Page images
PDF
EPUB

COUNSELS FOR THE YOUNG.

"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them."-Ecclesiastes xii. 1.

BESTOW thy youth so that thou mayest have comfort to remember it when it hath forsaken thee, and not sigh and grieve at the account thereof. Whilst thou art young, thou wilt think it will never have an end; but behold, the longest day hath his evening; and that thou shalt enjoy it but once, that it never turns again, use it, therefore, as the spring-time, which soon departeth, and wherein thou oughtest to plant and sow all provisions for a long and happy life.

COME, while the blossoms of the years are brightest,
Thou youthful wanderer in a flowery maze;
Come, while the restless heart is bounding lightest,

And joy's pure sunbeams tremble in thy ways;
Come, while sweet buds, like summer flowers unfolding,
Waken rich feelings in the careless breast;

While yet thy hand the ephemeral wreath is holding,
Come, and secure interminable rest!

Come, while the morning of thy life is glowing,
Ere the dim phantoms thou art chasing die;
Ere the gay spell which earth is round thee throwing,
Fades like the crimson from the sunset sky;
Life hath but shadows, save a promise given,

Which lights the future with a fadeless ray;
Oh, touch the sceptre !-win a hope in Heaven;
Come, turn thy spirit from the world away!

PREPARATION FOR EARLY DEATH.

117

PREPARATION FOR EARLY DEATH.

ART thou threatened with death in the flower of thy youth? Be not afflicted at it, and let not the least word proceed out of thy mouth, but what is seasoned with the salt of true piety. Remember that it is God Himself who thus cuts short the thread of thy life, and puts a period to thy mortal race. Thou hast as much reason to grieve that thou wast born so late, as that thou diest so soon. Instead of wasting thyself in useless complaints, and dashing an earthen vessel, newly formed, against the rock of eternity, adore thy Creator, and return Him thy hearty thanks, that He is graciously pleased to crown thee in the midst of thy course, and so bountiful as to bestow upon thee the wages of the whole day, when thou hast laboured but a few hours. He is very merciful to thee to transplant thee before thou hast felt the heat of the day and the scorching of the sun. It is the gale of His Divine favour that drives thee thus swiftly into the haven of salvation. Think not, therefore, that God's calling thee away in the bloom of thy youth, is a testimony of His displeasure and hatred; for to hasten to make a person happy is no token of His ill-will. It may be that God calls thee because He hath found some good thing in thee, as in Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, King of Israel.* Because He loves thee tenderly, and thou art greatly in His favour, He will remove thee from the approaching evils, as He did Josiah, one of the holiest and most religious princes, that ever reigned.+ Because thou walkest before Him, and seekest to please Him, by conforming thyself to His holy will, He will take thee up into His heavenly paradise, as He did Enoch; for fear the temptations of the world should corrupt thy godly disposition, and thou shouldst be turned from the way of righteousness, by the wicked artifices and suggestions of the enemy of thy salvation.

* 1 Kings xiv. 13.

† 2 Kings xxvii. 20.

Genesis v. 24.

ACQUIESCENCE IN EARLY DEATH.

OH! just when Thou shalt please would I depart,
My Father and my God! I would not choose,
E'en if I might, the moment to unloose

The bonds which bind my weak and worthless heart
From its bright home; so I but have a part,
However humble, there; it matters not
Or long or short my pilgrimage; my lot
Joyful or joyless; if the flowers may start
Where'er I tread, or thorns obstruct my path.

I look not at the present-many years
Are but so many moments, though of tears :

My soul's bright home a lovelier aspect hath

And if it surely shall be mine-and then,

For ever mine! it matters little when.

[graphic]
[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]

MATRIMONY.

"For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife and these twain shall be one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder."—

Matthew xix. 5, 6.

THERE is an awe in mortals' joy,

A deep mysterious fear
Half of the heart will still employ,
As if we drew too near

To Eden's portal, and those fires
That bicker round in wavy spires,
Forbidding, to our frail desires,

What cost us once so dear.

We cower before th' heart-searching eye
In rapture as in pain;

Even wedded Love, till Thou be nigh,
Dares not believe her gain:

Then in the air she fearless springs,
The breath of heaven beneath her wings,
And leaves her wood-note wild, and sings
A tuned and measured strain.

Ill fare the lay, though soft as dew
And free as air it fall,

That, with thine altar full in view,
Thy votaries would enthrall

To a foul dream, of heathen night,
Lifting her torch in Love's despite,
And scaring with base wildfire light
The sacred nuptial hall.

Far other strains, far other fires,

Our marriage offering grace;

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »