and bloody. Wars are waged, persecution lights 
her fires, and the Inquisition slaughters her 
thousands, but to no avail. Truth, Justice 
and Right are victorious. Man begins again to 
attain his true dignity and to work out his true 
destiny. Free discussion is allowed, and inves¬ 
tigations are again resumed. Mau is permitted 
to 6tudy and emulate the noble spirits of past 
ages. Again literature and science shed their 
benign influence upon the world; and the pen, 
so long silent or wielded only to flatter and 
serve kings, is now used to enlighten and edu¬ 
cate the people. The recently invented printing 
press showers books upon the people, and dis¬ 
seminates knowledge among all classes. 
But Christianity began to exert other widely- 
felt and beneficent influences. By its lofty and 
high-toned morality, it overthrew the barbarous 
customs and usages o( the times, introduced 
laws, and taught respect and obedience to those 
great principles of Equality and Justice for which 
the nineteenth century is so truly distinguished. 
Working slowly and gradually, its power is less 
ostentatious than in the past, but it is none the 
less decisive. 
To Christianity, in fine, we are indebted for 
that superior civilization which is the crowning 
excellence of the age,—a civilization, not of one 
country or of one age, hut whose component parts 
have been excerpted from all pre-existing civili¬ 
zations,—one, grand and universal. 
Rochester, N. Y., June, 1865. 
CHRIST’S CALL TO THE SOUL, 
Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker 
THE SOUTH. 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
little bare feet. 
Faib Bonl, created in the primal hour, 
Once pure and grand, 
And for whose sake I left n>y throne and power 
At God’s right hand; 
By this sad heart pierced through because I loved thee 
Let love and mercy to contritiou move thee. 
Cast off the sins thy holy beauty veiling, 
Spirit divine 1 
Vain against thee the hosts of hell assailing, 
My strength is thine l 
Drink from my side the cup of life immortal, 
And love shall lead the path to heaven’s portal. 
I, for thy sake, was pierced with many sorrows, 
And bore the cross. 
Yet heeded not for the galling ol' the arrows, 
The shame and loss. 
So faint not, then, whate’er the burden be, 
But bare it bravely, even to Calvary. 
[Savanarola. 
BT ELIZABETH BOUTON. 
BY BELL CLINTON 
I stand beneath soft southern skies. 
And southern airs about me blow; 
A southern river gently winds 
Beneath me with its silvery flow; 
A southern city’s graceful spires 
From masses of rich foliage rise; 
And nature spreads ten thousand charms 
Where'er I tarn my ravished eyes. 
But oh l these balmy southern aira 
Come laden with the sounds of strife, 
From fields where fratricidal hands 
Are raised against the nation’s Life. 
And this fair river'e banks have looked 
On scenes the saddest earth may know. 
And its gleaming waters mingled 
With blood of martyrs in their flow. 
O. America' My country 1 
Will thy life-blood cease to flow— 
And thy mothers, 'mourning Raohels, 
Comfortless no longer go ? 
Will this land God made so lovely, 
Cease war’s gloomy pall to wear? 
And horrid scents from fields of battle 
Taint no more its summer air 5 
War’s sombre clouds dose darkly round us. 
We smart beneath the avenging rod, 
But Victory with Peace must crown ns, 
Since right is right and God is God. 
Yes, a better day i9 dawning 
On the noble land we love, 
Already breaks its glorious morning 
Through the cloven rifts above. 
Nashville, Tenu. 
Little white feet! 
Running along o’er the carpet, 
Bearing rosy cheeks aglow— 
Out in the grass and t he sunshine, 
They trippingly come and go. 
Tender white feet! 
Crushing violets and mosses. 
Avoiding the Stony street; 
Pebbles and briars treat roughly, 
At first, the little bare feet. 
Roving white feet! 
Down in the daisied meadow 
Chasing the butterflies gay, 
Then, in the dirt by the roadside, 
Turning their heels in the clay. 
Tired little feet! 
Traveling home at the sunset, 
Ready a scrubbing to meet, 
Hardened and brown, are becoming 
The once little white bare feet. 
Soiled little feet! 
So too the hearts of the children, 
Tender, and pure as the snow. 
Like them, are unsullied no longer, 
When out in the world they go, 
Chenango Co., N. Y. 
clothed and schooled. She must be father and 
mother both, now; must henceforth fight the 
battle of life alone. And nobly is she doing it. 
By day, the sound of the loom is heard; and far 
into the night her busy needle (the executioner 
of so many women) plies wearily to and 
fro. Her housekeeping duties are not neg¬ 
lected—her home is a pleasant one, and her 
countenance wears the serene expression of one 
who is conscious of right-doing. 
This is the work of a refined and delicate 
woman, one on whom once the “winds of 
heaven were not allowed to blow too roughly,” 
who now, however, setting aside all false deli¬ 
cacy, earns with her own hands the daily bread 
of her family, husbanding her little property for 
the thorough education of her children. 
There is a heroism in her self-denial, a heroism 
in her devotion to her family, a heroism in her 
readiness to do with her might, whatever her 
hands find to do, that is worthy of all honor. 
This is only one instance out of many of the 
heroic natures that the war has developed; only 
one out. of countless heroic lives that will for¬ 
ever, except in rare instances, remain unwritten 
and unsung. They may be unnoticed or forgot¬ 
ten by men, but hereafter they shall be written 
in letters of living light, far outshining deeds 
that arc proudly emblazoned on the pages of 
History. These are the true heroic souls, that 
“Know how sublime a thing it is 
To suffer and be strong: ” 
that withe at hope of glory, without a hope of a 
reward L re, are silently and surely sowing seed 
that sha' spriug up and bear lruit after many 
days. L arn of them that brave deeds are done 
far awa-v from hard-fought fields, and that blood¬ 
less vie ories are daily won, that God and the 
angels stoop to see ! S. Amelia. Gibbs. 
Written lor Moore’s Rural New-Yorker, 
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE. 
Among the many commands which our Saviour 
gave to his followers in the 6ermon on the 
Mount, was this:—“ Let your light so shine be¬ 
fore men, that they may see your good works, 
and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” 
There is no Christian in the world but that 
has been painfully conscious, at times, that his 
motives were misconstrued and his acts adjudged 
as evil, when he felt himself innocent of wrong¬ 
doing. We believe thatfnuch, if not all of this 
kind of error, is owing to a want of proper re¬ 
gard for the command weliavc mentioned. The 
whole duty of the Christian comprehends not 
only that lie should possess the spirit of his 
Master, and that his acts should be prompted by 
that spirit, but also that his good works should 
be manifest. Many Christians seem to have re¬ 
versed the order of this command in their lives, 
and strive to let their good works so shine that 
their light may be perceived by others. Many 
persons, too, let their light so shine before men 
that they see only their bad works; and far too 
many seem to have nothing but light, and no 
works to be seen, in whatever manner they let 
it sliine. 
The Christian should ever bear in mind that 
he is a wllnm for Christ. He ought not only 
to speak the truth, but he ought also to speak 
it in such a manner as that it will be believed. 
His testimony Is worse than mockery, if he 
professes love for Christ and acts flagrantly in 
violation of His commands. He should not 
only have the cause in hi6 heart, but he should 
have a heart in the cause- He should let his 
light shine in such a manner before men, that 
they may see his good works,—not for his own 
glory or fame, but that men may glorify his 
Father which is in Heaven. 
As a general rule, if we are honest and right 
at heart, we will be so regarded. But we are so 
weak and so prone to be influenced by improper 
motives, that we cannot safely trust the natural 
impulses of our hearts. A very little evil will 
conceal much good from the eyes of men. The 
world is more sensitive to perceive hypocrisy 
in Christians thau Christians arc to perceive it 
In each other. A man who Is really a Christian 
may be so careless of the manner in which he 
lets his light shine, that he may be of Incalcu¬ 
lable injury to the cause of his Master. Some 
Christians plume themselves before men on the 
possession of light: such persons fail to exhibit 
their good works. Some Christians thrust, their 
ABOUT “LITERARY STYLE 
“Among the pleasures of a short residence in 
Guilford, Ct., was an acquaintance I formed 
with Fitz-Green Halleck, the author of ‘ Marco 
Bozarrio.’ 
“ Meeting him one day in the street, he stop¬ 
ped me and said:—‘Hearn that you are going 
to be a minister, I want you to call upon me. 
I wish to read you a sermon, that I deem a model 
for men of your profession.’ 
“I promised to call, and the next morning I 
wont to the poet’s house and was shown into the 
sitting-room, where the poet bade me welcome. 
He beckoned me to a chair, and then took down 
from the 6hulf a volume, and began to read in 
that sonorous, dreamy, uudulatorv tone of voice 
so peculiar to him. The volume was 1 Charter’s 
Sermons.’ (Charter was a Scotch preacher, loca¬ 
ted at Wilton, Scotland.) 
“ The poet read from a sermon on the text, 
‘I would not live always.’ He read until the 
tears gathered into his eyes and coursed down 
his cheeks. He finished the sermon, laid aside 
the book and asked, ‘How do you like it?’ 
‘ Very much,’ was my reply. Said he, * That 
sermon is what I call a perfect poem.’ I then 
ventured to remark, ‘Its great charm, in my 
opinion, is its simplicity. Many of the senten¬ 
ces, I notice, are composed wholly of mono¬ 
syllables.’ 
“ * I think so too,’ said Halleck, ‘ and that re¬ 
minds me of an incident that came under my 
observation while In New York. While there a 
letter fell into my hands which a Scotch servant- 
girl had written to her lover. Its style charmed 
me. It was fairly inimitable ; I wondered how, 
in her circumstances in life, she could have ac¬ 
quired so elegant and perfect a style. I showed 
the letter to some of my literary friends in New 
York, and they unanimously agreed that it was a 
model of beauty and elegance. I then deter¬ 
mined to solve the mystery, and I went to the 
house where she was employed, and asked her 
how it was that in her humble circumstances in 
life, she had acquired a style so beautiful that 
the most cultivated minds could but admire it. 
‘ Sir,’ 6lie said, 1 1 came to this country four years 
ago. Then I did not know how to read or write. 
But since then I have learned how to read and 
write, but I have not yet learned how to spell; 
so always, when I sit down to write a letter, I 
choose those words which are so short and sim¬ 
ple that I am sure I know how to spell them.’ 
There was the whole secret. The reply of this 
simple-minded Scotch girl condenses a world of 
rhetoric Into a nut-shell. Simplicity is beauty. 
Simplicity is power. 
”1 would that every man could read this anec¬ 
dote. How many words, how much bombast, 
would this principle, here inculcated, eliminate 
from ambitious sermons and addresses.” 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker, 
HEROIC DEEDS. 
At last, from her baptism of blood, the Nation 
has arisen purified. At last the chains of the 
oppressed and bondmen have been broken. 
God has accomplished his own work in his own 
good time; and now commences a new era in 
the National life. The brave defenders of our 
flag by land and sea, they who have followed it 
through the weary march and the fiercest shock 
of battle, they who have borne for its sake hun¬ 
ger and thirst, who have for years, been houseless 
homeless, who have suffered in the camps and 
in the hospitals, who have stood firmly at. their 
post in times danger, looking Death in the 
very face, at last are coming home. 
Coming home! — where the story of their 
daring deeds shall be told from lip to lip, and 
handed down from father to son for generations 
to come. Home! — where cheeks kindle to a 
deeper glow, aud eyes grow misty, sparkling 
through tears, at the hair-breadth ’scapes of the 
soldier-hero. 
Bat softly, brothers! Ye are not the only 
doers of heroic deeds. Yours are not the only 
lives on which should be written 11 stete viator” 
pleading for a moment’s notice in the whirl aud 
din oi life. Your strong arms are not the only 
ones that bear the scars of battle. 
Side by side with you, in the hearts of the 
people, stand the widows and orphans of the 
martyrs of the war — the comrades you have 
left behind in soldiers’ graves. Who can tell of 
their long agony, when their homes were left 
unto them desolate? Who shall cease to rever¬ 
ence their heroism in taking up the burden of 
life in earnest, and winning for themselves 
exemption from want ? 
Ye, who faced death in the field, had all the 
excitements of the hour, “the pomp and cir¬ 
cumstance of war; ” the souud of martial 
music and the tread of armed hosts combined to 
inspire the soul with courage. But the army of 
silent watchers in the Northland had only the 
daily routine of home duties, made harder by 
the absence of the strong arms and willing 
hands that were wont to lighten every care. 
Truly has Mrs. Browning written: 
“ Heroic males the country bears — 
But daughters give up more than sons; 
Flags wave, drums beat, and unawares, 
You flash your souls out with the guns, 
And take your Heaven at once.” 
" Bat we! — we empty heart, and home 
Of life’s life, love! We bear to think 
You're gone, — to feel yon may not come, — 
To hear the door-latch stir and clink, 
Yet no more you! —nor sink.” 
I have in tuy mind now one instance of this 
unwritten record of the war; only one drop 
from the river of sorrow that has swept like a tor¬ 
rent over our Northern land; only the struggle 
of one New England mother among the thou¬ 
sands who are now in the deep waters of 
affliction. 
It was hi the autumn of 1861, I believe, that a 
military company was raised in the little village 
of E. Among the first to go was Lieut. H, 
leaving behind a wife and three little ones to 
keep the homestead bright and homelike until 
his return. Letters came aud went, and loviDg 
hearts looked forward to the time when insult 
to the old Hag (a thousand times more sacred in 
their eyes, since for its sake lie had gone forth 
to battle,) should be avenged. They looked 
forward hopefully to the time, when 
“ Beside our fierce war eagle 
The dove of peace should rest, 
And in the cannon's brazen mouth 
The sea-bird build her nest,” 
and they could shout the “ welcome home! ” to 
their soldier-hero. How fond hearts heat in that 
little home, as the wires flashed through the 
lan d the tidings “ a great battle has been fought 
and how they trembled over the long lists of the 
killed and wounded, until they knew his name 
was not there! At last c me the news of 
another hard-fought field. The 11th was there, 
they knew, but for some reason the list of 
casualties is delayed. The agony of suspense 
seems worse than the certainty cd bereavement 
could be —but at last it comes. How the lips 
of that little circle blanch as they rcud the list 
of the killed! Thank God, his name is not 
there! Wounded, — his name is not among 
them. Missing, — Lieut. H. Missing!—more 
Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker. 
THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY UPON 
THE RIGHTS OF MAN. 
In all ages of the world’s history, Religion 
has been among the most prominent causes of 
the various changes in man’s condition. The 
religious is perhaps the strongest element in 
man’s nature, and it exhibits itself alike in rude 
or cultivated times. In barbarous and Ignorant 
periods, it led nations into religious wars for 
insufficient reasons; while in civilized times, its 
power, though less demonstrative, is yet as 
deeply felt aud as universally manifested. It is 
a source of union 
THE CHEERFUL VOICE 
The comfort and happiness of home and home 
intercourse, let me here say, depend very much 
on the kindly and affectionate training of the 
voice. Trouble, care and vexation will and must, 
of course, come; but let. them not creep into 
our voices. Let only our kindly and happier 
feelings be vocal in our homes. Let them be so 
if for no other reason than for the little children’s 
sake. These sensitive little beings are exceed¬ 
ingly susceptible to the tones. Let us have con¬ 
sideration for them. They hear so much that 
we have forgotten to hear. For as we advance 
in years oar life becomes more anterior. We 
are abstracted from outward scenes and sounds. 
We think, we reflect, we begin gradually to deal 
with the past as we have formerly vividly lived 
in the present. Our ear grows deaf to exter¬ 
nal sound: it is turned inward, and listens 
chiefly to the echoes of past voices. We catch 
no more the merry laughter of children. We 
hear no more the note of the morning bird. 
The brook that used to prattle so gaily to u~, 
rushes hy unheeded; we have forgotten to hear 
such things. But tittle children remember, sen¬ 
sitively hear them all. Mark how, at every 
sound, the young child starts, aud turns, and 
listens’ And thus, with equal sensitiveness, does 
it catch the tones of human voices. How were 
it possible that the sharp and hasty word, the 
fretful and complaining tone, should not startle 
and pain, even depress the sensitive little beiDg 
whose harp of life is so newly and delicately 
strung, vibrating even to the gentle breeze, and 
thrilling sensitively ever to the tones of such 
voices as sweep across it ? Let us be kind and 
cheerful spoken, then, in our homes .—Once a 
Month. 
binding together in one 
society men ol otherwise discordant sentiments, 
and uniting them in the pursuit of one great 
object. It is a great levoler — subjecting all 
alike to the same process for redemption and 
holding out to th in the same hopes of hap¬ 
piness in ti e future. Though other causes 
have combined 4th religion in freeing man 
from ignorance a ad oppression, it has always 
given rise to the first desires, and directed the 
first attempts toward liberty, by teaching man 
those cardinal principles and doctrines that 
underlie and form the foundation of a Free 
Government. 
The influence of Christianity upon the rights 
of man cannot better be shown than by review¬ 
ing the state of society throughout Europe pre¬ 
vious to ihe Reformation and the changes 
wrought thereby. 
At the revival of letters in the Sixteenth cen¬ 
tury, the 6tate of society throughout Europe 
was debased and degraded. Ignorance and 
superstition had thrown a dark pall over church 
and state. Few even of the wealthy classes 
could read or write, and the Bible was forbidden 
to be used, save by monks and priests. Man’s 
innate superstition was fed with lies, the most 
ridiculous and absurd that'could "be invented. 
Not only were the people ignorant and supersti¬ 
tious, but they were oppressed’and degraded. 
The inalienable rights of “life, liberty and the 
pursuit of happiness ” were utterly disregarded. 
Arbitrary laws were arbitrarily enacted; and 
death, which should be the punishment for L’.ch 
offenses only, was inflicted for trlv I ar m im¬ 
portant offenses. Meanwhile, the penalties lor 
murder and homicide were remittcd'by the pay¬ 
ment of money, and spiritual indulgences for 
the commission of the worst of crimes were 
unblusbiogly bought and sold. Sovereigns were 
unrestrained by those salutary checks that con¬ 
stitutional law and popular representation have 
now thrown around rulers, and all the evils that 
follow in the train of unlimited despotism were 
fully experienced. 
But tue picture, in all its hideous features, is 
not yet complete. The masses were not only 
ignorant and oppressed, but Religion itself was 
diverted from its true ends, and made the active 
participant in temporal despotism. The Romish 
church, the fountain, at thut time, of the Chris¬ 
tian religion, pure at first, becamu corrupt, and 
gushed forth its poisoned waters throughout all 
Europe, blighting and destroying everything in 
their course. Not content with spiritual author¬ 
ity, Rome, for a long period, had exercised tem¬ 
poral despotism. She had dictated policies and 
embroiled independent sovereignties in disas¬ 
trous wars. Wilder her pretended power to for¬ 
give sins, she sold her indulgences aud wrung 
thereby money from the people to build her 
cathodrals. As custodian of the literature of the 
ancients, she kept the people in ignorance; as 
spiritual guide, she steeped them in supersti¬ 
tions; nnd when men laughed at her lollies, and 
opposed her usurpations, she issued her “ Bulls,” 
and thundered forth her anathemas. Bribery 
and murder often determined the infallible suc¬ 
cessor of St. l’ETER. 
Every evil, however, has its remedy, aud 
excess of corruption often works its own 
cure. The Reformation, long needed, occurs 
in the fullness of time to correct these abuses 
and restore true religion. The contest is long 
Balsam of Wedlock. —The Arabs possess a 
wise practice in proceeding for divorce. When 
married people seek a separation, the Cadi or¬ 
ders them to live for some time with a discreet 
and austere man of the tribe, that the latter 
may examine their life, and see on which side 
the blame lies. The elderly man makes a re¬ 
port at the expiration of the appointed time, 
and this report is the foundation on which the 
Cadi buihls his judgment of divorce. Experi¬ 
ence has demonstrated that there is no better 
method of restoring peace In families. The 
husband and wife, put thus upon their good be¬ 
havior, resume the manners of court days. Each 
strives to be more amiable than the other, to 
convince the “elder of Israel” that it is not this 
one’s fault if the honeymoon changed its quar 
ter. Old love is awakened, and the pair that 
went to the approved man’s tent snarling like 
cat aud dog, return home cooing like doves. 
CHANCE CHIPS 
Thinking is very far from knowing the truth. 
Take your wife’s first advice, not her second. 
Some persons, as if writing a physician’s pre¬ 
scription on a glass of medicine, tell us in what 
doses, in what spoons, and at what hours, beau¬ 
tiful nature should be taken. 
Milton was asked:—“How is it that in 
some countries a king is allowed to take his 
pluce on the throne at fourteen years of age, but 
may not marry until he is eighteen?” “Be¬ 
cause” said the poet, “it is easier to govern a 
kingdom than a woman.” 
Many of our you’ll arc stuffed so full iu the 
beginning, by their philanthropic teachers, with 
the frultn of knowledge, that they come soon to 
desire only the honey thick extracts, then the 
cider and perry thereof, until at last they ruin 
themselves with the brandy made ol that. 
Men should ever study to know their daily 
duty according to the requirements of Christ 
rather than to pry into the hidden mysteries ol 
God. Metaphysical religion is unprofitable to 
the saving of souls; theological speculations are 
barren of converts. Salvation comoth of Christ 
alone. 
To be yourself, strictly yourself, is one-half 
the battle. Differ, rather than always subscribe. 
On the corner-stone of that fabric which we en¬ 
title manhood is engraved the monosyllable— 
No. He who early learnB the use of that inval¬ 
uable word, has already learned the way to 
peace, comfort and safety. An easy compliance 
frustrates everything. Respect for others need 
not degenerate into servitude. 
SOBER SABBATH THOUGHTS, 
The creature could uever lament the dispen¬ 
sations of the Creator if he understood them; 
therefore, the measure of your grief is also the 
measure of your iguorauce. 
God never forgets any labor of love; and 
whatever it may be of which the first aud best 
portions have been presented to him he will In¬ 
crease and multiply seven-fold. 
Prayer is an exercise which has thu property 
of incorporating itself with every other, not only 
not impeding it, but advancing it. There la no 
crevice so small at which devotion may uot 
slip in. 
He that prays out of custom, says Jeremy 
Taylor, or gives alms for praise, or affects to be 
counted religious, is but a Pharisee in his devo¬ 
tion, and a beggar in his alms, and a hypocrite in 
his fast. 
So long as you see one star iu the sky tho sun 
is uot risen; so long as one leak admits the 
water, the 6hip is uot safe; so long as one sin 
remains in a man’s heart aud is practiced in 
his life. Jesus is neither his Saviour nor his 
Scorned by a Woman. —Mre. Keitt of South 
Carolina, wile ol the ex-Congressman from that 
State, who was killed in the rebel army, what¬ 
ever she may think of Yankees, has evidently 
reached at last, a correct estimate of the mean¬ 
ness of a few of her quondam friends of the 
chivalry. Sherman’s “bummers” paid her a 
visit. A party of them were walking off with a 
lot of female apparel, when Mrs. K. addressed 
them:—“I wish yon would leave them to me. I 
have enough for myself, but I would like to 
keep those hoop-skirts for some of the Southern 
men who brought us into this war, and iusteao 
of taking their part in it, as they promised, are 
now hiding away from the Yankees in the 
swamps aud canebmkes.” This touching ap¬ 
peal moved the hearts of thu “bummers,” who 
immediately deposited the hoop-skirts where 
they had tound them, with the understanding 
that they would be used for the express purpose 
named by the Southern widow. 
