THE LABOURER'S NOON-DAY HYMN. If true unto thyself thou wast, What were the proud one's scorn to thee? The light leaf from the tree. No:-uncurbed passions, low desires, These are thine enemies-thy worst; Thou art thyself thine enemy! The great!-what better they than thou? Has God with equal favours thee Neglected to endow ? True, wealth thou hast not-'tis but dust! But that thou hast, which, with thy crust Of both- -a noble mind. With this, and passions under ban, True faith, and holy trust in God, Thou art the peer of any man. 139 GALLAGHER. XXXIV. THE LABOURER'S NOON-DAY HYMN. No man can complain that his calling takes him off from his religion; his calling itself, and his very worldly employment in honest trades and offices, is a serving of God; and, if it be moderately pursued and according to the rules of Christian prudence, will leave void spaces enough for prayers and retirements of a more spiritual religion."Jeremy Taylor. Ur to the throne of God is borne Nor will he turn his ear aside What though our burden be not light, Blest are the moments, doubly blest, Why should we crave a hallowed spot? A church in every grove that spreads Look up to heaven! th' industrious sun Lord! since his rising in the east, Help with thy grace through life's short day, And glorify for us the west, When we shall sink to final rest. 1. What does reposing agree with or qualify? 2. Why living? WORDSWORTH. 3. Fill up the ellipsis in this line? guide ? ALL HAVE GOT THEIR WORK TO DO. 141 XXXV. ALL HAVE GOT THEIR WORK TO DO. "THE productive classes of the world are those who bless it by their work or their thought. He who invents a machine does no less a service than he who toils all day with his hands. Thus the inventors of the plough, the loom, and the ship, were deservedly placed among those whom society was to honour. But they also, who teach men moral and religious truth; who give them dominion over the world; instruct them to think, to live together in peace, to love one another, and pass good lives enlightened by wisdom, charmed by goodness, and enchanted by religion; they who build up a loftier population, making man more manly, are the greatest benefactors of the world. They speak to the deepest wants of the soul, and give men the water of life and the true bread from heaven. They are loaded with contumely in their life, and come to a violent end. But their influence passes like morning from land to land, and village and city grow glad in their light. That is a poor economy, common as it is, which overlooks these men. It is a very vulgar mind, that would rather Paul had continued a tent-maker, and Jesus a carpenter."-Theodore Parker. WHY these murmurs and repinings, Who can alter what is done? There are goals yet to be won Grieving is at best a folly, Oftentimes it is a sin, We should a reform begin; We must all be up and stirring, With determination true; Though we see, on looking round us, Though the snares of vice surround us, Well we know that in our nature Is a spark of life divine; We must free the soul from thraldom, If we wish that spark to shine, We must all be up and stirring, Young and old men, rich and poor men, All have got their work to do. Life is but a scene of labour, Every one's his task assigned, Man's condition to improve, All must then be up and stirring, With determination true; Young men, old men, rich men, poor men, ERNEST WATMOUGH. XXXVI. THE DREAM OF THE FUTURE. "THE idea once conceived and verified, that great and noble ends OH! 'tis a pleasant dream (if dream it be) SHARP. AROUSE THEE, SOUL. XXXVII. PROGRESS THE LAW OF NATURE. 143 "THERE is nothing so revolutionary, because there is nothing so unnatural and so convulsive to society, as the strain to keep things fixed, when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress; and the causes of all the evils of the world may be traced to that natural but most deadly error of human indolence and corruption, that our business is to preserve and not to improve. It is the ruin of us all alike, individuals, schools, and nations."-Arnold. I, To herd with narrow foreheads, vacant of our glorious gains, Not in vain the distance beacons. Forward, forward let us range. Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change. Thro' the shadow of the globe we sweep into the younger day : Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay. TENNYSON. * * * XXXVIII. AROUSE THEE, SOUL! "EVERY man has at times in his mind the ideal of what he should be, but is not. This ideal may be high and complete, or it may be quite low and insufficient; yet in all men that really seek to improve, it is better than the actual character. Perhaps no one is satisfied with himself, so that he never wishes to be wiser, better, and more holy. Man never falls so low that he can see nothing higher than himself. This ideal man which we project, as it were, out of ourselves, and seek to make real; this Wisdom, Goodness, and Holiness, which we aim to transfer from our thoughts to our life, has an action, more or less powerful, on each man, rendering him dissatisfied with present attainments, and restless, unless he is becoming better. With some men it takes the rose out of the cheek, and forces them to wander a long pilgrimage of temptations before they reach the delectable mountains of Tranquillity, and find 'Rest for the Soul,' under the Tree of Life." - Theodore Parker. AROUSE thee, Soul! God made not thee to sleep Thy hour of earth in doing nought—away; He gave thee power to keep. O! use it for His glory, while you may. |