Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 22
July 14, 1863
RH VOL. XXII.-BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY,—NO. 7
James White
ADVENT REVIEW,
AND SABBATH HERALD
[Graphic of the Ark of the Covenant with the inscription beneath,]
“And there was Seen in His Temple
the Ark of His Testament.”
“Here is the Patience of the Saints; Here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus.”
VOL. XXII.-BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, JULY 14, 1863.-NO. 7.
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY, BY
The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association
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. Address ELDER JAMES WHITE, Battle Creek, Michigan. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.1
Finish thy Work
Finish thy work, the time is short,
The sun is in the west;
The night is coming down-till then
Think not of rest.
ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.2
Yes, finish all thy work, then rest; Till then, rest never; The rest prepared for thee by God Is rest forever. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.3
Finish thy work, then wipe thy brow; Ungird thee from thy toil; Take breath, and from each weary limb Shake off the soil. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.4
Finish thy work, then sit thee down
On some celestial hill,
And of its strength-reviving air
Take thou thy fill.
ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.5
Finish thy work, then go in peace;
Life’s battle fought and won;
Hear from the throne the master’s voice,
“Well done! well done!”
ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.6
Finish thy work, then take thy harp,
Give praise to God above;
Sing a new song of mighty joy
And endless love.
ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.7
Give thanks to him who held thee up
In all thy path below,
Who made thee faithful unto death,
And crowns thee now!
ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.8
I Must Pray More
I habitually feel this necessity, but the other day the conviction came to my mind with strange power, and I said with greater emphasis than ever, I must pray more. It struck me with indescribable wonder that so little time should be employed, and so little energy expended in prayer, even by those who are prompt to acknowledge its dignity as a privilege, and its efficacy as a means of obtaining good. It is not now as it was in patriarchal times. We do not pray as Jacob did. He wrestled until the breaking of the day. Yes his praying was wrestling, and it lasted all night. We put forth no such power in prayer, and we do not allow the repose of our nights to be interrupted by it. It is not because our wants are all supplied that we are so feeble and brief in prayer-nor is it that God’s bounty is exhausted. We are, as poor as creatures ever were, and He as rich, and as munificent as ever. His hand is not shortened, neither his ear heavy. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.9
Only think how small a portion of each successive day is spent in prayer. I wonder if any Christian ever thought of it, without being so dissatisfied as to resolve that he would spend more time in prayer the next day. Just add together the minutes you daily occupy in supplication, and the kindred exercises of devotion, scriptural reading and meditation, and see to what it will amount. Will the sum total be one hour? What? less than an hour a day in devotion?—not one twenty-fourth part of time! And is this all which can be afforded? Let us see. How much time has business? Could not a little be saved from business for prayer? Do you not give an hour or two more to business every day than it absolutely requires? Then how much time has sleep, for the refreshment of the body? Might not some little time be redeemed from sleep and spent in prayer, with more profit to the whole man than if it were given to repose? Would not the soul thereby obtain a rest which would most favorably re-act on the body? I do not believe that the Psalmist suffered any thing in the day for the hours of night he spent in communing on his bed with his own heart and with God. I do not believe that even “tired nature” had any reason to complain of that interruption of the repose due to her. I suspect he enjoyed as good health, and was as vigorous through the day as we, though he arose at midnight to give thanks unto God, and prevented the dawning of the morning with his prayer. Such interruptions of sleep are no loss even to the body. I am sure, and I think no one can doubt, that considerably more time might be afforded for prayer than is actually given to it. If we take none from business and none from sleep, yet could not some be spared from the table, or conversation, which is not always the most profitable? Perhaps some of us spend more time in barely receiving the body’s nourishment, than we do in the entire care of the soul! But not to dwell to tediousness on this topic. You have only to look back on a day, to perceive how much of it might have been spent in prayer and devotion without interfering with any thing which ought not to be interfered with. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.10
Seeing then that we can pray more-that time can be afforded for it, I am amazed that we do not pray more. If prayer was nothing but a duty, we ought to pray more. We do not pray enough to discharge the mere obligation of prayer. We are commanded to pray more than we do, aye, to pray “without ceasing.” But prayer, while it is a duty, is rather to be viewed by us in the light of a privilege. And O, it is such a privilege! What a favor that we may petition God and ask of him eternal life, with the confidence that we shall not ask in vain! How strange it is that we no more value and exercise this privilege of prayer! It is astonishing that the sense of want, or the desire of happiness, does not carry us oftener to a throne of grace, and that we should ever require to be incited to prayer by the stimulus of conscience. Oh! I wonder that we do not oftener go unto the King, whose gracious sceptre is ever extended toward us-I wonder we have not more frequent and longer interviews with our heavenly Father. It is strange we do not pray more, when prayer is the easies way of obtaining good. What is so easy as to ask for what we want? How could we receive blessings on cheaper terms? Surely it is easier than to labor, and less expensive than to buy. It may be hard to the spirit to ask of men. To beg of them you may be ashamed. But no such feeling should keep you aloof from God. He giveth and upbraideth not. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.11
But prayer is not merely the easiest way of obtaining good. It is the only way of obtaining the greatest of all good. The subordinate necessaries of life we get by labor or purchase; but the things we most need are given in answer to prayer. The one thing needful is a divine donation. We ask, and receive it. Now we labor much. Why do we not pray more? Do we seek a profitable employment? None is so profitable as prayer. No labor makes so large a return. If you have an unoccupied hour-and you have many, or might have by redeeming time,—you cannot employ it in any way that shall tell so favorably on your interests as by filling it up with petitions to God. Yet when we have such an hour, how apt we are to spend it in unprofitable intercourse with our fellows, rather than in communion with God. It is wonderful that we talk so much, when, “the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury,” and pray so little, when prayer “brings a quick return of blessings in variety.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.12
Is there any thing attended by a purer pleasure than prayer? One who knew, said, “It is good for me to draw near to God”—and again, “It is good to sing praises unto our God: for it is pleasant, and praise is comely.” All the exercises of devotion are as full of pleasure as they are abundant in profit. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.13
But prayer is not only a means of getting good. It is such a means of doing good, that I wonder our benevolence does not lead us to pray more. We are commanded, “as we have opportunity,” to do good unto all men. Now prayer affords us the opportunity of being universal benefactors. Through God we can reach all men. We can make ourselves felt by all the world, by moving the hand that moves it. In no other way can we reach all. Prayer makes us, in a sense, omnipresent and omnipotent. It prevails with Him who is both. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.14
The world needs your intercessions. It lies in wickedness. Zion needs them. She languishes because few pray for her peace; few come to her solemn assemblies. Whose family needs not the prayers of its every member? Who has not kindred that are out of Christ? With such a call upon us for prayer so urgent, and from so many quarters, I wonder we pray no more. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.15
I must pray more, for then I shall do more-more for God, and more for myself: for I find that when I pray most, I accomplish more in the briefer intervals between my devotions, than when I give all my time to labor or study. I am convinced there is nothing lost by prayer. I am sure nothing helps a student like prayer. His most felicitous hours-his hours of most successful application to study, are those which immediately follow his seasons of most fervent devotion. And no wonder. Shall the collision of created minds with each other produce in them a salutary excitement, and shall not the communion of those minds with the infinite Intelligence much more excite them, and make them capable of wider thought and loftier conceptions? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.16
I must pray more, because other Christians, whose biography I have read, have prayed more than I do. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.17
God is disposed to hear more prayers from me than I offer; and jesus, the Mediator, stands ready to present more for me. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.18
If I pray more I shall sin less. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.19
I will pray more. The Lord help to fulfill this resolution.-Nevins. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.20
Go to God as a sinner, if you question your right to go in any other character: he always received sinners. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 49.21
Oh, That I knew Where I Might Find Him!
IF God had not said, “Blessed are those that hunger.” I know not what could keep weak Christians from sinking in despair. Many times, all I can do is to complain that I want Him, and wish to recover Him. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.1
Bishop Hall, in uttering this lament, two centuries and a half ago, only echoed the wail which had come down, through living hearts, from the patriarch, whose story is the oldest known literature in any language. A consciousness of the absence of God is one of the standard incidents of religious life. Even when the forms of devotion are observed conscientiously, the sense of the presence of God, as an invisible Friend, whose society is a joy, is by no means unintermittent. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.2
The truth of this will not be questioned by one who is familiar with those phases of religious experience which are so often the burden of Christian confession. In no single feature of ‘inner life,’ probably, is the experience of many minds less satisfactory to them than in this. They seem to themselves, in prayer, to have little, if any, effluent emotion. They can speak of little in their devotional life that seems to them like life; of little that appears like the communion of a living soul with a living God. Are there not many ‘closet hours,’ in which the chief feeling of the worshiper is an oppressed consciousness of the absence of reality from his own exercises? He has no words which are, as George Herbert says, ‘heart deep.’ He not only experiences no ecstasy, but no joy, no peace, no repose. He has no sense of being at home with God. The stillness of the hour is the stillness of a dead calm at sea. The heart rocks monotonously on the surface of the great thoughts of God, of Christ, of eternity, of Heaven — ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.3
“As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.4
Such experiences in prayer are often startling in the contrast with those of certain Christians whose communion with God, as the hints of it are recorded in their biographies, seems to realize, in actual being, the scriptural conception of a life which is hid with Christ in God. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.5
We read of Payson, that his mind, at times, almost lost its sense of the external world, in the ineffable thoughts of God’s glory, which rolled like a sea of light around him, at the throne of grace. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.6
We read of Cowper, that, in one of the few lucid hours of his religious life, such was the experience of God’s presence which he enjoyed in prayer, that as he tells us, he thought he should have died with joy, if special strength had not been imparted to him to bear the disclosure. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.7
We read of one of the Tennents, that on one occasion, when he was engaged in secret devotion, so overpowering was the revelation of God which opened upon his soul, and with augmenting intensity of effulgence as he prayed, that at length he recoiled from the intolerable joy as from a pain, and besought God to withhold from him further manifestation of his glory. He said, ‘Shall thy servant see thee and live?” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.8
We read of the ‘sweet hours which Edwards enjoyed on the banks of Hudson’s River, in secret converse with God,’ and hear his own description of the inward sense of Christ which at times came into his heart, and which he ‘knows not how to express otherwise than by a calm, sweet abstraction of soul from all the concerns of this world; and sometimes a kind of vision
of being alone in the mountains, or some solitary wilderness, far from all mankind, sweetly conversing with Christ, and wrapt and swallowed up in God.’
ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.9
We read of such instances of the fruits of prayer, in the blessedness of the suppliant, and are we not reminded by them of the transfiguration of our Lord, of whom we read, ‘As he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistening?’ Who of us is not oppressed by the contrast between such an experience and his own? Does not the cry of the patriarch come unbidden to our lips, Oh that I knew where I might find Him?’ ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.10
Much of even the ordinary language of Christians, respecting the joy of communion with God,—language which is stereotyped in our dialect of prayer,—many cannot honestly apply to the history of their own minds. A calm, fearless self-examination finds no counterpart to it in anything they have ever known. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.11
In the view of an honest conscience, it is not the vernacular speech of their experience. As compared with the joy which such language indicates, prayer is in all that they know of it, a dull duty. Perhaps the characteristic of the feelings of many about it is expressed in the single fact, that it is to them a duty as distinct from a privilege. It is a duty which, they cannot deny, is often uninviting, even irksome. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.12
If some of us should attempt to define the advantage we derive from the performance of the duty, we might be surprised, perhaps shocked, as one after another of the folds of a deceived heart should be taken off, at the discovery of the littleness of the residuum, in an honest judgment of ourselves. Why did we pray this morning? Do we often derive any other profit from prayer, than that of satisfying convictions of conscience, of which we could not rid ourselves if we wished to do so, and which will not permit us to be at ease with ourselves, if all forms of prayer are abandoned? Perhaps even so slight a thing as the pain of resistance to the momentum of a habit, will be found to be the most distinct reason we can honestly give for having prayed yesterday or to-day. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.13
There may be periods, also, when the experiences of the closet enable some of us to understand that maniacal cry of Cowper, when his friends requested him to prepare some hymns for the Olney Collection. ‘How can you ask of me such a service? I seem to myself to be banished to a remoteness from God’s presence, in comparison with which the distance from East to West is vicinity, is cohesion.’ ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.14
If such language is too strong to be truthful to the common experience of the class of professing Christians to which those whom it represents belong, many will still discern in it, as an expression of joylessness in prayer, a sufficient approximation to their own experience, to awaken interest in some thoughts upon the CAUSES OF A WANT OF ENJOYMENT IN PRAYER. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.15
The evil of such an experience in prayer, is too obvious to need illustration. If any light can be thrown upon the causes of it, there is no man living, whatever may be his religious state who has not an interest in making it the theme of inquiry. ‘Never any more wonder,’ says an old writer, ‘that men pray so seldom. For there are very few that feel the relish, and are enticed with the deliciousness, and refreshed with the comforts, and acquainted with the secrets, of a holy prayer.’ Yet, who is it that has said, ‘I will make them joyful in my house of prayer?’-The still Hour. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.16
Was Judas at the Supper?
WAS he present at the institution of the Lord’s Supper? It is said in Luke 22:21, “Behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me, is with me on the table.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.17
Which table was this, that of the paschal supper or the Lord’s? It is not necessarily the latter; Luke gives a connected account of the two suppers, and then adds the fact respecting the traitor; leaving us to otherwise learn at which of the tables he was present. In John’s reference to the event, it is said (13:30), “He then, having received the sop, went immediately out, and it was night.” Now, the sop pertained to the paschal feast, and if, on receiving it, Judas went immediately out, he could not have been at the Lord’s Supper. With this agrees the record both of Matthew and of Mark. They state what was said of the traitor, before giving the account of the last supper. His character was made known while eating the passover, and soon as revealed, he went out, having no farther lot with the eleven, and the Master he was so soon to betray. It seems clear, then, beyond a doubt, that Judas did not partake at the Lord’s table.-Examiner. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.18
Give Way a Little
IN the crowded streets of a great city, where multitudes are passing in opposite directions, while some are passing obliquely, and others at right angles, it is necessary for every one to give way a little to those he meets, by which means they can have a free passage. Were the whole multitude to pass directly onward, without any one’s yielding an inch of ground to anybody else, all would be obstructed more or less, and confusion ensure. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.19
Or if a churlish individual should take it into his head to march forward in a straight line, and in no case make way for man, woman or child, or even for a procession, he would be sure to jostle some one or other, at almost every step, and would receive an insult, and perhaps hard blows, for his obstinacy and impudence. And very much is it so in the journey through life, and with respect to our general intercourse with mankind. In the march of life, no one’s path is so clear as not in some degree to cross another’s; and if each is determined with unyielding sturdiness to keep his own line, it is impossible but he must give and receive many a rude shock. In society, in neighborhoods, and even among close friends, there will spring rivalries, and be sometimes a close line of opinion; and if we were naturally obstinate, there could be no bounds or ends to contention. Whereas, by the bonds of natural condescension, social harmony is preserved, and the pleasure of society enjoyed. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.20
Patience in Trials
“Patient in tribulation.”—Romans 12:12. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.21
THE Church grows by tears, and withers by smiles; God’s vine thrives better for pruning. Queen Elizabeth is reported to have said, The skill of a pilot is best known in a storm, the valor of a soldier in a field of battle, and the worth of a Christian in time of trial. Let us view. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.22
THE NATURE OF THE CHRISTIAN’S TRIALS. “Tribulation” is often spoken of as his lot in this world; and it is of two descriptions — ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.23
Common.-Man is said to be “born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” The world is a wilderness of thorns and briers, and not a garden of beautiful flowers. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.24
Peculiar.-I mean trials peculiar to, and inseparable from, the Christian life. It is an easy thing to go with the stream of sinful custom and fashion, but to sail against it exposes us to continual opposition. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.25
THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY ARE TO BE BORNE. We must be “patient in tribulation.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.26
How is this patience to be exercised? So as to bear our trials without murmuring; so as not to despair of deliverance; to remember from whom they come, and for what they are designed; and that this has been the common lot of Christ’s followers in every age. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.27
What are its advantages? The discovery of sin; the improvement of grace; the manifestation of our sonship; deliverance from the world’s condemnation; and preparation for eternal glory. Thus God gives grace in the day of conversion, and tries it in the period of affliction. We are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. By this God separates the sin that he hates from the soul that he loves.-Sel. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.28
Judgment and Sins
THE very things which now strain and try this nation are traceable to the sins of the nation. It is not ignorance that is trying us now, but willful, wanton blindness, unreasoning selfishness, and the practical atheism of the people from which all the outgrowth springs of all our follies and errors, our crimes and sins and miseries; passion and prejudice, mutual jealousy, suspicion, lust for power, attended by all the arts of the demagogue, by the reeking venality and unblushing wickedness of the public press. These are the real judgments which now lie upon the land-which now confuse and bewilder those who would be honest, who desire to be true, who want nothing in this controversy but what is right, but what is in accordance with the will and law of God, and who would gladly do what they may to establish the institutions of the Government upon a sure foundation of public righteousness; who feel it is no time for sophistries and technicalities, for quibbles and formalities, but who go for the substance of doctrines, the eternal righteousness of God in all the relations of man to his fellow man as well as of men to God. And because we are confounded in these things and do not even yet know whether a lie is in our right hand, we are still groping and stumbling in the dark mountains of sin and shame, our eyes blinded, our ears heavy, our hearts hardened and our hands paralyzed. We are as a nation in a swoon, feeling the sharp sting of God’s goals, spurring us out of our stupor, but yet drowsy and but little awake. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 50.29
And now we have no right to shut our eyes to the sins which form the ground of indictment against us. We are guilty if we attempt to do this, guilty in the attempted concealment, and we are really the more culpable if we undertake to blink or flinch from the full acknowledgment and recognition of any one of the sins of which we as individuals, or as a nation, have been guilty in the sight of Heaven. But where shall we begin the catalogue of these iniquities? It is even difficult to classify and document them, so manifold and variant; private sins and public sins, secret sins and open sins, personal sins and social sins, sins of the heart and sins of the life, sins in the family and sins in the church, sins in business life, sins in fashionable life sins of the flesh and sins of the spirit, sins of omission and sins of commission, sins of ignorance and sins of wantonness, sins of civil and sins of official life, sins political and ecclesiastical.-Dr. Sunderland. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.1
Temptations of Young Men
SOME vainly imagine themselves exempt from the common laws and infirmities of human nature, and that where others have fallen they can be safe. but true security lies not in a fancied superiority to mankind, but in the careful avoidance of temptation, and the ability to withstand when it comes. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.2
Others think lightly of the beginnings of evil, and what they call little sins. The general progress of sin is gradual; and one indulgence prepares the way for another: and he who began with little sins finally becomes a veteran in iniquity. “He that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much.” Luke 16:10. Sin cannot be small in god’s sight; it is rebellion against his authority, contempt of his wisdom, an impeachment of his goodness, and a defiance of his power. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.3
Many seem also to suppose, that sin acquires its guilt from the circumstances under which it is committed, or the consequences that follow it. the darkness of night or an obscure hiding-place may screen offences from the eye of man, but they afford no refuge from the all-searching eye of God. The excursion on the steamboat, or journey to some distant land, may free the individual from the restraints which kept him moral and upright at home, but do not change his accountability to God, who is strict to mark and strong to punish every transgressor. The guilt of sin must be estimated from the state of the heart, and the obligations which are violated, as well as from the consequences which follow the outward act. The man who matures a plan of murder, but fails in its execution, is as certainly guilty as if he were stained with blood. God regards our motives, and “will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Ecclesiastes 12:14. “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.4
The Bible a Guide
THE word of God, as a means of safety to the young, is the great infallible guide. “Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.” This will be a “light to your feet, and a lamp to your path.” Here we have unfolded to us the character of God, and the duty of man; here we have laid open to us our own hearts, with so much accuracy, that he who has made any advances in self-knowledge must admit the portraiture to be faithfully drawn; here we have delineated, as on a map, the paths which lead to heaven and hell, and are shown in which of these paths we are traveling-are shown, indeed, what we are, what we have been, and shall be hereafter. Here we have a sure directory to guide us through all the mazes of this life, a sovereign arbiter to which we may repair when questions of duty arise. Here we have that which has led multitudes to glory. Here are the most glorious examples to animate young men; examples of those who resisted temptation, and won the crown of victory. Of Joseph, who, without a moment’s hesitation, replied to the insidious tempter, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Of Daniel, who, with a world in arms against him, prayed three times a day, with his face toward Jerusalem; and of a greater than all, who overcame the adversary by weapons drawn from the armory of heaven: “Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.5
Boasting in the Lord
What a Friend have I! a tried, kind, almighty, everlasting Friend, a Friend who loveth at all times, and has sworn that he will never leave me nor forsake me. “This is my beloved, and this is my Friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.6
What a shepherd have I! “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.7
What a God is mine! The God of truth, the God of all grace, a God in covenant, a God in Christ. “This God is my God for ever and ever; he will be my guide even unto death.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.8
What a portion is mine! The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot. “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.9
“My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.”—Rev. William Joy. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.10
PRETTY PREACHING.-I am tormented with the desire to preach better than I can. But I have no wish to make fine, pretty sermons. Prettiness is well enough, when prettiness is in its place. I like to see a pretty child, and a pretty flower, but in a sermon prettiness is out of place. To my ear it would be anything but commendation should it be said to me. “You have given us a pretty sermon.” If I were upon trial for my life, and an advocate should amuse the jury with his tropes and figures, burying his argument beneath a profusion of the flowers of rhetoric, I would say to him: ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.11
“Tut, man; you care more for your vanity than my hanging. Put yourself in my place, speak in view of the gallows, and you will tell your story plainly and earnestly.”—Robert Hall. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.12
Drink Less with your Meals
ONE great error, we drink too much at our meals. Before we have sufficiently masticated and insalivated our food, to enable us to swallow it, we force it down by taking water or warm drinks. This not only dilutes the saliva, but weakens the action of the gastric juice after the food gets into the stomach. Most persons take a swallow of fluid with almost every mouthful of food. Look along the side of the dinner-table in any of our hotels, and you will be surprised at the quantities which are drank during the meal: and, if your mind be not too much taken up with observing the errors of others, you may discover the same evil in yourself, and thus be led to correct it. This habit, sooner or later, ends in producing dyspepsia and constipation, than which there are no affections more destructive of comfort and health. When we are thirsty, at our meals, or at other times, we should drink to allay such thirst only. All solid food should be thoroughly ground and mixed with saliva in the mouth, unaided and undiluted by water or other drinks. Rely upon it, this apparent necessity for drinking is a mere habit, which we can correct at will; and all who prize health at its true value, will not consider its preservation or purchase too high at the cost of attention to so simple a matter. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.13
In this age of tobacco-smoking and chewing, the salivary glands seem to be turned to a new office—that of cleansing this filthy narcotic from the teeth and gums. Were they endowed with language, verily might they exclaim— ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.14
“To what vile uses have we come at last,“ ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.15
Who can wonder at the hollow and wan cheeks of mankind, when such a continuous drain is established upon them-a kind of perpetual catarrh or lachrymosis of the mouth. Take warning by what we say. If you would have good digestion, proper action of the system, and full, ruddy cheeks, eat slow, masticate your food better, drink less at your meals, and you who smoke, if smoke you will, avoid spitting as much as possible. The latter have a two-fold reason for observing our last injunction: they will save, at the same time, their own health and the feelings of their friends.-Sel. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.16
The Helpless Poor
God helps those who help themselves-so says the adage; and it ought, clearly, to be so. What would be the mortal use of assisting anybody who would only want still more help after you had performed your service for him? It is not the highest kindness we can do for a man, to take his burden on our own backs; nor was strength given us to do so, either; one can no better help his brother than by putting him in a way to help himself: if he finds that his work will be done for him, out of some misguided sympathy, then is his prime motive and stimulus for work gone at the start; he will not labor, it is not in human nature, if he finds that there is after all no need of it but that he can get along just about as well without.-Sel. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.17
Saving for Old Age
No one denies that it is wise to make a provision for old age, but we are not all agreed as to the kind of provision it is best to lay in. Certainly, we shall want a little money, for a destitute old man is indeed a sorry sight, and suggests to every one the suspicion that his life has been foolishly, if not wickedly spent. Yes, save money, by all means. But an old man needs that particular kind of strength which young men are most apt to waste. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.18
Many a foolish young fellow will throw away on a holiday a certain amount of nervous energy, which he may never feel the want of until he is seventy; and then, how much he will want it! It is a fact, that over-tasking the eyes at fourteen may necessitate the aid of spectacles at forty, instead of eighty. We advise our young readers to saving of health for their old age, for the maxim holds good with regard to health as to money-waste not, want not. It is the greatest mistake to suppose that any violation of the laws of health can escape its penalty. Nature forgives no sin, no error. She puts off the offender for fifty years, sometimes, but she catches him at last; and inflicts the punishment just when, just where, just how he feels it most. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.19
Save up for old age, but save more than money, save health, save honor, save knowledge, save the recollection of good deeds and innocent pleasures, save pure thoughts, save friends, save love. Save rich stores of that kind of wealth which time can not diminish, nor death take away. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.20
Dr. Chalmers on Preaching
In conversation with an American clergyman, Dr. Chalmers said, A sermon, properly considered, consists of two parts, exposition and application. The truth lies in the text, like a sword in its scabbard. The business of the minister is first to draw the sword, that is exposition; and next to cut and thrust with it on the right and on the left, that is application. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.21
The hearers, first of all, must see what is the mind of God in the text, and then that mind of God is to be used for their reformation. It is not enough that the preacher preach the truth; the hearers must know for themselves that it is the very truth of God. The power does not lie simply in the truth, but in the truth perceived to be of God. When this point has been gained, then the power of preaching is the power of God. Hence careful exposition, showing beyond all question what is the mind of God in the text, is the indispensable first thing in every sermon. Without this, the sword of the Spirit is, practically, not there. The sword sheathed is of no avail. Let it be first drawn by exposition, and then let it be wielded with a will. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.22
YOU have no business to have business with other people’s business; but mind your own business, and that is business enough for any business man. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 51.23
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, JULY 14, 1863.
JAMES WHITE, EDITOR.
The Sanctuary
“Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Daniel 8:14. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.1
IMBOSOMED in the very midst of a prophecy of momentous and thrilling interest, a prophecy which spans the active centuries of the world’s history, and takes hold upon the eternal destinies of the race, a prophecy which is minute in its delineations, and which the pen of inspiration has taken care in great part to distinctly explain-stands the quotation given at the head of these lines. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.2
These words purport to be a revelation. They are given to impart information to the inquiring mind on the subject to which they refer. They were spoken in answer to the question, put not by mortal man but by an angel himself, “How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?” They are included in that Scripture which Paul told Timothy was all given for the instruction, correction, and profit of the man of God. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.3
But to be a revelation they must be understood. The commencement and end of the period of time here given must be clearly ascertained, or its inscription upon the sacred page is to no profit. It would be a waste of time and space for even inspiration to write out a prophetic period, both ends of which should be enshrouded in impenetrable fog. Zero might be written against even a divine dissertation on the subject of the sanctuary, unless we can know what is meant by that object. So would every mention of the cleansing of the sanctuary be darker than the ancient pagan oracles, could we not understand the time and nature of that work. From the character of God, the wants of mankind, and the object of his revelation to them, we therefore reason, that all these points are to be fully understood, that what is necessary on our part to insure success in gaining the knowledge we desire, is but to bring to the investigation a humble mind, a teachable spirit, and a sincere desire, not to have truth on our side, but to be ourselves on the side of truth; to follow where she may lead the way, not to endeavor to compel her to follow us, in the insane and tortuous wanderings of our own wills. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.4
The time was, when these words, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,” were household words with every happy believer in the Lord’s soon coming. they were emblazoned on the shields of every soldier in the Advent ranks. They were joyfully uttered from many lips as the watchword of their most ardent desires, and their brightest hopes. But the times in this respect are strangely altered. Over a great portion of the Advent body a mysterious silence now reigns concerning this positive and prominent promise. The lips which once were its joyful heralds seem now to be sealed to its utterance. It seems to be studiously ignored, avoided, and set aside. But ignored and set aside it cannot be. The glowing prophecy of which it forms so conspicuous a part, and which must enter into every Advent theory, forbids that it should be passed by unnoticed. There are some things in the regions of prophetic truth as well as in the political world, which are “irrepressible;” and this is one of them. Men may not think to avoid it by giving their attention to other themes and passing it by in silence. In every theory, deserving the name of theory, which professes to show the present age of the world, and the nearness of the great consummation, it imperatively demands a place, and an explanation. It is the embarrassing specter, which, with unvarying constancy, confronts every theory which would endeavor, with ill-concealed dread of its just claims, to turn aside from the strait path to avoid its presence. And it is well that it should be so; for it claims no more than it deserves, it presents no demand which the lover of truth ought not promptly and willingly to grant. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.5
What, therefore, has been the cause of this change? Why are not these words dwelt upon as formerly with frequency and pleasure? Answer: the expectations based upon them have once been disappointed: and in the different methods adopted to account for that disappointment, lies the explanation of the different views and treatment of the sanctuary and the 2300 days. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.6
Previous to the autumn of 1844, the Advent people were a unit. Zealous in the great doctrine of the soon coming of their Redeemer, clothed with the blessing and power of God, devoted, harmonious, united, they presented a spectacle which made the saints rejoice and the world wonder. But since the tenth of the seventh month, Jewish time, of that year, dissension and division have been, to a mournful degree, inscribed upon their history, and the paths they have taken have been various and divergent. The cause of this division must be in some question involved, in some point at issue, in the events of that memorable day. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.7
The expectation then entertained was, that at that point of time the Lord would come. Arguments had been produced, invulnerable to all the attacks of our enemies, and entirely satisfactory to all lovers of the Advent doctrine at that time, that the 2300 days would end in 1844. From this as a starting point, the argument then ran thus: The prophecy asserts that then the sanctuary shall be cleansed. The sanctuary is the earth or some part of the earth. Its cleansing is to be by fire; but the renovation of the earth by fire is to take place only at the second coming of the Lord; therefore the Lord will come at the termination of the 2300 days. But the time passed by and the Lord did not come-their hopes were not realized. The grievous disappointment many an honest heart full keenly felt; and that a mistake had somewhere been made, none were disposed to deny. What was that mistake? or, in other words, what was the cause of our disappointment? It is here that a difference of opinion begins. But before discussing this difference, let it be remembered that God cannot be the author of the confusion that has existed since that time in the Advent body. All the various theories that have since sprung up, cannot every one be true: and yet every Adventist will admit that the truth of God at the present day, must be found in connection with the Advent doctrine. Every Adventist will admit that if God designs, previous to the coming of the Lord, to warn the world of that event, the great Advent movement of 1840-1844, in so far as it tended to arouse a slumbering world to the fact that we are living in the time of the end, and to warn them of the nearness of the close of probation, and the great consummation of all things, was in the order and purpose of God. He must, therefore, still have a people on the earth, as the result of that movement; he must still have a truth bearing some relation to that great work; and there must be some correct explanation of the great disappointment in our past history. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.8
To the question, Why were those who looked for the Lord in 1844 so grievously disappointed? but two essential answers can be given: The first is, that we were correct in our views of the sanctuary, but wrong in the application of the time. The other is that we were wrong in our views of the sanctuary, but correct in our application of the time. The first is, in other words, that it is still true that the earth, or some portion of the earth, is the sanctuary, but that the 2300 days did not then expire, to demand its cleansing. The other is that the 2300 days did then expire, but that neither the earth nor any part of the earth, was the sanctuary which was then to be cleansed. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.9
These answers, it will be seen, are at perfect antipodes to each other; but they have both been offered as an explanation of the disappointment under consideration, and in our search for the true solution of that question, must, therefore, both be examined. To the consideration of the first, then, let us now address our attention. Is it true that we were wrong in the application of the time, and that the 2300 days did not end in 1844? Those who hold that they did not, arrive at this conclusion by two different methods: The one class claim that the seventy weeks of Daniel 9, are no part of the 2300 days of Daniel 8, and that consequently the date of the former does not determine the date of the latter. They acknowledge that the date assigned by all Adventists previous to 1844, for the commencement of the seventy weeks, namely, B. C. 457, cannot be disproved; but as they are no part of the 2300 days, they furnish no clue to the commencement of that period. Where the 2300 days did commence, or what event marked their beginning they cannot tell. This much only, on this point, they profess to know; that they did not end in 1844, because the earth is the sanctuary, and the earth was not then burned. The other class acknowledge the infallibility of the arguments by which the seventy weeks are shown to be a part of the 2300 days, as held by all Adventists up to 1844, but deny that the date of their commencement was rightly placed in B. C. 457. Commencing at that point they would end in 1844; but this class, like the one first mentioned, contend that they could not then have ended, and for the very same reason, namely, because the earth is the sanctuary, and the earth was not then burned. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.10
From this general survey of the subject one would be led to conclude that there was something all-potent in the theory that the earth is the sanctuary. From what it has done, we should suppose it had been able to intrench itself behind infallible evidence. It has led the great majority of those who were in the past Advent movement, while divided on many other points, to agree in this, that the 2300 days did not end in 1844. It has led them to make a full surrender of positions which were once acknowledged to be the ground and pillar of the Advent faith; positions which able men were led to take when their hearts were glowing with a newly-found and life-giving truth, and their intellects quickened by the outpouring of the Spirit and power of God; positions which passed unscathed through the most fiery ordeal of scrutiny and opposition to which, perhaps, it has ever been the lot of any truth to be subjected; positions which stood the test when the world was aroused to the subject of the Advent as never before nor since, when the opposition was called forth in all its strength, and worldly wisdom played its heaviest batteries against the unpopular but heaven-supported movement. The reasons which would lead men to abandon positions like these, should be infinitely weighty; but these have all been surrendered to the solitary view, which has thus been set up paramount to them all, that the earth is the sanctuary. Where is the mighty array of evidence by which this is sustained? For this it will be our province to inquire somewhat as we proceed. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.11
But to return: Did the 2300 days end in 1844? This question involves the two others already noticed, viz., are the seventy weeks of Daniel 9 a part of the 2300 days of Daniel 8? and are they rightly dated from B. C. 457? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.12
1. Are the seventy weeks a part of the 2300 days? To determine this, the 8th and 9th chapters of Daniel must be considered in connection. In the 8th chapter Daniel tells us that he had a view of a ram, he-goat, and little horn. He saw the ram pushing his conquests in every direction, except toward the east. He was met by the he-goat from the west, who slew him, broke his horns, and trampled him in the dust. The notable horn of the goat was then broken, and immediately four rose up in its stead toward the four winds of heaven. From one of these there then came forth a horn, at first little, but afterward waxing exceeding great toward the east, the south, and the pleasant land. this horn waxed great, even to the host of heaven, practiced and prospered, and cast down the truth to the ground. A question of vital interest to the prophet, is now raised, respecting the duration of these oppressive and persecuting powers. The inquiry made is, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And the answer that comes back in response to this question is, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. to the wonderful vision of the restless, conflicting, and persecuting powers already brought before the mind of the prophet, another wonder is thus added, namely, that of the long period of 2300 days. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.13
Naturally enough, Daniel seeks for the meaning of all these things, and God, ever ready to grant all the lawful desires of his children, immediately ordains that his request shall be granted. A voice is heard, saying, “Make this man to understand the vision.” A divine command is thus given that Daniel shall receive a full explanation of all these matters. We may be assured that that command will be obeyed to the letter. The one to whom is intrusted this charge is no less a personage than the angel Gabriel, and we shall expect that he will fulfill his mission, and that Daniel will give us a record of his instructions. Gabriel immediately proceeds to give in plain and unmistakable language, an explanation of the symbols of the ram, he-goat, and little horn, explaining the two former to be the kingdoms of Persia and Grecia, and the little horn an exceeding great kingdom which should arise after them; which it is not necessary for us to stop here to argue, signifies the great power of Rome. Up to this point, it will be noticed, the angel has said nothing in explanation of the time or the period of 2300 days; but the view that has already been presented to Daniel of the rise and fall of three successive kingdoms of the earth, and the fact that during all this time the truth should be cast to the ground, and the people of God be held under the iron heel of persecution and oppression, is too much for the tender feelings and sensitive heart of the prophet, and he faints in view of it. Being sick certain days, Gabriel’s mission of explaining the vision is necessarily suspended. When Daniel had sufficiently recovered to attend to his ordinary court duties, he expresses his sense of amazement and astonishment that still rested on his mind in view of the vision, but declares that Gabriel had not fulfilled his mission; for he did not yet understand it. thus matters stand at the close of chapter 8. Now if Gabriel does not somewhere resume his charge, and complete the explanation of this vision, a portion of it remains forever un-explained, and he becomes a disobedient, or, which is the same thing, a fallen angel. But this cannot be; for we find him more than four hundred years after this, still in divine employ, and sent on sacred missions to Zacharias and to Mary. Luke 1. Gabriel has therefore somewhere given Daniel further instruction on that part of his vision which remained unexplained, namely, the 2300 days. We are now prepared to look at the events of chapter 9. (To be Continued.) ARSH July 14, 1863, page 52.14
Lessons for Bible Students LESSON XXI (HISTORY OF THE SABBATH, PP.314-342.)
FROM what did the great reformation of the sixteenth century arise? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.1
How had the Sabbath been treated in that church? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.2
What had the papacy ordained in its stead? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.3
Such being the state of things when the reformers began their labors, what could we expect of them in regard to the Sabbath? p.315, bottom. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.4
Is it strange that they should retain some of their festivals? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.5
What does the Swiss church declare concerning the Lord’s day? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.6
With what does the Augsburg Confession class the Lord’s day? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.7
What was Zwingle’s opinion? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.8
What does Beza say? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.9
How was it mentioned in Cranmer’s Catechism? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.10
What did Tyndale say of it? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.11
How did Calvin regard it? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.12
What day did he and his friends think of adopting as the Christian Sabbath? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.13
What reason did they offer for this proposition? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.14
What has the Presbyterian church, which originated with Calvin, since discovered? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.15
What prominent reformer was a Sabbatarian? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.16
Who testifies to his Sabbatarian Character? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.17
When the reformers had lifted the vail that covered the nations of Europe, in what places were Sabbath-keepers brought to light? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.18
Was it the reformation that gave existence to these Sabbatarians? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.19
Of what do these churches appear to be remnants? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.20
Were there many persons of distinction in Transylvania who kept the Sabbath? p.321, top. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.21
What statement does Mr. Maxson make in regard to the Sabbath-keepers of Germany? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.22
What may be said of the origin of Sabbatarians in England? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.23
What observances show that they derived their origin from the persecuted heretics of the dark ages? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.24
Had they long been numerous in England? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.25
What did the light of the reformation necessarily do? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.26
What controversy arose in England in the latter part of the sixteenth century? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.27
What was the position of the Episcopalians? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.28
What was that of the Presbyterians? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.29
To what strait were the Presbyterians driven? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.30
What position did they then take? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.31
Who was the discoverer of the new doctrine relative to the Lord’s day? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.32
What was his theory? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.33
What does Dr. Heylyn say concerning the spread of this sentiment? p.326, bottom? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.34
What is done by the seventh-part-of-time theory? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.35
What was the prospect of the venerable day of the sun, at the time when this theory was framed? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.36
With the aid of this theory, what was the Sunday of “Pope and Pagan,” able to do? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.37
What does Cotton Mather say of those churches which sprung from the church of Rome? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.38
What sacred treasure have they all drawn from the venerable mother of harlots? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.39
Here at the close of the history of the Sunday festival, into what do we find it fully transformed? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.40
In what year did John Thraske begin to write in favor of the seventh-day Sabbath? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.41
What was done to him for this? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.42
On this occasion what famous first-day argument was first brought forward? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.43
In what year did Theophilus Braborne publish a book in favor of the seventh-day Sabbath? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.44
What other advocates of the Sabbath are enumerated on p.331? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.45
In behalf of what day did Thomas Bampfield, brother of Frances, write? p.333, top. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.46
In 1661 what scene occurred in London? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.47
What may be said of the Stennett family? p.334. bottom. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.48
What has caused a decline of the Sabbatarian churches of England? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.49
Where was the first Sabbatarian church in America established? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.50
When was it established? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.51
Of whom was it composed? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.52
Among Seventh-day Baptists, who have since arisen, what name is worthy of honorable mention? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.53
When and by whom was the attention of Adventists first called to the Sabbath question? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.54
By whom was he led for a time to observe the Sabbath? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.55
By what means are the Seventh-day Adventists now issuing periodicals and numerous publications devoted to this and kindred subjects? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.56
What is the faith of the Seventh-day Adventists on this point? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.57
What do we learn from the prophetic scriptures respecting the future condition of our earth? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.58
Over this glorious inheritance who shall bear rule? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.59
When the glory of the Lord shall thus fill the earth, what is said of the Sabbath? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.60
What is the reason for coming up to the New Jerusalem from month to month? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.61
What does the gathering of the nations of the saved on each successive Sabbath attest? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.62
An Important Sign of the Times SPIRITUALISM GOING TO THE GREAT MEN
“AND when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God, for the living to the dead?” Isaiah 8:19. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.63
That we are living in the times spoken of by the prophet, we cannot doubt. The speech has been made that says, “Let us seek unto them that have familiar spirits,” etc. The rapping spirits are now all over the land, doing their signs and wonders. John says, “For they are the spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Revelation 16:14. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.64
These foul spirits are on the forward march, and are sweeping almost everything before them. These emissaries of Satan have been more highly honored than Christ ever was while he was here upon this earth. He never was admitted within any national palace. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.65
these spirits have honorable entertainment in the great capital of France, and are consulted and confided in by Louis Napoleon and his court. They have also the friendship of the Queen of England. They have likewise been invited into the White House of our own so-called Christian nation. Accepting the invitation, they were honored with one of the finest rooms, and were consulted by the President, who is almost a convert. The following from the Boston Gazette is a reliable and interesting account of the proceedings of one meeting: ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.66
WASHINGTON, APR. 23, 1863. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.67
A few evenings since, Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States, was induced to give a spiritual soiree in the crimson room at the White House, to test the wonderful alleged supernatural powers of Mr. Charles E. Shockle. The party consisted of the President, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Wells, Mr. Stanton, Mr. L. of New York, and Mr. F. of Philadelphia. We took our seats in the circle about 8 o’clock; but the President was called away shortly after the manifestations commenced, and the spirits which had apparently assembled to convince him of their power, gave visible tokens of their displeasure at his absence, by pinching Mr. Stanton’s ear, and twitching Mr. Wells’ beard. He soon returned, but it was some time before harmony was restored, for the mishaps to the Secretaries caused such bursts of laughter the influence was very unpropitious. for some half an hour the demonstrations were of a physical character-the tables were moved, and the picture of Henry Clay which hangs on the wall was swayed more than a foot, and two candelabras, presented by the Dey of Algiers to President Adams, were twice raised nearly to the ceiling. Loud rappings were heard distinctly beneath the President’s feet, about nine o’clock, and Mr. Shockle stated that an Indian desired to communicate. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.68
“Well, sir,” said the President, “I should be happy to hear what his Indian majesty has to say. We have recently had a visitation from our red brethren, and it was the only delegation, black, white, or blue, which did not volunteer some advice about the conduct of the war.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.69
The medium then called for pencil and paper, and they were laid upon the table in sight of all. A handkerchief was then taken from Mr. Stanton, and the materials were carefully concealed from sight. Soon knocks were heard and the paper was uncovered. To the surprise of all present it read as follows: “Haste makes waste, but delays cause vexations. Give vitality by energy. Use every means to subdue. Proclamations are useless. Make a bold front and fight the enemy. Leave traitors at home to the care of Union men. Less note of preparation, less parade and policy talk, and more action. HENRY KNOX.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.70
“That is not Indian talk, Mr. Shockle,” said the President. “Who is Henry Knox?” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.71
The medium spoke in a strange voice. “The first Secretary of war.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.72
“Oh yes, Gen. Knox,” said the President, who, turning to the Secretary, said, “Stanton, that message is for you-it is from your predecessor.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.73
“I should like to ask Gen. Knox,” said the President, “if it is within the scope of his ability to tell us when this rebellion will be put down.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.74
“Washington, Lafayette, Franklin, Wilberforce, Napoleon, and myself, have held frequent consultations on this point. Napoleon says concentrate your forces upon one point. Lafayette things that the rebellion will die of exhaustion. Franklin sees the end approaching, as the South must give up for want of mechanical ability to compete against Northern mechanics. Wilberforce sees hope only in a negro army. “KNOX.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.75
“Well,” exclaimed the President, “opinions differ among the saints as well as among sinners. They don’t seem to understand running the Machine among the celestials much better than we do. Their talk and advice sound very much like the talk of my cabinet-don’t you think so, Mr. Wells?” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 53.76
“Well, I don’t know: I will think the matter over and see what conclusion to arrive at.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.1
Heavy raps were heard, and the alphabet was called for, when “That’s what’s the matter” was spelled out. There was a shout of laughter, and Mr. Wells stroked his beard. “That means, Mr. Wells,” said the President, “that you are too long-winded, and think the nearest way home is the longest way round. Short cuts in war times.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.2
Mr. Lincoln continued his seeking for knowledge from the familiar spirits, and said, “I wish the spirits could tell us how to catch the Alabama.” The lights, which had been partially lowered, almost instantaneously became so dim that I could not see sufficiently to distinguish the features of any one in the room, and on the large mirror over the mantle-piece there appeared the most beautiful, though supernatural, picture ever beheld. It represented a sea view: the Alabama, with steam up, flying from the pursuit of another large vessel. Two merchantmen were seen in the distance, partially destroyed by fire. The picture changed, and the Alabama was seen at anchor under the shadow of an English fort, from which an English flag was waving. The Alabama was floating idly, not a soul on board, and no sign of life about her. the picture vanished, and in letters of purple appeared “The English people demand this of England’s aristocracy.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.3
“Well, Mr. Shockle,” remarked the President, “I have seen strange things and heard rather odd remarks, but nothing which convinces me except the pictures, that there is anything very heavenly about all this. I should like if possible to hear what Judge Douglas says about this war.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.4
Perfect silence was maintained, and after an interval of about three minutes Mr. Shockle rose quickly from his seat and stood up behind it, resting his left arm on his back, and his right thrust into his bosom. In voice such as no one could mistake who had ever heard Mr. Douglas, he spoke. He urged the President to throw aside all advisers who hesitated about the policy to be pursued, and to listen to the wishes of the people, who would sustain him at all points if his aim was, as he believed, to restore the Union. He said, “There are Burrs and Blannerhassets still living, but they would wither before the popular approval which would follow one or two victories, such as he thought must take place ere long. The turning point in the war will be the use made of these victories. If wicked men in the first hours of success think it time to devote their attention to party, the war will be prolonged; but if victory is followed up by energetic action all will be well.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.5
“I believe that,” said the President, “whether it comes from spirit or human.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.6
Mr. Shockle was much prostrated at this time, and at the request of Mr. Lincoln it was thought best to adjourn. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.7
REMARKS
We here subjoin a few testimonies from the sacred Scriptures which show in what light God regards familiar spirits, and those who consult them. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.8
1. Familiar spirits were entertained by the heathen-the wicked Canaanites who were abandoned of god, and given over by him to fill up the cup of sin, that they might be destroyed “When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abomination of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.” These were abominations practiced by the heathen. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.9
2. We will next show how God regards those who do such things. “For all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” Deuteronomy 18:9-12. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.10
He has ever looked upon all such as do these things with the most indignant disdain. They are hateful, odious, yea, loathsome, in his sight. We have a few examples given us of some of his people turning from him to the familiar spirits for light, and they were punished with death. Saul is one instance. He disobeyed God, and was therefore forsaken of him. “And when Saul inquired of the Lord, he answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by the prophets. Then Saul said unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” 1 Samuel 28:6, 7. so, when God left him he turned to Satan. He must have counsel. this very act, and the one that caused him to do it, caused his death. “So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit to inquire of it.” 1 Chronicles 10:13. The world and professed Christendom are fast going the same road. In almost every village, neighborhood, and school-district, may be heard the import of the words of the prophet: let us go over and hear the spirits rap, and get the news from the spirit-world, hear how the war is going to terminate, etc. However, the Emperor of France and our President invite them to come into their own parlors, and there consult them as they would a near and familiar friend. Mr. Lincoln acknowledges himself a convert, convinced of its heavenly origin by the pictures. All good men love to move as directed by that which is heavenly. Is it not, therefore, presumable that if he could see another picture, or more, he would submit to be directed in the great national war by the counsels of the heavenly Judge Douglas, etc.? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.11
If we will but open our eyes we can see that Satan is now working great signs and wonders, and leading men by the million. We, beyond all doubt, are living in the time in which “they shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.” 1 Timothy 4:1. Therefore we are living in the last days. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.12
B. F. SNOOK.
The Little Seed Cells
How neatly all the seeds are laid Within the ripening pod; How carefully the cells are made: This is the work of God. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.13
The lining is not harsh or rough,
But soft, or polished well;
Each little seed has room enough
Within its tiny cell.
ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.14
How carefully the sides are closed
Against the winds and rain;
For if He left the seeds exposed,
They would not grow again.
ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.15
There’s no disorder anywhere
In what my Father does;
He condescends to make with care
The smallest flower that grows.
ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.16
So children who would learn from Him,
Neat habits seek to gain,
Or they will waste much precious time,
And do their work in vain.
ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.17
Estimate of Character
BRO. Points has been a man of the world, and having many estimable qualities, has always been much respected and esteemed. His friends complimented him for his virtues, never daring to speak to him about his faults, lest his feelings might be hurt, or he might be offended; so they on the whole concluded it safest and pleasantest to discuss his less amiable qualities in select circles, or in confidential conversation, with intimate friends. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.18
Bro. Points had but few enemies, but those few did a thriving business in retailing what they could of the failings of Bro. Points (at that time Mr. Points), painted, as enemies always take care to do in such cases. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.19
Self-love blinded Bro. Points to his weaknesses, but magnified his estimable qualities. Pride suggested to him that the whisperings of his enemies had their basis in malice, while the pursuits of business and pleasure left him little time for reflection, excepting a little time spend daily with Self-complacency, who had a magic looking-glass, which so reflected Bro. Points’ features, that he almost fell in love with himself. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.20
Thus, unfortunately, you must discover that Bro. Points’ estimate of his own character was quite too high, both as to excellence and importance; not that he was entirely mistaken, but here was the difficulty; this false estimate of his character re-acted, and hindered improvement, stimulated pride, arrogance, and self-conceit; in fact, it came near being his ruin. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.21
Happily for Bro. Points, present truth charmed his ear, and his heart too (for in truth he has both head and heart left), and as Bro. Points identified himself with the Seventh-day Adventists, he imagined that so amiable a person as himself would be a great ornament to the church. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.22
Presently a brother kindly mentioned to Bro. Points wherein he might avoid some things which were objectionable. Bro. Points was in a huff in a moment. How could any one think so of him? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.23
But we pass over this melancholy experience. Time has convinced Bro. Points that instead of being in himself a pink of perfection, within is a great work of purification to be accomplished. He is also convinced that the friendship of God’s people is different from that of the world. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.24
Thus God’s people reprove, rebuke, and warn, while the world fawn and flatter in one’s presence, but reserve another mode of procedure in other company. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.25
The world have a selfish motive at heart; they care little for any but themselves; while the people of God seek the future and everlasting well-being of all their brethren. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.26
The true estimate of character is what Bro. Points now appreciates; and as he looks out upon the world he has left behind, he exclaims, Oh, the deception men practice upon themselves and each other! Verily I stood upon slippery places, unconscious of danger, until thy word came, oh my god, and unmasked to me the hatefulness of pride, and all the hidden iniquity of my heart. Deliver me, of my God, from a false estimate of my own character. J. CLARKE. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.27
A Voice from the Stomach
I HAVE gently hinted that this don’t suit me, and that don’t please me; that this comes too late, and that too soon; that you give me too little of this, and too much of that, and, rather than complain without cause, I have worked off load after load, time after time, until I can bear it no longer-and I won’t. I hate to complain as much as you hate to hear me; but if you take me to be a sausage-mill, and able to chew up anything-from a rat to a sea-lion, or from sheet-iron beefsteak to India-rubber cheese-I say, again, that you are mistaken. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.28
Now I want to ask you, in all candor, what you take me to be? A stomach-a stomach to digest food-to make whatever you choose to give me into good, healthy blood, so that you may have the materials for building up a vigorous and healthy body, and which my neighbor, the heart, can receive, and circulate to every part of it, for that purpose. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.29
Now, let me ask why you-knowing me to be a stomach, and a stomach only-will impose upon me the duties of the teeth? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.30
Would you like to do another’s work, when it is quite as much as you want-and perhaps a little more-to do your own? No; I know you wouldn’t Then why do you seek to compel me? You don’t compel me? But I know you do; at least, you leave me but one alternative-to digest whatever you like to give me, in whatever shape it comes, or pass it to my next neighbor for him to work off; and rather than do that, I have many times cast up my accounts and thrown up the contract; and I want you to understand that if we are your servants, we are not your slaves-or, at least, we ought not to be-and as we are fellow-servants, we do not wish to be so mean as to shirk our part of the labor-to put it on the shoulders of the next beneath us-and it is your fault that the teeth do it, and they are not to blame. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.31
You ha’n’t time? Shame on you! Have you time to live-time to suffer all the pains that we necessarily inflict upon you? You find time to loll about; time to pick your teeth; time to smoke cigars, or chew tobacco; in short, you find time to do nothing, yet everything you shouldn’t. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.32
Then, again, do you suppose that I can make good blood out of anything? everything? or nothing? You don’t suppose it? One would think that you did suppose it, by the vast varieties of odds and ends you give me but which, often your dog would not eat! ... I want to be a reasonable kind of stomach, and a good servant, and it may be possible that if you are willing to do what is right by me, I may do my best to serve you. I do not want to be all the while grumbling, and giving you headaches, colic, dyspepsia, and, in short, nearly every disease to which men are subject, but wish to lead a peaceable life with you as well as with my neighbors. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 54.33
The STOMACH throws out a few suggestions as to how it thinks it ought to be treated, some of which certainly seem very reasonable and proper: ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.1
As soon as you are out of bed, give me a glass of good water. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.2
In about half an hour after that I suppose you’ll want your breakfast, and I, some work to do, as I don’t believe in working with an empty stomach any more than you do, when I am well. You sit down, then, to breakfast, and give me something tender and nutritious, as meat, and something light and wholesome, as bread; and I suppose you would like a cup of coffee, but I don’t need anything of that sort. Be sure to be very moderate. Do not as the head of the firm, keep importing cargoes, because there happens to be plenty, nor keep stowing it down as though the warehouse was made of India-rubber; because, if you do, I have no alternative but to put it in some place that does not belong to me, or unship it by the way it came; neither of which is very pleasant either to yourself or to me. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.3
At dinner, also, be very moderate. Soup, if good, is not amiss; I prefer this to cold water, for the reason that cold of any kind lowers my temperature, so that I cannot work willingly until I am warmed up again. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.4
Then, after soup, take something I can do something with. Don’t load me with all sorts of messes and mixtures, from all parts of the world, merely because you would appear of importance to those who may be on a visit to you. I am in such a case, and at such a time, of much more importance to you than can possibly be your guest, and I wish you to remember that; and the moment I begin to be felt, let nothing tempt you to giving me more, for I have then as much as I know well what to do with. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.5
At supper be more careful, for as the day draws to a close, I, as well as other members of the firm, am weary with my day’s labor, and do not like to be taxed with additional work when I should be at rest; therefore, give me something very light to do, and something that does not want steam employed for its transit, that I may not torment you with horrid dreams, or tossing and unrefreshing sleep. What I have suffered from this cause no one can fully tell: for will you believe it, since last night I have been obliged to bear piles of indigestible stuff, that I could not dispose of in a morning, without fatiguing me with more labor than I ought to be called upon to perform all day. And then my next-door neighbor lays the blame at my door. If all sorts of diseases arise, as they do, from my being abused, do you not think the ‘time’ and attention well employed that is bestowed upon me? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.6
Yea, verily it is: and when you rise next morning with a violent headache, and a mouth uncomfortable, with a heaviness and languor having possession of your whole body, don’t you put the blame on me, for you are to blame, and you only. For, if you will overload and overtask and abuse me in all sorts of ways by all kinds of things then remember that sooner or later I shall serve you out-perhaps in some way you don’t expect of me. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.7
Then again, when you-my professed master-are doing comparatively nothing, do you suppose that I need just as much to supply me, and those who receive their supplies from me, as though you were a hard working man? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.8
Certainly not. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.9
Yet you have acquired the habit of eating much, when, perhaps, you worked at the hardest kind of labor, and follow the one habit, that of eating, after you have abolished the other habit, that of working. Now I say that you ought to be more consistent-you had. I must say, too, that I am always better, healthier, and stronger with a working man than I am with a man that don’t work. The worker always has good, plain, wholesome food, (except some very heavy bread sometimes,) and as soon as he has finished his meal, he don’t keep eating all sorts of foolish and indigestible messes, as some do. And moreover, with him who labors I am always at home, for his labors very much assist mine.-Sel. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.10
LETTERS
“Then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another.”
From Bro. Palmer
BRO. WHITE: As I was reviewing the past, my mind rested on the events which transpired six years ago to-day. Brn. Bates and Waggoner had pitched the tent in Colon a short time previous, and I had attended their lectures, but had not fully decided to obey. I was then a member of the Baptist church, and, with many of its members, attended a Sunday school celebration at Mendon. Immediately in front of the wagon in which I rode, was a wagon filled with children, and on a tall staff was a chart upon which, in large letters, was printed the ten commandments, and as I read and re-read them, the fourth seemed to be more conspicuous than any other. I could only ask myself the questions: Am I this day doing the will of God? Is this the holy Sabbath-day? Is this Sunday school celebration a thing pleasing in his sight? ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.11
The day passed away, and to me it was a day of anxious care and perplexing thought. In the evening I hastened to the tent and heard the claims of God’s holy law presented with power, and left the tent resolved to do my duty, to forsake the day of man’s invention, and instead thereof to keep holy the Sabbath-day. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.12
How often since, have I felt to praise God that Brn. Bates and Waggoner were ever sent with the word of life to Colon; but oh how how sad the thought that so many of those who were so dear to me, and who listened to the truth at that time hardened their hearts and rejected it, and are now left without hope and without God in the world! How sad a sight a fallen church destitute of that spirit of kindness, brotherly love, patience, and zeal for God’s glory, which make the church the light of the world! How painful the scene enacted a short time after, when a committee appointed by the church waited upon all those who were keeping the commandments of God, to urge them to forsake the law of God, and keep the Sabbath of the man of Sin! And when said committee were asked to show wherein we were doing anything contrary to the will of God, and the Bible was offered them, they refused to consult it, but excused themselves by saying that they were appointed to ask us to walk with the church according to its Articles of Faith, and report answer, which was their whole duty. At the next covenant meeting we were called upon to say why we should not be expelled, or rather, why they should not withdraw from us. The Bible was then presented, and they were asked to show wherein we walked contrary to its teaching. They said we must be tried by the Articles of Faith. I then read to them one of their articles of faith, which says, The Bible is the sole book of appeals by which all human conduct and creeds must be tried. But not so. Prejudice, and hatred to the law of God must prevail; and with exultation we were voted out. Thanks be to God, it served to open our eyes, and showed us where we ourselves were standing before we became enlightened. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.13
Since that time I have often erred from the direct path of duty, but the restraining power of the Lord has ever been manifest to call me back to duty, and to-day I can say with the psalmist, “Thy word is very pure, therefore thy servant loveth it.” ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.14
I am living where Spiritualism reigns and flourishes, but thank God, his word is a sure support to uphold his people, and a deadly weapon to slay the enemies of Christ. My hope is in God. In him alone do I trust, knowing that he is ever found of them that seek him aright. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.15
My prayer is that the Lord may abundantly keep his servants who minister in holy things, and in due time direct some one this way, to present the truth to a few honest souls in this place. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.16
Yours waiting for the appearing of our Lord.
CHAS. L. PALMER. Sturgis, Mich., July 3, 1863.
From Bro. Pinkerton
BRO. WHITE: It is with feelings of gratitude to an overruling Providence that I testify of the goodness of God toward me, his unworthy servant. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.17
Through his lovingkindness I have been permitted to exchange my lonely situation for one where I am permitted to meet with the remnant people of God from Sabbath to Sabbath, and enjoy the privileges of their society; and my heart has been made to rejoice many times in view of the precious privileges which I am permitted to enjoy. The privilege of meeting with brethren and sisters in the bonds of Christian love and union is a great and precious privilege to me. I love the people of God far more than earthly relatives, and I would rather sacrifice all earthly ties, than to be deprived of the love and fellowship of those who are trying to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.18
I believe that time is short, and trouble such as the world never saw, is just upon us. Satan is stirring up the nations; and they are preparing for war. Soon probation will close, and all restraint will be taken away, and man will be left a prey to the evil angels; and there will be famine in the land; and pestilence and the sword will sweep the earth with the besom of destruction. The dead and dying will be all around us, and men will call upon the name of God only in blasphemy. These will be fearful and troublous times, such as never were since there was a nation. Brothers will imbrue their hands in each other’s blood, and weeping and mourning will be heard in every house. The way of the transgressor is hard. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.19
Brethren and sisters, how is it with us? Are we all seeking a preparation that we may be hid in the day of the Lord’s fierce anger? Are we striving to overcome all our sins, and repenting of them that they may be remembered no more against us? Are we striving to do the whole will of God, regardless of self, careless of what friends or relatives may say to discourage us? Are we, like Moses, willing to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season? These are dark and gloomy times for the Christian? Fiery trials encompass us on every hand. Soon we shall be called upon to face the storms of persecution. The image of the beast will soon be set up, and, as it was in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, we shall be called upon to fall down and worship it. How many of us will be enabled to endure this trial of our faith, and receive the mark of God, instead of the mark of the beast. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.20
Brethren and sisters, let us get on the whole armor of righteousness, and fight manfully the battles of our blessed Lord. Let us not waste a moment of time in tasting forbidden pleasures. We have a great and mighty work to perform, and but little time allotted for its accomplishment. the night is far spent, and the morning star has arisen, and the Sun of righteousness will soon arise with healing in his beams, for those who love his appearing. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.21
That we may all be enabled to say, Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us, is the prayer of your unworthy brother in Christ. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.22
LESLIE PINKERTON.
Lisbon, Iowa.
Bro. J. Laroch writes from East Montpelier, Vt.: I am resolved to press my way forward to the kingdom. I know we have a great work to do, but with the Lord’s assisting grace we can go through. I feel encouraged to see order and union being restored in the church. Yes, brethren, the Lord’s work will prosper: for God hath set some in the church: first, apostles; secondarily, prophets; thirdly, teachers; but is that all, brethren? Have they all the work to perform? No, praise the Lord! he has placed another gift in the church, and that is, helps. Shall we improve upon the talent God has given us, or shall we dig, and hide it in the earth? Shall we sit down and feast upon the light of this glorious gospel, while our fellow men around us are groping their way in the dark, and feeding upon papal tradition? Shall we sit upon our lees in hope of enjoying so great salvation, which cost the blood of the holy Son of God, and not put forth every effort to save some poor soul from going the broad road to perdition? Oh that we could realize more fully, the time in which we live! We must awake from our slumbers. We need on the whole armor to stand. We must have the kingdom. Christ says, To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 55.23
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. THIRD-DAY, JULY 14, 1863
Sabbath Readings
TWENTY-FIVE numbers of this work are now ready. Each number is complete in itself. We offer them, twenty-five sixteen-page tracts in one package, postpaid, for 50 cents. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.1
In this form the friends of moral and religious instruction for the precious youth of our country, can with a small sum purchase many rays of heavenly light to scatter, like the leaves of autumn, throughout the circles of their acquaintances. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.2
We put up the twenty-five numbers in five pamphlets, five numbers in each pamphlet, in paper covers, for those who would choose them in this neat form. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.3
Also, the binder will soon furnish the twenty-five numbers, bound in muslin, with title-page, preface, and index, containing 408 pages. Price, 60 cents, postage 8 cents. Twenty copies or more taken at the Office, or sent by Express or by Railroad, for 50 cents a copy. Twenty per cent, discount on the packages of tracts, and the pamphlets, when twenty full sets or more are taken. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.4
THE questions in this number, complete the Lessons for Bible Students on the Sabbath question. A few weeks will now be given for review, before taking up another subject. The questions so far as published, will immediately be issued in pamphlet form for the convenience of those who may wish to use them in their Bible classes and Sabbath-schools, but have been waiting to get them in a more convenient form than in the paper. If classes consider the lessons too long, they need not be governed by the divisions as published, but take such portions as they can easily master. Above all things we recommend that classes go no faster than they can get a thorough and permanent understanding of the matter which they go over. The subject next to be taken up is the Three Angels’ Messages of Revelation 14, using the published work on that subject as a text book. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.5
Note from Bro. Bates
BRO. WHITE: We have been spending a week with the church in Jackson. Our meetings on the Sabbath were cheering and strengthening, and closed with the solemn ordinances of the Lord’s house, with an additional blessing from the heavenly Sanctuary. By request I spend the coming week and Sabbath with the church in Hanover, and the next week and Sabbath with the church in Tompkins. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.6
JOSEPH BATES.
Jackson, Mich., July 6, 1863.
Note from Bro. Sanborn
As my labors are now closed in Wisconsin for the present, I will give a short sketch of my labors for the past eight months. In that time I have traveled over twenty-four hundred miles, preached one hundred and fifteen times, baptized twenty-eight, organized two churches-one at Mauston, of twenty-seven members, and one at Johnstown Center, of twenty-one members, which is in a flourishing condition. Our S. B. fund for the present year is about $260. There is quite an interest among others who we hope will unite with us soon. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.7
And now, dear brethren, I go to Minnesota. May I ask for your prayers to follow me, that much may be done there to advance this precious cause. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.8
ISAAC SANBORN.
June 15, 1863.
NOTE.-The above communication from Bro. Sanborn should have appeared sooner, but was mislaid. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.9
Note from Bro. Bourdeau
BRO. WHITE: We pitched the Vt. tent at North Danville, Vt., Thursday, July 2. Our meetings are progressing, and will continue two weeks, or longer. Pray for us. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.10
A. C. BOURDEAU.
North Danville, Vt., July 6, 1863.
Appointments
I WILL, providence permitting, meet with the church in Charlotte, Sabbath, July 25, at 10 1/2 o’clock, A. M. At Parkville, Sabbath, Aug. 1st, 10 1/2 o’clock, A. M. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.11
After the above, I design spending several weeks in Northern Michigan, as brethren may desire. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.12
JOHN BYINGTON.
THE next monthly meeting for Northern N. Y. will be held at Bucks Bridge, July 26 and 27. We solicit a general attendance. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.13
H. HILLIARD. Clerk.
PROVIDENCE permitting, I will be at Oneida Center, Mich., July 18 and 19. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.14
J. B. FRISBIE.
Business Department
Business Notes
Lorana Soule: Give your present address, and we will change your paper. This will be better than to subject us to the miserable task of reading over our list of 3000 names to find your address. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.15
J. F. Carman: On the 10th inst. we received a letter from you, post-marked Charlotte, July 9, 1863, dated Feb. 19, 1863, containing $12,03. this is doubtless the missing letter which we concluded was lost when you were at the Conference. Where it has been for the past four months and twenty days, you or the Charlotte post-master may be able to figure out. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.16
A letter from Dr. H. S. Lay, containing a remittance, met with a similar delay. We have lost comparatively nothing through the post-office during the Lincoln administration; but some remittances have been a tedious while getting around. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.17
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 acknowledged, immediate notice of the omission should then be given. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.18
O. Jones 1,13,xxiii,13. Mrs. J. Smith 1,00,xxiii,1. Mrs. J. Smith for A. G. Smith 0,50,xxiii,1, for Mrs. G. Iber 0,25,xxii,14. C. L. Palmer for Mrs. C. Doty 1,00,xxiv,1. J. H. Clark 1,00,xxii,1. A. H. Lewis 1,00,xxii,14. J. Welton 1,00,xx,12. Mrs. Brackett for Amy Geer 0,50,xxiii,7. C. E. Hahn 1,00,xxiii,1. C. W. Stanley for C. Wright $3, in full of acct. Ira Tubbs for R. Townley and H. Townley, each 1,00,xxiv,1. A. Rankin 2,00,xxiv,7. T. Paton 2,00,xxiv,7. Mrs. H. Beecher 2,00,xxiv,5. G. W. States 0,50,xxiii,1. R. M. Pierce 1,00,xxv,1. S. Myers for H. R. Clark 0,50,xxiii,2. Ch. at Knoxville, Iowa, for A. Hanks, Ruth Hamilton, and Ann Long, each 1,00,xxiv,2. Emily Slocum 1,00,xxiii,1. B. F. Summerbell 1,00,xxiv,1. M. B. Odell 1,00,xxiv,1. Margaret Farmer 4,00,xxiii,1. C. L. Davis 2,00,xxiv,1. H. C. Whitney 2,00,xxv,6. M. A. Tilden 2,13,xxi,1. W. H. Van Horn 1,00,xxiv,1. L. Sheldon 3,50,xxiii,1. Mary Veasy 2,00,xxiv,1. J. M. Hall 1,00,xxv,1. D. Chase 1,00,xxiii,14. W. Livingston 2,00,xxiv,1. J. L. Prescott 2,00,xxii,19. G. A. Poling 1,00,xxiii,1. Delia Tripp 65c on acct. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.19
For Shares in Publishing Association
From a friend $10. S. Myers $10. J. H. Sparks $10. Mary Nicola $10. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.20
Donations to Publishing Association
Ch. at Johnson and Eden, Vt. $5. Ch. at Hundred Mile Grove, Wis., $10. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.21
Cash Received on Account
H. C. Whitney $28. T. M. Steward $20. L. Sheldon $1. Jos. Clarke $3,50. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.22
General Conference Missionary Fund
Mary Crous 50c. Ch. at Hundred Mile Grove, Wis. $10. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.23
Books Sent By Mail
R. T. Church 34c. C. E. Clark $1,20. H. C. Blanchard $5,94. M. Edson 67c. W. E. Caviness 67c. Mrs. E. M. Prentiss 90c. J. Hardy 90c. R. M. Pierce 25c. A. M. Smith $1,20. M. G. Kellogg $10,80. W. McPheter $4. S. Myers 80c. M. A. Tilden 12c. I. N. Cahoon 25c. M. Veasy 10c. O. B. Jones 12c. P. Curry 10c. W. Livingston 50c. C. W. Gould 15c. G. A. Poling 50c. Delia Tripp 50c. J. P. Rathbun 75c. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.24
Books Sent By Express
Mary E. Smith, Meridith Village, N. H. $5. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.25
Michigan Conference Fund
Received from Churches. Ch. at Hillsdale, $19. Battle Creek $30. St. Charles $10. Charlotte $6. Newton $2. Otsego $23. Milford $1,25. Caledonia $6. East Thetford $4. Lowell $11. Monterey $13,07. Colon $10. West Windsor $12. Orange $11. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.26
Received from Individuals. E. M. L. Cory $1. E. Van Deusen $4. Brn. at Lake Station, Ind. $4,83. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.27
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 July 14, 1863, page 56.28
| Price. cts. | Postage. cts. | |
| History of the Sabbath, (in paper covers), | 40 | 10 |
| The Three Angels of Revelation 14:6-12, particularly the Third Angel’s Message, 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 |
| Modern 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, or the Christian Doctrine of Future Punishment, as taught in the epistles of Paul, | 15 | 4 |
| Review of Seymour. His Fifty Questions Answered, | 10 | 3 |
| Prophecy of Daniel: The Four Universal Kingdoms, the Sanctuary and Twenty-three Hundred Days, | 10 | 3 |
| The Saints’ Inheritance. The Immortal Kingdom located on the New Earth, | 10 | 3 |
| Signs of the Times, showing that the Second Coming of Christ is at the door, | 10 | 3 |
| Law of God. The testimony of both Testaments, showing its origin and perpetuity, | 10 | 3 |
| Vindication of the true Sabbath, by J. W. Morton, late Missionary to Hayti, | 10 | 3 |
| Review of Springer on the Sabbath, Law of God, and first day of the week, | 10 | 3 |
| Facts for the Times. Extracts from the writings of eminent authors, Ancient and Modern, | 10 | 3 |
| Miscellany. Seven Tracts in one book on the Second Advent and the Sabbath, | 10 | 3 |
| Christian Baptism. Its Nature, Subjects and Design, | 10 | 3 |
| The Seven Trumpets. The Sounding of the Seven Trumpets of Revelation 8 and 9, | 10 | 2 |
| The Fate of the Transgressor, or a short argument on the First and Second Deaths, | 5 | 2 |
| Matthew 24. A Brief Exposition of the Chapter, | 5 | 2 |
| 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 |
| The Two Laws and Two Covenants, | 5 | 1 |
| An Appeal for the restoration of the Bible Sabbath in an address to the Baptists, | 5 | 1 |
| Review of Crozier on the Institution, Design, and Abolition of the Seventh-day Sabbath, | 5 | 1 |
| Review of Fillio. A reply to a series of discourses delivered by him in Battle Creek on the Sabbath question, | 5 | 1 |
| Brown’s Experience in relation to entire consecration and the Second Advent, | 5 | 1 |
| Report of General Conference held in Battle Creek, June 1859, Address on Systematic | ||
| Benevolence, etc., | 5 | 1 |
| Sabbath Poem. A Word for the Sabbath, or False Theories Exposed, | 5 | 1 |
| Illustrated Review. A Double Number of the REVIEW AND HERALD Illustrated, | 5 | 1 |
| Nature and Obligation of the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment-Apostasy and perils of the last days, | 5 | 1 |
| The same in German, | 5 | 1 |
| ” ” ” Holland, | 5 | 1 |
| French. A Pamphlet on the Sabbath, | 5 | 1 |
| ” ” ” Daniel 2 and 7, | 5 | 1 |
ONE CENT TRACTS. Who Changed the Sabbath?—Unity of the Church-Spiritual Gifts-Law of God, by Wesley-Appeal to men of reason on Immortality-Much in Little-Truth-Death and Burial-Preach the Word-Personality of God-The Seven Seals-The Two Laws. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.29
TWO CENT TRACTS. Dobney on the Law-Infidelity and Spiritualism-Mark of the Beast-War and the Sealing-The Institution of the Sabbath. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.30
Bound Books
The figures set to the following Bound Books include both the price of the Book and the postage, ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.31
| The Hymn Book, 464, pages, and 122 pieces of music, | 80 “ |
| ” ” ” with Sabbath Lute, | $1,00 “ |
| ” ” ” Calf Binding, | 1,00 “ |
| ” ” ” ” ” with Lute, | 1,20 “ |
| History of the Sabbath, in one volume, bound Part I, Bible History Part II, Secular History, | 80 “ |
| Spiritual Gifts Vol. I, or the Great Controversy between Christ and his angels, and Satan and his angels, | 50 “ |
| Spiritual Gifts Vol. II. Experience, Views and Incidents in connection with the Third Message, | 50 “ |
| Scripture Doctrine of Future Punishment, By H. H. Dobney, Baptist Minister of England, | 75 “ |
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 time she embraced the third message till she fell asleep in Jesus. Price 25 cents. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.32
The Chart. A Pictorial Illustration of the Visions of Daniel and John 20 by 25 inches. Price 15 cents. On rollers, post-paid, 75 cts. ARSH July 14, 1863, page 56.33