Report from Bro. Waggoner.
By J. H. Waggoner
We started from Marion on first-day, Aug. 3, on our way southward, in company with the brethren from Marion and Warren counties. We had much wet weather on the road, and a very tiresome journey, as there were ten of us with one wagon. I was led to reflect on the toils and expense of this meeting at Lisbon; so many Brn. taken from their fields at that season of the year was a great sacrifice, besides the hindering of our labors with the tent. A fearful responsibility rests upon the authors of this trouble. On the way we were suspected of being a company of secessionists going south, and some persons followed us ten miles. They overtook us at the village of Pella; there they got a citizen to reconnoiter and ascertain our character. The person sent proved to be acquainted with most of our company, so the affair turned off with a laugh at the expense of our pursuers. Our first meeting was at Knoxville. It would have been a relief to my mind if the report of the Lisbon meeting could have been before this meeting, and I think it would have been attended with good results; however, we tried to do our duty, and feel that the blessing of the Lord attended our efforts. Sympathy with error has been the destruction of many in that place, and jealousy (especially against the Review and its conductors) has proved the highway to ruin for others. But they would not be warned, and the consequences have come upon their own heads. Twenty-six members enrolled their names, and we expected others to come in. A few requested baptism. At Sandyville we had some labor with the disorderly.119Some were brought to make humble confessions, and some were obstinate and were set aside as stumbling-blocks; and so the church went free. Ten were baptized on Wednesday the 13th. This was one of the most solemn occasions that I ever experienced in administering this sacred ordinance. On Thursday we started for Decatur City, where we arrived before the Sabbath. On the Sabbath we designed our testimonies to be practical and timely, and therefore we dwelt mostly on the purity of the message, with a decided testimony against the filthiness of tobacco using. This was rejected by some; others would not accept the gifts; some would not confess their wrongs; and thus the number of those who were willing to receive the whole truth was reduced to eight, and these mostly of those who had been considered the weakest of the church. This poor people had been under the worst of influences. They would doubtless have stood much better had they been left to themselves, and not been misled by leaders who set before them the debasing example of tobacco chewing. Some said they had not been decided on the subject of the gifts as they knew nothing about the visions given to the church in the third angel's message. When Bro. Snook advised them to read them, Mr. Hanner appealed to them not to be led away from the Bible to visions, though he well knew that neither the visions nor ourselves ever led away from the Bible; certainly not so much as his example and precept in favor of a filthy practice. We were happy to express our thanks that the testimonies of God's Spirit and tobacco do not go together. The committee entrusted to us the correspondence referred to in the report of the Lisbon meeting, with instructions to require confessions for the ill-timed complaints and unchristian and abusive expressions used toward us in letters from Decatur City. But instead of receiving suitable confessions, additional incriminations and unworthy insinuations were thrust upon us. In this however we were not much disappointed, for they who so long resist the truth on points of duty are left in darkness. On Sunday afternoon we went to Oecola, and were there informed that it was the intention of some to prevent our going further. This we could scarcely credit, yet found it to be true. On the morning of the 18th, the deputy sheriff informed us that he had authority to forbid us leaving the place. As we were entirely ignorant of the nature of his "authority," and knew nothing of the instructions under which he was acting, it placed us for a while in a state of very disagreeable suspense. We found friends, however, in some gentlemen of the legal profession, who succeeded in convincing the official that his zeal was not according to knowledge. But as there was very much excitement in that part of the State, we were willing to heed the advice of our friends, and make our way homeward as soon as possible, or at least find some one authorized to give us a pass. Our friends in Oecola who were ardent Union men, passed a somewhat severe judgment on the action of those who stopped us. Though we were willing to allow the honesty of their intentions, the fact that inquiry was made while we were at Decatur when we would return, and that the statement was made that we would be arrested when we returned, looked rather suspicious. For surely if they knew before that they had authority to prevent our traveling when we returned, they must have known that they had authority to stop others before we returned. The experiment was commenced on us, though others suffered a like detention at the same time. This little difficulty was the means of preventing our meeting with the friends west of Oecola. We mostly regretted this on account of the influence that had been exerted there by some professed friends of the message. The cause has deeply suffered in Decatur and Clarke Counties by the deathly influence of self-called messengers. All those who understand this work know that there is order in its operations; and that our organization is efficient. These self-called preachers, who have a message out of their own hearts to proclaim should not be for a moment countenanced by the friends of the cause. Though I made diligent inquiry, I could not learn that any officers were appointed or authorized to issue passes of whom I might obtain permission to leave the State. Thus I was diverted from my appointed course, and obliged to go to Iowa City to get a pass of the Governor. We stopped over the Sabbath at Dayton, which served to be providential for that church. Duty had there been neglected, and wrongs were going unconfessed; the church was bound. By setting aside stumbling-blocks light was restored; but this church, as well as others, must learn to be more prompt in dealing with wrongs, or expect to be in darkness. There has been a feeling averse to discipline in most of the Western churches. In consequence of this their sympathies usually extend toward the erring more than toward the injured. The honor of the cause is not so dear to some as the feelings of individuals. There must be a reform in this respect before there can be a healthy growth in the truth. Monday 25th inst. I parted with Bro. Snook at Iowa City, he taking the stage and I the cars for our homes. I am happy to say that our labor together was a pleasure to me; and, though others pressed trials and burdens upon us that we should not by right have borne, our short season of lecturing was a bright spot in my experience, especially as compared with that of last year. Burlington, Mich., Aug. 31, 1862.