The Spirit Land

by Samuel B. Emmons

And, shooting through the darkness, gild the night

With sweeping glories and long trails of light."

In 553, under the reign of Justinian, were seen showers of falling stars in extraordinary numbers. In 763, under that of Constantine Capronymus, the same spectacle was witnessed. In 1099, in the month of November, it is said, in Vogel's Leipzig Chronicles, that there was seen an unheard-of number of falling stars, burning torches, and fiery darts in the sky. In 1464, on the 7th of November, the great meteoric stone fell at Ensisheim, in Alsace. On the 8th of August, 1723, numerous falling stars appeared in many parts of the heavens, like fireflies.

But we are told of the sun and moon appearing like blood, and that this sign of our Lord's second coming was never witnessed, since the resurrection, till the year 1780. Yet this is likewise a mistake; for in the Basle Chronicle of Urtisus, under the year 1566, mention is made of the fact, that on the 28th and 29th of July, the sun and moon became blood red; and on the 7th of August, this striking phenomenon was again repeated. And, according to the Frankfort Chronicle of Lersner, under the year 1575, on the 29th of July, a remarkable redness of the sun occurred.

It has been said that the darkness of the sun, that occurred in 1780, was a sign given to portend the speedy destruction of the world. Why was it not then witnessed simultaneously in all parts of the earth? It was confined principally to New England and witnessed only by the generation preceding the present. To be sure, thousands were appalled by the event, and a feeling that the judgment day had actually come rested upon many minds. But yet they were in a mistake. This darkness commenced on the 19th of May, between the hours of 10 and 11 A.M., and continued until the middle of the next night. Persons were unable to read common print, determine the time of day by their clocks or watches, dine, or manage their business, without additional light. Candles were lighted in their houses. The birds sang their evening songs, disappeared, and became silent. The fowls retired to roost. The cocks were crowing all around, as at break of day. Objects could be distinguished but at a very little distance, and every thing bore the appearance and gloom of night. The legislature of Connecticut was in session at this time, in Hartford city. A very general opinion prevailed that the judgment day was at hand. The House of Representatives, being unable to transact business, adjourned. A proposal to adjourn the council was under consideration. When the opinion of Colonel Davenport was asked, he answered, "I am against an adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish, therefore, that candles may be brought."

A similar darkness has sometimes gathered over the city of London, in consequence of a vast accumulation of smoke, so as to make it necessary for passengers in the streets to use lighted torches at midday. In 1783, a great part of Europe was for weeks overspread with a haziness of atmosphere which caused great consternation. The churches were crowded with supplicants. The astronomer Lalande attempted to allay the fright by endeavoring to account for the appearance, which he ascribed to an uncommon exhalation of watery particles from the great rain of the preceding year. But at last it was ascertained to be owing to smoke, occasioned by the great eruption of the volcano Hecla, which covered more than three thousand square miles with burning lava, in some places to the depth of forty feet. Dr. Franklin was in Europe at the time, and afterwards gave an account of the circumstances relating to this uncommon eruption. In fact, immense issues of smoke, from fires and volcanoes, have, from time immemorial, produced similar effects in different countries.

We will subjoin a few remarkable appearances that have taken place in the heavens, that the reader may at once perceive that in scarcely any age of the world have its inhabitants been destitute of some sign, that might, to the timid and uninformed, be considered as the prognostication of some awful catastrophe about to happen.

In 1574, on the 15th of November, large and terrific beams of fiery light were seen during the night. And similar appearances are noted in Vogel's Chronicles, as having occurred in November, 1637, and 1661. In the old Breslau Collections, there is mention made of a large moonlike meteor, which passed off with an explosion, on the 10th of November, 1721; and of a great fire-flash, or flame-emitting comet, on the 12th day. According to Vogel's Chronicles, there appeared on the 30th November, 1663, a large cross, and other signs in the skies. On the 11th of August, 1561, there was seen, in the forenoon, a very remarkable red meteor, emitting frequent flashes of light. In 1717, numerous meteors were seen at Fryeburg; and at Utchland, in August, 1715. On the 10th of August, 1717, a large fire-ball was seen in Lusace, Silesia, Poland, and Hungary. In the Frankfort Chronicle of July 29, 1694, it is mentioned that the heavens were full of fiery flames! as also again on the 9th of August. On February 22, 1719, a large fire-ball was seen in several places. On the 22d, 1720, an immense red cross was seen at Novogorod and Kiew; and on the 19th, 1722, a huge fire-ball!

What would the Millerites think, if they should now see "an immense red cross in the heavens," "a remarkable red meteor, emitting flashes of light during the night," or "a blood-red appearance of the sun and moon," and "showers of falling stars in extraordinary numbers"? These things are as likely to happen at the present day as they were a hundred years ago, and still the world remains as it has remained.

Just before the last return of Halley's comet, an article was published in a religious paper in this state, going to show that the world would probably be struck and set on fire by a comet, and that, most likely, Halley's would be the one to do it, as it was coming much nearer the earth than it had ever been before. The editor seemed to be ignorant that the quantity of matter that enters into the constitution of a comet is exceedingly small, and that the comet of 1770, which was quite large and bright, passed through the midst of Jupiter's satellites without deranging their motions in the least perceptible degree. Comets, it is believed, consist of exceedingly rare vapor; indeed, so much so, that some philosophers say that our thinnest clouds are dense in comparison. And yet this exceedingly thin vapor was to dash the world to atoms, or set it on fire, it was not fully determined which.