The Life of our Lord in the Words of the Evangelists
BY JAMES P. CADMAN, A. M.
Is, as its Name Indicates, a Compilation in which the four Narratives of
THE LIFE OF CHRIST
ARE WOVEN INTO ONE CONNECTED STORY, MAKING A COMPLETE HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS IN THE EXACT LANGUAGE OF THE SCRIPTURES.
The text is that of the Revised Version, and while every word in the four Gospels appears, the work is so arranged that the reader can tell at a glance the words used in each Gospel. Those who have tried to gather all the facts concerning some miracle, or other event, and at the same time properly locate and credit the various parts of the narrative, will appreciate this book, which is the very best of its kind and gives evidence of an immense amount of careful and painstaking labor.
The book is fully indexed so that any text or subject can be readily found; and the maps, notes, and diagrams which it contains are alone well worth the price of the volume. The following partial (less than half) TABLE OF CONTENTS will give an idea of the scope of the work:—
Index to chapter and verses; Life of Our Lord (333 pages); Index of persons, places, and subjects, with dictionary of proper names; Explanation of maps and diagrams; Map of the pathway of Jesus; Diagrams illustrating the principal events of crucifixion week.
This work is invaluable, and all who love the Bible should have a copy. It contains 394 pages, is well printed on good paper, and is neatly and substantially bound in cloth.
Price, post-paid, - - - - - - $1.50
With gilt edges, - - - - - - 2.00
Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.
BIBLE ELECTION. By M. C. Wilcox. A brief presentation of God's plan and purpose concerning man, showing that the doctrine of election, or predestination, according to the Bible, is full of comfort and instruction. It throws new light on old controversies. Bible Students' Library, No. 67; 24 pp.; price 3 cents. Address Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal.
Help Wanted.—A young woman, Seventh-day Adventist, to do general housework on a farm; small family; wages, $15 per month. Address,
J. D. FINK, Crows Landing, Cal.
News and Notes
FOREIGN.
—A bill for the better observance of Sunday is pending in the House of Commons, Ottawa, Canada.
—The University of Cambridge, England, has refused by an overwhelming majority to grant degrees to women.
—The annual meeting of the British Women's Temperance Association will open May 30, in St. Martin's Town Hall, London.
—General de Azriga, Spanish minister of war, has introduced in the cortes a bill providing for an increase in the army of Spain to 100,000.
—During a display of fireworks at Nantez, France, on the evening of May 24, five persons were killed and a score injured by the explosion of a bomb.
—The entire edition of the Munich Free Press of May 21 was confiscated on account of an editorial satirizing the emperor, and the editor of that journal was arrested.
—Queen Victoria celebrated her seventy-eighth birthday on May 24, and was the recipient of many congratulatory telegrams, President McKinley's being among the number.
—Advices from Montevideo state that fierce fighting has been going on near the Brazilian frontier for four days, both the State troops and the rebels sustaining heavy losses.
—The British sailing vessel Buckhurst was burned at sea recently, off the coast of Panama. Twenty-one of her crew were picked up, but many of her company are still missing.
—A Rome correspondent of the London Times states that King Menelik of Abyssinia has arranged to assist the Dervishes in repelling the advance of the Anglo-Egyptian expedition in the Soudan.
—It is announced that by the end of the present summer it will be possible to reach the summit of the Jungfrau (Switzerland) by electric cars. This will be one of the most gigantic engineering feats of the century.
—An attempt was made recently to assassinate President Borda, of Uruguay. A bomb was sent to him inclosed in a box, so arranged that it would explode when the box was opened. The suspicious missive was turned over to the police.
—A despatch from Cape Town, South Africa, states that the natives of Portuguese East Africa are defeating the Portuguese troops in various directions, and that the governor of Delagoa has urgently requested the home government to send him reënforcements.
—The committee of the lower house of the Prussian Diet have rejected a clause of a pending bill, which gave the police the power to dissolve meetings or associations which might be considered to contravene the criminal law, or endanger the safety of the State.
—The four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the mainland of North America by John Cabot, will be celebrated at Halifax, N. S., on June 24. The municipal authorities of Bristol, England, the port from which Cabot sailed, will also participate in the celebration.
—A rumor was recently circulated in Guanabacoa, Cuba, to the effect that U. S. Consul-General Lee would distribute money to the poor. A large number gathered together in anticipation of receiving relief, and for a time resisted the attempts of the police to disperse them.
—An alarming famine prevails in Szechuen and an adjoining province in China. Foreign aid has been requested. Supplies from the government and from foreign merchants are being sent into the famine-stricken districts. Towns near the river are being relieved, but farther inland great distress prevails.
—Notwithstanding the two weeks' armistice to which Turkey has agreed, the negotiations for permanent peace are very unsatisfactory. Turkey is continuing to mobilize her troops, and within the past week has sent 50,000 additional soldiers into Thessaly. It is also reported that the Turkish Government is making active preparations for the administration of the province. The Grand Vizier has reported to the sultan that the whole of Islam is ready to support him in retaining Thessaly, and urging him not to allow his affairs to be dictated by European powers. This official tenders his resignation in case his views are not acceptable. Great Britain has stated her intention of withdrawing from the concert if Turkey is allowed to hold Thessaly until the Greek war indemnity is paid. The Greek army of 50,000 men has fallen back on historic Thermopyle, where Leonidas held at bay the hosts of Persia, and here awaits the onslaught of the Turks, for they expect to fight again at the close of the term of armistice.
—A serious election riot took place at Bosnyaczi, Hungary, on May 23. The militia were ordered to fire upon the crowd, with the result that fourteen were killed and thirty wounded. The Catholic clergy are accused of causing the riots by asserting that the government intended to introduce civil marriage.
—The rebellion in the Philippines is still progressing. The Spanish authorities fear that the rebels may yet take Manila, as their numbers are increasing and they seem determined to advance. Fever is rapidly thinning the ranks of the Spanish conscripts, and their condition is said to be pitiable in the extreme.
—Recent statistics of the German Government in regard to religious matters show that within the four years from 1890 to 1894 there were 2,088 converts from Judaism to Christianity, and 17,002 converts from Roman Catholicism to the Protestant faith. In Prussia during the same time 14,045 Catholics became Protestants.
—The New York Herald's correspondent at Guatemala cables that the Guatemalan Government has issued a decree suspending specie payments for six months. The decree caused considerable excitement and a run on the banks, which was stopped only by the assurances of the president that no financial crisis was at hand.
—The Canadian Government is sending an expedition into the Hudson Bay for the purpose of making extensive explorations of the bay and straits, and ascertaining the length of time during which the straits are not blocked with ice. It is proposed to build a railroad from Manitoba to some point on Hudson Bay, and send shipments of western grain through the bay and straits to England.
—In Athens the torrents of denunciation and bitter invective, which were temporarily lulled by the dread of a Turkish advance on the city, have broken out again. The authors of the war policy, and those who are held accountable for the disasters of the army in the field, are being held up to the condemnation of the public. It is believed that the government will take measures to punish the guilty.
—A revival of religious interests is taking place among the Jews of the southern provinces of Russia. Associations are being established for the reading and study of the Scriptures, and the investigation of the claims of Christians that Jesus is the Christ and has fulfilled many of the utterances of the prophets which have been stumbling-blocks to the Jews for so long. The Kariam Jews of the Crimea are also manifesting a similar spirit.
—A Spanish military train, which was conveying troops to reënforce the garrison at Songo, was attacked by the Cubans and captured. A lieutenant and twelve Spanish privates were killed, and a large number wounded, by the explosion of a dynamite bomb under the train. The soldiers were taken prisoners by the Cubans, but finally released. A large supply of munitions of war and provisions for the garrison thus fell into the hands of the patriots.
—The Duke of Tetuan, Spanish minister of foreign affairs, resigned his position on May 21 as a result of a personal encounter in the lobby of the Senate, in which he boxed the ears of Senator Comas. The premier refused to accept the resignation; but the Senate minority have refused to participate in the deliberations of that body, in view of existing circumstances. On May 24 a similar scene was witnessed in the Austrian Reichsrath, in which the president became so excited that he fainted, and in the melée which followed desks were overturned, and books and inkstands flung in the faces of the speakers. Many of the members came to blows, and a general riot was indulged in.
DOMESTIC.
—The total number of blind in the United States is nearly 49,000, or 1,400 to each million of the population.
—John D. Rockefeller has issued an edict to the effect that no work shall be performed on Sunday at his ore works.
—On Sunday, May 23, Mayor Harrison, of Chicago, led an annual Sunday bicycle run in which 3,000 cyclists participated.
—It is reported from Havana that the American consulate has been threatened by a mob. The Spanish officials have placed a guard of troops around the building.
—Twice on the night of May 20 large fires occurred in the city of Hoboken, N. J., by which 140 families were rendered homeless and property to the amount of $650,000 was destroyed.
—Governor Black's signature to the Greater New York charter gives that city a population of 3,200,000, making it second to London in size and population, and therefore the second largest in the world.
—At the Presbyterian General Assembly, which is now convened at Eagle Lake, Indiana, Dr. Sheldon Jackson, in speaking of the condition of affairs in Alaska, stated that infanticide, witchcraft, polygamy, the murder of parents, and other practices of benighted and degraded paganism, prevailed to a terrible extent among three or four native Alaskan races. Mothers killed their babies, and children took the lives of their own parents when they got old. This15custom, he said, had become firmly established. During a recent severe epidemic of the grip, scores of persons were burned or buried alive, on suspicion that their witchcraft was responsible for the epidemic.
—Miss Elizabeth M. Dean, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, left New York on May 24 on her way to Alaska, where she will have charge of the hospital work connected with the missions of that denomination.
—The Baptist Assembly, at its recent meeting in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, adopted a resolution urging upon President McKinley the necessity of taking some measures to relieve the present situation in Cuba.
—It is reported that an international bicycle tube trust has been formed by the consolidation of the four largest tube manufacturers in England and the two tube plants in Elwood and Greenville, Pennsylvania.
—A flood in the valley of Asotin Creek, Washington, on May 20 resulted in a great destruction of property and considerable stock. No lives were lost, but a rough estimate of the damage to property places it at $100,000.
—The great lens of the Yerkes telescope, at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, has been officially tested by the astronomers in charge, and has been declared eminently satisfactory. Great things are expected of this greatest of telescopes.
—The number of Americans in Cuba who are in need of assistance from the American Government has been found to be much larger than was at first supposed. It is now stated that there will be 1,200 who will require government relief.
—Eugene V. Debbs, president of the American Railway Union, is planning the establishment of a cooperative commonwealth in some one of the large western States, the members of this new State to be drawn from the idle men of the country.
—Three Quaker pioneer missionaries started from San Francisco on May 27 to establish a mission in Alaska, on the Arctic circle. The journey from the coast of Alaska will be made in Indian canoes far into the interior, among the Kake Indians.
—The debate on the Dingley Tariff Bill was begun in the Senate on May 25, with crowded galleries and a large attendance of senators and members of the House of Representatives. The opening speech in its favor was made by Senator Aldrich, of Rhode Island.
—The great electric power plant of the Pioneer Electric Power Company, at Ogden, Utah, was put in operation on May 24, thus starting a power system second in size only to that of Niagara. The dynamos are operated by a column of water seven miles long, with a fall of 460 feet.
—A powerful combine of telephone companies is being perfected in Chicago to operate against and compete with the Bell Telephone Company. It is stated that there are now in the United States 1,000 independent telephone companies, whose combined forces will be pitted against the Bell Company.
—The directors of the New York Elevated Railroad have decided to abolish the steam locomotive and substitute electricity for propelling the cars on that road. The change will necessitate an outlay of $7,000,000, but the saving in operating this electric third-rail system is estimated at $1,000,000 a year.
—The strike of tailors in New York City is still on, and it is estimated that 21,000 operators have stopped work. The strikers demand that they shall not be expected to work more than fifty-nine hours a week, that they shall be paid weekly, and that their wages shall be increased fifteen per cent over what they received during the last year.
—Early on the morning of May 25 the Rio Grande River broke its banks at El Paso, Texas, and flooded the city. It is reported that 120 houses were swept away. A timely fire alarm saved the lives of the people in the flooded section. Floods are reported at other places along the river, and the damage to orchards and growing crops is enormous.
—Superintendent Skinner, of the New York Department of Public Instruction, has decided that teachers of the public schools in the State must not wear the distinctive garb of any religious denomination, order, sect, or society; and the Board of Education has been instructed to see that this regulation is carried out, and to dismiss those who refuse to comply with it.
—Professor Hallock, of Columbia College, is planning to produce power from the internal heat of the earth. He has bored into the earth one mile, and finds the heat increasing as the shaft grows deeper. He expects to find, at a certain depth, such a temperature that he can force water into the shaft and have it instantly converted into steam, to be used for operating machinery.
—The Catholic Church in America has received instructions from the Vatican to make the English language the language of Catholics in the United States. Parishes in which a foreign language is used will be tolerated as a temporary necessity, which will disappear as soon as the conditions making their erection expedient shall have passed away. Catholic children will not be required to join the parish to which their parents belong, if the language therein employed is not the English.
OUR GENERAL AGENTS.
General Eastern Agency.—Pacific Press Pub. Co., 39 Bond St., N. Y. City, N. Y.
General Central Agency—Pacific Press Pub. Co., 14-18 W. 5th St., Kansas City, Mo.
Argentine—Señor N. Z. Town, Casilla del Correo, 481 Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic, S. A.
Arkansas Tract Society—Fayetteville, Ark.
Atlantic Tract Society—39 Bond St., New York City, N. Y.
Australia—Echo Publishing House, North Fitzroy, Victoria.
California Tract Society—1059 Castro St., Oakland, Cal.
Canada—Int. Tract Society, 268 Crawford St., Toronto, Ontario.
China—A. La Rue, 22 Queen’s Road, East Hongkong, China.
Colorado Tract Society—1112 S. 11th St., Denver, Colo.
Dakota Tract Society—Vilas, S. Dakota.
England—International Tract Society, 59 Paternoster Row and 451 Holloway Road, London.
Florida Tract Society—Box 508, Orlando, Florida.
Germany—International Tract Soc., Grindelburg, 15a, Hamburg.
Illinois Tract Society—324 Dearborn St., Chicago, Illinois.
Indiana Tract Society—175 Central Ave., Indianapolis, Ind.
International Tract Soc.—271 W. Main St., Battle Creek, Mich.
Iowa Tract Society—603 East 12th St., Des Moines, Iowa.
Kansas Tract Society—821 West 5th St., Topeka, Kan.
Maine Tract Society—North Deering, Me.
Manitoba—W. H. Falconer, 284 Boyd Ave., Winnipeg, Manit.
Maritime Provinces Tract Society—Box 85, Moncton, N. B.
Michigan Tract Society—271 W. Main St., Battle Creek, Mich.
Minnesota Tract Society—Box 989, Minneapolis, Minn.
Missouri Tract Society—14 West Fifth St., Kansas City, Mo.
Montana Tract Society—307 N. Warren St., Helena, Mont.
Nebraska Tract Society—1505 E St., Lincoln, Neb.
Nevada—Cal. Tract Society, 1059 Castro St., Oakland, Cal.
New England Tract Society—South Lancaster, Mass.
New York Tract Society—317 West Bloomfield St., Rome, N. Y.
New Zealand Tract Society—57 Tory St., Wellington, N. Z.
North Pacific Tract Society—508 E. Everett St., Portland, Or.
Ohio Tract Society—249 Cedar Ave., Cleveland, O.
Oklahoma Tract Society—318 4th St., Oklahoma City.
Ontario Tract Society—194 Brock Ave., Toronto, Ontario.
Pennsylvania Tract Society—Box 644, Williamsport, Penn.
Quebec Tract Society—Dixville, P. Q., Canada.
Scandinavian Tract Society—Ackersgaden 74, Christiania, Nor.
South Africa Int. Tract Soc.—28 a Roeland St., Cape Town.
Southern Tract Society—243 South Boulevard, Atlanta, Ga.
Switzerland—Imprimerie Polydotte, 48 Weiherweg, Basel.
Tennessee River—1009 Shelby Ave., Nashville, Tenn.
Texas Tract Society—Keene, Johnson Co., Texas.
Upper Columbia Tract Soc.—312 S. Wash. St., Spokane, Wash.
Utah Tract Society—Box 1058, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Vancouver Island—B. Robb, 231 Pandora St., Victoria, B. C.
Vermont Tract Society—190 N. Winooski Ave. Burlington, Vt.
Virginia Tract Society—501 N. 25th St., Richmond, Va.
West Virginia Tract Society—Newburg, W. Va.
Wisconsin Tract Society--Milton Junction, Wis.
—On May 20 the Senate of the United States adopted a resolution according to the struggling armies of Cuba the rights of belligerents, and both powers equal rights in the ports and territories of the United States. The vote was a decisive one, being forty-one to fourteen. The House of Representatives will probably not act definitely upon the resolution during the present week.
—The State of Kansas is considerably stirred up at the present time over the liquor question. The state officials have manifested a strong disinclination to enforce the prohibitory law, and it is stated that they intend to allow the larger cities to have all the liquor they want. In view of this the members of the State Temperance Union will for the present abandon active work in the large cities.
—On May 17 President McKinley sent a message to Congress recommending the appropriation of $50,000, to be made available immediately for relieving the distress of American citizens in Cuba, and providing transportation for such as desire to come to the United States. The appropriation was at once agreed to by the Senate, but was not unanimously agreed to in the House, being made an occasion for bringing about a crisis on the question of Cuban belligerency.
—A party of New York scientists started from New York on May 26 to conduct anthropological study among the Indians of British Columbia, and also to study and compare the thirty or more Indian dialects spoken in that part of the country. Similar investigations will be carried on along the north-eastern coast of Asia. The two expeditions will then compare notes and decide whether the Indians of North America are descendants of Asiatics who crossed Bering Strait hundreds of years ago.
—On May 21 Judge James Gay Gordon appeared before a committee of the Pennsylvania Legislature who are investigating the condition of convicts in the State Penitentiary, and made startling charges against the prison officials and inspectors, the charges including brutal and inhuman treatment of convicts, many of whom were insane, the intimidating of witnesses, the secreting of evidence, falsifying of reports, neglect of duty, and incompetency. It was shown that some of the convicts who were insane had died from the effects of the cruel treatment which they had received.
Union Pacific System
Shortest Line and Quickest Time
3 ½ Days
to
Chicago4 ½ Days
to
New York
SOLID VESTIBULE TRAINS
Personally conducted excursions to the East without change, in new Upholstered Tourist Sleepers, Lighted by Gas and Heated by Steam.
Tickets and sleeping car reservations at
No. 1 Montgomery Street, San Francisco
D. W. HITCHCOCK, General Agent
or, H. V. BLASDEL, Ticket Agent
1010 Broadway, Oakland, Cal.
GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY SYSTEM
WILL FIND THAT THE FACILITIES
OFFERED BY THE
GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY SYSTEM
From Chicago to Eastern Points are Unexcelled
Vestibuled train service, Chicago to New York, via the famous St. Clair Tunnel, Niagara Falls and the beautiful Lehigh Valley. Through coaches, Pullman sleepers, and superior dining car service.
Chicago to Montreal, Portland, and Boston with elegant through car and Pullman service.
Summer Tours, via the Grand Trunk System, through the finest scenery in America, embracing Niagara Falls, the Thousand Islands and Rapids of the St. Lawrence, Muskoka Lakes, the White and Green Mountains, and the Atlantic seacoast.
See that Your Tickets from Chicago East
Read via the Grand Trunk System
CHAS. M. HAYS, W. E. DAVIS,
Gen. Manager, Montreal Gen. Pass. Agt., Montreal
E. H. HUGHES, Asst. Gen. Pass. Agt., Chicago.
L. R. MORROW, City Ticket Agt., 103 Clark St., Chicago.
The Testimony of History to the Truth of Scripture. By Rev. George Rawlinson, M.A., author of "Seven Great Monarchies."
By Editor
This is a pamphlet of 240 pages, takes up the most recent archæological discoveries, and shows how thoroughly they agree with the Bible record. "The religion of the Bible, unlike almost all other religions, has its roots in the region of facts," are his opening words in this valuable work, and the whole book is just as forcible and to the point as this opening sentence. We say again, it is a valuable aid to those who wish to briefly study the subject. Price, paper covers, 35 cents.
PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO., Oakland, Cal.
Terms of Subscription
By Editor
EDITORS:
MILTON C. WILCOX, ELLET J. WAGGONER,
Resident Editor. London, Eng.
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS:
J. H. DURLAND, S. N. HASKELL, H. P. HOLSER, DAN. T. JONES,
M. E. KELLOGG, W. N. GLENN.
☞ All manuscript should be addressed to the Editor.
Terms of Subscription.
Per Year (50 numbers) post-paid . . . . . . . $1 00.
Six Months, 50 cts. Three Months, 25 cts.
To Foreign Countries, per year, $1.50.
SPECIAL TERMS.
a. One new yearly subscription and one renewal, or two new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $1.75.
b. Two new yearly subscriptions and one renewal, or three new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $2.50.
c. Three new yearly subscriptions and one renewal, or four new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $3.00.
d. Any person ordering under sections a, b, or c may thereafter send us new yearly subscriptions at 75 cents each, and new six months' subscriptions at 40 cents each.
Sample copies sent on application.
All orders sent direct to the publishers, either for single subscriptions or for clubs, must be accompanied by cash. If credit is required, please order through your State Tract Society.
Club rates and terms to agents sent on application.
Signs of the Times,
Oakland, Cal.
Instructions for Ordering.
By Editor
REMIT by Bank Draft, P. O. Money Order, or Express Order.
If paper money is sent, register the letter.
Drafts should be made payable to the PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO., on New York, Chicago, or San Francisco banks.
Postage-stamps.—Please do not send postage-stamps, as we receive more than we can use, and they often stick together in the mails, and are useless in this condition. Canadian and other foreign moneys can not be used by us.
Receipt.—The change of figures on the address labels will be in all cases a sufficient receipt for money sent. If these changes do not appear in due time, please notify us.
Change of Address.—Subscribers desiring the address of their paper changed, will please give both the old and the new address, in their communication.
Expiration of Subscription.—All papers are discontinued at the expiration of the time paid for. The date opposite your name on the printed address label shows when the subscription expires. Please forward your money in time for renewal if you desire unbroken files, as we can not always furnish back numbers.
Please Do Not Mix Business.—When ordering or renewing the SIGNS, if you wish to order some other paper, or books, tracts, or lesson pamphlets, or to ask questions of the editor, please write such orders or questions on separate sheets of paper. All can be sent in one envelope, and the money all sent in one order but it will save us much trouble if each kind of business is written on a separate sheet. In this way each order can be handed to the proper clerk and filled at once.
Articles, Long or Short?
By Editor
The following from the Religious Telescope we commend to our contributors: "Lengthy contributions are troublesome things for the editors to handle. Of them the Lutheran Observer well remarks: 'An article of six or eight hundred words is quite generally read, while an article of three or four columns is almost never read. We can not give to one article an amount of space which is sufficient for several articles. We hope all our contributors will bear this in mind, so as to save us and themselves the embarrassment of returning long articles.' Of course contributors often generously say, 'If my article is too lengthy, you are at liberty to condense it.' But condensing another man's production is a delicate, embarrassing task, for in doing so you run the risk of cutting out what he may regard as the most important part of the production. How much better that the author condense his own article.
Surely he has as much time to devote to it as a busy editor has. He who writes briefly and to the point, and discusses live, practical subjects, has but few articles rejected. The world and live editors all hunger for such productions."
IS IT CHRISTIAN?
By Editor
THE San Francisco Sunday Examiner of May 23 prints on its editorial page, in regular editorial style, type, and measure, a communication entitled “The Cross and the Crescent,” signed by John P. Newman, Bishop of the California Methodist Episcopal Diocese.
The article presents the general sentiment of so-called “Christian” thought, a sentiment which does not have its root in Turkish atrocities, nor in Spanish massacres in Cuba, but which exists pent up in the hearts and souls of seemingly the majority of professed Christians to-day. Turkey and Spain merely furnish the incidents which serve to give it publicity. Here are some of Bishop Newman’s utterances:—
“Were Christian Europe united, then would come the end of the Turkish Empire; but there are too many conflicting interests in Europe to hope for union. Russia covets Jerusalem and Constantinople; England demands Egypt as her highway to India, while France dreams of Greece, and Germany of Asia Minor. And it is no small factor in the problem that European capitalists hold nearly a billion of Turkish securities. The easiest and quickest way to improve the Turk is to pay his debts; then English, Russian, German, French, and Italian bondholders would shout, ‘Down with the Turk!’ Here is a missionary enterprise worthy of all Christendom.”
“Down with the crescent and up with the cross, and plenty and happiness would cause untold millions to clap their hands for joy.”
That is to say, let Christendom pay the debts of Turkey to the “Christian” bondholders of “Christian” England, Russia, Germany, France, and Italy, then these “Christian” powers would in their righteous “Christian” indignation rise up and shout, “Down with the Turk!” and wipe him from the face of the earth. And herein “is a missionary enterprise worthy of all Christendom”! Therefore “down with the crescent and up with the cross,” etc., which means the political extermination of Turkey, with war and all its concomitants.
Now, however the non-existence of Turkish rule may in justice be devoutly wished, we submit that Bishop Newman’s way, which is the way of thousands more, is not the Christian way. In the article from which the above is quoted, the writer says: “The Turk is a stranger to pity. His is the religion of hate and blood.” And therefore is it the duty of Christians to return hate for hate and blood for blood! For “Christendom” to rise up and crush out the Turk would not give him any love for the Christ whom “Christian” Europe is supposed to represent in this struggle. Rather it would make more bitter his hatred. He might be subdued by the force of armed might, but he would neither be charmed nor won by the greater power of right.
The only power in genuine Christianity is the life of love. Every man by nature is the same as the Turk is by nature. “For we ourselves also were sometime foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Titus 3:3-5. And modern Christianity would do well to apply to itself the language used by the apostle in comparing the Jew and Gentile, nineteen centuries ago. After telling the fearful sins of the pagan world, he says: “What then? are we better than they? No, in nowise; for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” Rom. 3:9, 10.
The only hope of mankind is in the mercy of God through Jesus Christ. This is alike the hope of Jew and Greek, Turk and American. And that soul who knows God’s mercy in Christ will be merciful to others, even his most inveterate enemies. In him will be demonstrated the living power of the Sermon on the Mount: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 5:44, 45. These are the words of Christ; and this is Christianity. And he who does not show mercy has no right to expect it of God, be he Moslem or “Christian.” James 2:13.
Unsolicited Papers and Payment
By Editor
We send no papers from this office to individuals without pay in advance.
When persons receive copies without ordering them, they are sent by other parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. Persons thus receiving copies of the "Signs" are not indebted to the office, and will not be called upon to pay for them. Please read the papers you may receive, and hand them to your friends to read.
CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER.
By Editor
Editorial.
Into the Name (notes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 3
The Character of Earthly Rule (An Important Prophecy) . 1, 2
Do You Love Jesus? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The Ensign of the Holy One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Poetry.
"Thoughts of Peace," G. T. WILSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
I Wonder, CLARA E. RICHESON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Keep to the Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
His Flesh and Blood, C. M. SNOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
General Articles.
"If Thou Hadst Known," M. E. K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Gethsemane, MRS. E. G. WHITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Jewish Customs and Traditions (The Passover), F. C. GILBERT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The "American Sabbath," W. N. G. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Messiah, or Anointed One, AUGUSTA W. HEALD . . . 7
The Spirit Is a Teacher, H. F. PHELPS . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Question Corner.—No. 583, Foreknowledge, Why?—No. 584, Translation or Death?—No. 585, Sanctification—No. 586, Heath in the Desert—No. 587, The Heavenly Sanctuary—No. 588, The King's Son of Matt. 22 : 1–14 . . . . . . . . . 8
The Outlook.—Religious Chapels at West Point, W. N. G.— Mr. Rader on the Sabbath Question—Is It Spreading? . . 8, 9
The Fireside.—How It Came Out, PARRIE L. H. ROBERSON . 9, 10
Missions.—Madagascar—Malaysia—Treatment of Indians— Our Work and Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 12
In our Fireside department will be found a story a little longer than usual, but we believe it will be of interest. It is a picture of what occurs with more or less variation in many communities.
The True Object of Bible Study
The true object of Bible study is to learn what the Lord says, that we may do it. Thus spake the Spirit through the apostle: "Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things."
No Paper Next Week
By Editor
There will be no paper next week.
God Is No Respecter of Persons
WHAT gracious and precious truths of God are these: "God is no respecter of persons;" and, "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy." Who need to be left out of God's gracious provisions?
No Paper Next Week.
By Editor
Our subscribers and agents will please take notice. As our prospectus states, we issue but fifty numbers a year. As usual, we omit one number at the time of the California State annual camp-meeting, in order to give our employees the privilege of attending. We therefore omit the issue of June 10. June 17 will be mailed on time.
College Drinking and Its Destruction
KATE UPSON CLARKE, in the Independent, tells us that "in every college class there is a considerable percentage who leave their alma mater confirmed inebriates. A much larger percentage have developed a marked tendency that way. Her influence should have been for all that is austerely pure and lofty; but for bread she has given them stones and worse." And she also refers to "the nightly—not occasional, but nightly—screams of boys frenzied with drink, which make the streets of New Haven and Cambridge and other college towns ring. They ring the knells of the breaking hearts of mothers and the destruction of souls." She closes thus: "And these words are not a plea for Puritanism. They are not even a plea for religion or Christianity. They are a simple plea in the interest of civilization."
The Folly of Licensing Evil
By Editor
The Union Signal gives a just reprimand to a certain New York police commissioner because of his proposition to legalize gambling and the social evil, by licensing them. Amongst other good points it asks, "If God had said, 'Thou shalt not kill, three days in the week,' would there be less killing?" We answer, No; and we ask, On the same principle, would there be any less evil growing out of the liquor traffic by closing saloons one day in the week? Surely the Signal itself has demonstrated the folly of thus acknowledging their propriety on the other six days.
