Part 10 (1/2)
The scene of the great earthquake and tidal wave, Nov. 1, 1755, when in six minutes sixty thousand people perished.]
THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE OF 1755
”Lo, There Was a Great Earthquake”
The first of a series of signs of the approaching end is thus described by the revelator:
”I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake.” Rev. 6:12.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE
”There shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Matt. 24:7.]
The verses immediately preceding this scripture plainly describe the days of persecution of the saints of G.o.d, and the era of protest and reform that cut short that time of tribulation. Then this first sign appears. This is in harmony with Christ's statement that the signs of His second coming should begin to appear following the tribulation of those days.
Just about the close of the days of tribulation occurred the Lisbon earthquake, as it is called, though its effects reached far beyond Portugal. Prof. W.H. Hobbs, geologist, says of it:
”Among the earth movements which in historic times have affected the kingdom of Portugal, that of Nov. 1, 1755, takes first rank, as it does, also, in some respects, among all recorded earthquakes.... In six minutes sixty thousand people perished.”--_”Earthquakes,” pp. 142, 143._
”Lo, there was a great earthquake,” the revelator said. It was indeed ”a great earthquake,” and great was its influence. In all the world, men's hearts were mightily stirred. James Parton, an English author, says of it:
”The Lisbon earthquake of Nov. 1, 1755, appears to have put both the theologians and philosophers on the defensive.... At twenty minutes to ten that morning, Lisbon was firm and magnificent, on one of the most picturesque and commanding sites in the world,--a city of superb approach, placed precisely where every circ.u.mstance had concurred to say to the founders, Build here! In six minutes the city was in ruins....
Half the world felt the convulsion.... For many weeks, as we see in the letters and memoirs of that time, people in distant parts of Europe went to bed in alarm, relieved in the morning to find that they had escaped the fate of Lisbon one night more.”--_”Life of Voltaire,” Vol. II, pp. 208, 209._
The World Set to Thinking
This earthquake set men to thinking of the great day of G.o.d. Voltaire, the French philosopher, was ”profoundly moved” by it, we are told. ”It was the last judgment for that region,” he wrote; ”nothing was wanting to it except the trumpet.” More than a month afterward, while still the perturbations of the earth were continuing, this skeptic wrote a poem upon the problem presented, voicing the sentiment:
”My heart oppress'd demands Aid of the G.o.d who formed me with his hands.
Sons of the G.o.d supreme to suffer all Fated alike, we on our Father call....
Sad is the present if no future state, No blissful retribution mortals wait, If fate's decrees the thinking being doom To lose existence in the silent tomb.
_All may be well_; that hope can man sustain.
_All now is well_; 'tis an illusion vain.
The sages held me forth delusive light, Divine instructions only can be right.
Humbly I sigh, submissive suffer pain, Nor more the ways of Providence arraign.”
--”_Poem on the Destruction of Lisbon,_”
_Smollet's translation; Works, Vol. x.x.xIII, ed. 1761._
Just at the time, plans were under way for the opening of a theater at Lausanne for the special performance of some of Voltaire's rationalistic dramas. But the enterprise was deferred. One writer says:
”The earthquake had made all men thoughtful. They mistrusted their love of the drama, and filled the churches instead.”--_Tallentyre, ”Life of Voltaire,” p. 319._
So, in an age of rationalism and unbelief, men's thoughts were turned toward G.o.d, and human helplessness and earth's instability were recognized.
Extent of the Lisbon Earthquake
As to the extent of the earthquake, a writer of the period shows that it was felt in Sweden and in Africa and in the West Indies, adding: