Part 9 (1/2)
The years flew by and the children began With longing to think of the world outside; And as each, in his turn, became a man, The boys proudly went from the father's side.
The girls were women so gentle and fair That lovers were speedy to woo and win; And with orange blossoms in braided hair, The old home was left, the new home to begin.
So, one by one, the children have gone,-- The boys were five and the girls were three; And the big brown house is gloomy and lone, With but two old folks for its company.
They talk to each other about the past, As they sit together in eventide, And say, ”All the children we keep at last Are the boy and the girl who in childhood died.”
AMERICA FOR G.o.d.
BY T. DE WITT TALMAGE.
But now what are the weapons by which, under our Omnipotent Leader, the real obstacles in the way of our country's evangelization, the ten thousand mile Sebastopols, are to be leveled? The first columbiad, with range enough to sweep from eternity to eternity, is the Bible, millions of its copies going out, millions on millions. Then there are all the Gospel batteries, manned by seventy thousand pastors and home missionaries, over the head of each one of whom is the s.h.i.+eld of Divine protection, and in the right hand of each one the gleaming, two-edged sword of the Infinite Spirit! Hundreds of thousands of private soldiers for Christ, marching under the one-starred, blood-striped flag of Emanuel! On our side, the great and mighty theologians of the land the heavy artillery, and the hundreds of thousands of Christian children the infantry. They are marching on!
Episcopacy, with the sublime roll of its liturgies; Methodism, with its battle-cry of ”The sword of the Lord and John Wesley;” the Baptist Church, with its glorious navy sailing up our Oregons and Sacramentos and Mississippis; and Presbyterians, moving on with the battle-cry of ”The sword of the Lord and John Knox.” And then, after awhile will come the great tides of revival, sweeping over the land, the five hundred thousand conversions in 1857 eclipsed by the salvation of millions in a day, and the four American armies of the Lord's host marching toward each other, the Eastern army marching west, the Western army marching east, the Northern army marching south, the Southern army marching north; shoulder to shoulder! Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! until they meet mid-continent, having taken America for G.o.d!
The thunder of the bombardment is already in the air, and when the last bridge of opposition is taken, and the last portcullis of Satan is lifted, and the last gun spiked, and the last tower dismantled, and the last charger of iniquity shall have been hurled back upon its haunches, what a time of rejoicing!
OUR OWN.
BY MARGARET E. SANGSTER.
If I had known, in the morning, How wearily all the day The words unkind would trouble my mind That I said when you went away, I had been more careful, darling, Nor given you needless pain; But--we vex our own with look and tone We might never take back again.
For though in the quiet evening You may give me the kiss of peace, Yet it well might be that never for me The pain of the heart should cease; How many go forth at morning Who never come home at night, And hearts have broken for harsh words spoken That sorrow can ne'er set right.
We have careful thought for the stranger, And smiles for the sometime guest, But oft for our own the bitter tone, Though we love our own the best.
Ah, lip with the curve impatient, Ah, brow with the shade of scorn, 'T were a cruel fate were the night too late To undue the work of morn.
BEHIND TIME.
BY FREEMAN HUNT.
A railroad train was rus.h.i.+ng along at almost lightning speed. A curve was just ahead, and beyond it was a station, at which the cars usually pa.s.sed each other. The conductor was late, so late that the period during which the down train was to wait had nearly elapsed; but he hoped yet to pa.s.s the curve safely. Suddenly a locomotive dashed into sight right ahead. In an instant there was a collision. A shriek, a shock, and fifty souls were in eternity; and all because an engineer had been _behind time_.
A great battle was going on. Column after column had been precipitated for eight mortal hours on the enemy posted along the ridge of a hill. The summer sun was sinking to the west; re-inforcements for the obstinate defenders were already in sight; it was necessary to carry the position with one final charge, or everything would be lost. A powerful corps had been summoned from across the country, and if it came up in season all would yet be well. The great conqueror, confident in its arrival, formed his reserve into an attacking column, and ordered them to charge the enemy.
The whole world knows the result. Grouchy failed to appear; the imperial guard was beaten back; Waterloo was lost. Napoleon died a prisoner at St.
Helena because one of his marshals was _behind time_.
A leading firm in commercial circles had long struggled against bankruptcy.
As it had enormous a.s.sets in California, it expected remittances by a certain day; and, if the sums promised arrived, its credit, its honor, and its future prosperity would be preserved. But week after week elapsed without bringing the gold. At last came the fatal day on which the firm had bills maturing to enormous amounts. The steamer was telegraphed at daybreak; but it was found, on inquiry, that she brought no funds, and the house failed. The next arrival brought nearly half a million to the insolvents, but it was too late; they were ruined because their agent, in remitting, had been _behind time_.