And you, being dead in your sins, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. — COLOSSIANS, ii. 13.

PEACE.

FTEN, amidst the storms of life,

By sin and woe opprest,

We long for wings to flee away,
And gain a place of rest:

We long to find a peaceful home,
Where sorrow shall be o'er,

And the rough tempests of the earth
Have power to beat no more.

I

REFLECTIONS.

NEVER loved those Salamanders, that are never well but when they are in the fire of contention. I will rather suffer a thousand wrongs than offer one; I will suffer an hundred, rather than return one: I will suffer many, ere I will complain of one, and endeavour to right it by contending. I have ever found that to strive with my superior is furious; with my equal, doubtful; with my inferior, sordid and base; with any, full of unquietness.—BISHOP HALL.

The merciful man doeth good to his own soul; but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.-PROVERBS, xi. 17.

B

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.-ST. MATTHEW, v. II.

FOR STRENGTH UNDER PERSECUTION.

H! for a faith that will not shrink,

Though pressed by many a foe;
That will not tremble on the brink
Of poverty or woe.

That will not murmur or complain
Beneath the chastening rod;
But, in the hour of grief and pain,
Can lean upon its God.

A faith that shines more bright, more clear,
When tempests rage without;
That when in danger knows no fear,
In darkness feels no doubt.

A faith that keeps the narrow way,
Till life's last spark is fled;

And, with a pure and heavenly ray,
Lights up a dying bed.

REFLECTIONS.

Bathurst.

PERSECUTION has never been successful in extirpating opposition to any system, either religious or civil. It is not merely the divinity of Christianity that has made it triumph; for other religions, certainly not divine, but which were founded in imposture, as well as a number of the wildest sects, have thriven and flourished under persecution, on account, as I believe, of that very persecution.-BIBLE THOUGHTS.

He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour; but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.—PROVERBS, Xi. 27.

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed ; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.—II. CorinTHIANS, iv. 8, 9.

THE GOOD TRIUMPHANT.

E proud, ye selfish, ye severe,
How vain your mask of state!
The good alone have joys sincere ;
The good alone are great :
Great, when amid the vale of peace
They bid the plaint of sorrow cease,
And hear the voice of artless praise :
As when along the trophied plain
Sublime they lead the victor train,
While shouting nations gaze.

Beattie.

REFLECTIONS.

I COULD never divide myself from any man upon the difference of opinion; or be angry with his judgment for not agreeing with me in that from which, perhaps, within a few days I should dissent myself. -SIR THOMAS BROWN.

Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.—PROVERBS, iii. 25.

K

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?-ROMANS, viii. 35.

GOOD IN EVIL.

KNOW thy soul believes

'Tis hard vice triumphs, and that virtue grieves; Yet oft affliction purifies the mind

d;

Kind benefits oft flow from means unkind.

Were the whole known, that we uncouth suppose,
Doubtless, would beauteous symmetry disclose.
The naked cliff, that singly rough remains,
In prospect dignifies the fertile plains;
Lead-colour'd clouds, in scattering fragments seen,
Show, though in broken views, the blue serene.
Severe distresses industry inspire;

Thus captives oft excelling arts acquire.

We pass through want to wealth, through dismal strife To calm content, through death to endless life.

Savage.

REFLECTIONS.

RELIGIOUS persecution is the bane of all religion; and the friends of persecution are the worst enemies religion has; and of all persecutions, that of calumny is the most intolerable. Any other kind of persecution can affect our outward circumstances only, our properties, our lives; but this may affect our characters for ever.-HAZLITT.

Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth ́reproof shall be honoured.-PROVERBS, xiii. 18.

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another. -ST. MATTHEW, X. 22, 23.

ENDURE TO THE END.

O ear has ever heard,

No human eye can see
The bliss thy Father has prepared
In priceless store for thee;
For truth, in sun-like blaze,
Shall burst upon thy sight,

And God shall lead thine eager gaze
To worlds of endless light!

Schmolek.

REFLECTIONS.

IT is the essence of injustice to persecute any person for omitting to conform to the established religion. No man should be deprived of any part of his liberty with respect to his opinions, unless his actions, derived from such opinions, were clearly prejudicial to the state. It is not in the power of man to surrender his opinions, and, therefore, the society which demands him to make this sacrifice demands an impossibility.

The light of the righteous rejoiceth, but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.-PROVERBS, xiii. 9.