THE pictures on this page speak for themselves. They are not fanciful; they truly represent occurrences in real life.
There is a sentimental class of people who do not have very much to occupy their time, and so they become enamored with brutes (usually dogs), and make companions of them.
Said to Have Sold for Five Thousand Dollars.
They treat these brutes as tho they were humans; indeed, in many instances they even go beyond what would be real good taste if their treatment were accorded to boys and girls instead of to mere dogs.
The dog is so constituted that he enjoys and revels in carrion and like kinds of filth. It is his nature. And so soon as he is left to himself he will drop to the level of his kind and do the things that come natural to him. He appreciates a bone in the back yard. But to be brought to the table and have to be hampered by using napkins, and plates, and cups and saucers, and things of that kind, must be a great bore to his dogship. A dog is not a human being, and he does not have the nature of a human being, and hence the things that would be very essential to the comfort and necessity of men, women, and children would be entirely out of place and very annoying for the dog.
The dog that is under the necessity of having two attendants put him thru a morning bath, and then rub and massage him, and then have to go to the manicure to have his nails polished, must feel that he is indeed a victim of very cruel conditions. Having been put thru this program, the limit of hardship for the poor creature is surely reached when he is made to sit on a chair at the table and receive his food in courses at the obsequious hand of a waiter in uniform. What a sight to behold a brute, and especially a scavenger like the dog, being put in the position of looking down upon a man as a menial slave, man that was originally made in the image of the great Creator!
The Manicure and Maid Cleaning and Polishing the Dog's Nails.
The number of people who are so silly as to do such things is fortunately quite small, and it is sincerely to be hoped that it will get smaller and smaller; for the pernicious effect of rendering such service to dogs is very degrading to the one who will consent to serve as well as to the owner who employs the servant. The dignity of belonging to the human race should assert itself, and no amount of money should tempt any one to degrade himself so far as to become the attendant servant of brutes, and especially of a brute that is such a filthy creature as a dog.
Dogs may be made very useful on the farm, and possibly there are other places where they may be profitable as servants. But they are useful only when they are allowed to just dogs, and not when the attempt is made to elevate them to the sphere of the human family.
People who have enough money to employ servants to wait on dogs will find much more interesting and appreciative subjects among children. There are thousands of bright children in this great country who do not have the advantages of the training and education that they are capable of taking. They would appreciate and respond to the help that could be given them. They would be useful in society, and thus good results of the work could be shown. But after all that can be done for a dog is lavished upon him, he is not so much of a dog as he would have been if allowed to follow the course marked out for him by his nature.
A child, thru the misfortunes that have come to his parents, may be in a hopeless and helpless condition. If left in this way, he will grow up in ignorance and amount to but little, and possibly be a real hindrance in society. But if fostered and trained as he should be, he may become a shining light in the world and a great help to all about him. As between the two fields, the fostering of helpless human beings or the fostering of dogs, it should not take long to reach a decision. T.
His Dogship Receiving His Daily Airing.
Subject-Matter for War.
By T.
The Dog and His Mistress at Dinner.
THERE has been a great deal of talk during recent months in regard to the probability of the United States going to war with Japan. But now the talk has shifted, and the discussion is concerning the probability of China and Japan drawing their swords against each other.
Japan shipped a large supply of rifles to a merchant who China claimed was much more than likely to sell them to some of the revolutionists in her own borders. Hence she seized the ship containing the guns. Japan demanded that the ship be released and that an apology be made, and also that indemnity should be paid. To enforce her demands she sent a cruiser to the port of China, and it looked for a time as tho there might be bloodshed. But England has stepped in and asked her ally, Japan, for an explanation, and told her to wait until matters could have further consideration. Among the things proposed by England is that the matter be submitted to a court of arbitration. This was suggested by China in the beginning of the difficulty, but Japan refused to listen to her. It remains to be seen if she will give respect to the suggestion of her powerful ally.
While the question of war with Japan has thus been discussed, the powers of Europe have been very much concerned over developments that had their center around the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. It looked for a time to a great many as tho the Emperor William had some designs in mind to carry out that would result in very serious complications. And then the United States has a question with Venezuela that does not seem to settle very readily. Demands that have been made by this government are being ignored and the question has a serious outlook.
If you will take the pains to notice it, you will see that there is but very little time in any year that some of the nations are not discussing questions that lie dangerously close to the border-line of war. These questions are being settled, or patched up, as a general rule, and war does not result. For this reason many persons are reaching the conclusion that we are not to have any more wars. They think that the nations are becoming too humane to go to war. Indeed, some men are fondly hoping that they will be able to invent arms so powerfully destructive that the very terror of them will keep the nations in peace.
One prophetic portion of Scripture reads:
"And the nations were wroth, and Thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth." Rev. 11:18.
The foregoing scripture very plainly shows that when the time for the judgment arrives, the nations will be "wroth," and God Himself will be called upon by the conditions of the time to "destroy them that destroy the earth." But while the nations are in this wrathy condition, there is another prophecy that shows that they will be held in check until the work that the Lord has to do in the earth is accomplished. The prophecy reads:
"After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree. And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a great voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." Rev. 7:1-3.11
Two Servants Giving the Dog His Morning Bath.
"Wind" in these symbolic prophecies denotes war and strife. This should be evident to any one from a close reading of the foregoing text. And we see from the text that God has commanded the angels to hold back this strife among the nations until His sealing work is accomplished. But when that work is finally done, then the nations will no longer be restrained by the hand of Omnipotence. Then the war-scenes that have been depicted by the prophets will become a reality in the world. And who can not see that the materials for it are abundant and on every hand?
The Struggle for Justice
The Struggle for Justice.—Ella Wheeler Wilcox refers to the reform in the Roman laws by Licinius, nearly four centuries before Christ, under which both patricians and plebeians were justly dealt by, how Gracchus tried to revive it, and failed; and then she says: "Centuries have rolled away since all these things were done and still the old battle is going on between man and man. . . . Still is the voice of Wisdom raised in warning and still Extravagance with deaf ear speeds on to its ruin. The world is like a forest, and as fast as one tangled mass of underbrush is cleaned out another shoots forth." And yet she hopes in her transmigration-of-souls delusion that "such men as Licinius, Gracchus I and Gracchus II and our own Henry George will surely come back in beautiful forms to enjoy this New Eden, for which they labored." She, poor soul, and thousand of others in the great diversified "New Thought" school will be bitterly disappointed. They are looking for the regeneration of man within themselves, by their own labor, ignoring man's nature which must be changed, and can only be changed by the grace of Jesus Christ, by the Life from above. This for the individual heart. The world will not know justice till Jesus Christ reigns in glory.
Penrose Proposes a U. S. Press Muzzler.
By Editor
Would Empower Postmaster General to Exclude Any Publication.
NO LIMIT TO EFFECT.
[The following with the above heading appeared in the North American, of Philadelphia, February 14. It is a direct blow against the freedom of the press, and seems to make one man, whatever his prejudices are, the censor of the press. It would seem as if every lover of civil and religious liberty ought to rise up against it.]
Washington, February 13.—Senator Penrose has introduced a bill to provide for an absolute press censorship, in the hands of the postmaster general. The bill provides:
That section 3893 of the Revised Statutes be, and the same is hereby, amended by adding: "And when any issue of any periodical has been declared non-mailable by the Post-office Department, the periodical may be excluded from second-class mail privileges at the discretion of the postmaster general."
The section of the Revised Statutes amended by the bill relates to obscene books, pamphlets, papers, or other matter. But the amendment is not confined to such publications; it covers all publications, without reference to whether they contain obscene or indecent matter. It gives the postmaster general arbitrary power over the public press of the United States.
Penrose will say that his purpose was merely to give the postmaster general power to exclude from the mails vicious publications. This power, however, the postmaster general already has, so that the Penrose proposition must have a deeper purpose.
It can be seen that with such a postmaster general as would be selected by the corporations and their senators, if they obtained control of the government, a law of this character could be used to suppress or harass newspapers which opposed their schemes.
Misuse of Drugs
Misuse of Drugs.—A striking testimony of the terrible results of the use of drugs was recorded in the Mercury, of San Jose, Cal., February 28: "A pitiful scene was enacted in the sheriff's office this morning when Dr. and Mrs. Charles C. Miller were brought from Boulder Creek and examined as to their sanity. The couple are young, a little over thirty, and have become the wrecks that they now are from the use of drugs. The wife, in particular, is a wreck, and when taken to the train, her wails were pitiful. They were both taken to Stockton. They leave a child, an imbecile, which is to be sent to the Feeble-Minded Home at Eldridge."
Japan Moderates Demands Upon China
By Editor
The latest despatches indicate that Japan is inclined to be more moderate in her demands upon China, and that a break will be avoided. This condition has evidently been brought about thru the good offices of England, Japan's powerful ally.
The American Republic Following Rome
Who can not see that in lavish display of riches, in luxury and extravagance, in the worse than worthless lives of many of the rich and would-be-rich, in the dissoluteness and licentiousness of many of her men and youth, in the venal corruption in and out of office from the nation to the town, in class troubles and slavery, in the purchase of elective franchises, in a thousand other ways, the great American republic is going the way of the Roman republic? There are a hundred and one remedies proposed to stay her course. They may retard, but they will not cure. True reform must reach the individual heart thru the power of Christ's Gospel received by faith. There is no other way.
A Shameful Condition.
By Editor
We have made mention a time or two of the trouble the faculty of Stanford University is having with some of the students over the drink curse. A number of students had been intoxicated and the committee on discipline had been grappling with the problem, when one of the students became so drunk in a nocturnal carouse that he missed his home and went into another man's house and was groping about in the hallway when he was shot dead for a burglar. This incident so stirred the authorities of the institution that they determined to blot the drink curse from the place.
Professor Jordan, the president of the university, is a strong temperance man himself, and has been working hard to get the saloons and other places where liquors are sold all removed from all the territory that surrounds the school. Indeed, he has expressed the hope that the liquor curse could be driven out of the whole of the Santa Clara Valley in which the school is located.
But on a recent evening a company of the students who are hostile to having their drink supply cut off, formed a procession and made quite an ugly demonstration about the grounds of the school. Among other things they marched to a small village just outside the university grounds to the home of the professor who is at the head of the committee on discipline and called for him to come out. His wife went to the door and informed them that the professor was not at home, and they went away. What they would have done if the professor had been at home is hard to tell. They then marched back thru the university grounds, headed by a band. In their rounds they went past the chapel where Professor Jordan was presiding at a meeting that was being addressed by a leading physician from San Francisco. In going past the chapel the band continued to play and they otherwise kept up their noisy demonstration.
It is sincerely to be hoped that the faculty of the university will take hold of things with a strong hand and root out the curse of both the drink and the lawlessness. But one can not help the suggestion that if such things as this are to be found among the young men that are studying to make our future legislators, doctors, and other leading citizens, what may we expect in the next generation?
The slogan of the presidents of many of these higher institutions of learning is that "they have no time for religion." With the moral foundations thus swept away, we have many clear representations of the results. The attempt is made to teach abstract morals apart from the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. But such morals are not strong enough to hold when self-interest or self-pleasure comes up for consideration.
Suicides in Prussia
Suicides in Prussia.—The statistics of the suicides in Prussia for 1906 have just been published. They show that in that twelve months no fewer than 7,298 persons took their own lives, 5,584 being men and 1,714 were women. The various causes given for the suicides were disappointment, physical suffering, nervous disorders, insanity, weakness of intellect, alcoholism, attacks of passion, consequences of immorality, sorrow and despair, guilty consciences and shame at their own actions, anger and quarrels, while in quite a number of cases no cause for the self-murder could be ascertained.
Young Men
A Few Words to You.
THERE are many young men in religious schools and colleges who are this year either giving themselves to God or giving themselves anew to His service. In some instances this step has been taken as the result of quiet, deep conviction, and labors of godly parents and teachers; in others, it has been the influence of revivals. Some of the results of the latter are likely to be transitory, not, however, thru the fault of the revivalist, but thru failure of young men to separate from sin.
The Anointing of David, a Young Man after God's own Heart, to be King of Israel.
Young men, let the writer, who has been young like yourself, speak a few words to you. Pause and read them seriously. If you yourself do not need them, some other soul may need their truth thru you.
These are critical days, big with important events and decisions. Day after day is a crisis day with you. You are choosing for wo or weal, for bane or blessing. Your heart has been aroused, your conscience quickened, you are determined to repent and reform. This is well; but do not misunderstand the meaning of these weighty terms.
True repentance is not a matter of feeling, but of principle. There may be in it very deep feeling and emotion; there probably will be; but there may be also no deep feeling save cold, clear conviction of duty. In either case, act!
True repentance goes to the bottom. It will be manifest in no lingering, reluctant confession of wrong-doing, in no half-hearted undoing of wrong, in no balancing between expediency and duty, in no dodging of hard places, in no getting around the sin in question. True repentance probes to the bottom of the heart, and covers in its inventory the last item of sin.
Not to separate thus from sin is to hold yourself in partnership with Satan and among the secret adversaries of Christ despite your halting purposes.
You will make vital mistakes to wait and to think, and think, and try to remember the sins you ought to confess. That is not your business. The Spirit of God will convict, one by one, perhaps; it is your place to act and act promptly. Just as soon as you refuse to act upon conviction, you slight the Spirit of God, and will be left to yourself; and the most awful thing in this world is to have God leave us to ourselves and our selfish choice. It ends in destruction.
No half-way work will accomplish true reform or deceive your friends who know God. You may think it will; they will not dispute you; and you will think they believe you sincere (from sine, cera without wax), but they are not deceived. You will find this out when grand opportunities for service, splendid openings for usefulness, are offered to others, and you yourself are passed by. Men will not reprove you; they may smile upon you, but they choose others. You are not worthy to be trusted, and you know it, and so do they. All that will be left you will be chagrin, defeat, bitterness, and a lesser place. It is the fruit of your own sowing.
There are but three things in mind which should keep you back from proper, true, humble, heartfelt confession of sin:
1. You are too proud to confess and humble yourself. But such attitude says you are less ashamed to sin than to confess and separate from sin. Remember, "Pride goeth before destruction."
2. You love the sin, and do not want to put it away. Then be an honest sinner, go with the sin and death you have chosen; but cease the profession of Christianity.
3. You fear your friends will despise you if you confess. In this the devil deceives you. Nothing do they so long for as heartfelt confession. They would rather forgive the worst of sins than to know you harbored and held back the least. "He that covereth his transgressions shall not prosper; but who so confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy."
It does not take time to come into the truest, freest liberty of God. One hour, yea, one minute, will do it if the purpose is to get right, stand right, make all things right if possible. A day will execute the purpose in oral or in written confession.
God does not demand days and weeks for consideration. When Zacchaeus formed his purpose to do right, Jesus said, "To-day is salvation come to this house." But do not fail to carry out the purpose.
Then reform—re-form, form anew for God. Let His Spirit form you for the better, freer, happier life; and great usefulness, wonderful opportunities, and successful life will open before you. Reject, ignore, treat lightly, these principles, and you have no promise of success in God's work in this world or in the life to come.
Will you read these thoughts over at least three times, and then act? It is the vital truth of God to you. The writer has borne God's message. What will you do with it? STILL YOUNG.
Our Work and Workers.
By Editor
BROTHER H. C. GILES writes that six have taken their stand for the truth in Bath, Maine.
THREE are rejoicing in the truth at Pontiac, Mich., as the result of the labors of Brother H. L. Cohoon.
BROTHER CLAUD WHITE's labors in Detroit, Mich., have brought three new members to the church in that city.
"SISTER KATHERINE DUNHAM reports two beginning to keep the Sabbath and several others interested at Bay City."—East Michigan Banner.
NEWS has been received of the death of Brother Henry Scott at Thermal, Cal., February 27. Brother Scott spent several years in the work in Australia and America, a part of his labors being in the SIGNS office.
OFFICERS were chosen for the Southern Illinois Conference at a recent annual meeting as follows: President, S. E. Wight; vice-president, J. J. Irwin; treasurer, Southern Illinois Tract Society; Sabbath-school secretary and educational superintendent, Cora B. Hicks; medical missionary secretary, R. B. Craig.13
With Wisdom Filled
By Max Hill
O WOULD that Peter's zeal were mine,
With wisdom, too;
That I might grasp the power divine
God's will to do;
Impetuous and bold I know—
But I would be impetuous, too,
Filled with the zeal that Peter knew
That I the way of life might show.
But O, with that impetuous zeal
Before the Fount of strength to kneel,
To be with heavenly wisdom filled,
Within my heart God's word instilled;
Then girded with the Master's might
Against the evil world to fight!
Max Hill.
Church-School Manual for Parents and Teachers.
By Editor
THIS book is now ready. It furnishes ample instruction from the Spirit of Prophecy and from our leading educators concerning the principles of Christian education. The proceedings of the General Conference Educational Convention, held at College View, Neb., June 29 to July 10, 1906,—probably the most important educational meeting in the history of our denomination,—are outlined quite fully. The "Manual" gives exhaustive outlines of courses of study, including not only the common branches, but manual training as well, with suggestions on materials and where to procure them; also chapters on Drills, Daily Program, Text-Books, School Organization and Management. The paragraphs on discipline and the chapter on the Home School alone are well worth the price of the book to parents of children under school age.
Contains about 400 pages, well bound in cloth. Price, 50 cents, post-paid. Address your tract society, or the Pacific Press Publishing Co., Mountain View, Cal.
"POWER FOR WITNESSING."
By Editor
To say that this book tells this or that would be to accuse it of empty doctrine, lifeless theory. It does not tell; it is and does. It is a witness, and with it is a power. It does not preach doctrine, nor about the Holy Spirit, but it is a living testimony of what the Spirit can do because it has already done it for one man, the writer, and for scores of others. You can not read it without meeting on every page a moving, breathing epistle, warm with an inner fire of life. It is full of experiences—facts—of what the power of God thru the Holy Spirit has done for the sinner, the unbeliever, the infidel, the professor, the backslider, the drunkard, the fearful, the discouraged, the trembling soul, and the tried and perplexed ones. If you need help and want power, the Holy Spirit's power, this book can put you in the way of getting it. Not at all stilted, but face to face with you, and no beating about the bush.
Short chapters, 44 of them to 201 pages, large type, heavy paper, beautiful cover design in three colors, size 5½ by 8, cloth binding, 75 cents, post-paid. Address Pacific Press Publishing Company, Mountain View - - - California
Wanted for Missionary Work.
CONTINUOUS supply of SIGNS, Watchman, Liberty, Life and Health, and Instructor, for reading-rack. Mary E. West, 122½ S. Church St., Spartanburg, S. C.
LARGE quantities of any of our denominational papers and tracts, especially SIGNS. John Reid, 1311 N. Tenth St., Tacoma, Wash.
DENOMINATIONAL papers and tracts. F. S. Bailey, R. F. D. No. 10, Dunkirk, N. Y.
SIGNS, Watchman, Liberty, Life and Health, and tracts. Mrs. Chas. Sanerwein, Box 81, Silver Creek, N. Y.
BOOKS
For Home Workers
The following books are ready sellers at this time of the year. The discount to those who canvass for them is forty per cent. For additional information address your tract society.
Our Little Folks' Bible Nature
This book contains simple lessons on nature, taking up the subjects in the order of creation. It is designed as a beginner's book in reading, and at the same time to teach beautiful lessons from nature, based on the Bible.
128 pages. Price, board, 25 cents; cloth, 50 cents.
Christ Our Saviour
A graphic account of the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, interwoven with many interesting incidents in His life. The story is simply, yet beautifully told, and the lessons taught, inspiring and helpful.
The book is written in a style that will hold the interest of the children, and will so acquaint them with the life and character of the Saviour as to lead them to make Him their personal friend and to desire to be more like Him.
182 pages. Price, board, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents.
Also in German, Danish, Spanish, and Swedish.
Uncle Ben's Cobblestones
Familiar talks with boys and girls about the common articles of every-day use, such as air, water, sunshine, fire, smoke, glass, coal, salt, paper, matches, etc.
Uncle Ben has a very pleasing way of telling about the origin and use of these various things. There is a ray of sunshine streaming thruout the whole book, and yet it does not touch the fickle so prevalent in books for children.
The purpose of the book, aside from the useful information given, seems to be soul culture, for we observe on every page a moral fragrance that will impress young minds in the right way. Uncle Ben tells about more than one hundred different things in all, and intersperses with happy thoughts that bring good cheer to young and old.
221 pages. Price, $1.00.
Story of Daniel the Prophet
A biography of this wonderful prophet of God. Entirely new in its conceptions and designs. The Scriptures narrating the story are printed in parallel columns with the author's delineations and interpretations. This one feature of the book alone renders it very serviceable and desirable.
In connection with the story, in this remarkable life, a clear and forcible exposition of the prophecies is also given. The author has endeavored, not to arouse controversy, but to suggest thoughts, both in story and side references, that will create religious interest and further study in the things of God.
The book contains both a scriptural and general index of subjects, has eighteen chapters, and 369 pages. Price, $1.25.
The Vegetarian Cook Book
This book contains about four hundred very carefully prepared recipes of healthful, hygienic dishes, suitable to every taste, and every condition in life. There is also one chapter on the Hygiene of Cooking, explaining the various methods, such as boiling, steaming, stewing, baking, braising, and broiling.
The author has had a broad experience in restaurant work, and has given the results of his experiments and observation in this practical work. We believe the good, wholesome foods, hygienically prepared, will appeal to many who are suffering from the effects of bad foods and wrong combinations.
The classification of foods is so arranged, and the work so thoroly indexed, that any recipe may be returned to instantly.
266 pages. Price, 75 cents.
Steps to Christ
This little work by Mrs. E. G. White presents in a simple and attractive manner the steps by which the sinner may find Christ and be made complete in Him.
While the book is an excellent guide to inquirers and young converts, it also contains a wealth of counsel and encouragement for those older in the way, who are experiencing difficulties.
The all-pervading spirituality and wholesome counsel blended thruout its pages, cause the book to meet with general acceptance. Once read, it is often re-read and studied as a guide-book in the way of salvation.
200 pages; 44 chapters. Price, paper, 25 cents; cloth, 50 cents.
Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing
An excellent companion volume to "Steps to Christ," by the same author. This book is an exposition of Christ's Sermon on the Mount, written in beautiful and eloquent language, and bringing out helpful and encouraging thoughts from the Master's words, that were so abundantly laden with Spirit and life.
In imagination the reader is taken back to the scene on the mountain-side, where He sits with the disciples and enters into the thoughts and feelings that filled their hearts. A book for those who enjoy a quiet hour of study.
218 pages. Price, cloth, 60 cents.
Home, Sweet Home
By John Howard Payne
'Mid pleasures and palaces tho we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.
A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there,
Which, seek thru the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere.
Home! home! sweet, sweet home!
There's no place like home!
There's no place like home!
How sweet 'tis to sit 'neath a fond father's smile,
And the cares of a mother to soothe and beguile!
Let others delight mid new pleasures to roam,
But give, O give me the pleasures of home!
Home! home! sweet, sweet home!
There's no place like home!
There's no place like home!
An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain;
O give me my lowly thatched cottage again!
The birds singing gayly, that came at my call—
Give me them, with the peace of mind dearer than all.
Home! home! sweet, sweet home!
There's no place like home!
There's no place like home!
To thee I'll return, overburdened with care;
The heart's dearest solace will smile on me there.
No more from that cottage again will I roam;
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.
Home! home! sweet, sweet home!
There's no place like home!
There's no place like home!
—John Howard Payne.
