Heralds of the Morning
255
At Lisbon “a sound of thunder was heard underground, and im-
mediately afterwards a violent shock threw down the greater part of
that city. In the course of about six minutes sixty thousand persons
perished. The sea first retired, and laid the bar dry; it then rolled
in, rising fifty feet or more above its ordinary level.” “Among other
extraordinary events related to have occurred at Lisbon during the
catastrophe, was the subsidence of a new quay, built entirely of marble,
at an immense expense. A great concourse of people had collected
there for safety, as a spot where they might be beyond the reach of
falling ruins; but suddenly the quay sank down with all the people on
it, and not one of the dead bodies ever floated to the surface.”—Ibid.,
page 495.
“The shock” of the earthquake “was instantly followed by the fall
of every church and convent, almost all the large public buildings, and
more than one fourth of the houses. In about two hours after the shock,
fires broke out in different quarters, and raged with such violence for
the space of nearly three days, that the city was completely desolated.
The earthquake happened on a holyday, when the churches and con-
vents were full of people, very few of whom escaped.”—Encyclopedia
Americana, art. “Lisbon,” note (ed. 1831). “The terror of the people
was beyond description. Nobody wept; it was beyond tears. They
ran hither and thither, delirious with horror and astonishment, beating
their faces and breasts, crying, ‘Misericordia! the world’s at an end!’
Mothers forgot their children, and ran about loaded with crucifixed
images. Unfortunately, many ran to the churches for protection; but
in vain was the sacrament exposed; in vain did the poor creatures
embrace the altars; images, priests, and people were buried in one
common ruin.” It has been estimated that ninety thousand persons lost
their lives on that fatal day.
[306]
Twenty-five years later appeared the next sign mentioned in the
prophecy—the darkening of the sun and moon. What rendered this
more striking was the fact that the time of its fulfillment had been
definitely pointed out. In the Saviour’s conversation with His dis-
ciples upon Olivet, after describing the long period of trial for the
church,—the 1260 years of papal persecution, concerning which He
had promised that the tribulation should be shortened,—He thus men-
tioned certain events to precede His coming, and fixed the time when
the first of these should be witnessed: “In those days, after that tribula-