CHAPTER XIX.
HIS FAITH IN HIS PAST WORK—VISIT TO NEW YORK CITY—PHILADELPHIA, ETC.—ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC—VISIT TO CANADA, ETC.
“In the month of September, Mr. Miller attended Conferences in Addison and Bristol, Vt., and lectured in each place. He then took a journey into Connecticut, and visited Hartford, attended a camp-meeting in Newington, near Hartford, and one at Square Pond, in Tolland County. He then visited Middletown. He was much pleased with his journey, and returned home refreshed.
“After this, in connection with Elder A. Hale, he lectured, in November in the State of Vermont, at Waterbury, Morristown, Stowe, Waitesfield and Burlington. Besides at these places, he seems to have labored but little during the remainder of the year. He occasionally communicated articles for the Advent Herald, giving expositions of Scripture, &c.; but the approaching infirmities of age admonished him that his labors were nearly ended.
“‘Low Hampton, January 13, 1846.
“‘Dear Brother Himes:—I am yet in this land of toil, where sin has spoiled all the blessings and enjoyments of earth, which were appointed by our beneficent Creator for the best good of his creatures, and which, had it not been for sin, would have led us to reverence and adore that Being who had produced, by his power, this earth and all its appurtenances, and placed in it man—rational, intelligent, social man—to enjoy this vast and wondrous piece of mechanism.
“‘Perhaps we are unable rightly to appreciate the blessings which were placed within the reach of man at his creation, when “the sons of God shouted for joy.” Yet I think that we do realize some of the evils to which man is heir by reason of “sin, and death by sin,” which have entered the world. How manifest it is, at the present day, that all the influences of the pit are inciting men to crime, bringing in their trail consequences ten-fold more dreadful than those entailed upon us by the sin of our first parents! If there were one spark of philanthropy existing in the world, methinks it must bleed at beholding the rapid increase of evil within the last few years.
“‘I confess that to me it would be but a dismal and appalling prospect in the future, did not a ray of light beam forth from the word of God, that there should be a glorious and final renovation of all things! This “exceeding great and precious promise,” to the man of God, is the only hope that cheers him in his weary pilgrimage. Every means that the wisdom of man could devise for the melioration of the condition of man has failed; ministers of the gospel have been sent into every land; Bibles have been scattered broadcast in the earth, translated into almost every tongue, and placed in the hands of the poor, “without money and without price;” schools of every grade, from the college to the common, have sprung up, in which have been developed the highest mental qualities of man; societies have been multiplied for the moral improvement of our race,—to Christianize the heathen, to reform the inebriate, to break the bonds of the enslaved, to liberate the debtor, to stop the horrid practice of legal murder, to promote peace among nations, to protect the orphan, to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to nurse the sick, and even to bury the dead. These, and many other noble and benevolent enterprises, have been formed within the present century. But how much good have they accomplished? That great good has been done, cannot be denied. But it is likewise true that evil has predominated in a far greater ratio than at any former period.
“‘When I look back to the period when we began to publish the news of a coming Saviour, I think it the happiest time of my life. How were our hearts refreshed by the readiness of the dear brethren in Christ to hear, believe, and obey, the simple gospel of the kingdom! With what delight have I, in company with many of the dear, anxious children of God, read and re-read the Scriptures, searched diligently and compared the prophets, Jesus Christ, and his apostles, to see if these things were so! What glorious light I have often seen in that holy book while thus engaged! And with what joy have I taken sweet communion with kindred hearts in the house of God, where our faith was more and more established by the word of his grace; where our prayers were mingled at the same altar, and arose together, as incense, to the mercy-seat of our Redeemer, for a preparation to meet the coming glories, which we then expected shortly to realize; where our hearts burned with love and gratitude to God for the good news of the near approach of the King of kings; where our songs of praise and hallelujahs to the Lamb cheered our drooping spirits, and prepared us more vigorously to pursue our weary pilgrimage to the land of promise, which, from evidence to us conclusive, and which I am not ashamed of, we soon expect to reach!
“‘Then, heart beat in unison with heart, soul mingled with soul, and love, holy, heavenly, divine, united us in that oneness of gospel truth, and prejudice and party were dissipated from our thoughts like midnight darkness, or the morning mists by the rising sun. This was a time of love, a time of faith, working by love and purifying the heart. It was this hope, “the blessed hope,” that made us purify ourselves from our sectarian prejudices and bigotry.