Our “Progress” department having gone to press when we received the following from Bro. Butler respecting the tent-meeting now in progress in San Francisco, Cal., we give it in this place:—
As soon as the camp-meeting was over, the large tent, one hundred and twenty-five by sixty feet, was moved to San Francisco, and pitched in a very eligible place. Meetings commenced Friday evening, Oct. 16. Thus far, nine discourses have been given upon the themes usual in our lectures. The weather has not been as favorable as is usual at this season. It has rained considerably, and threatened rain just before meeting time in several instances.
But the interest has increased thus far right along. We commenced with about four hundred. The congregation Sunday evening was upwards of eight hundred; and last evening, I should judge, there were from a thousand to twelve hundred. A large number of these give us as good attention, and manifest as much interest, as any I ever saw. Last night the subject was spiritualism.
There was a great desire manifested that the lecture should be repeated. All the books on the desk, treating on the subject of the discourse, went in a twinkling, and many more were called for. Ministers of other churches came forward to the desk, and said if the lecture could be repeated, the large tent would be filled full, they were certain.
A few nights since, at the close of the discourse, a man who called himself an infidel, a stranger to us, arose, and wanted to speak. He commenced to urge those present to use their influence to get men to come to the tent. He said it was a shame to the place that the tent was not packed full every night. He said he should work all the next day to get others to come. He thought no such discourses had been given in the city, and many should be there. He gave a very earnest exhortation to bring all possible to the meetings. This same man has no doubt distributed two thousand bills of the meeting for us. So far everything looks favorable for a good work being accomplished. There has never been so large an attendance in this city or in the State before. While it is impossible to tell the final result, it is most encouraging to see the people coming out and listening to the truth of God, night after night. We hope God will guide Bro. Loughborough and Canright through this meeting, and that great good may be done.
The eighth number of the Signs is just being issued, which makes, with the business connected with its change of hands to the supervision of the Cal. Conf. Committee, much to be done. The paper will then be removed to Woodland, Yolo Co., Cal., for the present, until it shall finally be decided where to permanently locate it, and organize an Association to hold the property according to law. It will be issued weekly as soon as possible.
I shall return immediately to the East to help in the great work there, and Bro. Cornell will doubtless return with me. My friends can write me to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, or Battle Creek, Mich.
GEO. I. BUTLER.
San Francisco, Cal., Oct. 23, 1874.
The following additional particulars respecting the above-named meeting we find from the pen of Bro. Loughborough, in the Signs, of Oct. 22, 1874:—
“We advertise daily in three daily papers. The combined circulation of these papers is over 100,000 copies daily. The subject is announced for each evening. Brethren, it pays in the shape of increasing our audiences, to invest considerable in advertising.
“One of these papers, the San Francisco Morning Call, says of our meetings, in its issue of Oct. 21: “The tent meetings on the corner of Jones and Tyler streets are nightly attended by large and attentive audiences. The speakers are earnest men who believe what they teach. The subjects thus far introduced have been the Earth's History as noted in prophecy; the United States as described by the prophets; the Signs of Christ's Second Coming, and the Doctrine of the World's Conversion. This evening Eld. D. M. Canright, one of the ablest speakers of that denomination, will speak on Modern Spiritualism.
“On Wednesday evening, notwithstanding it rained up to the hour of commencing meeting, there were about 500 interested hearers. Last evening our big tent was nearly full to listen to Bro. Canright on the subject of Spiritualism. There was profound attention. What books we had on Spiritualism went off like the dew, and there was an earnest call for more, which will be taken over from the Signs office for to-morrow night.
“As people are going away from the tent, many who were hearing this course of lectures for the first, were heard to say: “They have the truth at that tent, if there is any truth.” We hope for glorious results from these lectures.”
The German View of Sunday.
THE following is from the Stuttgart Correspondence Boston Daily Advertiser. It shows how Sunday has always been taught in the old country, i. e., merely as a day of recreation. It shows, too, that the German population will soon press this Sunday question as a political issue.
“Secondly, the Germans in America complain that they are compelled by law to observe the Sunday in the American way. They have their doctrine of the day, which is that of the Christian Church in their native country; they land upon our shores, find a Church with a different doctrine, and find, moreover, that they are compelled to conform to it by the civil law. Assume, now, that the American doctrine is theologically the right one; that the Sunday is in one sense holy time; that its observance as such is matter of religious duty; and that those who fail at this point commit a sin, for which they will surely be punished hereafter; is it, however, the business of the State to enforce religious duties as such? Is it the business of the State to decide between different theological conceptions, espouse one as against another, and bring the strong arm of the law to its support? Here is a distinction between what is right as theological doctrine, and what is right as an exercise of civil authority, which our people too commonly overlook. So long as the Germans rest from labor, do not disturb the civil order, do nothing but what is innocent from the purely civil point of view, the commonwealth should hold them as citizens guiltless, however heretical otherwise their conception and use of the day may be. Undoubtedly our laws go further and contemplate the legal enforcement of the Sunday as a religious day. The German citizens cannot understand this. What they have been taught from youth up, and by Christian teachers, to regard as innocent before God and man, is found to be prohibited by law, and prohibited beyond dispute on theological grounds; and this, too, in the very country they have come to expecting to find a perfect separation of Church and State. They are offended, irritated,—quite without grounds, shall we say?” D. M. C.
Which Is Fair?
By J. H. Waggoner
A SERIES of articles is now passing through the World's Crisis, on the subject of the Sabbath, over the initials of the under-editor, “M. G.,” which I have been requested to review. I wish to state my reasons for declining to do so.
1. The numbers which have appeared contain no new arguments, and rest entirely on the assumption that the ten commandments are the old covenant which is done away. From our knowledge of the writer and his past efforts, we have reason to believe that no new arguments will be brought forward.
2. The assumption on which he rests has been so often refuted in the REVIEW and the truth on that subject so often stated therein, that its readers do not need light on that subject more than is often presented in general articles.
3. The readers of the Crisis could not be benefited by a review, as they would never learn that the articles were reviewed. And here we call special attention to the difference between our treatment of their arguments and their treatment of ours. When anything appears in their works which seems to be worthy of a reply, our writers take it up, state the strongest points presented as forcibly as they present them, and frequently in their own language, and candidly review it. But, to the contrary, their writings never contain statements of our arguments; they pass by our strongest points in silence, and their readers are led to believe that the Seventh-day Adventists are a foolish people who have no evidence of the truthfulness of their faith. Such a course cannot always prosper. The blind will not always be suffered to lead people in blindness.
4. The same course has been pursued by the advocates of the Age to Come. No position with any degree of plausibility has ever been taken by their strongest writers which has not been candidly refuted by us. But year after year passes and their readers are never suffered to know that we have written anything on the subject. We honestly think that their view of the future priesthood of Christ, the corner-stone of their theory was completely overthrown years ago. Since our views on that subject have been published, in which their positions have been fully and fairly stated, Elds. Stephenson and Reed have each written a pamphlet on that subject, and both followed their old beaten track, paying no attention to our exposures of their fallacies, or trying to meet our arguments. So far as we have known, their periodicals have never noticed the fact that Seventh-day Adventists have publicly opposed their views.
5. But more than all others the conductors of the World's Crisis have shown great fears that their readers would become acquainted with the reasons of our faith, or even of their existence. When the present under-editor, “M. G.,” was sole editor of the Crisis there was published therein a challenge for a discussion of the Sabbath question through that paper. When that was accepted he not only refused to admit the discussion into the Crisis, but persistently refused to let his readers know that the challenge was accepted! Years passed by and they were led to suppose that we did not dare to accept the challenge. When “M. G.” was fairly exposed in the presence of his friends he was obliged to promise to correct the wrong he had done; but in an “apology,” he gave a false version of the facts, leaving the wrong as great as before. Such a course is entirely consistent with that kind of “holiness,” which he has mounted as a hobby, but with that holiness which is the outgrowth of obedience to God’s holy commandments, which requires love to God and to man and leads us to do to others as we would that they should do to us, such a course is not to be tolerated.
6. Our love for the truth of God, and our duty to defend it, when necessary, would lead us to overlook the dishonorable course of the writer of these articles and to give them a candid review, were it possible to even acquaint his readers with the fact that they had been reviewed. But as such facts are studiously concealed from them, we can see no profit in a review.
J. H. WAGGONER.
Will You Have True Riches?
By R. F. Cottrell
What shall a man be profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own life? Eternal life is set before us on the conditions of repentance, faith, and a life of faithful obedience to God. He that gains eternal life in the world to come, gains everything that is desirable; but he that loses it, loses everything. What a wretched choice men are making! They boast of making good bargains, while they are selling their birth-right for a mess of pottage. He only is truly the gainer who secures a part in the world to come. All else is loss.
Reader, are you laying up a good foundation against the time to come, that you may lay hold on eternal life? If so, you are on the road to riches and true honor. There will be no end to that life. A hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, a thousand million of years may pass away, and an eternity of life and bliss is yet before us.
If we may secure this, what folly to lose it for the riches or honors of this fleeting life. Give me a part in the world to come, if it be at the loss of all things, even of life itself. He that loses his life for Christ’s sake shall find it.
Shall we make a whole sacrifice to God? The Lord help us to do so; He that has not force of character sufficient to break from his evil habits, his debasing appetites and passions, how shall he hope to secure the precious boon of life. He is selling eternal life for less than a meal of victuals, for this would prolong life a little, while his indulgences are cutting it short. It is time to be awake to these things. We have had light, line upon line. Are you heeding it? When do you intend to heed it? If you are neglecting it you are losing time, losing life.
R. F. COTTRELL.
Oregon Mission.
By John Norton Loughborough
We have received no definite report written for this number, as we had hoped to do, but we take the liberty of making an extract from a private letter from Bro. Van Horn of recent date, and hope he will have a report for every number hereafter, if it is only a few lines.
He speaks of a tent meeting held for a few days at Weston, Oregon, where he sold thirty dollars’ worth of books, and one family embraced the truth, and then says: “Three more have united with the church in Walla Walla since I wrote you last. We have now pitched the tent on the Walla Walla River about half way between Weston and Walla Walla City. Here we expect to hold a two-weeks’ meeting, to commence to-morrow evening, the 25th, at the beginning of the Sabbath. On the first Sabbath and Sunday in October, we shall have a general meeting of the friends of the cause. We hope to see some good results of our efforts there.”
Since writing the above, we have received another letter from Bro. Van Horn, in which he says, “All is going well with us here; may the Lord bless the work with you there. I hope the Signs will now be published regularly each week, and that it will be permanently located on this coast.” The brethren and sisters up the coast will be cheered to learn, in this number of the Signs, that both of the desires above expressed are likely to be soon realized. —J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, in Signs of the Times.
The Last Call.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
THE prophetic word of God and its fulfillment shuts us up to the conclusion that the time has come for the closing message of probation to be given. This being so, earth has never before heard a message so solemn and important. The eternal destiny of the living generation is to be decided by it.
All the great lines of prophecy declare with united voice that the end of the world's sinful career is at hand. Every sign given in the word of God declares that the perils of the last days are upon us. Wickedness, as foretold, abounds; and infidelity and lawlessness have almost reached the highest summit, or rather lowest depth, possible.
The word and works of God being infallible, if the time has come for the last message, the message is come also; and we cannot reasonably come to any other conclusion, but that the work now being done, claiming to be the fulfillment of the predicted message is genuine—that it is in truth the work of God. How solemn then the warning message now being sounded through the earth! How important the precious moments that remain of probationary time! Oh, that God would help us to realize it! May we have grace to act as though we believe the truth that pertains to this time. Never did weightier responsibilities rest upon a people than those that rest upon those who know the thrilling truth connected with the third angel's message.
Brethren, it is my highest aspiration to have a humble part in this work of the Lord—to do the very work which God would have me do. And I fervently pray God to grant me this portion, and still give me a part in his work. The reward of well-doing will be sure to all who shall have done well. R. F. COTTRELL.
Cheering News.
By John Norton Loughborough
“As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country;” and so is the heart of the people of God refreshed to hear of souls embracing the truth. As I sit here in the Signs Office, opening correspondence from different individuals, my soul is sometimes stirred to see how the truth of God is spreading, and how God is using the instrumentality of the press to advance his cause.
Here is one letter from Warren, Pa., in which a man says he was by chance on the camp-ground at Medford, Minnesota, where some copies of the Signs of the Times were distributed. He got some, took them to Pennsylvania, read them, became convinced of the truth, loaned the papers to his neighbors, they became interested, and he writes to this Office to see if he can obtain more copies of the Signs of the Times. Certainly you can, and may God bless them as they cross the plains, and go on their mission.
Here is another letter from Maine, way over on the Atlantic. It says: “I was in San Jose last July, went to hear Elders Canright and Cornell preach, and was convinced of the great truths, and I have taken my stand among the few to press on and gain the crown that is laid up for the faithful. On account of sickness, I have had to move east again.”
And another from the northern part of Washington Ter., way up almost to the British possessions, a minister, has got hold of the Signs, and likes it so well that, with his neighbors, he has read it over, and a lot of them gave him their names as subscribers to it. Let them have it, we say.
Let the truth go in every direction, and may many humble hearts be gladdened as they receive its precious light through the Signs.
J. N. L.—in Signs of the Times.
Wisconsin.
By W. T. G.
Eld. David Downer came to this place in company with Bro. Pember and pitched the tent July 17. Notwithstanding it was a very busy time with the farmers (right in the midst of harvest), who represent a large portion of this community, the tent was nightly filled with a large and very attentive audience, and on Sundays to overflowing.
I am thankful, that an all-wise Providence directed Bro. D. to this place, and that I have had the opportunity to embrace the truth. Words cannot adequately express the deep feeling of gratitude which fills my heart for being led from darkness to light.
Much good has already been accomplished. Twenty persons have declared their readiness to walk in God's holy commandments, and “the end is not yet.” With the help of the Lord, the cause will prosper in this vicinity yet more abundantly.
On Sunday, Oct. 4, after singing and praying, Bro. Downer baptized seven persons. It was a very solemn and impressive scene. Some six hundred people witnessed it from the water side and the adjacent bluffs. The best of order prevailed and a very decorous demeanor pervaded the assembled multitude.
Sunday evening, the tent was taken down, many reluctantly bidding farewell to the old canvas covering under which so many have been seated, attentively listening to the truth. The tent being erected on an eminence, was visible for quite a distance.
Bro. D. has many warm friends, who make no profession, who have been and still are ministering to his wants.
I omitted to state that several more have desired baptism, and Bro. D. has appointed Sunday, the 18th, for that purpose. The village of Arkansas is a thriving place, situated at the commencement of the “Big Woods.” A large and extensive furniture factory was built here some three years ago. It is owned by Messrs. Holbrook & Co. I may add that Mr. H. very generously supplied lumber for seats for the tent; and for other acts of kindness too numerous to mention, deserves our thanks. W. T. G.
How I Found the Truth.
By F. A. Barlow
One year ago to-day (Oct. 25, 1874), I heard for the first time the third angel's message. At that time I was a Sabbath-breaker. The circumstances were something like this: A Seventh-day Adventist preacher came into our town and commenced a course of lectures at what is known as the center school-house, and after laboring there two weeks, his fame spread into the neighbourhood where the writer lives, and a great desire arose in me to see a man that was so illiterate as to think and teach that the seventh day was the Sabbath. So at evening, one year ago, my wife and I went to hear the strange preacher. I listened attentively, and acknowledged the man to be intelligent; but some things that he said weighed heavily on my mind, and I resolved not to go any more, and through the week following, I staid away. But when the next Sunday came, my wife invited me to go with her again to hear the stranger. I excused myself. She insisted; but I refused. The carriage was brought to the door, and she stepped in, took the lines, and went alone. I looked sorrowfully after her until out of sight, then I lay down upon the bed and was soon asleep, but was so troubled with dreams that “my sleep break from me.”
Upon opening my eyes, the first thing that met my astonished gaze was wife returning, not alone as when she left, but in company with the very man that I had not time to go and hear. This looked to me like the commencement of troubles; but I rubbed my eyes, brushed my fingers through my hair to give myself as terrific appearance as possible, determined to show him that it was dangerous to beard the lion in his den, and as they entered the room from out-doors, I emerged from the bedroom, all three meeting in the kitchen.
The frank, kind, and intelligent manner in which he received me, quieted my fears to some extent, and I ventured to engage in conversation with him. I soon began to feel very friendly toward him. It was stormy, so that there was no meeting that night. The next day (Monday) and night was so stormy that it was nearly impossible for people to be out; in fact, our stranger friend was completely storm-bound.
We talked together at least sixteen hours each day during his stay. Tuesday evening, he lectured again. By this time, it was an easy matter for my wife to get me to accompany her to meeting; in fact, the candor of the man and his knowledge of the Scriptures riveted my attention, and I continued to attend the lectures until the close. While the lectures were going on, I bought books, read my Bible, and talked with the more intelligent class. I examined the whole matter as well as I was able to, and at the close of the lectures those that believed that the doctrine taught was the truth were invited to covenant together to keep the commandments of God. My wife and I asked to have our names enrolled, after which our worthy brother left the neighborhood.
We were left alone over two months. But when he returned, he found every one firm as when he left, and proceeded to organize a church with a membership of twenty-five. We tried to hold meetings in his absence at the center school-house; but “the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God,” and the door was locked against us. We then moved to another school-house, where the dragon's force was not so well organized. A Sabbath-school and Bible-class were organized last winter, which have been well attended ever since. The interest was never better than now. But out of this number, there are two or three that think more of their tobacco than Him who died for them, judging from outward appearances.
We have a new church almost complete, 26x38, 16 feet posts, with patent reversible seats, painted white, which looks to me very beautiful; and this in a community where one year ago not one could be found who was keeping the Sabbath. Fifty-six Sabbath-keepers are now enrolled in our Sabbath-school register; and so the good work goes on without a preacher. The interest is increasing. The attendance is extraordinary. Union and harmony prevail. All seem determined to know more of the will of God concerning them. We are living in constant hope that some of our preachers will call this way occasionally to cheer us up. But none come yet, except Bro. Nicola who has visited us once. My object in writing this article is to let those who labor in word and doctrine know of our whereabouts. A general invitation is extended to all those who preach the word, to call upon us as often as possible. The one who has done so much for us is now laboring upon the Atlantic Coast. And when he will return to us again is not known to the writer. May the choicest of Heaven's blessings attend his labors. And may the Lord guide us continually, and satisfy our souls in drouth.
F. A. BARLOW.
Ladora, Iowa.
Progress of Spiritualism
By Joseph Harvey Waggoner
Spiritualism.—No. 12.
Progress of Spiritualism.
Since preparing the foregoing articles, I have seen special correspondence from New York to the Chicago Times, giving, with other things, the names of prominent men in the city first named who are reputed to be spiritualists. The writer does not offer any opinion of his own; indeed, he says he has never taken sufficient interest in it to investigate its claims. He writes only as a chronicler of passing events, and it may be that the information he offers is reliable.
The following extracts present the most interesting points of this correspondence:—
“It may seem strange—it is true nevertheless,—that many men and women here, of culture and position, firmly believe that their beloved dead are constantly near and about them; that they communicate with them as regularly as though they were living.
“Secret Believers. There are hundreds, yes, thousands, of our citizens who privately adhere to spiritualism, and outwardly reject it. They are afraid that they will be laughed at; that their business interests may suffer; that their mental soundness may be suspected; or that they may lose social caste if their genuine opinions be ascertained. This apprehension, however, is growing less every day. So many prominent persons, not in America alone, but in Europe, have professed spiritualism, that the weaker and humbler brothers feel an added moral support.
“Prominent Spiritualists. The czar of Russia, Bismarck, Thiers, Gambetta, Castelar, Victor Emanuel, Gladstone, the prince of Wales, Carlyle, Disraeli, and any number of the crowned heads, statesmen, scholars, and philosophers of the old world, are declared to be spiritualists.
“The New Yorkers falling in the same category, if report may be trusted, are beyond enumeration.
“Clergymen. Among the clergy are named Henry Ward Beecher, Edwin H. Chapin, Henry W. Bellows, Octavius B. Frothingham, George H. Hepworth, Samuel Osgood, Morgan Dix, Henry C. Potter, Stephen H. Tyng, Charles F. Deems, T. DeWitt Talmage. It is said that none of these are open adherents of the doctrines, since their theological calling and training render them unwilling to be ranked with the new sect.
“Journalists. Horace Greeley was undoubtedly a spiritualist, though not inclined to avow it. James Gordon Bennett is reputed to be; so is Manton M. Marble, George Ripley, Wm. Henry Hurlbut, Charles A. Dana, George Wilkes, Ivory Chamberlain, William Winter, George Jones, Wm. Cullen Bryant, Parke Godwin, Robert Bonner, John Swinton, Wm. C. Church, and a host of the subordinates.
“Lawyers. Of the legal fraternity the spiritualists claim Oakey Hall, Charles S. Spencer, John Graham, W. O. Bartlett, Wm. Allen Butler (the redoubtable Benjamin F. Butler is also put in the list), and a number of the judges and leading practitioners.
“Literateurs. George William Curtis, James Parton, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Richard Grant White, Herman Melville, Richard Henry Stoddard, Bret Harte, Kate Field, Elizabeth Stoddard, Edna Dean Proctor, Edmund Clarence Stedman, Kate Hillard, Anne Lynch Botta, Benson J. Lossing, “Josh Billings,” John G. Saxe, Charles Dudley Warner, Barry Coffin, and “Mark Twain,” are asserted to represent the literary class.
“Actors. A large majority of actors are pronounced adherents. Edwin Booth, Joseph Jefferson, Lester Wallack, Clara Morris, Fanny Davenport, George Clarke, Pauline Lucca, John Owens, Sarah Jewett, Matilda Heron, George Fawcett Rowe, Edward Sothern, Fanny Morant, and Edwin Adams, are counted as strong in the faith.
“Business Men. Numbers of our shrewdest business men, who would not be thought to yield to the vagaries of the imagination, are ranked by common report as converts to the creed. Many of them, oddly as it looks, actually have recourse to the spirits for commercial guidance, and claim that they owe some of their most profitable speculations to that source.
“Hard-headed old Cornelius Vanderbilt is designated as a spiritualist; but he would not admit it, if broken on a wheel. The story is that Woodhull and Claflin convinced him by the revelations they made as mediums. They also pretend to have cured his present wife of a disease which would have proved fatal, and to have been of incalculable value to him in divers manners.
“Jay Gould, Henry N. Smith, Rufus Hatch, Horace B. Claflin, Leonard Jerome, Daniel Drew, Moses Taylor, Royal Phelps, and I know not how many more, are set down with the spiritualists.
“Indeed, they are to be found in abundance in every grade of affairs, and in every rank of life. Some of the most unreserved believers are ultra evangelical Christians and straight-laced folk generally.
Who is and who is not a spiritualist, it is impossible to determine for the reasons already given. Personally I have no bias, scarcely an opinion, on the subject. I hardly feel interest enough to examine it. Nevertheless, I know how wide-spread the belief is, how rapidly it is extending, and how many prominent persons are believers who hesitate to make such admission.”
Science and Spiritualism.
There is one phase of the investigation of spiritualism which does injustice to the truth and to science. Whenever a scientific scholar embraces spiritualism, it is set down as a testimony from science in favor of spiritualism. This is not correct. No one has ever pretended to prove spiritualism by scientific tests, or on scientific grounds. The most that they can say is that they cannot discover any collusion nor trace it to its origin. They admit its claims because they cannot determine its origin.
Now it is evident that this is not the voice of science in favor of spiritualism. It is only a confession on their part that it does not fall within the range of scientific tests. Of course when it is removed from the field of scientific research, it becomes, to them, a matter of conjecture, as much as to the unlearned. Their testimony is entirely of a negative character. They admit its claims because they are not able to give any satisfactory solution of its mysteries. But this does not prove anything. It certainly does not prove that the claims of spiritualism are correct; it shows only that they do not know anything about it.
Whether the testimony of scientists is of any value at all depends altogether on the thoroughness of their investigations. But it must be remembered that their investigations are phenomenal, not scientific; and therefore their conclusions are worth no more than are those of the unlearned who observe the phenomena with equal carefulness. No one has a right to affirm that a proposition is true because he does not know that it is not true.
Where science and human reason fail, the Bible comes to our aid. The claims of spiritualism are based on certain phenomena or151facts of occurrence. These occurrences are, by careful observation, determined to be of unknown origin; that is, their origin is not from anything natural; they are supernatural. But that which is supernatural is beyond the bounds of science and mere reasoning. It must be established by testimony above nature.
Having arrived at this evident conclusion, we must either admit the claims of spiritualism on its own word, or take some other testimony which claims to be above nature. Such testimony we find in the Bible. It claims to be of divine origin; to establish its claims by the fulfillment of its prophecies, by the purity of its morality, by the harmony of its teachings, and by its vindication of divine justice even in dispensing mercy to the erring. In each of these points, spiritualism entirely fails to establish its claim to our acceptance. The teachings of the Bible are elevating; those of spiritualism are degrading.
The Bible informs us that there were intelligences created before the creation of man. That they rejoiced in the creation of this world, and guarded the way of the tree of life after the fall of man. That some of them sinned, as man has sinned, and lost their “estate.” That, under the name of demons (devils), they carry on their deceptions, and their rebellions against God. And that they work miracles or “lying wonders,” to turn men away from the truth. The mediums of spiritualism and their works are described in the Bible, and identified beyond all question. Their doctrines are called the doctrines of devils.
Spiritualists prove the Bible true by denouncing it, by denying the authority of God, by denying Jesus Christ and all means of salvation outside of man’s own nature, by denying a future judgment and human accountability, denying that any action is morally wrong, and by affirming that the purest state of society and the highest morality can only be found in the abrogation of marriage and the unrestrained passional attraction of the sexes!
With these facts before us on every hand, why is it that men of education, of good reasoning ability, admit the claims of spiritualism and entirely ignore the testimony of the Bible? This question may be readily answered by any one who has observed the tendency of the schools of these degenerate times. The disposition has for some time been growing among men to accept science as the highest possible source of knowledge, and to rule out the testimony of the Bible as of no real value. Indeed, they have been placed in opposition to each other, and that even by professed teachers of the Bible, and the testimony of science has been decided positive and determinate, and that of the Bible speculative and uncertain. The Bible has thus been caused to lose its hold upon the popular mind and heart, and when science is found to be at fault, when it fails to measure the supernatural, men are left without a compass, at the mercy of the winds of speculation. Having lost their reverence for the Bible, they have thrown off restraint; and now, when their dependence fails, they would rather float even into the vortex of a whirlpool than to return to the teachings of the Bible, which restrains their selfishness and requires humility.
The apostle Paul speaks of “the oppositions of science falsely so called,” and says they are “vain babblings.” Much that is called science in this age will fall under this head. We often hear men flippantly talk of what “science proves,” when not a single well-attested fact exists to support their assertions. Many are but reproducing what the apostle so graphically describes in Rom. 1: “Professing themselves to be wise they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man,” &c. “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator.”
J. H. Waggoner.
“THY WILL BE DONE.”
By Sel.
When your life is full of trials,
And your heart wild with despair,
When your burden seems as heavy
As your weary soul can bear;
When your hopes are all departing,
And you watch them one by one,
When your heart with care is breaking,
Can you say, “Thy will be done”?
When your path is steep and rugged,
All the weary journey through,
When your neighbors gather roses,
While the thorns are left for you;
Though you’ve fought your battles bravely
Fought so hard, yet never won,
When the world is all against you,
Can you say, “Thy will be done”?
When your dearest friend is dying,
One your heart has loved the best,
Yes, the darling whom you worship,
Can your soul then stand the test?
Can you close those eyes forever
That have been your light and sun?
Can you bow in resignation,
Meekly say, “Thy will be done”?
Death has darkened all your household,
Filled your heart with deepest gloom,
Robbed your life of all its sweetness,
All its beauty and its bloom.
But religion, pure and holy,
Shines out brighter than the sun;
Even then the Christian murmurs,
Not my will, but Thine be done.
—Sel.
P. STRONG
By P. Strong
Michigan.
Since the Lapeer meeting I have held seven meetings with the Greenbush church. Five were baptized, and united with the church.
Oct. 16, in company with Bro. Lawrence, I returned to Saranac, and have been holding meetings here since. Others have taken a stand with us. Sunday, five were baptized.
Our Bible-class is well attended, and the prospects are that a church will be raised up here. We are now undergoing the usual street grumbling by the ministers; but as yet they have made but one public demonstration, and that was so faint and contradictory that the public were ashamed of it, and said that it did not need a review.
Bro. Lawrence is holding meetings five miles south of here, and at last report was having a fair congregation. At present, our meetings are held at private houses, making it inconvenient to reach the public.
P. STRONG
Erie Co., N. Y.
By R. F. Cottrell
Bro. Reynolds has joined me in labor in Golden, near Glenwood. The omens are good. A considerable number confess the truth, some that had known the way and were backslidden are starting anew, and the youth and children are seeking the Lord. Brethren, pray that God will bless our efforts, and do a great work here.
R. F. Cottrell.
Oct. 27.
Appreciating Blessings.
By Mary A. Chiute
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: It seems not only a privilege but also a duty to testify to the goodness of God in restoring the gift of prophecy to his remnant people, through which he so minutely warns us and earnestly entreats us to shun the sins of these perilous days. May we ever take delight in all the instructions of the Lord to us.
I find that they afford the very reproof and instruction we as individuals and as a family need. And I wish to thank and praise the Lord for giving us eyes to see wherein they apply to us, and hearts to receive these kind reproofs, and admonitions with love and gratitude to him, and the one by whom they are given.
Pray for us, that we may have grace to obey them, and be enabled to overcome our vigilant foe through the word of our testimony and the blood of the Lamb. I wish to thank Bro. Butler for his articles in the True Missionary, calling our attention to the visions, and pointing out our duty in regard to them. And feeling anxious that all may reap the good the Lord designs we should from them, I would earnestly entreat all no longer to neglect these heavenly messages.
MARY A. CHIUTE.
Allenton, R. I.
By R. M. KILGORE
We have just taken down the tent, which has been standing at this place since Sept. 10, in which we have given forty-four discourses. Sold over thirty dollars’ worth of Bibles, books, and tracts, and obtained two new subscribers for the REVIEW and two for the Reformer.
Six new converts have declared themselves willing to keep all the commandments of God.
Bro. Robinson came two weeks in advance of me, and has spoken half of the time since I came. He remains here with these friends a short time, and then will begin a course of lectures at Point Judith. I go from here to Marlow, N. H., to strengthen the friends there. We then shall seek for a place to begin labor for the winter.
My family joined me last week after a separation of four months. Our prayer is, that God may guide us and that good may be accomplished.
R. M. KILGORE.