Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1836-11-30

We make the following extract from
an admirable little work entitled A tt7r
Thor gifts. Bv a Member Of the Bar"
Printed in Columbus, Ohio. We have
seldom seen anything better adapted to
produce an impression upon the minis Of
those for whom ii was specially intended
Rel Magazine.
! "Whyi is it that 50 few men Of influence
of rank-of intelligence, ale toAnd
among the true disciples of Jesus Ch4is;!
! The answer may be given in a few
words. They aciU not take TINE for se1ii-
Gus reRection. Look abroad throughout
the length and breadth four land How
many Of our lawyers and physicians and
statesmen have ever examined the evi
denccs Of the Christian religion, with any
degree Of faithfu!ness? How many have
: ever read the Bible with a sincere desire
to know whether lis contents are true or
| false? How many who may chance TO
! read these lines have ever spent one sin
gle hour in the serious contt mpation Of
death aud its momcntous consequences?
How many have ever permitted the mind
TO dwell for Il single hour upon the great
truth that the soul is immortaI-that this
life IS but the dawn Of its cxistcnce-and
that it vet has an eternity to spend in
so.Ae unknown and unlried state of being
by oud ;he grave? Not that religious
Thoughts are entirely excluded from the
mind. At some leisure moment super
fetal view is taken Of the Christian world
as divided into sccts, regulated by various
forms and ceremonies, governed BY differ
ent constitutions and laws and alas! too Of
ten distracted by sectarien and theological
controversies. Without stopping to no.
.tice the great and important fact, that all
Christians harmonic upon the funda-
mental principles Of Cnristianitv-that all
unite upon the essential requisites to fiji
man for happiness in this world and the
world to come-thc hastv inference is
dawn that religion is nothing more than
, opinions and disputes, or a talk about
E outward duties, alike beneath the serious
regard ola cultivated and intelligent mind
1t IS true, the claims of Christianity
are sometimes more closely pressed upon
the heart and cons fence. take for in
stance the lawyer. 1t is Saturday night.
Court has adjourned late. He returns
. Home weary and exhausted in body anC
mind, He seats himself in his office -
TO what purpose all this labor and wea
r'ness and anxiety? What real advan
! tage DO | hope to derive from all these
struggles and projects and speculations?-
Suppose acquire wealth and reputation
can they make me happy2 Alas! l am
weary of them even now. | know anC
feel that 'hiss soul of mine was created for
nob'er purposes My possessions too
! must soon leave. Leave2-and where
= shall then goa To world for which
. have made no preparation. To a woric
! OF dIsembodled spirits, where nothing O
all that value here will be of the Eeas
f use to me. Why then this labor and anx
t'tY! What folly! What madness! VIII,
! not at once follow the dictates of reason
and common Sense, and begin to live fo
- something better?'
a 10 one ignorant of the human heart i
r would Seem that this man was almost
e Christian; but mark the result A tho
n connected with the transactions Of the da,
d strikes the mind-an important cause jus
d decIded-a bid debt secuted-a specnla
?. tlon-a motion in court-and thus tho
Z alter thong ht drops into the mind, and ex
n peIs at once all serious reflections. H
8 piunges deeper than ever into his bust
1t ness and the consequence probably is
f. that the same scene will be repeated agaiI
n and again with similar results, till at las
10 Death diSsolves the spell, aud ushers hi
" Immostal spirit, unprepared, into the pres
4 eDce of his God.
ID Take the physician. He has Just Wi
f messed the last moments of a Christian
e During the progress of the disease moth
: ing remarkable was observed. excep.