Northern Italy by John Nevins Andrews

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Oct 4, 1877

Northern Italy.

By John Nevins Andrews

I LEFT Naples by steamer on Monday, August 6, and arrived at Genoa on Wednesday afternoon. I had for a traveling companion a Baptist minister from America, with whom I had a very interesting conversation upon the Bible during the entire route. I left Genoa about 7 P. M., and arrived at Turin about midnight. Early next morning I set out for Luzerne St. Jean, near Torre Pellice, to visit Sister Revel, who was the first person in Europe to embrace the Bible Sabbath from the preaching of Elder M. B. Czechowski. I hoped to leave the next day, so as to reach Brother Bourdeau at Valence at the commencement of the Sabbath. But I found several persons deeply interested in the truth, and I decided to remain till first-day morning, and do what I could to help them. I spent three days in constant discourse upon the truths of our faith. It was a season of great interest to me. Sister Revel has stood firm for the truth of God during many years, in the midst of great opposition. She is, I believe, a person of real piety; and her interest in understanding the word of God is very great. In this respect I have not often seen her equal. Within a year past, another sister has united with Sister R. to keep the Sabbath. The son of Sister R. has taken a full course of collegiate and theological instruction under the direction of the modern Waldensian church, which is Presbyterian in doctrine. I conversed with him considerably, and have sent him some of our best publications in English, as he can read that language. I found in the village of Torre Pellice a man who understands the reasons of our faith in almost every point, and I may say truthfully he understands the subject better than some of our old brethren in America. He was instructed by Elder C. and for a time observed the Sabbath. Though he is very poor, yet he had so much interest to hear that he hired some one to take his place in the silk factory where he works, and he devoted his time to listening and asking questions. He fully believes the truth and sincerely desires to obey. I think he will soon do it; yet to do it cuts him off from every means to earn his daily bread. His wife is a Catholic, but she is quite convinced of the truth. They have two small children. By commencing at five in the morning and working till seven in the evening he can earn forty cents.

At Torre Pellice I also met Elder Ferroris, who kept the Sabbath for a time and then gave it up. He seemed very glad to see me; and we had much conversation concerning the truth. He professes still to have a great interest for the Sabbath and the Advent faith, and wished me to tell the brethren that he still feels a great regard for them.

I am persuaded that much good can be done in this part of Italy. It is the country of the ancient Waldenses, and is situated at the foot of the Alps. I have never seen a more beautiful valley. I hope some man of God may soon enter this field.

On first-day morning I set out for Turin, and at T. took the train direct for Valence. The route is by the way of Mont Cenis tunnel. This tunnel is about eight miles in length, and requires some forty minutes for the passage. The train took me no farther than Grenoble that night. To show what a system of espionage exists in France at the present time, I will state that I was asked to write in the hotel register, not only my name, but also my age, my business, my residence, the place where I spent the previous night, how long I intended to stay in Grenoble, what place I was going to, and whether I had a passport. They told me that each morning the police came in to read their register. I have never seen the equal of this before.

From Grenoble I came direct to Valence. One or two persons have commenced to keep the Sabbath since I was here on my way to Naples. This time we had a baptism in which eight persons were planted in the likeness of Christ's death. We found a retired place about one mile from the city by the side of the Rhone, and here we assembled with some degree of caution lest the police should break up the service. After this we celebrated the ordinances at the house of Brother Gabert. It was a day of great interest. Probably within a few days there will be another baptism.

Brother Bourdeau has made a great effort to strengthen the hands of those who have begun to keep the Sabbath, so that they may stand firm in the truth without his presence. He thinks they are now able to do this. The difficulties in the way of preaching and distributing tracts have greatly increased since President MacMahon has commenced his public efforts to overthrow the French republic and re-establish the empire. After much prayerful consideration, Brother B. and myself are both agreed that the time has come when he should change from France to Switzerland. Even our friends at Valence freely acquiesce in the change.

It was therefore judged best that Brother B. should accompany me to Southern Switzerland, and that we should seek a place for the location of his family and the commencement of public labor in French Switzerland. We asked divine direction, and it seemed to us that we had it in the choice of the village of Morges, on Lake Geneva, near the city of Lausanne. Here we found a good place for his family at a reasonable rent. This is a village of 3000 inhabitants, and everything is apparently favorable for an effort at this point. Brother B. returned to France for his family, and I returned to Bale to get out the second number of the new volume of our paper. I hope to spend much time with Brother B. in his labors in this new field. Is there no good man to join Brother Ribton in the work in Naples? There are many English to hear the word of God in Naples, and Brother R. can readily translate if Italians are present.

When on my way to Naples I was obliged to stop one night at Pisa. Here I saw something worthy of mention. In this city is a large marble edifice built in the twelfth century. It is in the form of an immense bell. It has nothing within it except a pulpit and a place for baptism. There are no seats and no galleries, but near the pulpit upon an elevation of two or three steps from the general level of the floor is a large font for immersion! It is nearly twelve feet square and some four feet in height, and was entered by means of steps. The first thing said to me by the man who has charge of the building was this: “You see that it was the custom of the church to baptize by immersion when this baptistery was built.” The Church of Rome has great veneration for sacred buildings, and little for God’s ordinances; so she has sacredly preserved this ancient font for immersion and sacrilegiously substituted sprinkling in place of burial in baptism. This font now stands empty, but in the top of the wall of the font they have cut a small cavity capable of holding a few quarts of water, and from this little font in the top of the wall of the other the priest now sprinkles the people! It is very expressive to see this font for immersion, and the little font in its top for sprinkling. If the Catholic church had continued the practice of immersion until after the Protestant reformation, all the Protestants would have been Baptists. But the truth is, that between the time when this church was built and the time of the Reformation sprinkling took the place of immersion, and so the Protestants brought with them from Rome sprinkling for baptism and now they have the difficult task of proving that sprinkling is ordained in the Bible.

J. N. A.