The town of Albeuve, Switzerland, was totally destroyed by fire, July 20.
Minister Pierrepont denies that he is negotiating a new extradition treaty with England.
The Irish and Germans constitute about one-eleventh of our population; but they have over one-half of the entire liquor business of the country.
Messrs. J. J. and W. Astor, sons of the late Wm. B. Astor, propose to put up a new altar piece in Trinity church, N. Y., as a memorial to their father.
Colorado, having adopted her constitution, is now ready for admission into the Union as the thirty-eighth State, the President's proclamation being the only act necessary to complete the admission.
It is said that the Vermont Central and Pennsylvania railroads exact a total abstinence pledge from their employes. The latter numbers from 20,000 to 25,000 men in its employ and hence should rank as one of the most effective temperance societies.
Since the small-pox broke out in San Francisco, 494 cases have been reported. During the month of July 54 persons died. August 5 there were but three cases reported and but two deaths registered, showing a decided decrease.
The German minister, Von Brant, is pressing the Chinese government severely in the matter of the treaty revision. He is reported to have made sixteen separate demands, the most important of which are that the whole of China be opened for intercourse and trade; that local taxes detrimental to foreign interests, be abolished; that permission shall be given to foreigners to use steam on inland waters, and that China adopt the responsibility of international law. Should China grant these demands, the entire country would be thrown open to commerce, and foreigners would be able to navigate the rivers. Considerable delay may be expected before the Chinese accord these concessions.
On the evening of the 8th the Eleventh Industrial exhibition of the “Mechanics’ Fair” of San Francisco was opened. Many of the articles for display, however, are yet to be put in their places, before it will be in perfect readiness.
The grasshoppers have unexpectedly descended on the region of Minnesota west of, and including, Jackson county, westward to Dakota, and southward through North-western Iowa. Hundreds of settlers have lost their all, and many are arranging to move away.
Miss Catherine L. Wolfe, of New York, some time since gave $10,000 for founding a school for girls in Nevada, on condition that a like sum should be contributed by the citizens of that State. Bishop Whitaker has succeeded in raising the required amount, and the school will soon open at Reno.
In Algeria there is said to be a river of ink. It is formed by the union of two streams—one coming from a region of ferruginous soil, and the other draining a peat swamp. The water of the former is strongly impregnated with iron, the other with gallic acid. When the two waters mingle, the acid of the one unites with the iron of the other, forming a true ink.
In Turkey the Government has decided to issue paper money in order to meet the necessities of the war. It is driven to this expedient by the utter distrust manifested throughout Europe of the solvency of the Ottoman Empire. There is considerable foundation for this want of confidence, inasmuch as the Turks have incurred a debt of $900,000,000 within the last twenty-two years on which they now pay no interest.
The outlook for China for a year to come is gloomy. Recent inundations have destroyed 5,000 lives—and the destruction of crops and property may be judged by this enormous destruction of life. Rich agricultural territory to the extent of 800 square miles, containing 70,000,000 people and feeding half as many more, has been ravaged by a drought to the extent of a total failure of crops. An even divide of this loss would place the whole 400,000,000 of people on three-quarter rations.
The Landtag of Saxony has passed an important measure—a law establishing the supremacy and supervision of the State over the property and appointments of the Roman Catholic church. It is similar to the famous Falk law of Prussia. In the House of Peers it was opposed by the court party, one opponent being the brother of the king. The king, in his speech from the throne on the eve of the adjournment of the Diet, expressed his satisfaction with this legislation, as promising the establishment of peace between church and State. That a Roman Catholic king should favor such a law is a significant indication of the state of public opinion in Europe.
According to the estimate made by Dr. Kudal, of Vienna, the quantity of paper of all kinds produced in the whole world amounts to 1,800,000,000 pounds. Half of this quantity is employed for printing purposes, a sixth for writing purposes, and the remaining parts for diverse uses. The individual consumption of paper is, in Russia, an annual average of one pound to each person, one and a half in Spain, two in Mexico, three and a half in Italy and Austria, seven and a half in France, eight in Germany, ten and a quarter in North America, eleven and one-half in England.
The principle of making a man responsible for the damage done by the whisky or beer he sells has been hotly contested by the liquor people, but it has worked and is still working excellent results. In Wooster, Ohio, a Mrs. Zeagley sued one Jeanert for selling liquor to her husband, and received a verdict for $1,300. A hotel-keeper at Lacona, Oswego county, paid a woman $400 whose husband became drunk at his hotel, and was subsequently killed in that intoxicated state. A Mrs. Hall, of Riverhead, N. Y., received $200 from John Zetter, for selling beer to her son by which he became intoxicated and sick. In Decorah, Iowa, a man when drunk froze his hands and feet so that they had to be amputated. His wife obtained judgment against the druggist who sold him liquor, for $9,500. Suits are pending against the saloon-keepers of Sioux City to the amount of $60,000.
Billiard Tables Wanted.
PRESIDENT PORTER, of Yale College, wants donations to provide six billiard tables for the students, thus following in the wake of Princeton. The Presbyterian says:
To this end are the prayers and sighs of fond parents directed. Six billiard tables in Yale College to stimulate your sons in what you have always dreaded, and which, in your experience, has only been fraught with danger. We would far rather that a son should bend honestly over butcher shambles, with the conviction that life is at least too serious a thing to be dawdled away in learning to play billiards. Solomon, the prince of philosophers of his day, gives an inventory of his pleasure traps, but in the list is no account of the billiard table. What a pity! He might have had a better estimate of life. The only thing that would hinder the supposition is the statement that his wisdom remained in him.
If this is the direction education is taking, the time may come when ignorance will, at least, be moral bliss. We have observed this thing in progress carefully, and have seen already bitter fruits, and will not be unfaithful, at least to the Church, in rebuking it. It is the most natural thing in the world to play for the drinks, and drunkenness, then, is not beyond their shadow. One of the most eminent professors of a Western college said to us this summer, It is in our small towns and cities West the wicked-gate to ruin; it first makes them loafers—to hate honorable endeavor, and finally dwellers in rum-mills, and then vagabonds ready for stratagem and strife.—Interior.
What It Is, and Is Not.
In a recent article on the Sunday School, Professor John S. Hart thus sets forth what it is and is not, and the methods which ought to be pursued in its instructions:
It is not a church, not a prayer-meeting, not a religious sociable, but a school, and its main business is teaching—teaching with reference, indeed, to a particular end, but none the less teaching. Its methods, therefore, should be governed by the same general principles as those employed in other schools. There should be intelligent classifications of the scholars, not according to years or size, but according to intellectual development—classification of the school itself into primary, intermediate and higher departments. There should be object-teaching for the very young, memoriter exercises, blackboard exercises—not acrostic gymnastics, but explanations addressed to the eye, as the most certain method of reaching the understanding and the memory. There should be lessons to be learned at home; there should be study, not mere talk; there should be recitation, old-fashioned question and answer, not mere hortatory harangue; there should be a systematic course of study, not mere patch-work.
Books, Pamphlets, Tracts, etc., etc.
Our Book List.—Any persons on the Pacific Coast wishing any of the publications named in our book list can obtain them by mail or express, by writing to the Signs of the Times, Oakland, California, enclosing the published price of the same. When sent by mail, books will be post paid; when by express, at the expense of the one ordering the books; but in this case a liberal discount will be made when ten dollars worth or more are paid for with any one order.
PUBLICATIONS.
Prices in Coin.
Cruden’s Complete Concordance. In this any passage in the Scriptures can readily be found. $2.00 per copy, post-paid.
Bible Dictionary of Bible names, customs and countries, and maps of Bible lands. $2.00 per copy, post paid.
The History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week, by J. N. Andrews. 528 pp. $1.25.
Thrilling Life Sketches. Incidents in the life of an Italian of noble birth, who was a prisoner of the inquisition, officer in the army of Garibaldi, and extensive traveler in Africa and Syria. By Francesco Urgos. $1.25 per copy, post-paid.
Thoughts on Daniel. By U. Smith. $1.00. Condensed paper edition, 35 cts.
Thoughts on the Revelation. By U. Smith. $1.00.
Life of Wm. Miller, with likeness. $1.00.
The Nature and Destiny of Man. By U. Smith. 384 pp. $1.00. Paper, 40 cts.
The Constitutional Amendment: or The Sunday, The Sabbath, The Change, and The Restitution. A discussion between W. H. Littlejohn and the Editor of the “Christian Statesman.” Bound, $1.00. Paper, 40 cts. First part, 10 cts.
The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. I. By Ellen G. White; 416 pp. $1.00.
Autobiography of Eld. Jos. Bates. 318 pp. $1.
Hygienic Family Physician. $1.00.
The Game of Life (illustrated). Satan playing with man for his soul. In board, 50 cts.; in paper, 30 cts.
The United States in Prophecy. By U. Smith. Bound, 40 cts. Paper, 20 cts.
A Word for the Sabbath: or False Theories Exposed. (Poem.) By Uriah Smith. Muslin, 40 cts.
The Advent Keepsake. Muslin, 25 cts. Gilt, 40 cts.
Sermons on the Sabbath and Law, embracing an outline of the Biblical and Secular History of the Sabbath for 6,000 years. By J. N. Andrews, 30 cts.
Testimony for the Church, No. 26. By Mrs. Ellen G. White. 30 cts.
Facts for the Times, revised and enlarged, 25c.
History of the Doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul. By D. M. Canright, 25 cts.
The State of the Dead. By U. Smith. 224 pp. 25 cts.
Our Faith and Hope. Sermons on the Millennium, Second Advent, the Kingdom, the Judgment, the Time, the Sanctuary and Saving Faith. 20 cts.
Refutation of the Age to Come. By J. H. Waggoner. 20 cts.
The Ministration of Angels : and the Origin, History, and Destiny of Satan. By D. M. Canright. 20 cts.
The Bible from Heaven; a Dissertation. 20 cts.
The Atonement. By J. H. Waggoner. 20 cts.
The Nature and Tendency of Modern Spiritualism. By J. H. Waggoner. 20 cts.
Miraculous Powers. Evidences, Scriptural and historical of the perpetuity of Spiritual Gifts. 20c.
The Complete Testimony of the Fathers concerning the Sabbath and First Day. By J. N. Andrews, 15 cts.
Refutation of Forty-four so called Objections against the Ancient Sabbath, by Eld. D. T. Bourdeau. 88 pp., 15 cts.
The Three Messages of Rev. 14, and the Two-Horned Beast. By J. N. Andrews. 15 cts.
The Morality of the Sabbath. By D. M. Canright. 15 cts.
The Resurrection of the Unjust; a Vindication of the Doctrine. By J. H. Waggoner. 15 cts.
Redemption, or the Temptation of Christ in the Wilderness (Life of Christ, No. 2). By Mrs. E. G. White. 15 cts.
The Destiny of the Wicked. By U. Smith. 15 cts.
The Saints’ Inheritance, or the Earth made New. By J. N. Loughborough. 10 cts.
Dangers and Duties of Our Times. An Earnest Appeal from the General Conference. 10 cts.
The Conference Address. An earnest appeal to Seventh-day Adventists. 10 cts.
The Sanctuary and Twenty-three Hundred Days. By J. N. Andrews. 10 cts.
The Two Laws by Eld. D. M. Canright. 104 pp., 10 cts.
Sunday Seventh-day. A Refutation of Mede, Jennings, Akers, and Fuller. By J. N. Andrews. 10 cts.
The Truth Found; The Sabbath. By J. H. Waggoner. 10 cts.
The Hope of the Gospel: What it is, and when it will be consummated. By J. N. Loughborough, 80 pp. 10 cts.
Brown’s Review of Gilfillan on the Sabbath. 10 cts.
Vindication of the True Sabbath. Morton. 10 cts.
The Date of the Seventy Weeks of Dan. 9, established. By J. N. Andrews. 10 cts.
Prophetic Chart in Miniature, with explanations. 5 cts.
Four-cent Tracts: The Second Advent.—The Sabbath Part of Time—Celestial Railroad—Samuel and the Witch of Endor—The Ten Commandments not Abolished—Address to the Baptists—The Present Truth—The Sufferings of Christ.
Three-cent Tracts: Much in Little—The Lost Time Question—Spiritualism & Satanic Delusions—Infidel Cavils Considered—The End of the Wicked—Scripture References—Who Changed the Sabbath?
Two-cent Tracts: Definite Seventh Day—Seven Reasons for Sunday-Keeping Examined—Sabbath by Elihu—The Rich Man and Lazarus—Argument on Sabbath—The Millennium—Departing and Being with Christ—Fundamental Principles of S. D. Adventists.
One-cent Tracts: Appeal on Immortality—Thoughts for the Candid—Sign of the Day of God—The Two Laws—The Perfection of the Ten Commandments—Coming of the Lord—Without Excuse—Which Day, and God’s Answers.
Address, Signs of the Times.
OAKLAND, CAL.
Appointments.
OAKLAND—Services at the new church, on the corner of Clay and Thirteenth streets, every Sabbath (Saturday) at 11 A. M. Prayer-meetings Wednesday evenings at 7:30. Sabbath-School at 10 o'clock Sabbath morning.
SAN FRANCISCO—Services at the house of worship, on Laguna street, between Tyler and McAllister, every Sabbath (Saturday), at 11 A. M. and First-day evening at 7:30. Prayer-meetings Wednesday evenings at 7:30. The Hayes valley cars of Market street and the Lone Mountain cars of the Central R. R. cross Laguna street near the church.
SAN JOSE.—Aug. 19 and 20. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
“Take Heed that no Man Deceive You.”
By John G. Matteson
THIS is the first warning given in the prophetic discourse of our Saviour as recorded in Matt. 24. It is often used by the different churches, when we go into a place to preach, in this way: A new ism has come along. No doubt it is one of those false prophets of the latter days. Says the Catholic, “Abide by your creed and catechism. The Catholic church is the mother church. Remain in her bosom and you are safe. Let no man deceive you.” Says the Lutheran, “Luther was the great reformer. He was a man of God. He brought light out of darkness. Our church has the word of God pure and undefiled. Remain with us, and you are safe.” Says the Baptist, “We believe in the Bible and the Bible alone. We teach the original and only true mode of baptism. Listen to nothing else. Let no man deceive you.” And thus we hear a hundred conflicting voices. Surely, some of them must be mistaken, for truth is a unit always in harmony with itself.
But the greatest inconsistency of all is, that many men, who warn others against deceivers, are themselves deceived in their own heart, destitute of the love of God, full of corruption and worldly love. For “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: Who can know it?” Jer. 17:9. And while they try to run away from deceivers, they carry the greatest deceiver in their own bosom.
What, then, may we understand by the warning voice of our Saviour, Take heed that no man deceive you? The definition of the original word rendered deceive, is very instructive on this point: “Lead astray; seduce from the path of virtue.” And one definition given of the corresponding noun is: “Seduction from the path of truth and virtue.” This, then, is addressed to those who have received the truth, and who follow in the footsteps of Jesus. It is a tender warning to them not to depart from the truth, nor from the victories they may have gained over self, and the virtues they may have cultivated.
Let every one, then, of whatever church he may be a member, zealously hold on to that part of his faith which is founded on the plain declaration of the Scriptures, for which he can show a “Thus saith the Lord.” And let every individual, who has commenced to yield one or more of these precious fruits of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,” be very careful not to listen to any doctrine that would lead him back to his former evil habits, but go on in the path of the just, which “is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Prov. 4:18.—John G. Matteson.
Business Department.
“Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully,” (margin, negligently). Jer. 48:10.
Received for the Signs.
$3.00 EACH. Anna Boyd 3-1, S J Rosecrans 3-34, W Farrar 3-1.
$1.50 EACH. Geo F Church 3-12, D P Whitney 3-1, H O Miller 2-24, M A Goodnough 3-34, W W Ainsworth 3-34, Clinton Owens 3-34, Mrs Eliza M Bush 3-34, Mrs John Wilson 3-34, Mrs R Schoonover 3-34, W L Earle 3-34, F A Brown 3-16.
MISCELLANEOUS. J E Lowry 75c 3-10, H S Ivey 75c 3-10, H McCoy 75c 3-10, A H Murry 75c 3-10, J W Bacheller $4.50 3-24, Dr McClure $2.00 3-34, Mrs R M Clark 60c 2-88, M Hemphill $1.00 3-10, F Mehrmann $2.00 3-34, A Hauson $2.00 3-15.
Cash Received on Account.
Wm Heasley $1.35, M J Church $12.00, Cal. T & M Society $31.35, N E T & M Society $100.00.
California Camp-Meeting.
THE California Camp-meeting will be held at Fairfax station, Marin Co., from Sept. 20, at 2 P. M., to Sept. 28, 6 A. M. We hope to see all our brethren and sisters in the State at this meeting. Bring as many of your friends with you as you can induce to come.
It will be remembered that there is a building on the camp-ground with a good floor and roof, in which is opportunity for canvass lodging rooms, 10 by 12, with 7ft walls. Space in this building, or opportunity for pitching tents, will be granted to any interested parties who wish to attend the meeting. Food for man and beast will be furnished on the ground at reasonable prices. All coming should provide themselves with bedding, unless they make special arrangements with some tent company to provide them beds. We can accommodate men who bring blankets in our large tent.
Those who wish rooms in the building should send their orders to J. N. Loughborough, Oakland Point, Box 57, by Sept. 10. The charge for a room 10 by 12, all complete, with straw for your beds, table and seat, is $8.00, and when the meeting is over you are entitled to the 44 yards of best unbleached factory, one yard wide. The committee propose to furnish the cloth, as this will make less delay than last year, and in that case you will find your rooms all ready when you arrive on the ground, Sept. 20, and on paying the $8.00 can occupy at once.
All tents should be shipped to San Rafael, in season to arrive there if possible by Sept. 14, the time the committee propose to commence work upon the ground. Any person shipping tents or other articles to San Rafael will please mark them to J. N. Loughborough (for camp-ground).
We have two drilling tents, good as new, 10 by 12, 4 ft. wall, for sale at $15.00 each, and one striped drilling tent 12 by 16, 3 ft wall, for $18.00. If not sold before the meeting, these will be rented for $4, and $6, respectively, if any parties wish them. The fare for the round trip, from San Francisco to Fairfax and return, from Sept. 20 to 28 inclusive, is $1.00. In buying your ticket to Fairfax, at San Francisco, state that you are going to camp-meeting, and you will get your ticket to Fairfax, and return ticket to San Francisco, for the $1.00. Your return ticket is good till Sept. 28, the day the meeting closes. Particulars about the time of trains and place to take them in San Francisco, will be given hereafter.
CAMP-MEETING COMMITTEE.
“Sunday,” Called “Sabbath.”
OVERLOOKING the fact that the writer is quite as much mixed in calling Sunday the Lord’s day, as his Presbyterian friends are in calling it Sabbath, the following from the Examiner and Chronicle is very good:—
“Nowhere in Christendom has the Lord’s day, or Sunday, been confounded with the Sabbath, except in Scotland and among the English Puritans. In Cromwell’s time the notion gained ground that Sunday was a “heathenish” name, and the same impulse that led Puritans to reject “heathen” prænomens and choose Bible names like Maher-shalal-hash-baz for their children, led them also to apply the misnomer Sabbath to Sunday. This is the only historical ground for the confounding of the two names.”
Object of Man’s Creation.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
For what was man created? To live in the ether, beyond the bounds of space and time, an immaterial being, without occupation or employment? Let the Lord inform us, as he does very plainly at the time he made man: “And God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness: and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Gen. 1:26. God had just created the earth, had caused the trees, the plants, and the flowers to grow; had filled the sea with fish, the air with fowl, and the land with cattle. Now he proposes to make man. What for? The object is stated, “Let them have dominion,” let them rule over and govern. Then man was made to have dominion; hence the natural desire in man to rule. This was what he was created for. But where was he to rule? Over all the fowls, over the fish, over the cattle, and over all the earth. This was his dominion, this his home. Then God commanded them to multiply and replenish the earth, or fill it. At the same time he gave them a right to the tree of life, which would perpetuate their lives as long as they had access to it. This right they were to enjoy as long as they were obedient to God. Hence we see that if man had obeyed the Lord, and carried out the object of his creation, the earth would have been filled with people who would not have died, but would have lived on the earth, and have ruled over it. This was manifestly God’s design in creating the earth, and man upon it. But man sinned, fell, died. Will God’s plan then be defeated? No. Enough righteous will be saved out of the great mass of those born to yet fill the new earth with obedient, immortal men. Hence God said to the woman after the fall, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrows and thy conception.”—D. M. Canright.
A SEED.
A seed is one of the most wonderful things in the world, containing not only the first principles of the plant, but holding the power to lie, as it were, asleep, until the fitting period for the expansion of the germ, and meanwhile withstanding influences of destruction such as totally destroy objects that have no life in them.
Great Talkers and Broken Pitchers
GREAT talkers are like broken pitchers; everything runs out of them.
California Conference.
By John Norton Loughborough; Wesley Diggins; T. M. Chapman
The fifth yearly session of the California State Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, will be held in connection with the camp-meeting at Fairfax, Sept. 20–28. First session the 20th at 5 P. M.
We hope to see a full representation by delegates, from every company of Sabbath-keepers in the State. Each church of twenty members or less is entitled to one delegate, and to one additional delegate for every additional fifteen members over the first twenty. Each company which has organized Systematic Benevolence, and has a leader appointed, is entitled to delegates and should choose them according to their respective numbers. Any company not sending delegates should be sure to report by letter.
Each church will be furnished with blanks for delegate's credentials, for reports of standing and finance. All church books and S. B. books should be brought to the Conference.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, Cal.
WESLEY DIGGINS, Conf.
T. M. CHAPMAN, Com.
State Missionary Meeting.
By John Norton Loughborough; A. M. Loughborough
THE next yearly meeting of the Cal. T. and M. Society will be held in connection with the camp-meeting at Fairfax, from Sept. 20-28. The first session will be at 5 P. M. of Sept. 21. All who have paid $1.00 into our State Missionary funds for membership are entitled to a vote in all the meetings of the society. We request the directors, district secretaries, business agents, and librarians of our churches, to bring all their account and record books of the Missionary Society to the meeting.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, Pres.
A. M. LOUGHBOROUGH, Sec'y.
State Quarterly Meeting.
By John Norton Loughborough
The fourth California State Quarterly Meeting of this fiscal year will be held in connection with the yearly meeting on the camp-ground, Sept. 21st. J. N. Loughborough, Pres.
Camp-Meetings.
NEW ENGLAND,—Groveland, Mass., Aug. 24-29
MAINE,—Richmond, Aug. 31 to Sept. 5
NEW YORK,—Rome, Sept. 7-12
INDIANA,—Bunker Hill, " 14-18
MICHIGAN,—Lansing, " 19-26
ILLINOIS,—Waldron, Oct. 4-10
District Quarterly Meetings.
By John Norton Loughborough; A. M. Loughborough
The district quarterly meetings of Cal., for the fourth quarter of this fiscal year, will all be held Sept. 9 and 10, at the following places:—
DISTRICT NO. 1.—At Bloomfield.
DISTRICT NO. 2.—At Santa Rosa.
DISTRICT NO. 3.—At Napa.
DISTRICT NO. 4.—At San Pasqual.
DISTRICT NO. 5.—At Woodland.
DISTRICT NO. 6.—In Tehama Co., as Bro. Disher, director, may appoint.
DISTRICT NO. 7.—At Oakland.
DISTRICT NO. 8.—At San Jose.
DISTRICT NO. 9.—At San Francisco.
Let all librarians be prompt in securing reports from all the members, forwarding the same through the district secretaries. Although this quarter is necessarily a short one, may we not hope that the missionary looking-glass will shine in improvement over the last quarter.
J. N. Loughborough, Pres.
A. M. Loughborough, Sec'y.