p. 1 | Review and Herald, Vol. 32, No. 5. (7/19/1870)

Review and Herald

Jul 19, 1870

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 19, 1870

The Camp-Meetings.

By Ellen G. White

The Camp-Meetings in Iowa and Illinois have been meetings of deep interest to me. As we saw those who had come, some from quite a distance, at the expense of time, and of money, I inquired whether all would return to their homes, having gained the object for which they came. The objects of these meetings, are, to separate from business cares, and burdens, and devote a few days of time exclusively to seeking the Lord. The time should be occupied in self-examination, close searching of heart, and penitential confession of sins, and renewing our vows to the Most High God. If any came to these meetings for less worthy objects, we hope the character of the meetings was such as to bring the minds of all to the proper objects of the meetings.

In Marion the Lord was indeed merciful to us, and gave us strength to speak the words he gave us, with clearness to the people. There was not a dissenting voice in the meeting. The people came to work, and they did work. The conference meetings were characterized with spiritual testimonies, one following the other in quick succession. The promptness which marked these meetings gave us comfort and strength. We felt rather sad to see several sick upon the ground, which was very unpleasant for the sick, and wearisome to those who had the care of them. Some were sufferers through the extra labor of preparing for the meeting. They were liberal-souled people, and wanted nothing done with stinginess. Some made large provisions; and were thoroughly wearied out when they came to the meeting, and as soon as they were released from the pressure of work, exhausted Nature caused them to feel that she had been abused. Some of these persons had never before attended a camp-meeting, and were not informed in regard to what preparations they were required to make. They lost some of the precious meetings they had purposed to attend.

Now these made a mistake in making so large preparation. Nothing should be cooked, or taken to the camp-meeting, unless it be the most healthful articles, cooked in a simple manner, free from all spice and grease. Much cooking is unnecessary. Pies will not keep in hot weather. Cake will keep better, but is not the most healthful food for the stomach at any time, and is not at all proper food for camp-meetings. Those who are exercising every day, can better take care of food, even if it is not of the very best quality for health. Those who come to attend meetings, especially for the worship of God, to increase in spirituality, should not indulge the appetite, and cannot do it with safety. Pies and cake are not the proper food for those to eat who wish to preserve health at the camp-meeting.

I am well convinced that none need to make themselves sick preparing for camp-meeting, if they observe the laws of health in their cooking. If they make no cake, or pies, but cook simple graham bread, and depend on fruit, canned or dried, they need not get sick in preparing for the meeting, and they need not be sick while at the meeting, from eating the unhealthful food they exhausted their strength to prepare. None should go through the entire meeting, without some warm food. There are always stores upon the ground where this may be obtained.

When we commenced the camp-meeting in Nora, Ill., I felt it my duty to make some remarks in reference to their eating. I related the unfortunate experience of some at Marion, and told them I charged it to unnecessary preparations made for the meeting, and also eating the unnecessary preparations while at the meeting. Some brought cheese to the meeting, and ate it; although new, it was altogether too strong for the stomach, and should never be introduced into it. Cake was brought into our tent. I ate a small piece, and my stomach refused to retain it; it was spiced with cinnamon. If my stomach would not acknowledge this as food, but rebelled against it, what condition must these be in who partook of this food every day. I stated to our brethren and sisters, something like the following: They must not be sick upon that encampment. If they clothed themselves properly in the chill of morning, and at night, and were particular to vary their clothing according to the changing weather, so as to preserve proper circulation, and should strictly observe regularity in sleeping, and in eating of simple food, and should eat nothing between meals, they need not be sick. They might be well during the meetings, and be able to appreciate, with clear minds, the truth, and might return to their homes refreshed in body and in spirit. I stated that if those who had been engaged in hard labor from day to day should now cease their exercise, and yet eat their average amount of food, their stomachs would be overtaxed. It was the brain power we wished to be especially vigorous at this meeting and in the most healthy condition to hear the truth and to appreciate it, and to retain it, and practice it after their return from the meeting. If the stomach was burdened with too much food, even of a simple character, the brain force would be called to the aid of the digestive organs. There is a benumbed sensation experienced upon the brain. There is an impossibility of keeping the eyes open. The very truths which should be heard, understood and practiced by them, they lose entirely through indisposition, or because the brain is almost paralyzed in consequence of the amount of food taken into the stomach.

I recommended them to take something warm upon the stomach every morning, at least. They could do this without much labor, they could make graham gruel. If the graham was too coarse they could sift it. While the gruel is hot they could add milk to suit themselves, this will make a most palatable and healthful dish for the camp-ground, and if your bread is dry you can crumb it into your gruel, and it will be enjoyed. I do not approve of eating much cold food for the reason that the vitality must be drawn from the system to warm the food until it becomes of the same temperature as the stomach before the work of digestion can be carried on. Another very simple, yet wholesome dish is beans boiled and baked, and a portion of them may be diluted with water, add more cream and make a broth, the bread can be used the same as in the graham gruel. Dried corn can be easily prepared, left to soak over night, scald it up in the morning, add milk, which is easily obtained, and you have warm, healthful food, free from spice and grease.

I am gratified to see the progress many have made in the health reform, yet sorry to see so many behind. I stated that if any one became sick upon the encampment I designed to inquire the cause, and make a note of it, for I was not willing the reputation of our meeting should suffer by being reported as the cause of making people sick. These meetings can be made a blessing to the bodily health, as well as to increase the health of the soul, if a proper course be pursued at these important gatherings. I am happy to state that no one was sick, to my knowledge, so that they were deprived of the meetings.

The meeting at Marion was good, souls there were convicted and converted to the truth. We felt assured that Jesus indeed came up to the feast, and made glad the hearts of his people.

At Nora there was an apparent lack of union with some who came to the meeting. They possessed a spirit of fault-finding, of jealousy, which brought sadness of heart upon us, and we were fearful at times that many would leave that meeting with their impenitent hearts bound in darkness and unbelief, unsubdued by the grace of God. But as the meetings progressed testimonies were called out from those who had the burden of the meeting as the occasion required. And as the pointed, solemn truths of God's word were made clear to the understanding of all who had any desire to learn, there seemed to be a decided change with many for the better. Confessions were made by brethren one to another, and a ready response was made to these penitential acknowledgments of their wrongs. The

prayer and conference meetings were conducted by Bro. Littlejohn. He labored with unabated interest in all these social meetings, making appropriate remarks as the occasion required. The instructions thus given by our brother in faithfulness upon so many points, we think will not be soon forgotten. There was especially a work wrought for the church at Monroe. Hearts had been estranged, false reports had been circulated to the injury of brethren, many had been found guilty of carrying a reproach to the door of their neighbors, and some had willingly taken up the reproach against their neighbor which had been left at their door, and in their turn they carried the reproach to others. Thus had God been dishonored, and his precious cause reproached. But there was a good work begun with that church. If this work had commenced at an earlier stage of the meeting, some, who returned to their homes unblessed because of their wrongs, might have so humbled their hearts before God and returned to him with broken hearts and contrite spirits, that they might have gone to their homes rejoicing that the truth had made them free indeed. We are sorry that any returned to their homes destitute of the approving love of God.

We are confident that a large number of our brethren and sisters present at that meeting were greatly benefited, and returned to their homes to take a nobler stand for God, and work from altogether a higher standpoint than they had ever done before. Many bore testimony that they had never seen the force and power of truth, and the necessity of perfecting Christian character as they had during these meetings. Our earnest prayer to God is that they may go forward growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, until they attain to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. By request of the church at Monroe we united in prayer with them that the cementing spirit of God might bind the hearts of these believers in bonds of closest union and Christian fellowship. ELLEN G. WHITE.

NOT OUR OWN.

By R. F. Cottrell

O God! canst thou accept my heart, The remnant of my days; When human life is far too short, All given to thy praise.

The morning of my life is gone; Recalled it cannot be; Can I find pardon at thy throne, And make my peace with thee?

I've wasted much God-given strength, Serving the carnal mind; And can it be that I at length With thee acceptance find?

What base ingratitude! how mean, And justly too abhorred, To give our best days all to sin, The refuse to the Lord!

To serve the flesh in selfish mood Down to our latest breath; Tread under foot the Saviour's blood, And seek his grace at death.

O God! such vileness I would hate, Abhor it perfectly; And what remains of life, though late, Devote entire to thee.

R. F. COTTRELL.

I Wish They Had Been to the Meeting?

By Chas. B. Reynolds

“I do wish they had been to the meeting. I feel sure they could not have resisted the truth!” How many expressed, how many more felt, this at the camp-meeting last year, when thinking of relatives and friends at home who opposed or doubted present truth. Why were they absent? Did we use every effort to induce them to understand they would not be regarded as intruders, but welcome guests? Did we offer, regardless of inconvenience to self, to help in their business matters, so far as in our power, to open the way for them to go? Were there none in our neighborhood too lowly for our care, yet who evinced sincere love of Christ, striving to live up to the light they have received, who desired to be present, but whom a lack of means alone prevented? Did we offer of our means, the means our Heavenly Father entrusted to our care for the advancement of his cause, as faithful stewards? or did we selfishly neglect to do so, on account of some imagined need of our own? If so, are we not responsible before God? Will not their blood be required at our hands? If any one stayed away whom we could have influenced or aided to go, will not the Master hold us to strict accountability for duty neglected?

The yearly camp-meetings are a much needed and blessed means of grace, affording opportunity for re-consecration, more full and complete self-abnegation, more entire surrender of all to God: but they are not the less a means of grace, all powerful under the blessing of God for the conversion of sinners, and the dispelling of skepticism in regard to the truths of the third angel’s message.

Many will have to make considerable sacrifices to attend the camp-meetings this season; but let us trust in the Lord. His promises are sure. If we go, not to gratify any selfish, worldly desires, but to draw nearer to God, to plead for strength and a deeper work of grace, for help to live more pure and holy lives, to endeavor to get in such a position that the Lord can accept us, and fit us to be instrumental in bringing others to the glorious light of truth, then God will bless the meeting to us, and we shall be helped to make more rapid progress in the great work of preparation so much needed to fit us for our Eden home. Then, it will prove a means of great advancement on our journey Zionward. Will not the seeming sacrifices be really a vast and wondrous gain?

Shall we prefer the things of this world, to the Master’s service? Is it not written, “Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”? Shall we follow the sad example of the young man, and, while professing to keep the commandments of God, turn sorrowfully away from the light, and the unspeakable treasures of Heaven? refusing the loving invitations, the joy and peace of love and faith in Jesus, because of our possessions! preferring the fleeting, perishing dross of this soon-to-be-destroyed, sin-polluted earth? Oh! think of it! Jesus loves us. He would have us prove the sincerity of our profession. He gave up all, the joys of Heaven, his Father’s presence, the company and homage of the pure and holy angels. He came to earth, suffered and died that we might live. And shall we make no sacrifice? Shall empty words alone be our offering? Shall we give only that which we need not? Or shall we more wisely prefer a treasure in Heaven, and joyfully parting with that which is a hindrance to our service, take up our cross and follow Jesus? Let us imitate the example of Moses, who esteemed “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.”

Dear brethren and sisters, let us each and every one carry this matter to God, praying for strength to conquer our love for the perishing things of this world, seeking for grace to prove that our love is of the heart, and not empty words upon the lips, and to crucify the flesh. Let us not be content, though at great pecuniary loss, with going ourselves and taking our own loved ones to the meeting: but let us go to work earnestly to induce others to go, and take at least one unconverted one with us to the meeting. And let us not rest with simply carrying them to the meeting, but in continued, earnest prayer to God, carry them in the arms of our faith to the foot of the cross, believing that God will bless and reward the self-sacrifice by converting them to the truth; that they may have cause to bless us while on earth, and in the soon-coming day of our reward, become stars in the crown of our rejoicing. We shall then feel that we have not lived in vain, that our stewardship at least in this has been faithful, and we may hope to hear the blessed words, “Well done good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

CHAS. B. REYNOLDS.

The Closet.

By D. A. Robinson

THERE is no place here in this wilderness, that seems so sweet to the weary child of God as the closet. Weary with toil, buffeted with fierce temptations, how blessed is the privilege to enter our closet and there commune with our heavenly Father; and he has given us the assurance that he will turn none empty away, who come to him in humble prayer. Then take courage, weary traveler. Are you tired of sin? Hear the words of Jesus, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Are you in trouble, and trial? The closet is the place to find relief. “Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.” Ps. 55: 22. Are you surrounded by sinful influences, and with none of like faith with whom to commune? The exalted privilege of holding converse with Him who is better to you than any earthly friend, is yours to enjoy.

Then despond not, lone pilgrim. The Lord will hear when we pray aright. The Lord is far from the wicked, but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.” Prov. 15: 9. We are dwelling under the last message of mercy, and how much we need the sustaining grace which is only given in answer to earnest, heart-felt prayer. O Lord, give us hearts of prayer, hearts to feel our need of strength from the heavenly sanctuary, which we can receive only by asking for it.

It is impossible to grow in grace and neglect the important duty of prayer. And can we not call it a privilege also? Oh, yes! Blessed privilege! How sweet to know that the Lord in Heaven will hear and answer prayer. Oh! let us take courage. In a little while our praying seasons will all be in the past, and if we are faithful, eternal life will be ours. Now a few moments of time are granted to us, an opportunity for us to confess and forsake our evil ways, to seek righteousness and meekness, that we may be hid in the day of the Lord’s fierce anger. Then let us pray without ceasing, and in every thing give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us. 1 Thess. 5: 17, 18.

D. A. ROBINSON.

The Split in the Church of Rome.

The Methodist (New York), thinks a great division in the church of Rome over the infallibility dogma, is now imminent. It says:

“There is no argument which Roman Catholic writers, in their controversies with Protestants, have used with so great an effect as that of the unity of faith existing in their church, compared with the endless dissensions in the Protestant world. Since the convocation of the present Council, this argument has lost much of its force. Roman Catholics, notwithstanding their common belief in the infallibility of the church, are quarrelling as to what constitutes the doctrines of their church; the most learned theologians—yea, bishops, archbishops, and cardinals—are engaged in animated controversies about this point, anticipate grave dangers for the church from the success of their opponents, and even charge each other with heresy. On the part of the infallibilists, the war is waged with the greatest violence; and in this war it is the ultramontane newspapers which lead the van. The most noted among them for blind fanaticism and fiery denunciations of every shade of liberal opinion have thus far been the Civiltà Cattolica, of Rome, and the Monde and the Univers, of Paris.”

It mentions the Freeman’s Journal (Catholic) of New York, as an American sheet which is “determined to equal or to outdo the European champions of infallibility in violence of language, and in unbridled fanaticism.” After giving some extracts to show the tone and temper of this sheet, it concludes thus:

“The above extracts will give our readers some idea of the spirit which will alone be tolerated in the Papal church after the infallibility of the Pope shall have been defined. Will it be possible that men like Bishops Dupanloup and Hefele, Professor Dollinger, and Father Gratry, will subordinate their scholarship to such brutish ignorance and passion? We cannot believe it; and believe a split in the church of Rome to be imminent.”

Cast thy Burden on the Lord.

By Susan Elmer

This I am trying to do. And how consoling is the thought that we have a kind Father to watch over us, who will suffer nothing to befall us, but what is for our good. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Have we waited long, and are not our hopes realized? Hope on; the blessing will yet come; the promise is sure. Yea, the blessing has already come. Is it nothing to have our Father's smile upon us? nothing that our hopes are so soon to be realized? Have we no cause of rejoicing in affliction? Hear the beloved apostle, “I am exceeding joyful in all my tribulation.”

But we must live so near the Lord as to reflect light from the countenance of Jesus. We must watch unto prayer. The axe must be laid at the root of the tree. We must take up our cross and perform every duty. Then we can claim the promise, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Lone pilgrim, cheer up. The long, dark night of sorrow is almost ended. The light of prophecy beams upon us, and by it we descry the glory-gilt hills and verdant plains of Paradise. The glorious realities of the future will soon burst upon our astonished vision. The golden gates will soon open and bid us welcome. Soon shall our ears be greeted by the rich music of Heaven, as it is wafted upon the breeze from the golden harps of the ransomed millions. This is enough to animate us by the way. Let the condescension of our heavenly Father, the amazing love and pity of Jesus, be kept in our minds; and when in trials, let these words of the psalmist be our solace, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.”

SUSAN ELMER.

Materialism.

By N. Wardner

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ADVENT REVIEW—Dear Bro.: As I am on the defensive, in the discussion with Bro. Cottrell, the last reply belongs to me; and there are some statements, in his last, which call for comment, and some for correction.

He accuses me of saying in my discourse that Adventists teach that “the soul is nothing but the breath.” Does he yet need to be told that there is no such statement in my sermon, nor in any of my articles except as quoted from others?

My language was as follows: “But says one, this passage (text) proves that man's soul is his breath, since it was because the Lord breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, that he became a living soul.” Bro. C. in his extreme anxiety to make out that I have misrepresented Adventists, misrepresents me. And this is not the first time he has done it upon this very point.

He also brings a grave charge against me of misrepresenting Mr. Loughborough, and says, “Notwithstanding I corrected your error, you still come up with the same mongrel quotation, as much the language of Noah Webster as any one man, prefaced as follows; ‘In the standard publications of Adventists, I find such statements as the following:’” But he does not do me the justice to quote my reply to his so-called correction in the Recorder. Here it is: “Bro. C. insinuates that I misrepresented Mr. Loughborough, because I took the statements he quoted in proof of his position, to be a true expression of his own sentiment. Let all who have that work turn to page 49 and read the whole section and see if there is any chance to question that he quoted these authors because he thought their statements established his sentiments better than he could do it by his own statement alone. There is nothing to indicate the slightest discrepancy between their views and his upon the subject under consideration. And Bro. C. is not able to show any. On the next two pages Mr. L. gives an exposition of 1 Kings 17: 22, in perfect harmony with the statements of those authors as quoted. He says, ‘The soul spoken of is the breath of life.’ On page 63, he says, ‘We have found no record that God gave any spirit to man, except the breath of life.’ ‘The same original term that is rendered spirit, Ecc. 12: 7, (ruah, breath, spirit, &c.) is used in Gen. 2: 7.’ This is all his own language, and much more that I might quote of similar import. Yet Bro. C. without attempting to show that I was, in any sense mistaken, insinuates again that I misrepresented by saying that I found such statements in the standard publications of Adventists. Let him show, if he can, that there is any discrepancy of sentiment between the teachings of Mr. L. and those quotations.

Again says Bro. C., “Dust has not the power of thought, and when it is perfectly organized into the shape of a man, it is no better in this respect. But God gives to organized dust, life and power of thought.” Does he mean by this that the power of thought is something communicated by Jehovah and is not the result of living organized dust? If so, it is all the concession I ask of him on that point, at present. If this is not what he means, then I did not misrepresent him as holding that thought is the product of matter. Thought is either the product of matter, or it is not. If it is, then it must be matter, and subject to the laws of matter. If not subject to the laws of matter, then it is above matter, and hence not dependent upon it for existence. But if it is the product of animate matter, then let him explain how it, the effect, can change or be changed to the greatest extremes in opposites, and that in the twinkling of an eye, without being preceded by any corresponding change in the body; contrary to all known laws of matter.

Again, how does he reconcile his statement with his teaching in regard to the divinity of Christ, that it became simply, “flesh.” If all the divinity he had, was merely his flesh, and that flesh had no power of thought or life, then here was a divinity without divine intelligence, a helpless clod of flesh! But if “God gives to organized dust, life and power of thought,” then the “life and power of thought” was given to Christ from a source outside of and above his divinity, ('flesh') and hence not dependent upon it. Then how could he be God, the self-existent one, “who only hath immortality?”

An attempt to explain such difficulties and contradictions, in a religious creed, gravely pressed upon the public, as the only sense of scripture, by effort at witty sarcasms, is not calculated to produce conviction of its truth in the minds of thinking men, or of the candor of its defender.

Again Bro. C. claims that I am warring with the Bible because I do not accept his theory that the eternal God who only hath immortality was transmuted into a clod of mortality; since John says “The Word was made flesh.” Will he stand by his own test. Let us see. Here comes a Roman Catholic and says, “The bread and wine in the sacrament is the veritable flesh and blood of Christ.” No, no, says Bro. C. that is absurd. Then says the Catholic, your controversy is with Christ and not with me; for he says positively, of the bread and wine, “This is my body,” “This is my blood.” “This is plain language and no fable!” Joseph, interpreting Pharaoh's dream, said, “The seven fat kine are seven years.” Therefore a cow is a year and a year is a cow, according to Bro. C.'s rule of interpretation. If he attempts to explain it otherwise he wars with a plain positive statement of scripture. Again the scriptures say, “The horn of the Lord shall be exalted.” “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust.” Does Bro. C. claim that the Lord has literal horns, feathers, and wings? If not, then he contradicts the Bible; for that says so. Now, I doubt not Bro. C. would object to interpreting these passages literally, as strongly as I would, and would complain that I “grossly misrepresented and caricatured his sentiments” were I to represent him as holding such notions. Yet, the Bible declares these things as positively as it does that God “was made flesh.”

Bro. C. winds up by exhorting me to believe, by which I infer that he wishes me to believe as he does. I am anxious to believe whatever is true; but believe that truth is never absurd, nor does it ever contradict any other truth, or sound reason. I have pressed these fundamental points of difference with a desire that we might come nearer to a common understanding. And he has been constantly evading and trying to turn attention away from them. I was truly in hopes, at the beginning, that he would be able to show that I had misrepresented the views of Adventists. It would have given me pleasure to be able to acknowledge that I had been mistaken; but I regret instead of being able to see it so, my worst impressions have been confirmed. Yet I am not without some hope that a free and friendly interchange of views and criticisms upon points of difference, may have the effect to bring us nearer to a common faith.

If I have used language in this discussion that seemed severe or unkind, I hope it will be overlooked; and I wish to assure Bro. C. that I entertain no other than the kindest feelings toward him; and will now in turn, bid him adieu, unless he has more to say upon these points.

Yours for truth. N. WARDNER.

Horse-Racing

HORSE-RACING, “dancing on the green,” “sack-running,” a “wheelbarrow-race,” “cooking supper between heaven and earth,” etc., is the programme of the celebration of Independence day in this city. What a burlesque on the birthday of our nation. Little did the patriots of ’76 dream that their bloody struggles and heroic deaths would be commemorated with such hollow mockery, void of all intelligence and becoming respect. But then we are living in a fast age—an age of “progress!”—Golden Censer, Rockford, Ill.

The Tents of Jacob.

By Thos. J. Cross

“How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel.”

These words were brought to mind at our late camp-meeting at Wasioja, Minn. To look at that circle of tents, with the large one in the center, to hear the songs of praise, and the voice of prayer, all conspired to render the scene deeply interesting. There for the first time we attended a regular camp-meeting among the peculiar people, called Seventh-day Adventists. They do not appear to be entirely indifferent to the opinions of others, having some of the leading characteristics of our common humanity; but they do not seem disposed to ask pardon for believing as they do, nor for what they do.

Having cast in my lot among them, I had a great desire to see and hear from those tried servants of the Lord, concerning whom the tongue of slander had not been silent.

Bro. and Sr. White seemed to have the gospel armor fully on; and Bro. Littlejohn was able to rightly divide the word of truth. But it was not preaching self, but Christ Jesus the Lord.

There is no mistake, the Lord is in this work. How interesting the scene, to behold two or three thousand listening to the word of life.

May the word preached be received into good and honest hearts, and bring forth fruit unto holiness, that the end may be everlasting life. May the truth, the present truth, as now being declared, make us free, and be carried out in all the varied departments of life. And let us never forget that it is through faith and obedience, that we are to secure eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. THOS. J. CROSS.

Blue Earth Co., Minn.

The Grasshopper Scourge.

Salt Lake City, Utah.—We are surrounded, encompassed about, and overwhelmed with grasshoppers. These insects have hatched out the past spring by myriads, on the benches around the city, and in most of the unfrequented streets, so that now in the outside lots they are doing a great amount of damage. In my lot, which is on the east part of the town, they have destroyed all my young green vegetables, also my pie-plant, gooseberries, strawberry plants, potato vines, grape vines, old and young, and stripped nine-tenths of my trees of foliage, and now are cutting off my pea vines. As an instance of their voracity, on the 24th of April my place looked lovely in the morning, at noon the small insects commenced to travel in a body, and before sundown the place was as bare as if nothing had been planted, and they, staying around, kept it so; and now we have the appearance of winter in the lots so affected. The insects have not traveled far into the city in any numbers, because the inhabitants of the outside lots are vigilant in their efforts to destroy all that they can. All modes are resorted to—digging holes, driving the insects into, and burying them in the mud; piling straw, surrounding them and driving them in, and then after dark burning them in the straw; putting a hoop in the mouth of a sack, sweeping them into sacks and crushing them; catching them in sheets and destroying them, &c. Though millions are killed daily we are overrun with them; and people from the mountains say the hills are covered with small ones, yet to come down. It is a deplorable prospect, but we “are going to fight it out on that line.”

To-day (31st May) we had a lengthy, solid fall of snow and rain; on the hills surrounding us there is quite a depth of snow. The atmosphere was cool, but in the afternoon it cleared up and became warm.

Springville, Utah.—The grasshoppers are more numerous this season than ever before known; already more than one half of the oats, wheat, and barley, have been destroyed by them. Farmers are replanting with corn. Much of the blossoms and young fruit are cut from the trees of the apple, peach, plum, and pear. Cherries not injured. Currants, gooseberries, strawberries, pie-plant, and vegetables, mostly destroyed.—Correspondence of Agricultural Department, Washington.

Continue reading: Thoughts on the Book of Daniel