On this stupendous subject there seems to be a degree of perplexity in some minds on account of the variety of statements that are made concerning it. There are diverse scenes involved in the judgment, and different agents have a part to act therein, and the problem seems to be to locate these different divisions of the work, and identify the agents who carry it forward. Summed up to one point, the query is, Who is, or is to be, our judge?
For instance, we read in Acts 17:31: “Because He [God] hath appointed a day, in the which He [God] will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” This would suggest the idea that the world in the day appointed is to be judged by the Father. But we read again in John 5:22: “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.” Comparing this with Ps. 50:6, we have this statement: “And the heavens shall declare His righteousness: for God is judge himself.” A scene opened to the prophet Daniel represents God, on a certain occasion, acting as judge. The scene is one of unparalleled sublimity, and must powerfully impress every one who, with a reverent spirit, reads the description: “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool: His throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Dan. 7:9, 10.
This passage, if we mistake not, furnishes a key to the solution of the main difficulties of the situation. Here is a judgment connected with the opening of the books. The Ancient of Days, God the Father, presides in it. There are over one hundred million heavenly intelligences engaged in it. “Ten thousand times ten thousand” are a hundred million, as we compute numbers, and besides these there are “thousands of thousands.” These are not the great multitude of the denizens of this world assembled to be judged, but those who minister unto the Ancient of Days, in this work. This applies to a time when the great plan of salvation is unfolding and closing its vast movements. The thrones which are here said to be “cast down,” so rendered by the translators, who evidently supposed them to be earthly thrones of human government, which are to be overthrown in the last day, are not such thrones, but thrones connected with the judgment; and the words should not be rendered “cast down,” or overthrown, but established, or “set up.” What thrones, or seats of judgment, are to be set up when the judgment scene opens? The time is when “judgment is given to the saints of the Most High” (verse 22); and where are the saints when judgment is given to them, not judgment of them as accountable beings, but judgment for them to exercise over others? John saw the whole situation right in connection with this very time. He says, “And I saw thrones, and they [the saints] sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.” Rev. 20:4.
Right here the subject of the sanctuary throws its all-penetrating search-light on this subject. Jesus Christ is the mediator for men, and a priest of God after the order of Melchisedec. Heb. 5:5, 10. It appears from this testimony and from Acts 17:31 that He has been appointed, or ordained, to that position: “Because He [God] hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world . . . by that man whom He hath ordained: whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” It is appropriate that that one who is the mediator for the world should have a part in the general judgment of the world, so the testimony is that God “hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world . . . by that man [Christ] whom He hath ordained;” and He has given assurance unto all men that this period of judgment must pass upon all men, because He hath raised Christ from the dead. That is the pledge of that work. One can go back and undo the resurrection of Christ as well as to think of escaping the test of judgment.
The plan of Christ’s office as mediator, and its modus operandi, was doubtless all arranged in the beginning of His work. And while God has ever held the general management of the affairs of this world, and has often let loose judgments upon sin, as in the case of the antediluvians, the Egyptians, the Sodomites, etc., to which cases Ps. 50:6 would apply, there are different divisions of the judgment work which must all have their place, and be considered in their relation to one another and to the work as a whole. This distinction is seen even here in human courts. There is, first, the investigation of the case to determine the degree of guilt of the parties, and fix the punishment; and secondly, the execution of the sentence. And in its general phases divine justice must be administered on as equitable basis as this. And this is just the method pursued in this work, according to what is revealed. It is all contained in the prophecy of Dan. 7:9, 10. We think in this stage of the progress of the Third Angel’s Message we are justified in assuming that the reader understands something of the sanctuary and its ministration. The sanctuary, where the plan of redemption is carried forward, was a building, or tabernacle, located in the midst of the camp of Israel, as a dwelling place for God. Exodus 25. There was the law, the priesthood, the sacrifices, the symbols of pardon and forgiveness. There the penitent came confessing his sins, and sending them, through the blood of the victim and the ministration of the priest, into the sanctuary. There the atonement was made, and sins, in figure, put away.
All this Paul tells us (Heb. 9:1–7) was a worldly sanctuary under the first, or old, covenant; but now we are under a new covenant introduced by Christ, more ample and efficient in its provisions than the old, furnished with better sacrifices, even the precious blood of Christ, who pleads that blood for sinners in a more complete sanctuary, the true and more perfect tabernacle, pitched, or erected, not by Moses, but by the Lord himself. This heavenly tabernacle, or sanctuary, has two apartments, as the earthly had. In the first, or holy place, Christ, as priest after the order of Melchisedec, receives the confessions of Christians now, just as the Aaronic priest received the confessions of Hebrew penitents under the Mosaic system.
Now following the type, we easily go forward to the time when the program of the world’s redemption must close. There the scene of scenes takes place. The sanctuary must be cleansed, and sins be blotted out and put away, that they may not mar the kingdom of heaven, disturb the saints, and remain a cloud upon the memory of God.
To accomplish this, a great change is made in the heavenly courts. The second apartment of the heavenly temple, unoccupied till this change came due, was opened (Rev. 11:19); and the ministration and the ministers moved therein. The work for the world’s salvation assumed a new phase. This is noted and described in the prophecy of Dan. 7:9, 10, 13, 14. When the work in the sanctuary began, at the ascension of Christ, the throne of God, and God, at whose right hand Christ took His position, were in the first apartment of the sanctuary. Rev. 4:2, 3, 5. This is proved by the seven lamps of fire which were before the throne—antitype of the candlestick of the sanctuary with its seven lamps. Ex. 37:23; Heb. 8:1, 2. Daniel’s record here describes the change: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.” Dan. 7:13. But was not the Son of man near before the Ancient of Days when He was at His right hand in the holy place?—Very true; but the Father made a move: “I beheld till the thrones were set up [or placed in position—thrones of the four living beings and the four and twenty elders. Rev. 4:8, 10], and the Ancient of Days [God the Father] did sit.” Dan. 7:9. This affirms that God took a new position; for the words “did sit” mean, and should be so translated, that He “took a position as judge in a court of justice.” The work in the most holy place, the cleansing of the sanctuary, is a work belonging to a court of justice; for here every case that has come within the sphere of Christ’s mediatorial work is examined, and the decision made whether they have overcome, or are to be rejected. In this scene God acts as judge. Christ presents the cases before Him, pleads His blood, and God decides whether or not He can accept them through Christ. Thus God judges them by that man whom He has ordained for this work. Acts 17:31. If accepted, their part is made sure in the everlasting kingdom, the subjects of which are then being made up. This is the investigative judgment. Here the King comes in to examine the guests according to the Saviour’s vivid parable, to see if all have on the wedding garment. Matt. 22:11–13. The man who has it not on is bound hand and foot, and cast out into outer darkness, never to see the light of life again. O that men could realize what a vital interest they have in Christ at the present time!
Daniel’s record (7:14) continues: “And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him.” When does Christ receive the kingdom as here predicted? Not when He enters the most holy; not till the work in that apartment is finished, and all the guests who are candidates for the kingdom have been examined and accepted. Then Christ comes with His reward, to give immortality to all who have accepted it. Rev. 22:12. Then He can send forth His angels to gather out of this earth, the place to be occupied by His kingdom, all that offend, and them which do iniquity (Matt. 13:41–43), which He will do by the seven last plagues and other judgments with which He sweeps the world of its guilty inhabitants. Rev. 19:19–21.
The investigative judgment being thus passed, and the line being drawn between the saved and the lost, an investigation of the cases of the wicked must follow; for every one who has ever been on probation must give account for the deeds done in the body. This is accomplished by the saints, in conjunction with Christ, who reign during the thousand years of Rev. 20:4–6. The saints having passed their own judgment, are at this time redeemed, and can then judge wicked men and angels. 1 Cor. 6:2–4.
This work being done, the end of the thousand years is reached; and the execution of the judgment upon all the wicked takes place. Then punishment is visited upon every sin ever committed, and every sinner involved therein. They are destroyed root and branch in the final lake of fire. Rev. 20:12–15. This fire and destruction were originally prepared only for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41), and the only human beings destroyed therein are those who joined the devil in his rebellion, and persistently continued in it to the close. This is the fire that accomplishes the judgment (the execution of the judgment) and perdition of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:7. Then the last vestige of sin and sinners is destroyed. The last stain and scar of the primal entrance of evil and its curse into the universe is wiped away; the old earth, racked by convulsions and blighted by miasma and mildew for six thousand years, will be healed and made new (2 Peter 3:13); the tabernacle of God will come673down into our midst, God himself will be our companion and our God (Rev. 21:3, 4); and then will rise and fill the whole heaven of the new creation the song of jubilee from “every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, . . . saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.” This is eternity’s amen to the work and ways of God in the salvation of men. Rev. 5:13; 7:11, 12.
THE REVIVAL OF THE CANVASSING WORK.
By Arthur G. Daniells
The work known among Seventh-day Adventists as “gospel canvassing” is being revived. For this every believer in the special message and work for this time should thank God and take courage. The revival of the gospel canvassing work throughout the ranks of our people means more than at first may appear. It means the revival of the old-time missionary spirit. It means the more thorough and rapid proclamation of God’s last message to the world. It means that the coming of Jesus to end the cruel reign of sin will be hastened. Therefore, let all rejoice that the canvassing work is being revived, and let all who rejoice in this do all in their power to aid in the revival.
Those who have given the proceedings of the late General Conference careful reading, will remember that the canvassing work was a prominent feature of the Conference. Our publishers and leading canvassers placed before the Conference, in a most earnest and intelligent manner, the meaning and value of this work to the cause of present truth. These efforts received a prompt and hearty response from the delegates. The good work they began has been taken up by ministers, physicians, and Conference committees during the summer, and presented to thousands of our people at the camp-meetings. This has brought new life to this branch of the work.
The time has certainly and fully come when our people should engage in the circulation of our literature as never before. “The King’s business requires haste.” “All things are now ready.” The fields are “white already to harvest.” The end is “nearer than when we [first] believed.” “Son, go work to-day in my vineyard.”
Winter is approaching. The heat of the summer is past. The evenings are growing longer. Crops are being gathered in, and marketed. In most parts of the country the harvests have been bountiful. Prices generally are high. Business everywhere is good. Factories are running day and night. Money is plentiful and is circulating freely. The whole country is enjoying unparalleled prosperity.
Viewed from every standpoint, it is as clear as it can be that the hour has come for a great move on the part of Seventh-day Adventists. We should now enter upon the greatest campaign ever known in our history. God calls us to action. Everything about us demands vigorous efforts. We must place our literature in the hands of the masses who need the truths we prize so highly. Then let the leaders of the people sound the trumpet call to service all through the land.
In the Lake Union Conference, which includes the States of Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, also the Province of Ontario, the call is being made for a thousand consecrated men and women to devote their entire time and energies to the sale of our literature. Conference officers, ministers, and State agents are throwing themselves into this campaign with an earnestness that means success. Nearly every State has a consecrated minister acting as State canvassing agent. In Michigan, Elder Wight has charge of the work, and is heartily supported by the Conference president. They have planned to have all the churches in the Conference visited by earnest ministers to arouse every member to do something this winter to place our literature in the hands of the people. Each member is to be instructed, and given the work for which he is best fitted. This should surely result in the sale of a large amount of literature during the winter, and the development of scores of successful canvassers for our large books.
Elder F. L. Moody has charge of the work in Indiana. During the summer, Brother Moody was the general agent for the Lake Union Conference. At the Indiana camp-meeting, he was chosen by the people as their State agent until a suitable person could be found to take the place. About that time Brother E. R. Palmer came from Australia to this country, with a view of spending the winter here, and then proceeding to England to spend a few months in helping build up the canvassing work in that country. Owing to Indiana’s need of Brother Moody’s entire time, and Brother Palmer’s long and valuable experience in the canvassing work, it was thought best for the latter to take the oversight of the work in the Lake Union Conference for a time. Brother Moody and the president of the Indiana Conference have arranged to visit the leading churches in the State together to secure recruits for the canvassing work.
Similar plans are being adopted by the presidents and State agents of Wisconsin and Illinois. With the earnest, intelligent, sanctified co-operation of Conference presidents, committees, and the ministers, this work must succeed. No obstacles can stand before it. Every difficulty will be swept away, and genuine success will follow. Then let this good work be taken up and carried forward in every Conference throughout the States. Let us sow the land with our literature, and thus help speedily to proclaim this gospel of the kingdom to all the world, and so hasten the day of God. A. G. DANIELLS.
THE NEW THEOLOGY.
By L. A. S.
EVER since the falling away from the truth of God which took place when the churches rejected the message sent from God sixty years ago,—“Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come,”—there has been coming into the place of the old truth, in those churches, a new theology; which, however, professes to be like the old in containing the truths that relate to human salvation, but to be far in advance of the old in the point of agreement with reason and science.
The time has now come when this new theology has developed far enough to permit of being formulated in a series of definite propositions, drawn up in contrast with the propositions of the old religion; and this we find has been done by the Rev. R. Heber Newton, one of the foremost expounders of the new teaching. It will be instructive to note some of the statements and contrasts made by him touching this vital theme.
“It is a new reformation,” says Mr. Newton, “through which we are passing; a reformation, or refashioning, of the old theology—not a new formation, much less a mere destruction. It is a movement repeating, on a large scale, the Reformation in the sixteenth century. The issue of that mighty change was at the time expected, by timid foes and by overzealous friends, to prove an utter break with historical Christianity. It proved to be a recrystallization of the old elements of faith, temporarily thrown into a state of flux, in much the same old forms, enlarged and ennobled.
“Notwithstanding the vastly greater change now going on, there is good reason to believe that the issue of this new reformation will be, not the loss of religion, nor yet wholly a new religion, but the old religion purified and evolved, made reasonable and moral.”
After thus intimating that the old religion, taught by such men as Bunyan, Wesley, and Whitefield, was neither reasonable, nor moral, this disciple of the new ‘faith’ proceeds to contrast it with the old. Some of his contrasts are as follows:—
“The old theology teaches the dogma of original sin—the guilt handed on from the fall in Eden. The new theology translates ‘original sin’ into ‘the law of heredity,’ which dowers us to-day with the inherited appetites and passions of the brute man from the ages past.
“The old theology sees in the hereafter two worlds—the one of perfect, unalloyed bliss, the other of hopeless, horrible suffering—into one of which every man passes immediately, through death, to abide therein forever. The new theology sees in the hereafter all varieties of experience, following upon all varieties of earthly life; each man’s lot there being the natural consequence of his character here; the mercy of God enduring forever, and the love of God being mighty to save there, as here, unto the uttermost.”
As the reader will perceive, this is simply the religion of evolution. The new theology, or “reformation,” as its apostles style it, is simply the Darwinian doctrine of evolution in a religious guise. Mr. Newton continues:—
“The old theology sets forth a dogma of sacrifice which sees in Jesus Christ a voluntary victim to propitiate the wrath of the Father; by His death placing in man’s hands a quit claim from Jehovah for the full payment of all debts of humanity to Him. The new theology sets forth the natural law of sacrifice, which runs through all creation, and is an expression of the very heart of God himself; under which individuals and classes and races are all slowly being fitted into the human life divine. . . .”
“The old theology teaches men to believe in a God outside of nature, who wound up the mechanism of the universe six thousand years ago, and now occasionally interferes in it, by suspending its laws, in order to attest the mission of His messengers. The new theology teaches men to believe in God as the Spirit indwelling the universe, whose will energizes in its forces, whose mind thinks in its laws, whose nature is imperfectly revealed in nature, whose character is seen as in an image in man—‘Our Father who art in the heavens.’”
“The old theology propounds a dogma of incarnation which represents God as coming down through space, from somewhere, at a certain moment of history, to embody himself in a man, whom men vainly tried to think of as being both God and man, being indeed neither very God nor yet very man. The new theology, returning to the original philosophy of the Church, propounds a doctrine of incarnation which conceives of the divine Spirit dwelling in the universe, embodied in nature, ensouled in man, as coming out from within ‘the abysmal deeps of personality,’ and so filling one man that ‘in Him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily’—making Him the sacred symbol of the universal reality through which man receives power to become the son of God, a partaker of the divine nature.”
The language of evolution, as applied to religion, is necessarily somewhat vague and mystical, as is this that we have quoted. But the purpose of the new theology is very plain. It takes the edge off the old religion with its clear-cut doctrines of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. It deadens the sense of human accountability before God, and substitutes the idea that somehow, through some law of evolution, the soul will gradually mount upward to a higher life, without any such struggle and sacrifice as comes in the crucifixion of self with Jesus Christ. And if no transformation of character is made in this present world, there will still remain an unending opportunity for its attainment in some state of future existence. Nothing could be better calculated to lull the soul into the sleep of carnal security.
False dogmas from paganism which ever since the first falling away and the establishment of the papacy have defiled the pure gospel preached by Christ and the apostles, have fertilized the soil for the growth of the new theology. These false dogmas were unscientific, hence the necessity was felt for new doctrines that would harmonize with science and reason. “We have had,” says Mr. Newton, “an unscientific theology, and, by reaction, an irreligious science. We may have scientific theology, and thus a religious science.” But instead of turning to the science of salvation as revealed in the gospel, the professed teachers of Christianity have turned to “science falsely so called,” and have produced a mixture of religion and evolution, which points man to himself for salvation rather than to his Creator.
First, the churches of to-day rejected the message sent from God proclaiming the hour of the judgment and the duty to return to the true worship of God by observing His Sabbath, which message would674have separated them from papal errors, and have prepared them for the second advent of Christ. They turned from that light and pronounced it darkness, and the darkness to which they turned is heralded by them as advanced light. How fully, therefore, is the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled to-day, that “darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.” And therefore how necessary, also, that the remaining part of that prophecy should be fulfilled now in us, that “the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.”
L. A. S.
“WORKING TOGETHER WITH HIM.”
By M. Ritchie
Our Master, in thy field so wide,
Thou bidst us work with thee,
And thou art daily by their side
Who serve thee faithfully;
Thou hast a place and work for all
Who seek to serve, both great and small.
How many serve through weary years
In fields where thorns prevail!
They strive and toil with bitter tears,
And each day seem to fail.
But who shall judge? We see each weed,
But thou the living hidden seed.
Our failure oft in thy wise hand
Is our most true success;
Thy ways we do not understand,
Yet thou dost know and bless
Each one who strives to do his part
In thy great field, with hand and heart.
And so we pray thee, Master, still
Teach us thy work to do,
And not our own vain selfish will;
Our love each day renew,
That we may work thy work on earth
With fervent love and simple faith.
— M. Ritchie, in British Evangelist.
THE GENERAL MEETING IN ENGLAND.
By William Warren Prescott
In harmony with the counsel of the General Conference Committee, I spent a few weeks in England, and attended the annual Conference and general meeting which was held in Wanstead, a suburb of London, August 2–12. The location selected for the meeting was a pleasant one, an open field near one of the entrances to Wanstead Park and overlooking the country. The weather was most favorable for the meeting, being in marked contrast with the experience at Birmingham last year. The attendance was just about the same as in previous years, although no reduced rates could be obtained on the railways. In addition to the regular workers of the Conference there were present Brethren O. A. Olsen and L. R. Conradi, from the Continent; Brethren A. F. Ballenger and W. C. Sisley, who had recently come from America; and Drs. Olsen and Holden. All these brethren took part in the work of the meeting in connection with the other workers.
The general theme of the whole meeting was the second advent of our Lord, and the preparation needed in view of the nearness of that great day. The different phases of the gospel message were presented in their relation to this central truth, and the privilege of such a personal experience as gives constant and complete victory over sin was kept before the people. This naturally led to special seasons of repentance and confession, and renewed consecration of body, soul, and spirit to the service of the Lord, and many received great blessing on these occasions.
The meeting was well advertised, and there was a good attendance from the neighborhood evenings and Sundays. On Sunday evenings the large tent could not hold more than half of the audience, but those who stood outside as well as those in the tent listened attentively while the great truths of the prophecies were being presented. On the second Sabbath, Brother E. J. Waggoner baptized twelve persons in the baptistery in our chapel at Leytonstone, about a mile from the place of the meeting.
In view of the local interest and attendance, it was decided to continue evening meetings in the same tent after the general meeting closed, and Brethren E. E. Andross, A. F. Ballenger, and A. R. Leask were requested to remain for this purpose.
As I sailed for America two days after the close of the Conference, I cannot state the results of this effort, but have since learned that the attendance and interest continued good.
Several sessions of the Conference were held during the week, in which brief reports of the work during the year and the financial standing were presented, and the necessary business was transacted. The tithe report showed a gain of a little over £100 (about $500) above the previous year, while the other funds had fallen off slightly. The amount received toward the School fund was reported as £396 14s. 1½d. (about $1,930). It was stated that the Conference had been able to meet all its obligations during the year, and that it now owned property to the value of several hundred pounds. Plans were considered and adopted bearing upon the following features of the work: the establishment of a Conference school and of church schools, the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons,” the re-organization of the health work and the revival of the health magazine, and the opening up of the work in Scotland. When it was learned that Brother O. A. Olsen had been released from the recommendation to go to South Africa, he was unanimously requested to take the presidency of the British Conference, and consented to do so. The other members of the committee chosen were Brethren E. J. Waggoner, H. Champness, H. W. Armstrong, A. R. Leask, E. E. Andross, and Samuel Joyce. Miss Mary Jacques was chosen Secretary of the Sabbath-school Department and Treasurer of the Conference.
It was the opinion often expressed during the week that this was the best meeting yet held in England, and at the closing praise service many bore definite testimony to special blessing received. Personally, I was especially thankful for this privilege of meeting with so many of the brethren and sisters in their annual gathering and of sharing with them in the benefits of the occasion.
W. W. PRESCOTT.
ARGENTINA
By N. Z. Town
The last week of our stay in the States was spent among friends and relatives in South Lancaster, Mass. On Sabbath we had the privilege of speaking to the church concerning the work in Argentina. Among other things, we presented the needy condition of our mission school in this field. As the brethren and sisters saw the lack of facilities in the school, and the lack of funds better to equip it, their hearts were touched. At the close of the service a collection was taken for the school, which amounted to $15.18. During the next two days other gifts were handed in, thus making, in all, twenty-six dollars.
June 19 our company left New York for South America, via England. After a remarkably smooth voyage, we reached Southampton the 26th. We had to wait in England a week for the boat to Buenos Ayres. This time we spent among friends in London. It was encouraging to see the progress the work has made in this field since we left there five years ago. We attended several meetings in the tent, where Brother Champness is working in one of the suburbs of London. The pavilion was well filled each night with a very respectable class of people, who gave good attention to the word spoken. We expect to see reports of good results from these meetings.
On the 5th of July we set sail from Southampton, en route for Buenos Ayres. Again we were favored with fine weather and a smooth sea, and on the morning of July 27 we were brought safely to our desired haven.
The work has been onward here since we have been away. When so many of the workers left the field at the beginning of the year, some of the brethren were rather disheartened, especially with reference to the school. But others went ahead in faith, and put up the new part that we had planned to add to the school-building this year. They made a special effort to get the work finished before the teachers should arrive from the States, and in this they succeeded. Brethren Maas and Fulton were surprised to find such a comfortable, roomy house ready to receive them. The part added this year consists of one sleeping room, 13 x 16 ft., a kitchen, 16 x 16 ft., and a dining-room, 26 x 32 ft. But when the school opened, we were obliged to fill up the new dining-room with beds, and make the kitchen serve for dining-room as well, in order to accommodate those who came. So we see that the school has been built none too soon.
When I offered to settle with the brethren for their work in putting up the new building, only one would accept any remuneration. They were obliged to get some building material on trust, so the school now has a debt of about four hundred dollars. We thank the Lord that He is putting it into the hearts of some of our brethren in the States to help the school. I trust there are still others who will esteem it a privilege to assist.
In Nueva Palmyra, Uruguay, Brother Sallar, who accepted the truth last year, has been doing missionary work the last few months among his friends and neighbors. As a result a deep interest has been aroused in the truth; and when we arrived, a company of six were about to be baptized by Brother McCarthy.
From other places we hear of people who are becoming interested. The Lord has surely gone out before us, and we are glad of the privilege of being co-laborers with Him in this dark land.
“Brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.” N. Z. TOWN.
A TRIP TO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
By A. Palmquist
Having spent about five months in Santa Cruz, Danish West Indies, getting out books and literature, I left on June 13 for the Virgin Islands, and arrived the same day in St. Thomas, where I was welcomed by many friends. I was happy to see some of those for whom we have been laboring in attendance at the Sabbath meetings, and a few new ones who had joined them.
Monday night, June 17, I engaged a passage with a boat for St. John, and with my supply of books and Bibles was landed on the beach of the eastern part of the island about half-past three in the morning, not knowing a single person in the island. However, I found a house where I rested for an hour and a half; but it not being convenient to let me remain there, I took a boat and went up to the end of the bay, and after finding a place to stop, and having my things brought up, I found myself ready for work the next day.
St. John belongs to Denmark and to the municipality of St. Thomas, has an area of forty-two square miles, but a population of only nine hundred and twenty-five. In the days when sugar was king, it contained several valuable estates. The old mills still stand as monuments of those days. Very little sugar is made at present, owing to lack of money and the low price of raw sugar. The bay-leaf tree (Pimenta acris), from the leaves of which are extracted the bay-oil, is a growth of this island.
The Moravians, the only church in the island, have a mission and a minister located in the eastern part, Coral Bay, and also a meeting-house and school in the western part. Both minister and people—men and women—are heavy smokers.
The country being mountainous, no wagons are used, the traveling being done on horseback, by boat, or on foot.
The people are very kind and hospitable. I remained here for two weeks, and made many friends. One promised to obey God and keep His commandments. My sales here amounted to $36.65.
Sunday, June 30, I chartered a boat, and made arrangements to leave the following day for Tortola. Accordingly, we set sail for that place Monday morning, but on account of a very high sea, the heavens being black, we were obliged to return, well soaked from sea and rain. The means of travel between these islands are open boats. After waiting awhile, we made another attempt, and reached Road Town, Tortola, in the afternoon, though not in the best condition, but thankful to God for a safe passage.
Tortola is a crown colony of Great Britain, and chief of the English Virgin Islands, with a population of about four thousand. Sugar is made in several places, but in a primitive way. The country, like St. John, is mountainous. No wagons can be used. The way of transporting a barrel of sugar or meal is by fastening two rafts to a horse, letting the ends drag on the ground; or if two horses are675used, the rafts are fastened to both horses, one in front of the other, the barrel between.
The people are hospitable, hard-working, and independent, as they do not work for others on large estates, but have their own land and houses. Everywhere in the mountains and on the hills are people living, cultivating the soil, raising potatoes, cassava, fruits, and other products.
Such a demand for Bibles as in this island I never saw before. “We want Bibles” was the general demand. I was sorry at not being able this time fully to satisfy them. Expect to be better prepared next visit.
I remained about one month in this island, became acquainted with the people, and sold books and Bibles to the value of $93.70. My impression was and is that this island is ready for the message.
July 17 I took passage to Virgin Gorda, fifteen or eighteen miles from Road Town, Tortola. I called at the houses in the main part of the island, but for some reason I could not make many sales, only four small books, amounting to one dollar. Virgin Gorda has a population of five hundred and seventy-five, but a great part have to seek a living on other islands, principally Santo Domingo. The island has a copper mine; but owing to the many hindrances from the government, the owners are not able to work it.
July 19 I returned to Road Town, Tortola. Early Sunday morning, July 21, I took passage for Anegada, about forty miles from Road Town, and landed the same day in the afternoon. The water being very shallow, the boats anchor far out; but getting into a small boat, we came near enough to reach land by taking off shoes and stockings. We were met by a crowd of people on the beach. By invitation I spoke in the chapel at night to a full house. Anegada is about 13¾ x 9 miles, of coral formation, and flat as a griddlecake. The land belongs to any one and every one. On the middle south side, where the people live, it is naked rock, but on the north side there is enough soil to raise potatoes, corn, etc., but no fruit. The population is eight hundred, but as on Virgin Gorda, they have to go to Santo Domingo for a living. The only church in this island is the Wesleyan Methodist. The minister resides in Road Town, Tortola, and makes quarterly visits to this and other small islands. I sold $16.85 worth of books, and July 25 returned to Road Town, and July 29 took passage for St. Thomas, and on to Santa Cruz, July 31.
I cannot but praise God for His special care and blessings during this trip. Boats were sunk—one lost its cargo, and the crew barely saved themselves. The work was more than commonly hard, but the Lord gave more than common strength. I knew and felt His presence. With a bag of books in each hand, I climbed mountains from ten to twelve hundred feet in height, under a tropical sun; at times finding it difficult to get anything to eat; at night longing for morning, as the body ached from lying on hard boards; and sometimes receiving only a glass of water to wash my face and hands on getting up. Asking for a drink of water at one place, the woman said, “Excuse the frogs.” I drank the water, but left the frogs.
I have mentioned these few things that none may think it is all pleasure trips. It is not pleasure trips for the flesh, but pleasure in a higher sense to have the privilege of bringing the last message of life to a dying people.
The people, although poor, will spend their last cent for tobacco or rum. The women smoke as freely as do the men. More than one has said to me, “How can it be wrong to smoke when our ministers smoke?” One man, a catechist in the Church of England, said, “I believe the Seventh-day Adventists are right: I am a slave to tobacco.” Here are many slaves longing for liberty, slaves of habits and sin. Praise God, He is able to save and to keep.