see it here; these hills, this lovely glen, this river, this wilderness of flowers, and the music of your birds, and, above all, your dear selves; but all this, to Amy and me, would be luxurious indulgence. The human soul, with all its heights and depths, its rough, and deep, and discordant tones, and its sweet, immortal music, its deformities, and its deathless beauties, must be the field in which we labor. There we are apparently placed by our great Task-master, and there we think we shall find our happiness. I have an ambition which many will call romantic, but which glorious evidences have been given is not a chimera. It is, to prove that a merchant, yes, a money-making merchant, may be an imitator of Jesus, as truly and as faithfully as another man, in spite of the apprehended dangers and real difficulties that beset him on every side. This seems to me to be my mission. I have some notion that the travelling Samaritan, who, when the priest and the Levite turned aside, stopped to bind up the wounds of him who had fallen among thieves, was a merchant; and Amy and I have resolved to devote my surplus gains, with the help of God, to the good of our fellow-men. I have today, Roberts, been in your village; and what I have heard there has proved to me that your happiness here has arisen from the very same source. All had some story to tell me of your kindness, and of the efforts you make to do them good. While your words invite me to stay here, your example bids me go home, and imitate you in the sphere in which I am placed, only hoping that I may be as successful a laborer in the great vineyard." They bade each other a tender farewell. It was hard to part; but their visit had been most happy, and they promised to come again next year. - to Edward returned to his business with a new zeal for the accumulation of wealth, that he might be enabled to enjoy the luxury of changing tears of sorrow to tears of joy, and of helping to make barren, desert minds blossom like the rose kindle in the dead eye of him who was without hope, a light which should never be extinguished. All of his earnings beyond a certain sum, which he set aside for the support and real good of his family, he solemnly dedicated to works of beneficence; not to a useless and enervating almsgiving, but to intelligent, thoughtful, consistent methods to alleviate the sufferings of the poor, by enabling them to raise themselves to a dignified independence. He joined in every effort for the diffusion of knowledge and general education; and, above all, he gave his mind, his time, as well as his money, for the advancement of the great cause of human freedom — of a true Christian brotherhood throughout the world. In all these duties. and pleasures, Amy was his intimate adviser and efficient helpmate, his equal partner, his best friend. The fulfilment of this plan of life called upon them for much self-denial. There were many beautiful, many desirable things they relinquished for the sake of the higher pleasure, which they had chosen. They found so much peace and satisfaction in their choice, that it was apparent, that, with the good Vicar of blessed memory, "while some men gazed with admiration at the colors of a tulip, and others were smitten with the wing of a butterfly, so were they, by nature, admirers of happy human faces." |