Journal of freedom. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1865-186?, 1865-10-21
RELIGIOUS MIsCELLANY.

now little we use life thoroughly. how
little we really live our life, how seld, =,
we are In the humor to carry ont life :
great and solemn purposes, how we Let
its opportunities fly by us, like thistle.
down on the wind. Why are we not al
ways denying ourselves, taking .up the
cross and following Christ WHY are
we not always on the watch for every oe.
casion in which word may be said. or >
deed done, or thought thou hit, that
shall be protest for Christ, in this vain
and sinful world ? Why is Gods love
but a rare wintry gleam. and never a
steady summer in our soul? Think, for
instance, of such thing as prayer: what
a wonderful and beautiful thing it is l.
To kneel, an atom in creation, at the
throne of the Almighty; to be able to
bare our hearts to him, and to feel sure
that the least throb, as well as the great
spasm, is perfectly appreciated, felt, un-
stood, sympathized with, by that awful,
yet loving Being,
And yet how wintry our hearts are in
our prayers how seldom they burst into
cheerful praises how constantly the sky
above us seems pale and heavy, and cold
and impenetrable, and our hearts beneath
abiding in their winter sleepl Or if a
snowdrop here and there wanders out.
and now and then a pinched primrose.
there are not flowers enough to fashion
into even the poorest garland.
The world is too much with u.s. lac and soon :
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers
ERROR, FAITH AND ExPERIENcE.-It
cannot be necessary for us in the present
day to stand and say that man is not
saved by the form of what he believes.
It is more important fot us to assert that
neither is a man saved by what he dis
believes. When yoa have unmade the
intellectual foundation of hundred
creeds, you have made no church for
yourself. When your newer or nicer
logic has overturned the fallacies of no
matter what councils or cannon, you have
yet not given man guide for faith or an
example for life If you try to- do this,
youswill find that the ground of religious
experience lies beyond the.short-comings
of other men and your own. No fault
of yours need deprive you of the comfort
Of recognizing an eternal standard of
perfection which is always present for
your study and endeavor and no fact
OF theirs absolyes you from the necessity
of measuring your own thoughts and eff
forts by that standard. He who is reli-
gious believes in the efficiency of faith.
He knows error. to be as inevitable to
himself as to others. But he knows that
the results of faith are SO much greater
than the hindrances of error, that he
seeks, In the culture Of the one. the true
and only remedy against the incursOns
of the other.-Christian Eraminer for
July.
The North British Review says: "The
pressing need Of our faith is not simply
faithful evangelistS to proclaim its doc
trines, but legioRs of men consecrating
their worldly vocations, witnessing to
that truth on which much skeptlcism pre-
walls, that Christianity, so received as to
become an integral part of man, is ON
nipotent to keep him from the evil, not
by taking him out of the world, but b!
making him victorious over 1t. He is
most worthy disciple of Christ who, like
Palissy, or Buxton, or Bugett, or Per-
thes, exhibits religion as :the right use
of a man whole self as the one thing
which gives dignity and nobility to what
is in itself sordid and earthy-as the
handspring of earnest and successful
striyings after lofter ends and purer lite
as the power, outside Of and within
man, which, lifting up conduct in the
individuals, raise the community
not as state of mind mystical, and in
active life unattainable, high up among
things intangible, separately from con-
tact with. work-a-day life, appropriated 20
Sabbath days and special hours, to lels-
ure, old age and death beds. Every man
who is 'diligent In business, serving the
Lord is a sermon brimful of the ener-
gies of life and truth, witness to the
com mprehensiveness and adaptabllty OF
Christ religion, a preacher OF righteous
ness in scenes where none can preacn 50
effectively or so well.
THREsHING MAcHINE.-"At Beirut
says one who has Travelled IN Syrla anu
Palestine, ssI sought out mecnanlc
shop, In order to see threshlqg lns1rI
ment, described to me as used genera'l5
in that part of Syria, and as similar nv ~
that of the ancient inhabitants. Inc
frame was composed of thick pieces "
plank, turned up in front Ike our doS sSGne
sledge, and perforated with holes en, unus 1on4h
meath for holding the teeth. Ine ent Ieer
consisted of sharp basaltlc rock, S9ou' en
three inches long and hardly less nrm
than iron itself. This machine is dramd WI
over the grain by horses or oxen, e
serves, together with the tramplngg & OF kar sno
feet of the animals, to beat. out tne Aol
nels and cut up the straw, preparsst0lSf y
to winnowing. Il is to an instrumends nndoU -
this description that the prophet slludes, q as
when he says: Behold, l will MAKE ag snee
I4f.o4 ;a 4hn lavish natinn.l as neW u