Hosannah! Hosannah to God and the Lamb,
All glory to them in the highest be given
Henceforth and for ever: Amen, and Amen.
I have often heard in magnificent cathedrals, hoary with the dust of time, and in vast places of amusement dedicated specially to music and to song, the outpouring of that glorious vocal flood, which a chorus of a thousand well-trained singers can alone send forth. I have felt sometimes that entrancing state of ecstasy which thrilled the soul of the seer in Patmos, as he listened to the melody of the angelic throng—“the voice of many waters, and the peal of mighty thunders, and the notes of harpers harping upon their harps;” but never, even when surrounded by all that was best calculated to produce a sentiment of devotion in my mind—never did I experience so rapt a feeling of communion with “the armies of heaven”—as I felt in that unadorned meeting-room, surrounded by those plain but earnest and united people.
Nor was I alone in this. The feeling was contagious. There was not one present who did not sympathize. And thus, I suppose, melody has always played a prominent part in all religious revivals, whether of divine or human origin. The Apostles had their psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs; the Martyrs their Te Deum; the Waldenses made the hills and vales of Piedmont vocal with their singing; the Lollards and Hussites had their melodies; and in more modern days the followers of Luther, Wesley, and (may I add?) Joseph Smith, have poured out the fulness of their souls after the same fashion.
The last notes of the hymn had scarcely died away when another, and then another brother, arose and bore testimony to the great work, told what the Lord had done for them personally, told of their zeal for the faith, and fervently exhorted all present to persevere unto the end. Again prayer was offered, another hymn sung, and the Saints were dismissed with a solemn benediction.
CHAPTER IV.
LIFE AMONG THE SAINTS—MY NEW ENGAGEMENTS.
I was now a Mormon in every sense of the word, although entirely ignorant of Utah politics and polygamy.