Earlier text: General ArticlesAuthenticity of the Old Testament Scriptures.
By Editor
THE following is from one of a series of articles in the Baptist Quarterly Review, entitled "Jesus Christ and the Newer School of Criticism," by Prof. Howard Osgood, D.D., of Rochester Theological Seminary. It is a sound and able argument, and we commend it to the careful perusal of our readers:— By two great lines of historic criticism, the Jewish and the Christian, it is proved that the Hebrew Old Testament of to-day was the Old Testament of the Saviour's day. Both Kuenen and Wellhausen tell us that the Pentateuch we have is, barring a few common variants, the same Pentateuch Ezra had, B. C. 444. That our Lord Jesus was thoroughly conversant with the compass, the text, the history of the Old Testament, is shown by the numerous instances of his calling upon the moment the most appropriate passages in the whole Old Testament to meet the case in hand, as the following quotations will prove, if the context is studied. Jesus taught that he came to do the will of his Father, and to teach the truth. "I can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not my own will, but the will of him that sent me." John 5:30; 6:38–40; 7:18; 8:26–29, 38, 40, 46. "To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." John 18:37; 12:48–50. Jesus taught that the whole Old Testament, in all its parts, was the word of God, given by God for man's salvation. "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods unto whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken." John 10:34, 35. Here Jesus uses "law," "word of God," "Scripture," as synonymous, and applies them to Psalm 82:6, a psalm of Asaph. "And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he sent, him ye believe not. Ye search the Scriptures." John 5:38, 39. "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. 4:4. Jesus says that Moses spoke God's "commandment" and "word." Mark 7:9–13; Matt. 15:4, 5. All parts of the Old Testament quoted by the Saviour are treated with the same reverence. He quotes the Pentateuch most frequently, next the Psalms, next the prophets and the historical books. "That the Old Testament was of divine authority to him needs no proof." Rothe, St. u. Krit., 1860, p. 65; Weiss, Bibl. Theol., p. 77; Schmid, Bibl. Theol., p. 218. Jesus taught that these Scriptures were infallible, and that no part of them was to be treated as of slight importance. "For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass away one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished." Matt. 5:18. "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tittle of the law to fall;" where "law" is the equivalent of "the law and the prophets" of the preceding verse. Luke 16:17. See also, John 10:35; Matt. 26:54, 56; Mark 14:49; Luke 24:44, 45; John 13:18; 17:12; 19:28. These Scriptures were so thoroughly God's word that Jesus appeals to single words for the proof of some of his most important teachings. Matt. 22:31, 32; Mark 12:26, 27; Luke 20:37, 38; Matt. 22:45; Mark 12:37; Luke 20:44; John 10:34. Jesus taught that the Old Testament was from the same source and of the same authority as his own words, both were from God. Compare in preceding paragraph Matt. 5:18; Luke 16:17, with "heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away." Matt. 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33. "For if ye believed Moses ye would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words." John 5:46, 47. Jesus taught that there was a clear distinction between the Old Testament, as God's word, and all merely human doctrines, traditions, etc. "Why do ye transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition." "And ye have made void the word of God because of your tradition." Matt. 15:3, 6, 9. "Ye leave the commandment of God and hold fast the tradition of men." "Full well do ye reject the commandment of God that ye may keep your tradition." "Making void the word of God by your tradition." Mark 7:8, 9, 13. Jesus taught that the Old Testament is an organic whole. a. All its books had one common moral basis and doctrine. "He" (Jesus) "said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind." Deut. 6:5. "This is the great and first commandment. And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Lev. 19:18. "On these two commandments hangeth the whole law and the prophets." Matt. 22:37–40; Mark 12:29–31. "All things, therefore, whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you even so do ye also unto them; for this is the law and the prophets." Matt. 7:12. "The weightier matters of the law, judgment and mercy and faith," "judgment and the love of God." Matt. 22:23; Luke 11:42. Jesus taught that his purpose in coming to earth was to fulfill the words of the Old Testament, but this presupposes that the Old Testament is in the highest sense God's word, for only God can foretell events. "Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy but to fulfill." Matt. 5:17. "All things that are written by the prophets shall be accomplished unto the Son of man." Luke 18:31. "The Son of man goeth even as it is written of him." Matt. 26:24; Mark 14:21; Luke 22:22; John 19:28, 30; Matt. 26:55, 56; Mark 14:40. "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory?" "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise from the dead the third day." Luke 24:25, 26, 46. Jesus proved that all his teaching concerning the Old Testament came from his heart, from his deepest convictions, by his absolute reliance upon its words in the midst of his greatest trials. In the temptation at the beginning, Matt. 4:4–10, in the crowning sorrows at the close of his ministry, Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34; Luke 23:46, Jesus meets the greatest foe, and comforts his sinking heart with the words of the Old Testament. During the last six months before his crucifixion, as he enters the shadow of the cross, his heart rests on the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament, and with these he encourages and teaches his disciples, and with these he answers his opponents. See Matt. 23:23, 35; 24:37–39; 19:3–8, 17, 18; Luke 13:28; 16:31; 17:24–32; 18:31–33; John 7 and 8; 10:34, 35; Matt. 21:12, 13, 16; 22:29–46; 24:15; John 13:18; Matt. 26:24; Luke 22:20; Matt. 26:31; Luke 22:37; John 15:25; Matt. 26:53, 54, 56; John 17:12; Luke 23:30. And on the day of his resurrection Jesus meets his desponding disciples and gently upbraids them because they do not believe "all that the prophets have spoken." "And beginning from Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." Luke 24:25–27. From all this it is plain that Jesus found in the Old Testament the vital air of his soul, its thoughts were his thoughts, its principles were his principles, its prophecies were the motive and support and promise of his life. He dwelt with his Father in the holy sanctuary of his word. And, lastly, there must be no disguise of the fact that Jesus taught that Moses was the human author of the Pentateuch. "Moses commanded" the law in Lev. 14:2; Matt. 8:4; Mark 1:44; Luke 5:14. "Moses commanded" and "wrote" the law in Deut. 24; Matt. 19:7, 8; Mark 10:3, 4. "The scribes . . . sit on Moses' seat." Matt. 23:2. "Moses said" the words contained in Ex. 20:12; 21:17; and these words are "the commandment of God" and "the word of God." Mark 7:9, 10, 13; Matt. 15:4. Jesus asserts that the Jews then had the book of Moses. "Have ye not read in the book of Moses"—i. e. Ex. 3:6; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37. The writings of Moses were a constituent part of the Old Testament. "Moses and the prophets, . . . all the Scriptures." Luke 24:27. "The law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms." Luke 24:44. Moses left writings which the Jews then had and read, but did not understand and believe. "For if ye believed Moses ye would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words." John 5:46, 47. "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rose from the dead." Luke 16:31. Moses gave them the law. John 7:19. "Moses gave you circumcision." John 7:22. "The law of Moses" was, in the Saviour's time, the law of the Jews. John 7:23. German and French writers, among whom Professor H. L. Strack, in Zockler's "Encyclo.," p. 139; Professor Vuilleumier, of Lausanne, in "Revue de Theol. et de Phil.," p. 18–22, January, 1882; Siegfried, in "Punjer, Theol. Jahresbericht," 1882, p. 16, tell us that it is now an axiom of Old Testament criticism that Moses was not the author of the Pentateuch. Professor Vuilleumier assures us that it is certain Jesus believed and taught that Moses was the author of the whole Pentateuch; and Professor Vuilleumier also declares, and fortifies himself by quoting Pressensé, that Jesus "shared the opinions common in his time and among his people," and, as to everything beyond certain spiritual truths, "Jesus was the son of his race and his time." See, also, Presbyterian Review, July, 1882, p. 580. That is, the higher truths taught by the Saviour are to be saved at the cost of his intelligence; or, to put it with Rothe and Kuenen, Jesus was no exegete of, and was not an authority on, the Old Testament. If that conclusion is true, then Jesus was no authority in any part of his teaching, for he declares that he came to teach and to fulfill the Old Testament; and his representation of the Father is involved in that conclusion, for Jesus said, "The things which I speak, even as the Father hath said unto me, so I speak." Criticism is only a means to an end. The criticism of the Old Testament by "the newer school" leads it with abundant assurance to stamp as fiction and fraud, that which Jesus Christ says is "the word of God," "spoken by God," which "cannot be broken." There can be no successful disguising the direct and colossal contradiction. There is no possible compromise. "Intelligent Bible readers" must make their choice. "REMEMBER the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor; and do all thy work. Exodus 20:8, 9. This is the law of God for all ages and all men. It comes to us on the authority of revelation, the constitution of man, and the laws of nature. It is irreversible and irresistible in its sphere and mode, as are all other laws resting on both a moral and natural basis. It may be violated, but if violated the penalty follows. Obedience or penalty is the alternative.. This divine Sabbath law, then—"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work"—rises as a light from God and hangs over all nations. It is the authoritative, immutable code, framed into the being of man and the nature of things. Against this law nations may dash themselves; but they will go down, and not the law. Against this law States may frame their legislation and affect to despise it; but they are the ones to be swept aside by the encounter, like the animal that disputed the track with the railroad train, while the law holds on its course. Against this law political parties, in their blindness, prejudice, bigotry, may set themselves; but they will disappear like morning fogs which darken the sun for a time, but do not put it out; and the law will shine out again in all its divine brightness. Against this law individuals, in their impiety and recklessness, may be in haste to make their mark and put themselves on record; but they are the ones to be thrown back like spray when a storm-wave dashes against the rocks at Light-house Point. Such is the irreversible, irresistible, divine Sabbath law, shining above us, arching all Christian nations with its clear light, and overhanging our whole civilization. It goes over, without the abatement of a hair's breadth, from Judaism to Christianity, from the old dispensation to the new, from one nation to another, one continent, one hemisphere, to another.—The Pacific. Temple and Chapel
By Herbert
No SOONER is a temple built to God, but the devil builds a chapel hard by.—Herbert. The Sabbath-School.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." 2 Peter 1:19. The apostle is not comparing one prophecy with another, but he is comparing prophecy with something else. He does not say that we have one word of prophecy that is "more sure" than some other word, but that the word of prophecy is more sure than some other thing. What that other thing is we may learn from the context. In verses 16-18 he speaks of the certainty of Christ's coming, and the reason why he is so certain in regard to it. He says, "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, and this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount." The idea is this: At the transfiguration the apostles saw Christ just as he will appear when he comes in his glory. They also heard the voice of God from Heaven. So when they declared the coming of Christ, they did it on the evidence of both their eyes and their ears. This is accounted the best possible evidence; but Peter says that there is something that is more sure than this. What is it? It is the "sure word of prophecy." It is possible that a person's eyes or ears might deceive him, but there is no possibility of doubt in regard to the prophecy: And why not? Because it did not come "by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." The prophecy, therefore, is as reliable as God himself. There are very few things in this life upon which we can depend implicitly; how gladly, then, we ought to receive this sure word, and how eagerly we ought to search it. As noted by Peter, the object of the sure word of prophecy is that we may be more certain in regard to Christ's coming, for that is the grand event to which all prophecy points. Christ's first advent was the basis of many prophecies, and it was the most momentous event since the creation of the world. Upon that coming the redemption of the whole human race depended; but even that with its attendant sacrifice would be lost to us if Christ were not to come the second time. Christ came and died that man might be redeemed, to reign with him forever; but those whom he has purchased cannot be with him unless, according to his promise, he comes again to redeem them to himself. There is no other way by which we can go to Heaven. So the redemption of the race depends fully as much upon Christ's second coming as upon the first. It is no wonder, then, that so much prophecy has been given in regard to so important an event. We will examine a little of it, and we shall see that the coming of our Lord is not so vague and indefinite a matter as some would have us believe. This dream, related in the second chapter of Daniel, is familiar to every reader of the Bible. The circumstances attending it are such as would attract the attention of one who was reading merely for pleasure, for they are highly interesting. But our interest in the narrative is increased a thousand-fold when we learn the object and interpretation of the dream. The object of the dream is told in few words. Daniel said to the king, "There is a God in Heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days." Then it is for us far more than for Nebuchadnezzar. The dream was as follows: A great image, bright in appearance and terrible in form, appeared to the king. Its head was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of brass, its legs of iron, and its feet of mingled clay and iron. While the king looked upon this image, a stone was cut out of the mountain without the aid of human hands. This stone smote the image upon the feet, and instantly the image was reduced to fine powder, and was blown away; but the stone immediately became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. The interpretation of the dream occupies but little more space. Daniel, after reminding the king that God has given him universal dominion, tells him that his kingdom is symbolized by the head of gold. The other three divisions of the image, the silver, the brass, and the iron, symbolize three other universal empires. The last one of these is to be divided into ten parts as is indicated by the ten toes of the image, which shall be distinct from each other. And now comes the closing scene. "And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." Dan. 2:44, 45. This dream with its interpretation was not given that men might be informed in regard to earthly kingdoms, but for the sole purpose of pointing out the fifth universal kingdom. Then we may know something in regard to the time of its setting up. Let us follow the connection. Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians, B. C. 538. Medo-Persia, then, was the empire symbolized by the breast and arms of silver. The Persian Empire in its turn gave way to the Greeks. This took place B. C. 321. Here we have three of the four kingdoms; and since there were to be but four universal, earthly monarchies, the fourth cannot be difficult to locate. There is no doubt but that Rome was symbolized by the iron part of the image. It was at the height of its power at the first advent of Christ, having fully completed the conquest of Greece half a century before. There is no disputing the fact that it was universal in its dominion, and Scripture proof of the fact is found in Luke 2:1. Now we have the four universal empires before us. Where shall we look for the setting up of the fifth. In the days of Christ? No; because Rome was then undivided. It could not be set up until the division of that empire into its ten parts, which was completed A. D. 457. The coming of Christ, and the setting up of his everlasting kingdom is the next thing brought to our view. And this is in reality the next thing to be accomplished. Certain things must be done by powers that now exist, but when earthly governments again fall, their place will be taken by Christ's kingdom. Other prophecies corroborative of this, and more minute in detail, will be considered next week. Now is not this a sure word of prophecy? Kingdoms have risen and fallen just as predicted by the prophet. He said that the ten divisions of the Roman Empire would seek to consolidate their power, but would be unsuccessful, and so it has been. Every attempt to unite the nations of Europe has ended in failure. And if the past has been fulfilled to the letter, we have the assurance that that which yet remains will as surely be fulfilled. Inspiration did not point out the length of time that these earthly kingdoms should exist, and it has not told when the heavenly kingdom will be set up, but we know it cannot be far distant. The divided state of the image has continued for 1,400 years, much longer than any other division. Other prophecies show more definitely that the end is very near. We learn from this that God's kingdom is as much a reality as any earthly kingdom, and that those whose interest is in earthly things can have no part in it. Are we fitting ourselves for citizenship in that glorious everlasting kingdom? Staying Away from Sabbath-School.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
It is often the case that we hear persons give as a reason for not coming to Sabbath-school, "I didn't have my lesson." But this answer should not be dignified with the title of reason, for it is really a very poor excuse. It shows that the individual offering it does not realize the object of the school. We do not go to Sabbath-school to "show-off" our proficiency, as some people go to church to exhibit their fine clothes. We go to Sabbath-school in order to learn. We are all of us ignorant, to a greater or less degree, of the truths contained in the Bible; we go to the Sabbath-school that we may become enlightened. To stay away from the school because we are ignorant, is as foolish as it would be to stay away from dinner because we are hungry. If we do not know the lesson, that is a great reason why we should attend the school. If it were possible for us to be perfectly familiar with the lesson, so that we could learn nothing more, there would be no special reason for us to attend, except for the sake of our example; we would not lose so much personally by staying away, but our absence might influence others to stay away also. But when we do not understand the lesson, and stay away, we have not only our example on the wrong side, but we suffer great loss ourselves. It may be asked, "If the Sabbath-school is simply the place to learn, what is the use of studying the lesson at all?" Just this: The more we know of anything, the more we are able to learn, and the better able are we to appreciate what others have learned. If we have learned the lesson as well as we can by ourselves, we shall be in the best condition to learn from others; we will have an interest in what they say. If we know nothing of the lesson, we may learn but very little in regard to it during the Sabbath-school hour; but that little is vastly more than we should learn if we did not hear the recitation at all. Let every Sabbath-school scholar, then, whether young or old, resolve that he will attend every Sabbath, both for the good which he may do, and for that which he may receive. E. J. W. A SPEAKER at a recent meeting of a Massachusetts Teachers' Association said very aptly that too many of our teachers and pupils seem to entirely lose sight of the true end and aim of all study, and instead of teaching and studying to know, devote their time and energies to preparing for recitations and examinations, with little thought of anything beyond. SMITH'S COMPREHENSIVE DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE.
NEW EDITION, octavo size, 1,200 pages, with many important additions and improvements from the works of the most eminent scholars, commentators and travelers. It is designed to be In regard to the pronunciation and signification of Scriptural names; the solution of difficulties respecting the interpretation, authority, and harmony of the Old and New Testaments; the history and description of Biblical customs, events, places, persons, animals, plants, etc. In this book it is designed to make everything intelligible to those who understand only the English language, and to place them as nearly as possible on a level with the scholars who are familiar with the original languages of the Scriptures. All the words in the vocabulary are pronounced and divided into syllables, and words or parts of words are respelled whenever this is necessary to indicate the pronunciation. The book contains numerous maps, and is abundantly supplied with superior engravings, which are of real utility to the student. No one who desires to study the Scriptures intelligently will be without a copy of this most excellent book. Price, in cloth, $5.00; in library binding, $6.00
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR
By Editor
AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY PAPER DEVOTED TO THE MORAL CULTURE AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF YOUTH AND CHILDREN.
THIS paper is already favorably known to a host of readers throughout the country. It is filled with a great variety of excellent matter written and selected with special reference to the wants of the young. Its pages are entirely free from the insipid, trashy literature with which so many youth's papers are filled, yet there is no approach to dullness. Each number contains interesting anecdotes and incidents, as well as much useful information, and is well illustrated. It always contains something fresh and new. Carefully prepared Are presented each week. These are adapted to the needs of everybody, from the oldest to the youngest, and are calculated to increase the interest of all in the study of the bible. It will be the aim of the publishers of the Instructor to make it the BEST PAPER OF ITS CLASS NOW ISSUED. SINGLE COPY, 75 cents per year. IN CLUBS—5 copies to one address, 60 cents each. 10 copies to one address, 50 cents each. THIS consists of a set of ten small books containing choice moral and religious stories for the little ones. It is adapted to children from four to eight years of age, and older. Put up in glazed paper covers, 320 pages, price 50 cents. The Instructor with Sunshine Series as premium will be sent to new subscribers for 85 cents. Address, YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR, Battle Creek, Mich. Or, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. Notes of Travel.
By Editor
DURING the last thirty years we have traveled a great deal by public conveyance, and have very seldom spoken a word concerning our travels, or the means of conveyance to which we resorted. We now depart from our custom because we have a few things which we wish to say. Having business in Chicago to detain us a couple of days, we took occasion to call on our old-time friend, Col. George R. Clarke, whose principal business is the care of the "Pacific Garden Mission," in which he is doing a good work for the poor and destitute who cannot be reached by ordinary church work. He has spent considerable money to establish the mission, and is spending considerable to keep it in operation; but he and his estimable wife have devoted their lives to the work, and feel happy in the performance of their duty to suffering humanity. We accompanied them to their home in Morgan Park, where we had the pleasure of calling on Prof. W. R. Harper, who is at the head of the "Hebrew Correspondence School," and editor of the Hebrew Student. Dr. Harper is doing more than any other man in the United States to extend the knowledge of the original of the Old Testament. We are pleased to know that his work is proving successful, and that many are studying Hebrew who would probably never have learned the Hebrew alphabet had it not been for his efforts; while many who have studied it, are availing themselves of the opportunity offered in his school to increase their knowledge of this interesting and important branch of Biblical study. From the amount of labor he has been performing we have feared that he would early break down in health. But we found him of strong build, in the prime of youthful manhood, and we think he is capable of enduring much. We have little fear of his health if he will carry out the plan he laid down for himself: to take rest whenever he found that he could not eat heartily and sleep readily. We commend this rule to all mental workers; wish we could carry it out ourselves! While in Chicago we had the pleasure of making acquaintance with "Bishop McNamara," who stands at the head of the "Reformed Catholic" movement in the United States. The Bishop says he is "Catholic, but not Roman." We have before spoken of this movement, to which we wish abundant success. These people can meet the Catholic people and show them the errors of Romanism where Protestants cannot. In our frequent journeyings over the "Great West" we have traveled over the various lines of railroad, but mostly over the "Burlington Route." The "C. B. & Q." became a favorite with us some years ago, and our "bump of continuity" is so large that we have retained it in our favor still. By this line we went to Kansas City. Here we find something to blame. So many roads have their terminus in the Union Depot in Kansas City that we consider it inexcusable that the waiting-room should be so destitute of comforts and conveniences. It is a fault that should be remedied without unnecessary delay. Of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad we have heard but one opinion; it receives the unqualified praise of all its patrons as far as we know. The managers seem to strive to unite their interest with the interests of those who travel on it; not inclining to take advantage of the circumstance that many are obliged to travel on that line. We sincerely hope that it will sometime extend as an independent route to the Pacific Coast. Feeling a just pride in California enterprise we are more than willing to extend a good word to our Pacific lines wherever the occasion offers. They have done much to develop the wonderful resources of this State. The improvements they have made are of a substantial nature, an honor to those who have projected and perfected them. But we consider it a duty we owe to the public to mention a matter hoping thereby to prevent its recurrence. For several reasons we chose to take the "Emigrant Train" from Kansas City to San Francisco. At Deming, where we changed to the Southern Pacific road, a sick Chinaman was placed in the rear car, which was in part occupied with families containing women and children. We do not mention this because the sick man was a Chinaman, but the man was very sick, and his sickness was of such a nature as to make his presence a grievous annoyance to the passengers, especially to the families. We were not in that car, but formed a pleasant acquaintance with some who were, among whom we will only mention Mr. Amos Hill, who, with his wife and the family of his son, was going to join his son in San Juan, Washington Territory. Mr. Hill was formerly from Rugby, England, but lately from Knoxville, Tenn. He was in the employ of the well-known "Rugby Colony" in Tennessee as one of the early managers of the farming interests there. He is an intelligent Christian gentleman of pleasing manners. He made several efforts to have the passengers relieved from their disagreeable surroundings, but in vain. Finally at Indio, where a stop was made for supper on Tuesday evening, Feb. 6, he appealed to the agent. It was evident that the sick man could not live many hours, and he asked that he might be removed from the car, to die somewhere else. Relief was promised; but the promise was not made good. About midnight the Chinaman died in the car, and there he lay, just where he died, until the train reached Los Angeles next morning. And even then there seemed to be no haste in the work of removal. We cannot think that justice was done to the passengers in this car; and we chronicle the event that the managers of the road may instruct their employees to not permit its repetition, or that the public may understand the facts if a repetition is to be expected. We arrived in Oakland the morning of Feb. 9. Though we felt worn, we stood our journey well, and are thankful for good health. A dry, cold winter is the best for our health, but of course, we cannot bear exposure as we could years ago. This winter we suffered too much exposure to enjoy the cold of the East, and we are free to confess that, under the circumstances, we longed for the temperature of Oakland. But this has been a dry, cold winter in California, as almost every appearance indicates. Many leaves have been touched with frost; flowers are few; the callas have mostly made futile attempts to unclose; there is a lack of the usual deep green of this season of the year. The valley of the San Joaquin gives little encouragement of a wheat crop; and the papers report snow as recently as Feb. 6 in Petaluma, Napa, Dixon, and four inches of snow as far south as Hanford. But our friends in the East may form some idea of the difference between "cold weather" there and in California from the fact that we saw fresh strawberries in the market in Los Angeles. We find the work prosperously moving in Oakland, though some have had to bear too many and too heavy burdens in the absence of Bro. White and our-self. We hope Bro. White may soon return, and we trust that, after a few days, we shall recover our strength and energy for constant labor in the cause to which we have cheerfully, gladly, devoted our life. THE dominant party in California has been true to one pledge which it made before the election: it has repealed the Sunday Law. So far as the pretended "Christian Sabbath" is concerned, it is just what it is in law—dies non. Final action on the Senate bill for its repeal was taken February 6, when the bill passed in the Assembly by the decisive vote of 47 to 21. For this result the people may thank the self-styled "Home Protectionists." Before either political party had conceived the idea of bringing the Sunday question into politics, the Protectionists of Oakland, under the instigation of certain ministers, announced their intention to form a third party and nominate a third ticket if neither of the old parties indorsed the Sunday Law in their conventions. They pledged themselves to vote for those candidates only who would pledge themselves to enforce the Sunday Law. The Democratic Convention met the issue squarely, by not only refusing to enforce that law, but by demanding its repeal. This decisive course for a time astonished all parties, and many of the members of that party trembled for the result. They thought their Convention had gone too far, and that certain defeat awaited them. The Republicans were not left to any choice in the matter; the situation was such that they were compelled to join issue. They made a bid for the "church vote," which was supposed to be sufficiently influential to control the election. Their platform contained a feeble endorsement of the law, but it was supposed to be sufficient as a political, or rather policy, movement, and was hailed with a show of the wildest delight. But such manifestations were of short duration. As the campaign progressed, and it was made evident to the people that the law as it stood was unjust, infringing on both civil and religious liberty, the party organs weakened in its defense, and the majority against the law was unexpectedly large. We say "the majority against the law," for this was the only issue in the campaign. We were not disappointed in the result. We warned the "Protectionists" at the commencement of their work that they were endangering the existence of the law. Dr. Hemphill, of Calvary Church, in San Francisco, took the same view of the matter, and predicted the repeal of the law if its friends forced it into politics. And the Chronicle warned the Republicans that to indorse the law was to court defeat. But the church party would not receive the warning. The fact presented itself before them that Mordecai the Jew, sat at the king's gate; while he occupied this place it was not enough that they were called to the banquet—that their idolized day of the sun sat in the place of honor. They demanded that the gallows be erected. Their demand was granted, with the same result that followed the demand of Haman. The San Francisco Chronicle notices the first Sunday in that city after the repeal of the law. Its article closes as follows:— "Fewer arrests were made yesterday for drunkenness than for several Sundays preceding, and hardly any arrests for any other offense. The repeal was commented on in sermons, both in the forenoon and evening; but as the unchained, roaring lion had utterly failed to furnish the shocking example that would have given the comments point, they fell somewhat flat. Altogether, the result went to indicate that there is a savor of barren honor in the ostentatious repeal of a statute that has been practically repealed every Sunday since its enactment, and that would continue so to be repealed even if Republican nausea had not cast the unwashed and the unterrified temporarily into Legislative office." It would seem that the remark of one of the successful party was well made, when he was asked what he thought the effect of the repeal would be. He replied: "People have heretofore done as they pleased on Sunday, and they would do so if the law were repealed. There would be no perceptible difference." But the agitation of the Sunday question is not ended. We have looked for all that has transpired, because the "sure word of prophecy" indicated that it would come. But the end is not yet reached. We look for more exciting times before the controversy comes to its close. And we give thanks to the God of Heaven that he has not left his waiting people in darkness, but has pointed out to them both the dangers and duties of the last days.