MISSIONARY COLLECTIONS, &c.
Rev. E. Charter and Congregation, Kibworth, I.eieestcrshire 4
from an Anonymous Friend, as" A Token 0* her Low to

the Lord Jesus Christ" — — 10 e •

Th* Seison of the year described—The Magazine and its Contents—Reflections—-
Apostrophe, §c.

WIDE o'er the frost-bound fields, where lately wav'd
The green, luxuriant ear, stern V? inter spreads
His desolating sway, am) pours arouni!,
Fierce and resistless, all his stormy horrors.
Heavy the clouds hang o'er the lowring cast,
Where morning lingers, as afraid to ope
Her lucid gates, and pour th' unwilling day
Upon a scene so dreary; not as late
She smil'd meek on the joyous Sun, who shone
Bright a» a bridegroom issuing from his chamber,
Blcas'd to describe his circuit thro' the sky.—
A summer's sky — unclouded, and serene.
Tears stain her face, disfigur'd and impure
With heavy-beating tempests, or obscur'd
By hoary snow, whose fleecy show'r falls soft
And silent, as the stealing foot of time.
So looks the morning of the new-born year,
As if she wept for follies of the past,
And call'd unthinking man to pause, and shed
Repentant sorrows o'er his closing days!

With the first glinim'rings of this op'aing yew
Arise its duties — and a various lot
Will mark each chequer'd life, as the pale moon
Wanes, or replenishes her changing orb;
And while I hail its birth, before its close
These eyes may slumber,and this body rest
With many a friend already gone before,
still and forgotten in th' oblivious tomb.

The pa*t demands reflection; and to aid
The solemn hour of faithful thought, behold
A Monthly Monitor* presents its page,
Chenucr'd wi'li many a truth, in humble guise,
Aud flll'd with news domestic, far remov'd
From the loud clamours of these .jarring times.
While others trace, with prying eye intent,
The politics chaotic of this world,
Let me turn o'er the page of Peace: — I hate
The lines that boast a brother's woe, and tell
Of thousands dying by the scourge of war;
Or, whclm'd beneath the briny wave* — cut otf
In search of wealth, or service of ambition,
Wuh " ali their imperfections on their head."—

First on the page some frinndly hand inscribes
A short memorial, as a partingtribnte
To 'he remeinbraucc of some faithful preacher,
Who, havhig serv d his day, is gone to rest.

• The Evangelical Magazine.

Sacoeeilioc Essays, on some gospel f rutli,

Va various style, confirm the pleasing fact
That men of Uitf'rent tsicnis have one aim,
Ami, warm in the Kedceiiicr's cause, their force
-Concentrate, to support his reign against
The armies that oppose the living God.

A motley fvonp succeeds; and the full paje
Teems with Intelligence from lands remote,
Wafted across the swelling wavr; or pent
From various parts of Britain's favour'd isle!

"Tit here, with rapture and delight, we read
How fandirktmp *, with evcr-liurning zeal,
Amid the barb'rous tribes, proclaims the n unc
Of Him, the Prince of Peace, who bled and dy'd !—
Wiih an apostle's heart, he weeps amid
The desolations of the fall; and blows
The gospel-trump, whose sweet and silver sound •
Invites the weary vrand'rcrs home to God.
Nor burning sun, nor rage of man, nor fours,
Kor threats, nor death (tho' death impend) can move
Or shake the purpose of his stedfast soul! —.
From islauds sluinb'ring on the bosom wide
Of the South Sea +,wc sometimes hear a note
Of comfort, flouting o'er the trembling wave,
That bids us hail (distant perhaps the day)
Th' approaching rera, ardently desir'd,
When the wild savage shall forger to kill;
And from the fierce unpitying eye shall fall
Some gracious drops repentant, while the tale
Of love divine melts down his stony heart I
How long, O Prince of Peace and Life, delay
Thy chariot-wheels ? — Break from the cloud of eight,
O sacred Morn! whose noon-lide splendor oft
Has fill'd the mouth of Prophecy; anil soon,
Willi thy mild radiance, bless th' expecting world!

Nor less the int'rest which the tale awakes
Of News Domestic. Here 1 read with joy
The useful labours of some kindred soul, —
Some fellow-student, who the hill of Science
With rue ascended, — separated now,
And distant far; my heart with fondness cleaves
To the remembrance of departed joys,
And hails th' acceptance of my Jonathan.

Sometimes the notes of Death, heavy and slow,
Break on the car; and while the conscious heart
Beats high with pleasure as I fondly read
A brother's Ordination, the nevt page
Is fraught with woe : — I learn some friend has pass'J
The vale of Death, and left me all alone,
To tread, with weary steps, this Vale of Tears!
So fled thy spirit, Hunter +, from this earth;
Far from thy friend thy parting sign was brealh'd!
The consolaiivn was to me deny'd
To close thine eyes, wlicu Death's oppressive baud
Lay heavy on then:, and their lustre dim'd!
But oft thy hallow'd grave,— where bending stand
Genius, and Friendship, and Humanity %
Over the a«hes of their fav'rite son, —
My feet shall v isit 1 and my flowing tears
Full uorestraia d upon thy silent tomb! W. B. C.

• In Africa. + Ofahcite. + The late Dr. Hunter of London-Wall,

who died at Bristol Hot Well;. ^ Sue Beck's Elegy on the Doctor.

HEFLECTIOXS ON THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE TE*li4

Now liavc the winged monitors of Time,
Revolving Seasons, run their ample round,
And clos'd the year: — elos'd not in vain to them
W ho, as the fleeting moments pass'd away,
Watch'd and improV'd to their eternal gain
The sliding treasure! But, ah ! — my muse,
To think of those who lost in Pleasure's train,
Unheeded let the year steal silent on;
Nor to Reflection's voire e'er lent an car!
lie wise, ye suns of Folly, slaves of Mirth,
Attend that voice which, from the flight of time,
Aloud proclaims, " To meet thy God prepare !"—
How many cliuiiges one short year produces!
Numbers, who at the dawn of this, enjoy'd
Prosperity's fair smile, aud bless'd their lot,
Nor fcar'd reverse,— feci now, the iron hand
Of stern Adversity j and pine with want
And paw midst mortal ills, —a frightful band!
Others, who rauk'd as low in Misery's vale,
*or hop'd for better days,— now rais'd to taste
I'.atlh's richest blessings i and enjoy, midst smiles
And lausliios friends around, the op'ning year!

Nor these alone;—empires their changes feel.
Hippy for Britain, still her God safe keeps
Her trout Oppression's cniel grasp! And may
He still preserve, while tyrants frown in vain I
Shook by Time's hand, the stately cditice,
That long defv'd the wint ry blast, nods from
Its Centre, and, with hideous ruin, threatens.
All below it. The solid mountain, and
TliedecP-fixt rock, that rears its head aloft
Amid, the bellowing waves, stand not unmark'd.

Mortals, who feel Time's desolating Sway!
My heart it) sorrow bleeds, as o'er Death's register
1 east my eye : — Some, torn from life ere they
To life attain'd; others, snatch'd from the bloom
Of health and smiling friends, and partner dear.
To mingle with the solitary dead 1
Statesmen, and heroes, ami tho pious man
Whose sole ambition was to please his God,
l.'all'd from Life's busy shining scenes they sleep.
And, undistinguish'ri, feast the greedy norm!

lint why, o'er human frailty do I weep? Why heaves the bursting sigh at the review Of that w ide devastation which prevails O'er all the works of man and face of Nature? It must be so, my soul, llcav'n has decreed. That a[l things here below shall have an end! Ye-, I must soon — (ah ! who can tell how soon On atl terrestrial objects close my eyes. And in the clny-tolfl £ravc forgotten lie! .'esui, O save ma in the solemn hour Of Death! If sav'd by thee, I cannot lie lain* vanquish'd! At thy call the rending earth Shall yield me from her teeming womb, uprais'd To lire and reign m happiness complete! *• W hen lie who moves th' circling seasons round, ** SJull stop the wueuls of Time, and bid them roll no more! HoXlbu. STC1IBNS '1'llEOJ.OGl.E.