Gospel Herald, 1860-10-20

              Devoted, to Ohx-istianity, Morality, the Imteresta of Sato-batli Schools, Social Improvemerit, Teniperaixoe, Education, and General Newa-
"BEHOLD,   I   BEING   YOU   GOOD   TIDINGS   OP   GEEAT   JOT  ....  ON   EARTH   PEAOE,   GOOD   WILL   TOWAED   MEN.'
VOL. 17.
DAYTON, O., SATURDAY, OCT. 20,1860
NO. 24.
ORIGINAL POETRY.
WriUen for the Oospet Eirraid.
I Am Dreaming.
BY LOU,  BOYLE.
I am dreaming while the snow-flakes.
Settle over field and spray; Now my memory sadly wanders.
To a church-yard far away. Now methinks the snow-drops cluster.
O'er a little yellow mound; And the trees within that chUroh-yard,
Sadly seem to sigh and  moan. For beneath their boughs there sleepeth,
In that grave so brown and hare, A sweet child of three short summers,
With soft blur eyes, and golden hair. Two cold winters did pass by her,
But tho third one's stormy blast Stilled her busy feet forever;
Now she rests till storms are past Vet I weep for thee, dearPariiie,
When I hear the sad winds roar, They remind me of last Autumn,
When thou whi«perd'eat " now sing more.' Ther 1 pressed thy form so gently,
Closely, closely, to my breast, And thine eyes so mild and lovely,
Gently, calmly closed in death. I would mouru thee, faded flower.
But I know an Angel keeps Watch around the lonely pillow.
Where thy lifeless body sleeps. Sweetly sleep, dear little Parnie,
Now from pain and sorrow free, On tlie Savior's breast so gently.
Holy Angols sing for thee. Steioartsmlle, Imi., 1860.
ORIGINALITIES.
Written for ihe Gospel Herald.
"The Providences of God." In a most wonderful manner, the providences of God workout His de¬ signs. Wlien we contemplate the way in which Uio Almighty deals with His creatures, we are surprised. At first, there appears to be no order, no de¬ sign, no harmony in all His mysterious workings. The law of confusion reigns among men; and -we ean see bnt littlo order in the system of Divine providence. .But as We gaze and study, as wo watch the unfolding plan of pur¬ pose; as "sv'e learn moro of G-od and His ways, -wo are surprised tnore at tho order aud harmony, than we pre¬ viously had boon, at the apparent dis¬ order and confusion. We find the whole system of divine operations to be regulated by an unerring hand, aud controlled, and governed by Al¬ mighty power. We see the plan of God, opened, and rendered successful. Providences, which have been as dark as mid-night,' are now illustrated, and made to show forth the praise of God, and surprising order, seen in all tho wise arrangements.
In the most mysterious manner does tbe providence of God, sometimes ex¬ pose crime, A train of evei'its which no human being could have set in op¬ eration, leads to the most startling dovevelopmenls; and criminals who have eluded the pursuit, and even the observation aud suspicion of a most  igilant police,'are discovered and pun¬ ished, after all hope of detection had died out. Tho most trifling circum¬ stances will bo connected wit'h a series
of events which develop and bring to light deeds which have for years been buried from all human scrutiny. The singular movements of domestic ani¬ mals; tho words writteniipon the wad¬ ding of some discharged guns; the caving in of banks, in the sand of which dead bodies have been buried; and other things as trivial, lead to the de¬ tection of men, who suppose they have concealed all tokens of guilt in the graves of their victims. And this providence will assist in tho detection of all criminals of smaller or greater guilt. -
God is pledsred against sin; he ab¬ hors crime, and has resolutely determin¬ ed to punish all who commit it. His providence, like a key, will unlock the secrets of darkness, and like a skillful hand, will unravel the thread oflife, and expose, when least we expect it, its follies, and its crimes. Nor can the sinner control these mysterious work¬ ings ofthe divine mind and purpose. What we may deem best calculated to hide, conceal, and cover up our sins, may be tho very thing which shall ex¬ pose our faults, and bring shame and disgrace. Letters written and dis¬ guised; remarks mado to direct atten¬ tion to another quarter; weapons thrown in tho bushes by the wayside, all, instead of proving innocence, be¬ come proofs of guilt, and are used for a purpose, the reverse of which was iii- tended. It is related of an eminent clergyman, tbat on one occasion, while walking in a grave-yard, he saw the sexton throwing up the bones of a hu¬ man being. Ho took the skull in his hands, and on examination, saw a nail sticking in the temple. He drew it out, placed it in bis pocket, and asked the sexton whose skull it was. On re¬ ceiving tho necessary information, he went to the \.'m\ • of a widow, and enter- edintoconve. i;, .ii withher, Heasked her of what diojuse her husband died, aud while she was giving an answer, drew tho niiii from his vest, and asked her if she ever saw it before. Struck with horror at' the unexpected ques¬ tion, the wretched woman conioased that she had murdered, her husband; that her own hand had driven the nail into his temple.
And such is often the case. Deeds long forgotte—ndeeds dark as despair, which liave been committed in the darkest night, with no eye to behold, but the eye of a just God—have been revealed, and have come to tho gaze of mon, and the perpetrator been dealt with according to his deeds.
1, S, Wilkinson,
Swede Point, Iowa, Sept. 23,1860,
WrtUenfor Ike Qohpel Herald.
Godliness.
In the Apostle's letters to the chureh- os, Ohristians aro sometimes exhorted to GODLINESS, "Godlincss, with con¬ tentment, is great gain :"—"is profita¬ ble to all things," "We should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world," "Exercisethyeelf un¬ to godliness.''
It is not improper that we, as Chr.is- tians, inquire whatis meant by ^'living godly."
PhiJologieally speaking, godly is an adverb. It belongs to a class of adverbs ending in ly, which is a contraction of like.    Formerly, such words as wisely.
manly, beastly, were written wise-ft'fe, or in a wise or knowing manner, man- like, h&HBt-like. Thus, godly moans God-like, or like God.
Man, therefore, is exhorted—Chris¬ tians aro exhorted—to live like God, and to be like God ; as it is written, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." We are imitative beings, and we should imitate God.
But two things are necessary to our assimilation to the character of God. VVe must know what Ho is, and what He does; and wo mustpossess the same kind of powers, in a degree—we must be similarly constituted.
If it be asked, What is God ? the Son of God answers, "A Spirit." It it be inquired. What does He do? all Nature responds, He creates worlds, and their tenantry; manifesting infinite power, wisdom, andgoodness, in the formation, adaptation, and design of all his works.
Is man similarly constituted? Lot us consider him as a spiritual beiiig, for wo have no evidence, except the revelations of Sweedenborg and Davis, that man resembles God, physically. The same original Greek word which is used to designate God, (Preuma,) is used to signify the "inner man."— Thus implies that there is a resem¬ blance between the intelligent princi¬ ple in man, and "the Father of spirits."
If man is capable of manifesting by actions, or works, the same attributes that God exhibits through his works, then he possesses the same inherent qualities of mind, and is, in iact, a minature likeness of the Great, intelli¬ gent Author of all things. We, there¬ fore, find men acting, doing, perform¬ ing, which implies power. Wo find thom, (sometimes) acting wisely, know¬ ingly, with a view to some end. Here is wisdom. And we find them (occa¬ sionally) acting benevolently, doing good, and performing works of right¬ eousness. In this appears the attri¬ bute oi goodness.
God works, and requires men to work. He is wise, and wishes men to bo so. He is good, and enjoins upon men such duties as flow from the principle of goodness.
We aro required to "lovo God," which we could not do if wo were riot of tbe same nature ; for "liko loves its like." If wo hate God, it is because our carnal natures are in the ascen¬ dency over tho mind, and wo subject to vile proponsilieB. Whenever our minds become acquainted with God, we lovo Him. It we love Him, wo will try to do like Him.
God "created man in His own im¬ ago, in the image of God created He him." If we are created in the like¬ ness of God, let us imitate Him in our treatment of men, by acl ing wisely and benevolently to all. But lot us, by reason of our physical-natures, that arc ever tending to get the mastery over our minds, and causing us to manifest mental, moral loeakness, let us subject ourselves to the "Father of Spirits, and livo." Let us be, and act as intelligent beings, for God is such, and acts as such.   As strcn, ?;hi Oems-
TIAN BfiLJGION IS ADAP'JED TO US.
Wm. BiNKEivroN, Jr. Gillespieville, 0., Sept. 27,1860.
A just cause desires notfting moro than a just hearing.
The Cream of Books.
Self-love.—To worship images is a more obvious, but it is scarcely a more degrading idolatry, than to set up self in opposition to God. To devote our¬ selves to this service is as perfect sla¬ very as the service of God is perfect freedom. If we cannot imitate the sacrifice of Christ in his death, we are called upon to imitate the sacrifice*of Himself in His wiU. Even the Son of God declared, "I came not to do my own will, butthe willof Him who sent me," This was His grand lesson.— This was His distinguishing character. —Hannah More.
Idleness.—Idleness is. the funda¬ mental error of man. It undermines his well-being in a thousand ways. In the refined it is disguised in a gloomy, skeptical view of life, which we may typically denominate Hamlet- ism. It is a renunciation of one's self —a voluntary disease and death.— Health and life aro the fruits of self- awakening.—Ernest Von Feuchtersle- hen.
The Past asd the Fu'ruan.—What ia tho past? Thyiself. But it is nothing which thou canst retain. It is bnt tho germ which it has implanted in thy being, and which is gradually develop¬ ed with it. What is the future ? Like¬ wise thyself It only regards thee, in so far as it is thy task to develope thy¬ self to it. In every other sense memo¬ ry and hope are the delusions of a droam—and to yield one's self to them is but the pampering of feeling.—Ern¬ est von Feuchtersleben.
Immoetality.—I cannot believe that the earth is man's ' abiding place. It cannot be that our life is cast up by the ocean of eternily to float a mo¬ ment upon its waves, and sink into nothingness I Else, why is it that the aspirations which leap like angels from tho temple of our hearts, are forever wandering about, unsatisfied? ¦ Why is it that tho rainbow and tbe cloud, come over us with a beauty that is not of earth, ihcn pass olf, and leave us to muse on their loveliness? Why is it that tho stars who hold their festi¬ val around tho midnight throne, are set above the gras]) of our limited fac¬ ulties, forever mocking us -with their unapproachable glory ? And finally, why is it that bright forms of human beauty are presented to onr view, and then taken from us, leaving the thou¬ sand streams of our aifections to flow back in Alpine torrents upon onr hearts? We are born fora higher des¬ tiny than that of earth ; there is a realm where rainbows never fade; where the stars will be out beforo us like islets that slumber on the ocean ; and where the beings that pags before us like shadows, will stay in our pres¬ ence forever.—Edward  Lyiion Bulwer.
Eeason.
What is man, If his chief good, and market of his (.jmo. Be but to sleep and feed?    A beast, no more. Sure, Ho, that raadeuswithsuch largedisoourse, Lccking before aud sfter, f;ave ns not That Capability and Ood-like reason, To rest in us unused.— William Shakespeare.