Earlier text: Bible Terms Defined.Prophecy is History in Advance. THE GENERAL COUNCILS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
The following article, which we take from the New York Tribune, will be of interest to every Protestant, as illustrative of the means by which the unity and power of the Roman Catholic church is preserved; and to the student of prophecy it will be especially interesting, showing as it does that the Pope regards his power as in danger, from the increase of knowledge and general intelligence among the masses. May the time hasten when the blasphemous “Man of Sin” shall be “consumed by the brightness of His coming,” whose right it is to reign. After a period of more than 300 years the Pope has signified his intention of holding a General Council of the church. It will be the 20th General Council recognized by the Roman Catholic church, and will be in wonderful contrast to all that have preceded it. The last general council was the famous Council of Trent, occasioned by the reformation of Martin Luther, then sweeping over Europe during the wonderful 30 years before its progress could be stayed, or its success retarded. These councils are called œcumenical, from a Greek word, signifying the habitable earth, and are composed of all the bishops of Christendom; but this name is often given to convocations of a less universal import. When the Council of Trent was held, the dark ages had long been passed, the crusades were ended, and the intervening years had been years of unexampled prosperity and progress, both material and intellectual. Indeed, all things considered, the downfall of the mighty Roman Empire, the conquests of the Saracens and Turks, the incursions of the Huns, Lombards, and Franks, controlled for a moment by the great Charlemagne and the romantic wars for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre—the progress in every essential sense of progress of the 300 years anterior to the Council of Trent was as great, if not greater, than even of the boasted three centuries which have succeeded. That Council for the first time since Constantine, found Europe presenting an established political system, all the States bound together by the ties of a common religion, and controlled in their intercourse with one another by the principles of international law. If the nineteenth century does not find civilization, society, religion, and government, the material arts and questions of personal and individual liberty where the sixteenth century left them, neither were the preceding three centuries less tardy in advancing the standard above what the thirteenth century had to offer. When the Council of Trent was held, America had not been discovered, but this was accomplished before the close of the century, and in this achievement will be found the great contrast between the nineteenth and twentieth General Councils of the church. In Europe the first 100 years of this new era were consumed in religious bickerings and mutual persecutions, but the colonial system of Spain, and afterward of the Netherlands, of France, and of England, which, more even than the Reformation itself, will distinguish this epoch, had planted the standard of the church in the West, and here Rome was to have her greatest triumphs, converting, through the instrumentality of the Society of Jesus, the Micmacs of the North, and the savages of the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi and the Missouri—overturning the thrones of the Incas and suppressing the fanes of the Aztec priesthood, and making the United States a very footstool of the Papacy, maintaining the venerable symbols of the catacombs and the basilicas side by side with the severer forms observed by the Huguenots in the Carolinas, and the Puritans of New England. And now, for the first time in the history of the church and the world the bishops of this new domain where Rome had recovered more than she lost by the Reformation, will sit down in council with the representatives of Sees as old almost as Christianity itself, and distinguished in every council since the first Council of Nice in the fourth century. The first General Council was held at Jerusalem by the Apostles about the middle of the first century. General Councils do not create new dogmas, but interpret the meaning of the Scripture, and adjudge questions of schism and heresy, belief and discipline. The decree of the Council of Jerusalem was remarkably pointed, and was addressed to the Gentiles of Antioch and Syria. The occasion of the council was the question of circumcision, and the decree was as follows: “For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication.” The Second General Council, generally known as the first Council of Nice in Bithynia, was held in the year 325. Protestants regarded this as the first General Council. It was called together by the Emperor Constantine to settle the Arian controversy, as the Council at Jerusalem had been called to settle the question of circumcision, and was attended by 318 bishops. This council, the most famous of all the councils of the church, adopted the celebrated word Homoousion, which affirmed that the Father and the Son were consubstantial, or of the same substance. The doctrines of the Arians were not only condemned, but Arius himself was deprived of his office, and banished into one of the remote provinces of Illyricum. His writings were ordered to be burned, and it was made a capital offense to read them. Constantine himself was present at the council, and took an active part in its deliberations, but Osius, a favorite general, seems to have presided. The Nicene Creed was ratified by the Emperor, but this celebrated formula of faith is not the same now known as Nicene. The creed now used in Catholic and Protestant churches under that name is an exemplification of the one made at Nice, and was drawn up at Constantinople in 381. Notwithstanding Constantine had ratified, possibly prompted, the action of the Council of Nice, he was baptized before his death by the learned Eusebius, the Arian Bishop of Nicomedia, and had received Arius into favor and protected his followers, before the death of that renowned Presbyter. A second council was held at Nice in 787, which is recognized by the Roman Catholics as the Eighth General Council. It was assembled by Pope Adrian I., at the desire of the Empress Irene, who, obliged by her husband to abandon the worship of images to which she had been educated, manifested her zeal by obtaining from the Council a declaration that the veneration of images and of the cross was agreeable to Scripture and reason. The Third General Council, known as the first of Constantinople, was held in 381, and was convened by the Emperor Theodosius at the instance of Pope St. Damasus. It was this Council which put the Nicene Creed in the formula it has since retained. Seven canons were agreed upon, but its most important action was the declaration that Maximus Cynicus, Bishop of Constantinople, had not been consecrated and the installation of St. Gregory Nazianzen in that important See, and the acceptance of the decrees of the Council of Nice. Between the first and Second Councils of Constantinople were held the First Council of Ephesus, and the Council of Chalcedon. The disputes concerning the Trinity, settled at Nice, were followed by those relating to the Incarnation, and the first Council of Ephesus was assembled in 431 to condemn the heresy of Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople. It was called by the Emperor Theodosius II., and was presided over by St. Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria. Nestorius maintained that there was a great distinction between Christ the Son of God, and Christ the Son of man, or in other words, between the humanity of the Master Christ, and the divinity of the Lord Jesus, and that the Virgin Mary could only be called “mother of Christ,” and not “mother of God.” Gibbon describes the Council which lasted only a single day, as the scene of much confusion, and Nestorius was condemned and deposed with ignominy. The Second Council of Ephesus, held in 449 was not a General Council, but dealt with the same general questions as the one which had preceded it, and was so much more violent as to be called Latrocinium, or robber Synod, and led to the Fifth General Council, that of Chalcedon in 451. It was called at the request of the Emperor Marcian to counteract the bad effects of the Synod of 449 in which Dioscurus, a fierce soldier, but zealous disciple of Eutyches had caused Flavian, the Byzantine pontiff, to be given to wild beasts. Eutyches was the head of the party opposed to Nestorius, but in his zeal for the singleness of person in Christ, was led to avow also that he possessed but one nature. Pope Leo I. refused to recognize the Synod of 449, and in the General Council of Chalcedon, the doctrines of both Nestorius and Eutyches were condemned. The Sixth General Council, the second of Constantinople, assembled in 553, two years after the Council of Chalcedon, to consider further the same general questions before that Council, but especially to examine the writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia, which were condemned as containing the heresies of Arius, Nestorius, and others. The Seventh General Council was held at Constantinople in 680. Its object was to put an end to the dissensions occasioned by the doctrines of the Monothelites, who taught that there was but one will in Jesus Christ. Macarius, the leader of the Monothelite party, was deposed and excommunicated. The Ninth General Council (the Eighth being held in Nice, as already related) was held in the church at St. Sophia, in Constantinople, in the year 869. It re-affirmed the decrees of previous councils, and condemned the practices of the Iconoclasts, or image-breakers, but was mostly occupied with the affairs of Photius, who had deposed St. Ignatius, Bishop of Constantinople, and usurped his See. Photius was anathematized and deposed, but his followers who subscribed to the articles of faith imposed by the Council were allowed to retain their ecclesiastical positions. The next General Council was held in the church of St. John Lateran at Rome, the oldest, and in point of ecclesiastical dignity, the most renowned of the churches of the Eternal City, in the year 1123. This was followed by three other councils in the same place in 1139, 1179, and 1215, and they are all known as the Councils of Lateran. These councils were convoked with reference to matters of discipline, for the settlement of troubles springing out of the unsettled state of Europe and for the encouragement of those who took the cross in defense of Palestine. When the Council of 1123 was held the first crusade had been ended for a quarter of a century, and Jerusalem was in the hands of the Christians; but to retain it required the most untiring vigilance against the Turks, so that a special indulgence was offered to all who would enlist in its defense and in the wars with the Mussulmans. The Council of 1139 condemned the anti-Pope Anacletus, and also the heresies of Peter of Bruis and Arnaldo of Brescia. The Council of 1179 made many canons of discipline and morality, and anathematized Cotteraux, Brabancons, and other partisan leaders in the pay of turbulent barons, who were mixed up with the sectarian feuds of the times. This Council forbade Saracens and Jews to possess Christian slaves. The Council of 1215 sanctioned 70 canons framed by Pope Innocent III., enforcing auricular confession, and forbidding the priest to reveal anything heard in the confessional; enjoining the appointment of teachers to every cathedral or collegiate church for the poor of the laity as well as the clergy; promulgating the doctrine of transubstantiation, and regulating the punishment of heretics. The next General Councils were held at Lyons in 1245 and 1274. The first of these was convoked to extirpate heresy and schism, to afford assistance to the Christians of Palestine, and to judge of the charges against the Emperor Frederick II. who was deposed by Pope Innocent IV. in the presence of the council. The Council of 1274 consisted of more than 500 bishops and many inferior dignitaries of the church, and was assembled to receive the submission of the Greek church. It was attended by an ambassador from Manuel247 Comnenus, the Emperor of Constantinople, who, with thirty-eight Greek prelates, sent in an act of adhesion to the Roman Catholic faith and acknowledged the primacy of the See of Rome. The first council of Lyons ordered a new crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land, and provided the funds necessary for the purpose, and the second council also rendered assistance to the Christian warriors in the East. The next General Council, called the 15th by Protestants, and the 16th by Catholics, was held at Vienna in Dauphiny, in 1311, and this was followed by the Council of Constance in 1414. The latter lasted nearly four years, and in point of interest and importance is not surpassed by any Council of the Catholic church. Its object was to remedy the great Western schism occasioned by the residence of some of the Popes at Avignon. At the time of the Council of Constance there were three claimants to the Papal throne. Of these, John XXIII. (Balthazar Cossa) presided, and was called upon at the first session to resign the papacy. He promised to do so under oath, provided Gregory XII. (Angelo Corario) and Benedict XIII. (Peter de Luna) would do the same, but on the night following fled from Constance to Schaffhausen, and it was not until May, 1415, that he could be induced to resign the pontifical honors. Pope Gregory, who is generally regarded by Catholics as the legitimate successor to the pontificate, then resigned; but the anti-pope refused to vacate the papacy, and after 100 days the Council condemned him as an inveterate “schismatic, heretic, and scandalous sinner,” and proceeded to the election of a new pope, but he persisted in calling himself pope until his death in 1424. This Council spent much time in the examination of the doctrines of Wycliffe, which were condemned, his books ordered to be burnt, and his bones to be disinterred. It also condemned the doctrines taught by the celebrated John Huss, a follower of Wycliffe, degraded him from the priesthood, and handed him over to the secular magistrates of Constance, by whom he was burnt alive. The practice of giving heretics into the hands of civil magistrates was introduced by a canon of the Fourth Council of Lateran. The Council of Basel was summoned to meet in 1431 by Pope Martin V., who had been elected to the Papacy at Constance, but in the meantime the Pope died, and on the very day when it was summoned to meet, his successor, Eugenius IV., was elected. He immediately confirmed the act of his predecessor calling the Council, but when the Council was to be opened not a single bishop, and only one abbot, was in attendance. The abbot formally opened the Council notwithstanding, and the Council thus inauspiciously begun lasted six years, was twice dissolved by the Pope, was adjourned to Florence, but continued to sit at Basel, although a rival body was in session elsewhere, and was afterward adjourned to Ferrara, to which place many of its members actually went, but what is most remarkable, during nearly the whole time it was composed of ecclesiastics not entitled to sit in œcumenical council. Until its transfer to Ferrara in 1437, it is regarded as œcumenical. It made no decisions of doctrine, but only of discipline, and it made little progress in effecting the reconciliation of the Greek church, which was the purpose of its convocation, nor did it accomplish anything toward the reconciliation of the Hussites, which was a favorite purpose with the Papal legate who presided. After the adjournment to Ferrara, where it was at once dissolved by the Pope, the debris of the council which remained at Basel continued to sit for twelve or fifteen years longer, during which it elected an anti-Pope, Amadeus VIII., former Duke of Savoy, who had resigned his dukedom. He took the name of Felix V. After bearing the title for ten years he submitted to Pope Nicholas V., and the Council at length put an end to itself by electing the reigning Pontiff to the Papacy. The Council of Trent, the last of the œcumenical councils, was held in 1545, many years having elapsed from the time the Emperor Charles V. promised, at the Diet of Ratisbon, to induce the Pope to convene the council, until it finally met. The occasion was the appeal of Luther, and the Protestant princes of Germany, from the decision of the Pope to a council. But after the promise of the Emperor three Popes had died without convoking a council, and after Paul III. agreed to it in 1537, a period of eight years intervened before it was held. The object was, of course, to effect a reformation of the church, and, if possible, to bring the Protestants again within the folds of the church. The Council met on the 14th of December, and on the 4th of February agreed upon the Nicene Creed as the basis of further action. The Council then proceeded to determine great doctrinal questions. On the 8th of April it declared that tradition was, equally with the Bible, a rule of faith, and proclaimed the Vulgate as the authentic version, including the Apocrypha, in the canon of the Bible. In the three following sessions, which consumed nearly a year, the Catholic doctrines of original sin, justification, and the sacraments, were defined, and the Council then adjourned to Bologna, on account of being exposed to the plague at Trent. The Council at Bologna promulgated no decrees, and in September, 1549, was indefinitely prorogued by Pope Paul III. It was re-assembled at Trent in 1551, and great efforts were made to effect a reconciliation of the Protestants, but a new war breaking out between the Protestant princes of Germany and the Emperor, the Council suspended its deliberations early in 1552. During this period the doctrines of the eucharist, and of confession and extreme unction, were promulgated. The Council was again re-opened in 1562. A strenuous effort was now made by France and Germany to have the cup extended to the laity, and for the abolition of celibacy and fasting, but these propositions were lost. The Council continued to sit for some time longer, defining most of the doctrines of the church, as the mass, marriage, celibacy, purgatory, the veneration of saints, &c., and was finally closed, Dec. 4, 1563, at its twenty-fifth public session. Its action was confirmed by the Pope, and the “Canons and Decrees” were printed at Rome by Aldus in 1564. The Council of Trent, when defining the doctrine of original sin, expressly declared that it did not intend to include the Virgin Mary. A grand convocation of bishops was held in 1854, when the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was defined by the Pope; but this was not a council, neither was the great gathering held on occasion of the canonization of the Japanese martyrs in 1862, nor that celebrated in June of the present year. REPORT FROM BRO. RODMAN.
By P. C. RODMAN.
From the Monthly Meeting in R. I., as reported by Bro. Miller, I returned home to Ashaway; stayed over Sabbath and first-day, Aug. 24th, and 25th, holding three meetings, and left with the interest apparently rising. Started, Aug. 28, for Kensington, Conn., where we arrived the same evening. On Sabbath evening, 30th, met for social worship at the house of Bro. Bruce Graham. Quite an interesting and profitable meeting. Preached twice on Sabbath and twice on first-day. Had good liberty in speaking, and brethren expressed themselves encouraged, the Lord evidently smiling upon us. Sabbath, P. M., attended the ordinances, in which all were blessed. During the meeting nearly all expressed a determination to take higher ground in the Health Reform, some saying, “I now understand my duty in preparing for the loud cry of the third message.” Monday morning, Sept. 2, took the cars for Pleasantville, N. Y., to attend a Grove Meeting gotten up by Bro. Wm. H. Wild, who greeted us very warmly, introducing us to quite a number of Advent friends, that had already arrived, among them one Sabbath-keeper. Also, Eld. George A. Barker, who gave us a cordial reception and invited me to preach the same evening, which I did with good freedom, from John iii, 16. On Tuesday morning Eld. H. Pratt came on the ground and took part in the meetings, preaching on prophecy and other Bible subjects, presenting some features of truth very clearly, such as baptism, saint’s inheritance, &c. In his last discourse, however, he tried to show that God’s law of ten commandments was abolished, and consequently the Sabbath not binding, basing his reasoning on the one-law idea. There seemed to be a fearfulness on the part of some that we should at once oppose Eld. P.’s position, and thus turn the meeting into a discussion on disputed points, which we had no disposition to do, as much as we loved the truth, for our business is to preach and not to argue the truth, unless the people are prepared for a discussion, and the cause demands it, which was not the case here. We followed him in the evening with a discourse on the ministration of angels, which was listened to with much interest, and had a good effect on the meeting generally. On Sabbath morning Eld. P. left on the cars for N. Y. city. Our social meeting in the morning was very interesting. At ten, Bro. Barker preached quite an interesting discourse, introducing the sanctuary in the course of his remarks, which seemed to open the way for us to press the subject more fully. In the afternoon spoke on Revelation xiv, 6, 7; in the evening from Rev. xiii, 11; all of which was listened to with deep interest, creating more anxious inquiry to know the truth belonging to this age. On first-day had the privilege of speaking three times to good congregations. In the morning on the sanctuary, in the afternoon on the second and third messages, and in the evening on the two laws, Bro. B. endorsing the truth, as we by the blessing of the Lord were enabled to present it in a clear light, thus showing a meek and teachable spirit that ever characterizes men when led of the Lord in the spirit of truth. At the close of preaching first-day evening, most of the friends having to leave the next morning, it was thought best to spend an hour in social exercises, when prayers were offered and testimonies given, in which it was manifest that truth had been effectual in increasing and deepening the devotional spirit of the meeting. On Monday morning the parting scene was truly affecting. The short acquaintance of some of us and the renewal of others had tended to endear us to each other in the love of God. Most of the brethren and sisters leaving for their homes, we tarried to hold meetings on Monday and Tuesday evenings, the interest still increasing with those that came in to know and obey the truth. Quite a number started from a backslidden state, and others who had never made profession of religion before, decided to serve the living and true God, and wait for his Son from Heaven. Several, as they told us in private conversation, decided to keep the Sabbath of the Lord. Others are interested, and are investigating the truth. Among them is one who was formerly an active member of the Methodist Church in Pleasantville, who had given way to discouragement until he had grown cold and lost his former interest in the service of God. He publicly confessed in our last meeting, with another, his decision to take hold anew in the work of God, and by his grace to understand and obey all the truth. Others were deeply affected, and expressed a determination to be Christians. Thus closed a very interesting series of meetings. Six were baptized at this meeting. May they stand at last on Mount Zion. Wednesday morning we left to meet other engagements, earnestly solicited to come again soon, as we hope to do. Thus the field of labor is enlarging and the demand for laborers increasing. Oh that the Lord of the harvest may send forth laborers into the harvest. I trust Bro. Wild will be assisted in all his labors of love for the salvation of men in the spread of truth in Pleasantville and elsewhere. The mother of a family was married to an infidel, who made jest of religion in the presence of his own children; yet she succeeded in bringing them all up in the fear of the Lord. I asked her one day how she preserved them from the influence of a father whose sentiments were so opposed to her own. This was her answer: “Because to the authority of a father, I do not oppose the authority of a mother, but that of God. From their earliest years, my children have always seen the Bible upon my table. This holy book has constituted the whole of their religious instruction. I was silent that I might allow it to speak. Did they propose a question, did they commit a fault, did they perform a good action, I opened the Bible; and the Bible answered, reproved, or encouraged them. The constant reading of the Scriptures has wrought the prodigy which surprises you.” —Adolph Monod. EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE, NO. 2.
By Editor
The Convocation Meeting in Wisconsin, is closed; and we now sit down to cull from its abundance of interesting features, enough to give our readers, who will be pleased to hear further from the meeting, a faint outline of the good season. Last week's report brought us to the close of the first day. The numbers continued to increase till Sabbath, when there were nearly four hundred believers present; and nearly every one of them bore testimony at some point in the meeting to their love for the Lord and his truth. The social meeting Friday morning, and the forenoon of that day were principally taken up by Bro. and Sr. White in remarks upon some points over which queries and difficulties had arisen in many minds in regard to the Testimonies and the Dress Reform. The subject was made plain and freed from difficulty, apparently to the satisfaction of all present. The testimony borne was timely and important, as that always is which removes occasion for halting and helps minds which are in any measure in doubt and uncertainty. In connection with this, it is proper to make special mention of a discourse delivered by Bro. White evening after the Sabbath, on the subject of murmuring, showing the evils of continually complaining of our lot, questioning the dealings of Providence with us, and thinking our situation and trials hard and burdensome above all others, instead of having a firm trust in God's kindness and care for us, esteeming our present afflictions light, in view of the eternal weight of glory to be given to the faithful by-and-by, and glorying in the cross of Christ, bidding it welcome to our embrace, and bearing it gladly and cheerfully for his sake. He showed the application of this to all circumstances of life, and especially to those brethren and sisters who meet with opposition in their own families from unbelieving companions or children. It touched a practice which has been a source of great spiritual weakness to the brethren; and the instruction and exhortation, if heeded, will result in much good. We judge of the value of any testimony by the effect which it has, or is calculated to have, either immediate or remote; and the many allusions in the remarks of the brethren and sisters to the two occasions we have mentioned, and the benefit and help they had received from the instruction given shows their timeliness and importance, and makes them worthy of particular notice. And in this connection we must not omit to mention another instance of a similar nature. A brother, almost overcome by the temptations of the enemy, bore an affecting testimony in reference to his tempted and perplexed state of mind, and his discouragements arising from doubts of his acceptance with God. And he even questioned whether he was ever converted, because he could not look back to any particular moment when he received a sudden and miraculous change. This gave sister White occasion to speak quite at length on the subject of conversion, showing what the heart is, in a Bible sense, the nature of a change of heart, or conversion, and the evidences by which we may test ourselves in the matter. We believe in a change of heart by the influence of the Holy Spirit; but it is not a change of the fleshly organ. It is the assent of the intellect to the claims of the truth, the yielding up of our wills to the will of God, and the change of the affections from things evil and worldly, to things heavenly and divine. It pertains to the mind, and is a progressive work, wrought by the influence of the word and Spirit of God upon the individual, resulting in a turning about of the whole man and all his powers from the service of Satan to the service of God. Conversion means a turning about. A converted man is walking in just the opposite direction from that in which he walked before his conversion. And that there are degrees, or successive steps, in the accomplishment of this change, is sufficiently evident from the case of Peter, to whom, when he was already a public and zealous follower of Christ, it was said, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren;” that is, when the change was so fully wrought in him that he could show them from his own knowledge and experience in divine things, how to resist temptation. When a person can say, Whereas I was once blind but now I see, and the things of the world, its errors and follies, which I once loved, now I hate, and the things of God, the truth and the way of righteousness with its humility and sacrifices, which I once hated, now I love, that person is converted, though he may not be able to point back to any particular moment when an instantaneous and remarkable change came over him. The brother was helped; but not he alone; for the remarks made were received with tearful gratitude by many present. Thus point after point of interest came up in rapid succession through the meeting, upon which we might continue to dwell, till this report would be protracted beyond its proper limits. We must however mention one other item which was new and full of interest to us, as it was doubtless to the entire congregation. It occurred in the midst of an impressive testimony from sister White and consisted of a statement to the effect that “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, who prophesied of the coming of the Lord, was permitted to behold also the last generation of saints who would be ready for that event. Believers in the truth in these last days passed before him in vision, and were pointed out to him as those of whom he stood as a representative, and who like him were to be translated to Heaven without seeing death.” If he had been permitted to behold us, as we now are, we fear he would have seen a company bearing too little resemblance to him in character and consecration to God. Are we thus closely connected with Enoch, as to be of those of whom he stood as the special representative? Then what are we doing to keep ourselves from the world, and walk as he walked, with God? But we must leave particulars and content ourself with a few general statements concerning the meeting. It was a good representation of the cause within the bounds of the Ill. and Wis. Conference, the first Sabbath-keeper in each of those States being present, to behold the large company of strong men and women, who had been raised up as its devoted friends. Several were heard to remark, that it was the largest number of Sabbath-keepers they had ever seen together. Two sisters from different places were present and bore a fervent testimony to the truth, who were ascertained to be the fruit of meetings held two years since, and from which the preachers had long since given up looking for any result; but lo! it appears after many days. One of these sisters, after revolving the truth long in her mind, and after much conflict, struggling along alone for nearly two years, had only three weeks since, come to the determination to take a whole-hearted and unequivocal stand upon the truth, and now appeared, to make a public profession of her hope. May much fruit of other meetings, likewise in due time appear. A young brother publicly confessed the truth for the first time, first-day afternoon, who became acquainted with it a short time since while working in the news depot, in Battle Creek, and there coming in contact with our publications. We trust he will become steadfast and endure to the end. A fact worthy of notice here, is the promptness with which new converts receive the truth in all its particulars. Several sisters who have but recently professed the faith, appeared carrying out all the reform in dress and living, which now appears to be a part of our work of preparation for coming events; points which some who have long been in the way have not yet learned, and which it is feared some never will learn. Truly, as it is represented in the Testimony, what we have been years learning, they learn in a few months. Social meeting Sabbath morning at 8 o'clock, of much interest. These meetings were all characterized by a tender, melting spirit. The testimonies of the brethren and sisters were well wet down with tears. Parents spoke with much feeling in regard to their children. It seemed indeed like a fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi, that the hearts of the fathers should be turned to the children. At the close of the services Sabbath forenoon, Bro. John Matteson was set apart to the work of the gospel ministry by prayer and the laying on of hands. Prayer by Bro. Sanborn; the right hand of fellowship, and the charge, by Bro. White. Sunday morning twelve were baptized, going five miles to a suitable place for the ordinance, and returning in season for the social meeting at 9 A. M. Preaching at 10, by Bro. White on the Law and the Gospel, which he proposes to write out soon for publication. At 2 P. M. sister White spoke to the assembled multitude. This was probably the most numerously attended of any of the meetings. Extra seats were prepared outside of the tent walls, which were filled all day Sunday, and a crowd stood outside of them. It is estimated that at least twelve hundred persons were present. Sister W. commenced her remarks, laboring under much physical disability, with a soreness of throat and lungs. But by the blessing of the Lord, she was enabled to speak with ease and freedom till the close, feeling much better bodily at the conclusion of her remarks than at the commencement. The entire congregation gave most respectful and apparently candid attention. On Sabbath we were favored with the presence of a number of Seventh-day Baptist brethren from the settlement of that denomination at Milton, seven miles north of Johnstown. The preaching in all the meetings was listened to with great interest. Bro. Steward preached at the commencement of the Sabbath, on the second coming of Christ, and Bro. Matteson Sunday evening, to close the series, on 1 Thess. v. 16–23. The other six of the eight discourses given through the meeting, were preached by Bro. White. After the sermon first-day evening, Bro. R. F. Andrews presented the following resolutions, which were passed by quite a full vote of the believers present:
“Resolved, That we hereby express our thanks to Bro. and sister White for their timely visit and faithful labors among us, and that we highly appreciate these dear servants of Christ for their works' sake, and they shall still have our prayers, sympathies, and co-operation.
“Resolved, That we consider it a great privilege to be favored with a visit from our much-esteemed Bro. U. Smith, and that we will try to hold him up by our prayers, that wisdom from above may be granted him to fill the important place assigned him in connection with this cause.
“Resolved, That we tender our thanks to the church in Johnstown Center for their kindness and hospitality shown us on this occasion.” Thus closed the meeting, good throughout, and the best that many of those present ever enjoyed. Bro. and sister White had a testimony for the people, which reached the heart and was received. We trust the brethren and sisters have carried the spirit of the meetings to their several homes. We are assured if they have, that the cause will be much strengthened and advanced thereby. We now start for Iowa, trusting that the Lord will give his people there also, a good season.