The Conference at Tramelan, Switzerland.
By S. N. Haskell
THE meeting of this Conference commenced Friday evening, and continued until Monday noon. There was a general attendance of the friends in Switzerland. On Sabbath the meetings were of special interest. The Spirit of God came into our midst in a special manner; confessions were made, and tears flowed freely. Eld. Andrews was present at each meeting, and took some part in connection with business matters, and in occasionally making remarks, but was too feeble to speak to the people. During the last few weeks his voice has failed, and unless God helps he cannot live long. The brethren manifested a strong desire to help in the work. The amount of their tithe averages nearly ten dollars per member, which is far more than it averages in some of the Conferences in America. As far as we could judge, there is a spirit of faithfulness in this matter among our friends in Switzerland, which equals that of our brethren in any of our American Conferences. On account of poverty and financial embarrassment, they are not able to do as much outside of their tithe as our people in America, but they manifested their willingness to do what they could, by voluntarily pledging to pay various sums monthly, amounting in all to over two thousand francs, or four hundred dollars. This will pay for over three hundred copies of Les Signes des Temps for the coming Conference year, and together with what they annually receive from their subscribers, will be sufficient to cover the cost of their present issue, forty-five hundred copies, exclusive of postage. The postage is about one cent per paper. Money was also paid to the amount of four hundred francs, eighty dollars, for other purposes. Satan in the past has been successful in greatly embarrassing the brethren by leading them to invest in certain schemes which have proved wholly unsuccessful. It will require years if they ever fully recover from it. A disposition to redeem the past, so far as lies in their power, is now manifested. It is our prayer that God will bless them in their efforts. The evening after the Sabbath was principally occupied in answering questions on the tithing system. Business matters passed off harmoniously, Bro. Adamar Vuilleumier acting as interpreter for me. Bro. Vuilleumier has adopted the plan of giving notice that he will furnish one copy of Les Signes des Temps free on trial for four successive months to any one who will apply to this place for it. This plan is proving successful in finding interested readers and also subscribers. Others are adopting the same method. If the friends here continue their work as they are now carrying it forward, Protestant Switzerland will be thoroughly warned by having the truth set before them in this manner. They also furnish tracts and pamphlets to those who become interested. To go from house to house and obtain subscribers requires a costly license, but this method of distributing reading matter is strictly lawful. Quite a number were present who had recently embraced the Sabbath from reading. It was soul-refreshing to see so much faith in the missionary work as was manifested by those who had been engaged in it. One brother said in his remarks, that if they were only faithful they would yet see "les sabbatistes croitraient comme des champignons," the Sabbath-keepers springing up like mushrooms. These appeals came from those whose hearts had become inspired by an experience in the missionary work, and they seemed to electrify all present. Even those who could not understand all that was said, could feel the spirit that went through the meeting. The meeting closed Monday noon with a special season of prayer for Bro. Andrews, in which a goodly number took part. Eld. A. endured the fatigue of the Conference much better than we could have expected. We returned to Bâle, Tuesday, Sept. 12. The friends unanimously expressed an appreciation of the remembrance of them as shown by the American brethren in sending them help. They also desired to be remembered in their prayers. S. N. HASKELL.