“An Ishmaelite!—why, what do you mean? I have always thought her an inoffensive sort of do-nothing. Never have I seen any thing that would suggest that her hand is against any one, or any one against her; the truth is, she will never set the world on fire through her force of character after any fashion.”
“I think you mistake my meaning. I do not mean that she is warlike in her disposition, only that, as she wears the Ishmaelitish badge, she displays her nationality.”
“I regret that you should wrong Mrs. S. so sadly by speaking of her as though she were akin to that uncivilized, barbaric nation, and my only apology for you is that you do not know Mrs. S., nor the position she holds in the Christian community.”
“I certainly do know Mrs. S. well; I have a more intimate acquaintance with her influence as a church member than you are aware of. But if she is not an Ishmaelite, and does not wish to have it known that she is, why does she wear the unmistakable badge? Why does she conform to the habits of barbaric and uncivilized nations? If I should wear the badge of the Masonic or any other order, would it not be because I wished to be designated as belonging to that fraternity?”
“You really puzzle me. What has all this to do with your calling Mrs. S. an Ishmaelite?”
“It has much to do with it. And I can assure you on scriptural grounds that I do right in designating Mrs. S. as an Ishmaelite. There lies your Bible within arm’s reach. Now turn to Judges 8:24. What do you read here? ‘They had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites!’ Now one ‘Thus saith the Lord,’ as found in the Bible, ought to settle forever all questioning.”
“You astonish me! Why, I never would have thought of it. If Mrs. S. is an Ishmaelite, then we have a race of Ishmaelites scattered through all our churches. I hardly can say which denomination has the most of them. Presbyterians, Baptists, Episcopalians, and even Methodists have not a few of this diverse people. Will you believe me? I have even seen ear-rings on the wife of a Methodist minister, and other minister’s wives too.”
“Of course I shall have to believe you, because it is a truth that I see verified in all directions, and it pains my heart to the quick to witness these relics of barbarism introduced among people professing to be Christians. When we hear of the Hindoos and Indians perforating the soft part of their nose for the insertion of trinkets, we pity them in their barbarity and want of civilization. But where is the difference, as far as civilization is concerned, between a woman within the bounds of what is called civilization, who perforates the soft part of her ear to insert a trinket, or an Indian or Hindoo who perforates the soft part of his nose? One is just as much a manifestation of barbarism as the other.”
“True, indeed! But I never thought of the startling fact that those women who wear ear-rings wear the badge of Ishmaelites. I am sure that hundreds of women in our churches who now wear them would never wish to be seen wearing them again if they only knew that that text was in the Bible.”
“I heard of a minister who preached from the text, ‘They had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.’ A lady was present who really desired to be an Israelite indeed; but when she heard the sermon she was almost confounded, not having known that there was such a text in the Bible. Said she, ‘I have so long been trying to be an Israelite, and now I see that I have all the time been an Ishmaelite.’ But I suppose a minister whose wife or daughters wear ear-rings would not like to preach from the text. It would require some bravery, but it would be a grand idea for Christendom, could we in these days have a general burial, such as occurred in the days of Jacob.”
“Oh, indeed! You are in danger of getting a little too hard on the ladies now. You surely would not wish to have all those who wear Ishmaelite badges buried. Now that is too bad!”
“No! no indeed! but as you have your Bible within reach, please turn to Gen. 35. Here we behold a new departure in Jacob’s life, from which he was no more to be Jacob, the supplanter, but Israel, mighty in his prevailings with Omnipotence. Now see the grand funeral ceremony that marked this change of character, in which all his household were required to take an important part. ‘Then Jacob said unto his47household, and to all that were with him, ‘Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments. . . . And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their ear-rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.’ Now what I mean by the grand burial proposed is the interment of the strange household gods, ear-rings, etc., which, as unmistakable relics of heathendom, have found their way into the so-called Christian church. The idea of burying Christian ladies who wear them never for a moment entered my thoughts. Jacob did not, of course, bury those of his large household who had these relics of the heathen, by which they were at that time so closely surrounded, but he buried their ear-rings and everything of that sort.”
“Why, what a sacrifice that must have been! Our church ladies wear ear-rings and other jewelry that costs from twenty to twenty-five hundred or five thousand dollars. Do you think those people belonging to Jacob’s household permitted those costly relics of heathendom to be buried there under the shade of that old oak tree?”
“I don’t know. There is no place in the Bible that speaks of their ever having resurrected them. If any of Israel’s household had dug them up in his day I think he would have disinherited them. But I fear that some who claim to be of Israel’s household may have stealthily dug them up. And who knows, in view of the imperishability of gold, but some of them may have come into the hands of those wild, marauding Ishmaelites, and through them descend to the ladies of the present day?”
“Really you amaze me! Why! who would have thought that these Ishmaelitish customs could have come through such a long succession of ages?”
“Mind, I did not say they did, only that it might have been so.”
Nobility.
TRUE worth is in being, not seeming—
In doing each day that goes by
Some little good—not in the dreaming
Of great things to do by-and-by,
For whatever men say in blindness
And spite of the fancies of youth,
There's nothing so kingly as kindness,
And nothing so royal as truth.
We get back our mete as we measure—
We cannot do wrong and feel right,
Nor can we give pain and gain pleasure,
For injustice avenges each slight.
The air for the wing of the sparrow,
The bush for the robin and wren,
But always the path that is narrow
And straight for the children of men.
Through envy, through malice, through hating,
Against the world, early and late,
No jot of our courage abating—
Our part is to work and to wait.
And slight is the sting of his trouble
Whose winnings are less than his worth;
For he who is honest is noble,
Whatever his fortune or birth.
A Smoking Minister Emerges from Smoke.
Dear Sir: I have left off smoking. I could give you, in my own experience, some items that I think must be a little troublesome to the conscience of any smoking minister. I indulged in it till I was thoroughly convinced that it was not only opposed to the refined socialities of life, but that it was detrimental to health, befogging to the intellect, and stultifying to the sensibilities. I will, however, trouble you with only a few details on its moral bearings. They will do to use against the habit, just as well as they would were they your own personal experience.
Take this text of the apostle: “If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth.” A very practical text; but I was a smoker, and that habit was opposed to the best Christian sense of my brethren, and even by many who were not Christians, was regarded as a vice. I must waive that subject, lest my people say, “Physician, heal thyself.”
I wanted to preach upon the duty of self-denial—a duty that needs often to be urged. But the idea of a smoker preaching such a doctrine was simply ridiculous. That must be delayed then.
The subject of temperance came up. I felt called to preach upon it; but I could find no sound premise from which to reason, that was not destructive to my peace as a smoking Christian.
I wished to preach a sermon on benevolence, requiring to save the littles for Christ; but my cigar-bill faced me. I could not well preach in the face of that.
It was my daily prayer that God would cleanse my heart from sin. Conscience would whisper smoking is a sin.
I wished to visit my people; but both my clothes and my breath indicated that I had been smoking. I had a little rather they would not know it; beside, it might be offensive to them. I must stay at home.
I needed two or three hours of vigorous bodily exercise; but I sat down and smoked after each meal, and an hour and a half or two hours of the day were gone. A good smoke requires an hour. I could not spare the time for exercise, and I soon got so that the exercise was irksome; in fine, I chose the easy way. It was a task for me to forbear. I do not know how others on earth get along with these daily experiences, but I myself could not endure them longer, and I am no smoker. I relate these experiences to you because I know you have a disposition to trouble people's consciences about this sin so far as you can. But a sinner knows best how a sinner feels, and the above items may help you. Besides, I owe you this confession, as evidence of approval of your efforts and arguments for reform in this matter.
SECULAR NEWS.
—For two cents a postal card will go to all parts of Europe.
—A letter can now be sent round the world in seventy-eight days.
—Three thousand miners in Alleghany valley are on a strike for higher wages.
—The Russian government has ordered the preparation of 150 railway carriages for the transportation of sick and wounded. What does that mean?
—The Philadelphia Ledger and Transcript records the death of ten persons in that vicinity, in 1876, who were from one hundred to one hundred and two years of age.
—An Eastern exchange says: “The lawyers in San Francisco are wearing crape on the left arm for thirty days, as an evidence of their grief at the settlement of the Lick estate without litigation.”
It has been estimated by the President of the New York State Working Men's Assembly that there are at the present time 45,375 men in New York city who are able and willing to work, but can find no employment.
—The Centennial chime of bells which attracted so much attention during the Exhibition, has been sold to Mrs. A. T. Stewart, of New York city, for the Stewart Memorial Church, at Garden city, Long Island. The church will be the finest on the continent.
—Italy has declared its universities open to women. The like action has been taken by Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. A ministerial order has been issued in Holland opening every university and gymnasium to women. France has opened the Sorbonne to women, and Russia its schools of medicine and surgery.
—A dispatch from Vienna, Jan. 20, announces a tremendous land slide in the vicinity of Steinbruck, Austria. It is stated that two million meters (a metre is about 39 inches) of earth have fallen, and that the railroad is covered to a depth of fifty feet for seven hundred yards, and will be blocked for weeks. Two houses containing families are still buried.
—One hundred thousand dollars of George Peabody's gift to Yale College has been used in the erection of the fire-proof museum. The sum of $20,000 has been set apart as a reserve fund for the completion of the building, and the income of $30,000 is available for the care of the museum, and the increase of its collections. Mr. Peabody's entire gift was $150,000.
—More than three millions of dollars are now expended annually for education in Japan. There are no less than 18,700 common schools, fifty-one normal schools, and twenty-one government colleges; and not less than 400,000 girls are in attendance upon the public schools. Voluntary gifts of over a million dollars a year, from the rich men of the country, have been made to carry on this school system, so intensely interested in it are the thinking people of the land. The population of Japan is 33,580,000.
—Over five millions of the American people are unable to read and write, mostly foreigners and freedmen. In South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi this is the condition of more than half the population. When five millions confess themselves unable to read and write, we may safely infer that the acquirements of at least another few millions in this direction are so limited as to be of little practical use. The illiteracy of this large body of men and women is a constant source of weakness and danger to themselves and to the Republic. The school-master has a great work to do in America.
SENDING PORTRAITS BY TELEGRAPH.—A Paris correspondent of the London Standard writes: “It has often been said that the science of telegraphy is as yet only in its infancy. What it will be when it reaches the age of maturity it would be difficult to say with certainty, but some idea may be formed from an extraordinary telegraphic discovery just made in Paris. It appears that some inventor has found out the means of sending portraits by telegraph. The modus operandi has not yet been disclosed, but experiments have been made, and—if we are to believe the papers—with complete success.”
—Our rifle and revolver manufacturers are making a good thing out of the threatening aspect of affairs between Russia and Turkey; both countries are eagerly buying their firearms. By the Colt machinery bought by General Gorloff already 3,000,000 rifles have been turned out; Russia has imported 100,000 Smith & Wesson revolvers and 20,000,000 cartridges, to say nothing of the 400,000 cartridges manufactured daily in Russia by American machines. Meanwhile Turkey has contracted in Rhode Island for 800,000 Martini-Henry rifles, of which 250,000 have already been shipped, and 100,000 more are ready for export.
—According to Behm's statistical tables, the population of the world in 1876 was 1,423,917,000, the average density being 28 people to the square mile. Europe has 309,178,300; Asia, 824,548,500; Africa, 199,921,600; Australasia, 4,748,660; and America, 85,519,850. The increase over 1875 is about 27,000,000—an increase due, in a great measure, to the result of recent censuses and a more accurate knowledge of regions hitherto imperfectly known. Mexico is given 9,276,079 souls; the Central American States, 2,828,164; and the West Indies, 4,316,178. There are about 215 cities in the world that have, or are estimated to have, 100,000 inhabitants or more. Twenty-nine of them are credited with a population of 500,000 or more, and 9 have 1,000,000 inhabitants or more, to wit: London, 3,489,428; Paris, 1,851,793; New York (but including Brooklyn), 1,535,622; Vienna, 1,091,999; Berlin, 1,044,000; and Canton, Seangtan, Shanchowfu and Singanfu, 1,000,000 each.
A Fool in a High Station
A FOOL, in a high station is like a man on the top of a monument—everything appears small to him and he appears small to every body.
What Makes Lamps Explode.
The Scientific American says: “All explosion of petroleum lamps are caused by the vapor or gas that collects in the space above the oil. When full of oil, of course a lamp contains no gas; but immediately on lighting the lamp consumption of oil begins, soon leaving a space for gas, which commences to form as the lamp warms up, and after burning a short time, sufficient gas will accumulate to form an explosion. The gas in a lamp will explode only when ignited. In this respect it is like gunpowder. Cheap or inferior oil is always most dangerous. The flame is communicated to the gas in the following manner: The wick tube in all lamp burners is made larger than the wick which is to pass through it. It would not do to have the wick work tightly in the burner; on the contrary, it is essential that it move up and down with perfect ease. In this way it is unavoidable that space in the tube is left along the sides of the wick sufficient for the flame from the burner to pass down into the lamp and explode the lamp. 1. A lamp may be standing on a table or mantle and a slight puff of air from the open window or door, may cause an explosion. 2. A lamp may be taken up quickly from a table or mantle and instantly exploded. 3. A lamp may be taken into an entry where there is a draught, or out of doors, and an explosion ensues. 4. A lighted lamp is taken up a flight of stairs, or is raised quickly to place it on the mantle, resulting in an explosion. In these cases the mischief is done by the air movement—either by suddenly checking the draught, or forcing air down the chimney against the flame. 5. Blowing down the chimney to extinguish the light, is a frequent cause of explosion. 6. Lamp explosions have been caused by using a chimney broken off at the top, or one that has a piece broken out, whereby the draught is variable and the flame unsteady. 7. Sometimes a thoughtless person puts a small sized wick in a large burner, thus leaving considerable space along the edges of the wick. 8. An old burner with its air draughts all clogged up, which rightfully should be thrown away, is sometimes continued in use, and the final result is an explosion.”
Dyes for the Hair.
Some time since, the editors of the Chemist and Druggist (Eng.) employed a chemist to make analysis of some of the most popular hair dyes. He found the essential ingredients of all of them to be lead and sulphur. Here is the result of the analysis of “Hall’s Vegetable Sicilian Hair Renewer.”
A bottle containing 6 fluid ounces furnished 70.2 grains of sulphur, mixed with sulphate of calcium (milk of sulphur having evidently been used in this case) also lead, corresponding to 50.8 grains of acetate of lead.
As will be noticed, the composition of this so-called vegetable compound is anything but what is claimed for it. Nothing but the most unscrupulous dishonesty could lead its manufacturers to give it such a name. Don’t be ashamed of grey hairs. If you attempt to hide them, you will more probably than not suffer a severe penalty.—Sel.
Winegrowing and Drunkenness in Switzerland
It is the testimony of the best men in Switzerland—those who have the highest good of the people at heart—that the increased growth of the grape has been steadily and correspondingly attended by the increase of drunkenness. They lament the planting of a new vineyard as we, at home, regret the opening of a new grog-shop. They expect no good of it to any body. They know, and deeply feel, that the whole wine-producing enterprise is charged with degradation for their country.—Scribner.
The Price of Daily Wine
SIR HENRY THOMPSON, one of the most eminent representatives of the medical profession in England, but not a temperance specialist, says: “Don’t take your daily wine under any pretext of its doing you any good. Take it frankly as a luxury—one which must be paid for; by some persons very lightly, by some at a high price, but always to be paid for. And mostly some loss of health, or of mental power, or of calmness of temper, or of judgment is the price.”
RELIGIOUS NEWS AND NOTES.
—New York has 67 public schools and 329 church buildings.
—There are 18,000 Israelites in San Francisco, five synagogues in the State, and three in the city.
—There was a falling off of fifteen thousand dollars in pew rents in the Plymouth church this year.
—Cardinal Simeoni, the successor to the late Cardinal Antonelli in the office of secretary of State to the Pope, took possession of his apartments in the Vatican, December 6th.
—The Bible Pavilion in the Centennial grounds at Philadelphia sold during the Exhibition 3,334 Bibles, 8,489 Testaments, and 13,352 portions of the Bible, making 25,175 volumes in 45 different languages.
—The Fanfulla of Rome announces that the Duchess of Galliera has sent the Pope 1,000,000 lire (£40,000), and implores the Apostolic benediction “on the suffering soul of her deceased husband.”
—One hundred years ago, Friday, January 12, the first white settlement was made in Santa Clara valley, at which time Father Tomas de la Pena, a priest of the Order of St. Francis, established the mission at Santa Clara.
The Jews in this country do not favor the scheme of founding an Israelitish kingdom in Palestine. The Jewish Messenger, of New York, says: Our Hebrew countrymen would for nothing in the world ever renounce their beautiful title of American citizens.
The official “Statistical Abstract,” issued from British India, gives the following census of the religions of its population: The total population is about 100,000,000. Of the whole number 39,000,000 are Hindoos; 41,000,000, Mohammedans; 3,000,000, Buddhists; 1,000,000, Sikhs; and 900,000, Christians.
—MM. de Rothschild and Montefiore have a number of schools, a hospital, and other philanthropic institutions on Mount Zion, at Jerusalem, and have now added a printing office, from which a work has just been issued treating of the Holy Land. This is the first book which has ever been printed in Palestine.
—On the 21st of May next the fiftieth anniversary of the elevation of the present Pope, Pius IX., to the episcopacy, is to be celebrated at Rome. Circulars have been sent abroad soliciting contributions in money and other gifts in honor of the occasion. The gifts are to be exhibited at the Vatican, and the names of the contributors bound up in an illuminated album. On the day of the celebration there is to be a grand jubilee festival. Mrs. General Sherman was the recipient of the circulars sent to this country.
—The Japanese government now tolerates all religions, and some of the native papers are advocating religious equality. The movement is said to be supported by the general opinion of the country. Several of the Mikado’s ministers are claimed as advocates of a separation of church and State. The Christian community in Japan has recently sustained a severe loss in the death of Hatakeyama Yoshinari, one of the first young Japanese who came to this country to be educated. He graduated at Rutgers’ College, and became director of the Imperial College at Tokio.
This Week's Paper.
By James White
WHAT we have said of the leading article of the first page of former numbers of the SIGNS could be said of the first page of the present issue. The description of the healing of the Centurion’s Son will be read with special interest.
The restitution of the dominion of the earth through Christ, which was lost in Adam, the theme of the second page of this week’s paper, is a grand and glorious subject. Bible students should read this page with Bible in hand. The casual reader should read it twice with care, then he is prepared to commence to study it with Bible in hand.
Two popular heresies have conspired to hide away from the Christian church the coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the true inheritance of the saints; (1) the conscious existence of an immortal part in Heaven between death and the resurrection; and (2), the spiritual second advent and reign of Christ.
If an immortal part of the saints goes to Heaven at death into God's presence where there is “fullness of joy,” and at his right hand where “there are pleasures forevermore,” there to remain eternally, why need Christ come back to this earth again to call forth the body?
An Indiana minister was astonished that the Adventists should make so much ado over the coming of Christ to raise the dead. He added, that as the old body of clay in which they once lived could not add to the fullness, or the duration of the joys of the saints in glory, he could not see why Christ should be to the trouble of coming back to this world to gather up the old bodies of his saints. He could not see any need of the doctrine of the second advent and the resurrection of the dead. From his stand-point, he could see that the spiritual coming and reign of Christ was in harmony with his views of natural immortality.
The careful reader can readily see how, in the fog of these two heresies, our Indiana minister could lose sight of the literal coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the inheritance of the saints on the New Earth, in fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham.
Once broken away from these fundamental doctrines of the gospel, and the mind intoxicated with theological vagaries, the “saints secure abode” can be located without the least difficulty “beyond the bounds of time and space.” The writer does not desire such a heaven. Space is somewhere. Beyond space, is nowhere! God save us. And yet there are thousands of professed Christians who have so long been fed with mist and moonshine, that with death and such a heaven in view, they can sing with great fervor,—
“My Lord calls, and I must go
Way over in the promised land.”
Dr. Laney has evidently studied well the subject of identity as applies to the resurrection of the body. His article on the fourth page of this week’s issue was handed to us by Bro. S. H. King. He took it from a Detroit paper of last autumn.
The doctor shows the legitimate result of the resurrection of the same matter that was put into the ground at death, no more, no less. He truly says that those who demand this in order to a recognition of the individual, “Know not what they demand.”
We are encouraged to labor to make the SIGNS just the paper our people everywhere will desire to circulate to the ends of the earth, wherever the English language is read. The receipts of cash in this week’s paper look well. Let the new subscriptions come in, old ones be paid up, so that present receipts may be as a few drops before a plenteous shower. J. W.
Biblical Institute.
By James White
In the SIGNS for Jan. 11, 1877, we suggested that a Biblical Institute could be held by Elder Smith of Michigan, at Oakland or some other place in California, during the month of April. Several have responded favorably, stating that they would attend. We here give more definite statements:
1. It is decided that March 20 would be the best time to commence.
2. The Biblical School would probably hold about four weeks.
3. Two or three lectures would be given each day.
4. All questions upon a given lecture to the point, presented in writing at the close of each lecture, will be answered during a given time just before the next lecture commences.
5. No tuition whatever is required of students.
6. The Oakland church will open their new house of worship, and beside bearing the incidental expenses arising from the meetings, they do not see how they can do more than board those whom they may invite to their homes by letter.
7. This will be a season of thorough training on theoretical and practical subjects, besides the spiritual benefit which is ardently hoped will attend such a gathering.
JAMES WHITE.
Quarterly Meeting in Dist. No. 2.
By John Norton Loughborough
THE first quarterly meeting of District No. 2 was held at Fairview, Fresno county, Jan. 13, 14. It was a success. Bro. Waggoner and Wood had been holding meetings with the church and they assisted in the quarterly meeting.
On Sabbath, the 13th, Bro. Waggoner baptized four, making eighteen that he has baptized in that church. At 3 P. M. the ordinance of John 13 and the communion were attended to, nearly every member taking part in both. It was a good season for all present.
The church had been passing through some trials with wayward members, from one of whom it was necessary to withdraw fellowship. The action in these cases was harmonious, and others of more stability and worth are coming in to fill the places of those who have gone out.
On Sunday, the 14th, the business meeting of the missionary district was held, the report of which shows excellent figures for the first quarter of the new district, there being thirty-five members, twenty-five of whom reported. Other figures of their work have been reported in the SIGNS.
It appearing that the cause demanded a complete organization of the church, I remained a week after the quarterly meeting closed. The meeting for the organization was on the evening of the 16th, when nearly all who had signed the covenant became members of the church. Others will follow. After reading the scriptures setting forth the qualifications of officers, Bro. Wilson R. Smith was elected elder ; Bro. C. C. Burnett, deacon ; and Bro. William Beall, clerk. The elder and deacon were ordained at the close of the morning service, Sabbath, Jan. 20. In the afternoon four of the company which Bro. Wood had raised up in Mendocino neighborhood were baptized.
Sunday, the 21st, Systematic Benevolence pledges were made for 1877, by the members of the Fairview church, amounting to about $400, and by the Mendocino church to about $50.
Bro. William Hutchings Jr. was chosen treasurer for Fairview, and Bro. John W. Traber, treasurer for Mendocino.
Closed labor in Fresno county Sunday evening, Jan. 21. The prospects are encouraging for the cause in that county.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
Business Department.
“Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully,” (margin, negligently). Jer. 48:10.
Received for the Signs.
$2.00 EACH. Ruth B Coggeshall 4-7, Mrs T Wilber 4-1, Samuel Wilber 4-1, W B Davis 4-1, Mrs Lurana Haynes 4-9, A Farrington 4-6, Prof C O Olds 4-7, Miss Alice O Joy 4-7, J E Lowry 4-10, H McCoy 4-10, Jacob Hankins 4-1, W K Kirk 4-1, Joel Cady 4-1, Jacob Shively 4-1, Cornelius Bessett 5-1, Robert Reid 4-9, S E Arnold 3-40, Almira Prescott 4-1, C A Foster 4-1, Mrs Wm Brown 4-1, S S Harding 4-1, J H Ginley 4-1, A J Stifler 3-33, Daniel Johnson 4-9, J P Baker 4-1, S E Ward 4-1.
$1.50 EACH. E A Hardy 4-1, Anna P Smith 4-1, R O Shively 4-1, J T Beall 4-1, F Warner 4-1, Mrs L E Hellecker 4-1, Daniel Austin 4-1, E D Hurlburt 3-27, S Alberty 4-1, P Herzer 4-1, J W Brown 4-1, G P Brown 4-1, S B Brown 4-1, L H Brown 4-1, J Davison 4-1, Wm Simmons 4-1, Cornelia Fuller 4-7, Mrs H C Rowe 4-1, Arthur M Robbins 4-1, Kate Loverage 4-1, George Dawson 4-1, George Hathaway 4-17, Frances J Clark 5-17, Ann L Stevens 4-1, Harriet Busbey 4-1, W R Smith 4-1, J W Traber 4-1, Alta Sutton 4-17, John Barr 4-17, N Cornelius 4-1, Margaret Rennols 4-1, Mrs J K Wilbur 4-1, James Phelps 4-1, Agnes Bottorf 4-1, A P Nichols 4-1, M Randall 4-1, Edw'd G Holman 4-1, Henry Haughton 4-1, Asa Gilbert 4-1, Ellen O Mason 4-1, Mrs James Gilbert 4-1, N C Frost 4-1, Ezekiel Tandy 4-1, Charles Young 4-1, George Gilbert 4-1, Mrs Henry Ricketson 4-17, Joseph B Comings 4-1, Henry Smith 4-1, Eugene Sanderson 4-1, B F Zarker 4-1, Leah Campbell 4-1, C H Stanford 4-1, Mrs J B McKnight 4-1, Joseph Nisinger 4-1, W A Coalson 4-1, Joseph M Bogar 4-1, Shadle Rupert 4-1, Cynthia A Deskins 4-1, Thos J Bevins 4-1, Cynthia A Pauley 4-1, Mrs Maria Cranson 4-1, W B Woodruff 4-1, Peter Cranston 4-1, C S Downer 3-25, R A Huffman 4-1, Mrs J A Waldrop 4-1, Seth Stern 4-1, F Carson 3-1, Mrs Emeline Holyoke 4-1, George Craig 4-1, Edwin Griffin 4-1, Robert Gladstone 4-1, Willet Reynolds 4-1, A M Burden 4-1, A P France 4-1, Aaron Pennel 4-1, W R Peterson 4-1, Mary Russel 4-1, Wm Carpenter 4-7, Silas Schwerdfeger 4-1, S B Hewitt 4-1, Amos Snyder 4-1, Harriet Griffith 4-1, Mary McColister 4-1, Mrs George Hunt 4-1, Jacob Newlan 3-36, John M Tucker 4-1, J F Davis 4-1, Mrs M Corse 4-1, Anthony Snyder 3-11, J Z Nugan 4-1, J M Cook 4-1, Isaac Henderson 4-1, Mrs Ann Link 4-1, Frank Jackley 4-1, John Meldran 4-1.
MISCELLANEOUS. S G French 75c 3-25, Mrs W T White 75c 3-25, Frances S Harrison 75c 3-25, T J Eagle 75c 3-25, Jane Daggy 75c 3-25, Mary H McGee 75c 3-25, H H Cook 50c 3-13, W H Wild $5.00 4-1, V M Society 9.00 (six copies) 4-7, Ada M Richmond 1.00 3-31, Mrs H C Mitchell 1.25 3-4, Wm H Scott 75c 3-25, J D Van Horn 3.00 4-25, L H Starbuck 3.00 4-25, R Harlow 1.40 4-1, Mrs L A Bramhall 4.00 (8 copies) 3-17, F R Eagle 3.00 4-10, John *Simmons 1.00 3-25, Adolphus Smith 1.00 3-1, C S Crumb 3.00 (2 copies) 4-7, Mrs L Chadwick 1.10 3-42, E G Potter on 21 copies 2.63 3-5, Mrs W T Wright 75c 3-25, F H Clymer 50c 3-19, R Thompson 1.00 3-25, Eliza B Wilson 75c 3-25.
California Conference Fund.
Fairview Church $83.20.
Cash Received on Account.
California T and M Society Dist No 2, $77.60; Dis No 7, 25c; Daniel Glunt per Osceola Church Iowa 3.00.
Donations to the Signs.
M Augusta Green 15c.
Donations for Papers on Ships.
M Mosford $1.00.
Fresno and Tulare Counties.
By J. H. Waggoner
AFTER the time of my last report from Fresno county, I went to Tulare county, near Visalia. I was much disappointed in the prospect, the interest there not being at all what I had expected. A few are holding on there, and I labored for their benefit, and, if possible, to add to their numbers. I trust the labor was not lost, though I did not see all accomplished that I hoped for. Bro. Eagle is doing all he can to help others, and to keep up the interest of the cause there.
Returning to Fresno, I remained a few days and held meetings and visited until the 28th. The cause is still progressing there.
Brother Wood is now laboring at Lakeside, a farming community, in what is called the “Mussel Slough” country. He commenced the evening of the 23rd. The school-house is large, and the first night over forty were in attendance, and the congregations increased every meeting up to the time of his writing, the 27th. He is of good courage, and he has the prayers of many friends for his success.
J. H. WAGGONER.
Oakland, Jan. 29, 1877.
Mendocino County.
By John Norton Loughborough
Bro. Price, writing from Mendocino County, calls for a preacher. He says, six have embraced the Sabbath within the last few weeks from reading the SIGNS and tracts, and they are now holding Sabbath meetings. The harvest is truly opening up before us. J. N. L.
THE BEST RULE.—
"The best rule," says a wise writer, "is to say all the good we can of every one, and refrain from saying evil, unless it becomes a clear matter of duty to warn. Slander is a sin much worse than theft. We should no more bite one with our words than with our teeth. An angry word is as bad as a blow often, and a satirical word is like a sting."
As a cross word begets a word that is cross, so will a kind one beget its own likeness. If people only knew the power they possess in being kind, how much good would they achieve for themselves, how much misery prevent to others.
English Bibles.
We have just received from the Toronto Bible House a “full stock of English Bibles, which will be furnished by mail, post-paid, at the following prices:—
The Nonpariel plain, and the Pearl Circuit have maps of Palestine. For fineness of material and strength of binding and beauty of print there is nothing equal to the English Bible.
Appointments.
OAKLAND—Services at the new church, on the corner of Clay and Thirteenth streets, every Sabbath (Saturday) at 10:30 A. M., and Sunday evening at 7:30. Prayer-meeting every Tuesday evening at 7:30. Sabbath-school at 9 o'clock Sabbath morning.
SAN FRANCISCO—Services at the house of worship, on Laguna street, between Tyler and McAllister, every Sabbath (Saturday), at 11 A. M., and First-day evening at 7:30. Prayer-meeting every Wednesday evening at 7:30. The Hayes Valley cars of Market street and the Lone Mountain cars of the Central R. R. cross Laguna street near the church.