Dr. Otis, who compiled the medical records of the Union army, said on the subject of using liquor medicinally: "A few years ago I shouldn't have agreed with you on that point, but now I do. Since I have compared in this office the health rolls of regiments where the surgeon refused to give whisky, with those of regiments where whisky was given freely, I am so impressed with the proof of gain from total abstinence that I wonder how so many of our soldiers lived through our whisky treatment of them."
Drunkards Made by Drinking
THE Colusa Sun says that “drunkards are not made by home drinking.” The simple fact is that drunkards are made by drinking, whether at home or abroad. Liquor is just as intoxicating if drank at home as it is when taken in a bar-room. It has no respect for places. Hundreds of drunkards acquired the appetite for liquor at home. The only persons who are sure of never becoming drunkards are those who never taste intoxicating liquor of any kind.
A Kentucky Jug
A MAN down in Kentucky, when at the point of death told his wife to empty a certain jug, which she did, and found the contents to consist of $1,200 in gold and silver. This is told as a very remarkable story when everybody knows that bigger fortunes than that are poured out of jugs every year in Kentucky and one or two other places.
The Rights to Prohibit
"THE strongest argument urged against the prohibition of traffic in alcoholic beverages is that it would contravene the rights of citizens to vend and to use such beverages." It is open to that objection. So the laws that prohibit murder run against the liberty of men to kill each other. And such "rights" should be contravened.—Presbyterian Journal.
Mary had been reading the days backward, like a little Oriental; and now only one was left—one long, long day—and Christmas would have come again. It seemed a whole year of years since the last; yet some of its brightness had lasted even until now.
Yes, Christmas was really coming. If she doubted it for a moment, she had only to run to the window and look down the back area. Lying there, in the light of the street-lamp, just where the round-faced market-boy had dumped it from his wagon yesterday—waiting for the lights and perfumes and splendors which should atone, in one delightful hour, for its wounded bark and wrenched fiber and all the wonderful forest-life left behind forever—was the real story-telling spruce, the Christmas tree to be! The wind soughed through its prostrate branches, lifting the dark tassels, where a few crisp snow-crystals still sparkled, and disclosing little green nooks, which might have held each one a snow-bird lodger, wrapped in his blanket of grey down. What a bit of the country it was, let down between those smoky brick walls.
Mabel had not forgotten her one Christmas at grandpa's. The great pure fields of snow, with here and there a bush crowned with its tuft of winter berries; the pretty white hoods on all the fence posts; the glittering icicle-fringe hanging from the stable roof; the yellow sheaf fastened at the gable of the old barn—for grandpa had copied the beautiful Swedish custom of giving a Christmas dinner to the birds—all these and much more she could see plainly, as if the little spruce tree had been a magic-glass.
Eight o'clock struck—Mabel's bed-time, at last; and she went upstairs with her curly head one whirl of delightful excitement. Nora undressed her and tucked her in; then she turned down the night lamp, and bade her "Be still, now, and go to sleep; there's a dear!" Mabel shut her eyes fast. It was of no use; they flew open every other minute. Then she put her fingers on the lids, and held tight. By and by the little hands slipped away slowly, and lay with their pink palms upward on the pillow; and that was the way mamma found them when she came into the nursery to kiss her little daughter, and make sure that she was snug and quiet in her warm bed. No need to hold the blue-veined eyelids now, for their brown lashes swept the rosy cheeks, and the breath came softly from the parted lips. Mabel was smiling in her sleep.
"I wonder what she is dreaming about," said mamma to herself.
This was Mabel's dream:—
She stood on the polished floor of a building far vaster than anything she had ever imagined. There was nothing to bound her vision, as she looked up, up, so far that her eyes ached with straining; for no roof rested on the wonderful carved columns, whose capitals lost themselves in the blue heaven, where the moon hung like a golden horn overflowing in a foam of stars.
In the center of the vast hall there stood a wonderful tree, spreading its green boughs far on every side, and lifting its top so high that the very stars seemed to hang amid its branches like glittering dew. Strains of soft music rose and fell, and the air was dense with the perfume of rare flowers, unclosing, one by one, their delicate petals, and breathing out their souls in exquisite fragrance. But most marvelous of all was the fruit of the magical tree. All Wonderland seemed to have emptied itself upon the branches, blazing with thousands of many-colored lights. Toys and bon-bons; pictures, books and costly garments; half-open caskets, where priceless jewels lay on silken cushions; ivory keys and tremulous strings, whence the spirit of music panted to be free; all things rare and beautiful from land or sea. There was room for all, and none were wanting; for this was the Christmas Tree of the world!
And now a long procession of gaily-dressed children entered the wide doorway. Denser and denser grew the throng. The very lamps seemed pale in the light of so many sparkling eyes, and the fairy-like music could scarce be heard for the echoes of happy laughter.
And suddenly, responsive to the fluttering of shining curls and costly robes, the tree stirred, as if to the touch of invisible fingers. Here a branch shook lightly, there a twig trembled, and softly as the first snow-flakes of winter the rare gifts floated down to the thousand white hands which flashed upward to receive them.
Mabel held fast her own. All she had wanted most was in her arms—the blonde-haired doll which smiled on her from the toy-shop window yesterday; the little bracelet, pearl and gold, like cousin Nell's; the set of ermine, with its heavy blue tassels. She could not speak for very rapture.
At last the tree was emptied of all but lights and flowers. Then a great hush fell upon the place, and some strange, irresistible influence drew all eyes upward. A moving trail of strange white light crossed the deep blue of the starlit sky. Nearer and nearer it came; and now, in the midst of the colorless radiance, she saw a floating, childlike form. A whisper, like the wind in fallen leaves, ran through the great room; "It is the Christ Child!" And by one common impulse the throng swayed to right and left, and the stranger, white-robed and crowned with light, walked between the parted ranks. There was no smile on the beautiful face. Straight forward, far beyond them all, gazed the clear eyes, darkened, it seemed, by some mournful shadow. Mabel, too, looked, with a sudden tremor and doubt at her heart, and saw, outside the happy crowd, other children, cowering in the half-gloom, clothed in rags, grimy with dirt. Little pinched faces, lined with the old story of want, misery and sin, looked out from wild Medusa locks of unkempt hair, despair and disappointment in their eager hungry eyes. No room for them within the charmed circle of joy and beauty! No little gift from all that store to fill one empty, outstretched hand!
And now she thought: Yes, surely among those shrinking forms were some not wholly unfamiliar. Little Joe, whom she had seen stagger up the back-stairs under his heavy laundry-basket; Susy and Jemmy, who begged every day at the kitchen-door for the cold pieces the cook threw away; that little girl whom she saw when she went with Uncle Will to the Mission School, whose eye was black and swollen, where her drunken mother struck her; the bare-foot newsboy who cried the Sunday-morning papers—how strange that she had not noticed them sooner!
Still onward moved the celestial presence, radiant, awful in its unsmiling sweetness; and now, for the first time, Mabel saw how the wonderful light which shone around it illuminated through and through all upon whom it fell, until garments and flesh became only a filmy veil, through which the soul appeared. It paused, at last, before the wretched group. The clear eyes looked backward now. Mabel felt their tender, reproachful gaze read her very heart. No word, no breath was heard in all the vastness of the place. Then, while the strange, undazzling radiance grew and grew about him, the Child turned and touched the outcasts one by one. O marvelous transfiguration! Seen through each tear-marked face and shrinking form, a white-robed angel stood with folded wings! Once more the Child looked back on Mabel—on them all; then, rising slowly, slowly, vanished in the upper blue, and she awoke.
The house was very still, and the moon-light shone about her in the room. One moment more, and a little, white, bare-foot figure slipped past the crib where baby Willie lay sleeping softly; past Nora, breathing heavily upon her cot beside him, across the dim passage-way, in through the open door of the adjoining room.
"Mamma, mamma!"
"Why, my darling! You?"
Mabel crept softly between the warm, folding arms.
"Oh, mamma! the Christmas tree—you know—I don't want it!"
"Not want it, Mabel?"
"Not for my own self, I mean! We must have it, though; and never so splendid! And you mustn't give me anything—not the littlest bit, mamma. But we'll have little Joe, and Jemmy, and Susy—you know Susy?—and those Irish children down the alley, and—and—somebody that Uncle Will knows about at the Mission. And we'll buy the prettiest things. And I don't want the doll, mamma; indeed I don't!"
"My child, what has come to you?"
"O, if you had been there, mamma. If you had only seen!"
And so, in broken sentences, Mabel told her dream.
"Cook might clear the kitchen," said mamma, thoughtfully. "There would be plenty of room."
"Oh, no, no, mamma!" Mabel almost screamed. "Not there! Why, our parlor would be like Heaven to Susy! If you had only seen the angels inside, you would think our very best things weren't half good enough!"
"Give the child her way!" said papa, with something shining on his cheek in the moonlight.
Papa, mamma, and Mabel went down town together next morning; and all day the shop-boys kept the bell of the street door ringing, till the hall-table was one pyramid of paper parcels, in all shapes and sizes. Warm jackets, and bright frocks, caps, shoes, and mittens; toys, candies, and picture-books—no wonder that mamma despaired of loading all that reckless abundance upon one small tree! But papa and Mabel managed it somehow, and just at seven o'clock on Christmas Eve, the guests began to arrive. Mabel brought them into the back parlor, where their worn shoes and bare feet sank into the velvet carpet, and their eyes were dazzled with all the unwonted light and color, driving quite away all their shy, frightened looks with her bright smiles and welcoming words.
But what shall I say of that moment when the folding-doors were thrown wide open, and the full blaze of the great chandelier revealed the Christmas tree, in all its unimagined splendor? Or of the cry of rapture, so strange to that score of little voices, which must have flown up to the very ear of the Christ Child of Mabel's dream? Or of the tears of joy, the long-drawn breaths of incredulous happiness, the "Thank yous!" and "God bless yous!" when Mabel handed round the gifts papa took down for her? Or of the long supper-table, set with all the best china and cut-glass and silver, where they all sat down and ate their fill—some of them for the first time in all their lives—and of which not a single spoon or fork was missed, not one delicate cup broken?
At ten o'clock the last child had gone away, with heart and hands full, and the house was quiet. Mabel carried her one gift upstairs—an illuminated text, in a pretty carved frame: "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these, ye did it unto me."
The blonde-haired doll, the pearl bracelet, and the ermine set really were locked away in mamma's closet. I think they were meant to come out at New Year; but not for all the world would papa and mamma have lessened to-night the perfect blessedness of Mabel's sacrifice.—Independent.
FAREWELL, OLD YEAR.
By Mary A. Davis
BY MARY A. DAVIS.
A LONG farewell, old year, to thee,
With thy days of sorrow, thy days of glee;
We part with thee regretfully.
How many who greeted us with thy dawn,
In life's twilight gray, in the flush of morn,
From their place in our circle to-day are gone.
On the lone hillside, 'neath the cypress bough,
Their lifework closed, they are sleeping now,
The seal of death on each pallid brow.
Perchance ere long we too may stand,
With failing heart and powerless hand,
Beside the gate of the silent land.
What promise of life would we leave unbroken?
What words we have said would we have unspoken?
What shall we ask for as a sign or token?
To-day let the noble deed be wrought,
To-day be uttered the kindly thought,
To-day be the precious token sought.
We are sweeping on with life's rushing river—
Our frail boat thrills like an aspen's quiver—
On to the sea of the vast forever.
Would'st thou, fellow-sailor, the storm outride?
Choose the Mighty One as thy friend and guide,
For the raging torrent is deep and wide.
Wreck not thy hopes on the shifting sand,
Nor stay thy course at an earthly strand;
Seek thou a port in the better land.
There's a fount thy soul-thirst to allay,
There are treasures that know naught of decay,
There the loved pass not from thy grasp away.
Soon shall the weary there find release,
Soon shall the soul's deep yearnings cease,
In joy unending, and perfect peace.
Farewell, old year, a glad farewell;
Thy faintly dying echoes tell,
We are nearing the land where our fond hopes dwell.
News and Notes.
—Red Bluff, Cal., has shipped 1,526,000 pounds of wool this year.
—The False Prophet of the Soudan is said to have been repulsed in two engagements.
—Toledo, O., had a $500,000 fire the 15th inst. The finest business block in the city was destroyed.
—Dec. 13 a very heavy gale, followed by an unusually high tide did great damage along the coast of New Foundland.
—The French Minister of Finance has stated that the amount of public debt that has been redeemed is 104,000,000 francs.
—Work on the Hudson River Tunnel between New York and Jersey City, has been stopped on account of lack of means to carry it on.
—The wine yield of Napa County for this year has been ascertained to be 2,644,000 gallons. Only once previous has this amount been exceeded.
—Last week the entire Board of Aldermen of Brooklyn, N. Y., served five days imprisonment in the county jail, for ignoring a court's injunction, and voting away a railroad franchise.
—A space in the south-west corner of the Government reservation at Hot Springs, Ark., has been selected as the site for the Army and Navy Hospital, for which Congress has appropriated $100,000.
—At the Kingston, Ontario, Medical College, only ladies are now in attendance. The male students demand the expulsion of the lady students, or they will abandon the college. Let them go, by all means.
—Since the adoption in New York of the amendment making the Erie Canal free, the Canadian papers urge the same policy in respect to the Welland and St. Lawrence canals, in order to enable them to compete with the Erie.
—Judge Hunt, of the Superior Court of California, has decided that if a nuisance is maintained by a tenant on a piece of property, damages may be recovered from the landlord. This decision affects chiefly those whose property is rented to the Chinese for wash-houses.
—Two young roughs who recently maltreated and robbed a Chinaman in New York, were sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment. This is as it should be; a few such sentences will add materially to the comfort of Chinamen, and will help to give them a more favorable view of Christianity.
—It is said that George M. Robeson's canvass for election to Congress cost $70,000. And the pay of a congressman is $5,000 a year, which might set some people to wondering how he expected to meet the expense. At any rate, there will be few who will be sorry that he was defeated.
—A fire broke out in the business quarter of Kingston, Jamaica, Dec. 11, which was not extinguished until the 13th. Four hundred stores were destroyed. Nearly every building that was considered fireproof was destroyed. The loss was $15,000,000. Five persons are known to have burned to death.
—Letters from Chiapas, Mexico, state that the cholera has raged with such violence that in some places the owners of, and laborers on, plantations have all died, and it is not possible to bury them. The bodies have been burned. Sixty deaths a day have occurred in Tonalar, and a terrible panic has ensued.
—The Sultan has had built for his use an armored carriage, bullet and grenade proof. His palace is practically in a state of siege. Nobody is allowed entrance unless summoned. There is sedition among the troops, because the palace guards are well paid while they are in rags. The appointment as Minister of War of Osman Pasha, who is unpopular in the army, has increased the dissatisfaction.
—The House Committee on Education have reported favorably on the bill appropriating $10,000,000 annually for the next five years, to aid in public education. It is proposed that this sum shall be distributed among the several Territories by the Secretary of the Treasury, in the ratio of illiteracy. It is also provided that a sum not exceeding 5 per cent. of the appropriation may be expended annually for the education of teachers.
—There is an exceedingly bitter feeling against England now growing in France. The French Government has been notified that England must not be interfered with in her conduct of affairs in Egypt. If they accept the situation in a friendly spirit England will allow them to annex Madagascr; otherwise she will oppose everything. The French are wishing for an army with which to give emphasis to their diplomatic negotiations.
—A shameful state of affairs has been discovered as existing among the detectives of Washington, D. C. Ten of them were recently discharged for aiding the Star-route conspirators, and now it is found that the remainder of the force have been systematically engaged in stealing. They were subsidized by the thieves and gamblers of the city, who paid the detectives 20 per cent. of their stealings. The detectives, it is said, even planned some of the large robberies, and selected the men to execute them. Yet all these men are still on the force.
SABBATH READINGS FOR THE HOME CIRCLE. IN FOUR VOLUMES.
By Editor
The world is full of books, but the really good ones are scarce. For twenty years Mrs. White has been selecting choice, interesting and instructive stories, the best of which are presented in four volumes of 400 pages each. A more interesting collection can rarely be found. The selections have been carefully made, and none need fear to place them in the hands of their children. They are not, however, designed exclusively for the young. They are for home reading, and all members of the family circle will be entertained and benefited by their perusal.
Price per set of four volumes, neatly put up in box, $2.50.
THE SUNSHINE SERIES.
Choice moral and religious stories for little ones. Adapted to children from four to eight years and older. In ten small books of 32 pages each.
Put up in glazed paper covers. 320 pages. Price, 50 cents
GOLDEN GRAINS.
Ten books of 32 pages each, of the same character as Sunshine Series, adapted to children from seven to twelve years and older.
320 pages. Price, 50 cents.
Address. PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.
HOLIDAY BOOKS FOR OLD AND YOUNG
HISTORIES AND BIOGRAPHIES
Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, six vols..............$6.00
Rollins Ancient History, in two royal octavo volumes,
small pica type (Bound in Muslin).................................5.00
Bound in Sheep....................................................6.00
Complete works of Flavius Josephus, royal octavo size,
pica type.........................................................3.50
D'Augbine's History of the Great Reformation........................5.00
Dowling's History of Romanism.......................................4.00
Half Morocco......................................................4.75
Life of Alexander Duff..............................................2.00
Smith's comprehensive Dictionary....................................4.00
Hagenbach's History of Doctrines, two vols..........................5.00
Farrar's Life of Christ, two vols...................................5.00
Fisher's History of the Reformation.................................3.00
Geikie's Life of Christ.............................................1.75
History of England, Hume, Sheep, four vols..........................7.50
Critical Commentary, four vols......................................6.50
FINE ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
The Bird World..................$5.00 | Indian Mirror................ 1.75
Mysteries of the Ocean........ 5.00 | Book of Bible Pictures....... 1.50
The Mountains................. 5.00 | Stories of Bird Life......... 1.50
Child's Bible................. 5.00 | Treasures of the Deep........ 1.50
Those Holy Fields............. 4.00 | Earth and its Treasures...... 1.50
Animal Life................... 2.50 | Pilgrim's Progress........... 1.50
BOOKS FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN
Sabbath Readings, four vols...$2.50 | Schonberg Cotta Family....... 1.00
Pillar of Fire................ 2.00 | Lucy Raymond............... 1.00
Vivians of Woodiford.......... 1.50 | The Greek Maid.............. 1.00
Home Life in Palestine........ 1.50 | Edith Somers................. .90
Nannie Davenport.............. 1.50 | Jessie's Work................ .90
Earthen Vessels............... 1.50 | Tip Toe...................... .80
Tom Bentley................... 1.50 | Vatican Council.............. .80
Ellen Dacre................... 1.25 | The Climbers................. .80
Tim the Scissors Grinder...... 1.25 | Sybil Grey................... .80
Sequel to Tim................. 1.25 | Jane Taylor.................. .75
Gutta Percha Willie........... 1.25 | Following on to know......... .75
Paul Venner................... 1.25 | Star of Bethlehem............ .70
The Hard Problem.............. 1.25 | May Coverly.................. .60
Little Nellie................. 1.25 | Jonas Clare.................. .60
Lenore's Trial................ 1.25 | The Glen Cabin............... .60
Story of a Pocket Bible....... 1.25 | The Boy Patriot.............. .50
Almost a Woman................ 1.25 | Songs for the little ones...... .70
Almost Man.................... 1.00 | Jesus the Way................ .25
Glen Elder.................... 1.15 | Little Will.................. .25
Climbing the Mountain......... 1.15 | Treasure Poems............... .10
The Brother's Choice.......... 1.10
SABBATH READINGS FOR THE HOME CIRCLE
THE NATURE AND TENDENCY OF MODERN SPIRITUALISM
By Joseph Harvey Waggoner
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.
BIBLE SANCTIFICATION:
A CONTRAST OF
TRUE AND FALSE THEORIES.
By MRS. E. G. WHITE.
This is a pamphlet of only 84 pages, but its value is not to be judged by its size. It is just what its title indicates: a faithful presentation of Bible truth on this important subject, and an exposure of the false theories prevailing in regard to it. Every believer in Bible truth should read it. Buy it, read it, and lend it to your neighbor. Price 10 cts.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
LIFE SKETCHES
THE EARLY LIFE, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, AND EXTENSIVE LABORS OF ELDER JAMES WHITE, AND HIS WIFE, MRS. ELLEN G. WHITE.
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.
416 pp. Price, $1.25.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
Clarence V. B. Downing
By W. M. Healey
DOWNING.—Died at Vallejo, November 30, Clarence V. B. Downing, aged 32 years and 6 months. He was the son of the former Elder of our church in Healdsburg, where his mother still resides and abides in the faith. The funeral took place here and called together many sympathizing friends. We tried to present the duty of each to the living; as life is short and may end at any time, we should never miss an opportunity of doing good. W. M. HEALEY.
Religious Notes.
—A pastor in New Britain, Conn., on a recent Sunday, had, by means of a telephone, attentive hearers in another city, forty miles away from his church.
—The Witness notes the fact that thirteen new theaters and only two new churches have been built in Berlin in ten years, as marking the downward progress of morals in that city.
—The attempt to close the Sunday theaters in Cincinnati is a failure. The Mayor of the city seems to have made an effort to keep the doors closed, but has finally weakened, and the large theaters have been re-opened and packed full.
—The officers in charge of the Salvation Army in New York City, claim that they have already secured more than three thousand converts there. They say, however, that the converts are so afraid of being “chaffed” that not one-twentieth of them are willing to appear in public.
—The Monitor asks its readers to pray “for the repose of the soul of Mrs. ——, that God, in his infinite mercy, may admit her purified soul into the possession of that sweet peace which pervades alone in Heaven.” It strikes us that there is more need of prayers for the unpurified souls of those now living than for the purified souls of the dead.
—The Calvary Baptist Church, of New York has given $307,304 during the past year. Of this, $113,000 was for a new building, and for running expenses. The remainder was charity, missions, education, etc. That is a good record, but if the contributions of many smaller country churches could be seen, we doubt not that they would show a greater amount in proportion to members and wealth.
—We are glad to reprint this good confession from the Independent: “The Holy Spirit of God and the divine providence which have given us the sacred Scriptures are not to be rudely questioned. They have given us what we have, and we are to be satisfied with it. They have not gratified all our curiosity; but they have given us enough not merely to save our souls, but abundantly to minister to our spiritual wants.” To this we respond a hearty Amen.
—Quite a number of the colored Baptists of Georgia propose to establish a new denomination, with Baptist principles and the Methodist system. Rev. George R. Jackson, the founder of the new church, says that independency may do very well for white Baptists; but among colored Baptists it leads to divisions and fightings. These colored brethren are beginning to learn the force of Paul's statement that “We are members one of another.” A correspondent of the Examiner states also that “independence” has impaired the influence of many Baptist churches in New York.
—Father O'Conor, of the Independent Catholic Church, New York, disclaims all connection with those anti-Roman lecturers who do not offer pure Christianity in the place of Catholicism. He says: “Such persons have no connection with the Independent Catholic Church. No one desires the overthrow of the Romish system of religion more ardently than I do. I believe it to be in its distinctive features opposed to the religion of the Bible, and I shall labor all the days of my life for its utter annihilation; but I hope God will help me to do so as a Christian and an honorable man.”
—At the recent Baptist Conference held in Brooklyn, N. Y., Rev. G. D. Boardman, the presiding officer, said: “Creed should be adjusted to growth in the apprehension of truth. Possibly the day is not far distant when the thoughtful exponents of Christendom will assemble as at Nice and Westminster and, irrespective of denominational differences, will restate the old truths in new forms.” But each individual must hold to his present form of belief until the divines tell him just what he may safely accept. We believe, however, with him, that the day is near at hand when this will be done.
—One of the English Baptist missionaries says of the steady increase of his work during the last six months: “The number of converts, learners, adherents, and stations, has itself made it impossible that we, either foreigners or foreign paid men, could visit and control these stations, and so it had to be moved on to the shoulders of the influential native members, and those who had gifts for evangelization. The result is that, independent of the foreign mission, there are numbers of voluntary evangelists whose services are in continual demand among the new learners. They invite them once to the various villages, they provide for them while with them, and the men come back when they see fit; and so the work goes on until these become regular stations under pastor, elder, and deacon.”
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES,
By Editor
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, AT OAKLAND, CAL., FOR THE
Missionary Society of Seventh-day Adventists.
A twelve-page Religious Family Paper, devoted to a discussion of the Prophecies, Signs of the Times, Second Coming of Christ, Harmony of the Law and Gospel, with Departments devoted to Temperance, The Home Circle, the Missionary Work, and the Sabbath-school.
Price Per Year, . . . . . . . $2.00
In Clubs of five or more copies to one address, to be used in Missionary Work, . . . . . . 1.50
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
—OR—
REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Michigan.
MRS. ELIZA PALMER, Sec. N. E. Tract Society, South Lancaster, Mass.
ELD. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, Ravenswood, Shirley Road, Southampton, England.
MRS. C. L. BOYD, Salem, Oregon.
A MINE OF INFORMATION.
By John Nevins Andrews
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH AND FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK.
By Eld. J. N. Andrews.
The Bible record of the Sabbath; the secular history concerning it; the successive steps by which the change to the first day was made, and the work of restoration, are given in detail.
EVERY TEXT OF SCRIPTURE concerning the Sabbath is commented on at length; and the COMPLETE TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS in regard to the Sabbath and first day is given. The comparative merits of the seventh and the first-day Sabbaths are fully shown. A copious Index nables the reader to find any text, or the statement of any historian.
Should be read by everybody. 528 pp. Price, $1.25.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
SABBATH READINGS FOR THE HOME CIRCLE.
By Editor
COMPILED BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
THESE are some of the few really good books. For twenty years Mrs. White has been selecting choice, interesting, and instructive stories, the best of which are presented in these four volumes of 400 pages each. It would be difficult to find a better collection. The selections have been carefully made, and none need fear to place them in the hands of the young. They are not, however, designed exclusively for the young, but are adapted for general home reading. All the members of the family circle will find something in them to entertain and instruct. They are just the thing for holiday or birthday gifts. Price per set, neatly put up in box, $2.25. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, OAKLAND, CAL.
EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS.
By MRS. E. G. WHITE.
This volume contains the earliest writings of Mrs. White, first printed in 1851. It contains an account of her early religious experience, and a brief account of the wonderful dealings of God with her. Apart from its intrinsic value, it will be of interest as showing the harmony between the earliest writings of the Seventh-day Adventists and those published at a later date. Its publication is very timely.
In paper covers, with Supplement, 25 cents.
Address SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THE SPIRIT OF GOD: ITS OFFICES AND MANIFESTATIONS TO THE END OF THE CHRISTIAN AGE.
By John Harvey Waggoner
By Elder John Harvey Waggoner.
This is a brief but comprehensive argument on the solemn and important subject of the Spirit of God. Its chapters embrace the following heads: The Holy Spirit of Promise; The Power from on High; Circumcision of the Heart; The Unity of the Faith; The Law and the Testimony; Try the Spirits; The Great Commission; Gifts in the Reformation; In the Present Century; Spirit of Prophecy Restored. These are subjects of vital importance to all, and especially to those who are looking for the return of their Lord. 144 pp. Price, 15 cents.
Address, Signs of the Times, Oakland, Cal.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS VOLUME ONE.
By Mrs. E. G. WHITE.
The readers of the Signs need no introduction to the writings of Mrs. White. The article on the first page of each paper, from her pen, is always eagerly read; and those who read it need no guarantee that her writings are elevating in their nature and marked by a high moral tone. This book has long been out of print, and is now re-published, as much that it contains has never appeared in any other work. It is a brief but vivid sketch of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, from the rebellion in Heaven to the establishment of Christ's Kingdom. The book is well adapted for extensive circulation, as it contains a great amount of important matter in a small space. Much of the matter is of special interest to the church at the present time.
In paper covers; 154pp. Price, 25 cents.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
Stepping-Stones to the Blessed Shore
Ah me! How fast the years go on,
The gray hairs mingle with the brown!
And yet these whitening hairs should be
A chain of silver links to me,
Forged by the gentle hand of love,
To lift my earth-bound heart above!
God can take from me all my store,
Yet leave me richer than before!
Trustful, through life his hand I'll take,
And Time's sad changes He will make
My stepping-stones to that blest shore
Where change is gain and time is o'er.