THERE was an angry frown on the countenance of Deacon Jonas Browning. There were tears on the sad face of his wife.
“He shall be sent to sea!” said Deacon Browning sternly.
There was a pleading look in the eyes of Mrs. Browning, as she lifted them to the iron face of her husband. But no words passed her lips.
“He shall be sent to sea! It is my last hope.”
“Philip is very young, Jonas,” said Mrs. Browning.
“Not too young for evil, and, therefore, not too young for the discipline needed to eradicate evil. He shall go to sea! Captain Ellis sails in the Fanny Williams on next Monday. I will call upon him this very day.”
“Isn’t the Fanny Williams a whaler?” The lips of Mrs. Browning quivered and her voice had a choking sound.
“Yes,” was firmly answered.
“I wouldn’t send him away in a whaler, Jonas. Remember he is very young, not thirteen till April.”
“Young or old, Mary, he’s got to go,” said the stern deacon, who was a believer in the gospel of the law. He was no weak advocate of moral suasion, as it is familiarly termed. He went in for law, and was a strict constructionist. Implicit obedience was the statute for him, and deviations therefrom met the never withheld penalty.
Mrs. Browning entered into no argument with her husband, for she knew that would be useless. She had never succeeded in changing his purpose by argument in her life. And so she bent her eyes meekly to the floor again, while the tears crept over her face, and fell in large, bright drops upon the carpet. Deacon Browning saw the tears but they did not move him. He was tear proof.
Philip, the offending member of the Browning family, was a bright, active, restless boy, who, from the start, had been a rebel against unreasonable authority, and as a matter of course, not unfrequently against authority both just and reasonable. Punishment had only hardened him, increasing instead of diminishing his power of endurance. The particular offense for which he was now in disgrace was, it must be owned, rather a serious one. He had, in company with three other boys of his age, known as the greatest reprobates in the village, rifled a choice plum tree belonging to a neighbor, of all the fruit it contained, and then killed a favorite dog, which, happening to discover them at their work, attempted to drive them from the garden. The neighbor had complained to Deacon Browning, accompanying his complaint with a threat to have Philip arrested for stealing.
“If you don’t do something with that boy of yours,” he added with considerable feeling, “he’ll end his days in the State prison or on the gallows.”
Hard words were these for the ears of Deacon Browning—hard words, and with a prophetic conviction in them. He had not a very creative imagination, but in this instance the prediction of his angry neighbor conjured up in his mind the image of a prison and a gallows, causing a shudder to pass along his nerves and the cold perspiration to start upon his forehead. From that moment the resolution of Deacon Browning was taken.
The boy was on the brink of ruin, and must be saved at all hazards. As to the means of doing this it never entered into the heart of Deacon Browning to conceive of any other than involved harsh discipline. The Canaanite was in the land and must be driven out with fire and sword. With him the word duty had a stern signification. He had always tried to do his duty, moving steadily onward in the path of life, and crushing down all vanities and evils that sprang up by the way, under a heel shod with iron.
“He shall be sent to sea.” That was the last desperate remedy. In his mind, as in the minds of many like him some years ago, a ship was the great school of reform; and when a boy was deemed incorrigible, he was sent off to sea, usually to have his evil inclinations hardened into permanent qualities.
When Deacon Browning met his son Philip, after receiving the intelligence of his great offense, it was with a stern, angry repulsion. He did not see the look of appeal, the sigh of repentance, the plea for mercy, that was in his tearful eyes. A single word of kindness would have broken up the great deep of the boy’s heart, and, impelled by the warmer impulses inherited from his mother, he would have flung himself weeping into his father’s arms. But Deacon Browning had separated duty from kindness. The one was a stern corrector of evil, the other a smiling approver of good.
From his home to the wharf, where the Fanny Williams lay all equipped for sea, Deacon Browning bent his steps. Captain Ellis, a rough, hard man, was on board. After listening to the father’s story and requests, he said, bluntly:—
“If you put your boy on board the Fanny Williams, he’ll have to bend or break, that is certain. Take my advice, and give the matter a second thought. He’ll have a dog’s life of it in a whaler. It is my opinion that your
lad hasn’t stuff enough in him for this experiment.”
“I’ll risk it,” replied the deacon, “he’s got too much stuff in him to stay at home, that’s the trouble. The bend or break system is the only one in which I have any faith.”
“As you like, Deacon. I want another boy, and yours will answer, I guess.”
“When do you sail?” he inquired.
“On Monday.”
“Very well, I’ll bring the boy down tomorrow.”
The thing was settled; the deacon did not feel altogether comfortable in mind. Philip was young for such an experiment, as the mother had urged. And how very opportunely a leaf in the book of his memory was turned on which was written the story of a poor boy’s wrongs and sufferings at sea. Many years ago his heart had grown sick over the record. He tried to look away from the page, but could not. It seemed to hold his eye by a kind of fascination.
Still he did not relent. Duty required him to go steadily forward, and execute his purpose. There was no other hope for the boy.
“Philip!” It was thus he announced his determination. “I am going to send you to sea with Captain Ellis. It’s my last hope. Steadily bent, as you are, on evil, I can no longer suffer you to remain at home. The boy who begins with robbing his neighbor’s garden is in great danger of ending his career upon the gallows. To save you, if possible, from a fate like this, I now send you to sea.”
Very sternly, very harshly, almost angrily, was this said. Not the smallest impression did it seem to make upon the boy, who stood with his eyes cast down, an image of stubborn self-will and persistent rebellion.
(Concluded next week)
COURTESY TO SERVANTS.
THE servant's right to be politely treated is just as absolute and indefeasible as that of the queen. She is a child of the great King, and to her applies the royal law, according to the scripture, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." That law which is the highest of all, surely includes politeness. If we are bound to love our neighbors as ourselves, we are bound to treat them courteously at any rate. This is the first and most rudimental of all our duties to them. Your servant, dear madam, is your neighbor—the nearest of all your neighbors. She has a right, then, under this royal law—which is itself the spirit of all just laws—to be courteously treated by you. It is no more condescension for you to use respect and gentleness in your intercourse with her, than it is for her to sweep your floors or build your fires. You are entitled to no more credit for speaking kindly to her than you are for not stealing her pocket handkerchiefs. If you do not govern yourself, in all your conversation with her, by the same laws of courtesy which you observe with the callers in your parlors, you are a very vulgar person. The maid in your kitchen is a woman; the guest in your parlor is nothing more. Will you give to silks and feathers and a purse what you deny to womanhood? That is the very essence of vulgarity. Do not say that the guest never tries your temper669as the servant does. You know that many of those whom you greet with smiles tell lies about you when they are out of your sight. The laws of good manners lead you to treat their deceitfulness with forbearance. Should they not require equal forbearance toward the ignorant servant girl in your kitchen?—Hearth and Home.
BE GENTLE, FORGIVING, AND KIND.
By J. G. Tisdale
BY J. G. TISDALE.
Oh! why are we always so ready
To hear what another may say,
To canvass the faults of a neighbor,
Forgetting our own by the way?
We know not the hearts that we censure.
Be gentle, forgiving, and kind;
One drop from the fountain of pity,
A wound that is bleeding may bind.
A word, like an angel of mercy,
The sunshine of gladness may bear;
May cheer a lone spirit forsaken,
Or add to the weight of its care.
A word, do we think of its import?
Though uttered perhaps with a smile,
A heart may be writhing beneath it,
Or breaking with anguish the while.
A word that in coldness is spoken
May sever the friendship of years;
The flower of feeling may wither,
And leave them in sorrow and tears.
Then why are we always so ready
To hear what another may say,
To canvass the faults of a brother,
Forgetting our own by the way?
Health and Temperance.
By P. T. Rhodes, G. S. Dearborn, John D. Knox, S. E. Pendleton
RESULTS OF PROHIBITION IN KANSAS.
WE, the members of the Central Kansas Preachers’ Meeting, assembled in Topeka, July 29, 1889, knowing that false statements and gross misrepresentations have been and are now being circulated throughout the East and other sections of the country, relative to the operation and effect of the Prohibitory Amendment of our State upon immigration, business, and morals, and desiring to circulate among all friends of temperance and legal prohibition of the liquor traffic, the facts as they exist, do herein set forth the following:—
Since the law prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicants (save for the excepted purposes of science and medicine) went into effect, though it was opposed for two years with vigor on the part of the liquor element, there is now a vigorous and successful enforcement of the law. There exist no open saloons. Instead of immigration being discouraged and suppressed, our vast country is filling up with a class of sober, frugal, moral, and industrious population. The business interests of our State were never more healthy and prosperous. Large capital from abroad is seeking investment among us. Our cities and towns show an absence of the drunken, idle, rabble class, and the presence of a noble, sober, and trustworthy people. That a low, lawless class clandestinely secrete in cellars and retired rooms small quantities of liquor for their own personal use, and fraudulent sale under the guise of medicine, we freely admit. So also do men with subtlety and secrecy enter the houses of our people and invade their premises for plunder. The officers of the law are with vigilance searching out and bringing to justice the violators of the law with such promptness as to discourage and deter offenders, and consequently the number of violators is very limited. The enforcement of the law has reduced in a remarkable degree the number of convicts in our State prison. It has reduced very largely the number of criminal cases in our courts. It has added greater security and safety to travel on our railroads. It has made it possible for large bodies of people to assemble for all lawful purposes without annoyance from intoxicated persons. It has reduced the number of our county dependents, and in that and other ways has reduced taxation.
The glory of prohibition in Kansas is that the open saloon is forever gone, and drunkard making of our sons and brothers, husbands and fathers, is at an end. A drunken man upon the streets of our capital city of 50,000 inhabitants is of rare occurrence. Our people throughout the State, with a very limited exception, are in perfect harmony with the law, and have no desire to return to the days and doings of the open saloon and free whisky. There are among us a small minority of men, and others upon our borders, whose appetites and business interests lie in the direction of the liquor traffic, who are clamorous for, and are agitating the question of, re-submission, but the great wall of legal prohibition sentiment stands abreast the feeble dashes of this foul spray.
We have tried local option, which worked good for a time in certain localities, but found it unsatisfactory, it being liable to frequent reversions and uncertainty as a measure for the suppression of the liquor traffic.
That high license would put a stronger and more universal check upon the liquor traffic in any State than legal prohibition, we scout as a trick, a deception, and a fraud upon temperance people, and wholly in the interests of the liquor dealers.
Our observation proves that our expenses for prosecutions, convictions, and confinement in jails and prisons, are far less than the expenses of courts, prisons, jails, asylums, poverty, and loss of time under the reign of the open saloon. Prohibition does verily prohibit in Kansas.
We desire to add a word of advice to States that are pushing the canvass for a prohibitory amendment. Our State stands in the front upon this question, and is appealed to by the friends and foes of prohibition. Select from each county some of your reliable and trustworthy men and send them into Kansas for the purpose of personal observation. You will thereby obtain the facts as they exist, for the encouragement of your people and the contradiction of false representation, and we feel assured that their observations will accord with the facts herein set forth.
P. T. RHODES,
G. S. DEARBORN,
JOHN D. KNOX,
S. E. PENDLETON. } Committee.
DAILY SUBMISSION.
By M. F. Butts
“WHY not carry that same spirit of submission into little things?”
“For instance?”
“For instance, in the case of worry—this morning.”
“What, say, ‘Thy will be done,’ when John forgets to post a letter, putting me in a most annoying predicament?”
“Why not? It was a trial that cost you a day’s serenity. You were unkind to John, he reacted in ‘bearishness’ to you; just when the ‘little rift’ will be as before, no one can tell. You think a kiss will make it up, but every such scene injures the delicate bond we call love.”
“And would you have me say, ‘Thy will be done,’ when Bridget burns the bread or little Jack plays truant?”
“I would, indeed.”
“Why, it seems almost wicked.”
“Does it seem wicked to use the rain to wash our common household vessels? the lightning to carry an unimportant message, concerning the retailing of a few quarts of peanuts, we will say?”
“Why, no; of course not. But that is different.”
“Not as different as you suppose. Our Father gives himself in every form for our use. If we should use him in our daily life to procure patience, long-suffering, endurance of little trials, would not that be legitimate?”
The conversation between Mrs. Loomis and Mrs. Osgood had been concerning an experience which Mrs. Loomis had been relating to her friend. She had, years before, lost a beloved child, had submitted heartily to God as to a father, and had found unspeakable peace and uplifting. That wondrous heavenliness of feeling she had lost, and never expected to regain.
As the talk went on, Mrs. Osgood said:—
“Why not make our lives a perpetual surrender in the thousand little ways in which our wills are crossed, a perpetual yielding to God? There is no doubt we should then perpetually receive of his inflowing.”
“But,” said Mrs. Loomis, “there are so many things that are wrong, unjust, unfair. Ought we to submit to the wrong?”
“We ought to let God work in us toward adjusting and healing the wrong. By submission we allow him to come into our hearts, and work thence outwardly; but by anger and opposition we let badness in, the evil (the evil one), and adjustment even becomes more and more remote and impossible. ‘Our weapons are not carnal,’ the apostle says. In reality, the weapons we use are carnal; and only some great trial that threatens to crush us if we do not submit, brings us to the use of the spiritual weapons that we might use every day, nay, every minute, of our lives.”
Alcohol Consumption in Germany
The following item is being circulated through the press in Germany: “Germany annually spends 430,000,000 marks for its army, but not much less for alcoholic drinks, which cost 406,000,000 marks. The statistics show that the intemperate class furnishes 30 per cent. of all the insane, 50 per cent. of all the poor, and 70 per cent. of all the criminals.” These facts neutralize the claim so often set up that in Germany, where beer is used almost universally, little drunkenness exists. The effects of liquor are much the same the world over and in all ages.—Christian Advocate.
FAULTS OF MANY MOTHERS.
AMERICAN women of all classes are, as a rule, sinfully negligent of some of the duties which pertain to health, especially exercise in the open air. The excuse that their many cares engross them, and that they, in consequence, have but little opportunity of leaving their homes, is scarcely sufficient. The number who actually cannot enjoy, each day, an hour’s outing must be small indeed even among the class forced to work the hardest. Not only do many women fail in this respect in their duty to themselves, but their young children suffer in consequence of the same neglect. From one week’s end to another, during the winter, not a few of them keep their little ones in overheated rooms, and the result is, we find them, as spring approaches, weak, puny, and ailing. In such families, colds, coughs, and sore throats are common affections. Mothers should understand that upon the daily enjoyment of fresh and open air depends, in a great degree, the health of their little ones, as well as themselves; it is, in fact, absolutely indispensable to the well-being of all.—Boston Journal of Health.
SECULAR.
—The salary of the king of Samoa is twenty dollars per month.
—About one-quarter of all the registered bonds of the U. S. Government are held in Massachusetts.
—Secretary Proctor proposes to induce enlistments for the regular army from the State militia forces.
—Grand Duke Nicholas, uncle of the czar of Russia, is said to be dying of cancerous affection of the ear.
—Two men, said to be Americans, have been arrested at Odessa, charged with circulating counterfeit Russian money.
—The International and Mortgage Bank of Mexico has been incorporated by American capitalists, with a capital stock of $5,000,000.
—It is stated that Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, will become a naturalized Italian citizen and be nominated for the Senate.
—The New York World publishes a list of wealthy men in that city, showing that there are 125 whose yearly income is $50,000 or over.
—Claus Spreckels, the Sugar King, has purchased a large tract of land in Algiers, opposite New Orleans, and will erect another sugar refinery.
—Cornell College, at Ithaca, N. Y., follows Harvard’s example and elects C. C. Cook, a colored student, as orator of the graduating class.
—Peru is moving in the matter of building a railroad across the Andes, to connect with some of the navigable rivers emptying into the Atlantic.
—The trial of the parties accused of the murder of Dr. Cronin, began in Chicago on the 24th inst. Seven weeks were consumed in obtaining a jury.
—As the outcome of a feud in Hancock County, Ky., five men are sentenced to be hanged December 23. The Supreme Court has affirmed the verdict.
—The work in the San Francisco post-office has increased fifty per cent. in three years, and Postmaster Bryan is promised a larger working force than at present employed.
—The authorities of Seattle, Washington, have been following up and fining the gamblers to such an extent lately that the business has been almost entirely run out.
—The recent election in Portugal for members of the Chamber of Deputies resulted in a return of 102 supporters of the government and thirty-three members of the opposition.
—A movement is on foot for a Canadian Atlantic telegraph cable, to extend from Greeny Island, in the Straits of Bell Isle, to Clom Bay, in Ireland; the length will be 1,900 miles.
The telegraph announces that a New York syndicate has purchased the San Diego electric light plant for $650,000. They expect to add $300,000 in extending the system to National City and Coronado.
—The State Department has just been informed that Chile has removed the duties from agricultural implements, iron and steel rails, telephones, mining machinery, wire, railway materials, and similar articles.
—A New Orleans grand jury has reported several indictments against persons who were connected with the treasury department in 1881-82, for having issued fraudulent bonds to the amount of about $400,000.
—It turns out that the $2,250,000 worth of bonds recently stolen from the treasury of Mexico, bore only the treasurer’s signature, and had not received the treasury seal, which is necessary to make them of any value.
—The Archduke John Salvator, of Austria, has expressed a desire to resign all his titles and appointments, and lead the life of a private citizen. And there are so many private citizens who would like to be archdukes!
—The month just past has been the rainiest October that California has experienced in many years. It has been especially severe on the ungathered portion of the grape crop, amounting to about one-third the entire yield.
—In 1891 all the Canadian bank charters will expire, and the Dominion Legislature will have to settle the question of terms upon which they may be renewed. Some of the journals advocate the United States national bank system.
—The U. S. war-ship Pensacola has sailed from New York for Africa, with 400 persons of various professions, who go to witness the total eclipse of the sun, which will occur December 22, and will be visible within a belt of 5,000 miles east and west, and 100 north and south.
—Of Col. J. D. Stevenson’s regiment of New York Volunteers, raised for the Mexican War and sent to California in 1846, there are 144 survivors. The colonel resides in San Francisco, and is 90 years old.
—The U. S. cruiser San Francisco, being built at the city after which it is named, was successfully launched on the 26th of October. Notwithstanding a drenching rain and mud in the vicinity, there was an immense crowd of men, women, and children out to witness the scene.
—Captain Wissman, the German Imperial Commissioner for East Africa, has had an engagement with a force of natives under the command of Chief Bushire, and defeated them. Three hundred of Bushire’s men were killed or wounded. The German forces lost seven men.
—The two sons of Craig Tolliver, the notorious Kentucky desperado, recently beat their mother almost to death because she attempted to correct them. They were aged 11 and 14 years. They have been sent to a reform school, while the mother is hopelessly insane. Since Tolliver’s death, the family have lived at Montgomery, Ohio.
—It is reported that the election of Morgan (colored) as orator of the senior class of Harvard University, was a hasty hoax in retaliation for some Democratic sentiments expressed by the President, and that some who voted for Morgan now concede that they went too far. Vigorous protests are received from Harvard clubs throughout the country.
—A man named Klaiber attempted to assassinate Prince William of Wurtemberg, while the latter was riding to church at Ludwig on the 20th inst. The would-be assassin is a member of an Anarchist society, the members of which have sworn to kill all princes. The society recently drew lots to decide which of the members should kill Prince William. The choice fell upon Klaiber.
—The sacred edifice in Peking, China, known as the Temple of Heaven, was entirely destroyed by fire October 18. The building was regarded as the most important structure in the capital, its cost being so lavish that it is said no one knows the amount. The emperor and leading officials are reported as being "scared out of their wits," at the supposed manifestation of the anger of Heaven.
—A Mr. Reddington, of New York State, recently visited a Grand Army Post in this city, and addressed the comrades. He said that General Grant had made Oakland famous after his visit to California in 1879, by relating that one of the incidents in his life which he never could forget was that of the school-children surrounding the carriage and singing, "My Country 'Tis of Thee," while they almost smothered him in flowers.
—Advices from Zanzibar state that weekly slave markets are held, at which slaves are publicly exposed for sale. The merchants who carry on the traffic are all Arabs, but it appears to be well understood in Zanzibar that rich firms of English traders furnish all the capital to conduct the business. All the local officials in Zanzibar are said to be in the pay of this firm, who purchase immunity by bribing the authorities, from the highest to the lowest, and so complete is their influence that complaints receive little attention.
—Notwithstanding all that has been said of the overwhelming defeat sustained by Boulangists in the late election in France, their enemies have still much to fear from them. In the last Assembly they had twenty seats, in the one just chosen they will have fifty. A few more such "defeats" would put the friends of the irrepressible general in a position to make not a little mischief in the republic. The New Assembly will consist of 576 members, as follows: Moderate Republicans, 238; Radical Republicans, 126; Imperialists and Monarchists, 162; Boulangists, 50.
RELIGIOUS.
—It is now claimed that there are 350,000 French Catholics in New England.
—In the new State of Washington there are seventy-five Congregational Churches, but only three are self-supporting. Thirty missionaries are employed.
—In the Vatican at Rome, is an ancient Hebrew Bible which is said to weigh 325 pounds. In 1512 some Venetian Jews offered Pope Julius its weight in gold for the book, but the offer was refused.
—A correspondent of the Advance says: “There is one county in East Washington which has seventy-one school districts, without any religious privileges whatever.” The name of the county is not given.
—The Venice Gazette says that the sentence of ex-communication was pronounced by the pope in person against the king and queen of Italy, on the occasion of the secret consistory held at the time of the dedication of the Bruno statue in Rome.
—In commenting upon Mr. Moody’s criticism of the churches and seminaries, the N. Y. Examiner says: “There is such a thing as educating the manhood out of a man, and making of him a mere bookworm. There is also such a thing as conceited incompetence rushing in where angels fear to tread. The latter is the more immediate and serious danger that confronts the American churches to-day.”
—The Church Unity Society, which held a meeting in New York recently, has been established about three years, and claims that its efforts so far have been successful. Just what churches have been united we are not told, but suppose they are nearly all united in the one desire for a national Sunday law. Members of the society, besides contributing materially to its support, agree to offer a daily prayer for the unity of Christendom.
—The fact that last year the Catholics received more than three-fourths of all the money appropriated by the government for Indian “contract schools” is accounted for on the ground of the untiring energy of the Romish priest at the head of the Catholic Indian Bureau at Washington. It is expected that General Morgan, the new Commissioner of Indian Affairs, will pursue a more-equable policy in the distribution of funds.
—The Mennonites follow the plan of choosing ministers by lot, as the apostles chose Matthias to succeed Judas. The Presbyterian gives the following description of a recent election in Lancaster County, Pa.: “The plan pursued was to place on a table twenty-one Bibles, in one of which had been previously laid a slip of paper. Then the candidates for the position were required to walk around the table, each taking a book. He who secured the one which contained the slip, was declared elected and duly ordained to the work of the ministry.”
—The Buddhist, a weekly paper, has been established at Colombo, Ceylon, by Mr. C. W. Leadbeater, an Englishman, for the purpose of expounding and propagating the Buddhist religion. “Its object,” as is more precisely explained in the prospectus, “is to bring modern European thought into touch with real, practical Buddhism, and to give the leaders of the Southern church a channel through which their ideas may be directly communicated to the English-speaking world.” It therefore enters the field for the conversion of Christendom to Buddhism as a co-laborer of the paper established in Japan for the same purpose.
—The announcement that the Episcopal Convention, sitting in New York, had voted to divide the diocese of California, was premature. The measure had only passed the lower house of the Convention. Then the opposition telegraphed to California for aid, and a prominent Oakland capitalist and politician hurried on to the rescue. He went to work in true political style, giving fine dinners, etc., and the telegraph announces that “the upper house found Eastland’s judicious arguments over his good dinners far more reasonable than those cold button-hole talks in the vestry.” As a consequence, the diocese of California remains intact.
—The Armenian Catholic Church, says the Utica Herald, is the latest comer among religious bodies to this country, and mass was celebrated by an Armenian priest in Worcester, Mass., recently, for the second time in this country. There is quite a colony of Armenians in Worcester; and the Armenian service will be celebrated regularly there. The Armenian Catholics, excepting one schismatic body, do not acknowledge the Papacy, and are as independent as the Greek Catholics, though not as numerous. The priests do not rank high ecclesiastically, and the bishops assume more of the work in other Catholic systems delegated to priests.
IN THE HEART OF THE SIERRAS.
By J. M. Hutchings
BY J. M. HUTCHINGS.
THIS new work is a complete historical and descriptive summary of the wonderful Yo Semite Valley and Big Tree Groves. The author, Mr. Hutchings, is an old pioneer, and has for more than 20 years resided in the Valley. He took the first sketches of it that were ever taken, and was the first to make its
MARVELOUS GRANDEUR KNOWN TO THE WORLD.
The work is complete in one volume of nearly 600 pages, and is illustrated with over 150 illustrations, 28 of which are
BEAUTIFUL FULL-PAGE ARTOTYPES.
These artotypes are the most charmingly characteristic of any illustrations ever produced, and are perfectly true to life, having been photographed from nature.
Sold only by subscription. Agents wanted everywhere. For prices and terms, Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.
GENERAL MEETING IN LONDON.
A GENERAL meeting was held in London Sabbath and Sunday, September 28 and 29, attended by representatives from a number of our churches in the United Kingdom. It was found necessary to call the meeting a week earlier than was at first intended, and on this account the attendance from provincial churches was not as large as it otherwise would have been. Devotional services were held Friday evening and Sabbath forenoon and afternoon, and the first meeting for the discussion of business connected with the work was called the evening of the 28th.
Elder D. A. Robinson was chosen chairman and W. A. Spicer secretary. The chairman spoke of the present status of the work in the Kingdom, and of the belief entertained that the growth of the cause would very soon demand the organization of a conference, thus uniting the various local interests in one co-operative and representative whole. The object of the present meeting was to bring before the minds of the brethren assembled the work to be done, and to plan together as to the best means of advancing it.
A Committee on Resolutions was appointed, as follows: E. W. Whitney, Captain Adams, G. R. Drew, Frank Hope, W. T. Bartlett.
Three interesting meetings were held. Resolutions were presented, discussed, and passed on the following matters: Gratitude for the truth of God and his great mercy; calling upon all our people in the United Kingdom to unite with the Tract and Missionary Society, and thus become useful laborers; the importance of intelligent effort on the part of all engaged in the work, and that instruction should be given them through the Tract and Missionary Society; the importance of the Sabbath-school work and the necessity of thorough organization in this respect; the importance of health and temperance as Christian duties; the importance and advantages of getting it before the people, and especially using it through lectures and publications to open new fields for the truth. The managers of the Present Truth were asked to open a department in that journal devoted exclusively to that subject, and greater efforts for the circulation of Good Health were urged. The popular interest in the question of health and temperance, and the general willingness to read and study it, made it possible to do a great amount of good, and advance the cause of truth, by working on these lines. Brother G. R. Drew had found the health and temperance literature of inestimable advantage to him in his ship work.
The ship missionary work has proved an effectual means of spreading the truth, and a resolution was passed calling for more ship missionaries to be placed in the principal ports of the Kingdom. With others, G. R. Drew spoke to this resolution, relating incidents in his experience in Liverpool, showing how great an influence is exerted in placing publications on board ships. Through those who were interested in, or believed, our views, he was able to send reading matter to Australasia, India, South America, New Caledonia, Finland, and other places, with the assurance that it would be carefully placed in the hands of reading people.
The following resolutions will be of interest to our readers:—
WHEREAS, The Pacific Press Publishing Company has, in harmony with the recommendation of the General Conference, assumed the responsibility of our publishing work in Great Britain, and is already in the field making preparations for the work; therefore,
Resolved, That we regard this as a move in the right direction, and that we give this branch of the work our sympathy and hearty co-operation.
Resolved, That we most heartily approve of the recommendation of the General Conference that experienced canvassers enter this field to engage in the work of a thorough and systematic canvass of our publications, and we trust that the proper books will speedily be made ready for their use, and that their coming may not be long delayed.
WHEREAS, We have seen with much pleasure and interest the growing favor with which our paper, the Present Truth, is received, and deem it important that it should be brought more frequently and continuously before the public, hoping that by so doing its circulation may be still further extended, and that by the continued blessing of God it may advance in its mission; therefore,
Resolved, That we request that as soon as may be convenient, or the interests of the cause may permit, the publication of Present Truth may be weekly instead of fortnightly as at present.
Resolved, That we regard with feelings of the tenderest gratitude the sacrifices of our brethren across the sea in behalf of the work in this country, and although from a national standpoint we are separate, yet, in the great and solemn truths for this time which their sacrifices have brought to us, we recognize the indissoluble ties which make us one in Christ, and in our lives will endeavor to imitate the same spirit; and with renewed earnestness and stronger faith, we will labor and pray for that time which we believe will soon come, when from England the light of the Third Angel's Message will be sent forth to many who now sit in darkness.
These resolutions were heartily adopted. Resolutions were also passed favoring such meetings as the above in the future. Voted that the proceedings be furnished for publication to the SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
[The synopsis (almost complete report) is taken from the furnished copy.]
HAVE YOU SEEN IT?
By Editor
The Law of God as Changed by the Papacy
Is the title of a large Chart just issued, which shows in a striking manner the blasphemous pretentions of the Papal power. The testimony of the Best Catholic Authorities is given, and shows, by quoting their own words, that Sunday is a child of the Catholic Church. These quotations, together with admissions from standard Catholic works, are arranged in parallel columns on either side of this Chart, while the center column contains the Ten Commandments as taught by the Catholic Church. The whole forms a collection of extracts of incalculable value for every Bible student.
The Charts are three by four feet in size, and are printed on heavy map cloth in bold type, easily read across the largest room.
Price, Post-paid, $1.00.
A fac-simile edition on thin paper, size 5½x7½ inches, suitable for missionary distribution, has been prepared, and will be sent post-paid at 50 cents per hundred, or $4.00 per thousand. Address all orders to
PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO.,
OAKLAND, CA.
Publishers' Department.
By Editor
SPECIAL NOTICE.
Now is the time to send in new subscriptions to the Signs of the Times. All orders received before December 25 will get the papers from the time the subscription is received at this office to the end of 1889 free.
Renewals.—A large number of subscriptions to the Signs expire during November and December. Please look at the date of the address label on your paper this week and if your time is about out please send in your renewal at once and we will give you the remaining numbers of 1889 free.
Price, $2.00 per year, or $1.00 for six months.
NOTICE TO MISSIONARY WORKERS.
Please stop sending the Signs to any of the following names, as this office has received notice that the papers are refused, unclaimed, or sent to the wrong post-office:—
J. M. Quarry, Elias Gordon, George Curtis, James Cullen, D. J. Bagley, James Brown, Laura Sims, Maria Armstrong, Mrs. Mary E. Carpenter, Mrs. M. E. C. Lord, Wm. W. Watson, Miss M. H. Slivens, Eddie Lindas, F. M. Priest, Byron Greene, C. Wernch, C. F. Linrey, John H. Brooks, J. T. Keishaw, C. A. Carmichael, G. C. de Burkart, Miss Stella Sandgren, Sarah E. Silkyean, Wm. Harper, Laura G. Bates, D. Haven, W. H. Horn, Geo. Seewald, Mrs. C. H. Lewis, Mrs. Belle Johnson, J. H. Morrow, Ossian Ray, Mrs. Fannie Trigg, Emma L. Frost, Mrs. E. W. Reynolds, Miss L. Johnson, 109 E. Place.
Views of National Reform.
By Editor
Series One, 151 pages; Size 4¾x7½ inches; price 15 cents.
This pamphlet contains thirteen treatises on the various phases of the National Reform Movement. The following are the subjects of the various chapters, each of which is complete in itself: Religious Liberty; National Reform Is Church and State; The Republic of Israel; Purity of National Religion; What Think Ye of Christ? Evils of Religious Legislation; The American Papacy; National Reform and Rights of Conscience; Bold and Base Avowal; National Reform Movement an Absurdity; The Salem Witchcraft; National Reformed Constitution and the American Hierarchy; National Reformed Presbyterianism.
Address, AMERICAN SENTINEL,
1059 Castro St., Oakland, Cal.; 43 Bond St., New York.