It is that whence rose toward heaven, as an agreeable perfume to God, the soul of a maiden dying in all the purity of first innocence; dead without knowing there existed a forbidden fruit; dead because she loved with that celestial love which belongs only to the angels in paradise.
From The Month.
BURY THE DEAD
"Give me a grave, that I made bury my dead
out of my sight."--Genesis xxiii.
Enwrapt in fair white shroud.
With fragrant flowers strewn.
With loving tears and holy prayers,
And wailing loud,
Shut out the light!
Bury the Dead, bury the Dead,
Out of my sight!
[{380}] Corruption's touch will wrong
The sacred Dead too soon;
Then wreath the brow, the eyelids kiss;
Delay not long,
Behold the blight!
Bury the Dead, bury the Dead,
Out of our sight!
But there are other Dead
That will not buried be,
That walk about in glaring day
With noiseless tread.
And stalk at night;
Unburied Dead, unburied Dead,
Ever in sight.
Dear friendships snapt in twain.
Sweet confidence betrayed,
Old hopes forsworn, old loves worn out,
Vows pledged in vain.
There is no flight,
Ye living, unrelenting Dead,
Out of your sight.
Oh! for a grave where I
Might hide my Dead away!
That sacred bond, that holy trust,
How could it die?
Out of my sight!
O mocking Dead, unburied Dead,
Out of my sight!
O ever-living Dead,
Who cannot buried be;
In our heart's core your name is writ.
What though it bled?
The wound was slight
To eyes that loved no more, in death's
Remorseless night
O still belovèd Dead,
No grave is found for you;
No friends weep with us o'er your bier.
No prayers are said;
For out of sight
We wail our Dead, our secret Dead,
Alone at night.
Give me a grave so deep
That they may rest with me;
For they shall lie with my dead heart
In healing sleep;
Till out of night
We shall all pass, O risen Dead,
Into God's sight!
[ORIGINAL.]
RELIGION IN NEW YORK.
The city of New York is supposed to contain about one million of inhabitants. Of these, from 300,000 to 400,000 are Catholics, probably 60,000 Jews, and from 550,000 to 650,000 Protestants, or Nothingarians.
We will first speak of the provision made for the religions instruction of the non-Catholic majority of our population.
There are 280 churches of all descriptions, excluding the Catholic churches. Of these, there are: