—There are 65,000 clergymen in the United States.
—The Book of Discipline of the Irish Presbyterian Church is now being revised.
—A religious sect has been discovered in Corea, one of whose tenets is to kill all who disbelieve its doctrines.
—According to F. M. Rains, the State evangelist, the Disciples of Kansas will dedicate fifty church buildings in that State this year.
—A Conference has been organized in connection with the missionary work of the M. E. Church in Japan. It consists of thirteen foreign missionaries and nineteen native preachers.
—The city of Rome has probably a greater proportion of ecclesiastics among its people than any other city in the world. Among its 180,357 inhabitants there are, besides the pope and his cardinals, 34 bishops, 1,333 priests, 2,404 monks, 1,872 members of various orders, 2,700 nuns, and 850 lay brethren.
—Wm. Taylor, who was elected by the last Methodist General Conference, missionary bishop of Africa, intends to start for that continent before December. He hopes to take twenty men with him, and, starting from the Atlantic Coast, advance to the interior, and establish a line of mission stations across the continent.
SECULAR.
—The expenses of the Nile expedition will reach about £10,000,000.
—Women are to be admitted to lectures in the University College, Toronto.
—Twenty-one houses were burned in the town of Liberty, Va., near Lynchburg, Oct. 12.
—The Bennett-Mackay cable was landed on Coney Island (N. Y.) at one o'clock on the 18th.
—Philadelphia has eighty-five institutions that care for dependent and neglected children.
—Six army officers and two women were executed in St. Petersburg, last week, for political offenses.
—Wm. H. Vanderbilt has given $500,000 to the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of New York, as a building fund.
—It is reported that the French have gained another victory in Tonquin, and that 450 Chinese fell in the engagement.
—It is stated that a citizen of Columbus, Ohio, has had over 200 men fined for using profane language on the street.
—Eleven hundred and fifty Chinamen sailed from San Francisco on the City of Peking, for their native land, October 18.
—J. J. Hedges, a lawyer of Portland, Oregon, has been sentenced to four years in the penitentiary for forging a client's name.
—There are 11,000 saloons in Berlin. The Gazette of Cologne says that 10,000 persons die of delirium tremens every year in Germany.
—On the 5th inst., a Chinese mob at Shanghai destroyed the missionaries' houses and the custom-house records. No lives were lost.
—Five thousand troops have been furnished to the governor of the State of Tolentino (Mexico), for the suppression of brigandage.
—A bill has been introduced into the Vermont Legislature by the opponents of capital punishment by hanging, providing for the execution of murderers by electricity.
—Since the great fire of 1871 there has been an average of $16,000,000 a year laid out on new buildings in Chicago. The amount expended this year will be about $20,000,000.
—The British Government has decided to expend £1,000,000 on its fortifications in Aden, Singapore, and Hongkong. Orders have been sent from the War Office to hasten the work.
—The leading physicians of Canada say that that country has never been so scourged with diphtheria as at present. In some places the schools have been closed on account of it.
—A spark from a railroad engine set fire to 250 bales of cotton that was piled on the depot platform at Barnesville, Ga., Oct. 17, and the flames, spreading, destroyed nearly the whole town.
—Twelve years ago there were only 2,000,000 pupils registered in the elementary schools of Great Britain; now there are registered over 5,000,000.
—Yreka, Cal., was treated to a storm of rain, wind, thunder, and lightning, on the 16th inst. One residence was partially destroyed by lightning.
—A Foo Chow dispatch to the London Times says: "Another engagement has been fought on the shore of Tamsui. Three thousand Chinese were killed. The French loss was trifling."
—The Russian Government has decided to fortify Vladivostok and construct harbors and docks in the bay of Okhotsk. It has been decided also to strengthen the Russian fleet in the Pacific.
—The St. James Gazette says that it has indisputable authority for saying that the country (England) is approaching a crisis in Indian affairs, in comparison with which the Sepoy rebellion of 1857 will be commonplace.
—A bootblack fifteen years old, who was arrested in St. Louis on the 18th inst., says that he was one of a party of six boys who started the fire that destroyed so many lumber yards in Cleveland, O., on the 6th of September.
—On Saturday, Oct. 11, an attempt was made to blow up the Parliament Building at Quebec. There were two explosions, causing damage to the amount of $25,000. Four men, supposed to be the guilty parties, have been arrested.
—The stage running between Cloverdale and Mendocino City, Cal., was stopped by masked men on the 8th inst., and the express box robbed of $4,200. Two of the robbers have been captured, and $2,700 in coin recovered.
—Minister Ferry recently denied that France was on bad terms with England, but said that France was prepared to make arrows out of every sort of wood, to fire at England unless she gave France satisfaction in Egypt.
—On the 18th inst., an express train on the Louisville, New Albany, and Chicago Railroad, struck a defective rail, near Greencastle, Ind., and was thrown into the ditch. The train immediately took fire, and all the cars, and the baggage, were consumed. No one was seriously injured.
—Alabama has now twenty-three cotton mills, Georgia sixty-two, North Carolina ninety-two, South Carolina eighty-one, Tennessee thirty-three, Virginia fourteen, Maryland twenty-four, Louisiana seven, Mississippi eleven, Texas six, Kentucky five, Arkansas four, and Florida two.
—An exchange says: "The Iowa School Fund has increased until it is now nearly $5,000,000. The illiteracy of the population is the lowest of any State in the Union, and there are probably more newspapers published in the State, according to the population, than in any other State."
—The Christian Union states that a rough estimate puts the number of the inmates in all prisons and reformatory institutions in this country, and those dependent on them or united by interest to them, and included under the general title of the criminal class, at about 700,000, or one in seventy of the entire population.
—The Canadian Pacific Railway has just concluded a contract with the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company of Scranton, Penn., for 10,000 tons of steel rails. It is believed that this is the first time that an American company has been successful in competition with English manufacturers for steel rails delivered in Canada.
—The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, of California, in his annual report, recommends that the State pay a pension of $300 a year, to all teachers of thirty years' experience. He also recommends that the State establish in each county, a work-school for practical instruction in mechanical trades.
—A German statistician in speaking of the liquor traffic, says: "Germany spends between 500,000,000 and 600,000,000 francs annually for her armies, but 2,200,000,000 francs for drinks—more than four times as much. The French spend three times as much for liquors as for their soldiers, the English four times as much, and the Belgians over ten times as much."
—An exchange says: "The ease with which temperance law may be enforced, when its enforcement is in the hands of earnest men, is shown by the fact that six young men of Prince Edward's Island have banished every saloon from one county of 40,000 inhabitants. In a town in this county not a single arrest for drunkenness has been made in six months, and the docket of the last circuit court did not contain a single criminal case."
An Instructive Book.
"THOUGHTS ON DANIEL AND THE REVELATION."
THIS work is from the pen of Mr. Uriah Smith, professor of Biblical exegesis in Battle Creek (Mich.) College, and is spoken of as a book which scientists, historians, scripturalists, and all lovers of good literature everywhere, can read with interest and profit. Historically, it is a book of great value. The rise and fall of the four leading kingdoms of the past, are uniquely presented at one view by Daniel's great image of gold, silver, brass, and iron. The reader is taken from the days of the old Chaldean Empire, down through Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. He is then carried through the Dark Ages and the terrible French revolution of 1783 to 1798, in which, for the purpose of teaching mankind a lasting lesson, the principles of infidelity, and merely human philosophy, were suffered to come to maturity and bear their baneful fruit. Our own country and times are faithfully considered and the advancement in civilization truthfully and clearly discussed. The work contains 871 pages, including the plates; is printed on fine paper; handsomely bound in cloth, sheep, and half morocco, and sold at a price which makes it in proportion to the amount of matter it contains, the cheapest subscription book on the market. It should find a place in every well selected library.—Daily Miner, Butte City, Montana.
WHEN Jeroboam was king of Israel, a man was sent by God to Bethel to prophesy against the king, and was strictly charged by God to eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the way that he came; and so he returned another way, though strongly urged by the king to tarry and eat and drink with him. Now there dwelt in Bethel an old prophet who, being told of all the things that the man of God did there, went after him and found him sitting under an oak. The prophet of Bethel urged him to return and eat and drink with him, but the man of God refused, giving as his reason the word of the Lord. But the prophet of Bethel said to him: “I am a prophet, also as thou art, and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. So he went back with him and did eat bread in his house and drink water. And it came to pass as they sat at the table that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back; and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but camest back and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread and drink no water; thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy fathers.” In accordance with these last words, soon after the departure of the man of God from Bethel, a lion met him in the way and slew him.
An examination of this history reveals the following facts: 1. A plain command to the man of God as to what he should, and should not do. 2. A lie told by the prophet of Bethel. 3. A belief of the man of God that the prophet of Bethel had spoken by command of the Lord. 4. The punishment of the disobedient act.
Jeroboam first invited the man of God to go home with him, but he could not be persuaded to do so because he felt the necessity of doing just as the Lord had commanded, and not till the prophet of Bethel told him that the Lord had told him thus and thus, did he consent to return with him. He believed he was doing the will of the Lord in thus returning. Wherein, then, was the sin of the man of God for which he received the punishment of death? There can be no doubt but he desired to obey God. His words and actions prove this. His motive was right. He knew what the Lord had spoken to him, but he believed the Lord had afterwards instructed him through the prophet to do the opposite. His sin could only have been in his acting upon the authority of man instead of God. After God had spoken, he should have taken neither the word of man nor prophet, and he sinned and died because of this. After God had spoken, he had no right to listen to the voice of any but God himself. Though prophets may claim to voice the words of God and say, “Thou shalt make to thee graven images and bow thyself down and serve them,” yet if we do this, we still sin, notwithstanding we act upon the claim of divine authority. No such claim has any right to obedience, when opposed to God’s words. Though the universal church should tell us to make images and worship them as gods instead of the Lord Jehovah, claiming that the Lord had so directed, we shall sin greatly if we obey the words of the church rather than the plain spoken words of the Lord. When God speaks, we must obey or suffer the penalty.
And yet how many there are to-day who are committing the sin of the man of God who went down to Bethel? The Lord has spoken in clear and unmistakable words, “The seventh day, is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” They were spoken, not through man or prophet, but by his own voice in the hearing of all the children of Israel. Any other words which speak contrary to these, though they come from priest or prophet, from the pope of Rome or the church of God, are like the words of the prophet of Bethel, “when he lied unto him,” and any who obey such words will sin as did the man of God.—Sabbath Recorder.
Pure Literature.
ANOTHER striking illustration of the evil effects of cheap, sensational literature is given in a recent dispatch from Easton, Penn., where a youth, whose mind had been poisoned with dime novels, shot and seriously wounded his father for some trivial cause, and then fled. Parents should exercise more watchfulness in rearing their children. In these days of free schools, free libraries, and an abundance of first-class family journals, there is no excuse for allowing the young to revel in that class of literature which can only result in a positive injury, both mentally and physically, as it encourages idleness and retards natural mental development. Sad results of the carelessness of parents and guardians in this respect present themselves in some form every day, and should forcibly remind us all of the necessity of endeavoring to prevent if not correct the evil. Let your children have their hours of pleasure, of that outdoor exercise so essential to their future health and happiness, but when the time comes for mental cultivation, as a relief from their regular studies, have some good family journal, or a standard work from your library to interest them. They may save you many hours of sorrow, and instill in the minds of your children thoughts that may frame their characters, and guide them to positions of honor and respect in the future, instead of a life of shame and crime.—Sel.
International Tract and Missionary Society.
By Stephen Nelson Haskell
The International Tract and Missionary Society was organized Aug. 13, 1884. It has furnished health and religious publications to co-operative missions and individuals in every State and Territory in the United States, and to every civilized nation on the globe. During 1882-84 it placed in free public libraries in this country over 10,000 volumes of standard religious books, at a cost of over $10,000, two-thirds of which was donated by other funds and the publishers. It has also placed valuable books in many libraries in England, Australia, the United States, and supplied reading-rooms with health and religious periodicals.
Free reading and lecture-room, 914 Laguna Street, San Francisco, Cal., from which place all ships are visited which enter that harbor. Andrew Brorsen and H. C. Palmer, city missionaries. C. R. Robbins, ship missionary.
Free reading-room on L Street, near corner of Fifth, East Portland, Oregon.
It has a free reading and lecture-room, 744 Broadway, New York City, where it will keep constantly on hand Health and Temperance publications to furnish co-operating missions and branch offices on the Atlantic Coast and in Europe. Ships visiting this harbor are supplied with reading matter. William J. Boynton, manager and city missionary.
Free reading and lecture-room, 21 Boylston Place, Boston, Mass. J. R. Israel and A. T. Robinson, city missionaries. Ship missionary, C. W. Priest, 191 Atlantic Avenue.
Parlor reading and lecture-rooms at 13 West Huron Street, Buffalo, N. Y., open from 2:30 to 9 P. M. Alex. Gleason, Superintendent.
Parlor reading and lecture-rooms, 52 Crouse Building, Warren Street, Syracuse, N. Y. N. J. Walsworth, resident manager.
Free reading-room at 219 West Madison Street, Chicago; Room 2, second floor. Eld. Geo. B. Starr and James Sawyer, managers.
Mission and free reading-room at 2339 Chestnut Street, St. Louis, Mo., N. W. Allen, Superintendent.
Free reading-room and book depository, 14 Indiana Avenue, Indianapolis, Ind. W. A. Young, Superintendent.
The ship work at Liverpool, England, is under the charge of Geo. R. Drew, 32 Grange Road, Birkenhead, Cheshire; J. H. Durland, Southampton. Tract and book depository, 72 Heneage Street, Great Grimsby, Eng., in charge of Miss Jennie Thayer.
Branch societies are being organized in all parts of the United States and Europe. The New York State branch has its offices and depository at Rome, N. Y. E. W. Whitney, President; Miss May Taylor, Secretary.
At the above-mentioned places the public are cordially invited. The society is sustained by the liberalities of friends of missions. Donations by draft or otherwise will be thankfully received and gratefully acknowledged by any of the above-mentioned agents, or Miss M. L. Huntley, Secretary, South Lancaster, Mass., U. S. A.
S. N. HASKELL, President.
THE SABBATH QUESTION.
Assorted Package No. 1. Price, 10c.
Which Day Do You Keep, and Why—Who Changed the Sabbath—The Sabbath in the New Testament—Elihu on the Sabbath—God’s Memorial—Sunday Not the Sabbath—Why Not Found Out Before—One Hundred Bible Facts about the Sabbath.
Assorted Package No. 2. Price, 25c.
This package contains all the tracts in package No. 1, and the following in addition:—
Seven Reasons for Sunday-keeping Examined—The Ten Commandments Not Abolished—The Seventh Part of Time—The Definite Seventh Day—Perfection of the Ten Commandments—Address to the Baptists—The Sunday Law.
OTHER WORKS ON THE SABBATH.
The Truth Found.—A comprehensive exposition of the nature and obligation of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. 64 pp. . . . . 10c
Sunday Seventh-day Examined.—A critical examination of the claim that Sunday is the true seventh day of the fourth commandment. 88 pp. . . . . 10c
Brown’s Review of Gilfillan on the Sabbath Question. 64 pp. . . . . 10c
Appeal to the Baptists.—An address from the Seventh-day Baptists to their first-day Baptist brethren, urging a restoration of the Bible Sabbath from the stand-point of Baptist principles of argument and interpretation. 48 pp. . . . . 10c
Vindication of the True Sabbath.—By a former missionary of the Presbyterian Church. . . . . 10c
Morality of the Sabbath.—Showing that the Sabbath commandment, being found in the midst of the nine acknowledged moral precepts, is, like the others, moral in its nature. 96 pp. . . . . 15c
Testimony of the Fathers of the first three centuries concerning the Sabbath and First-day. A candid examination of both sides of the question. 112 pp. . . . . 15c
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THE SECOND ADVENT.
Assorted Package No. 3. Price, 10c.
The Coming of the Lord—Is the End Near—Can We Know—The Signs of the Times—The Judgment—The Second Advent.
Assorted Package No. 4. Price, 25c.
Containing package No. 3, and the following in addition:—
The Millennium—The Present Truth—The Third Angel’s Message—Exposition of Matthew Twenty-four.
OTHER WORKS ON THE SECOND ADVENT.
Our Faith and Hope.—A series of ten sermons on the coming and kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. 198 pp. . . . . 25c
Second Coming of Christ.—An exposition of Matthew 24th chapter. 64 pp. . . . . 10c
Three Messages of Rev. 14.—Showing the nature and character of the warning messages designed to prepare the world for the last great Judgment. 96 pp. . . . . 10c
The Saints’ Inheritance, or the Earth Made New. 82 pp. . . . . 10c
The Seven Trumpets. An exposition of the symbols of Rev. 8 and 9. 96 pp. . . . . 10c
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
MAN’S NATURE AND DESTINY
Assorted Package No. 5. Price, 10c.
Is Man Immortal—Thoughts for the Candid—End of the Wicked—The Rich Man and Lazarus—Departing and Being with Christ—Milton on the State of the Dead.
OTHER WORKS ON MAN’S NATURE.
The Hope of the Gospel.—What is it, and when will it be consummated? 80 pp. . . . . 10c
Matter and Spirit.—An argument on the relation of matter and spirit, and the dependence of thought upon organization. 66 pp. . . . . 10c
History of the Doctrine of the Soul.—The belief in its immortality traced among all races and peoples to the present time. 186 pp., cloth. . . . . 75c
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
MISCELLANEOUS TRACTS.
Assorted Package No. 6. Price, 25c.
The Plan of Redemption—The Sufferings of Christ—The Sanctuary of the Bible—Scripture References—The Spirit of Prophecy—Spiritualism—a Satanic Delusion—Samuel and the Witch of Endor—The End of the Wicked—The Two Thrones.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
A Fatal Mistake.
By Editor
At a recent meeting of the Congregational Club of Minnesota, President Northrop is reported as having read a paper on “The Church and Its Work,” in which he noted approvingly certain changes that are going on in the church. Speaking of church work in the future, he said: “Not the terrors of the law, but the love of God in Jesus Christ will be the burden of preaching designed to lead men to God. We have reached a point where Sinai has ceased to terrify.”
We are not disposed to dispute either of these statements. The truth of the last sentence is too palpable to be denied, and we have no reason to doubt that the prediction contained in the first will be fulfilled. But the Doctor is mistaken in supposing that we have only just now reached a point where the law has ceased to terrify. Eighteen hundred years ago Paul could say with truth: “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. . . . Destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace have they not known; there is no fear of God before their eyes.”Rom. 3:11-18. And the same condition of things had been noted by another writer more than a thousand years before. Indeed so long ago as the days of Noah, we read that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”Gen. 6:5. They had no fear of the law, but it proved the worse for them at last. The fact that we have once more reached a point where men manifest equal indifference to the law is proof that the end is near. See Matt. 24:37.
And what is the church going to do in this crisis? The speaker above quoted says that “not the terrors of the law, but the love of God in Jesus Christ, will be the burden of preaching designed to lead men to God.” This we call a fatal mistake. Why?
Because it will utterly fail of its design. We find no authority in the Bible for such a course. Paul portrayed the terrible condition of the last days, and said: “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word.”2 Tim. 4:1, 2. The Lord, also, speaking through the prophet to the ministers of the last days, said: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.”Isa. 58:1.
When the law is not preached, it is useless to speak of the love of God. How is God’s love manifested? “In that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”Rom. 5:8. Christ came to save men from their sins. Now suppose that a man does not feel that he is a sinner, how much appreciation can he have of the love of God in Christ? None at all. And in no other way can he know himself to be a sinner, and thus in need of the love of God in Christ, except by the preaching of the law; “for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”Rom. 3:20. Without the terrors of the law before them, men will be as were the Jews, to whom Christ sadly said, “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Why would they not come? Because, the law having been made void through their traditions, it had no terrors for them, and they were resting in carnal security. They felt no fear, consequently they cared not for the Saviour’s offer of succor.
It is sad to contemplate this state of things; to see the watchmen on the walls of Zion regard it as a something to be desired, that the people should not heed the voice of the law, which alone can drive them to Christ, when God declares that he will look only to those who “tremble” at his word. Isa. 66:2. Fatal delusion! Too soon the time will come when the sinners in Zion shall be afraid, and fearfulness shall surprise the hypocrites. Isa. 33:14. Then “they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”Isa. 2:19. But their fear will be too late, for the Lord said: “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.”Prov. 1:24-26. Happy will it then be for those who will now be instructed to “serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”Ps. 2:11.
A Needed Reform.
By Editor
WE are glad to see a motion toward a reform in the matter of organ playing in church. It is an almost universal custom in this country to play at the end of every verse an "interlude," which may consist of a line or two of the hymn that is being sung, or of a scrap from some opera, according to the fancy of the player. Not only this, but every hymn must be played entirely through before it is sung, no matter if it be "Old Hundred," "Coronation," or any other hymn with which people are as well acquainted as with their own names. Concerning these customs the Examiner says:—
"We believe the custom is peculiar to this country. A few chords to give the key are all that is needful. Nor is it anything short of impertinence to interject an 'interlude' after each stanza of a short hymn, especially those 'fancy interludes' in which some professional organists delight, and often prolong beyond the length of the tune itself. One, or at most two brief interludes are quite sufficient breaks in hymns of ordinary length; and organists should be instructed never to introduce one when the sense is carried over to the following stanza."
The Christian at Work comments on the above as follows:—
"We heartily assent to all this, and as for the interjected interlude, it is as much out of place given between every verse as a boy's penny-whistle would be interspersed between the reading of every verse of a psalm. The practice of playing the tune over and of interpolating interludes is meretricious, inartistic, and out of keeping with the dignity of the service of song in the house of the Lord. The sooner both practices are relegated to oblivion the better."
And we also agree. Let the organ be used to assist the singers and enable them to preserve better harmony, but no farther. To do this it is not necessary that it should be touched while the congregation are not singing, except to give the key. There is no more reason for an organist to play an interlude than there is for the leader of a choir where there is no organ, to whistle a few lines at the end of each verse. "Let all things be done decently and in order."
Read the Commandment.
By Editor
G. W. D. asks the following question:—
“Should any contract be entered into by a Sabbath-keeper, with parties who are not Sabbath-keepers, without specifying that no work shall be done upon the Sabbath, in case the Sabbath-keeper is owner of the property?”
We know of but one answer to the above question, and that is one found in Ex. 20:8-11: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.” We do not know how anything could be more plain than this.
The same commandment also answers in the negative the question whether a Sabbath-keeper should allow work to be done on property which he does not own, but on which he is engaged as contractor. In such a case there are only two ways in which work can be done—by the man himself or by his hired hands. Now anybody can see that it is no more a violation of the fourth commandment for a man to work on the Sabbath, than it is for him to hire men to work on that day. The injunction is equally strong against both. The fact that questions like this are asked, leads us to fear that some of our brethren do not read the commandments, nor the Bible generally, as carefully as they should.
Teaching Railway Geography
By Editor
WE clip the following from an exchange:—
“Mr. Labouchere recommends that children while studying geography be taught the courses of railways with the same care that they are taught those of rivers.”
The recommendation is certainly a good one; a knowledge of the location of railroads will be of perhaps more practical value to the student than of that of rivers. When we first saw the paragraph we thought that the recommendation came too late, it being our impression that all schools made that a part of their geographical course; but on second thought we believe that the impression was due to the fact that that feature of geography is so thoroughly taught in Healdsburg College.
THE GREAT CONTROVERSY.
IN FOUR VOLUMES.
By Mrs. E. G. White.
THESE volumes describe the great conflict between Christ and Satan, as illustrated in the history of man, his temptations, conflicts, victories and defeats, and the final triumph of right and truth with a crowning immortality.
Volume one treats of the rebellion of Satan, the fall of man, and the lives of the patriarchs to the time of Solomon.
Volumes two and three are devoted to the Life of Christ and the Ministry of his Apostles.
Volume four contains sketches of the history of the Church from the destruction of Jerusalem to the close of time.
These books are not argumentative, yet they throw much light on the sacred page. They afford especial encouragement to the Christian, and are excellent to place in the hands of skeptics to convince them of Bible truth.
The four volumes contain over 1,500 pages, and are furnished to the subscriber for $4.00 per set.
Either volume may be furnished separately for $1.00, post-paid.
PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.
REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Mich.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES,
By Editor
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, AT OAKLAND, CAL., FOR THE
International Tract and Missionary Society.
A sixteen-page Religious Family Paper, devoted to a discussion of the Prophecies, Signs of the Times, Second Coming of Christ, Harmony of the Law and Gospel; with Departments devoted to Temperance, The Home Circle, the Missionary Work, and the Sabbath-school.
Price Per Year, - - - - - - - - - - - $2.00
In Clubs of five or more copies to one address, to be used in Missionary Work, - - - - - - - - - - - 1.50
Address, - - - - - SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.