THE LAME MAN HEALED.

That there is one above whose watchful eye
Notes all thy sufferings, and marks thy fears-

Who tries and proves thy faith, that thou may'st be
Made meet partaker of the bliss that waits

Believers, in the bright, celestial home,

Prepared for those who put their trust in Him.

Samuel D. Patterson.

403

Christian Ebedience.

And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor to teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.-Acts iv. 18, 19.

AWAKE, ye sons of men! The hallowed word

Contemplate, stamped with truth's immortal seal! Mark, where the faithful servants of their Lord,

Through the wide world Heaven's high behests reveal!— Calamities from every quarter press;

Ten thousand perils darken all the view; Contempt, indignant hatred, sore distress,

And friendless indigence their steps pursue.

Stern persecution's arm, by pow'r maintained,

The ruthless sword uplifts, with martyrs' blood distained.

Firm amidst legions of surrounding foes,

With unremitted zeal, they hold their course: Undaunted 'midst oppression's varied woes,

Defy authority's vindictive force.

CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE.

405

In vain the furious bigot threats; in vain
The sophist weaves the net of subtle art:
The tyrant, 'midst his adulating train,

Feels terror shake his agonizing heart;

E'en on his throne he trembles; guilt and shame

Fix deep their barbed shafts, and rend his coward frame.

Behold the path which leads to endless life!
In this the martyr trod, all power withstood;
Braved every danger in the mortal strife,

And ratified his faith with sacred blood.

At length, oppression's sanguinary hand

No more o'er Christians holds vindictive sway; No more the ruthless tyrant's fell command

Consigns to death his unresisting prey.

Yet e'en to us, from all these terrors freed,

Still the same hope is giv'n, the same reward decreed.

The world in all its boasted grandeur proud,
In all its stores of dazzling splendor bright,

Is but a transient, unsubstantial cloud,

Which the sun skirts with momentary light:
Anon, th' assailing winds impetuous rise,
Black low'rs the tempest in the sullen sky;
Before the driving blast the vision dies,

And all the vivid tints of splendor fly:
Pass but a moment, ev'ry ray is gone;

Nor e'en a vestige left, where the bright glories shone.

406

CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE.

And shall we, for this visionary gleam,

Dengen'rate swerve from Heav'n's immortal plan? Give up, for vanity's light airy dream,

The nobler heritage reserved for man?

Though rocks their cragged heads in ambush hide,
Though storms and tempests sweep the angry main;
While Hope's fair star shines forth, auspicious guide,
E'en tempests, storms, and rocks, oppose in vain.
Safe, 'midst the ocean's iterated force,

The sacred vessel shapes her Heav'n-directed course.

Samuel Hayes.

The Death of Stephen.

But he being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.-Acтs vii. 55.

WITH awful dread his murderers shook,

As, radiant and serene,

The lustre of his dying look

Was like an angel's seen;

Or Moses' face of paly light,

When down the mount he trod,

All glowing from the glorious sight
And presence of his God.

To us, with all his constancy,
Be his rapt vision given,
To look above by faith, and see

Revealments bright of heaven;

And power to speak our triumphs out,

As our last hour draws near,

While neither clouds of fear nor doubt

Before our view appear.

William Croswell.