43. THE JUST MAN. A JUST man is always simple. He is a man of direct aims and purposes; there is no complexity in his motives, and, thence, there is no jarring or discordancy in his character. He wishes to do right, and in most cases he does it; he may err, but in most cases it is by mistake of judgment, and not by perversity of intention. The moment his judgment is enlightened, his action is corrected. Setting before himself always a clear and worthy end, he will never pursue it by any concealed or unworthy means. 2. We may carry our remarks, for illustration, both into private and into public life. Observe such a man in his home, there is a charm about him, which no artificial grace has ever had the power to bestow; there is a sweetness, I had almost said, a music, in his manners, which no sentimental refinement has ever given. His speech, ever fresh from purity and rectitude of thought, controls all that are within its hearing, with an unfelt, yet a resistless sway. Faithful to every domestic trust, as to his religion and his God, he would no more prove recreant to any loyalty of home, than he would blaspheme the Maker in whom he believes, or than he would forswear the heaven in which he hopes. 3. Fidelity and truth to those bound by love and nature to his heart, are to him most sacred principles; they throb in the last recesses of his moral being, they are embedded in the life of his life; and to violate them, or even think of violating them, would seem to him as a spiritual extermination, the suicide of his soul. Nor is such a man unrewarded, for the goodness he so largely gives is largely paid back to him again; and though the current of his life is transparent, it is not shallow; on the contrary, it is deep and strong. The river that fills its channel glides smoothly along in the power of its course; it is the stream which scarcely covers the ruggedness of its bed, that is turbulent and noisy. 4. With all this gentleness, there is exceeding force; with all this meekness, there is imperative command; but the force is the force of wisdom, and the command is the command of love. And, yet, the authority which rules so effectually, never gathers an angry or an irritable cloud over the brow of the ruler; and this sway, which admits of no resistance, does not oppress one honest impulse of nature, one movement of the soul's high freedom, one bound of joy from the heart's unbidden gladness, in the spirit of the governed. 5. Take this character into public life. Place him before the people as the candidate for their legislative suffrages; he is there for no selfish ambition, and, willing to be most loyal to his country, he will be no traitor to his conscience. Place him in the legislative assembly to which these willing suffrages send him, he maintains inviolate the trust given to him; with a brave eloquence he maintains the rights of the citizens; with a grave dignity he maintains the privileges of the senator. Place him in the council of the executive magistrate, and no favor can win him, and no danger appal; indifferent to office and fearless of power, he will assert the highest right, and he will stand by it, whatever be the cost. 6. Place him on the bench of justice, no prejudice can approach him, no passion can move him. Nothing can ruffle the august placidity of his soul, except it be the stirrings of a gracious pity. Unmoved he sits, while all around him heaves; he listens not to popular clamor, he cares not for the scowl of power; and, while he is guardian, no corruption shall sully the fountain of justice, and no obstruction shall impede its stream. Place him in the presence of a tyrant; call upon him for his opinion, let life or death hang on the result, he will not speak rashly, but he will not speak falsely. 7. Let the tyrant cajole and fondle, it avails not; let the tyrant rail and threaten, it is still as vain; let wife entreat, let children hang upon his neck, let friends beseech, let multitudes implore, he meets affection with affection; he weeps while others weep; but, fixed as the rock in the ocean, the tempest may crash about his head, and the waves strike against his breast, his foundation based unchangeably on the centre of eternal right, his head majestically erect, gloriously lifted up to heaven, bends not before the shock, and his breast receives the tempest only to shiver it. 8. Place him in the dungeon; shut him in from the fair earth and the open sky; wrench him from the delights of home; let him be loaded with years; let him be enfeebled by sickness; let him be wearied with confinement; let life hang by the finest thread that ever held a spirit from its God,— the unwavering faith of a true man upholds him, and his hope remains undimmed, and his peace remains unbroken. 9. Call him from the dungeon to his doom, he goes rejoicing to the scaffold; he looks cheerfully on the axe; he faces death almost with gayety; he forgives his enemies; he pities his destroyers; he wishes good to all men; he gives a moment to silent prayer; he meekly lays his head upon the block;-then, there is the echo of a blow that sends a soul to heaven. This character is not imaginary; it is real, it is practicable. The original is Sir Thomas More, of England. GILES. 44. SUMMER HYMN. [Scheffler, who wrote under the name "Angelus," holds a distinguished rank among the poets of sacred subjects in Germany. The glories of sunrise, the soft radiance of the mellow moon, the tints of the spring flowers, the silvery stream, the notes of the nightingale, the sound of the lute in which he reads the reflected beauty of their Creator, have a peculiar and inexpressible carın, as in the writings of Angelus.] E ARTH has nothing sweet or fair, Lovely forms or beauties rare, But before my eyes they bring 2. When the morning paints the skies, 3. When the day-dreams pierce the night, Oft I think on Jesu's light; Think how bright that light will be, 4. When, as moonlight softly steals, 5. When I see in spring-time gay, 6. If I trace the fountain's source, 7. Sweet the song the night-bird sings, 8. Sweetness fills the air around, 9. Lord of all that's fair to see! 10. Let Thy Deity profound Me in heart and soul surround; 11. Come, Lord Jesus! and dispel To behold Thee as Thou art. FROM THE GERMAN OF SCHEFFLER. 45. THE CHRISTIAN PREACHER. ["The dignity and grandeur of the office of the Christian preacher have never been more eloquently described than in Lamartine's magnificent sketch of Bossuet."-POTTER.] OFF may reach upon earth, F all the eminences which a mortal the highest to a man of talent is incontestably the sacred pulpit. If this individual happens to be Bossuet-that is to say, if he unites in his person conviction to inspire the commanding attitude, purity of life to enhance the power of truth, untiring zeal, an air of imposing authority, celebrity which commands respectful attention, episcopal rank which consecrates, aye, which gives holiness of appearance, genius which constitutes the divinity of speech, reflective power which marks the mastery of intelligence, sudden bursts of eloquence which carry the minds of listeners by assault, poetic imagery which adds lustre to truth- -a deep, sonorous voice which reflects the tone of the thoughts-silvery locks, the paleness of strong emotion, the penetrating glance and expressive mouth-in a word, all the animated and well-varied gestures which indicate the emotions of the soul-if such a man issues slowly from his self-concentrated reflection, as from some inward sanctuary-if he suffers himself to be gradually, by excite ment, like the eagle, the first heavy flapping of whose wings |