Sketches of the Christian Life and Public Labors of William Miller

18. HIS APOLOGY AND DEFENSE - DEFINITENESS OF PROPHETIC TIME - ERRONEOUS VIEWS CONNECTED WITH THE DOCTRINE, ETC

“AFTER the Boston Conference, Mr. Miller accompanied Mr. Himes to Portland, Me., where he gave discourses in the afternoon and evening of Sunday, June 1, to crowded audiences. Many of those present, doubtless, were drawn to hear him by motives of curiosity, because of the disappointment in time. The necessity of patience and of watchfulness were subjects on which he discoursed. SLWM 359.1

“He returned to Boston, and from thence went to a camp-meeting at Champlain, N.Y., on the 10th of June. After this, he returned home, in the enjoyment of good general health, but somewhat afflicted by boils. SLWM 359.2

“As the author of a movement which had resulted in disappointment, and, in some respects, disaster, Mr. Miller deemed it proper that he should make a personal statement to the Christian public, show the motives that had actuated him, and disavow any sympathy with the extremes into which some had gone, contrary to his earnest remonstrances. His growing infirmities made him shrink from the labor of writing, and caused him to desire an amanuensis. For this purpose, the writer of this visited him in the month of July 1845, and Mr. Miller dictated his ‘Apology and Defense,’ a tract of thirty-six pages, which was published by Mr. Himes, in Boston. It was addressed ‘To all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity,’ and commenced with:- SLWM 359.3

“‘As all men are responsible to the community for the sentiments they may promulgate, the public have a right to expect from me a candid statement in reference to my disappointment in not realizing the advent of Christ in A.D. 1843-4, which I had confidently believed. I have, therefore, considered it not presumptuous in me to lay before the Christian public a retrospective view of the whole question, the motives that actuated me, and the reasons by which I was guided.’ SLWM 360.1

“He then proceeded to narrate his early history, and gave an account of his ‘deistical opinions,’ his ‘first religious impressions,’ his ‘connection with the army,’ his ‘removal to Low Hampton,’ his ‘determination to understand the Scriptures,’ his ‘manner of studying the Bible,’ the ‘results arrived at,’ and his subsequent labors; all of which have been noticed at greater length in the foregoing pages. He then summed up his labors as follows:- SLWM 360.2

“‘From the commencement of that publication, I was overwhelmed with invitations to labor in various places, with which I complied as far as my health and time would allow. I labored extensively in all the New England and Middle States, in Ohio, Michigan, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and in Canada East and West, giving about four thousand lectures in something like five hundred different towns. SLWM 360.3

“‘I should think that about two hundred ministers embraced my views, in all the different parts of the United States and Canada; and that there have been about five hundred public lecturers. In all the sections of country where I labored, - not only in the towns I visited, but in those in their vicinity, - there were more or less that embraced the doctrine of the advent. In some places only a very few, and in other places there have been a large number. SLWM 360.4

“‘In nearly a thousand places, Advent congregations have been raised up, numbering as nearly as I can estimate, some fifty thousand believers. On recalling to mind the several places of my labors, I can reckon up about six thousand instances of conversion from nature’s darkness to God’s marvelous light, the result of my personal labors alone; and I should judge the number to be much greater. Of this number I can recall to mind about seven hundred, who were, previously to their attending my lectures, infidels; and their number may have been twice as great. Happy results have also followed from the labors of my brethren, many of whom I would like to mention here, if my limits would permit. SLWM 361.1

“‘In all my labors I never had the desire or thought to establish any separate interest from that of existing denominations, or to benefit one at the expense of another. I thought to benefit all. Supposing that all Christians would rejoice in the prospect of Christ’s coming, and that those who could not see as I did would not love any the less those who should embrace this doctrine, I did not conceive there would ever be any necessity for separate meetings. My whole object was a desire to convert souls to God, to notify the world of a coming judgment, and to induce my fellow-men to make that preparation of heart which will enable them to meet their God in peace. The great majority of those who were converted under my labors united with the various existing churches. When individuals came to me to inquire respecting their duty, I always told them to go where they would feel at home; and I never favored any one denomination in my advice to such. SLWM 361.2

“‘But my brethren began to complain that they were not fed by their ministers, and wanted expository preaching. I told them it was their duty to interest their ministers in the prophecies; but, if they could not receive the teachings under which they say, they must act in accordance with their own sense of duty. They then began to complain that they had not liberty in the churches to present their views freely, or to exhort their brethren to prepare for the Judgment. Those in the neighborhood of advent preaching felt that, when they could listen to these glorious truths, it was their privilege so to do. For this, many of them were treated coldly. Some came out of their churches, and some were expelled. Where the blame lay it is not necessary here to inquire; there was, doubtless, wrong on both sides. The result was, that a feeling of opposition arose, on the part of many of the ministers and churches that did not embrace these views, against those who were looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.’ SLWM 362.1

“He then spoke of various points as follows:- SLWM 362.2