Select Poetry.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3843, 23 April 1881, Page 1

Select Poetry.

THE MINISTEE'S DAUGHTEE.

By John Gbkenxia* Whittii*.

In the minister's morning sermon He bad told of the primal fall, And how thenceforth the wrath of God • Bested on each and all. And bow, of his will and pleasure, All souls, sare a chosen few, Were doomed to .the quenchless burning, And held in the way thereto. Teh never by faith's unreason ; A saintlier ooul was tried, And never the harsh old lesson A tenderer heart belied. And, after the painful service : On that pleasant Sabbath day,He walked with his little daughter Thro' the apple-bloom of May. Sweet in the fresh green meadows Sparrow and blackbird sung ; Above him their tinted petals The blossoming orchards hung. Around.on the wonderful glory The minister looked and smiled; " How good is the Lord who gives us These gifts from His hand, my child. " Behold in the bloom of apples And the violets in the sward A hint of the old, lost beauty Of the garden of the Lord. Then up spake the little maiden, Treading on snow and pink; " Oh, Father! these pretty blossoms Are very wicked;; I think. ; . " Had there been no Garden of Eden . There never had been a fall; And if never a tree had blossomed G-od would have loved us all." ' " Hush, child!" the father answered. , " By his decree man fell; His ways are in clouds and darkness, And He doth all things well. " And whether by His ordaining . To us cometh good or ill, Joy or p»in, or light or shadow, We must fear and love him.still." " Oh, I fear him!" said the daughter, " And I try to lore Htm, too; Bat I wish be was good and geatle, End and loving as you." ; The minister groaned is spirit , As the tremulous lips of pain, And widej wet eyes, uplilted %■_ Questioned his own in vain. Bowing his bead, he pondered . The words of the little one; Had he erred in his life-long teachings ? Had he wrong to his master done F To what grim and dreadful idol Had he lent the holiest name ? Did his own heart, loving and human, The God ofhis worshipshamef And lo ! from the.bloom and greenness . From the tender skies above, And the face of his little daughter, . He read a lesion of love. No more a« the cloudy terror Of Sinai's mount of law, But as Christ in the Syrian lillies The vision of God he saw. As when in the clefts of Horeb ', Of old was his presence known, The dread Ineffable Glory i Was infinite Goodness alone. , Thereafter bis hearers noted In Ins prayers a tenderer strain, And never the gospel of hatred Burned on his lips again. ■ ' _. Aad the eooffing tongue was prayerful, And the blinded eyes found sight,, . And hearts as flint aforetime, a ; Grew soft in his warmth and light.