p. 15 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 18. (5/3/1899)

TO CONTRIBUTORS.

By Editor

THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES is a purely missionary enterprise. For this reason it has felt free to ask for contributions from its friends. It pays nothing for contributions, either prose or poetry, unless solicited by the editor, and then the fact is stated when the articles are asked for. This is a plan rarely followed, but sometimes deemed expedient.

Articles Desired.

Those which set forth in the Spirit of Christ the great saving truths of God, short and to the point. It is better to treat one important truth clearly, in a short article, than many points vaguely in a long one. We desire no caustic, critical productions, which might minister to personal pride or pleasure, but can not save souls.

How Prepared.

Write plainly, with typewriter or ink, with wide space between the lines, to freely admit of editing, writing of subheads, etc. Write on one side of the sheet only. Sign the name to the manuscript, as it becomes oftentimes separated from accompanying letter. Anonymous contributions are not used, whatever their merit. If the writer does not wish his name to appear, let him furnish a pseudonym for the public. But we wish the name.

Manuscript Returned.

We will return all unused manuscript desired if stamp and directions are inclosed. We are forced sometimes to return good manuscript mainly for three reasons: (a) Sometimes the articles are too long; (b) sometimes we have a number on the same subject; (c) sometimes our plans are such that an article can not be used till it is out of date. We therefore hope that no offense will be taken by those who have freely contributed their best thought if their productions are returned. When we receive so much matter, we can not use all.

A CARD.

To ALL interested in carrying the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the inhabitants of other lands, and who desire to assist in supporting missionaries already there and others who may engage in the work, the opportunity is given to make an offering to the Foreign Mission Board of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. Such donations should be sent to W. H. Edwards, the Treasurer of the Board, 1730 North Fifteenth Street, Philadelphia, Penn.

Prayer

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A WICKED, SENSELESS LAW.

By Milton Charles Wilcox

MANY of the members of the last California Legislature were, during the late session of that body, unmercifully lashed and goaded by the press, whether deservedly or not we can not say. The legislators, or at least a majority of them, vented their spite by enacting two laws, one prohibiting the caricaturing of individuals without their consent, and another relating to libel, which follows:—

AN ACT

TO ADD A NEW SECTION TO THE PENAL CODE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, TO BE KNOWN AS SECTION 258, RELATING TO LIBEL.

The people of the State of California, represented in the Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:—

SECTION 1. There is hereby added to the Penal Code of the State of California a new section, to be known as section two hundred and fifty-eight, to read as follows:—

258. Every article, statement, or editorial, contained in any newspaper or other printed publication, printed or published in this State, which by writing or printing tends to blacken the memory of one who is dead, or to impeach the honesty, integrity, virtue, or reputation, or publish the natural or alleged defects of one who is alive, and thereby expose him or her to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule, must be supplemented by the true name of the writer of such article, statement, or editorial, signed or printed at the end thereof. Any owner, proprietor, or publisher of any newspaper or other printed publication, printed or published in this State, who shall publish any such article, statement, or editorial in any printed publication, printed or published in this State, which is not so supplemented by the true name of the writer thereof, signed or printed at the end thereof as required by this section, shall forfeit the sum of one thousand dollars for each and every article, statement, or editorial so published in violation of the requirements of this section, which said sum so forfeited may be sued for and recovered against any such owner, publisher, or proprietor so violating this section, in a civil action by and in the name of any person who may bring action therefor, one-half of the recovery to be paid into the treasury of this State by the plaintiff and the other half to be retained by the plaintiff in such action. If, in any such action, it shall appear by affidavit to the satisfaction of the court where such action is commenced that a defendant has made a publication in violation of this section within this State, and that after due diligence such defendant can not be found within this State, or is a foreign corporation, the court must direct an attachment in such action to issue against the property of such defendant and thereupon such attachment shall issue and be executed as in other cases where by law an attachment is provided for.

SEC. 2. This action shall take effect thirty (30) days from and after its passage.

It will be seen that the publication of important events in the lives of Judas Iscariot, Manasseh of Judah, Ananias, Henry VIII., Benedict Arnold, or any other notorious character, would serve to "blacken" their memories, and would subject the paper publishing these facts to prosecution, and fine of $1,000 for each offense, unless such statements are signed by the name of the writer. So, also, if simple facts are stated with reference to some of the living criminals in high political and commercial circles, and the article is unsigned, the law is violated. It means that all these articles, from a two-line item to a five-column production, must be signed by the writer. One-half the fine goes to the State, one-half to the informer and prosecutor. The law is silly; yet we believe in obeying law if it can be done without a sacrifice of principle. "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake," reads the good Book, and so we comply with the law until that time comes, which speedily will, we hope, that the Supreme Court of the State shall declare it to be a blow at the freedom of the press, unreasonable and unjust, and therefore unconstitutional. And yet courts have done as foolish things as it would be to declare this law constitutional. For all unsigned articles the editor holds himself personally responsible. Articles by other members of the editorial staff will be signed by their initials. M. C. WILCOX.

THE "AMERICAN SENTINEL."

By Editor

THE trend in every age and in every clime has been to unite religion with the civil power, and this in spite of the fact that all such unions have been a curse to both the church and the State, in that they have killed the spirituality of the church, and substituted a cold, dead formalism to be enforced by the State.

The one grand and noble exception before the world is our own country, which, profiting by the experiences of others, received not the lessons of history in vain.

The founders of this glorious republic chose the Christian principles of civil and religious liberty as the foundation upon which to build the superstructure, acknowledging to the world that men were equal before God, and that an establishment of religion, or the prohibition of the free exercise thereof, was wrong.

This has made our nation "the beacon-light of liberty, civil and religious," and men have been left to themselves in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.

But that unquenchable spirit that has been the curse of every age has not lain dormant, and the liberty that has been enjoyed has been at the price of "eternal vigilance."

Little by little this dreaded evil has been thrusting itself upon the nation. History is repeating, and as the church has been losing the power of God, she has been courting and pleading for the power of the State, and already in many places throughout the land honest, God-fearing men and women have been made to feel the hand of oppression because of their choosing to worship the Lord according to the dictates of their own conscience.

It was because these movements were foreseen, and were already taking shape, that the American Sentinel was sent forth on its mission. For fourteen years it has stood as the only journal in the United States wholly devoted to the Christian and American principles of complete separation of church and State, and for the defense of liberty of conscience; and, from the issues which are before us, we are persuaded that the American Sentinel should be in the hands of every citizen of the land.

The paper is a sixteen-page weekly; the price is $1.00 per year, and the office of publication is 39 Bond Street, New York, N. Y.

Sample copies will be sent on application.

TEACH THE WORD.

"I CHARGE thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine." 2 Tim. 4: 1, 2.

This instruction from the Lord is not to preach something about the Word, or to tell what we think the Word means, nor anything of that kind. But it is simply and purely to "preach the Word." To preach the Word is to tell what it says. We should not tell our theory of the Word, but tell the Word itself. The Word of God is plain, but man has covered it up with so many theories and traditions that we are apt to think that we are studying the Word and preaching the Word when in reality we are studying some old superstition or tradition that has been handed down to us and that we have been made to believe is what the Bible "means." The Lord says, "Consider what I say," not consider what I mean.

Do you study the Word of God? Do you "preach the Word"? Or do you merely study something that some fallible man has written or spoken about the Word. There is a vast difference between the two. If you have never enjoyed Bible study, perhaps it is because you have spent your time trying to get interested in some of the dry things that have been said about the Bible, in place of coming to the living Word of God itself.

ROMAN CATHOLIC PROGRESS.

THE official Year Book of the Vatican, which has just appeared, contains many interesting statistics. From it we learn that there are to-day fifty-six cardinals, of whom five were appointed by Pius IX. and fifty-one by Leo XIII. In the College of Cardinals there are fourteen vacancies. During the twenty-one years of Pope Leo's pontificate 124 cardinals have died. During the rule of the same pontiff the ecclesiastical hierarchy has been notably increased. Two new patriarchal sees and thirteen archiepiscopal sees have been established; seventeen bishops have been made archbishops; 100 new bishops, two apostolic delegates and forty-nine apostolic vicars have been appointed, and thirty new prefectures have been established.

There are altogether in the world 1,328 ecclesiastical dignitaries, of whom fifty-six are cardinals, ten patriarchs, 880 archbishops and bishops, 350 titular archbishops and bishops, five archbishops and bishops who have given up their titles, eleven prelates of the episcopal order, and eight abbots and prelates with episcopal jurisdiction.

The majority of the high dignitaries in this list are Italians. Among the cardinals there are thirty Italians and twenty-six foreigners. Among the patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops the proportion is still more remarkable, for out of the 930 dioceses in the entire world Italy has one-third. The former kingdom of Naples alone has 130 dioceses—as many as France, Germany, and Austria-Hungary put together. If we add to these the numerous titular Italian bishops, we shall find that almost half of the dignities of the entire Catholic Church are distributed among Italian dignitaries.—Catholic Mirror, April 15.

CONTAINED IN THIS NUMBER.

By Editor

Poetry. Worth While. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Heavenly Rest, B. W. MARSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Bad Prayers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

General. The Word Made Flesh, MRS. E. G. WHITE . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Help in Christ, C. P. BOLLMAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Restitution, EUGENE LELAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Love and Hatred, E. S. BROOKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Studies in Galatians (Gal. 6:1-3), E. J. WAGGONER. . . . . . 4 Escape for Thy Life, DAVID PAULSON, M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Editorial. "God Is Our Refuge" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The More Sure Word of Prophecy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Witnesses for Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 "Behold, the Judge Standeth before the Door." . . . . . . . . . 7

Question Corner.—Nos. 922, 923 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Outlook.—The Danger Signal—Imperialism and Strictures on the Press—A Fast-day Proclamation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Missions.—Elephantiasis in Polynesia, E. C. CHAPMAN— Missionaries in China to be Protected—Our Work and Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 10

International Sabbath-school and Sunday-school Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 11

The Home.—Learn to Sew—The Influence of Diet on Men and Nations, G. T. WILSON—Set the Clock Right—Coffee, Dr. PUSSYKYND—Insomnia—Why She Did Not Cry—A New Aristocracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 13

News and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Publishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Our Progress Number

By Editor

Our Progress Number will contain between thirty and forty illustrations. It ought to circulate to the extent of 200,000.

Abraham’s Trial and Its Lesson

By Editor

In Abraham's trial in the which he was bidden to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, God showed that He would never call fathers and mothers to take the lives of their children as offerings to Him. How beautifully and helpfully is this thought presented in our first-page article this week! If you miss reading that article you will miss a rare treat and a great benefit.

Pacific Press Stockholders’ Meeting

By Editor

The stockholders of the Pacific Press Publishing Company met, in accordance with appointment, in the chapel connected with the company's place of business, April 24, 1899, at 9:30 A.M. In the forenoon meeting the president, Brother C. H. Jones, gave his annual address to the stockholders, and the treasurer's report was read and accepted. The past year has been an unusually prosperous one, and the outlook for the year to come never was brighter. Numerous actions were taken, but we must wait till next week for a fuller report, as the paper is about to go to press. The Board of Directors elected for the next year are as follows: C. H. Jones, E. A. Chapman, Wm. Saunders, S. C. Stickney, W. N. Glenn, S. N. Curtiss, M. H. Brown.