in their study of the question. At length there appeared in the Day Star of Canandaigua, N. Y., a lengthy article by Mr. Crosier, in which it was set forth that the cleansing of the sanctuary is a work which Christ accomplishes in heaven just before returning to this world to take the kingdom. This view of the subject gradually prevailed among that portion of the believers who held that the prophetic periods were correctly calculated, and the only question was as to the event.

About this time these Adventists also saw their mistake in supposing, as they had done in the period of darkness and uncertainty immediately following the disappointment, that probationary time had ended. With the entrance of light on the subject of the heavenly sanctuary, it was seen that the advent message had a breadth of meaning which had not been divined before, and to receive the new light was but a preparation for giving it to the world.

Meanwhile the Bible continued to be studied for any further light it might afford as to the position and work of the Adventists. The minds of a number were especially drawn out on the subject of the law of God, which was so intimately bound up with that of the sanctuary. Their prayers for help were answered through an unexpected agency. The Adventists had been teaching the members of other denominations concerning the prophetic periods and the second coming of Christ. They were now themselves to take the place of learners. There was a denomination which had advanced light on the subject of the divine law, especially on the fourth commandment. This denomination was accordingly, in the providence of God, called upon to act the part of instructor to the truth-seeking Adventists.

For centuries the Seventh Day Baptists had been keeping alive the observance of the Bible Sabbath. There have always been in the Christian church observers of the Sabbath of creation, and not a few laid down their lives for their faith in the days of persecution. The first Sabbath keeper came to America in 1664, just forty-four years after the landing of the Pilgrims. One or two others followed from England, and some embraced their views in this country, so that in 1668 Dr. E. Stennet, a member of the struggling Sabbatarian church in London, which had just seen its pastor dragged from the pulpit. and executed, was able to send greetings "to the remnant in Rhode Island who keep the commandments of God and the testimonies of Jesus."

The first American Seventh Day Baptist church was organized in 1671, after which thirty-six years elapsed before a sec

ond was organized with seventeen members. When the Seventh Day Baptist General Conference was organized in 1802, it included eight churches, nine ordained ministers, and 1,130 members. Thus the work developed slowly; but in the early forties there was an awakening among the witnesses to the Bible Sab

MRS. RACHEL PRESTON

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bath, and they were led to plead earnestly with God in behalf of the truth especially committed to them, that by His divine grace the message might go with greater power to the world. At their General Conference of 1843 the following action was taken:

"Resolved, That in view of the necessity of the influence of the Holy Spirit to incline men to the love of truth, it is our solemn duty to connect with all our efforts to enlighten them in reference to the Sabbath, earnest prayer to God for His blessing; therefore,

'Resolved, That inasmuch as the first day of November, 1843, was observed, in accordance with the recommendation of this General Conference, as a day of humiliation before God, and earnest entreaty to Him to arise and plead for His holy Sabbath; since which time a deeper and wider-spread interest upon the subject has sprung up than has ever before been known in our country; therefore,

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Resolved, That the fourth day of the first week in January 1 next, be observed as a day of fasting, devout acknowledgment for blessings bestowed, and earnest prayer that God would continue to plead for His holy Sabbath, and also prepare us by His Holy Spirit for the labor thus devolved upon us. Resolved, That we invite all who love the Sabbath, and desire its better observance, to unite with us in presenting its interests at the throne of grace."-" History of the Seventh Day Baptist General Conference from Its Origin, September, 1802, to Its Fifty-third Session, September, 1856," by Rev. James Bailey, pp. 243, 244.

1 The first line of this resolution was taken from a printed copy so old and indistinct as to be scarcely readable. We cannot vouch for the exact wording.

Thus while the Adventists were praying for more light, and had their minds especially directed. to the law of God, the Seventh Day Baptists were praying that God would arise and plead for His holy Sabbath. The prayers of both were speedily answered.

It was in the spring of 1844 that the truth concerning the seventh-day Sabbath was first brought to the attention of the Adventist church at Washington, N. H. At that time Mrs. Rachel Preston, a Seventh Day Baptist, went to Washington on a visit to her daughter, the wife of Cyrus Farnsworth, of the Adventist church. She was an ardent believer in the claims of the Bible Sabbath, and brought with her a supply of Seventh Day Baptist literature.

WILLIAM FARNSWORTH

These Sabbath tracts were duly distributed and read, and they produced results. At the service on a certain Sunday in the spring a member of the congregation rose to his feet and said he had been studying the subject, and was convinced that the seventh, and not the first, day of the week was the true Sabbath according to the Bible, and had decided to observe it. He was followed by another, and another, till a considerable number had signified their determination to walk in the new light.

Mrs. Preston, seeing the seed she had sown thus quickly spring up and bear fruit, sat weeping for joy. Within a few days practically the whole church of forty members had taken their stand for the Sabbath of the Bible.

Thus was brought into being the first Seventh-day Adventist church. The original church building, standing three miles south of Washington Center, is still in good repair. Mrs. Preston herself joined the church, being as willing to accept the good news of a soon-coming Saviour as the Adventist company were to accept the Bible teaching concerning the Sabbath. The first Adventist minister to accept the Sabbath was Frederick

Wheeler, of this Washington church, formerly a Methodist minister, and an associate of William Miller. It was in March, 1844, he says, that he began to keep the Sabbath.

Among the first of the Adventist ministers to accept the Sabbath was T. M. Preble, who issued a pamphlet on the subject early in February, 1845, in which, after setting forth the claims of the Bible Sabbath, and giving proof that the change had been made by the papacy, he added:

"Thus we see Daniel 7:25 fulfilled, the little horn changing times and laws. Wherefore it appears to me that all who keep the first day for the Sabbath are the pope's Sunday keepers and God's Sabbath breakers."

With Mr. Preble, however, it was apparently a matter merely for academic discussion, for he continued his connection with non-Sabbath keeping churches, and presently lost interest in the question, even joining with those who opposed the Bible Sabbath. He had sown the seed, however, and in due time the harvest appeared. From this time on, the Sabbath truth continued to be a definite part of the belief of a small but steadily growing band of Adventists.

FREDERICK WHEELER

Another, and more consistent, advocate of the Sabbath arose in Capt. Joseph Bates, to whom reference has already been made in a previous chapter. Mr. Bates was in many ways a remarkable man, and one destined to have no small part in giving the mold to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He was born at Rochester, Plymouth Co., Mass., July 8, 1792, and was brought up in the town of Fair Haven, seven miles distant. His father, a descendant of an old New England family, fought under Lafayette in the Revolutionary War. The son had an unconquerable longing for the sea, and after winning his parents' reluctant consent, embarked as cabin boy in the summer of 1807. After some years of adventurous sea life, he was impressed into the English navy shortly before the out

break of the war of 1812, and remained a prisoner during the conflict, confined for most of the time in Dartmouth prison. After his release, he again took to the seas, and rose rapidly to the post of captain, the ships he commanded sailing chiefly between New York and various points in South America. At the age of thirty-five he retired with a reasonable competence. He had learned a number of things while at sea, and being a man of decision, had acted on his knowledge. He saw that

spirituous liquors were deleterious, and forthwith gave them up. Later he gave up wine and beer, and finally tobacco.

Mr. Bates had formed the habit of keeping an open mind for truth, and when the advent doctrine was preached in New England, he gave it a thorough investigation, and ended by accepting it. His means were used freely for its promulgation, and when the great disappointment came in 1844, he was at the end of his resources.

The Sabbath truth received his enthusiastic support. He saw the fourth commandment as a part, and an important part, of God's moral law. He believed that this venerable institution, handed down from creation, had in it a blessing, not merely for the Jews, but for all mankind. As a result of his active labors, Adventists here and there began to observe the Sabbath.

With most of these new believers the light shed upon the Sabbath question by the prophetic word was a large determin