Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1852-05-06
MISCELLANY. Y.
UScHANGEABLE.

la the little compass Of an hour how
many changes might we mark, had We tie
eyes. Of Onlniscience from happiness TO
misery, from oppression to power, from
wealth to poverty, from life to death, the
feet progression ofuncertain griefs and joys,
dooms US continually to change And in a
wider sense, Iin whatever light we view the
marts of commerce, the wonders of science,
we find them continually liable to this fat;
some in the brief passage Of little moment,
others by the slow rotation Of tagging years
The tides change, the atmosphere changes,
and the earth itself is daily undergoing
slow but sure transformation, Gradually
the old landmarks disappear before the sol
emn tread Of centuries, and ocean .dissolHes
the sunlit yerdure Hourlshed IN lis emeraIu
beauty for ages, are forever blighted by the
fiery breath Df the volcano, and the soft val,
ley whose bosom seemed fit only for the
pressure Of an infants dimpled feet is rent
asunder; its broken fragments clinging to
the unsightiyH hills that some CONFUSION has
thrown up from the heated earth. z u
But while we feel the truth Of. all this.
there is blessed thought, that, coming in
the sombre twilight, or the quiet mid hour Of
night, sheds.a soothing ealmness upon the
soul, nay, fills US with rapture and holy
trust, and 1t is this there is One that
changeth not forever and ever He will be
the same Interchangeable God. Heaven and
earth, bearing though they do the impress
of His eternal mind, shall pass away, and
there Shall bo no record of their existence,
save Ia the memory of those who once bore
mortal forms. 1t is delightful theme :;
this immptability of Jehovah, thong h all too
high for irrcYerant grasp, pet made some.
what comprehensive to the most lowly mind
by the very contrast that marks everything
around US perishable.
Can we find one being upon whom change
has not laid its effacing finger Tor an OBJ
iect in tho wide world that has knoWnit not
Our mercha1dise is wrecked, our fair fields
blightcd, our costly possession dwindled TO
few poor handfuls Of ashes, our brightest
hopes made hooking torments, our sweetest
blessings turned to bitter curses In the
morning we rise, and in the spirit Of him
who said, 4 Soul take thine ease congrat.
ulate ourselves upon oHr thrift, and strut our
stately homes at night we walk the rafting
boards of the beggars howell. We go forth re-
| joieing 10 ,o strength at monday. and at g
fSLAuS q, HAEstIcoS upoh out lONSA ALL RAAAo'''S
4 We gro =: Ii. bride at the altar, and sing bel
marriage sb4g we carry her forth with the
low wailing bf the funeral dirge, through tht
grass grown aisles of the graveyard, ere thu
orange blossoms that decEed her brow hav'
lost their gold. We mark out the glowing
future of tie new born babe, and in one shor
year
Lay him softly forrest
His whitehands crossed on his pulseless breast.
We hear Of peace and safety in distant ma
tions; anon, and we can almost see tn
bloody fields of carnage, and behold tn
deathly faces of the martyred for sweet Lii
erty's sake.
But amidst these heart-sorrows and, ms
tional struggles, these ceaseless commotion
on the right hand and on the left, we behol
Power superior to all created things;
prophets, priests, kings, angels and archar
, gels. bending over this g wreck of matSs
and crush Of worlds, smiling in ineffable y
renity, unmoved BY the shocks that crumbl
empires; firm, though heaven itself shout
| shake to is foundations, though all his hos
should revolt against Him OliUe Branch