Earlier text: The Present Age:Good news is coming in from every point in reference to the progress of the cause of present truth. Bro. Ingraham writes that a recent quarterly meeting with the large church at Avon, Wis., was the best ever held in that place, and we are cheered by reports from other parts of the West. We know of no special declensions in Michigan. In the absence of several of our efficient preachers, the brethren are holding on their way united, and in some sections their numbers are increasing. No one, to our knowledge, in this State, who was fully united in faith with the body, has been in the least shaken by the apostasy of Moses Hull. His case will serve as a warning, and will prove a great blessing to our people. Some have been carried away with his style of preaching, while others have mourned over the lack in him, both in and out of the pulpit, of that spirit of devotion which every minister of Jesus Christ should possess. These feel a relief that he has left, while those carried away by the peculiarities of the man, mourn his loss. His pets, who lost their relish for the preaching of all others, after hearing him, are to be pitied. But these are very few, as such generally give up the faith in three or six months. In every place, West or East, where Moses Hull has held the leading influence for the last five years, the cause has dwindled to nearly, or quite, nothing. The day will come, if it has not already come, when those among us who have flattered this young man, and have manifested to him their preferences, will mourn over their folly. In so doing they fast crowded him on in the road to ruin, and sometimes deprived themselves of the benefits of the true laborers in the cause. But while the cause, judging from the fruits of his labor the past five years, has suffered no real loss in his departure, the lessons learned from it will prove a great blessing to the cause. The world has been cursed long enough with sham revivals, where hundreds have been reported as converted, and in a few weeks not a score remained steadfast. In these there is nothing really gained; but there is a loss. Ministers who can draw a crowd, but can show but little, if any, fruits of their labors, are of no benefit to the cause of present truth. The labors of one such man as Eld. John Byington, or Eld. Stephen Pierce, or Eld. Albert Stone, are worth more than those of ten such men as Moses Hull has been. Brethren, the cause calls for laborers, men of experience and sound judgment, men of God. The scattered flock of God must be fed, and such men must be urged out to do their duty and fill their places. The carnal desire to hear something smart and witty has had a tendency to keep these men of God back from their proper places. Laborers! brethren. Let your prayers go up to Heaven for laborers in this cause. Let your tears, and cries, and groans, come up before the Lord of the harvest for laborers to enter the fields already white. We are happy to hear that the Lord is blessing the labors of Bro. Taylor in the State of New York. It is most encouraging to know that the cause, which has so long suffered in that State, is fast reviving. And, then, the Eastern Mission is doing a good and glorious work. Good news comes in from Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine. But the work in New England has but just commenced. We trust that our Eastern brethren will become so united in spirit and labor with Bro. Loughborough and Cornell that they will be held in that field till they are called to another. The brethren in the East should understand that order and thorough organization is the only hope of the cause in that field. Some who embrace the Sabbath will draw back at this, and choose to enjoy the same confusion that has been cursing New England Adventists for nearly twenty years. The present loose, confused state of things among them will make the labor to set things in order hard, and it will require a united struggle on the part of all the friends of the cause to bring things up to that state of order and harmony which will secure success. It may be well for us to remind the friends in the East that these missionaries labor under the General Conference, and counsel with the Committee of that conference as to their labors. The friends in different localities of that field, who wish the labors of these missionaries, should set the matter before the General Conference Committee by letter. And it should be further understood that it is Eld. Cornell's specific work to lecture in new places, for which work his past experience has proved him eminently adapted, while the work of Eld. Loughborough at present is to visit the scattered friends of the cause, set things in order, and take the general oversight of the work. It is truly gratifying to see the ready hand with which the cause is sustained. The missionary fund is kept good, and if thousands were needed, a few weeks would bring them promptly in. Sister Martin, and our afflicted Bro. Campbell, still call for a missionary at Ireland, and offer liberally to sustain the mission. It is the man to be spared, not the means, that is lacking. How happy the American brethren would be to send a missionary to Ireland, well supplied with publications, and defray all the expenses if necessary, if one could be spared. Bro. M. G. Kellogg has gathered around him in California some dozen of Sabbath-keepers. From that little band of commandment-keepers comes up the cry for help. How much good it would do our people to send a minister with a cart-load of tracts, pamphlets, and books, to California, if we had the man to spare. It does seem to us that we shall soon hear the prayer everywhere among our brethren to the Lord of the harvest to raise up laborers. It is with a good degree of pleasure that we view the present state of the cause. There is, indeed, much to be done for our people, and it is a matter of great encouragement that our ministers and leading men are getting into working order. Every day we witness the blessed benefits of order in the church of God. As a people we have our trials and discouragements, and we may expect them for time to come; but with the assurance that the Lord of hosts is in the work, we can and will go forward in his name. The work of the third angel is to bring out of the rubbish of this world, men and women, and fit them for translation to Heaven at the second advent of Jesus Christ. What a vast work! How much to be done! How many burdens and trials to be borne! Thousands will believe for a while, then draw back, and become the bitterest enemies of the Lord. Oh, the blind hatred of an apostate, in whose heart is kindled the very fires of the Devil! The wrath of the open infidel and scoffer is mildness compared with it. These will follow the remnant with their accusations and bitterness all the way up to the gates of the golden city. Hence, as the Lord hath said, "Be ye wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." He who unnecessarily stirs the ire of an apostate, may some day be bitterly stung by his reproaches. Our work is to teach the truth, and meet the spirit of opposition with Christian confidence. We want men and women to embrace the truth for the truth's sake, and thus honor the God of truth. Friends gained by raising prejudice in their minds against their proper friends and teachers, may at the first trial they meet in the path of truth turn against us. But those friends gained through the influence of truth alone will be fast friends, and an honor to the cause. Let us hold up the truth in its harmony and beauty, and as far as possible, while bearing the plain testimony for unpopular truth, live in peace with all men. We may depend upon this, that we as a people are watched. Many have watched us expecting that the cause would soon crumble to nothing, or that we as a people holding to the perpetuity of spiritual gifts, would run wild in fanaticism. And as they see our progress, and harmony, and prosperity, their interest in watching our course deepens. From the nature of the message, our testimony is a very pointed one, and there are those who violate the law of God, and teach men so, who would exult over an opportunity to charge our preachers with an unchristian spirit. The spirit of error sometimes takes a very mild and apparently pious form, when the faithful servants of Christ are to be accused on account of their pure testimony. Oh, may God give his servants wisdom, and Christian boldness, while battling for truth, and leading souls in the way to life. A Little too Fast.
By Uriah Smith
BRO. WHITE: Seeing I wrote to you a little over two weeks ago, and two copies of the Review have come to hand since, and not the least notice taken to my communication, either by letter or in the Review, I feel like again calling your attention to the subject, and would say I care not to have the letter published, but would like the article should be; but should it contain anything to conflict with your faith, please find enclosed stamps for its return immediately, as I have a press here now at my disposal for any publication that I want, and would further say if the columns of the Review are closed against us, please send bill immediately, as I shall not consider myself a subscriber, from my notice of this date. I trust I shall meet with common courtesy, if Christian fraternity is denied me. P. S. The arm of flesh will be found too short to arrest or frustrate the work of God. Our faith in God is about to be committed to the world in so tangible and definite a form that there will be no room for imposture. We have received a second letter from the War Department at Washington, and there is an evident quailing before the truth of God, and we feel the stone is evidently about to smite the image. We are well aware that we are living in a very fast age of the world. Steam and electricity are brought in as mighty agents to hurry events to their accomplishment. But there is such a thing as being in too much of a hurry even for this fast age; and the worst of all is to get into a religious hurry. Only a little over two weeks elapsed, it seems, after our friend wrote us, before he wrote again; and because in that time he had not heard from us, and his article did not appear in the first or second number of the Review received from the date of his letter, he sets it down that "Christian fraternity" at any rate is denied him, and probably "common courtesy." A few considerations might have saved him from coming to such a rapid conclusion: 1. Unless the route is very direct, and mail facilities abundant, letters from a distance are frequently nearly two weeks in reaching this Office. 2. When matter comes in for publication, either articles or communications, unless there is a special call for such matter, the articles are generally one or two, and sometimes more, weeks in finding a place in the paper. 3. After an article is put into the paper, it will probably take the paper longer to reach the subscriber, than it did his letter to reach us. 4. When a letter is received, either from our friend in Pa., or any one else, the business of the institution is not thereby immediately suspended till decision is passed upon it; but all things go on as usual, and in its proper order it comes under examination, and is disposed of as promptly, and as satisfactorily to the writer, as possible. All these causes of delay should be considered, and all exhausted, before we can justly be accused of any violation of Christian fraternity or common courtesy. And 5. If for what we consider good reasons, we decline to publish all that everybody may send in, we hold that that is no breach of Christianity or courtesy, and that none but the bigot will consider it such. But 6. The article our friend refers to has not been received, which is another item to be sometimes taken into the account, and which certainly in this case leaves little room for complaint. He further states, "If the columns of the Review are closed against us," &c., he shall not consider himself a subscriber any longer. We can hardly tell whether the Review is closed against him or not, till we know what he has to offer for its columns. But there is a principle involved in the above which we wish to consider. What kind of an idea he has of the obligations we are under to him on account of his subscribing for the Review, we do not know. If, however, he thinks that for two dollars a year we bind ourselves to advertise93 for him any and every notion that fanaticism may conceive, or a mistaken religious zeal write out, and send him the paper besides, he altogether mistakes the agreement. Such is not the nature of the contract between publishers and subscribers. And as to publishing everything that is sent in, we have somehow got the idea that the very design of having an editor was that matter for publication might be sifted, that such portions as were indifferent or worthless might be rejected, and only the good, so far as he was able to judge, be allowed to appear. But if he is granted no discretion in this respect, and everything that is sent in is to be published without exception, then what the office of a religious paper needs, is not so much an editor, as a great hopper, into which everything may be thrown and thus ground out into indiscriminate chowder. If it will help the feelings of our friend any in regard to his imaginary rights and privileges, we can state that only about half of what comes to this Office is found suitable for publication. We cannot close without some allusion to the singular postscript attached to the letter. From anything that has been given we are not able to judge of the position of the writer, his views, or the particular stripe of fanaticism which he is wearing. That he is infested by something of the kind, is sufficiently attested by the mysterious allusion to the War Department of this government, and their quailing before the power of truth. We strongly suspect that some course is being pursued which will bring disgrace upon himself, and reproach upon the cause of truth, provided he is sufficiently identified with it to be mistaken for one of its friends. His "bill" which he calls for is but little, only 40 cts., which we cancel, and he is at liberty to retire from the list whenever he chooses, and so are all others who are cherishing a similar spirit, or entertaining like ideas of their rights and our obligations. If any who are inclined to imbibe the fast spirit of this age, shall be induced by this perusal to exercise a little more patience, or any who may think that they have brought us under infinite obligations to them by subscribing for the Review, be led to correct their ideas on this point, the object of the publication of this letter and remarks will be accomplished. Are the Dead Conscious? No. 7.
By R. F. Cottrell
“For to him that is joined to all the living, there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun.” Eccl. ix, 4-6. This testimony is decisive of the question, if the positive affirmations of the word of the Lord can decide a question at all. That human invention which may be denominated the double-entity swivel, though it turns very readily either way, in accordance with the will of the operator, must fail to evade its force. Persons in one condition are represented as living—in another, as dead. The living have the preference—“a living dog is better than a dead lion.” But why use such a comparison to illustrate the difference between living and dead men? The reason follows: “For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything.” No stronger language can be used to affirm man's utter unconsciousness in death. If we should say, The living are conscious of some things, but the dead are unconscious of everything, we express no more than the text expresses. It is of no avail to say that the body, which of itself, according to popular theology, knows nothing when living, and of which the conscious soul is entirely independent as to its faculties of mind, knows nothing when dead. It is evidently that which knows while the person is living, that knows nothing after death. Now, if any part of man has knowledge while he is dead, the broad assertion that the dead know not anything, is, to my mind, at least, entirely too broad. I trust I shall not be accused of trifling while I illustrate this point, in accordance with the common theory, by the use of the best comparison which I can think of in nature. We will suppose that oysters know much more than we have reason to think that they do, and that the fleshy part can be separated from the shell without the least injury to its vitality or consciousness, just as it is affirmed of the soul in its separation from the body. Now, I take up one fresh from his native element and say, This oyster knows that I am about to take him from his shell. I do so. I cleave him out and place him in a dish, throw down the shell and say, Now he knows not anything. Would you not accuse me of quibbling when I gravely tell you I meant only the shell? It is evident that it is the mind that ceases its functions, that knows while man lives, and knows nothing when he is dead. Love and hatred and envy pertain to the mind; and of these it is affirmed, “Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished.” And, for the benefit of those who hear that the dead are actively engaged in rapping, tipping tables, conversing and controlling writing and speaking mediums, &c., the inspired writer adds, “Neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” They are not then the guardian spirits of the living, as many professed ministers of the gospel represent them to be. Again, we are exhorted to improve our time to the best advantage while we live, because our labor and our knowledge must cease at death. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest.” Verse 10. Nothing is done, nothing is devised, nothing is known in the grave. We are told, however, and Socrates has taught it, that men do not go into the grave at death. But the text speaks to the real man—the intelligent, reasoning, conscious man—as going into the grave. “In the grave, whither thou goest,” is the language. Now, unless this can be disproved—unless it can be shown that man does not go into the grave, as the Scriptures represent, it is fully proved that the dead are unconscious. But, objects a learned friend, the spirits of the dead, both good and bad, go, at death, into a subterranean abode, called sheol in the Hebrew and hades in the Greek, where they all exist, either in conscious happiness or misery, till the resurrection. This view, it is thought, is confirmed by the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, where the rich man is represented as lifting up his eyes in hades, being in torment. It is true that the Spirit of inspiration has chosen the term hades in the Greek to represent the sheol of the Hebrew; hence, what is true of the one is also true of the other. But this is the very place spoken of in Eccl. ix, 10, where it is positively affirmed that “there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in sheol, whither thou goest.” Then if the spirits or souls are separated from their bodies at death, and go into sheol or hades, there is nothing gained, for there is no knowledge there; and they might as well be unconscious in the grave, as to be in sheol or hades, where there is no knowledge. These terms are properly translated grave, both in the Old Testament and the New. It is the place of the dead—“a land of darkness as darkness itself,” a “land of forgetfulness,” a place where there is “no work, nor device, nor knowledge.” Since we have the positive statements of the word of God that the dead know not anything, and that in the place of the dead there is no knowledge, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and all other passages which represent the dead in hades or sheol as acting or speaking, must be understood as figurative language. We have no right to infer from them a doctrine that contradicts the express word of the Lord. To prove that the dead are conscious, some passage must be found that positively asserts it; and when that passage is found, these passages which assert their unconsciousness must be expunged, or there will be a positive contradiction in the Bible. As long as the old Bible stands, so long it will remain a truth that “The dead know not anything.” Report from Bro. Cottrell.
By R. F. Cottrell
Bro. White: I am in an entirely new field of labor, in the south-west corner town of this State. Came in company with, and at the suggestion of, Bro. T. B. Dewing. It is the place of his former residence, and he was anxious to make a trial to do his old neighbors good. We were happily disappointed to find one that he hoped would embrace the truth, already keeping the Sabbath. Sister Dewing had visited the place in September last, conversed with her friends, and set some of our silent messengers at work, and the brother referred to, J. H. Murray, formerly of Orwell, Vt., began to keep the Sabbath immediately after. Bro. Murray was a believer in 1844, and though he has passed through severe trials since the disappointment, yet now he rejoices that he has found that for which he has been waiting, and longing, and weeping. I love to meet with those who tasted of the good word of God in the first angel's message, and though, like Mary, for a while weeping their absent Lord, they hear his voice again in the last message. The influence of such will tell for the truth. After canvassing the whole neighborhood in the humble capacity of tract-peddler, and attending a few94 of the first meetings, Bro. Dewing left me for his home. I have given eighteen discourses to a few attentive and interested hearers. Many are convicted of the truth, and I trust that some, at least, will obey their convictions of truth. One has taken a decided stand, kept the last Sabbath, and though not a professor of religion, arose in the meeting last evening and expressed her determination to keep the commandments of God. Other non-professors are deeply interested. It sometimes happens that such receive the word with gladness, and, taking the lead, leave tardy professors to parley with their doubts of the word of God, and lose the blessing of prompt obedience, if not finally persuaded of the Devil to reject the truth and lose eternal life. Oh, that they might see that it is dangerous to continue in sin, because the tempter says, Do not be too hasty in obeying your convictions—take time to investigate. Says David, I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. This evening I go to Clymer village, by request, to preach on the Sabbath. I pray that I may see my future path of duty, and have a willing heart to walk in it. Living Religion.
By E. Goodrich
Many who have never made a profession, suppose if they were to embrace religion they would live religion; they would make no half-way work about it, stumbling here and backsliding there. They do not seem to think that human nature is the same, and that they are possessed of the same vile bodies as other men. They little realize their own weakness. They talk just as though they thought that when a man is converted, of course he is converted in that manner and to that extent as to be beyond the reach of temptation and the danger of sinning. But such is not the case. Human nature is quite the same in all ages and in all people; and it is not a great deal easier for one man to live religion than another. And God does not propose so to convert a man and change his relations, as to place him above the danger of falling into sin. The man who makes a profession of religion, puts on Christ by baptism, and is pardoned and receives the spirit of adoption, has simply entered the school of Christ, not to be perfected in a single hour or day, but to learn and do the will of God. It is not expected of the beginner that he will know as much and be as strong as the man of ripe experience. The boy that enlists as a soldier does not expect to be placed beyond all danger. He enlists for the purpose of braving and overcoming all danger. From the time he is received and equipped until he is discharged, there is constant danger; there is a constant warfare. Many desert, many are wounded and maimed for life, while others are slain outright or taken captive. It is only a part that return and are crowned as victors. The Scriptures teach the doctrine of a change of heart, so that a man will love the things he once hated and hate the things he once loved; yet they teach also that the righteous man may turn away from his righteousness so that his righteousness will not be remembered. They teach that many that hear and receive the word with joy will become so entangled with the affairs of this world as to choke the word that it bear no fruit. A man may have a good experience, he may be soundly converted to God, yet, living as he must, in the same sinful world, and exposed to the same unholy and corrupt influences that he was before he was converted, there is constant danger of again falling into sin. Like the hog that is washed, he may return to his wallowing in the mire. We are not, therefore, to rely simply on a good experience. We are to have a living experience. We are to die daily unto sin. We are to grow in grace and in a knowledge of the truth. The warfare of the Christian is an everyday warfare. Each day has its conflicts and victories. It only begins at conversion and ends with his final discharge. And it is only by getting on the whole armor, and by being faithful to the grace of God continually manifested, that we overcome and are crowned. Humility is either diminished or increased by every trial, and as true humility increases and reigns, peace is enjoyed. The Death Incurred by Sin.
By Henry E. Carver
Bro. White: With your permission I will give expression to some queries and thoughts suggested to my mind by reading the article in No. 1, present volume of Review, headed, "The Death Incurred by Sin." I do not find fault with one word or idea contained in the article, but believe it to be a clear and concise exposition of the penalty pronounced upon Adam and his posterity. There is, however, another doctrine intimately connected with this, that I should like to see clearly elucidated, and that is the resurrection. In that article, speaking of the return of man to the dust from whence he was taken, it is said: "This would have been the final and everlasting condition of man had not a Saviour, who is the resurrection and the life, . . . been provided." Now it follows that if this would have been the final and everlasting condition of man had not a plan of redemption been devised, then the resurrection of all men from the dead is secured by the plan of redemption. Now it is easy to understand how the resurrection of God's people is secured by the above plan; but to many minds it is not so clear how that of the wicked is effected by it without also bestowing on them eternal life. This is a point I should like to see clearly brought out by one of the Lord's stewards, not that I doubt the resurrection of both good and bad, but that the subject may be clearly before the mind when questioned by those who deny the resurrection of the wicked. A few words now to those who deny the resurrection of the wicked. The Scriptures assure us that "the wages of sin is death." By denying the resurrection of the wicked, you assert that the death here threatened is natural death. Let us examine this idea a moment. If natural death is the penalty for individual or personal sins, then it follows that none but sinners should suffer the penalty, or die. Sin is defined to be the transgression of the law, hence none but those who are transgressors of God's holy law should die. Instead of this we see that infants who have never transgressed the law, die. We also see that Christians, whose sins have been forgiven, and who consequently are not esteemed sinners, die also. This proves, I think, that natural death is not the penalty of personal sins. Natural death has been entailed upon our race by the transgression of our father Adam, hence we see that all classes, old and young, good and bad of all ages, with two exceptions, have died. The Scriptures tell us that "all have sinned," and that the wages of sin is death." Now if natural death is the penalty, or wages, of personal sins, then those sinners who have died, having paid the penalty, are no longer under the condemnation of the law of God, against which they had sinned. The law of God having been satisfied by their death, if they are ever raised from the dead at all, they must be raised in a state free from sin, and that without the atonement of Christ; but as this cannot be, it follows that natural death is not the penalty of personal sins. The declaration still stands good, however, that the "wages of sin is death," and as this death cannot (for the reasons given) be natural death, then it follows that the wicked will be raised from the dead to endure the punishment of the second death, or else the term, death, must be spiritualized to mean something else. The Scriptures tell us that the Lord knoweth how to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. Is this day of judgment every time a sinner dies? or will there really be a day of judgment at the last day, when all that are in their graves will come forth, they that have done good, to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation? I believe there will; do you? I remain, as ever, yours in hope of eternal life when Jesus comes. Progressing.
By Chas. L. Palmer
BRO. WHITE: As everything that affects the public, generally has its particular bearing upon individuals, and tends to show the condition of the human heart, and its depravity or its longings after true holiness, I thought it would be interesting to you to learn of the doings of Spiritualists and their opponents (if we may so call their auxiliaries,) here in this hot-bed of modern progressionists. About four weeks ago, Mr. Davenport, accompanied by two young ladies, made his appearance here, he lecturing on, and striving to convince the public and his orthodox friends of, the natural immortality of man, and to exhibit the powerful manifestation of disembodied spirits by tying the arms and legs of said ladies and tying them fast in a box with doors that shut and bolted on the inside. Said box being tight and dark, the spirits would unite and re-tie them in the box and bolt and unbolt the doors. There is no doubt but that spirits did officiate in the business, as great pains were taken by unbelievers to tie them tight, and in a moment they would be loosed. There was a good deal of excitement, and they were making converts quite fast, and realizing some money, as they charged twenty-five cents admission at the doors. A part of the Common Council were free-thinkers, the balance, with one exception, were men of the world, the excepted one being a Methodist of some influence. As the thing progressed, some wicked men, outsiders, began to say, It is all humbug, to make money, and called upon Council to know whether they had obtained license, whereupon the Council became divided; but the Marshal was sent to collect license fee of $5. Mr. D., by the advice of his friends, refused, on the ground that it was a religious ceremony, and not an exhibition or show. Complaint was then made before a magistrate and a warrant obtained, and D. was arrested for a violation of statute law. Then the war began. Free-thinkers talked, howled and raved about orthodox persecution, and compared themselves to Christ in their persecutions. Profane and worldly men on the other side called them impostors, money filchers, slight-of-hand performers, &c. The whole town was in an uproar, and terrible threats were made by Spiritualists that men were marked and would be obliged to quit business and leave—merchants as well as others; almost as much as to say that they should not buy or sell. The day of trial came. D. and his friends were confident, boasting and exultant, during the authority of the law. They had M. W. Hobart (the man that once had a discussion at Colon with Bro. Waggoner,) for counsel. He acted out well his faith and cried, Persecution, and talked about the power behind the throne, and a good deal about religious toleration, the Constitution of the United States, and claimed and proved by friends that it was lectures on immortality, and that the whole thing was a moral and religious ceremony of their sect, and was their faith and practice in the worship of God. The court decided that whereas they charged admission fee at the door, it was a show, and they were amenable to the law of the land, be they or be an angel from Heaven or the antipodes. He was obtaining money without license, therefore must be committed for trial before a higher tribunal. The corporation then laid an action against him for violation of its ordinances, which is to be tried March 10th. There was much said about spending thousands before they would submit to pay any license; and there was so much noise made that an officer of the United States entered complaint for violation of the revenue law, in exhibiting without license, and a warrant was obtained and the Deputy-Provost Marshal, or one of his assistants, came and told D. and his friends to elect which course they would take: pay for license and pay costs, or have the warrant served and defend in the U. S. Court. They immediately hauled down the tall flag of resistance, and paid for license and costs. Much feeling is manifest here yet about it. I have tried to improve every opportunity to cause people to see that every effort to sustain the theory of natural immortality is so much effort to advance and build up and sustain the very cause they so justly condemn as vile, infamous and debasing. Many who were becoming fascinated have had the spell partially broken, and the expression, “The dead know not anything,” is now often heard by those who combat the evil. I believe the public are better prepared to investigate truth than for a long time previous. Last week, Prof. H. P. Fairfield, spiritual lecturer and trance speaker, clairvoyant, physician, and I know not what else, sold his property here and decamped, as report says, for California, leaving some outsiders to suffer in dollars and cents, and some of his dear brethren in bad condition, he having borrowed certain sums of money in amounts of from $50 to $75, and forgetting to pay them, besides depriving them of his invaluable services as guide to the infernal spheres, and curing their maladies by invoking demons to his assistance. The Gentiles are triumphant, and when the officers sent after him returned without him, they told the suffering Spiritualists that there was only one hope for them, and now was the time to prove their doctrine divine and good; namely, to just get up a circle and send their spirits after him and cause him to return and minister to their temporal and spiritual wants. Some leading Spiritualists and others are going to advertise him in the New York Tribune, and I was asked to write an article for that purpose, but told them if they wrote anything and signed and published it, that was appropriate, I would procure its republication in the Review, leaving it of course to you to decide as to the fitness and propriety of copying the same into the Review. I never saw any community more deeply agitated than this is at present. Spiritualism has received a crushing blow. Orthodoxy has been quiet, but has had some very hard blows dealt to it, and some of its best defenders silenced. I talked about two hours with a learned professor in high standing in the presence of many, forced him through many small holes, and succeeded in convincing many that Spiritualism was helped materially by orthodoxy—that they both pulled the same string on the immortality question, conscious state of the dead, immateriality of God, and a mythical, thin-air heaven, located nowhere and yet everywhere, and pointing out the Bible doctrine of realities here and hereafter, both as to God, and as to man in his responsible, undivided reality. May the Lord cause the councils and confusions of all to be brought to naught, and send the spirit of truth to take the place occupied by error, and instead of profanity and blasphemy, cause songs of praise to God to arise from this place. Yours for the truth. No More Curse.
By Jos. Nichols
How fraught with meaning are these words of the Revelator; and with what anxiety does the humble child of God look forward to the time when it may be said, There is no more curse. When man first violated the law of his Maker, the sentence was pronounced upon him, Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shall thou eat of it all the days of thy life.95 Although these words were spoken nearly six thousand years ago, they are still true, and will remain so as long as sin and sinners exist. All the calamities that man is subject to in this life, are the effects of sin. Even death itself came by sin. But the time will soon come when all sin will be done away, and all sinners be destroyed; and then there will be no more curse. As evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse until Jesus comes, with what anxiety, we say, does the humble Christian look forward to the time of Christ's coming. That time is near at hand. Soon the work of our great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary will be done, and the announcement will be made, He that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still. Yet does one short, preparing hour, one precious hour, remain. Then, dear brethren, press forward, remembering that it is said of those who keep the commandments, that they shall enter into the city. Again, "He that endures to the end shall be saved." Glorious thought! all things will be made new. The earth will be restored to its pristine beauty. And there shall be no night there. In short, there will be no more curse, but all will be peace and happiness forever. We would then say, Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.