Review and Herald, Vol. 52, No. 19.
The Two Hemispheres and the Sabbath, No. 2Page 1
Earlier text: The Two Hemispheres and the Sabbath, No. 2—The latest reports from India are favorable for good crops this year. —$20,000 has been raised to start a Protestant newspaper in France; the capital proposed is $40,000. —110 torpedo boats have been distributed among 61 Russian war ships. —Negotiations concerning the Afghanistan difficulty are still going on. —Eighty distinct languages are spoken in the city of New York. —During the season 10,000 Mormon converts have been sent to Utah. —In Geneva, twenty-one cantons have accepted the scheme for the completion of the St. Gothard railway. A Delaware church recently purchased 187 spittoons. —At Atzala, Mexico, a mob, incited by priests, killed twenty Protestants, and wounded a number of others. —A world's conference of Y. M. C. Associations was recently held in Switzerland. Twelve nations were represented. —The Republicans of France are confident of gaining twenty-eight seats in the approaching senatorial elections. —In the severe storm of Oct. 28, 500 buildings were more or less injured in Philadelphia, involving a loss of about $2,000,000. —An American missionary to China says it is estimated that 10,000,000 deaths have occurred in consequence of the famine and diseases induced by it. —The hereditary protector of Juggernaut is in prison. The worship of this great idol seems to be decaying. —Dr. Gillooly, former Bishop of Elphin, Ireland, has been appointed by the pope as apostolic delegate from the holy see to Canada and the United States. —Edison is still hard at work in his laboratory perfecting his old patents, and arranging for new ones. His present income from his patents is said to be $60,000 a year. —England has an ally. The Begum of Bhopal has offered to place her army at the disposal of England. Bhopal is a province in Central India a little larger than Connecticut. —The obsequies of Paul Cullen, Ireland's first cardinal, were celebrated at Dublin, Oct. 29. The ceremonies were solemn and imposing, fully equaling, in this respect, those of Rome itself on similar occasions. —It is stated that the Marquis of Lorne, the new Governor-General of Canada, and his wife, the Princess Louise, will prepare, with pen and pencil, a book on the United States, to be issued sometime next year. —The appointment of a successor to Cardinal Cullen is a subject of much speculation not only in Ireland, but in Great Britain, and it will be judged from a political as well as from a religious standpoint. —A Vienna dispatch of Oct. 31 says it appears that the powers are becoming aware of the danger of the Bulgarian insurrectionary movement, and have opened a confidential exchange of ideas upon the subject. —A Constantinople dispatch of Oct. 30 states that Gen. Todleben has arrived at Lule Bourgas, and has ordered the construction of barracks for winter quarters. —The Manhattan Savings Institution of New York was recently robbed of nearly $3,000,000 in securities and money by masked burglars. They carried off $11,000 in cash. It was one of the boldest robberies on record. —A London dispatch of Oct. 30, from Simla, states that England's ultimatum will summon the Ameer to give guarantees for future good understanding. The preparation of the army in the meanwhile will be unrelaxed. —The Bible Society of Geneva, Switzerland, has undertaken to send a copy of the New Testament to every school-teacher in France. It will require 80,000 copies; 27,000 have already been sent out. Among the letters of thanks received is one from a Roman Catholic nun. —The Porte, at the instance of France and Italy, expresses its willingness to make a slight rectification of the frontier in favor of Greece; but it is thought Greece will refuse any boundary other than that indicated in the conference at Berlin. Meanwhile, Turkey and Greece continue their hostile preparations. —American readers may cherish a pardonable pride over the confession of the London Spectator that it was “surprised and ashamed to find at the Paris Exhibition that a New York firm, Tiffany & Co., had beaten the old country and the old world in domestic silver plate.” —In the district of Tekuch, Roumania, a species of mole, yellowish in color and of a snake-like appearance, has destroyed 126 acres of wheat. Part of the ground has been cleared so effectually that it is impossible to tell what kind of grain had been sown. Their appearance was sudden, and the oldest inhabitant had never seen anything of the kind before. —A recent number of an English religious journal says that “peace with honor, as events interpret it, means wars and rumors of wars, tribulation, bitter animosity, and universal distrust and dread. It is long since there were so many dark omens in the sky. We are entering, instead of emerging from, a period of contention and confusion.” —According to the latest figures, the entire population of the whole American continent is but a trifle over eighty-five and a half millions, while the Russian empire alone contains eighty-six and a half millions. The population of Africa is nearly two hundred millions; of Europe, over three hundred and nine millions; while Asia, the cradle of the human race, has the enormous number of 824,548,500 inhabitants. The entire population of the globe is 1,423,816,800. —A full font of Japanese type comprises sixty thousand characters, and when a compositor gets twenty-five or thirty wrong letters in a word, and the proof-reader overlooks them, they are scarcely ever noticed by the reader. The printer's case is distributed all around a big room, and when he is at work running from one box to another, he looks like an American base-ball player making a run.—Norristown Herald. The success attending the circulation of the Protestant Bible in Spain has led the pope to issue decrees of excommunication against any person who may afford food or shelter to any Protestant missionary in Spain, or who may have in his possession any Protestant religious publication, whether for sale or otherwise. These decrees are to be read from every parish church in Spain. The pope sent with them an autograph letter to King Alfonso, urging him to use all his efforts to bring the civil power to bear against the missionaries, for their expulsion, and the confiscation of their establishments throughout the country. —The number of failures for the third quarter of 1878 is 2,853, as compared with 1,815 for the same quarter last year. The liabilities for the last quarter were $66,000,000, as compared with $42,000,000 for the same quarter last year. The number of failures for the first quarter of 1878 was 3,855; liabilities, $82,078,826. It is believed that the trade of the country has survived what threatened to be a serious shock to confidence and credit growing out of the circumstances of the repeal of the bankrupt law; and, excepting the unfortunate epidemic at the South, the general conditions of trade are more healthy than at any previous time since 1873. —PROGRESS OF CATHOLICISM.—Recently published statistics, as compiled by Monsignor de Haerne of the English College of Bruges, show the progress of the Catholic faith in Great Britain and the United States. These statistics, as given in the Independent, show that in England in the last twenty years the number of Catholic places of worship has increased from 894 to 1,815; of priests, from 1,115 to 2,088; of religious homes for men, 21 to 73; of convents for women, from 97 to 289. In 1855 there were 44 Catholic sees in Great Britain and its colonies. Now there are 88 archbishops and bishops. In Canada since 1869 the number of Catholic churches has increased from 779 to 913, and of the clergy from 768 to 1,171. In the same period the number of religious homes has advanced from 78 to 196. There are 819 schools, one for every 600 of the population. In the United States there was only one female academy in 1800. Now there are over 400. Of 56 bishops 30 are of Irish birth. —We have now about 90,000 miles of railroad; the annual consumption for ties alone is 40,000,000, or thirty years’ growth of 75,000 acres. To fence these roads would require at least 130,000 miles of fence, which it would cost $45,000,000 to build, and take at least $15,000,000 annually to keep in repair. We have 75,000 miles of wire, which requires in its putting up 800,000 trees, while the annual repairs must take 300,000 more. The little, insignificant lucifer match consumes annually in its manufacture 300,000 cubic feet of the finest pine. The bricks that are annually baked require 2,000,000 cords of wood, which would sweep the timber clean from 50,000 acres. Shoe pegs are quite as important an article as matches or bricks, and to make the required annual supply consumes 100,000 cords of fine timber, while the manufacture of lasts and boot trees takes 500,000 cords of maple, beech, and birch, and about the same amount is required for plane stocks and the handles of tools. The packing boxes made in the United States in 1874 amounted to $12,000,000, while the value of the timber manufactured into agricultural implements, wagons, etc., is more than $100,000,000. The farm and rural fences of the country consume an immense amount of lumber and timber annually, but as we grow older as a nation this consumption may, and probably will, be reduced by the more general use of live fences, or hedges. Our consumption of timber is not only daily on the increase, but our exportation of timber is also rapidly increasing. Our staves go by the million to France annually, walnut, oak, maple, and pine to England, and spars and docking timber to China and Japan.—Lumberman's Gazette. —WANTED—A DEFENDER OF THE FAITH.—Speaking of the Pope’s action on the subject of the massacre of Roman Catholics in the Balkans, the Pall Mall Gazette calls attention to the fact that Catholics are “the least protected, in a temporal sense, of any denomination. Protestants in trouble can be sure that one, if not three, first-rate powers will be ready to take up their quarrel—England, America, and Germany having each and all stood forth in our own time as champions of Protestantism. Members of the Greek Church again, as Europe has too much reason to know, never lack the most zealous of defenders. At all events, they know that their wrongs, real or imaginary, will always be welcome pretexts for giving employment to Russian generals. There is no Israelitish empire, but the Jew may be said to be under the protection of every Stock Exchange in Europe—no bad protection either. Moslems may, with more or less confidence, look up to the Empress of India; while Buddhists, again, might in perilous times derive some confidence from the fact that Britain is, in one sense, the greatest of Buddhist powers. But Catholics as such, have at the present moment no prince or commonwealth particularly eager in their cause. The Eldest Son of the Church is no more; the Catholic King is not powerful; the most faithful King less so; the Austrian Caesar exercises but a feeble sway over a house divided against itself; and since the last Belgian elections there remains not a single ministry in Europe which even its enemies could style ‘clerical.’” Which is rather a depressing outlook for the Vatican. —According to recent estimates made by the Catholic World, the leading periodical of the church published in this country, the Catholic population of America is 9,000,000. This we believe a pretty good guess, in the absence of exact census returns. In 1840 the Catholics were 960,000, in a total population of 17,070,000, or one-eighteenth of the whole; in 1850 they were 2,150,000 in a total of 23,191,000, or one-eleventh of the whole; in 1860 they were 4,400,000, in a total of 31,000,000, or one-seventh of the whole; in 1870 they were 8,500,000, in a total of 40,000,000, or over a fifth of the whole. We have not at hand the requisite data to give the growth in wealth of the Catholic Church in America since 1840, but have been able to collect some statistical information respecting it since 1850. First may be considered the growth in wealth of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, as compared with that of the whole country, and of the leading Protestant denominations. In 1850, the total property valuation of the United States, according to the census report of that year, was $7,135,780,228; in 1860 it was $16,159,616,068; in 1870 it was $30,063,518,507. That is to say, the aggregate wealth of the country increased about 125 per cent from 1850 to 1860, and about 86 per cent from 1860 to 1870. The total property valuation of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States in 1850 was $9,256,758; in 1860 it was $26,774,119; in 1870 it was $60,985,565. That is to say, the aggregate wealth of the Catholic Church increased about 189 per cent from 1850 to 1860, and about 128 per cent from 1860 to 1870. In 1850, when Catholics had $9,256,758 of church property, the Baptists had $11,620,855; the Episcopalians, $11,375,010; the Methodists, $14,822,870; the Presbyterians, $14,548,789. In 1870, when the Catholics had $60,985,565, the Baptists had $39,229,221; the Episcopalians, $36,514,547; the Methodists, $69,854,121; the Presbyterians, $47,728,782. It will be seen from these figures that the Catholics had in 1870 distanced all their Protestant competitors with the single exception of the Methodists. But it must be borne in mind that while in the twenty years from 1850 to 1870 the Methodists, whose astonishing growth is the standing boast of the Evangelical Protestants of this country, made a gain of 371 per cent in the value of their church property, the Catholics made in the same twenty years a corresponding gain of 558 per cent.—Inter-Ocean. Every Christian Called to Serve, Not Rule
EVERY true Christian should daily and hourly say to himself, “I am in the world that I may serve.” Of serving—the most honorable thing of all—almost all are most ashamed. Every one desires only to rule and enjoy. We are still treated to such astonishing talk as this: “The world is ripe for a grand stride in advance, even as a hobbling cripple instantly made whole.” “Right here, and now, all things conspire to indicate that the fullness of time for a better dispensation of nature’s bounties is upon us.” “Agriculture, manufactures, and commerce—fair trinity that shall redeem from destitution and rehabilitate the earth.” “The march of intellect shall also keep pace with temporal improvements, and onward from good to better will be the watchword of the future.” These, and many more of like import, are the utterances of volume 1, number 1, of a new paper styled the New Era. It is a re-iteration of the long-raised but always-disappointed cry of the “good time coming,” with a frantic effort to attain to a closer approximation of the date of its beginning. As we look out upon the world, what do we behold as the foundation for such expectations? Only a short time since, destitution, famine, pestilence, death, for millions in India. Later, the most fearful of all known famines, with its ten million victims, in China. With this, the famine with fearful scenes of starvation, in Brazil. The pestilence that walketh at noon-day, brooding over a large area of the South, with its thousands of victims, and injury to material interests amounting to two hundred millions of dollars. This is but just broken, when news comes from Morocco of the breaking out of the cholera there, accompanied by fearful destitution and actual starvation; and people are flying in terror from that region, as they but yesterday fled from the plague-stricken districts of the South. To offset these, no scenes anywhere greet us of exceptional prosperity. Trade, manufactures, commerce, everywhere to a large degree paralyzed; men idle, growing friction between labor and capital, and communism secretly and openly spreading its spawn over the land. In nature the outlook is not that of peace and plenty. Convulsions, tempests, tornadoes, are shaking and terrifying the earth. It is as if restraints were taken from all the elements, and they were holding wild revel at the bidding of the prince of the power of the air. The political world is no less disturbed. The statesmen that sit upon the pinnacle of political renown, the greatest, wisest, best, the nations can produce, meet to adjust difficulties and allay discord. They lay their plans; the world greets them with loud applause, and cries Peace, peace. But as they depart from their conference, black and hydra-headed confusion, born of their wisest counsels, chases them home. The congress of Berlin, instead of forever settling the eastern question, as statesmen declared, simply sowed the wind, and the nations are about to reap therefrom the whirlwind. Turkey is obstinate, imbecile, and helpless. Russia is still aggressive and determined. The provinces are firm and successful in their revolt. England defies and threatens. The rush and roar of preparation goes forward with them all. The combination of explosive elements is wonderful. The fire is already at the magazine. The explosion must come. That it yet delays is still more wonderful. Where is the world financially? Drifted from all her ancient moorings. The failure of the bank of Scotland, involving the greatest financial loss, and the greatest rascality of any transaction of the kind, threatens far-reaching consequences. Political economists apprehend that failures of English manufacturers must follow, and that this country will then be flooded with their bankrupt stocks, and that this in turn will again break down our own manufactures just beginning to revive. So men’s hearts fail them for fear. We need not look into the moral world. That presents a darker picture than any other department of the gloomy scene. Yet we are asked to believe that “the good time coming” has just arrived. “Don’t croak,” says the Advance. And from its standpoint the advice seems most pertinent. If we were under the necessity of proving the coming of a temporal millennium, as the Advance seems to consider itself, however distant we might be allowed to place it, we should not want to hear any one say anything about these things. We should not want to look at them. The prospect would not conduce to our peace of mind. But we had better follow the only sure light to light us through the closing scenes of time,—the light of God’s word. There is indeed a “good time coming;” there is a new era to dawn. But before it can come, the world’s iniquity must mature, and the earth must vomit out its guilty inhabitants, as the land of Canaan vomited out its polluted nations before the children of Israel, and the fires of the last day must burn to its lowest depths, to purge its stains of sin. Into the vortex of this last convulsion it seems about to plunge. Truth is the only panoply that will shield us during this troublous time, and bring us safely to the peaceful scenes beyond. CAMP-MEETING AT RICHLAND, KANSAS.
By Ellen G. White
This meeting, the third of the kind which has been held in this State the present season, was held Oct. 24-29. At Topeka we left the cars and rode by private conveyance twelve miles across the broad prairie to the place of meeting. We found the settlement of tents in a grove. A wooden tent was prepared for us, and furnished with a stove, and everything to make us comfortable. It being late in the season for camp-meetings, every preparation was made for cold weather that could be made. There were seventeen tents on the ground besides the large tent, which accommodated several families; and every tent had a stove. Sabbath morning it commenced snowing. But notwithstanding this, not one meeting was suspended. About an inch of snow fell, and the air was piercing cold. Women with little children clustered about the stoves. It was a touching scene to see one hundred and fifty people assembled for a convocation meeting under these circumstances. Some came two hundred miles by private conveyance. All seemed hungry for the bread of life, and thirsty for the water of salvation. Bro. Haskell spoke Friday afternoon and evening. In the meeting Sabbath morning I felt called upon to speak encouraging words to those who had made so great an effort to attend the meeting. I told them that the more inclement the weather, the greater the necessity of our obtaining the sunshine of God's presence. This life at best is but the Christian's winter; and the bleak winds of winter,—disappointments, losses, pain, and anguish,—are our lot here; but our hopes are reaching forward to the Christian's summer, when we shall change climate, leave all the wintry blasts and fierce tempests behind, and be taken to those mansions Jesus has gone to prepare for those that love him. I presented before them the lives of the apostles. Paul was one whom God honored with visions of his glory, and although thus honored of Heaven, he was subject to the fiercest persecutions by his own people, the Jews. They did not allow him to labor in peace even among idolators, but taking advantage of the superstition of the people, stirred up the Gentiles against him. Once the Gentile element was so wrought upon by the Jews that he was stoned and taken up for dead. But this hero of faith pens no words of discouragement. Near the close of his life he was, under the cruel Nero, immured in prison walls that never saw the light of day. His dungeon, chiseled out of the solid rocks, was reeking with dampness, and he an invalid, who had labored for years pressed by physical sufferings. One consolation was left him. One and another of his brethren were allowed to be with him and share the discomforts of his home, and to stand by him when brought before Nero to answer for his life. In looking over the incidents of his eventful life, he remembers all. He recalls the scenes of his trials and sufferings, and now if he has any words of murmuring we shall surely hear them. Mark his words: “I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Again, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” When we contrast our circumstances with those of the apostle Paul, we should feel rebuked for ever harboring the least feeling of murmuring or complaint. We know but little by experience of self-denial, and persecution, and pain for Christ's sake. We are here as probationers, and we must be tested and proved. Says Paul, “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Many testimonies were borne in this morning meeting, and many hearts were softened by the beams of light from the Sun of Righteousness. At half-past ten Bro. Haskell spoke with great freedom upon the subject of the talents. In the afternoon I spoke from these words: “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” I had much freedom in presenting before our brethren the great dignity conferred upon them in being the acknowledged sons of God. The meeting was prolonged till near sunset, giving all the privilege of witnessing for Christ and the truth. Many testimonies were borne well wet down with tears, and many humble confessions were made. All seemed desirous to put away their lukewarmness, and let their example testify to their neighbors that there was a power in the truth they professed, to refine the life and elevate the character. We were made sensible of the fact that inaction in the cause of God will eventually destroy confidence in God. Evening after the Sabbath, Eld. Haskell spoke to the people upon the message to the Laodiceans. Sunday morning was clear and cold. In the morning meeting Eld. Haskell explained the tract and missionary work, and at the usual hour for preaching he spoke upon the Sabbath. Sunday afternoon there was quite a large outside attendance, considering the meeting was located so far from the thoroughfare of travel. I spoke with freedom upon Christ weeping over Jerusalem, and the barren fig-tree. Bro. Haskell spoke again in the evening. Monday morning at nine o'clock I spoke to the brethren from the third chapter of Malachi. We then called for those to come forward who wanted to be Christians and who had not the evidence of their acceptance with God. About thirty responded. Some were seeking the Lord for the first time, and some who were members of other churches were taking their position upon the Sabbath. We gave all an opportunity to speak. The free Spirit of the Lord was in our midst. One little boy about eleven years old said that he had been blessed. Had he not said a word his shining countenance would have testified to the fact. After prayer had been offered for those who had come forward, candidates for baptism were examined. Six were baptized. In the afternoon Eld. Haskell brought before the people the necessity of placing reading matter in private families, especially the three volumes of Spirit of Prophecy, and the four volumes of Testimonies. These could be read aloud during the long winter evenings by some member of the family so that all the family might be instructed. I then spoke of the necessity of parents properly educating and disciplining their children. The greatest evidence that the world can have of the power of Christianity is to present to them a well-ordered, well-disciplined family. This will recommend the truth as nothing else can, for it is a living witness of its practical power upon the heart. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon us in this our closing meeting. Tuesday morning the camp was early astir, striking their tents and preparing to return to their homes, it is to be hoped better Christians than when they came to the meeting. LOCATING GENERAL MEETINGS.
By Ellen G. White
We were sadly disappointed to find the Richland, Kansas, camp-meeting located in an isolated place, twelve miles from Topeka, the nearest railroad station. This is indeed hiding our light under a bushel. We depend much upon the influence of our camp-meetings to shed the bright beams of truth upon those who are in darkness. We cannot say that any of our camp-meetings are failures; for the people of our faith who attend them are hungry for a better knowledge of the truth, and more of the Lord’s blessing. They have the evidences of our faith brought clearly before their minds, and receive additional light at every such gathering. To assemble, and hear the testimonies of brethren and sisters, encourages them. The earnest prayers and humble confessions of those who are wrought upon by the Spirit of God have a softening, subduing influence upon the heart, and all are made better by them. But every ray of light that shines from Heaven upon the people of God will have an influence in removing prejudice. And more than this is accomplished at our camp-meetings: the evidences of our faith are presented with convincing power before a large class of persons who could not be drawn out upon any other occasion. Again, laborers are few, and the field of labor is extending. It is as easy to speak to thousands as it is to hundreds. When we consider that we have a message which must go to all the world, and then see our large meetings carried away from the149 people into isolated, out-of-the-way places, we feel sad at heart. We have had much to say upon this point, and yet our brethren fail to realize the importance of holding their general meetings where the community at large may be benefited. Says Christ, “Ye are the light of the world;” “ye are the salt of the earth.” We hope our brethren will be more liberal, and feel that the truth of heavenly origin should be brought before the world. Would that all our ministers were so closely connected with God that they would be awake to the wants of the cause, and could realize what might be done for the world through earnest effort. When our large gatherings are appointed, let them be held on the line of the railroad, where the people can reach them. Brethren, wake up! Shake off your lethargy, and be in earnest to be Christ’s co-laborers. Let the light which shines upon you, shine upon others, who are in darkness. You need the true, zealous missionary spirit. This is the answer we are obliged to give to so many requests that we have thought it best to state it thus publicly through the REVIEW. Many are doubtless querying with themselves whether or not to come to Battle Creek; and many more are writing to ask these questions: Can I find any situation in Battle Creek? Can I get any place at the Office, or at the Sanatorium, or employment in the school, or in private families, or somewhere or at something, in Battle Creek? Our friends must remember that there is a limit to all things; and when all the places are taken, there is no room for more. We should be glad if we could give employment to all who are in need of it, who have been brought into this position by their acceptance of the truth, and to whom this seems to be their last resource. It is from no lack of sympathy for them that we cannot. We appreciate the situation of such as lose their employment and immediate means of support, because they conscientiously feel that they must obey God, by keeping his commandments; and we would gladly help them if we could. But while one is writing out the statement of his case, he does not perhaps think that scores, or perhaps hundreds, have sent in similar requests before him. It is therefore utterly impossible to reply favorably to all who seek work here. And none should come on without first learning the situation. We have learned that some have been counseled to come without previous notice, to Battle Creek, and demand a situation, and were assured that they would then obtain it. Such counsel is sure to lead to disappointment. The only safe way is to pay no attention to promises of situations in any of the institutions here, except from those whose intimate connection with them, and position as officers or agents, authorizes them to arrange for the help to be employed. It is best that all should understand the situation; and they will readily perceive that if there are toward a score of applicants for every job of work to be done, all cannot be accommodated. This will save suspense, and may be the means of enabling some to obtain work, if they will turn their energies to seeking it in other directions, while they would be waiting for it in this. We do not present the following resolution in relation to the Swedish work, as a part of the doings of the General Conference, for the Conference adjourned before there was opportunity to hand it in. But it was prepared by Bro. A. Swedberg for the purpose of coming before that body, and had it been introduced it would have been unanimously adopted. The brethren will therefore please regard it as entitled to all the importance they would have attached to it had it appeared as a part of the Conference minutes. “Whereas, The SVENSK ADVENT HAROLD is as yet the principal means by which the truth is spread among the Swedes, and “Whereas, There are as yet only a few workers among the Swedes, and the circulation of the HAROLD is low and hence its influence limited, therefore “Resolved, That we earnestly invite not only our Swedish brethren, but also our Danish, Norwegian, and American brethren who come in contact with Swedes, to take hold and give the Swedish cause a lift by soliciting subscriptions for the HAROLD, and in otherwise aiding the spread of the truth among the Swedes.” Deeds That Bear Fruit in Heaven
By Richter
The wish falls often warm upon my heart that I may learn nothing here that I cannot continue in the other world; that I may do nothing here but deeds that will bear fruit in Heaven.—Richter. BATTLE CREEK.
By John Norton Loughborough
AFTER an absence of ten years and four months, it has been my privilege to again spend a little time in Battle Creek, Mich. Here I have met not only old and tried friends, pioneers and fellow-laborers of the past, but scores of new recruits who have more recently entered the gospel field. Here we have joined in praising God for mercies past and in dedicating ourselves anew to him. Vows have here been made that our labors in the future shall bear more of the impress of the Divine than ever in the past. New consecration has been made. May the Lord help us all to pay our vows, and by watchfulness hold the consecration. Battle Creek holds an important place in connection with the cause of present truth. Being the place where important institutions are located, such as the great central publishing house of Seventh-day Adventists, the College and Sanitarium, it is the center of the work. As I have noticed the hundreds brought under the direct influence of the College and Sanitarium, and have passed among the scores of busy hands engaged in publishing the truth in various languages, I have formed some idea of the great responsibilities of those in charge of the church and work in this place. May the Lord sustain them all in their arduous duties. There are many interesting things connected with the rise and progress of the work in Battle Creek. Those who now for the first time look upon these institutions have but little idea of the small beginning of the cause. As we trace the increase of the size of churches and publishing houses here, we notice that it has been in proportion to the rise of the cause elsewhere. The first meeting-place of the few Sabbath-keepers then in Battle Creek and vicinity was in the front room of the house of Bro. Hewitt, deceased, now marked “No. 100” on Van Buren street. The first meeting I held in this place was held in that room, May 19, 1853. All the Sabbath-keepers in the place were together, and they numbered eight souls. After spending a few days at Bedford and Hastings, I returned, and joined with Bro. and Sr. White, in a general meeting held in the same room. This meeting was held June 7. Bro. and Sr. Kelsey, from Leroy, were present, and including the few who met with us from Bedford, and by gathering in some of our neighbors, we had the little room about half full. I well recollect Bro. White’s words of encouragement on this occasion, as he spoke of the future prospects of the cause. Said he, If the few believers present are faithful, we may expect quite a church yet in Battle Creek. Prophetic as these words were, none of us then anticipated what we now behold. The first time that Seventh-day Adventists ever used a tent for meeting purposes was in Battle Creek, on Main street, where now lies a pile of lumber, just above the railroad near Jeff’s Organ Factory. This meeting was held by Eld. Cornell and myself, June 9–11, 1854. As stated at that time, we fully believed the time had come to bring the light of truth before the people, and that this method was considered the most effective. Time has certainly demonstrated the truthfulness of that statement. Last season there were more than sixty tents in the field, and many hundreds were brought to the knowledge of the truth; and among the number were two persons who took their stand with us last summer in our tent-meeting at Reno, Nevada, who received their first ideas of our faith at this first tent-meeting in Battle Creek. The seed sown so long ago at last sprung up. The first meeting-house ever erected by the Seventh-day Adventists was in Battle Creek, on Cass street, in 1855. Its size, 18x24; and it is now the wing to a dwelling-house. Some of our people thought this house was too large, but in less than two years it became a matter of absolute necessity to erect another house, 28x44. This was dedicated in November, 1857. It was my privilege to be present at the opening service, as I had just returned from Iowa. Many were at a loss to know what was to be done with such a great house. In 1866 the Health Institute was established, and with its establishment came such an increase to our numbers that in our ordinary Sabbath meetings our house of worship was filled even to every foot of standing room, and it was a matter of necessity to erect the third house, 40x65, with a gallery, capable of seating 600 persons. The progress of the cause of health reform has made a demand for more room, and the large Sanitarium building has been added to the health department. The first publishing house of 1200 feet floor-room has given place to the present brick structures, with 20,000 feet of floor-room, occupied by nearly 100 hands. The school, which was started in 1867 in a small room, has grown to a flourishing college, with an average attendance of nearly three hundred students. These workers, students, and patients, with the church and visitors, have created a demand for the large “Dime Tabernacle.” This building, 105x130 feet, will seat thirty-two hundred people. It has seating capacity in the gallery for eight hundred persons. Whatever those at a distance may think of it, to be here and see matters as they are, you would at once say, This house is needed. Citizens outside of the church, who have been watching the steady advancement of the work here, claim that the time is not far distant when even the Dime Tabernacle will be too small to accommodate the growing work. For myself, as I walk these streets, looking back at the condition of the cause here in 1853, and then realizing its standing in 1878, my involuntary exclamation is, “What hath God wrought!” Then as I think that all these great institutions are dedicated to God’s cause, a prayer ascends to him that all the workers connected with these institutions may ever realize the sacredness of their trust; that, as they humbly move forward in the discharge of their duty, they may ever have grace and wisdom to guide and sustain them; then Battle Creek, in our cause, may be a place where many may learn righteousness, and be endowed with power from on high. The Lord grant it so to be.