Chapter VI: Part 6

“No provision has been made for the establishment of permanent institutions among Adventists. Indeed, we have no means of ascertaining the number of ministers, and others, who have embraced the Advent faith. We only know that there are several hundred congregations, and a still larger number of ministers, who have publicly professed the faith, besides many who still remain in the churches of the land. Those who have espoused this cause have honestly believed in the coming of the Lord ‘about A. D. 1843;’ and as honest men they have kept to their work of sounding the alarm. All peculiarities of creed or policy have been lost sight of, in the absorbing inquiry concerning the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom. Those who have engaged in this enterprise are from all the various sects in the land--Protestant Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Protestant, Primitive Methodist, Wesleyan Methodist, Close Communion Baptist, Calvinistic and Armenian Baptists, Presbyterians, Old and New School Congregationalists, Old and New School Lutheran, Dutch Reformed, &c., &c. All these have agreed to work together for the accomplishment of a certain object; and the organization to which this has given rise, so far as there is anything which may be called an organization, is of the most simple, voluntary and primitive form. While the engrossing and scriptural character of the grand object has kept those who have been brought under its influence above the considerations which so generally divide the household of faith, it has also made them frank and kind in expressing their minor differences, and forbearing toward each other on subordinate questions upon which they may not see alike. And in this is their strength.

“In 1842, Robert Winter, an Englishman by birth, and a Primitive Methodist by profession, fell in with the Adventists in this country and embraced the doctrine. In the fall of the year he resolved to return to England, and proclaim the coming of the Lord. He did return, and commenced the work. God owned his truth, and it took effect, and many have been raised up to join with him in spreading the light through these islands of the sea. Last summer camp or field meetings were held in different parts of England with great success.

“Books and papers to a large amount have been sent to England, and scattered abroad through the country; and several books and papers have been republished in that country with great effect.

“The British provinces adjoining the United States, have been visited and furnished with the light. Our beloved brother Hutchinson, in Montreal, has published a large amount of matter in his paper, _The Voice of Elijah_, and sent it over the United Kingdoms.

“But I must close this brief sketch of the rise and progress of Adventism, or my space will be more than full. But a few only out of the multitude of incidents which should enter into a work of this kind have been noticed. But this is all we have room to give in the present sketch. The Judge is at the door, and will make a more full and accurate development of this great work than human heart can indite or hand record. Concerning Adventism, it may be truly said, ‘What hath God wrought?’

“No cause of a moral or religious character, probably, ever made so rapid advances as the cause of Adventism. Its votaries have usually been the most humble, pious, devoted members of the different churches; men and women who love their Lord, and to whom the thought of his glorious advent has been a source of sweetest pleasure. The hand of Providence has everywhere opened the way, and provided the means for doing all that human means could do. None of the lecturers have made themselves rich, or even held what little they had when they embarked in the enterprise. Everything has been freely sacrificed when the cause demanded it. Never have a set of men labored more faithfully and zealously in the cause of God, or with purer motives. But their work is with the Lord, and their record on high.

“It is asked what we intend to do, now the time is expired? Our answer is, we intend, by the Lord’s help, to spread the glad tidings of the kingdom of God until it appears. The arguments which have been presented on the prophetic history and periods, together with the signs of the times, have lost none of their strength; and we purpose to continue presenting them until the Master comes, that we may be found giving his ‘household meat in due season.’”

THE EXETER, N. H., CAMP MEETING.

It was in the month of August, 1844, that the memorable Second-Advent camp-meeting was held at Exeter, N. H. This meeting was large. It was the occasion of a general rally from all parts of New England, and many were present from other States and from the Canadas. There were many tents upon the ground, some of them resembling houses of worship, in size and shape, more than the small tents usually seen upon Methodist camp grounds. These furnished ample accommodations for the thousands of believers present.

There was a general agreement with all Adventists at that time, that the special providence of God had directed the Advent movement. But the farthest point to which the Jewish year could be extended, reaching from March, 1843, to March, 1844, had passed, and believers were left in a state of suspense and uncertainty, evidently not enjoying all the inspiring influence of the Advent hope and faith they felt under the proclamation of definite time. And there were other things besides the passing of the time, that cast a degree of general gloom over the Second-Advent cause at that time.

Storrs’ Six Sermons on the immortality question were being widely circulated among Adventists, and the doctrine of man’s unconsciousness in death and the destruction of the wicked, was being adopted by some and regarded with favor by many. The time had come, in the providence of God, for this question to be agitated. But its importance could not then be seen by any as it is now regarded since the rise and wide-spreading, desolating influence of Spiritualism. Those Second-Advent editors and lecturers, such as Litch, Hale, Bliss, Himes, and Miller, who did not agree with Mr. Storrs, not only failed to see that good could result from the agitation of the subject, but were grieved that the once united and happy flock, who were looking for the immediate return of the great Shepherd, should have their minds divided by this question. And these men, who felt the responsibilities of the great Advent cause, are not to be censured too much for their fears, nor blamed too severely for their efforts to avoid the discussion of so sensitive a question.

And while it was being feared that a portion of the Advent body were having their minds diverted from the all-important work of warning the world of the soon-coming of the Son of man, by an unnecessary discussion of the immortality question, others were causing divisions, and were bringing much labor and perplexity upon the leading men in the cause, by urging upon the flock extreme views of entire consecration, or Christian perfection, then taught by the Methodists, the men of the Oberlin school, and others. And not a few men and women appeared in the Advent ranks who professed to be wonderfully led by the Holy Spirit. These took their position in advance of their brethren. Many of them soon became self-righteous, and, notwithstanding their apparent humility, were proud of their spiritual attainments. So wonderfully impressed to do this or that, and so directly taught by the Holy Spirit in relation to their entire duty, how could they err? The idea of mistakes on their part, in doctrine or in duty, was banished from them.

Viewing themselves far in advance of their brethren, they were ready to teach even their teachers. And supposing themselves directly taught by the Holy Spirit, they were ready to reject the instructions and corrections of those who labored to help them. Such persons usually advance rapidly in their wild career. They soon fall under the direct power of Satan, to be impressed and tempted by him to do this or that thing which may be sinful. They labor under the terrible deception that all their impressions are from the Holy Spirit, and must at all hazards be promptly obeyed. God pity the poor fanatic, who is thus goaded on by the Devil to disgrace himself and wound the cause of Christ. In no case could Satan strike the Advent cause so stunning a blow, and so completely cover it with reproach, as to lead on certain ones who bore the Advent name in the wild career of fanaticism.

And he knows when to strike. The world had just trembled before the solemn message of the Judgment hour, proclaimed with great boldness and power. And believers had lifted up one united voice in confident testimony relative to the period of their joyful expectations. But the time had passed, the world breathed easier, the scoffer triumphed, and believers felt that they had all they could do to hold fast, and not draw back to perdition. This was just the time for Satan to strike.

More or less had embraced the Advent faith from all those religious bodies where the idea was prevailing that Scriptural sanctification, purity and holiness, consisted chiefly in happy flights of feeling, and being led in the minutiæ of the Christian life by impressions. These had been stirred to the very depths of the soul by the proclamation of the second coming of Christ, and felt that if they ever needed holiness it was then necessary, to enable them to stand when he should appear, and that if they should ever follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit, it was then, as they were engaged in the preparatory work for the Judgment. And with their false notions of entire consecration, they were in readiness for the torch of fanaticism. If Satan could control these, and bring reproach upon the Advent cause, and sadden the hearts of those he could not destroy, he would gain a victory that would cause wicked men and demons to triumph.

There was upon the Exeter camp-ground a tent from Watertown, Massachusetts, filled with fanatical persons, as briefly described above. At an early period in this meeting, they attracted much attention by the peculiar style in which they conducted their seasons of social worship in their tent. These were irregular, very lengthy, frequently extending into hours of intermission and rest, continuing nearly all night, and attended with great excitement, and noise of shouting and clapping of hands, and singular gestures and exercises. Some shouted so loud and incessantly as to become hoarse, and silent, simply because they could no longer shout, while others literally blistered their hands striking them together.

The tent’s company from Portland, Me., of which I was one of the number, had pitched close by this tent from Watertown, before the condition of those who occupied it was generally known, little thinking of the annoyances they were to suffer from these fanatical persons. But these they endured for a while in the hope that they would be corrected and reproved. Seeing, however, that they were not the persons to be reformed, and that they grew no better, but, rather worse, the Portland brethren moved their tent to a distant part of the ground. But this act, showing the assembled thousands that we had no union with those we left, created sympathy for these fanatics, in not a few who viewed all the dangers of the way on the side of those who were disposed to formality. These joined with the Watertown people in the cry of persecution, and shouted glory to God over it, as if a new and brilliant victory had been gained.

By this time a general gloom was coming over the meeting, and ministers who had the burden of the work upon them, felt deeply. The wildfire was spreading, and how to stop it was the question. The people were told of the dangers of spiritual magnetism, and were warned to keep away from that tent. But this only caused a crowd of the curious, incautious, and those who claimed a right to investigate, and felt that they were responsible to no one, to gather round this tent. And it was evident that every hour some were being brought under this influence, several of whom were suffering impulse to ride over reason.

A minister, possessing more natural eloquence than piety and real moral worth, while attempting to preach from the stand, was rebuked by a clear voice from this tent, and thrown into confusion. “Don’t let me fall, brethren,” said he to the large congregation who were turning their attention to the tent from which came the voice. “Pray, and keep your minds upon the subject.” He did fall in spirit and freedom, and his effort was a decided failure.

Elder Plummer, of Haverhill, Mass., who had the especial charge of the meeting, made appropriate remarks upon the condition of things, with great solemnity and deep feeling. He then prayed, calling on God for guidance and help in that critical hour. He prayed like a strong man in agony, whose only hope of deliverance was in God. He then stated something of his opinion of the spirit of fanaticism on the ground, and exhorted the people to look to God for help, and not suffer their minds to be diverted by the interruptions and general noise of the faction on the ground, who were not in harmony with the great objects of the meeting. He stated, in the most solemn manner, that he had no objections to shouts of praise to God, over victories won in his name. But when persons had shouted “Glory to God” nine hundred and ninety-nine times, with no evidence of one victory gained, and had blistered their hands in striking them together with violence, he thought it was time for them to stop. But if they would not change their course, it was time for all who wished to be consistent Christians to withdraw their sympathy from them, and show their disapproval of their course by keeping entirely away from them.

These remarks helped the people generally, but not those who were wild with fanaticism. But none among the preachers and speakers generally had shown up to this time that they had the burden of the meeting upon them, excepting what was seen in Elder Plummer, in reproving existing wrongs. Several spoke from the stand, but they failed to move the people. God evidently had a special message for that people, to be attended with his signal blessing. Men of ability spoke of the great lines of prophecy, which proved that the advent of Christ was the next great event, and of the signs that the event was at the door; but this was as familiar to that crowd of intelligent believers as the alphabet. Just then, as one was speaking with but little force and interest, and the people were becoming weary of being told, in a dull, prosy style, what they already knew, a middle-aged, modest-appearing lady arose in the centre of the audience, and in a calm manner, and with a clear, strong, yet pleasant voice, addressed the speaker as follows:

“It is too late, Bro. ----. It is too late to spend our time upon those truths, with which we are familiar, and which have been blessed to us in the past, and have served their purpose and their time.”

The brother sat down, and the lady continued, while all eyes were fastened upon her.

“It is too late, brethren, to spend precious time as we have since this camp-meeting commenced. Time is short. The Lord has servants here who have meat in due season for his household. Let them speak, and let the people hear them. ‘Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.’”

This testimony seemed electrifying, and was responded to by choked utterances of “Amen,” from every part of that vast encampment. Many were in tears. What former speakers had said was forgotten, and the spirit of fanaticism, which an hour before lay upon the burdened feelings of the brethren and sisters like a ponderous leaden weight, was also forgotten. The attention paid to those in fanaticism, and the opposition they were able to call out, were just the coveted fuel to feed the unhallowed flame. And they were destined to triumph, unless the attention of the people could be fastened in another direction. This done, and their power was broken.

By the request of many brethren, the next morning, the arguments were given from the stand, which formed the basis of the tenth day of the seventh-month movement. The speaker was solemn and dignified, and showed to the entire satisfaction of that vast body of intelligent believers--

1. That all the evidences which had been relied upon as proof that the 2300 prophetic days of Daniel viii, would end in the year 1843, proved that they would terminate in 1844. The entire body of believers had been united, agreeing with William Miller that the 2300 days dated from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, B. C. 457. This point settled, the figures 1843 were readily found:

From 2300
Take 457
----
And there remain 1843

But the speaker showed an error in this calculation. He stated that it would require 457 _full_ years _before_ Christ, and 1843 _full_ years _after_ Christ, to make 2300 full years, so that if the 2300 years commenced with the first day of B. C. 457, they would reach to the first day of A. D. 1844.

2. That this prophetic period did not commence with the year 457, in the spring, but in the autumn of that year. His reasons were--

_a._ That as the seventy prophetic weeks are the first 490 years of the 2300, and as the first seven weeks of the seventy, mark the time of the work of restoring and building Jerusalem in troublous times, the great period must commence with the commencement of the work of restoring and building, which did not commence in the spring, on the first month, when Ezra started from Babylon, but after he had reached Jerusalem, in the autumn, probably on the seventh month. “For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem.” Ezra vii, 9. This would give more than two months for necessary preparations for the work of restoring and building to commence on the seventh month, immediately after the great day of atonement.

_b._ That as the words of the angel to the prophet Daniel--“in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,”--mean that in the middle of the last week of the seventy, Christ should be crucified; and as he was crucified in the spring, that prophetic week of seven years must commence and close in the fall. Consequently the seventy weeks commenced and closed in the fall, and, therefore, the 2300 days terminate in the fall.

3. The speaker then introduced the arguments drawn from those types of the law of Moses which point to Christ, to prove that the second advent of Him who was then our High Priest would take place in the autumn, even on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month. He reasoned that as the spring types, pointing to the great events connected with the first advent of Christ, were fulfilled, not only as to their nature and order, but as to time, so would the autumnal types, pointing to the second advent, be fulfilled as to time. See Lev. xxiii. The slaying of the passover lamb was a type of the crucifixion of Christ. Paul says, Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. 1 Cor. v, 7.

The sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest, which was waved before the Lord, was typical of the resurrection of Christ. Paul again says, in speaking of the resurrection of the Lord and all his people, Christ, the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 1 Cor. xv, 23. As this sheaf was like the grain in all the wide harvest-field, only that it was the first ripe grain, so Christ arose from the dead a sample of all the just to be raised at his second coming. Then all the saints will have glorious bodies, like that of their divine Lord. Phil. iii, 21.

The new meat offering was a type of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

The speaker stated that Christ was offered a sacrifice for sinners on the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month, the very day and month on which the passover lamb had been slain for sixteen long centuries. That he was raised from the dead a sample of all the resurrected just on the very day of the month upon which the earliest ripe grain was waved before the Lord. And that the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost,--Pentecost meaning fifty,--was on the day of the month in which the new meat-offering was presented unto the Lord. That new meat-offering was fifty days from the presentation of the wave sheaf. The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the waiting disciples was on the day of Pentecost, or fiftieth day from the resurrection of their divine Lord. And, therefore, as the high priest, on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the great day of atonement, came out of the sanctuary and blessed the people, so Christ, our great High Priest, would upon the same day of the same month, come from Heaven to bless his waiting people with immortality. The conclusion seemed irresistible. And what gave it still greater force was the harmony of this position with the proofs presented, that the prophetic period of 2300 days would terminate in the fall.

The deepest solemnity pervaded the entire encampment. But one view was taken of the subject presented, by nearly all present, namely, that in all probability the speaker was correct, and that in a few short weeks human probation would close forever.

But what of the Watertown fanatics? In the intense interest upon the subject of time, taken by the entire crowd, these were forgotten. No one seemed to be affected by them, or troubled about them. In fact, they were quiet till they left the ground, and as dumb as if the special rebuke of the Lord was upon them. This fact, that fanaticism dried up before the solemn and searching time-message of 1844, like the morning dew before the midsummer’s sun, is of importance to those who suppose that that stirring proclamation caused fanaticism.

The next day, by unanimous request of the people, the same speaker repeated, with still greater clearness and force, the same proofs in support of the position that the fast-approaching autumn was the time for the great prophetic periods to terminate, and that the types pointed to the tenth day of the seventh month as the time for our great High Priest to come out of Heaven and bless his waiting people.

This was followed with solemn and stirring discourses in harmony with the time, from Elders Heath, Couch, and Eastman. The specifications of the parable of the ten virgins, down as far as the cry at midnight, seemed to have a natural and forcible application to the great Advent movement up to that time, and the words, “Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him,” already being heard from the lips of those who were looking to the seventh Jewish month for the coming of the Lord, had a solemn, subduing power in them, such as no others had. The first portion of the parable, and the application of it then made, I will here give:

“Then shall the kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took lamps, and took no oil with them; but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.” Matt. xxv, 1-7.

1. The ten virgins represent those then interested in the subject of the immediate second coming of Christ.

2. The lamps which the virgins took to light their way at the hour of midnight, represent the prophetic word of the Lord. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Ps. cxix, 105. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place.” 2 Pet. i, 19.

3. The five wise virgins, who took oil in their vessels with their lamps, represent those who had faith, and the work of the grace of God wrought in them.

4. The five foolish virgins represent those professed believers who lacked true faith, and who had not the work of the grace and Spirit of God in them.

5. The tarry of the bridegroom, the delay in the parable, and the slumbering and sleeping of the virgins, represent the passing of the Jewish year, 1843, the disappointment, the suspense and uncertainty which resulted in loss of faith and zeal, manifested by believers before the time passed. It appeared evident that the period of hope deferred and general gloom since the close of the Jewish year, 1843, was the night of sleeping and slumbering.

6. The cry at midnight in the parable, “Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him,” represented the solemn message of the tenth day of the seventh month time, 1844, already being heard. It was suggested that the night of tarry in the parable represented half of the prophetic day, or six months, extending from the passing of the time in the spring, to the seventh month in the fall, and that the then present work of waking up under the cry, “Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him,” commenced in July, in the middle of the tarrying time, or at midnight.

And now the work of waking up the slumbering believers, and giving the last warning to the world, seemed to be crowded into a few weeks. Those who received the message felt the burden of the work. Language cannot describe the solemnity of that hour. And no one can have any just idea of it, only eye-witnesses upon the grounds, who saw, heard, and felt for themselves. The time for shouting, and display of talent in speaking, singing, and praying, seemed to be past. The brethren and sisters calmly consecrated themselves and their all to the Lord and his cause, and with humble prayers and tears sought his pardon and his favor. All those unhappy divisions and extravagancies, which had threatened the prosperity of the Advent cause, were lost sight of, and the watchmen, and the people also, were beginning to lift up one united voice, with strength and heartfelt solemnity, “Behold the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.”

On returning from the Exeter camp-meeting, I visited the Advent congregation at Poland, Me., and attended camp-meetings at Litchfield and Orington. At these two camp-meetings ministers and people became imbued with the spirit of the seventh-month message. The evidences upon which it was based seemed conclusive, and a power almost irresistible attended it; and the fruits of this message everywhere were alike excellent. Whatever of differences of opinion, division in feelings and plans of action, or schisms of any kind that had sprung up during the time of suspense represented by the tarrying of the bridegroom, and the slumbering of the virgins, were now being swept away and lost sight of in the onward course of this mighty movement. The hearts of the believers were being united as never before.

The first evening of the Orington meeting I spoke to the people, and stated my convictions that Christ would come on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month of that year. There was a tent’s company on the ground affected more or less with the spirit of fanaticism, and there was a great want of that solemnity in most all present, which characterized the recent camp-meeting at Exeter, N. H., where the evidences in favor of the tenth day of the seventh month had been presented.

As I spoke of the disappointment, the tarry, the slumbering and sleeping, and the cry, “Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him,” a death-like stillness reigned throughout the entire encampment. The application of Advent history thus far to these specifications of the parable seemed so natural and forcible as to convict all.

And there was no more heard the irreverent shout of the fanatic, nor the heartless prayer of the formalist, after that evening meeting. As in the days of Christ’s first apostles, all were pricked in the heart, and the inquiry of all seemed to be what they should do to be saved. The labor of that meeting, from that time onward to its close, was the presentation of the evidences that the 2300 prophetic days of Daniel would end that autumn, that the types pointed to the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month as the time for the second advent, and that we had reached the point in Second-Advent history where the slumbering ones were to be aroused by the midnight cry. To this were added practical sermons and solemn exhortations, setting forth the necessity of giving up the world, and consecrating all to the Lord. Social meetings were marked with great solemnity. Sins were confessed with tears, and there was a general breaking down before God, and strong pleadings for pardon, and a fitness to meet the Lord at his coming. And the humble disciples of the Lord did not seek his face in vain. Before that meeting closed, hundreds testified with tears of joy that they had sought the Lord and found him, and had tasted the sweets of sins forgiven.

The parting was most solemn. That was the last camp-meeting the brethren expected to attend on these mortal shores. And as brother shook the hand of brother, each pointed the other to the final gathering on the immortal shores at the grand encampment of the saints in the New Jerusalem. Tears flowed profusely, and strong men wept aloud. God grant that those who read these lines may see as good a day. And even now, although more than twenty years have passed since that meeting, and that parting scene, as I write, my being seems to be inspired with its solemn, humble spirit, and my tears will flow.

The ministers all fully believed that time was short, and now the work before us was to fly to every part of that wide field, sound the alarm, and wake the slumbering and sleeping ones. In company with one who professed the truth, I visited two towns each day, and sometimes spoke the same day in three different towns. Congregations were crowded, and every meeting was wonderfully marked with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

CHARACTER OF THE WORK.

As to the character of the work which resulted from giving what was called the midnight cry, it evidently was the special work of God. It was not, as many suppose, the result of fanaticism.

1. Because it bore the marks of the especial providence of God. It was not characterized by those extremes ever manifested where human excitement, and not the word and Spirit of God, has the controlling influence. It was in harmony with those seasons of humiliation, rending of heart, confession and complete consecration of all, which are matters of history in the Old Testament, and are made matters of duty in the New.

2. Because it was subversive of all those forms of fanaticism which had made their appearance somewhat in connection with the Second-Advent cause. And it is a fact, that Satan had crowded upon some who bore the Advent name, almost every stripe of fanaticism he had ever invented. But these were at once swallowed up by the solemn power of the midnight cry, as the rods of the magicians were by the rod of Aaron.

3. Because the work was marked with sobriety, humility, solemnity, reverence, self-examination, repentance, confessions and tears, instead of lightness, exaltation, trifling, irreverent expressions, self-justification, pride in spiritual things, voluntary humility and will worship, which generally characterize the conduct of fanatics.

4. Because the work bore the fruit of the Spirit of God, as set forth in the New Testament. It was evidently guided by wisdom from above. The apostle James declares this wisdom to be “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” Chap. iii, 17. Paul says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Gal. v, 22, 23. These are the good fruits of the work and Spirit of God, and these did all appear in an eminent sense as the results of the midnight cry.

But fanaticisms are the works of the flesh, the power of Satan being brought to bear upon the carnal mind.

It is true that Satan seeks to clothe his work, as far as possible, with that which may resemble garments of truth and righteousness. But the experienced observer will not fail to see that he, and those who are brought under his influence, come infinitely short of counterfeiting the work of God. He may succeed in blinding the eyes of men, so that they may not be able to discern the difference between the work of God and his imperfect mimicry. But the work of high Heaven he can not imitate. And when the work of Satan in fanaticism is carried out, and its terrible fruit is ripened into bitterness, its contrast with the fruit of the work and Spirit of God will be seen as wide as Beelzebub with Christ, perdition with all its terror and blackness of despair with the matchless glories of the kingdom of God.

Reader, there is a difference between the road to life, and that leading to death. And these do not lie side by side. They are in opposite directions. Do not be deceived by those who mix fanaticism with the work of God, and affirm that the compound all came from Heaven. Neither be deceived by those who, seeing evidence of fanaticism in some who have been connected with the Advent cause, denounce the entire movement as being the work of men, or of Satan. I here enter my solemn protest against making one grand Second-Advent chowder of all that in any way has been connected with the great Advent movement, of truth and error, of wisdom from Heaven, and the spirit and work of fanaticism, and then presenting it to the people as being all the work of Satan, or all the work of God. Such insult God by making him the author of fanaticism and confusion. They also please the Devil, by attributing the work of God which he has tried to mar, to his satanic power. That they might do this, and make no difference between the pure work of God and the results of his miserable efforts at counterfeiting, is the spur of his ambition.

But of all the great religious movements since the days of the first apostles of our Lord, none stand out more pure and free from the imperfections of human nature, and the wiles of Satan, than that of the autumn of 1844. In fact, after looking back upon it for more than twenty years as the greenest spot on all the way in which God has led his people, I do not see how it could have been better, at least so far as the direct providence and work of God is concerned. It was beyond the control of human hands, or human minds. Men and demons sought to hinder and to mar this work, but the power that attended it brushed away their influence, as you would remove a spider’s web, and there stood the work of God free from the print of a man’s hand.

But as the reader will be better edified by reading the statements and experience of those ministers who had the burden of the work upon them, and were imbued with the spirit of that solemn message, I will here let them speak in confirmation of the foregoing statements.

Elder George Storrs, New York, September 24, 1844, says:

“I take up my pen with feelings such as I never before experienced. _Beyond a doubt_, in my mind, the _tenth day_ of the _seventh month_ will witness the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven. We are then within a _few days_ of that event. Awful moment to those who are unprepared, but glorious to those who are ready. I feel that I am making the _last appeal_ that I shall ever make through the press. My heart is full. I see the ungodly and sinner disappearing from my view, and there now stands before my mind the _professed believers_ in the Lord’s near approach. But what shall I say to them? Alas! we have been _slumbering_ and _sleeping_, both the _wise_ and the _foolish_; but so our Saviour told us it would be; and ‘thus the Scriptures are fulfilled,’ and it is the last prophecy relating to the events to precede the personal advent of our Lord; now comes the true midnight cry; the previous was but the alarm. Now the real one is sounding; and oh, how solemn the hour! The ‘virgins’ have been asleep or slumbering; yes, all of us. Asleep on the time; that is the point. Some have indeed preached the seventh month, but it was with doubt whether it is this year or some other; and that doubt is now removed from my mind. ‘Behold the bridegroom cometh,’ this year, ‘go ye out to meet him.’ We have done with the nominal churches and all the wicked, except so far as this cry may affect them; our work is now to wake up the ‘virgins’ who ‘took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.’ Where are we now? ‘If the vision tarry, wait for it.’ Is not that our answer since March and April? Yes. What happened while the bridegroom tarried? The virgins all slumbered and slept, did they not? Christ’s words have not failed, and ‘the Scriptures cannot be broken,’ and it is of no use for us to pretend that we have been awake. We have been slumbering; not on the fact of Christ’s coming, but on the time. We came into the tarrying time; we did not know ‘how long’ it would tarry, and on that point we have slumbered. Some of us have said in our sleep, ‘Don’t fix another time;’ so we slept. Now the trouble is to wake us up. Lord, help, for vain is the help of man. Speak thyself, Lord. Oh! that the ‘Father’ may now ‘make known’ the time.

“To illustrate the position we have occupied. Time--the preaching of definite time for the coming of our Lord, was what led us to take our lamps, and go forth to meet the Bridegroom. The great truth, our Lord Jesus Christ is coming again, personally, to this earth, was, so to speak, the rope let down from Heaven, made fast to the throne of God, equally immovable as that throne; by faith, as with both hands, we took hold of that rope; under our feet we had solid platform, time, where we stood, and all opponents could not remove it, nor make us let go of the rope. There we stood, and rejoiced in the ‘blessed hope.’ What our opponents never could and never did do, the end of the supposed Jewish year 1843 effected, viz: swept away our platform from under us, and left us with nothing but the rope to hold on by. Did we let go? Some have, and drawn back to perdition. But many have continued to hold by the rope. The scoffing winds have beat against us severely, and we have swung in the air, the sport of our opponents. They told us we were now with them, looking for the Lord’s coming, but without any definite time; and we have been compelled to admit it, but have refused to let go the rope, saying, ‘If the vision tarry, wait for it.’ But we have not known how long we were thus to swing upon the rope, without a foundation for our feet; and we have not felt the same joy and glory that we did when we stood on definite time. God has been trying our faith, to see if we would hold on. Now, once more, he offers us a platform on which to stand. It is in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. Here we have the chronology of the tarrying time, and its duration. ‘If ye shall receive it,’ you will find once more your feet upon a rock, and the glory that the first belief in time produced in our breast, returns with a large addition to it, even a ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory.’

“The present strong cry of time commenced about the middle of July, and has spread with great rapidity and power, and is attended with a demonstration of the Spirit, such as I never witnessed when the cry was ‘1843.’ It is now literally, ‘Go ye out to meet him.’ There is a leaving all, that I never dreamed could be seen. Where this cry gets hold of the heart, farmers leave their farms, with their crops standing, to go out and sound the alarm, and mechanics their shops. There is a strong crying with tears, and a consecration of all to God, such as I never witnessed. There is a confidence in this truth such as was never felt in the previous cry, in the same degree; and a weeping or melting glory in it that passes all understanding, except to those who have felt it.

“On this present truth, I, through grace, dare venture all, and feel that to indulge in doubt about it would be to offend God, and bring upon myself ‘swift destruction.’ I am satisfied that now, ‘whosoever shall seek to save his life,’ where this cry has been fairly made, by indulging in an ‘if it don’t come,’ or by a fear to venture out on this truth, ‘shall lose’ his life. It requires the faith that led Abraham to offer up Isaac, or Noah to build the ark, or Lot to leave Sodom, or the children of Israel to stand all night waiting for their departure out of Egypt, or for Daniel to go into the lion’s den, or the three Hebrews to go into the fiery furnace. We have fancied we were going into the kingdom without such a test of faith; but I am satisfied we are not. This last truth brings such a test, and none will venture upon it but such as dare be accounted fools, madmen, or anything else that Antediluvians, Sodomites, a lukewarm church, or sleeping virgins, are disposed to heap upon them. Once more would I cry, ‘Escape for thy life;’ look not behind you; ‘remember Lot’s wife.’”

N. Southard, editor of the _Midnight Cry_, September 26, 1844, says:

“Before God, whose swift, approaching judgment will bring every secret thing to light, I wish to say, that up to this hour my professed consecration to him has not been complete. If this fact makes me a hypocrite, I have been one. I have not been dead to the world. If all Christians are dead to the world, I have not been a Christian. But I now say, let Christ be all, and let me be nothing. He has a balm for every wound, for his blood cleanseth from all sin; and I, even I, can stand complete in him.

“After writing thus far, I kneeled and asked God for direction as to what I should say next. I arose and took my Bible, and opening it, read Rev. vii, 9-17: ‘After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb,’ &c. If this great multitude is admitted before the throne, is there anything to keep me from being there? They differ in every conceivable particular from each other, except in two. They have all washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, and have all suffered great tribulation for his sake. Here, then, is the touchstone. Is your robe all washed clean in the blood of Christ? or have you been insulting him, by trying to patch up a robe out of the filthy rags of your own righteousness? Alas! I have thought that I could rest partly upon myself and partly on Christ. I now cast myself naked and helpless upon that mercy which saved the thief on the cross, which received denying Peter, which honored Mary Magdalene as the first witness of his resurrection, and which changed a persecuting Saul into a chief apostle.

“But can I bear the second mark? Can I joyfully endure tribulation for Jesus? Not in my own strength, but his grace is sufficient for me. In that grace I believe; Lord, help mine unbelief.

“One of my besetting sins has been a desire to please those around me, instead of inquiring simply, what would the Lord have me to do, to be, and to say. I confess this before the world, but I cannot confess that I have not thought I was doing right in publishing the evidence of Christ’s near coming. I have not been half enough awake to the greatness of the subject. May God forgive me in this thing, and grant me grace to be wide awake till he comes. Dear reader, are you awake? If not, it is high time to awake out of sleep.”

Elder F. G. Brown, October 2, 1844, says:

“I wish to say to all my dear brethren and sisters, who with me have been waiting for the kingdom of Heaven, that I am thoroughly convinced that we are now in that portion of the parable of the ten virgins, represented by the cry at midnight, ‘Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.’ I fully respond to the cry; my expiring lamp has been re-kindled, and I am now permitted, by God’s grace, to see additional light blazing from the Scriptures, and all converging to one glorious point, the advent of our blessed Lord this very month! My dear friends, I have been in an awful, slumbering, sleeping state. I have been on the verge of perdition; though I have never ceased to cherish in my heart the great and leading doctrines of the Lord’s coming. I thought a few weeks ago that I was in a pretty good state; awful delusion! Look out for deception! Awake, and trim your lamps, or you will be lost after all!”

Elder J. Litch, late editor of the _Advent Herald_, Boston, October, 1844, says:

“I wish to say to my dear brethren and sisters, who are looking for the coming of the Lord on the tenth day of the seventh month, but especially to those who have hesitated on the question, that the strong objections which have existed in my mind against it, are passed away, and I am now convinced that the types, together with the signs of the times, are sufficient authority for believing in the Lord’s coming at that time; and henceforth I shall look to that day with the expectation of beholding the King in his beauty. I bless the name of the Lord for sending this midnight cry to arouse me to go out to meet the Bridegroom. May the Lord make us meet for the inheritance of the saints.”

William Miller, Low Hampton, N. Y., October 11, 1844, says:

“I think I have never seen among our brethren such faith as is manifested in the seventh month. ‘He will come,’ is the common expression. ‘He will not tarry the second time,’ is their general reply. There is a forsaking of the world, an unconcern for the wants of life, a general searching of heart, confession of sin, and a deep feeling in prayer for Christ to come. A preparation of heart to meet him seems to be the labor of their agonizing spirits. There is something in this present waking up different from anything I have ever before seen. There is no great expression of joy; that is, as it were, suppressed for a future occasion, when all Heaven and earth will rejoice together with joy unspeakable and full of glory. There is no shouting; that, too, is reserved for the shout from Heaven. The singers are silent; they are waiting to join the angelic hosts, the choir from Heaven. No arguments are used or needed; all seem convinced that they have the truth. There is no clashing of sentiments; all are of one heart and of one mind. Our meetings are all occupied with prayer, and exhortation to love and obedience. The general expression is, ‘Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.’ Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus.”

I will here give, as the closing testimony relative to the character of the seventh-month movement, one from the “Advent Shield,” published January, 1845. And let it be borne in mind that the “Shield” was a standard work, of 440 pages, for all Adventists at that time, and that the following testimony from it was not published till about three months after the seventh-month movement, when Adventists had taken time to review the past, and settle, as was supposed, upon a firm, united position.

“It produced everywhere the most deep searching of heart and humiliation of soul before the God of high Heaven. It caused a weaning of affections from the things of this world, a healing of the controversies and animosities, a confession of wrongs, a breaking down before God, and penitent, broken-hearted supplications to him for pardon and acceptance. It caused self-abasement and prostration of soul, such as we never before witnessed. As God, by Joel, commanded, when the great day of God should be at hand, it produced a rending of hearts and not of garments, and a turning unto the Lord with fasting, and weeping, and mourning. As God said by Zechariah, a spirit of grace and supplication was poured out upon his children; they looked to him whom they had pierced, there was a great mourning in the land, every family apart and their wives apart, and those who were looking for the Lord afflicted their souls before him. Such was its effect upon the children of God.

“While none could deny the possibility of the Lord’s then coming, and as the fulfillment of some of the types chronologically at Christ’s first advent rendered it highly probable that those which typified the second advent, would also be chronologically fulfilled, so general an awakening, and with such blessed fruits, could not but impress many minds; and those who were not convinced of the soundness of the typical argument, were led to regard it as a fulfillment of the parable of the ten virgins, in the twenty-fifth of Matthew,--as their arising to trim their lamps, after having gone forth to meet the Bridegroom, and slumbering while he tarried; so that the definite time was finally embraced by nearly all of the Advent faith. So universal a movement among those who a short time before were comparatively asleep on this question, could not be unnoticed by the world.