Earlier text: MISGIVINGS IN MICHIGANEARTHQUAKES—SEA AND WAVES ROARING.
Our Rest, of June, 1877, says:— “Presuming that all our readers may not have read the particulars of the recent disaster by earthquake and tidal waves on the South Pacific coast, we have concluded to publish the following graphic account from the Star and Herald of Panama. It seems but a short time since we recorded the destruction of about a quarter of a million of souls by the dreadful tidal wave that swept over a portion of India. Since that time, there has been a continuous famine in the same country. Even now, after so long a time, the government is obliged to employ over a million men on its works, to keep them from starving, and it is said it supports gratuitously over 300,000 people. In place of decreasing, there was in May an increase of about 85,000 in one week. The prospects for the forthcoming crops are far from flattering, so that it is difficult to tell where the trouble will end. “The dreadful famine in China still continues, and hundreds of thousands, we are told, are doomed to perish from starvation. The cholera is also raging in some parts of India, and an increase is feared. “Thus we see that we are truly living in perilous times. Wars, famines, earthquakes, the sea and waves roaring, and men’s hearts failing them for looking after those things that are coming on the earth.” The Star and Herald says:— “On the ninth of May the towns of Arica, Iquique, Punta de Lobos, Pabellon de Pica, Chanavaya, Huanillas, Tocapilla, Cobija, Mejillones de Bolivia, Antofagasta and Canaral, were visited by an earthquake and tidal wave, and are nearly all destroyed. About six hundred lives were lost. The destruction of Pabellon is estimated at $20,000,000, confined mostly to the coast, although the town of Tarapaca, twenty-three leagues inland, and the villages of Picamatilla and Canchones far in the interior, are more or less ruined. The shipping of guano from the southern deposits will be indefinitely suspended, as all facilities in the way of launches, chutes, wharves, water condensers and buildings of all kinds, have been swept away. The destruction of, and the damage to, shipping has been very great, and was attended by very serious loss of life. “At Mollendy the railway was torn up by the sea, three hundred feet, and at Ilo the railway was also injured. At Arica the people were preparing temporary fortifications to repel the threatened assault of the rebel ram Huascar at the very moment when the roar of the earthquake was heard. The shocks were very numerous, and caused immense damage. The sea was suddenly perceived to recede from the beach, and a wave from ten to fifteen feet high rolled upon the shore, carrying all before it. Eight times was repeated this assault of the ocean, and four miles of the embankment of the railway melted away like sand. Locomotives, cars, and rails were hurled about by the sea like so many playthings and left a tumbled mass of rubbish. The United States steamer Wateree, stranded in 1868, was lifted bodily and floated two miles north of her old position. The cable buoy was moved a quarter of a mile northwards. Merchandise from the custom house and stores were carried five miles distant. The damage done was greater than that of the calamity of 1868. The earthquake had levelled the custom house, railway station, submarine cable office, hotel, British Consulate, the steamship agency, and many private dwellings. The people passed the night on the hills. Thieves began to rob, when the troops fired upon them, killing and wounding several. “Iquique, built of wood and cane, tumbled down at the first onset. The lamps were broken, and the burning oil, spreading over the debris, started a general conflagration. Three companies of firemen were instantly at their posts, although it was difficult to maintain an upright position, shock following shock, with dreadful regularity. To procure water, the two best fire-engines were stationed on the beach. Just then the cry arose, ‘The sea! the sea!’ and the waves rushed in. The engines were carried out by the reflux, and the fire continued unopposed. Three elements of destruction were busy at one moment—fire, water, and the earthquake. The affrighted people left the city to its fate, flying to the neighboring eminences. The fire destroyed a large portion of the town, the earthquake leveled nearly all the rest, and water covers the ruins which it took out in its reflux. The water condensers along the shore are ruined. This is an irreparable loss for Iquique, as no potable water is found there. Nearly 400,000 quintals of nitrate at Iquique and the adjacent forts of Molle and Pisagua, were destroyed. A small loss of life took place, probably ten persons in all. Coasting craft and small boats in the harbor were broken to pieces. As in Arica, robbery of goods lying in the streets was attempted, but the guards of citizens took such severe measures that the robbers were speedily checked. “Away up on the pampas, eleven miles from Iquique, the splendid nitrate establishment, ‘La Nueva Carolina,’ was completely destroyed. “The sufferings of the people of Iquique were intense. The absence of water and the destruction of the principal stores added to their hardships. It is estimated that the damage done in Iquique will amount to nearly 4,000,000 soles. “Chanavaya, at the guano loading deposit known as Pabellon de Pica with four hundred houses, has only two standing. There were no fire-engines in the town, and the sea came in and extinguished the flames, but as it retired it carried off all that remained of the place. In one of the guano cuttings thirty laborers were buried by the falling earth. Among the shipping the havoc was terrible. “The town of Tarabaca, two or three leagues inland, and the villages of Picamatilla and Canchones are more or less ruined. The loss of life is reported as not being great. “The earthquake was especially severe at Chanavaya. The earth opened fifteen metres in depth, and the whole surface of the ground changed. At least two hundred people were killed. Bodies were floating in the bay, and a pestilence was feared. At Huanillas, a guano loading station, the damage inflicted was fearful. All the houses were destroyed. The guano cuts have fallen in, and, as at Pabellon, all the loading must be suspended for at least two months. The wave which succeeded the earthquake, and completed the work of destruction, was nearly sixty feet in height. Many vessels were lost here, together with several persons on board. In short, everything except a few huts at the back of the town has been destroyed. “At Mejillones the tidal wave was sixty-five feet high. Two-thirds of the town is completely obliterated. The guano chutes, wharves, launches, boats, water distilleries, railway stations, locomotives, cars, and furniture—all swallowed up. Six persons were drowned. “At Tocapilla, little or nothing remains in the town. “The mine called ‘La Pena Blanca,’ four miles to the southward, sank in, smothering two hundred workmen, of whom forty were Cornish miners. “Cobija, the principal town on the Bolivian coast, has lost three-fourths of its houses. The wave thirty-five feet high swept along the main business street, and left it level as a desert. Wharves and launches were all carried out to sea. “As soon as this lamentable intelligence reached Lima, the government chartered a steamer, and organizing a relief commission, loaded the vessel with provisions, clothing, etc., together with 50,000 gallons of water, and dispatched her on the 16th for the South, one hundred thousand soles in silver coin also forming part of her cargo, to be distributed among the unfortunate. A commission of engineers accompany the expedition. It has been urged by the government to recommend rebuilding the ruined towns on sites which may offer greater security, being more remote from the shore, since this is the second instance of a similar calamity on positions actually occupied. Subscriptions are being made in Lima and Callao for the relief of the distressed. “The northern parts of Peru were damaged but little, though the sea was running remarkably high. “The captain of the steamer John Elder reports that when twenty-three miles west of Antofagasta, coming at full speed, his ship was completely stopped by the shock of the earthquake, and she remained almost stationary for five minutes. The passengers believing she had struck on a reef, soundings were taken immediately, but no bottom was found at twenty fathoms.” “Captain Charles MacLoon, of the ship Geneva, sunk at Huanillos, in the great earthquake on the Pacific coast on the 9th ultimo, has arrived, and tells the story of his experiences. He says that, though apparently safely anchored, his ship became entangled with others near it, as they tossed wildly about crashing against one another, and sunk almost immediately in fifteen fathoms of water. On the first alarm, he came up from between decks; it was about half past eight P. M. There had been several shocks during the previous twenty days, but he had completed his cargo of guano, and was expecting to sail next morning. “Aside from the frightful rumbling sound, his attention was arrested by the extraordinary phenomenon of a shore mountain above being so much agitated that rocks became detached, and rattled down toward the sea, resembling balls of fire. Furthermore, the water at the anchorage suddenly receded, so that ships in eight fathoms touched bottom. At the same time, it was observed that the ships were swinging round and round in opposite directions, the anchor chains becoming entangled beneath the copper, and the yards and masts interlocking, while the air resounded with falling spars and the crash of bulwarks. Water also came whirling in like a maelstrom, causing the Geneva to swing round at a rate of eight or ten knots an hour, in great circles, until she struck against a rock which tore out part of her bottom. The ship was forced violently in an opposite direction and went down. Other vessels were as violently driven ashore or went to the bottom, as in the case of the English ship Avonmore, Captain Canfield, which took down with her the captain’s wife, three children, and several others. “Captain MacLoon says it seemed to him from the sulphurous or electrical appearance of the mountains, that a volcano was bursting out of its sides. Rocks were tumbling about with frightful noise, and everything was lighted up. He thinks the damage to the shipping was caused not so much by the tidal wave as by the upward rush of the water and the rotary currents, driving the ships repeatedly against one another.” Appreciating and Using a Valuable Maxim
By W. R. Alger
To appreciate and use correctly a valuable maxim, requires a vital appropriating exercise of mind closely allied to that which created it.—W. R. Alger. A Child's Question About the Bible in Schools
“Pa, are you in favor of the Bible in public schools?” asked a West Side youngster at the breakfast table the other morning. “Why, of course I am,” responded the father, pleased that such an important subject should engage the attention of his youthful offspring. “What makes you ask such a question, my son?” “Oh! nothing,” rejoined young hopeful, “only I thought may-be you wasn’t, as you never have had one at home.” VERSE 11. “And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.” And men] That is, the “nations of the saved.” See Rev. 21:24. There shall be no more utter destruction] This is proof positive that it applies after the final destruction connected with the second advent, when the cities of the nations fall, and there is a consumption from the Lord upon the whole earth. See Rev. 16:19; Isa. 28:22. Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited] That is, the New Jerusalem, which is above. Heb. 11:16; Gal. 4:26. The prophet Isaiah contemplated the same event: “Thine eyes shall see [New] Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.” Isa. 33:20. Read the context. Perhaps it was the intention of the Holy Spirit that verses 10 and 11 should furnish some hope to the Jews after the Babylonish captivity, but in the fullest sense they apply at the end of the 1000 years. VERSE 12. “And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.” The eleventh verse having carried us down into the new-earth state, verse 12 opens a new scene, by taking the mind back. And it may here be remarked that many of the prophecies are not consecutive, but the mind is carried backward and forward, according to the nature of the topic being treated. As it were, these sacred predictions are arranged like a sliding scale. But no prophecy ever goes beyond the commencement of the redeemed state. In the twelfth verse we are taken back to events which occur near old Jerusalem, at the beginning of the day of the Lord, during the pouring out of the seven last plagues. But additional particulars are here introduced, which from the nature of the narrative could not be mentioned at the commencement of the chapter. This shall be the plague] An obvious allusion to the seven last plagues, with their terrible effects. Compare with Rev. 16. The “flesh,” “eyes,” and “tongue,” consuming away, are explained by Rev. 16:8–11. Under the awful effects of the fifth vial, men “gnaw their tongues for pain.” Verse 11 says they “blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their pains and their sores.” Isa. 8:21, points to the same awful event: “They shall pass through it [the time of trouble] hardly bestead and hungry; and it shall come to pass that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their King and their God, and look upward.” VERSE 13. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them: and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor.” This verse predicts the utter confusion that will exist among the armies of the earth that assemble at the field of Armageddon. Satan is the “head center” of this host, and the gathering will be accomplished through the agency of spiritualism. Rev. 16:13, 14. The hosts of earth gather together to fight against the Lamb and his army, Rev. 19:19, but a general tumult is sent among them by the Lord, and they begin to fight one another. See Eze. 38:21, which doubtless refers to the same event. Isaiah says that then the land “shall be soaked with blood,” chap. 34:7; and John says, “Blood came out of the wine-press, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” Rev. 14:20. MINNESOTA CAMP-MEETING.
By D. P. Curtis
This meeting convened at the time appointed at Hutchinson, McLeod Co. The grounds were convenient and pleasant. The brethren began to come in early. Some arrived from the southwest corner of the State, on Monday. Tuesday night several tents were on the ground and pitched. Wednesday, they came in in force from all quarters of the Conference. Great anxiety was felt in regard to help from abroad. Many had anxiously looked for Bro. and Sr. White, and had confidently expected to see Bro. Canright. The outside interest to see and hear Bro. Canright was great. But the time for the opening of the meeting came, and no help was on the ground, except13 our own ministers. These felt a burden resting upon them which seemed almost insupportable. Bro. Pierce opened the meeting with a discourse from Prov. 23:23: “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” He exhorted the congregation to “look beyond the watchman.” This motto was taken up by the brethren, and faithfully acted upon throughout the entire meeting. The sisters had it placed over the stand, in sight of all the congregation. The social meetings commenced with something of a feeling of depression, on account of the disappointment; but this soon passed off as the brethren drew near to the Lord in earnest, pleading for the divine interposition in behalf of the cause and for the success of the meeting. As day after day passed, and the brethren who went to the cars returned each time without any help, the importunities for help from the Lord became more earnest, and all seemed to settle down to the determination to work with the Lord, to make the meeting such as he could bless. In answer to the earnest pleadings, and in harmony with the desires of the brethren, the Lord’s Spirit rested down upon the encampment, and it became a place where the lovers of God delighted to be. Freedom was given to the brethren in preaching the word, and the Lord sealed it to the good of those who listened. At the 9 o’clock meeting on Sabbath morning, 162 testimonies were given. In the afternoon, a call was made for those who desired a greater degree of consecration, and those who wished to give themselves to the Lord for the first time, to come forward. About 125 came forward, a large proportion of whom came for the first time. Many of them spoke, expressing a desire and determination to devote their future life to the service of the Lord. The number of those encamped in tents and wagons on the ground, on Friday, was 506, while several lodged in a barn adjoining the camp-ground, and a number of families of the Hutchinson church and society lived at home, but attended the meetings regularly. The regular attendance was not less than 550 to 600. The number of tents and wagons used as homes on the ground, including the different compartments of the forty-foot tent, was about 75. The outside attendance, as we expected would be the case, was not so large as on many previous years. On Sunday, there were probably 1000 to 1200 on the ground. On Monday, Bro. W. B. Hill preached upon the subject of baptism, after which we repaired to the Crow River, about half a mile from the camp, and Bro. Grant and Elds. Ellis buried sixty-one willing candidates in the likeness of Christ’s death, nearly one-half of whom took their first step at this meeting. One licensed preacher from the Methodist Episcopal Church, who commenced to keep the Sabbath one week before the meeting, took his stand with us, and was baptized; and one leading man of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, whose wife and daughters had begun to keep the Sabbath some little time before, came with his daughter 125 miles or more, to reconnoiter, was constrained to surrender unconditionally, and take his stand with the people of God. Other interesting cases might also be mentioned, showing the power of God’s truth in the hands of his feeble servants, to bring conviction and a change of life and purpose. Credentials were renewed to eleven ordained ministers, and licenses given to sixteen brethren, to go out and preach the message as the Lord may open the way. Bro. John I. Collins was set apart to the work of the ministry by ordination, at the closing meeting. When the question of sending out the tents was raised, and it was found that there was no money in the treasury to defray expenses, the sum of $74 was raised by voluntary contribution, in a very few minutes; and on the last morning, when the President stated that the Conference was owing about $100, for the care of an aged and infirm sister, notwithstanding the contribution for starting the tents, and another one of about $50, previously raised, to assist one of our ministers in regaining his health, and notwithstanding the fact that the crops of many of the brethren were harvested by the grasshoppers before they left home, upwards of $67 were paid into the hands of the chairman, faster than the clerk could write the names of the contributors. On the whole, we believe we can say, “to the praise of the glory of His grace,” that, all things considered, the Minnesota Camp-meeting of 1877 was one of the best meetings, if not the best, that has ever been held in the State. Elds. Ellis and Curtis will go with one of the tents to Dodge Centre, Dodge Co., and be ready to begin work, the Lord willing, on the first Sabbath in July; Eld. W. B. Hill and Bro. S. Fulton go with one tent to Pierce Co., Wis.; and Eld. G. M. Dimmick and Bro. J. W. Moore, with the third one, go to Rock Co. On Sunday evening, at a meeting for the purpose of hearing applications for labor, appeals for help were urged from no less than twenty-six different localities within the bounds of the Conference, many of them new fields where no labor save that of tract distribution has ever been expended. The business meetings were well attended, and perfect harmony prevailed in them, while the disappointment experienced at the commencement of the meeting, instead of producing a feeling of discontent and murmuring, resulted in the opposite course of action; it drew the brethren nearer together, and nearer to the Lord, and begot a sympathy between the people and the preachers, such as only those whose hearts are attuned to the harmonies of divine truth are wont to feel and manifest, and proved the truthfulness of Bro. White’s remarks in the REVIEW of June 21, that “it takes the Lord to make a good camp-meeting.” It is believed that the effect of the meeting upon the outside attendance and upon the community in and around Hutchinson, has been good, and that a favorable impression has been made. Hutchinson, June 27, 1877. THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT.
By James White
On returning to this city we find a very praise-worthy movement in progress among the better portion of the citizens of Battle Creek upon the subject of temperance. This movement embraces the Battle Creek Reform Club, six hundred strong, and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, two hundred and sixty strong. God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible are familiar words with these earnest workers. Much good has already been accomplished, and the activity of the workers, the system by which they labor, and the spirit of their meetings, promise greater good in time to come. On the occasion of the visit of Barnum’s great show to this city on the 28th ult., the ladies of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union of this city struck a telling blow for temperance and reform by organizing an immense temperance restaurant to accommodate the crowds of people who gathered in from the country to see the show, and thus prevent them from visiting the saloons and groggeries where they would be exposed to temptation. The mammoth tent, employed by the Michigan Conference for camp-meeting purposes, and capable of holding 5,000 people, was tendered for the occasion. Beneath this immense canvas temple were erected fifteen or twenty tables for the accommodation of guests. By invitation the Sanitarium of this city erected a large table in the center of the great pavilion, which was bountifully supplied with the delicious fruits, grains, and vegetables which constitute the dietary at the institution named. This table really formed the chief attraction of the entertainment, and was more largely patronized than any other, notwithstanding the popular prejudice against the hygienic mode of living. Although the table was more than thirty feet in length, the attraction toward it became so great that it was necessary to annex another about two-thirds as long, which was also thronged. It was really encouraging to hygienists to see scores of hungry citizens and country people turning away from the side-tables, laden with their favorite pork and beans, roast beef, salads, tea, coffee, etc., and crowding about the Sanitarium table with an almost childlike eagerness to secure a square hygienic meal. Not a seat was left vacant a moment, and there were usually a score or two of persons standing behind the long lines of diners, ready to drop into a seat the instant it was vacated. The popular prejudice, usually expressed in such terms as “bran bread,” “starvation diet,” and similar epithets, melted away “like mist before the rising sun;” and words of commendation were in the mouth of every one. The whole affair was a grand success. More than one-third of the tickets sold at 25 cents each were taken up at the Sanitarium table. The managers of this table, with their friends, express sincere thanks to the public for the cordial manner in which their effort was received, and the marked attention bestowed upon their table. On the evening of the 30th, J. H. Kellogg, M. D., of the Sanitarium of this city, gave a popular lecture at the mammoth tent on temperance from a medical and scientific standpoint, under the auspices of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Reform Club. The subject was illustrated by charts and diagrams, showing the physical effects of alcohol upon the human body. The citizens of Battle Creek gave the doctor a liberal hearing, and were highly entertained for more than one hour. Handbills, great and small, had been posted in and around the city, and profusely scattered among the crowd at the great show, stating that a temperance mass meeting would be held in the big tent on Sunday, July 1, at 3 and 7 P. M. But at 3, the high winds made it necessary to use the Methodist church. The house was packed, and some could not find even standing room. The afternoon session was deeply interesting and held about two hours. Speeches were made by Mr. Harbeck, president of the Reform Club, Mrs. L. H. Pearce, president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, Mr. L. D. Palmer, Baptist minister of Battle Creek, Mrs. N. G. Austin, and Mrs. Dr. Meachem. Good singing by an efficient choir, and the ready and gentlemanly management by Mayor Austin, added much to the occasion. The session closed by the circulation of the pledges, which received 150 signatures. The evening was delightful, the winds were still, the mammoth tent was up and well seated and lighted. The evening air became agreeably cool. And not less than three thousand people listened with marked attention to the addresses of Prof. Stone, Supt. of Public Schools of this city, Mr. Reed Stuart, Presbyterian minister, of this city, and Mrs. E. G. White. The immense audience was held in almost breathless silence until 9:30, when the pledges were again circulated, and 85 more names were obtained. The accessions during the day and evening sum up as follows: 235 in all, of whom 170 joined the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, and 65 joined the Reform Club. The friends of temperance in this city are very happy to-day over the success of the Temperance Mass Meeting of yesterday. A deep impression is made upon this community, and Mr. Barnum’s big show seems quite forgotten. J. W. THE JUBILEE A FAILURE.
By Uriah Smith
The present papal jubilee is said to be a failure. And this is worth noting only because it contributes one more proof in the line of evidence which now exists that the papacy is reduced to that condition of humiliation that was predicted to come upon it before the end. There were only 8,245 pilgrims present on the 2d of June. This was very few compared with the numbers present at other papal jubilees. Boniface VIII., at the beginning of the 13th century, proclaimed a jubilee, the fame of which still remains. The numbers continually entering and going out of Rome were like an army. Historians estimate that during the year 2,000,000 people visited Rome. Fifty years later, Clement VI. proclaimed a jubilee, during which the number of visitors was estimated at 1,200,000. In 1450, the crowd was so great on the bridge of St. Angelo, that 200 persons were drowned. At the jubilee by Alexander VI., A. D. 1500, 200,000 knelt at one time to receive the papal benediction. “It is no secret,” says the Rome correspondent of the N. Y. Evening Post, “that the pope and all the clerical party are displeased not only with the number but also with the quality of the pilgrims. The greater number are either bishops and priests, or else peasants and persons of inferior condition. The sale of rosaries, crosses, crowns, statues, and other ‘articles of religion,’ has not equaled the expectations of those who had prepared unusual quantities of them for sale. Nevertheless, the jubilee has been the absorbing topic of the month.” MINNESOTA CAMP-MEETING.
By James White
AGAIN we are made very happy by the report of the camp-meeting at Hutchinson, Minn. The report of the Wisconsin meeting last week was a great relief as well as joy to us. Neither Wisconsin nor Minnesota had ministerial help from the General Conference, and both these meetings were triumphant. We have felt for some time that our people must be weaned from the idea that Mrs. White and the writer should attend all the camp-meetings, and resolved that we would not visit them this year. But when appeals come in from the old, dear friends to meet with them in camp, and help them in their meetings, we find it very hard to wean ourselves from the pleasurable part of such gatherings. For a time we wavered, and decided to go to the Wisconsin and Minnesota meetings; but cares at head-quarters pressed, and we soon returned to our first determination. And then when the news came in that the precious Saviour had presided at these meetings by his Spirit, and greatly blessed his people, we were made very happy. Besides the report from Eld. Curtis, we have a private letter from J. Olive from which we quote the following:— “We have just returned from our good camp-meeting. The place near Hutchinson was lovely. It seemed to be a place where the poor had the gospel preached unto them. At first we missed the close, searching testimonies of sister White, and we greatly missed your review of the situation, the wants and progress of the cause, so much more impressive from the lips of the living teacher, than when read from the printed page. But the meeting progressed in interest from the beginning, and I think the Lord heard the earnest prayers of his servants for help, and his Spirit was with his people to aid and bless. The disappointment resulted well in causing us all to cast our care upon the Lord. There were some very powerful sermons by Elders Curtis, Ellis, Dimmick, Batin, and Hill. I do not believe they could have preached half so well if you or Eld. Butler had been there to listen. I wish you knew how well they can preach when they have no abler speakers from abroad to listen to them.” “We went nearly one hundred miles, six of us in an open wagon, with a heavy load. We were away from home twelve days; but the Lord preserved us. We had neither rain, mud, dust, nor heat, enough to trouble us, and we greatly enjoyed the meeting, and trust it may be a lasting benefit to us. The cause never seemed so promising in Minnesota, and the calls for labor are many and earnest. At first there was some disappointment, but when they found no help was to be had from abroad, they all seemed to realize that it meant work, and to work they went. We all tried to consecrate ourselves to God, and I think the Minnesota people never came nearer forgetting you than they did the last few days of the meeting. Many prayers were offered for you even then. We all love you and esteem you highly in love for your work’s sake.” We are very glad to be remembered by our brethren in prayer. Our day for perpetual, earnest labor and care is past. And as we are compelled to lay off camp-meeting armor, we are extremely happy to know that the Lord is harnessing a hundred young men for such work. In this fact we see another clear evidence that the hand of the Lord is in this cause. Catholic Review Predicts Restoration of Papal Temporal Power
THE Catholic Review announces its belief in the restoration of the pope’s temporal power. A PLEASANT OCCASION.
By Uriah Smith
The students of the college, and others who joined with them, will remember with pleasure the closing exercises of the spring term, and of the college year, which took place Tuesday, June 26. Thinking it proper, at this auspicious season of the year, to make communion with nature one of the pleasant features of the occasion, the students left the college building, and accompanied by the employes of the Publishing Association, and members of the church enough to swell the number to three hundred or over, proceeded to that pleasant Battle Creek resort, Goguac Lake, where every provision has been made in the way of speakers’ stand, seats, tables, &c., for such occasions, to close with fitting exercises another yearly round of academical duties. These exercises consisted in prayer by Eld. White, remarks by the principal, Prof. Brownsberger, and by Eld. and Mrs. White, singing by the College Glee Club, and the College choir, original essays, declamations, original and selected, in prose and poetry, with other rhetorical exercises. The original contributions showed that the writers were capable of deep and vigorous thought, the selections were judiciously made, the parts were well rendered, noble sentiments were expressed, speaking well both for the heads and hearts of those who contributed to this mental entertainment. And this last word suggests another part of the programme. As the dinner hour arrived, long tables spread with a bountiful supply from nature’s choicest laboratory, showed that the necessities of the body had not been lost sight of in provision for the mind. But this was of that plain hygienic character that would nourish, not oppress the body, and invigorate not becloud the mind. The passage of the dinner hour was therefore no bar to an appreciation and enjoyment of the remainder of the exercises in the afternoon. The students gave evidence that their past labors had been a pleasure, not a task, that they had loved their work, and become greatly attached to the place, to their teachers, and to one another. Excellent instruction was given them on this occasion, both by Bro. and sister White, which they will find of incalculable profit, if they will but put it to the test of practice. Great care had been taken both in the suggestion and execution of the plan of this day’s doings, that it might be not only a fitting termination of the school term, but a fitting sequel to the recent special religious meetings held in Battle Creek, and one that might appropriately close with religious exercises and baptism. Bro. White had time to make only a few remarks, but these were pointed and appropriate, when he administered this impressive ordinance to fourteen candidates in the clear waters of the lake, most of whom were students from the college. Thus closed the exercises of the day, all of which were well planned and managed throughout by Bro. White, and the company returned to their homes thankful for a day of recreation from the pressure of daily toil, and especially that this could be made the means of contributing so much physical, mental, and spiritual good. U. S. THE SABBATH IN EGYPT.
By John Nevins Andrews
I send a package of each number of our paper to Bro. Ribton of Italy. It appears that he has sent one or more copies regularly to Alexandria, Egypt. I have just received a very interesting letter from Bro. R., in which he speaks of the result as follows:— “I am happy to tell you that LES SIGNES DES TEMPS has been the means of bringing Bro. Bertola, a dear and true servant of Christ, to accept definitely the Lord’s Sabbath. I sent it to him regularly to Alexandria, and he read the discussion with Cocorda with much interest. His arguments, he says, are clever, but they are mere human assumption, whereas you have had Scripture entirely on your side. “Ever yours in the Lord, H. P. Ribton.” May it please God that many Sabbath-keepers shall yet be found in the land of Egypt. We hope for much fruit among those who read our French paper. I now intend to visit Bro. Ribton immediately after the printing of our next number. I ask still an interest in the prayers of all who love the law of God. I must gratefully acknowledge the remarkable restoration of my strength, which must be, I am sure, in answer to prayer in my behalf. J. N. Andrews. 68 Müllerweg Bale, Suisse, June 15. NATIONAL REFORM MOVEMENT.
The friends of this movement are making extensive preparations for a vigorous campaign the coming fall and winter. Encouraging meetings are reported in Central New York, and a convention is contemplated in Oswego, for which the cordial co-operation of the best citizens is promised. Respecting the general prospect before that movement, the Christian Statesman of June 28, 1877, says:— “While a large number of ministers and members of nearly every denomination of Christians are active supporters of the cause of National Reform, there is one church which is so unanimous and so earnest in this behalf as to appoint an annual collection for the treasury of the National Association. The Reformed Presbyterian Synod at its recent sessions in Alleghany, Pa., designated the first Sabbath of July for this purpose, and the sum of four thousand dollars as the amount which it was desirable the churches should raise. “To those of our readers who will have an opportunity to contribute in this way, we say: There never was a time in the history of the work when there was a better prospect of securing large results with a comparatively small outlay than during the coming year. The Chicago Convention, and the labors which preceded it, revealed a surprising advance in public sentiment, and a wider door than ever for the proclamation of the truth. A more effective organization of the movement is about to be accomplished, by the appointment of district secretaries in every community where the movement has taken root. This will bring a large number of earnest workers into official connection with the National Association, and will facilitate their labors in its behalf. “We are confident that more sermons will be preached before new audiences on the great theme of Christian civil government and its related topics, more meetings will be held, more petitions will be circulated, more practical results secured, and more new friends won to the cause during the coming winter than during any two campaigns before. But the indispensable previous condition of this success is the supply of funds to carry forward the work. It needs, we are persuaded, only the prospect of such labors and successes to encourage the friends of the cause to all their accustomed liberality.”