Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 24
August 9, 1864
RH, Vol. XXIV. Battle Creek, Mich., Third-Day, No. 11
James White
ADVENT REVIEW,
AND SABBATH HERALD.
“Here is the Patience of the Saints; Here are they that keep the Commandments of God, and the Faith of Jesus.”
VOL. XXIV. BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, AUGUST 9, 1864. No. 11.
The Advent Review & Sabbath Herald
is published weekly, by
The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association.
ELD. JAMES WHITE, PRESIDENT.
TERMS. —Two Dollars a year in advance. One Dollar to the poor, and to those who subscribe one year on trial. Free to those unable to pay half price. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.1
Address Elder JAMES WHITE, Battle Creek, Michigan. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.2
The Cheering Hope
The dull cold days that we number here,
Make the heart feel sad and the world seem drear;
But colder still are the thoughts that come
From blasted hope or a ruined home;
And still more sad do our spirits feel
For the sickness of friends that we cannot heal;
And far more drear when in death they close
Their languid eyes for a long repose,
In silence to sleep while we struggle still
Through the varying prospects of good and ill.
Oh, were this the last we should ever see
Of the friends we cherish so tenderly,
Oh, were we never to meet nor tell
Of aught we had seen since the last farewell,
Then our earthly lot were sad indeed
And dreary the life that we needs must lead.
But a cheering hope of a bright abode,
Is revealed in the blessed word of God;
And a promise sure that the dead shall come
From the cold damp cells of their narrow home.
For the earth in surpassing beauty dressed
Shall be the place of abode and rest
For those who by watching and toil and pain
Have kept the faith of the Lamb once slain,
Have loved the truths of his changeless word
And washed their robes in his precious blood.
Yes the righteous shall join their friends once more
Immortal and free on that fadeless shore.
And thus how the ills of life’s bitter cup,
Are taken away by this cheering hope.
E. W. Darling.
ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.3
Sanctification: or Living Holiness
by eld. d. t. bourdeau.
(Continued.) ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.4
imagination
Imagination is “the power or faculty of the mind by which it perceives and forms ideas of things communicated to it by the organs of sense.” Webster. It is by this faculty that ideal images, or pictures of absent objects and scenes are formed. For instance, when in the silence of the night, reviewing the events of the day, we see the persons that we have visited, the country through which we have passed, and other things which have struck our vision, it is the imagination that pictures these things in our minds. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.5
Imagination was designed to represent real and true objects and scenes; but it sometimes goes farther than this: it creates things that are unreal and untrue. This is seen in Mythology, where we read the description of creatures and scenes which have existed only in the imagination. This is also seen in the description of the future state given by Mahomet; also in the doctrines of purgatory, and in many other fanciful doctrines which are the fruit of unsanctified imaginations. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.6
Imagination is naturally unruly, and is often used in picturing scenes that encourage the practice of sin, in magnifying the fruits of others, and in manufacturing mountains of difficulties out of nothing. To illustrate we will suppose a case: A. and B. meet together. They have always been on good terms. A. moves along toward B. to pass compliments as on other occasions, but observes that B. is sad and rather backward in his remarks. These individuals part. A. looks back to the interview he has had with B. and calls up B. in his imagination, and says, How cold and sour he looked. How he stood off. How little he said. He never treated me so coldly. And the enemy comes in, and adds and adds to the picture, till B. looks ugly, independent and hard, and A. feels that he has been slighted and abused without a cause, and that B. has something against him. Soon A. and B. meet again. But this time B. comes up cheerfully, and A. stands off. Says B., What is the matter, Bro. A.? What is the matter, replies A.? You ought to know. You treated me coldly the other day without a just cause, and you have something against me. What makes you think so says B.? I know it is so, answers A. But B. replies, Why, dear Bro., I was examining my own heart and thinking about my imperfections, and since then I have got help, and I now feel free. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.7
This is one case out of many in which we see the wrong use that is made of imagination. If A. had examined his own imperfections and checked his imagination, this trial might have been avoided. With many, an unsanctified imagination takes the lead, and the fruit is evil-surmising, hatred, envy, lust, evil-speaking, unnecessary trials in families, in neighborhoods, and in the church of God, castles built in the air, fanaticism, etc. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.8
But imagination may be very useful, and a source of much comfort. Would you derive real benefit and comfort from this faculty? Then employ it in picturing useful objects and scenes. Let it represent all that is lovely in the appearance and actions of others, and if you suffer it to represent the evil conduct of others, let it be only that you may help them, and more easily avoid the ways of sin. Let it form images of holy men and women spoken of in the Bible—especially of Jesus, the great example. Follow him from the manger to the cross. Behold him as he goes from place to place on his mission of love, suffering from weariness, hunger and thirst, from persecution and the temptations of Satan. Listen to the rich instructions that fall from his lips. See him weep over sinners. See him pray all night alone. Witness his agony in the garden, and the abuses that he receives as he is tried by his enemies. View him stretched between the heavens and the earth, with his hands and feet pierced, and the crown of thorns mutilating his sacred brow. See the precious blood flow freely from his hands and feet. See it fall from his sacred head. Hear him pray for his enemies, and cry as he bears the sins of the whole world, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Follow him from earth to the heavenly sanctuary, where he pleads the merits of his blood in behalf of his people, and where his great mediatorial work will soon wind up preparatory to his coming to earth. Behold him coming in glory and majesty in the clouds of heaven, with all the holy angels. Witness the events connected with his coming. Picture in your minds the rich and glorious reward of the just, and the awful punishment of the unjust. And all these scenes will have a tendency to strengthen your faith, and encourage you to love the Lord, and imitate his virtues, to shun the ways of sin, walk in the path of holiness. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.9
will
The will is the faculty of choosing or determining. This faculty is the main-spring of the mind. It holds the operations of the mind and the motions of the body at its command. In this respect, it is to the rest of the faculties what a king is to his subjects. A king says to his subjects, Do this, and they obey him; and the will controls, to a great degree, the thoughts and actions of men. How necessary, then, it is for this faculty to be sanctified. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.10
Men do not choose and determine without causes. There are always motives which lead men to choose and decide to act. There motives are either just or unjust, reasonable or unreasonable. The decisions of a sanctified will are based on just and reasonable motives, on reason, sound judgment, and the word of God. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.11
In the language of another, “Commendable decision implies two things-a knowledge of what is truth and duty, and a fixed determination to conform to them in practice without a compromise.” The mind should first be enlightened. It should first analyze what is held out as truth, and then judge and decide, choose or refuse. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.12
When Joshua had refreshed the minds of the Israelites on God’s dealings with them, and called in exercise their reason and judgment, he said, “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve,” Joshua 24:15. Said the Lord to his back-slidden people, “Come now and let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured by the sword.” Isaiah 1:18-20. Jesus and Paul instructed their hearers, reasoning with them from the Scriptures, and then called upon them to judge and decide with regard to the truth. Matthew 12:24-30; John 7, 8; Acts 17:2; 18:4, 19; 24:25, etc. Reason and judgment are not laid aside in the Scriptures; on the contrary, they are made use of and appealed to, that men may be persuaded to choose the truth. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.13
But too often, alas! reason, judgment, and the word of God are neglected, and the will is used in deciding against the truth. A. has a strong will, but decides against certain Bible doctrines before he has carefully examined them, and thus shuts the truth out of his mind. If he goes where the present truth is preached, he decides in his own mind what he will believe and what he will not believe, before he really understands what is to be presented. If he decides to read what is held out as truth, he determines before hand to believe only what agrees with his ideas of right, and makes his opinions the rule with which to compare what others say. And if he finally sees his unreasonable and injudicious course, how difficult it is for him to alter his decision, especially if he has a proud heart. But it is wiser to revoke an unsanctified decision than to abide by it, that it may appear that we are firm and unchangeable. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.14
B. is reluctant to decide in favor of the truth because a few ideas connected with it are not clear to his mind. But is it consistent to let a few seeming objections obscure clear and well established principles, and prevent us from deciding in favor of what we know to be truth? Would it be reasonable for a school-boy to decide against the science of arithmetic because he has come to a problem that he cannot solve? Reason and consistency require that we pronounce ourselves for what we understand to be truth, and those do violence to their reason and judgment who refuse to do this. By deciding in favor of the truth as far as we see it, we may be enabled to understand those points that are not clear. This has been the experience of thousands. But, although there should remain a few points unexplainable to our minds, we should not suffer these points to shake our confidence in plain and unmistakable evidences. It has been ascertained that the sun has spots which do not emit light, but it would be unwise to conclude that for this reason we should shut our eyes against the sun, and say that it does not shine. It is out duty and privilege to settle on the truth as far as we understand it, and to be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 81.15
C. understands the truth, but determines to reject it because he does not have the feeling he would like to have. But feeling varies with circumstances, and is not, if separately considered, a safe guide. One of my relatives once urged me with much feeling and tears to become a Roman Catholic. I respected this relative’s honesty, but did not consider her feeling and tears as sufficient evidence to prove the Roman Catholic religion genuine. But bad feeling sometimes grows out of an inward conflict between right and wrong. Let wrong be overcome by sanctified decision and a holy practice, and good feeling may be restored. But, though good feeling should not be restored, we ought not to reject the truth, but rather settle on the merits of the truth. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.1
When seed-time comes, the consistent farmer does not wait for feeling to know whether he had better prepare his ground and scatter his seed; and when the time of harvest comes, he does not wait for feeling to know whether he should harvest his grain. And shall any professing to love Bible truth, dishonor the cause of truth, and disgust the candid, by waiting for feeling, while they see their duty in God’s word? Consistent persons are willing to trust honest individuals, and labor hard before receiving their wages, and shall Christians fear to trust God? Will they refuse to decide to serve him till they have a good feeling, or till they receive that blessing which God bestows on those who yield to his truth? Those who leave plain Bible truth to run after feeling, grieve the Spirit of truth, and are in danger of being led by another spirit. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.2
The Christian often feels very bad while in the way of duty. It is then that the enemy comes in with power to discourage and destroy him. No one will claim that Christ had very buoyant and joyous feelings when the sins of the whole world rested upon him. Yet he was doing the most important work connected with his earthly mission. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.3
D. concludes to reject the truth because of the trials and afflictions connected with it, and perhaps does not realize that those trials and afflictions connected with the truth are very prominent means of sanctification; that they make us know ourselves, and will, if rightly improved, enable us to advance in the attainment of every excellence. Says Job, “When he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:10. Says Isaiah, “By this, therefore, shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged.” Isaiah 27:9. See, also, verses 7 and 9. Says Paul, “They (our earthly parents) verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be made partakers of his holiness. Now, no chastening for the present,” etc. “We glory in tribulation also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Hebrews 12:10, 11; Romans 5:3-5. And James says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience; but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1:2-4. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.4
God’s people have ever been a tried people, and the Scriptures plainly declare that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22. Christ, the great Pattern of the church, was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. He was tried in all points; and for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. When the bitter cup of suffering was presented to him he showed that his will was sanctified by using the following language: “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” Luke 22:42. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.5
In the above cases, we see some of the unreasonable and unscriptural motives that lead many to refuse the truth, and choose the way of sin and death. It often happens that the will is not checked, and runs impetuously in its course, without regard to consequences. This we see in persons called willful, self-willed, head-strong, who are a source of grief to those who would reason with them. Children are often so; if let alone their stubborn will would lead them to rush on head-long to destruction. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.6
It is a true saying that “yielding pacifieth great offenses.” Ecclesiastes 10:4. It saves many trials and troubles. Most of those trials and difficulties that arise in families, in neighborhoods, and among brethren, can be traced to an unwillingness to yield. But some will say, Must I give up my rights? We answer, It often becomes a duty for individuals to give up, or yield in, what they call their rights. There are many instances in which we can yield or submit to others without sacrificing the truth. We are exhorted in the Scriptures to submit one to another, and we should in many things submit to all. If this principle were followed, many unhappy families and neighborhoods would be made happy, and thousands of grievous trials would be avoided. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.7
Some have not learned to yield their will to their superiors, and how hard it is for such to bow to their Maker. They manifest the same stubbornness toward the Lord that they do toward their fellow-creatures. How many mighty men and women have fallen because they have rebelled against the Lord. Many have run well till their wills were crossed, and they would not yield to God and his truth. Doubtless, they were blinded to the fact that they were rebelling against God. Perhaps their minds were not raised higher than those who ministered to them in word and doctrine. This was the case with ancient Israel in the days of Moses, the servant of God. This was also the case with Israel at subsequent periods in their history. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.8
David’s advice to his son Solomon was to “serve the Lord with a willing mind.” 1 Chronicles 28:9. Said Hezekiah to the Jews, “Now, be ye not stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord.” 2 Chronicles 30:8. The consequences of stubbornness are awful. Many will yield when it is too late. Says the prophet Amos, “They shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” Amos 8:12. To such, wisdom says, “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord; they would none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way.” Proverbs 1:24-30. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.9
The language of each heart should be, Speak Lord, thy servant heareth. I will choose thy truth, and do what thou requirest at my hand. I will follow thee through evil as well as through good report. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.10
Though it is an exaggeration to say that men can of themselves do what they will, yet it is certain that many fail to gain their object, because they do not enlist their will on their side, and move from a fixed determination. This is true in religion as well as in worldly matters. The will can be a great help to Christians in overcoming their besetments. Said a dying man to his son, “Only have strength to say, No.” If we would have strength to say, No, in our conflicts with the powers of darkness in the time of trouble (Revelation 13:15-17; 14:9-11), we must have strength and decision to say, No, to the temptations that we now have to encounter. Our wills must be wholly swallowed up in the will of God. We read that “thy people shall be willing in the days of thy power.” Psalm 110:3. And in the language of Jesus, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17, ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.11
(To be continued.)
Protestant Views of Hell,
To which we may apply the language of Ezekiel 22:28: “And her prophets have daubed them with un-tempered mortar, seeing vanity and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord hath not spoken.” Let us be thankful that the Bible is not responsible for such sentiments of eternal misery. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.12
Dr. Mather Byles, pastor of a church in Boston, Mass., 1771, in a sermon on the resurrection, page 19, says: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.13
“The unbeliever and impenitent have no interest at all in the ‘blessed hope.’ It is true the wicked must be raised from the dead, as well as the holy. But oh! how wide the difference between the one and the other, at the great decisive day. The wicked shall be raised to ‘shame and everlasting contempt.’ No glory shall shine about them; no image of Christ shall appear on them. They shall be changed ‘tis true, but oh, the dreadful change! Then feeble bodies must be changed into bodies strong to bear the wrath of Almighty God. Their dying and dead bodies shall be changed into bodies of an immortal constitution; bodies that must live forever in anguish! They must measure eternal ages with groans and out-cries, and execrations and despair! Their corrupt and filthy bodies shall be changed into ten thousand times more hideous and loathsome figures, fit to be inhabitants of hell, and companions for devils. Their healthy and pleasurable bodies shall be changed; be seized and racked with an unknown variety of pains and torments; shall feed the flames of the horrible furnace kindled with the wrath of God that burneth as an oven, and endureth forever. And oh! who can dwell with devouring fire? who can endure everlasting burnings? The darkness of the grave shall be changed for the outer darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.14
The American Tract Society publish a tract, (No. 277) from the works of Saurian, a divine of the 17th century, on the “eternal misery of hell.” We give a brief extract as a sample. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.15
“As God will aggravate the sufferings of the damned by displaying his glorious attributes, their hatred of him will be unbounded, their torment will excite their hatred, their hatred will aggravate their torment. Is not his the high of misery-to be filled with unmixed hate toward the Perfect Being, the Supreme Being, the Sovereign Beauty-in a word, to hate the infinite God? Doth not this idea present to your mind a state the most melancholy, the most miserable? One chief excellence of the glory of happy spirits is a consummate love to their Creator. One of the most horrid punishments of hell is the exclusion of divine love. Oh, miserable state of the damned! In it they utter as many blasphemies against God as the happy souls in Heaven shout alleluiahs to his praise. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.16
“These are the punishments of condemned souls. It remains only that we consider the length and duration of them. But can we number the innumerable? and measure that which is beyond mensuration?” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.17
The Rev. Mr. Spurgeon recently addressed the following remarks to the sinner: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.18
“When thou diest thy soul will be tormented alone; that will be a hell for it: but at the day of judgment thy body will join thy soul, and then thou wilt have twin hells; body and soul shall be together, each brim full of pain, thy soul sweating in its inmost pore drops of blood, and thy body from head to foot suffused with agony; conscience, judgment, memory, all tortured; but more, thy head tormented with racking pains; thine eyes starting from their sockets with sights of blood and woe; thine ears tormented with ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.19
‘Sullen moans and hollow groans,
And shrieks of tortured ghosts;’
ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.20
thine heart beating high with fever; thy pulse rattling at an enormous rate in agony; thy limbs cricking like the martyrs in the fire, and yet nuburnt; thyself put in a vessel of hot oil, pained, yet coming out undestroyed; all thy veins becoming a road for the hot feet of pain to travel on; every nerve a string on which the Devil shall ever play his diabolical tune of hell’s unutterable lament; thy soul forever and ever aching, and thy body palpitating in unison with thy soul. Fictions, sir? Again, I say, they are no fictions, and as God liveth, but solid, stern truth. If God be true and this Bible be true, what I have said is the truth, and you will find it one day to be so.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 82.21
“There is a real fire in hell as truly as you now have a real body-a fire exactly like that we have on earth in everything except this-that it will not consume though it will torment you.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.1
Richard Benson, an able and learned preacher of the Wesleyan connection, gives the following on “endless misery.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.2
“God is present in hell, in his infinite justice and almighty wrath, as an unfathomable sea of liquid fire, where the wicked must drink in everlasting tortune. The presence of God in his vengeance scatters darkness and woe through the dreary regions of misery. As Heaven would be no Heaven, if God did not there display or manifest his love, so hell would be no hell, if God did not there display his wrath. It is the presence and agency of God, which gives everything virtue and efficacy; without which, there can be no life, no sensibility, no power. God is, therefore, himself present in hell, to see the punishment of these rebels against his government, that it may be adequate to the infinity of their guilt. His fiery indignation kindles, and his incensed fury feeds the flame of their torment. While his powerful presence and operations maintain their being, and render all their powers most acutely sensible; thus setting the keenest edge upon their pain and making it cut most intolerably deep; he will exert all his divine attributes to make them as wretched as the capacities of their minds will admit.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.3
On the duration of this torment, he says: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.4
“Let every star, every drop, every grain of sand, represent one million of tormenting ages, and know that as many more millions still remain behind, and yet as many more behind these, and so on without end.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.5
Dying Testimonies of Infidels
Dying testimonies show the folly of endeavoring to deceive ourselves in respect to our relations to God. Death corrects our known errors, it crushes our speculative reasonings, and allows our innate consciousness of truth to assert its authority. As death approaches, a man reviews his life, and his motives and conduct are brought into judgment before the tribunal of his conscience; he cannot flee from himself; he cannot stifle his convictions of the fas and nefas of the motives that have governed his behavior; and if, to palliate irregularities in his moral conduct, he has called error truth, he will find it a fearful thing to be undeceived. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.6
John Wilmot, Lord Rochester, was an accomplished nobleman and a favorite of Charles II. He became dissolute, a votary to the wine-cup and to sensual pleasure, and a defender of infidelity. He confessed to Dr. Burnet that, for five years, his dissipation was so excessive that he was at no time master of himself. The age of thirty-one found him with his physical powers ruined, and his prospects of life precarious. His infidel principles forsook him, and, trembling in view of future punishment, he turned penitently to God. During his protracted illness, he published a confession of his errors, declaring that “he left to the world this last declaration, which he delivered in the presence of the great God, who knows the secrets of all hearts, and before whom he was preparing to be judged, that, from the bottom of his soul, he detested and abhorred the whole course of his former wicked life.” “O remember,” he said to a friend who visited him on his death-bed, “that you contemn God no more. He is an avenging God, and will visit you for your sins, and will, I hope, touch your conscience sooner or later, as he has done mine. You and I have been friends and sinners together a great while, and, therefore, I am the more free with you. We have been all mistaken in our concerts and opinions; our persuasions have been false and groundless. Therefore, God grant you repentance.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.7
“I am abandoned by God and man!” exclaimed Voltaire in his last sickness. After a long exile, he had returned to Paris in triumph. His name was the signal for enthusiasm. He had even feared that he should expire amid the acclamations which his presence called forth at the theater. But neither the shout of the populace, nor the assurance of his atheistical friends, could stay his faith on his own philosophy in the prospect of the coming judgment. He renounced his opinions, but died in the expectation of future retribution. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.8
“Guenard has said it! Guenard has said it!” mournfully said Cardinal Mazarin, alluding to the declaration of his physician that he must die. He was heard to exclaim, “Oh, my poor soul, what will become of thee? Whither wilt thou go?” To the queen-dowager of France he said, “Madame, your favors have undone me. Were I to live again, I would be a monk rather than courtier.” Such were the sober reflections of an ecclesiastic whose boundless ambition had overruled his sense of moral obligation, and whose adroit policy had virtually placed in his hands the scepter of France. But Mazarin, though awakened to his situation, was too much joined to his politics and pleasures to turn manfully to religion. Cards were one of his last amusments; and, when dying, he ordered himself to be rouged and dressed, that he might receive the flattery of his courtiers on his apparent recovery. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.9
There are hours of sober thought, and times of imminent peril, when the soul seems to forecast the dying hour-when it starts at the view of its conscious errors, and utters, as from dying lips, its settled convictions. Hobbes was subject to the most gloomy reflections, and was thrown into a state of terror if left alone in the dark. He declared, on one occasion, that, had he the whole world to dispose of, he would give it for a single day to live. He died with the declaration that he was taking a leap in the dark. Paine, in his last sickness, would cry out with affright if left alone night or day. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.10
Volney, after deriding religion, while sailing on Lake Ontario, was thrown into a state of consternation very inconsistent with his philosophy, as a sudden storm exposed him to imminent peril. Shelley, during a storm at sea, was stupefied with terror; and, when the danger was past, declared to Lord Byron that he had tasted so much of the bitterness of death that, in the future, he should entertain doubts of his own creed. The poet, Churchill, whose life was marked by apostasy from religion and by excessive dissipaion, thus writes in a sober hour: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.11
“Look back! a thought which borders on despair,
Which human nature must but cannot bear.
’Tis not the babbling of a busy world,
Where praise and censure are at random hurled,
Which can the meanest of my thoughts control,
Or shake one settled purpose of my soul:
Free and at large might their wild curses roam,
If all, if all, alas, were well at home.
No; ‘tis the tale which angry conscience tells,
When she with more than tragic horror swells
Each circumstance of guilt; when stern, but true,
She brings bad actions forth into review.
And, like the dread handwriting on the wall,
Bids late remorse awake to reason’s call;
Armed at all points, bids scorpion vengeance pass,
And to the mind holds up reflection’s glass-
The mind, which, starting, heaves the heartfelt groan
And hates that form she knows to be her own.”
ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.12
There is something mournful in the declaration of Gibbon, on the night he completed the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. “It was on the day, or rather night, of the 27th of June, 1787, between the hours of eleven and twelve, that I wrote the last lines of the last page, in a summer-house in my garden. After laying down my pen, I took several turns in a berceau, or covered walk of acacias, which commands a prospect of the country, the lake, and the mountains. The air was temperate, the sky was serene, the silver orb of the moon was reflected from the waters, and all Nature was silent. I will not dissemble the first emotions of joy on the recovery of my freedom, and, perhaps, the establishment of my fame. But my pride was soon humbled, and a sober melancholy was spread over my mind by the idea that I had taken an everlasting leave of an agreeable companion, and that, whatsoever might be the future date of my history, the life of the historian must be short and precarious.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.13
Still more gloomy is the declaration of Hume, on reviewing his life and works: “I am at first affrighted and confounded by the forlorn solitude in which I am placed by my philosophy, and fancy myself some strange, uncouth monster, who not being able to mingle and unite in society, has been expelled all human commerce, and left utterly abandoned and disconsolate. Fain would I run into the crowd for shelter and warmth, but cannot prevail upon myself to mix with such deformity. I call upon others to join with me to make a company apart, but no one will hearken to me. Every one keeps at a distance, and dreads the storm that beats upon me from every side. When I look abroad, I foresee on every side dispute, contradiction, anger, calumny, and detraction. When I turn my eye inward, I find nothing but doubt and ignorance.”—Independent. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.14
The Religion of Patrick Henry
In a letter to his daughter, Patrick Henry thus expresses his regard for the Christian religion: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.15
“The view which the rising greatness of our country presents to my eyes, is greatly tarnished by the general prevalence of deism, which, with me, is but another name for vice and depravity. I am, however, much consoled by reflecting that the religion of Christ has, from its first appearance in the world, been attacked in vain by all the wits, philosophers, and wise ones, aided by every power of man, and its triumph has been complete. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.16
“What is there in the wit or wisdom of the present deistical writers or professors, that can compare them with Hume, Shaftsbury, Bolingbroke, and others? and yet these have been confuted, and their fame decaying; insomuch, that the puny efforts of Paine are thrown in to prop their tottering fabric, whose foundation can not stand the test of time. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.17
“Among other strange things said of me, I hear it is said by the deists that I am one of the number; and, indeed, that some good people think I am no Christian. This thought gives me much more pain than the appellation of Tory; because I think religion of infinitely higher importance than politics; and I find much cause to reproach myself, that I have lived so long, and have given no decided and public proofs of my being a Christian.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.18
Tobacco
The old subject of preachers’ using tobacco has been stirred again. A correspondent of the Chicago Advocate, detailing the proceedings of the Arkansas and Missouri Conference, says: “The Committee on Temperance offered a very stringent resolution on the use of tobacco by ministers or the Gospel, which called out a spirited debate.” The Conference finally passed this resolution: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.19
“Resolved, That hereafter we will require of all young men, who apply for admission into this Conference a pledge to abstain from the use of tobacco, except when prescribed by a physician. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.20
“In connection with this, Bishop Ames stated that this was a subject which had interested him for twenty years, and as the result of his observation, he had long been persuaded that the Church had suffered more than many are aware from this habit on the part of ministers. Many ministers, he said, would be glad now if they had never touched tobacco. In his opinion, a very large proportion of the funds which are collected for superannuated preachers, are paid to men who, by the excessive use of tobacco, have been mentally and physically disqualified for the itinerant work.”—Western Advocate. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.21
Holiness.—Holiness is that which God supremely requires in all his commands. If there were any thing more noble or morally excellent than holiness, we might have expected that God would have required us to pursue that supremely, and holiness subordinately. But he has expressly commanded us to pursue holiness supremely, and every thing else in subordination to it.—Dr. Emmons. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 83.22
The Review and Herald
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, AUGUST 9, 1864
URIAH SMITH, EDITOR
A Friendly Word with the Voice of the West
The Voice of the West and Second Advent Pioneer is the title of the paper recently started a few miles west of us, in Buchanan, Mich., by Elder J. V. Himes. With that paper, being a near advent neighbor, it will be a pleasure to us to endeavor to cultivate friendly and social relations. Our readers have seen frequent mention in these columns of Elder Himes, but never otherwise than in terms of respect and esteem, especially for the part he acted in the former history of the great advent movement. With all that he has passed through on account of false brethren discouragements and affliction, he is still pressing forward the work of publication and making known the coming of the Lord as he views it, with all the energy of former times, manifesting a zeal and perseverance worthy of the whole truth. But having, as we conceive lost the true prophetic key, or in other words, still clinging to the idea that the prophetic periods extend to the coming of the Lord, of which there is no proof in the Sacred Scriptures, it is impossible for him at the present time, on that principle, to make a right application of these periods, at least all of them. Hence in regard to these main pillars of prophecy he is liable to adopt every view but the right one; and hence his present fallacious application, or what we must regard as such, of ending these periods in 1867-8, and placing the coming of the Lord at that time. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.1
But we are digressing from the object of these lines. In the Voice of July 30, the Editor under the heading of “My Journal,” describes a visit to Lapeer, Mich., in which we find a few things for comment. He says: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.2
“Saturday, July 16.—This being the Seventh day, or the Jewish Sabbath, and being in a place where the Seventh-day Adventists have a church, and regular worship, I arranged to worship with them in the morning, and preach in my own place in the p m. and evening. Their meeting had just begun on my arrival.—There were about thirty present, all of whom, as I found afterward, were professors. Elder Higley, conducted the service. It consisted in reading the Scriptures, prayers, addresses, and exhortations. Some twenty-five spoke and prayed. It was a good, heavenly, spiritual meeting. It was good to be there. I enjoyed it much, and could but ask God’s blessing upon them.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.3
We are certainly glad if Eld. H. enjoyed his meeting with the S. D. Adventists in Lapeer. If he saw some good fruits there, it may perhaps lead him to conclude that the tree which bare them is, at least, not bad. But why call the seventh day “the Jewish Sabbath?” We have endeavored to study the subject of the Sabbath somewhat carefully, and we have failed to find that there ever was a weekly Jewish Sabbath, or a weekly Sabbath that was peculiar to the Jews, any more than the command, Thou shalt not kill, or steal, was peculiar to them. Popular parlance, to be sure, has coined the phrase, and passes it glibly from mouth to mouth: but Adventists, above all people, should have learned that that is not a reliable source from whence to adopt theological terms, and that all is not necessarily divine which is gray with the dust of antiquity, and receives the homage of the multitude. As Eld. H. has now located in a State where Sabbath views are comparatively prevalent, we hope he will see fit to carefully re-consider the subject of the Sabbath, and in speaking of it, use only such terms as he can readily produce a warrant for from the Scriptures of truth. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.4
Again he says: “It is true they hold to some views, which they have added to the Advent faith, which I do not see to be true. But I do not doubt their honesty or sincerity in these things.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.5
We must differ somewhat from the statement that the views we hold have been added to the Advent faith. But one view occurs to our mind which could be said to be added, understanding by the term of course that which is not especially connected with the Advent doctrine; and in that we are happy to see by late numbers of the Voice that Elder Himes is himself fully with us. We refer to the sleep of the dead, and destruction of the wicked. Other prominent points of our faith may be summed up under the following heads: The sanctuary, the third angel’s message, the Sabbath, and spiritual gifts. As to the sanctuary, that is not an addition to the Advent faith, but simply an adjunct of the first angel’s message, or first part of the Advent proclamation. It is a glorious apartment of truth into which the 2300 days opened the door in 1844. Spiritual gifts is a subject included in “the faith of Jesus;” and the Sabbath is included in “the commandments of God,” and these both in the “third angel’s message,” which is itself but the third link in the Advent chain, or the third era in the great proclamation of the Advent which is to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord. Thus these are not additions, but only further developments of the same great system of truth. We saw a magnificent portion of the stately edifice in 1844, but other, proportions we have discovered since. And we now see a relation of parts, and a great harmony of the whole not before perceived. Much as we then saw, as we now walk about Zion, many are the towers and bulwarks we can count, which we could not then. We rejoice in these glorious truths, and we would that others, yea, all, might take their stand with us, and enjoy them too. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.6
Again we quote: “The Seventh-day Adventists have treated me with kindness, and in my severe trials in time past have not, like some, stood in the cross-ways to help on the affliction, but gave me their kindly Christian sympathies. They have among their number many who are the fruit of my labor, having since been converted to their view of the Sabbath, and other questions, which separated them from me, of which I have not complained. Let every one be fully persuaded in their own minds. And if our Seventh-day brethren are more industrious, and efficient in making converts, and by their zeal and industry turn our members over to their side, it is their right to enjoy the results of their labors. And if we have been remiss, and have neglected to spread and defend the Advent faith as we should have done, the remedy now, is, not to complain, or to contend with others; but to go to work as we should, and what little time remains, use it in preparing a people for the coming kingdom.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.7
We can say in behalf of S. D. Adventists that the kind treatment our friend speaks of has been but the spontaneous development of kind feelings toward him. It is a pleasure to bestow sympathy where not only the justice of the cause demands it, but where it is appreciated. But there is an intimation in the above, not intentional, perhaps, that it has been by remissness in defending the Advent faith, that they have lost any members to the Sabbath cause, as though this cause was antagonistic to Adventism. Whereas we shall claim that it is only by promulgating the Advent faith according to the original standard, only with greater clearness, as we have received further light, that has brought any accessions to our numbers. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.8
Again we read: “While we shall continue to preach the Advent faith, as from the beginning with Father Miller, and not turn off on the switches set for us, by kind and well-disposed persons, or otherwise, we do not intend to turn aside to “vain wrangling” or controversial questions, or bitter strife with brethren who look with us for the coming of the Lord, however much we may differ on other points. Our warfare is with the common enemy.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.9
Another intimation, perhaps more than this, that we are switched off the track, and are setting switches to run others off. Now as to the original Advent faith, and the question who are adhering to it, and carrying it out, we are willing to compare notes with any. class of people calling themselves Adventists. Go back to 1843 and 1844. All Adventists were then agreed that the Advent movement was the especial work of the Lord, that they were giving the judgment-hour proclamation, or the first angel’s message, that the longest of the prophetic periods would end about that time; and that then the Lord would come. How is it with the different classes of Adventists now? How is it, for instance, with Elder H.? He does not believe the prophetic periods there ended as then held that they would. We do. He does not believe that the arguments which proved their termination at that time-arguments which never have been shaken in the least, are legitimate and sound. We do. If we did not, half our ground of sympathy for Eld. H. would vanish from beneath our feet. That past work he throws entirely aside, and goes to work upon a new foundation; whereas we make that work the very basis and foundation of our present position. That the Lord did not then come, we are both agreed; and the only main feature of his former Advent faith that he still retains, namely, that the second advent of Christ is near at hand, we hold in common with him. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.10
Now who are adhering to the original Advent faith, and who are switched off? We respectfully represent that we are not the latter. No, reader, the Adventism of Seventh-day Adventists is the only logical and legitimate continuation of the Adventism of ‘43-4, that is to be found in the land. It is that very movement and nothing else, only in its further development. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.11
In regard to strife, it is not pleasant; and were we not living in a world of error, it would not be necessary. Into any unnecessary, or vain, or bitter, strife, we should feel as loth as any one to enter. But it is important to have the truth. We are to worship God in spirit and in truth. Hence we cannot render him acceptable worship unless we have the truth. Especially is it necessary on a subject like the Sabbath-a subject which affects our practice, our characters, and our relations to God, that we know on what ground we stand. “First pure, then peaceable,” is the rule laid down by the apostle. No peace till there is purity. No cessation of strife so long as there is opposition to the truth. If all the inhabitants of the land were unanimous in keeping holy the Sabbath of the Lord, there would then, so far as we are concerned, be peace on this subject. But while that state of things does not exist, we cannot forbear crying aloud, to show the people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.12
Progress of the Sabbath Agitation
In the World’s Crisis of July 26, 1864, under the heading of “New works to be issued soon,” Eld. T. M. Preble announces a forth-coming work upon the Sabbath, as follows: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.13
“And I wish to say to those who have written to me about my work on the subject of the Sabbath, and to others also who are interested, that I hope they will be patient, as I am now engaged in reviewing the Editor of the seventh-day Sabbath paper, published at Battle Creek, Mich., who has made a very lengthy reply to my articles, recently published in the Crisis. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.14
“I shall get the work ready for the press as soon as practicable; but, as I am not skimming on the surface of this question, it may be some weeks before the work will be finished. I propose to give, in the first place, my own work on the question, as recently published in the Crisis, a careful revision, and thus materially improve it. Then, in a supplement, I intend to present a review of the arguments opposed to the first-day Sabbath. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.15
“My reviewer says in his reply to me: ‘The prospect before the Sabbath cause was never more encouraging, nor the halo of light that encompasses the subject more bright and glorious. The ball has been set in motion; and it bids fan to be even like the barley loaf that tumbled into the camp of the Midianites, laying prostrate their tents and leading on to perfect victory. To arrest this work will require more than his (Preble’s) present effort. He will need to send forth publications which can cope with such works as the History of the Sabbath by J. N. Andrews, which not only has not been answered, but remains to be even attacked. We would not, however, counsel him (Preble) to any such effort,” etc. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.16
“If the Lord is pleased to spare my life and health, with his blessing, such language as the above will not be used “by the opposers of the first-day Sabbath, in a few months from this, with quite so good cheer. Let every lover of truth pray that the Lord will help to bring out the light on this long controverted subject, so that God’s people may ‘rejoice in the truth.’” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.17
We are glad to see the agitation continue. Let the commotion spread and deepen. In this way truth is brought to light, beyond the possibility of burial. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.18
We are happy to learn that this time Eld. P. is “not skimming on the surface of this question.” We hope he will dig deep. And when he gets down below the rubbish of tradition, and the blinding dust of popular sentiment and favor, he will find some eternal principles which have long been thus covered up, more during than the eternal granite and sufficient to blunt any instrument that has yet been devised to dig away the foundations of the Sabbath. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.19
It will be noticed that he is to give his work a “careful revision” (in the light of our reply may we not hope?) and thus send forth, in many respects a new article as his work on the Sabbath. We hope that this time he will make it all right, and produce an argument, with which he will be fully satisfied; and we would just as soon review a second edition as the first. We are sorry, however, that Eld. P. should employ his time and talent in this direction, for he is engaged in a losing cause, as with all the honest in heart the truth will surely prevail. We hope a spirit of strife for the mastery is not usurping in his heart the place of a sincere purpose to know and obey the truth. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 84.20
Thankful, meanwhile for his favorable notice of the Sabbath cause, and especially of the History of the Sabbath, we shall await with interest the appearance of the promised work. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.1
Holy Time, or the Sabbath
“In a small work entitled, “The Missionary’s Daughter; a Memoir of Lucy Goodall Thurston, of the American Tract Society, we find the following on page 159: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.2
“We have concluded to observe to-morrow as the Sabbath with the Tahitians, as they are one day in advance of us. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.3
“As an explanation of the fact here alluded to, some may need to be informed, that in consequence of the missionaries at these two different groups of Islands having passed to then respective stations in opposite directions, the one company by Cape of Good Hope, and the other by Cape Horn, they necessarily differ one day in their computation of time. Hence the Sabbath at the Society Islands occurs one day earlier than at the Sandwich Islands. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.4
“Will those who contend for a specific day of holy time, tell us which of the above days is the Sabbath?” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.5
The above we clip from the Voice of the West. As those who contend for a specific day of holy time, are called upon to tell which of the days referred to constitutes the Sabbath, a word may be expected from us on the point. We are well aware of the effects that such paragraphs are calculated to have, that is to unsettle the mind of the reader as to the question whether there is any specific day to be regarded as the Sabbath. They are given to the public dressed up as objections to the seventh-day Sabbath, and observers of the seventh day are expected to explain the difficulty, or give up their position as inconsistent. But let us examine a moment and see who are the ones involved in this difficulty, if there is any difficulty in the matter. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.6
What day did the missionaries above referred to keep as the Sabbath? The first day of the week. Those who keep the first day believe that there is some reason for keeping that day; and that that definite day should be kept and no other. If those missionaries, were, as reported, one day apart in their reckoning, they could not both have been keeping the first day of the week. Now will those who believe that the first day is the Sabbath, as those missionaries did, tell us which one of those days was the right one? When they will do this, we will tell them how the seventh day could be kept under similar circumstances. If not, let them not object to our theory on ground which equally affects their own. This is a question for Sunday-keepers to settle, not Sabbath-keepers. In fact we have never yet heard of any who kept the seventh day getting into any such difficulty. Suppose one of the missionaries in one party had a twin brother in the other party. They are one day apart in their reckoning. Now will any one tell us which of them was the oldest? If a person could not keep the Sabbath under such circumstances, he could not keep the reckoning of his own birth day. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.7
But there is another question lying back of this, namely, has not God commanded a specific day to be kept as the Sabbath? And until it is decided that he has not, no Christian has any moral right to raise the objection here introduced. It is playing into the hands of infidels, and giving occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme his institutions. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.8
A grand reason why some ministers are more successful in making disciples to Christ than others, is, the motive of the one class is to get the truth before the people, while the motive of the other class is, to make the people believe and obey the truth. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.9
Another “Lo Here.”
the everlasting kingdom in pennsylvania!
Dear Review: Our friend of whom you remarked, some time since, that you knew not what particular stripe of fanaticism he wore, has developed himself, as you probably know. It would seem from his testimony, that he has, with his own hands, cut from the mountain that stone which was, according to prophecy, to be cut out without hands, and though our Saviour said, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there!” our friend can say, Look here! observe and take notice! here is a valley among the hill tops in Sullivan county which I have selected, where the saints, the heirs of the kingdom may gather and have all things common, and set at defiance all human governments and even death itself, till the Lord shall come, some time this side of 1883. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.10
He has chosen a tract of four square miles of land on which to build his “Zion of the West” “having redeemed from the inhabitants of earth by lawful purchase” a portion of it, and intending to redeem the rest, and has consecrated it, dedicated it, and, in due form of law, deeded it to “Almighty God, who inhabiteth eternity, and to his heirs in Jesus Messiah,” and has acknowledged the same before a justice of the peace in and for the said county. This is the process of cutting out the stone, of which he sings as follows: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.11
“The stone cleft from the mountain
Shall grow amidst its foes;
Then rolling onward shall confound
They who the truth oppose.
Until a kingdom it become of universal sway,
Its king the glorious Son of God, through an eternal day.”
ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.12
Thus he has raised his standard, his ensign on the mountains, and who will rally around it? Doubtless some will; for this has always been the case-every fanatical adventurer gains some adherents. But intelligent, Bible-reading people, it would seem, need none to caution them against such an enterprise. Our Saviour said, “And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there; go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.” Luke 18:20-24. We shall need no one to call our attention to the location of the kingdom of God, but its King shall be revealed from heaven like the lightning. “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is among you.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.13
But though the Scriptures are plain against such a movement, yet many scriptures will be pressed into its service; and the bait of all things common will lure the lazy and covetous; the easy bond of union—“loving the appearing of Jesus,” and rejecting contentions about the “old dead school-master”—an expression by which is meant the holy law of God, the ten commandments—will draw the lawless and disobedient; while the novelty of the thing will give new vent to the wild fire of fanaticism, giving it a new subject for its ranting and roaring propensities. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.14
But this is under the Advent name, and is intended of the Devil to bring fresh odium upon the holy cause of truth. Those, however, who love truth, and honestly desire a preparation for those things that are coming, that they may finally stand before the Son of God at his appearing, will see that the preparation they need is not a pretended faith, but a holy character-a character conformed to the law of God-and that the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will prove a better security in the day of wrath than the mountain vale in the State of Pensylvania. The message of the “third angel” will not fail of the purpose for which it is laid down in prophecy. It will unite in faith and practice those who fear God and love the truth, and prepare them for the coming of the Lord, while those who would work out their own deliverance, by following some “lo here,” will find themselves entangled in their own devices and inventions. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.15
R. F. Cottrell.
Have the courage to appear poor, and you disarm poverty of half its sting. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.16
Interesting Extracts. No. 7
the two laws
The following, from the learned Jews’ Letters to Voltaire, shows that the confounding of the two laws was an old infidel objection to the Bible, and, as such, it was exposed and refuted by those who were well versed in the nature and object at all the ancient laws. Those at the present day who confound the different laws of the Old Testament, making them all one and then abolishing the whole at the cross as if they were all indifferent, may here learn that their honorable prototype was the infidel Voltaire. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.17
“Thus, Sir, you describe our divine law. This whole legislation, the object of respect for so many ages, is nothing, according to you, but a heap of vain observances and superstitious customs. Such is the picture you give of them, similar in this respect to the work of those ill-natured painters who employ the art of profile with no other view than to represent the object they hate on the most unfavorable side. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.18
But are these ritual laws which you quote the only divine law of the Jews? Are they the principal and most essential parts of it? Our prophets every where say the contrary. The Decalogue, that most excellent compendium of morality.... precepts on the duties of man toward God, toward himself, and toward his fellow creatures, are the foundation, etc.”—Letters, p. 177. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.19
To the above is appended the following note: “The divine law of the Jews is distinguished into divine natural law, and comprehends the moral laws founded in the nature of things; and into divine positive law, which comprehends the ceremonial laws, the laws of civil polity, etc.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.20
are all images or likenesses a violation of the second commandment?
Voltaire. “Moses himself seems now to transgress the law which he had made. He forbade all images yet he put up the brazen serpent. Solomon caused twelve bulls to be engraven,” etc. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.21
Jews’ Reply: “You might have added, to give strength to this little objection, that the legislator ordered the figure of cherubims to be worked, and embroidered on the vails of the tabernacle, and of the Sanctuary; that he commanded cherubims of gold to be placed over the ark, which they covered with their wings, etc. And yet he did not ‘transgress the law which he had given,’ because it did not absolutely prohibit the making any image or likeness; but the making it, ‘within tent of worship.’ Thus our fathers understood it, and thus did even Josephus. Now Moses did not make the brazen serpent, nor the cherubims with intent of worship. You allow that the, ‘ancient Jews paid them no kind of adoration,’ and when in process of time, they began to do so, a pious king caused the image to be destroyed. Moses’ conduct does not contradict the law, but the interpretation you are pleased to give of it.”—Letters to Voltaire, p. 217. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.22
plain preaching
Dr. Erasmus Alberus, when departing from Brandenburg, asked Luther how he ought to preach before the Elector. Luther replied, “Your sermons should be addressed, not to princes and nobles, but to the rude uncultivated commonality. If in my discourses I were to be thinking about Melancthon and the other doctors, I should do no good at all, but I preach in plain language to the plain unlearned people, and that pleases all parties. If I know Greek, Hebrew, and Latin languages, I reserve them for our learned meetings, where they are of use; for at these we deal in such subtleties and such profundities that God himself, I wot, must marvel at us.”—Mitchelet’s Life of Luther, p. 293. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.23
From the Michigan Tent
Bro. White: We are enjoying our elves well. Our health is good, and we have a good degree of freedom in speaking forth the words of truth. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.24
Yesterday, we had a congregation of upwards of two hundred at each of the three meetings held in the tent. In the afternoon, Eld. Webb, a Methodist minister, occupied the tent by invitation. He stated on the start that he had no big guns to use, but that he should throw some hot shot. And truly, he did; but they went hissing far over the heads of the sensible, and only lodged in the breasts of those who love fun. The truth remained unharmed. We feel to praise the Lord for the truth. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 85.25
This week will probably test the interest the people have in our meetings; for the Methodists have a camp-meeting within four miles of us. This may hinder us some, and we may have to stay longer in consequence; but we trust it will all work out for good in the end. Pray for us, that success may attend our labors. In hope of life. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.1
I. D. Van Horn.
Alma, Mich., Aug. 1, 1864.
Report of Meetings
Bro. White: From Battle Creek I came to Jackson, and enjoyed two good meetings with the church, evenings of the 13th and 14th of July. The youth and children manifest increasing interest, in union with their parents. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.2
July 15 and 16, met with the church in Tompkins, Jackson Co. Our Sabbath meetings were solemn and interesting. Here we had always been welcomed by our departed Sr. Weed, who no longer hears the proclamation of the third angel’s message. May the living members double their diligence for salvation and eternal life. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.3
July 17-20, I visited some of the scattered and lonely ones in Leslie and Rives, Jackson Co. Had an interesting meeting in the Van Horn school-house. In the latter place some were present who had been investigating our position and were manifestly interested. After the meeting we visited a sister who resolved to keep the Sabbath of the Lord. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.4
From July 21-28 was occupied in visiting and holding meetings with the church at Bunker Hill, Ing. Co. We held six meetings with them, and were much pleased with the interest they manifested in trying to learn and walk in the light of the third angel’s message. They say, How we wish Bro. and Sr. White would visit us. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.5
Joseph Bates.
Jonesville, Aug. 2, 1864.
Secret Societies
It is not our design in this short article to single out any particular secret society and deal blows upon that, but to speak of them collectively; for we consider they are all of a similar character, although aiming at different objects. There is a regular grade of these societies from “Knights of the Golden Circle” and “Free Masons,” down to “Good Templars,” etc. The fact that those who pass through the degrees of one of these societies are almost sure if able to immediately merge into another, is proof of their similarity, and would look as though the milder societies were only preparatory schools for the higher order. We have known several of our acquaintances who have commenced the scale by uniting with the Cadets, now called Templars. From that they went to “Sons of Temperance,” and then on to “Odd Fellows,” and “Masons”—passing through the degrees of one society, taking degree after degree in others, hunting for something, which alas! they never find. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.6
There are many points of similarity in these societies, some of which we will present. Their workings, whatever plans are to be devised, are in the secret place. They all have a money consideration for membership. They have weekly dues to be paid, and expel their members for neglect for a time to pay their dues. All profess to be charitable institutions, to help those in distress, or sickness. They provide for the funeral expenses of the dead, and relief for the widow and orphans of members. All claim that they are pursuing a good object. Temperance, Charity, or something good. And we might add; they all have their show of regalia which is just calculated to lure many an unwary one into their fold. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.7
It is our design however in this article to present reasons why the people of God should not unite with any such secret organizations. There are good reasons why we should unite with none of them. While there are still other, and forcible reasons why we should not unite with particular ones. Whatever may be the professed principles of these societies, they are not carried out by any of them in such a manner as to exclude the profane swearer or infidel from joining them. So we see that a Christian in joining such an association, is brought into the closest fellowship with revilers against God and his holy law. It is a startling fact that in some of the higher societies, Masons and Odd fellows, it is declared to be wrong to offer a prayer “that contains language offensive to any individuals of any religious denomination enrolled among our members.” As their membership embraces Hindoos, Pagans, Mahometans, Jews, and professed Christians, prayers offered in their presence must be offered in such a way that Pagans and all will not be offended. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.8
“Then it is unmasonical to offer prayer in the Lodge in the name of our alone adorable Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Masonry claims a date of existence anterior to the advent of Christ.... Of course none prayed in the name of Christ then: and if Masonry is substantially the same now as then, it must be evident that to pray in the name of Christ is unmasonical. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.9
“Masonry claims to unite into one common brotherhood all the great divisions of mankind, Christians, Jews, Mahometans and Pagans.... A Lodge composed of these different classes would, if a prayer were offered in the name of Jesus Christ, be scattered to the four winds at once. Under these circumstances, Christ must be left outside the lodge, and within, the the Christian brother must ‘deny the Lord that bought him.’” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.10
The above quotations are from Cyrus Prindle’s tract on Masonry and Odd Fellowship, published at the Wesleyan Office, Syracuse, N. Y., p. 8. The writer gives proof in his tract that this is the sentiment of Masons and Odd Fellows. He quotes from the Philadelphia Christian Instructor a correspondence published in 1859 in the Masonic Mirror and Keystone, for June 29th We give a part of it: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.11
Question signed C. A., Terre Haute, Ind., June 15th 1859. “Is it Masonic to have a strictly Christian prayer at opening and closing a Lodge, such a prayer as all Masons cannot conscientiously join?” The question was explained by the questioner as touching those who prayed in the name of Christ. Mark the reply: “It is altogether superfluous to reply to the question, because the prayers referred to conflict with the universality of Masonry, which must be patent to every Mason who has the least knowledge of the principles upon which the Masonic order is based.... We refer our correspondent to the prayer of Solomon as ancient authority.... All invocations in a Masonic Lodge must be addressed to God, and to God only. Anything that conflicts with the universality of Masonry, is wrong.” The Ashlar, another Masonic publication which calls the Keystone “That veteran Masonic periodical,” in its issue of March, 1856, says on this question: “Anything which draws a distinction between religions, or more properly between religious sects, has nothing to do with Masonry.” After speaking of Mahometans, Hindoos and Jews, who reject the New Testament, the writer says: “The Christian has no more right to blackball the Jew than the Jew has to blackball the Christian: and either who uses his influence to prevent the initiation of the others for the reason indicated, disregards the ancient landmarks, and pursues a course which if generally adopted would in a few years destroy our institution.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.12
In 1846, the same subject came before the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows of the United States, and it was resolved that no prayer should be used thereafter, “that contains language offensive to any individuals of any religious denomination enrolled among our members.”—Odd Fellowship, etc., by M. W. Holmes, 1851. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.13
It is not our design in this article to go into a description of all the features of secret societies, but as expressed above, to present some reasons why Christians should not join them. And as to the Masons and Odd Fellows, we might, for the reasons already presented, say with John Newton, “I make it a rule of Christian duty, never to go to a place where there is not room for my Master as well as myself.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.14
But as our main plea is to be against secret societies in general, we will not dwell upon particular cases. Our first objection to secret societies as a whole is, that that their manner of working disagrees with the Bible teaching, which demands of us an open and frank course, and is explicit in its testimonies against working in secret. The Saviour is our pattern; and the testimony of the apostle is, that we should “walk even as he walked.” He says: “He that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” John 3:21. Again, he says of himself: “I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.” John 18:20. This is the testimony of our Saviour when he is on trial for his life. He could then boast that his teaching and course was all open to the gaze of the people, and they knew what he had said. How different would have been the case if he and his disciples had done their charitable deeds only to a few members of a secret lodge. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.15
Paul says: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light; for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.” Again, “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.” But if secret societies have a gospel to preach, those outside of their lodges must be the lost, for their preaching is done in the secret lodge, and “their works are in the dark.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.16
Isaiah speaks thus: “Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?” Chap 29:15. While the truth of God is calculated to “bring to light the hidden things of darkness,” and “make manifest the counsels of the heart,” and to lead us to pursue a frank and open course, these secret societies exalt secretiveness as one of the highest of virtues. And indeed if all the members of any one secret society fail to observe secrecy they destroy that society at once. “So great stress is laid upon this particular quality of virtue, that it is enforced among Masons under the strongest penalties and obligations.” Masonic Constitution, p. 8, printed 1815. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.17
Our second reason why Christians should not unite with secret societies is that thereby they would be brought into direct fellowship with the teachings of the world which again conflicts with the teachings of the Bible. As we have before said, these societies embrace in their fellowship different classes of the unconverted, and to unite with them brings us into the closest fellowship with the ungodly. The Bible enjoins separation from the world. Says David, “I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked. I will wash mine hands in innocency; so will I compass thine altar, O Lord.” Psalm 26:4-6. Solomon says; “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, .... Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse; my son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path.” Proverbs 1:10, 14, 15. But Paul’s testimony is very explicit: Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what, fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? .... Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14, 15, 17, 18. This last text is very explicit and demands separation from the ungodly. Some have tried to avoid the force of the text by saying that it refers to marriage. But the text does not apply to marriage; for in that case it is said, “If the unbelieving depart let him depart;” but in this case it is referring to the righteous separating themselves from the wicked. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.18
How can a Christian, who really desires a close walk with God, who has an understanding of the above scriptures, combine their sympathy and influence with a worldly society which has its festivals and levees, and where an appeal is constantly made to them to join in the partaking of wines, cigars, etc., after lodge hours. And as we have been informed by some who have been members of several of these societies, it comes to a pass finally that a man will be thought very stingy if he will not in his turn “Treat the company, or furnish them an oyster supper.” It is no place for the children of God to go if they wish to follow the word of God. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 86.19
But it is even plead by some of these societies that they do not profess to be as pure as the gospel requires Christians to be. The admission has also been made to us by several Masons that they did not suppose there was one in a hundred of their members that were even as pure as the principles of the society required of them. Says Rev. D. S. Welling, in an address delivered at Greenfield, Ind., June 23, 1860, and published at the request of the Masonic Lodge; “Would Christians, as such, always and everywhere live up to the standard of their discipleship, imitating Christ, then the necessity and usefulness of Masonry would not appear so manifest.” “It is Christianity so far as it goes; but it does not profess to cover the whole ground. It comes in to supply a deficiency in the organism of society.” We quote this because we suppose it is the real sentiment of every secret society. The Christian is required then by his high profession of doing God’s will to perform every really righteous act that any of these secret societies may require of their members, and it looks to us like a sad lowering of the standard to come down to unite with ungodly men in their professed effort to carry out a part of what the gospel requires. It is not safe to deviate from the word of God under the pretense that thereby we shall benefit our fellow men. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.1
But, says one, is it not right to labor to advance the cause of Temperance? That you know is what some of these societies are doing? I cannot better answer this than by presenting an extract from a correspondence on this subject between Bro. Baker of Ohio, and Bro. J. H Waggoner, from the Review Vol. xvi. No. 5: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.2
Bro. Baker says: “During the winter past, the friends started an organization of the Washingtonians, to which I felt it duty to give my name and influence. It has done a great deal of good; and a thrilling course of lectures recently given by Mr. Chance, the temperance lecturer, has thoroughly awakened the people on the subject, which they needed bad enough; but the difficulty is here: outside of their open organization, they have established an order of Good Templars, making it a test of temperance principle to join it. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.3
“Now believing secret societies wrong in general, and contrary to the spirit of the gospel, which requires us to love, and seek the good of the universal brotherhood of man; let him be of whatever color, name or nation; not obliging the priest and Levite to return and take care of their fallen kinsman, because he is their kinsman, but because he is human, and needs their assistance-believing, I say, secret societies thus wrong in general, can a desirable end justify them in particular? ... I sincerely believe they could do as well, if not better, by throwing open their doors, retaining their ritual and regalia, and working like good soldiers in the midst and very presence of the enemy; but so long as they will not do thus, what is one to do? ‘Love God with all the heart, might mind and strength, and his neighbor as himself, in this particular?’” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.4
Bro. Waggoner in replying to the above says: “We deny he right of any secret society to prescribe tests of temperance principle, or any other. On the contrary, the Christian is bound by principles of the highest order, to reject their fellowship. Their basis of brotherhood is unscriptural. Matthew 12:48-50. Their titles, regalia (ensigns of royalty-Webster,) etc., are foolish, unchristian, and anti-republican. That which is wrong in general, cannot be justified in particular, for the supposed accomplishment of a desirable end. Romans 3:8, gives the doom of those who ‘do evil that good may come.’ Here is the Christian’s test; ‘And if a man also strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned except he strive lawfully.’ 2 Timothy 2:5. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.5
“Secret temperance societies, we verily believe, have been a detriment to the cause of temperance. He who labors on principle does not value them, while he who values such tinsel and vain ornaments with high-sounding titles will not long rest content with these societies, but will pass on to Odd-Fellows and Masons.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.6
j. h. w.
We quote the above because we endorse it. We would call attention to the fact that the great interest at Wauseon was gotten up by the temperance lectures and not by the secret society, and so it is in most places. We know not how the cause of temperance has prospered in Wauseon under Good Templars, but we know of several places where, as stated by Bro. W. the interest in the cause of temperance has waned away after the organization of such societies. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.7
But the grand claim that is made for all these secret societies is, They are charitable institutions; that they “protect one another in distress.” Yes, but this plan has often been perverted and persons relieved who should, and had it been otherwise would have been brought to justice. “They help in sickness.” Yes, help their own members. If they help others it is because they have tender hearts and not because these societies make it obligatory upon them. “They pay the funeral expenses of members.” Says Mr. E. P. Hart in an article on Masonry in the Earnest Christian for July 1864. “It is true they sometimes defray the funeral expenses of a deceased member, but this is no charity; for the man paid twenty or thirty dollars upon his admission into the Lodge, and has paid dues of five or six dollars every year since-certainly sufficient to bury one man, even with all the heathenish honors of Masonry.” By changing the sums of money in the above and the name, it applies to any of the secret societies professing such assistance. On the benevolence of these secret societies we will make a few extracts from an article written by Bro. Waggoner against Sons of Temperance in 1851. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.8
“1. It circumscribes benevolence. That cannot be charitable which denies aid to objects of charity. Whenever one class is selected as proper subjects of benevolence, to the utter exclusion of any other class, the action denotes selfishness, and not benevolence. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.9
“2. The means of the poor are given to the rich. If a division be composed mostly of poor members, and among them should be a rich member, in case of sickness the rich member receives the contributions of the poor. The object of benevolence is to apply means where they are really needed. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.10
“3. The money raised is applied in a manner foreign to benevolent purposes. This is shown in part by the fact last stated; it is further proved in that a large amount is laid out for emblems, regalia, etc., which neither benefit the wearers nor the community. Again, in the midst of great sickness the order has accumulated a large fund, which to answer the ends of benevolence, should have been given to the destitute.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.11
That means to a great amount is accumulated by some of these professedly benevolent institutions is proved by a circumstance which happened in Boston last winter. The Winthrop house near the Boston Common, was destroyed by fire. Great lamentation was made over it. Among other things stated in the daily papers concerning it, was that in the building was the lodge of Masons, Odd Fellows, and, we think Sons of Temperance; and that these societies had lost in furniture, emblems and regalia about sixty thousand dollars! ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.12
Again Bro. W. says: “4. The order is but an agent for mutual aid. Its charity does not extend beyond its own members. In this respect its benevolence is on par with that of any mutual insurance company-and no higher. Mr. Vinton, in his lectures in this place, said that no member had to ask the gift of any sum for his benefit; he had it there in deposit-it was his own, and he had a right to claim it.” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.13
Again Bro. W. says of its benevolence: “It assists those and those only who are able to pay. The gospel in its teachings on this point, is very explicit; ‘When thou makest a dinner or a supper call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbor; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.’ Luke 14:12, 13. Here is a precept of pure benevolence. But the order, as an institution for mutual aid and honor, acts directly contrary to this divine injunction, its action being faithfully delineated by the Saviour in Luke 6:34: ‘For sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again.’” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.14
What is said here by Bro. Waggoner concerning the Sons of Temperance is true of every one of these secret societies who lay claim to being charitable associations. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.15
A person whose sympathies are once enlisted in these societies has created in him a morbid appetite to learn more of the secrets of the Lodge. For be it known that in some of these societies a simple initiation into the Lodge does not discover to you all the mysteries of the craft. The idea is kept before you that there is something up higher that it will add greatly to your happiness to know, and indeed it is not so pleasant to be requested to leave the Lodge while members of a higher degree transact their business. This is not only true of those who enter lodges with many degrees; but those who enter the scale of secret societies will be lured on by some of the members of the lodge that belong to higher societies who will continually be saying “Oh! this is good, but then the other society is so much nicer, and then your regalia here does not begin with ours. Won’t you join us?” ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.16
Suppose we are pointed to a large house with several stories and many rooms in each story. We are told there is a quantity of gold for us somewhere in that house, and it is probably on the first floor and may be in the first room we shall enter. It is true you will have to pay a fee to get into the house and a fee at the door of every room you enter but then the gold is worth having, and if you should not find it in the first room, the rooms are so nice and you will be so happy that that will not signify. You are induced to pay a fee and enter the house, you search one room the gold is not there. You go into another room, it is not there, and so on and on, through room after room, but you do not find the gold. True you see tinselry and gaudy show in every room, but you do not find your gold. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.17
Such to us are secret societies. The only safe position we see to avoid this net of Satan, is to flee from the first step in that direction, enter not the first of these secret associations, lest you sin against God and are drawn deeper and deeper into the allurements and follies of the world. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.18
We would say in conclusion that we have consulted with many of the ministers and leading brethren of Seventh-day Adventists, and the view of secret societies herein advanced, so far as we can learn, is that invariably entertained by them. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.19
John. Byington,
J. N. Loughborough,
Geo. W. Amadon. Gen. Conf. Com.
Sermons.—Scarcely anything is of so much importance in preaching as speaking directly to the persons present, addressing them plainly and affectionately as if they alone were concerned in the message. In all ages and countries effective speakers have been among those who address themselves directly and closely their hearers. Those who would make a deep and lasting impression must speak to them in this manner. Of course it requires considerable thought, effort, and address so to manage and apply what is advanced that the hearers may not be able to shake it off from themselves, but be made, if possible to feel that to them is the word of this salvation sent. If we place side by side a sermon of such men as Bunyan, Baxter, Grim-shaw, Thomas, Adams, Shepard, with any sermon of the generality of our modern evangelical preachers, the contrast is as striking as can well be imagined. The latter class of sermons close with a short application-short and feeble enough surely-the former is really an application all through. Our religious congregations utterly disregard a closing application; they seem to feel that it comes in as a matter of course seemingly to ease the conscience of the preacher and save appearances. It is therefore, powerless; it produces no fruit. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.20
Life Thoughts
If any servant of Christ holds a position where every effort seems to tell, every word to sink into the hearts of men, let him put his whole strength to the generous toil of securing the harvest, and beware how he slackens his hand through weariness, or hearkens to any temptation to change; for life generally brings but one such harvest. The most sublime Christian virtues are practicable in the humblest circumstances and with talent of the lowest order. Look at the beatitudes, and Luke 17:4, and Matthew 5:44, and similar passages, and see how open to all is the path to greatness in the kingdom of God. To reach other greatness he must climb, but this requires us to descend, to go down to the depths of humility, the simplicity of childhood. Wonderful that to become a great man,—the greatest in the highest order of greatness, “the kingdom of God”—one must become as a little child! ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.21
Blessed is he that endureth to the end. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 87.22
The Review and Herald
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, AUGUST 9, 1864
“Spare Thy People, Lord.”
Just as the paper is going to press, we hasten to earnestly recommend to all Seventh-day Adventists everywhere, whether they be so situated as to assemble with those of like precious faith, or whether they be scattered and lonely, to make as special subjects of fasting and prayer, on Sabbath, Aug. 27, 1864, the following: ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.1
1. The existing war, which threatens to very much retard the progress of the third angel’s message. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.2
2. The condition of American slaves. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.3
3. That God will direct his people to act wisely and humbly interference to the draft, and overrule impending events to their good and to his glory. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.4
We do not recommend popular forms and display upon any day. Especially would they be out of place upon the Sabbath. We simply recommend to our people, however situated, to humbly and fervently, while abstaining from food upon that day, present the above subjects before the throne of grace. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.5
Gen. Con. Committee.
Important Tract Concerning the Draft
Having learned that, according to late act of Congress, those conscientiously opposed to bearing arms are still allowed to pay $300 instead of entering the service, we have taken steps to introduce our people to the notice of the authorities, through the highest executive officer in this State, the Governor. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.6
The tract will contain that portion of the enrollment law concerning non-combatants, our letter of introduction to the Governor, also a written copy of the statement of our principles laid before him, together with his reply to the same. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.7
It is important that all our brethren who are liable to the draft should have a copy of the above tract. And as this movement has been attended with considerable expense, the price of the tract is placed at 25 cents post-paid to cover that expense. Whatever is realized more than the cost from sale of tract will go to the Association. We shall immediately send from two to ten copies of the tract, accompanied by a few instructions, to all our preachers. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.8
Gen. Conf. Com.
From the Tent in Indiana
We have been holding meetings in the Tent, in South Bend, about a week, with a good prospect before us. The congregations are increasing, and the interest seems to be rising. Last night we spoke on Spiritualism to a full tent. We request the prayers of the friends, that He who alone can give the increase, may prosper our labors. J. H. Waggoner. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.9
W. S. Ingraham.
South Bend, Ind., Aug. 4, 1864.
Note to Bro. Steward
The brethren at Marquette, Wis., cordially invite Eld. T. M. Steward to visit that church before he leaves this part of the State. In behalf of the church. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.10
E. Hallock.
Appointments
The Gen. Con. Committee, also Bro. and Sr. White, design to be present at the Quarterly Meeting at Monterey, Sabbath, Aug. 13. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.11
It is necessary to change the time of the business meeting from Thursday, the 11th, to Friday, the 12th, 9 o’clock a. m. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.12
The first Quarterly Meeting of the Seventh-day Adventist church of Sand Prairie, Richland county, Wis., will be held August 27 and 28. We hope to see a general gathering of the brethren and sisters from other places at this meeting. Come, brethren and sisters, with a determination to work for the Lord, especially in this new place. Meeting to commence with the Sabbath. By order of the church. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.13
L. G. Bostwick.
The next Quarterly Meeting of the Lynxville and Kickapoo churches will be held at Lynxville, Wis., Sept. 10 and 11. The brethren and sisters of the surrounding churches are invited. The above appointments is made in order to secure the services of Bro. Sanborn on his return from Minnesota. Bro. S. will please notify the Lynxville church accordingly. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.14
Thos. Demmon.
The next Quarterly Meeting of the church at McConnel’s Grove, Ill., will be held Sabbath, August 27, 1864. We cordially invite all those of like precious faith to meet with us. Thos. Brown. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.15
Providence permitting, I will meet with the church in Salem, Indiana, Sabbath and first-day, August 20, and 21. John. Byington. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.16
Business Department
Business Notes
O Nichols: The letter you refer to has not been received. We credit the $2 on your Review. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.17
S Haskell: The $5 has been received, and shall be applied according to your directions. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.18
J N Andrews: All right. We correct. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.19
RECEIPTS
For Review and Herald
Annexed to each receipt in the following list, is the Volume and Number of the Review & Herald to which the money receipted pays. If money for the paper is not in due time acknowledge, immediate notice of the omission should then be given. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.20
S M Holland 25-1, Eld D Rosey 26-8, M C Walker 25-1, M D Brewer 26-1, T Lane 25-14, S Myers 26-1, I M Davis 25-1, M A Newman 25-8, M C Butler 26-1, A Coventry 25-1, B Hostler 23-1, C W Olds for J R Cain 25-22, H B Hayward 25-8, A D Rust 25-14, N Crane 26-8, J N Becker 26-8, J Laroch 26-1, P Martin for L Hall and C W Martin 26-8, A J Estes 25-8, T L Holloway for J T Carre 26-8, J McDaniels 24-14, J Deaner 26-8, Mrs Canble 26-8, J P Babcock 26-8, P Lightner 25-1, W G Burbee 25-3, T Brown 26-4, L Gould 26-1, F Nelson 26-9, J Glover 26-9, O B Styles 26-9, G L Holliday for G Tiffany 26-9, M E Everson 25-18, D W Emerson 25-9, B Hopkins 26-9, O A Richmond 26-9, Mrs E Bliss 25-1, L Bullock 25-14, R W Bullcck 25-7, P Gibson 25-1, G W A Grant 25-1, Dr Cook 26-9, Ruth Smith 25-11, A Lanphear 25-8, A D Love 25-1, Ann Burgess 26-9, J Jackson 24-1, Mary Scott for W Wilson 26-11, A Johnson 26-11, J Cady 25-1, each $1. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.21
F C French 25-14, W K Loughborough 26-13, M B Johnson 26-11, H Clark 24-1, I Abbey 27-1, A Abbey 26-1, J W Marsh 26-1, J C Halloway 25-1, P Gould 26-1, H Flowers 25-1, C Aldrich 22-1, W E Cheesbro 26-10, A Loveland 26-1, T L Holloway 26-1, G McDowell 24-6, M A Christenson 25-1, M B Smith 25-14, J T Ashley 26-1, L Day 26-8, G J Sharp 26-14, J V Weeks 25-15, O Bates 26-11, J W Learned 27-1, C Fox 27-1, S D Barr 26-1, C F Hall 26-7, Amy E Dart 27-1, T Demmon 26-10, I Jones 26-1, N Cole 26-1, S A Allen 25-1, L P Cross 27-1, W H Edson 25-17, J F Hammond 25-1, D Scott 26-18, B Darling 25-1, C Col by 26-1, M Colby 26-1, J D Wright 25-1, each $2. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.22
J C McIntosh 27-6, R Razey 25-8, H Coon 25-8, H S Gurney for W Gammons 25-8, P Martin for O G Martin 25-8, M S Foster 24-24, W Fryer 25-9, J Sherer 25-9, J Alvord 25-9, Mrs G A Smith 25-9, N Orcott 25-9, G W Ewing 25-11, P C Levensworth 25-11, Lydia Johnson 25-11, each 50c. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.23
C P Finch $3,25-8, W W Wolcott $4,35, on acct, C S Elliot $1,10,26-8, I A Olmstead $5,30-1, Mrs H Hall $4,30-1, A M Degraw $3,25-9, M Farmer $2,17, 25-5, L C Young $3,25-1, Mrs S Kelley $3,26-1, R Adams 25c,25-1, M Bounds $3,25-1, J Blair $5,28-1, J H Burlingame $2,25,25-18, Mary Crosby $4,28-9. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.24
Books Sent By Mail
M W Stockwell $4,32, A E Dart 34c, Mrs H B Hayward $3,93, A M Degraw 10c, G D Chaffee 24c, J E Taber 60c, Wm Dawson $1, W Shatswell $1, E Halleck 11c, T L Holloway 50c, N V Hull $1,20, O G Martin 30c, C W Martin 30c, P Martin $1,12, L Bean 24c, W E Newcomb 48c; D W Johnson$5, A W Maynard $2,30, D W Ballou 47c, H A Fuller 38c. J L Locke 59c, M A Crosby $1,25, J H Burlingame $2,85, A D Love 11c, A Robinson $2,35, N Ruble $1,24, S R Nichols $2,36, A L Burwell 48c, J D Hough $5. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.25
Books Sent By Express
Wm A McIntosh, Madison, Dane co., Wis., $25. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.26
Cash Received on Account
T M Steward $30. T T Brown 75c. P Strong $2. T Brown $4. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.27
Soldiers Tract Fund
A sister 50c, M S Foster 75c, A E Dart 36c, A L Burwell $1. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.28
General Conference Missionary Fund
T Smith 63c. L Lathrop $25, W E Cheesbro $3,83 P C Rodman $2, A McAllaster s b $3, A W Maynard $5,21. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.29
For Shares in Publishing Association
John J Wilson $10. Margaret Farmer $10. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.30
PUBLICATIONS
The law requires the pre-payment of postage on Bound Books, four cents for the first four ounces, or fractional part thereof, and an additional four cents for the next four ounces, or fractional part thereof, and so on. On pamphlets and tracts, two cents for each four ounces, or fractional part thereof. Orders, to secure attention, must be accompanied with the cash. Address Elder James White, Battle Creek, Michigan. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.31
| Price. | Weight. | |
| cts. | oz. | |
| The Hymn Book, 464 pages, and 122 pieces of music, | 80 | 10 |
| ” ” ” with Sabbath Lute, | $1,00 | 11 |
| ” ” ” Calf Binding, | 1,00 | 10 |
| ” ” ” ” ” with Lute, | 1,25 | 11 |
| History of the Sabbath, Sacred and Secular, | 80 | 12 |
| ” ” ” ” in paper covers, | 50 | 10 |
| Dobney on Future Punishment, | 75 | 13 |
| Spiritual Gifts Vol. I, or the Great Controversy between Christ and his angels, and Satan and his angels, | 50 | 6 |
| Spiritual Gifts Vol. II. Experience, Views and Incidents in connection with the Third Message, | 60 | 8 |
| Spiritual Gifts, Vols. I &II, bound in one book, | $1,00 | 12 |
| Sabbath Readings, a work of 400 pages of Moral and Religious Lesson for the Young, | 60 | 9 |
| The same in five Pamphlets, | 55 | 7 |
| ” ” twenty-five Tracts, | 50 | 7 |
| The Bible from Heaven, | 30 | 5 |
| Three Angels of Revelation 14, and the Two-horned Beast, | 15 | 4 |
| Sabbath Tracts, numbers one, two, three, and four, | 15 | 4 |
| Hope of the Gospel, or Immortality the gift of God, | 15 | 4 |
| Which? Mortal or Immortal? or an inquiry into the present constitution and future condition of man, | 15 | 4 |
| Modem Spiritualism; its Nature and Tendency, | 15 | 4 |
| The Kingdom of God; a Refutation of the doctrine called, Age to Come, | 15 | 4 |
| Miraculous Powers, | 15 | 4 |
| Pauline Theology, on Future Punishment, | 15 | 4 |
| Review of Seymour. His Fifty Questions Answered, | 10 | 3 |
| Prophecy of Daniel-the Sanctuary and 2300 Days. | 10 | 3 |
| The Saints’ Inheritance in the New Earth. | 10 | 3 |
| Signs of the Times. The Coming of Christ at the door, | 10 | 3 |
| Law of God.The testimony of both Testaments, | 10 | 3 |
| Vindication of the true Sabbath, by J. W. Morton, | 10 | 3 |
| Review of Springer on the Sabbath and Law of God, | 10 | 3 |
| Facts for the Times. Extracts from eminent authors, | 10 | 3 |
| Christian Baptism. Its Nature, subjects, and Design, | 10 | 3 |
| Key to the Prophetic Chart, | 10 | 2 |
| The Sanctuary and 2300 Days of Daniel 8:14, | 10 | 2 |
| The Fate of the Transgressor, | 5 | 2 |
| Matthew 24. A Brief Exposition of the Chapter. | 5 | 2 |
| Mark of the Beast, and Seal of the Living God, | 5 | 1 |
| Sabbatic Institution and the Two Laws, | 5 | 1 |
| Assistant. The Bible student’s Assistant, or a Compend of Scripture references, | 5 | 1 |
| Truth found. A short argument for the Sabbath, with an Appendix, “The Sabbath not a Type.” | 5 | 1 |
| An Appeal for the restoration of the Bible Sabbath in an address to the Baptists, | 5 | 1 |
| Review of Fillio. A reply to a series of discourses delivered by him in Battle Creek on the Sabbath question. | 5 | 1 |
| Milton on the State of the Dead, | 5 | 1 |
| Brown’s Experience. Consecration-Second Advent, | 5 | 1 |
| Report of General Conference held in Battle Creek, June, 1859, Address on Systematic Benevolence, etc. | 5 | 1 |
| Sabbath Poem. False Theories Exposed, | 5 | 1 |
| Illustrated Review. A Double Number of the Review and Herald Illustrated, | 5 | 1 |
| The Sabbath, in German, | 10 | 2 |
| ” ” ” Holland, | 5 | 1 |
| ” ” ” French, | 5 | 1 |
| On Darnel ii &, vii,,, | 5 | 1 |
ONE CENT TRACTS. The seven Seals-The Two Laws-Reasons for Sunday-keeping Examined-Personality of God-Wesley on the Law-Judson on Dress-Appeal on Immortality. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.32
TWO CENT TRACTS. Institution of the Sabbath-Sabbath by Elihu-Infidelity and Spiritualism-War and Sealing-Who Changed the Sabbath-Preach the Word-Death and Burial-Much in Little-Truth. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.33
THREE CENT TRACTS. Dobney on the Law-Milton on the State of the Dead-Scripture References-The Mark of the Beast, and Seal of the Living God-Scriptural Gifts. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.34
Home Here and Home in Heaven, with other Poems. This work embraces all those sweet and Scriptural poems written by Annie R. Smith, from the tune she embraced the third message till she fell asleep in Jesus. Price 25 cents. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.35
CHARTS, Prophetic and Law of God, the size used by our Preachers. Varnished, a set, with Key, $4,00 ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.36
A set on cloth, with Key, 3,00 ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.37
On cloth, without rollers, by mail, post-paid, 2,75
The Chart. A Pictorial Illustration of the Visions of Daniel and John by 25 inches. Price 15 cents. On rollers, post-paid, 75 cts. ARSH August 9, 1864, page 88.38