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Signs of the Times, Vol. 2, No. 29.

The Atonement—No. 6
Earlier text: Interesting Items

Words to Christian Mothers.

By Ellen G. White

ON THE SUBJECT OF LIFE, HEALTH, AND HAPPINESS.

HEALTH is a great blessing and can be secured only in obedience to natural law. Good health is necessary for the enjoyment of life. A calm, clear brain and steady nerve, are dependent upon a well balanced circulation of the blood. In order to have good blood, we must breathe well.
Mothers are accountable in a great degree, for the health and lives of their children, and should become intelligent in regard to laws upon which life and health depend. Their work does not end here. They should carefully educate their children upon this subject, that they may, by obedience to nature's laws, avoid disease, and secure health and happiness. It is not necessary that all mothers should teach their children all the details of physiology and anatomy. But they should avail themselves of all the means within their reach to give their children instruction relative to the simple principles of hygiene.
It is well that physiology is introduced into the common schools as a branch of education. All children should study it. It should be regarded as the basis of all educational effort. And then parents should see to it that practical hygiene be added. This will make their knowledge of physiology of practical benefit. Parents should teach their children by example that health is to be regarded as the chiefest earthly blessing. They cannot do this while the love of money and of display is made of greater consequence than the health of their children.
Mental and moral power is dependent upon the physical health. Children should be taught that all pleasures and indulgences are to be sacrificed which will interfere with health. If the children are taught self-denial and self-control, they will be far happier than if allowed to indulge their desires for pleasure and extravagance in dress.
The great burden of life with very many is, What shall I eat? What shall I drink? And wherewithal shall I be clothed? Many mothers indulge in pride, and in many things which are hurtful to the health of the body, in order to be in fashion. What deplorable lessons are they giving their children in this respect. They do not, by precept and example, educate their children to self-denial as a sacred duty, in order to possess health, serene tempers, goodness and true beauty.
Many parents do not educate their children for usefulness and duty. They are indulged and petted, until self-denial to them becomes almost an impossibility. They are not taught that, to make a success of Christian life, the development of sound minds in sound bodies is of the greatest importance. The dear children should be taught to flee from every taint of sin. In order to do this, they must separate from the hurtful fashions of the world.
It is a sad fact that many, even professed Christians, make their pleasures, their amusements, the gratification of pride in dress, the gratification of appetite, almost everything while the cross of Jesus Christ, and purity of heart and life, are left out of the question. God has claims upon them, but they do not, by their life, show that they have a sense of their duty to him. They acknowledge the claims of the world by their obedience to fashion. They devote time, service, and money, to its friendship, and, in so doing, prove themselves to be not the true friends of God. He demands of his people the first place in their hearts. He requires their best and holiest affections. The Christian religion invites, urges, and claims self-denial and the bearing of the cross for Christ's sake.
The world may clamor for our time and affections, fashion may invite our patronage, but the words of the apostle should be enough to lead Christian mothers from the indulgence of pride in dress and demoralizing amusements. “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” “Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
Christian mothers should take their position on the platform of truth and righteousness; and when urged to unite with the world in patronizing fashions which are health destroying and demoralizing, they should answer, We are doing a great work, and cannot be diverted from it. We are settling the question of our everlasting destiny. We are seeking to develop in our children, sound, worthy, and beautiful characters, that they may bless the world with their influence, and have immortal beauty and glory in the world to come that will never fade. If children had such an example from their parents, it would have a saving influence upon their lives.
But it is a lamentable fact, that many professed Christian women, who are mothers, take the lead in patronizing the fashions, and those who make no pretentions to Christianity, follow in the footsteps of professed Christians. Some who are in humble circumstances in life, in their efforts to keep pace with fashion, that they may retain their position in fashionable society, endure privation, and work far beyond their strength, that they may dress equal to the example given them by their more wealthy Christian sisters. Unless they can dress somewhat to compare with their more wealthy sisters, they have no desire to attend church, where there is such a display of costly adorning. The contrast is humiliating, say they, for we can only think of our humble dress.
The temptation is so strong before some to come up to the standard of fashion that they are sometimes led into dishonesty and theft to gain their desired object. Others sell their virtue, that they may have the means to decorate themselves for display. They see this is the great aim of life with many who profess to be righteous. Professed Christians, whose example thus proves a stumbling block to their weak sisters, will have a fearful account to meet in the day of final reckoning. They have, by their example, opened a door of temptation to the inexperienced, who are charmed with the respect paid to those dressed in fashionable style, and they become so infuriated that they at last sell honor and virtue, woman's greatest adornments, and sacrifice health and happiness for artificial decorations for display.
I clip the following pointed remarks from the Marshall Statesman, under the caption of Fashionable Ruin:
“At a fashionable party in Fifth avenue, New York, a beautiful young woman turned sharply upon an elderly dowager who was prosing about the Magdalens, and the hopelessness of doing anything for these ‘lost women,’ with the assertion: “I know a class more hopelessly lost than they. We fashionables who murder time and squander money, and lead women to become Magdalens that they may dress like us, why does nobody send missionaries to us?” The intensity of the utterance was eloquent of better possibilities. No doubt there are more ways than one of being lost. The syrens are not all of one class, or confined to one locality.”
The apostle presents the inward adorning, in contrast with the outward, and tells us what the great God values. The outward is corruptible. But the meek and quiet spirit, the development of a beautifully symmetrical character, will never decay. It is an adornment which is not perishable. In the sight of the Creator of everything that is valuable, lovely, and beautiful, it is declared to be of great price. “Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel. But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner, in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God adorned themselves, being in subjection to their husbands,” 1 Pet. 3: 3-5.
It is of the greatest importance that we, as Christian mothers, show, by precept and example, that we are cultivating that which the Monarch of the universe estimates of great value. In doing this, what an influence for good can we have upon our children; and how important we can make our lessons of instruction, that purity and holiness should be the great aim and object of their lives.
E. G. W.

The Little Family.

Published by request.
THERE was a little family Who lived in Bethany: Two sisters and a brother Comprised this family. In singing and in praying, Like angels in the sky, At morning and at evening They raised their voices high.
They lived in peace and pleasure For many lonely years, And laid away their treasure Beyond this vale of tears. So poor and without money, Their kindness made amends; Their house was ever open To Jesus and his friends.
But while they lived so happy, So poor, so kind and good, Their brother was afflicted, And rudely thrown abed. Poor Martha and her sister Did weep and mourn and sigh; But still he grew no better, But lingered on and died.
The Jews went to the sisters, Put Lazarus in the tomb, And tried their hearts to comfort, And drive away their gloom. When Jesus of their sorrow, Heard in a distant land, Straight thither he did travel, To join this lonely band.
When Martha saw him coming, She met him in the way, And told him how her brother Had died and passed away. He cheered her and he blessed her. He told her not to weep, For in him was the power To raise him from his sleep.
Then Martha told her sister, And Mary met him too, And at his feet stood weeping, And rehearsed the tale of woe. When Jesus saw them weeping He fell a weeping too, And wept until they showed him Where Lazarus was entombed.
He rolled away the cover And looked upon the grave, Then prayed to his dear Father Their loving friend to save. Then Lazarus in full power Came from that gloomy mound, And in full life and vigor He walked upon the ground.
Oh, if we but love Jesus, And do his holy will, Like Martha and like Mary, Do ever trust him still, From death he will restore us, And take us to the skies, And bid us live forever Where pleasure never dies.

Frequency of Wars.

A curious newspaper writer has been counting up the wars in which civilized nations have been engaged during the seventy years of the present century. The record which he makes out is a melancholy one, and offers a sad commentary on the condition of mankind even in their most advanced development. The writer in question finds that no single year of the century has thus far passed which has been wholly free from war, in one part of the world or another. He also finds that wars have been most numerous among the most civilized nations, and that their wars, too, have been by far the most destructive. During the seventy years of the century, Great Britain has been engaged in forty-nine wars, France in thirty-seven wars, Russia in twenty-one, Austria in twelve, Prussia in seven, and the United States, to go no further in the list, in three, not counting our far more numerous Indian wars. Had the writer gone a little further and reckoned up the lives that have been sacrificed in all these wars, the treasure that has been squandered in them and productive industry that has been lost to the world, he might have supplied the materials for a tolerably impressive tract to be issued by the Peace Society.—Providence Journal.

Roman Catholic Baptism.—

In the Chicago Standard's letter from New York occurs the following passage concerning some of the doings of the Presbyterian General Assembly recently convened in that city:
“Saturday before adjournment was spent in a discussion of great interest to some delegates, and of but little to others. The question was, ‘Is the Roman Catholic church a church of Christ, or not?’ Dr. Musgrove led in this discussion, taking the negative with great earnestness. He cited its modes of worship, its crimes, its doctrines, and claimed that it was essentially pagan. We do not wonder that the question of Romish baptism troubled the assembly. Pedobaptists have no alternative but to accept the Romish baptism or reject their own. Bible baptism would be a decided improvement on both.”
We agree with this letter writer concerning the “Romish baptism” accepted by the Presbyterians, but ask the Baptist how he can take exceptions to this when he also accepts the Romish Sunday instead of the Sabbath of the Lord? The Bible Sabbath would be a decided improvement on this heathen, Roman Catholic Sunday. Will our Baptist brethren please take note of this?—Sabbath Recorder.

Where is Your Lantern?

Young Harry was sent on an errand one evening in early winter. After giving him his message, his mother said: “Be sure you take the lantern with you, Harry.”
“Bother the lantern,” answered the boy, gruffly and disrespectfully, and he started, muttering to himself, “What do I want with a lantern? I guess I know the way well enough.”
Very soon Master Harry, in crossing the street, stumbled into a hole which had been made by a recent rain. By his fall he knocked the flesh from his shin bone, and covered his clothing with mud.
On his way back he forgot the fence running along at the edge of the ravine. As he groped his way along the bank, he fell over the bank, and went sprawling to the bottom of the ravine.
With much ado and after many bruisings, he got into the road once more; but when he finally reached his mother’s door, he looked more like a scarecrow than a living boy.
The lantern would have saved him all this; wasn’t he a foolish fellow not to take it? But what shall be said of those boys and girls who know the Bible to be the only lamp which can guide their feet safely through the paths of life to their home in Heaven, and yet refuse to carry it! Are they not still more foolish? Are they not likely to suffer even more than the boy? You know they are. Take the Bible, therefore, for your life-lantern, and let it be a lamp unto your path.

Punctuality.

If everybody felt the importance of being on hand promptly at the appointed hour what a vast amount of valuable time could be saved, and how many unpleasant feelings could be prevented. The following hints are to the point:—“Method, is the very hinge of business; and there is no method without punctuality. Punctuality is important, because it subserves the peace and good temper of a family: the want of it not only infringes on necessary duty, but sometimes excludes this duty. Punctuality is important as it gains time; it is like packing things in a box; a good packer will get in half as much more as a bad one. The calmness of mind which it produces is another advantage of punctuality: a disorderly man is always in a hurry; he has no time to speak with you, because he is going elsewhere; and when he gets there he is too late for his business, or he must hurry away to another before he can finish it. It was a wise maxim of the Duke of Newcastle: ‘I do one thing at a time.’ And this generates punctuality in you; for, like other virtues, it propagates itself: servants and children must be punctual where their leader is so. Appointments, indeed, become debts. I owe you punctuality, if I make an appointment with you, and have no right to throw away your time if I do my own.”

RELIGIOUS NEWS AND NOTES.

—The question of the Bible in the public schools is agitating the people of Sidney, Australia. The Bible there is out, and the pressure is to establish it. The majority are favorable to the measure.
—It is stated by Protestant authority that during the last ten years the increase of the percentage of the property of the Protestant Church in this country has been about eleven per cent, while the increase of the Roman Catholic Church has been forty-two per cent.
—Italy has finally accorded full civil and political rights to the Jews. Of the corps of Senators just elected two were Israelites, and in the Chamber of Deputies there are now eleven Jewish members, which gives a very fair representation in the legislature to that once despised and oppressed race.
—Mohammedanism is making very rapid strides in many of the distant provinces of China. Not only, too, is the religion itself spreading thus suddenly and swiftly, but the Chinese followers of the Prophet appear ripe for an insurrection, and it is feared that the entire provinces of Kansuh, Shensi and Kwei-chow may ere long be in a condition of open revolt.
—The Prussian Cross Gazette publishes a private letter from Jerusalem which says great excitement and anxiety prevail there in consequence of excesses of the Turkish authorities and the threatened rising of the populace. On the 2nd of June the Christians, fearing an attack, barricaded their houses, and the foreign residents kept an armed watch throughout the night. The Germans met at their Consulate and made an organization for mutual defense and sent to the Government formal application for military assistance. The Turkish soldiers have since permanently encamped in the public squares.
—Miss Anna Oliver, of New York City, enjoys the honor of being the first woman in America to graduate from a regular theological seminary. The seminary from which she graduated is the Methodist Divinity School of Boston. “Miss Oliver,” says the Christian Union, “we assume, is now open to a ‘call,’ and after that we shall hear what Methodist preachers have to say about installing her. They cannot reject her, however, without at the same time condemning the course of one of their principal seminaries in throwing open its doors to women. And if we have Methodist women preachers, why not Presbyterian and Congregational and Episcopalian?”
—At the opening service in Mr. Moody’s new church in Chicago, June 1, it was stated that the entire cost of the building and lot was $89,207 and that there was $19,897 yet to be raised. All but $7,541 was immediately taken up by a collection. Mr. Moody seems to be taking a very sensible course. At this meeting he is said to have made the following pointed statement: “You will notice by the advertisement that this is not called the dedication service. It is only the opening. We will dedicate the building when it is paid for. We have just opened the building to show what has been done, and if our friends like to pay the debt we will dedicate it. We will hold a meeting to-night, Friday night, and Sunday night; and if by Sunday night the debt is not paid we will lock the church up and keep it locked up until it is paid for.”
—Enthusiasm over the new African missions to which the death of Livingstone gave the grand impulse, is well sustained. Recently the Scotch Established Church, which is following in the wake of the Free Church, sent out two little steel vessels, one for mission service on Lake Nyassa, the other for the purpose of establishing trading stations; and among those who have gone out there is a young Mr. Cotterill, son of the Bishop of Edinburg, who intends to develop commerce as a Christianizing agent. He hopes to aid in substantiating the belief of Livingstone, which is also shared by Lieut. Cameron, that honest trade will tend most powerfully to destroy the traffic in human flesh by assailing the slave system at its root.
—A leading Baptist paper has the following:
“The Baptist movement which began in Sweden about twenty-five years ago has resulted in the organization of 234 churches, having between ten and eleven thousand members, besides a large number that have migrated to the United States. Ten Associations and eighteen local missionary societies have been formed, and a General Home Missionary Society. These missionary societies maintain each from one to eight missionaries. The Sunday-schools are attended by between sixteen and seventeen thousand children. The churches contributed last year for the maintenance of preachers and other benevolent purposes about twenty-five thousand dollars.” This shows what has been accomplished by this denomination, and also what might be done could “present truth” be proclaimed there.

SECULAR NEWS.

—A large gang of Fenian convicts have been rescued from Western Australia by an American Whaler.
—The French Chamber of Deputies, on the 7th, passed the University Education Bill, giving the State the exclusive right to confer degrees. The final vote was 388 to 228.
—An exploring expedition to north-western Africa, has just left England. Its main object is to ascertain the feasibility of admitting the waters of the Atlantic into a portion of the Desert of Sahara.
—Russia is now the principal competitor with the United States in the supply of grain to the rest of Europe. Should Russia drift into war, the event would have a greater effect on the grain market than war in any other country.
—The Gibraltar Chronicle reports that on the 5th instant, at Alessar, a Moor stabbed eleven Jews with a dagger. Among the wounded are a British subject and the son of the Vice-Consul of the United States at Larache, Morocco. The Moor has been arrested and severely bastinadoed.
—Heavy rains have fallen in the south-western States during the last week, and several tributaries of the Ohio are flooding their bottoms. The Missouri is over its banks, and the upper Tennessee is doing damage along its valley. Almost the entire crops on the French and Broad have been destroyed.
—Garibaldi, it is said, will soon resign his seat in the Italian Parliament. He recently sent a letter to his constituents expressing his regret at being no longer useful to them, and stating that declining health unfitted him to discharge the duties devolving upon their representative. He intends to return to his home in Caprera, from which he has been absent about a year.
—In Connecticut the House of Representatives has made a very fine distinction, in passing, on June 20, a bill allowing women over 21 years of age who hold property to the amount of $500, to vote in school, borough and town elections. If women should vote why should property be made a test with them, more than with the men?
—There seems now to be some prospect of checking the slave trade in Central Africa. A telegram from Zanzibar to the House of Commons states that the Sultan has agreed to abolish all slave routes by land, to seize all caravans for slave dealing in the interior, to confiscate all slaves, and to imprison all slave-dealers. This stringent treaty, if faithfully carried out, is exactly what is needed to put down the traffic.
New York, June 24.—A special from General Crook's camp on Goose creek, via Fort Fetterman, to-day gives details of the big fight between the troops and the Sioux. The latter were about 2500 strong, under Sitting Bull, and the troops 1300 strong, under General Crook. The fight lasted nearly five hours. At the end of which time the Sioux sounded the retreat having suffered quite a loss in numbers. They are now practically surrounded by the troops.
—The news from Mexico is favorable to the success of the government. The State election for presidential electors takes place on the 15th of July, and there is little doubt of the choice of a majority favorable to the re-election of Lerdo de Tejada, who has proved himself honest, competent and liberal, a friend of education, the defender of religious liberty, and a reformer in every respect equal to Juarez, who was the most popular ruler Mexico ever had.
—The practical value of the Signal Service to the farmer and agriculturist is shown by the statement that the usual damages by rain in the case of hay crops have been very greatly reduced in Indiana and Illinois during the past year by the prevailing custom of consulting the Farmer's Bulletin before cutting the hay. The importance of a knowledge of the weather to be anticipated in connection with interests of this kind is illustrated by the statement that a single severe storm in the cotton belt has been known to cause fluctuation in the total value of the annual crop amounting to $20,000,000.
—One year since, Mrs. Lincoln, widow of President Lincoln, was adjudged insane by the Cook County Court, and Robert Lincoln appointed conservator of the estate. The afflicted lady was taken first to a private asylum at Batavia, Illinois, and afterward to her brother-in-law, Hon. N. W. Edwards, Springfield. June 15, that gentleman appeared in court with the petition that she be restored to the management of her property. He testified that Mrs. Lincoln has been living with him some time, and he was satisfied she was in proper condition to manage her own estate. No other witness was examined, and the jury gave a verdict in accordance with Edwards' prayer.
—Tuesday morning, June 20, the Bay Sugar Refinery, on the corner of Battery and Union sts., San Francisco, was almost entirely destroyed by fire. This building which, with the exception of the Palace Hotel, was the highest in the city, was seven stories high. The fire originated in the seventh story, and in spite of the prompt action of the firemen only the two lower floors, in which were stored about 30,000 pounds of sugar which was much damaged, was saved. 95,000 pounds of sugar were destroyed in the upper stories. The loss is variously estimated from $300,000 to $400,000. Insurance, $225,000. The company intends to rebuild immediately.
—It is reported that several farmers in Kern County will lose heavily by the destruction of their grain by the tule rats.
These rats live in the tule along the margin of the lakes, feeding on the roots of that plant. The spring rise in the river has filled the lakes and caused them to extend their margins a great distance, driving the rats back until they found the wheat fields, which as a new article of diet they appeared to relish better than the tule roots. Their plan of operation is to cut the stalk near the ground, and when it falls to eat the head. They totally destroyed a field of one hundred acres nearest the lake, and then advanced and begun on another field of 400 acres, but Mr. Souther determined to dispute this with the rats, and immediately threw his mowers into the field and proceeded to cut the wheat for hay. He will probably by this means save half of his crop for hay.

Business Department.

“Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully,” (margin, negligently). Jer. 48:10.

Received for the Signs.

$3.00 EACH. M Farnsworth 3-22, P F Philpott 2-27.
$1.50 EACH. Mrs A K Bradstreet 3-28, Mary Rurbank 3-28, Mrs Betsey Britton 3-28, Wm Barrow 3-28, H F Smith 3-28, Laura Smith 3-28, Abner Brown 3-28, Martha Torrey 3-28, Jane Lowrey 3-28, Hattie Castler 3-28, Caleb Bailey 3-28, Lorenzo Lowrey 3-28, Joseph Ferrin 3-28, John Brigham 3-28, Phillip Brigham 3-28, Geo D Ballou 3-28, Mrs Ruth Briggs 3-28, W H Swain 3-28, Anna Haynes 3-28, Anna Winkler 3-28, Mrs O F Metcalf 2-24, O Brown 3-28, Rev D R Howe 3-28.

MISCELLANEOUS.

B G Jones $1.00 2-48, H Reinbold $1.00 2-44, M J Purrington $1.00 3-12, Mrs J Zumwalt 50c 2-44, John B Haight 85c 2-44, Mrs Mary Robinson 75c 3-4.

California Conference Fund.

Church at Middletown $12.00, W G Myers $5.00

Cash Received on Account.

N Y T & M Society $225.00.

State Quarterly Meeting

By John Norton Loughborough

Appointments.

State Quarterly Meeting.

The third Cal. State Quarterly Meeting of this fiscal year will be held with District No. 7, in Oakland, Sabbath and First-day, July 8 and 9. We hope for an attendance of all the directors in reach of this meeting. J. N. Loughborough, Pres.

District Quarterly Meetings.

DISTRICT NO. 7.—At Oakland, in connection with the State Quarterly Meeting, July 8 and 9. Let the librarians in each district call immediately upon those members for reports, who did not send in their reports to the Quarterly meeting. All such persons should be solicited for their reports. They must have done some T. and M. work in three months. Let that which has been done be reported. Let all additional reports, received in this manner, be forwarded to your district secretary, and on to the State Secretary, as provided in your instructions. J. N. L.
OAKLAND.—Sabbath, July 1, at 11 A. M.
SAN FRANCISCO.—First-day, July 2, at 7:45 P. M.
J. N. Loughborough.

Camp-Meetings.

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Woodland.

By John Norton Loughborough

THE quarterly meeting held at Woodland, June 24 and 25, was quite an interesting occasion for the church in Woodland. The Lord gave me some freedom in speaking upon present truth and duty for the important times in which we are living. The report of T. and M. labor, for the quarter just ending, was very meager, only seven members out of forty having done any missionary work. I hope it is not an index to the future for that church.
How can we expect to have the Lord say to us at last, “Well done,” if we have done nothing. If he does say so he will do differently from what he did in the case of Meroz anciently. He certainly cursed him for doing nothing, “because he came not up to the help of the Lord.”
The times are eventful; there is much work to be done. There is room for all to do something. Shall we, as a people on this coast arouse to a sense of the importance of the times and work? No field has been any more favored with outside help than California. God calls upon us to arouse individually to labor in our sphere, to help ourselves and to help on the work in our midst. Shall we do it? J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

Half a Sabbath.

UNDER this heading the Church Union says: “In the present discussion concerning the Sabbath, and the opening of the Centennial Buildings on that day, the position assumed by Archbishop Wood, of the Roman Catholic church, is the most remarkable. ‘It would grieve me very much’; says the representative of the Roman faith, ‘to see the Exposition remain open all day on Sundays.’ But he thinks that an afternoon visit to the ‘Exposition would be ‘harmless.’ The Bishop’s reading of the fourth commandment must be a curiosity. ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy’—until after twelve o’clock. Or, as the Bishop would probably prefer, ‘Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy’—until after morning mass, and then you may go to Fairmount Park. And then this remarkable prelate adds, very naively, that the desecration of the Lord’s day is, ‘unhappily, a growing evil in the community.’”
On this the Sabbath Recorder remarks: “If the Church Union, which tries to turn the tables on Archbishop Wood by referring him to the fourth commandment, concerning the opening of the Exposition on Sunday, will only reflect a moment, it will see that the fourth commandment and the Sunday, have no connection with each other. The fourth commandment refers to the last day of the week, and Sunday is the first. No harm is done to the Sabbath by opening the Exposition on Sunday.”

Missouri Conference.

The first annual session of the Missouri Conference was held near Kingsville, June 2, 1876. The officers elected were, President, Wm. Evans, Hamilton, Caldwell Co.; Secretary, D. C. Hunter, Nevada, Vernon Co.; Treasurer, J. A. O'Bryan, Holden, Johnson Co.; Executive Committee, Wm. Evans, J. F. Klostermyer, J. A. O'Bryan. J. H. Rogers, L. R. Long, J. G. Wood, and C. H. Chaffee, received credentials; J. M. Gallemore, H. Wren, Nathan Allen, and P. Deford, received license.
The treasurer's report is as follows:—
Rec'd from Battle Creek by donation, $200; from s. B. treasurers, $572.85; total, $772.85.
Paid out on orders, $350.75. Cash on hand to balance, $422.10.
The summary of the reports of church clerks is as follows:—
Number of members at commencement of year, 240. Present number, 322. Increase, 82.
Systematic Benevolence pledged for 1876, $907.40.

Religious Deviltry.

AN EXAMPLE OF MOHAMMEDAN OUTRAGES UPON CHRISTIANS IN THE EAST.

Religious toleration among the subjects of the Sultan does not seem to have gained in strength by the recent decrees. Some time ago the tomb of the Rev. Mr. Morgan, an American missionary who was stationed for many years at Antioch, and who, dying, was buried at Hably, a village near Antioch, was desecrated and broken up, together with the graves of native Protestants who slept near him.
Bands of young men and youths of the city have also of late been addicted to parading the streets, invoking curses on the heads of the “Kafirs,” or infidels. These proceedings, coupled with frequent insults, did not naturally tend to re-assure the Christians, and as no check was attempted to be put upon them by the authorities, they have been kept upon the tender hooks of still greater evils. A week ago a man called Gabriel Effendy, the cashier of the Latakia Custom House, an Armenian Christian, a native of Bagdad, was accused of having been overheard to blaspheme the Prophet while in conversation with his wife in his own garden. This crime, if proved—and the two witnesses required by Koranic law were not wanting, besides others—is punishable by death. Notwithstanding the flat denial of the accused and the improbability of such a statement, the charge alone was sufficient to pour oil on the already lambent flame. The city was soon in an uproar, the mob crying for vengeance and parading the streets with loud cries. The Governor, as usual, looked wise and did nothing. He is an old man, whose special mission in being sent from Stamboul is (according, it is said, to his own statement) limited to levying the taxes and asserting Moslem ascendancy. The Major in command of the handful of troops, however, arrested the accused, and took him to prison under escort, to save his life, followed by the mob, and safely lodged him there. The telegraph meanwhile reported the state of matters to the Governor-General of the province of Damascus, who in reply sent orders to send the man to Tripoli, the chief town of the district. He was accordingly shipped on board the Russian steamer last Sunday morning, under a guard, in company with several of his accusers. Forty minutes after quitting Latakia the unfortunate man, worn out by his past sufferings, and despairing of the future, threw himself overboard.—Pall Mall Gazette.

A Cracked Commandment.

By Editor

In these days when the commandments are so often broken, and the worst crimes so frequently pass unpunished, it is refreshing to see a piece like the following from the Examiner, which shows a wholesome sensitiveness with reference to cracking one of the immortal ten commandments. We wish children of larger growth might feel its force.
“We heard a suggestive expression related the other day of a very little girl, who was taken by her mother into a shop, where a tempting basket of oranges stood exposed for sale. While her mother was engaged in another part of the room, the little one feasted her eyes on the fruit, and nursed the temptation in her heart till it grew too strong to be resisted, and she hid one of the oranges under her apron and walked quickly away. But conscience remonstrated so strongly, that after a little reflection, she walked as quickly back, and as slyly replaced the orange in the basket. Again, the forbidden fruit out of her possession, presented its tempting side, and again she yielded. After a sharper conflict than before, conscience gained a second victory, and the almost stolen orange was again and finally restored. With a saddened countenance she walked home with her mother, and when they were alone, burst into tears, exclaiming, O! mother, I’ve cracked one of the ten commandments! I didn’t break it—indeed I didn’t break it, mother—quite—but—I’m sure I cracked it. We shall never again see a piece of doubtful conduct, without thinking—there’s a commandment cracked.”—Sel.

Brevities.

The P. O. address of Elder James White is Battle Creek, Michigan.
The address of Elder J. H. Waggoner, and Elder J. D. Van Horn, is Oregon City, Oregon.
The address of J. N. Andrews is 68 Mullerweg, Bale, Switzerland.
The yearly meeting of the Ohio Tract Society and the annual session of the Ohio State Conference will be held in connection with the camp-meeting at Norwalk, August 3-7.

No Paper Next Week.

By Editor

SCARCITY of help—our printers claiming three days for the Centennial celebration—and an unusual amount of book work make it necessary to omit next week's paper.

European Press.

We, the undersigned, regard it a great privilege to donate to the Lord, for the European press, under the care of our worthy missionary, Elder J. N. Andrews, One Hundred Dollars each, and invite sixty others to join us in raising $10,000.
James White.....$100 E. H. Root......$100
John Morrison... 100 Wm. Ings....... 100
Geo. I Butler.... 100 Charles Comings.. 100
Newel Grant..... 100 E. W. Whitney.. 100
Aug. Rasmussen.. 100 R. G. Lockwood.. 100
An Iowa Brother.. 100 W. H. Hall..... 100
Emily Leighton.. 100 Betsy Landon.... 100
S. A. McPherson.. 100 S. N. Haskell.... 100
“A Fr’nd in N. E.” 100 C. K. Farnsworth 100
“W. P. A. M.”... 100 M. Wood........ 100
Reuel Stickney... 100 Chas. Chittenden. 100
Mrs. A. Stickney. 100 Mrs. J. L. James. 100
J N Loughborough 100 A LaRue......... 100
Chas L. Boyd.... 100 Mrs. Getman (deceased)..... 100
Freeman Nichols 100 A. H. B......... 100
D. A. Owen..... 100 D. M. Canright... 100
Wm. B. Mason.... 100 W. A. Pratt..... 100
Jane Rowland.... 100 John Judson..... 100
B. N. Berry..... 100 C. Clark and Wife 100
J. S. Wicks..... 100

Books, Pamphlets, Tracts, etc., etc.

By Editor

OUR BOOK LIST.—Any persons on the Pacific Coast wishing any of the publications named in our book list can obtain them by mail or express by writing to the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, California, enclosing the published price of the same. When sent by mail, books will be post paid; when by express, at the expense of the one ordering the books; but in this case a liberal discount will be made when ten dollars worth or more are paid for with any one order.
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