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The Two Urns.

"SOCIETY is composed of two urns: one of good and one of evil. I will suppose that every individual of the human species receives from his natal genius a little phial containing one drop of a fluid which shall be evil if poured into the urn of evil, and good, if into that of good. If you were proceeding to the station of the urns, with ten thousand persons, every one of them, predetermined to empty his phial into the urn of evil, (which I fear is too true a picture of the practice of society,) should you consider their example, if you were hemmed in, in the centre of them, a sufficient excuse for not breaking from them, and approaching the neglected urn? Would you say "the urn will derive little increase from my solitary drop, and one more or less will make very little difference in the urn of ill; I will spare myself trouble, do as the world does, and let the urn of good take its chance from those who can approach it with less difficulty." No you would rather say "That neglected urn contains the hopes of the human species: little, indeed, is the addition I can make to it, but it will be good so far as it goes: and if, on approaching the urn, you should find it not so empty as you had anticipated, if the genius appointed to guard it, should say to you, "There is enough in this urn already to allow a reasonable expectation that it will one day be full, and yet it has only accumulated drop by drop through the efforts of individuals who broke through the pale and pressure of the multitude, and did not despair of human virtue;" would you not feel ten-fold repaid for the difficulties you had overcome, by the single reflection that would then rush upon your mind-I am one of these ?”

GOD is better lodged in the heart than in great edifices.

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Che Strange Preacher.

"WHEREVER I went, the rumour spread through the place before me, "The man in the leather suit is come." "

GEORGE FOX's JOURNAL.

An old man there came to the market place,
With a strong and a bold, yet a cheerful face :
And one after one, people drew to the spot,
Who lingered, and lingered, unknowing for what.

In the looks of the stranger who stationed was there,
By the market-cross in the upper air,

Was something they were not accustomed to see-
So they questioned each other of what it could be.

Some said t' was his dress, which of leather was made,
Some spoke of his features' peculiar shade:
Whatever it might be, they grew to a crowd,

And questions were getting impatient and loud,

With one word of his mouth they were silent as death,

When he stretched forth his hand there was pause in each
breath:

And a feeling like thought through each bosom there ran,
That the being they heard might be more than a man.

Had he spoken of wrongs which the people endured-
Of evils the people themselves should have cured—
Had he told them of tyrants and tyranous laws,
They had risen to shed their hearts' blood in his cause.

But his words were of peace, and of truth, and of love-
And of One once on earth who came down from above;
Who, that peace might abound in good-will unto man,
Had endured all the pangs that humanity can.

THE STRANGE PREACHER.

Much spoke he of temples that were but of stone

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And priests clothed in purple whom Christ did not own :

Of merciless pastors whom Christ had foretold

Should seem to protect, while they ravaged the fold.

Such a picture of Christ and his people he drew,

Of the chosen and simple, the faithful and few :
That, absorbed in the vision, they saw what he said,
And it seemed that his words gave new life to the dead.

They were chained by his spirit-they could not depart :-
Conviction, like lightning, he flashed on the heart:
Though powerful his language, his aspect was mild,
And their thoughts were at once of a king and a child.

Ere he ceased, all the strong holds of pride were overthrown :
And natures were softened, once harder than stone:
When he ceased, in dim eyes were affectionate tears:
And in hearts a remembrance deep graven for

years." TAIT'S MAGAZINE.

A CHANGE, (to a certain degree,) has taken place in female education and instead of hanging the understanding of a woman on walls, or hearing it vibrate on strings, instead of seeing it in clouds, or hearing it in the winds, it is beginning to become the first spring and ornament of society, by being enriched with attainments on which alone its power depends.

SIDNEY SMITH.

TRUE delicacy, (that most beautiful heart-leaf of humanity,) exhibits itself most significantly in little things.

MARY HOWITT.

The Present.

"It is something to learn to live in the present: to feel, that the present duty, pleasure, circumstance, is alone good and wonderful; we say, if we were only differently placed, life would be so interesting; if we were in such or such a position, then should we be intellectual, or amiable, or useful: or if this or that event should happen to us, then should we be elated and happy. It is all a mistake. That very event, or position, if possessed by us, would look just as little extraordinary as that we are now in situations not our own, lie before us like a landscape view: every part, however mean in detail, goes to contribute to the effect of the whole, and shares in its ideal character: but we cannot see the picture of which we ourselves form a part. We do not know, that the day, the hour, the employment, the incident, before which we, in our own persons stand, and that looks perhaps so worn and dusty, is in reality an inexhaustable well of truth, could we but wipe from our eyes the blinding dust of familiarity. For life to cease to be poor and common-place, and become intrinsically rich and wonderful, we must realise, that if it is as a whole, the gift of God, then all the parts must so be; if relation to parents, friends, society, are of divine appointment, then every thing flowing out of this relation, intercourse and influence, are of divine appointment. How grand and mystic then, is this every-day life! It is inlaid with divinity, as black oak inlaid with gold: and David utters a literal fact when he speaks of his " down-sitting and uprising," as encompassed by God.

FRIENDS may have the same tastes, but different talents.

Che Synagogue.

"BUT even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart: nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away."

ST. PAUL.

I SAW them in their synagogue, as in their ancient day;
And never from my memory, the scene will pass away:
For, on my dazzled vision still, the latticed galleries shine,
With Israel's loveliest daughters, in their beauty half divine.
It is the quiet Sabbath eve-the solitary light

Sheds mingled with the hues of day, a lustre nothing bright;
On swarthy brow and piercing glance, it falls with saddening
tinge,

And dimly gilds the Pharisees' phylacteries and fringe!

The two leaved doors slide slow apart, before the eastern screen,
As rise the Hebrew harmonies, with chanted prayers between:
And 'mid the tissued veils disclosed, of many a gorgeous dye,
Enveloped in the jewelled scarfs, the sacred relics lie.
Robed in his sacerdotal robes, a hoary headed man,

With voice of solemn cadence, o'er the backward letters ran.
Aud often yet, methinks I see the glow and power, which sate,
Upon his face, as forth he spread, the roll immaculate!
And fervently that hour I prayed, that, from the mighty scroll,
Its light, in burning characters, might break on every soul.
That from their hardened hearts, the veil, might be no longer
dark,

But be forever rent in twain, like that before the ark.

For yet the tenfold film shall fall, Oh Judah! from thy sight,
And every eye be purged to read thy testimonies right!
When thou, with all Messiah's signs, in Christ distinctly seen,
Shall by Jehovah's nameless name, invoke the Nazarine!

WM. CROSSWell.

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