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Signs of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 13.

General Articles

Signs of the Times

Apr 1, 1886

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 1, 1886

General Articles.

By Ellen G. White

A Lesson from Noah’s Time.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
“As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot. They did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”
It is the nature of sin to spread and increase. Since the first sin of Adam, from generation to generation it has spread like a contagious disease. While the world was yet in its infancy, sin became fearful in its proportions. Hatred of God’s law, and, as the sure result, hatred of all goodness, became universal. God, who had created man, and given him with an unsparing hand the bounties of his providence, was dishonored by the beings he had created, slighted and despised by the recipients of his gifts. But though sinful man forgot his benevolent Benefactor, God did not forget the creature he had formed. Not only did he send “rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons,” filling man’s heart with “food and gladness,” but he sent him also messages of warning and entreaty. Man’s wickedness was fully set before him, and the result of transgressing the divine law.
In the days of Noah, the wickedness of the world became so great that God could no longer bear with it; and he said, “I will destroy man whom I have created, from the face of the earth.” But he pitied the race, and in his love provided a refuge for all who would accept it. He gave the message to Noah to be given to the people: “My Spirit shall not always strive with man.” Noah was directed to build an ark, and at the same time to preach that God would bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy the wicked. Those who would believe the message, and would prepare for that event by repentance and reformation, should find pardon and be saved; but a continued resistance of the entreaties and warnings from God through his servant Noah, would separate them from God, and as a result infinite mercy and love would cease its pleadings. The Spirit of God continued to strive with rebellious man until the time specified had nearly expired, when Noah and his family entered the ark, and the hand of God closed its door. Mercy had stepped from the golden throne, no longer to intercede for the guilty sinner.
All the men of that generation were not in the fullest sense of the term heathen idolaters. Many had a knowledge of God and his law; but they not only rejected the message of the faithful preacher of righteousness themselves, but used all their influence to prevent others from being obedient to God. To every one comes a day of trial and of trust. That generation had their day of opportunity and privilege while Noah was sounding the note of warning of the coming destruction; but they yielded their minds to the control of Satan rather than of God, and he deceived them, as he did our first parents. He set before them darkness and falsehood in the place of light and truth; and they accepted his sophistry and lies, because they were acceptable to them, and in harmony with their corrupt lives, while truth that would have saved them was rejected as a delusion.
Numbers were not on the side of right. The world was arrayed against God’s justice and his laws, and Noah was regarded as a fanatic. Satan, when tempting Eve to disobey God, said to her, “Ye shall not surely die.” Great men, worldly, honored, and wise men, repeated the same story, “Ye shall not surely die.” “The threatenings of God,” they said, “are for the purpose of intimidating, and will never be verified. You need not be alarmed. Such an event as the destruction of the world by the God who made it, and the punishment of the beings he has created, will never take place. Be at peace; fear not. Noah is crazy; he is the wildest fanatic.” So the people did not humble their hearts before God, but continued their disobedience and wickedness, the same as though God had not spoken to them through his servant.
But Noah stood like a rock amid the tempest. He was surrounded by every species of wickedness and moral corruption; but amid popular contempt and ridicule, amid universal wickedness and disobedience, he distinguished himself by his holy integrity and unwavering faithfulness. While the world around him were disregarding God, and were indulging in all manner of extravagant dissipation which led to violence and crimes of every kind, the faithful preacher of righteousness declared to that generation that a flood of water was to deluge the world because of the unsurpassed wickedness of its inhabitants. He warned them to repent and believe, and find refuge in the ark.
The message of Noah was to him a reality. Amid the scoffs and jeers of the world, he was an unbending witness for God. His meekness and righteousness were in bright contrast to the revolting crimes, intrigue, and violence continually practiced around him. A power attended his words; for it was the voice of God to man through his servant. Connection with God made him strong in the strength of infinite power, while for one hundred and twenty years his solemn warning voice fell upon the ears of the men of that generation in regard to events, which, so far as human wisdom could judge, seemed impossible. Some were deeply convicted, and would have heeded the words of warning; but there were so many to jest and ridicule that they partook of the same spirit, resisted the invitations of mercy, refused to reform, and were soon among the boldest and most defiant scoffers; for none are so reckless, and go to such lengths in sin, as those who have once had light, but have resisted the convicting Spirit of God. Thus while God was working to draw man to himself, man, in his rebellion, was drawing away from God, and continually resisting the pleadings of infinite love.
The world before the flood reasoned that for centuries the laws of nature had been fixed. The recurring seasons had come in their order. The rivers and brooks had never yet passed their boundaries, but had borne their waters safely to the sea. Fixed decrees had kept the waters from overflowing their banks. But these reasoners did not recognize the Hand that had stayed the waters, saying, Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther.
As time passed on without any apparent change in nature, men whose hearts had at times trembled with fear, began to be reassured. They reasoned then as many reason now, that nature was above the God of nature, and that her ways were so fixed that God himself could not change them. Reasoning that if the message of Noah was correct nature would be turned out of her course, they made that message, in the minds of the world, a delusion, a grand deception. They manifested their indifference and contempt of the solemn warning of God by doing just as they had done before the warning had been given. They continued their festivities, their gluttonous feasts, eating and drinking, planting and building, in reference to the advantage they hoped to gain in the far future; and they went to greater lengths in wickedness, and in defiant disregard of God’s requirements, to testify that they had no fear of the Almighty before their eyes.
How simple and childlike, amid the unbelief of a scoffing world, was the faith of Noah. His faith was indeed the “substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” It was a faith that was perfected and made evident by his works. He gave to the world an example of believing just what God said. In accordance with the directions of God, he commenced to construct the ark, an immense boat, on dry ground. Multitudes came from every direction to see this strange sight, and to hear the earnest, fervent words of this singular man, who seemed to believe every word he uttered. Noah was indeed singular. He was one in the world, but not one of the world. He made himself the object of contempt and ridicule by his steadfast adherence to the words of God; yet he obeyed without a questioning doubt. What a marked contrast to the prevailing unbelief and disregard of God’s law.
The time of Noah prefigures the present age. Christ tells us that as it was in the time of Noah, so shall it be in the days that immediately precede his appearing in the clouds of heaven. Human nature in our day, uninfluenced by the Spirit of God, is the same as in the age of Noah. And Satan is not asleep; he is as active and vigilant now as he was then. While the voice of God is making itself heard through his servants in warning and entreaties, he is mustering his forces. He engages his host with gigantic energies to make, through his sophistry, cruelty, and oppression, the words of warning of none effect. The people are tested, and the great mass will be found on the side of the great deceiver, and will be overwhelmed in swift and irretrievable destruction. But those that heed the warnings of God, and in their lives bring forth fruits meet for repentance, shall “dwell in the secret place of the Most High;” they “shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” For them is the promise: “With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.”

“IN PERFECT PEACE.”

By Emma C. Dowd

“In perfect peace? Ah, yes; the happy daytime through, When airs are warm, and skies are blue; But when the chilling night-winds blight The morning hopes we thought so bright, Oh! tell me, tell me, can there be Aught but unrest for thee and me?” The promise stands for day, for night— “In perfect peace.”
“In perfect peace? Yes; when our rosary of love Misses no beads, below, above; But when it parts to lose the chief, The treasured gem of our belief, Oh! tell me, tell me, can there be Aught but unrest for thee and me?” The promise stands for joy, for grief— “In perfect peace.”
“In perfect peace? Yes; when we roam life's gladsome fields, Among the flowers that springtime yields; But when we near the vale of death, Heavy with amaranthine breath, Oh! tell me, tell me, can there be Aught but unrest for thee and me?” The promise stands for life, for death— “In perfect peace.” —Emma C. Dowd.

Lack of Conviction.

By Independent

It has been justly observed that, in most cases of conversion nowadays, there seems to be a lack of conviction. This is to a certain extent true. It arises from the fact that almost the entire emphasis in preaching has been placed upon immediate faith in Christ, without a clear and definite declaration of God's testimony as to sin. The Scriptures clearly and exhaustively set forth the fact of sin, its demerit and guilt; not for the purpose of putting the sinner in a despairing "slough of despond," but that he may fully understand and appreciate his need of a Saviour.
In our judgment, the work of Jesus Christ as the sin-bearer and sin-purger, is not sufficiently preached; at least not preached with sufficient clearness. He is indeed set forth as the reconciler to God; as the one through whom sinners are accepted, etc.; but the fact that he is such a Saviour because he has borne our sins and expiated them on the cross, is not so fully dwelt upon. Our true condition as sinners is best seen in the fact that, in order to our salvation, Jesus Christ was "made sin" for us, and had, in some mysterious way, to bear our sins in his own body and suffer for them. What must be the nature of sin? What its dreadful guilt to make it necessary for Christ to suffer in order to deliver us from the curse and justify us before God?
The sinner who studies Christ in this relation, will not long hold superficial views of sin. Indeed he will daily recognize, with deepening sense, the awful fact that sin was and is the one thing in the universe that God could not deal with except by punishment. And if the alternative of punishment is either in the offering which Jesus Christ made of himself to God, or in the "everlasting destruction [of the sinner] from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power," then there cannot be any light view of sin by him who is properly instructed.
Such an instructed sinner will, while he accepts salvation through Christ, daily turn away from sin with increasing detestation and loathing, and, at the same time, daily draw nearer in his affections to Christ because of such boundless love and grace on his part. Where these two affections co-exist, there can be no superficiality. It is the kind of preaching which leaves the mighty sin-expiating work of Christ in the shadow, instead of putting it in the very front of the proclamation which tends to lightness. God saves, and he saves instantly, because the emergency is great; but he can only save, and save instantly, because we have been redeemed "at such tremendous cost."
"Was it for crimes which I had done, He groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity, grace unknown, And love beyond degree!"
The man who wrote that hymn knew what sin was; and the convert who sings it understandingly cannot be a superficial Christian. Let us have clear, simple preaching, and then we will have clear, simple, and deep Christian life.—Independent.

True Religion.

By John Hall

TRUE religion does not jump at hasty conclusions from God's word; it proves all things. It does not "read into" it what human nature may like, or explain away what is unpalatable or humiliating. It does not assume that a priest in virtue of his office is an infallible interpreter of it. It does not keep it from the people and reserve it for officials and for the initiated.
It uses the best means within its reach to get at the meaning and practical uses to be made of God's word.
—Rev. John Hall, D. D., LL. D.

Dr. McCosh on the Law.

LAW was in the nature of God from all eternity, and is the instrument of his government; it was inscribed on the nature of man when he was created; it was graven by God's own finger on the granite blocks of Sinai; it was spoken in gentle and attractive tones by our Lord in the sermon on the mount, and it is written by God's own Spirit as a new commandment on the hearts of God's people. It goes with man wherever he goes, to tell him, if he is prepared to listen to it, what is right and what is wrong, and to the end to punish him if he refuses to obey.
That law has been broken, but it is still binding. When Moses came down from the mount with the two tables, he threw them from him, and broke them, as he witnessed the wickedness of the children of Israel. But he had just to reascend to the mount and have them written again by God's own finger. Which thing may be unto us for an allegory. Man has broken God's law; but that law retains all its claims, and ever renews them. The law is embodied in the gospel. All this was instructively represented in the ark of the covenant, laid up in the holiest of all, and typifying the new covenant. On the lid of it were the cherubim, overshadowing the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat; and the promise was given: "There will I meet with thee, and commune with thee on the mercy-seat from between the cherubim." But within the ark were the two tables of stone. Christ came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill. The gospel, wherever it goes, carries within it the law fulfilled by Christ—the law still binding on his followers. There is a sense in which believers are free from the law; they are free from its curse: but in another sense, they are still under it; they are not free from the obligation to obey it. When sinners come to Christ, he welcomes them. He says, Your sins be forgiven you; but he does not give them liberty to go back to their sins, but, "Go and sin no more." Just as the father, after rejoicing over the return of his prodigal son, took him into his house to keep him in safety, so our heavenly Father takes us into his family to train us to obedience. When the sinner comes to Christ, Christ pays his debts; but it is only to send him to pay his dues, not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the spirit. In Heaven itself the soul, brought into union with the law of love, will be fulfilling it to perfection; and the music of Heaven will consist essentially in attuned hearts, each breathing his own melody, and all in harmony—hearts in accord with the heart of God and in accord with one another, and fulfilling the pleasure of God forever and ever.—From a Sermon Reported in Christian Union.

An Effort at Consistency.

By William Covert

IN the past I have had an extensive acquaintance with a people who taught that the law never was binding upon the Gentiles. Yet they taught baptism for the remission of sins. As they labored exclusively for the Gentiles, it occurred to them that there was a vein of inconsistency running through their theology. Accordingly they met in the year 1867 to reduce the matter to a system, and throw away their inconsistencies.
In order that they might have a point to talk to, a stand-point from which to work, they brought forward the following proposition: "Is the unbaptized Gentile a sinner?" It was argued by them that the law was made for the Jew only, and therefore was not binding upon the Gentile; but sin is the transgression of the law, and the Gentiles could not transgress the law when it was not obligatory upon them; therefore, they are not sinners. This worked quite well, so far; but the next point to be settled was with reference to the subject of baptism. If baptism is for the remission of sins, why should they baptize a man who is not a sinner?
They discussed this point at length, and arrived at various conclusions—the number of conclusions depending largely upon the number of persons engaged in the interview. Perhaps a plurality decided that Gentiles had no sins imputed to them, but it was necessary to baptize them for the purpose of "adopting them into the family of God."
The next point which naturally followed in the investigation, was this: "Is the unbaptized Gentile a subject of judgment?" It was decided that as the law is not binding upon him, he cannot be condemned by it; but as he is not in covenant relation to God, he is not a subject of grace; therefore he is not a subject of either wrath or mercy. It was then asked whether a person who would be baptized and come into covenant relation with God, would certainly be saved. In the investigation of this question it was decided that the chances were against him. Whereupon, a number became disconsolate, and lamented that they had placed themselves in a position where God's wrath would overtake them. The result of this interview was very distracting.
Very few could be induced to join their numbers under the influence of such teaching. If they remained outside, they believed God had no jurisdiction over them. They could eat and drink, and enjoy the present life much better than they could to be placed under the restraint of church discipline; and no account would be taken of them with reference to the actions of this life. If they united with the church, they would stand a chance to be lost, and that forever; but they were taught to believe that, if they did not, there would be a chance for them in some one of the future ages, when Satanic influence would not make it as difficult to conform to the requirements of the gospel of that age, as it is to harmonize with the gospel in this age.
Some left the church when they saw their system analyzed. Many became infidels; because the logical deductions of their no-law theory only mocked at wisdom, and to be consistent with their theory was to be inconsistent with all reason.
The greatest wonder connected with the whole affair, was that so few saw the unscriptural view of their position. The theory of the partial obligation of the law, together with the kindred falsity of its abolition at the cross, is responsible for the production of such a medley as was drawn from this sitting.
New London, Ind. WM. COVERT.

Is It Peace or War?

By A. O. Tait

THE idea is quite general in the world that we are entering into an era of peace, and that the nations are becoming too highly civilized to resort to the barbarous use of arms to settle their difficulties, but will rather adjust them by arbitration. This belief finds free expression from the pulpit and religious press, and is also taken up and being heralded by many of our statesmen.
But we have noticed in a number of instances that, notwithstanding these high pretensions, if a little difficulty should arise between two nations they would prepare for arms, even though they might try, in some measure, to settle their difficulties by arbitration. A notable instance of this kind is furnished in the trouble that arose a little above a year ago between England and Russia. The matter was settled, for a time at least, without coming to arms, but both nations were making the most extensive preparations in their power for war in case their desires could not be met by diplomacy.
The great preparations for war are poor forerunners of peace. The board of officials, appointed last May by President Cleveland, to "examine, and report at what ports fortifications and other defenses are most urgently required, and the character and kind of defenses best adapted to each," report to the President that twenty-seven ports are in need of immediate increased defense, and estimate that one hundred and twenty-six million dollars are needed to defray the expense. And a journalist, commenting upon it, says: "That the modest sum of one hundred and twenty-six millions of dollars will have grown to nearer a thousand million before that end shall be reached, no one familiar with the history of such undertakings can doubt." Our Government is not alone in this respect. England, as well as the other nations of the Old World, is making vast preparations for war, and expending large sums of money in that direction.
Also note the great improvements and inventions in the line of weapons of war,—accelerating guns that will hurl a huge missile to the distance of twelve miles; dynamite cartridges thrown by means of compressed air to great distances, and exploding where they strike with terrible results; our long range, repeating rifles; mammoth cannons, and numerous other machines of destruction, certainly signifying something besides peace.
The thoughtful mind which is not biased in any way can see that these actions of the nations in standing with drawn swords while they negotiate for peace with thousands of their subjects busily engaged forging weapons for the deadly combat, are presaging anything but a calm. If peace and not war is to be the rule in the future, why this great commotion in preparing for something that will not come? If we are to have peace, why prepare for war? The very fact that such great war preparations are being made is proof positive that when arbitration fails to satisfy, arms will follow. In this respect we are nothing in advance of the time of Hannibal and the Scipios.
Any candid observer must readily see that all the powers of earth continually hold themselves ready for war, and are grasping every opportunity to increase the potency of their arms. Still, notwithstanding these forebodings and great preparations for war, we hear the "peace and safety" man saying that all these preparations will come to naught, and the nations will finally turn their weapons of warfare into implements of agriculture, and war will be forever abolished. And to prove this, they point with great enthusiasm to the way in which England and Russia have settled (?) their difficulties, also the settlement (?) of the Servo-Bulgarian matters, and tell us the nations are becoming too highly civilized and Christianized to fight.
But before jumping at such wild conclusions, when the appearance of nearly or quite every nation on the globe is so much like one great arsenal, let us consider a point, and see if we are warranted in saying we are to have no more war.
"And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Rev. 7:1-3. The four angels on the four corners of the earth we consider to have the whole earth in their control. Winds in prophecy denote wars. See Jer. 25:31-33, where a great destruction from the Lord is called a whirlwind. Also Dan. 7:2, 3, where the striving of the winds upon the sea causes the four great beasts to arise, which are interpreted in the same chapter to mean earthly Governments. And since these Governments arose by means of bloody wars, and Daniel saw the winds striving to produce the beasts which symbolized them, it is easy to see that winds in prophecy represent wars.
Then, since the angels are holding the winds, and winds mean wars, there is a reason for all these sudden and unaccountable abatings of the war clouds that seem to be determined to rise. But it will not always so continue. The angels are only to hold the winds till a certain time: "till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads," is the limit, and then they are to be let loose.
That we have reached the time when this prophecy is being fulfilled, and that we are right in applying it here, a little reflection will readily show. The number sealed is one hundred and forty-four thousand. The same company are again spoken of in Rev. 14:1-5, and are to be "redeemed from among men." Verse 4. If they are redeemed from among men, they are not resurrected out of their graves, but are among men to be changed, as Paul expresses it (1 Cor. 15:51-54; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17), without seeing death. Then those who are sealed in this special work are the ones to be alive and ready for translation when the Lord comes. At least ten distinct lines of prophecy, which are being explained from time to time in this paper, are given in the Bible, all of which point to our own generation as being in the last days.
Then the momentous time is reached; the Lord is soon to come; his people are being sealed; the angels are holding back the winds or tide of war till the sealing is done. And when this work is finished, those who are then still engaged in chanting the siren song of "peace and safety," and reveling in the pleasures of this world, will be startled by the loud roll of the trumpet of war. For unclean spirits are going forth to gather the nations to the great day of God Almighty. Rev. 16:14-16; 14:18-20. But that war will be fought by the despairing outcasts who have rejected mercy, while offered to them, and, having the Spirit of God entirely withdrawn from them, they will be fully under the power of Satan to run at his command in the fierce contest.
May we, as men and women of candor and thought, open our eyes to the situation, and see that what we seem to think is peace, is only the holding of the winds by the angels of God till his jewels are sealed. This little calm is only the breathless stillness that moves noiselessly before the great tempest. Flee to the harbor of God's love; seek and find pardon; walk in his precepts, and thus be sheltered from the raging storm of angry nations when they shall engage in a bloody contest among themselves for a little while, then to look up and see him coming who "hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords," from whose presence they must melt away, while he will gather his own to himself, and turn their delighted vision upon the glories of an endless life.

Skating Rinks.

By Mrs. H. L. Hastings

KEEP out of the skating rinks. I could mention a number of cities—four at least—where I have labored, and found the same sad lamentation from the lips of mothers and fathers, who would say to me, "I wish you would talk to my daughter;" "I wish you would talk to my boys; I have said all that I can to keep them from going to such places, but they will go."
I have heard from the lips of three physicians the statement that a large proportion of the girls from twelve to sixteen years old who attend these rinks have, as a result, blasted lives before them. Many a heart-broken mother would give all she ever possessed could she place her daughters and her sons where they were before they attended the rink. People may call skating rinks places of innocent amusement; and perhaps they might be made so, but they are not. I consider them, next to intemperance, the greatest curse of our land to the young.
I was at a home for the fallen the other day, and the matron told me that the skating rinks were the greatest curse to the city and to the young, and that the majority of young girls under her charge were girls who were once pure and good, but had been allowed to attend the rinks and now see their folly when it is too late. The following statement made by the chief of police of Coney Island, N. Y., is worth noticing:—
"My private books," says Captain McKane, "will substantiate the fact that nine out of ten of the girls between the ages of fourteen and sixteen arrested by my officers on the island late at night, during the past summer, have, upon private questioning by me, dated their fall from the time when they commenced to frequent skating rinks. This is no exaggeration. I used to think, when I read of clergymen denouncing the rinks for the immorality that was bred there, that the rinks were harmless, and that those gentlemen were inclined to sensationalism. Now, from the stories told me by these young girls right here in my private office, I can appreciate the truth of their remarks, and realize the danger that surrounds the young female in such resorts. I esteem this fact of such importance that I think it ought to be known."
Keep out of these death traps.—Mrs. H. L. Hastings, in Safeguard.

The Christian Triumph.

By T. D. Witherspoon

THE day of the sinner's undoing shall be the day of the saint's coronation. In that great day when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, when the books shall be opened, and the dead shall be judged out of the things that are written in the books, the sons of God, with consciences purged through the blood of the everlasting covenant, shall have nothing to fear. They shall not only stand erect, but, shall become the interpreters and enunciators of the divine sentence. They are to sit with Christ upon the throne of judgment. They are to "judge angels." Not only shall they be exempted and honored of God, but they shall on that day receive at the hand of an ungodly world the just meed of honor and praise which has so long been withheld.—Rev. T. D. Witherspoon, D. D.

Christian Obedience

CHRISTIAN obedience knows nothing but a "Thus saith the Lord." It has solely to do with what he has either enjoined or prohibited. It is therefore indispensable to salvation.—Sel.

The Suevi, the Vandals, and the Burgundians.

By A. T. J.

(Concluded.)
“WHILE the peace of Germany was secured by the attachment of the Franks, and the neutrality of the Alemanni, the subjects of Rome, unconscious of their approaching calamities, enjoyed the state of quiet and prosperity, which had seldom blessed the frontiers of Gaul. Their flocks and herds were permitted to graze in the pastures of the barbarians; their huntsmen penetrated, without fear or danger, into the darkest recesses of the Hercynian wood. The banks of the Rhine were crowned, like those of the Tiber, with elegant houses, and well cultivated farms; and if a poet descended the river, he might express his doubt on which side was situated the territory of the Romans. This scene of peace and plenty was suddenly changed into a desert; and the prospect of the smoking ruins could alone distinguish the solitude of nature from the desolation of man. The flourishing city of Mentz was surprised and destroyed; and many thousand Christians were inhumanly massacred in the church. Worms perished after a long and obstinate siege; Strasburgh, Spires, Rheims, Tournay, Arras, Amiens, experienced the cruel oppression of the German yoke; and the consuming flames of war spread [A. D. 407] from the banks of the Rhine over the greatest part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul. That rich and extensive country, as far as the ocean, the Alps, and the Pyrenees, was delivered to the barbarians, who drove before them, in a promiscuous crowd, the bishop, the senator, and the virgin, laden with the spoils of their houses and altars. . . . And in less than two years, the divided troops of the savages of the Baltic, whose numbers, were they fairly stated, would appear contemptible, advanced, without a combat, to the foot of the Pyrenean Mountains.”—Decline and Fall, chap. 30, par. 19.
“The situation of Spain, separated on all sides from the enemies of Rome, by the sea, by the mountains, and by intermediate provinces, had secured the long tranquillity of that remote and sequestered country; and we may observe, as a sure symptom of domestic happiness, that, in a period of four hundred years, Spain furnished very few materials to the history of the Roman Empire. The footsteps of the barbarians [a band of Franks] who, in the reign of Gallienus [A. D. 260–268] had penetrated beyond the Pyrenees, were soon obliterated by the return of peace; and in the fourth century of the Christian era the cities of Emerita, or Merida, of Corduba, Seville, Bracara, and Tarragona, were numbered with the most illustrious of the Roman world. The various plenty of the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms, was improved and manufactured by the skill of an industrious people; and the peculiar advantages of naval stores contributed to support an extensive and profitable trade. The arts and sciences flourished under the protection of the emperors; and if the character of the Spaniards was enfeebled by peace and servitude, the hostile approach of the Germans, who had spread terror and desolation from the Rhine to the Pyrenees, seemed to rekindle some sparks of military ardor. As long as the defense of the mountains was intrusted to the hardy and faithful militia of the country, they successfully repelled the frequent attempts of the barbarians. But no sooner had the national troops been compelled to resign their post to the Honorian bands, in the service of Constantine [a common soldier who was raised to the Imperial dignity by the legions of Britain because he happened to have that name] than the gates of Spain were [A. D. 409, Oct. 13] treacherously betrayed to the public enemy, about ten months before the sack of Rome by the Goths.
“The consciousness of guilt, and the thirst of rapine, prompted the mercenary guards of the Pyrenees to desert their station; to invite the arms of the Suevi, the Vandals, and the Alani; and to swell the torrent which was poured with irresistible violence from the frontiers of Gaul to the sea of Africa. The misfortunes of Spain may be described in the language of its most eloquent historian, who has concisely expressed the passionate, and perhaps exaggerated, declamations of contemporary writers.
“The irruption of these nations was followed by the most dreadful calamities; as the barbarians exercised their indiscriminate cruelty on the fortunes of the Romans and the Spaniards, and ravaged with equal fury the cities and the open country. The progress of famine reduced the miserable inhabitants to feed on the flesh of their fellow-creatures; and even the wild beasts, which multiplied, without control, in the desert, were exasperated by the taste of blood, and the impatience of hunger, boldly to attack and devour their human prey. Pestilence soon appeared, the inseparable companion of famine, a large proportion of the people was swept away; and the groans of the dying excited only the envy of their surviving friends. At length the barbarians, satiated with carnage and rapine, and afflicted by the contagious evils which they themselves had introduced, fixed their permanent seats in the depopulated country. The ancient Gallicia, whose limits included the kingdom of Old Castile, was divided between the Suevi and the Vandals; the Alani were scattered over the provinces of Carthagena and Lusitania; from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean; and the fruitful territory of Boetica was allotted to the Silingi, another branch of the Vandalic nation. After regulating this partition, the conquerors contracted with their new subjects some reciprocal engagements of protection and obedience; the lands were again cultivated, and the towns and villages were again occupied by a captive people. The greatest part of the Spaniards was even disposed to prefer this new condition of poverty and barbarism, to the severe oppressions of the Roman Government; yet there were many who still asserted their native freedom; and who refused, more especially in the mountains of Gallicia, to submit to the barbarian yoke.”—Id., chap. 31, par. 36.
While these settled in Spain, the Burgundians remained in Gaul, and were finally established on the River Rhone. The Encyclopedia Britannica says of these three peoples:—
“The Burgundians, the Vandals, and many of the Suevi, wandered westwards early in the fifth century, in search of new homes; and the Burgundians soon conquered from the Romans the whole valley of the Rhone, in which they henceforth settled. The Vandals and the Suevi went on to Spain.”—Encyc. Brit., art. Germany, part II., Confederation of Tribes, par. 2.
We shall have occasion to again mention each of these nations and to fix the date and place of their final settlement; but as their future history is so inseparably connected with the movements of other barbarous nations who followed their ruinous example in invading the remains of the Western Empire, we must now return and follow the course of these other lines of devastation.
Continue reading: Roman Paganism