Independent Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1842-1844, 1843-04-22
ANTICIPATION OF THE BIRTH OF
CHRIST.
T. II. STOCKTON.

1t was the object ofhope for four thousand
years. This is a wonderful fact, to begin
with. There never was generation in
which his birth was not expected. 1t was
the comfort Of Adam and Eve, when they
tuned, into the fire EuaTde3 ga'c, fr,m
their last look on Eden, to 90 down into the
world where the curse smoked before them.
1t was the selectest subject of the com.
munion when Enoch walked with God
and hallowed the hour Of his ascension in.
TO heaven. 1t was the brightest lamp in
the ark, when il rocked on the waves Of an
ocean world, beneath skv that knew nc
noon or dawn. And when thu food had
subsidized and the patriarch from the old
world came out upon the misty mouniains
of the new and wcr;hinpod his De'irerer
at the altar which glis'ened with the hucs
of the first rainbow--and his houschol be-
came many families. an these families
MANY tribes. descendin" from the SUBMITS
and fl ling tho lowlands-sti'l, dearer to
hope than the lost paradise to memory,
hloomed around the tents ofthe holy, the
promise of the coming Messiah. II was
this expect ,ton that charmel Ahram in
the house Of llola,rv, and led his pilgrim
steps from the plains % Ur % the hiGNest
of Hebron II was this. thu, shrne in the
serene Imagination Of Isaac, brighter than
tie evening star. when he went forth into
the feds to me 'ita'e in the quiet even.
tile. II was this. thHt supported the DYING
Jacob better than his stall, ard m}de his
eyes flash with TIE visions ut faith and the
glory of the latter DAYS II was this that
caused Joseph tn turn away from the royal
mausolcums--the magnificent pyramids-
Of Egypt, and craves, as the resting place
of his hnnored bones, some sylvan haunt IN
the land of The redeemed. 1t was this that
the centuries Of toi! TO the cho-
sen of the Lord, and cheered the house of
bondage with the sorg Of freedom. II
was this that furnished the wealth of n
kingdom, and Knocked the might of Empire
when the prncelv Moses made his choice
OF affection and his reckoning of the incom-
parable preciousness of reproach. Nodeg-
relation of caste, no chains of thraldom,
no pressure of toll, no searching visitation
of the tyrant's sword among the cradles of
infancy, could impair its certainty or
check It's power. 1t was the torch in the
hand of the Angel in the cloud, with all
its beams turned downward and onward,
shining on the sands, and sea-weeds, and
rocks, as the heirs of the promise escaped
through the parted waters-whi!e their
wrathful foes in the frenzy of folly, urged
their wheels along the darkness of the
rearward abyss and were swept from their
chariots by the hurricane surges. 1t was
this that constituted the Gospel Of the des-
ert, which so many dsbeIieved, and per.
ished, So
" When mama fell, through soft nocturnal
hours,
Till desert trees were white as almond
flowers"
il was the pure and wholesome symbol Of
that better " Bread of Life" which was TO
come " down from heaven" in after days.
When the heart of the rock melted, and its
assured surface flowed with refreshing
streams, d" that rock was Christ" and those
streams were gushing tokens of a free and
full salvation. When the Shekinah ap-
peared, in It's radiant rest, on the mercy
seat, it was only faint dawning of the
Brightness of the Fathers Glory" anC
an indistinct lymning of The Express I'm
age Of his person." And so, when the lid,
Of Jordan was severed by the first touch o
the feet Of the priests, who bore the ark
and The redeemed Of the Lord passed owe