But fled not with returning light The memory of that awful night;— Early the trembling council+5 sent Of falsely injured innocence, "Heedless of Rome's protecting name, They yielded us unheard to shame : E'en let themselves as suppliants come, And publicly reverse their doom!" XII. They came ;-it irks the gentle Muse To linger o'er each fond excuse, Smooth words from pride by terror wrung Faltering on the reluctant tongue : With languid eye and drooping plume She turns her from those walls of gloom: Away!-her ear hath caught a tone Yes, from Lydia's48 lowly dwelling The boundings of the happy heart. HYMN. Christians! hail the blissful sight, Brethren to our arms returning! Sorrow may endure19 the night, But joy cometh in the morning! Faith hath triumphed in the fight : Prayer hath not been poured in vain : Christians! let us here unite Hand and heart and voice again! Seize the moments bright and fleeting Seize the joy too quickly gone! Scarce we taste the bliss of meeting Ere the parting pang draws on. Soon will Ocean's waves divide us,— Many a plain and many a hill; But the soul, whate'er betide us, Meets its kindred spirit still : Meets, in mutual praise and prayer, Friendship's chain to clasp anew : Christians stay the bitter tear;— Parting hath no pang for you! And, when life's brief course is done, With the glorious Church above, Body, spirit, all in one, We shall taste the Heaven of love. Gladly then to God we yield ye,— Safe beneath His wings to dwell : He shall comfort, guide and shield ye, Christian brethren, fare-ye-well! NOTES. 1 66 They came down to Troas," probably to Alexandria Troas, a city a little to the south of the site of ancient Troy. Acts xvi. 8. 2 Homer. * The speeches and writings of St. Paul afford evidence that he had, at some period of his life, studied the Greek Classics. He lived at a time when Greek literature was at its zenith in the Roman world. "Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire." Isaiah ix. 5. * "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked: And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Eph. vi. 16, 17. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." John i. 11. 7" At mid-day, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me: and, when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul! Saul! why persecutest thou me?" Acts xxvi. 13. "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, &c." Philip. iii. 7, 8. "In perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." 2 Cor. xi. 26, 27. 10 Acts xiii. 4-12. 11 Yemen: Arabia. "I went into Arabia, and returned again into Damascus." Gal. i. 17. This was Paul's first Apostolical journey, before he was introduced to the Apostles at Jerusalem. 12 The dress of the Macedonians is not very unlike that of the Scottish Highlanders. The kilt, instead of being woven in various colours, is white. 13 It is thought, with much probability, that Luke, and perhaps Timothy, accompanied the Apostle on his first European journey. As, however, their names never occur in the narrative, the Author felt himself at liberty to suppose that Silas was the only companion of St. Paul. 14 The stream of the Hellespont bears always from the Propontis to the Ægæan, and is perceptible as far down as Tenedos. 15 There is a high hill in Samothrace, visible from the plain of Troy. CLARKE'S Travels. It was likewise held in high repute for sanctity, because there were celebrated the great mysteries of the Cabeiri. ὅστις δὲ τὰ Καβείρων ὄργια μεμύηται, τὰ Σαμοθρήϊκες ἐπιτελέουσι, παραλαβόντες παρὰ Πελασγών, οὗτος ὧνὴρ olde To Aéyw. HEROD. ii. 51. |