THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES has a corps of correspondents in foreign lands who ought to be appreciated by our readers. In this issue we present an article from "Kosmios," our correspondent in Japan, one who has been there for years; a clear, careful observer on "Japan and the United States." We have another from one of our India correspondents, the editor of The Oriental Watchman, on "Principles of Nihilism in India." We get occasional brief telegrams from that great field showing us something of the principles which are leavening the minds of the natives. This is an article written by an observer of events; one competent to measure them in the light of principles. Another from India by a former Trinidad editor, on "Some Congresses in India."
Two articles from our Roman correspondent setting forth conditions in Rome, Italy; a stirring article from our Swiss correspondent, situated in the very crown of Europe, where, like an eagle in his aerie, he can discern the various movements which are operating in Europe at the present; and right upon these comes our London letter, noting the conditions that are existing in the greatest power in earth, the British empire. And these are what our readers will get constantly. Events among the nations will grow in importance as the days go by. It isn't a world of entirely different nations now; the movements among the nations soon become great world movements. Wrong principles develop into wrong action, crystallize into wrong laws. Right principles cherished will bear fruitage in right action. Lowell has truly expressed both sides of the question in his wonderful poem, "The Present Crisis."
"For mankind are one in spirit, and an instinct bears along, Round the earth's electric circle, the swift flash of right and wrong; Whether conscious or unconscious, yet Humanity's vast frame Thru its ocean-sundered fibers feels the gush of joy or shame;— In the gain or loss of one race all the rest have equal claim."
And it is true that "Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide, In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side; Some great cause, God's new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight, Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right, And the choice goes by forever, 'twixt that darkness and that light."
And so in these great world-movements at the present time which the SIGNS OF THE TIMES portrays and describes there are great, living principles which demand action on the part of every individual and nation.
Apart from these reports of conditions in the great world by our correspondents, we have articles on The Great Day of the Lord, Its Character, Its Relation to the Close of Probation, and God's General Plan of Salvation.
Weekly articles from the pen of Mrs. E. G. White, for general and home, presenting great, deep, simple principles of Christian living. Articles from the pen of Mrs. Adams, home and general; articles on the prophecies of Daniel, by Prof. B. G. Wilkinson; articles on Man's Condition and Need, and How that Need and Condition Is Met in Our Lord Jesus Christ; articles on the True and False Church, and Biblical Evidences for Each.
These are only a very small part of what the SIGNS OF THE TIMES will present before its readers in the year to come. All our readers may not agree with us; many of them may be directly opposed to us regarding some Biblical teachings, such as the Sabbath and the nature of man. We only plead with them to study these questions with us further; but there are many other great questions with which the SIGNS OF THE TIMES deals, to which we would be glad to call their attention.
We hope that our readers will do what they consistently can to extend the circulation of the paper. The journals are so few which treat these great questions from the Biblical and prophetical standpoint, the only true view-point from which they can be treated or rightly seen and understood. Surely we should do all in our power to give the widest circulation to such papers.
Speaking of the "Catholic Centenary," the Homiletic Review says: "The fanatical hatreds of the past have been outlived and forgotten." "This great church has evidently proved to be a salutary factor in American life. Since 1820 over twenty-two million immigrants have come to us, far the larger part of them Catholics. That they and their children have mostly become good Americans is in large part due to the teaching of their church, which, stimulated by its Protestant environment, is incomparably superior to what it is in Spain and South America. In this environment it has naturally suffered losses, estimated by a Roman Catholic in 1893, at twenty millions. Nevertheless, it still numbers upward of thirteen millions, with its chief strength in the great cities, where its good influences are needed most." But it is our great cities which control the politics of this country, and here it is where Roman Catholics have shown their worldly wisdom.
"It Is the Last Time."—No hour more solemn than this in the mighty issues involved this world never saw. The world, the mass, may not so regard it. They are ignorant of the times. Judah and Rome knew not the awful responsibility of putting to death the Son of God. The great world is rushing on to death and the judgment, while human beings, involved in the doom which waits the world, are, like children, amusing themselves with bubbles, oblivious of what awaits them. Angels of God must sorrow at the sight. It is sad to see a man starve with food before him. It is sad to see a man walk off a precipice with clear words of warning ringing upon the air. Yet that is what the great world is doing now. To all the solemn warning sounds out: "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come."
The Day.—We can desecrate that day alone which God has made sacred. We can profane that day alone which God has made holy. We can dishonor only that day which He has honored. On the other hand, we can hallow only that day which God has sanctified. We can keep holy only that day which God has made holy. He has hallowed or made holy but one day; namely, the seventh day of the seven. It is but will worship to do or to attempt to do what He has not commanded. Well may He say, "Who has required this at your hands?"