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Signs of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 45.

RUTH AND NAOMI
Earlier text: Joseph Exalted

News and Notes

International.—Arrangements have been made with the United Steamship Company of Copenhagen for establishing a direct line of steamers between Russia and ports on the west coast of the United States, with a view to an increase of trade between the two countries......On November 1 President Favre, of France, signed the decree establishing the new French cabinet under the leadership of M. Dupuy......The first attempt at party government in Japan has proved a failure, and the entire cabinet has resigned, owing to its failure to agree upon the portfolio of education......A protocol has been signed between Chile and Argentina, and a joint commission appointed to discuss the boundary question. If the conference reaches no result, the United States Minister will be the final arbitrator......The elections in Germany have resulted in an increase of twelve seats for the Radicals, the Centrist (Catholic) party remaining unchanged......The Right Hon. Samuel H. Strong, president of the Supreme Court of Canada, who was chosen to arbitrate the claims of V. H. McCord, of the United States, against the government of Peru, has decided in favor of McCord, and the Peruvian Government has asked Congress to pay the claim. The government at Washington had several times demanded of Peru that the claim be paid......After considering the matter for several hours, the judges of the Court of Cassation in Paris, decided upon a revision of the Dreyfus case......A report from St. Petersburg states that all the powers have now accepted the czar’s invitation to send delegates to the proposed disarmament congress. The Russian minister for foreign affairs is said to be very hopeful as to the result of the conference......The German Navy Department, acting upon a special report of its naval attaché at Washington, has resolved to discard the use on German war ships of all guns having a larger caliber than nine and one-eighth inches......President Zelaya, of Nicaragua, has declared the concession to the Nicaragua Canal Company forfeited, and has recommended that a concession be granted to a company of New York and Chicago capitalists for the construction of the canal. To secure the concession this company must begin the construction of the canal within twenty-six months, and must open up some transit route across the isthmus within three years......The emperor and empress of Germany entered Jerusalem under a royal arch, on October 29, amid great demonstrations of the populace. They were escorted by Arabian and Turkish cavalry. As they passed from place to place along the streets, palm branches were strewn before them, and the cobblestones were covered with carpets. The piece of ground upon which tradition says the abode of the Virgin Mary was situated, and which was given to the emperor by the sultan, was formally presented by the emperor to the Catholic Church during the emperor’s stay in the city.
Notwithstanding the fact that the French have ordered the withdrawal of Major Marchand’s expedition at Fashoda, active preparations for war are being made by both France and England. The report continues to be spread that England will declare a protectorate over Egypt, making that country virtually a part of the British Empire. England is mobilizing troops and placing her war ships at points of vantage, and her emergency squadron is gathering at Devonport. Vessels which have been lying at Esquimalt, B. C., and at Halifax, N. S., have been ordered to sea, presumably with Tahiti and the West Indies as their destination. The French are manning their coast forts and preparing for defense in case of attack......An expedition returning from Paris to Abyssinia, accompanied by French troops and a representative of the French Government, was attacked by Abyssinians near the Gulf of Aden and the entire caravan captured. Four French soldiers were killed. It is feared that the result will be complications between France, Russia, and Abyssinia......A report from Madrid states that the Spanish districts of Barcelona, Tarragona, Gerona, and Lérida are preparing to secede from Spain, and join the French republic.
Casualties and Calamities.—One of the most appalling calamities of modern times visited Central China recently in the overflow of the Yellow River. Over 100,000 people are ruined and homeless as a result of the flood, and 2,000 were drowned. The cereal crops were destroyed, and famine seems unavoidable in a district occupied by more than a million people......By the bursting of a boiler in the torpedo-boat Davis, which was being tested on the Columbia River, on October 20, seven men were scalded to death......Five persons lost their lives by a fire in a hotel at Clairville, Cal., on October 21......Nine persons are believed to have lost their lives by the wrecking of a sloop near Cook’s Inlet, Alaska, on September 25......Eight men lost their lives in the wreck of a freight train near Fort Worth, Texas, on October 22......A schooner was wrecked on the Thrumcap Shoals, near Halifax, N. S., on October 23, going down with all on board......An attempt to arrest a negro at Harpersville, Mississippi, on October 23, resulted in a fight between negroes and whites in which fourteen of the former were killed and one of the latter. Several others were wounded in the fight......The bubonic plague has claimed a number of victims in the city of Vienna, where the bacillus was being propagated for scientific purposes. The government has taken measures to prevent the spread of the plague......Sixty Japanese were drowned by the collision of two steamers at Kobe, Japan, on October 26......During the week terrific storms have swept over Macedonia, causing much loss of life. One caravan numbering 400 persons was engulfed in a river, and 100 were drowned......The Hastings Mills, at Vancouver, B. C., were destroyed by fire on October 26, involving a loss of $350,000......The U. S. transport Panama, a vessel captured from the Spanish during the war, is believed to have been lost in a gale off the eastern coast of Cuba on November 1. She had 320 persons on board, the most of whom were soldiers......A report from Gloucester, Mass., states that the past season has been a peculiarly hard one on the fishing fleet. Fourteen vessels have been lost and eighty-two men drowned. Twenty-three of the men lost had families. The financial loss is placed at $170,000......The olive and lemon crops throughout a large district of France have been totally destroyed by a severe hailstorm......The Spanish transport steamer Montserrat arrived at the Azores from Cuba, on October 29, with a ship-load of sick soldiers. There were seventy-two deaths on board the vessel during the voyage......The schooner St. Petersburg foundered in Lake Ontario, on October 28. The captain’s wife and crew of seven were drowned......On October 28 the steamer L. R. Dotty was lost in a storm on Lake Michigan, and her entire crew of seventeen men went down with the vessel......An epidemic of the true bubonic plague is now raging in the city of Samarkand, in Turkestan, and the mortality is reported to be very high.
Domestic.—In a battle between Indians and white men at Canyon City, Oregon, one white man and five Indians were killed. The trouble arose over an accusation of horse stealing made by the Indians......The strike of coal miners in the Albany and Empire mines, near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, ceased on October 27, the mine operators having adopted what is known as the Chicago agreement......A grand parade of the soldiers and sailors of the late war, together with veterans of the Civil War, was reviewed by President McKinley at Philadelphia, on October 27. There were 25,000 men in the procession......The Spanish cruiser Maria Teresa, which was sunk in the battle of July 3, and subsequently raised, sailed from Caimanera, Cuba, on October 30, for the United States navy-yard at Norfolk, Virginia......The Transmississippi and International Exposition at Omaha closed at midnight, October 31, with a brilliant display. The exposition is reported to have been a financial success......The circulation statement of the Controller of the Currency shows that the amount of money in circulation was increased during the year by $9,499,000......The U. S. transport Peru arrived at San Francisco from Manila on November 1, having accomplished the voyage in twenty-five days. She brought a number of returning officers, soldiers, and sailors from the forces at Manila......The French bark Duchesse Anne arrived in San Francisco on October 28, flying the yellow flag, her captain and one of the members of her crew having died on the voyage from Hongkong with the bubonic plague......A San Francisco wrecking company has requested of the government authority to raise the wreck of the Maine.
Cuba.—The records of the Havana asylum for the insane for the past fifteen months show 632 deaths out of 700 inmates. A meeting of the directors is to be held to investigate the condition of the institution......Spain still has in Cuba an army of 191,000 soldiers. The only ones thus far returned to Spain are the sick and those who surrendered at Santiago. The customs are still in the hands of the Spanish, and the mines in the harbor of Havana are under the control of the Spanish soldiers. The only part of Cuban territory under American control is the portion of Santiago province surrendered by General Torral......The American commissioners at Havana have presented to the Spanish commissioners an ultimatum, giving Spain until January 1 to evacuate the island. The ultimatum states that at that time the United States will assume control of Cuban affairs, whether the Spanish have left or not......The condition of the poor in the interior of the island is described as being terrible in the extreme. Hunger and misery are on every hand......The Spanish evacuation commissioners at Havana have notified the Americans that the province of Puerto Principe will be evacuated and turned over to them on November 22......The government at Washington is favorably considering a proposition from a Swedish wrecking company for raising the sunken Spanish cruisers near Santiago.
The Philippines.—The troop-ship Indiana sailed from San Francisco for the Philippines on October 27, with two battalions of the Kansas regiment. The Zelandia sailed three days later, with seven companies of the Tennessee regiment......The rebels report great success against the Spanish on the island of Panay......The American peace commissioners at Paris have presented to the Spanish members of the commission a demand for the possession of the Philippine Islands. It is understood that the United States is willing to reimburse Spain for money actually paid out in works of improvement in the islands......Aguinaldo has issued a proclamation stating that all Filipinos who refuse obedience will be declared outlaws and incur the extreme penalty. The reference is apparently to the anti-American Filipinos.
Fires.—A great fire occurred in Serinagur, one of the capitals of Cashmere, India, on October 29, destroying all the public buildings and many residences. The damage is estimated at ten lakhs ($500,000).

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NOTICE TO CREDITORS.

By Josephine L. Jones

ESTATE of Eliza W. Mattingly, deceased.
Notice is hereby given by the undersigned Administratrix of the estate of Eliza W. Mattingly, deceased, to the creditors of and all persons having claims against the said deceased, to exhibit them with the necessary vouchers within four months after the first publication of this notice, to the said Administratrix, at the office of Sam Bell McKee, 957 Broadway, Oakland, California, which said office the undersigned selects as her place of business in all matters connected with said estate of Eliza W. Mattingly, deceased.
JOSEPHINE L. JONES, Administratrix of the estate of Eliza W. Mattingly, deceased. Dated Oakland, Nov. 1, 1898. Sam Bell McKee, Attorney for Administratrix.

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The Closing Words

Of a touching Samoan Romance as told in that excellent little volume, “Fiji and Samoa,” are as follows:—
“The young queen cried, ‘O, Thama, stay, stay!’ It was too late. Thama would not stand in the way of Samoan peace and unity.
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This book not only gives this story entire, but many interesting items concerning the islands of Fiji and Samoa. Price, in cloth 60c, in paper 25c.
The Young People’s Library series, of which the above is volume one, contains twelve numbers, each complete in itself. Descriptive circular on application.
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Thanksgiving Number of the Signs of the Times

The Thanksgiving Number of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES will be issued Nov. 17. Besides the appropriate Thanksgiving scene which occupies the first-cover page, it will contain an illustrated list of valuable books for the home.

YE DID IT UNTO ME

Unawares

YE DID IT UNTO ME

(“And He said, ‘The sin is pardoned, But the blessing is lost to thee, For, failing to comfort the least of Mine, You have failed to comfort Me.’”)
Such is the closing verse of one of the two poems found in No. 54 of the Apples of Gold Library under the above title. They are very touching and very good. Price, 50c per 100.
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Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal

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Beasts, Birds, and Fishes

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10. First a Willing Heart, Then All 1c
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A Wrong Conception

A Wrong Conception.—One of the ablest articles against the Sabbath from an argumentative and sophistical point of view which we have seen of late is that of Mr. B. F. Bonnell, in the Pacific Christian; but its utter weakness will be apparent to the Bible student who loves the way of God. (1) A part of what he says rests upon mere statement without proof, even against evidence, as when he says that “the Sabbath was a day of rest,” and “that it was not a day of worship.” The commandment (Ex. 20:8-11), and Numbers 28:9, 10; Isa. 58:13, and such songs as Psalms 92 and 96, prove the contrary. (2) It is based on a wrong conception of the law of God, thinking that temporal penalties and special legislation are necessary or the law is of no force; and the special case of the man who defied God by breaking a special prohibition for the wilderness wandering, recorded in Numbers 15, is cited to prove it. The record shows that the Sabbath law did not cover the case. It was a sin of open defiance of God. Verse 30. God’s law is living, and perverted or transgressed, will itself bring death. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” But “the strength of sin is the law.” Absolutely obeyed, the law would be life. Rom. 7:10. But transgressed, it is death, whether any penalty is stated or not. (3) Again, one of the writer’s chief arguments is an attempt to prove, from Ex. 34:27, 28, that Moses wrote the Ten Commandments. But if the reader will turn to Deut. 10:1-4, a parallel scripture, he will learn that the Lord wrote the Decalogue, not Moses. The last pronoun “He” in Ex. 34:28 refers not to Moses but God. (4) The fulfilment (Matt. 5:17-20) of moral requirements, righteousness, we only need to remark, does not abolish them. To fulfil a duty is to do it. And to fulfil a perpetual duty is to do it perpetually. So Christ did; so He demands of His followers. Not until Jesus, the promised Seed, the Heir of the inheritance comes to take His kingdom, need men talk of the law having done its work. Then it will have finished its work for sinners; but it will be written in the heart of all God’s people forever, even as it was in the heart of Christ. Ps. 40:7, 8.

SUNDAY OBSERVANCE—STRANGE EVIDENCE.

The Vancouver World of recent date prints a sermon on “Sunday Observance,” not at all a strange proceeding in these days; but the evidence for Sunday observance which the minister presents is strange. He first lays down this foundation:—
“It is a notable fact that at every stage of God’s revelation to the world the Lord’s day emerges into special prominence.”
This is emphatically true. Then referring to the creation he continues: “Then at once the Sabbath emerges, ‘and on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.’”
He then refers to the bringing of Israel out of Egypt to Sinai, and says: “And then, with every circumstance of solemnity, He gave them the Decalogue, the great moral law of the world, and imbedded in the heart of the divine code, the command, ‘Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.’”
Quoting other scriptures referring to the Sabbath, like Isa. 58:13, he comes to the first advent in these words: “The last great stage of revelation brings us to the Incarnation. Our Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. He came to expand it into the Gospel, to spiritualize it, and to make it applicable to all nations, and to all sorts and conditions of men. But here again the Lord’s day emerges into all its former prominence.”
Now all this is true and good, with the exception that the Lord did not come “to spiritualize” the law, but to reveal its inherent spirituality. “For we know that the law is spiritual.” But all the scriptures and terms quoted and used by the preacher from the Bible refer to one day, and only one day, the seventh-day Sabbath; the strange thing is that the preacher turns them all onto Sunday. Such evidence in a court to justify B would be set aside at once by the upright judge. He would say: “This is utterly irrelevant; this evidence relates wholly to A; it has no application to B.” And so all Sabbath sacredness and evidence of the Word relate to the Sabbath, the seventh day, and not to Sunday. And concerning it all as applied to God’s holy Sabbath we may say, in the words of the preacher, “To all who receive the Holy Scriptures as the revealed will of God, its [the Sabbath’s] prominence, in both the Old and New Testaments, ought to commend it as a day to be kept holy unto the Lord.” Such a Sabbath needs no help from temporal power. It is rooted in God.

Regarding Unordered Papers

By Editor

We send no papers from this office to individuals without pay in advance.
When persons receive copies without ordering them, they are sent by other parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. Persons thus receiving copies of the “Signs” are not indebted to the office, and will not be called upon to pay for them. Please read the papers you may receive, and hand them to your friends to read.

Prophets, True and False

By Editor

The article on “Prophets, True and False,” in our editorial columns, is a little long, because there are many scriptures quoted, but these scriptures are important, and in these days of “prophesyings” we can not know them any too well.

Apple Crop Distressingly Short

The apple crop this year is reported to be distressingly short. The agricultural papers estimate the crop of the country at 27,500,000 barrels, as against 40,000,000 barrels in 1897, and 70,000,000 barrels in 1896. This is unfortunate; for the apple is an excellent fruit.

The Pope’s Wealth and Peter’s Poverty

The New York “Journal” tells us that Pope Leo XIII. has amassed during his pontificate $20,000,000, including presents of precious stones, gold and silver, to the value of $10,000,000. President Kruger, of the Transvaal Republic, has presented the pope with the largest diamond in the world. It is valued at $4,000,000. Other famous diamonds are the Nizam, which is estimated at $1,500,000. The Orloff, belonging to the czar, which weighs 194¾ carats, is about the same. The Koh-i-noor, the principal crown jewel of England, is worth $1,600,000. The Pigott, which was sold by the lottery for $139,500, became the property of the pasha of Egypt. The second largest diamond in the world is the Jagersfontein Excelsior, a chip of which sold for $200,000. But of the pope’s wealth, better the poverty of Peter and the jewels of souls saved in the kingdom of God.

McClure’s Magazine for November

Among the interesting articles in McClure’s Magazine for November are “The Mystery of Vesuvius,” by H. J. W. Dam, finely illustrated by drawings made on the spot for McClure’s, and from photographs, and “The World’s Bill of Fare; The Comparative Amounts of Foods Used by the Principal Nations,” by Geo. B. Waldron. There are other equally interesting articles. Price of magazine, 10 cents. For sale at all news stands.

THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

By Editor

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By Editor

Persons subscribing to THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES in November or December, sending direct to the Publishers the full subscription price—$1.00—will receive the paper Free from the time the subscription reaches this office until Jan. 1, 1899, in addition to a full year from this date. This will also include our valuable Double Number Quarto-Centennial Edition of Jan. 5, 1899.

All Saints’ Day

“All Saints’ Day.”—It has just passed, with its heathen customs inherited from our heathen fathers; the demon spirits now, however, are called saints. But think of this from a prominent Protestant New York paper:—
“It may be remembered by some that last year the day fell on Sunday, and the pastor of a prominent Protestant church in one of our cities chose for the subject of the morning discourse which preceded the communion service, All Saints’ Day. ‘I like,’ he said, ‘to think that our beloved who are in heaven are close by us on this day, perhaps viewing us from the heavenly land.’ Ah, how the inspiring words ‘took hold’! What new significance the name of the day seemed weighted with, once it was regarded as a special time for feeling a nearness to the beloved ones in the heavenly land!”
And again:—
“Those bright saints, ‘safe in the promised land,’ were close beside us also, ministering, it might be, the very balm of consolation and staying hopefulness that could impart new strength and new courage to meet the cares and duties of every-day life and experience.”
“We need not be afraid, in this day of religious light and broad enlightenment, to take within the scope of sacred days one which might well receive the name of ‘hallowed.’ How hearts would spring with instinctive welcome and tenderness to a day set apart for the remembrance of our own precious saints, the loved and unforgotten, who from the depths of our hearts we hope will never forget us!”
But all this is a grand base for Spiritualism, and is rank Catholicism. It hides Jesus Christ. It does no true honor to the dead, who “know not anything,” and it is an open door inviting the spirits of demons—fallen angels—to enter.
Continue reading: Not Moses’ Spirit