Earlier text: MRS. I. H. EVANSNot Trusting in Man
By C. M. S.
SOME of the States have recently passed laws which are in themselves good, and have repealed others which are in themselves bad; and for every passage of a good law and for every repealing of a bad law, we rejoice. The anticigarette laws, the antigambling laws, and all laws that prevent fraud and deeds of violence, are good. The laws which make divorce on light pretexts easy, the laws which permit gambling, pool-selling, and liquor-selling, are bad. We could wish that every bad law on the statute-books of our land were repealed, and that every good law that should be enacted might be enacted at once. Nevertheless, we are not pinning our hope of a renovated humanity upon the passing or repealing of human laws. They may make the way we travel more convenient or more fearsome, as the case may be; but they can not change the hearts of men, planting good there and uprooting the bad. Only the power of Jesus Christ in the life can do that. All hopes based on anything else are doomed to disappointment. We have had numerous illustrations recently to the effect that the passing of good laws is not generally due to an awakening of conscience on the part of the legislators themselves. They have yielded to the pressure of an insistent demand on the part of bodies of their constituents, or to the effect of long rolls of petitions. They have passed the laws demanded, fearing lest they might fail of re-election, or their party might fail of maintaining its dominance. The States in which these “good laws” have been enacted will have an opportunity to learn, as some States have learned already, that the passage of a law does not mean its enforcement. We are living in an age of disregard for law; and the lawyer who can most skilfully manipulate law to the advantage of his client, is the one whose services are most eagerly sought after, and command the highest remuneration. Christians rejoiced when the Kansas Legislature enacted the prohibitory law; but to compel the officers of the State to enforce it, has been a long and tedious struggle, either through the opposition of the officers themselves, or through the powerful financial influence of the liquor men. Good men may compel time-serving legislators to place good laws upon the statute-books; but the power of money is so great to-day as to be able to nullify almost any law that can be made. He who looks to-day for any striking reformation in the land by the enactment of law, is cherishing a vain hope. The greed for gold is blinding the finer instincts of the race, till the conditions which Inspiration has said would characterize the last days are literally fulfilled before our eyes to-day:—“They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire; so they wrap it up. . . . The day of thy watchman and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.” Micah 7:2-4. That “visitation” is the second coming of Christ; and that “perplexity” is the consternation of the wicked when they see him whom they have rejected; and the conditions there brought to view are the conditions of this present day. Good laws may be passed; but lawlessness is ever increasing, and will continue to increase; for it is declared that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” This being true, the only hope of any worth is the Christian’s hope in Christ. Everything else is vanity, and, in the end, disappointment and death. We must not pin our hope to man, or to laws that man may make; but in perfect submission to the will of God and faith in him, we have an anchor whose hold no stress nor strain nor storm can break. In that is hope; in that are life and joy and peace.
C. M. S. Even So, Come, Lord Jesus
By Francis M. Wilcox
To the apostle John, as a representative of the church of God, the Lord Jesus promised, “Surely I come quickly.” John, representing the church, responds, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” This response by the beloved disciple truly illustrates the feeling of God’s children. The cry, Come! Come! has been the longing, heartfelt prayer of the church of God in every age. Emphatically it is the cry of the church to-day. The believers are orphans in this world. Their Father and their Friend has taken a long journey. He has assigned to every man his work. He has said to his children, “Occupy till I come;” “Go work to-day in my vineyard,” “and whatsoever is right I will give you.” Long years has the church labored. Through long centuries has it contended with principalities and powers. It has been beaten and buffeted, persecuted and destroyed, by the powers of evil. Its fondest hopes have been disappointed, its plans miscarried, its purposes seemingly defeated. Might has ruled where right should have borne sway. It has seemed at times as if the light of truth would be extinguished in a sea of darkness, but God has had a care for his chosen ones. His eye has followed his church through the wanderings of the ages. He is grieved at her sorrows. But with patience born of infinite grace, the heavenly Watcher still waits the full development of sin’s history, the final perfection of his suffering church. The time of fulness has almost been reached, the cup of iniquity is well-nigh full. God’s work of grace is nearing completion in the earth. The elements and influences at work presage a speedy dissolution of sin and a speedy restoration of righteousness. Let us be patient a little longer. Soon he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Let us pray for that glad day; but as we pray, let us work. Thus, co-operating with heavenly influences, we shall hasten the time of our Master’s return, speeding the hour when we shall be able to say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Keeping the Law
By C. M. S.
The Lord told Moses that if the people forsook him, and broke his covenant, he would forsake them and hide his face from them till, as a nation, they would be devoured. On the other hand, if they would do his commandments, he would set them “on high above all nations of the earth,” and make them “the head, and not the tail.” See Deuteronomy 28. God had a wonderful purpose in view for the people of his choice, and all who were willing to come under the rule of his government. The only thing that stood between them and the fulfilment of all that God purposed concerning them was their unwillingness to obey his law. Because they would not come under the beneficent rule of his government, he was compelled to leave them to become the plaything of the tempests of tribal strifes and the ambitions of other nations. In place of being a light to all the nations around, their refusal to keep the law put out their light, blotted out their inheritance, and scattered them like the “chaff of the summer threshing-floor” into every corner of the earth, till their very name has become a byword. Mohammed on the Jordan, with his temple of worship on Zion’s hill, witnesses to Israel’s disloyalty to God, and, through that disloyalty, to the complete frustration of the glorious purpose God had in view for them as a nation. They13would have been the greatest nation in the world—God so declared it—if they had kept his law. They would not keep it, and now they are nothing. That law and the blessing of God upon their keeping of it would have made them more than ever their brightest hopes could picture. What a contrast, and what a lesson for this generation! Every calamity that overtook the Israelitish nation as a result of the disobedience of that people was faithfully pointed out to them before ever they crossed into Canaan. The twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy is a faithful presentation of the end to which the nation would come if they turned away from God and his law. They came to that end, and their history is written as an admonition and warning for the people of this very age,—this generation, which is to witness the entering in of the spiritual Israel into the real land of rest. The law went before ancient Israel, and made a way through every obstruction. It will do the same in this generation for the faithful and triumphant children of God. His orders are: “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples” (Isa. 8: 16); and he says of the redeemed: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14: 12. The victory is assured, and that inheritance will not be taken by another.
C. M. S. Claims of the Papal Priesthood
By F. M. W.
Reference was made last week to the assumptions of the Roman Catholic Church in claiming, for the Pope and its priests, attributes which belong only to the Deity. Further proof of these claims is strikingly illustrated in a book entitled “Dignity and Duty of the Priests,” by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, a doctor of the Roman Church. On page 31 of this publication, according to the August Missionary Review of the World, is this statement with reference to the power of the Roman priests:— The power of the priest surpasses that of the blest Virgin Mary; for, although this divine mother can pray for us, and by her prayers obtain whatever she wishes, yet she can not absolve a Christian from even the smallest sin. “The blest Virgin was eminently more perfect than the apostles,” says Innocent III; “it was, however, not to her, but only to the apostles, that the Lord entrusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Not only is the priest of Rome said to be equal to God in that he possesses one of God’s highest attributes; namely, the power of creation; but his power is even exalted above the power of God. For the priest of Rome, it is claimed, actually creates God himself. The writer quoted says further:— The priest may, in a certain manner, be called the creator of his Creator, since by saying the words of consecration, he creates, as it were, Jesus in the sacrament, by giving him a sacramental existence, and produces him as a victim to be offered to the eternal Father. As in creating the world it was sufficient for God to have said, “Let it be made,” and it was created,—“He spoke, and they were made,”—so it is sufficient for the priest to say, “Hoc est corpus meum” [this is my body], and, behold, the bread is no longer bread, but the body of Jesus Christ. That Romanists claim for priests this creative power in fact, and not in theory, is further shown in these words:— The priest holds the place of the Saviour himself; when, by saying, “Ego te absolvo” [I absolve thee], he absolves from sin. How great should be our wonder if we saw a person invested with the power of changing a Negro into a white man; but the priest does what is far more wonderful; for by saying, “Ego te absolvo,” he changes the sinner from an enemy into the friend of God, and from the slave of hell into an heir of paradise. The possession of such wonderful power, the power to create at will, would in itself constitute its possessor a god and not man. And this is the very claim that Roman writers make for the papal priesthood. Continuing, the author says:— According to St. Ambrose, a priest, in absolving a sinner, performs the very office of the Holy Ghost in the sanctification of souls. St. Clement has reason to say that the priest is, as it were, a god on earth. Innocent III has written: “Indeed, it is not too much to say that in view of the sublimity of their offices, the priests are so many gods.” Were the Redeemer to descend into a church, and sit in a confessional, Jesus would say over each penitent, “Ego te absolvo,” and the penitents of each would be equally absolved. Quoting the Converted Catholic, the Missionary Review adds:— These utterances of one of the highest authorities of the Roman Church show that not only does the Pope arrogate to himself the attributes of the Almighty in claiming to be infallible, but that each and every priest is placed by the church on an equality with Jesus Christ,—a doctrine taught in the parochial schools of the Roman Catholic Church, in the confessional, in the administration of the sacrament, and in the other relations of priest and people. A brief comparison of these boastful claims with the teachings of Holy Writ will serve to emphasize how utterly subversive of the gospel are the principles composing this great system of error, and how truly the papal system fulfils the divine characterization of Antichrist. God proclaims himself the one creator of heaven and earth. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. . . . For he spake, and it was.” This power the priest of Rome claims to possess likewise, not only over common things,—the creation,—but over the Creator himself, in that by “saying the words of consecration, he creates, as it were, Jesus in the sacrament.” This same creative power is exercised by God in transforming the heart of the sinner. David prays: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” And the apostle Paul, speaking of this change of life, declares: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” This power the priest of Rome likewise claims to possess. By his word, “he changes the sinner from an enemy into the friend of God.” If the Jews of old mistakenly felt that the divine Master was guilty of blasphemy when he said to the afflicted, “Thy sins be forgiven thee,” how much more must we to-day, and truly too, consider the priest of Rome guilty of this great sin in his presumptuous claims. The Scriptures plainly set forth that there is but one mediator for the guilty sinner. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” This office the priest of Rome usurps, interposing himself between man and his Maker, receiving confession of sin, and pronouncing absolution for the same, and assuming to appear before God in behalf of the guilty sinner. The Sacrifice Made Once for All
“Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.” It was not necessary that “he should offer himself often; . . . for then must he often have suffered: . . . but now once . . . hath he appeared to put away sin.” The priest of Rome assumes to change and improve this divine order. Not only does he claim power to create the divine Sacrifice, but assumes to offer that Sacrifice at the celebration of every mass. There are few if any powers or attributes of the Godhead which this antichristian system does not arrogate to its priesthood. It claims the office of the Holy Ghost, the position of mediator, the power of creator,—to be, in short, God, and above God, in that it changes his holy order, and professes to control all the agencies of divine grace and ministration. Is it strange that as the prophet of old beheld its mysterious workings, he was lost in amazement? It stands forth as the “mystery of iniquity” of the ages. But notwithstanding the perniciousness of this evil system, its advocates and adherents are our fellow beings, men and women for whom Christ shed his precious blood. Tenderly he yearns14for the salvation of their souls. To them we have a mission of evangelization. Opposing the principles of Rome firmly and decidedly, but kindly and considerately, let us diligently seek to enlighten those who hold them, and to reveal in our lives and teachings the purity and preciousness of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our conflict to-day is not against Romanists as men and women, not against pope or priest or prelate as individuals, but against the principles comprising the great system which these represent. This movement in which we are engaged is not a social issue, not a political issue; it is a movement set for the conservation of the truth, and for the enlightenment and salvation of those in error, by whatever name they may be known. Our Work for the Cities—No. 2
By A. G. Daniells
In order to give the work to be done in our cities and the methods by which to do it, thorough, practical study, a council of workers was held in New York City, July 7-13. The attendance was larger and more general than those who called the council had hoped to secure. The following representatives were present from various conferences:— General Conference: A. G. Daniells, G. B. Thompson, H. R. Salisbury, O. A. Olsen, Dr. D. H. Kress, Dr. Lauretta Kress, M. E. Kern. Atlantic Union: W. B. White, O. Montgomery, W. H. Holden, H. C. Hartwell, R. D. Quinn, J. W. Lair, H. W. Carr, C. S. Longacre, F. M. Dana, R. J. Bryant, H. C. White, C. L. Kilgore, F. C. Gilbert. Columbia Union: B. G. Wilkinson, W. H. Heckman, B. F. Kneeland, W. G. Kneeland. Greater New York: L. W. Graham, J. K. Humphrey, O. O. Bernstein, A. V. Cotton, L. Klebahn, E. A. Merrell, A. Boettcher, M. L. Andreasen. New England Sanitarium: G. B. Starr, Mrs. G. B. Starr. During the first part of the council the question that pressed upon us most heavily was the greatness of the work to be done. This seemed so stupendous that it well-nigh paralyzed us for a time. But as we turned our attention to the different phases of the work to be carried on, and the most practical and successful methods that can be employed in doing the work, light and courage came into our minds and hearts. The more carefully we studied the details of these great problems, the more clearly we came to realize how poorly we understood them and our need of the very council we were holding. The various lines and methods of work considered might be summarized as follows:— Public meetings in halls and tents, and open-air services in parks and streets; Bible work; medical missionary work; distribution of literature; the use of newspapers and magazines; how to start and operate missions; how to advertise to the best advantage; how to secure large contributions; how to obtain the co-operation of the brethren and sisters in the localities in which the meetings are held; methods in conducting public services; and the selection of suitable workers. When the representatives had concluded the general study of the questions which had brought them together, the affairs of the council were turned over to the Eastern section of the committee on evangelistic work in our cities. This committee adopted the following recommendations:— Whereas, The most urgent and positive instruction has come to us through the spirit of prophecy that a strong, aggressive, and well-organized work should be carried forward in our large cities, a number of the cities in the Eastern part of the United States being specially mentioned; therefore,— 1. Resolved, That we most heartily respond to this instruction by immediately laying broad and definite plans for the prosecution of this neglected work. Whereas, In order successfully to carry forward this work, there is need of many trained workers to enter these populous and unworked cities; therefore,— 2. We recommend, (a) That training-schools be opened in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and such other cities as may seem best; (b) that wherever these schools are opened, there be carried forward evangelistic work, Bible readings in the homes of the people, the selling of our magazines and other periodicals, the distribution of leaflets and tracts, the scattering of printed abstracts of sermons delivered in halls and tents, and medical missionary work by trained nurses connected with the schools. 3. We recommend, That the local conferences in the Atlantic and Columbia Union conferences be urged to take hold of the work in the cities within their territory; that their strongest and most experienced workers be located in the large centers of population; that plans be laid for aggressive campaigns; and that, as far as consistent, there be associated with these experienced workers mature persons of less experience, to receive a training for work in the cities. 4. We recommend, That the executive committees of the Atlantic and Columbia union conferences, and of the local conferences within these unions, be asked so to arrange their administrative plans that they may give the work in the cities within their borders special attention, so that the presidents of these conferences may be left free to lead out in organizing and developing this work in harmony with the plans laid by the General Conference Committee. Whereas, The work of carrying our message to these large cities is one of great importance, attended with great difficulties and is a work from a human standpoint entirely beyond our power to accomplish; and,— Whereas, The magnitude of this work calls upon us as a people to awake to our great responsibility, and more fully to consecrate ourselves to the service and work of God; therefore,— 5. We suggest to the General Conference Committee that Sabbath, August 20, be appointed as a day of fasting and prayer in all the churches of the United States and Canada; and we earnestly request our people to pray that the special blessing and power of the Lord may attend this work at this time, and that wisdom may be given to carry forward the work of the third angel's message among the millions gathered in our cities. 6. Resolved, That immediate steps be taken to proclaim our message to the masses in the cities by means of inexpensive and specially prepared leaflets, and by articles in the daily press. 7. We recommend, That a Bible training-school for foreign workers be established in Greater New York or vicinity. 8. We recommend to the General Conference that Brother A. Boettcher be ordained to the gospel ministry. 9. In view of the great work to be undertaken in the large cities of the East to carry the truth to the unwarned millions, the Eastern committee on city work would respectfully request the General Conference Committee to make appropriations as follows to assist in the training of workers in these great centers of population:—
English training-school in New York ............... $5,000.00
Foreign training-school in Greater New York or vicinity 4,500.00
English training-school in Boston .................. 4,500.00
Small German training-school in Buffalo ............ 2,000.00
English training-school in Philadelphia ............ 4,500.00
Jersey City and Newark ............................ 2,000.00
Portland, Maine .................................... 1,000.00
Manchester, N. H. .................................. 1,000.00
Total ............................................. $24,500.00 Recommendation 5 suggests to the General Conference Committee the appointment of a day of fasting and prayer in behalf of the work now to be done in our cities. Acting upon this suggestion, the General Conference Committee has appointed Sabbath, September 17, to be observed as a day of fasting and special prayer for the success of our city work. Other important considerations regarding this call to work our cities will be presented next week. The Prophecies Now Fulfilled
THE Washington Post believes that The Hague tribunal has been a potential influence in preserving the peace among nations, and that—if the statesmanship of the entire world should discover the Christianity to agree to a universal convention reducing army and navy armaments to a minimum, the15nations would cease strife, and the prophecy would soon be fulfilled: “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” But that time is not yet come. The Post mistakes the import of the prophecy which it quotes in part. The Scriptures do not say that the time will ever be reached in this earth’s history when the implements of war will be turned into implements of peace. It does say, however, that “many people shall come and say” this very thing. We hear many people saying it at the present time. Many there are who would have us believe that the world is on the eve of universal peace, but the Scriptures of truth plainly declare that the very opposite conditions exist. We have only to look at the situation as it actually is to become convinced that we are far from the popular idea of a peace millennium. While the Lord says that many people will be predicting a time of peace, he plainly declares through his prophet, as recorded in the third chapter of Joel, that a marked sign of the last days will be the gathering of the nations together for warfare, and the turning of implements of peace into implements of war. Comparing this prophecy with the prophecy found in the second chapter of Isaiah, it will be seen that through Isaiah the Lord states that the people would be predicting certain things, while he, through his prophet Joel, declares the existence of the very opposite. Let us not confound these scriptures. Let us not be deceived by the siren song of peace and safety; but, recognizing the times in which we live, and seeing, in the gathering storm, omens of the last great conflict, let us make peace with Him who will be our Defense and Refuge in that evil day. In this only is our safety. The Boulder-Colorado Sanitarium
By A. T. ROBINSON
MANY of the readers of the REVIEW are more or less familiar with the somewhat checkered history of the Boulder-Colorado Sanitarium. After a hard struggle concerning the question relative to ownership, the Colorado Medical Missionary Association was formed, on such a plan that for many years the sanitarium, figuratively speaking, has been without parentage. Neither the General Conference, the Central Union Conference, nor the Colorado Conference has had any official jurisdiction over the work of this institution, its constituency being made up of the General Conference Committee, the Central Union Conference Committee, the Colorado Conference Committee, and the local sanitarium board. At the General Conference Council held in Washington, D. C., in May of the present year, it was voted to recommend the reorganization of the Colorado Medical Missionary Association so as to make the Boulder-Colorado Sanitarium a Central Union Conference institution. A meeting of the constituency for this purpose was held in Boulder, July 18-20, when such a reorganization was effected. The constituency of the new corporation is composed of the membership of the Central Union Conference, its voting constituency being the delegates at the sessions of the said conference. The management and control of the new corporation are vested in a board of seven directors, their successors to be elected at the biennial session of the Central Union Conference. A board of counselors is provided for, composed of the president of the Central Union Conference, the presidents of the conferences in the Central Union, the union conference medical secretary, and the auditor. The local board, to hold office during the remainder of the present biennial term, is as follows: A. T. Robinson, president; Dr. L. L. Jones, vice-president; Meade MacGuire, secretary-treasurer; E. T. Russell, Chas. Rice, J. G. Weller, C. R. Kite. The utmost harmony prevailed at this meeting. The sanitarium is enjoying a good patronage, its cash receipts for the first six months of this year having been nearly two thousand dollars over those of the preceding year. The Lord has spoken good concerning the Boulder-Colorado Sanitarium. The board of directors enters upon its duties with the sincere desire that it may have the heartfelt sympathy and co-operation of all our people in the Central Union Conference.
A. T. ROBINSON. Study at Home
By W. E. HOWELL
NOTHING is more desirable to the normal man than good health and long life. To be the happy possessor of these greatest of natural blessings, a person must understand the structure of his body, the laws of his being, and how to relate himself hygienically to his environment. These things are simply and clearly told in a set of forty lessons in physiology and hygiene, taught by correspondence. The lessons do not attempt to treat these subjects in a technical or exhaustive way, but cover systematically and thoroughly the every-day essentials to life, health, and physical happiness, with sufficient simple experiments that every one can do, to demonstrate and impress principles. The work given is equivalent to a high-school grade, and the credits received by the student may be applied on a residence course in other schools. Note these sample lesson topics:— Mouth Digestion, Drinking Water, Drugs and Poison, Air and Ventilation, Heat and Clothing, The Skin and Bathing, Influences Affecting the Mind, Repair of Injuries. The lessons have been prepared by the editor of Life and Health, and for practical value scarcely have an equal. Here is what two of our physiology students say:— “I send in my lesson on physiology with fear and trembling. I am delighted with the study, but feel there will be many corrections to make.” “I certainly enjoy my study. I am so sorry we did not have the advantage of such a school years ago; it would have been a great blessing to me.” For information and terms address Fireside Correspondence School, Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. The Book Work in the Southern Union Conference
By L. D. Randall
INTERESTING indeed are the letters received at our office from canvassers in various portions of the Southeastern Union. The obstacles met and overcome, the individuals found anxiously longing for the precious truths of the message, and the success God is giving our canvassers in taking orders and delivering books,—all this would make a volume full of interest to every believer in the advent message. Yet to no one are these experiences so precious as to the faithful men and women who are making this record from day to day. The call is more urgent now than ever before for consecrated individuals of mature years to give themselves wholeheartedly to the canvassing work in our great Southern field. Doors are now open on every hand, but these will soon be forever closed. Who will help us carry the message into every portion of our field? During the first six months of 1909, the total value of book sales, retail price, in the Southeastern Union was $11,407.13. During the first half of this year there has been an increase in sales of $5,551.02, or a gain of almost fifty per cent. These figures refer to the actual net sales from the publishing house. All returned books have been deducted. The figures given are not based on the reports of orders taken,16but upon the actual value of books shipped for delivery, and practically represent the deliveries made. We praise God for his abundant blessing upon the efforts put forth, and credit this increase in the volume of book sales to God's special blessing upon the faithful efforts of the leaders of our work, and the untiring zeal of our loyal, God-fearing canvassers. One brother, after being invited into a home, was asked if he was not an Adventist. Receiving an affirmative answer, the lady stated that she had heard some Adventist sermons, and the night before she had been impressed to study God's Word more carefully, and had prayed to know her duty, that she might do it, promising that she would no longer put off duty if it was made clear to her. With tears in her eyes, she said to the brother, “The Lord has sent you here in answer to my prayer.” True to her promise, she is now keeping the Sabbath. The same week, a sister in another conference had almost precisely the same experience. A brother who started work early this year with the determination to take a thousand dollars’ worth of orders during the year 1910, writes, “I believe I shall take one thousand five hundred dollars’ worth of orders before fall, and make a total delivery of at least one thousand dollars.” Many more similar testimonies might be added. The message from the Southeastern Union Conference is one of courage. We have firm confidence in our work, and are thankful that God has given us a place among his workers. Mortgages and Automobiles
By C. E. H.
THE terrible financial strain required “to keep up with the times”—modern times—is well illustrated in one way by a statement recently made by one dealer in automobiles, in Washington, D. C. He stated that he holds mortgages on over twenty-five hundred homes in this city, which were given that automobiles might be obtained. Such conditions are ominous. This craving for pleasure and excitement is permeating every walk of life. It requires a goodly portion of the grace of God to protect one from the oppressing influence of these strenuous times. The follower of Christ is surrounded by the downward currents of evil, and must therefore be continually on guard. C. E. H. Saskatchewan Mission Field
By K. C. RUSSELL.
We reached Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan, on the evening of July 6, at which place the English camp-meeting for the Saskatchewan Mission Field had been appointed to be held July 6-12. This place is located on the Canadian Pacific Railroad, about four hundred miles west of Winnipeg. The attendance was not large, but nearly all present gave evidence that they came to the meeting with only one purpose, and that to seek the Lord. There were no business meetings to engage the attention; hence the entire time of the meeting was devoted to the spiritual interests of the people by the study of both doctrinal and practical themes. Several lines of our departmental work were considered; namely, the Sabbath-school work, home and foreign missionary work, educational work, the book work, health and temperance, and the religious liberty work. A lively interest was manifested in the discussion of these subjects. We find that our people in this field are enthusiastic in the spread of the world-wide mission work. This was demonstrated by a ready and liberal response when they were asked to raise their share of the $300,000 Fund. The Sabbath-school offering to foreign missions was also very liberal, considering the attendance. The evening services were devoted almost wholly to the discussion of doctrinal features of the message. It has been difficult to secure an attendance in the cities and towns of this province, but we were gratified by having a fair attendance at nearly every service. We believe that this has been due largely to the distribution of a program, which announced each subject in an attractive way, and also the time the different themes were to be discussed. We believe that this good attendance is an omen of an increasing interest on the part of the citizens in this province to hear the truths of the third angel’s message. A large per cent of those in attendance at the meeting were young people; hence the meeting for the young people was a feature of special interest. Elder R. S. Owen and the writer were the only laborers at the meeting besides the regular workers in the field. Elder H. S. Shaw is acting as superintendent of this mission field, in addition to carrying his work as president of the Western Canadian Union. The self-sacrifice and earnestness shown by the canvassers in this field are worthy of commendation. We were entertained at this meeting by Elder H. S. Shaw and family, who spared no pains to make our visit a pleasant one, and our minds will ever revert with pleasure to our experiences here. The Maine Camp-Meeting
By W. B. White
THIS meeting was held June 23 to July 3 on the electric line midway between the towns of Waterville and Fairfield. The camp was a quiet meadow, very accessible to both the above-named towns. Fifty family tents were pitched, and about two hundred persons camped on the grounds, and twenty-five had rooms near by. At the beginning of the meeting, it was rainy and cold; but the middle of the week a change for the better occurred, and we enjoyed ideal weather conditions until the close. There were present, from the General Conference, Elders Geo. I. Butler and N. Z. Town, Drs. D. H. and Loretta Kress, and Miss Matilda Erickson. From the Atlantic Union there were Prof. C. S. Longacre, C. J. Tolf, F. M. Dana, and the writer; while Elder Geo. B. Starr, Dr. Estella Houser, and Brother Geo. Cornforth represented the Melrose Sanitarium and its work. Dr. Geo. K. Abbott, of the Loma Linda (Cal.) Sanitarium, spent a few days with us, presenting the work of that institution, and describing the changes taking place there in the establishment of a medical college. The meeting was one of the best enjoyed this season. A good spirit prevailed from first to last, and all who attended seemed greatly refreshed. The morning talks of Elder Geo. I. Butler on the early experiences in connection with the message, and the place filled therein by the spirit of prophecy, were of intense interest, and were very helpful to our people. Elder Town could spend only a few days with us, being called away by telegram; but his foreign missionary talks while there were greatly enjoyed by all. All the laborers worked earnestly for the best interests of the meeting, and we know that the Spirit and power of God were present in the camp. Six hundred fifty-eight dollars was raised, in cash and pledges, on the $300,000 Fund, making now about half that this conference has subscribed on its apportionment of $2,140.80. Five hundred seven dollars was also subscribed to assist on the church building in Portland, and about $150 to the South Lancaster Academy, to assist in making needed improvements this summer. The “Ministry of Healing” work was also taken up at this meeting, and our people took 211 copies to sell to assist our medical missionary work. We are sure that the Maine Conference will give this relief work its hearty support. All present seemed to think that the future prospects in the conference were bright, and that now is the time to take courage and go forward. No business sessions were held during this meeting, as the conference is held in the winter, so all the time was given to instruction in the different lines of work.