The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1876-09-21
Jewels OF Thought and Devotion

SO near the goal, near!
The portals open with a sound like song;
The path is lost i'll brightness that so long
Wandered mid shadows oh my soul be strong
And do not fear.
DO You, too feel the woe
The mist that blinds my eyes all cold and gray,
The fog that settles round my troubled way
The clouds that settle: But they cannot stay
Rise up and watch them go!
50 near The goal stand;
Oh, weary heart, thy task us wellinigh done,
| see far of the golden setting sun;
The work well wrought that sad begun,
Welcome! Q, Morning land,
Best of all is it to preserve everything III
pure still heart, and let there be for every pulse
Thanksgiving, and tor every breath song.
lGossner.
Speaking of this life of preparation for heav-
en-, Robcrt Browning recently said Things
rarely 60 smooth at rehearsal
How many have found solitude, not as Cicero
calls it, the pabulum of the mind, bat The nurse
of their genius. How many Of the worlds
most sacred oracles have been uttered like
those of D0dona, from the silence of the deep
woods. Bulwer Lytton.
The universe is not dead Think YOU this
earth Of ours is a liieeSs, unsentient bulk.
Whlle the worm on her surface is in the en- 10y
ment of life: To an enquiry whether the soul
Is immortal. ApOOnus, one OF the greatest of
the ancient mediums. replied, '.IeS, immortal
but like oyerything.' Epes Sargent.
Who are you that you should construe The
disappointment of your best desires is a sort Of
indignity to be avenged in some way? And
who is God, that you should 50 doubt His
kindness to your soul, to your neighbors, to
the world, His wisdom i'll even the most mys-
ferrous providences, and His ability bless
the cause which he loves: Wachnan
The Church fears nothing that blowpipe or
telescope, or microscope can reveal. Make the
fires hotter cXat the power OF the telescope.
and intensity that Of the microscope, 50 that the
Veil may he lifted from the vet unseen: the
Church will stand by the unyeiling. and put
every flashing truth in the crown of Him who
is Lord of all" 1t will but add To her i0v
and her faith. iPtt>burg Christian Advocate.
Mothers live for their children, make self
sacrifices for them, and manifest their tender
ness and love 50 freely, that the Maine mother
is the sweetest III human language And yet
sons, youthful and aged, know but little Of Inc
anxiety. the nights of >lecpe~S and painful So
licitude which their mothers have spent over
their thOughtleSs WaNWartlneSS. Those loving
hearts 20 down TO their graves with those
hours Of secret agony untold. As the mother
watches by night, or praNs III the privacy of
her closet, she weighs we'll the words She will
address to her son in order to lead him to /.
manhood of honor and usefulness. She will
not tell him all the gre!S and deadly fears
which beSct her soul. She warns him with
trembling. lest she say oYermuch She tries 10
charm him with CHEEKY love while her heart is
bleeding. No worthy and successful man ever
yet knew the breadth and depth of obligation
which he Is under to the mother who guided
his steps at the time when his character for
virtue and purity was 80 narrowly balanced
against Il course of vice and ignominv. Let
the duitul son do his utmost to smooth his
mothers pathway, let him obey rs implicitly
AS he can her wishes and advice, let him omit
nothing that will contribute to her peace, rest
and happiness, and yet he will part from her
at the tomb with the debt TO hcl not half dis
charged.
Christian goodness differs from the goodness
of nature in being principle, and from the good
ness OF morality i'll being spontaneous; and is
the purest union and harmony of both kinds
For goodness i'll general is of these two kinds
consisting OF intention on the one side. and
character on the other. The goodness of NOR
allty, or intention, consists in effort, struggle
and conflict; and is esteemed great in proper
ton to the temptation resisted, the trial borne
the obstacle encountered, the difficulty over
come. The goodness of nature or character is
not conflict, but harmony; not struggle, but
attainment. 1t consists i'll natural good ten
denotes and pure tastes, or in acquired habits
Of goodness. The goodness of intention is
meritOriOus; the goodness Of attainment is
beautiful; we respect the first, we love the
second. The absence of one implies guilt; the
absence Of the other implies derraVity He
who does not try to do right and to become
good is guilty. He who has no love for good
ness, no true, kind and noble tendencies, is de-
PRAYED. The seat of the one Is the conscience,
or will; the seat of the other is the instinct or
natural tendencies. Now, the will is deter
mined toward goodness. through the con-
science. We choose goodness because we feel
that we ought to do so. The heart is deter
mined toward goodness by its perceptions of
moral beauty. We love goodness because it
appears to US beautiful. The conscience is
commanded; the desires, instincts, tendencies,
are attracted. ii. f. Clarke.