EVENING HYMN.

My soul, a hymn of evening praise
To God, thy kind preserver, raise,
Whose hand this day hath guarded, fed,
And thousand blessings round thee shed.
Forgive my sins this day, O Lord,
In thought or feeling, deed or word;
And if in aught thy law I've kept,
My feeble efforts, Lord, accept.

While nature round is hushed to rest,
Let no vain thought disturb my breast;
Shed o'er my soul religion's power,
Serenely solemn as the hour.

Oh, bid thy angels o'er me keep
Their watch, to shield me while I sleep!
Till the fresh morn shall round me break,
Then with new vigour may I wake!

Yet think, my soul, another day
Of thy short course has rolled away:
Ah, think how soon in deepening shade
The day of life itself shall fade!

How soon death's sleep my eyes must close,

Lock every sense in dread repose,

And lay me mid the awful gloom
And solemn silence of the tomb!

This very night, Lord, should it be,
Oh may my soul repose on thee,
Till the glad morn in heaven shall rise,
Then wake to triumph in the skies!

JERUSALEM.

Like a queen,

Armed with a helm in virgin loveliness,
Her heaving bosom in a bossy cuirass,
She sits aloft, begirt with battlements
And bulwarks swelling from the rock, to guard

The sacred courts, pavillions, palaces,

Soft gleaming through the umbrage of the woods
Which tuft the summit, and like raven tresses,
Wave their dark beauty round the tower of David
Resplendent with a thousand golden bucklers,
The embrasures of alabaster shine;

Hailed by the pilgrims of the desert, bound

To Judah's mart with orient merchandise.

Hillhouse.

Jerusalem, a city of modern Palestine, and the capital of Judea, was more anciently Jebus, and was taken by David, incorporated into his dominions, and consecrated to the worship of the God of Israel. David fortified and embellished Jerusalem, and his son Solomon erected the temple, whither the Jews repaired annually to celebrate the feast of the Passover. Jerusalem was ever an object of attachment and veneration to the Jews, and in the time of Christ was the resort and residence of many foreigners. Jerusalem was at that time subject to the Romans, but a spirit of revolt against their foreign masters exposed the Jews to their vengeance. Christ foretold the destruction of this city, and his prophecy was accomplished by Titus, A. D. 70.

Modern Jerusalem is included in the Turkish dominions-none of the splendour which Mr. Hillhouse describes now remains, but there are many monuments of Christianity, and it is interesting to the traveller as the scene of the greatest splendour and dignity of that extraordinary nation, the Jews; and more particularly as the place where Christ performed many of his miracles, where he promulgated the doctrines of our religion, and where he was crucified and buried.

MILMAN.

Mr. Milman is a British poet. He takes his subjects principally from scripture history.

The following verses are a song of some Jews, who deplore the captivity of their nation, which they represent under the scripture figure that describes the Hebrew people as a vine, trodden down by the devastation of their enemies. The remembrance of God's mercies and promises always animated this unfortunate people, and in the deepest affliction they celebrate their deliverance from their Egyptian bondage.

SONG OF THE JEWS.

Chorus.

King of Kings! and Lord of Lords!
Thus we move, our sad steps timing
To our cymbals' feeblest chiming,
Where thy house its rest accords.
Chased and wounded birds are we,
Through the dark air fled to thee;
To the shadow of thy wings,
Lord of Lords! and King of Kings!

Behold, oh Lord! the Heathen tread
The branches of thy fruitful vine,
That its luxurious tendrils spread
O'er all the hills of Palestine.

And now the wild boar comes to waste
Even us, the greenest boughs, and last,
That, drinking of thy choicest dew,
On Zion's hill, in beauty grew.

No! by the marvels of thine hand,
Thou wilt save thy chosen land!
By all thine ancient mercies shown,
By all our fathers' foes o'erthrown ;
By the Egyptian's car-borne host,
Scattered on the Red Sea coast;
By that wide and bloodless slaughter
Underneath the drowning water.
Like us in utter helplessness,
In their last and worst distress—
On the sand and sea-weed lying,
Israel poured her doleful sighing;
While before the deep sea flowed,
And behind fierce Egypt rode—
To their fathers' God they prayed,
To the Lord of Hosts for aid.

On the margin of the flood
With lifted rod the Prophet stood;
And the summoned east wind blew,
And aside it sternly threw

The gathered waves, that took their stand
Like crystal rocks, on either hand,
Or walls of sea-green marble piled
Round some irregular city wild.
Then the light of morning lay
On the wonder-paved way,
Where the treasures of the deep
In their caves of coral sleep.
The profound abysses, where
Was never sound from upper air,
Rang with Israel's chanted words,
King of Kings! and Lord of Lords!
Then with bow and banner glancing,
On exulting Egypt came,
With her chosen horsemen prancing,
And her cars on wheels of flame,

In a rich and boastful ring,

All around her furious king.

But the Lord from out his cloud,

The Lord looked down upon the proud;

And the host drave heavily

`Down the deep bosom of the sea.

With a quick and sudden swell

Prone the liquid ramparts fell;
Over horse, and over car,
Over every man of war,

Over Pharaoh's crown of gold
The loud thundering billows rolled.

As the level waters spread

Down they sank, they sank like lead,
Down sank without a cry or groan,
And the morning sun, that shone
On myriads of bright-armed men,
Its meridian radiance then

Cast on a wide sea, heaving as of yore,
Against a silent, solitary shore.

The preceding article is made intelligible by the XIV chapter of Exodus :

"And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went

before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, to go by day and night, He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

"And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him; and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.

"And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptains marched after them ; and they were sore afraid and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.

:

"And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward : but lift up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

"And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed, and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these so that the one came not near the other all the night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.