The day book. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1857-1867, 1866-06-23
THE DAY BOOK.

nv BOOK left at their homes, can haze u pro
o.riy attended to BY haring their names teft, at
Pp,rr Counting O. Room, or tie CoaHttng- Room Of
ASHTON & EMERSON. Aucttoneers, NO. ~ Croo-
ford street, Portsmouth. tt. .--.-5-
m WrxK1Y DAY Book viN be mailed to Country
S.bser;bers at the email cum Of One DOLLAR, IN
oJranee. IL aeiU contain Editorials, a full d.
osst of Ne,Ds, Book Notices, and stems Of Com
merctal and Agricultural Intelligence. No pdtns
ar expense ,oiI be spared IN making Il desSrd-
HE companion for the country fire side and
from its Increasing patronage, u commsnds IT
self as good medium Of country advertising
TO the community ...... rt......
Az Communications for the DAY Book must be
authssticated BY the names Of the toriters.
A Lay Sermon.
We fear that the great Book of Books, the
only fountain, not only of religion, but OF
morality, is not so much read in this country
as formerly. We greatly fear that we may
saw that it is not SO much studied anywhere
now as much as it was by our ancestors.
What is the cause of this2 we CANNOT sh-
swer for other countries, but we THINK we eau
FIR our own. Men dislike the truth when IL
reproves them, and runs counter TO any IA
vorite pursuit or passion. The god worship
ned by the multitude is not the God OF ABRA-
HAM, ISAAC and JAcoB,-the COP OF our sal
vation as preached by CHRIST, by ST, PETER
and ST.. PAUL; but he is another dlvlnlty-
NAuMoN. We find in the Old and New les
taments that the name and attributes OF thls
divinity are mentioned only with exeoratlon;
Init he is the god whom we serve In America.
II is not to be expected, then, that the tree
and enlightened citizens of mans model he
cubic. should fancy book that classes NAM
MON with BAAL and AsHTARoTH-lt would
he strange indeed if they did, and contrary to
the we'll known instincts of human nature
It seems to us there is no book which Is so
calcnlated to entrance the imagination OF
chd--and we know that its doctrines have
bsen studied for thousands of years by the
rreat and the wise of all nations, and that,
though always learning, they have not yet
hasn able to sound its depths. 1t is the book
If all others for MAN--his friend in pros
ner;tv bis comfort in adversely, his guide
through the pilgrimage of this world, and his
snnnort when he enters the Valley of the
Shadow. ..a.
Then why is this friend to humanity now
,eclected to such an extent-we might almost
say contemned and despised by the present
generation? Undoubtedly it is because of the
ssl-absorbing pursuit of pleasure and of
wealth. The heart and soul of this genera
ton is carried away by unspiritual desires,
and they love not the things Of God, nor the
doctrines and commands which he has COM
municated in his revealed will
The best thing that could befall us would
be some great calamity that would make us
turn our eyes to the Great White Throne OF
the Supreme Intelligence above.
When the children of Israel were in af-
fiction they remembered their Maker, and
turned to him for time with their whole heart;
but when his face shone upon them they for
got him and worshiped the gods of the
hestben Then it was that he turned his
face away from them, and gave them up to
the imaginatons of their own hearts, and sur
rendered them to the tender mercies of the
detes whom they had chosen.
And such will be our fate if we set at de-
fance the commands of the Almighty. We
have indeed been a chosen people, but not so
much so as the Jews, and if they We're cast
off by their Maker, what must be our fate
We exalt ourselves in our pride, and talk
about our immense resources; but what are
we to HIM that measures out the earth with
rule, and holdeth the oceans in the hollow of
His hand
The ways OF the Creator are unsearchabe
He lets not the wisest know the deep secrets
of the Eternal mind But this we do know,
that the Divine mouth knoweth not how to
Ee," and that He will accomplish every word
that He hath promised
We vaunt that our foundations are set on
rock-but they are not set on the Rock of
Ages They are but fixed in the sand, and
can be shattered in an instant by one blast
from the breath of His nostrils.
0ur I'd ofr
our vain glorious Boosting of our own pow
er-our supercilious comparisons Of ourselves
With our feIlow-worms, are all evidences of
that pride" which "goeth before destruc-
Y tiOn." Unless we turn to COP with our
n whole hearts, and fall down in humble adora-
ton before Him that hath made us; unless we
from our national wickedness and presump-
ton we shall find, when too late the full and
deep meaning of those words, to be found in
that Book which we nowadays 80 much ne
glect and despise, in which it is written that
"rghteousness exalteth nation, but sin is
reproach to any people"
These reflections which, perhaps, may strike
many of our readers as odd in the columns of
secular journal, are suggested by the obvious
want, among all classes, of both sections of
the country, of that earnest faith, which is as
Indispensable to the happiness of nations as to
that of individuals; and we have INDUCED
them here, with the hope that the seeds scat
tered by an unconsecrated hand, may, per-
chance, bring forth fruit meet for repentance;
q OF, at least, cause some mind to ponder the
great truths we have propounded.
The Citizens Meeting.
general convention of delegates from the
Wur wards of the CITY, met last evening" Fri