like the prophet's servant, he beholds himself, in his high warfare against sin and Satan, encompassed with a glorious array of more than mortal strength, the armies of the living God, followed, wherever he went, in his heaven-appointed journeys, by hosts of angels, rejoicing over the sinners that repented at his preaching. And this flings an air of unspeakable grandeur around him : he stands forth so clearly accredited as the ambassador of Jehovah, commissioned with a message of mercy to a lost world; there is stamped on his character such a visible impress of the divine image; there breathes in his language such inspiration from on high—the voice of the Spirit of God; so much of the simple majesty of truth; the sublime rapture of devotion; and when, in his addresses to his beloved converts, the inmost recesses of his soul are thrown open to our view, we behold a peace so profound--a hope so triumphant ---a joy so unspeakable and full of glory-an eye so fixed on God--a heart so resting in heavena spirit so wrapt in eternity; that while we gaze in ardent admiration of his heavenly character, encircled with such a bright halo of celestial splendour, we are too apt to forget, that, instead of merely looking on it for a moment, as a lovely picture, giving it the heartless tribute of our praise, and then hurrying past to lose all recollection of its divine features amid the business and amusements of an ensnaring and polluting world, we are bound by the most solemn obligations, and invited by the most persuasive motives, to study it attentively, and copy it faithfully--to be followers of him, as he also was of Christ. THE BLESSED. ANON. Ah! who are the blessed ? of whom we can say That their pleasures are pleasures indeed; Ah! where are the honours that never decay, And the joys that shall never recede? The world and its fashions are hastening away, Its children pass on to the tomb; Its honours, though brightly they shine for a day, Shall quickly be lost in a gloom. Truly blessed are they who have learned to know The sound of the message divine; The radiance of Deity shine. 'Till the trumpet resounds through the sky: Then bursting the fetters of death, with a smile, They shall enter the mansions on high. tell, CC When bodies that once were polluted and frail Are frail and polluted no more. ISABEL. E. K. I saw her in her early youth, A thing all life and glee, And her voice of melody. With such a mind as threw And hope for ever new. A fount of feeling strong; Was the charmed gift of song. The wife that Ascham drew, The beautiful and true. We met once morema few short years Of grief had o'er her flown; Her spirit dwelt alone. On the same loving eyes I looked, But their beam was overcast; Was for thought of bright days past. the brow of even, Of light and peace in heaven. STANZAS ACCOMPANYING A SKETCH OF THE PRA DEL TOR. “This place is a hollow, environed with mountains, situated near La Vacchera. It was here that the Vau. dois retreated during the fiercest heat of persecution, and here their Barbes (or Pastors) maintained the college in the cavern, where they prepared those destined for the ministry. The surrounding rocks bear the resemblance of a strong line of fortifications.”—Gilly's Waldensian Researches. For thee, Maria, I have traced The outlines of an Alpine vale, Whose story ne'er will be effaced From hearts that once have heard the tale. 'Twas the last stronghold of the brave and free, The rallying point of their chivalry; Where the Barbes of old made their college hall, 'Mid the rock and the foaming waterfall; And watched, with faith that might not falter, Truth's holy light, Through the dreary night, There rose the Christian's triumph song, gave To their heart His warmth, to their arm His might, And victory o'er the grave: STANZAS COMPOSED AT MIDNIGHT. Torquay, Devon, 1836. E. K. O, WOULD ye were gazing with me this night, On the scene before me spread |