Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1856-04-17
It hath 80 many counterfeits I

chain that binds Man in friendship with his
brother !! The foundation of all the confidence
and intercourse which exists between rational
beings And not only is it the basis of our
present happiness, but it is the firm rock upon
which rests our hope of bliss in the future 1t
is upon the truth Of those iustrious characters,
who have lived and died before US, that We de-
pend for the favor of forgiving God, and &C.
ceptance to His celestial courts.
Truth is the chain which connects the whole
moral universe The basis upon which stands
the throne of the King Eternal !! But alas ! it
hath SO many counterfeits ! The imitation is
worn for the real gold, and the polished glass
sparkles in the place of the true diamond.
Many and various are the ways in which this
precious jewel is initiated in thoughts, words,
writings, by signs and gestures, aye, and by
keeping silence. In promises, made without
even an intention of their fulfilnent in threat
enings, which reasonable mind would hesitate
to put in execution in history, when real facts
are blended with the gorgeous hues Of fiction
when the picture of public robbcr, Or 1urder-
er is painted in the glowing coors of true Draw
cry and noblcness, and vanished with false
show of hcroisln when the historian attributes
the noble deeds of just men to knavery or the
tiycs according to his own preudices and gives
own fances, and making deductions of such por-
tons of facts as give the work an unscemly APP
pearance
1t is couutcrfited by men of science when
they give Inaccurate or partial statements of
the results of their experiments and obscrya-
tons when to support favorte theory or hy-
pothcsis, they give a magni6ed representation
of the facts and principles in Nature.
In the literary word-alas, oh Truth how
Oft is thy sacred temple rrofancd, and thy al
tars laden with illusions purportins to emanate
from the pure mines Of intellect and wisdom
How oft is the public annoyed and i'm, ,osed up
Oh by nicely bound volumes, bearing long and
mysterious titles which being tested, only prove
themselves the visible effects of the vagaries of
a romantic imagination making prctensons to
merit, to which they have scarce the least title,
and failing in their object, convey perhaps, a
transient qualification to the most indolent and
trifng minds
Again, we behold it counterfeited in the sa-
cred desk Religion The souls pure sun-
shine The prize of vrture That which
alone can bring man to his grand climacteric
aud satisfy the longngs of his mortal spirit !
But the popular preacher, breaking the bands
Of disc pne, and throwing of the yoke of obedi-
ence paints Heaven in the midst of never-fn-
ding flowers, and strews the way with fragrant
garlands, upon carpets softer than Oriental lux
ury can furnish He sings the songs of Zion
in lightly flowing airs aud in fine, reconccs
the demands Of eternity with present, selfish,
timc-serving But let the Truth stand forth
in its own bold figure, and then you will behold
both the glorics and seventies Of the Cross, and
the trials which continually beset the path Of
the Christian. And oft perchance, in our every
Gay life, do VIC meet this scmblance of Religion
worn. most becoming attire, to he donned or
thrown of as the occasion may seem TO demand
And again we exclain, Alas, that this, SO noble,
so pure in itself, so beautiful in its own heaven
ly radiance, should be perverted and minglc
with error and delusion, with pride AVID vanity !.
Can He in whom is blended the highest pcriec-
tons of the human, with all the attributes of
the Divine nature, smile with complaccncy up
on the adoption of spurious Religion Better
far methinks, that the messenger of the
Prince of Peace" shall bear the tidings of a
single sincere worshipper at the pure fount. than
that thousands shall feign holiness, who have
! never tasted the waters Of the Spring of Life.
Friendship Most holy name Most beau
tful attribute of the human character! Like
the variegated hucs which Flora bestows upon
i the objects of her devotion, is Friendship -
Sometimes glowing rich and bright, and Oft
| times pale and delicate 1t is remnant of
existence in Paradise The cement Of congen-
ial minds and the faint index of that which in
its consummaton will unite spirit to spirit and
secure unity in far-off, eternal future But
how oft is Friendships fame kindled at the
lamp of prosperity, oaly to glow while that is
bright, aud the sunlight Of suspicious days re-
mains to cheer Then when the night of
darkness sets in, clouded with the mists Of adj
versity, where is the beaconlight, the guiding
star Of Friendship? Has that too, aed More
and more dim it grew, until the gloom of sorrow
and pain closed Ger it Like fitting meteor,
Il da=sted and died! Diffusing happiness with
its cheering rays for little time, but too feeble
in its strength to endure anothers griefs, it ex-
PRED. Too often does the World furnish such
Friendship as this
And thou. o Patriotism Hast thou no
hearts pledged to the service, and devotion to
thy holy cause, which in an hour of danger,
would shrink from fulfilling thy demands When
perls cluster thickly round. and the din of arms
resound. amid the roar aud blaze Of artillery,
have thy protested devotees ne'er quailed, and
fed the scene Of terror7 The hear. that may