and mould the affections, and shape the destiny in all the future plans
and modes of living. How do they lead their possessor to strive after
high attainments, not only in this life, but thus lay the foundation for
activity in the pursuit of high and holy efforts throughout the endless
ages of eternity.
It will be perceived that the ruling motives of my conduct, in my early
childhood, towards my parents, were those of love and fear. Indeed these
are the two great principles that actuate the holy inhabitants of heaven
towards their Maker, whether they be saints or angels.
It was not the fear of the rod that led me to obey my best of parents.
It was not all the gifts or personal gratifications that could be
offered to a child that won my love.
I saw in both of my parents heavenly dispositions, heavenly tendencies,
drawing them, day by day, towards the great source of all perfection and
blessedness. I saw the noble and sublime principles of the Gospel acted
out in the nursery as sedulously as in the sanctuary, in fact far more
when at home than when abroad, for here there were more ample
opportunities afforded for their full development than perhaps anywhere
else. They loved each other with a pure heart, fervently, and they
sought not only the temporal good of their children, but their eternal
felicity and happiness. There was no constraint in their daily and
hourly watchings and teachings, but it was of a ready mind.
They aspired, themselves, after a perfect conformity to the image of the
blessed Savior--whose name is love--and they taught their children by
precept, and by their own lovely examples, to walk in his footsteps, who
said, "Be ye holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy."
What powerful motives then have all parents so to demean themselves
towards each other, and towards their children, as to deserve and to
secure their filial regard! Parents and children, thus influenced, will
forever respond to the following beautiful sentiment:
"Happy the heart where graces reign,
Where love inspires the breast;
Love is the brightest of the train,
And strengthens all the rest."
* * * * *
Original.
GOD'S BIBLE, A BOOK FOR ALL.
At a meeting of the thirty-sixth anniversary of the American Bible
Society, May 13, 1852, many thoughts were suggested worthy the special
attention of all Christian mothers. A few are here registered, in the
hope that they may continue to call forth the prayers and efforts of all
Christian parents, and lead them to feel that whatever else they neglect
in the daily instructions of their children, they cannot safely overlook
their sacred obligations to see to it that the minds and hearts of their
children be early imbued with a love and reverence for this Book of
books.
As was justly remarked, the Bible is the teacher of true philosophy, in
fact the only fountain of truth, and suggests the best and only plan
adequate to the conversion of the world.
Let the prayers, then, of all Christian mothers be daily concentrated in
asking God's blessing upon this noble institution, keeping in mind the
Savior's last prayer for his beloved disciples, "Sanctify them through
thy truth: thy word is truth."
We particularly invite attention to a resolution offered on that
occasion by Rev. Theo. L. Cuyler of Trenton, N.J.:
"_Resolved_, That the adaptedness of the Bible to all conditions of
society, and all grades of intellect, as shown by past history, brings
us evidence of its divine origin, and inspires us with hope of its
future success in enlightening and purifying the world."
Mr. C. remarked--"A wide field swells out before me in this resolution,
for it is nothing less than the universality of God's Word in its
complete adaptedness to the possible conditions of humanity. The truth
which I hold up for you all to gaze upon is, that 'God's Bible is the
book for all.' Like the air which visits alike the palace and the
cottage; like the water which meanders its way, or gushes from deep
fountains for the use of all men; so this book is adapted to the wants
of all immortal men. It is adapted to every grade of mind and heart,
rising higher than human intellect ever reached, and descending lower
than human degradation ever sank.
"Go to that closet in the neighborhood of Edinburgh, and see one of the
mightiest intellects the world has ever produced, upon whose
transcendent eloquence a Brougham, a Canning, and the greatest names of
the age, have hung entranced, bending over the pages of the Book of
Life. He reads, and writes his thoughts as he reads, until his writings
become volumes, and the world is blessed with his meditations on the
whole Bible. So thoroughly does his spirit become imbued with the
thoughts of this book, that Chalmers was said to have held the whole
Bible in solution.
"Upon Alpine peaks it spreads a moral verdure which makes their rugged
valleys smile, and adorns them with flowers of heavenly origin. Upon the
Virginia plantation, it made Honest John, the happy negro. It was
adapted to all climates and all conditions of life. It was the only book
which comforts in the last hour.
"This was vividly illustrated by the closing scene in the life of Sir
Walter Scott. The window of his chamber was open, through which entered
the breeze, bearing upon its wings the music of the silvery Tweed, which
had so often lulled his mighty spirit. His son-in-law was present, to
whom he said, 'Lockhart, read to me.' Lockhart replied, 'What shall I
read?' The dying bard turned to him his pale countenance and said,
'Lockhart, there is but one book!'
"What a tribute from the world's mightiest master of enchantment, who
had himself penned so many works which were the admiration of his
fellows, were those brief words uttered, when the spirit hung between
two worlds, 'There is but one book.' Would you learn true sublimity?
Throw away Virgil, the Greek and Roman classics, and even Milton and
Shakspeare, and go to the Bible.
"Amid all turbulence, agitation and danger, there is no other foundation
upon which we can rest the welfare and peace of society. This is the
only resort of every scheme of human elevation. This contains the primal
lessons of all duty. Let reformers recollect this, and let us all gather
around and protect this pillar of truth. Diffuse this 'blessed book,' as
one of England's poets, when pressing it to his lips in his dying hour,
called it. Wheel up this sun of light to the mid-heavens, and cause its
rays to gleam in every land."
Rev. Mr. Goodell, missionary to Constantinople, remarked, that during
thirty years residence in Mahomedan countries, he had learned something
of the importance of that book. The nations of the East are all wrong in
their conceptions of God. He had often stood upon the goodly mountain,
Lebanon, and upon the heights around Constantinople, and raised his
thoughts to God, asking, How long shall this darkness prevail? Without
this book we could have effected little in our missionary work; but by
it God hath done great things, whereof we are glad. The Bible was once
found only in dead languages; now it is translated into the language of
almost every people with whom we come in contact. Every friend of the
Bible will rejoice to know that it is becoming the great book of the
East. Before its translation into the Greco-Armenian, it was a mere
outside book, kept and admired for its handsome binding, and from a
superstitious reverence. Now it is an inside book; it has taken hold of
the heart of the Armenian nation. Once it was looked at; now it is read.
It has come to assume a great importance in the eyes of that people.
They have a great anxiety to read. More than one hundred aged women are
now engaged in learning to read, that they may read the New Testament
for themselves.
* * * * *
Let religion create the atmosphere around a woman's spirit and breathe
its life into her heart; refine her affections, sanctify her intellect,
elevate her aims and hallow her physical beauty, and she is, indeed, to
our race, of all the gifts of time, the last and best, the crown of our
glory, the perfection of our life.
* * * * *
Original.
PROMISES.
"And though to his own hurt he swears,
Still he performs his word."
I was yet a boy, when one day a gentleman came into the lot where my
father was superintending the in-gathering of his hay crop, and
addressing himself to a mower in my father's employment, inquired
whether he would assist him the following day. He replied, "Yes." "How
is this," said my father; "are you not engaged to mow for me?" "O yes,"
said the man. "Why, then," continued my father, "do you promise to mow
for Gen. K----?" "Why," said the man, "I wish to oblige him; I love to
oblige everybody." "And so," said my father, "you are willing to incur
the guilt of falsehood, for you cannot perform your promise to him and
myself, and in the end you must disappoint one of us; and, maybe,
seriously injure our interests and your reputation."
Nothing, surely, is more common, it is believed, than this heedless
manner of making promises which cannot be fulfilled. The modes in which
such promises are made are multitudinous, but it is not within the
compass of this article to specify them. That they are utterly wrong,
and indicate, on the part of those who make them, a light regard for
truth, is obvious. Besides, they often lay the foundation for grievous
disappointments, they thwart important plans, derange business
calculations, give birth to vexatious feelings, cause distrust between
man and man, and sap the foundations of morality and religion. Promises
should always be made with due caution and due reservation: "If the Lord
will," "if life is spared," "if unforeseen circumstances do not
interpose to prevent." It is always easy to state some conditions, or
make some such reservations. Or, rather, it would be easy, were it not
that one is often urged beyond all propriety, to make the promise, as if
the making of it, of course insured its fulfillment, although a
thousand circumstances may interfere to prevent it.
This is a subject of vast importance to the community. There are evils
also connected with it of alarming magnitude, and which all needful
efforts should be made to remove. Especially should this subject attract
the attention of parents. The mischief often begins with them and around
their own hearths. How common it is for parents to make promises to
their children, while the latter are yet tottering from chair to chair,
which are never designed to be fulfilled. And, at length, the deception
is discovered by the little prattlers, and often much earlier than
parents imagine. Often, too, is the parent reminded of his promise and
of its non-fulfillment. And, sometimes, this is done days and weeks
after the promise has been made and neglected. The consequence is, that
the child comes to feel that his parent has little or no regard to truth
himself, and that truth is a matter of minor importance. So that child
grows up. So he goes forth into society, and enters upon business. Will
he be likely to forget the lessons thus early taught him, and the
example thus early set him?
I am able to illustrate this subject by an incident which occurred in my
own experience within the last two months. I must tell the story in my
own simple way, and as it is entirely truthful, I hope salutary
impressions may be made in every quarter where they are needed, and
where this article shall be read.
Having occasion for the services of a mechanic in relation to a certain
piece of work, I called upon one in my neighborhood, then in the
employment of a gentleman, and was informed, on stating my object, that
as he should be through with his present engagement on the evening of a
certain day, he would commence my work on the following morning. The
specified time arrived, but the man did not appear. I waited two or
three days, in hourly expectation of his appearance, but was doomed to
disappointment. At length, I again called upon him and found him still
in the employment of the gentleman aforenamed. On inquiring the reason
of his delay, I was informed that on completing his former engagement
the gentleman had concluded to have more done than he originally
intended, and insisted upon the continuance of the mechanic in his
service until his work was entirely finished.
I said to him, "But did you not agree with me for a specified day?"
"Yes."
"Did not your engagement with Mr. ---- terminate on the evening previous
to that day?"
"Yes."
"Were you under obligation to that gentleman beyond that time?"
"No."
"Did not your continuance with him involve a violation of your promise
to me?"
"Yes."
"Was not this wrong? and how are you able to justify your conduct?"
"Sir," said he, "you do not understand the matter. I am to blame, but my
employer is still more to blame. Look at it. I am a mechanic and a poor
man. I am dependent on my labor for the support of myself and family.
This gentleman is rich, and gives me a great deal of employment; I do
not like to disoblige him, and, sir, when I told him, on the termination
of my engagement to him, that I had promised to enter upon a piece of
work for you, he would not release me. He claimed that I was in good
faith bound to work for him till his various jobs were done."
"And did you think so, my friend?"
"No," he replied, "I did not; but he told me that if I did not stay he
would give me no further employment."
"And so," said I, "you violated your conscience, wronged your own soul,
disappointed me, and all for the sake of obliging a man who was willing
that you should suffer in point of conscience and reputation, if his
selfish purposes might be answered."
"I am sensible," said he, "that I did wrong, but what course shall we
pursue, who are dependent upon our daily labor, for our support?"
"I admit," said I, "that you and others similarly situated, are under a
grievous temptation. But honesty, in the long run, is the best policy.
Acting upon the same principles with the gentleman who has detained you,
_I_ might hereafter refuse to employ you. And others might refuse, whose
work you are probably engaged to perform, but are postponing to gratify
_him_. The consequence of all this is, that your promises will soon pass
for nothing. You will be considered as a man not of your word, and when
once your good name is lost, you will become poorer than you now are,
and remain without employment and without friends."
No one, it is believed, can read the foregoing incident without being
impressed with the great impropriety chargeable upon the gentleman
referred to. The temptation he spread before the poor mechanic was
utterly wrong and unbecoming. It was nothing short of oppression. It was
bringing his wealth to bear upon a point with which it had no legitimate
connection. It was placing self before right; it was a reckless
sacrifice of the interests of others for his own gratification.
That such cases are common, is well known; but their frequency is only a
proof of the slight regard in which the sacredness of promises is held,
and to the violation of which employers frequently contribute by the
temptations which they spread, and the coercion which they practice. We
do not justify for a single moment the mechanics and laborers who
violate their pledges. We insist upon it that it is their solemn duty to
encounter any and every temporal evil rather than sacrifice truth and
conscience; but it is believed they would seldom be guilty of this
violation were they not pressed beyond measure by employers.
We must for a moment again advert to parents. You see, friends, what an
evil exists throughout the community. It is everywhere, and is helping
to work the ruin of immortal souls. It often begins, it is believed, in
the family. Parents are guilty, in the first place, and they early
inoculate their children with the evil. And the infection, once taken,
is likely to spread and to pervade the whole moral system. It enters
into other relations of life. It reaches to other departments of duty,
and tends to destroy our sense of obligation to God. It weakens our
regard for promises made to the Author of our being. In short, this
disregard for the fulfillment of sacred promises helps to sap the
foundations of moral virtue, and to prepare the soul for a world where
falsehood reigns supreme, and where there is no confidence between man
and man.
VERITAS.
* * * * *
Original.
TRIALS.
The Rev. Wm. Jay has sweetly said of the trials of the people of God:
"Have they days of affliction? God knows them; knows their source, their
pressure, how long they have continued, the support they require, and
the proper time to remove them. Have they days of danger? He knows them,
and will be a refuge and defense in them. Have they days of duty? He
knows them, and will furnish the strength and the help they require.
Have they days of inaction when they are laid aside from their work, by
accident or disease? He knows them, and says to his servants under every
privation, 'It is well that it was in thy heart.' Have they days of
privation when they are denied the ordinances of religion, after seeing
his power and glory in the temple, and going with the voice of gladness
to keep holy day? He knows them, and will follow his people when they
cannot follow him, and be a little sanctuary to them in their losses.
Have they days of declension and of age in which their strength is fled,
and their senses fail, and so many of their connection have gone down to
the dust, evil days, wherein they have no pleasure? He knows them, and
says, 'I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth. Even down to old age
I am He, and to hoary hairs will I bear and carry you.'"
* * * * *
Original.
THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.
Our friend, Mrs. Sigourney, has, at our request, kindly sent us the
subjoined hymn and remarks: "The Young Men's Christian Association I
consider one of the very best designs of this age of philanthropy. I
send you a hymn, elicited by the Boston branch of this same Society, a
circumstance which will not, I hope, diminish its adaptation to your
pages."
We cannot omit to ask mothers and daughters to give this Association
their countenance and prayers. We trust it will be the means of
accomplishing great good.
HYMN FOR THE "YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION."
GOD of our children! hear our prayer,
When from their homes they part,
Those idols of our fondest care,
Those jewels of the heart.
We miss their smile in hall and bower;
We miss their voice of cheer;
We speak their names at midnight hour
When none but Thou dost hear.
God of their spirits! be their stay,
When from their parents' side,
Their boat is launched to find its way
O'er life's tempestuous tide.
Tho' toss'd 'mid breakers wild and strong,
Its veering helm should stray
Where syrens wake the mermaid song,
Guide thou their course alway.
Oh, God of goodness, bless the band
Who, moved by Christian love,
Take the young stranger's friendless hand
And lead his thoughts above.
May their own souls the sunbeam feel,
They thus have freely given,
And be the plaudit of their zeal
The sweet "_well-done_" of heaven.
L. H. S.
* * * * *
Original.
THE MOTHERS OF THE BIBLE.
NAOMI AND RUTH.
It would be only presumption in us to attempt giving in any other than
the beautifully simple words of Scripture the story of Ruth and her
mother-in-law. The narration is inimitable, and needs nothing to make it
stand out like a picture before the mind. Suffice it then that we now
attend only to the lessons which may be gathered from it, and endeavor
to profit by them through all our coming lives. Nor let any think the
lessons afforded by these four short chapters few or easily acted upon,
though they may be soon comprehended. They will amply reward earnest
study and persevering practice.
The first thing which wins our admiration is Ruth's faith. She had been
educated in the degrading worship of Chemosh, the supreme deity of Moab.
Probably no conception of the one living God had been formed in her mind
until her acquaintance with the Jewish youth, the son of Elimelech and
Naomi. How long she had the happiness of a wife we are not informed. We
know it was only a few years. But during that period she had learned to
put such confidence in Jehovah, that she was willing to forsake country
and friends, even the home of her childhood and beloved parents, and go
forth with her mother-in-law to strange scenes, and willing to brave
penury and vicissitude that she might be numbered among His people.
Firmly she adhered to her resolution. The entreaties of Naomi--the
thought of her mother--the prospects which might await her in her own
land--even the retreating form of Orpah--nothing had power to prevail
over her desire to see Canaan and unite in the worship of her husband's
God. "The Lord recompense thy work," said Boaz to her, "and a full
reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou
art come to trust." He is not unfaithful, and that reward was made
sure. "Of the life that now is," the promise speaks, and it was
fulfilled to her. Of an undying honorable name it says nothing, but that
is also awarded her. "Upon a monument which has already outlasted
thrones and empires, and which shall endure until there be a new heaven
and a new earth--upon the front page of the New Testament is inscribed
the name of RUTH. Of her came David--of her came a long line of
illustrious and good men--of her came Christ."
Why will we not learn--why will we not daily and constantly act upon the
truth that implicit faith is pleasing to God? "None of them that trust
in Him shall be desolate."