CONCERNING the witnesses we read [verses 9, 10], “And they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations (that is, they of other nations), shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.” Although the French Revolution continued some six or seven years, there was only about three and a half years of this time that they warred against the Bible. During the time of this warfare their great effort was to destroy the Bible, religion, and all who dared to speak in favor of either; but in the last portion of the revolution we find some of those very persons speaking in its favor, as was the case with Robespierre. Toward the end of the three and a half years (that is, in 1794) he made a speech in the National Convention of France, in which he plead for the existence of a supreme being, and at the close of his speech the two following articles were unanimously passed by the Convention:
“Art. 1. The French people acknowledges the existence of the Supreme Being, &c.
“Art. 2. It acknowledges that the worship most worthy of the Supreme Being is the practice of the duties of man.”
From that day the words, virtue, and supreme being, were in every mouth. Instead of the inscription, To Reason, placed upon the fronts of the churches, there was now inscribed, To the Supreme Being. Thiers’ French Rev. Vol. iii, pp. 13–15.62
From that point commenced a turn of affairs in France. About one year from that time, i. e., at the close of the three and a half years, they permitted the priests to return to their churches, and the people to have the Bible again.
During this three and a half years’ warfare, other nations, seeing the sad course the French were taking, would not join in with it, but kept the Scriptures sacredly, and after this war on the witnesses was ended, assisted in the work of exalting them. An attempt was made to draw England, America, and other countries into the same views of this matter as those of the French. Paine, for this purpose, sent 14000 copies of his work against the Bible into England. Gibbon, Hume, Voltaire, and others, exerted their influence in the same direction, but all without the desired effect. The nations would not join in the work of exterminating the Bible. Although they beheld it dead in the streets of France, they kept it from being exterminated, or “put in graves.” The English, fearing the awful results of the deistical principles that were gaining ground in France, made a strenuous effort to introduce the word of God among them, and for this purpose organized the French Bible Society, May, 1792, just at the time the Revolution broke out. “The Revolutionary war put a period to all communication between the countries. The funds remitted were lost. We have lived in times,” said the printer, still alive in 1801, “which have destroyed everything, overturned everything, and all must begin afresh.” Anderson’s Annals of the Eng. Bible, pp. 498, 499. Shortly after this, i. e., in 1804, they did indeed begin anew, and organized The British and Foreign Bible Society, which has circulated millions of copies of the Scriptures in France.
In verse 10 we get a further account of the time in which these witnesses were slain. “And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” There are three points in the above verse that will claim our attention. 1. Rejoicing. 2. Making merry, and 3. Sending the gifts. This is all done by those who had been “tormented” by the witnesses. It will of course apply to the French people. That they had been “tormented” by the witnesses, is evident from the statement of Collot-d’Herbois, that “religion” was the only obstacle to the triumph of the worship of reason. Their war was of course against the object of their hatred and trouble, and that was the Bible.
But before passing further with this subject, it may be well to notice an objection that is sometimes urged against this application of the slaying of the witnesses. That is, this warfare was mostly on the Catholic church, and it cannot be that such a warfare fulfilled this scripture, as that is an apostate church.
I reply, 1. That this war was made against all religion, but directly against the Bible; so it fell on Papists and Protestants alike. 2. If it were true that it was Papists alone who were the religionists of France, and suffered in that struggle, it would be in that church alone that the witnesses could be found in France. On the Catholics, then, would be the place to strike an effective blow to kill the witnesses.
But to return to the course of those who killed the witnesses. This war, as already stated, was for the extermination of the Bible. “Never let it be forgotten that before the Revolution of 1792, the promoters of infidelity in France are stated to have raised among themselves, and spent, a sum equal to nine hundred thousand pounds in one year, nay, again and again, in purchasing, printing, and dispersing books, to corrupt the minds of the people, and prepare them for desperate measures!” Anderson’s Annals of the Eng. Bible, p. 494.
“The way for such a revolution was prepared by the writings of Voltaire, Mirabeau, Diderot, Helvetius, D’Alembert, Condorcet, Rousseau, and others of the same stamp, in which they endeavored to disseminate principles subversive both of natural and revealed religion. Revolution was not only impugned, but entirely set aside; the Deity was banished from the universe, and an imaginary phantom, under the name of the goddess of Reason, substituted in its place. . . . The carved work of all religious belief and moral practice was boldly cut down by Carnot, Robespierre, and their atheistical associates. Nature was investigated by pretended philosophers, only with a view to darken the mind, to prevent mankind from considering anything as real but what the hand could grasp or the corporeal eye perceive.” Dick on the Improvement of Society, p. 154.
It is said that those who slew the witnesses rejoiced and made merry. This is apparent from the account of the Festival of Reason. “They went in procession to the Convention, and the rabble, indulging their fondness for the burlesque, caricatured in the most ludicrous manner the ceremonies of religion, and took as much delight in profaning, as they had done in celebrating them. Men, wearing surplices and copes, came singing hallelujahs, and dancing barmagnole, to the bar of the Convention. There they deposited the host, the boxes in which it was kept, and the statues of gold and silver. They made burlesque speeches, and sometimes addressed the most singular apostrophes to the saints themselves. ‘O you!’ exclaimed a deputation from St. Denis, ‘O you, instruments of fanaticism, blessed saints of all kinds, be at length patriotic, rise en masse, serve the country by going to the mint to be melted, and give us in this world that felicity which you wanted to obtain for us in the other!’ These scenes of merriment were followed all at once by scenes of reverence and devotion. . . . A festival was instituted for all the Decades,* to supercede the Catholic ceremonies of Sunday. . . . The first Festival of Reason was held with pomp on the 20th of Brumaire (the 10th of November). . . . A young woman represented the goddess of Reason. She was the wife of Momoro, the printer, one of the friends of Vincent, Ronsin, Chaumette, Herbert, and the like. She was dressed in a white drapery; a mantle of azure blue hung from her shoulders. Her flowing hair was covered with the cap of liberty. She sat on an antique seat, entwined with ivy, and borne by four citizens. Young girls dressed in white, and crowned with roses, preceded and followed the goddess. Then came the busts of Lepelletier and Marat, musicians, troops, and all the armed sections. Speeches were delivered, and hymns sung, in the Temple of Reason. They then proceeded to the Convention, and Chaumette spoke in these terms:
“Legislators! Fanaticism has given way to reason. Its bleared eyes could not endure the brilliancy of the light. This day an immense concourse has assembled beneath those gothic vaults, which, for the first time, re-echoed the truth. There the French have celebrated the only true worship, that of liberty, that of reason. There we have formed wishes for the prosperity of the arms of the republic. There we have abandoned inanimate idols for reason, for that animated image, the master-piece of nature.”
“As he uttered these words, Chaumette pointed to the living goddess of Reason. The young and beautiful woman descended from her seat and went up to the president, who gave her the fraternal kiss, amid universal bravoes and shouts of The Republic forever! Reason forever! Down with fanaticism!” Thiers’ French Rev. Vol. ii, pp. 369–371.
Such is a sample only of the scenes of rejoicing and merriment that they indulged in.
“And they shall send gifts one to another.” It is a striking fact that those who were the prime movers and executioners in the September massacre of 1792, actually received gifts of large sums of money for their services by which they had struck terror into all religionists. From Sept. 2 to 7, they put to death 9,000 victims. The Commune paid, Sept. 4, the sum of 1463 livres as a present to these terrorists. Thiers’ French Rev. Vol. i, pp. 361, 365.
The scenes of horror that filled France during this reign of terror far exceeded anything of the kind in the annals of history. “While infidelity was enthroned in power, it wielded the sword of vengeance with infernal ferocity against the priests of the Romish church, who were butchered wherever found, hunted as wild beasts, frequently roasted alive, or drowned in hundreds together, without other accusation or trial. At Nantes, no less than 360 priests were shot, and 460 drowned. In one night 48 were shut up in a barge and drowned in the Loire; 292 priests were massacred during the bloody scenes of the 10th of August and the 22d of September, 1792; and 1135 were guillotined under the government of the National Convention, from the month of September, 1792, till the end of 1795, besides vast numbers, hunted by the infidel republicans like owls and partridges, who perished in different ways throughout the provinces of France.” Dick on Diffusion of Knowledge, p. 155.
Thiers says: “The number of persons guillotined during the reign of terror in France was 1,022,851. This does not include the massacre at Versailles, at the Abbaye, the Carmelites, or other prisons, on Sept. 2, the victims Glaciere of Avignon, those shot at Toulon and Marseilles, or the persons slain in the little town of Bedou, the whole population of which perished.” Thiers’ French Rev. Vol. iii, p. 106.
Dr. Dick, in speaking of the results of this Revolution, says: “Such was the rapidity with which the work of destruction was carried on, that within the short space of ten years, not less than three millions of human beings (one-half more than the whole population of Scotland) are supposed to have perished in that country alone, chiefly through the influence of immoral principles, and the seductions of a false philosophy.” Dick’s Improvement of Society, p. 154.
Concerning the winding up of this scene we read, [Rev. xi, 11], “And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” Almost simultaneously with the close of the French Revolution, Bible societies were organized, and the Scriptures have spread with that rapidity that in all civilized countries the before obscured, or sackcloth covered, witnesses may be read by every family. The Scriptures are so within the reach of all that their prominent position is represented by their ascension to heaven “in a cloud.”
“Their enemies beheld them.” Yes, even infidel France, with all her boasted statements that she should destroy religion, has had to behold the world-wide spread of the Bible.
Verse 13. “And the same hour was there a great earthquake,” representing the great political revolution of France, which shook many portions of the government of the Old World. “And the tenth part of the city fell.” This city is the same as the woman of Rev. xvii, the Papal church. France was one of the ten original divisions of Western Rome, which had been given into the hands of the Papal church by the decree of Justinian in 1798. By the breaking out of this Revolution one of the ten parts of the Catholic hierarchy was destroyed, here represented by a “tenth part of the city” falling. “And in the earthquake were slain of men (margin, names of men, titles) seven thousand.” This Revolution was a war on titles, as the following will show: “At the same moment a member proposed to abolish the titles of count, marquis, baron, &c.; to prohibit liveries; in short, to suppress all hereditary titles.” “Its first decree relative to the ceremonial, abolished the titles of sire, and majesty, usually given to the king.” Thiers’ French Rev. Vol. i, pp. 150, 201. It has been estimated that something like 7000 titles were destroyed in that Revolution, which had as its object to bring all down upon a level. In the massacres of Aug. 10, and Sept. 2, 1792, the watchword of the rabble was, “Down with the Aristocrats!” meaning all those who hitherto had had any titles of distinction or of office.
“And the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.” Many who were zealous in this Revolution saw the folly of their course and endorsed the Bible; and even “Collot-d’Herbois died calling on that very God whom he had impiously blasphemed.” Thiers’ French Rev. Vol. iii, p. 221. Note. I am inclined to think, however, that “the remnant” has reference to the other nine parts of the city; that is, to the same as the nations, &c., who would not suffer the witnesses to be buried. These rejoiced when they saw the horrid scene end, and the word of God exalted.
Here we behold another striking evidence that God is the author of the prophecy, Revelation, in the accurate fulfillment of these predictions concerning the treatment of his word. “The third woe cometh quickly,” is the language that follows this prophecy. That woe is now doubtless coming on the earth. National calamities are increasing. “Evil is going forth from nation to nation.” Nations are commencing to understand what is meant by being “distressed with perplexity.” Soon the nations will be angry, and God’s wrath come as marked out under the seventh trumpet. Lord, arouse thy people for the conflict, for it is surely coming, and that speedily.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
OBJECTIONS TO THE VISIONS.
By W. H. Ball
BRO. WHITE: If the visions are to be made a test of christian fellowship, as appears from Bro. Loughborough's remarks in reply to Bro. L., Vol. xviii, No. 23, then I deem it necessary to ask a few questions, also a little explanation upon one or two points, in order if possible that some objections may be removed from my mind. Otherwise it seems that I shall be compelled to remain outside. In relation to the visions I would say that I have never opposed them, neither have I believed them fully, for the following reason, viz., I fail to discover in some instances a harmony between them and the Bible.
Permit me to give one or two extracts from sister White's Experience and Views, which have been, and still are, stumbling-blocks in the way, not only with myself, but with others, of receiving the visions as of heavenly origin. On page 27 is the following: "My accompanying angel bade me look for the travail of soul for sinners as used to be. I looked, but could not see it; for the time for their salvation is past."
The sentiment contained in these three short lines has served as a preventive against my receiving the visions. It is plain that according to the above view63there have been no true conversions for the past twelve years, at least. I find upon examination that this view was in perfect harmony with the views of many of the leading men in the Advent ranks at that time, who believed in the shut door. I will here give an extract from the pen of Wm. Miller:
“We have done our work in warning sinners, and in trying to awake a formal church. God in his providence has shut the door; we can only stir one another up to be patient, and be diligent to make our calling and election sure. We are now living in the time specified in Mal. iii, 18; also Dan. xii, 10; Rev. xxii, 10, 12. In this passage we can not help but see that a little while before Christ should come there would be a separation between the just and unjust, the righteous and wicked, between those who love his appearing and those who hate it. And never since the days of the apostles has there been such a division line drawn as was drawn about the 10th or 23d day of the 7th Jewish month. Since that time they say they have no confidence in us. We have now need of patience after we have done the will of God that we may receive the promise.” Advent Herald, Dec. 11, 1844.
Now it is not strange that men should err in relation to this matter, being human; but it is strange that a divine revelation from heaven should prove untrue. If you, or any other one, can give a satisfactory explanation of the above view, you will by so doing receive one great objection from my mind.
I wish to notice one point more. On page 34, same book, I read thus: “Then the saints used their wings and mounted to the top of the wall of the city,” &c. Here the saints are represented as having wings. Now if this is in harmony with the word, I say, Amen; but what saith the Lord? Gen. i, 26, 27. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them.” See also Gen. v, 1; ix, 6; Heb. i, 3; Col. i, 15.
Here then is positive proof that God has no wings, and it is quite certain that Christ had no wings while here upon earth, and he is to come in like manner as he went away. Now if the Father and Son have no wings, will the saints be like them, or will they have wings and be unlike them? Let the apostle answer. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 1 Jno. iii, 2. In conclusion I wish to ask the following questions:
1. Has not God always had a true church upon earth? If so, have the signs spoken of in Mark xvi, 17, 18, followed true believers since the days of the apostles?
2. If the gifts which were placed in the church more than eighteen hundred years since were to continue to the end, how does it happen that in following the history of the church from the apostles' days down to the present time, we find no record of the gifts being manifest among God's people? Have we any account of there being any workers of miracles since the days of the apostles? As I claim to be an honest seeker after truth, I trust you will esteem it a privilege to notice the points herein mentioned through the Review.
Yours in search of light and truth.
W. H. BALL.
Washington, N. H.
P. S. It is thought by some that you will reduce my letter to ashes instead of giving it a place in the columns of the Review, therefore I would say that it is my request that you publish it entire in the Review. But should you not feel disposed so to do, you will please return it immediately, as I shall consider it duty to send it to some other paper for publication.
W. H. B.
REPLY.
By Uriah Smith
Before answering the objections you urge against the visions, there is one unpleasant feature in your letter which does not deserve to pass unnoticed. Your ostensible object in writing your article is to get light, as you profess to be an honest seeker after truth; and yet in closing you request the communication, if it is not published, to be returned immediately, as you con-
sider it duty to send it to some other paper for publication. These declarations do not go well together. If your sole object is to get light on the subject, why do you consider it duty to send it to some other paper for publication? Do you expect to get that light from any other paper? You certainly cannot. Your sending it to some other paper would therefore be for the sake of exposing to the world what you consider the falsity of the visions; it would be for the sake of gratifying a spirit which we fear is very nearly allied to a spirit spoken of in Rev. xii, 17, and which is by nothing else so much enraged as by the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy. I shall be most happy to learn that in all this I misjudge; but till this motive is expressly disclaimed, no other intent can be attributed to the threat which your letter contains.
Your first objection is taken from page 27 of Experience and Views. Let us quote the whole paragraph, that we may have it before us: “I saw that the mysterious signs and wonders, and false reformations, would increase and spread. The reformations that were shown me were not reformations from error to truth. My accompanying angel bade me look for the travail of soul for sinners as used to be. I looked, but could not see it; for the time for their salvation is past.”
It is here declared that false reformations would increase and spread. This view was given March 24, 1849; and it was not till 1858, about nine years after, that the great tornado of false reformation swept over this country and extended even to other lands. Now how was it known in 1849 that these reformations would increase and spread? Could it be ascertained from any human wisdom? Could human shrewdness and foresight determine this point? Yet the prediction was given, and has been strikingly fulfilled before our eyes; and those who reject the visions, instead of uniformly passing unnoticed such points as these, and grasping after the seeming objections, would do well to first satisfy themselves and us, by what means this was foretold. When a prediction that goes beyond all human calculation and foresight, is accurately fulfilled, we have one of the signs that the prophecy is given of God. And yet in the very paragraph containing such an evidence of the authenticity of the visions, an objection is drawn against them. Let us go on and see if the objection really exists.
“The reformations that were shown me were not reformations from error to truth.” No Sabbath-keeper will dispute this. In none of the popular reformations and revivals that we have lately witnessed has there been a turning from error to truth. We all know this. Let it be noticed that the language does not say that it was shown that there could be no reformations from error to truth, but only that those that were shown were not such. Now, bearing in mind the fact that the scene of vision is one of the false revivals of these last days, let us read on: “My accompanying angel bade me look for the travail of soul for sinners as used to be. I looked, but could not see it.” Now, who was it that did not have travail of soul for sinners as formerly? Answer, Those engaged in these false revivals. And here again, we appeal to the objector's own observation for the truth of this. We all know that these revivals were not characterized by that travail of soul for sinners that distinguished such movements previous to the fall of Babylon. But why did they not have travail of soul for sinners? The answer is, Because the time for their salvation is past. Whose salvation? Not that of sinners in general, but of those who were engaged in carrying on these revivals. This is the idea the language is intended to convey; and it expressed a solemn truth which is no less true to-day than it was then. The difficulty with this testimony lies in making the word “their,” refer to sinners in general, whereas it refers, not to them, but to the false revivalists, who, as already seen, constituted the object of the view. To say that they did not have travail of soul for sinners, because the time for the salvation of all sinners was past, is the same as to say that if the time for the salvation of sinners had not been past, those that were carrying on these false revivals would have had a travail of soul for them. But it is unreasonable to suppose that false revivalists, who were destitute of the Spirit and power of God themselves, and laboring under a complete deception of Satan, would have a travail of soul for sinners under any circum-
stances; and the reason is given: not because the time for the salvation of sinners in general is past, but because the time for their own salvation is past; because they have rejected light and truth, and are given over to strong delusion.
This is expressed in a preceding paragraph of the same vision, which seems to be treating especially of the working of Satan. Page 26, first paragraph: “I saw that Satan was working through agents in a number of ways. He was at work through ministers who have rejected the truth and are given over to strong delusions to believe a lie, that they might be damned.” These, with others, were the prime movers in the late reformations; these are the ones who did not have travail of soul for sinners; these are they whose time of salvation is past. This is abundantly explained in Supplement to Experience and Views, page 4. We believe there are thousands upon thousands of such all over the land.
Your quotation from Wm. Miller does not prove the point you have in view; for I understand that Wm. Miller never believed in the shut door in the extreme sense of that phrase. He says: “We have done our work in warning sinners and trying to awake a formal church. God in his providence has shut the door.” The door of what? Why, the door against any further efforts in that direction. This was emphatically the case. Look at the circumstances of that time. All eyes were intently fixed upon the tenth day of the seventh month, when believers, as they had declared to the world, were expecting to realize their hope. The time came, and passed. What then could they do? Was it any use for them to go on, and try to arouse the world again on that message? Not a particle. The work for the world, on that message and movement, was done. God in his providence had shut the door—the door of effort, the door of utterance [Col. iv, 3]; for the world, in the language of the extract, had lost confidence in them, and hence all they could do, was to tell each other up to be patient and diligent, till God should make known the further counsels of his will concerning them.
But that a change did take place in 1844 in the formal churches affecting their prospects of salvation, none can deny who have any confidence in the second angel's message. That message might not inappropriately be called, the shut-door message. It declared that Babylon had fallen. What was meant by that fall? Did it mean that they were on the same footing in regard to their eternal prospects? No; it meant that they had experienced a moral change for the worse; that the great mass of them had made a final rejection of truth, and had hopelessly shut their ears to its entreaties and claims. It is true that God has a people there after that event; but they are as the “few berries in the uppermost boughs,” or as “the gleaming grapes, when the vintage is done;” and they are summoned of heaven to leave her fatal communion. Rev. xviii, 4.
Your second objection is drawn from page 34, which speaks of the saints' having wings. What is the trouble here? Certainly it does not seem that people could object to having wings, in itself considered; at least, I should not, if that is to be the order in the glorious restitution that is promised. But it is claimed that it does not agree with the Bible, as God and Christ have no wings, and we are to be like them. Question. Will men resemble God and Christ any more than the angels do? It would be a singular position to say that they will. But angels have wings. See Isa. vi, 2; Eze. i, 6; Dan. ix, 21, &c. Moreover, while it is said that we shall be like the Son of man [1 John iii, 2], it is also said that we shall be as the angels. Matt. xxii, 30. From this it appears that the addition of wings to our existing list of members, would not interfere with that sense in which we are now in the likeness of God and the Son of man. If any think it would, they must reconcile the scriptures which state that we shall be as the angels who have wings, as well as that we shall be like the Son of man, who, it is claimed, does not have them.
But the prophet expressly declares that the saints in the immortal state will have wings. Isa. xi, 31.64“They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” That this chapter carries us over into the immortal state, and is to be interpreted literally, there is abundant proof. It brings us to the time when the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him; when his reward is with him and his work before him. Verse 10. It brings us to the time when princes shall be brought to nothing, the judges of the earth shall be as vanity, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. Verses 23, 24. It is when the youth and young men [that know not God] shall faint, be weary and utterly fail. These are scenes connected with the coming of Christ and the destruction of his enemies; and it is then that they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they, in the immortal state, shall mount up with wings as eagles. Mark, it does not say that they shall mount up as with wings of eagles; but, they shall mount up with wings as the eagles mount. This testimony is decisive on this point.
What you say of the perpetuity of the gifts and signs being manifested from the apostles' days to the present time, opens a new field, into which space will not allow us to enter largely in this article. You ask how it happens that in following the history of the church from the apostles' days down to the present time, we find no record of the gifts being manifest among God's people. Have you followed the history of the church from the apostles' days down to the present? Have you a minute and accurate history of the true people of God from that time to this, so that if there had been any such things you would have found it recorded? If you have such a history you have what we have never yet heard of. The fact is, no records have been left by which we can trace this matter in every age of the church. Those who have left on record an account of the times in which they lived, were not the sincere and devoted Christians, but those who were proud and vain, and ambitious of literary distinction. “It is recorded by Dr. DeLabogue, on the authority of Eusebius, that the fathers who were really most fitted to be the luminaries of the age in which they lived, were too busy in preparing their flocks for martyrdom to commit anything to writing;” and the fact that the church dwelt for 1260 years in the wilderness, is a sufficient reason for our not having a full account of all the internal experiences and history. Consequently nothing can be based on the assumption that we have all the history of the church from the time of the apostles down. The New Testament plainly teaches that the gifts were set in the church till we reach the perfect state. Christ promised to be with his people even to the end of the world; and if, at any period, the church has not been in a condition to exercise these gifts, it only follows that she has not always lived up to her privilege.
In your second letter you introduce another point, as follows: “Again, on page 45 is the following: 'I saw if any hold on to their property, and do not inquire duty of the Lord, he would not make duty known,' &c. I wish to inquire if the Lord has not already made duty known in relation to our property in his blessed book?'” The Lord in his word has laid down certain general principles to govern us in the management of our property; but particular duties rest upon us at particular times; and on these we want light, and should consequently inquire of the Lord. This vision explains itself a few lines further on: “I saw that God did not require all of his people to dispose of their property at the same time, but in a time of need he would teach them, if they desired to be taught, when to sell, and how much to sell.” These are the points upon which it is desirable that duty should be made known; but information on these points the Bible does not furnish us.
According to the principle involved in the above inquiry, prayer is of no use; and all the petitions that we offer up to the Lord, to guide and direct us, give us wisdom, make duty known before us, &c., are altogether useless, for all is made known in his blessed book. But few, we have charity to believe, will be willing to commit themselves to such a position as this.
Having now answered your objections, one fact may be appropriately stated in closing: it is that those who decide against these manifestations, sooner or later take such a course as to place themselves beyond the utmost limits of the fellowship of this people. There is a lesson involved in this which all who wish to maintain their connection with the church of Sabbath-keep-
ers, would, before taking their stand against them, do well to consider. U. S.