"And claim it, when the years shall see The pledge return, the bond set free, Other associations of a kindred character are noted in the beautiful pieces entitled "To a Wild Rose," and "Sunset."-We thank Mr. Ford for his exquisite treatment of a subject which must ever have a potent charm. "Souvenirs" and "Starlight" are songs of sorrow and hope. They are the sad strains of a heart mourning the loss of one who had won its love; but brilliant chimes of hope mingle with the solemn and plaintive chords. Christian sorrow is assuaged by the revelations of the Gospel and the heart whose grief is thus chastened and subdued may find a tender expression of its faith and hope in these Christian Odes. "Pi-hahiroth is a fine example of spirited verse. Pharaoh's command; the gathering of his chosen men from the far South to the Delta of the Nile; the pursuit after Israel; the fear of the fugitives; the re-assuring charge of their leader; the parting and passage of the sea; the cloud of light and darkness; JEHOVAH's look of fiery wrath; the dismay and destruction of the monarch and his host; the relics of their pride and power floating on the re-united waters; the ignoble grave, in the bed of the sea, of the Pharaoh whose deeds were never cut in "granite scrolls," nor painted on pictured rolls," and whose absence from the "old ancestral line" is hinted by the "silent laugh of a cenotaph;" and the pean of Israel on the Arabian shore,—are all conceived and described with a vividness of imagination and majesty of style which recall the history in the awful grandeur of its reality. We can find space only for two or three extracts: "Down in the mazy chambers of those time-conquering tombs For one lies deep in a lonely sleep in halls of crystal brine; "Then loud, from Israel's children, the song of praise arose, The whole lyric is grand; and some of its descriptive passages, for graphic power, may compare with the favourite pieces of many of our best poets. There are bright colours in "The Ascension Cloud;" and the thoughts of the third part reflect the lustrous lights which are shed upon our homes by the Hope whose finger points to heaven. "And all before that seemed Life's fixed entail, inalienable dower, Weighed as false coin, as gathered shells esteemed, Tossed from us as a flower; "And all that dark unknown, The blank and hateful void we dared not face, Some outskirt sphere of space, "Lit up with life and light, Obscuring all that lived or shone before; "And as on Alpine height The mounting traveller, lost in clouds from view, "So as we upward rise, The mists shall gather o'er the path we trod, Shrink from the light of God." Great thoughts stirred our poet's soul when he wrote "The Speech of God." From the primal time God's voice has spoken to men; and its tones have echoed and re-echoed where they have pitched their tents, and built their cities. Now, as the sudden crash of thunder, it has startled them into terror; and then distilled influences upon them gentle as the dropping dew. Sometimes its subtile style has wrapped up profound mystery; and again its teaching has been simple as a mother's to her child. It is the oracle which has told the story of the world's young life, and solemnly announced its final doom. In ancient times it spoke by prophet, Urim, and vision; in the last days by the ministry of the Son. Among all the sciences it has taught men that in which they have the deepest concern, the one which meets the need of their nature in relation to its present condition and deathless destiny, by leading them to the Source of true rest and endless life. It is the privilege of all who listen to learn; and although they may learn slowly and imperfectly, knowing only "in part" the meaning and significance. of the lesson, yet, if they be humble disciples, they will never fail to apprehend the teaching which will save them from the curse of sin, and prepare them, amid the lights of the heavenly temple, to search with undimmed eye the mysteries of truth, and to know even as also they are known. "A Door opened in Heaven" is, as the title suggests, a glimpse of the heavenly world. It is a word-picture of one of the apocalyptic visions, painted by an artist who has caught the spirit of the seer of Patmos, and has trained his mind to appreciate the glorious imagery and majestic diction which were inspired by the Spirit of God. We can only refer our readers to the ode. The last piece in the volume is "The Rest of God:" and as a dream of the three Sabbaths-" God's first Sabbath-day," "Christ's first Sabbath-day," and "Earth's endless Sabbath-day," it is an appropriate close. Sabbatic lights play amid the visions of the poet. Happy the bards, who though their muse may wing beyond the farthest sun to the measureless expanse where constellations glow, whose lights have never yet reached our earth, sing the brighter glories of the cross, and, in strains of Christian minstrelsy, lead our thoughts and hopes away from the toils of this life's week to the heavenly Sabbatism—the “rest which "remaineth to the people of God." "All round seemed rest, like the sweet calm of heaven; 86 'Now broke the morn o'er Eastern hills and valleys, Dispelled the ghostly scene. "For strangers came, with joy's ecstatic gesture : "I saw no temple there, for all was holy; "And every breeze that made the air to quiver That rolled that city through. "And every sound on that sweet quiet breaking "But, as I looked, on all those radiant faces, One name I saw, one nature wrought and wreathed; From every feature breathed. : "Then waxing bold, I cried, O glorious strangers, For evermore are glad? Speak! for its weight of joy my spirit weepeth!' The limits of this paper will not admit additional quotations; but those which have enlivened our pages will, we think, sustain our estimate of Mr. Ford's volume. We have read it with much pleasure; and sincerely trust it will have a large circulation. Its high moral tone, loyal and reverent spirit, and pure love to Christ, cannot fail to win the admiration of Christian readers; and to kindle their faith and devotion into intenser life. From the earliest times lyric poetry has been employed to stir the passions and when polluted hands have swept the lyre, its music has quickened germs of thought and desire which have had growth and fruit amid conditions of moral disease and death. We are thankful, therefore, when fingers, "washed in pure water," strike from its strings the Divine melodies which both delight the imagination and sanctify the heart. Nor is the volume commended simply by its moral tone and tendency: its poetry often has considerable passion and power; while its smooth and graceful versification evinces much skill in metrical composition. There is a naturalness, a freedom, and ease in the treatment of its subjects. It is confessedly difficult, in many cases, to harmonise the melody of rhyme with the smooth flow and natural expression of thought; but the poet's vocabulary seldom, if ever, fails to supply a suitable style. Even the passages which embody the profoundest thought are constructed with admirable art; while, generally, the metrical form, whether stately or sprightly, combines the harmony of rhythm with the resonance of rhyme, which rings out a clear, sweet music both in cadence and in swell. In brief, "LYRA CHRISTI," both in substance and in form, is a valuable contribution to lyrical poetry. Its author has won the bays. His poetry is a current of sparkling thought, flowing between banks enriched with flowers of choice colouring and sweet perfume, and reflecting on its crystal bosom images which shine out from heaven in lustre brighter than the stars. CATHOLIC UNION CONFERENCE AT BONN. WHEN Döllinger and the other leaders of Old Catholicism were excommunicated by the authorities in the Church of Rome, they after a time began to look around for allies. Having renounced all the peculiarities of modern Popery, they felt free to make fraternal offers of union, whilst Rome had always, before negotiating with any other Church, demanded, as a preliminary, unconditional submission to the Pope. The Old Catholics naturally fixed their eyes first upon the Greek Church, with which they had most in common, and proposed a Conference which should aim at bringing about an understanding between Old Catholics, Greeks, and Anglicans. Proposals of union with the Greek Church were not new. The Council of Lyons in 1274, and of Florence in 1439, had such under consideration, but without much success. At the time of the Reformation efforts somewhat similar to the present were made by the Lutherans in both North and South Germany. The measures taken by the Patriarch Joseph of Constantinople in sending Demetrius Mysus to Wittenberg in 1558, to procure exact information concerning the Reformation, tidings of which had reached Constantinople, led Melancthon to send the Patriarch a letter and a copy of the Augsburg Confession of Faith translated into Greek. But the Patriarch did not even condescend to answer the letter. Then again between 1576 and 1581, the divines of the University of Tübingen laboured to make an impression upon Jeremiah II. both by letters and by sending him a copy of the Augsburg Confession. The Patriarch declared his assent to some articles of this Confession; but when the Protestant divines began to quote Scripture in proof of the disputed points, he broke off all correspondence. Another remarkable contact of the Greek Church with European Protestantism took place later, when Cyrillus Lukaris, who had studied in Geneva, became Patriarch of Alexandria, and sought, in 1602, to introduce Calvinism into the Greek Church. In order to this, he sent some young men, and among these Metrophanes, (who wrote an exposition of the Greek faith,) to England and Germany, to study theology. But the Greek Church in two Synods (1638 and 1642) repelled these influences. At the same time a work was drawn up by the metropolitan of Kiew, (Confessio Orthodoxa,) which may be looked upon as containing the creed of the Greek Church. In 1672, a council was held at Jerusalem against Calvinism, which drew up a Confession called the "Shield of Orthodoxy." Another attempt at union was made by the non-jurors, who put themselves, at the com. mencement of the last century, in communication with Russia and Constantinople, and received an answer from Jeremias of Constantinople and his Synod. The efforts of the Anglicans in the years just past need not be described. Wesley, in 1763, had communications with Erasmus, a Greek bishop then travelling in England, which were hastily misconceived and misrepresented by his Calvinistic opponents, and consequently by Southey and others, who copied blindly from them or him. Wesley says he "had abundant unexceptionable credentials as to his episcopal character." To the above instances are now added what might naturally have been expected, the attempt of the Old Catholics, which has in reality a fair prospect of success. What is desired is not amalgamation, but simply such recognition as would permit of each of the Churches on entering the confederation admitting the clergy and members of the others to its pulpits and communion. It would be impossible in the few pages at command to give an exhaustive account of this question, all that need be attempted is a sketch of the proceedings at the last Conference held at Bonn. A question may, however, arise,-Is it worth while to do so? What good is likely to spring from such gatherings? The account given above of so many efforts being made to effect such or a similar union with the East seems to point to some necessity in the nature of things for some formal connection between the aforesaid Churches. As a study whether of Church history or doctrine, the proceedings were of great interest. It is a duty to encourage every protest against Romanism, which at the present moment is, in Germany, stronger than at any period since the Reformation. The Bonn Conference was a constant and determined protest against Rome. The tendency of this movement is directly the opposite of priestly, any inclination among the Orientals and Anglicans to clerical assumption being counteracted by the moulding of Old Catholicism under Bishop Reinkens, one of whose leading principles is the participation of the laity in matters of Church government and legislation, in which they |