Thus e'en from guilt's deep curse and slavish vow, And dreams whereby the light was long withstood, Thee, Lord! whose mind is rule supreme to all, Unveiled we see, and hail Thy wisdom's call.

THE SOUL DISCIPLINED TO SEE GOD'S WILL.

BOLD is the life, and deep and vast in man

A flood of being poured unchecked from Thee! To Thee returned by Thy unfailing plan, When tried and trained Thy will unveiled to see.

The spirit leaves the body's wondrous frame,
That frame itself a world of strength and skill;
The nobler inmate new abodes will claim,
In every change to Thee aspiring still.

Although from darkness born, to darkness fled,
We know that light beyond surrounds the whole;
The man survives, though the weird-corpse be dead,
And He who dooms the flesh redeems the soul.

Horace Smith.

1779-1849.

THE PERPETUAL RELIGION.

RELIGIONS from the soul deriving breath,-
Should know no death;

Yet do they perish, mingling their remains
With fallen fanes;

Creeds, canons, dogmas, councils, are the wrecked
And mouldering Masonry of Intellect.

Apis, Osiris, paramount of yore

On Egypt's shore,

Woden and Thor, through the wide North adored, With blood outpoured,

Jove and the multiform divinities,

To whom the Pagan nations bowed their knees,

Lo! they are cast aside, dethroned, forlorn,

Defaced, out-worn,

Like the world's childish dolls, which but insult Its age aduft,

Or prostrate scarecrows, on whose rags we tread With scorn proportioned to our former dread.

Alas for human reason! all is change,

All ages

Ceaseless and strange;

form new systems, leaving heirs
To cancel theirs ;

The future will but imitate the past;

And instability alone will last.

Is there no compass, then, by which to steer
This erring sphere?

No tie that may indissolubly bind

To God, mankind?

No code that may defy Time's sharpest tooth?
No fixed, immutable, unerring truth?

There is! there is! One primitive and sure,
Religion pure,

Unchanged in spirit, though its forms and codes
Wear myriad modes,

Contains all creeds within its mighty span :
THE LOVE OF GOD DISPLAYED IN LOVE OF MAN.

This is the Christian's faith when rightly read;

Oh! may it spread,

Till earth redeemed from every hateful leaven
Makes peace with Heaven;

Below one blesséd brotherhood of love,

One Father-worshipped with one voice- above!

A PRAYER.

FATHER and God! whose love and might
To every sense are blazoned bright

sea

sky,

On the vast three-leaved Bible - earth
Pardon th' impugners of Thy laws,
Expand their hearts, and give them cause
To bless th' exhaustless grace they now deny.

THE QUARREL OF FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY,

ONCE Faith, Hope, and Charity traversed the land
In sisterhood's uninterrupted embraces,

Performing their office of love hand in hand,

Of the whole Christian world, the appropriate Graces.

But tiffs, since those primitive days, have occurred, That threaten to sever this friendly relation,

As may well be surmised when I state word for word, The terms of their latest and worst altercation.

"Sister Charity, prythee allow me to state,"

Cries Faith, in a tone of contemptuous sneering, "That while you affect to be meek and sedate, Your conduct is cunning, your tone domineering.

"In the times that are gone my world-harassing name "Received some accession of strength every hour; "St. Bartholomew's Massacre hallowed my fame, "And Sicily's Vespers asserted my power.

"When martyrs in multitudes rushed at my call, "To peril their lives for Theology's sake, "Mine too was the voice that cried Sacrifice all, "With gaol and with gibbet, with faggot and

stake.'

"When the banner of orthodox slaughter was furled, "And subjects no more from each other dissented, "I set them at war with the rest of the world,

"And for centuries national struggles fomented.

"What are all the great heroes on history's page, "But puppets who figured as I pulled the strings? "Crusades I engendered in every age,

"And Faith was the leader of armies and kings.

"In those days of my glory Hope followed my track, "In warfare a firm and impartial ally,

"For she constantly patted both sides on the back, "And promised them both a reward in the sky."