The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 307

Twenty-five years later appeared the next sign mentioned in the
prophecy—the darkening of the sun and moon. What rendered this more
striking was the fact that the time of its fulfillment had been definitely
pointed out. In the Saviour’s conversation with His disciples upon
Olivet, after describing the long period of trial for the church,—the 1260
years of papal persecution, concerning which He had promised that the
tribulation should be shortened,—He thus mentioned certain events to
precede His coming, and fixed the time when the first of these should
be witnessed: “In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.” Mark 13:24. The
1260 days, or years, terminated in 1798. A quarter of a century earlier,
persecution had almost wholly ceased. Following this persecution,
according to the words of Christ, the sun was to be darkened. On the
19th of May, 1780, this prophecy was fulfilled.
“Almost, if not altogether alone, as the most mysterious and as yet
unexplained phenomenon of its kind, ... stands the dark day of May 19,
1780,—a most unaccountable darkening of the whole visible heavens
and atmosphere in New England.”—R. M. Devens, Our First Century,
page 89.
An eyewitness living in Massachusetts describes the event as
follows: “In the morning the sun rose clear, but was soon overcast.
The clouds became lowery, and from them, black and ominous, as they
soon appeared, lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and a little rain fell.
Toward nine o’clock, the clouds became thinner, and assumed a brassy
or coppery appearance, and earth, rocks, trees, buildings, water, and
persons were changed by this strange, unearthly light. A few minutes
later, a heavy black cloud spread over the entire sky except a narrow rim
at the horizon, and it was as dark as it usually is at nine o’clock on a
summer evening....
“Fear, anxiety, and awe gradually filled the minds of the people.
Women stood at the door, looking out upon the dark landscape; men
returned from their labor in the fields; the

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