DEAR FRIENDS:

My connection with the "Herald" having been terminated rather suddenly, and under circumstances which must seem rather remarkable and peculiar to you, I feel it to be a duty both to you and to myself to offer an explanation of the manner of withdrawal and my reasons for so doing. Quite a number who were personally acquainted with me thought there must be more of the story to tell, and I have received a number of letters asking an explanation. To these inquiries and to many unexpressed of similar character, let me offer the following statement:

I have been a Bible student since I first had my attention called to the second coming of our Lord, by Jonas Wendel, a Second Advent Preacher, about 1869, who was then preaching the burning of the world as being due in 1873. But though he first awakened my interest on the subject, I was not a convert, either to the time he suggested nor to the events he predicted. I, in company with others in Pittsburgh, organized and maintained a bible class for the searching of the Scriptures, meeting every Sunday.

We reasoned that, if Christ's coming were to end probation, and bring irrevocable ruin upon ninety-nine in a hundred of mankind; then it could scarcely be considered desirable, neither could we pray with proper spirit, "Come, Lord Jesus, Come quickly!" We had rather request--much as we should "love his appearing"--that he remain away and our sufferings and trials continue so that "if by any means we might save some." Not only so, but great masses of scripture referring to the Millennial glory and teaching that "All nations which thou hast made shall come and worship before thee," &c., &c., would be left unfulfilled if at His coming there should be a wreck of matter and a crush of world.

We first saw Millennial glory--then the glorious work which is offered us as His Bride; that we are by faith the "seed of Abraham;" and as such, heirs of the promises, &c., in whom "all the families of the earth shall be blest." (Gal. 3.) This most certainly points to a probation in the future after He has come.

Thus, speedily, steadily and surely God led us to recognize the second coming of our Lord as being not the sunset of all hope to mankind, but the "rising of the Sun of Righteousness with healing in his wings."

The Lord gave us many helps in the study of His word, among whom stood prominently, our dearly beloved and aged brother, George Storrs, who, both by word and pen, gave us much assistance; but we ever sought not to be followers of men, however good or wise, but "Followers of God, as dear children." Thus growing in grace and knowledge for seven years, the year 1876 found us.

Up to this time we persistently ignored time and looked with pity upon Mr. Thurman's and Mr. Wendel's ideas. (The latter was preaching the same time as Bro. Barbour; viz: The burning of the world in 1873.) We regarded those ideas as unworthy of consideration, for though we believed the event "nigh even at the doors," yet we recognized the fact that the church will be withdrawn --translated-- before there would be any open manifestation to the world, or, in other words, the two stages of Christ's second advent, viz: coming for his saints, and coming with all his saints.

About this time I received a copy of the "Herald of the Morning," Bro.
B. was its publisher; I read with interest how he and others had been looking for (to use his own expression) "a bonfire"; how scriptural arguments pointed to the autumn of 1874 as the time it was due; how that as the disappointment connected therewith began to abate, he and others had re-examined the scriptural proofs that appeared to teach that the end of the world was due at the time supposed; how clear and firm all those proofs still seemed; etc.; how that then, they began to examine what was due to take place at the end, and found that instead of a bonfire, scripture taught that "The harvest is the end of the world" (or age), and that though the age ended, the earth remained and a new age unfolded in which "All the families of the earth shall be blest."

When I read the account I was deeply interested, and as I read on I saw that, if the arguments were true they proved that we had entered and were then in the harvest or end; and if in the harvest, Jesus was due to be here present. This was all reasonable enough for it was much what we had been expecting, and it linked time to our expectation in a harmonious and beautiful manner. My thought now was: Are there sufficient proofs of our being in the time of harvest? If so, this brother and I were in perfect harmony. The paper came in the morning, and I had read it and written to brother B. before noon. I examined more of the time proofs, and though not yet settled with reference to them, made arrangements with brothers B. and Paton to come to Philadelphia, where I was engaged at the time (1876), and hold some meetings, giving evidences, etc., of time, to which I listened with interest, and of the truth of which I felt convinced.

Br. B. and I talked over various methods of promulgating these truths and finally decided to travel and preach them wherever men and women would hear, and to thus spend (D.V.) the remainder of the harvest, which we then supposed was three and a half years, and would close in 1878. While I was arranging my affairs, brother B. returned to Rochester to prepare for publication of the "Three Worlds." (We found during the Philadelphia meetings that such a book was necessary to furnish hearers with chapter and verse for what was claimed), and to close up the "Herald" as it could not be properly attended to while traveling, and the suggestion was made that if any new evidences or truths were developed, a paper could at any time be published and issued from any point. In the meantime, to do justice to subscribers and give them reading matter for the remainder of their year, brother B. had parts of the "Three Worlds" book, then on the press, arranged with a heading, "Herald of the Morning Quarterly," which were left with a sister in Rochester to be mailed as they became due.

We, Bros. Barbour, Paton and myself, traveled, lectured, etc., for some months, when it seemed advisable to us all that a paper should go continuously to those who were hearing, thus keeping alive and watering seed sown. This seemed good to us all, and while brother Paton and I continued lecturing, brother B. went to Rochester and fitted up our office, type, etc., for which I furnished the money. The old type, &c., had been sold before we started out, although I know nothing of how much was obtained for it, nor what was done with the money. The paper thus started was essentially another paper but took the same name because we could think of none better or more expressive. That it was a new paper, or had at least undergone a change of management, was witnessed monthly by the heading of its fourth page where it expressly states that it is "Published by C. T. Russell and N. H. Barbour." Since the paper's change of form, July 1878, this has been omitted. Possibly Bro. B. forgot it, or possibly he thought that the page being small this could be advantageously left out. What amount of money I invested in the paper I do not know. Of such things I never keep account. I remember sending Br.
B. money several times; one of which was when we were leaving a camp meeting at Alton Bay, N.H.; I gave him $100 which he lost from his vest pocket as he afterwards wrote me, when, I presume I sent him another $100. I made neither mental nor written note of any money sent--I simply sent whatever money was called for and seemed to me to be needed, aggregating altogether perhaps $300 or $400 dollars. The $660 referred to by Bro. B. in the May Herald I never gave to the Herald. The paper has never been self-supporting, and particularly not at first, when we sent many thousands of copies to persons who had been readers of the paper of old when it did not advocate the glorious "Restitution of all things" as it now does, as well as to those who sent their names as two months subscribers free. At its outstart considerable money was necessary; the receipts were slow and uncertain, so, to avoid the necessity of continually sending, or of the Herald's being in any way hindered from lack of money, I placed on deposit at Rochester the above sum which before, I had deposited in a Pittsburgh bank. I deposited the money in our joint names so that should occasion require, Bro. B. could draw and use it, but I repeat, I never gave that $660 to either Bro. B. or the Herald. It, as well as all I have, is the Lord's, and was intended to be used wherever and whenever it was needed, either by the Herald, any of the preaching brethren, or by myself. The greater part of it has been used for all these. When I was traveling, it was equally convenient for me at Rochester or at Pittsburgh.

Besides these cash items, the "Herald" had a regular income from the sale of the "Three Worlds," a book familiar to most of you. We published 3500 of them--prices twenty-five, fifty cents and one dollar, according to binding. These were all disposed of, some by each of us while traveling, the proceeds helping to defray traveling and other expenses, and a part were sold from the office--orders being filled from all parts of the country. It would be moderate to estimate that about one-fourth of the edition was thus disposed of from the office to the direct benefit of the Herald, which at an average of thirty cents each, would be over $260, besides a smaller amount--the proceeds from the sale of the hymn book, and more recently from the sale of the tract, "The Object and Manner of Our Lord's Return," the latter probably not so inconsiderable as some ordered by the dozen for distribution.

The moneys so received were all clear gain to the "Herald," as the cost of publication was paid by myself; Bro. B. doing the composition of the "Three Worlds" and hymn books. Whatever I gave to or invested in the "Herald," was not to Bro. B. but to the Lord, and I much regret that circumstances seem to demand this recital, but we are commanded, "Let not your good be evil spoken of." Bro. Barbour has put into the Herald his time and ability, and has drawn out of it his living. It was his own fault if during the last two years he did more than his strength justified, or if he did not live comfortably. It was not from lack of money. I know he lives frugally, and so do all who realize that all things are God's, and that they are simply His stewards. I am willing to admit that in investing his time and ability he put in that which was of greater value than the money I invested. Still, I think that our brother would claim that the time invested was not given to me, but to the Lord, and the pay he expects is not merely the living of the present time, but that his is "The promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."

In consideration of the above, I confess I did not, and do not, feel that in supposing the Herald to be partly mine, I was "immodest."

But there are other points of our brother's reply to my proposition that seem to require re-stating to be fully understood. First, however, read below an exact copy of the letter which I wrote to Bro. B., and to which the article referred to in the May "Herald" is the sole reply I have received.

Pittsburgh, Pa., May 3, 1879

Dear Brother N. H. Barbour:--Your postal card and letter came duly to hand, and I hope my delay in answering will not be attributed to lack of interest. The fact is that with moving of house and store, spring purchasing of goods (for which I went East), and the work which our Father seems to have put into my hands for the present, viz.: ministering to His children the bread of life each Sunday, as well as baptism and prayer meetings &c., &c., I have been kept so busy as to seldom get above six or six and a half hours sleep per night. With this explanation, let me reply to your letter.

First: It was not possible for me to attend
the proposed meeting at R., and I presume, though invited warmly, you scarcely expected me, knowing my pressure of time, &c.

Second: I cannot understand how our bank account has so suddenly
decreased. I expected that we still had $100 to $125 in bank. If I recollect aright the balance in bank when I was in R. was $163. Am I right? In your reply, please let me know how our account stands, viz: How much was to our credit in bank Jan. 1, '79, how much has been received in cash since, and how much in bank and on hand now, also, what largest items of expense have been, &c.

While I still feel that you are a brother in Christ, and still love you as such, while there are many pleasant memories of the past to refresh my heart, yet my brother, there has arisen a difference of view between us as to the teaching of our Father's word (see note 1.) and while giving you credit for all sincerity and honesty in your views, which I claim for myself in the opposite view, yet I must be guided by my own understanding of our Father's word, and consequently think you to be in error. Now I do not think that every difference of opinion need necessarily break fellowship and communion, yet in this case the points of variance seem to me to be so fundamental and important that the full fellowship and sympathy such as should exist among publishers and editors of a paper or magazine, no longer obtains between you and me, and because this is the case, I feel that our relationship should cease.

I believe that we are both children of God, and anxious to know and teach the truth. Our Father's promise is that all truth seekers shall be guided into it therefore permit me to express the hope that we shall yet see in harmony and understand in unison, the Word. May whichever of us has truth be strengthened and established in it, and the one in error be led to discern the error. Now how shall we dissolve? Will Bro. Withington or some other brother buy out my interest for you, or take my place himself, or do you wish to resign your connection with the Herald. (See note 2.) In that case I shall continue it (D.V.) As you are the senior, I give you the opportunity to mention the terms of purchase or sale, I know not whether you feel disposed to purchase or not. In case you and friends wish to purchase, I expect to start another paper. I do not know that, as I feel at present it would be an auxiliary, as I had at first intended, but neither should it be understood to be an opposition paper, it should be an independent one. I should be the more studious of this, because I should fear that if the friends--the readers--knew of our difference, &c., the truths which we both aim to honor and advance, might be reflected upon unfavorably in consequence. Please let me know your answer and proposition as soon as possible, within a week certainly.

Truly your brother in Christ,

C. T. RUSSELL.

EXPLANATORY.--Note 1. The doctrine of Substitution, or Atonement. Note 2. When I first mentioned another paper to brother B. January last, he suggested that I take editorial charge of the Herald, which I then declined; I did not know but that he might still be of the same mind.

The answer which I received through the May No. of the Herald is known to you all perhaps. In reply to it I wrote brother B. as follows:

101 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh,
May 22nd, 1879

Brother N. H. Barbour:--I was much disappointed at your reply in last Herald (May No.) to my letter of the 3d. inst. I did not expect that its proposition would be made public--as intimated in the last clause--and I certainly did not expect that it would be stated in so partial and one sided a manner. To my mind it was unjust. And now I leave the Herald with you. I withdraw entirely from it, taking nothing from you; or it, or anyone, save christian charity, which we owe one another. This is exactly the amount expected when I wrote to you the former letter. Please announce in next No. of the Herald the dissolution and withdraw my name. Yet still believe me, the Herald's friend, and yours.

Respectfully,

I have other reasons than those stated in my letter to Bro. B. which I might as well mention here, as "other management" has been suggested. One feature of the Herald's management which gave me much annoyance, and of which I wrote to Bro. several times, was the careless handling of names of subscribers, by which many were lost, and the failure to keep any proper account of when money was paid, or when a subscription expired. He simply marked P opposite the name, and when he thought from the color of the ink that the subscription was about expired, he stopped sending. Time after time I have been asked personally and by mail, "Why don't I get my paper?"

Another objection is that in some cases there has been too much management. Articles sent by Bro. P. and myself, were not to my mind respectfully treated. If I had a right to the paper and I think I had and I wished Bro. P. to have, while Bro. B. had an equal right to write an opposing article, he had no right to cut up and interpolate ours. Nor was an appended answer proper when the writer was an "Associate Editor" and had a right to present his views over his own name. Further, while writing against Substitution, Bro. B. was seemingly anxious to publish letters from subscribers, which mentioned his view commendingly. Among others was one from Rev. W. V. Feltwell, of Philadelphia, a personal acquaintance of mine. In this extract Bro. F. is made to endorse the new views strongly.

I was much surprised, and seeing the brother in March, I inquired; why? He informed me that the article referred to had not stated him correctly--that he had written to Bro. B. to have it corrected, and said he, "Didn't you see the correction in the March Herald?" No, I answered. Then he got me his copy. There it was--Bro. B. regrets at any error, &c., and a quotation from Bro. F's. last letter: "I am now and always have been a believer in the vicarious atonement of Christ." This seemed all right and I know that it was possible for any one to make a mistake, when merely making an extract from another's letter, and I was rejoiced to think that the correction was so freely made.

But judge of my surprise and sorrow when upon attempting to show it to Bro. P. a few days after, I found that in my March No. a notice of Bro. Rice's paper "The Last Trump;" occupied its place--How was it in yours? We could not understand it, it seemed like double dealing--too much management for a Herald of the Millennial Morning. Alas!, I said to myself; is this the fruit of the new views of the atonement?

To Summarize:--In money direct and through publications, I presume that I furnished the Herald with about, as nearly as I can approximate six or seven hundred dollars, in addition to its type &c. Bro. B. put in all he had--his time &c. He drew out what he has since lived on, and by this new arrangement has drawn the "Herald" as well.

In the light of the above it may not be amiss to offer a few criticisms of the May article. How does it appear now, about those thousands of gratuitous papers? Did Bro. B. do all the giving? [I take no credit to myself in the matter, I did what was my greatest pleasure.]

Then too from the account above given, which many of the brethren here can corroborate, does it indeed look as though "our dear young brother Russell came into these views, and a small interest in the paper so recently?" Is it true that "this young man came into the views advocated by the Herald, no longer ago than Nov. 1876?" Again, is it true that Bro. B. "advocated all the advanced truths and all the prophetic arguments?" And did the "young brother learn all these beautiful truths by hearing repeated courses of lectures by Bro. B.?" Let us see what are these beautiful advanced truths? Is it the time of Christ's coming? No, there is no beauty in time, it is only a thing of dread, unless the glorious object of His coming is recognized. Bro. B. can scarcely be considered the one, who brought this most glorious and most beautiful truth to our attention, for, while he believed a bonfire to be the end of the world, and that probation ended with it, Bros. Geo. Storrs, Henry Dunn and others were preaching and writing of "the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy Prophets." [Acts 3:21,] and that "In the ages to come, God would show the exceeding riches of his grace." (Eph. 2:7.) Again, of what value would it be to know the time if we know nothing of the manner of Christ's coming? But while Bro. B. was looking for and preaching outward demonstrations, others saw and taught the two stages of the second advent, viz: Coming unobservedly for His bride and his appearing, when "we also shall appear with Him in glory." Lest some should suppose these statements unwarranted by facts, let me here give extracts from writings on the subject by Rev. Jos. Seiss. "The Last Times" a work published by him in 1856, says of:

"THE DAY OF THE LORD" (PP. 150-151.)

"There shall be upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves thereof roaring, great popular and revolutionary disturbances; men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." These words describe scenes of the judgement, which are to be witnessed before the visible manifestations of Christ, scenes which will glide in upon the world without the least suspicion on the part of men generally, that they are the beginning of the great judgement. Yes, "every eye shall see him" but not necessarily at the same time, and only when he shall come "with all his saints with him," and all his saints cannot be with him until after the pious dead are raised and the pious living be translated. The day of judgement shall come "as a thief in the night." He will be here, gathering and removing His elect before the world shall have become aware of it. Referring to

THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS (PP. 206-209.)

"The Jews shall return to their ancient
home. Jehovah Elohim shall come down again more glorious than when of old, he dwelt in cloud and flame in the Holy of Holies, even Jesus in His own glorified humanity and they shall say: "Lo, this is our God! we have waited for him and he will save us. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." Jerusalem's light shall then have come, and the glory of the Lord have risen upon her and she shall arise and shine. But Jerusalem below, radiant in all its untold glory shall be but a type and earthly picture of the higher and sublimer Jerusalem that is above.--[The Church.] Concerning the

OFFICE OF THE GLORIFIED CHURCH. (PP. 221.)

"Much of the great plan of redemption yet remains unfulfilled and this Church of the first born is exalted to its high place, not only for its own glory and the Savior's praise, but as another great link in the chain of agencies, and administrations by which the entire world is to be restored to the high sphere for which it was destined. When this elect Church shall have been completed and its members come to be Priests and Kings with Christ in the glorious Messianic kingdom, the same general calling which they now fill will continue.

These sublime princedoms of the eternal empire are a part of God's great plan to let forth His love, wisdom and blessing upon earth's generations. Blessed shall it then be for the world, when once the saints shall be installed with their promised dominion and set with Christ upon His throne. And again, concerning SPIRITUAL BODIES. (PP. 220.)

"That the glorified saints will to some extent mingle with those who live in the body and at times unveil their radiance to them, I think there is reason to believe. If they are to govern, direct and minister to those in the flesh, it is natural to suppose they will also be visible at least occasionally.

Angels in the performance of similar offices have often been manifested to living men, and why should it not be so with Christ's servants in the wonderful administrations of his glorious kingdom. Glorified or spiritual bodies are perhaps in their nature insensible to our earthly senses. Christ after His resurrection, was not visible, except at certain times when he manifested himself. The angels are invisible and yet we have many instances in which they were revealed to the view of mortals.

And in that new world in which the glorified saints are to be enthroned and commissioned as the ministers of Christ to execute his orders and administer his government over the nations, we may reasonably expect that they will often appear and converse with those who live in the flesh, and that intercourse between them and those in the body, will be as real familiar and blessed as that which Adam enjoyed with heavenly beings in Paradise."

At the time the above was written Bro. Barbour was entirely uninterested in these matters, a gold miner in Australia, and even since his return to the United States, and his interest in the second coming of Christ, his preaching and teaching has, until quite recently, opposed rather than favored these doctrines.

From whence came all these beautiful and advanced truths to young Bro. Russell and others of the flock? Surely not from Bro. Barbour, nor, we may add, from any man. These precious truths are given freely to all in Christ by the Lord, the Holy Spirit being our teacher and the only one, for "The anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you all things, and is truth." (1 John 2:27.) Truth and knowledge are the food upon which God's children feed, and He himself has made perfect arrangements for their supply, as it is written, "Light is sown for the righteous." (Psa. 97:11.)

He supplies the light to the "Pathway of the just that shines more and more unto the perfect day," and as the Master promised so we have had "The spirit of truth to guide us into all truth, and He has shown us things to come." (Jno. 16:13.)
But while the spirit guides, human instrumentality is often employed by the spirit. Men are only the "earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us." (2 Cor. 4:7.) The vessel is nothing, the treasure has the value. All God's children are to some extent vessels, some with greater capacity than others. O that we might all be very humble as treasure bearers.

"Broken and emptied vessels,

For the Master's use made meet.

Rather be nothing, nothing--

To Him let their voices be raised,

He is the fountain of blessing,

He only is most to be praised."

Truth when due, is due to the household, and it is of little consequence either to the Spirit, who has it to communicate, or the Church for whom it is intended, whether it come by one vessel or another. If Luther had refused to carry the message given him for the Church, some one else would have carried it. And what he brought was not his, it was the Church's, and each member of the Church was as much the owner as Luther.

The Lord's way seems to be to give truth through various channels "--Here a little and there a little." Possibly, the reason is, lest the vessel should "be puffed up above measure," and that the Church should know that its Head is the "Fount of every blessing."

But is there nothing which Bro. B. has brought us as the Spirit's vessel? Oh yes, while he did not bring the glorious and beautiful advanced truths, nor yet the "prophetic arguments." [The chronology, showing scripturally that the 6000 years from Adam ended in 1873, was I believe, first dug from the Bible, arranged and printed by Rev. Bowen of England, and is there known as "Bowen's chronology." Most of the Prophetic arguments which we now use, were used long ago by Second Adventists --misapplied-- and their harmony not being seen, they were thrown aside.] Bro. B. was permitted to so arrange, (gradually) and harmonize these various Prophetic teachings of time, that now, they give those of us who see them, great joy. He has caused these Precious Gems (God given) to sparkle and shine because of their harmonious arrangement, and the light which he brought us (God given) on the time of the realization of "The exceeding great and precious promises of God." For this harmony of time we thank God. For his labor in bringing it to us we sincerely and heartily thank Bro. Barbour, and pray that as a vessel the Lord may use him still further to the edification of the body of Christ.
This has been to me a painful recital, and it will be the same to every reader of the "Herald" who is truly interested in what has been taught through it for the last two years, but I believe it is absolutely demanded as an explanation of the article in the May "Herald." I have finished. My wish is to dismiss the matter entirely from my attention, and I now expect never to refer to the subject again under any circumstance.

I have published this as a "Supplement," because first I wanted it to go to none but "Herald" readers, and secondly, I would not want the pages of "Zion's Watch Tower" sullied by a recital so derogatory in some respects to the character of a member of the body.

I have been extremely careful in preparing this article that no part of it should be over stated. First: Because I do not wish to misrepresent, and Secondly: Because I have every reason to expect that some sort of an answer will be attempted, and desiring never again to mention the subject, I want to make such statements as cannot be contradicted.

Yours, &c.,

HARVEST GATHERING AND SIFTINGS.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT
OF PRESENT TRUTH.

Many are the inquiries relative to the
truths presented in the TOWER and MILLENNIAL
DAWN, as to whence they came
and how they developed to their present
symmetrical and beautiful proportions.--
Were they the results of visions? Did God
in any supernatural way grant the solution
of these, hitherto, mysteries of his plan?
Are the writers more than ordinary beings?
Do they claim any supernatural
wisdom or power? or how comes this revelation
of God's truth, any how?

No, dear friends, we claim nothing of
superiority, nor of supernatural power,
dignity or authority; nor do we aspire to
exalt ourselves in the estimation of our
brethren of the household of faith, except
in the sense that the Master urged it, saying,
"Let him who would be great among
you be your servant." ( Matt. 20:27 .)
And our position among men of the
world and of the nominal church is certainly
far from exalted, being everywhere
spoken against. We are fully contented,
however, to wait for exaltation until the
Lord's due time. ( 1 Pet. 5:6 .) In the
apostle's words, we therefore answer,
"Why look ye upon us, as though by
our own power we had done these things?"
We also are men of like passions with
yourselves--of like infirmities and frailties,
earnestly striving, by overcoming many
besetments, discouragements, etc., to
press along the line toward the mark of
the prize of our high calling, and claiming
only, as faithful students of the Word of
God, to be simply index fingers, as we
have previously expressed it, to help you to
trace for yourselves, on the sacred page,
the wonderful plan of God--no less wonderful
to us, we assure you, than to you,
dearly beloved sharers of our faith and joy.
No, the truths we present, as God's
mouthpieces, were not revealed in visions
or dreams, nor by God's audible voice,
nor all at once, but gradually, especially
since 1870, and particularly since 1880,
a period of about twenty years. And this
present clear unfolding of truth is not
due to any human ingenuity or acuteness
of perception, but to the simple fact that
God's due time has come, and if we did
not speak and no other agent could be
found, the very stones would cry out.
We give the following history not only
because we have been urged to give a review
of God's leadings in the path of
light, but specially because we believe
it to be needful that the truth be modestly
told, that misapprehensions and prejudicial
mis-statements may be disarmed, and that
our readers may see how hitherto the
Lord hath helped and guided us. In so
far as the names and views of others, who
have parted company with us, may be
associated with this history, we shall endeavor
to bring forward only such points
as are necessary to an understanding of
our position and of the Lord's leadings.
Nor can we name all the little points of
divine favor in which faith was tested,
prayers were answered, etc., remembering
that our Master and the early church left
no such example of boasting of faith, but
rather admonished otherwise, saying,
"Hast thou faith, have it to thyself."
Some of the most precious experiences of
faith and prayer are those which are too
sacred for public display.
***
We will not go back to tell how the
light began to break through the clouds
of prejudice and superstition which enveloped
the world under Papacy's rule in
the dark ages. The reformation movement,
or rather movements, from then
until now, has each done its share in
bringing light out of darkness. But confining
ourselves to the consideration of
the harvest truths set forth in Millennial
Dawn and Zion's Watch Tower, we begin
the narrative at the year 1868, when the
editor, having been a consecrated child
of God for some years, and a member of the
Congregational Church and of the Y.M.C.A.,
began to be shaken in faith regarding
many long-accepted doctrines. Brought up
a Presbyterian and indoctrinated from the
Catechism, and being naturally of an inquiring
mind, I fell a ready prey to the
logic of Infidelity as soon as I began to
think for myself. But that which at first
threatened to be the utter shipwreck of
faith in God and the Bible, was, under
God's providence, overruled for good, and
merely wrecked my confidence in human
creeds and systems of misinterpretation
of the Bible.

Gradually I was led to see that though each
of the creeds contained some elements of
truth, they were, on the whole, misleading
and contradictory of God's Word. Among
other theories, I stumbled upon Adventism.
Seemingly by accident, one evening I dropped
into a dusty, dingy hall, where I had
heard religious services were held, to see
if the handful who met there had anything
more sensible to offer than the creeds of
the great churches. There, for the first
time, I heard something of the views of
Second Adventists from the preacher, Mr.
Jonas Wendell, long since deceased.
Though his Scripture exposition was not
entirely clear, and though it was very far
from what we now rejoice in, it was sufficient, under God, to re-establish my wavering
faith in the divine inspiration of
the Bible, and to show that the records of
the apostles and prophets are indissolubly
linked. What I heard sent me to my
Bible to study with more zeal and care
than ever before, and I shall ever thank the
Lord for that leading; for though Adventism
helped me to no single truth, it did
help me greatly in the unlearning of errors,
and thus prepared me for the truth.
I soon began to see that we were living
somewhere near the close of the Gospel
age, and near the time when the Lord had
declared that the wise, watching ones of
his children should come to a clear knowledge
of his plan. At this time, myself
and a few other truth-seekers in Pittsburgh
and Allegheny formed a class for Bible
study, and from 1870 to 1875 was a time
of constant growth in grace and knowledge
and love of God and his plan. We
came to see something of the love of
God, how it had made provision for all
mankind and how all must be awakened
from the tomb in order that God's loving
plan might be testified to them, and that
they might then, by knowledge and help,
through obedience--as a result of Christ's
redemptive work--be brought back into
harmony with God. This we saw to be
the Restitution work foretold in Acts 3:21 .
But though seeing that the Church
was called to joint-heirship with the Lord
in the Millennial Kingdom, up to that
time we had failed to see clearly the
great distinction between the reward of
the Church now on trial and the reward
of the world after its trial, at the close
of the Millennial age--that the reward of
the former is to be the glory of the spiritual, divine nature, while that of the latter
is to be the glory of restitution --restoration, to the perfection of human nature once enjoyed by their representative and head, Adam, in Eden.

However, we were then merely getting
the general outlines of God's plan, and
unlearning many long-cherished errors, the
time for a clear discernment of the minutiae
having not yet fully come. And here
we should and do gratefully mention assistance
rendered by Brothers George Stetson and George Storrs, both now deceased,
the latter the editor of "The Bible
Examiner". The study of the Word of
God with these dear brethren led, step by
step, into greener pastures and brighter
hopes for the world, though it was not until
1872, when I gained a clear view of
our Lord's work as our ransom price, that
I found the strength and foundation of all
hope of restitution to lie in that doctrine.
Up to that time, when I read the testimony
that all in their graves shall come
forth, etc., I yet doubted the full provision-- whether it should be understood to
include idiots or infants who had died
without reaching any degree of understanding,
beings to whom the present life
and its experiences would seem to be of
little or no advantage. But when, in 1873,
I came to examine the subject of restitution
from the standpoint of the ransom
price given by our Lord Jesus for Adam,
and consequently for all lost in Adam, it
settled the matter of restitution completely,
and gave fullest assurance that ALL
must come forth from Adamic death and
be brought to a clear knowledge of the
truth and to fullest opportunity of everlasting life in Christ.

Thus passed the years 1869-1872, and
the years following, to 1876, were years of
continued growth in grace and knowledge
on the part of the handful of Bible students
with whom I met regularly in Allegheny.
We progressed from our first
crude and indefinite ideas of restitution
to clearer understanding of the details,
God's due time for clearer light not having
come until 1874.

During this time, too, we came to recognize
the difference between our Lord
as "the man who gave himself," and as the
Lord who would come again, a spirit being.
We saw that spirit-beings can be
present, and yet invisible to men, just as
we still hold and have set forth in Millennial
Dawn, Vol. II., Chap. x. And we felt
greatly grieved at the error of Second
Adventists who were expecting Christ in
the flesh, and teaching that the world and
all in it except Second Adventists would
be burned up in 1873 or 1874, whose time-settings
and disappointments and crude
ideas generally of the object and manner
of his coming brought more or less reproach
upon us and upon all who longed
for and proclaimed his coming Kingdom.
These wrong views of both the object
and manner of the Lord's return led me
to write the pamphlet-- "The Object and
Manner of The Lord's Return," of
which some 50,000 copies were published.
It was about January 1876 that my attention
was specially drawn to the subject
of prophetic time, as it relates to these
doctrines and hopes. It came about in this
way: I received a paper called "The Herald
of The Morning", sent by its editor,
Mr. N. H. Barbour. When I opened it
I at once identified it with Adventism
from the picture on its cover, and examined
it with some curiosity to see what
time they would set next for the burning
of the world. But judge of my surprise
and gratification, when I learned from its
contents that the editor was beginning to
get his eyes open on the subjects that for
some years had so greatly rejoiced our
hearts here in Allegheny--that the object of
our Lord's return is not to destroy, but
to bless all the families of the earth, and
that his coming would be thief-like, not
in flesh, but as a spirit-being invisible to
men, and that the gathering of his Church
and separating of the wheat from the
tares would progress in the end of this
age without the world's being aware of it.
I rejoiced to find others coming to the
same advanced position, but was astonished
to find a further statement very
cautiously made, that the editor believed
the prophecies to indicate that the Lord
was already present in the world (unseen
and invisible) and that the harvest work
of gathering the wheat was already due.
Here was a new thought: Could it be
that the time prophecies which I had so
long despised, because of their misuse by
Adventists, were really meant for us --to
indicate when the Lord would be invisibly
present to set up his Kingdom--a
thing which we clearly saw could be
known in no other way? It seemed, to
say the least, a reasonable, very reasonable
thing, to expect that the Lord would
inform his people on the subject--especially
as he had promised that the faithful
should not be left in darkness with the
world, and that though the day of the
Lord would come upon all others as a thief
in the night (stealthily, unawares), it
should not be so to the watching, earnest
saints.-- 1 Thes. 5:4 .

I recalled certain arguments used by the
Adventists to prove that 1873 would witness
the burning of the world, etc.--the
chronology of the world showing that the
six thousand years from Adam ended with
the beginning of 1873, and other arguments
drawn from the Scriptures and supposed
to coincide. Could it be that these,
which we had passed by as unworthy of
attention, really contained an important
truth which they had misapplied?
Anxious to learn, from any quarter, whatever
God had to teach, I at once wrote to
Mr. Barbour, informing him of our harmony
on other points and desiring to
know particularly why, and upon what
Scriptural evidences, he held that Christ's
presence and the harvesting of the Gospel
age dated from the Autumn of 1874.
The answer showed that my surmise
had been correct, viz.: that the time arguments, chronology, etc., were the same as
used by Second Adventists in 1873, and
explained how Mr. Barbour and Mr. J. A.
Paton of Michigan, a co-worker with him,
had been regular Second Adventists up
to that time, and that when the date 1874
had passed without the world being
burned, and without their seeing Christ in
the flesh, they were for a time dumb-founded.
They had examined the time-prophecies
that had seemingly passed unfulfilled,
and had been unable to find any
flaw, and had begun to wonder whether
the time was right and their expectations
wrong,--whether the views of restitution
and blessing to the world, which others
were teaching, might not be the right
thing to look for. Not long after their
1874 disappointment, a reader of the
"Herald", who had a copy of the Diaglott,
noticed something in it which he thought
peculiar,--that in Matt. 24:27,37,39 , the
word which in our common version is
rendered coming, is translated presence.
This was the clue, and following it, they
had been led through prophetic time toward
proper views regarding the object
and manner of the Lord's return. We of
Allegheny on the contrary were led first
to proper views of the object and manner
of our Lord's return and then to the examination of the time for these things,
indicated in God's word. Thus God
leads his children often from different
starting points of truth; but where the heart
is earnest and trustful, the result must be
to draw all such together.

But there were no books or other publications
setting forth the time-prophecies
as then understood, so I paid Mr. Barbour's
expenses to come to see me at Philadelphia
(where I had business engagements during
the summer of 1876), to show me fully and
Scripturally, if he could, that the prophecies
indicated 1874 as the date at which the
Lord's presence and the harvest began.
He came, and the evidences satisfied me.
A person of positive conviction and fully
consecrated to the Lord, I at once saw
that the new light had an important bearing
upon our duty and work as Christ's
disciples; that being in the time of harvest,
the harvest-work should be done,
and that present truth was the sickle by
which the Lord would have us do a gathering
and reaping work everywhere among
his children.

I inquired of Mr. Barbour as to what
was being done by him and through the
"Herald". He replied that nothing was being
done; that the readers of the "Herald",
being Adventists, had nearly all lost interest
and stopped their subscriptions
--and that thus, with money exhausted,
the
"Herald" might be said to be practically
suspended. I told him that instead of
feeling discouraged and giving up the work
since his newly found light on restitution
(for when we first met, he had much to
learn from me on the fulness of restitution
based upon the sufficiency of the ransom
given for all), he should rather feel that
now he had some good tidings to preach,
such as he never had before, and that his
zeal should be correspondingly increased.
At the same time I felt that the knowledge
of the fact that we were already in the
harvest period gave to me an impetus to
spread the truth such as I never had before.
I therefore at once resolved upon
a vigorous campaign for the truth.
I determined to curtail my business
cares and give my time as well as means
to the great harvest work. Accordingly,
I sent Mr. Barbour back to his home, with
money and instructions to prepare in concise
book form the good tidings so far as
then understood, including the time features,
while I closed out my Philadelphia
business preparatory to engaging in the
work, which I afterward did, traveling
and preaching.

The little book of 196 pages thus prepared
was entitled "The Three Worlds",
and while it was not the first book to
teach a measure of restitution, nor the
first to treat upon time-prophecy, it was,
we believe, the first to combine the idea
of restitution with time-prophecy. From
the sale of this book and from my purse,
our traveling expenses, etc., were met.
After a time I conceived the idea of adding
another harvest laborer and sent for
Mr. Paton, who promptly responded and
whose traveling expenses were met in the
same manner.

But noticing how quickly people seemed
to forget what they had heard, it soon became
evident that while the meetings were
useful in awakening interest, a monthly
journal was needed to hold that interest
and develop it. It therefore seemed to
be the Lord's will that one of our number
should settle somewhere and begin
again the regular issuing of the Herald
of the Morning. I suggested that Mr. Barbour
do this, as he had experience as a
type-setter and could therefore do it
most economically, while Mr. Paton and
I would continue to travel and contribute
to its columns as we should find opportunity.
To the objection that the type was
now sold, and that the few subscriptions
which would come in would not, for a
long time, make the journal self-sustaining,
I replied that I would supply the
money for purchasing type, etc., and leave
a few hundred dollars in bank subject to
Mr. Barbour's check, and that he should
manage it as economically as possible,
while Mr. Paton and I continued to travel.
This, which seemed to be the Lord's
will in the matter, was done.