Earlier text: Position of the Reformers Concerning the Sabbath and First DayMR. BARNETT, while conducting a temperance meeting, related this incident: "What one glass did for a man." He said he was attending a meeting where temperance experience was told. One man arose and told what one glass had done for him. He said:— "I had a little vessel on the coast; she had four men besides myself. I had my wife and two children on board; the night was stormy, and my brother was to stand watch that night; the seamen prevailed on him to take 'one glass' to help him perform his duties; but, being unaccustomed to liquor, he fell asleep, and in the night I awoke to find my vessel a wreck; took my wife and one of my little ones in my arms, and she took the other, and for hours we battled with the cold waves. After hours of suffering, the waves swept my little one from my embrace; then, after more hours of suffering, the waves swept my other little one from my wife's arms, and our two little dears were lost from us forever. After more battling with the storm and waves, I looked at my wife, and behold she was cold in death. I made my way to the shore, and here I am—my wife, my children, and all my earthly possessions lost for 'one glass of rum.'" Forty Years of Tobacco Consumption
An English firm of tobacco manufacturers have compiled a table showing the amount of tobacco manufactured, the revenue and the amount consumed per head of the population during the forty years from 1840 to 1880. From this it appears that in the former year the quantity of tobacco cleared was 22,876,641 pounds, and the quantity per head of the population was .86 pounds. Every year the manufacture increased up to 1877, when there was a slight decline until 1880, in which year the total was 49,174,672 pounds. The consumption per head of the population in 1879—that in 1880 not being given—was 1.41 pounds. POLITENESS may prevent the want of wit and talents from being observed; but wit and talent cannot prevent the discovery of the want of politeness. THERE is a true story which I never weary of telling whenever the opportunity offers by which its recital can “point a moral.” Thus it runs:— It was Ned Thornton’s eighteenth birth-day. A year previous, when he had received the merry congratulations of his friends upon a similar event, he was as frolicking, fun-loving, clean-hearted, and popular a boy as ever handled a bat or tossed a snow-ball. Within the twelve months that lay folded between that memorable day and this one, he had fallen from his high estate and become that saddest of earthly sights to pure eyes, “a fast young man.” As he lounged carelessly over the counter of a drinking saloon, waiting for the glass of beer just ordered, and wondering why “the fellows” whom he was to have met there by appointment were so “slow,” he seemed as impervious to any tender emotion as though his handsome face and form had been carved out of granite. As he stood tapping on the smooth marble, and thinking of the wild debauch which had been planned for the coming evening out of compliment to him, a glass door in the rear opened; he heard a sigh, and turning, confronted an old, wrinkled, black woman. With a scrubbing brush in one hand, and a small pot of sand in the other, she stood an instant, steadily scanning him from head to foot. “Hallo, Aunty! have you an idea of scouring me?” he asked. “De outside is peart and smart lookin’ enuff, sir; it’s inside whar de great stain is dat I can’t tech,” she replied, never removing her gaze. The blood mounted to Ned’s forehead until his eyes flashed at what he considered her insolence. “What do you mean, you old fool? I’ll teach you the proper way to address me; I’ll”— “Stop, stop, honey!” she exclaimed, laying the back of the brush, with her hand still clasping it, upon his coat sleeve. “I’se already drest you more times dan you kin count. ’Twon’t help you none to ’buse and scarify old Katy. I’se long wanted a chance at you, and now I’ll speak my mind. You is mos’ a man now, you is; but, honey, it ’pears to me no time since your two-year-old birf-day, when dese arms kerried you on a pillar night an’ day for mos’ a week. Your mother was worn out nussin’ you, for you was dreful sick. One day, when you laid on my lap jis’ as white an’ limysey as a wet clof, she leaned ober you, a prayin’ an’ a cryin’ an’ said:— “‘Jis let my precious boy lib, dear Lord, an’ I g’b him to your service forebber an’ ebber.’” “He, de good Marster, took her soon arter dat, and I russed you a year longer, ’cordin’ to my promise to her. De Lord heard dat prayer, an’ you is mos’ a man. Whose strenf you wastin’ now, y’urs or de Lord’s? Who you ’long to, yourself or he? Why is you bringin’ disgrace on de name ob your angel mother? Who is you scandalizin, an’ reproachin’ all de time? De dear Lord, your bes’ frien’. Oh! Neddy, ole mistus’ little boy, Neddy!” At that instant the bar-tender, who had been providentially detained, approached with the foaming “bitters,” and at the same moment in rushed, laughing and shouting, three of the wildest lads in town. Old Katy vanished as they came near. “Been treating old Fifteenth, Ned?” said Max Murray, the ring-leader of the “Fearless Four,” as Ned had dubbed his party of intimates. “You look as sober as though you had swallowed her. Four slings, Pete,” nodding to the waiter, “and make them as stiff as a bristle. What the mischief is wrong; Ned? I can’t understand you,” he continued, as Ned, with hands thrust into the depths of his pockets, and grave face from which all color had fled, stood just where Aunt Katy had left him. None but the tender, pitying Christ knew the nature of the struggle which had commenced so suddenly, yet violently in Ned’s heart, nor the flood of beautiful memories which were pouring in upon his awakened soul. Words can no more convey an idea of their power and swiftness than they could show to a blind man the soft blue of a summer’s sky. “Lord help me!” he breathed, and already the giant’s grip seemed loosening. “None for me, Max,” as his astonished friend held the tempting glass to his very lips. “Are you sick, Ned? You’re gray as ashes,” said Hugh Brown. “Yes, boys, I am sick of myself;” and covering his face with his cap, he wept—like the boy that he was, notwithstanding his attempts at bravado. A few weeks after this occurrence, at a Sabbath afternoon prayer-meeting, there entered, two by two, a well-known Bible class of young men, and bringing up the rear, with heads erect, and firm, ringing footsteps, came the “Fearless Four,” led by Ned Thornton. Aunt Katy, brave old missionary Aunt Katy, had done her work well. Love for a perishing soul had prompted her desire to rescue it, and unquestioning faith in the God she served had given her the needed courage.—Exchange. “ALWAYS be honest, boys,” said Uncle Nathan to the youngsters. “Don’t ever try to cheat at play, at work, or at lessons. I remember well how I tried to cheat my teacher once, and how I came to grief in consequence. “We had a new teacher that term, a Miss Mason; and we were all delighted with the way she heard us recite in geography the first day. No passing the question around the class by turn, but all answered in concert. You know it is such fun to school boys and girls to be allowed to make some kind of a noise, and we made the old school-house ring. “It was just the same the next day, and the next. There was a large class of us, and we considered that recitation prime fun. “The fourth day of school came, and as I drew out the geography from my desk to prepare my lesson, something seemed to whisper to me: ‘What’s the use of your taking so much pains to learn your lesson, when the class all answers together? Who is going to notice if your voice isn’t among the rest? You can pick up enough from what you know of geography, and what the rest answer, to put in an occasional word, and it will do just as well.’ “I suspect that imp of mischief went about and whispered the same in the ears of the rest of the class; and you may conclude so, too, before my story is done. I am ashamed to tell you, boys, that I listened to the evil suggestion, and spent the time drawing pictures on my slate, and arranging a jack-knife trade with Ned White, that should have been given to my geography lesson. And withal the geography was a new one that term, and not one of the class had ever studied it before. “‘First class in geography!’ called Miss Mason that afternoon, and just then there was a knock at the door. She answered it as we were taking our seats, and ushered in the minister and his wife, a committee-man and his wife, my two grown-up sisters, and last, but most important of all to me, my cousin Nathan, for whom I was named, and for whose good opinion I cared more than for almost any other person’s. He always had such a pleasant way of rewarding me when I did well, and such a way, too, of making me feel his displeasure when I was in the wrong. At that moment, I would have given everything I possessed in the world for the knowledge of my lesson, but it was too late to wish for what I might have had so easily. It seemed to me I felt small and mean enough to crawl into a knot-hole! “‘You may recite in concert,’ said Miss Mason. ‘What peninsulas on the Arctic Coast?’ “‘Boothia and Melville,’ piped up a small girl, the very least and most diffident of the whole class, while the rest of us sat dumb as statues, but redder in the face. “‘In concert!’ said Miss Mason. ‘What ones on the Atlantic Coast?’ Again, the small girl answered alone. “‘Once more; and this time decidedly in concert,’ said Miss Mason, emphatically. ‘What ones on the Pacific Coast?’ “For the third time, Susie answered alone. “‘You will now answer by turns, since you cannot seem to answer in concert,’ said Miss Mason; and three more questions went around the class, each to be finally answered by Susie. “Miss Mason laid the geography down on the desk, with a peculiar smile on her face. ‘Those of the class who have learned their lesson for to-day, will please raise their right hands.’ “Up went one little hand. Susie’s, of course. “Miss Mason looked amused enough to see how the rest of us had walked into her trap. “‘Perhaps you thought,’ she said, ‘that because I heard you answer in concert heretofore, I should always do the same; but that is quite uncertain. I shall never tell you beforehand how you will answer, so the only safe way is to prepare your lesson. Now, I will tell you a little story; and then I will hear Susie recite the rest of her lesson, while the others take their seats and prepare to recite after school. “‘Once upon a time, the whole world agreed to meet and shout all at once, to see what a great noise it would make. But when they were met, it seemed each one thought his voice could make no difference in such a crowd, so he would only listen to the rest. All thought so except one old lady, who went to do her duty, and had no thought of shirking it. So when the signal was given for them to shout, all that was heard was one old lady squealing “Boo!” at the top of her voice. ‘Moral: Each do your duty, and the shout will come.’ “A shamefaced crew, we went to our seats and into our geographies. Oh, dear! how humiliating it was, before visitors, to see the rest of the school dismissed, while we remained; but you may be sure we did not need the punishment again. “So I charge you once more, my boys,
‘Always and everywhere,
Be honest and fair.’”
—Christian Weekly. The Home Circle.
By Howard Glyndon
I FOUND my baby girl to-day
Asleep upon the floor,
The space around her little form
With playthings scattered o'er.
Her hands were nestled 'neath her chin,
And one still firmly held
A broken toy, whose novel charm
As yet was undispelled.
There lingered still about the mouth
And on the brow a trace
Of thought, half grieved and half perplexed,
As if the tiny face
Already had begun to learn
The look it was to wear
In years to come. I stooped to kiss
Away the mimic care,
And as I laid her, still asleep,
Within her nest-like bed,
And smoothed the cradle's pillow for
The weary little head,
I thought how we of larger growth,
When tired of pains and joys,
With that same look, fall fast asleep
Amid our broken toys!
And then the Father, stooping, takes
The tired head to his breast;
And smooths the furrow from the brow,
And bears us to our rest.
—Howard Glyndon. The worst possible cruelty is to let children have their own way, when their own way does them harm. There is a lonely man in a handsome house, from whom his wife has fled, worn out by many years of abuse and violence. From babyhood to manhood, that man was ruthlessly spoiled by cruel parents. They flattered him, laughed at his outbursts of passion, supported him in his rebellious and vulgar insolence at school. With his little brain and his big passions, it was impossible to live with him on fair terms. It would have been less cruel to have killed him in his baby innocence than to have let him grow up so. This is not an imaginary case. We will mention one instance of his father's cruelty, which was known at the time to a considerable number of persons besides his own family. When he was a young man of about twenty years of age, his father gave him every Monday morning a check for a hundred dollars, as his week's spending money. Untrained as he was, you can imagine how foolishly and wickedly he used it. It is hard to believe that a parent could be so cruel as this. But terrible things are done in this world of which but few people hear. There are many forms of cruelty. Harsh words, harsh blows, hard fare, hard work, all these are sometimes cruel; but ordinarily the pain they inflict is of short duration. The cruelty of which we now speak may give pleasure for an hour, pain for seventy years, and shame for generations.—Companion. — Forty towns in Connecticut voted “no license.” — A shock of earthquake was felt at Montreal, October 10. — The Egyptian Ministry have refused to allow Arabi English Counsel. — A large gang of counterfeiters was arrested at Tipton, Indiana, the 12th inst. — Hon. A. H. Stevens has been elected Governor of Georgia, by a large majority. — The Hon. B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, is working vigorously for prohibition in Indiana. — Over 230,000 telephones are in use in the United States, and 5,000 are added every month. — There are 900,000,000 acres of public land open to pre-emption, in the United States and Alaska. — There are more miles of railroad in the United States than the whole of Europe, including the British Isles. — A scheme of the Mormons to introduce Mormon text-books into the Utah public schools has been frustrated. — Out of a total of 25,969 arrests in San Francisco during the present year, 19,500 have been for drunkenness. — Diphtheria is epidemic in Pittsylvania County, West Virginia. Nearly 200 deaths have occurred within sixty days. — It is said that opium-smoking is now indulged in to a great extent, both publicly and privately, in Washington, D. C. — Cuba was visited by a cyclone on the 12th inst. Over a thousand houses were destroyed, and many lives were lost. — Ohio went Democratic in the recent election by a large majority. The result is due mainly to the influence of the whisky element. — The new steam-ship, Belgian, four thousand tons burden, built at Aberdeen for the American trade, was totally wrecked on her trial trip. — The sum of 25,000 francs has been offered to the French Academy of Medicine, to found a prize for the discovery of a cure for diphtheria. — A plot to burn the Imperial Theater at Riga has been discovered. Sixty boxes of petroleum and gunpowder were found on the premises. — The Sultan is greatly exasperated at England’s reply to the note in regard to the evacuation of Egypt. The sick man can do nothing but growl. — The California Grand Lodge of Good Templars has adopted a resolution heartily approving the Prohibition Home Protection Party of California. — Enough of the business of the Post-office Department has been tabulated for the annual report, to show that there will be a surplus of $1,500,000. This is the first gain since 1862. — Several officers of the ship Harvester have been tried at Seattle, W. T., and found guilty of brutally assaulting seamen under their charge. Such offenses are becoming too common. — A list of the landed proprietors who were in the rebellion is in the hands of the Egyptian Ministry. It is believed that their property, amounting to $10,000,000, will be confiscated. — Owing to the alarming increase of pauperism in the south of Ireland, the Dublin Union has taken the lead in a proposal to send 1,000 able-bodied men and women to Canada, at a cost of £7,000. — On September 7, the day of the earthquake at Panama, there were four tidal waves which overwhelmed six or seven little villages on an island and the mainland, and drowned seventy persons. — On the 16th ult., a tidal wave invaded the mouth of the river Ozama, San Domingo, three times. Vessels parted their chains, some striking bottom. At Guayabin, the same day, the sea receded twenty feet. — Mr. John Adams has patented a ship-brake, for stopping ships at sea, and preventing collisions. It was tried on a large steamer in Boston harbor, and every time it was applied, the ship was stopped before she had drifted her length. — Judge Thayer, of Philadelphia, has decided that the Act of 1794, inflicting a penalty for engaging in worldly employment on Sunday, is valid. The point was raised by a number of barbers, arrested and fined for shaving customers on Sunday. — On the morning of the 5th inst., it was discovered that the nucleus of the comet had separated into three unequal fragments. The space between the fragments is estimated to be 2,000 miles; but there is no perceptible difference in the appearance of the comet to the naked eye. — An Eastern paper notes the fact that two wind-mills of large pumping capacity were recently shipped from New York to Cuba, and says: “It is surprising that more wind-mills are not used in this country.” The editor has evidently never visited California, nor read “Between the Gates.” — A “traveler” from Maine reports that he saw two men drink whisky from a bottle, and forthwith the information is sent to all parts of the country that “prohibition in Maine is a failure.” And in the face of all this testimony there are States presumptuous enough to enact prohibitory laws. — Near Los Angeles, Cal., four young persons, two of them, young women, were returning home from a party, and fired several shots into a Chinaman’s cabin, “just to have a little fun.” As a result of this “fun” two Chinaman were killed. With unconscious irony the paper states that the young persons are all highly respectable. — The French officials employed in Egypt before the war are returning in great numbers, and demanding to be re-instated. It is stated that their course causes “friction.” This was to be expected; but it is not probable England will allow France to come in on an equal footing with her since the burden of the war was borne by England alone. — Mr. Mulhall, the English statistician, says that the United States has become, in its first hundred years of existence, the richest country in the world. He places our possessions at $50,000,000,000; England comes next with $44,100,000,000; and France is third in rank, with $37,200,000,000. Has not the prophecy which speaks of this country as “coming up,” been amply fulfilled? — A young American teacher in Panama, writing to friends in Philadelphia about the recent earthquakes at the Isthmus, says: “The panic in the city was wonderful. Nearly every family who have a place to go to have left the city and are pitching tents out on the savannas. At least 1,000 people are encamped. All in the house sleep with their stockings on, their slippers close beside them, and their clothes in a bundle where they can grasp them and run. Imagine what a condition this is to be living in! What renders it doubly severe is that we know not what to expect; no one has any theory by which to explain the disturbance. You have read of the earthquakes, but no word of tongue or pen can describe their horrors, even in this mild form. The greatest consternation prevails everywhere.” —In the Fiji Islands there are 9,000 Catholics. —Dr. Cuyler says that the four characteristics of a good Sabbath-school teacher are Painstaking, Patience, Perseverance, and Prayer. —The Sabbath Recorder is publishing some interesting letters of experience in regard to the keeping of the Sabbath of the Lord, and their change from the first day of the week. —The Methodist will now be discontinued, and consolidated with the Christian Advocate. The most important reason for the step is that "the original uses of the Methodist no longer exist." —Last week the Latter Day Saints held a Conference in Oakland for the Northern District of California. A resolution was unanimously adopted endorsing the Prohibition party of California, and pledging the Convention to support it. —A correspondent of the Sacramento Record-Union says: "The sacred observance of Sunday as a day sanctified and hallowed by the command of God can be established only by keeping the Republican party steadily on its present course." So? —The Christian Union says, in answer to a question, that "the weight of evidence is that infant baptism was introduced into the Christian Church sometime subsequent to the apostles." Correct. And in this connection would it not be well for some persons to read Gal. 1:8? —Dr. Wm. M. Taylor said in a recent sermon that it was unwise to regard the Roman Catholics as outside the Christian fold. He said that in forming statistics of the Christians of New York, it was wrong to separate "that most venerable branch of the Christian Church" from the Protestant branch. —A missionary of the American Sunday-school Union gives the following report of five months' work in Kentucky: "In five months I have organized twenty-nine Sunday-schools, with 109 teachers and 1,266 scholars." He also reports 200 conversions, and two churches organized. A pretty good showing. —A Boston Judge has fined a confectioner $10 for delivering ice-cream on Sunday to his customers for their Sunday dinner. That Judge was as discriminating as they are here. When arrests were made by the wholesale in San Francisco, hatters were fined and liquor men escaped. Only "unnecessary business" must be stopped. —Our readers must not be surprised if in this column of "Religious Notes" they occasionally find an item that seems to have a political complexion. Now that the religious press and the pulpit are devoted principally to the advocacy of "police regulations," we cannot separate the two in quoting from them. Modern religion and politics coalesce very easily. —A German lady, writing to some English-speaking Christians, gives this picture of the present state of things in Germany: "Our preachers are asleep, dead, and are afraid of really vital Christians. They speak smooth things, and preach in a learned way. We must have evangelists. The people are barren in the knowledge of God's word." And Germany is not alone in her need. The tendency in our own country is to a mere form of godliness, without the vital power of the gospel. —A correspondent of the American Baptist Flag, writes against the holding of association meetings on Sunday, and says: "Our church has to be closed, and there are so many saloons and drug stores open, and restaurants, and other places where people go and while away their time, and suffer more or less from the influence of Satan's wiles, while if our pastor could be here, there would be other places for them to go." Seventh-day Adventist Churches never suffer in that way, although they are without regular pastors all the time. The reason is plain. It is because they are taught to work for others, instead of depending on a pastor for their own spiritual existence. —The S.S. Times has a good article entitled, "Planting Seed Too Deep." It states a fact well known by agriculturists, that seed covered too deep, even with the best of soil, will not grow; and then it makes an application of this principle to religious teaching. We quote a few sentences: "A large share of all the seed sown by parents in the minds of their children, is smothered to death by the mother-earth of scolding, or of the needless repetitions and amplifications which follow it." Of Bible teaching, it says: "Soil is necessary. Planting below the surface, by a stimulating question, or a suggestive remark, or a helpful illustration, is better than broadcast sowing on the bare and hard earth. But, after all, the seed is the chief thing, not the soil. Yet there are teachers and superintendents and preachers who take one or two grains of good truth seed, and then devote themselves to shoveling earth upon it until the seed is buried out of sight and hope forever. The seed was good enough, but it was killed in the planting." We hope to give further extracts in a future number. —At the autumn meeting of the New York and Brooklyn Association of Congregational Churches, commencing October 10, Henry Ward Beecher who had been assigned to open the discussion of the subject of "Spiritual Barbarism," made it the occasion for announcing his withdrawal from the Association. His object in withdrawing was to relieve the Association from the responsibility of his views, and not from any ill-will. He says that the Old Testament writers constructed their conception of God from the example of their animal inclinations and appetites, and not from the example of their reason and moral sense. In short, he rejects the greater part of the Old Testament, as gross and barbarous. As a natural consequence, then, he must reject those New Testament writers who quote from the Old Testament. But Beecher's infidelity is no new thing. It has been for a long time very thinly disguised. The worst of the matter is that the Association passed a resolution the next day asking him to reconsider his action in withdrawing from their body, and expressing concurrence in his belief. To put the matter plainly, they eagerly assured him that they believe as little of the Bible as he does. THE DEFINITE SEVENTH DAY;
By John Nevins Andrews
OR, GOD'S MEASUREMENT OF TIME ON THE ROUND WORLD.
THIS tract is an answer to the question, "Can a definite day be observed by all the inhabitants of the earth?" It is a complete refutation of the common objection against the Sabbath, that the rotation of the earth on its axis makes it impossible for all men to keep the same day, showing not only that a definite day may be observed in all parts of the earth, but that no real difficulty has ever been experienced in the matter. 16 pp. Price, 2 cents; $1.50 per hundred.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. NEW MUSIC! THE LAST IS THE BEST!
By GEO. D. RUSSELL, 126 Tremont Street, Boston, a new book of Music, entitled, The music and words of this book are mostly entirely new, and well adapted to the Sabbath-school and social circle. It is receiving the most unqualified praise from all who have examined it. The music is of a high order throughout, and yet not at all difficult. 160 pp. Per copy, 35 cents; $3.60 per dozen. Bound, 50 cents; $5.00 per dozen. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. YOUNG'S ANALYTICAL CONCORDANCE TO THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
The latest and most complete work of the kind ever published is now offered at a price within the reach of EVERY BIBLE STUDENT. This book places in the hands of everybody, knowledge heretofore limited to a very few. It contains one hundred and eighteen thousand more words than Cruden's Unabridged Concordance. It gives every English word, also the Hebrew and Greek original words, with their pronunciation and literal meaning. The Greek and Hebrew words are transliterated so that they are intelligible to any English reader. A complete index of the original words is added, referring them to the English words under which they are found. Price, postpaid, $3.25. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. Spirit of Prophecy, Volume 3.
WE have before called attention to these volumes, and have given many extracts from Volume 2, and we now call the attention of our Sabbath-schools especially to Volume 3. The first part of this volume is devoted to the closing up of Christ's ministry on earth,—his betrayal, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension,—which will be the subject of our lessons for a season. We know of no other book that brings these scenes out so vividly, and makes them appear so real. No one can read it without having a deeper sense of the love of God than ever before, and a better knowledge of the infinite sacrifice by which we are redeemed. We are too apt to learn our lessons mechanically; to get a knowledge of events, and everything connected with their occurrence, without fully perceiving the full meaning of them. While accuracy of knowledge is necessary, it should serve only to assist our discernment of spiritual things; otherwise it is really of no practical use. Many of our people feel unable to provide themselves with all the helps for Bible study that they desire. There are many really useful books that are not within reach of the majority; but every body can obtain this. Not only should every Sabbath-school scholar read it, but every Christian should make it a daily study, in connection with the Bible. Camp Meeting Causes Publication Delay
By Editor
Owing to the attendance at camp-meeting of all the regular workers on the SIGNS, we are a little late with this issue. When both editor and compositors are gone, the paper necessarily suffers loss. Our readers will appreciate this, and make due allowance. THE ship Bremen, with a cargo of coal from Liverpool to San Francisco, was wrecked on the Farallone Islands, Monday morning, October 16. The crew escaped, but the ship and cargo went down. The Bremen has visited this port many times, and has carried many packages of our publications to foreign ports for distribution. The Camp-Meeting.
By Editor
THE editor sends a dispatch from the camp-ground, stating that business detains him so that he will not be present before the paper goes to press. We had hoped to give our readers more reports of business meetings, and a partial camp-meeting report; but this is impossible. The reports will appear in full next week. We can say, however, that the meeting was the largest ever held in California. A census was taken after the meeting had been in session five days, which showed that over 600 were encamped on the ground. Others were still expected to arrive. This was much better than was expected, considering the lateness of the season. All were cheerful and of good courage, notwithstanding the rain, which was at times very heavy. We think the reports will show that the meeting has been the best as well as the largest ever held in the State. IN the American Baptist Flag, of October 11, we find the statement repeated that a party of Adventists in Texas have "prepared a tent for the occupancy of Christ." In the SIGNS bearing date of October 5, this slander is completely refuted by those not of our faith. No one who knows the position of Seventh-day Adventists could honestly circulate such an absurd report. Many, however, will do so willfully; but we do not think the Flag is of this class. Will it notice the article above referred to, and do us justice in this matter? At a general meeting of First-day Adventists, lately held in Amboy, Ill., the subject of the time of the Lord's coming received considerable attention, and it appeared to be the general opinion that it would take place in 1883 or 1884. A writer in the Bible Banner says another argument will be held in reserve by some, ending the time in 1889, to be used if 1883 passes. We have often heard the story of the Hibernian lawyer, whose argument was ruled out by the Court. Said he, "If I am wrong in this point, I have another to offer, which is equally conclusive." We think the story never found a more fitting application than in this case. It is our opinion that the 1883 time will create little if any excitement among them. It is too near at hand to make much impression. There is no power in these time theories, and the further they are set for the future, the more interesting they appear. We would think that 1889 may receive might favor.