The appreciative testimonials to THE ADVOCATE which we receive from time to time should be quite gratifying to all. We do not regard them in a personal light, but as commendations to the value of the paper. It is for this reason that we feel inclined occasionally to publish a few of the many that reach us. Were the paper a personal enterprise we might hesitate to do this, but as it is the property of the General Eldership, we deem it proper that the proprietor should know the estimated value of his property as controlled and managed by his agents.

      The following have been quite recently received:

      I can't well do without your valuable paper.--S. Fasig, Forest, O.
      I could not do without THE ADVOCATE.--J. N. Smith, Paris, Mo.
      THE ADVOCATE is a paper that I appreciate.--J. Cline, Boonsnboro', Md.
      I like the paper very much.--Mrs. O. Justice, Marysville, O.
      I cannot live without THE ADVOCATE.--George Dir, Tampico, Ill.
      I can hardly get along without THE ADVOCATE.--Kate Artz, Sacramento, Pa.
      We can't well do without THE ADVOCATE, for we all love to read it.--G. A. Kline, Marsailles, Ill.
      I like your paper (THE ADVOCATE) very well.--Samuel S. Gruber, Fleetwood, Pa.
      THE ADVOCATE is worth abundantly more than we pay for it ($2.20).--N. Zeller, Sr., N. Liberty, Iowa.
      I feel too much at a loss to be without THE ADVOCATE. I love to read it better than any paper I have read.--T. R. Funk, Flat Rock, Iowa.
      I love THE ADVOCATE and feel lost without it.--G. R. Kinzy, Forest City, Mo.
      I am well pleased with THE ADVOCATE, and hope it will do much good.--Elder D. Kyle, Decatur, Ill.
      I could not do without THE ADVOCATE, it is a preacher to me.--J. H. Woodberry, Walkersville, Ia.
      We could not get along without it (THE CHURCH ADVOCATE). I will take it and read it as long as I live.--D. C. Swiller, Buffalo City, Kas.
      I could not bear the idea of doing without THE ADVOCATE, for it comes next to my Bible.--Eliza Kepford, Webster, Iowa.
      Please send my paper without delay, as I cannot get along without THE ADVOCATE.--J. A. Smith, Martin Station, O.
      THE ADVOCATE is the best preacher that we have about, and we can have it at our fireside.--Abraham Funk, Muscatine, Iowa.
      The dear old ADVOCATE, which seems to be more precious every week.--Mrs. Libbie B. Shanks, Huntington, Ind.
      I wish every family in the land would subscribe and pay for THE ADVOCATE.--David Keplinger, Cato, Kansas.
      THE ADVOCATE is a good preacher, for it never disappoints its readers. It is a welcome paper.--J. D. Hall, Creagerstown, Md.
      I have been getting the paper (ADVOCATE) so long and I love it so dearly.--F. Brenneman, Rockton, Neb.
      I like your paper very much indeed. It teaches Bible truths, and that is what we want.--Elder W. L. Brown, Winslow, Me.
      I am sorry that circumstances will not permit me to continue to take your very valuable paper.--John T. Derr, Taylorsville, Md.
      I cannot do without THE ADVOCATE, as we have no preaching here by the Church of God preachers, and I want to know how Zion is prospering.--J. D. Schofield, Monticello, Ill.
      I think we are publishing a very good paper, and I always recommend it as equal to any religious paper in its various departments.--Elder R. H. Bolton, Danville, Ia.
      It (THE ADVOCATE) is always a welcome visitor to our place. It is always full of good things, that go down pleasantly and digest well.--Samuel Nunamaker, Inland, O.
      I truly admire THE ADVOCATE very much, and would not wish to be without it on any considerations. It is a noted paper. I cannot be beat.--Elder J. Richards, O.
      I suppose I will have to try to live without THE ADVOCATE for a few months, though it will be hard living without it for me.--J. W. Yarlets, Martinsburg, W. Va.
      I have been a regular subscriber and reader of THE CHURCH ADVOCATE for over forty years, and I think it is fully keeping up with the times. I do not want to do without it.--M. S. McGrew, Euphemia, O.
      The writer of the following missed an issue, and two days after its date wrote: Send me this week's ADVOCATE, as it did not come. I cannot do without it.--W. Martin, Shenandoah, Pa.
      THE CHURCH ADVOCATE, edited by our esteemed brother, C. H. Forney, is always a welcome visitor. We would not like to be without it, and think it should be in the family of every church member.--S. S. Gem.
      THE ADVOCATE is highly appreciated among the people where I labor. Everybody who has a relish for good religious literature need not be without it. Men belonging to other Churches say THE ADVOCATE is better than their own church organs.--D. S. Warner, Hayesville, O.
      I hardly know how to get along without the blessed ADVOCATE, though the times have been so hard with us that we can scarcely provide for our families. The brethren all value it next to their Bibles for instruction in heavenly things.--M. C. Ogden, Osceola, Neb.

      Had we deemed it at all necessary we could have increased the number of witnesses very largely from our regular correspondences. Nor do we think there is anything of a partial nature about this testimony. These brethren write from pure convictions. and hence their testimony is so much the more gratifying. But in view of the foregoing unanimous testimony we think it strange that the subscription list does not run up to five, six thousand. We know that the paper never was superior to what it is now; that it never had so much reading matter; that the variety of its reading matter never was so great, and that the price never was comparatively so low. The paper never was needed more in every family than it is to-day. Hence we hope all will feel an interest in still largely increasing its circulation.

[The Church Advocate 41 (August 30, 1876): 4.]

      C. H. Forney's "Testimonials" was first published in The Church Advocate, Vol. 41, No. 18 (August 30, 1876), p. 4. The electronic version has been transcribed from a copy of the article printed from a microfilmed edition of the newspaper held by the State Library of Pennsylvania. Thanks to Adams Memorial Library for arranging for the interlibrary loan, and to St. Vincent College Library for the use of its microfilm reader/printer.

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 23 May 1999.
Updated 15 July 2003.