"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. 25:6-7)
We have already spoken of the tarrying time brought to view in this parable of the "ten virgins," and will now give special attention to that part of it introduced in the above text, designated by the Adventist people as the "midnight cry." A prominent writer upon this subject, in a periodical called the Midnight Cry, Oct. 3, 1844, says:-
"But how came we into this tarrying night? Because we commenced the vision [the vision of the twenty-three hundred days] in the spring, instead of the fall, 457 B.C. We fell short of reaching the destined port six months and a few days over. It threw us into the tarrying night, six months."
Another writer, S. S. Snow, in the Cry of Aug. 22, 1844, speaking of the twenty-three hundred days, said:-
"They began at the going forth of the decree to restore and build Jerusalem. The decree was made at the first by Cyrus, renewed by Darius, and completed by Artaxerxes Longimanus in the seventh year of his reign. It was promulgated and went into effect in the autumn of the year B.C. 457, when Ezra, having arrived at Jerusalem by the good hand of the Lord, restored the Jewish commonwealth, appointed magistrates and judges, and commenced the building of the wall." [1]
As the time of the vision was twenty-three hundred full years, it would require all of 457 and all of 1843 to make twenty-three hundred, and if the decree did not go forth until the seventh month of 457 B.C., it was taught that the period would not end until the seventh month of 1844. As the observance of the tenth day of the seventh month seemed to be the event which marked the beginning of the period, so it was shown conclusively that on the tenth day of the seventh month (Jewish time), Oct. 22, 1844, the twenty-three hundred days would end, and the time come for the sanctuary to be cleansed. All the evidence used for the close of the period in 1843 applied with equal force to the reckoning for 1844, and with it an assurance that they had discovered what seemed a certain solution of the cause of their disappointment. The manner in which the Adventists proclaimed the "true midnight cry," as it was then denominated, cannot be better illustrated than by quoting from the writings of those who were prominently engaged in the work at that time.
"Go Ye Out to Meet Him"
In the Cry for Oct. 3, 1844, was an article written by George Storrs, under the heading, "Go Ye Out to Meet Him," in which he said:-
"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 within a few days of that event- awful moment to those unprepared, but glorious to those who are ready.
" '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 last March or 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 Scripture cannot be broken.' 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. O that the 'Father' may now 'make known' the time.
The Midnight of the Message
"How long is the tarrying time?-Half a year. How do you know?-Because our Lord says, 'at midnight,' while the Bridegroom tarried. The vision was for 'twentythree hundred evening-mornings,' or days. An 'evening,' or night, is half of one of those prophetic days, and is, therefore, six months. That is the whole length of the tarrying time. 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. When this cry gets hold of the heart, farmers leave their farms, with their crops. 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 same 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 lions' den, or the three Hebrews into the fiery furnace. We have fancied that 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 to be accounted fools, madmen, or anything else that antediluvian 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.' "
Storrs' Flat Rock
In the Midnight Cry of Oct. 10, 1844, there appeared, from the pen of George Storrs, the following, under the heading, "The Finale," but called by the Adventists, "Storrs' Flat Rock":-
"How shall we be ready for that day?-Believe God's truth, and venture out upon it, by strong faith that gives glory to God. We must have the same state of mind that we would have if we knew we were to die upon that day, the same entire consecration to God and deadness to the world.
"I cannot better illustrate what I mean than to suppose a large flat rock in the midst of the ocean. A promise is made by a glorious and mighty prince that at a given time he will send a splendid steamer to carry all persons whom he shall find there with the evidence that they fully credited his word, to a glorious country. Many venture out to the rock. Some, when they are safe on the rock, cut the rope, and their craft with which they came there drifts away from them, and they look after it no more, but are watching for the arrival of the steamship. They have no doubt of the truth of the promise, and risk all upon it. Others who come there think it is enough that they are on the rock. But they would be 'wise' and not run too great a risk.
"According to thy faith be it unto thee" had been sounded before the time the steamer was expected. The day arrives. The prudent ones, it may be, intend to cut their boats loose, and let them float off, if they see the steamer coming. It appears in sight; but now it is too late to let go their boats without being discovered; and besides, the same prudence would dictate now that they do not let their boats float away till they are certain that they are not mistaken in the approaching vessel. Now it comes so near that they cannot possibly cut loose without being discovered.
"The steamer arrives at the rock. 'What is the evidence that you had implicit confidence in the pro-mise of the arrival of the steamer?'-'Our boats are cut loose, and have floated away from us, so that we could not possibly get to land, and must have perished if the steamer had not arrived, for it is a rock where no other vessel ever passes.' 'That is enough,' cries the commander of the steam vessel; 'come on board; such confidence shall not be disappointed.'
"Those who had kept their boats made fast to the rock now crowd around and strive to get on board the steamer. The commander asks, 'What mean those boats I see made fast to the rocks yonder, or whose ropes have only been cut since I arrived in sight?' They answer, 'We thought we would be prudent, so that if the steamer did not arrive, we might have something with which to get back to land.' 'You made provision for the flesh, then,' cries the commander, 'did you, and so doubted my words? According to thy faith be it unto thee. The evidence is against you. You made provision to return, and now you must reap the fruit of your unbelief.' 'So they could not enter in because of unbelief.' O, awful state of despair!
"Cut your ropes now, brethren; let your boats float out of sight; yea, make haste before the 'sign of the Son of man appear.' Then it will be too late. Venture now, and venture all. O, my heart is pained for you; don't dally; push off that boat, or you are lost; for 'whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it,' so saith Jesus Christ, our Lord and Judge. Make haste, then, once more I entreat you, O make haste! Let go every boat by which you are now calculating to escape to land; 'if it don't come.' That 'if' will ruin you. It is now the last trial and temptation. Do as our Lord did with the last temptation of the devil- 'Get thee hence, Satan,' said he. Then the devil leaveth him, and 'behold, angels came and ministered unto him.' So will it be with you when you have gained this triumph."
Rapid Work of the Midnight Cry
As to the rapidity, power, and effect of the message of the "midnight cry," we gain a correct idea from the words of N. Southard, editor of the paper from which we have previously quoted-the Midnight Cry. In the copy dated Oct. 31, 1844, he says:-
"At first the definite time was generally opposed; but there seemed to be an irresistible power attending its proclamation, which prostrated all before it. It swept over the land with the velocity of a tornado, and it reached hearts in different and distant places almost simultaneously, and in a manner which can be accounted for only on the supposition that God was in it. It produced everywhere the most deep searching of heart and humiliation of soul before High Heaven. It caused a weaning of affections from the things of this world, a healing of 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, and 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."
The People Moved by a Supernatural Power
Again, of this stirring proclamation he says:-
"It seemed to us to have been so independent of human agency that we could but regard it as a fulfillment of the 'midnight cry,' after the tarrying of the Bridegroom, and the slumbering and sleeping of the virgins, when they were all to arise and trim their lamps. And the last work seems to have been done; for there has never been a time before when the respective advent bands were in so good a state of preparation for the Lord's coming."
Worldly Possessions Disposed of
Under the stirring proclamation of the advent doctrine, many disposed of their worldly possessions, using their substance in sustaining the public speakers in their labor, or scattering the printed papers and tracts, or supplying the wants of the needy, thus giving to the world the best evidence of their sincerity and earnestness; while those who clung to their earthly possessions, and made no special sacrifice for the work, were marked by the worldling as not really believing what they professed. By way of illustration I will give two instances, one on each side of the question.
A Potato Field
The first is that of a believer who lived in New Ipswich, N.H., by the name of Hastings, who had a large field of splendid potatoes which he left undug. His neighbors were anxious about them and came to him offering to dig them and put them in the cellar for him free, if he would let them, "for," said they, "you may want them." "No!" said Mr. Hastings, "I am going to let that field of potatoes preach my faith in the Lord's soon appearing."
That fall, as may be learned from the Claremont (N.H.) Eagle, the New York True Sun, and various other public journals, the potato crop was almost a total loss from the "potato rot." As expressed in the Sun, "How painful it is to learn that whole crops of this valuable esculent have been destroyed by the rot. A correspondent of a Philadelphia paper says the potato crop in that State is ruined. The only section from which little complaint is heard, is Maine, but even there the crop has not escaped the disease."
As the fall was mild, and Mr. Hastings's potatoes were left in the ground until November, none of them rotted. Consequently he had an abundant supply for himself and his unfortunate neighbors who had been so solicitous for his welfare the previous October, and who, in the spring, were obliged to buy seed potatoes of him, and were glad to pay a good price for them. What they supposed was going to be such a calamity to Mr. Hastings, God turned to a temporal blessing, and not only to him, but to his neighbors also.
Denied His Faith
The second instance occurred in my own place of residence. It was that of a church-member who had much to say in meeting about the Lord's coming in the fall of 1844. He was a man of considerable property, and among other things, had a lot of hogs at just the right age for keeping over for the spring market. An uncle of mine, who made no religious pretensions, and whose business was the buying and selling of stock, went to this professed Adventist to buy his hogs, but learned from him that he did not wish to sell them, as he was going to keep them over till next spring for "store hogs." Uncle came to my grandfather, who was an Adventist believer, and said, "That man doesn't believe what he professes." "Why?" asked grandfather. "Because," said uncle, "he says the Lord is coming, and the world is coming to an end this fall, but he wants to keep his hogs till next spring. He need not talk to me; he doesn't believe a word of it."
Means Offered too Late
There were men who held on to their means, struggling all the while under the conviction that they should use it to advance the work, until it was too late to invest it. Such came to those engaged in printing the message, urging them with tears to accept their money, but the reply was, "You are too late! We have paid for all the printing matter we can possibly circulate before the end. We have hired several power presses to run night and day; we do not want any more money." An eye witness testified to me that he saw men lay thousands of dollars on the desk before the publisher of the Voice of Truth, and in anguish of spirit beg of him to take it and use it. The reply was, "You are too late! We don't want your money now! We can't use it!" Then they asked, "Cannot it be given to the poor?" The answer was the same, "We have made provision for the immediate wants of all such that we can reach." In distress of mind the men took away their money, declaring that the frown of God was upon them for their lack of faith, and for the covetousness which had led them to withhold means from the cause of God when it was needed and would have been gladly used.
Guardians Appointed
The character and principles of those who left their crops standing unharvested and their shops desolate, to scatter the printed page or to talk and pray with the people questioned not that such men and women believed every word they said, and withal, such a power attended them that the honest hearted could not gainsay nor resist their words. Thousands were by this means led to believe the truth, and sought and found God's mercy.
The scoffing sinner and the worldly professor, however, decided that this work of scattering advent publications must be stopped. These men who were taking a township or a whole county and going from house to house with this advent doctrine, and neglecting their business and families, must be beside themselves, they said, and must therefore have guardians placed over them. The alleged evidences of an unsound mind exhibited by the believers (being simply labor for the salvation of their fellow-men, without testimony that the families were suffering because of the leaving of their business), were insufficient proof of insanity; consequently but few persons were placed under guardianship. Judging by the glibness with which opponents of the present day speak of the fact, one would think there were many instances; yet in all my labors as an Adventist minister, covering a period of over fifty-six years, I have met with only two cases of "Millerites" who were placed under guardians. A brief notice of these may not be out of place.
His Own Guardian
The first occurred in the State of New York, less than thirty miles from where I lived. A man accepted the advent doctrine who was worth about $100,000. He gave about half of this sum to his wife and children, who were not with him in the faith. The remainder he considered was his to use as he saw fit; and as some of it went into the advent cause, his children raised objections, and counseled with a judge, pleading that a guardian be appointed over their father. After the judge had explained to them the duties and power of a guardian in managing the property, he asked them to nominate whom they wished him to appoint. After consulting together for a time, they decided that they knew of no man with whom they dare trust the property, and reported to the judge that they had selected their father as his own guardian. The judge turned to the man and said, "Mr.LLL, your children have chosen you as the proper person to manage your own property. Your affairs stand just the same as before you were brought into court." [2]
A Ludicrous Situation
The other case was that of Stockbridge Howland, of Topsham, Me. He was one of the best mechanics in all that section of country, a master workman in the construction of mills and bridges. In this "midnight cry" movement, Mr. Howland went on horseback over several townships, scattering advent papers and tracts from house to house, greatly to the annoyance of opponents and scoffers, who complained that in this tract distribution he neglected his business. So they at once secured the appointment of a guardian, who found more to do than he anticipated, as Mr. Howland sent to him all tax collectors, and in fact every one who came with accounts to be paid; "for," said he, "I am not considered competent to do any business." Soon afterward the county wished to construct a bridge over the Kennebec River,-a bridge that would stand the torrent of raging waters and floating ice in the time of spring freshets. The county commissioners and selectmen of the town decided that Stockbridge Howland was the man for the work. When they came with specifications and a contract for him to build the bridge, he said, ironically, "Gentlemen, you will have to go to my guardian. You know I am not considered competent to care for my own business, and do you come to me to build a bridge!" The situation was a little too ludicrous for sensible men, and the guardianship suddenly ended. Suffice it to say that his persecutors afterward made the most humble acknowledgments for the unjust and uncalledfor course they had taken.
Notes: