Earlier text: GOD AND CÆSARTHE THEATER.
By Mrs. K. F.
THERE is an undefinable, but nevertheless common, attraction in the theater to most young persons; and, often, the more they are warned against it, the more attractive it appears, and the less harm they can see in it. Now, we do not all see alike, and, while it is right for the young to heed the advice of the old and those who have had more experience, it is not always easy so to do. I might enumerate many of the evils, and present the usual arguments against theater going, but that is not my intention. If we are trying to live in accordance with God's will, we will embrace every idea which helps in that direction. In my younger days going to the theater and taking part in private theatricals was my greatest delight. I could see no harm in it, but knew that others thought it was wrong. In thinking it over one day this thought struck me, if it is wrong, as many think, even if I cannot see it, I do not want to go; and if it is right, there will be so much better enjoyments and delights in the heavenly city, and plenty of time to enjoy them, that I can afford to wait. Will not some who will not accept other, and perhaps more cogent, arguments be persuaded to try this plan? THERE was a dear friend who had a hard time in her Christian life. She would have wonderful experiences and conflicts, and, after two or three hours of it, she would get peace, and then be happy the rest of the day. Mrs. Smith tried to explain to her about a life of trust, like a child in a house. "Oh," she said, "but I have such good times after I have gone through conflict!" "Well, tell me what brings about the good time when you do get it." "Well, finally I come to the point of just trusting the Lord." "Suppose you come to that point to begin with?" "Oh," was the reply, "I never thought I could do that!" Look at the difference between Jacob and Isaac. The servant said, "God hath blessed Abraham, and he hath given to Isaac whatsoever he hath." Isaac did not work for it; his father just gave it to him, because he was his child, and he loved him. The epistle to the Ephesians is full of what God hath given. It is impossible to get into the child's place until legality is put away.—Selected. Lady Jane Grey’s Last Poem
The night before Lady Jane Grey's execution she wrote with a pin on the wall of her cell these lines:— "Think not, O mortal, vainly gay,
That thou from human woes art free;
The bitter cup I drained to-day
To-morrow may be drained by thee.
Harmless all malice, if our God be nigh;
Bootless all joy, if he his help deny.
Patient I pass these gloomy hours away,
And wait the morning of eternal day."
WHAT can it mean? Is it aught to Him
That the nights are long and the days are dim?
Can He be touched by the grief I bear,
Which saddens the heart and whitens the hair?
About His throne are eternal calms,
And the strong, glad music of happy psalms,
And bliss, unruffled by any strife.
How can He care for my little life? And yet I want Him to care for me
While I live in this land where sorrows be.
When the lights die down from the paths I take,
When strength is feeble and friends forsake,
When love and music that once did bless
Have left me to silence and loneliness,
And my life song changes to sobbing prayers—
Then my heart cries out for a God who cares. When shadows hang over the whole day long,
And my spirit is bowed with shame and wrong,
When I am not good, and the deeper shade
Of conscious sin makes my heart afraid,
And this busy world has too much to do
To stay in its course to help me through,
And I long for a Saviour—can it be
That the God of the universe cares for me? Oh, wonderful story of deathless love!
Each child is dear to that Heart above.
He fights for me when I cannot fight;
He comforts me in the gloom of night.
He lifts the burden, for he is strong;
He stills the sigh and awakes the song;
The sorrow that bows me down he bears,
And loves and pardons because he cares. Let all who are sad take heart again;
We are not alone in our hours of pain;
Our Father stoops from his throne above,
To soothe and quiet us with his love;
He leaves us not when the storm is high,
And we have safety, for he is nigh.
Can it be trouble which he doth share?
Oh, rest in peace, for the Lord will care!
—Author Unknown. THE KITCHEN-GARDEN AT THE WORLD'S FAIR.
By Maria M. Vinton, M.D.
BY MARIA M. VINTON, M.D., NEW YORK CITY. AMONG the many interesting exhibits in the children's building at the World's Fair was that of the Kitchen-garden Association. To me the greatest element of interest in this exhibit was the fact that it was a live exhibit; that is, the kitchen-garden school exercises were gone through by twenty-four little girls, from six to eight years old, before an audience that was evidently much interested in their performance. These little girls came, I was told, from some of the best families of Hyde Park. When I tried to enter the room at a few minutes past three, the guard held up the chain across the door, and told me that only standing room outside of the windows was left. Fortunately for me, some of those inside did not remain through the exercises, and I soon obtained a seat. It seemed to me that the mothers who read Babyhood would be interested to hear of the kitchen-garden work, and so I was doubly anxious to see it, that I might tell you about it. The kitchen-garden work originated in New York, at the Wilson Industrial School, St. Marks Place, corner of Avenue A. Here two hundred girls are instructed in elementary English branches, and are taught sewing, kitchen-garden and cooking-garden work. One of the teachers there, seeing how little was known by tenement-house mothers and children about doing cooking and housework in the best and most economical ways, bethought herself of establishing a class on the plan of a kindergarten work, where, by means of playthings, she might teach these forlorn little ones how to do housework. I need not say that her plan was a great success, that the children not only enjoyed it hugely but learned to be of great help at home, and to be ready to go out into service and earn their own living when a little older. One result of this has been the formation of the "Kitchen-garden Association," with its headquarters in New York, and branches in Chicago and other cities, and the opening of many more kitchen-garden classes. It was the exhibition of this association that was to be seen every afternoon at 3 P.M. in an upper room of the Children's Building. This seems to me an eminently practical work, and one that many mothers might with advantage take up in their homes with their own little ones. All children play with their little dishes and household toys. How much more interesting it makes them to be taught to use them and care for them just as the "grown-ups" do! The twenty-four little girls who constituted the "exhibit" each wore over her ordinary indoor clothes a pretty white apron, long enough to reach the bottom of her dress, with long ruffled sleeves, and a low neck bordered by a wide ruffle, and a dainty Swiss cap; and very pretty indeed they looked, with their sweet, serious faces, bent only on doing their best in the class work. The exercises began by a march, accompanied by the piano and a song. The girls marched from the main room into a side-room and reappeared, each holding two wooden boxes containing the dishes to be used in setting the table for breakfast, the dearest little dolls' dishes you ever saw. The march ended around two kindergarten tables, each arranged with twelve small chairs. At the word of command the little maidens sat down and placed their boxes on the table. The larger box did duty for the dining room table and the smaller one for the sideboard. Each child had a small white linen tablecloth, which she arranged carefully on the table, while they recited in chorus the answers to the teacher's questions, telling how to fold the cloth, and how to spread it smoothly and squarely on the table. Then began the setting of the table, the little ones reciting something like this: "These are the knives and forks; a knife and fork should be put at each place, the knife evenly on the right hand, and the fork on the left, leaving a place for the breakfast plate between." The knives and forks were then laid nicely in order for four persons at each little table. "These are the napkins, to be used for wiping the fingers and the mouth when needed, and to be laid in the lap to protect the clothing from being soiled. They should be laid at the right hand of each place, beside the knife." And so it went on, the cups and saucers, cream pitcher and sugar bowl being arranged in the tray, and the silver coffeepot placed at the right hand of the hostess, the meat platter and carving knife and fork before the host, the glasses and breakfast plates at each place. Then a song was sung and the lesson was repeated, each child raising her dish as mentioned. "These are little breakfast tables. This is the coffeepot; it should be scalded before the coffee is put in. This is the sugar bowl; it should be filled when taken from the table. These are the knives. This is the fork. We eat with the fork, not with the knife. These are the breakfast plates; they should always be hot," and so on through all the setting of the table. Next came the clearing, learning how to collect the silver and the knives separately, to remove the glasses first, to pile up the breakfast plates, scraping the crumbs, etc., into the top one; how to brush and fold the tablecloth in the creases, that it may retain its fresh appearance. Our young housewives then marched out, singing, to reappear with cunning tin dishpans, and two kinds of towels, a fine one for glasses and silver, and a coarser one for the china ware. They played wash the dishes in the proper order, glasses first, then silver, then cups, etc., rinsed them in clear water, drained them, and dried them on the appropriate towel. Now the dishes were placed neatly in their boxes, and, the march striking up, were carried away to the side-room. The next exercise was sweeping, one of the prettiest, most active, and most enjoyable of all. The housemaids marched in with their little brooms and dusters, showed us how to arrange the tables and chairs before sweeping, to sweep and dust the room, when to use the dustpan and brush, dust cloth and feather duster, and to put the room in perfect order. They ended by forming a line, skipping about the room, and finally forming an arch of brooms, through which each couple must pass arm in arm. Here ended the lesson for that afternoon. On other days they learned how to build the474 fire, how to air the bedding, lay off pillows and shams, turn the mattress in the air, spread the bedclothes, etc.; and all this to song and music, with real little dolls' beds, mattresses, and pillows. Think, my dear mothers, what fun we missed when we were young. On the whole, the world is a brighter place for children than when we occupied that position. Another lesson teaches cooking, and at the Wilson Mission the cooking is done with real fish, meats, and vegetables, and the girls may easily become good cooks. As a good cook always tastes her wares, the little ones end by eating up the good dinner they have prepared. They learn, too, how to buy meats and vegetables in the market. Another lesson teaches laundry work, with the accompaniment of song; and, last but not least, comes scrubbing. You can easily see what a useful school this has become to the tenement-house damsels, and how they have surprised their mothers by new ways of doing work, which have been adopted as soon as the good reasons for them were explained. How many of our daughters know these things? To many young housewives the training of their servants, a work that must be done unless they belong to the very wealthy, becomes a heavy burden, because they do not know the best ways of doing work themselves, and because they must often take green girls, fresh from Ireland or from untrained tenement homes. I think that many of you might repeat the kitchen-garden work and play among your own children, on those rainy days when they are so hard to amuse. Of course, a trained worker makes the best teacher, yet I am sure that any bright woman, who understands housekeeping and children, by seeing the workings of a class can easily become a successful amateur kitchen-gardener.—Babyhood. CATS AND DIPHTHERIA.
By J. Lewis Smith
[Extract from an article by J. Lewis Smith, M.D., clinical professor of diseases of children in Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York.] KLEIN has made experiments showing the identity of feline and human diphtheria, though diphtheria in the cat presents some anatomical characters different from those in man; and the following observations appear to show that it is sometimes communicated by this pet of the nursery to the children that fondle it. The Medical Press and Circular, June 4, 1890, states that Dr. Lawrence reports two cases under his care in which diphtheria seems to have been communicated by cats. In the first case, that of a little girl, a careful inquiry showed that she had not been exposed to any patient with diphtheria, although this disease was prevailing within a mile of the patient's residence, but that she had nursed a sick cat some days previously. The cat died soon after, and a second cat became sick, and was killed. Further inquiry disclosed the fact that a neighboring farmer had lost seventeen cats, and another farmer fifteen cats, from a throat distemper. One of the farmers stated that he had examined the throats of some of the cats and found them covered with a white membrane. Dr. Bruce Low, in a report to the local government board, states that a little boy at Enfield had fatal diphtheria and vomited on the first day of his sickness. A cat licked the vomited matter from the floor, and soon after the boy's death it was noticed to be sick, and its sufferings and symptoms so closely resembled those of the dead boy that it was destroyed by its owner. During the first part of its sickness it frequently went to the rear yard, which was frequented by cats, and a few days subsequently the cat of the near neighbor was observed to be sick. The second cat was nursed during its sickness by three little girls, all of whom took diphtheria. British Medical Journal, May 10, 1890. P. C. Coleman, of Colorado, Texas, states that, after a residence of five years at Colorado, he saw the first case of diphtheria. A child of four years, living thirty miles distant in the country, and with no neighbor within six miles, had diphtheria, followed by paralysis. The child was far away from any source of human contagion, and had rarely seen other children. The father stated that two kittens had recently died from what seemed to be the same disease, and the child had frequently kissed them. Dr. Coleman does not doubt that the diphtheria was contracted from them. Medical Record, November 1, 1890. Dr. George Turner states that a cat fed with the refuse food of some children sick with diphtheria also suffered severely with what seemed to be the same disease. Dr. A. Jacobi relates the following example: Three kittens were allowed to remain with five children sick with diphtheria. The kittens sickened and died, and a post-mortem examination revealed the presence of the diphtheritic pseudo-membrane in their throats. Cats travel from house to house, often congregate, and are petted by children, so that they are likely to communicate any contagious disease which it is possible for them to contract. It appears from the above observations that they have communicated diphtheria in some instances in which its origin was obscure.—Babyhood. THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC AS A MISSION FIELD.
By John M'Carthy
THE Argentine Republic, as all other countries in South America, was originally a Spanish possession. After Columbus had discovered this New World, the king of Spain sent over soldiers, courtiers, and priests, with a viceroy, to govern his new territory, and to bring into submission the aboriginals of the land, who were inclined to be somewhat hostile to the intruders. In some respects the invasion was beneficial. As more modern methods of cultivation were introduced, villages, with houses of very rough structure, sprung up here and there in several of the provinces. Churches were erected in such a hasty manner, and in such uncomely style, as would shock the minds of those who are now clamoring for grand, beautiful, and costly edifices in which to worship God. Many of these capillas, or chapels, were but mud huts, and in these hovels began the promulgation of the system of falsehood and tradition which has spread throughout the length and breadth of the continent, and which has forced millions to bow down in idolatrous worship before the man-raised shrine, to adore the "Virgin Santísima" and all the angels of the celestial sphere, in the place of Jesus, the great Redeemer.475 Great cruelty was manifested towards the natives of this newly found land, it being the one desire of the Spaniards to extirpate them, instead of trying to gain their friendship. So the aboriginals were taught to dread the white man, and were forced to flee from the scenes of former sacredness, by the severity and brute force of the representatives of the so-called Christian country. However, in 1560, some priests of the San Franciscan order, drawn out by compassion for the poor, despised aborigines, went amongst them, spreading the dogmas of the "Holy Catholic Church," and with such energy and zeal did they propagate their views that in a very few years the natives were nearly all converted to the "Blessed Mother Church." Their conversion, however, initiated them into the corrupt morals of their Christian invaders and teachers, and soon they became as corrupt and degenerate as those who were instrumental in bringing them into this "pago-Romish religion." The conquerors also formed a government, which was most peremptory and despotic in its nature, behaving ignominiously toward the poor natives, forcing them into servitude of the most unbearable character, while the women fell victims to their licentiousness. Even as ravenous wolves these Spaniards went about devastating the country of those refusing to become Catholics, havoc and desolation being left in their track wherever they went. Oh, how fictitious is the religion that would so pollute and contaminate the land! How base must be the system that so virulently marauds a country with such detestable rapaciousness! Yet such have ever been the characteristics of Rome. Her great converting power has ever been the sword; the stake, the guillotine, the thumbscrews, the body stretchers, and other instruments of torture, have been the means by which this "abomination of the earth" spread her dogmas and ruled predominantly for 1,260 years, persecuting and burning all who dared to dissent from her heathenish teachings. So matters continued in the Argentine until, at the beginning of the present century, the different provinces and States rose up in rebellion against the Spanish nation, and gained their independence. This state of things has improved as the natural result. Catholicism has to a certain degree received a check; ignorance, the companion of Romanism, is speedily being obliterated, and education is taking its place. About sixty-four years ago the Anglican minister, in connection with the British embassy in Buenos Ayres, moved by the spiritual needs of the people, established religious services for the English-speaking population of the city of Buenos Ayres, and so introduced for the first time in the history of the country the celebration of Protestant worship. Soon after this the Methodist Episcopal Church sent some missionaries to Brazil, and also to the Argentine Republic. This was the commencement of a new era in the history of Protestantism in South America. The gospel had hitherto been preached only in English, but now colporters went about selling Bibles and preaching from house to house. Consent to public preaching in Spanish had not been conceded to the missionaries yet, as Rosas, the Argentine dictator, was greatly opposed to them. However, upon his dethronement, permission was given to preach. Thus in 1867 began their work in real earnest, and the Lord has greatly blessed their efforts. Fourteen mission stations have been established throughout the republic, and more will shortly be opened. Although some victory has thus far been gained, it has only been done by passing through fiery trials. Notwithstanding the fact that the Argentine Government is one of the most liberal in the world, yet in some parts of the republic the priests rule with a "reign of terror." They work upon the fears of the people who attend their churches, commanding them, on pain of excommunication, not to attend Protestant worship or receive their preachers into their houses. But praise be to God, because he hath put his hand to the work of spreading the truth, and is preparing the way for the reception of the Third Angel's Message, and thousands have become Protestants, thus facilitating the proclamation of the everlasting gospel. We admit that the work there is difficult. We have to meet a people who see the shallowness of the "Holy Catholic Church," who think, although it is corrupt and worldly, it is the only true church, and that the others must be in a worse condition than it, and thus they remain in it for want of a purer, nobler, and more elevating religion, while others, detesting her pagan form of worship, flee from its idolatry to the other extreme, infidelity. So we see the people are longing for a holier religion. Who will take it to them? The way is thorny, rough, and steep, and you will meet with much opposition. But there are many sheaves which must be gathered into the heavenly garner. There are many precious souls, for whom Christ died, willing to hear the sound of the gospel trumpet, and to accept the truth as it is in Jesus. Hitherto the country has had to endure the double curse of priestcraft in religion and sword craft in politics, and these have paralyzed the strenuous efforts put forth by some of the best statesmen. However, in recent years these evil influences have to a greater or minor degree been subjugated, and the republic is now on the royal road to prosperity. The Argentine, beyond all shadow of doubt, is the most advanced of all the South American republics. We shall here quote a portion of the account given by the Hon. Bayliss Hanna, United States Minister, which appeared in the New York World, August 17, 1887. He begins thus:— The climate could hardly be surpassed. Fires are but little used in the winter in Buenos Ayres. I repeat that it is an exceptionally healthful climate, there being none more so on earth. The products of the country are almost altogether pastoral; cattle and sheep farming constitute its main industry, which is conducted on a vast scale. The stock runs out all the winter, and is not fed at all, so you see it must be a profitable industry. Both corn and wheat succeed as well, and better, than in the United States. They could excel us if they cultivated as we do. The country has an enormous producing capacity, which of course makes it a matter of vast importance to us. The railroad just about to be completed from Valparaiso to Buenos Ayres will, in my judgment, soon become one of the greatest highways in the world. This extract from the report of so high an official will give just a small idea of the wonderful resources of this young country. Is there good railway communication, it may be asked, running through the Argentine? We respond, There are about 13,000 miles of railroad in working order, independent of 10,000 or 11,000 more miles now in construction. There are about 150 steamships entering the Buenos Ayres and La Plata docks every month, not counting the hundreds (between 400 and 500) of sailing vessels always in the port of Buenos Ayres, or River Riachuelo. The number of cattle raised in 1892 amounted to nearly 150,000,000, including horned cattle, horses, and sheep. The area of land under cultivation in 1893 was 50,000 square kilometers, which figure barely represents two per cent. of the total area of the country. The principal products are maize, wheat, alfalfa, oats, barley, sugar cane, wine, etc. In Buenos Ayres alone there are published about 160 papers and journals. The language of the country is Spanish; all nations and tongues are represented there, yet they all speak the language of sunny Spain. It is estimated that there are about 5,000,000 inhabitants in the Argentine. Religious liberty prevails throughout the entire republic, and the police are willing to protect, if needful, from any effort to hinder the promulgation of any doctrine you have a mind to diffuse. To the best of my knowledge there are no Sunday laws, as horse racing, gambling, betting, theater going, cricket, football, and rowing, are in their glory on the so-called (but fictitious) sabbath. The opportunities here presented for farming are exceptional, and are not known elsewhere. Land is cheap, rain is abundant, and there is a ready market for all produce, so that there is a grand field here for self-supporting missionaries, by which they can make a better living than they can possibly make in many other places, and also help to roll along the grand old gospel chariot. Stop where you are and reflect. What are you doing for Jesus? Are you making any sacrifice for him who sacrificed all for you? Are you willing to waste and rust your talents away? or will you determine to be found faithfully disseminating the three angels' messages should probation close now? O my brother or sister, we must decide now if we would have a part in the propagation of this blessed present truth. The Lord condescends to use us, weak and unworthy as we are. Shall we then withhold ourselves from him? Shall we not yield ourselves wholly, entirely, to him, that he may come into our hearts, to take full possession of all we have and all we hope to be? The Lord hath need of you; he is calling for you; will you answer him, "Here am I, send me"? There is only one missionary to every 250,000 people in that vast territory, and yet the Lord has chosen ones there. Who, then, will volunteer to go to this nation and spread the glorious truth? Who will lay themselves upon the altar of service, to await acceptation of the Lord? Who will humble themselves at the feet of Jesus, there at his holy school to be educated and taught of him, and then to await his bidding to run with his blessed errand and message wheresoever he may send? Who will be as faithful watchmen to proclaim the soon coming of Jesus, and sound out the judgments of God? Let us awake from our sleep; let us shake off drowsiness by permitting the Third Angel's Message to become part of ourselves, to rule our lives. Then we shall "arise and shine;" then shall the world see we have been with Jesus and learned of him. Then too shall we forget self; our one aspiration shall be, "I must be about my Father's business." Let love for souls take full possession of our hearts, to actuate and constrain us to labor in the vineyard, and the joy of service shall excel our highest thought, and all past happiness shall be as dross compared to the sea of joy and peace that will break upon our lives by a complete surrender of all we have to God. Leave all you have, and follow Jesus; leave it now, and walk in the sunshine of his glorious, resplendent presence, and your path through life shall grow transcendently brighter each day. Do a little work for Jesus;
Life's probation soon will close;
Would you have God's approbation?
Use the gifts he now bestows.
Oh, the talents you have wasted
In Satanic service vile!
Work for Jesus; soon he's coming;
'Twill be but "a little while." Oh, what joy! God deigns to use us;
Not that we his love deserve.
Should not this constrain us fully
Only Christ our Lord to serve?
He is not on us dependent;
He could work without our aid.
But he loves to use his children,
Those whose minds are on him stayed. Let us nothing keep from Jesus;
He should have our all, not part.
Men entirely consecrated
He can bless, his word impart
To a world so dark, benighted.
He will use us, souls to bring
Out of darkness, while we humbly,
Lowly, at his cross do cling. A SPRIGHTLY woman writer writing to women says: "If you want to be happy, dress sensibly, and according to the season. Women are eaten up with neuralgia, say the doctors. No wonder. They sit still all the morning by a hot register, then tie the five or six-inch strip of bonnet over their hair, a bit of lace film over their bangs, put on kid boots, with silk or thread stockings underneath, and dawdle along the pavement, with cold, raw winds smiting their temples, their ears, their throat, and the bases of what should be their brains. The outraged nerves shrink and quiver under their barbarous exposure. But no matter; the chest is well covered with fur cloaks and sacks; but cold feet, numb ears, reddened temples, the exposed neck, will have their own story to tell. "Then most of the so-called genteel persons won't wear flannel next to the skin. Why?—Because their waists will look too large, and it is the style to be as near in shapeliness to that delightful and lovely insect, the wasp, as humanity can be forced. Thinking of these things, I sometimes wonder if women really like to ache and groan, and to be laid aside every few days with agonizing headaches or panting, laboring hearts? "Strange, if true."—Annals of Hygiene. THE HAPPY HOME.
By John Hall, D.D.
I HAVE peeped into quiet parlors where the carpet is clean and not old, and the furniture is polished and bright, into rooms where the chairs are neat and the floor carpeted, into kitchens where the family live and the meals are cooked and eaten, and the boys and girls are as blithe and joyous as the sparrows overhead, and I see that it is not so much wealth, or learning, or clothes, or servants, or toil, or idleness, or town, or country, or station, as it is tone and temper, that render homes happy or wretched. And I see, too, that in town or country, good sense and kind feeling, and God's grace, make life what no teachers, or accomplishment, or means, or society can make it,—the opening stave of an everlasting psalm—the fair beginning of an endless and blessed existence—the goodly, modest, well-proportioned vestibule to a temple of God's building that shall never decay, nor wax old, nor vanish away. Rays of heaven's blessed sunlight
Make my withered heart grow green;
Where the thorn and thistle wounded,
Nothing but the scars are seen.
Gilead's balm is so abundant,
Oh, that all might feel its power,
Bathe their sorrowing hearts within it
Till they droop and die no more! Resting on His gracious promise,
Love's eternal smile I see;
Clearer than earth's dimming vision,
Faith has opened worlds to me.
Now earth's dreams no more can charm me;
At no human shrine I bow;
Everlasting Arms are neath me;
I am not a captive now. IN the twenty chapters into which this book is divided, the author discusses the unity of the divine plan and the continuity of God's purpose through all the ages, showing that in all dispensations the truths constantly impressed upon the minds of the people have tended to one end,—the elucidation of one central idea, of the dominion which was lost in Adam. CHAPTER I is a brief discussion of the Creation of the World; Man's Dominion and How He Lost It; the Origin and Authorship of Sin, with the divine remedy for its consequences. CHAPTER II treats of the "Promise of God to the Fathers," with all that it implied in heaven and on earth. In other chapters are discussed such subjects as "The Abrahamic Covenant;" "Righteousness through Faith;" "The Covenant with Israel," the reasons for it, and the universality of its application; "The Return of the Jews;" "The World's History in a Dream;" "The Setting Up of the Everlasting Kingdom;" "The Hour of Judgment;" "The Fall of Babylon;" "The Seal and the Mark;" "Signs of the Second Coming of Christ," and the responsibility of man in recognizing them; "The Resurrection of the Dead," and what the doctrine involves. THE LAST CHAPTER is a GRAND COMPILATION of the Promises of God in regard to the "Restoration of the First Dominion," with a vivid portrayal of the earth's appearance and condition when clothed in the garb of Edenic purity and loveliness. THE BOOK is substantially bound, and handsomely embossed with floral designs; gold title on side and back; heavy, cream-tinted, sized and super-calendered paper; size, 5½ in. x 9 in.; price, postpaid, $1.00; gilt edge, with side design embossed in gold, $1.50. Address, PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO.,
43 Bond St., New York. Oakland, Cal. AT Fitch Bay, Province of Quebec, three new members were added to the church during a recent visit of Elder J. B. Goodrich. ELDER H. F. PHELPS reports the addition of ten members to the church at Hutchinson, Minn., on the occasion of the quarterly meeting services held April 28 and 29. ELDER WM. COVERT reports an addition of ten to the church at East Richford, Vt., in connection with an institute held at that place by himself and Brother F. S. Porter. THE Reaper says that Elders Donnell, Sutherland, and Haffner, of the Upper Columbia Conference, are to attend the North Pacific camp meeting, at East Portland, Oregon. ELDER DAN. T. JONES writes from our medical mission in Guadalajara, Mexico, that the work there is prospering. They have now a school with an average attendance of twenty-five. This is a good beginning in an entirely new country, with about five months of acquaintance with the people and language. ELDER J. L. WOOD and Brother J. A. Holbrook have been conducting meetings in Alvord, Texas, and their last report was that eight had decided to obey the Lord, while others were investigating the matters presented. It was also stated that nearly all the preachers in the country were opposing the truth. THE graduating exercises of the college at Battle Creek, Mich., will be held June 19. There will be a graduating class of twelve. Professor A. J. Bristol and wife, and Mrs. A. W. Hobbs, of the college faculty, have been called to Australia, and are making preparations for an early departure after the close of the school. IN a letter from Norway, Elder N. Clausen reports to the Review that a church of sixteen members had been organized at Stavanger. Others had requested baptism, and there was still a good attendance at the meetings, notwithstanding very bitter opposition through the medium of public lectures and newspaper articles.