The Sabbath, Sabbath Walks, and Other Poems

BIBLICAL PICTURES.

THE FIRST SABBATH.

And with the forming mass floated along!
In rapid course,2 through yet untravell❜d space,
Beholding God's stupendous power-a world
Bursting from Chaos at the omnific will,
And perfect ere the sixth day's evening star
On Paradise arose.3 Blessed that eve!
The Sabbath's harbinger, when, all complete,
In freshest beauty from Jehovah's hand,
Creation bloom'd; when Eden's twilight face
Smiled like a sleeping babe; the voice divine
A holy calm breathed o'er the goodly work;
Mildly the sun, upon the loftiest trees,
Shed mellowly a sloping beam. Peace reign'd,
And love, and gratitude: the human pair
Their orisons pour'd forth love, concord, reign'd:
The falcon, perched upon the blooming bough
With Philomela, listened to her lay;
Among the antler'd herd the tiger couch'd
Harmless; the lion's mane no terror spread
Among the careless ruminating flock.
Silence was o'er the deep; the noiseless surge,
Which raged, when ocean, at the mute command,
The last subsiding wave of that dread tumult
Rushed furiously into his new-cleft bed,
and in the extent of space through which that power is exerted, While, on the swell, the sea-bird, with her head
Was gently rippling on the pebbled shore ;

Six days the heavenly host, in circle vast,
Like that untouching cincture which enzones
The globe of Saturn, compassed wide this orb,

"It is difficult," says Dr Paley, "to bring the imagination to conceive (what yet, to judge tolerably of the matter, it is necessary to conceive) how loose, if we may so express it, the heavenly bodies are. Enormous globes, held by nothing, confined by nothing, are turned into free and boundless space, each to seek its course by the virtue of an invisible principle; but a principle, one, common, and the same in all, and ascertainable. To preserve such bodies from being lost, from running together in heaps, from hindering and distracting one another's motions, in a degree inconsistent with any continuing orderthat is, to cause them to form planetary systems, systems that when formed can be upheld, and, most especially, systems accommodated to the organised and sensitive natures which the

planets sustain, as we know to be the case, where alone we can

know what the case is, upon our earth: all this requires an intelligent interposition, because it can be demonstrated concerning it, that it requires an adjustment of force, distance, direction, and

velocity, out of the reach of chance to have produced; an adjust

ment, in its view to utility, similar to that which we see in ten thousand subjects of nature which are nearer to us; but in power,

stupendous."-Natural Theology, chap. xxii.

"Saturn, when viewed through a good telescope, makes a more remarkable appearance than any of the other planets. Galileo

first discovered his uncommon shape, which he thought to be like two small globes, one on each side of a large one; and he published his discovery in a Latin sentence, the meaning of which was, that he had seen him appear with three bodies, though, in order to keep the discovery a secret, the letters were transposed. Having viewed him for two years, he was surprised to see him become quite round without these appendages, and then, after some time, to assume them as before. These adjoining globes were what are now called the anse of his ring, the true shape of which was first discovered by Huygens, about forty years after Galileo, first with a telescope of twelve feet, and then with one of twenty-three feet, which magnified objects a hundred times. From the discoveries made by him and other astronomers, it appears that this planet is surrounded by a broad thin ring, the edge of which reflects little or none of the sun's light to us, but the planes of the ring reflect

the light in the same manner that the planet itself does; and if we

suppose the diameter of Saturn to be divided into three equal parts,

the diameter of the ring is about seven of these parts. The ring is detached from the body of Saturn, in such a manner that the distance between the innermost part of the ring and the body is equal to its breadth. Both the outward and inward rim is projected into an ellipsis, more or less oblong, according to the different degrees of obliquity with which it is viewed. Sometimes our eye is in the plane of the ring, and then it becomes invisible; either because the outward edge is not fitted to reflect the sun's light, or more probably because it is too thin to be seen at such a distance. As the plane of this ring keeps always parallel to itself, that is, its situation in one part of the orbit is always parallel to that in any other part, it disappears twice in every revolution of the planet, that is, about once in fifteen years; and he sometimes appears quite round for nine months together. At other times, the distance betwixt the body of the planet and the ring is very perceptible; insomuch, that Mr Whiston tells us of Dr Clarke's father having seen a star through the opening, and supposed him to have been the only person who ever saw a sight so rare; as the opening, though certainly very large, appears very small to us. When Saturn appears round, if our eye be in the plane of the ring, it will appear as a dark line across the middle of the planet's disc; and if our eye be elevated above the plane of the ring, a shadowy belt will be visible, caused by the shadow of the ring, as well as by the interposition of part of it betwixt the eye and the planet. The shadow of the ring is broadest when the sun is most elevated, but its obscure parts appear broadest when our eye is most elevated above the plane of it. When it appears double, the ring next the body of the planet

Wing-veiled slept tranquilly. The host of heaven,
Entranced in new delight, speechless adored,
Nor stopped their fleet career, nor changed their form
Encircular, till on that hemisphere
In which the blissful garden sweet exhaled
Its incense, odorous clouds, the Sabbath dawn
Arose; then wide the flying circle oped,
And soared, in semblance of a mighty rainbow:
Silent ascend the choirs of Seraphim;
No harp resounds, mute is each voice; the burst
Of joy, and praise, reluctant they repress-
For love and concord all things so attuned
To harmony, that earth must have received
The grand vibration, and to the centre shook:
But soon as to the starry altitudes
They reached, then what a storm of sound, tremendous,
Swelled through the realms of space! The morning stars
Shouted for joy! Loud was the peal; so loud,
Together sang, and all the sons of God
As would have quite o'erwhelmed the human sense;

appears brightest; when the ring appears of an elliptical form,
the parts about the ends of the largest axis are called tho ansa,
as has been already mentioned."-Encyclopædia Britannica.
1 May we not suppose, that the mass of the earth, while yet
forming, received its progressive and rotatory motions?

2" In astronomy, the great thing is, to raise the imagination to the subject, and that oftentimes in opposition to the impres sion made upon the senses. An illusion, for example, must be got over, arising from the distance at which we view the heavenly bodies, namely, the apparent slowness of their motions. The moon shall take some hours in getting half a yard from a star which it touched. A motion so deliberate we may think easily guided. But what is the fact? The moon, in fact, is all this while driving through the heavens at the rate of considerably more than two thousand miles in an hour; which is more than double of that with which a ball is shot off from the mouth of a cannon. Yet is this prodigious rapidity as much under government as if the planet proceeded ever so slowly, or were conducted in its course inch by inch."-PALEY'S Natural Theology, chap. xxii.

3" And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them."-GENESIS, i. 31. and ii. 1.

But to the earth it came a gentle strain,
Like softest fall breathed from Eolian lute,
When 'mid the chords the evening gale expires.
Day of the Lord! creation's hallow'd close!
Day of the Lord! (prophetical they sang)
Benignant mitigation of that doom,

Which must, ere long, consign the fallen race,
Dwellers in yonder star, to toil and woe!

THE FINDING OF MOSES.
Slow glides the Nile: amid the margin flags,
Closed in a bulrush ark, the babe is left,1
Left by a mother's hand. His sister waits
Far off and pale, 'tween hope and fear, beholds
The royal maid, surrounded by her train,3
Approach the river bank-approach the spot
Where sleeps the innocent: she sees them stoop
With meeting plumes; the rushy lid is oped,
And wakes the infant smiling in his tears 4-
As when along a little mountain lake,

The summer south-wind breathes with gentle sigh,
And parts the reeds, unveiling, as they bend,
A water-lily floating on the wave.

JACOB AND PHARAOH.

Pharaoh, upon a gorgeous throne of state
Was seated; while around him stood submiss
His servants, watchful of his lofty looks.
The Patriarch enters, leaning on the arm
Of Benjamin. Unmoved by all the glare
Of royalty, he scarcely throws a glance
Upon the pageant show; for from his youth
A shepherd's life he led, and viewed each night
The starry host, and still where'er he went
He felt himself in presence of the Lord.
His eye is bent on Joseph, him pursues.
Sudden the king descends; and, bending, kneels
Before the aged man, and supplicates
A blessing from his lips; the aged man
Lays on the ground his staff, and, stretching forth
His tremulous hand o'er Pharaoh's uncrown'd head,
Prays that the Lord would bless him and his land.

JEPHTHA'S VOWE

From conquest Jephtha came, with faltering step
And troubled eye: his home appears in view;
He trembles at the sight. Sad he forebodes
His vow will meet a victim in his child:
For well he knows, that, from her earliest years,
She still was first to meet his homeward steps:
Well he remembers, how, with tottering gait,
She and clasped his knees, and lisped, and looked
ran,
Her joy; and how when garlanding with flowers
His helm, fearful, her infant hand would shrink
Back from the lion couched beneath the crest.
What sound is that, which, from the palm-tree grove,
Floats now with choral swell, now fainter falls

!" And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink."-EXODUS, ii. 3.

2" And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him."-Ver. 4.

a" And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river, and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it."-Ver. 5.

"And when she had opened it, she saw the child; and behold the babe wept."-Ver. 6.

5"And Jephtha vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."-JUDGES, xi. 30, 31.

Upon the ear? It is, it is the song

He loved to hear-a song of thanks and praise,
Sung by the patriarch for his ransomed son.
Hope from the omen springs: oh, blessed hope!
It may not be her voice!-Fain would he think
'Twas not his daughter's voice, that still approach'd,
Blent with the timbrel's note. Forth from the grove
She foremost glides of all the minstrel band:1
Moveless he stands; then grasps his hilt, still red
With hostile gore, but, shuddering, quits the hold;
And clasps in agony his hands, and cries,
"Alas! my daughter, thou hast brought me low."2
The timbrel at her rooted feet resounds.

SAUL AND DAVID.

Deep was the furrow in the royal brow,
When David's hand,3 lightly as vernal gales
Rippling the brook of Kedron, skimmed the lyre:
He sang of Jacob's youngest born, the child
Of his old age, sold to the Ishmaelite;
His exaltation to the second power

In Pharaoh's realm; his brethren thither sent;
Suppliant they stood before his face, well known,
Unknowing-till Joseph fell upon the neck
Of Benjamin, his mother's son, and wept.
Unconsciously the warlike shepherd paused;
But when he saw, down the yet-quivering string,
The tear-drop trembling glide, abashed, he checked,
Indignant at himself, the bursting flood,
And, with a sweep impetuous, struck the chords:
From side to side his hands transversely glance,
Like lightning 'thwart a stormy sea; his voice
Arises 'mid the clang, and straightway calms
The harmonicus tempest, to a solemn swell
Majestical, triumphant; for he sings

Of Arad's mighty host by Israel's arm
Subdued; of Israel through the desert led,
He sings; of him who was their leader, called,
By God himself, from keeping Jethro's flock,
To be a ruler o'er the chosen race,

Kindles the eye of Saul; his arm is poised;
Harmless the javelin quivers in the wall.4

1" And Jephtha came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels, and with dances; and she was his only child: besides her he had neither son nor daughter."-Ver. 34.

2" And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back."-Ver. 35. 3" And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him."-1 SAMUEL, XVI. 23.

4" And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with the javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night."-1 SAMUEL, xix. 9, 10.

Cowley has some curious lines on this subject:

"In treacherous haste he's sent for to the king,
And with him bid his charmful lyre to bring.
The king, they saw, lies raging in a fit,
Which does no cure but sacred tunes admit;
And true it was soft music did appease

Th' obscure fantastic rage of Saul's disease."
After a dissertation on music, there follows the psalm which
David sang. The first stanza describes the passage through the
Red Sea. The second proceeds thus:-

Old Jordan's waters to their spring
Start back, with sudden fright;
The spring, amazed at sight,
Asked what news from sea they bring ?

The mountains shook; and, to the mountain's side,
The little hills leapt round, themselves to hide.

As young affrighted lambs,

When they aught dreadful spy,

ELIJAH FED BY RAVENS.

Sore was the famine throughout all the bounds
Of Israel, when Elijah, by command

Of God, journeyed to Cherith's failing brook.1
No rain-drop falls,2 no dew-fraught cloud, at morn
Or closing eve, creeps slowly up the vale;
The withering herbage dies; among the palms,
The shrivell'd leaves send to the summer gale
An autumn rustle; no sweet songster's lay
Is warbled from the branches; scarce is heard
The rill's faint brawl. The prophet looks around,
And trusts in God, and lays his silvered head
Upon the flowerless bank; serene he sleeps,
Nor wakes till dawning: then, with hands enclasp'd,
And heavenward face, and eyelids closed, he prays
To him who manna on the desert shower'd,
To him who from the rock made fountains gush:
Entranced the man of God remains; till roused
By sound of wheeling wings, with grateful heart,
He sees the ravens fearless by his side
Alight, and leave the heaven-provided food.

THE BIRTH OF JESUS ANNOUNCED. Deep was the midnight silence in the fields

Of Bethlehem; hushed the folds, save that at times
Was heard the lamb's faint bleat; the shepherds,
stretched

On the green sward, surveyed the starry vault:3
"The heavens declare the glory of the Lord,
The firmament shows forth thy handywork;"
Thus they, their hearts attuned to the Most High;
When suddenly, a splendid cloud appeared,
As if a portion of the Milky Way
Descended slowly in a spiral course.

Near and more near it draws; then hovering, floats,
High as the soar of eagle, shedding bright,
Upon the folded flocks, a heavenly radiance,4
From whence was uttered loud, yet sweet, a voice,
"Fear not, I bring good tidings of great joy;
For unto you is born this day a Saviour!
And this shall be a sign to you-the babe,
Laid lowly in a manger, ye shall find."
The angel spake; when lo! upon the cloud
A multitude of seraphim, enthroned,
Sang praises, saying, "Glory to the Lord

Run trembling to their helpless dams;
The mighty sea and river by,

Were glad, for their excuse, to see the hills to fly.

Thus sang the great musician to his lyre,
And Saul's black rage grew softly to retire;
But envy's serpent still with him remain'd,
And the wise charmer's healthful voice disdain'd.
Th' unthankful king, cured truly of his fit,
Seems to be drowned, and buried still in it.
From his past madness draws this wicked use,
To sin disguised and murder with excuse:
For whilst the fearless youth his cure pursues,
And the soft medicine, with art, renews,
The barbarous patient casts at him his spear,
(The usual sceptre that rough hand did bear,)
Casts it with violent strength; but, into th' room,
An arm more sure and strong than his was come-
An angel, whose unseen and easy might,
Put by the weapon, and misled it right."

On high; on earth be peace, good will to men."
With sweet response harmoniously they choir'd,
And while, with heavenly harmony, the song
Arose to God, more bright the buoyant throne
Illumed the land. The prowling lion stops,
Awe-struck, with mane uprear'd, and flatten'd head;
And, without turning, backward on his steps
Recoils, aghast, into the desert gloom.

A trembling joy the astonish'd shepherds prove,
As heavenward re-ascends the vocal blaze
Triumphantly; while, by degrees, the strain
Dies on the ear, that self-deluded listens,
As if a sound so sweet could never die.

BEHOLD MY MOTHER AND MY BRETHREN!
"Who is my mother or my brethren ?"

He spake, and looked on them who sat around,
With a meek smile of pity blent with love,
More melting than e'er gleamed from human face,
As when a sunbeam, through a summer shower,
Shines mildly on a little hill-side flock;
And with that look of love, he said, "Behold
My mother and my brethren: for I say,
That whosoe'er shall do the will of God,
He is my brother, sister, mother, all."

BARTIMEUS RESTORED TO SIGHT.
Blind, poor, and helpless, Bartimeus sate,2
Listening the foot of the wayfaring man,
Still hoping that the next, and still the next,
Would put an alms into his trembling hand.
He thinks he hears the coming breeze faint rustle
Among the sycamores; it is the tread
Of thousand steps; it is the hum of tongues
Innumerable: But when the sightless man
Heard that the Nazarene was passing by,
He cried, and said, "Jesus, thou son of David,3
Have mercy upon me!" and when rebuked,
He cried the more "Have mercy upon me!"
"Thy faith hath made thee whole;" so Jesus spake,
And straight the blind beheld the face of God.

LITTLE CHILDREN BROUGHT TO JESUS. "Suffer that little children come to me, Forbid them not."4 Embolden'd by his words,

1" And the multitude sat about him; and they said unto him, Behold thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren! for whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother."-MARK, iii. 32-35.

2" And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples, and a great number of people, blind Bartimeus, the son of Timeus, sat by the highway-side, begging."—MARK,

X. 46.

8" And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have merey on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered, and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesuз said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole, 2 "And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the because there had been no rain in the land."-Ver. 7.

COWLEY'S Davideis.

1 "So he went, and did according to the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan." -1 KINGS, Xxvii. 5.

"And there were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night."-LUKE, ii. 8. 4"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid."-Ver. 9.

5 "And, suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men."-Ver. 13, 14,

way."-Ver. 47-52.

4"And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them; and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them."-Ver. 13-16.

The mothers onward press; but, finding vain
The attempt to reach the Lord, they trust their babes
To strangers' hands: the innocents, alarmed
Amid the throng of faces all unknown,
Shrink, trembling, till their wandering eyes discern
The countenance of Jesus, beaming love
And pity; eager then they stretch their arms,
And, cowering, lay their heads upon his breast.

JESUS CALMS THE TEMPEST,

The roaring tumult of the billow'd sea
A wakes him not : high on the crested surge
Now heaved, his locks flow streaming in the blast;
And, now descending, 'tween the sheltering waves,
The falling tresses veil the face divine:
Meek through that veil a momentary gleam
Benignant shines; he dreams that he beholds
The opening eyes, that long hopeless had rolled
In darkness, look around bedimm'd with tears
Of joy; but suddenly, the voice of fear
Dispell'd the happy vision. Awful he rose,
Rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea,

THE DEATH OF JESUS.

""Tis finished!" he spake the words, and bowed
His head, and died. Beholding him far off,
They, who had ministered unto him,2 hope
'Tis his last agony-the Temple's vail
Is rent,3 revealing the most holy place,
Wherein the cherubim their wings extend,
O'ershadowing the mercy-seat of God.
Appall'd, the leaning soldier feels the spear
Shake in his grasp; the planted standard falls

"Peace, be thou still!" and straight there was a calm. Upon the heaving ground:4 the sun is dimmed,

With terror-mingled gladness in their looks, The mariners exclaim, "What man is this, That even the wind and sea obey his voice?"

JESUS WALKS ON THE SEA, AND CALMS
THE STORM.

Loud blew the storm of night; the thwarting surge
Dash'd, boiling, on the labouring bark; dismay
From face to face reflected, spread around-
When, lo! upon a towering wave is seen
The semblance of a foamy wreath upright,3
Move onward to the ship. The helmsman starts,
And quits his hold; the voyagers, appall'd,
Shrink from the fancied spirit of the flood;4
But when the voice of Jesus, with the storm
Soft mingled, "It is I, be not afraid,"
Fear fled, and joy lighten'd from eye to eye.
Up he ascends,5 and from the rolling side,
Surveys the tumult of the sea and sky
With transient look severe. The tempest, awed,
Sinks to a sudden calm; the clouds disperse;
The moonbeam trembles on the face divine,
Reflected mildly in the unruffled deep.

THE DUMB CURED.6

His eyes uplifted, and his hands close clasp'd,
The dumb man, with a supplicating look,

1 "And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship asleep on a pillow; and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?"-Chap. iv. 37, 38.

2 "And he arose, and rebuked the wind; and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm."-Ver. 39.

3" And he saw them toiling in rowing (for the wind was contrary unto them): and, about the fourth watch of the night, he cometh unto them walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them."-Chap. vi. 48.

4But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out (for they all saw him, and were troubled): and immediately he talked with them, and Baith unto them, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."-Ver. 49, 50.

5" And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered."-Ver. 51.

6 This miracle, the reality of which the Pharisees could not deny, (Matth. ix. 34) is one of a higher order than those which consisted in healing diseases. Dumbness implies, in general, not only a defect in the organs of speech, or of hearing, or of both, but ignorance of language. Here, then, was a miracle performed on the mind.

And darkness shrouds the body of the Lord.5

THE RESURRECTION.

The setting orb of night her level ray
Shed o'er the land, and on the dewy sward
The lengthen'd shadows of the triple cross
Were laid far stretch'd-when in the east arose,
Last of the stars, day's harbinger. No sound
Was heard, save of the watching soldier's foot :6
Within the rock-barr'd sepulchre,7 the gloom
Of deepest midnight brooded o'er the dead,
The holy one; but lo! a radiance faint
Began to dawn around his sacred brow:
The linen vesture seem'd a snowy wreath,
Drifted by storms into a mountain cave:
Bright, and more bright, the circling halo beam'd
Upon that face, clothed in a smile benign,
Though yet exanimate. Nor long the reign
Of death; the eyes that wept for human griefs,
Unclose, and look around with conscious joy:
Yes; with returning life, the first emotion
That glowed in Jesus' breast of love was joy
At man's redemption, now complete-at death
Disarmed-the grave transform'd into the couch
Of faith-the resurrection and the life.
Majestical he rose, trembled the earth,

The ponderous gate of stone was rolled away,8
The keepers fell, the angel, awe-struck, shrank

1 "He said, It is finished! and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost."-JOHN, xix. 30.

2 "And many women were there (beholding afar off) which followed Jesus from Galilee ministering unto him."-MATTHEW, xxvii. 55.

3" And, behold, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake."-Ver. 51.

4"Now when the centurion, and they that were with him watching Jesus, saw the earth quake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the son of God." -Ver. 54.

5"Now, from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour."-Ver. 45.

6" Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way; make it as sure as you can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure; scaling the stone, and setting a watch."-MATTHEW, Xxvii. 65, 66.

7" And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre that was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre."--MARK, XV. 46.

8" And, behold, there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it."-MATTHEW, XXViii. 2.

JESUS APPEARS TO THE DISCIPLES.

The evening of that day which saw the Lord
Rise from the chambers of the dead, was come,
His faithful followers, assembled, sang

A hymn, low-breathed a hymn of sorrow, blent
With hope when, in the midst, sudden he stood.
The awe-struck circle backward shrink-he looks
Around with a benignant smile of love,

And says,
"Peace be unto you!" Faith and joy
Spread o'er each face, amazed; as when the moon,
Pavilion'd in dark clouds, mildly comes forth,
Silvering a circlet in the fleecy rack.

PAUL ACCUSED BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL
OF THE AREOPAGUS.

Listen that voice! 2 upon the hill of Mars,
Rolling in bolder thunders than e'er pealed
From lips that shook the Macedonian throne;
Behold his dauntless outstretch'd arm, his face
Illumed of heaven: he knoweth not the fear
Of man, of principalities, of powers.
The Stoic's moveless frown, the vacant stare
Of Epicurus' herd, 3 the scowl and gnash malign
Of Superstition, stopping both her ears,
The Areopagite tribunal dread,

1 "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you!"-JOHN, XX. 19.

2Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars-hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious."-ACTS, xvii. 22.

3Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him; and some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods; because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest strange things unto our ears: we would know, therefore, what these things mean."—ACTS, xvii. 18-20.

From whence the doom of Socrates was utter'd;1
This hostile throng dismays him not, he seems
As if no worldly object could inspire

A terror in his soul; as if the vision,
Which, when he journeyed to Damascus, shone
From heaven, still swam before his eyes,
Out-dazzling all things earthly; as if the voice
That spake from out the effulgence, ever rang
Within his ear, inspiring him with words,
Burning, majestic, lofty, as his theme-
The resurrection, and the life to come.

PAUL ACCUSED BEFORE THE ROMAN
GOVERNOR OF JUDEA.

The judge ascended to the judgment-seat;2
Amid a gleam of spears the Apostle stood.
Dauntless, he forward came; and looked around,
And raised his voice, at first, in accents low,
Yet clear; a whisper spread among the throng:
So when the thunder mutters, still the breeze
Is heard at times to sigh-but when the peal,
Tremendous, louder rolls, a silence dead
Succeeds each pause-moveless the aspen leaf.
Thus fixed and motionless, the listening band
Of soldiers forward leaned, as from the man,
Inspired of God, truth's awful thunders roll'd.
No more he feels upon his high-raised arm,
The ponderous chain,3 than does the playful child
The bracelet, formed of many a flowery link
Heedless of self, forgetful that his life
Is now to be defended by his words,
He only thinks of doing good to them
Who seek his life; and, while he reasons high
Of justice, temperance, and the life to come,
The Judge shrinks trembling at the prisoner's voice.

1 The highest court of criminal jurisdiction in Athens. It was held on the hill of Mars. By its sentence Socrates was condemned to death, for attempting to substitute a pure and rational system of religion for the absurd and extravagant superstition which then prevailed.

2 This representation of Paul I have not founded on the circumstances of any one of his appearances before the Roman governors. I have alluded to facts, which happened at his apprehension, as well as at his arraignments before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa.

3" And Paul said, I would to God that not only thou, but all that hear me this day, were both, almost, and altogether, such as I am, except these bonds."-Acts, xxvi. 29.

4"And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judg ment to come, Felix trembled."—Acts, xxiv. 25.

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.

ON THE DEATH OF A SISTER.

Dear to my soul! ah, early lost!
Affection's arm was weak to save:

Now Friendship's pride, and Virtue's boast,
Have come to an untimely grave!*

Closed, ever closed, those speaking eyes,

Where sweetness beam'd, where candour shone; And silent that heart-thrilling voice,

Which music loved, and call'd her own. That gentle bosom now is cold,

Where feeling's vestal splendours glow'd; And crumbling down to common mould, That heart where love and truth abode.

Yet I behold the smile unfeign'd,

Which doubt dispell'd, and kindness won;
Yet the soft diffidence, that gain'd
The triumph it appear'd to shun.

*The poet's sister died at the age of twenty-four.

Delusion all-forbear, my heart;
These unavailing throbs restrain.
Destruction has perform'd his part,

And death proclaim'd-thy pangs are vain.

Vain though they be, this heart must swell With grief that time shall ne'er efface; And still with bitter pleasure dwell

On every virtue, every grace.

For ever lost-I vainly dream'd

That Heaven my early friend would spare; And, darker as the prospect seem'd, The more I struggled with despair.

I said yet a presaging tear

Unbidden rose, and spoke more true"She still shall live-th' unfolding year Shall banish care, and health renew.

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