754 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
FORWARD. 
Shall this life of mine be wasted ? 
Shall this vineyard lie untilled ? 
Shall true Joy pass by untested, 
And the soul remain unfilled ? 
Shall the God-triven hours be scattered, 
Like the leaves upon the plain 1 
Shall tile blossoms die, uuwatered 
By the drops of heavenly rain 1 
Shall 1 see each fair sun waking’, 
And not feol It wake for mo ? 
Each glad morning brightly breaking. 
And not feel it break for me 1 
Shall I see the rosea blowing, 
And not wish to bloom as they; 
Holy fragrance round me throwing, 
Eure others on the way? 
Shall I hear the free bird singing 
In the Summer’s stainless sky, 
Ear aloft its glad flight winging. 
And not seek to soar as high ? 
Shall this heart still spend its treasures 
On the things that fade and die; 
Shall it court the hollow pleasures 
Of bewildering vanity ? 
Shall these lips of mine be idle; 
Shall I open them In vain ? 
Shall I not. with Sod's own bridle. 
Their frivollU restrain ? 
Shall these eyes of mine still wan er— 
Or no longer turned afar, 
Eix a firmer gaze and fou der 
On the bright and morning Star ? 
Shall these feet of mine, delaying. 
Still in ways of sin bo found. 
Braving Bnares, and madly straying 
On the world’s bewitching ground ? 
No, 1 was not born to trifle 
Life away in dreams or sin ; 
No, I must not, dare not stifle 
Longings such as these within 1 
Swiftly moving upward, onward. 
Let my soul In faith bo borne; 
Calmly gazing, skyward, sunward. 
Let my eye unshrinking turn 1 
Where the Cross, God's love revealing. 
Sets the fettered spirit free, 
Where it sheds its wondrous healing, 
There, my soul, Thy rest shall be ! 
Then no longer idly dreaming 
Shall I fling my years away; 
But, each preoiona hour redeeming, 
Walt for the eternity. [Bonar 
THE MOUNTAINS OF GOD. 
Some of the most sublime events in sacred his¬ 
tory are associated with the mountain scenery of 
Palestine. From the peaks and table-lands of 
these everlasting hills, these lofty sentinels of 
nature, many of the Divine laws were Imparted. 
on mount Ararat the ark rested after the wa¬ 
ters subsided, and on It Noah bullded an altar 
unto the Lord, and there the blessing of Eloblm 
rested upon the patriarch. 
On Mount Moriah Abraham offered his son in 
sacrifice, a striking type of the great offering be¬ 
yond ih&poiiicerlurn of.the Holy City. lie dedi¬ 
cated the place, and called it Jehovah-jlreh, 
“The Lord will provide.” 
From the rocky summits of Sinai Moses re¬ 
ceived the tables of the testimony, tables of stone 
written with the finger or God. 
Beyond the plains of Moab rises the mountain 
of Nebo, the top of which is known as Fisgah. 
Here the great lawgiver was permitted to view 
the land of Canaan, even unto the utmost sea, 
Including tbe valley of palm-trees In the plain of 
Jericho, a land figuratively flawing with milk and 
honey; and In a valley beneath this mountain, 
over against Beth-peor, this holy man «as burled, 
“ but his eepulchre is not known to this day.” 
Mount Carmel, which stands some two thou¬ 
sand feet above the Mediterranean Sea, was the 
theatre of Elijah’s triumph over the raise proph¬ 
ets, when tbe cry was elicited, “ The Lord Is the 
God; Jehovah is God.” 
Lebanon, with Its cedars and fir-trees and lux¬ 
urious vineyards, Is famous in sacred story. It is 
called “the good land beyond Jordan,” where 
the Lord promised “ t o make the place of His feet 
glorious." 
In the midst of the Holy City mount Zion rears 
Its eternal head, known in the song of Asaph as 
the dwelling-place of the Most High, where In 
after days it w»s ordained that lie should cut off 
the spirit or princes, and become terrible to the 
kings of the earth, for before His Son “ all gates 
should bo open; before illm the Iron bolts be 
broken, and the folding doors ot brass move.” 
Most beautiful Tor situation Is this mountain, 
the joy of the whole earth ; for God Is known m 
her palaces ror a sure refuge. 
Zion la also the picture of paradise, tbe final 
home of the traveler, the delight of the redeemed, 
the refuge after the great storm. 
On tile plains or Esdraelon, some few miles rrom 
Nazareth, la a rich country covered with trot s 
and odoriferous plants, 18 the Tabor of the gos¬ 
pel, where Jesus la said to huvo been transfig¬ 
ured, Ills lace beaming as the sua, and Ills gar¬ 
ments becoming white as light. A golden cloud 
soared above Him, ana out of this heavenly can¬ 
opy came the everlasting testimony, “ This is 
My Son, well beloved; hear Him.” 
A short distance east of Jerusalem Is tbe edge 
of Olivet, the mountain being separated from the 
city by the valley of Jotioshaptmt and the brook 
of Kedron. From Its top is a fine view or Jeru¬ 
salem and the Dead Sea. The Redeemer often 
withdrew to this place for retirement and repose. 
Here He wept over the doom of the city, and here 
it is supposed He ascended to heaven in the pres¬ 
ence ot his disciples, 
Northwest of Jerusalem, on the north side of 
mount Zion, is the elevation of Golgotha, the 
place of skulls, so called from Its resemblance to 
the form of a man’s head, or more likely because 
It was the place of state executions. 
Here the great scone of human history was en¬ 
acted, when at midday the sun rorused to impart 
light, the veil or the temple was rent In twain 
from the top to the bottom, the earth trembled, 
the stone slabs of the tombs were unseated, and 
the sleeping dead came forth and on the third 
day appeared In the Holy City. 
Here the l, Jah” “ Sfiuct "of Hebrew prophecy 
(“ I shall be the powerful ”) rendered up His life 
a ransom for many; and heio for ever concentres 
the story of Divine glory and human happiness. 
These mountains of Palestine may be called 
I the mountains of God, for on their summits Mo¬ 
ses received the law, and Christ made the sacri¬ 
fice. Their soil is hallowed, not as the walls or a 
temple that must crumble Into ruins, not as the 
enclosure ot the beloved dead, the boundary lines 
of which time will remove, but as the enduring 
places where God communed with man as friend 
speaketh to friend, an-J where the monuments ot 
His mercy and His love have been Immovably 
reared, “ which the decays or moral nature can¬ 
not vary, nor time vary with oblivion.” Holy 
spots are these, dear both to the devout Jew and 
to the pious Christian, for ever set apart to all 
those who love God and cherish His command¬ 
ments. n 
fafcbi| to to Honnii 
THE HANDLESS MAIDEN. 
A certain Miller had fallen by degrees Into 
great poverty, until he had nothing left but his 
mill and a large apple tree. One day, when he 
was going Into the torest to cut wood, an old man, 
whom he had never seen before, stepped up to 
him, and said, “ Why do you trouble yourself 
with chopping wood ? I will make you rich, it 
you will promise me what stands behind your 
mill.” 
The Miller thought to himself thatlt could be 
nothing but hls apple-tree, so he said “ Yes,” and 
concluded the bargain with the strange rnan. 
The other, however, laughed derisively, and said 
“After three years 1 will come and retch what 
belongs to me;" and then he went away. 
As soon as the Miller reached home, hl 3 wife 
came to him, and said, “ Tell me, husband, 
whence comes this sudden flow of gold into our 
house ? All at once every cheat and cupboard la 
filled, and yet no man has brought any In. I 
cannot tell how It has happened.” 
The Miller in reply, told her, " It comes from a 
strange lord, whom I met In the forest, wno 
offered me great treasure, and 1 promised hl y., 
In return, what stands behind the mill, for we 
can very well spare the great apple tree.” 
“Ab, my husband,” exclaimed hls wife, “It is 
the Evil Spirit whom you have seen; he did not 
mean the apple-tree, but our daughter, who was 
behind the mill sweeping the yard.” 
This Miller’s daughter was a beautiful and 
pious maiden, and during all the three years lived 
In the fear of God without sin. When the time 
was up, and the day came when the Evil One was 
to fetch her, she washed herself quite clean, and 
made a circle around herself with chalk. Quite 
early came the Evil One, but he could not ap¬ 
proach her; so, In a rage, lie said to the Miller. 
“ Take away from her all water, that she may 
not be able to wash herself, else have I no power 
over her.” The Miller did so, for he was afraid. 
The next morning came the Evil One again; but 
she had wept upon her hands, so that they were 
quite clean. Then he was baffled again, and la 
Ms anger said to the miller, “Cut off both her 
hands, or else I cannot now obtain her.” The 
Miller was horrified, and said. “ How can I cut 
off the hands of my own child?” But the Evil 
One preased him, saying “ If you do not you are 
mine, and I will take you yourself away!” At 
last the Miller promised, and lie went to the 
maiden, and said, “ My child, If 1 do not cut off 
both your hands, the Evil one will carry me away, 
and in my terror I have promised him. Now 
help me in my trouble, and forgive me for the 
wickedness I am about to do you,” 
She replied, “ Dear father, do with me what 
you will; I am your daughter.” 
Thereupon she laid down both her hands, and 
her father cut them off. For the third time now 
the Evil One came; but the maiden had let fall 
so many tears upon her anna, that they were 
both quite clean. Ho he was obliged to give her 
up, and after this 103t all power over her. 
The Miller now said to her, “i have received 
so much good through you, my daughter, that I 
will care tor you most dearly all your lire long,” 
Cut she answered, “ here I cannot remain; I 
will wander forth Into the world, where comoas- 
aionate men will give me os much as I require.” 
Then she had her arms bound behind her back, 
and at sunrise departed on ber journey, and 
walked the whole day long till night fell. At 
that time she arrived at a royal garden, and by 
the light of the moon she saw a tree standing 
Hi' re !)•'.. rag moit beautiful fruits, but she could 
nor (■: ter, r >r there was water an round, since, 
however she had walked the whole day with¬ 
out lasting a morsel, she was tormented by hun¬ 
ger, and said to herself, •’ Ah, would I were 
there, that 1 might eat of the fruit, else shall l 
perish with hunger,”so sho knelt and prayed to 
God, and all at onco an angel came down, who 
made a passage through the water, so that tho 
ground waa dry ror her to pass over. Toen she 
went Into the garden, and the angel with her. 
There she saw a tree full of beautirul pears, but 
they were all numbered; so she stepped up and 
ate one to appease her hunger, but no more. Tho 
gardener perceived her do It, but because the 
angel stood by he was afraid, and thought tho I 
of maiden was a spirit; so he remained quiet and 
he did not address her. As soon as Bhe had eaten 
to the pear she was satisfied, and went and hid her- 
se self under the bushes. 
The next morning the Ring to whom the gar- 
■ den belonged came down, and, counting tho 
rt pears, found that one was missing; and he asked 
lu tlie gardener whither It was gone. The gardener 
a ’ replied, “Last nlgnt a spirit came, who had no 
Jr hands, and ate the pear with her mouth.” The 
ra King then asked, "How did the spirit come 
through the water ? and whither did it go after it 
!y had eaten the pear ?” 
The gardener answered, “ One clothed In anow- 
c white garments came down from heaven and 
made a passage through the waters, so that the 
d spirit walked through on dry laud. And because 
i- It must have been an angel, l waB afraid, and 
1- neither called out nor questioned It; and as soon 
a as the spirit had finished tue fruit, she returned 
e as she came.” 
3 The King said, “ if it be as you say, I will this 
s night watch with you.” 
* as soon as It was dark the King came Into the 
garden, bringing with film a priest, who was to 
’ address tho spirit, aud all three sat down under 
' the tree. About midnight the maiden crept out 
rrom under the bushes, aud again ate with her 
: mouth a poar off the tree, whilst the angel 
1 clothed In white stood by her. Then the priest 
went towards her, and said, “ Art thou come Irom 
God or from earth ? Art thou a spirit or a human 
: being ?” sne replied, “ I am no spirit, but a poor 
maiden, deserted by all, save God alone." 
The King said, “If you are forsaken by all the 
world, yet will 1 not forsake you.” And he took 
; her with him to hls royal palace, and, because 
she was so beautiful and pious, he loved her with 
all Ms heart, and ordered silver hands to be made 
ror her, and made her hls bride. 
' After a year had passed by, the King was 
■ obliged to go to war, ao he commended the young 
Queen to the care of hls mother, and told her to 
write Mm word It tho crown should have an holr. 
Soon afterwards the old mother wrote a letter to 
her son, containing the Joyful newB. The messen¬ 
ger, however, rested on Ills way by a brook, and, 
being weary with his long journey, fell asleep. 
Then came the Evil One, who had always been 
trying to do some evil to tho Queen, and changed 
the letter ror another, wherein it was said that 
the heir was a changeling. As soon as the King 
had read this letter, he was frightened and much 
troubled; cevcrtneless, he wrote an answer to 
hls mother, that she should take great care of 
the Queen until hls arrival. The messenger 
went back with this letter, but on hls way rested 
at the same spot, and went to sleep. Then the 
Evil One came a second time, and put another 
letter In Ms pocket, wherein it. was said the Queen 
and her child should be killed. When the old 
mother recel veil this letter, sac was struck with 
horror, and conld not believe it; so she wrote an¬ 
other letter to the King; bat she received no 
other answer, tor the Evil One again placed a 
false lector In the messenger's pocket; and In 
Ms last it said that sho should preserve the 
tongue and eyes of the Queen for a sign that sho 
had iulfilled the order. 
The old mother was sorely grieved to shed In¬ 
nocent. blood, ao she causc-d a calf to be fetched 
by night, and cut out Its tongue and eyes. Then 
she said to the Queen, “1 cannot let you be killed, 
as the King commands; but you must remain 
here no longer. Go forth with your child Into 
the wide world, and never return here agalu.” 
Thus saying, she bound the child upon tho 1 
young Queon'a back, and the poor wife went 
away weeplug bitterly. Soon she entered a large 1 
wild forest, and there she fell upon her knees and 
prayed to God; and the angel appeared, and led 1 
her to a little cottage, and over the door was a ! 
shield Inscribed with the words, “Here may 1 
every one live freely.” Out ot the house came a 1 
snow-white maiden, who said, “ Welcome, Lady 1 
Queenand led her In. Then she look the Uttio 
child from the Queen’s buck, and gave it some £ 
nourishment, and laid It on a beautifully covered 3 
bed. Presently the Queen asked, " How do you 1 
know that I am a Queen?” and the maiden an- 1 
swered, “ I Htn mi angel sent from God to tend to 1 
you and your child." And in tills cottige she lived 1 
seven years, and whs well eared for, and through 1 
Gou’s mercy to her, on account of her piety, her 1 
hands grew again as before. 1 
Meanwhile the King had coroe homo again, and 1 
hls first thought, was to see hls wife and child. 1 
Then hls mother began to weep, and said, “ You r - 
wicked husband, why (lid you write to me that I t 
should put to death two innocent bouIs?” and, a 
Ffiowlng Mm the two letters which the Evil One <’ 
had forged, sho continued, “ I have done as you P 
commanded." Aud she brought him the tokens, d 
the two eyes and the tongue. Then the King he- t 
gan to weep so bitterly for hls dear wife and son 
that the oil mother pitied him, and said, “ Be s 
comforted, Bhe lives yeti I caused a calf to bo > 
slain, from which I took these tokens; but the fi 
child 1 bound on your wife's back, and 1 bade b 
them go forth Into tho wide world; and she prom- *v 
lsed never to return here, because you were bo d 
wrathful against her.” p 
“So far as heaven la blue,” exclaimed the tl 
King, “ 1 will go; and neither will I oat nor drink Is 
until I have found agalu my dear wire and child, oi 
If they have not perished of hunger by this time.’' 
Thereupon tho King set out, and for seven long 
years sought Mb wire in every stony cleft and 
rocky cave, but found her not; and he began to 
think she must have perlsho d. And all this time 
he neither ale nor drank, b it God sustained him. tl 
At last he came into a large forest, and found it 
there the little cottage whereon the suleld was 
with tho words, “ nere may every one ]1 vu freely.” at 
Out of the house came the white maiden, and sho st. 
took him by the hand; and, leading him in, said, it 
“Bo welcome, great King' Whence contest of 
thou?” bj 
He replied, “For seven long years have I lsl 
sought everywhere for my wife and child; but I 
have not succeeded." , m 
nd Then the angel offered Mm meat and drink, 
en but he refused both, and would only rest a little 
;r- while. So he laid down to sleep and covered hls 
face with a napkin. 
,r- Now went the angel Into the chambar where 
[io sat the Queen, with her son, whom she usually 
id called “Sorrowful,” and said to her, “ Come down 
or with your child: your husband Is here.” so she 
io went to where he lay, and the napkin fell from 
ie off hls face; so tho Quean said, “ Sorrowful, pick 
le up the napkin, and cover again your father’s 
it face.” The child did as he was bid; and the 
King, who heard In hls slumber what passed, let 
r- the napkin again rail from off Ids face. At this 
f j the boy became Impatient, aud said, “Dear 
0 mother, how can I cover my father’s face? Have 
>e I indeed a father on the earth ? I have learnt the 
a prayer, 'Our Father which art In heaven;’ and 
a you have told me my father was In heaven,—the 
d good God; how can I talk to this wild man? he Is 
not my father.” 
3 As the King heard this he raised himself up, 
and asked tho Queen who Ehe waa. The Queen 
, replied: “I am your wife, and this Is your son, 
Q Sorrowful.” But when he saw her human hand 3 , 
he said, “My wife had sliver hands. “Themer- 
. cifill God,” said the Queen, “has caused my 
r hands to grow again." And the angel, going Into 
! the chamber, brought out the sliver hands, and 
t showed them to him. 
Now he perceived that they were certainly Ms 
t dear wife and child; and be kissed them gladly, 
saying, •• a heavy stone is taken from my heart.” 
And, after eating a meal together with the angel, 
they went home to the Ktng’6 mother. 
Their arrival caused great rejoicings every¬ 
where : and the King and Queen celebrated their 
marriage again, and ever afterwards lived happi¬ 
ly together to the end of their lives. 
THE SINGING BONE. 
Once upon a time great complaints were made 
la a certain country of a Wild Boar, which laid 
waste the fields ot the peasants, killed the cattle, 
and often tore to pieces the inhabitants. The 
King promised a great reward to whomever 
should rree the land of this ptaguo; but the beast 
waa so big and strong that no ope durst venture 
In the neighborhood ot the forest where It raged. 
At last the King allowed It to be proclaimed that 
whoever should take or kill the Wild Boar should 
huve hls ouly daughter In marriage. 
Now, there lived in this country two brothers, 
the sons of a poor man, and they each wished to 
undertake the adventure; the elder, who was 
bold and brave, oat of prldo; the younger, who 
was innocent and ignorant from a good heart. 
They agreed that they might tho sooner find the 
Boar, that they should enter the forest on oppo¬ 
site bides; ao the elder departed in the evening, 
amlttie other on the following morning. When 
the younger had gone a short way, a little Dwarf 
slapped up to Mm, holdlDg a black spear In hls 
hnrid, and said, “1 give you this spear, because 
your heart Is Innocent and good; with It you may 
boldly attack the poar, who can do you noharm.*’ 
He thanked the Dwarf, and, taking the spear, 
went forward bravely. In a little while he per¬ 
ceived the Wild Boar, v'hlch ran straight at him; 
but he held the spear ln front of hls body, so that, 
In its blind fury, it rushed on so rashly that its 
heart was pierced quite through. Then he took 
the beast upon hls shoulder, and went home to 
show it to the Klug. 
However, Just as he came out on the other side 
of the forest, there Btood on the outskirts a house, 
where the people were making merry, dancing 
and drinking, Hls cider brother was amongst 
them, exciting hls courage by wine, and never 
thinking at all that the Boar might be killed by 
any other than himself, as soon, therefore, as 
he saw hia younger brother coming out of the 
forest laden with hls booty, Ms envious and ill- 
natured heart had no rest.. Still he called to him, 
“ Come In here, my dear brother, and rest, and 
strengthen yourself with a cup of wine.” The 
younger brother, suspecting no evil, went In and 
related hls story of the good little Dwarf, who 
had given him the spear wherewith ho bad killed 
the boar. The elder brother detained blm till 
evening, and then they went away together. 
But when they came In the darkness to a 
bridge over the stream, tho elder, letllng hls 
brother pass on before till bo came to the 
middle of the bridge, gave blm a blow whloh 
felled film dead. Then ho burled him In the sand 
below the bridge, and taking the Boar brought it 
to the King, representing that ho had killed It, 
and so received In marriage the Princess. He de¬ 
clared, moreover, that the Hoar had torn in 
pieces the body of tala younger brother, aud as he 
did not come back, everyone believed the tale 
to bo true. 
But, sinoe nothlug Is hidden from God’a sight 
so also this black deed at last came to light! 
Many years after, as a peasant was driving hls 
herd across tho brook, he saw lying In t ho sand 
below, a snow-white bone, which he thought 
would make a good mouth-piece. So he stepped 
down, took It up, and fashioned It Into a mouth¬ 
piece for hls horn. But as soon as he blew 
through It for the first time, to the great aston¬ 
ishment of the herdsman, tho bone began to sing 
of Itself: 
"My brother slow rno, and burled my bonas, 
Under the sand and under the Btones: 
I killed the Boar as be came from hls lair, 
But he wou tho prize of the lady fair.” 
“What a wonderful Uttio bone!” exolalmed 
the herdsmau; •* it sings of itself I I must take 
It to tho King,” 
As hood as became before the King It began 
again to repeat Its song, aud tho King under¬ 
stood It perfectly. So he caused the earth below 
tho bridge to be dug up, and t here all the bones 
of tho younger brother oumo to light. The wicked 
brother oould not deny the deed, and, for hls pun. 
lshment, lie was bowed up In a sack aud drowned. 
And the bones of the other brother were placed 
in a splondld tomb In the churchyard. Gkbjm. 
