Soon, soon, his spring of life will go, And autumn mark his furrow'd brow, Our days how fleeting, vain, and brief! The leaves that fade, and trembling fall, But man shall hear the trumpet-call, Forth from their graves that blast shall bring Unnumber'd as the leaves of spring, With endless life endued. Saved through His blood, who died for men, To dwell where comes not sin or grief- FLOWERS. "I wove a wreath of rosy flowers, Whose blushing heads with dew drops crown'd To shade young love's and beauty's bowers, And shed their sweetest fragrance round." THERE is perhaps no country under the sun in which flowers have not been raised to a high imaginary estimation, either as tokens of affection, symbols of victory, or as emblems of peace. Flowers have been, and are still badges of Nations; the Rose of England; the Lily of France; the Thistle of Scotland; and the Shamrock, or Trefoil of Ireland. The Emperor of China, amongst other titles, is saluted as "The Rose of Delight." In the village of Picardy, called Salency, there exists at the present day (or did till within a few years past) a Festival, which is said to have been founded by St. Medard, in the fifteenth century. It is called the "Festival of the Rose," and consists of a solemn trial before appointed judges; the candidates are maidens of the village, and she whose character and conduct during the past year is proved to have been the most discreet, kind, simple, and religious, is rewarded with a crown of roses, and a wedding dower of 120 livres. These crowns are sacredly preserved by the fortunate possessors, and in after years are shown to their children, to create and encourage a spirit of emulation. There is a Comedy, written by Madame de Genlis, founded upon this ceremony, and entitled "The Queen of the Rose of Salency." STANZAS. My light of life is waning, The bright blue vault of heaven, Shines calmly forth at even, But ends in darker night. The brilliancy of morning, The day-spring from on high, All nature's face adorning, But speaks that storms are nigh. The caroling orison Of day-light's sweetest song, Hope that, in love, has lighted Our path in early time, Most bitterly is blighted When manhood's reached its prime. Then let earth's trifles hasten Their progress to decay; Life's dreariness begins when STEAM seems to be the grand power by which the ends of the earth are to be brought into close connection. Almost every year some new enterprise is undertaken by its agency, and, with few exceptions, with a successful result. Within a very short period our island will be completely intersected by railways-the gallant steamer whose portrait decorates the page has, by repeated trips, actually reduced the distance between England and New York nearly three-fourths, performing a voyage in twelve days which erewhile occupied forty. Not long, we trust, will it be before the experiment is made to India-who can doubt its success? for though originating in man's ambition, and with a view to personal aggrandizement and the accumulation of wealth, we do firmly believe that this mode of speedy communication will, under Providence, greatly facilitate the extension of the kingdom of Christ, and hasten that longed-for period, when " the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea!" I Our present object, however, must be to confine ourselves to an account of the Great Western Steam Ship, which is the property of a new company at Bristol, where she was built, but was sent to London to be fitted up. She is two hundred and thirty-six feet in length, fifty-eight and a half in breadth, and her registered tonnage is 1340. She is very firmly built, and has stowage room for eight hundred tons of coal, or of coal and cargo combined, besides room for provisions and three hundred people. In addition to this there is sufficient space for the officers and crew, consisting of about sixty individuals. There are state rooms for 128 first-class passengers, and 20 good secondary berths, and, should it be found desirable to give up cargo room, 100 more persons might be accommodated. The saloon is most gorgeously fitted up. It is 75 feet long and 21 broad, independent of the recesses on either side, where it is 34 feet broad, and 9 feet high clear of the beam. The remaining description of the internal fittings up we copy from the Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal: "The small cabins on each side, and communicating with the saloon, each contain two sleeping berths, so arranged that in the day time they may be turned up against the side of the vessel, and conceal the bedding, thereby forming a small sitting-room, seven feet by eight feet. At the end of the state cabin is the ladies' saloon, which is very tastefully fitted up by the upholsterer, and on the opposite side is the steward's room, containing every convenience to render this important department (to the passenger) complete. It is furnished with a supply of salt and fresh water, and one of Stirling's filterers. The arrangement of the bells is deserving of notice. In the steward's room, standing on a shelf, are two small inahogany boxes, about one foot long, and eight inches square, each containing a bell, communicating by means of wires to every berth, cabin, and other department of the vessel. When the attendance of the steward is required, the passenger pulls the bell rope in his berth, which rings the bell in the small box, and at the same time, by means of a small lever, forces up, through a slit in the lid, a small tin lable, about two inches by one inch, with the number of the room painted on it requiring the services of the steward, and there remains until the steward has ascertained the number of the room and pushed it down again. Thus, instead of having an interminable number of bells, one for every department, there are only two. This arrangement, which is alike ingenious as it is useful, is deserving the notice of architects. We understand it is the invention of a person residing at Greenock. Between the steward's room and the ladies' cabin, in the midship, is a spacious staircase, with handsome ornamental railing bronzed and gilded, the wood work painted in imitation of pollard oak." THE FINE ARTS. NOTHING can more excite the pleasurable surprise and admiration of a reflective mind, at the goodness of the beneficent Ruler of the universe, than the wonderful wisdom wherewith he has controlled the several faculties of his creatures and superinduced them to their benefit. Were it not indeed for the lamentable and desperate corruption, to which by his fall from original purity man has become heir, the natural exercise of his powers must in the course of time have brought him into that liberty of godliness which by his present perversity of wickedness he is prevented from enjoying. Around him, on earth, in sea, and sky, are strewn objects of the most witching and perfect beauty. Gracefulness of form and sweetness and variety and intensity of colouring are lavished on every side; and if he looks into his own nature, or only observes the counte |