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While every breeze that round me played

Rich fragrance was diffusing.

The perfumed air, the hush of eve,
To purer hopes appealing,

O'er thoughts perchance too prone to grieve,
Scattered the balm of healing.

For thus "the actions of the just,"
When memory hath enshrined them,
E'en from the dark and silent dust
Their odor leave behind them.

SPIRITUAL WORSHIP.

Though glorious, O God! must thy temple have been, On the day of its first dedication,

When the cherubim's wings widely waving were seen, On high, o'er the ark's holy station;

When even the chosen of Levi, though skilled

To minister standing before Thee,

Retired from the cloud which the temple then filled,

And thy glory made Israel adore Thee;

Though awfully grand was thy majesty then;
Yet the worship thy Gospel discloses,

Less splendid in pomp to the vision of men,
Far surpasses the ritual of Moses.

And by whom was that ritual forever repealed
But by Him, unto whom it was given

To enter the Oracle, where is revealed,

Not the cloud, but the brightness of heaven?

Who, having once entered, hath shown us the way,
O Lord! how to worship before Thee;

Not with shadowy forms of that earlier day,
But in spirit and truth to adore Thee!

This, this is the worship the Saviour made known,
When she of Samaria found him

By the patriarch's well sitting weary, alone,
With the stillness of noontide around Him.

How sublime, yet how simple, the homage He taught,
To her who inquired by that fountain,

If Jehovah at Solyma's shrine would be sought,
Or adored on Samaria's mountain.

"Woman! believe me, the hour is near,

When He, if ye rightly would hail Him, Will neither be worshipped exclusively here, Nor yet at the altar of Salem.

"For God is a spirit! and they who aright

Would perform the pure worship He loveth,
In the heart's holy temple will seek, with delight,
That spirit the Father approveth."

TIME'S TAKINGS AND LEAVINGS.

What does age take away?

Bloom from the cheek, and lustre from the eye;
The spirits light and gay,

Unclouded as the summer's bluest sky.

What do years steal away?

The fond heart's idol, Love, that gladdened life;
Friendship, whose calmer sway

We trusted to in hours of darker strife.

What must with time decay?

Young Hope's wild dreams, and Fancy's visions bright; Life's evening sky grows gray,

And darker clouds prelude Death's coming night.

But not for such we mourn!

We know them frail, and brief their date assigned;
Our spirits are forlorn,

Less from Time's thefts than what he leaves behind.

What do years leave behind?

Unruly passions, impotent desires,

Distrusts and thoughts unkind,

Love of the world, and self-which last expires.

For these, for these we grieve;

What Time has robbed us of we know must go :
But what he deigns to leave,

Not only finds us poor, but keeps us so.

It ought not thus to be:

Nor would it, knew we meek Religion's sway;

Her votary's eye could see

How little Time can give, or take away.

Faith, in the heart enshrined,

Would make Time's gifts enjoyed and used, while lent; And all it left behind,

Of Love and Grace, a noble monument.

A CHRISTIAN IS THE HIGHEST STYLE OF MAN.

"Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto!" A noble thought! and worthy to awake,

From Rome's proud senate, in her palmy days,

Both for the orator's and nature's sake, O'erwhelming echoes of accordant praise. "I am a man! and therefore to my heart

Think nothing human alien e'er can be; That sense of union can enough impart Of weal or woe to make it dear to me!" And, truly, in such bond of brotherhood, To those who estimate its hidden might, Enough is seen, and felt, and understood, For human hearts to own its hallowed right. But while I pay my homage to his soul, Who thus humanity could broadly scan; And, looking only at their mighty whole, Do honor to the natural rights of man; I can but feel-a Christian, by his faith, May humbly stand upon yet higher ground; And feel to all who live by vital breath

In a still dearer brotherhood fast bound!

Is he a follower of The Crucified

The Nazarene-who died that all might live?

In that one bond of union is implied

More than the Roman creed could ever give. That would but link, by human sympathy, The noble speaker to his fellow-man; But this makes known a closer unity

Than proud philosophy had power to scan. There needs no more to knit in closest thrall, Beyond what Greek or Roman ever knew, Than this-" One common Saviour died for all! And rose again-to prove his mission true!" This, of itself, has a more hallowing leaven Than human sympathy can e'er confer; Because its loftier hopes are linked with heaven, And God's own word is its interpreter !

Then chide me not, if, yielding homage due
Unto the noble Roman's noble thought,
I hold the humblest Christian's happier view
As with a higher, holier union fraught.

Higher-as opening up a loftier line;

Holier-as springing from a deeper root; For LOVE TO GOD may be pronounced divine, When LOVE OF MAN becomes its genuine fruit!

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A WORD FOR PEACE.

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you."-ST. JOHN xvi. 27.

If such the legacy bequeathed
By JESUS to his own;

If such his meek injunctions, breathed
Ere he from earth had flown;
How should his lowly followers fight,
Reading his gracious words aright?

His kingdom is not of this world!
Nor by it understood;

The banner from his cross unfurled
Leads not to acts of blood!

The Christian's warfare is within!
With pride and passion, self and sin!

Whence come your wars, frail worms of dust?
What are your fightings for?

Envy and hatred, greed and lust,

Which in your members war!

Dwells such a dark, unhallowed host

In temples of the Holy Ghost?

When angels first, to shepherd's ears,
Announced the Saviour's birth,
What watchword did the heavenly spheres
Pour down on listening earth?

Glory to God! who dwells on high;

Toward men-good will and unity!

When Christ, on Calvary's blood-stained hill,
His life a ransom paid,

What peaceful love, triumphant still,
Prompted the prayer He prayed!
A prayer so tender, brief, and true-
"FORGIVE! they know not what they do!"

'Tis by its fruit the tree is known!
THE TEST OF TRUTH IS LOVE!
Have they, then, reverently shown
Theirs to their Lord above,

Who bid their fellow.creatures bleed,
And by their acts belie their creed?

Thank God! this gospel truth, no more
To one small sect confined,
From sea to sea, from shore to shore,
Shall flash on many a mind;
Till earth below, and heaven above,
Join in one hymn of PEACE and LOVE!

STANZAS TO A FRIEND ON HER MARRIAGE.

"The blessing of the Lord, IT maketh rich; and he addeth no sorrow with it!"-PROV. x. 22.

What can I wish thee, gentle friend,

On this eventful day,

With being's onward course to blend,
Thy spirit's strength and stay?
For on this day there needs must be
Full many an earnest wish for thee.

Yet wishes are but idle things,

As all of us well know ;-
While prayers may put on angel wings,
And higher, heavenward go!

Since He who condescends to care

For ALL still hears and answers prayer.

But answers it as He deems best,
Not always as we ask;
For deeply be this truth imprest,
E'en blessings wear a mask!

And we are often blinded still
Unto our REAL good or ill!

I, therefore, would not breathe for thee
A prayer scarce understood;
But rather that thy lot may be
What God sees best of good!
Good for thee, while a pilgrim here;
Good for thee, in a happier sphere.

Be thine the blessings which HIS WORD,
Replete with truths sublime,
Instructs us is to be preferred

To all the things of time;

That blessing which true riches brings,
And addeth none of sorrow's stings!

May this, my gentle friend, be thine,
And his, who shares thy lot;
Then-whether skies above you shine,
Or lower-'twill matter not;
For God can temper joy's bright day,
And smile grief's darkest night away.

May He remain your rich reward,
His presence ever near;

In prosperous hours your hearts to guard,
In adverse ones, to cheer;

So shall you own, in grateful mood,
He can make all things work for good!

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