350 EMMA'S GRAVE.-TO A BRIDE. Then drink of me, wayfaring man, Ten thousand souls, at other times, Have quaffed my gushing store, Nor ever one, for meaner draughts, Has pined or thirsted more: Then bow thy head, O mortal man, And bend the knee to me, No purer streams thou'lt ever find, Or freer fountain see. CHORUS. My source is on the mountain side, EMMA'S GRAVE. BY WILLIAM L. CALLENDER. "I have planted the daisy forget-me-not on the grave of your little Emma. I have also planted your tulip bulbs, two on each side of the grave."-Letter of a kind relative from the writer's former residence. DEAR Emma's grave! Our hearts retain A vivid image of that spot; It needeth not the daisy's bloom, To say to us, "Forget me not." Dear, sainted child! Our faithful thoughts Recall thy gentle, infant charms; Thy memory nestles in our hearts, As erst thou nestledst in our arms. As if some chiseled Grecian stone Had with the blood of life grown warm, So shone the faultless symmetry Of thy dear, fragile, tender form. Those tulip bulbs imbedded there Fit emblems of the form belowThough moldering now, when spring returns, With more than regal grace shall glow. So Emma's form-though crumbling nowAnd "dust to dust" fast molderingShall, when time's chilly winter's past, Bloom in a never-fading spring. Yet sad for us who stay to mourn, And Nature claims her tribute-tears. O, of what joys our fancy wove Alas! Death feasts on infant forms; We humbly yield, and bless the Power TO A BRIDE. BY MRS. L. C. LAWSON. I HAVE seen thy bright smile, maiden- Thou hast stood by the altar, maiden— Thou hast pledged thy pure heart's truthThou hast sworn to love, ay, for ever, Yon gallant and generous youth. Now, in thine own bark, lady, But contrary winds may await thee, And suddenly darken thy skies- Go down with the stormy seas? Fall humbly, both morning and night. Invoke the great God, our Maker, With the ransomed before the throne Rejoice that thou reared an altar, And awhile upon time's dark sea Invoked the great God our Maker, Thy helmsman and pilot to be. CONTEMPLATION. HAPPY the man whose comprehensive eye Can look on God's sublime and mighty system, And see his hand at work in all things for The good of those that bear his own bright image: He feels like angels, and, like them, adores. LADIES' REPOSITORY. 351 LADIES' REPOSITORY. NOVEMBER, 1846. DR. JENNER, who discovered the effect of vaccination upon the system in the prevention of the small-pox, for many years made the subject so much his hobby, and spoke of it so often, that the two medical societies to which he belonged passed an ordinance, forbidding the further introduction of it at their meetings. Now, the 14th day of May is celebrated as a festival all over the continent of Europe, because on that day he made the wonderful discovery. O, Success, thou art such a goddess! It is well known that George the Third, during the latter years of his life, was frequently insane, and that all religious distinctions in Ireland, and throughout the British empire, would have been destroyed, had it not been for this malady of the king. Both Pitt, the greatest of English statesmen, and Canning, inferior to few, had this great enterprise at heart; but every time it was named to King George, he would fly into a paroxysm of rage, and pass rapidly down the scale, until his reason was quite gone. In a monarchical government, how much frequently depends upon the wisdom or folly, the health or madness, of a single man! The liberties of our country are greatly indebted to this providential malady of George the Third. THE late Sydney Smith, who, during his singular life, rendered himself famous for his Peter Plimley letters, his caustic reviews in several of the European quarterlies, and in this country by his numerous ill-natured letters on American credit and repudiation, has not only been charged with plagiarism of the grossest character, but the fraud has been nailed to his door by proof the most positive and clear. The nail not only has a good head that will not pull through, but it is also clenched on the other side. His wit he has borrowed from a variety of sources, and all his sermons from Dr. Barrow! IN the market-place at Rouen, France, there is a statue of Joan of Arc, the famous female warrior, on which, under her coat of arms, is the following Latin inscription: "Regia virgineo defenditur ense corona, Lilia virgineo tuta sub ense nitent. This is a singular eulogy upon the character of a lady, so singular that my readers shall see it in their own language: "The maiden's sword protects the royal crown, Beneath the maiden's sword the lilies safely bloom." THE greatness of Wesley consisted, to no small extent, in his simplicity. Yet this very simplicity he had to cultivate. When he first began his ministry, his style was so lofty that several of his hearers complained they could not understand him. Learning this, he resolved to change his course; and, to the individual who informed him of the complaints he observed, "I will make them understand me." How far he succeeded, may be seen from the following circumstance. In June, 1790, the year before he died, he preached at Lincoln, taking for his text, Luke x, 42: "One thing is needful." As the congregation was dispersing, a lady { remarked, in a tone of great surprise, to a friend that accompanied her, "Is this the great Mr. Wesley, of whom we hear so much in the present day? Why, the poorest might have understood him." Her friend replied, "In this, madam, he displays his greatness; that while the poorest can understand him, the most learned are edified, and cannot be offended." THE greatest benefactors of mankind have been the greatest objects of scorn and persecution, at least for a time. When the inventor of printing took an edition of the Bible to the city of Paris, he was cast into prison, by order of the public authorities, for having connection with the devil. Up to that period, the literary world had multiplied its books by the slow and laborious process of writing. The Parisians, enlightened though they were, could not conceive it possible to produce a thousand copies of one book all formed exactly alike, without supernatural agency. In one respect, they committed, what appears to us of the nineteenth century, a glaring error-in attributing the work to an evil agency. We should suppose they would rather have attributed it to an agency divine; for a greater boon, save revelation itself, the Deity never bestowed on man, than the art of printing. THE influence of woman, in giving sweetness and purity to the character of the other sex, is acknowledged by most candid infidel writers, as well as by all Christians. Lord Byron, whose principles and habits were far below the proper standard, once remarked, that when in the society of a virtuous and intelligent female, he invariably felt a desire to be a better man. If such be the power of woman, it becomes her well to reflect on her responsible station, and to aim most sacredly at the preservation of her own uprightness and dignity. THE present is generally styled, the age of reform. This, we do not feel disposed to controvert. It cannot, however, be denied, that mankind are wofully deficient in the greatest of all reforms-individual reform. Societies for the reformation of others are multiplied almost ad infinitum; but efforts for personal reformation are much neglected. Editors universally complain of the corrupt state of the press, and yet most of them aid in the perpetuation of that corruption. Infidels, as well as Christians, mourn, or profess to mourn, over the evils of society; while those evils are augmented by their own wrong doings. Reformers must take an entirely different course-first reform themselves, and then their influence will be felt with a hundred-fold more force on others. "Man know thyself: all wisdom centres there." So said the profound though poetical writer, Young. And until this wisdom is acquired, and likewise exhibited in the life, no thorough reform can take place in the world. RELIGION and science are more powerfully at work at present than in any former period of time, in removing the physical and moral evils of the world, and in elevating man to his highest state of earthly existence. In some periods, the work has been scarcely perceptible, but now it is visible to the most ordinary observer. Changes are taking place, and improvements are being effected, which are the wonder of all minds. Glorious will be the consummation! 352 EDITOR'S TABLE. EDITOR'S TABLE. a minute," says one present, "the whole audience were EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.-Our exchange newspa-shaking hands, with an earnestness and cordiality, selpers are all teeming with accounts of the World's Convention for the promotion of Christian union. We will give our readers a brief sketch of the proceedings. It commenced its sessions in London on the 19th of August, and adjourned on the 2d of September. "It was a sublime spectacle," says a spectator, "to behold thus associated, representatives from all nations: the European, the Asiatic, the African, the American, the Jewish, and the Polynesian; of all orders and ranks of men, the nobleman and the plebeian; the duke, the earl, and the baron, the philosopher, the statesman, the merchant, the mechanic; the justice of the Queen's bench, the physician, and the officers of the army and the navy; men who offered the Lord's Prayer in English, Irish, Welch, French, German, Dutch, and many other languages; more than twenty brauches of the Christian family; the Church of England with every kind of unconformity and dissent; the established Presbyterian Church of Scotland, with all the varieties of secession; the Wesleyan, the Baptist, the Independent, the French Reformed, the Calvinist, the Lutheran, the Moravian, and the converted son of Abraham; the representatives of Cambridge and of Oxford, of the colleges and theological seminaries of Dissenters, of the Church Missionary Society, of the London Missionary Society, of the Baptist Missionary Society; in short, a gathering of Christian disciples from all the prominent nations under heaven, and representing all the interests of learning, of religion, of mankind." There were enrolled in all, two thousand and five hundred members. The Wesleyan representation was the most numerous, and the Free Church of Scotland the next. Of the Church of England, two hundred and fifty gave in their adherence. The delegates from the United States numbered about sixty; and many were present from France, Germany, and Switzerland. Sir Culling Eardly Smith, Bart., was unanimously elected chairman. In his address, he said he hoped they might so discharge the responsibilities resting upon them, that the nineteenth of August, 1846, would long be remembered by coming generations. Dr. Bickersteth was nominated by Dr. Bunting to preside over the devotional exercises. He gave out the hymn commencing, "All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice," which was sung. He then read that beautiful Psalm, the first verse of which is, "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." He also read the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel according to John. The Rev. J. A. James, of Birmingham, and Rev. Dr. Cox, of America, then engaged in prayer. These devotional exercises are described as being intensely interesting. The first day was taken up with preliminary arrangements, and the reading of a historical sketch of the Alliance by D. King. On the second day, the great resolution to form a confederation under the name of the Evangelical Alliance was moved by Dr. Buchanan. Several felicitous addresses were delivered in favor of it, and, by a rising vote, it was passed unanimously. This is said to have been an impressive scene. The venerable Bickersteth was so wrought upon that he exclaimed, "Thanks be to God that I lived to see this day." "In less than half dom if ever witnessed." Dr. Bunting, in shaking hands with those around him, said, "Brethren, I cannot shake hands with each one of you, but I shake hands with you all in my heart." And Dr. Raffles, with an overflowing heart, broke out, “ Praise God, brethren. If we ever had reason to praise him, we have now;" and repeated the verse commencing, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," which was sung to the tune of Old Hundred, with unusual emphasis and sweetness. The convention then proceeded to its business. After some discussion, the following was adopted as the doctrinal basis: 1. The Divine inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of the holy Scriptures. 2. The right and duty of private judgment in the interpretation of the holy Scriptures. 3. The unity of the Godhead, and the Trinity of Persons therein. 4. The utter depravity of human nature in consequence of the fall. 5. The incarnation of the Son of God, his work of atonement for sinners of mankind, and his mediatorial intercession and reign. 6. The justification of the sinner by faith alone. 7. The work of the Holy Spirit in the conversion and sanctification of the sinner. 8. The immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, the judgment of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the eternal blessedness of the righteous, and the eternal punishment of the wicked. 9. The Divine institution of the Christian ministry, and the obligation and perpetuity of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper. This basis is not to be understood in any formal or ecclesiastical sense, as a creed, nor as an absolute definition of Christian brotherhood. Each member was also considered as acting individually. A resolution was adopted, which, if faithfully carried out, will reflect the highest honor on the Christian world: it is, "that orthodox Christians of all sects should exercise Christian charity toward each other, pledging themselves in their controversies to avoid all rash or groundless insinuations, and to maintain the meekness and gentleness of Christians by speaking the truth only in love." Various other matters were attended to. The beneficial influence of this convention, we hope, will be extensive and lasting. All Christian females ought certainly to feel deeply interested in the movement. Amongst them, the spirit of Christian union has been much more genuine than amongst the other sex. In theological disputes and contentions they have taken little or no part, not from a want of ability, but from a want of disposition: to the interests of practical Christianity, however, they have ever been nobly devoted. Love-love is the glorious element of their being, both socially and religiously; and we are, therefore, confident that efforts for Christian union will meet with their full sanction and support. THE REPOSITORY.-The present number has been prepared in the absence of the editor, he being seriously sick in Indiana. The last accounts, however, say, that he is improving, and expects soon to be at his post. |