Anti Slavery Bugle

We thank our friend E. C. for the following article, and wish we knew how to persuade her to become a more frequent contributor to our columns.
Be Faithful.

Sometimes I ruminate on the position we of the Reform faith occupy, and my mind is overburdened at the malignity thrown at us from almost every quarter, for daring to espouse views differing from the world, and to maintain them.

I was musing on this theme to-day, and my heart grew sad! Alas! said I, for the stern necessity which compels us to step out of the beaten track! But then came sublimer and holier thoughts. Jesus was a heretic! The anathemas of the religious world were heaped upon his sinless bosom! With blind bigotry they exclaimed, "thou hast a devil"! They blasphemed, cursed, and ridiculed him. Yet serene and calm he stood, weeping over their errors—and praying for their pardon! Blessed Pattern of the Christian life! Thy sweet example shall be mine! Let them call me what they will, they cannot treat me worse than thou wast treated.—The storms of calumny and hate may burst upon me—Thou hast suffered more! Thy pure life comes up bright before my eye, calming my troubled heart, and inspiring me with new devotion. I consecrate myself to Truth—to thy service to walk with thee—with thee to suffer, and with thee to reign! O, there is joy in being Christlike!

Dear companions of the Christian toil—who labor as Jesus did, to raise the fallen, comfort the afflicted—to unbind heavy burdens, and release the fettered slave—work on! What if they call you infidel—fanatic—fool! No matter. So spake they of all the truly good who lived before! Expect it—be prepared for it. It will not harm. Better far be crushed by the scorn of an infidel world, than to crush the Truth struggling within thy heart! Better die by the hand of the assassin than be a suicide and kill thy own soul! Be content that thou art a follower of the sinless One—a member of the true Church, and fear not, for thou art founded on a rock which cannot be shaken! Keep thy garments clean—and be not wedded to the wicked world and Christless state.—Then shalt thou be enfolded in the arms of Jesus, and welcomed to his spotless fold.—Announce the Truth boldly, and let time tell thy victory. Thou wilt suffer much but enjoy more. The consciousness of doing right will fill thy soul with a calm and holy serenity, worth infinitely more than aught the world can give in exchange for virtue! The harmony which pervades the universe and God will mingle with thy own heart a tone of touching melody, and though the harsh, discordant sounds of time jar mournfully, they cannot break the anthem swelling from the great hearts of the Redeemed, and mingling with the songs of Heaven!

E. C.

Wapsworth, Dec. 30th, 1848.