Earlier text: Our OpponentsMinnesota Conference.
By Harrison Grant; H. F. Phelps
The eleventh annual Conference of Seventh-day Adventists of Minnesota, was held as appointed in Review, at Medford, Steele Co., from June 29 to July 4, in connection with the Minnesota camp-meeting. FIRST SESSION. Prayer by Bro. Littlejohn. Delegates were called for, whereupon nine responded, representing eight churches. The church of Maiden Rock, not represented. By their request the church of Concord, was admitted to the Conference, and Bro. L. H. Ellis, was accepted as their delegate. The church at St. Cloud, was also admitted to the Conference, and their delegate present with credentials. The Conference was now fully organized, and prepared for business. On motion, Brn. White, Littlejohn, Van Horn, and any brethren in good standing, were invited to participate in the deliberations of the Conference. Minutes of the last Conference read and accepted. Sec. 4, Art. 2, of the Constitution of Seventh-day Adventists of this Conference concerning the duty of the executive committee was amended so as to read, “To audit and settle, in connection with six lay brethren to be appointed by the Conference, all accounts with ministers and others in the employ of the Conference,” &c. Moved, That the Chair appoint six brethren as the auditing committee. W. I. Gibson, Jas. Hacket, O. Pierce, J. Harris, H. F. Phelps, Jas. Peterson, were appointed. Moved, That the Chair appoint a committee to nominate officers for the coming year. I. Z. Lamb, John McMillan, and A. B. Brant, were named. Moved, That the Chair appoint a committee on resolutions. Brn. Littlejohn, Ingraham, and Van Horn, were appointed. Adjourned to call of the Chair. SECOND SESSION. Prayer by Bro. Ingraham. Secretary’s report concerning the financial condition of the Conference read and accepted. The report showed a lack of promptness on the part of some of the church officers in reporting. Also a failure to come up on their Systematic Benevolence. As nearly as could be determined, the following is the result: Systematic Benevolence pledges, $1095.00
Paid as per reports of S. B. Treas., 643.18
Total indebtedness of two past years, 652.37
Number of churches, 11
“ “ members, 252
“ “ ministers, 2
“ “ Licentiates, 2 Nominating Committee reported the following as officers for the following year, and by motion they were all elected: President, H. Grant; Treasurer, W. I. Gibson; Secretary, H. F. Phelps; Executive Committee, Daniel McAlpine, and Joseph Edwards. Adjourned to call of Chair. THIRD SESSION. Prayer by Bro. McMillan. The report of the auditing committee was presented and accepted. Treasurer’s report was read, accepted, and adopted. The Treasurer’s report showed receipts from churches and individuals of $800.06
Expenditures, 490.68
Balance in Treasury, 309.38 Voted, to renew the credentials of Elds. Pierce and Ingraham. Voted, to renew the licences of F. W. Morse and John Hanson. The following are the resolutions presented by the committee, which were adopted: Resolved, That we recognize in the present condition of the Health Institute, cause for gratitude to God, and that we highly approve of the economy with which it is now conducted. Resolved, That we will take upon ourselves the responsibility of collecting for the Publishing Association all accounts now due from persons within the bounds of this Conference, on subscriptions for the Review, Health Reformer, and Instructor. Resolved, That the experience of four years has demonstrated beyond all controversy the utility of camp-meetings, and that we discover in them a most powerful agency in the work of encouraging and edifying those already in the truth, as well as in that of getting our views before the people, thousands of whom could never be reached successfully in any other manner. Resolved, That we have a camp-meeting next year, and that the executive committee act as camp-meeting committee; and that we invite Bro. and sister White to attend, bringing such help as they may need. Resolved, That we heartily approve of the project of erecting a new publishing house, and that we recognize in the increasing demand for our publications which makes this necessary, as well as in the manifestly increasing disposition on the part of the people to listen to the truths of the message, unmistakable evidence that God’s hand is in the work, and that he is about to give us the field, if we prove faithful to the sacred trust which has been committed to us. Resolved, That we sympathize with Bro. Pierce in his affliction, and that our hearts have been made to rejoice in the report of his improving health; also that we desire to have him return to this field of labor as soon as his health will permit. Resolved, That we express our gratitude to Bro. and sister White and Bro. Littlejohn, for their faithful and efficient labor in our behalf during our camp-meeting. Resolved, That we express our thanks to God and the General Conference for the timely help of Bro. Van Horn, and that we will try and co-operate in this work with all who may be sent by the General Conference fund. Resolved, That we donate $50.00 to the General Conference fund. Resolved, That the minutes of this Conference be published in the Review. Adjourned to call of Chair. HARRISON GRANT, Pres.
H. F. PHELPS, Sec. The Vermont Tent.
By Daniel T. Bourdeau
We have now been at West Bolton over four weeks, and have held thirty-six meetings. Though we had rain every meeting but two for the first three weeks; and the tent broke down three times on account of age and the very high winds we have in this part of the State; and, though malicious falsehoods were circulated against us by professors and others at first, yet the interest has been excellent till now. We held our first Sabbath meeting last Sabbath, notwithstanding the fact that the Methodist preacher in this place kept some of our best friends away by telling them that there would be no meeting. That same morning we had invited him to attend; and he promised to be present. On account of other duties which have necessarily kept my brother away from this branch of the work much of the time, my labors have been too heavy for me; yet I have been thankful for assistance rendered by my nephew Willard Saxby, and for calls by Brn. Bean and Hutchins. I am cheered with the thought that my dear brother will join me shortly to push the work in new fields. Thus far we have not met public opposition from preachers; yet they have busily worked against us in families. But last Sunday after the afternoon discourse by Bro. Hutchins, agreeably to previous notice in our tent and in the Baptist and Methodist meetings, an opportunity was given to ask and answer questions in regard to the Sabbath, Eld. Martin Bentley, formerly an Adventist preacher was at once appointed to represent the Sunday side of the question. But, instead of proceeding in the order announced, he gave a harangue against us, complaining of being gagged, whereupon we propose to have him occupy five minutes and we five; or, if that was not satisfactory he could present his views in a three days’ discussion; or he might speak one or two evenings in our tent undisturbed. He utterly refused to accept any of these terms, and joined with the Methodist minister in making unchristian remarks, which recoiled on their own heads, leaving a strong feeling in our favor. We have many warm friends here. A few have said they would stand by, and go with us. We do not expect to have as large gathering through haying; yet we do not feel free to leave for several weeks. We want to live down prejudice. Should a camp-meeting be held in this section, an impetus would be given to the work, and a class of minds would be reached that could not otherwise be lead to receive the truth. May God direct. D. T. BOURDEAU.
West Bolton, July 12, 1871. Report from Bro. Lamson.
By D. H. Lamson
My last report reached to the close of the first series of meetings in Cottrellville, April 25. I went from there to Memphis, and held six meetings with this church, the results of which have been reported by Bro. Lawrence. I returned home May 2, expecting to go immediately to Indiana to join the Brn. Lane in tent labor. This, however, upon consultation with the Conference Committee, it was thought best not to do; and I went back as soon as possible to St. Clair Co. I stayed in Cottrellville, holding meetings and visiting families interested in present truth, from May 12 to 22. These meetings confirmed some in the truth; others, although convinced, have not yet found courage to take a decided stand upon it. I pray that God may yet help them to open their hearts to receive the impress of his divine law. Others are still investigating; some, perhaps, hoping that the things they have heard are not true, yet fearing they are. May they not forget that it is both the willing and the obedient that shall eat the good of the land and yield their hearts to Him who gave his life for them. May 23, I had an appointment at Brockway Center, and upon arriving there found the people somewhat stirred up, as it was the night of the Methodist prayer-meeting. The class leader had given way to us; but a certain minister in the place objected, standing in the door to keep us out. The director was informed; and he came with lock and key, and closed the house against all. By a petition, however, the house has since been opened, and is free for all, S. D. Adventists as well as others. There was a large, new woolen factory in the place, but partly filled with its machinery, and to this we were invited, it being hastily fitted for the occasion. It was thought a hundred and fifty were out to hear. The next evening the audience was largely increased. This place now failed us, as more machinery had arrived and must occupy the space; so the meeting was appointed for one evening more in an unfinished church with but a loose floor, partly sided and virtually roofless. This proved uncomfortable as a place of meeting, and it was difficult on account of the wind to keep the lights burning. The meetings were therefore of necessity postponed indefinitely. Brn. Lawrence and Gurney were fifteen miles away, and I thought best to consult with them as to what could be done. We decided if possible to obtain the tent. Bro. Gurney soon received word by telegraph that the tent would be sent on, and we made immediate preparation to receive it. In the meantime, I returned to Greenwood, a town adjoining Brockway, and held six meetings. Here was a church of first-day Adventists, as they are called, eleven members, five of whom were Sabbath-keepers. They were receiving the REVIEW, and had been trying to keep all God's commandments some months. It may be considered as a result of the Memphis tent-meeting, I think held some nine years before. Tuesday, May 30, Brn. Lawrence and Gurney joined me here at Brockway Center, and we commenced meetings in the tent evening after the Sabbath, June 3. We have had on the whole a very good hearing. The friends in Greenwood have shown a commendable zeal in coming out to meeting, using their influence to get others to come, and in providing for our necessities. May the Lord bless them for their labor of love. We have had no open opposition as yet, but much of the secret order, as ministers and others, have used their influence to keep the people away, and these efforts have proved in some degree effectual. The tent was taken down July 2, having stood just one month. No meetings were held during the last week except on Sabbath and Sunday. I think this was the case also for a portion of the week preceding the last. Meetings were held, however, in several adjoining districts with good results. Thirty have been gathered here who keep the Sabbath. The most of them have formed themselves into a class and appointed a leader with a view to a permanent organization at some future time. For the present, they hold their meetings in the adjoining town of Greenwood, it being the most central for all. Upon the whole, we consider this meeting a success; but there is yet room for a great work to be done in the region round about. During the last week the tent stood, I filled appointments which had been sent to Kenockee, St. Clair, and Cottrellville. I was taken at St. Clair with chills and fever from which I have not entirely recovered, and by the advice of friends have returned home, but hope soon to be able to take the field again. D. H. LAMSON. Olivet, Mich., July 14, 1871. “As I sat watching the beautiful sunset, I asked: ‘Does this tell us anything of Heaven?’” The light of day is fading
From off the western sky;
And the golden hues of sunset
Come and go before my eye,
Ever changing—changing—changing,
While each change new beauty brings;
And my soul is wondering—wondering,
If the angels with their wings
Are not brushing back the portals
Of our Father's house above,
Answering to our spirits' longings,
And revealing thus in love
Gleamings of the radiant glory,
In the mansions of the blest;
“Where the wicked cease from troubling
And the weary are at rest.”
This I know, God's finger painteth
As no earthly pencil can,
And the colors of the sunset
Were not traced by aid of man.
He, who to our wondering vision,
In this blighted world below,
In the glories of the sunset
Can such wondrous beauty show;
With a glory beyond measure,
Must have filled our home on high;
Rest I then, in this assurance,
I shall know it by-and-by.—Sel. Streator, Ill.
By R. F. Andrews; T. M. Steward
Since our camp-meeting, we have pitched our tent in Otter Creek township, La Salle Co., twenty-five miles south of the camp-ground and five and a half miles east of Streator. We have given fourteen discourses, with apparently good interest. Many already acknowledged that we have the truth on the Sabbath and law. We ask the prayers of all God's people that we may be successful in winning souls to Christ. R. F. Andrews.
T. M. Steward. Wautoma, July 10, 1871
By I. Sanborn; D. Downer
We have just read Bro. White’s report of our good camp-meeting. The Sabbath following the camp-meeting, we met with the Johnstown church. Bro. Downer preached in the forenoon. Many confessions were made in the afternoon meeting, and we hope permanent good was accomplished. On the 6th of July, Bro. Downer and Olson and myself started to Waushara County to commence tent operations. On the 7th, we pitched the tent in Wautoma, the county seat. This is a beautiful village twenty-two miles from the railroad. The people are intelligent and kind. Our meetings commenced Friday evening, and, although it was raining on both that and the following evening, there were from one hundred to one hundred and fifty present. Since then our congregations have been increasing in number, and the interest is rising very fast. We pray that the Lord may work for the salvation of souls in this place. Pray for us. I. SANBORN,
D. DOWNER. Report of Labors.
By John Lindsey; S. A. H. Lindsey
The quarterly meeting at Ulysses, June 17 and 18, was of deep interest and solemnity. Bro. Edson from Oswego Co., N. Y., was with us and greatly encouraged us by his cheering testimonies. He called our minds to the rapidly fulfilling prophecies, and pointed out the duty of watchfulness lest the day of the Lord come upon us unawares. Surely, God is good. He is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish. May we, as a church, give earnest heed to the warnings of his word. July 1 and 2, we attended quarterly meeting with the church at Niles Hill. Here we were favored with faithful testimonies from Bro. Edson and Cottrell. Three were baptized. Some at this place will be benefited, others will not; but one thing is certain, if we refuse the light that now shines so brightly, gross darkness will inevitably overtake us a little way in the future. If the third angel's message and the reforms connected with it are of God, then it is time that we were examining and proving ourselves whether we are in harmony with them. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Gal. 6: 7, 8. JOHN LINDSEY.
S. A. H. LINDSEY. Our souls can never be truly happy till our wills be entirely subjected to, and become one with, the will of God. “There is no discharge in the Christian warfare;” after commencing, it is ceaseless till life ends. But if there is no discharge, neither is there any drafting. Each one is a voluntary soldier, but he must be stout-hearted and brave to endure all the conflicts; for the march is a very long and toilsome one; every step of the way must be contended with the “enemy of all righteousness,” and he is a wily foe; he knows all the weak and unguarded points of our natures, and before we are hardly aware of it, he has attacked them and we have surrendered. And then the terrible struggle to regain lost ground is not known to mortals, but God marks every battle fought in this spiritual warfare, and each victory gains for our promised crowns a glittering gem, and we shall know by the sparkling crowns who has fought hardest for “an abundant entrance” into the better land. Though all we can do is duty, and after all the inheritance is the free gift of God; yet only to the willing and obedient is it given to eat of the fruit of the tree of life. If we put on the whole armor, and keep “watchfulness and prayer” doing picket duty to warn of the advance of the enemy—fighting valiantly when we do encounter him—we shall come off victorious in the name of our great Commander; and we know that when we have dropped anchor on this side the river, and the dark voyage is ended, we shall land in that beautiful country “Where the blinding beams of noontide, on the
vision flash and glow;
Shrouded midnight never cometh with her foot-falls
hushed and slow;
But undarkening brilliance floateth on the waves of
holy air,
Kindled by the smile eternal which our Father
deigns to wear. “There the verdure fadeth never, and the odors
never die,
There beneath unwilling blossoms, piercing thorns
may never lie;
Music softer and diviner than from earthly lyres
has rolled,
Through angelic utterance breaketh and from quivering
chords of gold. “Tears that trembled in the lashes in affliction’s
keenest hours,
Were as dews of summer evenings, on the thirsty
lips of flowers;
Gleaming crowns adorn each forehead by the thorns
of sorrow torn;
And they wear the whitest raiment who the heaviest
cross have borne.”
—Sel. If you want your spiritual life to be more healthy and vigorous, you must just come more boldly to the throne of grace. The secret of your weakness is your little faith and little prayer. The fountain is unsealed, but you only sip a few drops. The bread of life is before you, yet you only eat a few crumbs. The treasury of Heaven is open, but you only take a few paces. O man of little faith, wherefore do you doubt? Awake to know your privileges; awake, and sleep no longer. Tell me not of spiritual hunger, and thirst, and poverty, so long as the throne of grace is before you. Say rather you are proud, and will not come to it as a poor sinner; say rather you are slothful, and will not take pains to get more. Cast aside the grave clothes of pride that still hang around you. Throw off the Egyptian garment of indolence which ought not to have been brought through the Red Sea. Away with that unbelief which ties and paralyzes your tongue. You are not straitened in God, but in yourself. Come boldly to the throne of grace, where the Father is ever waiting to give, and Jesus stands by him to intercede. Come boldly, for you may, all sinful as you are, if you come in the name of the great High Priest. Come boldly and ask largely, and you shall have abundant answers; mercy, like a river, and grace and strength like a mighty stream. Come boldly, and you shall have supplies exceeding all you can ask or think. Hitherto you have asked nothing; ask and receive, that your joy may be full.—Sel. A Smoking Minister.
By D. F. Newton
SMOKE? Yes, he does—in his study—in his family, in the streets. I see him day after day in a bookstore, in Park Row, N. Y., with a cigar or dingy pipe in his mouth. Awful! shameful! Need we marvel that young men in the church and out of it—little urchins and rag-a-muffins—are seen in the streets, chewing and smoking the vile “Indian weed,” when ministers of the gospel, elders, deacons, and class-leaders, set the example? Example kills, example cures. Need we marvel that there are in New York City, as Dr. W. Parker says, 235,000 smokers; and that allowing each of these smokers only two cigars per day, at the low price of ten cents, $47,000 is puffed away daily, making an expenditure annually of $17,155,000—aside from drinks which are almost sure to accompany, for tobacco and rum are twins, and go hand in hand? But to return to this smoking minister: his breath is repulsive, intolerably offensive. The whole atmosphere around him is a stench, even the sacred emblems of bleeding love at the communion table seem more or less impregnated! “The cup of blessing!” And when reproved for this sensual gratification—this unnatural and worse than beastly appetite, what is his apology? “What the harm?” says he, “tobacco like strong drink, is one of God’s ‘good creatures,’ to be used in moderation, with thanksgiving. Smoking and chewing tobacco make a man neither better nor worse in the sight of God. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth this defileth a man. Matt. 15.” Thus this man in sacerdotal garb goes smoking on, searing his conscience, gratifying his fleshly appetite, a slave to habit! When the leaders of our worshiping assemblies hold these views, what hope of reform! The evil goes on increasingly. “Dearly beloved, I beseech you,” says the apostle, “as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” 1 Pet. 2: 11. If one member in our churches is allowed in this filthy, degrading habit, why not another and another—till we have a whole assembly of smokers, chewers, and snuffers? One sinner destroyeth much good. “Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth.” . . . The excuses for using the dirty tyrant are numerous and frequent. One uses it for his teeth; another, for his general health; a third, for his corpulency; a fourth, for his leanness; a fifth, for a watery stomach; a sixth, to help digestion; another because some ignorant sottish, wine-bibbing, tobacco-chewing or smoking doctor recommended it—thus and thus, till the catalogue of excuses and subterfuges is filled out. It is a matter of devout and hearty thanksgiving to God that the most respectable, learned, and eminently successful, of the medical faculty, with united voice, veto “the accursed thing,” and warn their patients to lay it aside forever. As Paul said to Timothy, so say we to you, reader, “Keep thyself pure.” Be clean in your person, and be clean in your heart. But depend upon it, you can be neither if you use tobacco. No tobacco-user is fit for a bed companion. He is giving forth pestilential vapors from all the pores of the skin. He is an embodiment of perpetual miasm. The immediate atmosphere surrounding him is inevitably impregnated and polluted with the constant effluvia which emanates from his whole surface. He becomes a perfect walking distillery of the deadly essence, sending forth its fumes and vapors into the surrounding atmosphere. His mouth is the mill which grinds out the weed, and his whole body the distillery for the essence. Put a chewer or smoker into a vapor bath with no tobacco in the room, and in a short time the whole room will be strongly scented with tobacco effluvia that emanated from his body. Put him into a warm bath and get up a perspiration; then put that water upon flies, or vermin, or plants, and it will destroy them.—D. F. Newton. Maine Tent.
By J. B. Goodrich; A. Barnes
We pitched the tent in Patten village, July 3, and have given nine discourses. There is a good deal of prejudice in this place against the Second Advent doctrine, caused by the course of some fanatical persons who have borne the name of Adventists. When we arrived in the place, and put up our tent, the cry was raised, They are time-setters; they are spiritualists, &c.; but as we began to labor to correct such reports, the Lord gave us help; and we seem to be getting access to the hearts of some. We were rejoiced to see two young men come to our meetings last Sabbath and first-day who live twelve miles from here, and who embraced the Sabbath about one year ago by reading Bro. White's Life Incidents. They had never before heard a discourse by a Seventh-day Adventist minister. They returned with their hearts full of joy, taking with them about $4.00 worth of tracts to help others to see the same glorious truth which they are now rejoicing in. One subscribed for the REVIEW. Brethren and sisters in Maine, let us do our duty in circulating tracts. We can all do something. We can lay by a few dollars or cents, and put them into the tract fund, and help some one to see the truth; we may thus help forward the cause of God. Remember us in your prayers.
J. B. GOODRICH,
A. BARNES.
Patten, July 10, 1871. I HAVE seen a lark rising from his bed of grass, and soaring upward, singing as he rises, and in hopes to get to heaven and climb above the clouds; but the poor bird was beaten back with the singing of an eastern wind, and his motion, made irregular and inconstant, descended more at every breath of the tempest than all the vibrations of his wings served to exalt him, till the little creature was forced to sit down and pant, and stay till the storm was overpast; and then it made a prosperous flight; for then it did rise and sing, as if it had learned music and motion from some angel as he passed sometime through the air. So is the prayer of any good man when agitated by any passion. He fain would speak of God, and his words are of this earth, earthy; he would look to his Master, but he could not help seeing also that which distracted him, and a tempest was raised and the man overruled; his prayer was broken, and his thoughts were troubled, and his words ascended to the clouds, and the wandering of his imagination recalled them, and in all the fluctuating varieties of passion they are never like to reach God at all. But he sits him down and sighs over his infirmity, and fixes his thoughts upon things above, and forgets all little, vain passages of his life, and his spirit is becalmed, and his soul is even and still, and then it softly and sweetly ascends to Heaven on the wings of the Holy Dove, and dwells with God, till it returns, like the useful bee, loaded with a blessing and the dew of heaven.—Jeremy Taylor. How charming is that word Heaven! where no tears will ever fall, no groans be heard, no sorrow be seen; where no sin will mar the perfect joy, no death bring it to an end. O weary heart, there is rest for you. O burdened heart, there are full pardon and holiness for you. Do sickness and pain make life a burden? Sickness and pain never enter there. Do sinners vex you? None but the holy are there. Do you wish perfect holiness and perfect bliss? You will find them there. Blessed Jesus! in thy name, relying on thy merits, I humbly hope for Heaven. That which thou hast bought with thy blood shall be my eternal possession. Redeemed, purified, saved, I will there praise thee forever. The sunlight makes the violet blossom. No surgeon's instruments can make the flowers blossom, and no hammer can drive them forth. But the sweet, persuading sun can call them out. A seed is planted. The sun looks, and kisses the place again, and a green plant appears above the ground! It looks once more, and kisses the place once more, and a beautiful white blossom unfolds itself! And thus it is with the soul. No logic can pry out these devout aspirations. No philosophy can drive them forth. But let God's sweet, persuading soul rest upon ours awhile, and they come up and blossom. The soul is the garden of the Lord.—H. W. Beecher. The Work of a Faithful Mother
Many a discouraged mother folds her tired hands at night, and feels as if she had, after all, done nothing, although she has not spent an idle moment since she rose. Is it nothing that your little helpless children have had some one to come to with all their childish griefs and joys? Is it nothing that your husband feels “safe” when he is away to his business, because your careful hand directs everything at home? Is it nothing, when his business is over, that he has the blessed refuge of home, which you have that day done your best to brighten and refine? O weary and faithful mother, you little know your power when you say, “I have done nothing.” There is a book in which a fairer record than this is written over against your name.—Exchange. Preparing for the Prince of Heaven
The Grand Duke of Russia intends to visit the United States this summer, and preparations are making for a series of ovations surpassing anything of the kind ever before known in this country. The Prince of Heaven is soon coming to this world, but how little stir the news of his visit makes. Only a few are getting ready to receive him. And these are “not many rich, not many great, not many of the wise, of this world;” but a few, despised and pitied; contemned as disturbers of the world and church’s peace. But our Prince is greater than the greatest of their princes; and he is here, his people will appear in their true character, and it will be seen that the least of them is greater than the highest in earth’s register of honors. To them it is said, “Fear not, little flock; it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Let us accord the world the full meed of its honors and pleasures. These things are only temporal. Soon the King and the things eternal will be revealed. Let nothing distract our attention from them.—Sel. Vitality of Christianity.
The religion of God and the religion of man, differing essentially in their aim and tendency, will exhibit equal difference in their practical operations. And thus it ever has been. Where human wisdom has been taken as the only guide in religious things, an Egyptian night of moral darkness has rested upon the land; the hungry passions of the corrupt heart have been let loose with whetted appetites to seek for prey; the rights of others have been disregarded, and violence and wrong have reigned supreme. But when Christianity has controlled the hearts of men, the reverse has ever been the case; moral light has shed its genial rays; the passions and appetites have been restrained, and their carnality destroyed; charity and philanthropy, broad as the human family, have pervaded all, waking tender sympathy for the wronged and afflicted wherever found, stimulating to the most vigorous activity, noble daring, and generous self-sacrificing to promote the social and spiritual good of men of every clime.—Christian Instructor. The following is one of the most remarkable compositions we have ever met with. It evinces an ingenuity peculiarly its own. The initial capital letters spell, “My boast is in the glorious cross of Christ.” The words in italics, when read on the left side from top to bottom, and on the right side from bottom to top, form the Lord’s prayer, complete. Make known the gospel truth, our Father King.
Yield up thy grace, dear Father, from above,
Bless us with hearts which feelingly can sing,
Our life thou art for-ever, God of love!
Assuage our grief in love for Christ, we pray,
Since the Prince of Heaven and glory died,
Took all our sins and hallowed the display,
Infant be-ing, first a man and then was crucified,
Stupendous God! thy truth and power made known;
In Jesus’ name let all the world rejoice.
Now labor in thy heavenly kingdom now.
That blessed kingdom for thy saints the choice.
How vile to come to thee, is all our cry:
Enemies to thy-self, and all that’s thine;
Graceless our will, we live for vanity;
Loathing the very be-ing, evil in design,
O God, thy will be done from earth to Heaven;
Reclining on the gospel, let us live,
In earth from sin delivered and forgiven,
O, as thyself but teach us to forgive.
Unless it-s power temptation doth destroy;
Sure is our fall into the depths of woe.
Carnal in mind, we’ve not a glimpse of joy
Raised against Heaven; in us no hope we know.
O, give us grace and lead us on thy way;
Shine on us with thy love, and give us peace.
Self and this sin that rise against us slay,
O, grant each day our trespass-es may cease;
Forgive our evil deeds that oft we do;
Convince us daily of them to our shame;
Help us with heavenly bread; forgive us too
Recurrent lusts, and we’ll adore thy name.
In thy forgive-ness we as saints can die,
Since for us and our trespasses so high,
Thy Son, our Saviour, died on Calvary.
—Sel. “Because I have but one talent, I don’t see why I should give it to him that has ten, and I don’t mean to do it. The Lord helping me, I shall use it myself.” So said a good sister in a prayer-meeting, and there are a good many others that might do the same. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. DIED, June 18, 1871, in Riley township, Putnam Co., Ohio, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, Bro. Wm. S. Foote. Bro. Foote believed in the soon coming of the Lord, and died in full faith of having part in the first resurrection. M. T. OLDS. DIED, in Pleasant Grove, Minn., June 27, 1871, of consumption, our dear sister, Zubie M. Crandall, aged, twenty-two years, seven months, and fifteen days. She embraced present truth about one year and a half ago, and was baptized by Bro. Ingraham. Since then her life has been one worthy of imitation. She made her own choice of hymns to be used at her funeral. A very appropriate and comforting discourse was delivered by Eld. I. D. Van Horn at her funeral. I. Z. LAMB. DIED, in Fosterburg, Ill., June 7, 1871, of remittent fever, Charles W., son of D. B. and L. Hunt, aged one year, two months, and ten days. Funeral sermon preached July 2, from 2 Sam. 12: 23. G. W. COLCORD.