THE STARS' RESPONSE. BY MRS. JULIA C. R. DORR. "I envy not your glory-proud, pale stars! OH! dweller mid the leaves and flowers of Earth! The bright stars-us who nightly gleam and burn Whose holiest name is Love-that we, who catch With humblest love Draw clouds and darkness round us, when we hear By many a tie, As strong and holy, as are those that bind MISS ELIZA L. SPROAT. Are we all linked together. Not a star Once there was grief, And mourning in the heavens. One band there was, One night, when high our wonted anthem swelled, We missed a voice, that ever in the strain risen, But one among that sister band was not,- Rose from the "heavenly host." Years have passed by, That was so dear! And we love thee, oh Earth! We bless thee, Earth,-for many hearts are thine THE HON. AND REV. BAPTIST W. NOEL, M. A. BY GEORGE CHAMBERS. THE name of this gentleman, since his secession from the English Church Establishment, has been so frequently and so prominently before the world, that we are persuaded the accompanying portrait will be acceptable to our readers. Baptist Wriothesley Noel is maternally derived from a distinguished Scotch family in Kincardineshire, and paternally related to the noble house of Hamilton. "It would be possible to write (says a biographer in the Christian Times) a little romance of a certain Charles Middleton, born in Scotland, in 1726, who entered the navy, rose in his profession, and pushed his fortunes till he was created a peer by the title of Lord Barham, was made a member of his Majesty's Privy Council, and was First Lord of the Admiralty from May, 1805, to February, 1806, during which short administration not fewer than four memorable victories were gained over the French. "Lord Barham had one child, a daughter, the wife of Sir Gerard Noel, great-grandson of the fourth Duke of Hamilton, who became Lady Barham in her own right; her eldest son succeeding to the title, which has since been changed, by his obtaining a step in the peerage, to that of the Earl of Gainsborough. Lady Barham, the solitary child of her father, bore to Sir Gerard Noel eighteen children, of whom Baptist is the sixteenth child, and eleventh son, born at Leithmont, near Leith, N. B., July 10, 1799." witness, "his elegant and gentlemanly bearing, the polish of his language, and the grace and propriety of his manner, combined with his quiet but deep and vivid enthusiasm, his freshness as a public speaker, and the exciting nature of his theme (the martyred missionary, Smith), together with the power and directness of his appeal, all tended to give interest and memorableness to his entrance on public life, and to raise the feelings and expectations of his auditors to the highest pitch." Very soon after this event, Mr. Noel took Mr. Noel is now in the fiftieth year of his orders. As a preacher, he rapidly became age. He was educated partly at Westminster, popular, though rather by richness of fancy and partly at a private school, took his degree and copiousness of language, than by originaat Cambridge, and studied for the law. He lity or profundity of thought, compact or conwas thus engaged when, in May, 1824, at the vincing argument, or imaginative reasoning. anniversary meeting of the London Missionary His views settled at once into the Evangelical Society, he first appeared in public life. He is form: his sermons, therefore, were always disdescribed to have been, for some time previous, tinguished by the prominence given in them to firm and decided in his religious character and the Gospel, as emphatically the truth, by his views, and was already identified with religious allusions to the inward life of the believer, and men and religious movements evangelical in by his earnest appeals to the worldly and uncharacter and spirit. "Mr. Noel's youthful converted. He was devoted, as a pastor, to appearance on this occasion," says an eye- the interests of his flock, especially of the young; and his Bible classes, and other modes | earnest evangelical spirit, elevated thought, and of pastoral occupation, are thought to have other marks of accomplished writing. rendered him occasionally less effective in the pulpit; yet, when he girded himself up for any theme, few men could handle it with more vigour, clearness, or closeness, either of thought, reasoning, or application. Mr. Noel's merits as a speaker at public meetings are of a high order. He is described as always self-possessed, calm, serious, flowing, elegant-rising, at times, into eloquence and passion. He delights in statistics, numbers, particulars, facts, and would seem often to have very carefully prepared and arranged these beforehand, though he may have left his language a good deal to the prompting of the moment. Few men have done more than Mr. Noel to make the platform respectable to the minister, or, through it, to promote everything connected with religion and philanthropy. As an author, Mr. Noel has been frequently before the public, and in various characters. He has published a "Journey in Switzerland," and "Notes of a Tour through Ireland in 1836,' both interesting for their information, tone, and tendency. His religious works range from "Infant Piety-a Book for Little Children," to two volumes of sermons preached in the Chapel Royal by Mr. Noel, as Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen. The second of these volumes was published last year, and is characterized by Mr. Noel has taken part in controversial topics oftener than has been gratifying to his admirers. He prominently advocated the exclusion of Socinians from membership and office in the Bible Society, from which he withdrew; but afterwards reviewed his opinions, and returned. In the agitation upon “Church Reform," some sixteen years since, Mr. Noel stood up for a sweeping modification of the Episcopacy of the Establishment. He next lent his impressive aid to the building, and endowment by public money, of a very large number of new churches. "The case of the Free Church of Scotland," in book and lecture illustration, has also been warmly taken up by Mr. Noel, as well as the position of the Irish Church; and during the agitation for the repeal of the Corn Laws, Mr. Noel published a powerful tract, entitled "A Plea for the Poor," of which nearly 50,000 copies were circulated. Mr. Noel has also materially aided in the foundation of the "Evangelical Alliance." Mr. Noel's recent secession from the Establishment could scarcely have surprised the attentive readers of his works. This was followed by the publication of his "Essay on the Union of the Church with the State," of which a large edition was sold within a few days. |