1853]

AN INVOCATION."

Eternal Spirit! Thou who reign'st supreme

O'er the wide earth, and the unnumber'd worlds,
On which I gaze enrapt in silent awe ;-

Thou who hast hung on high those glorious gems

Spangling the outstretched curtains of Thy throne ;-
Thou who art Sovereign Lord of all that is,

Of all that from eternity hath been,

And through immense eternity shall be,—

To Thee I cry and from the solitude

Of Thy majestic temple dare to raise

My feeble faltering song. And can'st Thou deign
From the unshadowed glory of that throne
Which angels gaze not on, to hear my prayer,
And listen to an erring mortal's praise ?
Father in heaven, all things are Thine,-Thy care
And Thy creation,-who Thyself dost reign
Thron'd above all, th' Eternal, Uncreate:
All things are Thine, and all Thy sovereign care,
From the rapt seraph, who for ever stands
Nearest the dazzling glory of Thy throne,
To the minutest thing that doth rejoice

In the young fleeting life which Thou hast given.
And I am Thine! I tremble when I think
Of the great universe Thou dost sustain,
Of worlds that sprang to order at Thy word,
And sink to chaos when Thou dost command;
My heart is bowed within me, and I feel
A cypher 'mid uncounted millions,-
An atom on creation's boundless shore,—
A speck on ocean's vast unfathomed waste.
Yet, All Beneficent! I bless Thy name
That Thou hast made my being like Thyself,-
Immortal. Here, in Thy solemn temple,
Under the lofty dome Thy hand hath rear'd,
Amid the dark woods' twilight solitude,
Alone with Thee, I worship and adore.

O Father! Lord! though wide be Thy domain,
Thine eye pierces iny being, reads each thought,
Scans present, past, and future. Oh! I seem
To stand, reading the record of the past,
Beneath the blaze of Thy Omniscience,

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The record of my folly, sin, and pride.
Before Thee I confess them all. My soul
In its unfolding bloom, went strangely out,
Questioning things around me of Thy Being,
Nature, essence. But wayward and perverse,
Of Thine I learnt not Thee. When riper years
Built up their meed of folly, I had dared,
Spurning the lessons of thy love, to doubt

Thy care and goodness, and forgetting all

With which Thy love had blessed me, my proud heart Yearned for the gifts Thou had'st denied-wealth, fame With clarion voice, and beauty's dower, the rush

Of 'winged words,' the gift of lofty song.

All these hath my young heart desired, in these
Had fancy given to happiness her home.

But now, O Father! wise, and just, and good,
My Father! now I bless thy name for what
Thy wisdom hath denied; and would adore
The goodness which so richly hath bestowed.
I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou hast tuned my heart
To nature's symphonies; that all its chords
Vibrate with joyous music; and bound high
To join the harmony which swells the deep,
Unceasing pœan of the universe.

1853]

J. B. GOUGH.

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CHAPTER VI.

One of the remarkable features of the Bible-J. B. Gough-Valuable lessons learnt from annoyances-Longfellow-Misinterpretations of Providence—“The death of Abijah ”—Gilfillan's criticism on 'Abijah "— Southey's Life of Cowper-Alexander Smith's Life-drama-John Howe's remark on Pantheism-Nature an educational-agent-"The Ministering Angel."

It is one of the many remarkable features of the Bible, that it supplies materials suited to every variety of thinkers. The philosopher and poet, as well as the divine, may there find large employment for their powers. It is almost as ample a storehouse of themes for the poet as for the preacher. One of its historical events was now engaging the attention of Miss Hessel with a view to a poem. After narrating numerous engagements, she says to Miss N- — on August 23rd: "I did, however, spend the whole of yesterday morning in study. My subject was an interesting one-the revolt of the ten tribes-Jeroboam's accession, with the circumstances connected therewith, up to Abijah's death. The result you may see some day in a little blank verse poem, which is now in progress.

"I suppose you will have heard of our drive to Leeds a week ago. We arrived at the Music Hall at seven, where we met your brother, and managed to find standing room at the extreme end of the hall, where, by the aid of your brother's shoulder, and the kind assistance of a dapper little gentleman from Baines's office, I managed to maintain my equilibrium on the edge of a plank for two mortal hours. But I was abundantly repaid by the eloquent oration of Mr.

Gough. I never listened to a man of such diversified natural talents, nor heard a history so strangely romantic. Totally uneducated, he has been raised from the very depths of social degradation. Stripped of wife, children, and parents; every tie which bound him to humanity wrenched asunder; and degraded, in his own eyes, to a leprous, polluted thing, which it would be an act of mercy to crush out of existence, see him rising at the age of twenty-five; and having startled most of the cities of the Union with his thrilling eloquence, he has come to England by special invitation. Intense study and excessive labour have much impaired his health, but, at thirty years of age, he seems in the full bloom of mental vigour. It requires a more vivid pen than mine to describe his style, since he can apparently adopt any, and be original in all. He will sketch a scene with the most minute and delicate pencilling-burst upon you with a rush of overwhelming eloquence-shrivel up your heart with the most cutting sarcasms, stroke after stroke, each one finer and more pointed than the last-melt you to tears with his thrilling pathos and touching appeals -convulse you with laughter at his life-like descriptions and inimitable mimicry-and finally, after having touched and wound up the master chord of every bosom in a vast assembly, with a genuine child-like simplicity he will acknowledge his gratitude to God for the position to which he is raised, and confess that he holds it only by faith in the atonement, and simple, constant reliance on the strength which God supplies. I wish you could have heard him.”

"It seemed something like a comfort," she writes to her cousin at Howden on August 26th, "to see such a respectable letter from you, especially after one had been ignorant of your whereabouts in this round world for some months. I am right glad to hear you have enjoyed yourself so much. You know my maxim is, there's nothing like travelling, and

1853]

VISIT TO HER BROTHER AT IDLE.

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no mode of travelling like that of steam, whether by land or sea. It is glorious to be one of that 'half a living world,' borne along by the great fire-horse, over valleys and through mountains, running races with the wind and annihilating time and distance. But as I have not got much to annihilate this morning, I must not let my fancy run away with my wits. I will only add that I hope to hear all about your journey from your own lips, ere long."

Her brother, who had now completed his allowed term of ministerial service at Bristol, was naturally wishful to be nearer his widowed mother, and was appointed to the Woodhouse Grove Circuit, to reside at Idle. Miss Hessel, in company with a sister of Mrs. William's, who was on a visit to Boston Spa, joined them on the day of their arrival. It is not surprising that Mrs. William's first impressions were unfavourable. She was not only, for the first time, taking up her residence amongst strangers, and exchanging a city for a straggling irregularly-built village, but the manners of the people contrasted unfavourably with those of her previous acquaintance. And "troubles seldom come alone." Our friend's letter to Miss S. R― furnishes too just a glimpse of some inconveniences attendant on the life of a Wesleyan minister, and too interesting an exhibition of the writer, to be suppressed. September 6th: "I have sat down this morning feeling very doubtful whether to laugh or cry, but finding the former more agreeable, have had an explosion, and now proceed. I shall certainly not soon forget the experience of the last three days. We found Sarah very low, Minnie very mischievous, and a lazy half-witted woman in the house, who began to be ill on Sunday, and after frightening us dreadfully by most unearthly noises, was dismissed. On Monday we got a little girl. But a troop of events happened before that.

'Fanny went out of chapel poorly in the evening.