The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1874-09-23
BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE.

| The path of life meanders through bright
and beautiful world q world where the fra
grant flowers of friendship, nourished by the
gentle iews of sympathy, and thewar sun
| light Of affection, bloom Of perennial beauty.
But through this bright world thera flows 4
stream whose turbid waters cross and recross
the path Of every pilgrim--it is the stream of
human suffering.
Nearly six thousand years have passed
since il flowed out through Eden's gates, yet
it still rolls onward, ever becoming broader and
deeper. It's sources are hidden in the Utmost
recesses Of human hearts, and its tributaries
flow out from every hearthstone in the land.
Man strives in vain to check its progress lit
| is uncomfortable.
Science and art may press into their service
| all the blind forces of nature They may
unite distant places by parallel bands of iron,
and cause the never-tiring locomotive swiftly
to speed from the eastern to the western sea-
With lightning-lke rapidity they may send
messages of hope or tidngs of despair through
the air and ocean.
They may even go beyond these, and deter
hibS tHS hdtuit vi stl tittituto NIttu
compose the heavenly bodies. But, when they
seek to stop the flow of this mighty stream
they are confronted by the mandate 'Thus
far shalt thou go, and no farther
Education has done much to overcome the
evils of ignorance and barbarism, and has al
so done much 20 increase our capacity for suff-
erng. We are now surrounded by the advan-
tages and comforts OF civilization but are
we happier than our ancestors in ruder times I?
If we look about us to-day and mark the va
ried expressions on the faces of those we meet
we shall see lines of care which speak in Ian
guages too plain to be misunderstood. They
tell of youthful dreams nnrealizcd of hopes
blasted by the frosts of time of broken
friendship, and sad aching hearts. Other
lines there are, which tell of sorrow too deep
for utterance sorrows which are denied even
the consolation of human sympathy. They
tell of hearts which have reached the acme of
human suffering, and of times when the soul
has despairingly recoiled from the burthens of
existence.
One who has reached this dark point still
goes on through life, and his nearest friends
little imagine, as they warmly press his hand,
that from him has departed all The light and
beauty OF existence. They little think as
they look on his familiar face, that those
beaming smiles disguise the emotions of a
breaking heart and when his gay laugh
rings out upon the air, they dream not that to
him 1t is the knell Of departed hopes.
In view of these mournful facts we may
web pause to ask, For what purpose are
sthese trials sent ?'' They must be for good
and yet how hard it is to recognize as bless
ing the blow which brushes the dearest aspira-
tons of the soul. Yet these sufferings tend
to promote our highest interests. They raise
us above self they awaken our tenderesi
sympathy and they call into action the high
est and noblest impulses of our nature. The
depth of the sufferings which we ourselves
have endured is, in most cases, the measure
of our sympathy for others, and the power o.
temptations we have met as surely measure,
our charity for those who have yielded.
Many of us to-day are just entering upoI
the duties Of active life. The volume Of til,
future lies unopened before us. Its cover
are illumined by the pictures of fancy and 1T
edges are cleaning with the golden tints o
hope. Vainly we strive to loose its wondrou
clasps--it is q task which none but the hant
of time can accomplish.
But tits not the record of the past That i
accessible to ALL On its tear-stained page
the bitter lessons of experience are indelibl,
written.