A SCENE OF THE LAST DAY

“The supposed reflections of a sinner, witnessing the solemn events which immediately precede and follow the second advent of our Lord Jesus Christ and the conflagration of the world.”MWM 405.1

“‘AH! what means that noise? Can that be thunder? Too long, too loud and shrill; more like a thousand trumpets sounding an onset. It shakes the earth ... See, see, it reels! How dreadful! how strange! .. Another phenomenon to frighten poor, ignorant fanatics. I will not be afraid. Let Nature play her fantastic gambols. My soul’s too brave to shake, too big to be afraid. When the stars fell like hailstones I stood unmoved, and laughed at others’ fears. They passed away, and all was calm again. It was one of nature’s freaks. So oft of late has nature played her tricks, methinks ‘t is natural. There was a time when superstition reigned. The world would then have said — ah, yes, and believed it, too — that these denoted war, bloodshed, and great convulsions among men; but now the world has become more wise; they are not fools and cowards, as our forefathers.... Hark! another sound, more long, more loud, more dreadful still! Rock, rock! the world is rocking men, like babes, to sleep. I will not yet be scared. This may be natural. The wind is pent up in the bowels of the earth, and, in seeking vent, makes all this uproar. These noises in the earth and roarings of the sea, which have of late made timid mortals shake, by this philosophy are all accounted for. I am not shaken yet. Nature will work her own cure; and, while these Christian fools are trembling under their vain imaginations of these sights and signs of the great last day, I stand un ... A third great blast — a shout, a cry! What means this wild roar? I’ll go and see....MWM 405.2

” ...’Ah! I thought it so. Aurora borealis!’ [Speaking to the multitude.] ‘Ye fools and cowards all! why do you make ado about this so common sight? Have you not often seen, within a few years past, the heavens almost as brilliant as now, - what the vulgar illiterate called “fire, and blood, and pillars of smoke;” and then it passed away, and nothing was left but to ridicule each other’s fears? And so now; this will soon pass a---MWM 406.1

” ...’But it increases. See, see, how brilliant! The very clouds are bright with glory. It rolls and gathers to the zenith.... Hark! hark! another sound, more deep; a fourth, more loud and long; a second shout! ‘t is like the human voice; it is the wind, the electric fluid in the air. See, see! the heavens do shake! the clouds, the light, the air, are trembling yet.... And yet the light rolls on, the cloud grows brighter, and the rays diverge from yonder point. An eye! an eye! how like the All-seeing Eye! I will not tremble yet. These coward souls shall never see me sha----. What! yet another crack! How deafening to the ear! Another shout! ...Sure, that was a shout of men; I hear them still. The mountains shake and tremble on their base; the hills move to and fro; the compass-needle has forsaken the pole, and leaps towards the zenith point. The sea has fled its bounds, and rivers backward in their channels run. What can this mean? Is nature in a fit? ...The light! the light! it still approaches nearer to the earth - and brighter, too; it dazzles my weak sight. Is it a comet, or some other orb, that has strayed from its track, and, by the laws of gravitation, is approaching to our earth? Now for the laws of nature here’s a struggle! and if that other law, repulsion, does not repel its force and drive it back, then surely this poor, dark, sublunary globe must be drowned in a sphere of fire; and where will mortals ...Another sound! a dreadful blast, a hundred-fold more loud than former trumpets! This shakes my soul; my courage, too, has fled. What but a Gabriel’s trump could give such sounds - so loud, so long, so clear? ...Look! see! the sun has veiled his face; all nature heaves a groan, one deep-drawn sigh, and all is still as death....MWM 406.2

“‘The clouds - those vivid clouds, so full of fire - are driven apart by this last blast, and, rolling up themselves, stand back aghast. And, O, my soul, what do I see? A great white throne, and One upon it. His garment is whiter than the driven snow, and the hair of his head is like the pure wool. See fiery flames issuing from his throne, rolling down the vault of heaven like wheels of burning fire. Before him are thousands and thousands of thousands of winged seraphim, ready to obey his will. See Gabriel, the great archangel, raising his golden trump to his mouth. The last great trumpet sounds, - one heavenly shout, - and in a moment every angel flies, each different ways, in rays of light, to this affrighted globe. The earth now heaves a throb for the last time, and in this last great throe her bowels burst, and from her spring a thousand thousand, and ten thousand times ten thousand immortal beings into active life. And then those few who had looked on the scene with patient hope, were suddenly transformed, from age to youth, from mortal to immortal; and thus they stood, a bright and shining band, all clothed in white, like the bright throne which yet appeared in heaven.MWM 407.1

“‘While I stood gazing on this heavenly band, I saw the winged seraphs, who had come from the great white throne when the seventh trumpet sounded, standing among them. “All hail!” they cried, “ye blood-washed throng - arise, and meet your Saviour in the middle air.” They clapped their wings, and the next moment all the air was full of the bright seraphs and their train of immortals whom I late had seen spring from the earth. I saw them pass through the long vista of the parted cloud, and stand before the throne. Then I beheld one, like the sons of men, came on a cloud, whose rays of brightness filled the upper vault with radiant streams of light, more brilliant than a thousand suns. He came before the throne, and then I heard the shout of the celestial host, which filled the upper regions with a sound that echoed down to earth, and made the dark spirits in the pit of woe shriek out in lamentations of dread despair. It was a shout of victory. A thousand harps were tuned, and soon the heavenly choir sang hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Thrice they repeated the grand chorus, and thrice with shouts of these young immortals did the arch of heaven echo back to earth this shout of victory; when suddenly the cloud, which late had parted to give this view to earth, rolled up the vault of heaven its dark and sable mass from the horizon, until it closed from view the great white throne, and Him that sat upon it, and wrapt this globe in darkness, such as covered Egypt when Moses stretched his rod over the land of Pharaoh.MWM 408.1

“‘The air now became stagnated with heat; while the dismal howlings of those human beings who were left upon the earth, and the horrid yells of the damned spirits, who seemed to have been driven from the middle air by the cloud which shut down its impenetrable veil upon the world, filled my soul with horror not easily described. I thought myself in the dark pit of hell, which I had often made a ridicule of in former days. But soon a flash of lightning showed me that I was still on earth, and then a peal of thunder, which shook the globe to its very centre, and made this earth to tremble like a poplar leaf; while flash after flash of vivid lightning made darkness visible, and roar after roar of the approaching thunder made horror still more horrible. The air, if air it could be called, became impregnated with a sulphureous flame, that choked the lungs of man and beast, and seemed to hush in silence those dismal yells and moans of wretched mortals in this wreck of matter. I asked death to rid my suffering frame from torture; but, ah! death now denied me aid. I now remembered all the warnings of my former days, and these enhanced my pain. I remembered, too, the Scriptures, which spoke of this great burning day, which I had treated as a fiction to frighten weak and silly mortals. I saw, and now believed - but O, too late! - that all that God had promised had been, was now, and would be, literally fulfilled. My conscience now spoke terror to my soul. I now began to repent; but O, it came too late! I cried for mercy; but where was mercy now? When last the heaven was open, and I had seen the Judge upon his throne, Mercy had veiled herself; and when the immortal band had left the earth, I saw her leave the globe, and wing her way up to the throne of God; and, as she left the world, I heard her voice proclaim, “It is finished.” I knew her work was done; and yet my tongue cried mercy! I saw, when the flash of lightnings gave me chance to see, a thousand damned forms of demons, grinning out horrible delight. I heard, between each roar of thunder, their tauntings and horrible imprecations.MWM 408.2

“‘The heat became severe; combustibles began to burn; when suddenly the heavens began to rain a shower of hailstones. I fled for shelter to a shelving rock, and there secure I lay. The air became more clear and cool. I now could see the inhabitants left on earth flying for shelter in every direction; some wounded by the hail, and with their horrid oaths crying for help to their more fortunate companions. But there was no regard for others’ woes - each one sought shelter for himself. The hail increased, until nothing but rocks and caverns of the earth could stand before it. The buildings, temples, and proud palaces of kings were all demolished, and lay a heap of ruins. The forest trees and groves were scattered upon the plain; and nothing stood the storm, of all the works of man. The face of the earth was covered over with ice, as though a hundred winters had reigned predominant. The eye could rest on nothing but one wide waste of frozen heaps of hail, with now and then a solitary human being wandering among the ruins of the once inhabited cities, half chilled to death, seeking for shelter, or to satisfy a craving appetite, cursing and blaspheming the God of heaven for the plague of the hail.MWM 409.1

“‘The storm had ceased. The sun had appeared behind the broken clouds, far in the west, with now and then a faint and sickly ray, that made the desolation still more desolate. The beasts that were upon the face of the earth were all slain, except a few who had burrowed in the earth. The fowls of the heavens were scattered over the earth among the slain; and of all the feathered tribe there was nothing left but scattered carcasses. Bodies of human beings were underneath the ruins in every place, some dashed in pieces, some without heads, and some whose limbs were severed from their trunks, and in every form that death could prey upon the human frame. Some, still in life, though wounded, filled up the dismal scene with moans, and groans, and shrieks of wild despair.MWM 410.1

“‘The cloud, which but recently had covered the earth with darkness, and had discharged its contents of massy balls of ice upon the world, now rolled its broken columns to the east. The sun was sinking in the western horizon, as if it hid itself from this vast desolation. And when the cloud rolled half way down the eastern sky, there opened to the view another sight, - more grand there could not be, - a city! Its walls were great and high. The foundation appeared to be the great white cloud, on which the throne was placed when first I saw the light. This city lay four square upon the cloud. The height, the length, the breadth appeared equal. The walls were made of jasper, more pure than gold that is seven times purified. It shone more brilliant than crystal. Twelve manner of precious stones garnished the wall. Each several stone outshone his fellow; and yet the polish of the stone was such that each reflected back the rays his fellow gave, and, thus commingled, formed one general mass of rays of light and glory, increasing with every reflection twelve-fold, and thus increasing, for aught that I can tell, to infinity. Twelve gates I saw - three on every side. These gates were made of pearls; each pearl a gate, and every gate a pearl more brilliant than a sun. All the streets were gold, so highly polished that they shone as it were transparent glass. I saw no temple there; but I beheld such glory as my eyes never saw before. It was the Great I Am, Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb of God, that filled the city with such rays of light, that if the sun, and moon, and stars had all combined, they would not have compared with it, any more than the small glow-worm could with the sun in his meridian glory. I wonder how I did behold such rays of glory, and yet they dazzled not. But yet, I now bethink myself, while I stood gazing, this thought was whispered, as I imagined, to my mind - “All this you have lost for your rejection of the Lamb, you see, the light of yonder city!”MWM 410.2

“‘At this my soul was filled with horror, and madness seized my brain. I cried to the rocks to hide me from the view of him whom I had thus rejected. But rocks were deaf. I then fled to the mountains, and called on them to fall upon me, and hide me in the bowels of the earth, or crush me into non-existence. But mountains had no pity on a wretch like me. I turned my eyes away, that I might not behold the sight again; but still the view was plain. I shut my eyes, determined to shut out this hateful vision; but, O, the form was printed on my brain in lines of livid fire! Which way I turned, the city lay before me. I saw, or thought I saw, the glory, harmony, and happiness of the citizens; and every view added rancor, enmity, and envy to my soul. I gnashed my teeth with pain; I raved and roared like a wild maniac; and yet my reason told me I was sane, - these things were real. I cursed and swore, - blasphemed the God of heaven; yet every oath returned upon me, and was like a dagger piercing to my heart. I called on death to rid me of my pain: but death obeyed not. I thought of suicide, to rid myself of self; but then eternity - O dreadful thought! - would rush upon my brain, and fill my mind with horror inconceivable. I tried to hope that things would change, or use would reconcile me to my lot; but hope had fled, and this I saw forever! No hope of change for better; for all that hope of change that I had ever had, I treated with disdain, - yea, worse, with ridicule and contempt. I saw the very nature of the holy law required my banishment forever. And all the time of probation which I had formerly enjoyed, I saw was on this express condition, - to be prepared to meet this very time, when holiness and sin, happiness and misery, would be forever separated; when he that is filthy would be filthy still, and he that is holy would be holy still. I knew that God himself had told us this; but yet I listened not. Filled with my own vain thoughts and vainer lusts, I trampled on the commands, warnings, and invitations of the God of heaven, - and here end all my hopes! Ah! could I hope to be happy, on the condition of being holy too, I would cast it from me: for in my very soul I abhor, I hate the very name of holiness. I should be willing to be happy; but to love others as I do myself, - and then to love that God supreme above all others, and even above myself, - I will not, cannot, shall not, here submit.MWM 411.1

“‘While my mind thus passed from bad to worse, and every avenue of the heart was filled with evil passions, I saw the city still drew nearer to the earth; and from its rays had poured such a flood of light and heat upon the earth, that the hail melted, and the streams and fountains of water dried up. The tops of mountains soon began to burn; the rocks began to melt, and, with their lava, filled up the streams and vales below. This was not like the former heat which I had recently experienced before the storm of hail; no sulphureous smell, no suffocating heat, like that. It was a flame more pure, - a searching, cleansing, penetrating flame of fire, - that searched in every nook and corner of the world, and pierced the very bowels of the globe; that penetrated every crevice, crack, and cavern of the earth, and then descended to the bottom of the deep, the sea, and thus destroyed all that had life, and all on which the curse of sin was found. The monuments of man, that long had stood the shocks of ages, now mouldered down to dust. The works of art, the “proud-capt towers and gorgeous palaces,” and all the modern pageantry of pride and show, were by this flame to ashes turned. The cities, villages, and towns, which once had filled the world with human beings, and all the seats of science, where man had long been taught the ancient fables and the vain philosophy of the former generations, and also learned the more modern customs and fashions of the day, to lord it over others, who had not thus been blessed, as they supposed, with this great ray of light, this mortal-cast, man-made wisdom, - these all did melt away, and not an eye could see or finger point where once they stood. The battlements of war, - the pride of kings, defence of nations, and the boast of warriors, - which longer yet had stood the ravages of time, and now, for ages back, had claimed the name and title which mortals give, “impregnable,” - who, from their gaping sides, had poured at times such showers of missiles upon the approaching foe, that many a gallant ship, with all her crew, had found a berth beneath the watery wave, or scattered in fragments into the middle air, and many a brave and fearless hostile band had left their bones to whiten on the plain; - these, too, had sunk beneath this powerful flame, and there was not a fragment left to tell where once they stood.MWM 412.1

“‘I saw the cloisters of the Roman monks, and the dark cells of the nuns, which long had kept from view the secret crimes and midnight revels of their murderous, cruel, lustful inmates; - I saw the dark-walled chamber of the Inquisition, filled with its means of torture, that had, in ages past, drenched all its walls in blood, now hung, in solemn mockery, with images of Christ, with likenesses of angels, and pictures of the Virgin Mary, blasphemously called “the mother of God;” - all were consumed by this pervading flame. I then beheld it approaching where I stood. My flesh began to quiver on my bones, my hair rose up on end, and all within me was suddenly turned into corruption. I felt the flame when first it struck my person; it seemed to pierce through all the joints and marrow of my frame, dividing soul and body. I shrieked with pain, and, for a moment, I was all unconscious. The next moment I found myself a spirit, and saw the mass, of which my body lately was composed, a heap of ashes; and, although my spirit yet retained a form like that which I had dropped, yet half the pain was gone, and a moment I seemed to live again for pleasure. But the next moment, turning from the loathsome lump of ashes, I saw the flame, and in it saw the form of the Most Holy. I fled as on the wings of the wind, and skimmed the surface of the earth, if possible to escape the sight of that All-seeing Eye; and, as I flew, I soon found many thousands more unhappy spirits like myself, seeking for the same object. We fled together, and every moment added to our numbers scores of these unhappy beings; but still the same most holy flame pursued, until we found no place on earth could hide us from his view. We then launched forth into the lower air, and sunk, and sunk, and sunk, until we came to this dark gulf; and here we found this pit, where light can never enter; and, glad to find a place where holiness will never enter, we plunged in here. And when we left the light, and sunk into this dark and dismal place of wretchedness and woe, we found ourselves enclosed on every side in chains of darkness, that all the demons and spirits of the damned can never break, until He who shut us up will please to let us loose again. And then we know there is another place, which lies far beneath this dark and dismal pit, that, if he conquers then, will be our last abode, - A LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE.’”MWM 413.1

“A VISION OF DEATH.MWM 414.1

“I SAW, - whether asleep or awake, I cannot tell, but this I know: I saw the dark and dismal door of Death. It was narrow as the grave; and only one could enter at a time, and tread its winding steep. Yet thousand passed the door. At its threshold, all left their earthly idols. Some cast a wishful look, as they pushed forward, and shrieked. Some lingered trembling, and some rushed forward regardless of the consequences. There were seen all ages, all ranks, and all conditions, passing towards the door.MWM 414.2

“I saw the drunkard quaff his bowl of poison, burst open the door of death, and stagger in. I heard a curse, a groan, a fall, a hollow, dismal sound, and all was silent as the tomb.MWM 414.3

“Next came a voluptuary. He laughed, he danced, and leaped the fearful leap. The door closed on him. I heard a trembling cry. Spectators shuddered and turned their eyes away, and nothing more was seen.MWM 414.4

“A selfish miser came, loaded down with bags of gold. His head was white with care. His look was fearful with despair. Envy was his only attendant. He staggered to the door, laid down his gold, and wept. A dismal cloud enveloped him. A laugh was heard. And, when the cloud was gone, gold, miser, - all had disappeared.MWM 414.5

“There came a man of honor. On his brow wreaths of victory were twined. His step was stately. At his nod many bowed and fawned. He, too, must pass the gate. He touched the secret spring. The door wide open flew. Darkness enveloped him. The multitude shrank back, to follow some other leader. And nothing now was seen, save a few dried leaves of laurel.MWM 415.1

“There came a giddy youth. His eye was sparkling. His step was light. Many a jocund story hung upon his lips. While looking on the world, he backward ran against the door, and fell. I heard a piteous moan, a distant shriek, and silence reigned again.MWM 415.2

“I saw one other come. Hope sat upon his brow. He smiled and wept; but, with a forward look, he traced the path, while in his hand he held a little Book, and often read. I saw he had a glass that penetrated the dark abyss, and left a ray behind. I heard him sing. ‘T was not a song of earth, but soft and sweet like the melodious sounds of distant music on a summer’s eve. He passed the door of death; and, like the setting sun, whose rays have chased the flying clouds away, he passed to rise more glorious on the morrow.”MWM 415.3

“ON JEREMIAH’S LAMENTATION.MWM 415.4

“How doth the City, once so full of fame, Now silent sit and mourn her widowed name! She, that was great among the nations far, When kings and princes brought their gold to her! She weepeth sore. The midnight hears her moan - Her tears fast flowing, as she sits alone. Her friends are foes. To fill her general doom, Her lovers, children, sink into the tomb. Judah afflicted is, a slave of old; She’s gone a captive, - to a servant sold. Her people, scattered through a heathen land, No rescue have they from the spoiler’s hand. O Zion! mourn thy state, because there’s none To spread thy feasts, or call thy children home. Thy temple’s empty; all thy teachers sigh In bitterness, to hear thy maidens cry:MWM 415.5

’The Lord Jehovah hath this wonder wrought, For her transgressions are these judgments brought’MWM 416.1

Zion’s fair daughters, all their beauty fled! Her princes fallen! all her heroes dead! Jerusalem once great, how changed the scene! Her sorrows double, make her anguish keen, When recollection calls her mercies o’er, - The pleasant things she had in days of yore. Her foes approach; her people all are slain; She cries for help, - alas! she cries in vain. Behold the envious! how he taunting says: ‘Where are your Sabbaths and your solemn days?’ The nations that have known and heard her fame Despise her now and publish all her shame. Her downcast look, her end, her bitter sigh, Are not regarded. No Deliverer’s nigh.MWM 416.2

Behold, O Lord, how her afflictions grow! Her enemies have magnified them too. There walk the plunderer’s and the murderer’s band, No place so sacred can their rage command. Her people sigh for bread; they seek in vain Their pleasant things for meat. They cry again: ‘Look down, O Lord! consider all my ways; How vile am I, how sinful all my days! Ah! what is that to you who pass me by? Does any sorrow with my sorrow vie? The Lord in judgment hath afflicted me; From his fierce anger whither shall I flee? In every path my feet have found a snare. If I return, it’s desolation there. And my transgression, like a yoke, is bound Upon my neck. My crimes are twisted round. My strength is weakness. Lord, how can I rise, Delivered over to my sins a prize? The Lord hath trodden, by a mighty host, My old and young men, humbled in the dust. For these I weep; my tears are streaming fast; No comfort near, nor desolation past. In vain I spread my hands; for there is none To comfort me or bring my children home. The Lord commands; in terror I am bound, And all my foes encompass me around. O righteous Sovereign! lo, how just thy cause! For I’ve rebelled and trampled on thy laws. Hear, all ye people, and my woes behold; My virgins captured, and my young men sold. I call my lovers, once my hope and pride; But they despise me, and my sighs deride. My priests and elders, while they seek for bread, Give up the ghost, and slumber with the dead. Behold, O Lord, in me is sore distress, My heart is troubled, and I find no rest;MWM 416.3

Abroad the sword, at home is naught but death, I sigh, a rebel, with my every breath. There’s none to comfort, though they hear me sigh “The Lord has done it all,” they gladly cry.MWM 417.1

Behold the day the Lord has called his own, When they, like me, shall come before his throne. There all their sins and wickedness shall be, And do to them as Thou hast done to me.MWM 417.2

For my transgressions and my soul’s complaint My sighs are many, and my heart is faint.’”MWM 417.3

“ON TIME.MWM 417.4

“YOU ask me, sir, to tell the cause Why nature changes in her laws; And why, in youth, time lags so slow, But flies so swift as old we grow.MWM 417.5

“I’ll tell thee, friend. Lay not the blame, Nor call old time ‘a fickle dame.’ She heeds you not, nor will she stay, To stop your progress or decay.MWM 417.6

“When you were young, like other boys, You sought anticipated joys; And when for future years you pined, You thought not of those left behind.MWM 417.7

“You watched for years, for weeks, and days To come, to bring your wished-for plays; And, with our future good in view, Time lags behind to me and you.MWM 417.8

“We measure not by running sands, Nor by the clock’s revolving hands; But think old time must run and fly, To bring our wished-for objects nigh.MWM 417.9

“But, when we to the object come, We think old time must cease to run, And be obedient to our need: To walk or fly, as we shall speed.MWM 417.10

“So the vain youth, to imitate Follies and vices of the great, Longs for the day of liberty, When he from guardians may be free.MWM 417.11

“Old time revolves at slowest pace When we’re most eager for the race. In youth or age, in hope or fear, He walks or runs, till death draws near.”MWM 418.1

A FRAGMENT. - AN ALLEGORY.MWM 418.2

“THERE was a certain prince of royal blood. His father was one of the most powerful monarchs in the world, and every way qualified to rule over the people of his inheritance. He bid fair not only to rule in justice and equity, but to exalt his subjects to an honorable station and to great glory.MWM 418.3

“This prince, whose name we shall call Emanor, was brought up at his Father’s court, where he was taught all the principles of truth and righteousness. He was early taught to learn obedience to his Father’s will; and was never known to be disobedient to a single command, or to break one of those righteous principles by which his Father’s subjects were governed. Emanor learnt the first great lesson, self-command, which only can teach men to command others. He suffered much, that he might have pity on those who suffered. He was tempted often by foreign courtiers, who visited his Father’s court, to follow the vanities and follies of other courts; but was always able to resist the temptation, and expose their false reasoning to their own shame and confusion. He was, therefore, able to succor others that were tempted. He lived on the most simple fare, was frugal and plain in his dress, and economical in his expenses, that he might make the poor richer. He was affable and free in his manners, that he might encourage the poor and needy, the weak and afflicted, to apply to him for succor or help. He was meek and humble in his intercourse with his fellowmen, that, by his practice, he might teach others those virtues which were greatly admired and rewarded at his Father’s court.MWM 418.4

“We must not forget to mention that Emanor was pious. His was not that ostentatious piety which says, ‘Stand by thyself’ - ‘I am more holy than thou;’ nor that sectarian piety which denounces all that will not ‘follow us.’ No, my kind reader, he had not that dogmatical piety which lords it over fellow-worshippers, and says, ‘This you must do, and that you may leave undone; you must support this improvement, that institution, or join such a social compact, or we can have no fellowship with you as Christians. You must forbear to eat or drink any of the good things of life, if your masters say forbear.’ Neither had he that proud, scholastic piety, which knows no greater depths than the wisdom of man, supported by vain philosophy, and has no higher motive than self-aggrandizement at the expense of others. No, his piety was that of the heart, founded on the first grand principle of his Father’s kingdom, namely, to ‘love God with all the heart, and our neighbor as ourselves.’ It manifested itself in his constant, daily submission to the commands and dealings of God, and in diligently inquiring after and relieving the wants of his fellow-creatures. ‘He went about doing good.’ No ostentation, no self-aggrandizement was in his religion, but a pure, holy flame of love to God and man. His person was perfect, his form comely, his soul pure. This was the character, and such the qualifications of Emanor, the Prince of whom I have been speaking.MWM 418.5

“In addition to what I have related, he was a great Captain, a mighty Conqueror, and a Prince of peace. In the wars which his Father waged with the most potent enemies of his government, he came off conqueror, and more than conqueror, over some of the most stubborn and rebellious subjects that any government was ever troubled with. He carried the olive branch of peace into the enemies’ camp; and, although he was treated with indignity, scorn, and hatred, was reviled, mocked, spit upon, was smitten, bruised, wounded, and torn, slandered, defamed, and cast out, yet he ceased not to cry, Peace, and to proclaim, Pardon to the chief of the rebels, on condition of their throwing down the weapons of their rebellion, and returning to the allegiance of their lawful and righteous Sovereign. And, when they refused even these conditions, he brought them of his Father, paid the utmost farthing for their release, and then followed them, day after day, with kind invitations, with soft words, and great and rich promises, until his own spirit was kindled in their hearts, and they yielded to the ‘power of his word;’ for ‘never did man speak as he spake.’ And then he adopted them as joint heirs with himself in his Father’s kingdom. This, surely, you will say, is more than being conqueror. He not only destroyed their weapons of warfare and humbled their proud hearts, but he destroyed the enmity of their minds, and made them willing and obedient subjects to his Father’s government. He produced in their very souls a hungering and thirsting after the constitution and laws of the kingdom which they had formerly attempted in vain to destroy. He likewise, by his power, goodness, and love, begot in each of these rebels a spirit of emulation to be like their young Prince, to think like him of his Father’s glory, to act like him, to ‘do to others as they would have others do to them,’ and to be like him, - perfect in all their ways, as the King himself was perfect. Their chief object was to glorify their beloved Prince, by obedience to his laws and requirements, as he glorified his Father, and obeyed his laws and requests.MWM 419.1

“Here the reader must acknowledge that we have a pattern worthy of all love, imitation, and adoration. All rational minds must admit that it could not be properly called idolatry to adore and worship so perfect, powerful, and excellent a Being as this. And these rebels were in the habit of calling him their ‘Master,’ ‘Saviour,’ ‘Creator,’ ‘Lord God,’ ‘the Holy One,’ ‘the First and the Last,’ ‘the only true God,’ etc. The unreconciled rebels complained loudly and bitterly of those who were reconciled, for their idolatry and submission to the dear Prince in whom they had received such innumerable blessings; but this complaint only went to prove the unreconciled state of heart which they possessed against this Prince of princes. It has always been noticed that, when any of these complainers have been truly humbled and reconciled to this Prince and his Father’s government, they have become idolators equally with their brethren, and have acknowledged him a God in human form.MWM 420.1

“The King, the Father of Emanor, having designed to procure a bride for the Prince, his son, made a general proclamation in his empire, and sent forth a herald to publish even to the ends of the earth this his design, and fixing to his decree some of the following conditions:MWM 420.2

“1st. The damsel who would aspire to this great honor must believe in this proclamation, and place implicit confidence in the word, power, and goodness of the Prince; her faith must be tried by all the means the wisdom of the Prince could devise, to know whether it was pure and would endure to the end; and this was to be known by her obedience to the commands of her Lord and Prince.” ....MWM 420.3

This sketch is, of course, incomplete. It is a subject of regret that he did not proceed to describe the trials of the church, the manner in which God led her, to prove her and try her, and fit her for the exalted position to which she is destined, when she shall be presented to the Father, without spot or blemish, at the marriage supper of the Lamb.MWM 421.1

“THE DAY OF THE LORD.MWM 421.2

“‘Ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that DAY should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of the darkness.’ - 1 Thessalonians 5:4, 5.MWM 421.3

“THIS passage of Scripture is one of many that come to us in this time of trial with a blessed promise that, if we are what we should be, we shall know something respecting the coming of the day of the Lord.MWM 421.4

“Many tell us it is no matter whether we know anything on this subject, and that, if we remain in ignorance of it, we shall be safe. But the apostle, in the context, shows us the consequences of that day coming on us as a thief: ‘For youselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.’MWM 421.5

“He cannot mean by this that that day will steal in upon us, and we not be looking for it. It is only those who say, Peace and safety, - who say the day is not coming, - who are thus overtaken, as a thief comes unawares and spoils his neighbor of his goods.MWM 421.6

“How blessed the thought - the Day of To-morrow! When Glory’s bright Sun shall banish all sorrow; When the trials of life shall be over; and never Draw us from our love, for ever and ever.MWM 421.7

“I long for the day! The night has been dreary. To tarry and pray, the flesh becomes weary. I long for the voice, God’s servants awaking, That soon shall announce that that day is breaking.MWM 422.1

“O, then shall our eyes refrain from all weeping, And our eyelids no more shall be heavy with sleeping, When death is disarmed of his trident of terror, And sin has no charms for ever and ever.MWM 422.2

“Let weary ones sing! How can they be fearful? Since Christ is our King, our hearts will be cheerful I long for the day, ‘mid this wreck of commotion, To land me safe home in eternity’s ocean.”MWM 422.3