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THE SAVIOUR'S BIRTH.

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THE SAVIOUR'S BIRTH.

JOHN THE BAPTIST.

THE last and greatest herald of heaven's King,
Girt with rough skins, hies to the deserts wild,
Among that savage brood the woods forth bring,
Which he more harmless found than man, and mild;
His food was locusts, and what there doth spring,
With honey that from virgin hives distilled;
Parched body, hollow eyes, some uncouth thing,
Made him appear, long since from earth exiled,
There burst he forth; all ye whose hopes rely
On God, with me amidst these deserts mourn,
Repent, repent, and from old errors turn!
Who listened to his voice, obeyed his cry?
Only the echoes, which he made relent,
Rung from their flinty caves, Repent, repent!

NATIVITY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST.

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GERARD MOULTRIE, son of John Moultrie, and joint editor with Dr. Littledale of the People's Hymnal," was born in 1830. He is a graduate of Exeter College, Oxford.

The 24th of June is the day marked in the calendar as the "nativity of John the Baptist."

HERALD of Christ, the day is come,
Day by prophetic lips foretold,
When from the shadow of the tomb

The page of life shall be unrolled :
The daylight dawns: the bright beams glow:
First witness of that light art thou.

Greatest among the sons of clay,

Less than the least in heaven's domain, Last of the old world, called away

Ere God in man restores his reign: Thou seest the dawn climb up the skies, Yet mayst not see the Sun arise.

Those beams shall tint the humblest cot,
Shall flood the plains of earth with light,
Thou mayst not feel them: 'tis thy lot

To stand upon the skirts of night:
Didst thou not long to see that morn?
Rejoice: thou seest the daylight dawn.

Through the bright gates of orient pearl

Elias drives his fiery car,
On thee his mantle may unfurl
With spirit and with power from far :
Jordan for thee may part once more,
But earth lies on the farther shore.

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"From that world to bring to this Peace, which, of all earthly blisses, Is the brightest, purest bliss."

Wherefore from his throne exalted

Came he on this earth to dwell;
All his pomp an humble manger,
All his court a narrow cell?
"From that world to bring to this
Peace, which, of all earthly blisses,
Is the brightest, purest bliss."

Why did he, the Lord eternal,
Mortal pilgrim deign to be,
He who fashioned for his glory
Boundless immortality?
"From that world to bring to this
Peace, which, of all earthly blisses,
Is the brightest, purest bliss."

Well, then, let us haste to Bethlem;
Thither let us haste and rest;
For, of all Heaven's gifts, the sweetest,
Sure, is peace, the sweetest, best.

VIOLANTE DO CEO. Translated
by SIR JOHN BOWRING.

BETHLEHEM! OF NOBLEST CITIES.

"O sola magnarum urbium."

EDWARD CASWALL, to whom we are indebted for many of the very best translations from the Latin, was born at Yately, Hampshire, England, July 15, 1814, and was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he was of marked proficiency in the classics. He took orders in the Church of England, but in 1847 was received into the Catholic Church at Rome. In 1850 he was admitted to the congregation of the Oratory at Birmingham, and later was re-ordained as priest.

BETHLEHEM! of noblest cities

None can once with thee compare; Thou alone the Lord from heaven Didst for us incarnate bear.

Fairer than the sun at morning

Was the star that told his birth; To the lands their God announcing, Hid beneath a form of earth.

By its lambent beauty guided,

See, the Eastern kings appear; See them bend, their gifts to offer, Gifts of incense, gold, and myrrh.

Offerings of mystic meaning!-

Incense doth the God disclose; Gold a royal child proclaimeth;

Myrrh a future tomb foreshows.

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THE SAVIOUR'S BIRTH.

Are but as broken gleams that start,
O Light of lights, from thy deep heart:
Thyself, thyself, the wonder art!

O Counsellor four thousand years,
One question, tremulous with tears,
One awful question vexed our peers.

They asked the vault, but no one spoke;
They asked the depth, no answer woke;
They asked their hearts, that only broke.

They looked, and sometimes on the height
Far off, they saw a haze of white,
That was a storm, but looked like light.

The secret of the years is read,
The enigma of the quick and dead,
By the child-voice interpreted.
O everlasting Father, God!

Sun after sun went down, and trod
Race after race the green earth's sod,

Till generations seemed to be
But dead waves of an endless sea,
But dead leaves from a deathless tree.

But thou hast come, and now we know
Each wave hath an eternal flow,
Each leaf a lifetime after snow.

O Prince of peace! crowned, yet discrowned,
They say no war nor battle's sound
Was heard the tired world around;

They say the hour that thou didst come The trumpet's voice was stricken dumb, And no one beat the battle-drum.

Yea, still as life to them that mark,
Its poor adventure seems a bark,
Whose track is pale, whose sail is dark.

Thou who art wonderful dost fling One ray, till like a sea-bird's wing The canvas is a snowy thing;

Till the dark boat is turned to gold, The sun-lit silvered ocean rolled With anthems that are new and old,

With noble path of luminous ray From the boat slanting all the way, To the island of undying day.

And still as clouding questions swarm Around our hearts, and dimly form Their problems of the mist and storm;

And still as ages fleet, but fraught With syllables, whereby is wrought The fulness of the eternal thought;

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And when, not yet in God's sunshine. The smoke drifts from the embattled line Of warring hearts that would be thine;

We bid our doubts and passions cease, Our restless fears be stilled with these, Counsellor, Father, Prince of peace! WILLIAM ALEXANDR.

THE GUIDING STAR.
BRIGHT was the guiding star that led,
With mild benignant ray,
The Gentiles to the lowly shed
Where the Redeemer lay.

But lo, a brighter, clearer light
Now points to his abode;

It shines through sin and sorrow's night,
To guide us to our God.

Oh, haste to follow where it leads,
The gracious call obey;
Be rugged wilds, or flowery meads,
The Christian's destined way.

Oh, gladly tread the narrow path

While light and grace are given ; Who meekly follow Christ on earth, Shall reign with him in heaven.

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