p. 308 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 3, No. 39. (10/11/1877)

SAMUEL AND THE WITCH OF ENDOR;

By John Nevins Andrews

OR, THE SIN OF WITCHCRAFT.

BY ELDER J. N. ANDREWS.

(Continued.)

But let us further consider the question of Samuel's presence. If he were actually present, and this manifestation was not a Satanic representation of him, he must have come, 1. As an immortal spirit from glory; or, 2. He must have been raised from the dead, and therefore been present with his own flesh and bones.

But the first of these views must be abandoned, for, 1. An immortal spirit from the realms of glory could not come up out of the earth. 2. Nor would such an one begin his work by a private communication to the witch. 3. It is moreover incredible that the incantations of her Satanic craft should enable her to see such a holy being while Saul could see nothing.

Let us see if the second view is any less open to objection. The fact that this reputed Samuel arose out of the earth before this woman, as an old man covered with a mantle, may be supposed to substantiate the idea that Samuel was present with his own flesh and bones. Before disproving this view of the case, several questions concerning it may well be asked: 1. Samuel was buried in distant Ramah. See verse 3. How could he come out of the ground in Endor? 2. Can it be believed that he was raised by God to talk with Saul upon the devil's own ground? 3. Would such a man as Samuel, who held witchcraft as a heinous sin, 1 Sam. 15:23, before beginning his message to Saul, first hold private converse with this wicked woman in the midst of her incantations? 4. And what became of this old man thus raised from the dead? Did he go through the pains of a second dissolution? He might in such case well complain of being disquieted and brought up by Saul. Verse 15.

But there is one important fact that settles this question of Samuel's resurrection. Had Samuel been present in his own flesh and bones, and not as a matter of enchantment or sorcery, Saul would have seen him as well as the woman. That Saul could not see him is convincing proof that Samuel was not raised from the dead. He must have been raised—if raised at all—by God or by Satan. But the devil cannot raise the dead; and it is certain that the God of Heaven would not raise his servant in answer to Satanic incantations.

We are therefore brought to the conclusion that Samuel was not present either as an immortal spirit from the third Heaven, or as resurrected from the dead. And therefore the conclusion is inevitable that this Samuel is no other than the familiar spirit personating the man of God. Saul had asked the God of Heaven to speak to him by his prophets; but for his wickedness this was refused. This time he asks Satan to send him Samuel; and Satan was not slow to answer the prayer by sending such a Samuel as he could produce. And now let us hear what this Samuel, produced by Satan, had to say:—

“And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams; therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. Then said Samuel, Wherefore, then, dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the Lord hath done to him, as he spake by me; for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David; because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines; and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me; the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel; and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.”

The first words of this so-called Samuel are remarkable. He does not wait to hear Saul's request, but asks Saul in a petulant manner what he has disturbed him for, to bring him up. This is an acknowledgment on the part of this reputed Samuel that he had come through Saul's act of seeking Satan. It is not holy Samuel, sent by God; but is that kind of Samuel that Satan could send. And observe, he does not represent himself as coming down from the courts of glory, but as coming up from the regions below. Those who think that Samuel was actually present from the heavenly Jerusalem may explain how wicked Saul could be present with him the next day. Verse 19.

Saul relates to Samuel his sore distress. And now behold the result of serving Satan, and then calling upon him for help in the day of dire extremity. Satan flatters men during all the time in which they can repent, telling them the path in which they are walking is the path of the righteous; or, if it is not, it is just as good as that of the righteous, and will end at last in Heaven; or, if it be not just right, there is plenty of time for repentance, and that they may safely neglect it for many years. But when the last hours of their probation are expiring, he comes upon his victims with overwhelming power, telling them that it is now too late, and drives them to despair by repeating the history of their sins, until, perhaps, they take their lives with their own hands. Such was the case with Saul. Satan led him to despise the warnings of the prophets, and to presume upon the mercy of God, till the very hour of his extremity was upon him, and then, by rehearsing his sins, and provoking him with David's certain triumph over him, and extinguishing every hope, both for this world and the next, he drives him to utter despair and immediate suicide. He tells him:—

1. The Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy; i. e., there is absolutely no hope in your case.

2. The Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David. This was a keen thrust to such a man as Saul.

3. Your ruin was made sure by your sin in the memorable expedition against Amalek.

4. Your army will suffer a terrible defeat in the coming battle, and yourself and sons will be slain.

And now let us follow Saul to the battle. We cannot, indeed, say whether it came on the following day, but it was not delayed long. His army was defeated with a terrible slaughter, his sons were slain, and Saul, in utter despair, kills himself with his own sword. See 1 Sam. 31. Such was the result of his seeking to one that had a familiar spirit. But before we take leave of this extraordinary case, let us hear what is said of it by that sacred writer who makes the only other mention of it.

1 Chron. 10:13, 14: “So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and inquired not of the Lord; therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.”

It is worthy of observation that this passage names the familiar spirit as the one that Saul conversed with, and says not one word about Samuel, in whose form and dress he came, and under whose name he completed the ruin of Saul. It was the familiar spirit that he inquired of, and that held discourse with him. This is made very manifest by quoting this text without the supplied words: “For asking of a familiar spirit to inquire. And he inquired not of the Lord.” It was the familiar spirit, therefore, and not the Lord through Samuel, with whom Saul conversed.

The sin of witchcraft, or the dealing with familiar spirits, consists, therefore, in holding intercourse with Satan under the name of conversing with the dead. And observe how completely, under such circumstances, men put themselves under the power of Satan.

With hearts wounded and bleeding under some great bereavement, they call up their dear departed. And when their peculiarities are exactly reproduced, and when little tokens of friendship, which were known only to the inquirer and to the departed, are brought out, and matters best calculated to awaken all the fond remembrances of the past are called up, so that the inquirer becomes satisfied that he is conversing with his dearest friend, who now knows a thousand times more than himself, he is not only thrown off his guard, but captivated by Satan, and caused to believe the doctrine of devils; for certainly, as he thinks, his dearest friend cannot deceive him.

V. But who are these familiar spirits?

To this question two answers have been returned.

1. They are the spirits of our dead friends. 2. They are the fallen angels who imitate or counterfeit them. One of these answers must be true; both of them cannot be; which, therefore, shall we accept as the truth?

If we could believe the familiar spirits themselves, the first answer must be true; for they profess to be the spirits of the dead, and they claim to bring up any of the dead who are called for. But there are some reasons for distrusting their testimony. 1. In the case which the Bible gives at length, as a specimen of their works, the familiar spirit which consorted with the witch of Endor professed to bring up the dead at pleasure, and to enable them to speak; yet we have found this to be a false pretense; for the familiar spirit did all the speaking, and dead Samuel had nothing to say. 2. The Bible warns us against them all as wicked and deceitful. Deut. 18. Their testimony as to their own personality, therefore, is entitled to no weight.

But the doctrine that the familiar spirits are the spirits of the dead, in ancient times rested upon the following propositions: 1. That the spirits of the dead are now in a state of conscious existence. 2. That they are now endowed with superior intelligence. 3. That they inhabit a region within the earth itself.

In modern times, however, the same doctrine is supported thus: 1. That the souls of men are immortal. 2. That death is the gate to endless joy. 3. That they enter upon their reward at death. 4. That they are in death endowed with superior intelligence. 5. That they are ministering spirits to the living, having their abode, either in Heaven or upon earth, at pleasure.

The modern doctrine is an improvement upon the theology of the days of Saul. But the Bible sweeps away this cunningly-devised fable of ancient days, and with it the doctrine that dead men can hold converse with the living. Thus that sacred volume teaches us:—

1. That God made man of the dust of the ground, and gave him life from his own breath. Gen. 2.

2. That he warned him that for transgression he should be deprived of life, and turned again into dust. Gen. 2:16, 17; 3:17–19.

3. That all men are now under the sentence of death, and are both mortal and corruptible. Heb. 9:27; Job 4:17; Rom. 1:23.

4. That those who seek immortality shall receive it at the resurrection, from Him who is its only source. Rom. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:51–55; 1 Tim. 6:15, 16.

5. That death came into the world by sin; that it is the last enemy; that Satan has had the power of it; and that death and Satan shall both be destroyed in the lake of fire. Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:26; Heb. 2:14; Rev. 20.

6. That in death there is no remembrance of God. Ps. 6:5.

7. That in the day of death the thoughts perish. Ps. 146:4.

8. That the dead know not anything; and that their love, and envy, and hatred, is now perished. Eccl. 9:5, 6.

9. That the dead do not praise God. Ps. 115:17.

10. That sheol or hades, the under-ground abode of the dead, is a place where there is no work, device, knowledge, nor wisdom; a place of silence, secrecy, darkness, corruption, and death. Eccl. 9:10; Job 14:10–15; 17:13–16.

11. That the righteous are not to be with Christ till he comes back after them. John 14:1–3; 1 Cor. 15:32; 1 Thess. 4.

12. That men are neither rewarded nor punished till they have first been judged. 2 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 22:12; Matt. 16:27.

13. That the dead, both righteous and wicked, are now asleep. Dan. 12:2; Job 14:12; 1 Thess. 4:14; 1 Cor. 15:6, 18, 20, 51.

14. That the keys of death and hades are not in the hands of familiar spirits, but in those of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rev. 1:18.

These facts are certainly sufficient to show that the familiar spirits do not come from the dead themselves, and that they do not, and cannot, bring up any of the dead. Who, then, are the familiar spirits? We need not deny their existence, nor can we without denying the Bible. Nor should we pronounce it an inexplicable mystery that our dead friends, whose very thoughts have perished, and who sleep quietly in the silent dust, are by them apparently made to speak in so wonderful a manner. There is an agency competent to do this work. That the familiar spirits are the fallen angels will appear from the following facts:—

1. The Scriptures inform us that Satan, who was once an obedient servant of the God of Heaven, long since raised the standard of revolt against him. John 8:44; 1 John 3:8; Eze. 28.

2. That a large body of the angels joined in this revolt. 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Rev. 12:7–9.

3. That these wicked spirits are not now in torment, but that they await the day of Judgment, when with wicked men they shall be sent into everlasting fire. Jude 6; Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20; Matt. 8:29; James 2:19.

4. That this vast body of fallen angels have been engaged during the whole history of our race in the most mighty efforts to involve mankind in ruin. 1 Pet. 5:8, 9; Job 1 and 2; Luke 22:31; Rom. 8:38, 39; Eph. 6:11, 12.

5. That hypocrisy, deception, and fraud, have been the chief of the ways in which they have ruined mankind. 2 Cor. 11:14, 15; Gen. 3; John 8:44; Rev. 12:9; 20:3, 8.

6. The Old Testament plainly teaches that the work of the familiar spirits is false, deceitful, and ruinous. The New Testament shows who they are that deceive, seduce, and ruin, mankind. It is the fallen angels, with Satan at their head.

We cannot, therefore, avoid the conclusion that the familiar spirits of the Old Testament are the fallen angels of the New. And hence it is that the “seducing spirits” of Paul, and the “unclean spirits” of John, are called devils, or spirits of devils. 1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 16:13. We need not, therefore, think it strange that the Scriptures warn us so faithfully against seeking knowledge at their hands.

(To be continued.)

Thoughts on the Book of Daniel.

By Uriah Smith

CHAPTER IX.

Verses 1, 2. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; in the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

The vision recorded in the preceding chapter was given in the third year of Belshazzar, B. C. 553. The events narrated in this chapter, occurred in the first year of Darius, B. C. 538. A period of fifteen years is consequently passed over between these two chapters. Although Daniel was cumbered with cares and burdens, as prime minister of the foremost kingdom on the face of the earth, he did not let this deprive him of the privilege of studying into things of higher moment, even the purposes of God, as revealed to his prophets. He understood by the books, that is, the writings of Jeremiah, that God would accomplish seventy years in the captivity of his people. This prediction is found in Jer. 25 : 12; 29 : 10. The knowledge of it, and the use that was made of it, shows that Jeremiah was early regarded as a divinely-inspired prophet; otherwise his writings would not have been so soon collected, and so extensively copied. Though Daniel was for a time contemporary with him, he had a copy of his works which he carried with him in his captivity; and though he was so great a prophet himself, he was not above studying carefully what God might reveal to others of his servants. Commencing the seventy years B. C. 606, Daniel understood that they were now drawing to a termination; and God had even commenced the fulfilment by overthrowing the kingdom of Babylon.

Verse 3. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

Because God has promised, we are not released from the responsibility of beseeching him for the fulfilment of his word. Daniel might have reasoned, God has promised to release his people at the end of the seventy years; and he will accomplish it; I need not, therefore, concern myself at all in the matter. Daniel did not thus reason; but, as the time drew near for the accomplishment of the word of the Lord, he set himself to seek the Lord with all his heart. And how earnestly he engaged in the work; with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. This was the year, probably, in which he was cast into the lion's den; and the prayer of which we here have an account, may have been the burden of that petition which, regardless of human laws to the contrary, he offered before the Lord three times a day.

Verse 4. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments.

We here have the opening of Daniel's wonderful prayer—a prayer expressing such humiliation and contrition of heart, that he must be without feeling who can read it unmoved. He commences by acknowledging the faithfulness of God. God never fails in any of his engagements with his followers. It was not from any lack on God's part in defending and upholding them, that the Jews were then in the furnace of captivity, but only on account of their sins.

Verses 5–14. We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him; neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil; for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us; yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth; for we obeyed not his voice.

So much of Daniel's prayer is employed in making a full and heart-broken confession of sin. He vindicates fully the course of the Lord, acknowledging their sins to be the cause of all their calamities, as God had threatened them by the prophet Moses.

An expression in the 14th verse is worthy of especial notice: “Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us.” Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men are fully set in them to do evil. But none may think that the Lord does not see, or that he has forgotten. His retributions will surely overtake the transgressor, against whom they are threatened, without deviation, and without fail. He will watch upon the evil, and in his own good time will bring it to pass.

Verses 15–19. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God; for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

The prophet now pleads the honor of the Lord's name as a reason why he wants his petition granted. He refers to the fact of their deliverance from Egypt, and the great renown that had accrued to the Lord's name for all his wonderful works manifested among them. All this would be lost, should he now abandon them to perish. Moses uses the same argument in pleading for Israel. Num. 14. Not that God is moved with motives of ambition and vainglory; but when his people are jealous for the honor of his name, when they evince their love for him by pleading with him to work, not for their own personal benefit, but for his own glory, that his name may not be reproached and blasphemed among the heathen—this is acceptable with him. He then intercedes for the city of Jerusalem called by his name, and his holy mountain, to which he has had such love, and beseeches him for his mercies' sake, to let his anger be turned away. Finally, his mind centers upon the holy sanctuary, God's own dwelling place upon this earth, and he pleads that its desolations may be repaired.

Daniel understood the seventy years' captivity to be near their termination. From his allusion to the sanctuary, it is evident that he so far misunderstood the important vision given him fifteen years before, as to suppose that the 2300 days, at the termination of which the sanctuary was to be cleansed, expired at the same time. This misapprehension was at once corrected, when the angel came to give him further instruction in answer to his prayer, the narration of which is next given.

U. S.

(To be continued.)

The Southern Camp-Meeting.

By John Norton Loughborough

The southern California camp-meeting, like the northern one, has proved a decided success in every respect. Twenty-two tents were upon the ground, besides the 50-ft. tent which was used for public meetings. The number of campers was one hundred and fifteen.

By request of Brother Church, the mottoes of our northern camp archway were taken to the southern meeting and placed over a similar triple archway entrance. There being no evergreens within fifty miles of the ground, we substituted therefore trimmings composed of red, white and blue cloth, which gave a very neat and pretty appearance. Everything possible was done to make the grounds attractive, and this had its effect, not only in making our own people feel decidedly at home, but in attracting the outside world from far and near to see the grounds, especially when word went out that “at the Seventh-day Adventist camp-meeting all was as quiet and orderly as a meeting-house.”

This seemed to astonish the people, as at all previous camp-meetings in this vicinity there was so much noise and confusion. Even at a camp-meeting held a few weeks since, only eighty rods from our grounds, no less than three arrests were made to quell the disturbance, and one of those arrested was a woman. We were favored with a good outside attendance evenings, and on Sunday not far from four hundred were drawn upon the grounds. There was not the slightest show of a spirit of disorder, but as the people went round admiring the grounds and reading the mottoes, they seemed to catch the spirit of the place, and not a man did we see who even attempted to smoke a cigar inside of our gateway. They seemed to think and act as if we had thrown suddenly an ornamental village into their new country, and to show their appreciation of our kindness they treated us with the greatest respect and courtesy. They could be heard saying, “Well, this looks like business, that is a people in favor of order; I’m going to see what their ministers have to say.”

The Lord gave his servants, Brethren Healey, Wood and the writer, something to say, and the influence of his spirit to help us say it. The preaching was free and pointed, and appreciated by our people, and all. When, on the Sabbath, we called for half-hearted professors and backsliders to enter into a covenant for greater devotion and consecration to the work, the people were ready to respond as rapidly as they could get upon their feet. This call was followed by one for those seeking the Lord for the first time; this brought a score or more forward, who, after prayers in their behalf, responded with earnest testimonies. An invitation was extended to those who desired baptism to manifest it by coming forward, when twenty-nine candidates presented themselves for this purpose. Besides these, four others united with us, making thirty-three in all. One of these was the husband of one of our sisters who has kept the Sabbath alone in the family for about five years.

According to appointment, the meeting should have closed on Monday morning, but a petition from every camper, for the meeting to continue another day, decided the matter. Another day was given them, and every one stayed. Monday was a glorious day. The forenoon was occupied with the baptism. We were obliged to go four and one-fourth miles to the place of baptism. There were twenty-five teams on the ground, as all the campers came with teams, and a number of neighbors joined in the procession, which went with a perfect order to the water as a funeral procession. The procession was nearly one-fourth of a mile long. The administrators were in a carriage at the head; the three sisters who were to wait on the candidates next; then came the candidates, followed by the solemn spectators. We told the people we were going to a burial, but unlike common funerals, this had a resurrection connected with it; we were going to commemorate the burial and resurrection of Christ, and as it was an event that did not occur often in one’s life-time, we could afford to give dignity to the occasion, if it did take a little more time. The baptism was pleasant. The sandy beach of Kings river, strewn with mica, a yellow substance that looks like gold, especially under the water, made the place selected one most lovely. It was not a long stretch of the imagination, as we saw handfuls of this mica on the beach, washed up by the slight waves of the river, to think of the golden banks of the river of life, where all the faithful shall stand, after the resurrection, in the glorious city of God.

In the afternoon of Monday we had four meetings, one of which was a business meeting. An early morning meeting was held Tuesday, when some wholesome advice was given to our people, how to diligently watch as they should go to their homes and again meet the trials and temptations of life. And thus closed our first southern California camp-meeting.

It was with some trembling that our people looked forward to this camp-meeting. First, most of them never saw a camp-meeting, save those where more or less confusion reigned, and they feared we might fare no better than the others in their new country. Secondly, they feared also it would be a financial burden hard to be borne, as it has been an exceedingly dry year, one of the hardest California has ever known. In both these respects they are happily disappointed. Under the energetic management of Brother Dimmick, who had just made a success of the store and restaurant at the northern meeting, the southern meeting has, from a like source met all its expenses and earned about $20 as a nucleus of a camp-meeting fund for next year.

In our business meeting a call was made for the district to raise the sum of $83 to pay its indebtedness to the State Society. In fifteen minutes, with no urging, $106 was pledged and all paid but $9. It was voted to appropriate the surplus over the $83 to the sum still due for the 50-ft. tent purchased last summer. The sum of about $200 per year was added to the S. B. funds by the pledges of new members, and a goodly number of missionary members were obtained. So financially, as otherwise, our southern meeting was a success.

When the meeting opened, I wrote to some that the southern meeting was just like the northern one in quality, all the difference seemed to be in quantity; but before we closed I made up my mind that, when we consider that the cause was only one and one-half years old in these southern counties, that this was their first meeting, that the country was sparsely settled, and that it was hard times, and that half as many took their stand as at the northern meeting, they had discounted the quantity so that that would compare well too.

There were many interesting incidents in this, as in all meetings of this kind, which I have not room to notice here, but I must mention some, however. A young lady living a few miles from the ground, came to the meeting because she had some relatives who were going to be there, and whom she wished to visit. After being there a day she said, “My mother must come and hear this.” So she went home and let her mother come, agreeing to stay by the “stuff.” After the mother had been there a day she thought that would not do; all the family must have the benefit of the meeting. So home she went and found some one to take care of their affairs, and the family all came and remained through the meeting. On Monday Brethren Healey and Wood baptized the daughter who came first, then the mother and another daughter. Brother Meeker and family came from Bakersfield, Kern county, a distance of about two hundred miles, in a wagon, and were all baptized. Brother and Sister Brown of San Pasqual, San Diego county, came three hundred and fifty miles in their wagon to attend this meeting, and said they could cheerfully go back over the long journey again, feeling that they were richly paid for the seven hundred miles of carriage travel, which would take them twenty-seven days to accomplish. God bless them!

The camp-meeting has had a wonderful influence to give permanence and stability to the work in this southern field. A great interest has been awakened in the vicinity of the camp-meeting. Elder Wood commences a course of lectures immediately at Lemoore. Brother Rice is to join him to assist in the work. Brother Eugene McCapes of Fairview, who received a colporteur’s license at the camp-meeting, enters without delay upon his work from house to house, in the vicinity of the camp-ground.

It certainly should give a spring of joy to the hearts of our people, and serve as a stimulus to greater efforts on the part of our ministers and missionary workers, when we think that through the instrumentality of two camp-meetings nearly one hundred have taken their stand with us.

Four weeks since, I made the report to the General Conference, and put the number of Sabbath-keepers in California at seven hundred. Were I to do that over to-day, I should have to say eight hundred instead.

J. N. Loughborough.

Continue reading: Michigan Camp-Meeting