Earlier text: FIFTH ANNUAL SESSION OF THE S. D. A. EDUCATIONAL SOCIETYThe Publishing Association.
By Editor
The figures given in the report of the business proceedings of the Publishing Association in another column, show the increased amount of business transacted by the Association during the past year, it being nearly fifty-two thousand dollars in excess of what has been done in any previous year. While the figures upon some items are less, on others they are largely increased. We are happy to note an increase of $2,323.01 in the important item of book sales. This shows a commendable increase in the good work of circulating our publications. The Association has issued during the past year: 329,569 copies of the REVIEW & HERALD.
62,220 “ “ Supplements to R. & H.
95,773 “ “ Good Health.
361,400 “ “ Youth’s Instructor, Weekly.
53,144 “ “ Youth’s Instructor, Monthly.
86,980 “ “ Lesson Sheets.
41,400 “ “ Advent Tidende, Danish.
13,000 “ “ Advent Harold, Swedish.
13,920 “ “ Stimme der Wahrheit, German.
14,274,560 pages of books and tracts. We now have subscribers, to the REVIEW, 5,365; Good Health, 3,748; Instructor, weekly, 8,335; Instructor, monthly, 1,831; Tidende, 1,431; Harold, 623; Stimme der Wahrheit, 1,800. The increase of figures on the pay roll has not arisen from an increase of wages, but from an increase of help made necessary by the addition of the stereotype and electrotype department, and the enlargement of the bindery. But all departments are paying their way, and yielding a fair profit besides. The work has moved along pleasantly the past year. No accident of any account has occurred. Health has been enjoyed generally by all the hands; and all now employed, the number usually being upwards of eighty, are, with one or two exceptions, fully with us in the faith. For all these blessings we are truly grateful; and all hands enter with new courage upon another year of labor. Does not Ps. 9:17 refer to the time and place of the final reward of the wicked? If so, does not the word sheol, as here used, have a shade of meaning equivalent to gehenna? D. B. W. Ans. Sheol denotes the place or condition of the dead. It is, therefore, the proper word to denote the ultimate place or condition of the wicked, after they have passed through the period of their sufferings. If the expression was made that all the wicked shall be turned into gehenna, and it was there left, it would mislead; for the wicked are not to remain in gehenna forever, as they do in sheol, when finally placed there. Gehenna seems to be the place where those active agents of destruction are manifested which cause the wicked unutterable anguish so long as they have any conscious existence, and then prey upon them till they are reduced to their original elements. The power of gehenna then ceases, and they are left in the depths of sheol. So when David says that all the wicked shall be turned into sheol, he shows what their ultimate condition will be, while other scriptures show that they pass through gehenna to reach it. In John 12:32 Christ says, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” What is the meaning of the phrase, “will draw all men unto me”? D. B. W. Ans. The lifting up from the earth doubtless refers to the death of Christ upon the cross, by which the world beholds in epitome the great work which Christ has wrought in their behalf. And by this means men will be drawn from all nations of the earth to partake of the great salvation he has provided. We do not think the term “all men” here includes every individual of the human family, as the Universalist would have us believe; but the words spoken are in contrast with the notions of the Jews, who arrogated salvation to themselves exclusively, as a nationality. It was one of the peculiar characteristics of the Messiah, that unto him should the gathering of the people be; Gen. 49:2; and when it was announced to the Jews that the Gentiles were to be brought in, and a new body be formed, they took offense thereat. But it is this great fact which we understand is announced in the words under notice. As if he had been asked, “Will you confine your work to the Jews?” and he had answered, “No; I will draw all men unto me;” not that he would draw every individual of all nations unto him, but he would draw from all nations in contrast with the work which had before that time been confined to the particular nation of the Jews. And the gospel has thus gathered from all nations believers in the cross of Christ. 54.—ESTEEMING A THING UNCLEAN.
Rom. 14:14: “I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” What are we to understand by this? D. B. W. Ans. The next verse reads: “But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat,” etc. From this it is evident that the apostle’s subject is meat, and the distinction he speaks of is that which formerly existed between clean and unclean165 meats. Some thought the distinction still existed; others thought it did not. Now Paul says there is nothing unclean of itself. The former distinction does not exist. But if any one, believing that the distinction does still exist, partakes, nevertheless, of that which he regards as unclean, to him it is unclean; that is, he shows himself just as devoid of principle, and does his own conscience just as much a wrong, as though the distinction were really binding and he had disregarded it. THE regular work of the Institute commenced Sunday evening, the 17th, by a lecture from Bro. White on the great subject of prophecy, the place it occupies in the divine word, and its use to the church. He illustrated his subject by a special chart he has had prepared upon the seven seals. One seal is broken, and the book (anciently a roll of parchment or other writing material) is unrolled so far as to reveal the events of the first seal. Then another seal is broken, and the scenes of the second seal are brought to view, and so on. The arrangement admirably illustrates not only the subject of the seven seals, but the unfolding of prophecy in general. Dr. Kellogg had been giving hygienic and scientific lectures to a large class for something like a week previous, as a part of the Institute course, putting them in thus early to enable him, as a member of the State Board of Health, to represent Michigan at a Convention in Nashville, for the present week, and still complete his series of lectures before the Institute shall close. His last lectures before leaving for Nashville were upon the constitution of man, the soul and the resurrection, defending the views embodied in his work on those subjects. His remarks changed the minds of some who had heretofore questioned his positions, and, by a rising vote, the following resolutions were adopted by the class. The vote upon the first was unanimous, and that upon the second nearly so, ninety-five expressing themselves as fully satisfied, and only eleven requesting time for further consideration:— - Resolved, That with pleasure we give expression to our feelings of gratitude to Dr. Kellogg for his able lectures upon the Soul and the Resurrection of the dead.
- Resolved, That after viewing these subjects carefully and critically in the light of the Bible and science, the Doctor’s positions relative to them are perfectly satisfactory.
Prof. Hamill is giving a class at the College, and the Biblical Institute class, a thorough drill in elocution. He is master of his profession, and all his pupils are deriving great benefit from his instruction. The writer is commencing a brief review of the more familiar lines of prophecy, with the design to introduce in connection therewith subjects not so commonly dwelt upon heretofore. All this, with the morning prayer-meeting commencing at half past seven in the morning, and the business sessions still necessary to be held, and the meetings to instruct the class in the general principles of our work, such as holding tent-meetings, advertising, canvassing, selling books, organizing Conferences, churches, and all the different societies connected with our work, and the keeping of books connected with all these, fills up the time so that there is scarcely intermission sufficient for a moderate amount of rest at night and two meals a day; and not much liability, it would seem, of any member of the class being in danger of falling into that mischief which Satan still finds “for idle hands to do.” But the members have come here at some expense, and desire to put in all their time to the best advantage. They are determined to make all possible improvement of the occasion; and this determination is the best pledge that could be given of final success. The class numbers one hundred and twelve, the largest number of our people who have ever engaged in an exercise of this kind. THE BAPTISM OF JOHN.
By John Nevins Andrews
[From Les Signes des Temps.] BAPTISM is an ordinance peculiar to the New-Testament church. It is designed to represent and commemorate certain events in the history of human redemption. Baptism originated with John, the forerunner of Christ. God sent him to preach and to baptize, that he might thus prepare the way before the Saviour. John preached the great truth that Christ was about to be manifested, and bade the people repent of their sins, that they might be prepared to receive him. That they might in a proper manner express their faith in a coming Messiah, John, by God's direction, gave to them the ordinance of baptism, and vast multitudes of the people were baptized. It is certain that some of Christ's disciples were baptized by John, John 1: 35-42; and it is every way probable that all of them were baptized by him, for John's preaching was designed to prepare the people for Christ's first advent. Those who received his preaching were baptized. Christ chose his disciples from those who were prepared to receive him as the Messiah. It is therefore evident that not merely a part of his disciples, but all of them, were baptized by John before being called to the apostleship. If they had rejected John's baptism or neglected to observe it, they would have been unfit to fill so important and responsible a place. Near the close of John's ministry, Christ himself was baptized. He submitted to this ordinance that he might, as our pattern, set us an example to follow. After Christ began to preach, the people lost their interest, to a great extent, in the preaching of John. John 3:26. His influence diminished as the influence of Christ increased. Verse 30. John continued to baptize even after the ministry of Christ had commenced, and Christ began to baptize immediately after he began to preach. John 3:22, 23; 4:1. He did not himself baptize any one, but those who were converted by his ministry were baptized by his apostles. And thus while John was still baptizing, the disciples of Christ, under the direction of their Lord, began to baptize the people. There was no conflict between John and Christ. John did all his work as the forerunner of Christ, and Christ acknowledged the great importance of the work done by John. Matt. 10:11. There was no difference between the baptism administered by John and that which the apostles administered under the eye of Christ. Baptism administered by John was gospel baptism, and baptism administered at the same time by the apostles was in no respect different. Christ attested the excellence of John's baptism by being baptized at his hands. The apostles who baptized while John was still engaged in baptizing, had been themselves baptized by John, and were not baptized anew by Christ; therefore baptism by the disciples of Christ and baptism by John, which took place at the same time, were each of the same nature and character. A certain great truth was set forth before the people in the ordinance of baptism. The people were exhorted to repent, for the advent of Christ was at hand; and they were to show their faith in this truth by being baptized. Matt. 3. Paul teaches, in the sixth chapter of Romans, that the ordinance of baptism represents the burial and resurrection of Christ; that the sinner, having died to sin, is to be buried in the water, as Christ, after he had died for our sins, was buried in the grave; and that as Christ was raised from the tomb to immortal life, so the believer, being raised from the water, is to walk in newness of life. When John preached to the people that they should repent, he bade them believe on Him that should come after him, that is, Christ. It is evident, then, that John preached the forgiveness of sins through the Saviour. John understood and announced the fact that Christ is the “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. John therefore preached the gospel in announcing to the people the death of Christ as the sacrifice for the sins of men. It is not difficult, then, to understand why John, when he taught the people to repent of their sins and to believe in Christ who was about to be revealed, also taught them to be baptized. The Son of God, through whom they were to be saved, must die and rise again, and this great fact was represented in the ordinance of baptism, which John taught the people. The only baptism received by Christ and his apostles was that administered by John. Christ did not baptize his apostles, but when he commenced his ministry he employed them to baptize those who were converted by his preaching. John 4:2. The only baptism administered during the ministry of Christ must have been of the same nature as that administered by John. If it be objected that John's baptism was not gospel baptism, because administered before the death and resurrection of Christ, the same objection may be urged against the baptism administered by the apostles during Christ's ministry. But no one will say that those who were baptized during the ministry of Christ did not receive gospel baptism, or that that baptism was not of the same nature as that which was administered by the apostles after Christ's resurrection. But it will be asked how baptism can commemorate the resurrection of Christ if it began to be observed before his death. This question presents a difficulty, and merits our careful attention. If we consider the ordinance of the Lord's supper, we shall find certain facts with regard to its origin which will help to solve this difficulty. This ordinance commemorates the breaking of Christ's body, and the shedding of his blood. No one doubts that it is the memorial of the death of Christ. But this ordinance was observed for the first time before the death of Christ. Though it was instituted to commemorate that event, it was observed for the first time before that event had taken place. The ordinance of baptism and that of the Lord's supper, though designed to commemorate the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, were first, by divine authority, observed in anticipation of those events, and as expressing the faith of the disciples that those events should actually take place. But from the day that they transpired till the present time, these ordinances have been observed in memory of these events. But it will be asked, If the baptism of John was gospel baptism, why, then, did Paul, as recorded in Acts 19, baptize again some who had been baptized according to John's baptism? The answer to this question is not difficult. The persons here referred to were the disciples of Apollos, converted at Ephesus a short time previous to the visit of Paul. See the last part of Acts 18. Though this was twenty-five years after the resurrection of Christ, Apollos knew only the baptism of John, and baptized just as John had administered the ordinance, telling the disciples that they should believe on a Messiah that was yet to come. It was all right for John to give this instruction to those whom he baptized; for the Saviour was about to be manifested to the people. But it was a great error on the part of Apollos to teach the people that Christ was yet to come, when, in truth, he had died and risen from the dead twenty-five years before. The error of Apollos was corrected when Aquila and Priscilla took him and expounded to him the way of God more perfectly. It was necessary that Paul should baptize those disciples anew; for Christ had already come, whereas they were baptized in the name of one who was yet to come. Those who were baptized by John personally in the faith of the coming Messiah did not need to be baptized again when Christ had actually presented himself to the people. But those who were baptized in the faith of a Messiah yet to come after he had died and risen from the dead, needed to be baptized again, that their baptism might not be a denial of Christ, but a confession of faith in him. Those who ate the Lord's supper that night on which he was betrayed, received it as an expression of their faith in the Saviour who was yet to die for them; but since his death we eat it in memory of him who has already died for us. If the apostles had eaten the Lord's supper after Christ's death as an expression of their faith in a Saviour who was yet to die for them, it would have been an act like that of those who were baptized in the faith of a Messiah yet to come after he had already been manifested to men and had returned again to his Father. CHURCH AND STATE.
By John Norton Loughborough
While an effort is being made in the United States to unite church and state, and to enforce, as an entering wedge in that effort, a more strict observance of Sunday, here in Great Britain the people have had a religion supported by law till a strong tide of reaction has set in. One of the points of attack is to get some modification of the strict Sunday law. Quite a contest on this subject is going on in various parts of the kingdom, and in Southampton in particular. In the interest of the temperance cause, cocoa-rooms were opened, where the working class could get refreshments, rest, and the privilege of a reading-room, without being continually exposed to the stare of liquor bottles. Sermons were preached and scores of articles written against opening these rooms on Sunday, even at the same hours that the publicans had the privilege of selling their liquors. Next a tramway was completed to various parts of the town, and there was a stir again as to whether the tramcars should be allowed to run on Sunday. Finally the company decided to run their cars from and after two o’clock on Sundays. No sooner was this matter quieted than Canon Wilberforce, rector of St. Mary’s church, opened the deanery gardens on Sunday afternoons from three o’clock to half-past four, for the Hampshire band to play religious airs. Six or seven thousand people come together in the gardens each Sunday, and “behaved with the greatest decorum,” said witnesses sent to view; yet the Canon has been denounced as anything but good in consequence of this effort, on seven consecutive Sundays, to get up something to draw the people from the public houses and drinking saloons. Two pamphlets have been published to bolster up the Sunday institution, and these were thoroughly exposed in the Mid-Weekly Hampshire Independent of this week. In this article the writer shows that if they wish to urge a Sabbath on the ground of the fourth commandment, they should take the very day enforced by that commandment, and not try to transfer that law to another day. He quotes two English authorities on this subject which are so good that I copy them. The first is from the learned Dr. Arnold, and the second from Archbishop Whately, both of the established church. Dr. Arnold’s conclusion on the Sunday question was this:— “I believe that it is generally agreed among Christians that the Jewish law, so far as it was Jewish and not moral, is at an end; and it is assuming the whole point at issue to assume that the ten commandments are all moral. If that were so, it seems to me quite certain that the Sabbath would have been kept on its own proper day; for, if the commandment were still binding, I do not see where would be the power to make any alteration in its enactments. But it is also true, no doubt, that the Lord’s day was kept from time immemorial in the church as a day of festival, and, connected with the notion of festival, the abstinence from worldly business naturally followed. A weekly religious festival, in which worldly business was suspended, bore such a resemblance to the Sabbath, that the analogy of the Jewish law was often urged as a reason for its observance; but, as it was not considered to be the Sabbath, but only a day in some respects like it, so the manner of its observance varied from time to time, and was made more or less strict on grounds of religious expediency, without reference in either case to the authority of the fourth commandment. An ordinance of Constantine prohibits other work, but leaves agricultural labor free. An ordinance of Leo I. forbids agricultural labor also. On the other hand, our own reformers (see Cranmer’s ‘Visitation Articles’) required the clergy to teach the people that they grievously offended God if they abstained from working on Sundays in harvest time; and the statute of Edward VI., 5th and 6th, chap. iii., expressly allows all persons to work, ride, or follow their calling, whatever it may be, in case of need. And the preamble of this statute, which was undoubtedly drawn up with the full concurrence of the principal Reformers, if not actually written by them, declares in the most express terms that the observance of all religious festivals is left to the discretion of the church, and therefore it proceeds to order that all Sundays, with many other days named, should be kept holy. And the clear language of this statute—together with the total omission of the duty of keeping the Sabbath in the Catechism, although it professes to collect our duty toward God from the first four commandments—proves to my mind that in using the fourth commandment in the church service, the Reformers meant it to be understood as enforcing on us simply the duty of worshiping God and devoting some portion of time to his honor; the particular portion so devoted, and the manner of observing it, being points to be fixed by the church.—Life and Correspondence of Thomas Arnold, D. D., vol. ii. 5th edition.” Archbishop Whately, in his “Remains of Bishop Copleston,” after remarking that on the question of the Sabbath there was nothing of Copleston’s views extant in print, but he had had much conversation with him on the subject, in which their views coincided, adds (page 52, et seq., edition of 1854):— “All persons, indeed, even tolerably acquainted with the Bible and Prayer Book, are aware that in neither is the Lord’s day ever called the Sabbath. But many are not aware of the extremely recent origin of what Calvin called the ‘Anglican figment,’—the tradition (nearly unknown for the first fifteen centuries or more) of the commandment respecting the Sabbath having been transferred by the authority of the apostles from the seventh day of the week to the first; though, even now, in all Latin documents (such as the Parliamentary proceedings) Dies Sabbati always means Saturday (as also Sabbato in Italian and Sabbado in Spanish). This is not the place for entering on a discussion of the questions which I have fully treated of elsewhere. I will only remark, therefore, that though I do not differ from those who maintain what is called the Sabbatarian view as to the duty of observing the Lord’s day, but only as to the grounds of it, it is no difficult matter for an unscrupulous disputant to confound these two questions together. . . . “If any one when asserting the binding authority on Christians of the fourth commandment means only (which is the explanation given in the book commonly called Cranmer’s Catechism) to assert the duty generally of observing Christian festivals, and that the Lord’s day may be called the Sabbath figuratively by the same sort of analogy by which the eucharist may be called the passover, this is a doctrine in itself unobjectionable. But it is surely dangerous to hold or to teach as something expedient for the influencing of the vulgar that a (supposed) tradition may be allowed to supersede Scripture, or that we are strictly obeying an injunction to observe the seventh day of the week as the seventh, and in memory of the creation, by observing instead the first day as the first in memory of the resurrection. There is no greater or more unwarrantable liberty taken with a divine command, than in any unauthorized modification of precepts acknowledged to be binding. Some, again, will not be unlikely to feel a general suspicion of the sincerity of teachers who they will have reason to think are practicing a kind of pious fraud for the supposed benefit of ignorant hearers by inducing these to think, when they themselves know better, that the fourth commandment is binding on Christians, and that its obligation was transferred by apostolic authority to the first day of the week and to the commemoration of a different event. For he who is reasonably suspected of a pious fraud must not wonder nor complain if he finds himself doubted on points where he is really sincere. The only rational and the only safe alternative is either to observe the fourth commandment exactly as it was given, or else to acknowledge that this as well as the rest of the ceremonial law is not binding on Christians.” Last week the common council of Manchester decided to open their reading room on Sunday afternoon, while London, by a strong vote, decided to keep the Guild Hall library closed. They leave the dram-shops open at the same hours. They feared opening the library to have promiscuous reading upon Sunday would not be proper. The query in my mind is, Are liquor-selling and dram-drinking at the same hours proper? So the contest goes on. Candid persons are thinking. Truth will reach some minds as the result of all this. Tribute to the Mother Who Shaped Our Lives
NEVER has one person forgotten his pure, right-educating mother. On the blue mountains of our dim childhood, toward which we ever turn and look, stand the mothers who marked out to us from thence our life. HOW SOME MEN READ.
By R. F. C.
People read the Scriptures through a pre-adopted creed; and the way they transform, nay, contradict, the text is marvelous. As an example take Ps. 103: 13-16, which they read something like this: “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that our bodies are dust. But as for man, he is immortal, and not like the grass that to-day flourishes in the field and to-morrow is cut down and withered; or like the flower of the field, which, when the wind passes over it, is driven away and gone, and its place is no longer known [James 1: 10, 11]; but he is destined to live in conscious weal or woe as long as God exists and eternity endures.” We prefer a more literal reading. R. F. C. A Hymn Quoted from a New York Public School
The religion of the following hymn, which the Jewish Times quotes as sung in one of the public schools of New York, is a queer mixture: “Thou dear Redeemer, dying Lamb!
We love to hear of thee,
No music’s like thy charming name,
Nor half so sweet can be.
“O Mary, we ever hear thy voice
In mercy to us speak;
And in our priest will we rejoice,
Thou great Melchisedec.” The hymn is altered from one in familiar use, and seems to have been reconstructed to adapt it to the requirements of several sects; the first verse being intended for the Protestants, and the second being apparently divided between Catholics and Jews.—Independent. SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND.
By John Norton Loughborough
We see a little advancement in our work here at Southampton since our last report, and also in other places as the result of missionary correspondence. Our meetings in Ravenswood are fairly attended; but as cold weather comes on, some in feeble health are kept away. Two more signed the covenant during the past week. The people here move much more slowly than in America. A friend who has been reading and is deeply interested in our work writes as follows:— “With reference to the papers you have sent into this neighborhood, I may inform you that in some circles they have created a profound sensation. I know of two families, at least, who have become fully convinced of the truth of your views in regard to the future state from reading them; and I believe they are ‘almost persuaded’ that your representations concerning the Sabbath are correct. I know, too, of one man who has given up the use of pork from reading the articles upon it which have appeared in the Signs, and I believe the same man is also truly convinced that immersion is the only true method of baptism. I know that these papers have caused the majority of those who have received them to search the Scriptures more diligently, and that is something not to be despised. I am of opinion that you will find the English people, as a rule, harder to convince than the Americans. They are of a less excitable temperament, and are not so readily induced to surrender their preconceived opinions; nor are they so enthusiastic as their transatlantic brethren.” This man has spent about four years in America, and states the case about as we find it. Still later he writes:— “I do not know how your members in America adhere to their covenant; but I think you will find Englishmen very consistent with regard to it, that is, of course, after they have accepted it. They may be slow to accept new dogmas; but once convinced of the truth of them, nothing will cause them to relinquish their faith. This will, in some cases, be against you, as many belonging to other denominations, who might be disposed to listen to you, will be prevented from so doing by their determined loyalty to some other church.” Another friend to whom for three months we had been sending the Signs, together with some other reading matter, wrote me last week: “You are doing a noble work, and eternity will unfold the worth of labor done cheerfully for God. Let our grand object be the salvation of perishing sinners for whom Christ died. Never mind if the world hate you, and say you are a man of only one idea, only let it be a good one and God will honor it. Do your duty and leave the world to talk.” We have also received a letter from Scotland, in which the writer says: “I have received some numbers of the present volume of The Signs of the Times, and I am so much interested that I should like to get the whole volume.” For these he wishes to pay. I do not find his name on our list of the 1,500 names we have used here, and hence conclude the few numbers of the paper he has received were sent him by some friend in America. Two other persons who had read for a time expressed their deep interest, and became paying subscribers; and a gentleman to whom I sent a single number of Good Health has become a paying subscriber. So gradually people are becoming acquainted with us and our views. Since my last report there has been another rise here in the price of bread and bread-stuffs, which makes still greater distress for the very poor. I give below a few words from the report of a speech recently delivered in Southampton by Mr. C. P. Butt, of the Queen’s Court, the liberal candidate for the next House of Commons:— “Would that it were in his power to congratulate them on any improvement in the aspect of affairs, any ray of light to relieve the dark, gloomy prospect of the coming winter, any symptom of a lucid interval in the infatuation of Her Majesty’s Ministers, whose acts, one after another, had only tended to increase the depression under which every class of the community was laboring. Never within his recollection were the forebodings of coming distress and suffering, among the poorer classes especially, so unmistakable. Year after year had the commercial and agricultural depression steadily increased ; year after year had we been slowly but surely approaching a commercial crisis in home affairs which no thoughtful man could contemplate without feelings of anxiety and solicitude; year after year had ministers sat and looked on in hopeless and helpless impotency; not one effort had they made to stem the adverse current. Never was there greater need for anxious watchfulness on the part of our rulers, yet never in the history of this country had magnificent opportunities been so miserably wasted. Although for six whole years ministers had had a large majority in both houses of Parliament, not one enactment of primary importance had been passed.” May the Lord grant that while distress and trouble are in this part of the earth, the people may learn righteousness. May he give us wisdom so to labor that we may lead some souls to him. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH. Vassar, Watrousville, and Elmwood.—I attended the quarterly meeting at Vassar, Oct. 11, 12. From the 13th to the 19th, I held meetings in Watrousville. Nine were baptized, and six young men and women were added to the church. These meetings were a great source of encouragement to the church. I spent three days in Elmwood, and then returned and spent Sabbath and first-day in Watrousville. After spending four days at Birch Run, I left the church much encouraged. Allegan, Nov. 4.—From Oct. 27 until Nov. 3 I held meetings at Jay, Saginaw Co. Our evening meetings, from first to last, were well attended, and the meeting on the Sabbath was quite large. During my stay in that place twenty-four signers to the teetotal pledge were obtained. These, added to the names previously obtained, will enable them to form a club of thirty-four members. On Sunday $44.75 were subscribed by the brethren toward the payment of the debt of tract and missionary district No. 8. This amount, when added to the subscriptions obtained at Hazelton and St. Charles, make an aggregate of $227.75 as the amount raised by these three churches within the last six weeks. Their liberality is rewarded by the satisfaction which they now feel at the thought that their district, which one year ago was the most involved of any in the State, is now entirely out of debt, and will have a reserve fund, when their pledges are paid, of from fifty to one hundred dollars. Cedar Lake, Sidney, Stanton and Sheridan.—Oct. 6 to 21 I was at Cedar Lake. The blessing of God attended the effort here. Eight were added to the church by baptism, and several others began to observe the Sabbath. Three promised to use no more tobacco. I obtained four subscribers for the REVIEW, and sold $2.50 worth of books. My visit at Sidney, Oct. 22–28, was timely. In consequence of unreasonable opposition, a very favorable impression was made on the community. Fourteen, nearly all not of our faith, signed the temperance pledge. Oct. 29–31 I was at Stanton and Sheridan. Good meetings were held in both of these places. The Sabbath-school work at Stanton is in a prosperous condition, and good has already resulted from it. I think it a good field of labor. Sheridan has suffered very much of late by removals. My address, until further notice, will be Battle Creek, Mich., College. TEMPERANCE IN NEW YORK.
By M. C. Wilcox
Something has been done in the cause of true temperance in New York. Some pledges have been taken and resolutions passed at our recent camp-meetings, and it now remains for us to carry on the good work we have begun. Will we do it? We are very anxious that the work may still go forward, and to this end system and promptness are required. Local clubs should be organized all over the State during the coming winter. Every Seventh-day Adventist should be personally solicited to sign the pledge. In this work we can do no better than to follow the plan adopted by the Michigan H. and T. Association, as stated in the following: “We appoint all our ministers and tract directors who have signed the teetotal pledge to act as agents to form H. and T. clubs. We do not ask you to do this work to the neglect of other important duties, but we do ask you to give it that attention it demands. It is a part of the last great work in which we are engaged.” Hunt up the isolated ones, and get them to take hold of this work. All who obtain signers to the pledge, or who organize clubs, should send the names and addresses of all who sign the pledge to the State secretary, Miss Isadore L. Green, Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., specifying those who have paid the membership fee of twenty-five cents. All money received from this source should be sent, without delay, to the State secretary. This is absolutely necessary, in order that each member receive167 his certificate. All officers of local clubs should report at once to State officers. We desire the address of each member. We are inexperienced in this work, and earnestly desire the co-operation of all who love the truth. If we work unitedly, energetically, and wisely, we shall be successful. We solicit correspondence from all our workers. Let not the Empire State be behind in the H. and T. work. Let “Excelsior” be our motto. God help us to walk in the light. M. C. Wilcox, Pres. N. Y. H. & T. A.
Oxbow, N. Y., Nov. 2, 1879. Oakland.—I held meetings at this place from Oct. 24 to Nov. 3. The brethren have just completed a very neat church edifice, 26x38 feet, and have it paid for. It was well filled at the time of the dedication, Sunday, Oct. 26. During these meetings five gave their hearts to the Lord, and were baptized. One brother who was on the background started anew in the Lord’s service. All seemed much encouraged. May the tender Shepherd ever guard the little flock at Oakland, and help them to obey Heb. 12:14, 15. R. F. ANDREWS. Hoopeston, Nov. 10.—From the Hoopeston Chronicle we take the following: “The Seventh-day Adventists seem to be prospering at and near Maple Grove school-house. They organized a church last Saturday, and have a very interesting and growing Sabbath-school. So say all who have attended it.” Thus far the results of labor here are as follows: A Sabbath-school of twenty-six members has been organized; not far from twenty are keeping the Sabbath, besides small children; a church of nine members has been organized; an elder has been ordained who had served in the French Kankakee church, and a leader has been appointed to serve with, and in the absence of, this elder; systematic benevolence has been organized; four persons are taking the REVIEW, one the Signs, and one Good Health, and the Sabbath-school is taking a club of ten Instructors. Tobacco is being conquered, and a small library of Sr. White’s pamphlets is in circulation, the subjects of temperance and spiritual gifts having been canvassed. I have also spoken to the churches of Pittwood and St. Anne and to the French near Kankakee. The French have not had a tithe of my labors, and will now have more of my attention. Mrs. Bourdeau has of late been able to stand by me as in former years. Our P. O. address is Manteno, Ill. D. T. BOURDEAU.