THE 



ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 



A 



ADVENTISTS, a religious denomination in 

 the United States, founded by William Miller 

 in 1833, after whom they have sometimes 

 been called Millerites. They believe the sec- 

 ond advent of Christ, and the establishment 

 by him of the millennium, to be near at hand. 

 They number about 30,000 members. Most 

 of the Adventists believe in the final annihila- 

 tion of the wicked. One branch of them cele- 

 brates Saturday instead of Sunday as a holy 

 day ; they are, therefore, called Seventh-Day 

 Adventists. 



Seventh-Day Adventists. -The General Con- 

 ference of the Seventh-Day Adventists was 

 held at Battle Creek, Mich., on the 29th of 

 December, 1871. The following statistics 

 were presented : 



The pledges to the fund for systematic be- 

 nevolence amounted to a total sum of $25,- 

 956.42. A visiting delegate from the Confer- 

 ence of the Seventh-Day Baptists was present. 

 The home missionaries had labored in Canada, 

 Indiana, Tennessee, and Yirginia, and with 

 the Danish and Norwegian populations of the 

 Northwestern States. A favorable report was 

 made of the missionary work carried on under 

 the direction of the General Conference at 

 VOL. xn. 1 A 



Tramelan and Chaux-de-fonds, in Switzerland. 

 The Conference recommended the continued 

 prosecution of this work, as well as of that 

 among the foreign-born populations of the 

 United States. Some of the leading doctrines 

 of the denomination are expressed in the fol- 

 lowing resolution, which was adopted : 



Resolved, That we gratefully acknowledge the 

 providence of God in calling our attention, as a peo- 

 ple, to truths of such priceless value as the doctrine 

 of the advent of our Lord at the door; the closing 

 work of our High-Priest in the heavenly sanctuary ; 

 the three messages of Rev. xiv.; the Sabbath and the 

 law of God; the subject of Christian temperance; 

 the nature and order of the work of the Judgment ; 

 the doctrine of spiritual gifts ; the nature and des- 

 tiny of man ; the final restoration of our earth to its 

 original excellence and glory ; and the gathering to- 

 gether of the whole family of the redeemed at the 

 return of our Lord in the ciouds of heaven. 



A second resolution recited a number of the 

 more important events which had taken place 

 during the year, as indicating "the speedy ap- 

 proach of the final day," as incentives to a re- 

 newed consecration " to the important and re- 

 sponsible work " of warning mankind " of the 

 judgments of God now impending." The re- 

 ceipts of the treasury during the year were 

 $4,073.81; the sum of $3,156.82 had been 

 paid out. The net assets of the Publishing As- 

 sociation were $60,893.09, or $10,879.07 more 

 than at the close of the previous year. The 

 denomination has a weekly paper, the Advent 

 Review and Herald of the Sabbath, which is 

 published at Battle Creek, Mich. 



Evangelical Adventists. The American 

 Evangelical Advent Conference met at the He- 

 bron Encampment on August 7th. The Con- 

 ference confined itself to the usual business of 

 an ecclesiastical body. Financial aifairs were 

 assigned to the American Millennial Associa- 

 tion, which met at the Hebron Encampment 

 on August 10th. The total receipts of the As- 

 sociation, including the balance from the pre- 

 vious year, were $6,437.67; its expenditures, 



