Report from London by John Nevins Andrews

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 27, 1874

Report from London.

By John Nevins Andrews

As we arrived in Liverpool near midnight of Saturday night, it was necessary for us to remain till Monday morning. On Sunday we went to hear Hugh Stowell Brown, one of the leading Baptist ministers of Liverpool. The interior of his church somewhat resembles that of Mr. Beecher’s at Brooklyn. It is capable of seating a large congregation, and it was quite well filled. Mr. Brown said that God sometimes answers our prayers by providential events which seem to be designed to thwart all that we have asked. The children of Israel prayed for deliverance from their cruel bondage. God answered their prayer by permitting wicked Pharaoh to tighten their bands till he broke them. And when God refuses to grant the petition of his faithful people, it is that he may give them something infinitely better than that for which they prayed. Mr. Brown believes in immortality through Christ to be given at the resurrection, and does not hold to the common doctrine of natural immortality. In America those who hold that immortality is given to men, not at the commencement of their existence, but when the Judgment has shown them to be worthy of it, and that no others are to have it, are in most of the popular churches counted as almost infidels. But it does not appear to be thus in Great Britain. The late archbishop Whately was an able defender of this doctrine.

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 Hayti. 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 and 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. We expect to be in Switzerland the last of next week. We ask to be remembered in the prayers of the people of God.

J. N. Andrews.

London, Oct. 5, 1874.