:

.

Dear to me the South's fair land,
AN HOUR WITH GOD.

Dear the central mountain hand,
One hour with Thee, my God! when daylight breaks

Dear New England's rocky strand, Over a world thy guardian care has kept,

Dear the prairied West. :When the fresh soul from soothing slumber wakes, To praise the love that watched me while I slept ;

By our altars pure and free, When with new strength my blood is bounding free,

By our Law's deep-rooted tree, The first, best, sweetest hour, I'll give to Thee.

By the past's dread memory,

By our Washington, One hour with Thee, when busy day begins

By our common kindred tongue, Her never-ceasing round of bustling care,

By our hopes—bright, buoyant, young, When I must meet with toil, and pain, and sins,

By the tie of country strong, And through them all thy cross must bear ;

We will still be one. 0, then to arm me for the strife, to be Faithful to death, I'll kneel an hour to Thee.

Fathers ! have ye bled in vain ?

Ages, must ye droop again? One hour with Thee, when rides the glorious sun

Maker, shall we rashly stain High in mid-heaven, and panting nature feels

Blessings sent by Thee? .Lifeless and overpowered, and man has done

No! receive our solemn vow, For one short hour with urging life's swift wheels;

While before thy throne we bow, In that deep pause my soul from care shall flee,

Ever to maintain, as now To make that hour of rest one hour with Thee.

• Union—Liberty!” One hour with Thee, when saddened twilight flings

The effect of the ode was truly sublime. When
Her soothing charm o'er lawn, and vale, and grove, the choir came to the last four lines of the last
When there breathes up from all created things verse, the whole audience rose spontaneously, and

The sweet enthralling sense of thy deep love; there was an awful grandeur in the sound of the
And when its softening power descends on me, thousands of voices exclaiming-
My swelling heart shall spend an hour with Thee.

No! receive our solemn vow,
One hour with Thee, my God! when softly night

While before thy throne we bow, Climbs the high heaven with solemn step and slow,

Ever to maintain as now, When thy sweet stars, unutterably bright,

Union-Liberty! Are telling forth thy praise to men below; 0, then, while far from earth my thoughts would flee,

Choir and organ and harmony were drowned by I'll spend in prayer one joyful hour with Thee ! the wild torrent of ejaculations; but it started feet

ings not unsuited to the sacredness of the place of

meeting, and the light of the uplifted eye had to From the Journal of Commerce.

struggle through tears, and there was not a man The following Ode breathes a spirit which must present who would not at that moment have cheer commend itself to every patriotic citizen. It was fully sacrificed life, fortune, and sacred honor—to written by the Rev. Dr. Gilman, of Charleston, and

Union-Liberty! was sung at the 4th of July celebration, in 1832, by the Union Party of that city. I had the satisfac

'S LIGHT BEHIND THE CLOUD! tion to be present, and to assist in the choir. The procession had moved to the Baptist church to listen In the lone and weary nights, my child, to an oration by Col. Drayton, one of the influential

When all around is drear; men of the Unionists, while the Nullifiers were When the moon is hidden by the clouds, headed by the great Hayne, by Hamilton, and And grief and pain are nearothers. I recollect one sentence of Col. Drayton's speech, which it may not be amiss to mention. 0, never think, my gentle boy, Endeavoring to demonstrate the impracticability of

In that gloomy, trying hour,

That thou art not protected still nullification, Col. Drayton said : “ To be in the

By a kind Almighty Power! Union and out of it, simultaneously, is not in the power of Omnipotence itself.”

Soon will those dark clouds roll away,

And the glorious stars appear ;
Hail, our country's natal morn!

And the pensive moon, with her calm, pale light,
Hail, our spreading kindred born!

Will shine in beauty clear.
Hail, thou banner, not yet torn,
Waving o'er the free!

There is an Eye above, my child,
While this day, in festal throng,

That slumbers not, nor sleeps :
Millions swell the patriot's song,

There is a Friend in heaven, love
Shall not we the notes prolong?

Who still His vigil keeps.
Hallowed Jubilee !

And though in trouble's darkest hour
Who would sever Freedom's shrine ?

His face He seems to shroud,
Who would draw the invidious line? Believe-remember-0, my child,
Though by birth one spot be mine,

There's light behind the cloud!
Dear is all the rest

Chambers' Journal.

THERE

cover

REMEMBRANCE.

Or art thou near allied

To the bright spark that gilds the thunder-cloud !Cold in the earth—and the deep snow piled above Yet moving voiceless through the heavens wide thee,

Piercing night's sable shroud. Far, far removed, cold in the dreary grave !

Vain is each prying thought, Have I forgot, my only Love, to love thee,

To find the source and nature of thy ray, Severed at last by Time's all-severing wave?

For thou art ever with deep mystery fraught, Now, when alone, do my thoughts no longer hover

We cannot cast away. Over the mountains, on that northern shore,

He, whose stupendous plan Resting their wings where heath and fern-leaves Worketh unchanging through all space and time,

For unknown ends, thy fitful flames doth fan, Thy noble heart forever, ever more?

And laws for thee assign. Cold in the earth—and fifteen wild Decembers,

And He thy home hath cast From those brown hills, have melted into spring : 'Mid seas of ice, unchanged by Summer's rayFaithful, indeed, is the spirit that remembers • Mid frigid deserts, stretching, far and vast, After such years of change and suffering !

Where life can never stay. Sweet Love of youth, forgive, if I forget thee,

Yet doth thy nightly glow While the world's tide is bearing me along ;

Glad the far dwellers of the dreary Nor 1: Other desires and other hopes beset me,

The Greenlander, amid the drifted snow, Hopes which obscure, but cannot do thee wrong!

Doth hail thy coming forth. No later light has lightened up my heaven,

Thou cheerest Siberia's gloom, No second morn has ever shone for me ;

Sweden's cold clime, and Norway's ice-girt shore ; All my life's bliss from thy dear life was given,

And northern men their hardy toils resume

When thou dost brightly soar. All my life's bliss is in the grave with thee.

Edwin S. HIGBIL. But, when the days of golden dreams had perished, Exeter, N. Y., Feb. 9th, 1850.

And even Despair was powerless to destroy; Then did I learn how existence could be cherished,

From Chambers' Journal Strengthened, and fed without the aid of joy.

MY EEN ARE DIM W TEARS. Then did I check the tears of useless passion

My een are dim wi' tears, John Weaned my young soul from yearning after My heart is sair wi' wae, thine ;

I lie an’ watch the stars, John,
Sternly denied its burning wish to hasten

A wearying for the day;
Down to that tomb already more than mine. Yet it winna bring me rest, John,

An' it canna bring me peace,
And, even yet, I dare not let it languish,

Till the clay is on my breast, John,
Dare not indulge in memory's rapturous pain;

An' thocht and feeling cease!
Once drinking deep of that divinest anguish,
How could I seek the empty world again?

I hae looed ye weel and lang, John
Ellis Bell.

An' shall while I hae life;
But ye’ve caused me mony a pang, John,

Wha should hae been your wife.
From the Journal of Commerce.

Though ye never said a word, John,
THE AURORA BOREALIS.

My trusting heart to win,
Oft in the solemn night,

Ye hae leed before the Lord, John,
When Earth is veiled in darkness to the eye,

An' that is deeper sin!
There comes a sudden and mysterious light

Ye're hand leed seeking mine, John,
Within the azure sky!

When naebody could see;
'Tis not the twilight beam,

And ye kissed it mony a time, John,

An' wasna that a lee? Nor the pale radiance of the starry throng,

An' your een leed looking love, John,
Nor Cynthia's pensive ray, nor meteor's gleam,

Whene'er they turned on me;
Shooting the heavens along :

An' your gifts, what did they pruve, John,
But a strange, shifting glow,

But love-or treachery?
Bright'ning and fading, like to flickering flame- An' your step leed coming here, John,
High o'er the North, white columns upwards go-

Sae aft in cauld an' rain,
Then die-then soar again.

For mony a happy year, John,
Light of the dreary North,

Whase memory is pain!
Fain would we know thy far and hidden springs,

For I thocht the time would come, John,

When we nae mair would part ;
And on what bidding thou dost issue forth
In ghostlike wanderings.

Yet ye gaed without ae word, John,

To ease my breaking heart !
Art thou the icy smile

Ye cam' o' your ain will, John,
Of Arctic oceans, streaming in the sky?

Ye saw that I was poor;
Or light from some unknown, volcanic pile,

Ye kenn'd I was nae light o' love,
Uptow'ring, huge and high,

Ye should hae passed our door.
On a far northern shore,

But I loo ye after a', John,
With giant craters gaping to a sea,

An' pray to God in heaven,
Fiery and vast, that deep within Earth's core

That I may be ta’en hame, John,
Burneth unceasingly?

An' your deceit forgiven!

a

From the Daily News. And in vain I ask my spirit
THE MUSIC GRINDERS.

Why this feeling of unrest.
You 're sitting on your window-seat,

But all day have been around me Beneath a cloudless moon;

Voices that would not be still, You hear a sound, that seems to wear

And the twilight shades have found me The semblance of a tune

Shrinking from a nameless ill.
As if a broken fife should strive
To drown a cracked bassoon.

Seeing not despair's swift lightning

Hearing not the thunders roll, And nearer, nearer still, the tide

Hands invisible are tightening
Of music seems to come,

Bands of sorrow on my soul.
There's something like a human voice,
And soinething like a drum;

Out beneath the jewelled arches
You sit in speechless agony,

Let us bivouac to-night, Until your ear is numb.

And to soothe day's dusty marches,
Poor" home, sweet home,” should seem to be

Bring, 0, bring the Book of Light !
A very dismal place;
Your“ auld acquaintance,” all at once,

From the Oxford Edition of Milton's Worts Is altered in the face ;

MILTON ON HIS LOSS OF SIGHT. Their discords sting through Burns and Moore Like hedgehogs dressed in lace.

I am old and blind! You think they are crusaders sent

Men point at me as smitten by God's frown;

Afflicted and deserted of my kind,
From some infernal clime,

Yet I am not cast down.
To pluck the eyes of Sentiment,
And dock the tail of Rhyme,

I am weak, yet strong ;
To crack the voice of Melody,

I murmur not, that I no longer see ; And break the legs of Time.

Poor, old, and helpless, I the more belong,

Father Supreme! to thee.
But, hark! the air again is still,
The music all is ground,

0, merciful One! And silence, like a poultice, comes

When men are furthest, then thou art most near ; To heal the blows of sound;

When friends pass by, my weakness to shun, It cannot be—it is—it is !

Thy chariot I hear.
A hat is going round.

Thy glorious face
No! pay the dentist when he leaves Is leaning toward me, and its holy light
A fracture in your jaw,

Shines in upon my lonely dwelling-placeAnd pay the owner of the bear

And there is no more night.
That stunned you with his paw,
And buy the lobster that has had

On my bended knee,
Your knuckles in his claw.

I recognize thy purpose, clearly shown;

My vision thou hast dimmed, that I may see But, if you are a portly man,

Thyself, thyself alone. Put on your fiercest frown,

I have nought to fear; And talk about a constable

This darkness is the shadow of thy wing; To turn them out of town;

Beneath it I am almost sacred-here Then close your sentence with an oath,

Can come no evil thing. And shut the window down.

Oh! I seem to stand And if you are a slender man,

Trembling, where foot of mortal ne'er hath been, Not big enough for that,

Wrapped in the radiance from thy sinless land, Or, if you cannot make a speech,

Which eye hath never seen.
Because you are a flat,
Go very quietly in and drop

Visions come and go;
A button in the hat!

Shapes of resplendent beauty round me throng;

From angel lips I seem to hear the flow
BOOK OF LIGHT.*

Of soft and holy song.
Gentlest sister, I ain weary

It is nothing now, Bring, 0, bring the Book of Light!

When heaven is opened on my sightless eyes, There are shadows, dark and dreary,

When airs from Paradise refresh my brow, Settling o'er my heart to-night.

The earth in darkness lies. That alone can soothe my sadness,

In a purer clime, That alone can dry my tears,

My being fills with rapture-waves of thought When I see no spot of gladness

Roll in upon my spirit-strains sublime Down the dusky vale of years.

Break over me unsought. Well I know that I inherit

Give me now my lyre ! All that sometimes makes me blest ; I feel the stirrings of a gift divine ;

Within my bosom glows unearthly fire, * Poems of Alice and Phæbe Carey,

Lit by no skill of mine.