The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-10-04 00:00:00

lottrp.

MIDNIGHT REFLECTIONS.

(For the Liverpool Standard.)
Lo ! Night bath drawn her sable curtain round ;
No earthly scene attracts the wand'ring eye ;
The list'ning ear, attentive to each sound,
Hears but the zephyr' as it murmurs by.
Dark tow'ring pines expand their shades behind ;
On either side thick elms combine their gloom :
Not one bright vista cheers my anxious mind—
All round is dark, and silent as the tomb :
Save where the moon, just setting o'er you bow'rs,
Faintly illumes a hoary distant pile, •
Whose fallen'columns and whose crumbling tow'rs
Tell man how vain is his most boasted toil.
Then surely, where no earthly objects tend
To wean the senses and engross the mind,
Proud, erring man may humbly deign to bend,
And one short respite for devotion find.
Father of Mercy ! teach thy creature here—
To sin by nature Miserably prone—
How he may abed, one pure repentant tear,
And breathe one sacred pray'r before thy throne.
If aught of doubt retard his spirit's flight ;
If Mammon urge him these soft thoughts despise ;
If erring reason scorn revealed light,
Still may thy- works: inspire the sacrifice.
0 bid him Thou on high his gaze extend,
To those bright gems that stud the milky way,
Whose myriad suns to countless planets send
Their pregnant beams, dispensing life and day.
Or farther still direct his visual flight,
Where the great whole by thine Almighty nod,
Thousands of systems in succession bright,
Revolve around their centre and their God.
Alas! beneath the vast oppression bent,
Struggles man's finite energy of thought;
He sees, he feels a God omnipotent,
Yet cannot see or feel him as be ought.
And will that Being who gave all matter birth,
Who " meted out the heavens as with a span,"
Who said " Let there be light," and light burst forth,
Be mindful of the abject thing called Man ?
Father of Mercy! with one single ray
Of that refulgent, world-illuming light,
That fluh'd yon suns into perpetual day,
Beam on my soul, and chase away its night.
Then would their Maker in those orbs appear ;
Then would my heart with fearful rapture glow ;
And my stern eye would melt with grief sincere,
For sin,—whilst humbly at thy feet I bow.
No more should pleasure's bonds my sight enchain,
Ambition's pads no more engross my mind;
Nor glittering riches, with allurements vain,
My best affections to their bubble bind.
No ! earth no more should be my deity •
That ray would guide my nature's wand'ring ;
And my first, latest, only wish would be,
To live through life a sinless child of sin.
St. Asaph. S.

LITERARY NOTICES.

The Churchman. October, 1839. London :W. E. Painter,

We have already borne testimony to the improved tone of
this excellent periodical. The present number is fully equal
to any of its predecessors in talent, zeal, and energy. The
" History of the Cathedral of Salisbury" is a very interesting
paper. The chronological tables appended to it are extremely
valuable. There is much truth in the letter headed " Con-
siderations occasioned by the Aspect of the Times." We
would particularly recommend to the notice of our readers
the very able article entitled " Popish Falsehoods detected
and exposed." The paper on " The Building of new
Churches." suggests a variety of very important considera-
tions. The miscellaneous articles in the Churchman very
materially enhance its value as a popular magazine.

The Village Churchman. October 1839. London : W. E

Painter.