The weekly Anglo-African., 1859-09-03

lasting than this life upon the moonlit
waters, of merry gamboling on the sun
warmed waves?"
She raised her eyes, and the intense ex-
preston of those blue orbs answered him:
"Why should / wish to be other than
| am p she said. "Why2 Because the
subtle question, Why art thou thus hath
forced itself upon me with relentless eager
ness, and my spirit mind, or that which
should be mind, hath answered to that great
question, l know not. The ban of igno-
rance hath fallen so darkly on me that |
have cried for knowledge. Thence came
the hope, the longing, the one wish to have
part in that great state, when all ignorance
shall be changed into the most perfect
knowledge. And now, kind spirit, answer
thou that question, Why am | that | am
the fleeing bubble of a day 7"
He bent his glance upon her, sternly
yet sorrowing.
"Why art thou even that ?" he said.
"Shall the clay say to the potter, Why
didst thou form me? Look at yon gilt
tering ray of light, sparkling on the bright
waters: canst thou tell why that was made
-created2 Earth would have given her
golden fruits without that CLEAN; men
would have breathed, and all existence
been as joyous had that single stream of Ii
quid light been dimmed in its birth by some
dark, heavy cloud; yet It's there-fact the
we know, but the why remains one of the
countless mass of mysteries which surround
us-mysteries which, as they open to us
all, reveal the sterling truth of the great
goodness of Him who made us and all
things with u.s. That sunbeam of the air
lives but its day, its hour-its own bright
hour-and then it dies, having done its
destiny. Thou art a sunbeam Of the
ocean-thou, with thy bright presence and
thy locks, which fall like golden shower
around thee, and thy short day will cease
when the inexplicable purpose for which
twas given shall be accomplished. Pine
not for that which is withheld; thy day is
brief, but free from toll and care"
81 would bear toll, and care, and rack
inc pain and sorrow to be like thee-to
have that which shall live forever-to
know that the thoughts, the feelings, and
the hopes which stir me shall exist when
the frail body fails-to know that | shall
live again, when ocean and her children
are naught but dreamy atom of the tran
silent past"
Thou wouldst have an immortal soulf'
81 would" And her blue eyes sought
the angels, and her lovely form dwelt for
an instant in his heavenly orbs. "Would
that thine own immortal nature could leave
its impress on this frame, even as my i'm
age exists THERE" and she pointed to the
reflected picture of herself 30! spirit,
messenger, or whatsoee r we be, speak to my
longing ear, and bid it hope tell my wea-
ry heart there is some way, some blessed
way, in which /, the bubble of the ocean,
may become something more than that"
and she bent her knee before the angel, and
raised her snow-white arms, as thouaH she
would have caught the promise as it ilcN
from him.
"Child ofthe Ocean, thy prayer is heard
and answered Seest thou yon vivid
ray of rare electric Eght2 Swifter than
thought, swifter than aught thou coulds't
conceive, thy prayer on it flew upwards,
and the answer came ere the breath of
thy last word had circledin the air Thou
wouldst become immortal-in spirit i'm
prishable; seek, then, that which is un-
changable; to dwell therein be thine ex-
istence, thought, heart-feeling; be enshrin-
ed in that which is eternal, and then thou
shalt SO become. To aid thee in thy pur-
pose, help thee in thy course, I will beStow
all human attributes reflection,
intellect Thou shalt retain thy fairy ma
ture, thou poor ephemeris of an hour, but
l will clothe it with human form resem-
bling thy fair self, of more than human
beauty. Now speed on thy way, and seek
to incorporate myself with some imperish-
able glory"
He waved his wings, and as she stood
trembling beneath the soft breeze of their
tanning, change came Ger her-a won-
drous change. Her blue eyes mellowed to
deeper light, her lip was curved with
thought, her brow grew to reflection, and
her form, erewhile but simply graceful,
now, in each rounded line, each gentle
movement, became expressive of the pathos
of the soul; while garments -garments of
mortal shape-eame as dreamy mist, and
clad her wondrous beauty.
Meekly she bowed her lovely head, and
waited for the next command; and then the
angel waited her forth on her mortal path,
in quest of an immortal destiny.
She stood-and fountain of clear, linn
pid water mirrored her graceful form-lost
in a childlike admiration of her beauty, rev.
cling in her newborn human feelings, hop
ing with hope for the first time in her ex-
istence-for hope is part of a prospective
future, which only now was hers. She
feared to move, lest she should crush some
fresh-found thought or feeling Seek the
imperishable, dwell in that, and thou shalt
be so too" she murmured, as she looked
around her, as her eyes fell ON the beauty
of the place to which she had been waited.
1t was garden-a bright paradise. A
cnff vardaOt lawn StrntchaG IN fha die