LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 ®|ap.— - - ©upgrig^ 1^0* 
 
 Shelf -kQ_.L^ 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMEBICA, 
 
MANUAL 
 
 FOR USE AT 
 
 FUNERALS 
 
 CONSISTING OF 
 
 SCRIPTURE READINGS, POEMS, AND PROSE 
 SELECTIONS FROM VARIOUS^^SOURCES 
 
 i0US,.8Ol 
 
 ^ StP 15 ibtit 
 
 BOSTON 
 PRINTED FOR THE COMPILERS 
 
 1886 
 
 CO 
 

 Copyright, 1886, by 
 C. J. Staples and C. R. Eliot. 
 
 The 
 
 Library 
 OF Congress 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 ii'f r- r . 
 
COI^TEITTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS 1-79 
 
 A General Service i 
 
 Prayers 7 
 
 Life . 9 
 
 The Life of the Body 11 
 
 The Life of the Spirit 14 
 
 The Deep Waters '. . . 15 
 
 Sudden Death 18 
 
 Trial and Suffering 20 
 
 The Will of God 22 
 
 Aspiration 25 
 
 God our Comfort 27 
 
 God our Refuge 30 
 
 The Fruit of the Spirit 36 
 
 Uprightness and Fidelity 36 
 
 Wisdom and Worth . * 40 
 
 Patience 51 
 
 Gentleness and Love 53 
 
 Friendship ^7 
 
 Purity and Humility 59 
 
 Joy and Faith 61 
 
 Children 63 
 
 Men and Women 66 
 
 The Aged 69 
 
 Life Immortal 71 
 
 (iii) 
 
IV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 THOUGHTS OF IMMORTALITY 
 SELECTED POEMS 
 
 Life and Death 
 
 Resignation — Trust 
 
 A Good Life 
 
 Suffering and Rest 
 
 Childhood and Youth 
 
 The Aged . 
 INDEX OF FIRST LINES. 
 SUPPLEMENTARY LIST OF POEMS 
 ADDITIONAL PRAYERS . 
 
 80 
 107-210 
 107 
 
 157 
 168 
 
 183 
 205 
 211 
 215 
 227 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 This manual has been compiled in hope of assisting ministers and 
 laymen in the task of preparing and conducting funeral services. 
 Each occasion of bereavement is different from all others, and each 
 funeral service requires special preparation. While, therefore, a 
 ** general service," containing selections appropriate to the majority 
 of occasions, has been arranged, it is offered with the idea of being 
 shortened and supplemented according to the judgment of the min- 
 ister and the special circumstances that may arise. For this purpose 
 we have brought together all passages of scripture which seemed 
 appropriate, and have grouped them under various headings, so that 
 anyone, with comparatively little trouble, can form the special service 
 he needs. 
 
 While the manual is compiled with reference to its use at funerals, 
 it is hoped that the selections here made, of prose and poetry, may be 
 of service, also, as devotional readings, in the sick room or elsewhere. 
 
 The choice of poems was not an easy task. Many favorites will be 
 missed, no doubt, and it cannot be hoped that the poems given will 
 be of equal value to all. We have selected, as far as possible, those 
 which have already proved their fitness for such uses. 
 
 With very few exceptions, the poems are given without change, 
 since every clergyman will feel at liberty to make his own alterations, 
 if they are deemed necessary. For lack of space, however, many of 
 the poems have been shortened by the omission of stanzas irrelevant 
 to funeral occasions. Such will be found marked with a star in the 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 index of first lines. We have not printed hymns easily accessible in 
 the Revised Hymn and Tune Book of the American Unitarian Asso- 
 ciation, though many of them are specially appropriate. 
 
 A supplementary list of poems which may be found serviceable 
 with slight changes, has been added. Selections from extra-biblical 
 scriptures, and from various writers, ancient and modern, have also 
 been made, in the belief that they will be useful, if not as readings 
 in the service itself, then as suggestive thoughts. A few prayers, 
 original and selected, are given for the use of laymen called upon to 
 conduct funeral services. 
 
 The compilers are indebted to the kindness of many friends for the 
 
 suggestions they have made and the assistance they have given.. 
 
 Special acknowledgment is due to Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
 
 Roberts Brothers, and others, for their courtesy in permitting the 
 
 use of copyright poems. 
 
 CHRISTOPHER R. ELIOT. 
 
 CHARLES J. STAPLES. 
 
SELECTIONS AND POEMS. 
 
 A GENERAL SERVICE. 
 
 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all gener- 
 ations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or 
 ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even 
 from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou 
 turnest man to destruction ; and sayest. Return, ye chil- 
 dren of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but 
 as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 
 Thou carriest them away as with a flood ; they are as a 
 sleep : in the morning they are like grass which groweth 
 up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up ; in 
 the evening it is cut down, and withereth. The days of 
 our years are three score years and ten ; and if by reason 
 of strength they be four score years, yet is their strength 
 labor and sorrow ; for it is soon cut off', and we flv 
 away. So teach us to number our days, that we 
 
 may apply our hearts unto wisdom. O satisfy us early 
 with thy mercy ; that we may rejoice and be glad all 
 our days. Make us glad according to the days wherein 
 thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have 
 seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and 
 thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the 
 Lord our God be upon us : and establish thou the work 
 of our hands upon us ; yea, the work of our hands estab- 
 lish thou it. 
 
2 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full 
 of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut 
 down : he fleeth also as a shadow^, and continueth 
 not. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created : 
 
 and thou renewest the face of the earth. Thou hidest 
 thy face, they are troubled : thou takest away their 
 breath, they die, and return to their dust. For all 
 men have one entrance into life, and the like going 
 out. Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. 
 
 For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appear- 
 eth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For we 
 know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that 
 which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall 
 be done away. For now w^e see through a glass, darkly ; 
 but then face to face : now I know in part ; but then 
 shall I know evea as also I am known. 
 
 O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: 
 it is not in m.an that walketh to direct his steps. The 
 
 floods have lifted up, O Lord ; the floods have lifted up 
 their voice ; the floods lift up their waves. Deep calleth 
 unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts : all thy waves 
 and thy billows are gone over me. I am so troubled 
 
 that I cannot speak. I call to remembrance my song in 
 the night ; I commune with mine own heart. Will the 
 Lord cast off' forever ? and will he be favourable no more ? 
 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? And I said. This 
 is my infirmity : but I will remember the years of the 
 right hand of the Most High. Woe is me for my 
 
 hurt ! my vs^ound is grievous : but I said, Ti'uly this is a 
 grief, and I must bear it. Not as I will, but as thou 
 wilt ; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak ; 
 O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, 
 except I drink it, thy will be done. 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 3 
 
 The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom shall 
 I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life ; of whom 
 shall I be afraid? The Lord is good, a strong hold in 
 the day of trouble ; and he knoweth them that trust in 
 him. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord 
 pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame, 
 he remembereth that we are dust. Hast thou not 
 
 known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, 
 the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, 
 neither is weary? there is no searching of his understand- 
 ing. He giveth power to the faint ; and to them that 
 have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths 
 shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly 
 fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
 strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they 
 shall run, and not be weary ; and they shall walk, and 
 not faint Wait on the Lord : be of good courage 
 
 and he shall strengthen thine heart : wait, I say, on the 
 Lord. 
 
 The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want. He 
 maketh ine to lie down in green pastures : he leadeth me 
 beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul : he leadeth 
 me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, 
 though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
 I will fear no evil : for thou art with me : thy rod and 
 thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table 
 
 before me in the presence of mine enemies : thou anoint- 
 est my head with oil ; my cup runneth over. Surely 
 goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my 
 life : and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. 
 
 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life : 
 he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall 
 
4 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 he live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
 nev^r die. Let not your heart be troubled : ye be- 
 
 lieve in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house 
 are many mansions : if it w^ere not so, I would have told 
 you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go 
 
 and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and re- 
 ceive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be 
 also. 
 
 We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that 
 we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the 
 
 Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord. 
 
 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye 
 not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 
 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the 
 God of Jacob .^ God is not the God of the dead, but of 
 the living. 
 
 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? 
 and with what body do they come ? That which thou 
 sowest is not quickened, except it die : and that which 
 thou sowest, thou spwest not that body that shall be, but 
 bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other 
 grain : but God giveth it a body as it has pleased him, 
 and to every seed his ov^n body. There is one glory 
 
 of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another 
 glory of the stars ; for one star differeth from another star 
 in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is 
 sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; it is 
 sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory : it is sown in 
 weakness, it is raised in power : it is sown a natural body, 
 it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, arid 
 there is a spiritual body. As is the earthy, such are they 
 also that are earthy : and as is the heavenly, such are they 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 5 
 
 also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image 
 of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heav- 
 enly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood 
 cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither can corrup- 
 tion inherit incorruption. For this corruptible must put 
 on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 
 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, 
 and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then 
 shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death 
 is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? 
 O grave, w^here is thy victory? The sting of death is 
 sin ; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to 
 God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, 
 un movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 
 forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in 
 the Lord. 
 
 I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not 
 worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be re- 
 vealed to us. For eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor the 
 heart of man conceived, the things which God hath pre- 
 pared for them that love him. Our light affliction, which 
 is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceedinp; 
 and eternal weight of glory ; while we look not at the 
 things which are seen, but at the things which are not 
 seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the 
 things which are not seen are eternal. For w^e know 
 that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, 
 we have a building of God, a house not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens. Whom the Lord 
 
 loveth, he chasteneth. If ye endure chastening, God deal- 
 
6 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 eth with you as with sons. Now no chastening for the 
 present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous ; nevertheless, 
 afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness 
 unto them that are exercised thereby. The trying of your 
 faith worketh patience. Submit yourselves to God, 
 and the Lord will raise you up. 
 
 And I saw a new^ heaven and a new earth ; for the first 
 heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and there 
 was no more sea. And I heard a o^reat voice out of 
 heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with 
 men, and he will dwell w^ith them, and they shall be his 
 people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their 
 God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their 
 eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow., 
 nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the 
 former things have passed away. And he that sat 
 
 upon the throne said. Behold I make all things new. 
 I am Alpha and. Omega, the beginning and the end. 
 I will eive unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the 
 water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit 
 all things ; and I will be his God, and he shall be my 
 son. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto 
 
 me. Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord 
 from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may 
 rest from their labors ; and their works do follow 
 them. And, behold, I come quickly; and my 
 
 reward is with me, to give every man according as his 
 works shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning 
 and the end, the tirst and the last. Blessed are they 
 that do his commandments, that they may have right 
 to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates 
 into the citv. 
 
I^AYERS. 7 
 
 I. 
 
 Almighty God, we come to thee because we need 
 thee. Without thee we are poor and weak, and with 
 thee we can be brave and strong. We bow ourselves 
 before thy will. We yield ourselves to thy law. Thou 
 sendest forth thy Spirit, we are created ; thou takest 
 away our breath, we die and return to the dust. In 
 death as in life, in sorrow as in joy, thou art Vv'aiting to 
 bless us, if we will but turn to thee. Thou dost gird 
 and guide us, though we know it not ; and the shadow 
 with which thou darkenest our way is but the shadow of 
 thy close-approaching and over-brooding presence. 
 
 Help us to find thee thus this day. Lead us from our 
 weakness to thy strength, and from our ignorance to 
 thy wisdom, and give to us the peace and confidence 
 which walks in the darkness even as in the light. It is 
 thou who dost take to thyself the life of this, thy servant. 
 Help us to say and to believe that it is well, — well 
 with the life which seems to go away, because it finds 
 thy rest and peace, and well for us who stay, because of 
 tender memories and Christian hopes. In the midst of 
 grief and solitude give to us the prayer of gratitude and 
 praise. As we perceive that the things which are seen 
 are temporal, so much the more may we find that the 
 things which are unseen are eternal. Strengthen in us 
 that immortal hope which is ours in the discipleship of 
 Jesus. Make us know that if our earthly house be 
 dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made 
 with han:ls, eternal in the heavens ; and. amid the suffer- 
 ings of this present time, unveil to us the things which 
 eye hath not seen, but which God hath prepared for 
 them that love him. 
 
 Sanctify thus to these hearts the sorrow which thou 
 
8 PRAYERS. 
 
 dost call upon them to bear. May they hear that voice 
 which says, '^ Blessed are they that mourn, for they 
 shall be comforted." As they walk through the valley 
 of the shadow of death, may thy rod and staff support 
 them, and may they be grateful for that Eternal Love 
 w^hich summons souls to rest from their labors, and dost 
 permit them to enter into thy peace. Send us all back 
 to our lives more eager to serve thee, and more inclined 
 to love thee, as though in this mysterious presence w^e 
 had learned to know the deeper meaning and responsi- 
 bility of life. Amid the changes of this world make us 
 strong and calm, because we rest in thee, and finally 
 persuade us that neither death nor life, nor things present, 
 nor things to come, shall be able to separate us from the 
 love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen, 
 F. G. P. 
 
 II. 
 
 O Father, wx would not forget thy benefits. For 
 life w^e thank thee ; the throbbing life of Nature ; the 
 quick-beating pulse of human hearts, the swift flight of 
 the spirit's prayer, the life eternal. For love w^e thank 
 thee ; that love which, from childhood onward, has been 
 ours, blessing us, saving us, creating us anew. For hope 
 w^e thank thee, and for light ; for all that quickens faith ; 
 for the mind and heart of Christ ; for the in-flowing of 
 thy Spirit. 
 
 O God, we call thee, and thou art here. We are not 
 strong ; grant us thy strength. We cannot see ; grant 
 us thy light. We do not know the way ; lead us, O 
 Father, by thy Spirit. We falter, we wander, we dare 
 not speak ; only teach thou us to pray. So, in us, and 
 through us, may thy kingdom come, and thy w^ill be 
 done. Am 2)1, C. A\ E. 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 9 
 
 1 
 
 LIFE. 
 
 The ungodly said, reasoning with themselves, but not 
 aright. Our life is short and tedious, and in the death 
 of a man there is no remedy : neither was there any man 
 known to have returned from the grave. For we are 
 born at all adventure : and we shall be hereafter as 
 though we had never been : for the breath in our nostrils 
 is as smoke, and a little spark in the moving of our 
 heart : which being extinguished, our body shall be 
 turned into ashes, and our spirit shall vanish as the soft 
 air, and our name shall be forgotten in time, and no 
 man shall have our works in remembrance, and our life 
 shall pass away as the trace of a cloud, and shall 
 be dispersed as a mist, that is driven away with the 
 beams of the sun, and overcome with the heat thereof. 
 For our time is a very shadow that passeth away ; and 
 after our end there is no returning : for it is fast sealed, 
 so that no man cometh again. Come on therefore, 
 
 let us enjoy the good things that are present : and let us 
 speedily use the creatures like as in youth. Let us fill 
 ourselves with costly wine and ointments : and let no 
 flower of the spring pass by us : let us crown ourselves 
 with rosebuds, before they be withered : let none of us 
 go without his part of our voluptuousness : let us leave 
 tokens of our joyfulness in every place : for this is our 
 portion, and our lot is this. Such things they did 
 
 imagine, and were deceived : for their own wickedness 
 hath blinded them. As for the mysteries of God, they 
 knew them not : neither hoped they for the wages 
 of righteousness, nor discerned a reward for blameless 
 souls. For God created man to be immortal, and 
 
lO SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 made him to be an image of his own eternity. [ Wis- 
 dom II.'] 
 
 The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, 
 and there shall no torment touch them. In the sight of 
 the unwise they seemed to die : and their departure is 
 taken for misery, and their going from us to be utter 
 destruction : but they are in peace. For though they 
 be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of 
 immortality. And having been a little chastised, they 
 shall be greatly rewarded : for God proved them, and 
 found them worthy for himself. As gold in the furnace 
 hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt 
 offering. [ Wisdoin ill.'] 
 
 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every 
 2)urpose under the heaven : a time to be born, and a 
 time to die ; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that 
 which is planted ; a time to kill, and a time to heal ; a 
 time to break down, and a time to build up ; a time to 
 weep, and a time to laugh ; a time to mourn, and a time 
 to dance ; a time to rend, and a time to sew ; a time to 
 keep silence, and a time to speak ; a tune to love, 
 and a time to hate ; a tune of war, and a time of 
 peace. What profit hath he that worketh in that 
 
 w^herein he laboreth? I have seen the travail, w^hich 
 God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised 
 in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his 
 time : also he hath set the world in their heart, so that 
 no man can find out the work that God maketh from the 
 beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in 
 them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his 
 life. And also that every man enjoy the good of all 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. II 
 
 bis labor, it is the gift of God. I know that, wliat- 
 soever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be 
 put to it, nor any thing taken from it : and God doeth 
 it, that men should fear before him. That which hath 
 been is now ; and that which is to be hath already 
 been ; and God requireth that which is past. \_EccL ziL~\ 
 
 O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a 
 man that liveth at rest in his possessions, unto the man 
 that hath nothing to vex him. and that hath prosperity 
 in all things : yea, unto him that is yet able to receive 
 meat ! O death, acceptable is thy sentence unto the 
 needy, and unto him whose strength faileth, that is now 
 in the last age, and is vexed with all things, and to him 
 that despaireth, and hath lost patience I Fear not the 
 sentence of death, remeinber them that have been before 
 thee, and that come after ; for this is the sentence of the 
 Lord over all flesh. \^EcchLS, xU.~\ 
 
 None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to 
 himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord ; 
 and whether we die, we die unto the Lord : whether we 
 live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. \_Ro7n, xiv.'\ 
 
 THE LIFE OF THE BODY. 
 
 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full 
 of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut 
 down : he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth 
 not. \_Job xiv.'] One dieth in his full strength, being 
 wholly at ease and quiet. And another dieth in the bit- 
 
12 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 terness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. They 
 shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall 
 cover them. \_Job xxir\ As the cloud is consumed and 
 vanisheth away ; so he that goeth down to the grave 
 shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his 
 house, neither shall his place know him any more. \^Job 
 v/i.^ For all men have one entrance into life, and the like 
 going out. [ Wisdo?7i viz .~\ Here have ^ve no continuing 
 city, but we seek one to come. \^Heb, xnL~\ Now my 
 days are swifter than a post : they are passed away as the 
 swift ships : as the eagle that hasteth to the prey. \_Job ix.~\ 
 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. \_Job viz.'] 
 As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but 
 a step betw^een me and death. \_i Sam. xx,~\ 
 
 If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself 
 his spirit and his breath ; all flesh shall perish together, 
 and man shall turn again unto dust. In a moment shall 
 they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, 
 and pass away : and the mighty shall be taken away 
 without hand. For his eyes are upon the ways of man, 
 and he seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor 
 shadow^ of death, w^here the workers of iniquity may hide 
 themselves. For he will not lay upon man more than 
 right ; that he should enter into judgment with God. 
 \_Job xxxz'v.^ 
 
 The voice said. Cry. And he said, What shall I cry.? 
 All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the 
 flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fad- 
 eth ; because the spirit of the Lord blow^eth upon it : 
 surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIOXS. I3 
 
 flower fadeth : but the word of our God shall stand for- 
 ever. [ Isa, xir^ 
 
 A man's heart deviseth his way : but the Lord directeth 
 his steps. [ Prov. xvi.~\ For what man is he that can 
 know the counsel of God? or who can think what the 
 will of the Lord is ? For the thoughts of mortal men are 
 miserable, and our devices are but uncertain. For the 
 corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthy 
 tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon 
 many things. And hardly do we guess aright at things 
 that are upon earth, and with labor do we find the 
 things that are before us : but the things that are in 
 heaven who hath searched out? And thy counsel who 
 hath known, except thou give wisdom and send thy 
 Holy Spirit from above ? For so the wavs of them which 
 lived on the earth ^vere reformed, and men were taught 
 the things that are pleasing unto thee, and were saved 
 through wisdom. [ Wisdom /v.] 
 
 Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of 
 my days, what it is ; that I may know how frail I am. 
 Behold, thou hast made my days as a handbreadth ; and 
 mine age is as nothing before thee : verilv every man at 
 his best state is altogether vanity. Surely every man 
 walketh in a vain show : surely they are disquieted in 
 vain : he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall 
 gather them. And now. Lord, what wait I for? my 
 hope is in thee. Deliver me from all my transgressions. 
 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth ; because thou didst 
 it. Remove thy stroke away from me : I am consumed 
 b}' the blow of thine hand. Vrhen thou with rebukes 
 
14 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to 
 consume away like a moth : surely every man is vanity. 
 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry : hold 
 not thy peace at my tears : for I am a stranger with thee, 
 and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. O spare me, 
 that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be 
 no more. [_jPs. xxxlx,^ 
 
 THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 There is a spirit in man : and the inspiration of the 
 Almighty giveth them understanding. \_Job xxxiz,~\ 
 
 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life : 
 he that believeth in me, though he wxre dead, yet shall 
 he live : and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
 never die. \^Joh?i jv/.] Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
 He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent 
 me, hath eternal life, and shall not come into condem- 
 nation ; but is passed from death unto life. \^Jo/i?z v.~\ 
 For bodily exercise profiteth little : but godliness is prof- 
 itable unto all things, having promise of the life that now 
 is, and of that which is to come. [7 Tizjz. iv.~\ In the 
 way of righteousness is life ; and in the pathway thereof 
 there is no death. \_Prov, xn.~\ 
 
 Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that 
 meat which endureth unto eternal life, which the Son 
 of man shall give unto you : for him hath God the Father 
 sealed. Verilv, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you 
 not that bread from heaven : but my Father giveth you 
 the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS* I5 
 
 which Cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto 
 the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore 
 give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the 
 bread of life : he that cometh to me shall never hunger ; 
 and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Verih', 
 verily, I say unto you. He that believeth on me hath 
 everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers 
 did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is 
 the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man 
 may eat thereof, and not die. \_John v{.~\ 
 
 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh 
 of this water shall thirst again ; but whosoever drinketh 
 of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst ; but 
 the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of 
 water springing up into eternal life. \_Joh7t ivJ\ 
 
 Behold I come quickly ; and my reward is with me, to 
 give every man according as his works shall be. I am 
 Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first 
 and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, 
 that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter 
 in through the gates into the city. And the Spirit and 
 the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth sav, 
 Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whoso- 
 ever will, let him take the water of life freely. ^^Rev^xxiir^ 
 
 THE DEEP WATERS. 
 
 Save me, O God ; for the waters are come in unto my 
 soul. I am come into deep waters, where the floods 
 overflow me. \^Ps. lxix.'\ The floods have lifted up, O 
 
l6 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 Lord, the floods have Hfted up their voice ; the floods 
 lift 11^3 their waves. \^Ps. xciii.'] Deep calleth unto 
 
 deep at the noise of thy v^aterspouts : all thy waves 
 and thy billows have gone over me. [^J^s, xUL~\ The 
 Lord on high is mightier than the noise of inany waters, 
 yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. \^Ps* xciii,'\ 
 
 O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and 
 night before thee : let my prayer come before thee : 
 incline thine ear unto my cry : for my soul is full of 
 troubles : and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I 
 am counted with them that go down into the pit : I am 
 as a man that hath no strength : mine eve mourneth by 
 reason of affliction : Lord, I have called daily upon thee, 
 I have stretched out my hands unto thee. Wilt thou 
 shew wonders to the dead ? shall the dead arise and 
 praise thee? Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in 
 the grave ? or thy faithfulness in destruction ? Shall thy 
 wonders be known in the dark ? and thy righteousness 
 in the land of forgetfulness ? But unto thee have I cried, 
 
 Lord ; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent 
 thee. Lord, why castest thou oft' my soul.^ Why hidest 
 thou thy face from me? \_Ps, IxxxviiL'] Hide not thy 
 face from thy servant ; for I am in trouble : hear me 
 speedily. \_Ps, Ixzx.'] 
 
 Woe is me for my hurt ! my wound is grievous : but 
 
 1 said. Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. My 
 tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken : my 
 children are gone forth of me, and they are not : there is 
 none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up 
 my curtains. O Lord, I know that the way of man^ is 
 not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. IJ 
 
 his steps. O Lord, correct me, but with judgment : not 
 in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. \_Jer, 
 
 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and 
 see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is 
 done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me. 
 \_Lafn. /.] I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have 
 considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. 
 I call to reinembrance my song in the night : I commune 
 with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent 
 search. Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be 
 favorable no more? Is ]iis mercy clean gone for ever? 
 doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God for- 
 gotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his 
 tender mercies? And I said. This is my infirmity: but 
 I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most 
 High. \_Ps. lxxvii\~\ 
 
 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go 
 to the house of feasting : for that is the end of all men ; 
 and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better 
 than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance 
 the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is 
 in the house of mourning : but the heart of fools is in 
 the house of mirth. In the day of prosperity be joyful, 
 but in the day of adversity consider : God also hath 
 set the one over against the other, to the end that man 
 should find nothing after him. \_Sccl. vtz,~\ 
 
 Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither 
 doth trouble spring out of the ground : yet man is born 
 unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. \_Job v,'] 
 
l8 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 SUDDEN DEATH. 
 
 Boast not thyself of to-morrow ; for thou knowest not 
 what a day may bring forth. \^Prov. xxv/i.] But, be- 
 loved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is 
 with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years 
 as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his prom- 
 ise, as some men count slackness : but is long-suftering 
 to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that 
 all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord 
 , will come as a thief in the night ; in the which the heav- 
 ens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements 
 shall melt with fen^ent heat, the earth also and the works 
 that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all 
 these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons 
 ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 
 looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of 
 God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, 
 and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Never- 
 theless we, according to his promise, look for new heav- 
 ens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 
 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, 
 be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, w^ith- 
 out spot, and blameless. [2 J^eL zu.'\ 
 
 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the 
 angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of 
 Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 
 For as in the days that were before the flood they were 
 eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, 
 until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew 
 not until the flood came, and took them all aw^ay ; so 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. I9 
 
 shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then 
 shall two be in the field ; the one shall be taken, and 
 the other left. Two w^omen shall be grinding at the 
 mill ; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch 
 therefore ; for ye know not what hour your Lord 
 doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the 
 house had known in what watch the thief would come, 
 he would have watched, and would not have suffered his 
 house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready : for 
 in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 
 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord 
 hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in 
 due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord 
 when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto 
 you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 
 \^Matt, xxiv,'\ 
 
 Go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow^, we will 
 go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy 
 and sell, and get gain. Whereas ye know notwdiat shall 
 be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a 
 vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth 
 away. \^Jas, iv.'\ Now my days are swifter than a post : 
 they flee away : they are passed away as the swift ships. 
 \^Job ix,'\ My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. 
 \^Job viz,'] As the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, 
 there is but a step between me and death, [z Sa77i, xx."] 
 Yet I w^ill say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my for- 
 tress : my God ; in him will I trust. Thou shalt not be 
 afraid for the terror by night ; nor for the arrow that flieth 
 by day ; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness ; 
 nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. For he 
 
20 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all 
 thy ways. [/^^. xci,^ 
 
 I must work the works of nim that sent me, w^hile it is 
 day : the night cometh, when no man can work. [ John ix.'\ 
 Watch ye therefore : for ye know not when the master 
 of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the 
 cockcrowing, or in the morning : lest coming suddenly 
 he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say 
 unto all, Watch. \^Mark xiii,~\ 
 
 TRIAL AND SUFFERING. 
 
 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation : for when 
 he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the 
 Lord hath promised to them that love him. \_Jas, /.] 
 
 I heard, but I understood not : then said I, O my 
 Lord, what shall be the end of these things.'^ And he 
 said. Go thy way, Daniel : for the words are closed up 
 and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be puri- 
 fied, and made white, and tried ; but the wricked shall 
 do wickedly : and none of the wicked shall understand ; 
 but the wise shall understand. Blessed is he that w^alteth. 
 But go thou thy way till the end be : for thou shalt rest, 
 and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. \_Da7i. xiz,'] 
 
 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children 
 w^ith her sons, w^orshipping him, and desiring a certain 
 thing of him. And he said unto her. What wilt thou .^ 
 She saith unto him. Grant that these my two sons. may 
 sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 21 
 
 in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know 
 not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I 
 shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that 
 I am baptized with? They say unto him. We are able. 
 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, 
 and be baptized with the bajDtism that I am baptized with : 
 but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine 
 to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is pre- 
 pared of my Father. [^AfaU. xx,l^ For we are laborers 
 together with God : ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's 
 building. According to the grace of God which is given 
 unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foun- 
 dation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man 
 take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foun- 
 dation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus 
 Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, 
 silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble ; every man's 
 work shall be made manifest : for the day shall declare 
 it, because it shall be revealed by fire ; and the fire shall 
 try every man's work of what sort it ir>. If any man's 
 work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall re- 
 ceive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he 
 shall suffer loss : but he himself shall be saved ; yet so 
 as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, 
 and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you ? If any man 
 defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy ; for the 
 temple of God is holy, w^hich temple ye are. [i Cor. iii.^ 
 Behold, I come quickly : hold that fast w^hich thou 
 hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh 
 will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall 
 go no more out : and I will write upon him the name of 
 my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new 
 
23 SCRIPTURE SKT.KCTIONS. 
 
 Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my 
 God : and I will write upon him my new name. \_Rev. 
 til.'] To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree 
 of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. 
 \_Rev. iL~\ 
 
 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, 
 not as in my presence only, but now much more in my 
 absence, work out your own salvation with fear and 
 trembling : for it is God w^hich worketh in you both to 
 will and to do of his good pleasure. \_PhiL iz.~\ 
 
 THE WILL OF GOD. 
 
 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Geth- 
 semane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while 
 I go and pray yonder. And he went a little further, and 
 fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it 
 be possible, let this cup pass from me : nevertheless, not 
 as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh imto the 
 disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, 
 What, could ye not watch with me one hour.^ Watch 
 and pray, that ye enter not into temptation : the spirit 
 indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away 
 again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, 
 if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, 
 thy will be done. \_Matt, xxvi,'] 
 
 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is 
 common to man : but God is faithful, who will not suffer 
 you to be tempted above that ye are able ; but will with 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 23 
 
 the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may 
 be able to bear it. [i Coi-. x.'\ Beloved, think it not 
 strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, 
 as though some strange thing happened unto you : but 
 rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's suffer- 
 ings ; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be 
 glad also with exceeding joy. [i Peter iv,] Behold, 
 I have refined thee, but not with silver ; I have chosen 
 thee in the furnace of affliction, \_/sa. xlvii/.] It is 
 good for me that I have been afflicted ; ihat I might 
 learn thy statutes. \^Ps. cxix.^ 
 
 Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh 
 unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the 
 chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked 
 of him : for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and 
 scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure 
 chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons ; for 
 what son is he whom the father chasteneth not.^ Fur- 
 thermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which cor- 
 rected us, and we gave them reverence : shall wt not 
 much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, 
 and live ? For they verilv for a few days chastened us 
 after their own pleasure ; but he for our profit, that we 
 might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening 
 for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous : 
 nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of 
 righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 
 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the 
 feeble knees ; and m.ake straight paths for your feet, lest 
 that which is lame be turned out of the way ; but let it 
 rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and 
 
24 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. 
 \^Heb. xii,'\ 
 
 Behold, happy is the man wdiom God correcteth : 
 therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Al- 
 mighty : for he maketh sore, and bindeth up : he 
 woundeth and his hands make whole. He shall deliver 
 thee in six troubles : yea, in seven there shall no evil 
 touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death : 
 and in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt 
 be hid from the scourge of the tongue : neither shalt thou 
 be afraid of destruction when it cometh. \Job z'.j 
 
 My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy 
 soul for temptation. Set thy heart aright, and constantly 
 endure, and make not haste in time of trouble. Cleave 
 unto him, and depart not away, that thou mayest be in- 
 creased at thy last end. Whatsoever is brought upon thee 
 take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to 
 a low estate. For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable 
 men in the furnace of adversity. Believe in him, and 
 he will help thee ; order thy way aright, and trust in 
 him. Ye that fear the Lord, wait for his mercy; 
 and go not aside, lest ye fall. Ye that fear the Lord, 
 believe him ; and your reward shall not fail. Ye that 
 fear the Lord, hope for good, and for everlasting joy and 
 mercy. Look at the generations of old, and see ; did 
 ever any trust in the Lord, and was confounded? or did 
 anv abide in his fear, and was forsaken ? or whom did he 
 ever despise, that called upon iiim ? For the Lord is full of 
 compassion and mercy, longsufibring, and very pitiful, and 
 forgiveth sins, and saveth in time of affliction. Woe 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIOXS. 25 
 
 be to fearful hearts, and faint hands, and the sinner that 
 ^oeth two ways I Woe unto him that is faint-hearted ! for 
 lie believeth not ; therefore shall he not be defended. 
 Woe unto you that have lost patience ! and what w^ill 
 ye do when the Lord shall visit you ? They that fear 
 the Lord wall not disobey his word ; and they that love 
 him will keep his ways. They that fear the Lord will 
 seek that which is well-pleasing unto him ; and they that 
 love him shall be filled with the law. They that fear the 
 Lord will prepare their hearts, and humble their souls in 
 his sight, saying. We w411 fall into the hands of the 
 Lord, and not into the hands of men : for as his maj- 
 esty is, so is his mercy. \^Eccliis iiJ\ 
 
 ASPIRATION. 
 
 Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, 
 I trust in thee : turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon 
 me ; for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my 
 heart are enlarged : O bring thou me out of my distresses. 
 Look upon mine affliction and my pain : and forgive all 
 my sins. O keep my soul, and deliver me : for I put my 
 trust in thee. \_Ps. xxv.'\ 
 
 Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. 
 Lord, hear my voice : let thine ears be attentive to the 
 voice of my supplications. If thou. Lord, shouldest 
 mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But 
 there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mavest be 
 feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and 
 in his w^ord do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord 
 more than they that watch for the morning : yea, more 
 
26 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope 
 in the Lord : for with the Lord there is mercy, and with 
 him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem 
 Israel from all his iniquities. [/^^. cxxx,'] 
 
 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving- 
 kindness : according unto the multitude of thy tender 
 mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thor- 
 oughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my 
 sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a 
 right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy 
 presence ; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Re- 
 store unto me the joy of thy salvation ; and uphold me 
 with thy free Spirit. The sacrifices of God are a broken 
 spirit : a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou 
 wilt not despise. [/^^. //.] 
 
 Hear my cry, O God ; attend unto my prayer. From 
 the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart 
 is overwhelmed : lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 
 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and I will trust in the 
 covert of thy wings. ^J^s. Ixi.~\ Be merciful unto me, O 
 God, be merciful unto me : for my soul trusteth in thee : 
 yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, 
 until these calamities be overpast. \_Ps, Ivn.'] O send 
 out thy light and thy truth : let them lead me ; let them 
 bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. 
 \_Ps. xliiL'] , Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there 
 is none upon eartli that I desire besides thee. My flesh 
 and my heart faileth : but God is the strength of my heart, 
 and my portion for ever. \_Ps, lxxnL~\ 
 
SCRIPTURE SEI.ECTIOXS. 2^ 
 
 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth 
 my soul after thee, O Gpd. My soul thh'steth for God, 
 for the living God : when shall I coine and appear before 
 God ? My tears have been my meat day and night, while 
 they continually say unto me. Where is thy God? When 
 I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me ; 
 for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to 
 the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with 
 a multitude that kept holy day. Why art thou cast down, 
 O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope 
 thou in God : for I shall yet praise him for the help of his 
 countenance. O my God. my soul is cast down within 
 me : therefore will I remember thee. Deep calleth unto 
 deep at the noise of thy waterspouts : all thy waves and 
 thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will com- 
 mand liis loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night 
 his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God 
 of my I i fe . [ Ps . xlii. ") 
 
 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast re- 
 deemed me, O Lord God of truth. \_Ps, xxxL~\ 
 
 GOD OUR COMFORT. 
 
 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all 
 comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that 
 we may be able to comfort them which are in any 
 trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are 
 comforted of God. \_2 Co?-. t.~\ 
 
 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
 and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and 
 
28 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye 
 shall find rest unto your souls.. For my yoke is easy, 
 and my burden is light. [_Matt. xi,'] 
 
 Wait on the Lord : be of good courage, and he shall 
 strengthen thine heart : wait, I say, on the Lord. 
 [_J^s. XXV a. ~\ The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, 
 saying. Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting 
 love : therefore w^ith loving-kindness have I drawn thee. 
 \_Jer. XXXI.'] For I know the thoughts that I think 
 toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not 
 of evil, to give you hope in your latter end. Then shall 
 ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and 
 I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find 
 me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 
 \_Jer, XXIX, ] As one whom his mother comforteth, so 
 will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jeru- 
 salem. \^Isa, Ixvi,] For the Lord will not cast off' for 
 ever : but though he cause grief, yet w^ill he have com- 
 passion according to the multitude of his mercies. For 
 he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of 
 men. \_Lai7z. iiiJ\ 
 
 If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will 
 pray the Father, and he shall give you another Com- 
 forter, that he may abide with you for ever ; even the 
 Spirit of truth ; whom the world cannot receive, because 
 it seeth him not, neither knoweth him : but ye know him ; 
 for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will 
 not leave you comfortless ; I will come to you. Yet a 
 little while, and the world seeth me no more ; but ye see 
 me : because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye 
 
SCRIPTURE SKLFXTIONS. 29 
 
 shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and 
 I in you. [John xiv.~\ 
 
 The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom shall I 
 fear? the Lord is the strength of my life ; of whom shall 
 I be afraid? Though a host should encamp against me, 
 my heart shall not fear : though war should rise against 
 me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I 
 desired of the Lord, that will I seek after ; that I may 
 dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to 
 behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his tem- 
 ple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his 
 pavilion : in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide 
 me ; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall 
 mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about 
 me : therefore w\\\ I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of 
 joy ; I will sing, yea, T will sing praises unto the Lord. 
 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice; have mercy, 
 also upon me, and answer me. When thou saidst, Seek 
 ye my face ; my heart said unto thee. Thy face. Lord, 
 will I seek. Hide not thy face far from me ; put not thy 
 servant away in anger : thou hast been my help ; leave me 
 not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When 
 my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will 
 take me up. Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me 
 in a plain path. I had fainted, unless I had believed to 
 see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 
 
 \_I^S, XXV 1 1\^ 
 
30 SCRIPTURE SELECTIOXS. 
 
 GOD OUR REFUGE. 
 
 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in 
 trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth 
 be removed, and though the mountains be carried into 
 the midst of the sea ; though the waters thereof roar and 
 be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swell- 
 ing thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof shall 
 make glad the city of God, the holy place of the taber- 
 nacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her: 
 she shall not be moved : God shall help her, and that 
 right early. Be still, and know that I am God : I will 
 be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the 
 earth. The Lord of hosts is with us : the God of Jacob 
 is our refuge. \_Ps. xlvi,'\ 
 
 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of 
 trouble ; and he knoweth them that trust in him. 
 S^Nah. /.] Do not err, my beloved brethren. Everv 
 good gift and every perfect gift is from above, 
 and cometh down from the Father of lights, with 
 whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 
 \^Jcis. /.] Truly my soul ^vaiteth upon God : from 
 him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and 
 my salvation : he is my defence ; I shall not be greatlv 
 moved. My soul, wait thou only upon God ; trust in him 
 at all times ; ye people, pour out your heart before him : 
 God is a refuge for us. \_Ps. lxii,~\ When the poor 
 and needy seek water, and there is none, and their 
 tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them. I the 
 God of Israel will not forsake them. \^Isa. x/i.'] O Israel, 
 Fear not : for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 31 
 
 by thy name ; thou art mine. When thou passest 
 through the waters, I will be with thee ; and through the 
 rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest 
 through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall 
 the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy 
 God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. \^Isa. xliii,'\ 
 
 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is 
 stayed on thee : because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye 
 in the Lord for ever : for in the Lord our God is ever- 
 lasting strength. \^Isa. xxvi,'\ It is of the Lord's mercies 
 that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail 
 not. They are new every morning : great is thy faith- 
 fulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul ; there- 
 fore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them 
 that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is 
 good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for 
 the salvation of the Lord. \_Lam, uL~\ 
 
 Hast thou not known ? hast thou not heard, that the 
 everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the 
 earth, fainteth not, neither is weary .^ there is no search- 
 ing of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint ; 
 and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 
 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young 
 men shall utterly fall : but they that wait upon the Lord 
 shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up with 
 wings as eagles ; they shall run, and not be weary ; and 
 they shall walk, and not faint. \_Isa, xl.~\ 
 
 For the whole world before thee is as a little grain of 
 the balance, yea, as a drop of the morning dew that fall- 
 eth down upon the earth. But thou hast mercy upon all ; 
 
32 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 thou lovest all the things that are, and abhorrest nothing 
 which thou hast made : for never wouldest thou have 
 made anything, if thou hadst hated it. And how^ could 
 anything have endured, if it had not been thy w^ill? or 
 been preserved, if not called by thee? But thou sparest 
 all : for they are thine, O Lord, thou lover of souls. 
 [ Wisdom xi.~\ 
 
 O Lord, thou hast searched me, and know^n me. 
 Thou knov\rest my downsitting and mine uprising ; thou 
 understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest 
 my path and my lying dow^n, and art acquainted v^^ith 
 all my vs^ays. For there is not a vs^ord in my tongue, 
 but, lo, O Lord, thou know^est it altogether. Thou 
 hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand 
 upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it 
 is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from 
 thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 
 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there : if I make my 
 bed in the grave, behold, thou art there. If I take the 
 wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of 
 the sea ; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right 
 hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall 
 cover me ; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, 
 the darkness hideth not from thee ; but the night shineth 
 as the day : the darkness and the light are both alike to 
 thee \_Ps, cxxxix.'] 
 
 He that dvvelleth in the secret place of the Most High 
 shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will 
 say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress : my 
 God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 33 
 
 from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pes- 
 tilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and 
 under his wrings shalt thou trust : his truth shall be thy 
 shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afii*aid for the 
 terror by night ; nor for the arrow that flieth by day : 
 nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness ; nor for 
 the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand 
 shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand ; 
 but it shall not come nigh thee. Because thou hast made 
 the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy 
 habitation ; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall 
 any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give 
 his angels charge over thee, to keep thee m all thy ways. 
 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash 
 thy foot against a stone. [Ps. xci.^ 
 
 The righteous cry, and the Loi^d heareth, and deliv- 
 ereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh 
 unto them that are of a broken heart ; and saveth such 
 as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the 
 righteous : but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. 
 The Lord redeemetli the soul of his servants : and 
 none of them that trust in him shall be desolate. 
 \^Ps. xxxiv.] The Lord looseth the prisoners : the 
 Lord openeth the eyes of the blind : the Lord raiseth 
 them that are bowed down : the Lord loveth the rio^ht- 
 eous : the Lord preserveth the strangers ; he relieveth 
 the fatherless and widow. [iRy. cx/v/.^ For this God is 
 our God for ever and ever : he will be our guide even 
 unto death. \_Ps. xlviii.^ 
 
 The number of a man's days at the most are an hun- 
 
34 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 clred years. As a drop of water unto the sea, and a 
 gravelstone in comparison of the sand ; so are a thousand 
 years to the days of eternity. Therefore is God patient 
 with them, ^id poureth forth his mercy upon them. He 
 saw and perceived their end to be evil ; therefore he 
 multiphed his compassion. The mercy of man is 
 toward his neighbor ; but the mercy of the Lord is upon 
 all flesh : he reproveth, and nurtureth, and teacheth, 
 and bringeth again, as a shepherd his flock. \^Ecchis, 
 xviii,~\ They cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and 
 he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh 
 the storm a calm, so that the weaves thereof are still. 
 Then are they glad because they be quiet : so he bringeth 
 them unto their desired haven. \^Ps. cvu.~\ 
 
 Ask, and it shall be given unto you ; seek, and ye shall 
 find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you : for every 
 one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; 
 and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what 
 man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will 
 he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give 
 him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know^ how to 
 give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall 
 your Father which is in heaven give good things to 
 them that ask him? \_Matt. vi/.'] And fear not them 
 which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul : 
 but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul 
 and body. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? 
 and one of them shall not fall on the ground without 
 your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all 
 numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value 
 than many sparrows. \_A/atL :v.] 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 35 
 
 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your 
 life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet 
 for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life 
 more than meat, and the body than raiment? Be- 
 hold the fowls of the air : for they sow not, neither do 
 they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your heavenly 
 Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than 
 they? Which of you by taking thought can add one 
 cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for 
 raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they 
 grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin : and yet I say 
 unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not 
 arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe 
 the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is 
 cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, 
 O ye of little faith? \_Matt, vi,'\ 
 
 The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want. He 
 maketh me to lie down in green pastures : he leadeth 
 me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul : he 
 leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's 
 sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the 
 shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with 
 me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou pre- 
 parest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies : 
 thou anointest my head with oil ; my cup runneth over. 
 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the 
 days of my life : and I will dwell in the house of the 
 Lord for ever. \^Ps. xxiiiJ\ 
 
36 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast 
 seed into the ground ; and should sleep, and rise night 
 and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he 
 knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit 
 of herself ; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full 
 corn in the ear. \^3Iark zv.'] But the fruit of the Spirit 
 is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, good- 
 ness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there 
 is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the 
 flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, 
 let us also walk in the Spirit. \^GaL z?.] Be not de- 
 ceived ; God is not mocked : for whatsoever a man 
 soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to 
 his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but he that 
 soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life ever- 
 lasting. And let us not be weary in wxll doing : for in 
 due season we shall reap, if we faint not. [_Gal. vi.~\ 
 
 UPRIGHTNESS AND FIDELITY. 
 
 Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle ? \vho shall 
 dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and 
 w^orketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. 
 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to 
 his neighbor, nor taketh up a i*eproach against his neigh- 
 bor. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned ; but 
 he honoreth them that fear the Lord. He that swear- 
 eth to his own hurt, and changeth not, nor taketh reward 
 against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall 
 never be moved. \_Ps. xv,~\ 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 37 
 
 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who 
 shall stand in" his holy place? He that hath clean hands, 
 and a pure heart ; who hath not lifted up his soul unto 
 vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a bless- 
 ing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of 
 his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek 
 him, that seek thy face, O God of Jacob. Lift up your 
 heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting 
 doors ; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is 
 this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King 
 of glory. [_I^s. xxiv.~\ 
 
 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord : 
 and he delighteth in liis way. Though he fall, he shall 
 not be utterly cast down : for the Lord upholdeth him 
 with his hand. I have been young, and now am old ; 
 yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed 
 begging bread. Mark the perfect man, and behold 
 the upright: for the end of that man is peace. [_Ps. 
 xxxvu.~\ 
 
 These are the things that ye shall do ; speak ye every 
 man the truth to his neighbor ; execute the judgment of 
 truth and peace in your gates : and let none of you 
 imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor ; and 
 love no false oath : for all these are things that I hate, 
 saith the Lord. \_Zeck, vh'i.'] Execute true judgment, 
 and shew mercy and compassion every man to his 
 brother. \_Zeck. viz,'] 
 
 Enter ye in at the strait gate : for wide is the gate, 
 and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and 
 many there be which go in thereat : because strait is the 
 
38 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, 
 and few there be that find it. Not every one that saith 
 unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father which 
 is in heaven. Therefore, whosoever heareth these say- 
 ings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a 
 wise man, which built his house upon a rock : and the 
 rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds 
 blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell not : for it 
 was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth 
 these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be 
 likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon 
 the sand : and the rain descended, and the floods came, 
 and the winds blew, and beat upon that house ; and it 
 fell : and great was the fall of it. \^J\IaU, vi'i,^ 
 
 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his 
 lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them 
 meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his 
 lord when he cometh shall find so doing. \^A/a^L xxzv,~\ 
 
 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in 
 sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 
 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather 
 grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good 
 tree bringeth forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree bring- 
 eth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil 
 fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 
 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn 
 down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits 
 ye shall know them. \_Matt, viz,'] For whosoever shall 
 do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same 
 is my brother, and sister, and mother. \_Afa^L xu,] 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 39 
 
 I know thy works, and chanty, and service, and faith, 
 and thy patience, and thy works ; and the last to be 
 more than the first. \^Rev. zi.~\ Well done, thou good 
 and faithful servant : thou hast been faithful over a few 
 things, I will make thee ruler over many things ; enter 
 thou into the joy of thy Lord. \_Afatt. xxv.'] 
 
 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of 
 the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor 
 sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in 
 the law of the Lord ; and in his law doth he meditate 
 day and night. Axid he shall be like a tree planted by 
 the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his 
 season ; his leaf also shall not wither ; and whatsoever 
 he doeth shall prosper. \_Ps. ?'.] 
 
 What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for 
 Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my 
 Lord : for whom I have sufi^ered the loss of all things, 
 and do count them but refuse, that I may win Christ, and 
 be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, 
 w^hich is of the law, but that which is through the faith 
 of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith : 
 that I may know him, and the po\yer of his resurrection, 
 and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made con- 
 formable unto his death ; if by any means I might attain 
 unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had 
 already attained, either ^vere already perfect : but I fol- 
 low after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I 
 am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not 
 myself to have apprehended : but this one thing I do, 
 forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching 
 
40 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 forth unto those things which are before, I press toward 
 the mark for the prize of the high caUing of God in 
 Christ Jesus. \_PhiL iii,~\ 
 
 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, what- 
 soever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, 
 whatsoever things are pure, w^hatsoever things are lovely, 
 whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be 
 any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these 
 things. \_Phil. iv,'\ For the memorial of virtue is im- 
 mortal : because it is known with God, and with men. 
 When it is present, men take example at it ; and when 
 it is gone, they desire it: it weareth a crown, and tri- 
 umpheth for ever, having gotten the victory, striving for 
 undefiled rewards. [ Wisdoin ivJ\ 
 
 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter : fear 
 God, and keep his commandments : for this is the whole 
 duty of man. For God shall bring every w^ork into 
 judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, 
 or whether it be evil. ^Eccl. xn,~\ 
 
 WISDOM AND WORTH. 
 
 Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man 
 fallen this day in Israel? \_2 Sam, tn.~\ For, behold, 
 the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jeru- 
 salem and froin Judah the stay and the staff, the whole 
 stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, the mighty 
 man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, 
 and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, 
 and the honorable man, and the counsellor, and the cun- 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 4I 
 
 ning artificer, and the eloquent orator. [ Isa, iii.'\ In a 
 moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled 
 at midnight, and pass away : and the mighty shall be 
 taken away without hand. \_Job xxxiv,^ There is no 
 king saved by the multitude of a host : a mighty man 
 is not delivered by great strength. \^jPs. xxxi'ii.^ All 
 ye that are about him, bemoan him, and all ye that know 
 his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the 
 beautiful rod ! \^Jer, xlvilL'] 
 
 And David lamented with this lamentation ; The beau- 
 ty of Israel is slain upon thy high places : how are the 
 mighty fallen ! Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be 
 no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields 
 of offerings : for there the shield of the mighty is vilely 
 cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been 
 anointed with oil. How are the mighty fallen in the 
 midst of the battle ! How are the mighty fallen, and 
 the weapons of war perished I [2 Sam, iJ\ 
 
 Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that 
 begat us. The Lord hath wrought great glory by them 
 through his great power from the beginning. Such as 
 did bear rule in their kingdoms, men renowned for their 
 power, giving counsel by their understanding, and de- 
 claring prophecies : leaders of the people by their coun- 
 sels, and by their knowledge of learning meet for the 
 people, wise and eloquent in their instructions : such as 
 found out musical tunes, and recited verses in wanting : 
 rich men furnished with ability, living peaceably in their 
 habitations : all these were honored in their generations, 
 and were the glory of their times. There be of them, 
 that have left a name behind them, that their praises 
 
42 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 might be reported. And some there be, which have no 
 memorial ; who are perished, as though they had never 
 been ; and are become as though they had never been 
 born ; and their children after them. But these were 
 merciful men, whose righteousness hath not been forgot- 
 ten. With their seed shall continually remain a good 
 inheritance, and their children are wathin the covenant. 
 Their seed standeth fast, and their children for their 
 sakes. Their seed shall remain for ever, and their glory 
 shall hot be blotted out. Their bodies are buried in 
 peace ; but their name liveth for evermore. The people 
 will tell of their wisdom, and the congregation will shew 
 forth their praise. [_JScclus. xliv.~\ 
 
 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said : When 
 T w^ent out to the gate through the city, w4ien I prepared 
 my seat in the street, the young men saw me, and hid 
 themselves, and the aged arose, and stood up. The 
 princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their 
 mouth. The nobles held their peace, and their tongue 
 cleaved to the roof of their mouth. When the ear 
 heard me, then it blessed me : and when the eye saw 
 me, it gave witness to me : because I delivered the poor 
 that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to 
 help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish 
 came upon me ; and I caused the widow's heart to sing 
 for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me ; my 
 judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to 
 the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to 
 the poor : and the cause which I knew not I searched 
 out. And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked 
 the spoil out of his teeth. Then I said, I shall die in 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 43 
 
 my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand. My 
 root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all 
 night upon my branch. My glory w^as fresh in me, and 
 my bow was renewed in my hand. Unto me men gave 
 ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. After 
 my words they spake not again ; and my speech dropped 
 upon them. And they waited for me as for the rain; 
 and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain. 
 If I laughed on them, they believed it not: and the light 
 of my countenance they cast not down. I chose out 
 their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the 
 army, as one that comforteth the mourners. \^Job xxixJ\ 
 
 Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever : for 
 wisdom and might are his : and he changeth the times 
 and the seasons : he removeth kings, and setteth up kings : 
 he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them 
 that know understanding : he revealeth the deep and 
 secret things : he knoweth what is in the darkness, and 
 the light dwelleth with him. \^Dan. iir\ 
 
 He that giveth his mind to the law of the Most High, 
 and is occupied in the meditation thereof, will seek out 
 the wisdom of all the ancient, and be occupied in prophe- 
 cies. He will keep the sayings of the renowned men : 
 and where subtile parables are, he will be there also. 
 He will seek out the secrets of grave sentences, and be 
 conversant in dark parables. He shall serve among great 
 men, and appear before princes : he will travel through 
 strange countries ; for he hath tried the good and the evil 
 among men. He will give his heart to resort earlv to 
 the Lord that made him, and will pray before the Most 
 
44 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 High, and will open his mouth in prayer, and make 
 supplication for his sins. When the great Lord will, he 
 shall be filled with the spirit of understanding : he shall 
 pour out wise sentences, and give thanks unto the Lord 
 in his prayer. He shall direct his counsel and knowl- 
 edge, and in his secrets shall he meditate. He shall shew 
 forth that which he hath learned, and shall glory in the 
 law of the covenant of the Lord. Many shall commend 
 his understanding ; and so long as the world endureth, 
 it shall not be blotted out ; his memorial shall not 
 depart away, and his name shall live from generation to 
 generation. Nations shall shew forth his wisdom, and 
 the congregation shall declare his praise. If he die, he 
 shall leave a greater name than a thousand : and if he 
 live, he shall increase it. \_Ecclus, xxxz'x.'] 
 
 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom : 
 and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 
 [/Vc^'. IX. ^ And unto man he said, Behold, the fear 
 of the Lord, that is wisdom ; and to depart from evil is 
 understanding, \_yod xxviii,~\ 
 
 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man 
 that getteth understanding : for the merchandise of it 
 is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain 
 thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than 
 rubies : and all the things thou canst desire are not to be 
 compared unto her. Length of days is in her right 
 hand ; and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways 
 are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 
 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her ; and 
 happy is every one that retaineth her. My son, keep 
 sound wisdom and discretion : so shall they be life unto 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 45 
 
 thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk 
 in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. 
 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid : yea, 
 thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be 
 not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of 
 the wricked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy 
 confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. 
 \^Frov^ ill,'] 
 
 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and 
 attend to know understanding. For I give you good 
 doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father's 
 son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. 
 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart 
 retain my words : keep my commandments, and live. 
 Get wisdom, get understanding : forget it not ; neither 
 decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, 
 and she shall preserve thee : love her, and she shall keep 
 thee. Wisdom is the principal thing ; therefore get wis- 
 dom : and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt 
 her, and she shall promote thee : she shall bring thee to 
 honor, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to 
 thine head an ornament of grace : a crown of glory shall 
 she deliver to thee. Hear, O iny son, and receive my 
 sayings ; and the years of thy life shall be many. I 
 have taught thee in the way of wisdom ; I have led thee 
 in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not 
 be straitened ; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not 
 stumble. Take fast hold of instruction ; let her not go : 
 keep her ; for she is thy life. \_Proz\ iz\~\ 
 
 For wisdom, wdiich is the w^orker of all things, taught 
 
46 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 me : for in her is an understanding spirit, holy, one 
 only, manifold, subtile, lively, clear, undefiled, plain, not 
 subject to hurt, loving the thing that is good, quick, 
 which cannot be letted, ready to do good, kind to man, 
 steadfast, sure, free from care, having all power, over- 
 seeing all things, and going through all understanding, 
 pure, and most subtile, spirits. For wisdoin is more 
 moving than any motion : she passeth and goeth through 
 all things by reason of her pureness. For she is the 
 breath of the power of God, and a pure influence flow- 
 ing from the glory of the Almighty : therefore can no 
 defiled thing fall into her. For she is the brightness of 
 the everlasting Hght, the unspotted mirror of the power 
 of God, and the image of his goodness. And being but 
 one, she can do all things : and remaining in her she 
 maketh all things new : and in all ages entering into 
 holy souls, she maketh them friends of God, and proph- 
 ets. For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with 
 wisdom. For she is more beautiful than the sun, and 
 above all the order of the stars : being compared with 
 the light, she is found before it. For after this cometh 
 night : but vice shall not prevail against wisdom. [ UYs- 
 dom vii,~\ 
 
 Unto you therefore, O kings, do I speak, that ye may 
 learn wisdom, and not fall away. For they that keep 
 holiness holily shall be judged holy : and they that have 
 learned such things shall find what to answer. Where- 
 fore set your affection upon my words ; desire them, and 
 ye shall be instructed. Wisdom is glorious, and never 
 fadeth away : yea, she is easily seen of them that love 
 her, and found of such as seek her. Whoso seeketh her 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 47 
 
 early shall have no great travail : for he shall find her 
 sitting at his doors. To think therefore upon her is 
 perfection of vs^isdom : and whoso watcheth for her shall 
 quickly be without care. For she goeth about seeking 
 such as are worthy of her, sheweth herself favorably unto 
 them in the ways and meeteth tli^m in every thought. 
 For the very true beginning of her is the desire of disci- 
 pline, and the care of discipline is love ; and love is the 
 keeping of her laws ; and the giving heed unto her laws 
 is the assurance of incorruption ; and incorruption mak- 
 eth us near unto God : therefore the desire of wisdom 
 bringeth to a kingdom. [ Wisdom vz.~\ 
 
 And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before 
 Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those 
 days ; there was no open vision. And it came to pass at 
 that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his 
 eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see ; and ere 
 the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, 
 where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down 
 to sleep ; that the Lord called Samuel : and he answered. 
 Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I ; 
 for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie 
 down again. And he went and lay down. And the 
 Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and 
 went to Eli, and said. Here am I ; for thou didst call 
 me. And he answered, I called not, my son ; lie down 
 again. And the Lord called Samuel again the third 
 time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am 
 I ; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the 
 Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto 
 Samuel, Go, lie down ; and it shall be, if he call thee, 
 
48 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord ; for thy servant heareth. 
 So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the 
 Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Sam- 
 uel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered. Speak; for thy 
 servant heareth. [z Sam, ni,~\ 
 
 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him 
 that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace ; that 
 bringeth good hidings of good, that publisheth salvation ; 
 that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth ! [_Isa, ///.] 
 
 Behold my servant, whom I uphold ; mine elect, in 
 whom my soul delighteth ; I have put my Spirit upon 
 him : he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He 
 shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard 
 in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the 
 smoking flax shall he not quench : he shall bring forth 
 judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discour- 
 aged, till he have set judgment in the earth : and the 
 isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, 
 he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he 
 that spread forth the earth, and that w^hich cometh out 
 of it ; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and 
 spirit to them that walk therein : I the Lord have called 
 thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will 
 keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, 
 for a light of the Gentiles ; to open the blind eyes, to 
 bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that 
 sit in darkness out of the prison house. \_Isa, xlzt.~\ 
 
 The spirit of the Lord God is upon me ; because the 
 Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the 
 meek ; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted. 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 49 
 
 to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of 
 the prison to them that are bound ; to proclaim the 
 acceptable year of the Lord, to comfort all that mourn ; 
 to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto 
 them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the 
 garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness ; that they 
 might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of 
 the Lord, that he might be glorified. \_Isa, lxi.'\ 
 
 This man w^as instructed in the way of the Lord ; and 
 being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently 
 the things of the Lord. \^Acts xvtii.~\ For he was a 
 good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith : and 
 much people was added unto the Lord. \_Acts xL~\ And 
 moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught 
 the people knowledge ; yea, he gave good heed, and 
 sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The 
 Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that 
 which was written uprightly, even words of truth. 
 [^JBccl, xiz.~\ 
 
 He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness : 
 but a false witness deceit. There is that speaketh like the 
 piercings of a sword : but the tongue of the wise is 
 health. The lip of truth shall be established for ever : 
 but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the 
 heart of them that imagine evil ; but to the counsellors 
 of peace is joy. [ Prov. xii.~\ The steps of a good man 
 are ordered by the Lord ; and he delighteth in his way. 
 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down : for 
 the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. The righteous 
 shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever. The 
 mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue 
 
50 ~ SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 talketh of judgment. The law of his God is in his heart ; 
 none of his steps shall slide. [P^. xxxvzz.'] 
 
 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life ; and he that 
 winneth souls is wise. \_Prov. xz.~\ And they that be 
 wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and 
 they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for 
 ever and ever. \_Z)a7z xzz.~\ And when the chief Shep- 
 herd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory 
 that fadeth not away. \_i Peter ^'.] Mark the perfect 
 man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man 
 is peace. \_Ps, xxxvzz',~\ 
 
 Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, 
 and that respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside 
 to lies. Many, O Lord, my God, are thy wonderful 
 works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which 
 are to us-ward : they cannot be reckoned up in order 
 unto thee : if I would declare and speak of them, they 
 are more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering 
 thou didst not desire ; burnt offering and sin offering 
 hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come : in 
 the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do 
 thy will, O my God : yea, thy law is w^ithin my heart. 
 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation : 
 lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. 
 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart ; I 
 have declai*ed thy faithfulness and thy salvation : I have 
 not concealed thy loving-kindness and thy truth from the 
 great congregation. Withhold not thou thy tender mer- 
 cies from me, O Lord : let thy loving-kindness and thy 
 truth continually preserve me. Let all those that seek 
 thee, rejoice and be glad in thee : let such as love thy sal- 
 vation say continually. The Lord be magnified. \_Ps, xL~\ 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 5I 
 
 PATIENCE. 
 
 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with 
 God through our Lord Jesus Christ : by whom also we 
 have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, 
 and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only 
 so, but we glory in tribulations also ; knowing that tribu- 
 lation worketh patience ; and patience, experience ; and 
 experience, hope : and hope maketh not ashamed ; 
 because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by 
 the Holy Spirit which is given unto us. \_Rom, v.~\ For 
 this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God 
 endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is 
 it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it 
 patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye 
 take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even 
 hereunto were ye called : because Christ also suffered 
 for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow 
 his steps. [7- Peter iiJ\ 
 
 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you 
 also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. But 
 in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, 
 in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in dis- 
 tresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in 
 labors, in watchings, in fastings ; by pureness, by knowl- 
 edge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, 
 by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of 
 God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand 
 and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report 
 and good report : as deceivers, and yet true ; as 
 unknown, and yet well known ; as dying, and, behold. 
 
52 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 we live ; as chastened, and not killed ; as sorrowful, yet 
 always rejoicing ; as poor, yet making many rich ; 
 as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. 
 [2 Cor, viJ\ 
 
 Sm'ely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sor- 
 rows ; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, 
 and afflicted. But he was w^ounded for our transgres- 
 sions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement 
 of our peace was upon him ; and with his stripes we are 
 healed. \_Isa, liii.~\ 
 
 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the 
 Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the pre- 
 cious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, 
 until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also 
 patient, stablish your hearts : for the coming of the 
 Lord draweth nigh. Murmur not one against another, 
 brethren, lest ye be condemned : behold, the judge 
 standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the proph- 
 ets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an 
 example of suffering, affliction, and patience. Behold, 
 we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of 
 the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord ; 
 that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. 
 S^Jas, z^.] For God is not unrighteous to forget your 
 work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward 
 his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and 
 do minister. And we desire that every one of you do 
 shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope 
 unto the end : that ye be not slothful, but followers of 
 them who through faith and patience inherit the prom- 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 53 
 
 ises. {^Heh, vi.'\ Better is the end of a thing than the 
 beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than 
 the proud in spirit. S^Eccl. vii.'\ 
 
 Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with 
 so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every 
 weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and 
 let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 
 looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith ; 
 wdio for the joy that was set before him endured the 
 cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right 
 hand of the throne of God. For consider him that 
 endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, 
 lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not 
 yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. \_Heb, xi'i.^ 
 
 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you 
 to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ 
 Jesus : that ye may with one mind and one mouth 
 glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 \_Rom, XV.'] 
 
 GENTLENESS AND LOVE. 
 
 When he giveth quietness, w^ho then can make trouble? 
 \_Job xxxiv,] For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy 
 One of Israel ; In returning and rest shall ye be saved ; 
 in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. 
 \_Isa. XXX.] And the work of righteousness shall be 
 peace ; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and 
 assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a 
 peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet 
 
54 SCRIPTCRE SELECTIONS. 
 
 resting places. \_Isa, xxxiz.'] But let it be the hidden 
 man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even 
 the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the 
 sight of God of great price, [z Peter zii.~\ 
 
 Who is a \vise inan and endued with knowledsfe amonof 
 you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works 
 with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envy- 
 ing and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not 
 against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from 
 above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where 
 envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil 
 work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, 
 then peaceable, gentle, and easy to bs entreated, full of 
 mercy and good fruits, ^vithout partiality, and without 
 hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in 
 peace for them that make peace. \_Jas, iu.~\ 
 
 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much 
 fruit; so shall ye be iny disciples. As the Father hath 
 loved me, so have I loved you : continue ye in my love. 
 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my 
 love ; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, 
 and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto 
 you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy 
 might be full. This is my commandment, that ye love 
 one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath 
 no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his 
 friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I com- 
 mand you. Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the 
 serv^ant knoweth not what his lord doeth : but I have 
 called you friends. \_Joh?z xv.'\ 
 
 And we have known and believed the love that God 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 55 
 
 hath to us. God is love ; and he that dwelleth in love 
 dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love 
 made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of 
 judgment : because as he is, so are we in this world. 
 There is no fear in love ; but perfect love casteth out 
 fear : because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not 
 made perfect in love. We love him, because he first 
 loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his 
 brother, he is a liar : for he that loveth not his brother 
 whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he 
 hath not seen ? And this commandment have we from 
 him, that he who loveth God love his brother also. 
 \_i John IV, ^ 
 
 He that findeth his life shall lose it : and he that loseth 
 his life for my sake shall find it. He that receiveth you 
 receiveth me ; and he that receiveth me receiveth him 
 that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name 
 of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward ; and he 
 that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a right- 
 eous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And 
 whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little 
 ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, 
 verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his 
 reward, [il^//. a:.] 
 
 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of 
 angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding 
 brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift 
 of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all 
 knowledge ; and though I have all faith, so that I could 
 remove mountains, and have not charity, I am noth- 
 ing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the 
 
56 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and 
 have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suf- 
 fereth long, and is kind ; charity envieth not ; charity 
 vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave 
 itself unseemly, seeketh not her own. is not easily pro- 
 voked, thinketh no evil ; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but 
 rejoiceth in the truth ; beareth all things, believeth all 
 things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity 
 never faileth ; but whether there be prophecies, they 
 shall fail ; whether there be tongues, they shall cease ; 
 whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. And 
 now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three ; but the 
 greatest of these is charity, [z Cor, xii{J\ 
 
 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men 
 should do to you, do ye even so to them : for this is the 
 law and the prophets. \^Matt, vu.'\ There is that mak- 
 eth himself rich, yet hath nothing : there is that maketh 
 himself poor, yet hath great riches. \_Prov, xiii.'] He 
 that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker : but 
 he that honoreth him hath mercy on the poor. He 
 that despiseth his neighbor sinneth : but he that hath 
 mercy on the poor, happy is he. \_Prov, xiv,~\ Is not 
 this the fast that I have chosen ? to loose the bands of 
 wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the 
 oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke.^ Is it 
 not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring 
 the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest 
 the naked, that thou cover him ; and that thou hide not 
 thyself from thine own flesh.? \_Isa. lviii.~\ 
 
 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 57 
 
 how the people cast inoney into the treasury : and many 
 that were rich cast in much. And tliere came a certain 
 poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a 
 farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and 
 saith unto them. Verily I say unto you, that this poor 
 widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast 
 into the treasury : for all they did cast in of their abun- 
 dance ; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, 
 even all her living. \^Mark xzi.~\ 
 
 Then shall the King say, Come, ye blessed of my 
 Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
 foundation of the ^vorld : for I was a hungered, and ye 
 gave me meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I 
 was a stranger, and ye took me in : naked, and ye 
 clothed me : I was sick, and ye visited me : I Avas in 
 prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous 
 answer him, saying. Lord, when saw we thee a hun- 
 gered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 
 
 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily 
 I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of 
 the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 
 
 FRIENDSHIP. 
 
 Change not a friend for any good by no means ; nei- 
 ther a faithful brother for the gold of Ophir. Forego 
 not a wise and good w^oman : for her grace is above 
 gold. \^Ecclus, viiJ\ 
 
 And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to 
 
58 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 return from following after thee : for whither thou goest, 
 I will go : and where thou lodgest, I will lodge : thy 
 people shall be my people, and thy God my God : 
 where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: 
 the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death 
 part thee and me. \_R2cth /.] 
 
 And it came to pass, that the soul of Jonathan was 
 knit ^vith the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as 
 his own soul. Then Jonathan and David made a cove- 
 nant, because he loved him as his own soul. And 
 Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that w^as upon 
 him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his 
 sw^ord, and to his bow^, and to his girdle, [z Sam, 
 xviii, ) 
 
 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul 
 and over Jonathan his son : The beauty of Israel is slain 
 upon thy high places : how are the mighty fallen ! Ye 
 mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew^, neither let there 
 be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings : for there the 
 shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of 
 Saul, as thouo^h he had not been anointed \vith oil. From 
 the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the 
 bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul 
 returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan w^ere lovely and 
 pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were 
 not divided ; they were swifter than eagles, they were 
 stronger than lions. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over 
 Saul. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of battle ! 
 O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places. I am 
 distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan : very pleasant 
 hast thou been unto me : thy love to me was wonderful, 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 59 
 
 passing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen, 
 and the weapons of war perished ! [^ Sam, /.] 
 
 PURITY AND HUMILITY. 
 
 Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see 
 God. \_Matt, v.'\ He that loveth pureness of heart, for 
 the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. \_Prov, 
 xxii,'\ Pure religion and undefiled before our God and 
 Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in 
 their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the 
 world. \_Jcts. i.~\ 
 
 Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto 
 the lowly : but the proud he knoweth afar off. \^Ps, 
 cxxxvlli.'] He hath shewed strength v^^ith his arm ; he 
 hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their 
 hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, 
 and exalted them of low degree. \_Lzcke i.'] The fear of 
 the Lord is the instruction of wisdom ; and before honor 
 is humility. [_Prov. xv,~\ Bv humility and the fear of 
 the Lord are riches and honor and life. \_Prov, xxn,~\ 
 
 And lie spake this parable unto certain which trusted 
 in themselves that they w^ere righteous, and despised 
 others : Two men went up into the temple to pray ; the 
 one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee 
 stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee 
 that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, 
 adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the 
 week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the pub- 
 lican, standing afar off, w^ould not lift up so much as his 
 
6o SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God 
 be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went 
 down to his house justified rather than the other : for 
 every one that exalte th himself shall be abased ; and he 
 that humbleth himself shall be exalted. \Luke xvzu,'] 
 
 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be 
 seen of them : otherwise ye havx no reward of your 
 Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest 
 thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the 
 hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that 
 they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you. 
 They have their reward. But ^vhen thou doest alms, let 
 not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. 
 \_j\Iatt. vi.'] And when thou pray est, thou shalt not be 
 as the hypocrites are : for they love to pray standing in 
 the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that 
 they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you. They 
 have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter 
 into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray 
 to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which 
 seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye 
 pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do : for 
 they think that they shall be heard for their much speak- 
 ing. Be not ye therefore like unto them : for your 
 Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye 
 ask him. [Ji^//. vi.^ But the hour cometh, and now 
 is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father 
 in spirit and in truth : for the Father seeketh such to 
 worship him. God is a Spirit, and they that worship 
 him must worship him in spirit and hi truth. S^John ivJ\ 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 6l 
 
 JOY AND FAITH. 
 
 And seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up into a moun- 
 tain : and when he was set, his disciples came unto him : 
 and he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 
 Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom 
 of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall 
 be comforted. Blessed are the meek : for they shall 
 inherit the earth. Blessed are they w^hich do hunger 
 and thirst after righteousness : for they shall be filled. 
 Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy. 
 Blessed are the pure in heart ; for they shall see God. 
 Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be called the 
 children of God. Blessed are they which are perse- 
 cuted for righteousness' sake : for theirs is the kingdom 
 of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, 
 and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil 
 against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be 
 exceeding glad : for great is your reward in heaven : for 
 so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. 
 {^Matt. v,~\ 
 
 Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children : for 
 blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, 
 and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that 
 heareth me, watching daily at my gates, w^aiting at the 
 posts of my doors. For w^hoso findeth me findeth life, 
 and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that sinneth 
 against me wrongeth his own soul : all they that hate me 
 love death. \_Prov. viii,~\ Happy is the man that find- 
 eth wisdom, and tlie man that getteth understanding : for 
 the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of 
 
62 SCRIPTURE SELECTION?;. 
 
 silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more 
 precious than rubies : and all the things thou canst desire 
 are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is 
 in her right hand ; and in her left hand riches and honor. 
 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths 
 are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold 
 upon her : and happy is every one that retaineth her. 
 
 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart ; and lean 
 not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways 
 acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. \_Prov, 
 tzi,~\ Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and 
 whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree 
 planted by the w^aters, and that spreadeth out her roots 
 by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but 
 her leaf shall be green ; and shall not be careful in the 
 year of drought, neither shall cease from ^^ielding fruit. 
 \_Jer. xvii.~\ Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy 
 thoughts shall be established. (^Prov, xvL) 
 
 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where 
 moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break 
 through and steal : but lay up for yourselves treasures 
 in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, 
 and w^iere thieves do not break through nor steal : 
 for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 
 \_Matt. VI.'] 
 
 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the 
 world. If any man love the world, the love of the 
 Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the 
 lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 63 
 
 life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And 
 the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that 
 doeth the will of God abideth for ever, [z John tz.~\ 
 Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteous- 
 ness ; and all these things shall be added unto you. 
 Take therefore no thought for the morrow : for the mor- 
 row shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient 
 unto the day is the evil thereof. \_J\fatt. vl.~\ These 
 things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might 
 have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation : 
 but be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world. 
 \_Jokn xvi.~\ 
 
 The hope of the ungodly is like dust that is blown 
 away with the wind; like a thin froth that is driven 
 away with the storm ; like as the smoke which is dis- 
 persed here and there \vith a tempest, and passeth away 
 as the remembrance of a guest that tarrieth but a day. 
 But the righteous live for evermore ; their reward also 
 is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the Most 
 High. Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, 
 and a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand ; for with 
 his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm 
 shall he protect them. [ Wisdom v,~\ 
 
 CHILDREN. 
 
 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, say- 
 ing. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 
 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in 
 the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, 
 except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye 
 
64 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever 
 therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the 
 same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso 
 shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth 
 me. But whoso shall cause one of these little ones which 
 believe in me to stumble, it were better for him that a 
 millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were 
 drowned in the depth of the sea. Take heed that ye 
 despise not one of these little ones ; for I say unto you, 
 that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of 
 my Father which is in heaven. Even so it is not the 
 will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these 
 little ones should perish. [J7a//. xviu.~\ They shall be 
 mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make 
 up my jewels ; and I w^ill spare them, as a man spareth 
 his own son that serveth him. \_jMaL Hi.'] 
 
 And they brought young children to him, that he 
 should touch them ; and his disciples rebuked those that 
 brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much 
 displeased, and said unto them. Suffer the little children 
 to come unto me, and forbid them not ; for of such is 
 the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you. Whosoever 
 shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he 
 shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his 
 arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. 
 
 A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter 
 weeping ; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be 
 comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus 
 saith the Lord ; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 65 
 
 thine eyes from tears : for thy work shall be rewarded, 
 saitli the Lord. \_Jer, xxxiJ\ 
 
 When David saw that his servants whispered, David 
 perceived that the child was dead : therefore David said 
 unto his servants. Is the child dead? And they said. He 
 is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, 
 and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came 
 into the house of the Lord, and worshipped : then he 
 came to his own house ; and when he required, they set 
 bread before him, and he did eat. Then said his servants 
 unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou 
 didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive ; 
 but when the child was dead, thou didst arise and eat 
 bread. And he said. While the child was yet alive, I 
 fasted and wept : for I said. Who can tell whether God 
 will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But 
 now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him 
 back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return 
 to me. \2 Sam. xii,~\ 
 
 And it came to pass, when the man of God saw the 
 woman afar off, that he said to his servant : Run now, I 
 pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her. Is it well with 
 thee ? is it well with thy husband ? is it well with the 
 child? And she answered. It is well. [2 Kings zv.^ 
 
 And David was much moved, and went up to the 
 chamber over the gate, and wept : and as he went, thus 
 he said, O my son Absalom ! my son, my son Absalom ! 
 would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my 
 son! [2 Sa77z. xvi{i.~\ And the victory that day was 
 turned into mourning unto all the people : for the people 
 
66 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son. 
 And the people gat them by stealth that day into the 
 city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee 
 in battle. But the king covered his face, and the king 
 cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom ! O Absa- 
 lom, my son, my son ! [2 Sam. xi'x,^ 
 
 MEN AND WOMEN. 
 
 Though the righteous be prevented with death, yet 
 shall he be in rest. For honorable age is not that 
 which standeth in length of time, nor that is meas- 
 ured by number of years. But wisdom is the gray hair 
 unto men, and an unspotted life is old age. He pleased 
 God, and was beloved of him : so that living among sin- 
 ners he was translated. He, being made perfect in a 
 short time, fulfilled a long time : for his soul pleased the 
 Lord : therefore hasted he to take him away from among 
 the wicked. This the people saw, and understood it 
 not, neither laid they up this in their minds, that his 
 grace and mercy is with his saints, and that he hath 
 respect unto his chosen. Thus the righteous that is dead 
 shall condemn the ungodly which are living : and youth 
 that is soon perfected the many years and old age of the 
 unrighteous. [ Wisdo7n iv,'] 
 
 Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them 
 alive ; and let thy widows trust in me. \_Jer. xlix.'\ 
 Come, ye children, hearken unto me : I w^ill teach you 
 the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, 
 and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 6^ 
 
 tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. 
 Depart from evil, and do good ; seek peace, and pui'sue 
 it. [^Ps, xxxiv.~\ Honor thy father with thy whole 
 heart, and forget not the sorrows of thy mother. Re- 
 member that thou wast begotten of them ; and how 
 canst thou recompense them the things that they have 
 done for thee? \_Scclus. vit.~\ My son, keep thy father's 
 commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother : 
 bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them 
 about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee ; 
 when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee ; and when thou 
 awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment 
 is a lamp ; and the law is light ; and reproofs of instruc- 
 tion are the w^ay of life. \_Prov, vi.'] 
 
 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far 
 above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust 
 in her. She will do him good and not evil all the days 
 of her life. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor ; 
 yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. Her 
 husband is known in the gates, w^hen he sitteth among the 
 elders of the land. Strength and honor are her clothing ; 
 and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her 
 mouth wuth wisdom ; and in her tongue is the law of 
 kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her house- 
 hold, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children 
 arise up, and call her blessed ; her husband also, and he 
 praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, 
 but thou excellest them all. Favor is deceitful, anc 
 beauty is vain : but a woman that feareth the Lord, she 
 shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands ; 
 and let her own works praise her in the gates. \_Prov. 
 
68 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the 
 leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an 
 alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious ; 
 and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And 
 there w^ere some that had indignation within themselves, 
 and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made.? 
 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred 
 pence, and have been given to the poor. And they 
 murmured against her. And Jesus said. Let her alone ; 
 why trouble ye her ? she hath wrought a good work on 
 me. For ye have the poor with you always, and when- 
 soever ye will ye may do them good : but me ye have 
 not always. She hath done what she could. Verily I 
 say unto you. Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached 
 throughout the w^iole world, this also that she hath done 
 shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. \_]\fark xiv.~\ 
 
 Wherefore now, manfully changing this life, I will 
 shew myself such an one as mine age requireth, and 
 leave a notable example to such as be young to die will- 
 ingly and courageously for the honorable and holy laws. 
 It is manifest unto the Lord, that hath the holy knowl- 
 edge, that whereas I might have been delivered from 
 death, I now endure sore pains in body, but in soul 
 am w^ell content to suffer these things, because I fear 
 him. And thus this man died, leaving his death for an 
 example of a noble courage, and a memorial of virtue, 
 not only unto young men, but unto all his nation. 
 \_2 Mac, vz.~\ 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 69 
 
 THE AGED. 
 
 We spend our years as a tale that is told. The days 
 of our years are threescore years and ten ; and if by 
 reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their 
 strength labor and sorrow ; for it is soon cut off, and we 
 fly away. \_I^s, xc.^ My days are like a shadow that 
 declineth ; and I am withered like grass. But thou, O 
 Lord, shalt endure for ever : and thy remembrance unto 
 all generations. \^Ps. ci'i'.^ 
 
 If thou hast gathered nothing in thy youth, how canst 
 thou find anything in thine age ? O how" comely a thing- 
 is judgment for gray hairs, and for ancient men to know 
 counsel I O how comely is the wisdom of old men, and 
 understanding and counsel to men of honor ! Much 
 experience is the crown of old men, and the fear of God 
 is their glory. \_Ecchcs. xxv.^ 
 
 The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in 
 the yv^ay of righteousness. He that is slo\v to anger is 
 better than the mighty ; and he that ruleth his spirit than 
 he that taketh a city. The lot is cast into the lap ; but 
 the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. \^Prov, xvi.^ 
 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good 
 old age, an old man, and full of years ; and was gathered 
 to his people. [Ge7z, xxv.^ And he died in a good old 
 age, full of days, riches, and honor, [z C/iro. xxix."] 
 
 O God thou hast taught me from my youth : and hith- 
 erto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also 
 when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not. 
 Cast me not off in the time of old age ; forsake me not 
 w^hen my strength faileth. [Ps. lxxz,~\ 
 
70 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands 
 toward him ; if iniquity be in thine hand, put it far 
 away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles. 
 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot ; yea, 
 thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear : because thou 
 shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that 
 pass away : and thine age shall be clearer than the 
 noonday ; thou shalt shine forth, and shalt be as the 
 morning. And thou shalt be secure, because there is 
 hope ; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take 
 thy rest in safety. S^Job xi.'\ And thou shalt go to thy 
 fathers in peace ; thou shalt be buried in a good old 
 age. [ Ge7i xvJ\ Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full 
 age, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season, 
 Uob. v.-\ 
 
 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree : he shall 
 grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted 
 in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts 
 of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age ; 
 to shew that the Lord is upright : he is my rock, and 
 there is no unrighteousness in him. \^Ps, xciiJ\ Hearken 
 unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the 
 house of Israel. Even to your old age I am he : and 
 even to hoar hairs w^ill I carry you ; I have made,^ 
 and I will bear ; even I will carry, and w411 deliver you. 
 \^Isa, xlvi.'\ Return unto thy rest, O my soul ; for the 
 Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast 
 delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and 
 my feet from falling. \_Ps, cxvi.'\ 
 
 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 7I 
 
 while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, 
 when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them ; while 
 the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not 
 darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain : in the day 
 when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the 
 strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease 
 because they are few, and those that look out of the 
 window^s be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in 
 the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and 
 one shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the 
 daughters of music shall be brought low^ ; also when 
 they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall 
 be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and 
 the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail : 
 because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners 
 go about the streets. Or ever the silver cord be loosed, 
 or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken 
 at the fountain, or the ^vheel broken at the cistern. 
 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was : and 
 the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. \^EccLxii.'\ 
 
 LIFE IMMORTAL. 
 
 Thou, O God, art gracious and true, long-suffering, 
 and in mercy ordering all things. For if we sin, we are 
 thine, knowing thy power: but we will not sin, know- 
 ing that we are counted thine. For to know thee is 
 perfect righteousness : yea, to know^ thy power is the 
 root of immortality. [ Wzsdofn xv.~\ 
 
 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die : but if ye 
 through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye 
 
72 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, 
 they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the 
 spirit of bondage again to fear ; but ye have received the 
 spirit of adoption, whereby w^e cry, Abba, Father. The 
 Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are 
 the children of God : and if children, then heirs ; heirs 
 of God, and joint heirs with Christ ; if so be that 
 we suffer w^ith him, that we may be also glorified 
 together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present 
 time are not worthy to be compared with the glory 
 which shall be revealed in us. Because the creation 
 itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of cor- 
 ruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 
 For we know that the v^hole creation groaneth and 
 travaileth in pain together until now. And not only 
 they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the 
 Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting 
 for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For 
 we are saved by hope : but hope that is seen is not hope : 
 for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But 
 if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience 
 wait for it. Likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirm- 
 ities : for we know not what we should pray for as we 
 ought. And we know that all things work together 
 for good to them that love God, to them who are called 
 according to his purpose. What shall we then say to 
 these things.^ If God be for us, who can be against us? 
 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors 
 through him that lorved us. For I am persuaded that 
 neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 
 powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor 
 height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 73 
 
 separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord. \_JRo?n. vzii.'] 
 
 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which 
 are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 
 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the 
 earth. For ye are dead, and your Hfe is hid with Christ 
 in God. \_Col, iiiJ\ Beloved, now are we the sons of 
 God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : but 
 we know that when it shall be manifested, we shall be 
 like him ; for we shall see him as he is. And every 
 man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even 
 as he is pure. \_i John in,'] 
 
 Let not your heart be troubled : ye believe in God, 
 believe also in me. In my Father's house are many 
 mansions : if it were not so, I would have told you. I 
 go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare 
 a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto 
 myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And 
 whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas 
 saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest ; 
 and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I 
 am the way, the truth, and the life : no man cometh unto 
 the Father but by me. Peace I leave with you, my peace 
 I give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto 
 you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be 
 afraid. \_Joh7t xz'v.] 
 
 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my 
 appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou 
 shalt call, and I will answer thee. ^Job. xtv,^ 
 
74 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up ! 
 and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that 
 which thou sow^est is not quickened, except it die : and 
 that which thou sow^est, thou sowest not that body that 
 shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of 
 some other grain : but God giveth it a body as it hath 
 pleased him, and to every seed his ow^n body. All flesh 
 is not the same flesh : but there is one kind of flesh of 
 inen, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and 
 another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and 
 bodies terrestrial : but the glory of the celestial is one, 
 and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one 
 glory of the sun, and another glory of the inoon, and 
 another glory of the stars ; for one star differeth from 
 another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the 
 dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorrup- 
 tion : it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory : it is 
 sown in weakness, it is raised in power : it is sow^n a 
 natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a 
 natural body, and there is a spiritual body. How^- 
 belt that was not first which is spiritual, but that w^hich 
 is natural : and afterward that which is spiritual. The 
 first man is of the earth, earthy : the second man is 
 of heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that 
 are earthy : and as is the heavenly, such are they also 
 that are heavenly. And as w^e have borne the image 
 of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the 
 heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and 
 blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth 
 corruption inherit incorruption. For this corruptible 
 must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put 
 on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 75 
 
 put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on 
 immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying 
 that is written, Death is swallowed up m victory. O 
 death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy 
 victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of 
 sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us 
 the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, 
 my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always 
 abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye 
 know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 
 [/ Cor. XV.) 
 
 For we know that, if our earthly house of this taber- 
 nacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house 
 not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in 
 this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with 
 our house which is from heaven : if so be that being 
 clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are 
 in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened : not for that 
 we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality 
 might be swallowed up of life. [2 Co?-. z\'] 
 
 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye 
 not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 
 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the 
 God of Jacob ? God is not the God of the dead, but of 
 the living. [^Jlaff. xxii.~\ 
 
 I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not ; I 
 will lead them in paths that thev have not known : I will 
 make darkness light before them, and crooked things 
 straight. These things ^vill I do unto them, and not 
 forsake them. \^Isa. xlzi.'] And it shall be said in that 
 
76 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 day, Lo, this is our God ; we have waited for him, and 
 he will save us. He will swallow up death in victory ; 
 and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all 
 faces ; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away 
 from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. 
 [^/sa, XXV.] 
 
 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is 
 God, v/ho also hath given unto us the earnest of the 
 Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing 
 • that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent 
 from the Lord: (for we walk by faith, not by sight:) 
 we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent 
 from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Where- 
 fore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may 
 be accepted of him. [2 Co?-, v.] 
 
 But as it is written, E}^ hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
 neither have entered into the heart of man, the things 
 which God hath prepared for thein that love him. But 
 God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit : for the 
 Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 
 [z Co7\ //.] For which cause we faint not ; but though 
 our out^vard man perish, yet the inward man is renewed 
 day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a 
 moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory ; \vhile we look not at the things which 
 are seen, but at the things which are not seen : for the 
 things which are seen are temporal ; but the things 
 which are not seen are eternal. [^ Cor. tv.~\ 
 
 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 77 
 
 first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and 
 there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, 
 new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. 
 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, 
 the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell 
 with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself 
 shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall 
 wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be 
 no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall 
 there be any more pain : for the former things are passed 
 aw^ay. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I 
 make all things new. I am Alpha and Omega, the 
 beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is 
 athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He 
 that overcometh shall inherit all things ; and I will be 
 his God, and he shall be my son. \_Rev. xxl.~\ And 
 I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me. Write, 
 Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from 
 henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from 
 their labors ; and their w^orks do follow them. \_JRev, xiv.~\ 
 They shall not hunger nor thirst ; neither shall the heat 
 nor sun smite them : for he that hath mercy on them 
 shall lead them, even by the springs of w^ater shall he 
 guide them. \_Isa, xlzx,~\ 
 
 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear 
 as crystal. On either side of the river, was there the tree 
 of life, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of 
 the nations. And there shall be no night there ; and 
 they need no candle, neither light of the sun ; for the 
 Lord God giveth them light : and they shall reign 
 for ever and ever. [_Rez\ xxiz.'] And the city hath no 
 
^8 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 
 
 need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it ; for 
 the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the 
 light thereof. And the nations shall walk in the light 
 of it : and the kings of the earth do bring their glory 
 and honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be 
 shut at all by day : for there shall be no night there. 
 \_Jiev. xxi,~\ 
 
 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble 
 knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be 
 strong, fear not : behold, your God will come with ven- 
 geance, even God with a recompense ; he will come and 
 save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, 
 and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall 
 the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb 
 sing : for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and 
 streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall 
 become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. 
 And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall 
 be called The way of holiness ; the unclean shall not 
 pass over it ; but it shall be for those : the wayfaring 
 men, though fools, shall not err therein. And the ran- 
 somed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with 
 songs and everlasting joy upon their heads : they shall 
 obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall 
 flee away. \_Isa. xxxv,'] 
 
 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which 
 no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and 
 people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before 
 the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their 
 hands ; and cried with a loud voice, saying. Salvation to 
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS. 79 
 
 our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the 
 Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, 
 and worshipped God, saying, Amen : Blessing, and glory, 
 and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, 
 and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. 
 Who are these which are arrayed in white robes, and 
 whence came they? These are they which came out of 
 great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and 
 made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore 
 are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and 
 night in his temple : and he that sitteth on the throne 
 shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, 
 neither thirst any more ; neither shall the sun light on 
 them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the 
 midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them 
 unto living fountains of waters : and God shall wipe 
 away all tears from their eyes. [_J^ev. vu.'\ 
 
 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, 
 that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the 
 Holy Spirit. \_Rom. xv,'\ 
 
THOUGHTS OF IMMORTALITY 
 
 The soul lives after the body dies. The soul passes 
 through the gate ; he makes a way in the darkness to his 
 Father ; he has pierced the heart of evil to do the things 
 of his Father. 
 
 Then shall the Judge of the dead answer : Let this 
 soul pass on ; he is without sin ; he lives upon truth. 
 He has made his delight in doing what is good to men, 
 and what is pleasing to God. He has given food to the 
 hungry ; drink to the thirsty and clothes to the naked. 
 His lips are pure and his hands are pure. His heart 
 weighs right in the balance. He fought on earth the 
 battle of the good, even as his Father, the Lord of the 
 invisible world had commanded him. O God, the 
 protector of him who has brought his cry unto Thee, 
 make it well with him in the world of spirits ! He loved 
 his father, he honored his mother ; he loved his brethren. 
 He never preferred the great man to him of low condition. 
 He was a wise man, his soul loved God. He was a 
 brother to the great and a father to the humble ; and he 
 never was a mischief-maker. Such as these shall find 
 gTace in tiie eyes of the great God. They shall dwell 
 in the abodes of glory, where the heavenly life is led. 
 The bodies which they have abandoned will repose 
 forever in their tombs, while they will enjoy the presence 
 of the great God. — Egyptian {Book of the Dead). 
 (80) 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. 8l 
 
 Heaven is a palace with many doors, and each one 
 may enter in his own way. There is another, invisible, 
 eternal existence, superior to the visible one, which does 
 not perish when all things perish. Those who attain to 
 this never return. The God of the dead waits enthroned 
 in immortal light to welcome the good into his kingdom 
 of joy ; to the homes he has prepared for them, where 
 the One Being dwells beyond the stars. — Hindu, 
 
 There are treasures laid up in the heart — treasures of 
 charity, piety, temperance, and soberness. These treas- 
 ures a man takes with him beyond death, when he leaves 
 this world. Man never dies. The soul inhabits the 
 body for a time and leaves it again. The soul is myself; 
 the body is only my dwelling-place. The pearls and 
 gems which a man has collected, even from his youth, 
 cannot go with him to another world. Friends and 
 relations cannot go with him a step further than his place 
 of burial. But a man's actions, good or bad, go with 
 him to the future world. As kindred, friends and dear 
 ones salute him who hath travelled far and returned 
 home safe, so w^ill good deeds welcome him who goes 
 from this world and enters another. — Buddhist, 
 
 What is death? To be born again an angel of 
 Eternity. — Persian {Biczzirdi) . 
 
 The Supreme Soul, whose work is the universe, 
 always dwelling in the hearts of all being, is revealed 
 by the heart. Those who know him become immortal. 
 — Hi72du. 
 
 The sun rises out of life and sets into life ; this is the 
 sacred law ; it sways to-day, and will sway to-morrow. 
 
82 SELECTED THOUGHTS. 
 
 From the unreal, lead me to the real ; from darkness 
 to light ; from death to immortality ! This uttered over- 
 comes the world. — Hindu {^Brihad Upaitlshad^ . 
 
 Know that these finite bodies have belonged to an 
 eternal, inexhaustible, indestructible spirit. He who 
 believes that this spirit can kill, and he who believes it 
 can be killed, both are wn*ong. Unborn, changeless, 
 eternal, it is not slain when the body is slain. * * * * 
 Weapons cannot cleave, nor fire burn it. It is constant, 
 immovable ; yet it can pass through all things. * * ^ * 
 Grieve not then for any creatures, and abandon not thy 
 duty. For a noble man, that infamy w'^ere worse than 
 death. * * * * It is good to die doing thy own work. 
 — Hindu (^Bhagavadgita) , 
 
 Virtue is a service man owes himself; and though 
 there were no heaven, nor any God to rule the world, 
 it were not less the binding law of life. It is a man's 
 privilege to know the right and follow it. 
 
 Betray and persecute me, brother men ! * * * * Earth, 
 hell, heaven, combine your might to crush, — I will still 
 hold fast by this inheritance ! My strength is nothing — 
 time can shake and cripple it; my youth is transient — 
 already grief has w^ithered up my days ; my heart — alas ! 
 it seems well nigh broken now ! Anguish may crush it 
 utterly, and life may fail ; but even so my soul, that has 
 not tripped, shall triumph, and dying, give the lie to 
 soulless Destiny, that dares to boast itself man's master. 
 — Hindu (yRdmdya7id) . 
 
 Man must not be carried away by grief, but hasten to 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. 83 
 
 a better mind. Thou hast shed tears: it is enough. 
 * * * * We have given what we ought to grief; now 
 let us do what is becoming. — Hindu {^Rdnidyaita) . 
 
 Why lookest thou so dull upon thy friends, thou to 
 w^hom thy friends wxre so dear? Thy face seems to 
 smile on us in, the bosom of death, as if thou wert alive. 
 We see thy glory still, like sunset on a mountain's head. 
 — Hindu, 
 
 He Vv'ho in the inorning has seen the right way, may 
 in the evening die without regret. — Confucius, 
 
 It is right, my friends, that we should consider this : 
 that if the soul is immortal, it requires our care not only 
 for the present time, which we call life, but for all time. 
 He, then, is truly wise, Avho considers inost about his 
 soul ; who having adorned his soul, not with a foreign, 
 but with its own proper ornament, — temperance, justice, 
 fortitude, freedom, and truth, — thus waits for his passage 
 to the world of the departed, as one who is ready to go 
 i whenever destiny shall summon him. 
 
 If death be the journey to another place, and there all 
 the dead are, what good can be greater than this? Be 
 of good cheer about death, and know this of a truth, — 
 that no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or 
 after death. — Plato. 
 
 The body is a prison, from which the soul must be 
 released before it can arrive at the knowledge of things 
 real and immutable. 
 
 The soul of each of us is an immortal spirit, and goes 
 to other immortals to give an account of its actions. 
 
 When thou shalt have laid aside thy body, thou shalt 
 
84 SELECTED THOUGHTS. 
 
 rise, freed from mortality, and become an inhabitant of 
 the kindly skies. 
 
 My body must descend to the place ordained, but my 
 soul will not descend : being a thing immortal, it will 
 ascend on high, where it wall enter a heavenly abode. 
 Death does not differ at all from life. 
 
 Every soul is immortal ; for w4iatever is continually 
 moved is immortal. Every body which is moved from 
 without is soulless, but that which is moved from within, 
 that is, of itself, possesses a soul, since this is the very 
 nature of soul. But if this be the case, — that there is 
 nothing else w^hich moves itself except soul, — soul must 
 necessarily be both uricreate and immortal. — Plato, 
 
 All that God works is effortless and calm : 
 Seated on loftiest throne, 
 Thence, though we know not how, 
 He works his perfect will. 
 
 — y^schylics ( The Suppliants), 
 
 It is shame 
 For any man to wish for length of life, 
 Who, wrapt in troubles, knows no change for good. 
 For what delight brings day still following day, 
 Or bringing on, or putting off our death ? 
 I would not rate that man as worth regard 
 Whose fervor glows on vain and empty hopes : 
 But either noble life or noble death 
 Becomes the gently born. — Sophocles (Ajax). 
 
 An immortal man established in righteousness is a 
 noble hymn of God. — Greek, 
 
 Who knows whether to live is not death, and to die, 
 life ? — Euripides, 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. 85 
 
 I believe Nature, knowing the confusion and shortness 
 of our life, hath industriously concealed the end of it 
 from us, this making for our advantage ; for if we were 
 sensible of it beforehand, some would pine away with 
 untimely sorrow, and would die before their death came. 
 
 Every one should meditate seriously with himself, that 
 it is not the longest life which is the best, but that which 
 is the most virtuous. 
 
 But such exclamations as this, " The young man ought 
 not to be taken off so abruptly in the vigor of his years," 
 are very frivolous, and proceed from a great weakness of 
 mind ; for who is it that can say what a thing ought to be ? 
 
 And who knows but that the Deity, w^ith a fatherly 
 providence and out of tenderness to mankind, foreseeing 
 what would happen, hath taken some purposely out of 
 this life by an untimely death? So we should think that 
 nothing has befallen them wdiich they should have 
 sought to shun, — '' For naught that cometh by necessity 
 is hard." — Plutarch. 
 
 What then do you wish to be doing when you are found 
 by death ? I, for my part, would wish to be found doing 
 something which belongs to a man, beneficent, suitable 
 to the general interest, noble. But if I cannot be foimd 
 doing things so great, I would be found doing at least 
 that which I cannot be hindered from doing, that which 
 is permitted me to do : correcting myself, laboring at tran- 
 quillity of mind, rendering to the relations of life their due. 
 
 If death surprises me when I am busy about these 
 things, it is enough for me if I can stretch out my hands 
 to God and say : The means wdiich I have received 
 from thee for seeing thy administration of the world. 
 
86 SELECTED THOUGHTS. 
 
 and following It, I have not neglected ; I have not 
 dishonored thee by my acts. * * * * That thou hast 
 given me life, I thank thee for what thou hast given : 
 so long- as I have used the things w^hich are thine I am 
 content ; take them back and place them wherever thou 
 mayest choose ; for thine were all things, thou gavest 
 them to me. 
 
 I think that what God chooses is better than what I 
 choose ; I will attach myself as minister and follower 
 to him. — Epictetus. 
 
 When I consider the faculties with which the human 
 soul Is endowed, * * * * I feel a conscious conviction 
 that this active, comprehensive principle cannot possibly 
 be of a mortal nature. And as this unceasing activity 
 of the soul derives its energy from its own intrinsic and 
 essential powers, without receiving It from any foreign 
 or external impulse, it necessarily follows that its activity 
 must continue forever. 
 
 I consider this world as a place which Nature never 
 Intended for my permanent abode ; and I look on my 
 departure from it, not as being driven from my habita- 
 tion, but simply as leaving an inn. — Cicero, 
 
 That which we call death Is but a pause or suspension, 
 and In truth a progress to life : only our thoughts look 
 downward upon the body, and not forward upon things 
 to come. " It is the care of a wise and good man to look 
 to his manners and actions ; and rather how well he 
 lives than how long. To die sooner or later is not the 
 business, but to die well or ill ; for death brings us 
 to immortality. 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. 87 
 
 Why was such a one taken away in the prime of his 
 years? Life is to be measured by action, not by time. 
 A man may die old at thirty, and young at fourscore. 
 Nay, the one hves after death ; and the other perished 
 before he died. The fear of death is a continual slavery, 
 as the contempt of it is certain liberty. — Sejteca, 
 
 Day and night show unto us the resurrection. The 
 night falleth asleep and the day ariseth ; the day depart- 
 eth and night cometh on. Let us mark how and in w^hat 
 manner the sowing taketh place. The sower casteth 
 into the earth each of the seeds and these decay : then 
 out of their decay the might of the Master's providence 
 raiseth them up and they bear fruit. — Cle7nent of Rome, 
 
 Vines hold not their clusters all the year ; now are 
 they fruitful, and now they shed their leaves like tears. 
 Like the sun, the pure are clouded. On them the 
 envious crowd may hurl its hate ; but it is as sparks 
 falling on the clear stream — the sparks perish, the w^ater 
 goes shining on. Fear not the dark, friend ; perchance 
 the Water of Life may be found in the dark abyss of 
 sorrow. — Persian i^Saadi) . 
 
 We saw him in the garden, the pleasant garden, 
 
 With his companions and his children, the children he loved. 
 
 His children and his servants blessed him. 
 
 His home was the shelter of happiness. 
 
 Peace be upon him. 
 We saw him giving food to the hungry, 
 And clothing to the naked. 
 We saw him give help and succor to the aged, 
 And good counsel to the young. 
 
55 SELECTED THOUGHTS. 
 
 He suffered not the stranger to sleep in the streets : 
 He opened his door to the wayfarer. 
 
 Peace be upon him. — Syrian Dh^ge. 
 
 Yes, the very least and the very greatest sorrov^^s that 
 God ever suffers to befall thee, proceed from the depths 
 of his unspeakable love ; and such great love w^ere better 
 for thee than the highest and best gifts besides that he 
 has given thee, or ever could give thee, if thou could'st 
 but see it in this light. 
 
 God is ever ready, but v^e are very unready ; God 
 is nigh to us, but w^e are far from him ; God is w^ithin, 
 v^e are w^ithout ; God is at home, we are strangers. 
 The prophet says: "God leadeth the righteous by a 
 narrow path into a broad highway, till they come 
 into a wide and open place " : that is, unto the true 
 freedom of that spirit w^hich hath become one spirit with 
 God. God help us all to follow him, that he may 
 bring us unto himself! — John Tauler, 
 
 Lord, I know not what I ought to ask of thee ; thou 
 lovest me better than I can love myself. O my Father, 
 give to thy child that w^hich he knows not how to ask. 
 I dare not pray either for crosses or consolations ; I 
 present myself before thee, I open my heart to thee. 
 Behold those w^ants that I know not myself. See and do 
 according to thy tender mercy. 
 
 I adore thy will without knowing it. I am silent 
 before thee ; I yield myself up, I would sacrifice myself 
 to thy will, I could have no other desire than to do it. 
 Teach ine to pray ; pray thyself in me. 
 
 O my God ! what is death or life to me } Life is 
 nothing ; it is even a snare if it be too dear to me. 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. 89 
 
 Death can only destroy this house of clay ; it delivers the 
 soul from the contamination of the body, and from its own 
 pride. It frees it from the influence of the tempter, and 
 introduces it forever into the kingdom of truth. 
 
 I ask not, then, O my Father, for health or for life. 
 I make an offering to thee of all my days. Thou hast 
 counted them. I w^ould know nothing more. All I ask 
 is to die rather than live as I have lived, and if it be thy 
 will that I depart, let me die in patience and in love. 
 Almighty God, who boldest the keys of the tomb in thy 
 hand, to open and close it at thy will, give me not life 
 if I love it too well. Living or dying, I would be 
 thine. — Fenelon, 
 
 All death in nature is birth, and In death appears 
 visibly the advancement of life. There is no killing 
 principle in nature, for nature throughout is life ; it 
 is not death which kills, but the higher life, which, 
 concealed behind the other, begins to develop itself. 
 Death and birth are but the struggle of life with itself to 
 attain a higher form. — J. G. JFlchte, 
 
 No set words or thoughts will enable us to meet death 
 trustfully. Such trust is God's gift, and the more we 
 detach ourselves from all save Himself, the more '* freely 
 He will give us" this, as all other blessings. Once 
 attain to losing self in God, and death will indeed have 
 no sting. — Jean Nicolas Grott, 
 
 Wherever I may be, through whatever worlds I may 
 be led, I know that I shall forever remain in the hands 
 of the Father who brought me hither, and calls me 
 further on. — Herder. 
 
90 SELECTED THOUGHTS. 
 
 Then woke 
 Stirrings of deep Divinity within, 
 And, like the flickerings of a smouldering flame, 
 Yearnings of a hereafter. Thou it was, 
 When the world's din and passion's voice was still, 
 Calling thy wanderer home. — Williaiiis. 
 
 What shall I do to gain eternal life } 
 
 Discharge aright 
 The simple dues with which each day is rife, 
 
 Yea, with thy might. 
 Ere perfect scheme of action thou devise, 
 
 Thy life is fled. 
 But he who ever acts as conscience cries. 
 
 Shall live though dead. — Sc/iille7\ 
 
 He has gone before us. The spirit within him that 
 used to talk to us, to look at us with kind eyes, has left 
 the body, and is no longer visible. Blessings on his 
 memory ! INIay he also, if he behold us, bless us ! for 
 we need his blessing. Greatly we need it, wuth these 
 hopeless yearnings for his presence ; these fears that we 
 did not do all we might have done for him ; this almost 
 shame at feeling that we are warm and living, w^hile he 
 is cold and motionless ; at home and housed, wdiile he 
 is away. 
 
 But these are our thoughts, not his. His body is not 
 his spirit ; and perhaps his spirit looks upon us this 
 moment, and sees how we loved him, and hoAV we 
 suffer. He knows the struggles that we have still to 
 endure ; he looks on his mortal friends with immortal 
 kindness ; on these dear relations, on these beloved chil- 
 dren. Let us be calm in the hope of rejoining him ; let 
 us become patient in it; let us rejoice in it. Let us 
 cherish the thoughts he would desire ; let us take up 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. 9I 
 
 again the duties he would wish us, now and ever, to 
 perform. 
 
 O friends that remain ! ye will keep as much of me as 
 ye are able ; kind thoughts of me ; recollections of our 
 mutual joys and sufferings ; recollection of the pardon 
 we gave to each other. You w ill love all whom I have 
 loved, and me in them. 
 
 Surely love, and hope, and joy are not confined to 
 us. vSurely there are myriads of beings inhabiting the 
 invisible world. Some may have realized their heaven, 
 and are resting. Some may be carrying it further. 
 Some may be lielping us, just as we help the bee, or the 
 wounded bird ; spirits of dear friends, who still pity our 
 tears, rejoice in our smiles, and whisper into our hearts 
 a belief that they are present. 
 
 The heart bids us believe it possible ; and oh ! w^hat- 
 ever good thing the heart bids us believe, let us do our 
 best to believe it ; for God has put it there, and its good- 
 ness is His w^arrant for its being cherished. — Leigh 
 Hunt, 
 
 The immortality of the soul is a truth which is not 
 bright except to the pure in heart. 
 
 Through making us hope for immortality, God has 
 made us a promise of it. If faith is the evidence of things 
 not seen, hope is the certainty of them. Hope prophesies 
 to us. Hope makes us free of the universe. I am a 
 pilgrim, and life is what I have to travel over ; and oh ! 
 I have many dangers and inany w^ants ; but hope is mv 
 all in all, nearly. Hope is light, and courage, and a 
 staff; and when I sit down, it is a friend to talk 
 with ; and w^hen I suffer, it is an angel to stand by and 
 
92 SELECTED THOUGHTS. 
 
 strengthen me ; and when I have wandered away in sin, 
 and repented and returned to the right path, then from 
 hope I get my peace of mind again, and newness of virtue. 
 
 The morrow of the world is a purpose in the mind of 
 God, and so is the great to-morrovs^ of my soul. And I 
 can be ^vell contented to have my life subside on the 
 bosom of him in ^vhom the day died away this evening 
 so beautifully, and in whom it will begin again in the 
 morning so grandly. 
 
 O, if there is a heaven for our faith, there are friends 
 in it for our love. Love is greater than faith. 
 
 There are some great souls, the very thought of wdiom 
 is an increase of faith. 
 
 A truthful heart never breaks ; it strengthens to the 
 last. And to the last we will trust. God is almighty ; 
 then all things are his mightiness, and all life is his w^ill. 
 * * * * And to us joys shall be the will of God, and 
 so shall pains and sorrows be. Providence is in all 
 things, so that whatever we do not understand shall be to 
 us nothing to be frightened about, but it shall be mystery 
 and the w411 of God. 
 
 I know that darkness is good for me, as well as light, 
 and that it is good for me not to know some things, as 
 \vell as to know others ; and for myself, I can pray to 
 God out of my whole heart, and with the strength of my 
 understanding, '- Thy will be done on earth, as it is in 
 heaven " ; else there is not a flower, nor an insect, nor a 
 bird, nor an animal, nor a day, nor a man, but might 
 make me question myself to madness. — William Mount- 
 ford, 
 
 Know of a truth that only the Time-shadows have 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. 93 
 
 perished, or are perishable ; that the real being of \vhat- 
 ever was, and whatever is, and whatever will be, is 
 even now and forever. 
 
 Can the earth, w^hich is but dead, and a vision, resist 
 Spirits, which have reality, and are alive ? On the 
 hardest adamant some footprint of us is stamped in. The 
 last rear of the host will read traces of the earliest van. 
 But whence? O Heaven, whither? Sense knows not; 
 faith knows not ; only that it is through mystery into 
 mystery, from God to God. — Thoinas Carlyle. 
 
 Of what import this vacant sky, these puffing elements, 
 these insignificant lives, full of selfish loves, and quar- 
 rels, and ennui? Every thing is prospective, and inan is 
 to live hereafter. That the world is for his education is 
 the only sane solution of the enigma. All the comfort I 
 have found, teaches me to confide that I shall not have 
 less in times and places that I do not yet know. All I 
 have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have 
 not seen. Whatever it be wdiich the great Providence 
 prepares for us, it must be something large and generous, 
 and in the great style of his works. 
 
 The love that will be annihilated sooner than be 
 treacherous has already made death impossible, and 
 affirms itself no mortal, but a native of the deeps of 
 absolute and inextinguishable being. — R, W, Emer- 
 
 S072, 
 
 'Tis only when they spring to heaven that angels 
 Reveal themselves to you ; they sit all day 
 Beside you ; and lie down at night by you, 
 Who care not for their presence — muse or sleep — 
 And all at once they leave you and you know them! 
 
94 SELECTED THOUGHTS. 
 
 Dear Festus, lay me. 
 When I shall die, \Yithin some narrow grave, 
 Not by itself — for that would be too proud — 
 But where such graves are thickest : let it look 
 Nowise distinguished from the hillocks round, 
 So that the peasant at his brother's bed 
 May tread upon my own and know it not ; 
 And we shall all be equal at the last. 
 Or classed according to life's natural ranks. 
 Fathers, sons, brothers, friends — not rich, nor wise. 
 Nor gifted. 
 
 In man^s self arise 
 August anticipations, symbols, types 
 Of a dim splendor ever on before. 
 In that eternal circle run by life : 
 For men begin to pass their nature's bound. 
 And find new hopes and cares which fast supplant 
 Their proper joys and griefs ; and outgrow all 
 The narrow creeds of right and wrong, which fade 
 Before the unmeasured thirst for good ; while peace 
 Rises within them ever more and more. 
 
 If I stoop 
 Into a dark, tremendous sea of cloud. 
 It is but for a time ; I press God's lamp 
 Close to my breast — its splendor, soon or late. 
 Will pierce the gloom : I shall emerge one day ! 
 
 Robert Broiviting, 
 
 The life of the Spirit is the evidence [of immortality]. 
 Heaven begun is the living proof that makes the heaven 
 to come credible. '^ Christ in you is the hope of glory." 
 It is the eagle eye of faith which penetrates the grave, 
 and sees far into the tranquil things of death. He alone 
 can believe in immortality who feels the resurrection in 
 him already. — F, W, Robertson, 
 
 We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts, not breath ; 
 In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. 95 
 
 We should count time by heart-throbs. 
 He most lives 
 Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. 
 Life is but a means unto an end ; that end, 
 Beginning, mean and end to all things, God! — Bailey. 
 
 We have all felt, when looking above us into the 
 atmosphere, that there was an infinity of space which we 
 could not explore. When I look into inan's spirit, and 
 see there the germs of an immortal life, I feel more 
 deeply that an infinity lies hid beyond what I see. In 
 the idea of duty, which springs ujd in every human heart, 
 I discern a law more sacred and boundless than gravita- 
 tion, which binds the soul to a more, glorious universe 
 than that to which attraction binds the body, and which 
 is to endure though the laws of physical nature pass 
 away. Every moral sentiment, every intellectual action, 
 is to me a hint, a prophetic sign, of a spiritual power 
 to be expanded forever, just as a faint ray from a distant 
 star is significant of unimaginable splendor. 
 
 Dream not of a heaven into which you may enter, 
 live as you may. To such as waste the present state, 
 the future will not, cannot bring happiness. There is 
 no concord between them and that world of purity. x\ 
 human being who has lived without God, and without 
 self-improvement, can no more enjoy heaven than a 
 mouldering body, lifted from the tomb and placed 
 amidst beautiful prospects, can enjoy the light through its 
 decayed eyes, or feel the balmy air which blows away 
 its dust. 
 
 Heaven is in truth revealed to us in every pure affec- 
 tion of the human heart, and in every wise and beneficent 
 action that uplifts the soul in adoration and gratitude. 
 
96 SELECTED THOUGHTS. 
 
 For heaven is only purity, wisdom, benevolence, joy, 
 peace, in their perfected form. Thus the immortal life 
 may be said to surround us perpetually. Some beams of 
 its glory shine upon us in whatever is lovely, heroic, and 
 virtuously happy in ourselves or in others. The pure 
 mind carries heaven within itself, and manifests that 
 heaven to all around. 
 
 Immortal happiness is nothing more than the unfolding 
 of our own minds, the full, bright exercise of our best 
 powers ; and these powers are never to be unfolded here 
 or hereafter, but through our own free exertion. 
 
 The truth is that all action on earth, even the intensest, 
 is but the sport of childhood compared with the energy 
 and activity of that higher life. It must be so. For 
 what principles are so active as intellect, benevolence, 
 the love of truth, the thirst for perfection, sympathy with 
 the suffering, and devotion to God's purposes? and these 
 are the ever-expanding principles of the future life. 
 — W. E, Chaining, 
 
 So live that when thy summons tomes to join 
 
 The innumerable caravan, which moves 
 
 To that mysterious realm where each shall take 
 
 His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
 
 Thou go not like the quarry-slave at night, 
 
 Scourged 'to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 
 
 By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, 
 
 Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
 
 About him and lies down to pleasant dreams.-— W. C. Bryant. 
 
 I see the autumn prefigured in the spring. The 
 flowers of May-day foretold the harvest, its rosy apples, 
 and its yellow ears of corn. As the bud now lying cold 
 and close upon the bark of every tree throughout our 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. 97 
 
 northern clime is a silent prophecy of yet another spring 
 and other summers, and harvests too, so this instinctive 
 love of justice, scantily budding here and nipped by 
 adverse fate, silently but clearly tells of the kingdom of 
 heaven. 
 
 I cannot think the future world is to be feared, 
 even by the vs^orst of men. I had rather die a sinner 
 than live one. Doubtless justice is there to be done ; 
 that may seem stern and severe. But remember, God's 
 justice is not like a man's ; it is not vengeance, but 
 mercy ; not poison, but medicine. To me it seems 
 tuition more than chastisement. God is not the jailer of 
 the universe, but the Shepherd of the people ; not the 
 hangman of mankind, but their Physician ; yes, our 
 Father. I cannot fear him as I fear man. I cannot fail 
 to love. ***** Does not even the hireling shepherd, 
 when a single lamb has gone astray, leave the ninety 
 and nine safe in their fold, go forth some stormy night 
 and seek the wanderer, rejoicing to bring home the lost 
 one on his shoulders? And shall God forget his child, 
 his frailest or most stubborn child ; leave him in endless 
 misery, a prey to insatiate sin, — that grim, bloodthirsty 
 wolf, prowling about the human fold ? I tell you no ; 
 not God. 
 
 The more I live, the more I love this lovely world ; 
 feel more its Author in each little thing, in all that is 
 great. But yet I feel my immortality the more. In 
 childhood the consciousness of immortal life buds forth 
 feeble, though full of promise. In the man it unfolds its 
 fragrant petals, his most celestial flower, to mature its 
 seed throughout eternity. — Theodore Parker, 
 
98 SELECTED THOUGHTS. 
 
 God judges by a light 
 Which baffles mortal sight. 
 In His vast world above, 
 A world of broader love, 
 God hath some grand employment for his son. — Faber. 
 
 More and more do I feel that this nature of mine is the 
 deep ground-warrant for faith in God and immortahty. 
 Everywhere in creation there is a proportion between 
 means and ends, — between all natures and their destinies. 
 And can it be that my soul, which, in its few days' 
 unfolding, is already stretching out its hands to God and 
 to eternity, and which has all its being and ^velfare 
 ^vrapped up in those sublime verities, is made to strive 
 and sigh for them in vain, to stretch out its hands to — 
 nothing .^ 
 
 '• Onward ! " is the call of many a great hour of our 
 being; ^'on^vard! to the battle — and victory!" And 
 to this earth-strife that .presses upon us every day, to this 
 solemn waiting, — to this dim bordering upon the realm 
 of boundless light, is there not a voice that says, 
 ''Onward! onward forever!" Beautiful phrase that 
 describes the departed, ''they have passed on." Not, 
 '' they are dead " ; but — " they have passed on " ! 
 
 Progress, then, is our being's motto and hope. Gaining 
 and losing in this v^'orld, rising and falling, enjoying 
 and suffering, are but the incidents of life. Learning, 
 aspiration, progress, is the life of life. Onward ! then, 
 pilgrims to eternity ! The day is far spent for some of 
 us, the night is at hand ; and over its sublime portal 
 through which the evening stars of this world, but the 
 morning stars of eternity, are shining, is written, '*Ey« 
 hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. 99 
 
 the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared 
 for them that love him." 
 
 Death I what art thou to the Christian's assurance? 
 Great hour of answer to h'fe's prayer ; great hour that 
 shall break asunder the bond of life's mystery ; hour of 
 release from life's burden ; hour of reunion with the 
 loved and lost ; what mighty hopes hasten to their ful- 
 filment in thee ! What longings, what aspirations, 
 breathe in the still night beneath the silent stars ; what 
 dread emotions of curiosity ; what deep meditations of 
 joy ; what hallowed imaginings of never experienced 
 purity and bliss ; what possibilities shadowing forth 
 unspeakable realities to the soul, all verge to their 
 consummation in thee ! O death ! the Christian's death ! 
 what art thou but the gate of life, the portal of heaven, 
 the threshold of eternity ? — Orville Dewey. 
 
 Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting : 
 The soul that riseth with us, our life's star, 
 
 Hath had elsewhere its setting, 
 And Cometh from afar ; 
 
 Not in entire forgetfulness. 
 
 And not in utter nakedness. 
 But trailing clouds of glory do we come 
 
 From God, who is our home. — Wordsworth, 
 
 Let us learn to look on death as an appointment, not 
 a fatality ; as an appointment of our Heavenly Father, 
 who alone has the power ; as appointed in wisdom and 
 love, because appointed by him. ***** To die, is 
 to be set free ; free from the fetters of a body which is 
 dying while it lives, and from the narrow bounds of a 
 restricted state. To die, is to go with our conscience 
 and character only, into the presence of our Judge, To 
 
lOO SELECTED THOUGHTS* 
 
 every temple there is a portal, and a passage from the one 
 to the other. This mortal life is the portal which stands 
 before the grand temple of eternity ; and death is the 
 passage between them. — F, TV, jP. Greenwood, 
 
 The very greatness of that love which makes the hour 
 of separation dark and painful gives rise to high and 
 holy duties in doing the v^'ork which we think the puri- 
 fied spirits of our friends w^ould wish to have done. 
 — Richard Metcalf, 
 
 That future world, instead of a boundless abyss of 
 darkness is a region of life and light. * * * While the 
 sun is above the horizon, the heavens seem empty, and 
 the earth alone seems looked on by that shining orb. 
 But as the sun sinks and the shadows fall across the hills, 
 one by one the stars are ushered into the sky, a glorious 
 host, innumerable worlds, showing forth the wisdom and 
 power of God. Then we perceive how much, all the 
 time, has been around us, and how infinitely more vast 
 and sublime was that which in the brightness of day ^vas 
 unseen, than what was visible. So revelation draws 
 aside from the eye of the spirit the veil between, and we 
 behold the empty void filled with those whom we called 
 dead, alive again, — the mortal become immortal; and 
 the earth itself appears but the threshold of a vast abode, 
 peopled by the creatures and filled with the light of 
 the infinite Love. — Ephraim Peabody, 
 
 Let us trustingly leave these matters — where, indeed, 
 whether trustingly or not, we must leave them — with 
 the infinite Love vv^hich embraces all our loves, and the 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. lOI 
 
 infinite Wisdom which comprehends all our needs ; 
 assured that the Father of the house whose mansions are 
 many, and the Father of spirits whose goal is one, will 
 find the right place and connections and nurture for every 
 soul he has caused to be ; that in the eternities the 
 thing desired will arrive at last ; that seeking and finding 
 are divinely evened. Let us rest in the thought that 
 life must be richer than all our experience, nay, than 
 our fondest dreams. — F. H. Hedge, 
 
 When, by nobler culture, by purer experience, by 
 breathing the air of a higher duty, vitality at length 
 creeps into the scul, the instincts of immortality will 
 wake within us. The word of hope will speak to us a 
 language no longer strange. We shall feel like the 
 captive bird carried accidentally to its own land, when 
 hearing for the first time the burst of kindred song from 
 its native ^voods, it beats instinctively the bar of its 
 cage in yearning for the free air. 
 
 A single instant of the Divine life, spread over all that is 
 simultaneous, is worth an eternity of ours, which at least 
 begins by taking all things one by one. And in propor- 
 tion as ^ve emerge from this childhood of the mind, and 
 claim our approach to union ^vith God, will the contents 
 of our experience enrich themselves, and its area correct 
 its evanescence ; till a mere moment may become worth a 
 millennium before ; and the Transient may be to the large 
 soul more than the Everlasting to the little : and then 
 whether our Time be long or short by Sun and Moon 
 we may well remain indifferent, since the life that 
 is beyond time and nature is vivid within us. 
 
 When, therefore, in higher moments brought by the 
 
I02 SELECTED THOUGHTS. 
 
 sorrows of life, the tensions of duty, or the silence of 
 thought, you catch some faint tones of a voice diviner 
 than your own, know that you are not alone, and who 
 it is that is with you. Stay not in the cold monologue 
 of solitary meditation, but fling yourself into the com- 
 munion of prayer. Fold not the personal shadows round 
 you ; lie open to the gleam that pierces them ; confide in 
 it as the brightest of realities, — a path of heavenly light 
 streaking the troubled waters of 3'our being, and leading 
 your eye to the orb that sends it. — James Martineau, 
 
 The household to which the angel of death has come 
 can never foro^et his coming-. The shadow which his 
 wings have cast over the soul must remain, however 
 clearly the light from God's own love may shine. 
 
 Yes, when \ve are most perfectly resigned to his will, 
 and most perfectly consoled under the loss by the dear 
 promises of Christ, and most happy in the sweet hope of 
 reunion with the dead, and most faithful in using the 
 discipline which we know to be for our own good, the 
 loss, in itself considered, may then seem, as it perhaps 
 then becomes, greater than it ever was before. By the 
 completeness of spiritual experience is the depth of our 
 sorrow revealed. By the spiritual development of our 
 aflections the sacredness of earthly affection and of earthly 
 relations is first discerned. A part of the blessing upon 
 those who mourn comes by learning the greatness of 
 their loss. 
 
 Hearts which rejoice cannot come so near to each 
 other as hearts which grieve. Tears mingle more per- 
 fectly than smiles, and the chain of family love on earth 
 becomes much stronger when some of its links are in 
 heaven. 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. IO3 
 
 We need to learn that the purpose of the tree is to 
 bear fruit, not flowers ; and that the wisdom and good- 
 ness of God may abound only the more at the time when 
 the blossoms fall. — IV. G. Eliot, ' 
 
 And shall heaven have no children in it? Must none 
 but gray hairs pass through its gates? Or shall not, 
 rather, glad, gleesome children, with flow^ing hair and 
 merry eyes, go with laughter through its doorways, to 
 meet ''their angels " who ''do always behold the face 
 of their Father in heaven " ? 
 
 Let us not forget that there are two sides to dying, — 
 this earth side and the heaven side. The stars that go 
 out when inorning comes do not stop shining ; only 
 some other eyes in some other land are made glad by 
 them. — iW, y. Savage. 
 
 Yet Love will dream, and Faith will trust, 
 (Since He who knows our need is just,) 
 That somehow, somewhere, meet we must. 
 Alas for him who never sees 
 The stars shine through his cypress trees ! 
 Who, hopeless, lays his dead away. 
 Nor looks to see the breaking day 
 Across the mournful marbles play ! 
 Who hath not learned, in hours of faith, 
 
 The truth to flesh and sense unknown. 
 That Life is ever Lord of Death, 
 
 And Love can never lose its own ! — Whittie7\ 
 
 If this life is all, there is no place for such a faculty as 
 conscience with its lash of remorse in one hand, and its 
 peace like a river, in the other. ***** The step 
 from instinct to freedom and conscience, is a step from 
 
I04 SELECTED TPIOUGHTS. 
 
 time to eternity. Conscience is not truly correlated to 
 human life. The ethical implies the eternal. 
 
 If I were to construct one all-embracino: aro;ument for 
 immortality, and were to put it into one word, it would 
 be — God. ^ * * * * It was Christ's realization of the 
 living God that rendered his own conviction of eternal 
 life so absolute. 
 
 If the cup of life is full, there is little sense of past or 
 future ; the present is enough. * * * ^ When Christ 
 speaks of eternal life, he does not mean future endless 
 existence ; this may be involved, but it is an inference or 
 secondary thought ; he means instead fullness or perfec- 
 tion of life. That it will go on forever, is a matter of 
 course, but it is not the important feature of the truth. 
 — T, T, Mtmger, 
 
 We talk of immortality ; but there is a better phrase 
 than that, — the word of Jesus, ''eternal life." That 
 implies not mere duration, but quality. It blends the 
 present and the future in one. It sets before us a state 
 into which we are called to enter now, and into ^vhich 
 as we enter we find ourselves at home in our Father's 
 house, beyond the power of doubt and fear. 
 
 Mere continuance of existence, — wdiat is it? That 
 bowlder yonder has existed for ages, a very eternity to 
 the imagination ; and it is only a bowlder after all. One 
 hour of throbbing human life is worth more than its 
 barren eternity. What is it to you or me whether we go 
 on living, if life to us is made up of petty and ignoble 
 thoughts and occupations ? The real trouble with most 
 of us is not the doubt whether we shall live hereafter, 
 but the fact that as yet we have hardly begun to live 
 at all. 
 
SELECTED THOUGHTS. IO5 
 
 Nothing Is so completely beyond the power of death 
 as a noble love. Parting can shatter only its outward 
 shell. Under that strange touch, love in its inmost 
 recesses kindles and glows with a divine fire. Whom of 
 the livinsr do we love as we love our dead? Whom else 
 do we hold so sacredly and so surely ? Not as a memory 
 of a lost past, — nothing in our present is so real as they, 
 and toward our unknowm future we go with a great and 
 solemn gladness, beckoned by their presence. — Geo. 
 S. JVIerriam, 
 
 This is the cnange that comes. We are not afraid 
 any more of our Father. We are not all happy. But 
 if he says go, you will know that it is well, and you will 
 not be afraid. You know it is the Father. Do not say 
 God, that is far off — He is our Father. 
 
 And the little Pilgrim's voice echoed away through 
 the great firmament to other w^orlds. And it breathed 
 over the earth like some one saying Courage ! to those 
 whose hearts w^ere failing ; and it dropped down into 
 the great confusion and traffic of the land of darkness, 
 and startled many, ' like the voice of a child calling 
 and calling, and never ceasing. Come I and come ! and 
 come ! — Mrs. Ollphant. 
 
 The leaves, though thick, are falling : one by one 
 
 Decayed they drop from off their parent tree; 
 Their work with Autumn's latest day is done,— 
 
 Thou see'st them borne upon the breezes free. 
 They lie strewn here and there, their many dyes 
 
 That yesterday so caught thv passing eye ; 
 Soiled by the rain, each leaf neglected lies, 
 
 Upon the path where now thou hurriest by. 
 
Io6 SELECTED THOUGHTS. 
 
 Yet think thee not their beauteous tints less fair 
 Than when they hung so gayly o'er thy head ; 
 
 But rather find thee eyes, and look thee there 
 Where now thy feet so heedless o'er them tread, 
 
 And thou shalt see, where wasting now they lie, 
 The unseen hues of immortality. — Jones Very, 
 
SELECTED POEMS. 
 
 PART I. — LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 €:i)ant 
 
 ^'' Benedidus qui veiiit in nomi^ie Domini.'''' 
 
 Who is the Angel that cometh? 
 
 Life! 
 Let us not question what he brings, 
 
 Peace or strife ; 
 Under the shade of his mighty wings. 
 One by one, 
 Are his secrets told; 
 One by one. 
 Lit by the rays of each morning's sun, 
 Shall a new flower its petals unfold, 
 With the mystery hid in its heart of gold. 
 We will arise and go forth to greet him, 
 Singly, gladly, with one accord, — 
 
 " Blessed is he that cometh 
 In the name of the Lord ! " 
 
 Who is the Angel that cometh ? 
 
 Pain! 
 Let us arise and go forth to greet him ; 
 
 Not in vain 
 Is the summons come for us to meet him; 
 He will stay. 
 And darken our sun ; 
 He will stay 
 A desolate night, a weary day. 
 
 Since in that shadow our work is done, 
 And in that shadow our crowns are won, 
 Let us say still while his bitter chalice 
 Slowly into our hearts is poured, — 
 
 " Blessed is he that cometh 
 In the name of the Lord ! " 
 
 (107) 
 
Io8 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 Who is the Angel that cometh ? 
 
 Death ! 
 But do not shudder and do not fear ; 
 
 Hold your breath, 
 For a kingly presence is drawing near, 
 Cold and bright 
 Is his flashing steel, 
 Cold and bright 
 The smile that comes like a starry light 
 To calm the terror and grief we feel ; 
 He comes to help and to save and to heal : 
 Then let us, baring our hearts and kneeling, • 
 Sing, w^hile we wait this Angel's sword, — 
 
 " Blessed is he that cometh 
 In the name of the Lord ! " 
 
 Adelaide Procter, 
 
 2Be 33roCuntii»» 
 
 The face which, duly as the sun, 
 Rose up for me with life begun, 
 To mark all bright hours of the day 
 With hourly love, is dimmed away, — 
 And yet my days go on, go on. 
 
 The tongue which, like a stream, could run 
 Smooth music from the roughest stone, 
 And every morning with " Good day " 
 Make each day good, is hushed away, — 
 And yet my days go on, go on. 
 
 The heart which, like a staff, was one 
 For mine to lean and rest upon ; 
 The strongest on the longest day 
 With steadfast love, is caught away, — 
 And yet my days go on, go on. 
 
 And cold before my summer's done, 
 And deaf in Nature's general tune. 
 And fallen too low for special fear. 
 And here, with hope no longer here, — 
 While the tears drop, my days go on. 
 
LIFE AND DEATH, IO9 
 
 This Nature, though the snows be down, 
 Thinks kindly of the bird of June : 
 The little red hip on the tree 
 Is ripe for such. What is for me, 
 Whose days so winterly go on ? 
 
 I ask less kindness to be done, — 
 Only to loose these pilgrim shoon, 
 (Too early worn and grimed) with sweet, 
 Cool, deathly touch to these tired feet, 
 Till days go out which now go on. 
 
 A Voice reproves me thereupon. 
 More sweet than Nature's when the drone 
 Of bees is sweetest, and more deep 
 Than when the rivers overleap 
 
 The shuddering pines, and thunder on. 
 
 God's Voice, not Nature's. Night and noon 
 He sits upon the great white throne 
 And listens for the creature's praise. 
 What babble we of days and days ? 
 The Day-spring he, whose days go on. 
 
 He reigns above, he reigns alone ; 
 Systems burn out and leave his throne : 
 Fair mists of seraphs melt and fall 
 Around him, changeless amid all, — 
 Ancient of days, whose days go on. 
 
 For us, — whatever's undergone, 
 Thou knowest, wiliest what is done. 
 Grief may be joy misunderstood ; 
 Only the Good discerns the good. 
 I trust thee while my days go on. 
 
 Whatever's lost, it first was won ; 
 We will not struggle nor impugn. 
 Perhaps the cup was broken here 
 That Heaven's new wine might show more clear. 
 I praise thee while my days go on. 
 
no LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 I praise thee while my days go on ; 
 I love thee while my days go on ; 
 Through dark and dearth, through fire and frost, 
 With emptied arms and treasure lost. 
 I thank thee while my days go on. 
 
 Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 
 
 Beside a massive gateway built up in years gone by, 
 Upon whose top the clouds in eternal shadow lie, 
 While streams the evening sunshine on quiet wood and lea, 
 I stand and calmly wait till the hinges turn for me. 
 
 The tree-tops faintly rustle beneath the breeze's flight, 
 A soft and soothing sound, yet it whispers of the night ; 
 I hear the wood-thrush piping one mellow descant more. 
 And scent the flowers that blow when the heat of day is o'er. 
 
 Behold, the portals open, and o'er the threshold, now, 
 There steps a weary one with a pale and furrowed brow; 
 His count of years is full, his allotted task is wrought ; 
 He passes to his rest from a place that needs him not. 
 
 In sadness then I ponder how quickly fleets the hour 
 Of human strength and action, man's courage and his power. 
 I muse while still the wood-thrush sings down the golden day, 
 And as I look and listen the sadness wears away. 
 
 Again the hinges turn, and a youth, departing, throws 
 A look of longing backward, and sorrowfully goes ; 
 A blooming maid, unbinding the roses from her hair. 
 Moves mournfully away from amid the young and fair. 
 
 O glory of our race that so suddenly decays ! 
 
 O crimson flush of morning that darkens as we gaze ! 
 
 O breath of summer blossoms that on the restless air 
 
 Scatters a moment's sweetness, and flies we know not where! 
 
LIFE AND DEATH. Ill 
 
 I grieve for life's bright promise, just shown and then withdrawn ; 
 But still the sun shines round me : the evening bird sings on, 
 And I again am soothed, and, beside the ancient gate, 
 In the soft evening sunlight, I calmly stand and wait. 
 
 Once more the gates are opened ; an infant group go out, 
 
 The sweet smile quenched forever, and stilled the sprightly shout. 
 
 frail, frail tree of Life, that upon the greensward strows 
 Its fair young buds unopened, with every wind that blows ! 
 
 So come from every region, so enter, side by side, 
 The strong and faint of spirit, the meek and men of pride. 
 Steps of earth's great and mighty, between those pillars gray, 
 And prints of little feet, mark the dust along the way. 
 
 And some approach the threshold whose looks are blank with fear, 
 And some whose temples brighten with joy in drawing near, 
 As if they saw dear faces, and caught the gracious eye 
 Of him, the Sinless Teacher, who came for us to die. 
 
 1 mark the joy, the terror ; yet these, within my heart, 
 Can neither w^ake the dread nor the longing to depart; 
 And, in the sunshine streaming on quiet w^ood and ^ea, 
 I calmly stand and wait till the hinges turn for me. 
 
 Bryant. 
 
 Suspiria. 
 
 Take them, O Death ! and bear away 
 Whatever thou canst call thine own ! 
 
 Thine image, stamped upon this clay, 
 Doth give thee that, but that alone ! 
 
 Take them, O Grave ! and let them lie 
 Folded upon thy narrow shelves, 
 
 As garments by the soul laid by. 
 And precious only to ourselves ! 
 
 Take them, O great Eternity ! 
 
 Our little life is but a gust 
 That bends the branches of thy tree , 
 
 And trails its blossoms in the dust! 
 
 Lojigfellow, 
 
112 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 Dropping down the troubled river. 
 
 To the tranquil, tranquil shore ; 
 Dropping down the misty river. 
 Time's willow-shaded river, 
 
 To the spring embosomed shore ; 
 Where the sweet light shineth ever. 
 
 And the sun goes down no more ; 
 
 O wondrous, wondrous shore ! 
 
 Dropping down the winding river. 
 
 To the wide and welcome sea ; 
 Dropping down the narrow river, 
 Man's weary, wayward river, 
 
 To the blue and ample sea ; 
 Where no tempest wrecketh ever. 
 
 Where the sky is fair and free ; 
 
 O joyous, joyous sea! 
 
 Dropping down the noisy river. 
 
 To our peaceful, peaceful home; 
 Dropping down the turbid river, 
 Earth's bustling, crowded river. 
 
 To our gentle, gentle home : 
 Where the rough roar riseth never. 
 
 And the vexings cannot come, 
 
 O loved and longed-for home ! 
 
 Dropping down the rapid river, 
 
 To the dear and deathless land ; 
 Dropping down the well-known river, 
 Life's swoln and rushing river 
 
 To the resurrection-land; 
 Where the living live forever, 
 
 And the dead have joined the band. 
 
 In that fair and blessed land ! 
 
 Horatms Bonar. 
 
LIFE AND DEATH. TI3 
 
 ^|)e Bcsertcti ^l^ouse. 
 
 Life and Thought have gone away 
 Side by side, 
 Leaving door and windows wide. 
 Careless tenants they ! 
 
 All within is dark as night; 
 In the windows is no light ; 
 And no murmur at the door, 
 So frequent on its hinge before. 
 
 Close the door, the shutters close. 
 Or through the windows we shall see 
 The nakedness and vacancy 
 
 Of the dark, deserted house. 
 
 Come away : no more of mirth 
 
 Is here or merry-making sound. 
 The house was builded of the earth, 
 
 And shall fall again to ground. 
 
 Come away : for Life and Thought 
 
 Here no longer dwell ; 
 
 But in a city glorious — 
 A great and distant city — have bought 
 
 A mansion incorruptible. 
 Would they could have stayed with us ! 
 
 Tennyson* 
 
 Srje (S:i)armer. 
 
 " We need some charmer, for our hearts are sore 
 With longing for the things that may not be ; 
 Faint for the friends that shall return no more ; 
 Dark with distrust, or wrung with agony. 
 
 " What is this life ? and what to us is death ? 
 
 Whence came we ? whither go ? and where are those 
 Who, in a moment stricken from our side. 
 Passed to that land of shadow and repose ? 
 
114 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 " And are they dust ? and dust must we become ? 
 Or are they living in some unknown clime ? 
 Shall we regain them in that far-off home, 
 And live anew beyond the waves of time ? " 
 
 So spake the youth of Athens, weeping round, 
 
 AY hen Socrates lay calmly down to die ; 
 So spake the sage, prophetic of the hour 
 
 When earth's fair morning-star should rise on high. 
 
 They found him not, those youths of soul divine, 
 Long seeking, wandering, watching on life's shore — 
 
 Reasoning, aspiring, yearning for the light, 
 
 Death came and found them — doubting as before. 
 
 But years passed on ; and lo ! the Charmer came — 
 Pure, simple, sweet, as comes the silver dew ; 
 
 And the world knew him not — he w'alked alone, 
 Encircled only by his trusting few. 
 
 *' Let not your heart be troubled," then he said; 
 
 " My Father's house hath mansions large and fair; 
 I go before you to prepare your place ; 
 
 I will return to take you with me there." 
 
 And since that hour the awful foe is charmed, 
 
 And life and death are glorified and fair. 
 Whither he w^ent w^e know — the way we know — 
 
 And with firm step press on to meet him there. 
 
 H. B. Stowe. 
 
 ^ CSetman jfuneral JJ^^mn. 
 
 ^^ Here we have no co7itimniig aty , bid we seek one to come.^'' — heb. xiii., 14. 
 
 Come forth ! Come on ! with solemn song ! 
 The road is short, the rest is long. 
 The Lord brought here, he calls away, 
 
 Make no delay, 
 This home was for a passing day. 
 
LIFE AND DEATH. II5 
 
 Here in an inn a stranger dwelt, 
 Here joy and grief by turns he felt ; 
 Poor dwelling, now we close thy door, 
 
 The talk is o'er. 
 The sojourner returns no more. 
 
 Now of a lasting home possessed, 
 He goes to seek a deeper rest. 
 Good-night ! the day was sultry here, 
 
 In toil and fear ; 
 Good-night ! the night is cool and clear. 
 
 Now open to us, gates of peace ! 
 Here let the pilgrim's journey cease. 
 Ye quiet slumberers, make room 
 
 In your still home, 
 For the new stranger who has come. 
 
 How many graves around us lie ! 
 How many homes are in the sky ! 
 Yes, for each saint doth Christ prepare 
 
 A place with care ; 
 Thy home is waiting, brother, there. 
 
 F. Sachse. 
 
 iSassinfl ^toag- 
 
 The fragrance of the rose. 
 Whose dewy leaves in morning's light unclose. 
 
 Goes not more sweetly up 
 From its rich heart, as from an incense cup. 
 Than thy freed spirit from its earthly shrine 
 Passed with the still angel to the rest divine. 
 
 Oh no ! Thou didst not die ! 
 Thou hast but lain the soul's frail vesture by. 
 
 And soared to that pure height 
 Where day serene is followed by no night, 
 And where the discipline of mortal woe 
 No shadow over thee can ever throw. 
 
Il6 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 Death never comes to such 
 With chilhiess in the mystery of his touch : 
 
 They gently pass away 
 As melts the morning star in golden day ; 
 
 They leave the places they have known below, 
 And through the white gates of the morning go. 
 
 We w^ould not call thee back 
 To the frail flow^ers that wither on our track, 
 
 Perhaps to have thy feet 
 Pierced by the thorns that we so often meet : 
 For thou art in that fairer world than ours 
 Where love mourns not the fading of the flowers. 
 
 Why should we weep for thee 
 When thy pure soul from every ill is free ? 
 
 Our only tears should flow 
 For those, the loved, w^ho linger still below, 
 From w^hom the light of thy dear smile is fled, 
 Who feel indeed that thou art with the dead. 
 
 We know the gloomy grave 
 Holds not the spirit which our Father gave ; 
 
 That loving, lustrous light, 
 That made the sphere in which it moved so bright. 
 Is shining with a clear and quenchless flame. 
 Rekindled at the source from whence it came. 
 
 Thou art not dead ! For death 
 Can only take away the mortal breath ; 
 
 And life, commencing here. 
 
 Is but the prelude to its full career ; 
 
 And Hope and Faith the blest assurance give — 
 
 " We do not live to die ! We die to live ! " 
 
 Anonymous. 
 
 ^ulti ILattg ^sne. 
 
 It singeth low in every heart. 
 
 We hear it, each and all, — 
 A song of those who answ^er not, 
 
 However we may call ; 
 
LIFE AND DEATH. II7 
 
 They throng the silence of the breast, 
 
 We see them as of yore, — 
 The kind, the brave, the true, the sweet, 
 
 Who walk with us no more ! 
 
 'Tis hard to take the burden up. 
 
 When these have laid it down; 
 They brightened all the joy of life, 
 
 They softened every frown ; 
 But oh, 'tis good to think of them, 
 
 When we are troubled sore ! 
 Thanks be to God that such have been, 
 
 Though they are here no more ! 
 
 More homelike seems the vast unknown. 
 
 Since they have entered there ; 
 To follow them were not so hard, 
 
 W^herever they may fare ; 
 They cannot be where God is not, 
 
 On any sea or shore ; 
 W^hate'er betides, thy love abides. 
 
 Our God, forevermore ! 
 
 /. W. Chadwick. 
 
 2[l)e ©t!)er Sitie. 
 
 Climbing the mountain's shaggy crest, 
 I wondered much what sight would greet 
 My eager gaze whene'er my feet 
 
 Upon the topmost height should rest. 
 
 The other side was all unknown; 
 
 But, as I slowly toiled along. 
 
 Sweeter to me than any song 
 My dream of visions to be shown. 
 
 At length the topmost height was gained ; 
 
 The other side was full in view ; 
 
 My dreams — not one of them was true, 
 But better far had I attained. 
 
Il8 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 For far and wide on either hand 
 
 There stretched a valley broad and fair. 
 With greenness flashing everywhere, — 
 
 A pleasant, smiling, home-like land. 
 
 Who knows, I thought, but so 'twill prove 
 
 Upon that mountain-top of death. 
 
 Where we shall draw diviner breath, 
 And see the long-lost friends we love. 
 
 It may not be as we have dreamed, 
 Not half so awful, strange, and grand ; 
 A quiet, peaceful, home-like land. 
 
 Better than e'er in vision gleamed. 
 
 J. W. Chadwick, 
 
 I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls 
 The burial-ground God's-Acre ! It is just ; 
 
 It consecrates each grave within its walls, 
 And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust. 
 
 God's-Acre ! Yes, that blessed name imparts 
 Comfort to those, who in the grave have sown 
 
 The seed that they had garnered in their hearts, -_ 
 
 Their bread of life, alas ! no more their own. 
 
 Into its furrows shall we all be cast. 
 
 In the sure faith that we shall rise again 
 At the great harvest, when the archangel's blast 
 
 Shall winnow, like a fan, the chaff and grain. 
 
 Then shall the good stand in immortal bloom. 
 
 In the fair gardens of that second birth ; 
 And each bright blossom mingle its perfume 
 
 With that of flowers, which never bloomed on earth. 
 
 With thy rude ploughshare, Death, turn up the sod. 
 And spread the furrow for the seed we sow; 
 
 This is the field and Acre of our God, 
 
 This is the place where human harvests grow ! 
 
 H. W,Lo7igfellow, 
 
LIFE AND DEATH. II9 
 
 ^fter ©eatj) fn ^ralifa. 
 
 He who died at Azan sends 
 This to comfort all his friends :. 
 
 Faithful friends ! it lies, I know, 
 Pale and white and cold as snow ; 
 And ye say, " Abdallah's dead ! " 
 Weeping at the feet and head. 
 I can see your falling tears, 
 I can hear your sighs and prayers ; 
 Yet I smile and whisper this, — 
 "/am not the thing you kiss. 
 Cease your tears and let it lie : 
 It was mine, it is not I." 
 
 " Sweet friends, what the women lave, 
 For the last sleep of the grave, 
 Is a hut which I am quitting. 
 Is a garment no more fitting. 
 Is a cage from which, at last, 
 Like a bird my soul hath passed. 
 Love the inmate, not the room, — 
 The wearer, not the garb, — the plume 
 Of the falcon, not the bars 
 Which kept him from those splendid stars. 
 
 " Loving friends ! be wise, and dry 
 Straightway every weeping eye, — 
 What ye lift upon the bier 
 Is not worth a wistful tear. 
 'Tis an empty sea-shell, — one 
 Out of which the pearl is gone ; 
 The shell is broken, it lies there : 
 The pearl, the all, the soul, is here. 
 'Tis an earthen jar, whose lid 
 Allah sealed, the while it hid 
 That treasure of his treasury, 
 A mind that loved him ; let it lie ! 
 Let the shard be earth's once more, 
 Since the gold shines in his store ! 
 
I20 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 "Allah glorious! Allah good ! 
 Now thy world is understood ; 
 Now the long, long wonder ends ; 
 Yet ye weep, my erring friends, 
 While the man whom ye call dead, 
 In unspoken bliss, instead. 
 Lives and loves you, — lost, 'tis true. 
 By such light as shines for you ; 
 But in the light ye cannot see • 
 
 Of unfulfilled felicity, — 
 In a perfect paradise, 
 And a life that never dies. 
 
 " Farewell, friends ! Yet not farewell : 
 Where I am, ye, too, shall dwell. 
 I am gone before your face 
 A moment's time, a little space. 
 When ye come where I have stepped, 
 Ye will wonder why ye wept ; 
 Ye will know, by wise love taught. 
 That here is all, and there is naught. 
 Weep awhile, if ye are fain : 
 Sunshine still must follow rain ; 
 Only not at death, — for death, 
 Now I know, is that first breath 
 Which our souls draw when we enter 
 Life, which is of all life centre. 
 
 " Be ye certain all seems love. 
 Viewed from Allah's throne above ; 
 Be ye stout of heart, and come 
 Bravely onward to your home ! 
 La Allah ilia Allah ! yea ! 
 Thou Love divine ! Thou Love alway ! '' 
 
 He that died at Azan gave 
 
 This to those who made his grave. 
 
 Edwin Ar7iold, 
 
LIFE AND DEATH. 121 
 
 ^ux Beatr. 
 
 Nothing is our own ; we hold our pleasures 
 
 Just a little while, ere they are fled : 
 One by one life robs us of our treaures ; 
 
 Nothing is our owai except our Dead. 
 
 They are ours, and hold in faithful keeping, 
 
 Safe forever, all they took away. 
 Cruel life can never stir that sleeping, 
 
 Cruel time can never seize that prey. 
 
 Justice pales ; truth fades ; stars fall from heaven ; 
 
 Human are the great whom we revere : 
 No true crown of honor can be given, 
 
 Till we place it on a funeral bier. 
 
 How the children leave us : and no traces 
 
 Linger of that smiling angel band ; 
 Gone, forever gone ; and in their places 
 
 Weary men and anxious women stand. 
 
 Yet we have some little ones, still ours : 
 They have kept the baby smile we know, 
 
 Which we kissed one day, and hid with flowers. 
 On their dead w^hite faces, long ago. 
 
 Is Love ours, and do we dream we know it, 
 Bound with all our heart-strings, all our own ? 
 
 Any cold and cruel dawn may show it. 
 Shattered, desecrated, overthrown. 
 
 Only the dead hearts forsake us never ; 
 
 Death's last kiss has been the mystic sign 
 Consecrating Love our ow^n forever, 
 
 Crowning it eternal and divine. 
 
 So when Fate would fain besiege our city, 
 
 Dim our gold, or make our flowers fall, 
 Death, the Angel, comes in love and pity, 
 
 And, to save our treasures, claims them all. 
 
 Adelaide A. Frocter* 
 
122 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 E\)t IBeati. 
 
 The dead are like the stars by day, 
 
 Withdrawn from mortal eye, 
 Yet holding unperceived their way 
 
 Through the unclouded sky. 
 
 By them, through holy hope and love, 
 
 We feel in hours serene, 
 Connected with a world above, 
 
 Immortal and unseen. 
 
 For Death his sacred seal hath set 
 
 On bright and bygone hours ; 
 And they we mourn are with us vet. 
 
 Are more than ever ours ; — 
 
 Ours by the pledge of love and faith. 
 
 By hopes of heaven on high ; 
 By trust triumphant over death, 
 
 In immortalit}'. 
 
 Barton. 
 
 33oix I'o^jagc. 
 
 There's not an hour but from some sparkling beach 
 
 Go joyful men, in fragile ships, to sail 
 
 By unknown seas to unknown lands. They hail 
 
 The freshening winds with eager hope, and speech 
 
 Of wondrous countries which they soon w'll reach. 
 
 Left on the shore, we wave our hands, with pale 
 
 Wet cheeks, but hearts that are ashamed to quail, 
 
 Or own the grief which selfishness would teach. 
 
 O Death ! the fairest lands beyond thy sea 
 
 Lie waiting, and thy barks are swift and staunch 
 
 And readv. Why do we reluctant launch ? 
 
 And when our friends their heritage have claimed 
 
 Of thee and entered on it, rich and free. 
 
 Oh ! why of sorrow are we not ashamed t 
 
 U. H. 
 
LIFE AND DEATH. 1 23 
 
 A little fold of hands, 
 A little drop of sands. 
 And the freed spirit stands 
 
 Beyond the veil victorious ; 
 Where the sands of life ne'er run, 
 And the day is never done. 
 Eternity is won, 
 
 Eternity all glorious. 
 
 Ye, who within life's slow 
 And long procession go. 
 Who 'mid the sullen flow 
 
 Of storms and tempests wander, — 
 Ye name me Death ! Ye call 
 Me cursed for the pall 
 That once must fold o'er all — 
 
 Birth, they have named me yonder ? 
 
 Joshua Swan. 
 
 Irubocatfon 
 
 Answer me, burning stars of night ! 
 
 Where is the spirit gone, 
 That past the reach of human sight 
 
 As a swift breeze hath flown ? 
 And the stars answered me : " We roll 
 
 In light and power on high ; 
 But, of the never-dying soul, 
 
 Ask that which cannot die.'' 
 
 O many-toned and changeless wind ! 
 
 Thou art a wanderer free ; 
 Tell me, if thou its place canst find, 
 
 Far over mount and sea ? 
 And the wind murmured in reply : 
 
 " The blue deep I have crossed, 
 And met its barks and billows high, « 
 
 But not what thou hast lost." 
 
124 ^^^^ ^^^ DEATH, 
 
 Ye clouds that gorgeously repose 
 
 Around the setting sun, 
 Answer 1 have ye a home for those 
 
 Whose earthly race is run ? 
 The bright clouds answered : " We depart. 
 
 We vanish from the sky ; 
 Ask what is deathless in thy heart 
 
 For that which cannot die." 
 
 Speak then, thou voice of God within, 
 
 Thou of the deep, low tone ! 
 Answer me, through life's restless din — 
 
 W^here is the spirit flown ? 
 And the voice answered : " Be thou still ! 
 
 Enough to know is given r 
 Clouds, winds, and stars their part fulfil — 
 
 Thine is to trust in Heaven." 
 
 Mrs. Hemans, 
 
 What shall I do with all the days and hours 
 That must be counted ere I see thy face ? 
 
 How shall I charm the interval that lowers 
 
 Between this time and that sweet time of grace ? 
 
 I'll tell thee : for thy sake, I will lay hold 
 Of all good aims, and consecrate to thee, 
 
 In worthy deeds, each moment that is told 
 While thou, beloved one, art far from me. 
 
 For thee, I will arouse my thoughts to try 
 
 All heavenward flights, all high and holy strains ; 
 
 For thy dear sake, I will walk patiently 
 
 Through these long hours, nor call their minutes pains. 
 
 I will this weary blank of absence make 
 A noble task-time, and will therein strive 
 
 To foljow excellence, and to o'ertake 
 
 More good than I have won since yet I live. 
 
LIFE AND DEATH. 1 25 
 
 So may this darksome time build up in me 
 A thousand graces which shall thus be thine ; 
 
 So may my love and longing hallowed be, 
 And thy dear thought an influence divine. 
 
 Frances Anne Kemble, 
 
 2ri)e ^itQel of IBeatI). 
 
 Why shouldst thou fear the beautiful angel, Death, 
 Who waits thee at the portals of the skies, 
 
 Ready to kiss away thy struggling breath, 
 Ready with gentle hand to close thine eyes ? 
 
 How many a tranquil soul has passed away, 
 Fled gladly from fierce pain and pleasure's din, 
 
 To the eternal splendor of the day ; 
 
 And many a troubled heart still calls for him. 
 
 Spirits too tender for the battle here 
 
 Have turned from life, its hopes, its fears, its charms ; 
 And children, shuddering at a world so drear, 
 
 Have smiling passed away into his arms. 
 
 He whom thou fearest will, to ease its pain. 
 Lay his cold hand upon thy aching heart : 
 
 Will soothe the terrors of thy troubled brain, 
 And bid the shadows of earth's grief depart. 
 
 He will give back what neither time, nor might. 
 Nor passionate prayer, nor longing hope restore, 
 
 (Dear as to long blind eyes recovered sight,) 
 He will give back those who are gone before. 
 
 Oh, what were life, if life were all ? Thine eyes 
 Are blinded by their tears, or thou wouldst see 
 
 Thy treasures wait thee in the far-off skies, 
 
 And Death, thy friend, will give them all to thee. 
 
 A. A. Procter. 
 
126 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 STJe CKotr of tf)e afbiixfl. 
 
 God of the living, in whose eyes 
 Unveiled thy whole creation lies ! 
 All souls are thine ; we must not say 
 That those are dead who pass away ; 
 From this our world of flesh set free, 
 We know them living unto thee. 
 
 Released from earthly toil and strife, 
 
 With thee is hidden still their life ; 
 
 Thine are their thoughts, their words, their powers, 
 
 All thine, and yet most truly ours ; 
 
 For well we know, where'er they be, 
 
 Our dead are living unto thee. 
 
 Not spilt like water on the ground. 
 Not wrapt in dreamless sleep profound, 
 Not wandering in unknown despair 
 Beyond thy voice, thine arm, thy care; 
 Not left to lie like fallen tree ; 
 Not dead, but living unto thee. 
 
 O Breather into man of breath ! 
 O Holder of the keys of death ! 
 O Giver of the life within ! 
 Save us from death, the death of sin. 
 That body, soul, and spirit be 
 For ever living unto thee ! 
 
 John Ellerton, 
 
 Eiz Silent 3lantr. 
 
 Into the Silent Land ! 
 Ah ! who shall lead us thither ? 
 Clouds in the evening sky more darkly gather, 
 And shattered wrecks lie thicker on the strand. 
 Who leads us with a gentle hand 
 Thither, O thither, 
 Into the Silent Land ! 
 
LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 Into the Silent Land ! 
 To you, ye boundless regions 
 Of all perfection ! Tender morning visions 
 Of beauteous souls ! The Future's pledge and band ! 
 Who in life's battle firm doth stand, 
 Shall bear Hope's tender blossoms 
 Into the Silent Land ! 
 
 O Land! O Land! 
 For all the broken-hearted 
 The mildest herald by our fate allotted, 
 Beckons, and with inverted torch doth stand 
 To lead us with a gentle hand 
 To the land of the great Departed, 
 Into the Silent Land ! 
 
 From the German of Sails. 
 
 127 
 
 S:t)e j^uture. 
 
 Longfellow* 
 
 What may we take into the vast Forever ? 
 
 That marble door 
 Admits no fruit of all our long endeavor, 
 
 No fame-wreathed crown we wore, 
 
 No garnered lore. 
 
 What can we bear beyond the unknown portal ? 
 
 No gold, no gains 
 Of all our toiling : in the life immortal 
 
 No hoarded wealth remains, 
 
 Nor gilds, nor stains. 
 
 Naked from out that far abyss behind us 
 
 We entered here : 
 No word came with our coming, to remind us 
 
 What wondrous world was near, 
 
 No hope, no fear. 
 
 Into the silent, starless night before us, 
 
 Naked we glide : 
 No hand has mapped the constellations o'er us, 
 
 No comrade at our side. 
 
 No chart, no guide. 
 
128 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 Yet fearless toward the midnight black and hollow, 
 
 Our footsteps fare : 
 The beckoning of a Father's hand we follow — 
 
 His love alone is there, 
 
 No curse, no care. 
 
 E. R. Sill, 
 
 ifrom ti)e ©German oC Seopoltr Scjefer 
 
 All that God wounds he constantly is healing, 
 
 Quietly, gently, softly, but most surely ; 
 
 He helps the lowliest herb, with wounded stalk, 
 
 To rise again. 
 
 Deep in the treasure-house of wealthy Nature, 
 
 A ready instinct works and moves 
 
 To clothe the naked sparrow in the nest, 
 
 Or trim the plumage of an aged raven; 
 
 Yes, in the slow decaying of a rose, 
 
 God works as well as in the unfolding bud ; 
 
 He works with gentleness unspeakable 
 
 In Death itself ; a thousand times more careful 
 
 Than even the mother by her sick child watching. 
 
 W^z iEJoir Jinbfsible. 
 
 Oh may I join the choir invisible 
 
 Of those immortal dead who live again 
 
 In minds made better by their presence ; live 
 
 In pulses stirred to generosity, 
 
 In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn 
 
 Of miserable aims that end in self. 
 
 In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars, 
 
 And with their mild persistence urge men's minds 
 
 To vaster issues. 
 
 So to live is heaven . 
 To make undying music in the world. 
 Breathing as beauteous order, that controls 
 With growing sway the growing life of man. 
 
LIFE AND DEATH. 1 29 
 
 This is life to come, 
 Which martyred men have made more glorious 
 For us who strive to follow. May I reach 
 That purest heaven ; be to other souls 
 The cup of strength in some great agony ; 
 Enkindle generous ardor ; feed pure love ; 
 Beget the smiles that have no cruelty ; 
 Be the sweet presence of a good diffused, 
 And in diffusion ever more intense. 
 So shall I join the choir invisible, 
 Whose music is the gladness of the world. 
 
 George Eliot, 
 
 Life ! I know not what thou art. 
 But know that thou and I must part ; 
 And when, or how, or where we met, 
 I own to me 's a secret 3'et. 
 
 Life ! we've been long together, 
 Through pleasant and through cloudy weather ; 
 'Tis hard to part when friends are dear, — 
 Perhaps 't will cost a sigh, a tear ; 
 Then steal away, give little warning, 
 Choose thine own time ; 
 Say not Good Night, — but in some brighter clime 
 Bid me Good Morning. 
 
 An7ta L. Barbauld. 
 
 Farewell ! since nevermore for thee 
 
 The sun comes up our eastern skies, 
 Less bright henceforth shall sunshine be 
 
 To some fond hearts and saddened eye 
 
 There are, who^for thy last, long sleep. 
 
 Shall sleep as sweetly nevermore ; 
 Shall weep because thou canst not weep, 
 
 And grieve that all thy griefs are o'er. 
 
 R.J. 
 
130 JLIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 Fear death ? — to feel the fog in my throat. 
 
 The mist in my face, 
 When the snows begin, and the blasts denote 
 
 I am nearing the place, 
 The power of the night, the press of the storm. 
 
 The post of the foe ; 
 Where he stands, the Arch Fear, in a visible form. 
 
 Yet the strong man must go : 
 For the journey is done, and the summit attained. 
 
 And the barriers fall, 
 Though a battle 's to fight ere the guerdon be gained. 
 
 The reward of it all. 
 
 For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave, 
 
 The black minute 's at end, 
 And the element's rage, the fiend-voices that rave, 
 
 Shall dwindle, shall blend. 
 Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain, 
 
 Then a light, then thy breast, — 
 O thou soul of my soul ! I shall clasp thee again. 
 
 And with God be the rest ! 
 
 Robert Broimiiitg. 
 
 if torn X\)z *'2r!)renotr5; 
 
 Wilt thou not ope thy heart to know 
 
 What rainbows te.xh, and sunsets show ? 
 
 Verdict which accumulates 
 
 From lengthening scroll of human fates. 
 
 Voice of earth to earth returned, 
 
 Prayers of saints that inly burned, — 
 
 Saying, What is excelle?it, 
 
 As God lives y is permanent ; 
 
 Hearts are dust, hearts'* loves remain ; 
 
 Hearts^ love will meet thee again. 
 
 Revere the Maker ; fetch thine eye 
 
 Up to his style, and manners of the sky. 
 
LIFE AND DEATH. I31 
 
 Not of adamant and gold 
 Built he heaven stark and cold ; 
 No, 
 
 Built of tears and sacred flames, 
 And virtue reaching to its aims ; 
 Built of furtherance and pursuing, 
 Not of spent deeds, but of doing. 
 Silent rushes the swift Lord 
 Through ruined systems still restored, 
 Broadsowing, bleak and void to bless, 
 Plants with worlds the wilderness ; 
 Waters with tears of ancient sorrow 
 Apples of Eden ripe to-morrow. 
 House and tenant go to ground, 
 Lost in God, in Godhead found. 
 
 R. W. Emerson, 
 
 God giveth quietness at last ! 
 The common way once more is passed 
 From pleading tears and lingerings fond, 
 To fuller life and love beyond. 
 
 Fold the wrapt soul in your embrace, 
 Dear ones familiar with the place ! 
 While to the gentle greetings there 
 We answer here with murmured prayer. 
 
 What to shut eyes hath God revealed ? 
 What hear the ears that death hath sealed '^ 
 What undreamed beauty, passing show. 
 Requites the loss of all we know ? 
 
 O silent land, to which we move. 
 Enough, if there alone be love ! 
 And mortal need can ne'er outgrow 
 What it is waiting to bestow ! 
 
132 
 
 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 O pure soul ! from that far-off shore 
 Float some sweet song the waters o'er; 
 Our faith confirm, our fears dispel, 
 With the dear voice we loved so well ! 
 
 /. G. Whittier, 
 
PART II. 
 
 RESIGNATION — TRUST. 
 
 il^inisterins Angels. 
 
 Brother, the angels say, 
 
 Peace to thy heart ! 
 We, too, O brother, have 
 
 Been as thou art, — 
 Hope-lifted, doubt-depressed, 
 
 Seeing in part ; 
 Tried, troubled, tempted, 
 
 Sustained, as thou art. 
 
 Brother, they softly say, 
 
 Be our thoughts one ; 
 Bend thou with us and pray, 
 "Thy will be done ! " 
 Our God is thy God; 
 
 He willeth the best ; 
 Trust him as we trusted ; 
 
 Rest as we rest ! 
 
 Ye, too, they gently say, 
 
 Shall angels be ; 
 Ye, too, O brothers, 
 
 From earth shall be free : 
 Yet in earth's loved ones 
 
 Ye still shall have part, 
 Bearing God's strength and love 
 
 To the torn heart. 
 
 (133) 
 
134 RESIGNATION TRUST. 
 
 Thus when the spirit, tried, 
 
 Tempted, and worn, 
 Finding no earthly aid, 
 
 Heavenward doth turn, 
 Come these sweet angel-tones, 
 
 Falling like balm. 
 And on the troubled heart 
 
 Steals a deep calm. 
 
 Hymns of the Spirit. 
 
 **Kot as ^ 'rnwxy 
 
 Blindfolded and alone I stand 
 With unknown thresholds on each hand; 
 The darkness deepens as I grope, 
 Afraid to fear, afraid to hope ; 
 Yet this one thing I learn to know 
 Each day more surely as I go. 
 That doors are opened, ways are made, 
 Burdens are lifted, or are laid. 
 By some great law, unseen and still, 
 Unfathomed purpose to fulfil, 
 " Not as I will." 
 
 Blindfolded and alone I wait. 
 Loss seems too bitter, gain too late ; 
 Too heavy burdens in the load. 
 And too few helpers on the road; 
 And joy is weak and grief is strong, 
 And years and days so long, so long : 
 Yet this one thing I learn to know 
 Each day more surely as I go, 
 That I am glad the good and ill 
 By changeless law is ordered still, 
 " Not as I will." 
 
 " Not as I will : " the sound grows sweet 
 
 Each time my lips the words repeat ; 
 
 " Not as I will : " the darkness feels 
 
 More safe than light, when this thought steals 
 
RESIGNATION — TRUST. I35 
 
 Like whispered voice to calm and bless 
 All unrest and all loneliness ; 
 " Not as I will : " because the one 
 Who loved us first and best, has gone 
 Before us on the road, and still 
 For us will all his love fulfil, 
 " Not as we will." 
 
 3liCe*s ^uestion» antr JFaitt)'s ^nstoer. 
 
 Drifting away like mote on the stream ; 
 To-day's disappointment, yesterday's dream ; 
 Ever resolving — never to mend; 
 Such is our progress ; where is the end ? 
 
 Whirling away like leaf in the wind ; 
 Points of attachment left daily behind ; 
 Fixed to no principle, fast to no friend ; 
 Such our fi.delity ; where is the end ? 
 
 Floating away like cloud on the hill ; 
 Pendulous, tremulous, migrating still ; 
 Where to repose ourselves ? whither to tend ? 
 Such our consistency ; where is the end ? 
 
 Crystal the pavement under the stream ; 
 
 Firm the reality under the dream ; 
 
 We may not feel it, still we may mend ; 
 
 How we have, conquered not known till the end. 
 
 Bright leaves may scatter, sports of the wind ; 
 But stands to the winter the great tree behind ; 
 Frost shall not wither it, storms cannot bend ; 
 Roots firmly clasping the rock at the end. 
 
 Calm is the firmament over the cloud ; 
 
 Clear shine the stars through the rifts of the shroud ; 
 
 There our repose shall be, thither we tend ; 
 
 Spite of our waverings approved at the end. 
 
 Henry A If or d. 
 
136 RESIGNATION — TRUST. 
 
 ^uiet from ^otr. 
 
 Quiet from God ! how beautiful to keep 
 This treasure, the All-merciful hath given ; 
 
 To feel, when we awake and when we sleep, 
 Its incense round us like a breath from heaven ! 
 
 Who shall make trouble ? Not the evil minds 
 Which like a shadow o'er creation lower; 
 
 The soul which peace hath thus attuned finds 
 
 How strong within doth reign the Calmer's power. 
 
 What shall make trouble ? Not the holy thought 
 
 Of the departed ; that will be a part 
 Of those undying things his peace hath wrought 
 
 Into a world of beauty in the heart. 
 
 What shall make trouble ? Not slow wasting pain, 
 Not the impending, certain stroke of death ; 
 
 These do but wear away, then snap the chain 
 Which bound the spirit down to things beneath. 
 
 Sarah J. Williams. 
 
 3^estoretr. 
 
 Dust unto dust, the heart makes cry ; 
 
 Ashes to ashes doth reply. 
 
 Shall I see God when I shall die ? 
 
 My hands are strong, the Lord God says, 
 My arms are wide, in many ways 
 My love draws on the better days. 
 
 Not in hard earth thou leav'st thine own, 
 Not in cold ground the life is thrown. 
 Where I am, none can be alone. 
 
RESIGNATION — TRUST. 137 
 
 Wherefore, O heart, no longer say 
 Dust unto dust our own we lay, 
 Ashes to ashes leave to-day. 
 
 But with a faith set heavenward 
 Say, Life to life we have restored, 
 Spirit to spirit, God to God. 
 
 John Tunis, 
 
 Sometime* 
 
 Sometime, when all life's lessons have been learned, 
 
 And sun and stars for evermore have set, 
 The things which our weak judgment here have spurned, 
 
 The things o'er which we grieved with lashes wet. 
 Will flash before us, out of life's dark night. 
 
 As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue ; 
 And we shall see how all God's plans were right, 
 
 And how what seemed reproof was love most true. 
 
 And we shall see how, while we frown and sigh, 
 
 God's plans go on as best for you and me ; 
 How, when we called, he heeded not our cry, 
 
 Because his wisdom to the end could see. 
 And e'en as prudent parents disallow 
 
 Too much of sweet to craving babyhood. 
 So God, perhaps, is keeping from us now 
 
 Life's sweetest things, because it seemeth good. 
 
 And if, sometimes, commingled with life's wine. 
 
 We find the wormwood, and rebel and shrink, 
 Be sure a wiser hand than yours or mine 
 
 Pours out this potion for our lips to drink. 
 And if some friend we love is lying low, 
 
 Where human kisses cannot reach his face. 
 Oh, do not blame the loving Father so. 
 
 But wear your sorrow with obedient grace ! 
 
138 RESIGNATION TRUST. 
 
 And you will shortly know that lengthened breath 
 
 Is not the sweetest gift God sends his friends, 
 And that, sometimes, the sable pall of death 
 
 Conceals the fairest boon his love can send. 
 If we could push ajar the gates of life. 
 
 And stand within, and all God's workings see, 
 We could interpret all this doubt and strife, 
 
 And for each mystery could find a key I 
 
 But not to-day. Then be content, poor heart ! 
 
 God's plans, like lilies, pure and white unfold; 
 We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart. 
 
 Time will reveal the chalices of gold. 
 And if, through patient toil, we reach the land 
 
 Where tired feet, with sandals loosed, may rest. 
 When we shall clearly know and understand, 
 
 I think that we w511 say, " God knew the best ! '' 
 
 A fay Riley Smith, 
 
 Yet a 3Little 51J{)iTe. 
 
 Oh ! for the peace which floweth as a river, * 
 
 Making life's desert places bloom and smile. 
 
 Oh ! for a faith to grasp heaven's bright forever 
 Amid the shadows of earth's *' little while." 
 
 A little while for patient vigil-keeping, 
 
 To face the storm, to wrestle with the strong ; 
 
 A little while to sow the seed with weeping, 
 
 Then bind the sheaves, and sing the harvest-song. 
 
 A little while midst shadow and illusion. 
 
 To strive, by faith, love's mysteries to spell ; 
 
 Then read each dark enigma's bright solution, 
 
 Then hail sight's verdict, " He doth all things well ! ** 
 
 And he who is himself the Gift and Giver, 
 
 The future glory and the present smile. 
 With the bright promise of the glad " forever " 
 
 Will light the shadows of the " little while." 
 
 Jane Crewdson, 
 
RESIGNATION TRUST. 
 
 139 
 
 il^s lieatr. 
 
 I cannot think of them as dead, 
 
 Who walk with me no more ; 
 Along the path of life I tread 
 
 They have but gone before. 
 
 The P'ather's house is mansioned fair 
 
 Beyond my vision dim ; 
 All souls are his, and here or there 
 
 Are living unto him. 
 
 And still their silent ministry 
 
 Within my heart hath place, 
 As when on earth they walked with me 
 
 And met me face to face. 
 
 Their lives are made forever mine ; 
 
 What they to me have been 
 Hath left henceforth its seal and sign 
 
 Engraven deep within. 
 
 Mine are they by an ownership 
 
 Nor time nor death can free ; 
 For God hath given to Love to keep 
 
 Its own eternally. 
 
 F. L. Hosmer. 
 
 OTe Hngel of Jlatfence. 
 
 To weary hearts, to mourning homes, 
 God's meekest Angel gently comes : 
 No power has he to banish pain. 
 Or give us back our lost again ; 
 And yet in tenderest love, our dear 
 And heavenly Father sends him here. 
 
140 RESIGNATION TRUST, 
 
 There's quiet in that Angel's glance ; 
 
 There's rest in his still countenance ! 
 
 He mocks no grief with idle cheer, 
 
 Nor wounds with words the mourner's ear ; 
 
 But ills and woes he may not cure 
 
 He kindly trains us to endure. 
 
 Angel of Patience ! sent to calm 
 Our feverish brows witb cdoling balm ; 
 To lay the storms of hope and fear, 
 And reconcile life's smile and tear ; 
 The throbs of wounded pride to still, 
 And make our own our Father's will ! 
 
 O thou who mournest on thy way, 
 With longings for the close of day ! 
 He walks with thee, that Angel kind. 
 And gently whispers, " Be resigned : 
 Bear up, bear on, the end shall tell 
 The dear Lord ordereth all things well ! " 
 
 John G. Whittier, 
 
 SEntier tl)e €:ross. 
 
 I cannot, cannot say, 
 Out of my bruised and breaking heart, 
 Storm-driven along a thorn-set way. 
 
 While blood-drops start 
 From every pore, as I drag on, 
 
 " Thy will, O God, be done ! " 
 
 I thought but yesterday, 
 My will was one with God's dear will ; 
 And that it would be sweet to say, 
 
 Whatever ill 
 My happy state should smile upon, 
 
 " Thy will, my God, be done 1 " 
 
RESIGNATION TRUST. 
 
 Now faint and sore afraid, 
 Under my cross, heavy and rude. 
 My idols in the ashes laid, 
 
 Like ashes strewed, 
 The holy words my pale lips shun, 
 " O God, thy will be done ! " 
 
 Pity my woes, O God ! 
 And touch my will with thy w^arm breath ; 
 Put in my trembling hand thy rod, 
 
 That quickens death ; 
 That my dead faith may feel thy sun, 
 And say, " Thy will be done ! " 
 
 141 
 
 W. C. Richards. 
 
 In Memory of J. T, F. 
 
 Until we meet again ! That is the meaning 
 Of the familiar words, that men repeat 
 
 At parting in the street. 
 Ah yes, till then ! but when death intervening 
 Rends us asunder, with what ceaseless pain 
 
 We wait for the Again ! 
 
 The friends who leave us do not feel the sorrow 
 Of parting, as we feel it, who must stay 
 
 Lamenting day by day. 
 And knowing, when we wake upon the morrow, 
 We shall not find in its accustomed place 
 
 The one beloved face. 
 
 It were a double grief, if the departed, 
 Being released from earth, should still retain 
 
 A sense of earthly pain * 
 It were a double grief, if the true-hearted, 
 Who loved us here, should on the farther shore 
 
 Remember us no more. 
 
142 RESIGNATION TRUST. 
 
 Believing, in the midst of our afflictions, 
 That death is a beginning, not an end. 
 
 We cry to them and send 
 Farewells, that better might be called predictions, 
 Being foreshadowings of the future, thrown 
 
 Into the vast Unknown. 
 
 Faith overleaps the confines of our reason, 
 And if by faith, as in old times was said. 
 
 Women received their dead 
 Raised up to life, then only for a season 
 Our partings are, nor shall we wait in vain 
 
 Until we meet again ! 
 
 Henry W. Longfellow, 
 
 JForebe):. 
 
 Those we love truly never die. 
 Though year by year the sad memorial wreath, 
 A ring and flowers, types of life and death. 
 
 Are laid upon their graves. 
 
 For death the pure life saves, 
 And life all pure is love ; and love can reach 
 From heaven to earth, and nobler lessons teach 
 
 Than those by mortals read. 
 
 Well blessed is he who has a dear one dead : 
 A friend he has whose face will never change — 
 A dear communion that will not grow strange ; 
 
 The anchor of a love is death. 
 
 The blessed sweetness of a loving breath 
 Will reach our cheek all fresh through weary years. 
 For her who died long since, ah ! waste not te?.rs. 
 
 She's thine unto the end. 
 
 John Boyle O^ Reilly^ 
 
RESIGNATION — TRUST. 143 
 
 il^ut oC t|)e Bej)tl)s. 
 
 Thou that art strong to comfort, look on me ! 
 
 I sit in darkness, and behold no light ! 
 Over my heart the waves of agony 
 
 Have gone and left me faint I Forbear to smite 
 A bruised and broken reed ! Sustain, sustain, 
 
 Divinest Comforter, to thee I fly ; 
 Let me not fly in vain ! 
 
 Support me with thy love, or else I die ! 
 Whate'er I had was thine ! 
 
 A God of mercy thou hast ever been; 
 Assist me to resign, 
 
 And if I murmur, count it not for sin ! 
 How rich I was, I dare not — dare not think ; 
 How poor I am, thou knowest, who can see 
 Into my soul's unfathomed misery ; 
 
 Forgive me if I shrink ! 
 Forgive me if I shed these human tears, 
 That it so hard appears 
 To yield my will to thine, forgive, forgive ! 
 
 Father, it is a bitter cup to drink ! 
 
 My soul is strengthened ! it shall bear 
 
 My lot, whatever it may be ; 
 And from the depths of my despair 
 
 I will look up and trust in thee ! 
 
 Mary Howitt. 
 
 Since thy Father's arm sustains thee, 
 
 Peaceful be ; 
 When a chastening hand restrains thee, 
 
 It is he. 
 Know his love in full completeness 
 Fills the measure of thy weakness ; 
 If he wound thy spirit sore. 
 
 Trust him more. 
 
144 RESIGNATION — TRUST. 
 
 Without murmur, uncomplaining, 
 
 In his hand 
 Leave whatever things thou canst not 
 
 Understand. 
 Though the world thy folly spurneth, 
 From thy faith in pity turneth, 
 Peace thy inmost soul shall fill, 
 
 Lying still. 
 
 Fearest sometimes that thy Father 
 
 Hath forgot ? 
 When the clouds around thee gather 
 
 Doubt him not. 
 Always hath the daylight broken, — 
 Always hath he comfort spoken, — 
 Better hath he been for years 
 
 Than thy fears. 
 
 Therefore, whatsoe'er betideth, 
 
 Night or day, — 
 Know his love for thee provideth 
 
 Good alway. 
 Crown of sorrow gladly take, 
 Grateful wear it for his sake ; 
 Sweetly bending to his will, 
 
 Lying still. 
 
 To his own thy Father giveth 
 
 Daily strength ; 
 To each troubled soul that liveth, 
 
 Peace at length. 
 Weakest lambs have largest share 
 Of this tender Shepherd's care ; 
 Ask him not, then, " when ? " or " how } " 
 
 Only bow. 
 
 Charles R. Hagenbach, 
 
RESIGNATION TRUST. I45 
 
 LIII. 
 
 Oh yet we trust that somehow good 
 
 Will be the final goal of ill, 
 
 To pangs of nature, sins of will, 
 Defects of doubt, and taints of blood ; 
 
 That nothing walks with aimless feet ; 
 
 That not one life shall be destroyed, 
 
 Or cast as rubbish to the void, 
 When God hath made the pile complete } 
 
 That not a worm is cloven in vain ; 
 
 That not a moth with vain desire 
 
 Is shrivelled in a fruitless fire, 
 Or but subserves another's gain. 
 
 Behold, we know not anything ; 
 
 I can but trust that good shall fall 
 
 At last — far off — at last, to all, 
 And every winter change to spring. 
 
 So runs my dream : but what am I ? 
 
 An infant crying in the night ; 
 
 An infant crying for the light ; 
 And with no language but a cry. 
 
 I falter where I firmly trod, 
 
 And, falling with my weight of cares 
 
 Upon the world's great altar-stairs 
 That slope through darkness up to God, 
 
 I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope, 
 
 And gather dust and chaff, and call 
 
 To what I feel is Lord of all. 
 And faintly trust the larger hope. 
 
 Alfred Tennyson, 
 
146 RESIGNATION — TRUST. 
 
 STJere is no IBeatt). 
 
 There is no death ! The stars go down 
 
 To rise upon some fairer shore ; 
 And bright in Heaven's jewelled crown 
 
 They shine for evermore. 
 
 There is no death ! The dust we tread 
 Shall change beneath the summer showers 
 
 To golden grain, or mellow fruit, 
 Or rainbow-tinted flowers. 
 
 The granite rocks disorganize 
 
 To feed the hungry moss they bear ; 
 The forest leaves drink daily life 
 
 From out the viewless air. 
 
 There is no death ! An angel form 
 Walks o'er the earth with silent tread ; 
 
 He bears our best loved things away, 
 And then we call them. " dead." 
 
 He leaves our hearts all desolate, 
 
 He plucks our fairest, sweetest flowers ; 
 
 Transplanted into bliss, they now 
 Adorn immortal bowers. 
 
 Born unto that undying life, 
 
 They leave us but to come again ; 
 With joy we welcome them — the same, 
 
 Except in sin and pain. 
 
 And ever near us, though unseen. 
 
 The dear immortal spirits tread ; 
 For all the boundless universe 
 
 Is life — there are no dead. 
 
 E. Bulwer Lytton, 
 
RESIGNATION TRUST. I47 
 
 We must not doubt, or fear, or dread, that love for life is only given, 
 And that the calm and sainted dead will meet estranged and cold in 
 
 heaven : — 
 Oh, love were poor and vain indeed, based on so harsh and stern a 
 
 creed. 
 
 Earth's lower things — her pride, her fame, her science, learning, wealth 
 and power — 
 
 Slow growths that through long ages came, or fruits of some convul- 
 sive hour, 
 
 Whose very memory must decay — Heaven is too pure for such as they. 
 
 They are complete ; their work is done. So let them sleep in dream- 
 less rest. 
 Love's life is only here begun, nor is, nor can be, fully blest ; 
 It has no room to spread its wings, amid this crowd of meaner things. 
 
 Just for the very shadow thrown upon its sweetness here below, 
 The cross that it must bear alone, and bloody baptism of woe. 
 Crowned and completed through its pain, we know that it shall rise 
 again. 
 
 So if its flame burn pure and bright, here, where our air is dark and 
 
 dense. 
 And nothing m this world of night lives with a living so intense ; 
 When it shall reach its home at length — how bright its light! how 
 
 strong its strength ! 
 
 If in my heart I now could fear that, risen again, w^e should not know 
 What was our Life of Life when here, — the hearts we loved so much 
 
 below, — 
 I would arise this very day, and cast so poor a thing away. 
 
 But Love is no such soulless clod : living, perfected it shall rise 
 Transfigured in the light of God, and giving glory to the skies : 
 And that which makes this life so sweet shall render Heaven's joy 
 
 complete. 
 
 Adelaide A. Procter, 
 
148 RESIGNATION TRUST. 
 
 )5C 2Li)ou €:oult(st Unoto. 
 
 I think if thou couldst know, 
 
 O soul that will complain, 
 What lies concealed below 
 
 Our burden and our pain ; 
 How just our anguish brings 
 Nearer those longed-for things 
 We seek for now in vain, — 
 I think thou wouldst rejoice and not complain. 
 
 I think if thou couldst see, 
 
 With thy dim mortal sight, 
 How meanings, dark to thee. 
 
 Are shadows hiding light ; 
 Truth's efforts crossed and vexed, 
 Life's purpose all perplexed, — 
 If thou couldst see them right, 
 I think that they would seem all clear, and wise, and bright. 
 
 And yet thou canst not know, 
 And yet thou canst not see ; 
 Wisdom and sight are slow 
 
 In poor humanity. 
 If thou couldst trust, poor soul, 
 In Him who rules the whole. 
 Thou wouldst find peace and rest : 
 Wisdom and sight are well, but Trust is best. 
 
 Adelaide A, Procter, 
 
 5E^ope*s Song, 
 
 I hear it singing, singing sweetly, 
 
 Softly in an undertone, 
 Singing as if God had taught it, 
 " It is better farther on ! " 
 
 Night and day it brings the message. 
 
 Sings it while I sit alone ; 
 Sings so that the heart may hear it, 
 " It is better farther on ! " 
 
RESIGNATION — TRUST. 149 
 
 Sits upon the grave and sings it, 
 
 Sings it when the heart would groan, 
 Sings it when the shadows darken, 
 " It is better farther on." 
 
 Farther on ? Oh ! how much farther ? 
 
 Count the mile-stones one by one. 
 No ! no counting — only trusting 
 " It is better farther on ! '' 
 
 Anonymous, 
 
 i^taajer tor Streufltf). 
 
 Father, before thy footstool kneeling, 
 
 Once more my heart goes up to thee. 
 For aid, for strength to thee appealing. 
 
 Thou who alone canst succor me. 
 
 Hear me ! for heart and flesh are failing. 
 
 My spirit yielding in the strife ; 
 And anguish, wild as unavailing, 
 
 Sweeps in a flood across my life. 
 
 Help me to stem the tide of sorrow ; 
 
 Help me to bear thy chastening rod ; 
 Give me endurance ; let me borrow 
 
 Strength from thy promise, O my God ! 
 
 Not mine the grief which words may lighten ; 
 
 Not mine the tears of common woe : 
 The pang with which my heart-strings tighten, 
 
 Only the All-seeing One may know. 
 
 And oh ! in my exceeding weakness. 
 
 Make thy strength perfect ; thou art strong : 
 
 Aid me to do thy will with meekness, — 
 Thou, to whom all my powers belong. 
 
 Oh ! let me feel that thou art near me ; 
 
 Close to thy side, I shall not fear : 
 Hear me, O Strength of Israel, hear me ! 
 
 Sustain and aid ! in mercy hear ! 
 
 Anonymous. 
 
150 RESIGXATIOX TRUST. 
 
 TXTo Mote Sea. 
 
 Life of our life, and Light of all our seeing, 
 How shall we rest on any hope but thee ? 
 
 What time our souls, to thee for refuge fleeing, 
 Long for the home where there is no more sea ? 
 
 For still this sea of life, with endless wailing. 
 Dashes above our heads its blinding spray. 
 
 And vanquished hearts, sick with remorse and failing, 
 Moan like the waves at set of autumn day. 
 
 And ever round us swells the insatiate ocean 
 Of sin and doubt that lures us to our grave ; 
 
 When its wild billows, with their mad commotion, 
 AV^ould sweep us down — then only thou canst save. 
 
 And deep and dark the fearful gloom unlighted 
 
 Of that untried and all-surrounding sea. 
 On whose bleak shore arriving — lone — benighted, 
 
 We fall and lose ourselves at last — in thee. 
 
 Yea ! in thy life our little lives are ended. 
 Into thy depths our trembling spirits fall ; 
 
 In thee enfolded, gathered, comprehended. 
 
 As holds the sea her waves — thou hold'st us all ! 
 
 £h'za Scudder, 
 
 2r!)e Internal ^ootiness. 
 
 Within the maddening maze of things, 
 And tossed by storm and flood. 
 
 To one fixed stake my spirit clings : 
 I know that God is good. 
 
 I long for household voices gone, 
 For vanished smiles I long ; 
 
 But God hath led my dear ones on, 
 And he can do no wrong. 
 
RESIGNATION TRUST. IJI 
 
 I know not what the future hath 
 
 Of marvel or surprise, 
 Assured alone that life and death 
 
 His mercy underlies. 
 
 And if my heart and flesh are weak 
 
 To bear an untried pain, 
 The bruised reed he will not break, 
 
 But strengthen and sustain. 
 
 And so beside the silent sea 
 
 I wait the muffled oar ; 
 No harm from him can come to me 
 
 On ocean or on shore. 
 
 I know not w^here his islands lift 
 
 Their fronded palms in air ; 
 I only know I cannot drift 
 
 Beyond his love and care. 
 
 John G. Whit tier. 
 
 2Slessetr are W^t^ t])at J^ourn. 
 
 Oh, deem not they are blessed alone 
 Whose lives a peaceful tenor keep ! 
 
 The Power who pities man, hath shown 
 A blessing for the eyes that weep. 
 
 The light of smiles shall fill again 
 The lids that overflow with tears ; 
 
 And weary hours of woe and pain 
 Are promises of happier years. 
 
 There is a day of sunny rest 
 
 For every dark and troubled night ; 
 
 And grief may bide an evening guest. 
 But joy shall come with early light. 
 
152 RESIGNATION TRUST. 
 
 And thou who, o'er thy friend's low bier, 
 Dost shed the bitter drops like rain, 
 
 Hope that a brighter, happier sphere 
 Will give him to thy arms again. 
 
 Nor let the good man's trust depart, 
 Though life its common gifts deny, — 
 
 Though with a pierced and bleeding heart, 
 And spurned of men, he goes to die. 
 
 For God hath marked each sorrowing day 
 
 And numbered every secret tear. 
 And heaven's long age of bliss shall pay 
 
 For all his children suffer here. 
 
 Willia77i C. Bryant, 
 
 JTaitf). 
 
 I will not think the last farewell we hear. 
 
 Is more than brief " good-bye " that a friend saith, 
 
 Turning toward home, that to our home lies near ; 
 I will not think so harshly of kind death. 
 
 I will not think the last looks of dear eyes, 
 Fade with the light that fades of our dim air ; 
 
 But that the apparent glories of the skies 
 
 Weigh down their lids with beams too bright to bear. 
 
 Our dead have left us for no dark, strange lands, 
 Unwelcomed there, and with no friends to meet ; 
 
 But ] ands of angels hold the trembling hands. 
 And hands of angels guide the faltering feet. 
 
 I will not think the soul gropes dumb and blind, 
 
 A brief space through our world, death-doomed from birth ; 
 
 I will not think that Love shall ever find 
 A fairer heaven than he made of earth. 
 
 Fakenham Beatty. 
 
RESIGNATION — TRUST. 153 
 
 ©^ootr^^lSse, till iHotning. 
 
 " Good-bye, till morning come again ! " 
 We part, but not with aught of pain, 
 The night is short, and hope is sweet. 
 It fills our hearts and wings our feet ; 
 
 And so we sing the glad refrain, 
 
 " Good-bye, till morning come again ! " 
 
 " Good-bye, till morning come again ! " 
 The shade of death brings thought of pain, 
 But could we know how short the night 
 That falls and hides them from our sight, 
 
 Our hearts would sing the glad refrain, 
 
 " Good-bye, till morning come again ! '* 
 
 M, G, T, 
 
 i^rom ** 2rf)e ISjrcursion." 
 
 One adequate support 
 For the calamities of mortal life 
 Exists, one only; — an assured belief 
 That the procession of our fate, howe'er 
 Sad or disturbed, is ordered by a Being 
 Of infinite benevolence and power, 
 Whose everlasting purposes embrace 
 All accidents, converting them to Good. 
 
 The darts of anguish fix not where the seat 
 Of suffering hath been thoroughly fortified 
 By acquiescence in the Will Supreme 
 For time and for eternity ; by faith. 
 Faith absolute in God, including hope ; 
 And the defence that lies in boundless love 
 Of his perfections ; with habitual dread 
 Of aught unworthily conceived, endured 
 Impatiently, ill done or left undone, 
 To the dishonor of his holy Name. 
 Soul of our souls, and safeguard of the world, 
 Sustain, thou only canst, the sick of heart ! 
 
 William Wordsworth, 
 
154 RESIGNATION — TRUST. 
 
 Uenturi <Salutamus. 
 
 Our beloved have departed, 
 While we tarry, heavy-hearted, 
 
 In the dreary, empty house : 
 They have ended life's brief story, 
 They have reached the home of glory, 
 
 Over death victorious. 
 
 Hush that sobbing, weep more lightly ; 
 On we travel, daily, nightly, 
 
 To the rest that they have found. 
 Are we not upon the river, 
 Sailing fast, to meet forever 
 
 On more holy, happy ground? 
 
 On we haste, to home invited, 
 There with friends to be united 
 
 In a surer bond than here ; 
 Meeting soon, and met forever ! 
 Glorious Hope, forsake us never. 
 
 For thy glimmering light is dear ! 
 
 Ah ! the way is shining clearer, 
 As we journey ever nearer 
 
 To the everlasting home ; 
 Comrades, who await our landing. 
 Friends, who round the throne are standing, 
 We salute you, and we come ! 
 
 FroTn the German. 
 
 {LittelPs " Living Age^) 
 
 All as God wills, who wisely heeds 
 
 To give or to withhold, 
 And knoweth more of all my needs 
 
 Than all my prayers have told ! 
 
KESIGNATION TRUST. I55 
 
 Enough that blessings undeserved 
 
 Have marked my erring track ; — 
 That wheresoe'er my feet have swerved. 
 
 His chastening turned me back ; — - 
 
 That more and more a Providence 
 
 Of love is understood, 
 Making the springs of time and sense 
 
 Sweet with eternal good ; — 
 
 That death seems but a covered way 
 
 Which opens into light, 
 Wherein no blinded child can stray 
 
 Beyond the Father's sight ; — 
 
 That care and trial seem at last, 
 
 Through Memory's sunset air, 
 Like mountain ranges overpast, 
 
 In purple distance fair ; — 
 
 That all the jarring notes of life 
 
 Seem blending in a psalm, 
 And all the angles of its strife 
 
 Slow rounding into calm. 
 
 And so the shadows fall apart. 
 
 And so the west winds play ; 
 And all the windows of my heart 
 
 I open to the day. 
 
 /. G, Whittier. 
 
 IBeatl) of a Sfster. 
 
 I will not mock thee with the poor world's common 
 
 And heartless phrase, 
 Nor wrong the memory of a sainted woman 
 
 With idle praise. 
 
 With silence only as their benediction, 
 
 God's angels come 
 Where, in the shadow of a great affliction, 
 
 The soul sits dumb ! 
 
156 RESIGNATION TRUST. 
 
 Yet would I say what thy own heart approveth ; 
 
 Our Father's will, 
 Calling to him the dear one whom he loveth, 
 
 Is mercy still. 
 
 God calls our loved ones, but we lose not wholly 
 
 What he hath given ; 
 They live on earth, in thought and deed, as truly 
 
 As in his heaven. 
 
 Up, then, my brother ! Lo, the fields of harvest 
 
 Lie white in view ! 
 She lives and loves thee, and the God thou servest 
 
 To both is true. 
 
 /. G, Whittier. 
 
PART III. 
 A GOOD LIFE. 
 
 jFrom tfie **lBle22 on tte Beati) of IBv. €t)annin2.'' 
 
 I do not come to weep above thy pall, 
 
 And mourn the dying out of noble powers ; 
 
 The poet's clearer eye should see, in all 
 
 Earth's seeming woe, the seed of Heaven's flowers. 
 
 Truth needs no champions : in the infinite deep 
 
 Of everlasting Soul her strength abides ; 
 From Nature's heart her mighty pulses leap, 
 
 Through Nature's veins her strength, undying, tides. 
 
 Peace is more strong than war, and gentleness. 
 
 Where force were vain, makes conquest o'er the wave ; 
 
 And love lives on and hath a power to bless, 
 When they who loved are hidden in the grave. 
 
 No power can die that ever wrought for Truth; 
 
 Thereby a law of Nature it became. 
 And lives unwithered in its sinewy youth, 
 
 When he who called it forth is but a name. 
 
 Therefore I cannot think thee wholly gone ; 
 
 The better part of thee is with us still ; 
 The soul its hampering clay aside hath thrown, 
 
 And only freer wrestles with the 111, 
 
 Thou livest in the life of all good things ; 
 
 What words thou spak'st for Freedom shall not die ; 
 Thou sleepest not, for now thy Love hath wings 
 
 To soar where hence thy Hope could hardlv f^v. 
 
 (•57) 
 
158 
 
 A GOOD LIFE. 
 
 And often, from that other world, on this 
 
 Some gleams from great souls gone before may shine, 
 To shed on struggling hearts a clearer bliss, 
 
 And clothe the Right with lustre more divine. 
 
 Thou art not idle : in thy higher sphere 
 
 Thy spirit bends itself to loving tasks, 
 And strength to perfect what it dreamed of here 
 
 Is all the crown and glory that it asks. 
 
 For sure, in Heaven's wide chambers, there is room 
 
 For love and pity, and for helpful deeds ; 
 Else were our summons thither but a doom 
 
 To life more vain than this in clayey weeds. 
 
 Farewell ! good man, good angel now ! this hand 
 Soon, like thine own, shall lose its cunning too ; 
 
 Soon shall this soul, like thine, bewildered stand, 
 Then leap to thread the free, unfathomed blue. 
 
 This laurel-leaf I cast upon thy bier; 
 
 Let worthier hands than these thy wreath entwine ; 
 Upon thy hearse I shed no useless tear, — 
 
 For us weep rather thou in calm divine ! 
 
 /. R. Lowell. 
 
 ^*ell Bone. 
 
 Servant of God, well done ! They serve God well, 
 Who serve his creatures ; when the funeral bell 
 Tolls for the dead, there 's nothing left of all 
 That decks the scutcheon and the velvet pall 
 Save this. The coronet is empty show. 
 The strength and loveliness are hid below : 
 The shifting wealth to others hath accrued : 
 And learning cheers not the grave's solitude : 
 What's done, is what remains ! Ah, blessed they 
 AVho leave completed tasks of love to stay 
 And answer mutely for them, being dead : 
 Life was not purposeless, though Life be fled. 
 Ca7'oline N'ortoji. 
 
 TJie Lady of La Garaye. 
 
A GOOD LIFE. 159 
 
 F, D. B, 
 
 To pass through life beloved as few are loved, 
 To prove the joys of earth as few have proved, 
 And still to keep thy soul's white robe unstained, 
 Such is the victory which thou hast gained. 
 
 How few like thine, the pilgrim feet have come 
 Unworn, unwounded, to the heavenly home ! 
 Yet He who guides in sorrow's sorest need, 
 As well by pleasant paths his own may lead. 
 
 And love, that guides where wintry tempests beat, 
 To thee was shelter from the summer heat. 
 What need for grief to blight, or ills annoy, 
 The heart whose God was her exceeding joy ? 
 
 And so that radiant path, all sweet and pure, 
 Found fitting close in perfect peace secure ; 
 No haste to go, no anxious wish to stay. 
 No childish terror of the untried way- 
 
 But wrapped in trance of holy thought and prayer, 
 Yet full of human tenderness and care, 
 Undimmed its lustre and unchilled its love. 
 Thy spirit passed to cloudless light above. 
 
 In the far North, where, over frosts and gloom. 
 The midnight skies with rosy brightness bloom. 
 There comes in all the year one day complete, 
 Wherein the sunset and the sunrise meet. 
 
 So, in the region of thy fearless faith. 
 No hour of darkness marked the approach of death ; 
 But, ere the evening splendor was withdrawn. 
 Fair flashed the light along the hills of dawn. 
 
 Eliza Scudder, 
 
l6o A GOOD LIFE. 
 
 STSe JFrfenti's 3Sutial. 
 
 Her still and quiet life flowed on 
 
 As meadow streamlets flow, 
 Where fresher green reveals alone 
 
 The noiseless ways they go. 
 
 Her path shall brighten more and more 
 
 Unto the perfect day ; 
 She cannot fail of peace who bore 
 
 Such peace with her away. 
 
 O sweet, calm face, that seemed to wear 
 
 The look of sins forgiven ! 
 O voice of prayer, that seemed to bear 
 
 Our own needs up to heaven ! 
 
 How reverent in our midst she stood, 
 
 Or knelt in grateful praise ! 
 What grace of Christian womanhood 
 
 Was in her household ways ! 
 
 For still her holy living meant 
 
 No duty left undone ; 
 The heavenly and the human blent 
 
 Their kindred loves in one. 
 
 She kept her line of rectitude 
 
 With love's unconscious ease : 
 Her kindly instincts understood 
 
 All gentle courtesies. 
 
 The dear Lord's best interpreters 
 
 Are humble human souls ; 
 The Gospel of a life like hers 
 
 Is more than books or scrolls. 
 
 From scheme and creed the light goes out, 
 
 The saintly fact survives ; 
 The blessed Master none can doubt 
 
 Revealed in holy lives. 
 
 /. G. Whitiier, 
 
A GOOD LIFE. l6l 
 
 Eo 3^ <S. 
 
 God gives us love. Something to love 
 He lends us ; but, when love is grown 
 
 To ripeness, that on which it throve 
 Falls off, and love is left alone. 
 
 And though mine own eyes fill with dew, 
 
 Drawn from the spirit through the brain, 
 I will not even preach to you, 
 " Weep, weeping dulls the inward pain." 
 
 I will not say " God's ordinance 
 
 Of death is blown in every wind ; " 
 For that is not a common chance 
 
 That takes away a noble mind. 
 
 Sleep sweetly, tender heart, in peace ; 
 
 Sleep, holv spirit, blessed soul. 
 While the stars burn, the moons increase, 
 
 And the great ages onward roll. 
 
 Sleep till the end, true soul and sweet, 
 Nothing comes to thee new or strange ; 
 
 Sleep full of rest from head to feet ; 
 Lie still, dry dust, secure of change. 
 
 Alfred Tennyson, 
 
 (&, 3L, S. 
 
 He has done the work of a true man, — 
 Crown him, honor him, love him. 
 
 Weep over him, tears of woman, 
 Stoop, manliest brows, above him ! 
 
 For the warmest of hearts is frozen, 
 The freest of hands is still ; 
 
 And the gap in our picked and chosen 
 The long years may not fill. 
 
l6z A GOOD LIFE. 
 
 No duty could overtask him, 
 
 No need his will outrun ; 
 Or ever our lips could ask him, 
 
 His hands the work had done. 
 
 He forgot his own soul for others, 
 
 Himself to his neighbor lending ; 
 He found the Lord in his suffering brothers, 
 
 And not in the clouds descending. 
 
 Ah, well ! — The world is discreet ; 
 
 There are plenty to pause and wait ; 
 But here was a man who set his feet 
 
 Sometimes in advance of fate= 
 
 Never rode to the wrong's redressing 
 
 A worthier paladin ; 
 Shall he not hear the blessing, 
 
 *' Good and faithful, enter in ! " 
 
 /. G. Whittier. 
 
 Oh, thicker, deeper, darker growing, 
 
 The solemn vista to the tomb 
 Must know henceforth another shadow, 
 
 And give another cypress room. 
 
 To homely joys and loves and friendships 
 
 Thy genial nature fondly clung ; 
 And so the shadow on the dial 
 
 Ran back and left thee always young. 
 
 And who could blame the generous weakness, 
 
 Which, only to thyself unjust, 
 So overprized the worth of others, 
 
 And dwarfed thy own with self-distrust ? 
 
 All hearts grew warmer in the presence 
 
 Of one who, seeking not his own. 
 Gave freely for the love of giving. 
 
 Nor reaped for self the harvest sown. 
 
A GOOD LIFE. 163 
 
 Thy greeting smile was pledge and prelude 
 
 Of generous deeds and kindly words ; 
 In thy large heart were fair guest-chambers, 
 
 Open to sunrise and the birds ! 
 
 The task was thine to mould and fashion 
 
 Life's plastic newness into grace ; 
 To make the boyish heart heroic, 
 
 And light with thought the maiden's face. 
 
 O'er all the land in town and prairie, 
 
 With bended heads of mourning, stand 
 The living forms that owe their beauty 
 
 And fitness to thy shaping hand. 
 
 O friend ! if thought and sense avail not 
 
 To know thee henceforth as thou art, 
 That all is well with thee forever 
 
 I trust the instincts of my heart. 
 
 Thine be the quiet habitations. 
 
 Thine the green pastures, blossom-sown, 
 And smiles of saintly recognition 
 
 As sweet and tender as thy own. 
 
 Thou com'st not from the hush and shadow 
 
 To meet us, but to thee we come ; 
 With thee we never can be strangers. 
 
 And where thou art must still be home. 
 
 /. G. Whittier, 
 
 3E, S. ^. 
 
 •At eve there shall be light," the promise runs 
 In the dear volume that he loved so well ; 
 Ay, and for him the promise was fulfilled. 
 When rang for him the solemn vesper-bell. 
 
 His was no day of sweet, unsullied blue. 
 
 And bright, warm sunshine on the grass and flowers ; 
 
 But many a cloud of loss and grief and pain 
 Dropped its deep shadow on the fleeting hours. 
 
164 A GOOD LIFE. 
 
 For still, though hours were his, serene and still, 
 And radiant hours of steady glowing noon, 
 
 That cloud of pain w^as ever near to touch 
 With quivering sadness every brightest boon. 
 
 And, as his afternoon drew^ on to eve 
 
 And still he lingered in the whitened field, 
 
 The reapers were so few, till night should fall 
 Fain would his hand the heavy sickle wield, — 
 
 Darker it grew and darker o'er the land. 
 
 And he was forced to lay the sickle by; 
 But did it brighten, then his hand was quick 
 
 To seize once more its opportunity. 
 
 So the day faded, and the evening came ; 
 
 Then from the sky the clouds were furled away, 
 And a great peace and beauty w^elcomed in 
 
 The evening star with her benignant ray. 
 
 And all the air was hushed and whispering. 
 And all the sky was purely, softly bright ; 
 And so the blessed promise was fulfilled; 
 " At eve," it said, — " at eve there shall be light.'* 
 
 But that fair evening did not end in night, 
 With shadow^s deep, and darkness all forlorn, 
 
 Just at its brightest he was snatched away 
 Into the golden palaces of morn. 
 
 And surely since the Master went that way. 
 To welcome there earth's holiest and best, 
 
 He has not welcomed one who loved him more 
 Than he who leaned that evening on his breast. « 
 
 J. W. Chadwick. 
 
 Jiti ifEemorj of t!)e 3lalri) ^uflusta Stanleg. 
 
 O blessed life of service and of love ! 
 
 Heart wide as life, deep as life's deepest woe ; 
 God's servants serve him day and night above, 
 
 Thou servedst day and night, we thought, below. 
 
A GOOD LIFE. 165 
 
 Hands full of blessings, lavished far and wide, 
 Hands tender to bind up hearts wounded sore ; 
 
 Stooping quite down earth's lowest needs beside, — 
 Master^ like thee ! we thought, and said no more. 
 
 We o'er all sorrow would have raised thee up, 
 
 Crowned with life's choicest blossoms night and morn; 
 
 God made thee drink of his beloved's cup. 
 
 And crowned thee with the Master's crown of thorn. 
 
 Looking from thee to him, once wounded sore, 
 
 We learned a little more his face to see ; 
 Then looking from the cross for us he bore, 
 
 To thine, we almost understood for thee I 
 
 Till now, again ! we gaze on thee above. 
 
 Strong and unwearied, serving day and night; 
 O blessed life of service and of love ! 
 
 Master^ like thee^ and with thee in thy light ! 
 
 Elizabeth Charles. 
 
 €:i)arles Hotoe. 
 
 " If ye love me," Jesus said. 
 Just before his spirit sped, 
 " Ye would all rejoice, for know 
 To my Father I shall go." 
 
 As we loved our brother here, 
 We will check the starting tear. 
 And rejoice that soul new-born 
 To his Father now has gone. 
 
 Thanks to God for life so pure. 
 Strong to do, to bear, endure ; 
 Thanks for faith that feared no cross, 
 Thanks for hope that knew no loss. 
 
 Thanks for love so deep and strong, 
 Love of right and hate of wrong ; 
 Love, unwelcome truth could tell 
 Just because it loved so well. 
 
l66 A GOOD LIFE. 
 
 Love embracing in its span 
 Truth and right, and God and man ; 
 Love so loyal and so sweet 
 It could every duty meet. 
 
 Love that cast out every fear, 
 As the parting hour drew near ; 
 Love that clasped the Father's hand, 
 Leading to the brighter land. 
 
 Risen brother ! from above 
 Let us all still feel thy love ; 
 Earth was fairer for thy stay, 
 Heaven is nearer us to-day. 
 
 W. F. Tilden. 
 
 iFrom **iausl)2 €:i)apel." 
 
 O strong soul, by w'hat shore 
 Tarriest thou now ? For that force, 
 Surely, has not been left vain ! 
 Somewhere, surely, afar. 
 In the sounding labor-house vast 
 Of being is practised that strength, 
 Zealous, beneficent, firm ! 
 
 Yes, in some far-shining sphere. 
 
 Conscious or not of the past. 
 
 Still thou performest the word 
 
 Of the Spirit in whom thou dost live ■ 
 
 Prompt, unwearied, as here ! 
 
 Still thou upraisest with zeal 
 
 The humble good from the ground, 
 
 Sternly repressest the bad ! 
 
 Still, like a trumpet, dost rouse 
 
 Those who with half-open eyes 
 
 Tread the border-land dim 
 
 'Twixt vice and virtue ; reviv'st, 
 
 Succourest ! — this w^as thy work. 
 
 This was thy life upon earth. 
 
A GOOD LIFE. 167 
 
 Servants of God ! — or sons 
 Shall I not call you ? because 
 Not as servants ye knew 
 Your Father's innermost mind, 
 His, who unwillingly sees 
 One of his little ones lost — 
 Yours is the praise, if mankind 
 Hath not as yet in its march 
 Fainted, and fallen, and died! 
 
 See ! In the rocks of the world 
 
 Marches the host of mankind, 
 
 A feeble, wavering line. 
 
 Where are they tending ? — A God 
 
 Marshalled them, gave them their goal. — 
 
 Ah, but the way is so long ! 
 
 Then, in such hour of need 
 
 Of your fainting, dispirited race. 
 
 Ye, like angels appear, 
 
 Radiant with ardor divine. 
 
 Beacons of hope, ye appear ! 
 
 Languor is not in your heart. 
 
 Weakness is not in your word, 
 
 Weariness not on your brow. 
 
 Ye alight in our van ! at your voice, 
 
 Panic, despair, flee away. 
 
 Ye move through the ranks, recall 
 
 The stragglers, refresh the outworn, 
 
 Praise, re-inspire the brave. 
 
 Order, courage, return ; 
 
 Eyes rekindling, and prayers, 
 
 Follow your steps as ye go. 
 
 Ye fill up the gaps in our files. 
 
 Strengthen the wavering line, 
 
 Stablish, continue our march. 
 
 On, to the bound of the waste, 
 
 On, to the City of God. 
 
 Matthew Arnold, 
 
PART IV. 
 SUFFERING AND REST. 
 
 2r!)e Sleep. 
 
 ^^ He giveth His beloved sleeps Ps. cxxvii : 2. 
 
 Of all the thoughts of God that are 
 
 Borne inward unto souls afar, 
 
 Along the Psalmist's music deep, 
 Now tell me if that any is, 
 For gift or grace, surpassing this — 
 ** He giveth his beloved, sleep " ? 
 
 What would we give to our beloved ? 
 The hero's heart to be unmoved, 
 The poet's star-tuned harp to sweep, 
 The patriot's voice to teach and rouse, 
 The monarch's crown to light the brows ? 
 " He giveth his beloved, sleep." 
 
 What do we give to our beloved ? 
 A little faith all undisproved, 
 A little dust to overweep. 
 And bitter memories to make 
 The whole earth blasted for our sake. 
 " He giveth his beloved, sleep." 
 
 " Sleep soft, beloved ! " we sometimes say, 
 But have no tune to charm away 
 Sad dreams that through the eyelids creep ; 
 But never doleful dream again 
 Shall break the happy slumber, when 
 " He giveth his beloved, sleep." 
 (i68) 
 
SUFFERING AND REST. 169 
 
 O earth, so full of dreary noises ! 
 O men, with wailing in your voices ! 
 O delved gold, the wailers heap ! 
 
 O strife, O curse, that o'er it fall ! 
 
 God strikes a silence through you all, 
 
 And "giveth his beloved, sleep." 
 
 His dews drop mutely on the hill, 
 His cloud above it saileth still, 
 Though on its slope men sow and reap. 
 
 More softly than the dew is shed, 
 
 Or cloud is floated overhead, 
 " He giveth his beloved, sleep. '* 
 
 For me, my heart that erst did go 
 Most like a tired child at a show. 
 That sees through tears the mummers leap, 
 
 Would now its wearied vision close, 
 
 Would childlike on his love repose. 
 
 Who " giveth his beloved, sleep ! " 
 
 And friends, dear friends, — when it shall be 
 That this low breath is gone from me. 
 And round my bier ye come to weep. 
 Let one, most loving of you all, 
 Say, " Not a tear must o'er her fall — 
 " He giveth his beloved, sleep." 
 
 E. B. Browning. 
 
 Hpitapf) on an ©Itr l^aitr. 
 
 Rest, gentle traveller, on life's toilsome way ; 
 Pause here awhile ; yet o'er this lifeless clay 
 No weeping, but a joyful tribute pay. 
 
 No chosen spot of earth she called her own ; 
 She reaped no harvest in her spring-time sown ; 
 Yet always in her path some flowers were strown. 
 
I^O SUFFERING AND REST. 
 
 No dear ones were her own peculiar care, 
 So was her bounty free as heaven's air ; 
 For every claim she had enough to spare. 
 
 And loving more the heart to give than lend, 
 Though oft deceived in many a trusty friend, 
 
 She hoped, believed and trusted to the end. 
 
 She had her joys : 'twas joy to live, to love. 
 To labor in the world with God above. 
 And tender hearts that ever near did move. 
 
 She had her griefs : but why recount them here, — 
 The heartsick loneliness, the onlooking fear, 
 The days of desolation, dark and drear, 
 
 Since every agony left peace behind. 
 
 And healing came on every stormy wind. 
 
 And with pure brightness every cloud was lined. 
 
 And every loss sublimed some low desire, 
 And every sorrow helped her to aspire, 
 Till waiting angels bade her go up higher ! 
 
 Anonymous, 
 
 5:11 3l®arI)or. 
 
 I think it is over, over — 
 
 I think it is over at last: 
 Voices of foeman and lover. 
 
 The sweet and the bitter have passed : 
 Life, like a tempest of ocean, 
 
 Hath outblown its ultimate blast. 
 
 There 's but a faint sobbing seaward, 
 While the calm of the tide deepens leeward. 
 And behold \ like the welcoming quiver 
 Of heart-pulses throbbed through the river, 
 Those lights in the Harbor at last — 
 The heavenlv Harbor at last ! 
 
SUFFERING A\D REST. I7I 
 
 I feel it is over, over — 
 
 The winds and the waters surcease : 
 How few were the days of the Rover 
 That smiled in the beauty of peace ! 
 And distant and dim was the omen 
 That hinted redress or release. 
 
 From the ravage of Life and its riot, 
 What marvel I yearn for the quiet 
 Which bides in the Harbor at last ? — 
 For the lights with their welcoming quiver 
 That throb through the sanctified river, 
 Which girdles the Harbor at last — 
 The heavenly Harbor at last ? 
 
 I know it is over, over — 
 
 I know it is over at last : 
 Down sail ; the sheathed anchor uncover, 
 
 For the stress of the voyage has passed : 
 Life, like a tempest of ocean, 
 
 Hath outblown its ultimate blast- 
 There 's but a faint sobbing seaward. 
 While the calm of the tide deepens leeward, 
 And behold ! like the welcoming quiver 
 Of heart-pulses throbbed through the river, 
 Those lights in the Harbor at last! 
 The heavenly Harbor at last ! 
 
 Paul H. Hayne. 
 
 ^\xX of tt)e :St)atioto. 
 
 Gentle friends who gather here, 
 With no gloom surround this bier, 
 Drop no unavailing tear. 
 
 Bid this weary frame oppressed 
 
 Welcome to its longed-for rest 
 
 On the fair earth's sheltering breast. 
 
 And the spirit, freed from clay, 
 Give glad leave to soar away, 
 Singing, to the eternal day. 
 
1^2 SUFFERING AND REST. 
 
 When this sentient life began, 
 Love of nature, love of man, 
 Through its kindling pulses ran ; 
 
 Eagerly these eyes looked forth. 
 Questioning the teeming earth 
 For its stores of truth and worth ; 
 
 Head and heart with schemes were rife, 
 Longing for some noble strife, ' 
 Planning for some perfect life. 
 
 But the Father's love decreed 
 Other work and other meed, 
 And by ways unsought did lead ; 
 
 Turned aside the out-stretched hand, 
 
 Bade the feet inactive stand, 
 
 Checked the task that thought had planned ; 
 
 And on eyes that loved to gaze 
 Upon light's intensest rays, 
 Dropped a veil of gentlest haze. 
 
 How the musing spirit burned ! 
 How the wilful nature yearned. 
 And its sacred limits spurned ! 
 
 Known, O Father, unto thee 
 
 All the long captivity 
 
 Of the soul at last set free ; 
 
 And how hard it was to see 
 ** Thy great harvests silently 
 
 Whitening upon land and lea ; 
 
 And to watch the reapers' throng. 
 Filling all the vales with song, 
 As they bore their sheaves along. 
 
 And to thee, O pitying God, 
 Known thy grace that overflowed 
 All that still and sacred road. 
 
SUFFERING AND KTST. 1 73 
 
 Where thy patience brought relief, 
 Following in thy path of grief, 
 Thou of suffering souls the chief ! 
 
 Yet since thou hast stooped to say, 
 *' Cast thy out-worn robe away, 
 Come and rest with me to-day, — 
 
 " Come to larger life and power, 
 
 Come to truth's unfailing dower, 
 
 Come to strength renewed each hour ; " — 
 
 To the dear ones gathered here 
 Make thy loving purpose clear, 
 And thy light shine round this bier. 
 
 Eliza Sciidder, 
 
 3Pass ©ber to ^Tij^ Hest. 
 
 From this bleak hill of storms. 
 To yon warm, sunny heights. 
 Where love forever shines. 
 
 Pass over to thy rest. 
 
 The rest of God ! 
 
 From hunger and from thirst. 
 
 From toil and weariness. 
 
 From shadows and from dreams, 
 
 Pass over to thy rest, 
 
 The rest of God ! 
 
 From weakness and from pain. 
 From trembling and from strife. 
 From watching and from fears, 
 
 Pass over to thy rest, 
 
 The rest of God ! 
 
 From vani4;y and lies. 
 From mockery and snares, 
 From disappointed hopes. 
 
 Pass over to thy rest. 
 
 The rest of God ! 
 
1 74 SUFFERING AND REST. 
 
 From unrealities, 
 From hollow scenes of change, 
 From ache and emptiness, 
 Pass over to thy rest, 
 The rest of God ! 
 
 From this unanchored world, 
 
 Whose morrow none can tell, 
 
 From all things restless here, 
 
 Pass over to thy rest, 
 
 The rest of God ! 
 
 H. Bonar. 
 
 ^ 13risoner. 
 
 If one had watched a prisoner many a year. 
 
 Standing beside a barred window-pane, 
 
 Fettered with heavy hand-cuffs and with chain. 
 
 And gazing on the blue sky far and clear; 
 
 And suddenly some morning we should hear 
 
 The man had in the night contrived to gain 
 
 His freedom and was safe, would that bring pain ? 
 
 Ah ! would it not to dullest heart appear 
 
 Good tidings ? Yesterday I looked on one 
 
 Who lay as if asleep in perfect peace. 
 
 His long imprisonment for life was done ; 
 
 Eternity's great freedom his release 
 
 Had brought, yet they who loved him called him dead. 
 
 And wept, refusing to be comforted. 
 
 H. H, 
 
 2ri)e 33ortier=^3lantrs. 
 
 Father, into thy loving hands 
 
 My feeble spirit I commit. 
 While wandering in these Border-Lands, 
 
 Until thy voice shall summon it. 
 
 Father, I would not dare to choose 
 A longer life, an earlier death; 
 
 I know not what my soul might lose 
 By shortened or protracted breath. 
 
SUFFERING AND REST. I 75 
 
 These Border-Lands are calm and still, 
 
 And solemn are their silent shades ; 
 And my heart welcomes them, until 
 
 The light of life's long evening fades. 
 
 I hear them spoken of with dread, 
 
 As fearful and unquiet places ; 
 Shades, where the living and the dead 
 
 Look sadly in each other's faces. 
 
 But since thy hand hath led me here. 
 
 And I have seen the Border-Land ; 
 Seen the dark river flowing near, 
 
 Stood on its brink, as now I stand ; 
 
 There has been nothing to alarm 
 
 My trembling soul ; how could I fear 
 While thus encircled with thine arm ? 
 
 I never felt thee half so near. 
 
 What should appal me in a place 
 
 That brings me hourly nearer thee ? 
 When I may almost see thy face — 
 
 Surely 'tis here my soul would be. 
 
 Etcphemia Sax by. 
 
 I lay me down to sleep, 
 
 With little thought or care 
 Whether my waking find 
 
 Me here, or there. 
 
 A bowing, burdened head, 
 
 That only asks to rest, 
 Unquestioning, upon 
 
 A loving breast. 
 
 My good right hand forgets 
 
 Its cunning now ; 
 To march the weary march 
 
 I know not how. 
 
176 SUFFERING AND REST. 
 
 I am not eager, bold, 
 Nor strong — all that is past; 
 
 I am ready not to do 
 At last, at last. 
 
 My half day's work is done, 
 
 And this is all my part ; 
 I give a patient God 
 
 My patient heart, 
 
 And grasp his banner still. 
 
 Though all its blue be dim ; 
 These stripes, no less than stars. 
 
 Lead after him. 
 
 Anonymous, 
 
 Sxzz. 
 
 What did we ask with all our love for him, 
 
 But just a breath of fuller life 
 
 To ease the laboring lungs ? And God hath given him 
 
 The gift of life itself, — full, everlasting life ! 
 
 What did we pray for ? Rest even for one night. 
 
 That he might rise with sleep's most golden dews. 
 
 Refreshed to feel the morning in his soul ; 
 
 And God hath given him his eternal rest ! 
 
 We could not proffer freedom for one hour 
 
 From that dread weight of weariness he bore, 
 
 Struggling for years to shake death's shadow off ; 
 
 And God hath made him free forevermore ! 
 
 Ge7'ald Massey. 
 
 ilecping antr 25Fafema 
 
 Sleep, tired one, sleep ! 
 Earth's wakefulness hath pain and sore unrest. 
 And joys and sorrows battling in the breast, 
 nd good that is but longing for the best. 
 
 Sleep, tired one, sleep ! 
 
SUFFERING AND REST, 1 77 
 
 Sleep, lovely one, sleep ! 
 Earth's beauty is a summer sunset's glow, 
 Fading to darkness as the night shades grow ; 
 Thy beauty was of climes we do not know. 
 
 Sleep, lovely one, sleep ! 
 
 Sleep, loving one, sleep ! 
 Warm hearts and tender cluster, true and kind; 
 Thy sorrowing ones they shall not fail to find ; 
 Love well shall guard the love thou leav'st behind. 
 
 Sleep, loving one, sleep I 
 
 Sleep, beloved one, sleep ! 
 Thy dear sweet memory in our hearts abides ; 
 More dear and sweet as time more swiftly glides, 
 Most dear, most sweet, for that to which it guides. 
 
 Sleep, beloved one, sleep ! 
 
 Wake, deathless one, wake ! 
 The Life thou lovedst loves thee still for aye; 
 It had no kinship with thy perishing clay, 
 But crowns thy forehead with eternal Day: 
 Thou waitest for thine own — lighting the way. 
 
 Wake, deathless one, wake. 
 
 F. E. Abbot {to E. C Potter,) 
 
 Sleep. 
 
 He sees when their footsteps falter, when their hearts grow weak and 
 faint ; 
 
 He marks when their strength is failing, and listens to each com- 
 plaint ; 
 
 He bids them rest for a season, for the path-way has grown too steep ; 
 
 And folded in fair green pastures, he giveth his loved ones sleep. 
 
 Like weary and worn-out children, that sigh for the daylight's close, 
 He know s that they oft are longing for home and its sweet repose ; 
 So he calls them in from their labors ere the shadows around them 
 
 creep. 
 And silently watching o'er them, he giveth his loved ones sleep. 
 
178 SUFFERING AND REST. 
 
 He giveth it, oh ! so gently, as a mother will hush to rest 
 The babe that she softly pillows so tenderly on her breast ; 
 Forgotten are now the trials and sorrows that made them weep, 
 F'or with many a soothing promise, he giveth bis loved ones sleep. 
 
 He giveth it ! Friends the dearest can never this boon bestow ; 
 But he touches the drooping eyelids, and placid the features grow; 
 Their foes may gather about them, and storms may round them sweep. 
 But, guarding them safe from danger, he giveth his loved ones sleep. 
 
 All dread of the distant future, all fears that oppressed to-day, 
 Like mists that clear in the sunlight, have noiselessly passed away; 
 Nor call, nor clamor can rouse them from slumbers so pure and deep. 
 For only his voice can reach them, who giveth his loved ones sleep. 
 
 Weep not that their toils are over, weep not that their race is run ; 
 God grant we may rest as calmly when our work, like theirs, is done ! 
 Till then we would yield with gladness our treasures to him to keep. 
 And rejoice in the sweet assurance, he giveth his loved ones sleep. 
 
 Anonymous, 
 
 Where the mountains slope to the westward. 
 
 And their purple chalices hold 
 The new made w4ne of the sunset — 
 
 Crimson and amber and gold — 
 
 In this old, wide-opened doorw^ay. 
 
 With the elm-boughs over head — 
 The house all garnished behind her. 
 
 And the plentiful table spread — 
 
 She has stood to welcome our coming. 
 
 Watching our upward climb. 
 In the sweet June weather that brought us. 
 
 Oh, many and many a time ! 
 
 To-day, in the gentle splendor 
 
 Of the early summer noon — 
 Perfect in sunshine and fragrance 
 
 Although it is hardly June — 
 
SUFFERING AND REST. I 79 
 
 Again is the doorway opened, 
 
 And the house is garnished and sweet; 
 But she silently waits for our coming, 
 
 And we enter with silent feet. 
 
 A little within she is waiting, 
 
 Not where she has met us before ; 
 For over the pleasant threshold 
 
 She is only to cross once more. 
 
 The smile on her face is quiet, 
 
 And a lily is on her breast ; 
 Her hands are folded together 
 
 And the word on her lips is " rest." 
 
 And yet it looks like a welcome, 
 
 For her work is compassed and done ; 
 All things are seemly and ready, 
 
 And her summer is just begun. 
 
 It is we who may not cross over : 
 
 Only with song and prayer, 
 A little way into the glory, 
 
 We may reach as we leave her there. 
 
 But we cannot think of her idle ; 
 
 She must be a home-maker still ; 
 God giveth that work to the angels 
 
 Who fittest the task fulfil ; 
 
 And somewhere, yet, in the hilltops 
 
 Of the country that hath no pain, 
 She wiU watch in her beautiful doorway, 
 
 To bid us a welcome again. 
 
 A. D, T. Whitney, 
 
 ^Titeti ©ut. 
 
 He does well who does his best; 
 Is he weary ? let him rest. 
 Brothers ! I have done my best, 
 I am weary — let me rest. 
 
l8o SUFFERING AND REST. 
 
 After toiling oft in vain, 
 Baffled, yet to struggle fain, 
 After toiling long to gain 
 Little good with weary pain. 
 Let me rest. But lay me low 
 Where the hedge-side roses blow, 
 Where the little daisies grow, 
 Where the winds a-maying go, 
 Where the foot-path rustics plod, 
 Where the breeze-bowed poplars nod. 
 Where the old woods worship God, 
 Where his pencil paints the sod, 
 Where the wedded throstle sings. 
 Where the young bird tries his wings, 
 Where at times the tempests roar. 
 Shaking distant sea and shore. 
 To be heard by me no more ! 
 There beneath the breezy west. 
 Tired and thankful, let me rest 
 Like a child that sleepeth best 
 On its mother's gentle breast. 
 
 Ano7tymous. 
 
 3I3isetit|)ralletr. 
 
 Dead ! Do you say that he is dead ? 
 
 Take back the word, it is not true ! 
 An empty cage, you might have said. 
 
 Has lost the singer that we knew — 
 The song rose level with the stars, 
 That charmed us even in prison bars. 
 
 But dead 'i There can be no such word 
 For that which was serenely bright. 
 
 Made in the image of the Lord, 
 
 An effluence from the central light. 
 
 An inbreathed essence from on high, 
 
 A heaven-lit spark ! that could not die. 
 
 Not dead — but free — he soars above 
 The limit of our lesser scope. 
 
SUFFERING AND REST. l8l 
 
 And we, because we shared his love, 
 
 May cherish the uplifting hope 
 That life to us is more, by just 
 His altitude above our dust. 
 
 More by the power he has attained 
 
 To minister as angels may; 
 More by the knowledge he has gained 
 
 Of love's supremest, patient way ; 
 Of blessing through the cloud or sun, 
 So one all-perfect Will be done. 
 
 And he (the thought is radiant) he 
 
 This very moment may be near, 
 With solace meted soothingly 
 
 To feed a hope or hush a fear : 
 So true it is, divinest things 
 Come borne to us on hidden wings. 
 
 So well we knew our Father's care 
 
 Hovers about us, night and day, 
 So sweet it is to think the air 
 
 Is moved in a mysterious way 
 By breath of one beloved on earth 
 Grown lovelier by celestial birth. 
 
 Then say not he is of the dead, 
 
 'Tis only we in cerements dim. 
 Who fail of life around, o'erhead ; 
 
 But say it nevermore of him 
 Whom death to livelier joys has called. 
 Who lives among us disenthralled. 
 
 Mary B. Dodge, 
 
 2r|)e €^onqueror*s CKrabe. 
 
 Within this lowly grave a conqueror lies. 
 And yet the monument proclaims it not. 
 A simple name alone. 
 To the great world unknown. 
 Is graven here, and wild-flowers rising round, 
 Meek meadow-sweet, and violets of the ground, 
 Lean lovingly against the humble stone. 
 
l82 SUFFERING AND REST. 
 
 Here in the quiet earth, they laid apart 
 
 No man of iron mould and bloody hands, 
 But one of tender spirit and delicate frame ; 
 Gentlest in mien and mind 
 Of gentle womankind, 
 Timidly shrinking from the breath of blame : 
 One in whose eyes the smile of kindness made 
 Its haunt, like flowers by sunny brooks in May ; 
 
 Yet at the thought of others' pain a shade 
 Of sweeter sadness chased the smile away. 
 
 Nor deem that when the hand that moulders here 
 Was raised in menace, realms were chilled with fear. 
 Not thus were waged the mighty wars that gave 
 The victory to her who fills this grave : 
 
 Alone her task was wrought, 
 
 Alone the battle fought ; 
 Through that long strife her constant hope was staid 
 On God alone, nor looked for other aid. 
 
 She met the hosts of Sorrow with a look 
 
 That altered not beneath the frown they wore, 
 And soon the lowering brood were tamed, and took, 
 
 Meekly, her gentle rule and frowned no more. 
 Her soft hand put aside the assaults of wrath, 
 And calmly broke in twain 
 The fiery shafts of pain. 
 And rent the nets of passion from her path. 
 
 By that victorious hand dispair was slain ; 
 With love she vanquished hate and overcame 
 
 Evil with good in her great Master's name. 
 
 O gentle sleeper, from thy grave I go 
 
 Consoled, though sad, in hope and yet in fear. 
 
 Brief is the time, I know. 
 
 The warfare scarce begun ; 
 
 Yet all may win the triumphs thou hast won. 
 
 Still flows the fount whose waters strengthened thee; 
 
 The victors' names are yet too few to fill 
 
 Heaven's mighty roll ; the glorious armory, 
 
 That ministered to thee, is open still. 
 
 William C. Bryant. 
 
PART V. 
 CHILDHOOD — YOUTH. 
 
 Sotofng fix STears. 
 
 Straight and still the baby lies, 
 No more smiling in his eyes, 
 Neither tears nor wailing cries. 
 
 Smiles and tears alike are done ; 
 He has need of neither one — 
 Only, I must weep alone. 
 
 Tiny fingers, all too slight. 
 Hold within their grasping tight, 
 Waxen berries scarce more white. 
 
 Nights and days of weary pain 
 I have held them close — in vain ; 
 Now T never shall again. 
 
 Crossed upon a silent breast, 
 By no suffering distressed, 
 Here they lie in marble rest* 
 
 They shall ne'er unfolded be, 
 Never more in agony 
 Cling so pleadingly to me. 
 
 Yearning sore, I only know 
 I am very full of woe — 
 And I want my baby so ! 
 
 Weary heart, that thou should'st prove 
 
 So unworthy of the love 
 
 Which thy darling doth remove ! 
 
 (i33) 
 
184 CHII.DHOOD — YOUTH. 
 
 Blinded eyes, that cannot see 
 
 Past the present misery, 
 
 Joy and comfort full and free ! 
 
 my Father ! loving Lord ! 
 Give me shame at my own word, 
 Strength and patience me afford. 
 
 1 will yield me to thy will ; 
 Now thy purposes fulfil ; 
 Only help me to be still. 
 
 Though the mother-heart shall ache, 
 I believe that, for his sake, 
 It shall not entirely break. 
 
 And I know I yet shall own, 
 For my seeds of sorrow sown, 
 Sheaves of joy around thy throne ! 
 
 Anonymous, 
 
 <Diir '^\)\\z Bobe. 
 
 A white dove out of heaven flew, 
 White as the whitest shape of grace 
 That nestles in the soft embrace 
 
 Of heaven when skies are summer blue ; 
 
 It came with dew-drop purity. 
 
 On glad wings of the morning light, 
 And sank into our life, so white 
 
 A vision ! sweetly, secretly ! 
 
 Our dove had eyes of Baby blue, 
 Soft as the speedwell's by the way, 
 That looketh up as it would say, 
 " Who kissed me while I slept, did you ? '* 
 
 It seemed to come from far green fields 
 To meet us over life's rough sea. 
 With leaf of promise from the tree 
 
 In which a dearer nest it builds. 
 
CHILDHOOD YOUTH. 185 
 
 We held it as the leaves of life 
 
 In hidden silent service fold 
 
 About a Rose's heart of gold, 
 So jealous of all outer strife ! 
 
 One day she pined up in our face 
 
 With a low cry we could not still, 
 
 A moaning we could never heal, 
 For sleep in some more quiet place. 
 
 The look grew pleading in her eyes, 
 
 And mournful as the lonesome light 
 
 That in a window burns all night, 
 Asking for stillness, when one dies. 
 
 The hand of Death so coldly clings. 
 
 So strongly draws the weak life-wave 
 
 Into his dark, vast, silent cave ; 
 Our little Dove must use its wings ! 
 
 And so it sought the dearer nest ; 
 
 A little way across the sea 
 
 It kept us winged company. 
 Then sank into its leafier rest. 
 
 And left us day by day to feel 
 
 A sadness in the sweetest words, 
 
 A broken heartstring mid the chords, 
 A tone more tremulous when we kneel. 
 
 The stars that shone in her dear eyes 
 
 May be a little while withdrawn 
 
 To rise and lead the eternal dawn 
 For us, up heaven in other skies. 
 
 Our bird of God but soars and sings : 
 
 Oft w^hen life*s heaving wave's at rest. 
 
 She makes her mirror in my breast, 
 I feel a winnowing of wings. 
 
l86 CHILDHOOD YOUTH. 
 
 Be good ! and you shall find her where 
 No wind can shake the wee bird's nest ; 
 No dreams can break the wee bird's rest 
 
 No night, no pain, no parting there ! 
 
 No echoes of old storms gone by ! 
 
 Earth's sorrows slumber peacefully ; 
 
 The wears^ are at rest, and He 
 Shall wipe the tears from every eye. 
 
 Gerald Massey, 
 
 ^n )-nfaut*s Beat!). 
 
 A snow-flake falls, from out the air above, 
 Upon some spot of ground where lingers yet 
 The warmth of Summer's and of Autumn's sun ; 
 And in a moment it has passed from sight. 
 Most beautiful its crystal shape, a six- 
 Rayed star, well fitted, if it could have stayed 
 Until the sunlight fell thereon, to give 
 A wealth of rainbow-hues, to gladden all 
 Who saw its loveliness. Why came the flake 
 Of snow, to go so soon, and leave no trace .'' 
 A useless birth, a useless death, it seems. 
 
 So seems — but when we trace the snow-flake back, 
 And try to image all the wondrous store 
 Of nature's skill in that one bit displayed. 
 And know how all things joined together are, 
 And work in harmony in this great world, 
 So that from furthest parts the forces come, 
 W^hich meet an instant, give the snow-flake birth, 
 Then pass to other work — we know what seems 
 A trifling thing, is far from being so ; 
 In one grand thought the truth comes home to us, 
 That, were it not the snow-flake came to earth, 
 The world could not have been the same to-day. 
 
CHILDHOOD YOUTH. 187 
 
 So, when from out the unknown space, there comes 
 A little child to earth, which melts too soon 
 From out the lap which gave it birth away, 
 Before the sunlight love of home could give 
 It consciousness of life — at once we ask, 
 Why came the babe at all, so soon to go ? 
 A useless birth, a useless death, it seems. 
 
 So seems — but when we gather up the threads, 
 The myriad threads, which bind its little life 
 To lives of countless thousands gone before, 
 To lives of countless thousands yet to come, — 
 E'en as the rippling wave will reach at last 
 From hither unto farther shore, and move, 
 With felt or unfelt touch, all things that float 
 Upon the surface of the watery deep, — 
 We know, with faith beyond the power of sight, 
 That not in vain the little one did come. 
 Did stay awhile, then pass from sight away ; 
 The world — our world at least — is not the same 
 As though the babe had never come to us. 
 
 Rowland Connor, 
 
 ^ il5al)5's Beatt). 
 
 The little feet that never trod 
 
 Earth, never strayed in field or street, 
 What hand leads upward back to God 
 The little feet.? 
 
 Their pilgrimage's period 
 
 A few swift moons have seen complete 
 Since mother's hands first clasped and shod 
 The little feet. 
 
 The little hands that never sought 
 
 Earth's prizes, worthless all as sands, 
 What gift has death, God's servant, brought 
 The little hands } 
 
l88 CHII.DHOOD YOUTH. 
 
 Ere this, perchance, though love knows naught. 
 
 Flowers fill them, grown in lovelier lands, 
 Where hands of guiding angels caught 
 The little hands. 
 
 The little eyes that never knew 
 
 Light other than of dawning skies, 
 What new life now lights up anew 
 The little eyes ? 
 
 No storm, we know, may change the blue, 
 Soft heaven that haply death descries ; 
 No tears like these in ours, bedew 
 The little eyes. 
 
 A. C. Swinburne, 
 
 W^z SrtDO irKjsteries.. 
 
 [In the middle of the room, in its white coffin, lay the dead child, nephew cf 
 the poet. Near it, in a great chair, sat Walt Whitman, surrounded by little 
 ones, and holding a beautiful little girl in his lap. The child locked curiously 
 at the spectacle of death, and then inquiringly into the old man's face. ''You 
 don't know what it is, do you, my dear ? " said he. " We don't either." 
 
 We know not what it is, dear, this sleep so deep and still ; 
 The folded hands, the aw'ful calm, the cheek so pale and chill ; 
 The lids that will not lift again, though we may call and call ; 
 The strange, white solitude of peace that settles over all. 
 
 We know not what it means, dear, this desolate heart-pain, — 
 This dread to take our daily way, and walk in it again. 
 We know not to what other sphere the loved who leave us go; 
 Nor why we're left to wonder still ; nor why we do not know. 
 
 But this we know : our loved and dead, if they should come this 
 
 day, — 
 Should come and ask us, " What is life } " not one of us could say. 
 Life is a mystery as deep as ever death can be ; 
 Yet, oh, how sweet it is to us, this life we live and see ! 
 
CHILDHOOD YOUTH. 
 
 1 89 
 
 Then might they say, — these vanished ones, — and blessed is the 
 
 thought ! — 
 " So death is sweet to us, beloved, though we may tell you naught : 
 We may not tell it to the quick, — this mystery of death, — 
 Ye may not tell us, if ye would, the mystery of breath." 
 
 The child who enters life comes not with know^ledge or intent, 
 So those who enter death must go as little children sent. 
 Nothing is known. But I believe that God is overhead ; 
 And as life is to the living, so death is to the dead. 
 
 Mary Mapes Dodge. 
 
 Children are God's apostles, day by day 
 
 Sent forth to preach of love, and hope, and peace ; 
 
 Nor hath thy babe his mission left undone. 
 
 To me, at least, his going hence hath given 
 
 Serener thoughts and nearer to the skies. 
 
 And opened a new fountain in my heart 
 
 For thee, my friend, and all : and oh, if Death 
 
 More near approaches, meditates, and clasps, 
 
 Even now some dearer, more reluctant hand, 
 
 God, strengthen thou my faith, that I may see 
 
 That 't is thine angel who, with loving haste, 
 
 Unto the service of the inner shrine. 
 
 Doth weaken thy beloved with a kiss. 
 
 J. R, Lowell. On the Death of a FrieitcTs Child, 
 
 Sl)e IS Not Beati, 33ut Sleepett). 
 
 The baby wept ; 
 The mother took it from the nurse's arms. 
 And soothed its griefs, and stilled its vain alarms, 
 
 And baby slept. 
 
 Again it weeps, 
 And God doth take it from the mother's arms. 
 From present pain, and future unknown harms, 
 
 And baby sleeps. 
 
 Dr. I I. fids. 
 
190 CHILDHOOD YOUTH. 
 
 Sfox a JJ'rientr in Sorroto. 
 
 It was a tender hand that drew my boy away, 
 Out of earth's shadow into heaven's day ; 
 It was a loving voice that called him home, 
 I catch its distant music, — " Darling — come ! " 
 
 I know he lives with angels now, my boy. 
 He sees their radiant faces, feels their joy; 
 And heaven is dearer, nearer and so fair. 
 Since this dear treasure of my heart is there. 
 
 And yet my arms are empty — oh ! to hold 
 His face against my bosom as of old, 
 To clasp him close and feel the tender bliss 
 Of his warm nestling touch, and baby kiss. 
 
 Lord, help me if I sometimes wonder why 
 The message came for him and passed me by, 
 And marvel in my sad perplexity 
 How he can be content away from me ! 
 
 His little life was woven close with mine 
 
 As vines in summer meet and intertwine. 
 
 So when the summons came for us to part. 
 
 The severing touch, though tender, broke my heart. 
 
 Yet dearest Lord, I will not long repine. 
 My bleeding heart shall find its balm in thine. 
 In the dark shadows I will feel for thee 
 And trust thee — as my baby trusted me. 
 
 Anonymous, 
 
 2rj)e a^eaper anti tlje JFlotoers. 
 
 There is a Reaper whose name is Death, 
 
 And, with his sickle keen. 
 He reaps the bearded grain at a breath. 
 
 And the flowers that grow between. 
 
CHILDHOOD YOUTH. I9I 
 
 " Shall I have naught that is fair ? " saith he ; 
 " Have naught but the bearded grain ? 
 Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me, 
 I will give them all back again." 
 
 He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes, 
 
 He kissed their drooping leaves ; 
 It was for the Lord of Paradise 
 
 He bound them in his sheaves. 
 
 " My Lord has need of these flowerets gay," 
 
 The Reaper said, and smiled ; 
 "Dear tokens of the earth are they. 
 
 Where he was once a child." 
 
 " They shall all bloom in fields of light, 
 Transplanted by my care, 
 And saints upon their garments white, 
 These sacred blossoms wear." 
 
 And the mother gave, in tears and pain, 
 
 The flowers she most did love ; 
 She knew she should find them all again 
 
 In the fields of light above. 
 
 Oh, not in cruelty, not in wrath, 
 
 The Reaper came that day ; 
 'Twas an angel visited the green earth, 
 
 And took the flowers away. 
 
 H, W. Longfellow. 
 
 CTe Alpine S|)eep. 
 
 After our child's untroubled breath 
 
 Up to the Father took its way, 
 And on our home the shade of death * 
 
 Like a long twilight haunting lay ; 
 
 And friends came round, with us to weep 
 
 Her little spirit's swift remove, — 
 The story of the Alpine sheep 
 
 Was told to us by one we love. 
 
192 CHILDHOOD YOUTH. 
 
 They, in the valley's sheltering care, 
 Soon crop the meadow's tender prime, 
 
 And when the sod grows brown and bare 
 The shepherd strives to make them climb 
 
 To airy shelves of pastures green, 
 That hang along the mountain's side, 
 
 Where grass and flowers together lean, 
 
 And down through mists the sunbeams slide. 
 
 But nought can tempt the timid things 
 The steep and rugged path to try, 
 
 Though sweet the shepherd calls and sings, 
 And seared below the pastures lie, — 
 
 Till in his arms their lambs he takes, 
 
 Along the dizzy verge to go, 
 Then, heedless of the rifts and breaks, 
 
 They follow on, o'er rock and snow. 
 
 And in those pastures, lifted fair. 
 More dewy soft than lowland mead, 
 
 The shepherd drops his tender care. 
 And sheep and lambs together feed. 
 
 This parable, by nature breathed, 
 Blew on me as the south wind free 
 
 O'er frozen brooks, that flow unsheathed 
 
 From icy thraldom to the sea. 
 
 « 
 
 A blissful vision, through the night. 
 
 Would all my happy senses sway, 
 
 Of the good shepherd on the height, 
 
 ♦ Or climbing up the stony way. 
 
 Holding our little lamb asleep. 
 While, like the murmur of the sea, 
 
 Sounded that voice along the deep. 
 Saying " Arise, and follow me ! " 
 
 Maria Lowell, 
 
CHILDHOOD YOUTH. I93 
 
 3Little OTfltiten 
 
 In the baron's hall of pride. 
 By the poor man's dull fireside, 
 'Mid the mighty, 'mid the mean. 
 Little children maybe seen. 
 Like the flowers that spring up fair. 
 Bright and countless everywhere ! 
 
 Blessings on them ! they in me 
 Move a kindly sympathy. 
 With their wishes, hopes and fears; 
 With their laughter and their tears ; 
 With their wonder so intense. 
 And their small experience ! 
 
 Little children, not alone 
 On this wide earth are ye known ; 
 'Mid its labors and its cares, 
 'Mid its sufferings and its snares ; 
 Free from sorrow, free from strife. 
 In the world of love and life. 
 Where no sinful thing hath trod — 
 In the presence of your God, 
 Spotless, blameless, glorified — 
 Little children, ye abide. 
 
 Mary Hvwitt, 
 
 Buried to-day; 
 
 When the soft green buds are bursting out, 
 
 And up on the south-wind comes a shout 
 Of village boys and girls at play 
 In the mild spring evening gray. 
 
 Taken away ; 
 
 Sturdy of heart and stout of limb, 
 
 From eyes that drew half their light from him, 
 
 And put low, low underneath the clay, 
 
 In his spring, — on this spring day. 
 
194 CHILDHOOD YOUTH. 
 
 Passes away, 
 
 All the pride of boy-life begun, 
 
 All the hope of life yet to run j 
 Who dares to question when One saith "Nay." 
 Murmur not, — only pray 
 
 Enters to-day. 
 
 Another body in church-yard sod. 
 
 Another soul on the life in God. 
 His Christ was buried — and lives alway ; 
 Trust him and go your way. 
 
 D, M. Miilock-Craik, 
 
 I had a little daughter, 
 
 And she was given to me 
 To lead me gently backward 
 
 To the heavenly Father's knee. 
 That I by the force of nature, 
 
 Might, in some dim wise, divine 
 The depth of his infinite patience 
 
 To this wayward soul of mine. 
 
 I know not how others saw her, 
 
 But to me she was wholly fair, 
 And the light of the heaven she came from 
 
 Still lingered and gleamed in her hair ; 
 For it was as wavy and golden. 
 
 And as many changes took, 
 As the shadows of sun-gilt ripples 
 
 On the yellow bed of a brook. 
 
 She had been with us scarce a twelvemonth, 
 
 And it hardly seemed a day. 
 When a troop of wandering angels 
 
 Stole my little daughter away; 
 Or perhaps those heavenly guardians 
 
 But loosed the hampering strings, 
 And when they had opened her cage door 
 
 My little bird used her wings. 
 
CHILDHOOD YOUTH. I95 
 
 But they left in her stead a changeling, 
 
 A little angel child, 
 That seems like a bud in full blossom, 
 
 And smiles as she never smiled. 
 This child is not mine as the first was, 
 
 I cannot sing it to rest, 
 I cannot lift it up fatherly 
 
 And bliss it upon my breast ; 
 Yet it lies in my little one's cradle, 
 
 And sits in my little one's chair, 
 And the light of the heaven she's gone to 
 
 Transfigures its golden hair. 
 
 /. R. Lowell, 
 
 Is it so far from thee 
 Thou canst no longer see, 
 In the Chamber over the Gate, 
 That old man desolate. 
 Weeping and wailing sore 
 For his son, who is no more? 
 O Absalom, my son ! 
 
 Is it so long ago 
 That cry of human woe 
 From the walled city came. 
 Calling on his dear name, 
 That it has died away 
 In the distance of to-day? 
 O Absalom, my son ! 
 
 There is no far or near, 
 There is neither there nor here, 
 There is neither soon nor late. 
 In that Chamber over the Gate, 
 Nor any long ago 
 To that cry of human woe, 
 O Absalom, my son ! 
 
196 CHILDHOOD YOUTH. 
 
 Somewhere at every hour 
 The watchman on the tower 
 Looks forth, and sees the fleet 
 Approach of the hurrying feet 
 Of messengers, that bear 
 The tidings of despair. 
 O Absalom, my son ! 
 
 He goes forth from the door, 
 Who shall return no more. 
 With him our joy departs; 
 The light goes out in our hearts ; 
 In the Chamber over the Gate 
 We sit disconsolate. 
 O Absalom, my son ! 
 
 That 't is a common grief 
 Bringeth but slight relief ; 
 Ours is the bitterest loss, 
 Ours is the heaviest cross ; 
 And forever the cry will be 
 « Would God I had died for thee, 
 O Absalom, my son ! " 
 
 H. W. Longfellow, 
 
 1^2 Qtxym, 
 
 I cannot make him dead ! 
 
 His fair sunshiny head 
 Is ever bounding round my study chair ; 
 
 Yet when my eyes, now dim 
 
 With tears, I turn to him. 
 The vision vanishes, — he is not there ! 
 
 I walk my parlor floor. 
 
 And, through the open door, 
 I hear a footfall on the chamber stair ; 
 
 I 'm stepping toward the hall 
 
 To give the boy a call ; 
 And then bethink me that — he is not there ! 
 
CHILDHOOD YOUTH. I97 
 
 T know his face is hid 
 
 Under the coffin lid, 
 Closed are his eyes ; cold is his forehead fair ; 
 
 My hand that marble felt ; 
 
 O'er it in prayer I knelt ; 
 Yet my heart whispers that — he is not there I 
 
 Not there ! Where, then, is he ? 
 
 The form I used to see 
 Was but the raiment that he used to wear. 
 
 The grave, that now doth press 
 
 Upon that cast-off dress, 
 Is but his wardrobe locked ; he is not there ! 
 
 He lives ! — in all the past 
 
 He lives; nor to the last, 
 Of seeing him again will I despair ; 
 
 In dreams I see him now ; 
 
 And, on his angel brow, 
 I see it written, " Thou shalt see me there l^^ 
 
 Yes, we all live to God ! 
 
 Father, thy chastening rod 
 So help us, thine afflicted ones, to bear, 
 
 That, in the spirit land. 
 
 Meeting at thy right hand, 
 'Twill be our heaven to find that — he is there. 
 
 John Pierpont. 
 
 ^Je i^ornin2=sC!5^lor2> 
 
 We wreathed about our darling's head 
 
 The morning-glory bright ; 
 Her little face looked out beneath 
 
 So full of life and light, 
 So lit, as with a sunrise, 
 
 That we could only say, 
 " She is the morning-glory true. 
 
 And her poor types are they." 
 
198 CHILDHOOD — YOUTH. 
 
 So always from that happy time 
 
 We called her by their name, 
 And very fitting did it seem, — 
 
 For, sure as morning came, 
 Behind her cradle bars she smiled 
 
 To catch the first faint ray, 
 As from the trellis smiles the flower, 
 
 And opens to the day. 
 
 We used to think how she had come, 
 
 Even as comes the flower, 
 The last and perfect added gift 
 
 To crown Love's morning hour ; 
 And how in her was imaged forth 
 
 The love we could not say, 
 As on the little dewdrops round 
 
 Shines back the heart of day. 
 
 The morning-glory's blossoming 
 
 Will soon be coming round, — 
 We see their rows of heart-shaped leaves 
 
 Upspringing from the ground ; 
 The tender things the winter killed 
 
 Renew again their birth. 
 But the glory of our morning 
 
 Has passed away from earth. 
 
 Earth \ in vain our aching eyes 
 
 Stretch over thy green plain ! 
 Too harsh thy dews, too gross thine air, 
 
 Her spirit to sustain ; 
 But up in groves of Paradise 
 
 Full surely we shall see 
 Our morning-glory beautiful 
 
 Twine round our dear Lord's knee. 
 
 Maria Lowell. 
 
ClIILDIICOD YOUTH. 
 
 Another hand is beckoning us, 
 
 Another call is given ; 
 And glows once more with angel-steps 
 
 The path which reaches heaven. 
 
 Our young and gentle friend, whose smile 
 
 Made brighter summer hours, 
 Amid the frosts of autumn time, 
 
 Has left us with the flowers. 
 
 The light of her young life went down, 
 
 As sinks behind the hill 
 The glory of a setting star, — 
 
 Clear, suddenly, and still. 
 
 As pure and sweet, her fair brow seemed 
 
 Eternal as the sky ; 
 And, like che brook's low song, her voice, — 
 
 A sound which could not die. 
 
 And half we deemed she needed not 
 
 The changing of her sphere, 
 To give to heaven a shining one, 
 
 Who walked an angel here. 
 
 The blessing of her quiet life 
 
 Fell on us like the dew ; 
 And good thoughts where her footsteps pressed, 
 
 Like fairy blossoms grew. 
 
 Sweet promptings unto kindest deeds 
 
 Were in her very look ; 
 We read her face as one who reads 
 
 A true and holy book. 
 
 We miss her in her place of prayer. 
 
 And by the hearth-fire's light ; 
 We pause beside her door to hear 
 
 Once more her sweet " Good-Night ! '* 
 
 199 
 
200 CHILDHOOD YOUTH. 
 
 There seems a shadow on the day, 
 
 Her smile no longer cheers ; 
 A dimness on the stars of night, 
 
 Like eyes that look through tears. 
 
 Alone unto our Father's will 
 
 One thought hath reconciled; 
 That he whose love exceedeth ours 
 
 Hath taken home his child. 
 
 Fold her, O Father ! in thine arms, 
 
 And let her henceforth be 
 A messenger of love between 
 Our human hearts and thee. 
 
 Still let her mild rebuking stand 
 
 Between us and the wrong. 
 And her dear memory serve to make 
 
 Our faith in goodness strong. 
 
 And grant that she, who, trembling here, 
 
 Distrusted all her powers. 
 May welcome to her holier home 
 
 The well-beloved of ours. 
 
 /. G, Whittier^ 
 
 'mz 'm^Xz\)t^ J^tx 2Sreat!)fna. 
 
 We watched her breathing through the night. 
 
 Her breathing soft and low. 
 As in her breast the wave of life 
 
 Kept heaving to and fro. 
 
 So silently we seemed to speak, 
 
 So slowly moved about. 
 As we had lent her half our powers 
 
 To eke her living out. 
 
 Our very hopes belied our fears, 
 
 Our fears our hopes belied, — 
 We thought her dying when she slept. 
 
 And sleeping when she died. 
 
CHILDHOOD — YOUTH. 20I 
 
 For when the morn came dim and sad, 
 
 And chill with early showers, 
 Her quiet eyelids closed, — she had 
 
 Another morn than ours. 
 
 Thomas Hood, 
 
 2rf)e 3lent Setoels. 
 
 In schools of wisdom all the day was spent ; 
 
 His steps at eve the Rabbi homeward bent, 
 
 With homeward thoughts which dwelt upon the wife 
 
 And two fair children who consoled his life : 
 
 She, meeting at the threshold, led him in, 
 
 And with the words preventing did begin, — 
 
 " Ever rejoicing at your wished return, 
 
 Yet do I most so now ; for since this morn 
 
 I have been much perplexed and sorely tried 
 
 Upon one point which you shall now decide. 
 
 " Some years ago a friend into my care 
 
 Some jewels gave ; rich precious gems they were ; 
 
 But having given them in my charge, this friend 
 
 Did afterward nor come for them nor send, 
 
 But left them in my keeping for so long 
 
 That now it almost seems to me a wrong 
 
 That he should suddenly arrive to-day 
 
 To take those jew^els which he left, away. 
 
 What think you ? Shall I freely yield them back, 
 
 And with no murmuring — so henceforth to lack 
 
 Those gems myself, which T had learned to see 
 
 Almost as mine forever, mine in fee ? " 
 
 " What question can be here ? Your own true heart 
 
 Must needs advise you of the only part ; 
 
 That may be claimed again which was but lent, 
 
 And should be yielded without discontent ; 
 
 Nor surely can we find herein a wrong, 
 
 That it was left us to enjoy it long." 
 
202 CHILDHOOD YOUTH. 
 
 " Good is the word," she answered. " May we now 
 
 And evermore that it is good allow ! " 
 
 And rising, to an inner chamber led, 
 
 And there she showed him, stretched upon one bed, 
 
 Two children pale ; and he the jewels knew 
 
 Which God had lent him and resumed anew. 
 
 R. C. Trench. 
 
 aXesigtiatfon. 
 
 There is no flock, however watched and tended, 
 
 But one dead lamb is there ! 
 There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended, 
 
 But has one vacant chair ! 
 
 The air is full of farewells to the dying, 
 
 And mournings for the dead ; 
 The heart of Rachel, for her children crying, 
 
 Will not be comforted ! 
 
 Let us be patient ! These severe afflictions 
 
 Not from the ground arise, 
 But oftentimes celestial benedictions 
 
 Assume this dark disguise. 
 
 We see but dimly through the mists and vapors ; 
 
 Amid these earthly damps. 
 What seem to us but sad, funereal tapers 
 
 May be heaven's distant lamps. 
 
 There is no Death ! What seems so is transition ; 
 
 This life of mortal breath 
 Is but a suburb of the life elysian, 
 
 Whose portal we call Death. 
 
 She is rot dead, — the child of our affection, — 
 
 But gone unto that school 
 Where she no longer needs our poor protection, 
 
 And Christ himself doth rule. 
 
 In that grear cloister's stillness and seclusion, 
 
 By guardian angels led. 
 Safe from temptation, safe from sin's pollution, 
 
 She lives, whom we call dead. 
 
CHILDHOOD — YOUTH. 203 
 
 Day after day, we think what she is doing 
 
 In those bright realms of air ; 
 Year after year, her tender steps pursuing, 
 
 Behold her grown more fair. 
 
 Thus do we walk with her, and keep unbroken 
 
 The bond which nature gives. 
 Thinking that our remembrance, though unspoken, 
 
 May reach her where she lives. 
 
 Not as a child shall we again behold her ; ■ 
 
 For, when with raptures wild 
 In our embraces we again enfold her, 
 
 She will not be a child, 
 
 But a fair maiden, in her Father's mansion. 
 
 Clothed with celestial grace ; 
 And beautiful with all the soul's expansion 
 
 Shall we behold her face. 
 
 And though, at times, impetuous with emotion 
 
 And anguish long suppressed, 
 The swelling heart heaves, moaning like the ocean 
 
 That cannot be at rest, — 
 
 We will be patient, and assuage the feeling 
 
 We may not wholly stay ; 
 By silence sanctifying, not concealing. 
 
 The grief that must have way. 
 
 a H. W, Longfellow, 
 
 ITcsta. 
 
 O Christ of God ! whose life and death 
 
 Our own have reconciled, 
 Most quietly, most tenderly, 
 
 Take home this little child ! 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Thy grace is in her patient eyes, 
 Thy words are on her tongue ; 
 
 The very silence round her seems 
 As if the angels sung. 
 
204 CHILDHOOD — YOUTH. 
 
 Her smile is as a listening child's 
 Who hears its mother call ; 
 
 The lilies of thy perfect peace 
 About her pillow fall. 
 
 She leans from out our clinging arms 
 To rest herself in thine ; 
 
 Alone to thee, dear Lord, can we 
 Our well-beloved resign ! 
 
 Oh, less for her than for ourselves 
 We bow our heads and pray; 
 
 Her setting star, like Bethlehem's 
 To thee shall point the way. 
 
 /. G. Whittier, 
 
 3liftet» ©ber. 
 
 As tender mothers guiding baby steps, 
 Where places come at which the tiny feet 
 Would trip, lift up the little ones in arms 
 Of love, and set them down beyond the harm, 
 So did our Father watch the precious boy, 
 Led o'er the stones by me, who stumbled oft 
 Myself, but strove to help my darling on : 
 He saw the sweet limbs faltering, and saw 
 Rough ways before us, where my arms would fail ; 
 So reached from heaven, and lifting the dear child, 
 Who smiled in leaving me, he put him down, 
 Beyond all hurt, beyond my sight, and bade 
 Him wait for me ! Shall I not then be glad, 
 And, thanking God, press on to overtake ? 
 
PART VI. 
 THE AGED. 
 
 Fold reverently the weary hands 
 
 That toiled so long and well ; 
 And while your tears of sorrow fall 
 
 Let sweet thanksgivings swell. 
 
 That life-work stretching o'er long years 
 
 A varied web has been ; 
 With silver strands by sorrow wrought, 
 
 And sunny gleams between. 
 
 How bright she always made the home 1 
 
 It seemed as if the floor 
 Was always flecked with spots of sun. 
 
 And barred with brightness o'er. 
 
 The very falling of her step 
 
 Made music as she went ; 
 A loving song was on her lip, 
 
 The song of full content. 
 
 O gently fold the weary hands 
 
 That toiled so long and well ! 
 The spirit rose to angel bands, 
 
 When off earth's mantle fell. 
 
 She's safe within her Father's house 
 
 Where many mansions be ; 
 O pray that thus such rest may come 
 Dear hearts, to thee and me ! 
 
 Anonymous, 
 (205) 
 
2o6 THE AGED, 
 
 3Seauliful JB^antrjsf. 
 
 Such beautiful, beautiful hands ! 
 
 They're neither white nor small, 
 And you, I know, would scarcely think 
 
 That they were fair at all. 
 I 've looked on hands whose form and hue 
 
 A sculptor's dream might be. 
 Yet are those aged wrinkled hands 
 
 Most beautiful to me. 
 
 Such beautiful, beautiful hands ! 
 
 Though the heart was weary and sad. 
 These patient hands kept toiling on, 
 
 That the children might be glad. 
 I almost weep, as looking back 
 
 To childhood's distant day, 
 I think how these hands rested not 
 
 When mine were at their play. 
 
 Such beautiful, beautiful hands ! 
 
 They''re growing feeble now ; 
 For time and pain have left their mark 
 
 On hand and heart and brow. 
 Alas ! Alas ! the nearing time. 
 
 And the sad, sad day to me, 
 When 'neath the daisies, out of sight, 
 
 These hands will folded be. 
 
 But oh, beyond this shadow-lamp, 
 
 Where all is bright and fair, 
 I know full well these dear old hands 
 
 Will palms of victory bear. 
 Where crystal streams, through endless years, 
 
 Flow over golden sands. 
 And where the old grow young again, 
 
 I'll clasp my mother's hands. 
 
 Ellen H. M. Gates, 
 
THE AGED. 
 
 ?J^ome»Dartr. 
 
 207 
 
 They sat in peace in the sunshine, 
 
 Till the day was almost done, 
 And then, at its close, an angel 
 
 Stole over the threshold-stone. 
 
 He folded their hands together ; 
 
 He touched their eyelids with balm, 
 And their last breath floated outward. 
 
 Like the close of a solemn psalm. 
 
 Perhaps in that miracle-country 
 They will give her lost youth back, 
 
 And the flowers of the vanished springtime 
 Will bloom in the spirit's track. 
 
 One draught from the living waters 
 Shall call back his manhood's prime, 
 
 And eternal years shall measure 
 The love that outlasted time. 
 
 But the shapes that they left behind them 
 
 The wrinkles and silver hair — 
 Made holy to us by the kisses 
 
 The angels hold printed there — 
 
 We will hide away 'neath the willows, 
 
 When the day is low in the West, 
 Where the sunbeams cannot find them, 
 
 Nor the winds disturb their rest. 
 
 And we'll suffer no telltale tombstone, 
 
 With its age and date, to rise 
 O'er the two who are old no longer, 
 
 In the Father's house in the skies. 
 
 Louise Chandler Moulton. 
 
2o8 THE AGED. 
 
 HUaiting. 
 
 She waited for the summons ; lengthening days 
 Had ripened the rich harvest of her years; 
 The sun hung low ; — across the level plain, 
 In the slant rays, ripe bent the bearded grain. 
 Her feet were weary, and, with faltering hands. 
 She bound the golden tribute of the lands. 
 We watched the coming night w^ith tender fear ; 
 She murmured to herself good words of cheer ; 
 We followed, gleaning ; toil, and heat, and dust 
 Forgotten, in her perfect faith and trust. 
 We followed, gleaning : all the night 
 We heard her voice thank God, in cheerful praise, 
 For this dear life, and all its happy days ; 
 Then there was silence, and we found at dawn 
 Only the faded garments she had worn. 
 
 2rj)e (BUs i[Han^5JFu^erall. 
 
 I saw an aged man upon his bier ; 
 
 His hair was thin and white, and on his brow 
 A record of the cares of many a year, — 
 
 Cares that were ended and forgotten now. 
 And there was sadness round, and faces bowed, 
 And w^oman's tears fell fast, and children wailed aloud. 
 
 Then rose another hoary man, and said, 
 In faltering accents to that weeping train : 
 
 " Why mourn ye that our aged friend is dead ? 
 Ye are not sad to see the gathered grain : 
 
 Nor when their mellow fruits the orchards cast, 
 
 Nor when the yellow^ w^oods let fall the ripened mast. 
 
 " Ye sigh not when the sun, his course fulfilled, — 
 His glorious course, rejoicing earth and sky, — 
 
 In the soft evening, when the winds are stilled, 
 Sinks where his islands of refreshment lie. 
 
 And leaves the smile of his departure spread 
 
 O'er the warm-colored heaven and ruddy mountain-head. 
 
THE AGED. 2O9 
 
 " Why weep ye then for him, who, having won 
 The bound of man's appointed years, at last. 
 Life's blessings all enjoyed, life's labors done, 
 
 Serenely to his final rest has passed ; 
 While the soft memory of his virtues yet 
 Lingers, like twilight hues when the bright sun is set. 
 
 " His youth was innocent ; his riper age 
 
 Marked with some act of goodness every day ; 
 And watched by eyes that loved him, calm and sage, 
 
 Faded his late declining years away : 
 Meekly he gave his being up and went 
 To share the holy rest that waits a life well spent. 
 
 "That life was happy; every day he gave 
 
 Thanks for the fair existence that was his ; 
 For a sick fancy made him not her slave, 
 
 To mock him with her phantom miseries. 
 No chronic tortures racked his aged limbs, 
 For luxury and sloth had nourished none for him. 
 
 " And I am glad that he has lived thus long, 
 
 And glad that he has gone to his reward ; 
 Nor can I deem that Nature did him wrong, 
 
 Softly to disengage the vital cord ; 
 For when his hand grew palsied, and his eye 
 Dark with the mists of age, it was his time to die." 
 
 W. C. BryafiU 
 
 I. 
 Twilight falls : a tiny maiden 
 
 Cometh up the village street: 
 Vagrant locks, all dewy laden. 
 
 Eager eyes and tired feet 
 Hath the shadowy little maiden. 
 
 Tired of wandering and of playing, 
 
 Up the dim street see her come ! 
 Hurrying now, and now delaying, 
 
 Toward the rest and love of home, 
 Comes the maiden from her playing. 
 
2IO THE AGED. 
 
 See ! again ! a woman hasting 
 Down a shadowy, sunset way, 
 
 Loving, anxious glances casting 
 
 Through the twilight soft and gray; 
 
 Homeward, love-ward she is hasting. 
 
 Laughing children run to meet her 
 From the home-door open wide ; 
 
 Loving words and kisses greet her, 
 Pattering feet run by her side ; 
 
 All the home comes forth to meet her. 
 
 Look once more ! a pilgrim weary 
 
 Standeth in the twilight gray ; 
 All around is strange and dreary, 
 
 As she asks, with plaintive query, 
 " Can you show the homeward way ? 
 
 Lead me homeward : I am weary." 
 
 Then a Presence stood to guide her. 
 Pointing where the way did lie ; 
 
 Gently spoke, and walked beside her 
 To a gateway dim and high. 
 " Home ! " she breathed, with restful sigh, 
 
 To the Presence that did guide her. 
 
 Homeward still, the tiny maiden, 
 Motherhood, love- and care-laden. 
 Age, with weight of years oppressed, 
 Homeward turn for love and rest. 
 And the home, with open door. 
 Waits with " Welcome '' evermore. 
 
 • W. H. Savas^e. 
 
Ili^DEX OF FIRST LIE"ES. 
 
 Poems ^narked thus (*) have been printed 07ily in part. 
 
 After our child's untroubled breath 
 
 A little fold of hands 
 
 *A11 as God wills, who wisely heeds 
 All that God wounds he constantly is healing 
 
 ^Another hand is beckoning us . . . 
 Answer me, burning stars of night 
 A snowflake falls from out the air above 
 As tender mothers guiding baby steps . 
 At eve it shall be light, the promise reads . 
 
 *A white dove out of heaven flew 
 
 Beside a massive gateway built up in years gone by 
 
 Blindfolded and alone I wait 
 
 Brother, the angels say 
 
 Buried to-day 
 
 ^Children are God's Apostles 
 Climbing the mountain's shaggy crest 
 Come forth, come forth with solemn song 
 
 Dead ! do you say that he is dead ? 
 Drifting away like mote on the stream 
 ^Dropping down the troubled river 
 Dust to dust, the heart makes cry 
 
 *Farewell ! since nevermore for thee 
 
 Father, before thy footstool kneeling 
 
 Father, into thy loving hands 
 *Fear death ? — to feel the fog in my throat 
 
 PAGE 
 191 
 123 
 
 128 
 199 
 
 186 
 204 
 163 
 184 
 
 IIO 
 
 193 
 
 189 
 117 
 114 
 
 180 
 
 135 
 112 
 136 
 
 129 
 149 
 
 174 
 130 
 
 (211) 
 
213 
 
 INDEX* 
 
 *Fold reverently the weary hands 
 From this bleak hill of storms 
 
 Gentle friends, who gather here . 
 *God gives us love ; something to love 
 *God giveth quietness at last 
 
 God of the living, in whose eyes . 
 
 Good-bye, till morning comes again 
 
 He does well who does his best . 
 *He has done the work of a true man 
 
 He sees when their footsteps falter 
 
 He who died at Azan sends 
 *Her still and quiet life flowed on 
 
 *I cannot, cannot say 
 *I cannot make him dead 
 
 I cannot think of them as dead 
 *I do not come to weep above thy pall 
 
 If one had watched a prisoner many a year 
 *" If ye loved me," Jesus said 
 
 I had a little daughter . 
 
 I hear it singing, singing sweetly 
 
 I lay me down to rest . 
 
 I like that ancient Saxon phrase 
 
 In schools of wisdom all the day was spent 
 *In the Baron's hall of pride . 
 
 Into the silent land 
 
 I saw an aged man upon his bier 
 
 Is it so far from thee ? . 
 
 I think if thou couldst know 
 
 I think it is over, over . 
 
 It singeth low in every heart 
 
 It was a tender hand that drew my boy away 
 *I will not mock thee with the poor world's common 
 
 I will not think the last farewell we hear 
 
 Life and thought have gone away 
 Life ! I knov/ not what thou art . 
 Life of our life, and light of all our seeing 
 
TKDEX. 
 
 213 
 
 *Nothing is our own, we hold our treasure 
 
 O blessed life of service and of love . 
 O Christ of God! whose life and death 
 Of all the thoughts of God that are 
 Oh, deem not they are blessed alone . 
 *Oh for the peace that floweth like a river 
 *Oh may I join the choir invisible 
 *Oh, yet we trust that somehow good . 
 One adequate support .... 
 *0 strong soul, by what shore . , 
 *0 thicker, deeper, darker growing 
 Our beloved have departed . 
 
 Quiet from God ! how beautiful to keep 
 Rest, gentle traveller, on life's toilsome way 
 
 Servant of God, well done ! . 
 
 She waited for the summons, lengthening days 
 
 Since thy Father's arm sustains thee . 
 
 Sleep, tired cue, sleep .... 
 
 Sometime, when all life's lessons have been 
 
 Straight and still the baby lies 
 
 Such beautiful, beautiful hands 
 
 Take them, O death, and bear away . 
 The baby wept ..... 
 The dead are like the stars by day 
 *The face which duly as the sun . 
 The fragrance of the rose 
 The little feet that never trod 
 There is a Reaper whose name is Death 
 There is no death ! The stars go down 
 There is no flock, however watched and tended . 
 There's not an hour but from some sparkling beach 
 They sat in peace in the sunshine 
 Those we love truly never die .... 
 Thou that art strong to comfort .... 
 
 learned 
 
 121 
 
 164 
 203 
 1 68 
 
 151 
 138 
 128 
 
 145 
 153 
 166 
 162 
 154 
 
 136 
 
 169 
 
 158 
 
 208 
 
 143 
 
 176 
 
 183 
 
 206 
 
 III 
 
 189 
 122 
 
 loS 
 
 115 
 
 187 
 190 
 146 
 202 
 122 
 207 
 142 
 143 
 
214 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 To pass through life beloved as few are loved . 
 To weary hearts, to mourning homes . 
 Twilight falls, a tiny maiden .... 
 
 Until we meet again, that is the meaning . 
 
 We know not what it is, dear .... 
 We must not doubt, or fear, or dread . 
 
 *We need some charmer, for our hearts are sore . 
 We watched her breathing through the night 
 We wreathed about our darling's head 
 What shall I do with all the days and hours 
 What may we take into the vast forever 
 What did we ask with all our love for him 
 Where the mountains slope to the westward 
 
 *Who is the angel that cometh ? Life ! 
 W^hy shouldst thou fear the beautiful angel Death ? 
 
 *Wilt thou not ope thy heart to know ? 
 
 *Within this lowly grave a conqueror lies 
 
 *Within the maddening maze of things 
 
 PAGE 
 
 159 
 139 
 209 
 
 141 
 
 188 
 147 
 113 
 
 200 
 
 197 
 124 
 127 
 176 
 178 
 107 
 125 
 
 130 
 181 
 
 150 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY LIST OF POEMS. 
 
 Reference is made to the following books : — 
 
 Putnam. Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith. [Boston. Roberts. 
 
 Schaff & Oilman. Library of Religious Poetry. [N. Y. 1881. 
 
 Quiet Hours. 2 vols. [Boston. Roberts. 
 
 Bryant. Library of Poetry and Song. [N. Y. 1872 
 
 Chadwick, J. W. Poems. [Boston. Roberts. 
 Household Edition — Poems of Longfellow, Whittier, Lowell, Bryant, Alice 
 
 and Phoebe Gary. [Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Sunshine in the Soul. 2 vols. [Boston. Roberts. 
 
 Hymns of the Ages. 3 vols. [Boston. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 Revised Hymn & Tune Book. [Boston. Amer. Unitarian Association. 
 
 Memory and Hope. [Boston. Ticknor & Fields. 1851 
 
 Sunday Book of Praise. Golden Treasury Series. [London. Macmillan. 
 
 Proctor, A. A. Poems. [Boston. 1880. 
 
 Verses, by " H. H." ^ [Boston. Roberts. 
 
 Sursum Corda. [Boston. Roberts. 1877 
 
 Hosmer and Gannett. The Thought of God. [Boston. Roberts. 1885 
 
 Brooks, C. T. Memoir and Poems. [Boston. Roberts. 1885 
 
 Hemans, F. Poems. [Boston. 1833. 
 
 Lyra Americana. [N. Y. 1865. 
 
 Shadow of the Rock. [N. Y. Randolph. 
 The Changed Cross. 
 Palace of the King. 
 The Chamber of Peace. 
 Uplands of God. 
 Cheering Words. 
 
 PART I. LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 Funeral Hymn JV. J^. Alger, 
 
 "The worlds that shine above us nightly." 
 
 Putnam, 471 
 Prayer and the Dead . . . . N, L. Frothingham. 
 " They passed away from sight and hands." 
 
 Putnam. T02. Quiet Hours, I., 149. 
 Mortal and Immortal . . . » R. C, Watterson, 
 " I stand between the Future and the Past." 
 
 Schaff & Oilman, 302. Putnam, 403 
 
 (215) 
 
21 6 SUPPLEMENTARY POEMS. 
 
 Sealed Orders J- W. Chadwick. 
 
 " Our life is like a ship that sails some day." 
 
 Poems, 136. Putnam, 518 
 
 He AND She Ediuin Arnold. 
 
 " She is dead," they said to him. 
 
 Schaff & Oilman, 859 
 
 After the Burial . . . . . . . LoivelL 
 
 " Yes, faith is a goodly anchor." 
 
 Poems, 353 
 The Cloud on the Way .... . Bjyajzt, 
 
 " See, before us in our journey." 
 
 Poems, 250 
 
 Qua Cursum Ventus A. H. ClougJu 
 
 '* As ships becalmed at eve." 
 
 Poems, 33. Quiet Hours, I., 69 
 (Friends separated by long absence, reunited.) 
 
 Compensation C. P. Cranch. 
 
 " Tears wash away the atoms in the eye." 
 
 Schaff & Oilman, 936 
 
 Now and Afterwards D. M, Midock, 
 
 " Two hands upon the breast." 
 
 Poems, 134. Bryant, Library, 177 
 
 The Vanishers Whittier. 
 
 '* Sweetest of all childlike dreams." 
 
 Poems, 321 
 
 The River Path Whittier. 
 
 " No birds's song floated down the bank." 
 
 Poems, 284 
 
 The Future Life Bryant, 
 
 " How shall I know thee in the sphere ? " 
 
 Poems, 183 
 
 Death of a Christian J- D- Burjis. 
 
 " The apostle slept — a light shone in the prison." 
 
 Shadow of the Rock, 20 
 Coming ....... Barbara Macandrew. 
 
 " It may be in the evening." 
 (Death's uncertainty.) Schaff & Oilman, 649 
 
 The Sower R. W. Gilder. 
 
 " A sower went forth to sow." 
 (The mission of pain.) Schaff and Oilman, 826 
 
 How Beautiful to be Alive ... H. S. Sutton. 
 
 " How beautiful it is to be alive ! " 
 
 Sunshine in the Soul, I., 94 
 He Leads His Own . . . . Hymns of the Ages. 
 
 " How few who from their youthful day." 
 (The unexpected lot.) Sunshine in the Soul, I., 89 
 
SUPPLEMKNTARY POEMS. 21 7 
 
 Come, ye Disconsolate Moore, 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 858 
 
 In the Other World H. B. Stowe. 
 
 " It lies around us like a cloud." 
 
 Shadow of the Rock, 51 
 
 The Two Worlds Dublin Univ. Mag. 
 
 " Two worlds there are. To one our eyes we strain." 
 
 Shadow of the Rock, 133 
 
 Nunc Suscipe, Terra Prudentius. 
 
 " Receive him, Earth, into thy harboring shrine." 
 (At the grave.) Book of Praise, 318 
 
 Mortality . . . . . . Mrs, Muloch-Craik. 
 
 " Ye dainty mosses, lichens gray." 
 Hymns of the Ages, II., 240. Poems Old and New, 188 1. 56 
 
 Hymn During the Plague . . . . Prof. Wilson. 
 
 " The air of death breathes through our souls." 
 
 Schaff & Oilman, 132 
 The Other Side . . . . . . . Alice Cary, 
 
 " I dreamed I had a plot of ground." 
 
 Poems, 135 
 The Verdict of Death ... . . Mrs. Charles, 
 
 " How doth Death speak of our Beloved t " 
 
 Quiet Hours, IL, 181. The Changed Cross, 150 
 
 From " In Memoriam," xcii. .... Tennyson. 
 
 " How pure at heart and sound in head." 
 
 Quiet Hours, I., 150 
 
 Homeward Horatius Bojtar. 
 
 *' To my beloved ones my steps are moving." 
 
 Palace of the King, 11 
 
 There L. C. Monlton. 
 
 " Do any hearts ache there, beyond the peaceful river ? " 
 
 Palace of the King, 141 
 
 The Dead H. Alford. 
 
 " The dead alone are great." 
 
 Memory and Hope, 52 
 The Angel at the Tomb . . . . S. F. Adams. 
 
 " The mourners came at break of day." 
 
 Memory and Hope, 66 
 Incompleteness . . . . . . A. A. Proctor. 
 
 " Nothing resting in its own completeness." 
 
 Poems, 53 
 
 The Resurrection Klopstock, 
 
 " Arise, yes, yes, arise, O thou my dust." 
 
 Schaff & Oilman, 774 
 
2l8 SUPPLEMENTARY POEMS. 
 
 A Little Way Anonymous, 
 
 " A little way — I know it is not far." 
 
 Chamber of Peace, 20 
 The Path of Death . . . . . . . Faber. 
 
 " How pleasant are thy paths, O death ! " 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 693 
 
 Spinning . . . "• H. H'' 
 
 " Like a blind spinner in the sun.'' 
 
 Quiet Hours, I., 59. Verses> 14 
 
 PART II. RESIGNATION TRUST. 
 
 Hymn of Trust O. W. Holmes, 
 
 " O Love Divine, that stooped to share." 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 725 
 
 The Last Look O. W. Holmes. 
 
 " Behold ! not him we knew." 
 
 Putnam, 258 
 
 " Still will we Trust though earth seems dark and 
 
 DREARY." Burleigh. 
 
 Putnam, 316. Rev. H. & T. Book, 875 
 
 Here and There Alice Gary, 
 
 " Here is the sorrow and sighing." 
 
 Poems, 160 
 
 Palingenesis. (Last 3 stanzas.) . . . . Lo7igfello'w. 
 *' Into what land of harvests." 
 
 Poems, 317 
 
 " Still, still with Thee." . . . . H. B. Stowe. 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 764 
 
 The Mystery of Life S. Greg. 
 
 " Slowly, slowly darkening." 
 
 Sursum Corda, 265 
 
 The Day is Done A7iony??totis. 
 
 " The day is done : soft as a dream." 
 
 Sursum Corda, 269 
 
 I Will not Fear /a7te Roscoe. 
 
 " Thy will be done ! I will not fear." 
 
 Sursum Corda, 29 
 
 God Knoweth Anonymous. 
 
 " I know not what shall befall me." 
 
 Sursum Corda, 123 
 
 The Pillar of the Cloud N'ewmaji. 
 
 " Lead, kindly Light ! " 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, ^T^ 
 
I 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY POEMS. 219 
 
 "There is a land where beauty cannot fade." Uhland. 
 
 Hymns of the Ages, III, 57 
 
 Intimations Alice Gary. 
 
 " There is a hovering about me." 
 
 Poems, 138 
 
 Of One Flesh Phoebe Gary. 
 
 "A man he was who loved the good." 
 (For an imperfect, erring life.) Poems, 291 
 
 A Little While Greville, 
 
 " A little while, and every fear." 
 
 Hymns of the Ages, IL, 141 
 
 A Little Longer Ghr. Register, 
 
 " A little longer yet, a little longer." 
 
 Hymns of the Ages, IL, 237 
 
 Faith W. H. Hurlbut, 
 
 " We will not weep, for God is standing by us." 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 734 
 
 United by Death A. P. Stanley. 
 
 " Till Death us part." 
 (For a loving husband and wife.) Uplands of God, 23S 
 
 He Giveth Songs in the Night . . John Page Ho^ps. 
 
 " We praise thee oft for hours of bliss." 
 
 Shadow of the Rock, 93 
 The Dead ........ Anonymous, 
 
 " Thou God of Love ! beneath thy sheltering wings." 
 (At the grave.) Hymns of the Ages, III., 281. Book of Praise, 318 
 
 A Dying Hymn Alice Gary. 
 
 " Earth with its dark and dreadful ills." 
 
 Poems, 160 
 
 All Saints' Day Mrs. Mulock-Graik. 
 
 " I shall find them again, I shall find them again." 
 
 Poems Old and New, 484 
 
 Death Ano7iymous. 
 
 " There are who fear thy summons. Death ! " 
 
 Hymns of the Ages, II, 241 
 
 Green Pastures and Still Waters . . W. G. Gannett. 
 " Clear in memory's silent reaches." 
 
 The Thought of God, 37 
 
 A First Sorrow A. A. Procter. 
 
 " Arise, this day shall shine." 
 
 Poems, 49 
 
 Friend Sorrow A. A. Procter. 
 
 " Do not cheat thy heart and tell her." 
 
 Poems, 8 
 
220 SUPPLEMENTARY POEMS. 
 
 From Chaxge to the Unchangin;; . . . M. Fanningham, 
 
 " Slow move the feet amid life's lengthening shadows." 
 (An old country home.) Uplands of God, 145 
 
 The Gathering Place .... Christian Worker, 
 " I know not where, beneath, above." 
 
 Uplands of God, 207 
 
 My Triumph Whittier, 
 
 " The autumn-time has come." 
 (What a hopeful man might wish said at his grave.) Poems, 351 
 
 Looking unto God S. Longfellow. 
 
 '' I look to thee in every need." 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 624 
 
 A German Trust Song Lampertus, 
 
 " Just as God leads me I would go." 
 
 Sursum Corda, 93 
 Trust and Submission .... Andrews Norton. 
 " My God, I thank thee." 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 724 
 
 When .'' , . . . . . . . Stcsa^i Coolidge. 
 
 " If I were told that I must die to-morrow." 
 
 Schaff & Gilrnan, 19. Sunshine in the Soul, II., 140 
 
 Blessed are They that Mourn .... Burleigh. 
 '' Oh deem not that earth's crowning bliss." 
 
 Putnam, 317 
 " Forever with the Lord." .... Montgomery. 
 
 Rev. H. «& T. Book, 700 
 
 The Meeting Place Anonymous. 
 
 " Where the faded flowers shall freshen." 
 
 The Changed Cross, 9. 
 My Times are in Thy Hand ..... Waring. 
 " Father, I know that all my life." 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 502 
 
 The Love of God Bryant. 
 
 " All things that are on earth shall wholly pass away." 
 
 Poems, 149 
 
 From " In Memoriam." Tennyson, 
 
 " Strong Son of God, immortal Love." 
 
 Quiet Hours, II., 193 
 God's Presence the Source of All Joy . . Dessler. 
 "O Friend of souls, 'tis well with me." 
 
 Quiet Hours, IL, 150 
 
 Flight of the Spirit . . . . . Mrs. Hemans. 
 ^' Whither, ob, whither wilt thou wins; thy wav?" 
 
 Qmet Hours, IL, 188 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY POEMS. 231 
 
 I Move into the Light Anonymous. 
 
 " Out of the shadows that shroud the soul." 
 
 Palace of the King, loi 
 
 Lent, not Lost Aiionymous. 
 
 " All is not lost that's passed beyond our keeping." 
 
 Palace of the King, 123 
 
 No More Mrs. Gaskell. 
 
 " No more, on earth no more." 
 
 Memory and Hope, 105 
 
 "While Thee I seek, protecting Power." H. M. Willmms. 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 238 
 
 *' Nearer, my God, to Thee." . . . . S. F. Adams, 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 621 
 
 The Eternal Years Faber. 
 
 " How shalt thou bear the cross that now." 
 
 Unity Hymns and Chorals, 142 
 
 Death . . . Anonymous. 
 
 " Out of the shadows of sadness." 
 
 Cheering Words, 190 
 
 Memory of H. N. S C. T. Brooks. 
 
 " This is not all, — this fleeting world we see." 
 
 Poems, 147 
 
 Death of a Young Artist . . . . C, T. Brooks. 
 " The breath of morn and May." 
 
 Poems, 152' 
 
 God Knoweth Best F. H. Marr. 
 
 " He took them from me, one by one." 
 (Trustful through many afflictions.) Chamber of Peace, 114 
 
 ''At Noontide came a Voice." . . . Dora Greenwell. 
 (A woman in prime of life.) Sursum Corda, 273 
 
 PART in. A GOOD LIFE. 
 
 In Memoriam. H. T. Tuckerman . . . C. T. Brooks. 
 " O friend, endeared to heart and mind." 
 
 Putnam, 362 
 In Memory of R. H. . . . . . C, T. Brooks. 
 
 " Lamb of God's fold ! '' 
 
 Putnam, 369 
 
 Charles Sumner Longfellow. 
 
 "Garlands upon his grave." 
 
 Poems, 358 
 
223 SUPPLEMENTARY POEMS. 
 
 The Soul's Parting Dora Greenwell. 
 
 " She sat within life's Banquet Hall at noon." 
 
 Sursmn Corda, 275 
 
 Death and Spring J- IV. Chadwkk. 
 
 " My noble friend is dead/' 
 
 Poems, 131 
 Memoriae Positum. (In part.) . . . . Lowell. 
 
 ** Why make we moan } '* 
 
 Poems, 381 
 
 A Knight-Errant A. A, Procter. 
 
 "Though he lived and died among us." 
 (Truth's Warrior.) Poems, iZ 
 
 Follen. (In part.) Whittier. 
 
 " Oh, while life's solemn mystery glooms." 
 
 Poems, 96 
 
 A Lament Whittier. 
 
 " The circle is broken, one seat is forsaken." 
 
 Poems, 135 
 
 Joseph Sturge. (In part.) Whittier, 
 
 " Thanks for the good man's beautiful example." 
 
 Poems, 238 
 
 The Blessed Life W. T. Mason. 
 
 " O blessed life ! the heart at rest." 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 233 
 
 In Memoriam . Gerald Massey. 
 
 " Why should we weep w^hen 'tis so well with him ? " 
 
 A Tale of Eternity, etc., 135 
 
 Death of a Christian Mrs. Hemans. 
 
 " Calm on the bosom of thy God." 
 
 Rev. H. &T. Book, 715 
 " Brother, thou art gone before us." . . Mihnan. 
 
 Book of Praise, 322 
 
 A Happy Death John Drydeji. 
 
 *' As precious gums are not for lasting fire." 
 
 Quiet Hours, II., 163. Book of Praise, 169 
 
 Safe Alice Gary. 
 
 *' Ah, she was not an angel to adore." 
 
 Poems, 137 
 " Plow blest the Righteous when he dies." . Barbauld. 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 730 
 Character of the Happy Warrior . . Wordsworth. 
 " Who is the happy Warrior ? Who is he ? " 
 
 "The Good, — they drop around us, one by one." 
 
 Isaac Williams. 
 Quiet Hours, II., 166 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY POEMS. 223 
 
 "Go TO THE GRAVE IN ALL THY GLORIOUS PRIME." 
 
 Afontgo77i ery. 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 756 
 
 Tribute to Bishop Heber .... Mrs. Hemans. 
 
 " If it be sad to speak of treasures gone." 
 (A wise and useful man.) Poems, B. 1833, ^-5 ^^7 
 
 PART IV. SUFFERING REST. 
 
 Decoration T. W. Higginson. 
 
 " 'Mid the flower-wreathed tombs I stand." 
 
 Scribner's Monthly, June, 1S74. Putnam, 483 
 (For a woman heroic in suffering.) 
 
 Resting in Hope H. Bonar, 
 
 " Rest for the toiling hand." 
 
 Rev. PI. & T. Book, 702 
 
 Bear out the dead Haven. 
 
 " Av, carry out your dead." 
 
 Schaff & Oilman, %Z6 
 
 Rest Enpheniia Sax by. 
 
 " It was Thy will, my Father." 
 
 Quiet Hours, I., 144 
 
 The Gate of Heaven .... Disciples Hyi?in Book, 
 
 " She stood outside the gate of Heaven." 
 (For an ill life.) Quiet Hours, I., 162 
 
 *' Ah, well! she had her will." 
 
 Sursum Corda, 279 
 (For one who suffered secretly, and was misunderstood.) 
 
 On his bllndness Milton, 
 
 (For one blind.) 
 
 " Thou Knowest, Lord, the weariness and sorrow." 
 
 Jane Borthwick, 
 Sursum Corda, 30 
 
 From " Miriam." Whittier. 
 
 " Wherever through the ages rise the altars of self-sacrifice." 
 
 Poems, 342 
 
 "Going Home." Ajwnymous. 
 
 " ' Heimgang ! ' So the German people." 
 (For a German family.) Uplands of God, 53 
 
 The Sweet Surprise. (In part.) . . . Anonymojts. 
 
 " Down to the borders of the silent land." 
 (For one who lingered.) Uplands of God, 69 
 
224 SUPPLEMENTARY POEMS. 
 
 The E'en brings a' Hame Anonymotts. 
 
 " Upon the hills the wind is sharp and cold." 
 
 Shadow of the Rock, 68 
 
 Gone Home ........ Anoiiyuiozis. 
 
 " Gone home ! She lingers here no longer." 
 
 The Changed Cross, 211 
 
 Called Aside ....... Anonymous. 
 
 " Called aside, — from the glad working of thy busy life." 
 
 Palace of the King, 94. 
 
 Good-night ........ Anonymous, 
 
 "If I could only lay me down to rest." 
 
 Palace of the King, 130 
 
 Our Calvary F. P. Cobbe. 
 
 " God draws a cloud over each gleaming morn." 
 
 Unity Hymns and Chorals, 148 
 
 The Chamber of Peace Anonymous. 
 
 " After the burden and heat of the day." 
 (The serenity of the dead.) The Chamber of Peace, 5 
 
 Charlotte Cushman C. T. Brooks. 
 
 " For wast not thou, too, going forth alone." 
 
 Poems, 141 
 
 PART V. CHILDHOOD YOUTH. 
 
 The Death of Children . . . - /- Q- Adams. 
 
 " Sure to the mansions of the blest." 
 
 Putnam 12 
 
 " She is not Dead, but sleepeth." .... Fiimess. 
 
 Putnam, 165 
 
 To J. S W.W. Story. 
 
 Poems, 1856, 228 
 
 The Child's Picture F. E. Abbot. 
 
 " Little face, so sweet, so fair.'' 
 
 Quiet Hours, I., 155 
 
 "Childish Feet are straying homeward." 
 
 Bartholomew, "The Comforter." 
 
 \Vhere? J- ^V. Chadivick. 
 
 "That is her body lying there." 
 
 Poems, 145 
 
 Kinsman IVhittier. 
 
 " Where ceaseless Spring her garland twines." 
 (One dying away from home.) Poems, 392 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY POEMS. 225 
 
 Lines to the memory of " Annie." . . H, B. Stowe. 
 " In the fair gardens of celestial peace." 
 
 Bryant's Library, 176 
 
 Suffer little Children ...... Eli?n. 
 
 "They are going — only going." 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 751 
 
 The Discoverer Sted?nan. 
 
 *' I have a little kinsman." 
 
 Schaff & Oilman, 879 
 
 Fire John Keble, 
 
 " Sweet maiden, for so calm a life." 
 (An elder sister.) Book of Praise, 204 
 
 A Dead Baby Mrs. Mulock-Craik. 
 
 •' Little soul, for such brief space that entered." 
 
 Poems, Old and New, 123 
 
 Dying, and yet living Theo. Tilton. 
 
 " She died — yet is not dead." 
 
 Lyra Americana, 213 
 
 Early Lost, Early Saved . . . Geo. IV. Bethune, 
 
 " Within her downy cradle there lay a little child." 
 
 Lyra Americana, 222 
 
 She Came and Went Lowell. 
 
 "As a twig trembles when a bird." 
 
 Poems, 90 
 
 My Lambs Anonymous. 
 
 " I loved them so." 
 
 The Changed Cross, 78 
 
 At a Death Bed C. H. Ball. 
 
 " Dear eyes, that never looked reproach." 
 
 Putnam, 533 
 
 To THE MEMORY OF WiLLIAM PoWER WaTTS . A. A. Watts. 
 
 " A cloud is on my heart and brow." 
 
 Memory and Hope, 33 
 
 Mabel A. R. W. 
 
 " Like broken thoughts in dreams." 
 
 Memory and Hope, 102 
 
 Two . . . . .... . Cha7?ibe7'''s Journal. 
 
 " Two buds plucked from the tree." 
 (For twin children.) Shadow of the Rock, 142 
 
 DiRGE FOR a Young Oirl J- T> Fields. 
 
 " Underneath the sod low lying." 
 
 Bryant's Library, 190 
 
226 ■ SUPPLEMENTARY POEMS. 
 
 Herman ' . J. F. Clarke. 
 
 " Where is my boy ? " 
 
 Memory and Hope, 58 
 
 " When the Baby died " //. J7. 
 
 Schaff & Gilman, 876. Verses, 100 
 
 ^' Child with the Snowy Cheek." . . PV. H, Savage. 
 
 Savage's Minister's Handbook, 100 
 
 Threnodia . Lowell. 
 
 "Gone, gone from us." 
 
 Poems, I 
 
 PART VI. — OLD AGE. 
 
 The Finished Life M.J. Savage. 
 
 "There's a beauty of the Spring-time." 
 
 Savage's Minister's Handbook. 
 
 In Memory ........ Anonymous. 
 
 " Close, kind hands, the aged eyes." 
 
 Songs of Two Worlds, 131 
 
 Only Waiting Anonymous. 
 
 " Only waiting till the shadows." 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 746 
 
 " Servant of God, well done ! " . . . Montgomery. 
 
 Rev. H. &T. Book, 711 
 
 Ripe Wheat Anonymous. 
 
 " We bent to-day o'er a coffined form." 
 
 Cheering Words, 71 
 
 Grace of God Eliza Scudder. 
 
 " Thou Grace Divine, encircling all." 
 
 Rev. H. & T. Book, 304 
 
ADDITIONAL PRAYERS. 227 
 
 O Thou before whose sight all generations of men pass 
 over to their rest, to thee alone can we turn in this hour. 
 Amid all life's changes thou art the same forever, and 
 thy years shall have no end. Thou art the source of all 
 life. Thou art the Power above all powers and Lord of 
 Death. To thee we come, who dost clothe the grass of 
 the fields and mark the falling sparrow. To thy unfail- 
 ing compassion we look, thou who dost note thy chil- 
 dren's pain and grief. We bring these empty hearts, 
 this loneliness, this sorrow, and lay them at thy feet. 
 Thou knowest it all, our Father, and because thou know- 
 est, canst help us. Comfort us with thy love, greater 
 than a moth3r's love for her child ! Send thy pity to 
 lighten the darkness ; send thy patience that we may 
 bear this trial bravely. Touch these wounds with thy 
 hand of healing, and help us to be still. 
 
 Almighty Father, give us of thy strength that we may. 
 take up our lives more bravely for the sake of this dear 
 one who has now done with earth. May we learn to be 
 faithful in duty, thoughtful, tender of others, loyal to the 
 service of holiness and truth, because of those who can 
 work no longer here on earth. May we think not of our 
 loss, our suffering, but of their release, of the peace that 
 rests upon this mortal body, and the freedom wherein the 
 soul has now found a higher joy. 
 
 Grant, we pray thee, the faith that these ties of affec- 
 tion — the holiest thing thou givest us to know — can 
 never perish. Wheresoever this dear friend may go, he 
 can not be forgetful of us, and henceforth we are no 
 more strangers to the life beyond since these have entered 
 to make it home. 
 
 Now, Almighty Creator, into thy hands we commend 
 
228 ADDITIONAL PRAYERS. 
 
 the spirit thou didst give. We thank thee for the mem- 
 ory of his life* No longer can we care for him ; but 
 thou wilt care for him better than our love could do. 
 By pastures green and by quiet waters, into new realms 
 of purity and love and truth, into new and higher labors 
 in thy service thou wilt lead him. Cherish and keep 
 him, we pray thee, and through ways unknown to us 
 bring him at last nearer to thy Presence, O God of the 
 Living and the Dead ! 
 
 And when we, too, are called to bid farewell to this 
 world of love and beauty, of joy and sorrow, grant that 
 we may follow after him. Grant that our love may grow 
 stronger in these years of absence. Bring us, if it be thy 
 purpose with us, bring us together again where we may 
 know each other better. May we trust the highest 
 instincts of this human heart, telling us that the love 
 which conquers death is forever immortal. We ask in 
 the memory of Jesus, our Elder Brother. In memory 
 of his tender heart, his courage and purity, we would 
 be lifted up into his peace, and learn with him to pray : 
 Thy will, not ours, O God! Thou didst give, and thou 
 hast taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord ! 
 
 ^ c. /. s. 
 
 O Thou who art the Beginning and the End of all 
 lives, in whom the living live and the dead sleep, grant 
 that we in the presence of death may feel that our true 
 life is in thee. Thou who hast made us as we are made, 
 to love life, and to grieve and suffer in the presence of 
 death, be near to us when we call upon thy name, feeling 
 in that presence we have no help save in thee alone. It 
 is our comfort and consolation in turning our hearts to 
 thee, when they are made heavy by sorrow, that thou 
 
ADDITIONAL PRAYERS. 229 
 
 art greater than our hearts and knowest all things. 
 When our grief is too great to be uttered, and our need 
 is more and deeper than we know or can express, thou 
 knowest it altogether. Thy hand, Father Almighty, 
 has fashioned the ties that bind us one to another in love 
 and friendship, and when those ties are broken by death, 
 that which we have to suffer is known to thee alone. 
 We desire to feel, though we cannot know that thy will 
 in trouble and affliction is not to punish us but to bless 
 us ; that alike in all we are born to sulTer in our affec- 
 tions, and in all the happiness and enjoyment we derive 
 from them, the pity and goodness of the Highest are 
 manifested and expressed. We desire in our darkest 
 hours to trust thee, and against doubts and fears that test 
 us and perplex us, to cling to the belief that all is for the 
 best, not meant to crush us or to extinguish our hopes 
 and desires for those we love and for ourselves, but to 
 work out for them and for us good beyond our belief 
 and hope. 
 
 When our faith is weak, and heart and flesh faint and 
 fail, good Lord, have mercy upon us ; in thy mercy 
 remember us ; in thy pity visit us, that in the thought 
 of thy pity we may be saved from despair of ourselves. 
 Thou knowest how hard it is for us to assure ourselves, 
 when those ^ve love better than life are taken from 
 us, that we are not forgotten or disownei by Him that 
 made us, that our loss is not all loss, and our suffering 
 and anguish not all vain and fruitless. Our affections 
 cling to that which is earthly and familiar to us, so that 
 it is hard for us to think and feel that our beloved dead, 
 whose faces we shall no more behold, ars still with thee, 
 and that in thy presence and dominion death hath no 
 more dominion over them. 
 
230 ADDITIONAL PRAYERS. 
 
 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord 
 pitieth them that fear him. Even as we are moved by 
 pity for the weak, and downcast, and sorrowful, so our 
 hearts assure us it must be that He who is the highest of 
 all must be the best of all, pitiful and compassionate 
 beyond our belief and hope, to all that lives and breathes. 
 
 Grant, our Father, that we may in all trouble that is 
 darkest and deepest, find in this revelation of thyself 
 within us, thy consolation ministered to us, and thy light 
 lifjhtenino: our darkness. 
 
 Help of all the sorrowful. Comforter of all that mourn, 
 we remember in thy presence , those whose share in the 
 sorrow we feel this day is heaviest and sorest. Comfort 
 them by the sympathy of friends, and much more by thy 
 grace. Consecrate this sorrow for all of us who have 
 part in it, and grant that even what is darkest and most 
 mysterious in it, may not be without profit in showing us 
 and opening for us the path of life. 
 
 We remember in thy presence, now and here, all the 
 children of sorrow, above all those whose sorrow like 
 ours this day, is for the dead, concerning whom their 
 souls refuse to be comforted. In the darkness and mys- 
 tery in which their lives are shrouded, may light arise 
 for them, and shine upon them from the sympathy of 
 their kind, much more from thee the First and the Last, 
 thou whose tender mercies are over all thy works, who 
 knoweth our frame, who remembereth that we are dust. 
 
 JOHN SERVICE, 
 
f5K