Mysteries of the Bible [pp. 624-628]

.Mysteries of thze Bible.
How different, in after years,
When first we meet the unwelcome light,
Our eyes perchance all wet with tears,
Fromn some dark vision of the night!
The dawn unseal'd the captive's eyes,
But dreams of beauty had been her'sDreams of Eternal Paradise,
And all its angel-worshippers!
'Twas evening, as a fragile bark
Swept down the blue Ohio's stream;
It seem'd as if some fairy's bark
Had coime to meet the Star's first gleam;
For naught like life save that was there The trees that bent on either side
Were looking on the tiger's lair,
Or on the river's crystal tide:
Or if perchance the leaves were stirr'd,
Some Indian waited for his prey,
With gleaming knife and mutter'd word
To smite the traveller on his way.
I'he wild flowers in luxuriance grew,
And look'd down in the limpid wave,
Until their leaves some zephyr threw
Into their cradle and their grave:
And Heaven has spared the captive girl
For some wise purpose of its own,
And as she sees the bright waves curl
Around her bark with gentle moan,
Her arms were round her mother's neck
While murmuring of the things she dreamn'd,
No cold reserve was there to check
Communion which like angels' seem'd.
"Sweet mother!'twas a dream could not
" Its holy radiance round me fling,
"Had it not been some angel's lot
"To bear it hither on his wing:
"Methought we roam'd thro' lovely flowers
"Which sent up Eden's own perfume,
"They did niot blow and die like our's,
"But wore an everlasting bloom.
"The trees were bending low to kiss
"The gentle streams that murmur'd by,
"And all things breath'd of perfect bliss "A bMiss that could not ever die.
Her eyes are dimm'd with precious tears For tmemory th e tear-cup fills;
Her thoughts are with her childhood's years
Among her own New England hills.
"And He was there-the Spirit-Dove " Filling with holiness the air,
"And melting every heart to love, "Love was the only feeling there!
"The fount of tears in every heart
"Was dried by an all-glorious sun,
"We were together-ne'er to part "Our spirits mingling into one.
"Dear mother! bless me, and if word
"Or act of mine has griev'd thy heart —
"I know too well I oft have err'd "Forgive me them, ere I depart!"
The wither'd hand was gently placed
Upon the youthful victim's head"I bless thee child, o'er life's dull waste
" So much of radiance thou hast shed:
"I bless thee as thou shouldst be bless'd,
For all thy tenderness and love"For few there are but leave the nest
"And soon forget the parent-dove.
"A little while remains to thee
"Ere all life's visions will be o'er,
"Then keep from earth thy spirit free,
"Lest gleams of heaven should come no more."
She co easd to speak-her spirit pass'd
Away from earth in one low moan:
Those words of blessing were her last —
Alineeta was on earth alone!
" One lovely hope is left for me " The hope to meet when life is o'er "And I will keep my spirit free
"Lest dreams of heaven should come no more!"
Clark's Mills, Ohio, July, 1840. EGERIA.
AN EVIDENCE OF ITS AUTHENTICITY AND INSPIRATION!
"Within this awful volume lies
The mystery of mysteries!" —Byron.
The Bible never has been, nor can it ever be, too
attentively examined, or too highly commended.
The obligations of the world to it are beyond the
powers of any pen or pencil, of man or angel, to
describe. It is the'Book of Books;' a specimen
of unrivalled literary excellence, and a compendium of the sublimest truths; the lustre of which,
like that of the'Orb of day,' in respect of the
hosts of stars, that glitter on the brow of the firmament, throws every other volume into impenetrable shade. There is reason to rejoice in every
effort, provided it be made with even ordinary ability, to urge any of the countless evidences, of its
real character upon the attention of men. This
IAer heart could not survive the stroke,
Which robb'd her of the only gleam
That with a gentle shining broke
The mists upon life's turbid stream.
The stin look'd in uponl the dead
And shone among the frosted hair,
And then towards the lowly bed
Almeeta bow'd in voiceless pray'r;
[SEPTEINIBER,
624
That He had spared a iiiother's heart
The fiercest pang that Nature knowsTo see a treasur'd child depart
Amid the scoffs and'ests of foes!
A manly form is at her side,
Who points to the all-glowing West"
Where they, tho' good or ill betide,
May in each other's love be blest!
Softly she spealis-11 I would forget
11 That there are lovelier, bluer skies,
11 But on my heart a bann is set,, My i-nother's grave beneath them lies!
t
MYSTERIES OF THE BIBLE:
She wept no more-she ]nevv- the sod
Would soon be on her own warrr brow,
And felt that an unerring C-od
Was dealing kindly with her now.