit (see illustration), and is leather lined to edge; round corners, red under gold edges, minion type. Size of page, 5½ x 8 inches. Besides the Bible there are over 650 pages of valuable helps, containing more than 350 fine illustrations. Some of the special features are a Life of Jesus and Harmony of the Gospels, Parables and Miracles of Jesus, Life and Travels of Paul, Sacred Chronology, History of the Patriarchs, etc., etc.; in fact, the Bible Treasury contains a library of useful and valuable information concerning Bible customs, manners, history, geography, weights, measures, languages, etc., with sidelights from recent explorations, finely illustrated.
The book also contains a concordance of real merit; new design, combining a Concordance, Subject Index, and Pronouncing Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names, in very convenient form for ready reference.
Send $3.00 for our offer and be convinced; or $7.00 and seven new names will make you a possessor of one of these Bibles free.
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California Camp-meeting
California Camp-meeting, always a feast of good things, will be in session at St. Helena when this paper reaches our readers. It will be a time of greater blessing this year than it ever has been in the past. We are nearer Christ’s coming, nearer the kingdom of God, nearer the end of all earthly work for the Master. Satan is working with greater power to lull to sleep and to enchain the minds and hearts of men. Only the power of the Spirit of God will enable God’s people to withstand the powers of evil and do the work God has given them to do. And God is willing to give of His Spirit. He is pouring it out upon all flesh. He is especially fitting those who are consecrated to Him. At this camp-meeting, besides the laborers in this field, Brethren A. F. Ballenger and Allen Moon, president of the Foreign Mission Board, will be present. God has greatly blessed the labors of Brother Ballenger at all the meetings he has attended; He will here. And Brother Moon will tell us of God’s work in other fields. More than all else, Christ will be present by His Spirit to bless every one. May there be the best attendance of all our people.
PAYING THE WAY FOR THE GREAT DECEPTION.
ONE of the great, overmastering delusions of the last days is, according to the Bible, that which finds its fulfilment in Modern Spiritualism. Spiritualism claims that the dead do not die; that they still consciously live with greater power and intelligence than before death; that they can and do come back to earth and mingle among those who live in the flesh; and that this is the greatest evidence, if not the only certain evidence, which we possess of the immortality of the soul.
Many Christians have been unwilling to concede the evidential value of Spiritualism for the immortality of the soul, believing it substantiated by the Bible. But the Bible explicitly declares that God “only hath immortality;” that “the dead know not anything;” and that immortality is to be obtained only through Christ at His coming. And this is driving those who will not relinquish the unscriptural theory—built on Satan’s falsehood, “Thou shalt not surely die”—to look more and more kindly upon Spiritualism. As an instance of this we take the following from an article in the Homiletic Review of May, by the Rev. H. R. Rae, a minister of influence in the Congregational Church in England. Mr. Rae says:—
“Our souls live forever in indestructible personality. Where? Heaven is not exactly ‘above the clouds,’ as our childish imaginations led us to think. The departed may, in their disembodied condition, dwell at no great distance from the living, tho unseen to fleshly eyes. Such an idea has taken hold of many minds. It may be based on fantasy; but the notion, when it does not go too far, is neither un-pleasing nor unprofitable. . . . If we admit this to be more than fancy, and add to it some more or less clumsy rehabilitation of the flesh and blood frame under the name of resurrection, it takes but a little leap to reach the view-point where we behold spirits appearing so as to be known to us, especially if some critical occasion justifies the appearance.”
Mr. Rae further on expresses his belief that God sent Samuel to meet with the wicked Saul. After enlarging upon the incident he remarks:—
“There is no reason why we should not readily admit the possibility, and even the probability, of God sending His servant on such a mission.”
But we do; “the dead know not anything.” The entire hope of the dead rests in resurrection at the second coming of Christ. See 1 Cor. 15:14–23. Such teaching as this of Mr. Rae’s but paves the way for Modern Spiritualism, with its foul brood of “seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.” It is the product of the first falsehood to Eve. Gen. 3:4. It can be met only by the truth of the Word of God, and the second-advent hope.
Unordered Papers
By Editor
☞ We send no papers from this office to individuals without pay in advance.
☞ When persons receive copies without ordering them, they are sent by other parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. Persons thus receiving copies of the “Signs” are not indebted to the office, and will not be called upon to pay for them. Please read the papers you may receive, and hand them to your friends to read.
A Peg for Religious Legislation
There has been inserted in the preamble of the Australasian Federal Constitution the words, “humbly relying on the blessing of almighty God.” It is a good peg on which to hang religious legislation in the future.
Honest Occupation and State Authority
“The Southern Sentinel and Herald of Liberty,” of Melbourne, Australia, truly says: “Honest occupation can never menace or endanger the peace and safety of the State. For this reason no State has a right to forbid its citizens to engage in such occupation on any day. For it to do so is to foster idleness, and that is the best hatching-ground for crime known in all the world.”
Tobacco and Heart Disease
For the following observation The Individual is responsible: “The cigaret knocked out more candidates for military life than anything else. Only 30 per cent. of those thrown out in the enlistment for the Civil War were dropped from heart disturbance. It is 90 per cent. now. The cigaret did it. Yet nearly every one enlisted, smokes or chews tobacco.” Tobacco is one of the greatest causes of heart and eye diseases.
A Better Book.
The Pacific Christian, speaking of a book entitled “Sabbath, or Lord’s Day,” says: “It is a discussion as to whether Christians should observe Saturday or Sunday as their day of rest and worship. The price is only 25 cents. It would be a splendid thing if 50,000 copies of this work could be distributed and read on this coast.” But a better book on the subject is the Word of God. If an example is wanted as to what day to observe and how to observe it, take the example of Jesus Christ. The cross, well, the cross in following Him will have to be lifted. There is no other way.
Why “Remarkable”?—
In speaking of six companies of Colorado troops, a semi-religious paper of that State observes, “The scarcity of Christian young men among them is remarkable.” Why “remarkable”? Is it not what should be expected? Christ has called His children to peace, not war. A great general observed, “War is hell.” Christ calls His children to heaven, not hell. Christian young men ought to be in Spain and Cuba teaching the people the way of peace. It might imperil their life more surely than this war, but the cause would be Christian. How can a Christian fight with carnal weapons?
Good and Evil.
An esteemed correspondent asks, “Is evil perverted good?” We reply, No; for the simple reason that evil is already perversion. Good perverted is evil always. Supreme good is the perfect circle of God’s righteousness. Bent in the least respect, and it is no longer a circle. Perverting still more the perverted boundary line of the circle does not make it a true curve; it merely emphasizes the primary perversion. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Pervert or bend it but the least and the line is no longer straight, but crooked. Bending, or perverting, the crooked line still more does not make it straight. To make the crooked straight, it must be converted, made anew. As applied to character, only creative power can accomplish the work.
Our Offer is This
By Editor
A $25,000 PROPOSITION
The Signs of the Times now has a circulation of upwards of 40,000 copies weekly. We want to see this circulation increased to 100,000 copies, and have been working to this end for some time. The list has gone up in the last two years from less than 20,000 copies to its present circulation, and we now propose to make a bold strike toward that 100,000 mark.
Our Offer is This
If 5,000 of our readers will send us 5 new yearly subscriptions at $1.00 each, we will give to each of these 5,000 readers a five-years’ subscription to the SIGNS free.
It would not be good policy to make such an offer for a few straggling subscriptions, but if by such an extraordinary offer as this, we can secure 25,000 new subscribers, then the proposition at once becomes sound business sense.
Now the question is, Will you, individually, promise to do this? If so, send us your name and address, and say that we can count on you for 5 new subscribers, but do not send in any subscriptions until we notify you. What we want to know is, Are enough of our readers interested in this proposition to secure at least 25,000 new subscriptions? Surely, out of our 40,000 readers, more than 5,000 ought to be ready and anxious to respond to this offer.
A prompt response from 5,000 or 10,000 of our readers would be regarded as evidence that the efforts of the editors and publishers in furnishing such a paper as the SIGNS at so low a price, were appreciated.
The publishers believe that they are sending out the best pioneer missionary journal in the world, and desire to see its sphere of usefulness greatly enlarged. A largely increased circulation will also enable the publishers to give a still better paper for the price.
Are you interested in the SIGNS? Are you interested in this proposition? If so, write us to-day.
