excite, the pleasure of the general view is much enhanced. It is truly said that, a habit of watchfulness of the outward world, is a pretty certain assurance of a well-informed man: and I would recommend a practice of the art if it were only for the nice discrimination it requires: for the application of this habit is invaluable in every other pursuit. M. A. DWIGHT. Elizabeth Fry. THE felon's bewailing, Records of love. Spirit of Howard, Look down from on high,— Elizabeth Fry! She entered the cell, A priestess of Heaven, On the threshold of Hell, An angel of mercy, Wherever she went, Calling, like Peter, On men to repent. Wearisome nights, And wearisome days, Unmindful of praise- She looked upon there, Like Aaron she stood, "Twixt the living and dead, A stranger to doubting The courage of man, Are shrouded in gloom; Weep over her tomb! WM. NICOMB. Ir wisdom's ways you wisely seek, five things observe with care, To whom you speak, of whom you speak, and how, and when, and where. Bridges. I. I HAVE a bridge within my heart, And when upon this bridge I stand, To watch life's tide below, Sad thoughts come through the shadowy land, And darken all its flow. Then as it winds its way along To sorrow's bitter sea, O mournful is the spirit-song, A song which breathes of blessings dead, And hearing thus, beleaguering fears. Oh often then will deeper grow A song of blessings never sere- Of pleasures flowed from troublings here, And hearing thus-a peace divine Soon shuts each sorrow out; Oh often then will brighter grow Che Preservation of Peace. GREATER than the divinity that doth hedge a king, is the divinity that encompasses the righteous man, and the righteous people. The flowers of prosperity smiled in the blessed footprints of William Penn. His people were unmolested and happy, while, (sad but true contrast!) those of other colonies, acting upon the policy of the world, building forts, and showing themselves in arms, not after receiving provocation, but merely in the anticipation, or from the fear of insults or danger,—were harrassed by perpetual alarms, and pierced by the sharp arrows of savage war. This pattern of a Christian Commonwealth never fails to arrest the admiration of all who contemplate its beauties. It drew an epigram of eulogy from the caustic pen of Voltaire, and has been fondly painted by many virtuous historians. Every ingenuous soul, in our day, offers his willing tribute to those celestial graces of justice and humanity, by the side of which the flinty hardness of the pilgrims of Plymouth Rock, seems earthly and coarse. But let us not confine ourselves to barren words, in recognition of virtue. While we see the right and approve it, too, let us dare to pursue it. Let us now, in this age of civilization, surrounded by Christian nations, be willing to follow the succesful example of William Penn, surrounded by savages. Let us, while we recognise those transcendant ordinances of God, the law of Right and the law of Love,—the double suns which illuminate the moral universe, aspire to the true glory, and, what is higher than glory, the great good of taking the lead in the disarming of the nations. Let us abandon the system of preparation for war, in time of peace, as irrational, unchristian, vainly prodigal of expense, and having a direct tendency to excite the very evil against which it professes to guard. Let the enormous means thus released from iron hands, be devoted to labours beneficent. |