judgment stealeth on us unawares, that it cannot be foreseen when it cometh. From whence it is written, the day of the Lord shall so come as a thief in the night. Then all the virgins arise, for both the elect and the reprobate are awakened from the sleep of death. They trim their lamps, for they now by themselves calculate their own works, according to which they look for eternal blessedness. But the lamps of the foolish virgins are extinguished, for their works, which appeared fair to men without, are obscured by the brightness of the Judge's coming; and from God they find no recompence, because they have received from men the praises which they loved.

r. Blessed is the barren; * and the undefiled shall have fruit in the visitation of souls.v. God will render to them, who by patient continuance in well doing each for immortality, eternal life. * And the undefiled shall have fruit.-Wis. iii.; Rom. ii.

LECTIO THE NINTH.

And what is their seeking oil from the wise, but that on the Judge's coming, when they have found themselves void within, they are seeking for testimony from without. But the wise virgins answer, and say, "Lest there be not enough for us and you, go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut." Oh, that thou wouldst but apprehend these words! What amazement is conveyed in these, "the bridegroom cometh!" What sweetness in these, "they entered with him into the marriage!" What bitterness in these, "the door was shut!" Then will the door of the kingdom be closed against them mourning, which is now every day open to the penitent. Then also will there be repentance, but a repentance which will then be unprofitable, for then he by no means findeth pardon, who now loseth the time fitted for repentance.

7. Unto him shall be given an inheritance in the temple of the Lord more acceptable to his mind: * for glorious is the fruit of good labours, and the root of wisdom shall never fall away.v. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. * For glorious, &c.— Wis. iii.; Matt. v.

At the Lauds the following Hymn occurs :—

Capitulum. Wis. viii.

I perceived that I could not otherwise obtain her, except God gave her me; and that was a point of wisdom also to know whose gift she was.

v. My soul thirsteth for thee.r. My flesh also longeth after thee.-Ps. lxiii. Ant. at the Benedictus. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, as the bride adorned with her jewels.-Is. lxi.

At the Second Vespers there is the following :

Capitulum. Rev. xix.

The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour unto him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

The Hymn.

"O virgo pectus cui sacrum
Amoris expers improbi."

O thou upon whose breast no earthly flame
Importunate with passionate sorrows came,
But Spirit hath alighted, calmly pure,
With better hopes for ever to endure.

Soft Pleasure's soul-pervading influence

Ne'er unnerv'd thy stern purpose, wean'd from sense
To seek for worthier bridals, and, below,

The Lamb to follow wheresoe'er he go.

For the dread virgin-born, ineffable

In his eternal beauty, so did fill

Thy soul, that thou didst tread on earthly care,
Walking on high, nor rival thought couldst bear.
Now knowest thou that blessedness, while o'er
Heav'n's multitudinous voices thine doth soar
In sweetness, singing while the bridegroom's brow
Shines o'er thee, singing through the eternal now.

(The Doxologies to the Hymns omitted.)

v. Maidens, praise the name of the Lord.r. For his name only is excellent.Ps. cxlviii.

Ant. at the Magnificat. In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels of God in heaven.-Matt. xxii.

The Scripture Lectios, in the First Nocturn, are from the 7th chapter of the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians. The Antiphones, which are omitted, are mostly from the Song of Solomon, or the 25th chapter of St. Matthew. The Lectios on the Octave, and on the intervening Sunday, are from Gregory Nyssen, from Hilary, Augustin, and Chrysostom.

SACRED POETRY.

SONNETS.

WHEN We have failed to chasten and restrain

Our wandering thoughts, and, in return, they cheat
And mock us with some poor, yet proud, conceit;
And idlest fancies, in procession vain,

(Ourselves their centre) flock through heart and brain;
Each tendering amplest homage at our feet,
Till loathing of each humbler task we meet
Has grown upon us, scorn, and sick disdain-
What then will make our hideous pride to sink?
Or what the spirit's temper will restore?
Where, in the world of healing, is there spell
So mighty, as at times like these to think
Of Jesus sitting by Samarian well,

Or teaching some poor fishers on the shore?

TO THE EVENING STAR.

SOLE star, that glitterest in the crimson west,
"Fair Child of Beauty, glorious lamp of love,
How cheerfully thou lookest from above;"
With what unblinking eye, and jocund crest;
Yet grief from thee has past into my breast;
For all surpassing glory needs must be
Full unto us of sad perplexity,

Seen from this place of sin, and sin's arrest :
Yea, all things that such perfect beauty own,
As this of thine is, tempt us unto tears;
For whether thou sole-sittest on thy throne,
Or leadest choral dances of thy peers,
Thou, and all nature, saving man alone,
Fulfil with music sweet your Maker's ears.
VOL. VIII.-Nov. 1835.

3 x

A GARDEN, So well watered before morn
Is hotly up, that not the swart sun's blaze,
Down beating with unmitigated rays,
Nor arid winds, from scorching places borne,
Shall make it altogether bare and shorn

Of its green beauty, shall not quite prevail
That all its morning freshness should exhale,
Till evening, and the evening's dews return-
A blessing such as this our hearts will reap,
The freshness of the garden they will share,
Through the long day an heavenly freshness keep,
If, knowing how the world, and the world's glare,
Must beat upon them, we betimes will steep
And largely water them with dews of prayer.

R. C. T.

THE

CHRISTIAN YEAR.

OTHERS admire in thee a poet's fire,
So sweetly temper'd to a classic lyre;
Others, how deepest thought and wise design
Put on harmonious beauty in each line;
Others, how thy sweet urn of sacred glee
Lights earthly things with heavenly clarity ;*
Others, how every turn and winding scene
Leads to a temple-in the blue serene.
One would to thy meek willow's lesson turn,
One melodies of mountain streamlet learn.
One loves thy red November's calm decay,
One the bright lengthening of thine April day.
One with thee enters in the home divine
To worship there, but not to praise thy shrine.
'Tis sweet to see each varying character

All his home-bosom'd thoughts find pictured there.
And some condemn thee as too deep a mine,
Where haply diamonds hid and rubies shine,
But they upon the surface love to flit,—
"Twere diving into Pindar's golden wit!
But these things other thoughts to me endear,
Thy book I love because thyself is there.
And all I know of glad philosophy-
And all I know of life's home poesy-

And all I know of calm and healthful thought,
And all of better wisdom heav'n hath taught-
And all that I have seen of azure sky
Brought forth from out a deep captivity-
And all which through the clouds of sin and grief
Have shed o'er life a light of sweet relief—
And all that I have known of cheering glow
That glares not, but lights up our hearth below-
And all I have of friends more dear than life,
Calming with gentler wisdom this world's strife,

And, above all, thy holy face "Makes an eternal clarity."-(Jer. Taylor's Hymn of Heaven.)

(So it hath pleased Heav'n who gave the same,)
These all to me are link'd with thy dear name.

Through thee whate'er through broken clouds hath gleam'd,
Through thee from heav'n these beams on me have stream'd.
Therefore when others talk yet I am still,

For deeper thoughts than theirs my bosom fill.

Lyra Apostolica.

Γνοῖεν δ', ὡς δὴ δηρὸν ἐγὼ πολέμοιο πέπαυμαι.

NO. XXX.

1.-JEREMIAH.

"Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans."

THEY say, "The man is false, and falls away:"
Yet sighs my soul in secret for their pride,
Tears are mine hourly food; and night and day
I plead for them, and may not be denied.

They say, "His words unnerve the warrior's hand,
And dim the statesman's eye, and disunite

The friends of Israel :" yet, in every land,

My words, to Faith, are Peace, and Hope, and Might.

They say, "The frenzied one is fain to see

Glooms of his own; and gathering storms afar-
But dungeons deep, and fetters strong have we."
Alas! heaven's lightning would ye chain and bar ?

Ye scorners of th' Eternal! wait one hour;
In His seer's weakness ye shall see His power..

2.

"I have set thee this day over the nations, and over the kingdoms."

"The Lord hath set me o'er the kings of earth,

To fasten and uproot, to build and mar;
Not by mine own fond will: else never war

Had still'd in Anathoth the voice of mirth,

Nor from my native tribe swept bower and hearth :
Ne'er had the light of Judah's royal star
Fail'd in mid heaven, nor trampling steed and car
Ceas'd from the courts that saw Josiah's birth.
"Tis not in me to give or take away,

But He who guides the thunder-peals on high,
He tunes my voice, the tones of His deep sway
Faintly to echo in the nether sky.

Therefore I bid earth's glories set or shine,
And it is so my words are sacraments divine."

:

3.

"This man is worthy to die: for he hath prophesied against this city."

"No joy of mine to invite the thunder down,
No pride, th' uprising whirlwind to survey,
How gradual from the north, with hideous frown,
It veers in silence round th' horizon grey,
And one by one sweeps the bright isles away,
Where fondly gaz'd the men of worldly peace,

Dreaming fair weather would outlast their day.
Now the big storm-drops fall-their dream must cease-
They know it well, and fain their ire would wreak
On the dread arm that wields the bolt; but He
Is out of reach, therefore on me they turn ;-
On me, that am but voice, fading and weak,

A wither'd leaf inscrib'd with heaven's decree,
And blown where haply some in fear may learn.”

4.

“I said, I will not make mention of him. . . But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire."

"

SAD privilege is mine, to shew

What hour, which way, the bitter streams will flow.
Oft have I said, ' enough-no more

To uncharm'd ears th' unearthly strain I pour!'

But the dread word its way would win,

Even as a burning fire my bones within,
And I was forc'd to tell aloud

My tale of warning to the reckless proud.
Awful warning! yet in love

Breath'd on each believing ear,

How heaven in wrath would seem to move
The landmarks of a thousand year,

And from the tablets of th' eternal sky

The covenant oath erase of God most high.
That hour, full timely was the leaf unrolled,

Which to the man belov'd the years of bondage told,
And till his people's chain should be outworn,
Assign'd him for his lot times past and times unborn."

5.

O ye remnant of Judah, go ye not into Egypt."

O sweetly tim'd, as e'er was gentle hand

Of mother prest on weeping infant's brow,

Is every sign that to his fallen land

Th' Almighty sends by prophet mourners now.
The glory from the ark is gone-
The mystic cuirass gleams no more,
In answer from the Holy One-

Low lies the Temple, wondrous store

Of mercies seal'd with blood each eve and morn;
Yet heaven hath tokens for faith's eye forlorn.

Heaven by my mouth was fain to stay

The pride that in our evil day