"Even so Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." Matthew xi. 26.
THE ANSWER POINTED TO BY A DEAF AND
DUMB BOY WHEN ASKED WHY HE
WAS THUS AFFLICTED.
KIND stranger dost thou ask me why
This fettered tongue is mute and still ?
My chasten'd heart would only cry,
"It is my Heavenly Father's will."
Stranger dost thou desire to know,
Wherefore the dull closed ear is given?
My spirit answers, "Be it so,"
It seemeth good to God in heaven.
I see the tear of pity start
Stranger no longer grieve for me;
I gaze on high with thankful heart,
For there the glorious heavens I see.
And soon in that bright world above,
Where angels tune their joyful lays,
Mine ear shall hear the notes of love,
My lips shall join the song of praise.
HAST thou admitted, with a blind fond trust,
The lie that burned thy fathers' bones to dust;
That first adjudged them heretics, then sent
Their souls to heaven, and curst them as they
went?
The lie that scripture strips of its disguise,
And execrates above all other lies.
The lie that claps a lock on mercy's plan,
And gives the key to an infirm old man,
Who once enthroned in apostolic chair,
Is deified, and sits omniscient there;
The lie that knows no kindred, owns no friend,
But him that makes its progress his chief end;
That having spilt much blood, makes that a boast,
And canonizes him that sheds the most.
Away with charity that soothes a lie,
And thrusts the truth with scorn and anger by ;
Shame on the candour and the gracious smile
Bestowed on them that light the martyr's pile;
While insolent disdain, in frown expressed,
Attends the tenets that endured that test!
Grant them the rights of men, and while they
To vex the peace of others grant them peace; But trusting bigots, whose false zeal has made Treachery their duty, thou art self-betrayed.
Go to the lonely desert,
And preach unto the wind;
But Romish threats, and Romish lures,
Change not our steadfast mind.
We grasp the book we love,
The book our fathers read;
The light beams brightly from above,
By which their steps were led.
False and apostate church,
God bids us keep his word;
And who art thou, that we should turn,
And slight our bleeding Lord ?
The traveller, when he hears
The sound of coming storm,
Grasps his firm staff, and draws his cloak
More closely round his form;
So we the book we love,
Press closer to our heart,
And in Christ's strength defy Rome's power
That book from us to part.
WHAT is life ?-'tis but a vapour;
Soon it vanishes away;
Life is like a dying taper;
Oh, my soul, why wish to stay?
Why not spread thy wings and fly
Straight to yonder world on high?
See that glory, how resplendent!
Brighter far than fancy paints,
There, in majesty transcendent!
Jesus reigns, the king of saints.
Spread thy wings, my soul, and fly
Straight to yonder world on high.
Joyful crowds his throne surrounding,
Sing with rapture of his love,
Through the heavens his praises sounding,
Filling all the courts above.
Spread thy wings, my soul, and fly
Straight to yonder world on high.
Go and share his people's glory;
Midst the ransom'd crowd appear:
Thine a joyful wondrous story,
One that angels love to hear.
Spread thy wings, my soul, and fly
Straight to yonder world on high.
THE TRAVELLERS TO EMMAUS.
IT happened on a solemn even-tide,
Soon after He that was our Surety died,
Two bosom friends, each pensively inclined,
The scene of all those sorrows left behind,
Sought their own village, busied as they went
In musings worthy of the great event:
They spake of him they loved, of him whose life,
Though blameless, had incurred perpetual strife:
Whose deeds had left, in spite of hostile arts,
A deep memorial graven on their hearts.
The recollection, like a vein of ore,
The further traced, enriched them still the more.
They thought him, and they justly thought him, one
Sent to do more than he appeared t' have done;
T'exalt a people, and to place them high
Above all else, and wondered he should die,
E're yet they brought their journey to an end,
A stranger joined them, courteous as a friend,
And asked them with a kind engaging air,
What their affliction was, and begged a share.
Informed, he gathered up the broken thread,
And truth and wisdom gracing all he said,
Explained, illustrated, searched so well
The tender theme on which they chose to dwell,
That reaching home "the night" they said, "is near,
We must not now be parted, sojourn here."
The new acquaintance soon became a guest,
And made so welcome at their simple feast,
He blessed the bread, but vanished at the word,
And left them both, exclaiming, "Twas the Lord!
Did not our hearts feel all he deigned to say,
Did they not burn within us by the way ?"
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