Observer, Jan. 15, 76

Shut out the world! unclose the inner eye,
And lo! what aspects new from sea to sky!
Great thrones of light and royalties divine.
The spirit-powers in kingdom-lustre shine.
The kingdom indestructible and fair,
Whose Golden turrets glorify the air,
Is manifest, and waiting to descend

In glories without measure-without end.

The ancient ladder by the Patriarch seen
Is crowded still with all the primal sheen;
And from high gateway, flushed with amber light,
The angels of the Presence, strong and bright,
Descend with mission of unfailing love,

From Him in whom all creatures live and move.

The Prophet's servant felt his spirit fail,
The troops of evil surely must prevail.
But when his eyes were opened by desire,
Lo! all the soldiery of light and fire!
The legions and their chariots stood revealed,
Powers which could never bleed in mortal field.

'Twas in the year that King Uzziah died,
Isaiah lifted on a spirit-tide,

Saw the great temple and its shining Lord,
Who is, and shall be evermore adored;

For hosts etherial find it life to sing

The holiness and glory of the King.

There is a power-an essence-veiled from sight

By splendour of insufferable light.

In that excess of spiritual fire

All finite creatures surely would expire.

Moses might only see the lingering trail

Of fading glory, lest his flesh should fail.
Departing splendour blest his favoured eyes-
The cleft was like a gate of Paradise.

Hence He who sometimes showed His form and face
To the great Prophets from the Holy Place,
Was not the Father, but the Son divine;
And He in whom the highest angels shine,
And unto whom their praises ever rise,

Is that same Lord who came from parted skies,
Who took our mortal flesh in human birth,
Whose sinless beauty charmed the dying earth,
Whose love victorious over sin and death,
Sustains our failing heart, and fainting breath;
Whose glory shines above the sullen wave,
The river running to the gloomy grave.
The seraphim His holiness confess,
And prophesy the glory which shall bless
All provinces and kindreds of the earth
When his great age comes to auspicious birth.

Kingdoms of force and fraud collapse and fly.
Here they were born, and here they live and die.
The royal cities fade and sink in dust;
The farce expires, the splendour gathers rust.
Man builds his own mortality and shame
In all the structures of the proudest name.
Hence time and death conspire against the walls,
The storm beats fiercely and the lightning falls,
The earthquake meets the thunder of the sky,
Till palaces and thrones in ruin lie;
Castles and temples perish in the blast.
And lo! the evil dream is gone at last.

God builds His own eternity in walls,
On which for evermore His glory falls,
And His essential holiness is piled
In the Great City pure and undefiled.
Beyond the shocks of war or changing time,
The stories rise eternal and sublime.

Fair are the fields within the holy land,
The mansions in the Father's house are grand;
But fairer, stronger is that Lord supreme,
Beyond all mortal thought or angel-dream.

In whose infinity of love and light

The discords and the shadows pass from sight,
Whose countenance gives lustre to the river,
Which, from the throne, runs out with life for ever;
And strength unfailing to the ransomed throng,
Who lift His name on tides of deathless song,
And radiance fadeless to the stars of morn,
Who sang in transport when the world was born.

Dark are the piles where superstition crones
Prostrate among the questionable bones,
Where temple, altar, sacrifice, and priest
Prepare material for the last wild beast;
And desolate the heathen wilderness,
The cruelties, the darkness, and distress.
No stately men or holy memories shine,
No vision of realities divine,

No refuge from the terrors which are rife,
No wells of truth or dreams of higher life,
No gleams of One with power to bless and save,
No home in God or hope beyond the grave!

Slave markets still are open, war still blows
The trumpet of the glory and the woes!
The drunken revel still has power and place,
And painted harlots flaunt with brazen face.

And worse than all in lands where light from heaven-
The light of God in Christ-has long been given.
The atheistic frogs are swarming forth,
Brought by some wind of ruin from the north;
Darkness comes with them and they scatter death.
Whose force must come with purifying breath?
What power shall we invoke to close the strife,
And quicken pulses of a deeper life?
One power remains, to whom the seraphim
Lifted of old the life-inspiring hymn.
He only has the strength and will to save
From the strange terrors of each yawning grave;
The power to bid the northern tempest sleep,
And hush the billows of the foaming deep.
And lo! His kingdom cometh from above
In power resistless, yet in perfect love.

G. G.

THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST A PICTURE.

THE hour spent in gazing into a painting (now on exhibition), by E. Goodwyn Lewis, has not been wasted. It is easy to look upon the canvas till the picture is forgotten and one is lost in contemplation of its wonderful reality.

The painting (eight feet by five) presents a deeply interesting group of spectators, over three hundred in number, affording ample room for study, and so placed as to obviate all appearance of crowding. The point selected for the scene is one of the fords of the Jordan; a small winding gorge, between rocks, the sterile mountains of Moab rising in the back ground and glistening, as in bright eastern sunlight, with the snow-capped peak of Hermon in the distance. The filling up of the outline and the combination of light and shade produce a rare and beautiful effect.

The chief feature of the picture is, of course, the baptism itself. The artist has studied the only authentic records of the scene, and he agrees with Dean Stanley, who writes, "There can be no question

that the original form of baptism, the very meaning of the word itself, was complete immersion in the deep baptismal waters." We were pleased to find a daily paper, devoted considerably to State Church interests, writing, "So realistic is the whole scene, so life-like do the principal actors appear, and so natural is the grouping of the many other figures, that it is difficult to imagine it not a faithful representation of what really took place. It is in fact a very striking illustration of one of the most interesting passages of New Testament history; for the artist has strictly adhered to the Scriptural account of the baptism."

The baptiser is in the act of raising the Saviour out of the water, the head and chest being above the surface. A glory, from the heavens, streams upon the upturned face, only partly extending over the head of John, as if intimating that it came solely on account of the baptized and only, in any measure, fell upon the immerser as he stood in contact with Him. The light is soft, yet bright. The countenances of the two central figures beautifully contrast. It occurred to us, whether that of John was not a little too old; but, perhaps not, as we have to deal with the kindly, stern and reverential prophet, whose work was in the waters, whose garments were rough, and who was as little like a fastidiously gotup clergyman as he was unlike almost anything we could name. The face of John is well described as "full of solemn awe, as if oppressed with the solemnity of the act he had just performed on One whose shoe latchet he was not worthy to unloose." But how different the expression of the Saviour! There is seen gentleness, calmness, something of the Divine; sorrow, too, is there; but not the deep outlines of deepest anguish, such as we behold when, in another painting, He is seen coming forth from the judgment hall.

We do thank Mr. Lewis for this painting. He has departed from the favourite line of painters, who have painted baptismal scenes, and (perhaps at the risk of popularity) been true to the facts. The picture is sold, with what advantage to the arstist we know not. It is to be engraved upon steel by W. H. Simmons, and we may, therefore, in that form soon adorn our homes. Those who can afford the outlay might certainly spend their money in a worse way than that of making their walls preach of the baptism of Him, who said, “Thus it behoveth us to fulfil all righteousness."

REVISION OF THE

AUTHORISED

VERSION OF THE BIBLE.

TO THE REVISERS.-Gentlemen,-I am much interested in your work, which is undertaken not before it was greatly needed. I do not, however, know very much as to what you have yet accomplished. Dr. Angus, it seems, has been telling tales out of school, perhaps not offensively nor improperly.

It appears that you have not altogether a dull time, even bishops of your number do not err by excess of gravity, but rather enliven the party by occasional pleasantry; notwithstanding that reproducing the words of the Spirit, in our tongues, is a grave and serious business. Upon some of your sayings and

Observer, Jan. 15, '76.

doings I venture brief, but not unkindly, comment. Dr. Angus says :—

What were the views of our modern translators ? How far might they confide in them, and how far might they trust them? It might illustrate the importance of those questions if he took an instance or two. There was the passage in Timothy which said, "Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh." As corrected the text reads, "Great is the mystery of godliness, who was manifest in the flesh." There was another passage in John, "No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." If that text were corrected as it needed to be, it would read, "No man hath seen God at any time; God only begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath revealed Him." In those two instances -in one case the word God went into the margin, and in the other came into the text. In Acts viii. 7 was a text they, as Baptists, were justly proud of. It was the question of the eunuch and Philip's reply. "What doth hinder me from being baptised ?" Philip said, "Dost thou believe ?" and he replied, "I do believe." Now, as a matter of fact, there was not a single ancient manuscript that contained that verse. "That was a bad thing for the Baptists," some might say. He did not know about that. With respect to the verses about Philip and the eunuch, the explanation of how it came there was because it was the question put to the converts when they came to be baptized, and some copyist probably inserted a marginal reading into the text. They had lost a text but gained a confirmation of a piece of history. In illustration of the difficulties of finding suitable English words to represent the Greek and Hebrew, Dr. Angus said he believed that no translation could do perfect justice to the Greek or Hebrew. For instance, there was the word "publicans." The New Testament Revision Company spent more than two hours over it. It was said on one side it was dishonouring a respectable class of people to class them with sinners, and that it was extremely desirous to strike that out. What should they put in its place? A farmer of taxes said one; thereupon a bishop rose and said, "I must implore my brethren not to insert that, or we country clergymen shall never hear the last of it." "But it is farmer of revenues," said the suggestor. 'Ah, but the farmer is there," said the bishop, "he will never mind the revenues, but will say you have put him among the sinners." The fact was that they had not a word in English that would represent it. The Romans used to let out their taxes to be gathered the same as we did our tollbars, and they had to get what they could. These revenue gatherers were like our tollbar keepers would be without a table of tolls, and many would not pay what was legal, and these tax gatherers became very unpopular. He thought publican was the nearest word. Then the word "bishop" created a difficulty. The word meant one who took an oversight. No doubt oversight and overseer would be a good word if they could venture to use it. The Bishop of Gloucester said that whatever satisfied his Dissenting brethren would satisfy him. He said, "if Dr. Angus likes to be called Overseer Angus, I have no objection." Now in his district an overseer meant one who looked after the poor, and collected the poor-rate, and they rather objected. The difficulty was to get a word that would do justice to it. They had never been able to translate the word penny. The Roman word was denari. When we read, "Agreed with them for a penny a day," we were apt to think it was very little, whereas it represented some 8s. or 10s. of our money. Twopence was as much as a good man could earn by two days' work. It was said they should put

Observer, Jan. 15, 76.

half-a-crown, but that would be inaccurate, as there were no half-crowns in those days. It was suggested they should do as their Anglo-American brethren had done, translate it "Agreed with them for a denari a day," and the Dean of Westminster said, after talking it over for a week, it might be read, " Agreed with them for a deanery a day," and they would think that was not very bad pay.

There are certainly a few words in the Bible which

many Bible terms treated after this fashion. Reserving a few words for another occasion, I beg to remain, in earnest desire that the work may be well done, your well wisher, PURE SPEECH.

For instance, the Roman word denari. As then we have no coin of that value let the original word be retained, and let us be rid of the misleading penny. But other difficulties cited by Dr. Angus seem more fanciful than real, and to arise out of the unscripturalness of the Established Church. That Dr. Angus leans to retaining publican as "the nearest word" is certainly extraordinary. True, some English dictionaries give as the meaning of the word publican "An innkeeper; in Scripture language a toll collector." But when the Greek word was used by the inspired writers there was no new or Scriptural signification attached to it. It meant in their writings exactly what it did elsewhere. Publican and beerselling stand associated in the minds of ninety-nine out of the hundred of English people, and there has been quite enough of "Beer and the Bible" in School Board and State Church politics without being compelled to think of the prophane connection when reading the Gospels. Let us, then, have taxgatherer, or toll-collector; or if the idea of farming the toll or tax is really an essential of the word, then use the word farmer in connection with tax or toll. But a bishop implores that farmer may not be selected, because in country districts farmers will complain that you have put them among sinners. If this was intended merely as a joke, Dr. Angus should not have reported it in connection with a recommendation to retain publican. The innkeepers have been put with the sinners long enough; let the farmers take their place for a time. English dictionaries define farmer as "One who hires the collection of taxes." There we have the idea, and there is no difficulty in expressing it. If some half-awake man of the clod does not like it, tell him that, as when we read of baby-farming we do not think of him, so neither do we when speaking of a farmer of taxes.

"The word "bishop' has created a difficulty." Why so? There is really no difficulty in the case. Dr. Angus says, "No doubt overseer would be a good word, if they could venture to use it? And why not? Clearly the bishop does not like it. But there is one thing in its favour-the translators of the authorised version have, in one instance so rendered it.

For

in that one instance it applies to a plurality of elders in one church, who are told to labour with their own hands that they may support themselves and aid others. Our Established Church translators were quite ready to give overseers in that one text, while elsewhere they gave bishops. The business of the present revisers is not that of patchers to suit the convenience of either church or chapel. Overseer is the proper term, and, therefore, gentlemen, I pray you, let us have it. I know that there are overseers of the poor and of prisons and factories. But the word given by the Holy Spirit was not made for purely church use, but is one of common usage, consequently that overseer is not exclusively an ecclesiastical term is in its favour. We have already too

NOTTINGHAM DISTRICT MEETING.-The tenth annual meeting of the Nottingham district was held at Bulwell, Dec. 27. A goodly number of delegates were present, Bro. Dawson presided. In several instances the reports were of a most cheering character, showing that where the church is alive to its responsibilities, and actively cooperates with the preaching brethren, the Gospel is still the power of God unto salvation. Arrangements were made calculated materially to facilitate the business of future meetings and advance the cause of the Redeemer. In the evening powerful addresses were delivered to a crowded meeting; and in one or two instances from speakers who have been won over during the year by the power of the truth. Thus terminated a meeting which we hope will be productive of much good to the churches, and bring glory to God. T. LANGTON.

NORTH SHIELDS.-I am happy to inform you of the union of the brethren in this immediate neighbourhood. Our meeting place on and after Feb. 6th will be the Free Gardeners' Hall, Prudhoe Street, a new and commodious building, where I hope the preaching of the Gospel may bring many to the enjoyment of the blessings of salvation. At present we have Secularism and Unitarianism in the town to contend against, but we have no fear as to the truth failing. R. G. SAUGHALL.-Last week, eight persons confessed the Lord, and were baptized into His name. Dec. 4. P. STEPHEN. BIRMINGHAM.-Several have been immersed and added to the church in Summer Lane.

A WEEK OF PRAYER.-Disciples of Christ in certain States of America, characterized the last months of the recently ended year by a week of prayer. A report from the church in Eureka, Ills., contains the following:"The Week of Prayer," appointed by general Convention, was observed by the Eureka church. Lord's day, Dec. 5th, was a day of fasting as well as a day of prayer. A discourse on fasting and prayer was given at the morning service. At night the exercises were those of a general prayer meeting. Confessing of sins before God occupied the attention of the large audience. Many men and women arose all over the house, confessed their shortcomings, and humbly asked God for assistance to do better in the future. Each evening during the week found our brotherhood at the house, and each meeting seemed to be an improvement on previous meetings. There were scripture readings, songs, exhortations, prayers, and tears. Each meeting had its particular theme. The duty of confessing our faults to each other, the necessity of taking up our cross daily; how shall we practice self-denial? how shall we attain to a higher spiritual life? were among the themes. Tongues which had been silent in the house of God for years, were heard again, in confession and thanksgiving. Many of the sisters, overcoming their natural timidity, had a word to say for Jesus. On the next Lord's day, instead of the usual sermon, the general prayer meeting was continued. The theme was, "what sacrifices should we make, and how shall we make them, that the Gospel may be preached everywhere." This was the grandest meeting of the series. Hearts were melted, and God's presence was

very near. That there should be a reform in the extravagance of dress; that the wealthy bring not their costly attire into the house of God; that no stumbling block be put in the way of poor Christians; that we give our means both for Home and Foreign Missions till we feel it, were some of the conclusions reached. One brother said: "My soul has longed for a meeting like this for years! And I bless God that I have lived to see this night! I believe it will work a new era with this congregation. I now ask the brethren to assess me the amount they think I ought to pay for home work. I will pay it. Then I will pay an equal additional amount for work in the county; and I will also pay an equal amount for Foreign Missionary work." This brother is a merchant. The meeting was continued longer than usual, yet all desirous of speaking had not opportunity. It was decided to hold a similar meeting on the next Lord's day evening. The entire congregation has been brought nearer to God. J. H. BERRY.

AUSTRALIAN GLEANINGS.-As already announced, Bro. H. D. Smith's engagement with the church in South Australia has led to his immediate departure from this colony (Victoria). He left these shores on the 17th ult., for Adelaide, his destination being Milang. At this latter place, he has relieved Bro. Colbourne, who has for some time past been labouring in the word in this place Bro. Colbourne, it is reported, takes the general evangelistic field under the auspices of the Evangelist Committee. May both labourers be abundantly blessed in their work of faith and labour of love. A projected visit for three months by Bro. M. W. Green to the church at Dunedin is one of the church topics of the month. We are informed, from a New Zealand source, that a very pressing invitation has been sent to Bro. Green to go over there at as early a date as convenient. We learn also that the invitation is favourably entertained by the brother concerned, and will be accepted. Efforts will be made, we learn, to secure John Strang, if possible, for Hotham during the absence of M. W. Green.

From Prahran, we learn of continued progress of the church. In all departments of the church work an improvement is reported, and very encouraging interest prevails. Since last report seven have been added, in the way of the Lord's appointment.

Richmond reports the accession of two to the membership; and an encouraging interest in the proclamation of the Gospel is at present prevailing. Through the liberality of a good brother, the church is at present widely circulating a weekly tract which, in the providence of God, seems to be awaking a still larger interest in the minds of the public in that locality.

From Geelong, we have the report of five additions, three by immersion into Christ and two by commendation.

After a season of depression, the Church at Emerald Hill seems to have entered upon a time of greater pros perity. The attendance at the meetings for worship have, of late, been very encouraging, and generally the brethren here have reason to thank God and take courage.

J. A. Hamill reports lecturing at Camperdown during the past month, in the local Temperance Hall, which had been secured for him by a warm-hearted lover of primitive Christianity-Mr. David Anderson. Mr. Scott, an influential resident of the place, presided, and, at the close of the lecture, remarked with much force upon the plain truths which had been presented by the lecturer. A vote of thanks was accorded Bro. Hamill at the close of the meeting; a very evident good impression has been created. This field will repay labour hereafter.

H. L. Greslin, the new evangelist for the church at Carlton, has now fairly entered upon his work of evangelisation. A gentleman and a scholar he has proved himself to be by his carriage and utterances; for the rest,

let the future speak. It has been his privilege, in the three Lord's days in which he has preached here, to take fire confessions of faith in the Crucified One. May he continue to reap even more abundantly.

In Port Adelaide five have publicly confessed their faith in Christ since the last recent notice.

At Hotham, since notice the previous month, eight have been added to the church.

Obituary.

In affectionate remembrance of JOHN FERGUSON, of Aspatria, who died, after seven days' illness, on the 28th day of December, 1875, aged 50 years. Almost in a moment the strong man is gone. One never thought of his dying these many years. But God thus speaks to others than His frailest ones, and says, "Be ye also ready." We have long known and always known him as intensely devoted to God and truth. If in this country there is a man more constantly anxious to spread forth the Gospel of salvation, than was John Ferguson, we should like to make his acquaintance. May the Lord protect and bless his widow and children. Ed.

Family Room.

"AMONG THE BRAMBLES."

"Heed not the thorns that wound thee,
One wore the thorns for the;
And though the cold world scorn thee,
Patient and hopeful be."

Here

I WAS searching for primroses, and though the time was come when they are usually abundant and easily found, the advance of Spring had been checked by cold winds and inclement weather. and there a fair blossom smiled amidst the unopened buds, but it was quickly seized by younger hands than mine, and I walked far without obtaining any.

Everything seemed to whisper one word-" WAITING." The branches of the trees were thickly covered with buds ready to burst, which, leafless though they were, threw over them a flush of life, brought out in different hues under the touch of evening sunlight. The hedges were hiding behind their bareness wonderful preparations for May-day-coils of fernleaves and blossoms in embryo-seeds swelling and shooting beside the moss and among the ivy, which had kept bright all the winter through. A few early adventurers were gemming the sunny sheltered parts of the wayside with tender green, telling of hawthorn boughs, and bunches and wreaths of roses soon to come; but, taken as a whole, Nature appeared as if holding her breath, looking and longing for the full loosening of her bonds-the busy, joyful waking up to newness of life.

Each

Yes! silently, but emphatically expressed everywhere was just this, only this-"WAITING." little spray tipped with rosy buds, each branch lifting itself up with its undeveloped store of foliage, each tiny germ hidden within the seed, together breathed it forth, and I felt an answering chord touched within.

How close the fellowship in symbol between the

voiceless speech of God's handiwork and the unuttered yearnings of His new creation! "Even we ourselves, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves WAITING for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body"-in that great Resurrection Day, when secret things shall be made manifest, when seeds sown in darkness shall wave in fruitful sheaves in light, when, all hindrances of earth and flesh removed, the powers of soul and body, the impulses and affections of "the hidden man of the heart," shall spring forth in happy freedom and exuberance, to praise and serve and know Him whom we love, as we cannot praise and serve and know Him now.

Practically-for the lessons of Nature are always practical-this hush of expectation seemed to say that, if in true harmony with her attitude of waiting, it will be no idle, sentimental dream of coming joy that we cherish, allowing us to sit with folded hands as the hours passed by. The waiting of the earth for the Spring is a state of great preparedness and unwearying activity. Through the days and nights of frost and cold, those countless buds were formed, which in due time break asunder the protecting sheath within which they were nurtured, and become full-grown leaves and flowers. So, dear friends ours is a hope that should make us very busy. We are to "go forth, bearing precious seed.” (Psalm cxxvi. 6); we are to be "laying up in store" for ourselves "a good foundation against the time to come." (1 Tim. vi. 19.) As in natural things so in spiritual, "He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." (Eccles. xi. 4.) Upon barren lives as upon dead twigs and masses of rock, the brightest sun will shine in vain. The germ of all that is to break forth hereafter is to be formed now, for only that which is quickened here through living union with Jesus will be raised in glory by-and-bye.

ye

Let us take home to our hearts the questionWhat is preparing in my soul and in my daily life to blossom out in the Day of Resurrection? Beyond all that can be seen of man, the good works manifest beforehand-fruits of the earnest of the Spirit-are there blessed secrets between GOD and myself, growing amid the snows and the shadows of the earth, beneath the covering of His shield- buds of love, and faith, and patience, and holiness, which only wait for more warmth and light to expand into full vigour and beauty before Him! "Seeing that look for such things," this is the word for our waiting time-"BE DILIGENT, that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot and blameless." But to return to my primrose search. much that was witnessing of "things not seen as yet," and going a little out of the beaten track, my eye rested on a dull unpromising-looking bank, nearly covered with tangled masses of the common bramble. I went up to it almost involuntarily, and there, to my surprise, in sweet profusion grew the flowers I had come to seek. They had remained undiscovered, or else were passed by because of the sharp sentinels which guarded every avenue of approach. Could I gather them? Yes, if I shrank not from a touch of the thorns. I wanted the primroses for a dear absent one, and I must not mind a few scratches; so, one by one, they were secured at some cost to myself, but withal a great deal of

Passing

pleasure, for when brought together they made a good-sized bunch, and I knew how their fresh beauty and delicate fragrance would delight my child.

Strange it was to see that, yet unreached, higher up on the bank, amongst the sturdiest growth of thorns, the finest and the fairest were blossoming. A few more scratches and they also became mine.

Will my thoughts seem too child-like if I let these primroses say to dear fellow-workers what they said to me?

Like these fair flowers "amongst the brambles," out of the common track of those who are gathering for Jesus and hidden from general view, there are to be found in most unsuspected places souls of precious value ready to receive the message of grace, or dear ones, loving His name but afraid to confess Him.

Are we willing in this service to bear "a few scratches" for our dear Lord! to breathe, it may be, the stifling atmosphere of wretched homes, to encounter the rough words of "the sons of Belial," to become familiar with sickness and pain, to "endure hardness" in many ways, if only we can help forward the blessed work for which He came from Heaven, who bore the Cross and wore the thorn-crown for us?

Perhaps it is too sadly true that we have loved our ease too well, and made provision that work for the Lord shall not infringe upon comfort, convenience, and even luxury. Let it be so no longer. Let us count no sacrifice too great for the Gospel's sake, and seek to understand the deep earnestness of Him who said "If by any means I may save some." E. C.

And his soul within

Grew as hard as the money he worked to win.

But he died one day as all men must,
For life is fleeting and men but dust.
The heirs were gay
That laid him away,
And that was the end of Solomon Ray.

They quarrelled now who had little cared
For Soloman Ray while his life was spared.
His lands were sold,

And his hard-earned gold
All went to the Lawyers, so I am told.
Yet men will cheat and pinch and save,
Nor carry their treasures beyond the grave.
All their gold some day
Will melt away.

Like the selfish savings of Soloman Ray.
E. A. C.