

Transcribed from the [1862?] John Stabb (Tract 272) edition by David
Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org

                          [Picture: Tract cover]





                      THE GATHERING OF THE NATIONS.


THERE is something especially imposing in the sight of great multitudes;
hence, apart from the bliss, the glory, and the joy which the happy hosts
are represented as possessing in the Apocalyptic vision, there is a
peculiar sublimity in the description given in Revelation vii. 9, 10:
“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood
before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and
palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to
our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”

The solitary traveller excites no attention; the ordinary concourse of
even crowded cities soon becomes familiar; but when large masses of
humanity are congregated together for any common object, it is impossible
to be an unconcerned spectator of the scene.  We may have little personal
interest in the purpose that has led them to assemble; we may be perfect
strangers to the mighty host; but by some mysterious law we identify
ourselves with them, and that not only when they are actually present,
but even when they have but an imaginary existence on the graphic page of
descriptive narrative.

These emotions were powerfully excited on the occasion of the Exhibition
in 1851, when such vast numbers visited our metropolis to inspect the
contents of the palace of glass.  The accumulated treasures of art and
skill excited the astonishment of the observer; but it was the countless
millions of our _fellow-men_, who were continually moving in our midst,
that commanded the wondering observation of the most unreflecting mind.
And now we are called to witness a similar influx from all parts of our
country and the world, to examine another display of the varieties of
international skill.  Europe, forgetful for a time of the agitations of
political strife, is pouring forth her thousands who are intent on the
encouragement of those arts which tend to the promotion of peace.  Asia
is sending her representatives to inspect those accumulations of treasure
before which the boasted magnificence of Oriental splendour grows pale.
America spares some from her fratricidal struggle to admire the far more
harmless and honourable competitions of industry.  Even Africa and the
inhabitants of the beauteous islands of the vast Pacific have an
interested share in the general gathering; while our colonies afford, by
their contributions, and the number of visitors, pleasing indications of
the rapidity with which they are following us in the race of
civilization.  From the sunny dales, the fertile fields, and the rural
villages, as well as from the busy towns and cities of our own land, our
countrymen are also flocking to share in the peaceful rivalry of the
assembled nations.  Who can look with indifference on this continually
increasing aggregate of active, living men?  Imagination cannot but
speculate concerning the various emotions which are throbbing in these
countless bosoms; on the different objects each is pursuing; on the
diversified impressions individuals will receive as they survey our busy
streets, our ever flowing tide of population, our temples of religion,
our government, our virtues, and our sins.  Piety, too, will anxiously
inquire, as she surveys the mighty throng, “Who among them feareth the
Lord?  Whither are all these immortal spirits tending?  What are the
stores they are laying up for eternity?”  No, we cannot be indifferent to
the scene.  We may look unmoved upon the majestic river, hastening
onwards to the sea—upon the lofty mountain, towering to the skies—upon
the solid fabric, which the skill of the architect has so reared that it
may defy the attacks of ages; but it is impossible to behold with apathy
the thousands whose minds are liable, like our own, to the ever shifting
anxieties of life’s struggles, whose hearts are subject to the same
conflicting passions with which our own are familiar, and whose souls are
destined to survive the wreck of all material things in the joys or
sorrows of an endless life.  Hence, amid the varied specimens of artistic
skill, of splendid luxury, of earth’s products, and of the discoveries of
science, which appear on every side, it is, we contend, the crowding
hosts of the many families and races of mankind which troop along the
aisles of the International Exhibition, which will, to a thoughtful mind,
still present the most serious matter for interested meditation.  Oh,
that the scene may awaken those who profess the religion of the Bible so
to display its influence, that these occasional visitors may carry back
with them deep, lasting, and salutary impressions of “the truth as it is
in Jesus,” and learn that “it