Ask it of joyous birds that sing,
Or ask it of the new born spring;
Or of the mists in valleys low,

That sleep-where swollen rivers flow.
Or ask the thunder-toned roar
Of the old ocean breaking o'er

The barriers of some rock-bound shore-
This question of forevermore.

And yet the answer, strong, and sure,
That conquers every human fear,
And wipes away each bitter tear-
Is found in Him whose heart is pure;'
This is the answer that He gives,
"Who dies to self, forever lives."

ALBERT FRANK HOFFMANN.

1

The Destruction of Sennacherib

THE Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and

gold;

And the sheen of their spears was like stars on

sea,

When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

the

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were seen; Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath Es blown,

That host on the morrow lay wither'd and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd; And the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heav'd, and forever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, But through it there roll'd not the breath of his pride;

And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!
LORD BYRON.

Jeremiah, the Patriot

"Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans."-Jer.
xxxvii. 13

THEY say, "The man is false, and falls away":
Yet sighs my soul in secret for their pride;
Tears are mine hourly food, and night and day
I plead for them, and may not be denied.

They say, "His words unnerve the warrior's hand, And dim the statesman's eye and disunite

The friends of Israel"; yet, in every land,

My words, to Faith, are Peace, and Hope, and Might.

They say, "The frenzied one is fain to see

Glooms of his own; and gathering storms afar;But dungeons deep, and fetters strong have we." Alas! Heaven's lightning would ye chain and bar?

Ye scorners of th' Eternal! wait one hour;
In His seer's weakness ye shall see His power.
JOHN KEBLE.

The Ruler of the Nations

"I have set thee this day over the nations, and over the kingdoms."-Jer. i. 10

'HE Lord hath set me o'er the kings of earth,.

THE

To fasten and uproot, to build and mar;

Not by mine own fond will: else never war

Had still'd in Anathoth the voice of mirth,

Nor from my native tribe swept bower and hearth; Ne'er had the light of Judah's royal star

Fail'd in mid heaven, nor trampling steed and car Ceas'd from the courts that saw Josiah's birth. ""Tis not in me to give or take away,

But He who guides the thunder-peals on high,
He tunes my voice, the tones of His deep sway
Faintly to echo in the nether sky.

Therefore I bid earth's glories set or shine,

And it is so; my words are sacraments divine." JOHN KEBLE.

The Fall of Jerusalem

ERUSALEM! Jerusalem!

one,

How is the brilliance of thy diadem,
How is the lustre of thy throne
Rent from thee, and thy sun of fame
Darken'd by the shadowy pinion
Of the Roman bird, whose sway

All the tribes of earth obey,

Crouching 'neath his dread dominion,

And the terrors of his name!

How is thy royal seat-whereon
Sat in days of yore

Lowly Jesse's godlike son,
And the strength of Solomon,
In those rich and happy times
When the ships from Tarshish bore
Incense, and from Ophir's land,
With silken sail and cedar oar,
Wafting to Judea's strand

All the wealth of foreign climes
How is thy royal seat o'erthrown!

Gone is all thy majesty;"""
Salem! Salem! City of kings, :/
Thou sittest desolate and lone,

Where once the glory of the Most High T
Dwelt visibly enshrined between the wings
Of Cherubins, within whose bright embrace
The golden mercy-seat remain'd;

Land of Jehovah! view that sacred place o
Abandon'd and profaned!

Hebrew Melody

(Jeremiah x: 17)

FROM the hall of our fathers in anguish we fled, Nor again will its marble re-echo our tread,

For the breath of the Siroc has blasted our name, And the frown of Jehovah has crushed us in shame.

1

His robe was the whirlwind, his voice was the thunder,
And earth, at his footstep, was riven asunder;
The mantle of midnight had shrouded the sky,"
For we knew, where He stood by the flash of His eye.

O Judah!, how long must thy weary ones weep,
Far, far from the land where their forefathers sleep?
How long ere the glory that brightened the mountain
Will Welcome the exile to Siloa's fountain?

MRS. JAMES GORDON BROOKS.

Lament for Jerusalem
ERUSALEM! on thy ruin'd walls
rays,

And shines amid thy lonely halls
As once it shone in happier days:
And Judea's clime is still as fair,
Though Judah's sons are outcasts there,

How long shall pagan foot profane
Jehovah's hallowed shrine;

And memories alone remain

Of all that once was thine?
How long shall we, thy children, roam
As exiles from our native home?·

To weep o'er Salem's blighted fame,
To gaze upon her strand,

Is all the heritage we claim
Within our fatherland;

To mourn o'er our free parents' graves
their children, are but slaves.

That we,

When will that glorious hour come?

When shall we once more see
Thy temple rear its stately dome,
Thy children with the free?
And thou, our fair, ill-fated land
Amongst the nations take thy stand?

MARION and CELIA MOSS.