Six days stern labour shuts the poor A Father's tender mercy gave Six days of toil, poor child of Cain, The fields that yester-morning knew Fresh glides the brook and blows the gale, So rest,-0 weary heart!-but, lo, The church-spire glist'ning up to heaven, To warn thee where thy thoughts should go The day thy God hath given. Lone through the landscape's solemn rest, They tell thee, in their dreaming school, Alas! since time itself began, That fable hath but fool'd the hour; Each age that ripens Power in Man, But subjects Man to Power. Yet every day in seven, at least, One bright Republic shall be known;— Man's world awhile hath surely ceast, When God proclaims his own. Six days may Rank divide the poor, O Dives, from thy banquet hallThe seventh the Father opes the door, And holds his feast for all! BULWER. SABBATH NIGHT. THE Conscious elements prepare For slumber: modulated breezes swell; The sky with ocean-mimicry adorned, Grows pale and paler; soon will stars advance And seem to palpitate, as there they shine, With living beauty!-Thus will night begin, And earth lie cradled in a dim repose, Till the pure heav'n comes down upon the soul, And all is hushed within her holy spell! So ends a Sabbath; so may Sabbaths end Devoutly sacred, till the wings of Time Be folded, and ETERNAL SABBATH reigns! ROBERT MONTGOMERY. KEEP SILENCE. A SABBATH HYMN. KEEP silence, pride!-What dost thou here, How dar'st thou in God's courts appear, Keep silence, wild and vexing care! Thy seed to sow, thy chaff to share, Keep silence, sorrow! Faith can tell Thou to the bosom's inmost cell By Heaven's right hand wert sent. Keep silence, avarice!-With thy hoard Think'st thou the money-changer's board Keep silence, vain and worldly joy,— Keep silence, earth!-the Lord is here, His work of wisdom form'd thy sphere, MRS. SIGOURNEY. JOSEPH BEFORE KING PHARAOH. P. We will proceed with Joseph's history. Where did we leave Joseph last week? L. You left him in the dark prison, papa. I should not like to be in the dark-especially in prison. P. A good man is not afraid in the dark. Did I not tell you how Joseph felt that God was present everywhere? Had he been able to read the Psalms he would have said, as David did, "The darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee." Perhaps he would have added some other thoughts which we find in the same psalm : "Whither shall go from thy spirit? If I ascend up into heaven thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.' I told you how such thoughts as these were of service to Joseph when he was a slave. They would still be of service to him in the prison. L. Yes: because they would keep him from doing wrong. P. And would also help him in doing right. He would still constantly pray for the Holy Spirit to guide him. The effect of this course was soon seen. The head jailor could not help noticing that he was different from the other prisoners. He would say to himself, "He looks like an honest man!" Ion. And so he was. P. And he would further notice, "How kind a disposition he seems to have!" He had also greater abilities than the other prisoners; and so, in the course of time, when the jailor knew Joseph intimately, and had heard his history, he felt sure that he was innocent. Then, the jailor took off his fetters, and entrusted him to take charge of the other prisoners. Joseph had been in prison about a year, when two new criminals, from the household of King Pharaoh, arrived. They were both important servants; one was the chief butler of the king, and the other was the king's chief cook, or chief baker, as the cooks were then called. These men seem to have been put under Joseph's particular care. |