To SAY that the liquor law cannot be enforced is nonsense, as we have all along insisted. Topeka's open drunkard factories were held up as so many unanswerable arguments that twenty outlaws could rule a city of twenty-two thousand people with regal sway, and that perpetually. It required more than a year for the people here to learn that dramsellers are persistently bad men, and that they respect themselves as little as they do decent and respectable people. But when this lesson was learned, it had its perfect work. Meetings were held, committees appointed, money deposited, suits begun, costs piled up—and then the mayor joins in, the city council follows, a proclamation ordering the saloons closed is published, and an ordinance providing ways and means to enforce the proclamation is passed; and lo! two days before the time named in the proclamation, the dram-shops are all closed, and the imperial body of rumsellers in organized body beg the county attorney to dismiss the prosecutions pending against them, and they offer to pay all costs now due, amounting to some twenty-five hundred dollars.
To-day there is not a whisky shop in Topeka. The room directly opposite the window where this is written, a place that has been like a beehive, with swarms of people going in and out all hours of the day and most of the night, is deserted—not a man or a boy to be seen swaggering about its large glass doors with the big screen beyond. It is a decent looking place now. Exit whisky.—Kansas Farmer.
Campaign Evils.
The St. Louis correspondent of the Advance, wrote to that paper before election as follows:—
“We are about to have an election in this city, and as our leading daily well says: ‘If ever there was an argument for prohibition we have it in the conduct of our politicians.’ They are so anxious to prove that they are not temperance men, that some of them resort to a practical demonstration of the fact on the rostrum or street corners. The chief rivalry is in getting low enough down in the dirt before the rum traffic. The supremacy of the liquor interest is absolute, and the question which is facing every citizen is whether we are to let this thing go on, or band together in the strength of righteousness and overthrow this and some other crying evils. It is plain that there is a deep undercurrent of sentiment which would make an organized effort at good government, including a suppression of whiskyism, retrenchment and civil service reform, a mighty success in 1884. The feeling of most good people here in St. Louis, if not throughout the whole country this year, is, that there is much to vote against but almost nothing to vote for.”
Children Lost in Christ
How beautiful are the children when lost in Christ.
Hiring Children to be Good.
MRS. HOLMES and her sister were sitting before the cheerful grate fire sewing, while their tongues flew almost as nimbly as their fingers, as various matters from the forming of the President's Cabinet down to the shade of blue used in knitting the baby's socks had been discussed. Finally the subject of hiring children to be good was broached. "Well," said Mrs. Holmes, "I am tired of trying to coax or beg Albert to do anything, and I think he is too large a boy to coerce into right-doing. So I am going to hire him to do any little task I may hereafter require of him."
"Mark my words, Ellen, you'll be sorry if you do," replied her sister, "how soon, think you, will his judgment as to terms differ from yours? I saw that course tried by George Edward's mother last summer. She needed some cherries for making pies, and offered him six cents a quart to pick them. He answered, impudently enough, 'Who'll pick cherries for six cents a quart? I wont.' And only yesterday, in coming from church, I overheard Mrs. Moody offering her boy five cents to learn the books of the Old Testament before evening."
"Well, he probably learned them."
"He more likely did not, or if he did he can't repeat them to-day. I will find out how good his memory is next Sunday morning, as he is in my class. Hiring children to learn anything, to do anything which they should do for its own sake, or to be anything, I have never yet found to work well."
"Well, what can be done?"
"Done! Why tell a child to do a thing and see that he does it, to be sure. The very groundwork of order in families is obedience. I have always told you that you would have trouble with Albert if you appealed so constantly to his wishes in little matters. A parent ought to know what is for a child's good better than the child does, and without unrighteously provoking a child to wrath or thwarting it unnecessarily. Unquestioning obedience should be the rule. This has always been my plan with my children, as you well know."
"I have always thought you too much too strict with your little ones. What does a child of Nina's age know about obedience? You utterly spoil all the little cunning ways of your mere babies."
"Better to get along without a self-willed pet than to tolerate a self-willed boy."
"But you do give your children rewards for being good. What is that but hiring them?"
"My children know that obedience is expected of them; that to do good and be good is to be the rule of their lives, but they have evil and temptation to contend against, as well as all other children. If the hope of gaining some little gift is added to the conscientious rightfulness of the matter, I sometimes think it helps some in overcoming the natural desires for wrong-doing."
"Then why do you tell me I shall be sorry if hire Albert to do right?"
"Simply because he well knows if you do not hire him he will not have to perform the required task, and in this way you are putting yourself at his mercy. You make the gift the sole reason for his doing it, and as I say, his ideas of value and yours will soon differ. With my children, if I wish anything done they understand fully they must do it, whether I give them any little extra pleasure for it or not. A regular barter of so much given for such a service rendered I seldom make with them. Whenever I do, it is about some little business matter, and for the purpose of educating them either to work or to get by their own labor. I hired Willie to pick some berries for me during the summer, yet, had I wished him to do so he would have picked them for me without pay. I wished to teach him the value of his labor."
"Well, I must confess, I can't see the difference between your method of hiring and mine."
"Well, there is a difference. You admit being tired coaxing and begging Albert to do anything, and therefore propose hiring him, and I tell you it will fail as signally as coaxing and begging have done. I never importune my children to do anything which I have not a right to command them to do, as you well know. Therefore a gift from me is extraneous, a reward of well-doing, yet not a make-shift to enforce a command, which without it would be of no effect. And would you commence this very day, late as it is, and demand a prompt, quick obedience from Albert, in a short time you would have no occasion to coax or beg, and the rewards of well-doing can then be kept for prizes as it were."
"Well, sister, your success with your boys has so far certainly been remarkable. If I only could—"
"You can if you will. You are a woman of sufficient character to carry out any course which involves as much courage and tact as this will. Only you must assert and maintain your womanly, or rather your motherly dignity."—Christian at Work.
Domestic Education.
MOTHERS are frequently so over nice and particular that they refuse to share their household duties with their young daughters for fear something will be slighted or improperly done.
Now this is all wrong. Children, no matter what their position or prospects in life may be, should be taught while young to make themselves useful, and to assist those about them in every way possible.
Girls especially should be early trained to a thorough knowledge of household duties and familiarized with the routine of daily work, even if the trouble they make far outbalances the small amount of assistance rendered. A daughter so trained is not the one that grows up to laziness and helplessness; that comes tardily to breakfast and sits listlessly around, thinking and knowing and caring as little about what is going on in the house as a perfect stranger would, as it interferes with personal comfort and convenience. She is the mother's confidant, the father's comforter, and a blessing to the household.
If it is true, as has been sung, that it is love that makes the world go round, it is equally certain that prudence, patience, and kindred praiseworthy qualities must oil the wheels of the domestic world, if they are to revolve smoothly.
Flocks of school-girls are annually "finished off" and turned out in the world as accomplished young women, nearly every one of whom expects to marry sometime and make a home of her own, and yet among them all, how many have any true idea of the real issues of life, or measure the depth of the sea of perplexities into which they plunge blindly and blissfully?
Trouble for the average young housewife begins in her ignorance of domestic economy and the proper preparation of food for the table.
Who shall count the difficulties and dilemmas that lurk in refractory stoves, the disappointments and discouragements that lie hidden in the flour barrel, or the ambushed trials that rise unexpectedly from pot and kettle? Their name is legion.
It would seem as though every mother who has herself wrestled with the mysteries of household labor, ought to learn a lesson from life's experience and take measures to turn her daughter's trials into triumphs, by making her as thoroughly familiar with the science of the cookery book and the problem of domestic economy, as with the various branches of school education, or the more ornamental parlor accomplishments.
Yes, I know it is more trouble to teach her how to cook than it is to do everything yourself. Very likely there will be more than one failure to record, and she may be an uninterested pupil; duty is not always agreeable, but it is none the less duty.
If the early household lessons have been well learned, the later ones will not be so difficult; if they have been altogether neglected, so much the more reason that there should be no further delay. Circumstances may prevent the necessity of performing much domestic work, but every one should at least know how to direct others understandingly. Girls are not apt to give due importance to these matters; by experience alone can one really appreciate the difficulties arising from ignorance, or estimate the true value of knowledge in regard to a subject so materially influencing domestic health and comfort.—Prairie Farmer.
Carrie's Decision.
“OH dear, it's pleasant, and it will be just perfectly elegant this evening,” said Carrie Leonard, turning away from her window with a sigh and a very, very long face. There was to be a concert in Madison that evening, a remarkably fine one by the best talent, and Ned Wilmer had invited her to go. Given—the prospect of a “perfectly elegant” evening, full moon, capital sleighing, a four-mile ride in excellent company with a musical treat at the end of it—and can you possibly imagine what one could find to sigh and look doleful about? But you see it was Thursday.
“Prayer and conference meeting as usual on Thursday evening at 7:30 o'clock.”
That was the notice read on Sabbath, and therein lay the secret of Carrie's sigh. It was only a few weeks before that she had publicly confessed her love for Christ, and her earnest desire and purpose to please him in all things. It had slipped her mind what evening it was when she had accepted the invitation. And now, what should she do?
She knew just how Ned would look, how sarcastically he would smile when she told him why she could not go. And yet how many, many times in the olden days, they two had commented on the inconsistencies of Christians. Ned had been away; she did not know whether he had been told of her change or not. Somehow she had not had courage to speak of it herself, though they had compared notes on all other topics. Oh dear, what should she do!
“If Ned knows I profess to be a Christian, I'm very sure that though he may be vexed, still, after all, clear down in his heart, he will think I ought to stay at home and be in my place.”
But how could she give up the treat? And how could she tell him? Her face grew hot at the very thought of his mocking smile. She had hoped it would be stormy, so that it would be impossible to go. She had felt that she should look upon her sickest sick-headache as a positive godsend; anything, in fact, she thought, would be welcome that would decide the question for her.
But never had she felt better in her life, and not a cloud was to be seen. She must decide herself whether she would confess her Saviour, or deny him.
“But,” she thought, brightening up, “I do not see why I need worry and fret so. It cannot be wrong, after all, to go; for Deacon Smith and his wife are going; and Mame Trask, Will Sheldon, and Mr. and Mrs. Fisk too, and every one of them church members. The idea of my being so foolish as to think it wrong.” And banishing all her scruples, she went about setting her room to rights—her face bright with pleasant anticipations for the evening's enjoyment.
But when she came to sit down to her morning's reading, her expression changed; for this was the very first verse her eyes rested upon: “What is that to thee? Follow thou Me.” After all, what was it to her whether everyone else went or not—she was to follow Him, not others. But how she did hate to give it up!
Then, too, there was Ned. If he was not a Christian—she pleaded—she wanted to influence him to be. Would it not prejudice him against religion, if she should excuse herself from going on account of prayer-meeting? “What is that to thee? Follow thou Me!” The words fairly rang in her ears. It was not anything to her; her part was to follow Christ. He would take care of the rest.
“Impossible!” exclaimed Ned Wilmer in surprise, as he let fall a dainty little note from his hands that noon. “Pshaw!” he said impatiently, as he picked it up again.
An hour afterwards, he added to himself, over his books and papers: “But it was plucky in her, after all, and I respect her for it. I always said, if I was a Christian, I would be up to the515mark. I hate half-way work—but—I wish she'd let me alone!” And then Ned tried to put all his thoughts upon his work. But there was an earnest little plea in the note he had thrown so impatiently aside, that would not be forgotten. In fact, the harder he tried to forget about it, the more persistently he remembered; and at last he gave it up in despair.
“And only to think,” said Carrie afterwards, “the very thing I was afraid would prejudice him, influenced him most of all, he says. I believe, after all, it was Satan put that thought into my head; for I do believe if only I follow Christ closely, everything will end right.”—Christian Intelligencer.
The Home Circle.
THROUGH LIFE.
We slight the gifts that every season bears,
And let them fall unheeded from our grasp,
In our great eagerness to reach and clasp
The promised treasure of our coming years;
Or else we mourn some great good passed away,
And, in the shadow of our grief shut in,
Refuse the lesser good we yet may win,
The offered peace and gladness of to-day.
So through the chambers of our life we pass,
And leave them one by one, and never stay;
Not knowing how much pleasantness there was
In each, until the closing of the door
Has sounded through the house, and died away,
And in our hearts we sigh, "Forevermore."
-Sel.
Religious Notes.
By Editor
-In Indiana there is one Methodist to every sixteen inhabitants.
-Mr. Spurgeon has publicly donned the blue ribbon. We have not yet heard, however, that he has quit smoking. We hope we may.
-At the meeting of the Essex South Association (Congregationalist), at Salem, Mass., Oct 17, Rev. R. B. Howard, in a sermon on James 5:14, 15, expressed and defended the belief that miracles did not cease with the apostles.
-A pastor writes to the Advance that on one occasion he found one of the meetings of the church posted up as a "weakly prayer-meeting." How many prayer-meetings are there in the land, of which such a term would be an exact description?
-Joseph Cook, in a recent lecture delivered in San Francisco, took occasion to express his unqualified hostility to the newly-fledged theory of a second probation. He will no doubt give the advocates of the new theology some hard nuts to crack.
-Mr. Henry C. Vedder, in a pamphlet entitled, "The Decline of Infant Baptism," says: "The practice of infant baptism is declining so rapidly that, unless the decline shall be arrested in some way that cannot now be foreseen, there is need of little prophetic gift to announce its practical extinction at no distant day." The Independent, however, says that "there are as many infants brought for baptism now as twenty years ago."
-While Protestants are making such frantic efforts to have the Pope's day legalized as the American Sabbath, the Catholics themselves are very indifferent over the matter. The Western Watchman (Catholic) says: "We should not make religion distasteful to youth. Young America is Catholic on Sunday, and all of your laws and prosecutions will only make him more partial to the kind and sensible old mother church. Puritanism is religious dyspepsia, and it does not sit well on the healthy stomach of youth. Bring the boys to church in the morning and give them a short lesson in the catechism, and then give them their ball and bat for the rest of the day."
-It is quite common for the popular churches to refer to a converted person as "saved." But it seems that a person can be more than converted. Thus, a report from a "holiness" meeting at Modesto, Cal., says: "Success has attended the meetings, a few having been really converted, and some six or seven testifying that they have been fully saved." Of course a person that is "fully saved" has reached the highest possible condition. There is no better state for him. Some persons are easily satisfied, but as for ourselves, we take great comfort in the thought that "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
-Jeremiah Chaplin, D. D., of Boston, says, "A theological seminary is established to defend the dogmas of some particular church or party in a church. Of course, each seminary professes to teach the true theology; but the differences of belief and teaching which maintain among the different schools show that all cannot properly put forth this claim. Yet each, with equal earnestness, demands that its students shall accept the particular views propounded by its authorized interpreter of Christianity." That is, the student is first taught what doctrines his particular church holds, and then an attempt is made to interpret the Bible in accordance therewith. We are not disposed to say that the writer is mistaken.
-It is difficult to understand how any one who holds the doctrine of natural immortality can believe Darwinism. But there are many who hold to both. Commenting on the statement that "during those long dumb ages, through infinite hardships, and through the stern regimen of deadly competition and natural selection, man was slowly but surely acquiring that intellectual life which was at last to bloom forth in history," the New York Sun says: "But if these long ages of silence were needed to bring man from the animal to the spiritual, from the mere beast to the philosopher, the saint, or even the skeptic, what becomes of the doctrine of immortality? Tell us at what period of his development the ape-like being from which man sprung first acquired the attribute of immortal life?" A very pertinent question, indeed.
-The theory of a probation after death is really, when carried out to its full extent, nothing but restorationism. It is devised in order to enable the believers in the endless torture of the lost to preach that doctrine with a "clearer conscience." But it will be just as harrowing to the feelings to teach that even after a second probation, some are left to endure the torments of an endless hell, and so a third probation must needs be taught. And should some remain incorrigible after this leniency, a fourth, and a fifth, and so on ad infinitum, until the most hardened sinner is forced to succumb. With such a state of things, eternal torture could be preached with a "clearer conscience," no doubt, for while the preacher dilated on the horrors of the endless hell that awaited the lost, he could assure his hearers that no one would ever be lost. We see nothing to prevent unlimited probation from being preached. It is no more difficult to prove a thousand probations than to prove two.
-It is invariably the case that one false position makes another necessary. A writer in the Independent says of those who are teaching that there is a probation after death: "These men have simply advanced an hypothesis which brings to them personal relief in dealing with the awful theme of retribution, and which enables them, with clearer conscience and deeper conviction, to preach the Biblical doctrine of eternal punishment." By "eternal punishment" the writer means eternal misery. Although men call this a "Biblical doctrine," they cannot force themselves to believe it, and so they invent the unscriptural dogma that those who do not accept salvation here will be permitted to try again. It would seem that there is something wrong either with a doctrine that forces its adherents to such straits, or else with the men themselves. The Bible commends itself to the normal mind; there is nothing but harmony between it and the renewed man; but the doctrine of endless torture is repulsive to every one who has the least moral sensibility.
News and Notes
By Editor
-The Chinese are swarming into Chihuahua, Mexico.
-Three free schools have been opened in Medellin, State of Vera Cruz.
-Another terrible hurricane has occurred at Manila. The damage was quite heavy.
-The Mexican Government is making great efforts to introduce European immigration.
-It is believed that not less than 50,000 new settlers have located in Northern Michigan this year.
-The late Jerome G. Kidder left bequests aggregating $175,000 to various institutions in Boston.
-More Mormon missionaries are working in Europe now than ever before, and with greater success.
-The amendment to the Constitution of New York, making the Erie Canal free, was adopted by over 200,000 majority.
-At Exeter, England, the canal has broken its banks, and the whole country in Cheshire, Warwickshire, and Somersetshire is flooded.
-The Guardian of the Workhouse Union declares that the prospect in Ireland is worse than at any time since the famine of 1846.
-The German Minister of War has made known his decision to extend the German forts and strengthen the fortifications on the Baltic Coast.
-In Delaware the total number of people over twenty-one years of age who cannot write is 2,946,976, of which number 921,000 are white.
-The battle between the black troops and the false prophet in the Soudan, was desperate. The number killed on each side was more than 1,000.
-The concentration of a large Chinese force on the Amoor River has compelled Russia to adopt precautionary military measures on the Russian side of the frontier.
-An explosion at Clay Cross mines, in Derbyshire, England, Nov. 7, caused the death of thirty miners. Houses five miles distant from the explosion were shattered.
-Russia and the Porte are unable to agree as to the time to commence payment of the war indemnity. The Porte claims it ought to begin in March. Russia claims it begins in January.
-Campaign slander bore its legitimate fruit in Henrietta, Texas, where the defeated candidate for County Judge shot and killed a young lawyer who had spoken ill of him during the campaign.
-The definitive treaty between Mexico and Guatala regarding boundary limits has been signed at the city of Mexico. It was one time thought that serious trouble would arise over the boundary question.
-The Eastern and Provincial Poor Asylum, at Halifax, N. S., was burned on the night of the 7th. It was an immense six-story brick building, and contained 400 people. Upwards of thirty persons were burned to death.
-A dispatch from South Africa says that two batteries of Transvaal Boers had an engagement with Mapoch, a Kaffir chief, who defeated them. Mapoch feigned to retreat, and drew the Boers into ambush, killing three hundred.
-It seems that Jay Gould's power is not supreme even in railroad affairs. At the election of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Railway Company, 32,420 votes were cast, of which the Gould ticket received only 5,246.
-The Mormons are becoming exceedingly insolent in their defiance of the law. John Taylor has issued an order compelling church functionaries, such as apostles, bishops, elders, and deacons, who have not gone into polygamy, either to do so, or step down and out.
-The successful candidate for Coroner of New York City was one William H. Kennedy. But now it turns out that there are no less than five persons of the same name in the city, and the question to be decided is, Which one was elected? as two or three claim the office.
-The excavations in the Roman Forum are finished, and 19,000 square feet of ground laid open to light and traffic. For the first time since the fall of the Cæsars, the Via Sacra was traversed by the populace for its entire length, from the beginning at the Colosseum to the end at the Capitol.
-The New York Court of Appeals has just decided that the elevated railroads must pay damages to the owners of property on the streets through which they are built. This will protect the citizens against the greed of a monopoly that has assumed that nobody else had any rights.
-The anarchists in Lyons, whose recent outbreak seriously alarmed Europe, have received a rebuke in the form of a notice from headquarters, and of advice from their brethren elsewhere, that their demonstration was inopportune. They have accordingly postponed operations for the present.
-Great excitement has prevailed of late in the Oil Exchange at Pittsburg. On one day last week, 11,375,000 barrels of oil were sold, the largest amount ever sold in one day. Of course this was mostly stock gambling, and not legitimate business, and as a consequence many firms have become bankrupt.
-It is rumored that the working people intend storming the Museum of Arms and the Town Hall of Vienna. Many arrests have been made. The whole of Europe, although it has the appearance of quiet, is permeated with the spirit of revolution and anarchy, and no power is safe. There is suspicion and distrust everywhere. Men's hearts are literally "failing them for fear."
-Leyroy Beautieu, the famous economist, writing to the Journal des Debats, declares the financial system of France—including the three elements of taxes, credit, and confidence—to be unhealthy, causing the gravest apprehensions. He calculates the deficiency in taxation for the current year as certain to be 60,000,000 francs, and it may reach 150,000,000 francs. The article has caused serious falls of Bourse and Government stocks.
-At Santa Ana, Cal., a man named Smith has killed his son aged about eight years, claiming that the Lord had commanded him to make the sacrifice. The mother, equally fanatical, consented to the deed, and held the boy while the father stabbed him. The murder was committed on the 4th, but nothing was known of it until the 9th, when upon being questioned as to the whereabouts of the child, Smith freely told all. They were asked whether they would make further sacrifices of their children, and both father and mother replied that if the Lord called upon them to sacrifice all, it would have to be done. The family are Mormons.
Obituary.
By R. A. Morton
HARRISON.—Died, in Forestville, Cal., Oct. 21, 1882, Judith Harrison, aged about 66 years. Early in life she joined the M. E. Church. She embraced the truth of the “Third Angel’s Message” under the preaching of Elds. Bourdeau and Loughborough, in 1869, and joined the Santa Rosa church. She remained firm in the faith, and died in full hope, praising the Lord while suffering much, often repeating Rev. 22:14. We mourn the loss of a kind mother, but she sleeps in Jesus. Funeral services were conducted by Bro. Isaac Morrison.
R. A. MORTON.
McCutchen
By W. M. HEALEY
McCUTCHEN.—Died, at Healdsburg, California, Oct. 18, 1882, Mattie F., infant daughter of Brother J. F. and Sister S. T. McCutchen, aged three months and fifteen days. Remarks were made at the funeral by Elder G. D. Ballou. W. M. HEALEY.
THE TRUTH FOUND.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
THE NATURE AND OBLIGATION OF THE SABBATH OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.
By Eld. J. H. Waggoner.
The title of this little book sufficiently explains its character. It contains more Scriptural information in regard to the Sabbath than any other book of twice the size, and yet it is so simplified as to be easily comprehended. The author quotes the opinions of many learned men concerning the Sabbath, and their conflicting theories are strongly contrasted with the clear, straightforward teaching of the Bible.
64 pp. Price, 10 cents.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
Just Judgment.
By Editor
A CORRESPONDENT of the Pacific Methodist offers some good thoughts in an article entitled "The Sunday Law Reviewed." From it we take the following extract:—
"The only redeeming principle in the law that I can see, is the closing of saloons and bars on Sunday, that is desirable; but it has failed to effect the desired end, and I think the principal reason is, the Sunday Law is too discriminating, and also proscriptive in character. All men engaged in any lawful business, consider themselves entitled to equal rights and privileges before the law, and I cannot see any valid reason why they should not. And there are many thousands of Jews and Christian Gentiles in this State, whose judgments and consciences tell them that the seventh day, the day the Lord finished his works, rested, blessed and hallowed as the Sabbath day, is now the right Sabbath day for man to keep holy to the Lord and rest in, and they have, 'God spake all these words saying,' for it; and that is more than we have for our first-day-of-the-week-resurrection-Sabbath day. This undeniable truth ought to be sufficient to entitle them to at least a charitable consideration, by all Christian people.
"After they have kept the Sabbath day, in compliance with the old commandment, then our Sunday Law steps in and requires them to keep the first-day-of-the-week-Sabbath day, or pay a fine of from five to fifty dollars.
"Self-preservation being the first law of nature, they naturally go against the law, and are driven away from assisting in the cause of temperance.
"I never have, nor never will, knowingly give my vote or voice to sustain a law of that character. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets."
We cannot be driven "from assisting the cause of temperance." We may be cut off from associating with those who affect to be the sole guardians of the principles of temperance, from parties who run their hobbies with temperance as necessary parts of their organizations. But Seventh-day Adventists will always be found pursuing the even tenor of their way, advocating temperance on the very highest plane. We believe in Christian temperance as taught in the Bible, which leads us to oppose both whisky and tobacco as "twin evils."
Again the writer says of the Sunday Law:—
"The reader will observe that the law exempts all persons engaged in ten classes of business from obedience to the commandment, thereby legalizing a large minority of the people of this State to violate it. All persons in three of the exempt classes are legalized to violate the commandment the first half of the day and enjoined to keep the last half. From whence is our Sunday law theology derived? Undoubtedly not from the Divine records, but is of the earth earthy, and very earthy at that."
The editor says he does not agree with his correspondent. If he refers to that part of the article here quoted we think the disagreement would be more to the credit of the article than to himself.
General Conference.
By Editor
THE General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists will be held this year in Rome, Oneida Co., N. Y. It will convene Dec. 7. This is an important meeting, and we expect it will call out a large representation of the several State Conferences.
We like one suggestion published by the president of the General Conference, in regard to the meetings of the several Associations located in Battle Creek. It is that they who send proxies send them by the delegates of their own States and Conferences, rather than to a few individuals in any one locality. It seems more like people attending to their own business, and will doubtless prove satisfactory to all.
Special Edition.
By Editor
NUMBER 10, the last number of the Special Edition, was published last week, dated Nov. 9. We are glad that the labor is over, for it involved much extra work to us. Yet we rejoice that the opportunity was thus afforded of presenting the truth to so many readers. We never felt more blest in any work performed in this good cause, than in the preparation of the matter of these special numbers. We are thankful that they have been so well received and so highly appreciated, both in California and in the East.
We have little inclination to add any remarks about the results of the elections. As far as New York, Pennsylvania, and California were concerned we are not at all disappointed; we fully expected it. The majorities for the Democratic nominees in New York and California are larger than we expected; that in Pensylvania is as small as could be expected. If the Democrats are wise they will serve the country instead of their party, for these large majorities were given by those who will still vote the Republican ticket when that party gets leaders who do not think they own it. As Gen. Garfield said on an eventful occasion: "God reigns, and the Nation still lives." For the present we look for peace and prosperity in the land.
Another Admission.
By Editor
A CORRESPONDENT of the Watchman asks as to whether the first day of the week should be called Sabbath or Sunday, and that paper in its reply makes the following candid statement:—
"Sunday is the name of the day of the week; Sabbath, or Lord's day, is the name which indicates its religious use. The Scriptures nowhere call the first day of the week 'the Sabbath.' Wherever in the New Testament that term occurs, Saturday is meant, not the Lord's day. We believe in the moral obligation to observe one day of the week as a day of Sabbatical rest; and, since the first day has been made the Lord's day, there is no impropriety in transferring to it the name of the Sabbath, though there is no Scriptural authority for doing so, nor, of course, any Scriptural obligation."
Truly, "their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges."
Vinegar Bitters.
By Editor
It is right that we make a statement concerning the "California Vinegar Bitters," as a notice of them appeared last week in our Temperance Department. Some months since we saw in Good Health a notice of different bitters, with the per centage of alcohol in each. The Vinegar Bitters were said to contain 7 per cent.
We immediately wrote to the editor, inquiring if he knew whether the statement was correct. He replied that the article was copied, and he could not vouch for its correctness, but would himself subject them to analysis as soon as opportunity was offered. Since then he tested them, and the result was given by him in a lecture at a temperance convention in Lake Bluff, Ill., and published in Good Health, from which the extract we published last week was taken.
This extract was put in type several weeks ago by our assistant, but we suspended its publication until the election was over, not wishing to have it affect the prohibition vote. Part of it appeared, however, in the Tribune of this city, before the election, so it was not entirely unknown in this vicinity.
Dr. McDonald has done some good service to the temperance cause, for which he has had our highest respect. We are well acquainted with the editor of Good Health, and can vouch for his ability and veracity. We are constrained to believe that the Vinegar Bitters do contain alcohol; not so much as is found in most other "Bitters," but enough to form the taste for stimulants in those who use them.
IN no year since 1852 has there been as much early rain in California as in 1882. Of late we have had some quite hard frosts. But the growth of vegetation is large; flowers will bloom in spite of the cold, and the country is fair to look upon.
Incorrectly Reported.
By Editor
IT was stated in our "Special" that Gen. Williams, in a political speech, said that Sunday has its foundation in the ten commandments. We had not seen the report when the notice was prepared, but examining that we found the notice was correct, according to the report. Still the expression did not seem to be strictly in keeping with the rest of the speech. We are now informed by Gen. Williams that the report was incorrect; that he said Sabbath where he was reported as saying Sunday. He says he understood and recognized the distinction between Sabbath and Sunday. We are pleased to learn this fact, and cheerfully make the correction.
A Request.
By George R. Drew
I HAVE received a box, which still remains at the depot, and the freight on it is $7.25. Those who send reading matter in the future will please send through Bro. Haskell, as he has arranged to send it free of charge. We have on hand a large stock of Swedish and Danish papers, which it will take a long time to use, as they contain advertisements of steam-ship lines.
GEO. R. DREW.
BIBLE SANCTIFICATION:
A CONTRAST OF
TRUE AND FALSE THEORIES.
By Mrs. E. G. White.
This is a pamphlet of only 84 pages, but its value is not to be judged by its size. It is just what its title indicates: a faithful presentation of Bible truth on this important subject, and an exposure of the false theories prevailing in regard to it. Every believer in Bible truth should read it. Buy it, read it, and lend it to your neighbor. Price 10 cts.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THOUGHTS ON BAPTISM.
By Joseph Harvey Waggoner
By Eld. J. H. Waggoner.
AN EXAMINATION OF THE ACTION, SUBJECTS, AND RELATIONS OF THE ORDINANCE OF BAPTISM.
Also, a Brief Refutation of the HISTORICAL CLAIMS FOR TRINE IMMERSION.
SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED.
Prices, post-paid,—In flexible cloth, 35 cents; paper covers, 25 cents. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
NEW MUSIC! THE LAST IS THE BEST!
JUST PUBLISHED,
By GEO. D. RUSSELL, 126 Tremont Street, Boston, a new book of Music, entitled,
PEARLY PORTALS.
By D. S. HAKES.
The music and words of this book are mostly entirely new, and well adapted to the Sabbath-school and social circle. It is receiving the most unqualified praise from all who have examined it. The music is of a high order throughout, and yet not at all difficult.
160 pp. Per copy, 35 cents; $3.60 per dozen. Bound, 50 cents; $5.00 per dozen.