YOUTHFUL ASPIRATIONS. 305 



changed, until he can fathom the designs of God ; till he 

 can create a planet, and send it on its everlasting round ; 

 till he can place a star in the firmament ; till he can breathe 

 upon a statue, the workmanship of his own hands, and be 

 obeyed when he commands it to walk forth a thing of life ; 

 till he can dip his hand into chaos and throw off worlds. 

 The ' cold storms of winter ' are essential to the enjoyment 

 of the brightness and glory, the genial sunshine, the pleasant 

 foliage, the blossoms and the odors of spring. They have 

 their uses, and chill and dreary and desolate as they may be, 

 they are parts of an arrangement ordered by infinite good- 

 ness and omnipotent wisdom. 



" ' I should like to be a big strong man like father is !' 

 How like a boy was this ? Thirsting for the strength, the 

 might and power of manhood ! And this is the aspiration 

 of the young heart always ; to be mature, strong to grapple 

 with the cares, and wrestle with the stern actualities of life. 

 How little of these does childhood know I How little does 

 it calculate the chances, that when, in the long future, it 

 shall have attained the full strength and maturity of life, 

 when manhood shall be in the glory and strength of its 

 prime, and it looks forward into the dark cloud beyond, and 

 backward into the bright sunshine of the past, the aspira- 

 tion, the hope will change into regret, and the yearning of 

 the heart, speaking from its silent depths, will be, ' would I 

 were a boy again I' " 



