"In the month of May, 1780, there was a very terrific dark day in New England, when 'all faces seemed to gather blackness,' and the people were filled with fear. There was great distress in the village where Edward Lee lived: 'men's hearts failing them for fear that the judgment day was at hand, and the neighbors all flocked around the holy man; for his lamp was trimmed, and shining brighter than ever, amidst the unnatural darkness. Happy and joyful in God, he pointed them to their only refuge from the wrath to come, and spent the gloomy hours in earnest prayer for the distressed multitude.'—Tract No. 379 of Am. Tract Society—Life of Edward Lee.
"The 19th of May, 1780, was a remarkable dark day. Candles were lighted in many houses. The birds were silent and disappeared. The fowls retired to roost. It was the general opinion that the day of judgment was at hand. The Legislature of Connecticut was in session at Hartford, but being unable to transact business, adjourned."—Pres. Dwight, in Historical Collections.
"Dark Day of May 19th, 1780.—The sun rose clear, and shone for several hours; at length the sky became overcast with clouds; and by 10 o'clock, A. M. the darkness was such as to occasion the farmers to leave their work in the field, and retire to their dwellings; fowls went to their roosts, and before noon, lights became necessary to the transaction of business within doors. The darkness continued through the day." Gage's History of Rowley, Mass.
"In the dark day, May 19th, 1780, the heavens were covered with a dense cloud for three or four hours . . . During this time the clouds were tinged with a yellowish or faint red, for hours, for which no satisfactory cause has been assigned. I stood and viewed the phenomenon, but had not any fear that the world was coming to an end."—Noah Webster, LL. D.—New Haven Daily Herald.
From Robert Sears' Guide to Knowledge, published in New York, 1844, we extract the following:
"On the 19th of May, 1780, an uncommon darkness took place all over New England, and extended to Canada. It continued about fourteen hours, or from ten o'clock in the morning to midnight. Similar days have occasionally been known, though inferior to the degree or extent of their darkness. The causes of these phenomena are unknown. They certainly were not the result of eclipses."
"The sun rose clear, but soon assumed a 'brassy hue.' About ten o'clock, A. M., it became unusually dark. The darkness continued to increase till about one o'clock when it began to decrease. During this time candles became necessary. The birds disappeared and were silent, the fowls went to their roosts, the cocks crew as at daybreak, and everything bore the appearance and gloom of night. The alarm produced by this unusual aspect of the heavens was great.
"The night succeeding that day was of such pitchy darkness, that, in some instances, horses could not be compelled to leave the stable when wanted for service. About midnight the clouds were dispersed, and the moon and stars appeared with unimpaired brilliancy."—Portsmouth Journal, May 20th, 1843. Extract from Stone's History of Beverly.
Mr. Tenney, of Exeter, N. H., quoted by Mr. Gage to the Historical Society, says:—
"The darkness of the following evening was probably as gross as has ever been observed since the Almighty first gave birth to light. I could not help conceiving at the time, that if every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable darkness, or struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes, was equally invisible with the blackest velvet."
Dr. Adams, speaking of the dark night, says:—
"At nine it was a darkness to be felt by more senses than one, as there was a strong smell of soot. Almost every one who happened to be out in the evening, got lost in going home. The darkness was as uncommon in the night, as it was in the day, as the moon had fulled the day before."
Prof. Olmstead of Yale College, a distinguished meteorologist, speaking of the falling stars says:—
"The extent of the shower of 1833, was such as to cover no inconsiderable part of the earth's surface, from the middle of the Atlantic on the East, to the Pacific on the West; and from the northern coast of South America, to undefined regions among the British possessions on the North.
"In nearly all places, the meteors began to attract notice by their unusual frequency as early as eleven o'clock, and increased in numbers and splendor until about four o'clock, from which time they gradually declined, but were visible until lost in the light of day. The meteors did not fly at random over all parts of the sky, but appeared to emanate from a point in the constellation Leo, near a star called Gamma Leonis, in the bend of the sickle.
"Those who were so fortunate as to witness the exhibition of shooting stars on the morning of Nov. 13, 1833, probably saw the greatest display of celestial fire-works that has ever been seen since the creation of the world, or at least within the annals covered by the pages of history.
"I feel assured that this is no atmospheric or terrestrial phenomenon, but that these fiery meteors come to us from the regions of space, and reveal to us the existence of worlds of a nebulous or cometary nature, existing in the solar system, and forming constituent parts of that system."
Henry Dana Ward of New York, as published in the Journal of Com., says:—
"Truly 'The stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.' Rev. vi, 13. This language of the prophet has always been received as metaphorical. Yesterday it was literally fulfilled. The ancients understood by aster in Greek, and stella in Latin, the smaller lights of heaven. The refinement of modern astronomy has made the distinction between stars of heaven and meteors of heaven. Therefore, the idea of the prophet, as it is expressed in the original Greek, was literally fulfilled in the phenomenon of yesterday. The immense size and distance of the planets and fixed stars forbid the idea of their falling unto the earth. Larger bodies cannot fall in myriads unto a smaller body; but most of the planets and all the fixed stars are many times larger than our earth. They cannot fall unto the earth; but these fell towards the earth.
"And how did they fall? Were I to hunt through nature for a simile, I could not find one so apt to illustrate the appearance of the heavens, as that which St. John uses: 'Even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.'"
Now learn a parable of the fig-tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it [margin "he"] is near, even at the doors. Matt. xxiv, 32, 33.
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