SACRED AND SCRIPTURAL.

PROVERBS, CHAP. I. v. 20—31.

WISDOM aloud proclaimeth. In the street
Her voice is heard aloud-

In the chief place, where men assembled meet;
And to the listening crowd

Thus from betwixt the expanded gates giveswarning: "How long, ye fools, will ye

Embrace simplicity ?—

How long, ye scorners, take delight in scorning? Turn ye at my reproof.

Behold! for your behoof

On you my inmost spirit I will outpour,
And spread from shore to shore.

Because I call'd, and ye refused-because
My hand I stretchéd forth, and no man heeded-
But
ye have set at naught my counsell'd laws,
And spurn'd the lore that from my lips proceeded;

I too will laugh for that ye inly bleed;

I too will mock when fear, as desolation,
Cometh upon you, and with whirlwind speed
Swift devastation.

Then shall they call on me, and I refuse;
Shall seek me early, but they shall not find;
For that they hated knowledge, nor did choose

The fear of the Lord their God to keep in mind.
They would none of my counsel; they despised
All my reproof; so may they freely reap
That they have sown; and, what they have devised,
Be theirs to keep!"

ECCLESIASTICUS, CHAP. I.

ALL Wisdom is from 'T'hee, O Lord! with Thee Abideth ever.

The drops of rain that fall—the sand of the seaThe sum of days that makes eternity,

Who shall endeavour

To number?-who, to measure Heaven's height, Earth's breadth, the depth of ocean infinite, The boundless stream

Of Wisdom-first of all created things-
Wisdom, that from the eternal fountain springs
Of God supreme?

Her ways are everlasting laws-to whom
Have the recesses of her secret womb

Been e'er reveal'd?

Who knows her solemn councils? who so blest,
To whom she hath herself made manifest,
And kept conceal'd

From all beside ?-Yet is there One, most wise,
One, greatly to be fear'd, who in the skies
Hath built his throne;

Who Wisdom's self did into being call,

And saw, and number'd, and hath since thro' all His works made known

And, most of all, to them that live, and move, And their Almighty Father know and love, Hath given her for their own.

The fear of the Lord is Honour, Glory, Gladness; A crown of happiness without alloy; The fear of the Lord dispelleth grief and sadness, And giveth length of years, increase of joy. Who fears the Lord, with him it shall be well E'en to the last, and peace upon his death bed dwell. The fear of the Lord is Wisdom's first creation,

Found with the faithful yet within the womb, And will continue with them to the tomb, And with their seed upon secure foundation.

WISDOM OF SOLOMON, CHAP. II.

THUS said the heathen, in their reasonings vain; "Man's life is short, or but prolonged in pain : In death no remedy, no comfort, lies,

And from the grave we may not look to rise.
Born to all chance, on all adventures driven,
The sport of fortune or capricious heaven,
We pass away, and are no longer seen,

And leave no record that we once have been.

Our breath is smoke, our heart's warm pulse a spark,

Soon kindled, soon extinct, then all is dark;
Consumed to ashes our poor house of clay,
Our spirit vanish'd like soft air away;
Our name erased from Time's unfaithful page;
Our works unnoticed by the rising age.
We die, alas! and leave no trace behind,
Like empty vapour driven before the wind,
Or mists that, gathering thick at close of night,
Are scatter'd by the day's increasing light.
And, when this vision is dissolved at last,
This airy, trifling, fleeting shadow past,
A seal is put upon the funeral urn,

And Fate itself prohibits our return.

66

Come, then, enjoy the hours that yet are thine, Give thy full soul to perfumes, baths, and wine; Let youth enhance the moments as they fly, And let no flower of painted spring go by! With early rose-buds let us crown our head, Ere yet their full-blown leaves be torn and shed! No pleasure pass untried, nor dear delightThe festive day, the soft voluptuous night; Leave through the world the tokens of your This is our portion, and our lot is this.

bliss,

"Let us the poor and righteous man oppress, Nor spare the widow nor the fatherless, Nor hold in reverence grey antiquity— But let our strength the law of justice be. That which is weak is ever worthless foundLet then our toils the righteous man surround; For that he thwarts our arts, and doth prevent

By stern reproof our lawless will's intent;
And boasts himself of knowledge all divine,
And claims descent from God's peculiar line.
Nay-e'en his face it irks us to behold;
For not like other men's his days are told:
His ways are of a different fashion,-He
Proclaims the end of the just man bless'd to be.
But let us see if so his words be sooth:
For, say the just man be God's child in truth,
Then surely God will help, and set him free
From powerless hands of human enemy."

Such thoughts they did conceive, by sin made blind.

God's hidden mysteries were not in their mind;
The meed of goodness 'twas not theirs to earn,
Nor the reward of blameless souls discern.
For God made man immortal-form'd to be
The image of His own Eternity.

GREAT Universal Father-Thou
Whose form no eye hath seen,
Whose seat we image in the space
Of the infinite Serene!

Thy name with reverential awe

Be ever hallow'd here,

And not a thought profane the place
Where angels come not near.