Charity.

-TEACH us true self-denial-we who seek
To pluck the mote out of our brother's creed,
Till Charity's forgotten plant doth ask

The water-drop and die. With zeal we watch

And weigh the doctrine-while the spirit 'scapes; And in the carving of our cummin-seeds,

Our metaphysical hair-splittings, fail

To note the orbit of that star of love,
Which never sets.

Yes, even the heathen tribes,
Who from our lips amid their chaos dark,
First heard the "fiat lux," and joyous came,
Like Lazarus from his tomb, do wildered ask
What guide to follow for they see the men
They took for angels, warring in their paths,
For Paul and for Apollos, till they lose

The certainty that they are one in Christ:
That simple clue, which, through life's labyrinth, leads
To Heaven's gate.

Each differing sect, whose base
Is on the same pure word, doth strictly scan
Its neighbour's superstructure-point and arch-
Buttress and turret, till the hymn of praise,
That from each temple should go up to God,
Sinks in the critic's tone. All Christendom,
Is one continued burnishing of shields,
And putting on of armour. So the heat
Of border warfare checks salvation's way.
The free complexion of another's thought,
Doth militate against him: and those shades
Of varying opinion and belief,

Which, sweetly blended with the skill of love,
Would make the picture beautiful, are blamed
As features of deformity.

We toil,

To controvert, to argue, to defend,

Camping amidst imaginary foes,

And visioned heresies.

E'en brethren deem

A name of doctrine or a form of words,

A dense partition wall,-though Christ hath said
"See that ye love each other."

So come forth,

Ye who have safest kept that Saviour's law
Green, as a living germ, within your souls,
Followers of the Lamb! stand meekly forth,
And with the gentle panoply of love
Persuade the Christian Churches to recal
Their wasted energies, and consecrate,

In one bright focal point, their quenchless zeal :
Till, from each region of the darkened globe,
The everlasting Gospel's glorious wing,
Shall wake the nations to Jehovah's praise!

L. H. S.

IN the nice adjustment of part with part, of sentiment with sentiment, of practice with practice,-in the unbroken harmony which pervades the great whole-I cannot but perceive a strong confirming evidence that the religious system of "Friends" results from the operations of the Divine Spirit, and is based on the unvarying principles of the law of God.

J. J. G.

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.

2H

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257

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 he.

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

259

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.