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-Project Gutenberg's The Millennium and Other Poems, by Parley P. Pratt
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Millennium and Other Poems
-
-Author: Parley P. Pratt
-
-Release Date: August 9, 2019 [EBook #60077]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MILLENNIUM AND OTHER POEMS ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by the Mormon Texts Project
-(MormonTextsProject.org), with thanks to Renah Holmes and
-Rachel Helps
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE
-
-MILLENNIUM,
-
-AND OTHER
-
-POEMS:
-
-TO WHICH IS ANNEXED,
-
-A TREATISE
-
-ON THE
-
-REGENERATION AND ETERNAL DURATION
-
-OF
-
-MATTER.
-
-
-BY P. P. PRATT,
-
-MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL.
-
-
-NEW YORK:
-
-PRINTED BY W. MOLINEUX, COR. of ANN and NASSAU STREETS.
-
-MDCCCXL.
-
-
-
-Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year One Thousand Eight
-Hundred and Thirty-nine, by P. P. PRATT, in the Clerk's Office for the
-Southern District of New-York.
-
-
-
-PREFACE.
-
-When these Poems were first written, the Author had no intention of
-compiling them in one volume: they sprang into existence one after
-another as occasion called them forth, at times and in places, and
-under circumstances widely varying. Some came forth upon the bank of
-the far-famed Niagara, and some were the plaintive strains poured from
-a full heart in the lonely dungeons of Missouri where the Author was
-confined upwards of eight months during the late persecution; some were
-poured from the top of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and others
-were uttered while wandering over the flowery plains and wide-extended
-prairies of the west; some were written in crowded halls and thronged
-cities, and some in the lonely forest; some were the melting strains
-of joy and admiration in contemplating the approaching dawn of that
-glorious day which shall crown the earth and its inhabitants with
-universal peace and rest; and others were produced on the occasion of
-taking leave of my family, friends, or the great congregation, on a
-mission to other and distant parts; and some were wrung from a bosom
-overflowing with grief at the loss of those who were nearest and
-dearest to my heart, "The Regeneration and Eternal Duration of Matter,"
-in particular was a production in prison, which was more calculated
-to comfort and console myself and friends when death stared me in the
-face, than as an argumentative or philosophical production for the
-instruction of others. At length, the Author was induced to embody the
-whole in one volume in the hope that perhaps others might find them a
-source of instruction, edification, and comfort.
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-THE MILLENNIUM
-
-HISTORICAL SKETCH
-
-TRUE PATRIOTISM
-
-DISPENSATION OF THE FULNESS OF TIMES
-
-MINISTRY TO THE NEPHITES
-
-NEPHITES, LAMANITES, &c.
-
-HARMONY OF NATURE
-
-INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS
-
-REDEMPTION OF ZION
-
-EVENING REFLECTIONS
-
-MISSION OF THE TWELVE
-
-FAREWELL
-
-REFLECTIONS IN PRISON
-
-FALLS OF NIAGARA
-
-SPRING
-
-SIGNS OF THE TIMES
-
-BIRTH-DAY IN PRISON
-
-ZION IN CAPTIVITY
-
-OUR COUNTRY
-
-O, MISSOURI, HOW ART THOU FALLEN
-
-NEW YEAR'S SONG
-
-LAMENTATION
-
-LAMENTATION, &c.
-
-FUNERAL HYMN
-
-FAREWELL MEMORIAL
-
-THE PILGRIM
-
-GENERAL CONFERENCE, FAREWELL
-
-THE DOWNFALL OF BABYLON
-
-PRATT'S DEFENCE
-
-PRATT'S DELIVERANCE
-
-VISIT TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS
-
-REGENERATION AND ETERNAL DURATION OF MATTER
-
-
-
-JUST PUBLISHED,
-
-_And for Sale by P. P. PRATT,_
-
-A HISTORY OF THE LATE PERSECUTION
-
-IN
-
-MISSOURI
-
-ALSO, THE VOICE OF WARNING;
-
-OR,
-
-AN INTRODUCTION TO THE DOCTRINE OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
-
-Our Books are to be obtained at our meetings, and of our travelling
-Preachers, and also at such Book Stores as we shall advertize hereafter.
-
-
-
-THE MILLENNIUM.
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-Introduction--Location of the Ten Tribes--The way prepared--Their
-return to their own lands--The waters divided--Their return contrasted
-with their going out of Egypt.
-
- A glorious theme the sacred muse inspires,
- Cheers up the soul, and tunes the sounding lyre:
- Lights the dark vale of sorrow, pain and wo,
- And gives to man a paradise below.
- The joyful time, by prophets long foretold,
- At length comes rolling on the astonished world:
- When God, the second time, should set his hand,
- To gather Israel to their promised land.
- An ensign to the nations now is reared,
- The standard waving, and the way prepared;
- Let kings and empires tremble at his word,
- The gentle nations all their aid afford.
- What though Assyria's captives long and lone,[A]
- Have wandered outcasts to the world unknown,
- In some far region to the frozen north,
- Where pale Borealis sends his meteors forth!!
- Where fields of ice unbounded block the road,
- To keep intruders from their drear abode;
- Where no sweet flowers the dreary landscape cheer,
- Nor plenteous harvests crown the passing year?
- What though the land where milk and honey flowed,
- And peace and plenty crowned their blest abode,
- Has by the Gentiles long been trodden down,
- And desolation reigned o'er all the ground?
- Yet soon the icy mountains down shall flow,
- The parched ground in springs of water flow,
- The barren desert yield delicious fruit,
- Their souls to cheer, their spirits to recruit;
- Mountains before them levelled to a plain,
- The valleys rise, the ocean cleave in twain,
- The crooked straightened, and the rough made plain,
- The way prepared, lo, Israel comes again!
- The seven streams of Egypt's rolling flood
- Shall feel the power and might of Israel's God,
- Their waves on heaps, like towering mountains rise,
- They cross dry shod, with wonder and surprise.
- And thus with joy Assyria's captives come,
- In grand procession to their ancient home;
- A scene of joy and wonder more sublime
- Than all that passed in hardened Pharaoh's time.
- When captive Israel raised to heaven their cry,
- And Moses came, commissioned from on high,
- Poured the ten plagues on Egypt with his rod,
- The monarch trembling, owned the power of God,
- And filled with envy, rage, and wild dismay,
- Thrust Israel forth, and bade them haste away;
- Then moved with wild despair that all was lost,
- He straight pursued them with his numerous host;
- Before them stretched the vast expanded sea,
- And mountains, on each side, hedged up the way,
- The roar of chariots armed, pressed on their rear
- In dread array, and filled their souls with fear:
- Till Moses o'er the sea stretched forth his rod,
- And cleared a passage through the mighty flood,
- And soon, with safety, led his armies through,
- But Pharaoh, close behind, did still pursue;
- The floods returning with majestic roar,
- His armies sunk, o'erwhelmed, to rise no more;
- While Israel still pursued their joyous way,
- Their God, in fire by night, in cloud by day
- Before them moved, majestic to behold!
- Until on Sinai's mount the thunder rolled,
- And lightnings flaming in one general glare,
- While clouds of smoke hung on the darkened air.
- Jehovah spake! the trumpet, long and loud,
- Earth's whole foundation to the centre bowed.
- Israel and Moses quaking stood around,
- A sudden trembling seized the solid ground.
- Moses, at length, drew near; the law was given,
- Of justice, equal weights, and measure even:
- And angels' food became their constant bread,
- A month on quails their numerous hosts were fed,
- The rock was smitten, and a fountain burst,--
- Poured forth its cooling stream to quench their thirst.
- His angel led them all their journey through;
- The nations trembling, fainted at the view;
- Their mighty walls fell tumbling to the ground,
- Destruction swept the nations, all around.
- But lo! a scene more glorious strikes my view
- Than Israel ever saw or Egypt knew:
- Ten thousand times ten thousand I behold,
- Returning home, as prophets long foretold:
- Sing, O ye heavens! let earth rejoice again,
- And all prepare for king Messiah's reign.
-
-[Footnote A: The Ten Tribes.]
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-Situation of the Jews, from their dispersion to the present time, and
-the desolation of their land and city--Their restoration to the Land of
-Canaan--Rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple.
-
- Lo! Judea's remnants--long dispersed abroad,
- Without a prophet, king, or priest of God--
- Have wandered exiles from their native home,
- To darkness doomed, till their deliverance comes.
- Their city, once so glorious to behold,
- Their temple, decked with precious stones and gold,
- The seat of wisdom, and the light of kings,
- Where mighty nations did their tribute bring,
- Have long remained in one wide ruin round,
- And desolation reigned o'er all the ground.
- But comfort ye my people, saith your God;
- Proclaim the joyful tidings far abroad:
- Thy sins are pardoned, and thy warfare o'er,
- Thy sons and daughters now shall grieve no more;
- But kings thy nursing fathers shall become;
- Their ships, and beasts, and chariots bring thee home.
- The Gentiles, in their arms, thy sons return;
- Thy daughters on their shoulders shall be borne.
- Trees crowned with fruit their fainting souls shall cheer,
- Their desert land like Eden shall appear;
- Their fields, where desolation long has reigned,
- Shall now, be fenced, and tilled, and sowed again;
- And flocks and herds, in plenty shall be seen,
- O'er all the plains they feed in pastures green.
- Thy ruined cities shall in splendor rise,
- Thy lofty towers point upwards to the skies;
- Thy temple reared, most glorious to behold,
- Its courts adorned with precious stones and gold:
- All things restored, as prophets long declared,
- Thus king Messiah's way shall be prepared.
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-Situation of the remnant of Joseph from the fall of the Nephites A. D.
-400, to the discovery of America by Columbus--Effect upon the natives
-at first view of European vessels--Kind reception of the Europeans by
-the natives--War with the Indians and their defeat--Rapid settlement
-of the eastern shores--The war renewed, subsequent sufferings of the
-Colonies--They again drive the red man--Their settlements advance to
-the Ohio and the lakes--Further struggle of the natives, their final
-submission.
-
- Rise, heavenly muse, and leave those scenes of joy,
- Awhile let other climes, thy pen employ,
- Extend thy vision, cross the mighty deep,
- And o'er Columbia's scenes in anguish weep.
- See Joseph's remnants, long in darkness dwell,
- Since by their hands a mighty nation fell.[A]
- The light which once illumed their happy land,
- Where towns and cities did in order stand,
- Had slumbered long beneath their mouldering towers.
- Their flowery landscape, and their shady bowers.
- Had long been scenes of cruelty, and blood,
- The scourge and wrath of an avenging God:
- When lo! a scene of wonder, struck their view;
- O'er the vast deep, an object strange and new,
- Came gliding swiftly onward to the shore,
- Part fish, part fowl, or something to adore;
- They gazed, with admiration and delight,
- As plainer still the object hove in sight:
- Nor little dreamed, the Gentiles were at hand,
- To smite and drive them, from their blessed land.
- With warmest friendship, they their guests sustain,
- Until too late, they find their struggles vain:
- Whole fleets and armies, lined their lengthened shore;
- With din of armour bright, and cannon's roar;
- Their cities burned, and drenched with human gore,
- They sunk in ruin, and were known no more.
- See Gentile cities on a sudden rise,
- Their lofty spires point upward to the skies,
- Where late the shades, spread o'er the red man's grave,
- A sacred bower in memory of the brave.
- See boundless forests still around them spread,
- From north to south, an immeasurable shade;
- Where mighty chieftains oft the signal gave,
- And struggled long, their country for to save.
- Tribes rose to vengeance while their councils rung,
- And liberty still thundered from their tongues;
- Onward they rushed with rage and wild despair,
- The midnight war-whoop rent the darkened air;
- While terror seized their unsuspecting prey,
- And blood of infants marked their dreadful way!
- Towns wrapped in flames and women captive led,
- Where cruel torture filled their souls with dread.
- Once more the Gentile stung with keen revenge;
- Pursues the red skin o'er the woodland range,
- Till darkened swamps become their wild retreat;
- And there prepared, the advancing foe they meet.
- With desperation they their cause maintain;
- Till many a chieftain fell,--their struggle vain,
- Till by superior force o'erpowered they yield,
- And leave the pale-face master of the field.
- From the St. Lawrence's snow invested wilds,
- To Florida, where constant verdure smiles,
- Their towns and cities sprinkle all the shore;
- The midnight war-whoop there is heard no more.
- But as their rapid settlements advance,
- To the dark wilds, round Erie's vast expanse,
- Or o'er the Alleghanies bend their course,
- Where broad Ohio's waters have their source;
- The natives roused once more in dread array,
- Assert their rights, spread terror and dismay;
- Till over-powered again, they take to flight,
- And with reluctance yield their lawful right.
- But tribes remoter still, with dread surprize,
- Alarmed at their approach, vindictive rise,
- Renew the conflict with redoubled force,
- With dreadful slaughter mark their vengeful course,
- Till checked by force superior to their own,
- Again they fly discouraged and undone,
- Reduced in numbers, give the struggle o'er,
- Tamely submit, and seek their rights no more.
-
-[Footnote A: The Nephites.]
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-The American Revolution--Its effects upon other nations--French
-Revolution--Revolution of Greece, Poland, &c--Present prosperity of the
-United States of America--Present state of the Indians--Indian prayer.
-
- Meantime the Gentiles break their foreign yoke,
- While tyrants tremble at the dreadful stroke,
- Assert their freedom, gain their liberty,
- And to the world proclaim Columbia free.
- O'er ocean's wave triumphant in the breeze,
- Her banner floats o'er all the distant seas,
- Where dire oppression, long with tyrant sway,
- Had ruled mankind, and led them far astray.
- With admiration seized, the nations all,
- Filled with delight Columbia's deeds extol;
- And gazing still, they catch the sacred fire,
- And love of liberty their souls inspire.
- While nations oft in their extended plan;
- From slumber wake to claim the rights of man,
- Empires o'erturned, and tyrants headlong hurled,
- The voice of freedom echoes round the world.
- First, France arose, in triumph led the way,
- Till love of conquest led them far astray;
- And dire ambition seized the helm of state,
- Through seas of blood, where millions met their fate:
- Till they reluctant give the struggle o'er,
- And rest content with rights enjoyed before.
- And next the Greeks their ancient spirit caught,
- From long oppression roused they bravely fought,
- They burst the Moslem chains emerging free,
- Through seas of blood obtained their liberty.
- Poland in turn received the sacred fire,
- Her noble sons for freedom did aspire;
- And struggling long at length they bravely fell.
- But cease, my muse; the tale forbear to tell,
- And turn again unto the favored shore,
- Where freedom's genius kindly hovers o'er,
- See states and nations joyfully extend,
- Their wide domain almost from end to end;
- From the far eastern shores of rugged Maine,
- To wild Missouri's rich and flowery plains,
- The harvest fields with rural plenty crowned;
- And flowery gardens flourish all around;
- The humble cottage and the lofty dome,
- Each crowned with plenty form an equal home
- See on her lakes, and on her thousand streams,
- Her vessels float impelled by sail or steam.
- While busy commerce floats along her seas,
- With sails expanded wide before the breeze;
- Far o'er the wave her rich produce they bear,
- And in return bring every kind of ware,
- To clothe her sons, her daughters to array,
- In linen fine and silk and purple gay;
- Thus peace and plenty crown Columbia's soil,
- A rich reward of industry and toil.
- Lo! the poor Indian, if he chance to roam
- O'er the wide fields he once could call his own;
- Where oft in youth he sported in the chace,
- Mourning the change, he scarcely knows the place;
- With bursting heart his streaming eyes survey
- The sacred mound where lies his father's clay.
- O'erwhelmed with grief to heaven he lifts his eyes
- Before the throne his prayers like incense rise:
- Great Spirit of our fathers lend an ear,
- Pity the red man--to his cries give ear,
- Long hast thou scourged him with thy chastening sore,
- When will thy vengeance cease, thy wrath be o'er;
- When will the white man's dire ambition cease,
- And let our scattered remnants dwell in peace?
- Or shall we, (driven to the western shore)
- Become extinct and fall to rise no more?
- Forbid, great Spirit; make thy mercy known,
- Reveal thy truth, thy wandering captives own,
- Make bare thine arm of power for our release,
- And o'er the earth extend the reign of peace.
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-Coming forth of the fulness of the Gospel--Restoration of the
-Indians and their gathering West of the Mississippi, by the present
-administration in fulfilment of prophecy--Commission and Ministry of
-the servants of God in the last dispensation--Commencement of the
-gathering of the Gentile Church--Their persecution and dispersion in
-fulfilment of prophecy, from which reflections are drawn on the subject
-of persecution in general--The enduement of the servants of God and
-their ministry among all nations--The power of God displayed in making
-bare his arm in the eyes of all nations--They flow to Zion--Possess
-the land in peace--Build up a holy city no more to be thrown down--The
-wars, earthquakes, pestilences, famines and signs in heaven above anil
-earth beneath which are to precede the Millennium--The resurrection of
-the saints--The coming of Christ with all his saints--The burning of
-the wicked--The restitution of the earth with all its blessings.
-
- Ye gloomy scenes far hence, intrude no more;
- Sublimer themes invite the muse, to soar
- In loftier strains, while scenes both strange and new,
- Burst on the sight and open to the view.
- Lo! from the opening heavens in bright array,
- An angel comes, to earth he bends his way,
- Reveals to man in power, as at the first,
- The fulness of the Gospel long since lost.
- See earth obedient from its bosom yield!
- The sacred truth it faithfully conceal'd,
- The wise confounded startle at the sight,
- The proud and haughty tremble with affright;
- The hireling priests against the truth engage,
- While hell beneath stands trembling filled with rage.
- False are their hopes and all their struggles vain,
- Their craft must fall and with it all their gain;
- The deaf must hear, the meek their joy increase,
- The poor be glad and their oppression cease.
- See Congress stand in all the power of state,
- Destined, like Cyrus, now to change the fate
- Of Joseph's scattered remnants! long oppressed,
- And bring them home unto a land of rest;
- Beyond the Mississippi's rolling flood,
- A land before ordained by Israel's God!
- Where Zion's city shall in grandeur rise,
- And fill the wondering nations with surprise.
- From north, and south, and east behold them come
- By tens of thousands to their destined home!
- From heaven's king commissioned to proclaim
- Repentance, and baptism in his name,
- His servants to the Gentiles lift their voice,
- While tens of thousands in the sound rejoice,
- And they to Zion bend their joyful way,
- With songs of joy and gladness hail the day.
- The priests and people filled with dread surprise,
- Alarm'd at their approach vindictive rise,
- And lest the power of truth should still prevail,
- They think to cause the prophecy to fail.
- And if by fire and sword the saints they drive,
- While other sects and parties grow and thrive,
- As bloody persecution lifts her thong,
- All parties cry at once, the saints are wrong;
- For if they were the chosen of the Lord,
- He would protect them and fulfil his word.
- O fools, and slow of heart to understand
- The prophecies concerning Zion's land.
- Have ye not read the words of them of old?
- When wrapt in vision clear they have foretold
- The wicked deeds that you of late fulfil'd,
- The scenes that have transpired on Zion's hill?
- He that is truly wise will search and see,
- He that's already blind more blind shall be;
- One truth is clear, the ransom'd shall return,
- Another is, the wicked shall be burned.
- How vain the thoughts that stripes would change the mind,
- Convince the judgment and convert mankind,
- Or cruel scourge of mobs with all their rage,
- Make man believe that this enlightened age
- Needs no repentance, faith, nor nothing more
- Than the religion they enjoyed before.
- If persecution were good argument,
- Why not the Jews make ancient saints repent?
- Paul of all men the hardest to reclaim,
- Stoned, whipt, imprisoned, still remained the same;
- Ten thousand heretics rejoiced in fire,
- While priests for their conversion did aspire.
- 'Tis true the Romans many converts made,
- When they the inquisition call'd to aid,
- Perhaps these modern times have made a few,
- Who turn'd from saints to join the drunken crew;
- But persecution spreads the truth abroad,
- Make servants bolder in the cause of God.
- Adds to their numbers, twice ten thousand more,
- And makes them stronger than they were before.
- See men commission'd in Messiah's name,
- Wide o'er the earth the joyful news proclaim;
- While from on high the spirit's power descends
- On all the saints that bow to his commands,
- The deaf shall hear, the blind their sight receive,
- The dumb shall sing with joy, the dying live,
- The lame shall leap, and all mankind behold
- Jehovah's arm made bare, like days of old.
- While his elect to Zion gather home,
- From every tribe and nation see them come.
- See o'er the land where desolation reign'd,
- The saints in peace, enjoy their rights again.
- Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Zion rise,
- Prepare to meet the city from the skies,
- Let Joseph's remnants at thy gates attend,
- Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend,
- While Gentile saints thy spacious courts shall throng,
- And join their voices in the general song;
- No more shall proud oppression drive the hence,
- Nor terror come, for God is your defence
- Come, gentle muse, suspend the joyful lay,
- And o'er the earth let's take a wide survey;
- Soft touch the lyre in slow and mournful strains,
- And sing of scenes where death and sorrow reign;
- See dire commotion seize the nations all,
- While blood and war the stoutest hearts appal,
- Kingdom on kingdom in confusion hurl'd,
- System on system wreck'd throughout the world,
- Sect against sect in bloody strife engage,
- Man against man in single combat rage,
- While widows mourn the loss of husbands slain,
- And virgins for their bridegrooms weep in vain,
- While pining famine wastes their strength by day,
- And pestilence oft seizes on its prey;
- Earthquakes in turn in bellowing fury roar,
- And ocean's waves roll frightful to the shore.
- See through the heavens the sun in sackcloth mourn,
- The moon to blood in frowning anger turns,
- The stars affrighted from their spheres are hurled,
- System on system wreck'd and world on world,
- Earth's whole foundation to the centre nods.
- And nature trembling feels the power of God.
- While Michael sounds the trumpet loud and long,
- See from their graves the saints unnumbered throng;
- See through the air the ocean and the earth,
- Their dust reviving bursting into birth,
- See bone to bone in perfect order fly,
- While sinews, flesh, and skin their place supply;
- And every hair all number'd in its place,
- Immortal beauty does their temples grace.
- Thus formed anew with joy they mount on high,
- And wing their passage to the upper sky;
- Meantime the heavens rend while wrapt in fire,
- The nations see the glory of Messiah!
- With all the saints to earth he bends his way;
- In flames descends, who can abide the day?
- The great, the rich, the mighty loudly call,
- Saying, ye rocks and mountains on us fall.
- But fire consumes the wicked, branch and root,
- And leaves their ashes trodden under foot.
- Behold the Mount of Olives rend in twain,
- While on its top he sets his feet again!
- The islands at his word obedient flee!
- While to the north he rolls the mighty sea!
- Restores the earth in one, as at the first,
- With all its blessings, and removes the curse.
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-The binding of Satan--Pouring out of the spirit upon all flesh--Harmony
-of all the beasts of the earth, while peace and the knowledge and glory
-of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea--The faith of
-Abel the first martyr--Enoch's song--The testimony of many of the holy
-prophets and apostles--And the general expectation of all the saints in
-all nations and generations.
-
- Lo! Satan bound in chains shall rage no more,
- Nor tempt mankind till thousand years are o'er;
- But perfect peace and harmony extend
- Their wide domain to earth's remotest ends,
- All flesh shall feel the spirit from on high,
- The wolf and lamb in peace together lie.
- The cow and bear shall feed in pastures green,
- While in the shade their young ones shall be seen,
- The lion cease to be a beast of prey,
- And like the harmless ox shall feed on hay;
- The little child secure from harm shall stray
- O'er poisonous serpent's dens shall fearless play;
- In all God's holy Mount shall naught destroy,
- But men for pruning hooks their spears employ;
- Their swords to ploughshares turned, shall till the ground,
- While plenteous harvests flourish all around,
- And earth o'erwhelm'd with knowledge of the Lord,
- Like as the waters fill the mighty flood;
- While king Messiah reigns the king of kings,
- And saints and angels join his praise to sing.
- Hail glorious day, by prophets long foretold;
- And sought by holy men from days of old;
- Who found it not, but readily confessed,
- As pilgrims here, they sought a promised rest.
- Hear Abel groan, as first he yields to death,
- And is succeeded by his brother Seth;
- He dies in faith to wait till Christ appears;
- To rise and reign with him a thousand years.
- Hear Enoch too, the wondrous scene foretell,
- While future glories did his bosom swell;
- The vail was rent, while wonders strange and new
- Before him rose, and opened to his view.
- Long, long he heard the earth in anguish mourn;
- Saw heaven weep, while oft his bowels yearn'd;
- While all eternity, with pain beheld
- The scenes of sorrow which his bosom swell'd:
- He saw the Lamb on Calvary expire,
- While rocks were rent, and cities wrapt in fire;
- He saw him burst the tomb, and mount on high
- Enthroned in glory 'mid the upper sky.
- Obtain'd the promise, he would come again
- To earth, in triumph with his saints to reign;
- His soul was glad with joy he tuned the lyre;
- And sung the glorious reign of king Messiah.
- Hosanna to the Lamb that shall be slain;
- All hail the day when Zion comes again;
- Out of the earth the truth in power he sends,
- While righteousness from heaven shall descend,
- And these shall sweep the earth as with a flood,
- To gather out the purchase of his blood;
- Unto the Zion which he shall prepare;
- And Enoch with his city meet them there,
- When all the ransom'd saints shall join the lay,
- And shout Hosanna in eternal day.
- Wide o'er the earth, the Saviour's name extend;
- And peace o'er all prevail from end to end.
- Thus Enoch sang, while all the heavenly choir;
- Join'd in Hosanna to the king Messiah.
- Noah too, by faith beheld the scene afar;
- And as a type, he did the ark prepare.
- Condemned the world, by water overthrown,
- While to his view the light triumphant shone,
- He gazed with joy on all the glorious scene,
- But mourn'd the darkness that should roll between.
- Abram with joy beheld the day of rest;
- When in his seed all nations should be bless'd,
- And gladly wandered as a pilgrim here;
- And fell asleep to wait till Christ appears--
- In sure and certain hope to rise and reign
- In Canaan's land, a right he had obtained.
- Isaac and Jacob had the glorious view,
- Rejoiced in death and so did Joseph too;
- While patient Job in pain look'd far away,
- Saw his Redeemer in the latter day,
- Stand on the earth, while he himself should rise
- And in the flesh behold him with his eyes.
- Moses and Joshua, Samuel and Isaiah,
- Did each in turn this solemn truth declare;
- While David tuned the lyre in joyful lays,
- Spake of Messiah's reign, and sung his praise.
- Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Zachariah,
- And Malachi, have spoken of Messiah;
- When he should set his feet on earth again,
- Burn up the proud, and o'er the nations reign.
- Jesus and Peter, John and James, and Paul,
- The time would fail me here to mention all;
- Who wrapt in vision clear in turn foretold,
- The day of wonders I would fain unfold.
- Lehi, Nephi, Alma and Mosiah,
- Abinedi, who once rejoiced in fire;
- Mormon, Moroni and Ether testified;
- For this they lived, and in this faith they died;
- And all the saints of God in all the earth,
- Down from old Adam to the latest birth;
- And all the vast creations which extend,
- Through boundless space till man can find no end,
- And all the heavenly host around the throne,
- Shall sound his praise in reverential tone.
- Millions unnumber'd at his feet shall fall,
- Hail him as king, and crown him Lord of all.
-
-
-
-HISTORICAL SKETCH FROM THE CREATION TO THE PRESENT DAY. In Three Parts
-
-PART FIRST.
-
- When earth's foundation first was laid,
- The heavens in order stood;
- And all the works God's hand had made,
- His word pronounced good.
-
- But soon the happy scene was changed,
- For man to whom 'twas given,
- To choose the way of life or death,
- Trangressed the law of heaven.
-
- And thus the evil seed was sown,
- And death through all their race;
- In which creation long has groaned;
- In pain to be released.
-
- 'T was then the scene of love began
- To be revealed on earth;
- By angels borne from heaven to man
- The gospel's heavenly birth.
-
- The God of heaven shall send his son,
- For man to bleed and die;
- And rise again that man may rise,
- And reign with him on high.
-
- Repentance and baptism then
- By angels were revealed,
- The holy ghost descending down,
- The heirs of glory seal'd.
-
- Thus men began to exercise
- Their faith in Jesus' word,
- With joy to embrace the gospel plan,
- And call upon the Lord.
-
- But many then would not believe,
- But soon forgot the Lord;
- Soon Enoch rose with mighty power,
- Being call'd to preach the word.
-
- He preach'd repentance and baptized,
- Through all the happy land,
- The people who in Zion dwelt,
- Were of one heart and mind.
-
- At length the city was not found,
- For God received it up;
- The residue were left to drown,
- And in the prison shut.
-
- But Noah the Eighth was saved by faith,
- When warn'd an ark to build,
- And seven of his family,
- From whom the earth was fill'd.
-
-PART SECOND.
-
- Again the nations left the Lord
- To worship stocks and stones,
- Forgot the wonders of the flood,
- And sunk in darkness down;
-
- And then again was God reveal'd
- To Abram, his friend,
- Called him to leave his house and home,
- To view a chosen land.
-
- To thee and to thy seed, he said,
- I give this blessed land,
- Though like the stars for multitude,
- And numerous as the sand.
-
- But Abraham died a stranger in
- The land 'twas to him given,
- Nor owned a place to set his foot,
- On it beneath the heaven.
-
- His seed possessed it for a while,
- Became a sinful host;
- And then ten tribes were led away,
- And to our knowledge lost.
-
- From time to time were led away,
- Of Israel's chosen seed,
- Dispersed o'er islands of the sea,
- As all the prophets read.
-
- And thus the ages rolled away,
- The appointed time drew near,
- As all the prophets had declared
- That Christ must soon appear.
-
- John, like a bright and morning star
- Rose to prepare his way,
- Proclaimed repentance, and baptized
- Whoever would obey.
-
- The son of God at length appeared,
- And was baptized by John,
- The Father sent the spirit down
- And owned him for his son.
-
- He to his own the gospel preached,
- His own received him not,
- Despised all his mighty works,
- And counted him as naught.
-
- At length their Lord they crucified,
- While nature stood amazed,
- The solid rocks in sunder rent,
- While Jew and Gentile gazed.
-
- But soon the third bright morn appeared,
- When, rising from the dead,
- To his disciples he appeared
- And thus unto them said:
-
-PART THIRD.
-
- Go ye, and preach in all the world,
- Baptizing in my name,
- He that believes and is baptized
- Salvation shall obtain.
-
- Then rising from Mount Olivet
- Unto his Father's throne,
- On high to reign until he claims
- The kingdoms for his own.
-
- His servants then, in mighty power,
- Soon made his gospel known,
- The Jews reject while Gentiles come,
- And glad their Saviour own.
-
- The Jews dispersed through all the earth,
- Jerusalem trodden down,
- In desolation long has lain,
- And cursed has been the ground.
-
- The Gentile churches for a while
- Produced the natural fruit,
- Being grafted in the natural vine,
- Partaking of the root.
-
- But soon the fruit became corrupt,
- By flatteries and lies,
- Teachers in pride were puffed up,
- The simple truth despised.
-
- Great Babylon at length arose,
- In mighty power to reign,
- Nations and kings became corrupt,
- And many saints were slain.
-
- The scriptures of their plainness robbed,
- And mystery thrown around,
- That men might sup her golden cup,
- And all true knowledge drown.
-
- Thus generations long have passed,
- And age on ages rolled,
- The latter day approaching fast,
- Its glories to unfold.
-
- Our fathers of the Gentile race
- Traversed the western main,
- And found a wide extended land,
- Of valley, hill, and plain.
-
- This land was peopled with a race,
- Which long had dwelt alone,
- No record nor tradition traced
- Their origin unknown.
-
- The Lord in mercy has disclosed
- The truth so long concealed,
- The record found beneath the ground
- Has glorious things revealed.
-
- This is the land which Moses blessed,
- To Joseph and his seed;
- These are the everlasting hills,
- 'T was for his bounds decreed.
-
-
-
-CHARITY AND TRUE PATRIOTISM.
-
- Behold the man whose tender heart
- Expanded with a Saviour's love,
- Wide as eternity expands,
- His bowels with compassion move.
-
- He looks on Zion from afar,
- He hears the captive exiles groan,
- Then leaves his wife and children dear,
- His brethren and his peaceful home.
-
- And hastens at his Lord's command
- To call his brethren from afar,
- As volunteers for Zion's land,
- That in her sorrows they may share.
-
- He dare assert her injured cause,
- And sound the trump of freedom when
- They trample on his country's laws,
- And disregard both God and man.
-
- His distant brethren hear the sound,
- And rise to march to Zion's land;
- Behold the armies gathering round
- Against the powers of hell to stand.
-
- The little stone begins to roll,
- It shall prevail and never cease,
- But fill the earth from pole to pole
- With freedom, union, love and peace.
-
-
-
-THE OPENING OF THE DISPENSATION OF THE FULNESS OF TIMES.
-
- When earth in bondage long had lain,
- And darkness o'er the nations reigned,
- And all man's precepts proved in vain,
- A perfect system to obtain:
-
- A voice commissioned from on high;
- Hark, hark, it is the angel's cry,
- Descending from the throne of light,
- His garments shining clear and white.
-
- He comes the gospel to reveal
- In fulness, to the sons of men;
- Lo! from Cumorah's lonely hill,
- There comes a record of God's will!
-
- Translated by the power of God,
- His voice bears record to his word;
- Again an angel did appear,
- As witnesses do record bear.
-
- Restored the priesthood, long since lost,
- In truth and power as at the first,
- Thus men commissioned from on high,
- Came forth and did repentance cry.
-
- Baptizing those who did believe,
- That they the spirit might receive,
- In fullness as in days of old,
- And have one shepherd and one fold.
-
-SECOND PART.
-
- Ye Gentile nations, cease your strife,
- And listen to the words of life;
- Turn from your sins with one accord,
- Prepare to meet your coming Lord.
-
- Let Judah's remnants far and near
- The glorious proclamation hear,
- For Israel and the Gentiles too,
- The way to Zion shall pursue.
-
- Their voices and their tongues employ
- In songs of everlasting joy;
- The mountains and the hills rejoice,
- Let all creation hear his voice.
-
- From north to south, from east to west,
- In thee all nations shall be blessed,
- When Abram and his seed shall stand
- Unnumbered on the promised land.
-
-
-
-CHRIST'S MINISTRY TO THE NEPHITES.
-
- The solid rocks were rent in twain,
- When Christ the Lamb of God was slain;
- The sun in darkness veiled his face,
- The mountains moved and left their place.
-
- And all creation groaned in pain
- Till the Messiah rose again;
- When earth did cease her dreadful groans,
- The sun unveiled his face and shone;
-
- The righteous that were spared alive,
- With joy and wonder did believe,
- And soon together they convened
- Conversing on the things they'd seen:
-
- Which had been given for a sign,
- When lo, they heard a voice divine,
- And as the heavenly voice they heard
- The Lord of glory soon appeared.
-
-SECOND PART.
-
- With joy and wonder all amazed,
- Upon their glorious Lord they gazed,
- And wist not what the vision meant
- But thought it was an angel sent
-
- While in their midst he smiling stood,
- Proclaimed himself the son of God,
- He said come forth and feel and see,
- That you may witness bear of me.
-
- And when they all had felt and seen
- Where once the nails and spear had been,
- Hosanna they aloud proclaimed,
- And blessed and praised his holy name,
-
- He then proceeded to make plain
- His gospel to the sons of men,
- The prophecies he did unfold,
- Yea, things that were in days of old.
-
- And every thing that should transpire
- Till element should melt with fire,
- Commanding them for to record
- The sayings of their risen Lord;
-
- That generation should be blessed,
- And with him in his kingdom rest;
- But, O! what scenes of sorrow rolled
- When he the future did unfold!
-
-PART THIRD.
-
- Four generations should not pass
- Until they'd turn from righteousness,
- The Nephite nation be destroyed!
- The Lamanites reject his word,
-
- The gospel taken from their midst,
- The record of their fathers hid,
- They dwindle long in unbelief,
- And ages pass without relief,
-
- Until the Gentiles from afar,
- Should smite them in a dreadful war,
- And take possession of their land,
- And they should have no power to stand.
-
- But as their remnants wander far,
- In darkness, sorrow and despair,
- Lo! from the earth their record comes
- To gather Israel to their homes.
-
- First to the Gentiles 'tis revealed,
- The prophecy must be fulfilled;
- That they may know and understand
- His gospel, and no more contend.
-
- Hear! O ye Gentiles, and repent,
- To you is this salvation sent;
- God to the Gentiles lifts his hand,
- To gather Israel to their land.
-
-
-
-THE NEPHITES, LAMANITES AND GENTILES.
-
- O who that has search'd in the records of old,
- And read the last scenes of distress;
- Four and twenty were left who with Mormon beheld,
- While their nation lay mouldering to dust.
-
- The Nephites destroyed, the Lamanites dwelt,
- For ages in sorrow unknown;
- Generations have pass'd, till the Gentiles at last,
- Have divided their lands as their own.
-
- O, who that has seen o'er the wide spreading plain
- The Lamanites wander forlorn,
- While the Gentiles in pride and oppression divide
- The land they could once call their own.
-
- And who that believes does not long for the hour
- When sin and oppression shall cease,
- And truth, like the rainbow, display through the shower,
- That bright written promise of peace.
-
- O, thou afflicted and sorrowful race,
- The days of thy sorrow shall end;
- The Lord has pronounced you a remnant of His,
- Descended from Abram his friend.
-
- Thy stones with fair colors most glorious shall stand,
- And sapphires all shining around;
- Thy windows of agates in this glorious land,
- And thy gates with carbuncles abound.
-
- With songs of rejoicing to Zion return,
- And sorrow and sighing shall flee;
- The powers of heaven among you come down.
- And Christ in the centre will be.
-
- And then all the watchmen shall see eye to eye,
- When the Lord shall bring Zion again;
- The wolf and the kid down together shall lie,
- And the lion shall dwell with the lamb.
-
- The earth shall be filled with knowledge of God,
- And nothing shall hurt or destroy,
- And these are the tidings we have to proclaim,--
- Glad tidings abounding with joy.
-
-
-
-THE HARMONY OF NATURE, OR FREEDOM, PEACE, AND LOVE.
-
- Hark! listen to the gentle breeze,
- O'er hill or valley, plain or grove,
- It whispers in the ears of man,
- The voice of freedom, peace and love.
-
- The flowers that bloom o'er all the land,
- In harmony and order stand,
- Nor hatred, pride or envy know,
- In freedom, peace and love they grow.
-
- The birds their numerous notes resound,
- In songs of praise the earth around,
- Their voices and their tongues employ,
- In songs of freedom, love and joy.
-
- And then behold the crystal stream,
- With multitudes of fishes teem;
- In silent joy they live and move,
- In freedom, union, peace and love.
-
-SECOND PART.
-
- The mountains high, the rivers clear,
- Where heaven sheds her dews and tears,
- In silence, or with gentle roar,
- The God of love and peace adore.
-
- The earth, and air, and sea, and sky,
- The holy spirit from on high,
- And angels who above do reign,
- Cry peace on earth, good will to men.
-
- But most of all a Saviour's love,
- Was manifested from above,
- He died and rose to life again,
- Our freedom, love and peace to gain.
-
- But man,--vile man, alone seems lost,
- With hatred, pride and envy tossed,
- His hardened soul does seldom move,
- In freedom, union, peace or love.
-
- For him, let all creation mourn;
- O'er him did Enoch's bosom yearn,
- Till he was promised from above,
- A day of freedom, peace and love.
-
-
-
-INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS.
-
-"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
-
- This earth shall be a blessed place,
- To saints celestial given;
- Where Christ again shall show his face,
- With the redeemed of Adam's race,
- In clouds descend from heaven.
-
- Yes, when he comes on earth again,
- The wicked burn as stubble;
- Thus all his enemies are slain,
- And o'er the nations he shall reign,
- And end the scenes of trouble.
-
- The trump of war is heard no more,
- But all their strife is ended;
- While Jesus shall all things restore
- To order, as they were before,
- And peace o'er all extended.
-
- Sing, O ye heavens! let earth rejoice,
- While saints shall flow to Zion,
- And rear the temple of his choice,
- And in its courts unite their voice,
- In praise to Judah's Lion.
-
- Hosanna to the reign of peace!
- The day so long expected;
- When earth shall find a full release,
- The groanings of creation cease,
- The righteous well protected.
-
- Come, sound his praise in joyful strains.
- Who dwell beneath his banner;
- He'll bind old Satan fast in chains,
- And wide o'er earth's extended plains,
- The nations shout _Hosanna._
-
-
-
-REDEMPTION OF ZION.
-
- Lo, far in the realms of Missouri,
- When peace crowns the meek and the lowly,
- The loud storms of envy and folly
- May roll all their billows in vain.
-
- The wicked, with evil intention,
- May rouse all their powers of invention,
- With lying, intrigue and contention,
- Their end will be sorrow and pain.
-
- The saints, crowned with songs of rejoicing,
- To Zion shall flow from all nations,
- Escaping the great conflagration,
- They find out the regions of peace.
-
- Though scattered and driven asunder.
- As exiles and pilgrims to wander,
- A scene on which angels do ponder,
- Yet Jesus will bring their release.
-
- When empires of Babel shall tumble,
- Their fabrics in ashes shall crumble,
- The Lord will provide for the humble
- A city of refuge and peace.
-
- There, there the Lord will deliver
- The soul of each faithful believer,
- And save them forever and ever,
- And sorrow and sighing shall cease.
-
- The saints for those blessings aspire,
- And wait with exceeding desire,
- Till earth shall be cleansed by fire,
- And they their inheritance gain.
-
- Hosanna, such blessings inspire
- A song from the heavenly choir,
- They sing of the coming Messiah,
- From heaven in glory to reign.
-
-
-
-REFLECTIONS ON A SUMMER EVENING.
-
- Another day has fled and gone,
- The sun declines in western skies,
- The birds retired, have ceased their song,
- Let ours in pure devotion rise.
-
- The moon her splendid course resumes,
- She sheds her light o'er land and sea,
- The gentle dews in soft perfumes
- Fall sweetly o'er each herb and tree.
-
- While here in meditation sweet,
- Those happy hours I call to mind,
- When with the saints I oft have met,
- Our hearts in pure devotion joined.
-
- Those friends afar I call to mind,
- When shall we meet again below;
- Their hearts affectionate and kind,
- How did they soothe my grief and woe.
-
- As flow'rets in their brightest bloom,
- Are withered by the chilling blast,
- So man's fond hopes are like a dream,
- His days how fleet, how swift they pass.
-
- But cease this melancholy moan,
- Nor sigh for those who will not come,
- For Israel surely will return
- To Zion and Jerusalem.
-
- There is a source of pure delight
- For ever shall support my heart:
- For Zion's land's revealed to sight,
- Where saints will meet no more to part.
-
-
-
-MISSION OF THE TWELVE.
-
- How fleet the precious moments roll,
- How soon the harvest will be o'er:
- The watchmen seek their final rest,
- And lift a warning voice no more.
-
- Another year has roll'd away
- And took its thousands to the tomb;
- Its sorrows and its joys are fled,
- To hasten on the general doom.
-
- And eighteen hundred thirty five.
- Is rolling swiftly on the wing,
- And soon the leaves and tendrils thrive;
- A token of returning spring.
-
- The fulness of the gospel shines
- With glorious and resplendent rays;
- The earth and heav'ns show forth their signs.
- As tokens of the latter days.
-
-SECOND PART.
-
- Ye chosen twelve, to you are given,
- The keys of this last ministry--
- To every nation under heaven,
- From land to land, from sea to sea.
-
- First to the Gentiles sound the news
- Throughout Columbia's happy land,
- And then before it reach the Jews,
- Prepare on Europe's shores to stand.
-
- Let Europe's towns and cities hear
- The gospel tidings angels bring;
- The Gentile nations far and near,
- Prepare their hearts His praise to sing.
-
- India's and Afric's sultry plains
- Must hear the tidings as they roll--
- Where darkness, death and sorrow reign,
- And tyranny has long controlled.
-
- Listen, ye islands of the sea--
- For every isle shall hear the sound:
- Nations and tongues before unknown,
- Though long since lost, shall soon be found.
-
- And then again shall Asia hear,
- Where angels first the news proclaimed:
- Eternity shall record bear,
- And earth repeat the loud, Amen.
-
- The nations catch the pleasing sound,
- And Jew and Gentile swell the strain,
- Hosanna o'er the earth resound,
- Messiah then will come to reign.
-
-
-
-FAREWELL.
-
- Farewell, my kind and faithful friend--
- The partner of my early youth,
- While from my home my steps I bend,
- To warn mankind and teach the truth.
-
- How oft in silent evening mild,
- I to some lonely place retire--
- Thy love and kindness call to mind,
- Then lift a voice in humble prayer.
-
- O Lord, extend thine arms of love,
- Around the partner of my heart,
- For thou hast spoken from above,
- And called me with my all to part.
-
- Preserve her soul in perfect peace,
- From sickness, sorrow and distress,
- Until our pilgrimage shall cease.
- And we on Zion's hill shall rest.
-
- How gladly would my soul retire
- With thee, to spend a peaceful life,
- In some sequestered humble vale,
- Far from the scenes of noise and strife.
-
- Where men should grieve our souls no more,
- Nor rage of sin disturb our peace;
- Our troubles, toils and sufferings o'er,
- Their lies and persecutions cease.
-
-PART SECOND.
-
- But lo! the harvest wide extends--
- The fields are white o'er all the plain--
- The tares in bundles must be bound,
- While we with care secure the grain.
-
- Shall we repine when Jesus calls,
- Or count the sacrifice too great,
- To spend our lives as pilgrims here,
- Or loose them for the gospel's sake?
-
- When Jesus Christ has done the same,
- Without a place to lay his head,
- A pilgrim on the earth he came,
- Until for us his blood was shed.
-
- Shall we behold the nations doomed
- To sword and famine, blood and fire,
- Yet not the least exertion make,
- But from the scene in peace retire?
-
- No; while his love for me extends,
- The pattern makes my duty plain--
- I'll sound to earth's remotest ends,
- His gospel to the sons of men!
-
- Farewell, my kind and faithful friend,
- Until we meet on earth again--
- For soon our pilgrimage shall end,
- And the Messiah come to reign.
-
-
-
-REFLECTIONS.
-
-IN PRISON, APRIL, 1839.
-
- O freedom, must thy spirit now withdraw
- From earth, returning to its native heaven,
- There to dwell, till armed with sevenfold vengeance
- It comes again to earth with king Messiah,
- And all his marshalled hosts in glory bright,
- To tread the winepress of Almighty God,
- And none escape?--ye powers of heaven forbid;--
- Let freedom linger still on shores of time,
- And in the breasts of thine afflicted saints,
- Let freedom find a peaceful retirement,--
- A place of rest;--till o'er the troubled earth--
- Mercy, justice, and eternal truth,
- While journeying hand in hand to exalt the humble
- And debase the proud, shall find some nation
- Poor, oppressed, afflicted and despised,
- Cast out and trodden under foot of tyrants
- Proud, the hiss, the bye-word, and the scorn of knaves:--
- And there let freedom's spirit wide prevail.
- And grow, and flourish--'mid the humble poor,
- Exhalted and enriched by virtue,
- Knowledge, temperance, and love--till o'er the earth
- Messiah comes to reign;--the proud consumed.
- No more oppress the poor.--
- Let Freedom's eagle then, (forthcoming, like
- The Dove from Noah's Ark) on lofty pinions soar,
- And spread its wide domain from end to end,
- O'er all the vast expanse of this wide earth,--
- While freedom's Temple rears its lofty spires
- Amid the skies, and on its bosom rests!
- A cloud by day and flaming fire by night!!
- But stay, my spirit, though thou feign would'st soar
- On high; mid scenes of glory, peace and joy;
- From bondage free, and bid thy jail farewell:--
- Stop,--wait awhile,--let patience have her perfect work,
- Return again to suffering scenes through which
- The way to glory lies; and speak of things
- Around thee,--thou art in prison still.
- But spring has now returned, the wintry blasts
- Have ceased to howl through my prison crevices.
- The soft and gentle breezes of the south
- Are whistling gayly past; and incense sweet
- On zephyr's wing, with fragrance fills the air,
- Wafted from blooming flowrets of the spring;
- While round my lonely dungeon oft is heard
- Melodious strains as if the birds of spring
- In anthems sweet conspired to pity and
- Console the drooping spirits there confined.
- All things around me show that days, and weeks,
- And months have fled, although to me not mark'd
- By sabbaths--and but faintly mark'd by dim
- And sombre rays of light alternate mid
- The gloom of overhanging night which still
- Pervades my drear and solitary cell.
- Where now those helpless ones I left to mourn?
- Have they perished? no.--what then!--has some
- Elijah call'd and found them in the last
- Extreme, and multiplied their meal and oil?
- Yes, verily,--the Lord has fill'd the hearts
- Of his poor saints with everlasting love,
- Which, in proportion to their poverty,
- Increased with each increasing want, till all
- Reduced unto the widow's mite and then
- Like her, their living they put in, and thus
- O'erflowed the treasury of the Lord with more
- Abundant stores than all the wealth of kings.
- And thus supported, fed, and clothed; and moved
- From scenes of sorrow to a land of peace--
- They live!--and living still they do rejoice
- In tribulation deep:
- Well knowing their redemption draweth nigh!
-
-
-
-THE FALLS OF NIAGARA.
-
-WRITTEN IN PRISON.
-
- Boast not, O proud Niagara! although
- Thou mayest withstand the ravages of time,
- While countless millions swept away with all
- Their mighty works, are lost in following years:
- Yet there is a voice to speak, long and loud!
- 'Tis Michael's trump, whose mighty blast shall rend
- Thy rocks, and bow thy lofty mountains in the dust.
- Before whose awful presence thy waters
- Blush in retiring modesty; and in
- Respectful silence thou shalt stand, and listening,
- Wonder and admire, while thunders roll
- Majestic round the sky;--the lightnings play,--
- The mountains sink,--the valleys rise,--till earth,
- Restored to its original--receives
- Its final rest, and groans and sighs no more.
- Till then weep on, and let thy voice ascend,
- In solemn music to the skies;--it is
- A funeral dirge,--thou weepest o'er the miseries
- Of a fallen world--in anguish deep.
-
-
-
-SPRING.
-
-WRITTEN IN PRISON, APRIL, 1839.
-
- See nature bursting into life and bloom:
- Joyous, it rises from its wintry tomb,
- Decked in pure robes of purple, white, or green:
- Perfumed with incense sweet--O lovely scene!
- Melodious sounds, with music soft and sweet,
- Thrill through the air--thy joyous presence greet.
- Behold, O Mary! and remember too,
- There is a spring to bloom for me and you;--
- We, like the spring, shall burst the sullen gloom.
- All clothed in white--eternally to bloom.
- We too, will join the choir his praise to sing,
- And hail the welcome of Eternal Spring.
-
-
-
-SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
-
-WRITTEN IN PRISON.
-
- Lift up your heads, ye scattered saints,
- Redemption draweth nigh;
- Our Saviour hears the orphans' plaints';
- The widow's mournful cry.
-
- The blood of those who have been slain
- For vengeance cries aloud:
- Nor shall its cries ascend in vain,
- For vengeance on the proud.
-
- The signs in heaven and earth appear;
- And blood, and smoke, and fire;
- Men's hearts are failing them for fear;
- Redemption's drawing nigher.
-
- Earthquakes are bellowing 'neath the ground,
- And tempests through the air;--
- The trumpet's blast with fearful sound,
- Proclaims the alarm of war.
-
- The saints are scattered to and fro,
- Through all the earth abroad;
- The gospel trump again to blow,
- And then behold their God.
-
- Rejoice, ye servants of our God,
- Who to the end endure;
- Rejoice, for great is your reward,
- And your defence is sure.
-
- Although this body should be slain
- By cruel, wicked hands;
- I'll praise my God in higher strains,
- And on Mount Zion stand.
-
- Glory to God, ye saints rejoice,
- And sigh and groan no more;
- But listen to the spirit's voice;
- Redemption's at the door.
-
-
-
-BIRTHDAY
-
-IN PRISON, APRIL 12, 1839.
-
- This is the day that gave me birth
- In eighteen hundred seven;
- From worlds unseen I came to earth,
- Far from my native heaven.
-
- Thirty and two long years have pass'd,
- To grief and sorrow given;
- And now to crown my woes at last
- I am confined in prison.
-
- 'Tis not for crimes that I have done
- That to my foes I'm given,
- But to the world I am unknown,
- And my reward's in heaven.
-
- What troubled scenes may yet ensue
- To strew my path with sorrow,
- Is not for me to know, 'tis true,
- I boast not of to-morrow.
-
- One thing is sure, this life at best
- Is like a troubled ocean;
- I often wish myself at rest
- From all its dire commotion.
-
- But let its troubled bosom heave,
- Its surges beat around me;
- To truth, eternal truth, I cleave,
- Its floods can never drown me.
-
-
-
-ZION IN CAPTIVITY.
-
-A LAMENTATION.
-
-WRITTEN IN PRISON.
-
- Torn from our friends and captive led,
- 'Mid armed legions bound in chains,
- That peace for which our fathers bled
- Is gone, and dire confusion reigns.
-
- Zion, our peaceful happy home,
- Where oft we joined in praise and prayer,
- A desolation has become,
- And grief and sorrow linger there.
-
- Her virgins sigh, her widows mourn,
- Her children for their parents weep;
- In chains her priests and prophets groan,
- While some in deaths cold arms do sleep.
-
- Exultingly her savage foes
- Now ravage, steal and plunder, where
- A virgin's, tears, a widow's woes,
- Became their song of triumph there.
-
- How long, O Lord, wilt thou forsake
- The saints who tremble at thy word?
- Awake, O arm of God, awake--
- And teach the nations thou art God.
-
- Descend with all thy holy throng,
- The year of thy redeem'd bring near;
- Haste--haste the day of vengeance on--
- Bid Zion's children dry their tears.
-
- Deliver, Lord, thy captive saints,
- And comfort those who long have mourn'd;
- Bid Zion cease her dire complaints,
- And all creation cease to groan.
-
-
-
-OUR COUNTRY.
-
-AN EXTRACT.
-
-WRITTEN IN PRISON.
-
- Here nature too, her grandest works display;
- Sublimest themes inspire the Poet's lays,
- As if creative power in skill progressed,
- As onward still it moved towards the west.
-
- Till here it finished with a master hand
- Its mightiest works--to excel all other lands.
- In awful majesty our mountains rise,
- O'erlook the clouds, and tower amid the skies,
- Their lofty summits bid defiance bold,
- They fear no rival heights in older worlds.
-
- 'Tis true Himmaleh, (Asia's highest peak,)
- Has dared with Chimborazo to compete;
- But then our rocky summits--scarce explored
- Some nameless rival heights may yet afford;
- Whose towering pride shall seize the starry crown,
- And cast Himmaleh, humbled, to the ground.
-
- Our proud volcanoes, belching forth their flames,
- With smoke and lava, overwhelm the plains;
- Their lightnings play--their awful thunders roar,
- Convulse the earth and sea from shore to shore.
- Among them Cotopaxi's awful voice
- Would silence Etna,--drown Vesuvius' noise;
- While Europe wondering listens to admire
- The power superior of Columbia's fires.
-
- Our lakes, like inland seas expanding wide,
- Have not a parallel on earth beside.
- Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan,
- And vast Superior form the mighty plan,
- Their waves like oceans wash the verdant shore,
- In western wilds too boundless to explore.
-
- Can Europe, Africa, or Asia boast
- A lake compared with these in all their coasts?
- Our rivers too, pursue their lengthened way,
- From far off mountains to the distant sea,
- Through fertile vales,--the flowery meads along,
- And chiming still their gently murmuring song;
- Receiving grateful tribute as they run.
- From thousand streams all mingling into one.
-
- Lo! wild Missouri's waters have their source
- In unknown regions to the west and north,
- From limpid lakes or from the mountain snows,
- From thousand springing streams its current flows;
- Mid vast prairies, winds its lengthened way,
- Two thousand miles where savage hunters stray,
- Then quits its wildly wanderings to receive
- The busy hum of commerce on its wave.
-
- Two thousand more its rapid current flows,
- Receiving still large rivers as it goes,
- Young Empires flourish all along its tide,
- And joyous cities rise on every side.
- What is the boasted Nile compared with this?
- Its magnitude is lost in nothingness,
-
- Asia and Europe's longest, proudest streams
- 'Longside Missouri's tide how short they seem!
- Our cataracts too, in grandeur far outvie,
- The noblest waterfalls beyond the sea.
- See grand Niagara's stream majestic glide,
- The venturous steamer floating on its tide:
- Its limpid waters draining half a world,
- Into the yawning gulf are headlong hurled,
- And for a moment lose the light of day,--
- Dash on the rocks--then rise in misty spray.
-
- The playful sunbeams trembling kiss its tears,
- And from this loved embrace the bow appears;
- Commingling colors of the liveliest hue
- From purple red, to yellow, pink, and blue.
- These mingling join the sportive, airy dance,
- Their beauty half concealed from vulgar glance;
- Now veil'd in clouds--now bursting to the view
- In blushing modesty, the dance renew;
- While music rolls in awful, solemn sound,
- Heard in the distance, many leagues around.
-
- Or turn to Tequendama's awful steep,
- See wild Bogota's waters boldy leap,
- Down from the lofty Andes' heights of snow,
- To flowery plains, where spring's soft breezes blow:
- 'Mid scenes of majesty unrival'd stand,
- And view the wonders of Columbia's land.
- Our climate stretching far through every zone,
- Presents variety elsewhere unknown.
- Lo! in the North eternal winter reigns,
- And binds the ocean in his icy chains;
- Locked in the stupor of his cold embrace
- All nature seems to sleep:--yet here we trace
- Some signs of life,--of joy, and happiness,
- Some icy cottage of domestic bliss,
- Where love sits smiling, (from the blast secure)
- In native modesty,--with soul as pure,
- And chaste, and lovely, as their virgin snows,
- While to the chase her lord, or lover goes;
- And if per chance he takes a Bear, or Seal,
- Amid the dangers of the icy field,
- Returns in triumph to his humble cot
- Where lost in love his troubles are forgot.
- Our northern states present a clime severe,
- Where wintry blasts are howling half the year;
- But spring arising from its wintry tomb,
- Renew'd in freshness sheds a sweet perfume;
- Decked in pure robes of purple, white or green,
- Adorned with flowrets bright:--O, lovely scene!
- Melodious sounds of music, soft and sweet
- Thrill through the air,--it's joyous welcome greet.
- There autumn's richest blessings crown the year,
- And there the rose on beauty's cheek appears.
-
- Our southern climes for mildness may compare,
- With Italy, and France, whose gentle air
- Became the subject of the Poet's dream,
- Or breathed in music soft, the lover's theme.
- There rapturous passions kindle in the soul
- Their warmest fires,--impatient of control:
- There love's soft graces beam in woman's eye
- And beauty's cheek is tinged with paler dye.
- There balmy sweets perfume the breath of morn,
- And shady groves the noonday walks adorn;
- While gentle zephyrs kiss the blushing flowers,
- And healthful breezes cool the evening hours.
- Our soil, with Eden's garden would compare,
- Nay more,--forbidden fruit was growing there;
- But here the trees of life and knowledge stand reveal'd,
- And free to all,--no poison is conceal'd
- In wisdom's fruit,--Our Eves may satisfy
- Their souls with knowledge here; nor fear to die.
-
-
-
-O, MISSOURI, HOW ART THOU FALLEN!
-
-WRITTEN IN PRISON.
-
- Missouri, a country how sad and how low,
- How fallen from glory, from freedom, from pride,
- O, would that oblivion its mantle would throw
- O'er thee, and the depth of thy wickedness hide.
-
- Thou should'st never rejoice--think not of the day
- When Columbia for freedom first struggled so bold,
- When thousands assembled in battle array,
- The star-spangled banner of freedom unfurled;
-
- Think not of the patriots that bled in her cause,
- Who met all undaunted the foemen's dark brow,
- They gave to their country beneficent laws
- Of right and protection but where are they now?
-
- Disturb not the rest of the free and the brave,
- Enshrined deep in honor they sweetly repose,
- They swore that the banner of freedom should wave
- O'er their dear native land regardless of foes,
-
- But thou, O Missouri, hast trampled on all
- That free men would fight for or patriots feel
- O thou queen of the west how great is thy fall--
- Thy wounds deep and deadly no balsam can heal.
-
- Let us fly, let us fly to the land where the light
- Of Liberty's stars still illumine each spot,
- Where the cottager's smile for ever is bright,
- And the chains of a tyrant encircle us not.
-
- In the fair Illinois the eagle's bold wing
- Is stretched o'er a people determined and free,
- And the shouts of her sons in melody ring
- O'er her bower covered groves and fine prairie.
-
-
-
-A NEW YEAR'S SONG.
-
- This morning in silence I ponder and mourn,
- O'er the scenes that have passed no more to return,
- How vast are the labors, the troubles and fears,
- Of eight hundred millions who've toiled through the year.
-
- How many ten thousands were slain by their foes,
- While widows and orphans have mourn'd o'er their woes,
- While pestilence, famine and earthquakes appear,
- And signs in the heavens throughout the past year.
-
- How many been murder'd and plunder'd and robb'd,
- How many oppressed and driven by mobs,
- How oft have the heaven's bedewed with their tears
- The earth o'er the scenes they beheld the past year.
-
- But the day-star has dawn'd o'er the land of the bless'd,
- The first beams of morning, the morning or rest;
- When cleans'd from pollution the earth shall appear
- As the garden of Eden, and peace crown the year.
-
- Then welcome the new year, I hail with delight,
- The season approaching with time's rapid flight;
- While each fleeting moment brings near and more near,
- The day, long expected, the great thousand years.
-
- I praise and adore the eternal I Am;
- Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb,
- Who order the seasons that glide o'er the spheres,
- And crown with such blessings, each happy new year.
-
-
-
-A LAMENTATION.
-
-ON TAKING LEAVE OF NEW-YORK.
-
- Adieu to the city, where long I have wandered,
- To tell them of judgments and warn them to flee;
- How often in sorrow, their woes I have pondered:
- Perhaps in affliction, they'll think upon me.
-
- With a tear of compassion, in silence retiring,
- The last ray of hope for your safety expiring;
- A feeling of pity this bosom inspiring--
- Sing this lamentation and think upon me.
-
- How often at evening your halls have resounded
- With th' pure testimony of Jesus, so free;
- While the meek were rejoicing, the proud were confounded,
- The poor had the gospel;--they'll think upon me.
-
- When Empires shall tremble at Israel returning,
- And earth shall be cleans'd by the Spirit of burning;
- When proud men shall perish, and Priests with their learning,--
- Sing this lamentation, and think upon me.
-
- When the Union is severed, and liberty's blessings
- Withheld from the sons of Columbia, once free;
- When bloodshed and war, and famine d'stress them,
- Remember the warning! and think upon me.
-
- When this mighty city shall crumble to ruin,
- And sink as a millstone, the merchants undoing;
- The ransom'd, the highway of Zion pursuing,--
- Sing this lamentation, and think upon me.
-
-
-
-LAMENTATION BY P. P. PRATT.
-
-IN MEMORY OP HIS DEPARTED WIFE, WHO DIED, MARCH 25, 1837.
-
- The joys of home I once have tasted,
- All its pleasures called my own;
- Friendship's purest pleasures graced it,
- But they're gone,--I'm left alone,
-
- Now no more that smile of gladness
- Welcomes me at my return;
- But a lonely, solemn sadness:
- Oh she's gone,--I'm left alone!
-
- Oft when clouds of care and trouble,
- Like a tempest o'er me roll'd,
- A look, a word, an act of kindness,
- Served to calm my troubled soul.
-
- When by pain and sickness wasted,
- Oft she lingered near my bed;
- Fed me, nursed me as an angel,
- Washed my feet or bathed my head.
-
- When to western wilds I wandered,
- Rear'd in solitude my cot;
- Clear'd away the gloomy forest,--
- She with flowers adorned the spot.
-
- When by ruthless mobs was driven,
- Wounded, bleeding, from my home,
- Wandering in a land of strangers,
- Pilgrim like she with me roamed.
-
- When in distant climes I wander'd,
- To bear glad tidings to mankind;
- She shared my toils and travels gladly,
- Or would consent to stay behind.
-
- Returning from a distant journey,
- She always met me with a smile;
- Wash'd my feet and changed my raiment,
- And bade me rest from all my toil.
-
- But now alone I'm left to wander,
- From land to land, from sea to sea;
- And none except my only offspring
- Will scarce inquire what comes of me.
-
- And e'n to him I'll seem a stranger,
- While he is reared by other hands;
- He'll hardly feel I am his father,
- When I return from distant lands.
-
- What is it then for which I linger,
- Still in this dark and dreary waste?
- Where nothing centers my affection,
- Where others' joys I cannot taste.
-
- If I must still consent to tarry,
- 'Twill be to bear another's grief:
- To save mankind from sin and sorrow,
- And bring the broken heart relief.
-
- To comfort those who mourn in Zion,
- And bid ten thousand others come;
- Where the widow, orphan, virgin,
- And the poor may find a home.
-
-
-
-FUNERAL HYMN.
-
-ON THE DEATH OF MRS. PRATT.
-
- Creation speaks with awful voice--
- Hark! 'tis a universal groan
- Re-echoes through the vast extent
- Of worlds unnumbered called to mourn.
-
- For sickness, sorrow, pain and death,
- With awful tyranny have reigned;
- While all eternity has shed
- Her tears of sorrow o'er the slain.
-
- But hark, again; a voice is heard,
- Resounding through the sullen gloom;
- A mighty conquerer has appear'd,
- And rose triumphant from the tomb.
-
- No longer let creation mourn;
- Ye sons of sorrow, dry your tears;
- Life--life--eternal life is ours,
- Dismiss your doubts, dispel your fears.
-
- The King shall soon in clouds descend,
- With all the heav'nly hosts above;
- The dead shall rise and hail their friends,
- And always dwell with those they love.
-
- No tears, no sorrow, death or pain,
- Shall e'er be known to enter there;
- But perfect peace, immortal bloom,
- Shall reign triumphant ev'ry where!
-
-
-
-FAREWELL MEMORIAL.
-
- Keep these few lines till time shall end,
- In memory of your absent friend;
- Who wanders o'er life's boisterous wave,
- The meek, the humble poor to save.
-
- While I endure I'll spend my breath
- In prayer for those who love the truth.
- In distant lands I'll call to mind,
- My true and faithful friends so kind.
-
- Let these few lines adorn the place
- Where you retire to seek his grace;
- Then lift your voice in humble prayer,
- For him whose lines are hanging there.
-
-
-
-THE PILGRIM.
-
- On the shores of Ontario I'm now doom'd to wander.
- A pilgrim in exile, a stranger I roam,
- While the prince and the beggar, the wise and the simple,
- In palace or cottage can each find a home.
- The foxes have holes and the birds they have nests,
- And all but a preacher has somewhere to rest.
-
-
-
-GENERAL CONFERENCE, FAREWELL.
-
- Farewell, ye servants of the Lord,
- To whom we oft have preach'd the word;
- May you improve the wisdom given,
- And lead ten thousand souls to heaven.
-
- Farewell, ye saints of latter days,
- With whom we've met in prayer and praise,
- In whose kind hearts the truth has shone,
- By which we're gathered all in one.
-
- Farewell kind friends, whose hearts are true
- We can no longer stay with you;
- Arise--the voice of truth obey,
- O come and wash your sins away.
-
- Farewell to all whose stubborn wills
- Bind them in chains of darkness still:
- Our voice no longer you shall hear,
- Till Jesus shall in clouds appear:
-
- Then you shall see, and hear, and know,
- What you rejected here below.
- Though you may sink in endless pain,
- Yet _truth eternal will remain_.
-
-
-
-THE DOWNFALL OF BABYLON
-
- An angel of glory from heaven descended,
- While his power and glory enlightened the earth;
- With a voice strong and mighty, his cry was extended,
- Babylon is fallen and hushed in her mirth;
-
- The dwelling of devils and every foul spirit,
- The cage of uncleanness and of hateful birds.
- All nations had tasted her wine and were drunken,
- But now she is fallen the angel brings word;
-
- Her merchants were great men, and through her abundance,
- They long had wax'd rich in her traffic though vain,
- But now she is fallen,--is fallen,--is fallen,
- Her riches and glory have ended in pain;
-
- Her plagues in one day--death, mourning and famine,
- And flame shall devour her and burn her withal;
- The kings of the earth at the smoke of her burning,
- Shall stand afar off and lament her sad fall.
-
- Her merchants shall weep for their traffic is ended,
- Their gold and their silver, their stones and their pearls,
- Their linen and purple, their silk and their scarlet,
- And all things that wealth could procure in the world.
-
- Their vessels of ivory and brass, iron and marble,
- And cinnamon and odours, frankincense and wine.
- And oil and fine flour, wheat, beasts, sheep and horses,
- And chariots and slaves, and the souls of mankind.
-
- Rejoice, O thou Heaven! ye holy apostles,
- And prophets for God hath avenged you withal,
- For like a great millstone doth sink in the ocean,
- E'en so on a sudden shall Babylon fall;
-
- The voice of musicians, the harp and the pipers,
- And trumpets and organs no longer shall sound,
- No craftsmen, mechanic or workman whatever,
- Within thy dominion shall ever be found;
-
- No more shall the sound of a millstone be heard,
- The light of a candle no more in thee shine,
- The voice of the bridegroom and bride ever silent,
- Darkness and sorrow, and death shall be thine.
-
-
-
-PRATT'S DEFENCE
-
-BEFORE THE AUTHORITIES OF MISSOURI.
-
- As down in a lone dungeon with darkness o'er-spread,
- In silence and sorrow I made my lone bed,
- While far from my prison my friends had retired,
- And joy from this bosom had almost expired.
-
- From all that was lovely constrained for to part,
- From wife and from children so dear to my heart;
- While foes were exulting, and friends far away,
- In half broken slumbers all pensive I lay.
-
- I thought upon Zion--her sorrowful doom:--
- I thought on her anguish--her trouble and gloom.
- How for years she had wandered, a captive forlorn,
- Cast out and afflicted, and treated with scorn.
-
- I thought on the time when some five years ago,
- Twelve hundred from Jackson were driven by foes,
- While two hundred houses to ashes were burned;--
- Our flourishing fields to a desert were turned.
-
- I remembered these crimes still unpunished remained,
- And the like oft repeated--again, and again,
- From counties adjoining, compelled to remove,
- We purchased in Caldwell, Prairie and Grove.
-
- And there 'mid the wild flowers that bloomed o'e the plain,
- Our rights and our freedom we thought to maintain:
- Nor dreamed that oppression would drive us from thence,
- The laws of our country we claimed for defence
-
- But soon as kind autumn rewarded our toil,
- And plenty around us began for to smile,
- Our foes were assembled--being tempted with gain;
- To ravage and plunder, and drive us again.
-
- When many were driven, and plundered, and robb'd.
- And some had been murdered by this dreadful mob,--
- When cries for redress and protection were vain,
- We arose in our strength our own rights to maintain.
-
- The mob soon dispersed, to the Rulers appealed,
- Saying, lend us your aid, and the Mormons will yield,
- For surely they never were known to resist
- A mob when commissioned by Rulers and Priests.
-
- This soon was considered by far the best plan;
- And orders were issued for ten thousand men,
- Including the Wilsons, and Gillums, of course,
- And all the mob forces, for better, for worse.
-
- These soon were forthcoming, in dreadful array!
- Some painted like Indians, all armed for the fray!
- The Mormons soon yielded without the first fire,
- And the mobers accomplished their utmost desire.
-
- Some females were ravished--and cattle and grain
- Became a free booty--and one pris'ner slain.
- Some twenty or thirty were murdered outright,
- And ten thousand others were BANISHED THE STATE!
-
- By what LAW of the Statute to me is unknown;
- But it must be by law all these great things were done;
- For the next Legislature the expense to defray,
- Voted two hundred thousand the soldiers to pay.
-
- To resist THIS oppression--THESE excellent laws,
- Was murder! and treason!! (in technical clause,)
- So while women and children were driven away
- Their husbands and fathers in prison must stay.
-
- So now to the jury and judge I submit;
- I'm not learned in _such_ laws,--they may hang or acquit--
- But though they should hang me, or keep me in jail,
- The spirit of Freedom and Truth will prevail.
-
-
-
-PRATT'S DELIVERANCE.
-
-"The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed."
-
-ISAIAH.
-
- The chains are rent, the dungeon's gloom
- No more these active limbs confine.
- I rise as from the dreary tomb,
- Where long in prison I repined.
-
- I mount--I fly--I haste away,
- Buoyed, as it were, on angel's wings;
- O home! O friends! O liberty!--
- O God of strength, thy praise I'll sing.
-
- Hosanna now in highest strains,
- Glory to God and to the Lamb,
- Hosanna to the king who reigns
- In heaven and earth--the great I Am.
-
-
-
-VISIT TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
-
-[Extract from the Author's Journal.]
-
-When we came near the base of the mountain, two beautiful and
-transparent lakes, surrounded with a romantic forest of evergreen, and
-other trees, added greatly to the interest of the scene. Between these
-lakes a mansion was reared for the public entertainment of those whom
-curiosity draws to the place. This house furnished pleasure boats,
-fishing apparatus, guides, &c., for the accommodation of parties
-of pleasure, and others who wished to spend a few hours amid these
-romantic and picturesque scenes of sublimity and grandeur, where nature
-in her wildest freaks had combined the gentle and lovely, which seems
-to soothe and calm the spirits with the awfully grand, the terribly
-majestic, and the wild and romantic, as if calculated at once to
-interest the curious, to please the merry, to add gloom to solitude,
-and fervor to devotion; and in a word, to fill the contemplative mind
-with the highest degree of wonder and admiration. Our road led directly
-between the two small lakes, through what is called the notch. The
-mountains on each hand reared their majestic piles almost perpendicular
-for many hundred feet.
-
- While clouds hung lowering on their bosoms,
- And their tall summits high above
- The misty vapors stood in awful pride,
- And still serenely smiled amid clear skies,
- And all the splendor of the morning sun.
-
-When we had passed between the lakes and walked a short distance, we
-left the road and took a footpath to the left hand, and commenced our
-ascent up the steep sides of the mountain. Our path for many hundred
-feet was very steep, and in many places almost perpendicular; but
-the rough fragments of rock afforded steps; and these, together with
-twigs and shrubs which we seized with our hands, enabled us to climb
-with some degree of safety as well as speed. When we had arrived at
-the distance of perhaps half a mile, the scene was truly awful. Huge
-fragments of rock were thrown together in inconceivable confusion, as
-if by some terrible convulsion of nature; recalling to mind a time long
-since passed, when
-
- Earth with a tremendous groan,
- Did for a dying Jesus mourn.
-
-Passing still onward on our airy way, the timber began to be of a
-different variety, suited to a colder climate, and fast diminishing in
-its size, until at length we were only surrounded with dwarf cedars,
-or spruce; and still higher up, even these ceased to vegetate, and
-a bleak, bald, and rocky summit still reared its dreary head a vast
-distance above us. At the point where vegetation ceased, we found a
-small lake several rods in circumference probably fed by the melting
-snows which lay upon the mountain most of the year.
-
-Leaving this curiosity below us, we continued our ascent over rocky
-steeps, mostly covered with moss; and after a laborious journey of some
-hours we found ourselves on the highest pinnacle of Mt. Lafayette,
-while far beneath us we beheld the summits of many other mountains,
-clothed with evergreen; and beyond these on all sides lay a beautiful
-scenery of
-
- Farms, and fields and meadows gay,
- While in the distance far away,
- The flocks in sportive groups assembled,
- Limpid lakes in sunbeams trembled,
- Huts with rural scenes surrounded,
- Mansions fair and bright abounded;
- While zephyrs sweet perfumed the air,
- From roses, pinks, and lilies fair;
- While far o'er eastern hills we view
- The briny ocean's distant blue,
- And mark its waves in distance dwindle,
- Till with the heavens they seem to mingle.
- When all at once the scenes around us
- Are veiled from view, and clouds surround us,
- And far beneath, and high above,
- Swift through the air the vapors move.
-
-Although it was now in the sultry heat of summer, yet our vast
-elevation caused a coldness which seemed winterlike; and although
-dressed in winter clothing, we were soon so chilled as to shake at
-every limb. After offering our prayers and thanks to the Maker of
-heaven and earth, we again descended; and when we had come down about
-half way we were out of the cloud, and again enjoyed the pure air of
-the lower atmosphere, while the warm and gentle breezes of summer soon
-warmed and restored our benumbed limbs to their proper temperature.
-Inspired with sublimer and nobler thoughts of nature and of nature's
-God, we pursued our course a few miles on our way, and being weary we
-called at a humble dwelling, were kindly received, and after partaking
-of such simple refreshments as the place afforded, with appetites
-sharpened with fatigue, we retired to rest, and resigned the night to
-sweet repose.
-
-
-
-THE REGENERATION
-
-AND
-
-ETERNAL DURATION OF MATTER.
-
-"The Elements are Eternal."
-
-WRITTEN IN PRISON.
-
- "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things
- new. And he said unto me write, for these words are true and
- faithful." Rev. xxi. 5.
-
-Matter and Spirit are the two great principles of all existence. Every
-thing animate and inanimate is composed of one or the other, or both
-of these eternal principles. I say eternal, because the elements are
-as durable as the quickening power which exists in them. Matter and
-spirit are of equal duration; both are self-existent,--they never began
-to exist, and they never can be annihilated. We do not enter upon
-this boundless subject as a matter of mere speculative philosophy,
-calculated in its nature merely to charm the imagination--to interest
-the curious, or to please the learned. So far from this, we consider
-it a subject of deep and thrilling interest to all the human family.
-A subject equally interesting to Jew, and Christian; Mahommedan and
-Pagan; the wise and the simple; the learned, and the ignorant--all--all
-are journeying swiftly through time, and are bound to eternity.
-All are lovers of life and happiness; all are looking forward with
-inexpressible anxiety to the unexplored regions of futurity.
-
-The Jew, as he follows his aged parent, his bosom friend, or his tender
-offspring to the sepulchre of his fathers, while his bosom heaves with
-anguish, grief and sorrow, is still comforted with sure and certain
-hope of their being raised from the dead with the whole of Israel's
-race, and clothed upon with flesh; and of their being restored again to
-that land which was given to them and their fathers for an everlasting
-inheritance: while David takes his seat in the holy city and reigns
-over the twelve tribes forever and ever.
-
-The modern Christian when called upon to endure the pangs of grief and
-sorrow, in following to the grave his nearest friends, is comforted
-with the hope of a spiritual existence, in a world far distant from
-his native earth; and far beyond the bounds of time and space, where
-spirits mingle in eternal joy and everlasting song; and although the
-body should rise from the dead, yet they suppose that the whole will
-become spirit unconnected with matter, and soar away to worlds on high,
-free from all the elements of which their nature was composed in this
-life; and thus enjoy eternal life and happiness, while matter,
-
- Animate and inanimate shall cease to be;
- And no more place be found for Heaven, Earth, or Sea.--
-
-The Mahommedan is equally subject to all the heart-rending grief
-and anguish, which others feel at the loss of friends; but comforts
-himself with the thoughts of one day gaining a paradise of sensual
-pleasures; where, with all his faithful friends, he expects to bask
-forever in all the enjoyments of sensuality. He dreams of trees loaded
-with delicious fruits, and bending their branches invitingly to his
-appetite;--and of gardens and pleasure grounds, adorned with pleasant
-walks--with cooling shades and with blooming sweets which perfume the
-air; and surrounded with fields of spices more delicious than all the
-productions of Arabia: while his golden palaces and seraglios are
-thronged with myriads of delightful virgins, more pure and beautiful
-than the fairest daughters of Circassia. With these he hopes to spend a
-life of pleasures forevermore.
-
-The Pagan too, in turn, when bowed down with grief and sorrow, finds
-some relief in anticipation of a future existence--some shady forest
-filled with game--some delightful prairie of blooming flowers--some
-humble heaven behind the cloud-topped hill, where he hopes to join his
-wife, his children, his brothers, his fathers; and in their society to
-spend a peaceful eternity in all the enjoyments of domestic life, while
-his faithful horse and dog shall bear him company. These are the hopes
-and anticipations which serve to dry his tears,--to calm his heaving
-bosom, and to his troubled spirit whisper peace. How desirable then is
-a just and correct knowledge on this all-important subject. Who does
-not desire to become acquainted as far as possible with the nature of
-that eternal state of existence to which we are all hastening? We are
-dependent alone on the light of revelation and reason, for any just
-and correct information on this subject. Moses, in his account of the
-creation, commences thus:
-
-[Hebrew Text]
-
-Which may with propriety be translated thus: "In the beginning God made
-(or formed) the heavens and the earth, and the earth she was empty and
-desolate; and darkness upon the faces of the abyss; and the wind of God
-was brooding over the faces of the waters."
-
-Moses did not see fit to inform us of what kind of materials the Lord
-formed the earth, and indeed there was no need of revelation to guide
-us on that subject; for we see for ourselves that it is composed of the
-common elements which constitute matter in general, and of course this
-element or matter already existed, and that too in sufficient quantity
-for the formation of a globe like this. From the Mosaic account of
-the creation, many have gathered the idea that God created all things
-out of nonentity,--that solid matter sprung from nothing. But this is
-for want of reflection, or an exercise of reason on the subject; for
-instance, when a child inquires of its father, saying, father, who
-made this house? the father replies, the carpenter made it. Again, the
-child inquires, who made me? the father replies, the Lord made you.
-Again, the child inquires, who made the earth? the father replies, the
-Lord made the earth, and all things upon the face thereof. Now the
-child might suppose that the carpenter created the house without any
-materials; that he brought it into existence from nothing; and so, with
-equal propriety, he might suppose that he was formed from nothing;
-when in fact he was formed of materials which grew out of the earth.
-And with the same degree of impropriety we might suppose that God made
-the earth from nothing, when in fact he made it out of self-existing
-element:
-
-It is impossible for a mechanic to make any thing whatever without
-materials. So it is equally impossible for God to bring forth matter
-from nonentity, or to originate element from nothing, because this
-would contradict the law of truth, and destroy himself. We might as
-well say, that God can add two and three together, and the product will
-be twelve; or that he can subtract five from ten and leave eight, as
-to say that he can originate matter from nonentity; because these are
-principles of eternal truth, they are laws which cannot be broken, that
-two and three are five, that five from ten leaves five, and that nought
-from nought leaves nought; and a hundred noughts added together is
-nothing still. In all these, the product is determined by unchangeable
-laws, whether the reckoning be calculated by the Almighty, or by man,
-the result is precisely the same.
-
-Here then, is mathematical demonstration that it is not in the power of
-any being to originate matter. Hence we conclude that matter as well
-as spirit is eternal, uncreated, self-existing. However infinite the
-variety of its changes, forms and shapes;--however vast and varying the
-parts it has to act in the great theatre of the universe;--whatever
-sphere its several parts may be destined to fill in the boundless
-organization of infinite wisdom, yet it is there, durable as the throne
-of Jehovah. And Eternity is inscribed in indelible characters on every
-particle. Revolution may succeed revolution,--vegetation may bloom and
-flourish, and fall again to decay in the revolving seasons--generation
-upon generation may pass away and others still succeed--empires may
-fall to ruin, and moulder to the dust and be forgotten--the marble
-monuments of antiquity may crumble to atoms and mingle in the common
-ruin--the mightiest works of art, with all their glory, may sink in
-oblivion and be remembered no more--worlds may startle from their
-orbits, and hurling from their spheres, run lawless on each other in
-conceivable confusion--element may war with element in awful majesty,
-while thunders roll from sky to sky, and arrows of lightning break the
-mountains asunder--scatter the rocks like hailstones--set worlds on
-fire, and melt the elements with fervent heat, and yet not one grain
-can be lost--not one particle can be annihilated. All these revolutions
-and convulsions of nature will only serve to refine, purify, and
-finally restore and renew the elements upon which they act. And like
-the sunshine after a storm, or like gold seven times tried in the fire,
-they will shine forth with additional lustre as they roll in their
-eternal spheres, in their glory, in the midst of the power of God.
-
-When in the progress of the endless works of Deity, the full time had
-arrived for infinite wisdom to organize this sphere, and its attendant
-worlds, and to set them in motion in their order amid the vast
-machinery of the universe,--when first the morning stars sang together,
-and all the sons of God shouted for joy, at the grand occasion of the
-acquisition of a new system to the boundless variety of his works, all
-was pronounced very good. The waters, obedient to his word, retired
-within their respective limits, and filled with the quickening, or
-life-giving principle, which we call spirit, they produced living
-creatures in abundance, and very soon the vasty deep was found teeming
-with animal life in countless variety, and in regular gradation, from
-the monster Leviathan to the shell-fish; or descending down the scale
-of existence to the minutest speck which is only to be discerned by
-the aid of powerful glasses. The air swarmed with an almost infinite
-variety of animal life, from the lofty and aspiring eagle which soars
-on high, and seems to dip his wing in ether blue, to the humming bird
-which darts from flower to flower, and hides itself amid the blooming
-sweets of spring, or descending still, to the puny nations of insects
-which swarm in clouds of blue on the summer breath of morn: all, all
-the air seemed life and happiness.
-
-The Dry Land, organized in its own proper sphere, presented a surface
-every where well watered, abounding in springs, streams and rivulets,
-and uninterrupted by any of the rough, broken, rugged deformities which
-now present themselves on every side. Its surface was smooth, or gently
-undulating, and delightfully varied. Its soil enriched by the dew of
-heaven, and impregnated with the spirit of animal and vegetable life,
-soon poured forth a luxuriant growth, not of noxious weeds, and thorns
-and thistles, but of fruit trees, and herbs, all useful for the food
-of man or animal, fowl or creeping thing. And soon, too, it brought
-forth from its bosom every varied species of the animal race, from
-the ponderous mammoth or the mighty elephant, down to the mole; or
-descending still in the scale of existence, to the smallest creeping
-thing that specks the surface of the rock, or mantles the standing pool
-with varied life.
-
-Its Climate, free, alike from the noxious vapors and melting heats
-of the torrid zone, and the chilling blasts of the polar regions,
-was delightfully varied by the moderate changes of heat and cold
-which only tended to crown the varied year with the greater variety
-of productions. Streams of life, and odors of healthful sweets came
-floating on every breeze. Thus earth, so lately a vast scene of
-emptiness and desolation, burst from its solitude arrayed in its robes
-of splendor; and where silence had reigned through the vast expanse,
-innumerable sounds now reverberated on the air, and melting strains of
-music re-echoing in the distant groves, stole upon the ears of admiring
-angels, and proclaimed the gladsome news of a new world of animated
-life and joy.
-
-Thus all was prepared and finished, and creation complete. All save
-the great masterpiece, the head and governor, who was destined to rule
-or preside over this new kingdom. This personage, designed as the
-noblest of all the works of Deity, was formed of earth by the immediate
-hand of God; being fashioned in the express likeness and image of the
-Father and the Son, while the breath of the Almighty breathed into
-his nostrils,--quickened him with life and animation. Thus formed of
-noble principles, and bearing in his godlike features the emblems of
-authority and dominion, he was placed on the throne of power, in the
-midst of the paradise of God, and to him was committed power, and
-glory, and dominion, and the kingdom, and the greatness of the kingdom
-under the whole heaven. From the bosom of this noble being, or rather
-from his side emanated woman. She being composed or fashioned from his
-bone and from his flesh, and undergoing another process of refinement
-in her formation, she became more exquisitely fine, beautiful and
-delightsome; combining in her person and features the noble and
-majestic expression of manhood, with the soft and gentle, the modest
-and retiring graces of angelic sweetness and purity, as if destined
-to grace the dignity of manhood,--to heighten the charms of domestic
-life,--to delight the heart of her lord, and to share with him the
-enjoyments of life, as well as to nourish and sustain the embryo, and
-rear the tender offspring of her species, and thus fill the earth with
-myriads of happy and intelligent beings. O reader, contemplate with me
-the beauty, the glory, the excellence, the perfection of the works of
-creation as they rolled from the hand of omnipotent power and wisdom,
-and were pronounced good--very good, by him whose hand had formed
-them, and whose eye surveyed them at a single glance. Tell me, O man,
-which of all these works was formed for decay? and which in themselves
-possessed the seeds of mortality, the principles of dissolution and
-destruction? Tell me, was there any curse, or poison, or death inherent
-in or appertaining to any department of existing matter? Tell me, were
-any of these works so calculated in their physical construction as
-to be incapable of eternal duration? Was there any death, or sorrow,
-pain or sickness, sighing, groaning, tears or weeping? Was there any
-thing to hurt or destroy in all the holy mountain? The answer to all
-these questions is plain, positive and definite, if the sacred writings
-may be relied on as decisive evidence. We are informed in scripture
-that sin entered into the world, and Death by sin. That by one man
-came death, and that the devil had the power of death. We are also
-informed that the ground was cursed for man's sake, and its productions
-materially changed. In short, the great head and ruler, with his fair
-consort were subjected to many curses and troubles while in life, and
-with them all the productions of the animal and vegetable kingdoms,
-together with the earth itself were subjected to the dominion of the
-curse. Thus creation felt the blow to its utmost verge, and has groaned
-in pain for deliverance until now. From all these declarations of
-holy writ, and from many other proofs which might easily be adduced,
-we feel ourselves safe in saying that Sin is the sole cause of decay,
-or death. If there had been no sin, there would have been no death,
-no dissolution, no disorganization, no decay, no sorrow and groaning,
-tears or weeping; neither would there have been any pain, but creation
-would have continued in the same state to an endless duration. O sin,
-what hast thou done! Thou hast hurled man from his blissful domain,
-and hast reduced him from a throne of power and dominion to a state of
-servitude, where sunk in sorrow and misery, he groans out a wretched
-existence, which terminates in painful dissolution, and he mingles with
-his mother earth and is forgotten and lost amid the general ruin.
-
-Thou hast converted a garden of delicious fruits and blooming flowers
-into a gloomy forest of thorns and thistles. Thou hast transformed a
-world of life, joy and happiness into the abodes of wretchedness and
-misery, where sighing, groaning, tears and weeping are mingled in
-almost every cup. By thee the earth has been filled with violence and
-oppression; and man, moved by hatred, envy, avarice or ambition, has
-often embrued his hands in the blood of his fellow man, by which the
-fairest portions of the earth have been made desolate,--the abodes of
-domestic happiness turned to sorrow and loneliness,--the happy wife and
-tender offspring have become widows and orphans,--the bride has been
-left to mourn in irretrievable anguish, and the virgin to drop a silent
-tear over the ruined fragments of departed loveliness. By thee the
-world has been deluged with a flood of waters, and unnumbered millions
-swept at once from the stage of action and mingled in the common ruin,
-unwept and unlamented save by the tears of heaven, or by the eight
-solitary inhabitants of the ark who alone escaped to tell the news. By
-thy ravages empires have fallen to ruin, and cities become heaps. The
-fruitful plains of Shinar, and the splendid palaces of Babylon have
-been doomed to perpetual waste and and irretrievable desolation, never
-to be inhabited; not even as a temporary residence for the wandering
-Arab.(And the Arabian shall not pitch tent there. See Isaiah XIII,
-20.) By thee the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the flourishing
-country about them, once extremely fertile, and watered as the garden
-of Eden, have been desolated by fire, and perhaps overwhelmed by a
-sea of stagnant waters. By thee the land of Edom, once a flourishing
-empire, possessing a productive and well cultivated soil, and every
-where adorned with flourishing villages, and splendid cities, has
-become desolate, without inhabitants; and the Lord has cast upon it
-the stones of emptiness, and the line of confusion. It has lain waste
-from generation to generation, as a haunt for wild beasts of the
-desert, a court for owls, and a place for the cormorant and bittern.
-On account of thee, the city of Jerusalem has long lain in ruins, the
-land of Judea is desolate, and their holy and beautiful house where
-their fathers praised Jehovah is burned with fire; while the Jews have
-long remained in exile among the nations, in fulfilment of that awful
-imprecation "his blood be upon us and our children." By thy power the
-once mighty empires of Greece and Rome have been shaken to the centre,
-and have fallen to rise no more; and before thy desolating blast,
-almost innumerable provinces lay in ruin. The waste deserts of burning
-sand--the sunken and stagnant lakes and miry swamps--the innumerable
-rockey barrens and mountainous steeps--the desolate and dreary wastes
-of the polar regions--these all present but so many monuments to thy
-memory--they speak in language not to be misunderstood, that sin has
-been there, with its dreadful train of curses, under which they groan
-in pain to be delivered.
-
-The solid rocks have burst asunder at thy withering touch; they
-have been rent in twain, and hurled from their firm foundations by
-thy mighty power: and they lay scattered in broken fragments and
-ruined heaps as monuments of agonizing nature; and as a testimony of
-the heaving sighs, the convulsive quakings, and dreadful groanings
-of the earth itself, while by wicked hands the great Messiah was
-slain. And what shall I say more? for the time would fail me to
-innumerate the evils of intemperance, dissipation, debauchery, pride,
-luxury, idleness, extravagance, avarice and ambition, hatred and
-envy, priestcraft and persecution, with all their attendant train
-of troubles, miseries, pains, diseases and deaths; which have all
-contributed to reduce mankind to a state of wretchedness and sorrow
-indescribable. The noble and majestic features of manhood have often
-been transformed by these vices into the frightful and disgusting image
-of demoniac furies,--the angelic beauties of earth's fairest daughters
-as often transformed by vice into objects of mingled pity and contempt:
-but cease my soul, no longer dwell on these awful scenes; my heart is
-faint, my soul is sick, my spirit grieves within me; and mine eyes are
-suffused with tears while contemplating upon the scenes of wretchedness
-and misery which sin has produced in our world. O misery, how hast
-thou triumphed! O death, how many are thy victories! thrones, and
-dominions--principalities and powers--kingdoms and empires have sunk
-beneath thine all conquering arm,--their kings and their nobles, their
-princes and their lords,--their orators and statesmen, beneath the
-blast of thy breath have found one common grave.
-
-The dignity of age,--the playful innocence of youth, or the charms of
-beauty cannot save from thy cruel grasp, thou hast swallowed up the
-nations as water, and thou art an hungered still,--thou hast drunk
-rivers of blood, and hast bathed in oceans of tears, and thy thirst is
-still raging with unabating fury. Whither,--ah! whither shall I turn
-for comfort? in what secret chamber shall I hide myself to elude thy
-swift pursuit? If I would heap up gold as dust I cannot bribe thee. If
-I would fortify my habitation with the munitions of rocks, thine arrows
-would pierce them as the spider's web, and find their way to my heart.
-If I would soar on high as the eagle, or fly to the most secret haunts
-of the desert, or hide myself in the gloomy thicket with the solitary
-bird of night; or retire with the bat, to the inmost recesses of the
-cavern, yet thy footsteps would pursue me, and thy vigilance would
-search me out. No arguments of the wise--no talents of the eloquent can
-prevail with thee. The tears of the widow, the cries of the fatherless;
-or the broken hearted anguish of the lover cannot move thee to pity:
-thou mockest at the groans and tears of humanity, thou scornest the
-pure affections of love and tenderness; and thou delightest to tear
-asunder the silken cords of conjugal affection, and all the tender
-ties of love and endearment which twine around the virtuous heart, and
-which serve to cement society, and to administer joy and happiness
-in every department of life. What mighty power shall check thy grand
-career, and set bounds o'er which thou canst not pass? Whose mighty
-voice shall command, saying "thus far, no farther shalt thou go, and
-here let thy proud waves be stayed?" What almighty conqueror shall
-lead thee captive--shall burst thy chains--throw open the doors of
-thy gloomy cells, and set the unnumbered millions of thy prisoners
-free?--who shall bind up the broken hearted--comfort the mourners--dry
-the tears of sorrow--open the prison to them that are bound--set the
-captives free--make an end of sin and oppression--bring in everlasting
-righteousness--swallow up death in victory--restore creation to its
-primitive beauty, glory, excellence, and perfection; "and destroy him
-who has the power of death, that is the Devil, and deliver those who
-through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage?" but
-hark--
-
- On the plains of Judea me thinks I hear
- The melting strains of the lonely shepherd's
- Midnight song, as it echoes among the hills
- And vales, and dies away in the distance.
- Its heavenly melody betokens
- A theme of joy such as the sons of earth
- Have seldom heard,--some heavenly theme as if
- The choirs of angels--mingling their music
- With the sons of earth, conspired to celebrate
- Some new event--some jubilee of rest--
- Some grand release from servitude and woe.
- But see--ah see! the opening heavens around
- Them shine; a glorious train of angels bright,
- Ascending, fill the air:--it is indeed
- A more than mortal theme. But hark again--
- Me thinks I understand the words,--they
- Celebrate the birth of king Messiah,
- The mighty prince who soon shall conquer death
- With all his legions, and reign triumphant
- Over all, as king of kings, and Lord of lords.
- Their chorus ends with peace on earth, good will
- To men. O monster death I now behold
- Thy conqueror! Jesus of Nazareth--
- The babe of Bethlehem--the son of God.
-
-He comes to earth, and takes upon him flesh and blood,--even the seed
-of Abraham; and this for the express purpose of conquering sin and
-death, and restoring a lost and fallen world to its former perfection
-that it may be capable of eternal life and happiness.
-
-"As in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Now let
-the reader endeavour in particular to understand the precise object
-of the mission of Jesus Christ into our world; and what was to be
-accomplished by his death and resurrection. We have already endeavoured
-to show the effect of Adam's transgression in a physical as well as
-moral point of view; we have seen that sin materially affected the
-earth itself as well as all its animal and vegetable productions. Now
-the object of a Saviour to bleed and die as a sacrifice and atonement
-for sin, was not only to redeem man in a moral sense, from his lost and
-fallen state, but it was also to restore the physical world from all
-the effects of the fall; to purify the elements; and to present the
-earth in spotless purity before the throne of God, clothed in celestial
-glory, as a fit inheritance for the ransomed throng who are destined to
-inherit it in eternity. If the question be asked for what Christ died?
-the answer is, first, he died for all of Adam's race. Secondly, for all
-the animal and vegetable productions of the earth, as far as they were
-affected by the fall of man. The lion, the wolf; the leopard and the
-bear; and even the serpent, will finally feel and enjoy the effects of
-this great restoration, precisely in the same degree in which they were
-affected by the fall. Thirdly, Christ died for the earth itself, to
-redeem it from all the effects of the fall, that it might be cleansed
-from sin and have eternal life. Now this atonement which was made by
-Jesus Christ was universal, so far as it relates to the effects of
-Adam's transgression: and this without any conditions on the part of
-the creature. All that was lost, or in the least affected by the fall
-of man, will finally be restored by Jesus Christ,--the whole creation
-will be delivered from its dreadful curse, and all mankind redeemed
-from death, and all the dreadful effects of the transgression of their
-first parents; and this without any conditions of faith and repentance;
-or any act on the part of the creature; for precisely what is lost in
-Adam's transgression without our agency, is restored by Jesus Christ
-without our agency. Thus all will be raised from the dead, and the body
-and the spirit will be reunited; the whole will become immortal, no
-more to be separated, or to undergo dissolution. This salvation being
-universal, I am a universalist in this respect,--this salvation being
-a universal restoration from the fall, I am a restorationer,--this
-salvation being without works, or without any conditions except the
-atonement of Jesus Christ, I am in this respect a believer in free
-grace alone, without works; this salvation, redeeming all infants from
-original sin, without any change of heart, newbirth, or baptism, and
-the infant, not being capable of actual transgression, and needing no
-salvation from any personal sin, is therefore in a state of salvation,
-and not of depravity; and therefore of such is the kingdom of God:
-and in their infancy they need no ordinances, or gospel to save them,
-for they are already saved through the atonement, therefore the
-gospel and its ordinances are only for those who have come to years
-of understanding. But while on the subject of redemption, I must not
-pass without noticing another and very different part of the subject,
-viz--After all men are redeemed from the fall and raised from the
-dead, their spirits and bodies being reunited and the whole becoming
-eternal no more to see corruption, they are to be judged according
-to their own individual deeds done in the body; not according to
-Adam's transgression; nor according to sovereign, unconditional grace.
-Here ends, universalism; here ends calvinism; here ends salvation
-without works--here is introduced the necessity of a salvation from
-actual sin,--from individual transgression, from which no man can be
-redeemed short of the blood of Jesus Christ applied to each individual
-transgressor; and which can only be applied on the conditions of faith,
-repentance, and obedience to the gospel. Now all who neglect to fulfill
-the conditions of the gospel, will be condemned at the judgment day,
-not for Adam's fall, but for their own sins. But as our subject is more
-particularly confined to the salvation and durability of the physical
-world, the renovation and regeneration of matter, and the restoration
-of the elements, to a state of eternal and unchangeable purity, we
-must leave the further prosecution of these often contested points
-of theology to be pursued in their usual channel, and come directly
-to the merits of the great subject which we have undertaken. Let us
-now examine, more closely the physical structure and properties of
-the resurrected, immortal body; endeavour to ascertain in positive,
-definite terms, whether it does really consist of flesh and bones,--of
-matter as well as spirit: and if so, endeavour to learn something
-of its place of residence or final destiny. Christ being the first
-fruits from the dead, and the only person whose history after their
-resurrection has come down to us; and he being the great head and
-pattern of the resurrection, we shall endeavour to ascertain all the
-particulars which will serve to throw light on the subject, as to
-the physical nature of his body, both before and after he arose from
-the dead. His mother was a virgin, a chosen vessel of the Lord, who
-conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost and brought forth a child,
-who was composed of flesh and blood; and in his physical organization
-differing nothing in any respect from other children of the seed
-of Abraham. Like other children in their infant state, he no doubt
-received his nourishment from the breasts of his mother; like all
-others, he was helpless and dependent for care and protection on his
-parents, who by the command of God fled into Egypt in order to preserve
-him from the cruel sword of Herod, who feared a rival in the person
-of the babe of Bethlehem: like all others he grew in stature by means
-of the food received into the stomach, and its strength diffused
-through the physical system; and when grown to manhood his system was
-composed of the same earthly particles, or the same elements which
-constitute the human system in general. He was every way subject to
-the infirmities, passions, pleasures, pains, griefs, sorrows and
-temptations which are common to the constitution of man; hence we find
-him sorrowing, weeping, mourning, rejoicing, lamenting, grieving, as
-well as suffering hunger, thirst, fatigue, temptation, etc, and we
-also find him possessed of the most refined sensibilities of natural
-affection, and susceptibilities for close and intimate friendship.
-This is abundantly illustrated in his close and intimate friendship
-with Lazarus of Bethany, and his kind-hearted and benevolent sisters,
-Martha and Mary. He wept with the tears of fond affection over the
-grave of his departed friend Lazarus, and mingled his tears with the
-sorrowful and disconsolate sisters, as if to sympathize with them and
-help to bear their grief, insomuch that the Jews exclaimed, "behold
-how he loved him." Another striking example of this natural affection
-is illustrated in his close intimacy with his beloved disciple John.
-This apostle was his most intimate friend who leaned on his breast at
-supper; and who was employed to ask questions on subjects in which the
-others felt a delicacy: he is frequently called "that disciple whom
-Jesus loved." Now we must think that Jesus loved them all as disciples
-and followers of the Lamb; but as to natural affection John was his
-peculiar favorite; to him he committed his sorrowing and disconsolate
-mother, as he was about to expire on the cross, and from that time,
-Mary, the mother of Jesus, became a member of John's family. "He took
-her home to his own house." Jesus having taken affectionate leave
-of his sorrowing friends, at length yielded up the ghost, and his
-disembodied spirit took its rest in paradise; while his lifeless corpse
-was carefully wrapped in linen and laid in a sepulchre; but for fear
-of some imposition being practised by his disconsolate and sorrowing
-disciples, the door of the sepulchre was secured with a great stone,
-and sealed with the initials of kingly authority, besides a strong
-guard of Roman soldiers who watched around the door by day and by
-night. But early on the morning of the third day, an angel descended,
-at the glory of whose presence the soldiers fell back as dead men. The
-seal was broken, the great stone rolled away, the door of the sepulchre
-was opened, and his body re-animated by the returning spirit, awoke
-from its slumbers and came forth in triumph from the mansions of the
-dead. Now when his friends and disciples came to the sepulchre and
-found not his body but saw his grave clothes lying useless, they were
-troubled, supposing that he had been moved to some other place; but
-the angel of the Lord said unto them: "He is not here, but is risen,"
-and called them to come and see the place where he had lain. Now let
-us bear in mind, that it was the same corporeal system--the same flesh
-and bones, which had yielded up the ghost on the cross, and which
-had been wrapped in linen and laid in the tomb, that now came forth
-from the dead, to die no more. Now in order to assist his disciples
-in understanding this subject, that they might know the difference
-between disembodied spirits and resurrected bodies, he not only eat and
-drank with them, but called upon them to handle him and see; for said
-he, "A spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." On another
-occasion, he exhibited his wounded side and hands, and called upon
-Thomas to put his finger into the prints of the nails, and to thrust
-his hand into his side, where once the spear had pierced; and finally,
-after being seen of them forty days, he led them out as far as Bethany,
-and there he was taken up into heaven from their presence, and a cloud
-received him out of their sight.
-
-Now let us inquire, what was the physical difference between the mortal
-body of Jesus Christ and his resurrected body? They are both the same
-flesh, the same bones, the same joints, the same sinews, the same skin,
-the same hair, the same likeness, or physical features, and the same
-element, or matter; but the former was quickened by the principles of
-the natural life, which was the blood, and the latter is quickened
-solely by the spirit, and not by blood, and therefore is not subject
-unto death, but lives forevermore. With this glorious body he ascended
-to the Father, and with this glorious body he will come again to earth
-to reign with his people. This view of the resurrection is clearly
-exemplified in the persons of Enoch and Elijah, who never tasted death,
-but were changed instantaneously from mortal to immortal, and were
-caught up into the heavens, both body and spirit. This change upon
-their physical systems was equivalent to death and the resurrection.
-It was the same as if they had slept in the grave for thousands of
-years, and then been raised and restored to eternal life. When Elijah,
-for instance, was taken into the chariot of fire, and carried from the
-presence of Elisha, he did not drop his body, but only his mantle;
-for if he had dropped his body, the sons of the prophets would have
-attended to his burial, instead of ranging the mountains in search of
-him. This same subject is made equally plain in the writings of Job,
-who declares, saying: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will
-stand in the latter day upon earth: and though after my skin worms
-destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." The Jewish prophets
-also understood this matter in its clearest light. Isaiah declares,
-"Thy dead men shall live,--together with my dead body shall they rise."
-Daniel speaks plainly of the awaking of them that sleep in the dust.
-Ezekiel illustrates the subject very clearly in his vision of the dry
-bones. (See Ezekiel xxxvii.) He not only mentions their being raised
-from the dead, but the bones, the sinews, the flesh, the skin, and the
-spirit by which they will be re-animated, are all brought to view in a
-clear, plain, and positive manner. The writings of the Apostles abound
-with clear elucidations of the physical nature of the resurrection:
-for on this one point, depended the whole foundation of the christian
-system. Hence Paul argues, that if there is no resurrection, then
-Christ is not risen; and if Christ be not risen, then their preaching
-was vain; and their faith and joy was vain; they were yet in their
-sins, and the apostles were false witnesses; and they were of all men
-most miserable. But there is one view which Paul takes of the subject,
-that will serve to carry out our present theory in a most conclusive
-manner. It is this: in opening to his disciples the mysteries of
-the second advent of the Messiah, and the great restitution of all
-things spoken by the prophets, he declares, that the saints would not
-all sleep, (in death,) but that they which were alive and remained
-until the coming of Christ, should be changed in a moment, in the
-twinkling of an eye, and be caught up to meet the Lord in the air,
-and so should be forever with him. Here then, is demonstration, that
-tens of thousands of the saints,--indeed all the saints who live at a
-certain period of time will be translated after the pattern of Enoch
-and Elijah, and their spirits and bodies never be separated by death!
-Such then is the resurrection; and such the lively views which inspired
-the prophets, apostles and saints of former times, and having this
-hope they could with propriety say, "O death, where is thy sting; O
-grave, where is thy victory?" O, the deep-rooted blindness of early
-tradition and superstition, how art thou interwoven with all our powers
-of intellect! and how hast thou benumbed and blunted every faculty of
-our understanding. From early youth the principles have been instilled
-into our minds that all must die and moulder to corruption--that Enoch
-and Elijah were the only persons who were, or ever would be translated
-without seeing death; when in fact, tens of thousands, as I said
-before, arc yet to arrive by faith to this inconceivable fullness and
-consummation of eternal life and happiness without tasting death, and
-without even a momentary separation of soul and body; the transition
-from mortality to immortality being instantaneous. And yet, strange
-as it may seem, none will ever attain to this blessing except such as
-firmly believe in and expect it, for, like all other blessings, it
-is only to be obtained by faith and prayer. But how shall we believe
-in, and seek for a blessing of which we have no idea? or how shall we
-believe in that which we have not heard, and how shall we hear without
-a teacher?
-
-From all these considerations it appears evident that these principles
-must necessarily be revived so as to become a conspicuous part of
-modern theology. They must be taught to the people, and the people
-must believe them; insomuch that every saint on earth will be looking
-for the great day of the Lord, and expecting to be caught up to meet
-him in the air; for if the great day of the Lord should come at a time
-when these principles were neither taught nor believed, surely there
-would be none prepared for translation: consequently there would be
-no saints to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air; and if so, the
-words of the Lord by Paul would become of none effect. I have made the
-above remarks in order to impress deeply upon the minds of our modern
-teachers and learners the importance of arousing from the slumber
-of ages on this subject, and of ceasing to teach and impress upon
-the youthful mind the gloomy thoughts of death, and the melancholy
-forebodings of a long slumber in the grave, in order to inspire them
-with solemn fear and dread, and thus move them to the duties of
-religion and morality. Experience has proved, in innumerable instances,
-that this course is insufficient to restrain vice, and to lead to the
-practice of virtue and religion. The wayward and buoyant spirits of
-youth feel weighed down and oppressed, when oft reminded of such gloomy
-and melancholy subjects. All the more cheerful faculties of the soul
-are thus paralyzed, or more or less obstructed in their operations;
-the fine toned energies of the mind cease to act with their accustomed
-vigor, the charms of nature seem clothed in mourning and sackcloth. We
-conceive a distaste for the duties as well as the enjoyments of life.
-Courage, fortitude, ambition, and all the stimulants which move man
-to act well his part in human society, are impaired and weakened in
-their operations, and the mind, thus soured and sickened, finds itself
-sinking under deep melancholy and settled gloom, which soon becomes
-insupportable. He at length sinks in despair,--becomes insane, or
-groans under various diseases brought upon his physical system by the
-anguish of his mind; or, with a desperate effort, tears himself from
-friends and society, and from all the social duties and enjoyments of
-life, to lead a life of solitude within the walls of a convent, or
-in the gloomy caverns of the monk. But more frequently the youthful
-mind when laboring under these gloomy impressions, makes a desperate
-effort to free itself from its dreadful burthen, by plunging into all
-the allurements of vice and dissipation; endeavoring by these means to
-drive from them the memory all these gloomy impressions, and to lose
-sight of, or cease to realize, the sure and certain approach of death.
-
-Let us then cease to give lessons on death and the grave to the rising
-generation, and confine ourselves more exclusively to the proclamation
-of eternal life. What a glorious field of intelligence now lies
-before us, yet but partially explored. What a boundless expanse for
-contemplation and reflection now opens to our astonished vision. What
-an intellectual banquet spreads itself invitingly to our appetite,
-calling into lively exercise every power and faculty of the mind, and
-giving full scope to all the great and ennobling passions of the soul.
-Love, joy, hope, ambition, faith, and all the virtuous principles of
-the human mind may here expand and grow, and flourish, unchecked by any
-painful emotions or gloomy fears. Here the youthful mind may expand its
-utmost energies, and revel, uncontrolled by remorse, unchecked by time
-or decay, in the never-fading sweets of eternity, and bask forever in
-the boundless ocean of delight.
-
-This course of instruction followed out in demonstration of the spirit
-and of power, would serve to check the allurements of vice, and would
-greatly tend to lead and encourage the mind in the practise of virtue
-and religion, and would cheer and stimulate the saint in all the
-laborious duties of life. It would remove the fear and dread of death.
-It would bind up the broken hearted, and administer consolation to the
-afflicted. It would enable man to endure with patience and fortitude
-all the multiplied afflictions, misfortunes and ills to which they are
-subject in this momentary life. It would almost banish the baneful
-effects of fear and gloom, and melancholy from the earth, and thus
-give new tone and energy to all the various departments of society.
-The long night of darkness and superstition is now far spent. The
-truth, revived in its primitive simplicity and purity, like the day
-star of the horizon, lights up the dawn of that effulgent morn when the
-knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. With
-what propriety then, may the rising generation look forward with a well
-grounded hope, that they or their children may be of that unspeakably
-happy number who will live to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air,
-and like Enoch and Elijah, escape the pangs of dissolution, and the
-long imprisonment of the grave. Or, with still more certainty, they may
-hope that if they sleep in the dust, it will only be of short duration,
-and then they will rise again to enjoy the pleasures of life for
-evermore. Parents, do you love your children? Does it grieve you to see
-their lifeless bodies laid in the tomb, and shut, as it were, forever
-from your society? Children, have you ever been called to bid farewell
-to your beloved and venerable parents, and to grieve with heart-broken
-anguish, as their bodies were deposited in the cold and silent grave,
-and you left as orphans upon the dreary world? Husbands and wives, do
-you love your companions, and often wish that you both might live in
-the body forever, and enjoy each other's society, without undergoing a
-painful separation by the monster, death? Be careful, then, to secure a
-part in the first resurrection, that you, and your friends may live and
-reign with Christ on earth, a thousand years.
-
-O thou broken hearted and disconsolate widow, thou hast been called to
-part with the bosom friend of thy youth and to see thy beloved shut
-from thy presence in the dreary mansions of the dead. Have you ever
-been comforted with the reflection that the tomb will burst asunder in
-the morning of the resurrection,--that these once active limbs, now
-cold in death,--these bones and joints, and sinews, with the flesh
-and skin will come forth, and be again quickened with the spirit of
-life and motion; and that this cold and silent bosom will again beat
-with the most animated and happy sensations of pure love and kindred
-affection?
-
-Parents and children, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, have
-these thoughts sunk deep into your hearts in the hour of sorrow,
-and served to comfort, to soothe and support your sinking spirits
-in the hour of keenest distress? or have you imagined to yourselves
-some spiritual, existence beyond the bounds of time and space; some
-shadow without substance, some fairy world of spirits bright far from
-earth your native home; and at a distance from all the associations,
-affections and endearments which are interwoven with your very
-existence here; and in which were mingled all the sweets of life? No
-wonder then, that such should cling to life, and shrink from death
-with terror and dismay; no wonder that such should feel insupportable
-and overwhelming grief at the loss of friends; for who can bear the
-thoughts of eternal separation from those lovely scenes with which they
-have been accustomed to associate from early infancy? Who can endure
-to be torn from those they love dearer than life, and to have all the
-tender cords of affection which twine around the heart with mutual
-endearment, severed and destroyed for ever?
-
-Let us then endeavour to inspire the minds of those who are placed
-under our care and instruction, with a firm faith in and lively sense
-of this the most important of all subjects, the resurrection of the
-body, and eternal life; and thus encourage them with the greatest of
-all inducements to lead a life of righteousness, such as will secure
-to them a part in the first resurrection, and a happy immortality in
-the society and friendship of the ransomed throng who are arrayed in
-spotless white, and who reign on earth with the blessed Redeemer.
-
-Having now shown clearly that the resurrection of the body is a
-complete restoration and reorganization of the physical system of
-man; and that the elements of which his body is composed are eternal
-in their duration; and that they form the tabernacle--the everlasting
-habitation of that spirit which animated them in this life; and that
-the spirits and bodies of men are of equal importance and destined to
-form an eternal and inseparable union with each other; we must now
-return to our research, as to the final destiny of the earth and its
-productions of animal and vegetable life.
-
-We have already shown that the earth itself, and all its productions
-were deeply affected by the fall, and by the sins of the children of
-men: that the atonement which was made by Jesus Christ was not only
-for man, but also for the earth and all the fulness thereof: that all
-things were redeemed from the fall, and would finally be restored from
-all the dreadful effects thereof; and be regenerated, sanctified and
-renewed after the pattern, and in the likeness and image of its first
-creation; partaking of the same beauty, glory excellence and perfection
-it had in the beginning. But it is evident that this restitution did
-not take place at the first advent of the Messiah; and that it has not
-taken place at any time since: therefore it is yet future, and must
-be fulfilled at a certain time which is appointed by infinite wisdom.
-This certain time is called in holy writ, "the times of restitution of
-all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets
-since the world began." Now this restitution is to be accomplished by
-nothing short of a second advent of the Messiah. He must again descend
-from heaven to earth in like manner as he ascended. This second advent
-of Messiah, and the grand events connected with it is a theme which all
-the prophets and apostles have dwelt on more fully in their writings
-than they have on any other subject whatever. If I would quote proofs
-on this subject, I might begin with Enoch the seventh from Adam, who
-exclaims "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints,"
-etc. and end with the revelation of Jesus Christ to his servant John,
-"Behold! he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him; and they
-also which pierced him, and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail
-because of him." This glorious advent of the Messiah was the comfort of
-Job in his extreme affliction; he could lift up his sorrowful eyes from
-the midst of sackcloth and ashes, and exclaim "I know that my Redeemer
-liveth, and that he will stand at the latter day upon the earth; and
-though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
-I see God," etc. This was the solace of Daniel in his captivity. He
-could exclaim, "I saw in the night, visions, and behold, one like the
-son of man came with the clouds of heaven," etc. This same theme often
-inspired Isaiah, and David, with an extacy of admiration and delight,
-and caused them to pour forth their sweetest strains,--their sublimest
-effusions of poetic inspiration; and this same subject seems interwoven
-with almost every page of the New Testament writings. Indeed it formed
-a kind of centre, or rallying point, around which hovered all the
-hopes, joys, anticipations and comforts of the former day saints. In
-bonds or imprisonments, in persecutions and afflictions, in tortures or
-in flames; they could look forward to the coming of the Lord in joyful
-anticipation of a resurrection and reward.
-
-It is this glorious advent of the Messiah, and the great restitution
-connected with it which has ever formed the hope of the Jews; on this
-one point hangs the destiny of that long dispersed nation, in their
-final restoration to the favour of God, and to the land of their
-fathers, and to their beloved city Jerusalem.
-
-This advent is what Paul had allusion to in his writings to the
-Romans where he said, "As it is written there shall come out of Zion
-a deliverer, who shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." This second
-advent, is what Peter meant when he said to the Jews, (see Acts iii)
-"And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you,
-whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution," etc. It
-seems evident then, that Jesus Christ is to come again at the times of
-restitution; at which time a trump shall sound, at the voice of which
-the graves of the saints will be opened, and they arise from the dead,
-and are caught up to-gather with those who are alive and remain, to
-meet the Lord in the air.
-
-In the mean time the earth will be terribly convulsed; the mountains
-will sink, the valleys rise, the rough places become smooth; while a
-fire will pass over the surface of the earth, and consume the proud
-and all that do wickedly, as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were
-destroyed in the days of Abraham: and thus after the earth is cleansed
-by fire, from all its wicked inhabitants, as it once was by water, and
-after its mighty convulsions have restored it to its former shape and
-surface, it becomes a fit residence for Jesus Christ and his saints.
-The Jews behold their long--long expected Messiah, and come to the
-knowledge that he is that Jesus whom their fathers crucified; they
-are cleansed from their sins through his most precious blood; their
-holy city Jerusalem becomes a place of holiness indeed, and a seat
-of government; where will be the tabernacle and throne of Messiah;
-and where the nations of them that are saved will resort from year to
-year, from all the adjoining countries to worship the king, the Lord
-of hosts; and to keep the feast of tabernacles: and thus, there will
-be one Lord, and his name one; and he will be king over all the earth.
-"Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." This promise
-made by the Saviour while on the mount, will then be fulfilled. (See
-also, xxxvii Psalm; and also Ezekiel xxxvii.)
-
-The curses which came upon the earth by reason of sin will then be
-taken off. It will no longer bring forth thorns and thistles, but its
-productions will be as they were before the fall. The barren deserts
-will become fruitful, the thirsty land will abound in springs of water,
-men will then plant gardens and eat the fruit of them, they will plant
-vineyards and drink the wine of them, they will build houses and
-cities, and inhabit them, and the Lord's elect will long enjoy the work
-of their hands. All the earth will then be at rest under one sovereign.
-Swords will then be beaten into ploughshares, and spears into pruning
-hooks, and the nations shall learn war no more. The very beasts of prey
-will then lose their thirst for blood, and their enmity will cease. The
-lion will eat herbs instead of preying upon flesh, and all the animal
-creation will become perfectly harmless as they were in the beginning,
-while perfect peace will cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea;
-while ail the ancient prophets, apostles, saints and martyrs with all
-our friends who have fallen asleep in Jesus will be on earth, with
-their glorified, immortal bodies, to sing the song of victory, and
-to praise the great Messiah who reigns in the midst of his people. O
-reader, this is the first resurrection! "Blessed and holy is he that
-has part in the first resurrection."
-
-O reader, this is the great sabbath of creation; the thousand years
-of rest and peace; the longexpected Millennium. Wouldst thou live in
-the flesh, and have part in it? wouldst thou again enjoy the society
-of thy friends who were so near and dear to thy heart in this life?
-wouldst thou inherit the earth, and be free forever from the grave?
-Remember--remember, that meekness and holiness of life are the
-conditions. That it is the meek only who then inherit the earth. That
-it is the saints only who then possess the kingdom, and the greatness
-of the kingdom under the whole heaven. In this delightful sabbath of
-creation, earth and its inhabitants will rest one thousand years from
-all the pains, and woes, and sorrows they have undergone during the six
-thousand years of labor, toil and suffering.
-
-After this thousand years is ended, the last resurrection will soon
-come, together with the judgment day. These grand events will be
-ushered in by the sounding of the last trump, which will call forth
-the wicked from their long confinement in the grave, and they will be
-judged according to their works, and will then depart from the presence
-of the Lord to the place appointed for them. At that time the heavens
-and earth will undergo their last and final change. They die, and rise
-again from the dead; or, in other words, the elements are changed from
-their temporal to their eternal state; being renewed, purified, and
-brought to the highest state of perfection and refinement which it is
-possible for them to receive.
-
-The earth being thus renewed and purified, is no more to be changed
-or shaken. It will then roll its eternal rounds amidst the unnumbered
-systems of the universe; being clothed with celestial glory, and
-inhabited by immortal and celestial beings who were redeemed from sin
-and raised from the dead by the blood of Jesus Christ and the power of
-his resurrection, and who are clothed in white raiment with crowns upon
-their heads in glory; being kings and priests unto God and to the Lamb
-with whom they reign on earth for ever and ever; for there will be the
-holy city, New Jerusalem, the place of his throne; and his tabernacle
-will be with man, and he will dwell with them and be their God; and he
-will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more
-death, neither sorrow nor groaning; neither shall there be any more
-pain, for the old order of things will have passed away and all things
-will have become new.
-
-Reader, wouldst thou leave thy native earth, and soar away to worlds on
-high, and be at rest that thou mayest do so until the great restitution
-of all things spoken by the prophets; for Christ and the saints have
-gone to worlds on high, and have entered in before thee. But remember,
-that in the worlds on high thy stay is short. Jesus and the saints are
-only there to await the full time for earth to be cleansed and prepared
-for their reception, and they will all come home again to their native
-planet; and even while they are in heaven and absent from the earth,
-they look forward with joyful anticipation to the time of their return
-to the place of their nativity. The joyful theme of reigning on the
-earth inspires the music of their heavenly song; for proof of this,
-the reader is referred to Rev. v. 9, 10, he there records a song which
-he heard sung by the hosts of heaven, which closes with the following
-words, "We shall reign on the earth."
-
-If man would enjoy a heaven beyond the bounds of space peopled only by
-spirits: if he would desire to be for ever free from earth, and absent
-from the body of his flesh, and from his native planet, he will be
-under the necessity of embracing the doctrines of the Alcoran, or some
-of the fables of the heathen mythology, where, in the boundless fields
-of fancy, or amid the romantic wilds of imagination and fanaticism, the
-mind roams unchecked by reason, and loses itself from all the realities
-of rational existence; in a land of shadows, a world of phantoms, from
-which it will only awake in disappointment by the sound of the last
-trump, and at last find itself constrained to acknowledge that eternity
-as well as time, is occupied in realities, and by beings of a physical
-as well as spiritual existence for the inspired writers, one and all
-have agreed, that the earth is destined for the eternal inheritance
-of the saints. The sacred volume opens with a paradise on earth, and
-closes with a paradise on earth. Moses introduces us to a world of
-beauty, glory, excellence and perfection in the beginning. And John
-closes the volume by leaving man in possession of an eternal habitation
-in his immortal body, in the holy city; and upon the very planet that
-first gave him being: and this is the end of the matter.
-
-
-
-
-
-End of Project Gutenberg's The Millennium and Other Poems, by Parley P. Pratt
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