DO YOU WISH TO READ FURTHER?
By Editor
Some of our articles which we print were late in arriving, especially so of Dr. Kellogg's, and from some of the great mission fields we did not hear at all. Could we have had all our articles in time, it would have materially aided in the arrangement, which, we think, could under other circumstances have been bettered. But we have no words of censure for any; each did the best he could, we are bound to believe, as we are sure we desired to do. Our Typography.—We designed to print the greater number of the important articles in this issue in larger type—10-point instead of 8-point. But we could not do this without omitting more articles or materially abbreviating some of them, which we did not feel justified in doing except when absolutely demanded. The illustrations in this issue were with few minor exceptions made expressly for this paper. The half-tone color design for the cover was furnished by our New York artists. The photographs from which were reproduced the pictures on pages 12 and 13 were secured in London, England, the only place where they were obtainable. They well represent the men of influence in Europe for the quarter century. Articles Omitted.—We regret exceedingly that we were compelled to omit important articles which we had solicited for this issue, and which had been promised our readers; but lack of space and exigency of make-up demanded it. One of these is a brief but striking review of the progress of the people who publish this paper, by Elder G. A. Irwin, president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Another, an article on education, by Prof. W. W. Prescott. A third, a page containing photoengravings of the managing editors of the SIGNS to the present, and a reduced facsimile of the first page of the first paper. A poem by Uriah Smith is omitted, and several editorials. We omitted those which pertained more to the human side of the work. However, we expect to publish four other special issues in the year to come, and these special articles and illustrations will then appear—perhaps in our "Midsummer number." In this age wherein there are so many snares to entrap the feet of young people, it is important that they should be supplied with the best of reading matter. For what our youth read, as much as any other one thing, is either elevating or degrading them. Among all the young people's papers with which we are acquainted there is none that is equal to the Youth's Instructor, published at Battle Creek, Mich. Its columns are always clean, interesting, and instructive. The publishers will be glad to send sample copies on application. DO YOU WISH TO READ FURTHER?
ARE you interested in the Biblical articles found in this paper? Do you wish to read further concerning the teachings of the Word of God on Salvation in Christ, the Coming of the Lord, the Fulfilment of Prophecy, Union of Church and State, or the Sabbath Question? These are all vitally important subjects, and we could not feel justified in closing the paper without calling attention to at least a few publications upon these great and important themes. "STEPS TO CHRIST." This little work presents in the most beautiful simplicity the way of salvation. It has passed through numerous editions, and is printed in Danish, Swedish, German, Holland, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Bound in neat cloth; price, 50 cents. "MATTHEW 24, OR THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST" (No. 58 Bible Students' Library). Price, 10 cents. "Manner of Christ's Coming" (No. 124 Bible Students' Library). See cover, page 2. "THE GREAT EMPIRES OF PROPHECY." For the student, the very best work published to date. For description, see page 31. "LOOKING UNTO JESUS." By Elder Uriah Smith. An unfolding of the plan of salvation in its types, shadows, and reality, and an exposition of the marvelous prophecy found in the eighth and ninth chapters of Daniel. Cloth, thirty-three chapters, illustrated. Price, $1.00. "THE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY" (pamphlet), illustrated. By M. H. Brown. Price, 10 cents. "The Great Threefold Message" (No. 47 Apples of Gold Library). Price, 1 cent. Union of Church and State.
"TWO REPUBLICS." By Alonso Trevier Jones. The striking parallels between the republics of Rome and the United States. Nearly 900 royal octavo pages, illustrated. Price, cloth, $2.50 and $3.00; half morocco, $4.00; full morocco, $4.75; a cheaper edition, $1.85. "AMERICAN STATE PAPERS." By W. A. Blakely, Esq. A rare collection of valuable documents and facts bearing on religious legislation and union of Church and State from the foundation of this government to 1897. It prints the Sunday laws of the States to that date. A valuable book. Price, $1.25. "THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE." By A. T. Jones. A marvel of information as to the principles on which this government was based and its departure from them. Price, cloth, $1.00; pamphlet, 40 cents. The American Sentinel, a weekly paper devoted to the defense of liberty of conscience for all, and uncompromisingly opposed to anything tending toward a union of Church and State either in name or principle. Send for a sample copy. Published at 39 Bond Street, New York City. Price, $1.00 a year. "HISTORY OF THE SABBATH AND FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK." By John Nevins Andrews. The result of ten years' hard work. It covers the history of the two days from the dawn of history to the present time. Every passage of Scripture bearing on the subject is examined. The complete "testimony of the fathers" for the first three centuries of the Christian era concerning both days is given. Copious indexes. A mine of information. 548 pages; price, $2.50. Pamphlet, three parts, 75 cents. Send for a catalog to Pacific Press Publishing Company, Oakland, Cal. The above may also be obtained from the Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich.; Pacific Press, 18 West Fifth Street, Kansas City, Mo., or 39 Bond Street, New York City. IMPORTANT ITEMS IN ARCHÆOLOGY.
THE ROSETTA stone was discovered in 1799, at Rosetta City, near the mouth of the Nile. It contained three inscriptions of a decree appointing a yearly festival in honor of the king's statue, the first in hieroglyphics, the writing of the priests; the second in Demotic, the writing of the people; and the third in Greek. A comparison of the different elements in the proper names mentioned in each of the three inscriptions gave a clue to the Egyptian alphabets,—the key which rendered possible the deciphering of inscriptions on Egyptian tombs and monuments. These alphabets were not completed until 1822. In 1868 there was discovered in the land of Moab what is known as the Moabite stone, containing a description by Mesha, king of Moab, of his wars against Israel. An account of a battle between Mesha, king of Moab, and Israel is given in 2 Kings 3:4-27. The translations of a number of tablets and monuments by the Rev. A. H. Sayce, bearing on the history of the Hittite nation, prove beyond question the power and extent of this great nation so often referred to in the sacred narrative. The mummy and coffin of Rameses II (B.C. 1350), the king of Egypt, and the Pharaoh who oppressed the Jews, was found near Thebes in 1871. The Tel el-Amarna tablets, giving undeniable proof of the extension of literary culture among the ancients, were discovered in 1887. See article by Dr. Sayce, page 4. The Black Obelisk, which was engraved about 860-825 B.C., was discovered in 1845 on the site of ancient Nimrud, nineteen miles south of Nineveh. It describes the payment of tribute by Jehu, who was anointed king of Israel in 884 B.C., to Shalmaneser, king of Assyria; also the defeat of "Ahab of Israel" in conjunction with certain tribes of Syria. The cylinder of Sargon, king of Assyria (722-705 B.C.) was discovered in the library of Assur-bani-pal at Kuyundjik (Nineveh) in 1873, and describes the siege and capture of Ashdod, in the land of the Philistines, when Hezekiah was king of Judah. A confirmation of the account is found in Isa. 20:1. The six-sided cylinder of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, written B.C. 705-681, was discovered in 1873 in the library of Assur-bani-pal, at Nineveh, and gives an account of the invasion of Palestine and the siege of Jerusalem. A confirmatory account is found in 2 Kings, chapters 18 and 19. Sennacherib does not record the loss of 185,000 of his men, but does mention the fact that a misfortune visited his camp. The Egyptians had a tradition that field mice entered the camp of the Assyrians and destroyed their war implements. The cylinder of Esar-haddon, found in the same library as those mentioned above, and dating from 681-668 B.C., describes the campaigns of this king, and mentions Manasseh, king of Judah, as his vassal. In 2 Chron. 33:11 is found the confirmation of the inscription. An Assyrian account of the creation was also found in the remarkable library at Nineveh. The same library contained an Assyrian account of the Deluge, which was translated by George Smith. It has a remarkable similarity to the Biblical account of that event, and contains internal evidence of the fact that the Bible account is the original, as the Assyrian account speaks of the ark as a great ship, which was launched and put in charge of a pilot. The builders of the ark knew nothing about ships, and the original word for "ark" in the Biblical narrative means a great box, or chest.