Publishing and Traveling
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back confessing their injustice, or the frown of God would be upon
them; that it was not against us merely that they had spoken and acted,
but against Him who had called us to fill the place He wished us to
occupy; and that all their suspicion, jealousy, and secret influence was
faithfully chronicled in heaven, and would not be blotted out until
everyone who had taken a part in it should see the extent of his wrong
course, and retrace every step.
The second volume of the Review was published at Saratoga
Springs, New York. In April, 1852, we moved to Rochester, New
York. At every step we were obliged to move out by faith. We were
still crippled by poverty, and compelled to exercise the most rigid
economy and self-denial. I will give a brief extract from a letter to
Brother Howland’s family, dated April 16, 1852: “We are just getting
settled in Rochester. We have rented an old house for one hundred and
seventy-five dollars a year. We have the press in the house. Were it
not for this, we should have to pay fifty dollars a year for office room.
You would smile could you look in upon us and see our furniture. We
have bought two old bedsteads for twenty-five cents each. My husband
brought me home six old chairs, no two of them alike, for which he
paid one dollar, and soon he presented me with four more old chairs
without seating, for which he paid sixty-two cents. The frames are
strong, and I have been seating them with drilling. Butter is so high
that we do not purchase it, neither can we afford potatoes. We use
sauce in the place of butter, and turnips for potatoes. Our first meals
were taken on a fireboard placed upon two empty flour barrels. We are
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willing to endure privations if the work of God can be advanced. We
believe the Lord’s hand was in our coming to this place. There is a
large field for labor, and but few laborers. Last Sabbath our meeting
was excellent. The Lord refreshed us with His presence.”
From time to time we went out to attend Conferences in different
parts of the field. My husband preached, sold books, and labored to
extend the circulation of the paper. We traveled by private conveyance,
and stopped at noon to feed our horse by the roadside, and to eat our
lunch. Then with paper and pencil, on the cover of our dinner box
or the top of his hat, my husband wrote articles for the Review and
Instructor. The Lord greatly blessed our labors, and the truth affected
many hearts.