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Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. XXX, No. 15

THE WHITE RAIMENT.
Earlier text: ASHES FOR FOOD.

BE YOUR OWN EXECUTOR.

The following suggestions seem to us so eminently sensible, that we cannot forbear laying them before our readers, and commending all whom they may concern, to act upon them at once. The N. Y. Tribune from which we quote, under the heading of “Dubious Devices,” says:—
The setting aside of a will is about the most melancholy of legal transactions, because the poor testator is so completely helpless. There he lies in the cold and quiet sepulchre, without one word to say for himself, while his relatives squabble about his estate, real, personal, and mixed; while judges drone out decisions, and make up his mind for him; while witnesses insinuate their opinion that the dear departed was not exactly right in his upper story; while the papers accumulate, and lawyers grow pursy, and the property in dispute is transmogrified into costs. It has always seemed to us to be a dubious stretch of bench authority to set aside any will, except in clearly proven cases of mental unsoundness, sufficiently marked to have subjected the testator, if living, to legal restraint. A zoological or ornithological spinster may keep and feed, while she is still in the flesh, forty cats, or as many parrots; but there is no mercy for the beasts or for the birds if she happens to provide for them by her will. Mouser must go without her meat, and pretty Poll learn to live without lumps of sugar. No single eccentric action sends the actor to a mad-house; but an odd bequest, however small, creates (among lawyers and relatives) the gravest doubts of the intellectual steadiness of the bequeather. Poor man! he never seemed exactly like other people. “Was he in your opinion insane?” asks the Proctor. The memory of the witness is instantly quickened. He remembers that the testator frequently did strange things. Had no partiality, perhaps, for clean linen. Always lived alone, with cats and dogs. Refused to see his affectionate nephews and nieces when they brought him sponge-cake and roasted partridges. Locked the door in the witness’s face, and swore at him out of the window. Insane! why, Sir, he was as mad as a brace of March hares—you really could n’t desire to have anybody crazier than he was.
But strange liberties are sometimes taken with wills, even when there is no question of sanity. One G. Roberts, for instance, lately died in England, bequeathing to the President of the United States and the Governor of Pennsylvania a certain amount of stock, which was to accumulate until it should amount to $100,000. Then the whole sum was to be applied to the endowment of a college in Pennsylvania, in which college (among other things) should be inculcated and advocated “the natural rights of the black people of every clime and country, until they be restored to an equality in civil rights with their white brethren throughout the Union.” Now here, it seems to us, was a bequest as wise and benevolent as that of Smithson. But the President, it appears, disclaimed the trust. So did the Governor of Pennsylvania. Then the Vice-Chancellor held that, as slavery had been abolished in the United States, the blacks were already restored to an equality of civil rights. Then the American Government would not take charge of the education of colored students in Pennsylvania; and so the legacy became void, and the money went to increase the residuum of the estate. Poor Mr. G. Roberts might have been expected to thump with his spiritual knuckles a protest under the very spectacles of the Vice-Chancellor; but he strangely failed to make himself heard on the occasion, having probably gone on a visit to some sphere where news from our mundane chancery arrives but seldom.
Of the law of this case we have nothing to say. The testator evidently meant to be benevolent, and to assist a class of Americans who are much in need of aid, and have just claims upon the sympathies of the charitable. He failed, because he did not fully acquaint himself with the technical difficulties in the way of carrying out his charitable intentions. He has afforded, if it were needed, another illustration of the shrewd wisdom of Mr. George Peabody in arranging his own charities and benevolences, and in leaving nothing over which the chancery lawyers of future ages might do desperate battle. Such an example as that of the London banker ought not to be disregarded. If this article should happen to catch the eye of any old gentleman who has determined to die, and has already done something handsome in his testament for any church, or society, or mission, or asylum, or library, or dispensary, or college, or hospital, we would fain impress upon that old gentleman’s mind the exceeding economy and safety of being his own executor, and of leaving as little as possible for the attorneys to wrangle over. If he is wise, he will appoint his trustees and execute his trust deeds this very day, and even send off a few checks for worthy objects by the next mail.
“Oh, that rest forever, and the rapture, Oh, the sunlight of eternal day, Oh, that golden home beyond the sunset, Oh, the hand that wipes all tears away!”

THE LORD OUR HELP.

By M. WILCOX.

Come, cast thy burden on the Lord, And he will thee sustain; Endurable as is his word, His promises remain;
He will fulfill in his good time, The pleasure of his will; If in sincere submission, thine Is waiting on him still.
If father, mother, e'er forsake, The Lord will take thee up; If sorer trials thee await, He'll bless each bitter cup.
If tribulation's waters deep Be in thy path ahead; Thy faith in Jesus calmly keep, Thou shalt be safely led.
If by afflictions sharply tried, Thy strength be well-nigh gone, Let faith behold e'en at thy side, A strong and shining One.
And then whate'er thy trials are, Or lonely be thy lot, If on the Lord thou'lt cast thy care, Thou wilt not be forgot.
Though none of kindred faith may greet Thee with kind words of cheer; You'll meet around the mercy-seat The sympathetic tear.
There each the promise claims his own, As e'en by faith, 'tis met; The mother may forget her own; But God will ne'er forget.
For I the Lord have sworn to keep, And guard on every side My little flock in waters deep, And every swelling tide.
Then trust the Lord for grace to bear Each cross and trial too; And he will bring thee home to share The bliss prepared for you.
M. WILCOX.
Tuscola Co., Mich.
FOUR men who loved Christ with a love stronger than death wrote his life, but left no hint of his height, complexion, features, or any period that could help the mind to a personal image. Others wrote long epistles, of which he was the Alpha and Omega; but his form was as much kept secret as the body of Moses, hidden by the Almighty in an undiscovered grave. The Christian tombs and relics of the first centuries show no attempt to make an image of Christ. Too deep a sense of the Divine rested upon the Church to permit any attempt to print the human as it appeared in him.
OLIVER CROMWELL was a staunch Puritan, and could not brook the least approach to Popery. “What are these?” he once inquired, as he saw a dozen silver statues in the niches of a chapel. “The twelve apostles,” replied the trembling dean. “Take them down,” said Cromwell, “and coin them into money, so that they may go about doing good.”

EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.

By Editor

Dear brethren at the office: Just two years and two days ago, we had the privilege, as now, of leaving the Office for a few weeks' respite from its cares and duties; then, as now, in company with Bro. and sister White; but not then under the circumstances that attend us now. Then Bro. and sister W. and Bro. Loughborough were disabled by disease, and on their way to Dansville, N. Y., entering upon a season, we knew not how long, of inactivity, and, as far as labor was concerned, of loss to the cause; now, far advanced in returning health and strength, Bro. and sister W. are going to attend important meetings in different States, and to engage in active labor and efforts for the good of the people of God. May his blessing attend them. Then the hand of affliction was descending upon many prominent laborers in the field; now with but an exception or two, all are in the field again, having profited by their past experience, and in the light of the Health Reform, advancing to a state we trust, of still greater efficiency in the vineyard of the Lord. Then the cause was entering upon a period of darkness, from which there are indications that we are now emerging. But yet, during the past two years in which there have been so great causes of discouragement, there have existed also strong elements of prosperity. However God may be compelled to deal with his people on account of their wrongs, his cause is never suffered to go backward. So the work has been onward. Important enterprises have been entered upon with alacrity and zeal. Important moves have been made in the right direction. The foundations of the work have been laid broader and deeper, and a wider sphere of influence is opening before the cause. In these things the hand of God has been too manifest to be questioned; and to these things we may recur, not as matters of boasting, but as causes of encouragement, however much we may feel the responsibilities still resting upon us, and a sense of the great work we have yet to do to secure the full blessing of God upon us. May the Lord come near to his people, and help us all to carry out the vows of humiliation and consecration, which we so solemnly took upon ourselves at the last General Conference.
We have not taken our pencil to give an account of the journey, having only reached the first stage, and experienced only a little of the usual monotony of railroad travel, with its disagreeable baptism of dust. We are now at the house of Bro. Parker, kindly cared for, and start this morning for the Convocation meeting in Wisconsin.
The prospect is most agreeable, of a little change from the usual routine of Office duties, with its manuscripts, books, papers, comments, proofs, and the cry of “copy” from the insatiate printer. It will be pleasant to look for a while upon something besides piles of letters and communications upon all subjects from the good to the indifferent; some ready for the paper; some to be made available by a moderate amount of labor; and some positively beyond the reach of editorial doctoring. Yet we are grateful for them all. We have nothing to say against manuscripts. Let a liberal supply be ever on hand; and those who do not succeed in writing that which can be used, at least show their good intentions, and have our thanks.
The Lord reward you, brethren, for your kindness in cheerfully taking upon yourselves additional labors and responsibilities, that we may be released awhile, to enjoy a few weeks of change. To this, may we ask you to add your prayers that the Lord may meet with his people, and give us good seasons at the meetings in Wisconsin and Iowa.
Chicago, Sept. 18, 1867.
Since the above was in type we have received the following additional particulars from Bro. Smith:— Sept. 20, 1867. We are now upon the Convocation camp ground, Johnstown Center, Wis. How goodly are thy tents, O Israel! The large Wisconsin tent is pitched for the purposes of the meeting. Twelve church and family tents are already on the ground around it. Elders Sanborn, Steward, Andrews, Blanchard, and Matteson, of the Wis. and Ill. Conference are present. The tent is full of earnest, substantial commandment-keepers. This is estimated to be the largest gathering of the friends of the truth that has ever assembled in this State.
Meeting commenced at the appointed hour, Sept. 19, with a social meeting. Preaching by Bro. White at ten. He opened with appropriate and happy remarks upon the words, “What think ye? that he will not come to the feast?” He set forth the importance of having the Lord with us at the feast. He pointed out some of the means by which we may secure his blessed presence, and some of the ways in which we may debar him from our midst. The Jews sought Christ to kill him. We seek him from opposite motives, to enjoy his presence. Without this our assemblies will be barren seasons. We believe the response and prayer of every heart was, Let the Lord be with us at this meeting.
Another good social meeting at 2 P. M., with preaching by Bro. White at 3. Following Bro. W. both forenoon and afternoon, sister White bore her testimony with freedom and power.
Social meeting at 7 P. M. These are among the most profitable meetings on such occasions. However good, instructive and impressive the preaching may be, the social seasons of worship are the thermometer of the meeting. Preaching is desirable and edifying; these are indispensable. We are happy to record three of them on the first day of our gathering.
The meeting in the evening was one of unusual solemnity and power. Sister White bore her testimony with great freedom. Many were in tears, and the pent-up emotions of the people found audible utterance in various parts of the congregation. Not a few consider it the best meeting they ever attended. Testimonies of great interest were borne, upon which we have not time to particularize; some from those in reference to whom Bro. White took occasion to remark that he supposed they had long since been swept away by the different waves of defection and periods of shaking that have swept over this State. But here they stood to testify to the goodness of God in keeping them through it all, and to assure the congregation, to their great joy, that they were now more firmly than ever rooted and grounded in the truth. As we looked over the solid ranks of intelligent Sabbath-keepers that filled the tent, it did not seem as though the cause had ever been very severely shaken in this State. A noble phalanx of strong brethren and sisters stand as the supporters of the truth here. We believe the work in this part, is destined soon to increase in strength and power.
We were specially pleased to hear the firm confidence expressed by many in the Testimonies to the church. If this is one of those special gifts which the great Master of assemblies has specially placed in his church, skepticism in regard to it will surely chill the spiritual life out of every church or heart where it is suffered to enter. Have we not seen this sufficiently exemplified to need no more assurance on the point? Some full and free confessions were made, and some who had been wavering expressed their confidence restored. These referred with great feeling to the discourse of Bro. White in the afternoon on the unpardonable sin, and expressed their great thankfulness that though they had gone far in their opposition to the work of the Holy Spirit, they had been kept from that great sin of attributing its operations to the agency of Satan.
So the meeting progressed to its close, richly graced with the influence of the Spirit of God; and when, near the close, the question was asked, “What think ye? that he has not come to the feast?” the response of every heart was, The Lord has indeed come to the assembly of his people.
Thus closed the first day's meeting, at which point we write. The brethren have come together testifying that they have no other business on hand during the four days of the meeting but to worship God; and we trust that all will get yet more into the work, we have the Lord abide with us, and witness an increase of interest till the meeting shall end.

“THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH—IS ITS OBSERVANCE BINDING?”

By w. c. g.

  • (Concluded.) *
In concluding our review of this tract, we find but one point worthy of especial notice which has not already been met and refuted, and that is his attempt to prove that Christ is the lawgiver of this dispensation. If he succeeds in establishing this position of course it will devolve upon him to show when our Saviour gave a distinct law for the government of the people of this dispensation. This he has not done.
It also becomes evident that if Christ is our lawgiver, we are under no obligation to observe anything which he has not directly commanded. To this Mr. B. gives a willing assent, for says he, “Does our lawgiver command us to observe the seventh-day under the gospel?” But let us try this reasoning on some of the other commandments. Does Christ command us to make no graven images? or to take not God’s name in vain? No. By what authority, then, are these binding? or are they binding at all in this dispensation? We leave Mr. B. to answer, and will give his argument on this point entire:
“The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” (Deut xviii, 15, 18; Acts iii, 22.) Who is he that Moses and the prophets wrote about? “Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” He then is that prophet: let us hear him. Why should we hear him? Because he shall teach us all that God commands him. We should hear him because he is our lawgiver: “Judah is my lawgiver.” (Ps. lxx, 7.) “For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King; he will save us.” (Isa. xxxiii, 22.) The same one is king, judge, and lawgiver (margin, statutemaker). That one is Jesus Christ. Jesus says the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son*. He also is to be King. To that end he was born; and he is to be ‘King of kings.’ And the same is our lawgiver.
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Has Shiloh come? if so, then a lawgiver has departed from between his feet. At that time, also, the scepter departed from Judah. Much the same language the apostle used when he said, ‘It is evident our Lord sprang out of Judah.’ If then we have a lawgiver in this dispensation, let us hear and obey him—for we are commanded so to do—and in all things, not a part. Does our lawgiver command us to observe the seventh day under the gospel? If so, give us chapter and verse. No far-fetched inferences, or guess work; but a ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ If that prophet is to teach us all things, then we are not to go to any other teacher in regard to our duty, but to him for all things or be destroyed from among the people.
The prophet to be raised up for this dispensation is to be like unto Moses. Was Moses a lawgiver? No; only in the sense that he transmitted the laws of God to the people, for the Lord never committed to fallible man the framing of those laws which were to decide the eternal destiny of mankind. Moses was a teacher of the law, the sense in which the word prophet is here used. As Christ was to be like unto Moses, we shall find him also engaged in the laudable occupation of teaching the law. But this pre-supposes the existence of a law which he is to teach, and what can this be other than the great and perfect law which God spoke with his own voice and wrote with his own finger. Let us hear the prophet as he teaches the people of this dispensation concerning this great law:
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till Heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. v, 17–19.
If Moses and Christ were both lawgivers, together with the Father, then we have three lawgivers, instead of one as declared by the apostle James: “There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.” ch. iv, 12. Again, if Christ is our lawgiver, who is our mediator? The apostle John says: “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 Jno. ii, 1. What need have we of an advocate with the Father, if it is not his law that we are transgressing? Mr. B. places himself in a worse position than that of the Roman Catholic, who has an advocate with Christ, i. e. the Pope of Rome!
This idea cannot for a moment be entertained by one who clearly understands the gospel plan of salvation, which consists of “repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are to repent toward God, the Father, whose law we have transgressed, and have faith in Jesus Christ, the Son, who is our “advocate with the Father.”
To strengthen his position, Mr. B. quotes Isa. xxxiii, 22: “The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us,” and to prove that the word Lord here means Christ, he adds, “the same one is king, judge and lawgiver.” Now were all these offices ever combined in the person of Christ? Never. While on earth he was a prophet, in Heaven he now officiates as priest, and when he comes again he is to be king. Says our opponent, “He is to be king; to that end he was born. He is to be ‘King of kings.’” Very true, but Isaiah declares, “The Lord is our king.” If it should be argued that this is prophetic, and refers to a time when Christ will be king, we would say, the text also declares that “he will save us,” showing that it applies at a time when there is somebody to save, and hence when Christ is a priest and not a king.
Mr. B. closes his tract with an exhortation to his readers to “obey God and keep his commandments.” This we are trying to do; the commandments of the Father, for these are the ones alluded to in Rev. xx, 14. Even according to our opponents, we are doing this, for if their theory is correct, we are only keeping one which is not binding, while we are trying to keep all the rest. But if it should chance to prove that they are not correct, and thus it certainly appears to us, are we not far safer in our position than they in theirs?
We close our review of this tract with a consciousness of having tried, in a spirit of truthfulness and candor, to show the falsity of its teachings, and we hope the Lord will bless the effort to the good of the cause of truth. w. c. g.

WESTERN TOUR.

By James White

AFTER enjoying a profitable meeting with the church at Battle Creek on second-day evening, we left on the train next day in company with brethren Smith and Steward, and brother and sister Maynard. The afternoon was very warm and the road dusty, yet our passage was more comfortable than we expected. We found Bro. Parker waiting at the depot to take us to his home. We leave for the Wisconsin meeting at four this morning.
In conversation with three gentlemen in the cars, I soon learned that they were brothers, and members of the regular Baptist denomination. I gave them some tracts upon the State of the Dead, and the Destiny of the Wicked. This gave rise to many questions and objections. I briefly laid before them Life and Death—that eternal life was to be brought to life at the resurrection of the just, and to live eternally—that eternal death is to suffer the second death, and so remain dead eternally.
Our position on the Sabbath seemed new to them. They seemed surprised to learn that they were not keeping the seventh day. They talked understandingly upon national affairs, and appeared to be men of intelligence, well posted upon matters of general interest. But on the great subject of the weekly memorial of the great God, they manifested extreme ignorance. They even declared that Monday was the first day of the week. I referred them to the almanac; they asserted with all confidence that all our almanacs set down Monday as the first day of the week. I told them their mistake, and finally they seemed to consent that I might be right.
Next came the effort usually made to slide from the seventh day by the aid of the seventh-part-of-time theory. And among many questions of no particular interest they proposed the usual one—How do you know that the first day of the week is the first day that God wrought in creation? I replied that the days of the week mentioned in both Testaments meant no more nor less than this—the first is the first day of creation, the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth, represent the other several days in which God wrought, and the seventh day, or the Sabbath, is the representative of the day on which God rested. This seemed to satisfy them, and one of them gravely said, “Well, if that is your faith I do not see as there is any harm in your keeping the seventh day.” I replied that I thought it one of the safest things we could do to keep the commandments of God.
The people are perishing for want of knowledge. Their blindness is gross, and their ignorance in regard to this very plain subject is astonishing. With no small degree of interest I left with these men several penny tracts. Brethren, let us have a fund to print millions of pages to hand to those with whom we converse, who give signs of having a teachable spirit.
We are now at Johnstown Center, Wis., where I finish this sketch. We are weary. Mrs. W. fainted at the depot this morning. But by the assistance of brethren Maynard and Olmstead, who led her from the train and supported her at the door of the depot where there was purer air, she did not become completely helpless and breathless for a season, as she usually is at such times. Our labors at Battle Creek were extremely hard. When will our brethren stand where they can strengthen and help us instead of occupying positions where labor necessary to move them is enough to crush mental and physical strength?
The large tent is up here, and the brethren are pouring in from all directions. Already four small tents are here and others are expected. Bro. Smith is with us, who will give the interesting particulars.
JAMES WHITE.

WONDERFUL THEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY.

By Roswell Fenner Cottrell

IN reading “Report from Iowa” in No. 12 (which I hope all the readers of the Review will study carefully,) I was led to reflect upon and wonder at the remarkable discoveries of the nineteenth century, in regard to a question which men of strong minds and inventive genius, for a few centuries in the past, have exhausted their skill upon in vain; I mean the Sabbath question.
It seems that after so much time and toil have been wasted to prove that Christians ought to keep the first day of the week, and not the original seventh, Mr. Aker has recently opened the only “door of hope,” to the Sunday cause, by a grand mathematical, astronomical, chronological argument to prove that they ought to keep and are keeping the true, original seventh day. We have heard individuals when run ashore on every other argument they could think of to sustain the first day, as a last resort say, “Well, I believe Sunday is the true seventh day, and we ought to keep it.” But none could give any better reason for it than, that if we call Monday the first day, Sunday will be the seventh. But Mr. Aker has supplied the deficiency of the argument by proving, as he claims, just how old the world is to a day. What a pity it had not been discovered in the apostles’ days, or at least some hundreds of years ago, before so much breath had been wasted and ink needlessly shed to prove that the first day is the Christian Sabbath! But better late than never; and see with what avidity the idea is received and acted upon, and all the ministers of a large and popular denomination are being instructed in the new Akerian tactics, founded upon this wonderful discovery of the nineteenth century!
Of course the geological argument which makes the days of creation long, indefinite periods of time, will have to step aside and give place to this so minutely exact chronological discovery, in the demonstrating of which an error of one day would spoil the whole theory. And what will you and I, my unlearned friends, do? we want to be saved as well as others. The question involves a duty to God—obedience to one of the precepts of the Decalogue. By our Protestant education we have got the idea that we ought not to take our faith in matters of duty to God at second hand. But we cannot tell just how old the world is to a day. And even if we had the learning and ability to test the ground of our faith in Mr. Aker’s theory, it would take us eighteen years to go through with the figures and ascertain the truth, and find out whether we ought to keep Sunday or not! And what day shall we keep during that eighteen years? Do you say, Keep the day the majority keep; for the commandment only requires a seventh part of time? Then Mr. Aker’s eighteen years of toil and perplexity to prove that Sunday is the seventh-part-of-time theory is true, it makes no difference whether Sunday is the seventh, first, second, or any other day of the week. This very forcibly reminds me of “The mountain that labored and brought forth a mouse.”
But if it is really an essential thing that we should believe that Sunday is the original seventh day, then we must take it upon Mr. Aker’s word, trusting that in eighteen years figuring he did not make an error of so much as a single unit! What a pity that the apostles, saints and martyrs should have lived and died without this precious information!?
But has Mr. Aker really aided the Sunday cause? Is it any help to its advocates, after having labored in vain for three hundred years to prove one change of the Sabbath from the Scriptures, now to have the double task imposed on them of proving two changes? While we have the word of God in the fourth commandment requiring the Jews to remember his Rest day to keep it holy; explicitly testifying that the seventh day is that Rest day, and that he blessed and sanctified it, because that on it he had rested when he had made the world in six days; it is difficult to believe, on the infallibility of Mr. Aker’s figures, that this commandment required them to keep the sixth day of that identical, original week to which it expressly refers for the reason of the sanctification of the day. To make this matter clear will be found as difficult a task as it has already proved to be, to prove that the same commandment which required the ancients to keep the seventh day, now required us to keep the first day. So the task of Sunday advocates has been doubled by the extraordinary efforts of Mr. Aker, and they have now two absurdities to defend instead of one.
What pains men will take to sustain the errors they have received through false traditions, rather than to cast them away and accept of the truth as clearly expressed in the word of the Lord! The truth is plain and easily told; but each lie that is uttered wants another one to make it good; and still they come, but yet there is not enough to supply the demand. The fourth commandment of Jehovah is more than a match for all the opposing theories that have been, or can be, framed to make that commandment void, or bend it to the will of men. R. F. COTTRELL.

REPORT FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE.

By John Nevins Andrews; L. L. Howard

OUR meetings at Washington, N. H., Sept. 7 and 8, were seasons of interest and profit. There was a good attendance of our brethren from various parts of the State, and it was evident that they are taking hold anew of the work of God. We had good liberty in preaching the word of life. At the request of the Universalists of Washington village, our meetings on first-day were holden in their meeting-house in that place. We had a candid hearing from them while setting forth the Scripture doctrine of future punishment.
We have had an excellent season at the Vermont Conference, of which a full report will be given in the Review. We feel cheered by the prospect of a revival of the work of God. J. N. ANDREWS. L. L. HOWARD.
The poor in all countries are naturally both peaceful and grateful in all reforms in which their interest and happiness are included. It is only by neglecting and rejecting them that they become tumultuous.

TO THE CHURCH SCATTERED ABROAD.

By Uriah Smith; George W. Amadon

Dear Brethren: Believing that we are emphatically in the time when “judgment has begun at the house of God,” and that whatever we do to get ready for the events before us must be done quickly, we hasten to lay before you some expression of our feelings in the following remarks, and in the Resolutions appended below.
The church in this place has just been favored with the earnest labors of Bro. and sister White, and according to the testimony borne, which all acknowledge to be true, we are sadly on the background, and instead of being a representative church, as we should be, in many respects we believe we are behind our brethren in other places.
With sorrow of heart we write it, that as a church we have stood in the way of the advancing work of God. Especially is this true in the matter of the Reform Dress, which we believe to be a style of costume bearing the approbation of Heaven. While other churches with little instruction have shown a commendable zeal in moving unitedly in this particular, our church, with the Health Reform Institute located in our midst, have, as yet, scarcely made a beginning in this matter, although fully instructed and faithfully labored with by sister W., Bro. Andrews and others. A very few of the sisters belonging to this church have readily adopted the Reformed Dress, and others would cheerfully do so were it not for the spirit of opposition that has been manifested by some, and those too who have all the time professed to believe the Testimonies. For this we fear that the frown of God is upon this church. The light from Heaven has not been appreciated, by many, and we feel that therefore this public acknowledgment is due to our brethren abroad who have been perplexed and thrown into trial by the course of this church.
We also wish to say a word in reference to the agitation of this matter among us just now. Bro. and sister White have not made the Dress Reform one of their subjects in laboring with the churches in other places for months, neither did they mention it in the meetings of their regular appointment here. But at a special meeting of the church, on the evening of the 16th, nearly all being present, Bro. and sister W. spoke plainly of our departure as a church from God, and the probable cause of the same, and it resulted in the presentation of the following Resolutions by the Elders to the church, which, after some opposition and much discussion, passed with no dissenting votes, a few taking no action either way.

RESOLUTIONS.

1. Resolved, That we, the church of Seventh-day Adventists in Battle Creek, believe it our duty in the sight of God to speedily move out in the adoption of the Reform Dress, as set forth in Testimony to the Church No. 12, and that we deeply regret our former indifference in this important matter.
2. Resolved, That we hereby earnestly invite Bro. and Sr. White on their return from the West, to stop and labor among us as long as shall seem proper to them, and that we hereby pledge ourselves to stand by them in all their labors of love for our good.
3. Resolved, That from this time, we, as a church and as individuals, seek God with all our hearts, that we may find the “old paths,” and have his blessing once more to be with us as in former days.
4. Resolved, That these resolutions be published in the Review.
We deeply lament the necessity of such action as the above, especially as embodied in the first and third Resolutions, but we feel that duty to God demands that our brethren abroad, who look toward Battle Creek as the great center and radiating point of the third angel’s message, should know just how things stand. We therefore ask of you, brethren and sisters abroad, wherein you may have been stumbled in consequence of wrongs at Battle Creek, that you will forgive us for our lack of consecration as a body, and that you will pray that God’s blessing may rest upon us as we make a determined effort to come up to the help of the Lord with our sister churches.
In behalf of the church, URIAH SMITH, } Elders. G. W. AMADON,
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