Imatges de pàgina
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Look to the countless graves,

Where sleep the thousands slain;
The morning songs no more call forth
The stirring bands again!

The din, the strife is past

Of foe with falling foe;

The grassy leaves wave o'er their heads,
They quiet rest below!

Sound high the harp of song,

And raise the joyous strain;
But never let war's note be heard
To swell the chords again;
Put all its trappings by,

Vain pomp of bygone years;

To ploughshares beat the pointed swords,
To pruning-hooks the spears!

Come, man, to brother man,

Come in the bond of peace;

Then strife and war, with all their train

Of dark'ning woe shall cease;

Come, with that spirit free,

That art and science give;

Come with that patient mind for truth,
Seek it, and ye shall live!

The earth shall yield her fruit,

The seasons forth shall bring;

And Summer fair shall pour her sweets
Into the lap of Spring:

While Autumn, mellow, comes

With full and liberal hand;

And gladness then shall fill each heart

Through all this happy land.

ROBERT GILFILLAN.

PATIENCE, MEEKNESS, &c.

PATIENCE; The power of suffering; of expecting long without rage or discontent; of supporting insults or injuries without revenge.

JOHNSON.

The king becoming graces

Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude.

SHAKSPEARE.

PATIENCE is that grace which enables us to bear afflictions and calamities with constancy and calmness of mind, and with a ready submission to the will of God :—

We glory in tribulations; knowing that tribulation

worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope. ROMANS V. 3. Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience. 2 TIMOTHY III. 10.

PATIENCE is an humble and submissive waiting for and expectation of eternal life, and the accomplishment of God's promises :

But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. ROMANS VII. 25. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. HEBREWS X. 36.

PATIENCE also means perseverance :—

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. JAMES V. 7, 8.

Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. JAMES V. 10, 11.

If our young readers will peruse attentively the lives of the patriarchs, of the prophets, and of the apostles, they will find therein many striking examples of patience under severe sufferings and afflictions, but perhaps the most striking human example of any on record, is that referred to in the above passage. But the patience manifested by Job, under the deprivations and troubles with which the Lord was pleased to visit him, appears as nothing, when we compare it with that which the Almighty daily exercises towards an erring and sinful race. MRS. HANNAH MORE beautifully and truly observes" It is one of the most striking characters of the Omnipotent, that he is strong and patient.' It is a standing evidence of his patience, that he is provoked every day.' How beautifully do these characters

reflect lustre on each other. If he were not strong, his patience would want its distinguishing perfection. If he were not patient, his strength would instantly crush those who provoke him, not sometimes, but often; not every year, but every day."" PRACTICAL PIETY.

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What glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 1 PETER II. 20. MEEKNESS; Gentleness, mildness; softness of temper. JOHNSON.

When his late distemper attacked him, he submitted to it with great meekness and resignation, as became a Christian. ATTERBURY.

It is somewhat uncertain from whence the words MEEK; MEEKLY; MEEKNESS are derived; by Johnson we are referred to the Islandic Minkr, which possesses the same meaning, and this derivative we must take for want of a better.

According to CRUDEN, MEEKNESS signifies a temper of mind that is not easily provoked, and suffers injuries without desire of revenge, and quietly submits to the will of God:

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering. COLOSSIANS III. 12.

Receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. JAMES 1. 4.

The intimate connexion between meekness and patience is too obvious to need much comment; the meek man is ever a patient one, and it is the same if we reverse the order of precedence, in naming these two essential qualities of a truly Christian mind. Of him in whom God reposed confidence, and to whom he entrusted great power over his chosen people, it was said :

:

Now the man MOSES was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.

NUMBERS XII. 3.

And we are told by the Psalmist, that:

God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the
PSALM LXXVI. 9.

earth.

The Lord lifteth up the meek.

PSALM CXLVII. 6.

4.

He will beautify the meek with salvation.

PSALM CXLIX.

And by our Saviour, himself a pattern of meekness :· Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth. MATTHEW V. 5.

Among all the graces that adorn the Christian soul, like so many jewels of various colours and lustres, against the day of her espousals to the Lamb of God, there is not one more brilliant than patience.

Patience is the guardian of faith, the preserver of peace, the cherisher of love, the teacher of humility.

Patience governs the flesh, strengthens the spirit, sweetens the temper, stifles anger, subdues pride; she bridles the tongue, refrains the hand, tramples upon temptation, endures persecution, consummates martyrdom.

Patience produces unity in the church, loyalty in the state, harmony in families and societies; she comforts the poor, and moderates the rich; she makes us humble in prosperity, cheerful in adversity, unmoved by calumny and reproach; she teaches us to forgive those who have injured us, and to be the first in asking forgiveness of those whom we have injured; she delights the faithful and invites the unbelieving; she adorns the woman and approves the man; is loved in a child, praised in a young man, admired in an old man; she is beautiful in either and every age. BISHOP HORNE.

sex,
Oh, God, that madest earth and sky, the darkness and the day,
Give ear to this, thy family, and help us when we pray.
For wide the waves of bitterness around our vessel roar,
And heavy grows the pilot's heart to view the rocky shore.
The cross our Master bore for us, for Him we fain would bear,
But mortal strength to weakness turns, and courage to despair,
Then mercy on our failings, Lord! our sinking faith renew!
And when thy sorrows visit us, oh, send thy patience too.
BISHOP HEber.

Christian fortitude and patience have their opportunity

in times of persecution and affliction.

SPRATT.

PATIENCE is so like fortitude, that she seems either

her sister or her daughter.

ARISTOTLE.

Be patient, be patient, for patience hath power,
To shield us in danger, like mantle in shower.
SIR W. SCOTT.

What were the arguments of worldly advantage held out through the whole New Testament, to induce the world to embrace the religion it taught? What was the condition of St. Paul's introduction to Christianity? It was not-I will crown him with honour and prosperity, with dignity and pleasure; but "I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." What were the virtues which Christ chiefly taught in his discourses? What were the graces he most recommended by his example? Self-denial, mortification, patience, long-suffering, renouncing ease and pleasure. These are the marks, which have, ever since its first appearance, distinguished Christianity from all the religions in the world, and, on that account, evidently prove its divine original. Ease, splendour, external prosperity, conquest, make no part of its establishment. Other empires have been founded on the blood of the vanquished, the dominion of Christ was founded in his own blood. Most of the beatitudes, which infinite compassion pronounced, have the sorrows of earth for their subject, but the joys of heaven for their completion. As the apostle beautifully obtests his brethren, not by the power and dignity, but "by the meekness and gentleness of Christ," so every Christian should adorn his doctrine by the same endearing qualities, evincing by the brightness of the polish the solidity of the substance.

MRS. H. MORE.

PATIENCE, by preserving composure within, resists the impression which trouble makes from without.

By maintaining a steady and unbroken mind, amidst all the shocks of the world, marks a great and noble spirit. MURRAY'S ENGLISH READER.

The sincere Christian is humble in respect to himself, and indulgent and mild towards others. Having some conceptions of the deceitful wickedness of his own heart, he looks upon the worst of men as brother sinners. JACOB ABBOTT.

Of all animals the ass is the most patient and enduring; and we should, therefore, look upon it and treat it with

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