Midnight Cry - Volume 01, Number 17

              THE MIDNIGHT CRY!
iVOLWME L NEW- YORK, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1842. NVMBER 17,
* Write the vision, and make ft plain upoa 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 net lie;
though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."
fiY J6SHBA T. HIKES.
THE MIDNIGHT CRY.
For the Midnight Cry.
Foreboded Infidelity of fixing tlie Time, not real*
MR. EDITOR, Although not myself of the
Dumber of those who fix the* year of the second
advent, there are several difficulties, in my
view, with the now rery common notion that Mr.
Miller's proclamation of its coming in 1843, will
produce a vast amount of the mischief of infi
delity in the passing by of that time, without
the coining of the event.
1. It is difficult to see how it can be known,
as a certainty, that Christ will not come in 1843,
since the foretold signs of his coming, are so far
fulfilled before our eyes, that for aught we can
know, they may be finished, every one of them,
in that very year, when, of course, that great
day must come, even if Mr. Miller's chronolo
gical proof be considered as wholly unfounded
And should the end then come, infidels them-selves
must, of course, all renour^ e their infi
delity forever, instead of Mr. Miller having made
4hem infidels, by preaching the Lord's coming
In that year.
2. It is difficult to see, even if 1843 should
not bring the advent, how Mr. Miller's preach
ing it at hand, and as nigh as 1843, should na
turally make men infidels. When Christ and the
ipiistles preached this kingdom at hand, it ai-jways
tended to make believers of infidels, ra
ther than infidels of believers. Arid thus far,
is it has proved, Mr. Miller's preaching Christ's
coming near, and so near as precisely in 1843,
Mis been the means, not of turning believers
away the faith, of Christ j but of turning
many unbelievers and some professed infidels to
thu faith, in those places where churches and
pastors have co- operated with him in his
preaching repentance arid Christ's, coming in
1813, for the promotion of revivals. And if 1
do not greatly mistake, our revivals quite ^ en-trally
of late, have been more or less promoted
by frjuinerts being made to tremble like Felix,
from hearing this same midnight cry, and being
afterwards converted at protracted meetings,
where, peihaps, they heard nothing at all of
- Christ's coming and kingdom at hand. Arid
will not revivals now continue to be thus more
and more promoted till the great day itself shall
come ? And if so, where is the infidelity of this
midnight cry?
But suppose, after all, that Mr. Miller should
be proved mistaken in his fixing the precise
L year of Christ's near coming ; why should this
Hake men infidels any more than other public
wen's religious mistakes should do it, after such
mistakes ar6 publicly proved ? But who are
present characters to become infidels, should
M&- Miller prove to be thus mistakm 1 Surely,
truly converted to Christ by his preach
ing this doctrine, are not the persons, nor others
who give heed to his preaching, in looking for
the advent at hand, while they remember his
Tttr0ng proofs of its near coming, asido from his
farfuoierit in fixing ihe time ; for to h con sis*
DAILY- NO. 38 PARK- ROW. PE1CI TWO CEMTS.
tent, they must continue to do, as he says he
must, and that is, look for it till it comes, if it
come riot by 1843. Thus he and they must do,
in such a case; because, if his chronological
proof should fail, his abundant proof from fore
told signs now fulfilled, can never fail to show
the advent specially " nigh at hand," till as the
lightning, it shall burst upon us.
And why should any, disbelieving in the
Lord's coming in 1843, turn infidels in seeing
their own unbelief verified in his not coming,
at that time ? And though many should profess
to be made infidels by Mr. Miller's preaching
this doctrine, as probably they will, should this
period pass without the Lord's coming, the
quesiion must arise, were they not every one of
them, real infidels in heart before, instead of
being thus made iniidefs by Mr. Miller's mis
calculation 1 And had they riot kept their in
fidelity hypocritically concealed, with actual
intent to make use of this pretext to justify the
otherwise unpopular avowal oi their infidel sen
timents ? And were they not tempted and
strengthened in so doing, by the many popular
predictions of Mr. Miller's opponents, that they
would naturally do so, in case of his mistake in
the one point of fixing the time at 1843, rather
than being thus tempted in their being awa
kened by him to fear the coming of the
great day, sooner than others hare taught t It
is known to those most acquainted with the
many mobs in our cities of late years, which
have arisen to suppress the propagation of cer
tain offensive truths, that they have uniformly
been instigated, not by the quiet preaching of
siaeli truths, but by the given s- gnal , of popular
opponents in uniting their public predictions
that such mobs would arise to put down such
offensive doctrines, should their abettors persist
in propagating them.
3. It is difficult to see how such professions
of infidelity can be very mischievous, should they
be numerous, in the passing of 1843 without its
bringing the advent. And might not such profes
sions be favorable rather than mischievous to the
cause of Christ? In all former ages, as it is un
derstood, the infidel opponents of the Church of
God, have been most successful in their mis.
chievous designs when most flattering and hyp
ocritical, and when thus pretending kindly and
honestly to unite their labors with the church
in supporting her institutions, as when Sanbal-lat
and Tobiah offered their ungodly assistance
to Zerubbabel in building the Lord's house ; to
whom he replied, " Ye have nothing to do with
us to build an house unto our God." We are
also taught of the Lord, that better, not worse
times shall come, when this union of the
church with infidelity shall be broken up, or
when we tc shall discern between the righteous
and the wicked, between him that serveth God,
and him that serveth him not." The church are
also now coimaaiided to come out from among
j them and be separate, and surely if her mem-j
hers will not do this, it will be for tlteir good to
! let her professed, but infidel friends, corne out
J from Iier, in the open profession of their true
character, even should they martyr her mem
bers by thousands ; for this would but verify the
long standing maxim, that " the blood of the
martyrs is the seed of the church."
HENRY JONES.
New York, Dec. 2,1842. i
LETTER FROM II. V. TEAL.
BROTHER FLEMING, Agreeably to your re-quest,
1 write to let you know what the Lord is
doing for the people in ihis place. I commenced
by lecturing on the coming of Christ next year.
By the time I got through with proof on the time,
sinners trembled, and cried for mercy. A num
ber are rejoicing in Christ already, and many
are under deep and powerful awakening.
Last night the power of God's truth and his
Spirit was manifested to a great degree. Many
were crying for mercy at once. The doctrine
has many opposers here, yet some are like the
noble Bercans ; they will search the Scriptures
for themselves. Every time I look at the ar
guments of the opposition, and compare them
with the word of God, the more I am confirmed
in the belief that Christ will come next year.
O what a dreadful day that will be for th0se
professors of religion, « ' who come not to the
help of the Lord against the mighty." Judfx^ s
5: 23. * Yours, & c.,
Hope, N. Y., Nov. 28, 1842.
For the Midnight Cry.
" The end of all things is at hand ; be ye therefore sober, and watch
onto prayer." 1 Pet iv. 7.
The end is at hand! sinner, how is thy soul ?
Examine the ground of thy hopes for that day.
The Angel is waiting thy name to enrol
In the great Book of Life Oh, make no delay!
The end is at hand ! it hasteth ! O fly !
Seek shelter in Jesus, the Rock cleft for thee;
There's none other name, be it ever so high,
Whereby there's salvation for you or for me.
The end is at hand ! too long, 0 too long,
Thou'st slighted thy Saviour, insulted thy God ;
And oft thou hast chanted the false syren song
' Tis all peace and safety in this pleasant road.
The end is at hand ! O Christian ! take care
That day do nx> t find thee asleep at thy post;
Be faithful, be vigilant, watch unto prayer
Up ! up! and be doing i let no time be lost!
Williamsburgh, L. 1. L. N. C.
A Homati Catholic Protracted Meeting:*
BURNING OF BIBLE8 BY HUNDREDS !
"/ The same HORN prevailed, until the Ancient of Days camo,"
A letter from a gentleman in Chazy, CLINTON COUNTY,
NEW YORK, dated 28th Nov., says:
'* We had a sort of auto- de- fe at the Carbo a vil
lage in the township of Champlain a short time since.
The Roman Catholics had a protracted meeting, and
during its progress they called in all the Protestant
Bibies, which had been dibtributed and purehaBed
among them ( except Borne few who would not give them
up) and made a public bonfire of them. It was said by
those who witnessed it, that the number thus burned was
between two and three hundred. Efforts were made to
purchase them, but to no effect. We liave had public
I meetings both here mid in Champlain, to give some ex-
' prescion of sentiment in regard to the wicked outrage."
Journal of Cc- mmcrcs,