Various

“ The sky is stainless, pure as the thoughts of Innocence, and bright as the dreams of the happy, although it wants the splendor of the risen sun. Faint, faint, as the memory of other days to the aged are those few white stars throbbing in the mid-sky, sinking deeper and deeper in the lustrous heavens. In the east is a wreathed cloud, just above the spot where the sun is expected, and evidently awaiting the period for it to burn under the glance of the orbed God, like the arch-angel nearest to the Throne of the Mighty. ”

“ And those that cluster round his brow, beings of power, called ‘Intellect,’ encompass sea and land, penetrate the deep bowels of the earth, and mount on wings of light to the revolving spheres, tracing in all the wisdom, power, consistency of nature’s laws, then tracing all to God.
“See’st thou yon radiant vision clothed in light, reflecting every tint of joy in earth and heaven? Its name is Love. Its birth-place is the bosom of a God. ’Twas sent from the high court of heaven as help-meet to man’s will—that power which likens him to Deity. ”

“ At the age of twenty-two young Ellison, who had for some two or three years been devoting himself earnestly to the art of drawing and painting, found himself hemmed in with difficulties and discouragements that seemed almost insurmountable. The goal he aspired to win was so far distant that his eyes could scarcely reach it, and between lay barriers that he sadly feared he would never be able to pass. Without an income, and without friends to sustain him for a few years until he could command the patronage of those who loved the arts, how was he to sustain himself? ”

“ God’s benison on you all! and may the shadows, which flit between us all and heaven, rest lightly upon your roof; for in this selfish world, we all have our eyes so much to the clouds, which rest upon us and ours, that it is well that we should at least give once a year, a God bless you! to our fellows—and, taking in a wider range of humanity in our vision, smile kindly, even where the sun is darkest, upon our brother, and wish—nay, is that all?—help him to be—happy. ”

“ Mary was looking from the window somewhat sadly—Claude was gazing into her large dark eyes fondly and earnestly, while my poor foolish heart was weaving a bright fabric for those two gifted beings who sat beside me—a dream which I was to waken from, even before that bright ray of moonlight which was sleeping in its holiness upon Mary’s brow, and which I had been watching for the last ten minutes, should pass away. So golden and so fleeting is the light which hope flings on the fairy fabric of love. ”

“ As I saw Claude Norrice gather a tuft of violets from the grave, and press them to his lips in an agony of grief, I wept that one so young and beautiful should die. But when I thought of the many high imaginings, the lofty hopes, and holy aspirations the sleeper there had taken hence to Heaven—when I thought how fair the flowers are, how sweet the music, and how white are the angel’s wings in Paradise, I said in my heart—joy for thee, dear Mary Norrice! ”

“ Ellen approached the bed. Before her lay, though pale and motionless as in the cold embrace of death, a being of God-like impress. His jetty locks flung from his upturned face, fell in loose masses on his pillow, displaying a brow which bore the stamp of high and lofty intellect: while drooping lashes of the same dark hue, pressing so heavily on his marble cheek, contrasted strangely with the deathly pallor of his chiseled features, on which were marked deep furrows—not such as wrought by either time or care, but mighty convulsions of the soul! ”

“ It is the most lovely and retired spot in the universe for a “quiet dip.” And, reader, here let me inform you, that bathing in our American ponds, and bathing in the surf at the sea-side, are two different things. In the latter case you go habited in a night-gown, striped like a state’s-prison bird, and with many an “oh!” and “ah!” you feel your way over the moist cool sand. At length you see the tall wave lifting itself up like a rearing war-horse, and with silver-mane flashing, and azure-breast dashing, on it comes. ”

“ Within those jeweled gates, glistening and glowing in the light of the Father’s smile, we may enter, we may take to ourselves what shining gems we will, for, enriched as we shall be, the treasury will not be impoverished—the riches there are exhaustless as is the compassion of God.
Then why is it that we consume our years, our hopeful youth, our powerful manhood, our perfected age, in a search that never yet, in any case, has proved successful; hunting forever amid the sandy wastes of time for what is constantly eluding our grasp? ”

“ Buried in the gloom of the ravine, Harry Burton saw the prisoners pass, guarded by a strong band of the Tories. Marking their direction, he had in quiet awaited the coming of his comrade.
Our business now is with the scout. After he parted from his companion, he left the main route, and striking deeper into the forest, pursued his way for some time with as much rapidity as the nature of the ground would admit of, appearing to be guided more by instinct than reason, so well did he, amid the darkness of the dense wood, find out the different pathways and crossings of the forest. ”

“ The social hum of a thousand insects—the carol of the feathery songsters, warbling forth their richest strains from the topmost boughs, rousing the wood-nymphs from their mossy beds to mingle their wild music with the laughing brooks that gurgle at the shaggy mountain’s base—all, all shone forth with the unrivaled splendor of the primal moon, when Nature first, awaked by God’s command, burst forth from chaos!
Such was the scene—well suited to the gambols which a fairy child held with his guardian-angel as they played along the flowery meads, like cherub spirits in the fields of Paradise. ”

“ Kellogg then takes his hat and sneaks over to his office. Nirum hobbles to his shop—the justice closes his office door, the boys melt away, and the farce is over.
Twelve o’clock! time for the stage—so I’ll take a look at the hill. Sure enough, there is a pyramid of dust shooting up from its summit, and, in the midst, gleams out the crimson coach like a boiled lobster from the gray mist of its pot.
Down the hill whirls the dust, and soon we’ll see the machine upon the flat. Ah! here it is, spinning along at a great rate. ”

“ We are pleased with every thing—we smile at every thing—no thought of care is in our happy hearts. The world is Eden, with the angel Hope smiling us forward with her azure wings, and bidding us, with soft entreating tones, to enter in its pathways, whilst the gate, the pure white gateway, swings upon the post, shrouding our eye from all that is behind, and forcing us to dwell upon the soft and fairy picture that the future paints, to lure our steps in its delicious maze. ”

“ In yonder foaming, flashing stream, where the waves are lashed into sparkles, and the vast human crowd disports itself, all eager after the glittering baits which are flung skillfully upon the waters by the angler Fate; what a ravenous rush and endless jostle, for the particular bait that attracts each taste do we see. How temptingly—how alluringly does the fly float upon the water to each eye that it is designed to attract—how tame, how dead, how utterly unworthy of notice to all others. ”

“ Ashley was long lost in that first contemplation of the grand scene before him; his soul seemed born to a new life—a new world of beauty, and power, and dread, overwhelming sublimity.
The day was wondrously beautiful, and floods of sunlight were mingling with the waters, and pouring over that stupendous precipice; into the darkest deeps fell the fearless, glad sunbeams, sounding like golden plummets those terrible abysses. There hung the rainbow, and Ellen, as she gazed, remarked a wild-bird, who seemed sporting in the spray, pass through the illuminated arch, and become glorified in its midst ”

“ As heedless to the deepening twilight as she seemed to all else around her, the Lady Alice had proceeded further into the depths of the wood than was her usual custom, when she was suddenly aroused to the lateness of the hour by a scream from little Edwin, who, burying his face in the folds of her mantle, cried,
“O run, dear lady, run—bad men—ah, they will kill us!”
“What are you talking of, Edwin?” she answered, taking his hand—“who will kill us? We shall soon be at the Hall; fie, boy, are you afraid because the sun has set, and the old woods grown dark! ”

“ As the little one would tottle o’er some tiny shrub, the angel form with outstretched wing upheld him, and he rose unhurt, and onward ran, till charmed by the music of some little flower, he wondering stopped to pluck its shining blossoms, and as the golden petals of a buttercup were scattered in his grasp, the little spirit freed, beheld the rosy babe that erst had slumbered on the downy couch—the same sweet angel by his side. ”

“ What a flutter and a rustling of garments do we not hear, as the whole tribe, rushing over laws that the Christian loves, dash with hands clutching at the bait, even under the very horns of the altar. Do the eager eyes and panting hearts of that avaricious crowd give token of the soul sanctified and subdued—lost to all self—dead to all covetousness; or does the avidity of the chase, or the reckless thrusting aside of brother, give the looker-on an intimation that the divine law of loving one’s brother has ever regulated the dwellers in the muddy waters in which this bait is thrown? ”

“ At the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, his father took a firm and decided stand in the defense of the rights of the Colonists, and sealed that defense with his blood. He fell at the Siege of Charleston, bequeathing to his son the care of a mother. With the same bold and fearless love of his native land that distinguished his sire, young Seaton, on the receipt of this intelligence, hastened home from the little band of men to which he belonged, and bearing his mother to a place of safety, hurried to rejoin his comrades again. ”

“ Oh, Ellen! is not this a most enchanting prospect! How lovingly those little islands rest their grassy heads upon the tranquil bosom of the deep blue waters! And those distant sails—how like beings of life and thought they seem, gliding so gracefully over its glassy surface. Indeed, when one views this noble edifice—these cultivated gardens—this lovely prospect—and inhales the cool sea-breeze wafted from the bosom of the mighty ocean—instead of the abode of the poor, helpless and forsaken, he would suppose it the resting-place of some of the great from yon proud city ”

“ Where was his angel-guardian? Had that fled? Oh no, it hovered near, though shrouded; and on the wings of the winds was borne a prayer so sad, so mournful, that the angels paused in their songs of bliss around the throne of God.
The morning-sun beheld the poor boy gazing in speechless agony upon the cold, stiff form of his dead mother, while the little Amy, to whom death was a stranger, endeavored by every fond endearment, to awake her from that long, long slumber. ”

“ The east! solemn and mysterious spot in the wide heavens! how it sways, with its mighty influence, the whole human race.
Upon its brow did the splendid Star of the Nativity blaze out with its sudden glory, upon the astonished eyes of the shepherds upon the hill-side, and there was the group of angels unveiled to the cowering mortals who heard, as they shuddered upon their mother earth, the glad anthem of “Peace on earth—good-will to men,” pealing through the brightened heavens, and echoing even down to the dim, night-clad scene around them. ”

“ By the time we ascend the banks, thread the labyrinth of “Bates’ ” logging, and regain the road, the harvest-moon has risen. Snow white in the pearly twilight, she soon will deepen into gold, and then change into deep silver. Behold she changes even now, and the twilight deepens, and now the broad and magnificent moonlight reigns. Ah, how glorious! ah, how beautiful! A silver day is smiling, more soft, more delicate, more radiantly pure than the “garish” one that just went glittering out through the rosy portals of the west. ”

“ They who were weak in the faith required to have much before their eyes that living witness of the power of faith—the old man, who through so many years, even from his youth, had fought a most excellent fight.
During the loneliness of his exile, the marvelous Revelation was delivered to the veteran apostle. In a dreary island, uncheered by the sound of human voices, those aged eyes beheld the glory of the Lord revealed—saw the heavenly angel, heard the wondrous voice. It was there those mysterious shadowings of things to come, were given him to spread before all men. ”

“ Beholding under such circumstances a vision so wonderful, so miraculous, listening for the first time to a voice whose sound was like the rushing of many waters, it is neither a very strange thing, nor the slightest evidence of a want of entire confidence and faith in God, that John fell as one dead at the feet of the Son of Man, whose countenance was like the sun shining in his strength. ”