The Columbian fountain., 1846-11-05
LIVE NOT TO YORRSELF.
tgi JBY REV. j. TODD

On the frall little stem in the garden hangs
the opening rose. Go ask why It hangs there2
81 hang here. " says the beautiful flower, "to
sweeten the air which man breathes,, TO open
my boautios, to kindle emotion in his eye, TO
show him the hand OF his God, who penciled
each leaf and laid them thus on my bosom.
And whether you find me here to greet him
every morning, or whether you find me on
the lone mountain side, with the bare posi-
bllty that he will throw me one passing glance,
my end is the same. live not TO myself"
i Beside yon highway stands an aged tree,
solitary and alone. You see no living thing
near il, and you say surely thatmust stand for
itself alone. '.No," says the tree, "God never
made me Tor purpose so small. For more
than hundred years | have stood here. In
summer have spread my out arms and shell
tered the painting focks which hastened to my
shade. In my bosom | have concealed and
protected the brood Of young birds, as they
lay and rocked in their nest; in the storm I
have more than once received IN my body the
bolt, which had else destroyed the
traveller the acorns which I have matured
from year to year, have been carried far and
near, and groves of forest oaks can claim me
as their parent. | have lived for the eagle,
which has perched on my Top !; for the hum
ming bird that has paused and refreshed lis
glddy wing, ere it danced away again like
blossom of the air for the insect that has
found home within the folds of my bark
and when can stand no longer, shall fall
by the hand of man, and shall 90 to strength
en- the ship which makes him lord of the ocean
and to his dwelling to warm his hearth and
cheer his home. live not myself"
On yonder mountain side comes down tlfe
silver brook, in the distance resembling a rib
bon of silver, running and leaping as il dashes
Joyously and fearessly down. Go ask The
leaper what 1t is doing. 81 was born, ,"says the
brook, thigh up in the mountain; but there l
could do no good; and SO am hurrying down,
running where can, and eaping where Imust,
but Fastening down to water the sweet valley
where the lark may sing on my margin.
where may drive the mill for the accom-
modalion Of man, and then widen into The
great river, and bear up his steamboats, and
shipping, and finally plunge into the ocean.
to rise again in vapor, and perhaps come back
and live my short life over again Not drop
of water comes down my channel, in whose
bright face you may not read-"None of US
liveth to HIMSELF" 1854
Speak now 10 that solitary star that hangs
in the verge of heaven, and ask the bright
sparkler what is doing there? Its voice comes
down the path Of life, and cries" am
mighty world. / was stationed here at the Gre
alton. Twas among the morning stars that
sang together, and among the sons of God
that shouted for Joy at the creation Of the earth
Aye, aye, | was there ....
{" When the radient morn Of creation broke,
And the world in the smile Of God awoke,
And the empty realms of darkness and death,
Were moved through their depths by his
mighty breath,
And The orbs of beauty and spheres Of fame
From the void abyss by myriads came,
In the Joy of youth, as they darted away
Through the widening wastes Of space to
play,
Their silver voices in chorus ruug,
And this was the song the bright ones sung"
And thus God has written upon the flower
that sweetens The air, upon the breeze that
rocks that flower on its stem, upon the rain
drops which swell the mighty river, upon the
dew-drop that refreshes the smallest sprglof