Editorial Letter by William W. Prescott

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 13, 1907

Editorial Letter

By William W. Prescott

Jottings from the Editor’s Note-Book

The weather was exceedingly warm for the time of the year when we left Hongkong, and it continued this way until we had crossed the Indian Ocean, but the sea was very smooth, and we had a favorable voyage in every way.

The table at which I was assigned a seat in the dining saloon was filled with missionaries returning to Europe and America from Japan and China, and I made some pleasant acquaintances among them. One gentleman and his wife had been stationed at Kobe, Japan, and had been among the patients at our sanitarium in that city. They spoke appreciatively of the work of the Drs. Lockwood; and the fact that I was personally acquainted with them, and had recently stayed at the sanitarium, was a sufficient introduction to them. This also announced my denominational connection, and opened the way for some discussion of our general mission work. Another gentleman and wife were from Frederick, Md., and of course were well acquainted in Washington. I invited both of these missionaries to visit our headquarters, and to address our workers upon the mission work in Japan, and I hope they may be able to do so before they return to their fields in the far East.

A run of four days brought us to Singapore, where I was much gratified to be able to spend a day on shore at our mission station. Elder E. H. Gates, who attended our conference at Shanghai, in company with some of the other workers met me at the wharf, and extended a cordial welcome. It was a special pleasure to meet Brother and Sister G. F. Jones, who were formerly fellow laborers in England, and whom I had not seen since the General Conference of 1901. Their hands have been strengthened by the arrival of several earnest workers from Australia (Singapore is under the supervision of the Australasian Union Conference), and the outlook for the spread of the message is most encouraging.

In the evening a good company gathered in the mission rooms, and I presented to them some of the vital principles of this third angel’s message, and what is involved in their acceptance. The audience was composed of Europeans, Malays, and Chinese, and the work is being carried forward in behalf of these and other nationalities. Here I had the privilege of meeting Brother Timothy, the young man who carried the Sabbath truth to Brother Keh at Amoy. He is still seeking to extend the truth as the Lord opens the way before him.

Although there has been bitter opposition against our work on the part of some of the other missionaries in Singapore, yet the Lord has helped the brethren to meet this in such a way as to gain decided victories for the message, and to turn public sentiment in their favor. There was also marked evidence of a favoring providence in their being able to secure a new house in an excellent location for a reasonable rent, in spite of the fact that the owner was offered more by another party. We were thankful to note these encouraging omens, and to learn of the general prosperity of the work at this mission station. We hope future reports will tell of rich harvests reaped in this field.

Our next call was at Penang, where we remained about twelve hours; but as we have no workers there, I stopped but a short time on shore. A quiet voyage of four days brought us to Colombo, where I hoped to find a representative of this message, but after two or three hours’ search I learned that the last worker had left for Calcutta in December. I regretted to find the field abandoned, and am glad that plans have since been formed to lift up the standard again where the breezes “blow soft o’er Ceylon’s isle.” Colombo is not so large a city as some other ports of the East, and Ceylon has a population of only three millions, but it is an important station in the highway from Europe to the far East, and also to Australia, and the light of truth should shine forth from this center.

To my surprise, the weather was somewhat cooler after leaving Colombo, and we did not suffer any special discomfort in passing through the Red Sea, although during the hottest part of the season passengers have fainted on deck on account of the almost unbearable heat. Our ship anchored off Aden just before entering the Red Sea, and again off Suez just before entering the Suez Canal, but no passengers went on shore at either place, and from the deck we could see only barren rocks and the sandy desert. The view was interesting, but not attractive. We tried to persuade ourselves that we could see Mount Sinai a few hours after we had entered the Red Sea, but our better judgment refused to be convinced. Of course we must have crossed the route taken by the Israelites in their journey from Egypt, but we could not locate it with certainty. This whole country is rich in historical associations to one who believes the Bible, and I would gladly have spent a little time there, but the way did not seem to be open to do so on this journey.

Passing through the Suez Canal is an experience of much interest. It is unusual and strange to be on the deck of a ten-thousand-ton ship with the land on either side only a stone’s throw distant, and in some cases the channel is so narrow that the greatest care is necessary to prevent running aground. In fact, this is a mishap which is altogether too common, and I thought at one time that we were to know what it meant, but a quick reversing of the engines saved us from it. For a considerable portion of the distance the speed does not exceed four miles an hour, and the whole time occupied in getting through the canal was twenty-one hours, but we were tied up to the bank four hours in order to let other ships pass us. The opening of this canal has wrought great changes in the commerce of the East, and it is likely that the opening of the Panama Canal will cause similar changes in the commerce of the West.

It required nearly a whole day to coal our ship at Port Said, and this gave a good opportunity to see this city. Here were more strange sights to interest one from the West: the Turkish women,

with their faces carefully covered and their feet bare; the bright-red fez worn by nearly all the men; the water-carrier selling water from a skin; the many curios of attractive workmanship; the beautifully woven silks and shawls; the Mohammedan mosque in which a strange worship was being carried on; and with all the rest, a people bent on extracting every penny possible from the pockets of foreigners. Port Said is an important port, and the harbor was full of the steamships of the different nations. The one thing lacking was a representative of this message to make known the truth for this time. I hope this lack may soon be supplied.

As we passed along the coast of Crete and sailed on through the Mediterranean, I thought of that other voyage taken many centuries ago when the ship was driven up and down for fourteen days, and when all hope of seeing land again was lost. The contrast is very marked between the comforts enjoyed by our missionaries in their travels now and the hardships experienced by the apostle Paul and his companions. But greater facilities are required now in order to be able to carry the message in one generation to a larger world than was known in Paul’s day.

We sighted the south coast of Italy Monday noon, April 8, passed through the Straits of Messina the same afternoon, and anchored in the harbor of Naples early the next morning. This brought to an end my long sea voyage, and I was again back in the Western world, although still thousands of miles from my starting-point, and among a people of a strange language, but I had left the East behind me. I shall, however, never be able to shut out from my mind the impression of the almost uncounted millions of the far East who are “without hope, and without God in the world,” and I carry a burden for them such as never rested upon me before. I have left the East, but the East is still with me.

I spent a short time at Naples, and among other things I viewed with special interest the city and harbor of Pozzuoli, the ancient Puteoli where Paul landed when he took his journey to Rome under circumstances very different from mine. Then Puteoli was a busy place of no little importance as the principal port of the capital of the great empire, but it is now a sleepy old town, a mere reminiscence of the past.

I journeyed to Rome by a fast train, and although no brethren could meet me either at Appii Forum or the Three Tavens, yet Brother Everson met me at the station, and welcomed me to the Eternal City, and I was soon comfortably settled for my stay. Of my experiences I will write later. W. W. P.