p. 136 | It is Proper by A. S. Hutchins

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 8, 1872

It is Proper

By A. S. Hutchins

THAT our brethren in Vermont should know that their sympathy and liberty, have already been sufficiently taxed, in response to repeated calls for help, by a middle-aged man, calling himself William Foster. His claim is, that he has passed through painful misfortunes, and that he is suffering under a class of severe afflictions and infirmities, incapacitating him for labor.

As a measuring rod, for the truthfulness of such statements, look at the following facts: On one occasion he presented himself to one of our brethren, as an S. D. A. minister, in need of money to help him on to attend a funeral in the State of New Hampshire. His credentials were called for, which he met with the declaration that the western Conference of which he was a member, did not give credentials. Being confronted on the point, he said he belonged to another body of Adventists, and showed the weekly paper of the class, with which he claimed connection.

He said he was acquainted with several of our preachers in the West, but he could not describe one of them. Recently he appeared to our brethren in this section, who have not long kept the Sabbath, where he found sympathy and money. While in West Bolton, with “swollen feet, weak limbs, and nearly a useless arm,” he immediately declared himself “better,” and “good for six or ten miles,” that night, on hearing that one of our preachers was in the place, who could bear testimony to his deception. If this circumstance proved so beneficial, may not a gentle hint in this public manner prove more efficacious?

A. S. HUTCHINS.

Huntington, Vt., Sept., 1872.