"It's my best holt," said Rob Strayhorn to himself, as he sat scratching his foot on the edge of the bed in the barn-loft. "They ain't anything else to hold a candle to it. Talk about keepin' one's temper. Sakes alive! it's gone afore' you know it, and a feller don't know a thing till it's all over with, and he begins to feel kinder foolish. But this takin' a little time every day to read an' pray, it's—well, it's my best holt."
"This havin' a Saviour"—here Rob choked and lapsed into silence a moment. "Strange how he should care for a feller like me."
"I dunno's Mr. Jones misses the time I take fer Him, when I'm at the fodderin'; reckon I don't laze around as much's I used to anyhow. 'Pears like they's something takes holt o' me and keeps me when things git out o' kilter. Yes, it holds me and keeps me."
It was a long soliloquy for a boy who had followed the plow all day, and here he tumbled into bed and was asleep in five minutes.
Rob Strayhorn was an overgrown, awkward lad of sixteen, with tow-colored hair, sun-burned face, light blue eyes, big feet, and freckled hands, and, withal, an awkward consciousness of his personal defects that made him more uncouth than he was by nature. His best suit was of shoddy, slopwork cotton, a marvel of misfit; while his every-day overalls were redolent of their constant association with the swill-pail and cow-stable.
He was alone in the world, and thought himself fortunate to have a place at Mr. Jones', where he worked in the summer from five in the morning until eight at night, for eight dollars a month, and did chores for his board in the winter while he attended the district school.
Perhaps Miss Clara, of the dainty apparel and delicate hands, whose pet pride is in her refined tastes, wonders what such a being can have to make life desirable. Well, he doesn't have what you do. But I think that sometimes God puts the precious seed in hearts where the body is kept in a mean and toilsome life, as he plants the other seed in the unsightly ground. Both will grow and bloom.
Rob had found the Saviour the winter before, and to the friendless boy it had been a revelation of forgiveness and love that had transformed him. He never stopped to think, as Miss Clara might have done, of how much he was going to bestow on the Lord. He simply took and loved.
"Say, poys," said Pete Hoebler to Gus and Mike one morning as Rob came in for a half bushel of oats, "vat you dinks I see yesterday? I vent into der hay-loft an' dere vas Pob, pig as life, on his knees sayin' his prayers."
"Haw, haw, ho, ho," roared the two men.
"Sure an' we've got a saint among us," said Mike.
"An' never knowed it," said Gus.
"Say, Bob, cuddent yeze put oop a few fur the like of us poor sinners outside? That's a noice b'y," said Mike.
Rob would have been more than human, not to have felt his temper rising, with the scarlet blood that suffused his face. But as he stood before his tormentor, the Spirit came to him, with an echo from his morning reading, "Whom, having not seen, ye love," and a sudden sense of manhood stilled his soul. Unconsciously he straightened himself as he said:
"I dunno's I'm ashamed of it. I love the Lord I pray to, an' I a'n't a goin' to quit it nuther," and walked out with his half bushel on his shoulder.
"Sure, the lad's got spunk," muttered Mike. "I'll say that for him."
The boy did not know he had passed through one of those supreme moments of soul growth, which shape the whole life sometimes; but so it was. He had taken a long step in Christian manhood, and he felt that his "holt" was never so strong before.
One hot afternoon, Pete and Mike, after dozing on the grass and sauntering over the farm, till they were ready for any new amusement, mounted to the hay-mow, where they found Rob with his Bible and lesson-leaf.
"Three cheers for the parson," shouted Pete.
"Whist now, yez'll be brakin' the thrid av his discourse," said Mike, as he tumbled down on the hay. "Coom, praycher, we're afther wantin' a bit av yer sarmon. Rade right along an' don't be bashful."
What magnetic current of love guided Rob's slow fingers to the story of all stories.
"I'll read if you like," he said, and began about the prodigal son. He had prayed for his companions that afternoon, and now, through all the magical lines, his voice trembled with feeling. It was read in a stumbling fashion, but an unseen influence pointed each slow sentence with fire. Gus gave an angry grunt, as he slid to the floor, and went out to lean over the hog-pen; but Mike lay with his arm over his head, and his face turned away for a few moments. Then he went down, and when he was alone, he rubbed his face on his red cotton handkerchief and said to himself, "Faix, an' it's the far country I'm in now, sure."
That week, Rob and Mike were hoeing the half-grown corn, in the hot July sun, and their rows kept them together.
"Rob," said Mike, "now I want yez to tell me what's got onto ye. Why, ye're not the same b'y ye wer' last year, at all. Ye war' the gritti-est little feller that iver I sawn thin; but I'll be blissed, if ye didn't take all Pate's maneness as make as a lamb. The dirty spalpeen, to till Mr. Jones that the wa'ads he lift war where ye hoed. I'd have knocked the head off him."
The boy's slow speech did not admit of many words in his confession of faith, and his feeling choked him, but he said, slowly,
"I've got a holt on Jesus, Mike, an' he's got a holt on me."
He was almost surprised to find himself going on, hoeing nervously meanwhile.
"It's good thing to hev Mike, an' I wish you'd ketch a holt too."
"Faix, it's myself that wishes that same, too. Ye say, I wasn't always the wild b'y ye've sa'an me here; me folks was Prasbyterians in the ould counthry, an' they raised me corrict, but I got sthrayed aff, like. Ye'll belave me, whin I tell ye, that all yer prayers and Bible-radin', an' yer straightforrad Christianity, has made me fale quare. Rob, tell me, b'y, d'ye think there's ony hope for the loike o' me?" and Mike gave a great sob.
Rob could not talk, but he took from his venerable pocket his Testament, and read the chapter which had once thrilled his own soul with the promise of forgiveness, the third of John, that wondrous epitome of the gospel. When he had read the words, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life," he knelt down in the furrow and made his first prayer in the presence of another. When he was done, Mike broke out in a vehement appeal for mercy, and there under the rustling leaves of the corn, a soul was born into the kingdom of God.
Twenty-five years later, two pastors in Kansas were comparing their work.
"I have one man that I lean upon," said one. "In any emergency there is always the feeling, that I have one on whom I can rely. He is a tower of strength in the church, if I may use the expression."
"In what?" asked the other.
"In his character and daily life. His children are growing to love his God, and I believe it is largely owing to the godly example he sets before them. No hurry of harvest, nor rush of visitors, keeps him from his family prayers. If the President were his guest, he would get down his Bibles, hand one to him, and ask him to take his turn in reading a verse, and to join in prayer. He came here and took up land twenty years ago; and I'll venture to say that two-thirds of all who have been converted in the community since, owe something of their religious life to him. If he has not taught them in Sunday-school, or talked to them of Jesus by the way, they may be sure that he has plead with God in private for their salvation. Quiet, you say? Yes, quiet and slow of speech. He never had brilliant talents, and was without early advantages, but I am surprised sometimes, at the simple elegance of his few words. I think it is because the Bible has been the daily food, both of intellect and soul. I wish there were more men like Robert Strayhorn."
"Amen," said the other pastor.
This is what Rob's "holt" did for him.—Christian Weekly.
Touching Him.
WHEN our Lord Jesus put forth his hand and touched the leper, it was a representative act. In laying his hand on the man who was loathsome to the eye, retaining scarce a trace of humanity, and who was, ceremonially, unclean and vile, our Lord laid his hand on all humanity. He declared his sympathy with all born of woman, however degraded.
This sympathy is one of the rarest of qualities. Even with the good, even with our nearest friends, even with our closest kindred, our fellowship is very imperfect. Like a heap of cannon balls, we touch each other only at a single point. We are too selfish to feel for each other and with each other.
Even where there is a good deal of charity and humanity, it by no means follows that there is sympathy. Often we are willing to give to the sufferer everything but the one thing for which he most hungers—sympathy. It was not hard to find men enough who would speak for the African, give for him, labor for him, fight for him, die for him, but who would not break bread with him. Many would plan a home for the incurables, and would deny themselves in order to give to it money, time, care, labor, who yet would not bend over and kiss the lips of the sufferers.
This sympathy is peculiarly rare when the barrier that separates persons is one of moral character. We shrink with almost unconquerable loathing from the vile. The women who would found a reformatory for the prostitute, would yet draw their garments about them lest the prostitute should touch the hem of their robes. A philosopher, immortalized by Bulwer, has said: "I can only pity guilt; but I can sit down by the side of misfortune."
But the man Christ Jesus sat down beside misfortune, ignorance, guilt, vileness. He laid his hand not only on the bodily diseased, but on the moral lepers. When he became a member of the race, he did not draw back; he was a brother of man. To-day, he lays his hand on the drunkard, on the prostitute, on the profane, on the impure, on the convict, on the Pharisee. He would cleanse them all, they will but allow him. To each of them he says: "I have become your brother; will you not in turn become my brother?"
This is not an affected, unreal sympathy; it is actual; it is from the heart. He sympathizes because he loves. And it is largely in this loving sympathy that his power of doing good to men resides. In matter, it is only through the closest contact that the tide of magnetism may flow. And it is because he enters into such tender sympathy with man, that goodness flows from him through the race. The moment that touch, firm yet tender, was felt by the leper, that moment the blood began to flow free from the dreadful taint that had come down from a former generation, and that would else have poisoned generations to come. If we will but allow him to put his hand on us, if we will but exclaim with the leper, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean," how quickly should we, too, be free from the leprosy of the soul.
And is there not here a lesson for every Christian laborer and every Christian disciple? If he laid his hand on the leper, we must not shrink from touching our fellow-sinners, the vilest even. After all, in the eye of God, it is likely that the difference between us and those we call "vile," is less than we think. They may be a shade darker than we, but it is only a shade. And the difference of a shade may be owing to many circumstances, may be due to their more overwhelming temptations, to their blasting parentage, and their debasing education. We must learn to say, "We sinners," not "You sinners."83—National Baptist.
The Home Circle.
HE KNOWS BEST.
LET Jesus lead thee: surely he knows best
Which way is safest for the earnest soul;
Walk where he leads, and trust him for the rest,
And he will bring thee to the highest goal.
Let Jesus help thee: surely he knows best
What is thy strength, and what thy toil and need;
Do what thou canst, and leave to him the rest,
And he will make thy trust thy noblest deed.
Let Jesus teach thee: surely he knows best
What lessons thou dost need to make thee wise;
Receive what he makes plain, and leave the rest
Till thou shalt see him with immortal eyes.
Let Jesus keep thee: surely he knows best
What hidden dangers lie along thy way;
Go, watch and fight and pray, and leave the rest
To him who is thy everlasting stay.
—Selected.
HEALDSBURG COLLEGE.
By S. Brownsberger
A MODEL INSTITUTION.
Instruction given in Ancient and Modern Languages and the Physical Sciences.
Common Branches Thoroughly Taught.Special Training for Teachers.
GREAT SUCCESS.
This Institution has met with almost Unparalleled Success in the short time since its incorporation.
WHY DOES IT PROSPER?
The Instruction is very Thorough and Practical.
The Discipline is Rigid yet Parental.
The Strong Moral and Religious Influence finds its equal in no other Institution of the kind.
The Expenses of Students for Board, Tuition, etc., come within the ability of all.
The Methods employed in the class-room, and the Professional Instruction, afford special advantages to those desiring to teach.
While its courses embrace all the higher Collegiate Branches, which are taught in the most thorough manner, especial attention is given to the Common Branches.
DISCIPLINE.
One of the prominent features of Healdsburg College is the effort to impress upon its students the claims and benefits of morals and religion. Any one of known evil habits, who is exerting a pernicious influence upon his fellow-students, is not tolerated in the school.
EXPENSES.
The tuition ranges from $2.25 to $6.00 per month. Board in private families and in the college boarding-house ranges from $3.00 to $3.50 per week, with room completely furnished.
ADVANTAGES TO TEACHERS.
Besides the regular class drills in the different branches, there is given occasional instruction concerning methods and genera. school management.
A PRIMARY DEPARTMENT
Is connected with the College to accommodate those children whose parents desire to place them under the instruction and moral influence of the school.
CALENDAR.
The Spring Term begins January 3, 1883, and closes May 29, 1883. After a vacation the Fall Term opens July 25, 1883.
Address, S. BROWNSBERGER, A. M., President, Healdsburg, Cal.
News and Notes.
By Editor
Ex-Governor Marshall Jewell of Connecticut, died Feb. 10.
A stage was lost last week in Montana, and the driver and passengers were frozen to death.
A secular paper states that although liberalism is creeping into all the churches, it has not yet reached the contribution boxes.
The editor, proprietor, and printer of the Free Thinker of London have been committed for trial on a charge of blasphemous libel.
An earthquake recently occurred in southern Michigan and northern Indiana, that was severe enough to knock down stovepipes and crack windows.
The California Legislature has passed a bill making it a misdemeanor for any person to sell milk adulterated by water, salt, chalk, or other foreign substance.
Two different companies have applied for charters to build a ship-canal across Cape Cod, and are ready to deposit $100,000 or $200,000 as a guaranty before commencing operations.
At the banquet in honor of General Sherman’s sixty-third birthday, General Grant said that in fifteen months it would be possible to go by rail to Mexico from any point in the United States.
The estimated value of property in the United States in 1880 was $33,805,000,000, against $24,169,000,000 in 1860. That is, the gain in twenty years has been $1,320,000 a day, or nearly $1,000 a minute.
It has been discovered that four men in the office of Commissioner of Juries in New York have been receiving tribute from two or three thousand business men, who paid for being relieved from jury service.
German papers urge the establishment of an International Court of Appeals to take cognizance of decisions of all maritime courts concerning collisions at sea, with the view of establishing international steering rules.
The Czar of Russia now walks the streets of Russia without an armed escort. The police claim to have destroyed nihilism. We very much doubt it, however, and would not change places with the Czar, and run the risk.
The Indemnity Commission includes the diplomatic agents of England, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the United States and Greece, and is under the Presidency of Abdurrahman Pasha, Arabi’s Minister of Finance.
Gladstone, in a recent conversation, said that the curse of Ireland had been centralization. He said: “We are now trying to make the humblest Irishman understand that he is the governing agency, and also that the Government will be carried on for him and by him.”
The Chicago Tribune telegrams state as a result of a trip through central and southern Illinois, that the peach crop of central and western Illinois and part of Missouri, is practically wiped out, but that in the southern part of the State the buds of every kind of fruit are all in excellent condition.
The Ohio River is higher now than was ever known before. The towns along the river have suffered immense damage. At Cincinnati the gas-works are flooded, leaving the city in darkness; and the suspension-bridge can be reached only by boats. Thousands of people have been driven from their homes.
Woodhouse, the Poor Law Inspector, answering the demand for employment from the starving poor who had assembled at his hotel in Dublin, admitted that there was distress in County Donegal, and advocated emigration, when some one in the crowd exclaimed, “we would rather die than emigrate.”
The Guion Line steamer Alaska made the passage from New York in 6 days, 20 hours, and 33 minutes, being the best trip on record. She accomplished the oft-talked-of feat, of allowing her passengers to attend church in New York one Sunday, and the following Sunday attend service in England.
Two fights have recently occurred between Mexicans and Apaches, in both of which the Mexicans were victorious. In the last, at Secora, on the border of Sonora and Chihuahua, one hundred Indians were killed and sixty taken prisoners. Many horses and a large amount of supplies were captured.
The highly moral and instructive entertainment furnished in Metropolitan Temple, San Francisco, by the pugilists, has about finished the business of that institution. Kalloch now inclines toward Spiritualism, and it is expected that he will soon identify himself with that people. He will be a valuable acquisition.
The Original Jubilee Singers of Norfolk, Va., were arrested in Hartford, Conn., on a recent Sunday evening, for singing in violation of the statute of 1876, which prohibits concerts, theatrical entertainments, etc., on Sunday, under a penalty of not less than $25. Each person in the audience is liable to a fine of $4.
A solemn warning, printed on fine vellum, has reached the Czar and Cabinet, claiming universal suffrage, the right of the people to own land, freedom of the press, public meetings, etc. If these demands are not granted before the coronation of the Czar, the Revolutionary Committee sending the warning threaten violence.
By special from the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Agency, Indian Territory, it is learned that Eastern capitalists and stock men have purchased from the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians 500,000 acres of grass land from each, with the privilege of fencing the same and erecting the necessary ranch buildings and improvements.
Missouri has, next to Indiana, the largest amount of permanent funds devoted to school purposes in the Union. They aggregate $9,471,696, not including the annual apportionment of State revenue. The State has a school population of 741,632, and of this number 488,000 are enrolled in the public schools. There are 8,822 schools in operation, conducted by 10,607 teachers, and last year $3,468,738 were expended upon these schools.
Bismarck has no doubt nearly finished his work. He says that he is unable to attend the Reich stag this session, and probably will never attend again. He says that matters progress tolerably well without him, and that the empire is a machine that generally works capitally. Nevertheless his death would seriously disarrange matters, and as the good Emperor William is very old, the peace of which Bismarck boasts may not be of long continuance.
A system of fire-drill has been adopted in all the public schools of Oakland, by order of the Board of Education. There is no fixed hour for these drills; but once a week, without any warning, the gong sounds the alarm, and instantly the pupils file out of the building, the girls first, no one touching another under a severe penalty. At a recent drill in one of the schools, all the class rooms, containing 475 children, were cleared in eighty-one seconds.
A special to the Tribune from Washington says: The Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs to-day decided to report a bill to provide for the execution of the provisions of Article 20 of the Supplemental Commercial treaty of November 17, 1880, between the United States and China, for the repression of the opium traffic. It prohibits the importation of opium into the United States by Chinese subjects, under penalty of a fine of not more than $500, or imprisonment of not more than six months and forfeiture of the packages, and provides a similar penalty for the importation of opium into any open ports of China, or its transportation from one open port to another by American citizens. The bill is to take effect July 1, 1883.
LIFE SKETCHES.
By Editor
THE EARLY LIFE, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, AND EXTENSIVE LABORS OF
ELDER JAMES WHITE,
AND HIS WIFE,
MRS. ELLEN G. WHITE.
THE production of this book was the last literary labor performed by Elder White. As nearly the whole of his active labor was performed in connection with the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, which he was largely instrumental in founding, the work is necessarily quite a complete history of that people.
The book abounds in interesting incidents, personal sketches, and religious experiences, some of which are quite remarkable, and altogether it forms a volume at once instructive and interesting.
416 pp. Price, $1.25.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
Obituary.
By A. and J. G. Matteson
MATTESON.—Died of tuberculosis, Jan. 7, 1883, in Christiana, Norway, Tina, daughter of Anna and J. G. Matteson, aged eighteen years, six months, and two days, after an illness of about nine months. She was confined to her bed about five weeks. She did not suffer very much, but wasted away gradually. Tina labored for three years with great diligence and faithfulness in the printing-office, and confined herself too closely to the work. After she left the office, she still continued to write as her strength would permit. Her last work was copying a sermon (The Apostles of Christ) which she had taken down in short-hand for Biblical Sermons. She appeared too weak for the work, but succeeded, nevertheless, in finishing it. We often advised her not to write any more, but she felt unhappy without employment, and it grieved her to think that she should be unable to support herself. When she could not write, she would knit different things to sell. This she continued to do until her strength failed. She bade us all farewell on the morning of her last day; stating that she enjoyed peace in Christ, and hoped to meet us when Jesus should come. Although we do not sorrow without hope, yet we miss Tina much. This is the second child we have laid away since we left our quiet home in America. With subdued yet painful hearts we say, Thy will, O God, be done.
A. AND J. G. MATTESON.
RURAL HEALTH RETREAT.
By H. H. Chase
CRYSTAL SPRINGS.
This beautiful resort is well known to hundreds of Californians, who have made it their home during a portion of the year for several years. It has lately been refitted, and valuable improvements have been made. With a full corps of competent physicians and helpers, it presents attractions to invalids that are found in no other Sanitarium in California. Every variety of bath can be given. It is most beautifully situated on the mountain-side, two and one-half miles from St. Helena. The little valley which it overlooks is a gem, and the surrounding mountain scenery is such as can only be found in California. Experienced tourists affirm that there is no finer place in the State. The water is pure, and the climate mild.
Address, H. H. CHASE, M. D., St. Helena, Cal.
WHO CHANGED THE SABBATH?
By Editor
This question very naturally arises when the evidence is presented that Sunday is not the original Sabbath of the Lord; and a complete and satisfactory answer to it is given in the tract with the above title. The following is the plan of the argument: 1. Scripture evidence is introduced to show that God regards his law as unchangeable. 2. The prophecy is quoted which clearly points out the Papacy as the power that should make the change. 3. Standard Catholic books are quoted from to show that the prophecy has been fulfilled. Every one who desires to know the truth in regard to the Sabbath should read this tract. 16 pp. Price, postpaid, 3 cents; $2.25 per hundred. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
A MINE OF INFORMATION.
By John Nevins Andrews
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH AND FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK.
By Eld. J. N. Andrews.
The Bible record of the Sabbath; the secular history concerning it; the successive steps by which the change to the first day was made, and the work of restoration, are given in detail.
EVERY TEXT OF SCRIPTURE concerning the Sabbath is commented on at length; and the COMPLETE TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS in regard to the Sabbath and first day is given. The comparative merits of the seventh and the first-day Sabbaths are fully shown. A copious Index enables the reader to find any text, or the statement of any historian.
Should be read by everybody. 528 pp. Price, $1.25.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
"A Novel Party."
By Editor
"In Colusa last week a novel method was taken to raise money for the church. A basket party was held in a hall, and the ladies each made up a basket or box of good things to eat. The donor's name was inside the basket, and all were auctioned off to the male members of the audience. One of the conditions was that each purchaser should invite the lady whose name was found inside the package to eat with him. It was amusing to perambulate the hall after the sales closed and see here an old married man dining with some beautiful young lady. He would be eating very leisurely, while, perhaps, his wife across the way was bound under the law to lunch with some horrid old bach or benedict whose beauty had long since flown. She would cast a few glances at the partner of her bosom, and then gulp hers down rapidly. And then you would see some young fellow couched over a lunch with a girl not of his choice, while a short distance, perhaps, the darling of his life was feasting on cranberry sauce with the fellow of whom he had always been slightly jealous. So it went; but all ended well, and the crowd went home apparently happy."
Is this the work of the church of Christ? Does it come under "the great commission?" Is it missionary work, attracting the world to the purity of the gospel as the only means of salvation, or is it "feeding the flock," building it up in the most holy faith? Perhaps some of the religious papers which commend as a "working church," that church which holds the most successful festival, may be able to place the above somewhere in the work of the Christian church; we cannot.
There is a double shame connected with this thing. It is a shame that any church calling itself by the sacred name of Christ, should be guilty of such folly. And it is a shame that a body which will resort to such practices should be recognized as a church of Christ. By such things as this the cause of Christianity is brought into contempt before the world. We shall lose no opportunity to enter our protest against such wickedness in the church whereby the name and cause of Christ are dishonored.
No Improvement.
By Editor
The editor of the Christian at Work says:—
“Socrates was a heathen philosopher. He lived and died nearly twenty-three hundred years ago. And yet his reasoning about the future life has scarcely been improved upon by those who have followed him.”
We are sorry that this statement is true. By far the larger portion of Christian professors are following Socrates and Plato, in what is one of the principal doctrines of the church. Is it not a humiliating confession? The apostle John, speaking of Christ, said, “In him was life;” Socrates said that in every man there is life, independent of any other being; and men calling themselves Christians accept the saying of the heathen philosopher, and reject that of inspiration. Do Christ's words, “Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life,” apply only to the Jews? Are they not as applicable now as then?
There is another thing in which the Christian world of to-day have not improved on heathenism. More than fifteen hundred years ago, Constantine, a heathen ruler, issued an edict commanding rest on “the venerable day of the sun.” This was the first recognition of the Sunday; but the church soon adopted this heathen practice also. So then we find that Christians are indebted to heathenism for their two most highly cherished doctrines.
The early disciples were called Christians because they were followers of Christ. But the later disciples are followers of heathen philosophers and rulers. By what name ought they to be called? Christ taught neither of these things. “He that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself so to walk, even as He walked.”
Vick’s Floral Guide for 1883
By Editor
WE have before us "Vick’s Floral Guide" for 1883. No higher praise can be given it than to say that it is equal in every respect to those of former years. We think that no one ever was displeased with anything that Mr. Vick did in the floral line; and in his business transactions he was more than just, always doing better than he advertised. His sons have been brought up in the business, and the present "Guide" indicates that they will carry it forward in the same straight-forward manner. Price of the "Guide," ten cents, which will be allowed on the first order sent.
Blasphemy Rebuked.
By Editor
The Jewish temple, “Gates of Hope,” was recently dedicated in New York, and in the dedicatory sermon, Dr. Browne, the rabbi, used the following language:—
“This congregation has taken a house that has been used by the Methodist Episcopal worshipers, and therefore, in business parlance, this is simply a re-opening. The old firm consisted of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Son and the Holy Ghost have stepped down and out, but the business will still be conducted by the Father—the old head of the firm; One you always have trusted. The same goods will be offered for sale. We shall continue to deal in charity, brotherly love, and all the virtues, and we appeal to all our old customers to continue their trade.”
This has been widely quoted by the secular press, with the evident thought that it was a witty speech. We are therefore the more pleased to see the following manly protest from the San Francisco Jewish Times:—
“We submit if this were merely meant for wit, it was entirely out of place and out of taste. If it may be called wit, it is of a very coarse and vulgar character. It seems to us to be an attempt at sensation at the cost of decency and propriety. Surely it is not practicing ‘charity, brotherly love, and all the virtues,’ to scorn and ridicule those things held most sacred by our neighbors and fellow-citizens. Sensation in the pulpit is greatly to be condemned, but how much worse is it when connected with what some might call brutality. No man has a right to injure his neighbor’s feelings any more than he has a right to injure his property. We feel it our duty to express our hearty condemnation of these words of Dr. Browne. Such a speech on such an occasion, and in such a place, with such solemn surroundings, will find no approval among right thinking men. Its tone is bad, and its tendency worse. His remarks will have little effect in composing the asperities that now exist in the community where they were uttered, or in any other.”
Circumscribed Fame.
By Editor
THIS from the Christian at Work:—
"Charles Sorber, who made himself famous during the Miller excitement by giving away all his property and sitting on the roof of his house in Camden, dressed in a white gown, waiting to go to Heaven in a golden chariot, died last Sunday in Brooklyn."
This man may have been famous, and for the object specified, but his fame had not reached so far west as California. None of the Cyclopedias contain his name, and it is not found in Webster's "Biographical Dictionary," or the "Noted Names of Fiction." We have been trying for years to find the man who sat on the house-top clothed with an ascension robe, but he was always in the next State, or farther. Nobody had ever exactly seen him. Now if there is any body who saw Charles Sorber do this thing, and can give us all the particulars, we shall esteem it a personal favor; and we think we know men of means who will make it pecuniarily profitable for the giver of such information. We are strongly inclined to believe that he (or at least his marvelous exploit) originated in the editorial sanctum of the Christian at Work.
Literary Note.
John W. Lovell Co., have arranged with the Rev. R. Heber Newton, to publish in their popular "Lovell's Library," the sermons now in the course of delivery, on "The Right and Wrong Uses of the Bible." The whole series of sermons, seven in all, will be issued in one volume, printed from large type in neat 12mo form, paper covers, for 20 cents.
Grain Waste and Ireland’s Hard Times
By Editor
AND now, while we are reading daily of the starving condition of the people in Ireland, an item comes to our notice, stating that eighty million bushels of grain are annually destroyed by the brewers and distillers of Great Britain. This would feed a great many persons. Can anybody see any connection between this waste and the hard times?
EARLY WRITINGS OF MRS. WHITE.
Comprising "Experience and Views" and "Spiritual Gifts Volume One," bound in one volume. This makes a neat and attractive book of nearly 200 pages, and should be read by old and young. The matter and the style in which it is presented are so interesting that no one who has read one chapter will forego the pleasure and profit of reading the remainder. Price, 75 cents. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
BIBLE SANCTIFICATION:
A CONTRAST OF TRUE AND FALSE THEORIES.
By Mrs. E. G. White.
This is a pamphlet of only 84 pages, but its value is not to be judged by its size. It is just what its title indicates: a faithful presentation of Bible truth on this important subject, and an exposure of the false theories prevailing in regard to it. Every believer in Bible truth should read it. Buy it, read it, and lend it to your neighbor. Price 10 cts.
