Earlier text: The New BuildingAmong the Danes.
By John Matteson
I HAVE labored about two weeks in the vicinity of Poy Sippi among our Danish friends. Those who started in the truth last winter are still holding on and have made some progress; and some more have embraced the message. Fourteen have been added to the church, and seven have been baptized. The Lord has blessed in our meetings and we have been encouraged to hope that the Lord will prosper the cause in this place. The present number in the Danish church of Poy Sippi is thirty-three. And among those none of our papers have as yet been read. This is a great loss to them. And it is a wonder that they can get along at all, deprived of those privileges which we all can appreciate who enjoy them, and which we could not well get along without. I have encouraged those who understand to try to read, a little, and some will try, yet they cannot get near so much good out of it as those who understand the language. The few books that have been printed in the Danish language are working among the people, and many of the Baptists have imbibed more or less of the truths advocated, which causes considerable disturbance among them. I went to visit one of their preachers, who has dissented from them. He believes and preaches the truth on the kingdom and immortality question. I asked him if he had read concerning the prophecies. He said, Yes, and handed me my own book. Still he opposes the Sabbath, yet he seemed willing to learn, and as he can read English, I handed him the eleven Sermons on the Sabbath and ordered the REVIEW for him. There are large numbers of Danes and Norwegians in these regions and a door in the gospel seems to be opened to us. I am now about to commence a course of Danish meetings here in Neenah. Six years ago I preached a little in this place. Since then many Danes have settled here. And I find some good friends who take me in, get a house for preaching, and are anxious to hear. May the Lord give wisdom and bless our feeble efforts for the glory of his own holy name. JOHN MATTESON. Neenah, Wis., May 19, 1871. Wherefore Dost Thou Doubt?
By E. H. W.
I had been listening to an argument by which one was trying to convince a friend upon some point of our faith. Our friend was, I felt, a sincere seeker after truth, and had already accepted some of our doctrines, and was with patient, faithful, and thorough research studying upon others. The matter was looked over and over and the point almost admitted; but there seemed to be hesitation with regard to the decision. I do not judge my young friend. Knowing her to be slow to act and firm to hold, I do not say but that her reason actually remained unconvinced; but withdrawing from the company, my mind reverted to an experience which came to my knowledge a few years ago. A young lady of average mind and of religious principle—a member at the time of an orthodox church, and supporting herself by education and experience fully convinced of the vital points of Christian faith—chanced to read a work wherein many arguments of a skeptical nature were introduced. Her faith was gradually shaken till doubt took possession of her mind. Was there a God? and was the Bible a revelation? It was not the grappling of a mind like Voltaire, or Hume, with mighty mysteries. It was a simple school-girl struggling with just such doubts as will enter any thoughtful mind if left unguarded by prayer. The closet which had been occasionally, and then often, neglected, was at last almost entirely abandoned, and prayer seemed like mockery. She became wretched and miserable. “Without God and without hope,” not knowing whither to turn, yearning at times like the prodigal son, to return to Him in whom she had trusted in her earlier years, but holding herself back with the cry, “My reason, my reason, must be convinced.” But God did not leave her entirely, and at last, in the spirit of the prodigal, she said, “I have fed long enough on these husks of skepticism. They leave me more empty than they found me. In my Father’s house there is bread enough, and to spare. I will arise and go unto my Father.” Then came repentance and a realization of the great sin she had committed in doubting God and his word. The Bible was full of meaning—God was real. How came this? There was no new train of reasoning presented, nothing but what she had known from the first. The will had been submitted. “I will believe. I will open my heart to what God would teach me through his word and works.” How many times do we hesitate, and sometimes think it is because reason is not convinced, when really it is because we will not believe. We repeat to our hearts, “I cannot see it so,” till we think we are really honest doubters, when if we would but examine ourselves candidly and prayerfully we should see that we were already convinced, and all that remained was to lay aside prejudice and acknowledge it. Some of us are disposed to adhere to our own views simply to prove our independence and show that we cannot be influenced by every wind that blows, and refuse to acknowledge our convictions even to our own hearts. Some of us see sacrifices in the way which we hesitate to make, and so try to convince ourselves that we are not sure that it is the right way. How seldom we are ready to say, “I would gladly believe it, but cannot.” How often if we knew ourselves would we find the feeling in our hearts, “I do not like to believe it, and will not try to.” I judge no one. Honest doubts will rise, and must be candidly met; but if Satan can deceive souls in this way, he will set this snare as quickly as any other. Our own hearts are so deceitful that we do well to take heed to ourselves lest willful unbelief exist in us under the cloak of honest doubt. When a question comes to us demanding an answer, let us seek the closet, the word, and the testimony. We shall not be deceived. If we cry after knowledge and seek for it as for hid treasure, we are sure that we shall “understand righteousness and judgment and equity, yea, every good path.” Prov. 2:9. But if there be in any of us an evil heart of unbelief leading us to depart from the living God, though it be ever so little, what will be the result? Little by little, we go further on rejecting more and more light till the light that is in us becomes darkness, a darkness which will not be penetrated till the clear light of the day of God shall expose our refuge of lies and unbelief. The Revelator tells us the fate of such: “But the fearful and unbelieving, ... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Rev. 21:8.” E. H. W. Weep for the Living.
By Mary Martin
WEEP ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep sore for him that goeth away. Jer. 22:10. How many of us have felt the chilling presence of death in our homes, and, binding our grief to our hearts, go about life's daily duties because they must be performed. How many have wept till tears would come no longer. The aching hearts that have been carried and the sleepless nights, no one but God has ever known. The world sees the smile on the surface, but not the troubled waters below, and we love to have it so as we clasp our sorrow still closer to our hearts. God knows it all. Jesus wept; and we may; but there should be a meek submission. Our Father doeth all things well. But while wrapped in our grief for those we cannot recall, or in any way affect their destiny, precious souls around us are perishing. Jesus died for them. Who of us has spent all night in prayer entreating our Father to spare a little longer? Who has wept for hours for the living who are yet in the road that leads to death? Who has gone about his daily toil feeling inexpressible anguish of heart that sinners did not come to Jesus? Very many hear the truth proclaimed, and go away sorrowful, for they have great possessions of wealth, position in society, intellectual endowments, or something that seems to them far too precious to sacrifice for Him who gave his life for us. Who follows these with prayers and tears, in the closet day by day, that the Holy Spirit may still strive in their hearts? Who is careful of all his daily walk and conversation that it shall be such as will recommend the truth to others? Who has been willing to make any sacrifice if but one soul might be brought to Jesus? As I ask myself these questions, and look backward over the brief period since I first sought, and as I trust found, Jesus, how many misspent moments and unprofitable words do I see. The coming day alone may reveal their influence; and though ashamed to say it, I cannot see one sacrifice that has been made purely from love to God and fellow-beings. What a monster is self! How weak is poor human nature! Oh! that our hungry, yearning hearts may be brought more fully into subjection to God's will, not thinking, weeping, and planning, for self merely, but feeling the worth of souls, and seeking to realize the shortness of time, anxious to do something that may benefit others and glorify God. Then his blessing will surely follow; and if faithful to the end, beauty and bliss untold and unending shall be ours. “Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning.” Let us be encouraged, and try to perform every duty. “Only waiting till earth’s shadows
Have a little darker grown,
And we hear the gathering angel
Say, Your Father calls, Come home.” Pernicious Reading.
By Francis Gould
For six thousand years the arch-deceiver of mankind has been walking about, as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And in no way perhaps has he had better success in plotting the destruction of the human family, than introducing before the mind novel-reading, fictitious books, and trashy literature, which prevail at the present time to a fearful extent. In almost every family circle which we enter, our eyes are greeted with a supply of such material; and, what astonishes us most is, there are many heads of families who profess to be followers of the meek and lowly Jesus that suffer their children to have recourse to such kind of reading. The press wields a mighty influence for good or evil; and here is where the enemy concentrates his forces. Through reading, we obtain an education, and through education, we develop character. The poet has well expressed it, “’Tis education forms the common mind;
Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined.”
We may view this subject from what standpoint we please, and we are led to ask, What good results from such reading? We answer, None, but only evil continually. We have found by observation and experience that it blunts the moral sensibilities of our natures, darkens the understanding, corrupts the imagination, excites the baser passions, and renders the mind almost, if not wholly, impervious to divine impressions. Fathers and mothers who are exciting an influence in their families in this direction for good or evil, and especially those who profess to love God, will have a strict account to render to God for the blessings they have received from his hand, and for the manner in which they have nurtured and controlled those that have been placed under their care. Parents should be careful to place before their children at an early age such reading as will establish in their minds right impressions, and will tend to promote their happiness and future well-being. The first impressions generally give shape to their future course in life. They grow with their growth, and strengthen with their strength. The principles received will be interwoven into their very beings, and thus character will be developed. This being the case, how important it is that a selection of good books and periodicals be made, and placed in the family library, instead of the vile trash which is so often seen there. Here is a good chance for Christian men and women to labor. Here is a chance for them to scatter light and truth, and to let their light shine. Here is an opportunity for doing good. There are some, I fear among Sabbath-keepers—a people who by their profession should stand higher in the scale of moral excellence and purity than any other people—who are remiss in relation to this duty, not only in suffering such poisonous elements, in some degree, to remain in their dwellings, but also in not introducing such reading matter as shall lead the household to respect and honor the righteous government of God. We are taught in the Scriptures that Abraham obeyed the voice of God, and kept his commandments, his statutes, and his laws, and commanded his household after him. He taught his children by precept and by example. He exerted a saving and holy influence, and led his household to reverence the God of Heaven. Abraham stands as the head representative of the people of God. They that are Christ’s are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. Let us follow in the steps of Abraham our father. Let us contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, that, with faithful Abraham, we may become heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, to an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. FRANCIS GOULD. M. W. HOWARD
By M. W. Howard
“THOUSANDS will fall within sight of the prize.” These words, as I read them, riveted my attention, and raised the fearful inquiry in my heart, Shall I be one of the falling ones? The want of decision of which I am sorrowfully conscious, leads me to fear that I shall faint by the way. But to commit my way unto the Lord, believing he will direct my steps, is my full purpose, and that my trust in Jesus falters not I am sure; for I know that “Other refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee.” Yes, my “helpless soul!” That fully expresses it. I desire no other refuge, seek none other. Yet, oh! the sad distrust with which Satan sometimes buffets me. I know it is his province to worry whom he cannot destroy. Can I, or rather will I, successfully resist his power, so that he destroy me not? A writer has said, “We are not required to have faith in our faith, but to have faith in Jesus.” This thought so completely met the need of my heart that I felt to go “many days in the strength of it;” and it contains cheer enough to encourage us on our entire way. But if, like the apostle Paul, who was a representative Christian man, we could come up on that higher ground, we should not merely view Christ, but receive him. When Christ came into Paul’s soul, there came another faith into Paul’s faith. Mark his expression. Gal. 2: 20, he says, not faith in, or on Christ, but, “I live by the faith of the Son of God.” The veritable, personal faith of Christ itself, giving to Paul’s faith power, lifting it up, making it steady-sighted, far-visioned, able to see the invisible and eternal. It was in this Christ-faith that he lived and moved in God; this, that made him the zealous apostle that he was. And such a love, and such a faith, such a crucifixion, such a redemption may be ours. It was not meant for Paul alone. It has been the faith of thousands since Paul’s day. It is for us, and should be ours, since it is the same form of expression used in Rev. 14: 12: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Malone, N. Y., April, 1871. Are we Overcoming?
By C. M. Shepard
We want to overcome; but if we are not now overcoming, we are in the utmost peril. The overcomer's reward is so great that no earthly good or pleasure can in any way compensate for the loss of it. But, says one, I have many temptations, cares, and trials, to hinder me. If it were not for this thing and that, I could train my mind to think of heavenly things more, and daily grow more and more like Jesus. We read in the word of God that “all things shall work together for good to those who love God.” According to this, those things which seem to be contrary to us, or hindrances in our heavenward way, will all turn to our advantage. Our Father is almighty, and would change our circumstances if our good demanded it; for he who withheld not his Son, his only Son, but freely gave him to die for us, is ever watching us with tenderest care, and, “no good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” It is our high privilege to stand upon his precious word, where we can rejoice in his free salvation, and in every trial come off conqueror. In the very situation in which our Heavenly Father has placed us, he requires us to overcome. His requirements are not unreasonable. His grace is sufficient for us. Sometimes I am tempted to think that I cannot perfect a Christian character in the circumstances that surround me. This is only a suggestion of Satan; and he is a liar. My trust is in God. He has laid help upon One who is mighty, and with Paul I will say, I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. We know that great trials are before us, and we must have courage and be victorious in the conflicts of to-day, that we may be stronger than we now are to meet the greater trials that are before us. I am thankful for the light that shines more and more, and for the exceedingly great and precious promises which are given to the overcomer. C. M. SHEPARD. Few dare to approach the rich and great on the subject of personal salvation. This fact was deeply felt by a little praying band in England, and it was resolved to send tracts to them through the mail, with no name affixed, hoping thus to avoid offense. A gentleman of rank, but very profligate, received with his morning’s letters a tract with the title “Prepare to meet thy God.” He looked at it with scorn and indignation, and wondered “who could have had the impudence to send him that.” With an oath he arose to put it into the fire. But on second thought he determined to inclose it in a fresh envelope, and send it anonymously to his friend B———. “It would be such a good joke,” he said. So the tract was once more mailed and received in much the same spirit as before. But it was read, and the Spirit of God accompanied it. The scoffer and worldling was hopefully changed in heart and life. In the fullness of his heart he longed to do something for his old companions in sin. He once more sent the little tract on its way to another of the circle to which he formerly belonged, and it pleased God to honor it with a similar success. This is a means of doing good open to all. There are none so high in rank but they may be thus approached, and that, too, with less offense than by almost any other method. Paul, with his consummate skill and boldness than in preaching the truth, felt the appropriateness of varying his method according to the class addressed; “but privately to them of reputation.” When you feel impelled to send such a message to another, regard it as a suggestion of the Holy Spirit, and do not be disobedient to his voice. He can go with and bless the smallest effort for souls, and has often used the feeblest instruments for bringing about the most glorious results.—S. S. Times. TOWARD the close of a life of devotedness to God, that eminent minister, Dr. Payson, observed that Christians might avoid much trouble and inconvenience if they would only believe what they profess—that God is able to make them supremely happy in himself, independently of all circumstances. “God has been depriving me,” he wrote, “of one mercy after another; but as one was removed, he has come in and filled up its place. Now when I am a cripple, and not able to move, I am happier than ever I was in my life before, or ever expected to be; and if I had believed this twenty years ago, I might have been spared much anxiety. If God had told me some time ago that he was about to make me as happy as I could be in this world, and then had told me that he should begin by crippling me in all my limbs, and removing me from my usual sources of enjoyment, I should have thought it a very strange mode of accomplishing this purpose. And yet how is his wisdom manifest even in this.”—Sel. The Precious Privilege of Prayer
WHAT a precious privilege is prayer! Come to the mercy-seat—that seat where love and justice, holiness and pardon, divinely sit; whence great streams fall on the sin-sick soul. Let no hour pass without a visit to the throne of grace. It is but a thought-step, “an upward glancing of the eye,” a leap of the soul from its earth duties, and you are there. While putting that needle through the cloth, or washing that cup, or selling that parcel, or driving that nail, you can go to the mercy-seat. Thread every fiber of life with these pearls. Leaven every lump with this sacred life. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. DIED, at New Shoreham, R. I., sister Rosina Champlin, wife of Christopher E. Champlin, in the sixty-first year of her age. Sister C. was among the first in the Advent movement. She with her companion expected to see the Lord on the tenth day of the seventh month in 1844. Still she kept looking forward for the speedy coming of the Son of Man. She was also among the first that embraced the Sabbath, and adhered to the last to the third message. She leaves a husband and five children, who deeply mourn her loss. S. N. LITTLEFIELD. DIED, at Hartland, Livingston Co., Mich., May 2, 1871, Charles Wesley Westfall, son of W. H. and Mary Westfall, aged one month and three days. Funeral discourse by Eld. Laning of the Methodist denomination. “History of the Doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul.”
By Roswell F. Cottrell
I HAVE just finished reading this pamphlet, and think it a very interesting work. Those who would like to learn how it was that the great apostasy was effected, how it was that heathen fables took the place and the name of Christian doctrine, and led to the confusion that now exists in the nominally Christian world, will be interested and instructed by reading this work. They will here see how the pure banner of heavenly truth was lowered in order to bring into the church the worldly wise, who preferred the doctrines of Plato and other so-called philosophers to the doctrine of Christ, and only received Christianity in name, while they still clung to the foolish fables and blind philosophy of their pagan ancestors. And when we have learned the downward tendency of blind and sinful humanity; how, instead of being elevated by the pure and ennobling principles of divine revelation, it loved darkness rather than light, and proudly placed its own wisdom above the wisdom of God; perhaps we may cease in a measure to wonder how difficult it is to reform men at the present day. Some wonder, if truth is truth, why it has not been discovered before. But when we consider how soon the pure gospel truth was covered up by the rubbish of heathenism, we may well calculate that reformation will be up-hill work all the way. And our experience in the last message of the reformation may teach us in this respect, and satisfy us that the work of God, for the present generation, could never be accomplished without the gift of prophecy in the church. It is not because the Bible is not a clear and harmonious revelation of truth, but because men will interpret it so as to suit their own theories. And as long as they do this, revelation is no revelation to them. As long as they give a mystical interpretation to the Scriptures, they might better be without them; for without revelation they might hold their favorite theories and not lay its Author in the lie. As it was in the early centuries of the Christian church, so it is now. As pagans then would receive Christianity only on the condition that they might rob it of its distinguishing characteristics, drag it down to a level with the wisdom of those who by wisdom knew not God, and, in a word, paganize it; so we have seen plenty of men who would receive the third angel’s message, provided they could correct its faults by their own false notions and perverse interpretations, cast out those whom God has chosen to lead, in short, rob it of its divinity, that is, of all that distinguishes it as a message from Heaven. Men do not like to submit to authority. They may be a little delicate about openly and boldly rebelling against God. Therefore if they can drag down and humanize that which comes from Heaven—if they can find fault with his messengers—then they feel free to trample them under foot, and, with them, the heavenly truth which they bear. Saul of Tarsus supposed he was only warring against men like himself, while he persecuted the followers of Jesus; but the voice to him from Heaven was, Why persecutest thou Me? He was putting the Son of God to death, in the person of his disciples. So these are crucifying the Heaven-sent message in the person of those whom God has chosen to bear it. They fancy they are only wrestling against flesh and blood; but they are really warring against God and his truth. Rebellion is seductive, like the sin of witchcraft. I may have wandered from the point. But let those who would learn a lesson in regard to humanity from its history in the past, read the book mentioned at the head of this article. It costs only twenty-five cents. And let all beware of dragging down heavenly truth and exalting degraded humanity above it. “Can ye not discern the signs of the times?” NEW YORK, May 25.—A special dispatch gives the details of the fearful scenes enacted in Paris yesterday. The Tribune correspondent says the fighting in the boulevard Haussmann and Faubourg St. Honoré was very severe. Many houses are filled with the dead and wounded of both sides. The hotel of the Ministry of Finance is burning fiercely. The Tuileries and the north side of the Louvre are completely gutted. Four walls only of the Palais Royal are standing. The fighting is very severe around the Hotel de Ville, which is blazing with petroleum. The British Embassy building is much damaged, and the office of the archives is burned. The Place de la Concorde was terribly injured. No quarter is given. The Versaillists behave well to the inhabitants. Fire is raging in nearly every street. The Northern Railway station is in the hands of the Versaillists. There is a heavy bombardment of Paris from the barricade on top of the rue Fayette. The Tribune's special correspondent, on Wednesday night, says the Place Vendome was definitely occupied at 4 o'clock this morning. The insurgents made a strong stand at the rue St. Honore. The Palais Royal was set on fire by retiring insurgents. The capture of the Place Vendome made the Tuileries untenable, and the insurgents saturated the premises with petroleum and set them on fire. The insurgents are fighting like fiends. The eastern Faubourg population seemed mad with joy, and the tri-color waves everywhere. The streets are quiet, and the Versailles troops are orderly. A hunt for Commune leaders has begun, and the police are searching houses, rooms, and cellars. Paris is enveloped in a dense pall of smoke, and is terribly damaged. The streets are smeared with blood, and are littered with debris. Another Paris correspondent describes the burning of the Tuileries; another that of the Hotel de Ville, and the awful scenes accompanying. The Austrian Embassy and the property of the Empress Eugenie were also burned. The Caisse des Consignations is reported destroyed; likewise the Spanish Embassy. Departure from Paris is impossible, and circulation through the city difficult and dangerous. The loss of the Versailles troops is small. Twelve hundred prisoners have been taken to Versailles. It is reported that Bellory was shot immediately after he was taken. The Versaillists are sending firemen from towns within a radius of twenty miles. Another correspondent telegraphed last night: “Paris is being burned to the ground. Mad and frenzied insurgents deliberately fired the Louvre, Tuileries, Cour des Comptes, Hotel de Ville, Ministry of Finance, churches, and every public building in the city. The conflagration is rapidly extending. The correspondent tried to enter Paris, but found it impossible. In watching the fire he noticed a tremendous increase, and one-third of the city, he says, will be burned before night.—Det. Post.” And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand. PROVIDENCE permitting, the western camp-meetings will be held as follows:— Northville, LaSalle Co., Ill., June 8-12. La Porte City, Iowa, June 15-19. Milton Junction, Wis., June 22-26. Medford, Steele Co., Minn., June 29-July 4. GEN. CONF. COM. Illinois State Conference.
THE first annual meeting of the Illinois Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, will be held in connection with the camp-meeting, near Northville LaSalle Co., Ill., June 8-12, 1871. Let all the churches in the Conference be represented. Choose your delegates in season. Churches that have not as yet been admitted to the Conference should send delegates also, and become united to the Conference. Unorganized bodies of Sabbath keepers, and isolated brethren, should have themselves represented. It is expected that every church will send a written report to the Conference of their standing, loss, and gain, during the year, and the amount of their Systematic Benevolence fund yearly. SETH NEWTON, JOHN H. BENNETT, R. F. ANDREWS. (Ill. State Conference Committee. La Porte City Camp-Meeting.
GOD willing, there will be a Camp-meeting at La Porte City, Iowa, to commence June 15, and hold about one week. We hope to see a general rally from all parts of the State. JAMES WHITE. PROVIDENCE permitting, there will be a camp-meeting at Clear Lake, on the farm of Mr. Stone, one and one-half miles north of Milton Junction, on the Chicago and North-western and Milwaukee and Prairie Du Chien railroads. The meeting will be held June 22-26, 1871. We hope to get reduced fare for those coming on the cars to this meeting. We expect this will be a very important meeting. We hope to see a general attendance of our people. Do not let worldly considerations keep you from coming and bringing your neighbors and friends with you. Bring your tents and camp equipages. Come in time for the commencement of the meeting. Come to stay till the close. There will be teams to convey to the ground those that come on the cars. Provisions can be obtained on the ground, and hay and oats for teams. We confidently expect Bro. and sister White to be at this meeting. I. SANBORN, Wis. M. J. BARTHOLF, Conf. C. W. OLDS. Com. Wisconsin State Conference.
NOTICE is hereby given that the Wisconsin State Conference will hold its next annual session in connection with our camp-meeting, to be held at Milton Junction, June 22-26, 1871. Let all our churches elect delegates to represent them according to the following ratio: twenty members or under, one delegate, and one delegate for every additional fifteen members. Let all the churches send to the Conference a written report of their standing, their losses and additions during the year, and the yearly amount of their Systematic Benevolence fund. I. SANBORN, M. J. BARTHOLF, C. W. OLDS. Wis. State Conference Committee. PROVIDENCE permitting, the Minnesota camp-meeting will be held near the village of Medford, Steel Co., Minn., June 29-July 4, 1871. HARRISON GRANT, Minn. CALVIN KELSEY, Conf. D. McALPINE, Com. NOTICE is hereby given that the Minnesota State Conference of Seventh-day Adventists will hold its next annual session in connection with the Minnesota camp-meeting to be held at Medford, Steel Co., Minn., June 29-July 4, 1871. And it is requested that all our churches in the State be represented by delegate or letter, giving a report of their standing, their losses, and additions during the year; also the yearly amount of their Systematic Benevolence fund. HARRISON GRANT, Minn. CALVIN KELSEY, Conf. D. McALPINE, Com. ADAMS CENTER, June 3 and 4, Smith's Mills, 10 and 11, Oneida Castle, 17 and 18. I expect to attend these meetings. The ordinance of baptism will be attended at Smith's Mills. The Lord is owning his word in this (Oswego) county, bringing some to keep all his commandments. Brethren, come to the above meetings with much prayer that God would revive his work. Bring your friends with you. C. O. TAYLOR. ELD. M. E. CORNELL will speak at the S. D. A. house of worship in Battle Creek, Sabbath, June 3, at 10½ o'clock A. M.; also, on Sunday, June 4, at 3 o'clock P. M. Subject—Modern Spiritualism. Monthly meeting in Palmyra, Maine, Sabbath and first-day, June 10 and 11. J. B. GOODRICH. Monthly meeting of the churches in Western New York with the church at North Parma, Monroe Co., Sabbath and first-day, June 10 and 11, to continue full two days. Friends from East Elma, also from Hess Road and Ridge Road are especially requested to be present. Matters of importance will be brought forward for consideration. Teams at Adams Basin and at Brockport to accommodate all. CHAS. B. REYNOLDS. The Health Institute.
By Editor
We are glad to see our brethren again taking stock in the Health Reform Institute. Those who have stock in the Institute should understand: 1. That there is no dividend. By bad management during our sickness, and absence from the work at Battle Creek, the $32,000 in stock, so readily taken in shares of $25 00 each, was reduced to at most $25,000. And now the receipts simply meet expenses and make needed repairs. 2. No one can draw their stock directly from the Institute, either in money, or in treatment. 3. Those who have taken stock which they are not able to hold, can sell it to others; or can get it back in this way: When new stock is taken, the officers can transfer stock, which the holder is not able to own, to the new stockholder. And this will be done in some cases for the needy when new stock shall be taken. But upon this subject we shall have much to say at another time. Sister A. P. Van Horn (wife of Eld. I. D. Van Horn), who has filled the important office of secretary of the Publishing Association for nearly two years, has joined her husband in his labors in Minnesota. Her labors have been wearing, and she is now enjoying needed rest. We were all very glad to receive the following from her, written May 20:— DEAR ONES AT THE OFFICE: I am in a school-house where two or three churches are engaged in business meeting, and as it is the first good opportunity, I will give you a brief account of my journey. I left Battle Creek at 11:20 on Monday night the 15th, and reached Chicago at about six in the morning—took an omnibus for the N. W. Depot. At ten on Tuesday took the cars over the Wisconsin division of the N. W. R. R. Rode to Watertown, Wis., where I changed cars at 4:25 P. M. This was over the most beautiful part of the country I ever saw. I took the cars at Watertown over the Milwaukee and St. Paul R. R. toward LaCrosse. Rode till one o’clock at night to Winona junction, within three miles of the Mississippi. Here I changed cars for Winona, instead of going to LaCrosse and taking the boat north. But there was no train north till eight o’clock Wednesday morning. There was not a hotel, or a dwelling house at Winona junction, with the exception of a shanty occupied by an Irish family. When I stepped out of the cars here at one o’clock, I was glad to be assisted by my dear husband. I found that he had made friends with the Roman Catholic baggage master, who had two straw ticks on his bed—so he took one off into the Ticket Office for himself, and left his bedstead with the other tick and a blanket, in the freight room for us. So Isaac put his satchel under my head, for a pillow, under the tick, and used his boots for the same purpose for his own comfort, and here, beside a great load of trunks, we lay down and had two hours good sleep. About six o’clock I spread a towel on a bench in the waiting room, took out eatables from my satchel, gave Isaac an invitation to take breakfast with me—of course he accepted. At eight o’clock we moved on to Winona where we crossed the Mississippi on a steamer at ten. The river here is about three-fourths of a mile wide. They are building a R. R. bridge here, which they think will be ready to run the cars on by June 1. We took the train for Rochester where we met Bro. Gibson at one P. M. on Wednesday, who took us to his house eight miles distant on Greenwood Prairie. I was not so tired as I expected to be, when I got through. On Thursday morning I had quite a desire to walk out on one of the bluffs, as the scenery about was all new and strange to me. I could see the city of Rochester where we left the cars more than eight miles from where we now stood; and what I saw here made about such an impression on my mind as when I saw Niagara falls. Here we stopped to read some words of good cheer from the prophet Isaiah, and to give thanks for providential care. In the afternoon we called on three families of Sabbath-keepers. On Friday, we rode twenty miles with Bro. and sister Gibson, to Concord, the place of this meeting. The Minnesota Camp-Meeting.
By Calvin Kelsey
It has been decided to hold this meeting at Medford, Steele Co., Minn., as the place most convenient and central. Medford is on the Minnesota Central R. R. Those coming on the Winona & St. Peter R. R., will change cars at Owatonna. It is intended that ample provisions will be made for those who wish to procure food on the ground, as a provision stand will be kept at which food can be had at reasonable rates; also hay, grains, and good pasturage one mile and a half from the ground for those who wish to use it. We are aware that it is no small task and sacrifice for many of our people in Minnesota to prepare to attend camp-meeting for want of means; yet we think all will be paid for all the efforts they may put forth to attend. A year with its toils, perplexities, and temptations, is before us, and we shall need the strength we shall receive to pass safely through them. Come to the camp-meeting. Bring your friends, and those you wish to see converted, and let us all who can, bring a thank-offering to God for all his mercies shown, and that we are enabled still to have our faces set toward the end of the race. And let all endeavor to have the meeting characterized with good order, as though worshiping at the house of God. We still hope that Bro. and Sister White will be with us, and will do all in our power to relieve them of cares that they should not bear. Wells, Faribault Co., Minn., May 22, 1871.