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.