POETRY.

429

THE EARLY CALLED.

The bridal wreath which graced thy brow
Has faded in its bloom,

And the dark cypress waveth now
In sadness o'er thy tomb;

With tearful eyes we mourn for thee:
But thou from earthly grief art free.

We miss thy bright and lovely smile-
Thy calm and gentle tone-
Thine artless mien so free from guile-
Thy sympathy, which shone

With such a soft and hallowed ray
As almost charmed our griefs away.

In life's fair morning didst thou fade
Like spring's first stainless flower;
No fearful storm, or passing shade,
Darkened life's closing hour;
Midst drooping hopes and health's decline
The peace
which Christ imparts was thine.

Desolate is the home, bereft

Of thy sweet love and care,

Yet have thy gentle virtues left
A softened radiance there;

Bright is thy memory! oh! that we
With ardent steps may follow thee.

Though death may for a season sever
The fondest ties of love,

Hearts linked in Christ, are linked for ever,
And we shall meet above,

Where golden harps in concert swell,

But never strike the note, farewell.

Brighton.

H. M. W.

* See "Bridal Wishes," Youths' Magazine, 1844, page 322.

THE DEPARTED.

AND is it so, that I have lost from earth
The valued friend of many a smiling year?
A friend of kindness, piety, and worth,

With whom my spirit held communion dear?
Yes, she is gone! gone when her morning sun
Was brightly beaming from a sky serene;
Her race, as wife and mother, scarce begun,
When sudden darkness quenched the lovely scene.
But, hush! let every grief be put to flight,
Wise are thy counsels, Lord! thy work is love!
Her sun has set not in the shades of night,
It rises brighter in the realms above.

Sweet was the promise which thy parting rays
Beam'd on the sight of those who loved thee best;
Long after thou hast sunk, the heavenly blaze
Shall shed soft comfort o'er each wounded breast.

.

O may we view the steady, even path,

Which marked thy progress to eternal day;

Thy life of faith, thy holy, happy death,

And keep, by grace divine, the shining way. And thou, blest spirit! rest: 'twere cruel love, To wish thee back to sorrow, pain, and woe; No, let my friend the full enjoyments prove, Which angels taste, which ransom'd myriads know. For thou hast safely pass'd death's awful shade, Nor dark the vale, nor dangerous was the way; Jehovah was thy light, thy present aid,

Thy guide, thy friend, thy guardian, and thy stay. My God, I thank thee for the gentle band,

Which knit her soul in union with my own; Unbroken may we find it in that land,

Where "parting accents are a sound unknown."

There, may its silken cords our spirits bind,
In everlasting love, in union sweet;
While, in Jehovah's praise for ever join'd,
We cast our crowns before Immanuel's feet.

S. S. S.

GEMS FROM BYROM.

Unwilling Obedience.

He that does good with an unwilling mind,
Does that to which he is not well inclined:
"Twill be reward sufficient for the fact,
If God shall pardon his obedient act.

"As he thinketh in his heart, so is he."
Think, and be careful what thou art within,
For there is sin, in the desire of sin;
Think, and be thankful in a different case,
For there is grace, in the desire of grace.

To-morrow.

If gold be offered thee, thou dost not say
"To-morrow I will take it;" but, "to-day."
Salvation offered, why art thou so cool,
To let thyself become to-morrow's fool?

Hypocrites.

Hypocrites in religion form a plan

That makes them hateful both to God and man;
By seeming zeal, they lose the world's esteem;
And God's, because they are not what they seem.
Revelation.

To own a God who does not speak to men,
Is first to own, and then disown again;
Of all idolatry, the total sum

Is having gods that are both deaf and dumb.
Preaching.

The specious sermons of a learned man
Are little else but flashes in the pan;
The mere haranguing upon what they call
Morality, is powder without ball;

But he who preaches with a Christian grace
Fires at our vices, and the shot takes place.

Love and Learning.

Without offence to authors, far above

Ten men of learning, is one man of love.

HOW TO READ THE BIBLE.

To hear the words of Scripture, or to read
With good effect, requires a threefold heed;
If incomplete, it only can produce

Hearings and readings of no sort of use.
The first,

Intention;

or a fixed design

To learn the truth concerning things divine;

If previous disposition be not good,

How shall a serious point be understood?

The next,

Attention;

not the outward part,

But the fair listening of an honest heart:

Sound may, and figure, strike the ear and eye, But sense and meaning to the mind apply. The last,

Retention;

or the keeping pure

From hurtful mixtures what is clear and sure;
In vain the purpose and the pains have been,
To gain a good if not secured within.- Byrom.

DARE QUAM ACCIPERE.

SEE! how those worlds that roll afar,
Serenely beam on one another!
There nowhere burns a sun or star

But helps to cheer some darker brother.

Would'st thou, O! man, be good and wise?
Share thus thy light among thy neighbours;

In giving-not in hoarding-lies

The truest meed of learning's labors.

Phonotypic Journal.