Stray Thoughts [pp. 230-232]

THE LADIES' REPOSITORr.
thought of the tomb is the skeleton of all feasts. We
do not want to go through the dark valley, although
its passages may lead to paradise; and, with Charles
Lamb, we do not want to lie down in the muddy
grave, even with kings and princes for our bedfellows.
But the fiat of nature is inexorable. There is no
appeal of relief from the great law which dooms us
to dust. We flourish and we fade as the leaves of
the forest, and the flower that blooms and withers in
a day has not a frailer hold upon life than the mightiest monarch that ever shook the earth with his footsteps. Generations of man appear and vanish as the
grass, and the countless multitudes that throng the
world to-day will to-morrow disappear as the footsteps on the shore.
In the beautiful drama of Ion, the instinct of immortality, so eloquently uttered by the death-devoted
Greek, finds a deep response in every thoughtful
soul. When about to yield his young existence as a
sacrifice to fate, his beloved Clemanthe asks if they
shall not meet again, to which he replies: "I have
asked that dreadful question of the hills that look
eternal-of the clear streams that flow forever-of
the stars among whose field of azure my raised spirit
hath walked in glory. All were dumb. But while I
gaze upon thy living face, I feel that there is something in the love that mantles through its beauty that
can not wholly perish. We shall meet again, Clemanthe."
"THERE'S LIGIIT BEYOND."-" When in Madeira," writes a traveler, "I set off one morning to
reach the summit of a mountain, to gaze upon the
distant scenes and enjoy the balmy air. I had a
guide with me, and we had with difficulty ascended
some thousand feet, when a thick mist was seen descending upon us, quite obscuring the whole face of
the heavens. I thought I had no hope left but at
once to retrace our steps or be lost; but as the cloud
came nearer, and darkness overshadowed me, my
guide ran on before me, penetrating the mist and
calling to me ever and anon, saying,' Press on, master, press on, there's light beyond!' I did press on.
In a few minutes the mist passed away, and I gazed
upon a scene of transparent beauty. All was bright
and cloudless above, and beneath was the almost
level mist, concealing the world below me, and glistening in the rays of the sun like a field of untrodden
snow. There was nothing at that moment between
me and the heavens." O ye, over whom clouds are
gathering or who have sat beneath the shadow, be
not dismayed if they rise before you. Press on.
Tzere is light beyond.
BROKEN CHAINS.-A company of captives were
one day set at liberty. For many years they had
been "in bonds," and the joy of being free once more
was like a foretaste of heaven. But there was one
who, instead of rejoicing in his freedom, gathered up
his broken fetters and carried them with him on his
homeward journey. Wherever he stopped he might
be heard mourning: "O, these chains, these chains,
what misery have they caused ne!" And at last
death found him still hugging to his heart his broken
chains.
Is it not so with many who have been freed from
the fetters of sin? Instead of coming into the fullness of the liberty wherewith Christ has made them
free, they sit sighing over their broken chains. Instead of the Te Dezum the Aiserere is forever on their
lips. " O my sins, my sins!" is the burden of their
song, notwithstanding they have long since received
the assurance of forgiveness. Sins once blotted out
should be remembered only to make us humble and
grateful. The little child, penitent for the fault that
has grieved its loving mother, receives her kiss of
reconciliation and goes back to play with a happy
heart. Should it not be thus with God's children?Thze Advance.
THERE IS ANOTHER MAN.-Dr. Guthrie, in a late
work, gives the following description of a scene on
the ocean:
During a heavy storm off the coast of Spain, a dismasted merchantman was observed by a British fi-igate drifting before the gale. Every eye and glass
were on her, and a canvas shelter on deck almost
level with tht sea suggested the idea that there yet
might be life on board. The order instantly sounds,
"Put the ship about," and presently a boat is launched,
with instructions to bear down upon the wreck.
Away after that drifting hulk go those gallant men,
through the swelling of a roaring sea. They reach
it-they shout-and now a strange object rolls out of
that canvas screen against the lee shroud of a broken
mast. Hauled into the boat, it proves to be a man,
with head and knees drawn together, so dried and
shriveled as to be hardly felt within the ample clothes,
and so light that a mere boy lifts it on board. It is
laid on the deck; in horror and pity the crew gather
round it; their feelings suddenly changed into astonishment. It shows signs of life-they draw nearerit moves, and then mutters in a deep, sepulchral
voice, "There is another man!" Saved himself, the
first use he made of speech was to seek to save another!
Christian reader, learn the blessed lesson taught by
this thrilling incident, and practice upon it in your
daily life. Has One sent from above, and taken you
and drawn you out of many waters? Are you safeyour feet planted upon the Rock, Christ Jesus? Then
may you greatly rejoice; but is there not another
man, perishing as you once were, but whom, utinder
Providence, you may be made instrumental in saving?
You have gained the ear of a prayer-heariing God.
Fill not that ear with the recital of your own wants
alone. Remember, while you pray for your own advance in holiness, that there are many others for
whom Christ died, and intercede for them also. Labor for those about you who are in danger. Speak
to them kindly and earnestly, and let them see that
you are sincerely interested in their souls' welfare.
Surely, no Christian should content himself to rest in
his own hope of acceptance through a crucified Redeemer while there is one other man exposed to
eternal death.
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