Shadows.

church bells , so , Avherever I wend my Avay or pitch my tent , Avhile life itself shall last , there will ei'er rise on the tracing-board of memory , fresh and clear before me , the gracious and friendly vision of that dear old church . Yes , it seems but a moment ago , that in

admiring reA'erence I Avas contemplating its graceful proportions , even in the early dawn , before the busy Avorld had come abroad , and Avas Avatching the cold , grey light creeping by slow degrees over Avail and toAver , bringing by little and little into clearness and distinctness , the Avhole stately fabric .

Or now , it is , that in the full brilliance of the midday sun , those searching rays fall Avith startling clearness on the long southern face , until ei'ery course , and every stone , rough ashlar and smooth ashlar , seem marked Avith minute distinctness in

the indescribable blazon of that glaring light . And now , as the shadow on the dial faintly points to the passing hour , and the golden rays of gleaming brightness tinge church and trees with a rosy hue , a supernatural glowas if of expiring

, strength , lightens up the vieAV . But ere long the sober mantle of tAvilight Avraps , in its misty dimness , all of that fading brightness , aud throws its pale grey haze over tower aud pinnacle , wall and buttress alike .

While , once again , under the still and wondrous grace of the rippling moonlight , Avith flashes from every latticed pane , I have believed I saAV , as Ruskin thought he saAV in Giotto ' s handiwork in other years , the Lamp of Beauty , shining true at last . Welljust thenkind readersas in that

, , , fresh and fragrant time before the full power of the midday heat has swept away the deAV from the grass and the odour from the flower , I have Avatched the dull shadoAVS flit aAvay , and all things come out clearer and clearer to the sightso I haveperhaps

, , fancifully enough , loved to trace the progress of life ' s young morn , as one by one the early clouds disperse , and Ave move Avith buoyant steps and joyous hopes , to the fuller experience of assured ivellbeing , and realized happiness .

Alas ! just as the brilliancy of God ' s OAVU great li ght has poured in golden radiance over those erect and unbending Availsand yet a passing cloud has ere very long dimmed that scene of brightness and of

glory—so , too , the darker shadoAA's of a mournful experience have fallen on every lot and every heart , sweeping aAvay Avith their resistless eddies those hopes Avhich never have been fulfilled , those aspirations Avhich have been buried in an untimely

grave . So , too , sunset Avith its short-lived splendour has illumined the scene , throAVing the spell of a parting glory on all around , and in the same way Ave may often have seen the last reflections of a transient brilliancy lighting up the memories of the

past , or the last feAv hours of our fitful life . Or , Avhile as the tAvilig ht moments make all things dimmer and darker , far and near , so do Ave often stand looking omvards Avith fear and doubt , to the coming UIOITOAV . All is hazy to our sight ; all is wrapped up in

fog aud gloom . Yet once again . Under the soft beams of that undimmed moonlight , falling in placid beauty on bill and dale , on all nature at last at rest , the old church and churchyard seem penetrated through and

through Avith brightness , Avhile over the far champaign , spires and houses amid waving foliage seem like fiery land-marks to the eye . And yet all that brig htness is doomed to fade—and in a moment literally all is dark and drear . HOAV often , Avhen

all seems brightest and happiest m existence ; Avhen affection is most tender , and sympathy most ripened : alas I a sh adow of darkness passes across the scene . Yesterday , all Avas full of mirth and glee ; to-day all is full of mournfulness

and lamentation . Time may soften , but even time can never fully heal that sudden and cruel Avound , and never will that shadoAv pass aAvay from our homes , or our hearts , till Ave ourselves shall be Avhere no shadows

can fall upon the reality of our being any more . In this Avay it is that I have been long accustomed to create for myself , some may think foolishly enough , a Avorld of shadows ; to call up alike from living and from dead , those airy phantoms of the

imagination , and to see , moreover , in every life and every condition of man , unceasing if abiding shadoAvs . Yes , most true it is , that the shadoAvs of the great shadow-land rise and fall over all callings and responsibilities alike , over the deltas of youth , of promise , of hope , of love ; over the Avide desert of barren