These prey upon unorganized matter and inanimate objects, which the moth pass by. These, with their dissolving power, penetrate the most solid substances, and bid them return to their original elements. They lay hold upon the solid portions of animal and vegetable forms, when the moth have already destroyed their life, and level them with the earth. The hard rocks, the solid mountains, and the still more solid metals, all yield to the power of these chemical forces. Monuments and towers, and walls of defence, and palaces of pomp and power, all grow old, and change, and waste, and are dissolved, and the fashion of them passeth away. What in the physical world, which disturbs its order, can better be denominated "thieves," than those various incidental forces which break in at intervals upon the regular order of existing things to devastate them, and to lay them low? Such are hurricanes and storms, which fall in like highwaymen upon the orderly progress of the physical world, to rob them of what they are, what they have, and what they promise. Such are floods and flames, which break through and devour. Such are ravenous beasts and hostile armies, by which thriving cities, peaceful homes and fruitful fields, are turned into solitudes and dreariness. Such also are pestilence, drought, and famine, which ride over the land like a burning curse from the angry breath of an insulted God! These are the outlaws of the universe made the executors of judgment, commissioned to seize and bear away what man has forfeited, and what God has cursed because of sin! It is all these together-the moth, rust and thieves, which dissolve and waste all that is beautiful and permanent in existing physical forms on the face of the earth. It is these which bring on the great, solemn Autumn of the universe. It is these which execute the sentence of death and decay upon all that lives and blooms around us. It is these which stand like solemn priests at the grave of nature, pronouncing the solemn service of its burial: "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Thus "the fashion of this world passeth away." History will also aid us in the interpretation, and in the illustration of the passage. The history of nations-what is it, but a running commentary upon the words: "The fashion of this world passeth away." The most solemnly interesting objects in the past are its mighty ruins-its moldering cities -its ruined capitols and temples-its crumbling monuments and sepulchres. The vast plain of history, as it stretches eastward before us, back into the morning twilight of the world, is nothing but the graveyard of nations; and, in some places, it has been buried over and over; empire has crumbled upon empire, and nation upon nation-kings have been buried upon kings; and the ruins of one palace have become the foundations of another, only to be itself again covered with new power and glory, as blossoms upon its own tomb! Behold the skeleton march of nations, treading upon each others, heels, as they go down in gloomy succession into the land of silence, and the shades of death! Over and over, in the history of nations, has the divine prophecy been fulfilled in reference to the glory of Idumea and Babylon: "wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and the owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the island shall cry in the desolate houses, and the dragons in their pleasant palaces." Is. 13, 21, 22. Is. 34, 11, 16. The history of science. What is it but the revolution of systems? The embodiment of the wisdom of one age is found, in the age to come, forsaken upon the shelf in unopened and dusty volumes. How true it is: "Whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away." Thus the sentence of vanity is applied to the outward form of science, and executed age after age-executed, thus, upon the world in its highest and most respectable form. The wisdom of this world is not an end, but a means; and as a means it is even left behind in the progress of the human spirit towards its glorious perfection and bliss in another life. Science unsanctified, is but as the scaffolding to the building—as the first coarse leaves of the plant which fall away-as the shell of the insect, which it casts off when it begins to soar. Its greenest laurels soon become as the leaves of Autumn; and the ornaments which it hangs over itself are but as vines which grow out over ruins, to cover their hideousness but for awhile, and are doomed soon to become part of the desolation which they cover. Surely the wisdom of this world cometh to naught; and the fashion of this world passeth away." The history of man! What is it? How soon is the form of his body and the fashion of his countenance changed! He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and never continueth in one stay. The days of our years are three-score years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be four-score years, yet is their strength, labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." "Life like a vein amusement flies, A fable or a song: By swift degrees our nature dies, Thus, in whatever way we look upon the world, it is a fleeting show. Upon all its treasures, its honors and its pleasures, is written vanity of vanities-all is vanity Surely the fashion of this world passeth away. The power of this world soon becomes perfect weakness. The wealth of the world is not worth as much as one cooling drop to a fevered lip in the hour of death! Nor can houses, and lands, and millions, purchase a smile from the angel that guards the gate. Science cannot deliverart cannot please, when man giveth up the ghost. Fine furniture cannot make the funeral house less gloomy. The glittering decorations of gold and jewels will shine but dimly through the pall robes which cover those that go to their long home. The smile of gaiety-the glad light of the eye the glow of health-the power of beauty "Will the cold earth its silence break To tell how soft, how smooth a cheek This subject And now let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. addresses itself to all such as love this present world, and the things that are in it. O ye who bow to the god of this world! O ye votaries of earth, and sense, and sin! O ye who, without God and without hope, move so light-hearted and gaily into the presence of eternal realities! Behold the shadows of a long night are appearing! See, the grave opens! See, the earth, with its vanities, recedes and disappears! See, the years are drawing nigh, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them! Wo unto you that laugh now, for ye shall weep then! Not so your dying eyes shall view "The fashion of this world passeth away." Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." "He that believeth not shall be damned! "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless." Henceforth, oh, world! no more of thy desires, And my tired soul, with emulative haste, AUTUMN WOODS. BY MRS. R. H. STODDARD. The wild flowers struggle with the frost; The grass bows down beneath my feet; In the old forest where I walk, And with dame Nature try to talk! The spider's bridge breaks in my path; The sleepy adders hiss no more; In the old forest where I walk, And with dame Nature try to talk! The tangled vines writhe on the ground; In the old forest where I walk, The crow croaks on the high tree top; The flapping fish-hawk screams aloud, In the old forest where I walk, The outside world of trading men I neither see nor hear: The woodland elms and I would hide, In the old forest where I walk, THREE WISHES. FROM THE GERMAN, BY THE EDITOR. A YOUNG married couple lived very happily together; but they had one fault, which dwells more or less in every human bosom. It is this: When we are well off we are anxious that well should be a little better. From this fault arise many foolish desires; and into this folly fell also our Hans and his Liese. Now they wished for Shultz's land, now for Loewenwirth's money, now for Meier's rural possessions, house, home and cattle, and now for a hundred thousand million Bavarian dollars in cash! One evening whilst they sat in happy peace at the stove cracking nuts, having already worn a deep hole into the stone in this cheerful winter pastime, there came in at the room door a very small white woman, not more than an ell in height, but wonderfully beautiful in form and features, and the whole room was filled with the fragrance of roses. The lamplight was extinguished by her advent; but a glimmer like the bright morning sky at sunrise, streamed forth from the little woman and illumined the walls of the room. Such a sight will somewhat awaken one's fears, beautiful as it may be. But our good couple soon revived from the slight shock, when the little woman, with a wonderfully sweet and silvery voice, said: "I am your friend Anna Fritz, the mountain fairy. I live in my crystal palace, in the midst of the mountains, where with an unseen hand I cast gold into the sands of the Rhine, and more than seven hundred ministering spirits wait to do my bidding. Three wishes you may express-three wishes shall be fulfilled to you! Hans haunched his Liese with his elbow, as if to say that sounds not badly. The good wife was already in the act of opening her mouth to suggest a half-dozen gilt-laced head dresses, silk handkerchiefs and such like, when the mountain fairy lifted up her finger in warning. "Eight days," said she, "you have time. Consider well, and be not too hasty in making up your minds." This is not bad, thought the man, as he quickly laid his hands on his wife's lips; meaning thereby that she should keep silence. The fairy vanished. The lamp burned as before, and instead of the rose-fragrance, the smoke of the oil lamp rolled up again over the room, like clouds along the heavens. Our good couple were now as happy as may be, in glorious anticipation. Every star in the firmament seemed to them a violin, making music for the rest to dance by in their joy. Yet they were in an exceedingly anxious situation; because they did not know what to wish for; and they had not even the heart rightly to think or speak on the subject, for fear their thoughts might be taken as a wish, before they properly considered it. Well, said Liese, we have time till Friday. The next evening, while the potatoes for their supper crackled in the pan, both husband and wife stood together cheerfully before the fire, and saw how the little sparks of fire played hither and thither on the sooty-side of the pan, now blazing and now dying; and without speaking a word, their thoughts were buried in their future happy fortune. But when they emptied the roasted potatoes into the dish, and their odor stole agreeably upon their senses "If we only now had a fried sausage with our potatoes," she said, innocently and without any reflection; and alas! there was the first wish made! Quick as the lightning comes and goes, came again the fairy visitor, and like the orient sky at sun-rise mingled with the fragrance of roses, it spread over the hearth-and upon the roasted potatoes lay the most beautiful fried sausage! As the wish was, so it was done. Who would not feel mortified at such a wish and such a fulfilment of it? What man would not feel aggravated at his wife for such an inconsiderate act? "If only the sausage was grown fast to the tip of your nose," spake Hans in the heat of surprise, and with the greatest innocence and behold! as the wish was, so it was done! Scarcely had the last word left his lips, when the sausage hung fast at the nose of his good wife, as if she had been born with it, turning gracefully down on either side like the moustache of a hussar. Now the miserable perplexity of the married pair, stood at its height. Two wishes had been made and fulfilled, and as yet they were not a farthing nor a grain of wheat richer. Their possessions were only increased by one single sausage. True, there was one wish left. But what joy would there be in all wishes and fortunes with such a sausage ornament at the housewife's nose. For better or for worse, they must wish that the mountain fairy would, with unseen hand perform the work of a barber for the good wife Liese, that she might be relieved of the accursed sausage. So wished-and so done. The third wish was also past, and the poor pair looked at one another, and were the same Hans and the same Liese as before; and the beautiful mountain fairy returned no more. NOTE WELL: If ever the mountain fairy shall come to you in this way, be not covetous, but wish Number one: For good sense, that you may know what Number two you ought to wish for in order to be fortunate. And since it is easily possible that you might then wish for that which would after all make you neither happier nor better, wish— Number three: for abiding contentment and no sorrow. Be also assured that no opportunity to make a fortune, is of any avail to them who have not sufficient wisdom to make the proper use of it. HOME. I never left the place that knew me, I am not of those who wander And I point sad memory's finger, (Though my faithless foot may roam) Where I've most been made to linger In the place I call'd my Home.-TUPPER. |