Untitled article by The Christian

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, December 31, 1867

THE NEW YEAR.

By The Christian

Swift as the motion of the spheres On rolls the steady flow of years, Again we hail the boon of Heaven, Another New Year's morning given. Loud chime the bells, and notes of song Roll gladly from the joyous throng;— Hushed be each sigh, and dried each tear, Joyous we greet the dawning year!

But though another year is done, Its gladness and its sorrows gone, Its pains and toils, its joys and woes, Deep buried 'neath its drifting snows,— Yet unto man, the hand of Heaven No other rolling year hath given;— For He who from eternal time Lives on through endless days sublime, Who, through the maze of countless years, Unnumbered stars and planets steers,— Who only knows the priceless worth Of moments given to sons of earth,— Bestows not time by days and years, Marked by the roll of heavenly spheres, But while the glancing seconds run, Doles them to mortals one by one. Nor can we for our sojourn here Secure a day, a month, a year; No hour, no moment of our own Withholds us from the judgment throne; For all our times are in the hand Of Him who can our lives command, And it is not for us to know Their ebbing fall or tidal flow. Each rolling year, each transient hour, The Father holds in his own power.

Swiftly as runs the arrowy tide, So swift our fleeting moments glide:— As on the spangled brow of night, The hurrying meteor in its flight, Leaves hot a momentary glare, And fades in gloom and darkness there,— So like the sparks from flaming spheres, Fall off the swift departing years, So pass away the flying days, So fleet the moments from our gaze, Bearing away our hopes and joys, Our treasures rich, our trifling toys. And with them we are speeding on, And quickly we shall all be gone.

We stand upon the point “To-day;” All other time has fled away; The future,—an unopened book, In which no earthly eye can look; Its words to mortals all unknown,— Lies sealed before the heavenly throne; Our narrow circle reaches back Where memory sees a fading track, And round, where, rushing to their goal, Present events tumultuous roll. Day crowds on day, and flying fast Soon shall all mortal time be past, And sudden as the lightning's gleam Shall end the godless worldling's dream, And awful as the thunder's roll Shall the last earthquake rouse the soul: For man must hear the trumpet's tone, And wake to see the judgment throne, And meet the Lord revealed in fire, In glorious majesty and ire.

Far as extends the wandering gaze, Marvels and wonders crowd our days: Throughout this last departing year, Sorrow and dread, and joy and fear Have come in haste, and sped away, Marking with change each passing day:— With glittering blade and blazing brand War has outstretched its gory hand; Kaiser and king in fierce array Have struggled in the fatal fray, And many a form beloved, has lain Lifeless upon the gory plain; Countries have changed their ancient bounds, Princes have lost their thrones and crowns, And others still impetuous go To meet their final overthrow; And all the nations wait in pain, Till He whose right it is to reign Shall take his kingdom and the throne, And make the ransomed world his own.

Bitter beneath the Eastern sky, Rises the agonizing cry Of breadless multitudes opprest, Who only in the grave find rest. Destruction wide at noonday walks, And Pestilence in darkness stalks; Nations are torn and tempest-tost, Battles are won but blessings lost; Bondmen, disburthened of their chains, Groan while misrule and bloodshed reigns; Still rages earth's unceasing broil, Still swells its furious, dark turmoil; Nor cometh peace with beauteous tread At beck of crowned or mitered head; And power and zeal, and wit and will, And art and science with their skill, Toil vainly on, and seek to bless A world estranged from righteousness.

What though in ocean's silent depth, Where death and darkness long have slept, Lies the attenuated wire, Along which leaps celestial fire; What though, out-traveling the sun, The flashing tidings swiftly run; What though, defying wind and tide, Strange vessels through the waters glide; What though, with rush, and roar, and scream, Chariots like midnight meteors gleam; What though Invention's wondrous wand Conquers the sea and rules the land, Annihilates both time and space, Spurning the ancient bounds of place, And casts o'er nature's powers its chain, Leading them captive in its train?— Vast as is Knowledge's great increase, War hath its gain as well as peace; And sin, and fraud, and crime, and shame, Their progress and new arts may claim, And speeding on they hold their place Among the foremost in the race. With science and with art, begin New phases, shades, and styles of sin, And crime, in forms before unknown, Mounts with gigantic strides his throne, And ruling with an iron rod, Tramples on men and mocks at God.

Meanwhile with wealth in coffers stored, Men scorn the judgments of the Lord, And prophesy of days of peace, And sunny joy of halcyon bliss, And still in confidence they say, “Soon shall earth's troubles pass away;— The thunder of the rolling drum, Marshals the golden days to come; The shotted cannon's murderous roar, Proclaims that war will soon be o'er; The monitor and needle-gun Presage the bright millennium.” And thus these drowsy watchmen tell The same old story, “All is well,” And call the watches of the night, With lanterns paled by morning's light.

Thus earth still sleeps and slumbers on, And will till mercy's hour is done, And then shall wake to judgment dire— The vengeance of eternal fire,— When wrath like that on Sodom hurled, Shall overwhelm a sinful world, And with its fierce, consuming flame, Purge out each dark polluting stain.

O earth, what woes and sorrows then Shall crush the souls of guilty men; What vain regrets, what fruitless tears, Shall gird the bound of endless years; What agony, what mental strife, Shall mark the last vain plea for life, When downward through the lurid gloom, Men plunge into the burning tomb, And gain at last their treasured ire,— Their portion in the lake of fire.

Swift as the bolts by archers hurled Rolls to its end a groaning world; No arm its hurrying course can stay, No might avert the fatal day; No power prevent the final throe— The climax of convulsive woe.

Till then, upon a world like this, There dawns no day of rest and bliss: Earth still must feel the scourging rod: No peace the wicked have, saith God; Peace is the fruit of righteousness, And only comes when sin shall cease:— When guilt and crime shall pass away, Then peace shall come, and come to stay. When earth's last anguished hour is past, Then comes the day of joy at last— The Sun of righteousness shall rise, And bless the world with glad surprise; And as he spreads his healing wing, The slumbering saints shall wake and sing:— Sing their glad songs of joy sublime, Beyond the woes and tears of time; And lift the ever-growing strain Of glory to the Lamb once slain.

Then angel throngs, and cherubim, Answering shall join the choral hymn; And swelling still the anthem loud, Shall sing the vast encircling crowd; And sweet as music of the spheres Shall chime along the endless years The song of triumph and of love, Filling the holy Heavens above, And, rolling downward like the strain That rang o'er Bethlehem's silent plain; Till everything above, beneath, That lifts a voice or draws a breath, Shall swell the sound of boundless joy That bursts like thunder through the sky; And lifting high those mighty lays, Shall fill the universe with praise.

Toll on, O bells, toll out these years Of blighted hopes and bitter tears; These years of tempest, storm, and flood; These years of bondage, strife, and blood; These years of carnage, sin, and curse; These years of waxing worse and worse.

Chime on, chime on, O joyful bells, Of coming bliss your music tells; Ring till the days of sorrow cease, Ring in the year of joy and peace; The year of endless glory blest, The year of jubilee and rest, The year that ends earth's bitter pain, The year of Christ's eternal reign— Ring on, till every foe shall fall; Ring on, till God is all in all; Ring till he breaks the spoilers' rod:— Ring in THE GREAT NEW YEAR OF GOD.

—The Christian.