Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1861-04-06

II, has been in a great measure crushed
Dot by a false estimate Of utility, that sees no
charm in aught save the glitter Of The Almighty
Dollar; and men there are, and women too, who
have grown old in boarding the shining duet, that
are blind to all the glory Of the Universe. deaf to
the melody Of nature, and wholly unconscious that
life hasa higher joy than making money, or per-
hapS a sterner duty than saving it.
For item life is robbed Of its poetry, By the
same crushing hand that destroys the glory Of the
sunrise, the charm Of the moonlight, and takes
from the coming on Of grateful evening mild, lis
holy repose, and lays upon the shrine Of MammOn,
oil that is sweet and pure in existence. And We
sometimes wonder if ever they were children, and
knew q child's ~artless Joy in the whispering waters,
the laughing brooks, in buds and blossoms, in
cloud pictures, aud bird-songs, in the flashing
.lightnings, and The wild revelry Of the tempest ;
or if their mothers ever told them earth was beau
tiful, and unfolded leaf after leaf Of it's lovelines'
to their gaze, and linked it with her memory IL
she planted roses and pansies to be the compan
ions Of their sport, If tho morning glory twined
lovingly around tho kitchen window and smiled
upon them at ;heir morning meal, IL the sweet pea
climbed by the doorway, or sent in through the
open lattice a matin s~alutation so fragrant, SO
sweet that il secured to them only the soul Of Its
beauty and filed their hearts with joy.
know the utilitarian will call all this nonsense
and gravely talk about the "stern realities Of life;
which in their estimation seems to mean only
meat and potatoes, food, clothing and other physic-
al comforts, forgetting that the soul has higher
needs, deeper wants. and like the busy bee" 10
which they point us as a model for the formation
Of our habits, can garner up q sweet 'from every
opening flower, can extract honey, or mama, II
you please from all the good gifts Of the All Faith
er, and knows that not in vain was the Beautiful
sent forth from HE hand to be the living spirit Of
the Universe.
Why has God $50 clothed the grass With beau
ty" if it's only use is to be made into hayf II
robes the earth With silent, unobtrusive grace
creeping up by every pathway, greeting every
wanderer with q loving smile, and the careless
rambler who brushes it By every football, may no
pause TO think that it has any other mission, bu
to be 'cut down and cast into the oyen". But H
who "spake as never man spake", scorned no
to draw from it's fragile loneliness, an impressive
lesson of the brevity Of the life that now is, an,
of the loving care of the Al l-Bountiful and iron
the lily of the field be drew a lesson Of lovinI
trust in the Creator, that should put to shame th
weak faith Of his children.
Not in vain are these gifts, though SO often des
pissed, and set at naught. Wore they not give
with q loving forethought for our happiness, an
are they not ties that should link the soul Of ma
with the Universe around him in a 'aCbain wove
Of flowers, and dipped in sweetness" till the spil
it finds pure companionship in things mammals
and hears o voice of love, an anthem Of praise
swelling up from the heart Of nature liz which
{ joins With strange delight. ns-esu
And while we receive with becoming gratitnd
the physical comforts which Q bountiful ~providenc
bestows with a lavish hand, yet deeper, sweete
8 is the thrill Of love with which we receive The 6ea
it'll which he mingles with every blessing f
we know that it is His smile, that is flooding ear
and sky with glory, and we joy to know that II
outward world of toll and care, of eating al
drinking, of sleeping and waking, is but the su
Il face of ~ezisteace, and that all the longings of Il
soul, all the wild yearn;ngs of the spirit aft
something more, something higher, after a col
panionship SO close, and so true. q sympathy
s perfect, tina. language shall be unnecessary to gi
it ntterancs--that all this shall yet be ours. Al
as bints and prophecies, We accept the hidd
e meanings of that which ministers to our spir
with such power.
No, that it might laugh in the sunshine q fe
le brief hours, and then fade and die, was the 70
created SO perfect in its glory; and the lilies tb
: ".oil not, neither do they spin" ye: are arrayed
is beauty as with q garment, not that they mig
he cheer q passing moment, with a vision Of purit
1t were they formed with so much care. Meth
be do they taunt us with their splen6or, and life
lrt beauty and of ease, but they whisper, mot her
mot here is thy ~fruition, but if God 50 eare.h {
es the flowers Of the field. the grass and the wee
will he not care for the aspiring soul of man Z"
Tn "We are not mocked-it was not in d~erision,
m God made our spirits free
&c Our brightest hopes, are but the dim provision,
ce, OF blessings yet to be-
Sc In that land the Beautiful abideth forever; Al
air they do wisely. who open their hearts to its sws
to influence here, vic make 1t a companion Al
lot friend, for it is ever present, and they cam
in, dwell in solitude. Counties voices rise to chez
his them from things inanima.e. and q spirit pervad
er. ell things, that peoples the vast solitude Of natui
ell and makes even ito silence vocal with intelIigen
be and harmony.
he CHERRY VALLEY, Ashtsbula Co., Ohio, 1861.
ug
IT, A CHAPTER ON BELLS.