Fincastle Mirror

From the Columbian Star.

HUMAN LIFE.

The following admirable allegory, is so exquisitely conducted, so beautifully descriptive of Human Life, its dangers and temptations, and the necessity of religion for our guide, that, with the exception of one or two pieces, it has, probably, scarce a rival in this department of English literature.

"A few mornings ago, as I was taking my walk upon an eminence, which commands a view of the Forth, with the vessels sailing along, I sat down, and, taking out my Latin Bible, opened, by accident, at a place in the book of Job, ix. 25.-: "Now my days are passed away as the swift ships," Shutting the book, I fell musing on this affecting comparison. Whether the following happened to me in a dream, or waking reverie, I cannot tell: but I fancied myself on the bank of a river, or sea, the opposite side of which was hid from view, being involved in clouds and mist. On the shore stood a multitude which no man could number, waiting passage. I saw a great many ships taking in passengers, and several persons going about in the garb of pilots, offering their services. Being ignorant, and curious to know what all these things meant, I applied to a grave old man who stood by, giving instructions to the departing passengers. His name, I remember, was the Genius of Human Life. "My son," said he, "you stand on the banks of the stream of Time; all those people are bound to Eternity, that undiscovered country from which no traveller returns. The country is very large, and divided into two parts: The one called the Land of Glory, the other the Kingdom of Darkness. The names of those in the garb of pilots, are Religion, Virtue, Pleasure. They who are so wise as to choose Religion for their guide, have a safe, though frequently a rough passage; they are, at last, landed in the happy climes, where sighing and sorrow for ever fly away, they likewise have a secondary director, true; but there is a spurious Virtue, who pretends to govern by himself, but the wretches who trust to him, as well as those who have pleasure for their pilot, are either ship-wrecked or cast away on the Kingdom of Darkness. But the vessel in which you must embark approaches;-you must be gone; remember what depends on your conduct." - No sooner had he left me, than I found myself surrounded by those pilots I mentioned before; immediately I forgot all that the old man had said to me, and, seduced by the fair promises of pleasure, chose him for my director; we weighed anchor with a fair gale, the sky serene, the sea calm; innumerable little isles lifted their green heads around us, covered with trees in full blossom; dissolved in our blithe mirth we were carried on, regardless of the past--of the future unmindful. On a sudden the sky was darkened, the winds roared, the sea raged, there rose the sand from the bottom of the deep-the angel of the waters lifted up his voice. At that instant a strong ship passed by; I saw Religion at the helm: "Come out from among them," he cried. I and a few others threw ourselves into this ship. The wretches we now left were tossed on the swelling deep; the waters on every side, poured through the riven vessel; they cursed the Lord; when, lo! a fiend rose from the deep, and, in a voice like distant thunder, thus spoke-"I am Abaddon, the first born of Death-ye are my prey; open thou abyss to receive them." As he thus spoke, they sunk, and the waves closed over their heads. The storm was turned into a calm, and we heard a voice saying, "Fear not, for I am with you -when you pass through the waters they shall not overflow you." Our hearts were filled with joy: I was engaged in discourse with one of my new companions, when one from the top of the mast cried, "Courage, my friends, I see the fair haven, the land that is yet afar off," started and awaked. * *