THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.

"THE Sword of the Spirit,"

The Word of the Lord,

Its might and its merit

Let seraphs record,

As they chaunt thro' the temple of glory; But the cherubim's song,

Rolling heaven along,

Has a theme from terrestrial story!

The happy and holy,

The angels of light,

Have never known folly,

To need its might,

Or to yield in the battle before it ;

But the children of clay,

They have owned its sway,

And they felt it, or ever they wore it.

"The Sword of the Spirit"

Proclaim its praise,

Its might and its merit

In ancient days,

When it fought for Immanuel's honour:

When it followed, and fell

On the "Harlot" of hell,

And vented its vengeance upon her.

The warriors that wielded

Were valiant men,

And Satan yielded

Again and again,

While the Word of the Lord grew stronger:

And ages have passed,

But its vigour will last

Till the faithful shall need it no longer.

Unscathed, like a meteor, it flashes;

For the spurning but tries,

And the flame it defies,

As the Phoenix, revived from its ashes.

Then take up the story,

That seraphs recite,

And tell of its glory,

Its merit, and might,

And aloft, as ye sing, be it wielded;

Till the foes of the Lord,

To the power of His Word,

Both their hearts and their armour have

yielded.

THE MARTYRS OF OLD.

Он, the martyrs of old! they were men of

grace,

And they left us a noble story,

In earth's fairest annals to find them a place, Till they shine on the page of glory!*

Oh! they were not the men of a cowardly mind,

At a tyrant's beck to bend them;

For they knew that no fetters of earth could bind

The spirit their GOD would send them.

Aye! unfettered, their souls sprang aloof from the chain,

That the darkness had twined around them;

* Rev. xx. 12, 15.

And they died, ere they'd enter the prison

again,

Where the grace of their GOD had found

them.

For "the faith once delivered" they brandished the sword,†

Like a true-hearted legion of honour;

For when Rome lit her faggots, they drew forth "the Word,"

And they dealt its destruction upon her!

And they fought to the last-aye! they conquered in death,

As their Leader, who suffered before them; And the flame that encircled, consuming their

breath,

Waved a banner of victory o'er them.

And they went to their rest; but the mantle

that fell

From their chariot of fire, that ascended,

† Eph. vi. 17.