Mountain Glories [pp. 214]

THE LADIES' REPOSITOR.
be satisfied. Work of any kind continued for
some time in such circumstances is found to be
exhausting. Persons who rise early, and can
not conveniently obtain their full morning meal
for two or three hours, would do well to secure
the provision of some slight refreshment of a
light and simple kind, to be taken before they
address themselves to the first duties of the
day. They will insure a better appetite for the
more substantial breakfast, and derive greater
benefit from it than if they come to it with feelings of faintness and languor, which are the
effects of too long a fast.
For the same reason there should not be long
intervals between the meals, nor should the
principal meal be taken late in the day. The
digestive organs partake of the weariness and
reduction of power which the rest of the body
experiences after the lapse of many hours of
wakefulness and activity, and if then required
to exercise their functions upon abundance of
solid food, can not perform their work satisfactorily. On the other hand, about midway between rising and going to bed, a moderate
amount of labor and exercise has created an
appetite without producing lassitude, and at this
point the powers require sustentation and reenforcement for the remaining moiety of the
day's work. So that the natural time for dinner
would appear to vary with the habits of life between the hours of twelve and three.
As was urged in the case of children, plenty
of time should be given to this neal; the food
taken slowly, in small morsels, and ample use
made of the teeth before swallowing. And, if
practicable, a considerable period of rest for
body and mind should be secured between
dining and returning to the ordinary duties and
labors of the day. The almost invariable habit
of the lower animals to remain quiet, and generally asleep, after a full meal, is some evidence
in favor of this recommendation. The dyspeptic condition of many of our operatives in town
and country is clearly traceable to the necessity
of hurrying from work to dinner, and from dinner to work, in consequence of living at a considerable distance from the place of employment.
Hence the great importance of the establishment of dining-houses in every quarter of our
large towns, which may be reached in a few
minutes by the mechanic or laborer whose work
lies far from home, so that he may be able to
devote the latter part of his dinner hour to quiet
talk or quiet reading, to a nap of forty winks, or
a gentle saunter. And the farm servant, who is
employed at a distance of a mile or two from
his cottage, would derive more nourishment and
refreshment from the dinner which he has
brought with him, or has had brought to him,
and after eating which he can rest for half an
hour, than from a meal more wholesome in itself; and better prepared, and enjoyed at the
family board, but which he must hastily dispatch
and rise from it the moment he has swallowed
the last mouthful, and walk rapidly back to the
resumption of his laborious occupation.
MOUNTAIN GLORIES.
OF the mountains, upreared in glory,
Unmoved by the tempest's shock,
We have read full many a story,
For the cleft of the giant rock
Has sheltered the sons of freedom
Since her banner was first unfurled,
And when truth and her martyrs need them,
They rise to redeem the world.
The birthright of heroes olden
Was the breath of the mountain air,
And bold as their summits golden,
They were noble to do and dare;
And ever will tyrants tremble
When the wild war-bugles ring,
And the men of the hills assemble
Where each man reigns a king.
There is life, there is health in breathing
The glad, free, glacial air,
And joy in the pale mist wreathing
The crests of the hill-tops bare;
There is strength in the grand old mountains!
Men are truer on their sod
Than the dwellers by valley fountains,
For they seem so near to God.
There were ancient mountains shining
Like suns, on the world's dark page,
With brightness, that, ne'er declining,
Shall glorify every age;
Mount Tabor, with stately column,
Still witnesseth to the sky,
And Olivet, grand and solemn,
Calls back unto Calvary.
There are loftiest hights of beauty
That rise in a noble life,
When the soul that is true to duty
O'ercometh the wrong in strife.;
There Love is enthroned in splendor,
And the songs of the silver streams
Wake echoes as sweet and tender
As the melodies of our dreams.
The glow of life's golden summit
Shines clear, though the storms are loud,
And a vision of peace smiles from it,
And beckons beyond the cloud,
Where the glory that crowns the mountains
Leads up to the lilied rills,
And the sweetness of singing fountains;
That leap from eternal hills.
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