The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-03-21
The Setting Of the
Very Hour.
Many Prophets Whose
Prophesies Failed.
The Great Millerite Excitement il
1843 and Similar Events in the
History of the World.

The Seventh Day AdVentStS, who
last year gained nOtoriety through
presenting to their church various ar
ticles of value, the whole aggregating
about $4,000, last week made an
other New Years offering at Battle
Greek, Mich, in the presence of sew
eral thousand persons. A close esti-
mate of the value of the articles pre-
sented has not yet been made, but it
it believed to be not far from $4,000.
One of the elders, before the gift
giving began, preached a short ser
mon, in which he expressed his belief
that the end of the world was near
at hand, and the violent occurrences
Of the time indicated it.
Among the articles heaped on the
platform when the gifts were called
for were watches and chains, diamond
rings, bracelets, silverware, clocks,
earrings, and, in fact, nearly every
thing in the jewelry line that could be
converted into cash. Nearly forty BIZ
cycles were also given. The whole
collection is to be sold and the pro-
ceeds will be devoted to extending the
theories of the order.
The disappointment of those who
had so confidently predicted and be-
lieved that the end of the world was
fixed for the first day of January,
| 1895, is not the first experience of the
kind that has fallen to the lot of those
who have attempted to set a limit to
time and cut short it's flight. From
the days of Noah there have been
those who believed that the world was
to be destroyed, but it was not until
after the time of Christ that this be-
lief in the eventual destruction of the
world assumed definite shape. His
Immediate disciples firmly believed
that the utter destruction of the world
would take place in their time. and
through all the earlier years of the
church the second coming of Christ
He did not so appear many lost theil
faith in Him and returned to theil
ancient gods. This was especially the
case in apostolic times with the
church at Thessalonica, and the Apos
tie Paul took occasion in one of hi.
lepiStles to warn the church that the
day of the second coming was no
known and was of very uncertain
date.
| MANY DISAPPOINTMENT
The history of the, church show.
that every now and then a wave O.
belief that the end of the world wal
near at hand has swept over thu
church only to be followed by a periot
of dependency because of the dis
appointment experienced. During tn,
fist century and a half this secont
coming was looked for almost from day
to day. Then preachers and pretend
ed prophets would set a fixed time
Some of them would assign no partic
ular reason for fixing the date select
ed, while others would pretend tt
have received special revelation. No
long after the establishment of thu
paramount authority of Rome in al
church matters, such teachings wer,
declared to be heretical, and extrem,
measures were resorted to in dealin.
with such sensational teachings. Lik
all other heresies, however, it flour
ished on opposition and it's teaching
began to see in the Roman hierarchy
one of the beasts seen by st. John OF
the Isle of Patmos.
Finally there arose those who under
took to interpret prophecy and to tel
what was meant by the visions O
Daniel and the other Jewish proph
cts, and to figure from their mysteri
GUS expressions the exact time whel
the world would be destroyed. Up t,
the coming of these latter day proph
ecy interpreters it had not been con
tsidered by either Jewish or Christian
students that the prophecies spokel
of had any reference to the end of tn,
world, but they had always been con
sidered as referring to the politica
or temporal affairs of the Jews, al
connected with those of surroundin,
nations.
The reformation of Luther and Cal
vim sprang a host of these Bible in
terpreters on the world, and in thei
Interpretations the church of ROM
was the antichrist against whom tn,
visions of John were specially aimed
and it's total overthrow and destruc
tion was soon to come, to be followed
by the glorious days of the millen
MUM. All such prophets have hat
their followers, and disappointment
has followed disappointment will
Isteady succession, yet each new proph
ct of evil would find ready believer
in his theory. Every great phenom
lemon in nature has been succeeded b.
a revival of the cry that the time O.
the total destruction of the earth wal
near at hand. The Ozark Day" O
l17S0, the shower of meteors in 1S3:
and the sudden appearance of tn,
blazing comet in 1S43 were looked
upcn as sure precursors of the speed,
overthrow of all sublunary things.
THE MILLERITE EXCITEMENT
The greatest and most widely ex
tended excitement of this kind wa
that which followed the preaching O
William Miller. Miller was himself
an enthusiast and fully. convinced O
the truth of the doctrine he taught
He did not set up any claim as
prophet, but based all his teaching
upon the interpretations he PLACED
upon the prophetic visions of Daniel
especially those found in the eleventh
chapter. He was man of limited
education, but of more than ordinary
liability, and had been a pronounced
J. Deist up to the thirty-fourth year o
his age, when he changed his views
and became an ardent member of tn,
Adventist church. He began a clos,
study of the Scriptures, especially o
the mysterious prophecies. He as
sumed to have discovered what wa.
meant by the seven times" and tn,
seventy weeks" fixed by the prophe
as the period when certain things
should happen. BY this chronological
research he fixed on a date for be
ginning the calculation of the term Of
seventy weeks, and figuring from thu
dates thus chosen he reached a con
clusiOn that the destruction of the
world would occur some time during
; the year 1913. He did not fix the eX
act date, but some of his more Ell
fb11cia ctio folIou,orc d;d IL I,opo