I will not mock thee with the poor world's common Nor wrong the memory of a sainted woman With silence only as their benediction, Where, in the shadow of a great affliction, Yet, would I say what thy own heart approveth : Calling to Him the dear one whom He loveth, Not upon thee or thine the solemn angel Her funeral anthem is a glad evangel — God calls our loved ones, but we lose not wholly They live on earth, in thought and deed, as truly As in His heaven. And she is with thee; in thy path of trial Still with the baptism of thy self-denial Up, then, my brother! Lo, the fields of harvest She lives and loves thee, and the God thou servest Thrust in thy sickle!- England's toil-worn peasants Thy call abide ; And she thou mourn'st, a pure and holy presence, Shall glean beside ! GONE. ANOTHER hand is beckoning us, And glows once more with Angel-steps Our young and gentle friend whose smile Amid the frosts of autumn time No paling of the cheek of bloom No shadow from the Silent Land The light of her young life went down, As sinks behind the hill The glory of a setting star As Clear, suddenly, and still. pure and sweet, her fair brow seemed Eternal as the sky; And like the brook's low song, her voice A sound which could not die. And half we deemed she needed not The blessing of her quiet life Fell on us like the dew; And good thoughts, where her footsteps pressed Like fairy blossoms grew. Sweet promptings unto kindest deeds We read her face, as one who reads The measure of a blessed hymn, To which our hearts could move; We miss her in the place of prayer, Once more her sweet "Good night! There seems a shadow on the day, Alone unto our Father's will One thought hath reconciled; That He whose love exceedeth ours Hath taken home His child. Fold her, oh Father! in thine arms, A messenger of love between Our human hearts and Thee. Still let her mild rebuking stand And her dear memory serve to make "9 And, grant that she who, trembling, here Distrusted all her powers, May welcome to her holier home The well beloved of ours. APPENDIX. THE CURSE OF THE CHARTER-BREAKERS. [THE rights and liberties affirmed by MAGNA CHARTA were deemed of such importance, in the 13th century, that the Bishops, twice a year, with tapers burning, and in their pontifical robes, pronounced, in the presence of the king and the representatives of the estates of England, the greater excommunication against the infringer of that instrument. The imposing ceremony took place in the great Hall of Westminster. A copy of the curse, as pronounced in 1253, declares that," By the authority of Almighty God, and the blessed Apostles and Martyrs, and all the saints in heaven, all those who violate the English liberties, and secretly or openly, by deed, word, or counsel, do make statutes, or observe them being made, against said liberties, are accursed and sequestered from the company of heaven and the sacraments of the Holy Church." WILLIAM PENN, in his admirable political pamphlet, "England's Present Interest Considered," alluding to the curse of the Charter-breakers, says:— -"I am no Roman Catholic, and little value their other curses; yet I declare I would not for the world incur this curse, as every man deservedly doth, who offers violence to the fundamental freedom thereby repeated and confirmed."] IN Westminster's royal halls, Closed around the waiting crowd, Stood to hear the priest rehearse, "Right of voice in framing laws, Right of peers to try each cause; Peasant homestead, mean and small, Sacred as the monarch's hall "Whoso lays his hand on these, "Be he Prince or belted knight, "Thou, who to thy Church hast given Silent, while that curse was said, Seven times the bells have tolled, Since the priesthood, like a tower, |