The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1857-09-02
STEP HKGHER.LOOK NINE.
TY RODS BEYOND.

"Mother, l see nothing but the white
house close to us, and the high board
fence, and the little strip of land in GU,
backyard. don't like to look out here
it is not pretty"
"Step on this stool, sissy. Look high.
er, now what do you see!'
81 see over into the other yard, and
see little children playing there"
"Sissy, look ninety rods beyond-oh
off"
"Mother, is that the ocean, and the
great shipss How beautiful! And
what is that great thing running on the
water? and should l die if l was to get
in the water, can walk on the water SO,
mothera'
"No, sissy, you could not walk on the
water: the great thing is steamboat, a
beautiful boat. See, too, the little ships
and sail boats, and there is q very little
speck of a boat with man in it, and
there is an island, do you see the white
building on it, and high tower9 That is
a light house. Now look ninety rods and
more beyond, see that larger rock! IT'S
higher than this house. That light house
is put on the. island to prevent the beau
tiful boats from running on the rock in
the dark and being wrecked. See the
little islands, back, see the points of land
which jut out into the water, covered
with beautiful trees. Look over the 9TH
er side. This is lake, sissy, if it were
the ocean, you could not see across it.
Look over the other side and see the
mountains. How they are piled up
against the sky! how they are patched
with green and brown! See the sunlight
play hide and seek among the hills-see
the shadows chase each other up their
sides, and jump off at the top--see the
clouds rolling and waving round their
SUBMITS till they spread their misty wings
and fly away-see the bright silver light
which stripes the lake like ribbons, and
makes it look like an angels looking-glass.
Is it not very beautiful, sissy?'
But sissy was too deeply buried in the
grandeur of the scene 70 hear the last re-
mark, and SO she continued to gaze, lost
III admiration, while her mother remained
silent.
"Step up highcr-look ninety rods be-
yond," thought |. as l silently listened to
this conversation. How many times we
have wished people would step higher
and look beyond. When we SEQ young
man wasting his time in loafing about the
streets, Longing in bar rooms, beer sa-
looms, and bowling alleys, smoking cigars,
chewing tobacco, swearing, and using OBJ
scene language, we want to whisper loud
ly in his ear to step higher, cultivate his
mind, regonorate his almost dead prosti-
tuted talents, give up his pernicious phys
ical practices, and take care of his body as
well as his soul, to look beyond his pres
ent qualification, and catch glimpse of
the glories of the world of good actions
and feel the warmth of the sunshine of a
pure heart and clear conscience.
When we see men spend all their time
and energies to get money, at the sacri-
flee of all that makes life worth having,
we say step up higher, look ninety rods
beyond.
when we hear the minister in the pull
pit groveling among commonplace ideas,
getting up labored illustrations on points
which need no illumination, turning an
idea round and round, over and over. till
his congregation is sick of the very sight
Of it, making circuit in peck measure,
speaking swords. words, words for the
space of two hours, and then saying,
amen, we want to thunder in his ear,
step up higher. Get out of earth into
heaven, and try and carry your hearers up
with you.
Ministers should try to preach earth up
@ heaven, not heaven down to earth
Look ninety, yea thousand rods beyond
what your deacon, your heaviest tax pay
'r, your most prominent man, will say of
,our sermon. Launch out on the great
ocean of truth if you would run clear of
hoals. Search out truth, believe truth,
practice truth, preach truth; no matter
whose creed it undermines, whose opinion
t clashes with, whose praise or censure it
'licits, you are responsible to God, and he
will take care of consequences. Oh, step
Up higher into the clear atmosphere of
moral courage, look ninety rods beyond
conventional forms, away over the lake of
ife among the delectable mountains of
he higher spirit world, then shall you see
prospect that will make you deaf to the
oico of men.
But cannot close this article without
aging word to women. /,
There are hundreds of women in our I
and who are mere drudges to needless I
ousework and slaves to foolish fashions, i
ecause they dare not stop up higher and {
ook beyond what their neighbors will +,
ay-dare not study and practice econ S
my and simplicity in their manner of liv- Z
,g and dressing themselves and children. I
they could only step up higher, and s
'ok over and beyond high board fence |
'hich is constantly binder to their eyes, {
hat glorious prospect would burst up
n their view and entrance their enrap- I
lrcd souls. Women would then sec no t
of intellect to man, how differ I
ntly she might be constituted = would {
,e no white house bounding the limit of
err sphere, and look into nobody's back
ard. Her intellect would range the fields {
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