So Successful had been the camp meeting held in the Melbourne suburb of Middle Brighton in early January that there was enthusiastic anticipation of a repeat performance in Sydney later in the year. G. B. Starr and Ellen G. White and her staff of workers had journeyed north from Melbourne in late March and, as noted, had very soon been drawn into following up interests in Sydney suburbs. Granville, with easy access to Sydney and a number of rail connections, had become somewhat of a center of evangelistic operations. But all eyes were on the coming camp meeting and the annual session of the Australian Conference that would accompany it in late October.
The Sydney church, with eighty-five members, suffered somewhat from adverse and critical members. The Parramatta church, with a membership of ninety, had its own meetinghouse, one of the first in Australia, but was heavily in debt. At Kellyville there was a small but neat and debt-free meetinghouse, serving a church of twenty-four.
The evangelistic meetings held in a tent at Seven Hills resulted in a congregation of forty, including children. As winter came on, they decided to build a simple, neat church to cost about $300. All members and ministerial workers contributed to this, and Ellen White gave liberally to make the building possible. She insisted, and all agreed, that it should be erected without debt. The elected building committee did good work, securing favorable concessions in purchasing materials, and getting donated labor from the members. (Letter 44, 1894).
Sabbath and Sunday, September 15 and 16, were high days for this new church. Elder McCullagh explained why in an article in the Bible Echo:
On Sabbath, September 15, we organized the church, with one elder, two deacons, and a clerk as officers. The blessing of God attended the word spoken, and all felt assured that the Lord set His seal to the work by the presence of His Holy Spirit.
On Sunday the dedicatory services took place. In the morning Dr. Kellogg preached, presenting some practical truths to the edification of all. In the afternoon the special service of the day was held. Mrs. E. G. White spoke to a crowded house, with great energy and freedom. The word spoken was precious.--October 1, 1894.
With a warm heart overflowing with joy and thankfulness Mrs. White looked on the earnest little flock as "babes in Christ." She wrote:
If there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth, we know that there is joy over these twenty precious souls who, one after another, have had the moral courage to decide to obey the truth. Now this little flock are babes in Christ, and need to be taught and led along, step by step, into faith and assurance; they need to be educated and trained to do the work of soldiers in the army of the Lord, and to bear hardness, that is, trials and oppositions, contempt and scorn, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.--Letter 44, 1894.
That very week she received from an energetic and successful literature evangelist in California, Walter Harper, a gift of $1,000 to aid in the work in Australia. She had written to him in July, a man with whom she was well acquainted, telling of the development of the work in what she termed "this region beyond." She pointed out that meetinghouses must be erected, a college founded, assistance must be given to students unable to meet school expenses, and Adventist families, destitute because of Sabbathkeeping, must be helped. She specifically mentioned that "a church must be built at Seven Hills, and we must have means." She asked, "If in the providence of God you have means, will you help the truth to
advance in this country?"--Letter 30a, 1894.
This he did, and in her letter expressing her gratitude for the liberal gift she wrote:
If the Lord has made you a successful canvasser, and by this means you can not only obtain your livelihood but at the same time impart light to others, you have much for which to be thankful. I am thankful you are trading on your Lord's goods, and putting out your money to usury, in order that you may double your entrusted talent.--Letter 31, 1894.
Another Sunday-Work Arrest
Then came the Shannon case, which was given wide publicity in some of the Sydney newspapers. One carried the headline "Sunday-Labor Prosecution--'Two Hours in the Stocks.'" A. G. Daniells opened his front-page article in the Bible Echo:
After an interval of three months and one day, the Seventh-day Adventists have again been brought prominently before the people of Australia. Again one of their members has been summoned to court, prosecuted, fined, and sentenced to the stocks for working on Sunday.--August 20, 1894.
Ellen White gave the details in a letter to S. N. Haskell:
We are in the midst of stirring times just now. Brother Shannon, who lives in Sydney, has been arrested and prosecuted for working on Sunday. He owns houses, and builds houses. He is a stonemason, and in an out-of-the-way place was stirring up some mortar, in a quiet way that could offend no one, on Sunday, July 29. It seems that spies were watching him, and he was reported to the officers, and arrested. A fine was imposed in accordance with the law made by Charles II, and it was required that he either pay the fine or submit to confinement for two hours in the stocks.
Elder McCullagh and several other brethren were present at the trial. My secretary, Sister Emily Campbell, was also present to take shorthand notes of the proceedings.... The authorities of Sydney find that they have an elephant on their hands, and they are at a loss to know what to do in this affair. They do not covet the record that it would give them in carrying out a punishment invented under the profligate rule of Charles II.--Letter 30, 1894.
Then she told of how, after McCullagh conversed with the magistrate and the officers in the courtroom, one of the officers left the room saying that "if that man kept on talking, he would convert them all." Judicial officers in high places in the colony, embarrassed by the whole affair, found that an error had been made in imposing the fine (which Shannon had refused to pay, calling for the stocks). He had been sentenced to pay two shillings six pence when the law on the statute books called for five shillings. On this technicality the magistrates called for a remission of sentence under the two-hundred-year-old law.
In the meantime Daniells had hastened from Melbourne to Sydney to fill speaking appointments in two halls. "Just now," wrote Ellen White, "there is a wonderful stir in Sydney."
This prosecution has awakened an intense interest. The authorities are collecting the statements that were made in regard to the persecution of the Firth brothers in Parramatta, and they say that they will present these things to the next parliament, and work for the repeal of that miserable old law. [Note: Consideration was being given at this time to the formation of the federal commonwealth of australia, binding the several colonies together. With regard to a proposed constitution, Seventh-day Adventists pressed in with public meetings calling for religious liberty, and with petitions calling for total separation of Church and State. When a constitution was finally adopted in 1898, it contained clause 116, which read: "the commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the commonwealth." The thirty-eight thousand signatures gathered by Seventh-day Adventists in victoria wielded an influence at the propitious time.--See Milton R. Hook, "the avondale school and adventist educational goals, 1894-1900," pp. 24-26.]--Ibid.
Issues of the Bible Echo carried reports from time to time of religious persecution elsewhere. Adventists in Tennessee and Georgia were imprisoned for violation of antiquated Sunday laws. H. P. Holser, in Basel, Switzerland, was arrested, fined, and imprisoned for allowing the operation of the publishing house on Sunday (see The Bible Echo, November 26; December 10 and 24, 1894). In one way or another, the work and doctrines of Seventh-day Adventists were coming before the general public.
On September 10 the Bible Echo carried an announcement that the Australian camp meeting for 1894 would be held at Sydney, October 18-30; there would also be a ten-day workers' meeting preceding the camp. The land selected was a five-acre grassy plot in Ashfield, five miles from the Sydney General Post Office.
To advertise the evangelistic meetings, which was a new thing for that area, a special camp meeting issue of the Bible Echo, dated October 15, was published. During the workers' meeting twenty young people distributed it to the homes in the various suburbs of Sydney. As they called on people, they gave a hearty invitation to attend the camp meeting and sold copies of the Echo. Some eight thousand copies were sold, and another eight thousand copies of the special cover, carrying an advertisement of the coming meeting, were given away.
Articles in the Bible Echo urged attendance of church members. In the September 17 issue, A. G. Daniells, conference president--one local conference at that time took in all of Australia--pointed out to believers, many of them new church members:
There are many reasons why this meeting should be held, and why we may look for most excellent results.
When God established His people Israel in the land of Canaan, He knew the temptations that would be brought to bear upon them, and as one of the safeguards against their being led into apostasy, He established three annual gatherings at which they were to meet together for praise and worship, to recount His mercies and His deliverances, and to encourage one another in the way of obedience....
There are many educational advantages to be enjoyed at these general convocations, which to those persons who wish to become laborers with God in the work of uplifting fallen humanity will be of inestimable value....
Therefore we say to our brethren, Prepare for the camp meeting; begin at once; work in faith, and let as large a number as possible receive its benefits.
As church members came in on Friday, October 19, they found more than fifty white canvas family tents among and under the shade trees. There were sixty-two by the end of the first week. The tents were arranged in rows, with streets named after the Reformers, as was often done in America. The large pavilion would seat between six hundred and eight hundred persons.
The opening meeting was held on Friday night with a discourse from J. M. Cole, recently come from Norfolk Island. Sabbath morning there were 125 adults in the senior Sabbath school. These were quickly grouped into twenty-one classes.
A. G. Daniells spoke Sabbath morning, reading as his text, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" (James 4:8). In the afternoon Ellen White spoke. Far from boasting or calling attention to herself, but ever eager to know whether her ministry was effective, she wrote of her observation to O. A. Olsen concerning this Sabbath-afternoon meeting:
One man whose hair is white with age said, "I never heard such preaching as that woman gave us since I was born into the world. These people make Christ the complete center and system of truth."--Letter 56, 1894.
A large sign over the entrance to the enclosed grounds read, "Whosoever Will, Let Him Come" (Manuscript 1, 1895). In response to the advertising, Sabbath afternoon the attendance began to accelerate, and Ellen White reported to Olsen:
On Sunday we had an immense congregation. The large tent was full, there was a wall of people on the outside, and the carriages filled with people in the street. The tents are a great surprise and curiosity to the people, and indeed, these white cotton houses interspersed among the green trees are a beautiful sight.--Letter 56, 1894.
Fully a thousand were present as the afternoon discourse began, and, reported W. C. White, "before its close there were upwards of two thousand on the ground." He too noted the drawing features of the experience unique to so many:
Although many had apparently come from feelings of curiosity, the greater part of this multitude gathered in and about the large tent and listened attentively to Mrs. White as she presented the love of God and its effect upon the heart and character.--The Bible Echo, November 5, 1894.
The total conference membership throughout Australia was 872; 170 of these were camping on the grounds. Ministerial workers watched with deep interest the size of the crowds attending the weekend and evening meetings. W. C. White reported at midcamp:
The evening meetings have been well attended. The large pavilion, which will accommodate from six to eight hundred persons, is filled every night, and sometimes there are two or three hundred standing outside.--Ibid.
In her diary Ellen White put it this way:
On Saturday and Sunday, and during the evenings of the week, the grounds were thronged with interested spectators. The people listened in rapt attention to discourses on the coming of Christ, spiritualism, theosophy, the third angel's message, the love of God, temperance, practical godliness, and themes especially related to our time."--Manuscript 1, 1895.
She listed the principal speakers as Pastors Corliss, Daniells, Cole, Colcord, Hare, Baker, and herself.
The Friday-Morning Workers' Meeting
But not all was well, and Ellen White sensed this from the first. From observation and from special insights divinely revealed, she understood the nature of the trouble. True, they had beautiful grounds well laid out; they had the best speakers who could be brought together; they had crowds of people exceeding in number their fondest hopes; but there were deep-seated problems not visible to the throngs on the grounds. Jealousies existed between key workers at the camp, and a spirit of criticism prevailed. Sunday night, in vision, she seemed to be laboring with them, "speaking to them under the influence of the Spirit of God, and pointing out the necessity of earnest work in our own individual cases if we would have the deep moving of the Spirit of God in our midst" (Manuscript 41, 1894). What took place Friday morning she reported in several letters and in her diary:
This morning my work was in the large tent. The enemy seemed determined that I should not bear my testimony; there was not much vitality in the atmosphere, but I thought I would try. I was so faint that I had to return to my room. I took a little nourishment and again went to the tent, but could not remain.
I then felt that Satan was trying to hinder me, and I went the third time, and the Lord gave me power to bear a decided testimony to those assembled, especially to the ministers. Then there was a break, and a good social meeting followed.
I had directed that the horse and phaeton should be ready for me to ride after breakfast, but Willie was so anxious that I should attend the ministers' meeting that I did so.
The power of the Holy Spirit came upon me, and I gave a decided testimony of reproof because of the lack of love and sympathy and courtesy toward brethren in the ministry. These feelings are positively forbidden by our Saviour....
There is a sad dearth of real courtesy, sympathy, and tender regard and confidence. I presented these things, and the Lord helped me.--Letter 42, 1894.
Writing further of the experience, she related:
After breakfast I met with the ministers in the reception tent, and bore them a decided testimony, addressing them by name. I spoke to Brother A in regard to his treatment of his brother ministers. Brother A confessed in a very tender spirit to Brother B, and Brother B confessed that he had not had that love and tender regard for his brethren that he should have had....
With tears they clasped each other's hands. The Spirit of the Lord came into the meeting, and the hearts of all melted down. From this time there was altogether a purer and more holy atmosphere in our meetings.--Manuscript 41, 1894.
Ellen White's references to the meetings from day to day witness to the fruitfulness of that agonizing Friday-morning session. That afternoon she reported that "Elder Corliss spoke with great power."--Ibid. There was an altar call, and seventy-five responded; twelve decided to be baptized.
Favorable Impressions
The many visitors who came onto the grounds were very favorably impressed, and expressed their appreciation of the reception tent and the dining tent, with the oilcloth-covered tables set attractively. The cleanliness and order, and the taste in arrangements, added relish to the good meals served. The book tent also attracted many who visited the camp meeting.
Those on the grounds felt that there was more than one way to witness. Observed Ellen White:
Some of the campers brought their cookstoves and had their tents so arranged that in passing by, one could see the neatly and bountifully set tables, the white beds, and attractive sitting rooms. Those who tented upon the ground were certainly comfortable in their tents.--Manuscript 1, 1895.
In the same manuscript she wrote of the camp meeting near its close:
The man who has brought the lumber which we have used on the ground has favored us in every possible way. He has attended the meetings and is now convinced of the truth. He is a local minister, and he says that he has tried to get the Ashfield people to attend church, but he could not persuade them to do so. The very people for whom he has been anxious are now attending our meetings, and you could not get them to remain away. Several are under deep conviction, and the interest grows. In conversation with him, Brother Corliss told him that we designed moving the tent to another locality. He remarked that he himself and many others would be sorry to see the tent moved. He also said, "I am with you, for you have the truth."
A good press was given to the meetings, as reported in the Bible Echo:
Many papers in Sydney, in other parts of New South Wales, and even in other colonies, freely opened their columns to reports of the camp meeting at Ashfield, New South Wales.
Two influential and leading papers in Sydney, the Town and Country Journal and the Sydney Mail, used cuts of the campground in connection with the reports.--November 19, 1894.
Ellen White reported on another interesting development:
Last Friday the Baptists, of their own accord, offered our ministers the use of the baptistry of their church, and they wished to have a discourse preached upon baptism to their church members. The favor was accepted, and sixteen believers went forward in baptism. The Baptists say it was the most perfectly conducted service they ever witnessed.--Letter 43, 1894.
During the camp meeting Ellen White spoke eight times to the congregations in the large tent (Ibid.). She also attended and participated in almost all the early-morning devotional meetings, in which she on two occasions read from manuscript prepared there on the grounds on the subject of education.
Business Meetings of the Australian Conference
Throughout the week business meetings of the conference were held in the mornings, with various departments of the work given time for reports, discussions, and plans. Officers were elected for the ensuing year. A. G. Daniells was reelected president of the Australian Conference. Among the actions taken were two relating to the school. They were just in the midst of the period of uncertainty over its location, and the resolutions lacked precision and force:
Whereas, Our educational work is of great importance, and
Whereas, We believe a school for the education of workers, and especially of our young people in the colonies, should be maintained, and properly and permanently located, therefore--
Resolved, That we hereby express regret should there be any unnecessary delay in permanently locating the school, and erecting buildings in harmony with the action taken by the union conference last January. And further--
Resolved, That we approve of the school's being located in a rural district away from the large cities.--The Bible Echo, November 12, 1894.
The Last Public Service
After a second week of good meetings, the Ashfield camp meeting came to a triumphant close on Sunday with 2,500 people present. Ellen White describes the climaxing service:
The last public service, on Sunday evening, was one long to be remembered. The night was a beautiful one. The walls of the large tent were raised, and extra seats were placed around the outside, yet a large crowd was left standing. Elder Corliss preached upon the glorious appearing of our Lord, and it was just the discourse for the occasion.
The Spirit and power of God were manifested through the human agent. At times the whole congregation was held as if spellbound. Truly many had an opportunity of hearing things strange to them. Yet these were old truths, but placed before the hearers with freshness and power the hearers had never known before.--DF 28a, "Experiences in Australia," p. 789g.
Post-Camp Meeting Evangelistic Meetings
Interest was high when the camp meeting closed. Many requested that the services should not close, so it was decided to move the tent to another location, about a mile distant but with rail connections more convenient to several of the suburbs of Sydney. Corliss and McCullagh were commissioned to continue with meetings nightly; these were well attended. Other workers were drawn in to visit the people in their homes and conduct Bible readings (The Bible Echo, December 3, 1894).
As various individuals took their stand for the Sabbath, the ire of the Protestant ministers, particularly Wesleyan and Church of England, was stirred up. Ellen White wrote of it:
Most bitter opposition has been manifested, and the ministers put forth an organized effort to visit every family. They were in possession of Canright's books, [Books written by D. M. Canright, an apostate Seventh-day Adventist Minister.] and used them to the utmost to turn away the ears of the people from the truth. There was a meeting appointed, and one of their ministers thought that he had exploded the truth concerning the Sabbath. Our brethren were present to take notes.
Another meeting was appointed in which the ministers, church officials, and those who were troubled over the Sabbath question were invited to assemble.... The ministers were ridiculing passages from the Bible which had a bearing on the subject.... Brother McCullagh asked if he might speak a few words, and permission was granted. He gave the true interpretation of the Scriptures which they had garbled.
Then a man by the name of Picton, a Campbellite minister, who was a trained debater, and according to his own opinion, a man of intellectual superiority, challenged our people to meet him in debate on the Sabbath question. We felt very sorry to enter into a discussion on this matter, for generally it leaves an excited state of feeling, but there was no evading the matter. The man boasted that he would wipe out the Seventh-day Adventists, and as God would be dishonored if this proud, boasting Goliath was left to defy Israel, the terms of the debate were agreed upon.--Letter 123, 1894.
The Debate on the Sabbath Question
According to the terms agreed upon, six nights would be given to the debate, beginning December 11 and closing December 19. J. O. Corliss would represent Seventh-day Adventists; Mr. Picton, the Protestant churches. Each speaker would have a half-hour to speak on each evening. There was to be no applause. The debate would take place in the Wesleyan church (The Bible Echo, December 17, 1894).
Ellen White was intensely interested in what was to take place, for when the debate was proposed she was given in vision a preview, together with potential hazards. She described Corliss as "an excellent teacher," able to make things "very plain and interesting," a man able to speak with "power and great clearness" (Letters 39, 1895; 130, 1894). She had been acquainted with him since his boyhood days. She knew him also to be a man of quick temper, high self-esteem, and with a proclivity to lash out at an opponent or supposed opponent. Her great concern was that he should put his full dependence on the Lord and speak with great discretion.
She hastened off an earnest letter warning Corliss that if he were not constantly on guard, making Christ his strength, he would reveal the natural temperament of J. O. Corliss. She urged him to keep in mind that the universe of heaven composed his audience (Letter 130, 1894). "Your only safety," she urged, "is in joining yourself to Jesus and keeping close to His side."--Letter 21a, 1895.
She recounted how Jesus met opposition with "It is written." With a grateful heart Corliss accepted the message of caution. Much time was spent in earnest prayer for God's special blessing on his work and that truth might conquer. After the second evening of the debate Ellen White reported:
The Lord has used Elder Corliss.... He has spoken with power and great clearness. Truth is indeed bearing away the victory, and light is shining upon many minds.--Letter 130, 1894.
The debater is a clear, moderate-spoken man, but he has arguments weak as weakness itself. I felt and still do feel that much is at stake, depending upon the result of this debate.--Ibid.
Some days later she added:
The discussion lasted six nights. Much prayer was offered to God during this time, and the Lord manifested His special grace and power in presentation of the truth. Error appeared weakness; the truth, strength.--Ibid.
Midway in the debate the interest was such that the discussion was moved to a large hall, which was well filled every evening. The minister of the Wesleyan church and Elder McCullagh sat on the stand together with the chairman of the meeting and the two speakers in the debate. Describing Corliss' presentation, Ellen White wrote to Edson:
He [Corliss] went through the discussion trusting in God, not relying upon himself, and the truth was not dishonored in his hands. The man stood before the people as if bathed in the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. He was dignified because he was conscious of the fact that he was the mouthpiece for God.
As she continued, she gave a word picture of changing attitudes on the part of the listeners:
As the debate continued night after night, the minds of the majority of the people were turned in favor of the truth. There were some who allowed prejudice to control them to such an extent that they would not acknowledge truth even though it was as plain as noonday.
Time and again the chairman had to call the meeting to order as Brother Corliss showed up the inconsistency of Mr. Picton's arguments, for they were so delighted with the keen, cutting truth that they could not restrain the demonstration of their pleasure. These demonstrations on the part of the people in behalf of the truth made the opposing party feel rather crestfallen, and they insisted that the chairman should hold the meeting to the rules of the debate....
All through the debate Brother Corliss kept insisting that his opponent should produce a text in favor of Sundaykeeping, for the question of the debate was "Do the Scriptures teach that Christians should observe the first day of the week as the Sabbath day?"--Letter 123, 1894.
The debate ended with Elder Corliss exhorting the people, arraigning them before the judgment bar where all would be called to give an account of the way in which they had improved their opportunities and valued their privileges. So impressed was the audience with the outcome of the discussion that they could not be restrained from thunderous applause, and the chairman commented that aside from the spiritual benefits of the discussion, they had enjoyed a rare intellectual treat.
As she recounted the experience, Ellen White reported to Edson:
They did not take an expression of decision on the merits of the debate; but the applause showed that their sympathies were on the side of the truth.--Ibid.
And in a final word she wrote: "As a general thing, a debate kills the interest, but in this case it has not had such an effect. There is still a good attendance at the tent, and about twenty-seven persons have signed the covenant, and there are about twenty more who are keeping the Sabbath that have not yet joined the church.... We hope for a good church in Ashfield."