What had there been upon the waste No, pretty flower; I do not wish The day-star does not always rise So bright, so pure as now; Go, while no touch of thing unkind, Is one bright beam from heaven. WHY WEEPEST THOU? O ASK not one, whose heart is drear, O ask not him, why he should weep, Bid him go weep, the icy breast, Which wooes the flut'ring soul to rest, It else could never prove. Bid him lament the stubborn will, O bid him mourn the carnal mind, Which slights the Pearl of Price; And, slave to sin, to earth confined, Forgets her native skies. Yet, lest he sink beneath the fears, We will come unto him and make our abode with him, ALONE-what is't to be alone?→→→ It is to think, to feel, Where none will question of the thought, To hope, to dread, to wish, to doubt, To have the heart o'erflow with love, On our own bosom to receive That no one minds to share To sing our hymns of praise alone, And doubt if Heaven itself can hear Alone-and can I be alone, Where every thought I have ascends To Him who once on earth had thoughts, Ascends! Ah no! for He is here, My bed, my path about: Marks every feeling as it comes, And answers every doubt. He lists with sympathizing love To all my sorrow's tale; And speaks to me when none are near, Of things he knew so well. M: To him my anxious heart refers He bears the grateful song to heaven, O tell me not of solitude, Where such sweet thoughts can be→→ FAITH. BLIND, weak, and restless, man by nature knows, The feeble glimmering of reason's ray, Without a compass or a pilot, lost. Nor hath he power to repel the wave, Breaking with mighty force upon that shore, Where the frail bark once cast, its freight is seen no more. Amidst the elemental storm, Behold an angel form. She comes- -but not with meteor light; She speaks-but not with syren voice; Her counsel sets the wanderer right, And leads him to rejoice. While peacefully the vessel glides along, Hers is the harp, and hers the song; And when the winds prevail, When the dark waters roll; She holds the helm, she furls the sail, And casts her anchor out to stay the soul. She bids the watchful mariner descry Dangers unnoticed by the careless eye, 'Midst rocks and quicksands then in safety steers And with fresh energy inspires his breast, Until in peace he gains the haven of his rest. Its wonders are unveiled to faith alone. To scan its boundless treasures; And she can sing of what no eye hath seen Nor ear discerned, and where no thought hath been, In splendour inaccessible enshrined; Who is, who was, who will for ever be Reader! wouldst thou behold that land so fair? Wouldst thou secure a happy entrance there? Incline thine ear to what the vision saith. The record of eternal truth receive In Him of whom it testifies, believe His word declares, "The just shall live by faith." IOTA. REVIEW OF BOOKS. New French Manual and Traveller's Companion, 4s. New Pronouncing French Primer, by Gabriel Surenne, F.A.S.E.-Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh.1826. THE former of these small works, in which the latter is comprised, is superior to any of the kind we have met with, in the arrangement and practical usefulness of its contents. It will be found very useful to learners, and to unlearned travellers. And though we are persuaded every attempt to enable a person to teach themselves the pronunciation of French without instruction, is unavailing, some assistance may yet be derived to those who have not the advantage of it, by the manner in which the pronunciation is here given. Consistency. By Charlotte Elizabeth. Hatchard, London. 1826. Price 4s. THE author of "Consistency", will not desire that after we have given so often and so strongly our opinion against the reading of these religious fictions for young people, we should individually recommend what we have generally discountenanced. But there are still many readers who take delight in these works, and seek them eagerly, and have traced to the perusal of them the most useful and permanent impressions. To these we can well say that this little work is marked by all the discriminating piety we should expect, from the opinion we have formed of the author. The purport throughout we understand to be, to show the mischiefs that result from equivocating in what we believe to be truth, from motives of human expediency: and it is very well shown. The character of Mrs. Forbes is extremely well given, and is, we fear, no uncommon one at the present day; therefore very useful to present to those who may take a caution from it. For the benefit of those who may not read the story, we cannot forbear extracting the summary of this character from one page of it. "Keeping the vineyard of others, she had neglected both her household and herself. She had indulged a spirit of censoriousness, and shamefully connived at, if she had not actually encouraged a feeling of contempt in the family against him, who, as the head of it, was entitled to a master's honour and a father's fear. This is too frequently the case where the household are unfortunately divided on religious subjects; but not the less criminal for being so common; and whatever disgrace may seemingly attach to the individuals thus held out to the scorn of those beneath them, a double portion of guilt and shame rebounds upon the promoters of such unnatural and unscriptural rebellion against an authority established and recognised by the Most High God. In this, and numerous other instances, Mrs. |