The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1848-05-27

"But how do you talk about months and
days, when you have 10 such things?"
81 will soon tell you about that. We meas
ure time here by the gard"
"By the yardw
"Yeswe call that time which the most per-
feet men among us take in walking yard,
to be the sixtieth part of an hour These
hours we reckon into days, and these days
into years. To be sure, we are not very ex-
act, because some men walk so much faster
than others;-but this siust us their legs hup-
pen TO be long or short"
AS the guide was proceeding, to the mex
pressible Joy of all the sun ut once broke out.
The light was so sudden, Hated ut first
thought he must be struck with lightning,
aud actually put up his hands TO his eyes, to
see if they were safe. lie then clapped his
hands over his eyes, till he could gradually
bear the light. There was u splendor about
the sun which he had never before seen; and
il was intolerably hot. The mir seemed like
furnace.
"Ah!" said the owner ofthe cattle, 1--WE
must now scorch for it. My poor wool OK
must die at once! Bad luck bad luck TO us!
The sun has come back much nearer than
he was before. But we hope he will happen
10 go away again soon, aud then happen to
come back further of the next time"
The sun was now pouring down his heat
/
the house for shelter-a miserable looking
| place indeed. Hated could not but compare
il with his own beautiful cottage. Some
timbers were rotten; for the tree was not as
| II happened, the same thing in all its parts.
Some of the boards happened to be like pa
per- aud the nails tore out, and these were
loose, and coming of. They had TO do their
cooking. out under the burning sun: for when
the smoke got into the house, there was no
/ - - han
was not very often.
They invited Hated to eat. On sitting
down at the table, lie noticed that each one
had different kind of food, and that no two
could eat out of the same dish. He was told
that il SO happened, that the food which one
could eat, was poison 80 another. Selecting
the food which looked most inviting, Hated
attempted TO eat. What was his surprise
when he found that his hands did not happen
TO be under the control of his will and instead
of carrying the food TO his mou;h, these active
servants put it into his earl On examining,
he found that it was so with all the rest, and
by Initiating the company, and twisting his
head round over his right shoulder, and pln-
cling his mouth where the ear was, he manug-
ed TO cat. In amaZement, he asked how this
happened.
"Ahv' said they, laughing at his ignorance
of the world, eve have no fixed laws here.
All is chance. Sometimes we have one or
more limbs for long time which nre:not I'M
der the control of our will. lis just rs II
happens. So when we drink, we find it al
ways true, that
Some shed it on their shoulder,
Some shed it OH their thigh;
And he that does not hit his mouth,
Is sure to hit his eye.'"
81 suppose that to be coffee" said Hated,
''and will thank you for cup"
1t was handed him. He had been troubl-
ed with tooth ache for some hours and how
did he quail when on filling his mouth, he
found il was ice i'm little pieces about as large
us pigeon shot!
"Do you call ice water, coffee here?" said
Hated, pressing ths hand upon the check
where the tooth was now dancing with pain.
"That is just as it happens. We put water
over the fire, and sometimes it heats it, and
sometimes it freezes it. How can il he 9th
erwise, when we have here 40 fixed laws of
any kind? 1t is all chance work.
Hated rose from the table in anguish of
spirit He remembered the world where he
had lived, and all that was past. He had de-
desired to live in world where there was
no God,-where all was governed by chance,
so far as there was anything that looked like
government. Here he was,and here he must
live He threw himselfon II bed, and recall
ed the past--the beautiful world in which he
had once lived;his ingratitude,-his murmur
ings, and his blasphemy against the wisdom
and the goodness of God. He wept like i'll
fancy. He would have prayed, aud even be-
gan n prayer; but then he recollected that
there was no God here-nothing 10 direct e.
vents-nothng but chance.
He shed many and bitter tears of repen-
lance. AT last he wept asleep.
When Hated again awoke, he was sitting
under his palm tree, in his beautiful gar
den. 1t was morning. At the appointed
moment, the glorious sun rose up IN the
East--the fields were all green and fresh:
the trees were all right and upwards, and
covered with blossoms; the beautiful deer
were bounding in their gladness over the
lawn, and the songsters in the trees, which,
in plumage and sweetness, might have We'd
with those that sang in Eden, were uttering
their morning song.
Hafed arose, recalled that ugly dream, and
then wept for Joy. Was he again in world
where chance does not reign? He looked up,
and then turned TO the God of heaven and
earth, the God of laws and order. He gave
glory to Him, and confessed that his ways, to
us unsearchable, ARE full of wisdom, He was
new man. Tears indeed fell at the graves
of his family; but now he lived to do good to
men, and to make others happy. He called
young and worthy couple, distant relatives,
to fill his house. His home again smiled.
and peace and coDtentment came buck, and
were his abiding guests.
Hated would never venture to affirm
whether this was dream, or reality. On
the whole he was inclined to think it real,
and that there is somewhere a'cbance world;'
but he always shook his head, and declared
that so far from wishing to live there, nothing
gave him greater cause of gratitude as he
knelt i'm daily PRAYER than the fact that he liv-