Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

156

CHRISTIANITY A RELIGION OF MOTIVES.

Strangers and pilgrims here below,
As all our fathers in their day,
We to a land of promise go,

Lord, by thine own appointed way;
Still guide, illumine, cheer our flight,
In cloud by day, in fire by night.

Protect us through this wilderness,

From serpent, plague, and hostile rage;
With bread from heaven our table bless,
With living streams our thirst assuage;
Nor let our rebel hearts repine,

Or follow any voice but Thine."

[ocr errors]

Thy righteous laws to us proclaim,
But not from Sinai's top alone;
Hid on the rock-cleft, be thy name,
Thy power, and all thy goodness shown;
And may we never bow the knee
To any other gods but Thee.

Thy presence with us, move or rest;
-And as the eagle, o'er her brood,
Flutters her pinions, stirs the nest,
Covers, defends, provides them food,
Bears on her wings, instructs to fly,
-Thus, thus prepare us for the sky.

When we have number'd all our years,

And stand at length on Jordan's brink,
Though the flesh fail with human fears,

Oh! let not then the spirit shrink;
But strong in faith, and hope, and love,
Plunge through the stream, to rise above.

CHRISTIANITY A RELIGION OF MOTIVES.

THE first thing that God looks at, is what you would do, and the next is what you do. If you do it, but had rather leave it undone, you lose your reward, and God will take it as if you had not done it; for it was not

WISE AND USEFUL SAYINGS.

157

'you that did it, if you did it not from love, but it was fear that dwelleth in you. God takes men's hearty desires and will, instead of the deed, where they have not power to fulfil it; but he never took the bare deed instead of the will. A blockish kind of worship, consisting in outward actions, without the heart, is fit to be given to a wooden god, a senseless idol; but the true and living God abhors it. "He is a Spirit, and will be worshipped in spirit and in truth;" such wor shippers he seeketh, and such only will he accept. A beggar will be glad of your alms, though you give it with ill will, because he needeth it; but God hath no need of you, nor of your service, and therefore think not that he will accept you on such terms. That people worship God in vain that "draw near him with their mouths, and honour him with their lips, when their heart is far from him." A man's heart is where his love is, rather than where his fear is. If you should lie still upon your knees, or in the holy assembly; if you should be the strictest observer of the ordinances on the Lord's days, and yet have such hearts in you, as had rather let all these alone, if it were not for fear of pu nishment, it will all be disregarded and reckoned to you according to your wills, as if you had never done it at all. It is love that must win love, or make you fit for love to entertain. If you "give your goods to the poor, or your bodies to be burned," in a cause that is in itself good, and yet have not love, it availeth nothing.

WISE AND USEFUL SAYINGS,

THE present employment of time should frequently be an object of thought. About what are we now busied? What is the scope of our present pursuits and cares? Can we justify them to ourselves? Are they likely to produce any thing that will survive the moment, and bring forth some fruit for futurity?

It is owing to our having imbibed false notions of virtue that the word Christian does not carry with it, at first view, all that is great, worthy, friendly, generous, and heroic.

158

SABBATH OF THE SHEPHERD-BOY.

The veil which covers from our sight the events of succeeding years, is a veil drawn by the hand of

mercy.

Upon the whole, every state of life is equal. Providence orders all; and therefore in every one, those who cheerfully and resignedly accommodate themselves to its order, may and must be happy. Why then this vain care and anxiety about what it does not belong to us to look forward to? The good and evil, and the right improvement of the present day, is what it is our business to attend to. If we make the best of that, we are sure all will and must go well. If we put ourselves, by vain distrust, and useless foresight, out of a right temper to-day, every to-morrow will be the worse for it.

If the spring puts forth no blossoms, in summer there will be no beauty, and in autumn no fruit. So, if youth be trifled away without improvement, manhood will be contemptible, and old age miserable.

I consider a human soul without education like mar. ble in the quarry; which shows none of its inherent beauties, till the skill of the polisher fetches out the colours, makes the surface shine, and discover every ornamental cloud, spot, and vein that runs through the body of it.

Consider your whole nature. Consider yourselves, not only as sensitive, but as rational beings; not only as rational, but social; not only as social, but immortal.

I believe a good natural philosopher might show, with great reason and probability, that there is scarce a beast, bird, reptile, or insect, that does not, in each particular climate, instruct and admonish mankind of some necessary truth for their happiness either in body or in mind.

SABBATH OF THE SHEPHERD-BOY.

LESS spiritual,

But yet as grateful at the heavenly shrine,
The Sabbath service of the shepherd-boy!

ACCOUNT OF THE CROCODILE.

In some lone glen, where every sound seems hid
In slumber, save the tinkling of the rill,
Or bleat of lamb, or hovering falcon's cry,
Stretch'd on the sward he reads of Jesse's son ;
Or sheds a tear o'er him to Egypt sold,

And wonders why he weeps. The volume closed,
With thyme sprig laid between the leaves, he sings
The sacred lays, his weekly lesson, conned
With meikle care beneath the lowly roof.
Thus reading, hymning, all alone, unseen,
The shepherd-boy the Sabbath holy keeps,
Till on the heights he marks the straggling bands,
Returning homeward from the house of prayer.

159

ACCOUNT OF THE CROCODILE.

THE Crocodile is a creature that lives both by land and water. It is of a saffron colour, that is, between a yellow and a red, but more inclining to yellow. The belly is somewhat whiter than the other parts. Its body is rough, being covered all over with a certain bark or rind, so thick, firm, and strong, that it will not yield to a cart-wheel, even when the cart is loaded. In all the upper parts, and the tail, it is impenetrable by any dart or spear; but the belly is softer, and there it is more easily wounded. When it opens its mouth it does not move its under jaw, like other animals; on the contrary, it moves the upper. Its tail is nearly as long as its whole body; and it is also rough, and armed with a hard skin upon the upper part and the sides; but beneath it is smooth and tender. It has fins upon the tail, by means of which it swims, as it also does by the help of its feet, which are like a bear's, except that they are covered with scales instead of hair. As its legs are short, it is very slow in its motions, so that it is no very difficult matter to escape from it, especially if the person it pursues turns and winds out of the direct path; for the crocodile's body is so hard and stiff, that it cannot easily turn and wind after him. It is common in the West Indies, and still more upon the

[blocks in formation]

banks of the river Nile, in Egypt, where it is said to lie hidden amongst the reeds and rushes, till it finds an opportunity to seize men or other animals, which it drags into the water, always taking this method of drowning them first, that it may afterwards swallow them without resistance. Its general food, however, is fish. It is a wily, cunning creature; and it is said, that when it sees a single man whom it is desirous of drawing into its clutches, it will weep and make a most lamentable moan, as if it were in the utmost distress, till it has drawn him near enough for its purpose, when, suddenly springing upon him, it beats him down with its tail, and immediately destroys him. This is beautifully described by our old poet, Spencer, in that passage where he compares the dangerous dissimulation and treacherous tears of Duessa (or Falsehood) to the crocodile.

"As when a weary traveller, that strays

By muddy shore of broad seven-mantled Nile,
Unweeting of the perilous wand'ring ways,
Doth meet a cruel, crafty crocodile,

Which, in false guise hiding his harmful guile,
Doth weep full sore, and sheddeth tender tears;
The foolish man, that pities all the while

His mournful plight, is swallowed up un'wares,
Forgetful of his own that minds another's cares.

Hence it is, that hypocritical or affected grief and weeping are, by the common proverb, styled Crocodile's Tears. The only way of eluding the crocodile when pursued by it, is to turn in a zig-zag direction very frequently; as the animal turns itself with great difficulty.

SHIPWRECK.

AND now, lash d on by destiny severe,

With horror fraught, the dreadful scene draws near.
The ship hangs hov'ring on the verge of death,
Hell yawns, rocks rise, and breakers roar beneath

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »