Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 21
February 10, 1863
RH VOL. XXI. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, - NO. 11
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. XXI. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1863. - NO. 11.
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 February 10, 1863, page 81.1
“Stand Up for Jesus.”
STAND up for Jesus, firm, undaunted,
Show your colors, dare be true.
Never take his name upon you,
While you shrink his will to do.
Ne’er like Peter, weak and falt’ring,
Spurn your Lord when danger’s nigh;
But, though skies be fair or clouded,
Boldly raise your voice on high.
ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.2
Though we would, we cannot mock him:
All his people will be tried.
Faithful here, who now confess him,
Shall at length with him abide.
Then before his gracious Father,
Countless angels bright and fair,
He will own us as his children,
Bid us in his glory share.
ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.3
See the prize! See angels beckoning!
Swells my soul with rapture so,
And my quickening pulses, bounding,
Make me long e’en now to go.
But I wait, and here a witness
Gladly own my Saviour’s name.
Help me, Lord, lest I, unfaithful,
Clothe thy precious cause with shame.
J. A. DAYTON.
ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.4
The Bible no Refuge for Slavery. (Continued.) ARGUMENT THIRD
Slavery conflicts with those social relations and duties which not only spring from our social nature, but which God has also enjoined by positive enactment. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.5
MAN is a social being, and has received a social nature from the hand which formed him; which seeks intercourse, sympathy, and reciprocal enjoyments from kindred spirits. The various relations into which we are thrown by the current of our social nature, have been provided for by God in his word, where he has prescribed the circumstances, conditions and obligations of our social and domestic relations, and has thrown around them the protection of his law. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.6
We will commence with the institution of marriage. This of course was provided for by the hand of God when he originally created man, and is the first institution in the chain of social relations; first in the order of nature, and first in the order of the positive institutions of the divine law. Matthew 19:4-6. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.7
“Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh? what therefore God hath joined together let no man put asunder.” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.8
Hebrews 13. “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.9
On these texts it may be remarked, that God obviously designed marriage for all nations, races and classes of men. To say that God does not require marriage on the part of the African race, would be to say that he designs the extinction of the race, for all such perpetuation of the race out of wedlock is condemned and denounced by God himself. We are now prepared to show wherein slavery conflicts with the institution, and rights and obligations of marriage. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.10
1. The right of property in man is inconsistent with the rights of the parties who lawfully enter into the marriage relation. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.11
The husband has a monopoly of right in his wife. A wife belongs to her husband, in a sense which renders it impossible that she should be the property of another at the same time; if she is the wife of one, she cannot be the property of another; if she is the property of one she cannot be the wife of another. It is impossible from the nature of the two things that a woman should hold out the attributes of a wife to one man, and the attributes of property to another, at the same time. The husband has an exclusive right in his wife, and the owner has an exclusive right in his property; hence, a woman cannot sustain the relation of a wife to one man, and the relation of property to another. The husband has not only an exclusive claim to the affections of her heart, but also to her time and attention; what power she possesses to promote the happiness of another belongs to him, and she has, as a wife, no right to seek the happiness of others beyond what is consistent with his happiness; her happiness should be his and his should be hers; they are partners in both joy and sorrow; “they are no more twain but one flesh.” The right of property includes the right of controlling, using, and disposing of such property for the promotion of the happiness of the owner; hence, two persons cannot possess, the one the rights of a husband and the other the rights of property in the same woman at the same time. In the same manner the rights of the wife forever forbid the right of property in the husband. The man is not alone in securing rights to himself when he enters the marriage relation; corresponding to his rights are the rights of the wife; if they are not in every respect the same, they are nevertheless equal in number and importance. The husband is bound no less to devote himself for the promotion of the happiness of the wife than she is to promote his happiness. This right of the wife to the love, the protection, the support, and entire devotedness of the husband to promote her happiness must forever preclude the right of property to such husband vesting itself in the hands of another. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.12
2. The right of property in man is inconsistent with the obligations resting upon the parties to the marriage relations. Rights and obligations are always reciprocal; hence, in treating of the rights of the parties, the corresponding obligations have been implied, but we wish to bring them out a little more distinctly. The right of the husband to the due regard and proper submission of the wife, involves an obligation on her part to render these things; the right of the wife to the love and protection of the husband, involves an obligation on his part to love and protect her. We will now present a few plain declarations of scripture on this subject, and see how effectually they overthrow the assumed right of property in man. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.13
1 Corinthians 7:2. “Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.14
The system of property in man, making them personal chattels, to be bought and sold in the market, cannot be reconciled with the above text. To let every man have his own wife, and every woman her own husband, in the apostle’s sense, would overthrow the whole system of slavery. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.15
Ephesians 5:21. “Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.16
23. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Saviour of the body.” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.17
Can wives who are the personal chattels of men not their husbands, comply with the above text? When the husband is sent to one market and the wife to another, can the wife obey the scriptures? Can the wife who is in the power, the absolute power of a man who is not her husband, and who can enforce his will in all things without let or hindrance by flattery, bribes, strength, prisons, whips and tortures; can such a wife submit herself to her husband as unto the Lord? and can a husband, who is under the same absolute control of another, be the head of such a wife, as Christ is the head of the church? Answer, common sense! ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.18
1 Corinthians 7:10. “And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband?” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.19
Is it consistent with this text for one man to sell another man’s wife, or to buy another man’s wife, and drive her off in chains, to see her husband no more? It cannot be. If the wife has not a right to depart, then no other person can have a right to force her to depart. No person can have a right to compel another to do what such person has not a right to do without being compelled. A wife has no power to depart from her husband, and therefore no person can have a right to sell her, to buy and drive her away fro her husband; and hence the right of property in husbands and wives cannot exist. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.20
Ephesians 5:28. “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.21
29. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church?” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.22
1 Peter 3:7. “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.23
How can a man, who may be sold and driven away at any moment, be under obligation to dwell with his wife? We will not multiply quotations or remarks; enough has been said to show that slavery and the marriage institution cannot exist together. Slavery takes away the power of the wife to preserve her own purity, and this is true of married and unmarried females. The female that is made an article of property, cannot call her purity her own; it may be taken from her at the pleasure of her owner. He may violate her at pleasure, and she has neither the right or the power to resist. He may tie her up with cords; he may confine her in any way he pleases; he may apply the lash to her cringing back to any extent he pleases; and all this he may do before the face of the man she may call her husband, and no one bond or free, has any right to interfere; and in so doing he violates no law but the law of God, with which slavery has nothing to do more than to set it at nought. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 81.24
All this follows of necessity, from the admission of the right of property in human beings. Note, the argument is not that all slaveholders actually commit these wrongs on the marriage institution and on female purity, but the argument is that the system of slavery gives every slaveholder the power to do it at pleasure, and with perfect impunity; and that this is inseparable from the system itself; and that the system which lays the heaven-ordained institution of marriage, and heaven-protected female virtue in the dust, helpless at the feet of the spoiler, for the riot and triumph of the baser passions of human nature, cannot be right, but must be wrong now and forever. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.1
To settle the question, we say that matrimony exists among slaves or it does not. - The one or the other of these positions must be true. Which is true we care not, so far as this argument is concerned. 1. If matrimony does exist in moral right among slaves, the parties are joined together by God, and Christ says, “what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” But slavery does sunder them, and the right of property includes the right of sundering them. If therefore slaves are married in moral right, slavery is guilty of parting those whom God had joined together, and drags after it the crime of adultery. The slave system separates the parties and joins them in other connections, so that in a few years a man may have several wives, and the same woman several husbands, and all living at the same time. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.2
2. If slaves are not married in moral right, as they are not and cannot be in the eyes of the civil law, slavery stands charged with breaking up this heaven-appointed institution, and of involving the slave population in the crime of general whoredom. There is so far as we can see, no way to escape these conclusions; if the advocate of slavery allows that slaves are brought within the marriage institution, he assumes that the power to separate those whom God hath joined together can rightfully exist; a thing, in our view, impossible. If he admits that slaves are not brought within the marriage institution, he assumes the rightfulness of general sexual intercourse without the bans of matrimony. Such is slavery, consisting in the assumed right of property in human beings, wherever it is found, in the church or out of the church. We speak as to wise men; judge of what we say. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.3
ARGUMENT FOURTH
Slavery further conflicts with those social relations and duties which not only spring from our social nature, but which God has also enjoined by positive enactment by subverting the rights and obligations which grow out of relations subsisting between parents and children. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.4
That there are rights and obligations connected with this relation, around which God has thrown the protection of his law, armed with the arrows of his lightnings, and the voice of his thunders, cannot be denied; and that slavery disregards them and tramples them under foot, if not admitted shall be proved. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.5
When God descended upon Mount Sinai and gave his law amid the dreadful lightnings that blazed and glared, and shot their fiery arrows athwart the smoke and gloom that mantled the Eternal upon the mount, and amid the thunders that bellowed terrors and poured the voice of condemnation in the ear of sin; he then wrote with his own finger upon a table of stone, as the fifth of the ten commandments, the following words: “Honor thy father and mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.6
The duty of the child to honor his father and mother, clearly implies the obligation of the parents so to teach and so to behave toward the child, as is calculated to inspire the feelings and write upon the heart of the child what God wrote in the book of his law. This sentiment is clearly brought out in the comment of St. Paul. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.7
Ephesians 6:1-4. “Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor thy father and mother which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye, fathers provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.8
Here we have the obligation growing out of the relation that subsists between parents and children, as defined by the Spirit of inspiration; and that slavery necessarily wars upon, and entirely subverts these obligations, is all that remains to be proved, and this is so plain and obvious that it is like proving what is self-evident. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.9
1. Can parents, who are subject to all the liabilities of property, and whose children are also property in the same full sense, bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? This cannot be pretended. Sons are torn away from the embrace of their father, and removed forever from the sight of his eye; daughters are borne in chains from the throbbing, heaving bosoms and bleeding hearts of their mothers. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.10
“Where no mother’s ear can hear them,
Where no mother’s eye can see them.”
ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.11
Slavery which assumes the right of property in man, in fathers and mothers, and mothers and children, takes from the parents all right of control over their children, and hence, it violates the divine law, for that commands them to control them for good. God says to parents, “bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;” but slavery says, No, you cannot have the right of bringing them up, or if you do, you must bring them up for the market, bring them up for me, that I may sacrifice your sons upon the altar of my avarice, and your daughters upon the altar of my lust. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.12
Can children who are “personal chattels to all intents and purposes and constructions whatsoever,” honor their fathers and mothers? Can they “obey their parents in the Lord?” Most certainly not. The son looks not, cannot look to his father, if father he knows, for authority and direction during the years of his minority; nor can he honor, comfort, and support that father in his declining years, after the son has come to the riper years of manhood. The daughter cannot obey her own mother in childhood and youth, much less can she honor and cherish her in riper years; she must see her mother, if she be allowed to see her at all, languish, faint and die under the effects of toil, hunger and the lash, without dropping a word of consolation in her ear, or extending a daughter’s hand to her relief - all this is true of the daughter, concerning her who in anguish gave her being, and sheltered her in her bosom during the cloudy morning of her existence, and nourished her upon the milk of toil and weariness until she was strong enough to endure life’s heavier storms. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.13
That all this is wicked, it would be an insult to common sense to attempt to prove. It directly violates and sets aside as plain a command as there is in the book of God, and if this is not sin, the ten commandments may all be violated without sin. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.14
Should it be said in reply to this, that under the circumstances, the parents are released from the obligation to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and children are released from the obligation to obey their parents in the Lord, as God’s law does not require impossibilities; we respond, that God’s law can never be annihilated or nullified in its claims. It is and must forever be, binding in some form; and if the above circumstances exempt parents and children from the obligation to obey God’s law, or rather from the penalty of the law, for it is not obeyed, the guilt rests upon those who are the authors of such circumstances. If a man who is stronger than we, put fetters upon us so that we cannot do what God has commanded us to do, God will not it is true, hold us responsible; but he will hold that man responsible who puts the fetters upon us for the non-performance of all that duty, of which he has been the cause. When the slaveholder steps in between God and the slave, and between parents and children, to prevent the discharge of the duties which God commands them as parents and children to discharge toward each other, he takes the place of both parent and child, and assumes before God the responsibility of the non-performance of the duty of both, for which God will hold him responsible. This argument might be greatly extended, and the terrible consequences to society, resulting from a dissolution of all social relations and ties, might be dwelt upon, but it is not necessary. The simple fact that it conflicts with the specific commands of God secures all that is to be gained by the argument. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.15
ARGUMENT FIFTH
The Bible condemns slavery under the name of man-stealing. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.16
It would be a waste of time to attempt to prove that man-stealing is a crime. It is universally admitted that all stealing is wrong, and it follows that man-stealing is the most sinful of all theft. It cannot be maintained that to steal the horse under the rider would be a sin, while to steal the rider off the horse would be a justifiable act. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.17
That man-stealing is condemned in the Bible will not be denied. Exodus 21:16. “He that stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.” St. Paul tells us, 1 Timothy 1:10, that the law of God “is made for men-stealers.” The only question about which there can be any dispute is this; is American slavery, as it now exists, man-stealing? ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.18
I. American slavery had its origin in man-stealing. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.19
1. The facts, as generally understood, are such as to stamp the whole business of the foreign slave-trade with the odious name of man-stealing. No matter who was engaged in it, saint or devil, it was nevertheless man-stealing. The business commenced by stealing such persons as they could catch along the coast, and force away from country, home and friends, to live, suffer and die in bondage among strangers. When the increasing market could not be supplied in this way, other means were resorted to. The kidnappers would land for the purposes of trade, and while trading, would pour out to their unsuspecting customers the intoxicating drink, who, not being acquainted with the power of ardent spirit, would soon become helpless, and then while drunk the pale-faced demons would secure them. When they awoke from their drunkenness, they found themselves, not like Noah under the protection of affectionate sons, but in chains and in the hell of a slave ship. But at last, to supply the increasing demand, war was resorted to, which was no less man-stealing. The wars, it should be understood, were commenced for the express purpose of obtaining slaves, hence, it was stealing on a larger scale. If two men go and take one, it is stealing; if ten go and take five, it is stealing; if one hundred go and take fifty, it is stealing; and if one thousand go and take five hundred, it is no less man-stealing. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.20
2. The law of our country deems it man-stealing. It is pronounced piracy, and punished by death by the laws of the United States. It is no more morally wrong now, than when it was tolerated: hence, it was always wrong. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.21
II. The present race or generation of slaves can be held by no better title or authority than that by which their fathers and mothers were held. They were originally stolen, and of course, there was no valid title to them: if, therefore, there is now a title to those bondmen and bond-women, it has been obtained or originated since their fathers and mothers were stolen. We demand at what period in the dark history of slavery, this supposed title to these human beings began to exist. As there was no title at first, they being stolen, it follows that there can be no title now, that they are stolen persons still, unless it can be shown when, under what circumstances, and upon what principles the title originated, and began to exist. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.22
By the law of slavery, the condition of the offspring follows the condition of the mother. Let us then suppose, which is the fact in the case, - some men-stealers, for whom the law of God was made, went to Africa, and stole a helpless female. Had he any right or title to her? Certainly not. The next step in this infamous business was, the man-thief sold this stolen female to a Southern planter. Had the planter any title to her? Certainly not; for he could have none only what he bought; and he could buy none only what the thief had to sell; and he had no title to sell, and therefore he could sell none; and therefore the planter could buy none of him; and therefore the planter could have no title. This is all just as certain as it is that one man cannot communicate to another what he has not got. As the thief had no title to his stolen victim, he could communicate no title to the man to whom he sold. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 82.23
The third step in the progress of slavery is, this enslaved female had offspring in her bonds. Had the planter, who held her without title, a title to her child as his property? Slavery itself does not pretend to any title to the children which is not founded upon a supposed title to the mother; hence, as there was no title to the mother, there can be none to the child. As the mother was a stolen person in his hands, so is the child a stolen person in his hands if he restrains it as his property. Slavery, therefore, is man-stealing and must remain man-stealing so long as it shall be continued. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.1
It can make no difference in moral principle, from what particular place we steal a human being, whether from Africa or in America. Now, it appears, from the boasted chart of the nation’s rights, that every child, born in this land, has an inalienable right to liberty, as much so as children now born in Africa or in any other country. Where, then is the difference in moral principle, whether we go to Africa and take a child, and bring it here for a slave, or take one born here? The child, born of the enslaved mother of South Carolina, has the same inalienable right to liberty, the gift of God, as the child born in Africa. Where is the justice? Where is the consistency? If the law of the nation, which declares that he who brings children from Africa to make slaves of them, shall be hanged as a pirate upon the high seas, be right, then he who takes children born in this land, and holds them as property and as slaves, ought to be hanged as a land pirate; for the one has the same inalienable right to liberty as the other. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.2
To invalidate these arguments, we must deny the truth of the Declaration of American Independence, we must disprove the unity of human nature, that “God has made of one blood all nations of men,” equal in natural rights; and we must falsify the universal conviction of mankind, which each feels, that he was born free, and has a right to himself. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.3
We will close this argument by saying that American slavery is essentially man-stealing; that the Bible condemns man-stealing, and therefore the Bible condemns slavery. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.4
(To be continued.)
The Problem of Christian Civilization
THE following observation, quoted from the current Christian literature of the day, regarding our nation and the world, prior to the stirring events which, for nearly two years have been exciting the whole civilized world, lately fell under my notice: “To a casual observer there was nothing to indicate but what Christian civilization was going on, peacefully working out the great problem of Christianity.” Now let us ascertain what this assumed problem is, which seems to be so well understood and self-evident, that it needs no defining. Perhaps as concise and definite an answer as we may find is this: “To renovate this sinful world, or to lift it from its present sinful condition, to one of millennial purity, by the efficiency of the church, representing the gospel;” or, as some will say, when too closely questioned, “representing Christ; or, that the gospel is Christ!” Though this position has reared its Babel-front against the simplicities of truth as revealed in the Bible, we will seek to investigate it. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.5
Not long since I took up a religious magazine, and the first article I read contained the following: “Are these scenes of terror and anguish anything but the clouds of dust which indicate the near approach of the great King. Are we not living between the pouring out of the sixth and seventh vials, when the unclean spirits go forth to hasten the last conflict of the world? And if the conflict be so dreadful here at the beginning, what will it be in its progress among the nations? But alas! multitudes see not the hand of God in these passing events; nor do they recognize his awful judgments. God is threshing our nation, and sifting it as wheat. Will it stand the dreadful ordeal? Will our institutions outlive the shock? One consolation remains: we have a kingdom which cannot be moved - a kingdom which will be promoted even by the wrath of man - the agitations of earth, and God, are doing the work in the best possible manner now.” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.6
Had what I have quoted stood alone, I should have regarded it as correct (excepting the last clause): but it glided so naturally into that presumptive arrogance of man, which robs Christ of his rightful prerogative and glory, that I copied it on the spot, for its inappropriateness; for in close proximity I found such sentiments as these: “A large proportion of all civilized nations are restrained from fraud and theft, and other gross offences, not by the fear of God, or by moral principles, but by interest, and love of reputation.” There is such glaring incongruity between these two quotations that one or the other contains the strongest burlesque. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.7
It is much easier to assert, than to prove by the Bible, that this great problem of the world’s renovation is being wrought out in the God-ordained manner, i.e., by the power of truth upon the mind. Is it not high time that something be done to rouse mankind from their lethargic expectation of a good time coming? if perchance their indifference may give place to interest, and unbelief yield to the truth. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.8
But are there no means by which we may arrive at a knowledge how an opinion, which the Bible nowhere authorizes, comes to be so prevalent? For forty days after his resurrection, Jesus taught concerning his kingdom, Acts 1:3; and we cannot doubt but the early Christians understood it correctly. But it was so far away in the dim future that, like ourselves, they failed to realize it; and therefore mankind has gradually lost its individuality, and substituted in its place the prevailing expectation of the world’s conversion as “the faith once delivered to the saints.” And is it because this vague idea is so very prevalent that so few stop to inquire upon what authority the expectation is based? If so, how wise to ascertain if aught in Jesus’ ascending commission justifies it. Certainly not his words in Luke 24:47; neither as recorded in Mark 16:15, 16, nor yet in Matthew 24:14. He assured them, “Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world;” and were the consummation of the gospel mission to be that the nations should bow to his allegiance, surely he would never have withheld this encouragement from them, or left it to be begotten of the fond hopes of man, ages afterward. But how different from this the whole tenor of his teaching is, let such scriptures show as Matthew 24:30, 36-44; Luke 17:27-37; 21:26-35; 2 Timothy 3:1-6; 4:3; Revelation 1:7; 6:15-17. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.9
Are any inclined to doubt if there be any difference between the gospel’s being preached in every nation for a witness, and the prevalent idea of all nations’ recognizing Jesus as their rightful Sovereign, let such reflect how far short of exemplifying this, comes our own once boasted Christian country! Or do any think that the conversion of the world has been by Christians generally hitherto regarded as the ultimate result of the spread of the gospel among the nations of the earth? This may be easily ascertained by looking back at the opinions of those who have been leaders in theology in their respective ages. And in doing this we find no further back than two hundred years, the originator of this theory of the world’s conversion confessing that his views are a new doctrine. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.10
In an article (No. 9) by Dr. Edward Beecher, published in the Independent, he says: “The downfall of this rebellion (man’s revolt from the government of God) the punishment of its leaders and incorrigible supporters, and the close of this dispensation, coincide. Then too occurs the resurrection of the dead, and the perfection, inauguration, and endless reign of the redeemed with Christ in his kingdom and on his throne. 1 Corinthians 15:24-28; Revelation 3:21; 21:1-8; Matthew 25:31-36.” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.11
“The millennial reign of Christ is to be preceded by an unparalleled and universal conflict with these powers, and their utter defeat, and the binding and confinement of their leader, from which ever after he shall not be released except for a little season, that he may make the last disclosure of himself before his final destruction. Revelation 16, 20. The coming on of this battle shall be a time of unparalleled delusion among the nations, in order that Satan may rally his hosts to the war. Revelation 16:13-17. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.12
“In these facts, authenticated by the direct testimony of God, is contained a true, profound, and thorough philosophy of the history of this world.” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.13
Now I fail to see in the above, anything like the orthodox, (so called) millennarian views of the present day and am therefore led to conclude, that he with Luther, Wesley and many other erudite theologians of the past with very many of the present day, award to Christ himself, the ushering in of the new order of things, promised in the Bible. And when in a succeeding article he says, “The acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, always go together,” it sounds so like Luther’s words, “God will come to judgment, and amend all things in this world,” that my heart goes out joyfully, that this scripture theory has such able champions. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.14
This lulling, soothing belief in “the good time coming” of which we hear so much, and than which nothing could better suit Satan’s purposes, quiets more souls into his power than the rankest infidelity! I speak deliberately. Of infidelity most men are afraid. But this steals over its victim so unconsciously that he realizes not, that he is sleeping on enchanted ground. And this very fact is the strongest confirmation of my position, and also of the Bible itself; for are we not forewarned of “strong delusions?” of those who will “not endure sound doctrine?” And need we marvel here? Our Saviour has plainly told us, that in the days in which the Son of Man shall be revealed,” it will be as in the days of Noah, and of Lot. How was it then? Noah preached righteousness for one hundred and twenty years, exemplifying his faith by preparing the ark, and yet only the eight persons composing his own family entered in and were saved. So too, only the night before God rained fire and brimstone upon the doomed cities, Lot in his anxiety for his sons-in-law, left his angel guests and went out to entreat and warn them. But they, as representatives of mankind, were so occupied with their cares of business or of pleasure, that “he seemed to them as one that mocked;” and so they heeded not, believed not, till the destruction burst upon them. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.15
So it has been in every age, “the carnal heart is enmity against God,” and so will it ever be till Christ shall dash the nations in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Then will those who have all along regarded the words of Jeremiah, “Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, or from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is salvation,” triumphantly exclaim, “Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us.” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.16
And whilst in waiting, we survey the turmoils and agitations of the present, for surely none can look upon passing events, duly estimating their foreshadowings, without feelings of unspeakable awe and solicitude, let us serenely, calmly stand; for this consolation remains that He whose word has said, “the triumphing of the wicked is short,” holds the reins of universal dominion, and when earth is darkest, still around his throne “shines one eternal day.” Not one of his purposes shall fail of accomplishment. And may we not consistently pray, that He will hasten on those scenes, terrific though they be, which are to usher in his glorious reign? ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.17
M. W. H.
Malone, Dec. 1862.
Bro. E. G. Witter writes from Wellsville, N. Y.: It is with feelings of gratitude to our heavenly Father that I sit down to inform the readers of the Review that I am trying to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus; and when I think what a blessing it is to have the privilege of communicating with the dear saints through the Review, I feel to praise God for his goodness to the children of men. I hail with gratitude the weekly visits of the paper, and am trying to profit by its teaching. When I look into my own heart I see that I have much to overcome; but I mean to confess and forsake all my sins. I have often been aroused while reading the soul-stirring epistles which have been given us through the spirit of prophecy. We have had some trials here in Allegany Co., on account of bad influence; but, thank the Lord, by the help of his good Spirit and some of his faithful watchmen, they have nearly all vanished. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.18
Dear brethren and sisters, let us arise; for we are living in the perils of the last days, when we need on the whole armor to be able to stand. Let us not only seek, but strive, to be ready. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 83.19
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1863.
JAMES WHITE, EDITOR
Report of Meetings
SABBATH, Jan. 24th, we met with the church at Burlington, spoke twice, and baptized seven, among them Bro. J. H. Waggoner’s two eldest children. Brethren came in from other places, and nearly filled the Methodist house. They need a place of worship, but are not able to build one large enough to hold the people on such occasions. We cannot advise our churches to build until they are able to build houses of sufficient size to hold the people on quarterly-meeting occasions. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.1
Sabbath and first-day, Jan. 31st and Feb. 1st, we were with the church at Hillsdale. We spoke four times with some freedom. Several not in the Sabbath heard with deep interest. The brethren enjoyed a good communion season on the Sabbath. This church, as well as the church at Burlington, has suffered under influences which they are now rising above. They are weak for want of an experience in the things of God for themselves. There has been too much lording it over God’s heritage, which has not been favorable to the healthy growth of that degree of independent faith necessary to the formation of true Christian character. Christians should not be self-willed bigots, nor trembling slaves; but God’s humble, teachable free-men. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.2
Let ministers and people reason together. Let the minister gently lead the flock, and the flock follow, so far as he follows Christ, the minister having due respect for the judgment of the flock, and they honoring the position in which Christ has placed him, for Christ’s sake. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.3
In the evening of the 3rd, we met with a few of the torn flock at Marshall, and here we were more disgusted than ever with the course of those who would drive the flock with a whip. How different with the Master. Said he, “My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me.” Those who in Christ’s stead beseech men to be reconciled to God, will do best to lay down the whip, and, imbued with the Spirit of Christ, give the gospel call in melting strains of love and mercy. True, the minister is often under the necessity, as Paul says, to “reprove, rebuke, exhort;” but let him bear in mind that the same apostle in the same verse says, “with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:2. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.4
The appointments at Burlington, Hillsdale, and Marshall were Brn. Loughborough and Byington’s. By their kindness they fill ours in Northern Michigan, and give us theirs nearer home. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.5
Sabbath, Feb. 7, we met with the brethren at Convis. The school-house was well filled with attentive hearers. The recent labors of Bro. Frisbie in Convis have awakened a good interest, and several have commenced to keep the Sabbath of the Lord. We spoke twice on the Sabbath, and twice on first-day. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.6
In consequence of sickness in our family we did not leave home till Sabbath morning, and returned after two meetings. We did the same on first-day. We drove our team sixty miles, preached four times, and were up with our sick children a part of both nights, in the period of forty hours, and are this (Monday) morning at our table writing. Better wear than rust. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.7
Pure Air
THE proper ventilation of meeting houses is a subject in which all who love to be found in the courts of the Lord have a vital interest, as all are more or less affected by the atmosphere therein, according to the state of their health, and the texture of their physical organization. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.8
We are so constituted as to be greatly dependent on the quantity and quality of the air we breathe, for the amount of electricity we have in our system, and it is this subtle agent that we inhale that propels the life-current, the heart acting as the regulator. If impure air is taken into the system, it is deprived of that quantity of life-force which it demands by the laws of its own being, and which the Creator intended it should have when he breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.9
God has given us an atmosphere forty-five miles high, and even this could be exhausted in time, did it not contain within itself the means of its own purification, one of which is, that trees and plants live on carbonic-acid gas, which is exhaled from the lungs of men and animals, and by some mysterious process, only known in nature’s secret laboratory, is decomposed, the oxygen returning to the atmosphere. It is a matter of scientific experiment that a man exhales twenty-four cubic inches each minute, of this poisonous carbonic-acid gas, and inhales an equal quantity of the life-giving oxygen, thus rendering a very large quantity of air impure, and unfit to be breathed over again in one hour. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.10
Is it any wonder then, when a congregation is assembled on the Sabbath, without any thorough ventilating process, that the meeting is characterized by dullness, inattention, drowsiness, and a general feeling of stupor, with here and there a burning cheek, distressed palpitation of the heart, headaches, etc., etc. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.11
Is it any wonder that the free Spirit of the Lord does not circulate freely from heart to heart, believing as we do that whatever hurts the body affects the mind, as it only exists in an organized form? ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.12
Is it any wonder that ministers so often complain of ill-health, standing as they do, elevated above the congregation, and taking in at every respiration the poisonous exhalations that might escape if proper means were in use? God is not honored nor glorified by his people’s neglecting to observe the laws that regulate a healthy atmosphere. I would that some instrument, bearing the same relation to the purity of the air that the thermometer does to the heat, was in use, that nature’s proportion of twenty-one pounds of oxygen to seventy-nine of nitrogen could evenly be maintained through the entire meeting; thus insuring as pure air for the closing services as for the opening song of praise. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.13
“Throw open the window and fasten it there,
Fling the curtain aside, and the blind,
And give a free entrance to heaven’s pure air;
‘Tis the life and the health of mankind.
ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.14
“Are you fond of coughs, colds, dyspepsy, and rheums,
Of headaches, and fevers, and chills?
Of bitters, hot drops, and medicine fumes,
And bleeding, and blisters, and pills?
ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.15
“Then be sure when you sleep that all air is shut out;
Place, too, a warm brick at your feet,
Put a bandage of flannel your neck quite about,
And cover your head with a sheet.
ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.16
“But would you avoid all forms of disease,
Then haste to the fresh open air,
Where your cheek may kindly be fanned by the breeze;
‘Twill make you well, happy, and fair.
ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.17
“Then open the window, and fasten it there,
Fling the curtain aside and the blind,
And give free admission to heaven’s pure air;
‘Tis light, life, and joy to mankind.”
M. H. L.
ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.18
REMARKS. The above lines of poetry were probably written in summer, and will not seem extravagant when applied to the warmer seasons. The philosophy of health in most cases is greatly neglected. The place of worship, whether it be the meeting-house or school-house, should be warmed at so early an hour, that the heat of the stoves be not on the increase as the speaker arises to address the audience. But one man should be allowed to tend the fires, and he should understand his business. He should never suffer the room to get so heated as to make it necessary to lower the windows to cool the house. The windows may all be lowered one or two inches in a cold day, but never so low that speaker or people can feel a strong current of keen air blowing upon them. Never! ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.19
The most ignorant farmer who, perhaps, cannot read a word, acts like a philosopher when he drives his team to market in a cold winter’s day. If his team be warm, he seeks the best shelter, and covers his horses with blankets till they be cool and dry. Christians assembled for the worship of God sometimes act like idiots, or mad-men, in reference to their speaker and themselves. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.20
The fire is built about twenty minutes before the time for the speaker to take the stand, and when he is fairly under way, warming up in the heat of his discourse, the stove or stoves begin to pour out a dreadful heat. The sweat rolls down his face, his voice becomes husky, he calls for water. The windows are dropped from one to two feet, the icy breeze pours into the windows upon the speaker wet with sweat, and upon the smothered audience, and they all take a severe cold. The veriest ignorant Dutch farmer would consider it a crime to treat his horses with as little wisdom. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.21
It is true there are sudden changes in the atmosphere, and that we assemble sometimes in rooms where it is impossible in a cold day to have the house comfortable to all. Some are too warm, others too cold. But we would appeal to our brethren to avoid as far as possible those extremes which are wearing away the lives of our preachers, and endangering the health of the people. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.22
We usually sleep with two windows open at opposite sides of the room, summer and winter, and take a coldwater sponge-bath in the morning, hence a healthy atmosphere, not destroyed by heat, is most congenial to our feelings. But few men have as strong lungs as we have, notwithstanding they were once broken down and weak. But few women have the strength of lungs that Mrs. W. has, though she has been given over by physicians to die with consumption. Had we allowed ourselves to be smothered in close sleeping-rooms, and given up to every pain and ache of the lungs, and throat, and head, and kept up a perpetual dosing with this and that medicine, we might now be silent in death, or dragging out a miserable existence, of no benefit to any one. Air, water, and light, are God’s great remedies. If the people would learn to use these, doctors and their drugs would be in less demand. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.23
Essentials and Non-Essentials
THE leading argument, put forth in an effort against the light on the Sabbath, at Bronte, C. W., recently referred to in the Review, was that it was not essential to salvation whether we keep the Sabbath “according to the commandment” or not. Of course, the speaker did not express it in precisely this language; but the argument had no force nor meaning, if this was not the conclusion to which he designed to lead his hearers. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.24
My reply was, “Preach the word;” that word which was all given by inspiration, and is all “profitable,” and consequently has no non-essentials in it, and which thoroughly furnishes the man of God unto “all good works,” hence, those are not good works that are not in accordance with this word. All that is revealed is essential, the non-essentials are all left out. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.25
But supposing a portion of what God has commanded, is not essential, or, in other words, men may be saved without obedience, (which is absurd,) and supposing the author of the word had given us notice what those parts were which might be disobeyed with impunity, what man would be mean enough to want to enter the city of God, doing just as little as he could in the service of the Lord and be saved, and committing every transgression possible and escape damnation? What honest, whole-souled man would want to enter the kingdom knowing that it would be stocked with a race of such ungrateful niggardly cravens? For my part, I hope for better company, if ever I join the host of the redeemed. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.26
Only think of an embassador of Christ - a minister whose imperious duty it is to preach the word - standing up before a congregation and talking of some things not being essential to salvation, as his first, (if not his best) argument to evade the simple and plainly revealed truth of the fourth commandment. He did indeed adduce another argument, which perhaps he considered stronger still, namely, that it is utterly impossible to ascertain which the original seventh day of the week is, from the fact that the rulers of the Roman empire, in the dark ages of the Christian era, changed the reckoning of time; alluding to the introduction of the New Style. But before he got through, he asserted that the Christians had really kept the first day of the week, from the time of Christ’s resurrection to the present! ARSH February 10, 1863, page 84.27
But the reason why so many non-essentials in religion exist, is because we cannot understand the requirements of God alike. If we cannot understand them alike, of course we shall not practice alike, and who is to blame? Not the man that cannot understand, of course. How inconsistent then the exhortation of Paul! “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment.” To speak without irony, the stubborn will of man creates these impossibilities, and causes the demand for all these non-essentials. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.1
Next comes the demand for a liberal extension of Christian fellowship, just wide enough to cover all those in like case - not able to ascertain the will of God concerning their duty, and consequently practicing some, and neglecting others of these necessarily resulting non-essentials. One is as deep in the mud as the other, and there must be a spirit of toleration and charity toward all that have the form of godliness, at least to all those we are pleased to call evangelical and orthodox. But woe to those that would disturb this tranquil state of things by preaching the word and insisting that men should, to use the words of our friend in Canada, “come to the very letter.” R. F. COTTRELL. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.2
Meetings in Wisconsin
BRO. WHITE: I have just returned home from the north part of the State. I gave a number of lectures in Duran, as the result of which seven embraced the truth and the scattered Sabbath keepers were brought into church organization. We left a church of fourteen members; and others will soon join them. Some of our brethren live on the north side of the Chippewa river and could not attend our last meeting in consequence of the river being so high they could not cross. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.3
Two of the number that embraced the truth in Duran were Eld. Richard Reed and wife. Eld. Reed was among the first ministers of Vermont to embrace the first angel’s message. In connection with God’s messengers he gave that cry. He was also connected with the second message. He has never had any confidence in any new time, but has always believed the Lord was in the first message. When he heard I was coming into the place he made up his mind to oppose me on the Sabbath, because he thought there was not importance enough to it to demand a change. But when he heard on the subjects of the three messages and sanctuary it revived new hope in him in regard to the past. His opposition to the Sabbath was gone. He said the power and importance of the Sabbath grew out of its connection with prophecy. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.4
I visited Buffalo Co., where I found three Sabbath keepers: Bro. and sister Stiles and sister Mann formerly from Vermont. I gave three lectures at the house of Mr. Mann. He lives in Gilmanton in the Vermont settlement. I had a large number of old Vermonters to preach to. There was some interest manifested, but I was taken sick and could not follow it up. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.5
WM. S. INGRAHAM.
Monroe, Wis.
The Truth a Heresy
THE time has been when the church was tested by the truth; when the church received the truth. The great prime truths of the gospel are the first and second comings of Christ. To his first coming cling all the graces and blessings of pardon, the Holy Spirit and sanctification. To the second are attached our hope for final salvation; for deliverance from mortality to immortality; with all the glories of his heavenly kingdom. This glorious doctrine was joyfully received by the primitive church and continued to be a cardinal doctrine so long as she retained her purity. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.6
Gibbon says “The ancient and popular doctrine of the millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ. The assurance of such a millennium was carefully inculcated by a succession of fathers from Justin Martyr and Irenaeus who conversed with the immediate disciples of the apostles, down to Lactantius who was preceptor to the son of Constantine.” Hist. Rome, p.533-4. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.7
It was not long, however, before the true and Bible doctrine of Christ’s reign on earth was rejected as a poison heresy. Gibbon further says, “The doctrine of Christ’s reign upon earth was at first treated as a profound allegory, and was at length rejected as the absurd invention of heresy and fanaticism.” Id. p.535. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.8
This was in the days of Constantine when the former purity of the Church had been succeeded by numerous corruptions - when her primitive glory had departed. The enemy stepped in and imposed his fables and traditions upon her, and led her astray. And though many great and good men have since believed and taught the truth, the church, as such, has denounced and does yet denounce, the true doctrine of the millennium and second coming of Christ as heresy. Why is this the case? ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.9
1. We would observe that a belief of the popular doctrine of the immortality of the soul has done much toward overthrowing the belief of the truth. From this they believe in immediate rewards and punishments at death; thus setting the gospel aside which says, “Ye shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:14; “God knoweth how to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” 2 Peter 2:7; and superseding the necessity of the resurrection, coming of Christ and the judgment. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.10
The imaginary idea of an eternal home away beyond the bounds of time and space where righteous immortal souls dwell in perpetual bliss always singing, etc., has completely overthrown the Bible doctrine of a home in the new earth. The earth renewed, replenished, overspread with beauty, and blessed with rolling waves of righteousness which rise and flow from pole to pole, has no charms for them. They say that such a doctrine is sensual and earthy. Their natures rise against it. This, we opine, is for the same reason that good wholesome food is nauseating to the sick. - Not that the fault is in the food, but in the one who rejects it. So with these poor souls who are sin sick - chronic religious dyspeptics, whose appetites have feasted on error so long that truth is nauseating to them. They love to summons all their powers to hate it. - These are they who dream of golden days just ahead; who speak peace to their neighbors, while mischief is in their hearts; who say, My Lord delays his coming. They are in Egyptian darkness; and well may they believe that when Christ comes, he will come as a thief in the night, for it will be certain to be unto them according to their faith. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.11
But we rejoice that that event will not come upon all as a thief in the night. “But ye brethren,” says Paul, “are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day: we are not of the night nor of darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:5. The true Christian will therefore have knowledge of the great event and will be looking for it, and hence will not be in the dark when it comes. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.12
The Lord is soon coming. The great and dreadful day of the Lord is at hand; and a guilty world is ignorant of the awful destruction which is fast coming, while the slumbering church is yet folding her arms upon her breast and saying, “A little more sleep and a little more slumber.” Peace, peace, peace! “when there is no peace to the wicked saith my God.” O for some clarion voice from heaven to arouse the sleeping saints from their deadly slumbers! O for the loud voice of the third angel’s message to go forth and carry the news of the soon coming of Christ! Let the proud Pharisee cry, Heresy and delusion; but let the faithful servant cry, My Lord cometh. Get ready, get ready. May the Lord help us so to do. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.13
B. F. SNOOK.
Will our Children be Saved?
OUR hearts have been made glad by the news that comes from different parts, that tells of the youth becoming interested, and some of them obeying the truths of the third angel’s message. To every one whose heart is imbued with the spirit of the message, this will cause feelings of joy, and will call forth the earnest prayer that the work commenced will, by the blessing of God, spread until every place where the truth has a foothold shall feel its influence. And especially the parent who has children unsaved will feel a deep interest in the work. Many parents have no doubt asked the question while with anxious thoughts they have looked after the welfare of their children. Will the church here partake of the Spirit, and share in the general outpouring? Like causes will produce like effects. This is true in the material world, and is no less true in the spiritual. When God has had a special blessing to bestow upon his people, he has always required of them a preparation for that blessing; and he has never failed to bestow the blessing on those who obeyed him by making the required preparation. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.14
Here, then, is the answer to the foregoing question. If we, as a church, are in that state of readiness that God requires, we shall share in the blessing. These thoughts have rested with some weight upon my mind since reading Bro. White’s article in No. 6 of the present volume, headed, The Cause. Let me quote that part which has a bearing on the subject we are considering: “In every place where the message has been lived out by those who have professed it, and the testimonies which God in mercy has sent have been received, to the putting away of idols, we may now expect a precious ingathering of souls.” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.15
By this light, dear brethren and sisters, let us examine ourselves, and if we can respond affirmatively to the questions that the words above quoted will suggest to the thinking mind, we shall find ourselves occupying a position where we may with confidence expect that our labors for our children will be blessed of God to their conversion. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.16
In making this inquiry we shall notice a few of the most prominent characteristics that we should expect to see in one that professed faith in, and was living out, the teachings of the third angel’s message. A prominent feature in our faith is the second advent near. Do our plans, our engagements, our words, and our actions, all tend to carry conviction to the minds of our children that, we believe what we profess? If they do, our children will feel their force, and will be affected thereby; but if we by word or deed deny our faith in this particular, our efforts to impress them with this truth will be a failure. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.17
The third message draws a line of distinction between those who heed its warning and all the rest of the world: so much so, that it makes them a separate and peculiar people: separate from the world, its spirit, its pursuits, and its ambition, peculiar in their hopes, their aspirations, etc. Are we this separate and peculiar people? Or, in other words, is the message so wrought into our being that it may be said of us, that there is hardly an interest that we share in common with the rest of the world? ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.18
We profess to be commandment-keepers. A prominent feature that distinguishes us from the rest of the world is our observance of the fourth precept. Do we keep it according to the commandment? Do we from our hearts call the Sabbath a delight? Do we while yielding obedience to the fourth precept hold proper views of the binding obligation of the other nine? ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.19
These are a few of the questions that crowd upon the mind while viewing the responsibilities that rest upon parents, and the part that God designed they should act in bringing their children into covenant relations with himself. But this is not all. The great work of getting the truth before those who have ears to hear requires means; and to get the necessary means God’s people have according to the teaching of the Word adopted a system that draws equally upon all. Now are we heart and hand with the body in this movement? Do we give of our substance to carry the truth to others? If we do, God’s blessing is upon us, but if not, we have no more cause to expect the blessing we desire than would the Israelite who in the former dispensation withheld the required offering. The conditions and the blessing are plainly set forth in the word of God: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3:10. Let us heed these words, and cease robbing God by withholding that which he requires at our hands, that we may receive the promised blessing. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 85.20
Let us inquire further, for this matter is worthy of a careful search. Bro. White speaks of the testimonies’ being “received to the putting away of idols.” Upon this point I fear we shall find more that have been remiss than upon any other test that has been brought to bear upon us. Let us look into our hearts, and in the fear of God ask the question, Have we put away our idols? Here let us pause, and in our mind repeat the solemn inquiry, and then in view of the blessing we desire, and knowing that the eye of God is upon us, answer truly; and if we have not, let us seek forgiveness for our half-heartedness, and resolve that we will no longer be remiss in this matter. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.1
There is one more inquiry that claims our attention, which we must notice before we leave the subject. The duty of parents to their children is a subject that has been dwelt upon in the testimonies, and if God has spoken to us in reference to this matter, we certainly dare not refuse to listen. No one will doubt for a moment that the probabilities of our children’s becoming obedient to the truth is enhanced by being taught to reverence and obey their parents. Have we discharged this important duty that we as parents owe to our children, that they by learning to submit to our authority may more willingly submit to the government of heaven? There are but few who will not regret their unfaithfulness in this matter. But past unfaithfulness is no excuse for continuance therein. Let us awake to a sense of our duty, and awake to act, for the time is short in which we may work to make amends for the past. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.2
Let us quote from the testimony, and remember that it is God that speaks; it may stimulate us to greater faithfulness: “The curse of God will surely rest upon unfaithful parents. The false sympathy and blind love of parents causes them to excuse the faults of their children, and pass them by without correction, and their children are lost in consequence, and the blood of their souls will rest upon unfaithful parents.” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.3
He that would stand acquitted must be faithful in all things. Let us gird on the armor and enter into the conflict, and be prepared for the refreshing when it comes. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.4
H. L. DOTY.
Salem Center, Ind.
The Map
As we cast our eyes over the map of the earth’s surface, and with the light of revelation beaming full upon the mind, showing what this earth was in its Eden state, and what it is destined to be in the future, as compared with its present ruined condition, one is deeply impressed with varied reflections. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.5
Here are oceans, whose tides ebb and flow over three-quarters of the earth’s surface. Here are snow capped mountains and fertile plains, valleys clothed with verdure and beauty, and deserts of drouth and barrenness. Here are scenes of grandeur and beauty, mingled with desolation and ruin; zones of frozen snow and ice; volcanoes whose eruptions of liquid fire have buried cities in oblivion. Here are lakes and rivers, cataracts, maelstroms; disorder everywhere visible, even amid its fairest scenes. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.6
Of all its area, deducting its oceans, and desert mountains, and barren wastes, but a small fraction is fit for the abode of man; and poor human beings, for want of room in more congenial climes, are crowded into frozen zones and desert regions, where want, ignorance, and poverty, reduce them to the lowest scale of human development; or in densely populated districts, many laboring in the crowded factory, or damp mines, become so deformed and reduced as hardly to claim the title of humanity. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.7
As we still pursue the subject, we find the children of Adam divided by varieties of languages and dialects; varieties in religion; diverse in color; diverse forms of government; so different as to cause deadly feuds and animosities, prejudices, wars, and tumults. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.8
As we glance our eyes over the map of Asia, our minds are carried back to the early history of our race. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.9
The ark rested, having performed its work, upon mount Ararat. The tower of Babel was commenced and abandoned upon the plains of Shinar, and lo! what a variety of languages! Here too are the ruins of Babylon, once queen of the nations, the head of gold of which Nebuchadnezzar dreamed. Here the people of God groaned in a captivity of seventy years. Here Daniel studied, labored, prophesied, prayed. Here Cyrus, as general under Darius, opened the two-leaved gates, Isaiah 45:1, and established the second universal kingdom, the breast and arms of silver. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.10
Jerusalem has been the theater of sublime events, as the metropolis of God’s ancient people, in which were developed the characters most beloved, and most detested. Here David and Solomon fostered the pure worship of Jehovah. Here too Zacharias the prophet was slain in a popular tumult. Here Simeon and Anna waited for the Advent of Christ, while Herod thirsted for the blood of his fancied rival. Here Jesus offered his life a ransom for lost man. Here the then popular church cried, “Crucify him!” Here the pentecostal shower fitted up the church for its period of tribulation. Here the ecclesiastical authorities put to a disgraceful death the devout and zealous Stephen; and here Paul took early lessons of Gamaliel. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.11
Passing over into Macedonia, we find the birth-place of Alexander, whose military skill and power overturned the second kingdom, and established the third universal kingdom (of “brass”), the Grecian supremacy. And farther west, we find Rome, mighty and powerful, in due time waxing strong, undermining the Grecian influence, and finally establishing itself as the fourth universal kingdom. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.12
Rome, renowned in history as the birth-place of warriors, the iron of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, finally mixed with the clay, divided, weakened by intestine commotion, the prey successively of Alaric, Genseric, and Attila, plundered, burned, finally as the scarlet-colored beast, served to sustain the woman who was drunken with the blood of the saints. See Revelation 17. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.13
Not a province of Europe but is a witness to the purity of the religion of Jesus, and the ire of the dragon. Witnesses have everywhere sealed with their blood their faith in Jesus; and the blood thus shed has but intoxicated the power which has set itself up as the vicegerent of God upon earth. Spain has been famous for its inquisitions, France for its blood-red massacres and wholesale butcheries of the people; Germany for its councils of darkness. England has had its share in the worship of the great harlot; its Thomas a Becket, and its Henry the VIII, and its bigoted Mary; and many a martyr has felt the flame. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.14
Roman-Catholic Poland and Hungary once could hunt the Christians for their mistress, the woman upon the scarlet-colored beast; but now they are no more. Scarcely a town or village in those countries but has witnessed the atrocities of religious persecution. Africa too has had her apostles and her martyrs; and long they struggled against the darkness of error; but the reign of Papal Rome has been so severe and so long, the poor church has yielded; and having drunk of the contents of the golden cup, all these countries, Asia, Africa, and Europe, can now boast of a Christianity, merely nominal, almost as heartless as the mother of harlots. Why? Because in the long reign of Papal terror, she (the woman), has worn out the saints. See Daniel 7:25. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.15
We turn westward to the land discovered by Columbus, and lo! a continent! Here we see the power brought to view in Revelation 13:11, coming up, peacefully, out of the earth; heretofore no wars or persecutions in establishing this government; but still and quietly it arose by emigration and labor, industry and internal improvement. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.16
As we study the part this government is yet to act, according to the word of prophecy, see Revelation 13:11-18; 14:9-11, and as we read of the far-reaching consequences, see Revelation 15:2; 16:2, we must believe that God has not left his scattered people without a witness as to what pertains to the last days of earth. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.17
As the map delineates the earth’s surface, so prophecy delineates future history, and past history throws light upon and explains the work of God. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.18
The map proves the earth in ruins, with only a small fraction habitable for man. Its internal confusion is equally as great. Witness the vain attempts of geologists to prove “that He who made it,” and gave its date to Moses, was mistaken in its age! Thus as new discoveries in geology are made, new theories are formed, and old ones exploded. Vain man would be wise. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.19
But the map of the earth will be revised. It must remain as now, until the earth and sea give up their dead. Soon the righteous will arise. Even though mountains rest upon their ashes, they will be removed. The righteous being delivered, the earth will be desolate, Isaiah 24, and so remain a thousand years. Revelation 20:1-8. Then the resurrection of the wicked, Revelation 20:5-15, and the final fires, 2 Peter 3, which consume the wicked, will purify the earth. Malachi 4:3; Revelation 21:1. Then caviling geologists will be dumb, and the earth be mapped anew. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.20
J. CLARKE.
Disheartened
IN our travels we meet many soldiers returning to their homes, who have been disabled on the battle field, or whose constitutions have been broken down by disease and medicine in the hospitals. Thus far, they all tell the same sad story. While officers are feasting on the choice things sent to the wounded and sick of the army, and reveling in drunkenness and debauchery, pulling political wires, the poor soldier is as little cared for as those in the darkest corner of Southern slavery. Said one to us, a few days ago, - “Six months’ pay is now due many of them, but I do not believe there is one in five hundred in the army, who would not jump at the chance, like a hungry dog for a piece of meat, to give the whole of it to get a discharge.” All testify that the soldiers, as a general thing, are “disheartened,” “discouraged.” All say, so far as we have obtained an expression of their feeling. - “Had we known what we were to pass through, and the treatment we were to receive from those in authority, we should never have enlisted.” No doubt there are some noble exceptions, but it has not been our privilege to meet them. - World’s Crisis. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.21
LETTERS
“Then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another.”
From Bro. Lashier
BRO. WHITE: I feel truly thankful to you for your kindness in sending the REVIEW so long without receiving the pay for it. I can truly say it is a welcome messenger to us, and its teaching is well calculated to prepare the faithful children of God for the perils of the last days. The cause here is not as prosperous as we could desire, but some are trying to overcome the world. My heart is with the remnant people of God, and I desire so to live that I may stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb and the 144,000. I have had many trials and difficulties during the past year, but my confidence is stronger to-day than ever before in those truths which are embraced in the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. I believe that we should be united and earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints that we may grow up into Christ our living Head. I desire to be a part of the whole body “which is fitly joined together and compacted,” that I may have a sure place of refuge when the Lord riseth to shake terribly the Earth. Yours in the hope of eternal life at the coming of Jesus. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.22
H. F. LASHIER.
Pleasant Grove, Minn.
From Sister Worden
BRO. WHITE: I wish to say to brethren and sisters through the Review, that since my endorsement of present truth, I have been greatly blessed, and have reasons to “rejoice and be exceeding glad.” When the light of the third message first dawned upon my mind, it was the beginning of a new era in my life. After my acceptance of the holy Sabbath (knowing that I was to be isolated from those of like faith) I promised the great Law-giver that I with his aid, would do all in my power for the advancement of Bible truth. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.23
Since my return home, notwithstanding the false reports of a Methodist minister concerning our belief, etc., some have been persuaded to investigate for themselves, among whom is my husband. After searching the Scripture to find if these things were indeed so, he has come out and taken a decided stand for the Sabbath. Others acknowledge its perpetuity, but are waiting to hear it proclaimed by some of our preachers. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 86.24
Much is done to prejudice the people from reading by an M. E. minister who tells them that he knows that we believe in everything that is ungodly, such as Spiritualism, Freeloveism, Universalism and he says every other ism that is low and degrading. Notwithstanding his wicked and slanderous reports, I believe the truth will yet walk out triumphantly in all its beauty and magnificence, and lead off willing captives the saints of the Most High. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.1
I believe, could a messenger be sent here, that the strong holds of Satan would be pulled down, and the third message with all its truth and solemnity would reign triumphant. That that period may speedily arrive is my prayer. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.2
I would say to the believers that the Lord has aided me in dispensing with all superfluities in dress, and at the table. I know that if I follow the faithful warnings given in the “Testimony to the Church” I shall not fail to walk in the light and glory of God. - I believe when the gifts cease to exist in the true, Church, it will be when believers have put on immortality and no longer need them. Praise the Lord for the glorious hope we have in present truth and for the beauty and harmony of the holy Scriptures. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.3
Yours, hoping for life.
R. A. WORDEN,
St. Clair, Mich.
From Bro. Fairfield
BRO. WHITE: Permit me through the Review to speak to the many dear brethren and sisters with whom I have been made acquainted by reading their letters. They contain such a flow of feeling and stirring exhortations that I am often made to thank God and take courage, and would esteem it a great privilege were I permitted to meet with them and mingle our voices together in prayer and praise to our Father in heaven - prayer for his guidance and protection while we are to battle with the many foes without and within - praise to God for his goodness to poor fallen man. O, that I could but realize the vastness of those sweet sentences of scripture, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life:” and, “He that believeth on him is not condemned.” O, that I could believe and so live by faith that I might escape condemnation; but my faith is so weak, and my heart so treacherous, that I can but say, “Lord, help thou mine unbelief,” “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and save me through the merits of Christ. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.4
It is now over two years since I with my companion commenced keeping the Lord’s holy Sabbath, which, through the labors of Bro. Hull at Mt. Pleasant, and the reading of books on the subject, we were led to see was the only Sabbath ever required by the Lord for man to keep. We have found many things to oppose and hinder us in keeping it as we think the Lord requires, but always feel that we are doing our duty in keeping it the best that circumstances will permit. We long to be placed in a community of Sabbath keepers, that we may enjoy the blessings of the society of those who love God and keep his commandments. We are entirely shut out from the society of such, except through the Review, which we love and prize highly for the truths and information it brings. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.5
Dear brethren and sisters, pray for us, that God will bless us and help us so to live out the truth that others seeing our good works may be made to glorify God, and at last be permitted to enjoy the rest that remaineth for the people of God. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.6
Yours striving for the truth, and hoping at last to overcome through the blood of the Lamb. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.7
A. A. FAIRFIELD.
Trenton, Iowa.
From Bro. Doty
BRO. WHITE: As I have often been encouraged by the communications that have appeared in the Review, I have felt a desire to tell the brethren what the Lord has done for me. It is some over a year since myself and companion commenced keeping the Sabbath. At that time, the Sabbath and my duty to keep it was about all the light I had; but it was enough to call forth the determined opposition of those who were then my brethren (Church of God), which resulted in my alienation from them. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.8
I had much tradition to get rid of, yet God in great mercy has shown me the light, and I have been enabled with trembling, and often much misgiving, to take step after step until now I rejoice, and for six or eight months past have been able to rejoice, in the whole truth, and praise God for the bright light that beams forth from the sacred page. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.9
I believe that God is in the third angel’s message, and from my inmost soul feel to praise him that its warning ever reached me, and that he gave me strength and a disposition of heart to obey. The hope that it inspires is a blessed hope, and the only one that will enable us to be calm in these days of trouble, while nations are trembling to their final overthrow, and men’s hearts are failing them for fear of the things that are coming on the earth. For this hope I am willing to count all things loss; for it I mean to live; and if God counts me worthy, I hope to be willing to suffer for the truth’s sake. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.10
Yours in hope of eternal life.
H. L. DOTY.
Salem Center, Ind.
From Bro. Dorcas
BRO. WHITE: I have just returned from Fairview, where we had the largest gathering of Sabbath-keepers that I ever had the pleasure of seeing together in this State, and probably any other. Nine churches were represented at this conference. A more general melting into tenderness I never witnessed. In short, we had a blessed refreshing from the presence of the Lord. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.11
Dear brother, permit me to say to the saints scattered abroad, that I have taken fresh courage, and have started anew for the kingdom. Through trials, temptations, and sins, I was almost overcome, and had strong fears that I should never enter into that heavenly rest. But being permitted to read an admonition from the Lord through our beloved sister White to Bro. Osborn, my hard heart was melted. O! those words of the compassionate Saviour! “Come just as you are, wait not to become better. Come in all your unworthiness and sins. Return unto the Lord, and he will return unto you!” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.12
“It is enough! I yield, I yield,
I can hold out no more;
I sink by dying love compelled,
And own the conqueror!”
ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.13
These are my feelings now, and may they ever be. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.14
Yours in love.
JESSE DORCAS.
Tipton, Iowa.
Extracts from Letters
Sister E. H. Vanornum writes from Edwards, N. Y. I still love the Review and its precious instruction and am glad that order and organization are uniting Sabbath-keepers. I often feel to exclaim, O that I and my family had the privilege of assembling on God’s holy day where the children are giving their hearts to the Lord. But I rejoice to know that the Lord is willing to hear the prayers of his people. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.15
I solemnly believe we are living in the last days. I desire the eye-salve that I may see, and be zealous and repent. I desire to forsake every idol and cleave unto the Lord with all my heart. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.16
Bro. T. Draper writes from McGregor, Iowa: I must expect soon to leave the things of time; but I wish to do what I can, before I sleep. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.17
Your sending my paper without pay calls up my grateful acknowledgement of your kindness to me. The Lord bless you abundantly. If I live to want it after the six months is out I will let you know. Please insert a few lines in some corner of the paper that my brethren of my acquaintance may know that I am alive and love the truth. It may be that they will write, that others may know that they also live, and love him who loved us even unto death. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.18
Bro. W. W. Wilson writes from Woodhull, Ind.: I wish to testify through the Review that I am still striving to live in obedience to all of the ten commandments and also the faith of Jesus. I am alone, and can sympathize with the lonely. I still retain pleasant memories of meeting with the brethren at Avon and Little Prairie. They are truly bright spots in my short experience. I ask an interest in the prayers of the faithful, that I may run with patience the race set before me, and at last meet with the redeemed on mount Zion. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.19
Bro. B. Leach writes from Laporte City, Iowa: It is over two years since I, with my companion, embraced the Advent faith. Since then we have been striving to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. When I read the word of God, and see the promises there are in it, it strengthens me and gives me courage. It is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I want to practice its precepts, be guided by its counsels while on the earth, and in the world to come inherit everlasting life. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.20
Pray for me that I may be faithful to the end. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.21
J. W. Landes writes from Lagrange, Iowa: I am still pressing onward for the kingdom, and realize daily that time is closing fast, and we have no time to lose in preparing ourselves for the coming of the Son of Man. I intend by the help of God to rid myself from every evil, that I may be prepared when my blessed Lord comes. Pray for me that I may live faithful and always keep in the path of duty. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.22
SISTER A. E. Perkins writes from Anamosa, Iowa: I am a deaf mute. I attended the Institution at Hartford, Ct., seven years. I left there in 1824 and came to Illinois where my parents then resided. I am very thankful that I can read and write. Before Bro. Cornell came to Anamosa in 1860, I kept Sunday as the Sabbath. While he was preaching in the Court House about the Sabbath and Bible, I was told about the true Sabbath. After investigating for myself by reading some religious tracts on the subject of the true Sabbath and other doctrines different from the popular denominations, I found the true Sabbath with joy and sweet peace, and determined to keep it holy. I hope to be faithful to the end by my kind Father’s aid. It is nearly three years since I embraced the truth of the Sabbath. I believe it is God’s true rest-day, and should be kept accordingly. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.23
In May, 1860, Bro. Brinkerhoof baptized my husband and myself. I never shall forget that precious time. I was happy in the manifestation of Jesus Christ to my awakened soul. I hope that I am one of them that are truly God’s children. I know that I have faults to grieve and lament over, and I often sigh with sorrow for my sins; but I trust that the precious blood of Jesus Christ can and will cleanse me from all my sins. I believe the soon coming of Christ and rejoice that it is near. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.24
I am a child of afflictions; but God has kindly preserved me in them. It is my greatest affliction that I cannot hear preaching and singing and praying in the meetings; but I must be resigned to God’s will. I hope that my deaf ears will soon be opened to hear glorious things in Heaven, and my dumb mouth be opened to sing praises to God and the Lamb who shall reign forever and ever. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.25
Bro. L. Pinkerton writes from Blairstown, Benton Co., Iowa: The Review is my only preacher, and I welcome its weekly visits with delight. The only fault I find with it is that it does not come often enough. I trust that I shall profit by its teachings. I feel that time is short, and what is done in the way of preparation for another world must be done quickly. I see the gathering storms of Satan’s wrath just ready to burst over the heads of God’s dear saints; and who will be able to endure the fearful ordeal when we shall be hated and despised of all men, and even life itself be in danger? Will there be any that will faint and falter in the trying hour, and barter a life of endless joy for a few moments of safety here? I earnestly desire that I may be among the number who shall stand upon mount Zion with the Lamb of God. I have many difficulties to encounter, and much opposition; but my trust is in Him who has promised to be with his saints even to the end of the world. It gives me sincere pleasure to hear of the prosperous condition of the church abroad. Oh, when will Iowa be up and doing? When shall we awaken from our slumbers and press into the thickest of the fight? ARSH February 10, 1863, page 87.26
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1863
Note from Bro. Loughborough
OUR meetings here (Wright, Mich.) are well attended, although it is cold and snowy. Good interest is manifested. We have had seven meetings here. Last night four new ones made a start, among them a sister of Bro. McPherson, lately from Wis. We have meeting to-night, and day and evening after to-day until Wednesday night. We are well, and free in the Lord. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.1
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
Note from Bro. Cornell
THE Iowa State Conference is organized - nine churches in all. J. T. Mitchell, Chairman, M. B. Smith, Clerk. Brn. Snook, Andre and Weaver, Conference Committee. Bro. Auten was delegate from Knoxville, came on horseback 144 miles, and Bro. Rider from Waukon, came on foot 120 miles, and Bro. Shireman, from West Union, came on foot 80 miles. They think it was the best conference yet held in Iowa. In one social meeting 68 spoke in 68 minutes. It was truly cheering. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.2
M. E. CORNELL.
Marion, Iowa.
To the Brethren in Iowa
WE started a delegate to the conference at Fairview, but he was compelled to return on account of poor health. This we deeply regret. We are at a loss how to proceed. We wish to say to the brethren in Iowa that we desire to cast in our mite with them and help to raise up the standard of truth, and advance the cause. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.3
We deeply regret the present state of affairs in Southern Iowa, but hope there is yet a remnant who will learn wisdom, and heed the warning of the faithful and true Witness. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.4
There are twenty-two members in the organization here. Fifteen are carrying out systematic benevolence according to “the plan,” amounting to about ten dollars per month. As we have failed in attending the conference, we shall acquiesce in the proceedings of the conference. We wish to unite our efforts with the common interests of the cause in Iowa. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.5
W. H. SNOOK.
Sandyville, Iowa, Jan., 1863.
Monthly Meeting in Vermont
WE would say to the brethren in Northern Vermont that we favor the move made at the Irasburg meeting, Jan. 10, 1863, to bring the monthly meetings of the several churches in a regular circuit, and would appoint our monthly meeting at Wolcott, Feb. 21. We hope that the brethren and sisters of the several churches will attend as far as convenient. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.6
In behalf of the church.
A. FIFE.
“Thy Will be Done.” Matthew 6:10
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: Is our will swallowed up in the will of God, so that we can say at all times, Not my will, but thine, be done? Luke 22:42. Do we want our own way, and if we cannot have it are we uneasy and feel like complaining? or do we consider that we are not our own, we are bought with a price? 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.7
If we lose our earthly possessions by fire, wind, or water, do we feel to mourn? or can we say with Job, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord?” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.8
When we are called to languish on a sick bed, do we feel to take counsel of Job’s wife, to curse God and die? Job 2:9, or do we feel as Job did, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him?” Job 13:15. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.9
When men say all manner of evil against us falsely, do we feel like trying to find something against them? Do we feel like mourning because our names are cast out as evil? or do we feel to rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is our reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before us? Matthew 5:12. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.10
Finally, brethren, let us prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. I feel to say with the poet, ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.11
“In all my Lord’s appointed ways,
My journey I’ll pursue;
Hinder me not, ye much-loved saints,
For I must go with you.”
ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.12
Pray for me, that I may meet you on mount Zion, to sing the song of deliverance. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.13
M. C. BUTLER.
East Thetford, Mich.
What is in the Bedroom?
THE importance of ventilating bedrooms is a fact which everybody is vitally interested in, and which few properly appreciate. We copy the following from an exchange, which shows the injurious effects which must arise from ill-ventilated sleeping apartments: “If two persons are to occupy a bedroom during a night, let them step upon weighing scales as they retire, and then again in the morning, and they will find that their actual weight is at least a pound less in the morning. Frequently there will be a loss of two or more pounds, and the average loss throughout the year will be more than one pound. That is, during the night there is a loss of a pound of matter which has gone off from their bodies, partly from the lungs, and partly through the pores of the skin. The escaped material is carbonic acid and decayed animal matter, or poisonous exhalations. This is diffused through the air in part, and in part absorbed by the bedclothes. If a single ounce of wool or cotton be burned in a room, it will so completely saturate the air with smoke that one can hardly breathe, though there can only be one ounce of foreign matter in the air. If an ounce of cotton be burned every half hour during the night, the air will be kept continually saturated with smoke, unless there be an open door or window for it to escape. Now the sixteen ounces of smoke thus formed is far less poisonous than the sixteen ounces of exhalations from the lungs and bodies of the two persons who have lost a pound in weight during the eight hours of sleeping; for, while the dry smoke is mainly taken into the lungs, the damp odors from the body are absorbed both into the lungs and into the pores of the whole body. Need more be said to show the importance of having bedrooms well ventilated, and of thoroughly airing the sheets, coverlets and mattresses in the morning, before packing them up in the form of a neatly-made bed?” ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.14
APPOINTMENTS Meeting at Battle Creek
Bro. and Sr. White spend Sabbath, Feb. 14th, with the church at Battle Creek. Social meeting at 9 A. M. Preaching at 10 1/2 A. M., and 1 P. M. The brethren will be glad to see a large gathering from towns around. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.15
Bro. and Sr. Byington design meeting with the church at Parkville, Sabbath the 21st. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.16
PROVIDENCE permitting, I will hold meetings as follows: ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.17
A Quarterly meeting at Orleans, Feb. 14 and 15. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.18
Green Bush, Sabbath and first-day, 21 and 22. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.19
Owasso, the evening of the 24th, and day and evening of the 25th. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.20
A Quarterly meeting at St. Charles the 28th, and March 1. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.21
Locke, March 7 and 8, and part of the week following. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.22
Woodhull, the 14th and 15th. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.23
A Quarterly meeting at Lapeer, the 21st and 22nd. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.24
A Quarterly meeting at Avon (with the Oakland and Shelby churches) the 28th and 29th. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.25
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
Business Department
Business Notes
A. Woodruff: We are sending the Review to W. Woodruff. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.26
D. S. Gardner: The books have been sent. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.27
W. W. Wilson: There is $1 due on Review sent to E. Godfrey, Geneva, Wis. J. L. Locke: There are 25 cts. due on Jane Call’s Instructor. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.28
R. R. Jones: You commenced taking the Review Vol. xii, No. 4, and according to our books there have been only $4 paid on it prior to your last remittance. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.29
Testimonies 1-9 will be sent to those who have ordered them, as soon as they are received from the binders. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.30
D. Hildreth: Your letter has not been received. We send the Testimonies. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.31
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 February 10, 1863, page 88.32
H. C. Whitney for F. C. Whitney 1,00,xxiii,1. O. Jones 1,00,xxii,9. W. Atherton 2,00,xxi,11. G. L. Holliday 2,50,xxiv,1. Wm. Potter 1,70,xxii,8. O. Allen 1,75,xxi,14. S. A. Scoville 4,00,xxii,1. Jos. Dudley 2,13,xxi,5. L. Cram 1,00,xxii,11. E. W. Carpenter 2,00,xxiii,13. J. M. Santee 1,00,xvii,1. Ch. in Berlin, Ct., for O. Lyman 1,00,xxii,10. Lucy A. Beckley 1,00,xxiii,10. C. Cartwright 2,00,xxiii,1. J. Ralston 1,00,xxii,9. H. G. Washburn for F. H. Dibble, G. G. Washburn, S. Spafford, and J. Burdick each 0,50,xxii,9. J. T. June 1,50,xxii,1. R. W. Bullock 1,63,xxi,14. E. D. Belden 1,00,xxii,9. S. Hughes 2,44,xxiv,1. H. A. Fenner 1,00,xxii,11. J. L. Syp 3,00,xxi,12. H. F. Lashier 1,75,xxii,1. D. Baker 2,00,xxiv,1. E. E. Sanford 1,00,xxii,1. P. Erb 2,00,xxii,1. J. Bartlett 2,00,xxi,1. R. D. Tyson 2,00,xxii,7. M. A. Graham 2,00,xxi,1. W. J. Wilson 1,00,xix,17. J. E. Strite 2,00,xxii,20. V. Weed 1,00,xx,10. C. P. Finch 3,00,xxii,8. A. Coreyell 2,00,xxiii,1. J. D. Triplet 2,00,xx,1. J. M. Brown 2,00,xxi,14. R. Marvin 2,00,xxiii,11. Sarah Jones 2,00,xxiii,14. J. Durham 1,00,xxi,2. G. Stone 1,00,xxiv,7. T. Lane 1,00,xxii,14. J. Sisley 1,00,xxi,7. M. Cryderman 4,00,xviii,11. R. R. Jones 2,00,xviii,9. B. Woodward 5,00,xxi,1. E. Loveless 1,00,xvi,10. J. P. Bascom 5,00,xxiii,1. M. B. Johnson 0,50,xxii,11. R. J. Foster 2,00,xxiii,1. D. W. Gordon 2,00,xxii,22. S. Hastings 2,00,xxiii,6. S. A. McPherson 0,75,xxii,10. J. Sutton 0,65,xxi,10. J. S. Wicks for A. S. Kelley, and J. H. Wicks each 0,50,xxii,11. J. V. Weeks 1,00,xxii,1. J. Whitenack 1,00,xxii,1. D. Murphy 1,00,xxiii,10. W. G. Wolfe 3,00,xxiii,1. J. M. Green 2,00,xxiii,1. T. B. Cowgill 1,00,xxi,14. Emily Payne 1,00,xxii,1. S. P. Swan 6,26,xxi,11. A. Barnes 1,50,xxi,1. J. Thomas 1,00,xxiii,1. Geo. Tomlinson 2,00,xxiii,10. M. Osborn 2,00,xxii,1. S. Osborn 0,62,xxii,20. J. H. Scott 2,00,xxii,12. G. W. Perry 2,00,xxi,14. Ch. at Lapeer, Mich. for B. Irons 1,00,xxiii,11, for Mary A. Perkins 1,00,xvii,7, and for S. Murlin 1,00,xvii,10. D. Poss 1,00,xxi,14. H. Miller 0,60,xxiii,16. J. Eggleston 1,00,xxii,7. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.33
For Shares in Publishing Association
J. Burbridge 5,00. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.34
Donations to Publishing Association
Mrs. H. G. Washburn $2. Church at Salem Center, Ind., $10. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.35
Cash Received on Account
B. F. Snook $4,10. W. S. Higley jr. $2. Geo. I. Butler $20,14. I. C. Vaughan $1,93. L. Gerould $2,70. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.36
Books Sent By Mail
W. S. Ingraham 25c. B. F. Snook $2. J. D. Hough $1. G. L. Holliday 50c. M. Dennis 12c. Isaiah Carpenter 25c. F. Greenman 75c. Mrs. W. D. Williams 38c. A. M. Preston 12c. Wm. Potter 30c. E. Goodwin $1. E. M. L. Corey 24c. J. Dudley 12c. E. Vandeusen 75c. J. Sawyer 12c. Alexander Campbell, Ireland, $4,30. D. W. Johnson 60c. Mrs. C. A. Stockwell 12c. W. V. Field $1. S. Heabler 13c. M. W. Porter 12c. M. W. Stockwell 50c. T. P. Burdick 12c. T. E. Thorp 12c. L. M. Locke 25c. S. E. Tillotson 12c. J. Dorcas 50c. S. Hughs 31c. J. Stover $1,35. B. M. Osgood 12c. M. J. Bennet 7c. J. Brinkerhoff 50c. L. G. Bostwick 12c. L. B. Lockwood 12c. E. T. Hodge 12c. D. Baker 12c. Peter Erb $1. D. W. Hull $2. J. Bascom 15c. W. H. Watts 15c. J. A. Steere 12c. E. Morrow $1. E. A. Poole 24c. J. Thomas 63c. J. H. Scott 12c. G. W. Perry 12c. S. Newton $1,23. D. Hildreth $1. A. Cross 13c. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.37
Books Sent by Express
M. Hull, Allegan, Mich., $8,27. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.38
Missionary Fund
Joseph & Miriam Thomas $4,00. ARSH February 10, 1863, page 88.39