Still was he umpire, when some contest rude
'Twixt man and man arose, or general feud
Crept in to mar the village peace: for well
The champions knew, the story but to tell
With honest lips was only needed: he,
The ancient man, with stern integrity
And nicely weighing judgment, would decide
The point contested, and to either side

So carefully award the right, that each

Well pleased would listen, and the opening breach
Most wisely heal. Oft lovers to him came,

Young men and maidens, who, with modest shame,
Their tender secrets to his willing ear

Blushing confided; asking counsel, ne'er
By him denied, and by them ever found
Safest and wisest.

Years still rolled around:
Weeping arose within the cottage then —
Voices of childhood and of matrons :- men
Covered their faces with their hands, to hide

The gushing tears which shamed their manhood's pride.
The pauper had departed. Death had come
To bear at length the ancient pilgrim home;
Upon his sightless eyes, and on his head
White with the snows of time, had gently laid
His hand oblivious, and the old man passed,
Smiling and calm, to his long home at last.

Sadly attended, by a mourning train

Of weeping children, and calm, silent men,
And tearful matrons, forth they slowly bore

The aged pauper to return no more.

'Mid the dim forest shades, they laid him down In his last resting place. A plain, dark stone,

Simply inscribed, 'HERE SLEEPS A CHRISTIAN' - placed

By some kind hand to mark the spot it graced,
Tells where he lies.

They took his flowers, as one

A sacred relic when a saint was gone

Would take. They bore them to their homes, and there
Watered and nursed them with the fondest care:

But 't was in vain; for, like a heart that grieves,
They bowed their chalices and drooped their leaves,
And so they died.

ENTERTAINING ANGELS.

BY J. G. ADAMS.

DID the reader ever think of that significant direction to the Hebrew Christians, 'Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares;' and did he ever ask and seek its meaning? The form of expression has evident allusion to the visitations received by Abraham and Lot in the patriarchal ages, the accounts of which are interwoven with our earliest scriptural instructions; accounts beautiful in their moral adaptations as they are still to us fraught with the mysterious and sublime. Yet the apostle would not have us understand that such interviews and communings of the earthly with the celestial were confined to these first ages of human history. They awaited men when he addressed them; and he would have the blessing appreciated and improved.

Let brotherly love continue. Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity as being yourselves also in the body.' Open your hearts to

the instructions, wants, manifestations of this great nature you possess. Seek to know the significance of it. Study its unity; learn its mutual dependencies; feed and renew your love of it in the spirit of our new and highest Teacher sent from God. Such is the lesson taught; and under its impressions I now move my pen.

Heaven was no nearer the patriarchs and prophets than it is to us. God was no more their God than he is ours. He was no more ready to make direct

revelation of his truth to his children then than he is at the present hour. True, his method of communication was then different, according to the wants and capacities of his children. That share of spiritual light now enjoyed by the world had not been given then. There was a way for God to speak at that time which men could then best understand. He has another way to speak the 1 same truth now to the same human nature. It is our duty to listen attentively, to receive and obey. If we do not in every respect hear through just the same medium that others heard, we are to be as faithful as some of them were in the instructions we do receive under the greater light of the Gospel Revelation. This is our medium now. Abraham had not that great measure of it which we possess. Gleams of its light came to him, and he rejoiced in them. Under its broader radiance, what should

our obedience and rejoicing be? To some of the daily and hourly practical instructions of this same Heaven's truth, as God makes it known to us, let our attention be directed.

If we want a heaven of angels, why may we not have one below? I do not mean so perfect a heaven as that one where higher beings than men have inheritance and immortal life. I mean on earth, counting it as evil as it really is, with all its errors, wrongs, and abominations. If we only take the right view here, we shall understand what intercourse may await us; what righteous influences may go out from us to others, and be received by us from them in return. If the inner vision is right, we shall not only kindly await, but plainly perceive the angels. It is by reason of man's selfishness, and lack of confidence in his fellow-man, and neglect to cultivate his spiritual sympathies, that our good angels so rarely reveal themselves. The soul that goes out into the world wholly absorbed in self, seeking only its own gratification, cannot see angels, save such as are mentioned in the parable as belonging to the company of the adversary. It is by kindly and blessed sympathy with human hearts and human natures, that these holy revelations will be made to us.

We should then keep our hearts open to all the good we may receive in our intercourse and expe