With thy wayfaring ones my crust I've broken by the brooks, When flowers were as our children fair, our comrades were the oaks, And wildest forests for thy praise were churches, choirs, and clarks-- Such house and kindred doth he find who to thy wisdom harks. Praise ye the Lord, ye spirits small--my sisters sweet, the larks! The untented air is home for me who in thy promise sleep, Or wake to find thee ever nigh, and still my sins to weep; And holy poverty's disguise is pleasant to thine eye; Yea, richer garb was never worn, that treasures may not buy, Since thou hast clad me with thy love, and clothed me with the sky. Oh! could I for one moment's light thy heavenly body see, All joy were pain, all pain were joy, all toil were bliss to me. I would give mine eyes for weeping, and my blood should flow like wine, To purchase in that sight of bliss one blessed look of thine, Who hath ransomed with a crown of pain this sinful soul of mine! My brethren, ye are poor, but as children ye are wise, Who wander through the wilderness in quest of paradise. O little children! seek the Lord, wherever he may be, Whose blessed face by his dear grace on every side I see, Who brother is, who father is, and all things, unto ye. LETTER FROM ROME. ROME, Jan. 21, 1871. Four months have gone by since the Italian troops entered Rome through the breach made by the cannon of Cadorna, four months since a new light dawned upon the Eternal City, and its regenerators set about the accomplishment of their aspirations. What has been the development of this third life of Rome--_la terza vita_, as Terenzio Mamiani has been pleased to style it--in this its primal stage? The child is father to the man--the seed produces the tree and its fruit. So, too, do the beginnings of a political state give an index of its future, fix the causes that are to produce the results of the future. The history of these four months, then, must be looked on with interest, and pondered with care. The present century is universally considered an age of progress, and it was in the name of progress that the forces of Victor Emmanuel entered the capital of Christianity. Progress implies motion from one state or condition to another more perfect: the simplicity of this statement cannot be gainsaid, and we shall assume it as uncontested. The party of progress took possession of Rome in the interest of progress. Has Rome progressed during these months since the 20th of September? Has she gone from her past state to one more perfect? Facts must speak; and facts we give. One thing at a time.