Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1872-01-13


Mn. EDITOR III found che follow
Ing waif floating on the great sea Of
the newspaper world. 1t was, evil
IDENTITY. written by one who must have
felt and appreciated the solemn sd-
monition It 80 impresslvely gives.
tits q sermon fraught with absoYb-
ing and fearful truths, which all
should ponder; whether Priest or lay
man, saint OF sinner. It.
THE SUNDAY MoRNIxGs DREAM.
MY frst day Of returning health,
after many weeks OF severe illness
was q bright Sunday In June. = I was
well enough to SIT at an open window
insmy easy chair, and as our house
stood In a pleasant garden In the sub
urbs OF London, the first roses of the
year scented the soft breexe that fann-
ed my pale cheek, and revived my
languid frame. The bells of our par
ish church were just beginning their
chimes, and the familiar sound
awakened In me an intense longing
te be with my family, once more a
worshlpper In the house Of God. /
took up my Bible and Prayer Book,
which had been placed ready on the
table beside me, intending to begin
to read when the hour of the eleven
o'clock service should be announced
by the ceasing Ct the bell; and, in the
meantime, closed my eyes, and sooth
ed my impatient wishes by pictur;ng
to myself the shady avenues of bios
sDming Hines that led 20 our church,
and the throngs that would now he
entering 1t tor the public worship Of
the day. = lat'aes.h gn5 T.if
All at once seemed to be walking
In the beautiful church, yard, yet pre-
vented from gratifying my eager
wish to enter the church, by scrle IT.
resistible though unseen hand. One
by one the congregation, In their gay
Sunday dresses, passed me by, and
went In where / vAinly strove to fol-
low. The parish children In two long
aud orderly trains defiled up the
addresses in the galleries, aud except
a few stragglers hurrying In, rs feel
Ing themselves late, was left alone.
Suddenly was conscious Of some
awful presence and felt myself ad
dressed by voice of most sweet So
lemnity In words to this effect =
z" Mortal, who by Divine mercy has
just been permitted to return from the
gates Of the grave, pause before thou
enterest Gods holy house again: re-
fleet how often thou hast profa ned
his solemn public worship by irrever-
ence; consider well the great priv
ilege, the unspeakable benefit and
blessing OF united prayer, lest by
again abusing II, thou tire the pa
thence of thy long.suffering God, aud
tempt him forever to deprive thee oil
that which hitherto thou hast so little
valued" Seeing me cast down my
eyes and blush with conscious guilt,
the gracious being continued in mild
er tone, II am one of those angels
com missioned To gather the prayers
OF the saints and form them into
wreaths Of odorous incense that they
may raise to the throne of God. En-
ter thou with me, aud thou shalt, for
thy warning, he able to discern those
among the devotions about to be or
fered which are acceptable to him,
aud see how few in number, how
weak, and unworthy they are."
As he ceased speaking, found my.
self by the side Of the angel still, but
within the church, aud so placed that
/ could distinctly see every part o.
the building. 30
"Observe," said the angel, "tha,
those prayers which come from the
heart, and which alone ascend or
high, will seem to be uttered aloud
They will be more or less audible In
proportion to their earnestness--wheI
the thoughts wander, the sounds will
grow faint, and even cease altogeth.
err"
This explained to me why the or
ganist, though apparently playing
with all his might, produced nj
sound, and why, presently after
when the service began, though the
lips Of many moved, and all appear.
ed attentive, only few faint MUIR
murings were heard. Ha 90 iiH.ti
How strange and awful II was L
note the sort of death-like silence
that prevailed In whole pews, In
which, as was thus evident, no hear
was raised In gratitude to heaven
Even In the lie Deum and Jubilate
the voices sometimes sunk iuto tota
silence. After the Greed, there wa
u low murmuripg of the versicles
and then distinct aud clear above al
other sounds, q sweet, childish voice
softly and reverently repeated tn,
Lords Prayer. / turned In the direc
| - OF A, IN.
among the parish children very lit
tie boy. His hands were closed, hi
gentle face composed in reverence
and AS the angel wrote on his tablet
the words that fell from those infan
lips, his smile, like sunbeam, illu
minated the church for moment
and rem mbered the words of hol,
David, where he says-"Out Of tn
mouths of babes and sucklings, Tho
hast perfected praise"
Presently l was again reminded o
a Scripture passage-the prayer o
the publican. A wretched looking
man, who swept the crossings nea
the church, lounged into the centr
aisle during the reading OF the lessons
his occupation being for the hour sus
pended. The second lesson was tn
oath chapter OF. st. Matthew: som
verses attracted his attention; he list
ened with more seriousness, until n
length he put his hand over his fac
and exclaimed aloud-"What will be
come Of me at the day of judgment
Lord, have merry on me, sinner.
That prayer was inserted on the an
gels tablets. Oh, may 1t not stan,
alone, but he AN awakening of bette
things. May God indeed have mere,
on such poor neglected ones a. he
and raise up some TO teach them, an,
care for their i'm mortal souls.
After this, growing accustomed I,
to the broken murmurs AMI interrup
ed sounds, followed many a hum
BILE Christian through large portion
If ihn .iinnu. ilonnh nffan Az hiln