Calanda's people had been near its brink, And felt the cold mist on their forehead sink ;. Or rob their bright homes of one blessed ray, And careless Time the curly truant played The loitering streams play with him, while the gales Fanned them with fragrance down the winding vales. And welcomed out by all the airs of June, And long and far they wandered in their joy, The mother saw it, and the sister too, roar, Then shrieked, and fell, and swooned, and all was o'er. Nor paints my grieved Muse the appalling gloom tears. Nor needs it told what wanderings all about And o'er the hill-side near the dismal vale, Yet in that sorrow came a dream, and told sings; So in Hope's day-break the Consoler mounts, But Fear's ill burden boded all too true, bold, And to his lair took Attawanda Wold. He took him from the green that hems the ville, And O it wrings the rising heart to hear And see her sit upon her desolate hearth Across Calanda ominously creep, And Julia Moreland leaves her lambs at home He lifts his head and rushes o'er his track, Nor could we tell what bitter bleatings rose And ere one heart called back its exiled joy, And those were heart-warm and sad tears that fell, For she had bloomed queen beauty of the dell ; She pledged espousals to a peerless mate, run. "She was the pet lamb of my lovely fold !”— Said Father Gilroy as the free tears rolled ;"And like a shepherd to the perilous wild My poor heart follows for my precious child." And mine will lead !"-exclaimed the lass-lorn lover, And rallying rushed his Alma to recover, Thrilled by the last low syllable she screeched ; But scarce the nearest woodland shade he reached, Than the foul Demon flying came, and yelled And swooped and swallowed him while friends beheld. The first keen arrow that the champion tried, And smarting fiercely from the arrow stings, Then through the town his adder trail he bent, That turned the hair white, and o'er every soul, With ire and hunger hard to be assuaged. Still some were conscious of their changing state, And leaped with loathing of themselves, and sate And gnashed their teeth by turns, and drooped and moaned; Some that died smiling neither grieved nor groaned ; And all exempt from the ill venom viewed Still on his dream a Form effulgent rose, To one loved shelter when the hawk wheels nigh, And nestle shivering 'neath each tender breast, So that poor people in one refuge pressed. They took the temple of their GoD for home, And vowed, in life or death they would not part, But One there comes with that imagined sound That he wears weapons in his smile and eye; A being that such wondrous beauty wore, one, Like clover kindling in the summer sun. His clear voice thrills the people as it rolls And some embraced him, and a few adored; The grim Fiend rested on the village green, scene, With that cold, hungry venom-glancing eye, And darted for them. Then in godly mood, The Dragon grasped him at a single swoop; Then there was struggling; then a scoffing whoop; Then low moans pierce them; then the HellSnake glode Swift as a skater to his black abode. Now Hope is trampled by a mad despair, Now, lost to love and every dear esteem, Who cleared but only to eclipse their fate. Now, melted by the Pastor's weeping smile, 'Tis not the wind, it is the Dragon's roar !"- O gaze again, ye tremblers, and behold And told his time, and rent his mighty wiles; And with his words there went a power that thrilled Their swooning hearts and life and strength instilled; And with sweet tears of joy their sad eyes wet, And he plucked seldom at her happiness. And in this tale the Christian may behold And mark the clouds that muffle his misty cave, And this faint picture can but poorly show Down to the dungeons he so long had swayed ; Yet, as the glow-worm may suggest the sun, DAY KELLOG LEE. CHURCH PAPERS. NO. V. EXCUSES FOR NON-ATTENDANCE AT COMMUNION. [THE following is an essay of unusual merit. It is an admirable treatment of the objections usually set up against observing the Lord's Supper, and is so happily balanced that every argument tells forcibly upon the point in question. We ask special attention. ED.] the true uses of life are to cultivate and develop our faculties, our spiritual and religious natures; to strengthen our virtues; to get a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus; to be good and to do good; and no truth-seeking spirit ought to be hindered from availing itself of all means, however sacred and solemn, which would aid it in its search. Nay, the more affecting and touching, the more sacred and peculiar, the means, the better are they fitted for the very purpose in view, and the stronger is the argument in their behalf. The error of this frequent excuse lies in this that the true significance, the inestimable value, the solemn import, the perilous trials, and the sacred and spiritual nature of life, are not apprehended; and the objector cherishes the fallacious belief that he is not a subject of spiritual laws till he voluntarily admits them and has taken the oath of fealty. It would seem that every sound mind would feel a secret sense of shame and self-reproach in offering a plea so unworthy and inconclusive. But it may be said, "Religion does not consist in external institutions, in ordinances and ceremonies, but in moral action, in positive Christian deeds and uprightness of life, in our social relations; it is practical, not meditative; it consists in doing, not in thinking and feeling; virtue is manifested in open action, in fidelity to the truth, in deeds of mercy and philanthropy, charity and honesty, not in the observance of forms and rites and ceremonies." But is it not forgotten by him who uses this plea that his actions flow from principles and motives within him, that the cultivation of the affections and sentiments is a pre-requisite for a Christian life, that faith impels to works; in a word, that the visible life and action of the Christian are only, so to speak, the outward projection of the invisible and hidden spiritual life, and that "out of the heart are the issues of life?" Let it not be forgotten that spiritual attainment is the first need, that religious ordinances are appointed means, and that virtuous action is but the outgrowth of them. It is the motive that gives the action its best stamp and value; and he who neglects the culture of his spiritual nature, will find that he is often abandoned to hasty and erratic impulses, and quite as liable to wrong as to right action. THE uses of the Communion having been considered in the last Report, it is desirable that we now endeavor to remove the obstacles which hinder a more general observance of it. We have adverted briefly to the fear of the solemn nature of the service, and endeavored to show But again; one may urge that the Lord's that that fear is irrational, that life and death Supper was not a perpetual institution. "Do are equally solemn and fearful, and that the true this in remembrance of me," was uttered, he ministry of the Lord's Supper is to make the says, to a few, and obligatory upon them as their solemnity of life an ever present verity to us; dying Lord's command. Let us consider this excuse. It will not be denied that the intention of this command was to perpetuate the remembrance of the Master in the hearts of his immediate disciples; that his Spirit was thus to be present with them, and that they were at such seasons to consecrate themselves anew and be re-baptised as the apostles of his truth; that they were to be inspired with holier thoughts and better purposes, and strengthened by meditation upon the Master's death and triumph, for the duties and trials of life, and thus become partakers of his faith and blessedness. If, then, we were to admit that the injunction was laid only upon them, still the same reasons press upon us its observance. Have we no need to perpetuate in our hearts the memory of Jesus? Is he not our Lord and Master, our Savior and Redeemer, also? Do we not often need the contemplation of his calm and holy faith, his pure and stainless life, his trust in the Father, and his child-like submission and resignation to sustain us also? Have we outlived the example of Jesus? or rather, do we not refuse to become his immediate disciples, and say within ourselves, we are not specially commanded to observe this institution, and we will assume no new obligations? He who pleads this excuse, condemns himself; he admits that Jesus enjoined the observance of the Communion upon his first disciples he admits the wisdom of the injunction, the value of the observance as a Christian and appointed means; and yet, needing its influence as well as the early disciples, he refuses to regard it, because he will assume no new obligations! We cannot assume any new obligations; we cannot escape those which exist. And if we could do both, we ought not to shrink from the duties and responsibilities God has laid upon us. It would be unmanly and unchristian to refuse to assume all a man's and a Christian's responsibleness, and we should be recreant and apostate to escape the burthen of a known duty. But the obligations devolving upon us are ordained of God, and are as irrevocable as the laws of life, as unavoidable as death; and nothing which we can do, or neglect to do, can in any wise affect the nature of the binding force of them. We might as well attempt to live and stay the pulsations of the heart, or suspend the office of the lungs, as deny our responsibleness and escape the consequence of that denial. And were we to proclaim to the assembled world our admission of Christian obligations, the obligations would be unchanged, and no more than already devolve upon us; and therefore it is that the excuse we have considered is utterly groundless and inadmissible. But, ah!" says one, "I am not good enough to partake at the table of communion. Gladly would I join in the service, but I am not worthy." True humility will not remain unworthy. But can one plead that he is not good enough to do his duty? Humility does not prefer vice to virtue. You are not worthy! Are you worthy of the love of your Father in Heaven, of the blessings of Revelation, and the teachings of Inspiration? Are you worthy that Christ should die for you? and shed his precious blood for you? and are you indeed so unworthy that you cannot even commemorate the dying love of the Master, and set apart a season to remember him who died that you might live? Are you good enough to live? Are you good enough to die? But no, this is more than is meant. The pleader is not ready. One excuse begets another, and is ever ready to qualify itself and ask that it may be dismissed unquestioned and unsentenced. What is this pleader ready to do? He has not begun to live, he does not think of death, he quails before the calls of duty, he has no valid reason for delay, for delay is perilous and delusive, and he knows too that he must meet and answer the solemn questions of life and duty, and he knows he will be quite as unprepared when they are clamoring at the gates of death and will no longer be denied. He is not ready! Why is he not ready? Will he tell us he has not taken those initiatory steps, those preparatory measures which will fit him for the service? And why, we ask, has he not taken them? Has he not attained that period of life which requires a clear and unqualified plan for the future? Has he not come to know his needs, the yearnings of his spiritual nature, the monotony and unsatisfactoriness of life, the perishable and evanescent character of worldly joys and possessions? Has he never known sorrow or bereavement, never languished on the bed of sickness, never listened in fear for the foot-fall of death, never struggled with sin and temptation, never brooded in the silence of his own soul over some hidden deed of shame, known, it may be, only to Him who seeth in secret and to his own self-accusing conscience? He has not taken the preparatory steps! And what does he ! conceive them to be? Has he no sorrow for sin ? Has he no desire for a better life? Has he no love for Jesus, who came to save him from all sin and purify his life? Has he a fear that the world will scrutinize his acts, and require better |