SUBSCRIPTION-BOOK sales amounting to over $11,000 are reported by Nebraska Tract Society for the year 1899.
A GERMAN Sabbath-school of thirty members was organized by Brother J. A. Schlotthauer, at Wilcox, Ida., on December 9.
THE church at Hartington, Neb., organized November 7, with twenty-two members, have a new house of worship under way.
IN reporting meetings held at Colorado Springs, Colo., Brother W. W. Hills notes the addition of nine members to the church.
FIVE converts are reported by Brother W. H. White as a partial result of meetings held in a schoolhouse, Stockville, Neb.
A GOOD interest is reported by Brother G. H. Smith at Morrillville, Neb., where seven have decided to observe the Sabbath of the Lord.
IN connection with South Lancaster (Mass.) Academy, a seminary has been started for the benefit of those who are teaching or preparing to teach. Its aim is to discuss methods, in the light of God's Word.
EIGHT converts to the truth at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, are reported by Brother A. G. Christianson, who has been holding meetings at that place. The free use of a schoolhouse has been granted him for taking care of it.
BROTHER C. H. JONES, manager of the Pacific Press Publishing Company, returned from a business tour to the East on the 8th inst. Amongst other business was an extended meeting of the Foreign Mission Board, of which he is a member. The board is strenuously endeavoring to face the problem of raising means to meet the ever-increasing demand for means to answer the calls that are coming from every quarter, "Come over and help us." The situation ought to be more of a burden on many besides the brethren on the board.
THIS item appears in the West Virginia Monitor of the 3d inst.: "The Wheeling church has sold nearly 1,000 copies of the Harvest number of the Signs of the Times since November 15, and expect to exceed that number."
FIVE persons went forward in the ordinance of baptism at Grand Junction, Colo., recently, several other candidates being kept away by stormy weather. Brother L. H. Proctor has been holding meetings in that vicinity.
ANOTHER educational journal comes to hand, the Industrial Educator, magazine form, monthly, issued by the Academy Press, at Keene, Texas. It is a credit to the institution mechanically, besides containing interesting matter. Twenty-five cents a year.
ON the city mission at Lincoln, Neb., Brother E. H. Tupper says, "We find many poor people who need temporal as well as spiritual help, and, O, how good it seems to be able to help them!" An entertainment for children was given on the evening of December 20, says the Reporter.
A WORKINGMEN'S HOME has been started in Boise, Idaho; also an orphanage. Brother G. W. Reaser, president of Upper Columbia Conference, has been visiting that locality, and reports the work in an encouraging condition, which report these two establishments seem to corroborate.
AN example of the difficulties with which our foreign missionaries have to contend is set forth in the following extract from a letter to the Missionary Visitor, from Brother George F. Enoch, who is laboring at Hope Bay, Jamaica:—
"Our brethren are very poor in these islands, yet they began by doing the very best they could. We began our Swift River chapel here in September. The money was coming in slowly yet regularly, when, owing to the unusual heat, an epidemic of fever swept over the island. This district has suffered severely. I know of no house in the whole district excepting our own that has not one or more tossing in beds of fever. As the people in tropical climes only live from day to day without laying up anything, you can see the effect it had on our chapel. But the Lord is good, and we looked forward to the time when the epidemic would be gone and our brethren and sisters able to go to work again. But, alas! we are in the hurricane belt. On November 8 a heavy wind-storm swept over the island, and, at least in this part of it, leveled their cultivations to the ground. The banana is the dependence of the people in this parish, and both this year's crop and next year's are gone. And our chapel here is scarcely half finished."
Such instances should arouse a deeper interest in the foreign work, which is ever held back for lack of means, and lack of an appreciation of the many obstacles that are constantly arising.
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RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN JAPAN.
By C. M. S.
Whatever may be said in criticism of the course of the Japanese Government in prohibiting religious instruction of any kind in any school in Japan, the measure was certainly an impartial one; for by it all religions are placed on an equal footing. We may criticize the right of the government to prohibit religious instruction in a private school supported by private contributions, but we can not discover in it any of that favoritism which exists in Church-and-State governments. Another indication of Japan's desire to be impartial in her dealings with religious questions is shown in the contemplated action described below, quoted from the daily press:—
"Yokohama, December 16.—The bill for the regulation of religious organizations excites much comment because of its absolute fairness and impartiality. Christianity is no longer merely tolerated, but receives recognition. All religious property is exempt from taxation and religious teachers from conscription. The whole Buddhist sects show an unexpectedly liberal spirit, and are practically united in giving support to the measure."
Truly, the time is ripe for real Christian missionary work in Japan; and where are the harvest bands? C. M. S.
STATE AND CHURCH IN ECUADOR.
By C. M. S.
A CORRESPONDENT of the Chicago Record, writing from Ecuador, South America, under date of October 2, says:—
"The Congress of the Republic of Ecuador, acting on the recommendation of President Alfaro, has passed a law confiscating to the State all church property, and placing the mines, the immense coco and sugar plantations, and the valuable city holdings which this property includes, under a management of a board of trustees, to be appointed by the president. The proceeds of the sequestered property will be applied to the support of the State schools.
"Indignation among sympathizers with the church is intense, and the clergy is protesting violently against the enactment. In many quarters revolution is threatened. The Franciscan, Dominican, and other monastic orders of the Roman Catholic Church, which, being very rich, are the principal sufferers, are hurriedly making conveyance of the titles to their property, for fictitious considerations, to local laymen. The government, it is declared, will refuse to recognize the validity of these transfers."
Thus has the Lord opened another of the closed doors of the world for the entrance of the everlasting Gospel. The influence of the Catholic clergy has seriously hampered evangelistic work in that country, but with the education of the people, there will come a change favorable to Protestant missionary work in Ecuador. C. M. S.
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Wants a Position.—Youth, 16 years, educated and respectable, desires occupation of some sort among commandment-keeping people. Griffith, 101 Queen St., Halifax, N. S.
THE HOME.
By George C. Tenney
THE institution, preservation, and development of their homes form a correct standard by which to judge of the intelligence, enlightenment, and happiness of animate creatures, whether considered as species, races, or individuals. The home is the resting-place of the soul. To the extent that men or other animals are endowed with soul qualities, they find delight in the associations of home. It is a statement that will pass unchallenged, as a general truth, at least, that all truly great and good men and women, from the beneficent branches of whose influence the world has eaten good fruit and found rest and shelter, have gone forth to their labors from the sacred precincts of a dear, sweet home.
We are wont to scan with eagerness every glimpse we obtain of the home life of those whom we desire to know better; not from mere curiosity, but because we know that the home life is the truest exponent of the inner nature. What a man is to those nearest him and most dependent upon him, is the best indication of what he really is at heart. It is a manifold truth that the foundation of the character is laid in the home. In our domestic relations are the springs of moral strength and purity. Here spiritual life is nourished; here all those graces that beautify life and reflect honor upon our Creator originate and receive culture.
The dove differs from the hawk in our estimation because of its tendency to love and cherish domestic life. It exhibits love for its mate and offspring. It hovers affectionately about the home-nest. Its cooing has the quality of fondness and gentleness. The dove is the recognized emblem of peace and blessing. The dove returned on weary wing to the window of home; but the raven "went forth to and fro." The domestic qualities of ants and bees distinguish them as belonging to a higher and more intelligent grade,—a place nearer mankind,—than the homeless nomads of even far greater physical proportions, who, wandering aimlessly about, seem to belong to nobody.
The same distinctions are carried into the realm of humanity. Those wandering Ishmaelites we call "tramps" or "sundowners," are almost excluded from the pale of humankind, because they ignore and repudiate the blessings of home life. It is probable that the most of this uncouth fraternity have never known those blessings.
The blessedness of the heavenly state springs largely from the assurances of a peaceful and permanent home. There "they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat."
In his earthly life Jesus went forth to battle with error, to rebuke sin, to heal the sick, and help the helpless. In the temple He met the lawyers, scribes, and priests. At the feast He found spies, critics, and hypocrites: He preached by the sea, taught on the mountain, walked from province to province, encountering in His constant toil everything except the love and sympathy for which He yearned. But in the peaceful home at Bethany His heart found solace and His weary frame was refreshed. It was a refuge of delight. Even here the enemy of peace sought to insinuate his presence. Martha was inclined to permit anxiety and serving to crowd out loving attention, the soul of hospitality, and drive away the spirit of rest. The Master pointed out her grave mistake. How many to-day are following her example in making the home a house of servitude! The one thing needful in the home is for each inmate to welcome the Master and listen to His voice. Jesus is now as fond of mingling in the home circle as ever He was. He visits, yea, abides in, the cottage or mansion where a place is made for Him and a welcome awaits Him. He presides over every home whose atmosphere is peace, because He is Prince of Peace. As men go forth from such homes to toil or battle, they go in peace, without fear or trembling. The city of refuge is near, where Jesus abides; its gates are always open. O, who can estimate the value of a home blest with the presence of Jesus? And it is the unspeakable privilege of every person to live in such a home if each one will do his part in making it. If our home is not such a home it is because the door is shut to the heavenly Prince of Peace; and some one is harboring the enemy of peace. Lord, is it I?
G. C. TENNEY.
IS VEGETARIANISM MERELY A FANCY?
By David Paulson, M.D.
It seems remarkable to us when we read that seven times were the devils cast out of Mary Magdalene, but modern missionary experiences furnish parallel cases. I am personally acquainted with a man who, during the last few years, has given his heart to God and back-slidden to the drink habit thirty-three times.
He finally stumbled into our Medical Missionary Dispensary, bound down as effectually by this demon as ever were the men who wandered about the tombs on the hills of the Gadarenes. The man made marked improvement under rational remedies properly applied, and then his most pathetic inquiry was, "Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" I told him how spices, condiments, and meats were creating a fiery thirst in him, that even God had not promised to quench. It was a new idea to him.
He went away determined to try the force of the truth that I had sought to impress upon his mind. For a number of days he worked about Chicago without the slightest desire for liquor. Then, upon visiting with some of his friends, they persuaded him to dine with them after the "old style," and that meant to this poor man an invitation card to return to his old life. The result was it was beer in the evening, whisky in the morning, and then a week of profound drunkenness.
Sorrowful, miserable, and penitent, the man returned to our dispensary, and said that he had demonstrated the truth of what I told him.13and asked me, for God's sake, to help him upon his feet once more. This I gladly did in the name of the Master, who continues to pity and forgive our shortcomings, even beyond the "seventy times seven."
Twenty weeks have passed away. That man has lived carefully upon the natural products of the earth, has not felt one desire for liquor, and, physically, he is another man. He has learned the valuable lesson that in physical things, as well as in the spiritual, God works in harmony with the laws He has instituted. If a mustard plaster is applied externally to even a converted man, it will raise a blister, just the same as it would on a sinner. The same amount of mustard sprinkled upon meat and applied inside will just as surely create a thirst that water can not satisfy. God Himself has established this relation.
Providence has opened a way for this man so he has secured a fine position, at a high salary; and his testimony, when he comes to the mission, has an intelligent inspiration in it that has encouraged many a poor mortal to seek to investigate the cause for the fetters that seem to fasten him to a life of sin.
DAVID PAULSON, M.D.
"TEACH BABY I'M DEAD."
By Mrs. Henderson
[A scene at Lansing, Mich.]
SHE was on her knees at the convict's feet,
A bride of only one year before.
He held in his arms an infant sweet,
Too young to know of the grief they bore,
Too young to care, too very young
To know when the velvet lips were pressed,
But the convict still to his baby clung,
And held it close to his throbbing breast.
In vain he spoke kind words to cheer
The broken heart of his fair young wife;
But she sobbed and wept with bitter tears,
For vanished hopes, and a ruined life.
The convict knew of the wreck he'd made,
"I know my sentence is just," he said,
"Don't cloud her days with this blighting shade;
Teach our baby that I am dead."
"Don't let our babe, our darling, know
Her father fell to this black abyss;
Don't let it know that one so low
Sought its lips for a loving kiss;
For black is the stain of slanderers vile,
Swift the arrow of scorn." He plead,
"Don't cloud the life of our little child;
Teach our baby that I am dead."
He sadly gazed on the form at his feet.
Who could have dealt a deadlier blow
To a fair young life, so pure and sweet?
He thought of shame—"It lingers so,"
He murmured. "Joys, how quick they flee!
Look up, my wife, once more," he plead.
But she sobbed the more as she heard the plea:
"Teach our baby that I am dead."
"I'm tortured so by this sad mistake;
I've slain us both. 'Tis true! 'tis true!
O, won't you rally for baby's sake?
See! now there's no one left but you.
When hope is gone, work is a task;
But won't you pray for me?" he said.
"Forgive me, too, 'tis all I ask;
And teach the baby that I am dead."
Then kindly the warden asked them to part.
A wail, a lull, and the curtains fell.
She took the babe, and the convict's heart,
And left her own in the prison cell.
The bells rang out o'er tower and lea;
Each peal brought back with funeral tread
The sorrowing sobs and piteous plea,
"Teach the baby that I am dead."
Leavenworth City, Kan. MRS. HENDERSON.
A LESSON FROM DOGS.
By J. E. Green
ONE day three dogs were having a real rough-and-tumble play, just as boys do sometimes, across the street from my door. So engaged were they that they did not hear some one down the street whistling to them.
After a few minutes there came a lull in the game, and the sound reached them. Instantly every head was raised, and every ear erect, and one could almost hear them say, "Hark!" they were so quiet.
Soon one started as fast as he could go; for he had recognized his master's call. The others did not try to detain him, nor did they say, "It's too bad," or, "It's real mean," or, "I think he might have pretended not to hear, and played a little longer." Not a bit of such talk did they have, but, since their game was spoiled, they went quietly away.
I could not help contrasting their conduct with that of many children, who, when called from their play, will often pout and murmur. And if they do come, it is so reluctantly that all pleasure in their service is spoiled for those who called them. How many times will they plead to be allowed to play just a few minutes longer, when mama needs their help very much! Those dogs did not seem to think there was any way to do only to run right along when called and see what was wanted, and it was done with such cheerfulness that it did me good to see it.
I thought how different that is from my way of doing many times when God speaks to me. And I felt I had learned a lesson in prompt and cheerful obedience from those dogs.
J. E. GREEN.
WHY IT FELL.
By J. R. Miller, D.D.
A MAJESTIC tree fell in its prime—fell on a calm evening when there was scarcely a breath of air stirring. It had withstood a century of storms, and now was broken off by a zephyr. The secret was disclosed in its falling. A boy's hatchet had been stuck into it when it was a tender sapling. The wound had been grown over and hidden away, but it had never healed.
There at the heart of the tree it stayed, a spot of decay, ever eating a little farther and deeper into the trunk, until at last the tree was rotted through, and it fell of its own weight when it seemed to be at its best.
So do many lives fall when they seem to be at their strongest, because some sin or fault of youth has left its wounding and its consequent weakness at the heart. For many years it is hidden, and life goes on in strength. At last, however, its sad work is done, and at his prime the man falls.—J. R. Miller, D.D.
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CHILDREN AND THE CHURCH.
By Christian Observer
THE Bible gives us some very striking instances of regeneration in infancy. The history of the child Samuel shows that his piety was but the sprouting of the stem and the budding, blossoming, and bearing fruit from the seed implanted by divine grace in his soul in infancy. God first inspired and then accepted Hannah's vow, and the tiny lad, asked of God and then given to God, was saved and consecrated by Him.
The angel said of John the Baptist, before his birth, to Zacharias, "And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb."
Paul reminds Timothy of the fact that "from a child" he had "known the Holy Scriptures," and that his assurance and persuasion of the truth of God came from the instruction of his mother and grandmother. His progress in childhood was but a growing up into the observance of the things commanded in the Holy Scriptures. His great duty was to continue in the things taught him in infancy. Here was an old grandmother in whom unfeigned faith dwelt, a sweet mother having the same faith, and a pious son possessing the like precious gift of God.
Such Christians are among the very strongest, wisest, and most devoted and useful and consecrated of our church-members. Mr. Spurgeon said that of the many hundreds of children who joined his church, not one had to be excommunicated for bad conduct. The Saviour gives childhood the advantage, as to entering the kingdom of heaven, over manhood, because of its susceptibilities to gracious influences. We may readily believe that these very susceptibilities are largely the result of a work of regeneration wrought in babyhood.
REPAIRING MOTHER.
By Elizabeth Grinnell
A NAP after dinner is worth two hours of sleep in the morning to mother. Mothers, more than most people, wear out if they are not repaired, and it is the duty of the family to see that repairs go on before the dear tenement falters. So many people paint the house and have the homes cleaned and repapered and the furniture retouched, who never think of repairing the mother. Think of it, to let a mother wear out for want of a little repair. Why, she is costly, and rare, and altogether good to have around, isn't she?—Elizabeth Grinnell.
NOTED ELEPHANT HUNTER.
It is probably not known to the people of this country that some years ago Captain Sanderson, the famous elephant hunter who had charge of the elephant service of the entire British army in India, and who spent many years of his life in the jungles of Northern India hunting the elephant, came to this country a few years ago for the express purpose of visiting the Battle Creek, Mich., Sanitarium, to become better acquainted with the dietetic principles of that great establishment.
Captain Sanderson is without doubt the greatest hunter who has ever lived since Nimrod, at least, and perhaps he exceeded even that "mighty hunter," for on one occasion, with the assistance of an army of three or four hundred men, he captured 124 elephants at a single catch in one of his enormous stockades.
The captain was a genius in his line, but the utter neglect to care for his health, and long residence among the germs of India, made him a prey to malarial fever to such an extent that he was utterly disqualified for service. Having heard of the famous Battle Creek, Mich., Sanitarium and its ideas respecting diet, he made a trial of some of the cereal foods recommended at this establishment, and was so much benefited that he obtained leave of absence and came to this country to visit this world-famous institution and to become better acquainted with the principles taught there. He entered the cooking-school of the Sanitarium, and made himself thoroughly familiar with the dietetic principles upon which its success is so largely based. By making Granola and the other health foods manufactured by the Battle Creek Sanitarium Health Food Co., his principal dietary, he was enabled to return to the jungle, and afterward reported that so long as he adhered to these wonderful health-imparting products, he was able to live there as well as anywhere, and wholly free from the fevers which previously rendered his life miserable and threatened to cut short his existence. Numerous other travelers in Africa, India, China, and South America have employed, with equally good results, Granola, one of the principal products of this company, which may now be obtained from leading grocers throughout the country, and which ought to be in use in every household.
Granola is subjected to a process which converts the starch into dextrin, giving it a rich, nutty flavor and three times the food elements of beef.
Each package bears a picture of the Battle Creek, Mich., Sanitarium.
Readers of the SIGNS who will send the name of a grocer who does not sell Granola, to the Sanitarium Health Food Co., Battle Creek, Mich., will secure a free sample.
Prophetic Lights
By Editor
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LESSON V.—SABBATH, FEBRUARY 3, 1900
THE MISSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
On Mt. Olivet in the journey to Gethsemane, A.D. 31.
5 "But now I go unto Him that sent Me; and none of you 6 asketh Me, Whither goest Thou? But because I have spoken 7 these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto 8 you; but if I go, I will send Him unto you. And He, when He 9 is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of right- 10 eousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on 11 Me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye be- 12 hold Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this 13 world hath been judged. I have yet many things to say unto 14 you, but ye can not bear them now. Howbeit when He, the 15 Spirit of truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth; for He shall not speak from Himself; but what things soever 16 He shall hear, these shall He speak; and He shall declare 17 unto you the things that are to come. He shall glorify Me; 18 for He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you. All 19 things whatsoever the Father hath are Mine; therefore said I, 20 that He taketh of Mine, and shall declare it unto you. A little 21 while, and ye behold Me no more; and again a little while, and 22 ye shall see Me. Some of His disciples therefore said one to 23 another, What is this that He saith unto us, A little while, and 24 ye behold Me not; and again a little while, and ye shall see Me; 25 and, Because I go to the Father? They said therefore, What 26 is this that He saith, A little while? We know not what He 27 saith. Jesus perceived that they were desirous to ask Him, 28 and He said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves con- 29 cerning this, that I said, A little while, and ye behold Me not, 30 and again a little while, and ye shall see Me? Verily, verily, 31 I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world 32 shall rejoice; ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be 33 turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, 34 because her hour is come; but when she is delivered of the 35 child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that 36 a man is born into the world. And ye therefore now have sor- 37 row; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and 38 your joy no one taketh away from you. And in that day ye 39 shall ask Me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If ye 40 shall ask anything of the Father, He will give it you in My 41 name. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name; ask, and 42 ye shall receive, that your joy may be fulfilled.
43 "These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: the 44 hour cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, 45 but shall tell you plainly of the Father. In that day ye shall 46 ask in My name; and I say not unto you, that I will pray the 47 Father for you; for the Father Himself loveth you, because ye 48 have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from the 49 Father. I came out from the Father, and am come into the 50 world; again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father. His 51 disciples say, Lo, now speakest Thou plainly, and speakest no 52 proverb. Now know we that Thou knowest all things, and 53 needest not that any man should ask Thee; by this we believe 54 that Thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do 55 ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is come, that 56 ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave 57 Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with 58 Me. These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me ye may 59 have peace. In the world ye have tribulation; but be of good 60 cheer; I have overcome the world."
NOTE.—The texts inclosed in marks of parentheses, while not essential to the lesson study, will be found to throw much light upon the lesson, and are suggested for those who wish to study further.
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
1. On the way to Olivet, in what mood were the disciples? Why? John 16:5, 6.
2. How did Jesus explain the necessity of His going away? Verse 7. (John 7:39.)
3. Upon the advent of the Spirit, what was He immediately to do? Verse 8. (Acts 2:33.)
4. Why was He to do this? Verse 11.
5. In the midst of error and persecution to follow the departure of Christ, what place was the Spirit to fill? Verses 13-15. (Eph. 4:8, 11-15.)
6. What question seemed at that time to trouble the disciples most? Verses 17, 18.
7. Knowing what was in their minds, how did the Saviour explain the matter? Verses 19-22. (Luke 24:52, 53.)
8. From that time forward, how were their requests for heavenly favor to be made? Verses 23, 24, 26. See note. (John 15:11.)
9. What promise was given to those who thus ask? Verses 23, 24.
10. How did He say the Father regarded them? Verse 27.
11. What statement did the Saviour make which seemed to satisfy His disciples? Verses 28-30.
12. What question did Jesus then raise? What prediction did He make? Verses 31, 32.
13. Why did Jesus dwell upon these things? What assurance did He leave with the disciples? Verse 33. (2 Tim. 3:12; Rom. 5:37-39.)
Side Lights.—"Desire of Ages," chapter 73.
NOTE.
BEFORE this time the disciples had asked favors of Jesus in their own names, and for themselves; now everything was to be changed. The Holy Spirit, the representative of Jesus, was to be in them, prompting all their motives. Self was to be relegated to the background. Nothing was to be asked for simply to please self, but Jesus was the One to be pleased. Hence the name of Jesus was to be used, as tho the petitioner would ask only for Jesus' sake, that He might receive the coveted blessing to be used in Christ's service.
SECRETS OF SUCCESS
By Rev. Francis E. Clark
By Rev. Francis E. Clark
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