The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-12-09

towards Phoenicia; there is Lebanon, with her
cedar forest OF thousand years; there Hermon
whose summit is crowned with eternal snow,
rises regally to the clouds; there Cyprus, with
her green Vine.clad mountains above the deep
blue heavens; before them the blooming
landscape; around the quiet wide, beautiful
surface of the sea, out of which appear con-
stantly TO the view new islands. There Is 80
much to see, so much to wonder at, that there
Is scarce room for earnest reelection. The
future is pushed out of view. The criminals
have forgotten the crimes which they have
committed, the chains which bind their limbs,
the peTils which await them. The soldiers
have forgotten their serious office; the eye de-
lights itself in the manIfoldness of the surround
ing spectacle; lands, cities, isles pass by like
panorama to tbe astonished mariner, and the
entire burdensOme consequences of a serious
future have vanished in the serene enjoyment
OF a bright, rich present, undisturbed by any
care. Is this so much to be wondered atY
When is it otherwise with the msjority of menY
Do not thousands and hundreds of thousands
who have experienced storms, who have been
treacherously betrayed, who have moro than
once seen the abyss open beneath their feet,
almost always shake off the painful Impressions
which they have experienced, and sacrifice to
present enloyments serious reflections and
future aims?
Is 1t then 10 be wondered at if it happen thus
at the beginning of the journey?
By the beginning, mean the going out into
lite--the time when the father opens the pro-
tecting door and ushers the young wanderer out
upon the wide, insecure theatre of worldly life;
that period when the youth becomes "lord of
himself that heritage of woe" How parental
love trembles at this dangerous transition
period ior they know how easily the seductive
worldly life hurres the young mind onward
upon its current; how soon the varied pictures
blind the eyes aud take captive the senses, so
that the earnest purpose vanishes, the tunda-
mental idea of life's deep significance that they
had Etriven to implant In the mind is lost to the
young wanderer.
For truly there are moments in the lie of a
child when the true signidcatlOn of life is recog-
81 81 kA ~ sc
rightful dominion over the young heart. In
the earliest years of childhood, Ia Christian
homes, how Oft 1ich life of faith blossoms!
The pious eyes of the child see Heaven open,
and taught to recognize the voice that calls from
above the infant Samuel answers with sincere
purposes OF obedience, "Spea6, Lord, for thy
servant heareth"
Then the unwe come thought of sin melts the
childish heart to tears. Each DAY of the child
life passes with the consciousness of the pre-
sence Of the great Judge, or rather OF the
Heavenly Father. With God the child COM
munes; to Him lmparts all its little joys; TO Hlm
dsclOses the sorrow of Its young heart. 1t is
Eden but it's hour of severe temptation must
come, and, oh how oft the accompanying
knowledge of good and evil, by intelligent, con-
scious sin, banishes the child wanderer forth
from Its past innocence!
In the instruction ofthe Sabbath School, again,
Gods voice is echomg; the call of the Saviour Is
seeds of the Divine Word, sown in childhood at
the mothers knee, upon the ground OF the
Young heart begin 10 develop themselves. The
blossoms unfold. Eternal fidelity is sworn to
the Lord. The heart burns with love. 1t is a
higher grade; a more conscious life than that Of
ten years earlier; for it can love much, feeling
that it has been much forgiven. We think now
that the soul is won forever to the Lord; but let
us rejoice with trem bling: there comes another
! period of development and of trial and our
! Joy may be premature-the hour of manhood,
! when the immediate personal restraining in1u-
| ence Of home and parental guardianship and
! love is withdrawn, and the young man is law
unto himself Honor and shame, blessing and
cursing, heaven and hell, then loom in sight.
The young life, so dear to us, goes forth from
the land-locked barbor of our love, to be tossed
on a stormy ocean, with dread perils all around
| and wrecks not few scattered on the shore
| The world now presents itself TO the young
voyager for his independent decision. Shall he
! conform himself TO it, or be transformed by the
renewing of his mind, and prove what is the
| ac ceptable and perfect will of God.
MY dear hearers, think not now of the light.
minded, thoughtess, degenerate young men and
women tChO are not here, and are scarce ever
here, but of you, of those brought up in Chris
tian homes, who from childhood have known
| the Scriptures, who have inherited, like Tlmo-
thy, an unteigned faith which dwelt in pious
ancestry, and who, in the hour of conversion,
/ have found again their childhood's faith; and
must it now be lost when the world exerts its
influence? Not that. But he recedes, draws
back. Must serious thoughts give way through
worldly excitements, and the earnest prepara-
ton for life's higher duties be forgotten? IL is
The crisis. Moses has come to years and must
! choose WnetneE ne Will buuer allllCLlOn Win the
! people of God whether he will esteem the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the trea.
! sures OF Egypt. The variety in life amuses. A
! thousand things blind the eyes of the under.
standing by their dazzling brilliancy, whose
| passing enjoyment gives pleasure for the
moment. All the world to the yonng
man seems so abundant, life so sweet, the heart
so susceptible to its joys. The entire earthly
! life looks TO the dazzled eye a long, bright
! spring day, whose sun goes not down, and if at
! any time sorrow seiZes the young traveller, it
| is soon forgotten, and the thOughtless mind
! again resigns itself to mirth. 1t Is certainly a
| foolish JOY, the JOY in earthly things; in the
! gaily coored pictures which life in rich changes
! presents TO view. But the young traveller shall
| when he shall discern his false judgments OF it,
when he shall be painfully conscious of tho
| worlds poverty; and when, II he shall stand the
| test he shall be llfed to newer, wider, more
elevated grade of the newly won life OF faith. 1t
! is the hour OF opening manhood and woman
hood that brings to the crucible and tries even
! as by fire whether the faith OF our Sabbath
| School converts be the victory that oyercometh
the world. Tbeeye OF Eternal Love watches over
| the young wanderer. The prayers of a father and
| mother follow aud watch around him as
guardian angels, tor it is to the fond parents an
hour of sore anxiety. Next to the hour of birth,
! this is the hour OF greatest pain to the mothQg-
this second birth INTO wider world. There is
! not one OF us that has not had such angels
standing at our slde They came in the earnest
! Christian, who met us as q i1tend; who reached
to US the hand; whose earnest word, whose quiet
example, whose faithful leading and teaching
we have to thank that our barque Of life has not
been stranded on the sunken rocks of tempta-
| tion, or that the endangered faith has not suf-
Tered shlpwTeck.
IL. Lifes Friendships.
Among the two hundred and seventv sonia o,,