The proclamation sounded in my ear-- It touch'd my heart--I hearken'd to the sound. Counted the cost, and laid my earthly all Upon the altar; and with purpose fix'd Unalterably, while the spirit of Elijah's God within my bosom reigns, Embrac'd the "Everlasting Covenant;" To be a Saint among the faithful ones Whose race is measur'd by their life--whose prize Is everlasting, and whose happiness Is God's approval, and to whom 'tis more Than meat and drink to do his righteous will. It is no trifling thing to be a Saint In very deed. To stand upright, nor bow Nor bend beneath the weighty burthen of Oppressiveness.--To stand unscath'd amid The bellowing thunders and the raging storm Of persecution, when the hostile pow'rs Of darkness stimulate the hearts of men To warfare: to besiege, assault, and, with The heavy thunderbolts of Satan, aim To overthrow the kingdom God has rear'd To stand unmov'd beneath the with'ring rock Of vile apostacy, when men depart From the pure principles of righteousness-- Those principles requiring man to live By ev'ry word proceeding from the mouth Of God.--To stand unwav'ring, undismay'd, And unseduc'd, when the base hypocrite Whose deeds take hold on hell, whose face is garb'd With saintly looks, drawn out by sacrilege From a profession, but assum'd and thrown Around him for a mantle to enclose The black corruption of a putrid heart.-- To stand on virtue's lofty pinnacle Clad in the heav'nly robes of innocence, Amid that worse than every other blast-- The blast that strikes at moral character, With floods of falsehood foaming with abuse.-- To stand, with nerve and sinew firmly steel'd, When in the trying scale of rapid change, Thrown side by side and face to face with that Foul hearted spirit, blacker than the soul Of midnight's darkest shade, the traitor, The vile wretch that feeds his sordid selfishness Upon the peace and blood of innocence-- The faithless, rotten-hearted wretch, whose tongue Speaks words of trust and fond fidelity, While treach'ry, like a viper, coils behind The smile that dances in his evil eye. To pass the fiery ordeal, and to have The heart laid open--all its contents prov'd Before the bar of strictest scrutiny. To have the finest heart-strings stretch'd unto Their utmost length to try their texture. To Abide, with principle unchang'd, the wreck Of cruel, tott'ring circumstances, which Ride forth on revolution's blust'ring gale.