p. 14 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 48. (12/1/1898)

The Closing Words

Of a touching Samoan Romance as told in that excellent little volume, “Fiji and Samoa,” are as follows:—

“The young queen cried, ‘O, Thama, stay, stay!’ It was too late. Thama would not stand in the way of Samoan peace and unity. “Instantly there followed a wild cry of agony, and a second plunge from the cliff. The low waves then sung a tender dirge over Samoa’s lovely queen and the unselfish Thama.”

This book not only gives this story entire, but many interesting items concerning the islands of Fiji and Samoa. Price; in cloth 60c, in paper 25c.

The Young People’s Library series, of which the above is volume one, contains twelve numbers, each complete in itself. Descriptive circular on application.

Pacific Press Publishing Co.

Oakland, Cal.

39 Bond St. New York City

18 West 5th St. Kansas City, Mo.

AN INEXPENSIVE VOLUME OF REAL WORTH FOR A HOLIDAY GIFT

Size, 5x7¼ inches

39 Bond St., New York City

AN INEXPENSIVE VOLUME OF REAL WORTH FOR A HOLIDAY GIFT

_Such is “Battle Hymn of the Kingdom,” by Miss Fannie Bolton_

Its subject matter is an inspiring poem.

Its fifteen half-tone engravings are all original, and as fine as can be produced.

The cover design is by a professional New York designer, and is unique and attractive.

It is printed on rich enameled paper, and the text is all hand-drawn. In short it is a 36-page booklet in which author, artist, printer, and binder have seemingly vied with one another in their attempts to please the lovers of dainty volumes.

PRICES

ART VELLUM CLOTH, GILT TOP, 50C EACH, $25.00 PER 100 HEAVY LEATHERETTE, 25C EACH

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO.

OAKLAND, CAL.

18 W. 5th St., Kansas City, Mo.

A SAMPLE WICK FREE.

By Editor

We are pleased to inform our readers that arrangements have been made with the New Jersey Wick Co., Newark, N. J., by which they have agreed to mail free, to every one of our subscribers who will apply for the same, one of their “Marshal Process Wicks.”

This wick is the most marvelous invention in artificial lighting, since the adoption of electricity to this purpose. It will not clog or creep, and requires but little care. It is indorsed by the Standard Oil Co., the first time this immense corporation has ever given its indorsement to an outside product.

When you write, please mention the SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

NUT BUTTER NUT MILLS AND NUTS

Health is wealth. Eat pure foods. Buy them of us or Make them yourself. Write for prices of Nut Butter, Nut Roast, Nut Meal, Maltosia, Maltol, Malt Extract, Almond Butter, Crackers, and other health foods, Nut Grinders, Roasters, Blanchers, Shelled Peanuts, Roll Bakers, Gem Irons, etc.

Knapp Brothers

407 E. Burnside St. E. Portland, Ore.

When you write, please mention the SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

A little more time

It is again necessary for us to publicly ask the forbearance of our “Desire of Ages” customers.

Although we are working twelve to fifteen hours daily, we can not produce books fast enough to fill orders promptly.

Do not become discouraged by this delay, however, but give us a little more time. Do not fear that we will forget you. Not one order will be missed.

Notice the following letter:

I am reading the Prospectus of the “Desire of Ages,” and am so much interested in it. I believe it one of the best books ever written outside of the Bible. Words can not express the beauty I find in the book. I believe this will be one of the best books we have ever had with which to reach the better class of people. [Signed] MINNIE M. HOYT.

PRICES

Cloth, marbled edges - - $3 50 Cloth, gilt edges - - 4 25 Library, marbled edges - - 5 00 Full Morocco, gilt edges, boxed 7 00

Pacific Press Publishing Company

Oakland, Cal. 39 Bond St., New York City 18 W. 5th St., Kansas City, Mo.

A CARD.

To ALL interested in carrying the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the inhabitants of other lands, and who desire to assist in supporting missionaries already there and others who may engage in the work, the opportunity is given to make an offering to the Foreign Mission Board of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. Such donations should be sent to W. H. Edwards, the Treasurer of the Board, 1730 North Fifteenth Street, Philadelphia, Penn.

Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal

“WILL A MAN ROB GOD?” is an important pamphlet on the tithing system. It treats every phase of this great question, and deserves especial attention in these days, when the Lord’s means of supporting His cause is almost lost sight of. Price, 10c each.

Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal

The New Number

Of the Apples of Gold Library (No. 55) is written by Arthur T. Pierson, D.D., and entitled “Twelve Principles of Holy Living.” Price, 50 cents per 100.

It is a scriptural portrait of a strong, symmetrical Christian character. All should have it—both the portrait and the reality. The former will prove of great help in securing the latter. It is a very desirable tract for general circulation, and small enough to inclose in a letter.

Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal.

39 Bond St., New York City. 18 West Fifth St., Kansas City, Mo.

49,850 PAGES DAILY

Such was the average sale of Apples of Gold and Bible Students’ Libraries for each of the thirty-one days of October, 1898.

Following are the late numbers:

BIBLE STUDENTS’ LIBRARY

No. 143 — Truth for the Times — $ 1 00 per 100
144 — The Eastern Question. What Its Solution Means to all the World — 1 00 "
145 — Will a Man Rob God? — 10 00 "
146 — Rich Man and Lazarus — 1 00 "
147 — Home Missionary Work — 2 00 "
148 — The Sabbath in Prophecy — 2 00 "
149 — From Glory to Glory — 1 50 "
150 — Rome’s Arraignment of Sabbath-Breakers — 1 00 "
151 — “Christian” Demand for War — 1 00 "
152 — The Alarm of War — 2 00 "
153 — The Arming of the Nations — 5 00 "
154 — Sabbath in the Greek — 50 "
155 — Wonders of the 19th Century — 2 00 "

APPLES OF GOLD LIBRARY

No. 44 — Back to the “Old Paths” — $ 1 00 per 100
45 — Historical Facts and Incidents — 2 00 "
46 — True “Christian Citizenship” — 50 "
47 — The Great Threefold Message — 1 00 "
48 — “Try the Spirits” — 50 "
49 — Kept by the Power of God — 25 "
50 — Day of the Sabbath — 1 00 "
51 — Heralds of His Coming — 1 50 "
52 — Prayer. By A. T. Pierson — 1 00 "
53 — Winning of Margaret — 1 00 "
54 — Unawares—Ye Did It unto Me — 50 "
55 — Twelve Principles of Holy Living — 50 "
¹56 — Help in God. Mrs. E. G. White — 50 "
¹57 — The Divine Law. John Wesley — 1 00 "
¹58 — The Three Sabbaths. E. J. Waggoner — 50 "

Order Blank containing entire list of both Libraries Sent Free if you will ask for it

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO.

39 Bond St., New York City OAKLAND, CAL. 18 West 5th St., Kansas City, Mo.

Do you wish

to take up an agency for a good selling book—a book that is filled with beautiful and appropriate engravings as well as the choicest of reading matter, a book that some inexperienced agents are selling at the rate of $1.70 per hour? Then send to your Tract Society for a canvassing outfit for the “Story of Redemption.” It will cost you only 60 cents.

Pacific Press Publishing Co.

OAKLAND, CAL.

39 Bond St., New York City

18 W. 5th St., Kansas City, Mo.

THE UNITED STATES—THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

By W. N. G.

Two OF our brethren in Maryland, who reside at Ford’s Store, Queen Anne County, are now undergoing a thirty-days sentence in the county jail for working on Sunday, after keeping the Sabbath “according to the commandment.” We are informed by Mr. D. W. Reavis, secretary of the International Religious Liberty Association, that it was proposed to have the grand jury indict more of our people, but it was decided that such cases must come before a justice of the peace. The justice of that place, however, purposes to prosecute to the limit of his power.

In all cases in the past it has been claimed that the enforcement of the Sunday law was merely a civil regulation, but in these cases the issue was boldly declared to be religious, and they were prosecuted as offenses against the religious sentiment of the country. The prosecuting attorney emphasized the fact that the defendants were not prosecuted merely as individuals, but as representatives of the religious organization to which they belong. Thus the denomination was practically tried and condemned as a whole under the Sunday law of the State. The action in these cases is practically a precedent for future prosecutions in that locality of people belonging to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

That John Rhodes and John Curlett are in jail in Queen Anne County, Md., for being Seventh-day Adventists is further shown in the testimony of the prosecuting witness. This informant testified in court that he had just returned from a sail on the bay when he saw the work being done; that he himself often worked on Sunday; yet he deemed it his duty to take a team, hunt up the constable, and take him to the place where these men were working, in order that they might be punished by law.

And this is the year 1898; and this prosecution was within one of the original thirteen States that fought for religious liberty in the closing portion of the preceding century! And this is the year in which the United States has been fighting Spain, and taking away her provinces, because of her tyranny over her subjects,—because she would not grant to them the American idea of religious liberty! W. N. G.

The President and Sunday

At the recent National Reform Convention, held in Washington, Iowa, the following complaint was entered:—

“President McKinley, while in Chicago recently, had a barber come and shave him on the holy sabbath [Sunday]. When the President does such things, what can we expect of the common people?”

At the same time the Lord’s Day Papers, published by the Reform Bureau at Washington, D. C., with which the National Reform Association is closely allied, quotes the President as saying:—

“I am in favor of Sunday legislation, and a strict observance of the Christian sabbath.”

Questions: (1) Who is to say what the President shall do on Sunday—himself or the National Reformers? (2) If the President may observe Sunday in his own way, why may not other people? (3) If the common people (whose servant the President is) have as much right to exercise their own volition as to what they shall do on Sunday as he has, what good purpose can “Sunday legislation” serve? And if Sunday were really God’s Sabbath, would it need any human legislation anyway?

Unordered Copies of the Signs

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.

The Plague-Stricken People

The plague-stricken people of India resent the quarantine laws, and are rioting in consequence. As the germs of disease become more and more malignant and continue to spread over the world, such rioting is not likely to be confined to India.

Prayer Turns Us Toward God’s Mercy

God asks us to pray to Him; but it is not for the purpose of begging Him to incline toward us in love and mercy. For His love and mercy toward us are already infinite. He asks us to pray to Him, so that we ourselves may be turned toward this great love and mercy, and that our own hearts may be made willing to receive the best gifts that an all-wise Father can bestow.

God’s Promises Never Fail

Some one claims to have counted more than 30,000 promises in the Word of God. There are doubtless as many as that at least in the blessed Book. And, what is better still, all those promises are made by One with whom failure is an impossibility. The Lord makes no promise that He is not able to keep, and that He is not anxious to have you respectfully and in faith present to Him as an obligation under which He has voluntarily placed Himself to you.

Murder Runs Riot through the Union

“Murder Runs Riot through the Union,” is a two-column heading in a western daily of November 12. Those two columns give, as a record in nine States and Territories, thirteen murders and three attempted murders, besides injuries to others. One murder and two suicides are noted elsewhere in the same paper. And this is probably not all that took place in the Union on that day, nor was the day particularly exceptional. Violence is abroad in the land. The days of Noah are being repeated. The days of the coming of the Son of man are upon us. Where, reader, is thy hope?

Peace Talk and War Preparations

Is there not something very strange in the fact that all the nations are telling of their desires for peace, and that civilization is too far advanced for men to resort to the barbarities of cruel war; and yet they go right on, in the face of all this talk, making the most intense preparation for the combat at arms? Is there not strong evidence that an unseen agent in possession of great power is stirring up these elements for angry strife? We may be sure that the Prince of Peace is not doing it, and if we take care to keep under His banner all the time, we will not be participants in the approaching war. We will have the peace that so many are talking about, but do not possess.

The Socialist Conspiracy

The Socialist conspiracy discovered among the students at Warsaw, Russia, is only another one of the many indications that show the revolutionary spirit in the great Russian Empire. And the arresting of 500 of those students, and turning 200 of them out of the university, and sending eighty of them to Siberia, will not cure the evil. For it is not in Russia alone, but in the whole of Europe as well, that the harvest-time is almost reached in the which the results of the seed sowing by the discontented elements will have to be reaped. And when the day comes—and it can not be long delayed—the prophet says “there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” It is well to look facts squarely in the face and seek the shelter provided against the coming calamities.

H. L. Wayland and Religious Liberty

It is with deep regret that we record the death of H. L. Wayland, D.D., formerly editor of the National Baptist of Philadelphia, and for several years past associated editorially with The Examiner (Baptist). Doctor Wayland was both a good writer and speaker, and, being a great lover of freedom, he was ever ready to accord to others the rights of conscience that he prized so much for himself. The old-fashioned principles of religious freedom were deeply inwrought in his nature, and, while he was devotedly a Baptist, he was active in his defense of the principle that all others should be allowed the fullest rights of conscience. He did not believe in religious liberty for himself alone, but believed in it just as strongly for those who held different views from his own. When such men pass from the stage of action, the world sustains an incalculable loss.

ENCOURAGING

By Editor

ENCOURAGING words from every part of the field are still pouring in upon us in regard to our forthcoming quarter-centennial issue of the SIGNS. Friends of the work represented by this paper are organizing for the purpose of placing a copy in every home just as far as possible. Orders that were sent in some time ago are being increased; and while only about half the territory has been fully heard from, actual orders received, and assurances of further orders, amount to about 400,000 at this writing. If the friends of the cause keep on increasing their efforts until the date of the special issue, more than the proposed million copies will be needed.

These brethren and friends who are thus extending the circulation of the special number of the SIGNS, believe that the Lord Jesus is coming soon, and that He has a precious message of salvation to give to the world, so that as many as will accept Him may be ready for His coming. Has not your heart been stirred by the evidence that betokens the Master's return? And are you not planning to have a part in doing the special work of circulating this million-copy edition?

TRUSTS AND CORPORATIONS.

By T.

DURING the past few months the newspapers have reported the formation of a cutlery trust, with a capital of $2,000,000. A large beer trust, with a capital of $5,000,000. A large steel trust, with a capital of $200,000,000. A silverware trust, with a capital of $30,000,000. A trust to control electrical appliances and machinery, with a capital of $25,000,000. A tobacco trust, with a capital of $100,000,000.

Other trusts have been formed during the year that make the aggregate of capital brought together in this way reach the sum of $1,000,000,000. The estimated wealth of the whole of the United States is $64,000,000,000. Thus one-sixty-fourth of the entire wealth of the nation has been combined by a few men within this one year. Is it any wonder that there should be a cry of hard times? How can a conflict between capital and labor be averted since a few men persist in hoarding millions of dollars that they can not possibly use, while at the same time there are thousands of their fellows who are suffering through lack of the barest necessities of life.

Little do these wealthy men seem to know of or care for the calamities that they are bringing upon the world as well as themselves. The word of the Lord to them is: “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. . . . Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.”

Would that all men could be induced to consider the overwhelming evidence which shows that we are in the “last days” now, and that they would turn from every oppression and sin, and receive the shield of God’s righteousness that is so freely provided. T.

QUARTER-CENTENNIAL EDITION.

By Editor

AS PREVIOUSLY announced, THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES will celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary by issuing a double number, beautifully illustrated by zinc etchings and half-tone engravings and a special cover design in three colors. This paper will give a panoramic view of the important events of the last twenty-five years, and will be a veritable mine of information, brimful of Gospel truth. It will bear date Jan. 5, 1899, but will be issued early in December. It is expected that at least one million copies will be printed. The price of this special double number is 10 cents per copy. Agents will be supplied at 5 cents per copy. For convenience and to save handling, single copies will be mailed direct from this office when five or more are ordered at one time, and accompanied by the cash, at the rate of 5 cents per copy. PUBLISHERS.