| 64 For the Times and Seasons
SATURDAY EVENING THOUGHTS.
BY MISS E. R. SNOW.
"My heart is fix'd"-I know in whom I trust. Of God.-To stand unwav'ring, undismay'd
'Twas not for wealth-'twas not to gather heaps And unseduc'd, when the base hypocrite
Of perishable things-'twas not to twine Whose deed take hold on hell, whose face is garb'd
Around my brow, a transitory wreath, With saintly looks drawn out by sacrilege
A garland deck'd with gems of mortal praise, From a profession, but assum'd and thrown
That I forsook the home of childhood; that Around him for a mantle to enclose
I left the lap of ease-the halo rife The black corruption of a putrid heart.-
With smiling friendship's soft and mellow tones- To stand on virtue's lofty pinnacle
Affection's fond caresses, and the cup Clad in the heav'nly robes of innocence,
O'erflowing with the sweets of social life, Amid that worse than every other blast-
Where high refinement's richest pearls were strew'd. The blast that strikes at moral character
Ah no! A holier purpose fir'd my soul- With floods of falsehood foaming with abuse.-
A nobler object prompted my pursuit: To stand, with nerve and sinew firmly steel'd,
Eternal prospects open'd to my view, When in the trying scale of rapid change,
And hope's celestial torch within me burn'd. Thrown side by side and face to face with that
Foul hearted spirit, blacker than the soul
God, who commanded Abraham to leave Of midnight's darkest shade, the traitor,
His native country, and to offer up The vile wretch that feeds his sordid selfishness
On the lone altar, where no eye beheld Upon the peace and blood of innocence-
But His who never sleeps an only son; The faithless, rottenhearted wretch, whose tongue
Is still the same, and thousands who have made Speaks words of trust and fond fidelity,
A covenant with him by sacrifice, While treach'ry like a viper, coils behind
Are bearing witness to the sacred truth, The smile that dances in his evil eye.-
Jehovah speaking? Yes, as heretofore. To pass the fiery ordeal, and to have
The proclamation sounded in my ear- The heart laid open-all its contents prov'd
It touched my heart-I hearken'd to the sound, Before the bar of strictest scrutiny.-
Counted the cost, and laid my earthly all To have the finest heart-strings stretch'd unto
Upon the altar, and with purpose fixed Their utmost length to try their texture.-To
Unalterably, while the spirit of Abide, with principle unchang'd, the wreck
Elijah's God, within my bosom reigns; Of cruel, tort'ring circumstances, which
Embrac'd the "Everlasting Covenant;" Ride forth on revolution's blust'ring gale.
To be a saint among the faithful ones
Whose race is measur'd by their life-whose prize But yet, altho' to be a saint, requires
Is everlasting, and whose happiness A noble sacrifice-an arduous toil-
Is God's approval, and to whom 'tis more A persevering aim; the great reward
Than meat and drink to do his righteous will. Awaiting the grand consummation, will
It is no trifling thing to be a saint Repay the price however costly; and
In very deed. To stand upright nor bow, The pathway of the saint, the safest path
Nor bend beneath the weighty burthen [burden] of Will prove, tho' perilous: for 'tis foretold,
Oppressiveness.-To stand unscath'd amid All things that can be shaken, God will shake:
The bellowing thunder and the raging storm Kingdoms, and Institutes, and Governments,
Of persecution, when the hostile pow'rs Both Civil and religious must be tried-
Of darkness, stimulate the hearts of men Tried to the core and sounded to the depth.
To warfare: to besiege, assault, aim
To overthrow the kingdom God has rear'd- Then let me be a saint, and be prepar'd
To stand unmov'd beneath the with'ring rock For the approaching day, which like a snare
Of vile apostacy [apostasy], when men depart Will soon surprise the hypocrite-expose
From the pure principles of righteousness- The rottenness of human schemes-shake off
Those principles requiring man to live Oppressive fetters-break the gorgeous reins
By ev'ry word proceeding from the mouth Usurpers hold, and lay the pride of man,
And glory of the nations low in dust!
Several thousands of Israelites of Poland Russia have, says a letter form Berlin, in the German Journal of Frankfort, entered into an engagement to proceed on the first favorable opportunity, to Jerusalem, there to wait in prayer and fasting, the coming of the Messiah.
There has been a very severe storm on the Lakes, which has occasioned many shipwrecks and much loss of property and life.
The Times and Seasons, is edited by John Taylor. Printed and published about the first and fifteenth of every month, on the corner of Water and Bain Streets, Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, by John Taylor & Wilford Woodruff.
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