atch and pray."

Thus this first of the predicted latter-day signs bore its message to
men. Its immediate scene was set in the Old World, but its warning was
world-wide. The next sign foretold was to appear in the New World, but
like the Lisbon earthquake, its message of warning was for all men.

[Illustration: THE FLOOD

"So shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. 24:39.]

[Illustration: MIDDAY AT SEA MAY 19, 1780

"Between one and two he was obliged to light a large candle to steer
by." See p. 89.]

[Illustration: SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS

"Can ye not discern the signs of the times?" Matt. 16:3.]

THE DARK DAY OF 1780

"The Sun Shall be Darkened"

We recall that in the vision of latter-day signs given to the prophet
John, he saw the "great earthquake" followed by a sign in the heavens:

"The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as
blood." Rev. 6:12.

Of this event our Saviour spoke, in giving the signs of His second
coming which were to begin to appear following the cutting short of the
days of persecution. We repeat His words:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light." Matt. 24:29.

The Prophecy Fulfilled

True to the order of the prophecy, following the great earthquake of
1755 in Europe, there came, in America, the second sign of the
approaching end, the wonderful darkening of the sun, known in history as
"The Dark Day."

This sign appeared at the time indicated in the prophecy, "immediately
after the tribulation of those days;" or as Mark has it, "in those days,
after that tribulation." On May 19, 1780, the sun was darkened, and the
following night the moon did not give her light. Whatever explanation
men may have to offer as to the cause of the phenomenon, the fact
remains that when the time of the prophecy came, the sign appeared.

The first volume of the "Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences," published in Boston in 1785, contains a paper entitled, "An
Account of a Very Uncommon Darkness in the States of New England, May
19, 1780. By Samuel Williams, A.M., Hollis Professor of Mathematics and
Philosophy in the University at Cambridge [Massachusetts]."

Of the extent, duration, and degree of darkness on that occasion, this
scientific observer said:

"The extent of this darkness was very remarkable.... From the
accounts that have been received, it seems