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Signs of the Times, Vol. 7, No. 25.

General Articles
Earlier text: PROMISE TO THE FATHERS

DIVES AND LAZARUS.

By John Nevins Andrews

(Concluded from No. 24.)
WE answer these questions precisely as we do those which arise from the testimony of "Moses and the prophets," to which we are in this parable referred. When Rachel, long dead, is represented as shedding tears and lamenting the murder of her children; when the mighty dead converse with Pharaoh in hades, and he is "comforted" with what he sees in the nether parts of the earth; and when the king of Babylon is mocked by dead kings who rise up from their thrones in hades and taunt him with his overthrow; when we read all this of that place where all is darkness, silence, secrecy, and death—a place within the earth itself, and when we consider that this parable relates to this very place, and cites us to these very testimonies for information on the subject, it becomes evident that one common answer pertains to all these questions.
The dead are personified, and made to speak and act in reference to the facts of their respective cases as though they were alive. Why should not the Spirit of God do this when it has seen fit to personify every kind of inanimate thing? Thus the blood of Abel cried to God. Gen. 4. And thus in Job, the depth and the sea are made to speak, and even destruction and death are represented as saying that they have heard the fame of wisdom with their ears. Job 28:14-22. The stone by the sanctuary heard all the words of Israel. Josh. 24. The trees held an election and made speeches. Judges 9. The thistle proposes a matrimonial alliance with the cedar. 2 Kings 14; 2 Chron. 25. All the trees sing out at the presence of God. 1 Chron. 16. The stone cries out of the wall, and the beam answers it. Hab. 2. The hire of the laborers, kept back by fraud, cries to God. James 5. Dead Abel yet speaketh. Heb. 11. The souls under the altar, slain for their testimony, and who do not live till the first resurrection, cry to God for vengeance. Rev. 6:9, 10.
Thus, when Job sets forth the nature of that wisdom which is from above, he introduces four things destitute of life, two of them being the very opposite of life, to speak concerning the place of wisdom:— "The depth saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with me." "DESTRUCTION and DEATH say, We have heard the fame thereof with OUR EARS." Job 28:14, 22.
And, finally, death and hades are both personified—the one riding a pale horse, the other following, and both cutting down mankind. And this personification is still further carried out, when both, as though living enemies, are at last cast into the fire of gehenna. Rev. 6:8; 20:14; 1 Cor. 15; Hosea 13:14.
The apostle Paul has given us the key to all this, when he says of God that he "quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not, as though they were." Rom. 4:17. And our Lord, in that remarkable discussion with the Sadducees, in which he proved the resurrection of the dead by the fact that God spoke of dead Abraham as though he were alive, gives us this same key, thus, "For all live unto him." Luke 20:38. Abraham, though dead, is spoken of as alive, because in the purpose of God he is to live again.
Lazarus died a beggar. But he rests in hope, an heir to the inheritance promised Abraham. Eternal life and endless felicity are his, and by personification it is said that he is "comforted." Dives lives in the greatest splendor, and dies an impenitent man. The lake of fire is to be his portion. By personification, he is represented as in it already. This is in accordance with the teaching of Paul, when he says of God that he calleth things that be not as though they were. That is, God speaks of things that exist only in his purpose just as though they had a present existence, because they shall surely exist; even as he called Abraham the father of many nations, when as yet he had no son. Gen. 17; Rom. 4:16, 17. There is, therefore, the utmost propriety in thus presenting before the living the dead in hades, and giving them opportunity to speak just as they would, had they the powers of thought and utterance.
This is the more clearly seen when we consider that to Lazarus, in the silence of hades, there will not be a moment between his death, at the gate of the rich man, and his resurrection to eternal life; and not a moment to the rich man between the closing of his eyes in death, and his opening them in the resurrection to damnation.
That we have done right in hearing the testimony of "Moses and the prophets" on this subject, we have the authority of the parable itself to show. And we have this further evidence of the truth of this exposition that, without doing violence to a single text, we have a divine harmony on the subject of the dead in hades, in all that is said by Moses and the prophets, and by Christ and the apostles. These writers all place hades in the interior of the earth, and make it a place of utter darkness and silence, where there is no knowledge; yet they present several cases of the dead in this very place conversing, lamenting, or being comforted.
But, probably, no one thinks there are literally dead kings sitting on thrones deep in the earth, and holding discourse. The dead are not alive. Hades is not a place of thought, but one of utter forgetfulness and the deep sleep.
When persons or things which have no life and no consciousness, are represented in the Scriptures as talking, how do we understand such declarations? Not that they do really have feelings, and thoughts, and powers of utterance, but that they are personified, and made to speak and act just as they would under the existing circumstances were they indeed alive and capable of thought and utterance. Things which in the purpose of God are to be, he can speak of as existing, simply because they shall exist.
This parable of the rich man and Lazarus is therefore in harmony with all the testimonies of the Bible relative to the time of recompense. The day of Judgment comes before God inflicts punishment upon wicked men. 2 Peter 2:9; 3:7.

WHEN DOES THE SABBATH COMMENCE?

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

BY E. J. WAGGONER.
THIS has been a puzzling question to very many. They cannot understand why Sabbath-keepers should commence their rest at the setting of the sun, while other people regard the day as commencing at midnight. Some have thought that it was an arbitrary distinction, more for the purpose of peculiarity than anything else; but a little reference to the Scriptures will suffice to clear the subject of all doubts.
In the first place, we have evidence that the first day of time began in the evening. That is, the dark portion of the day preceded the light portion. "The evening and the morning were the first day." Gen. 1:5. That this was necessarily the case, may be seen from the order of events in the creation. Time, as distinguished from eternity, commenced with the first creative act of God. The first act was the bringing of the earth into existence. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Gen. 1:1. That this occupied but a brief space of time, and not a long, extended period, is proved by the context, also by Ps. 33:6, 9: "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." But at that time there was no light, nothing but intense darkness, for we read that "darkness was upon the face of the deep." The next act was to create light. "And God said, Let there be light, and there was light." Gen. 1:3. God then ordained that darkness and light should henceforth succeed each other in continuous round, and a period of darkness and one of light, called respectively night and day, should constitute one entire day. This completed the first day's work. The first day commenced with darkness, and ended as darkness began once more to overspread the earth. As though to establish beyond question the fact that this was to be the order of all days, it is stated of the first six days that the "evening and the morning" constituted the day. But if the first six days commenced with the evening, and ended with the following evening, it is evident that every succeeding day, the Sabbath with the rest, must begin and end in the same manner. This is further verified by Lev. 23:32, where the Lord says, "From even to even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath."
Having settled the fact that the day begins and ends at evening, the only thing necessary to an understanding of the main question is to find when the evening commences. This is easily settled by the following passages: "But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun." Deut. 16:6. "And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree till eventide; and, as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcass down from the tree." Josh. 8:29. Also, Josh. 10:26, 27: "Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees; and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees." These texts plainly show that the evening and the setting of sun are identical. In the New Testament we have additional testimony. In the first chapter of Mark we have an account of the events of one Sabbath in the life of Christ. First he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and taught. Verse 21. Here he found a man with an unclean spirit, whom he healed. Verses 23-27. Then he left the synagogue, and went to the house of Simon, whose mother-in-law he healed. Verses 29-31. The rest of the people, however, dared not ask him to heal their sick during the hours of the Sabbath, but waited till its close. We read in verse 31, "And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils." Thus we see that the people unanimously regarded sunset as the close of the Sabbath, and, of course, of its commencement. This was the divinely appointed order.
The question then arises, How does it happen that people nowadays commence and end the day at midnight? The answer is this: When men became idolaters, and did not like to retain God in their knowledge (Rom. 1:28), they soon lost all knowledge of the institutions and commandments of God, so that their forms of worship and of daily life differed entirely from those of God's people. Each nation had gods of its own, and customs peculiar to itself. The Persians and Assyrians worshiped the sun, and commenced the day at sunrise. That the Jews, during their captivity, did not lose their reckoning, and conform to that of the Babylonians, is proved by the passage in Mark already quoted. The Romans, for some reason, selected midnight as the time for the beginning and ending of their day. The barbarous tribes that conquered Rome, accepted her customs, and transmitted them to their descendants. Thus the Roman method of commencing the day has become the settled custom in Europe and America. Since it is an established custom, it is necessary, in order to be understood, to conform to the usage in speaking with others, also in business, since the custom is fixed by law. But in the observance of the Sabbath, God's order is unchangeable. Those who accept the Sunday festival, which is a man-made institution emanating from Rome, may be allowed to keep it in such a manner as man decrees; but those who keep God's rest-day—the memorial of his creative power—will take the day just as God gave it, and not offer a substitute by patching a portion of two days together.

CAMP-MEETING AT DES MOINES, IOWA

By George I. Butler

BY ELD. GEO. J. BUTLER.
FROM June 9-14, the annual camp-meeting of the Seventh-day Adventists of the State of Iowa, was held upon the new fair ground about three miles west of the center of the city. Between five hundred and six hundred camped upon the ground. It was a beautiful location for such a meeting, the place where the large State fairs are held, at the capital of the State. A fine grove, green sod, commodious buildings, and beautiful scenery were some of the pleasant circumstances connected with our meeting. It was probably the largest gathering of those who observe the Sabbath of the Lord ever assembled in the State of Iowa.
Eld. Uriah Smith, one of the editors of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, came Thursday afternoon. Eld. White and wife and Eld. Haskell, came Friday afternoon, so we had an abundance of able help from abroad. The brethren and sisters were greatly rejoiced to meet these faithful laborers and leading workers in the cause, and listen to their words of instruction. The preaching pertained almost entirely to practical instruction in true godliness and holy living and the importance of working in the Master's vineyard, working for him who has done so much for us. The dangers of worldliness, pride, the gratification of appetite and passion, and the indulgence of a spirit of fault-finding, murmuring, and gossiping, the evils with which the Christian world is cursed, were plainly set forth. These truths affected the hearts of many present. The last days are specially perilous because of the prevalence of these sins which eat like a canker and destroy their spirituality.
On the Sabbath, quite a large number came forward for prayers, and meetings were held after the preaching service in the tents, till nearly night. These meetings were profitable. On Sunday, the weather was very threatening in the forenoon, and in the afternoon we had one of the severest storms I ever witnessed on a camp-ground. Several tents were blown down, and it was with difficulty that our large tent 60-90, was kept up. The ground was drenched with water. But God mercifully preserved us from serious damage. In some places in the State it took the form of a tornado, and great loss of property resulted. Of course this hindered the outside attendance, which otherwise would have numbered thousands. Some came out in spite of the bad weather.
On Monday we commenced in the morning in the early meeting to talk of the cause and its institutions and the importance of our people sustaining them. As the meeting progressed, the good Spirit of our God came in, and our hearts were made to feel light in the Lord. At nine A. M., as we met for social meeting, we had a most precious season. Sister White was led out in speaking, and the blessing of Heaven came down upon us. It was by far the best meeting of all. The hearts of the whole congregation were moved. Backsliders who had almost wholly given up, wept like children and broke down before God in penitence and confessed their sins and returned to their allegiance. "The hearts of the fathers were turned to their children and the children's hearts to their fathers." It was a precious meeting indeed. It continued right along and swallowed up the time allotted for the usual preaching exercises, till afternoon. Between one and two hundred went forward for prayers, and many precious testimonies were given. Afternoon, after a discourse on baptism, twenty-six were buried with the Lord in the miniature lake upon the grounds, by Elders Washburn and Farnsworth. Camp broke up early next morning with a good social meeting and the ordination of our beloved brother, I. J. Hankins, to the work of the gospel ministry. The Lord witnessed to this act by his Spirit. And so our meeting closed. Our brethren went home encouraged in the Lord. Our ministers went forth with good hope to labor with the tents for the conversion of souls. Six tents will run this season in the State. May God bring many to his truth. Our Tract and Missionary work stands the best financially it ever did. The debt of several hundreds of dollars which has hung over us for years, is all paid and a balance of hundreds in the treasury to be used in the good work. The districts are mostly out of debt. Truly we have cause to thank God and take courage.
EZRA THE SCRIBE

THE QUEEN REGENT DEPOSED.

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

BY ELD. S. N. HASKELL.
NOTWITHSTANDING the Protestant party in Scotland had resorted to the use of arms in their own defense, it was not until they had become fully convinced that the Regent was determined upon subverting the national liberties that they conceived the idea of making any change in the government, or of assuming the exercise of supreme authority. Knox, however, entertained enlightened ideas of civil as well as religious liberty. He maintained that a mutual obligation existed between sovereigns and their subjects, and that if this was violated by the former, so that they became habitual tyrants, notorious oppressors, and destroyers of the commonwealth, the people were released from their obligations to them, and were at liberty to resist them. The Queen Dowager held the regency by the authority of Parliament. The question, Might she not be deprived of it by the same authority? now claimed the attention of the reformers. Finally, a numerous assembly of nobles, barons, and representatives of boroughs, was called in Edinburgh, and Knox and Willoch, the latter then the minister at that place, were summoned to attend and give their opinion respecting the lawfulness of the measure. They replied that the Regent, by the introduction of foreign troops, and otherwise, having evinced a fixed determination to oppress and enslave the kingdom, might justly be deprived of her authority by the nobles and barons of Scotland, the native counselors of the realm, whose petitions and remonstrances she had repeatedly rejected. Accordingly the assembly proceeded to suspend her from her authority as Regent until the meeting of a free Parliament, and to elect a council for the management of public affairs during the interval.
Soon after this step was taken by the reformers, the prospect before them became dark and forbidding. A messenger on his way from England, to whom had been intrusted four thousand crowns, designed to aid the cause in Scotland, was attacked and robbed. The soldiers in the service of the reformers mutinied for want of pay; they were repulsed and worsted in several assaults and skirmishes with the French troops. Secret emissaries of the Regent were busy and also successful among them; their numbers were decreasing daily, and those who remained were becoming disunited, dispirited, and dismayed. Finally Edinburgh was abandoned, and a precipitate and disgraceful retreat was made to Stirling.
The dejection produced by these disasters was universal; but amid it all Knox remained steadfast and immovably. His undaunted spirit rose above the discouraging circumstances. He said, often suffered the wicked to triumph for awhile, and exposed his chosen congregation to mockery, danger and apparent destruction, in order to abase their self-confidence, and induce them to look to him for victory. If they turned unfeignedly to the Eternal, he no more doubted that their present distress would be converted into joy, and followed by success, than he doubted that Israel was finally victorious over Benjamin after having been twice repulsed with ignominy. The cause in which they were engaged would, in spite of all opposition, prevail in Scotland. It might be oppressed for a time, but it would ultimately triumph. In the same discourse, which was delivered the day after Edinburgh was evacuated, he stated that their forces had confounded, that their enemies had triumphed, and inquired the cause why God had permitted them to be thus oppressed with sorrow and shame. The situation of their affairs requires plain language, he said, and he would use it. Having, in his remarks, divided the congregation into two classes, those who had been connected with the cause from the beginning, and those who had recently joined themselves to it, he proceeded to point out what he considered blamable in each; and after exhorting all to an amendment of life, prayer, and works of charity, he concluded with an animating address.
The deep despondency which had rested upon the audience was dissipated, and the people dispersed with renewed courage. Another messenger was dispatched to London to supplicate more effectual assistance from Elizabeth. The disaster which the Protestant army had encountered at Edinburgh proved beneficial to their cause, as it was by this means that the English court was led to abandon the cautious policy which had hitherto characterized it. An English army, consisting of two thousand horse and six thousand foot, was sent to assist the reformers, and with its aid the French were soon compelled to leave the country.

BALE, SWITZERLAND.

By John Norton Loughborough

It was my privilege to spend a few days, during the month of May, with our dear Bro. Andrews at Bale, Switzerland. I am happy to report that Bro. A. is in much better health than he was last winter, although still feeble. He, with his devoted helpers, is doing all in his power to publish and spread the truth in the French language. The Lord gives them much encouragement in their work.
There is, to the student of the Reformation of the sixteenth century, under Luther, Melancthon, Zwingle and others, much of historic interest connected with the ancient city of Bale (German Basle). It was among the first cities of Switzerland to espouse the cause of Zwingle. Here Ecolampadius boldly proclaimed against the doctrines and corruptions of the Romish church. As we look back of this period we find steps had been taken in Bale, which, in the providence of God, had prepared the way for the Reformation to obtain a strong foothold there.
We look with interest on the famous Roman Catholic Council of Bale, called by Pope Martin V, and continued by Eugenius IV. It was opened July 23, 1431, and closed May 16, 1443. During these twelve years this council had forty-five sessions. In its thirtieth session the council declared that "a general council is superior to a Pope." The avowed object of this council was to reform the church of Rome. Pope Eugenius was determined to break up the council, but this only led the council to take even stronger grounds against him. In the session held Feb. 15, 1432, it was declared that "the synod, being assembled in the name of the Holy Spirit, and representing the church militant, derives its power directly from our Lord Jesus Christ, and that all persons of whatsoever rank or dignity, not excepting the Roman pontiff himself, are bound to obey it; and that any person, of whatsoever rank or condition, not excepting the Pope, who shall refuse to obey the laws and decrees of this or of any other general council, shall be put to penance and punished."
Pope Eugenius issued a bull dissolving the council, but it refused to be dissolved, and called him to account, giving him only two months in which to revoke his bull. Meanwhile deputies arrived from Bohemia, demanding that the laity should be allowed the wine in the communion. This was granted them by the council. It gives us some idea of how far the doctrines of John Huss, the Bohemian (who had proclaimed against the papacy one hundred years previous), had gained ground, as we read that these deputies demanded of the council that all mortal and open sins should be corrected and punished according to God's law; that the word of God should be faithfully preached; and that the clergy should not possess authority in temporal matters.
In 1433, Eugenius issued another bull revoking all the decrees of the council against himself. Finding that the council had France and the Emperor to support it, in autumn of the same year he revoked all the bulls which he had issued for the dissolution of the council, and published one in which he declared that the council had "been lawfully continued from its commencement, and that it would be so to the end; that he approved of all that it had offered and decided, and that he declared the bull for its dissolution which he had issued, to be null and void." "Thus," as Bossuet observes, "setting the council above himself, since, in obedience to its order, he revoked his own decree made with all the authority of his See."
Notwithstanding this professed submission to the council, he still plotted for its overthrow, but the council went on to reforming abuses. In the thirty-first session, January 24, 1438, the council suspended Eugenius from the exercise of all jurisdiction, either temporal or spiritual, and pronounced all that he should do, "null and void." In the thirty-fourth session, June 25, 1439, the council deposed Eugenius, making use of the strongest possible terms. On the 30th of October, Amadeus, duke of Savoy, was elected Pope, and took the name of Felix V. Alphonso, king of Aragon, the queen of Hungary, and the dukes of Bavaria and Austria, recognized Felix, as also did the Universities of Germany, Paris, and Cracow. France, England, and Scotland, acknowledged the authority of the council, but still recognized Eugenius as Pope. Four years after Eugenius died, and Nicholas V. was elected Pope, whereupon Felix V. resigned, and thus the schism was ended.
This council had given Bale a spirit of protest against Roman corruptions, which doubtless was fostered until the full light of the Reformation broke upon them.
Bale must have been at one time a stronghold of Catholicism, for in the city and vicinity there existed eight convents, four for monks, and four for nuns. The earliest, St. Albans, was erected A. D. 1083, and the latest, Karthanser, in 1401. Some of these buildings are still standing. One, built for the Franciscan, or barefoot monks, stands near the great market-place. This convent was for many years occupied as the post-office. Directly in front of this, across the market-place, is one of the many drinking fountains of Bale. This fountain is surmounted by two images, which, on inspection, prove to be Delilah, with Samson sleeping on her knee; and she is shearing off his locks. The history of this I could not learn, but being in front of the convent, and of more modern date, it may have been erected by the Protestants as an emblem, to show that the papal church was the Delilah that had shorn Samson—the true church—of its strength.
In some other parts of the city are still remaining paintings, executed while the spirit of the Reformation was in its ardent youth. Near the smaller market stands the ancient Roth House (red house, being constructed of a reddish stone). It is now the place of the meeting of the city officials, containing the city offices. As we enter this inclosed court, and ascend the steps to the offices, there is spread out before us on the walls a large, distinct painting. It is a view of the final Judgment. The painting, as stated under it, was executed in 1519. It represents Christ upon the throne. At his right hand are angels, and a multitude of redeemed ones. In the foreground, the picture consists of a collection of characters being borne by devils to the flames of hell, at the left. One devil is represented with a Catholic priest over his shoulder. Another has a nun by the hair of her head, dragging her along. Another has a monk. Another has the Pope himself, by the collar of his robe, dragging him on. Tetzel's money box is displayed, broken open, with coins of various sizes spilled upon the ground. Near this, the earth is opening with flames bursting out, and priests, confessors, monks, and nuns, going like Korah, "alive into the pit."
A building on which I looked with great interest was the Münster Cathedral, in which the Bale council, mentioned above, was held, and where is now shown the identical record book of the proceedings of the said council. In this Cathedral are the tombs of Ecolampadius and Erasmus. This building was first erected by Henry II. of Germany, in A. D. 1010. It was injured by an earthquake in 1346. Another earthquake, followed by fire, in 1356, laid it in ruins. In 1363, with the restoration of the city, the Cathedral was rebuilt. At its front corners are two towers, each a little over two hundred feet in height. In one of these towers there are seven bells, the largest of which weighs 5,900 pounds. In the other tower is a bell, given by Pope Felix V., cast from 1483 to 1493. This bell weighs 10,500 pounds. These Catholic bells now ring for Protestant service, as, be it remembered, most of the inhabitants of Bale are opposed to Romish doctrines and usages, and have been since 1505. That year the people of Bale entered into the Swiss alliance, and declared themselves in favor of the Reformation. That year, they drove out John Philip, the Catholic bishop. From this time it ceased to be the residence of the Romish bishops. It was in the year 1519 that Bale embraced with ardor the reform faith.
John Calvin resided for a few months at Bale, and it was here he wrote his famous "Christian Institutes." Ecolampadius, just before his death, drew up a Calvinistic confession of faith, which he first read in a speech at the opening of the synod of Bale, in September, 1531. This confession was adopted by the Protestants of Bale in 1534. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

EZRA THE SCRIBE.

By Roswell Fenner Cottrell

BY ELD. R. F. COTTRELL.

HE was a remarkable man. He had a peculiar trait, which was truly singular. "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments." Ez. 7:10.
Few are the persons that seek the law of the Lord, in order that they may do and teach it. If men sought to know what God requires, they could find the way. But they seek to excuse themselves from doing what God commands, by willing ignorance of his law, or by persuading themselves that it has been abolished.
One pleads ignorance of its claims that he may be excused from doing it; another cannot plead ignorance, and therefore claims that it has been abolished, so that he need not do it; and some make both these pleas, so that if one fails to excuse them from doing the will of God, they can fall back on the other; if the law remains unabolished and unchanged, they still fail to understand its requirements.
It would be better, like Ezra, to seek the law of the Lord with a heart willing to do it. "Seek, and ye shall find." The will of God is plainly revealed. The absence of a heart of willing obedience is the great cause of ignorance and error.

Prayer and God’s Willingness

PRAYER is not overcoming God's reluctance; it is laying hold of his highest willingness.

Pretence and Sham in Religion

Counterfeit coin can never succeed in spoiling the character of gold; it only compels one to ring every piece on the counter. So pretence and sham never injure religion, but only make men more watchful.—Sel.

Preaching by Personal Holiness

By Rowland Hill

That man is a bad preacher in the pulpit who is not a good preacher out of it; and no man in the world has a right to stand up for God, if God has not adorned him with personal holiness. We should preach by what we are, as well as by what we say.—Rowland Hill.

UPPER COLUMBIA T. AND M. SOCIETY.

THE first annual session of the Upper Columbia Tract and Missionary Society was called to order by the President, Thursday, June 2, 1881, at 3 p. m. Meeting opened with singing. Prayer by Eld. J. H. Waggoner. Minutes of the organization session were read and approved. The following committees were appointed: On Nominations, Ambrose Johnson, Wm. McCoy, and Hugh Barkley; on Resolutions, A. T. Jones, Wm. Russell, and M. O. Beck.
The report of labor done the past year was called to and read, as follows:—
DISTRICTS. Members No. of Reports No. of Added No. Mem'brs Visited No. Families Written No. Letters In Clubs No. of Signs Obtained Subscribers Pam. Tracts and Pages of Distributed Periodicals sold & given Annuals
1. 29 52 5 197 152 32 95 16445 1251 28
2. 32 65 12 15 101 7 57 22341 730 43
3. 40 98 21 11 166 18 111 15642 1263 .
AGENTS. 4 11 4 440 275 . 33 6724 349 20
Total. 105 226 42 663 694 57 296 61152 3593 91
Elder Waggoner made interesting remarks in reference to the rise, progress, and importance of the work in general, but more particularly with regard to the same within our own field. He mentioned the fact that at present there is a great immigration to this part of the country, and that it behooves us to make greater efforts to properly meet the increasing demands of the times. Adjourned.
SECOND MEETING, Friday, 5 P. M.—The Treasurer read the following report:—
TREASURER'S REPORT.
RECEIPTS.
Received from Districts $371.85
Received on Reserve Fund 209.50
Received from Agents 117.82
Received from N. P. T. and M. Society 56.25
Received from Camp-Meeting Fund 6.51—$761.93
DISBURSEMENTS.
Paid to Signs office $516.70
Paid to Review office 167.93
Paid for Library, postage and freight 42.23— 726.86
Cash on hand $ 85.07
FINANCIAL REPORT OF U. C. T. AND M. SOCIETY, MARCH 31, 1881.
LIABILITIES.
Due Review office $ 17.50
Due Pacific Press 8.66—$ 26.16
ASSETS.
Due from Agents $ 70.96
Due from Districts 51.60
Publications on hand 263.07—$385.63
Due on pledges to Reserve Fund 144.00
Total, including pledges to Reserve Fund $529 63
Leaving a balance in favor of Society of 503.47
Report accepted.
The following sentiment was considered and accepted: Though the financial condition of our Society is somewhat favorable, we should greatly increase our efforts to develop ripe fruits for God.
Eld. Van Horn spoke in regard to the North Pacific T. and M. Society. Adjourned.
THIRD MEETING, Monday, June 9, at 9 A. M.—The committee on nominations reported as follows: For President, G. W. Colcord; Vice-President, A. T. Jones; Secretary and Treasurer, Mrs. G. W. Colcord. Directors—Dist. No. 1, B. F. Winkler; Dist. No. 2, Ambrose Johnson; Dist. No. 3, G. H. Beck. Nominees were elected.
Committee on resolutions offered the following: WHEREAS, All that we deem necessary to the success of the tract and missionary work in our field is, by the substitution of the expression Tract and Missionary Society for Conference, well expressed in the resolutions adopted at Milton, Or., May, 1880, therefore Resolved, That we recommend the indorsement of the same, with the above change.
Adjourned.
FOURTH MEETING was called to order at 4 P. M. Voted to divide Idaho Territory on the line of the Lapwai or Salmon river mountain range, apportioning the northern division to District No. 2, and the southern part to District No. 3. The session closed with interesting cathechisms and instructions. Adjourned sine die.
G. W. COLCORD, President. MRS. G. W. COLCORD, Secretary.

Temperance.

By Rev. Charles Beecher

THE GOOD WINE.

SAID the governor of the feast to the bridegroom, "Thou hast kept the good wine until now!" He seems to have been struck with the goodness of that wine. And well he might, for Christ had just made it, and, as in his creative work at the beginning, he "saw that it was very good." If we had some of that wine, we would drink it unhesitatingly. It was really good wine—having been made by creative power out of pure water, without any process of "descending change." If it was a rich and ripe product of "ascending change," the climax of growth—a rare and luscious juice such as the chief butler had dreamed of handing to Pharaoh—then it was really good. Let any one in tropical climes, enervated with long-continued heat and fainting from thirst, quaff the delicious nectar, and say if it be not thoroughly and absolutely good. Nature in her wondrous laboratory, by the process of growth, has changed the sap of the vine, which is water, stage after stage of ascending change, into this ripe and rare result which is wine—the very topmost round of ascent. Did Jesus by his silent volition do the same, or did he produce a substance a step further on, and a step lower in the scale of nature, a substance that had commenced the process of descending change, a substance that had taken the first step of decay?
There may be those who think that nature's juices are better when they begin to rot (fermentation is the first step toward rottenness), but there are also those who think that nature's wine is perfect in the original packages; in the berry; in the cluster. Yes, it was good wine that the Saviour made—wine that had not begun to rot.
—Rev. Charles Beecher, in the Advance.

WHERE DOES THE SIN COMMENCE?

By John Bright

To drink deeply—to be drunk—is a sin; this is not denied. At what point does the taking of strong drink become a sin? The state in which the body is when not excited by intoxicating drink, is its proper and natural state; drunkenness is the state farthest removed from it. The state of drunkenness is a state of sin; at what stage does it become sin? We suppose a man perfectly sober who has not tasted anything which can intoxicate; one glass excites him, and to some extent disturbs the state of sobriety, and so far destroys it; another glass excites him still more; a third fires his eye, loosens his tongue, inflames his passions; a fourth increases all this; a fifth makes him foolish and partially insane; a sixth makes him savage; a seventh or an eighth makes him stupid—a senseless, degraded mass; his reason is quenched, his faculties are for the time destroyed. Every noble and generous and holy principle within him withers, and the image of God is polluted and defiled! This is sin, awful sin; for "drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God." But where does the sin begin? At the first glass, at the first step towards complete intoxication, or at the sixth, or seventh, or eighth? Is not every step from the natural state of the system towards the state of stupid intoxication an advance in sin, and a yielding to the unwearied tempter of the soul?—John Bright.

Reasons for Total Abstinence

HERE are Dr. Thomas Guthrie's excellent reasons for being a total abstainer: "I have tried both ways; I speak from experience. I am in good spirit because I take no spirit; I am hale because I use no ale; I take no antidote in the form of drugs, because I take no poison in the form of drinks. Thus, though in the first instance I sought only the public good, I have found my own also since I became a total abstainer. I have these four reasons for continuing to be one: first, my health is stronger; second, my head is clearer; third, my heart is lighter; fourth, my purse is heavier."—Sabbath Recorder.

Total Abstinence Prevents Drunkenness

By Cuyler

In all the history of the world there is not an instance where a total abstainer from alcohol ever became a drunkard—ever will or ever can become a drunkard. A person who never goes in the water or on the water, certainly will never be drowned. Total abstinence from intoxicants is the only certain and infallible preventive of drunkenness on the globe, and will be the only one while human nature exists.—Cuyler.

Temperance and Patience

By St. Peter

Add to temperance, patience.—St. Peter.
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