ALONE WITH GOD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2654, 25 January 1905, Page 77

ALONE WITH GOD.

How blessed is the hiish that broodcth here Beneath the vesper staz ! All woochaucl sounds Are hushed save the low murmur of tbe stream, And the slow breeze above the seeded grass; The droning beetle, the belated fly, And one lone, wakeful bird. 'Tis silent now From steep to steep, anu one by one thestars Dome the wide wilderness. No whisper s i ea!» From the far tracts. My spirit sits within, Dejected, di'mb. Alas! innumerable words Are man's, but little music, and his lot Is toilsome, sordid. O that he might sit At eventide above the mountain stream, Far in the wilderness, and feel and know That love is more than mated lips and souls, The ecstasy of wedded spirits, the fire Of immortality. He is the Spirit That broodeth. dove-like, o'er the vast abyss. O truest love is infinitely more Than man may dream. Dejected; driven cut To wander in the wilderness, he waits Until the weary scons overpass, Stiblime, assured of glorious victory - In God's good time, unconquerable, crowned With unapparent glory and the pride That feels the blessed future in the joy, The deep solemnity, of this sweet time. — Charles Oscar Palmes. Kahautara, January 15.

— Naval expert? put down the active life of a modern battleship at about 15 years. A hundired years ago battleships lasted almost six times as long, and were on active service nearly th& whole time of their com- - mission.