its special nearness should be deeper than had we lived in their day. Surely, their phraseology is right still, and will continue to harmonize with the doctrine of Christ, John, and others of the holy writers, that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand," until, as the lightning from heaven, this very kingdom shall come.

So far as I can yet learn, this flattering and secular doctrine, if it may be so called, is so altogether modern, that there is no denomination of Christians nor individual church which has published it to the world as an article of their creed. Should any individual of the congregation know of one instance to the contrary, they are requested to report accordingly to this Conference before its close. And yet, it is supposed to be a fact, from the most diligent researches, that in case of the several evangelical denominations who have adopted a uniform creed for their whole sect, as in case of the above, they have also condemned or excluded the doctrine of a mere spiritual coming and reigning of Christ himself, before his actually coming, "with power and great glory," "to judge the world at the last day." And after all these long standing and yet abiding public professions of disbelief in a millenium of Christ's invisible reign in this present evil world, the darkness on this subject is now so great, by reason of the false prophet and otherwise, that there are supposed to be multitudes of the watchmen of the denominations making these very professions, who, after all, are so sanguine in the opposite faith, that is, of a millenium in this world, before Christ's real return with his kingdom, that they seemingly dare not admit to their pulpits this blessed doctrine of their own creeds, that Christ's second or next coming is at hand, with a kingdom and millenium to be glorious and everlasting, and the sure portion of all them "that love his appearing.

J. Litch followed with an able discourse on the Chronology of Prophecy.

The exercises of the evening concluded with reading the Circular Address, by Henry Jones, which will be found in the conclusion of the proceedings.

Thursday, Oct. 15, A. M.

Conference opened with religious exercises.

A Committee of Foreign Correspondence was chosen, consisting of J. V. HIMES, WM. MILLER, H. D. WARD, J. LITCH, HENRY JONES.

And a Committee of Publication, consisting of H. D. WARD, J. V. HIMES, WM. CLARK.

After which, Henry Jones delivered a studied discourse on the restoration of Israel; showing it to be the restoration of God's believing Israel to the "New Jerusalem."

Thursday, Oct. 15, P. M.

Opened with prayers and mutual exhortation. The Conference heard from different members very interesting reports of the introduction and progress of the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven at hand in the various places of their abode. Among them were Russell of Springfield, Litch of Eastham, Millard of Fairhaven, Lincoln of Portland, Me., and Reed of Strafford, Vt. After which, the communion of the Lord's Supper was administered by Messrs. Russell and Litch to some two hundred or more communicants of different evangelical denominations, many of whom were from remote distances. During, and after, this service, interesting remarks were continued by a number of the friends of the cause. And such a time of remembering the Lord's death till he come, among his scattered and divided people, has hardly taken place since the "falling away first" took place.

Thursday Evening, Oct. 15.

J. V. Himes presented the discourses which WM. MILLER had prepared for this Conference, and now had forwarded; one on the Chronology of Prophecy, the other on the Judgment. The latter was read by Bro. H., and listened to with deep interest and profound attention.

RECOMMENDATION OF THE "SIGNS OF THE TIMES."

Resolved, That we heartily approve of the establishment of the paper in Boston, Mass., called "THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES," edited by Joshua V. Himes, for the dissemination of light on the subject of the near approach of the glorious kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and we believe it calculated to do immense good to the souls of men, by leading them to a more diligent study of the Holy Scriptures, and awakening in them a more earnest desire and effort to be prepared for the great and glorious event.

Resolved, That we earnestly recommend that all our friends, believers in the kingdom near, exert themselves to increase its circulation, by obtaining subscribers among their acquaintances, and thus assist in extending the knowledge of the coming of the Lord, and leading men to a preparation to meet him.

"THE LITERALIST," a republication of sound treatises by eminent divines of England, on the doctrine of the Second Advent, now issuing from the press of Orrin Rogers, Philadelphia, Pa., we regard as a valuable auxiliary to the study of the prophets; and we cordially recommend it to the patronage of the christian public.

ANOTHER CONFERENCE.

Resolved, That our Committee of Correspondence be authorized to call another General Conference, as soon, and at such place, as they may deem expedient.

J. V. Himes proposed raising FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS to publish the Acts of the Conference, which, being advocated in an animated address from him, and also from J. Litch, was sustained by the addresses of several others, and by the spirit and contributions of the Conference.

The Conference now sung the following hymn :

"When thou, my righteous Judge, shalt come

To call thy ransomed people home,

Shall I among them stand?
Shall such a worthless worm as I,
Who sometimes am afraid to die,
Be found at thy right hand?

I love to meet among them now,
Before thy gracious throne to bow,
Though weakest of them all;
But can I bear the piercing thought,
To have my worthless name left out,
When thou for them shalt call?

Prevent, prevent it, by thy grace!
Be thou, dear Lord, my hiding place,
In that expected day;

Thy pard'ning voice O let me hear,
To still each unbelieving fear,
Nor let me fall, I pray.

Let me among thy saints be found,
Whene'er th' Archangel's trump shall sound,

To see thy smiling face;

Then loud, through all the crowd, I'll sing,
While heaven's resounding mansions ring
With shouts of boundless grace."

And closed with the Benediction.

CIRCULAR,

THE ADDRESS OF THE CONFERENCE ON THE SECOND ADVENT OF

THE LORD, CONVENED AT BOSTON, MASS., OCTOBER 14, 1840.

THE first General Conference on the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto "all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours."

BELOVED BRETHREN:-The Lord Jesus, in his last discourses with the disciples, abundantly testified, that he will come again, in "a little while," for their salvation; and for the execution of righteous judgment upon the quick and dead, in the glory of his heavenly dominion. He began his public ministry on the earth by proclaiming this holy gospel of his kingdom, that men should repent and turn to God, because "the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For this he taught his disciples daily to pray, saying, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." And as a memorial of his death, a symbol of his resurrection, and a pledge of his shortly returning in that promised kingdom, he instituted the Sacrament of his Supper, and enjoined its observance, till he comes. And he foretold signs of his return, which coming to pass before our eyes, we feel constrained, with holy fear and humble joy, to remember his gracious words: "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh."

It is written for our admonition, on whom the end of the world is come, that "when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be accomplished."* We see that power scattered beyond all precedent, in the strife of parties in Christendom; and in the efforts made to rally the world around the banner of various denominations in Zion, for the hope of a thousand years' triumph before the Lord's appearing, rather than to awaken all nations with the gospel trumpet, to expect the coming King, and to gather themselves around the banner of Jesus and the resurrection, "for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand."

The primitive church was a victorious host: it went forth from Jerusalem conquering and to conquer. The nations were subdued before it: enemies were converted by the patience and hope of their christian victims; which patience waited for the coming of the Lord, and which hope took hold on heaven, not on a temporal millenium. All the ages,

Dan. xii. 7.

from the day of Pentecost's illumination to the extinction of the imperial power in Rome, confessed the faith, once for all, delivered to the saints, that Christ's kingdom is at hand, not of this world, but of "the celestial world" to come. When the apostasy had corrupted the body of the church, and the glory had departed from Israel, the calamity of the holy people was manifest in their indifference toward the deferred hope of the Lord's coming, and in their lively worship of departed spirits, relics of saints, and graven images.

The darkness which overcast the horizon of Christendom after this has procured, for a long period, the name of "the dark ages." The eye of faith was feebly directed to the Lord's near coming, and the church was given "over to believe the lie" that the blessed God had given the dominion of this world to the administration of one bishop. And in that same day in which the intrepid reformers encountered the Latin hierarchy, and threw off the papal yoke, they revived the fainting hope of the Lord's appearing for the overthrow of anti-christ, and the dispensation of the final judgment.

Whether the reformers were right or not, in this view of the Lord's doctrine, they girded their loins, they fought the battle, and they won the victory of the reformation; and, right or not, in this view of the Lord's doctrine, they accorded exactly with the faith of the ancient church; and in this view they laid the foundations of the creeds and standards, and confessions of faith, of every Protestant denomination; so that on them no man can build the hope of a kingdom for Christ, or his people, in this world; and as they were right in this view of the Lord's doctrine, and the ancient church was right in the same view, the great majority of their nominal followers are wrong; for now the church of the reformation, also, has forsaken her first love, and holds the doctrine of the kingdom in this world,—a doctrine never admitted at all in the ancient church, nor in the churches of the reformation until within the last century.

Our object in assembling at this time, our object in addressing you, and our object in other efforts, separate and combined, on the subject of "the kingdom of heaven at hand," is to revive and restore this ancient faith, to renew the ancient landmarks, to "stand in the ways, and see and ask for the old paths, where is the good way" in which our fathers walked and the martyrs "found rest for their souls." We have no purpose to distract the churches with any new inventions, or to get to ourselves a name by starting another sect among the followers of the Lamb. We neither condemn, nor rudely assail, others of a faith different from our