Earlier text: The CommentaryArrest of Surratt. Our Consul-General in Egypt, Mr. Hale, has given the Government information of the arrest of John H. Surratt, a man of whose connection with the assassination of Mr. Lincoln and escape from justice, little is known, but enough to cause intense interest. Mr. Boutwell recently made the startling assertion that, while search was being made for Surratt, Mr. Johnson knew where he was hidden. His trial may lead to new revelations. Reconstruction. The opportunity for the South to accept the Constitutional Amendment is rapidly passing away. It having been offered to that section and rejected with a haste and unanimity that were intended to be offensive, Congress is now looking toward other modes of reconstruction. This is the most natural action under the circumstances. The proposition now rapidly gaining ground is the organization of territorial or provisional governments at the South, a mode of action advocated by Mr. Sumner in the Senate, and Mr. Beaman in the House, over three years ago. The proposition then had no support whatever, and would secure a reluctant support even now, had the South not insisted upon demonstrating its necessity. Maximilian has announced his determination not to leave Mexico; that the Liberals have recently suffered severe defeats; a statement that the church party has offered Maximilian $3,000,000 to remain in the country, and that the French regard with apprehension and anger the mission of Mr. Campbell and Gen. Sherman. The details of the evacuation of Mazatlan are also given. The Catholics among the Freedmen. The Protestant sects are alarmed at the efforts to be made by the Catholics among the Freedmen. The New York Observer says: “The colored men are coming under the influence of the Roman Catholics, and one of the objects of the present Romanist Council in Baltimore has been to devise measures for the conversion to Papacy of the black race on this continent. The negroes have a natural tendency to fanaticism; they are also easily influenced by the shows and pomps of Romanism. Bishop Spalding publicly declared in Baltimore that the Roman Catholic Church was the only church in which neither color nor caste were recognized, and urged the propagation of Romanism among the blacks, especially in Maryland, where there are already some religious houses devoted to the black race.” Brooklyn Navy Yard. During the past ten days there has been unusual activity at the Brooklyn navy yard. Orders have been received to get eight vessels, the gunboats Penobscot, Peoria, Gettysburg, Unadilla, Huron, Quinnebaug and Purveyor, and the sloop-of-war Iroquois, in readiness for sea with all dispatch. The Gettysburg was formally put into commission on Wednesday, with orders to report to Admiral Palmer of the West India squadron. Increase of Crime.—In his charge to the Grand Jury of the Court of Sessions at New York, Recorder Hackett alluded particularly to the manifest increase of crime in commercial cities, and the unsafe condition of public buildings. The following is the speech of Mr. Cyrus W. Field, the projector of the Atlantic Telegraph, delivered at the recent banquet given to him in New York on the completion of his great enterprise. The particulars here stated concerning this last most notable achievement of our times, are worthy of being read and remembered by all; and the reader can but be interested in the thrilling descriptions with which the remarks of Mr. Field abound. Speech of Mr. Field.—After returning thanks for the complimentary manner in which he was received, and alluding to several of the original projectors and co-laborers in the enterprise who have now passed away, Mr. Field proceeded to speak of the First Inception of the Atlantic Telegraph.—It is nearly thirteen years since half-a-dozen gentlemen of this city met at my house for four successive evenings, and around a table covered with maps and charts, and plans and estimates, considered a project to extend a line of telegraph from Nova Scotia to St. Johns, in Newfoundland, thence to be carried across the ocean. It was a very pretty plan on paper. There was New York, and there was St. Johns, only about 1,200 miles apart. It was easy to draw a line from one point to the other—making no account of the forests and mountains, and swamps and rivers and gulfs, that lay in our way. Not one of us had ever seen the country, or had any idea of the obstacles to be overcome. We thought we could build the line in a few months. It took two years and a half. Yet we never asked for help outside our own little circle. Indeed I fear that we should not have got it if we had—for few had any faith in our scheme. Every dollar came out of our own pockets. Yet I am proud to say no man drew back. No man proved a deserter; those who came first into the work have stood by it to the end. Of those six men four are here to-night—Mr. Peter Cooper, Moses Taylor, Marshall O. Roberts, and myself. My brother Dudley is in Europe, and Mr. Chandler White died in 1856, and his place was supplied by Mr. Wilson G. Hunt, who is also here. Mr. Robert W. Lowber was our Secretary. From this statement you perceive that in the beginning this was wholly an American enterprise. It was begun, and for two years and a half was carried on solely by American capital. Our brethren across the sea did not even know what we were doing away in the forests of Newfoundland. Our little company raised and expended over a million and a quarter of dollars before an Englishman paid a single pound sterling. Our only support outside was in the liberal character and steady friendship of the Government of Newfoundland, for which we were greatly indebted to Mr. E. M. Archibald, then Attorney-General of that colony, and now British consul at New York. And in preparing for an ocean cable the first soundings across the Atlantic were made by American officers in American ships. Our scientific men—Morse, Henry, Bache, and Maury—had taken great interest in the subject. The U. S. ship Dolphin discovered the telegraphic plateau as early as 1853; and the U. S. ship Arctic sounded across from Newfoundland to Ireland in 1856, a year before H. M.'s ship Cyclops, under command of Capt. Dayman, went over the same course. The Enterprise in England.—It was not till 1856—ten years ago—that the enterprise had any existence in England. In that summer I went to London, and there with Mr. John W. Brett, Mr. (now Sir) Chas. Bright, and Dr. Whitehouse, organized the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Then for the first time was enlisted the support of English capitalists; and then the British Government began that generous course which has continued ever since—offering us ships to complete soundings across the Atlantic, and to assist in laying the cable, and an annual subsidy for the transmission of messages. The expedition of 1857 and the two expeditions of 1858 were joint enterprises, in which the Niagara and the Susquehanna took part with the Agamemnon, the Leopard, the Gordon, and the Valorous; and the officers of both navies worked with generous rivalry for the same great object. The capital—except one quarter which was taken by myself—was subscribed wholly in Great Britain. The directors were almost all English bankers and merchants, though among them was one gentleman whom we are proud to call an American—Mr. George Peabody. The Early Failures.—With the history of the expeditions of 1857-8 you are familiar. On the third trial we gained a brief success. The cable was laid, and for four weeks it worked—though not very brilliantly—never giving forth such rapid and distinct flashes as the cables of to-day. It spoke, though only in broken sentences. But while it lasted no less than four hundred messages were sent across the Atlantic. After the failure of 1858 came our darkest days. When a thing is dead, it is hard to galvanize it into life. Other causes delayed a new attempt. This country had become involved in a tremendous war; and while the nation was struggling for life, it had no time to spend in foreign enterprises. But in England the project was still kept alive. The Atlantic Telegraph Company kept up its organization. It had a noble body of directors, who had faith in the enterprise, and looked beyond its present low estate to ultimate success. All this time the science of submarine telegraphy was making progress. The British government appointed a Commission to investigate the whole subject. It was composed of eminent scientific men and practical engineers. This Commission sat for nearly two years and spent many thousands of pounds in experiments. The result was a clear conviction in every mind that it was possible to lay a telegraph across the Atlantic. Science was also being all the while applied to practice. Submarine cables were laid in different seas—in the Mediterranean, in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.21 The Effort of 1865—the Gigantic Efforts made.—When the scientific and engineering problems were solved, we took heart again and began to prepare for a fresh attempt. This was in 1865. In this country—though the war was still raging—I went from city to city, holding meetings and trying to raise capital, but with poor success. Men came and listened, and said “it was all very fine,” and “hoped I would succeed,” but did nothing. In one of the cities they gave me a large meeting, and passed some beautiful resolutions, and appointed a committee of “solid men” to canvass the city, but I did not get a solitary subscriber! In this city I did better, though money came by the hardest. By personal solicitations, encouraged by you, sir, and other good friends, I succeeded in raising £70,000. Since not many had faith, I must present one example to the contrary, though it was not till a year later. When almost all deemed it a hopeless scheme, one gentleman came to me and purchased stock of the Atlantic Telegraph Company to the amount of £100,000. That was Mr. Loring Andrews, who is here this evening, to see his faith rewarded. But at that time I speak of, it was plain that our main hope must be in England, and I went to London. There, too, it dragged heavily. There was a profound discouragement. Many had lost before, and were not willing to throw more money into the sea. We needed £600,000, and with our utmost efforts we had raised less than half, and there the enterprise stood in a dead lock. It was plain that we must have help from some new quarter. I looked around to find a man who had broad shoulders, and could carry a heavy load, and who would be a giant in the cause. It was at this time I was introduced to a gentleman whom I would hold up to the American public as a specimen of a great-hearted Englishman, Mr. Thomas Brassey. You may never have heard his name, but in London he is known as one of the men who has made British enterprise and British capital felt in all parts of the earth. I went to see him, though with fear and trembling. He received me kindly, but put me through such an examination as I never had before. I thought I was in the witness-box. He asked me every possible question, but my answers satisfied him, and he ended by saying it was an enterprise which ought to be carried out, and that he ought to be one of ten men to furnish the money to do it. This was a pledge of £60,000 sterling! Encouraged by this noble offer, I looked around to find another such man, though it was almost like trying to find two Wellingtons. But he was found in Mr. John Pender, of Manchester. I went to his office one day in London, and we walked together to the House of Commons, and before we got there he said he would take an equal share with Mr. Brassey. The action of these two gentlemen was a turning point in the history of our enterprise; for it led shortly after to a union of the well-known firm of Glass, Elliot & Co. with the Gutta Percha Company, making of the two one grand concern known as “The Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company,” which included not only Mr. Brassey and Mr. Pender, but other men of great wealth, such as Mr. George Elliot and Mr. Barclay, of London, and which, thus reinforced with immense capital, took up the whole enterprise in its strong arms. We needed, I have said, £600,000, and with all our efforts in England and America we raised only £285,000. This new company now came forward, and offered to take the whole remaining £315,000, besides £100,000 of the bonds, and to make its own profits contingent on success. The Delicacy of the Cable.—Our two cables do their part well. There are no way stations between Ireland and Newfoundland, where messages have to be repeated, and the lightning never lingers more than a second in the bottom of the sea. To those who feared that they might be used up or wear out, I would say, for their relief, that the old cable works a little better than the new one, but that is because it has been down longer, as time improves the quality of gutta percha. But the new one is constantly growing better. To show how delicate are these wonderful cords, it is enough to state that they can be worked with the smallest battery power. When the first cable was laid in 1858, electricians thought that to send a current 2,000 miles, it must be almost like a stroke of lightning. But God was not in the earthquake, but in the still, small voice. The other day Mr. Latimer Clark telegraphed from Ireland across the ocean and back again, with a battery formed in a lady’s thimble! And now Mr. Collett writes me from Heart’s Content: “I have just sent my compliments to Dr. Gould, of Cambridge, who is at Valentia, with a battery composed of a gun-cap, with a strip of zinc, excited by a drop of water, the simple bulk of a tear!” A telegraph that we think nearly perfect. It has never failed for an hour or a minute. Recovery of the Old Cable.—But our work was not over. After landing the cable safely at Newfoundland, we had another task—to return to mid-ocean and recover that lost in the expedition of last year. This achievement has perhaps excited more surprise than the other. Well, it does seem rather difficult to fish for a jewel at the bottom of the ocean two and a half miles deep. But this is not so very difficult—when you know how. You may be sure we did not go a-fishing at random, nor was our success mere “luck.” It was the triumph of the highest nautical and engineering skill. We had four ships, and on board of them some of the best seamen in England, men who knew the ocean as a hunter knows every trail in the forest. There was Capt. Moriarty, who was in the Agamemnon in 1857-8. He was in the Great Eastern last year, and saw the cable when it broke, and he said Capt. Anderson at once took their observations so exact that they could go right to the spot. After finding it, they marked the line of the cable by a row of buoys; for fogs would come down, and shut out sun and stars, so that no man could take an observation. These buoys were anchored a few miles apart. They were numbered, and each had a flagstaff on it so that it could be seen by day; and a lantern by night. Thus having taken our bearings, we stood off three or four miles, so as to come broadside on, and then casting over the grapnel drifted slowly down upon it, dragging the bottom of the ocean as we went. At first it was a little awkward to fish in such deep water, but our men got used to it, and soon could cast a grapnel almost as straight as an old whaler throws a harpoon. Our fishing line was of formidable size. It was made of rope, twisted with wires of steel, so as to bear a strain of thirty tons. It took about two hours for the grapnel to reach the bottom, but we could tell when it struck. I often went to the bow, and sat on the rope, and could feel by the quiver that the grapnel was dragging on the bottom two miles under us. But it was very slow business. We had storms and calms, and fogs and squalls. Still we worked on day after day. Once, on the 17th of August, we got the cable up, and had it in full sight for five minutes, a long, slimy monster, fresh from the core of the ocean’s bed, but our men began to cheer so wildly that it seemed to be frightened, and suddenly broke away, and went down into the sea. This accident kept us at work two weeks longer, but finally on the last night of August we caught it. We had cast the grapnel thirty times. It was a little before midnight on Friday night that we hooked the cable, and it was a little after midnight Sunday morning when we got it on board. What was the anxiety of those twenty-six hours? The strain on every man’s life was like the strain on the cable itself. When finally it appeared, it was midnight; the lights of the ship, and in the boats around our bows, as they flashed in the faces of the men, showed them eagerly watching for the cable to appear on the water. All who were allowed to approach crowded forward to see it. Yet not a word was spoken, only the voices of the officers in command were heard giving orders. All felt as if life and death hung on the issue. It was only when it was brought over the bow and on to the deck that men dared to breathe. Even then they hardly believed their eyes. Some crept toward it to feel of it, to be sure it was there. Then we carried it to the electricians’ room, to see if our long sought-for treasure was alive or dead. A few minutes of suspense, and a flash told of the lightning current again set free. Then did the feeling long pent up burst forth. Some turned away their heads and wept. Others broke into cheers, and the cry ran from man to man, and was heard down the engine-rooms, deck below deck, and from the boats on the water, and the other ships, while rockets lighted up the darkness of the sea. Then with thankful hearts we turned our faces again to the west. But soon the wind rose, and for thirty-six hours we were exposed to all the dangers of a storm on the Atlantic. Yet in the very height and fury of the gale, as I sat in the electricians’ room, a flash of light came up from the deep, which having crossed to Ireland, came back to me in mid-ocean, telling that those so dear to me, whom I had left on the banks of the Hudson, were well and were following us with their wishes and their prayers. This was like a whisper of God from the sea, bidding me keep heart and hope. The Great Eastern bore herself proudly through the storm, as if she knew that the vital cord, which was to join two hemispheres, hung at her stern; and so, on Saturday, the 7th of September, we brought our second cable safely to the shore. Personal Experience.—Such, gentlemen, in brief, is the story of the telegraph which you have wished to hear. It has been a long, hard struggle. Nearly thirteen years of anxious watching and ceaseless toil. Often my heart has been ready to sink. Many times, when wandering in the forests of Newfoundland, in the pelting rain, or on the deck of ships, on dark, stormy nights—alone, far from home—I have almost accused myself of madness and folly to sacrifice the peace of my family, and all the hopes of life, for what might prove, after all, but a dream. I have seen my companions, one and another, falling by my side, and feared that I too might not live to see the end. And yet one hope has led me on, and I have prayed that I might not taste of death till this work was accomplished. That prayer is answered; and now, beyond all acknowledgments to men, is the feeling of gratitude to Almighty God. In the fourteenth century a copy of the English translation of the New Testament, which could be obtained only in manuscript, was worth fifty pounds ($242.) In 1866 a printed copy can be obtained in England for two pence (four cents.) Twelve hundred balls are announced for the winter in New York. There is a street in New York city where the tenants of every house on both sides of the street have applied for licences to sell liquor. The lower house of the Georgia Legislature has just passed a bill prohibiting railroad trains and steamboats from running on the first day of the week. THE official ceremony of laying the last brick in the lake tunnel at Chicago was performed on Thursday morning, Dec. 6, by Mayor Rice in presence of the board of aldermen and invited guests, numbering about 70, after which there was a banquet at the crib. From voluminous correspondence we make the following summary of affairs in Europe, our dates by mail being November 27: All Europe Arousing.—A London correspondent writes: Whatever may be the cause, all Europe is arming and preparing for a great struggle. Russia has made a levy en masse, proclaimed a new emancipation in Poland, and is making and importing war material, and pushing on its railway system with great energy. Austria is using every effort to cement the empire and re-organize the army, so as to have a peace establishment of 600,000 men and a war complement of 900,000, armed with the Remington breech-loader, and improved artillery. France has increased the annual conscription and reserves, and the Chassepot breech-loader is probably to be superseded by the new gun of Mr. Bonin, which fires twenty-five balls a minute, while the Emperor himself has invented a breech-loading four-pounder, the lightest, most rapid, and most effective field-piece ever made. The entire cavalry, armed with this piece, will act as flying artillery, and needle-guns will be held out of range for any effective use. Of course Prussia will do her utmost to keep her present vantage. She has just bought one of the finest iron-clads in England, built for the Sultan. Others are supposed to be building here and in America. Whatever dullness there may be in other manufactures, ships of war, arms and powder, are in lively demand.—Detroit Post. Prussia.—The impression is now prevailing in many minds that, while Prussia is making all the show of a tolerably generous peace with her enemies and with some of her neighbors, she is only laying her plans all the deeper, not only to annex the old Hanse cities of Lubeck, Hamburg, and Bremen, as she has Frankfort-on-the-Main, but to absorb Saxony, Bavaria, and every other territorial slice that the claws of her black eagle are strong enough to clutch. 'What can't be done to-day can be done to-morrow; she aims at nothing less than all Germany,' said an intelligent citizen of Stuttgart the other day, and he was more than half right. But Russia and France would have something to say before such a result is gained.—European Correspondent of the Methodist. The Austrian Government has decided upon adopting the English Remington rifle, which, like the needle gun, loads at the breech. The result of the experiments has been that sixty shots per minute can be fired with this rifle. Twenty-six iron-clad vessels are now being built in England for the British navy. BRO. SMITH: I commenced to obey the solemn warning of the third angel’s message last spring, while Elders Van Horn and Canright were preaching in this place; and I feel happy that I ever sought diligently to know the true plan of salvation, and I do humbly believe that God did send his ministering servants here to warn sinners to repentance. I am determined to live out the present truth, be an overcomer, and be ready when Christ comes to make up his jewels, to meet him with joy and not with grief. Myself and companion are trying to keep all the commandments of God. I am not always free from errors and mistakes, and when I discover these I am deeply pained, and I ask God to forgive and take me into his keeping. Let us not despair, whatever betides. God’s people and his cause are safe. We have many trials and strong enemies, and those within do often betray us, but then we must look to Jesus, and him alone, and he will save us. James iv, 10, says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” Now my dear friends, the Adventists here in Tuscola are looked at as a deluded people, and somewhat despised and persecuted, but if God will lift us up, what care we what the world says? Why then repine thou tried and afflicted one? Are not the promises of God sufficient? Look up. Has not the Lord said, As thy day, so shall thy strength be? And now my dear brethren, I thank the Lord for what he has done for me. May each one of us realize the solemn and awful time in which we are living, put our whole trust in God, and at last be gathered home. Pray for me and for us in Tuscola, that we may go through with the remnant to Mt. Zion. Yours seeking a home in the new earth. A Testimony for Present Truth
BRO. SMITH: Often while reading the cheering testimonies from the dear brethren and sisters, I have felt that it would be a privilege, and perhaps a duty to cast in my mite in favor of this glorious, yet solemn truth. I am thankful that I have the privilege of numbering myself with the little company who are keeping the commandments of God, and obeying the testimonies of Jesus Christ. Oh, how good the Lord is in bestowing such glorious light upon his sacred word through which we may be enabled to perfectly understand our relation to God, and our duty to ourselves. Truly God is working for this people, not only through prophecy and spiritual gifts, but the Health Reform; all of which I freely and gladly endorse. May the Lord help me that I may cleanse myself from all impurities of the flesh and spirit, that I may be fully prepared for my Master’s use, and finally dwell in his heavenly kingdom.
ELLA C. ROGERS.
Dane Co., Wis.22 Bro. D. B. Welch writes from Swainsville, N. Y.: Myself and wife are still encouraged to press our way toward the everlasting kingdom, which we have every reason to believe is nigh, even at the door. We see many evidences that the end of all things is at hand, and are glad we were ever enabled to see the true light that now shineth. Bro. Wm. Cottrell writes from Bowersville, Ohio: We are still striving to overcome. We have many things to contend with, but would rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for the name and cause of our divine Master. We feel very lonely at times, and we think we know how to sympathize with the lonely ones who are scattered in this world of sin. We welcome the paper, our only preacher, and love the cheering testimonies of the brethren and sisters. The God of all comfort is our God. We would still trust in the Lord, and patiently wait for his coming. Bro. Z. Nicola writes from E. Rush, N. Y.: When I read the promises that God made to Abraham, that he would give him the earth made new, and the holy city, the New Jerusalem, its capital, and think that we may, by obedience, become Abraham’s seed, and joint-heirs with him of the same promise, I feel like buckling on the armor anew, and fighting more valiantly the good fight of faith. We have enough before us to encourage us, to sacrifice the pleasures of this world, and get ready to receive our crown, which will soon be given, if we are faithful. We have a truth that stands upon a sure foundation; and as we are drawing near the end of all things, and I realize what we as a people are looking for, I feel like saying in the language of Peter, “What manner of persons ought we to be, in all holy conversation and godliness?” Pray for us lonely ones, that we may be comforted with the hope of the near coming of Jesus, and be ready to stand when he appears. Bro. and sister Wm. V. and M. L. Field write from Anamosa, Iowa: We feel much encouraged to go on in the good way. We have been brought through many severe trials, but thus far we have been delivered, not for any worth or merit in ourselves, but through the mercy of God. To him be all the glory. The Monthly Meetings in this part of the State are proving a great blessing. We see omens of good in the message everywhere. We see in the Health Reform the finger of God, who understands the wants of his people, and is preparing them for translation. We regret that we have not been more faithful in so great and good a work, but feel determined that the heavenly treasure shall be the chief end of life from henceforth. Sister M. A. Neal writes from Osceola, Iowa: I was permitted to meet with the dear brethren and sisters at the Convocation Meeting at Pilot Grove. It was the best meeting I ever attended. The things that I heard there have found a deep place in my heart. The parting scene was indeed a solemn time; but we thought of the time not far distant when all God’s dear children will be gathered home to the beloved city, where parting will be no more. Shall I be there? I mean by the assisting grace of God to meet them there. Our hearts have been cheered by the visit of Bro. Bourdeau to this place. Their preaching was meat in due season; and the result is that one sister has embraced the truth, and is now trying to keep all the commandments. May God bless all his faithful servants, and speed on the glorious proclamation of the third angel, is my sincere prayer. Bro. I. H. Collins writes from Richford, Wis.: I love the truths advocated by the Review, and am trying by the help of God to live them out. I have lately commenced to live out the Health Reform, and I can say for the encouragement of those who are holding back, that the blessing of God attends me in every advance step which I take in the present truth. I attended the meeting at Rockford, when Bro. Sanborn was there, and received new light on a number of points. It was a feast of good things to me. Bro. Geo. Smith writes from Norwalk, Ohio: Fifteen years ago last April, I embraced the present truth, and have ever since felt to praise the Lord for the light on the holy Sabbath, and its kindred truths. The Sabbath is a delight to me. It is the holy of the Lord, and honorable; and it will stand fast forever and ever. Praise God. How merciful the Lord is in bringing out light and truth in these last days; to fit up a people to stand in the time of trouble just before us, and to prepare them for his coming and heavenly kingdom. We are very thankful for the labor bestowed upon us in Ohio. And while listening to the able arguments of Bro. Van Horn and Lawrence in the tent at Bellville, last summer, we felt sure that the Lord would bless his precious truth, as he has done, to the good of many souls. May he still bless, and be with his dear servants, and those who have lately started to obey the truth. As a church here, we are grateful for the light on the Health Reform. The remarks of our beloved Bro. Loughborough on the subject while with us last summer, have been very much appreciated. We hope to overcome the world, the flesh and the Devil, and finally stand with the remnant on Mount Zion. The little church in Wakeman is growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. Our Monthly Meetings are interesting and profitable. The light that clusters around the third angel’s message, gives us new life and zeal, and unites us in one. Bro. G. W. Parker writes from Chicago, Ill.: It is with a joyful heart that I write; joyful, because truth has found another heart to abide in; joyful, because I have faith to believe God’s promises to his people, one of which is, grace to help in every time of need. How often I have to look above to gain this strength; and oh, what a joy to know where to look, by the eye of faith, even within the veil. How much more we love Jesus, when we have light from the sanctuary, which shows us his true position. It is then the law becomes as a “mirror of the soul.” How good to have such a law engraven upon our minds. What were once considered slight deviations from morality, now loom up like mountains of iniquity, bringing us often to the throne of grace for pardon and strength. Pray for me that I may ever give honor, and glory to God, for having thus brought me into the light of his truth. Sister M. A. Green writes from Edwards, N. Y.: Several of the writers in the Review seem quite near to me though I have never seen them. It is more than five years since I heard an Adventist preach, except the funeral discourse of my own little boy preached by Bro. S. B. Whitney, several months after his death. We live forty miles from Buck’s Bridge; and when there is an appointment given out for that place it is usually too late when I get the paper for me to attend the meeting. I would esteem it a great blessing and privilege to live where I might attend the meetings from Sabbath to Sabbath. The people here are almost entirely ignorant in regard to the doctrines taught by Seventh-day Adventists; but there are some here who say they would be willing to keep the seventh day if they thought the Lord required it of them. Bro. J. Croffitt writes from Brooklyn, N. Y.: I am fully convinced that the Lord is soon to come and the end is very near. I look with interest to the prophetic periods, but with more interest to the sayings of Jesus Christ. “The wise shall understand, but none of the wicked shall understand.” The wise virgins understand their position, but not so the foolish virgins. “Watch,” is the repeated injunction of the Saviour, “Watch and pray.” Let our lamps be trimmed and burning, our loins girded, and we be ready and waiting, rejoicing in expectation. Praise the Lord. His mercy endures forever. “Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.” Sister M. A. Babcock writes from Spring Grove, Wis.: I believe that we must double our diligence in serving the Lord, or we shall certainly be shaken out. I hope and pray that I may not be one that shall be weighed in the balance and found wanting, but be prepared to receive the welcome, “Come thou blessed of my Father, enter into the joys of thy Lord.” Press on dear brethren and sisters. That glorious prize is not far distant. Soon Jesus will come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Sister L. H. Winslow writes from Benton Co., Iowa: The Review is all the preacher I have, and I cannot express the joy it brings to me. I am daily striving to live out the precious truths it advocates, and to have my neighbors investigate them. All who have read the paper, say that they think the seventh day is the Sabbath; but as there is no preaching here of that kind it is a hard matter for them to decide what to do. The people seem interested and express an anxiety to hear. If Bro. Bourdeau, or any of our preachers as they travel West, can come to Florence and preach, I think much good might be done. I live one mile south of the R. R. station, near a school-house which is open for Advent preaching. Bro. C. D. Cook writes from Akron, Mich.: Although we have not the privilege of meeting with our dear Brn. and sisters, yet, thank the Lord, we can read their cheering testimonies through the Review, and it helps to cheer and strengthen us on our pilgrimage journey to the land where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest. Let us put our whole trust in God, and constantly watch ourselves in all that we do, and see if all is done to his glory; and if we are found watching when he comes, we may look up with joy and say, “Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him and he will save us.” Oh, what a happy meeting that will be, for all who are looking and longing for the appearing of our dear Saviour. THERE are beautiful fields on the further side,
Where the hosts of the saved shall stand,
There are mansions of beauty beyond the tide,
And the light that beams o’er the waters wide,
Is a light from the “Better Land.” There are rivers that roll over golden sands,
Through the midst of this realm so fair,
And the beautiful gardens of God are fanned
By the wonderful breezes so soft and bland,
That sweeten the heavenly air. There’s a city whose gates are of pearly white,
Whose glories forever shall stand,
And there never shall gather the shades of night,
For the throne of God is the sun and the light,
In the midst of this blissful land. We shall join in the song which the angels sing
As they stand on the heavenly plain,
We shall play on a harp with a golden string,
And the light of the heavenly vault shall ring
With the praise of a Saviour slain.