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88 , THE PRACTICAL CHR IST IAN.


For the P ractical Christian


BY s , SIMMS FO SS.


ORIGUJAL MISCELLANY.


POETRY.


,= = = = = =


A CONCEITED YO UNG ~ fA N .


A YOllng gentleman happcned to fall imo


th e com pliny of a nnmher of aged Christiuns,


wl lOm he thonght to astonish by reciting sub­lim


e passages from the po ets ' alld orntors of


th e age; and among othel' tl; iugs of that des­cr


iption, he g uoted with great emphusis and


e ffect, the well knowll lin es of Shokspcal'e :


' '' T he cloud- capt towers, the gorgeous palaces,


The solemn- temples, the greal globe itself:


Yea, a ll which it inherits, shall dissolve,


And like the baseless fabric ofa vi_ io'n,


Leave not a wreck behind,"


H nvin~ fini slJCd th e quotation, he be~: tn · to


p rononnce an enlog iu/ II upon it, affirming that


th er e WIIS nothillg to he filUnd eq ual to it in sub­limity


HIlII gl'l\ noeur in unc iellt or modern liter­atnre.


An Ilged Ch ristinn who harl attentively


listen ed to th e wh ole hllrrangue, at length J no


terpo sed ol1fl vcntured to qu estion tn e decision,


IIffirming that he r. ould prollnce a passage


equally sublime. The young man started with


surprise , c hullenge rl th e poillt, on which the


old ge ntleman, in a gl'lIve Dnd solemn tone re­sponded-


olAnd I saw a great \ white throne,


allll Him th llt Slit on it, from whose fDce the


ea r rh and heuv en s fled lIWIlY · j lind there \ Vas


found no pla ce for th em." ,


kn ew h is L ord's will and prepared not him­sel


f, neither d id acc ord ing to his will, shall be


beaten with many stri pes?' How can ye cs­cape


the many str ipes, if while ye se e clear ly


th e light, ye walk in darkness?


\ Vhatever other s may do, yon cann ot plead


ignorance ill exte nuation of your c~ lI d ncl. ­No


; you hav e no cloak for your sin. Ch ris t


ha s come tQyou and made the way of" duty


plain, 1 beseech you in the mime of humani­ty,


obey the light. Obey lor your own soul's


suke- s- cosr what it may- s- take yourselves from


th e world, and ohey GOI I. • D. S. W.


with Jeremiah, " can th e Ethiopian change his


sk ill, 01' the leopard hi s spots? then may ye


also do good, that are accustomvd to du e vil."


Behold the mighty army of inebriates ! how


. few, comparatively, wh o hav e long indulged ,


are brought to sobriety by all th e efforts made


in th eir behalf! I s it not a rare thing that on e,


whether mal e or femal e, long gi ven to lewd­ness,


is thoroughly reformed? \ Vhnt more a


matter of surprise and exultati on nmong phi -:


lanthropists thun th e oc ca sional coming out of


on e among the millions of man- stealers und


man - sellers ? It is like an Abd ie l umong the


fallen angels, wh cn one co mes forth fro m


among the millions of fallenmen, who dev our


and prey upon eac h othu r- i- bu tc he rl ng th eir


own species- e- nnd decla res for peuc c und love


- lor love alou e. L ook III th e chr isiiuu c hurc h !


These men and women profess to tak e J esus


I Christ as th eir lawgiver, g uide a nd exempla r..


They pro fess to fo llow implicitl y his commnnds


o I lind example. Now he co u l m un d e~ J his fol-low


ers to bless th em th ut c urse d, to lov e them


th at ' lal ed, to 110 goo d to them who despiteful -


____ . .. _ Iy used and per secu ted th e ir fellows. BIH


th o c hu rc h, ' long accu stom ed to per secute,


_.__ hate and destroy its e nemies, repudiates its


I lOlInder by r ejecting his principles , and re fus ­ing


to follow his ex amp le, violutiug e very hn ­iy


princ iple, by pe rsecuring them that ur ge his


_______ __ I pr ecepts and example up on th eir noti ce .


.. ,..__, But my thoug hts were not: direct ed to this


subject by the diffi culties whi ch c lus te r around


.... ..._... - - " - : th e ente r pr ises of temperance ; orami- slavery,


er moral reform- c- from th e terrible pow er


whi ch long indul ged a ppe tite exerts ; nor li'OII1


____ I th e pertinacity with which th e world lind


I nom in al c hu rch oppose that s pi rit of IOI'e lind


----" -- ~ good will to men which J esu s exemplified j


I but from th e conduct ofsome wh o profess to


I see and feel th e power of that love which


I kn ows no limit. From th ose, who g ~ o" e lh cjj ·


: WHy in darkness, we expect the works of durk -


h ... r~... I, m : , h ~.. nl. I ness ; but fro IiI them who se e th e I igh !, we


~ Q that th e naturally hav e a right to ex pert works of light. \ Ve


hat there reull ~ is dan , look for th e works o f .. light, lind behold th e


III und dill y are leadine works of dnrkuess l They seem to hav e c lea r '" , " forms and. c ustoms views of ' Juty, to have right I' iews of e llr ist illu.


- - iiitl: d to ow' ' ii;'; Jes . tty, to ull derst au d weTJ the leac hings and ex-witness


the O! I! ios ition ample of J esu s, yet th eir fixed habit s, th ei r


nd " Q~" n"" of'nh risrinn - I long indulgen ce in polh ics , in law s uits , in le­'


. nr o fessed frieu Ils.- I ga l vengeance, ' icud them at will. They lire


I. nnd his own receiv es IIiI, e u c ity wh ose wulIs are broken down. In


' istinns cull christian ity It~ l e soc ial . circle, 01' socia l meeting' , th ey a ppcu r


se it with their might,- like the liuthful and self- deny ing liJllfHve:' s o f


, from th e ~ rcat on es in I th e Prince of Peace, e xhor ting others to be


The c h urc h has mnde I fa ithful, to persevere Ull10 the end,. hut you


'. Ie world, so that both ~ ill' Jex, t seethem rnhir] in pol itic:", dahbling


' I and , P ilate , are no w III th e dirty water of pnrry strife, 01' assisting


Lord and a ~ a i nit hi s ' the pow ers th nt be' in execut ing vengean ce


inn imr. Is th e result I upon some miserable bein g of their ra ce. In


J esu s he se en as . he is , view of su ch th ings mu st we not cxcla im with


nqu erina and to con- th e prophet , ' clln th e E th iopian ch an ge his


st deviee of satan to ge t , sk in ?' , How great an injury is infli cted upon


lind blood to pa ss for the pr eciou s cause of truth and 100' e hy suc h


, I", work which is ne- ' prolessnrs ! 1 wonld not be se vere , J would


p. nure and neac eabl e uttribute s uc h conduct to th e. force of hahit,


is to lie atrect~ ll hv na- ruther th an to an y int ention to act II double


fferino. Nothing sho rt I , purt j but lim y rd llll111nds th at with nil plain­rlell


world what it FO I ness th e truth be spo ke n ; and I must say, thnt


one th ink k stra ng e such profession s, aeeomp nnied with s uc h


e li tv is l'II iscd;~ If th ey pra cti ces, do more to , hinder the progress lif


h OIlQp' R" I7, ebnb, how truth than i1ny, und ' pe rha ps a ll, infln cn c es


hOIl Q" hol, l fmlll without. · T he wdl'ld is too busily en ­~


uge d in its own affuir! l to examine pr inc iples .


They judge of them Ii'olll th e exemp lificat ion


wlli " h men g ive th e ' ,: orl d in th eir cond uct. ­And


wh en th ey see men pr ofessiug to ~ e non - "


resistants, lJrofe ssin g to be not of thi s world-to


hllve withdrawn th em selv es Ii'om th e exe­cuting


of vengeance , to be . govern ed hy love


alone, contend ing ill tl l ~ arena of politics, or


ente ring th e lists to cOlllc nd in th e law, or a id­ing


in tile puni!, h ing of wicl, e d men, th ey say,


and tl'l~ ly-' these men , aft er a ll th eir pr oli, s­sio


n!', lire like th e rest o f us, ' and p l, lSS 0 11. ­They


cannot be ex pected to examine ser io ns ly


a principl e wh ich is seen to have no infln ellee


npon th ose professin g it ; . Greut in. l eed is ' tl lC


injury done to th e c': Jnse of pence ami Jove hy


pr olession withou't pr acti ce- yet grente r is tI; e


i11jUI: y which men infli ct upon their own so nls


by such a cou · rse. They see the right, und


choose th e wrong. . They have cl ear. views of


trnth, yet practice e rro r. The glorious light


of henl'en sh ines c1eur ly up on th eir sou Is, yet


th ey ch ~ ose the lIarkness of hell ror th eir dwel­ling


place. Henr, c1elll' brethren', th ese wor, ls


of J esu s Chris t- ' A nd th at servHnt which


"


STRENGTH OF II AHn'.


" Ca n th e Ethiopian change his skin, or th e


leopa rd his sp ots ? th en muy ye ulso - do go o ll ,


dIRt ar e lIccu stom ed to do ev il." This is


strong lunguage. P erhaps it is not to ' he III­W&


ys a pplied in all ' i ts ab soluten ess . ' Let us


not however blum its poiut by qualilicution.


It is the strong and naturallan guuge of one,


wi lo had learnell by nem lll comact with IIll\ ll ­kind


th e des peraten ess o f sinlh l habits. The


prophet had lab or ed manfully with . a jlllrv erse


peopl e. H is heurt fainted when he sa w


his fellow men go ing fOl'ward ' to · ce rta in de-


. st ru ction~ w h en he' saw them resi st ever y e f­fort


of goo dness to save · th elll':""' passing heed ­lessly


on , a~ ifdetermin ed on tn eir olyn , rnin. ­Hi


s lan gu age is stiB appfopriate. They wh o


go forth on " miss ions of mercy, who Ilev ote


their Iives to the regeneration 01 th eir fellow


Leings, will olien' be cons tra ine d 10 exclaim


.. .. .. .. ' • • ..


And when my heart with sorrow grieves ,


Or mourns o' er hopes that flee,


T II Elf, poring o! er its holy leaves,


It will a comfort be.


It points me to the " narrow path "


' I'h at lends t' yon world of bliss,


And bids me count as nothing worth


The vain desires ofthis:-


What beIter gift could e' cr be gj,' en


Than this, the " Christian's rod I "


- It bids me seek a home in Heaven,


And find a friend in God:-


" Take it, ' tis a gift of love,


That seeks thy good alone;


Keep it for the giver's sake,


And read it for thine own,"


. The gift I prize,


For I am sure the giver 10ved'me,- By RoN.


Aye ! fitting gift for Christma s tlme,


Is this, the Book of Truth-


Oh! llIay it cheer this heart of mine,


And guide my wayward youth!


It chides me when I thoughtless grow,


Or' dote on earthly joy:


It say. the bliss ofth' things below,


Is naught but base nlloy:-


. STANZAS:


WRITTEN ON R E CEIVING THE RIDLE , AS &


CH R IS TM. lS PRESENT.


Thou sacred , Gift! thou best of Books !


Thy light shall shine forever ;


A guide to Virtue, Love, and Truth­\\


feet emblems of the GI VER.


Christmas Eore- lVoonsocket , R, I.

Page 88 of Volume 1 from The Practical Christian 1840-1841

Ballou, Adin

1840