p. 191 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 9, No. 16. (4/19/1883)

A Drunken Mother.

At Newcastle, Pennsylvania, as in other places, meetings were held Jan. 9th, the day of prayer for temperance.

Among the sad stories told at the meetings was one of a drunken wife in that place, and an incident of the night before. The lady who related the story said that on Monday night at about 12 o'clock there came a knock at the door of her residence, and investigation found that the wife of a well-known citizen was standing there so drunk she came near falling down. She said that she was looking for her children; that she had put them out of the house a short time before. The lady's husband got up and went out to search for the little ones, and after some time found them asleep on the door of their father's place of business, their tiny little arms clasped about each other's necks, and with but little clothing to keep them warm. They were taken home and put to bed while the mother was sleeping off her drunken stupor in a chair in front of the fire. Doubtless this woman had learned to rely upon alcoholic tonics, and so became the victim of a debasing appetite.—Selected.

A Rule That Works Both Ways.

That must be a false rule requiring virtue, cleanliness, and good temper and conduct in women, while men may go on to any length almost, and society wink at their faults. Whatever degrades a woman, also degrades a man. Take some of the vices and habits of the day: A man smokes a filthy cigar or carries about half an ounce of filthy tobacco in his cheek, and yet expects his wife to preserve a clean mouth and a sweet breath. Again, a young man starts out to spend the evening with his adored Evelina. Should he find her not at home, but in the neighboring saloon, however genteel it might be, that would be his last visit. In his estimation she would have sunk below his level, and yet that same young man himself is a daily visitor to the same saloon, and engages in all its bacchanalian revelry, indulging his swinish appetite without thought of impropriety or harm.—Sel.

The Night-Air Superstition.

BEFORE we can hope to fight consumption with any chance of success, we have to get rid of the night-air superstition. Like the dread of cold water, raw fruit, etc., it is founded on that mistrust of our instincts which we owe to our anti-natural religion. It is probably the most prolific single cause of impaired health, even among the civilized nations of our enlightened age, though its absurdity rivals the grossest delusions of the witchcraft era. The subjection of holy reason to hearsays could hardly go farther. "Beware of the night wind; be sure and close your windows after dark!" In other words, beware of God's free air; be sure and infect your lungs with the stagnant, azotized, and impure and offensive atmosphere of your bed-room. In other words, beware of the rock spring; stick to sewerage. Is night air injurious? Is there a single tenable pretext for such an idea? Since the day of creation that air has been breathed with impunity by millions of different animals—tender, delicate creatures, some of them—fawns, lambs and young birds. The moist air of the tropical forest is breathed with impunity by the same apes that soon perish with consumption in the close, though generally well-warmed atmosphere of our northern menageries. Thousands of soldiers, hunters, and lumbermen sleep every night in tents and open sheds without the least injurious consequences; men in the last stage of consumption have recovered by adopting a semi-savage mode of life, and camping out-doors in all but the stormiest nights. Is it the draught you fear, or the contrast of temperature? Blacksmiths and railroad conductors seem to thrive under such influences. Draught? Have you never seen boys skating in the face of a snow-storm at the rate of fifteen miles an hour? They counteract the effect of the cold air by vigorous exercise. Is there no other way of keeping warm? Does the north wind damage the fine lady sitting motionless in her sleigh, or the pilot and helmsman of a storm-tossed vessel? It cannot be the inclemency of the open air for, even in sweltering summer nights, the sweet south wind, blessed by all creatures that draw the breath of life, brings no relief to the victim of hydrophobia. There is no doubt that families who have freed themselves from the curse of that superstition can live out and out healthier in the heart of a great city than its slaves on the airest highland of the southern Apennines.—Popular Science Monthly.

What Really Quenches Thirst

By Sabbath Recorder

In quenching thirst it should be recollected that water is the only substance by which thirst can be met, and that intermixing alcohol, coffee, tea, etc., with water, in order to relieve thirst, is a mistake. Neither alcohol nor any other liquid would do aught but hasten death from thirst. Much salt in food makes one thirsty. Why? Because an excess of salt having been taken into the blood, the kidneys hasten to turn it out of the system, and in turning out the salt they have to eliminate a large quantity of water in order to dissolve it and carry it off; thus the blood is left too thick, and the person feels thirsty. Now, one reason why beer drinkers go back so soon and so repeatedly to the public-house is because salt is put into their beer for them; and, taking the effect of the salt and of the alcohol together, there is no doubt that beer aggravates thirst instead of quenching it.—Sabbath Recorder.

The Logic of Liquor Supervision

The liquor dealers very generally favor what they term reasonable license and a rigid supervision of the saloons. One of them in a letter to the Public Leader says: "There is, it seems to me, a common ground upon which the great majority of reasonable men can stand, viz., a fair license, unbarred doors, liberal hours for keeping open, and relentless prosecution and punishment of all who sell intoxicants to minors or drunkards, or keep disorderly houses."

We do not see the logic in the rigid supervision idea. These men claim their business is respectable, legitimate, and necessary. If so, why should it require more supervision than any other? To admit that it does is to admit that it is dangerous to the community, and if dangerous it should be suppressed.—Lever.

Missouri’s Saloon Problem

The St. Louis Republican says "there is one saloon to every 300 people in Missouri, and reform of some kind is necessary."

Some Famous Needlewomen.

By Mary B. Sleight

One morning when the young people went to call on Aunt Marian, their attention was attracted by a new picture hanging over her desk.

"How pretty it is!" cried Cora. "Is it a painting, Aunt Marian?"

"Yes, a needle painting; that is, the artist used a needle instead of a brush," said Aunt Marian, "but the colors are so finely blended as to have the effect of oil painting."

"Dear! dear! how many stitches it must have taken," said Grace, who had no fondness for needlework.

"Yes," said Aunt Marian; "and a great deal of patience and skill. In olden days ladies of leisure spent the most of their time in embroidering, and many of their embroideries were very valuable as historical records. There is one called the Bayeux Tapestry, that is supposed to be the work of Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror, and the ladies of her court. It was worked very much as our grandmothers worked samplers, but instead of being made up of letters and mottoes, it depicts important events connected with the conquest of England. It is twenty inches wide and two hundred and fourteen feet long, and has seventy-two divisions, each with a Latin inscription giving the subject. These pictures show the Norman customs and mode of life at the time of the conquest, and also portray events of which there are no other records in existence. I think Matilda and her ladies, doing their elegant embroidery day after day, wrought better than they knew, for they were writing history with their needles."

"I'd like to study that kind of history," said Grace; "it would be like reading a story book."

"Well, my dear," said Aunt Marian, "when you go to Europe you can see these pictorial records in the public library in the town hall of Bayeux. And these are not the only famous pictures that were not painted with a brush. There, for instance, are the G obeli n Tapestries."

"Oh! I know what a goblin is," cried Jack; "it's a horrid, awful creature, with horns. I saw one once in a book."

"Sofly, softly, Jack," said Aunt Marian, with a smile. "This Gob-lin has an e in the middle, and is a man's name. More than 400 years ago, two brothers, Jehan and Giles G obelin, founded in Paris the manufactory where these wonderful tapestries were made. Some of their pieces were copies of portraits, and so fine was the work and so slow the process, that an artist could seldom make more than twenty-nine square inches in a year, and, consequently, a single piece sometimes represented the work of a life time."

"That must have been almost as tiresome as painting with a needle," sighed Grace.

"Ah, Gracie, dear," said Aunt Marian, "I am afraid the needle will never do for you what it did for a young girl I heard of once."

"What did it do for her, Aunt Marian?" asked Cora, eagerly.

"It won her fame and fortune," said Aunt Marian. "I saw one of her pictures a few years ago in an Englishman's house, in New Jersey. It was a needle-wrought copy of Sir Joshua Reynolds' 'Sleeping Girl,' and while we were studying it the owner gave us a little sketch of the artist. Her gift for making pictures with her needle displayed itself at a very early age, and being too poor to buy the necessary materials, she would gather up the bits of wool that caught on the brambles and hedges, and after dyeing them with roots and berries, spin them for her needle. Scraps of cloth picked up about the shop doors served for canvas, and now and then a bright-colored mite of a picture from the same source furnished a pattern. It was embroidering under difficulties, but the little girl soon acquired such skill that wealthy people began to notice her work. Better materials were supplied, though she insisted on still coloring her own wools, and through the influence of some of her new friends, she gained access to the picture galleries, with permission to copy at her pleasure. Working on with patient enthusiasm, improving her one talent to the utmost, she soon found herself famous, and the little cottage could no longer hold either the pictures or the visitors; for at the age of twenty she had worked a hundred pieces. With these she opened a gallery, which was patronized by all the nobility, and the proceeds of the exhibitions made an income that raised the family from poverty to affluence. So wonderful was her skill with the needle that Queen Victoria herself took lessons of her, and at her death, sixty years later, the artist willed to her royal pupil whichever picture in the collection she might select. After the Queen had made her choice, the French emperor purchased at a large price the piece that pleased him best; the rest were disposed of at a public sale, and through this opportunity the father of our English friend became owner of 'The Sleeping Girl.'"

"I like that story, Aunt Marian," said Grace; "but I don't see how in the world she ever did it. I'm sure I shall be thankful if I ever learn to do plain sewing neatly."

Aunt Marian took the rosy face between her palms.

"After all," she said, "the plain sewing is much more essential to comfort than embroidery; and though that sort of needlework does not often make one famous, I am just reminded of a woman whose plain sewing in the way of garments for the poor was put on exhibition at her death, and has kept her memory fresh for eighteen hundred years. I wonder if you know her name.

Grace looked up with a sudden light in her eyes.

"And all the widows stood by him weeping and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made while she was with them," she repeated softly.—Mary B. Sleight, in Christian at Work.

Effie's Verses.

By Mrs. R. H. Fleming

"Effie! come up here, dear, a little while." And Effie, who was having such a good time reading the Schonberg-Cotta Family, shut up her book with an impatient "O dear! now I've got to stay with Aunt Lizzie ever so long." And then she went slowly along the hall and upstairs, with pouting lips and an ugly frown right between her blue eyes.

Aunt Lizzie had been very sick. She was getting better now, but still Effie had often to be told she was making too much noise, singing, or running up and down stairs. So often, indeed, that Effie used to feel impatient of the restraint, and wish Aunt Lizzie's head would not ache so easily, and wonder what dreadful thing a "nervous spell" could be. But the worst of all was having to sit with Aunt Lizzie while Effie's mother went out for a walk.

It was rather a cross for a little girl only nine years old to stay for an hour or so in a darkened room, and Aunt Lizzie was often rather fretful and hard to please, and wanted a drink of water, or her cologne bottle, or the camphor, or more covering on her feet or off of them, or the blind opened or shut a little more: So that little Effie was kept quite busy in two ways, and one was in keeping her temper.

Effie thought her mother stayed away a long time. Then she looked at Aunt Lizzie, who was lying quietly now, with her eyes shut. And as Effie noticed how pale she was, and how sunken were her eyes, and the thin hands which lay on the coverlet, the little girl felt a great pity come into her heart for her sick aunt, and also felt ashamed of the ungracious way in which she (Effie) had come upstairs. "I wish I could help her some way. I expect she came very near dying," thought Effie to herself, very penitently.

"O, I am so tired!" moaned Aunt Lizzie. "I wish night would come. And then I'll toss about and wish for morning again."

Effie sat very quietly, and at last said, softly, "I know some verses, Aunt Lizzie. Shall I say them to you?"

"I don't care," said Aunt Lizzie, wearily.

So Effie began to repeat her verses:— There is an Eye that never sleeps Beneath the wing of night; There is an Ear that never shuts When sink the beams of light. There is an Arm that never tires When human strength gives way; There is a Love, that never fails When earthly loves decay.

Aunt Lizzie lay so very still, with her eyes shut, that Effie thought she must be asleep, and, very well satisfied with the result of her recitation, was stealing very softly from the room; but Aunt Lizzie called her back and said, "Thank you dear. Kiss me, and you can go."

Effie wondered what made Aunt Lizzie's cheek wet; but when Mrs. Hilton came, Aunt Lizzie told her that Effie had been a "splendid little nurse," and Effie felt proud and happy that she had been of use in the sick-room.

How much use the little girl did not know, nor how, through the long, sleepless night, Aunt Lizzie recalled the sweet words, and rested her soul on that "Love that never fails," which sometimes, her tired sick heart had almost forgotten; and how thankful she felt for Effie's verses.—Mrs. R. H. Fleming, in Christian at Work.

The Home Circle.

THE CARELESS WORD.

'Twas but a word, a careless word— As thistle-down it seemed as light; It paused a moment on the air, And onward then it winged its flight.

Another lip caught up the word, And breathed it with a haughty sneer; It gathered weight as on it sped, That careless word, in its career.

Then rumor caught the flying word, And busy gossip gave it weight, Until that little word became A vehicle of angry hate.

And then that word was winged with fire; Its mission was a thing of pain; For soon it fell like lava-drops Upon a wildly tortured brain.

And then another page of life With burning, scalding tears was blurred; A load of care was heavier made, Its added weight, a careless word.

How wildly throbbed that aching heart! Deep agony its fountain stirred; It calmed, but bitter ashes mark The pathway of that careless word.

—Selected.

An Ant Funeral.

Mrs. Hutton gives this account of some ants which she saw in Sidney. Having killed a number of soldier ants, she returned in half an hour to the spot where she had left their dead bodies, and in reference to what she then observed she says: I saw a large number of ants surrounding the dead ones. I followed four or five that started off from the rest toward a hillock a short distance off, in which was an ants' nest. This they entered, and in about five minutes they reappeared followed by others. All fell into rank, walking regularly and slowly two by two, until they arrived at the spot where lay the dead bodies of the soldier ants. In a few minutes two of the ants advanced and took up the dead body of one of their comrades; then two others, and so on, until all were ready to march. First walked two ants bearing a body, then two without a burden; then two with another dead ant and so on until the line extended to about forty pairs, and the procession now moved slowly onward, followed by an irregular body of about two hundred ants. Occasionally the two laden ants stopped, and laying down the dead ant, it was taken up by the two walking unburdened behind them, and thus, by occasionally relieving each other, they arrived at a sandy spot near the sea. The body of ants now commenced digging with their jaws a number of holes in the ground, into each of which a dead ant was laid, where they now labored on until they had filled up the ant's graves. This did not quite finish the remarkable circumstances attending this funeral of the ants. Some six or seven of the ants had attempted to run off without performing their share of the task of digging; these were caught and brought back, when they were at once attacked by the body of the ants and killed upon the spot. A single grave was quickly dug, and they were all dropped into it.

A Reasoning Toad.

A brood of chickens were fed with moistened meal in saucers, and when the dough soured a little it attracted large numbers of flies. An observant toad had evidently noticed this, and every day, along toward evening, he would make his appearance in the yard, hop to a saucer, climb in and roll over until he was covered with meal, having done which he awaited developments. The flies, enticed by the smell, soon swarmed around the scheming batrachian, and whenever one passed within two inches or so of his nose his tongue darted out and the fly disappeared. This plan worked so well that the toad made a regular business of it.—Sel.

Religious Notes.

By Editor

There are now five Welsh Congregational Churches in East Tennessee.

There are no fewer than one hundred and eighty denominations or sects in England.

Seven Chinamen were admitted to membership in the First Presbyterian Church, at Los Angeles, last week.

E. P. Hammond is assisting Mr. Talmage in a revival effort in Brooklyn. Three services are held each day.

Rev. Dr. B. F. Cocker, of Michigan University, the author of valuable works on moral philosophy, is dead.

According to Rev. Dr. Robinson, of Providence, the Baptists have 2,350,000 communicants, of whom two-thirds are in the Southern States.

In the Episcopal Church of Dent, Yorkshire, two shelves are filled every Sunday with loaves for the poor, which they carry away after the service.

In the New England Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church it was recommended that the advocacy of temperance be kept from entailing an alliance with woman suffrage and other subjects.

It has been but a little over a year since the Metropolitan Tabernacle Temperance Society was formed in Mr. Spurgeon's church, London. In that time more than seventeen thousand pledges have been taken there.

We learn from an exchange that a grand jury in St. Louis has recommended the prosecution of church societies which conduct raffles at their fairs and entertainments. Good; church gamblers should be prosecuted the same as any other.

There are thirty Chinese in Springfield, O., and half of them attend the Presbyterian Sunday-school. The reason why the rest do not attend is that they have to guard their laundries, since the "Christians" rob them whenever they have opportunity. Of course the Chinese do not consider that all whites are not Christians, but how can they be blamed for thinking that they are, when it is constantly asserted that this is "a Christian nation"?

The Christian at Work criticises the Missionary Review for speaking of the "ratio of Christianity to Catholicism and other religions," and says, "Isn't Catholicism one phase of Christianity?" Our reply would be that it is a perverted form of Christianity, and therefore not Christianity at all. Christianity is the religion in which Christ is the central figure. Catholicism is a form of religion in which the virgin Mary is the central figure. Mariolatry is not Christianity by any means.

One hundred and thirty-one leading clergymen, lawyers, physicians, merchants, and manufacturers, of Hartford, Conn., have signed a request to the news dealers to refrain from purchasing and selling the Police Gazette, Police News, and similar papers, believing that by so doing they will promote morality. We fear that the dealers in such trash, like dealers in whisky, care more for promoting their own pecuniary interests than for promoting religion and virtue. They cannot appreciate such an appeal.

Mr. Spurgeon, in the last number of his magazine, writes thus concerning the Salvation Army: "It is time that somebody spoke, now that the attempt is made to make men religious by turning all religion into a game of soldiers. Because they would not hinder anything that promised well, Christian men have borne with much that grieved them, but there is a point beyond which long-suffering charity cannot go. This point is nearly reached; even the most ultra-tolerant must feel that hope has been disappointed, and fear now takes its place."

The Ministerial Union of San Francisco at a recent meeting resolved, "That, as pastors, we henceforth use our influence against placing a notice of preaching service in the Sunday issue of our papers." It was also wisely resolved not to advertise special themes, because the special theme theory at its best "is a direct fostering of a system of dillettantism in church attendance—a bidding for itching ears—and the creation of a class of vain and useless rounders in the churches," and at its worst, "inevitably degenerates into the grossly sensational, the ludicrous, and even the sacrilegious, and so degrades the church, the pulpit, and even if that were possible, the gospel itself."

The Mennonites of Lancaster, Pa., recently supplied the place of their deceased pastor according to their usual custom, which is as follows: On the day for the selection, all the candidates named met with the congregation in the church. As many books were placed in a row as there were candidates. One of these books contained a slip of paper, and the candidate drawing the book containing the slip was the selected preacher. We cannot see why this plan was not as good as though each one had made his best speech to prove himself better than all the rest. It is efficient anyway, for it is sure to result in the selection of a pastor, a result which is not always obtained by the ordinary plan of candidating.

The Christian Union rejoices that Mr. Newton's attack on the Bible has been published, and is being read by all classes. It says: "Religion's greatest enemy is indifference. Anything that attracts public or popular attention to the Bible is to be welcomed, though it be crude criticism, or still cruder conceptions of its origin, its authorship, and its authority." We most emphatically differ. Religion is not in such straits that it needs any clap-trap performances to call attention to it. True religion will make itself felt. But while it does not greatly fear attacks from without, it does not covet fightings within. Ingersoll, and all of his class, with their bold blasphemies, cannot do the harm that one man can do, who attacks the foundations of Christianity while professing to be a minister of the gospel. Are there not enough infidels outside the church to call attention to the Bible, that its ordained expounders must do their work? It was not thus that our Saviour taught his disciples to let their light shine.

News and Notes.

By Editor

—Several prominent officers in the Russian army are to be tried for nihilism.

—Eight men were buried by the caving in of a mine at Quinnesec, Mich., April 11.

—Several quite severe shocks of earthquake were felt at Cairo, Ill., one day last week.

—Ten persons were drowned by the sinking of a steamer on the Ohio River on the 11th inst.

—Two ladies in Florida, with no market for their oranges, canned them, and found the plan to be a success.

—Many of the towns in Massachusetts which voted in favor of license a year ago are voting "No" this year.

—One hundred and ninety-four Mormon missionaries were appointed at the recent Mormon Conference at Salt Lake.

—A farmer near Urbana, O., discovered gold on his farm last fall, but kept the matter quiet, and is now prepared to begin mining.

—An incendiary fire at Westminster, Md., on the 10th, burned twenty houses, and caused the death of two men and thirty horses.

—Fifty square miles of territory in Nebraska were burned over last week. Houses and barns and farming implements were destroyed.

—On the 11th inst., a fire at Mandalay, Burmah, destroyed one thousand houses, including the residences of several Cabinet Ministers.

—The Pacific Nail Works, located in this city, commenced operations the 11th. The capacity of the mills is 5,000 kegs of nails each week.

—Later reports from the Arkansas cyclone show that the destruction to property was very great. Twelve persons were killed, and many more injured.

—A jury at Salinas, Cal., has awarded $15,000 to Albert Williams, whose foot was crushed last summer by an engine on the Southern Pacific Railroad.

—A new sleeping-car has been invented, having seats extending across the entire width of the car, and which can be changed into private state-rooms at night.

—Ex-Governor Seymour, of New York, makes the suggestion that Decoration Day be made a day for yearly tree-planting. The suggestion is a good one.

—One hundred and thirty villages within a radius of seventy-five miles from Cincinnati, are within speaking distance of that city, by means of the telephone.

—Arkansas was visited by another terrible tornado on the 13th inst. This one was in the vicinity of Ozark. Everything in its track was destroyed, and there are reports of loss of life.

—On the 10th inst., Minnesota was visited by one of the heaviest snow-storms of the winter. For the first time during the winter, street-car travel was suspended at Minneapolis.

—The port laborers of Belgium have expressed their determination to prevent the operation of the improved system of unloading grain, which is in contemplation by the municipal authorities.

—Brady, one of the men charged with the murder of Lord Cavendish and Mr. Burke, at Phœnix Park, Dublin, a year ago, has been convicted, and sentenced to be executed on the 14th of May.

—It has been discovered that peculations have been going on in the Finance Department of New York City since 1879. Deputy Controller Storrs says that the defalcations may reach $10,000,000.

—Arrangements have been made by Boston capitalists to start a tannery, shoe factory, and oleomargarine works in Atlanta, Ga. Other factories are being started in the South, by Northern capital.

—A man was found dead in a San Francisco lodging-house last week, and a chemical examination of his stomach revealed the fact that his death was caused by eating mince pie containing partially decomposed meat.

—The chief of the Bodie Piutes punishes drunken Indians by lowering them into a deserted shaft and keeping them there forty-eight hours on bread and water. Unfortunately he has no control over those who sell the liquor to them.

—A serious affray took place on the 13th between two classes of the Normal School at Bloomington, Ill., in which several students had their skulls fractured, and many received injuries of a less serious nature. It was only a little "college fun."

—The Delaware Legislature has passed a bill concerning murderers, providing that if they are found insane they shall be confined in a jail or an asylum. If their sanity is regained, instead of being set at liberty, they are liable to trial or sentence.

—Sonora (Mexico) advices state that ninety-three have been killed in that State since the Apache outbreak, of whom twenty-seven were Americans. General Crook is making arrangements with the Mexican authorities for a combined resistance.

—A delegation waited on the Canadian Government, pleading for the restriction of Chinese immigration into British Columbia, but the answer was made that no measures would be taken to restrict such immigration until the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

—A ukase has been issued by the Government, ordering that increased vigilance be observed on the frontier to prevent suspicious persons from entering the country. It is supposed this precaution is taken owing to the approach of the time fixed for the coronation of the Czar.

—The Chinese Government has lately given large orders to the Berlin manufacturers for arms, ammunition, and vessels of war. It is said that China has begun in earnest to prepare for a war with Japan. The latter country has very largely increased its army and navy.

—Very many of the saloon and tavern licenses in New York are void, owing to a legal defect, and no more licenses can be granted till September. Thirty-seven cases of violation of the excise law were on the calendar one day last week; twenty-five pleaded guilty, and were fined or imprisoned.

—It was thought worthy of being telegraphed all the way from Florida that the President gave an Indian papoose a quarter. It could hardly have been done because of the amount of the gift, but news must be scarce in that locality. The spirit of toadyism is gaining rapidly in this country.

—A Texas negro obstructed the Missouri Pacific track last week, in order to wreck a passenger train. He pleaded guilty, and has been sentenced to thirty-nine years in the penitentiary. We can't help wondering, when we see men trying to cause wholesale destruction, why they do not take out a license. If they would do that, the Government would protect them in their nefarious practices. Whisky men have the wisdom of the serpent.

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 enables 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.

OUR COUNTRY'S FUTURE FORETOLD.

By Uriah Smith

THE UNITED STATES IN PROPHECY.

By Eld. U. Smith.

THIS is a full exposition of a portion of prophecy which applies to our own Government, showing the position the United States holds in prophecy, and the part it has to act in the closing scenes of time.

THE SUNDAY MOVEMENT,

Which is now attracting such general attention, is thoroughly canvassed, and abundant testimony is given to prove that it is fast coming to be the ALL-IMPORTANT QUESTION in this country. Facts and statistics are largely presented, showing in the most conclusive manner that this Government is the one pointed out in the prophecy quoted.

200 pp. Bound, 40 cents. Paper covers, 20 cents.

Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.

LIFE SKETCHES.

By Editor

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.

Unwritten Law.

By Editor

SOME person in Oakland, who does not give us his name, and therefore this notice is a gratuity as far as he is concerned, makes light of our brief note on the case of a drunken man who burned his child, and cites to some laws to the contrary of our conclusion. But the people are far more concerned in the action of the courts than in what may be contained in some musty law book. Practically we get our law from the courts and not from the books.

Some thirty years ago a young woman, who had won the esteem of her associates, shot down her abuser and defamer in the street in Milwaukee, Wis. The law of the books was clearly against her, but the sympathy of the public was with her. The base villain got his desert, but not in a legal way. People in Cleveland, Ohio, where she formerly resided, were so interested in her case that they raised a fund to pay the expenses of lawyers who went from that city to defend her. The wrongs she had suffered were forcibly presented to the jury—wrongs well calculated to unbalance her mind—and she was cleared on the ground of “emotional insanity.” The jury who rendered that verdict had no idea that they were establishing a precedent—in fact, making law—which should govern courts in all the land. But so it was. No plea is now more common, and few are found more effectual.

Any man must have had a very limited experience who does not know that drunkenness has been a standing excuse, and an effectual one, too, for the commission of crime. That it has had its influence on courts and juries is well known. And it was only to be expected that this should be the case as long as government sold the right to make drunkards. Licensing that which is the direct incentive to, and producer of all manner of crimes, is an abomination which ought to cause law-makers to blush.

The plea that he was drunk was recently made in an Iowa court in behalf of a man who murdered his wife, and the remarks of the Judge, who denied the validity of the plea, were published as worthy of remark by numerous papers throughout the land. We wish that this might be the practice in all courts; and not only this, but that all accessories to the crimes might be held responsible. This is just, and is held to be good law where the “liquor interest” is not involved. But law must have special constructions and justice must stand aside when alcohol makes its demands.

Time of Camp-Meetings.

By Editor

KANSAS, May 17-22 PENNSYLVANIA, May 31 to June 5 UPPER COLUMBIA, " 30 " " IOWA, June 7-12 WISCONSIN, Portage, " 14-19 MINNESOTA, " 21-26 DAKOTA, June 27 to July 2 TEXAS, Waxahachie, July 13-23 VIRGINIA, Aug. 2-7 OHIO, Galion, Crawford Co., " 15-21 MASSACHUSETTS, " 23-28 VERMONT, Aug. 30 to Sept. 4 MAINE, Sept. 6-11 ILLINOIS, " 11-18

We have not received the appointment of the North Pacific Camp-meeting. It will be held near Portland, time probably very soon after the Upper Columbia meeting.

Drifting On.

By Editor

A RECENT "New York Letter" in a paper advocating strict Sunday laws, speaking of the application of the law in New York, says:—

"This, we hope will do much for the respectable, intellectual citizen, who must listen to something worth hearing. Many we hope will thus be compelled to enter the church on Sunday. We are not of those who think a person must attend the church from a desire to hear the word only, in order to be benefited, we would get them in, even if we must in some way compel them to go, hoping the feast may prove to be inviting, and they be filled."

Thus are we fast approaching the much desired point. First, compel them to rest on Sunday, though they may already have "rested on the Sabbath-day according to the commandment." Remember, it is only a "sanitary measure." Man must have rest. They who keep Sunday need one day in each week for quiet rest; they who keep the seventh day need two! Secondly, they "must be compelled to enter the church on Sunday." This is "not intended to interfere with anybody's religion." Oh, no. Suppose they do keep the seventh day which is "the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," and rest on that day. Will it interfere with their keeping the seventh day to go to meeting on Sunday? By no means. Drive them in. "The feast may prove to be inviting." And thus they drift toward the coming "union of church and State."

Salvation Labors.

A CERTAIN preacher, giving an account of his "salvation labors," speaks thus of a meeting where he preached:—

"I laughed, cried, jumped about, and shouted at the very top of my voice. I really did not know what to do with myself. Presently the saints' caught the flame and the whole congregation were moved."

There are a great many with whom shouting is contagious, and to them the best preacher is the one who jumps the highest and shouts the loudest. And this "bodily exercise" is called a baptism of the Holy Spirit. If Peter, on that day of Pentecost, had laughed, and cried, and jumped about, and shouted at the top of his voice, not knowing what to do or how to act, the first impressions of the multitude concerning the condition of the apostles would doubtless have been confirmed. But instead of that he gave a clear, sensible, straightforward, argumentative discourse on the words of the prophets, and thousands were converted. In all the Bible we never read of such exercises, except, perhaps, in the case of the prophets of Baal, when they opposed Elijah. That such men are honest we do not doubt, but we have strong doubts of that being the proper way to preach the gospel.

The Annual Meetings.

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

It may be unnecessary to say anything more than has already been said as to the importance of these meetings; yet, being desirous to see as many present as can possibly attend them, I add a few words. All of our general meetings increase in importance and interest from year to year. The work of God for these times is an aggressive one. It is to enter new fields, to take advance steps in the work of placing before our fellow-men a knowledge of the truth. The question is not, Shall we merely labor as last year? but, How can we labor more successfully than heretofore? What more can we do than last year to carry out the design of God in causing his glorious truth to shine in our pathway? Our people are widly scattered. Organized efforts are being put forth in every part of this country to more extensively spread a knowledge of those truths which are to prepare a people for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our experience should better qualify us to advance each year in the cause of our divine Lord and Master.

We are living in a time when a greater earnestness is needed than even in the apostles' days, and no less sacrifices will be required now than then. The coming annual meeting will be of great interest to the cause in the State. Not only will the labor for the present season be discussed, but consultations will be had concerning questions of vital importance relating to the work on the Pacific Coast. We hope therefore to see as many friends of the cause in this Conference present as can consistently come. Provision will be made for all who may attend. Come prepared to remain through the week, so as to attend the meeting at Healdsburg. Special meetings will be held. The officers of the Conference and tract societies should be present.

S. N. HASKELL.

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