For man a garden rose in bloom, When yon glad sun began to burn But He, in whose pure faith we come, And rose, and led the glorious way. His word we trust! when life shall end, To the first garden's doom we bend, THE BROTHERS. WE E are but two, Through death's untroubled night; We are but two, — oh, let us keep The link that binds us bright! Heart leaps to heart, the sacred flood That warms us is the same; That good old man, his honest blood Alike we fondly claim. We in one mother's arms were locked, – Long be her love repaid; In the same cradle we were rocked, Round the same hearth we played. Our boyish sports were all the same, Let manhood keep alive the flame, We are but two, - be that the band To hold us till we die; Shoulder to shoulder let us stand, Till side by side we lie. THE WINGED WORSHIPPERS. Addressed to two swallows that flew into Chauncy Place Church during divine service. - A very interesting account of this poem, given by Mr. Sprague himself, may be found in the "Monthly Magazine," for May, 1870. GAY, guiltless pair, What seek ye from the fields of heaven? Ye have no need of prayer, Ye have no sins to be forgiven. Why perch ye here Where mortals to their Maker bend? Can your pure spirits fear The God ye never could offend? Ye never knew The crimes for which we come to weep. To you 'tis given To make sweet Nature's untaught lays ; To chirp away a life of praise. Then spread each wing Far, far above o'er lakes and lands, In that blue dome not reared with hands. Above the crowd, On upward wings could I but fly, 'Twere heaven indeed Through fields of trackless light to soar, SAMUEL GILMAN. (1791-1858.) REV. SAMUEL GILMAN, D.D., son of Frederick and Abigail H. (Somes) Gilman, was born in Gloucester, Mass., Feb. 16, 1791. In his early youth he attended school for some time at the Academy in Atkinson, N.H., and was subsequently a clerk in the Essex Bank, Salem. He graduated, with distinction, at Harvard College, in 1811; was tutor for two years at Cambridge, in Mathematics; studied Theology under Drs. Ware and Kirkland, and was ordained, Dec. 1, 1819, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Charleston, S.C. On the 14th October, 1819, he was married to Caroline Howard, daughter of Samuel Howard, Esq., of Boston, and a lady of much literary talent and distinction. This union of pastor and people, and of husband and wife, continued unbroken until Feb. 9, 1858, when Dr. Gilman died at Kingston, Mass., while on a visit to the family of his son-in-law, Rev. C. J. Bowen. During his long ministry at the South, this eminent and saintly man was not only distinguished for his able pulpit ministrations and faithful parochial labors, but was greatly esteemed for his active interest in the cause of Temperance, for his successful pursuit of Literature, and for the zeal which he awakened in others for the general welfare of the community. His death was regarded as a public calamity; and his funeral obsequies at Charleston witnessed to the universal sorrow of the people among whom he had spent so many of his years. His literary productions were numerous and of rare merit. A poem which he delivered when he graduated, in 1811, elicited much applause. It was repeated, with a "sequel," in 1852, at the residence of Hon. Edward Everett, in Boston, whither the class had been invited to celebrate their forty-first anniversary. The longest of his poems was one on "Human Life," which he read before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge, in 1815. Another, on a "History of a Ray of Light," was first published in an annual entitled "The Atlantic Souvenir," in 1822. He became a frequent and welcome contributor to the North American Review, the Christian Examiner, and the Southern Quarterly. Among his fine papers and essays were a series on the lectures of Dr. Thomas Brown, one on the writings of Mr. Everett, and another on "The Influence of One National Literature upon Another." In 1829 he published his "Memoirs of a New England Village Choir," of which three editions were issued. In 1837 he received his degree of D.D. from Harvard College. In 1856 appeared his "Contributions to Literature, Descriptive, Critical, Humorous, Biographical, Philosophical, and Poetical." In this volume are included his "Memoirs of a New England Village Choir," some of his magazine articles, and the more important of his poetic compositions. Here and in various Collections are a number of excellent hymns, some of which are very familiar to many congregations. The first of the five which we here give is a translation from the German, with two stanzas omitted; the others are Dr. Gilman's own. HYMN FOR BAPTISM. THIS child we dedicate to thee, Shield it from sin and threatening wrong, And let thy love its life prolong. Oh, may thy Spirit gently draw Dawn even with its dawning youth. We, too, before thy gracious sight, Grant that, with true and faithful heart, COMMUNION HYMNS. YES, to the last command We will obedient prove ; Around his table will we stand, In memory of his love. His precious blood he shed For our unworthy race, While uttering, in the Almighty's stead, His messages of grace. Oh, if our senseless pride His dying words neglect, "Tis we who pierce his sacred side, And we who God reject! Then let us ever keep This consecrated feast, Till memory shall have sunk to sleep, GOD! accept the sacred hour And let this hallowed scene have power Still let us hold, till life departs, The precepts of thy Son, Nor let our thoughtless, thankless hearts Forget what he has done. |