SOFTLY WOO AWAY HER BREATH.

SOFTLY WOO away her breath,

Gentle death!

Let her leave thee with no strife,
Tender, mournful, murmuring life!

She hath seen her happy day,

She hath had her bud and blossom;
Now she pales and shrinks away,
Earth, into thy gentle bosom!

She hath done her bidding here:
Angels dear!

Bear her perfect soul above,

Seraph of the skies;-sweet love!
Good she was, and fair in youth;
And her mind was seen to soar,
And her heart was wed to truth:
Take her, then, forevermore,—
Forever-evermore!

Barry Cornwall

A VISION OF FUTURE BLISS.

REST! how sweet the sound! It is melody to my ears. It lies as a reviving cordial at my heart, and thence sends forth lively spirits which beat through all the pulses of my soul. Rest, not as the stone that rests on the earth, nor as this flesh shall rest in the grave, nor such a rest Oh blessed rest! when we as the carnal world desires. rest not day and night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty;" when we shall rest from sin, but not from worship; from suffering and sorrow, but not from joy. Oh blessed day! when I shall rest with God! when I shall rest in the bosom of my Lord! when my perfect soul and body shall together perfectly enjoy the most perfect God!

This is that joy which was procured by sorrow; that My Lord crown which was procured by the Cross. wept, that now my tears might be wiped away; he bled, that I might now rejoice; he was forsaken, that I might

not be; he died, that I might live. Oh free mercy, that can exalt so vile a wretch! Free to me, though dear to Christ; free grace that hath chosen me, when thousands were forsaken.

Oh sweet reconciliation! happy union! Now the gos pel shall no more be dishonored through our folly. No more, my soul, shalt thou lament the sufferings of the saints, or the Church's ruins, or mourn thy suffering friends, nor weep over their dying beds or their graves. Thou shalt never suffer thy old temptations from Satan, the world, or thy own flesh. Thy pains and sickness are all cured; thy body shall no more burden thee with weakness and weariness; thy aching head and heart, thy hunger and thirst, thy sleep and labor, are all gone.

Oh what a mighty change is this! From persecuting sinners, to praising saints. From a vile body, to this which shines as the brightness of the firmament. From a sense of God's displeasure, to the perfect enjoyment of him in love. From all my fearful thoughts of death, to this joyful life. Blessed change! Farewell sin and sorrow forever; farewell my rocky, proud, unbelieving heart; my worldly, sensual, carnal heart; and welcome my most holy, heavenly nature. Farewell repentance, faith, and hope; and welcome love, and joy, and praise.

I shall now have my harvest without plowing or sowing; my joy without a preacher or a promise; even all from the face of God himself. Whatever mixture is in the streams, there is nothing but pure joy in the fountain. Here shall I be encircled with eternity, and ever live, and ever, ever praise the Lord. My face will not wrinkle, nor my hair be gray; for this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal, immortality; death shall be swallowed up in victory. Oh death! where is now thy sting? Oh grave! where is thy victory?

The date of my lease will no more expire, nor shall I trouble myself with thoughts of death, nor lose my joys through fear of losing them. When millions of ages are past, my glory is but beginning; aud when millions more are past, it is no nearer ending. Every day is all noon, every month is harvest, every year is a jubilee, every age is a full manhood, and all this is one eternity. Oh blessed eternity! the glory of my glory, the perfection of my perfection.

Richard Baxter.

THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT.

It was six men of Indostan

To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind,)
That each by observation

Might satisfy his mind.

The First approached the Elephant,
And, happening to fall

Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall !"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,

Cried: "Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear

This wonder of an Elephant

Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,

And, happening to take

The squirming trunk within his hands,

Thus boldly up and spake :

"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant

Is

very like a snake !"

The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee:

"What most this wondrous beast is like

Is mighty plain," quoth he;

"Tis clear enough the Elephant

Is very like a tree.

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the car,

Said: "E'en the blindest man

Can tell what this resembles most;

Deny the fact who can,

This marvel of an Elephant

Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun

About the beast to grope,

Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan

Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

MORAL.

So, oft in theologic wars
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

J. G. Saxe.

THE LAUNCHING OF THE SHIP.

ALL is finished, and at length

Has come the bridal day

Of beauty and of strength.

To-day the vessel shall be launched!

With fleecy clouds the sky is blanched,
And o'er the bay,

Slowly, in all his splendors dight,

The great sun rises to behold the sight.

The ocean old,

Centuries old,

Strong as youth, and as uncontrolled,

Paces restless to and fro,

Up and down the sands of gold.

His beating heart is not at rest;

And far and wide

With ceaseless flow

His beard of snow

Heaves with the heaving of his breast.

He waits impatient for his bride.

There she stands,

With her foot upon the sands,

Decked with flags and streamers gay,

In honor of her marriage-day,

Her snow-white signals fluttering, blending,
Round her like a veil descending,

Ready to be

The bride of the gray old sea.

Then the Master,

With a gesture of command,
Waved his hand;

And at the word,

Loud and sudden there was heard,
All around them and below,

The sound of hammers, blow on blow,
Knocking away the shores and spurs.
And see! she stirs !

She starts, she moves,-she seems to feel
The thrill of life along her keel,

And, spurning with her foot the ground,
With one exulting, joyous bound,
She leaps into the ocean's arms.
And lo! from the assembled crowd
There rose a shout, prolonged and loud,
That to the ocean seemed to say,

"Take her, 0, bridegroom, old and gray ;
Take her to thy protecting arms,
With all her youth and all her charms."

How beautiful she is! how fair

She lies within those arms, that press
Her form with many a soft caress
Of tenderness and watchful care!
Sail forth into the sea, O, ship!

Through wind and wave, right onward steer.
The moistened eye, the trembling lip,

Are not the signs of doubt or fear

Sail forth into the sea of life,
Oh gentle, loving, trusting wife,
And safe from all adversity,
Upon the bosom of that sea
Thy comings and thy goings be!
For gentleness, and love, and trust,
Prevail o'er angry wave and gust;
And in the wreck of noble lives
Something immortal still survives!

Thou, too, sail on, O ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity, with all its fears,
With all its hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!
We know what Master laid thy keel,
What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel,
Who made each mast, and sail and rope,
What anvils rang, what hammers beat,
In what a forge, and what a heat,
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope.