ed ship,
Bud-embroidering the tree.
Wind again, wind again,--
We have neither ship nor tree.

Four-and-twenty kings to come
Up the never-vacant stair,--
Four-and-twenty dead go down;
Follow, sacred song and prayer.
Wind again, wind again,--
Warden, why delaying there?

To his interrupted dream
Comes the long-entreated day.
What are lesser words to him?
Sweet pursuing voices say,--
"Warden, wind, wind again,
Up the ever-golden way."

Other hands will wind the clock
While the frequent years go on,
Never noting need or name
Nor the rapture of the dawn.
Wind again, wind again,
Ere the given year be gone.

THE KINGDOM COMING.

If one looks to the individual for proof of the power of Christianity,
he will generally look in vain. Creeds differ; but of persons from the
same rank in life, one is, on the whole, apparently about as good as
another. If we are virtuous where we are not tempted, liberal in matters
concerning which we are indifferent, reticent when we have nothing to
say,--in one word, pleasant when we are pleased,--it is all that our
best friends have any reason to expect of us. What religion does for a
man may be great, and even radical, from his near point of view; but
from the world's position it is scarcely visible, and is often wholly
lost in the more palpable influences of temperament and circumstance.
But when we look at society, we can see that some silent agency is at
work, slowly, but surely, attuning our life to finer issues than the
Golden Ages knew. The hidden leaven of Christianity is working its
noiseless way through the whole lump. Christendom is on a higher plane
than Pagandom, and is still ascending. In the stress of daily life, we
are sometimes tempted to lose heart, and cry, "Who shall show us any
good for all this toil and watch and struggle?"--but in calmer moments,
looking back over the Difficult Hills, we cannot fail to see that we
have gained ground. The sacredness of humanity is gradually overtopping
the prerogatives of class. More and more clearly man asserts himself,
the end of every good, the standard by which every change is to be
judged. With many an ebb, the tide of all healthful and helpful force is
flooding our associated life; and the brotherhood of the race attests
itself by many infallible signs.

But they are not always nor only found where they are sought.
Workman