THE GARLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3314, 19 September 1917, Page 45

THE GARLAND.

FOR THE QUIET HOUR. No. 212. By Duncan Wright, Dunedin. HOPE. Readers will thank me for a lovely eong by a gifted woman, Marianne Farningham i Hope, tht- artist, doth forbid Sombre walls in any room; If his pictures be half hid Sometimes by November gloom, Loving eyes can find them there, Winsome, bright, and very fair, •Shining through the darkened air. Hope, tho poet, writes good things, JNever found in duller prose, Prophecies of good he brings, Truly, fox this seer knows How along the unseen way Birds make rnusio, flowers are gay, And the man takes heart to pray. Hope, tho singer, lifts his voico Over and above the din, Then the saddened ones rejoice, Taking strength and comfort in. Sobs there were, and bitter tears, Vain regrets and shrinking fears, But they pass when Hope appears. Hope, the angel, gently guides Thro' the dark, for he can see Out where the story tides And the deeps and quicksands be; Ancii behold! the Father's face, Full of tender strength and grace. Smiles all dangers from the place! Should the lesser blessings go, Ease and wealth, success or friends, In the siLence thou shalt know How good Hope can make uniends. He will ever iadthlul be, Cheery, helpful, strong, and free— Therefore bind him unto thee.

" Be silent before the Lord, sitting alone with Him in thy inmost and most hidden cell. . . . Attending His will in the

patience of Hope. ... So the sun himself, which thou awaitest for, shall arise unto thee: and under his most healing wings thou shalt greatly rejoice."

Charles Kingsley says : " The men whom I have seen succeed best in life have always been cheerful and hopeful men, who went about with a smile on their faces, and took the changes and chances of this life like men facing rough and smooth as it came, and so found the truth of the old proverb: ' Good times and all times pass over.' "

Just when the writer of the Garland was passing through deep waters and bitter sorrow the great words of Holy Scripture brought light and gladness: " Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord. Jesus Christ:

- " By Whom also we have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. " And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; "And patience, experience; and experience hope ; " And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us." And in this connection John Bunyan in the "Holy War" represents Experience as a young gentleman who waited upon Captain Credence. He was not one of the veteran officers —grave-eyed and scarred from the wars. When Immanuel sent for him " the young gentleman was waiting to see the captain train and muster his men in the castleyard. Then said Mr Waiting to him, ' Sir, the Prince would that you should come down to his highness forthwith.' So he brought him down to Immanuel, and he came and made obeisance before him. Now, the men of tho town knew Mr Experience well, for he was born and bred in Munsoul; they also knew him to be. a man of conduct, of valour, and a person prudent in matters ; he was also a comely person, well spoken, and very successful in his undertakings.

" Wherefore the hearts of the townsmen were transported with joy when they saw that the Prince himself was so taken with Mr Experience that he would needs make him a captain over a band of men. "So with one consent they bowed the knee before Immanuel, and with a shout said, 'Let Immanuel live forever!' Then said the Prince to the young gentleman whose name was Mr Experience, ' I have thought good to confer upon thee a place of trust and honour in this my town of Mansoul.' Then the young man bowed his head and worshipped. 'lt is,' said Immanuel, ' that thou shouldst be a captain—a captain over a thousand men in my beloved town of Mansoul.' Then said the captain, 'Let the King live.' " HOPE ON, HOPE EVER. Gerald Massey's song is on a high note: Hope on, hope even tlio' to-day bo dark The sweet sunburst may smile on theo to-morrow; Tho' thou art lonely, there's an eye will mark Thy loneliness, and guerdon all thy sorrow; Tho' thou must toil 'niong cold and sordid men, With none to echo back thy thought or love theo, Cheer up, poor heart, thou dost not beat in vain, ' For God is over all, and heaven is above thee. Hope on, hope ever. With the boom of distant guns, deadly bombs, and hellish submarines perhaps the qualifying words of Anna J. Grannis are to many singularly appropriate and welcome : Hope on, hope ever i after darkest night Conies full of loving life the laughing morning. Hope on, hope over: Springtide flushed with light Ay© crowns old Whiter with her rich adorning. Hope on, hope everj yet the time shall conic When man to man shall bo a friend and brother,

And this-old world ehall bo a happy home, And all Earth's family love one another* Hope on, hope ever. Not even Hope can. always soar and aing} Sometimes she needs must rest a willing wing-, And wait in midst of her glad carolling. Faint not. dear heart, tho' she rest overnight— Her wings are swifter than tho wings of light, They're gaining strength for mora enduring flight, Fret not because her voice is sometimes still i It may be catching some now lilt or thrill t She'll sing again, all of her own sweet will. Perhaps when worn •with pain, in darkened room, Denied the light, the bsauty and tho bloomy You'll see a littlo rift within the gloom ( Then hear a stir, as of unfolding wings; And low, sweet notes, as one wlio tries the strings In tender prelude just before he sings. And wakened Hope, grown vigorous and strong, "Will then surprise the silence witlf a song—' Keep a bravo heart, Hope never slumbera long. ) Tiie editor of Great Thoughts has ft most appropriate message on the subject of Hope, from -which 1 extract the following:— "NEED OF OELESTAL HOPE." ". . . Wo need celestial help or the battle will go against us. " The young man, rejoicing in his strength, thrilled with the splendid consciousness of power, -enters -the arena of life resolved to achieve the highest which, life can offer "But, journeying forward, he finds much that hinders. Physical passions, which have got the start of his intelligence in the race of life, strive to drag him downwards. . . . " He finds it hard to live up to the leve} of his noblest moods. He cannot keep the heights which his soul is competent to gain. Self-interest warps his judgment) some inherited weakness causes his feet to slide* The mystery of life confounds him. Pride rules his will. Syren voices lure him into places of forbidden pleasure. The gates of his resolve are hot with constant siege. Ignorance lays snares for his feet, Greed digs a grave for heroic ideals and heavenly visions. The broad road trodden by the gay multitude bewilders and attracts him. Ere long, alas! tho heavenly glory fade?. The splendid purpose reefe and falls. His eyes are dazzled. His feet stumble. He is ready to despair. " Where shall he turn for help and for succour. Hopo answers: "To God. To God Who is, Who loves, and Who has not forsaken. To God Who is under him, and over him, and round about him, ana within him. To God Who is mightier than all his foes, Who can possess him, Who can breathe into him His own energy, Who can give him an assured victory. "Vital godliness : this is what he needs, and through which he alone can triumph. That vital godliness which is not mere feeling, for feeling may be misdirected or transient; which is not mere faith, for tho devotee may believe a lie; which is not mere morality, for morality may be cold, calculating, and without love, bu 4 which is the converse of the soul with its Creator, the pulse-beat of the infinite lift* in the finite heart, the glad leap of trusting affection into the ever-lasting arms. Here is a refuge which no foe can violate-, a pavilion guarded by all the .resources of omnipotence, a shelter which no chilling blast can enter, and where the .soul is free to reach its finest growth." Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be 'blessed: The soul, uneasy and confined from h-.vme, Pests and expiatea in a life to com?. —Pope. " Contact with God—this is life, essential life, abundant life, victorious life, the life which, lifting us into the sphere of tho heavenly and immortal, crowns and consummates our manhood and settles it in the everlasting rest of Deity. Without question vital religion is the main stimulant, purifier, and support of the art of noble living." A MOTHER'S HOPE, Lo! at the couch where infant beauty sl«epa-, Her silent watch the mournful mother keeps) She. while the lovely babe unconscious Smiles on her slumbering child with pensive eyes, And .weaves a song of melancholy joy—- " Sleep, imago of thy father; sleep, my boyj No lingering hour of sorrow shaJl bo thine) No sigh that rends thy father's heart and mine ; Bright as his manly sire the son shall fc« In form and soul; but, ah! more "blest than he! Thy name, thy worth, thy ifllial love nt last, Shall «oot.he his aching heart for all tha past— t With many a smile my solilude repay, And chase the world's ungenerous scorn away. And say. when summoned from the world and thee. I lay my head beneath the willow tree, Wilt thou, eweet mourner, at my stone appear, And soothe my parted spirit lingering near? Oh, wilt thou come at evening to shed The tears of Memory o'er my narrow bed: With aching temples on thy hand reclined Muse on the last farewell I leave behind, Breathe a deep sigh to winds that murinut? low, And think of all my lave, and all my woe?"