I agree with the person who started this thread that this periodical was a New Church of England magazine and first published March 29, 1865 for the Proprietors of the Office of "The Watch-Tower," 158, Fleet Street, London. It was sold at all Booksellers' and Railway Bookstalls and was a religious periodical for the public. It contained contemporary viewpoints by clergymen and poems written by clergymen of the Anglican Church intended for the educated, etc.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Me45AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA259&lpg=PA259&dq=The+Watch-Tower+158+Fleet+St.+London&source=bl&ots=Jl7Uw4FWHX&sig=jdfz8i5cs70GUnQLxFjjTLbkkBI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=d81jUonhJoe69QSaq4EY&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Watch-Tower%20158%20Fleet%20St.%20London&f=false
I'm of the opinion that this journal did not influence C. T. Russell to use the name Watch Tower for his journal. The use of the word "Watchtower" or "Watch Tower” was not unique to Russell, but was popular before and during the Victorian era for titles of religious periodicals and books primarily because it was based on the words found in Isaiah 21:8, 11, 12. Verse 8: “And he cried,, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:" Verses 11 and 12, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come." King James Version
See also, JW’s Proclaimers book, page 48, footnote, where it is stated there: “The name was also incorporated in the title of various religious periodicals. It stems from the idea of keeping on the watch for the outworking of God’s purposes. See also Ezek. 3:17; Hab. 2:1.”
In addition, a couple of old Mormon and Adventist periodicals had the same name. These magazines are no longer available to look at without spending a lot of time to track them down with the help of Google.
http://www.lavazone2.com/dbroadhu/NY/MiscNYSE.htm#013131 and http://www.geocities.com/le_thanh_y/W_SDA.jpg
Also, as Blondie pointed out the name of Russell’s journal was not The Watch Tower. It was Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence because as the first article in the first issue, July 1879, stated under the word “PROSPECTUS,” its object was centered on “the last days” and “The Day of the Lord,” etc. (That name changed years later with the January 1, 1909 journal, and titled, The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence.)
“Why Will There Be a Second Advent?” was the first full article in the July 1879 Zion’s Watch Tower as that subject was to be the theme of Russell’s journal in that it would herald Christ’s presence. His goal was to help the “elect” to watch for the outworking of God’s plan.
If anyone influenced Russell to use the name, Watch Tower, it could have been his friend, George Storrs, who published a book in 1850 which he titled, The Watch Tower: Or, Man in Death; and the Hope for a Future Life. Storrs opened the first chapter with a discussion of Isaiah 21: 11, 12. Note this though: Storrs’s book was about conditional immortality, the belief in soul sleep that the dead sleep unconscious until the resurrection of the dead and not about Christ’s Second Advent and that his invisible presence began in 1874 as Russell’s magazine was centered on.
As I said, Storrs, under the title he chose for his book put the scripture Isaiah 21:11, 12, and explained why he did so in the first chapter. Russell did not explain why he put the same scripture, “Watchman, What of the Night?” “The Morning Cometh.” – Isaiah xxi.11, under the name, ZION’S WATCH TOWER AND HERALD OF CHRIST’S PRESENCE. It could have been because the audience for Russell’s journal was familiar with the popularity of using the words, “Watch Tower,” in apocalyptic religious periodicals along with the scripture in Isaiah where it was taken from, so why would he need to explain his use of the scripture.
However, years later, Russell did write a few interpretative articles on Isaiah 21:11, 12, which were pure millenarianism in context. However, the use of the title, The Watch Tower and putting "Watchman, What of the Night? on the front page of their 1865 periodical by the Anglican Church (Church of England), were not used in that context.
