"THE appellation of great has often been bestowed and sometimes deserved, but CHARLEMAGNE is the only prince in whose favor the title has been indissolubly blended with the name. . . . The dignity of his person, the length of his reign, the prosperity of his arms, the vigor of his government, and the reverence of distant nations, distinguish him from the royal crowd; and Europe dates a new era from his restoration of the Western Empire."-Dec. and Fall, chap. 49, par. 21.
It seems almost certain that Charlemagne really aspired to the restoration of the Roman Empire. But one life was too short, and there was no second Charlemagne. Besides this, the prophetic word was written that when once Rome was divided into its ten parts they should not be made to cleave one to another no more than could iron and clay. Charlemagne reigned forty-six years—forty-three from the death of Carloman—thirty-three of which were spent in almost ceaseless wars. He conducted, in all, fifty-three expeditions—thirty-one against the Saxons, Frisons, Danes, Slavs, Bavarians, and the Avars, in upper Germany, Bohemia, Noricum, and Pannonia; five against the Lombards in Italy; twelve against the Saracens, in Spain, Corsica, and Sardinia; two against the Greeks; and three in Gaul itself against the Aquitanians and the Britons. Thus Saxony, Bohemia, Bavaria, Pannonia (Hungary), the Lombard kingdom of Italy as far as the duchy of Beneventum, that part of Spain between the Pyrenees and the river Ebro, Burgundy, Alemannia, and all of Gaul, was subject to the sway of Charlemagne. He already wore the iron crown of Lombardy in addition to the kingship of all the Frankish dominions; but when on Christmas day, 800, in the church of St. Peter, Pope Leo III. placed a precious crown upon the head of this mighty king while the great dome resounded with the acclamations of the people: "Long life and victory to Charles, the most pious Augustus, crowned by God the great and pacific emperor of the Romans," the honor seems well deserved. "For fourteen years, with less of fighting and more of organization, Charles the Great proved that he was worthy of his high title and revived office of Emperor of the West." "And when in 801 an embassy arrived with curious presents from Harun al-Rashid, the great caliph who held in the East the same place as Charles in the West, men recognized it as a becoming testimony to the world-wide reputation of the Frankish monarchy." But this honor, this power, and this glory was short-lived. Charlemagne died at Aix-la-Chapelle, January 28, 814, and the unity of the empire which he had formed was at an end.
"Like more than one great barbaric warrior, he admired the Roman Empire that had fallen,—its vastness all in one and its powerful organization under the hand of a single master. He thought he could resuscitate it, durably, through the victory of a new people and a new faith, by the hand of Franks and Christians. With this view he labored to conquer, convert, and govern. He tried to be, at one and the same time, Caesar, Augustus, and Constantine. And for a moment he appeared to have succeeded; but the appearance passed away with himself. The unity of the empire and the absolute power of the emperor were buried in his grave."-Guizot's France, chap. 11, end.
Charlemagne was succeeded by his only surviving son, Louis the Pious, upon whom he had fixed the succession in 813, about six months before his death. Louis passed his life in a struggle with an ambitious second wife, and three undutiful sons who by constant rebellions abused his natural gentleness and goodness. In the quarrels and jealousies of his sons he was twice deposed and twice restored, and perhaps only escaped a third deposition, by his death June 20, 840. This set the sons free to wrangle among themselves, which they did till the fearful battle of Fontanet June 25, 841; and the treaty of Verdun, August, 843, put an end to their mutual struggles and "to the griefs of the age." Lothair, the eldest son, retained the title of emperor and received the Italian territory, with a long narrow strip stretching from the Gulf of Lyons to the North Sea, bounded on the east by the Alps and the Rhine, and on the west by the Rhone, the Saone, the Meuse, and the Scheldt. Charles the Bald had all the rest of Gaul. Louis the German received Alemannia and all the rest of the German lands east of the Rhine, with the towns of Mainz, Worms, and Spires, on the western bank of that river.
This division, though counted as marking the real beginning of the history of France and Germany as separate kingdoms, lasted but a short time. For the Emperor Lothair died in 855, and was succeeded in his possessions to the north of Italy by Lothair II., who died in 869, when Charles the Bald seized upon his territory. But Louis the German disputed his seizure of the whole prize, and in 870 they signed the treaty of Mersen by which Louis became possessed of most of Lotharingia, or, as it was now called, Lorraine; Charles the Bald the rest of it, and Lothair's brother, Louis II., was allowed to retain the possessions of his father in Italy. Louis II. died in 875, and Charles the Bald managed to secure the imperial crown and aimed at the possession of the whole empire with it. But Louis the German, at his death in 876, had divided Germany among his three sons,—Carlman, Louis, and Charles—the second of whom, Louis, met Charles the Bald on the field of Andernach and gained such a victory over him as to not only put an effectual damper upon his imperial aspirations, but to force him to give up the portions of Lorraine that had been ceded to his father by the treaty of Mersen. Carlman and Louis both soon died, and the German kingdom passed to Charles surnamed "the Fat," the youngest of the three sons of Louis the German.
Charles the Fat, incompetent, indolent, and gluttonous, became, without any effort of his own, sovereign of all the dominions of Charlemagne, except Burgundy which now became again an independent state. Alemannia—Swabia—he inherited from his father in 876; by the death of his brother Carlman, he received Bavaria and became king of Italy, in 880; he was crowned emperor in 881; the death of his brother Louis of Saxony gave him all the rest of the Germanic possessions; and as Charles the Bald had died in 877, and had no successor who could relieve France from the scourge of the Northmen, Charles the Fat was invited to become the king of France, at the death of Carloman in 885. But instead of boldly meeting the Northmen with an army, he adopted the policy of buying off these bold savages who had plundered Cologne and Treves, and had led their horses over the very grave and in the beautiful basilica of Charlemagne. And when they laid siege to Paris and he still pursued the same cowardly course, his disgusted subjects, under the leadership of his nephew Arnulf, deposed him in 887, and in a week or two afterwards he died. Charles the Fat was the last ruler who ever reigned over both France and Germany. After his deposition the history of these two countries is distinct. It will be seen that the boundaries of France under the treaty of Verdun are very nearly the same as at present with the exception of that part between the Rhone and Saone, and the Alps. And so having traced the kingdom of the Franks to its permanent bounds, there we leave it.
THE ALEMANNI.
We must now resume the history of the Alemanni, and sketch their fortunes through the tumults of the Dark Ages. We have seen that the Alemanni and their Suevic brethren that followed them in the invasion of the Roman Empire, took possession of all Rhaetia as far south as the country about the lake of Constance and the northern border of Switzerland; and that part of Gaul which lay between the Rhine and Moselle, and the head waters of the Seine. Thus they occupied the country which now comprises Alsace, Lorraine, Baden, Wurtemburg, greater part of Bavaria, and the southern of the large divisions of Hesse-Darmstadt. When they were defeated by Clovis, their Gallic possessions became the prize of the conqueror, but all the rest they were allowed to occupy, and were permitted by Clovis and his successors "to enjoy their peculiar manners and institutions, under the government of official, and at length of hereditary, dukes."-Gibbon, chap. 36, par. 5; chap. 38, par. 5. These, as well as the other German conquests of Clovis, "soon became virtually free. They continued to acknowledge Frankish supremacy; but the acknowledgment was only formal. At the head of each confederation was its own herzog or duke. These rulers were at first appointed by the Frankish kings, or received their sanction; but in course of time the office became hereditary in particular families."-Encyc. Brit., art. Germany, p. 477.
Of the Alemanni there were two dukedoms, Swabia and Bavaria, and it is under these two names that their future history is found. But as Swabia is the original, and as it has exerted a greater influence in the affairs of Germany than has any other confederation, it is the one about which most must be said; for the history of it is, in a measure, the history of Germany, especially after the treaty of Verdun. Thassilo, duke of Bavaria, had been on ill terms with Pepin, the father of Charlemagne, and when Charlemagne came to the throne, Thassilo rendered very indifferent service, and his repeated acts of treachery caused Charlemagne to remove him, and Bavaria was placed under the authority of the margrave of Ostreich (Austria). The "margraves" were "lords of the marches," and the "marches" were formed of the border countries, by Charlemagne, over which he appointed "margraves" (markgrafen) "whose duty was to administer justice in his name, to collect tribute, and extend his conquests." Bavaria was ruled by margraves till about 900, when it again became a dukedom. The margraviate of Ostreich continued till 1156, when it, too, was made a duchy, and thus the march of Ostreich, formed by Charlemagne, was the origin of what is now the empire of Austria.
(To be continued.)
The Power of Nature
A CENTURY ago an infidel German countess, dying, ordered that her grave be covered with a solid granite slab; that around it should be placed solid blocks of stone, and the whole be fastened together by strong iron clamps, and that on the stone be cut these words: "This burial place, purchased to all eternity, must never be opened." But a little seed sprouted under the covering, and the tiny shoot found its way through between two of the slabs, and grew there slowly and surely until it burst the clamps asunder, and, lifting the immense block, the structure erelong became a confused mass of rock, among which in verdure and beauty grew the great oak which had caused the destruction. And thus work the silent forces of nature, bringing to naught the vain imaginations of man.—Ex.
Discipline and Personal Example
NEVER punish your child for a fault to which you are addicted yourself.
"Doing Thy Pleasure on My Holy Day."
"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath,
From doing thy pleasure on my holy day;
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy of the Lord, honorable;
And shalt honor him,
Not doing thine own ways,
Nor finding thine own pleasure,
Nor speaking thine own words;
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
And I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of
the earth,
And feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy Father:
For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."
Isa. 58:13, 14.
It is evident that Isaiah's teaching—God's teaching rather—respecting the spirit and mode of the proper observance of the Sabbath, is regarded by many as obsolete. As to the perpetual obligation of the Sabbath, how can it be denied without rejecting the decalogue in which it is imbedded? If the fourth commandment is no longer binding, how about the third and the fifth, between which it stands, and all that follow? If the spirit and mode of Sabbath-keeping set forth in the 13th and 14th verses of Isaiah 58, quoted above, is obsolete under the new covenant, how about the spirit and mode of fasting, as a divine institution recognized by our Lord, set forth by Isaiah in the preceding verses of the chapter?
Analyzing the lines of the texts they suggest: (1) Turning the foot away from wonted ways on the Sabbath—not doing thine own ways; (2) nor doing thine own pleasure—nor finding it; (3) nor speaking thine own words of wonted themes; but, (1) setting apart the Sabbath as a holy day (not holiday) for God's honor; and, (2) finding pleasure and delight in so doing; (3) such observance secures divine delights, which earthly pleasures cannot equal, and divine honors that exalt and satisfy.
Bishop Andrew comments thus: "To keep the Sabbath in an idle manner is the sabbath of oxen and asses; to keep it in a jovial manner is the sabbath of the golden calf, when the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play; to keep it in surfeiting and wantonness is the sabbath of Satan, the devil's holiday."
The day is God's, by right and claim,
Yet made for man; then what a shame
To rob the Lord of praise divine
Seeking not his but only thine.
The foregoing is from the Christian Secretary of some months ago. Its logic and its interpretation are alike faultless. It would be difficult to make a stronger case in so few words. The perpetual obligation to observe the Sabbath cannot be denied without rejecting the decalogue in which it is imbedded. Nay, more. It cannot be denied without ignoring the spirit of the teaching of the prophets, Nehemiah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, on the subject; it cannot be denied without falsifying the teachings of Jesus in the declaration that the Sabbath was made for man; it cannot be denied without involving the custom of Paul, as described in the 13th, 16th, 17th and 18th chapters of the Acts, in gross inconsistency.
The writer of the above extract states the occasion of his writing as follows:—
"A recent occurrence prompts these questions. On a recent Sunday a yacht squadron lay anchored in a bay of Long Island Sound. It was announced along the coast that the chaplain of the fleet would hold divine service in the morning of that day on the admiral's yacht. It is honorable to the squadron that they should have an evangelical chaplain, and that they should anchor on the Sabbath and have divine service, and that they should invite the dwellers on the islands and shore of the coast, who live remote from houses of public worship, to attend. But how about church-members who live hard by sanctuaries and must drive four or five miles and pass by several of God's houses to reach the shore?"
That such an occurrence on Sunday should call forth such truthful utterances regarding the Sabbath of Jehovah, seems a little surprising. The writer certainly must know that the Sabbath of which Isaiah spoke was not Sunday, but seventh day. And in the vivid picture of the prophet we have the manner in which God wants that Sabbath kept. It is not a day of idleness, of pleasure-seeking, or of dissipation; it is a day for holy delights in the worship of God. This is the so-called "Jewish Sabbath." The writer must also know that it was this same Sabbath whose universality Jesus declared when he affirmed that it "was made for man." It was this same Sabbath which Jesus sought to divest of the cumbersome traditions with which the people had invested it, and which he sought, like Isaiah, to make a source of spiritual blessing and joy to men. It was this same Sabbath which Paul, in his ministry, honored, using it as a source of instruction and spiritual help to his fellow-men, while he labored among them on the other six days of the week at his trade. The Sabbath of Moses and Isaiah is the Sabbath of Jesus and Paul. The New Testament never uses the term Sabbath, referring to the weekly day of rest, in any other sense than that in which the Old Testament uses the same term, and never means any other day of the week than that which is meant by the same term in the Old Testament. There is, then, no such thing as the "Jewish Sabbath" or the "Christian Sabbath" known to Scripture teaching. The Sabbath which God required his ancient people to keep holy, he requires his people everywhere and in all times to keep holy, for the same reasons, for the same ends, and in the same spirit. But Sunday, or the first day of the week, as a holy day, is wholly unknown to the Scripture calendar. That the tying up of a yacht on Sunday and the flocking of people from the shore to attend religious services on board the vessel should have provoked a Baptist to such a vigorous, Biblical exegesis of the Sabbath doctrine is surprising.—Sabbath Recorder.
A Desire to do Good.
By Independent
The word which best designates the Christian character is consecration. That is its first fruit, because it is its best definition. Of Christ we are told, first negatively, that he pleased not himself. Then we are told affirmatively that he went about doing good. The two together, self-abnegation and doing good to others, make up the simple, grand quality of Christian consecration.
We suppose there never was a case of Christian conversion in which the first evidence of it was not the desire to do good. The first question asked by Saul of Tarsus was, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Asking that question transformed him into the apostle Paul, into the missionary, the sent one, for the word apostle means missionary, or sent. And the long succession of modern apostles have been stirred by this same enthusiasm of consecration to doing good, and have held themselves strenuously to this service, and have won its crown.
There is no mystery about this transformation beyond what comes in the influence of lofty motives welcomed to the soul. The consecration to such service is most natural and reasonable. It is unnatural only as sin and selfishness have made nature itself unnatural. A man's own conscience bids him do good. Every other man's conscience approves it. God commands it. The example of the love of Christ enforces it. The Spirit of God impresses it. Then the soul accepts the duty, and finds a happiness higher than it had ever before known, even in hard service of doing good.
Here are the fruits by which the Christian is known. This is by which every one shall be judged. It is not universal and miscellaneous undirected good-doing that will be required of us; but good-doing in the narrow directions for which our faculties fit us, and of which we are capable. Christ left something for us to do. And to each of us he has left his special task of good-doing. We shall not find it difficult to discover what it is, if we really have the consecration of heart.—Independent.
Secret Prayer.
By L. A. C.
WE may always meet our Saviour in his house, and in the prayer-meeting, but he would have us pray in secret. And if it be true that "declension begins in the closet," we need to be faithful in the observance of secret prayer. It is quite interesting to note the different places to which Christians repair for private devotions. I well remember seeing my father take a light immediately after tea, and retire to the parlor for a season of secret prayer. And richly did the Father who seeth in secret reward him openly.
I knew of a deacon who always prayed by himself at his barn, early in the morning, before commencing any of his daily labor. One mother used to take her baby and retire to a closet under the stairs to pray. Another mother, who found it difficult to pray long at a time without hearing the call for "mamma," used often to steal a few minutes for prayer at a certain place in her pantry. These were truly helpful minutes, and she was grateful that in the press of duties and cares she could come to the Master and touch but the hem of his garment. I have read of a converted heathen girl, who was so much persecuted by her family when trying to pray that she would be a long time in wiping her face in the morning, that she might pray in the towel.
Some one has aptly said that in order to obtain the most good from our private devotions we should choose such times and places as will best keep us from interruptions and the fear of them. All persons are not situated alike, and each must choose the time and place best for himself.
Jesus, where'er thy people meet,
There they behold the mercy-seat;
Where'er they seek thee thou art found,
And every place is hallowed ground.
—L. A. C., in Congregationalist.
Individual Responsibility.
By Methodist Recorder
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son." This proverb shall no longer be used in Israel, that "the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." We cannot shield ourselves behind the delinquencies of others. Their conduct may be very reprehensible, but that is no excuse for us. When God calls us to an account, he will not inquire whether others were disobedient and rebellious, but whether we were consistent and upright in our lives. And if our conduct shall be found to be in harmony with his requirements, we will not be condemned because others have disregarded his law and rebelled against his authority. Others may involve us in trouble, but they cannot, without our own consent, involve us in sin. They may even bring upon us the condemnation of our fellow-men, but they cannot bring upon us the condemnation of our God.
While there is something awfully solemn in the thought of our individual responsibility, there is also something to fill us with joy. Without our own individual volition, there is no power in the universe that can involve us in sin, and bring upon us the condemnation of our God. Every man holds his destiny in his own hand, and according to his own acts he will be acquitted or condemned.
Items from the General Conference.
By Editor
THE twenty-fifth annual session of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists convened in Battle Creek, Mich., Thursday, November 18, at 9 A. M. As this body has the oversight of all the missionary work done among Seventh-day Adventists, its proceedings indicate the extent of the spread of the Third Angel's Message, and we therefore design to give to our readers some of the main features of this session.
The first meeting was chiefly taken up with organization and the appointing of committees, of which the following were named: On Nominations—J. Fargo, J. B. Goodrich, C. L. Boyd; on Resolutions—R. A. Underwood, E. J. Waggoner, A. B. Oyen; on Licenses and Credentials—S. N. Haskell, B. L. Whitney, G. G. Rupert; on Auditing—Harmon Lindsay, D. T. Jones, D. B. Oviatt, J. Fargo, J. H. Morrison, H. Grant; on Distribution of Labor—G. I. Butler, S. N. Haskell, R. A. Underwood, D. M. Canright, A. J. Breed, Lewis Johnson, M. C. Wilcox; on Religious Services—R. M. Kilgore, L. McCoy, G. C. Tenney.
The President, Elder Geo. I. Butler, then made an address, in the course of which he gave the following items of interest: The last year has been one of marked prosperity to the cause; the publishing houses have sold more denominational books than ever before; our institutions of learning are attended by more persons who are preparing for the work, than at any previous period in their history; and there was never before so great an interest in the matter of education among our people as at the present time. There is also a greater willingness on the part of people to listen to the truth than ever before.
At the second meeting additional delegates presented their credentials. The Conference, as organized, is composed of delegates representing the following Conferences and Missions: Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, California, Dakota, New England, Minnesota, Kansas, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Colorado, Vermont, Maine, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Canada, Texas, North Pacific and Upper Columbia (Oregon and Washington), Central Europe, England, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, North Carolina, and the general Southern field.
The greater part of the second meeting was devoted to a consideration of the Sunday law persecutions in Arkansas and Tennessee. In this discussion the following facts were brought out: In Arkansas everything that a man has, even to the smallest article of household furniture, is liable to be levied on in payment of a fine for laboring on Sunday. Although the sentence usually runs that the convicted person shall pay a certain fine and the costs of prosecution, with the alternative of one day in jail for each dollar of the fine and costs, lying in jail the specified time does not satisfy the judgment. After a man has served out his time in jail, his property may still be seized, or he may, if he has no property, be compelled to work out the fine. Besides this, the prisoners are treated as convicts having no rights whatever. They are not considered as having any conscience, and may be compelled while in jail to labor on the Sabbath, with the alternative of the most barbarous punishment if they refuse. It will thus appear that the law violates every principle of justice, and is most inhuman and cruel. And this appears still more plainly when we learn that offenses such as stealing are not punished with anything like such severity.
More than this, these prosecutions are conducted against only those who keep the seventh day of the week, "according to the commandment." Brother Armstrong, who served out one sentence in jail for doing a little work in his garden on Sunday, stated that when he was brought before the grand jury to testify in another case, he was asked if he knew of any parties who had done labor on Sunday. He replied that he did, and when asked for the names, he mentioned the employees of the railroad companies. Then he was asked if he knew of any others. In reply he mentioned the hotel keepers. In like manner he cited the jury to livery men, hackmen, barbers, and saloon keepers. Finally he was asked if he knew of any Seventh-day Adventists who had labored on Sunday, and when the names of some of them had been obtained, the jury was satisfied. The Seventh-day Adventists were indicted, and the others were not molested. In some cases the brethren have been told that they would not be molested, or that they would be released from the remainder of their term of imprisonment, if they would promise not to keep the Sabbath any more.
Thus it appears that these Sunday law prosecutions are nothing else than the meanest kind of religious persecution; and that the persecutors are moved, not by a regard for the Sunday, but by a hatred for the Sabbath. This is still further shown by the manner in which the testimony has been gained which has convicted these persons. In some cases two persons, one a professed Sunday observer and the other a Sabbath-keeper, have transacted certain business together on Sunday; the Sunday-keeper would then go and tell of it, and his companion would be arrested, while he would not be molested.
In the face of all these things there are people who have the unblushing effrontery to say that there is no danger of there being any persecution for conscience' sake in this country, and that Sunday laws do not interfere with any man's religion! The fact is, and every candid person must admit it, that Sunday laws as they are executed in the State of Arkansas, are unjust and inhuman, and utterly subversive of every principle of civil or religious freedom. And the people of Arkansas are no different from the people of other States. The law is administered there no differently from what a similar law would be administered anywhere else. The fault is not primarily with the law, but with the people; and when the National Reform movement shall have triumphed, the Arkansas persecutions will be repeated with tenfold severity all over the United States.
We do not believe, however, that the time for the triumph of this movement has come just yet. We believe that the Constitution of the United States is the best and most just document ever made by man, and that it will condemn the iniquitous proceedings that are being carried on under the mask of the law; and when the Constitution has thus spoken, it will henceforth be so clear to all the world that none need be mistaken, that the work of the National Reform party is a direct attempt to overthrow the best charter of human liberty that is in existence, and to bring in religious oppression.
The greater part of Friday, the 19th, was devoted to the consideration of the wants of the foreign missions. The great want is consecrated laborers. We have space for only a few items of interest concerning the foreign work as presented by Elder B. L. Whitney, who spoke for the Swiss Conference and Central Europe, Elder M. C. Wilcox, who spoke for England, and Elder A. B. Oyen, who spoke for Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. The Swiss Conference has three ordained and seven licensed ministers. The Conference has fifteen churches and about three hundred members. These churches, however, are not all in Switzerland; two are in Germany, four in France, two in Italy, and one in Roumania. Elder Whitney stated that he knew of only three Seventh-day Adventist families in Switzerland who own the houses in which they live, and many of them are in the extremest poverty. Yet notwithstanding this, they have paid into the Conference treasury during the past year, nearly $10 per member.
In England hard times are a still greater obstacle to the spread of the truth than in Switzerland. In every city there are thousands of skilled workmen who are unemployed. If a man begins to keep the Sabbath he is quite sure to lose his position, and if he once loses it, there is little prospect of regaining it, since scores as competent as he stand ready to take it. Still, in spite of these things in the way of living out the truth, many conscientious persons are found who take their stand for God and his truth, and they do not starve to death either.
During the year, 8,154 ships have been visited by the ship missionaries in England. These ships carry the truth to every nation under heaven. Through this agency a gentleman in Finland received papers and books and began to keep the Sabbath, and through his efforts a company of twenty Sabbath-keepers has been raised up, who will soon be visited by Elder Matteson.
Many other instances were related, showing how the truth of the Third Angel's Message cannot be hid, but we can mention only two. A gentleman, a Baptist, received part of a copy of Present Truth, wrapped about some goods. He became deeply interested, and called at the office and bought the back numbers of Present Truth, also the pamphlet "Truth Found," and the tract "Who Changed the Sabbath?" which he saw advertised. He is much awakened over the Sabbath question.
Elder Whitney also mentioned a very interesting circumstance. Brother Vuilleumier baptized a company of twenty-two persons at Neuchatel. A report of this was published in a religious paper in Paris. This report was read by some French Baptists in the Argentine Republic, South America, and awakened their interest. One of this company had been in Switzerland, and he told the others that the people who performed this baptism keep the Sabbath. As a result of this, six of the company have begun to keep the Lord's Sabbath. They have sent for Les Signes des Temps, published at Basel.
In England there are now three organized churches of Seventh-day Adventists, containing eighty-one members. There are besides this forty who are not yet church-members.
In Norway the people are religiously inclined, and are willing to listen to the truth. It is quite easy to convince them of its binding claim, but quite difficult to induce them to take their stand, owing to their limited means of obtaining a living. Still poverty does not deter all. In Norway there are three churches and 175 members. The Swedish Conference has ten churches and 250 members, besides 100 Sabbath-keepers not yet connected with any church. Denmark has nine churches and 250 members.
These facts but poorly show how the truth is spreading. Still there is a great work to be done. This does not indicate, however, that it will be a long while before it is done. The work will all be done within this generation, for "this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Before this generation passes away the Lord will come, and the work of warning the world will have been completed. Therefore the only conclusion is that if those to whom the work has been intrusted are unfaithful to their trust, God will set them aside and727put his work into the hands of those who will connect with him and follow his opening providence. The cause will go on to triumph whether we do or not.
The religious services thus far have been interesting and profitable. Yesterday morning (Sabbath, Nov. 20) at 5:30 A. M., Elder Butler delivered a most impressive and instructive discourse to the ministers and missionary workers. At 10:30 Elder Haskell delivered a sermon on the Judgment, which made a solemn impression on many minds. In the afternoon there was a social meeting, and in the evening a large congregation gave careful attention to a lecture by Dr. J. H. Kellogg, on the "Religion of the Body." The meeting has only just begun, and more items of interest may be expected next week.