It is not possible for us to answer your letters as we should like to do. Our mail averages fifty to one hundred letters a day, some of them full of citations to Scripture which we have no time to look up, much less to reply to at length. We state this as an explanation why your letters have gone unanswered often, or perhaps a ten paged letter has been answered on a postal card.
Please put all orders for books, etc., separate from your letter on another [R906 : page 7] piece of paper. And please state any questions as concisely as possible after you have finished your letter—as a Postscript. And be sure you write your name and full address plainly. Many letters come without and cause us much annoyance, as well as you.
But think not, dear brethren and sisters, that your letters are unappreciated because unanswered. We can read five, for one we can answer; and were it not for the strength and encouragement which your many excellent letters afford, we would no doubt long ago have felt quite discouraged. But such wonderful letters from all quarters—from China, Britain, India, Sweden, Hayti, Australia, South America, besides the thousands from our own States and Canada, give evidence of such a work of grace in your hearts, and such zeal and variety of effort on your part to serve the truth, often at great sacrifice, that our hearts are re-invigorated. We wish you could all share this comfort and encouragement with us, and for this reason publish extracts (this month from an unusually large number) of letters. We give you but a sample, and we are by no means sure that they are the best; for some contain orders written in the body of the letter, and get lost after those orders are filled.
So then write on, dear friends; your letters give us points, and frequently suggest subjects for TOWER articles. But do not be disappointed if your answer is slow, or if you get none. The TOWER, from month to month, is our letter to you; and the MILLENNIAL DAWN, when finished in its several volumes, will, we trust, answer all reasonable questions.