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IV.

Yea, I have lost my dearest joy,
My bosom's beauty-spell;
Amid such woes I cannot live,
Apart from Him I cannot dwell!

V.

Ah, no! the light hath not departed
Of those days-my memory liveth;
Yea, for those gleeful days, the tear
Unto mine eyes fond memory giveth.

VI.

With lonely watchings on my bed
My eyes are tired and weak,

To me no gentle slumber cometh,

My thoughts are dark-I dare not speak!

VII.

And where art thou, my gentle lyre,

With thy soft and soothing tone?

If I had thee in my morning,

My heart would not be all alone.

VIII.

At length the shadows pass away
From my soul, and on my eyes
The light of gladness breaks, as thoughts
Of nobler aim begin to rise!

IX.

It cannot be that Sion's Lord

My prayers, my weepings, hath forgot― His first and his most tender love

The Blessed One remembereth not!

X.

Lord! shall thy mercy-lighted face
For aye be turned away from me,

And all my early hopes be vain
Which I have treasured up in thee?

XI.

No, no, my spirit, kneel and pray,
And the mighty Hand which shed
The thunder-storm upon the earth,
Shall fold in peace upon thy head.

XII.

Lord! my memory recalleth
The wonders thou hast done,
And the glory of thy power,

And the fights thine arm won.

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This is one of those psalms which may be properly called beautiful without, and glorious within, "like apples of gold in pictures, or network in cases of silver."

My next specimen is from the 143rd psalm—

All' alma afflitta e timida
Chi mai dara consiglio?
Che 'l cor languente, e dubbio
Consola in tal periglio?

Tu sol che ne' pericoli
Nell' aspre cure, e gravi
Sai, che a te sol correvano
I nostri padri ed avi.

Stendo le mani, e pregoti
Signor, le grazie affretta,
Guardami! Io sono un arido

Terren, che piaggia aspetta.

Basta un tuo sguardo placido,
Basta per mio comforto,
Ma presto, o Dio, socorrimi,-
Se tardi, iò gia son morto.

Non son miei prieghi inutili,
Ne vana e la speranza,—
Verran, verran tue grazie,
Prima che il di s' avanza.

I.

Who will speak comfort to the soul
Worn out with grief and care?
And who will raise the fainting heart,
And bid it not despair?

II.

O Thou alone amid the night
Of our mourning, Lord, art near,
As in the ancient days-thine arm
Awake to save, thine ear to hear!

III.

Father! I lift my hands, and pray
That Grace upon my heart my fall,-
Keep me! for I am like a thirsty land
That for thy blessed rain doth call.

IV.

I only ask one look of thine

My bitter tears to dry,

But haste, and succour me, O Lord,
Oh, hasten, or I die!

V.

I know my prayers are not in vain,

Nor vain my hope in thee;

Before the morn doth wake again,

Thy Grace will come to me.

I have only time to add two or three verses from the 50th psalm, which breathes a gentle quietness and grace well expressed in the phrase of the Italian writer-tenera venustà:

Speak to me, Father, with that voice
Which oft my sorrow hath beguil'd;
Let silver-footed Peace come back

Unto thy weeping child!

But ere my memory doth renew
The hymns I sang of old,

Unbind the chain of grief, for on my lips

The breath of song hath long been cold.

And then thy praise in gleeful measure
Shall wake on every bounding string,
While round my harp the people gather
To listen to the lays I sing.

HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

No. II.

PREVIOUS to the year 1792, when the penal laws which had so severely affected the Scottish Episcopal church were repealed by the legislature, there were many Episcopalians in Scotland, who were not non-jurors, but who professed to be members of the Church of England. Amongst this class may be enumerated those English families who resorted to Scotland, and finally fixed their residence in some of the great towns; English mechanics employed in the manufactories, potteries, &c.; and many of the indigenous Scottish Episcopalians of rank, who chose rather to resort to the qualified chapels, as they were termed, than forfeit the political privileges which the Act of 1748 denied them, if they persisted in their adherence to the ancient communion. In the cities, and many of the large towns, there were congregations of this description, who easily procured clergymen from England, or, as it sometimes happened, Scotchmen in English orders; and those clergymen, being thus ordained in England or Ireland, were duly qualified according to the Act of 1748, and, having taken the necessary oaths of allegiance and abjuration, received the sanction of government. It was evident that, previous to the year 1788, when Prince Charles Edward died, these clergymen could not, on account of their political situation, submit to the jurisdiction of the Scottish bishops, because the former, at their ordination in England, had taken those oaths which the Scottish Episcopal clergy had refused to take, so long as any member of the exiled family was in existence. But, on the other hand, they laboured under all the disadvantages resulting from the want of Episcopal authority. No English or Irish bishop can have jurisdiction in Scotland, and consequently these clergymen were amenable to no superior ecclesiastical cognizance, while their chapels were unconsecrated, and the young persons of their congregations unconfirmed. Although professing to be Episcopalians, they were, in reality, Independents, for every one who knows any thing of the constitution of the Christian Church, must perceive, at once, that to term churches or chapels Episcopal, which are not under the jurisdiction of any bishop, is a complete contradiction of

terms.

Many of the English ordained clergy, indeed, who well understood the constitution of the Church, were aware of their peculiar situation, and felt all the inconveniences resulting from it; but, until the penal laws were removed, it appeared to them that they could not consistently unite with the Scottish Church. As soon, however, as those laws were repealed, the Scottish bishops took steps to promote a union of all the clergy of English ordination with the indigenous clergy, beginning with those of Edinburgh, concluding that an example of sound principles might thus be given from the metropolis to the clergy in other towns and villages in Scotland. The late Bishop Skinner was at that time the head of the Scottish bishops, and it occurred to that prelate, that the most likely means to effect a speedy union, would be to invite a sound and orthodox clergyman from England into Scotland, to be there consecrated a Scottish bishop, with the jurisdiction of the diocese of Edinburgh. Dr. Abernethy Drummond was at that time bishop of the united diocese of Edinburgh, Fife, and Glasgow; but that venerable prelate expressed his willingness to disjoin Edinburgh from his jurisdiction, in order to promote a measure which would not only tend to strengthen the Church in Scotland, but also unite her more closely with the Church of England.

The plan was wise, although in this instance it was not destined to be accomplished. The gentleman proposed to be advanced to the Scottish Episcopate was the late Rev. Jonathan Boucher, then Vicar of Epsom, a man who had suffered much for his loyalty in America, and whose principles and conduct made him respected and revered by all who knew him. So highly was he esteemed, that he at one time was thought of for the bishopric of Nova Scotia, to which Dr. Inglis was appointed; and the Archbishop of Canterbury was even entreated to obtain him for Canada. There can be little doubt, that if Mr. Boucher had become a member of the Scottish Episcopate, a more humble, though not less apostolical elevation than that which his friends in England wished him to obtain, he would have accomplished that union between the English and Scottish clergy which was so ardently desired by the bishops. This, at least, was the opinion of Dr. Abernethy Drummond, who, in a letter to Bishop Skinner, dated 13th March, 1793, states, "that he most cheerfully adopted the plan which he (Bishop Skinner) and Bishop Watson (of Dunkeld) proposed, and would immediately resign in favour of the worthy vicar of Epsom, if he should be so good as to accept the see of Edinburgh."

After some correspondence, Mr. Boucher visited Edinburgh; and his reception, to use his own words, was "highly flattering and favourable." As for myself," says he to Bishop Skinner, "God is my witness, I have much at heart the furtherance of his

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