Signs of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 32.
Come Now, Let Us Reason TogetherPage 1
Come Now, Let Us Reason Together
"COME now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Never were there more gracious words. They express man's need as well as God's loving care, condescension, willingness, and power. "Come," he invites, and his invitation is to the very lowest, to the most sinful. "Come now," before the day of mercy is past and your heart is so hardened that it cannot be reached. "Let us reason together." You cannot do this work of reforming in your own strength, the Lord would say, trust me. Look on the reasonable side. And then his power! Though your sins be as scarlet, as crimson—why these colors? why should not black be used to represent sin? Because the simile would not be true. The art of man can bleach to perfect whiteness the deepest-dyed black, but no art can thoroughly remove the well-dyed scarlet or crimson. And such is sin. "Nor vows, nor promises, nor tears, can e'er for sin atone." Man cannot justify himself; he cannot cleanse the heart; but God can. The scarlet iniquity will be washed away, the crimson heart will be cleansed, the soul will be made pure. Sinner, this invitation is to thee. The Lord says, Come now. INTERCOURSE WITH EVIL SPIRITS FORBIDDEN.
By Ellen G. White
THE Lord has purchased his people for himself, and has manifested his love toward them by the greatest possible evidence, even by shedding his blood and yielding his life on Calvary. He came down to our world to redeem us, to betroth and marry us to himself by an eternal covenant. The marriage union is taken as a symbol of the sacred and enduring character of the relation that exists between Christ and his church. He says, "I will betroth thee unto me forever;" and again, "I am married unto you;" and Paul employs the same figure in the New Testament when he declares, "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." With untold love our God has loved us, and our love awakens toward him as we comprehend more of the length and depth and height and breadth of this love that passeth knowledge. But when we turn aside to another master, we break our vows to him, and make void the covenant; and we become adulterers, choosing the friendship and favor of others, and proving untrue to him who has died for us. We declare by this act of separation, that we have found his service hard and his love unsatisfying; and thus we dishonor him, and bring his name into reproach before the world. The Lord, infinite in power and wisdom, has declared, "Thy Maker is thine husband."498Everything that will serve for the best good and the highest interest of the people of God will be provided; and although the world seeks to entice them from their allegiance, although they are brought into difficult places, and experience affliction, they are not to seek the counsel of man, but to put their whole trust in God, casting all their care upon him. Christ proves the sincerity of the faith and love of his church by trial and sorrow; and he will bring those who are faithful out of the furnace, refined and purified. There are many who do not bear the testing of their fidelity. When affliction comes upon them, and they are perplexed by circumstances, and cannot discover the purpose of God's providence, they become impatient and distrustful. They cast away their confidence, forgetful of the tender mercies of the past, and their hearts are filled with unrest and repining. They neglect prayer, and refuse the comfort and instruction of the Bible. They seek for counselors among the children of men, questioning the dealing of God, and striving to know what he has wisely concealed. The Lord, who knows all, will make known the very things that are for the best interests of his children; and if he sees fit to veil the events of the future, it is only because he loves us, and would work out our highest good. Should he permit us to see the future mapped out before us, some of us would be distracted by anticipating coming sorrows, and others would be self-confident and daring, and the very good that our heavenly Father intended to bring about by his all-wise providences, would be thwarted and frustrated. We have an enemy who is ever seeking whom he may devour; and it is his purpose to draw away men's confidence in God, to make them dissatisfied with their condition in life, and to lead them to seek to know what God has veiled from them, and to despise what he has revealed in his holy word. He controls the minds of evil men, and the spirits of devils become the counselors of those who reject the wisdom of God. But shall we who have a holy God, infinite in wisdom, go unto wizards, whose knowledge comes from a close intimacy with the enemy of our Lord? Shall we be among those who turn "after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them," and thus prove false to our best friend until his face be set against us? We are living in an age of peril, in an age of apostasy; evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse, Satan is working with all "deceivableness of unrighteousness," and the servants of God must make no concessions to the enemy, nor listen to his suggestions to doubt God. There are many who become restless when they cannot see the definite outcome of affairs. They cannot endure uncertainty, and in their impatience they refuse to wait to see the salvation of God. Apprehended evils drive them nearly distracted. They give way to their rebellious feelings, and run hither and thither in passionate grief, seeking intelligence concerning that which God has not revealed. If they would but trust in God and watch unto prayer, they would find divine consolation. Their spirit would be calmed by communion with God. The weary and the heavy laden would find rest unto their souls, if they would only go to Jesus; but when they neglect the means that God has ordained for their comfort, and rush off to other sources for information, hoping to learn what God has withheld, they commit the error of Eve, and thereby gain only a knowledge of evil. God is not pleased with this course, and has expressed it in the most explicit terms. This impatient haste to tear away the veil from the future, reveals a lack of unfaltering trust in God, and leaves the soul open to the suggestions of the master-deceiver. Satan can lead the mind to seek unto those that have familiar spirits, and through the agency of his mediums he can reveal extraordinary views of the future. Through his knowledge of the past he inspires confidence, and he has the poor, misguided soul in his power to lead captive at his will; but the Lord says, "The soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people." TRUE meekness is teachableness; "for the meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way." Ps. 25:9. Therefore the meek man is one who is willing to be taught and guided by the Lord. Blessed are such. It is said of the New Jerusalem, the mother of the saints (Gal. 4:26), "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." Isa. 54:13. The way of the meek is the way of God; and the way of God is the way of peace. Who would not be a willing learner? THE fact that God has for Christ's sake pardoned all past sins is an evidence that he will enable us to overcome all sin. Christ is the author, or beginner, of our faith in order that he may be the finisher. We may take every past blessing as a pledge that the Lord will give us all the strength and help we need for all the future. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?" Rom. 8:31. Surely he will if we believe; "for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Rom. 5:9. How can we despair with such pledges of God's love? AMONG the numerous charitable institutes in New York City, that known as the "Fresh Air Fund" is worthy of notice. It is conducted by the New York Tribune, and up to July of this year, the sum received was $12,592.30. Of this amount, $11,555.45 has been spent in sending 4,929 children to the country. These children are sent to various points to people who will look after them for a period of two weeks; and usually this outing has a very beneficial effect both on the health and morals of the children. Some find permanent homes in this way. Those sent are from the very poor. POSSIBLE THROUGH CHRIST.
By Charles Wesley
ALL things are possible to him
That can in Jesus' name believe;
Lord, I no more thy truth blaspheme,
Thy truth I lovingly receive;
I can, I do believe in thee;
All things are possible to me. The most impossible of all
Is, that I e'er from sin should cease;
Yet shall it be, I know it shall;
Jesus, look to thy faithfulness!
If nothing is too hard for thee,
All things are possible to me. Though earth and hell the word gainsay,
The word of God can never fail;
The Lamb shall take my sins away
'Tis certain, though impossible;
The thing impossible shall be;
All things are possible to me.
—Charles Wesley. Building Christian Character
So it is in the Christian life. God's truth has cut us out rough stones from the great quarry of the world. He accepts us in the Beloved as fitted for certain places in that great heavenly temple on the conditions that we can stand the character-forming. One temptation resisted does not form the habit of resisting that temptation, unless it is specially aggravated; two does not form the habit; but as we withstand again and again, the victory is won, the character is formed, and the temptation is no longer a temptation. So the covetous man by constantly exercising liberality through the grace of Christ, always of course, forever overcomes his covetousness and forms a liberal character. It is just as true in every other direction. The great builder is our Lord Jesus Christ (Zech. 6:12, 13); the agents are his word and Spirit. Therefore we "commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." Acts spring from thoughts; acts repeated make habits; and habits form character. It will be seen, therefore, that one act does not form a character, unless, indeed, which is rarely the case, that act involves enough of the powers and will of the individual so as to give him a permanent stamp or mould. "Character" means, literally, a mark or figure clearly defined or cut. So people who are yielding, vacillating, easily turned this way or that by various influences, are said to be of no character. Character-forming is like shaping the rough marble into the graceful monument or the beautiful statue. The statue is there already in the sculptor's mind. His ideal is clean-cut and beautiful. But shaping the stone to that ideal requires constant, well-directed labor. The chisel makes but little impression with one blow from the mallet. Two makes a little more, but again and again and again is the blow repeated till the necessary material is removed and the perfect shape appears, to be planed and polished by careful patient toil. JESUS AND THE SCRIPTURES.
By L. Gaussen, D. D.
BUT, farther, let us turn from the apostles, prophets as they are—men sent by God for the establishment of his kingdom, the pillars of the church, the mouths of the Holy Ghost, ambassadors of Jesus Christ; let us, for an instant, turn from them as men who had not yet quite thrown off their Jewish traditions and clownish prejudices, and let us go to the Master. Let us inquire of him what the Scriptures were in his view of them. Here is the grand question. The testimonies to which we have appealed are peremptory, no doubt; and the doctrine of a plenary and entire inspiration is taught as clearly in Scripture as that of the resurrection of the dead can be; that ought of itself to be enough for us; but we repeat, nevertheless, here is an argument which for us render all else superfluous. How did Jesus Christ appeal to the Holy Bible? What were his views of the letter of the Scriptures? What use did he make of it, he who is its object and inspirer, beginning and end, first and last? he whose Holy Spirit, says St. Peter, animated all the prophets of the Old Testament (2 Peter 1:21)? . . . who was in heaven in the bosom of the Father at the same time that he was seen here below, dwelling among us and preaching the gospel to the poor? Among the most ardent defenders of their verbal inspiration, we know not one that ever expressed himself with more respect for the altogether divine authority and everlasting endurance of their most minute expressions than was done by the man Jesus. And we scruple not to say, that were any modern writer to quote the Bible, as Jesus Christ did, with the view of deducing from it any doctrine, he would forthwith have to be ranked among the most zealous partisans of the doctrine we defend. I am asked, What is your view of the Holy Letters? I answer, What thought my Master of them? how did he appeal to them? what use did he make of them? what were their smallest details in his eyes? Ah! speak to them thyself, Eternal Wisdom, Uncreated Word, Judge of judges! and as we proceed to repeat to them here the declarations of thy mouth, show them the majesty in which the Scriptures appeared to thee—show them the perfection thou didst recognize in them, that everlasting endurance, above all, which thou didst assign to their smallest iota, and which will make them outlast the universe, after the very heavens and the earth have passed away! We are not afraid to say it: when we hear the Son of God quote the Scriptures, everything is said, in our view, on their divine inspiration—we need no farther testimony. All the declarations of the Bible are, no doubt, equally divine; but this example of the Saviour of the world has settled the question for us at once. This proof requires neither long nor learned researches; it is grasped by the hand of a child as powerful as by that of a doctor. Should any doubt, then, assail your soul, let it turn to the Lord of lords; let it behold him in the presence of the Scriptures! Follow Jesus in the days of his flesh. With what serious and tender respect does he constantly hold in his hands "the volume of the Book" to quote every part of it, and note its shortest verses. See how one word, one single word, whether of a psalm or of an historical book, has for him the authority of a law. Mark with what confident submission he receives the whole Scriptures, without ever contesting its sacred canon; for he knows that "salvation cometh of the Jews," and that, under the infallible providence of God, "to them were committed the oracles of God." Did I say, he receives them? From his childhood to the grave, and from his rising again from the grave to his disappearance in the clouds, what does he bear always about with him in the desert, in the temple, in the synagogue? What does he continue to quote with his resuscitated voice, just as the heavens are about to exclaim, "Lift up your heads, ye everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in?" It is the Bible, ever the Bible; it is Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets: he quotes them, he explains them, but how? Why, verse by verse, and word by word. In what alarming and melancholy contrast, after beholding all this, do we see those misguided men present themselves in our days, who dare to judge, contradict, cull, and mutilate the Scriptures. Who does not tremble, after following with his eyes the Son of man as he commands the elements, stills the storms, and opens the graves, while, filled with so profound a respect for the sacred volume, he declares that he is one day to judge by that book the quick and the dead? Who does not shudder, whose heart does not bleed, when, after observing this, we venture to step into a Rationalist academy, and see the professor's chair occupied by a poor mortal, learned, miserable, a sinner, responsible, yet handling God's word irreverently; when we follow him as he goes through this deplorable task before a body of youths, destined to be the guides of a whole people—youths capable of doing so much good if guided to the heights of the faith, and so much mischief if tutored in disrespect for those Scriptures which they are one day to preach? With what peremptory decision do such men display the phantasmagoria of their hypotheses; they retrench, they add, they praise, they blame, and pity the simplicity which, reading the Bible as it was read by Jesus Christ, like him clings to every syllable, and never dreams of finding error in the word of God! They pronounce on the intercalations and retrenchments that499the Holy Scriptures must have undergone—intercalations and retrenchments never suspected by Jesus Christ; they lop off the chapters they do not understand, and point out blunders, ill-sustained or ill-concluded reasonings, prejudices, imprudences, and instances of vulgar ignorance. May God forgive my being compelled to put this frightful dilemma into words, but the alternative is inevitable! Either Jesus Christ exaggerated and spoke incoherently when he quoted the Scriptures thus, or these rash, wretched men unwittingly blaspheme their divine majesty. It pains us to write these lines. God is our witness that we could have wished to recall, and then to efface them; but we venture to say, with profound feeling, that it is in obedience, it is in charity, that they have been penned. Alas! in a few short years both the doctors and the disciples will be laid in the tomb, they shall wither like the grass; but not one jot or tittle of that divine book will then have passed away; and as certainly as the Bible is the truth, and that it has changed the face of the world, as certainly shall we see the Son come in the clouds of heaven, and judge, by his eternal word, the secret thoughts of all men! . . . "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you;" this is the word which will judge us. THERE is a fearful disease which is prevalent among a great many church members, and in order that they may recognize its presence and its danger, we give the following description from an exchange:— Morbus sabbaticus, or Sabbath sickness, a disease peculiar to church members. The attack comes on suddenly every Sabbath; no symptoms are felt on the preceding night; the patient sleeps well and awakes feeling well; eats a hearty breakfast, but about church time the attack comes on and continues until services are over for the morning. Then the patient feels easy and eats a hearty dinner. In the afternoon he feels much better and is able to take a walk, talk about politics, and read the newspapers; he eats a hearty supper, but about church time he has another attack and stays at home. He retires early, sleeps well, wakes up next morning refreshed and able to go to work, and does not have any symptoms of the disease until the following Sabbath. The peculiar features are as follows: 1. It always attacks members of the church. 2. It never makes its appearance except on the Sabbath. 3. The symptoms vary, but never interferes with the sleep or appetite. 4. It never lasts more than twenty-four hours. 5. It generally attacks the head of the family. 6. No physician is ever called. 7. It always proves fatal in the end—to the soul. 8. No remedy is known for it except prayer. 9. Religion is the only antidote. 10. This disease is often called "systematic lying," but its true name is "morbus sabbaticus," or Sabbath sickness. 11. It is becoming fearfully prevalent, and is sweeping thousands every year prematurely to the devil.—Exchange. SUPERSTITION AND UNBELIEF.
By Churchman
Of all the crazy fads of which the present age has been so prolific, the craziest is that which has dubbed itself "Esoteric Buddhism." Never in the history of human folly has superstition so vehemently set at nought the most confident assertions of unbelief. While "the scientific world" drifts toward a dull materialism, millions of persons living in the most enlightened countries and numbering among them men of high scientific distinction, have run into the extravagances of Spiritualism. At the very time when Professor Huxley sneers at the possibility of miracle, and derides the miracles of the gospel as "pig-stories," thousands of so called theosophists are ready to believe the marvels of Madame Blavatski; and while Christian teachers are troubled over "the evidences," there are societies of professedly very learned Englishmen and Americans who accept "Esoteric Buddhism" without any evidence at all. So true is it that between superstition and unbelief there is but a single step. THE WORLD'S SUNDAY-SCHOOL CONVENTION.
By Frank Hope
OUR interest was especially called to this convention, as it was the lot of our party to cross the Atlantic in the steamer which contained the greater part of the American delegates. In all there were on board some three hundred, of whom sixty were ministers. One of the most striking things about this company was the amount of tobacco smoke they produced, and it proved a real annoyance to some. Many times when some sick woman was helped on deck for a little fresh air, one of these "Rev." gentlemen sitting near would calmly light his cigar and proceed to smoke her below again. Only those who have passed through the ordeal of seasickness can appreciate the effect that tobacco smoke has on a thus weakened stomach. But these "gentlemen" were only a type of thousands, and the incident only goes to prove how inconsiderate for the feelings of others the tobacco habit makes men. We also saw the rather novel sight of a man presiding at a religious meeting with a cigar in his mouth. The convention did not attract very much outside attention in London. The Church of England took no part whatever in the proceedings, but regarded it with haughty indifference. For the most part, the time was taken up with reports from different parts of the world. In many was heard the clamorings for a more strict Sunday observance. In the address of welcome, Lord Kinnaird, president of the Sunday-school Union, called especial attention to the encroachments made upon Sunday, and he called on all present to rally round and upbuild that institution. Count Bernstorff, of Germany, said that the Sunday-school was working out many great principles, but the greatest of all was the principle of Sunday. He hoped that England and America would unitedly continue to defend it. They (in Germany) wanted to have a Sunday (great applause and cheering), and it was the Sunday-school work which taught the children from a very early age to love the Sunday. He also told how they had prevailed on the present emperor to express a wish that no races should be held on that day. In consequence, last winter and spring all such amusements were held on week days. Dr. Withrow, of Canada, told about a city in which "not a street-car wheel turned on the Sabbath-day [Sunday], not a drinking-house was open." He also stated that the government of Ontario paid for the cab hire of Sunday-school teachers to go to their work on Sunday. At one meeting, Dr. John Hall, of New York, brought up a resolution of the Executive Committee, consisting of a memorial to be presented to all the crowned heads of Europe,500setting forth the views of the convention as to the importance of the better observance of the "Lord's day." It reads as follows:— "That the delegates to the World's Sunday-school Convention now assembled in London, and representing many Christian lands, and many millions who are interested in Sunday-school work, feel constrained by love to God and regard for our fellow-man, most respectfully do present this memorial to your Majesty. We have ample evidence that Sabbath-school work has made multitudes intelligent, self-respecting, diligent in duty, and faithful to obligations, because the Scriptures teach them to fear God and to honor constituted authority. We have also brought to us the evidence that this beneficent work is particularly difficult in many lands by the practical disregard of the divinely ordered day of rest. Moved by these considerations, we, with one accord, by our officers, earnestly petition your Majesty that, by your personal influence and by the constitutional power in your Majesty's hands, you will secure for the day of weekly rest the place given it in that decalogue which all Christian lands recognize, and for the good of the people, and for the glory of God, promote its recognition as a delight, holy of the Lord, and honorable. In bringing to the consideration of your Majesty this important matter, we do not forget that in the land we represent, the holy day is often degraded and ignored. These evils we deeply deplore, and in our places earnestly oppose, and we feel assured that action in the direction of Sabbath observance on the part of your Majesty and the nation over which, in the providence of the Almighty God, you are placed, would tend to strengthen a sentiment, national and international, in favor of the reverent use of the seventh day, on which our Creator rested, for an example to man, and which is linked throughout Christendom with the rising from the dead of our blessed Lord and Saviour." The memorial was cordially agreed to. Thus we see that the Sunday movement is not confined to the United States, but it is world-wide, or as the prophet says, "All that dwell upon the earth" shall worship the beast or receive his mark. In this there is one encouraging feature; for wherever the Sunday is agitated, it is a means of drawing attention to the true Sabbath. The very wording of the memorial, calling Sunday the seventh day on which God rested, must raise a query in every honest mind. There is another way in which this convention may have a bearing on present truth. Its influence will further help to revolutionize and feeling in regard to American ideas. Both in the recent World's Missionary Convention and in this, it was an apparent fact that the American men are ahead in all evangelical work. People here are beginning to realize and accept gracefully this fact. Thus they now look upon American religious ideas with a respect that they did not a few years ago. In fact, it is going so far that some are designating America as "the world's hope." All will be able to see the help this sentiment will be to the work of the third angel's message, which of course comes from America, and the time may yet come that instead of our trying to apologize for the Lord's plan of starting the message in America, the very fact of it coming from that country will be a means of obtaining for it a hearing. A few statistics may be of interest. Altogether there are 10,000,000 Sunday-school workers on the North American continent. In the United States there are 5,000,000 school children, and over 1,250,000 teachers; in England, 5,500,000 scholars and 500,000 teachers; in Australia, 500,000 scholars and 45,000 teachers, and 5,400 schools; in Ireland, 1,999 schools, 167,000 children, and 15,000 teachers; in Denmark, 35,000 scholars and 2,000 teachers; in Norway, 20,000 children and 1,000 teachers; in Holland, 1,470 schools with over 3,000 teachers; in Persia, 100 schools, 3,000 scholars, and 2,000 church members; in India, are 50,000,000 children, of whom 217,000 are in missionary schools, and 100,000 in Sunday-schools. In the city of Berlin are 84 schools and 20,000 scholars. FRANK HOPE.
London, Eng., July 15. THE COMING OF THE LORD.
By Uriah Smith
COMING, coming, coming! Who?
Christ, the Lord of life and glory,
He who once for me and you
Died!—oh, depth of sin's sad story!
Coming, not a helpless stranger,
Cradled in the friendless manger;
Coming, Lord of earth and heaven!
King! to whom all power is given,
Judge! at whose all-searching bar
All must stand, just what they are;
And the wicked tell with shame,
Why they've cursed his holy name. Coming, coming, coming! How?
Clothed in strange, unearthly splendor,
Glory, men ne'er dream of now,
Grandeur earth ne'er had attend her.
At his sight the heavens shall wither,
From his presence earth shall flee,
Islands move, and mountains thither
Seek the caverns of the sea.
Every eye shall then behold him,
All the nations feel his ire;
While the brightness that enfolds him,
Is to them consuming fire,
Thunders all the air shall thrill,
All the heavens with lightnings blaze,
And the universe stand still,
While thro' all its realms is heard,
That profound, omnific word,
Which to life the dead shall raise. Coming, coming, coming! Why?
To redeem his purchased treasure,
All his saints o'er sin who sigh,
All who make his will their pleasure;
To bring back within their borders
His, whom Hades holds to-day;
To arrest sin's wild disorders,
And the monster, Death, to slay.
Coming to fulfill his plan,
Make his oath and promise good
Which secures repentant man,
Life eternal through his blood. Coming, coming, coming! When?
Ah! That question, solemn, thrilling!
For when he appeareth, then
All their earthly scenes fulfilling,
His sure word shall have an end.
And, behold, the day is near!
Signs in heaven and earth portend
That the Lord will soon appear,
Angry tones through wars proclaim it,
Scoffers by their scoffing, name it.
And the mute and solemn sky
Has hung forth its prophecy.
Coming! While we wait and dally.
Coming! While we sleep in sin.
Swift as light o'er hill and valley,
That great day is coming in.
Sinner, rouse thee to thy fate.
Saint be watchful at thy gate.
Saviour, make us meet t' appear
At thy coming, now so near.
—Uriah Smith. THE history of the origin of the national flag is not fully known. In June of 1777 the American Congress voted "that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation." Some time elapsed before the resolution was visible in a flag. We know that in 1783 the first national flag was thrown to the breeze in New York City, and that a British officer tried to take it down from the building on which it floated, and was so severely beaten with a broomstick by the wife of the owner that he was compelled to give it up. Now, as I look across at the very place where this incident took place, a half-dozen English flags are floating beside our national flag from the masts of the same vessels. The first American flag seen in China was from the mast of the ship Empress, Captain Green commanding. This was in 1784, one year after the flag was floated in New York. The people in China were so impressed with the beauty of the flag that they said: "A ship has arrived from the other end of the world, bearing a flag as beautiful as a flower." In China, now, America is known as the flower-flag country. As originally designed, the stars and stripes were uniform in number, and no provision was made for the representation of new States when admitted to the Union. Vermont was admitted in 1791, and Kentucky in 1792. Two stripes and two stars were added to the flag in 1795 by a resolution of Congress, which created a bitter dispute, one member saying: "We may go on adding and altering for a hundred years to come. It is very likely that before fifteen years elapse we shall consist of twenty States. The flag ought to be permanent." In 1819, after several new States were admitted, a resolution was offered in Congress by a member from New York: "That a committee be appointed to inquire into the expediency of altering the flag of the United States." The result of this was that the number of stripes was reduced to the original number, thirteen, and stars were to be added for each new State admitted. The stars were to be added to the flag the Fourth of July following the addition of the State. The original design seems to have been to form the stars in a circle, but later they formed a great star. From this freedom of design confusion has arisen, and now we see flags with the stars formed in squares, some with the stars forming circles, some with the stars forming a great star. This so confused Germany, where everything relating to the government is managed with military precision, that she asked, "What is the American flag?" Mr. Alfred B. Street, in an address given on the battle of Saratoga, gave the following as the significance of the design of the American flag:— "The stars of the new flag represent a constellation of States rising in the west. The idea was taken from the constellation Lyra, which, in the hands of Orpheus, signified harmony. The blue of the field was taken from the edges of the Covenanters' banner in Scotland, significant also of the league and covenant of the united Colonies against oppression, incidentally involving the virtues of vigilance, perseverance, and justice. The stars were disposed in a circle, symbolizing the perpetuity of the Union, the ring, like the circling serpent of the Egyptians, signifying eternity. The thirteen stripes showed, with the stars, the number of the united Colonies, and denoted the subordination of the States to the Union, as well as equality among themselves. The whole was a blending of the various flags previous to the Union flag; namely, the red flag of the army and the white ones of the floating batteries. The red color, which in Roman days was the signal of defiance, denotes daring, and the white purity."—Christian Union. THAT DIGGER INDIAN SKULL.
THAT ghastly skull turns its eyeless sockets toward the sun once more. Why not let it rest? The silly hoax has been again and again exposed. The facts, as I recall them after so many years, are substantially these: As early as 1852 or 1855 a theory obtained that Table Mountain covered the bed of an ancient river, which bed, if it could be reached, would be rich in gold. Attempts were made at various points along that extended and often divided formation—attempts to tunnel under and to sink shafts through the hard rock. Near what was then called Jimtown, a few miles from Columbia, some miners sank a shaft, with great labor and expense, to a depth of seventy or eighty feet, when resources and courage failed, and they abandoned the work. It was a custom of the Digger Indians in that region to deposit their dead on scaffolds set up ten or twelve feet from the ground, where the flesh fell away and the bones not infrequently became scattered. I used often to see those scaffolds in that early time. It so happened that one of the skulls fell or was thrown into the abandoned shaft. After some time a new set of prospectors, finding so much work done to their hand, entered the shaft to sink it deeper, in the hope of finding the hypothetical river. In clearing out the accumulated rubbish they brought to the surface this same skull. Two young fellows, one a doctor and one a brother of Revs. James and W. W. Brier, seized the opportunity to test the gullibility of so-called scientists, and published the startling fact that a human skull had been found seventy odd feet beneath the trap-rock of Table Mountain. The effect was magical. Some scientific men hastened to get possession of the bone. They at once detected such craniological peculiarities as proved that it must have belonged to a prehistoric,501and probably a pre-Adamic, man. It was clearly the skull of a human being who (or which?) existed hundreds of thousands of years ago, when the race had advanced a comparatively short way toward the prevalent type of our favored day. The cheat was heartily laughed at in Jimtown and vicinity, and the rogues who perpetrated the imposition published the facts; but the skull had set off on its travels. In company with the Neanderthal skull (I write the name from memory) it has made the rounds of Europe, and demonstrated the immeasurable length of the human period. It is unhappily true that the poor skull has left a few unsettled differences in the field of scientific speculation, such, for instance, as the trifling disagreement between Chevalier Bunsen and Mr. Geikie as to the past existence of the human race. But as the difference is unimportant, being only a billion and two or three hundred million years, it ought not to stagger our credulity. It is enough that the Digger's skull has proved the scriptural record a weak fable, and has exalted the certainty of science.—California Christian Advocate. PAPER is now made to serve for steel and iron. When strong fiber is used it can be made into a substance so hard that it can scarcely be scratched. Railroad car wheels are made of it, more durable than iron. A store in Atlanta, Georgia, has been built entirely of paper. The rafters, weather boards, roof, and flooring are all made of thick compressed paper boards, impervious to water. On account of the surface of the paper being smooth and hard it cannot catch on fire as easily as a wooden building. It is found warm in cold and cool in hot weather. The Breslau fire-proof chimney has demonstrated that cooking and heating stoves, bath-tubs and pots, when annealed by a process that renders it fire-proof, becomes more lasting than iron, and will not burn out. Cracks in floors around the skirting board, or other parts of a room, may be neatly filled by thoroughly soaking newspaper in paste, made as thick as putty, and forced into the cracks with a paste-knife. It will soon harden and can be painted. Black walnut picture frames are made of paper and so colored that no one can tell them from the original wood. A paper piano has lately been exhibited in Paris. The entire case is made of compressed paper, to which is given a hard surface, a cream-white brilliant polish. The legs and sides are ornamented with arabesques and floral designs. The exterior, and as much of the interior as can be seen when the instrument is open, are covered with wreaths and medallion painted in miniature. An Italian monk has succeeded in constructing an organ where the pipes are made of paper pulp. It has 1,400 pipes of various sizes. The American Cotton-seed Oil Trust is now running a mill for making paper from the hulls remaining after all the oil has been squeezed out of the cotton seed. They are contemplating the erection of a 100-ton mill for the same purpose. These hulls have heretofore been considered worthless. It has so far proved so successful that the trust proposes erecting mills at different points in the cotton-raising country. Of course, this will somewhat revolutionize the paper trade. A new mill for the manufacture of paper from moss has been recently established in Sweden. Paper of different thickness and pasteboard made of it have already been shown, the latter even in sheets three-quarters of an inch thick. It is as hard as wood and can be easily painted and polished. It has all the good qualities but none of the defects of wood. The pasteboard can be used for door and window frames, architectural ornaments and all kinds of furniture. The ceiling of the assembly chamber at Albany, New York, is made of papier-mache. It is a model of its kind, and appears so like marble as to deceive the most expert eye. The latest idea is to use paper instead of wood for lead pencils by using a patent preparation by which it can be cut as easily as the softest wood.—St. Louis Stationer.