THE BIGHT TRACK.

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4284, 23 September 1882, Page 4

THE BIGHT TRACK.

[Bt the Bey. De Witt Talmagk, D.l).] Thbbe are thousand* of persons in places where they;do not belong. The bird's winglmeans air, nthe fish's fin means water, the hone's hoof means solid

ground; and what wonld happen' if the bird tried the water, and the fish tried the air, happens wxten men'get out of their natural element. In my watch the spring t cannot exchange places with the wheels, nor the'cogs ,with. the pivots. ''Stay where I put you!" cries the watchmaker, "if you.want tqkeep good time." Now, the ifrorld is only a; big watcH that God wound<.pip;,and the seasons are the-hapds which tell how fast the time is going. 11 Stay where I put-you!" aays our great Creator. ''Or, if" you' prefer, human tooiefy is aship.' . Some are to go ahead ; they are the prow. Some are to stay behind and guide those who lead; they are the helmV I!Some are to be enthusiastic and carry the'flag 1;' they 1 are the masts. Some are to do nothing but act'as a dead weight;; they are'shovelled in as ballast. Some are' to Jume and fret and blow ; they are the'valves. Our happiness and success depend on being where we belong. A scow may be admirable,,, and a seventy-four gun ship may, £be~ admirable, but do not put the icow on the ocean, or Ihe ship of the line as in, a mill pond. Fortune is spoken of as Ottuold* shrew, with hot water, shovel, and tongs,'•-pursuing, the innocent. But though^ sometimes losing her temper, she mostly approves those who are in their sphere','and condemns those who are wherVthey ddnbt belong. How, then, account for the success of such persons' as 'Elihu Burrit and Hugh 2Sfli]l?r—jthe former a blacksmith, yet showing unbounded capacity for the acquisition of language ; the'latter a stonemason, and yet, as.though he were one of i the old buried Titans, come to life, i pressing up through rocks and mountains, - until, shaking from,his coat a world of red sanditone, and washing off from his hands the dust of millions of years, he tabes the- professor's chair in a college ? We answer, different men want different kinds of colleges. The anvil was the best school-desk for Elihu Burritt, and quarry stone for Hugh Miller. The former, among the 'cinders and horse shoes, learned''that patient toil which was the secret of his acquisition in the languages. The latte?, from observations made while toiling with chisel and crowbar, laid the foundation of his wonderful attainments, one shelf of rcick being worth to him mere than the .hundred shelves of a college libWiyY {" '• ' • ' • .„ jSome men get into an occupation below that£for { w,foi«h they are intended. They have'their seventy-four in a,mill pond., Tfyeyydo^not gst along as well in that position as somebody with less brains.. An,elephant would make wretched work) if,you set it to hatch out goose eggs, but, no.jnore wretched than a man of great attainments appointing himself to some insignificant office. ' "Men are'often in a position a little -above "that -for which they are intended.' Now the old ,scow is out on the ocean. The t weights of' a clock said, " Come! come If 'This, is dull work down' here ! WVwanjtto.be the pendulum. But the pendulum .shouted upward, " I'm tired of this work']; It does not seem* that I make .any; progress going backward and forward ! Oh 1 ' that I were the hands ?" Under this,, excitement, the ,old , which had, been going ever since the [Revolutionary War, stopped stock-still.' "What is the matter now, my old friend ?"• says the grey-haired patriarch. 1 For very shame, not a word was said,; until the bid man set it a-going. Then . the ptriking bell spoke up and said, **l!Notßing! only the weights'wanted to be the pendulum, 'and the pendulum wanted to be the hands !" " Well, well," said, grandfather^ " this is great work!'' jinjjl the old man, losing his patience, gave the clock a gentle slap in the face,'and.told the pendulum hereafter to hold its tongue, andttsajcl to. the weights, "You be banged J"

But hottL.inay.we know if we are in our right' place—not an inch abore,~ not an infih below? If you can perform your work' easily, without being cramped or exhausted, that is the right place. That man is in a horrible condition who is ever making, prodigious~efforts to do, more than he flan do*.' 'It is just as easy for 1 a star to swing in its orbit as for a mote to float in. a sunbeam. Nature never sweats.' The great law of gravitation holds the universe on itW'bacfcr as easy atf a miller swings over his shoulder 'a bag of Genesse wheat. The winds nerer run themselves out of

•breath.' The fivers do not weary in their course. The Mississippi and the Amazon ire* | not more tired than ' the . meadow-, - brook.' -Himalaya is not dizzy!' " ' Poets talk about'the waters 1 of Niagara being'in ant'ageny^ but I think'they like ' it. How-they frolic and clap their hands, 'I miles above, as they come skipping on to* I ward, r the - great somersault,' singing, ' ' "Over we go! over we go!" When the ' universe" 'goes at such tremendous speed, ' and the least impediment mightbreak one of the great wheels, is it not a wonder that *we~do not" hear a prodigious crack,~or 1' thunderous! -bAng, loud enough to make the wprldTknees knock together P Yet a million worlds in their flight do not make as much npise as a honey-bee coquetting among the clover-tops. Every thing in nature is just as easy. Now, if the position yon occupy requires unnatural exertion, your only.,.way out of. it is either to "take a step higher,'or a'step further down. "F/oviclelice does, not demand that you should/treak your back, or put your arm' j.pnjt-ofjjoint, >or sprain your ankle. ,If you can only find out just what you are to do, „yptt can do.it perfectly easily.' »i £et the young be sure to begin right. iNot'once in a thousand times does a man : luoceHfully change - occupations. Tbe rieaof life is so rough that you cannot crois over from one vessel to another

i-etcept at gteat peril of falling between. 'Many r have fallen down, to nothing between the mason's trowel and the carKpenter's saw; between the lawer's brief. and tbe author's pen; between themedi"

cine chest and the pulpit. It is no easy t matter to syritch off on. another track this ' thundering" express train ! of' life. ■ 'A "daffodil and' a buttercup. resolved to change places with each other,' bat in' "crossing 6V«r from stem to stem; they fell r at the feet of a heartVea.36. " Just as I ..expected," /,said 'Heartsease. ' "You ■Wfikt better hare stfysd in your places.'' j* £*»U. '«■)« -. " !

jOINMCENT AND PlU£* — Safely and Bpcurely.'~Wherf the severities of 'winter have yielded to the genial spring, invalids should make a determined effort to rcgaiig their lost health : when through confiinetrenfc indoors, want of app?tite, and. disturbrd sleep, the'entire system has-been weakened and the spirits have been broken down, Hollo way's remedies are equal to tie occasion. The Ointment rubbed over the regions of the stomach and' liver, aided by the internal administration of his Pills, will rectify the digestion, regulate the bile, and nurify the ; blood—three sanatory actions which will speedily confer renewed vigour, brace up the foiling nerves, confirm the flaccid muscles, and restore to the ailing cheerfulness, that great charm of existence.