Page images
PDF
EPUB

IV.

CHRISTIAN MAN'S LIFE.

A Christian man's life is laid in the loom of time to a pattern which he does not see, but God does; and his heart is a shuttle. On one side of the loom is sorrow, and on the other is joy; and the shuttle, struck alternately by each, flies back and forth, carrying the thread, which is white or black, as the pattern needs; and, in the end, when God shall lift up the finished garment, and all its changing hues shall glance out, it will then appear that the deep and dark colors were as needful to beauty as the bright and high colors.

V.

UGLY KIND OF FORGIVENESS.

There is an ugly kind of forgiveness in this world-a kind of hedge-hog forgiveness, shot out like quills. Men take one who has offended, and set him down before the blow-pipe of their indignation, and scorch him, and burn his fault into him; and, when they have kneaded him sufficiently with their fiery fists, then-they forgive him.

VI.

A NOBLE MAN.

A NOBLE man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself, and a mean man by one which is lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other, ambition Ambition is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.

VII.

THE SEVEREST TEST OF FRIENDSHIP.

It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend of his faults. If you are angry with a man, or hate him, it is not hard to go to him and stab him with words; but so to love a man that you can not bear to see the stain of sin upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words,—that is friendship. But few have such friends. Our enemies usually teach us what we are, at the point of the sword.

VIII.

TRUE WAY OF LOOKING AT A GIFT.

THE other day, in walking down the street, a little beggar boy, or one who might have begged, so ragged was he,-having discovered that I loved flowers, came and put into my hand a faded little sprig which he had somewhere found. I did not look directly at the scrawny, withered branch, but beheld it through the medium of the boy's heart, seeing what he would have given, not what he gave; and so looking, the shriveled stem was laden with blossoms of beauty and odor. And if I, who am cold and selfish, and ignorant, receive so graciously the offering of a poor child, with what tender joy must our heavenly Father receive the sincere tribute of his creatures when he looks through the medium of his infinite love and compassion!

IX.

SCRIPTURAL SOBRIETY.

ALL the sobriety which religion needs or requires, is that which real earnestness produces. Tears and shadows are not needful to sobriety. Smiles and cheerfulness are as much its elements. When men say,-Be sober, they usually mean, Be stupid; but, when the Bible says, Be sober, it means, Rouse up and let fly the earnestness and vivacity of life. The old, Scriptural sobriety was effectual doing; the latter, ascetic sobriety is effectual dullness.

X.

HOME.

A MAN's house should be on the hill-top of cheerfulness and serenity, so high that no shadows rest upon it, and where the morning comes so early, and the evening tarries so late, that the day has twice as many golden hours as those of other men. He is to be pitied whose house is in some valley of grief between the hills, with the longest night and the shortest day. Horo should be the center of joy.

EXERCISE CLXII.

JOHN G. C. BRAINARD was born in New London, Connecticut, October 21st, 1796. He died September 26th, 1828. He studied law, but practiced little being devoted to literary pursuits. He was a chaste and beautiful writer, both in prose and poetry.

EPITHALA'MIUM is the Greek name for a nuptial, or wedding song. It was sung by a band of youths and maidens in honor of the newlywedded pair, breathing wishes for their prosperity. Though no longer in vogue, the custom of singing the nuptial song was very ancient, not only among the Greeks and Romans, but, also, among the Hebrews. The 45th Psalm affords a very beautiful specimen of this sort of composition; being, as Bishop Burnet observes, "an epithalamium to Christ and the Church."

EPITHALAMIUM.

I.

I saw two clouds at morning,
Tinged by the rising sun,

And in the dawn they floated on,
And mingled into one;

JOHN G. C. BRAINARD.

I thought that morning cloud was blessed,
It moved so sweetly to the west.

II.

I saw two summer currents

Flow smoothly to their meeting,

And join their course, with silent force,

In peace each other greeting;

Calm was their course through banks of green,
While dimpling eddies played between.

III.

Such be your gentle motion,

Till life's last pulse shall beat;

Like summer's beam, and summer's stream,

Float on, in joy, to meet

A calmer sea, where storms shall cease,

A purer sky, where all is peace.

EXERCISE CLXIII.

SERENADE, from the adjective serene, is the name applied to a musical performance, given under a serene or clear sky; usually under the window of the party serenaded.

SERENADE.

JAMES G. PERCIVAL

I.

Softly the moonlight

Is shed on the lake,

Cool is the summer night,—

Wake! O, awake!

Faintly the curfew

23 *

Is heard from afar,

List ye! O, list

To the lively guitar.

II.

Trees cast a mellow shade

Over the vale,

Sweetly the serenade

Breathes in the gale,

Softly and tenderly

Over the lake,

Gayly and cheerily,—

Wake! O, awake !

III.

See the light pinnace

Draws nigh to the shore,

Swiftly it glides,

At the heave of the oar,

Cheerily plays

On its buoyant car,

Nearer and nearer,

The lively guitar.

* For a Note on Percival, see Exercise CLXVII.

IV.

Now the wind rises

And ruffles the pine,
Ripples foam-crested
Like diamonds shine,
They flash where the waters
The white pebbles lave,
In the wake of the moon,
As it crosses the wave

V.

Bounding from billow
To billow, the boat,
Like a wild swan, is seen
On the waters to float;
And the light dripping oars
Bear it smoothly along,
In time to the air

Of the gondolier's song.

VI.

And high on the stern

Stands the young and the brave, As love-led he crosses

The star-spangled wave,

And blends with the murmur

Of water and grove

The tones of the night,

That are sacred to love.

VII.

His gold-hilted sword

At his bright belt is hung,

His mantle of silk

On his shoulder is flung,

And high waves the feather,

That dances and plays

On his cap where the buckle
And rosary blaze.

« PreviousContinue »