Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1849-12-06

an hour And but for Gods help. would
you have any power at all BE inslruc
ted be humble:
But the lesson is not for class, nor for
this exposure a'one. II speaks of absolute
and universal dependence. As looked
upon those bIackened and smoking ruiIrs,
where tie evening be fore passed large
lighted dwelling, the abode always peace
and iIust, as thought of all there had been
there and all now buried there, it seemed to
me, if could doubt our dependence, or a
mother existence, ! were Lot human True
fires are common, and deaths frequent
Men and women are always dying, and
many by a more lingering and cruel death.
BY famine, by cold, by heat, by pest'lence,
BY tie insatiale sword, by the hand Of The
assassin, by the hand of the suicide, by the
avarice of the selfish and the lust Of the
sensual; aye, by liquid fire, unspeakaby
worse than that, a fire se.fklndled, dellber-
ately communicated, and seemin, ,ly mex
.ingushable by human or divine power
but this is mans work, and mans madness.
l, is not dependence, so much as derange-
men,; not fate, but faulty. This is GoD !
How much man could have done, before or
at the time, how much the sufferers could
have helped themselves, or how much wiser
we should have been-we may speculate
about but cannot know. And this very ig-
norance is dependeI &C. There is ignorance
and dependence in the 6rst question that
every one aaks-IIow could it be' Mortal,
i could be because it was God. 1t could
be, because thou art only man. Thou
knowest Iitls. Alone. thou can'st do moth
ing. God can do all things. On Him rely.
In Him believe, and thou shalt not perish.
But more is taught. The worth Of life'
and the worth Of character. Take them to-
ge,hor; and see, by the aid of this expert
ence, their true estimate, in the opinion Of
men and the view of religion. See the val
ue Of life, the life even of the body COM
pared to anything else called wealth. Who
thought Of anything else when they heard
that life was in peril, that life was lost =
The destruction Of a spacious mansion, well
furnished and itself an ornament TO the city,
is a sad thought But il seems as nothing
the moment life is touched no one wishes
to name / or think Of it. And so should
we feel, whosoever the owner las TO proper
ty or position. 1t is a part of humanity,
and noble trait Of man, selfish as we call
him, that he will risk anything 10 save, or
give anything to restore, the life Of the poor
est creature, or the child Of the worst
How easily could hundreds, thousands of
dollars be raised in this city, in one hour, if
it were known and seen that a human being
could be snatched from threatening destruc-
tion, or those just taken restored. Learn
from it, that there is something better than
wealth, greater than a house or golden
mine. And this something; you hold. 1t
is not you but ii is yours. AS mere life, it
is not the greatest possession, and may be
overrated or wrongly viewed lis loss is
not the sorest evil that can befal you or
those you love. On the contrary, ,ha, loss
may bring to you the greatest possible gain.
Still is life precious and sacred. And if
you SO regard it, use it accordingly. Ifyou
esteem it more than houses and lands, do not
barter it for houses and lands, or vex and
waste il in their attainment. If you hold it
sacred in another, do not destroy it in
another, or temp. any to sell it for chaff or
tinsel. Do you shudder yet, and mourn,
whenever you think that your arm. or your
word might have saved two lives from the
burning pile' Mourn and repent, if by
your example, through any selfshness or
passion, by any weapon or poison, you have
exposed many lives 10 worse death; and
what is infinitely more, and more common
are now leaving many souls to PERISH
Learn the worth Of life, learn the worth Of
Character.
This, lastly, and above all. How clear
ly is it shown by all the comparisons here
sug gyested, by all the reflections now made,
and the only allsvia,ion or solace which the
case admits The worth Of character iis
worth always, It's recuIisr exec! ence there
DO you say, "thal is the bitterness--it is no
allersuon, but an aggreVaton that one so
good should be taken away 2" Friend, the
good are not taken away. Character neve.
psFlshes Virtue, pe,y, meekness, benevo-
lence are immortal The Christian man,
the Christian woman, cannot die. The bad
may die, and for the death Of the bad we
may we'll weep. They are lost while they
live; alas they are lost when they de-
But they who live in the spirit, live the
more when the spirit is tree. They who
live least for the body, are least harmed
when the body dies, and least parted from
u.s. Though they pass through the waters,
they do not overflow them; though they
walk through the fire they shall not be
burnt
Is there a mind here, able to believe that