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Review and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 29.

Divine Providence
Earlier text: CHRISTIAN WOMANHOOD

PARENTAL LOVE AND PARENTAL SELFISHNESS.

By Mrs. A. C. Ames

MRS. A. C. AMES.
For some time a matter which I think should come before our women has been weighing upon my mind. I am an “adopted” mother, and the remarks made by thoughtless or careless mothers often cut me to the heart, and I presume there are many other foster mothers in this same position.
I love my children as dearly as ever a mother could love her own I am sure; and yet because I insist upon invariable obedience, mothers say to me: “Yes, that is all right, and is far the best for the child; but if the children were your own, you would feel differently about it. You would have such love and tenderness for them that you would let them ‘get the upper hand’ of you.”
Now, be honest, sisters, is that real love that prompts a mother to allow her child to do anything which she knows is not best for it? Perhaps I am wrong, but I call it sentimentalism. What mother, seeing her child in danger of being seriously injured physically, would not insist upon putting it where it would be safe? and yet these same mothers will cry “lack of love and tender feeling” because I try to rescue the souls of my children from spiritual danger, by always insisting upon obedience. I have had to fight this “feeling of tenderness” (?) a great deal; for I would naturally rather give in myself than to see my children do it; but I will give you a bit of my own experience before I saw my true situation.
A dear sister said to me: “You are doing wrong to yield to your children; and it is not love, as you suppose, but selfishness, that prompts you to do it. It hurts you to punish your child for disobedience, and so you yield to it. God will hold you responsible if you do not insist upon obedience; for if your children do not obey you, they will not regard His commands either.” It set me to thinking as I never did before, and as I studied my Bible and asked more earnestly for God’s guidance, I saw that unless I did do differently, they would be lost, and I would have to answer for it.
That was a year ago, and what a change there has been since then! At first it was a severe struggle to make myself yield to what I was sure was right, and, worse yet, to be obliged to punish my children so often before they would yield to my wishes at once; but now I seldom have to punish them. I never scold them, but pleasantly tell them what I want, and they usually obey without question. Consequently, we all are much happier.
They are naturally active, mischievous, and fun-loving, and both have, or did have, very violent tempers. But since we “turned over a new leaf,” they have nearly lost their ugly tempers, because, as they say, “Jesus doesn’t like to have His little girl and boy be naughty; He wants them to be good and mind their mama.”
The Word tells us to “train up a child in the way he should go,” not, Train up a child in the way he wants to go. Now, I do not ask others to do as I do in training their children; but, dear sisters, do think and pray more before you accuse us “adopted” mothers of “lack of tenderness” toward our children. You do not think it is that in an own mother who insists upon obedience; you just think she is a model mother, instead.
Let us hear more from the mothers on the training of children; not theoretical training, but practical, tried methods.

WILL SLAVERY BE AGAIN?

Step by step, the Southern negro is being forced back to the level upon which he stood before the war. The latest evidence of this is the abolition of all grades above the lowest grammar grades in the negro schools of New Orleans, by order of the school board. Only a few months ago, in that city a mob burned the fine public school building for negroes which had been erected through the benefaction of a wealthy negro; and the school has not been rebuilt.
In several Southern States the negro has been practically disfranchised, by provisions which operate against the illiterate negro, but not against the illiterate white. Curtailing the school privileges of the negroes makes them illiterate, and then, being illiterate, it is decided they are not fit to vote. So disfranchisement is a logical step following the restriction of negro education.
Disfranchised and reduced to illiteracy, the negro is back again in the position he occupied before the war, save that he is not held as the property of another man. And yet, under such circumstances, he is in the power of his Anglo-Saxon neighbors almost as fully as before his emancipation. And already, in Anderson County, South Carolina, the full re-establishment of negro slavery has been boldly attempted.
The negro children in New Orleans number about twenty thousand, which is almost half the child population of the city. Of these twenty thousand negro children, less than half were in school last year. Left to roam about the streets and gain a street education in the susceptible years of childhood, they must naturally become criminals, and grow up a menace to the welfare of society around them. And to remedy this, it will be thought necessary to re-establish slavery. The negro slave was not dangerous to society. The South is rapidly approaching a time when it can be plausibly maintained that a return to the conditions of negro slavery is an actual necessity of the situation. And those words will yet come true which were written long ago of the time when probation would end and God’s children be delivered from their enemies: “I saw the pious slave rise in victory and triumph, and shake off the chains that bound him, while his wicked master was in confusion, and knew not what to do.”—“Early Writings,” page 146. There will be negro slaves when probation ends, and some of them will be numbered with those whom God accepts.
This backward movement, it is said by some, is not a national one; but the reason it is not seen in the North is that the negroes are not in the North, but in the South. The principle of government by consent of the governed has been as fully repudiated in the one section as in the other.

WHAT WE KNOW JESUS WOULD DO.

By A. J. B.

Those only are Christians who follow in the footsteps of Jesus. To be a Christian is to be a Christ-one, a Christ-man—one who does as Jesus would do, under every circumstance. Therefore, it is most proper for the Christian to continually ask himself, “What would Jesus do?” The Word exhorts us to be “imitators of God,” and contains the promise that “righteousness . . . shall set us in the way of His steps.” The concluding words of Jesus to the rich young man were: “Come, follow me.” Again, to him who was worrying about the faults of another, He said: “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.” And again Jesus says: “If any man serve me, let him follow me.” “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” And still again the Scriptures say: “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked.” Finally, Peter’s exhortation to the elect (1 Peter 2:21) is: “Hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow His steps.” This is sufficient to show that the Christian should seek, in his every act, to do just as Jesus would do were He in his place.
The question about what Jesus would do here upon earth nowadays, has been well ventilated, both in England and in the United States, by means of a book written by the Rev. Charles M. Sheldon, and entitled, “In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do?” So great was the demand for this publication that over three million copies of the book were sold in this country and in England alone. It was also translated into almost all of the modern languages. We cite these facts merely to show that this question of what Jesus would do is very close to the human heart. And it is right that this should be the case. However, notwithstanding the great amount of good that this book has unquestionably done, in bringing forcibly to the minds of the people the great and important question, “What would Jesus do?” much harm has also been accomplished, owing to the fact that Mr. Sheldon has represented Christ as willing to do, were He upon earth these days, many things that Christ would surely never do.
Now, the only way of ascertaining what Jesus would do in any given case, is to consult the record of what He actually did do when here upon earth. The Christian must interpret life as Jesus interpreted it; he must live as Jesus actually lived; he must, as Peter expresses it, “follow His steps.” If he does not follow the steps of Jesus, he is not a true Christian, but a hypocrite. But Mr. Sheldon evidently does not believe that it is necessary for the follower of Christ to follow the exact pattern set before the world by the Master; for, in an article submitted by him to the leading monthly journal of the United States (having a circulation each month of about eight hundred thousand copies), he plainly said: “The question is not what would Jesus have done in Palestine two thousand years ago? But what would He do here and now in my place?” Being desirous to know what Mr. Sheldon really meant by the sub-title of his book, we wrote him, asking him why he had represented the Christians (in his book) as persons keeping Sunday instead of the seventh-day Sabbath, which Jesus kept, and why he further represented them as engaging actively in politics,—mixing politics and religion,—when Christ, the example for all Christians, had plainly refrained from having anything whatever to do with any political faction, saying (John 18:36), “My kingdom is not of this world . . . now is my kingdom not from hence.” Hisreply to our letter was identical with the statement found in this article, just quoted.
This attempt to draw a distinction between what Jesus did, or would have done, “in Palestine two thousand years ago,” and what He would do “here and now in my place,” is evidence sufficient that Mr. Sheldon has not grasped his subject. Had he given the matter sufficient study, he would have found that no such distinction could possibly exist between Christ’s actions at one time and at another. Here is the simple proof: Speaking of Jesus Christ, it is said in the Word (Heb. 13:8) that He is “the SAME yesterday, and to-day, and forever.” And why are His actions the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever?—Simply because He, like His Father, is no respecter of persons; as it is written (Rom. 2:11), “For there is no respect of persons with God.” The only possible difference between the Palestine of two thousand years ago and the United States or the England of to-day, being in the habits, customs, and relations of the persons concerned in each case, it is evident that Jesus would act precisely the same to-day were He upon the earth in human form, in England, in the United States, in France, Germany, China, or Japan, as He did in Palestine two thousand years ago. He would be governed by the same great principles of the Law of Ten Commandments, which He then obeyed, and by those of the golden rule, which He himself enunciated. He is the SAME yesterday, and to-day, and forever.
Among some of the things which we know that Jesus did—things that the Christian of all ages must do in order to be true to his calling—are the following:—
  1. He had no other gods before the Lord.
  2. He made no graven image unto himself, nor did He bow down to any.
  3. He took not the name of the Lord in vain.
  4. He remembered the Sabbath day to keep it holy. He labored six days, but kept the seventh, according to the Fourth Commandment of the Decalogue. For, said He (Matt. 5:17): “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am come not to destroy, but to fulfill.” And to assert that this fulfilling of the law by Christ annulled the Decalogue, would be as foolish as it would be to assert that the keeping, or fulfilling, by any law-abiding citizen, of the laws of California, for instance, annuls said California laws.
  5. He honored His father and His mother.
  6. He did not kill.
  7. He committed no adultery.
  8. He did not steal.
  9. He bore no false witness against His neighbor.
  10. He did not covet.
  11. He “went about doing good.”
  12. He did not attempt to reform the corrupt society of his day by getting His disciples and followers to go with Him to the polls. He kept entirely out of politics, not because it was impossible for Him to have entered them, and with success. The constant fear of the Roman power that He would go into politics and become a king of this world, proves that He would have had plenty of backing, so far as this world is concerned, as do also the various attempts, on the part of the people, to make Him king. His only reply to such propositions was: “My kingdom is not of this world. . . . Now is my kingdom not from hence,” indicating plainly that the time would come when His outward kingdom would be “from hence,” in this very world. Although He was the poor man’s philosopher, and the friend of the people, we never read of His having used, in any temporal way, His influence over the people. He sided with no political party—not even with the prohibitionists of His day. He opposed the saloon, not by the use of the ballot, but by talking and living Christianity before the people.
No! the good, old-fashioned Christianity of Jesus Christ is not dead! It is not in need of being yoked up with politics in order to save the world, as Mr. Sheldon would have us believe. Let us take Christianity as Christ left it, pure and simple, and not that pseudo-Christianity which is dependent upon “the powers that be” for its energy and life. Of those who finally overcome all that is evil in this world, it is said (Rev. 14:4): “These are they which follow the Lamb WHITHERSOEVER He goeth.” The elect who will stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion, in the heavenly city, are those, and only those, who follow Jesus “whithersoever He goeth.” And remember that Christ never changes. In the expression “whithersoever He goeth,” the verb is in the present tense. Yesterday, to-day, to-morrow, and eternity are all one to Jesus. He is ever the SAME. His actions are ever the SAME. And though it is recorded (John 21:25) that “there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written,” we may be sure that each one of those unrecorded acts of the Master was, in principle, the SAME as those that are recorded.
Knowing, therefore, what Jesus actually DID when here in person upon earth, the Christian may easily know, by referring to the Word, just what Jesus would now do, were He here in your place, in my place. Do you know what Jesus did? If so, you know what your duty is at all times, under all circumstances.
A. J. B.

THE PRIVILEGE OF FORGETTING.

The privilege of forgetting is a real privilege. There are few of us who live lives so perfect that we are not prepared to appreciate this fact.
This privilege is pre-eminently a Christian privilege; it is the Christian who will profit by it most.
“Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,” said the apostle Paul, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3: 13, 14.
This was written for our instruction and our encouragement. It is our privilege to forget “those things”—the sins, mistakes, failures—which are behind, and turn our minds to the brighter things that are before.
The eternal purpose of God—His purpose for eternity—is that the sins of His people shall be blotted out, and forgotten. “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jer. 31: 34. “Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3: 19.
The sins of the righteous are not merely to be passed over—set aside—like a pardoned crime; they will be forgotten. God says He will forget them, and this means that the righteous will not themselves be able to remember their own sins; for no man, nor angel, can remember a thing which God has forgotten.
“In the time of trouble, if the people of God had unconfessed sins to appear before them while tortured with fear and anguish, they would be overwhelmed; despair would cut off their faith, and they could not have confidence to plead with God for deliverance. But while they have a deep sense of their unworthiness, they have no concealed wrongs to reveal. Their sins have gone beforehand to judgment, and have been blotted out; and they cannot bring them to remembrance.”—“Great Controversy,” page 620.
And thus will the redeemed saints be able to feel, as they enter the gates of the heavenly city, that they have a right to be there. They have a “right to the tree of life.” To the sinner, heaven, with all its beauty and glory, would be a place of torment. The remembrance of even one sin in heaven, amid the spotless purity of those who have never sinned, and in the presence of the infinite God, would be a source of torment. To know in heaven that God and angels were conscious of the sins we had committed on the earth, would mar all its attractiveness and spoil our happiness. Conscious of sin, we could not look upon the face of God.
In the wisdom and love of God, this is not to be. No one who enters the New Jerusalem will be able to call one of his transgressions to remembrance, nor will any other being in heaven be able to do so. The redeemed saint will be there as one who had never sinned, both in his own sight, in the sight of angels, and of God himself. For he has, in fact, been created new, and without sin, in Christ.
And toward this blessed goal the Christian’s face is now turned; and “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before,” he presses forward with rejoicing to the mark and prize of his high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

THE PREPARATION DAY.

“And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on.”
Is Friday your preparation day? or is it your rush day, the busiest of the whole week?
Do you prepare for the Sabbath by hurrying all day Friday to get through with the greatest possible amount of work, and especially Friday afternoon? Do you find it necessary to consult your calendar, that you may know just the exact minute when you must stop work, in order not to encroach upon the Sabbath? To spend the preparation day thus is to make a very doubtful sort of preparation for the arrival of the Sabbath.
To keep the Sabbath properly requires a right use of the mind as well as of the body. As the sacred day approaches, the mind should turn toward sacred themes, and to this end the work performed upon the preparation day should be less absorbing of the mental faculties, rather than more and more so, as the Sabbath day draws near.
The presence of the Sabbath day brings to us the presence of the Lord of the Sabbath. The preparation day is for a preparation to meet with Him. Let us not rush into His presence in a manner we would be ashamed of if the occasion were one of meeting with some earthly friend.

In the Question Chair.

[Designed for the consideration of such questions as will be of interest and profit to the general reader. All correspondents should give their names and correct post-office address, that queries not replied to here may be answered by mail.]

816.— The Jewish Year.

In “Daniel and the Revelation,” page 142, I read: “The ordinary Jewish year, which must be used as the basis of reckoning, contained three hundred and sixty days.” Other authorities say three hundred and fifty-four days. What is meant by “the ordinary Jewish year”? Was there any year consisting of three hundred and sixty days? P. R., Erie, Pa.
Answer.—By “ordinary Jewish year” we mean a year of time as designated and determined by the language of the Scriptures. This consisted of twelve months, with thirty days to the month, making three hundred and sixty days in all. The length of a Scripture month is shown by the account of the flood. Thus, the waters of the flood prevailed one hundred and fifty days. Gen. 7:24. In the second month, and the seventeenth day of the month, of the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, the fountains of the great deep were broken up, the windows of heaven were opened, and the flood began. The waters prevailed one hundred and fifty days. What was the day and month when the flood ended? “And after the end of the one hundred and fifty days the waters were abated” (Gen. 8:3), and the ark grounded fast on the top of Mt. Ararat. The length of time was five months (Gen. 8:4); the number of days one hundred and fifty. This gives thirty days for each month. That which is meant by “making this the basis of calculation” is in reference to the computation of the prophetic periods. In prophecy one day represents a year; a prophetic “time,” a prophetic year. In Dan. 7:25 there are brought to view “a time,” one year, and “times,” plural,—two years, the least that would make it plural,—and “the dividing of time”—half a time (Rev. 12:14), half a year. This gives three years and a half for the whole period; and this being prophetic time, how shall we reduce it to literal time?—By taking twelve months for a year, and thirty days for a month. This gives three hundred and sixty prophetic days, or three hundred and sixty literal years, for a prophetic “time.” In our calendar the months are given thirty and thirty-one days, except the month of February, curtailed to twenty-eight and twenty-nine days. In the table of the Jewish calendar, six of the months are given as having thirty days each, and six of them as having twenty-nine days each. This makes a total for the year of three hundred and fifty-four days. But whether this year is taken, or the three-hundred-and-sixty-day year, the time falls far short of the actual days in the year as measured by the sun, the chief of the orbs connected with our solar system. To remedy this deficiency, the Jews every third year intercalated a thirteenth month, called Ve-Adar, or the second Adar. In this thirteenth month there was inserted just as much time as was needed to bring the vernal equinox to the right point in the year. With the first new moon after the vernal equinox, the first month of a new year opened, and the count went on again till the end of the third year, when another readjustment was necessary. Of course it would be impractical to take any of the variable years, or the actual days allotted to the year, by which to calculate the prophetic periods. So the Scriptural allotment of twelve months to the year and thirty days to the month is the appropriate and necessary standard to adopt. But the years of a prophetic period, as for instance the twenty-three hundred years, or the twelve hundred and sixty years, etc., are not years of three hundred and sixty days each, but actual years of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds.

817.— The Seventh Year of Artaxerxes.

What direct authorities can be given to show that the seventh of Artaxerxes Longimanus, from which the twenty-three hundred years are to be reckoned, was 457 B. C.? The Britannica places the beginning of his reign in 465 B. C., which would make his seventh year 458 B. C.? T. H. J., Modale, Iowa.
Ans.—Sylvester Bliss, in 1850, made a thorough study of sacred chronology, and published a small work on that subject. In preparing his work he consulted the leading chronologists accessible, such as Prideaux, Hales, Usher, Clarke, Jackson, Blair, etc. A few years ago a new edition of this work, with notes and an appendix, was issued from this Office. Whatever date Mr. Bliss decided upon for any prophetic event, we should accept with all confidence as correct. Under Xerxes, he says:—
“He was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes Longimanus, the long-handed, who, . . . according to Ptolemy’s Canon, reigned forty-one years, from B. C. 464–423. According to these dates his seventh year, to which Ezra refers, would be 457 B. C.”

818.— Words for “Living Soul” and “Never Die.”

Please give me the Greek in English letters of “living soul,” as found in 1 Cor. 15:45, also the same for “shall never die,” as in John 11:26. From what Greek word does “grave” come, as in Matt. 27:53 and Luke 11:44? and what is the difference between that word and “hades,” as in 1 Cor. 15:55? H. F., Carrier, O. T.
Ans.—“Living soul,” in 1 Cor. 15:45, is from “psuchen zosan.” The expression “shall never die,” in John 11:26, is “ou me apothane, eis ton aiona” (literally, “not die forever”). “Grave,” in Matt. 27:53 and Luke 11:44, is from “mnemeion,” which is defined by Robinson, as “a tomb, a sepulcher.” “The sepulchers of the Hebrews were often caverns (Gen. 23:9), or were hewn out by art, in rocks, or on the sides of hills, in various forms and sizes, sometimes with several compartments. They were closed by a door or layer of stone, and were often decorated with ornaments, and whitewashed.” This word seems to be used exclusively to describe simply the place of burial; while hades is given a broader meaning, and signifies, according to Robinson, “the abode of the dead.” The Hebrew sheol signified, in like manner, the under world, and was held to be a vast subterranean place, full of thickest darkness, where dwelt the shades (psuchai) of the dead. For the Hebrew sheol the Septuagint has almost everywhere put hades.

Editorial Notes.

By Editor

DON'T try to frighten the devil by telling what you are going to do. All he cares about is what you are doing.
SOME people are so short of time in this world that they are going to be short of eternity in the next.
IN every sin you agree to an eternal separation from everything that is good. You bid an eternal farewell to all those you love.
SOME professedly Christian people seem to count it much less a sacrifice to throw money away on some useless indulgence than to invest it in the bank of heaven.
DON'T run after a lie about yourself; it can outrun you every time. It is your daily life that tells what you are; and if that is right, you need not worry about what any one says to the contrary.
WHEN you would excuse yourself from the performance of religious duty, stop and picture in your mind how that excuse will sound at the bar of God. Remember that it must pass muster with Him, as well as with yourself.
It is impossible to put a stop to evil in this world by legislation. Laws are the levees along the banks of the stream of evil, to confine it within bounds; and every time men try to dam up the stream, the result is disastrous. The only remedy is the gospel, which dries up the stream at its fountain head.
A RECENT injunction issued by a Milwaukee judge to the Vilter manufacturing company of that city against the International Association of Machinists, which is now conducting a strike throughout the country, enjoins the strikers “from gathering about the plant, from posting pickets, from combining with the tradesmen in order to boycott the Vilter company,” and from doing anything else that would “in any way operate to damage the Vilter company or its employees.” And just the other day two courts in Chicago gave decisions declaring that “blacklisting,” by which corporations boycott individual workers against whom one of them has a grievance, is perfectly legal. So we have the courts of this country declaring that it is illegal for workmen to boycott a company, but legal for a company to boycott workmen. Such an attitude of the courts will certainly not be without results, and when times are less prosperous, if not before, the results will be clearly seen.
As they investigate more, geologists are getting less certain about those tremendous eons of time which we have all heard must have elapsed since life began on the earth. Writing in the Sunday School Times, Prof. G. Frederick Wright, author of “The Ice Age in North America,” and “Man and the Glacial Period,” says:—
“It seems now certain that geological time is much shorter than it was once supposed to be. Instead of the hundreds of millions of years which used to be flung in here and there by the geologists as ‘mere trifles’ in geological time, the geologists are now struggling hard to retain possession of as much as one hundred million years for the entire development of organic life in the world; while it is strenuously maintained by the highest authorities, both in physics and geology, that twenty-five million is all that can be allowed them. This shortening of the age of the earth compels us to face the fact that many geological changes have been relatively rapid, and that some of the greatest of these are of very recent occurrence.”
Keep on; geological friends; you are doing well. From one hundred million years down to twenty-five million years is a long step in the right direction. Another step only about a third of this length will put you into full harmony with the Bible.

WE PAY AS WE GO!

THIS was the principle adopted when the work of building for the publishing work at Nashville was begun a few weeks ago. Our instructions had been plain, “You must move by faith, work by faith, and plan by faith,” and “in no case run into debt. Do your work on a sure basis.”
We therefore began the work of building when we had little money in sight, but we had faith that the Lord would in His own good time supply the means to carry the work to completion. Determining not to run into debt on this building, we decided that we would trust the Lord to supply the means to carry forward the work, but we would not run into debt, and then ask Him to pay our debts. It was therefore fully decided that whenever the money provided for the work of building should be exhausted, the work would stop, and would not be resumed until the treasury should be replenished.
To this end, all bills have been paid each week, and we are glad to state that sufficient money was received to carry forward the building until it was inclosed, substantially roofed with tin, and part of the floors laid, and so the work now done is protected from the elements. But at this point the money in hand is exhausted, and the stream has nearly ceased to flow. Most of the workmen have therefore been dismissed, and the work of finishing is practically at a standstill. The building is little of it in condition to be occupied, as the windows are closed with nothing but cloth, which is very unsubstantial, lets in no air, and is liable to be blown away in any gust of wind.
New Building for the Publishing Work, Now Being Erected at Nashville, Tenn.
New Building for the Publishing Work, Now Being Erected at Nashville, Tenn.
Only a little more than two thousand dollars has been expended on the building so far, and it will require at least one thousand to complete it for proper occupation. This will be done as fast as the money is received for the work. Brethren, shall this much-needed building be completed so that the publishing work in the South can go forward?
But there is more than this. When the building is finished and the presses installed, it will take quite a sum for equipment and material with which to make the books for this field. Our instruction is definite as to the kind of books to be made, and we hope that means will be supplied so that this office will be able to follow these instructions, and bring out such a line of books and leaflets as this special field requires. Will you join us in this most important work? Will you send of your means so that this building can be finished at once? Will you supply us with the money necessary to buy the paper and other material for publishing these books? We hope for immediate responses so that the work will not be hindered.

INCORPORATION AND STOCK.

May 16, 1901, the Southern Publishing Association was incorporated upon the same general plan as the Review and Herald and Pacific Press associations. Shares of stock were placed at five dollars each, and every one contributing to the building up of this association will receive a certificate of stock at the rate of one share for each five dollars contributed. Certificates are now being issued to those who have already subscribed. These certificates of stock pay no dividends, but entitle the holder to a voice in the management of this association.
SOUTHERN PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION.

ILLINOIS

By M. G. Huffman; Chas. Thompson

MT. ERIE.—We have now been at this place nearly four weeks. There is a good interest, and our tent is filled nearly every evening with intelligent and attentive listeners. Some evenings the tent is full to overflowing. Twenty-eight services have been held, a great deal of reading-matter has been placed in the hands of the people, and $9.27 received in donations. The people are kind, and are providing for our temporal needs. We have many invitations to visit, hence we have plenty to occupy our time and minds.
We are of good courage, and praise the Lord; for some are accepting the truths of the ThirdAngel’s Message, and others are almost persuaded. We are sure that we and the work here are remembered at the throne of grace.
M. G. HUFFMAN, CHAS. THOMPSON.

LUXOR, EGYPT.

By Louis Passebois

[THIS word from the land of Egypt comes to the Mission Board:—]
We have been especially benefited these last days by the blessing of the Lord. I recently made a visit to a native minister who had invited me to spend a week or two with him. After the first week, the interest of the people was such that it seemed best to stay and work among them. So we have rented rooms in his house, and will remain for a time.
Another minister and also a teacher have become interested through the influence of this man. The minister acknowledged that we are right on the subject of baptism, and said that he was also nearly convinced of the truth concerning the Sabbath and the nature of man. He has resigned his position as pastor. Of course this has made a stir, but we trust in the Lord to take care of all that, and rejoice to see this man accept the truth. He is also much interested in the medical and temperance work, and pleads for a good Christian doctor to come here, especially one who can treat eyes, and operate upon them in necessary cases. In a short time, I believe, a doctor could be not only self-supporting, but could support several other workers besides. I desire to make a strong plea for Egypt; for I am sure a good and great work could be done here by a doctor. Medical and educational work are much needed in Egypt. The greater the darkness, the more need there is of light-bearers. We would make the Macedonian plea, “Come over, . . . and help us.”
LOUIS PASSEBOIS.

COLORADO

By Tillie Vanata

CRIPPLE CREEK.—June 23, 1901, we held our Sabbath-school an hour earlier than usual, and at 10:25 about forty of us left the church, and drove to the place chosen for the ordinance of baptism. We sang the old yet ever-beautiful hymn, Shall We Gather at the River? then Elder Henry Payton read from Matthew 3 and Acts 8:28-40, after which we had a season of prayer. Three of the six candidates were adults who had previously received baptism, but felt the need of coming closer to the Lord.
Brethren Hills, Larson, and Sparks are here at present, looking for a location to hold tent-meetings. We are enjoying some grand sermons from them. They expect to hold their first tent-meeting, Sunday evening, at Victor, Colo.
MRS. TILLIE VANATA, Clerk.

Local Church News from Indiana Conference Field

Hagerstown.—Elders Shrock and Miller are holding meetings in this place. Some of the best people of the town are attending their meetings, which have received favorable notice in the local papers. Elder Shrock occupied the pulpit of the Christian Church one Sunday, and the outlook is favorable. Tracts are being sold from house to house.
Middletown.—Last Sabbath, June 15, I spent at this place, where I was glad to meet a number of brethren and sisters from Mechanicsburg and Olivet Chapel. We had an afternoon service. I also visited the church in Terre Haute, June 22, and the one at Farmersburg, the 29th. I find a few earnest, faithful members in the churches I am visiting, but there are others who are making the work of God a secondary matter. I. J. Hankins.
Kennard.—I visited the brethren at Kennard, June 8. Brother Hamilton was elected and ordained as elder of the church. There was a good attendance on the Sabbath. Sunday evening the Wesleyan church, at Greensboro, opened its doors to us, and I spoke to a full house, on the closing work of the gospel. I. J. H.
The address of the Indiana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists its 1311 Central Ave., Indianapolis.
Auburn.—Elder F. M. Roberts has gone to Auburn with a tent to hold a series of meetings. Brother B. H. Welch, who has been canvassing in that neighborhood, has been instrumental in arousing an interest in the truth. He believes that the harvest is ripe, and that souls will take their stand for the truth during this series of meetings.
A canvassers’ institute will begin on the Greenfield camp-ground, August 4.
The Indiana canvassers reporting their work are as follows: B. H. Welch, Waterloo; H. C. Carmichael, Jeffersonville; T. F. Keener, Belleville; Mrs. Mollie Keener, Belleville; T. J. Clarke, Winchester; Mrs. Maggie Clarke, Winchester; H. W. Johnson, Elwood; H. S. Browning, Brightwood.
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