79. Relics of Saints
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"He is not the God of the dead, but of the
living; for all
live unto Him."
"THE Fathers are in dust, yet live to God:"—
So says the Truth; as if the motionless
clay
Still held the seeds of life beneath the sod,
Smouldering and struggling till the
judgment-
day.
And hence we learn with reverence to esteem
Of these frail houses, though the grave
confines;
Sophist may urge his cunning tests, and deem
That they are earth;—but they are
heavenly
shrines.
Palermo.
June 1, 1833.