Earlier text: The Sermon"WELL, Cato, what ground have you for believing yourself a true Christian?" said a minister one day to an old colored man, whose life was not in harmony with his profession. "Been baptized, massa," replied Cato, placing marked emphasis on the word "baptized." The minister vainly tried to convince Cato that mere baptism could not make him a Christian. Cato was stubborn on this point, for he had been taught that the water of baptism cleansed the heart of its sinfulness. He believed in baptismal regeneration. The poor fellow knew nothing of the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart. Just then a happy thought struck the minister's mind. He led Cato into his study, took an empty ink bottle from the shelf, and holding it up, said: "Cato, do you suppose I can clean this bottle by washing the outside with water?" "No, massa; you must wash de inside too, if you would have him clean," said Cato, with a grin of self-approval. "Very good, Cato," rejoined the minister; "now do you suppose that water applied to the outside of the body of a man can cleanse sin from his heart, which is within him?" "I see it now, massa; I see it," said Cato, placing his hand on his brow. "My heart is like de inside ob dat bottle. Baptism no cleanse de inside. I'se will seek de power ob de Holy Spirit to make my heart clean inside." Thus, by means of an old ink bottle did this worthy minister overthrow Cato's faith in baptismal regeneration, and lead him to seek the inward washing of which baptism is only the symbol. Reader, are you like an ink-bottle washed on the outside only? Have you, like Cato, substituted the form for the spirit of religion? If so, ponder the following words of the apostle:— "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace we shall be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."—Messiah's Herald. The Wisdom of Stepping Back
ONE judicious step backward is better than any number of false steps forward. In the West lived a very, proud, wealthy infidel, and irreligious father, who having one day called his family together, told them if they went to the prayer-meeting and “got religion” he would disinherit them, and banish them from his house. The wife and child were included in the threat. The daughter, however, continued to go to the prayer-meetings, and soon found peace in believing in Jesus. When an opportunity was afforded to make a profession, she merely arose and spoke of the “great change” in her heart, and of her faith in the Saviour. The news was immediately carried to the family of the young lady. Having come home that night, she was met at the door by her father, standing with the Bible in his arms. “Maria,” said he, “I have been told that you publicly professed, to-night, that you have religion. Is that so?” “Father,” said the girl, “I love you; and I think I love the Saviour, too.” Opening his Bible to a blank leaf, and pointing his finger, he said:— “Maria, whose name is that?” “Did I not tell you I would disinherit you if you got religion?” “Well, I must do it. You cannot come into my house.” And tearing the leaf out of the Bible, “There, so do I blot out your name from among my children. You can go.” She went to the house of a pious widow in the neighborhood, and heard no more from her father for three weeks. But one morning seeing her father’s carriage driving up to the door, she ran out and said to the driver: “What is the matter, James?” “Your father is very sick, and thinks he is going to die; and he is afraid he shall go to hell for his wickedness and the grievous wrong he has done you in disinheriting you, and turning you from his house. He wants you to jump into the carriage and come home as quickly as possible.” She found her father sick, sure enough, on going home; but she soon saw he was only sin sick. She talked with him, prayed with him, and endeavored to lead him to Christ. In three days, the father, mother, two brothers and a sister, making the whole family, were all rejoicing in hope.—Religious Intelligencer. A Worthy Opinion of God
By Francis Bacon
It is better to have no opinion of God at all than such an opinion as is unworthy of Him; for the one is unbelief and the other is contumely.—Bacon. MORE GOSPEL.—The American style of preaching is radically wrong. The oration is the model. This is favorable to rhetoric and oratory, but not to instruction. The Bible is used as a mere suggester of themes, texts are chosen to preach from, not to be expounded and enforced as the word of God. Here it is the preacher who holds the chief place before the people rather than God; his words rather than God's words; his skill, eloquence, reasoning-power, rather than God's authority and grace. The minister represents himself more than his King, preaches himself more than he does the gospel, and results are small, superficial, intransient. The real business of the preacher is to open and enforce the word of the Lord, to interpret his message, to make the people feel that the King is talking with them, that they have to deal with Jehovah, not with mortal man. In order to this, preaching must be expository rather than topical; it must be the aim of the preacher in his preparations and addresses to bring forth what God has put into the text, and, as nearly as possible, bring him face to face with the hearers. That will give a power to the pulpit which it does not now possess, a power greatly needed, from the lack of which the very churches are losing faith in the gospel. They employ men to feed them with the word of life, and they give them human words, gilded chaff; discouraged, dissatisfied, and not comprehending the cause, they fall into skepticism, and lose the fire of love. Preachers must give the people more gospel, or zeal in religion will never be revived.—Baptist Union. A Heathen's Opinion of Our Lord.
The most eminent among the Pagans themselves, it ought to be remembered, who, having no other resource, were best acquainted with its weakness and its power, never dreamed of denying the necessity of a revelation. This they asserted in the most explicit terms, and on some occasions seem to have expected and anticipated the communication of such a benefit. We make no apology for citing from the present work, the following remarkable passage out of Plato, tending both to confirm the fact of a revelation being anticipated, and to evince, supposing nothing supernatural in the case, the divine sagacity of that great author. He says, "This just person (the inspired teacher of whom he had been speaking) must be poor, and void of all qualifications but those of virtue alone; that a wicked world would not bear his instructions and reproofs; and therefore, within three or four years after he began to preach, he should be persecuted, imprisoned, scourged, and at last be put to death."—De Republica, Lib. 2d. In whatever light we consider it, this must be allowed to be a most remarkable passage, whether we regard it as merely the conjecture of a highly enlightened mind, or as the fruit of prophetic suggestion; nor are we aware of any absurdity in supposing that the prolific Spirit scattered on certain occasions some seeds of truth amid that mass of corruption and darkness which oppresses the pagan world.—Robert Hall's Review of Gregory's Letters. Dumb Bells.
By M. H. W. J.
"WHEN I was managing a cotton-mill," said Mr. J——, "the girls in the weaving-room used to complain that they could not make the bobbin-boys hear them call for more bobbins. I finally bought several bells, and for a little time they worked well. No matter if the boy was at the other end of the room, the bell made itself heard above the clatter of the looms, and the girl was supplied with full bobbins. "But by-and-by the girls began to complain that the boys were getting careless about the bells, that they did not pay attention, and they were hindered worse than before. The boys answered that they did not hear the bells, the girls did not half ring them any more. I charged them both to be careful; but things kept growing worse, till finally the overseer came one day and said there would soon be a pitched battle between the weavers and bobbin-boys if something was not done. "So I went up to the room and took position by one of the looms. When the bobbin-boy was not very far away I rang the bell, but he paid no attention. I studied over the cause a little, and it flashed upon me. A great deal of oil is used about the machinery, the girls hands were greasy, the bell-metal porous, and often snatching up the bells by the metal instead of the handle, they had become filled with grease, and would give scarcely more sound than a wooden bell. "I made a strong solution of sulphuric acid, stood the bells in it awhile, and after they were cleansed and returned to the weaving-room there was peace again between the boys and girls." But those dumb bells furnished a text for many reflections to me. I thought, to how many people has the once clear, decisive voice of conscience become a dull sound. When Mrs. A—— asked me to take a dollar chance in an easy chair that somebody had given to a church, and I asked her wherein lay the difference between venturing a dollar there and in any gambling saloon, she told me that she was once just so prudish; but she had thought and prayed over the subject a great deal, and had received light. "The good end justified the wrong means!" When I asked Mr. B——, the liquor seller, how he dared to deal in the accursed stuff that made widows and orphans, and filled hell with victims, he coolly answered, "Well, to be frank with you, I did have a great many qualms of conscience at first, but I reasoned on the subject, and did not allow myself to be guided by any morbid sentimentality, and as I never sell but to men of means and good pay, who could and would get it somewhere else, I concluded I might as well sell it and get the profit as any one else, and my conscience never disturbs me now at all on the subject." His dumb bell was saturated with whiskey—perhaps I ought rather to say—muffled with greenbacks. Miss C—— reminded me again of the dumb bells when she told me a few days ago, "When I first joined the church I didn't care to dance any more; I really was so squeamish as to think dancing and card-playing were inconsistent with a profession of Christ. But after a little I fell in with many other church members who enjoyed these amusements, and theatre and circus-going, just as much as ever, and I concluded I had been over-nice and self-conceited in my ability to judge as to the propriety of the matter. I concluded if I set myself up as too good to do what other Christians did, I might be a stumbling-block, and in that way fail to be, as Paul says, 'all things to all men, that I might win some,' or something to that effect. And the more I do as the rest do, the more I am convinced that my later conclusion was the better one." "My poor young lady," thought I, "what a very dumb bell yours is—soaked in pleasure and self-seeking!"—M. H. W. J., in American Messenger. How We Find Things.
By James White
AFTER an absence of five months we reached Oakland in the evening of the 24th ult., and lodged at our good home that night on Eleventh street, near Castro. The carpenters had but commenced this house when we left last April. The next object that called our attention was our Office building on the same block, commenced some weeks after we left, and brought very nearly to completion more than a month since. When rooms were finished sufficient to receive the new presses and other material sufficient to carry on the business of the Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association, our builder, Bro. O. B. Jones from Michigan took his men to San Francisco to build a house of worship in that city for our people. We learn that the house is progressing finely, and will be ready for dedication at the close of the tent-meeting to be held in that city by Elders Loughborough and Waggoner during October and November. When that house shall be finished Bro. Jones will return and finish the Office building, and furnish it with tables, desks, shelves, drawers, &c. The appearance of this building from the outside is fine. The arrangement inside from the basement to the attic is admirable. The room in the basement is valuable. The several rooms of the two stories of the building are next to perfection in arrangement and conveniences. And there are four valuable finished rooms in the attic. In the rear of the main building and separated from it the distance of eleven feet, is the brick engine house. And all will cost less than first calculated, and are much better than first expected, owing principally to the ability and faithfulness of Bro. O. B. Jones who took successful charge of our three printing houses, and our College building, at Battle Creek, Michigan. We left the SIGNS Office in charge of our sons, J. E. and W. C. White, with advisers and helpers who had a lively interest in the work. They have succeeded beyond our expectations. And to our happy surprise we found the Cottrell and Babcock, First-class, Four Roller, Air Spring, Drum Cylinder Printing Press, and the Universal Job Press in the new building in complete running order, driven by the New York Safety Engine from Babcock and Wilcox. Only six weeks before these were doing good printing on the Pacific Coast they were lying at the freight warehouse across the continent in New York City waiting for shipment. Having run one of the large presses from Cottrell and Babcock, No. 8 Spruce street, New York, for nearly two years in our Battle Creek Office, we knew just where to go for a second press for our Oakland Office. These gentlemen are evidently taking the lead on printing presses in our country. The friends of the cause in this State are meeting their pledges as well as could be expected considering the condition of money matters ; and it is expected that they will, by New Years, raise an amount sufficient to pay for the Office building and the site. Our eastern brethren have come nobly up to the work of raising means to furnish the Oakland Office with presses, engine, types, binders' machinery, &c. We have already two presses, engine, paper cutter and book trimmer, standing press, and types and material sufficient to print the SIGNS. These are all paid for at a cost, including transportation and setting up, of $6,500, and there are eastern funds on hand to purchase more material, and more pledged by our liberal eastern people to make the SIGNS Office a complete book and job printing Office where as good work may be done as anywhere on the continent. It is with great pleasure that we report the success of this enterprise thus far. CIRCULATION OF THE SIGNS. But now the greatest work is still before us. To secure to the SIGNS OF THE TIMES a wide and judicious circulation that will soon be self-sustaining, is the most difficult task of all. And yet, by the request and vote of the Board of Directors of the Pacific S. D. A. Publishing Association, we have consented to undertake this work as local editor and general agent, to report to the Board at the close of each three months. And as we enter upon this work we return at the very start to our first plan when we issued the first number of the SIGNS, to make it a pioneer sheet to be circulated in our own country, and in all others where the English language is read. No one with the least knowledge of publishing would for a moment suppose that the SIGNS could be sustained by its limited circulation among the comparative few friends on this coast at present. And to sustain the paper by donations from this people alone, would be found to be a heavy tax upon their liberality. Already a debt of not less than $3,000 is upon the SIGNS because of circumstances we could not control, which broke up our first plans to make the SIGNS a pioneer paper, and which put 10,000 copies of The Voice of Truth in the field we had designed for it. The Voice is circulated by the Tract and Missionary Societies. The SIGNS would have been the choice of our people, and we now set about the work to make it just the paper that all our people, East, West, North, and South, will be pleased to send to their friends, and that the Tract and Missionary workers will send to the ends of the earth. The Voice will cease for the present at the close of the volume, which will have to be cut short to prevent loss upon it. The proposition to furnish a sheet the size of the SIGNS for $1.00 a year, or one-half the regular price, and pay the postage for that small sum, was a hazardous one. One-fourth discount to those who were not regular, full-paying subscribers would have been liberal. We now suggest that the price of the next volume of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, postage paid, be put at $3.00, and that it be offered to Tract and Missionary Societies, and to those who wish to send it to their friends, at one-half that sum, or at $1.50 a year, postage paid. Our patrons on this coast will not object to raising the price of the SIGNS to $3.00 a year when they consider, first, that it is below the usual price of such papers here, and, secondly, that we provide for them to circulate it to others on the coast at one-half this sum. And our eastern friends, who wish to help our young Publishing Association, can do it no better than to pay $3.00 a year for the SIGNS. In order to circulate the SIGNS everywhere, and make up large lists to extend its influence in every part of our land and to other countries, we make the liberal offer to our missionary workers, and also to individuals, to furnish a volume of forty-eight numbers of our paper, common postage paid, for the small sum of $1.50. There will be no paper next week. Meantime we shall issue in pamphlet form a report of the condition of the Pacific S. D. A. Publishing Association, and state more fully our plans, with an appeal to all the friends of the cause from the Atlantic to the Pacific for active co-operation in the work of circulating the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. We shall be very happy to receive letters from friends in all parts of the field. Their suggestions will receive attention, and have a bearing upon our movements. The important work of the Tract and Missionary Societies will be carefully considered at the earliest possible moment. Reflections by the Way.
By James White
(Copied from the Review and Herald.) We are now nearing the Rocky Mountains. We have been on the Union Pacific from Omaha twenty-four hours, and in two hours our train is due at Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming. Thus far, our journey has been very pleasant. There is no dust, by reason of recent rains, neither is there excess of heat or cold. And what time has not been spent in sleeping, which has been fully one-half since we left Battle Creek in consequence of being short of time for sleep the ten days previous, we have occupied in reflecting upon the During the past six months, our labors have extended from the Pacific to the Atlantic, as far north as Minnesota and Maine, and as far south as Missouri and Southern Illinois. And it is apparent that the greatest want of the cause is men of God, to preach the word, and labor for the conversion of men and women to Christ and the truth. The destitution of real laborers among us as a people is very great. In some of our Conferences credentials are given year after year to men who have been doing next to nothing, and very few young men are entering the work. This course of things goes too far toward giving the impression that it is a small thing to fill the ministry of the last message, and that but little should be expected of those who enter upon it. These things are hindering young men of moral worth and energy, and are against us. And it is a painful fact that we as a people have been letting some of the best talent slip through our fingers. For want of the very best school in the land, which by the help of God the Battle Creek College shall be, not a few of our young people have patronized other schools where they have lost interest in the present truth and to-day are hardly within our reach. Others, who should now be in the ministry, or preparing for it, or be connected with some working department of the cause, have left their homes to seek positions in the world, and, to say the least of many of them, they are lost to the cause at present. And what gives this matter a most painful aspect is that these are generally the most enterprising and talented of our youth, the very ones the Lord wants in his cause. The fact is well-nigh heart-rending that in the older fields, such as New England and New York, the general gatherings at our camp-meetings are made up of persons of middle and advanced ages, while the young, in whom we should hope for the future, yield to the claims of this world. The more promising young ladies among our people are pressed to give their hands in marriage at an early age, and many of them are overwhelmed with the cares and toils of household duties before they have matured real womanhood. And these, who might be laborers and shining lights to the world, are nearly lost to the cause, destined to spend the little time of probation left them in the perpetual rounds of the narrow home. And many of our young men marry before they have any well-defined plans for the future—before they have proved themselves capable of filling any important position; and later sometimes find themselves disappointed in choice, and thereby embarrassed and hindered from preparing themselves to fill important positions in the cause. Some of these, after throwing away five or more years of the best of life, seek the ministry with a helpless family on their hands. Under these circumstances it is exceedingly hard for them to become fullgrown ministers. Indeed, if the church ventures to give them encouragement, a great and doubtful burden is sometimes taken. The world with its deceptive power is holding our people, young and old, back from the duties of the present hour. It can hardly be expected that our young people will consecrate themselves to the Lord, give up the world, and devote their lives to the work of God, while their parents still hold their worn energies in devotion to the interests of this life to such a degree as to deprive themselves of many of the means of grace. What is wanted, and what must be in order for the cause to move forward as would please God, is a general turning to the Lord by repentance, confession, and a spirit of sacrifice. There is no want of means among our people to carry forward the several enterprises at this time. Hundreds of men among us have grown wealthy since they embraced the doctrines of S. D. Adventists. And there are no good reasons why the debt still remaining on our College should not be lifted, and ten thousand dollars more raised before New-Years, to purchase much needed apparatus, and to give free tuition to those young men who should be urged to enter the ministry, but are hindered for want of means. Our people are making a terrible mistake in relation to our school. That debt must be lifted. Our school must possess all real advantages and be the best in our country. Our most promising young men and women from the Atlantic to the Pacific should be induced to fill our College rooms, and hastened to active service in the cause of God. We are losing time in this matter. While our people are sleeping over it, Satan is stealing a march upon us, and is securing to himself and the world precious talent which should be sanctified to the cause of Christ. Neither is there want of ability among the S. D. Adventists. From the very nature of our specific message, based upon the prophetic word and the moral code, it is an appeal to the moral and the intellectual, and necessarily develops the higher order of mind and talent. Fortunately we have not our share of the superficial and dashy; while our ranks are largely made up of people of conscientious, reasoning, God-fearing minds which need urging to their proper position. That a large proportion of our male membership are first-class mechanics is remarkable. This may be accounted for in the perfection with which the great doctrines pertaining to life and salvation harmonize as taught by our people. Again, the children of our people are, or should be, separated from the corrupting influences of this fast age, and their minds are comparatively free from that false and feverish excitement which is dwarfing and belittling the intellect of those who are carried away by the follies of our time. God save and bless our dear youth! At school they excel because in addition to a good mental inheritance they are in a healthy mental condition to attend to, and make rapid progress in their studies. And again, the priceless doctrine of Christian temperance, so fully diffused among our people, is of the highest physical, and, consequently, mental, benefit to our young people. Their parents rejoice in the great physical improvement, the mental clearness, and buoyancy of spirit, obtained by adopting improved habits of life. How much greater benefits may be realized on youthful constitutions and minds! With these advantages our young people should and will excel. It is really a disgrace to our people to do a second-class job at anything. God and his cause call for our best talent, and demand immediate, energetic action of all our people. We have beat the world in publishing, and a little time will show that we can equally excel in health institutions and schools. It is of no use to talk to us of accomplishing the great work demanded of our people with second-class talent in a corner. May the spirit of still broader plans be diffused among the friends of the cause everywhere, and may energetic, united action follow. We shall be glad to hear from the presidents of our State Conferences, and other interested persons, relative to the foregoing, at Oakland, Cal. As our train shall speed its way to the Pacific, we shall endeavor to continue our train of reflections for other numbers of the Review. We close with a few words relative to People will talk. And from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Some hearts are so full of envy and bitterness that they would burst unless they could let off steam. In such cases the organs of speech constitute their safety valve. Poor creatures, let them talk. But such should not be allowed in the church of Christ, until the heart becomes converted and the tongue sanctified. Church organization is for at least a threefold purpose: first, to secure co-operation and mutual benefit; secondly, to prevent impositions; and, thirdly, to execute that discipline necessary to the purity of the church. The first two benefits are secured to S. D. Adventists in their simple and Scriptural organization. But our people fail in the third. True discipline is greatly neglected in many of our churches. So far as discipline partakes of the nature of law, penalty must exist. But law without penalty is void. Therefore, any acting association without the observance of law, or rule, becomes a mob. This mob spirit prevails in gossip and slander in some of our churches. But investigation and wholesome rebuke have wilted and withered it as a frozen tomato vine wilts and withers in the heat of the sun. Certain friends of the cause, who stand at the head of matters and things at Battle Creek, are under a vow to each other and to God to stand for the right, and expose this lawless spirit that would corrupt the moral and religious atmosphere at head-quarters. We covet a humble place with them. Of course, this spirit will attack our Washington. No loyal city was fortified and guarded during the American civil war, as was the seat of our general government. Had Washington been no better fortified and guarded than other cities of the loyal North, she would have been the object of successful confederate attack. And how certain will the dragon, who was to make war with those who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, hurl his poisonous missiles into our head-quarters. The time has fully come to arouse to the situation. Our leading men must be men who love mercy, deal justly, and walk humbly with God. And our people must have confidence in such men, in order for the cause to move forward. No official in the church, or one managing in any of our institutions, should object to the most careful investigations of his course and management. If he is faithful and true he will covet this. And there is a way to come at this without the assistance of the vulgar ignorance of gossip, or the malice of slander. Wherever doubt exists as to the management of an official, there should be a call for investigation by persons appointed at the session of our General Conference, and the report be made officially. This should be decisive with all who regard that Conference as the highest earthly authority of our people. California Camp-Meeting.
By J. H. Waggoner
THE California Camp-meeting is in the past, and we trust that it has not been without some good results to the cause. The location was chosen not only because it was central and would well accommodate all the churches, but because it was near to San Francisco, the central point of labor in this State. To find shade and water at any point accessible by rail road is difficult in California, and the free offer of a ground fitted for "picnics" so near the City, with good water and reasonably good shade, seemed providential. This much in its favor. But its situation in Marin Co., north of the "Golden Gate" west of the Bay, makes it almost isolated; and as it is only reached from the City by steamboat and rail road, and the times of sailing were not frequent, the meeting was not so largely attended as was expected. We were informed that the attendance was not as large as it was last year in Napa Valley. Yet there was a number from the City sufficiently large to thoroughly spread abroad a knowledge of our work, and we hope it may be the means of adding to the success of the tent-meeting which it is contemplated soon to hold in San Francisco. The attendance of our people was good. Besides the preaching tent, 60 by 96 feet, there were 88 tents, and about 400 people camped on the ground. We were much disappointed that Bro. and sister White were detained by the deeply interesting work going on in the East, so that they could not arrive on the ground before Sabbath morning. But all took hold with courage to carry on the meeting till their arrival and the interest seemed to rise from the beginning. The speakers enjoyed considerable freedom, and the social meetings were generally good. Bro. and sister White arrived on the ground about 11:20 A. M. on Sabbath. Bro. White immediately took the stand and gave a timely discourse on 1 Thess. 5. The argument showed that there was a time pointed out in the prophecies when we are to look for the coming of the Saviour, and to know that his coming is near; that it would have been wrong and unscriptural to look for him before that time; and that a special work will be done for the people of God during that time to prepare them for the coming of that day, and that special responsibilities rest upon us in view of this work. It was instruction suited to the hour. Sabbath afternoon sister White spoke on the subject of the barren fig tree. Though clear and forcible in her statements of the truth, she was laboring under a severe cold taken on her journey, and it was with great difficulty that she could occupy her time on account of hoarseness. But the word took effect, and when an invitation was given to come forward for prayers, many willingly moved out. Having been present on many such occasions we are free to say that we never saw a time when there was a more general deep feeling in the congregation. Not only those who came forward, but the whole people seemed moved, and the Lord came near in our prayers. On First-day, the preaching was designed to meet the wants of those who do not understand our faith as well as of the church. But a large number of believers seemed to think that the labor was altogether for the former class, and thus lost sight of their own need. This caused a declension of feeling from which we fear they did not recover during the meeting. Monday was a profitable day. All the meetings were spirited and the speakers enjoyed freedom. Tuesday morning at half past eight we repaired to a stream fed by mountain springs where Bro. Loughborough baptized 17. The speaking was generally in the freedom of the Spirit during the day. On Wednesday also there was great power in the word spoken. In the afternoon, instead of the usual sermon, another baptismal season was enjoyed. Brn. White and Loughborough both officiated. It was a season ever to be remembered by all present. The pool of water was about eight feet wide, the trees overhead interlocking their branches in a beautiful arch affording a welcome shade from the rays of the clear shining sun. The sloping banks were literally packed with interested spectators, and more than all, the Spirit of God was present to bless. Twelve more were baptized making 29 in all. A number of these there made their first start in the Christian life, and several others had but recently embraced the faith. One case we cannot forbear mentioning. A daughter of Elder Z. Campbell, the Elder being extensively known as a preacher and more especially as a writer among the no-law Adventists, and her husband, came to the meeting with some personal friends through whose kindly influence they had become somewhat interested. Hearing the clear evidence of our faith they both embraced it fully, and she was baptized, rejoicing in the light of God's moral law. Her intelligent testimony coming from a full heart thrilled the hearts of the whole assembly with joy. Many other interesting incidents we omit for want of time to mention. We would be pleased if we had nothing to record of a more unpleasant nature than this. Some things incidentally brought out in the closing business session of the Conference developed the fact that the same spirit of jealousy and fault-finding which has followed the servants of God in other fields existed here. They had passed by four other important camp-meetings which they were urged to attend, and had resisted the solicitation of leading Seventh-day Baptists to attend their General Convention, to meet with the friends in California. They had labored in Battle Creek in a glorious work till the last moment, and packed up and started on their long journey in the night; they had come upon the ground wearied with their constant labor and journeyings, and the thought that any professed friends of the cause would entertain jealous feelings and a fault-finding spirit almost overwhelmed Bro. White. He had established the office of publication here by his own personal efforts, and through his influence, and by his aid, a meeting-house is in process of erection in San Francisco. By means of his efforts, also, the friends in the East have stocked the publishing house with the best printing machinery on the Pacific Coast; and it has been his constant study and aim to make the SIGNS OF THE TIMES a self-sustaining concern, to do which will require rigid economy, and skillful financing. He had certainly done enough to earn the confidence of all who love the cause and who earnestly desire its success, and no one could wonder that he was greatly astonished and grieved to find any number of supposed friends who would overlook all his labor and service to the cause and pick up trifles of which to complain. For the time it seemed as if the meetings would close under a cloud. While the above will describe the course and feelings of some, we do not by any means believe the number is very large. The cause of present truth has true-hearted friends on the Pacific Coast. And the Lord is with them to give success to his own cause. This work is of God and not of man, and it must triumph gloriously. The closing meeting was advertised for 5:30 Thursday morning. But as a large number had to remain on the ground till near the middle of the day, another meeting was called for 8 o'clock. This was one of the best social meetings, if not the very best, enjoyed on the ground. The testimonies were all brief and pointed, and they manifested a love for and confidence in the truth which was truly cheering. Every lover of the third angel's message who attended this meeting left the ground comforted and strengthened. We hope that more experience in this work will remedy one fault which extensively prevailed. It was the neglect of children by the parents. Many did not seem to realize that the children might be benefited by the meeting, and seemed inclined to let their children play away from the meetings while themselves went up to worship. By the direct efforts of Bro. and sister White a great change was effected; and we hope the remembrance of nearly two score of children who came forward for prayers, some of whom were baptized, may incite the parents to labor for their children, even at their homes. This is the closing message of salvation, and its work is to "turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers." Children love this truth wherever proper attention is paid to them, and the parents must feel a responsibility to lead them to the Saviour. As the church in San Francisco have resigned their Hall in anticipation of the tent being pitched there after the camp-meeting, a large body of that church came over to Oakland, Sabbath morning, Oct. 2, and, with the Oakland church, crowded the Hall full. After speaking to them we gave room for a social conference season, and the testimonies were all in one direction, namely, that they had all received a blessing in the camp-meeting, and were thankful that it was their privilege to attend it. This was to us the very best evidence that the camp-meeting was a success, and will tell to the final good of the cause of truth. Personally we must confess to the gratification it afforded us to form a large acquaintance with the friends in this State. We met a few old friends, dear to us in "the States," and many new ones, equally dear for the truth's sake. God bless the cause and its friends in California.