Sketches of the Christian life and public labors of William Miller : $b Gathered from his memoir by the late Sylvester Bliss, and from other sourcesWhite, James
Philosophy
Sketches of the Christian life and public labors of William Miller : $b Gathered from his memoir by the late Sylvester Bliss, and from other sources
White, James
Miller, William, 1782-1849
“While at this place he was taken with a severe pain in one of his
toes. He was soon relieved of that, when the pain commenced in his left
shoulder. He then desired to return home, but was persuaded to continue
his journey. On the 22d, he gave two discourses in South Troy, Vt.
The meeting was held in a large hall which had formerly been used for
a ball-room. While he was preaching in the evening, the windows were
pelted with eggs, clubs, and stones, thrown by some ‘rude fellows of the
baser sort,’ who were outside of the building. Some of their missiles
entered the room. One stone, about the size of a hen’s egg, struck the
desk in front of Mr. Miller, where he was speaking. He paused, and, with
emphasis, asked, very composedly:—
“‘Is this Vermont, the State which boasts of its freedom, of its
republicanism? Shame on Vermont!’
“The audience were somewhat agitated; but he requested them to be quiet,
and proceeded with his discourse. No one was injured, and good evidently
resulted from the interruption; for it aroused the old gentleman’s
energy, and gave additional interest to the remainder of the sermon.
“On Thursday, the 24th of September, they commenced a Conference at Derby
Line, Vt., which continued four days. The pain in Mr. M.’s shoulder had
increased considerably, and resulted in a tumor of considerable size,
which was much inflamed. Yet he preached six times, with a good degree of
vigor.
“On Monday, the 28th, a widowed sister of Mr. M., living in Canada,
having met him at Derby Line, he left with her for her residence in
Hatley. He was there confined about three weeks with the tumor on his
shoulder, which was very painful, affecting his neck and head, and
discharged freely for many days. In consequence of this indisposition,
he was unable to fulfill several appointments, which he had made in that
region, much to the disappointment of the inhabitants.
“As soon as they were able to ride, they started for Low Hampton; but
the weather and roads made the traveling very tedious. On his way home
he spent a Sabbath, and preached a discourse of two hours’ duration, at
Rickford, Vt., which left him so weak that it was with difficulty he
could walk. On arriving at Fairfield, Vt., they spent a night, and Mr. M.
preached in the evening. They arrived at Low Hampton after an absence of
about nine weeks, during which he had been treated with great kindness
and respect wherever he visited,—with the exception of the incident at
Troy.
“‘My tour into Canada,’ he wrote, soon after his return, ‘would
have been pleasant and agreeable to me, had it not been for
sickness, which confined me to the house.’
“On the 27th of November following, he wrote to Elder Buckley, who
accompanied him on the above journey:—
“‘I cannot tell you what I have done since you were here, but I
can tell you what I have not done.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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