53, 54. " In most parts of the country it was so great in the daytime, that the people could not tell the hour by either watch or clock, nor dine, nor manage their domestic business, without the light of candles....
" The extent of this darkness was extraordinary. It was observed as far east as Falmouth. To the westward it reached to the farthest part of Connecticut, and to Albany. To the southward, it was observed along the seacoasts; and to the north as far as the American settlements extend."--William Gordon, History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of the Independence of the U. S. A., vol. 3, p. 57. The intense darkness of the day was succeeded, an hour or two before evening, by a partially clear sky, and the sun appeared, though it was still obscured by the black, heavy mist. " After sundown, the clouds came again overhead, and it grew dark very fast." " Nor was the darkness of the night less uncommon and terrifying than that of the day; notwithstanding there was almost a full moon, no object was discernible but by the help of some artificial light, which, when seen from the neighboring houses and other places at a distance, appeared through a kind of Egyptian darkness which seemed almost impervious to the rays."--Isaiah Thomas, Massachusetts Spy; or, American Oracle of Liberty, vol. 10, No. 472( May 25, 1780).
Said an eyewitness of the scene: " I could not help conceiving at the time, that if every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more complete."--Letter by Dr. Samuel Tenney, of Exeter, New Hampshire, December, 1785( in Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 1792, 1st series, vol. 1, p. 97). Though at nine o ' clock that night the moon rose to the full, " it had not the least effect to dispel the deathlike shadows." After midnight the darkness disappeared, and the moon, when first visible, had the appearance of blood.
May 19, 1780, stands in history as " The Dark Day." Since the time of Moses no period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration, has ever been recorded. The description of this event, as given by eyewitnesses, is but an echo of the words of the Lord, recorded by the prophet Joel, twenty-five hundred years previous to their fulfillment: " The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31. Christ had bidden His people watch for the signs of His advent and rejoice as they should behold the tokens of their coming King. " When these things begin to come to pass," He said, " then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." He pointed His followers to the budding trees of spring, and said: " When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." Luke 21:28, 30, 31.
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