Page images
PDF
EPUB

By those, who in their turn shall follow them.
So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, that moves

To the pale realms of shade, where each shall take

His chamber in the silent halls of death,

Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.

BRYANT.

4

GOODNESS OF THE DEITY, DISPLAYED IN THE BEAUTY OF CREATION.

WERE all the interesting diversities of colour and form to disappear, how unsightly, dull, and wearisome, would be the aspect of the world! The plea-' sure conveyed to us by the endless variety with which these sources of beauty are presented to the eye, is so much a thing of course, and exists so much without intermission, that we scarcely think either of their nature, their number, or the great proportion which they constitute of the whole mass of our enjoyment. But were an inhabitant of this country to be removed from its delightful scenery, to the midst of an Arabian desert, a boundless expanse of sand, a waste spread with uniform desolation, enlivened by the murmur of no stream, and cheered by

the beauty of no verdure; although he might live in a palace, and riot in splendour and luxury, he would, no doubt, soon find life a dull wearisome round of existence, and sigh for the hills and valleys of his native land, the brooks and rivers, the living lustre of the spring, and the rich glories of the

autumn.

The ever-varying brilliancy and grandeur of the landscape, and the magnificence of the sky, sun, moon, and stars, enter more extensively into the enjoyment of mankind than we perhaps can possibly apprehend.

This beauty and splendour of the objects around us, it is ever to be remembered, is not necessary to their existence, nor to what we are accustomed to consider their usefulness. It is, therefore, to be regarded as a source of pleasure gratuitously dispensed to us, and in this light is peculiarly affecting as a testimony of the Divine Goodness.

LINES.

THE following lines were found in a case containing a skeleton, sent to the Royal Academy, London. It is believed they were written and deposited there by one of the students.

Behold this ruin! 'twas a skull,
Once of ethereal spirit full :

This narrow cell was life's retreat;

The space was thought's mysterious seat.
What beauteous pictures filled this spot;
What dreams of pleasure long forgot!
Nor love, nor joy, nor hope, nor fear,
Has left one trace on record here.

Beneath this mouldering canopy
Once shone the bright and busy eye-

But start not at the dismal void;

If social love that eye employed,

If with no lawless fire it gleamed,

But through the dew of kindness beamed,
The soul which spoke in that bright eye
Shall dwell where sorrow's tears are dry.

Here, in this silent cavern, hung

The ready, swift, and tuneful tongue;

If falsehood's honey it disdained,

And where it could not praise was chained;

If bold in virtue's cause it spoke,

Yet gentle concord never broke:

Then blessed shall the spirit be,
When death unveils eternity.

Say-did these fingers delve the mine,
Or with its envied rubies shine?
To hew the rock, or wear the gem,
Can nothing now avail to them:
But if the page of truth they sought,
Or comfort to the mourner brought,
A richer prize the soul shall claim,
Than all that wait on wealth and fame.

Avails it whether bare or shod,
These feet the path of duty trod?

If from the bowers of joy they fled,
To soothe affliction's humble bed ;

« PreviousContinue »