The Flood Of Years

A mighty Hand, frora au exhauatloss urn, 'ours forth the nover-ending Floocl of Ycars mong the nations. How the rushing waves] ear all before them ! On their foremoBt edge, nd there alone, is Life ; the Present there 'osees and foams and filis tue air wilh roar f mingled noises. Th'cy are they wbo toil, nd they who strive, and they who feast, aud ttiej Who liurry to and fro. The sturdy hind- "oodnian aud delver witu the spade - are there, mi buy artigan beside his bonch, nd palííd student with his written roll. moment on the mounting billow seeü- 'he flood sweeps over Ihem, and they are gone. 'here groups of rovelerss whose brows are twined Vith roses, ride tho topniost swell awhile, nd, as they raiSe their flowing cups to touch 'he GliVking brim to brim, are whirled beneath he wa ves, and disappear. I hear tho jar f beaten drums, and tlmnders that break forth Troni eannon, where the aavaucing billow senda Jp to the sight long files of arnied men, hat hurry to the charge throiigh fíame and smoke. 'he torrent bears them under, whelined and hid, layer aud slain, in heaps of bloody foam. Down go the steed and rider ; the plumed chief inks with his f oüowers ; the head that wears he imperial diadem goes down benide 'he feion's with croppcd eal' and branded cheek. funeral train- the torrent Bweeps away earers and bier and moürners. By the bed f one who diea men gather èorfowuig, nd wonien weep aloud ; thte ïlood rölls on t he wail is stifled, and the scbbing group ïornc under. Hark to that Bhrill, sudden shout- 'he cry of au applauding inultitude wayed by some loud-tongued orator who wielde 'he living niass, as if he werc its soul. 'he waters cholte the shout, and all is still. iO, next, a kneeliug crowd, an. on" Vvho spreads 'he hands in praver ; Ulo ingulfing wave o'ertakes nd swallown tnein and hiin. A seulptor wields 'he chlsel, and the stricken marble grows 'o beauty : at his easel, eager-eyed, pain ter stands, and sunshine, at Íiíb touch Gathers a) on the canvas, and life glows ; poet, as he paces to and fro, [urniurs his sounding line Awhile they ride he advaucing billow, till lts lossing Creöt trikeB them and flinge them under while their taskire yet unfinished. See & mother smile n her young ba3 that smilea to her again - he torrent wrests it from her arrus ; phe ehrieks nd weeps, and midst her tcars ia carried down. beam like that of moonlight turns the spray 'o güatening pearls ; two lovers, hand in hand, lise on the billowy swellt and fondly look nto each others' eyes. The rushing flood rJings them apart ; the youth goes down ; the ïnttid, With hands outstretched in vftin, Rnd Btreaining eyee, Vaits for tho next high wave to f ollow hün. n aged niail Bucceeds ; his beuding form inks Blowly ; mingling with the sullen etream leam the white locks, aud then are sen no. more, Lo, wider growe the stream ; a sea-lüke nood aps earth's walled pitiee x lassne palaces ïrumblü beforo it i ïortressoH and towers HbsoIvo in the swift waters ; populoua realme, wept by the torrent, ee their ancient tribes ngulfed and lost, their very languages tifled and never to be uttered more. I pause and turn my eyes, and, looking back, Tiere that tumult uous flood has passed, I see 'he Bilent Ocean of the Past, a waBte f waters weltering over graves, its BhorfiS rewn with the wreek of fteeto, wherfe mast and )rop away pieemeftl üattleniented walls rown ídlyi grefen with moss, and temples Btand ïnroöfed, forsaken by the worshipej. 'Iiere lie memorial stones, whence time has gnawed he graven legenda, thrones of kings o'erturned, 'he broken altars of forgotten gods, foundations of old cities and long streets here never f all of human foot is heard pon the desolate pavement. I behold )im glimmeringB of lost jewelB far within 'he sleeping waters, diamond, sardonjx, uby and topaz, pearl and chrysolite, nee glittering at the banquet on fair brows 'hat long ago were dust ; and all around, trewa on the waters of that silent eea, re withering bridal wreaths, and glossy locks horn from fair brows by loving hands, and Bcroll 'erwritten- haply with fond worcls of love nd vows of friendship- and fair pages fiung Fresh from the printer's engine. There they He moment, and then sink away from sight. I look, and the quick tears are in my eyes, Tor I behold, in every one of these, blighted hope, a separate history f human sorrow, telling of dear ties uddenly broken, dreams of happiness )iasolvedin air, and happy days too brief, hat sorrowfully ended, and I think ow painfully must the poor heart have beat n bosoma without munber, as the blow Was ftvuck that Blew their hope or broke theii peaca. Sadiy I turn, and look before, where yet 'he Flood must pass, and I behold a mist Hiere swarm dissolving forms, the brood of Hope. )ivinely fair, that rest on bauks of flowers r wander among rainbows, fading soon nd reappearing, haply giving place o shapes of grisJy aspect, sueh as Fear lolds from the idle air; where serpents lift 'he head to strike, and skeletons stretch forth 'he bony arm in menace. Further on belt of darkness seenis to bar the way, ong, low and distant, where the Life that Is ouches the Life to Come. The Flood of Years olls toward it. near and nearer. It must pass ?hat dit-mal barrier. What is there peyond? ear what the wise and good have said. Beyond 'hat belt of darkness still the years roll on !ore gently, but with not less mighty sweep. 'hey gather up again and softly bear II the sweet livea that late were overwhelmed nd lost to sight- all that in them was good, floble, and truly great and worthy of love- he lives of infants and ingenuous youths, ages and eaintly women who have made :heir householda happy- all are raised and borno y that great current in its onward sweep, Vandering and rippling with caressing wavea round green islands, fragrant with the breath )f fiowers that never mther. So they pass rom sfage to stage, along the shining couree f that fair river broadening like a sea. s its sraooth eddies curl along their way, hey bricg old friends together ; hands are clasped n jay unspeakabïe ; the mother's arma gaiu are folded round the child she loved nd lost. Old sorrows are forgotten now, )r but remembered to make sweet the hoar 'hat overpays them ; woundcd hearts that bied r broke are healed forever. In the room f this grief-shadowed Present there shall be Present in wboee reign no grief shall gnaw 'he heart, and never shall a tender tie Ie broken -in whose reign the eteraal Change 'hat waits on growth and aetion Bhall proceed Vith everlastincr Concord hand in hand.