THE eighth chapter of Daniel is a prophecy of wonderful interest; for it gives the prophetic history of the world from the rise of the Persian Empire till the final destruction of all earthly kingdoms by the God of Heaven. The succession of earthly empires was presented to the prophet under the symbols of a ram, a goat, and a little horn that became exceeding great.
And when these had been shown to him, he was told by the angel Gabriel that the ram represented the kingdom of Media and Persia; and that the goat was the kingdom of Grecia; and the horn which became exceeding great, though not called by name, was identified by several decisive facts, among which are these: That it should be the great destroyer of the people of God, and that it should put to death the Prince of princes. These facts show that the Roman power is intended.
In connection with these symbols which represent the great empires that have since arisen, the prophet learned the duration of his vision. For he heard Gabriel ask Michael, “How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?” And Michael, who answered the question to Daniel, said: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Verses 13, 14.
Now, it is plain that the period of twenty-three hundred days cannot be understood to mean so many literal days; for this would not make quite seven years, and would cover only a very small part of the duration of one of the three great empires of this vision. But we should remember that in this vision the great empires of the world are represented by symbols, and thus are given on a scale which brings them distinctly before the eye of the observer. It is necessary that the time should be given on a scale that corresponds with this in order not to involve an absurdity. For the Persian, Grecian, and Roman Empires, have in all continued between 2,000 and 3,000 years. Now when these empires were represented by beasts, if the time that the empires were to continue was given without a corresponding abatement, then we should have these beasts living a thousand years apiece! This would be absurd. But it would not be absurd to represent them as living and acting that number of days.
The days must therefore represent longer periods of time. If we compare spiritual things with spiritual, we shall find the key to the interpretation of these days. For the different inspired writers were all led by the same Spirit of truth. They were like so many workmen engaged in building a temple. If we can find the rule which governed one of them, we shall find that same rule governing all the rest in like circumstances. Now God gave this rule to Ezekiel in the interpretation of the symbols of his own vision: “I have appointed thee each day for a year.” Eze. 4:6. We shall find in Gabriel’s explanation of this vision of Daniel, given in the ninth chapter, that the days in Daniel’s prophecy are so many years.
This period of two thousand and three hundred days was certainly given for the benefit of the people of God. But it cannot benefit them unless they are able to understand it. We have indeed ascertained that it must be two thousand and three hundred years. But if we do not know when this period commences, we shall be none the wiser for having the period given in Daniel’s prophecy. But there is a certain great event to take place when this period expires, and God designed to give his people knowledge of the time. The event is called the cleansing of the sanctuary. We shall find the subject one of very deep interest when we come to examine the Bible to learn what it teaches respecting the sanctuary and its cleansing.
But the date of this great period is not given in the eighth chapter of Daniel. In that chapter, however, the commandment is given by Michael thus: “Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.” Verse 16. And yet, in verse 27, he tells us that he “was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.” The angel, in explaining to this vision, set before him the destruction of the mighty and the holy people, and the cruel death of the Son of God. The prophet could bear no more, for he “fainted, and was sick certain days;” so Gabriel reserved the remainder of the explanation till another time.
But in the ninth chapter we find Daniel earnestly seeking God with reference to his sanctuary. Verses 3, 17. He seems to have connected his own vision of the sanctuary with that of Jeremiah respecting the desolation of the temple at Jerusalem. Verse 2. His mind was upon the subject of time. He knew that the seventy years of Jeremiah’s prophecy were just expiring, and he was intently studying that period, doubtless in connection with the period which Michael told him marked the cleansing of the sanctuary. It was necessary that he should now be made to understand the reckoning of the great period revealed to him in his vision of the eighth chapter.
And so while he was engaged in importunate prayer for the people of God and for his sanctuary, the angel Gabriel touches him, saying, “I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.” Verse 22. And calling attention to the vision which he had been commanded to explain to him, he says: “Therefore understand the matter and consider the vision.” Verse 23, compared with chapter 8:16.
Thereupon he gives Daniel the key to the reckoning of his great period. “Seventy weeks,” says he, “are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city,” etc. Verse 24. The word determined does not express the full sense of the Hebrew word used by the angel. The word spoken by the angel was “cut off.” The translators, not seeing the propriety of such a word in this place, for they did not note the fact that the ninth chapter is the key to the eighth, and so thought nothing of the long period in that chapter, could not understand how the seventy weeks could be said to be cut off, and so they departed from the literal meaning, and said that seventy weeks were “determined,” that is appointed, upon thy people and thy city. But with the prophet the case was different. The angel had bidden him “consider the vision.” And nothing was more natural, when told that seventy weeks were cut off, than that he should recur to the long period revealed to him without a date in that vision.
This shorter period being cut off from that341long period gives us the key to the reckoning of that period from which it is cut off. When we ascertain the date of the seventy weeks, we have also ascertained the point from which the twenty-three hundred days are to be reckoned. And this date the angel next gives us.
“Know therefore,” said Gabriel, “and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks.” Verse 25. The commandment for the restoration of Jerusalem, which city then lay in ruins, is the event which marks the commencement of this period. Cyrus gave the Jews permission to return and build the temple, but did not say anything respecting the city itself. Ezra 1. This decree Darius renewed when the Jews were hindered by their enemies, and he provided means for the expense of finishing the temple. Ezra 6. But Artaxerxes added to the work of Cyrus and Darius the full restoration of the city to its ancient privileges, and the re-establishment of the law of God as the law of the city; and he authorized the rebuilding of its walls. Ezra 7:11-26; 9:9. The commandment is the prophetic commandment of the God of Heaven (Isa. 44:26-28; 45:13) and was carried into effect by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, whose successive action is recognized as the legal establishment of that commandment by the authority of the Persian Empire. Ezra 6:14.
The decree of Artaxerxes, which marks the going forth of the commandment, was in the year B. C. 457 (see margin of Ezra 7), a date which has been established by the infallible testimony of many eclipses. Sixty-nine weeks, or 483 prophetic days, extended from this date to the Messiah, that is, to Christ. This period was fulfilled in exactly 483 years, which proves that we have made no mistake in reckoning Daniel’s days as years, nor in fixing their date at B. C. 457.
It was in the fall of A. D. 27, just 483 full years from the going forth of the commandment in B. C. 457, that our Lord began his ministry. And this was the announcement which he made: “THE TIME IS FULFILLED.” Mark 1:15. He did in these words refer to the sixty-nine weeks which marked the commencement of his ministry, and he announced the fulfillment of that period. For the period extends not simply to the birth of the Saviour, but to his anointing, which took place at his baptism, the word Messiah signifying the anointed one. See John 1:41; Acts 10:40, 41; Luke 3:21, 22; 4:14-21.
The sixty-nine weeks did, therefore, end with the beginning of our Lord’s ministry in the fall of A. D. 27. One week of the seventy remained in which the covenant was to be confirmed with many. Verse 27. In the midst of this week, the sacrifice and oblation were to cease. This must signify that he should take these away by becoming himself the great sacrifice for sin which these typified. Heb. 10:1-13; Col. 2:14-17. And so it was that our Lord preached during three years and a half, until the Spring of A. D. 31, when he was crucified for the sins of men. This date Dr. Hales, one of the most distinguished of chronologists, establishes by conclusive evidence. See his “Analysis of Chronology,” second edition, vol. 1. pp. 94-100. There remained of the period which was specially assigned to the Jews three and a half prophetic days to complete the seventy weeks. The termination of this period in A. D. 34 marked the close of the exclusive work for the Jews, and the commencement of the work for the Gentiles in the conversion of Saul, who was at once commissioned to them. Acts 26:17-20. Here ended the seventy weeks which were cut off from the 2300 days. When these 490 days were finished, there remained 1810 days before the time should come for the cleansing of the sanctuary. As the 490 ended in the fall of A. D. 34, the remaining 1810 days ended in the fall of 1844.
J. N. A.
(To be Continued.)
The United States in Prophecy.
By Uriah Smith
MANNER OF OUR "COMING UP."
(Continued.)
"With wool, as with cotton, the manufacture into cloth was confined to households, for home use, until near the close of the last century. At the time of Hamilton's report there was only one woolen-mill in the United States. It was at Hartford, Connecticut. In it were made cloths and cassimeres. Now woolen factories may be found in almost every State in the Union, turning out annually the finest cloths, cassimeres, flannels, carpets, and every variety of goods made of wool. In this business, as in cotton, Massachusetts has taken the lead. The value of manufactured woolens in the United States, at the close of the civil war, was estimated at about $60,000,000. The supply of wool in the United States has never been equal to the demand.
"The smelting of iron ore, and the manufacture of iron, has become an immense business in our country. The development of ore deposits, and of coal used in smelting, are among the marvels of our history. English navigation laws discouraged iron manufacture in the colonies. Only blast-furnaces for making pig-iron were allowed. This product was nearly all sent to England in exchange for manufactured articles; and the whole amount of such exportation, at the beginning of the old war of independence, was less than 8,000 tons annually.
"Now iron is manufactured in our country in every form from a nail to a locomotive. A vast number of machines have been invented for carrying on these manufactures; and the products in cutlery, fire-arms, railway materials, and machinery of every kind, employ vast numbers of men and a great amount of capital. Our locomotive builders are regarded as the best in the world; and no nation on the globe can compete with us in the construction of steam-boats of every kind, from the iron-clad war steamer to the harbor tug.
"The manufacture of paper is a very large item in the business of our country. At the close of the Revolution there were only three mills in the United States. At the beginning of the war a demand sprung up, and Wilcox, in his mill near Philadelphia, made the first writing-paper produced in this country. He manufactured the thick, coarse paper on which the continental money was printed. So early as 1794 the business had so increased that there were in Pennsylvania alone forty-eight paper-mills. There has been a steady increase in the business ever since. Within the last twenty-five years that increase has been enormous, and yet not sufficient to meet the demand. Improvements in printing presses have cheapened the production of books and newspapers, and the circulation of these has greatly increased. It is estimated that the amount of paper now manufactured annually in the United States for these, for paper-hangings, and for wrapping paper, is full 800,000,000 pounds. The supply of raw material here has not been equal to the demand, and rags to the value of about $2,000,000 in a year have been imported.
"The manufacture of ships, carriages, wagons, clocks and watches, pins, leather, glass, India-rubber, silk, wood, sewing-machines, and a variety of other things wholly unknown or feebly carried on a hundred years ago, now flourish, and form very important items in our domestic commerce. The sewing-machine is an American invention, and the first really practical one was first offered to the public by Elias Howe, Jr., about thirty years ago. A patent had been obtained for one five years before. Great improvements have been made, and now a very extensive business in the manufacture and sale of sewing-machines is carried on by different companies, employing a large amount of capital and costly machinery, and a great number of persons.
"The mining interests of the United States have become an eminent part of the national wealth. The extraction of lead, iron, copper, and the precious metals, and coal from the bosom of the earth, is a business that has almost wholly grown up within the last hundred years. In 1754 a lead mine was worked in South-western Virginia; and in 1778, Dubuque, a French miner, worked lead ore deposits on the western bank of the Upper Mississippi. The Jesuit missionaries discovered copper in the Lake Superior region more than two hundred years ago, and that remains the chief source of our native copper ore. That metal is produced in smaller quantities in other States, chiefly in the West and South-west.
"In 1848, gold was discovered on the American fork of the Sacramento river in California, and soon afterward elsewhere in that region. A gold fever seized the people of the United States, and thousands rushed to California in search of the precious metals. Within a year from the discovery, nearly 50,000 people were there. Less than five years afterward California, in one year, sent to the United States mint full $40,000,000 in gold. Its entire gold product to this time is estimated at more than $800,000,000. Over all the far Western States and Territories the precious metals—gold and silver—seem to be scattered in profusion, and the amount of mineral wealth yet to be discovered there seems to be incalculable. Our coal fields seem to be inexhaustible; and out of the bosom of the earth, in portions of our country, flow millions of barrels annually of petroleum or rock oil, affording the cheapest illuminating material in the world.
"Mineral coal was first discovered and used in Pennsylvania at the period of the Revolution. A boat load was sent down the Susquehanna from Wilkesbarre for the use of the Continental works at Carlisle. But it was not much used before the war of 1812; and the regular business of mining this fuel did not become a part of the commerce of the country before the year 1820, when 365 tons were sent to Philadelphia. At the present time the amount of coal sent to market from the American mines, of all kinds, is equal to full 15,000,000 tons annually.
"At the close of the war the British government refused to enter into commercial relations with the United States government, believing that the weak league of States would soon be dissolved; but when a vigorous national government was formed in 1789, Great Britain, for the first, sent a resident minister to our government, and entered into a commercial arrangement with us. Meanwhile a brisk trade had sprung up between the Colonies and Great Britain, as well as with other countries. From 1784 to 1790 the exports from the United States to Great Britain amounted to $33,000,000, and the imports from Great Britain to $87,000,000. At the same time several new and important branches of industry had appeared, and flourished with great rapidity.
"From that time the expansion of American commerce was marvelous, in spite of the checks it received from British jealousy, wars, piracies in the Mediterranean Sea and elsewhere, and the effects of embargoes. The tonnage of American ships, which, in 1789, was 201,562, in 1870 more than 7,000,000. The exports from the United States in 1870 amounted to about $464,000,000, and the imports to about $395,000,000 in gold.
"The domestic commerce of the United States is immense. A vast sea-coast line, great lakes, large rivers, and many canals, afford scope for interstate commerce and with adjoining countries, not equalled by those of any nation. The canal and railway systems in the United States are the product chiefly of the present century. So also is navigation by steam, on which river commerce chiefly relies for transportation. This was begun in the year 1807. The first canals made in this country were two short ones, for a water passage around the South Hadley and Montague Falls, in Massachusetts. These were constructed in 1792. At about the same time the Inland Lock Navigation Companies, in the State of New York, began their work. The Middlesex Canal, connecting Lowell with Boston harbor, was completed in 1808, and the great Erie Canal, 363 miles in length, was finished in 1825, at a cost of almost $8,000,000. The aggregate length of canals built in the United States is 3,200 miles.
"The first railway built in the United States was one three miles in length, that connected the granite quarries at Quincy, Massachusetts, with the Neponset River. It was completed in 1827; horse-power was used. The first use of a locomotive in this country was in 1829, when one was put upon a railway that connected the coal mines of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company with Honesdale. Now railways form a thick network all over the United States east of the Mississippi, and are rapidly spreading over the States and Territories beyond, to the Pacific Ocean. To these facilities for commercial operations, must be added the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, an American invention, as a method of transmitting intelligence, and giving warning signals concerning the shipping and agricultural interests the weather each day. The first line, forty miles in length, was constructed between Baltimore and Washington, in 1844. Now, lines are extended to every part of our Union, and all over the civilized world, traversing oceans and rivers, and bringing Persia and New York within one hour's space of intercommunication.
U. S."
Southampton, England
By John Norton Loughborough
WE see a little advancement in our work here at Southampton since our last report, and also in other places as the result of missionary correspondence. Our meetings in Ravenswood are fairly attended, but as cold weather comes on some in feeble health are kept away. Two more signed the covenant during the last week. The people here move much slower than in America. A friend who has been reading and is deeply interested in our work writes as follows:—
“With reference to the papers you have sent into this neighborhood, I may inform you that in some circles they have created a profound sensation. I know of two families at least, who have become fully convinced of the truth of your views in regard to the state from reading them; and I believe that they are ‘almost persuaded’ that your representations concerning the Sabbath are correct. I know, too, of one man who has given up the use of pork from reading the articles upon it which have appeared in the SIGNS, and I believe that the same man is also truly convinced that immersion is the only true method of baptism. I know that the papers have caused the majority of those who have received them to search the Scriptures more diligently, and that is something not to be despised.
“I am of opinion that you will find the English people, as a rule, harder to convince than the Americans. They are of a less excitable nature, and are not so easily induced to surrender their preconceived opinions; nor are they so enthusiastic as their transatlantic brethren.”
This man has spent some four years in America, and states the case about as we find it. Still later he writes again, as follows:—
“I don’t know how your members in America adhere to their covenant, but I think you will find Englishmen very consistent with regard to it—that is, of course, when they have accepted it. They may be slow to accept new dogmas, but once convinced of the truth of them, nothing will cause them to relinquish their faith. This will in some cases militate against you, as many belonging to other denominations who might be disposed to listen to you will be prevented from so doing by their determined loyalty to some other church.”
Another friend to whom we have been sending the SIGNS for three months with some other reading matter, wrote us last week saying: “You are doing a noble work, and eternity will unfold the worth of labor done cheerfully for God. Work done for God dieth not. Let our grand object be the salvation of perishing sinners for whom Christ died. Never mind if the world hate you and say you are a man of only one idea, only let it be a good one and God will honor it. Do your duty and leave the world to talk.”
A letter came also from Scotland in which the writer says: “I have some numbers of the present volume of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES and I am so much interested in it that I should like to get the whole volume.” For these he wishes to pay. In looking over our list of fifteen hundred names we have used here I do not find his name among them, and conclude the few numbers of the paper he has had were sent him by some friend in America.
Two other parties who have read the paper for a short time expressed their deep interest and became paying subscribers. A gentleman to whom I sent a single number of Good Health has become a paying subscriber. So gradually people are becoming acquainted with us and our views.
Since my last report there has been another rise here in the price of bread and bread-stuffs which makes still greater distress for the very poor. I give below a few words from a speech of Mr. C. P. Butt of the Queen’s Court, and liberal candidate for the next House of Commons. In a speech in Southampton last week he said: “Would that it were in his power to congratulate them on any improvement in the aspect of affairs, any ray of light to relieve the dark gloomy prospect of the coming winter, any symptom of a lucid interval in the infatuation of Her Majesty’s Ministers, whose acts, one after another, had only tended to increase the depression under which every class of the community was laboring. Never within his recollection were the forebodings of coming distress and suffering, among the poorer classes especially, so unmistakable. Year after year had the commercial and agricultural depression steadily increased; year after year had we been slowly but surely approaching a commercial crisis in home affairs which no thoughtful man could contemplate without feelings of anxiety and solicitude; year after year had ministers sat and looked on in hopeless and helpless impotency; not one effort had they made to stem the adverse current. Never was there greater need for anxious watchfulness on the part of our rulers; yet never in the history of this country had magnificent opportunities been so miserably wasted. Although for six whole years Ministers had had a large majority in both houses of Parliament, not one enactment of primary importance had been passed.”
May the Lord grant that while distress and trouble are in this part of the earth the people may learn righteousness. May He give us wisdom so to labor that we may lead some souls to him. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
Servants and Housekeepers.
A LADY correspondent of the Home Journal in giving some hints on the subject of servants and housekeepers, says:—
Domestic service has fallen into disrepute—I do not mean among servants alone, but our people. Women have a vague idea of a perpetual motion in housekeeping—that they can furnish a house, put in a wheel here and there, in the shape of a servant, set it in motion, and leave it to go of itself. I have seen it tried; so have you. But this secret of perpetual motion is not yet discovered, and till that happy time we must be contented to follow the good old rule of the apostle Paul, who was a gentleman and a scholar, as well as an apostle, and "guide the house." Yet good women—sensible women—will say to me, "The detail of housekeeping is, to me, utter drudgery; I dislike it, I hate it." And when experienced, practical women hold these ideas, what wonder that their daughters hold the same. But what are we to do, if not this? What is our business in life? Our husbands do their daily work, and if a man venture to say, "I hate the detail of my business—it is drudgery," does he, therefore, neglect it? He dare not, for he suffers the consequences, and—so do we.
Housekeeping is good for women. It keeps them out of mischief; to plan and carry out the details is good exercise for the mind, and I do not find that those who despise it are occupied with anything higher or nobler. I do not mean that, unless obliged, one should go into the drudgery of the work; but there are ten thousand little things in the department of order that a woman can do, with advantage to herself and her house. I could almost mourn for the good days when this lighter service fell upon the mother and daughters as a matter of course. Exercise for the arms and chest is the kind we most need, not this everlasting walking. Pity that feather-beds have gone out of fashion, the shaking and making them was a famous exercise in calisthenics!
Young ladies are growing up ignorant of these details; they despise them, and, unfortunately, if the fit seizes them to learn something, the chief point is to know how to make a nice cake or pastry. For this they will make a desperate effort, and having achieved a brilliant success or two, they stop and ask, "What more can I learn?" I would answer, "Everything, from the foundation to the top-most stone."
But to go back once more to our servants. They are ruined by three causes—our indulgence, severity, and neglect.
Incompetent mistresses often think they can secure faithful service by indulgence and by presents, and they turn away in despair when they find their well-meant weakness abused. We say they are extravagant—what do they but follow the current? Our women are extravagant; it is a "crying evil," to use a cant phrase. Our houses and our furniture, which are seldom too large to live in and to use, are after the model of state apartments in European palaces. Women sweep the streets in dresses fit only for the drawing room, and when, by some accident or carelessness, they come home bedraggled, the dresses are often, in a fit of disgust, handed over to the maid for her own use. Having one bit of cast-off finery, others follow; and she buys cheap and showy things conforming, for she has her ideas of fitness. Her fellows, who do not receive as much, follow her example, and buy all that their means will allow. Hence, many consume all their wages in dress, and are even strongly tempted to steal what they cannot but covet.
So much for the evils of injudicious giving, which also leads them to expect more, and to presume more and more on these indulgences. As a general rule, it is unwise to give presents, extept on some special occasion, and seldom, or never, cast-off finery. It is unsuitable, and does more harm than good.
Another inconsiderate class of mistresses err through undue severity. They may be either those who know nothing of work, and are not aware how much they require; or those who, once having worked hard, seem to revenge themselves on others, when their turn comes, as it is said that those who have been serfs make the hardest taskmasters and overseers. My heart has often ached to see those who would have labored cheerfully, borne to the earth with the amount of service required, and often the most unreasonable and unnecessary. The "law of consideration" is sadly needed in these cases.
A third class of lady employers know nothing of work, and decline all trouble, and, leading an indolent and butterfly life, their servants are left to themselves. It requires superhuman strength of principle in a servant to be faithful in such circumstances.
Does Mr. Million, down town, set his clerks afloat in his warehouses, and tell them to do their work, while he reads the last essay on political economy, or smokes his cigar at Delmonico’s? I trow not; or, if he did, his business would go to the dogs, as many of our fine houses do.
Well, here we are. Every article I read goes thus far, points out the evils, and stops there, with general directions, that we must reform and do better, with the assurance that there is a good time coming. I have read them eagerly, but they have never told me what to do. Perhaps these things help public sentiment—whatever that may be—and if there is a better public sentiment, that is a good starting-point.
The common idea of a good housekeeper is incorrect. A good housekeeper is one who keeps her house in painfully-neat order; keeps a good table—that is, has loads of dainties, made in the best possible manner, so that you are sure to be tempted to eat more than you really want. She is wrapped up in her housekeeping—is, in fact, a housekeeper, and nothing else. All of us have met these painful people; not always at their own houses—for, to them, hospitality is a painful and self-denying duty—even their best friends do so disturb the order of things. They live in slavery, and to a hard taskmaster, for this is not a clean world. If we were sure they were fit for it, what a temptation to transfer them to that world where there is "nothing that defileth!"
I have others in mind, in whom there is a total want of method—in some cases, utter carelessness and negligence. The mistress is "easy." Of course, there is a certain degree of comfort in doing as you please, but also great discomfort, through disregard of the declaration that order is heaven's first law. From dirt and disorder also deliver us; but sometimes there is this want of method, without carelessness, and then the machinery creaks, and rubs, and grates. I remember hearing it said of one of these families, where there was no want of means or of elegancies, and no want of servants, that "it seemed to be just as much as they could do to get through with each meal." They never have good servants, for they never plan for them nor trust them. I have seen such a mistress tell a servant what to do, twice over, and then, for every five minutes, to see that she was doing it, and then go afterward, to see that it was done. Why not do the work, at once, herself?
Going from this place to another I could name, was like suddenly rounding a point, from a rough and rolling sea, into a smooth and quiet harbor. The mistress was not perfect, the servants a large family, much work to be done, and great irregularity, but the machinery never seemed to have any friction. The servants needed much direction, and made mistakes, but no storm was raised; the mistress corrected them, and hoped they would do better next time. She was a busy woman, with without bustle, and what she did only declared itself by results. One of its visitors said she was sure things did themselves. Her movements reminded me of the man whom I have seen going quietly about in the bustle of a great railway station; people were rushing here and there, trains arriving and leaving, trunks tumbling about, self-moved; but one man went from car to car, oiling the wheels. He took, apparently, no note of what was going on, never seemed conscious of the confusion; he had his business, and it was done. Neglecting it, we should have had smoking axles, delays, stoppages, collisions; who knows? Of course, the parallel does not hold throughout, for my housekeeper was also engineer and conducter; but I honored her all the more for conducting and regulating the train, and keeping the wheels in order, too.
"Like priest, like people," is the proverb. "Like mistress, like maid." We all know those who have very little trouble with servants, who are seldom or never at a loss; and when I find one who is ever complaining, troubled, changing, I often ask myself, "Would I be willing to live with her as a servant?" and I generally find myself answering, "No, decidedly, no; not if I could find any other place."
The Home Circle.
WHAT MAKES A WOMAN.
Not costly dress nor queenly air,
Not jeweled hand, complexion fair;
Not graceful form, nor lofty trend,
Not paint, nor curls, nor splendid head;
Not pearly teeth nor sparkling eyes,
Not voice that nightingale outvies,
Not breath as sweet as eglantine,
Not gaudy gems nor fabrics fine;
Not all the stores of fashion's mart,
Nor yet the blandishments of art;
Not one, nor all of these combined,
Can make one woman, true, refined.
'Tis not the casket that we prize,
But that which in the casket lies.
These outward charms that please the sight,
Are naught unless the heart be right.
She, to fulfill her destined end,
Must with her beauty, goodness blend;
Must make it her incessant care
To deck herself with jewels rare;
Of priceless gems must be possessed,
In robes of richest beauty dressed;
Yet these must clothe the inward mind
In purity the most refined.
She who doth all these goods combine
Can man's high nature well define;
Hath all she needs in this frail life
To fit for mother, sister, wife.
Contentment dwells within her mind,
And Peace doth there a lodgment find.
He who possesses such a friend,
Should cherish well till death doth end.
Woman, in fine, the mate should be,
To sail with man o'er life's rough sea;
And when the stormy cruise is o'er,
Attend him to fair Canaan's shore.
—Selected.
Reports from the Field.
By A. O. Burrill
St. Vrain and Fort Collins, Col.
Our meetings closed in St. Vrain, Oct. 22, and a church of thirteen was formed. Seven were baptized. Bro. Bealer was appointed leader. Already they have begun to give synopsis in their Sabbath-school. All are pleased with the tithing system which was organized. We sold books to the amount of $29.20.
We began meetings in Ft. Collins last eve (24th), in the Granger's Hall, of which we have a free use, with good prospects of some success. This is a village of about 1,000 inhabitants, and in the very finest portion of Colorado. The people here are intoxicated with the idea of getting rich, and we find it hard to get them to think much about the true riches.
A. O. Burrill.
Cedar Lake, Mich.
Bro. Francis Nelson reports that the church at Cedar Lake has recently been greatly revived and encouraged by the labors of Eld. O. Soule. Six have for the first time commenced the Christian life, and two who had previously kept the Sabbath have been baptized and have united with the church.
Jefferson, Hillsdale Co., Mich.
By M. B. Miller
The quarterly meeting of Dist. No. 1 was held at this place. There was a good attendance, the best they ever have had at a meeting of this kind.
The business of the tract society occupied two meetings. Harmony prevailed. A large proportion of the pledges that were made during the past year to clear the district from a long-standing debt have been paid. When the remainder are paid, the district will be free from debt. As the debt rolls off, courage comes in, and we trust well-directed efforts in the future will not only keep the district clear from debt, but will accomplish much good in spreading a knowledge of the truth.
Sunday forenoon we gave a discourse on temperance, after which we obtained fifty signers to the teetotal pledge. After the services in the afternoon we repaired to Bird Lake, where seven, four adults and three children, were buried with their Lord in baptism. Thus closed our good district quarterly meeting. M. B. MILLER.
Farmington, Illinois.
By Dennis Morrison
WE have closed our meetings here. We had a good attendance throughout. The no-law advocates have bitterly opposed the truth on the Bible Sabbath from the first. Nevertheless, our efforts have not been fruitless. Six have been added to the church, and yesterday five were buried with their Lord in baptism, four of whom have been Sunday-keepers. There are fourteen keeping the Sabbath here now, and we hope for others.
DENNIS MORRISON.
North Bloomfield, Bedford, and North Solon, Ohio.
By R. A. Underwood, J. C. Bartlett
ALL that attended the meeting at North Bloomfield, Oct. 4, 5, were greatly encouraged to go forward. One good sister took a stand for the truth, and two were baptized and united with the church. A local temperance society was organized, and a good interest was manifested in all branches of the cause.
We organized a church of five members at Bedford. Others will soon unite with them. An elder and a clerk and treasurer were chosen.
Two more have decided to obey the truth at North Solon. R. A. UNDERWOOD,
J. C. BARTLETT.
Mt. Jackson, Virginia.
By I. Sanborn
AFTER making an effort at Bolivar, I held a few meetings in a neighborhood three miles west of this place, where there are eight Sabbath-keepers. Mrs. Sanborn is at present living in the neighborhood, and doing a large amount of missionary work, which is increasing continually. If we succeed in carrying out our plans, one thousand copies of the SIGNS will soon come into this mission every week.
Our quarterly meetings just past were good. The preaching was practical and searching, and all the lovers of the truth seemed encouraged to be more faithful than in the past. The V. M. workers are now sending out weekly thirty-five copies of the SIGNS. They also raised about $26.00 in donations and pledges, to add to our tract fund. We have some money on hand, and a good supply of tracts. The church at Zion, Page Co., is now fully organized, having eleven members and an ordained elder and deacon. They have a Sabbath-school. The work moves slowly, but I trust its progress is sure. Pray for us.
I. SANBORN.
Slander, the Idle Person’s Pastime
SLANDER is the pastime of the idle.
Prosperity and Divine Discipline
By Bishop Hopkins
As weeds grow fastest in fat soil, so our corruptions grow and thrive most when our natural state is most prosperous. Therefore God's love and care of us constrain Him sometimes to use severe discipline, and to cut us short in our temporal enjoyment.—Bishop Hopkins.