Vain is the blood of rare and spotless herds,
Pastured in meads where blue Clitumnus shines;
Vain are sweet gums from lands that Indus girds,
Or diamonds sought in deep Brazilian mines;
Vain are Iberian fruits, and perfumed flowers,
Rich as a Grecian sunset's purest dyes,
If deemed, when worship claims thy holiest hours,
For HIM IN HEAVEN fit gift or sacrifice.
The flocks that roam on thrice ten thousand hills,
Each living thing that moves on shore and sea,
The gems and gold which gleam in caves and rills,
Saba's low shrub, and Lebanon's proud tree,
The fragrant tribes that spring on cliff and field,
That flush the stream, or fringe the smooth lake's brim,
Breathe, burn, and bloom, at His high will revealed,
And own with joy their Light and Lord in Him.
Our gains are His, and, laid before the Cross,
These must of our oblations form a part,
But oh! the choicest ores and gems are dross,
If brought without that pearl of price--THE HEART.
The poorest serf who fears a tyrant's nod,
Whose inmost soul hard bondage racks and wrings--
That toil-worn slave may send unseen to God
An offering far beyond the wealth of kings.
Come thou with breast from pride and passion freed,
Hands which no stain of guilt has ever soiled,
Feet swift and strong for every gentle deed,
Faith, hope, and truth, by sordid crowds unspoiled;
Come with a spirit full of generous love
For all beyond, and all below the skies:--
Make ready thou, for Him who reigns above,
The Christian's gift--A LIVING SACRIFICE.
'MY TRAVELLING COMPANION.'
An individual, signing himself 'A Protestant Dissenter,' has written to
us, to remonstrate against one of the heroines of the tale in No. 424,
with the above title, having been consigned by the author to the
seclusion of a convent. As the same correspondent protests against the
'Visit to an English Monastery' in No. 413, as something calculated to
introduce the wedge of Popery among our readers--the said article having
given much offence to our Catholic readers, and terrified all our
Protestant readers, but one, into thanking God for their own
faith--perhaps it may be thought unnecessary for us to notice such a
communication. But this is only one of the reproaches we receive almost
daily, from all sides of the religious question. Our correspondents are
not satisfied with the well-known fact, that while retaining our own
opinions, we wilfully interfere with the opinions of no other man. Each
secretly thinks we ought to side with _him_, and would have us sacrifice
to this duty the usefulness of a journal which circulates freely among
all denominations of religion, and inculcates the practical part of
Christianity wherever it goes. We are tired of such correspondence--and
there is the truth. Let it be understood once for all, that ours is no
more a religious than it is a political mission. The supposed party
tendency of expressions that occur here and there in our papers is the
result of mere chance; it may be detected as often on one side as on
another; and in no publication but our own does it rouse the acrimony of
partisans. We give information connected with monasteries, churches, and
conventicles, with equal impartiality; and if this is found otherwise
than useful or amusing, it is the fault of those who convert facts into
sentiments.
* * * * *
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Also sold by W.S. ORR, Amen Corner, London; D.N. CHAMBERS, 55 West Nile
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Dublin.--Advertisements for Monthly Parts are requested to be sent to
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