Life thoughts, gathered from the extemporaneous discourses of Henry Ward Beecher. By one of his congregation.

78 LIFE THOUGHTS.
lands, and not the crystal fountains of the hills.
This peace shall not be like a shower, falling with
temporary abundance, but like the river which flows
by the cottage door, always full and always singing.
The man hears it when he rises in the morning; he
hears it in the quiet noon; he hears it when the sun
goes down; and if he wakes in the night, its sound is
in his ear. It was there when he was a child; it was
there when he grew up to manhood; it was there
when he was an old man; it will murmur by his
grave upon its banks, and sing and flow for his
children after him. It is to such a river that God
likens the divine bounty of peace given to his people.
How little do we know of this peace of God! We
deem ourselves happy if we have one serene hour
out of the twenty-four; and if now and then there
comes a Sabbath which is balm at morning, and
sweetness through the still noon, and benediction at
evening, we count it a rare and blessed experience.
The child frightened in his play runs to seek his
mother. She takes him upon her lap, and presses
his head to her bosom; and with tenderest words
of love she looks down upon him, and smooths his
hair, and kisses his cheek, and wipes away his tears.
And then, in a low and gentle voice, she sings some
sweet descant, some lullaby of love, and the fear
fades out from his face, and a smile of satisfaction