most wish of the soul. The problem of antiquity,
the possible Union of the finite with the Infinite, has been solved in
the most marvellous manner. No longer are we oppressed with the loss of
all personal identity, all moral responsibility, as in pantheism; nor
confused by the debasing fractioning of the Divine Unity, as in
polytheism; nor bound hand and foot under the crushing despotism of a
pitiless Fate;--but in the Glorified Humanity of Christ these perplexing
problems of the soul are answered, and the incomprehensible union of the
Infinite and finite at last accomplished, He took our nature upon Him
that Infinite Love might pass through all degrees of suffering, even to
the last dying gasp of agony, to release us from the horrors of the
'second death.' Every human feeling is known to Him, but in infinite
purity; the Real and Ideal are in equal perfection. Far higher, indeed,
than the most sublime conception that uninspired thought could ever have
engendered; human, yet far above humanity; ruling all ages; winning all
adoration; sublime in tender simplicity--behold the meek Lamb of God,
the Holy Son of the Blessed Virgin!

Oh, eternal, immaculate Beauty! if in this world Thou but sufferest us
to divine Thy Perfections; if Thou hast given us ephemeral delights
which always escape our eager grasp at the very moment we dream of their
full enjoyment; if the flower fades so fast--the days of spring are so
fleeting; if nature, like a thick veil thrown between this world and the
next, suffers but a few rays of Thy glory to pierce its folds, while it
keeps us from Thee even in kindling the flame of desires which it never
satisfies--it is because Thou knowest that in the inexhaustible richness
of Thy Being there are everlasting fountains to quench the insatiate
thirst of the human soul, when in the bosom of infinite splendor we may
contemplate and adore Thee forever and ever!

'That they _all_ may be _One_, as Thou, Father, in me, and I in Thee:
that they also may be _one_ in us.'

Oh, inconceivable and glorious Unity! What wonder that thy types on
earth are so full of meaning--so rich in delight!

THE BUCCANEERS OF AMERICA.

II.

A still more terrible name to the Spaniards, as a leader of the
buccaneers, was Francis Lolonois, a Frenchman, who in his youth was
transported as a slave to the Caribbean Islands. Passing thence to
Tortuga, he became a common mariner, and conducted himself so well in
several voyages