Signs of the Times, Vol. 1, No. 12.
OUR PRESENT POSITION : or, the Waiting, Watching TimePage 1
Earlier text: OUR PRESENT POSITION : or, the Waiting, Watching TimeMorality of the Sabbath
By D. M. Canright
VI. Man's nature, physically and mentally, requires just such a day of rest as the Sabbath precept provides, and hence, like all moral precepts, it provides for a natural and universal want of the race.
Moral precepts are those which grow out of the nature of things, those which are founded upon the attributes of God and the nature of man. The Sabbath precept looks both ways—to God and to man, and may be said to be doubly moral from that fact. That man's physical nature requires just such a rest day as the Sabbath, is susceptible of the clearest proof. This man's experience for six thousand years has abundantly proved. A volume might be written upon this one point without exhausting the subject. We have room for only a few brief statements.
Experiments have been tried in various ways, and careful observations have been taken, all going to show that both men and animals will accomplish more labor in a given time, do it in a better manner, and preserve better health by resting every seventh day, than they will by working continuously. Where men or animals work day after day continuously, without a regular, weekly day of rest, they soon become worn down, jaded out, depressed in spirit, slack in their habits and every way unfitted for earnest, careful, cheerful, labor. Experiments with horses on street cars and canal boats have been tried; with men on railroads, in mills, mines, and other places; and every where the same results have followed.
Two mills with the same machinery, capital, hands, and everything have run side by side for a year, one working six days and the other seven days in the week. The one running six days accomplished more work, and did it in a better manner than the one running seven days. Travelers over the Plains have observed similar results.
The other day a judge in Santa Clara, Cal., told me his experience in crossing the Plains with teams in an early day. A large caravan started together. About half the party were in favor of resting upon Sunday. The other half were in so great a hurry that they opposed it and decided to travel every day. So the train divided, one-half resting upon Sunday, and the other traveling every day. The first week or two the Sunday travelers gained a little. After that the second party came up with them and passed them, and kept ahead all the way through. The party which rested every seventh day came through in better health, and with their teams in a much better condition than those who did not.
"In the year 1839, a committee was appointed in the legislature of Pennsylvania, who made a report with regard to the employment of laborers on their canals. In that report they say, in reference to those who had petitioned against the employment of workmen on the Sabbath, 'They assert, as the result of their experience, that both man and beast can do more work by resting one day in seven, than by working on the whole seven.' They then add, 'Your committee feel free to confess, that their own experience as business men, farmers, or legislators, correspond with the assertion.'"
"The experiment was tried in a large flouring establishment. For a number of years they worked the mills seven days in a week. The superintendent was then changed. He ordered the men to stop the works at eleven o'clock on Saturday night, and not to start them till one o'clock on Monday morning, thus allowing a full Sabbath every week. And the same men, during the year, actually ground fifty thousand bushels more than had ever been ground, in a single year, in that establishment before."
"A manufacturing company, which had been accustomed to carry their goods to market with their own teams, kept them employed seven days in a week, as that was the time in which they could go to market and return. But by permitting the teams to rest on the Sabbath, they found that they could drive the same distance in six days, that they formerly did in seven, and with the same keeping preserve them in better order."
"Two neighbors in the State of New York, each with a drove of sheep started on the same day for a distant market. One started several hours before the other, and traveled uniformly every day. The other rested every Sabbath. Yet he arrived at the market first, with his flock in a better condition than that of the other. In giving an account of it he said, that he drove his sheep on Monday about seventeen miles, on Tuesday not over sixteen, and so lessening each day, till on Saturday he drove them only about eleven miles. But on Monday after resting on the Sabbath, they would travel again seventeen miles, and so on each week. But his neighbor's sheep, which were not allowed to rest on the Sabbath, before they arrived at the Market could not travel without injury more than six or eight miles a day."
"A number of men started from Ohio, with droves of cattle for Philadelphia. They had often been before, and had been accustomed to drive on the Sabbath as on other days. One had now changed his views as to the propriety of traveling on that day. On Saturday he inquired for pasture. His associates wondered that so shrewd a man should think of consuming so great a portion of his profits by stopping with such a drove a whole day. He stopped, however, and kept the Sabbath. They thinking that they could not afford to do so, went on. On Monday he started again. In the course of the week he passed them, arrived first in the market, and sold his cattle to great advantage. So impressed were the others with the benefits of thus keeping the Sabbath, that ever afterwards they followed his example."
The Sabbath Manual, by Justin Edwards, D. D., pp. 50–52, 56–59.
The above statements show the necessity for a weekly rest day. They prove nothing in favor of Sunday which these writers call the Sabbath. The same benefits physically and mentally would follow from resting upon any stated day of the week. Other considerations determine which day is the Sabbath. But these facts do show that a weekly rest day is absolutely necessary for physical health and vigor.
Simply resting nights is not sufficient. An occasional holiday now and then is not sufficient. Nothing but a regular rest day, one day out of every seven, will do. We appeal to the experience of every laboring man who has ever tried both plans, to say if our position is not correct. After a good Sabbathday's rest, with how much more vigor, animation, and even delight the laboring man can commence another week's work. But alas! how forlorn and hopeless, how pitiable is the case of the man or beast that is compelled to labor on and on without any Sabbath day. It is a violation of a fundamental law which the Creator has stamped upon our nature. These are facts which are equally true in every age of the world, from Adam down, and among all nations, whether Jews or Gentiles, which shows that the Sabbath law meets a natural and universal want of mankind.
Constant thought and mental application in the same direction for seven days in the week is as ruinous to the mind as continued labor is to the body. This has been proved in the cases of students in colleges, lawyers in the prosecution of their business, and other like occupations. It is found that a continued disregard of the Sabbath produces a dispirited, listless, and careless habit; and that the same persons can accomplish more mental labor, and make greater progress in their studies by strictly observing a weekly day of rest, than they can by working seven days in the week. By unbending the mind, or entirely changing the course of one's thoughts and studies, the brain seems to recuperate, so that we can take up our studies at the beginning of another week with renewed vigor and power of application which those lack who have not had this mental rest. This I know from experience and from careful observation. A proper amount of nightly rest is not enough. Occasional recreation is not sufficient. God's own provision of a weekly day of rest is the only thing that will completely answer the requirements of the case. To whatever a man's mind is steadily applied during six days of the week, that he should entirely drop and lay aside on the seventh day, and turn his thoughts to something else. How admirable then, is God's provision for a weekly Sabbath day upon which all ordinary pursuits, whether physical or mental, must be laid aside, and that day be spent in devotion toward God. If this precept of the decalogue is not founded in the nature of man then there is not one of the ten that is. Of Sabbath-breaking Justin Edwards says:
"It is in opposition to another law; not merely to that which was written on the tables of stone, but to a law written by the finger of God, on the nature of both man and beast. They were not made for seven days' labor in a week, and they cannot endure it without diminishing their strength and shortening their lives.
"The Sabbath institution is not a positive or moral institution merely. It is based upon a natural law. And if it is the duty of laboring men not to commit suicide, it is their duty to keep the Sabbath.
"In the year 1832, the British House of Commons appointed a committee to investigate the effects of laboring seven days in a week compared with those of laboring only six, and resting one. The committee consisted of about thirty of the most prominent men of Parliament.
"They examined a great number of witnesses, of various professions and employments. Among them was John Richard Farre, M. D., of London, of whom they speak as 'an acute and experienced physician.' The following is his testimony: "I have practiced as a physician between thirty and forty years . . . I have had occasion to observe the effect of the observance and non-observance of the seventh day of rest during this time. I have been in the habit during a great many years, of considering the uses of the Sabbath, and of observing its abuses. The abuses are chiefly manifested in labor and dissipation. Its use medicinally speaking, is that of a day of rest. As a day of rest, I view it as a day of compensation for the inadequate restorative power of the body under continued labor and excitement. "I consider, therefore, that, in the bountiful provision of Providence for the preservation of human life, the Sabbath appointment is not, as it has been sometimes theologically viewed, simply a precept partaking of the nature of a political institution, but that it is to be numbered among the natural duties, if the preservation of life be admitted to be a duty, and the premature destruction of it a suicidal act.' This is said simply as a physician, and without reference at all to the theological question. . . . Researches in physiology, by the analogy of the working of Providence in nature, will show that the divine commandment is not to be considered as an arbitrary enactment, but as an appointment necessary to man."
"I have found it essential to my own well-being, as a physician, to abridge my labor on the Sabbath, to what is actually necessary. I have frequently observed the premature death of medical men from continued exertion. In warm climates and in active service this is painfully apparent. I have advised the clergymen also, in lieu of his Sabbath, to rest one day in the week. It forms a continual prescription of mine."
"The working of the mind in one continued train of thought is destructive of life in the most distinguished class of society; and that senators themselves stand in need of reform in that particular. I have observed many of them destroyed by neglecting this economy of life. Therefore, to all men, of whatever class, who must necessarily be occupied six days in the week, I would recommend to abstain on the seventh; and in the course of life, by giving to their bodies the repose, and to their minds the change of ideas suited to the day, they would assuredly gain by it. In fact, by the increased vigor imparted, more mental work would be accomplished in their lives. A human being is so constituted that he needs a day of rest both from mental and bodily work."—Sabbath Manual, pp. 34–39. Thomas Sewell, M. D., professor of pathology and the practice of medicine in the Columbian College, Washington, D. C., says:
"While I consider it the more important design of the institution of the Sabbath to assist in religious devotion and advance man's spiritual welfare, I have long held the opinion that one of its chief benefits has reference to his physical and intellectual constitution; affording him, as it does, one day in seven for the renovation of his exhausted energies of body and mind—a proportion of time small enough, according to the results of my observation, for the accomplishment of this object. . . . I have no hesitation in declaring it as my opinion, that if the Sabbath were universally observed as a day of devotion and of rest from secular occupations, far more work of body and mind would be accomplished, and be better done; more health would be enjoyed, with more of wealth and independence, and we should have far less of crime and poverty and suffering." Ebenezer Aldin, M. D., of Massachusetts, remarks: "After much reflection, I am satisfied that the Sabbath was made for man, as a physical as well as an intellectual and moral being. . . . Unnecessary labor on the Sabbath is a physical sin, a transgression of a physical law, a law to which a penalty is attached—a penalty which can not be evaded." Justin Edwards, D. D., bears this testimony: "It is now settled by facts, that the observance of the Sabbath is required by a natural law, and that, were man nothing more than an animal, and were his existence to be confined to this world, it would be for his interest to observe the Sabbath."—Sabbath Manual, p. 60.
A few years since six hundred and forty-one medical men sent a petition to Parliament upon this subject in which they say: "Your petitioners, from their acquaintance with the laboring classes, and with the laws which regulate the human economy, are convinced that a seventh day of rest, instituted by God, and co-eval with the existence of man, is essential to the bodily health and mental vigor of men in every station of life."—Associated Medical Journal, June, 1853, p. 554, quoted in The Sabbath, by Gilfillan, p. 180.
Such testimonies as these from the most celebrated business men, eminent lawyers, and skillful physicians could be multiplied to any extent, all testifying to just what we claim, viz., that the Sabbath precept rests upon one of the plainest laws of nature. It is therefore, moral in its broadest sense.
D. M. CANRIGHT.
San Francisco, Dec. 10, 1874. But three hundred years ago, a body of Romish priests made a great fire in Earl street, London, and burned every copy of the Bible that could be found, and then congratulated themselves that at last the Bible was destroyed. To-day, on the very spot where this fire was built, stands the great building of the British and Foreign Bible Society, where the Bible is printed in one hundred and seventy-eight different languages; and it may almost be said that an additional copy comes from the press at every tick of the clock.—Bible Banner. St. Alphonsus’s Principles for Practicing Law
St. Alphonsus Liguori, when a young man, attempted to practice law on the following principles:- Never to accept an unjust suit.
- To defend clients by lawful means only.
- Not to burden them with unnecessary expenses.
It is unnecessary to say that St. Alphonsus did not long practice the law, but entered the church and became a saint. THE PACIFIC COAST.
By Uriah Smith
In 1868, Elders J. N. Loughborough and D. T. Bourdeau were sent by the General Conference on a mission to California, and, with a large tent taken with them, commenced the work. From this point the cause of Seventh-day Adventism has grown quite rapidly on that coast. In 1872, Eld. White and wife visited that State, and aided in organizing a State Conference. They again visited California in the latter part of 1873, remaining until August, 1874. On this last visit, perceiving that the growing cause in that distant locality needed a medium of communication nearer than the publishing house in Michigan, Eld. W. commenced in Oakland, Cal., the publication of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, the first number of which was issued June 4, 1874. It was started as a weekly the same size as the Review and Herald. The wants of the cause, and the action of the General Conference of Aug. 10, 1874, calling Bro. W. east, the California Conference assumed the publication of the SIGNS. At their camp-meeting at Yountville, Oct. 1-12, 1874, nineteen thousand dollars were pledged for this purpose. As indicating the progress of the cause in California, it may be stated that, at the camp-meeting just referred to, there were some 85 tents pitched, and at the height of the meeting nearly six hundred Sabbath-keepers upon the ground. The churches belonging to this Conference now number fourteen. A mission is now progressing encouragingly in Oregon and Washington Territory, under the management of Eld. I. D. Van Horn and wife. The subject of education among S. D. Adventists, and the founding of a denominational school, was brought to the attention of this people by Eld. James White and wife, in the early part of 1872, and several meetings, at their call, were held in Battle Creek, Mich., May 11, 1872, the matter was put into the hands of the General Conference Committee, who, during the summer and autumn of 1873, solicited subscriptions to this enterprise, obtaining pledges for over fifty-four thousand dollars. March 16, 1874, an association was formed, under the law of Michigan "for the incorporation of institutions of learning," and ground was broken, in May, for the erection of a suitable school building. The site is a beautiful plot of twelve acres, in the highest part of the city, opposite the grounds of the Health Institute. The building, of brick, 37 by 78, with two hall wings, each 17 by 37, three stories high, capable of accommodating between four and five hundred students, will be ready for use Jan. 1, 1875. The school itself has been in progress, in such accommodations as it could secure, some two years. U. S. Quarterly Meetings.
By John Norton Loughborough
The eight district quarterly meetings, the first held under the new constitution, as far as heard from, were profitable meetings. The one I attended in district number eight was an interesting occasion. I held seven meetings, one of them being a business meeting for the explanation and organization of the T. & M. Society in that new district. The officers were all appointed, and nearly all subscribed as members of the society. They now have their tracts and enter upon the work with good will. May the Lord bless them. In our six discourses there we were blessed in contemplating those things that relate to the great and mighty truths for this time. On returning I learned of the interesting quarterly meeting at San Francisco, reported by Bro. Canright in this paper. I have since received letters from most of the other meetings from which I will quote briefly. Bro. Bond, Vice President, says of the meeting in district No. 3: "I attended the quarterly meeting at Napa. We had an excellent meeting. The spirit of the Lord was with us, both on Sabbath and first-day. A good many in Napa are taking hold with a will in the missionary work. I shall look for great results, if all carry out the resolution formed. A score or more in the Napa church covenanted together to set apart a portion of time each week to visit, canvass for our periodicals, and get reading matter before the people. If all our missionary members would do this I think a great work could be accomplished. We had a good turnout, and all expressed themselves satisfied with the meeting." Bro. Mavity, director of district No. 3, writes: "Brother Bond and I met with the brethren at Napa, Dec. 19 and 20. Had a glorious social meeting in the morning (Sabbath), Sabbath school in the afternoon, and prayer meeting at night. These meetings were well attended by the members of Napa, and some from St. Helena. We met first-day morning for business; but, I am sorry to say, the meeting was not so well attended as we were led to expect. Those present, however, manifested a disposition to take hold of the missionary work in earnest. . . If their resolution is carried out good results may be expected, and we shall have a 'telling' report at our next quarterly meeting." Bro. J. H. Disher, director of district No. 6, writes respecting their quarterly meeting: "Our meeting was quite small. About all we could do was to report what little missionary work had been done, and to hold a Sabbath meeting. I mean to go out among our neighbors soon and see what we can do. If it is the Lord's will, I hope we may do some good. We should have some Reviews, Reformers, Instructors, and Signs for distribution." There is only one small church in district No. 6, and its members are much scattered; and we are gratified to learn that although they were few they still got together for a quarterly meeting. If they are of courage in their missionary effort their labor will not be in vain. It is the part of unbelief to neglect to make efforts, because we do not know beforehand what the result will be. The part of faith is to sow our seed, looking to God for his blessing to crown our efforts made. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand, for thou knowest not which shall prosper this or that, or whether both shall be alike good." Last day Treasures.
By John Norton Loughborough
We read in the book of James, "Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days." James 5:3. This text evidently teaches that when the last days shall come gold and silver will be very plentiful, even more abundant than can be put into active circulation, for it is "heaped" up, and becomes rusty. As we learn from other evidences that we are in the last days, should we not expect also a material increase, in the hands of men, of that which really represents the world's wealth, namely, the gold and silver? Such is the case. Within the last half century the California mines and the Australian gold fields have been discovered, and have poured their wealth into the lap of the people. It is supposed that in that space of time there has been three or four times as much gold exhumed from the earth and put into circulation as was in circulation before. The S. F. Chronicle of Dec. 25 says, concerning the gold and silver yield of the pacific slope, "After twenty-five years we have distributed to the world $1,584,000,000 worth of the precious metals, of which $1,348,000,00093was gold and $236,000,000 silver, California furnishing about three quarters of the whole yield. We have found rich mines in every mountain range, from our northernmost boundary to the southernmost point of our possessions, from the Rocky Mountain range to the sands that are washed from the Pacific Ocean's shore; not a month passes that new mines are not discovered, and in older mines each deeper level discloses greater wealth; and now there comes the last and grandest find of all. In the Consolidated Virginia, California, and Ophir mines, a single body of ore discloses itself of an estimated value equal to the assessed wealth of the city of San Francisco, our lands, houses and ships, our trade, commerce and arts, all valued at their price—all that a city of 200,000 people have accumulated in a quarter of a century of industrious labor—is now compared in value to a single lump of ore lying in the body of these three mines. "It is not strange that there is an excitement upon California street around the Stock Board when values leap from tens to hundreds in a day; when in three weeks stocks advance in value over their cost ten-fold; when hundreds of millions of dollars in material wealth are created by discoveries of gold and silver." I would state here that the mines above mentioned are mines from which a large amount of treasure has already been taken. These discoveries are being made as shafts are sunk to deeper levels of these mines. I will quote further respecting it from the Chronicle of Dec. 23. "Mr. Deidesheimer, a mining engineer of large experience, who, with unbounded faith in the probabilities and an enthusiastic disregard of the uncertainties, sets the thing at merely $1,500,000,000! Prodigious figures, whose bare comprehension strains ordinary arithmetical capacity." This engineer in response to a question asked by a reporter said, "Nothing like these mines has ever been seen or heard or dreamed of in the world before. They are richer than I can tell." He says, "Allowing 600 feet for the depth of the ore body, I calculate that there are in these mines $1,500,000,000 worth of bullion. . . . It has already been explored to a depth of 200 feet; and from the unfailing indications . . . which have marked every ore body of which I know anything, I am confident it is not less than 600 feet deep." Only a few weeks ago the stock of these mines was valued at from 38 to 76 cents on the $1.00. Now the same stock stands at from $2.24 to $5.00 on the $1.00. This change has been produced by the discovery of the immense, rich ore bed in sinking a shaft deeper in the mines. Thus we see the wealth of the world in the line of silver and gold accumulating, treasures are being heaped up; the spirit of worldliness is prevailing; the masses have no time to give attention to the truth which warns them of coming judgments. When the day of the Lord shall come, and men discover too late that the god of gain in this world has cheated them out of eternal life they will, as Ezekiel says, "Gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it is the stumbling block of their iniquity." Eze. 7:18, 19. That is undoubtedly the time of which James speaks, when the rust of their gold and silver shall be a witness against them. While earth is greedy of its treasures may our energies, our means, our all be spent in doing good, in laying up a treasure in the heavens that no thief can steal, and neither moth or rust corrupt. J. N. L. The Cause in Europe.
By J. N. Andrews
BRO. ANDREWS, in speaking of a meeting recently held in Locle, Switzerland, says: BRO. Albert Vuilleumier was chosen chairman, and Bro. Jules E. Dietchy, Secretary. A committee of three was chosen to take the oversight of the work for the ensuing year. The members of this committee are Albert Vuilleumier, Louis Shield, and J. N. Andrews. The urgent necessity for publications was considered, and it was voted to raise 2000 francs to commence the work of publishing. Of this sum 1800 francs were raised at once, and others not present will more than make up the remainder. It is not expected at this time to print any tracts except such as have been already translated in America, or which may soon be translated there. The brethren decided also that when they have printed an edition of tracts, they will not claim them for distribution for what they now give, but will cheerfully pay a fair price for them in order to keep good their funds for publication. The fund was entrusted to the care of the committee. At Basel there is a printer who carries on quite a large business who is somewhat interested in our work. We can probably get work done by him to good advantage. It is the day of small things with us here at present, but we do not despise them. The providence of God is at work for us, and we mean to keep as near to it as possible. The brethren are of good courage, and ready to do all that is in their power. The Sabbath in England.
By J. N. Andrews
THE WORK OF ELD. WM. M. JONES. ELD. JONES is laboring earnestly to advance the cause of the Sabbath in Great Britain and Ireland. By the aid of friends in Scotland and Ireland he has advertised extensively in the papers to find those who are interested in the ancient Sabbath of the Bible. He has thus found Sabbath-keepers in several places, and a considerable number who do not observe it who are interested in the subject. He cannot however accomplish what he has undertaken without changing the form of his work. He therefore contemplates issuing a small sheet in behalf of the Bible Sabbath, as often as he shall be able. I think there are Sabbath-keepers in America who would esteem it a privilege to aid Bro. Jones in this work. If he publishes such a sheet it will be worth the patronage of those who love the Sabbath of the Lord. But he cannot do what he would without aid. I call attention to his work. When the first number of his sheet is published I may wish to notice it again. The address of Eld. Jones is 15 Mill Yard, Goodman's Fields, London, England. Neuchatel, Switzerland, Nov. 19. The Cause in the East.
By John Norton Loughborough
From the late numbers of the Review we see the work is advancing in the east. Good results are reported from the preaching of the word in Michigan, Kentucky and Ohio. Souls are also receiving the truth by reading, and a most urgent letter is published from a man in Missouri, requesting that a preacher be sent to instruct them, as a number had embraced the truth by reading, and still others were anxious to know the truth. I learn by a private letter from Bro. Cornell, respecting the Biblical Institute which is now in session at Battle Creek. He says, Dec. 16: “Bro. Smith has given two lectures on immortality—good. Every student has a number, and in review of lessons he calls by numbers. Many questions, also, are handed in, written and signed. We have three sessions daily, viz., 9 to 11, 2 to 4, and 6 to 8. Already there are 133 students.” Still later, 17th and 18th, he writes: “Interest excellent; all in full blast now; it goes well so far; 140 students at the Institute.” From other sources we learn that aside from the Biblical Institute there is also a good religious interest in Battle Creek, and many are seeking the Lord, as many as forty at a time being forward for prayers. Just as the paper is closing up for the press we receive a postal card from Bro. White, dated Dec. 21, which reads, “One hundred and fifty attending the Biblical Institute. Goes off well. We leave here for Cal. about the 10th of January.” Close of the Tent Meeting.
By D. M. Canright
Monday, Dec. 21, we took down the tent in San Francisco after a stay of over two months. We are thankful to God for the good results which we have been permitted to see. Some twenty-five or thirty have come out on the truth. Several of these have been baptized and have joined the church; and others will soon. $186.35 have been contributed for our expenses with the tent. Brother Diggins has also met some of our heaviest expenses. Others have helped in various ways. Have sold over $125 worth of books, and obtained a good list of subscribers for the SIGNS, Reformer, &c. Sabbath, Dec. 19, we came together after a season of fasting and prayer, and we had a most precious season. Nearly every soul took part in our social meeting, some for the first time. Then we celebrated the ordinances. Altogether it was a refreshing season. On Sunday we had a meeting of the Tract and Missionary Society. S. B. was re-organized to the amount of $750. Probably this will be raised by absent ones to about $1,000. This does not include their hall rent. A building committee was appointed to prepare for building a meeting house here which is much needed. I have now been in the tent this season eight months without intermission. My health was never better; nor do I feel particularly tired. I now go to Napa. The Seventh-day Adventists.
A BRIEF SKETCH OF THEIR ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND PRINCIPLES.
Public speakers being few, in comparison with the calls for labor, a plan has been devised designed to give all an opportunity to act some part in the promulgation of our views. This organization is called the Tract and Missionary Society. In this organization, the State is divided into districts, each district being composed of a certain number of churches, adjacent to each other. For each district a director is appointed, who appoints a librarian for each church in his district, to take charge of distributing tracts to the members, and a district secretary to keep an account of the whole working of the district. The district directors, a president, secretary and treasurer, constitute the officers of each State T. & M. Society. This Society has now been organized in each of the thirteen State Conferences. These State Societies then unite and form a General Tract and Missionary Society, with its proper officers. The object of this organization is to systematically canvass the country with books, tracts, and pamphlets setting forth the things we hold to be special truths for this time, to obtain subscribers for our various periodicals, visit the sick, call upon, and converse and pray with, families and individuals; and the general organization is designed to seek out openings and supply calls for help, in all the world. This Tract and Missionary organization is quite recent, the present year, 1874, being the first year with most of the State Societies. Yet the funds raised for the work of this Society now amount to over $15,000, and during the past year reports show that between three and four millions of pages of reading matter have been distributed, mostly given away, thousands of bound volumes placed in public libraries, nearly ten thousand families visited and prayed with, and 15,000 trial subscribers obtained for the different periodicals, aside from the regular subscription list above reported, while publications have been sent to England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Australia, New Zeland, and to every missionary station on the coast of Africa. Missions are now in successful operation among the Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, and French, in this country. The Danish and Swedish papers have already been noticed. Quite a number of books and tracts are already issued in these languages, as also in the French and German, and papers in the two languages last named are in contemplation. Our views have also gained a permanent foothold in Switzerland in Europe. There are now some seventy-five believers there. Two of their number have been sent to this country to learn the English language, and become more fully instructed in S. D. Adventist views. Sept. 15, 1874, Eld. J. N. Andrews left this country for that field of labor. The first camp-meeting of S. D. Adventists was held under the management of Elders White and Andrews, in the town of Wright, Mich., Sept. 1-7, 1868. The results of this meeting were so encouraging that the plan of holding meetings of this kind during the summer months was soon generally adopted among this people. The past season, two camp-meetings were held in the state of Michigan, and one each in the twelve other conferences, making fourteen in all. At the first Michigan meeting of this season, held in Battle Creek, Aug. 6-17, there were ninety-one tents, and between twelve and thirteen hundred persons permanently encamped upon the ground. Others lodging away from the ground, but daily attending the meeting, swelled the number to nearly fourteen hundred. This was the largest company of Christian observers of the seventh day known to have assembled since apostolic times. These meetings, as conducted by S. D. Adventists, are designed to be occasions of great spiritual profit to all who attend, promoting a Terribly in Earnest.
By Am. Ch. Review
JOHN the Baptist must have been terribly in earnest. There can be no other way of accounting for the effect he produced. He is nowhere represented as learned or eloquent, or as possessing a towering intellect. But he left his home—if he had any—and traveled all around, preached, and stirred up the people beyond measure or expression, swaying them as the wind sways the trees. The Apostles were greatly in earnest. They had nothing else as grand, personal qualification. True, they were miraculously inspired; but what of this, if they had not been more in earnest than most of us are? The Seventy were in earnest. Like the apostles, they risked everything of a temporal character; left their home—such as had homes—and seem not to have thought much of "food and raiment." When they had gone a little way in this road, and Jesus would encourage them for the future, he asked them as to the past: "Lacked ye anything?" "They said, Nothing," though they had gone "as sheep amongst wolves," and were warned that their very lives would be sought. Certainly they had no assurance of support from men. Many of our early Reformers were terribly in earnest. Nothing else explains their success. What assurance had they of support? They had great assurance of opposition and persecution; but they risked all, and braved all, and conquered. Oh, for their zeal and earnestness amongst our young preachers now—and the old ones also! Oh, for the faith that "the Lord will provide!"—Am. Ch. Review.