THE RAISING OF THE WIDOW'S SON. WEEP not, O mother, sounds of lamentation; Weep not, O widow, weep not hopelessly! Strong is his arm, the bringer of salvation! Strong is the Word of God to succour thee! Bear forth the cold corpse, slowly, slowly bear him; Why pause the mourners, who forbids our weeping? Change then, O sad one, grief to exultation; EPIPHANY. BRIGHTEST and best of the sons of the morning, Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid; Star of the East, the horizon adorning, Guide where our Infant Redeemer is laid. Cold on his cradle the dew-drops are shining, Low lies his bed with the beasts of the stall; Angels adore Him in slumber reclining Maker, and Monarch, and Saviour of all. Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion, Gems of the mountain, and pearls of the ocean; VOL. II. 10 Vainly we offer each ample oblation, Vainly with gold would his favour secure ; Richer by far is the heart's adoration, Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor. Brightest and best of the sons of the morning, Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid; Star of the East, the horizon adorning, Guide where our Infant Redeemer is laid. HEAVEN TRANSCENDENTLY GLORIOUS. I PRAISED the earth, in beauty seen, I praised the sun, whose chariot rolled O God, O good beyond compare! How glorious must the mansion be Where thy redeemed shall dwell with Thee! ROBERT POLLOK. ROBERT POLLOK was born in 1799, and was educated at the University of Edinburgh, where he applied to his studies with an ardour that undermined his constitution. In 1827 he was appointed a Licentiate of the Scottish Secession Church, but did not live to enter upon his sacred duties, dying of consumption before the close of the same year. He was the author of The Course of Time, a poem of great power, which was published only a few months prior to his death. PRAISE. HARPS of eternity! begin the song: Unsearchable Jehovah! God of truth! Thyself unmade, ungoverned, unupheld. Mysterious more the more displayed, where still Alone; invisible, immortal One! Behind essential brightness unbeheld; Incomprehensible! what weight shall weigh, What measure measure Thee? What know we more Our God, our Father, our Eternal all! Source whence we came, and whither we return; Thy saints adore, and on thy altars burn The fragrant incense of perpetual love. They praise Thee now: their hearts, their voices praise, And swell the rapture of the glorious song. Harp, lift thy voice on high! shout, angels, shout! And loudest, ye redeemed! "Glory to God!" Harp, lift thy voice on high! shout, angels, shout! THE BIBLE. HAST thou ever heard Of such a book? The author God Himself; The subject, God and man, salvation, life, And death-eternal life, eternal death; Dread words! whose meaning has no end, no bounds. Most wondrous book! bright candle of the Lord! Star of eternity! the only star By which the bark of man could navigate The sea of life, and gain the coast of bliss Securely only star which rose on time, Succeeded generation, threw a ray Of heaven's own light, and to the hills of God, By prophets, seers, and priests, and sacred bards, And by the Holy Ghost anointed, set To earth the counsels of the Eternal One, This book, this holiest, this sublimest book, Was sent. Heaven's will, Heaven's code of laws entire, To man, this book contained; defined the bounds Of vice and virtue, and of life and death; And what was shadow, what was substance, taught. Worth more than what else seemed of highest worth, Most wise, most good, most merciful, and true; That man, that every man of every clime In heart corrupt; in every thought, and word, Most utterly depraved throughout, and ill, In sight of Heaven, though less in sight of man ; At enmity with God his Maker born, And by his very life an heir of death; That man, that every man was, farther, most One mite of his vast debt to God; nay, more, |