Whose radiant smiles make Nature gay— And ripen'd my nascent powers— "And when I had done my gracious duty, I laid aside my robes of beauty; In the mystic Past I go! My pall the darkness of the night, "Yet many changes have I seen In the onward march of man- "As ivy o'er an old mansion grown And holds erect by its firm embrace The tower which else would quake to its base So many a throne, defended alone By its venerable age, Has seemed to mock at every shock "Yet many such-thank Heaven for the sight!In my short life I've seen o'erthrown! For, with brawny arm and firm-planted foot, Wielding aloft a weapon bright The two-edged sword of Freedom and RightThe People have cleft the Ivy's root, And the Ruin has tumbled down! "But Time rolls on from day to day So, like a bygone dream, "Yet I have filled with bounding gladness And have often dried the tear of sadness I have fulfilled the dearest vows Of many a loving pair, And chased the cloud from many brows, With many a smile I've viewed men's joys, "And many, I ween, in my tears have seen And the symbol fair has chased Despair, In hope of a better day. But Seasons must fall, and Years must roll, In the mystic Past I go ; "Yet not all lone is my final hour; My death-bed is not all sad. While I linger on earth I am cheered by the mirth Of those I have rendered glad. And many will stand by my grave and think, As they see me pass o'er Eternity's brink, That many a Year may pass them by, And none be so true a friend as I. "The sound of the bell which tolls my knell Ding-dong! Ding-dong!'-I cannot stay long Then, Man, take heed to my solemn rede, In my short course behold An emblem so bright that, studied aright, "Like to my early Spring Fair Childhood's charms appear- Of ever-changeful light and gloom, Of sunshine mingled with showers. "Warm as the Summer glow, And free as the Summer air, Is youth, the bright season of opening reason; The time when the blade which the Spring has made And every breath may bring life or death "So heed Instruction in Childhood's time, And Wisdom pursue in thy youthful prime, That in the Autumn of riper days Thou may'st bring forth fruit to thy Maker's praise; And while thy powers are in their beauty, Strive to thy fellows to do thy duty. "Thus, like me, in thine age thou shalt not be sad, But be gladdened by those thou hast rendered glad; And when 'tis thy turn to go, like me, Into the great Eternity, Many a friend by thy bed shall sigh, And watch thy departure with tearful eye. And all within shall be hallowed peace, "But Time will not linger, and lo! his finger The clock gives warning! my grave is yawning! O Man, take warning! Thy grave may be yawning Farewell!" The clock struck twelve, and the pealing bells And still the breeze in the leafless trees Wailed mournfully over my head. Now loud and high as the doleful cry Yet in every whisper of the gale, What the Human Heart most ants. T is our doubt of God which has made us, in some moments, wish and even long that death may prove to be death indeedthe long, long eternal sleep-if no explanation of its existence can be given us beyond what science or reason have yet offered. The heart turns desperately to bay. We fight wildly for the existence of Eternal Love and Mercy in the Universe. LEIGH MANN. The Uses of Temptation. BY THE REV. T. M. MORRIS, OF IPSWICH. "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."-JAMES i. 12. E have here a beatitude which the world does not covet, which the world, indeed, does not understand. We are not told that all who are tempted are blessed, for that would be to pronounce a benediction on all mankind. The blessing is promised to those who endure temptation, who take a right view of it, who put it to its right use, who make it answer God's design. The word is not, " Blessed is the man that is tempted," but "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation." With the idea of temptation every part of God's Word makes us familiar. We have God described as tempting man-that is, trying, proving him, putting him to the test; his obedience, faith, patience, character. Man is described as tempting God, provoking Him to anger and jealousy; trying how far he may presume with impunity upon God's forbearance and clemency. We read of temptation arising within a man's own nature. "Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own heart's lust and enticed." Man is tempted by the seductions and allurements continually presented by the world in which he lives. Man is tempted by Satan, the mastertempter, whom we may conceive of as marshalling all the adverse forces which are brought up against us. Indeed, the idea of temptation is co-extensive with the sphere of man's life, and is inseparable from the manifold circumstances which combine to make up that state of probation which man's life, in this world, is from first to last. In all these different applications of the word, we see at once that the fundamental idea is that of trial. We often find it convenient to distinguish between the words, but it is well to remember that every trial is a temptation, and every temptation a trial. God places us in circumstances of trial, and we suffer these, which should only have acted as so many tests of character, to become incen |