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Signs of the Times, Vol. 13, No. 15.

WALKING IN THE LIGHT
Earlier text: The Commentary

SECULAR.

—Six thousand carpenters were on strike in Chicago April 4.
—The large military barracks at Aldershot, Eng., were burned April 6.
—A sharp shock of earthquake was felt April 4 in Antigua and St. Kitts, West India Islands.
—It is rumored in Berlin that a secret treaty has been concluded between Sweden and Germany.
—Four thousand two hundred and seventy-three emigrants were landed at Castle Garden April 8.
—A mill-dam at Ingersoll, M. T., was carried away by a freshet April 4. Several persons were drowned.
—The steamer Mexico, which struck a sunken rock on Belt Chain reef on March 30, will prove a total wreck.
—The bark El Dorado foundered April 1 off Cape Flattery, W. T. But two men were saved out of a crew of twenty.
—The drought still continues in Texas, and the condition of the people in some neighborhoods is truly distressing.
—More than ten million pounds of sham butter was produced in the months of November, December, and January last.
—An attempt was made April 3 to blow up a street-car in Patterson, N. J. Nobody was hurt. This is the third attempt.
—The town of Kuty, Austria, has been completely destroyed by an incendiary fire. About one thousand persons are homeless.
—The Pope is corresponding with France in reference to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and China.
—April 7, a gigantic naphtha fountain burst at Baku, Russia. Oil, sand, and enormous stones were carried to a height of 350 feet.
—The steamer Scythia reached New York March 31. The fact of her non-arrival on time gave rise to the report that she was wrecked.
—A riot took place at a meeting of the Salvation Army at Savannah, Ga., April 3. Twenty-five or thirty persons were more or less wounded.
—The Swiss Government has resolved to take vigorous action against the Socialists, whose activity is calculated to disturb the peace of the State.
—Two freight trains collided four miles west of Corinth, Miss., April 1. Two men were instantly killed and fifteen loaded cars destroyed by fire.
—Recently the roof of the church at Linguaglossa, Sicily, fell without warning during the service. One hundred persons were buried in the ruins and forty were killed.
—A heavy land-slide occurred April 7 near Monte Carlo, France. The trains from Cannes and Menton, loaded with tourists, had marvelous escapes from destruction.
—Great Britain has demanded of Hayti $1,000,000, as settlement of old demands. Failing in its immediate payment, she wants Tortuga Island, which lies north of Hayti.
—A new automatic submarine torpedo has been invented, capable of carrying a charge of 600 pounds of nitro-gelatine at the rate of thirty miles an hour so as to overtake the fastest cruiser.
—Dr. Windhorst, the German Catholic leader, has sent a telegram to the Pope, saying that the Center party will accept the Prussian Ecclesiastical bill as a filial duty to the head of the church and without any reserve.
—During the last week two different attempts have been made to cut the levees on the Mississippi River near New Orleans. Should the levees be cut and the adjacent parishes overflowed, the damage done would be very great.
—A successful attempt has been made to cast a steel stern for the cruiser Baltimore. This piece weighed 15,000 pounds and was cast without a defect, and is said to be the best piece of steel casting done in this country.
—At Omaha April 6 during the celebration of a silver wedding, a prominent farmer was shot and killed by one Edward Carr, who was drunk. The murderer says he was so drunk that he knows nothing of the murder.
—The coal miners throughout the country are discussing the formation of a gigantic organization by the amalgamation of the National Federation of Miners and the Miners’ National Assembly of the Knights of Labor.
—Trouble is to be expected between England and Venezuela, on account of the imprisonment of English sailors in 1883 without just cause. No satisfaction has been obtained from the Venezuelan Government, and diplomatic relations are severed.
—The Ameer of Afghanistan is seriously alarmed at the discovery that a number of native tribes are combining against him, and has appealed to the Indian authorities for help. The dissatisfied Afghans assert that the country has been secretly sold to the British.
—April 3 a violent snow-storm set in very generally throughout New England. In Boston the streets were filled with snow and street-car traffic retarded. Advices along the coast state the storm to be the most severe for ten years. In some places two feet of snow fell.
—At a grammar school in New York on the 6th inst. a thirteen-year-old boy was shot in the head by his playfellow. The principal of the school raised the alarm of fire, which caused a panic among the children, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the teachers prevented a disaster.
—Five lives were lost April 5 by a small steamer being carelessly run into a drift of logs and capsized on the Cœur d’Alene River. The captain and engineer, who also acted as pilot, and who had never been in a steam vessel before, knew nothing of navigation nor a single foot of the channel, and never had any licenses.
—During the sitting of the Chamber of Deputies at Madrid, Spain, April 2, a small parchment case of gunpowder was found in the doorway of the President’s bureau. Later in the evening a petard exploded in the vestibule adjoining the offices of the Ministry of Finance. Nobody was hurt, but the two events caused much alarm.
—Mons. G. A. Cassagnee, of Paris, has invented a system of steno-telegraphy by which he can transmit a dispatch along a single wire and print it at a distant station in shorthand with a rapidity exceeding that of any telegraphic apparatus now in use. With this machine more than 200 words can be reported and telegraphed a minute.

News and Notes.

By Editor

RELIGIOUS.

—The Chinese Testament, revised by the Rev. Griffith John, has just been published, and the demand for parts of this version averages nearly 1,000 copies per day.
—Mr. Morse, grand rabbi of Avignon, France, announces a work on Judaism, taking up the history, morals, manners, and doctrines of the Hebrews. It is intended as an answer to the anti-Semites.
—The Independent states that “there are over eight hundred Congregational Churches alone without ministers, a very large portion of them so feeble that they can hardly expect to support a minister.”
—The largest Protestant church in the republic of Mexico is the Presbyterian Church in Zacatecas. It has more than 900 members. They have bought a fine Catholic church at great cost and are advancing rapidly.
—Some of the leading members of the Roman Catholic Church are taking steps to get the Pope to canonize Mary, Queen of Scots. The application will be based on the fact that Mary was the last of the Roman Catholic sovereigns of Scotland.
—Rev. Henry Loomis, of Japan, is authority for the statement that an English missionary who went to that country to teach the doctrine of a future probation has abandoned his faith entirely, and now lectures on educational and other secular topics.
—Catholic circles are greatly agitated at St. Louis, Mo., over the action of Archbishop Kenrick in ousting Father O’Leary from the diocese. The priest denies the authority of the archbishop, and the outcome is looked for with great interest and concern.
—The Hebrew Observer tells of a rabbi in New York, who, learning that the pupils of his Sabbath-school intended to present him with a Purim gift, sent a message to the children, that, as he possessed sufficient furniture, silverware, etc., he would prefer the cash.
—A correspondent of the California Christian Advocate makes the sensible suggestion that the next General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church so enlarge and vary the burial ritual that their ministers shall not have to say over a suicide, a rum-murdered sot, a wretch killed in a prize-ring, or a woman who dies from tight-lacing, “Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, in his wise providence, to take out of the world the soul of the departed;” or over any unrepentant sinner, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”

Appointments.

STOCKHOLDERS' MEETINGS.

THE Twelfth Annual Meeting of the Stockholders of the Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association will be held at the Office of said Association, in Oakland, Cal., Monday, April 25, 1887, at 9:30 A. M., for the purpose of electing a Board of Directors, and transacting any other business that may come before the meeting.
By order of the president. S. C. STICKNEY, Sec.
NOTICE is hereby given to the stockholders of Healdsburg College that according to the requirements of the by-laws of said association, a meeting will be held on the third Monday in April, 1887, for the purpose of electing a board of seven trustees and for the transaction of any other business that may be brought before the meeting.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, Pres. S. BROWNSBERGER, Sec.

SPECIAL MEETING OF THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE PACIFIC S. D. A. PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION.

By Editor

A SPECIAL meeting of the stockholders of the Pacific S. D. A. Publishing Association will be held on Monday, the 25th day of April, 1887, at 9 o’clock, A. M., for the purpose of considering and making the following amendments to the By-laws of the Association:—
ARTICLE 2, Section 1. Instead of, "The business affairs of this Corporation shall be managed by a Board of five Directors, as provided in the Articles of Incorporation, a majority of whom must be citizens of this State," read "The business affairs of this Corporation shall be managed by a Board of seven Directors, as provided for by law, a majority of whom must be citizens of this State."
ART. 2, Sec. 10. Instead of, "The Directors must cause a record to be kept by the Secretary, of all their doings in the meetings of their Board. Such record must contain also a copy of the notice of the said meetings, stating at whose instigation the meeting was called, who attended it, and how each Director voted on all matters acted upon in the meeting," read, "The Directors must cause a record to be kept by the Secretary of all their doings in the meetings of their Board. Such record must state the call for said meetings, the attendance thereat, and how each Director voted on all matters acted upon."
ART. 3, Sec. 3. Now reading, "The duties of the President and of the Treasurer shall be such as usually pertain to those offices, and such as may be designated under other Articles of these By-laws," shall be amended by adding thereto the following words: "And in the absence of the President his duties shall devolve upon, and be performed by the Vice-president, who shall have full power to act in his stead."
ART. 5, Sec. 1. Instead of, "Any person who keeps the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ may become a shareholder in this Association on the payment of Ten Dollars ($10) U. S. coin into the Treasury, and each person may hold as many shares as he or she shall thus purchase, and for each and every share held by such persons, they shall be entitled to one vote in all matters acted upon in the meetings of the stockholders of this Association," read, "Any person who keeps the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ, may become a shareholder in this Association on the payment of Ten Dollars ($10) U. S. coin into the Treasury for each share of stock purchased; provided, that no one person shall hold more than one-fourth of the entire capital stock of this Association, and each share so held shall entitle the holder thereof to one vote in all matters acted upon in the meetings of the stockholders of this Association."
ART. 9, Sec. 1. Instead of, "All elections must be by ballot, and a majority of the subscribed Capital Stock represented at the meeting is necessary to a choice. All other voting may be done as the President may direct, provided that each member shall be entitled to as many votes as he has shares in the Corporation," read, "All elections must be by ballot, and a majority of the subscribed Capital Stock represented at the meeting is necessary to a choice. All other voting may be done as the President may direct."
ART. 11, Sec. 1. Instead of, "These By-laws may be amended at a special meeting of the stockholders called by the Directors for that purpose, specifying in order the proposed amendments, and a two-thirds vote of all the subscribed Capital Stock is necessary to change a By-law," read, "These By-laws may be amended or repealed at any regular annual meeting of this Association, or at a special meeting of the stockholders called by the Directors for that purpose, provided that due notice of such proposed amendment or alteration has been given as required by law, and that a two-thirds vote of all the subscribed Capital Stock is necessary to change these By-laws."
ART. 11, Sec. 2. To omit this section entirely.
A proposition will also be submitted to the stockholders at said meeting to increase the Capital Stock of this Association from the sum of $28,000 to the sum of $200,000 for the purpose of increasing and benefiting the business of said Association.
By order of the President.
S. C. STICKNEY, Secretary.

Oakland and San Francisco Meetings

Oakland.—House of worship, southeast corner of Jefferson and Thirteenth Streets. Sabbath-School every Sabbath at 9:30 A. M. Preaching at 11. Prayer and missionary meeting every Tuesday evening at 7:15. Seats free.
San Francisco.—House of worship, 914 Laguna Street, between McAllister and Tyler. Sabbath-school every Sabbath at 9:45, and preaching at 11 A. M.; also preaching every Sunday evening at 7:30. Sabbath-school classes in the English, German, and Scandinavian languages. Prayer and missionary meeting every Wednesday evening at 7:15. Mission reading-rooms at the church.

LABBERTON'S NEW HISTORICAL ATLAS AND GENERAL HISTORY.

By Editor

COLLEGE alumni, ministers, lawyers, and business men, will appreciate this book. This Atlas has already been approved, recommended, or adopted at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, Amherst, Williams, Wesleyan, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Brown, Hamilton, Rutgers, Inst. Technology, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, University of Indiana, University of Kansas, University of Illinois, and University of Virginia.
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARIES.—Union, Princeton, Auburn, McCormick, Andover, Oberlin, Bangor, Chicago, Drew, Centenary, Southern Baptist, Berkeley Divinity, Divinity School (P. E., Philadelphia), Episcopal (Cambridge).
FEMALE COLLEGES.—Wellesley, Vassar, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, and Ogontz.
GOVERNMENT ACADEMIES.—West Point and Annapolis.
Sent by mail or express, prepaid, for $2.50. Address, Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal.
WHEN you desire the address on your paper changed, always give us the name of the post-office to which your paper is now going, so that we may stop its going there and change it to your new address. We cannot find your name among the thousands of others on our mailing lists, unless you give us your former address as well as your present one.

"RELIGIOUS LIBERTY."

By Editor

THE above is the title of an eight-page tract containing the principal part of a speech by Hon. Robert H. Crockett, in the Arkansas Legislature, and published in the Chicago Daily Inter-Ocean, Little Rock Weekly Arkansas Gazette, and other influential papers.
Price of this tract, post-paid, $1 per hundred copies. Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Publishers, Oakland, Cal.

"SIGNS" IN PAPER COVERS.

By Editor

We have quite a large supply of back numbers of the Signs of the Times bound in strong manilla covers, of volumes two, three, four, five, six, and seven. These volumes are nearly complete, some lacking one to five papers of being complete files.
These make excellent books for reference and study, or a very appropriate present to Free Reading Rooms, Y. M. C. Associations, City Mission Rooms, or Public Libraries.
We will send these incomplete volumes at $1.00 each, or, so long as they last, the whole set of six volumes, post-paid, for $5.00.

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY

BETWEEN CHRIST AND SATAN

DURING THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
Author of "The Life of Christ," "Sketches from the Life of Paul," "Bible Sanctification," and Other Popular Works.
THIS volume presents the most wonderful and intensely interesting history that has ever been written of the great conflict between Christianity and the Powers of Darkness, as illustrated in the lives of Christian martyrs and reformers on the one hand, and wicked men and persecuting powers on the other. Beginning with our Lord's great prophecy given while viewing Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, this book outlines the history of the whole dispensation down to the time when "Sin and sinners are no more; God's entire universe is clean; and the great controversy is forever ended."
Below we give a brief synopsis of the subjects considered—Destruction of Jerusalem; Persecutions in the First Centuries; The Roman Church; The Waldenses; Early Reformers; Luther's Separation from Rome; Luther before the Diet; Progress of the Reformation; Protest of the Princes; Later Reformers; The Two Witnesses; God Honors the Humble; William Miller and His Work; The First, Second, and Third Angels' Messages; The Tarrying Time; The Midnight Cry; The Sanctuary and 2300 Days; An Open and a Shut Door; Modern Revivals; The Investigative Judgment; Origin of Evil; Enmity between Man and Satan; Agency of Evil Spirits; The Snares of Satan; The First Great Deception; Ancient and Modern Spiritualism; Character and Aims of the Papacy; The Coming Conflict; The Scriptures a Safeguard; The Loud Cry of Rev. 18; The Time of Trouble; God's People Delivered; Desolation of the Earth; The Controversy Ended.
The period of history covered by this volume, is one of the deepest interest to all classes of readers. The style of the author is clear, forcible, and often sublime, and, although simple enough in its statements to be understood and appreciated by a child, its eloquence calls forth the admiration of all.
The demand for this popular book is so great that we have had to print eight editions of it, and as we have hundreds of agents in the field canvassing we expect to sell many thousand copies of this valuable book during the next few months. If there is no agent in your town please send us your address and we will send you descriptive circulars or have an agent call upon you.
The "Great Controversy" contains over 500 pages; 21 full page illustrations and Steel Portrait of the Author; printed and bound in the very best style.
Active Agents Wanted in Every Town and County in the United States.
For Terms and Territory, Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Publishers, 12th and Castro Streets, Oakland, Cal.

SPIRITUAL GIFTS, VOLUME ONE.

By MRS. E. G. WHITE.
The readers of the SIGNS need no introduction to the writings of Mrs. White. The article on the first page of each paper, from her pen, is always eagerly read; and those who read it need no guarantee that her writings are elevating in their nature and marked by a high moral tone. This book has long been out of print, and is now republished, as much that it contains has never appeared in any other work. It is a brief but vivid sketch of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, from the rebellion in Heaven to the establishment of Christ's Kingdom. The book is well adapted for extensive circulation, as it contains a great amount of important matter in a small space. Much of the matter is of special interest to the church at the present time. In paper covers, 154 pp. Price, 25 cents.
Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.

BIBLE-READINGS.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

IN TWO NUMBERS EMBRACING A PORTION OF THE BIBLE COURSE AT HEALDSBURG COLLEGE.
(Including the readings given at the Oakland State Meeting.)
BY ELD. E. J. WAGGONER.
THESE Readings were prepared especially for the use of colporters and those who intend to conduct Bible-readings in missionary fields, and they present a connected chain of argument upon the fundamental doctrines of Present Truth.
NUMBER ONE contains 57 pages, embracing sixteen readings, as follows:—
No. Ques. No. Ques.
Daniel 2 93 The Law of God, No. 4 32
Daniel 7 93 " " " 5 31
Daniel 8 60 Ephesians 2:15 26
Daniel 9 94 Romans 6:14 23
The Sanctuary 179 Romans 10:4 17
The Law of God, No. 1 30 Galatians 3:13 19
" " " 2 31 Romans 3:20 10
" " " 3 28 Tithing 99
NUMBER TWO contains 46 pages, embracing twenty-two readings, as follows:—
No. Ques. No. Ques.
The Sabbath, No. 1 51 2 Corinthians 5:8 18
" " 2 49 Luke 23:39-43 16
" " 3 42 1 Peter 3:18-20 10
Colossians 2:14-17 19 Luke 16:19-31 37
Psalms 118:24 13 Living Souls 14
Penalty of Transgression 10 Nature of Man 18
Sanctification 43 Punishment of the Wicked 70
Second Coming of Christ 64 Work of the Spirit, No. 1 47
The Resurrection 59 " " " 2 51
Immortality 18 Church Membership 61
Philippians 1:23 5 Missionary Labor 52
Price for the Two, 50 Cents.
Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.

NEW HISTORICAL ATLAS

AND GENERAL HISTORY.

BY ROBERT H. LABBERTON.
As a CLASS TEXT-BOOK it is superior to any other in Unity, Brevity, Clearness, Logical Arrangement, and Suggestiveness.
As a REFERENCE BOOK it should be in the Library of every school-room in the country; every Student of History should possess a copy.
In your Reading Circle or at home when you wish to consult an Atlas you need a map for a particular date. Your modern Atlas will not give it. This is the only Atlas which has a map for every period.
A MAP for any particular date can instantly be found by anyone, each map having over it in figures, the year or period it covers.
It is the only Atlas in which each nationality has, and always retains, its own distinctive color; hence every period has a map, and they are progressive, forming in themselves a panorama of events effective in the highest degree.

NEW MAPS OF ANCIENT EMPIRES.

It contains, now made for the first time, maps of the Chaldean, Elamitic, Egyptian, Kossean, Armenian, Hittite, and Assyrian Empires.
The text is brief, suggestive, fascinating, but gives in an attractive form the leading events in the history of the world (not a bundle of particular histories), free from unnecessary details. It has an index.
Labberton's New Historical Atlas and General History is indispensable to Libraries, Reading Circles, School Officers, Teachers, Students, etc. It contains 198 Maps, printed in colors, 30 Genealogical Charts, and is complete in one volume, 4to. Cloth, 312 pages. Sent by Mail or Express, prepaid, for $2.50.
Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.

GOOD HEALTH.

By Editor

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

GOOD HEALTH is emphatically a Family Journal, being cheap, plain, and practical, qualities which have won for it the largest circulation of any Health Journal in America. It is devoted to all reforms, but is ultra in none. It is unpartisan and unsectarian. Its only creed is nature's laws. It treats of Health, Temperance, General Literature, Science, and many other interesting and practical subjects; it is a live journal, and every way adapted to the wants of the family. There is something in it for everybody. Price, $1.00 a year.
Address, GOOD HEALTH, Battle Creek, Mich.

THE AGE TO COME:

By Joseph Harvey Waggoner

A REFUTATION OF THE DOCTRINE.

By Eld. J. H. Waggoner.
EMBRACING a critical examination of the Temporal Millennium—The Return of the Jews—Time and Manner of the Establishment of the Kingdom of God—The Day of the Lord, and the Promises to Israel.
Second edition revised. 168 pages. Price, post-paid, 20 cents.
Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.

THE HOME OF THE SAVED.

By John Norton Loughborough

BY ELD. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
This pamphlet gives the Bible evidence upon the interesting topic of the earth made new, as the inheritance of the saints. It contains 82 pages. Price, 10 cents.
Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.

Publishers' Department.

By Editor

OUR GENERAL AGENTS.

Alabama and Mississippi—Eld. C. W. Olds, 520 Sixteenth Street North, Birmingham, Ala. Australia—Echo Publishing House, North Fitzroy, Victoria. Canada Tract Society—R. S. Owen, South Stukely, P. Q. Colorado Tract Society—C. P. Haskell, Sec., 167 Clement St., Denver, Col. Dakota Tract Society—A. H. Beaumont, Sec., Vilas, Miner Co., Dakota. Delaware and Maryland—D. C. Babcock, Frederica, Del. District of Columbia—International Tract Society, 1831 Vermont Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C. England—The Present Truth, 72 Heneage St., Grimsby, Eng. Florida Tract Society—Box 232, Jacksonville, Fla. Georgia—G. W. Anglebarger, 229 Prior St., Atlanta, Ga. Hawaiian Islands—International Tract Society, Honolulu, H. I. Illinois Tract Society—3652 Vincennes Ave., Chicago, Ill. Indiana Tract Society—32 Cherry St., Indianapolis, Ind. Iowa Tract Society—603 East Twelfth St., Des Moines, Iowa. Kansas Tract Society—Box 160, Ottawa, Franklin Co., Kansas. Kentucky Tract Society—Elsie Scott, Cecilian, Hardin Co., Ky. Louisiana Tract Society—321 Second St., New Orleans, La. Maine—Mrs. A. J. Goodrich, South Lancaster, Mass. Michigan Tract Society—Hattie House, Sec., Review and Herald Office, Battle Creek, Mich. Minnesota Tract Society—336 Lake Street E., Minneapolis, Minn. Missouri Tract Society—2339 Chestnut St., St. Louis, Mo. Nebraska Tract Society—1505 E St., Lincoln, Neb. New England—N. E. Tract Society, South Lancaster, Mass. New Jersey and Long Island—Mrs. E. T. Palmer, South Lancaster, Mass. New Mexico—Walter Harper, Albuquerque, New Mexico. New York Tract Society—J. V. Willson, Sec., Box 113, Rome, New York. New Zealand—International Tract Society, Turner St., off Upper Queen St., Auckland, N. Z. North Pacific—N. P. Tract Society, Box 18, East Portland, Or. Norway—Sundhedsbladet, Christiania, Norway. Nova Scotia—Elder I. E. Kimball, No 50 Maitland St., Halifax, N. S. Ohio Tract Society—L. T. Dysert, Sec., 178 Warren St., Toledo, Ohio. Pennsylvania Tract Society—5 Madison St., Wellsville, N. Y. Switzerland—Les Signes des Temps, 48 Weiherweg, Basel, Switz. Tennessee Tract Society—J. H. Dortch, Sec., Springville, Henry Co., Tenn. Texas Tract Society—Mrs. Lee Gregory, Sec., Denton, Texas. Upper Columbia—U. C. Tract Society, Mrs. L. A. Fero, Sec., Walla Walla, W. T. Vancouver Island—Bernard Robb, Victoria, B. C. Vermont—Lizzie A. Stone, South Lancaster, Mass. Virginia—Lillie D. Woods, Quicksburgh, Va. Wisconsin Tract Society—1029 Jenifer St., Madison, Wis.

RECEIPTS.

By Editor

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How to Study the Bible

By Editor

SOMEONE asks us to tell him which is the longest verse in the Bible. We don't know. More than that, we haven't any special curiosity in the matter. There are some lottery schemes gotten up in different parts of the country, usually connected with some so-called literary journal, whose proprietors offer prizes to the ones who will send correct answers to certain simple questions concerning the Bible. Thus they make a pretense of stimulating Bible investigation. We suspect that our questioner has got hold of one of their offers. We would therefore say here that all such schemes are unmitigated swindles, and that hunting for the longest or the shortest verse in the Bible is not studying the Bible at all. It is no more profitable than it would be to hunt for the largest or the smallest Bible in the world. The way to study the Bible is to study it, and any part of it, even the shortest verse, will be found to contain abundant matter for thought, without which there can be no study.

SPIRITUALISM A DELUSION.

THE Bible plainly teaches the existence of good and bad angels, and that they have a great deal of influence upon our lives; so much so, indeed, that if we are not ministered unto in spiritual things by good angels, we are by evil ones. Of the good angels we read: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" (Heb. 1:14) while the fallen angels are, we are told, "the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Rev. 16:14.
This last scripture we understand refers to the delusion of Spiritualism, which to-day numbers its votaries by millions both in this country and in Europe. Kings and queens have become its devotees, and multitudes are everywhere being led captive by Satan at his will. And why? Simply because the professed church of Christ, both Protestant and Catholic, is almost a unit in teaching those twin errors, the immortality of the soul and the conscious state of the dead. Faith in these errors makes it well nigh impossible for people even now to resist the delusions of Spiritualism, and the time will come when Satan works "with all power, and signs, and lying wonders;" that all who are not rooted and grounded on Bible truth will be swept into the whirlpool of this monster delusion.
When good angels have appeared to men and have communicated with them as spiritual beings, they have declared themselves to be angels: Said the angel that appeared to Zacharias, "I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God," but when the spirits of devils come, they come professing to be the spirits of the dead. And it is to this fact that the prophet alludes when he says:—
"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. 8:19, 20.
Let us heed the admonition, that we "may be accounted worthy to escape all these things, and to stand before the Son of man."

A CRITICAL PERIOD.

By Editor

PRESIDENT WASHBURN, of Robert College, Constantinople, in a letter to the New York Independent, says of the European outlook: "On the whole, there are at least six chances out of ten that we shall have an outbreak of war within two months." "Bismarck was undoubtedly right when he asserted in his great speech before the German Parliament that another war between France and Germany was inevitable. France has never accepted the loss of her provinces, and the one thing that the Republic has steadily adhered to has been the policy of developing the army. It is now larger than that of Germany, and is rapidly reducing the Government to bankruptcy." He continues:—
Russia will have to decide within a few weeks whether to strike now or to compromise with the Bulgarians and postpone her advance to a more favorable opportunity. It is hard to see how she can hope for a more promising chance than the present one. Germany and France are engaged in their own conflict. Austria is totally unprepared for war, and cannot possibly complete her preparations this spring. Turkey is bankrupt. England is absorbed in the Irish question, and her new democracy cares no more for Constantinople than for the man in the moon. Her Government is liable to be overturned any day, and cannot act with vigor on its own convictions. Italy is in the midst of a great political crisis. If war really breaks out between France and Germany, or if the present state of expectation of war continues, it would seem probable that the Czar will either attack Austria directly or occupy Bulgaria and put Montenegro forward to raise an insurrection in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It is undoubtedly the most critical moment that Europe has seen since 1815. It is not simply the fate of empires or the liberty of the Balkan Peninsular which is involved, but the civilization of the world. It is the crisis of that struggle to which Napoleon looked forward when he predicted that Europe would one day be either Cossack or Republican. Russia today makes no secret of her determination to overthrow "the rotten civilization of Western Europe" and to replace it by a new civilization of her own.
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