EMBLEMS.

[EV. HENRY STEBBING.]

THERE is a freshness in the air,
A brightness in the sky,

As if a new-born sun were there,

Just seraph-throned on high;

And birds, and flowers, and mountain streams,
Rejoicing in his infant beams,

Are glad as if the Winter's breath
Had never blown the blast of death.

Softly along the silent sea

The light-winged breezes creep,
So low, so calm, so tranquilly,
They lull the waves asleep;
And, Oh! as gladly on the tide
Yon lofty vessel seems to ride,
As if the calmly-heaving sail
Had never met a sterner gale.
And in a small, sweet covert nigh,
Her own young hands have made,
A rosy girl hath laughingly

Her infant brother laid;

And made of fresh spring flowers his bed,
And over him her veil hath spread,

With looks as if for ever there

His form should bloom as young and fair.

And shall these pass away, and be

A wreck of what they were;—

Shall birds, and flowers, and earth, and sea,
And yon proud ship, and boy so fair,
Be blasted with the tempest's rage,
Or worn with poverty and age,
Till all of life and hope shall seem
A heart-deceiving, feverish dream?

Yes!-and 'tis but few years we need,
With retrospective eye;

In their repeated tale to read

Our own home's history:

We know their end-to us, to all,—
They are but blossoms, and they fall;
But yet young life, the sun, the flowers
Are sweet as they were always ours:
For they are emblems to the heart
Of things it cannot see,-

Emblems which have their counterpart
In Heaven's eternity;

And though their day be short, or done
With our lost hours and setting sun,
They are within their moment's flight,
What there shall be for ever bright!

THE DROUGHT.

[MONTGOMERY.]

pass

?

WHAT strange, what fearful thing hath come to The ground is iron, and the skies are brass : Man, on the withering harvest, casts his eye, 'Give me your fruits in season, or I die;' The timely fruits implore their parent Earth, 'Where is thy strength to bring us forth to birth?' The Earth, all prostrate, to the clouds complainsSend to my heart your fertilizing rains;' The clouds invoke the Heavens-Collect, dispense Through us your healing, quickening influence;' The Heavens to him that rules them raise their moan'Command thy blessing, and it shall be done.' --The Lord is in his temple :-hushed and still, The suppliant Universe awaits his will.

He speaks and to the clouds the Heavens

dispense

With lightning speed, their genial influence:
The gathering, breaking clouds pour down the rains:
Earth drinks the bliss thro' all her eager veins.
From teeming furrows start the fruits to birth,
And shake their riches on the lap of Earth:
Man sees the harvests grow beneath his eye,
Turns, and looks up with rapture to the sky;
All that have breath and being then rejoice,
All Nature's voices blend in one great voice;
Glory to God, who thus Himself makes known!'
-When shall all tongues confess Him God Alone?
Lord, as the rain comes down from heaven-the rain
That waters Earth, and turns not thence again,
But makes the tree to bud, the corn to spring,
And feeds and gladdens every living thing;
So come thy Gospel o'er a world destroyed,
In boundless blessings, and return not void :
So let it come, in universal showers,

To fill Earth's dreariest wilderness with flowers,
-With flowers of promise, fill the wild within
Man's heart, laid waste and desolate by sin:
Where thorns and thistles curse the infected ground,
Let the rich fruits of righteousness abound;

And trees of life, for ever fresh and green,

Flourish, where only trees of death have been;

Let Truth look down from heaven, Hope soar above,
Justice and Mercy kiss, Faith work by Love;
Heralds the year of Jubilee proclaim;

Bow every knee at the Redeemer's name;
Nations new-born, their fathers' idols spurn;
The ransomed of the Lord with songs return;
Through realms, with darkness, thraldom, guilt, o'er-
spread,

In light, joy, freedom, be the Spirit shed.

47

Speak thou the word :-to Satan's power say, Cease!' But to a world of pardoned sinners-' Peace!”

Thus, in thy grace, O God, Thyself make known, Then shall all tongues confess Thee God Alone!

CALVARY.

[REV. T. GREENWOOD.]

MOUNT of horrors! Calvary!
Where, on the accursed tree,
Christ his life a ransom gave,
Man's rebellious race to save.
Mount of horrors! thee I sing,
Wafted on contrition's wing
To thy summit, thence to view
What our guilt had rendered due.
Yonder rugged, flinty way,
First, my mournful soul, survey.
Lo, where the delirious throng
Urge the Man of woes along,
Overburdened, bruised, and faint,-
Who the cruel scene may paint!
See him sink, as up the steep

He strains!-Weep, Salem's daughters, weep!

Not alone for him you see

On his road to Calvary,

Weep-but for yourselves; for you
And your babes the deed shall rue!

Onward still, thou Man Divine,
Lies that thorny track of thine;
More indignity and pain,
Ere the destined spot thou gain,

Doomed to suffer.-Why that pause? How the scene my spirit awes!

Is the final crime begun ?

Is that bruised, that mangled one
To the cross supinely bound?
See, his hands and feet they wound!
Was it thus Messiah died?

Hide the spectacle, Oh hide!

Ah! tis done!-upon the rood, Crimson'd with his sacred blood, There he hangs the thieves between. He of meek, majestic mien, He, his Father's image pure, Sin's demerit to endure!

And is no kind soother near? None to succour, none to cheer? Where is he who vowed to shed His life's blood for him? he has fled. Where is he who on his breast, Much favoured youth, was wont to rest Gone, e'en that beloved one-gone He treads the winc-press all alone, With no refuge but the grave, Of all deserted, all to save! By God above, and men below, By earth and heaven, forsaken now. See him languish! hear him groan ! Mortals, have ye hearts of stone? Is not hatred yet appeased? Has not yet your malice ceased? Still the Jew's blaspheming leer; Still the Roman's callous jeer; Still those dying sons of crime Railing out their fleeting time! All conspire the dregs to pour

Of wrath's full cup on that dread hour