THE MILLERITE DELUSION: A WORLD EXPECTANT OF THE FINAL HOUR

From the teeming wharves of New York to the sober counting-houses of London, and across the Channel to the continental capitals, a peculiar agitation hath seized upon a multitude of souls. The followers of one William Miller, an American Baptist preacher of no small persuasion, have fixed upon the twenty-second day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-four as the appointed hour of the Second Advent. This intelligence, carried by packet-ship and diligence, hath stirred both the pious and the profane; and in every coach and coffee-room, the talk is of little else but the approaching judgment.

Your correspondent hath observed, in the public squares of several capitals, groups of these Millerites distributing tracts and exhorting the passer-by to make ready his soul. Many have abandoned their trades, settled their affairs, and betaken themselves to hilltops and meeting-houses, there to await the trumpet's blast. The roads leading to certain of these gatherings are become perilous with overcrowded conveyances and ill-provisioned parties, and the innkeepers along the mountain passes report a strange traffic of pilgrims who pay in coin and speak of naught but the end of days.

Yet it is not the spiritual fervour alone that concerns this journal, but the practical hazards of travel in such times. The winter passes, already treacherous with ice and banditti, are now thronged with those who would flee the cities before the appointed hour. We counsel all travellers to secure their seats well in advance, to carry warm cloaks and provisions, and to heed the warnings of coachmen who know the mountain roads. For whether the heavens open or no, the earthly journey remaineth fraught with danger.

Let it be recorded that the Transylvania Gazette, in the spirit of sober inquiry, shall dispatch a correspondent to observe the proceedings in the principal cities, and to report upon the morrow of the twenty-second, when the world shall either be transformed or continue in its accustomed course. We advise our readers to maintain their composure, to attend to their duties, and to remember that the truest preparation for any hour is a clear conscience and a well-provisioned coach.