AN IMPORTANT MEETING by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, Cal. · Nov 29, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 48.

AN IMPORTANT MEETING.

By Editor

The Christian Worker and Evangelist, referring to the Inter-church Conference on Federation, says, "From the fifteenth to the twenty-first of November there will be held in Carnegie Hall, New York, a conference, which, if the plans now made prove successful, will represent the most advanced stage that Protestant denominations have reached in their progress toward co-operation." It will be a very important conference, and the SIGNS OF THE TIMES will give that conference the attention which it demands. It has one or more of the very best of its contributors at that meeting, and well-illustrated articles will be published on its meaning. You can not afford to miss the reports from this conference.

A Note of Explanation.

Some months ago there was a special issue of Save the Boys, published in Minneapolis, on the cigaret evil. A note was written on it in the SIGNS at the time, with the suggestion that some of those papers be used in Calcutta, where the cigaret evil seemed to be dominant. We stated that it was twenty cents a year, as it then was. Since then the price has been increased, as the little journal has been enlarged. By some mistake the note was set in wrong type, and it has been held in that way for months. It ought not to have been used at all so much out of date. We regret that it was used, and a money price given. We know of no one in Calcutta to use the paper. Inquiry as to prices, etc., should be addressed to Save the Boys, Minneapolis, Minn.

Poor Russia.

It is impossible to give our readers in a note any adequate idea of the particulars or details of the awful revolution which is sweeping over the Russian Empire. The Russian government had hardly congratulated itself over the so-called diplomatic victory won over Japan, when the pent up fires of revolution and revolt broke out and have extended from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. A professed Christian state is a theater of wild barbaric savagery. In a score of cities mad, drunken, superstitious mobs, egged on by police and government officers in cases not a few, have burned and pillaged and killed like wild, mad brutes. Thousands upon thousands of Jews have been wounded, maltreated, and robbed of every earthly possession. Thousands have been killed. Some women and maidens have suffered that which is worse than death. One paper remarks: "Even the hands of the Russian clergy are not clear of blood." Troops have actually been withdrawn to allow the mad mobs to work their own wicked will. Under pressure, the Czar has made great concessions, to be carried out under the present autocratic regime. The whole world hailed his liberal program, but disaffection is in army and navy, and present indications are that the mad populace, which know nothing of self-government, will not stop till the revolution in the government is complete. Russia is now reaping her sowing of tyranny, oppression, and ignorance, a double tyranny of state and church.

"Hallowe'en."

Some one wishes to know the origin of "Hallowe'en." In few words: The night with its customs comes down to us from pagan origin, when the "fairies," or imaginary spirits, were propitiated, and their aid sought. All sorts of spirits were supposed to be abroad on that night. It is in the Catholic Church the eve of "all-saint's day." It was impossible for the heathen to build a temple to each god, so they built the pantheon to all the gods. It was impossible for the apostate church to devote a separate day for each saint, so they fixed upon November 1 as "All Saint's Day," the eve of which they called "Hallow Eve," or "Hallow Even," or "Hallowmas." It is no more nor less than a continuation of the old heathen custom. There is this difference between its ancient observance and its modern: the ancients believed in the day and the efficacy of their rites and revels, many of our modern observers make sport and mock of the same customs for the sensuous pleasure they get out of them. Which are the more guilty, the honest "heathen" or the "Christians" who imitate them?

When we fear to displease men more than to displease God, it is evident that we do not know God, and that we love the ways of men more than we love the ways of God. If God calls us to simple duty, and man calls us to pleasure, and we yield to the latter, the simple reason is that we love the pleasure of selfishness more than the pleasure of duty. Let us not be deceived. Let us face the foes in our own hearts resolutely. The principle over which we will make or destroy character, by which we will be saved or lost, is that of service. It is ever for us to say whether it shall be the service of self or the service of Infinite Love. He who has the unswerving purpose to serve Infinite Love, will find in that service the highest, purest pleasure.

The tainted money question is still holding its place in religious papers, and there are some very pointed questions asked; for instance, one paper asks if we are to go always behind the hand that offers money to investigate motives and heart-probity and honor. The question has been asked, If Mr. Rockefeller's millions are tainted, what about the little Rockefellers in every congregation? What about the character of many of the donors and supporters of the churches? And what about many who connect with the great insurance companies, municipal councils, and other organizations guilty of grafting? Of course this is true, that no money ought to be accepted when it is known that it was gotten dishonestly, illegally, but it is quite a serious question whether God asks the one who receives money for good purposes to constitute himself an investigative committee to determine the character of the donor. A man may be tainted, but the money really belongs to God.

Still Holding On.

We are glad that some of our Jewish friends are still nominally true to one of the great truths they hold, the Sabbath. In this summer's general conference held in Cleveland, Ohio, was considered the matter of abolishing in Jewish circles, the Sabbath, so far as the influence of the conference could go, and adopt in its place the first day of the week. The principle argument for making the change was economic conditions; or, in other words, it did not pay to close places of business on that day. The motion to make the change was lost. That is good, but it is sad to think that such a motion could even be entertained.