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Signs of the Times, Vol. 8, No. 11.

General Articles
Earlier text: Constitutional Amendment

The Sanctification of the First Day of the Week.

By John Nevins Andrews

From "Les Signes des Temps."

ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE.

THEY are making in our day, in all parts, great efforts to establish the doctrine that God has sanctified the first day of the week, in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ, and they teach that all men should abstain from all ordinary labor on this day. We respect all those who are engaged in this movement with the sincere desire to glorify God; but we cannot have sympathy for the work they have undertaken to accomplish. We can explain our position in the following terms: The Bible tells us that in the beginning God sanctified the seventh day; but it does not, in any place, tell us that God has ever sanctified the first day. All persons, whether Protestant, Catholic, or infidel, who have any knowledge of the Bible, acknowledge this declaration to be true. We will repeat it because of its importance. In the beginning God sanctified the seventh day, but he has never at any time sanctified the first day. This proposition really covers all the ground of controversy between those who keep the seventh day, and those who keep the first day, and should decide the question. But although no one can deny that the Bible speaks most clearly of the sanctification of the seventh day, and although no one can assert that it has ever mentioned the sanctification of the first day, at the same time there are many men of capability and learning, who endeavor to show by argument that we should sanctify the first day and not the seventh. The assertion that men who believe in God will refuse to keep holy the day which God has blessed and will in its place sanctify to themselves, with enthusiasm, the day which God has never blessed, would seem incredible did not universal observation show this to be a fact.

THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE SEVENTH DAY.

It is therefore necessary that we seek and examine the reasons which they suppose justifies such strange conduct. This cannot be justified by the fact that there is any doubt that God sanctified the seventh day in the beginning, for this fact is also attested to by Moses, in the record of the creation; "and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work that God created and made." Gen. 2: 3. And this was confirmed by God himself, when he gave the ten commandments: "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."
Several things are evident from these two passages: 1. That the day sanctified was not an indefinite day; but that it was really the special day during which the Creator rested. 2. That this sanctification took place in the beginning, showing that it was done in the interest of the whole human family. 3. That it came before the fall of man, showing that the day sanctified was not a part of the ceremonial law, or a yoke of bondage. 4. That this sanctification created an obligation worthy to constitute the fourth commandment of the moral law, and a commandment which can never be put aside, while the law of God retains its authority.

THE FIRST DAY NOT THE DAY SANCTIFIED.

Now we will examine what the New Testament says of the sanctification of the first day of the week. When God sanctifies a day he sets it apart, or consecrates it to holy usage, and he is therefore by duty bound to give a commandment to man in order that the day thus sanctified be not employed for other than a holy purpose. Men sanctify the day thus set apart when they obey the commandment which God has given concerning the day. It is therefore evident that man cannot, by his own action, sanctify a day before God has first sanctified it by his own commandment. If God has sanctified the first day, in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ, he should have done it as soon as Christ was risen from the dead, because the obligation commences as soon as the reason for the obligation exists.
Thus if Christ arose at an early hour on the first day of the week, and if in the mind of God this fact constituted a reason for which this day should be sanctified, we may be sure that its sanctification took place without delay. But the act to sanctify the first day should have been the same substantially as the act by which the seventh day was sanctified at the beginning. The angel of God should have said to the disciples: "Christ is risen from the dead on this day, and consequently God has blessed the day and set it apart for a holy usage in commemoration of this event." But every one knows that nothing of this sort is recorded in the history of the resurrection of Christ, nor in any other part of the New Testament, and that the conduct of the disciples on the day of the resurrection of Christ, shows that such a message could not have been given. For if the angel of God had appeared in glory, and they had announced the resurrection of Christ and the sanctification of the first day of the week, all would have believed that Christ was risen from the dead, and they would have observed by a holy rest the first day, as consecrated to the Lord.
But nothing of this sort took place, and it is evident that most of the disciples were not convinced that Christ was then risen until the close of the day. Mark 16: 9-14. St. Mark is the only one of the Evangelists who states that Christ arose the first day.
The first day is mentioned eight times in the New Testament: Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2. The seventh day or the Sabbath of the Lord is mentioned fifty-nine times. Matt. 12:1, 2, 5, (twice), 8, 10, 11, 12; 24:20; 28:1; Mark 1:21; 2:23, 24, 27 (twice), 28; 3:2, 4, 6; 15:42; 16:1; Luke 4:16, 31; 6:1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 13; 10, 14 (twice), 15, 16; 14:1, 3, 5; 23:54, 56; John 5:9, 10, 16, 18; 7:22, 23 (twice); 9:14, 16; 19:31 (twice); Acts 1:12; 13:14, 27, 42, 44; 15:21; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4. The feast days, new moons, and annual sabbaths of Lev. 23, are mentioned once in the New Testament, for the purpose of showing that they are abolished. Col. 2:16.
Should they say to us that the first day of the week would not have been mentioned eight times, if it were not to show that this day should take place of the Sabbath, we would reply, that it was necessary to speak of the first day in relation to the resurrection of Christ, and that there were four evangelists to speak of this same event. Two of them mention it once each. The other two mention it twice each. Excepting these, it is mentioned but twice in the New Testament. But it is remarkable that in these eight examples wherein this day is mentioned, it is but once said that the resurrection of Christ took place on that day (Mark 16:9), and in none of those places do we read of the sanctification of the first day of the week in commemoration of this event.
The six places in which the four evangelists mention the first day (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19), simply show that after the Sabbath had passed, some of the disciples went to the sepulcher, and found that the Saviour had risen. And were it not for the testimony of Mark 16:9, we might raise the question whether Christ arose at the commencement of the first day or at the close of the seventh. The four evangelists not only neglect to speak of the sanctification of the first day, in honor of the resurrection of Christ, but, with the exception of Mark alone, they also neglect to inform us that Christ arose on that day. Each of the evangelists mention the Sabbath in connection with the first day of the week: Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1, 2; Luke 23:56; 24:1; John 19:31, 42; 20:1. But while they speak of the seventh day as the Sabbath, they do not give any sacred title to the first day.
The whole world could not transfer the sanctification of the seventh day to the first. If the first day of the week became the Christian Sabbath, the four evangelists did not know it when they wrote their gospels, for it would have been of the greatest importance that they should announce this fact, if the fact existed. At the same time they pass it in silence, although their writings should give authority for the observance, if there were such authority. But Luke tells us that when the women had prepared the spices to embalm the body of Christ, the Sabbath commenced, and that they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.
When these women came to the sepulcher early in the morning, the first day of the week, it was in order at last to accomplish that which they had commenced to do, and which they had neglected to finish on account of the Sabbath. Luke, writing under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, mentions their conduct with evident satisfaction. Luke 23:55, 56; 24:1.
Whence came the idea that the first day of the week was sanctified at the resurrection of Christ in honor of the event? Why do the evangelists pass in silence the sanctification of the day? Why did three of these also neglect to mention even that he arose on that day? Why did not one of them say: "God sanctified the first day because that in it Christ arose from the dead?" Either the Spirit of God did not judge the sanctification of the first day worthy of mention, or else this sanctification never took place. But if God has judged proper to consecrate this day, the act was not only worthy of being mentioned, but it was absolutely necessary, in order that it might be known that the seventh day was no longer holy, God having in its place sanctified the first. If the evangelists had known anything of the sanctification of the first day they would have spoken of it. If they knew nothing of it, how is it that the present generation so far surpasses in wisdom the evangelists?
In the last number of our paper we have shown that the first day of the week cannot be the day mentioned in Rev. 1:10. In our next number we will speak, if God permits, of the two passages in which the first day is mentioned after the resurrection of Christ; and we will look for the pretended gradual development of the sanctification of the first day in the early church. One fact must be apparent to every reader of this article, and that is, that God has sanctified the seventh day of the week, and that he never has the first. The seventh day is therefore the holy day of the Lord, notwithstanding that all profane it; and the sabbath celebrated on the first day of the week is but a human institution, notwithstanding that all unite to sanctify it. J. N. A.

Taking Away the Key of Knowledge.

By R. F. Cottrell

BY ELD. R. F. COTTRELL.
"WOE unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge; ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered." Luke 9:52.
The learned expositors of the law, in the days of our Saviour, were the greatest hindrance in the way of the common people, to prevent their coming to the knowledge of the truth. The people looked up to them as leaders and guides, and they would not enter in themselves, that others might follow, but on the contrary, they strove to prevent those that would, if left to their own judgment, have embraced the truth.
It is just so now. Learned ministers will not receive the plainest Bible truths themselves, and if others are disposed to enter in the store-house of knowledge, they will prevent them if possible. The best means to effect this their object is the same that was used by those lawyers of old, namely, to take away the key of knowledge.
Reading is the key to all the sciences. To acquire a knowledge of these, is only necessary to read with care the books in which they are truly set forth. And since the holy Scriptures are in the hands of the people, all might determine for themselves the truth or falsity of any doctrine, had not the lawyers taken away the key of knowledge. The time was when the reading of the Scriptures by the common people was prohibited; but since this has become impracticable, the same thing is virtually effected by the mystical principle of interpretation. When a person has adopted any principles of interpretation but the literal, he is a stranger to the great truths of the word, almost as much as if he had no Bible. And his condition is indeed worse, because he perverts that word to his condemnation which might have been, and was intended, for his salvation.
If the Bible does not mean what it says, who shall tell us what it does mean? And if every one has a right to give the Scriptures a spiritual meaning to suit his own taste, it will be forced to sustain every false theory extant; and infidelity may continue to taunt the believer in revelation with the confusion of doctrines in the Christian world, as the legitimate fruits of a revelation claiming to be divine. Who are responsible for this defamation of the word of God? Will not those who have taken away the key of knowledge by following what is called spiritual interpretation, have to answer for this blasphemy of the word?—those who tell us that life means happiness, and death means a higher life, that the resurrection means a revival of religion, or the ascension of disembodied spirits at the death of the body, and all the thousand vagaries that are taught as revealed truth.
Truly, they have taken away the key of knowledge. They will not have the truth themselves, and those that would receive it are hindered, being bewildered in the fog of mystical interpretation, and drunk with the wine of Babylon.

Afflictions.

By A. S. Hutchins

BY ELD. A. S. HUTCHINS.
AFFLICTIONS are a source of great profit to us, when sanctified to our good. Says one, "A lost affliction is a great loss." And indeed, it is a loss to pass through afflictions and not be benefited thereby.
They should wean us from this world, chasten and subdue our spirits, turn our affections to Heaven and to God, and help us more and more to reflect the image of our adorable Saviour. Then may we, with David, say, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes."
But afflictions often fail to do us the good they were designed to, and which they should. When we forget that a kind Father holds the rod, directs, or in mercy permits, the chastisement for our profit, then are we inclined to restlessness and impatience, or to murmur at our lot, instead of meekly and patiently submitting to it, and with the strongest confidence and trust in the Lord for sustaining grace, praying with one anciently, "O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing."
In this way, the conflict for the faith in God which we must have, and the victory we must obtain, is rendered long, tedious, and painful, which might have been short. 2 Chron. 16:7-9.
It were inconceivably better to be in the furnace of affliction, and have the angel of the Lord with us, than to be amid the pleasures of this fleeting life, and live at a distance from God. Better for the man of God to enter the den of lions if need be, than lead a prayerless life; or to be cast into the fiery furnace, than to worship any but the true and living God.
"Is darkness and distress my share? Then let me trust thy guardian care; Enough for me, if love divine At length through every cloud shall shine."
Afflicted and lone pilgrim, bound to Mount Zion, trust in the Most High. The hour of deliverance is near.

Courage to Face Evil

If there be one thing upon this earth that mankind loves and admires better than another, it is a brave man; it is a man who dares to look the devil in the face and tell him he is a devil.—James A. Garfield. Where is that man?

Among the Churches.

By Ellen G. White

SANTA ROSA.

SABBATH and First-day, January 28, 29, I attended the quarterly meeting at Healdsburg. February 1, I went to Santa Rosa. Elds. Van Horn and Israel had been holding meetings here for two weeks. They labored earnestly, not only to present before the people the evidences of our faith, but to urge upon them the importance of practical godliness. Some manifested an interest to hear the word, but we were pained to see that the number was so small. My heart was especially burdened for the church, who were not themselves prepared to unite with their ministers in laboring for the salvation of souls. The Lord aided me by his Spirit as I endeavored to present before them their duty.
February 6, in company with Bro. and Sr. Cole, I visited Bro. Thorpe’s family, among the mountains eight miles from Santa Rosa. They invited their neighbors to come in, and though living at quite a distance, fathers, mothers, and children, young men, and young women assembled, until the family sitting-room was full. I spoke to them from the text, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.” I had as much freedom in addressing this intelligent mountain audience as in speaking to assembled thousands. The Lord’s presence is not confined to large numbers. He is ready to bless the few who assemble for his worship.
We next visited Green Valley, and spent a pleasant and profitable evening with Bro. and Sr. Babcock, and Bro. Morton’s family. We conversed upon the wisest and most successful manner of laboring for the salvation of souls, and also considered how the Sabbath can be most profitably spent where there are but very few who observe it. If there are but three who can meet on the Sabbath, these should come together and search the Scriptures, read from our publications whatever seems most suitable for both parents and children, and then unite in prayer for the presence and blessing of God.
Sabbath, February 11, I spent at Santa Rosa. It was a day not soon to be forgotten by the church there.
I spoke in the morning from the words of Christ, “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” The solemn scenes of the day of God seemed to me a living reality. I felt the danger of his professed people, and urged them to seek a preparation for the soon-coming Judgment. We are far from being as earnest and devoted as we should be. How few among us have become dead indeed to the world, and alive unto God. Many of the children of believing parents, children who have been trained in the Sabbath-school, and are familiar with the Scriptures, have yet no interest in religion. Under the most powerful appeals of the Holy Spirit, they seem as unmoved as if chiseled out of stone. What can be done to break the spell which Satan has cast upon these souls? I can see no help, except as parents shall present their children at the throne of grace, in humble, earnest, believing prayer, entreating the Lord to work with their efforts and the efforts of their ministers, until conviction and conversion shall be the result.
As I spoke the word, the Spirit of God rested upon me with power, and set home the truth to many hearts. I entreated both the unconverted and backsliders to return to the Lord with confession and repentance. Between twenty-five and thirty responded. Heartfelt confessions were made, and earnest prayer was offered for those who had come forward, and also for others who had not yet decided to give their hearts to God. Eld. Van Horn was greatly blessed while praying. The unction of the Holy Spirit rested upon him, and the sacred influence seemed to pervade the assembly.
In the afternoon we met again, and the blessing of the Lord was with us in still greater measure. The testimonies borne seemed to come from hearts softened and subdued by the Holy Spirit. To me this was a precious season. My cup of blessing seemed full to overflowing. The Son of God was with us as with the disciples of old, saying, “Peace be unto you.” Several remarked that Jesus seemed very near. They felt that they had but to reach out the hand to touch him. The light of Heaven seemed to be streaming down from the gates ajar, through which an ascending Saviour has entered to make intercession for us. We would have been deprived of this bright spot in our experience for any amount of gold or silver.
We hope that the experience of this Sabbath may not be lost upon the church at Santa Rosa. Jesus has come very near to them in blessing. Oh, will any suffer the sacred influence of the Holy Spirit to come and go unappreciated? Will they treat it lightly, as of little moment? God forbid! Let every one to whom the Lord has revealed himself cherish the holy influence. Let not unbelief come in to poison the soul. Let us hold fast that whereunto we have attained and press forward, toward the mark for the prize.
We should remember that every blessing unimproved increases our guilt. Said Christ to Capernaum, that city so highly favored during his public ministry, “Thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell, for if the mighty works which have been done in thee, would have been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.” Let us beware lest, by slighting Heaven’s favors, we bring upon ourselves this terrible malediction.
A good work was accomplished by the labor at Santa Rosa, though little interest was manifested by unbelievers. The opportunity was gratefully improved by those who loved the truth. They listened to the reasons of our faith with feelings akin to those of the disciples to whom Jesus expounded the Scriptures on the way to Emmaus. When these disciples learned that it was Christ who had walked and talked with them, they said, one to the other, “Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?” Christ is still sending chosen servants as his representatives to explain and enforce the truths of his sacred word. This is one important channel by which he has chosen to communicate his will to men. Those who reject these opportunities lose the message which Christ has sent them by his servant.
There were some at Santa Rosa who had, through many discouragements, given up the truth. These were reclaimed by the recent effort there, and they have again united with the church. May the Lord impart strength and courage to these trembling souls. Persons are sometimes so reserved, timid, and sensitive upon religious subjects, even after they have given their hearts to God, they do not receive the strength which they might have. We talk without reserve of our temporal affairs, and why should we be so reluctant to speak of our eternal interests? Would that all hearts might be inspired with holy boldness. Would that we all might lift up Jesus before the people with courage, and fortitude, and faith. E. G. WHITE.

"Cast thy Bread Upon the Waters; for Thou Shalt Find it After Many Days."

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

BY ELD. S. N. HASKELL.
As we near the closing scenes of this world's history we shall see the fruit of missionary efforts breaking out here and there in different parts of the world, where the seed has been sown.
A late number of The Church Missionary Gleaner, published in London, England, contains a short sketch of the life and death of the late Dr. John Ludwig Krapf, the pioneer missionary to East and Central Africa, who died very suddenly the twenty-sixth of last November. At the age of twenty-seven years he gave himself to the missionary cause, and although he lived to be seventy-one years of age, and his life was filled up with hardships and privations, as the result of which very little immediate fruit was seen, he never took back the sacrifice. Death found him at his post, and even while in the act of devotion laid his icy hand upon him. Retiring at night quite well as usual, he was found dead in the morning kneeling at his bedside.
Dr. Krapf's first experience as a missionary was in Abyssinia from whence he was driven by the Jesuits. He then labored, it seems unsuccessfully, in the neighboring kingdom of Shoa for three years. Following this he and his wife spent some considerable time in journeying from one place to another, during which they suffered great privations. A child born to them at this time was significantly named Eneba, which means a tear.
At length every door in that part of Africa seemed closed, and proceeding down the coast of Zanzibar he visited Mombasa on his way. Here his wife was taken from him, but still his brave spirit quailed not. In writing home to the committee he spoke of her lonely grave as a pledge and token of the possession of East Africa for Christ. Near by this spot is the now flourishing settlement of Frese Town. This first visit to Mombasa was the precursor of all the discoveries which have been made in Central Africa during the last twenty-five years. By his example, and as a pioneer he accomplished great things, but in the success most cheering to a missionary heart, that which he himself could see and appreciate, he had very little to encourage him. Only one convert for those long years of toil, self-denial, and suffering was all that he had knowledge of. His last years were occupied in preparing dictionaries in several African languages, and the translation of the Scriptures.
There is something for contemplation in such a life which is grand and noble, yet in the narrative as substantially given above there was an incidental clause which still more than this attracted our attention. The writer quotes the language of another missionary respecting his conversation with the deceased the day before he died, in which he says, "In the afternoon I spent an hour with him in his study, talking of the approaching Second Advent of Christ." That Dr. Krapf and his friend believed this event to be near is evident from the expression. The query at once arises, how was their attention called to this subject. Whether God by his Holy Spirit was leading their minds in this direction, or whether publications treating upon it, had fallen into their hands, the matter is a source of encouragement, for it shows that the truth is finding its way to the remote parts of the world. That reading matter from our publishing houses may have reached these missionaries, is not impossible. About four years ago quite a supply was put on board a vessel bound for some port along the coast of Zanzibar, by the General Tract and Missionary Society, to say nothing of the large quantities which have been sent out by our ship missionaries to all parts of the world. We know not to how many hearts the rays of light have been communicated by this means. But we do know that this is the legitimate work of our publications, and we may therefore expect to see persons embracing the truth in every civilized portion of the globe.

Sacramento, Cal.

By M. C. Israel

I visited this place during the past week, and find a good work is being done by Bro. and Sister McClure, and Bro. Scott. Besides visiting interested parties, and keeping up meetings and Sabbath-school, they have visited every occupied dwelling in 120 blocks, conversing with very many, and leaving reading matter with all who will read. The Signs has been sent to 200 families for one month from the office, besides about sixty copies a week are being used in canvassing. Fourteen volumes of our bound books, the Signs, and Good Health, have been placed in the City Free Library, and have been given a prominent place. The influence of our camp-meeting, held in the city last fall, has opened up the way for the favorable reception of our workers by the people. There seems to be no better way to reach the people in the cities than by holding a meeting of this kind first, then follow up with missionary labor. We hope to see a good company raised up here, and a church built, at no very distant time. There is already a company of seventeen.

Woodland.

The meetings have continued with good interest. We expect to continue through the present week. Sister White has spoken three times, to quite large and attentive audiences. At the close of the sermon yesterday (Sabbath), we had a good social meeting; about forty testimonies were given. To-day, at a business meeting, two deacons were elected, four names dropped from the list, and the tithing system was adopted by the church. This evening Sister White spoke to a full house, with the usual freedom. There is quite a good outside interest. We hope for good results.
M. C. ISRAEL.
March 12.

Now and Then.

By Washington Morse

BY WASHINGTON MORSE.

In 1843 and '44 we were looking for our dear Lord to come in glory. We saw our reckoning all run out upon the tenth day of the seventh month, which was 22d of October, 1844. Of this I had no doubt. We consecrated ourselves to the Lord, and all we possessed, our goods, our farms, and all our worldly interests. Our theme was, The Lord is coming! When we were asked the question,
What are you going to do if the Lord does not come when you predict? Our answer was, Sir, we have no "If" in our faith. Everything was made to bow to this truth. We left our farms, our shops, and went in search of our friends and neighbors to warn them; we prayed with them and wept over them. Our theme was, The Lord is coming! get ready! get ready!
Well, How is it now? Where is the zeal and fervor that we had then? We have got our farms, our cattle, our property, and are much absorbed with the things of the world; these are in our hearts, and the coming of our Lord is put far off. We have got these things between us and the Lord's coming, and our love for his coming and for each other and for perishing souls is crowded out; and as out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, so it is with us. May God have mercy and help us to empty our hearts, and remove the rubbish from the door of our hearts, and get that love for perishing souls that we had under the first message. Then our means will go freely to help warn our fellow men, and send the last message of mercy to every nation, tongue, and king, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Yes, our Lord is surely coming, and how much we love this truth, our actions will tell.
Mankato, Minn., February 26.

Bonaparte, Iowa.

By Ira J. Hankins

Began meetings in Bonaparte, February 18, and continued till March 4. Attendance was not large, but those interested attended regularly. Three signed the covenant, one was received into the church by vote, and two on conditions of baptism. By request, baptism was postponed till quarterly meeting, at which time we hope others will be ready to take this step. This church is beginning to feel the necessity of more earnest efforts in the missionary work and is acting accordingly. Seventeen copies of the Signs were taken for missionary work, besides two single subscriptions and one for the Review. The meetings were a source of strength and profit to the church, and I trust that fruit will be seen in the kingdom us a result of this effort. I am of good courage. Ira J. Hankins.

Jefferson District, Cal.

By J. D. Rice

Began meetings in this place the 6th inst. Have given ten discourses on the Second Advent, Nature of Man, and the United States in Prophecy. The way is now fully opened for a consideration of the claims of God's law and Sabbath. We have had a fair attendance, for a country-school district, notwithstanding the unfavorable weather. The people are quite friendly, and provide for all our temporal necessities. They manifest a desirable interest, and seem to feel that they are being fed with "meat in due season;" and they are quite generally willing to be fed. As one gentleman said to me, "I have learned more in one night hearing you preach, than in three months from these other ministers." We hope, by God's blessing, to see a goodly number raised up in this place, to be living witnesses for God and his truth. We desire an interest in your prayers.
J. D. Rice.
Williams, Cal., March 13, 1882.

Letter from Bro. Geo. R. Drew.

By Editor

Under date of February 17, Bro. Drew writes to us from London; the following we quote from his letter:—
"On the 15th of February I left Ravenswood for Hull, to stop at London for a time if any interest could be raised. There is quite a good interest here on the part of some to hear our views on different subjects. Have sold in two days two Home Hand-Books, and obtained two subscribers for the Signs, two for Good Health, and one for Review and Instructor. Next week I shall speak on the signs of the times and other subjects as the Lord may direct, to some who are anxious to hear. We are of good cheer, because we have plenty to do, and we see the hand of God largely in this work.
"Bro. Loughborough has encouraging news from Scotland and from Russia, as the result of work done in San Francisco. This should encourage the missionary workers everywhere to duty while the day lasts.
"We see no reason why the mission should not prosper in this country; we are cheered as we see the people anxiously inquiring for the truth. They are very grateful to our American brethren for sending them the truth; one old sister of seventy-five years told me there were many prayers for our safety as we were coming over. The people here are faithful missionary workers.
"My kindest love to the Oakland V. M. Society. We ask your prayers as we need the wisdom of God in our work."

Temperance.

The Old Woman's Appeal.

THE inhabitants of a thriving town in Pennsylvania were assembled, as was their custom, to decide what number, if any, of the saloons should be licensed. There was a very full attendance. One of the magistrates presided, and upon the platform were seated, among others, the pastor of the village, one of his deacons, and the physician. After the meeting had been called to order, one of the most respectable citizens of the boro' rose, and after a short speech, moved that the meeting petition for the usual number of licenses for the ensuing year. He thought it was not best to get up an excitement by refusing to grant licenses. They had better license good men and let them sell.
The proposition seemed to meet with almost universal favor. The president was about to put the question to the meeting, when an object rose in a distant part of the building, and instantly all eyes were turned in that direction. It was an old woman, poorly clad, and whose care-worn countenance was the painful index of no light suffering. And yet there was something in the flash of her bright eye that told she had once been what she then was not. She addressed the president, and said she had come because she had heard that they were to decide the license question.
"You," said she, "all know who I am. You once knew me mistress of one of the best estates in town. I once had a husband and five sons, and woman never had a kinder husband, mother never had five better or more affectionate sons. But where are they now? In yonder burying ground there are six graves, filled by that husband and those five sons, and oh! they are all drunkards' graves!"
"Doctor, how came they to be drunkards? You would come and drink with them, and you told them that temperate drinking would do them good. And you, too, sir (addressing the pastor), would come and drink with my husband, and my sons thought they might drink with safety, and follow your religious example."
"Deacon, you sold them rum, which made them drunkards. You have now got my farm and all my property, and you got it all by rum."
"And now" she said, "I have done my errand. I go back to the poor-house, for that is my home. You, reverend sir; you, doctor; and you, deacon, I shall never meet again until I meet you at the bar of God, where you, too, will meet my ruined husband and those five sons, who, through your means and influence fill the drunkard's grave."
The old woman sat down. Perfect silence prevailed, until broken by the president, who rose to put the question to the meeting: "Shall we petition the court to issue licenses to this town for the ensuing year?"
And the unbroken "No!" which made the very walls re-echo with the sound, told the result of the old woman's appeal. There were no more licenses wanted.

Saloon Curse

By Editor

Dear reader! You may not have seen such results from the saloon curse in your town, for much of the work of the saloon is hidden from public gaze; but doubtless you have seen something of the ruin caused by it, and may we not trust you will use your influence in favor of anything that may mitigate the evils?—Saloon Curse.

Quack Medicine.

QUACKS fatten on the ignorance and credulity of their victims. People who use good judgment in other matters, seem to lose all power of judging for themselves in so important a matter as the care of their health. The more disgustingly exaggerated the claims of the nostrum, the more eagerly is it seized. Here is the composition of a few of these nostrums which cure everything. The analysis was made by Dr. A. B. Prescott, Professor of Chemistry in Michigan University:—
An “Elixir of Life Bitters,” put up in New York, is reported from Berlin to contain aloes, cinnamon, sweet flag, angelica root, saffron, burned sugar, glycerine, and strong alcohol.
A Swedish “Essence of Life” consists of aloes, rhubarb, saffron, myrrh, and roots of sedoary, gentian, and galangal, in alcoholic tincture with sugar.
A German “Aromatic Salt of Life,” to correct acidity of the stomach, insure a good appetite, and supply all the saline elements proper to the human body, consists of baking soda, table salt, Glauber’s salt, and sugar, flavored with a fragrant spirit of cinnamon, cardamon, bitter orange peel, and roots of violets. This mixture is sold—for constant use with the food—at a quarter of a dollar a pound.
Quite different was a Swiss “Elixir of Life” and “Cure for Lung Diseases,” found to be pure spring water, directed to be given in small doses.
Also a “Soothing Powder,” presented, with careful directions for sparing use, was found by Hager to be pure rice starch.
The “Wondrous Salt,” for a number of particularly designated diseases, was a fair grade of saltpeter.
A notorious “Renovating Resolvent” that has fastened its alliterating trade-name before our faces, the analyst finds to be a sugared extract of ginger and cardamon.
A “Nerve Balsam” consists of alcohol, with essential oil of lemon and bergamot.
A “Nerve Spirit” consists of alcohol, with oils of lavender and rosemary.
A “Golden Medical Discovery,” and a “Favorite Prescription,” companion catch-words of enforced familiarity in two hemispheres, have flourished just as well since their analyses were published five or six years ago—the former consisting of laudanum, lettuce-extract, honey, and very raw whisky; the latter of savine, agaric, opium, chinchonia, cinnamon, anise oil, gum arabic, and alcohol.
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