The mighty Sufferer, with aspect sweet,

Smiled on the timid stranger from His seat

He who, returning glorious from the grave,
Dragged death, disarmed, in chains, a crouching slave.

See, as I linger here, the sun grows low;

Cool airs are murmuring that the night is near.
O gentle sleeper, from thy grave I go

Consoled, though sad, in hope, and yet in fear.
Brief is the time, I know,

The warfare scarce begun;

Yet all may win the triumphs thou hast won;
Still flows the fount whose waters strengthened thee.
The victors' names are yet too few to fill
Heaven's mighty roll; the glorious armory
That ministered to thee is open still.

LXXIII. - THE BIBLE

STUDY how to be wise; and in all your gettings get understanding. And especially would I urge upon your soul-wrapt attention that Book upon which all feelings, all opinions are concentrated; which enlightens the judgment, 5 while it enlists the sentiments, and soothes the imagination in songs upon the harp of the "sweet songster of Israel.” The Book which gives you a faithful insight into your heart, and consecrates its character in

"Shrines,

10

Such as the keen tooth of time can never touch."

Would you know the effect of that Book upon the heart? It purifies its thoughts and sanctifies its joys; it nerves and strengthens it for sorrow and the mishaps of life; and when these shall have ended and the twilight of death is

5

10

spreading its dew-damp upon the wasting features, it pours upon the last glad throb the bright and streaming light of Eternity's morning. Oh! have you ever stood beside the couch of a dying saint, when

"Without a sigh,

A change of feature or a shaded smile,
He gave his hand to the stern messenger,
And as a glad child seeks his father's arms,
Went home?"

Then you have seen the deep, the penetrating influence of this Book.

Would you know its name? It is the Book of Books -its author, God-its theme, Heaven, Eternity. The Bible! Read it, search it. Let it be first upon the shelves 15 of your library, and first in the affections of your heart.

Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me." Oh! if there be sublimity in the contemplation of God-if there be grandeur in the display of Eternity—if there be anything 20 ennobling and purifying in the revelation of man's salvation, search the Scriptures, for they are they which testify of these things.

LXXIV. GOD.

DERZHAVIN.

[GABRIEL ROMANOVITCH DERZHAVIN, a Russian lyrical poet, was born in Kasan, July 3, 1743, and died July 6, 1816. He gained distinction in the military and civil service of his country, and was made secretary of state in 1791 by Catharine II. The following poem has been translated, not only into many European languages, but into those of China and Japan. It is said to have been hung up in the palace of the Emperor of China, printed in gold letters on white satin. Sir John Bowring, in his "Specimens of the Russian Poets," published in 1821, was the first person who made the readers of England and America acquainted with the writings of Derzhavin and other Russian poets.]

1

O THOU eternal One! whose presence bright
All space doth оссиру,
all motion guide:

Unchanged through time's all devastating flight;
Thou only God! There is no God beside!
Being above all beings! Mighty One!

Whom none can comprehend and none explore;
Who fill'st existence with Thyself alone:

Embracing all, supporting, - ruling o'er, —
Being whom we call God- and know no more!

2 In its sublime research, philosophy

none can mount

May measure out the ocean-deep - may count
The sands or the sun's rays—but God! for Thee
There is no weight nor measure:
Up to thy mysteries. Reason's brightest spark.
Though kindled by thy light, in vain would try
To trace thy counsels, infinite and dark:

And thought is lost ere thought can soar so high,
Even like past moments in eternity.

3 Thou from primeval nothingness didst call
First chaos, then existence: Lord! on thee
Eternity had its foundation:- - all

Sprung forth from thee:- of light, joy, harmony,
Sole origin: all life, all beauty thine.

Thy word created all, and doth create;

Thy splendor fills all space with rays divine.

Thou art, and wert, and shalt be! Glorious! Great!
Light-giving, life-sustaining Potentate!

4 Thy chains the unmeasured universe surround,
Upheld by thee, by thee inspired with breath!
Thou the beginning with the end hast bound,
And beautifully mingled life and death!
As sparks mount upwards from the fiery blaze,
So suns are born, so worlds spring forth from thee:
And as the spangles in the sunny rays

Shine round the silver snow, the pageantry

Of heaven's bright army glitters in thy praise.

5 A million torches lighted by thy hand
Wander unwearied through the blue abyss:
They own thy power, accomplish thy command,
All gay with life, all eloquent with bliss.

What shall we call them? Piles of crystal light-
A glorious company of golden streams

Lamps of celestial ether burning bright

Suns lighting systems with their joyous beams?
But thou to these art as the noon to night.

6 Yes! as a drop of water in the sea,

All this magnificence in thee is lost:

What are ten thousand worlds compared to thee?
And what am I then? Heaven's unnumbered host,
Though multiplied by myriads, and arrayed
In all the glory of sublimest thought,
Js but an atom in the balance; weighed
Against thy greatness, is a cipher brought
Against infinity! O, what am I then? Naught!

Naught! yet the effluence of thy light divine,
Pervading worlds, hath reached my bosom too;
Yes! in my spirit doth thy spirit shine,
As shines the sunbeam in a drop of dew.
Nought! yet I live, and on hope's pinions fly
Eager towards thy presence; for in thee
I live, and breathe, and dwell; aspiring high,
Even to the throne of thy divinity.

I am, O God! and surely Thou must be!

8 Thou art directing, guiding all, thou art!
Direct my understanding, then, to thee;
Control my spirit, guide my wandering heart:
Though but an atom midst immensity,
Still I am something, fashioned by thy hand!
I hold a middle rank 'twixt heaven and earth.
On the last verge of mortal being stand,

Close to the realms where angels have their birth,
Just on the boundaries of the spirit-land!

9 The chain of being is complete in me;
In me is matter's last gradation lost,
And the next step is spirit- Deity!

I can command the lightning, and am dust!
A monarch, and a slave; a worm, a god!
Whence came I here? and how so marvellously
Constructed and conceived? unknown! this clod
Lives surely through some higher energy;
For from itself alone it could not be !

10 Creator, yes! thy wisdom and thy word
Created me! thou source of life and good!
Thou spirit of my spirit, and my Lord!
Thy light, thy love, in their bright plenitude
Filled me with an immortal soul, to spring
Over the abyss of death, and bade it wear
The garments of eternal day, and wing
Its heavenly flight beyond this little sphere,
Even to its source- to thee-its Author there.

11

O thoughts ineffable! O visions blest!
Though worthless our conceptions all of thee,
Yet shall thy shadowed image fill our breast,
And waft its homage to thy Deity.
God! thus alone my lonely thoughts can soar;
Thus seek thy presence, Being wise and good!
Midst thy vast works admire, obey, adore;
And when the tongue is eloquent no more,
The soul shall speak in tears of gratitude.