WE live in "times that try men's souls." The church is largely permeated by the spirit of the world. In many places it is hard to see any practical difference between those who profess Christ and those who profess him not. In very many churches the standard of Christian living is very low. It is by no means uncommon to see churches that are largely controlled and run by unconverted, worldly persons.
Some pulpits are wholly given up to sensationalism, and in many others the truth is so diluted as to have little practical effect. What is the duty of the faithful minister of Jesus in these critical times?—Plainly to preach "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." The problem is, how to preach the truth so as to secure a hearing, and make it most efficient. If a minister does not have the regard and sympathy of his people he can do them no good.
Popularity is not a necessary evidence of unfaithfulness, for we read of Jesus that "the common people heard him gladly." We must preach the truth, but we can and must preach it in love. Men sometimes become sour and harsh. They fail in charity and patience. If the Christian life around us is of a low and feeble type, we must remember that perhaps the better and higher life has never been presented. Many live down in the lowlands, because they have never been directed to the mountain-top.
If, when we preach the truth in tenderness and love, men take offense at the truth itself, then we are not responsible. This will sometimes be the case. Do our very best, preach God's truth in the most loving manner, and nevertheless men will often oppose the message, and hate the messenger. The offense of the cross has not ceased. The carnal heart is still enmity against God. Whether men will hear or forbear, we must be faithful witnesses for our Lord. "Preach the word" is our only commission. Let those who will preach sensationalism, science, humanitarianism, etc., the true minister of God has but one vocation. He knows nothing among men "save Jesus Christ and him crucified." He can exclaim with Charles Wesley—
" 'Tis all my business here below
To cry, Behold the Lamb."
—Rev. Jesse S. Gilbert, A. M. (Methodist).
The Path of the Just
“THE path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Prov. 4:18.
AN UGLY EPIDEMIC.
By New York Tribune
No careful reader of the newspapers can have failed to notice that the peculiar form of mob outrages committed by disguised men adopting the generic name of "White Caps" has for several months been extending, until now there is evidence of the existence of these lawless organizations in at least half a dozen States. The pretext used by these criminals—for that is what they are—is always the same: that is, they take upon themselves the functions of "regulators;" they have in charge the morals of the regions they infest; they not only supersede the constituted authorities, but they arrogate jurisdiction over matters entirely outside the province of legislation. Riding by night, masked and armed, they surround isolated farm and other houses, drag out the inmates, both men and women, and often flog both sexes brutally and cruelly, and with a cowardly ferocity and defiance of decency that give the lie flatly to their pretense of concern for the public morals. The outrages perpetrated in this way have become in some States so numerous as to constitute a serious indictment of the communities that tolerate them, and a standing disgrace to the officials who are charged with the maintenance of law and order and the protection of law-abiding citizens from malefactors; and there can be no question that the peculiar lawlessness referred to threatens to discredit the country abroad as well as at home. The most disturbing feature of it is the spirit which underlies and prompts it. It is impossible to believe that where White Capism springs up there can be that rooted and intelligent apprehension of the principles of free government which every American ought to possess as a birth-right; nor could these outrages be endured with the strange apathy too commonly observed in such cases, were even those who disapprove but do not repress them, alive either to their privileges or their duties as citizens.
Certainly this kind of lawlessness must not be regarded as of little importance. It is, whatever else it may be, most clearly an indication of widespread ignorance of all that the American citizen ought to know as he knows the most essential matters of fact.
When, in the frontier territories, vigilance committees are organized for the suppression of crime which the authorities are too weak to deal with, a really wholesome ferment may be traced in the movement. But the White Caps are a distinct turning back of the crude frontier make-shift methods upon older and long-settled communities, and they are disturbing, because they reveal, when least it should have been anticipated, views of democracy and of social obligations and responsibilities, such as the most uninformed recent immigrants from the darkest regions of Europe might entertain. In these cases it cannot be pretended that any failure of the administrative machinery has preceded and stimulated the mob action; for most of the alleged offenses punished by the White Caps are not recognized as offenses by any American statute. There is, in truth, a seed of anarchy in this ugly epidemic of White Capism, and it must not only be stamped out vigorously and effectually, but its resurrection at any future time must be made impossible by the diffusion of fuller and sounder knowledge as to the rights and duties of citizenship.
REGENERATION.
By Milton C. Wilcox
LAST week we gave a few thoughts on justification, showing what it is, and how willing God is to justify the sinner from all his past deeds of unrighteousness. That is, God forgives, passes over, covers by his own perfect righteousness, the past life of the sinner; he looks upon him as though he had never sinned. This is most precious favor on the part of God which brings into fellowship and peace with him a rebel against his government. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1.
But while justification is a most precious boon, and has brought joy to many hearts, it is not all that is needed. In fact, it would only add to the individual’s misery and despair. For how many have sought for forgiveness, or justification, and through God’s grace obtained it, and have fallen right back into the old sins again and again. And so they have gone on sinning and repenting, sinning and repenting, and God has forgiven them; but the continual falling brings continual discouragement, till oftentimes the individual gives up in despair. He has prayed again and again, "Lord, forgive me this once, and I will never commit the sin again;" but he has found in the words of the apostle Paul, "For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do." Rom. 7:19. How many live in this condition for years!
What is the reason of this continual sinning? Why is it that the individual does not keep his promise to the Lord to sin no more in that direction?
For this reason: The sinner has looked only at the individual sins and not at the nature of which the sins are an outgrowth. He has sinned, and his sins have brought shame, humiliation, sore trials, and evil consequences. He has come to hate those sins because of this. He has gone in his search no deeper than the sins. He has not looked beyond to the carnal heart, which is enmity against God, of which the individual sins are only the natural fruit. Or, if he has, he may so love some things in that nature as to cling to it still. Just as long as it does not break out into open, humiliating sins, it is pleasing to him. He loves to think the thoughts of the carnal mind, and wishes the deeds that are sinful were not sinful, so that he might indulge in them. Many go on this way year after year. They do not realize their condition themselves. The deceitfulness of the sinful nature blinds them. They fall into sin and do not know why they fall.
But God has not left us in ignorance upon the reason of the sinning, nor withheld from us the secret of overcoming. Just as long as our nature remains unchanged, just as long as the carnal heart holds sway, just so long man will fall into sin. He cannot do otherwise. He may make all the good resolutions and promises and vows that he will, in time of temptation they will prove worthless, as powerless to hold him as a spider’s web. Hear a few testimonies of the word of God:—
Jer. 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?"
Matt. 15:19: "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies."
Gal. 5:19-21: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
Many other passages might be given which show the inherent evil of the natural heart. And this nature is common to all men. Jews and Gentiles "are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one." "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:9, 10, 23. For this reason, men cannot do God’s will. They may be outwardly moral as Paul (Phil. 3:4-6); but like him they will be forced to confess, "The evil which I would not, that I do." Rom. 7:19.
It is manifest, therefore, that if man is ever brought into a condition where he can do God’s will, his nature must be changed. The carnal heart must be taken away. This, in Scripture, is called regeneration, or being born again. Titus 3:5. This is what our Saviour tells the proud and outwardly righteous Pharisee, Nicodemus, in whose heart there was kindled a desire to know more of Jesus. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again [born from above, margin], he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3. Nicodemus tried to throw discredit upon these words of our Saviour by taking them in a strictly literal, fleshly sense; and our Lord repeats his thought in the following words: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born from above." Verses 5-7, margin.
James speaks of being begotten "with the word of truth" (James 1:18), and Peter says: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." 1 Peter 1:23. And John also speaks of the character of those who are born, or begotten of God. 1 John 3:9.
It would be useless to take space to describe the new birth in detail, or the exact offices of the agencies which are connected therewith. Our object is to know how it can be accomplished in us, how we can become new creatures in Christ Jesus.
1. The sinner must see himself as revealed in God’s word. Of course this implies the searching of that word. If he is honest in his desires to know and do God’s will, the Spirit of God will reveal to him the word of God as he studies it. The law of God will reveal to him that he is a sinner. 1 John 3:4; Rom. 7:7. God’s word will show that this evil is inherent in his very nature.
2. He must have that hatred of sin, not individual sins alone, but the carnal heart, the sinful nature, that he will be willing to renounce it forever, and yield himself wholly to do God’s will.
3. But he cannot put away this sinful nature in his own strength. As with Paul, it will be to him a loathsome body of death; and, like Paul, he can only be freed by the Lord Jesus Christ. Rom. 7:24, 25. Therefore he must come with true repentance for all past sins, with such a hatred of the carnal nature that he is not only willing but anxious to renounce it forever, and submit his will to God in all things, and by simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the promises of his word, ask him to take away that carnal nature and replace it by a spiritual nature, which loves God’s law and delights in his holy will.
And, oh, how willing God is to grant such a request! He has shown how anxious he was to save men by giving his Son to die; that Son who also "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus 2:14. Listen to the words of that Saviour: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. . . . If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." Luke 11:9-13.
It is by the Holy Spirit that the change is wrought, and the above text shows how willing God is to bestow it. And if we truly and earnestly seek God for this he will fulfill to us the promise of Ezekiel 36:26, 27: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." We will then be in Christ new creatures. The old affections, the love of sin, the enmity against God’s law, will have passed away; the heart will be made new, a heart that finds its highest joy in doing God’s will. 2 Cor. 5:17.
In this way we can walk above condemnation, not in our own strength, but in the strength of Christ. Our deeds of love will be the outgrowth of our faith, the righteousness of faith, the faith which worketh by love.
When brought in this condition, or the condition where we renounce all sin and yield all to Christ, baptism is the outward symbol of our faith, the manifestation to the world of our union with Christ.
If justification is precious, regeneration is much more so. The one is forgiveness of past sins only, the other includes all of that, and also the change of that nature which caused us to sin. It gives us a living connection with the great Fount of spiritual life, from which we may ever draw strength and help to keep us from falling; and it opens to us God’s holy word, magnifies his pure precepts, and makes infinitely of more worth his precious promises. Dear sinner, whether in the church or out, pause not in your seeking till the new heart is given, till you are a new creature in Christ Jesus.
M. C. W.
WHAT THEY ASK FOR.
By Alonzo Trévier Jones
SOME time since the Christian Nation had an editorial article entitled, “Senator Blair’s Christian Amendment,” in which, after giving the proposed amendment entire, it said:—
“More than this we do not ask. We know that we be slanderously reported as advocating a union of Church and State, as desiring to compel people to be Christians by law (and possibly torture), to be seeking to destroy the liberty of unbelievers, and so on, ad infinitum; but we have never asked anything more of the State than is indicated in this resolution of Senator Blair’s.”
The gist of the proposed amendment is that “no State shall ever make or maintain any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” but that each State “shall establish and maintain a system of free public schools adequate for the education of all the children living therein, between the ages of six and sixteen years, inclusive, in the common branches of knowledge, and in virtue, morality, and the principles of the Christian religion.” It is further provided that “the United States shall guarantee to every State, and to the people of every State and of the United States, the support and maintenance of such a system of free public schools.”359
All this if not scanned too closely seems very innocent; and the Christian Nation evidently so regards it, for it says with quite a flourish that it has “never asked anything more of the State than is indicated in this resolution of Senator Blair’s.” And why should they ask anything more? This proposed amendment certainly gives all that they could ask, for, should it ever be adopted, it will virtually establish the Christian religion, so called, as the religion of the United States. It requires that the principles of the Christian religion shall be taught in the public schools, and that the United States shall guarantee to every State, and to the people of every State and of the United States, the support of such a system of public schools. And as has been shown repeatedly in the American Sentinel, this will necessitate the decision as to what the principles of the Christian religion are. And this decision will have to be arrived at in one of two ways, either it must be defined by an act of Congress, and afterward, if disputed, passed upon by the courts, or it must be decided at once by the court; that is, by the Supreme Court.
But as both Congress and the Supreme Court are made up of men professing no religion, or of men who belong to various churches, it would, of course, be impossible for either Congress or the Supreme Court to agree upon the principles of the Christian religion. It is evident, therefore, that a decision on this point would first have to be arrived at by calling a convention of representative men from the various religious denominations, they to determine, not from the Scriptures but from the standards of the various churches, and by vote, what are the principles of the Christian religion. These articles of faith could then be sanctioned by the Government, and of course would be the established religion.
But even then the matter would not be finally settled. Several of the States of this nation are strongly Catholic, and these would certainly claim the right to teach in their schools the principles which a majority of their citizens understand to be the principles of the Christian religion. Take, for instance, the State of California. In this State the Catholics outnumber all Protestants put together. At present the schools are entirely secular, and in some parts of the State are not patronized by the Catholics to any considerable extent; but let the law be so changed as to require the principles of the Christian religion to be taught in the public schools, and the Catholics would certainly insist that, being in the majority, they should have the right to say what should be taught for these principles. This would certainly bring about a dispute between Protestants and Catholics, and most likely, too, between the various sects of Protestants. And then again the courts would be called upon to decide what should be regarded as the principles of the Christian religion.
A great deal of stress is laid upon the fact that this proposed amendment provides that no State shall ever make or maintain any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. But as we have shown, the adoption of this amendment would make it necessary that the United States, at least, should both make and maintain laws respecting the establishment of religion, and requiring that instruction in that religion be given to all public schools. Or, if it should be left for each State to decide what it would teach as the principles of the Christian religion, it would require that each State do the very thing that the proposed amendment professedly forbids. We do not well see how the most ardent National Reformer could ask more than this, unless, indeed, it would be the right of banishing or putting to death heretics. C. P. B.
IS IT JUSTICE?
By Editor
MINNESOTA has a new law making drunkenness a petty crime, and punishable by a fine and imprisonment. Concerning this law, the Detroit Commercial Advertiser says:—
“Public sentiment will be mightily aroused against the infamous justice of a law that will add tenfold burdens to the unhappy family of the drunkard, robbed in any event, to a greater or less degree, of his wage-earning ability as the supporter of the home. If to this loss is added fines amounting to fifty or one hundred dollars, or enforced absence as a wage worker during ninety days’ imprisonment, the punishment will in fact fall upon the man’s family far more than upon himself. Indeed, the whole system of dealing with drunkenness in the courts throughout the country is full of injustice to the man’s generally dependent family, who are, in the shape of fines, robbed by the law, or, by his confinement in prison, robbed of his wage-earning assistance. The money taken from the innocent family of drunkards, in the shape of fines or detention in prison, makes an appalling total throughout the United States every day in the week; and this treatment of drunkenness produces no decrease in the number of drunkards from one year to another. Practically the law punishes the drunkard’s family, and when he cannot pay at their expense for his day’s or night’s ‘fun,’ puts him where he will be ‘sobered up,’ well housed, well fed, and finally sets him free, in good physical condition to withstand the ‘wear and tear’ of another carouse.”
The Advertiser further says that “if drunkenness is to be punished, it should be done with a whip.” We have no particular fault to find with that proposition, but the one that had occurred to us was that the punishment should be shared by the accessary before the fact, that is, by the saloon keeper. It is too often the case that the drunkard is the victim of a well-nigh ungovernable appetite, the product of the saloon keeper’s seductive arts. Then why should the abettor, the sharer, of the crime be allowed to go unpunished while the penalty of the law falls upon the head of his luckless victim? or why should the saloon keeper be allowed to fill his coffers with ill-gotten gains while the man whom he despoils is pursued by the law, and stripped of his remaining possessions. Such a law is, however, the logical results of the license system. And so long as men are authorized to deal out intoxicating drinks, paying the State for the privilege, they cannot of course be held wholly accountable for the results. We trust the time will come when justice may be done in such matters.
PACIFIC COAST CAMP-MEETINGS.
By John Norton Loughborough
AFTER four years' absence from Oregon and Washington Territory, it was my privilege to attend the annual camp-meetings that have just been held in that field. The first of these meetings was in the North Pacific Conference, which comprises that part of Oregon and Washington Territory lying west of the Cascade Range of mountains. The camp was in East Portland, Oregon, on the same ground as last year, and the meeting was held, as appointed, from May 14 to 21.
This was the largest camp-meeting ever held by our people in this Conference. There were 106 tents and 527 campers. Brethren E. P. Daniels and Roderick S. Owen accompanied me to assist in the preaching and other services, and Brother C. E. Leland to give instruction in the canvassing work. These, with the ministers of the Conference mentioned in the business report in this paper, constituted the working force of the camp-meeting. At the request of the home laborers, the preaching services were conducted by those coming from California. The services were mostly of a practical character; the work of heart searching and consecration to God commenced with the very commencement of the meeting, and continued to the close. The work of confession, restitution, paying of past pledges and vows, was followed by sweet peace in believing, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and the voice of praise that went up to God from the camp showed that the good Lord had met with his people in mighty power.
Between forty and fifty new converts were baptized8on the last day of the meeting. There were two German services held each day in a tent erected for that purpose. These services were conducted by Brethren Jorg and Scheiper, and they also had converts of that nationality as the fruit of their labors.
The first five days of the meeting were quite rainy, but not a word of murmuring or complaint was heard in the camp on account of the weather.
All the business of the different societies and Conference moved off harmoniously, and with dispatch, showing that the people had a mind to the work; and the reports of progress gave evidence of a marked growth, especially during the last year. The report on the tithes showed that the increase during the last year was about two thousand dollars, a sum one-fourth greater than the whole tithe of the Conference four years ago. This result is not entirely from an increase in numbers, but from increased faithfulness in the payment of an honest tithe.
By the organization of new Sabbath-schools, and the establishment of family schools during the past year, the number of schools in the North Pacific Conference was increased from twenty-nine to fifty-one, and there was an increase of two hundred in the membership of the school. Brother Owen gave, during the meeting, considerable attention to the Sabbath-school work and meetings for the youth and children, which were highly appreciated by all.
The East Portland Academy, as appeared from the reports given, has proved a success, it having been patronized the past year above the most sanguine expectations of our people. A due appreciation of this branch of the work was shown by our people, who pledged $5,306, for enlarging the facilities of the academy. A legal society was also formed for holding the school property and managing the finances of the school.
It was much to the regret of our brethren and sisters that Brother Samuel Fulton, in consequence of feebleness of health, was obliged to lay aside the burden of the Conference work. It seemed to be imperative that he should do so. The prayers of the brethren and sisters follow him as he retires to seek rest and health.
At the closing meeting, on the morning of May 21, Brother G. W. Davis and Brother Isaac Morrison were set apart to the work of the gospel ministry, by prayer and the laying on of hands. As the camp broke up, our people left the grounds full of hope and good cheer, and the laborers enter into the work with greater courage than ever. As they go to their respective tasks in the name and strength of the Lord, we shall expect to see more marked results of their efforts than have yet been seen in that Conference, "knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." They are planning to use four tents this season in the North Pacific Conference.
AN EXPLANATION WANTED.
By C. P. Bollman
THE Christian Cynosure of May 23 notes with indignation the fact that Chauncey M. Depew, president of the New York Central Railroad, says that the stopping of Sunday trains on that road is only an experiment. The Cynosure characterizes this statement as “careless if not wicked,” and asks, “Will Mr. Depew experiment with the law of God?” In the same item the Cynosure notes with approval the fact that the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company has given notice that no freight will be received from, or delivered to, connecting roads, and only live-stock and perishable property will be moved for twenty-four hours preceding six o'clock Monday morning. With this arrangement the Cynosure seems to be perfectly satisfied. But if Sunday were really sacred time we cannot see that this would be any less a violation of the law of God than would running trains all day Sunday; or does the Cynosure regard one part of Sunday as more sacred than another? And if, indeed, it is sacred time at all, how does it come that the six hours from twelve o'clock Saturday night to six o'clock the next morning are not as sacred as any other part of the day? We suppose that what the Cynosure wants to see accomplished is not so much the stopping of work on Sunday as the stopping of the work at such hours as interfere with church services. We are assured, however, by some of the advocates of Sunday legislation, that Sunday laws are in the interests of the workingmen, and if so, we could understand this matter, for twenty-four hours' rest is just as good one time as another; but if we understand the matter correctly, the Cynosure takes the position that Sunday is sacred time, hence the question as to the first six hours of that day. We think this matter requires some explanation. C. P. B.
THEY ARE LOYAL TO SUNDAY.
By C. P. B.
THE Christian Union says that a resolution expressing approval of the efforts now being made in various States for constitutional prohibition was passed at the Congregational ministers' meeting a short time ago, and noted in its news columns; but adds apologetically that "he would greatly err who therefore concludes that the Congregational ministers of Chicago are heartily in favor of that policy. It is doubtful if a majority are." The Union further says: "The Monday-morning meeting is composed of clergymen living within twenty-five miles of Chicago; from it the pastors of the city are usually conspicuously absent. It is easy to secure a few votes for a resolution introduced at the close of a meeting, when many are too indifferent, or too hurried, to debate or even vote against it. It expresses the opinion of a few, but usually it is a very untrustworthy indication of what the ministers, and still less the churches, in this vicinity think."
So it would seem that after all both the Congregationalist ministers and churches have been getting more credit than they deserve for devotion to temperance principles. We suppose, however, that so long as they are loyal to Sunday, it is not necessary that they should be in favor of prohibition on other days of the week. We have always and untiringly advocated absolute prohibition seven days in the week, and yet we are classed with saloon keepers because we oppose Sunday laws. It does seem that there is a vast deal of inconsistency in the world. C. P. B.
THE UPPER COLUMBIA CAMP-MEETING
By John Norton Loughborough
Was held in a cotton-wood grove, by the side of a beautiful mountain stream, one and one-fourth miles from the village of Colfax, in Washington Territory. It was not possible to find a suitable camp any nearer the village. There were fifty tents and over three hundred campers.
When our force of laborers from California reached the camp, on the 23d, the meeting had been in progress one day, and all of the various societies had held their preliminary meetings, appointing their various committees, so there was nothing to hinder our entering at once, and earnestly, upon the spiritual interests of the meeting. We found the people ready to respond to the efforts made to help them. Many expressed it that they had come to the meeting hoping to obtain help which they had not before realized. In this they were not disappointed. Nearly the whole time of the meeting was spent in the work of seeking greater consecration to the Lord. Like efforts to those put forth in the East Portland meeting produced like results; there were many new conversions, and peace and harmony pervaded the camp.
While this work was going forward, the business matters were brought in from time to time, so that all was properly attended to. There was ample opportunity around the camp, in the grove, for secret devotions, and it was not unusual in the early morning to hear the voice of prayer coming from a dozen different parts of the grove.
Though this Conference is not so great in numbers as the North Pacific Conference, yet there was a proportionate growth during the past year in numbers and financial strength. The increase in the tithe during the last year was about $1,500, being more than the entire tithe of the Conference four years ago.
The canvassing work in this Conference has been made a success, and the canvassers were full of courage, and ready to respond to the calls made for enlargement of the work. The Bible-reading work is receiving attention at Spokane and other points with favorable results.
The church school at Milton, Oregon, has prospered more the last year than any previous year, and its future prospects are very flattering. The brethren and sisters at the camp-meeting took stock in the school to the amount of about $1,600.
There had been some progress also in the Sabbath-school work; three new schools had been organized, but nothing had as yet been done to establish family schools. This will undoubtedly receive more attention the coming year. In other States there are now churches of some size which first commenced with the organization of family Sabbath-schools, then after a time others came in, and finally accepted the truth. We trust it may be so here.
At the earnest request of the Conference, it was decided to let Brother Daniels remain and hold a two weeks' revival meeting at Milton. At the same time all of the ministers and laborers were to assemble for an institute of instruction in methods of labor, and to carefully plan their work for the summer. It is expected that three tents will be used in conducting meetings in that Conference this season.
By vote of the Conference the Territory of Montana was released from the Upper Columbia Conference to the General Conference, and Brother and Sister Fero, as requested by the committee of the General Conference, will go to that field to join others in building up the work there, looking to the formation of a Conference in that Territory soon.
There were nearly one hundred baptized at the various occasions of baptism during this camp-meeting. Of these at least a score were new converts.
The weather during the entire meeting was exceptionally fine, and even until the whole camp was cleared; then a few of us that still lingered upon the camp had an experience with a storm of thunder, lightning, wind, rain, and hail, that, to say the least, tested the power of overcoats and umbrellas to resist. We found consolation, however, in the thought that it would make a pleasant journey for the retiring campers, as it laid the dust and gave them an atmosphere pure and balmy indeed.
I returned in safety to Oakland, arriving here on the morning of June 4, and look back with pleasure and thanksgiving to God upon the pleasant associations and privileges of the North Pacific and Upper Columbia camp-meetings. May the Lord bless and prosper the work in that part of his moral vineyard, is my prayer.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.