Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-02-24
HOURS OF MEDITATION.

mar Dlrtn-rigat'
"There is no refuge from God" says a
Persian proverb, Except in Cod"
The enemies of Christ, though unwill-
ing to admit His power. can but marvel
at the effects which faith in Hin pro-
duces.
Dumb suffering is the hardest and sharp
est form that atfliction or pain can take.
The typical lamb before her shearers "was
dumb"
It is of no use trying to sew with the
silken thread of the gospel unless we
pierce way for it with the sharp needle
Of the law Robert Flockhart.
There is nothing SO graciously inclined
toward us as God and our conscience be-
cause no other knows the manner in which
things happen within us, and the inner
workings OF our souls.-[ Rshel Varnhagen.
There is but one true, real and right life
for rational beings; only one life worth Inv
ing, and worth living in this world, or in
any other life, past, present or TO come,
And that lie the eternal life which was be-
fore all worlds, and which will be after all
are passed away-and that is neither more
FOR less than good life; life of good
feelings, good thoughts, good words, good
deeds-the life of Christ and Of God.
Kingsley.
There is in our day marvellous idolatry
of talent; il is strange and grievous
thing to see how men bow down before ge.
MUS and success Let us draw the distioc
ton sharp and firm between these two
things goodness is one thing, talent is an
| other. When once the idolatry of talent
enters the church, then farewell to spirit
uality when men ask their teachers, not
for that which will make them more hum.
! bic and Godlike, but for the excitement Of
an intellectual banquet, then farewell to
Christian progress.-[F. W. Robertson.
Burdens, sorrows, trials, disabilities, are
! sources of strength, fountains of vitality,
nourishes of spiritual life to those who have
grasped the thought of God in its fullness.
To have burden put on ones shoulders is
to have the opportunity of developing
strength to carry it and still stand upright ;
/ to have the darkness of sorrow cast over
ones world of Joy is to have also the Joy
| of looking up into the heavens with gaze
the more penetrating because it follows one
who has gone before; to be surrounded by
| difficulties is to have the grand training
| hA-AStA dSplIdtlOA luhO GIdf dCLCE3 LIG
FAINT hope of victory into positive conquest.
We may make every trial minister OF
strength, and draw from every sorrow the
sweetness which is at the heart of immor
tality. Deaf, we may still strike with
Beethoven the keys of deathless harmony !;
blind, we may still march with Livingston
into the heart of new empires dead, we
may still rise with Christ into newness Of
life Christian Union.
In his original DEGREES of creation in
his position as an Almighty Governor of
prayer in his position as the Author of
the infinite orders of splendor and beauty
and utility that mark his works, He must
see the end from the beginning He must
declare from ancient times the things that
! are not yet done, saying, 81 am God, my
counsel shall stand, and l will do all my
pleasure" Now if this be true in all the
realms where we can understand God, we
| are bound to follow him with unfaltering
faith into the deep things of the spirit, and
into the unsesrchable recesses of eternal
life and eternal death. God ia one. With
Him is no variableness neither shadow of
turning If we have discovered in one
realm that He is love, that discovery holds
good in every nook aud corner of Gods do.
minions. If He is love here, He is love
everywhere. If goodness and reasonable
ness are round about US here, they will
compass us if we fly to the uttermost parts
of the earth, or ascend into heaven, or dig
into hell.-TRev. j, II. Ecob.
The Good Night of the Swiss mountain
GERS is one of ever spell-like interest and
almost unreal. Among the lofty mount.
aims and elevated valleys of Switzerland,
the Alpiue horn has another use beside that
Of sounding the far. famed RAM des Vaches,
or w song and this is of very solemn
and impressive nature. When the sun has
set in the valley, and the snowy SUBMITS
OF the mountains CLEAN with golden light,
the herdsman who dwells upon the highest
| inhabited spot takes his horn and pro-
nounces clearly and loudly through it as
through a spesking trumpet, PRAISE the
Lord God p As soon as the sound is heard
by the neighboring herdsmen, they issue
from their huts, take their Alpine horns
and repeat the same words. This frequent.
ly lasts quarter of an hour, and the call
resounds from all the mountains and rocky
cliffs around. All the herdsmeu kneel and
pray with uncovered heads. Meantime it
has become dark. "Good night !" at last
calls the highest herdsman through his
horn. Good night % again resounds from
all the mountains, the horns of the herds
men, and the rocky cliffs The mountain
GERS then retire to their dwellings and to
rest.
The Lenten pastoral of Bishop Hunting.
ton, of Syracuse, n. Y, is full of practical
Christian advice. "Make your own per-
sonal religion, he says, "a fact that none
can gainsay. Make it healing force that
every one about you will feel. Cultivate
positive convictions and practice uncompro-
missing morals. Wherever defsulters, pub.
lie thefts, goddess divorces, drunkards, lih-
ertines, dubious fashions in dress and
dances which only evade the condemnation
of indecency by getting the patronage of
decent people, may come from, see that
they do not come ont of the Church, which
is the Body and Bride of Christ. Social
manners need purgation, and it Is
your express business, under our vows, 10
purge them. Usages, diversions, styles Of
dress and underdress have crept into repu-
table society which owe their fascination
to the stimulus they subtly supply to the
lower and more dangerous appette3. Why
should you allow to your sons and daugh-
tiers at an evening party what would shock
and alarm you if you saw it anywhere else 4?
Does immodesty become modestly simply
going into company Let this gracious
Lent raise the tone Of Christian living,
while it deepens the foundations Of Christ
ian order, il every congregation among Us. "
l am not of the number that believe that
God ceased the anveiling of bis truth in the
first century; that we are limited in our
knowledge by the spiritual or intellectual
stsainments of Peter, John, or even a
Paul. l believe the later aud larger truth
is all consistent with New Testament teach.
ing; nay, in a sense has grown out of it, as
the blossom grows out of the bud. But