THE ANNALIST OF THE POOR.
And thought like thine may well prevail
To bid the awakened spirit, hail!
In high communings here, we raise
New altars to the Saviour's praise,
And mingling our petitions well,
Beneath His shadowing wing we dwell:
For Jesu's name is poured abroad,
Like odour through the courts of God;
Whilst thy glad theme delighting still,
Resounds the joys of Zion's hill,
And sings with soft or loud acclaim,
The triumphs of Immanuel's name.
"And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations."- EXODUS xxx. 7, 8.
THE ANNALIST OF THE POOR.
SPIRIT of tenderness and truth!
Thou mentor of the minds of youth!
Thou kind preceptor, pastor, guide,-
To each endearing name allied!
Thy friendly crook, thy shepherd care
Allured their steps to pastures fair
Thy words of unction and of power
Bore witness to redemption's hour;
Thy lips were hallowed to proclaim
The virtue of Messiah's name,
And babes in Jesus learned to bless
The Lord, their strength and righteousness.
From sin's dark bonds enfranchised now,
The seal of witness on their brow,
Their ransomed spirits raised on high,
Unite in heaven's blest harmony:
'Twas thine to aid their upward flight
To worlds of wonder and delight,
To quicken and to point their view
To scenes sublime, and strange, and new-
Where saints and angels still prolong
The glories of redemption's song.
Large love of souls to thee was given,
A rich immunity of heaven;
Each vain desire to thee was loss-
The gold of earth but tarnished dross ;
Thy gifted mind, thy hallowed taste
Preferred salvation's high repast,
And thou couldst yield each glittering pride,
To look on Jesus crucified.
For Turkey's children bathed in sleep,
Whose eyes no wakeful vigils keep ;
For Judah's outcast sons who lie
In Egypt's seven-fold slavery—
Thy spirit taught their woes to share,
Ascended on the wings of prayer.
Where ocean lifts her crested head,
Or slumbering waves around are spread;
Where fertile glades and copses green
Through towering ramparts intervene ;
Where scenes of beauty pictured lie,
To cheer the breast and charm the eye,
THE ANNALIST OF THE POOR.
'Twas there that steps like thine were bent,
On mercy's fostering errand sent :
Thy looks of love, thy gladdening smile
Could many a tear-worn heart beguile,
And Daughters blessed thee whilst on them
Sat wisdom's crowning diadem:
They heard thee, and they blest the hand
That brought thee to their father-land ;
The name of Jesus from thy tongue,
To harps like theirs with praise was strung,
And airs of heaven that breathed around,
Made earth to them like Eden's ground.
Bright records of thy walk below,
From many a heart reflected, glow;
And truth her tales of love can tell,
That deep in memory's chambers dwell;
Whilst seals of God's own hand there be,
That own thy work and ministry.
"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."DANIEL Xii. 3.
"Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name." -MAL. iii. 16.
OH! who may tell what beams of light divine
Shall on his future path with radiance shine?
Oh! who may tell what benisons shall rest
Around his tent, and make his portion blest?
Or what bright boons of earth and dews of heaven
Shall to his treasured cup of joy be given?
Traveller 'twas thine as step by step, thy way
Led thee to loftier heights and fairer day,
With full confiding faith 'twas thine to tread
That upward road where Jesus' footsteps led ;-
He bore thee on thy journey, when afar,
Thine eye beheld in heaven a glorious star;
And thou couldst hail the fount whose orient beam
Illumined all thy breast with quickening gleam,
As earth, and air, and wood, and sea, and sky
Glowed in the hues of living harmony.
Nature's own birthright crowned thee! for thy hand
Was skilled to pour her bounties on thy land;
How many a sightless eye-ball touched by thee,
Has opened to the light of liberty!
How many a lip has blessed thee! whilst the tide
Of tearful love those tributes best supplied:
And well might grateful thanks like these, ascend
To Him who sent thee-suffering's unbought friend!
Like rays of morning sunshine that disclose
In shadowy dawn, the dew-drop and the rose,-
Then burst in full effulgence;-thus thy soul
With still increasing light drew near its goal;
Till on thy life's last evening, mercy shone,
And made the gospel promises thine own:
Then on the couch of sickness, grace and peace
Smiled on thee-and pronounced thy free release:
Then Jesus gently called thee-and His love
Portioned thy better home in glorious worlds above.
"To another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the same Spirit."-1 Cor. xii. 9.
I DRAW a bright intelligence,
Endued with elevated sense,
And graced the while
With kindlings of that fancy rare,
That sheds upon life's pathways fair,
Her sunny smile.
This bright, imaginative creature
With touch could paint the face of nature,
The vaulted dome of summer skies,
Their changing hues, their gorgeous dies,
The verdant carpet of the earth,
The tissue that her loom sends forth,
Her alley's green;
Her hedgerow drapery of flowers,
The blossoms of her chosen bowers,
Dark shades between.
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