The following letter was written to the editor of the Bible Examiner by Charles Fitch, a few months before he fell asleep in Jesus, in Buffalo, N. Y., in the autumn of 1844. For the information of those who may not have heard of Eld. Fitch, we would say that he was regarded, by those who knew him best, as one of the most able, devoted, and faithful ministers of the gospel. He was favorably known as an earnest and consistent Adventist under the first angel’s message, and even the enemies of his faith could say nothing against him. The testimony of such a witness, given so long ago, when the subject of “immortality only through Christ” had just begun to be agitated, cannot fail to be of interest to all the friends of Bible truth.
M. E. C.
“Cleveland [Ohio], May 25, 1844.
“Dear Brother:—I have received a long letter from Bro. Litch, touching the state of the dead, the end of the wicked, &c. It would be exceedingly pleasant to me to be able to please him, and the dear brethren who agree with him, for I love them all, and would rejoice to concede anything but truth, to be able to harmonize with them in my views. But there is a Friend who has bought me with his blood, and I take more pleasure in pleasing him, than in pleasing all the world besides. I never preached my present views touching the state of the dead and the destruction of the wicked, until fully convinced that I could no longer withhold them without displeasing my blessed Lord and Master. Most sincerely and truly can I call God to record upon my soul that I have never been influenced in this matter, except by a full, solemn, and irrepressible conviction, to him who died that I might live. I held my peace, most gladly, I can assure you, just as long as I dared to do it; and when I felt that I had no more right to be ashamed of God’s truth on one subject than another, I bowed to his will, and consented, henceforth, to believe and teach that when a man is dead, he is dead; and that when a man is cast into a lake of fire and brimstone, and burned up, root and branch, and utterly consumed with terrors, he cannot, after that, be eternally alive. The idea that man is a being made up of parts, some of which may be dead, and others alive, at the same time, is to me a pagan superstition, out of which the papists have contrived to raise large sums of money for their own vile purposes; nothing moved by the tremendous fact that they were robbing God of the glory of being alone immortal, and Christ of the power of having immortality to give.
“With regard to those brethren who feel called on to contend against the truths that the dead are dead, and that the destruction which awaits the wicked is destruction, and not something else, I have no feelings, I think, but those of brotherly love. They cannot feel any more confident that we are mistaken, than I do that they are; nor can my reasoning on the subject seem to them more futile, frivolous, and inconclusive, than theirs does to me. I certainly have not adopted the views I entertain to gain any worldly good, nor can I ever renounce them for such a purpose.
“Having been led into them by firm conviction, and through the fear of God alone, nothing else can ever lead me back. And I feel as ready to defend the truth on these subjects in one place as in another; and I might as well attempt to suppress my breath as to suppress these truths when I preach. I know that by the great body of second-advent believers, with whom I am acquainted, they are admitted as truth; though ideas of expediency may induce them to be silent. I have heard a few object, but I feel persuaded that it is in some instances through fear that the promulgation of these truths will be detrimental to the influence of truth touching the coming of the Lord. With this I have nothing to do. God will take care that the preaching of one truth shall not hinder the influence of another. I have been in Buffalo, Rochester, and Cincinnati, during the last two months, and I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God upon these subjects; nor can I, wherever I may be called to preach. I have no wish to differ from my brethren, but if they ask me to withhold God’s truth, on any subject to please them, they ask what I am at no liberty to grant.
“God willing, I shall see you at no distant day. My faith in the Lord’s appearing is unshaken; and I long for it more than I can express; and that, irrespective of my own interests. I want my Lord Jesus to wear his crown, and fully to taste the joy set before him when he “endured the cross, despising the shame;” and I want the martyrs, who have bled for Christ, to live and reign with him.
“Yours, in the glorious hope,
“Chas. Fitch.”
The Law of God Written in the Heart.
By Daniel T. Bourdeau
“I WILL put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts,” or minds. Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:8-12.
This is one of the better promises of the new covenant. It relates to a law that was in existence in Jeremiah’s time. This cannot be the typical law; for that law ceased at the cross. The law in question must therefore be the law of right and wrong as embodied in the ten commandments, which remains unaffected by the change of dispensations. See Matt. 5:17-19; Rom. 3:31, etc.
The Spirit of God was to be the great agent that was to accomplish this work; but that Spirit was to work through principles and motives; and there is no motive which the Holy Spirit has used more mightily in writing the law of God in the hearts of men under this dispensation than that growing out of the fact that Christ died for our sins, or transgressions of the law, John 3:4, receiving the very blows that our sins deserved, because the law could not be changed or abolished. The agonizing prayers of Jesus in the garden, the drops of sweat that there fell from his sacred person as the sins of the whole world rested upon him, the abuses that he received from his enemies in the trial that followed, and his sufferings upon the cross while his precious blood flowed freely from his head, his hands, and his feet, speak a thousand times more distinctly to the quickened conscience in favor of the law of God, than the voice that spoke from Sinai, telling us that Christ resisted unto blood, yea, unto death in striving, not against the law, but against sin, the transgression of the law. And remember, dear reader, that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is a part of this law. Hence it is, that even at the close of this dispensation it is to be put or written in the foreheads or minds of the servants of God, as the seal or sign of the living God. Rev. 7:1-3; 6:12-17; 14:1; Eze. 20:12, 20; Ex. 31:17, etc. On the term seal in Rev. 7:2, see different versions, some of which render the original word seal, others sign, and others mark—seal, sign, and mark being convertible terms.
Since, then, our sins have cost the Son of God such cruel sufferings, how careful we ought to be to avoid sinning, by keeping the law of God through gratitude and love for him who died for us. D. T. BOURDEAU.
Trials.
By H. M. Van Slyke
THE followers of Christ are often brought into strait places, where the way seems hedged up on all sides. To attempt to go forward seems perilous, to face about is to deny the faith. At such times shall we sit down and grieve at the hardness of the way, and complain because trials come which we had not looked for? Surely the soul is troubled. What shall we say? My ease, Lord? my pleasure? No, rather, Thy will be done; glorify thy name.
How sweet then are the words of Holy Writ, inspiring and elevating us above the troubles that seemed insurmountable, a holy calm awaits our trembling footsteps, and, as overcomers we may rejoice in the light of God’s love. But we may not expect to rest long this side of our great deliverance. If we continually say, Thy will be done, the Lord will continue to try us; and if we as persistently seek only the glory of the Lord and the honor of his cause, we may grow into the knowledge of him who hath called us, and perhaps be tuning our hearts to join the refrain in the song of Moses and the Lamb: “Just and true are thy ways, thou, King of saints.” H. M. VAN SLYKE.
Eld. Grant and S. D. Adventists.
Himes’ Journal, for March, 1875, contains an exposure of the course of Eld. Miles Grant during his five visits to California, written by a committee of first-day Adventists of California. As our own people have had some unpleasant experience with the unprincipled course of this man, the following statements will be of interest to our readers. Of the relation of Eld. G. to S. D. Adventists, the committee speak as follows:—
“PROGRESS OF S. D. ADVENTISTS.
“Eld. Grant has had his way and sway. He ‘fought it out on that line’ with an obstinacy untempered by common-sense. His senseless assaults upon the seventh-day people, who were not intruding upon ground occupied by us, provoked them to retaliation, and they have pitched their tent in Vallejo, Santa Clara, and San Jose, and drawn away members from, and weakened, all of these churches. The field was large enough, and Eld. Fassett’s policy was to let them alone while they did not molest our churches. The result has shown the folly of Eld. Grant’s course in this, as in almost every item of his policy on the Pacific Coast. In Napa City, Eld. Grant’s boasted discussion has ended in helping the Sabbatarians. Their society is stronger than ever, while of Eld. Grant’s influence there is scarcely a trace.
“Practically, this field is abandoned to the Sabbatarians. A San Francisco paper says of them:—
“Six years ago last July, two Seventh-day Adventist ministers landed in San Francisco with their tent, and immediately commenced operations at Petaluma, Sonoma County. These ministers, and one or two others who have joined them, have labored almost unceasingly, and they can now say their work is a success. They closed, the 12th inst., a twelve days’ camp-meeting at Yountville, Napa Valley. At this meeting they had a beautiful tabernacle tent 60x125 feet, besides eighty-five campers’ tents. Some 600 camped upon the grounds, and the last Sunday of the meeting they had an audience of over 2000 persons. Forty-one persons were baptized, and besides these several others came out and united with the society during the meeting. The Seventh-day Adventists now have fourteen churches in the State, numbering nearly six hundred members. Their State Conference, which was held in connection with their camp-meeting, raised $19,400, to be used in establishing a publishing house on this coast. They also raised over $1,600 in the interest of their tents in California.”
“They are publishing a weekly paper at Oakland in this State, which is gaining a good circulation. Thus they prosper while our cause lies in ruins. We have four weakly churches, distracted and divided by the obstinate persistence with which the preposterous doctrine of ‘perfectionism’ has been forced upon them. Eld. Grant is now upon his fifth visit here. He is not effecting results of any consequence. The seventh-day people refuse to meet him in debate, not because they fear him (which is absurd in view of their past experience with his debates), but because, as they show, he has deceived them, and they can place no reliance upon his word. They claim to be ready to meet honorable and honest men.”
Significant Items.
“THE emperor of Russia has granted to the London Society for Promoting Christianity among Jews, permission to send its agents to Poland and other parts of Russia inhabited by Jews. This Society, which has stations in most of the countries of Europe, in Palestine, and in Northern Africa, has not been allowed to enter Russian territory since the Crimean war.”
The Spanish government has commenced to redeem its promises to the pope for his prompt recognition of Alonzo XII. Liberty of worship is threatened, and the Protestant clergy have made an appeal to Germany and other European powers upon the matter. Complications will soon result, if injury is done to any subjects of Germany or Great Britain. The toleration which Rome desires is of a very one-sided sort, but it is “polite,” of course, to pretend through her organs in this country that charity and forbearance ought to be extended to all religious denominations. But while there is no need of such deception, we see what Rome really is.
The Herald finds this sneering excuse for Mr. Gladstone’s latest publication: “A retired statesman must do something else than chop wood, and in England it is always safe to assail the pope.” It is just because men of statesman-like ability, like Mr. Gladstone, have assailed the pope, when occasion called, that the freedom of discussing religious matters is preserved in Great Britain. But if Rome is permitted to go on with her work, unchecked, in this country for a few years longer, it will not certainly be “safe” to criticize the pope here.—New York Weekly.
The Most Blinding Dust: Gold-Dust
THE most blinding dust ever thrown in men's eyes is gold-dust.
Addison County, Vt.
By A. S. Hutchins
Since my report of our meetings in this county, I have received very encouraging reports of the progress of the work there. A brother writes: “Our meetings are interesting, and we are trying to get together in season and to be prompt and punctual in all our exercises.”
“Our meeting last Sabbath was one of unusual interest. A first-day Adventist sister and her son-in-law were present. In her testimony, she said she had long desired to attend a meeting like the one she was in, where she could feel free. And I think I never saw any one rejoice as she did. The brother’s testimony was clear, candid, and directly to the point.” After a very careful investigation of the Sabbath question, these friends had decided that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment was binding upon Christians, and had commenced its observance, this being their first Sabbath.
The brother said he had been investigating the subject of the Sabbath about one year; that he was much prejudiced against the Sabbath when he commenced, having heard nothing in its favor till he moved where he now lives, but much against it. A few tracts were given him to read, and he also took the Voice of Truth. He obtained the best work he could find against the Sabbath, and got Eld. J. N. Andrews’ “History of the Sabbath,” bringing all, as he read, to the sure and unfailing test, the word of God.
As we reflect on the course of these honest seekers for the truth, how appropriate the words of a pious writer seem here:—
“In every dubious question, when the foot is trembling on debatable ground, knowing not whether to advance or recede, make this the final criterion, ‘What saith the Scripture?’ The world may remonstrate, erring friends may disapprove, Satan may tempt, ingenious arguments may explain away; but with our finger on the revealed page, let the words of our Great Example be ever a divine formula for our guidance: ‘This commandment have I received of my Father.’”
Speaking of the number whom we left keeping the Sabbath, he says: “We are all holding on, and some, if not all, are making very marked advancement toward the kingdom.”
A. S. HUTCHINS.
Irasburgh, Vt., April 12, 1875.
Labette Co., Kansas.
By Andrew J. Stover
OUR quarterly meeting was held April 10 and 11, and was quite well attended, the Sherman brethren and friends excepted. They were hindered on account of rains. Our meeting was not characterized by that zeal which is sometimes seen, but a solemnity pervaded the meeting that will be long remembered. Bro. Blanchard’s preaching was searching and solemn. Eight united with the church. Three had been previously baptized; others who are now observing the Sabbath will go forward in baptism shortly. We now number twenty-nine. Systematic Benevolence has been considered and partially adopted. The brethren are taking hold of health reform, &c.
The great truths of the three angels’ messages are beginning to be realized more and more, and persecutions are on the increase, thus driving believers nearer and nearer to God.
Bro. Rogers did not get here on account of a meeting at or near Holden Mo. We felt disappointed, but we knew that he was faithfully discharging duty where he was.
ANDREW J. STOVER.
Labette, Labette Co., Kansas, April 14, 1875.
Steele Co., Minn.
Left home Dec. 30, 1874, to labor in the cause of present truth. Visited the little church at River Falls, Wis., by request of Conference Committee. Held, in all, twelve meetings with them. Two more embraced the Sabbath here. Our visit has been, we think, a profitable one for the church in this place.
January 20, went to Kingston, Meeker Co., Minn., where Bro. Hill had been laboring for some time with good success, but was now obliged to return home on account of sickness in his family. We remained here until Feb. 16, visiting and holding meetings here and in the vicinity. A few more were added to the company. I then went to Albion, an entirely new field; and held meetings there until March 7. Seven promised to keep all God’s commandments, and make preparation to meet the Lord.
Commenced a course of lectures at Corinna, about six miles from Albion, March 11, and continued until April 6, with a deep interest. The Methodists were holding a protracted meeting in the neighborhood when we commenced, but closed soon after for want of hearers. The Lord gave us great freedom in presenting the truth here, for which we feel very thankful and give him all the glory. We leave here a company of seventeen keeping the commandments of God.
Bro. Grant met with us here a few days before the close which greatly added to the interest of the meeting. At this meeting we had several pressing calls to present the truth in other places. While the Lord is opening up the way before us in such a wonderful manner, may he give us wisdom to present the truth with a sanctified mind and heart, that it may accomplish the desired result.
I now return home, after an absence of little more than three months, feeling that it is good to labor in the cause of the Lord. I intend to start out again in the service of the Master immediately after seeding, as the Lord shall open the way. Brethren, pray for me.
L. H. ELLS.
Medford, Steele Co., Minn., April 16, 1875.
Illinois.
I am now holding meetings five miles north-west of Kankakee City, with good interest. Some have already taken hold of the Sabbath, and others are investigating. May the Lord help me to give meat in due season.
T. M. STEWARD.
Letter from Texas.
We left our home in Battle Creek, March 16, at 1 P. M., and arrived at this place the 19th, at 9 P. M., having been detained in St. Louis, Mo., 24 hours by storm. We left Michigan when the snow was from one to three feet deep, and on our arrival here found the leaves putting forth, and all nature arrayed in green. This portion of the State is what is known as Northern Central Texas, and this county is about the southern edge of the wheat-growing district. The principal productions are cotton, wheat, corn, sweet and Irish potatoes, pecans, peanuts, apples, figs, peaches, plums, nectarines, &c. Every thing cultivated at the North can be successfully raised here, and many things that cannot be raised there.
It is the most beautiful face of country that I ever saw, being rolling prairie, with numerous little streams or branches, along the banks of which there is sufficient timber for fuel. Almost every farm may include prairie and timber, and have a stream or two running across it, formed by springs. The soil is very rich and productive. This country has been settled for thirty years, and the land has been tilled year after year without enriching, but shows no signs of being any poorer than at first. It has been sparsely settled until quite recently. Now northern emigration begins to pour in. Stock raising has been, until lately, the principal business.
There is no danger from Indians for at least 150 miles west of this place, I am told, and there their occasional raids are made for the sole purpose of stealing horses. I have been very kindly received everywhere I have been, and have found the people, without exception, hospitable and friendly, and far more intelligent than I had supposed. Everything seems very peaceable and prosperous, although money seems to be very scarce here, as well as at the North. I have been here over three weeks and have not yet so much as heard a word about “White Leagues,” and the many other formidable secret associations that are so much spoken about in northern newspapers, and cause such a terror to those desiring to go South. Tobacco-using is an almost universal custom here—the men chew and smoke, and the women “dip.”
Nearly one-fifth of the population are freedmen, and they are generally engaged by the white people to work their farms, the whites furnishing teams, seed, dwellings, and everything but the hand-labor, and giving them one-half the crops; and from all I can learn by talking with residents here, they are commendably industrious, taking all the circumstances into consideration. But from the life-long habit of looking upon everything belonging to their former masters as their own, they will steal, whenever they get out of food, from the nearest and fullest corn crib and smoke house.
There is at the present time a very large influx of northern immigration into this large, new, rich, and, as yet, undeveloped State, being no less than 33,527 from all quarters for the months of September, October, and November, last; and although I know of but two families of Sabbath-keepers in the State besides ourselves at present, I regard this State as one of the very best fields in the country for missionary labor, and look forward to no distant day when Texas shall number its hundreds, if not thousands, of faithful and consistent brethren and sisters, doing all in their power to advance the cause of the Master here, and spread the glorious news of his soon-coming kingdom. By careful management I believe that the ears of the people can be reached in nearly every place; for there is no prejudice existing in their minds either against the truth or those who occupy leading positions in the message.
Perhaps there is no spot on this continent where there is less known of Seventh-day Adventists than in Texas. Tents could be successfully run here the entire year. A good many of our people in the North are looking to a warmer climate, and I would say to such as have been writing me that perhaps there is no part of the country better adapted to persons of small means than Texas. As it is, strictly speaking, a new country, the manners and habits of the people are all very primitive; lands are cheap and very productive, and some crops can be raised the year round. It costs nothing to raise stock here, the mercury seldom running lower than 16° above zero in winter, or higher than 96° in summer. It is a very healthful country, the air being so pure and dry that meat will cure out in the open air in summer-time.
But I do hope that those who come here to make it their home will come thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the truth, and we can then form a southern wing to the great army of the Lord, which may be very efficient in the blessed cause of the Master.
There are very large bodies of Swedes, Danes, and Germans in the Brazos country, 150 miles west and south of here; this is said to be as fine a country as the sun ever shone upon, and it would afford a fine field for labor in those tongues.
E. G. RUST.
Rice, Navarro Co., Texas.
Quarterly Report of the California T. & M. Society.
By John Norton Loughborough; A. W. Everts
THE second quarterly meeting of the State T. & M. Society of California was held at Napa, Napa Co., April 3, 4, 1875. Meeting opened with prayer by Eld. James White, Eld. J. N. Loughborough presiding.
Owing to the absence of the State secretary, A. W. Everts was elected secretary pro tem.
State report was read as follows:—
Rec'd for membership, $24.00
“ by donations, 10.00
“ “ book sale, 24.95
“. for almanacs, 1.60
“ “ Kansas relief, 22.05
“ “ Reformer and Instructor, 11.00
Total, $93.60
No. of families visited, 220; letters written, 266; new subscribers for Signs, 72; Tidende, 10; REVIEW, 3; Instructor, 93; Reformer, 50; Svensk Herald, 3; REVIEWS distributed, 375; Instructors, 63; Reformers, 50; Signs, 457; almanacs, 27; pages of143tracts and pamphlets loaned, 22,054; given away, 71,010; total, 93,064; bound books loaned, 17.
Remarks were made by Eld. White on the best method of sustaining the Signs of the Times. He stated that with a circulation of 5000 copies at $2.00 a year for a volume of fifty copies, or at $4.00 per hundred copies, all the expenses of the publication of the Signs would be fully met.
On motion, the following preamble and resolution, offered by Eld. White, were adopted:—
Whereas, 5,000 copies of the Signs of the Times can be published at the rate of $4.00 per hundred copies, or at $2.00 for a volume of fifty copies, therefore,
Resolved, That we recommend as the best method of sustaining the Signs that the Tract and Missionary Society use the surplus copies of the paper to a great extent instead of our denominational tracts.
Two requests for books to be placed in libraries were read and accepted. One signed by Henry F. Lampshire, Brownsville, Clear Creek Co., Colorado; the other signed by T. C. Branch, Modesto,—. The first mentioned application was referred by vote to Eld. White, and the second to Eld. Loughborough to be supplied by the California Conference.
The matter of increasing the circulation of the Signs was again discussed; and by motion Eld. J. N. Loughborough, Bro. Charles Chittenden, and sister A. M. Driscall, were chosen as committee to see that the measures were carried out as expressed by the foregoing resolution.
Meeting adjourned to call of President.
J. N. Loughborough, Pres.
A. W. Everts, Sec. pro tem.
EBAL AND GERIZIM.
By Mrs. A. A. Barnes
I can see a wondrous picture
Gleaming through the centuries old,
Where the lovely vale of Sychar
Lies between the mountains bold.
And this valley, bright with verdure,
Watered is by laughing rills;
Near a thousand feet above it,
Rise the everlasting hills!
Rise Mounts Gerizim and Ebal,
Which the hosts of Israel fill;
Mounts of blessing and of cursing,
Thoughts of which each bosom thrill.
And midway across this valley
Rests the ark—the priests anear—
Over which the Lord’s Shekinah
Guided Israel year by year;
Through the Red Sea, through the desert,
Jordan’s parted waters through;
Seen by day a cloudy pillar,
And by night a flame in view.
They have gained the land of promise,
Their enfeoffment has been given;
They are His peculiar people,
Feared by men, and helped of Heaven.
And now their great, victorious leader,
Gives the waiting priests command,
To recite the curse and blessing,
To the tribes ranged on each hand.
And the sons of Rachel’s children,
Gerizim’s high honor share;
And save Zebulun and Reuben,
All of Leah’s sons are there.
All the rest are on Mount Ebal,
Half of Israel’s hosts declare,
An assent to all the curses,
Which afore JEHOVAH sware!
Sunbeams glinting down the valley,
Where the ark its bearers hold,
Give the cherubim new beauty,
Light the mercy-seat’s pure gold.
O’er the heads of priests and Levites,
With the sacred ark between,
They irradiate a picture,
Such as nowhere else is seen.
Unto Gerizim first turning,
Solemnly the priests now spake:
“Bless-ed is the man that never
Shall a graven image make.”
Loud “amens” from o’er that mountain,
Might its deep foundations shake!
And now the priests, turning northward
Toward Mount Ebal, chant again:
“Curs-ed is the man that maketh
Any molten image.” Then
All the tribes upon that mountain
Shout a deep and loud—“Amen!”
All the blessings, all the curses,
Promised them in Moses’ law
Are recited; while the people
Give assent with fear and awe.
And the children, list’ning, gazing,
Never to their dying day,
May forget that scene imposing,
That most wonderful array,
On Mounts Gerizim and Ebal,
While the valley at their feet,
Held the ark in radiant beauty,
Covered with the mercy-seat.
—Mrs. A. A. Barnes.
Pine Run, Michigan.
By E. B. Lane; J. O. Corliss
We have now been at this place sixteen days, and have given twenty-five discourses. Some have already decided to keep the Sabbath, while many are deeply interested. We are occupying a house 40x60 feet, which is well filled at each meeting, and on the occasion of Mrs. Lane’s first discourse many went away unable to get in.
An urgent call from a neighboring school district was filled with an equally crowded house; this we did for the purpose of increasing the attendance here, and secured the desired result.
We would say to our friends who are expecting us to fill appointments among them this spring, that we cannot leave the work here at present. E. B. LANE, J. O. CORLISS.
April 20, 1875.
Lyons, Wisconsin.
By I. Sanborn
I HAVE labored in the vicinity of Lyons three weeks since my last report, which brings me to the commencement of the busy season among farmers. I have preached here forty-four times, and have spent a great deal of time visiting among the people. By so doing I have been able, by the help of God, to remove much prejudice which had been created by the first-day Adventists through the unchristian manner in which they treat the faith of other people.
The result of my labors thus far, is that thirteen are keeping the Sabbath. Twelve of them were baptized last Sunday, which increases this company of Sabbath-keepers to eighteen who meet for Sabbath meetings. There are also a number of others that we think will yet decide to obey the truth. They adopt the health reform readily. I obtained three subscribers for the REVIEW, three for the Reformer, and six for the Instructor. I also organized Systematic Benevolence amounting to $131.56 a year.
I think I never saw people take hold of the truth more readily and with a greater appreciation of its sacredness than they have here. They all feel very anxious that there should be a tent-meeting in Baraboo this season, and I think if it is possible their wishes should be gratified.
I closed my meetings in Lyons last evening, and came to Kilbourn City twelve miles distant, to-day. The Lord willing, I shall commence meetings in the Baptist church in this place on next first-day afternoon, and continue as long as the interest may demand. As there are twenty copies of the Voice read here, and a great many tracts have been distributed, I think something may be accomplished for the salvation of souls.
I never felt more courage in the Lord, nor more confidence in the success of this work than now. As I look over the field, and think of the many calls for labor that I have received within a few weeks, my soul is stirred for the people. Pray that the Lord may send forth more laborers into the harvest field. And may the Lord inspire all our hearts with more of a love to work in this holy cause than we have had in the past, is my prayer.
I. SANBORN.
Kilbourn City, April 15, 1875.
Light Springing Up.
The following letter from a lawyer in Edina, Mo., has been of such interest to us, that we take the liberty, though it is a private letter, to give our readers the privilege of its perusal:—
EDITOR REVIEW AND HERALD, DEAR SIR:
I am satisfied that your publications contain the truth pertaining to this age of the world; and that all things combine to indicate, not only some universal crisis, but that that crisis is the last conflict of the church and the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven.
I was before strongly inclined to this view, but I may say I no longer feel any doubt in regard to the very near consummation of all things, and that the truth appropriate to such a state is with those who have long been derided, but who through all have held the torch burning against the gathering darkness.
I adore God that he has at last brought me to the truth. Through many years, I have been tossed by doubts and fears as to the truth of common theology, and in my own mind, at many times, had concluded it in the wrong, but feared to step from the ground I was already on, till firmer footing should appear elsewhere.
I can scarce refrain from crying out, as these truths open up in resistless demonstration before my mind. The Lord God be praised that light is sprung up to them that sat in the regions and shadow of death.
In gratitude I shall enroll myself among those who have the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Still, though fully satisfied as to the conclusions, I desire you to send me some work which traces the prophecies from their origin through intervening events to the present.
I have a general idea of the leading themes of the prophets, and understand how our own country is made to explain a portion of Revelation, but the other prophecies of Revelation are, to a great extent, a mystery to me.
H. W.
April 16, 1875.
Lovers of Pleasure.
A CORRESPONDENT from St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., sends us a description of a scene that recently took place in a church in that vicinity, which too truly illustrates the nature of much of the religion of the present day. We condense from it the following statements:—
Somewhere within the boundary of St. Lawrence Co., New York stands a little brown church, built for, and dedicated to, the service of the most high God.
Well do I remember hearing the founder of this little church relate the happiness he felt in contemplating this highly original idea of his of using a small portion of his vast accumulation in building this little Bethel, wherein prayer-loving people might meet to worship, with none to molest and none to make afraid. And perchance some idle Sabbath-breaker might stray in and, for the first time, hear of the merits of the blood of the crucified and risen Saviour, be reclaimed, and become a shining star in his crown in Heaven. This was a united church, owned by the M. E. and Presbyterian societies. So strenuously did they adhere to their first idea of keeping it a holy and consecrated temple, that about one year ago, they sanctimoniously closed and locked its doors against a minister of that sect called S. D. Adventists.
Now mark the sequel. Last week, learning by advertisement and the common chat of the people, that there was to be a common-school exhibition in that place, and urged by a particular friend, I consented to attend. Imagine my surprise as I found this temple of God, this very holy place fitted up for a scene of fun and frolic. The pulpit had been removed, and a large platform, or stage had been erected, divided off by partitions suitable for the occasion, and draped with fancy curtains, and the silver communion service reverently set aside. In short, the church was fitted up, pro tem, for a theater. An organ was placed upon the stage, and soon its notes resounded through that crowded room; but it was not a grandly solemn hymn of praise and thanksgiving fitting for the place, nor yet a funeral dirge, as I had often heard in that same church, but a lively, fitful opera air, fitting the occasion, and but an echo from the unsanctified heart of the performer.
Now the curtains rose, and the performance begun. Light, frivolous songs in which the Methodist chorister took part, love scenes, tableaux, comic negro songs walked out to time by the blackened singers; and finally a dance! only a cotillion to be sure, but where was it? In the very place where prayer was wont to be made. In the very place where I had seen many persons (and some of the same were present) kneel at the altar and receive the baptismal rite and partake of the sacrament, the bread and the wine, those solemn symbols of Christ’s broken body and shed blood. In the very place where I had seen the form quiver with suppressed grief, the tears fall, and heard the agonized wail from so many mourners over the lifeless clay of some near and dear relative, loved while present, and forgotten so soon. Not many of the actors but had taken part in some one of the above-described scenes.
That dancing scene was the last I saw; for I then hastened from the place; but I understand the revelry was kept until a late hour.
Would you like to know by what miracle this great change in the feelings of the joint holders of the church was wrought? I will tell you. Years ago, the fathers of the church, bought a couple of stoves for which they gave their notes on interest, and which had now run up to the formidable sum of twenty dollars, more or less, and for this paltry sum, as one expressed to me, they had sold their church, their religion, their respect and honor.
The Old Controversy.
The spirit of slavery still lives in its old home. Nothing stands in the way of its re-establishment but the lack of power; and in the troublous times before us, this obstacle may disappear. The following is from The Christian Press, of March 1875:—
Shall our colored people be free or slaves? Strange, after all the blood and treasure spent by the nation to secure their freedom that this should be still a question. But it is, as the following extract from the report of the Congressional Committee on Louisiana, just presented to Congress, shows. The report says:
“The laws passed by the Legislature of that State in 1865, 1866 and 1867, must have been designed to put the negro in a state of practical servitude. 1865, chap. 10, provided that, under the penalty of fine or imprisonment, no person shall carry fire-arms on the premises or plantation of any citizen, without the consent of the owner, thus depriving the great mass of the colored laborers of the State of the right to keep and bear arms, a right always peculiarly prized and guarded by his white employer.
“1865, chap. 11, punishes by fine and imprisonment the entering upon any plantation without the permission of the owner, thus preventing any person from seeking intercourse with the negro for the purpose of giving him political or other information, except such as his master should approve.
“1865, chap. 12, authorizes any Justice of the Peace, on complaint that any person is a vagrant, on summary process to require such person to give bond for his good behavior and future industry for one year. On failing to give such bond, the Justice shall issue his warrant to the Sheriff to hire out such person for twelve months under such regulations as may be made by the municipal authorities, provided that, if the accused be a person who has abandoned his employer before his contract expired, the preference shall be given to such employer of hiring the accused, thus putting it into the power of any local magistrate, on summary process, to remand the laborer to a condition of practical slavery.”
The report quotes two other acts of the same character, passed in 1865, and also mentions an act of 1867, imposing a poll tax of fifteen dollars for highway purposes, under which it would be possible to raise $2,612,000 in a single year.
These laws perished with the government that enacted them in 1867, but they show the animus of the rebel element now striving through means of the White League to gain control of all the Southern States. Let them gain this control, with a President and Congress in sympathy with them, and the present freedom of the colored people would soon be a thing of the past. The old beacon fires must be kindled. The old liberty guard must shoulder arms once more in defense of the golden rule: “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”