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And then the chamber where thine eye
Looked full on immortality—
The gate of death!

Ascending on the wings of prayer,
Who might not hear in whispers, there
Thy parting breath.

That presence chamber! 'twas a seat
Where Jesus deigned thy soul to greet,
With looks of love:

And thence he bade thy spirit come

With welcome to his heavenly home,
In worlds above.

"For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better."-PHIL. i. 23.

THE SPIRIT OF THE BREEZE.

SPIRIT of nature's home!

Thou whose light wing

Of iris-hues doth to our being come,

And softly fling

Thy dreamy mantle o'er our thought's imagining.

Whether o'er mountains rude, thy track is made,
Through clouds of night,

Or whether wide spread regions are displayed

THE SPIRIT OF THE BREEZE.

179

To charm thy sight,

In prairies vast and drear,

Like ocean sleeping there,

Those ample fields for thee, yield visions of delight.

Spirit of nature's home, thy form we greet,
Thy voice attend,

For thou canst sooth the breast with accents sweet,
Like the heart's friend :-
:-

Thy numbers softly swell, and airs of heaven
Methinks I feel,-

Like soothing balm to drooping nature given,
Her woes to heal.

I listen, and thy voice like breath of even,
Doth o'er me steal.

Again thy numbers flow, and swift as thought,
The summer wind

From its far chambers brought,

Doth soon unbind

The spell-bound trance of earth and loose the springs of mind.

Welcome thou summer air,
Herald of joy!

With light, and life, and fragrance on thy wing,

Unlike the zephyrs coy,

Thy blithe and buoyant soul doth showers of blessing fling.

Nature! thy garnished home,
Each loved recess,

Each favorite dweller of the wilderness,

Each benison of earth, each living ray
That finds below its birth,

Or pours from heaven the day:

All things in earth below and heaven above,

Speak with the voice of praise, the wondrous name of Love!

"He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries."-PSALM CXXXV. 7.

"Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell ?"-PROV. XXX. 4.

A FRIEND.

I HAILED a christian patriarch on his way;
His form was reverend, and his locks were grey:
His beaming eye, his voice of melting tone

Made each young heart that won his smile his own.
Around him gathering circles loved to meet,
And catch his words, like honey pure and sweet;
They waited on his bidding—and might see
In him displayed, each nice propriety;
They loved to search his store-house, and to find
The treasured gleanings of a vigorous mind:
His house received the stranger, and his heart
Like Mary's, sought and chose the better part;
Methinks he holds that treasure, for his Lord
In spirit oft is present at his board,
And consecrates his dwelling, and maintains
That gift of peace which in His people reigns.

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me."JOHN XV. 4.

THE GOLDEN MOUTHED.

181

THE "GOLDEN-MOUTHED."

WHO is it that on eagle wings,

Aloft would soar?

Who, like the lark that quivering, sings,
Would music pour?

Who like the nightingale, could trill

Those accents lone ?

And all the depths of ether fill

With that full tone?

The power of eloquence it tells

Its matchless praise !

Now low it falls, now loudly swells,

And softly plays.

What blandishments could melt like these,

The ravished ear?

And sooth the soul with symphonies

Sublime and clear?

Thy liquid lore, of winning charm,

With taste combined,

And feeling, from the heart-springs warm,

Portrayed thy mind.

That gush of feeling, full and free

Like mountain rill,

Flowed from its well-head, liberty

And flowed at will.

Brightly thy spirit winged its way
Through shadowy time;

Small is our span and short our day—
Its worth sublime!

On memories of the lofty dead,

We

pass with care;

And whilst upon their dust we tread,

We breathe a prayer

That genius may to heaven aspire,

From whence it came ;

And speak with every high desire

Messiah's name!

"And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD ?"— EXODUS iv. 11.

THE HOUSEHOLD MINSTREL.

MINSTREL of the Household fane,
Where the mild Penates reign;
Minstrel breathing truth and love,
Where the gentle zephyrs rove,
See! the flag of truce is thine,
Pilgrim at Devotion's shrine.

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