The anti-imperialist leagues of the country are again heard from. They come forward now with an address “To the American People,” to be published in the papers, July 4. They believe that the battle for Constitutional liberty and government by consent of the governed is not yet lost, though affairs have gone contrary to their hopes. “They had hoped,” says this address, “that those who voted for Mr. McKinley, while disapproving his policy in the West Indies and the Philippines, would see that their votes were misinterpreted, and would make their disapproval known and felt. They had hoped that Congress would claim its place in our government, and would insist that the principles of freedom must be recognized and applied wherever our country holds sway. They had hoped that the Supreme Court would with no uncertain voice declare that no human being under our control could be without the rights secured by our Constitution, and that neither president nor Congress, nor both together, could exercise absolute power over men entitled to the protection of our flag.
“These hopes,” they admit, “have not been realized,” but they are still hopeful of success through the last resort in republican government — an appeal to the people.
In their address they say, and say truly, that “where such a revolution is threatened, and when Congress and the Supreme Court both fail, there is no help save in the people. If they would avert the impending calamity, they must help themselves. Let us not be misled by names. Imperialism is not a question of crowns and scepters, of names and titles. It is a system of government. Where a man or body of men, an emperor, a president, a congress, or a nation, claims the absolute right to rule a people, to compel the submission of that people by brute force, to decide what rights they shall have, what taxes they shall pay, what judges shall administer their laws, what men shall govern them,—all without responsibility to the people thus governed,—this is imperialism, the antithesis of free government.”
“Even in America,” the address continues, “where we have only to fear the abuse of power by our fellow citizens, we all rely on constitutions, national and State, to protect our rights. We cannot conceive an American community without these safeguards. Do not the inhabitants of Luzon need against us the protection that we need against ourselves? It has ever been the American method to incorporate acquired territory with representation; it is now proposed to revert to the Roman method and hold conquered territory by force without representation. This policy which we oppose gives to the Filipinos and Porto Ricans no Constitutional rights, no American citizenship, no hope of Statehood, no voice in the Congress which rules them; it leaves them without a country, the subjects of a republic. To believers in free government this policy is monstrous.”
The anti-imperialist leagues therefore “urge all lovers of freedom to organize in defense of human rights now threatened by the greatest free government in history.” “Let every citizen study the facts and make his conclusion known, combining with his neighbor to influence Congress to stand true to the principles of the Declaration by which this government was founded, and under which it has grown so great. The gravest danger our country has known till now has come from a denial of those principles. The incoming Congress is not yet committed to the policy of incorporating the island peoples into our system without rights. Let it resume its place in the government in defense of the inalienable rights of man.”
All this is truthfully and forcibly stated; and realizing its truth and importance, and believing that this nation whose rise has meant so much for the good of mankind, and whose history so plainly bears the marks of Providence, is to continue on its course through indefinite years to come, they cannot bring themselves to believe that the nation has really repudiated the principles of freedom which have been its glory and its life hitherto, and turned back to the paths of despotism. They cannot believe that so dire a change has really come. Surely, they think, some power will rise up in the nation and turn it back into its accustomed path. So they have waited for Congress to do it; they waited for the elections to do it; they waited for the Supreme Court to do it; and they have gone from one disappointment to another, and are now preparing for the last and greatest one of all, by making an appeal to the people. The people have already spoken conclusively upon this question.
We have known this from the first, for we have had the clear light of divine revelation upon this great subject. We have known that this nation, this power which in the prophetic symbol “had two horns like a lamb,” would speak “as a dragon.” Now we see the prediction in process of fulfillment. And “when . . . our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan, and that the end is near.”
This is the truth; and it is for us who have it to appreciate it and spread the knowledge of it in every place. L. A. S.
In the Question Chair.
[Designed for the consideration of such questions as will be of interest and profit to the general reader. All correspondents should give their names and correct post-office address, that queries not replied to here may be answered by mail.]
814.—NO MORE SEA.
Please explain Rev. 21:1, last clause. Why is there no more sea in the earth made new? Is it to make room for the redeemed hosts?
M. E. C., Santa Ana, Cal.
Answer.—We do not understand the text to affirm that there will be no more sea, or that the sea will no longer exist. The prophet was describing the change that is to take place in the present constitution of things. He saw a new heaven and a new earth, “for,” he says, “the first heaven and the first earth were passed away;” and the next and last clause, instead of reading, as in our version, “and there was no more sea,” might be translated, “and the sea was no more;” that is, the sea as it at present exists will be no more. This brings the sea into the same category with the heavens and the earth, and affirms that the great change that is coming will affect the sea the same as it affects the heaven and the earth. “I saw a new heaven,” says John, “and a new earth.” So the sea will also be renewed, or made new, like the heaven and the earth. And the expression, “and there was no more sea,” or better, “and the sea was no more,” would mean that that, too, in its present constitution and dimensions had passed away, and there was a new sea, adapted to the new constitution of things. There would seem to be good reason for a change in the sea, to fit it for the new earth. In the first place, about three quarters of the present globe are given up to the waste of waters; but a large portion of this space would doubtless be better devoted to the occupation of the inhabitants of the new earth, and will probably be used for that object. And when we consider that all who have ever lived on the earth, according to the most liberal calculation, could, when raised from the dead, each find six square feet of standing room in the State of Iowa, it will be seen at once that on the renewed earth with all its present waste places recovered, there will be an amply glorious estate for all the sons and daughters of the seed of Abraham, who are heirs according to the promise. Gal. 3:29. Secondly, inasmuch as the text does not affirm443that the sea will cease to exist, we may argue that it will continue in its modified form, because its presence, accompanied with flowing rivers interspersed over the surface of the earth, would be necessary to the beauty of the landscape and the service and utility of man, and the new earth will be provided with everything that is of any utility and beauty. So we may read Rev. 21:1 with the pleasing thought in mind that when the new heaven and the new earth appear, the sea will be there also, not in its present overexpanded condition, but in due proportion to add to the beauty of the scene, and to be for the service and utility of man in that perfect state. And this possession, when once entered upon, will not be left to other people; it will not be forfeited by crime, nor alienated by poor bargains; but, sea and all, will remain ours forever.
815.—MELCHISEDEC—WHO WAS HE?
Will you please explain Heb. 7:1–3, regarding Melchisedec. Who was he? Was he a man, or an angel, as some think? I would like all the information you can give on this subject, as the question frequently comes up in our study of the Bible.
C. R. B., Anderson, Ind.
Ans.—He was a man; for thus the record speaks of him: “Now consider how great this man was.” Verse 4. He was a king: “King of Salem.” Verse 1. He was also a priest: “priest of the most high God.”—Id. He thus united in his own person the double office of king and priest. He was greater than Abraham; for Abraham paid tithes to him, and from him received a blessing; and Paul says, “And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.” Verse 7. That is, Melchisedec, who gave the blessing, is greater than Abraham, who received from him the blessing: “The less is blessed of the better.” In these circumstances, and in these offices, he becomes a type of Christ; for the record says: “Made like unto the Son of God.” Verse 3. This much we learn from the scripture record. We have other testimony which will be of interest to the reader. In an article from Sister White, in the REVIEW of Feb. 18, 1890, page 97, third col., last par., we read, “It was Christ that spoke through Melchisedec, the priest of the most high God. Melchisedec was not Christ, but he was the voice of God in the world, the representative of the Father.”
Verse 3 contains the supposed difficulty of regarding Melchisedec as a man, like other human beings; for it speaks of him as “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” Now it is asked, in amazement, How can it be said of any man in this world that he is without father, without mother, and that he has neither beginning of days nor end of life? This could not be said of any man, spoken of merely as a natural man; but it might be said of one taken specifically as a representative character. Now Paul sets forth Melchisedec to represent Christ. That is why one is chosen who was both a king and a priest; for Christ performs both these offices. It must be one out of whose life a portion can be taken that is not bounded by a beginning nor by an end; for as priest and mediator for the world Christ is without beginning of days or end of life. Still the question will arise, How could it be said of Melchisedec that he was without father, without mother, without beginning of days or end of life? If this was not true of him, he could not be a proper representative of Christ. So it was true of him only in his representative character. The Jews were accustomed to speak thus of any one whose genealogy was not given; and that is all that is meant concerning Melchisedec. He suddenly appears upon the scene as a priest-king. But nothing is said of his origin or genealogy. He performed his acts, received tithes of Abraham and blessed him. But nothing is said about the close of his career. In that respect, as far as the record goes, it is as if he had never died. So the Jews would speak of him as without beginning of days or end of life, and in that respect he would be a fit representative of Christ. He could not have been Shem, as some claim; because Shem’s genealogy is known; he could not have been an angel, for the same reason; as they are all created beings. But he was a man of whom these things could be said, after the Jewish manner of speech, a representative of Christ, “the voice of God,” as Sister White says, “in the world.”
DON'T SPECULATE.
The Lord has never opened any field for religious speculation. He never intended any human mind to be active in that direction. The success of the Young Men's Christian Association, which recently held its jubilee convention in Boston, is attributed to the fact that “by the very nature and urgency of the work to which they were called, the young men who founded and have maintained the organization were kept back from speculative thinking, and held down to definite, practical work.” And as one writer observes, “That which was the necessity has become the glory of the association.”
Don’t speculate yourself; don’t listen to the speculations of others. The Lord did not design that people should speculate, but that they should know. The Guide into all truth is the Holy Spirit, and what the Spirit teaches. He knows with the most absolute certainty. Speculation is the sure road to spiritual error and disaster.
DANGER FROM ABOUNDING INIQUITY.
By L. A. S.
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold,” says the Scripture, of these last days. Where is this iniquity to abound?
It is to abound in the world, of course. Iniquity has always abounded in the world, and certainly the last days will bring no change in this respect. But where does the iniquity exist that tends most to cause your love of God and His truth to wax cold?
Ah, it is the iniquity that is in the Church, not that which is in the world, that affects us most. Not some other Church, either, but the Church of which we are members. It is a sad fact that iniquity does abound, even among those that have the saving light of present truth.
Is it the iniquity that is in the world, or in some other Church, that tends to cause you to question the truths of the Third Angel’s Message? Such things have no bearing on the Third Angel’s Message only to confirm it. That message proclaims that the last days will be marked by abounding iniquity in State and Church. But when you discover, or some one points out to you, that Elder ——, who perhaps occupies a high position in the work, is taking a wrong course in some respect, how are you affected then?
Do you ever query at such times whether this leading brother in the Church really believes what he professes? And with this does there ever come a doubt—only momentary it may be—whether the truth such a man professes is really true or not? Take care! This is the very thing you are warned against. “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” The inconsistent course of those we look up to and trust makes us have doubts; and when we begin to doubt, it is not long before our love of the truth has waxed cold.
The only safeguard is to be sure that our faith rests not upon any man, but upon the Word alone. That is the sure foundation, and all that rests upon any other will be shaken down.
L. A. S.
The Worldly Wise Man
THE worldly wise man turns his back on the Bible, and then imagines that the Bible is behind him, and that he is far ahead of it in knowledge; when in fact he is only getting further and further behind the Bible.
Deaths from the Sun’s Rays
Two hundred and six deaths from the sun’s rays was the report received from New York City for a single day, July 2. Hundreds more were prostrated, of whom many were soon dead. From this some very faint conception may be had of the conditions that will be realized under the fulfillment of Rev. 16:8, 9: “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat.”
Deserted Families in Chicago
A CENSUS reveals the fact that in Chicago there are over two thousand families which have been left to shift for themselves, by desertion on the part of the husband and father. “Without natural affection” says the Scripture in mentioning the characteristics of these last days; and it is even so.
Women Smoking Tobacco
TOBACCO smoking, it appears, cannot much longer be regarded a "manly" accomplishment, for the direful reason that it is fast becoming popular among the women. "It is said that in New York City alone there are one hundred thousand women who smoke," reports the Chicago Tribune. "San Francisco," it says, "is almost as bad." Naturally, it claims that Chicago is less depraved, but admits that "even here there are many women who find it difficult to exist without the perfumed Egyptian 'petit.'" Doubtless what is true of one section of the country in this respect, is true of all.
The Need for Consecration
It is not money that the cause needs. We hear many and urgent calls for means, but the Lord could rain gold down from heaven, as He did the manna, if that were all that is needed. Neither is it intellect that is needed, for the Lord could use fishermen to give His message to the world to-day, as He did when He chose His twelve apostles. There is one thing that the Lord cannot supply—consecration. This you and I must supply, and the lack of this is all that has kept things waiting so long.
The Cost of the Transvaal War
WHEN the owners of the Transvaal gold mines influenced the British government to force war upon the Transvaal, they did not foresee the tremendous cost of that war, and that England would levy on their mines to the extent of $250,000,000 in defraying its expenses. They are sadder and wiser men to-day.
America’s Policy Toward the Filipinos
SPEAKING of the attitude of the United States toward the Filipinos, the Christian Advocate (Methodist) of New York, says: “When the Pilgrim Fathers, writing to John Robinson, the great Puritan preacher who gave them his blessing when they sailed from Holland, in words that the world will never let die, told him of the success they met with in slaughtering the Indians, he sadly replied, ‘I could wish that you had converted some before you had killed any.’ Both Christianity and a sagacious policy were implied in that sententious utterance. It would mitigate the situation greatly if some simple, clear, and definite statement were made of the purpose of this government toward the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands.”
The Growing Shortage of Clergymen
THE supply of clergymen turned out by the theological schools is getting to be inadequate to the demand. “This fact,” observes the Pittsburg Christian Advocate, “has been commented on in many quarters, and is one of the serious problems of the future.” It is also one of the signs of the times.
L. A. S
By L. A. S.
The Sunday-schools which use the International lessons are to take up the study of Genesis, and, quite naturally, religious teachers and writers are querying how the Bible narrative in Genesis shall be taught, since they do not believe it to be historical truth. Shall they teach it to the Sunday-school pupils as being the truth? or shall they teach it as legend, or a set of fables, or an allegory? Why they should teach it at all if they do not believe it to be true, we cannot imagine.
The editor of the Independent (New York) has been considering the question, and as a “safe answer” he says that the teacher should teach what he believes to be the truth. The teacher who does “not believe the story of the destruction of Sodom, or of the deluge, to be sober history,” says the Independent, “can tell the story in such a way as to be interesting and useful, but without dwelling any more on its scientific or historical contradictions than you would in telling one of Esop’s fables, and yet without telling them that it is true.”
The Independent goes on at some length to tell how Genesis may be taught as a collection of “fables and fairy tales,” “legends and myths;” but the one thing that the Sunday-school teacher must not do, it says, is to teach it as being true; because “if he teaches them that their faith in Christianity depends on their acceptance of the Genesis stories as historic truth, he is bidding them become infidels; that is, he is unfit to teach in a Sunday-school in these days of diffused education.”
So then, the way to make infidels, we are now told, is to teach men that the Bible is true! and in order to lead men into Christianity, they must be taught that the Bible narrative of Adam and Eve in paradise, the fall, the deluge, etc., are myths!
This is the kind of doctrine that is being advocated by the religious teachers of this day. Can you see, reader, any necessity for a separation of your children, of Seventh-day Adventist children, of all children who would know the truth and be saved, from the schools where such teaching is given? Truly, to him who reads there is no mystery in the fact that God has called for a reform in the work of teaching the youth, and a return to the true gospel system of education.
L. A. S
Editorial Notes.
“THE only way to keep the blessing of God is to give it away.”
YOU don’t keep the Sabbath unless you spend it in the company of the Lord of the Sabbath.
THE most deadly microbes are not those that get into the food, but those that get into the heart.
THE word of God is more than a medicine; it is a food; and it will not hurt any person to go to that food and eat between meals.
THE smallest sin is large enough to contain the cross of Calvary, and heavy enough to sink the soul to the bottom of perdition.
A PERSON does not have to possess money in order to be possessed by the love of money and experience the curse of that passion upon his life.
THERE are no half-fare permits issued on the celestial railway, and the person who is traveling to the next world on a spiritual half-fare ticket will sooner or later find out that he has taken the wrong road.
CHRISTIAN truth is something that cannot only be believed, but performed. And if we “do not the truth,” as the Scripture says (1 John 1:6), we shall be in darkness, however much we may profess to believe it.
QUEBEC
By D. T. Bourdeau
I AM in the field again, having enjoyed the late General Conference, and engaged in the work of either getting out or revising matter for tracts for general circulation among the French. I attended the last part of the Quebec Conference, held at Coaticook, Quebec, and was encouraged by the spirit of union, love, and courage that prevailed among the believers, old and young. It was a pleasure to meet with many whom I had not seen for twenty years, some of whom received present truth at the time of a discussion in which I took part twenty years ago. God then gave a glorious victory to the truth, and it is indeed reviving to me still to see good fruits of this and other efforts made a fifth of a century ago. We are so much nearer the consummation of our hope, which is big with immortality, and everything that tends to encourage us in our pilgrimage.
I feel more than ever impressed by the Spirit of God to press the battle to the gate of the powers of darkness, expecting that God will give us further victories on new, virgin soil, and secure, by our humble instrumentality, souls, wrenched from Satan's kingdom, as trophies of Christ's power to save. Pray that our expectation may be realized, to the joy of saints, angels, the Saviour, and the eternal Father. D. T. BOURDEAU.
THE NORWAY CONFERENCE.
By Ole Andres Olsen; Louis Richard Conradi
The annual Conference for Norway was held in our hall at Akersgaden 74, Christiania, June 6–16. At the very beginning a good spirit entered our midst, and its influence was felt during the entire meeting. The attendance was considerably larger than last year.
There was at least one session of the Conference each week-day, and all branches of the cause received proper attention. The Bible studies and preaching services were well attended, and the interest manifested in the religious exercises showed that the gospel seed was being sown in good ground.
Some experiences were related that revealed the remarkable providences of God in connection with the progress of the truth in this field. We will note one or two instances referred to: In Lille Vandve, Slapön, Norway, a fisherman was converted a number of years ago. He felt that he must labor for the salvation of his comrades. As a result of his efforts, there was a great religious awakening in the neighborhood, and a number of fishermen, with their families, were converted. They rejected human traditions and the teachings of men, and took the Bible alone as their guide. This man saw the light on baptism, the Sabbath, the tithing system, and the proper relation of the Church to the State. As he began to teach these doctrines, he encountered much opposition. Meanwhile he met one of our ministers in northern Norway, and learned that there is a people in the world who keep the seventh-day Sabbath. Upon his return home, he, with three others, began the observance of the Fourth Commandment. After a while a small company was raised up, and a year or so later one of our ministers visited them, and the only additional light they received from him was concerning the celebration of the ordinances of the Lord’s house. At that time a few more united with them. Last November Elder O. A. Johnson visited these brethren, and organized among them a church of fifteen members. They are living together in harmony and love, paying a faithful tithe, and working earnestly for the promulgation of the truth among the fishermen. The children, as well as the parents, are careful Bible students.
Another case: A converted man was out alone, working in the woods, and a voice said to him, “It is the Sabbath day; you should do no work.” He listened to that voice, and went home. He began to talk to his brother, who was also a Christian. Upon investigation, his brother, too, became convinced that the seventh day is the true Sabbath, and they both began its observance. The man immediately took his children out of school, as he realized that they were being taught error there. He was summoned before the authorities for so doing, and made his own defense, to the best of his ability. He was fined one hundred kroner; but as far as we have been informed, the fine was never collected. While at work he had his children with him, and, as opportunity afforded, he talked to them about the word of God. He received a great blessing in this course, and soon there was a change in his children. He did the best he could to teach them at home, instructing them especially in the Scriptures. But as the authorities desired the children to attend the public school, and offered to excuse them from religious instruction, he consented to their return, until he could place them under the care of one of our teachers.
The financial and spiritual outlook is encouraging. The tithes and gifts, amounting to $3,750, were sufficient to pay the laborers, and $317 on the Conference indebtedness. The thirty canvassers sold $7,250 worth of books, and our two Norwegian papers came out with a small gain. In the three medical missions, located respectively at Christiania, Bergen, and Hamar, a good work is going forward, and they more than covered their running expenses. During the year seventy were added to our numbers, giving us a membership of six hundred and eighty-seven. Elder Hansen, in Bergen, was especially blessed in his labors; in that city we have a church of ninety-six members. One new church was received into the Conference, and three persons were baptized at the close of the meeting.
The book mission (Christiania publishing house) cleared about three hundred and ten dollars. Arrangements have now been made to utilize all the floor space in the two buildings at Akersgaden 74. The old building will be rented to the medical mission, and the publishing house proper will be so used that it will pay its expenses. Great was the appreciation felt for the much-needed assistance our American brethren have rendered the publishing house, and a resolution expressive of gratitude in this matter was passed by a standing vote.
Elder O. A. Johnson was re-elected president of the Conference; and that the Conference Committee might more fully represent all branches of the work, it was enlarged to seven members. The five ministers, six medical missionaries, six Bible workers, and thirty canvassers enter upon their duties for the coming year with good prospects of success. All things considered, we believe that the work is onward in Norway, and that brighter days are before our people there.
O. A. OLSEN,
L. R. CONRADI.
PROGRESS AMONG THE JEWS.
Brother F. C. Gilbert, a Jewish Christian brother, has just attended a meeting in Boston, Mass., designed to promote the evangelization of the Jewish people. He sends the following account of it to Elder A. T. Jones, which we have the liberty to publish:—
I have sent you a paper which I read a short time ago in Boston. We had a very unique and interesting meeting at Park Street church, Boston, Mass., May 21-24. It was a Hebrew-Christian Convention, having many Jewish Christian workers from different parts of the country. It was indeed an interesting meeting. I wish you had been there; for I believe you would have thoroughly enjoyed it. It was encouraging to see these men, some of whom had been rabbis, and others had had remarkable experiences. All of them were bent on one object,—the preaching of the cross and of Christ the risen Saviour. There were about twelve denominations represented.
Two questions were particularly considered at this Conference: the evangelization of the Jews, and the privilege of the Jewish Christian to observe the ceremonial law, if he so chooses. That is to say, while it is not regarded a matter of salvation that he should observe it after he has found Christ, yet should he desire to do so, he should not be excluded from church fellowship. We had a warm and interesting time, I assure you; but thank the Lord, the truth makes a man free, and in that freedom he will stand every time. Dr. Arthur Pierson445was chairman of the meeting part of the time; Dr. McKenzie, the Harvard scholar and eminent Cambridge divine, was present, and spoke; J. M. Foster, the Calvinistic Presbyterian, famous as a Sunday-law advocate, and other great men, so called, were present, spoke, and manifested a great deal of interest. I was invited to write a paper, and read it. This paper I send you is the one I read. Bless the Lord, the Holy Spirit was present; and it was a remarkable victory God gave us for the truth. The Spirit of the Lord was with us in the presentation of the word.
After I was through reading, Dr. Pierson came to me, shook my hand, and expressed deep thankfulness for the reading of the paper. He expressed himself as desirous of having it in print, for circulation. Dr. McKenzie spoke just before I did, and he drove hard at the Sabbath. He said that while the Lord did away with the ceremonial law, he exalted the law of God by His life, with the exception of the Fourth Commandment; this He changed to the first day. You can readily imagine the situation when I took the floor. However, the Lord gave us the victory; and the truth was well received. It was certainly a remarkable opportunity to present the truth on the law and the gospel. J. M. Foster came to see me a day or so after I read the paper. He was glad of what I said concerning the law of God.
The next day after I read the paper, there was a discussion on the ceremonial law, whether the feasts should not be perpetuated. Some things were said that stirred my soul; and I felt that to allow those things to be said with no remonstrance, would make me ever after feel guilty for not holding up the truth as it is in Jesus. The Spirit of the Lord impressed me to speak; and as a result many saw light in the fact that all that the Jew needs is Christ, and Him crucified. And while the feasts and festivals were designed of the Lord to teach Israel many precious lessons of truth, when the soul sees Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of those things, there is no further need of them. Dr. Niles, the man who was with me at the Conference six years ago at Battle Creek, who was acting chairman at the time I was speaking, shut me off in the middle of my speech, and would not allow me to continue. You may be sure I had the sympathy of the people more than ever; and many of them said that the course he pursued showed that his cause was a weak one. He was one of the leaders in advocating the continuance of these festivals.
Well, bless the Lord, we had a good time; everybody was pleasant; and all agreed to disagree, when they could do no better. But oh! how my heart did rejoice, as I listened to these men express their uncertainty of many things, to know that God has given me the light of the Third Angel's Message.
I hope, now you are out again in the field, that the Lord will abundantly bless and prosper you; and that the message will be full of the Holy Ghost and of power.
Patient we sow with weary hand,
In the soil of the heart in every land,
While many a kernel of precious grain
Is lost on the rocks of greed and gain;
Many the powers in earth and air,
To choke out the seed that would blossom fair,
But though soil be sterile, or hearts be hard,
Still shall the sower receive reward.
Sowing the seed though it profit not,
Speaking kind words to be forgot,
Sowing in hearts that are hard and cold,
Haughty with pride and love of gold,
Drop we the seed where the heart has been
Torn and blackened by ways of sin;
Christ will from heaven our work regard,
And the faithful sower receive reward.
Patient we labor through years of toil,
Dropping the germs in the heart’s deep soil,
Asking the blessing of God to crown
The good seed scattered, the labor done.
Asking our Father, with gracious face,
To water the seed with the dews of grace;
Asking that evil may not retard
The yield, when the sower receives reward.
Some seed falls in the fertile mold,
Growing, perchance, to an hundredfold,
Ripening whether in sun or rain,
Yielding the Master the golden grain.
So, though many a grain is lost,
Many a seed on the rocks is tossed,
Labor was earnest and long and hard,
And the faithful sower receives reward.
NEW BRUNSWICK.
By S. J. Hersum
Since leaving home, May 29, I have visited Milkish and St. John, New Brunswick. At the latter place the general meeting for the maritime provinces was held from June 6–12. At this meeting it was decided that I should remain in St. John, to continue the meetings as long as it should be thought advisable. During my stay at St. John there were four persons baptized, and five united to the church. I also obtained three subscribers to the REVIEW AND HERALD.
I came to Moncton, Friday, June 28, and have held four meetings, with a fair attendance. The people seem anxious that I should remain longer. Those who attended the meetings are deeply interested in the subjects presented. I shall soon go into Nova Scotia to engage in a tent effort with Brother Longard, while Brethren Langdon and Tracy will run a tent somewhere in New Brunswick. The laborers need the prayers of the laity, that God will give the increase to the work performed.
S. J. HERSUM.
LOUISIANA
By C. A. Watkins
SHREVEPORT AND NEW ORLEANS.—In harmony with the recommendation of the late General Conference that I should change my labors from Michigan to the Southern Union Conference, and according to the advice of the Southern Union Conference Committee, I began an effort in Louisiana, June 1, 1901. My first stop was at Shreveport, in the northern part of the State, where I found an active little company of commandment-keepers, with whom several days were pleasantly, and I trust profitably, spent.
I next went to New Orleans, where I met Elder S. B. Horton, and spent a few days in counsel regarding work in the State. It was decided that I should visit as many of the churches and companies as possible previously to our camp-meeting at Crowley, July 12–22. In this the Lord has greatly blessed, and as I have come in close contact with the condition of the work in this way, I have rejoiced to see the readiness of our brethren in this field to advance with the calls of the message.
I am now at Crowley, preparing for the camp-meeting. May the Lord be glorified by our feeble efforts is my prayer. C. A. WATKINS.