Earlier text: Divorce and MarriagePleasant Grove, California.
By E. A. Briggs
I HAVE been holding meetings at this place for several weeks, and a company of fourteen members has been organized as the result. One lady was already keeping the commandments when I arrived. The physician of the place has been selected as leader; and he is presenting a good example before the other Sabbath-keepers by setting his face against tobacco, pork, coffee, and tea. The people about Pleasant Grove generally acknowledge that our arguments on the Sabbath question are Scripturally unanswerable, but they have been promised that, after my departure, they shall be shown by history that the Sunday sabbath is all-right. May the Lord help his people to prefer the commandments of God to the traditions of men. My post-office for the present will be Wyandotte, Butte County. E. A. BRIGGS.
March 4, 1883. Report of North Pacific T. and M. Society.
QUARTER ENDING DEC. 31, 1882.
No. members ........................................113
" reports returned.................................. 65
" members added.................................... 12
" " dismissed........................................ 4
" letters written................................... 591
" visits made....................................... 146
" of new subscribers obtained....................... 51
" Signs taken in clubs.............................. 155
" pages tracts and pamphlets loaned............... 24,611
" " " " " given away. ..................... 23,697
" " " " " sold.............................. 32,418
" of periodicals distributed ..................... 5,150
Received on membership, donations, and sales.......$143.80
" " periodical fund.............................. 74.65
" " other funds.................................. 31.50 C. L. Boyd, Pres.
Mrs. C. L. Boyd, Sec. Then and Now in Fiji.
By Gordon Cumming
THINK of the sick buried alive; the array of widows who were deliberately strangled on the death of any great man; the living victims who were buried beside every post of a chief's new house, and must needs stand clasping it, while earth was gradually heaped over their devoted heads; or those who were bound hand and foot and laid on the ground to act as rollers, when a chief launched a new canoe, and thus doomed to a death of excruciating agony; a time when there was not the slightest security for life or property, and no man knew how quickly his own hour of doom might come; when whole villages were depopulated simply to supply their neighbors with fresh meat! Just think of all this, and of the change that has been wrought, and then just imagine white men who can sneer at missionary work in the way they do. Now you may pass from isle to isle, certain everywhere to find the same cordial reception by kindly men and women. Every village on the eighty inhabited isles has built for itself a tidy church, and a good house for its teacher or native minister, for whom the village also provides food and clothing. Can you realize that there are nine hundred Wesleyan churches in Fiji, at every one of which the frequent services are crowded by devout congregations; that the schools are well attended; and that the first sound which greets your ear at dawn, and the last at night, is that of hymn-singing and most fervent worship, rising from each dwelling at the hour of family prayer?—Gordon Cumming. The Misuse of Inherited Wealth
By Religious Herald
THE widow of a Baptist deacon, who died four years ago, said to us a few days ago as she sat in her parlor: "The great mistake of my husband's life was leaving $200,000 to his children. My oldest son had not been in possession of his portion six months before he acquired intemperate habits; and to-day, wrecked in health and morals, he hasn't a dollar left of the thousands his father left him. My daughter married an immoral man who spent her portion, and now her life is sad and dreary. It would have been a thousand times better had my husband devoted his means more largely to education and Christianity." Taking the Consequences.
By Eleanor A. Hunter
IN all the annals of Wiscasset Academy there was never known such a time as was experienced during the fall term of the year 1880. Insubordination pervaded every class. Mischief ran riot, and the moral and intellectual tone of the whole school was lowered; worst of all the mainspring and originator of the trouble could not be discovered. The annoyance extended even to the town, and the amazed inhabitants had so many pranks played upon them they began to feel that the Academy, which had been their chief pride, bade fair to be their greatest disgrace. All the ancient tricks which strike a boy as so inexpressibly funny were played, and many a new one beside. Of course the Academy bell was muffled, in fact, as one boy observed, they kept it muffled, as its tone was not sufficiently musical to please their sensitive ears. It was such fun to see old Cox, the janitor, climb up the belfry stairs, lugging his step-ladder after him, to release the clapper from its wrappings; and when Cox guarded the belfry all night, and set traps to catch the boys, they testified their contempt of his efforts by taking away the clapper altogether. While, as for the town, no tradesman ever went to bed at night with any reasonable certainty that his sign would be found in its proper place in the morning. At the Academy, matters were carried so far that at last the principal, Dr. Alexander, announced that the perpetrators of the next joke would, if discovered, be expelled from the school. The following morning when the boys filed in chapel for prayers, "Brother Bones," the academy skeleton, was discovered festively swinging from the center of the dome, arrayed in Dr. Alexander's skull-cap, and an old brown jacket Professor Carter was in the habit of wearing in class, and tied in his bony fingers was the missing bell clapper. Now the originator of all this nonsense, and the leader in every scrape, was Don Malcom, the last boy in the world any one would have suspected of such duplicity, for duplicity it certainly was. Dr. Alexander loved and trusted him like an own son. He led the senior class, he was a member of the school base ball nine, and he was by far the most popular fellow in school. He was the boy of all others who should have kept himself straight and set a good example to his mates. But, as he himself afterward explained, he "got a-going and couldn't stop." He lost sight of the moral questions involved; he was intoxicated by the dash and daring of the thing; the fact of his daily outwitting the Doctor seemed irresistibly funny, and the knowledge that he had nearly every boy in the school under his control, was not without its charm. There was one boy, however, who refused, from the first, to have any share in Don's doings; this was Harry Doremus. Harry and Don had been chums for years; they stood side by side in their classes, and they were to enter Yale together in another year; but since Don had been going wrong they had become very much separated, and latterly they did not speak to each other. There was another boy, Tom Morton, by name, who, much to his schoolmates' surprise, did not join in the fun. Time was when Tom had been the scapegrace of the whole school, but he had recently turned over a new leaf, and was now fighting valiantly against his besetting sins. But the old proverb of "Give a dog a bad name and it will stick to him," is a true one, and Tom was suspected by his teachers of being the author of all the trouble. "I think it's a shame the way those academy boys are acting," said Del Malcom to her brother. "I was down to Lou Carter's to-day, and she says they are almost sure that it is Tom Morton who hung Brother Bones in the chapel last Thursday, for he was seen coming out of the academy just after dark on Wednesday evening, and Lou says Dr. Alexander is going to make an example of him just as soon as he can get positive proof. Tom always was horrid! Poor Dr. Alexander," she went on, "some people say he ought to resign if he can't govern the school better. He feels dreadfully; he has lost ten pounds this last month. I'm so glad you aren't in this fuss, Don." "What would you do if I was?" he asked, curiously. "Why, I don't know, I couldn't imagine such a thing," she answered. "Well," he observed, rising, "Tom Morton's all right. You needn't abuse him any more." "Don, do you know who did it?" she asked. "Yes," said he, going out of the room. Del's chance words brought her brother to a sense of his position, and that night, for the first time in his life, he seriously thought himself over. Conscience awoke, and by her light he traced his actions to their inward springs; he saw himself as he really was, a fraud, a living lie. Father, mother, sister, teachers, were all reposing the fondest confidence in him, and he was deliberately deceiving them. "There is only one thing I can do," he said to himself. "I can own up, and take the consequences; I can't let Tom Morton's reputation suffer for mine." But when he thought what those consequences would be—his father's anger, his mother's sorrow, his sister's grief, the open shame and disgrace of expulsion, the giving up of his college course—for he felt sure that his father would be too angry to give him another chance, they seemed more than he could bear. Sick at heart he could only groan and say to himself: "What a fool I have been." How he lived till he got into the chapel next morning he scarcely knew; he seemed to be wrapped in a miserable dream. After prayers he rose in his place and said:— "Well, Malcom," said the Doctor, kindly, "Did you wish to speak?" "Yes, sir," answered Don, speaking very clearly. "I wish to say that I am responsible for every bit of trouble that has happened in this school this term. I have been the ringleader; I have planned everything, and every boy in the room knows it; I hung Brother Bones from the dome myself, and I am willing to take the consequences." Dr. Alexander seemed fairly staggered. "I need not say," said he, "that I am greatly surprised and pained at this revelation. I will consider your case, Malcom, and until I arrive at a decision you will retain your place in your class. Young gentlemen," he added, "you are dismissed to your class-rooms." In the hall outside the chapel door, Don felt some one touch his shoulder. It was Harry Doremus. "Don," said he, "you've done the square thing now, old boy." He held out his hand and Don clasped it, and without another word, they were friends again. The next morning Don Malcom was publicly expelled from Wiscasset Academy. Dr. Alexander's voice faltered more than once as he spoke the fatal words; but he felt that justice must be vindicated, and that a course of such open disobedience must be punished as it deserved. I will pass over the painful scene at the Malcom home when Don made his confession there; his father's anger and his mother's sorrow. Only his sister stood by him at the time, astonished and grieved though she was, and appreciated the effort by which, at the last moment, he had retrieved his own honor. Harry Doremus coming in during the afternoon, helped to cheer Don up somewhat. "Brace up, old fellow," said he. "You're on the right track now. Keep your lessons with me. I'll tell you where they are and help you all I can. Perhaps by-and-by your father will give you a tutor, and we'll go to Yale together, yet." Don took Harry's advice, and tried to keep up with his classes, though without much hope of attaining to college. A week passed by; it was the longest one of his life. He felt ashamed to be seen on the street. He fancied that old friends looked askance at him as they passed by. How flat and stale his jokes appeared to him now; he wondered that he ever saw any fun in them. Three days more passed; he felt that if life was to go on like this he could not bear it. If it had not been for the cowardice of the thing he would have asked his father to let him leave town. On the tenth day after his expulsion; toward evening, he went to the post-office. He found in the box a letter. The Academy stamp was in the corner. It was addressed in Dr. Alexander's own hand. With shaking fingers he opened it; it ran thus:— "Wiscasset, Nov. 16, 1880.
"MR. DONALD MALCOM—Dear Sir: In view of the frank and manly confession which was made by you before the whole school on the 6th inst., and the willingness which you then expressed to bear whatever penalty should be inflicted for your misconduct, I hereby withdraw the sentence of expulsion which you are under, and give you permission to return to your studies, depriving you, however, of your rank in your class, and relegating you to its foot. Yours, sincerely,
"JAMES ALEXANDER.
"P. S.—Personally I shall be very happy to see you back." Don could have shouted for joy. He rushed home and showed the letter to his mother and sister, and next morning he was back in the dear old academy. He had learned a valuable lesson during that ten days' absence from school; it was that while there is plenty of hearty fun in this world, which it does a boy good to enjoy, he who chooses instead, the pleasures of sin, will find himself in the end covered with shame and dishonor.—Eleanor A. Hunter. Household needs, family life, must constantly derange the order of well-appointed rooms—must get things out of their right and proper places, in fact—and it is just here that this art of picking up becomes indispensable. The neatest housekeepers do not always possess this art, and hence it is that the constant use of broom and duster cannot always satisfy the eye. The room or rooms may be shining with neatness, yet unless some member of the family has the art of picking up, they will fail of pleasing, if they do not absolutely pain the beholder.131 To a person who possesses this genius (for genius it seems to be, since it can neither be taught nor fully acquired), a littered apartment is a real misery. A book on a chair, a newspaper on the floor, the inkstand on the mantel-shelf, the match-box uncovered, are not trifles to such an one; they are discords whose adjustment becomes a necessity. Have you ever chanced to notice the magical difference that a picker-up of this sort can make in a few moments? The table-cover is straightened, the work is neatly folded, the footstool is placed beside the easy-chair, the shades are drawn evenly, the scissors and tape-measure are reposing in their basket, and the books and papers look at home in the book-case or on the table. Only a few touches, only a few moments, and yet what a difference! What a pity that every woman should not understand and practice this art! But it is to the invalid especially that the art of the picker-up becomes as soothing as it is necessary. The fire is brightened by the removal of the ashes, poker and tongs are symmetrically arranged, the bottles, powders, etc., are mustered in orderly array on the table, the various paraphernalia of the sick room are made as little obtrusive as possible, while a gentle hand straightens the rumpled bed-clothes or smoothes the tangled hair. And how much better and brighter the invalid feels for these simple ministrations, only those know who have lain restlessly tossing on a sick bed, or who have struggled through weary hours and days of convalescence. All praise, then, to the women who possess this most excellent art of picking up,—an art which lends a new charm to the most artistic home, while it brightens and beautifies the humblest.—N. Y. Christian Intelligencer. [The following hymn was composed by the late Charlotte Elliot, author of “Just as I am,” during a night of great suffering, in her eightieth year. She gave it, the night after she wrote it, to a relative, who found the hymn proved such a comfort to so many aged Christians that she desired its publication.] In life’s evening long and dreary,
From the treasures once possessed,
Is thy spirit faint and weary?- Dost thou long to be at rest?
On this sweet promise fix thy sight:-
“At even-time it shall be light.” “Light is sown” for thee and gladness,
Even in this vale of tears;
Soon will pass the night of sadness,
Grief will fly when morn appears;
Still to faith’s illumin’d sight
“At even-time it shall be light.” Look not on the ills around thee,
Earth grows darker every hour;
Let not crime’s increase confound thee,
Limited is Satan’s power.
Look on to regions pure and bright,
“At even-time it shall be light.” Dwell not on the growing weakness
That precedes thy frame’s decay;
Rise above depressing sickness;
Catch the dawn’s approaching ray.
Faith can discern the day-star bright,
“At even-time it shall be light.” See thy Saviour bending o’er thee,
Even to old age the same;
Set life’s one chief end before thee,
Still to glorify his name.
While on himself is fixed thy sight,
“At even-time it shall be light.” —J. R. Green, author of the "History of the English People," is dead. —Prince Gortschakoff, Chancellor of the Russian Empire, died on the 11th inst. —A school for the benefit of the convicts is to be added to the Michigan State Prison, at Jackson. —The steamer Navarre foundered on the 9th inst., in the North Sea, and one hundred lives were lost. —A movement is on foot among the Irish-Americans of San Francisco to erect a monument to St. Patrick. —A severe gale, with snow, prevailed on the English Coast, the 6th inst., and eight vessels were wrecked and nineteen lives lost. —The captain of the steamer Tacoma, that was recently wrecked on the Oregon coast, has been suspended for two years. —The work of dredging the Panama Canal is to be done by an American Company which has already commenced operations. —An old lady near Cleveland, O., was recently burned to death, the fire being caused by sparks from a pipe which she was smoking. —Last month the Legislature of Kansas voted down, by a very large majority, a proposition to rescind the prohibitory constitutional amendment. —The old Congregational Church at Litchfield, Conn., where the Rev. Dr. Lyman Beecher formerly preached, is now used as a skating rink. —Several firms of Bremen have entered into a combination for the purpose of organizing a line of steamers to run from Bremen to Cuba and Porto Rico. —Bishop Spalding of Peoria is the pioneer of a movement to establish a Roman Catholic University in the United States not inferior to Harvard or Yale. —A dispatch from Berlin reports the suicide of a military officer in that city, on account of monetary difficulties, and says that such events occur almost daily. —Father St. Cyr, an octogenarian Jesuit priest, who first introduced religion to Chicago when it was an Indian settlement, died a few days ago in South St. Louis. —The scenes enacted in the course of the star-route trial rival those during the trial of the notorious assassin; and the testimony given is very damaging to the prospects of the defendants. —The distress in Ireland is increasing, and so great is the scarcity of food that in some places the starving peasantry are obliged to eat sea-weed, and are unable to obtain a sufficient quantity of that. —A gentleman who has for years been the manager of an annual course of lectures in Boston, says that no topic is of greater popular interest than temperance, and no speakers draw so large audiences as do temperance speakers. —Eleven men were burned to death in a lodging-house at Brownsville, D. T., March 10. The fire is supposed to have originated through the carelessness of some of the men, who were accustomed to read by candle-light while lying in bed. —There is a strong pressure brought to bear on the present session of Parliament, for the opening of all picture galleries and museums on Sunday. It is contended that every place which is supported by the public funds, should be free of access to the public on Sundays. —Elliot, the prize-fighter who was shot in a drunken row in Chicago, was "waked" in a room hung with the same draperies that were in the room in which Cornelius Vanderbilt lay before burial. Now the dime novel reader has an additional incentive for seeking a career of blood and glory. —It is reported that near the close of the last session of Congress, Lee, the colored contestant whose case was pending when Congress adjourned, was offered $15,000 by the whisky lobby if he would permit his case to be withdrawn, so that the Bonded Spirits Bill might come up. The colored member refused the offer, and whisky for once had to wait. —It has been the custom for foreign vessels to discharge their cargoes at Oakland, Vallejo, and Port Costa, a custom-house inspector being sent from San Francisco to supervise the matter. The Treasury Department has decided that this will no longer be allowed, as San Francisco is the only legal port of entry. Much inconvenience will be caused by this action. —The Oakland Times contains the following: "Francis Gallagher, aged 35 years, a hostler, was committed to the Insane Asylum yesterday. He refuses to eat, and is very violent. The record says he is quick tempered, and talks a great deal about politics. The cause of his insanity is the excessive use of tobacco." Politics, tobacco, and insanity! How easily and naturally they are associated. —A prize-fight occurred in Troy, N. Y., last week, between two noted roughs. It is stated that among those witnessing the fight were several officials and assemblymen. What kind of legislation can be expected when the legislators brutalize themselves by witnessing such scenes. Unfortunately, such reports are not uncommon. The names of such representatives ought to be published; it is the only publicity that should be allowed them. —Herr Most made a speech in Chicago the other night, in which he expressed himself as in favor of abolishing all existing jails, as they are only a means of oppressing the people. Of course if there are no jails there will be no need of laws, and this condition he favors also. Herr Most is an antinomian pure and simple, and he carries his antinomian ideas to their legitimate conclusion. There are some in higher position who would do well to consider where their no-law principles (or rather, lack of principle) lead to. —The Alta criticises the action of a French politician who is working up his popularity among the poor of Paris by distributing bread tickets bearing his coat of arms, and says: "This is cheap, very cheap. If in the United States a candidate for constable should try to make votes in this way, he would disgust even his best friends." Very likely, for people here are not used to such things. Whisky is the only proper thing with which to buy votes. —In a book recently published, entitled "The History of the Negro Race in America," it is stated that at the beginning of this century, in a total population of 5,305,925, there were 893,041 slaves; that is, one-sixth of the population were slaves. The only two States in which slavery had ceased to exist were Vermont and Massachusetts. Connecticut had a slave population of 951; New Jersey had 12,422 slaves; New York had 20,343; Pennsylvania had 1,706. —The arrest of 136 members of the secret society in Spain, known as the "Black Hand," has resulted in disclosures which show that a most alarming conspiracy exists. The association has several thousand members, in all classes of society. Among the crimes traced to these anarchists are agrarian outrages, incendiarism, destruction of crops and cattle, and attacks on shopkeepers. The spirit of anarchy seems to be rife in Europe, and nothing can stop it; concessions and harsh measures alike cause it to flourish the more, for its characteristic is to be dissatisfied with everything that exists. Questions Answered.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
The word is a poetical title of the people of Israel. It means "the upright," or "the chosen," from the verb yashar, "to be righteous." The Septuagint has in this passage, Iakob, and the Vulgate has dilectus. In Deut. 33 : 5, 26, and Isa. 44 : 2, the only other places where the word occurs, the Vulgate renders it rectissimus. 2. Please tell us how Jesus observed the passover before his death, and the Jews afterward. J. E. G. We suppose that Christ's last passover is referred to. We shall, therefore, ask our correspondent to first prove to us that the Jews did partake of this passover after the death of Christ, and then we can very easily tell how they did it. We think that both Jesus and the Jews ate the passover supper at the same time—the time appointed at its institution. The only passage of Scripture which seems to contradict this idea is John 18 : 28, where it is said that the Jews "went not in to the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover." But by reference to Luke 22 : 1: "Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the passover," we learn that the term passover is applied to the seven days during which they were to eat unleavened bread, as well as to the supper itself. And ceremonial defilement was to be avoided during the whole of this period. Therefore the Jews would not enter the Gentile court, even though they had eaten the paschal supper. The opinion is held by many that Jesus and his disciples ate the passover the evening before the regular time; but this does not seem to us at all probable, because (1) Jesus was a Jew, and, so far as we have any knowledge, conformed to the customs of the Jews, and the requirements of the ceremonial law. (2) The only circumstances under which a change in the time of eating the passover was warranted was in a case of ceremonial defilement; and in that case it was to be eaten just one month later; not one day before. See Num. 9 : 6-11. (3) If Jesus had proposed to eat the passover at any other than the specified time, it would have occasioned surprise and questioning on the part of his disciples; but instead of this we find (4) that the disciples themselves came to Jesus and asked, "Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?" We cannot suppose that they would have taken the responsibility of departing from the usual custom. And as final proof that they prepared it at the appointed time we read (5) the time when they made this preparation was on the "first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover." Mark 14 : 12. The day on which the lamb was killed was sometimes called the "first day of unleavened bread," because on that day all leaven was to be put away from their houses. Authorities differ so widely concerning the time of the last passover, that no one is justified in speaking with great positiveness; and we will find in this case, as in all cases where there are conflicting opinions, and reasonable doubts in regard to any position taken, that the settlement of the question is of no practical importance any way. The practical truths of the Bible are so plain as to be understood by the simplest. PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING HOUSE,
By Editor
PUBLISHERS "SIGNS OF THE TIMES," ETC. GENERAL BOOK AND JOB PRINTING, In the Best and Latest Styles, and at Satisfactory Rates. In all its Various Branches, Promptly Executed in the Most Substantial Manner. STEREOTYPING AND ELECTROTYPING, By the Latest Improved Methods. In the Finest Styles of the Art. Orders for anything in our line, by mail or express, will receive prompt attention. Address, PACIFIC PRESS, 12th and Castro Streets, Oakland; Or, 529 Commercial Street, San Francisco. THE EARLY LIFE, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, AND EXTENSIVE LABORS OF The production of this book was the last literary labor performed by Elder White. As nearly the whole of his active labor was performed in connection with the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, which he was largely instrumental in founding, the work is necessarily quite a complete history of that people. The book abounds in interesting incidents, personal sketches, and religious experiences, some of which are quite remarkable, and altogether it forms a volume at once instructive and interesting. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. THE TRUTH FOUND.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
THE NATURE AND OBLIGATION OF THE SABBATH OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.
THE title of this little book sufficiently explains its character. It contains more Scriptural information in regard to the Sabbath than any other book of twice the size, and yet it is so simplified as to be easily comprehended. The author quotes the opinions of many learned men concerning the Sabbath, and their conflicting theories are strongly contrasted with the clear, straightforward teaching of the Bible. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. Obituary.
By Benjamin Holmes
SWAIN.—Died in Boston, Erie Co., N. Y., Jan. 30 1883, Byron Swain, aged forty-five years. His death occurred while felling a tree in the woods. He was found dead soon after the accident, with a large limb lying across him. Bro. Swain embraced the truth in 1865, under the preaching of John Bostwick, in Olmstead Co., Minn. He leaves a wife and three children to mourn his loss, but they mourn not as those without hope. Discourse by the writer from Isa 25 : 8, 9. BENJ. HOLMES. OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, MARCH 15, 1883
By Editor
"ALL of us" at the SIGNS Office were much pleased to greet Bro. W. C. White last week on his return. He gives us some interesting facts in his account of his visit East. Anonymous Correspondence
By Editor
WE do not hold ourselves under any obligations to pay attention to anonymous correspondence. We may notice it, and we may not—generally the latter. It depends entirely upon the nature of it. They who are conscious of right intentions can have no reasonable objection to signing their names to their letters. Sabbath Chronicle.
By Editor
THE seventh number of the Sabbath Chronicle, published in Chicago, has come to hand. Its publication was for some time suspended, but the strong efforts to enforce the Sunday Law, which are being made in Chicago, induced the friends of the Lord’s day to resume it. This number is a good one. It is edited by N. O. Moore, who promises for the present to send it freely to all who will send for it. His address is 1439 State St., Chicago, Ill. We hope it will be supported by the friends of the truth. THERE is no change of time in the Sabbath-school meetings. Bro. White thinks our memory was at fault in regard to changing the time of the quarterly meetings; that the report of the committee to that effect was not adopted. We so understood it, and all in the office here got the same idea from the proceedings. We will examine this subject carefully, and report next week. THE quarterly meeting in "the city" last Sabbath was well attended, and was altogether an excellent meeting. The condition of the membership of that church was found to be quite gratifying; forty-eight answered to their names, and attended the ordinances, and most of the others were satisfactorily reported. Although we were worn and somewhat ill, we enjoyed much freedom in speaking. A long time had elapsed since we met with that church before. Quite a number were present beside the members, some remaining through all the exercises. No one has ever taken a deeper interest in the welfare of the San Francisco church than we have. We preached to them continuously for nearly two years without asking or hoping for any remuneration, and we felt that they were very near to us. But our labor was too hard; our health failed, and we have never considered it prudent to resume our appointments there. But the interest seemed so good last Sabbath that we could not deny the request to leave another appointment. We expect to meet with them again in two weeks, namely, on Sabbath, March 24. Annual Meetings.
By Editor
IN this paper will be found the appointment of the election of trustees of the Oakland church. Every resident member should be present without fail, as we have many non-resident members, and a majority of the whole number must be present if any business shall be transacted. The Annual Meeting of the Pacific S. D. A. Publishing Association convenes on the fourth Tuesday in April. We hope to see a larger attendance than ever before. Make early preparations, and come without fail. Those who cannot come should send in their proxies in good season. We presume the State Quarterly Meeting of the T. and M. Society will be held at the same time, but of this notice will be given in season. California Awaits Wiggins’s Storm
CALIFORNIA has been patiently waiting and anxiously hoping for her installment of Mr. Wiggins’ great storm, the prediction of which has frightened people so badly in the East. Farmers here are also getting considerably frightened—afraid it will not come. PURSUANT to the statutes of the State of California, and the by-laws of the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Oakland, the annual meeting of the members of said church will be held at the church building, corner of 13th and Clay Streets, on Wednesday evening, April 4, 1883, at 7 o'clock P. M., for the purpose of electing a board of five trustees to serve for the ensuing year; and for the transaction of such other business as may be properly brought before the meeting. The attendance of all members in the city will be necessary, in order that business may be legally transacted. By order of the President, Nobody to Blame.
By Editor
The press reports contain the following:— "Atlanta (Ga.), March 10.—A drunken father in Hall County, named Herring, poured a shovel of hot coals on his infant child and burned it to death." In a legal point of view there was no crime committed in the above case, for it is evident that there can be no crime where there is no criminal. It has been held from time immemorial that a man is not responsible for what he does when he is drunk; and the man who furnished the murderous fluid that made him drunk held a government license to follow that business. In the eye of the law the burning of little children by drunken fathers is only an "innocent pastime." AN editorial article—Questions Answered—may be found on the preceding page. THOUGHTS ON DANIEL, CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL.
By Uriah Smith
AN EXPOSITION OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL, VERSE BY VERSE. WE are now living in times plainly pointed out in this prophecy, and it is important to understand it; for Daniel himself says that in the time of the end, the wise shall understand; while, if we fail, we are equally guilty with the Jews, who knew not the time of their visitation (Luke 19:42-44), and shall meet a similar fate. 416 pp. Price, $1.25. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. THE NATURE AND TENDENCY OF MODERN SPIRITUALISM.
By Eld. J. H. Waggoner
This is a thorough expose of the system of spiritualism. The author has carefully studied the subject, and has given such copious extracts from a large library of spiritualist publications, as to fully condemn them in their teachings and in their practices, by their own testimony. It is also shown from the prophetic scriptures that spiritualism is one of the most impressive signs of the times. 184 pp. Price, 20 cents. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. THOUGHTS ON REVELATION, CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL.
By Uriah Smith
THIS work presents every verse in the book of Revelation, with such remarks as serve to illustrate or explain the meaning of the text. It is a new and harmonious exposition of that important book, and is designed to create an interest in its study. 416 pp. $1.25. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.