THE CONFERENCE by Editor

Publishing Committee · BATTLE CREEK, MICH. · May 27, 1858

THE CONFERENCE.

By Editor

As the brethren in all parts of the field have probably noticed the appointment for a general Conference in this place, commencing the 21st inst., we suppose they will be waiting, some of them perhaps anxiously, for a report from the same, to learn the particulars of its progress, its points of interest, its issue, and probable effects upon the cause of truth.

We hardly know where to commence, or what item of interest first to present, of the refreshing season we have just enjoyed. If the interest, the life, the vigor, and the apparent zeal and courage of the numerous members of a large Conference, are any index of the prosperity of the cause which called it forth, we certainly have no reason to be discouraged; for the meeting which has just closed may claim to be the largest and the best ever held by Advent Sabbath-keepers. At least when it is so adjudged by those whose experience has given them a knowledge of this work from its earliest rise to the present time, we, who have entered the vineyard at a later hour, have no occasion to question the fact.

At our Conference a little more than a year since, our first house of worship in this place was closely crowded, but it held the brethren. In the present instance, our larger house was as densely filled, but it could not hold them. And those brethren who were tempted to have some unpleasant feelings on account of so large a house's being built in this place, will bear to be reminded that before long, perhaps before another Conference, it will have to receive an addition to its length of at least twenty feet. Sabbath, being fortunately a pleasant day, carriages were drawn up to the open windows, and many were in this way accommodated with hearing the words of comfort and admonition, which fell from the lips of the heralds of truth.

It is estimated that about 400 brethren were in from abroad, all from this State with the exception of one from New England (Bro. P. Folsom) six from New York, and several from each of the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. There were present of those who publicly advocate the Third Angel's Message, Bro. Bates, White, Waggoner, Cottrell, Bylinton, Loughborough, Rhodes, Cornell, Frisbie, Wheeler, Lawrence, Hutchins, Sperry, and Butler.

On the afternoon of the 21st inst. Bro. Loughborough presented a cheering discourse on the inheritance of the saints, based upon the declaration of the Saviour that the meek shall inherit the earth. Matt. v. And if we may be allowed to judge from our own feelings, the whole audience must have looked forward with pleasing hope to that glorious time, when the earth shall be restored to more than its primeval beauty, when it shall be inhabited, as God designed, [Isa. xiv, 18.] with a race of holy beings, when the

glory of the Lord shall fill it as the waters cover the sea, and righteousness dwell therein, and when every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, shall raise a universal anthem of praise and thanksgiving to the Lamb. Rom. xiv, 21; Hab. ii, 14; Heb. viii, 11; Rev. v, 13.

The evening commencing the Sabbath was occupied by Bro. Waggoner. Although he remarked as he rose to speak, that it would be inconsistent for him to occupy much time, on account of the worn and fatigued state of his body, he apparently lost sight of himself under the inspiration of the themes upon which he treated; for the evening was well filled with lucid remarks and pointed suggestions, in which there was certainly no inconsistency.

But we have not time to speak at length upon each meeting. The social meeting commencing Sabbath morning at 8 o'clock was a season of life and interest. Discourse at half-past ten by Bro. Hutchins, from the words, "Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you." Jno. xii, 35. Bro. Loughborough spoke again to the people in the afternoon on the Judgment; and Bro. Waggoner in the evening on the Sanctuary. Social meeting resumed with unabated vigor on First-day morning at 8 o'clock. During the forenoon, sister White related a portion of the views she has had concerning the fall of Satan, the plan of salvation, and the great controversy between Christ and his angels, and Satan and his. It abounded in startling facts and vivid descriptions. And when the course of the narration had brought us down to the days of the first advent, the humiliation, the suffering and finally the crucifixion of the Saviour, especially then did not only the silent tear, but even the audible sobs of many in the congregation, announce that their hearts were touched by the sufferings of the Son of God for rebellious man. When we view this great controversy as now going forward—its field the world, its subject man—we see not how any one can long hesitate upon which side to enroll himself. And at least the justice of that sentence is very apparent, which condemns those who will persist to the end on the side of the power of darkness, to the same ruin which overwhelms the first rebel and his unworthy sympathizers.

At 2 o'clock P. M., we repaired to the river-side where thirteen willing souls rejoiced in a burial with Christ by baptism. Discourse at 3, by Bro. Cornell. In the evening, after remarks by Bro. Sperry, sister White resumed and continued her narration till nearly 10. There was then such a crowding in of testimonies, that not till after five ineffectual attempts did Bro. White succeed in closing the meeting. He told the congregation at length, that if they would suffer him a few remarks, he would then give them all an opportunity to express their feelings. He did so by requesting all those who were determined to press onward to Mt. Zion, to manifest it by rising. The whole congregation were on their feet with a bound; and thus, at about the hour of eleven, closed the religious exercises of the Conference.

The business meeting on Second-day was characterized by unity of sentiment and a readiness on the part of the brethren to take any action which the wants of the Cause seemed to demand. Especially was this attested by the promptness of free-will offerings to relieve the present necessities of some of the messengers. Nor were our brethren of foreign birth and tongue entirely overlooked by the Lord's stewards.

Eld. Fisher, whose name the readers of the REVIEW will recollect, as a Baptist minister among the countrymen, the Hollanders, and a recent convert to the present truth, through the labors of Brn. Bates and Cornell, very agreeably introduced himself to the brethren at this meeting. Though nearly three-score and ten years of age, his vigor appears to be renewed under the divine influence of present truth, and he pants with the ardor of youth to go forth into the field and hold up the standard of truth among his kinsmen according to the flesh. He is now translating the tract, Nature and Obligation of the Sabbath, into the Holland language, and designs laboring in the Dutch Colony so-called, consisting of thousands of that people, not many miles from this place. Brn. Czechowski and Bourdeau go from this meeting with their different French tracts to their mission-fields in Northern N. Y., Vt. and Canada. Thus the agencies are actually preparing before our eyes to carry forward that message which is to go before "many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings."

But there is another fact without which all others are weak and insignificant, and that is, that the Lord was with us by the presence of his Holy Spirit. It is his Spirit which must be the moving agent in this whole work. With it, though we numbered but two, we should be enabled to put to flight ten thousand of our foes: without it, though innumerable, we should be weak as straw. The prevailing impression among the brethren seemed to be that this is the Lord's work, that he is in it, and he will carry it forward. As they go to their homes, may they impart these feelings to those who were not privileged to attend, and thus a vivifying influence be spread abroad as one result of this meeting.

Brethren and sisters throughout the broad field, we would bid you in behalf of this good Conference, be of good courage; we would bid you gird on the armor anew, trim up your lamps to a brighter flame, and with your loins girded about with truth, be like unto men who wait for their Lord when he shall return from the wedding; for he will assuredly come; he will not tarry.