Army and Navy herald. (Macon, Ga.) 1863-1865, March 30, 1865, Page 5, Image 5

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How may I teach my child Sincerity? That children are naturally indisposed to sincerity must be admitted. A propensity to dcceiye by word and act is among the bitter fruits of our common apostacy. ■'■The wJeked” saith the Psalmist, “ are, estranged from the womb ; they go astray as soon as they are'born, Idling lies." One of the first things observable in children is an ef fort to deceive. To exonerate themselves from blame, or fiee themselves from antici pated punishment,. th#y falsify their word, or cover up what truth and duty demand should be exposed. Very important, there fore, is it to prevent this—to nip this? evil propensity in the bud, and cultivate a frank, open, sincere disposition. How may this be done? I suggest four things : 1. Impress them deeply with the crimi nality and odiousness of insincerity. This may be done by reading and expounding to them portions of Scripture bearing upon this point, and making them commit to memory those portions of Scripture. 2. Always be sincere with them; never allowing yourself to deceive them in any particular, or for any cause. There is often a temptation on the part of the parents to do the opposite of this. It is often quite convenient to deceive a child ; but he who does it, does it to the child’s moral injury and his own guilt. lie teaches falsehood by example—the most effective of teach ing—and the pupil will most surely learn and practise deceit himself. 3. When your children commit an of fence and confess it, commend them for the confession, and forgive them the wrong done. 4. When you detect your child in a lie, invariably punisli him for it. Whatever other offence goes unpunished, let not this. If Jehovah regards lying as a crime, that parent who omits severe discipline in ease of falsehood, is certainly deserving of cen sure. Our Saviour tells us that he who lies bears Satan’s image. “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not iu the truth, because there is no truth in him.— When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.’’ And Jehovah hath said: ‘ All liars »hall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.” While the path of sincerity is straight and plain, and file sunlight of heaven rests upon it, and while it leads upwards to the home of God and truth, the paths of dis simulation are dark and crooked, and lead down to the abode of the prince of dark ness. ■ Can we he too careful that our child ren should be kept in the way of the bather of lights, and out of the tortuous, snaky course of the infernal serpent?— Mother’s Magazine. Comfort. When Dr. Watts was almost worn out and broken down by his infirmities, he ob served, in conversation with a friend : “ I remember an aged minister used to say, that the most learned and knowing Christians, when they come to die, have only the same plain promises of the Gospel for their sup port as the common and unlearned ; and so,” said lie, “ I find it. It is the plain prom ises of' the Gospel that are my support; and I bless God they are plain promises, that do not require much labor and pains to under stand them ; for I can do nothing now but look into my Bible for some promise to sup port me, and live upon that.” This was likewise the case with tiro pious and excellent Mr. Hervey. He writes, about two months before his death : “ I now spend almost my whole time in read ing and praying over the Bible.” And again, near the same time, to another friend: “ I am now reduced to a state of infant weakness, and given over by my physician. My grand consolation is to meditate on Christ; and I am hourly repeating those heart-reviving lines of Dr. Young: “ This —only this —subdues tlie fear of death. And what is this ? Survey the wondrous cure, And at each step let higher wonder rise [ I. Pardon for infinite offence ! —2. And pardon Through means that speak its value infinite! 3. A pardon bought with blood! —4. With blood divine. 5. With bl*od divine of him I made my foe! — 6. Persisted to provoke!—7. Though woo’d and aw'd, Bless’d and chastis'd, a flagrant rebel still! 8. A rebel 'midst the thunders of Bis Throne. 9. Nor I alone I —lo. A rebel universe 1 11. My ipeeies upin arms! —l2. Not one exempt! 13. Yet for the foulest of the foul He dies! 14. Most joy’d for the redeem’d from deepest gulf! 15. As if our race were held of highest rank, And Godhead dearer, as more kind to man.” A Day of Reckoning.— Men may cheer them selves in the morning, and they may pass on tolerably well, perhaps, without God at noon ; but the cool Qf the day is coming, when God will come down to talk with them.— Cecil. THE ARMY & NAVY HERA'LD. “ Enter into thy Closet.” „ We do not need to enter the closet in ! order to find the Lord. He is ever near to" us. But we enter it in order to escape from ! distractions, and in order to regain those ] associations, and, it may he. to surround | ourselves with those .mementoes which we | formerly found helpful to our prayers. One j who has great powers of may! take refuge from surrounding bustle in the j depths of his own spirit, and pass along the crowded streets in th* perpetual hermitage ! of his own self seclusion, undiverted and*! uadistracted by all that is whirling round him. But few have this talent of inward sequestration—this power to make a closet of themselves; and, in order to find for their thoughts a peaceful sanctuary, they must find for their persons a tranquil asy lum. It matters little where or what it is. Isaac wegfc cut into the field, and Jacob plied his night-long prayer beside the run ning brook. Abraham planted a grove, and, iu the cool shadow of his oaks at Becrsheba, he called on the name of the Lord. Abra ham’s servant knelt down beside his camel.. And it would appear from some of his psalms, thata*cave. a mountain fastness, or a cavern in the rocks, was David’s frequent oratory. Peter had chosen for his place of prayer the quiet and airy roof of his sea side lodging, when the messengers of Cor nelius found him. It would seem that the ope* air—the noiseless amplitude of the “ solitary place ” —the hill-side, with the stars above, and the shadawy world below— the fragrant stillness of the garden, when evening had dismissed the laborers, were the places where the Man of Sorrows loved to pray. It was in the old church of Ayr that John Welsh was wont, ail alone, to wrestle with the Angel of the Covenant.; find we have stood in the wild rock-cleft, where Peden found frequeit refuge from his persecutors, and whence he caused his cry to ascend “unto the Lord most high.” It docs not need four walls and a bolted door to make a place of prayef. Retirement and silence, and a sequestered spirit will create it anywhere. By the ahore of the sound ing sea—in the depths of the forest—in the remoteness of the green and sunny upland, or the balmy peacefulness of the garden bower—nay, amidst the dust of the dingy ware-room, or the cobwebs of the owlet haunted bars—in the jolting corner of the crowded stage, or the unnoticed nook of the travellers’ room, you have only to shut your eyes, and seclude your spirit, and you have created a closet there. It is a closet wher ever the soul finds itself alone with God.— “ Mount of Olives ” Dr. Stone. This eminent surgeon delivered a lecture on the treatment of wounds before a large audience of surgeons and .citizens in New Orleaus, on tha 30th ult. The True Delta’s reporter gives a synopsis of his re»iarks. which, for the benefit of the profession here, we publish : Dr. Stone confined himself principally in this lecture to wounds in the abdomen, and the course to be pursued in cases where the bowels have been punctured. He strong!v recommended the immediate use of opium, to be continued, so as to keep the patient in a perfect state of rest for seventy-two hours, iu order that the exudation of lymph might have an opportunity to unite the borders of the womb, or to attach them to the wall of the abdomen or the adjoining bowels. In case the patient was permitted ‘to toss rest lessly about, the excretions would in all probability be forced through tiie wound into the cavity of the body, and fatal inflam mation ensues. lie opposed the use of pur gatives, as attendant with some danger. The extensive experience of the lecturer ena bled him to cite numerous cases illustrative of his subject, which, added to the plain, practical manner in which lie argued the dif ferent points, made all clear to the most uninitiated mind. Dr. Stone also opposed the administering of liquors “brandy, whisky and other vile compounds,” to woun ded meu against their inclinations. He thought liquor might be used beneficially when the patieut really desired it, but as the result of his observation, he de clared that when it was forced upon him, the stomach of the patient revolted and it was thrown up. His policy had always been to foster and strengthen the stomach, in order that lost blaod and strength might be recovered as speedily as possible, and he began using beef tea and other nutritious articles as soou as possible. Beef teainjec- also beneficial in those cases. Such is the natural propensity of man’s heart to the way of the law, in opposition to Christ, that, as the tainted vessel turns the taste of the purest liquor put into it, so the natural man turns the very gospel into law, and would transform the covenant of grace into a covenant of works. Warning to the Impenitent. (From the Uidem Greet;.) Reflect dm that, divine grace which is held out to thee, to lead thee to salvation—that grace, O impenitent sinner ! which unceas ingly guards thee from destruction, and draws thee towards repentance —that grace which, if still despised, must ultimately be withdrawn. “ I have planted thee,” saith the Lord, “ like s vineyard—not in a trackless desert, nor in a rugged soil, but in a verdait spot. I caused thee to be born, not of Jewish or Mohainmadan, but of Christian parents, and to be nurtured with the milk of the Gospel. To guard thee from danger, I surrounded thee with a trench, built a tower, and fenced thee with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. | What could have been done more to my vineyard that. [ have not done in it? I looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it became wild, and brought forth | only thorns. Teachers, preachers, spiritual i guides ! judge now betwixt me and my vine- I yard ; decide regarding my long-suffering | and its ingratitude, and tell me what, after i sc much love, so much patience, 1 ought now jto do. This I will do. 1 will demolish the ; tower, and thieves will plunder it. I will i pull down tls* fence, and passengers shall 1 enter and trample it. 1 will command the , clouds of heaven not to rain unon it, and it ! shall benome de*>!fite'.” I Are not these terrible words by which | God threatens to abandon the impenitent, ! and to change his forbearance to indigna tion, and his patience into fierce anger?— | God so graciously calls to thee, waits for I thee, and thou despisest his proffered mercy? j Tha cord of God’s love draws thee towards repentance; but thou resistest with all thy might—the cord breaks, and thou tuinblest to perdition. God tenders thee all the trea •ures of gracs, and thou convertest them into treasure# of wrath. But strict retalia tion shall be thy punishment. Thou fer j gettest God-—he will forget thee. God entreats, and thou wilt not heed. Thou wilt implore, and God shali refuse to hear ! Bishop Meniates’ Servian. [lt is a remarkable circumstance, that the sermon, from which the preceding powerful extract is taken, was preached.in the eitv of : Nauplia, two or three years before the see i end Turkish conquest of the Morca, and that for upwards of a century the voice cf the Gospel ceased to be heard within the walls of Nauplia, the Turks having always prevented any Christian service in that place. The warning voice of the preacher seemed almost prophetic.] ! The Jews—-“A People Scattered” “ Their restless feet are pressing at thin very hour the snows of Siberia and the burning sands of the desert. Our friend ! Gobat found numbers of them in the elevt ’ ted plains of Abyssinia, eighteen hundred miles to the south of Cairo; and when : Denham and Clapperton, the first travellers that ventured across the gregt Sahara, ar rived on the banks of the Lake Tchad, they also found that the wandering Jew had pre ceded them there by many a long year. When the Portuguese settled in the Indian | Peninsula, they found three distinct classes : of Jews; and when the English lately took j possession of Aden, in the south of Arabia, 1 the Jews were more in number there than ! the Gentiles. By a census taken within I the last few months ia Russia, they amount | to two millions two hundred thousand; so j that their population in that immense em pire exceeds that of our twenty-two cantons. Morocco contains three hundred thousand, and Tunis one hundred and fifty thousand. In the one small town of Sana, the Capitol ; of Arabia Felix, they assemble together in | eighteen synagogues. Yemen counts two hundred thousand. The Turkish empire two hundred thousand, of which Constantinople alone contains eighty thousand At Brody, where the Christians, who are ten thousand in number, have only three churches, the Jews, twenty thousand in number, have one hundred and fifty synagogues. Hungary has three hundred thousand. Cracovie twenty-two thousand. In a word, it is im agined that, were all the Jews assembled together, they would form a population of seven millions ; so that, could you transport them into the land of their fathers this very year, they would form a nation more powerful and more numerous than our Switz erland.”—Prof. Gauzscn of Geneva. “Will you have some mustard?” asked some one, to a hungry soldier. “No, I thank you,” said the soldier, “I have ! been mustered enough to my hearts content, for ; the last four years.” - . Railing.— . There is no kind of revenge so poor aqd pitiful as railing; for every dog can bark : and he that rails, makes another noise 1 indeed, but not a better.— Dr. South. The Sabbath. BY MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY. The world is full of toil; It bids ihe traveler room, It binds the laborer to the soil The student to his home. The beasts of burden sigh, O'erloaded and opprest— Ihe Sabbath lifts its banner high, And gives ihe weary rest. Die worul is full of care ; The haggard brow is wrought In furrows as of fixed despair, And check and the heavenward thought; Rut witii indignant grace, The Sabbath’s chastening tone Drives money-changers from the place Which God doth call his own. The world is full of grief: Sorrows o’er sorrows roll, And the far hope that brings relief Doth sometimes pierce the soul. The Sabbath’s peaceful bound Bears Mercy’s holy seal— A balm of Gilead for the wound That man is weak to heal. The world is full of sin ; A dangerous flood it rolls, The unwary to its breast to win, And whelm unstable souls. The Sabbath’s beacon tells Os reefs and wrecks below, And warns, though gay the billows swell, Beneath are death and woe; There is a world, where none With fruitless labor sigh ! Where care awakes no lingering groan, And grief no agony ; Where Sin, with fatal arts, Hath never forged her chains, But. deep enthroned in angel hearts, One endless Sabbath reigns. Looking closely into tlie career of that most wonderful man, the great Napoleon, we shall find that his success depended in a great degree upon his power of infusing into the minds and hearts of his lieutenants and those around him, the stern, unyielding spirit of his own unconquerable will. Look at Massena, overwhelmed with numbers, shut up in Genoa with an army doopied to sacrifice for the public good, contending with the pestilence and famine, yet defend ing himself to the last extremity, and thus rendering possible the movements and combi nations which enabled Napoleon to finish Italian campaign by a thunder clap at Ma rengo! Look too, at Kleber, on the bur ning sands of Egypt. The English refused to ratify tiie treaty of the French. Kleber, the perfection of manly beauty—his noble countenance, expressing all the pride and energy of bis haughty soul—rides along the ranks of that devoted army.—“ Comrades!” says he, “we must fight ! They demand the dishonor of the array of Italy. My friends, treachery has left you in Egypt only the ground you stand upon—one step back ward, and you are lost!” But that “one step” was never taken ! Here’ on one sid# stood an army of ten thousand men, far from France, and cut off from all hope of succor. In their front stood an army of seventy thou sand men. But, ere the sun had set, that army of seventy thousand had been scattered like chaff before the wind, and the army of Italy had gathered fresh laurels on the plains of Heliopcilic. Such is courage—the gift to man ,of a God like power ! In the bands of.genius, it is a moral lever by which the world may be upheaved from its old foundations. Diffuse it through the hearts of a people, and they are unconquerable. Combine it with the sentiment of honor and patriotism, and shot and shell may tear the bleeding ranks of an army, but its march will still be onwards.”— Richmond Sentinel. Nature.—We arc for bringing to Christ; and that must not be. Not a penny of na. ture’s highest improvements will pass in heaven. When nature is hard put to it by guilt or wrath, it will fiy to its old haunts of self-right eousness, self-goodness, &c. Only God’s infinite power can cast down these strong holds. Nature would do anything to be saved rather than go to Christ alone, and close with him. Christ will have nothing; and -yet the soul will force something of its own on Christ. Nature cannot endure to think that the gospel is only for sinners. It would, if left to itself, rather choose to despair than jo to Christ upon such terms. It is a terrible stroke to nature to think of being stripped of all, and not to have a rag of duty or self-righteousness left t* look at. — Wilcox. Opinton or Others.—ls any slight, thee, be neither dejected nor provoked ; and do not val ue men according to their esteem of thee, but according to their true worth.— Adam. Fear God and keep Ilis oommandments. 5