The deep drawn wish, when children crown our hearth, Undamped by dread that want may e'er unhouse, Our children's heritage, in prospect long, Yet there, by time, their bosoms shall be changed, There, marking o'er his farm's expanding ring And o'er a land where life has ample room, Delightful land, in wildness ev'n benign, The lines of empire in thine infant face. Untracked in deserts lies the marble mine, Proud temple-domes, with galleries winding high, O'er tesselated pavements, pictures fair, Nor there, whilst all that's seen bids fancy swell, But choral hymns shall wake enchantment round, Meanwhile ere Arts triumphant reach their goal, Its mountains blue, and melon-skirted streams How many a name to us uncouthly wild, And bring as sweet thoughts o'er his bosom's chords, Go forth and prosper then, courageous band : We may expect that the same causes which have obliged families to leave Great Britain, and find new homes in Australia, will probably affect other parts of the old world, before the following prophecy contained in the end of the above mentioned chapter is fulfilled: "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together ; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? * The seventh chapter speaks of the mercy of God in withholding those judgments until 144 thousand of the descendants of Abraham, and a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, are collected together in a place of safety. And those who are zealous in advancing Christ's kingdom should seek out the book of the Lord, and pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to teach them through that book what they are to do. He has given a promise that before he comes himself he will "send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet," and many may wait until they see angels flying with trumpets, to tell them where they are to assemble to meet the Bridegroom. Now this language may only be figurative, and we learn from St. Paul, that they may appear in outward form like men. He says in writing to the Hebrews, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." + The sound of the trumpet may mean the manner in which the Lord's messengers are enabled, since the art of printing was discovered, to spread his gospel and proclaim his will in a way unknown to the world, previous to this wonderful invention. I once heard a clergyman of the Church of * Revelation vi. 14, 15, 16, 17. † Hebrews xiii. 2. England lecturing on the 7th chapter of Joshua, in which Gideon is represented taking a city with the assistance of 300 men armed only with trumpets, and lamps in pitchers, the light of which was not visible until the pitchers were broken. He said this was a type of the manner in which satan's kingdom would be finally overthrown by the sound of the gospel trumpet, and the writings of men whose works would not be understood until after their death. In the 8th, 9th, and 10th chapters of the Revelation, there are seven angels spoken of, having seven trumpets, preparing to sound; and then successively sounding. The signs of the times and history must be consulted, to ascertain how many of them may have already sounded; if they are (as I believe) men whose writings have assisted in advancing Christ's kingdom. Every one in the old world is interested in the sounding of the trumpet of the seventh angel; for then is the "mystery" to be finished. |