Earlier text: The True MissionaryThe Silent Deacon’s Opinion.
When next summer comes, with its heat and dust and languor, and the tired spirit, fainting by the way, cries out for the wings of a dove, go up to W——, among the hills made sacred to nature, where the hurry and anxiety of commerce are unknown, and the silent Sabbaths are never broken by the whizzing of machinery, or defiled by its smoke and steam. If you have toiled hard enough to deserve rest, you will find it in W——; if not, you will seek it anywhere in vain. It is the most pleasant place in the world, and were it not for the farmer turning his furrows, or casting in seed, you might imagine yourself already where “Sabbaths never end.” Entering the neat, capacious church, fatherly and motherly faces meet your eye at every hand, and you will soon forget that you are a stranger. Yonder, in the square pew, sits Deacon Lee; you would know he was a deacon if he had not told you. Some men are born deacons—what a pity that some should enter the holy office who are not! Deacon Lee was not a native of W——, but went there to till a farm left him by an aged relative some twenty years ago—about the time Deacon Bell died, leaving a sad void in the church and the parsonage—for he was a pillar in Zion, and a strong arm to his pastor. After seeking long to fill his place, the minds of the church settled on the new-comer, who, by his solemnity, piety, and zeal, seemed created for the place. He was a man of few words, rarely ever talking, so that the boys called him at first “a glum old man.” But they soon changed their opinion; for he set apart a tree of summer sweetings and one of bell pears for their express benefit, as they went to and from school, and surprised them by a fine swing, which he hung for them in his walnut grove. So the verdict of that and of each succeeding generation of boys was that, although the deacon never talked, he was a kind and genial man, and a lover of children. Every boy, for twenty years, has been his shepherd, his watchman, or his assistant farmer; feeling it a high honor to hitch his horse on the Sabbath, or to drive his manure cart on Monday; and all because they saw, through the thick veil of reserve, that love burned and glowed in his heart. Deacon Lee’s minister trusted in him, and the church felt her temporal affairs safe in his hands, and the world honored his stern consistency. There was a serpent in Eden, and a Judas in that thrice blessed band who walked and talked with our Redeemer on earth, and who saw his glory mingled with his humanity; why, then, need we wonder that one man, subtle and treacherous, hid himself in the calm verdure of W——, crawling out only to deceive God’s people with a kiss, till ready to spring upon them with his poisoned fangs? Upright, faithful, and earnest, as were the people, they were not proof against flattery and deception. There came among them one quite unused to their unostentatious way of serving God, and ambitious, as he said, “of seeing them make some stir in the world.” We know from God’s word that “one sinner destroyeth much good,” and yet we are often annoyed at the wide results of one man’s evil work in the church. One may sow tares which a hundred cannot pluck out; and therefore it becomes God’s children to stay the enemy in his first efforts. He who aimed at the life of the gospel church in W—— was “dead, while he had a name to live.” He scorned many of the humble ones whose crown is waiting them on high. He hated the humbling doctrine of the cross, and desired to see man glorified and exalted; he rebelled against the “iron bars,” which he chose to call the bonds of love which separate God’s chosen and obedient ones from the world that lieth in wickedness. He declared that the millennium could never dawn till all Christians were as one—by which he meant that, for the sake of union, right must yield to wrong—as if he were of the number who loved and longed for the appearing of Christ! He began stealthily to sow his seeds among the younger and weaker of the flock, and when he saw the first token of their taking root, he grew bold, and began to cast them in on the strong, high hills. But here he found resistance; the soil which had borne such rich harvests of grace repelled his seed from its bosom; and he came to the mad resolve to assail the deacon, and try how he would receive it. If he, with his piety, zeal, and influence, opened his bosom to it, the end was easily attained. The minister was not worthy of consideration in the matter—ministers are so readily put out of the way if they do not yield to ungodliness. If he proved a dead sentinel, he would not molest him; if alive and jealous of his Master’s honor, one bullet would settle him forever. In pursuance of his “liberal views,” and his deep-laid plans, our valiant reformer rode up and fastened his horse before the unpretending dwelling of Deacon Lee. Ushered into the neat “keeping room” to await his coming from the harvest field, his restless spirit was almost awed by the silence which reigned there. The tall clock in the corner with its ever-sailing ship, ticked painfully loud; and even the buzzing of the few flies on the panes annoyed him. He suffered much the same oppression as do those who wait long in a silent, darkened room, the coming of a minister to a funeral. He wished for, and then dreaded the good man, being not quite sure of a warm reception. He had just decided on a clandestine flight, when the door opened and the deacon entered, as calm and neat as if toil had never ruffled his spirits or soiled his garments. After the usual greetings, and a dead, awful pause, the visitor began—think of the wiles of Satan—by lamenting the low state of religion, asking the good man why this church had enjoyed no revival for three or four years! What cared he for God’s set time to visit Zion? He was far more deeply interested in the opening of a new stage road to the summit, and in getting up stock in the projected hotel there. “Now, what do you think is the cause of things being dull here? Do you know?” he persisted in asking. The deacon was not ready to give his opinion, and, after a little thought, frankly answered, “No, I don’t.” “Do you think the church are alive to the work before them?” “Do you think the minister fully realizes the solemnity of his work?” A twinkle was seen in the eye of this troubler in Zion, and taking courage he asked: “Do you think Mr. B. a very extraordinary man?” “Do you think his sermon on ‘Their Eyes Were Holden,’ anything wonderfully great?” Making bold, after all this encouragement in monosyllables, he asked, “Then don’t you think we had better dismiss this man and ‘hire’ another?” The old deacon started as if shot with an arrow, and, in a tone far louder than his wont, shouted, “No, I don’t!” “Why,” cried the amazed visitor, “you agree with me in all I have said, don’t you?” “You talk so little, sir,” replied the guest, not a little abashed, “that no one can find out what you do mean.” “I talked enough once,” replied the old man, rising to his feet, “for six praying Christians. Thirty years ago I got my heart humbled and my tongue bridled, and ever since that I’ve walked humbly before God. I then made vows solemn as eternity; and don’t you tempt me to break them!” The troubler was startled at the earnestness of the hitherto silent, immovable man, and asked, “What happened to you thirty years ago?” “Well, sir, I will tell you. I was drawn into a scheme just like this of yours, to uproot one of God’s servants from the field in which he had planted him. In my blindness I fancied it a little thing to remove one of the ‘stars’ which Jesus holds in his right hand, if thereby my ear could be tickled by more flowery words, and the pews filled with those who turned away from the simplicity of the gospel. I and the men that led me—for I admit that I was a dupe and a tool—flattered ourselves that we were conscientious. We thought we were doing God service when we drove that holy man from his pulpit and his work, and said we considered his labors ended in B——, where I then lived. We groaned because there was no revival, while we were gossiping about, and criticising, and crushing, instead of upholding, by our efforts and our prayers, the instrument at whose hands we harshly demanded the blessings. Well, sir, he could not drag on the chariot of salvation with half a dozen of us taunting him for his weakness, while we hung on as a dead weight to the wheels; he had not the power of the Spirit, and could not convert men; so we hunted him like a deer till, worn and bleeding, he fled into a covert to die. Scarcely had he gone, when God came among us, by his Spirit, to show that he had blessed the labors of his dear, rejected servant. Our own hearts were broken, and our wayward children converted, and I resolved at a convenient season to visit my former pastor, and confess my sin, and thank him for his faithfulness to my wayward sons, which, like long-buried seed, had now sprung up. But God denied me that relief, that he might teach me a lesson every child of his ought to learn, that he who toucheth one of his servants, toucheth the apple of his eye. I heard my old pastor was ill, and taking my oldest son with me, set out on a twenty-five miles’ ride to see him. It was evening when I arrived, and his wife, with the spirit which any woman ought to exhibit toward one who had so wronged her husband, denied me admittance to his chamber. She said, and her words were arrows to my soul, ‘He may be dying, and the sight of your face might add to his anguish!’ “Had it come to this, I said to myself, that the man whose labors had, through Christ, brought me into his fold, whose hands had buried me in baptism, who had consoled my spirit in a terrible bereavement, and who had, till designing men had alienated us, been to me as a brother—that this man could not die in peace with my face before him? ‘God pity me!’ I cried, ‘What have I done?’ I confessed my sin to that meek woman, and implored her for Christ’s sake to let me kneel before his dying servant, and receive his forgiveness. What did I care then whether the pews by the door were rented or not? I would gladly have taken his whole family to my home forever as my own flesh and blood, but no such happiness was before me.” “As I entered the room of the blessed warrior, whose armor was falling from his limbs, he opened his languid eyes, and said, ‘Brother Lee! Brother Lee!’ I bent over him and sobbed out, ‘My pastor! my pastor!’ Then raising his white hand, he said in a deep, impressive voice, ‘Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm!’ I spoke tenderly to him, told him I had come to confess my sin, and bring some of his fruit to him, calling my son to tell him how he found Christ. But he was unconscious of all around; the sight of my face had brought the last pang of earth to his spirit.” “I kissed his brow, and told how dear he had been to me; I craved his pardon for my unfaithfulness, and promised to care for his widow and fatherless little ones; but his only reply, murmured as if in a troubled dream, was, ‘Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.’” “I staid by him all night, and at daybreak I closed his eyes. I offered his widow a house to live in the remainder of her days; but like a heroine she said, ‘I freely forgive you. But my children who entered deeply into their father’s anguish, shall never see me so regardless of his memory as to take anything from those who caused it. He has left us all with his covenant God, and he will care for us.’” “Well, sir, those dying words sounded in my ears from that coffin and from that grave. When I slept, Christ stood before my dream, saying, ‘Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.’ These words followed me till I fully realized the esteem in which Christ holds those men who had given up all for his sake, and I vowed to love them evermore for his sake, even if they are not perfect. And since that day, sir, I have talked less than before, and have supported my pastor, even if he is not a ‘very extraordinary man.’ My tongue shall cleave to the roof of my mouth, and my right hand forget her cunning, before I dare to put asunder what God hath joined together. When a minister’s work is done in a place, I believe God will show it to him. I will not join you, sir, in the scheme that brought you here, and, moreover, if I hear another word of this from your lips, I shall ask my brethren to deal with you as with them who cause divisions. I would give all I own to recall what I did thirty years ago. Stop where you are, and pray God, if perchance the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.” This decided reply put an end to the new-comer’s efforts to get a minister who could make more stir, and left him free to lay out roads and build hotels. There is often great power in the little word “no,” but sometimes it requires not a little courage to speak it as resolutely as did the silent deacon.—Examiner and Chronicle. S. N. HASKELL
By S. N. Haskell
It will be readily seen that the reporting system is important, and that no Tract Society can prosper without it. It is at those meetings where reports are made that we become acquainted with the best methods of carrying forward the work. At meetings of this kind, extremes will be discovered, if they exist, and it is easy here to correct them. On the other hand, meetings of this kind will stimulate many to put forth greater effort in this department of labor. It was the injunction of the apostle that we should “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” There is no more successful way to do this than by quietly performing worthy deeds in a manner that others may see our good works. The reporting system brings before the church the very things especially adapted to move others to action, and though it reveals noble deeds, and important results, it does not necessarily designate the persons by whom these things were done. Even when but little has been performed, that little should be reported in the meetings of the Society. There should be no false delicacy in this matter. All should earnestly and cheerfully strive to accomplish something in the work of God, and at the Tract meetings should have their reports come in to form a part of the sum total of the work accomplished. But in giving the report of these general quarterly meetings for publication, the particular items, though of interest in the Tract meetings, need not be given. Many particulars which have been given in the past because necessary in order to show the working of the system and its utility, should now be omitted. But items of general interest should only be mentioned. I frequently become acquainted with the fact that an entire family has been converted to the truth by reading, and sometimes that which they first received was only a piece of a REVIEW. Companies of from five to twelve have been led to enter upon the observance of the Sabbath simply from reading, without ever having heard a discourse upon the subject. In this very manner, an interest has been awakened in distant lands, as Norway, Denmark, and New Zealand. Such items, though of the deepest interest, seldom appear in the REVIEW, while local matters, and accounts of money received and paid out for this, that, and the other, swell the report to a very tedious length. We want reports from the general quarterly meetings in all parts of the country, but we want them filled with matters of general interest, and dry details omitted. The True Missionary must be made the very best paper of the kind in the world. This can be done, and shall we not all put forth our best efforts to make it what it should be? Some Conferences have long felt the need of it, and now it seems to be earnestly demanded by the wants of the cause in all parts of the country. We expect 5000 subscribers by Dec. 25, 1873. We expect the officers of the Tract Societies and individual members of the same, to take a special interest in its circulation. It will be a medium through which explanations can be given to help in the work of the society, which for want of space, and for other reasons, cannot consistently be given in the REVIEW. It should reach every member of the Tract and Missionary Society, for it is designed to fill a most important place in our work. State Quarterly Meeting of the Minn. T. & M. Society.
By S. W. Hickok
The first State quarterly meeting of the Minn. T. and M. Society convened at Stewartville, Oct. 25, 26. Among those present were Elds. S. N. Haskell, S. Pierce, and John Hanson. Officers were present except the director of district No. 3. Meeting commenced Sabbath morning at 10 o’clock. Bro. Haskell preached on the Laodicean state of the church, from the words, “For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat,” &c., Matt. 25:42, continuing the same in the afternoon from the words, “I would thou wert cold or hot.” Rev. 3:15. Bro. Hanson made some interesting remarks referring to several passages of Scripture; one in particular, viz., Isa. 21:12, seemed forcibly to impress the mind. He said the words in the Danish Bible instead of reading, The morning cometh and also the night, reads, “The morning cometh and yet there is night” (or darkness). All seemed deeply impressed with the solemn truths to which we had listened, and many expressed their determination to give heed to the light. First-day morning, met at 9½ o’clock. Remarks from Eld. Haskell explaining the nature of the work and the duty of the officers and members; and also encouraging reports of the work in the State of New York and other parts. The work was not sufficiently advanced to have reports prepared, and only a partial report of the treasurer and one director was received. Voted, to appropriate money received from delinquent subscribers for periodicals to T. and M. Society. S. W. HICKOK, Sec. Missionaries—of Good and Evil.
By James H. Waggoner
THIS is an age of missions. A church without a missionary society, or without mission effort, is a reproach in Christendom. And the large bodies of professed Christians are wont to point with pride to the success of their missions as evidence of their prosperity in good works, and of the near approach of the millennium, or the conversion of the whole world. And they also point with derision to the smallness of the Seventh-day Adventists as a people, and to the limited effects of their efforts to propagate their faith. It is my desire to point out their error of judgment in these matters, and to offer reasons why we should be more diligent in our work; and why our work, so insignificant in the sight of the world, is of infinite importance to ourselves, and in the sight of God. 1. We are not to estimate the value of religious effort by the numbers who are led to embrace specified views, but by the effect which these views produce on the lives of their adherents. It is better to have ten souls thoroughly converted to God, than ten thousand, yes, millions, half-way converted, or converted to a fashionable, worldly standard, which has no gospel power and salvation in it. The spirit in which religious effort is put forth, and the holy fruit resulting therefrom, are the true tests of a gospel work. It is an everlasting and world-wide truth that “God measures more with how much love one worketh than the amount he doeth.” Between us and the great religious bodies we accept no controversy on the question of numbers. That is a wrong issue, brought in to blind the eyes of the careless and the selfish. We stand upon the truthfulness of our faith, and its efficiency “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” While others work on the supposition of the truthfulness of their faith, we must be allowed the same privilege; we must, to be consistent, act upon the supposition that we are correct in belief. On the basis of the two suppositions, we inquire, Who has the greatest reason to be encouraged by the result of their labors? (1) They believe in the conversion of the world, the inhabitants of earth numbering over thirteen hundred millions. Allowing for the present that they stand on a level with us in regard to saving truth, it then remains that a conversion with them is but one-thirteen-hundred-millionth of their work. And to this must be added the appalling truth that this great aggregate of sinners will soon pass away only to give place to generations of others, among whom, at the present rate, the gospel cannot be promulgated till thousands of millions have sunk to perdition. If their view of the gospel work is correct, if the conversion of the world is the task allotted to them, it is one of most awful magnitude, and to the performance of which there is no prospect of their even approximating. (2) But we believe that the last generation of men is now living; that wickedness is increasing and will increase even unto the end; that of the whole number of earth’s inhabitants, but a “few,” or a “little flock,” will ever accept the truth. Should we take the number given in Rev. 7, which chapter certainly relates to the last days, it would follow that each one hopefully embracing the faith is an important fraction of the whole; while a few hundreds or thousands converted would be a great step toward the accomplishment of the work. Surely, here is comfort for the laborer in this work. As pointed out in the prophecy, it is a work of great interest in Heaven, as we discover that nearly three thousand years ago God laid the foundation of the third angel’s message in the prophecy of Daniel; and each subsequent prophecy helps to fill out the chain, all ending with the appearing of the Son of man on the white cloud. Who would not like to be instrumental in the conversion of some of this “little flock”? Nay, who is willing to share this great salvation, and in the day of redemption be unable to find a single soul who was brought to accept the precious truth through their influence? Not all the treasures of this world would be worth the privilege of having even one saved soul as a star in our crown of rejoicing. Yet many are content to have the truth, to rejoice in the truth, and to hope to be saved by the truth, and yet spend all their time, and energy, and strength, in gathering up the dross of this world, while their neighbors go unwarned down to perdition. How many need to offer the prayer of Bunyan’s Pilgrim: “Deliver me from the muck rake.” 2. But when we consider that the standard of righteousness is lowered so that a profession of Christianity may embrace fashion, folly, covetousness, and popular vices, we say then that the labors and conversions of the churches are too often a failure, and worse than a failure. In many cases, they are a woeful deception. But while these, who may well be called Missionaries of Blindness, are boasting of their wonderful progress, let us compare with it the work of the Missionaries of Evil. A church missionary seeks a new place in the West—a growing village, and by dint of effort raises a house of worship, gathers a little congregation one day in the week and one hour of the day, and when a few are led to embrace the faith, he makes a most cheering report of a great work accomplished. Viewed in the light of the possible salvation of a few souls by that instrumentality, it is a great work—a very great work. But viewed in the light of their faith of the church’s progress and of the world’s ultimate conversion, it is utterly insignificant. Do they not know that the Missionaries of Evil have taken the ground before them? See those whisky saloons, those dens of corruption and destruction, with their constant attendance of earnest, devoted adherents. Day and night, seven days in the week, their services are kept up. They are untiring and persistent. The wise man says of such: “For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.” But who among the Missionaries of Truth cannot sleep because a day has passed and no one been specially blessed by their efforts? It is a sad reflection that they who labor to destroy, who are working for the wages of eternal death, are more earnest, persistent, and determined, in their purpose than those who labor for eternal life, and who may win souls as stars in the crown of their adorable Redeemer. There is another class, the Missionaries of Falsehood, who present a contrast to our general course of action which is by no means flattering to ourselves. I refer to the Roman Catholics. Their example is worthy of consideration and imitation. They seem to be alive to their specific work, and to nothing else. Or if they attend to anything else, it is only that they may advance the cause of the church. They never boast; no one ever sees their “Reports.” The praise or blame of the world is alike to them. Flattery does not draw them aside; danger does not intimidate them. From the highest to the lowest, they all manifest the same devotion to the cause. The priest in his untiring labor, the teacher in the school, and the serving girl in the kitchen, are all animated with the same purpose—to bring people within the influence and the communion of their church. As sisters of charity, they ignore the pleasures of this world in profession and in fact, and devote their lives to the work. They are consistent with their faith. They profess that religion is worth everything, and they act accordingly. But in nothing is their course of action more strongly in contrast with ours than in their interest for the children. A child once brought within the range of their influence is securely theirs. They do not mean to fail. Patience and forbearance are constantly in exercise. With us, if a family wish to take a child, they seek one with a pleasing face and amiable disposition; one whom it is no effort to love; who needs no molding to reach the affections. The unloving, unlovely, and wayward orphan is shunned. Or if such an one is taken, after a brief training under censure and fretting, is rejected as unworthy or incurable. And the child thus experimented upon grows discouraged, cold, and reckless. Children are great observers of countenance and character. This is a study with them in the absence of book-knowledge. They frequently give us lessons which we would do well to remember. I knew an orphan who was taken into a family, and treated with, perhaps, more than average kindness. One day, his father by adoption was reproving him for not being more diligent in the performance of his duty. “You do not,” said the guardian, “obey me as Bro. C.’s boys obey him.” “Why, pa,” said the boy, “you don’t love me as Bro. C. loves his boys.” Here was a new revelation to the father. The boy was right. Love is the spring of cheerful obedience, and many who take children require that the children shall discharge their duties better than the adults care to perform theirs. The process of patiently molding the mind and disposition of the child is distasteful to them, and their failure is that they do not win the affections of the young they have in charge. In such cases the act of taking an orphan is more for self-gratification than one of true benevolence. We have no objection to the old saying, that “Charity begins at home,” if it is not confined there to die in the chimney corner; for it will surely die if kept too close. It must have air and exercise. But there is quite too wide a departure from this saying in missionary effort. The truth is that many have no taste for such work unless it is far beyond the range of their vision. This is illustrated by the action of the American people toward the Chinese. They will maintain a mission in China at enormous expense in money, with toil and privation of the missionary; but when the Chinese come in great numbers to our shores, they treat them as if they were brutes instead of human beings, actually driving them from our shores. And there is no decided action on the part of the great religious bodies to prevent this. Their professed love for the heathen is hypocrisy or self-deception. An exchange has the following:— “The Chinese immigration on the Pacific coast would appear, says the New York Witness, to have received a sudden check, caused, it is presumed, by the treatment they have received in California. On Saturday, 500 Chinese sailed homeward from San Francisco on the steamship Colorado. What influence this return of the people will have upon the treatment of our own race in China remains to be seen. It may seriously retard missionary labors.”
We are in danger of making the same sad mistake. It is less crossing, less trying to the feelings of many, to give five dollars to the tract and missionary cause than to spend a few minutes in earnest conversation with a neighbor, and to give him a tract with a mild request that he will read it. Some think they cannot be covetous and worldly-minded if they are free to give their money to the cause of religion. But this is a mistake. Money making is often a mania; the love of gain is all-absorbing, and deadening to the moral sensibilities. A man was once reminded of the folly of accumulating wealth, which his sons would scatter so rapidly, when it should come into their possession. He replied, “If they take as much pleasure in scattering it, as I do in gathering it, I am satisfied.” The love of money itself is often not so strong as the love of money getting. This is a besetment which ruins souls. Test yourselves. Get your hearts warmed up by the love of God and of your neighbors. Learn how blessed it is to deny self and to do good to your fellow-men. Live up to Isa. 58 and Matt. 25, and you will each be a True Missionary. Duties of Directors and Librarians.
THE following is taken from the Constitution of the Tract Societies with some changes of language, and some explanatory clauses added to make the matter clear to every one:— Section 3. It shall be the duty of each director, (1) To see that a librarian is appointed in each church; and he shall commit to such librarian a suitable quantity of publications for that church; (2) The librarian should also act as agent unless some good reason to the contrary exists, collect dues on periodicals which may have been stopped, and to take moneys by renewing subscriptions or by new subscribers. And when names of subscribers that have been dropped at the Office are placed in his hands, he should at once visit the individuals and obtain a renewal of their subscription. And he shall keep a record of the worthy poor, and report in full what he has done, and the standing of his church, to the director near the close of the quarter, for the district secretary to report at the district quarterly meeting. And the director shall furnish him with a list of subscribers for that church and vicinity only; (3) He shall make himself acquainted with the entire business of the society, and with each member in his district, and shall, from time to time, visit each church in his district to see that each comes up on Systematic Benevolence and on every enterprise connected with present truth; (4) He shall see that the librarian of each church is furnished with sufficient blanks for a report from each member at each quarterly meeting; and these reports should be furnished about the time that the members are expected to report, and the director should see that this work is done; (5) He shall appoint a secretary for his district, but the director shall act as a collector and treasurer; and all pledges should be paid to him, and he will be responsible that such money reaches its proper destination; (6) He shall hold a district quarterly meeting at least two weeks before each general quarterly meeting, unless it be in the district where the general quarterly meeting may be held; in that case, it may be held in connection with the general quarterly meeting; (7) He shall preside over all the district quarterly meetings in absence of the president; (8) He shall see that there is forwarded to the general treasurer, quarterly, whatever funds may have been received in his district, and report the same to the secretary; (9) He shall order all his books through the president of the Tract Society. Section 5. It shall be the duty of the librarian to see that each member of his church has a small memorandum book in which he shall keep a record of his or her labor, to report for each quarterly meeting. It shall also be his duty to furnish each member with suitable tracts for distribution, and to keep an account of the same. He shall also furnish to each member a blank report to be filled, and see that it is returned to him in season for him to send it to the district secretary before each district quarterly meeting. He shall also receive money for memberships, sales of publications, and donations, and forward the same to the director of said district. He shall keep an account of the number of pages of tracts and pamphlets given out by him to each member, that if called upon, he may report the same to the director or district secretary before each quarterly meeting. From the foregoing, it will be seen that no director can discharge his duty without first becoming acquainted with each member in his district, so that he understands the interest they are taking in the work, and thus he be prepared to give counsel and instruction as the case may be. Also that the district secretary and librarian are individuals to assist him in his duties. One Hundred Canvassers Wanted!
By James White
WE now call for one hundred canvassers, men and women, whose address and ability will give importance to their mission, to go through city, village, and country, to obtain subscribers for the Health Reformer, sell the new work entitled, “The Hygienic Family Physician,” and other health publications issued at this Office, and also to sell the picture entitled, “The Way of Life.” Here is a good work, congenial to the feelings of all men and women who seek employment in the missionary line, which will, at the same time, afford them good pay. We now make a liberal offer to canvassers, which will hold good for sixty days only, from December 1, 1873, to February 1, 1874. Or, beginning when they please, it will expire the first day of February, 1874. We offer forty per cent premium on the Reformer, and a discount of forty per cent (to canvassers only) on the “Hygienic Family Physician,” and other health publications issued at this Office; and also forty per cent. on “The Way of Life.” The subscription price of the Health Reformer is, for one year, $1.00. The price of the “Hygienic Family Physician,” 380 pp., 1.00. “The Way of Life,” 1.00. That canvasser who can obtain five subscribers for the Reformer; and can sell five books and five pictures, will receive $15.00 a day. Forty per cent of this will give the canvasser $6.00 for a day’s work. We recommend that this work be done under the supervision of the Tract and Missionary Society. Recommendation from officers of the Society, received at this Office, will be regarded as good security, provided that branch of the Society will be responsible for debts, if incurred by the canvasser they recommend. In all cases where credit is wanted, the business should be done through the Director, Secretary, or President of the Society. We will furnish, as an outfit, sample copies of the Reformer, circulars, &c., free of charge. We will send one copy of the book and the picture by mail, post-paid, at the retail prices. Orders for the book and picture by express at forty per cent discount must be accompanied with the cash, excepting in case of special contracts, for the particulars of which, and also particulars about canvassing, send for circular. JAMES WHITE, EDITOR Reformer.