that religion is no consequence of it, however used, we are blameless. Pharaoh gave no materials to make bricks with, and yet exacted the work.

Shall we say

that God also has bestowed a nature, out of which religion does not spring, and yet requires of us, on eternal penalties, to be religious? Does he withold the material, and demand the product?

[For the Unitarian Advocate.]

IN THE WORLD YE SHALL HAVE TRIBULATION -BUT BE OF GOOD CHEER."

John xvi. 33.

THERE must be shade spots in the pilgrimage;
Our Father wills it so.-There lurks a thorn
Even in the rose-cup which we cull and wear
Next to our heart. What matters it ?—The cloud,
The pang are transient ;—but the hope that springs
From their stern ministry,—the faith that looks
Up to its God, when these low skies are dim,
Outweigh all miseries which this fleeting world
In her worst wrath can teach.-The Saviour knew
Her whole of tribulation,-yet he bade

Be of good cheer,-since in the shielded breast
Was power to overcome.—

Wilt thou despair,

Thou born of God! because the shallow rills
Fed but by dew drops of terrestrial good,
Recede and vanish?-Sent awhile to share

Time's changes,—and on death's dark wing to rise
Above them all, why should a sway so brief
Appal the spirit?-Think how low thy brow,
Thy throbbing brow beneath the clods shall rest;
How soon forgotten 'mid its daily haunts
Thy form must be.-

Another hand shall pluck

Thy cherish'd flowrets,-and a race unknown
Reap the ripe fruits of all thy sleepless care,
And thank thee not.-Another at thy board
Thy place shall fill, and in thy fireside chair
A stranger sit, while thou no more shalt claim
Note or remembrance.-This shall neutralize
Thy bitterness of spirit, where thy props

Are stricken from beneath thee,-or the grave
Bids thee pursue a lonely pilgrimage
Hiding thy bosom's idols.

Ask of God

To arm thy heart, even as the strippling youth
Who with the simple weapons of the brook
The vaunting giant slew. Be thy step firm,
And thy demeanor like some angel guest,

Patient of earth, yet for Heaven's bliss prepar'd. H.

OBITUARY.

DIED in Boston, March 13th 1828, Mrs Rebecca Phillips, wife of Hon. Jonathan Phillips, and daughter of the late Samuel Salisbury, Esq.

The character we delight to remember, as that which was sustained by Mrs Phillips, was formed and nurtured by the discipline of the heart in holy retirement. She was often shut up from the world by personal sufferings. But she was blessed without the world's aid, in that sphere which allowed most exercise to the private virtues.Serene, simple, unpretending, she required for her peace and joy, only her faith in God, and to see those over whom nature and duty gave her influence, rendered happy by her care. Her tastes were purely christian.

Wealth was in her hand, but she was too humble in heart to regard it as valuable for its own sake. Her bounty was ever passing through some hidden channel, to such as she knew to be poor, and believed to be deserving. She loved to do good, but she did not love to be seen to do it. Her manner of dispensing benefits was such as to lift up the spirit of the sufferer, and forbid all painful sense of obligation. It was God who gave, by her hand.

A sensibility which was almost excessive, was in this lamented woman, so fortified by religious principle that she could comfort those for whose distress she bled. Her friends can never cease to recall her winning gentleness, her assiduous zeal to serve, her ten der and disinterested kindness in every relation she bore to them. And she has bequeathed to society an example of what Christianity could do in imparting to an affluent condition the grace of humility, and the virtue of usefulness; and in training a soul in purity and peace for heaven, within reach of all which the world could offer to detain it beneath the skies. The name of Jesus was honored by her, with a fervor which betokened inward veneration. She was not ashamed to confess him in every way which her faith and his gospel demanded. But it seemed to be impossible for her to place her piety in a more conspicuous light than the simple acts of duty, themselves occasioned. Not to shine, nor to be called holy, but to please God, and be found of her Redeemer in peace, was the study of her life. There are undying memorials of her in many hearts below, and we humbly hope a far better and an eternal record in the heavens.

THE ERRORS OF THE CHRISTIAN.

[From the Amulet.]

Blame not the spirit, blame the shrine!
The frail, the human heart of sin,
Where oft religion's light divine
Is sullied by the gloom within.

Then ere thou blame the faithful few
For speech unwise, or zeal undue,
Bid the quench'd dew-drops of the morn
Glitter as when they gemm'd the storm,
The trampled snow upon the earth,
Be pure as at its heavenly birth;
Expect thy roses in the storm,
Fadeless in hue, and fair of form,
And bid the limpid streamlet swell,
Bright through the city as the dell.

'Twere vain ;-yet ev'n the sullied snow,

Dimm'd flowers, fall'n dew, and darken'd rain,

Despite the earthly taint they show,

Beauty and blessing scatter still.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS.

A VISIT TO THE SEA SIDE. In Two Parts. Bowles & Dearborne. 1828.

THE scarcity of good books for children is not owing merely to the difficulty of attaining perfect simplicity of expression. When a moral impression in particular is at

tempted, another hindrance to success lies in the wide difference between the moral habits of children and those of grown persons. We speak from reflection and principle, and especially when we are endeavoring to benefit the young; and, to a certain extent, this is well. We speak of things as they appear to us, after the teachings of experience and the discipline of half a lifetime have formed our minds to habits of general thoughts and long drawn conclusions. This mode of communication is, no doubt, advantageous to children, as far as it serves to impart our light, and enables the learner in morals to avoid evil by shunning it in anticipation.

But, again, it is an unavoidable evil that much of our instruction should seem far fetched and often inapplicable to those, who have made so little progress in the long journey which we have perhaps nearly accomplished. Children and youth act on impulse, chiefly ; and our instruction to them, if we would have it become intelligible and interesting, must not deal too much in inference and premeditation. Unnatural characters, and therefore uninstructive ones, are, in the estimation of children, those which seem carefully built up by plan and method, and which exhibit a mechanical and artificial perfection, instead of the buoyancy and the freedom of nature. Nor do we think it can safely be denied that there is too much of this forced instruction obtruded on children. In the simple elements of childhood, there is a world of means of good and lasting influence, without travelling into the region of mature thought and reflection; and the author of the admirable story now before us, has used these materials freely and with fine effect. Her children are all children—not in childishness, but in genuine, un