THAT imagination may prove fatal, receives fresh proof from "a case of fatal shock from supposed snake bite," reported in the Medical Press, April 25, 1883, by Dr. C. R. Francis. The patient, awakened from his sleep by something creeping over his naked legs, immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was a cobra, went into a state of collapse and died, though it was discovered, even before death, that the supposed cobra was a harmless lizard. There is no doubt but that a very large portion of the sickness and death of adults might be warded off by a proper and determined exercise of the will power.
A late number of Hall's Journal of Health, in dwelling upon this subject, remarks as follows: To regain or recover health, persons should be relieved from all anxiety concerning diseases. The mind has power over the body. For a person to think he has a disease will often produce that disease. This we see effected when the mind is intensely concentrated upon the disease of another. It is found in the hospital that surgeons and physicians who make a specialty of certain diseases are liable to die of it themselves, and the mental power is so great that sometimes people die of diseases which they only have in imagination. We have seen a person seasick in anticipation of a voyage before reaching the vessel. We have known a person to die of cancer in the stomach when he had no cancer or any other mortal disease. A blindfolded man slightly pricked in the arm, has fainted and died from believing that he was bleeding to death. Therefore, well persons, to remain well, should be cheerful and happy, and sick persons should have their attention drawn as much as possible from themselves. It is by their faith men are saved, and it is by their faith that men die. If he wills not to die, he can often live in spite of disease, and if he has little or no attachment for life, he will slip away as easily as a child will fall asleep.
Close the Saloons.
By the law we abate any nuisance that offends any of the senses; we forbid the publication of any lewd prints and impure literature; we force men to close a slaughter house or glue factory because they offend our olfactories and breed disease; there is a heavy fine for selling decayed food of any kind, and why in the name of reason and good morals shall we not destroy anything that offends the moral sense of a community?
Shall we allow a lazy man to place his beer shop or whisky mill right under our noses, so that the stench of stale ale, and sour beer, and mean whisky shall fill the air? Shall we permit such traps to be set for our sons, where they may be robbed of health, and character, and immortal hope? Shall we allow the nurseries of crime to spread and grow under legal protection? Shall these people fatten on the sins and follies of the hard working whose earnings they so greedily secure for drink? We say a thousand times, No!—Baltimore Methodist.
Over the Hill
HE who stays in the valley will never get over the hill.
"No Danger for Our Girls."
By Mrs. Chaplin
"There is no danger for our girls. Even if assailed by temptation, their honor as women would be like a coat-of-mail to them." This was the answer of a Christian mother when urged to give her influence against social drinking among the young, in what is called "society." Has, then, the enemy of all good signed a quit-claim to the characters and souls of our girls, any more than to those of our boys?
In a fine, brown stone mansion on one of New York's most fashionable avenues, there lived, a few years ago, a gay and wealthy family, surrounded by everything their taste demanded of the beautiful in art, and the luxuriant in style. They were the center of a fashionable circle, and life was one round of amusements with them.
The head of the family drank a great deal of wine; but he "drank as a gentleman," taking his glass before breakfast, at dinner, and in the evening—and as much oftener as he desired it. But no one had ever seen him stagger, so he felt perfectly safe, and said he was "man enough to take care of himself." It was a hard fight to do it, however. His father, he said, had used the same freedom, and his grandfather before him; but he forgot to tell that both of them overstepped the bounds of "a gentleman's freedom," and went down to drunkard's graves.
Wine was always on his dinner-table, and was pressed upon his guests, especially on New Year's day, when it flowed as freely as water. His golden-haired little daughter, with a brow like the lily, and cheeks like roses, always took her glass at table, and often called for more. Indeed, the proud father boasted more than once to guests that she was as good a judge of wine as he himself. But she was a girl, so he saw no danger. Alas, poor man, he forgot the dreadful inheritance she had received from her ancestors—the viper that kept him continually fighting to keep his honor as "a gentleman" before the world. But for him it might never have sprung to life in her breast.
When this pet of the household was seventeen years old, she was in a fashionable, and yet admirable boarding-school, from whence there came occasional complaints of her disregard of rules, and her great willfulness. The last and most serious one, was of her gathering a company of young girls in her room while the teachers were sleeping, and feasting them on confectionary, and champagne, which made them all ill the next day. When reproved, she had braved the matter out, saying that she could drink three times as much as she gave them without feeling it. This sad story closed with a request that she might be removed from the school, as those in charge dreaded her influence over her fellow-pupils.
The father only laughed, and said, "Blanche will have a good time wherever she is!" The mother was deeply mortified lest their friends might talk about it, but she was not terror-stricken at either the danger or sin of her child.
On her return home, the young girl announced that she was now old enough to leave school altogether, and that she intended to do so. Her parents yielded to her importunity, and she was ready for "society." Then began a course of gaiety such as few girls so young ever ran. Exciting company, late hours, and improper dress, soon told on her system. The roses faded from her cheeks, she lost her appetite, and her nervous system became thoroughly unstrung. She would mingle her sobs and her laughter together, till it was evident that she was a victim of that most unpitied of all diseases—hysteria. Then came that fashionable ailment, a name applied to almost any form of weakness, "nervous prostration;" and the physician ordered, what were already in constant use, wines and champagne!
It was not long before they found that their prescriptions were not the limit, but that she took wine when and where, and in just such quantities as she chose. The parents soon found that in her walks she took lunches with wines at fashionable restaurants. A maid was thenceforth sent out with her, but she was soon bribed into deceiving the now anxious parents. Her place was filled with one more faithful; but she was maligned and charged with theft; and such was still the influence of this erring daughter, that she secured the girl's dismissal without a recommendation. For the honest discharge of her duty, this good woman was sent forth into the world to earn her bread with a shadow on her name.
Before Blanche W. was twenty years old she had more than once openly disgraced her parents and brought shame on her own womanhood.
The passion for wine soon became a passion for strong drink of any kind, and grew upon her so that, tender as her parents were, they were often obliged to confine her for days in her own room, under lock and key. During one of these attacks—which seems like the assaults of a demon—when not even a servant was allowed access to her, her mother found her, one morning, perfectly insensible from strong drink. Where the spirits had come from was a mystery soon solved, for by her pillow lay a half-pint cologne bottle with a long cord tied around the neck, and on it an apothecary's label—"Brandy." She had doubtlessly watched from her window for some suspicious-looking passer-by, lowered the bottle, with money for brandy, and the commission for getting it, and asked to have it fastened to the cord again, in the darkness, so that she could draw it up.
Home restraint was an utter failure, and we next hear of the poor girl in a country parsonage, under the care of an early friend of her mother. But although every possible entertainment was provided for her—books, magazines, music, and embroidery, within doors, and saddle-horse, pony and phaeton, without, she grew very restless and unhappy, and one day called for her bonnet and shawl, as she was going home! These articles had been, according to her mother's orders, kept under lock and key.
After gently entreating her in every way, but in vain, the lady said: "Wait till to-morrow and I will go home with you, Blanche."
"I don't want you," was the rude reply of the poor, half-distracted girl, as she flew to her room and threw herself upon her bed in a flood of angry tears. She cried herself to sleep, and her friend, hoping much from the soothing effects of rest, turned the key softly in her door, and sat up all night, dozing in a chair, to attend her when she should awaken. What was the surprise of Blanche's friends in the morning to find her bed empty, all her clothes left, and only her money and valuables gone! On her table lay a scrap of paper on which was written:—
"I go by the midnight train. I thank you for your kindness, and beg you to forgive me. I would do right if I could. You are a good and just woman; let me ask you this question: Is it not cruel as the grave to entail a passion on a child, and then restrain her—like a criminal—for indulging in it? Pity me. I have no control over myself, but am dragged down by some power too strong to resist. Ruin lies right before me. Blanche."
Alas, who knows the strength of the fetters with which that unfortunate girl was bound!
We can imagine the anguish of the parents at the sorry plight in which she presented herself at the door of that proud mansion the morning after her flight.
A year after this, a lady, visiting an insane asylum in another State, met Blanche there in a luxurious room, surrounded by everything that love or money could supply. She had been admitted "as a subject of melancholy, in danger of injuring herself"—oh, how true—and was undergoing medical treatment there. She assured the visitor—to whom she was most courteous—that she was not insane, and never had been; but, being the victim of a nervous disease, her friends had cruelly sent her away from home to be taken care of by strangers. The restraint here was too strong to be broken, and with occasional attacks of hysteria and melancholy she remained a year, when her parents took her home with strong hope that her trouble was all over.
Again in the world she looked about for friends and associates. But where were her friends? Where was "society"? Who of all the butterflies—belles and beaux who fluttered around her before public scandal had darkened her fame—cared to be seen with her now? Not one of those hollow-hearted children of fashion took her by the hand to lead her away from sin; very few of them knew her when they met her in the street.
Neither she nor her parents were in either health or spirits to gather a fresh circle around them. They had no resources within themselves, and the house soon assumed the gloom of a sepulcher. The father drowned his sorrow in more wine; the mother was gloomy, and both were crushed by the constant tantalizing remarks of their faded and wretched child: "It is all your own doings; you gave me wine from my cradle, and laughed when I called for more. I wish you had killed me instead."
A few wretched months went by, and the pallid girl of twenty-five years, with threads of white among the golden curls, was missing, and these parents, weary of life, were seeking her, and as far as we ever knew, in vain.
Is there no danger for our girls?
Only a few years ago, the mistress of one of the finest mansions in a suburban town, after ruining herself, and breaking the heart of her husband, and scattering her fortune, was lost to her family for years, and was finally restored to them—a poor comfort—from the Boston police court, whither she had been taken as a vagrant, and a common drunkard!
Within a year a granddaughter of one of our Presidents—once a beauty and a belle in Washington—long estranged from and finally lost by her family—died in the garret of a wretched tenement-house in Sullivan Street, New York.
Is there no danger for our girls, as well as our boys?—Mrs. Chaplin, in Congregationalist.
THE BLIND SPINNER.
By Helen Hunt Jackson
LIKE a blind spinner in the sun,
I tread my days;
I know that all the threads will run
Appointed ways;
I know each day will bring its task,
And, being blind, no more I ask.
I do not know the use or name
Of that I spin;
I only know that some one came,
And laid within
My hand the thread, and said, "Since you
Are blind, but one thing you can do."
Sometimes the threads so rough and fast
And tangled fly,
I know wild storms are sweeping past,
And fear that I
Shall fall; but dare not try to find
A safer place, since I am blind.
I know not why, but I am sure
That tint and place,
In some great fabric to endure
Past time and race
My threads will have; so from the first,
Though blind, I never felt accursed.
I think, perhaps, this trust has sprung
From one short word
Said over me when I was young—
So young, I heard
It, knowing not that God's name signed
My brow, and sealed me his, though blind.
But whether this be seal or sign,
Within, without,
It matters not. The bond divine
I never doubt.
I know he set me here, and still,
And glad, and blind, I wait his will;
But listen, listen, day by day,
To hear their tread
Who bear the finished web away,
And cut the thread,
And bring God's message in the sun,
"Thou poor blind spinner, work is done."
—From Verses by H. H., in Christian Union.
How Deaf Mutes Learn Slang.
By St. Louis Globe-Democrat
A VERY curious thing about deaf mutes is the rapidity with which they learn the meaning and use of slang words and phrases. The ordinary street language of the day seems to be every bit as familiar to them as it is to people whose organs of hearing are not impaired, and they will say, in their own way, "You bet your boots!" or, "You bet your sweet life!" with as much ease and grace as if they had it at their tongue's end all their lives. One of the afflicted young men whom I asked for an explanation of this remarkable fact, said the deaf mutes got their knowledge of slang from the newspapers; that they were great readers of the newspapers, and snapped up a new phrase or word just the moment it made its appearance. They not only use slang in writing, but also in their sign language.—St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
Perseverance and Gratitude
Nothing of worth or weight can be achieved with half a mind, with a faint heart, and with a lame endeavor.
Instead of complaining of the thorns among the roses, we should be thankful there are roses among the thorns.
How Deaf Mutes Learn Slang.
A VERY curious thing about deaf mutes is the rapidity with which they learn the meaning and use of slang words and phrases. The ordinary street language of the day seems to be every bit as familiar to them as it is to people whose organs of hearing are not impaired, and they will say, in their own way, "You bet your boots!" or, "You bet your sweet life!" with as much ease and grace as if they had it at their tongue's end all their lives. One of the afflicted young men whom I asked for an explanation of this remarkable fact, said the deaf mutes got their knowledge of slang from the newspapers; that they were great readers of the newspapers, and snapped up a new phrase or word just the moment it made its appearance. They not only use slang in writing, but also in their sign language.—St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
News and Notes.
-A family in Tucson, A. T., were recently poisoned by eating canned fish.
-In the Connecticut State Prison 500 convicts were recently poisoned by eating corned meat.
-A million of dollars' worth of property was destroyed by fire in Galveston, Texas, on the 6th inst.
-The public debt statement shows a reduction of $14,707,297 during the month of September.
-Heavy rain is reported throughout New England, accompanied by considerable snow in eastern Vermont.
-Six persons were killed and several wounded by a railroad collision near Fort Plain, N. Y., on the 1st inst.
-Los Angeles has decided not to license gambling. There was a unanimous vote against it in the City Council.
-The captains of two San Francisco tugboats are charged with smuggling brandy from a British vessel to the shore.
-An unusually fatal type of murrain is raging among the cattle in North Georgia and in the vicinity of Athens, Tenn.
-The Canadian Government is making an effort to minimize, as far as possible, Sunday labor in connection with the postal service.
-Notwithstanding the new rate of postage, old stamps are good—a three-cent stamp and a one-cent stamp will pay a double-rate later.
-At Deadwood, Butte County, a Chinese medical quack is making $500 a week out of white men by the practice of his "profession."
-Losses by fire in the United States during the month of September aggregated $10,000,000, and for the past nine months, 72,500,000.
-It is reported that a hurricane at St. Pierre, Martinique, Sept. 4, destroyed vessels and cargoes in the harbor to the value of $2,000,000.
-Sacramento is excited over the prevalence of leprosy among the Chinese population of the city. How would it do to license it?-S. F. Alta.
-It was stated in Court at Wheeling, Va., recently, that an organization known as "Redmen" has been formed for the protection of illicit distilleries.
-Weather reports of the 6th inst. include five inches of snow at Eureka, Nev., and thunder-storms from Stockton to Merced, in the San Joaquin Valley.
-In San Francisco, Stephen Jones, for the murder of Mary Ann Riley, and Joshua Hamblin, for killing John N. Massey, have been sentenced to suffer death, by Judge Toohy.
-Joseph Wharton has engaged to furnish the Government 20,000 pounds of nickel at ninety-one cents per pound, for coining purposes. This is the lowest price yet paid.
-A deaf mute at Iowa Station, Ill., was rejected by his brother's widow, whereupon he attempted to kill her with an ax. Being thwarted in this attempt, he committed suicide.
-The lake from which the city of Vallejo has been receiving its water is dry, and the supply is now received from the San Joaquin River by barges, at great expense to the contractor.
-A bronze statue of General Robert E. Lee has been cast in New York, by order of the city of New Orleans. It is sixteen feet high, and will be mounted on a granite monument ninety feet high.
-The Board of Supervisors of San Joaquin County have accepted the offer of the Central Pacific Railroad to settle the county's claims for bonds by paying $300,000 in cash and $100,000 in bonds.
-In Tapachula, State of Chiapas, Mexico, a panic reigns on account of the black small-pox. Out of a population of 10,000, 1,200 have died, decomposition in many cases setting in before death.
-A Dublin correspondent says an Invincible Vengeance Committee has been formed to hunt all informers. The committee has paid spies throughout the British colonies and in North and South America.
-A man named Houy was publicly beheaded in Paris on the 2d inst., for the murder of two women and robbery of the premises. It is said that most of the spectators were women and young girls.
-There are 12,000,000 copies of infidel publications, and 29,000,000 copies of immoral books, papers, and pamphlets published annually in London and distributed principally among the working classes.
-A very heavy thunder and wind-storm occurred in the vicinity of Atchison, Kansas, last week. Many buildings were blown down, and one was struck by lightning. Considerable loss of stock is also reported.
-Governor Stoneman has difficulty in finding successors to the recently-removed Board of Prison Directors. He does not wish to appoint all Democrats, and the Republicans he chooses do not seem to be disposed to accept.
-In Minneapolis, Minn., on the night of the 1st inst. some thieves entered a clothing store and carried off $2,000 worth of goods, hauling away the plunder in carts. They were seen, but got away before the police arrived.
-A Mormon missionary now visiting Washington, D. C., claims to have recently made seventy-six converts, mostly girls between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. He is one of the company mobbed in Indiana.
-A man named Tinker, who was present at the murder of Lord Morris, who was killed near Ballinrobe, Ireland, September 5, 1880, has turned informer and given the names of the assassins, some of whom have left the country.
-Nihilists in St. Petersburg have issued circulars demanding that the Russian Government shall put a stop to the cruel treatment of prisoners, especially women, and enjoining the greatest caution upon all Nihilists in consequence of recent arrests.
-Last week fourteen tramps were arrested at Merced; they had taken possession of a box-car on a southbound freight train and defied the conductor and employes of the train. They had considerable money and valuables in their possession.
-The Irish Catholics have obtained full possession of the City Government of Cleveland, and are filling all the offices. This fact is causing considerable agitation in that vicinity. The newly-elected Congressman from that district is also a Catholic.
-At Hillsborough, Ky., Sept. 26, Mrs. Mungel, a young widow, and a miner named Kelly, were taken by a mob, on a charge of too much intimacy, tied to trees naked, and whipped. They were allowed ten days in which to leave the neighborhood.
-The exposition building at Pittsburg, Pa., and all its contents, were destroyed by fire on the night of the 2d inst. Loss, about $1,000,000, besides many relics and curiosities not valued in money, among which was the first railroad locomotive built in the United States.
-Four hundred workingmen employed in a wire factory at Joliet, Ill., went out on a strike because the proprietors would not give them a day off to go to the circus. It is to be expected that in a free country men will stand for their rights, but it is sometimes hard on their families.
-The rain of the 29th and 30th ult. was quite prevalent throughout the northern part of the State. At Shasta four and a half inches of rain fell. At Chico a heavy thunder-storm is reported, with "torrents" of rain. At Yreka the storm was said to be "violent," but no damage is reported.
-Survivors of a Confederate Brigade at Norfolk, Va., made application for their old battle-flags, now in possession of the War Department, for use at a reunion. The request was denied, Adjutant-General Drumm alleging that he had no authority to comply with it without an Act of Congress.
-There was almost a riot at the funeral of a Chinaman at Philadelphia last week. A mob of 5,000 followed the funeral cortege to the grave, and vainly strove to gain entrance to the cemetery. Twenty policemen were powerless to keep the crowd back. Men and boys besieged the gates, yelled, groaned, and hooted.
-There was a time, about thirty years ago, when steamboat disasters became so common that Congressional action interfered to stop them, and was quite successful. The frequency of railroad collisions now calls for action somewhere. They occur almost daily, and nearly every instance can be traced to criminal carelessness.
-The new postage rate made lively business in the New York post-office on the 1st inst. There were sold on that day, 1,230,000 two-cent stamps, 85,000 four-cent stamps, and 40,000 two-cent envelopes. One man at each end of the office was kept busy telling people that old two-cent stamps were good to any point in the United States.
-In a church at Comanche, Texas, Sept 30, after the congregation had gone out to a creek to attend to the ordinance of baptism, a man named Harris and another named Butcher got into a quarrel and Harris shot Butcher, killing him instantly. Butcher's brother then engaged in a scuffle with Harris and beat him so badly as to cause his death.
-Notwithstanding the report of the United States Commissioner that there was no Chinese immigration to this country via British Columbia, it is said that the mail steamer from Victoria brought nineteen contrabands to Port Townsend. They were promptly returned by the authorities. Persons who claim to know, still insist that large numbers are crossing the line into Washington Territory.
-There is much complaint in the East, of the high rate of fare on the Pacific railroads. There were high hopes of a reduction, on the completion of the Northern Pacific Road, but the result has been a reduction of only $3.00 on first-class tickets. A fierce attack was made on Northern Pacific stock, and its managers were compelled to compromise, so that now, with three roads, the price of a through ticket is only $5.00 less than when there was only one.
-Alfonso, King of Spain, met a most discouraging reception in Paris, whither he went after his visit to Austria and Germany. While passing through the streets he was greeted with groans and hisses, men and women crowding right up to his carriage to offer insults. The newspapers and Government officials all deprecate the deed, and it is understood to be owing to favorable reception in Germany, rather than any bitterness toward himself or his country, that the ill-feeling was manifested. A special escort was afterward tendered him during his stay in the city, which he declined, and this display of personal courage has added materially to his popularity at home.
-A few weeks ago, a Dr. Newton, of Pittsburg, Pa., committed suicide. This act is followed by the suicide of a Mrs. Bryant, aged 25 years, and mother of a child 15 months old, who alleged that without Dr. Newton life had no charms left for her. She left a letter to an undertaker, giving directions in regard to her funeral, giving her name as Fannie Bryant Newton. Another letter, addressed to the doctor's partner, states that she had promised him faithfully to commit suicide, and that she would die happy if her boy could only go with her. She left advice for the child to "try and be a good moral and Christian boy and man," and promised to watch over him from her resting-place.
Religious Notes.
—Moody and Sankey have gone to Ireland.
—The idea is becoming prevalent that it is unnecessary for worldly people to go through the ceremony of joining the church, the relations being already close enough for all ordinary purposes.
—The death of the Queen of Madagascar has altered the religious affairs of that country. At Andovoranto the missionary has been exposed to outrage by a gang of robbers said to be acting under the authority of one of the native generals.
—From the Livingstonia Mission in Central Africa comes the news of the completion of the translation of the New Testament into the Chinyanja language, and of the launching of a new missionary steamer upon the waters of Lake Nyassa.
—The sentiment of the Mormon Annual Conference, now in session at Salt Lake, is in favor of standing by polygamy. The speeches of the "apostles" are full of braggadocio. They claim 2,300 church members in Arizona, and twice that number in Idaho.
—Anam and Tonquin (or Cochin China), the bone of contention between China and France, contains about 200,000 square miles of territory and 21,000,000 inhabitants. In this region the Catholic Church claims 420,000 adherents. This status has been attained by generations of hard missionary labor, through severe persecution, and at a cost of many lives and much treasure.
—A new Methodist Church, in a certain locality, which is adorned with a large cross on its steeple, drew from an old Methodist who stood gazing at it, the remark: "Do you see that big cross on that church? Well, I remember, when the Methodists were poor, each member bore his own cross; but now," he added, "they have become rich, and they have stuck their cross on top of the church."
—A missionary from the Island of Peru, in the Samoan group, writes that there is not a heathen left. Missionary labors were commenced there only eleven years ago. During this time the island has been evangelized, churches, chapels, and mission houses have been built at the expense of the natives, and they are now supporting their own pastors, and contributing to the society that sent them pastors and teachers.
—The sum of $2,000,000 has been subscribed for the new Catholic University in Milwaukee, and Bishop Spaulding having obtained the pope's permission, the building will be commenced immediately. Some people may think it ridiculous to ask the pope's permission to build churches in America; and so it is, but there are ominous signs that his permission will be wanted in more important matters in this country before this generation shall have passed away. Rome has a million adherents in Puritan New England, while a quarter of the population of Wisconsin are of the Catholic faith; and these are merely straws.
—A missionary meeting was recently held at Ikweci Lamaci Mission, Natal, South Africa, where native Christians and native heathen came amicably together, both parties agreeing that the work of the foreign missionaries was necessary and good. One of the heathen said: "Although we are not Christians ourselves, we are glad of what is done for us by the missionary. We know that when we or our children are sick, and our doctors cannot cure us, he is always ready to help us with his medicines." At the close of the meeting the Kaffirs made a spontaneous free-will offering, consisting of twenty-five [English] shillings in money, twenty-nine fowl, two and a half sacks of Indian corn, three sheep, and one goat.
—"Coming events cast their shadows before." The recent concessions of the German Empire to the demands of the Roman Church, or rather a recession from a position stubbornly though unsuccessfully maintained for nine years, indicates a gradual ascendancy of papal authority. Bismarck struck the blow, by the passage of the famous "May Laws," aimed at the abridgement of Roman power and influence in the empire, at a time when his Government was at the zenith of its might, and the Vatican was at its lowest ebb. If the pope has been enabled to win such a signal victory under such adverse circumstances, what may we not expect in other countries where his following is proportionately much stronger. And what may we not expect in the United States, when the Church-and-State party (whose principles are the main support of popery) shall have become the dominant power—an event surely to be expected. The sympathy of this party with the pope's cause is manifested when its organ, in speaking of Bismarck's concession, says: "The friends of justice and of true liberty have cause for satisfaction in the result." True liberty, forsooth!
Specimen Questions.
By Editor
OUR readers can bear witness of our willingness to answer questions; but we insist that they shall be reasonable, and show some desire on the part of the writer to draw out information on truth or duty. We sometime since received a long list of questions from an unknown person, who peremptorily demanded that we answer them to his satisfaction! and then proceeded to assert our inability to answer them, and read us a lecture for our supposed unwillingness to answer them. Of course we threw the letter aside at once without any notice, regretting the time we had to waste over it. Not many are so bad as that, but very many we are compelled to pass by without notice. We sometimes notice anonymous letters, but do not hold ourselves under any obligation to do so.
We recently received a letter from one who professed to be interested in the advent doctrine for many years. It contained about a half a score of questions, and a much larger number of affirmations. We give the second question as a specimen of the whole letter of many pages:—
"If Nebuchadnezzar saw a vision of 'what shall be in the latter days,' how could he fulfill any part of the parable?"
Daniel said he received the interpretation from the God of Heaven, and he said Nebuchadnezzar was a part of the image seen in the dream, and also that the intention of the dream was to make known what should be in the latter days. Now it was not necessary that everything which he saw should be in the latter days in order to make known what shall be in the latter days. The question really casts discredit on the statements of Daniel 2. If the questioner doubts the words of Daniel in that chapter, we cannot help it. But what would a thousand such questions amount to? Please do not ask us to spend our time over trifles.
General Butler and Harvard’s LL.D
By Editor
WHILE so many are convassing the merits and demerits of General Butler, now Governor of Massachusetts, we wish to put on record one thing to his credit: he has been the means of breaking up the silly habit of Harvard of giving the title of “LL.D.,” to all the Governors of that State, which it has done without regard to their knowledge or ignorance of laws. We hope the break-up is complete.
Adventism, or Methodism?
By Editor
‘ The Signs of the Times is very much amused at a ‘ Check on Adventism,’ but expresses great disappointment that Dr. Stratton ‘ sends it off with a favorable ‘ Introduction.’ As to the Advocate, it did not look for anything better. It seems to pity us. We do not feel the need of its sympathy. Mr Woodward and Dr. Stratton can take care of themselves.’ —California Christian Advocate.
The Advocate seems to feel quite confident—occasionally. It recommended a book by Mr. Armstrong, and when we convicted the writer of shamefully misrepresenting the Scriptures, of making statements about the Hebrew of Ex. 16, which he must have known were false, and which the editor of the Advocate knows are false, if he knows the Hebrew alphabet, and we called upon him to point out our error if we had made any, or if we had not, then in Christian honesty to withdraw the deceptive book from the market, the Advocate replied: —
‘ Personally we have no concern about the matter. Whether Mr. Armstrong is right in interpreting the case and the history of the Sabbath or not, does not bother us.’
Oh, no, whether Mr. Armstrong has told the truth, or misrepresented the Bible and falsified the record, does not concern the Advocate.. But it advertised and recommended his book all the same! If this is the standard of Christianity according to the Methodist Church in California, then for the honor of Christianity it is full time there were ‘ A Check on Methodism.’
We hope soon to get time to pay our respects to Mr. Woodward’s work, and we presume the Advocate will suddenly find that it does not care a straw whether Mr. Woodward is consistent or inconsistent; whether he has truly represented the Bible, or misrepresented it. Only one thing it has a deep interest in, namely, that people should accept it as ‘ a check on Adventism.’ Well, we shall see.
“Worse and Worse.”
By Editor
THE character of much of the matter now telegraphed throughout the country to the newspapers is such as to almost unfit many of the dailies, especially the more "enterprising," for circulation in families. Yet it is from this source that we learn the downward tendency of public morals, and the increasing dangers that beset the young on every hand. Much of the details of lax morality is entirely unsuitable for publication; and the prophecy of the apostle Paul in his second letter to Timothy, that in the last days "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse," is being so plainly fulfilled that any one at all observant cannot fail to recognize its application to our day. The peculiar danger to which young and especially indiscreet girls are exposed in our cities and larger towns is a subject for parents, guardians, teachers, and particularly the girls themselves, to ponder seriously.
The recent mysterious murder of a girl fifteen years old in Indiana, when left alone at her home, and the worse than murder of a young lady in Milwaukee, who was induced by a man of but limited acquaintance to take a glass of wine, which was the last she knew till she awoke to find herself in the hands of villains, furnish but two of many instances that might be cited in illustration of the evil tendency of this generation. This last case is not so much a lesson in total abstinence from wine as it is in common discretion regarding companionship. Daily we read accounts of women and girls who have paid dearly for a little lack of discretion, and it is time all had learned that there is danger on every side.
From England.
By A. A. John
WE have quite fully presented the message at three different places this summer. The interest is still good, and our services are solemn as we plead with men to obey. Many are fully convinced, for whom we hope. Two at Ulceby have just commenced to keep the Sabbath. Although alone, God has blessed us greatly. He is our strength. Pray for us. Our hope seems more precious than ever. Our address is 89 Hainton Street, Great Grimsby, Eng.
DISBURSEMENTS.
Balance due SIGNS Office, Oct. 20, 1882 ............. $ 472 27
To ministers ........................................... 6,847 71
Traveling expenses ..................................... 1,161 67
Tent-meeting expenses .................................. 643 75
Tents and fixtures ..................................... 564 41
Camp-meeting expenses .................................. 602 30
SIGNS and tracts ....................................... 478 62
Printing ............................................... 89 85
Incidentals ............................................ 96 84
Loaned College ......................................... 1,000 00
Tithe Gen. Conference .................................. 1,262 92
Due from SIGNS Office, Oct. 1, 1883 .................... 107 03—$13,327 37
W. C. WHITE, Treasurer.
$25,000 Wanted.
WE, the undersigned, hereby give the sums set to our names, to raise the sum of $25,000 to be placed under the control of trustees chosen at the annual session of the California Conference. Said sum to be loaned to some of our Institutions at 5 per cent., the proceeds of which shall be used to assist those who are seeking an education at the Healdsburg College, to fill positions in the cause of God. Said individuals must be recommended by the Conference Committee and the College Faculty.
William Butcher....................................................$5,000
Joseph Leininger.................................................... 5,000
John Morrison....................................................... 1,000
F. H. Adams......................................................... 500
Mrs. Mary Scott..................................................... 500
A Friend to the Cause................................................. 300
"Who'll be the next?"