THERE is a fury in this age. Nothing goes fast enough. Jehu would be a mope now. His clumsy chariot would be run over in a country village. Steam power urges forward conveyance, by land and water, at a furious rate. Gunpowder, by means of modern inventions, is enabled to deal out death and destruction most furiously. Fortunes are made and unmade, cities and towns are built with furious haste. Many too hasty for even the usual fury of the age, find themselves in the prisoner's cell. Men eat and drink, travel and trade with a haste which is almost demoniac.
Haste, furious haste, characterizes the present age. Jehu would like such an age, and had his lot been cast upon such times as these, he would have gloried in some modern enterprising project. He was a furious man; and he came to a bad end; and though he did the Lord's work, it was done furiously.
The termination of Jehu's career, shows his true character, as displayed in his doings. Read the account in 2 Kings x, 31. This furious age of wonders will terminate in like manner. Let us beware of being furious in the work of the Lord. I for one lament over my impatience and haste. It is the spirit of the age, that cannot brook opposition and delay. Oh for patience, moderation and love. There was no love in Jehu's composition; all was fury. Perhaps Ahab's crimes called for such an executioner But Oh, I had rather be like Elijah, than like Jehu. JOSEPH CLARKE
Portage, Wood Co. Ohio.