"GOD REST THEE, WEARY TRAVELLER."

Albertland Gazette, Issue 1, 14 June 1862, Page 1

"GOD REST THEE, WEARY TRAVELLER."

So spake a worn pilgrim, days bygone, as he passed a pilgrim-brother bound for Palestine. And so may we, pilgrim-friends that we are, say one to the other, as we tread these decks, counting the slow moments which bear us away toward the land of our future homes. Rest thee, O father of sons and daughters, after thy days and nights of care! Rest thee, O anxious mother, after thy-many tears! God rest ye, brothers and sisters all, now that the burden of

your first great resolve is lightened—now that your first wave of sorrow is overpast. But this rest-season will be, to the wise, a tranquil preparation-time for noble and manly action, days hence. For God hath so ordered our workaday life that flesh and spirit should ever find employ; and whatever interlude be given is but to renew them for fresher effort. Else, why the blessed intermissions of sleep, the seeming blanknesses of the chamber of pain, and the whole catalogue of pauses which break in upon our activities, often when least expected? There is meaning and purpose then, in this rest time of ours. Would we hear a voice speaking to us the while? Hear, then:—"Ye are not?, as yet, come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you....But when ye go over Jordan then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there....And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households..... The Lord God hath set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers hath said unto you: Fear not, neither be discouraged." Nevertheless, as in the days of old, there must needs be many sighings and murmurings ere the promised land be sighted. God give us quiet hearts, patient hope, lofty faith, and the calm enthusiasm of the past to look on and await "the day of Jubilee" which is yet to dawn. Let the strong fortify the feeble knees. May the leaders of our people be themselves foremost in all the works of endurance. Far be the thought that any of our number should be bowed down with present privations, or fall into listless indifference concerning the labours, the sweet content, and the path of glory which lie beyond. Like men we wait, and if need be wrestle, for the sake of the joy to come. "The inheritance arid the rest" are sure, if we stand fast and bear all things. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." And then, by and bye, when the chapter of life is ended, a still more glorious rest remaineth; a rest serene and everlasting in God's holy paradise.