“When Jesus said, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself,’ he laid down a rule of life that contains a world of wealth. If only we can succeed in looking on our neighbor’s life with the same kind of interest as we regard our own, we shall find a key that will unlock for us larger worlds than we have dreamed of.”
The Danube Union Conference
By L. R. CONRADI
L. R. CONRADI
LEAVING Nuremberg January 24, Brethren G. W. Schubert and J. Wolfgarten and the writer reached Budapest the following afternoon, where the Danube Union Committee had its annual audits for all its fields, and where the general workers’ meeting was to be held. The division treasurer, Alice Kuessner, had arrived a day earlier, but the union treasurer was not able to secure the necessary permission to attend. The five days spent together were filled with workers’ meetings, auditing, and public meetings.
This union has made a splendid record, all considered, the last year. Strange to say, the field in which our brethren had the most bitter persecution and where other Protestant denominations had thus far had the least success, has proved to be the very best one for the growth of our message. Not fewer than 181 members have been added to that local conference the past year, bringing up its membership to 754.
Of the many remarkable experiences through which our workers and members here have passed during the year, I shall mention only the most interesting and striking. To quote from one of our workers’ letters:—
“Seven of our brethren had been summoned, charged with violating that paragraph of the law which is punishable by a fine of $400 and the imprisonment of any one who is found guilty of a direct provocation and contempt of the state religion. The legal proceedings were postponed three times in order that new witnesses might be secured, as nothing could be proved from the testimony of those who had been called. The hearing of the brethren was interesting. The testimony of one of the accused well represents the true influence of our faith. This testimony is even used by those not of our faith to enlighten people as to what kind of men the Adventists really are.
“The accusation was stated as follows: ‘Such and such persons have become heretics, and make propaganda to spread their heresy, and by so doing slander the church.’
“The brother giving the testimony is an old, gray-headed man. The president of the court said, ‘Hello, old man, how have you become a heretic at such an advanced age?’ The brother replied:—
“‘I will tell you, Mr. President. Up to this age and until the time I had these gray hairs [pointing to his gray head], I was a thief, a drinker who caroused in the saloon, on the street, and in the family, and who caused much trouble to the local police. In short, I was, without exaggeration, the worse fellow in the whole village. Please ask the priests and the witnesses whom they have summoned against me, and they will confirm this [the priests and the witnesses confirmed the statement]. But now in my advanced age God has had mercy on me, and through these people called Adventists, I learned to know the gospel of the fear of God, and I have become another man. Now, I steal no more, I drink no liquor, make no disturbances; yes, all the villagers testify of me that now I conduct myself better than any of them. Please ask the priests of our village, and the witnesses, and they will also tell you.’ Both the priests and the witnesses affirmed this also. Then the brother continued: ‘Now, Mr. President, please judge for yourself: When was I a heretic? Was it at a time when I committed such evil deeds, or is it now when I lead such a different life?’”
“The presiding judge and the judges and lawyers in attendance were all astonished and speechless. They themselves afterward said that they had never before heard such a testimony.
“Since then this incident has become widely known, as seen from the following:—
“‘Some time later I stood before a bookstore. I was called by name to a group of gentlemen consisting of a lawyer, a government counselor, an engineer, and another high official. The lawyer, after asking how my health was, asked me also how Adventism prospered, at the same time introducing me as an Adventist preacher. One of the gentlemen asked me, ‘What kind of people are these Adventists, and what are their principles?’ Before I could give an answer, the lawyer and the government counselor said:—
“‘Listen, I will tell you. The prefect of the district went out into the country in order to convert the Adventist farmers there to the orthodox church again, but before he got through, he himself was converted. He saw with his own eyes that the Adventists were really the best people of the villages—clean, polite, of good behavior, having cleanly houses and farmyards.’ And in conclusion: ‘Have you ever heard that an old farmer would come and say to any one, “My sir, up to my old age I have been the worst man in the village, which my neighbors can all confirm, and now that I am converted, the contrary is the case”? Have you ever heard any such thing? Behold, such are the Adventists, and this is their work, and thus you may know what the Adventists are, and what they teach.’”
“Very interesting also was the hearing of the witnesses. One of them was asked, ‘Have they slandered the church?’ and he answered, ‘Yes, indeed, in the worst manner.’ Then the president asked, ‘In what way?’ The witness answered, ‘By not going to church any more.’ ‘Well,’ asked the president, ‘what has that to do with it? Should they be therefore punished by the law? Do you yourselves go regularly to church?’ ‘Yes,’ the witness said, ‘I go to church on Christmas and Easter, but not on all the holidays.’ Then the president asked again, ‘Have you slandered the church by going so seldom?’ And the answer was, ‘No.’
“Another witness was asked, ‘Have these people slandered the priests?’—‘Yes.’ ‘How? What have they said?’ ‘Well,’ one of the witnesses said, ‘they have slandered the priests in the worst manner.’ Then he was asked, ‘Which one of the accused has done this?’ After naming one of the seven, he was asked what this brother had really stated. Then the witness answered, ‘I cannot tell it, but he spoke very loudly to the priest.’ ‘Well then, please tell all that has taken place.’ ‘I can’t tell it all. Both priest and Adventist were sitting round a table. They had a thick book which lay on the table. The Adventist pointed to the book, and spoke very loudly, but what he said I do not know. I cannot read; therefore, I cannot tell you what kind of book it was. All I remember is that the Adventist spoke of a Matthew and of a Luke. But I cannot tell you who these persons are, for I have never learned to read.’”
“Then the judge answered, ‘That’s no slandering of the priests. I know well of what you speak. Matthew and Luke are evangelists. The book was surely the Bible, and the Adventist undoubtedly had a conversation concerning it with the priest. The priest said, perhaps, “You should believe so and so.” The Adventist answered, perhaps, “No, for Matthew and Luke write differently from what the priests believe.” But this is surely no slandering of the priests on the part of the Adventists.’”
“All the witnesses were asked concerning the general behavior of the Adventists in the villages, and all had to testify that the Adventists are the best people in the village. Yet two of the seven brethren were fined $60 each, but they appealed to the highest court, and were freed.”
The largest conference in the union is the Transylvania, which had 121 additions last year, and its membership increased to 792. The Middle Hungarian Conference, of which the union president is in charge, had 134 additions, and its membership has grown to 653. The Theiss Mission field, where most of the members speak the Serbian language, had 53 additions, and its membership is 276. The union as a whole had 518 additions, and its membership is now 2,683.
But there has also been a wonderful increase in the tithe and some increase13in the offerings, in spite of the war. As many of the members are farmers, and farm products have raised greatly in price, they were able to pay a large tithe and give more offerings. Consequently the tithe rose from $16,000 to $24,000, and the total offerings were about $4,500. Only a few years ago we had to appropriate from twelve to fifteen thousand dollars annually to this field. This year the Roumanian and Transylvania Conferences each turned over about $2,000 surplus to the union, and cleared fully all the deficits of the union, leaving a small surplus. They did this after giving the workers a general increase in wages. There are but few directors of fields left, and yet in spite of all the opposition and the scarcity of workers, God’s cause is progressing as never before. The workers indeed enjoyed the instruction given, and went forth from this meeting with new courage in the Lord.
Brother Huenergardt and the workers remaining with him are of good courage. Let us remember in our prayers our brethren in persecution and trouble.
General Meeting in Haiti
By G. G. ROTH
G. G. ROTH
RESPONDING to a call from the General Conference, I visited the French field of Haiti during March and April, to attend a general meeting. This republic has a population of two and one-half million, the majority of whom speak French, and the others, especially those in the interior, speak the Creole; but most of them understand French.
Since the United States has assumed the protectorate of the island, conditions have changed in favor of prosperity and the security of the country. Streets are cleaned, roads are built, and plans are laid for the building of railroads.
The general meeting was the first ever held here, and lasted ten days. It certainly was a blessed meeting. God came very near us. Never had I witnessed so much of his power as I did in that meeting. There were two hundred of our people in attendance. Many came from the interior of the island. Thirty-two were baptized, and many others are anxious to receive baptism. Nearly all these converts came from Catholicism.
WORKERS ATTENDING THE HAITI GENERAL MEETING
Pledges amounting to 667 gourdes (a gourde is equal to twenty cents) were made to help pay the school-teachers during 1916, and 542 gourdes collected for the erection of a school building. The salary of an ordinary workingman is twenty cents a day. Seventy-one Bibles, 1,450 New Testaments, and 1,200 Gospels were sold. Thirty copies of “Life of Christ” in French were ordered, and thirty subscriptions to La Sentinelle were taken.
American officers and soldiers expressed astonishment at seeing our tent so well filled with such a good class of people. It was inspiring. Among them were judges, lawyers, doctors, generals, etc. Even the mayor of Grande Rivière, where this meeting was held, was baptized, and the justice of the peace said it would not be long until he should join our church.
During 1915 the 266 members in Haiti paid $641.68 tithe, $26.63 for missions, $38.36 in Sabbath school offerings, and $216.10 for church expenses; a total of $922.77. I can say that it is wonderful when we take into consideration the revolutions of the past two years, also the declaration of other religious bodies who say it is impossible to get anything from the people to help carry on gospel work.
After the general meeting I spent two weeks with the tent in Port de Paix, where Brother E. Curdy is at work. The attendance was good, especially when the stereopticon was used. A church building is being erected here.
My next stop was at Port au Prince, the capital. Here I visited the minister of finance and commerce to request the free entrance of our books and papers. We expect the request will be granted. On Sabbath we met with the group of believers there, seven or eight in number.
BELIEVERS AT THE HAITI GENERAL MEETING
By the only railroad of importance in that country, I reached St. Marc, where Brother Isaac Nord is laboring. He is assisted by Jules J. Baptiste. As a result of their labors here the past few months, they have organized a church of fifteen members.
I am glad to be able to say that all our workers in Haiti really possess the spirit of the message and are preaching it with power and good results.
Mission Notes
AN intelligent Japanese physician is reported among those who have recently accepted the truth in Japan. He formerly was employed at a large mine, receiving a good salary. He has tendered his resignation, being anxious to start medical work in harmony with our work. A company of about thirty earnest inquirers was developed by a few visits to this mine by one of our workers. A worker is much needed for this place, but Japan has none to spare. In a district about the size of a township there are more than forty mines, in which thousands of people are employed. No missionary work of any kind is being carried on among them. How great the needs in the populous East!
A TEACHER at the head station school of one of our large African missions gives a little insight into the difficulty of developing outschool teachers from third- and fourth-standard [or grade] pupils: “We have some promising young teachers, but the unfortunate thing is that we have to put them to teaching before they are fully qualified. Before I came here, I had some experience in pupil-teacher training in a large public school, and then I formed the habit of always finding something encouraging to say to the least promising, so that he had always a peg to work from. This habit of always picking out a bright spot somewhere stands me in good stead here. I often think, ‘What would my old mistress of method say if she could hear that?’ But I doubt if white boys and girls would do any better if they had only third- and fourth-standard attainments.”
The Duty of the Father to the Family
By MRS. ALFRED SHRYOCK
MRS. ALFRED SHRYOCK
In the family relationship of father, mother, and children, a relationship in which discipline, love, and obedience are blended, the father must necessarily assume a position of great responsibility.
In Old Testament times, the father was the priest of the household. He was to be an example of faith to his family as he offered up the morning and evening sacrifice. God honored those patriarchs who cultivated home religion, and caused the fear of the Lord to pervade their households.
In New Testament times, the father is still the head of the family, as Christ is the head of the church. By affection and authority combined, he is to rule his house. By precept and example, he is to train his children to be useful members of society, and fit them for the future life.
One may derive much wholesome instruction from the story of the lives of such men as Abraham and Eli, who are types of two kinds of fathers, the faithful and the indulgent.
Abraham’s “household consisted of more than a thousand souls, many of them heads of families, and not a few but newly converted from heathenism. Such a household required a firm hand at the helm. No weak, vacillating methods would suffice.” God saw that Abraham would instruct his children and his household in the principles of God’s law. “I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him,” he said. Yet the authority of the patriarch was exercised with such wisdom and tenderness that hearts were won, and Abraham’s influence extended beyond his own household. “Wherever he pitched his tent, he set up beside it the altar for sacrifice and worship. When the tent was removed, the altar remained; and many a roving Canaanite, whose knowledge of God had been gained from the life of Abraham his servant, tarried at that altar to offer sacrifices to Jehovah.”
Eli, on the other hand, was an indulgent father. “Instead of regarding the education of his sons as one of the most important of his responsibilities, he treated the matter as of little consequence. The priest and judge of Israel had not been left in darkness as to the duty of restraining and governing the children that God had given to his care. But Eli shrank from this duty, because it involved crossing the will of his sons, and would make it necessary to punish and deny them. Without weighing the terrible consequences that would follow his course, he indulged his children in whatever they desired, and neglected the work of fitting them for the service of God and the duties of life.”
The curse of God soon followed. As the result of Eli’s course, his wicked sons were slain in battle, with thirty thousand of Israel, and the ark of God was taken by their enemies. When the aged priest heard of it, he fell backward and died. All this evil resulted from his neglect to restrain his sons. If God was so particular as to notice and visit punishment for such things anciently, will he be less particular in these last days?
The father is the provider for his family. Of course he regards it as a duty to provide a cheerful, comfortable home, and a wholesome and nutritious diet, as well as means for the proper clothing and education of his family. This duty, however, is not inconsistent with the other duty of spending some time with his family each day, instructing them in right habits and principles of living.
The father is the lawmaker, and should enforce in his family the sterner virtues, — energy, integrity, honesty, patience, courage, diligence, and practical usefulness. What he requires of his children, he himself should practice, illustrating these virtues in his own daily life. But fathers should not discourage their children. “Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.” “Combine affection with authority, kindness and sympathy with firm restraint. Give some of your leisure hours to your children.” But one may say, “I am busy all the time and have no leisure hours.” Consider this statement from Volume II, page 85, of the Testimonies: “Your first and most sacred duty is to your family. They should not be robbed for others to be favored. Let your benevolence, your liberality, be seen in your own family.” Again (“Counsels to Teachers,” page 127): “The father should not become so absorbed in business life or in the study of books, that he cannot take time to study the natures and necessities of his children;” he should always be ready to give some of his leisure hours to his children; become acquainted with them; associate with them in their work and in their sports, and win their confidence.
“Cultivate friendship with your children,” says one authority, “especially with your sons.” “The father of boys should come into close contact with his sons, giving them the benefit of his larger experience, and talking with them in such simplicity and tenderness that he binds them to his heart. He should let them see that he has their best interests, their happiness, in view all the time. As the priest of the household, he is accountable to God for the influence that he exerts over every member of the family.”—“Counsels to Teachers,” p. 128.
“The husband should manifest great interest in his family. Especially should he be very tender of the feelings of a feeble wife. . . . The husband should remember that much of the burden of training his children rests upon the mother. . . . This should call into exercise his tenderest feelings, and with care should he lighten her burdens. He should encourage her to lean upon his large affections, and direct her mind to heaven, where there is strength and peace, and a final rest for the weary. He should not come to his home with a clouded brow, but should with his presence bring sunlight into the family.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. I, pp. 306, 307. The father should by faith in God lift up a standard against Satan. “Before leaving the house for labor, all the family should be called together, and the father, or the mother in the father’s absence, should plead fervently with God to keep them through the day. . . . It is the duty of Christian parents, morning and evening, by earnest prayer and persevering faith, to make a hedge about their children.”—Id., pp. 307, 308.
After all, this life is simply a preparation for the life to come; and if parents fail to prepare themselves and their children for the eternal life, what have they gained? It is evident that by doing our duty faithfully, we with our children are sure of a home in the kingdom of God; but unfaithfulness in fathers may call forth the following sentence, quoted from Volume IV of the Testimonies, p. 48: “If your children fail of everlasting life, the blood of their souls will surely be found on the garments of their father.”
Loma Linda, Cal.
The Sabbath at Home
By R. OLIVER KING
R. OLIVER KING
Now the hours so calm and peaceful
Draw on with the sun's last rays,
And our thoughts are turned to heaven
As a song of praise we raise.
O, we love the hours so precious
And the little time we spend
In communion sweet and holy
With our Jesus, Lord and Friend!
Conducted by Mrs. I. H. Evans, Takoma Park, Washington D. C
By Mrs. I. H. Evans; Miss Lora E. Clement
Assisted by Miss Lora E. Clement
Through the columns of this department, hints will be given on all matters pertaining to the home life. Short articles and letters are solicited from home makers, telling of their everyday experiences,—their joys and sorrows, their failures and successes.
Our Home School
By Mary Evans Clark
MARY EVANS CLARK
Another year has just passed in our little home school, and the question comes, Has it paid? What has been accomplished during the year in return for the two hundred dollars’ outlay?
In the sciences, doubtless, the children would have learned as much in the public school, and they would have greatly enjoyed the association of the children of the district. But when we leave out the one science, the foundation of all true science, what an emptiness and loss!
When Carl’s mother sent him to the town school for one week two years ago, he cried, saying, ‘Why, mamma, they don’t read the Bible, nor pray, nor have Bible lessons. I don’t want to go.’ Now she sends him two and one-half miles to our little school, and he is so happy.
To persuade a parent of the importance of the Christian school, it seems as if it would only be necessary to have him look carefully through the Readers, Bible Nature, and Bible Lessons books used in our schools. In the study of them, there is a daily instilling of Bible truths into the minds of the children.
Last summer there was to be a baptism in our church, and our children came asking to be baptized. We were surprised at their request, also at their understanding of the subject, and began to study with them, the better to prepare them for the solemn ceremony. We cannot take our children and youth out of the world, but our home school has thus far done much in helping them to resist the temptations that come to them,—as our little girl prayed, ‘Help me to come up over temptations.’
This winter we made the boys a workbench, and put it in the basement washroom, and they made good advancement in the use of tools. Of course, it makes more muss in the house; but why should healthy litter in our basement be a trial to us, when we can by it keep both our boys and our girls happily engaged in physical and mental training in our own home?
One more blessing came to us this year,—a dear girl of sixteen, who needed both a home and a school. She improves her time well, and appreciates the privileges she is having. Doubtless there are many such young people who would be a blessing in our homes and in our schools.
At the close of this, the third year of our home school, we can only say, Thank God for our schools, and may his blessing be with them.
Be Polite to the Children
By Mrs. I. H. E.
IN cultivating courtesy of manner, dear girls, do not forget the children,—all who are younger than yourself. Of course, you will remember grandmother’s likes and dislikes; you will see that she is carefully attended,—that the easiest chair and the warmest corner are always hers; you will be as attentive and thoughtful of your parents as a daughter should; you will gain your brother’s heart and your sister’s confidence by your gentle influence; but with all this kindly thought, do not overlook the children. Their sense of injustice is very keen, and with them the memory of unkindness lasts long. Their depth of feeling is by no means to be measured by their ability to express it.
Not long ago, in speaking of this subject, an accomplished and beautiful woman said that when she was a very little girl, shy and shrinking of manner, plain of face, and poorly dressed, a popular young woman spoke with uncalled-for rudeness when told that the child resembled her. The sensitive heart of the little girl bore the hurt for many years; “But,” she added, “that experience taught me one thing that I have never forgotten,—always to be considerate of the feelings of children, and to treat them with the same courtesy I should wish to receive myself.”
MRS. I. H. E.
The Christian’s Heredity
By MRS. I. H. E.
PEOPLE hear a great deal nowadays about “heredity.” Children are told from babyhood that they have “mother’s eyes and curls,” “grandma’s smile,” “auntie’s dimples,” “grandpa’s forehead,” and so on. If a child learns easily, he is like some admired member of the family; a love for music is declared to be the gift of some musical genius, near or remote; and a special interest in his physiology lessons shows at once that he has fallen heir to his father’s skill as a surgeon. But that is not all. Too many children hear their outbursts of temper, their rudeness, their careless, thoughtless ways, their negligence, even their cruelty, excused because they “inherited” these undesirable traits from some ancestor.
Now while it is undoubtedly true that we do inherit from our ancestors certain traits of character, certain tendencies and gifts, that is not all the truth there is on this subject. If it were, no one would be really responsible for his acts. But God has put within every person’s grasp the power to rise above his heredity, to overcome his tendencies to evil, to govern his temper, to conquer himself.
But there is still more for the Christian; that is, he accepts more. He is “born again.” Wonderful experience! By this new birth he becomes an heir,—an heir of God the Father, a joint heir with his divine Son, Jesus Christ, who, in spite of his earthly ancestry, lived a perfect life on earth. Think of the heredity of one who has this new birth. The grace, the wisdom, the patience, love, and peace,—all the qualities that his Father has may be his.
Then of his acts it might truthfully be said, “Oh, it is natural for him to do that way! He was born so. His Father is faithful and just, merciful to his enemies, loving and kind to the ungrateful and unthankful; and he is like his Father.”
The best part of this is that it is all true. We see it actually worked out in lives right around us,—an earthly heredity conquered, uprooted, displaced by the divine. And when this blessed heredity has been provided, and is freely offered to each one, we cannot excuse ourselves—and certainly God will never excuse us—because of any evil earthly inheritance.
MRS. I. H. E.
The Mother-Heart
By John T. Faris, D. D.
THE heart of a true mother overflows. She pours out of her best for her own children, and she has something left for children less fortunate than her own, and hungering for what has been denied them.
In “Letters on an Elk-Hunt,” in which Mrs. Edna Pruitt Stuart tells of people she knew near her Wyoming home, a delightful picture is given of one of these mothers with an overflowing heart. She was plain and fat and Irish, and she had a heart of pure gold. One day she met a boy and a girl on the country road.
“Ma’s dead and pa’s gone,” the boy told her. “Baby Girl and me are with Aunt Het, an’ that’s all there is of us.”
She went to the poor home of Aunt Het, and there she saw enough to understand that, while the aunt wished to care for the children, she had little with which to do; and the aunt’s own children were abusing them.
The Irish woman went away, but she could not be content until she returned to the aunt, determined to take the children to her own little home and bring them up as her own.
To a friend she gave this wonderful explanation of her conduct: “The pangs of motherhood make us mothers, not only of our own, but of every child that needs mothering, especially if our own little children need us no longer. Fill their little places with ones who do need us. Both my Katie and Sheridan have been grown and gone these many years, and my heart has called for children. I am going to get the children this day.” . . .
So much of the glory of life comes just because there are women with the hungering mother-heart like that, the heart that is so filled with the spirit of Him who longed to gather to his arms the needy children of earth, “even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,” that they are never satisfied with the love they can give, but long to give always more, and to include in this love not only those in their own homes, but those whom love has passed by.
The mother-heart knows no measure for its tenderness. It knows no nationality. It is conscious of nothing but need, and hunger to satisfy that need, until “a white light of holiness” shall hover over and infold all the heart-hungry who come in its way.—John T. Faris, D. D.
An Aimless Life Is a Double Crime
“An aimless life is a double crime, against God and man.”
Preaching the Sabbath in Portland, Maine, Arouses Opposition
By K. C. RUSSELL
SINCE the sermons on the Sabbath question in our present series of meetings in Portland, Maine, were given, some of the ministers of that city have manifested quite a degree of opposition to this feature of the message. We have not attempted any public reply, but have continued to preach the truth and to write articles on it for the public press. It seemed to us better to pass the attacks unnoticed, especially as we are permitted to publish quite full reports twice each week in the three daily papers. It is estimated that the aggregate number of readers for the three papers each day is more than one hundred thousand, thus enabling us, when the sermons are published by all three of the papers, to reach this immense number of readers twice each week.
The publishing of our sermons so continuously and so fully in these papers stirred up one of the leading ministers of the city to write a letter to one of the papers, covering more than a column of space, in which he, besides attacking the truth, strongly rebuked the paper for publishing our sermons. The following are a few of the drastic statements made by this minister:—
“I am sorry when it [the Press] makes a serious mistake, as it undoubtedly did in its recent extensive propaganda of the Saturday-Sabbath fad.” “The only effect of such a propaganda as that referred to is to unsettle the minds of the less stable and introduce a spirit of anarchy.”
From these statements it seems evident that the writer’s purpose was to influence the editor to refrain from publishing our sermons. This experience shows that the Roman Catholics are not the only ones who are seeking to suppress the freedom of the press. The accusation made in one of the foregoing statements, that our propaganda introduces “a spirit of anarchy,” seems a fulfilment of what the servant of the Lord said in The Great Controversy, page 592, which reads as follows: “Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth.”
The most remarkable statement made by this minister was relative to the origin of the Sunday sabbath. He said: “The so-called ‘Christian sabbath’ was not originated by the church. It was originated by Constantine, and was a political measure.” This, to say the least, is a remarkable acknowledgment by one who is attempting to defend Sunday observance.
Following the publication of the letter by this minister, there appeared the following reply to it, which was written by an influential citizen of Portland:—
“To the Editor of the ‘Press.’:
“When I was a boy there was a Seventh-day Adventist church near where I lived. I thought that the Seventh-day Adventists were a very strange people indeed, because they ‘kept Saturday for Sunday.’ That was the way the thing was put, and that was the way every one but the Adventists looked at it.
“At that time I didn’t know any better. I was honest, but ignorant upon the Sunday question. A great many people were in the same condition as myself, and a great many are in that same condition today.
“Time has somewhat lessened my ignorance; and while I am not an Adventist, I have learned to have great respect for them as good citizens and genuine Americans.
“These people actually believe in religious liberty, and in complete separation of church and state.
“I do not want to be unfair to any other sect, but if there is another one in the United States that really believes this, it has escaped my observation.
“The Reverend — deprecates the publication of anything which compares the authority for Sunday keeping with the authority for keeping the Biblical Sabbath. Why does Reverend — desire to suppress the citations and arguments of those who believe that they must keep the Biblical Sabbath or do violence to a command of God?
“Truth and sincerity never seek to suppress or coerce. Truth only asks that the full and undiminished light may be allowed to shine, that men may see clearly the way of life.
“If either the Sabbath keeper or the Sunday keeper is right, then the other is wrong; the question therefore is of great importance to mankind.
“If the seventh day is of divine origin and its keeping is a divine command, then those who disregard it must suffer the consequences.
“If Sunday is of divine origin and a day set apart by God for the observance of mankind, then it is important that people should be shown when and how it was done, that they may not err through ignorance. Therefore, for the enlightenment of our people and that the truth may appear, we suggest that the Reverend — and the Rev. K. C. Russell meet in the city hall in joint debate of this question.
“Any form of the question satisfactory to the disputants will doubtless be satisfactory to the public, but I will suggest the following: ‘How did the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, originate? and does its observance rest upon the Bible, or a command of God?’
“If either of the disputants declines to participate in such a discussion, the public will regard it as due to a conscious lack of ability on the part of the one so declining to support his faith by fact. Come, ‘let us reason together.’ ‘And the truth shall make you free.’
“F. D. CUMMINGS.”
The foregoing reply to Reverend — would seem to render unnecessary any further answer to the attack.
At the present writing there is in progress the Second Maine State Exposition, here in Portland. We have secured a central booth in the magnificent exposition building, where our literature is on exhibit. We are also demonstrating our principles in hygienic cookery and our rational methods of treating the sick. This exposition seemed to come at the opportune time; that is, during the special effort we are now conducting in this city.
Some have taken their stand for the truth since our last report. We desire the continual prayers of our people for the success of the work in this important place.
