Yes, yes, the pealing laugh no more now meets

The list'ning ear along the desert streets;

Such sounds have long been hush'd in death, nor e'er
Shall pleasure hold her midnight revels there.
Records will tell, perchance, there was a time

Thy gardens rear'd the plants of every clime,(61)
And softest zephyr swept, at moon-lit hour
The clust'ring blossoms on each fragrant bow'r,
Bearing the notes of joy, on fairy wing

Of triumph's breath, from off the trembling string;
While Israel's captive daughters weeping hung(62)
"On Babel's willow trees their harps" unstrung!
Alas! those notes have died, nor e'er the strain,(63)
From harp or lyre is heard on Shinar's plain,

(61) The hanging gardens of Babylon, so celebrated in antiquity, mentioned by Herodotus and other early historians.

(62) "By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered thee, O Sion. As for our harps, we hanged them up, upon the trees that are therein.

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land ?”— Psalms cxxxvii.

(63) "A traveller of the name of Rauwolf, passed that way in 1574, and he thus speaks of its condition then. "This country is so dry and barren that it cannot be tilled, and so bare that

But moaning winds sigh o'er the mould'ring heap,

Where countless votaries of ambition sleep:

And e'en the rich and gilded palace where
The feast was spread, is now their sepulchre ;
Beasts dwell within it, and the tempest sweeps
Its whirling sands where many a reptile creeps
To find a place in darkness, there to lay
Its fetid offspring in the foul decay-

Decay of those, who peopled once that spot,
Felt the Lord's chast'ning hand, and are forgot.
Such are His judgments, such the means we find,
By which He humbles to the dust mankind;
A proof too fearful, how uncertain those

Frail, feeble ties, which round man's being close,

I could never have believed that a powerful city, once the most stately and renowned in the world, and situated in the pleasant and fruitful country of Shinar, could ever have stood there; if I had not known its situation, and perceived many antiquities of great beauty, which are still standing here about, in utter desolation: the ruins of the tower of Belus are still to be seen and are half a league in diameter, but so ruinous, so low, so full of venomous creatures, which lodge in the holes made by them in the rubbish, that no one durst approach nearer than half a league."

How quick hath ebb'd the tide, how swift, how fast,
The sands from forth his glass of life have pass'd;

And who can tell but we may soon afford,

Signs like to these of God's rejected word!

That we may fall by such untimely fate,
All things be left unto us desolate,(64)

Unless we turn and seek forgiveness, where
Not e'en the worst of sinners need despair.

Take then the shield, the breastplate of the Lord,(65)
Salvation's helmet, and the Spirit's sword,

A sword from heaven which turning every way,
Shall parry Satan's shafts by night and day ;(66)

A sure defence, a guardian flame to be,

Such as protected Eden's sacred tree:

Thus strongly arm'd the wicked host assail,

Nor let the gates of hell itself prevail.

(64) “Behold your house is left unto you desolate."-Matthew xxiii. 38.

(65) See St. Paul's description of the Christian's armour, in his epistle to the Ephesians, sixth chapter.

(66)❝ So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden, Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."--Gen. iii. 24.

Yes, with that sword-of more than mortal might,

Let every Christian man go forth to fight;

And feeble though he be its strength to wield

One yet will guard him that he shall not yield:(67)
Christ will support him in the worldly strife,
And give the faithful champion fruit of life.
'Tis ever thus, through Christ we can prevail,(68)
Without His strength our utmost efforts fail ;
His chosen Paul so spake this truth of old,
To those he sought to bring within the fold:
His heavenly Master set before their eyes,
Through whom alone they could attain the prize,
As all in all. "Without whom gain was loss,
All hope despair, that stood not on His cross;"
When having conquered death, the time was nigh
That he should leave this world to dwell on high:
And round him stood disciples, who must find
In going forth the hatred of mankind;

(67) ❝ To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."—Revelations ii. 7.

(68) “ I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me."-St. Paul to Philippians iv. 13.

To soothe in this dark hour the sorrowing heart,

And give them comfort ere he should depart;
His latest promise was, that he would send
His Spirit, and be with them to the end.(69)
And He is present now, we must confess
He never leaves His chosen comfortless;

His Spirit hovers near, His blessed word

With healing sounds through every land is heard;
And glad disciples still aloud declare,

That "saving health"(70) to all is offered there;
That all might keep the knowledge of His way,
And shine still more unto the perfect day.

(69) "Nevertheless (said our Saviour) I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you." This was to be their consolation and support in the tribulation which their master foretold should come upon his disciples-xvi chap. St. John. So He farther comforts them by the assurance "Lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the world."-Mat. xxviii. 20.

(70) ❝ That thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto men, Thy saving health unto all nations," is our Church's prayer to God, for all conditions of men, taken from the 67th Psalm v. 2.