Earlier text: ParlorsOur Life-Work.
By Lizzie Taylor
It is said that all, both small and great, rich and poor, all have an influence either to advance the right, or to increase the evil already in the world; that, aside from their temporal gains and losses, the manner in which they exert this influence may be said to constitute their life-work. Of the myriads that have peopled this earth, of how many may it be said that they have lived to some purpose, have performed well the work allotted them, and improved the talents given them by their Creator? Were this generation to pass away, and others fill the places which we now occupy, could it be said of us that we had done the best we could? We may live in such a manner as to deceive our fellow-beings in regard to our real work, for a time; but as our deeds to the eye of God are at all times apparent, even so will they be made unto all men. Our words may be plausible, our works, smooth and fair. A time comes when they are tried. They will not bear an examination, and, at the least pressure, like the apples of Sodom, dissolve into smoke and ashes. Are we deceiving ourselves and others with the idea that we are doing God’s will in all things, and living to his honor, when we are in reality an injury to his cause, and adding to the punishment that awaits those who thus deceive themselves? If our hearts are right, there need be no fear that our course of life will cause our condemnation. If we pursue an undeviating course of uprightness before God, and thus secure his favor, we have nothing to fear at the hands of men. We know that Satan is a fallen angel, cast out of Heaven for disobedience to the will of God; and yet we submit to be led by him into sin, and thus draw around ourselves the fetters that will bind us down to destruction. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” If, then, the human mind is not capable of imagining the glorious things which God has prepared for redeemed man, is it not also incapable of imagining the woe and horror that will fill the souls of the lost as they realize their terrible fate? And are we so ready to risk eternal life as to live in direct disobedience to the requirements of God, by failing to conform to them in our daily life? Some, when asked why they are not more in earnest in the work of God, plead lack of means, inability, &c. They think they are giving a plausible reason; but, in fact, they are only giving a pitiable excuse for neglect of duty. If the means which we now have to spread the truth had been given to mankind in the earlier days of Christianity, would there not have been a better prospect of the much-talked-of temporal millennium, than we now see? Let us not strive to look too far into the future to view the result of our labor. With that we have nothing to do. We must be content to work at the present time, being assured that in the sight of God our efforts will not be in vain. In this work, a few failures need not discourage us. As clouds and moisture are necessary to the growth of vegetation, so is it needful that we meet with adversities, that the fruits of the Spirit may be made manifest in us. The love of God ought so to fill our hearts, at all times, that neither prosperity nor adversity should be able to move us from the Rock upon which we have founded our hope of everlasting life in the earth made new. Battle Creek, Dec. 22, 1872. Our Influence.
By S. N. Haskell
THE religion of the Bible is not altogether passive, but active. It is a law of the mind that where there is a firm conscientious belief, it carries with it an influence that will affect minds, even if the words spoken are very few. Add to it words and our general deportment, and lasting impressions are made. Minds are molded, thus character is formed, and it is in view of this fact that men and women should realize the importance of being soundly converted to the work of God, if they would be successful in the tract and missionary enterprise. It is important that our influence be ever on the right side in the cause of God. Sympathizing with wrong and those in error, when God is especially arresting their attention, is standing directly in the way of the work of God; and in proportion as our influence is felt by others, evil seeds are sown, which months and years of repentance cannot eradicate from the soil of the human heart; for evil is like weeds in the garden, which will grow of themselves; but good seed must be cultivated. The apostle quotes from David, the following words: “He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor; his righteousness remaineth forever.” The influence of that act which results in soundly converting one soul to God does not cease with its author, but its influence affects others, and thus it spreads like the ripple arising from a stone's being thrown into a smooth surface of water. The soul saved by the act will live throughout eternity; and thus his righteousness will continue forever. It is thus with wrong acts and words, arising from sympathy being on the wrong side. “He that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.” There is no end to such influence. It lives, destroying precious souls for whom Christ died, until the Judgment, when it is made manifest that souls are eternally lost as the result of it. And if those individuals are saved through the pardoning love of God, that have committed such errors, there is a loss to them which might have been an eternal gain. David’s sin “has given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme” until the present day. Jacob, by siding with his mother in deceiving Isaac, resulted in his being obliged to flee for his life to a stranger’s land, and in after years nearly proved his ruin, and the ruin of his family, and of his substance. Ahithophel, whose counsel “was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God,” proved his own ruin by casting his influence on the side he sympathized with, the wrong party. It is not the amount of influence that men have which proves their salvation or ruin, but it is the scale in which it is cast. David prayed, “Let my heart be sound in thy statutes,” and with propriety the Christian might additionally pray that their hearts might be sound in the order and work of God. The Judgment “will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.” We might well say, Who is sufficient for these things? and where are the hearts which will ever prove true to God and his precious cause? Everything that can be shaken will be, but that which cannot be shaken will remain. The Day Line Again.
By R. F. Cottrell
A FRIEND writes me: “With your proposed journey around the earth, I fully agree, so far as you go, or nearly. If you start from Yeddo, and that city is twenty miles inland, or west of the Pacific shore, it will be 12 o’clock M., Jan. 1, at any place you inquire, until you arrive at Yeddo, and there it will be Jan. 2, 12 o’clock M.” This statement is just twenty miles from the truth. You would be told that it was Jan. 2, as soon as you touched the shore. If the Japanese, living only twenty miles apart, should say, in one place, “It is Jan. 1,” and in the other, “It is Jan. 2,” and in both places tell the truth, it would prove that there is a day line, and that it is drawn between those two places. My friend continues: “Or, if you please, start from San Francisco, and, at any place you please to inquire, it will be Jan. 1, 12 o’clock M., providing you travel 15° per hour, as you propose, until you have gone over the Pacific Ocean, Asia, Europe, Atlantic Ocean, and America; at San Francisco, the answer will be, 12 o’clock M., Jan. 2.” This statement is false, all the way from Yeddo to San Francisco. There is no disagreement in the day on both continents. But, if you cross the Pacific, you find yourself out of harmony with the rest of mankind. And if you could cross it a hundred times in twelve hours, it would be the same—you would pass out of one day into another, every time. This fact proves that there is a day line, and that it lies in the Pacific Ocean. R. F. COTTRELL. T. DeWITT TALMAGE, in a sermon published in a late Methodist, gives the following good advice to those who are overtaxing their strength by that, most wearing of all work, mental labor:— “Now, brethren of literary toil, you had better hold up. If you are going at the rate of sixty miles an hour, you had better stop and go no more than thirty. The temptations to overwork for literary men are multiplying all the time in increased newspapers and magazines and lecturing platforms. The temptation to night-work is especially great—that kind of work which is most exhausting and ruinous. ‘When the sun goes down, God puts his candle out, and says to the world, ‘My child, you had better go to sleep; I have put the candle out.’ ‘The brass-headed nails of coffins are made out of gaslight! The money that a man makes by midnight toil he pays toward the expenses of his own funeral. When the devil cannot stop a good man’s work by making him lazy, then he comes into the editor’s room, or into the minister’s study, or into the artist’s studio, and he says, ‘Go it! you ought to be doing five times the work you are doing. You ought to write two books this year. You ought to send out twenty or thirty additional articles. You ought to deliver fifty lectures at two hundred dollars a night.’ Then when his health fails, there is satanic congratulation. The devil first tries to stop a useful man by making him lazy. Failing in that, he then puts on the lash, and digs in the spurs, and drives him to death. I say, therefore, to the men who are toiling with their brain, you had better ‘slow up,’ as they say on the railroad lines. I hear somebody say, ‘You had better take your own advice.’ I will. I am being converted under my own sermon. God gives to every man a certain amount of work, and he does not want him to do any more than that. ‘Do thyself no harm,’ is advice no more appropriate to the jailer when the prison is tumbling around his ears than it is appropriate to those the wards of whose health and the fastnesses of whose strength begin to tremble with the earthquake. Paul was very careful of his body; long before the days of expressage, he sends hundreds of miles for his great-coat to Troas. “O ye men of literary toil! you have been careful about keeping the candle snuffed and burning brightly, is it not most time you began to look after the candlestick? The sharp sword will not make any execution unless you have a handle to it. Through all the editorial-rooms and through all the studies of this country, let the warning reverberate; let it come up to-night from the graves of Kirke White, of Henry J. Raymond, and of Horace Greeley.” Stop My Paper: A Ledger Anecdote
“STOP MY PAPER.”—Illustrating the fearful consequences of this highly retributive measure, the Philadelphia Post tells the following upon the Ledger of that city. This fearful threat reminds us of a story about Mr. Swain years ago when he was proprietor of the Ledger. By his course in regard to some public matter he had offended a number of readers, one of whom met him on Chestnut Street, and thus accosted him: “Mr. Swain, I have stopped the Ledger.” “I have stopped the Ledger,” was the stern reply. “Great heavens!” said Mr. Swain, “my dear sir, that won’t do. Come with me to the office. This must be looked into.” And taking the man with him he entered the office, at Third and Chestnut Streets. There they found the clerks busy at their desks; then ascended to the editorial rooms and composing rooms, where all was as usual; finally they descended to the press rooms, where the engineers were at work. “I thought you told me you had stopped the Ledger,” said Mr. Swain. “So I have,” said the offended subscriber. “I don’t see the stoppage; the Ledger seems to be going on.” “Oh! I mean to say—that is, that I—ah—had stopped taking it.” “Is that all?” exclaimed Mr. Swain. “Why, my dear sir, you don’t know how you alarmed me. As for your individual subscription, I care very little. Good day, sir, and never make such rash assertions again.” Entertaining Thoughts Worthy of Christian Purity
ENTERTAIN no thoughts that you would blush at in words. Iowa Church Organized and Baptisms at Hook's Point
By R. M. Kilgore
Nov. 12-18, attended the meeting at Hook’s Point. At this meeting, we were favored with the labors of Bro. Butler, which were greatly appreciated by those who had but lately embraced the truth, and also by us, who had but recently united with him to minister in word and doctrine. Though the weather was stormy and cold during the whole time, there was a very general attendance, and the meeting was a profitable one. A church of twenty-three members was organized; also Systematic Benevolence. Monday, the 18th, eight willing souls were buried with their Lord in baptism, who, we trust, arose to walk in newness of life. Others desiring baptism were not prepared. From this place, I accompanied Bro. H. Nicola to fill appointments in Western Iowa and Nebraska. Nov. 21-25, met with the friends of the cause at Soldier Valley, Iowa. Found them in rather a discouraged state of mind. Held eleven meetings, endeavoring to raise the standard of practical godliness. The brethren were strengthened and encouraged, and God graciously sent us his rich blessing. We organized a church of nine members, and s. b., amounting to $73.00. Bro. D. M. McWilliams was elected and ordained elder. Nov. 26, 27, preached two discourses to the church at Onawa, Iowa. This is a small company, and for the lack of an efficient leader in spiritual things, and consecration on the part of the membership, they are not making that advancement in the divine life which it is their privilege to do. The testimony of Bro. Nicola was especially adapted and received, and we trust will prove a great gain to all. Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, met with the church at Decatur, Neb. We gave four discourses to good congregations. Bro. M. D. Clark was elected and ordained elder of the church, and seven more were received into the church, upon being baptized. Some of the membership here also have not come up to all the light they have received and, consequently, are on the background themselves, and a drawback to others. We hope they will arouse before it is too late, and walk in the light, lest gross darkness cover them. Monday, Dec. 2, Bro. Porter took us to Tekama. Met Mr. A. Briggs, who took us to his home near Mt. Pleasant, Neb. Being denied the use of their school-house, we held one meeting in Mr. Waterman’s house, and eight in the Elder Grove school-house, which was kindly granted us. This is the first visit they have received from any of our ministers since I left them last May; and, as a consequence, some had given up and gone back, and those still holding on were greatly discouraged. By our advice, five were received and added to the church at Decatur, by members who were present. We hope that these dear souls will prove faithful, let their light shine, and endure unto the end, and that those who have a heart to obey God will unite with them, and finally taste of the fruit of the tree of life inside the city of God. Dec. 14, 15, attended a general gathering of the friends of the cause with the church of Onawa, Iowa. Some were prevented from attending by a severe storm on Sabbath, yet the house was filled. Held five meetings, and organized a Tract and Missionary Society. At all these meetings, we acknowledge with gratitude the goodness and mercy of God in meeting with us by his Spirit, and for the benefit we received ourselves. Monday, 16, Bro. N. left me, to return home, and I to go north, to Hamilton Co. At the urgent request of some, I spoke to a full house in the Lake circle District. I am now at Bach Grove, and begin meetings to-night. I find the people just about as I left them. The epizootic is raging here, and, as a consequence, will greatly detract from the interest of our meetings, as the people cannot attend without teams. Three yoke of oxen does the hauling of wood and milling, principally, for the neighborhood. I am expecting Bro. C. A. Washburn to assist me here in the work, and I ask the prayers of God’s people, that He may aid us. My P. O. address, while I am in this county, will be Webster City, Iowa. Meeting in Grand Traverse Region, Mich.
By P. Strong; D. W. Milk
Having reported a part of our labors, and the report not having reached the Office, we now give a general summary of them and their results, as far as seen in Grand Traverse Region. The term, Grand Traverse Region, covers a territory of several counties, newly and thinly settled districts. Our visit to that region was a matter of experiment, by proper advice, as we knew nothing of the field, or of even one of its inhabitants. Our first meeting was in Whitewater Township, Grand Traverse Co., among a class of first-day Adventists. One family, Bro. D. Taylor’s, from among them embraced the truth. They are still firm, and rejoicing in the light. Next, we held a few meetings in an adjoining neighborhood, where there was no interest to hear. Our third place of meeting was near Spencer Creek, Antrim Co. Here we found Bro. J. Trotman alone in the faith, having embraced the truth by reading the tracts and papers sent him by sister Craw, who lives near Elk Rapids. She received the light through the instrumentality of sister Judd of Ohio. Thus, we see again the fruit of a few tracts—precious souls brought to the knowledge of the truth. At Spencer Creek, one family, Bro. P. Smalley’s, embraced the truth. They are still firm. Our fourth place of meeting was at the old Mission, on the peninsula, between the east and west arm of Traverse Bay. Here is, indeed, a beautiful place. The summer scenery is delightful. The clear, deep waters of Traverse Bay are delightsome. Various kinds of fruit that grow in northern latitudes are abundant. Still, mildew, blight, the effects of the curse, are seen and felt here. Yet the inhabitants seem to have their eyes fixed upon the peach and apple trees, that may possibly bear fruit once a year, and dare not for a moment look up to the tree that is sure to bear fruit every month. We held a few meetings, with no visible results. Our fifth place was Wexford, Wexford Co., among a class of first-day Adventists. A few decided to keep the commandments; but when their leader, Mr. Brigham, heard of it, he privily persuaded them back. He does most of the reading and thinking for them. He advocates no law, and the non-resurrection of the wicked. Here, too, spiritualism has a strong hold upon some; so much so that one man and his wife, some two years since, proceeded to the house of a neighbor where the man of the house had just died, and demanded the privilege of raising the dead to life; affirming that they could do it. But the wife of the deceased remonstrated, and they left, chagrined. They were present when Bro. Strong spoke on spiritualism. They raged, threatened, and said they would raise (not the dead, but) a shower of rotten eggs. Yet they failed in this also. Our sixth place of meetings was at Monroe Center, Grand Traverse Co. Here, the interest to hear was good until the M. E. Camp-meeting commenced, that had been previously appointed. Then we closed our meetings, to commence again after their camp-meeting. Eld. Bathrick spoke against the Sabbath, the evening before their meeting commenced. But some of his members had already decided to keep the Sabbath. Thus the fire was kindled, and the opposition was manifest all through their meetings. Eight preachers were present, and only one of them spoke to, or even noticed, us only in their preaching, and social chats at intermissions, where we received the most special attention (we think) of any on the ground. Their meeting was nearly a failure. Only one (a young lady from Chicago) professed to have been converted. The next evening after their meeting closed, Eld. Steel spoke against the Sabbath at the place where we held our meetings. Here he made a clean sweep of all that had anything to do with us, and those that publish the tracts and papers we were scattering. All were liars; and in the little tract called Truth, he had found twenty-one lies. On being reviewed the next evening, he denied calling us liars. The people were disgusted with him, yet the prejudice caused from their opposing the truth, we found, afterward, had fastened itself upon the minds of many candid and sensible people. We were strangers, and our views were not fully known. The impressions prevailed that our mission was to scatter error, cause controversy, and tear others to pieces. So when we returned from our good camp-meeting and Conference, some seemed to have decided to hear no more. We held a few meetings with the few who had decided to obey, and in an adjoining district, organized a church of ten members, known as the church of Monroe Center, Grand Traverse Co., Bro. C. Downs, elder. Organized s. B. amounting to $32.74 per year. Several were not present that will probably unite with them. Since we left, one more has decided to obey the truth. They have regular Sabbath meetings, and a Bible-class. We learn by a private letter that their meetings are very interesting and profitable. They are leaving their idols and entering into the reforms. The Lord bless and guide them. There are at present some twenty or more Sabbath-keepers in Grand Traverse Region. We have canvassed the field quite extensively, and find it a hard field, generally, in which to labor; yet we think, with a small tent (say forty feet in diameter), to go into the villages, with the blessing of God, a fair work might be done. We have sold and given (mostly given) away in this region more than $60.00 worth of publications. We have obtained three subscribers for Review, five for Reformer, and three for Instructor. We have aimed to scatter the truth wherever we went, so that the field might open for future labors. Another season we think will be a favorable time for this region. Labor will have to be done here, mostly, in summer and autumn. The lumbering interests and deep snow are unfavorable to laboring in the winter. Since Nov. 15, it has been very good sleighing. Up to Dec. 3, four inches of snow have fallen. It frequently falls during the winter, to the depth of from ten to fifteen feet. But the ground not freezing, it is constantly thawing underneath; yet four or five feet on an average, is no uncommon depth, toward spring. We closed our meetings Dec. 1st, and returned southward. P. S. Although our report is a joint one, our labors have been mostly separate. Tract and Missionary Department.
By S. N. Haskell
EVERYBODY in this enlightened land knows all about Thanksgiving Day. It is usually appointed about the last Thursday in November. On this day, family relatives and kindred friends are invited to the old homestead to feast on beef, pork, and fowl of all kinds filled with highly-seasoned dressing, &c., then to have a pleasant visit. Could a person rise from the dead who had never heard of an American Thanksgiving Day, and at one glance take a view of the tables, spread as they usually are, and then listen to the evening's conversation which, in many instances, follows, he might reasonably conclude that it was a day of gormandizing and reckless mirth. But it is not always that the day is spent thus. A brother in the southern part of New Hampshire prepared a table of grains, vegetables, and delicious fruits, wholesomely cooked, and invited the poor, lame, and I know not but the blind, to partake of the same, and then spent a season of prayer and praise, and in recounting the mercies of the past year, and the deliverances God had wrought for them. And so full of gratitude to the Author of every good and perfect gift did the heart of this brother become, that he made a thank-offering of twenty-five dollars to the tract society, which will purchase 80,000 pages of tracts (at the prices now furnished to the tract societies by the Office of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association) for free distribution. And who would dare to limit the number of thanksgivings that will be made to God by individuals who will receive the truth through the judicious circulation of these tracts? January, 1873, has come. Who, in the wide harvest-field, will not, at the commencement of this year, recount the mercies of God during the past year, call to mind where God has rescued them from the hand of death, wrought deliverances from trouble and affliction, and saved from the darkness of error by causing the glorious light of the Sabbath and kindred truths to shine in their pathway, and make a thank-offering to the cause of God? With such thanksgivings God will be well pleased, whether it be in November or January. The ancient method of offering unto God the first-fruits I do not think would be out of place. They were to eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that they brought an offering unto their God. The Spirit of God has recorded the following: “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” Who will adopt the above plan? ARE you ready to labor, my brother,
In the field of your Master and Lord?
Lift your eyes! it is whitening to harvest
’Neath the ripening power of the word. Hearken now to the Husbandman, calling
For more laborers, faithful and true.
O delay not, my brother! delay not!
Is the Master not calling for you? Take your sickle and go as a reaper;
There are places for workmen of skill;
But if this may not be, as a gleaner
You can render good help if you will. Failing this, you can follow the workmen,
And, when weary and faint with their toil,
Quench their thirst from the cool-flowing fountain,
Or anoint their parched brows with fresh oil. Does your ease-loving nature deter you
From the burden and heat of the day?
Give no heed to its craven suggestions!
To the field of your duty away! Come there to you sad thoughts of unfitness
For a work of such labor and care?
Let the implements then of the husbandry
Be all-hallowed by faith and by prayer. Thus, baptized with the Spirit of power
In your new consecration, away
To the field of your duty and labor!
For the Master expects you to-day. Do you ask of the wages, my brother?
Not in gold or in silver paid down;
But in peace passing all understanding,
And in Heaven a laborer’s crown.
—Christian Advocate. New Hampshire.
By P. C. Rodman
I HAVE commenced lectures in Thornton. Have held five meetings. About thirty attend. Some appear interested and candid. Spiritualism is at work here. We need much of the grace of God. Shall do our best. Pray for us, brethren and sisters. Woodstock, N. H., Dec. 24, 1872. Quarterly Meeting of the Ohio T. and M. Society.
By M. E. Reynolds
THE first quarterly meeting of the Tract and Missionary Society appointed at Clyde, was held in Townsend, Dec. 15, 1872. Meeting convened at 9 o'clock A. M. Opened with prayer by Eld. S. N. Haskell. The President being absent, Bro. Haskell was appointed to fill the chair. Appropriate and instructive remarks were made by Bro. Haskell on the order and design of the T. and M. Society, accompanied by interesting accounts of its workings in New England and other places. Report of the annual meeting was then called for and read. Moved and carried that it be accepted with necessary amendments. Reports of the several districts were called for and read, showing the total distribution of publications during the quarter to be 33,568 pages. No. of families visited, 26; No. of subscribers for Review, 11; Instructor, 12; Reformer, 79; No. of members added during the quarter, 5. Financial standing of the T. and M. Society, Cash on hand, Sept. 17, 1872, about, $180.00 By donations, memberships, and book sales, 26.40 By donations to delinquent fund, 71.75 “Cash paid for delinquents,” 19.65 The subject of delinquents was then taken up. The report of agents present showed that much interest had been taken in this department of the work. It was moved and carried that a delinquent fund be raised, to which the brethren and sisters present heartily responded by pledging over $100.00, of which $71.75 were promptly paid. Meeting adjourned to 1½ o'clock. Meeting called to order by the Chair. Prayer by Eld. S. N. Haskell. Remarks by Bro. Haskell on the importance and probable results of procuring new subscribers for our periodicals. Moved and carried that the second quarterly meeting be held at Clyde, the second Sabbath in March, 1873. If cold settles on the outer covering of the lungs it becomes pneumonia, inflammation of the lungs, or lung fever, which in many cases carries the strongest man to his grave within a week. If a cold falls upon the inner covering of the lungs, it is pleurisy, with its knife-like pains, and its slow, very slow, recoveries. If a cold settles in the joints, there is rheumatism in its various forms; inflammatory rheumatism with its agonies of pain, and rheumatism of the heart, which in an instant sometimes snaps the cords of life with no friendly warning. It is of the utmost practical importance, then, in the wintry weather, to know not so much how to cure a cold as how to avoid it. Colds always come from one cause, some part or the whole of the body being colder than natural for a time. If a man will keep his feet warm always, and never allow himself to be chilled, he will never take cold in a lifetime, and this can only be accomplished by due care in warm clothing, and the avoidance of drafts and undue exposure. While multitudes of colds come from cold feet, perhaps the majority arise from persons cooling off too quickly after becoming a little warmer than is natural from exercise or work, or from confinement to a warm apartment.—Wood's Household Magazine. Farm and Workshop Origins of Eminent Men
THE farm and the workshops have supplied, by far, the largest number of our eminent men.