The same paper, under date of July 30, 1864, said:

"Old things are rapidly passing away in the religious and social, as well as in the political world. Behold, all things must be formed anew."

In a speech in Boston, May 10, 1868, Warren Chase said that he beheld with heart-felt satisfaction the dawning of this new light, and he could see, drawing nearer and nearer, the fulfillment of the promises he had received from the spirit world, that the governments of earth should ultimately pass into the hands of its followers. And continuing he said:

"That Protestantism, by this time, is in a state of decay, it is not possible in strict truth to deny. We see its ranks broken up into innumerable sects, and crumbling away in the pursuits of doctrines not taught by its founders. What it will lead to is just the problem. Were the result to prove no more than the ecclesiastical aggrandizement of either the one side or the other, it would be one of the most unfortunate that could occur, knowing as much as we do of the tendencies of such a power. But happily it lies within the reach and influence of Spiritualism, with its millions of believ ers already, and its ranks all the time increasing, to step in between the contending parties, and save the country to the higher and holier influences of the truth which descends direct from the heavens." 29

The Coming of Christ.

Spiritualism is the greatest and worst deception in the last days. It gathers its adherents in circles and tells us that Christ reveals himself to them in the chambers. Their doctrine is revealed to them by secret visions, and their sorcery is performed by the help of demons or evil spirits. They reject the plainest doctrines of the Bible, and exalt their own doctrine as heavenly light. But against all these manifestations Jesus has warned us.

We have been told that Jesus will not come in the chambers nor in the desert. How, then, will he come? 29 Facts for the Times," pp. 130, 131, 3rd edition.

"For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." 30

The lightning does not come secretly but visibly to all. So also will the coming of Jesus be. The light of his glory will shine "from one end of heaven to the other." Verse 31.

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31

"For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together." The carcase here spoken of by our Saviour will be seen in the great Babylon when it becomes the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. " To this the eagles will be gathered together. The seven last plagues will devour those who have rejected the truth of God and despised his last warning message of mercy, as ferocious eagles devour a carcase; but the faithful servants who have waited for the coming of the Lord are blessed, for they shall enter into the joy of their Lord.

30 Matt. 24: 27.

32 Rev. 18: 2.

31 Matt. 24: : 28.

:

33 Matt. 25 23.

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CHAPTER XI.

IMM

SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMING.

MMEDIATELY after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."

These signs are spoken of in other places in the word of God.

"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. 12

"The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel." 3 "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring."4 "The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind." 5

Of these signs Luther says: "A something strikingly awful shall forewarn that the world will come to an end, and that the last day is even at the door.'

6 Voice of the Church," p. 6.

Sun and Moon Darkened.

In the texts mentioned, our Saviour does not only say that sometime there should be an uncommon darkening of the sun but he also tells us when it should occur.

We read in Mark: "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.""

The prophetic days spoken of in connection with this are the days of papal persecution as shown in the previous comment on Matt. 24: 21, 22. The darkening of the sun of which our Saviour spoke, should come to pass before these days should end, that is, before the year 1798. Then the Saviour mentions one thing more which still more definitely points out the time. He says that the darkening of the sun should occur in those days, after that tribulation." History shows plainly that as the Reformation fully developed, and all the countries in modern Europe favored Protestantism, it caused the persecution in general to

cease.

In this time, after the persecution had ended, and before the prophetic days of papal darkness had ceased, there was indeed a wonderful darkening of the sun, on May 19, 1780. The Boston Gazette of May 22, 1780, says:

"The printers acknowledged their incapacity of describing the phenomenon which appeared in that town on Friday last. It grew darker and darker until nearly one o'clock, when it became so dark that the inhabitants were obliged to quit their business, and they had to dine by the light of the candle. . . . Such a phenomenon was never before seen here by the oldest person living."

Josiah Litch, in his "Prophetic Expositor," describes it as follows: "I refer to the dark day of A. D. 1780, May 19. That was a day of supernatural darkness. It was not an eclipse of the sun, for the moon was nearly at the full."

Mark 13:24.

A manuscript sermon by Rev. Elam Potter, M. A., on the dark day of May 19, delivered May 28, 1780, says:

"But especially I mention that wonderful darkness on the 19th of May inst. Then, as in our text, the sun was darkened; such a darkness as probably was never known before since the crucifixion of our Lord. People left their work in the house and in the field. Travelers stopped; schools broke up at eleven o'clock; people lit candles at noonday; and the fire shone as at night. Some people, I have been told, were in dismay, and thought whether the Day of Judgment was not drawing on. A great part of the following night, also, was singularly dark. The moon, though in full, gave no light, as in our text." 8

In the dictionary of Noah Webster, edition of 1869 (pronouncing vocabulary, Dark Day), we read as follows:

"The dark day, May 19, 1780, so called on account of a remarkable darkness on that day, extending over all New England. In some places persons could not see to read common print in the open air for several hours together. . . . The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known."

Milo Bostwick, writing from Camden, N. J., March 3, 1848, says:

"The 19th of May, in the year 1780, I well remember; I was then in my sixteenth year. The morning was clear and pleasant, but somewhere about eight o'clock my father came into the house and said there was an uncommon appearance in the sun. There were not any clouds, but the air was thick, having a smoky appearance, and the sun shone with a pale and yellowish hue, but kept growing darker and darker, until it was hid from sight. At noon we lit a candle, but it did not give light as in the night, and my father could not see to read with two candles. My father and mother, who were pious, thought the Day of Judgment was near. They sat up that night, during the latter part of which they said the darkness disappeared, and then the sky seemed as usual, but the moon, which was at its full, had the appearance of blood. The alarm that it caused, and the frequent talk about it, impressed it deeply on my mind." 8 Facts for the Times," p. 159.

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