The Signs of the Times by J. N. Andrews

California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists · Oakland, Cal. · Dec 3, 1874

The Signs of the Times

By J. N. Andrews

OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, DEC. 3, 1874.

The Cause in Europe.

To a class of people who expect the truths we hold to go to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, it is a matter of the deepest interest to note the establishment and progress of our Foreign Missions. Many of the readers of the SIGNS have read the “History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week,” by Eld. J. N. Andrews. It was the decision of our General Conference, at its session in August last, to send Bro. Andrews as a missionary to Switzerland, and to look after the interests of the cause of Seventh-day Adventists in Europe.

Bro. Andrews left Boston Sept. 14th, and has arrived in Switzerland. He spent a few days in England on his way. We quote below from the reports of his journey published in the Advent Review. You will notice some interesting facts in his article relative to the early Sabbatarians in England. He speaks of persons who are mentioned in his Sabbath History.

In a letter dated London, Oct. 5th, he says:

Our journey from Liverpool to London was one of deep interest. We bought third-class tickets, the expense being only about half that of first-class. The cars are divided into apartments which are entered at the side. The same train has first, second, and third-class accommodations. We had our apartment wholly to ourselves. We were about six hours in coming to London, a distance of about 200 miles. The beauty of the country through which we came is very great. The fields are all clothed in living green, and fenced up into small tracts by hedges which are kept neatly trimmed. Everywhere the land indicates a high state of cultivation.

When we reached Euston station in London, we found Bro. and sister Jones, who had come four miles to meet us and to extend to us a cordial Christian greeting. It was an occasion for heartfelt gratitude to God that we should meet such kind friends in a land of strangers.

Bro. Wm. M. Jones of London was formerly a missionary of the first-day Baptists to the island of Hayti. He embraced the Sabbath while on a visit to the United States. He was nevertheless sent back by that people, though he frankly told them that he was keeping the seventh day. They had confidence in his moral worth, and they probably thought that he would soon relinquish the observance of the seventh day. But his Sabbath-keeping in Hayti led those who were connected with the mission work in that island to arrange for an interchange of views between Eld. Jones and Eld. J. W. Morton the Presbyterian missionary to H. The result of that interview and of the tracts which Eld. J. gave to Eld. M. was that the latter within a few days’ time became an observer of the Sabbath of the Lord. Both these brethren lost their places as missionaries in a brief time after this.

Mill Yard church, of which Bro. Jones is now the pastor, consists of but a handful of Sabbath-keepers, yet it is a church in which all observers of the seventh day must feel a very deep interest. It is the oldest existing Sabbath-keeping church of which we have knowledge. Its oldest records were destroyed in a disastrous fire many years since, and it is not known how it originated, nor by whom it was organized. Probably the earliest Sabbath-keepers in England received the Sabbath truth from those who witnessed for it during the Dark Ages. This is the church of which the martyr John James was once pastor. The first object of interest to me in London was the spot where Mr. James’ head was set on a pole, which is but a short distance from the Mill Yard church. And next to this I felt a lively interest to examine other memorials of ancient Sabbath-keepers of which this church and its graveyard constitute an important part.

Since the coming of Bro. Jones, the inside of the church building has been repaired, and it presents a very neat, tasty appearance. Bro. Jones is laboring with great earnestness and perseverance to vindicate the claims of the Sabbath and the law of God, and to bring men through the power of the gospel of Christ to the fulfillment of the righteousness of the law of God. He is also by means of advertisements opening a correspondence with all the scattered Sabbath-keepers in Great Britain and Ireland, and with all who are friendly to the Sabbath. There are some very encouraging things in the discovery of Sabbath-keepers and in the conversion of a few here and elsewhere to the observance of the commandments of God. Sister Jones, the daughter of the former pastor of this church, Eld. W. H. Black, is an efficient helper in this sacred work.

Last Sabbath was an occasion of deep interest to me. In the forenoon Eld. Jones expounded the 8th Psalm. In the afternoon I spoke on the duties and responsibilities of those to whom God has committed his Sabbath from James 2 : 12. Then it being the day for the celebration of the supper of the Lord we united in the sacred ordinance.

Hereafter I will speak something of the causes which have so nearly exterminated the observance of the Sabbath in Great Britain. This morning I start with Eld. Jones to visit those in Tewkesbury and Glasgow who observe the Sabbath, or who are interested to understand concerning it. This is all that I can do in this country at this time, and this much seems plainly to be duty. I will then give some general view of the Sabbath-keepers in Great Britain. I believe the time has come when a special effort should be made for this country and when the state of things is propitious for such an effort. I have been sensible of the presence of God every day since we left Boston, and especially since we came to England. I am sure that God is ready to bless the preaching of his truth if we only walk before him to his acceptance.

In a letter from Paris, Oct. 14, Bro. Andrews says of London:

Here are some deeply interesting memorials of the Sabbath during the past 250 years. Mill Yard church was founded not far from the time when the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth rock, A. D. 1620. In John James’ time, A. D. 1661, it assembled in Bull Stake Court, which is but a short distance from its present site, Mill Yard. Names never seem to change in London, and so this narrow court still exists, bearing this very name upon its walls. Opposite to the entrance of this court in White chapel street is the spot where Mr. James’ head was set on a pole.

Mill Yard owes its name to the fact that a mill once stood near this site, and this ground was a part of its yard. But the stream now flows underground through the sewers, and the mill is gone. The chapel is an old brick edifice, but within it is very tasty and comfortable, the interior having been recently renewed. Connected with this chapel is the parsonage where brother and sister Jones keep the house of Gaius as described by Bunyan.

In company with Bro. Jones I visited the spot where Mr. Trask, because of his Sabbatarian principles, was placed in the pillory, and whipped from thence to Fleet prison, a distance of more than two miles. We walked over this route in order to judge of the time that was occupied in whipping Mr. Trask, as he walked this distance under the lashes of his brutal enemies. Then he was imprisoned in a most wretched prison to remain for life. What he suffered probably destroyed his mind, for at the end of one year he recanted. His wife for the same crime as her husband was also imprisoned, but was not placed in the pillory, nor was she whipped. She remained some fifteen years till released by death. Newgate prison in which she was confined for a time was also the place of John James’ imprisonment, and from thence he was drawn to the place of execution at Tyburn, distant some three miles or more. Newgate prison still stands to remind the observer of the sufferings of many of God’s noblest servants. I felt interested to visit the spot on which stood the gallows at Tyburn. It is within the present limits of London and just at the edge of St. James’ Park. The gallows is gone, but the spot, where not malefactors only, but also some of the noblest servants of God have laid down their lives, is marked by a pillar and an inscription. Here they stood in a cart with a noose about their necks, and the cart was drawn from under them, so that they died simply from strangulation. I asked myself the question whether I could be thus faithful, even unto death.

Francis Bampfield, who was the means of gathering a second church of Sabbath-keepers in London, was also imprisoned and cruelly treated so that he died from his sufferings. Pinnei’s Hall is the place where his congregation assembled. I visited this hall which still bears this very name. His church has become extinct within the present generation. Stephen Mumford, the first who carried the Sabbath to America, was a member of Mr. Bampfield’s church.

In the rear of Mill Yard chapel is a cemetery in which sleep several of the pastors and a considerable number of members of the Mill Yard church. The name of Joseph Davis is worthy of particular mention. The Mill Yard property was secured to that church by his generous liberality. He did this that the Sabbath cause might not be destroyed in London. In the persecutions suffered by the early Sabbath-keepers Mr. Davis also shared. He was cruelly imprisoned, and robbed of all his property. After his release he began business in a small way, and God being pleased to prosper him, he became quite wealthy. With this property he endowed the Mill Yard church, giving to it the chapel, the parsonage, and the cemetery, and making provision for an annual income to meet current expenses.

The Sabbath is very low in Great Britain, and has seemed threatened with extinction. There are, however, adequate causes for this sad change. The Sabbath has suffered from the errors of its friends. After the severe persecution which they suffered, and after they had been stripped of their worldly goods, there came a time of comparative quiet. They began to prosper in acquiring wealth. With wealth came not consecration to God, but covetousness and a desire to obtain the favor of the great. They acquired wealth, and instead of using it for God, they hoarded it up to curse their children. And the children coming to wealth renounced the Sabbath and plunged into the world. The spirit of consecration was lost by both ministers and people to a fearful extent. To gain the favor of first-day churches the Sabbath was made of minor consequence. And so the Spirit of God was grieved, worldliness entered, and apostasy followed in very many cases. There were, however, many honorable exceptions, and the Sabbath-keepers in America owe a debt of gratitude to God in behalf of the Sabbath cause in Great Britain for the light of truth respecting the Sabbath. May they not be slow to acknowledge this obligation.

Being very desirous to ascertain the strength of the Sabbath cause in Great Britain and to form an acquaintance with the observers of the Sabbath, and with those known to be friendly thereto, I arranged with Bro. Jones that an appointment should be sent to the little Notton church near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, and also that the few Sabbath-keepers in Scotland and the north of Ireland should be invited to meet us in Glasgow, Monday, Oct. 5. Bro. Jones and myself went to Tewkesbury and were hospitably entertained by the pastor of the Notton church, who is a first-day Baptist preacher. Tuesday forenoon he accompanied us to the hamlet of Notton, where we met at their own chapel three of the five members composing their church, two being unavoidably absent. Several generations since an ancestor of one of the present members of this church built this chapel as a part of the building which he erected for his own residence. This he secured to the Sabbath-keeping church, and he also walled off a cemetery for the use of the church. In addition to this, he secured to the church an annual income of about $25.00, to be paid from the farm which he transmitted to his descendants. But though the chapel and the burying ground remain to the church, the payment of the money has in some way been set aside by an apostate descendant. We had a most interesting season in rehearsing the progress of the Sabbath cause in America, and in stating some of the reasons for our observance of the fourth commandment. I will make some further mention of Notton church hereafter.

From Tewkesbury, we took a night train for Glasgow in a third-class compartment which contains simply two wooden seats facing each other, and extending across the car, the entrance being by doors in either side of the car. The notice of our meeting was sent to all the known friends of the Sabbath in Ireland and Scotland. It brought together six persons besides ourselves. Those not able to come to this little gathering sent letters which were read at the meeting. One Sabbath keeper came from the north of Scotland, and one was present who was a native of Ireland, and whose father has begun to observe the Sabbath in Belfast, Ireland. The meeting was organized and interesting remarks were made by the chairman, and then followed a statement by Bro. Jones and myself respecting the work of Sabbath reform, especially in America, and what we hoped to be able to do in Great Britain. Those present stated their individual experiences. The occasion was one of great interest. A regular Sabbath meeting was appointed to be kept up by these friends. Our meeting was cheering, for we hope to see a good work follow. The brother from the north of Scotland was baptized, and was much blessed.

Oct. 9, we returned to London. On the Sabbath, I spoke twice to the Mill Yard church. Monday evening, we took the cars for New Haven. Here, after five hours’ delay, we took a steamer for Dieppe, which we reached about ten next morning. After a brief detention by the custom-house officers we took the train for Paris, and reached this city at 3 o’clock. To-morrow if the Lord will we shall again set forth on our way, and the day following we hope to be in Switzerland.—Advent Review.