The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1840-09-19


deceive, bctray, desert. TIE eye may
burn in brightness like festal lamp, and
the cheeks deep hue may compel the rose
10 shrink from rivalry, and the elastic
figure, buoyant and graceful, may win the
need of praise, but the empire of colors
and Of tints is doomed, the glory Of an
hour, eciipsed and darkened as times
shadow passes round the dial-plate Of life
Blight and decrepitude will come, leaving
not a flower on its stem to tell where once
The garden stood. You must have mental
resources, means of sober entertainment
when the vivacity of youth has fed, and
charms of the female "face divine" are
with the things that were. The insi sipidity
and inanity Of vain discourse may pass
with the weak and frivolous, redeemed by
the graceful foldings Of your robes, or
the winning destinations of jewelled
brow; but the time will cume, nor is it
distan. though life with you, is young,
when frequent wrinkles and guady dress
will make contrast strange, miserable
mimicry of life, health and show-subjec-
ting you to the humiliating comments Of
pity, and leaving you as your last resource
the uncertain returns of gratitude. Let
the diamonds Of wisdom be your ornaments
the virtues of the heart your Eecom.
mendation. Cultivate the understanding,
the affections, the conscience. Nourish
the principles Of piety and devotion to God.
Resolve to be estimated by your intel
lectuaI and moral worth. Reject the tinsei
of life as useless accessory TO your cha
racter. Seek not the reputation of say
ing trifing things elegantly, but the praise
of prudent speech and wise reflection.
Disdain the arts by which the shallow and
the frivolous seek 10 rise, and unite the
love and practice of womanly duties with
the refinements of taste and the charms
of intelligence. Remember that "beauty
is vain, and favor is deceitful, but wo-
man that feareth the Lord. she shall be
praised" Whatever the advantages Of
science or the. distinctions of literature,
and | would yield 10 no man in my admi-
ration of these, | have felt and still feel
far more concern for the knowledge that
is unto salvation. Arts and accomplish
menis may adorn, but they cannot regene-
rate. Religion is the basis of every ex-
celience, the subsistence of erery virine.
1t is your ornament and your strength.
Seek it ye who have it not. Hold ii fast
We who have it. 1t is the miraculous tree
sent from Heaven to heal Efe's waters Of
their bitterness. It is mamma in the desert.
and song Of rejoicing in the house Of
plenty. When sorrows bow the spirit
down, it lifts the mourner up and turns
her tears to rapture. When deceived and
wounded tere, and the heart lies trodden
and crushed, quivering in its agony, il is
the Samaritan with his words of kindness,
his wine and his oil, affording relief for
presen, wants, and giving promise of fu-
ture help. When the worlds vain hopes
mock your thirst. il is the we'll Of saliva
ton whittier ye may come and drink and
never thirst again.
Liye for etenitv. The worlds
"A wildering maze,
Where sin hath tracked ten thousand ways,
Her victims 10 ensnare;
AL! broad d winding and aslope-
All tempting with pcrfidious hope
All ending in despair"
Time will soon be done. The day
scarcely says at mornings srosy dawn"
l come, ere the sound 1 am gone, sinks
and dies at evenings quiet hush. The
present soon will be the past. The boun.
ding blood, struck by the chill of death,
will creep in funeral motion to The heart
whose feeble puisations can send it forth
no more. Life's gay attire must be surren-
ered for The graves pale shroud, and the
freedom Of earth for the confinement OF
The coffin and the tomb. Take heed 10
your ways, your hearts, and your hopes;
50 live as that when the earthly tabernacle
lies darkened ruin, and the soul shalt
send its power forth, it may receive vel
come from its God, and a mansion III its
Fathers house. Ny task is well nigh over.
1t remains but to pronounce the parting
words, and each one of us to our ways
strangers and pilgrims upon the earth
yirt for its toll and its gricf-doomed, per-
laps, to meet no more, till we become
kindred dwelIers in the house appointed for
all the living ! have no complaint to
make, no wrong to forgive. If in the
exercise Of authority, a word to wound
has been spoken by me, let the motive be.
reave it of its harsl,ness, and the feelings
It avail ened be numbered with the things
forgotten or at rest. Kindness has marked