HERRICK'S ODE.

A willing shiner, that shall shine as gladly,
As frost-nipt suns look sadly.

Then we will sing, and shine all our own day,
And one another pay:

His beams shall cheer my breast, and both so twine,
Till even his beams sing, and my music shine.

39

Robert Herrick, that jovial poet, and simple-hearted man, who, in his Hesperides,' sang

Of brooks, of blossoms, birds, and bowers,

Of April, May, of June, and July flowers,

The

tuned his lyre with a sometimes amazing freshness and piquancy of devotion for the accompaniment of his 'Noble Numbers.' very soul of Herrick seemed one flower-bed; although a flower-bed from the corners of which a flaunting weed was not uniformly excluded. The following dewy poem is in keeping with the naïve simplicity of his poetic genius, and the devoutness of his religious inspiration. It is entitled 'An Ode of the Birth of our Saviour :'—

In numbers, and but these few,
I sing Thy birth, oh JESU!
Thou prettie Babie, borne here,
With superabundant scorn here;
Who for Thy princely port here,
Hadst for Thy place
Of birth, a base
Out-stable for Thy court here.

Instead of neat inclosures
Of interwoven osiers;
Instead of fragrant posies
Of daffodills and roses,
Thy cradle, kingly stranger,
As Gospel tells,
Was nothing els,

But, here, a homely manger.
But we with silks, not cruells,
With sundry precious jewells,
And lilly-work will dress Thee;
And as we dispossesse Thee
Of clouts, wee'l make a chamber,
Sweet Babe, for Thee,

Of ivorie,

And plaistered round with amber.

The Jewes, they did disdaine Thee;
But we will entertaine Thee

With glories to await here,

Upon Thy princely state here,
And more for love than pittie :
From yeere to yeere

Wee'l make Thee, here,

A free-born of our citie.

Our next specimen is taken from the 'Hymns and Songs of the Church,' of the more sedate Wither. The author has prefixed to it, in that work, a prose abstract of the great Christmas doctrine, and an exhortation to the hospitality and charity of Christmas practice. This day,' he says, 'is worthily dedicated to be observed in remembrance of the blessed Nativity of our Redeemer Jesus Christ; at which time it pleased the Almighty Father to send his only-begotten Son into the world for our sakes; and by an unspeakable union to join in one person God and man, without confusion of natures, or possibility of separation. To express, therefore, our thankfulness and the joy we ought to have in this love of God, there hath been anciently, and is yet continued (above other countries), a neighbourly and plentiful hospitality in inviting, and (without invitation) receiving unto our well-furnished tables, our tenants, neighbours, friends, and strangers, to the honour of our nation, and increase cf amity and free-hearted kindness among us. But, most of all, to the refreshing of the bowels of the poor, being the most Christian use of such festivals, which charitable and good English custom hath of late been seasonably re-advanced by his Majesty's gracious care, in commanding our nobility and gentry to repair (especially at such times) to their country mansions.'

As on the night before this blessed morn

A troop of Angels unto shepherds told,'
Where in a stable He was poorly born,
Whom nor the earth nor heavens can hold ;
Through Bethlehem rung

The news at their return;

Yea, Angels sung

That God with us was born:

And they made mirth because we should not mourn.

Chorus.

Their Angels' carol sing we then,
To God on high all glory be;
For peace on earth bestoweth He,
And showeth favour unto men.

This favour Christ vouchsafeth for our sake;
To buy us thrones He in a manger lay;

Our weakness took, that we His strength might take,
And was disrobed, that He might us array:

Our flesh He wore,

Our sin to wear away:

Our curse He bore,

That we escape it may;

And wept for us, that we might sing for aye.

With Angels, therefore, sing again,
To God on high all glory be;
For peace on earth bestoweth He,
And showeth favour unto men.

'CHRIST'S BIRTH' AND 'THE ANGELS' SONG. 4I

We select the following specimen from the 'seasonable' poems of Bishop Jeremy Taylor, called Festival Hymns,' celebrating the mysteries and chief festivals of the year, according to the manner of the ancient church, fitted to the fancy and devotion of the younger and pious persons, apt for memory and to be joined to their other prayers.' It is the bishop's third hymn for Christmas, and has for its theme, 'Christ's Birth in an Inn :'

The blessed Virgin travailed without pain,
And lodged in an inn,

A glorious star the sign,

But of a greater guest than ever came that way;
For there He lay,

That is the God of night and day,

And over all the powers of Heaven doth reign.
It was the time of great Augustus' tax,

And then He comes

That pays all sums,

Even the whole price of lost humanity.
And sets us free

From the ungodly emperie

Of sin, and Satan, and of death.

O make our hearts, blest God, Thy dwelling-place,
And in our breast

Be pleased to rest,

For Thou lov'st temples better than an inn,

And cause that sin

May not profane the Deity within,

And sully o'er the ornaments of grace. Amen.

The poetic literature of America, so far as it combines vigour and originality of conception with correctness and beauty of expression, is the almost exclusive product of times subsequent to the Declaration of Independence. But since that event, and especially during the last and the present generations, America has made good her claims to be considered a fruitful and tender nursing-mother of the Muses. We derive from one of her poets, the Rev. Edmund H. Sears, D.D., the Christmas hymn with which we conclude this chapter. If we had arranged our poetic illustrations of the season according to the order of Christmas events, instead of according to the chronological order of their production, we should have commenced, instead of leaving off, with 'The Angels' Song.'

It came upon the midnight clear,

That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold.

'Peace to the earth, good-will to men,
From Heaven's all-gracious King :'
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world :
Above its sad and lonely plains

They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man at war with man hears not
The love-song which they bring ;
Oh! hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!

And ye, beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps, and slow:

Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing:

Oh! rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!

For, lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet-bards foretold,
When, with the ever-circling years,
Comes round the age of gold:

When Peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendours fling,

And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.

St. Stephen's Day.

DECEMBER 26.

HE great Festival of Easter is the only Christian commemoration which rests upon absolute Scripture precept and Apostolic injunction :-' Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast' (1 Cor. v. 7, 8). For no other specific day, whether an anniversary in honour of Christ or of one of His followers, can so venerable a sanction be brought forward. Nevertheless, the feasts of the Martyrs may, in the aggregate, claim something like the prestige of an Apostolic exhortation. Remember them,' says St. Paul, which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation' (Heb. xiii. 7).*

'It is not without reason that St. Paul is thought hereby chiefly to hint at the martyrdom of St. James, the Bishop of Jerusalem, who not long before had laid down his life for the testimony of Jesus. Hence proceeded the great reverence people then had for those who suffered for the profession of Christianity, and laid down their lives for the confirmation of it.'t The martyrs were affectionately revered as the disciples and followers of their Lord; and on account of their exceeding great devotion to Him it was thought becoming to do all possible honour to their memories, whether as a tribute to which they were justly entitled as the posthumous reward of their virtue, or for the purpose of encouraging others to like patience and fortitude.

*The above passage is more conclusive in the Greek; our English version having the misfortune of ambiguity in two or three particulars. Mμovεvεtε τῶν ηγουμένων υμῶν, οἵτινες ἐλάλησαν υμῖν τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ· ὧν ἀναθεωροῦντες τὴν ἔκβασιν τῆς ̓αναστροφῆς, μιμεῖσθε τὴν πίστιν. + Nelson's Festivals and Fasts; Preliminary Instructions.