"God bless thee, Eva-God be bless'd for, Then turned away her languid eye, To drop a tear or two-and die. thee." In tears; the lamp burnt dimly; unawares The answer lower still-"Thy will be done." 66 198. BABE, Departure of a. It came upon us by degrees: We saw its shadow ere it fell, The knowledge that our God had sent His messenger for Babie Bell. We shuddered with unlanguaged pain, And all our hopes were changed to fears, And all our thoughts ran into tears Like sunshine into rain. We cried aloud in our belief, "O smite us gently, gently, God! Teach us to bend and kiss the rod, And perfect grow through grief." Ah, how we loved her, God can tell; Her heart was folded deep in ours. Our hearts are broken, Babie Bell! At last he came, the messenger, The messenger from unseen lands: And what did dainty Babie Bell? She only crossed her little hands, She only looked more meek and fair! We parted back her silken hair, We wove the roses round her brow, White buds, the summer's drifted snow.Wrap her from head to foot in flowers! And thus went dainty Babie Bell Out of this world of ours. Thomas Bailey Aldrich. 199. BABE, Salvation for a Sweet babe! She glanced into our world to see A sample of our misery; Sweet babe! Refused to drink the portion up; She listened for a while to hear Short pain, short grief, dear babe, were The voice of God has called his child away. 200, BACKSLIDING, Hopelessness of Thee my Saviour if I leave? Only thou canst pardon give. From the ark of Thy dear breast, Find a ground whereon to rest? To my vomit turn again, Live anew in pleasures vain? Catch an honorable name, Praise which comes from man pursue, Idolize and pant for fame? Who on fame bestows his care, If my God I cast behind, God, the Source of perfect bliss, Search the whole creation round, No, my God! if from the Way, On in error's mazes rove, Who would go from health to pain, Grieve his friend, his foe to please? Charles Wesley. 201. BANISHMENT, An Epilogue. On a fair ship, borne swiftly o'er the deep, A man was lying, wrapped in dreamless sleep; When unawares upon a sunken rock [shock. That vessel struck, and shattered with the But strange! the plank where lay the sleeper bore With jubilant applause they bore him on, And set him wondering on a royal throne: And some his limbs with royal robes arrayed, And some before him duteous homage paid,' And some brought gifts, all rare and costly things, Nature's and Art's profusest offerings: Around him counsellors and servants prest, All eager to accomplish his behest. Wish unaccomplished of his soul was none; The thing that he commanded, it was done. Much he rejoiced, and he had well-nigh now Forgotten whence he hither came, and how; Until at eve, of homage weary grown, That this new fortune doth not blind thee King only art thou for a season here; A time is fixed, albeit unknown to thee, Which, when it comes, thou banished hence shalt be. [eye Round this fair spot, though hidden from the By mist and vapor, many islands lie: Bare are their coasts, and dreary and forlorn, strand, There gush no fountains from the thirsty sand, No groves of palm-trees have been planted there, Nor plants of odorous scent embalm that air; But make thou there provision of delight, Bid fountains there be hewn, and cause to bloom Immortal amaranths, shedding rich perfume. So when the world, which speaks thee now so fair, And flatters so, again shall strip thee bare, hast. This do, while yet the power is in thine hand, While thou hast helps so many at command." Then raised the Prince his head with courage new, And what the sage advised, prepared to do. He ruled his realm with meekness, and meanwhile He marvellously decked the chosen isle; Bade there his servants build up royal towers, And change its barren sands to leafy bowers; Bade fountains there be hewn, and caused to bloom Immortal amaranths, shedding rich perfume. And when he long enough had kept his throne, [blown : To him sweet odors from that isle were Then knew he that its gardens blooming were, And all the yearnings of his soul were there. Grief was it not to him, but joy, when they His crown and sceptre bade him quit one day; When him his servants rudely did dismiss, 'Twas not the sentence of his ended bliss, But pomp and power he cheerfully forsook, And to his isle a willing journey took, And found diviner pleasure on that shore, Than all his proudest state had known before. Oriental, tr. by R. C. Trench. 202. BAPTISM, Blessing of Woe came to man in Eden, To-day He gives you blessing, For you the guardian angels Who lifteth up your horn. Who made you His to-day, 203. BAPTISM, a Token. In token that thou shalt not fear In token that thou shalt not blush In token that thou shalt not flinch But 'neath His banner manfully In token that thou too shalt tread Thus outwardly and visibly 204. BAPTISM, Vow in. While in this sacred rite of thine And seal the cheerful vow. And when we rise, may we begin 205. BATTLE, Cause of S. F. Smith. Whither leads the path Of youth's vainglorious weeds, Where the world's best hope and stay By battle's flashes gropes a desperate way, And every turf the fierce foot clings to bleeds. Peace hath her not ignoble wreath, Ere yet the sharp, decisive word Light the black lips of cannon, and the sword Dreams in its easeful sheath; [thought, But some day the live coal behind the Whether from Baal's stone obscene, Or from the shrine serene Of God's pure altar brought, [pen I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps; They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps; His day is marching on. I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel: "As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal: Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel, Since God is marching on." He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat: Oh! be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me: As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on. 207. BATTLE, The Christian's. How goes the fight with thee? The life-long battle with all evil things? Thine no low strife, and thine no selfish aim; It is the war of giants and of kings. Does it grow slacker now? Then tremble; for, be sure, thy hellish foe Slacks not; 'tis thou that slackest in the fight; Fainter and feebler falls each weary blow. Dread not the din and smoke, The stifling poison of the fiery air; Courage! It is the battle of thy God; Go, and for Him learn how to do and dare! What though ten thousand fall! And the red field with the dear dead be strewn ; Grasp but more bravely thy bright shield and sword; Fight to the last, although thou fight'st alone. What though ten thousand faint, Desert, or yield, or in weak terror flee! Heed not the panic of the multitude; Thine be the Captain's watchword,-Victory! Look to thine armor well! Thine the one panoply no blow that fears; Ours is the day of rusted swords and shields, Of loosened helmets and of broken spears. A fleeting day The cheek of beauty glows, Fluttering amid the summer's transient ray, Like lightning flashing o'er the sleeper's head, He wakes them from their dream, then hides them with the dead. J. G. Percival. 209. BEAUTY, Excuse for. In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes, I found the fresh rhodora in the woods Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook, To please the desert and the sluggish brook; The purple petals fallen in the pool [gay_ Made the black waters, with their beauty Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool, And court the flower that cheapens his array. Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why This charm is wasted on the marsh and sky, Dear, tell them, that if eyes were made for seeing, Then beauty is its own excuse for being. Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose ! I never thought to ask; I never knew, But in my simple ignorance suppose The self-same Power that brought me there brought you. R. W. Emerson. 210. BEAUTY, Exposure of. Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea, But sad mortality o'er-sways their power, 211. BEAUTY, Frailty of. Prompted acts that sought the good The wants of ev'ry human heart, Blessings to the weary soul That hath felt the bitter world's control. 215 BEAUTY, Realm of. For beauty hideth everywhere, that Reason's child may seek her, And having found the gem of price, may set it in God's crown. Beauty nestleth in the rosebud, or walketh the firmament with planets; She is heard in the beetle's evening hymn, and shouteth in the matins of the sun; The cheek of the peach is glowing with her smile, her splendor blazeth in the lightning; the streams; Her golden hair hath tapestried the silkworm's silent chamber, Costly in keeping, past not worth two peason; She is the dryad of the woods, the naiad of To-day ready ripe, to-morrow all too shaken. Earl of Surrey. 212. BEAUTY, Joy of. A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: 213. BEAUTY, Lost. Beauty is but vain and doubtful good, 214. BEAUTY, Moral. That, forgetting selfish ease, And to her measured harmonies the wild waves beat in time; With tinkling feet at eventide she danceth in the meadow, Or, like a Titan, lieth stretched athwart the ridgy Alps; She is rising in her veil of mist a Venus from the waters, Men gaze upon the loveliness, and lo! it is beautiful exceedingly: She, with the might of a Briareus, is dragging down the clouds upon the mountain, Men look upon the grandeur, and lo, it is excellent in glory. There is beauty in the rolling clouds, and placid shingle beach, In feathery snows, and whistling winds, and dun electric skies; There is beauty in the rounded woods, dank with heavy foliage, In laughing fields, and dinted hills, the valley and its lake; There is beauty in the gullies, beauty on the cliffs, beauty in sun and shade, In rocks and rivers, seas and plains,—the earth is drowned in beauty. M. F. Tupper. 216. BEAUTY, Treasures of Ye mindeful merchants, that with weary toil Do seek most precious things to make your gain; And both the Indias of their treasure spoil, |