The Vista Of Life.

on him aud made to peojile the globe with a countless offspring , who , inheriting the consequences of the fall from so high an estate , were thenceforth to be ranged under the banners of the great adversary f All seems to us so strangeand our eager

, curiosity tries to grapple with the stern realities around us , but it leaves us only one recourse , and that is to judge of the future by the present and the past . Life , at all events , when compared to the duration of timeis but a little length of

, days , which are soon passed over . 'Twas but a few short months ago that a lovely cherub was sent to cheer and lighten up a fireside ; full of life and health and all the charms of infancy , he was entwined around the very hearts of those to

whom he had been given , but as the wheels of time rolled on , there came again the days when the leaves began to turn from the lovely dream of summer to the gorgeous and brilliant hues which they assume before they are scattered by the autumnal gales j the roses filled the air with their dainty perfume and all nature seemed attired in its holiday dress , little dreaming

that a few more nights would bring the cutting frost which would remove their beauty for a season ; then came the silent message , and suddenly at the midnight hour the angels of the Most High bore that infant spirit to the abode of its Creatorand all that could be done was to

, carefully deposit the casket which contained the remains of so priceless a jewel beneath the sod of the valley . The bright and beautiful vision flitted as it were for a moment , and then , before it could make a trial of the turmoils of lifeit

dis-, appeared . How many of us , or we may well say , how few of us are to be found who have not gone through the same trying ordeal , and laid some little one away to quietly repose beneath the icy marble , and then as we planted the rose and the

bright green myrtle around it , softly murmured to ourselves whence came the little innocent ? Why stayed he so short a time , and whither has he disappeared ? We do not wait for an answer , for we know that be has crossed the river of life , and entered the realms of futurity . Speculation vainly endeavours to ascertain some good reason why so vast a proportion of

human life is blotted out and removed hence , so long before arriving at even the years of discretion . Youth , in its days of careless happiness , thinks but of the happy hours of the past and confidently looks forward to the enjoyment of like pleasures in the day of the future . With advancing

years , however , eomes the thought as to what was really intended to be the purpose of our being , and casting our eyes back over the vista of our lives , we find that the bright anticipations of our youthful days have rarely been realized , and our hearts are filled with sadness and regret that we have not been of more use in our

day ' and generation . As we look forward , we know only too well that when a certain hour does come , and the cold finger of death begin to close around us , and we are clasped in the deathly embrace of the great destroyer , it will then no longer be a question as to our antecedents ,

but our desire will be to know how they are going to culminate , our voyage will be ended , and we shall find ourselves among the swift rapids and the mighty waterfall stretched out before us ; the fatal plunge must be taken , and unless we have a higher power to assist us , we must be swallowed up in the raging waters .

He who made us and placed us here among His other creations , did it for good and wise purposes , and he has prepared for us not only the way , but also One who can and will guide us safely through the valley of death , and it is alone by His aid aud assistance that we can be safely

guided along and afterward arise regenerated and washed clean , by that dread ordeal which we will all be compelled to endure . Let us then endeavour to carry out the principles inculcated by the great lig hts ,

and we shall find that when the dream of life is over with us , that we can gaze back o ' er the years we have lived , and thank our Heavenly Father for having permitted us to spend even a few short years in this lower worldand hope that our

, days have not been spent in vain , but that we may have been the means of doing some good in our clay and generation . Baltimore .