Pastor G. W. Mitchel, of Zanesville, Ohio, another minister who himself proclaimed the doctrine, said to the writer in a conversation at Newark, Ohio, Aug. 8, 1894, that Elder William Miller told him, in a conversation at McConnells ville, Ohio, in September, 1844, that he had the “names and addresses of three thousand ministers in various parts of the globe who were proclaiming, ‘Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come,’ the greater portion of these being in North America and Great Britain.”
William Miller, in speaking of the extensive spread of this “cry,” said:—
“One or two in every quarter of the globe have proclaimed the news, and all agree in the time,—Wolff of Asia; Irving, late of England; Mason of Scotland; Davis of South106Carolina; and quite a number in this region, are, or have been, giving the cry.”
Hutchinson’s “Voice of Elijah” Sent Broadcast
Elder R. Hutchinson, in 1837, was sent from England as a Wesleyan missionary to Canada. He finally settled in Montreal. He had a very extensive acquaintance in foreign countries. In the years 1843 and 1844 he published a paper called the Voice of Elijah, in which he treated of the advent doctrine. Having ready access to vessels for foreign countries, and being privileged to send large parcels of his papers with no expense for postage, he sent them in great quantities to all parts of the earth. He said of his own work, that he sent them freely to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, New Foundland, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Constantinople, Rome, and all parts of the British kingdom and its colonies.
In the Sandwich Islands
In the Midnight Cry of Oct. 12, 1843, was a letter from a Mrs. O. S. Burnham, of Kaloa, Isle of Kauai, Sandwich Islands. She, with her husband, were school teachers at that place. They accepted, and were proclaiming, the advent doctrine there, and a company of believers was worshiping with them on the islands.
The Message Compared with that of John the Baptist
Thus we see that the advent doctrine was proclaimed to an extent quite sufficient to fulfil the scripture predictions concerning it.
The message which was to herald the first advent of Christ was stated by the prophet Isaiah in these words: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be107made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” This prophecy was accomplished in the labors of “John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
This man, alone, during six months of labor in the one country of Judea, fulfilled this wonderful prediction. While this prophecy limited John’s work as to time and place, it is not so with those prophecies which relate to the heralding of the second advent, for the work was to be with a “loud cry,” world wide in its extent.
Thus it is seen, in the light of the facts presented, how accurately prophecy concerning the advent message was fulfilled. God’s time came for the parable of the fig-tree to be taught, for the first announcement of the first angel’s message to be given, and he raised up his messengers to herald the cry to all nations, peoples, and tongues.
CHAPTER VI
THE MESSAGE AND THE MESSENGERS
WRITE the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”
Those who gave the advent proclamation claimed that this “vision” with its “appointed” time, mentioned by the prophet Habakkuk, included the visions of the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelator. These they made so plain in their delineations of them upon their prophetic charts, that he who read the interpretation could indeed “run” and impart the information to others.
A Definite Message
The proclamation by the Adventist people was not simply the announcement made by Paul before Felix, “Righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come;” nor was it the statement made by Martin Luther, after having completed the translation of the Bible, when, a short time before his death,109he is reported to have said, “I am persuaded that the judgment is not far off; yea, that the Lord himself will not be absent above three hundred years longer.” Neither was it the statement made by John Wesley, when he said he “thought the millennium might commence in about one hundred years.” The Adventists claimed to be giving the message symbolized in Rev. 14: 6, 7, “The hour of his judgment is come,” and the cry of Rev. 10: 6, “Time shall be no longer.” Such a prophecy could not be accomplished by an announcement of an event that was “to come,” coming “in three hundred years,” or “in one hundred years,” but in definite time, “is come.” Just such a message, with just such definiteness as that demanded by the above prophecies, was heralded by the Adventist people to the whole world.
The Judgment at Christ’s Coming
At the time this message was first announced, every Christian denomination held that the judgment would take place at the second coming of Christ. So a people under those circumstances, giving the message of the hour of judgment come, while holding that view, would necessarily proclaim the second coming of Christ. In fact, that which gave force to the message, and most mightily moved the people, was the proclamation of definite time. First they claimed that the end of the world would come some time during the “Jewish year” 1843, and that this was embraced in the time between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844. After this time passed by, we learn in the Midnight Cry of the year 1844 that the definite day was fixed upon for the termination of the prophetic times. This was the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month, corresponding to Oct. 22, 1844.
Reckoning of the 2300 Days
The basis of the time — 1843 — was the twenty-three hundred days of Daniel 8. It was claimed that as these “days” were connected with prophecies where beasts were110chosen to represent kingdoms, “days” must be used symbolically to represent years, according to the Lord’s interpretation of symbolic time, as given in Num. 14:34 and Eze. 4:5, 6; that the seventy weeks—490 days—of Daniel 9 were to be the first part of the twenty-three hundred days, and that the two periods began together. The event given in Daniel 9, which marked the beginning of the seventy weeks, was the “going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem.” That commandment went forth in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, 457 B. C., as recorded in Ezra 7.
That this was the true date for the beginning of the seventy weeks was demonstrated by the fact that in just sixty-nine weeks—483 years—from 457 B. C., or in A. D. 27, Christ was baptized by John and entered upon his ministry, saying, “The time is fulfilled,” etc. The opening of the ministry of Christ, A. D. 27, his crucifixion three and one-half years from that date, “in the midst [middle] of the [seventieth] week,” the close of the special work among the Jews, A. D. 34, and the speedy conversion of Saul, the apostle to the Gentiles, proved that the seventy weeks did terminate at that date, and therefore that they began B. C. 457. They figured the matter out thus: From 2300 take 457, and there remains 1843. And as the 457 years were before Christ, we are brought for the close of the 2300 days to the close of 1843.
Admissions of Opponents
It has been truthfully said that “admissions in favor of truth from the ranks of its opponents furnish the highest kind of evidence.” None of the opponents of the advent message ever intimated that the investigative judgment of the Lord’s people was an event to take place before Christ’s coming”; but reasoned on this point in harmony with the Adventists. As proof of this statement we quote from two prominent opponents.
Mr. N. Colver, preaching in Marlboro Street Chapel, Boston, in 1842, in opposition to Adventists, said:—
“If these days are years, the world will end in 1843; any school boy can see it; for if 490 terminated at the death of Christ, the 2300 days would terminate in 1843; and the world must end, unless it can be shown that some other event is to take place, and I do not see how that can be done.”
Professor Stuart, about the same time, said: “It is a singular fact that the great mass of interpreters in the English and American world have, for many years, been wont to understand the days designated in Daniel and the Apocalypse as the representation, or symbols, of years. I have found it difficult to trace the origin of this general, I might say almost universal, custom.”
Professor Bush’s Testimony
Professor Bush said: “Whoever attacks Mr. Miller on his point of time, attacks him on his strongest point. His time is right; but he is mistaken in the event to occur.” Bush was a believer in the conversion of the whole world before the coming of Christ. His theory was that the millennium would begin in 1844.
The ministers of the advent faith taught in their public discourses that the world’s history showed the various nations to be in just the condition symbolized by the image of Daniel 2, when the stone was to smite the image on the feet, and the God of heaven set up his kingdom; and in chapter 7, when “the kingdom and dominion and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the saints of the Most High.” They also called attention to the fact that the signs—physical, political, and moral—were just what the Scriptures foretold would be seen when the Lord was about to appear.
Wonders in the Heavens
The Lord through the prophet Joel says: “I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and112pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.” The Adventists believed and taught that the aurora borealis of the last centuries (commonly called northern lights) was the “fire and pillars of smoke” that meets the specification of the prophet; and from the best information to be obtained from history (we refer to the Edinburg Encyclopedia as testimony), it had rarely been seen previous to this period.
So, while the message of the Lord’s speedy coming was going to the remotest parts of the earth, signs were hung out in the heavens which gave edge to the truth, and arrested the attention of the people.
On Jan. 25, 1837, there was a most magnificent display of the fiery aurora borealis, which seemed to lead the minds of many directly to the prophet Joel’s prediction of what was to precede the great day of the Lord. The following description of the scene is from the New York Commercial Advertiser of Oct. 22, 1839. It agrees exactly with the scene as the writer witnessed it in Victor, Ontario County, N. Y.
The Fiery Aurora of 1837
“On the evening of Jan. 25, 1837, there was a remarkable exhibition of the same phenomena [meaning the aurora borealis] in various parts of the country, as our readers will doubtless recollect. Where the ground was covered with snow, the sight was grand and ‘fearful’ in a most unprecedented manner. In one place, situated near a mountain, the people who witnessed the scene, informed us that it resembled ‘waves of fire rolling down the mountain,’ and generally, so far as learned, the snow covering the ground appeared like fire mingled with blood, while above (as the apostle says), ‘the heavens being on fire,’ resembled so much the prophetic description of the last day that many were amazed; the children beholding it were affrighted, and inquired113if it were the coming of the judgment; and even the animals trembled with much manifest alarm.”
It was not alone in America that this sign of the prophet Joel was displayed, but as the doctrine of the Lord’s coming was gaining publicity in Great Britain, the same sign was hung out in the heavens in that country. The New York Commercial Advertiser of Oct. 22, 1839, quotes the following from London papers concerning a remarkable phenomenon witnessed in that country on the night of September 3:—
The Aurora of 1839
“London, Sept. 5 [1839].—Between the hours of ten on Thursday night and three yesterday morning, in the heavens was observed one of the most magnificent specimens of these extraordinary phenomena, the falling stars and northern lights, witnessed for many years past. The first indication of this singular phenomenon was ten minutes before ten, when a light crimson, apparently vapor, rose from the northern portion of the hemisphere, and gradually extended to the center of the heavens, and by ten o’clock or a quarter past, the whole, from east to west, was one vast sheet of light. It had a most alarming appearance, and was exactly like that occasioned by a terrific fire. The light varied considerable; at one time it seemed to fall, and directly after rose with intense brightness. There were to be seen mingled with it volumes of smoke, which rolled over and over, and every beholder seemed convinced that it was ‘a tremendous conflagration.’”
“The consternation of the metropolis was very great; thousands of persons were running in the direction of the supposed awful catastrophe. The engines belonging to the fire brigade stations in Baker Street, Farringdon Street, Watling Street, Waterloo Road, and likewise those belonging to the west of London stations—in fact, every fire engine in London, was horsed and galloped after the supposed ‘scene of destruction’ with more than ordinary energy, followed114by carriages, horsemen, and vast mobs. Some of the engines proceeded as far as High Gate and Halloway [about four miles] before the error was discovered. These appearances lasted for upwards of two hours, and toward morning the spectacle became one of grandeur.
“At two o’clock in the morning the phenomenon presented a most gorgeous scene, and one very difficult to describe. The whole of London was illuminated as light as noon-day, and the atmosphere was remarkably clear. The southern hemisphere, at the time mentioned, though unclouded, was very dark; but the stars, which were innumerable, shone beautifully. The opposite side of the heavens presented a singular but magnificent contrast; it was clear to extreme, and the light was very vivid; there was a continual succession of meteors, which varied in splendor—they appeared formed in the center of the heavens, and spread till they seemed to burst. The effect was electrical. Myriads of small stars shot out over the horizon, and darted with such swiftness toward the earth that the eye could scarcely follow the track; they seemed to burst also, and throw a dark crimson vapor over the entire hemisphere. The colors were most magnificent.
“At half past two o’clock the spectacle changed to darkness, which, on dispersing, displayed a luminous rainbow in the zenith of the heavens, and round the ridge of darkness that overhung the southern portion of the country. Soon afterward columns of silvery light radiated from it. They increased wonderfully, intermingled among crimson vapor which formed at the same time, and when at full height the spectacle was beyond all imagination. Stars were darting about in all directions, and continued until four o’clock, when all died away.”
Strange Appearances in the Sun
While the living preachers were setting forth the truth of the Lord’s coming, many and varied wonders in the heavens were seen in various parts of the world. Of these our space115will permit only the representation of the appearance of the sun in Norwich, England, in December, 1843. A similar one occurred in New Haven, Conn., Sept. 9, 1844, for two hours before and after noon, and was witnessed by thousands of people.
Of the occurrence in England we read, in a letter from E. Lloyd, London, Jan. 3, 1844, as follows:—
“There has been a remarkable ‘sign in the sun,’ seen by the principal citizens of Norwich and the surrounding country, such as has never been seen in England before. It was seen in December last, about 12 o’clock at noon, and continued for two hours. It very much alarmed the inhabitants. It occurred just before Brethren Winter, Burgess, and Routon116opened their mission in that city. It seemed to prepare the way for the truth, so that they met with good success there.”
The account of the phenomenon as it occurred in New Haven, Conn., is given in the Midnight Cry of Oct. 10, 1844, and was taken from the New Haven Palladium of Sept. 10, 1844. In the account in the Cry the editor says, “No philosopher has been able to give an explanation of the cause of this phenomenon which satisfies himself.”
An account of this sight which appeared in connection with the sun in New Haven, Conn., Sept. 9, 1844, was also published in the Hartford Courant of Sept. 12, 1844, and reads as follows:—
“The rings around the sun on Monday, Sept. 9, 1844, for two hours before and after midday, appear to have been generally observed by our citizens with much interest, and have awakened an intelligent curiosity to learn more respecting appearances of the same kind and their cause.
“The present halo was remarkable for its duration, and afforded favorable opportunities for observation. About midday it consisted chiefly of two complete rings, one about forty-five degrees in breadth, encircling the sun at its center, and the other about seventy-two degrees broad, having its center in the zenith, while its circumference passed through the sun. The smaller circle was accompanied by an ellipse of the major axis, and of small eccentricity. Directly opposite the sun, and thirty-six degrees north of the zenith, the large circle was intersected by two other circles of nearly or quite the same diameter, forming at the point of intersection a bright spot, such as would naturally result from the combined light of three luminous rings. The ring that encircled the sun exhibited the colors of the rainbow, frequently with much vividness and beauty. The other rings were white and fainter, as they were more distant from the sun. Small portions of circles, however, with prismatic [rainbow] hues, appeared at different times, both in the east and west. . . . Such uniformity of structure must depend on some law which regulates117the formation of halos; but the nature of the law is not fully developed. . . . Not much difficulty has been experienced in accounting for the production of the ring that encircles the sun, since the cause is somewhat similar to that which produces the rainbow, but to explain the origin of the ring which has its circumference in the sun’s center, has been found more difficult.”
Wonders Fulfilling Scripture Predictions
Of the use that was made, both in England and America, of these wonders seen in the heavens, we may learn by reading from the “Exposition of the Twenty-fourth of Matthew,” by Sylvester Bliss, published in Boston in 1843. After quoting some of the above accounts, he says:—
“Thus the ‘great signs’ and ‘fearful sights’ that are predicted in the Scriptures of truth, seem to be all fulfilled, as well as those which the Saviour declared should precede his coming.
“As sure as the leaving out of the trees is an indication of summer, just so sure, on the fulfilment of these signs, are Christians to know that the coming of Christ is near, even at the doors. It is not a mere permission to know it, but our Saviour commands them to know it.”
THE MESSENGERS
Having called attention to some of the leading features of the second advent message, as first proclaimed, it may be of interest to notice a few of those who acted a prominent part in the great proclamation. We have already given the names of many who were among the most talented ministers of that time in foreign lands who gave the cry. As we call attention to some of those who led out in America, upon whom the Lord laid the burden of the work, it will serve to illustrate still further that the Lord’s hand was indeed in the movement.
William Miller
First we will note the case of William Miller, who was so prominent in the advent movement in the United States that with many the movement is only known as “Millerism.”
William Miller was born in Pittsfield, Mass., in February, 1782. In his early childhood, marks of more than ordinary intellectual strength and activity were manifested. A few years made these marks more and more noticeable to all who were in his society. He possessed a strong physical constitution, an active and naturally well-developed intellect, an irreproachable moral character. He had enjoyed the limited advantages of the district school but a few years before it was generally admitted that his attainments exceeded those of the teachers usually employed.
Mr. Miller married in 1802, and settled in Poultney, Vt. The men with whom he associated from the time of his removal to Poultney, and to whom he was considerably indebted for his worldly favors, were deeply affected with skeptical principles and deistic theories. They were not immoral men, but as a class were good citizens, and generally of serious deportment, humane, and benevolent. However, they rejected the Bible as the standard of religious truth, and endeavored to make its rejection plausible with such aid as could be obtained from the writings of Voltaire, Hume, Volney, Paine, Ethan Allen, and others. Mr. Miller studied these works closely, and at length avowed himself a deist. He has stated himself that his deistical life covered a period of twelve years, beginning about 1804.
Receiving a captain’s commission, he entered the army in 1810. On his return from the army, he moved his family to Low Hampton, N. Y., to begin there the occupation of farming in 1812. As a farmer, he had more leisure for reading. He found that his deistical views gave him no assurance of happiness beyond the present life. Beyond the grave all was dark and gloomy. To use his own words: “Annihilation119was a cold and chilling thought, and accountability was sure destruction to all. The heavens were as brass over my head, and the earth as iron under my feet. Eternity!—what was it? And death!—why was it? The more I reasoned, the further I was from demonstration. The more I thought, the more scattered were my conclusions. I tried to stop thinking, but my thoughts would not be controlled. I was truly wretched, but did not understand the cause. . . . Soon after, suddenly the character of the Saviour was vividly impressed upon my mind. It seemed there might be a being so good and compassionate as to himself atone for our transgressions, and thereby save us from suffering the penalty of sin. I immediately felt how lovely such a being must be; and imagined that I could cast myself into the arms of, and trust in the mercy of, such an one.”
William Miller’s Conversion
He further said: “I saw that the Bible did bring to view just such a Saviour as I needed; and I was perplexed to find how an uninspired book should develop principles so perfectly adapted to the wants of a fallen world. I was constrained to admit that the Scriptures must be a revelation from God. They became my delight; and in Jesus I found a friend. . . . The Bible now became my chief study, and I can truly say, I searched it with great delight. I found the half was never told me. I wondered why I had not seen its beauty and glory before, and marveled that I could have ever rejected it.”
William Miller’s manner of studying the Bible is thus described by himself: “I determined to lay aside all my prepossessions, to thoroughly compare scripture with scripture, and to pursue its study in a regular, methodical manner. . . . Whenever I found anything obscure, my practice was to compare it with all collateral passages; and, by the help of Cruden, I examined all the texts of scripture in which were found any of the prominent words contained in any obscure portion. . . .120In this way I pursued the study of the Bible, in my first perusal of it, for about two years, and was fully satisfied that it is its own interpreter.”
“While thus studying, I became satisfied if the prophecies which have been fulfilled in the past are any criterion by which to judge of the manner of the fulfilment of those which are yet future, that the popular views of the spiritual reign of Christ—a temporal millennium before the end of the world, and the Jews’ return—are not sustained by the word of God. . . . I found it plainly taught in the Scriptures that Jesus Christ will again descend to this earth, coming in the clouds of heaven, in all the glory of his Father.
“I felt a delight in studying the Scriptures which I had not before supposed could be derived from its teachings. I commenced their study with no expectation of finding the time of the Saviour’s coming, and I could at first hardly believe the result to which I had arrived; but the evidence struck me with such force that I could not resist my convictions. I became nearly settled in my conclusions, and began to wait, and watch, and pray for the Saviour’s coming.”
Again he says: “I believed; and immediately the duty to publish this doctrine, that the world might believe and get ready to meet the Judge and Bridegroom at his coming, was impressed upon my mind. I need not here go into a detailed account of my long and sore trials. Suffice it to say, that after a number of years I was compelled by the Spirit of God, the power of truth, and the love of souls, to take up my cross and proclaim these things to a dying and perishing world.”
Mr. Miller, like those moved out by this message in other countries, first thought to fulfil his commission by writing and publishing in the public journals and in pamphlets. He first published his views in the Vermont Telegraph, a Baptist paper, printed in Brandon, Vt. This was in the year 1831. He first spoke in public on the subject in the year 1832. He said of this meeting, “The Lord poured his121grace on the congregation, and many believed to the salvation of their souls.”
In 1836 his lectures were printed in some of the public journals of the day. In the winter of 1837–38 his lectures were issued in a pamphlet. In 1838 a second pamphlet of 204 pages was printed, and in this pamphlet Mr. Miller stated that the Ottoman power might fall in the year 1839 or 1840. His first lectures in any of the large cities were in the year 1836. He then spoke in the cities of Randolph, Lowell, Gratton, and Lynn, Mass.
Down to 1840 Mr. Miller stood almost alone as a public speaker on the theme of the near advent of Christ. In that year, suddenly, hundreds joined him in proclaiming the message. What produced this great change will be noted in the following chapter. In the winter of 1839-40 Mr. Miller gave a series of lectures in Exeter, N. H. He there first met Elder J. V. Himes, who at that time accepted the faith, and from that date stood side by side with Elder Miller as publisher and ardent preacher of the great second advent message.
Joshua V. Himes
Concerning this earnest worker in this great movement we cannot do better than to quote from his biographer, who says:—
“Joshua V. Himes was born at Wickford, R. I., May 19, 1805. His father was well known as a West India trader, and was prominent as a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal church in Wickford. His mother possessed an amiable disposition, and a love for the Saviour, which she poured into the willing ears of her son.”
“It had been the intention of the father to educate his son, Joshua, to the ministry of the church to which he belonged himself, but circumstances prevented it. God had another work for that son to do, and he was ordering things in that way which should bring about the desired result.122In 1817 the father sent out a valuable cargo in charge of Captain Carter, with Alexander Stewart as supercargo. These men proved unfaithful, and having reached a West Indian port, sold both vessel and cargo, and fled. This event changed all the plans which had been made for the future of young Joshua, who was to have been sent to Brown University, in Providence, R. I. Instead, in April, 1821, he was taken to New Bedford, Mass., and bound to William Knights to learn the cabinet-maker’s trade.
“Reaching his new home, he entered earnestly upon the work assigned him, determined to become a master at his trade. He soon found, however, that his religious surroundings were not altogether to his taste. He says, ‘My master was a Unitarian, and he took me to his church. The Rev. Orville Dewey was the pastor. He was a late convert from orthodoxy. My training under Bishop Griswold and Rev. William Burge, rector of St. Paul’s, Wickford, and often hearing the eloquent Dr. Crocker of St. John’s, in Providence, R. I., quite unfitted me for accepting Mr. Dewey’s eloquent negations of the teachings of Christ and his apostles.’
“There being at that time no Episcopal church in New Bedford, he decided to attend the First Christian church [not Disciple] and subsequently united with that body. ‘Here,’ he says, ‘I found the open Bible and liberty of thought, and made good use of both.’ This church was under the pastoral care of Rev. Moses Howe. Rev. Mr. Clough baptized Joshua V. Himes on Feb. 2, 1823. With a heart burning with zeal for his Master, he began at once, at the age of eighteen years, to tell the story of the cross and to urge men to repent. He says of himself:—
“I soon became an exhorter, and license was given me to improve my gift. . . . I served out my apprenticeship with satisfaction, and received commendation. But for five or six years I was in the habit of doing overwork and thus obtained one or two days in the week for study and missionary123work in destitute neighborhoods, the fruits of which I gave to my pastor.”
“In 1825 he was commissioned as missionary of the conference of Christian churches in southern Massachusetts. ‘There was no plan or means for the support of missionaries,’ says Elder Himes, ‘and I resolved to enter into business for my support, and preach what I could.’
“In 1828 he left New Bedford, not with misgivings or lack of energy, but with a determination that was bound to win, going to Plymouth, where he preached God’s word in school-houses, in improvised rooms, and wherever he could get a hearing. In 1829 he prosecuted the same character of work at Fall River until 1830, when he moved to Boston as pastor of the First and Second Christian churches; and here he remained for thirty-three years. In 1839 he became a convert to the Advent cause, as expounded by the famous Elder William Miller. He entered the new cause with all the enthusiasm he possessed, and his ministrations were full of fire and power. In 1840, he began the publication of the Signs of the Times, advocating the cause into which he had thrown his whole heart. All his money, all his labor, all his energy were thrown into the lap of this cause, and thousands of converts were won.”
The United Labors of Miller and Himes
From 1840 to the autumn of 1844 the labors of Elders Miller and Himes were largely united as they went from city to city, in the summer with their mammoth tent, in the winter in churches and public halls. The great physical force of Elder Himes preserved him till he entered his ninety-second year. His faculties of mind were vigorous to the last. In the year 1894, Sept. 28, he gave a most stirring discourse to a congregation of over three thousand Seventh-day Adventists on the camp-ground in Lansing, Michigan. He seemed to speak with much of the earnestness and vigor of olden days. This was truly marvelous for a man who was124three months into his ninety-first year, and who was suffering with an incurable malady from which he died the following year.
Elders Miller and Himes, stood, as it were, in the “forefront of the battle” in the second advent movement in America, and were only two among scores who labored with them in proclaiming the doctrine of the advent of Christ, whose leading characteristics were firmness of purpose and sterling integrity. These men were largely of that class called by the world “self-made men,”—men who had developed by contact with the stern realities of life, who had learned to decide upon the merits of a cause from principle and not from policy. They were of the character of those who Elder Miller said usually accepted the message from the churches, “the most pious, devoted, and living members.” This fact was confirmed by the ministers of the various churches, who said, after the final separation of the Adventists from them, “It [the doctrine] has taken the cream of our flock.”
Other Prominent Adventist Preachers
It may be of interest to mention by name some of the men who acted a prominent part with Elders Miller and Himes in the movement of those early times. First to head the list is Charles Fitch, of Cleveland, Ohio, who in 1842 suggested the idea of having charts to illustrate the visions of Daniel and the Revelation. The origin of the thought was based upon Habakkuk 2:2, 3. The death of Charles Fitch occurred Oct. 10, 1844.
Dr. Josiah Litch, of Philadelphia, who, as we shall see in the following chapter, was moved upon by the Lord to proclaim a truth that in its fulfilment caused the sudden and rapid development of interest in the advent message.
Elon Galusha, of Lockport, N. Y., a noted Baptist minister, whose writings and ministrations on the subject of the Lord’s near coming made a great stir in that denomination.
E. R. Pinney, of Seneca Falls, N. Y., another devoted minister of the Baptist church whose ministry and writings were a power in the work. He could well be called “The salt of the earth.”
Geo. Storrs, of New York City, who previous to his conversion to the advent doctrine was a prominent revivalist. His writings exerted a mighty influence in moving the people to a greater consecration of self and substance to the work; especially was this the case in the closing weeks of the twenty-three hundred days. It was he, who, after the disappointment, brought to the consideration of the Adventist people and the world, his six sermons on the nature of man, the state of the dead, and future punishment.
Elder Stockman, of Portland, Maine, was another earnest worker in William Miller’s revivals in that city. His death occurred a few weeks before the close of the Jewish year 1843, while the Adventist people were hoping and expecting the Lord would come at that time.
There were other men of prominence that for lack of space we will merely mention, such as N. N. Whiting, who made a translation of the New Testament into English, known as “Whiting’s Translation”; S. S. Snow, F. G. Brown, Appollos Hale, L. D. Mansfield, Geo. Needham, O. R. Fassett; George, Wesley, and Edwin Burnham (three brothers), all efficient workers in the message.
CHAPTER VII
THE RAPID ADVANCEMENT OF THE MESSAGE
AND I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot upon the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. . . . And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”
An Angel a Symbol of Human Messengers
As already shown, the work of preaching the gospel has been committed to man, and the Lord has promised his blessing on that instrumentality till the “end of the world.” So the angel bearing this message must be a symbol of a message concerning time which is to be preached to earth’s inhabitants. The message is proclaimed from a book that is “open,” clearly implying that it had once been “closed.” These messengers are esteemed of God; for the “bow,” a127token of God’s covenant, is over them, and they stand clothed with the light of God’s glory, and declare the message on the authority of the Creator of all things. That which is here declared is a time message, once “sealed,” but now proclaimed from an “open” book.
In previous chapters it has been proved that the Lord marked the time when the light should be given relative to the close of the great prophetic period—twenty-three hundred days—leading to the investigative judgment; that the prediction that knowledge should be increased was accurately fulfilled by the raising up of many to whom he revealed that light; and that he also marked the time when the “parable of the fig-tree” should be learned, by raising up his teachers then and there to go forth and herald that parable to the world. Just so accurately has he marked the point when the time message should swell to its loud cry, and just so accurately was that fulfilled.
The Loud Cry of the First Message
The point of time when the loud cry of this proclamation was to be made is a question of interest. It is here placed between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trumpets, which may be seen not only by its position in the Scripture record, but by the message itself, which says: “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” This is conclusive evidence that the time proclaimed in this message extends to the sounding of the seventh trumpet.