i - f I I Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN m> AWH --.**, v N&Cutofig 1^7 %\)t Cimsttan Hear: THOUGHTS IN VERSE FOR THE SUNDAYS AND HOLYDAYS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. |n quietness anb in tonfibtntt sljall bt gour strtngl^." ISAIAH xxx. 15. Seventy-fourth Edition. xfortJ, AND 377, STRAND, LONDON : JOHN HENRY AND JAMES PARKER. M DCCC LXIII. PRINTED BY MESSRS. PARKER, CORNMARKET, OXFORD. Annex K ADVERTISEMENT. 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 un- bounded curiosity, when excitement 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 general, most decidedly against it The object of the present publication will be at- tained, if any person find assistance from it in bring- ing his own thoughts and feelings into more entire unison with those recommended and exemplified in the Prayer Book. The work does not furnish a com- IV ADVERTISEMENT. plete 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 Occasional Services : which constitute, from their personal 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 exhibit May 30, 1827. CONTENTS. MORNING i Evening ......... 5 Advent Sunday . . . . . . . 8 Second Sunday in Advent. The Signs of the Times . 12 Third Sunday in Advent. The Travellers . . 15 Fourth Sunday in Advent. Dimness . . . .19 Christmas Day . . . . . . . .23 St. Stephen's Day . . . . . . -27 St. John's Day . . . . . . . -3 The Holy Innocents ....... 32 First Sunday after Christmas. The Sun-dial of Ahaz . 35 The Circumcision ....... 39 Second Sunday after Christmas. The Pilgrim's Song . 43 The Epiphany ........ 46 First Sunday after Epiphany. The Nightingale . . 49 Second Sunday after Epiphany. The Secret of Per- petual Youth . . . . . . .52 Third Sunday after Epiphany. The Good Centurion . 56 Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. The World is for Excitement, the Gospel for Soothing . . .61 Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. Cure Sin and you cure Sorrow . . . . . . . .64 Sixth Sunday after Epiphany. The Benefits of Un- certainty ........ 68 Septuagesima Sunday . . . . . . -73 Sexagesima Sunday ....... 76 Qiiinquagesima Sunday ...... 80 Ash-Wednesday ....... 84 First Sunday in Lent. The 'City of Refuge . . 87 Second Sunday in Lent. Esau's Forfeit ... 90 VI CONTENTS. PAGE Third Sunday in Lent. The Spoils of Satan . . 94 Fourth Sunday in Lent. The Rosebud ... 97 Fifth Sunday in Lent. The Burning Bush . . . 101 Sunday next before Easter. The Children in the Temple 105 Monday before Easter. Christ 'waiting for the Cross . 108 Tuesday before Easter. Christ refusing the Vine and Myrrh . . . . . . . .112 Wednesday before Easter. Christ in the Garden . 115 Thursday before Easter. The Vision of the Latter Days 119 Good Friday . . .. . . .122 Easter Eve . . . . . . . .125 Easter Day . . . . . . . .129 Monday in Easter Week. St. Peter and Cornelius . 133 Tuesday in Easter Week. The Sno-iv-Drop . .136 First Sunday after Easter. The restless Pastor reproved 1 39 Second Sunday after Easter, Balaam . . .142 Third Sunday after Easter. Languor and Travail . 146 Fourth Sunday after Easter. The Do*ve on the Cross . 149 Fifth Sunday after Easter. The Pries fs Intercessor . 153 Ascension Day ........ 157 Sunday after Ascension Day. Seed-time . . .160 Whitsunday . . . . . . . .164 Monday in Whitsun-week. The City of Confusion . 167 Tuesday in Whitsun-week. Holy Orders . . .172 Trinity Sunday ........ 176 First Sunday after Trinity. Israel among the Ruins of Canaan . . . . . . . .180 Second Sunday after Trinity. Charity the Life of Faith 182 Third Sunday after Trinity. Comfort for Sinners in the presence of the Good . . . . . .186 Fourth Sunday after Trinity. The Groans of Nature . 1 89 Fifth Sunday after Trinity. The Fishermen of Bethsaida 194 Sixth Sunday after Trinity. The Psalmist repenting . 198 CONTENTS. Vll PAGE Seventh Sunday after Trinity. The Feast in the Wil- derness ........ 201 Eighth Sunday after Trinity. The Disobedient Prophet 204 Ninth Sunday after Trinity. Elijah in Horeb . . 207 Tenth Sunday after Trinity. Christ weeping over Jerusalem . . . . . . . .211 Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. Gehazi reproved . 213 Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. The Deaf and Dumb . 216 Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. Moses on the Mount . 220 Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. The Ten Lepers . 225 Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. The Floivers of the Field 228 Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Hope is better than Ease . . . . . . . . .231 Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. EzekieVs Vision in the Temple ........ 234 Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. The Church in the Wilderness . . . r . . . .238 Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ....... 243 Twentieth Sunday after Trinity. Mountain Scenery . 246 Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity. The Redbreast in September ........ 249 Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity. The Rule of Christian Forgiveness . . . . . .252 Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity. Forest Leaves in Autumn ........ 255 Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity. Imperfection of Human Sympathy . . . . . .258 Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity. The tvjo Rainbovjs 261 Sunday next before Advent. Self-examination before Advent ........ 264 St. Andrew's Day . .' 268 St. Thomas the Apostle 27 1 Vlll CONTENTS. Conversion of St. Paul Purification of St. Mary the Virgin St. Matthias' Day .... Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary St. Mark's Day St. Philip and St. James's Day St. Barnabas the Apostle St. John Baptist's Day St. Peter's Day St. James the Apostle St. Bartholomew the Apostle St. Matthew the Apostle . St. Michael and all Angels St. Luke the Evangelist St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles All Saints' Day . . . . Holy Communion .... Holy Baptism ..... Catechism ...... Confirmation ..... Matrimony ..... Visitation and Communion of the Sick Burial of the Dead .... Churching of Women Commination ..... Forms of Prayer to be Used at Sea Gunpowder Treason .... King Charles the Martyr . The Restoration of the Royal Family The Accession ..... Ordination ..... Index His compassions fail not They are new every morning. Lament, 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 tangled 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 ? Morning. Oh ! timely happy, timely wise, Hearts that with rising morn arise ! Eyes that the beam celestial view, Which evermore makes all things new* ! New every morning is the love Our wakening and uprising prove ; Through sleep and darkness safely brought, Restor'd 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. Revelation xxi. 5. Morning. As for some dear familiar strain Untir'd 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 stedfast 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 cloister'd cell, Our neighbour and our work farewell, Nor strive to wind ourselves too high For sinful man beneath the sky : 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. Morning. 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 sper.L St. L like 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. When round Thy wondrous works below My searching rapturous glance I throw, Tracing out Wisdom, Power, and Love, In earth or sky, in stream or grove ; Evening. 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 hold, 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 b . b Then they willingly received Him into the ship : and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went St. John vi. 21. Evening. The Rulers of this Christian land, 'Twixt Thee and us ordain'd to stand, Guide Thou their course, O Lord, aright, Let all do all as in Thy sight 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 spurn' d, 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. Come 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. Now it is high time to awake out of sleep : for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Romans xiii. 1 1. 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 achiev'd, And truth in all the world both hated and believ'd. 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, E'en with the loud Hosanna ringing in His ears. 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 wing'd in Heaven for Faith that will not love ! Advent Sunday. 9 Meanwhile He paces through th' adoring crowd, Calm as the march of some majestic cloud, That o'er wild scenes of ocean-war Holds its still course in Heaven afar : E'en so, heart-searching Lord, as years roll on, Thou keepest silent watch from Thy triumphal throne : E'en so, the world is thronging round to gaze On the dread vision of the latter days, Constrain'd to own Thee, but in heart Prepar'd 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 childlike souls are there, Blind Bartimeus' humble prayer, And Lazarus waken'd from his four days' sleep, Enduring life again, that Passover to keep. And fast beside the olive-border'd way Stands the bless'd home, where Jesus deign'd to stay, The peaceful home, to Zeal sincere And heavenly Contemplation dear, Where Martha lov'd to wait with reverence meet, And wiser Mary linger'd at Thy sacred feet. TO Advent Sunday. Still through decaying ages as they glide, Thou lov'st 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 c , And Love's last flower seem'd fain to droop and die, How sweet, how lone the ray benign On shelter'd nooks of Palestine ! Then to his early home did Love repair" 1 , And cheer'd his sickening heart with his own na- tive air. Years roll away : again the tide of crime Has swept Thy footsteps from the favour'd clime. Where shall the holy Cross find rest ? On a crown'd monarch's* mailed breast : Like some bright angel o'er the darkling scene, Through court and camp he holds his heavenward course serene. Arianism in the fourth century. See St. Jerome's Works, i. 123. edit. Erasm. St. Louis in the thirteenth century. Advent Sunday. n 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. 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 1 Lord, ere our trembling lamps sink down and die, Touch us with chastening hand, and make us feel Thee nigh. ttorib .xmbag w JiLbbetti. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up ; and lift up your heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh. St. 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 flow'rets show Their bosoms to th' 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 wingl What sees she in this lowering sky To tempt her meditative eye 1 Second Sunday in Advent. 13 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, By every sign her Lord foretold, She sees the world is waxing old f , 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 polish'd 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*, 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 h . 1 The world hath lost his youth, and the times begin to wax old. 2 E$.ira xiv. 10. f See St James v. 9, h Ita fabulantur, ut qui sciant Dominum audire. Tertult. Afolog., p. 36. edit. R'galt 14 Second Sunday in Advent. Christ watches by a Christian's hearth, Be silent, " vain deluding mirth," Till in thine alter'd 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. 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, Never again your loins untie, Nor let your torches waste and die, Till, when the shadows thickest fall, Ye hear your Master's midnight call ? j^unba m What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed shaken with the windT . . But what went ye out for to see? a prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet St. Matthew xi. 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 1 Spread their soft breasts, unheeding, to the breeze, Like hermits watching still Around the sacred hill, Where erst our Saviour watch'd upon His knees. The Paschal moon above Seems like a saint to rove, 1 Oleanders : with which the western bank of the lake is said to be clothed down to the water's edge. 1 6 Third Sunday in Advent. Left shining in the world with Christ alone ; Below, the lake's still face Sleeps sweetly in th' embrace Of mountains terrac'd high with mossy stone. 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. Third Sunday in Advent. 17 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 th' other holy garden, where the Lord was laid. Who thus alternate see His death and victory, Rising and falling as on angel wings, They, while they seem to roam, Draw daily nearer home, Their heart untravell'd 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, c 1 8 Third Sunday in Advent. 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 unveil'd, is He they go to seek : Blessed be God, Whose grace Shews Him in every place To homeliest hearts of pilgrims pure and meek. j^wtimg in The eyes of them that 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. 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. 20 Fomth Sunday in Advent. 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. "Pis misty all, both sight and sound I only know 'tis fair and sweet "Pis wandering on enchanted ground With dizzy brow and tottering feet. But patience ! there may come a tune 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 J full glory break, Nor from the blissful vision shrink : In fearless love and hope uncloy'd For ever on that ocean bright Empower'd to gaze ; and undestroy'd, Deeper and deeper plunge in light. J Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty ; they shall behold the land that is very far off. Isaiah xxxiii. 17. Foiirth Sunday in Advent. 21 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." 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 unnotic'd fleet, Or on lov'd 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. 22 Fourth Sunday in Ad-vent. 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 train'd, and taught The concord sweet of Love divine : Then, with that inward Music fraught, For ever rise, and sing, and shine. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. St. Luke ii. 13. WHAT sudden blaze of song Spreads o'er th' expanse of Heaven 1 In waves of light it thrills along, Th' angelic signal given " Glory to God !" from yonder central fire Flows out the echoing lay beyond the starry quire ; 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 k salvation and " release." 1 I have ventured to adopt the reading of the Vulgate, as being generally known through Pergolesi's beautiful composition, "Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax liominibus bonce voluntatis." 24 Christmas Day. Yet stay, before thou dare To join that festal throng ; Listen and mark what gentle air First stirfd 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 fix'd 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. Wrapp'd 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 smil'd, Guests rudely went and came, where slept the royal Child. Christmas Day. 25 But where Thou dwellest, Lord, No other thought should be, Once duly welcom'd and ador'd, 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 bow'd untaught to Nature's sway, And they, who follow Truth along her star-pav'd way. The pastoral spirits first Approach Thee, Babe divine, For they in lowly thoughts are nurs'd, 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 26 Christmas Day. Still, as the day comes round For Thee to be reveal'd, 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. O faint not ye for fear What though your wandering sheep, Reckless of what they see and hear, Lie lost in wilful sleep 1 High Heaven in mercy to your sad annoy Still greets you with glad tidings of immortal joy. Think on th' eternal home, The Saviour left for you ; Think on the Lord most holy, come To dwell with hearts untrue : So shall ye tread untied His pastoral ways, And in the darkness sing your carol of high praise. He, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God- Acts vii. 55. As rays around the source of light Stream upward ere he glow in sight, And watching by his future flight Set the clear heavens on fire ; So on the King of Martyrs wait Three chosen bands, in royal state 1 , And all earth owns, of good and great, Is gather'd in that choir. One presses on, and welcomes death : One calmly yields his willing breath, Nor slow, nor hurrying, but in faith Content to die or live : 1 Wheatly on the Common Prayer, & v. sect iv. a. "As there are three kinds of martyrdom, the first both in will and deed, which is the highest ; the second in will but not in deed ; the third in deed but not in will ; so the Church commemorates these martyrs in the same order : St. Stephen first, who suffered death both in will and deed ; St John the Evangelist next, who suffered martyrdom in will but not in deed; the holy Innocents last, who suffered in deed but not in will" 28 St. Stephen's Day. And some, the darlings of their Lord, Play smiling with the flame and sword, And, ere they speak, to His sure word Unconscious witness give. Foremost and nearest to His throne, By perfect robes of triumph known, And likest Him in look and tone, The holy Stephen kneels, With stedfast gaze, as when the sky Flew open to his fainting eye, Which, like a fading lamp, flash'd high, Seeing what death conceals. Well might 'you guess what vision bright Was present to his raptur'd sight, E'en as reflected streams of light Their solar source betray The glory which our GOD surrounds, The Son of Man, th' atoning wounds He sees them all ; and earth's dull bounds Are melting fast away. He sees them all no other view Could stamp the Saviour's likeness true, St. Step/ten's Day. 29 Or with His love so deep embrue Man's sullen heart and gross " Jesu, do Thou my soul receive : " Jesu, do Thou my foes forgive :" He who would learn that prayer, must live Under the holy Cross. He, though he seem on earth to move, Must glide in air like gentle dove, From yon unclouded depths above Must draw his purer breath ; Till men behold his angel face All radiant with celestial grace, Martyr all o'er, and meet to trace The lines of Jesus' death. And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Acts vi. 15. Peter seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do ? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee 1 follow thou Me. St. John xxi. 21, 22. "LORD, and what shall this man do?" Ask'st thou, Christian, for thy friend ? If his love for Christ be true, Christ hath told thee of his end : This is he whom God approves, This is he whom Jesus loves. Ask not of him more than this, Leave it in his Saviour's breast, Whether, early call'd to bliss, He in youth shall find his rest, Or armed in his station wait Till his Lord be at the gate : Whether in his lonely course (Lonely, not forlorn) he stay, Or with Love's supporting force Cheat the toil and cheer the way : St. Joints Day. 31 Leave it all in His high hand, Who doth hearts as streams command". 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 despis'd 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 1 Only, since our souls will shrink At the touch of natural grief, When our earthly lov'd ones sink, Lend us, Lord, Thy sure relief; Patient hearts, their pain to see, And Thy grace, to follow Thee. " The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water : He turneth it whithersoever He will. Proverbs xxi. i. These were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. Rev. 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 ordain'd to praise His Name, and brighten as on Him they gaze. But where their spoils and trophies ? where The glorious dint a martyr's shield should bear ? How chance no cheek 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 ? The Holy Innocents. 33 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 mark'd them for His own. " Baptiz'd in blood for Jesus' sake, " Now underneath the Cross their bed they make, " Not to be scar'd from that sure rest "By frighten'd mother's shriek, or warrior's waving " crest" Mindful of these, the first-fruits sweet Borne by the suffering Church her Lord to greet ; Bless'd Jesus ever lov'd to trace The " innocent brightness" of an infant's face. He rais'd them in His holy arms, He bless'd them from the world and all its harms : Heirs though they were of sin and shame, He bless'd them in His own and in His Father's Name. Then, as each fond unconscious child On th* everlasting Parent sweetly smil'd, (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 ? D 34 The Holy Innocents. But chiefly these, who died for Thee, That Thou might'st live for them a sadder death to see. And next to these, Thy gracious word Was as a pledge of benediction, stor'd For Christian mothers, while they moan Their treasur'd hopes, just born, baptiz'd, 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 embrac'd. 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. Sirsi jghnrtmg ate