terms with you; and if we can not command love in our hearts, let us, at least, brother, bar out all unkindness." 9. The minister who had attended the funeral, and had something intrusted to him to say publicly before he left the churchyard, now came forward, and asked the elder brother why he spake not regarding this matter. He saw that there was something of a cold and sullen pride rising up in his heart, for not easily may any man hope to dismiss from the chamber of his heart even the vilest guest, if once cherished there. With a solemn, and almost severe air, he looked upon the relenting man, and then, changing his countenance into serenity, said gently "Behold, how good a thing it is, And how becoming well, Together such as brethren are, 10. The time, the place, and this beautiful expression of a natural sentiment, quite overcame a heart in which many kind, if not warm, affections dwelt; and the man thus appealed to bowed down his head and wept. "Give me your hand, brother;" and it was given, while a murmur of satisfaction arose from all present, and all hearts felt kindlier and more humanely toward each other. 11. As the brothers stood fervently, but composedly grasping each other's hand, in the little hollow that lay between the grave of their mother, long since dead, and of their father, whose shroud was haply not yet still from the fall of dust to dust, the minister stood beside them with a pleasant countenance, and said "I must fulfill the promise I made to your father on his death-bed. I must read to you a few words which his hand wrote at an hour when his tongue denied its office. I must not say that you did your duty to your old father: for did he not often beseech you, apart from one another, to be reconciled, for your own sakes as Christians, for his sake, and for the sake o. the mother who bare you, and, Stephen,' who died that you In reading this sentence, it must be remembered that Stephen was the name of the younger brother, whom the minister addressed. His mother died in giving him birth. might be born? When the palsy struck him for the last time, you were both absent; nor was it your fault that you were not beside the old man when he died. 12. "As long as sense continued with him here, did he think of you two, and of you two alone. Tears were in his eyes; I saw them there, and on his cheek too, when no breath came from his lips. But of this no more. He died with this paper in his hand; and he made me know that I was to read it to you over his I now obey him. My sons, if you will let my grave. bones 'ie quiet in the grave, near the dust of your mother, depart not from my burial till, in the name of God and Christ, you promise to love one another as you used to do. Dear boys, receive my blessing."" 6 13. Some turned their heads away to hide the tears that needed not to be hidden-and when the brothers had released each other from a long and sobbing embrace, many went up to them, and, in a single word or two, expressed their joy at this perfect reconcilement. The brothers themselves walked away from the church-yard, arm in arm, with the minister to the manse. On the following Sabbath, they were seen sitting with their families in the same pew, and it was observed that they read together off the same Bible when the minister gave out the text, and that they sang together, taking hold of the same psalm-book. The same psalm was sung (given out at their own request), of which one verse had been repeated at their father's grave; a larger sum than usual was on that Sabbath found in the plate for the poor, for Love and Charity are sisters. And ever after, bōth during the peace and the troubles of this life, the hearts of the brothers were as one, and in nothing were they divided. J. WILSON. 1. WE 132. THE BROTHERS. E are but two—the others s.eep We are but two—oh, let us keep The link that binds us bright! 1 Månse, a clergyman's dwelling-house. 2. Heart leaps to heart-the sacred flood That good old man-his honest blood 3. We in one mother's arms were lock'd— In the same cradle we were rock'd, 4. Our boyish sports were all the same, Let manhood keep alive the flame, 5. We are but two-be that the band Shoulder to shoulder let us stand, Till side by side we lie. CHARLES SPRAGUE 133. PROPER DISTRIBUTION OF TIME. IME we ought to consider as a sacred trust, committed to us TIME 2 by God; of which we are now the depositaries, and are to render an account at the last. That portion of it which he has allotted to us is intended partly for the concerns of this world, partly for those of the next. Let each of these occupy, in the distribution of our time, that space which properly belongs to it. 2. Let not the hours of hospitality and pleasure interfere with the discharge of our necessary affairs; and let not what we call necessary affairs encroach upon the time which is due to devotion. To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. If we delay till to-morrow what ought to be done to-day, we overcharge the morrow with a burden which belongs not to it. We load the wheels of time, and prevent them from carrying us along smoothly. 1 Heårth. De pos' it a ry, a trustee; a guardian; a person trusted with something. PROPER DISTRIBUTION OF TIME. 315 3. He who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows out that plan, carries on a thread which will guide him through the labyrinth of the nost busy life. The orderly arrangement of his time is like a ray of light, which darts itself through all his affairs. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidents, all things lie huddled together in one chaos, which admits neither of distribution nor review. 4. The first requisite for introducing order into the manage ment of time, is to be impressed with a just sense of its value Let us consider well how much depends upon it, and how fast it flies away. The bulk of men are in nothing more capricious3 and inconsistent than in their appreciation of time. When they think of it as the measure of their continuance on earth, they highly prize it, and with the greatest anxiety seek to lengthen it out. 5. But when they view it in separate parcels, they appear to hold it in contempt, and squander it with inconsiderate confusion. While they complain that life is short, they are often wishing its different periods at an end. Covetous1 of every other possession, of time only they are prodigal. They allow every idle man to be master of this property, and make every frivolous occupation welcome that can help them to consume it. 6. Manhood is disgraced by the consequences of neglected youth. Old age, oppressed by cares that belonged to a former period, labors under a burden not his own. At the close of life, the dying man beholds with anguish that his days are finishing, when his preparation for eternity is hardly commenced. Such are the effects of a disorderly waste of time, through not attending to its value. Every thing in the life of such persons is misplaced. Nothing is performed aright, from not being performed in due season. 7. But he who is orderly in the distribution of his time, takes the proper method of escaping those manifold evils. He is justly said to redeem the time. By proper management he prolongs 'Låb'y rinth, a place full of windings; something very intricate.— Chaos, state of confusion.- Capricious (ka prish' us), apt to change opinions or purposes suddenly; unsteady.- Covetous (kův' et us), eager to gain or save property. Prod' i gal, extravagant; wasteful. 4 it. He lives much in little space; more in a few years than others do in many. He can live to God and his own soul, and at the same time attend to all the lawful interests of the present world. He looks back on the past, and provides for the future. HUGH BLAIR. 1 HOW 134. TO-MORROW. heavy falls the foot of Time! How slow the lingering quarters chime, 2. To-morrow-still the phantom3 flies, Eludes our grasp, is pass'd and gone; And in the morning thou art flown! 3 Delusive sprite !5 from day to day, MRS. ANNE HUNTER. 135. THE WIFE. I HAVE often had occasion to remark the fortitude with which women sustain the most overwhelming reverses of fortune. Those disasters which break down the spirit of a man, and pros 'Glåss, a vessel to be filled with sand, for measuring time.—2 Phån'tom, apparition; ghost; something imagined to be seen, but not real.'E lúdes', escapes; flees away; deceives.—a Rå' ven, of the color of the raven; a bluish black.- Sprite, spirit; an apparition. |