Untitled article by John Norton Loughborough

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 17, 1908

Early Experiences in the Publishing Work—No. 9

By John Norton Loughborough

Our readers noticed in our account of the publishing of the paper Present Truth that its appearance was from different places, as Middletown, Conn., Oswego, N. Y., and Paris, Maine. The reason of this was that in each of those places Brother and Sister White were laboring for souls, and were furnished a home and furniture by the brethren during their stay. Of their mode of travel in those times, Elder White gave this description: “There were at that time about twenty-five persons in Maine who observed the Sabbath, but these were so scattered in point of location, and so diverse in sentiment upon other points of doctrine, that their influence was small. There were about the same number in similar condition in other parts of New England. It seemed to be our duty to visit these frequently at their homes, to strengthen them in the Lord and his truth; and as they were very much scattered, it was necessary for us to be on the road much of the time. For want of means we took the cheapest private conveyance, second-class cars, and lower-deck passage on steamers. Private conveyance was the most comfortable for Mrs. White, who was feeble. I could then endure hardships, labor, and privation to almost any extent for the sake of the truth of God and his precious scattered people. When on second-class cars, we were frequently enveloped in tobacco smoke. This I could endure, but Mrs. White would frequently faint.”

“When on steamers, on the lower deck, we suffered the same from the smoke of tobacco, besides the swearing and vulgar conversation of the ship hands and the baser portion of the traveling-public. Sleeping conveniences are summed up as follows: we lay down on the hard floor, on dry-goods boxes or sacks of grain, with carpet-bags for pillows, without covering, only overcoats and shawls. If suffering from the winter cold, we would walk the deck to keep warm. If suffering from the heat of summer, we would go up on the upper deck to secure the cool night air. This was fatiguing to Mrs. White, especially so with an infant in her arms. This manner of life was by no means one of our choosing. God called us in our poverty, and led us through the furnace of affliction, to give us an experience which would be of great worth to us, and an example to others who should afterward join us in labor.”

As to the result of this self-sacrificing labor and publishing, especially after the truth entered Michigan, Elder White said: “The cause has advanced far beyond the expectation of its warmest friends. Where there were but about a score of advent brethren in the State of New York, who observed the Sabbath three years since [1848], there are now [1852] hundreds; and several hundred in the Western States, where there were none to our knowledge. The increase in New England has been greater than in this State [New York]; and in the Canadas, where there were none in 1849, there are now a goodly number that delight in the law of God.”

“Notwithstanding all the efforts that are put forth to arrest the progress of the cause, and the bitter opposition that it meets from the advent papers and ministers, its course is onward.”

Some may ask, “Why relate these things in connection with the publishing work?” Let the following Testimonies answer:—

“It has cost self-denial, self-sacrifice, indomitable energy, and much prayer to bring up the various missionary enterprises where they now stand. There is danger that some of those now coming upon the stage of action will rest content to be inefficient, feeling that there is now no need of so great self-denial and diligence, such hard and disagreeable labor, as the leaders in this message experienced; that times have changed; and now that there is more means in the cause of God, it is not necessary for them to place themselves in such trying circumstances as many were called to meet in the rise of the message. “But were there the same diligence and self-sacrifice at the present stage of the work as at its beginning, we should see a hundred times more accomplished than is now. If the work is to go forward on the high plane of action upon which it started, there must be no falling off in moral resources.”—The Watchman, Oct. 6, 1903.

That language does not say that we must do exactly in all things as the pioneers did; but it speaks of “moral resources.” What was the moral resource with the pioneers? Their theme of conversation, and object of continual prayer and thought was, “What can I do? How can I obtain means to advance the cause?” “The kingdom of God and his righteousness” was continually before them, and in carrying out this sole purpose of their lives, it was with “diligence” and “self-denial,” that the message might be advanced. Whether, in their limited circumstances, it required hard labor, or the most meager facilities in travel, all was borne cheerfully, because the cause of God—dearer to them than life's pleasures and comforts—was being advanced. Were it now, with those who have abundance of means, the constant study how to advance the truth, we should indeed see ninety-nine per cent added to the increase in efficiency of the work. Shall we see it?

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.