Extracts from Letters

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 21, 1856

Extracts from Letters.

Bro. J. Dorcas writes from Fremont, O., Aug., 1856:—"As it respects the work of the Lord, it is much as usual here. The friends of truth seem to be firm, and getting the victory over the world, the flesh and the Devil. But O, how the world is going! I have often to think that they will rush headlong to perdition, with Babylon in the front. Worldly professors are very urgent that we Sabbath-keepers should go to the election this Fall, and because we refuse they say that we are crazy, and severely denounce us. May the Lord save his people from being led astray by such unwary persons.

"I will give you an extract from one of the political papers of this place, to show the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.

"A party which has an 'affidavit factory,' established by Tom Spooner, in which the vilest scabs of the land meet, and desecrate the name of the living God, by unholy and dastardly 'affidavits,' and then sneak out, attend church and prayer-meetings, make the most noise in the amen corner, and then fawn around the very men whom they have sworn to enslave."

"This, he says, 'presents a true picture' of things in this country. The two-horned beast is truly coming to his growth rapidly. It seems to me that the time is near when he will say to them that dwell on the earth, 'Make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and did live.' The beast with the scar in his head is standing by looking on, doubtless well pleased to see such a state of things rising in this Christian country. O that the living God would make his people strong, and decided for his cause, that they may clear their skirts speedily, of the blood of all men. 'The night cometh, wherein no man can work.'"

Bro. A. A. Marks writes from Saline, Mich., Aug., 1856:—"My heart is with the remnant of God's people, and I desire to get ready to stand the test of the great day. The way is narrow that leads to life, and I desire to get rid of every thing that would hinder me from walking therein. How holy must be the remnant! In their mouth was found no guile; for they are without fault before the throne of God. I have been trying to renew my consecration to God and find that the Lord is still good to me.

"I fear that some who profess faith in the Third Angel's Message are still clinging to the world and worldly company, dressing like the world, and acting like them. My prayer is that the Lord would give them to feel the power of the Third Angel's Message; and that soon the world will be left without a shelter from the storm of the wrath of God. Oh, where will the sinner be then, and even those also who have professed the truth, but have coveted the friendship, of the ungodly, and have not come out from the world and stood stiffly for the truth!"

Bro. Hawkins writes from Liberty, Clay Co., Mo. Aug. 4th, 1856:—"I have been a vigilant, constant watcher of the signs of the times, indicating the final consummation, as well as a proclaimer of that event for thirteen years past. And for twenty-five years prior, an acceptable local preacher of the Methodist sect; and until about three months since remained a member of that denomination. And although they were affectionately willing to bear with the old man and his Infidelity, as some were pleased to call the sleep of the dead, yet I felt myself too much trampled by the restriction they would wish to place upon my public speaking. Having been requested by the presiding Elder, should I be obliged from the run of my text to proclaim my views, not to proclaim them as Methodist doctrine, I told him I would do so, and was sorry that I could not do otherwise.

"When I was arraigned before the Conference for keeping a wrong Sabbath, (by them supposed) and they not being able to combat God's immutable truth, the Elder put an end to the controversy by saying, Father Hawkins has a right to keep as many sanctified days as he thinks proper! But notwithstanding all this lenity and brotherly love to foster the old man beneath their guardian care, the voice still rung in my ears, Come out of her my people. Then with the repenting, joyful poet I exclaimed, 'I yield, I yield, I can hold out no more;' and happy am I to find myself a free man in Christ Jesus.

"I have left many dear brethren and sisters (Sabbath-keepers) in and around Fremont, Ohio, and as they extorted a promise from me to communicate to them, I would hereby through the Review make this general communication, and send to them my unchanging affection and exhortation. I most earnestly exhort you all patiently, unflinchingly and unfaintingly to await the coming harvest, for in due time you shall reap if you faint not. Let no dark, blasphemous doubt rob you of the truth, for we doubtless have it; and the way to keep it, is to deny ourselves by curtailing (not the superfluities) but some of the necessities of life by which we may be able to perpetuate that source of encouragement, the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald. True it is the drouth, or want of the early and latter rain has made prospects look gloomy; but let Habakkuk's confidence make you exclaim, Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flocks shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

O, if I could, how readily would I express to you my loneliness in this great State of Slavery, with not an individual within its bounds, except myself and companion, as known to me, that do not habitually break the fourth commandment. Nor have I much hope as yet to convert such a sinner from the error of his ways; yet encouraged by the promise of hiding a multitude of sins and saving a soul from death, I will still continue to throw the written vision across their pathway."