i mm \ *;;.&':: . ,' Mi : t':ll-:- mm* YGAR UW*STY Of CMJFOftNlA IRVINE K \ THE Cbristian THOUGHTS IN VERSE FOR THE SUNDA YS AND HOL YD A YS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR " In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." ISAIAH xxx. 15. flctu pork FREDERICK A. STOKKS COMPANY PUBLISHERS ADVERTISEMENT. Stobertiscraeitt, NEXT to a sound rule of faith, there is nothing of so much consequence as a sober standard of feeling in matters of practical religion : and it is the peculiar happiness of the Church of England to possess, in her authorized formularies, an ample and secure provision for both. But in times of much leisure and unbounded curiosity, when excite- ment of every kind is sought after with a morbid eagerness, this part of the merit of our Liturgy is likely in some measure to be lost, on many even of its sincere admirers : the very tempers, which most require such discipline, setting themselves, in gen- eral, most decidedly against it. The object of the present publication will be at- tained, if any person find assistance from it in bringing his own thoughts and feelings into more entire unison with those recommended and exem- plified in the Prayer Book. The work does not furnish a complete series of compositions ; being, in many parts, rather adapted with more or less propriety to the successive portions of the Liturgy, than originally suggested by them. Something has been added at the end concerning the several Oc- casional Services : which constitute, from their per- sonal and domestic nature, the most perfect instance of that soothing tendency in the Prayer Book, which it is the chief purpose of these pages to ex- hibit. filay 30, 1827. CONTENTS. Contents. Morning ........... I Kvening ........... 3 The First Sunday in Advent ....... 5 The Second Sunday in Advent. The Signs of the Times . 8 The Third Sunday in Advent. The Travelle The Fourth Sunday in Advent. Dimness Christinas Day ...... S. Stephen's Day ..... S. John the Evangelist's Day The Holy Innocents' Day . The First Sunday after Christinas Day. Afiaz ........... 22 The Circumcision of Christ ....... 25 The Second Sunday after Christmas Day. The Pilgrim's Song ........... 27 The Epiphany .......... 29 The First Sunday after the Epiphany, The Nightingale . 31 The Second Sunday after the Epiphany. The Secret of Per- petual ) 'outh ......... 33 The Third Sunday after the Epiphany. The Good Centurion 36 The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. The World is for R.rcitciiifnt, the Gospel for Soothing . . . . 39 The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany. Cure Sin ami you cure Sorroiv . . . . . , . . . .41 The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany. The Benefits of Un- certainty ....... "... 44 The Sunday called Septuagcsima ...... 47 The Sunday called Sexagesima ....... 49 The Sunday < ailed Quinquagesima ...... 51 Ash Wednesday . _ ......... 53 The First Sunda _ day in Lent. The City of Refuge . . .55 The Second Sunday in Lent. Ksau s l''orfeit . . -57 The Third Sunday in Lent. The Spoils of Satan . . 59 The Fourth Sunday in Lent. The Rosebud . . . .61 The Fifth Sunday in Lent. The Burning Bush . , .64 The Sunday next hefore Easter, or Palm Sunday. The Chil- dren in the Temple ........ 67 Monday before Easter. Christ waiting for the Cross , . 68 Tuesday hefore Easter. Christ refusing the Wine ami Myrrli . . . . . . . . . . -71 Wednesday hefore Easter. Christ in the Garden . . .73 Thursday hefore Easter. The I'ision of the Latter D,ivs . 75 Good Friday ........ . 77 Easter Even .......... 79 Easter 1 >ay ........... 82 Monday in Easter Week. S. Peter and Cornelius . . 84 Tuesday in Easter Week. The Snow-drop . . . .86 The First Sunday after Easter. The Restless Pastor reproved 88 CONTENTS. PAGE The Second Sunday after Kaster. Balaam . . . .go The Third Sunday after Easter. Languor and Travail . 93 The Fourth Sunday after Easter. The Dove on the Cross . 95 The Fifth Sunday after Easter. The Priest's Intercessor . y8 The Ascension Day ......... 100 The Sunday after Ascension Day. Seed-time .... 102 Whitsunday 105 Monday in Whitsun-week. The City of Con fusion . . 106 Tuesday in Whitsun-week. Holy Orders .... 109 Trinity Sunday 112 The First Sunday after Trinity. Israel among the Ruins of Canaan . . . . . . . . . .114 The Second Sunday after Trinity. Charity the Life of Faith 116 The Third Sunday after Trinity. Comfort for Sinners hi the presence of the Good . . . . . . .118 The Fourth Sunday after Trinity. The Groans of Nature . 120 The Fifth Sunday after Trinity. The Fishermen of Betli- saida ........... 123 The Sixth Sunday after Trinity. The Psalmist repenting . 125 The Seventh Sunday after Trinity. The Feast in the Wilderness .......... 127 The Eighth Sunday after Trinity. The Disobedient Trophet 129 The Ninth Sunday after Trinity. Elijah in Horeb . . 131 The Tenth Sunday after Trinity. Christ weeping over Je- rusalem .......... 133 The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. Gehazi reproved . 135 The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. The Deaf and Dumb . 137 The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. Moses on the Mount 139 The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. The Ten Lepers . 142 The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. The Flowers of the Field . . . . . . . . . . '44 The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Hope is better than Ease . . . . . . . . . . .146 The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. Ezekiefs I'isinn in the Temple 147 The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. The Churih in the Wilderness . . . . . . . . . .150 The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. Shadrach, Aleshach, and Abednego . . . . . . . . . 153 The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity. Mountain Scenery . 155 The Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity. The Redbreast in September . . . . . . . . . -157 The Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity. The Rule oj Christian Forgiveness ....... 159 The Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity. Forest Leaves in Autumn .......... 1^0 The Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity. Imperfection of Human Sympathy . ...... 1^2 The Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity. The two Rainbows 105 The Sunday next before Advent. Self-examination before Advent .......... if>j S. Andrew's Day .......... 170 CONTENTS. I'AGR S. Thomas the Apostle 171 The Conversion of S. Paul . . . . . . . '74 The Purification of S. Mary the Virgin 177 S. Matthias' Day 180 The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary . . . 182 S. Mark's Day 18} S. Philip and S. James's Day . . 185 S. Barnabas the Apostle 187 S. John Baptist's Day ........ 190 S. Peter's Day 19; S. James the Apostle ......... 195 S. Bartholomew the Apostle ....... 197 S. Matthew the Apostle ........ 199 S. Michael and All Angels ........ 202 S. Luke the Evangelist 204 S. Simon and S. Jude, Apostles ....... 208 All Saints' Day 210 Holy Communion 212 Holy Baptism .......... 214 The Catechism .......... 216 Confirmation .......... 217 Matrimony . .......... 219 The Visitation and Communion of the Sick .... 221 The Burial of the Dead 223 The Churching of Women ....... 225 Commination 226 Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea ...... 228 The Accession .......... 239 Ordination ........... 231 Index ............ 235 The Forms of Prayer for Gunpowder Treason, King Charles /., and the Restoration of King Charles //., being noiv omitted front the Book of Common Prayer, the Poems for those days are not printed in this Edition. THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. His compassions fail not. 77iey are new every morn" ing. LAMENTATIONS iii. 22, 23. Hues of the rich unfolding morn, That, ere the glorious sun be born, By some soft touch invisible Around his path are taught to swell ; Thou rustling breeze so fresh and gay, That dancest forth at opening day, And brushing by with joyous wing, Wakenest each little leaf to sing ; Ye fragrant clouds of dewy steam, By which deep grove and tangk-d stream Pay, for soft rains in season given, Their tribute to the genial heaven ; Why waste your treasures of delight Upon our thankless, joyless sight ; Who day by day to sin awake, Seldom of Heaven and you partake ? Oh, timely happy, timely wise, Hearts that with rising morn arise ! Eyes that the beam celestial view, Which evermore makes all things new!* * Revelation xxi. 5. MORNING. New every morning is the love Our wakening and uprising prove ; Through sleep and darkness safely brought, Restored to life, and power, and thought. New mercies, each returning day, Hover around us while we pray ; New perils past, new sins forgiven, New thoughts of God, new hopes of Heaven If on our daily course our mind Be set to hallow all we find, New treasures still, of countless price, God will provide for sacrifice. Old friends, old scenes, will lovelier be, As more of Heaven in each we see : Some softening gleam of love and prayer Shall dawn on every cross and care. As for some dear familiar strain Untired we ask, and ask again, Ever, in its melodious store, Finding a spell unheard before ; Such is the bliss of souls serene, When they have sworn, and steadfast mean Counting the cost, in all t'espy Their God, in all themselves deny. O could we learn that sacrifice, What lights would all around us rise ! How would our hearts with wisdom talk Along life's dullest, dreariest walk ! We need not bid, for cloistered cell, Our neighbour and our work farewell, Nor strive to wind ourselves too high For sinful man beneath the sky : EVENING. The trivial round, the common task, Would furnish all we ought to ask; Room to deny ourselves ; a road To bring us daily nearer God. Seek we no more ; content with these, Let present rapture, comfort, ease, As Heaven shall bid them, come and go The secret this of rest below. Only, O Lord, in Thy dear love Fit us for perfect rest above ; And help us, this and every day, To live more nearly as we pray. Abide with us : for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. S. LUKE xxiv. 29. 'Tis gone, that bright and orbed blaze, Fast fading from our wistful gaze ; Yon mantling cloud has hid from sight The last faint pulse of quivering light. In darkness and in weariness The traveller on his way must press, No gleam to watch on tree or tower, Whiling away the lonesome hour. Sun of my soul ! Thou Saviour dear, It is not night if Thou be near : Oh, may no earth-born cloud arise To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes ! EVENING. When round Thy wondrous works My searching rapturous glance I throw, Tracing out Wisdom, Power, and Love, In earth or sky, in stream or grove ; Or by the light Thy words disclose Watch Time's full river as it flows, Scanning Thy gracious Providence, Where not too deep for mortal sense : When with dear friends sweet talk I h J, And all the flowers of life unfold ; Let not my heart within me burn, Except in all I Thee discern. When the soft dews of kindly sleep My wearied eyelids gently steep, Be my last thought, how sweet to rest For ever on my Saviour's Breast. Abide with me from morn till eve, For without Thee I cannot live : Abide with me when night is nigh, For without Thee I dare not die. Thou Framer of the light and dark, Steer through the tempest Thine own ark Amid the howling wintry sea We are in port if we have Thee. * The Rulers of this Christian land, 'Twixt Thee and us ordained to stand, Guide Thou their course, O Lord, aright, Let all do all as in Thy sight. * Then they willingly received him into the ship : and imme- diately the ship was at the land whither they went. S. John vi. y.i. THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. Oh, by Thine own sad burthen, borne So meekly up the hill of scorn, Teach Thou Thy Priests their daily cross To bear as Thine, nor count it loss ! If some poor wandering child of Thine Have spurned, to-day, the voice divine, Now, Lord, the gracious work begin ; Let him no more lie down in sin. Watch by the sick : enrich the poor With blessings from Thy boundless store ; Be every mourner's sleep to-night Like infants' slumbers, pure and light. Comt near and bless us when we wake, Ere through the world our way we take : Till in the ocean of Thy love We lose ourselves in Heaven above. fflje ffitat Sun&an in Now it is high time to awake out of sleep : for now is our Salvation nearer than when we believed. ROMANS xiii. n. Awake ! again the Gospel-trump is blown, From year to year it swells with louder tone, From year to year the signs of wrath Are gathering round the Judge's path, Strange words fulfilled, and mighty works achieved, And truth in all the world both hated and believed. Awake ! why linger in the gorgeous town, Sworn liegemen of the Cross and thorny crown ? Up from your beds of sloth for shame, Speed to the eastern mount like flame, Nor wonder, should ye find your King in tears, Even with the loud Hosanna ringing in His ears. 6 THE FIRST SUNDA Y IN ADVENT. Alas ! no need to rouse them : long ago They are gone forth to swell Messiah's show : With glittering robes and garlands sweet They strew the ground beneath His feet : All but your hearts are there O doom'd to prove The arrows winged in Heaven for Faith that will not love ! Meanwhile He paces through the adoring crowd, Calm as the march of some majestic cloud That o'er wild scenes of ocean war I lolcls its still course in Heaven afar : Even so, heart-searching Lord, as years roll on, Thou keepest silent watch from Thy triumphal throne : Even so, the world is thronging round to gaze On the dread vision of the latter days, Constrained to own Thee, but in heart Prepared to take Barabbas' part : " Hosanna " now, to-morrow " Crucify," The changeful burden still of their rude, lawless cry. Yet in that throng of selfish hearts untrue Thy sad eye rests upon Thy faithful few ; Children and child-like souls are there, Blind Bartimeus' humble prayer, And Lazarus wakened from his four days' sleep Enduring life again, that Passover to keep. And fast beside the olive-bordered way Stands the blest home where Jesus deigned to stay, The peaceful home, to Zeal sincere And heavenly Contemplation clear, Where Martha loved to wait with reverence meet, And wiser Mary lingered at Thy sacred feet. THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. f Still through decaying ages as they glide, Thou lovest Thy chosen remnant to divide ; Sprinkled along the waste of years Full many a soft green isle appears : Pause where we may upon the desert road, Some shelter is in sight, some sacred safe abode. When withering blasts of error swept the sky, * And love's last flower seemed fain to droop and die, How sweet, how lone the ray benign On sheltered nooks of Palestine ! Then to his early home did Love repair, t And cheered his sickening heart with his own na- tive air. Years roll away ! again the tide of crime Has swept Thy footsteps from the favoured clime, Where shall the holy Cross find rest ? On a crowned monarch's mailed breast :J Like some bright angel o'er the darkling scene, Through court and camp he holds his heavenwaid course serene. A fouler vision yet ; an age of light, Light without love, glares on the aching sight : O who can tell how calm and sweet, Meek Walton ! shews thy green retreat, When wearied with the tale thy times disclose, The eye first finds thee out in thy secure repose ? Thus bad and good their several warnings give Of His approach, whom none may see and live : Faith's ear, with awful still delight, Counts them like minute-bells at night, Keeping the heart awake till dawn of morn, While to her funeral pile this aged world is borne. * Arianism in the fourth century. t See S. Jerome's Works, i. 123, edit. Erasm. S. l.ouis in the thirteenth century. 8 THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. But what are Heaven's alarms to hearts that cower In wilful slumber, deepening every hour, That draw their curtains closer round, The nearer swells the trumpet's sound ! Lord, ere our trembling lamps sink down and die, Touch us with chastening hand, and make us feel Thee nigh. 2Tf)e SeconO Sunttaj in And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh. S. LUKE xxi. 28. Not till the freezing blast is still, Till freely leaps the sparkling rill, And gales sweep soft from summer skies, As o'er a sleeping infant's eyes A mother's kiss ; ere calls like these, No sunny gleam awakes the trees, Nor dare the tender flowerets show Their bosoms to the uncertain glow. Why then, in sad and wintry time, Her heavens all dark with doubt and crime, Why lifts the Church her drooping head, As though her evil hour were fled ? Is she less wise than leaves of spring, Or birds that cower with folded wing? What sees she in this lowering sky To tempt her meditative eye ? She has a charm, a word of fire, A pledge of love that cannot tire; By tempests, earthquakes, and by wars, By rushing waves and falling stars, THE SECOND SUNDAY JN ADVENT. By every sign her Lord foretold, She sees the world is waxing old,* And through that last and direst storm Descries by faith her Saviour's form. Not surer does each tender gem, Set in the fig-tree's polished stem, Foreshew the summer season bland, Than these dread signs Thy mighty hand : But oh ! frail hearts, and spirits dark ! The season's flight unwarn'd we mark, But miss the Judge behind the door.f For all the light of sacred lore : Yet is He there : beneath our eaves Each sound His wakeful ear receives : Hush, idle words, and thoughts of ill, Your Lord is listening : peace, be still.f Christ watches by a Christian's hearth, Be silent, " vain deluding mirth," Till in thine altered voice be known Somewhat of Resignation's tone. But chiefly ye should lift your gaze Above the world's uncertain haze, And look with calm, unwavering eye On the bright fields beyond the sky, Ye who your Lord's commission bear, His way of mercy to prepare : Angels He calls ye : be your strife To lead on earth an Angel's life. * The world hath lost his youth, and the times begin to wax old. 2 Ksdras xiv. 10. 1 See S. James v. Q. :J lia fabulaiHur, ut qui sciant Doniinum audire. Tertul. Apolog. l>. />, edit. Kigali. THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. Think not of rest ; though dreams be sweet, Start up, and ply your heavenward feet. Is not God's oath upon your head, Ne'er to sink back on slothful bed, Ne^er again your loins untie, Nor let your torches waste and die, Till, when the shadows thickest fall, Ye hear your Master's midnight call ? in What went ye out into the wilderness to see ? a reed shaken 7t'i[/i the wind ? But what went ye out for to see ? a prophet ? y ;, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. S. MATTHEW \i. 7, 9. What went ye out to see O'er the rude sandy lea, Where stately Jordan flows by many a palm, Or where Gennesaret's wave Delights the flowers to lave, That o'er her western slope breathe airs of balm ? All through the summer night Those blossoms red and bright* Spread their soft breasts, unheeding, to the breeze, Like hermits watching still Around the sacred hill, Where erst our Saviour watched upon His knees. The Paschal moon above Seems like a saint to rove, Left shining in the world with Christ alone; Below, the lake's still face Sleeps sweetly in the embrace Of mountains terraced high with mossy stone. * Oleanders : with which the western bank of the lake is said to be clothed down to the water's edge. THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. it Here may we sit, and dream Over the heavenly theme, Till to our soul the former days return; Till, on the grassy bed Where thousands once He fed, The world's incarnate Maker we discern. O cross no more the main, Wandering so wild and vain, To count the reeds that tremble in the wind, On listless dalliance bound, Like children gazing round, Who on God's works no seal of Godhead find : Bask not in courtly bower, Or sun-bright hall of power, Pass Babel quick, and seek the holy land ; From robes of Tyrian dye Turn with undazzled eye To Bethlehem's glade or Carmel's haunted strand. Or choose thee out a cell In Kedron's storied dell, Beside the springs of Love, that never die ; Among the olives kneel The chill night-blast to feel, And watch the Moon that saw thy Master's agony. Then rise at dawn of day, And wind thy thoughtful way Where rested once the Temple's stately shade, With due feet tracing round The city's northern bound, To the other holy garden, where the Lord was laid. Who thus alternate see His death and victory, Rising and falling as on angel wings, 12 THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. They, while they seem to roam, Draw daily nearer home, Their heart untravelled still adores the King of kings. Or, if at home they stay, Yet are they, day by day, In spirit journeying through the glorious land, Not for light Fancy's reed, Nor Honour's purple meed, Nor gifted Prophet's lore, nor Science' wondrous wand. But more than Prophet, more Than Angels can adore With face unveiled, is He they go to seek : Blessed be God, Whose grace Shews Him in every place To homeliest hearts of pilgrims pure and meek. STije Jfourti) Suntmj in The eyes of them tliat see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. ISAIAH xxxii. 3. Of the bright things in earth and air How little can the heart embrace ! Soft shades and gleaming lights are there I know it well, but cannot trace. Mine eye unworthy seems to read One page of Nature's beauteous book ; It lies before me, fair outspread ; I only cast a wishful look. THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. I cannot paint to Memory's eye The scene, the glance, I dearest love : Unchanged themselves, in me they die, Or faint or false their shadows prove In vain, with dull and tuneless ear, I linger by soft Music's cell, And in my heart of hearts would hear What to her own she deigns to tell. 'Tis misty all, both sight and sound I only know 'tis fair and sweet 'Tis wandering on enchanted ground With dizzy brow and tottering feet. But patience ! there may come a time When these dull ears shall scan aright Strains that outring Earth's drowsy chime, As Heaven outshines the. taper's light. These eyes that, dazzled now and weak, At glancing motes in sunshine wink, Shall see the King's * full glory break, Nor from the blissful vision shrink : In fearless love and hope uncloyed For ever on that ocean bright Empowered to gaze ; and undestroyed, Deeper and deeper plunge in light. Though scarcely now their laggard glance Reach to an arrow's flight, that day They shall behold, and not in trance, The region " very far away." * Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty : they shall behold the land that is very far off. Isaiah xxxiii. 17. 14 THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. If Memory sometimes at our spell Refuse to speak, or speak amiss. We shall not need her where we dwell Ever in sight of all our bliss. Meanwhile, if over sea or sky Some tender lights unnoticed fleet, Or on loved features dawn and die, Unread, to us, their lesson sweet ; Yet are there saddening sights around, Which Heaven, in mercy, spares us too And we see far in holy ground, If duly purged our mental view. The distant landscape draws not nigh For all our gazing ; but the soul That upward looks may still descry Nearer, each day, the brightening goal. And thou, too curious ear, that fain Wouldst thread the maze of Harmony, Content thee with one simple strain, The lowlier, sure, the worthier thee ; Till thou art duly trained, and taught The concord sweet of Love divine : Then, with that inward Music fraught, For ever rise and sing and shine. CHRISTMAS DA Y, 15 Tiny. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. S. LUKE ii. 13. What sudden blaze of song Spreads o'er the expanse of Heaven ? In waves of light it thrills along, The angelic signal given " Glory to God !" from yonder central fire Flows out the echoing lay beyond the starry choir ; Like circles widening round Upon a clear blue river, Orb after orb, the wondrous sound Is echoed on for ever : " Glory to God on high, on earth be peace, " And love towards men of love * salvation and release." Yet stay, before thou dare To join that festal throng ; Listen and mark what gentle air First stirred the tide of song ; 'Tis not, " the Saviour born in David's home, To whom for power and health obedient worlds should come : "- Tis not, " the Christ the Lord :" With fixed adoring look The choir of angels caught the word, Nor yet their silence broke : But when they heard the sign, where Christ should be, In sudden light they shone, and heavenly harmony. * I have ventured to adopt the reading of the Vulgate, as be- ing ge-nerally known through Pergolesi's beautiful composition, "Gloria in excelsis Deo, ct in terra pax hominibus bona; volun- tatis." 16 CHRISTMAS DAY. Wrapped in His swaddling bands, And in His manger laid, The Hope and Glory of all lands Is come to the world's aid : No peaceful home upon His cradle smiled, Guests rudely went and came where slept the royal Child. But where Thou dwellest, Lord, No other thought should be, Once duly welcomed and adored, How should I part with Thee ? Bethlehem must lose Thee soon, but Thou wilt grace The single heart to be Thy sure abiding-place. Thee on the bosom laid Of a pure virgin mind, In quiet ever, and in shade, Shepherd and sage may find ; They, who have bowed untaught to Nature's sway, And they, who follow Truth along her star-paved way. The pastoral spirits first Approach Thee, Babe divine, For they in lowly thoughts are nursed, Meet for Thy lowly shrine : Sooner than they should miss where Thou dost dwell, Angels from Heaven will stoop to guide them to Thy cell. Still, as the day comes round For Thee to be revealed, By wakeful shepherds Thou art found, Abiding in the field. All through the wintry heaven and chill night air, In music and in light Thou dawnest on their prayer. S. STEPHEN'S DA K. 17 O faint not ye for fear What though your wandering sheep, Reckless of what they see and hear, Lie lost in wilful sleep ? High Heaven in mercy to your sad annoy Still greets you with glad tidings of immortal joy. Think on the eternal home The Saviour left for you ; Think on the Lord most holy, come To dwell with hearts untrue : So shall ye tread untired His pastoral ways, And in the darkness sing your carol of high praise. c turneth it whithersoever he will. Proverbs xxi. i. THE HOLY INNOCENTS' DAY. Gales from Heaven, if so he will, Sweeter melodies can wake On the lonely mountain rill Than the meeting waters make. Who hath the Father and the Son, May be left, but not alone. Sick or healthful, slave or free, Wealthy, or despised and poor- What is that to him or thee, So his love to Christ endure ? When the shore is won at last, Who will count the billows past ? Only, since our souls will shrink At the touch of natural grief, When our earthly loved ones sink, Lend us, Lord, Thy sure relief ; Patient hearts, their pain to see, And Thy grace, to follow Thee. Innocents' U)a,B. These were redeemed from among men, being the firs fruits unto God and to the Lamb. REVELATION xiv. 4. Say, ye celestial guards, who wait In Bethlehem, round the Saviour's palace gate, Say, who are these on golden wings, That hover o'er the new-born King of kings, Their palms and garlands telling plain That they are of the glorious martyr train. Next to yourselves ordained to praise His Name, and brighten as on Him they gaze? THE HOLY INNOCENTS' DAY. 21 But where their spoils and trophies? where The glorious dint a martyr's shield should hear? How chance no check among them wears The deep-worn trace of penitential tears, But all is bright and smiling love, As if, fresh-borne from Eden's happy grove, They had flown here, their King to see, Nor ever had been heirs of dark mortality? Ask, and some angel will reply, " These, like yourselves, were born to sin and die, But ere the poison root was grown, God set His seal, and marked them for His own, Baptized in blood for Jesus' sake, Now underneath the Cross their bed they make, Not to be scared from that sure rest By frightened mother's shriek, or warrior's waving crest." Mindful of these, the first-fruits sweet Borne by the suffering Church her Lord to greet ; Blessed Jesus ever loved to trace The " innocent brightness " of an infant's face. He raised them in His holy arms, He blessed them from the world and all its harms : Heirs though they were of sin and shame, He blessed them in His own and in His Father's Name. Then, as each fond, unconscious child On the everlasting Parent sweetly smiled, (Like infants sporting on the shore, That tremble not at Ocean's boundless roar,) Were they not present to Thy Thought, All souls, that in their cradles Thou hast bought? But chiefly these, who died for Thee, That Thou might'st live for them a sadder death to aa FIRST SUN DA Y AFTER CHRISTMAS. And next to these, Thy gracious Word Was as a pledge of benediction, stored For Christian mothers, while they moan Their treasured hopes, just born, baptized, and gone. Oh joy for Rachel's broken heart ! She and her babes shall meet no more to part ; So dear to Christ her pious haste To trust them in His arms, for ever safe embraced. She dares not grudge to leave them there, Where to behold them was her heart's first prayer, She dares not grieve but she must weep, As her pale placid martyr sinks to sleep, Teaching so well and silently How, at the shepherd's call, the lamb should die ; How happier far than life the end Of souls that infant-like beneath their burthen bend. Eftc jfirst Sunfcan after (Elmstmas JBaj. So the sun returned ten degrees, by ivhich degrees it was gone doivn. ISAIAH xxxviii. 8. Cf. JOSHUA x. 13. 'Tis true ! of old the unchanging sun His daily course refused to run ; The pale moon hurrying to the west Paused at a mortal's call, to aid The avenging storm of war, that laid Seven guilty realms at once on earth's defiled breast But can it be, one suppliant tear Should stay the ever-moving sphere ? A sick man's lowly-breathed sigh, FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. 23 When from the world he turns away,* And hides his weary eyes to pray, Should change your mystic dance, ye wanderers of the sky ? We too, O Lord, would fain command, As then, Thy wonder-working hand, And backward force the waves of Time, That now so swift and silent bear Our restless bark from year to year ; Help us to pause and mourn to Thee our tale of crime. Bright hopes, that erst the bosom warmed, And vows, too pure to be performed, And prayers blown wide by gales of care : These, and such faint half-waking dreams, Like stormy lights on mountain streams, Wavering and broken all, athwart the conscience glare. How shall we escape the o'erwhelming Past ? Can spirits broken, joys o'ercast, And eyes that never more may smile : Can these the avenging bolt delay, Or win us back one little day The bitterness of death to soften and beguile ? Father and Lover of our souls ! Though darkly round Thine anger rolls, Thy sunshine smiles beneath the gloom, Thou seek'st to warn us, not confound, Thy showers would pierce the hardened ground, And win it to give out its brightness and perfume. * Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the [x>rd. Isaiah xxxviii. 2. 4 FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. Thou smilest on us in wrath, and we, Even in remorse, would smile on Thee : The tears that bathe our offered hearts, We would not have them stained and dim, But dropped from wings of Seraphim, All glowing' with the Light accepted Love imparts Time's waters will not ebb, nor stay, Power cannot change them, but Love may ; What cannot be, Love counts it done. Deep in the heart, her searching view Can read where Faith is fixed and true, Through shades of setting life can see Heaven's work begun. O Thou, Who keep'st the Key of Love, Open Thy fount, eternal Dove, And overflow this heart of mine, Enlarging as it fills with Thee, Till in one blaze of Charity Care and remorse are lost, like motes, in Light divine ; Till, as each moment wafts us higher, By every gush of pure desire, And high-breathed hope of joys above ; By every sacred sigh we heave, Whole years of folly we outlive, In His unerring sight, who measures Life by Love. THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST, 45 JJTJie