O'er his pale brow, seek not his mood
Too curiously to scan;

Enough, his faith was unsubdu’d,

Remember he was man.

Enough, that in each change that pass'd,
Like summer cloud in air,

Across his mind, his eye was cast
To heaven in silent prayer.

Oh! ever in this vale of tears,
'Mid griefs, and agonies, and fears,
The heart, no other ray that cheers,
Will still find comfort there.

4.

"No, Phurah, no," (for lingering by Phurah observ'd his master's eye,

To read his purpose there;

If lion-heart and stedfast will,

E'en in that hour could trample still
On danger and despair ;)

"No, my good Phurah, think not now," "Twas thus his master spoke,

"To see the soul of Gideon bow

Once more beneath the yoke;

I turn not back, I falter not,
Till Israel's sufferings are forgot

In freedom or the grave;

Till I shall either cease to be,

Or cease to be a slave.

Yet tho' I've girt me for this hour,
And death itself have not the pow'r
To bend me from my way;

I say not that I do not feel

Some anxious doubts for Israel's weal,
In the dread game we play.

Yes! fears will rise!-Yet wherefore fear,
As if the Lord refused to hear?.

Oh, hard of heart! and can I still
Presume to doubt the heavenly will?
Have I so soon forgot the morn,

When first the summons came,
That raised the Abi-ezrite's horn,
(The humblest of his name),
Brought him from poverty and scorn,
And gave him power and fame?

VI.

'Twas when the prophet raised on high,
By heaven's command, the warning cry;
I stood by our ancestral oak",

And slave-like crouching to the yoke,

Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. Judges vi. 15.

7 And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite; and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the wine-press, to hide it from the Midianites. Judges vi. 11.

Our niggard store of grain prepared,
The gleanings of the land,
Which oversight, not pity, spared

From the destroyer's hand.

So sunk, alas, is Israel now,

E'en honest toil must hide his brow,

And bend, as guilt should bend, the head,
To earn our wives', our children's bread!
Like war-horse fretting on the rein,
My spirit loathed the servile stain,
And burned, in its indignant mood,
To wash away that stain in blood.
“And shall we ne'er be free again,”
I cried, "has Jeshurun no men,
Have Israelites no sword,

8

To man one rush against the foe,
To make one struggle, strike one blow,
For freedom and the Lord?

The Lord! We may no longer claim
As Israel's shield that sacred name:
Alas, from his rebellious race
The Lord, offended, hides his face.
Oh Israel, Israel, from thy brow
The glory is departed now!

Land of the prophet, patriarch, saint,
In vain I pour the loud complaint,

Thyself has sunk thee thus!

8 Man but a rush against Othello's breast, and he retires. SHAKSP.

Why should we murmur at the rod?
"Tis we who have forsaken God,

Not God forsaken us.

How long, O Lord, shall heathen spurn,
How long thy people wrong?

Oh, wilt thou ne'er again return?
Will thy hot wrath for ever burn?
How long, O Lord, how long?"

VII.

I rais'd my eyelids as I spoke,
When lo, beneath that aged oak

A stranger sitting by9!

Phurah, thou needest not again
Be told of what I knew not then,

That guest was from on high!
It shames me now to think how cold
I listen'd, as the angel told
Of wrath denounced against the foe,
Spake peace to me, and bade me go

To smite them in my might1o:
Nay, deigned a sign to chase my woe,
Then vanish'd from my sight.

9 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh, my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? &c. Judges vi. 12, 13.

10 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? &c. Judges vi. 14, 15.

But when I knew the heavenly guest",
Unwonted terror seiz'd my breast

And death itself seemed nigh;
Till, fraught with mercy, from above
Came the blest words of peace and love,
"Fear not, thou shalt not die!"

That night I girt me to fulfil,

Strong in His strength, His holy will,
And where Idolatry had trod,
To magnify the living God.

Bear witness, groves unholy burn'd,

Baal's priests defied, his shrines o'erturn'd,
Bear witness too, the name I bear,

If Jerub-baal falter'd there,

In that avenging night.

Vainly might Baal against me plead,

In vain his servants curse the deed;

Unneeded all, mine honour'd Sire,

12

E'en thy bold words that sham'd their ire12;

No, they were impotent to harm

Him, whom the God of Jacob's arm

Protected from their might.

And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face. And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. Judges vi. 22.

12 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal ? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death while it is yet morning.......... Therefore on that day he called him Jerub-baal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar. Judges vi. 30—32.