prothers Jones, Litch, Ward, Cole, Himes, Plumer, Millard, Burnham, French, Parker, Medbury, Ayres, Smith, and others. Yes, and then to see those private brethren, too-brothers Shaw, Nichols, and Wood-but I cannot name them all. Those colored brethren, too, at Belknap street, with christian hearts; Heaven, I hope, has stamped them as its favorites. Oh! I had vainly hoped to see you all, to breathe and feel that sacred flame of love, of heavenly fire; to hear and speak of that dear and blessed Savior's near approach.

Away, ye cold, ye calculating formalists, ye proud and haughty worldly professors. I had rather have. one hour with those whom I have named above, and hundreds more that could with the same propriety be named, than to enjoy an age of all that you call great or good. But here I am, a weak, a feeble, toil-worn old man, upon a bed of sickness, with feeble nerves, and worst of all, I fear, in part unreconciled to God. But bless the Lord, my soul; I have yet great blessings, more than I can number. I was not taken sick far away from home; I am in the bosom of my family; I have my reason; I can think, believe, and love. I have a Bible. O, blessed book! If I cannot read, I have a daughter who loves that book, and she can read for me. How pleasant it is to hear these infant voices read that holy book. How soft the couch of sickness may be made by dutiful children, and the book of God. I have a hope, yes, yes, "6 a blessed hope," founded on that word that never fails; my hope is on Him, who soon will come, and will not tarry. I love the thought; it makes my bed in sickness; I hope it will in death. I wait for him; my soul, wait thou on God. I have the Spirit; O blessed Holy Spirit! He whispers in my heart, “Fear not, I am with thee; be not dismayed, I will sustain thee." I have a promise from the great I AM: "Though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."

I have many friends, and I am persuaded they wil

last forever; for they are not built on worldly prospects, on earthly honors, nor selfish creeds. If they could gain any of these by me, I might suspect them. But no; if they love me, it is for the work's sake; it is for my Master's sake; and if they truly love my Master, he will love them; and this love of his is eternal, and being reciprocal, makes us one forever. I am confident that I have daily prayers from many hearts. I feel it truly. You worldly wise may smile at this idea, and call it fanaticism. But look ye, can you not believe that many do believe the message that I bring? O yes, no doubt some fools, say you. Well, call us what you please; but do not those who do believe call it good news? Perhaps they may; Well, if they in their minds should call it good, would they not be apt to call it very good, yes, even glorious, great, very great? We will admit all that. Very well; I now inquire, If a messenger should bring you news that you had drawn a prize of fifty thousand dollars, and being poor, yes, very poor, had spent his time and health to give you notice, would you not wish him well? I would not be ungrateful, say you. Neither will these. For what is fifty thousand dollars' worth of gold, compared with this good news, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him?" Away with paltry gold; it bears no just comparison. Will, then, these thousands of hearts be now ungrateful, whom I have seen rejoice, with joy so great, that all the air was love where we were sitting? And I have no need to say, where I have carried the news, that thousands have been made to hope in God, that never hoped before. Are these ungrateful? No, never.

I see, my brother, I have been preaching, instead of writing to you. I must close. Yours,

WILLIAM MILLER.

Low Hampton, Oct. 15, 1840.

APPENDIX.

No. I.

EXTRACT FROM FERGUSON'S ASTRONOMY.

THE vulgar era of Christ's birth was never settled till the year 527, when Dionysius Exigus, a Roman abbot, fixed it to the end of the 4713th year of the Julian period, which was four years too late. For our Savior was born before the death of Herod, who sought to kill him as soon as he heard of his birth; and, according to the testimony of Josephus, (B. xvii. ch. 8,) there was an eclipse of the moon in the time of Herod's last illness; which eclipse appears, by our astronomical tables, to have been in the year of the Julian period 4710, March 13th, at three hours past midnight, at Jerusalem. Now, as our Savior must have been born some months before Herod's death, since in the interval he was carried intc Egypt, the latest time in which we can fix the true era of his birth, is about the end of the 4709th year of the Julian period. There is a remarkable prophecy delivered to us in the ninth chapter of the book of Daniel, which, from a certain epoch, fixes the time of restoring the state of the Jews, and of building the walls of Jerusalem, the coming of Messiah, his death, and the destruction of Jerusalem. But some parts of this prophecy (ver. 25) are so injudiciously pointed in our English translation of the Bible, that, if they be read according to those stops of pointing, they are quite unintelligible. But the learned Dr.

Prideaux, by altering these stops, makes the sense plain; and, as he seems to me to have explained the whole of it better than any other author I have read on the subject, I shall set down the whole of the prophecy according as he has pointed it, to show in what manner he has divided it into four different parts.

Ver. 24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Ver. 25. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the prince, shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. Ver. 26. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself; and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Ver. 27. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

This commandment was given to Ezra by Artaxerxes Longimanus, in the seventh year of that king's reign, (Ezra vii. ver. 11-26.) Ezra began the work, which was afterward accomplished by Nehemiah, in which they meet with great opposition and trouble from the Samaritans and others, during the first seven weeks, or 49 years.

From this accomplishment till the time when Christ's messenger, John the Baptist, began to

*It is said this should be rendered last half, instead of midst.

preach the kingdom of the Messiah, 62 weeks, or 434 years.

From thence to the beginning of Christ's public ministry, half a week, or three and a half

years. And from thence to the death of Christ, half a week, or three and a half years; in which half week he preached and confirmed the covenant of the Gos pel with many.

In all, from the going forth of the commandment, till the death of Christ, 70 weeks, or 490 years.

And, lastly, in a very striking manner, the prophe. cy foretells what should come to pass after the expiration of the 70 weeks; namely, the destruction of the city and sanctuary by the people of the prince that was to come; which were the Roman armies, under the command of Titus their prince, who came upon Jerusalem as a torrent, with their idolatrous images, which were an abomination to the Jews, and under which they marched against them, invaded their land, and besieged their holy city, and by a calamitous war brought such utter destruction upon both, that the Jews have never been able to recover themselves, even to this day.

Now, both by the undoubted canon. of Ptolemy, and the famous era of Nabonassar, the beginning of the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, king of Persia, (who is called Ahasuerus in the book of Esther,) is pinned down to the 4256th year of the Julian period, in which year he gave Ezra the above-mentioned ample commission; from which count 490 years to the death of Christ, and it will carry the same to the 4746th year of the Julian period.

Our Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath; and it is plain, from St. Mark, ch. xv. ver. 42, and St. Luke, ch. xxiii. ver. 54, that Christ was crucified on Friday, seeing the crucifixion was on the day next before the Jewish Sabbath; and according to St. John, ch. xviii. ver. 28, on the day that the passover was to be eaten, at least by many of the Jews.

The Jews reckoned their months by the moon, and