Page:The life of Rev. Thomas M. Eddy.djvu/23

12 nobler parts of being—the mind and heart, the lofty conceptions, the noble aspirations, the earnest affections and sympathies, which glowed in life's happiest hours. The Bible sanctifies this longing of the heart in its utterance, "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance." The biographies of those who by their efforts obtained distinction and eminence are of great interest to the young. They wish to know how such men commenced their career; what were their habits, their studies, their associations; by what steps they rose, slowly or rapidly, to eminence and fame. The example of such men stimulates the young to exertion; and a noble life thus reproduces itself in the aspirations and exertions of others. Though we have no record of a word which fell from the lips of Abel, yet his devotion to worship, his obedience to the divine command in the midst of danger, have come down the ages, and it is said of him, "He, being dead, yet speaketh." So, a noble life: the resistance of temptation, the struggling amid difficulties, the constant and steady upward ascent displayed in a beautiful Christian career, afford lessons of instruction and profit to the young.

As we press a beautiful flower, and recall by its form the memory of the perfume which it once exhaled, so, as we read the events and utterances in the life of a loved friend, we recall his presence, we see again the sparkle of his eye, we listen to the intonations of his voice, we see his form in all the intense earnestness of active life. His words, though choice and beautiful of themselves, have to us their chief interest in the associations which they awaken, and the memories of life which they bring back to us again.