The Illinois free trader and LaSalle County commercial advertiser. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1841-1843, 1843-03-03
VOL. III.
From the lions Herald.

TIE Eighteen Hundred Forty-ihree.
DARK AND MYSTERIOUS YEAR! the pery last
To dawn upon this wonderous globe and vast
The last which TINES long catalogue displays,
$50 say the prophets of these latter days,)
Calmly thou stealest now upon the earth,
In princely guiss. a monarch from thy birth:
A thousand beauteous worlds the eye may trace
Suspended moving in the realms of space,
Each, every one. upheld. restrained, confined
In close subsection by the Eternal Mind!
Thou hast no omens Of forthcoming ill,
The faithful soul with dread dismay to fill;
No signs portentous burst upon the eye.
Around, below, or in the blue-arched sky;
AS when thy noble predecessors came,
All things material remain the same,
Essentially; there is no fearful change
Within the clearcst Visions widest range;
There's nothing visible to mortals given
TO show thou art the limit marked by Heaven
We hear no rumbling fom The golden spheres;
No tumult in those orbs Of light appears;
Harmony, beauty, not results of CHANCE,
Molon anu oIucT, not oliIu circumstance,
Pervade all worlds, all space, the sky, the earth,
Apparently, as at creations birth.
The dazzling sun,-a flowing sphere of light,
A million worlds, that else were shut in night
Illumining,--that since the fla. came,
Let there be light" has filled with living fame
The underlined, unlimited expansc,
Showing to man his insignifcance--
Sends forth as warm, as pure, as gorgeous rays,
As when he woke to his Creators praise,
AS on the night dawned natures earliest day,
And from the abyss dread darkness fed away!
The moon still pours her purest midcst beams,
On land and sea, the woods, and silver streams,
Illumcs with cheering beauty all the air,
And sends her floods Of glory every where;
She has no. faded, has not turned to Hood
Sign Of the coming of the Son Of Gc3t"
But meekly still spreads DER gazing world
Her gorgeous sheen, as of flag unfurlcd!
The stars still glow with all their wontcd light,
Shedding rich radiance on the brow Of night;
There is not one that wears pa!er hue
In all the vast immensely Of blue
There are no tokens but of peace and love
In all the aspects Of tho sky above.
There are no signs around, or on the earth,
That can alright soul of heQrcniy birth;
There = no appearance on the mighty sea,
That tells, dark year, that thou the last shalt be
There is no witness in prophetic lore,
That plainly says that " Time shall be ho n.orsr'
Thou strik'st no fearful terror to my soul,
For have learned my passions to control
With peaceful, calm sensations Of delight
watch TO hal the still and lone midnight,
The hour thatwitnesses death and birth,
Mourning and gladness mingled round the earth
gaze to see monarch pass away,
To welcamc hi, successors natal day.
Varied emotions swell my eager breast,
Yet snllen fear is not my spirits guest;
Calm and serene, make the moments fly,
Swiftly and surely to eternity.
know that soon will ring the fatel knel
OF the past year; cen n0,v upon the bell
Eleven strikcs-one hour, the very last
Survives-soon twill be buried with the past
! do not fear, but constant gaze above,
Where dwclls the object of my ,varmea lore,
And with an eye Of faith can seem to SEQ
Through the dark veil that hides futuriiy,
A glorious rest, crown Of dc1thless joy,
That faleth not, bliss without alloy
A happy meeting, to commune forever
With kindred souls, death hath no power to sever!
Whene'er the trembling earth & heavens shall flee
o may my soul, my Savior, rest on thee
Help me, great God to strive, and watch, & pray
To be prepared for that eventful day!
When the archange with his trump shall stand
One foot on sea and one upon the land,
And in His name who sits upon the throne,
The world to judge--his children bless aud own
Swear that "Timc was, is, but shall be no moro.
o may not that awful day deplore!
When the bright glory of the Son Of God
Bursts on startled world, o may his blood
Have washed away each dark and fearful staiu
And deathless joy flow thro' each ihrohbing vein;
o may gaze with "joy, and not with grief"
And may his coming bring long relief,
My painting spirit, freed from cumbrous clay,
Soar to the realms Of an eternal day,
Where spirits glorified shall welcome in
All that are pure and holy, cleansed from sin
"The wicked cease from troubing;" in tina, bles,
And fair abode--aMe ,ccay are at rest ~
A Soy OF Faust.
Charleston, Dec. 81. 1912.