No streets all paved with gold doth there appear; No harps of gold cloth twang an endless air; No trumpet-blast, by saint or angel blown, Doth split the ear with its commanding tone; No worshiping of God, or saint, or seer, No church, no priest, no pope, no king, no prayer. But all is love and harmony divine, With peace and happiness, and joy supreme; With endless progress and increasing light, And ever-widening freedom, while the right And truth, and good, and justice burn and shine In every brain and heart--a sacred gleam. Oh! blest abode, where each himself must rule And none e'er think of ruling others, while The light from higher sources ever beams, In gentle, life-invigorating streams, Upon the soul which, never out of school, Must ever bask in Wisdom's winning smile. Oh! let it come, this concord of the blest, And speedily, upon this earth of ours-- That Mammon's throne may be at once o'erthrown, And all his idols broken--every one; That every soul upon the law may rest, Defying all the arts of wicked powers. And it will come, must come, or soon or late, And every heart will feel the quickening thrill; The hosts of night around the earth must fly To lower depths, the righteous mount on high; And then will end this reign of selfish will, Amid the blaze of the Harmonial Day. [Illustration] _Idolatry._ Idolatry is born of Ignorance; Its sire is Fear, and cruel are its bands; Cunning and Greed come forward to advance Its many claims; the tyrant understands It gives him consequence when he commands, And helps to keep his subjects dull and weak; The priest upholds it with his crafty hands, And by it keeps himself both fat and sleek, With conscience tenfold harder than his brassy cheek. Idolatry has human thought defiled, And filled the heart of man with groundless fear; It likens God unto the chieftain wild, Whose will is absolute and rule austere-- Who scatters curses with a hand severe On all who do not choose to bow and praise, Bestowing gifts on those who may appear By word or deed, or both, his power to raise, Regardless of their merits or their wicked ways.