The sacred pages of God's own book Oh fair! oh purest! be like the dove. No. II. ANGEL OF CHARITY. ANGEL of Charity, who from above And pity's soul is in thy tear! Thine was the holiest offering there! Hope and her sister, Faith, were given But as our guides to yonder sky; Soon as they reach the verge of heaven, Lost in that blaze of bliss, they die.2 1 In St. Augustine's treatise upon the advantages of a solitary life, addressed to his sister, there is the following fanciful passage, from which the thought of this song was taken Te, soror, nunquam nolo esse securam, sed tiad mere, semperque tuam fragilitatem habere suspectam, instar pavidæ columbæ frequentare rivos aquarum et quasi in speculo accipitris cernere supervolantis effigiem et cavere. Rivi aquarum sententiæ sunt scripturarum, quæ de limpidissimo sapientia fonte profluentes," etc. etc.-De Vit. Eremit. ad Sororem. 2 "Then Faith shall fail, and holy Hope shall die, One lost in certainty, and one in joy."- Prior. BEHOLD THE SUN. Air-LORD MORNINGTON. BEHOLD the sun, how bright From yonder east he springs, As if the soul of life and light Were breathing from his wings. So bright the gospel broke Upon the souls of men; So fresh the dreaming world awoke In truth's full radiance then! Before yon sun arose, Stars cluster'd through the skyBut oh how dim, how pale were those, To his one burning eye! So truth lent many a ray, To bless the Pagan's night But, Lord, how weak, how cold were they To thy one glorious light! LORD, WHO SHALL BEAR THAT DAY. LORD, who shall bear that day, so dread, so splendia, And hear him swear by thee that time's no more?" When thro' the world thy awful call hath sounded"Wake, oh ye dead, to judgment wake, ye dead!"" And from the clouds, by seraph eyes surrounded, The Saviour shall put forth his radiant head; While earth and heaven before him pass awayWho, mighty God, oh who shall bear that day? When, with a glance, the eternal Judge shall sever Earth's evil spirits from the pure and bright, And say to those, "Depart from me for ever!" To these, "Come, dwell with me in endless light!" 1 "And the Angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, that there should be time no longer."--Rev. x. 5, 6. 2 "Awake, ye dead, and come to judgment." 3 "They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, and all the angels with him."-Matt. xxiv. 30, and xxv. 31. 4 "From his face the earth and the heaven fled away." -Rev. xx. 11. 5" And before him shall be gathered all nations, and Ho shall separate them one from another. "Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, etc. "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, etc. "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal."-Matt. xxv. 32, et seq. When each and all in silence take their wayWho, mighty God, oh who shall bear that day? OH! TEACH ME TO LOVE THEE. OH! teach me to love thee, to feel what thou art, Like some pure temple that shines apart, Reserved for thy worship alone! In joy and in sorrow, through praise and through blame, Oh still let me, living and dying the same, In thy service bloom and decay Like some lone altar, whose votive flame Though born in this desert, and doom'd by my birth, Like some rude dial, that, fix'd on earth, Still looks for its light from the sky! WEEP, CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. WEEP, weep for him, the man of God-' But none of earth can point the sod2 His doctrines fell like heaven's rain,' Oh, ne'er shall Israel see again A chief to God and her so true. Remember ye his parting gaze, His farewell song by Jordan's tide, When, full of glory and of days, He saw the promised land-and died!4 Weep, children of Israel, weep! Yet died he not as men who sink, Before our eyes, to soulless clay; Of summer lightning, pass'd away! 1 "And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab."-Deut. xxxiv. 8. 2 "And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day."-Ibid. ver. 6. 3 "My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew."-Moses' Song. 4 "I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither."-Ver. 5. 5 "As he was going to embrace Eleazer and Joshua, and was still discoursing with them, a cloud stood over him on the sudden, and he disappeared in a certain valley, although he wrote in the Holy Books, that he died, which was done out of fear, lest they should venture to say that, because of his extraordinary virtue, he went to God."-Josephus, Book iv. chap. viii LIKE MORNING, WHEN HER EARLY BREEZE. Air-BEETHOVEN. LIKE morning, when her early breeze Breaks up the surface of the seas, That, in their furrows, dark with night, Thy grace can send its breathings o'er Till David touch'd his sacred lyre, So sleeps the soul, till thou, O Lord, COME, YE DISCONSOLATE. Air-German. COME, ye disconsolate, where'er you languish, Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. Joy of the desolate, light of the straying, Hope, when all others die, fadeless and pure, Here speaks the Comforter, in God's name saying"Earth has no sorrows that Heaven cannot cure." Go, ask the infidel, what boon he brings us, AWAKE, ARISE, THY LIGHT IS COME Air-STEVENSON. AWAKE, arise, thy light is come;' The nations, that before outshone thee, Arise-the Gentiles, to thy ray, From every nook of earth shall cluster; And kings and princes haste to pay Their homage to thy rising lustre." Lift up thine eyes around, and see, O'er foreign fields, o'er farthest waters, Thy exiled sons return to thee, To thee return thy home-sick daughters.3 1 "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."--Isaiah Ix. 2" And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."-Isaiah Ix. 3 "Lift up thine eyes round about and see; all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side."— f And camels rich, from Midian's tents, To fill thy air, and sparkle o'er thee.' See who are these that, like a cloud,2 Are gathering from all earth's dominions, Like doves, long absent, when allow'd Homeward to shoot their trembling pinions. Surely the isles shall wait for me,3 The ships of Tarshish round will hover, To bring thy sons across the sea, And waft their gold and silver over. And Lebanon, thy pomp shall grace—1 The fir, the pine, the palm victorious Shall beautify our Holy Place, And make the ground I tread on glorious. No more shall discord haunt thy ways,' Nor ruin waste thy cheerless nation; But thou shalt call thy portals, Praise, And thou shalt name thy walls, Salvation. The sun no more shall make thee bright, And flash eternal glory through thee. Thy sun shall never more go down; A ray, from heav'n itself descended, Shall light thy everlasting crown Thy days of mourning all are ended." My own, elect, and righteous Land! The Branch, for ever green and vernal, Which I have planted with this handLive thou shalt in Life Eternal.R THERE IS A BLEAK DESERT. THERE is a bleak Desert, where daylight grows weary Of wasting its smile on a region so dreary What may that Desert be? Tis Life, cheerless Life, where the few joys that come Are lost, like that daylight, for 't is not their home. 1 "The multitude of camels shall cover thee; the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense."-Isaiah lx. 2 "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?"-Ib. 3 "Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them."--Ib. 4 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee; the firtree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious."-Ib. 5 "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls, Salvation, and thy gates, Praise."-Ib. 6 Thy sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory."-Ib. 7 Thy sun shall no more go down; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended."-Ib. 8 "Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands."-Ib. SINCE FIRST THY WORD. Like him, whose fetters dropp'd away Return to bondage ?—never! Thee, oh God, and only Thee HARK! "T IS THE BREEZE. HARK! 't is the breeze of twilight calling Numberless stars, through yonder dark, Shall look, like eyes of cherubs shining From out the veils that hid the Ark! Guard us, oh Thou, who never sleepest, Thou who, in silence throned above, Throughout all time, unwearied, keepest Thy watch of Glory, Power, and Love. 1 In singing, the following line had better be adopted— "Can but by the gifted of heaven be found." 2 "And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison, and his chains fell off from his hands."-Acts xii. 7." Grant that, beneath thine eye, securely Our souls, awhile from life withdrawn, May, in their darkness, stilly, purely, Like "sealed fountains," rest till dawn. WHERE IS YOUR DWELLING, YE SAINTED? Air-HASSE. WHERE is your dwelling, ye sainted? Through what Elysium more bright Than fancy or hope ever painted, Walk ye in glory and light? Who the same kingdom inherits? Breathes there a soul that may dare Look to that world of spirits? Or hope to dwell with you there? Sages who, ev'n in exploring Nature through all her bright ways, Went, like the seraphs, adoring, And veil'd your eyes in the blazeMartyrs, who left for our reaping Truths you had sown in your bloodSinners, whom long years of weeping Chasten'd from evil to good Maidens who, like the young Crescent, HOW LIGHTLY MOUNTS THE MUSE'S WING. Air-ANONYMOUS. How lightly mounts the Muse's wing, Though Love his wreathed lyre may tune, Round which Devotion ties Though War's high-sounding harp may be Are bathed, all o'er, with tears. How far more sweet their numbers run Who hymn, like saints above, No victor, but the Eternal One, GO FORTH TO THE MOUNT. Go forth to the Mount-bring the olive-branch home,1 In the presence of God's mighty Champion, grow pale Oh never had Judah an hour of such mirth! Go forth to the Mount-bring the olive-branch home, And rejoice, for the day of our Freedom is come! Bring myrtle and palm-bring the boughs of each tree That is worthy to wave o'er the tents of the Free.* From that day, when the footsteps of Israel shone, With a light not their own, through the Jordan's deep tide, Whose waters shrunk back as the Ark glided on- IS IT NOT SWEET TO THINK, HERE- Is it not sweet to think, hereafter, To those she long hath mourn'd for here? Shall meet us and be lost no more. When wearily we wander, asking Of earth and heaven, where are they, Shall friendship-love-shall all those ties To keep our hearts from wrong and stain, 1 "And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount and fetch olive-branches," etc. etc.-Neh. viii. 15. 2" For since the days of Joshua the son of Nun, unto that day, had not the children of Israel done so: and there was very great gladness."--Ib. 17. 3 "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon."-Josh. x. 12. 4 "Fetch olive-branches and pine-branches, and myrtlebranches, and palm-branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths."--Neh. viii. 15. 5 "And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground."—Josh iii 17. |