POETRY.

THE ASCENSION DAY.

(Acrs i. 10, 11.)

WORDS of rich blessing from His lips were flowing,
Sweet benedictions on the favoured few,
As quitting earth and homeward upward going,
The loved Redeemer from their gaze withdrew.
Looks of warm love were from His features gleaming,
Glances of fondness such as angels wear,

A seraph glow of rapt affection beaming,

As though He left His heart's great tide of friendship there.
To heaven's full glories were His footsteps wending,
And yet to heaven no upward look He gave,
But bent His tender gaze, while still ascending,

Down on the souls He stooped from heaven to save.
Round His loved form the cloud was slowly folding,
Ready to hide Him in its soft embrace,
And still that 'little flock', with awe beholding,
Saw the mild radiance of His smiling face.

Could not the cohorts from celestial regions,
Moving to meet Him with their flashing wings;
Could not the greetings of cherubic legions,
Shouting hosannahs to the King of kings;
Could not the splendour of the throne before Him,
The Father's welcome and the sceptred court
Of Princedoms waiting ready to adore Him,

Turn from the Church His tender loving thought ? ›
See, from the cloud the white-robed angels starting,
Burst on the sight with words of wondrous love;
The lips thus blessing in the act of parting,

Shall bless for ever in the world above.

The blessing ends not, never shall have ending,
His heart is with you to the end of time,
And when time's shadows shall be interblending,
And lost in radiance endless as sublime,

The same loved Lord whom ye have seen thus taken,
With lingering glances on His saints below,
In the last day when earth and heaven are shaken,
Shall so return as ye have seen Him go.

Return the same, unchanged in heart and feeling
By all the splendours of His court above,
To all His blood-bought gathered saints revealing
The ocean fulness of His changeless love.

For ye, 0 men, are what He counts His treasure,
More than the jewels of His kingly robes,
More than the fountains of celestial pleasure,
More than the sceptre of ten million globes.
Ye are His jewels, purchased by His sadness,
Bought with the lifeblood of His riven side,
And ye must share His heart's triumphant gladness,
His nuptial supper with His ransomed Bride.
Tramore Rectory.

SPRING THOUGHTS.

1.

EDWARD DALTON, D.D.

"OUR DANCE IS TURNED INTO MOURNING."-Lament. v. 15.

THOU rustling breeze, why hither bring
That leaf so sere and yellow?
What doth a wither'd leaf with spring,
With sunshine soft and mellow?
Ephemeral beauty, short-liv'd day,
How soon your glow is over!
The fairest things of earth decay,
O'er heaven night draws her cover.

O sapless leaf in bursting spring,
Thou bring'st this lesson hither:
Youth, like green leaves, may dance and sing,
But youth and leaves must wither!

2.

ON HEARING THE NIGHTINGALE.

"What love and joy are in those tuneful freaks!"
So thinks the heart of love and pleasure full.
"Sad Philomel, thy song of sorrow speaks!"

So
says the man whose heart is cold and dull.
To outward things its hue the mind imparts,
And nature echoes what is felt within;
O would that nature might infect our hearts,
Her clear glad voice rebuke and shame our sin!

"THE STANLEYS OF KNOWSLEY.”

1. The Stanleys of Knowsley. A history of that noble Family. Including a Sketch of the Political and Public Lives of the Right Hon. the Earl of Derby, K.G., and the Right Hon. Lord Stanley, M.P. By William Pollard. Liverpool: Edward Howell. 1868.

2. The Life and Career of Henry, Lord Brougham. With Extracts from his Speeches, and Notes of his Contemporaries. By John McGilchrist. London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin.

1868.

Two works have just issued from the press, which, in the political world, will be regarded with considerable interest ;the one, "The History of the Stanleys of Knowsley;" the other, "The Life and Career of Henry Lord Brougham." The former publication gives a sketch of the political and public lives of Lord Derby and Lord Stanley, and also an interesting outline of the lives of the progenitors of the late Premier. It is almost superfluous to state that the principles of Lord Derby and Lord Brougham are of rather an opposite nature; and it is equally superfluous to remind our readers that the career of each of these eminent statesmen has been distinguished by a rare, in fact an almost unprecedented, adherence to principle. Both possessed great oratorical powers and erudition; both took a leading, although an opposing, part in the government of the country; and it is strange that in the end their views should have in a great degree met, as the late extension of the franchise has proved. We are far from desirous of drawing any disparaging distinction between the oratorical powers of Lord Brougham and Lord Derby; still, forcible, impassioned, nervous, and bold as was Lord Brougham's style, in our opinion it was far out-matched by the terse, cutting, and frequently satirical speeches of Lord Derby.

The unwavering manner in which, for ages, the Stanleys have supported the Crown, is still more remarkable; and yet for several generations their support has been mingled with Whiggism. It is needless for us to enter upon a lengthy genealogical description of the ancestry of the present Earl; that can be easily gathered from the work before us, by those who may be curious on the subject; still, as we before noticed, the unflinching adherence which the Stanley family have for generations yielded to the Crown is almost, if not quite, without precedent.

But, unfortunately, we have an ungracious task to perform,

Both the volumes before us have a common, and very general fault; they each carry their laudatory encomiums of the persons they describe to an unreal extent; and in so doing, the force and genuineness of the character portrayed materially suffers. Hyperbole and extravagant laudation, whatever charms they may have for an enthusiastic or an amateur author, are not appreciated by the majority of Englishmen. In truth, such authors, by their very style, frequently detract from the real merits of their heroes. And great and noble in character as the Stanleys have been, and still are, it is our impression that, had Mr. Pollard been less eulogistic, his worthies would have lost nothing in the estimation of the public.

But let us turn to the subject more immediately before us, and direct our attention to some of those remarkable traits of character which for several generations have distinguished the family of the Stanleys of Knowsley. Of these the most striking are an unflinching devotion to the Crown, great courage, a high sense of principle, and a generous hospitality; of which we will give one or two instances. In 1485, Lord Stanley and his brother, Sir William, with an army of their own dependents, numbering upwards of 6000, sided with Henry Earl of Richmond against Richard. Richard, however, had succeeded in arresting Lord Strange, Lord Stanley's eldest son, and kept him a prisoner in his camp, as a hostage for his father's fidelity. The opposing armies drew near, and at length met close to the village of Atherstone in Warwickshire. On the morning of the day of battle, the 22nd August, Richard sent word to Lord Stanley, that unless he with his troops came over to him, and joined him in the field, he would at once behead Lord Strange. Lord Stanley's concise reply was, "I have more sons, and cannot come." Lord Strange was therefore ordered to be put to death as soon as the battle began, but the sentence was not executed. The encounter resulted in the death of Richard, and Lord Stanley's son was released.

Again, in 1648, James, the seventh Earl of Derby, acted a similar part. His history is a very touching one. Nothing could shake his attachment to his sovereign. His estates in England were devastated by Fairfax's army, and sequestered. For safety he fled to his own territory, the Isle of Man. Two of his children, however, with the consent of Fairfax, were being educated in England; and in spite of the undertaking that had been given, the House of Commons directed the children to be seized and imprisoned at Liverpool. The Parliament then, through Fairfax, offered to restore to the Earl his children, and all his possessions in England, if he would break off his allegiance to the King, and give up possession of the Isle of Man, which was a safe retreat

for crushed Royalists. To this proposition the Earl replied,"that he was greatly afflicted at the sufferings and miseries of his children; that it was not in the nature of great and noble minds to punish innocent children for the offences of their parents; that it would be a clemency of Sir Thomas Fairfax to send them back to him, or to their mother's friends in France and Holland; but if he would do neither, his children must submit to the mercy of Almighty God, but should never be released by his disloyalty." Again, in June, 1649, the Parliament, through General Ireton, renewedt he offer; who in reply received the following indignant and scornful letter from the Earl of Derby :

"Castletown, Isle of Man, 12th July, 1649. "SIR,-I received your letter with indignation, and with scorn return you this answer; that I cannot but wonder where you should gather any hopes from me that I should, like you, prove treacherous to my sovereign, since you cannot but be sensible of my former actings in his late Majesty's service, from which principle of loyalty I am in no whit separated. I scorn your proffers, disdain your favour, and abhor your treason; and am so far from delivering up this Island to your advantage, that I will keep it, to the utmost of my power, to your destruction. Take this for your final answer, and forbear any further solicitation, for if you trouble me with any more messages on this occasion, I will burn the paper and hang the bearer. This is the immutable resolution, and shall be the undoubted practice of him who accounts it his chiefest glory to be "His Majesty's most loyal and obedient servant,

"DERBY."

The Earl was a man of dauntless courage, as well as of high principle and a noble mind; he was, too, a shrewd observer of men, as his own words shew :

"I observed much the countenances of those who bid me welcome, and the eyes are often glass windows through which you may see the heart; and although I will not presently censure by the look, yet will I neither neglect some judgment thereof; so it is that your eyes must be ever open to see each other's eyes, their countenances and actions; your ears must listen to all what is said, even what is whispered. For to this end God has given us two eyes and two ears. also you have but one tongue, to the end you speak not much, for speaking much you are sure to say something vain. I never knew a prattler without repentance."

So

These lines appear to have been dictated by a well-founded suspicion, that some of his guests at the Isle of Man were acting as spies upon him.

On the return of King Charles, in 1651, the Earl left the island, taking with him 300 followers, intending to join his royal master at Warrington in Lancashire. The King, however, had