Слике страница
PDF
ePub

Else under trampling hoofs thy gold shall lieThe holy gold of thy interior self,

Crushed the rare pearls by every passer-by,

Or given from hand to hand as vulgar pelf.

It is the lesson taught each separate heart
To shield its gems from universal gaze;
To shine in quiet glory and apart,

Revealed alone on coronation days.

GIVE FREELY TO THE WORLD ITS JUST DEMAND
OF SYMPATHY, OF KINDNESS, OF TRUST;
But keep reserved for one beloved hand

The pearls too pure to be trod down in dust. All lives may know thy gentleness and grace; All hearts thy loving power may evidence; But on few hands-oft one alone-dare place THE COSTLY RING OF PRICELESS CONFIDENCE.

GUIDANCE.

BY H. BATEMAN.

[Cheerful and earnest.]

It is but little that I know,
But little I can do ;

I cannot tell which way to go
Life's tangled journey through.

But this I know, that God is wise,
And very, very good;

His loving hand my want supplies-
Home, comfort, health and food.

And well I know-Oh happiness—
To know and feel it true!

That He, through Christ the Lord, will bless
With His salvation too.

Why, then, should doubt, or why a fear

Disturb or trouble me?

I know that God is always near,

And loves unchangeably.

THE RAISING OF JAIRUS'S DAUGHTER.

[Earnestly, with care.]

The boat that bore the Master had crossed the silver sea,
And all along the mountain-paths of rugged Galilee

Were sounds of voices eager-pitched, was throng of hurrying feet,

For then, as now, were weary hearts, and Jesus' words were sweet.

With passion-freighted earnestness, intense and clear as flame, Through tumult cleaving swift its way, one prayer of pleading

came:

[ocr errors]

"My little daughter lieth sick; she lieth near to death; Oh! on her lay Thy gentle hands—restore her fainting breath! The stately ruler bowed his head before the Nazarene, And meekly led the way for Him the surging ranks between. But ere they reached the stricken house, was message brought of woe:

"Thy daughter even now is dead; vex not the Master so !" Dark grew the father's face with grief, with tears his eyes were

dim;

Who did not know this darling child was all the world to him? How could they call her dead?-the dear, the beautiful, the

bright;

For him the summer lost its bloom, the noonday lost its light.

Then tenderly until his thought, as if to soothe its ache, "BE NOT AFRAID: STILL KEEP THY FAITH," with power the Master spake,

Though long and keen the mourners' wail was borne upon the air—
The bitter cry of agony, the protest of despair.

The Master hushed the clamour by the peace upon his face,
As up the stair He softly passed, and stood within the place
Where, wan and pale, the maiden lay, a lily frozen there,
And round her whiteness, like a cloud, the darkness of her hair.
S still, the little feet that late had danced to meet her sire!
S still, the slender hands that swept but now the golden lyre!
In this deep slumber can she hear the thrilling word, “ARISE?"
Oh! will she at that kingly look unclose those sealed eyes?
SHE HEARS, SHE STIRS, SHE LIVES ONCE MORE. WHAT JOYS

FOR SOME THERE BE

When to their hour of gloom the Lord has crossed the silver

sea!

And though to us He give not back our dead, yet, better far, We know that where He dwells to-day in life our dear ones are.

81

GOD.

ON THE BEING OF A GOD.

BY YOUNG.

[Earnestly and boldly.]

Retire; The world shut out ;-Thy thoughts call home-
Imagination's airy wing repress ;-

Lock up thy senses;-Let no passion stir;-
Wake all to Reason-Let her reign alone;

Then, in thy soul's deep silence, and the depth

Of Nature's silence, midnight, thus inquire:

WHAT AM I? AND FROM WHENCE ?-I nothing know,

But that I AM; and, since I AM, conclude

SOMETHING ETERNAL: had there e'er been nought,
Nought still had been: eternal there must be,-
But what eternal ?-Why not human race;
And ADAM's ancestors without an end!
That's hard to be conceiv'd; since ev'ry link
Of that long chain'd succession is so frail;
Can every part depend, and not the whole?
Yet grant it true; new difficulties rise;
I'm still quite out at sea; nor see the shore.

Whence earth, and these bright orbs ?-ETERNAL TOO ?—
Grant matter was ETERNAL; still these orbs
Would want some other Father: much design
Is seen in all their motions, all their makes;

DESIGN implies INTELLIGENCE and ART:

That can't be from themselves-or man that art
Man can scarce comprehend, could man bestow?
And nothing greater, yet allow'd than man-
Who motion, foreign to the smallest grain,
Shot through vast masses of enormous weight?
Who bid rude matter's restive lump assume
Such various forms, and gave it wings to fly?
Has matter innate motion? Then each atom,
Asserting its indisputable right

To dance, would form an universe of dust.
Has matter none? Then whence these glorious forms,
And boundless flights, from shapeless and repos'd?
Has matter more than motion? Has it THOUGHT,
JUDGMENT, and GENIUS? Is it DEEPLY LEARN'D

In MATHEMATICS? Has it fram'd such laws Which, but to guess, a NEWTON made immortal? If art to form, and counsel to conduct,

And that with greater far than human skill, Resides not in each block,-a GODHEAD reigns; And if a GOD THERE IS, that GOD HOW GREAT!

ATHEISM.

BY MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY.

[With energy and boldness.]

"The fool hath said in his heart there is no God."

"No GOD! NO GOD!" the simple flower
That on the wild is found

Shrinks as it drinks its cup of dew,
And trembles at the sound;
"No GOD!" astonished echo cries
From out her cavern hoar,
And every wandering bird that flies
Reproves the Atheist's lore.

The solemn forest lift its head,
The Almighty to proclaim;
The brooklet on her crystal bed
Doth leap to praise His name;
High sweeps the high and vengeful sea,
Along its billowy track,

And red Vesuvius opes its mouth,
To hurl the falsehood back.

The palm-tree, with its princely crest,
The cocoa's leafy shade,

The bread-fruit bending with its load,

In yon fair island glade;

The winged seeds, borne by the winds,
The roving sparrows feed;

The melon of the desert sands,

Confute the scorner's creed.

"No GOD!" WITH INDIGNATION HIGH,

The fervent sun is stirred,

And the pale moon turns paler still

At such an impious word;

And from their burning thrones, the stars,

Look down with angry eye,

That thus a worm of dust should mock
ETERNAL MAJESTY !

GOD IS EVERYWHERE.

BY NICHOL.

[Earnest and serious.]

A trodden daisy from the sward
With tearful eye I took,
And in its ruined glories I

With moving heart did look;
For, crushed and broken though it was,
That little flower was fair;
And oh! I loved the dying bud—
For-GOD WAS THERE!

I stood upon the sea-beat shore-
The waves came rushing on;
The tempest raged in giant wrath-
The light of day was gone.
The sailor, from the sinking bark,
Sent up his dying prayer;

I looked amid the ruthless storm,
And-GOD WAS THERE!

I saw a home, a HAPPY HOME,
Upon a bridal day,

And youthful hearts were blithesome there,
And aged hearts were gay;
I sat among the smiling band
Where all so blissful were,
Amid the bridal maidens sweet,
And-GOD WAS THERE!

I stood beside an infant's couch,
When light had left its eye,
I saw the mother's bitter tears,
I heard her woeful cry;

I saw her kiss its fair, pale face,
And smooth its yellow hair,

And oh! I loved the mourner's home,
For-GOD WAS THERE!

I sought a cheerless wilderness,
A desert pathless, wild,

Where verdure grew not by the stream,
Where beauty never smiled;
Where desolation brooded o'er
A mainland lone and bare,
And awe upon my spirit crept—
For-GOD WAS THERE!

« ПретходнаНастави »