Signs of the Approaching End
By W. A. S.
Part 5. The Falling Stars of 1833
A great impetus was given to the study of divine prophecy by the events of the closing years of the eighteenth century. Observers had seen the papal power dealt a “deadly wound” in the events and effects of the French Revolution; and it was understood that the world was entering a new era of enlightenment and liberty. Bible students began to see more clearly the lesson of the great outlines of historic prophecy, and hearts were stirred with the evidences that the coming of the Lord was drawing near. In Europe and America, in the early decades of the nineteenth century, there was the beginning of a revival of the study and preaching of the advent idea. Another Sign in the Heavens
Just here appeared another great sign in the heavens, foretold by the word of prophecy. Of the sign that was to follow the darkening of the sun and moon, Christ’s prophecy says:— As the prophet John beheld the spectacle in a vision of the last days, he described it in these words:— “And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.” Rev. 6: 13. On Nov. 13, 1833, came the wondrous celestial exhibition of falling stars, which is listed as one of the most remarkable phenomena of the astronomical story. Meteoric displays, swarms of shooting stars, have been observed at various times through history. But in the true order of the prophecy, following the sign of the darkening of the sun, there came, in 1833, the sublime display answering to the pen picture of the Apocalypse—as if all the stars of heaven were falling to the earth. The essential thing about a sign is that it shall be seen, that the circumstances of its appearance shall fasten attention. Not in America alone, but equally in all the civilized world, as a topic of study, this sign in the heavens commanded the attention of men. An English scientist, Rev. Thomas Milner, F. R. G. S., wrote:— The attention of astronomers in Europe and all over the world was, as may be imagined, strongly roused by intelligence of this celestial display on the Western continent.—“Gallery of Nature,” London, 1852, page 141. This writer called it “by far the most splendid display on record.” See Id., page 139. Another English astronomical writer of recent date says:— Once for all, then, as the result of the star fall of 1833, the study of luminous meteors became an integral part of astronomy.—Clerke’s “History of Astronomy in the Nineteenth Century,” page 329. This same work describes the extent of the display as follows:— On the night of Nov. 12-13, 1833, a tempest of falling stars broke over the earth. North America bore the brunt of its pelting. From the Gulf of Mexico to Halifax, until daylight with some difficulty put an end to the display, the sky was scored in every direction with shining tracks, and illuminated with majestic fireballs.—Page 328. The closest scientific observations were made by Prof. Denison Olmsted (professor of astronomy at Yale), who wrote in the American Journal of Science:— The morning of Nov. 13, 1833, was rendered memorable by an exhibition of the phenomenon called shooting stars, which was probably more extensive and magnificent than any similar one hitherto recorded. . . . Probably no celestial phenomenon has ever occurred in this country since its first settlement, which was viewed with so much admiration and delight by one class of spectators, or with so much astonishment and fear by another class. For some time after the occurrence, the “meteoric phenomenon” was the principal topic of conversation in every circle.—Vol. XXV (1834), page 365. Prof. Simon Newcomb, the astronomer, declares this phenomenal exhibition of falling stars “the most remarkable one ever observed.” See “Astronomy for Everybody,” page 280. This was not merely a display of an unusual number of falling stars, such as Humboldt observed in South America in 1799, or such as we find recorded of other times before and since. It was a “shower” of falling stars, just such a spectacle as one must picture from the words of the prophecy, “And the stars of heaven fell.” The French astronomer, Flammarion, says of the density of the shower:—10 The Boston observer, Olmsted, compared them at the moment of maximum, to half the number of flakes which we perceive in the air during an ordinary shower of snow.—“Popular Astronomy,” page 536. This affords us a better idea of the scene than the estimate of 34,640 stars an hour, which was made by Professor Olmsted after the rain of stars had greatly abated, so that he was able to make an attempt at counting. Dr. Humphreys (president of St. John’s College, Annapolis) said of the appearance at the Maryland capital:— In the words of most, they fell like flakes of snow.—American Journal of Science, Vol. XXV (1834), page 372. Nothing less than this could have presented the counterpart of the prophetic picture. Thoughtful hearts were solemnized by the unwonted spectacle. Prof. Alexander Twining (civil engineer, “late tutor in Yale College”), giving his views as to the nature of the flaming visitants from space, wrote:— Had they held on their course unabated for three seconds longer, half a continent must, to all appearance, have been involved in unheard-of calamity. But that almighty Being who made the world, and knew its dangers, gave to it also its armature—endowing the atmospheric medium around it with protecting, no less than with life-sustaining, properties. Considered as one of the rare and wonderful displays of the Creator’s preserving care, as well as the terrible magnitude and power of his agencies, it is not meet that such occurrences as those of November 13 should leave no more solid and permanent effect upon the human mind than the impression of a splendid scene.—American Journal of Science, Vol. XXVI (1834), page 351. Multitudes felt that the great Creator had spoken to men in this notable wonder of his heavens. Again and again in the records and reminiscences of that time, testimony is borne to the fact that observers were impressed with the likeness of the scene to that described in the divine prophecy as one of the signs of the end of the world. W. A. S.