The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1871-11-09

"cuiu " NpIb'S iol' Nbl tihp w 'IN
avcrsc to a little fancy or Imagination once
ina while-such as lovers feel beneath the
soft light Of the moon, when heart beats
responsive to heart, and love leaps kindly
back to love oh no! In those "hours of
idleness for the soul' we love to indulge
ourself. Tasso said:
y "From my very birth
My soul was drunk with love, which did
pervade
And minglr with whate'cr | saw on earth !;
OF objects all inanimate ! made
Idols, and out of wild and lovely flowers,
And rocks, whereby they grew, Il para
disc"
Ills SO with youth, but coming years
rob life Of many charms, until at last we
begin in grim despair to seek something
more lasting, more certain than the rain
bow hues which bewildereu us in earlier
days. We begin to philosophise, and yet
out philosophisings end in naught.
What are we? and whence come we?
what shall be
Our ultimate existence? what's our pres
ent?
Are questions mswerless, and yet inces-
SAINT"
All. YES, there comes n time in the life OF
all, when rumination brings fears; for,
whether the intellect be dull or bright,
there is q dreadful uncertainty i'll the tu-
turc, though preachers may gloss it oven
with Biblical faith, when the soul Tor
mind, for both are the same so far rs this
world is concerned,) shrinks back on it.
self, and wonders if this is the object OF
c%reation-if there is not still 4 sphere
(" where all will be made right which so
puzzles us here ?" Hence it is we dislike
to ruminate. Hence it is we like to be
hurled along, as Il wait upon the broad cX-
n of LIES tempestuous ocean, uncon-
scious of what shall be our destination.
The very uncertainty Of the goal to be
reached cmbodics all of our joy, and we
have too soon learned. alas! that "ignor-
ancc is bliss" But let all this go. Leave
it to preachers, whose business it is to
prate of salvation. Let them descant upon
the thorns and thistlcs which bcset the
narrow path that leads to the Heaven they
talk of, but which they seem so 10th to at
tain, if physical fear by an evidence
What we want to talk about is: the clock
There is q solemnity in its measured tick
which brings our heart back from its
worldly wandcrings-from its bargain
driving, its bitterness, its revenge, its sor-
didness-brings it back to Il realization OF
the perfect vanity of all its hopes, its aspi-
~rations, its worldlincss. When we heal
the tick, tick, of the seconds, and the
clang, clang, OF the hours, we are reminded
Of the brevity of life, and that the solemn
old clock on the mantle is measuring oul
footsteps to the grave. No wonder poor
little Paul, in Dickens Dombcy and Son
was alarmed at the tick of the great Ole
clock, And if we had II large enough
to be discerned by all the world-placed il
the heavens so that every eye could see i
one that would send forth peals of thun'
der TO tell the number of hours rs they
pass-do you not believe the effect would
be beneficial? We have thought 50, il
thinking upon clocks. Perhaps, aye per
hans, men would be warned thereby of thu
f~ntilitv of what they are sacrificing healtl
and 10y to obtain. They might cease tt
think, in their wild desire for life, tha
death is not inevitable. They might ceas'
to live in the enjoyment Of their wicked
propensities, and rise higher than thu
mere qualification of sensual appetite ant
pleasure. The love of lucre and fam
might give way to more noble desires
ALI, they might learn that true %happines
consists in making others happy, and thu
| rise above the teachings of the heather
philosopher. who said, $40 unto others a
Others do unto YOU"
DO we not need such Il clock? Lool
around you, citizensof Winchester and o
the world-cvcn you who profess to be
long to the church, and would max
proselytes of those who do nOt-lOo
around YOU, and see wherein you ar
less worldly than those you condemn
You may not 60 into the saloon-you ma
not indulge u social glass--but-oh! self
conceit! DO you not take all the advan
tages of the civil, regardless ofthe mort
law? DO you not uncharitably condem
all who disagree with you upon mer
technical points such as baptism, &c
which are perfect baubles in compariso
with the doctrine of salvation preache
by your lord Jesus Christ? Most assurdely
Then, we want a clock for you. We wal
a clock to tell you that all, those who q
and those do not profess religion, must g
to the grave and at the grave your fat
comes in and not before.
Oh, for q clock to tell that there are su
ferinr men and women, littl C orphan chi
dren, and broken-hearled people in OIL
land, who need only u tenth part of I'll
luxurics which the rich squander upo
themselves! Oh, for a clock to blast wit
its thunder tones the lips of the hypocrit
who says: "Give us this day our dali
breadr when he prays in church, and "
who spurns the needy from his door.
clock which con remind the saint as we
a the sinner of the neglect of duties
this wicked world! A clock which ca
awaken cold-hearted puritans to the trutl
of christianity as uttered by our savior o
the mountain. A clock which could alar
mankind as 20 the rapidness oftheir marc
to the grave, and awaken them to the foil
of polemie arguments in favor of this SEE
or that, whereby the world is filled wit
pickering and strife instead of that peal
which our blessed Jesus commanded.
clock to thundr forth the hours rs they pa