J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH by John Norton Loughborough

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 11, 1909

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH

By John Norton Loughborough

Experiences in the Publishing Work—No. 16

By the time the first half of Volume III of the REVIEW had been issued, the work had so increased that it became necessary to hire another office. Accordingly an office was rented nearer the business part of the city,—21 South St. Paul Street,—and the printing business was carried on there. Then three more thirty-two-page tracts were added to the list of publications. These were, “Seven Reasons for Sunday-Keeping Examined,” “The Seventh-Day Sabbath,” and “History of the Sabbath.” The latter was the nucleus of the book bearing the same title. This work grew from year to year as the result of Elder J. N. Andrews’s researches in libraries. In the winter of 1863-64 a fifty-two-page pamphlet—“The Two-Horned Beast of Revelation 13, a Symbol of the United States”—was prepared by J. N. Loughborough, and printed by the Review Office. This pamphlet was sold for ten cents a copy, and was the first pamphlet on which a price was set.

Up to the summer of 1854 papers and tracts had been free to all who would read them, and the expense was met by donations from our people. It was during that summer that we first began the use of tents for preaching services. The

first meetings of this kind were held in the State of Michigan. Elder James White said to me, “Brother John, I believe people would be willing to pay a small price for our books, and if so, we could double our efforts in circulating the printed page.” I said, “I will try it.” So at a tent-meeting held in Shelby, Macomb County, near Rochester, Mich., the last three Saturday evenings and First days in July, I sold fifty dollars’ worth of the tracts and pamphlets. A full set of all we had to offer amounted to only thirty-five cents; so very many of the vast crowd attending the Sunday meetings must have supplied themselves with reading-matter.

Elder White published in the REVIEW the result of our three Sunday sales of books in the Michigan tent-meeting, and urged all our ministers to make it a point to sell books to all who would buy. It was indeed the dawn of a new era in the book business. Book sales, with a fund for the free distribution of tracts, gave a more substantial backing to the publishing business.

In the summer of 1853, Brother Uriah Smith, of West Wilton, N. H., having embraced the present truth, joined his sister Annie in labor in the Review Office, where he rendered efficient service for over fifty years, even up to the day of his death. When at last smitten down by a paralytic stroke, he was on his way to his editorial work in the Review Office at Battle Creek. His first production in the REVIEW was a series of articles entitled, “The Warning Voice of Time and Prophecy,” a poem of great merit. The first of this series appeared in the REVIEW of March 17, 1853. The next year these articles were issued in book form. It was an excellent addition to Seventh-day Adventist literature. His first labors in the Office began May 3, 1853. Let it be remembered that he and his sister Annie put aside an offer of one thousand dollars a year, with room and board for three years, and that they labored in the cause of present truth for little more than their board and clothing during those three years. Such were some of the sacrifices made to establish the work of the third angel’s message in its early days.

The first three volumes of the REVIEW were issued gratuitously,—given to any one who would read them,—and the expense of publishing was met by donations from the brethren. The receipts were accurately reported in each number of the paper, and occasionally a statement of the finances was given. As a sample, we quote from No. 7, of Vol. III, “$30, in advance on the REVIEW;” from No. 21, “Each number costs $55;” from No. 25, “$118.91 behind on the REVIEW. No paper next week.” With the opening of Volume IV it was stated: “To those wishing to pay, $1 for a volume of twenty-six numbers.”

With the issuing of the sixth number of Volume IV the REVIEW began to be published as a weekly, and from that date—Aug. 4, 1854—its influence was greatly increased. During the publication of this volume Elder White published his book, “Signs of the Times,” which had a wonderful sale, and led scores to the truth. About the same time he published that excellent tract, “Elihu on the Sabbath,” written by Benjamin Clarke, a Seventh-day Baptist, of western New York.