Page images
PDF
EPUB
[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

Are those her mountains high ?"

Cry Israel's eager host,

As in the camp they lie. "Let's send a little band

Of brave and faithful men, To search the pleasant land, And bring us word again." The chosen band departs;

What scenes before them rise, To charm their anxious hearts, And their astonished eyes!

They climb the mountain's side,
Whence cooling waters flow:
They cross the valleys wide,

Where golden harvests grow;
Pass through the woods, where bees
Sip honey from each flower,
And in the hollow trees

Hide their delicious store; View gardens where the vine

And olive-trees are seen, The sheep and lowing kine Amidst the pastures green.

But while the beauteous land
They view with great delight,
They see where cities stand

With walls of wondrous height,

And towers tall and strong,

And gates of iron and brass; And 'midst the countless throng Some who the rest surpass; Men of enormous size,

Who wield the sword and spear And in whose sight the spies Like grasshoppers appear.

But why should such a sight
Fill Israel with dismay?
Their God for them shall fight,
And they shall win the day :-
For idols are adored

By Canaan's wicked race,
And cups of blood are poured
Before each idol's face,
And helpless babies bleed
Amongst the thickest trees,

And every wicked deed

Is done those Gods to please.

There is a land more fair

Than any land below,

And I would enter there,

In spite of every foe.

Then let me now begin

To strive with all my might To overcome all sin,

However hard the fight.

The Lord will give me strength,

And fill my soul with grace, And I shall reach at length His heavenly dwelling-place.

THE DAISY.

Not worlds on worlds in phalanx deep
Need we to prove a God is here;
The daisy, fresh from winter's sleep,
Tells of his hand in lines as clear.

For who but He who arch'd the skies,
And pours the day-spring's living flood,
Wondrous alike in all he tries,

Could rear the daisy's purple bud?

Mould its green cup, its wiry stem;
Its fringed border nicely spin;
And cut the gold-embossed gem
That, set in silver, gleams within ?—

And fling it, unrestrain'd and free,
O'er hill and dale, and desert sod,
That man, where'er he walks, may see,
In every step, the stamp of God?

DR. GOOD.

THE MISSIONARY'S FAREWELL TO

ENGLAND.

QUEEN of the Isles ! where Hope entwin'd

Her silken chains my heart to bind,

And youth delighted flew,

No more my Lord permits my stay,
But points to heathen worlds the way;
I would his lov'd command obey,

And bid thy shores adieu!

Sweet impress of the hand divine!
A fairer, lovelier land than thine
Man seeks in vain below;
There dawns that everlasting day,
Whose rising beam's celestial ray
The mists of sin shall chase away,
And light on all bestow.

But, ah! thy glorious deeds of yore
Must raise the patriot's glow no more,
Or wake the poet's fire;

The message of the Prince of Grace,
His love to man's apostate race,
His saints' immortal dwelling-place,
A nobler song inspire.

Yet prostrate at the mercy-seat,
Oft shall my lips thy name repeat,
Cherish'd with filial love;
Behold me here resign my all,

Thy messenger to be;

Of earthly joy no more possest,

But with thy gracious presence blest,
Lord! I shall find my peace, my rest,
My home, my heaven in Thee.

H. E.

CHARITY.

"The very bond of perfectness."

WHERE no charity abounds

All the Christian path adorning, Vain our speech, as hollow sounds, Or the tinkling cymbal's warning.

'Tis the seamless warp and woof
Of the Christian's purest vesture;
"Tis the earnest, and the proof
Of his holy life and gesture.

'Tis the Spirit's richest fruit;
"Tis of holiness the measure;
Of all virtues 'tis the root;

Of all gifts the chiefest treasure.

PRAYER.

Go, when the morning shineth,
Go, when the noon is bright,
Go, when the eve declineth,
Go, in the hush of night;

Go, with pure mind and feeling,
Fling earthly thought away,
And in thy chamber kneeling,
Do thou in secret pray :-

Remember all who love thee,
All who are lov'd by thee;

Pray, too, for those who hate thee,
any such there be.

If

[merged small][ocr errors]

W. L. N.

« PreviousContinue »