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Review and Herald, Vol. 49, No. 25.

CHRIST AN EDUCATOR
Earlier text: CHRIST AN EDUCATOR

IOWA AND NEBRASKA CONFERENCE.

By George I. Butler; L. McCoy

The Iowa and Nebraska Conference held its fourteenth annual session at Marshalltown, Iowa, in connection with the camp-meeting, June 7 to 12, 1877.
First session convened June 7, at 5 P. M. Conference called to order by Eld. Geo. I. Butler, president. Prayer by Eld. H. Nicola.
Credentials of delegates being called for, the following churches were found to be represented: Waukon, Monroe, Decatur City, Mt. Pleasant, Peru, Winterset, Oxford Mills, State Center, Sandyville, Washington, West Union, Cedar Falls, Laporte City, Sigourney, Coloma, Marshalltown, Anamosa, Crescent City, Marion, West Dayton, Victor, Woodburn, Pilot Grove, Lisbon, Elkhorn, Knoxville, Soldier Valley, all of Iowa; Seward, Stromsburg, Farmers Valley, Nebraska City, David City, Blue Valley, and Lynden, Nebraska; and Swan Lake, Dakota.
On motion, The following named churches were admitted into the Conference: Fremont, York Creek, and Humboldt, of Nebraska; Emmitsburg, Nevada, Denison, and Altamouth, of Iowa; and Elk Point, Dakota.
Church at Hampton, Iowa, was taken under watchcare of the Conference.
On motion, President filled the following committees:—
Committee on Nominations: C. L. Boyd, C. A. Washburn, and F. H. Chapman;
Committee on Auditing: Jacob Shively, A. J. Stiffler, Minos Miller, Dan. Andre, W. P. Andrews, and C. E. Hathaway;
Committee on Resolutions: E. W. Farnsworth, Matthew Wing, and G. V. Kilgore;
Committee on Credentials and Licenses: Henry Nicola, J. T. Mitchell, and Benn Auten.

SECOND SESSION.

Conference convened June 10, at 9 P. M. Nominating Committee made the following report: For President, Elder E. W. Farnsworth, Waukon, Iowa; Conference Committee, Elders E. W. Farnsworth, H. Nicola, and J. H. Morrison; Treasurer, A. R. Henry, Indianola, Iowa; Secretary, L. McCoy, Sigourney, Iowa; Camp-Meeting Committee, W. E. Newcomb, John Berry, and Peter Baker.
The report was accepted, and the above were declared officers of the Conference for the ensuing year.
Committee on Credentials and Licenses made the following report: For credentials, G. I. Butler, J. H. Morrison, R. M. Kilgore, E. W. Farnsworth, Matthew Wing, J. F. Hanson, C. L. Boyd, C. A. Washburn, Henry Nicola, J. T. Mitchell, and Jefferson Bartlett. For ordination, G. V. Kilgore. For licenses, L. McCoy, Henry Shultz, F. A. Barlow, H. D. Hollenbeck, Louis Johnson, R. A. Hart, Sidney Hart, Alex. Caldwell, W. D. McLaughlin, Matthew Hackworth, and Eugene E. Hayes.
Report received and adopted.
G. V. Kilgore was duly ordained to the ministry.
On motion, The sum of $500 was voted to the General Conference.
Voted, That a camp-meeting be held in Nebraska during the month of September, 1877.
Voted, That the next Conference and camp-meeting of the Iowa and Nebraska Conference be held in the fall or autumn season, and place of next camp-meeting be at Oskaloosa, Iowa.
Voted, That the church at Salem, Neb., be dismissed from this Conference.

SUMMARY.

Churches admitted into this Conference, 9; present number of churches in Conference, 60; increase of members past year, 239; number of members at present, 1365; number of Sabbath-school scholars, 976; amount of S. B. pledged to Conference, $5077.
The Committee on Resolutions reported the following, which were unanimously adopted:—
Resolved, That we have great reason to be thankful to God for his mercy and blessings that have been manifested among us at this meeting, by which the people of God have been encouraged, backsliders reclaimed, and sinners converted.
Resolved, That we clearly recognize the hand of God in the establishment and prosperity of the cause of present truth in Europe; that we hail its advancement with unfeigned delight; and that we pledge ourselves to sustain our faithful missionaries by our earnest prayers, and their cause by our means.
Resolved, That we heartily concur in the plan suggested by the General Conference Committee, to pledge to the support of the Tract and Missionary Society an amount equal to one-third of our S. B. pledge, and earnestly recommend the adoption of this plan by all our brethren.
Resolved, That we regard the T. and M. work as one of the most efficient means by which we may teach the masses of the people; that we deeply regret the backwardness of our people in taking hold of this, the most successful plan which God has given us for the conversion of souls to his truth; and that we earnestly appeal to our brethren to take hold of this work with new and united effort.
Resolved, That we express our gratitude to God for opening a broader field of labor in the South; and that we heartily indorse the suggestions of the General Conference in reference to the establishment of a publishing house on the Atlantic coast.
Resolved, That the officers of the Central Railroad of Iowa have our thanks for their kindness in granting a reduction of fare and other favors to those traveling over their road to attend our camp-meeting.
Resolved, That we express our thanks to the Camp-Meeting Committee for their efficient labor in providing for the wants of the people at this meeting.
Resolved, That we express our thanks to the people of Marshalltown and vicinity for the interest they have manifested in attending our meetings, and for their kindness and courtesy extended to us, and especially to the Times, Republican, and Statesman offices for liberal notices and reports given through their columns.
This annual gathering was the largest and one of the best ever held in the State, notwithstanding we had no help from public speakers outside of our Conference. Some five hundred persons were encamped on the ground, and there were about three thousand persons in attendance on Sunday.
At a baptism on Monday at the Iowa River, where forty-nine persons were baptized, there were two thousand persons in attendance. The scene was a most beautiful and touching one. Parents and children, husbands and wives, were buried together by baptism. The ceremony was performed jointly by Elds. Butler and Farnsworth.
Five tents, properly manned, will at once go into the field, under the management of this Conference.
Voted, That a copy of the proceedings be furnished the REVIEW AND HERALD for publication.
Geo. I. Butler, Pres.
L. McCoy, Sec.

FAMILY PRAYER.

READER, are you at the head of your family? If so, do you have prayer in your family? He who does not read the Bible and pray with his family, sacrifices two of the most precious privileges ever given to man.
There are multitudes of men, we fear, who never read their Bibles at all during the day, except the brief portions read in their family devotions. A much larger portion should be read daily, but the very little that is read is infinitely better than none at all. The prayers offered round the family altar, while they are a source of exquisite blessing upon the heart of him who prays, react in the most happy manner upon the family.
I am not surprised that many children of professedly religious parents have so little regard for religion, and go to the bad as rapidly as they do. Their religious retrospect at home is a dreary blank. They have no faith in the religion of their parents, because they never pray with them. As they look back over life, from their young manhood or womanhood, there is not one religious act in their family that they can recall. There has been nothing fixed or pleasant in their religious—if it can be called religious—training.
As they go out into the world to fight life's battles for themselves, they have no cheering retrospect of the hour for family prayer at home. They cannot sing, when far away, when the hour arrives:—
“There is a scene where spirits blend, Where friend holds fellowship with friend; Though sundered far by faith they meet Around one common mercy-seat.
And having no ties of a family or a social nature to bind them to morality or religion, it is not surprising that they frequently run into vice.—Sel.

GOUGH'S CHEESE ARGUMENT.

No one knows better than John B. Gough how to use the reductio ad absurdum, or how to handle a bit of humor that, like the stocking the Irishman was swinging at Donnybrook Fair, had a rock in it. The following from his lecture, “The Foes we Fight,” is a straight shot:—
An LL. D. (and I am very sorry to say he is a Massachusetts LL. D.) was dining at the table of a lady who never furnishes wine, no matter who is her guest, at whose house General Grant spent nearly two days, during which time not one drop of wine, ale, or spirits, would she present to him or his staff; and when the British nobility are sometimes entertained by her, they inquire, “Can you entertain Lord So-and-so?” when she replies, “Yes, but he must know beforehand that no wine, ale, nor spirits are offered in my house.” This gentleman was at her dinner-table, and he said, “Now I think I cannot understand your position in reference to this matter, Mrs. So-and-so. Now I enjoy a glass of wine at my dinner; it is my habit to use it. You say to me, ‘Doctor, I shall give you no wine because So-and-so makes bad use of it.’ Here is one person cannot drink with impunity, and here is another who makes a fool of himself. By and by you will take from us all our luxuries. I enjoy cheese. I like it with a cup of coffee and a cracker; it promotes digestion. Would you say, ‘Doctor, here is a man cannot eat cheese with impunity, and I shall give you no cheese?’ Is that a fair way of putting it? Did you ever hear a man standing on the gallows-tree saying to those who came to witness his execution: ‘Now, my friends, take warning by me; never eat any cheese’? Did you ever hear of a man murdering his wife, and giving as a reason, or as an excuse, that he had been eating cheese? Did you ever hear of a row in the streets where a man was murdered, or several ribs were broken, of which the papers said: ‘Those men have been eating freely of cheese’? Now, just show to me that cheese produces eight-tenths of the crime, seven-eighths the pauperism, and half the lunacy; show to me that cheese produces the result that drink does, and by the grace of God I will battle the cheese while I live.—Christian at Work

DEFINITIONS,

WISDOM.

The perfect sight of duty; thought which molds A rounded life, and its true aim beholds.

REVERENCE.

Obeisance unto greatness understood; The first step of a human life toward good.

SERVICE.

Think what God doth for man; so mayest thou know How godlike service is, and serve also.

DESPAIR.

The shadow of a slave who turns his back On light, and cries, “The universe is black!”

DOUBT.

The mountain’s image trembling in the lake; Look up. Perhaps the mountain does not quake.

DEFEAT.

One of the stairs to Heaven. Halt not to count What you have trampled on. Look up, and mount.

FAILURE.

Who knows? Each year, as does the wheat-seed, dies; And so God harvests his eternities.

FORGIVENESS.

The condonation of a wrong. What then? Even the wrong-doers are our brother-men.

OBSTINACY.

A mule with blinkers. Ay; he goes quite straight, Runs at the gate-post, and will miss the gate.

PRUDENCE.

The saddle-girth of valor. Thou art wise To gird it well, but not around thy eyes.

PATRIOTISM.

Not the mere holding a great flag unfurled, But making it the goodliest in the world.

NARROWNESS.

Be narrow!—as the bud, the flame, the dart; But narrow in thy aim, not at thy heart.

WEALTH.

Cornelia’s jewels; blind old Milton’s thought; Job’s patience; and the lesson Lazarus taught.

SABBATH, JUNE 16.

By Uriah Smith

The church at Battle Creek were interested in remarks from Bro. White in the afternoon of Sabbath, June 16. He was led out to speak freely of the progress of the cause, the growth of our different institutions, and the increasing strength which the message is gathering to itself in all parts of the field. The church were reminded of their privileges and the danger of their failing to appreciate them, of their obligations and the danger of their not discharging them. The history of the institutions located here, the Publishing Houses, the Health Institute and the College, was briefly touched upon, showing in how marked a manner the providence of God has worked to bring them up to their present degree of prosperity. The importance of the reform which has been introduced among us and of our maintaining our integrity as reformers was set forth. The efficiency of the publishing work was also dwelt upon, in connection with missionary effort. The reports that come in from week to week show but a very small part of the real progress that is being made. The voices of our preachers that are sounding through the land are but a very small part of the preaching that is being done. For our books are everywhere, bearing their silent testimony, keeping to the point, never getting angry, never turning aside to unimportant issues, but telling their straightforward, pointed story in a manner to carry conviction to the heart. And the evidences of their work, which we are already beginning to see, show that their influence is immense. His remarks were full of courage and good cheer, tending to inspire faith and hope and to arouse to new exertions in the good work of present truth. U. S.

THE IOWA AND NEBRASKA CAMP-MEETING.

By George I. Butler

This meeting convened at the appointed time, and the people generally reached the ground in good season. I expected it would be much smaller than last year, because times are so much harder and quite a number had told me beforehand they could not go, and because the paper had given no encouragement beforehand that Bro. and Sr. White or other speakers from the General Conference were coming. We were happily disappointed, as this meeting was the largest ever held in the State. Between forty and fifty tents were pitched, and the number of Sabbath-keepers on the ground very nearly filled our large tent, 50x70, full. We had a very dreary, cold spell of weather during our meeting, and many of our meetings were of necessity held in the large tent. But the best of feeling prevailed nevertheless.
We looked for laborers from abroad, especially for Bro. and Sr. White, till the very last; but none came. In this State we have not been so short of help for years, as Bro. R. M. Kilgore has gone to Texas, and Bro. Morrison was necessarily detained away. Bro. Farnsworth and myself did most of the preaching. Elders Wing, G. V. Kilgore, and Boyd, each spoke once. Our social meetings were seasons of interest. The Lord made the preaching of Bro. Farnsworth a means of great good to the meeting and specially blessed his labors. This was a happy surprise to most of our people, as Bro. F. had labored in a distant part of the field and few present had ever heard him before.
The interest increased from the beginning till the close. On Sunday, which was tolerably fair in the morning, a large crowd were in attendance, not as large as last year, yet the grounds were covered with people. Bro. F. spoke on the Sabbath question, and was listened to with the deepest interest. Scarcely any stragglers were seen walking around. All seemed to give the closest attention. In the afternoon the rain fell upon the tent, so that it was difficult to hold the people, yet it remained closely packed till the close.
Monday was a blessed day. We called back the attention of the people from the business and rush of the day before to the importance of the work of seeking God. The Lord came in, the camp was moved. It was not a time of great excitement and noise, but the still small voice seemed to be speaking to hearts. A solemn, melting, tender spirit pervaded the congregation. We gave opportunity for any to come forward to show their desire for God’s blessing. Some one hundred and fifty or two hundred did so. Many of these spoke with the deepest feeling, and for some of these our hearts had been greatly burdened for many months. How our hearts rejoiced to see them break the bands of Satan and reach out and obtain God’s blessing. We can never forget that day. In the afternoon fifty were examined and accepted for baptism, and all but one were buried in the Iowa River. The immense crowd present, pressing down to see the baptism, marred somewhat the pleasure of the occasion. Not one-half, probably, of those present could see the ordinance performed. This was the largest number ever baptized at any camp-meeting in our State. This has been a most precious camp-meeting. Many of our most experienced members thought it was the best ever held in the State.
We look for more to be accomplished the coming year than was done during the last. Nine churches were admitted to the Conference. Five tents will be running the present season.
GEORGE I. BUTLER.
Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, June 13, 1877.

WESTERN NEW YORK CAMP-MEETING.

By B. L. Whitney

This meeting was held, according to appointment, at Fillmore Park, on the Buffalo, New York, and Philadelphia Railroad, June 7 to 12, 1877. Although designed especially for the brethren in the western part of the State and attended almost exclusively by them, this meeting was fully as large as the average of our State meetings, and was considered by all as one of the best ever held in the State.
Not a dozen persons east of Syracuse attended the meeting, yet we had forty-one church and family tents on the ground, and there were between three and four hundred Sabbath-keepers in attendance. The general attendance was very good, yet there were several churches which were not represented at all, and many of the brethren in some localities were hindered from coming on account of hard times. These facts show the strength of the cause in this part of the Conference so far as numbers are concerned.
The weather was fine throughout, except on Sunday, when it was cold, stormy, and windy. But generally, providence favored us, and the circumstances all seemed to conspire to make the meeting a success. The location was all that could be desired, easy of access, with every courtesy extended to us by the R. R. officials who did all in their power to help forward the enterprise.
Those who had the arrangement of the grounds in charge, took hold well, so that when the brethren came on Wednesday they found their tents all pitched and things in readiness for the meeting. This spirit was manifest during the entire meeting.
Perhaps the two most prominent features of the meeting were the outside attendance, which increased to the last, and the uniformly good order and decorum maintained by those who came on the ground. In these particulars this meeting went beyond anything we have ever had in the State. Our last public meeting Monday evening was attended by from eight hundred to one thousand people, and on Sunday, when we had a large crowd considering the weather, although there were no police arrangements and no officers on the ground, the very best of order was maintained and good attention given to the discourse by nearly all in attendance. This was considered remarkable considering the fact that we were located so near the city of Buffalo.
There was not a public meeting from first to last without outside attendance; and on Monday afternoon and evening the large tent was well filled, and the very best attention was given. The unfavorable weather on Sunday prevented many from coming who otherwise would, yet there were from three thousand to three thousand five hundred persons on the ground, and in spite of the fact that the wind was blowing a vigorous gale, the large tent, 60x100, was filled to its utmost capacity with a congregation that listened with good attention to two discourses in succession, both in the forenoon and afternoon. The tent was also well filled in the evening.
The singing seemed to be an interesting part of the exercise to the crowd. The choir, led by a cabinet organ, gave a song service of fifteen minutes before each public meeting and we believe this added much to the interest of the meeting.
The social meetings were good. On one occasion 156 testimonies were given in 50 minutes. Many of those attending the meeting had lately started in the service of the Lord or had been aroused from a backslidden state by the meetings which have been held among the churches in this part of the State this spring, and most of these took hold well in these social seasons. Of course, as revival meetings had been held in nearly all these churches it was not to be expected that this would be a prominent feature of the meeting, yet twenty-eight backsliders and unconverted persons came forward for prayers as occasion was offered, eighteen of whom were baptized. The scene at the baptism Monday was a most beautiful one, and was witnessed by hundreds from the surrounding country.
On Monday morning, after a discourse on S. B., the scattered brethren who are not connected with any of our churches and have not been paying S. B. were called together, and they were invited to share with their brethren in this. Pledges were made by them to the amount of $300. Then by a unanimous vote of the entire meeting a sum equal to one-third our S. B. was pledged to the Tract Society, to be paid quarterly the same as S. B. The wants of the Battle Creek College were then presented by Bro. C. and pledges to the amount of $1700 were made.
Full reports of the meeting were published in the three leading Buffalo daily papers, the Courier, Express, and Commercial Advertiser, they devoting in several instances, more than a column a day to these reports.

RESOLUTIONS.

At a business meeting Monday morning, the following resolutions were most heartily and unanimously adopted by a rising vote of the entire meeting:—
Resolved, That the sincere thanks of this meeting be tendered to the officers and employes of the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railroad for their gentlemanly courtesy, both in granting us the use of their beautiful grounds, Fillmore Park, and their unceasing and successful endeavors to aid and promote the interest of the meeting and accommodate all who have attended.
Resolved, That the grateful thanks of the Seventh-day Adventists of Western New York and Pennsylvania be tendered to the editors and reporters of the Buffalo daily papers for their full, candid, and interesting reports of this meeting.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be furnished to the railroad officials, and to the daily papers for publication.
The main burden of the public labor of the meeting fell, of course, on Bro. Canright, though Bro. Reynolds spoke twice and the writer five times. As Bro. C. is soon to leave us to go to another field of labor, a resolution expressing the grateful appreciation of his labors among us during the past year was unanimously adopted by a rising vote.
The brethren separated with feelings of new courage and determination to work in the cause; and as we look back upon this meeting, undertaken somewhat as an experiment, we can but feel that it has been a great success; and we trust that under the blessing of God it will prove of lasting benefit to the cause in Western New York.
B. L. WHITNEY.

THE JUDGE OF QUICK AND DEAD.

By Uriah Smith

PETER says in Acts 10:42, that Jesus was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. Again he says in his first epistle, 4:5, “Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.” Do not these expressions show that the Judgment is to take place while the dead are still in their graves and there are people still living on the earth, and that it is consequently a definite event to take place in the future, and not one that has been taking place all along in the past history of the race? But how can this be if men are judged when they die and are not judged till they die? Would not the Judgment then be the Judgment of the dead alone? But he is the Judge of the quick or living at the same time that he is the Judge of the dead. In the Judgment with which the work in the Sanctuary closes, we have the place for the fulfillment of these texts. In this Judgment is involved the investigation of character, and the decision of cases, and it is one which must precede the coming of Christ.
U. S.

THE GLORY TO COME.

By Uriah Smith

Peter says, “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ that was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.” 1 Peter 1:10–12. The apostle shows by this language that the great theme of Christ’s sufferings and the glory that should follow is one which has called forth the most diligent search and inquiry of the prophets, and that even the angels have desired to look into these things. They did not stop with the sufferings of Christ, but went forward till the wonderful work closed with the glory to follow. And then their eyes rested upon such heights of glory that they could not comprehend it, and such boundless visions of triumph that they were unable to scan it. How should the theme that can thus interest angels be regarded by men?
But an interesting thought for us in the matter is that the first part of this picture is already nearly, if not quite, completed. May we not say that Christ has accomplished that which is called his sufferings? He has died upon the cross, he has about finished his long period of pleading before his Father for sinful man and filled up the measure of sufferings which he endures in sympathy with his followers here below. This work is about ended. And what succeeds? The glory, the brightness and majesty of which cause even the angels to veil their faces. With the coming of Christ comes this glory. With the coming of Christ comes the salvation that is to be revealed in the last time, for which we are to hope to the end, and which is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Verses 5, 13. What then is before us? Salvation and glory. How near? At the doors. The suffering, the humiliation, the warfare, the labor, the cross, the burden of mortality, are about ended. The next to come is the glory, the exaltation, the victory, the rest, the crown, the thrill of immortality. Do we not well to look up and lift up our heads, our redemption being so near, and we so soon to enter upon this glory that is to follow? U. S.

Happiness Without Wealth: Reflections on Contentment

THACKERAY has said that some people cannot drive to happiness with four horses, and others can reach the goal on foot.

EUROPEAN MISSION.

By John Nevins Andrews

A CONSIDERABLE period has elapsed since I have made any report. I do not remain silent from choice nor because I have nothing good to say, but because my duties here have demanded every moment from the first light of the morning till late at night. If I write few reports it is because I have very few minutes in which to write. And this must excuse me for long delays in responding to important letters. My sickness caused a serious delay in the publication of our paper, so that the number which should have appeared the first of February did not appear till late in March.
Our enemies have desired the ruin of our paper, and have taken advantage even of this incident to predict that the paper would soon cease to be published. But when I found that the February number must be delayed, I caused a printed card to be sent to all our subscribers, explaining the cause of the delay. But in view of what our enemies have said, and in view of things which occurred in this country some years since, I have felt that the honor of the cause of God demanded that we should finish our volume of twelve numbers within the first year. It has demanded our utmost efforts to accomplish this, but I am happy to say that we have nearly completed the twelfth, or June number, and hope to mail it the first of that month.
I feel justified in saying that our paper is filled with good matter and contains no articles that are not worth the space they occupy. We hope to see the paper much improved in the future, but every number has been the best we could possibly make it with the help we now have.
But does the paper do good? It would be more proper for others to answer this question, yet I shall venture to say that real good has been accomplished. Our paper is sent to nearly all the countries of the world in which the French language is generally spoken. From the most of these countries we have received testimonies that it is read with interest. Some of these are from persons who know nothing of our faith except what they have learned from our paper. This has been a source of encouragement, and besides this we have found the blessing of God in the work.
Bro. Ertzenberger has been revising some German tracts for publication, and has now commenced a course of lectures, with a good prospect of success, in the city of Essen.
Bro. Bourdeau is making very earnest efforts in Southern France, and though he has to labor under great disadvantages he is meeting with success.
Finally, we have many tokens of good and nothing that should occasion discouragement. God is infinitely good. He has committed to our trust a most sacred work, and it is for us to be faithful to that trust.
We rejoice to learn that Bro. W. C. White and wife are coming to Europe. We shall welcome them most joyfully and shall seek to co-operate with them in advancing the cause of Christ. We expect sometime to welcome his father and mother in this part of the world. May the extension of our work soon warrant such a visit. J. N. ANDREWS.
Bâle, Suisse, May 27.

THE CAMP-MEETINGS.

By James White

We receive the glorious news of the Western New York and Iowa camp-meetings with joy, and are very happy to give these triumphant reports to the readers of the REVIEW. We have marked the fact with great interest, that for several years past our camp-meetings each year have been blessed with greater outpourings of the Holy Spirit, and power attending the word spoken, than the previous one. These are God's meetings, and he tempers them to the wants of the people and cause, to his glory. We expect cheering reports from Wisconsin and Missouri, where camp-meetings are being held at the same time.
Mrs. White and the writer did most of the speaking at our first camp-meeting, held in 1868. We have gone the yearly rounds of all our camp-meetings, with few exceptions, from the first. We are nearly worn out. Our dear brethren have urged us to attend their camp-meetings this year, and it has been very hard to refuse them. We have feared that our absence would be felt, but we are relieved from such fears, and are made very happy in learning that the Iowa and Western New York camp-meetings just past were better than those of former years.
Our people are learning to trust in God as never before. Our young ministers are learning to take responsibilities. Let them have a chance. It is a great mistake for a set of preachers to get the idea that nobody is exactly qualified to speak at our camp-meetings excepting themselves. We fear that in some cases we have been in the way of younger men. The history of our camp-meetings the present year, as it shall be made, will be watched by us with deep interest. It takes the Lord to make a good camp-meeting. We should keep out of his way, and let him use whom he pleases. J. W.

Donations for the General Conference and Texas Mission

By James White

The General Conference is in debt. The Iowa Conference, however, has set a good example in donating $500 to the General Conference. Will other Conferences remember us. We forward $300 to Eld. R. M. Kilgore in Texas to help him out in that wide field with a tent. A blind man has given $100 for the mission in Texas, as receipted in last week's paper. We ask for $900 more to give the work there a good start. Cannot those who have two good eyes see the wants of the cause in Texas as clearly as this blind man? “We will see.” So here are $25 from J. W.

J. W

By James White

“None are so blind as those who will not see” is a saying as true as ancient. The outer vision may perish, and yet the mind sees. But a blind heart and mind is a terrible blindness. Such blindness came over the rejecters and crucifiers of the Lord of life. Such blindness is over thousands who in word love the cause, but in act forsake it. They know that new missions are being started almost everywhere, and that laborers are crippled here and there for want of means, and yet they do not really see what God is doing, and what his cause demands of them. We have distinct missions in Canada, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and missionary work going on in the wide world demanding means, and yet almost any amount of men and women among us, having two good eyes cannot see it. Oh, for the eye-salve!

J. W

HOW TO SETTLE CHURCH TRIALS.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

While the devil lives and the flesh is weak, there will be church trials, notwithstanding all the warnings and instructions that may be given on this point. Jesus says, It must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man through whom they come. As long as this is the case, we must do the best we can to get individuals and churches out of them after they have got into them. Having had some experience in the business, it may not be amiss to give some thoughts as to how to conduct a trial.
The first experience I had in the business was about a failure, simply because, as I afterward learned, I did not know how to go at it right. I would get the parties together, take up one point, hear what each had to say upon it, and then decide right there as to what I thought was right about it. As soon as I had decided against either party on the first point, they considered me partial all the way through the trial after that, and hence would not give much weight to what I said. Moreover, this threw them on the defensive to try to make a stand somewhere on other points. I found that this did not work well. After trying various ways, I found the following plan worked the best. It is most always quite successful, where there is any chance for success.
Get both the parties together, and also those who are specially interested in the trial. If it is a matter that should come before the whole church, then have them all together. If you can have two responsible, disinterested individuals with you, it is very important that you should. Your united judgment will carry more weight than the opinion of one alone. Then get both parties to agree to abide by your decision in the matter, that it shall be final, and shall be acted upon. If they will not agree to this, have nothing to do with it, because it will be of no use if you do. Having agreed to abide by your decision, call on either party to state their grievances with the other. When they have stated one point, have them give all the proof they can bring upon that particular point. Everybody else must preserve silence, hold their peace, while they fully state all they have to say. When they have done that, then call up the opposite party and hear their answer. If any present know anything about the subject, have them state it. When you have got all the testimony upon that point, call up another one. Be very careful not to express any opinion about the testimony on either side one way or the other.
Proceed in this manner until every point of difference between them has been canvassed. Then go alone with your committee and look over all the evidence and come to a perfect agreement as to what decision you shall render on every point. If there are any persons especially favorable to one side, call them in and get them to agree with you in your decision touching their friend. This will give great weight to your decision in the mind of that party when you state it. You can then say that you and the committee are perfectly agreed in your decisions; that the warmest friends of each party are also agreed with you. This cuts off all chance for either party to go to friends for sympathy.
After the evidence is all heard, and your minds are made up, call all the friends together, and before you have rendered your judgment, get each party again to agree to abide by the decision. Then state it plainly as it appears to you, and do not be afraid of being too plain and too pointed.
If you have to give very severe reproof to a party, first point out their good qualities and commend them for this. This will gain their confidence, and show that you want to speak favorably of them if you can. Then, in conclusion, get all present to agree in the decision rendered, and promise to help carry it out. This is the best mode of procedure that I have been able to find. D. M. CANRIGHT.
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