Louisville messenger. (Louisville, Miss.) 1842-1843, 1843-04-29
ANTICIPATION on Tug DlarII on
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II was the object of hope fof 100
year. This Is . wonderful fact 10 be
gin With There never 6as u gencr
alton In which his birth was moi cx
pccicd. II was Tie comfort Of Adam
md Eve, whom they turned into n,
fire guarded gate, fro'o their look OF
Eden, TO go down into The worIt
where the curse smoked before them
II was the sclociest subject Of III,
communion when Enoch walked viii
God, and hallowcd the hour Of his as
cension into heaven. II was The
brightest lamp IN the ark, when II
rocked on the waves Of an ocean
world, beneath sky that knew no
dawn. And when the fool had
subsidized and the patriarch from the
old world came out upon the misty
mountains ofthe new, and worship
ped his Deliverer at the altar which
glisten d with the hnes of the first
rainbow-and Lis household became
many families, and these families ma
ny tribes, descending from the sum-
mits and filIlg the lowlands--still,
dearer 10 hope than the lost paradise
to memory, bloom' d around the tents
Of the holy, the promise of the COM
ing Messiah. TWAS this expectation
that charmed Abraham in the house
OF idolatry, and led his pilgrim steps
from the plains Of Urto the highest of
Hebron. 1t was this, that shone in
the sereneimagination ofIsaac, brigh-
ter than the evening star, when he
went forth into the fields to mediate
in the quiet eventide. 1t was this,
that supported the dying Jacob bet
ter than his staff, and made his eyes
flash with the VISIONS of faith and the
glory of the latter days. 1t was this,
that caused Joseph to turn away from
tie royal Mausolcums-tne magn'h-
cent py ramids Of Egypt, and craveS,
as the resting place Of his honercd
bones, some sylvan haunt in the land
Of the redeemed. 1t was this, that
shortened the centuries of toll 10 the
chosen of the Lord, and cl.eele1 the
house Of bondage with the song Of
freedom. Ii was this, that furnished
the wealth Of kingdom, and mocked
Tie might Of Empire when The prince
III Moses made Ills choice Of affiiction
and his reckoning Of the incompara-
BILE preciousness Of reproach. No
degradation of caste, no chains of
teraldom, no pressure of toll, no scar
ching visitation of the tyrant's sword
the cradles of infancy, could
impair its certainty or check its pow
err. 1t was the torch in the hand of
the Angel in the cloud, with all its
beams turned downward and onward
ON the sands, and sea,wecds,
and rocks, as the heirs Of the premise
escaped through the parted waters
while their wrat.ful foes in the !ren-
zy Of folly, urged their wheels along
the darkness Of the rearward ably
and were swept from their chariots
by the hurricane surges. 1t was this
atconstituted the Gospel Of the de-
sert, which SO many disbrlicved, and
persisted, So
"When mama fell, through soft nocturnal
hours,
Till desert trees were white as almond fow-
ers,'
it 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, "that
rock was Christ" and those streams
were gushing tokens Of free and full
salvation. When the Shekinah APP
peared, in its radiant rest, and tine
mercyieat, it was only faint dawn.
Of the "Brightness Of the Fathers
Glory and an indistinct lymning of
the express Image Of his person."
And so, when The tide Of Jordan was
severed by the first touch Of the feet
of the priests, who bore the ark, and
the redeemed of the Lord passed over
to their glorious Inheritance, the ark
itself was the depository'oftheir com
mon and blessed hope, andthe Lead
er of the Host, in name and Office, the
type Of Jesus-the Captain of Our
And so, when the twelve
tribes were spread abroad with their
tents pitched in the sunshine Of the
and in the shade Of the wales
below, and under the branches ofthe