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Signs of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 33.

General Articles
Earlier text: The Bride of Christ

A Lesson for the Times.

By Ellen G. White

NUMBER ONE. THERE is but one standard of right in the world, and that is God's standard. We are all virtually under equal obligations to meet that high standard; and God holds us alike responsible to him. Society may set up artificial differences and regulations, but the fixed fact remains the same. Men require women to live up to a standard of purity almost equal with that of the angels, while they erect a standard of quite a different character for themselves.
Young men sit down to wine suppers, freely indulge their appetites for intoxicating drink and for tobacco, become reckless in their deportment, vulgar and turbulent in their conversation, and frequently seek low and debased society, excusing themselves under the plea of custom and the ways of the world. But should young ladies follow such a course of dissipation they would be utterly and forever disgraced in the eyes of the whole world.
But it is urged, "Oh, young men must sow their wild oats." This is a terrible fallacy. It should be borne in mind that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Young men who have plunged into dissipation are already reaping what they have sown. They do not have to wait for mature years to come before they realize that they must pay the penalty for every violation of moral law. Every day we see instances of young men who are debilitated in body and mind, whose morals are debased, and who are prematurely dying because they have transgressed Nature's laws, and fallen victims to the temptations which the fashions of the world hold out to them.
The law of Nature is the law of God; and the penalty of its transgression is visited alike upon men and women. It is not customary to hold fathers equally responsible with mothers for the training of their children. How many sermons are preached, and how much is written concerning the mother's responsibility; while the father is apparently relieved from all the burden. We would appeal to fathers, in the hope of arousing them to a sense of their God-given responsibility in regard to their children. We would say, Guard yourselves from cherishing any pernicious habit which, by its influence, might have a direct or indirect tendency to weaken the moral susceptibilities of your children.
While the mother may be doing her whole duty in educating her children to purity of life, the father too frequently, by his own example, may be opening the door of temptation to his children. His indulgence in wine and tobacco, and other sinful practices, lessen the hideousness of sin in their eyes. In keeping with this immoral course, is the talk that many fathers indulge in before their children, to the effect that the law of God is no longer binding upon man; that it was only for the government of the Israelites; or that it was abrogated at the death of Christ. Intelligent youth are not long in comprehending that where there is no law there is no transgression. The wholesome fear of breaking the commandments of God, grows weaker and weaker in their minds, until the moral perceptions which have been carefully trained by the mother, grow to be in harmony with the father's sentiments.
If men strictly and conscientiously kept the law of God, there would be no drunkards, no tobacco inebriates, no distress, penury, and crime. Liquor saloons would be closed for want of patronage, and nine-tenths of all misery existing in the world would come to an end. Young men would walk forth with erect and noble forms, free and elastic step, clear eye, and healthy complexions.
When ministers, from their pulpits, make loyalty to the law of God disreputable; when they join with the world in making it unpopular; when these teachers of the people indulge in the social glass, and the defiling narcotic, tobacco, what depth of vice may not be expected from the youth of this generation? The newspaper records of the day, with their annals of crime, murders, and suicides, give the answer, and point out the terrible dangers of the time.
The signs exist to-day which prophecy predicted would characterize the state of society just prior to the second coming of Christ. You have heard much in regard to the authority and sanctity of the law of the ten commandments. God is the author of that law, which is the foundation of his government in heaven and on earth. All enlightened nations have based their laws upon this grand foundation of all law; yet the legislators and ministers, who are recognized as the leaders and teachers of the people, live in open violation of the principles inculcated in those holy statutes.
Many ministers preach Christ from the pulpit, and then do not hesitate to benumb their senses by wine tippling, or even indulging in brandy and other liquors. The Christian standard says, "Touch not; taste not; handle not;" and the laws of our physical being repeat the solemn injunction with emphasis. It is the duty of every Christian minister to lay this truth plainly before his people, teaching it both by precept and example.
The Bible nowhere teaches the use of intoxicating wine, either as a beverage or as a symbol of the blood of Christ. We appeal to the natural reason whether the blood of Christ is better represented by the pure juice of the grape in its natural state, or after it has been converted into a fermented and intoxicating wine. We maintain that the former is the only symbol properly representing the sacred blood of Christ, and a symbol established by himself; and we urge that the latter should never be placed upon the Lord's table.
It has been declared by some that Christ favored the moderate use of fermented wine, in witness whereof they refer to his miracle of changing water into wine. But we protest that Christ never made intoxicating wine; such an act would have been contrary to all the teachings and example of his life. He was the Angel who led the children of Israel in the wilderness. He spoke the law from Sinai. He prohibited those who officiated in holy office from using wine; and his reasons for so doing are explicit; viz., that they may have clear judgment to distinguish between the common and the sacred, to do justice to the fatherless and widows, to teach his statutes and laws to Israel, and to accept no bribes. Those who abolish the law of God for the sake of getting rid of the Sabbath, do away with the most solemn restrictions against using liquor.
He who appeared to the wife of Manoah, and told her she should bear a son, and described his character for strength, and charged her to drink no wine or strong drink, for the child should be a Nazarite from his birth; he who appeared to Zacharias, and gave him directions regarding the unborn John, charging him that the child should drink no wine or strong drink, was not one who would make intoxicating wine and give it to the people upon a wedding occasion. The wine which Christ manufactured from water by the miracle of his power, was the pure juice of the grape. And the object of the Saviour, in this miracle, was to bring the perverted taste of the governor of the feast to a healthy condition, by inducing him to acknowledge that this wine was superior in quality to any he had before tasted.
There are those in our day, who, in order to excuse their own sins, follow the example of the Jews, and charge Christ with being a Sabbath-breaker and wine-bibber, notwithstanding he declared that he kept his Father's commandments, and his whole life was an example of temperance and self-denial. Had he been a wine-bibber he could not have been a perfect offering, and the virtue of his blood would have been of no avail. But this charge, as well as the former, is best refuted by the character and teachings of Christ himself.
The Christian church is pronounced to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world. Can we apply this to the churches of to-day, many of whose members are using, not only the defiling narcotic, tobacco, but intoxicating wine, and spirituous liquor, and are placing the wine-cup to their neighbor's lips? The church of Christ should be a school in which the inexperienced youth should be educated to control their appetites, from a moral and religious standpoint. They should there be taught how unsafe it is to tamper with temptation, to dally with sin; that there is no such thing as being a moderate and temperate drinker; that the path of the tippler is ever downward. They should be exhorted to "look not upon the wine when it is red," which "at the last biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder."—MRS. E. G. WHITE, in Health Reformer.

Preachers and Cooks.

A WRITER in the Galveston Christian Advocate tells this story of a camp-meeting held in Middle Tennessee, and presided over by the Rev. Dr. G.:—
One day, towards the close of meeting, which had been most successful, the weather being a little cool, the doctor went behind the tent to the fire to warm himself. He found there an elderly colored woman busy with the cooking, preparing the ample meal for many guests. The doctor noticed that she was reticent and grum. He felt kindly toward the faithful cook, and said to her in his pleasant way:—
"Aunty, how are you enjoying the meeting?"
Said she, scarcely looking at him, "I ain't enjoying it at all!"
"Why, what's the matter?" said the doctor.
"I do n't have no pleasure. I thought I was gwine to have a good time."
"Why do n't you have a good time?"
" 'Cause I do n't get to meetin' hardly at all. I hears de singin' out dare, but I'se no time to go. I am all time here wid pots and ovens and things cooking. I wish I had n't come, no how—I ain't a gitting good, and I'se doing no good."
The doctor's Christian sympathies were quite touched with this simple recital of the old servant's disappointment. So he felt he must comfort her if he could. He said:—
"Why, aunty, you do n't look at it right. You are doing a great deal of good, much more than you think."
Hearing this, she straightened up, and looked with interest to know what the doctor would say.
"Why," said the doctor, "we could not get on without you. We preachers and cooks are the most important and useful people here. I would like to know what all these people would do without us? Why, if it were not for us the meeting would not last a day. So you see, aunty, you are doing a great work here; and be sure the Lord will remember and reward you."
As the doctor proceeded the old woman's grim countenance relaxed into a smile, her eye glistened with a tear of grateful joy, and she burst into an exclamation:—
"Dat's so! I never thought of it before. Bless de Lord! I believe I am doing some good."
All her grief was gone—'twas morning with her soul.
"If done to obey thy laws, E'en servile labors shine, Hallowed is toil, if this the cause, The meanest work divine."

Moderate Drinking.

PERMIT me to illustrate my views of moderate drinking, by relating substantially a thrilling scene which occurred in a neighboring town in a neighboring State, while the people were gathered to discuss the merits of the license question, and decide informally whether neighbors should any longer be permitted to destroy each other by vending alcoholic poisons.
The town had suffered greatly from the sale and use of intoxicating liquors. The leading influences were opposed to total abstinence. At the meeting, the clergyman, a deacon, and the physician, were present, and were all in favor of continuing the custom of license—all in favor of permitting a few men of high moral character to sell alcohol—for they all agreed that alcohol in moderation, when used as a beverage, was a good creature of God, and also to restrict the sale or moderate use, was an unjust interference with human liberty, and a reflection upon the benevolence of the Almighty. They all united in the belief that in the use of alcohol as a beverage, excess alone was to be avoided.
The feeling appeared to be all one way, when a single teetotaler, who was present by accident, but who had been a former resident of the town, begged leave to differ from the speakers who had preceded him. He entered into a history of the village from its earliest settlement; he called the attention of the assembly to the desolation, moderate drinking had brought upon families and individuals; he pointed to the poor-house, the prison-house, and the grave-yard, for its numerous victims; he urged the people by every consideration of mercy, to let down the flood gates, and prevent, as far as possible, the continued desolation of families, by the moderate use of alcohol. But all would not do. The arguments of the clergyman, the deacon, and the physician, backed by station, learning, and influence, were too much for the single teetotaler. No one arose to continue the discussion or support him, and the president of the meeting was about to put the question when all at once there arose from one corner of the room a miserable female. She was thinly clad, and her appearance indicated the utmost wretchedness, and that her mortal career was almost closed. After a moment of silence and all eyes being fixed upon her, she stretched her attenuated body to its utmost hight, then extending her long arms to their greatest length, and raising her voice to a shrill pitch she called upon all to look upon her."Yes!" she said, "look upon me, and then hear me. All that the last speaker has said relative to moderate drinking, as being the father of drunkenness, is true. All practice, all experience, declare its truth. All drinking of alcoholic poison, as a beverage, in health, is excess. Look upon me. You all know me, or once did. You all know that I was once the mistress of the best farm in this town. You all know, too, I once had one of the best—the most devoted, of husbands. You all know I had five noble-hearted, industrious boys. Where are they now? Doctor, where are they now? You all know. You all know they all lay in a row, side by side, in yonder church-yard; all—every one of them—filling the drunkard's grave! They were all taught that moderate drinking was safe—excess alone ought to be avoided; and they never acknowledged excess. They quoted you, and you, and you, as authority, pointing with her shred of a finger to the priest, deacon, and doctor. They thought themselves safe under such teachers. But I saw the gradual change coming over my family and prospects with dismay and horror: I felt we were all to be overwhelmed in one common ruin; I tried to ward off the blow; I tried to break the spell—the delusive spell, in which the idea of the benefits of moderate drinking had involved my husband and sons; I begged, I prayed but the odds were greatly against me. The priest said the poison that was destroying my husband and boys was a good creature of God; the deacon, who sits under the pulpit there, and took our farm to pay his rum bills, sold them the poison; the physician said that a little was good, and excess ought to be avoided. My poor husband and my dear boys fell into the snare, and one after another was conveyed to the dishonored grave of the drunkard. Now look at me again—you probably see me for the last time—my sand is almost run. I have dragged my exhausted frame from my present abode—your poor-house—to warn you all—to warn you, deacon—to warn you, false teacher of God's word"—and with her arms high flung, and her tall form stretched to its utmost, and her voice raised to an unearthly pitch, she exclaimed, "I shall stand before the judgment-seat of God—I shall meet you there, ye false guides, and be a swift witness against you all." The miserable female vanished, a dead silence pervaded the assembly. The priest, deacon, and physician, hung their heads. The president of the meeting put the question: Shall we have any more licenses to sell alcoholic poisons, to be drank as a beverage? The response was unanimous—No! Friends of humanity everywhere, what would have been your verdict had you been there?
—Sel.

Stand Like the Anvil.

"Stand like the anvil," when the stroke Of stalwart men falls fierce and fast, Storms but more deeply root the oak, Whose brawny arms embrace the blast.
"Stand like the anvil," when the sparks Fly far and wide a fiery shower, Virtue and truth must still be marks Where malice proves its want of power.
"Stand like the anvil," when the bar Lies red and glowing on its breast; Duty shall be life's leading star, And conscious innocence its rest.
"Stand like the anvil;" noise and heat Are born of earth and die with time; The soul, like God, its source and seat, Is solemn, still, serene, sublime. —Sel.

GOOD HEALTH.

Proper Diet for Man.

OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.

MANY objections to the exclusive use of vegetable food have been proposed, but most of them are without either logical or practical force, and are only urged in the vain attempt to reconcile unnatural and perverted habits with physiological laws. We will examine some of them without particular reference to consecutive arrangement.
1. Does not the Bible sanction meat eating? So says the Christian objector who honestly and sincerely believes that the Scriptures not only countenance but command the use of animal food. Our space is here too limited to allow us to go into all the details of the Scripture argument; but we will call attention to two points which should be sufficient to satisfy the objector: 1. Meat used in the way in which the Bible directs, and as the Jews now use it, as already described, would be comparatively harmless. 2. Abundant evidence can be produced to show that in his dealings with mankind Providence has permitted, and even regulated by laws, many things which he neither directed nor sanctioned. Instances of this kind are so familiar that specification is unnecessary.
2. But, admitting that meat is stimulating, is not a certain amount of stimulus needed, at least, by certain temperaments?
Stimulation is invariably the result of poisoning. Poisoning is a violation of the laws of nature. The habitual use of any stimulant, then, must be physical sin, leaving out the question of morality. Who will contend that a certain amount of physical transgression is necessary for some temperaments any more than that a certain amount of immorality would be beneficial to certain individuals. If God has so constituted people that they find it necessary to transgress some of the physical laws of their being by using stimulus, or in any other way, is it not equally probable that he has made it true that the highest and most perfect development of some persons can only be attained by a moderate indulgence in vice—stealing a little occasionally, lying or cheating now and then? The absurdity of the objection reveals its falsity.
3. Is not flesh necessary to the inhabitants of cold climates to prevent them from freezing? and when sailors go North are they not obliged to make use of a large proportion of animal fat to keep them warm?
This objection is easily answered, for it is not founded on facts. It is not disputed that the Esquimaux and similar tribes eat large quantities of animal food, but science demonstrates in the clearest manner that this is wholly unnecessary, so far as the maintenance of life is concerned. According to Dr. Edward Smith, F. R. S., one pound of beef steak, when eaten, will produce only one-third as much heat as a pound of rice, oatmeal, or wheat flour. And a pound of either of these grains will produce more than one-half as much heat as a pound of pure fat—whale oil or bear's oil. It is certainly true, then, that the vegetable kingdom furnishes heat-producing elements in sufficient quantity to supply all of the wants of man in this direction. If the northern barbarians cannot obtain a sufficient quantity of vegetable food to sustain life, they would doubtless find it much for their health to remove to some milder climate.
4. If we don't eat meat, what shall be done with all of our domestic animals, our oxen? our sheep? our hogs? and, the Frenchman would add, our broken-down horses?
What shall we do with them? Anything but devour them. Do with our horses what we have always done with them until the fastidious (?) Frenchman conceived the idea of eating the faithful animal after he had outlived his usefulness. Do with our cows and oxen just what we do with horses, and just what the people of other countries do with them. As long as biting frosts and chilling winds exist, we can find something to do with the sheep without dining upon him. And as for the hog, we will let him attend to his natural and quite important business as scavenger. If he gets so numerous as to overrun us, and self preservation becomes necessary, we can use him to lubricate our machinery, light our halls, and for several other useful purposes. Certainly, there is no necessity for eating him to get him out of the way!
5. Has not the long use of animal food by the human family made such changes in their dietetic relations that flesh is now better adapted to their wants than vegetable food, although not originally designed for their sustenance?
In answering this objection, we will call attention to the two following considerations: 1. Such a change as the objection supposes is quite improbable. The laws of man's nature are not the uncertain products of circumstances, they are great, immutable principles founded in his nature and organization. They are not mere arbitrary, empirical rules, instituted by some superior, governing being simply for man's annoyance. They are laws which exist as a necessary consequence of man's existence, being co-existent with him. How, then, can circumstances change them? How can the whims of perverted taste subvert them? Will any amount of sinning change one "jot or tittle" of the moral law? Never; for that perfect code is founded in man's moral nature. Equally unchangeable are physical laws; for they are founded in man's physical nature. 2. But a change of this kind has never taken place. It could only take place by a corresponding change in the structure of the human system; for as we have already seen those animals which use animal food possess different alimentary organs from those which use vegetable. Had man become carnivorous by long use of animal food, we should find him with teeth, and other organs of alimentation, like those of carnivorous animals, which we have already seen is not true. Then we must conclude that so far as a constitutional change in favor of a flesh diet is concerned, its occurrence is not only improbable, but is untrue in fact.
6. But the change from a flesh diet to an exclusively vegetable one is so difficult; is not this an evidence in favor of animal food?
Instead of being an evidence in favor of the use of flesh, this objection furnishes one of the strongest arguments against its use; just as the tobacco-user's craving for the filthy weed, and the drunkard's longing for the fiery draught, the opium-eater's frenzy for his narcotic drug, are the most indubitable evidences of their pernicious character.

SECULAR NEWS.

By Editor

—The first steamer appeared on the Thames in 1801.
—San Francisco has a population of 320,000.
—In the United States there are 530 females practicing as doctors, 420 as dentists, 5 as lawyers, and 68 as preachers.
—The college of physicians and surgeons in Philadelphia, after careful examination, certify that in the city of Philadelphia alone, at least seven hundred deaths were traced to intemperance in a single year.
—Twenty-eight railways in the United States were under foreclosure during the past six months. Their total length is 2,184 miles and their indebtedness $114,674,000. All but one were Western roads.
—The government has bought three hundred thousand ounces of fine silver from the Bank of California, three hundred thousand from the Anglo-California Bank, and seventy thousand from Lazard Freres, all payable in standard dollars.
—Four wagons were required to carry away the money taken at the gates of the Paris Exposition on the 30th of June. Ordinarily no money is taken at the gates, as tickets must be purchased elsewhere, but the day of the fete the price of admission was only five cents and no tickets were required. As there is no piece in the French coinage between two cents and ten cents, all the money, about 130,000 francs, was bronze one and two cent pieces.
—There were three earthquake shocks felt at Cave Creek, southern Utah, on the 16th, breaking windows and dishes.
—The little republic of Switzerland has an army of 20,000, organized in eight divisions. There are 94,000 infantry, 16,500 artillery, 3,500 engineers, 2,700 sanitary force, and 2,000 cavalry. Besides this, which is called the elite army, there is a Landwehr of 92,000 men.
—August 21, the works of the Miners' Powder Company at Negaunee, Mich., exploded, doing terrible execution upon buildings, fences, glass and trees, and killing five men. The men were engaged in making nitro-glycerine and other powerful powder. The cause of the explosion is unknown.
—A destructive flood is reported from Eureka, Nevada, on the 15th. No lives were lost. The streets were gullied throughout, and strewn with cordwood and rubbish. All the lower stories were flooded. It was not a cloudburst, in the technical acceptation of that term, but merely a violent rainstorm extending over the forty mile area of watershed lying south of the town, the only outlet for which is the narrow canyon in which the town of Eureka is built. It had been raining for about two hours before the whistles from the furnaces and men on horseback gave warning of the approach of the flood. It is believed no occupied houses were washed away, buildings erected since the flood of four years ago having been built on a higher plain. Loss estimated at from $50,000 to $60,000.

How to Use a Day.

"The day," says the greatest of German poets, "is extremely long if one knows how to appreciate and to employ it; and in conformity with this maxim was the minute and orderly arrangement which ran through his life, husbanding to the best advantage all the moments of each day. It is said of John Wesley, who accomplished an almost incredible amount of labor, that "when you met him in the street of a crowded city, he attracted notice, not by his band and cassock, and his long hair, but by his face and manner, both indicating that all his minutes were numbered, and that not one was to be lost." "Though I am always in haste," he said, "I am never in a hurry, because I never undertake more than I can go through with perfect calmness of spirit." It is not he who works the hardest and the longest, but he who plans his work most wisely, and thus labors to the best advantage, that accomplishes the most. As all our time is measured out to us day by day, that plan of life is the most perfect which includes within itself the most distinct and profitable employment of each day as it comes.—Religious Magazine.

RELIGIOUS NEWS AND NOTES.

By Editor

  • There are now 19,872 Sunday-schools in the Methodist Episcopal church.
  • The number of churches and of converts in Japan have doubled within the past year.
  • The young ladies of Packer Institute, Brooklyn, support three missionary teachers in Japan.
  • Eleven young ladies are studying at the London Medical school in preparation for missionary work in India and Africa.
  • The churches in Scotland are pretty generally engaged in making collections for the China Famine Fund, and with gratifying results.
  • A translation of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress has just been completed in the Russian language, and is published in a cheap popular edition.
  • What is said to have been the largest Japanese audience a missionary has ever had at one time numbered 3,000 and was accorded Mr. Atkinson, an American missionary, assisted by a native pastor and an ex-minister of the government.
  • The work of the New York city Mission and Tract Society for July was as follows; with forty missionaries, 512 meetings were held, 3,696 visits made, 6,174 tracts distributed, and 517 families aided. The receipts were $1,055; payments, $3,382; debt, $17,595.
  • The largest church organization in Atlanta, Ga., is the First Colored Baptist, with a membership of 1,450. Two of the white churches have 500 members each. Fifteen out of the forty churches are Baptist. The colored Baptists of Georgia have bought the land and are about to establish a college of a high grade in Atlanta.
  • The efforts to utilize the Paris Exposition for religious purposes have assumed large proportions. The London Tract Society has distributed there 350,000 copies of its publications. The New York Sabbath Committee have sent over 20,000 copies of an essay on the "Sabbath in the United States." The Bible societies are also distributing cheap Bibles and Testaments in various languages, and in great numbers.
  • In proportion to population, the Bible has been more exclusively bought and spread in Spain during the last ten years, than in either France or Italy. In Madrid there are five settled Protestant congregations, with a considerable regular attendance, besides four schools well attended. In Seville there are two congregations and schools. In Barcelona, three congregations and large schools. In most of the cities and towns there is at least one Protestant congregation and school, larger or smaller.

The Christian's Course.

By Eliza H. Morton

A season brief of love and song, A battle fierce 'gainst sin and wrong, A cup of pain! A draught of woe! A cross to bear where'er we go, A foretaste sweet of joy divine, And lo! we reach the hidden line; A shudder long! A silence deep! A funeral train! A quiet sleep! And life is o'er, We know no more.
A season brief of rest below, A little night of naught to know, A grassy mound! A lowly bed! Wild winds above! Around the dead! A trumpet sound! A song afar! And lo! the graves burst all ajar, A shudder long! A glad surprise! A shining band,—the pure and wise. And death is o'er, To come no more.
A season long of peace and rest, An endless day among the blest, A cup of joy! A draught of love! A crown to wear! A home above! A blessing full! A robe of white, And lo! the world is filled with light. A glory fresh! A heart all pure! A beauty rare! A country sure! And sin all o'er, To harm no more.
Eliza H. Morton.

Upward.

By E. H. M.

Human life should ever tend upward. Our aim should be heaven, and our object immortal glory. When the heart grows faint, the feet become weary and the tired eyes look downward, then the storm of life is felt in all its relentless power, and bitter trials, like sharp thorns, seem to pierce the very soul. But when we keep our eyes fixed on the "Leading Star—Jesus," then a strange unutterable happiness steals over us. The hand of healing and the voice of pardon gives comfort and rest. Earthly sorrow becomes swallowed up in victorious joy. The strength of divinity overshadows mortal weakness and the tender pity of our God, becomes a solace in the day of trouble. "Under the shadow of the everlasting wings there is refuge." Look upward and restful peace will come downward. Let us, then, keep our eyes above the gloom of earth and go onward and upward from strength to strength, until the glorious light of eternal truth rewards our efforts.
E. H. M.

OBITUARY.

DIED, in Sebastapol, California, August 8, 1878, Mary, wife of B. S. Freeman, aged forty-one years, ten months and six days. She had been a great sufferer for the past three months, but when her sufferings were greatest she would point upwards. Ever since she embraced the Advent doctrine some eight years ago she expressed a desire to live to see the coming of the Lord. She died in the hope of standing among the redeemed on Mount Zion. Owing to circumstances there was no service at the time of burial. It will be at some future time.
DIED of inflammation of the kidneys, in Otley, Marion county, Iowa, December 9, 1877, Jonathan H. James.
MRS. ABIGAIL C. JAMES.
[Oakland papers please copy.]

Reno, Nevada.

By John Norton Loughborough

Our effort with the tent in Reno, closed Sunday evening, August 18. Yesterday we took down the tent and placed it in storage for the season. During the twenty-eight days of labor we had preaching every evening, and four day meetings. These meetings were well attended, especially considering the lack of religious interest in the place. We were told by some of the oldest settlers that they never saw a larger attendance in the place to a series of meetings held there by any denomination.
We found in Reno and vicinity four Sabbath-keepers. These with seventeen others have signed a covenant to keep God’s commandments. Two others took their stand to keep the Sabbath but did not sign the covenant, one of them resides in Nebraska and will make himself known to our people, when he goes there a few months hence. We leave twenty-two Sabbath-keepers in Reno. These have pledged $274,56, systematic benevolence, and have arranged for a regular Sabbath-school and Bible class on the Sabbath, and a prayer-meeting each Tuesday evening. We sold during the meeting about $50, worth of books. Gave away 2400 pages of tracts and obtained ten new subscribers for the Signs.
In our brief stay in Reno, we have studied to come to the point in our lectures, and above all to seek the Lord for his spirit to guide us. The Lord has been with us. To his name be the praise for the results already apparent from the effort.
My mind has been much exercised the last year relative to the opening of this mission in Nevada. I spent the month of February and the last month in the State, and notwithstanding the extra burden in the shape of much letter writing, that was absolutely necessary to keep the work going on properly at all points in California during my absence to Nevada, I am glad that I have had the privilege of laboring there. I am also pleased with the courage with which the few in Nevada took hold to establish the mission. I congratulate them with the prospect of having a young minister to take hold actively to push on the work in the State. God bless you and the minister that may be sent.
One year ago there were about ten or twelve Sabbath-keepers in Nevada, now there are about forty-five. Then your systematic benevolence was about $508.56, per year. Now you have no tent, now you have a good clean and neat 50-ft tent all paid for with its outfit, stored safely and insured. All expenses of the mission are paid and there is about $50, in your treasury, besides some of the quarterly dues in one church to be collected for the present quarter, with which to open up the labors when your permanent minister shall come into the State. I shall look with interest upon this young mission in your State, wherever my lot may be cast.
Now what you need, is for those in the truth already to seek an earnest and thorough consecration of heart to God. Do not use the precious truths you have received as a goad to stir up others. In meekness live out the truth and let those around you know that there is power in the truth, with the blessing of God, to reform the entire being, and enable you to overcome every wrong habit, and passion. Be meek, gentle, and ever earnestly plead with God for yourselves and for his precious cause in Nevada. August 20, 1878. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

Southern California Camp-Meeting.

THE southern California camp-meeting of Seventh-day Adventists will be held near Grangeville, Tulare county, commencing Tuesday morning, September 10, at six A. M., and closing Monday morning, September 16, at six A. M. Let all our brethren and sisters of the southern California field come to this meeting in the same manner as is requested above of those in the northern part of the State. We are one, and if we seek God alike we may share like blessings at both meetings.
M. J. CHURCH, W. R. SMITH, R. F. EAGLE, Camp-Meeting Com. of Southern Cal.

B. A. STEPHENS

By B. A. Stephens

Placerville, Tent No. 3.

Meetings here closed Sunday, August 18. Sixteen persons signed the covenant to keep the Sabbath, among whom was a niece of Elder J. F. Ballenger, of Illinois, with her husband. Others are keeping the Sabbath, and there is hope for a few more. In company with Brother J. D. Rice, we expect to pitch the tent in Santa Rosa the first week in September.

B. A. STEPHENS

Eugene City, Oregon.

By Alonzo Trévier Jones

SINCE my last report a Disciple minister came to this place, heralded as the champion of California. Tuesday evening, August 13, he spoke upon the Sabbath question. I reviewed him with good effect the following evening. The tent was well filled. On Thursday evening, Friday forenoon, and afternoon, we had a debate with him. I affirmed that “The Sabbath of the fourth commandment was given at creation, and is binding on all men.” He denied it, but utterly failed to disprove it. When the last session closed, the chairman, who was a leading lawyer of Eugene, asked us if he should submit the question to the audience. Elder Mc Corkle, said no, and I said, yes. So the question was submitted, for all who believed that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment was given at Creation and is binding on all men to arise. Forty-six arose. Then those who believed that it had been abolished and another day was the one, were called to arise, and thirty-five arose, and there were twenty-three who did not vote either way. So the truth had the victory by the majority of eleven. This has helped us greatly, it has confirmed those who had already decided, it has caused others to decide for the truth who were in doubt, and has exalted the truth, and the cause in this place. It has made us many friends. We have now twenty substantial names to the covenant, and others to come, some of whom are already keeping the Sabbath. We express our gratitude to our dear Lord for our abundant grace, and ever present help in time of need. To his great name be all the praise and glory through the precious name and merits of Jesus.
August 19, 1878. A. T. JONES.

Accommodating.

By Editor

WE here acknowledge a kind favor rendered by Messrs. Butler & Bowman, job printers of this city. Last week our large press broke down while the paper was being printed, and while over three thousand copies were yet to be put through. The forms were taken to the above mentioned establishment and the remainder of the edition printed. When the bill was called for, we were informed that there was no charge. We appreciate such disinterested favors.

Northern California Camp-Meeting.

By G. D. Hager, E. R. Gillett, John Custer

THE northern California camp-meeting of Seventh-day Adventists will be held at Yountville, Napa county, commencing Thursday morning, August 29, at six A. M., and closing September 5, at six A. M. Let all our brethren and sisters in northern California make especial effort to attend this meeting. Come, bringing your friends and children with you. Come, praying the Lord to meet with us in power. Come, consecrating yourselves to God as never before. Come so as to be all in readiness to commence with the meeting and to stay to its close. Coming thus, it may be made to us indeed a source of great spiritual profit. G. D. HAGER, E. R. GILLETT, JOHN CUSTER, Camp-Meeting Com. of Northern Cal.

California Conference.

By John Norton Loughborough, John Morrison, W. N. Glenn

The seventh annual session of the California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists will be held at Yountville, Napa county, in connection with the camp-meeting, from August 29 to September 5, 1878. First session the 29th, at 5 P. M. Let each company choose their delegates immediately, furnishing them with credentials and a statement of the standing of the church, both financially and as to numbers. All ministers and licentiates should have their written reports of labor and expenses prepared to pass in at the first session. Let all church and systematic benevolence books be brought to the Conference.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, JOHN MORRISON, W. N. GLENN, California Conference Committee.
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