Daily national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1854, 1854-04-10
LITERARY MISCELLANY.
For ths National Era.
REcOIIECTI0HsO MYGRANDFATHER's HOME,

For the National Era.
REcoLLEcrIoHs0r MYaRAHDrArHERs HOME
CHAPTER VIII.
TIE Sabbath.
" How still tho morning Of the hallowed day
Mute Is tho voice of rural labor hushd ),
The ploughboy's whistle and the miikmaid song
The Sabbath! How suggestive that single
word--suggestive of quiet relaxation from toll,
Of home enioyments--day Of retrospect, or lore
thought Of calm aspiration Of holy pursuit
who does not love the Sabbath? As the thirsty
traveller turns aside, in his one days journey,
to drink from the cool spring by the waysidee,
so do we ALL in our lifelong course, each seventh
day, turn aside our wavworn feet, and set us
down in some quiet restingplace surely the
the dsy. PITY its hallowed Influences bore ns
not more manfully through the succeeding
stage of our journey.
We wake up with the glad sunlight OF Sab
bath morning and drink every beam into our
care-free souls we feel the spirit OF the day;
we move gently round perchance Wa quietly
open the easement Lo Nature seems to feel
the spell, and the Sabbath stiffness reigns
everywhere Are we city dweller-the shut
up warehouses and silent streets have CRATE
full significance. We lean out to catch q
glimpse Of the belt Of blue sky overhead, whence
come the sunbeams that dance 30 lovingly on
our floor, and it seems never to have looked so
blue and coudess before Anon single foot
fall echoes ON the pave; it jars on our nerves
there is sense of dssonance with the mood OF
the hour but nevertheless we look kindly on
the decent air of the passer-by, for we see that
the days spell is on him likewise. The birds
seem vieing with each other in warbling their
Al IL 81. oIo and
defined, to our ear, in the rsigning stiffness; we
to soar aloft with the winged tongsters, and
nearer to God, we forget the little, stifled world
around us.
So specializing and dreaming the morning
wears way when suddenly every steeple sends
up It's voice. and the city resounds with the
cry, Let us worship Godn We start up; TO
US, the Sabbath rest and the Sabbath stiffness
are gone. The football echoes no longer on the
crowded pave the MARBLE Of birds is lost in the
murmur Of tongues; we are with the world
again. To be sure, there is an elasticity Of
step, an impulsive earnestness Of manner, as
we near the house of God and we put on u
subdued mien as we enter its portals for, If
We are true Sabbath lovers o few moments
jostling with worldlings cannot wholly darken
the sunbeams that came with the morning.
Moreover, the sight of the well-clad, well-bred
multitndes, hnrrying to the same goal, stirs up
within us heavenward impulse, and our hearts
expand with love to all mankind; we recognise
the principle OF universal brotherhood we be-
think ourselves that the wide world over, wher
ever Gods Word has been, that same cry Ia
going up, Let us worship God" So, AZ we
stand upon the portals Of the sanctuary, we
feel
That there Is nothing in heaven or Garth beneath,
Save God and man."
We enter; the word, fitly spoken, reaches
the ear but the gaily dressed, listless crowd dis
tracts the attention The organ peals through
the solemn arches, enraptures ns with the
sweet concourse Of sounds, but while we watch
through the melodious windings and turnings
for the simple words Of some well-known Sab
bath hymn we are won't TO exclaim, better
the voceless melody of the heart, than such
music Nevertheless, we leave the sanctuary,
if 40 viii, wiser mud better. But tho dny has
not yet ended-and ali We would draw a vail
betwixt the morning hours, full of sunshine
and silence, and bird melody, and that part of
the'Sabbath, no little rocked in q great city
Bot, 60 to the country, We Sabbath lovers
to the country, where is sunshine, and quiet,
and bird-songs the whole day long Here, too,
We are wont early to open the easement, to
breathe the spirit of the hour; and here, too,
Nature sends up her thanksgiving to God, but
how much more deeply, how much more thrill
lingly! Instead Of leaning out to catch
glimpse Of q little strip Of Heavens mirrored
blue, there lies, spread out before us, the whole
canopy, calm and cloudless; instead of the
dsarfed tree, with it's single warbler, music-fuIl
forests stretch miles away No hollow foot
step echoes back the world to us; but the lazy
herds on the hillside, the loiterers at the spring
hero and thore gazsr out, like ourself all
speak of rest and peace. No merry chimes Of
bells peal out their orieons but, ever and anon
there comes up from distant valley, or down
from little hill top, the echoed call Of some
village spire, low, sweet, and mslodious Oh,
there is beauty in everything seen through the
pastoral light Of clear Sabbath morning in
the country
Such were the impressions left by the by.
gone SAbbaths at my grandfathers What q
panorama lies spread out before me, as close
my eyes on the present and look back on those
tranquil scenes Of the past am once more
in the old firm house, with sunshine, and Sab
bath stiffness. The mill has stopped its clat-
ter, and tie ( esd brook gurgles gently on !;
the slightly stirred leaves wsver their shadows
on the mill pond the herds lie lszily on the
green knobs; Molly, the miller's daughter,
loitsrs with her pitcher at the spring. her
heart filed with simple gladness; while the
very house-dog gives up his watch, and idly
suns himself There is rest and so-called 81
lence everywhere, but not slumber, for there
evsr comes TO the listening ear, q low murmur
of busy life. The grand chorus is hushed, but
from every moving thing full of glad sunshine,
there breathes gentle alteration. The mur-
muir Of insects, Of brooks Of leaves, OF every
moving thing, all unite and there goes forth
slow voice, which says Let us worship Godn
Beyond the millpond, down in . little val
ley from out . forest, shimmers 70 me now a
village spiro from the porch door another il
seen, shooting up 10 the western horizon. from
the speck Of . hamlet; while on the other side,
half mile away, our own little church crowns
hilltop.