New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1859-06-20
* IFor the New Orleans crsscentl s5f
SOUL LONGINGs And LIFE CHANGES.
BIZ ELLIS AxxoNErrR.

I HVSA AWAY AANNS AAN0 AAE1x t1AAN0ASSe
4 By ELLIS AAAoNErTE. M
eNor man, NOR nature, saiafy
i Whom only God created. n-EEIxAnETH B. BARRETT.
! "Oh life! Oh incomprehensible mystery what al
thy charms, that we cling to thee with grasp 8
tenacious2 yearn, seek, grope for something
| thee, that It is not given me to find Daily an
hourly my being rises up and calls out for this vi
| known; sometimes with the pleadings of supplies
ton sometimes with thunderings Of command, AM
again with the shrieks and walls of despair. LIE
its tones be what they may, II Is an unceasing cry.
am wandering in haze; nothing seems real; nothini
seems distinct and think Of thee oh life! won
der within my soul if this is thy all Art thou give
to Us that we may eat, Sleep suffer and die? Are W
bound victims to thy lash, and may we find nothing
better than the garb of care that wraps us from thu
cradle to the grave? Can we but lift the prayer t
run with patience the that is set before u.s. ant
stile the wild craving that beneath the common
places Of every day life gnaw to the heart? Goo
alone knows, but all seems uncertain and unsatisac
tory"
The words fell murmuringly. but in accents Of
deepest emotion from the lips of Constantia, the heir
ess. Leaning from the window, with white hands
clasped upon her pure bosom, she questioned the I'M
answering stars Of night, with eyes filed with the
glow Of noble and enthusiastic soul Bending still
further as il to court the cool wind to her flushed
cheek she turned attentive ear to the continuous
rush Of the lordly Alabama, on whose bank was
reared the graceful structure OF her home. Heard
thus in the solemn stiffness Of the night this deep
calling unto deep" seemed to her excited imagination
to take voice. aud cry aloud, Serve God oh mankind!
while the tiny streamet Of thy life is rushing swiftly
to the sea Of eternity, even to my home 10 the
blue waved gulf. Serve God, the great Creator Of all
things, and live for the neverending hereafter!
Filled with holy awe, Constantia sunk on
Bonded knees. and looking up to the Unreasonable
expanse Of Heaven, fervently framed the prayer !:
" Oh God Thou who hast created this mortal Frame
and endowed it with soul like unto thine own ndi
cate to me the manner in which it may most accepta
bly, be dedicated to thy service, and let not my
pershabe part 60 down to the grave with the dread
thought that it has performed no labor in thy vine
yard.n
The words ceased, and in the reverential pause
hat followed, Constantia would have seen celestial
descend, without feeling, Of thank
ILLNESS and love. But, since the testament of the
blood that was shed for the remission Of sin has been
gwen to frail humanity, no more the white-winged
angels Of the Upper Court sent bearing the mes
ages of Divinity. When now He speaks His will, it
as an inspiration-an emanation directly from the
eternal Source.
holy hours passed ere Constantias heart and pulse
we're calmed sufficiently for the sweet sleep Of maiden
hood to drown consciousness in the lapse of its Silly
waves.
The next day was the Sabbath Constantia, Sc.
ene'y fair and clad in raiment of purest white was
'orne in the lowhung, luxurious eqnipage which
teath provides for its posseszor, to the little Forest
1hurch, raised to no creed, but simply for the wor
hip of God. It was an humble structure, of unhewn
line logs, and owed it's only beauty to the creeping
ines which youthful hands had planted and trained
its caves and the spirit Of cleanliness and fragrance
bat invested it.
maturity, the silvery sweetness of YOUTH and the
lrfl piping Of childhood, all min ged in harmonious
,cord, as the simple hymn was sung which ushered |
the mornings worship.
Then there in the pulpit of plain deal meek
owed boy-yes, boy he seemed to be, but already |
, had once crossed the ocean on sacred mission,
I'd blessed by the God to whom he had dedicated
nself, in his spotless childhood, had made straight
e path, for the one who walked with him, and saved
.ceess souls from wrath to come. He was now re.
rned to see an aged mother, who had drawn near to
severance from earthly ties but he still labored at
e work Of his life, by instructing the inhabitants of
8 more favored land as to the wants Of the people
no worshipped idols, for lack of those who could
ach and point the way to saving grace.
His voice had the soft pleading tone of those born
persuade, and even the hestating and trembling
terance of timiditya at speaking to strange congre
ltion could not mar Its music. As he paused after
e first low.spoken words Of his exordum, his eyes
andered from face to face and reaching Constantias
opped as her glance met his an electric thrill of
mpathy flashed between their strange but congenal
uls. Quickly returning to the page of Holy Writ
fore him. he sought her with his eyes no more, but
nscious Of being appreciated, and that his aspira-
ms were understood by at least one person who
ard him, bis voice took deeperto tome seye flashed
tn warmer glow, and the person who but mo.
INT before had called him boy, il now asked,
uld have said he was man, in the full maturity of
elect, and those who years before, had accorded
talent and the orators gift, would have acknowl-
ged on that day that Ernest Bethunes spoke as it
given only to those who speak with the Holy
lost.
As Constantia listened ineifable peace folded its
hons around her, and something within whispered,
aods answerto your prayer go teach the heather
8 your mission
And there, in that lonely building, the heiress to
bounded wealth, the envied, the soughtfor, the
rldcarressed, in mental prayer, meekly vowed
self to the service which seemed pointed out by
inc inspiration
t did not seem strange to her to find Ernest by
side in her homeward drive, and, as they raised
prayer Of praise and supplication that night, on
altar Of her parentless home, she knelt at his side
b sense of perfect rest aud protection.
did not require many days for each to under.
nd that in the other they had found the note lack
in the chord Of lfe's harmony and when sum- ;,
: breathed its last fragrance they were joined, 5
20 souls with but single thought" at the little
church, where they had first met. j.
friends and acquaintances were shocked; said n
At pity Constantia's parents had left her with.
control; whispered Of i" sanity adventures and y
une hunters but soon had that part of their I'M.
ritable surmises thrown back on themselves, by n
est uniting with his wife to convey the greater h
of her large property to her cousin a poor law !,
lent, who, with her assistance, had for several 1
rs provided for q widowed mother and family of p