Chapter V: Part 5

A wide field is before me, and I must study brevity upon this subject, or it will crowd more important matter out of this volume. I can therefore give but a brief sketch of the most prominent features of this great movement. I shall be principally indebted to an article published in the _Advent Shield_ for May, 1844, written by J. Litch, for what is said upon this subject. The first period of expectation had just passed, when Mr. Litch reviewed the entire ground, and presented facts in the case for the edification and encouragement of believers. These facts can never lose their interest to all true believers, till the Advent hope shall be consummated.

“The rise of the Advent cause, as it has been developed by Mr. Miller, may be dated A. D. 1831. For although he discovered his principles as early as 1818, it was not until 1831 that he first began to publish them abroad.

“His first step in this work was the publication of a series of articles on the subject of Christ’s second coming, which appeared in the _Vermont Telegraph_, a Baptist paper, published in Brandon, Vt. Those articles were written to rid himself of the strong impression which followed him, that he must go and publish this thing to the world.

“But after writing and publishing the above, instead, as he expected, of finding relief from his responsibilities, he only found the inward monitor the more earnestly pressing him, saying, ‘Go and tell it to the world, or their blood will I require at thy hand.’ To rid himself of this strong impression, he wrote a synopsis of his views, and in the spring of 1832 he published it in pamphlet form, and spread it over the country, and sent it to different parts of the world among the missionary stations.”

Invitations for Mr. Miller to lecture came in from all directions, which he accepted, and he continued to travel and labor with great success among the people, but with little encouragement from the ministry.

“In 1836 Mr. Miller found a friend who undertook the publication of a volume of lectures, the series which he usually gave as a course. The publication of those lectures constituted a new era in the history of the Advent cause; for, from that time, wherever he went and lectured, the written lectures which were left behind continued to preach and establish those who were partially convinced of the truth. His labor, by this means, ceased to be like writing upon the sand, as formerly. It is one of those strongly-marked demonstrations which history presents of the power and influence of the press for good or evil.

“Those books gradually spread abroad, where he had never been in person, and created an interest in the public mind to investigate the subject for themselves. It was not, however, until the winter of 1837-8, that the work attracted much attention in Massachusetts. About the month of February, in 1838, several copies of the lectures found their way into Massachusetts, and awakened quite a sensation. One copy fell into the hands of the editor of the _Boston Daily Times_, and most of the lectures were re-published in that paper, and obtained quite an extensive reading. The effect was so great that it was found necessary to provide an antidote, in the shape of two letters from the pen of Rev. Ethan Smith.”

Mr. Litch introduces his own interesting experience in the Advent cause in the following language:

“About the time of the appearance of those lectures in the _Boston Times_, a copy of the work was put into the hands of the present writer, with a request that he should read it and give his opinion of its merits. The idea of an attempt to discover the time of Christ’s second advent was to him so strange, that he could scarcely make up his mind to give the book a perusal. No doubt came into his mind but what he could entirely overthrow the whole system in five minutes. For, thought he, according to Paul, [2 Thess. ii,] the falling away must first come, and the Man of Sin be revealed; which the great body of commentators understood to be the Papal system. But, according to Daniel and John, that power is to continue for 1260 days, or years; and the date assumed by the most learned writers of the age, for the commencement of the period, was 606, and consequently it would not end until 1866. This was a decisive argument. However, to gratify a friend, and from a curiosity to know what arguments could be adduced in support of so novel a doctrine, the book was read. There was no difficulty in adopting most of the sentiments advanced in the first lecture. Prejudice began to give way, and the idea of the glorious reign of Christ on the earth renewed, was most delightful. From that, the 1260 days came up, and the evidence presented, by which it was clearly shown that those days terminated in 1798, having begun in 538. The great argument against the coming of the Lord, which had appeared so strong and invulnerable, soon vanished; and a new face shone forth from Paul’s argument. The substance of it was, the predicted period having gone by, and the Papacy having been consumed away by the spirit of the Lord’s mouth, he is next to be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming. Then there can be no millennium until Christ comes--for the reign of the Man of Sin and a glorious millennium cannot co-exist. Thus the old fabled millennium was lost.

“Before concluding the book, I became fully satisfied that the arguments were so clear, so simple, and withal so scriptural, that it was impossible to disprove the position which Mr. Miller had endeavored to establish.

“The question of duty then presented itself thus: ‘If this doctrine is true, ought you not, as a minister of the gospel, to understand and proclaim it?’ Yes, certainly I had. ‘Then why not do so?’ Why, if it should, after all, prove false, where will my reputation be? And besides, if it is not true, it will bring the Bible into disrepute, after the time has gone by. But there is another view to be taken of this subject. How shall we know whether it is true or false? Can it be known except by the testimony of the Scriptures? What do they teach? This is the true question. If it is true that the Lord is coming so soon, the world should know it: if it is not true it should be discussed, and the error exposed. I believe the Bible teaches the doctrine; and while I believe thus, it is my duty to make it known to the extent of my power. It is a scriptural subject, and one full of interest; and the discussion of it cannot do harm. These prophecies and periods are in the Bible, and mean something--if they do not mean this, what do they mean? Thus I reasoned, until the Lord, in a night-dream, showed me my own vileness, and made me willing to bear reproach for Christ, when I resolved, at any cost, to present the truth on this subject.”

As soon as Mr. Litch came to this decision, he published a synopsis of Mr. Miller’s views in a pamphlet, entitled the _Midnight Cry_. He continued to lecture, and also published a second work of 204 pages, entitled “The Probability of the Second Coming of Christ about A. D. 1843.”

“It was in this work that the calculation on the fall of Ottoman supremacy on the 11th of August, 1840, was first given to the world. So also the argument on the 1260 days, showing how all the events which were to precede the time, times and a half, centered in 538, while the decree of Justinian was given in 533.

“This work circulated through New England, and excited something of an interest. The subject rested here, with the exception of a few newspaper articles published in _Zion’s Herald_, of Boston, and _Zion’s Watchman_, of New York, until the spring of 1839.

“In that year (1839) Mr. Miller was invited into Massachusetts to lecture. In that tour he visited and lectured in Randolph, Lowell, Groton, and Lynn. His introduction was principally through the influence of Elder T. Cole, of Lowell, a minister of the Christian connection. Again, in the autumn and winter of the same year, he returned and lectured in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Haverhill, Massachusetts, where a good effect was produced.

“It was at this Exeter meeting that he first became acquainted with Elder J. V. Himes, and received his first invitation to visit Boston and give a course of lectures in the Chardon-Street Chapel. His first course of lectures in that place constituted altogether a new era in the history of Adventism. An excitement was produced in Boston which demanded light, and prepared the public mind to sustain the enterprise of hiring the Marlboro Chapel for a course of lectures. From that point an influence was extended through all the adjacent country; and such was the demand for light that it was determined to issue a new and revised edition of the lectures. This work was undertaken, without fee or reward, by that devoted friend of the cause. He cheerfully undertook the revision of the work and the superintendence of publication, which a Boston publisher agreed to do if he could have the profits arising from an edition of five thousand copies. This he had. Mr. Miller has often been blamed for securing the copyright, and hence it is but just to him and the cause to say, that it was the only condition on which the publisher would undertake to issue the work. After selling the five thousand copies, Mr. Mussey, the publisher, concluded that the demand was over. For the purpose of supplying the public, Mr. Himes then undertook, at the earnest solicitation and advice of friends, the publication of the work himself. At the same time he abandoned the copyright, and thus, to save reproach on the cause, exposed himself to the competition of any and all who chose to compete with him. The same course has been pursued in reference to all his other publications. Notwithstanding all this, all that the tongue of slander could invent has been heaped upon him for the stand he took and the self-denying course he pursued on this subject.

“During Mr. Miller’s lectures in Boston, a work entitled ‘Illustrations of Prophecy, by David Campbell,’ appeared. Some other works of an ephemeral character, from Orthodox, Infidel, Universalist, and other _ists_, appeared about the same time, and accomplished each their work, by overthrowing--not Mr. Miller--but one another.

“Under these repeated attacks from the pulpit and press, it was felt that some organ of communication should be opened, by which the public mind could be disabused in reference to the varied reports which were circulated in reference to Mr. Miller and his views. He had long sought for some one to take the supervision of a paper through which he could speak to the public; but such a man could not be found, who for love or money would undertake the task, and bear the scorn of an unbelieving world.

“THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

“At this juncture, when the storm of opposition grew heavy, the providence of God raised up a man for this work also. The unwearied friend of this cause, J. V. Himes, who has so nobly stood in the front of the hosts and the hottest of the fire, came forward and threw himself into the enterprise, to make up the breach. On the 20th of March, 1840, without money, patrons, or scarcely friends, he issued the first number of the _Signs of the Times_. The appearance of that sheet was hailed with joy by many a longing heart, waiting for the consolation of Israel. The paper was sustained for the first year at a considerable expense to the editor, besides his own unrequited toil. As might be expected, the enemies of the cause were greatly discommoded by the appearance of such a weapon, both offensive and defensive. Nothing which a heart surcharged with gall could invent, or the tongue of envy utter, was left unsaid or unwritten against the editor. But his language was, None of these things move me. He was sufficiently convinced of the truth of the doctrine to know that it was worthy, at least, of a full and candid investigation, and this he determined it should have, so far as he was able to gain thus much for it.

“The paper thus started was published for two years as a semi-monthly, and, since then, as a weekly periodical. It has been read by multitudes throughout the United States, and in the British provinces, with the deepest interest, and has been to thousands an angel of mercy and love; the good it has accomplished will only be known in the great day of the Lord.

“During the same winter (1839-40) Mr. Miller was invited to lecture in Portsmouth, N. H., and Portland, Me. In both these places, as well as in Boston and vicinity, his labors were attended with refreshing showers of divine grace. Numbers embraced the doctrine of the Lord’s speedy coming, who are yet strong in the faith, giving glory to God. This winter’s campaign produced an excitement throughout New England, and raised up friends in almost every town.

“As the spring opened and the summer came, the entire community were excited, and expectation on tip-toe, in reference to the 11th of August and its anticipated events, the fall of the Ottoman empire, &c., &c. Many were the predictions that when that day should have passed by, as it certainly would do, without the event being realized, then the spell would be broken, and Adventism would die. But the time came; and it must be confessed it was for a few weeks a time of trial to many. Yet ‘He who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,’ had compassion on his little ones, and did not suffer them to be tempted above what they were able to bear. And few, very few, even under that trial, shrunk from their faith. The time came and passed by; and, as a matter of course, the distance from Constantinople could not be passed without consuming some considerable period of time. But when the fact did reach us, it was found that on the very day anticipated, the 11th of August, a transfer was made of the supremacy of that empire from Mahometan hands. This fact entirely discomfited the hosts of the enemy. The cause again revived, and careered on its way with still greater power than ever before.”

UNITED EFFORT.

“Up to this period all that had been done was accomplished by individual effort. In this depression of affairs, it was determined to hold a ‘Second-Advent Conference’ in Boston, where the friends of the cause could congregate and give expression to their feelings, and put forth an effort to arouse the country and the world to a sense of its coming doom. This meeting was assembled in the Chardon Street Chapel, on the 15th of October, 1840, and continued two days. This was styled ‘The First General Conference of Second-Advent Believers.’ It was a season of comfort and refreshing to the lovers of the glorious appearing of our blessed Lord.

“In the spring of 1840, the writer of this article wrote and published a third work, entitled ‘An Address to the Clergy.’ It embraced in a short compass an exposition of the nature of the kingdom of God; also an article on the return of the Jews, and their title to the land promised to Abraham for an everlasting possession. It presented the subject in a light somewhat different from what it had ever been presented before in this country. The effect of it on the clergy was considerable; some were moved by it to give the subject an examination, and became satisfied that it was the true position. It also contained the argument on the fall of the Ottoman empire. The second edition, published in 1841, was revised by giving the historical facts, showing the fulfillment of the calculation.”

June 15-17, 1841, the second General Conference of Advent believers was held in Lowell, Mass. It was a time of deep interest, and gave a new impulse to the cause.

During the ensuing summer Mr. Litch visited the seats of the four New England Methodist Episcopal Annual Conferences, and gave lectures which called out more or less of the ministry to hear him. His efforts in this direction removed prejudice, and made a good impression.

“The course of Adventism was steadily onward, both among clergy and laity, throughout New England.

“It was in the autumn of this year that that devoted and beloved brother, C. Fitch, returned again to the examination of the question of the Lord’s coming, and came out a decided advocate of the doctrine. He at once entered the field, and has proved an efficient auxiliary to the cause.

“Bro. William Miller continued his labors in various parts of the country with great success. Bro. Himes also devoted as much time as his pastoral and other duties would allow, to lecturing on the subject.

“In October another conference was held in Portland, Me., which gave a new impulse to the work in that section of the country. Another conference was appointed and held in the Broadway Tabernacle, New York city, which was the first successful effort ever made in that city.

“From New York city we proceeded to Low Hampton, the residence of Bro. Miller, and commenced another conference. It was a season of refreshing to all, and more especially to Bro. Miller himself. It was the first conference he had ever attended; and to find around him such a host as were congregated there, from east, west, north and south, from Canada as well as the States, raised up to proclaim this truth, by the blessing of God on his labors, was to him most refreshing and encouraging.

“During the winter of 1841-2, conferences were held in various places, which were all attended with good: Boston, Mass.; Dover, N. H.; Sandy Hill, N. Y.; Pomfret, Ct.; Colchester, Vt.; Ashburnham and Lunenburg, Mass., &c. The result of them, eternity will unfold; but much fruit was immediately apparent. A large number of ministers of the gospel were awakened, during the winter, to a sense of their duty to investigate the subject, and were induced to preach it more or less in their pulpit ministrations; and some of them devoted themselves entirely to the Advent cause, and became efficient lecturers.

“As the spring opened, Bro. Himes determined on sounding the cry abroad more fully in the city of New York; and accordingly, in the month of May, himself with Bro. Miller went to that city to commence their operations. The Apollo Hall, on Broadway, was rented at a heavy expense, and they commenced their work. The labors of the preceding visit were so far obliterated that none could be found to invite them to their house and give them a night’s lodging. They accordingly took an ante-room adjoining the hall as a sitting and lodging room for a part of the time, until friends were awakened and brought in, who furnished a cot-bed, and thus relieved them from the hard floor. Two weeks, under these circumstances, laboring night and day, paying most of their own expenses (for the public collections were very small), were necessary before an impression could be made. One fact should be here recorded: An impression had gone abroad respecting the Adventists, that they were monsters, or almost anything but civilized beings. So strong was this impression, and so general, that a number of days had passed and scarcely a lady dared to make her appearance in the meetings. The religious press had sounded the alarm, and spread a panic through the community which it was difficult to remove. But as one after another ventured to look in, and then to listen, the prejudice began to give way, and the congregation to enlarge, and before the meetings closed on anniversary week, the house was well filled with attentive hearers, and a permanent interest secured. It was a great undertaking, but the victory was at length achieved, and a great and glorious harvest has been gathered in. This meeting closed under encouraging circumstances, and filled all who were present with hope as to the future.”

CAMP-MEETING ERA.

“While the meetings were progressing in New York, the friends in Boston determined on a general rally in that city during anniversary week. Accordingly, the Melodeon was secured for the occasion, and our meetings began under the most auspicious circumstances. Adventism had never seen a brighter day. The attendance was large throughout the entire meeting. Although the interests of the week were great, yet none had a larger share of attention than the Advent Anniversary Conference. During that week, among the various other interests which came up for discussion, was the question of holding a camp-meeting, or camp-meetings, during the ensuing summer. This was thought, by many, a great undertaking. What, a little handful of Adventists hold a camp-meeting! Why, they are hardly able to hold a house-meeting, much less a camp-meeting! However, there was sufficient faith and zeal in the meeting to say TRY. Arrangements were accordingly made by the appointment of a camp-meeting committee, to carry the plan into effect. It was determined to make a most vigorous effort during the summer, for the spread of this great light. For we then thought it doubtful whether we ever should reach another anniversary week, in time.

“Immediately after the anniversary meetings were over, the writer started for Canada East, to fulfill an engagement in Stanstead. He left Boston on Monday morning, and arrived at Stanstead, and began his meeting on Wednesday. The interest steadily increased from the beginning, and before two weeks were passed, the country, for thirty or forty miles around, was awake to the subject of the Lord’s coming. Immense concourses assembled both in Canada and in Derby, Vermont, where a course of lectures was given. Such was the interest to hear, and the awakening among the people, that it was determined at once to hold a camp-meeting in Canada. In accordance with this determination, a place was selected, the ground prepared, and the meeting held in the township of Hadley, Canada East. Such was the good effect of this first meeting, that the people of Bolton wished one to be held in their town. This was begun the next week after the Hadley meeting closed, and ended on the third of July. During that month’s labor, as near as could be estimated, five or six hundred souls were converted to God.

“The last week in June, the first Advent camp-meeting held in the States commenced in East Kingston, New Hampshire, where an immense multitude assembled to hear the word of the kingdom, and worship the God of Abraham. Thus, instead of one Advent camp-meeting during the season, which the unbelief of some thought could hardly be carried through, within one month of the determination to _try_, three such meetings had actually been successful. Besides these camp-meetings, there were immense gatherings of the people all through the northern part of Vermont and New Hampshire, and onward through the State of Maine.”

THE GREAT TENT.

While these operations were going forward, the plan was started for constructing a large tent sufficient to accommodate four thousand persons, with which to go into the cities where no house was open for lectures. This proposition was at once received by the people, and Bro. Himes, with the help of other friends, undertook the work. Such a tent was completed and pitched in Concord, New Hampshire, in the latter part of July. The excitement produced by such a movement was still greater than that occasioned by the Advent camp-meetings.

“The tent was next pitched in Albany, New York; then in Springfield, and Salem, Massachusetts, and Benson, Vermont. And finally, for the last time in the season, in Newark, New Jersey. In all these places the word took effect, and produced the greatest and most beneficial results. Besides the great tent-meetings and numerous courses of lectures, there were held some six or eight camp-meetings, in New England, during the summer and fall. The work spread with a power unparalleled in the history of religious excitements.

“During the season, Bro. C. Fitch made a visit to Oberlin Institute, where he proclaimed the doctrine of the Lord’s coming to the students, as well as faculty of the institution, and in various other places in Ohio. While on this tour, the Lord wonderfully blessed his labors, and gave him favor in the sight of the people. It was arranged for him to remove his family into that region of country to spend the winter, and lecture in Cleveland and vicinity. This movement awakened an interest in that part of the country, which has been increasing to the present time.

“After the close of the Newark camp or tent-meeting, the cold weather set in, and rendered it impracticable longer to continue these public, out-door meetings, and the laborers began to arrange for a winter’s campaign. Bro. Himes, together with Bro. Miller and others, returned to New York, and commenced a course of lectures in the church, corner of Catherine and Madison streets, where Bro. Storrs had been laboring with great success for a number of weeks. The interest still continued to increase beyond all expectation. An invitation was also given for a course of lectures in the Methodist Protestant church, in Anthony street, under the pastoral care of Bro. E. Jacobs. This invitation was accepted by Bro. A. Hale, and attended with a great blessing. Bro. Jacobs, and many of his church embraced the doctrine, and began immediately to proclaim it with power.

“THE MIDNIGHT CRY.

“Such was the interest in New York City, that it was determined by Bro. J. V. Himes, to commence a daily Advent paper, and publish it at least for four weeks, in which the principal arguments sustaining our views were to be embodied and given to the public in a cheap and popular form. The paper was commenced in the latter part of November, 1842, entitled _The Midnight Cry_. It was principally under the editorial supervision of our beloved and faithful brother, N. Southard. The twenty-four numbers were published, and ten thousand copies of each number circulated. Most of these were gratuitously distributed through the post-offices at the expense of the publisher. Of course, such a distribution could not fail to awaken an interest throughout the country, of the most salutary character. Thousands were enlightened and instructed, and embraced the doctrine, who never heard a lecture on the subject. The ‘_Cry_’ has been continued as a weekly paper up to the present time, and has each successive week been extending its sphere of usefulness, and cheering the hearts of thousands of lonely pilgrims in every part of the land.

“In February, 1843, Bro. Miller and Bro. Himes visited Philadelphia, and gave a course of lectures, with very great effect. The city was convulsed throughout with the influence of the lectures. Saints rejoiced, the wicked trembled, backsliders quaked, and the word of the Lord ran and was glorified. It is doubtful whether Mr. Miller ever gave a course of lectures with greater effect than at that time. It placed the cause on a permanent foundation in the city, and prepared the way for extending it into the South and West. A book-room was opened in the city early in January, and a small penny paper, the _Philadelphia Alarm_, was issued. Thirteen numbers of it were published, about four thousand copies per number.”

Efforts were now made in Washington, D. C., and Pittsburgh, Va. “Indeed, the whole West seemed ripe and ready for harvest. Letters written from Pittsburgh, and published in the _Midnight Cry_, soon aroused the friends at the East, and a number of lecturers immediately started for that field of labor. The Advent banner was unfurled in Cincinnati, and from thence the light has been spreading all over the western and southern country.

“Returning from Pittsburgh, about the middle of March, the _Philadelphia Alarm_ was merged in the _Trumpet of Alarm_, a paper containing the diagrams of the visions of Daniel and John, and a connected view of the Advent doctrine, gotten up for the express purpose of circulating in the West and South. From twenty-five to thirty thousand copies of it have been circulated.

“While these things were going on at the West, the Lord was still at work in the East. By his gracious Providence, those beloved brethren, N. N. Whiting, J. B. Cook, and F. G. Brown, were brought into the faith and began to proclaim it aloud. The effect of it was electrical. Very many, who had previously looked upon the subject as beneath their notice, began to feel that it was possible, after all, that there might be something in it. This induced examination of the evidence, and that again produced conviction of the truth of the doctrine.

“In a manner too rapid to record, the Advent cause went forward during that winter. I am aware that history loses more than half its interest from the absence of its details; but such are the limits to which this sketch must be confined, it is impossible to enter into the minutiæ of the thing. All that can be done will be to record the outlines of the story.

“Then, again, Bro. Fitch’s mission in Ohio resulted in the establishment of a Second-Advent paper in Cleveland, which has proved an instrument of great good to the cause in that section of the country. Brn. H. B. Skinner and L. Caldwell, who spent the winter in Canada East, also commenced a paper there, devoted to the cause.

“As the summer opened, preparations were made for tabernacle and camp-meetings. East, West, and North, they were appointed and held; most of which were attended with the special blessing of God on the people, and greatly extended the knowledge of the Advent views. The same anxiety to hear on the subject, which has characterized the doctrine from its beginning, marked it still. Not only in places where it had gained a foothold, but in new places where it had never been proclaimed, the greatest anxiety to hear was manifested.

“Bro. Himes undertook the task of again sustaining _the great tent_, and going with it into western New York. This he, in connection with other brethren, carried through. Up to that time, no permanent interest had been created in that part of the country. But from the holding of the tent-meetings in Rochester and Buffalo, the subject took a strong hold on the community through that region of country, and has been steadily going forward ever since.

“From Buffalo, the tent was taken to Cincinnati, Ohio, and a full exposition of the Advent doctrines given to the people. Several courses of lectures, however, had been previously delivered in that city, and the people were thus prepared to improve the privilege of the tent-lectures. There had also been several camp-meetings in the vicinity of the city; so that a great interest prevailed in the country to obtain light on the subject.

“In connection with each of the tent meetings, an Advent paper was published, in which the main points of the Advent doctrine were given to the people, with great effect.

“We have not space for a full account of the numerous incidents which marked the labors of the summer and autumn of 1843. But it must be recorded, to the praise of God’s glorious grace, that the work of the Lord went steadily forward, bearing down all opposition, from whatever source.

“We were deprived, during the entire spring and summer, of the labors of our beloved Bro. Miller, who was confined to his house by a painful sickness for a number of months. In the fall of the year, as his health improved, he again commenced his arduous work: first making a tour through New England, and then into western New York. During the eight weeks which he spent in the latter tour, he preached eighty-five times, besides all the other duties which devolved upon him, incidental to such a journey. Never were his labors attended with better results, or received with greater pleasure, than during that journey. ‘The good seed,’ ‘the word of the kingdom,’ still found good ground, into which it fell, took root, and brought forth fruit.

“During this visit to the west, among other places, he visited Lockport, New York, the residence of Elder E. Galusha, so well known in the Baptist church in the United States. He had been for several months more or less exercised on the subject of the coming of the Lord, and had given it a very candid examination, but had never fully committed himself to it until Bro. Miller’s lectures in the church of which he had the pastoral charge. He, from that time, became a decided advocate of the doctrine, and has since devoted himself to its advocacy.”

MR. MILLER’S VISIT TO WASHINGTON.

“It had long been in contemplation, by Bro. Himes, in company with Bro. Miller, to visit Washington city, District of Columbia, and sound the alarm in the capital of the nation; but no opportunity presented itself for so doing until the past winter. Commencing in Boston, they lectured in that city, and from thence came to New York, delivering a course of lectures to a numerous audience; from thence visited Philadelphia, spent a week, and gave a course of lectures to an immense concourse of people, with very great effect. From Philadelphia, he, in company with the writer, went to Washington and commenced a course of lectures, February 20, 1844. Two weeks were spent in different sections of the city, in presenting the doctrines of Adventism, and the evidences of the speedy coming of the Lord. The attendance was good, and the interest to hear, deep. A greater revolution in public sentiment has rarely been witnessed in so short a time, than was brought about in Washington, in reference to the Advent doctrine.

“During our stay in Washington, besides the papers and books which were carried on from the North, a paper was commenced there, called the _Southern Midnight Cry_. Two numbers were published and circulated in Washington and vicinity, and another in Baltimore, while Bro. Miller was giving his course of lectures in that city. Thus ended the winter of 1843-4, and brought us to the point which had so long been before us--the end of the Jewish year 1843.”

THE TERMINATION OF THE PROPHETIC TIMES.

“As might be expected, as the crisis, the 21st of March, approached, there was a very general expectation of an entire overthrow of the whole system of Adventism. It was supposed that those who had embraced it, if the appointed time should pass, would yield the whole question. But they had not so learned the Bible. The doctrine does not consist in merely tracing prophetic periods, although that is an important part of the work. But the whole prophetic history of the world is given in the pages of inspiration, is recorded in history, and affords indubitable evidence of the fact, that we have approached a crisis. And no disappointment respecting a definite point of time can move them, or drive them from their position relative to the speedy coming of the Lord. And it yet remains to be shown that our calculations of time are not correct, and are only in error relative to the event which marked its close. This is the most likely. There are, at present, some who falter, but comparatively few, however, who have given up the cause. Most stand unmoved amidst all the scoffs and jeers of a reviling world.”

MODES OF OPPOSITION.

“It has usually been the fact that, as soon as the doctrine of the Lord’s speedy coming has been presented in any place, the clergy, in the course of one or two weeks, would begin their attacks from the pulpit. The usual argument has been--

“1. ‘Of that day and hour knoweth no man;’ yet these men profess to know the very time when the Lord is to come. Yes, they profess to know more than the angels, or even the Son of God himself.

“2. The Lord cannot come until after the millennium, during which the whole world is to be righteous, and the lion eat straw like the ox, &c.

“3. The Jews must be brought in, and restored to Palestine, before that day comes.

“4. It is to come as a thief, as a snare, &c., on all them that dwell on the earth. But now there are so many who are looking for it, that it cannot come as a snare.

“5. It cannot come now, because there are so many learned and holy ministers and Christians, that if it should come now, it would take them by surprise. The Lord will not come without their knowing it.

“6. The world is yet in its infancy; the arts and sciences are just beginning to come to maturity, and fit the world to live, and it cannot be that the Lord will come now and destroy it all.

“7. Then again there is so much waste land to be occupied in the western country, land which has never yet been cultivated at all, that it is not at all reasonable that the Lord should destroy it all before it has been improved.

“8. But the great argument, the one which has proved the most effectual, has been, that this vision of Daniel viii has nothing to do with the coming of Christ, or setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom. It simply refers to Antiochus Epiphanes, and his persecution of the Jews, and desecration of the temple, some 160 odd years B. C. Thus we have the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, for which the Saviour taught his people to look, about two hundred years before the instruction was given.

“To the foregoing might be added a number more of the same class, _professedly_ drawn from reason and Scripture, but none of them more formidable than those already recorded. Do you smile, gentle reader, at the idea of calling these arguments? Yet, you may be assured that each of them in turn has been urged by grave men, calling themselves doctors of divinity.

“But the most wonderful and overwhelming of all arguments which have ever been presented against the doctrine, is, ‘Mr. Miller has built some stone wall on his farm!!’ But, I forgot myself; I said the most wonderful; there is another quite its equal: ‘Mr. Miller refuses to sell his farm!!’ How, oh! how can Christ come, when Mr. Miller will not sell his farm?

“But this is not all; for the truth is, ‘Mr. Himes has published and scattered (a large part of them gratuitously) more than five millions of books and papers. He must be engaged in a speculation; and how can the Lord come? Oh! how can he come?’

“But to be serious; a word on this subject is due these men, and the cause whose advocates they have been. For those who have known William Miller, and have known his personal history, it is not needful we should write. But there are those who know him not; on their account it is, that this memento is here inserted.

“When Mr. Miller first commenced the advocacy of the Advent doctrine, he was engaged in agricultural pursuits. He had a farm of his own, was surrounded by an interesting family, and possessed all that could make life easy and agreeable. When the Lord called and thrust him out into this work, he was in the decline of life, without the advantages of an academical education, without experience as a public speaker, without ecclesiastical preferments, except as a valued and worthy lay member of the Baptist church; the prejudices of both the church and world were decidedly against all attempts to understand the prophetic scriptures, with many other discouraging circumstances. Yet, in the face of all discouragements, he went forth taking nothing; but as freely did he bestow on others the light which God had given, as he had received it.

“For a number of years after he began this work, he traveled extensively, lectured frequently, endured privation and scoffing, and paid all the expenses of his journeys from his own funds. At the same time he had a large family dependent on him for their subsistence, besides keeping open doors for all the Lord’s servants who should choose to come under his roof; where they were always sure to find a hearty welcome.

“After pursuing this course for some years, he arranged his domestic affairs, by giving up his farm into the hands of his sons, so as to sustain his family, and have an annuity of one hundred dollars, to clothe himself and meet his other incidental expenses. In this way he continued to travel far and near, wherever Providence opened the way, and for the most part bearing his own expenses. This he did until his journeys became so numerous, long and expensive, as to exceed his income. Then he permitted the people among whom he labored to pay his traveling expenses. But he has not received enough, since he began his work, to sustain him in it. From the sale of his books he has received no profit. It has been no part of his business to lay up treasures on earth, or accumulate wealth by the gospel of God’s grace.

“Amidst all the vile and reproachful epithets which have been heaped upon him, all the false and scurrilous reports which have gone the rounds of both pulpit and press, as well as private circles, he has gone on, still pursuing the even tenor of his way, accomplishing the mission on which he set forth. If his remarks concerning the attacks which have been made upon him, have sometimes seemed severe, it will not be wondered at, when it is recollected that it is nothing else but the severity of truth. We will not pretend to say that he has never erred; but this we do say, while we confess, that ‘to err is human,’ few men have gone through an enterprise like this, with fewer errors or blemishes than William Miller.

“So, likewise, in exposing and reproving the growing corruptions of the church and ministry, he has been thought by many too severe. But this, too, has consisted in the severity of truths which few, in an age of degeneracy like this, had either the independence or courage to speak out. He has spoken aloud what others have thought and repeated only in private. Yet, after all, who that knows the man, but loves him? Take him all in all, where could an instrument be found better qualified for the station he has filled?

“A few words respecting that faithful and devoted friend of the cause of Adventism, J. V. Himes, must close this part of the present work. From the position he has occupied in the front of the battle, the most deadly shafts of the enemy have been aimed at him. The generous spirit of self-sacrifice with which he came forward and exerted every nerve for the advancement of this great work, excited at once the envy, the wrath, the anger and calumny of the whole host of foes to the doctrine. And no means which could be devised to blast his influence has been wanting from that to the present time. But through grace he has thus far triumphed. I believe the providence of God raised up J. V. Himes as an associate and fellow helper of Mr. Miller, in the great work of arousing the church and the world to prepare for the coming of the Lord; and that he has performed the work with fidelity to God and man, and honor to himself.”

EXTENT OF THE WORK.

“We look upon the proclamation which has been made, as being the cry of the angel who proclaimed ‘the hour of His judgment is come.’ Rev. xiv, 6, 7. It is a sound which is to reach all nations; it is the proclamation of ‘the everlasting gospel,’ or ‘this gospel of the kingdom.’ In one shape or other, this cry has gone abroad through the earth wherever human beings are found, and we have had opportunity to hear of the fact. Within the last six years, publications, treating on the subject, have been sent to nearly every English and American missionary station on the globe; to all, at least, to which we have had access.

“Then again, the great religious papers of the country have all aided in this work; for some of them have published our views, as written by friends, and others have published reviews and everthrows, in which our arguments must be presented, in order to refute them.

“By these the truth has been spread into many places where it could not have reached by the ordinary means. Then again, the caricatures which have been scattered among the rabble, have carried the great point with them, the coming of the Lord to judgment, and the time of his coming.

“The secular press has contributed, in no small degree, to increase and spread an interest on the question. Even the foolish and false statements which have been put forth, have, in some instances, only turned out for the advancement of the work of God. The story, for instance, which was started by the New York _Sun_, that Mr. Miller had fixed on the 23d of April, 1843, as the time for Christ to come, although entirely false and baseless in itself, yet was so widely circulated, that there was scarcely a place known where the report was not heard and an interest awakened.”

ADVENT BOOKS.

“These have been greatly multiplied within the last four years. As already remarked, the first and most important work published, was Mr. Miller’s lectures. That volume may be regarded as the seed from which all the rest have germinated. The works of Miller, Ward, Hale, Bliss, Fitch, Storrs, Brown, Hervey, Cook, Whiting, Starkweather, Hawley, Litch, Fleming, Cox, Sabine, &c., constitute the Second Advent Library, and exhibit the views which have been presented to the public by the lectures. Other sheets and pamphlets have been published.

“Some of the sheets which have been published and circulated have accomplished a vast amount of good. The ‘Clue to the Time,’ written by Bro. L. Hersey, a shoemaker in Boston, and a city watchman, with a diagram, has been the means of great good. Eternity alone will reveal the many precious souls who have been led to look for the Lord’s coming from the reading of one of those sheets.”

LECTURERS AND WRITERS.

“The mass of lecturers who have been raised up and thrust forth into this work, have been men of sound minds, warm hearts, full of zeal for God and the salvation of men. They have made no great pretensions to learning, in its common acceptation; but yet, as a general thing, they have been close students of the Bible, making it a self-interpreting book. Nor have they been altogether inattentive to history as their time and means have allowed. It is true that, so far as they have been successful in their work, the excellency of the power has been of God.

“But there have been some raised up among us of commanding talents and acquirements; men, who need not blush to stand by the side of the wise and learned of the earth. These were raised up at a time when such assistance was needed, and God has accomplished his work by them. The Advent writings exhibit minds accustomed to think and reason, as well as read. Although the mass of the books lay no claim to literary merit, yet they have done more to promote a sound, healthy, moral literature, than any other books of the age. They have so selected and arranged historical incidents, in connection with the prophetic scriptures, which embrace the history of the world, as to invest that history with an interest which the mass of readers never before saw or felt. If they have promoted the study of history, much more have they induced a careful study of the Scriptures.

“It is a lamentable fact, that although this is an age of Bibles, yet the great body of professing Christians know but little what that Bible contains. And wherever Advent books have been circulated, instead of superseding the use of the Bible, as most books do, they almost invariably send the reader to the sacred storehouse. Nothing ever given to the public has excited so much interest in the study of the Bible as the proclamation of ‘the hour of His judgment.’ A course of lectures in a village, would open a door for the sale of more Bibles in a week than would have been sold before for years. Whatever may be the final issue of this question, so far its fruits have been of the best character.”

WHAT ADVENTISM HAS ACCOMPLISHED.

“1. When this cry first commenced, the prophecies were generally looked upon as a book of mysteries, which it was presumption, if not sacrilege, to attempt to understand or explain. That spell has been broken, and the Christian public understand that those deeply-interesting portions of the word of God are also a part of his revelation to man. And even the clergy, of all orders, have been constrained to speak out and give some explanation of the prophecies, however crude it might be.

“2. The fable of the world’s conversion, and the universal triumph of Christianity, which almost universally prevailed ten years ago, has been exploded, and the church now understands that the Man of Sin is to remain in the world until the Lord comes and destroys him by the brightness of his coming. That there is to be no millennium until ‘the first resurrection,’ at the coming of the Lord. That idea cannot be made to grow again as it has done.

“3. That kindred doctrine, the return of the Jews to Palestine, where they are again to be exalted to peculiar privileges, is exposed, and the old apostolic doctrine, that there is no respect of persons with God, is made to stand out in bold relief, so that the church must see and acknowledge it to be the truth of God.

“4. It has produced a very general conviction on the public mind, that we are near the end of time, and just ready to appear before the bar of God. The general outlines of prophecy, as exhibited in the four great kingdoms, is seen and acknowledged by very many to be nearly accomplished. And hence the conviction fastens on the mind, that the end of all things is at hand.

“5. It has developed a vast amount of German rationalism, neology and infidelity in the church, and has demonstrated the fact, that nearly or quite all the theological schools are under its influence. And it has proved, that if the Lord does not come speedily and end the strife, that the country must soon be flooded with this system of neology.

“6. Wherever it has gone, the Advent doctrine has awakened sinners, reclaimed backsliders, quickened believers, and promoted the cause of God generally. Thousands on thousands can witness the truth of this remark in their own experience; and will have cause to bless God eternally for the Advent doctrine and Advent preaching.

“7. It has shown professedly orthodox ministers to be so degenerate in their sentiments as to make common cause with infidels and Universalists against the coming of the Lord. And has also shown the church to be so degenerate as to cast out her children for looking for and speaking of the return of her Lord.

“8. It has given to the church and world a simple, plain, common-sense system of interpretation of the sacred canon, so that every man, who will take the trouble of reading the Bible and collating the different portions of it, may understand the word of God without the aid of learned commentaries.”

PERMANENCY OF THE WORK.