THE LOVE OF CHRIST.

H! never, never canst thou know

What then for thee the Saviour bore;
The pangs of that mysterious woe
That wrung His frame at every pore;
The weight that prest upon His brow,
The fever of His bosom's core !

Yes, man for man perchance may brave
The horrors of the yawning grave,
And friend for friend, or child for sire,
Undaunted and unmoved expire,
From love-or piety—or pride-
But who can die as Jesus died ?—
A sweet but solitary beam,

An emanation from above

Glimmers o'er life's uncertain dream

We hail that beam, and call it Love

B

THE LOVE OF CHRIST.

But fainter than the pale star's ray
Before the noontide blaze of day,

And lighter than the viewless sand

Beneath the wave that sweeps the strand,

Is all of Love that man can know

All that in angel-breasts can glowCompared, O Lord of Hosts, with ThineEternal-fathomless-divine!

REV. T. DALE.

VENI CREATOR.

THOU who, as our knowledge grows
In the world's latter days,

The more Thou seem'st to clear the sky,

The more dost hide Thy face :—

As ever-widening search reveals
The depth and breadth of ill
Scourging mankind through all the past,
And sweeping o'er us still:

As science, forging day by day

Her close-link'd chain, withdraws The once-felt touches of Thy hand

For dumb organic laws :

VENI CREATOR.

As fears of change, and fears of doubt,
Unnerve the o'erwrought mind,
Enfeebled 'mid its added strength,
'Mid all its seeing blind :—

The wider wisdom Thou hast giv'n
Yet is not wholly gain;

The truer vision scathes our sight,

We cannot see Thee plain.

Enlarge our hearts and purge our eyes
To bear Thy nearer light!

The world's young ignorance is o'er;
Make us to know Thee right.

FRANCIS T. PALGRAVE.

B

ABY JESUS, who dost lie

Far above that stormy sky,

In Thy mother's pure caress, Stoop and save the motherless.

Happy birds! whom Jesus leaves
Underneath His sheltering eaves;
There they go to play and sleep,
May not I go in to weep?

All without is mean and small,
All within is vast and tall;

All without is harsh and shrill,
All within is hushed and still.