Heart and Home Truths, Being Self-Musings Upon the Divine Will (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1856. Excerpt: ... SOLILOQUY V. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHURCH. It is not yet dark. A shimmering light lingers upon the face of the winding stream. A kind of trembling radiance hangs over its surface, as though some fond rays of light which had kissed its bosom through the day, enamored of their home, lingered to take a tender farewell. How beautiful is the placid half twilight, and the light around the stream I love to look down the far distance of the valley, and trace its windings, betrayed by the brightness of those rays. How boldly they stand out against the dark brow of the high hill How clearly are they relieved by the dark russet of the meadows where they meander Far, far down, I can trace their course, until they are lost in the distant haze. Several years ago, and hundreds of miles away, I crossed this stream at its embouchure. Little, then, did I think, as I rode upon its curling waves, and beheld swift-sailing vessels and heavily-freighted barges dotting the surface around me, that, afar off, the same waters should present so pleasing and so quiet a scene: as little as that the aforesaid spot should be my home. Equally hard is it to realize now, as I gaze upon this sequestered vale, that, in the far distance, this very water presents to-night, the busy, imposing view which I know it must: and that, while here, all is peace and serene beauty; there, all may be agitation, bustle, and toil. And yet, to-night, when I come to reflect upon it, and turn my attention to the facts of the world around me, relatively to the thoughts teeming within me, these things appear to have a significance worthy of notice. How much the course of this stream resembles that which has formed the subject of my anxious thoughts these last few evenings--the Church of Christ, her history a...