Hymns of the Nativity

of a XUonian.

THE Christ of God hath come,
Long promised, long delayed!
True God, from heaven He cometh down;

True man, of woman made.
The Son of God is here:

O fair and welcome morn; God manifest in flesh hath come,

To us a Child is born! In lowliness He lies,

That blessed Babe of heaven; Our God for us becometh man,

To us a Son is given!

He cometh in His love,

For us on earth to live; Bearing the burden of our guilt,

For us His life to give.
O many-sided love,

So boundless and so free!
Love of the cradle and the cross,

What joy we find in thee!

He cometh in His grace,

The guilty to forgive;
He cometh in His glorious power,

That maketh dead men live.

He comes to live our life,

He comes to weep our tears, To give us sympathy in all

Our sorrows and our fears. He comes to die our death,

To enter our dark tomb, To conquer our last enemy,

And rob the grave of gloom. He cometh, clothed in light,

To bid our darkness flee; For night to give us day, for death

His immortality.

The Christ of God we sing,

The Babe of Bethlehem!
And on His infant head we place

The royal diadem.
The crown of thorns is His,

That child of poverty,
Who on this earth of ours can find

No place His head to lay. The crown of heaven is His,

And angels own Him there. The crown of earth shall yet be His,

And we that crown shall share.

H

Jibe jforeglow.

THE angel has come down,
The glory now has shone,
The shepherds see the light and hear the voice.
Fear not; behold I bring
Glad tidings of your King;
Let all the nations of the earth rejoice.

Sing a new song to-night,

Sing, all ye stars of light, The Lord of Glory leaves His glorious heaven.

To earth behold Him come

From His celestial home;
To us a Child is born, a Son is given!

O music of the past,

The sweetest and the last
Of all the notes of ages gone is this,

That tells of the great birth,

That sings of peace on earth, And man restored to more than primal bliss!

O lingering night, speed on!

Arise, thou golden sun,
And bring up in its joy the day of days,

When the eternal Word,

Creation's King and Lord, Takes flesh that He may flesh to glory raise!

0 wailing winds, be still,
O'er sea and plain and hill;

O storm and thunder, cease your tumult, cease;

And breathe, thou loving gale,

Thy odours soft exhale, To greet the coming of the Prince of Peace!

He comes to breathe our air,

Our very flesh to wear; He comes to die our death, to bear our load;

He comes to still our fears,

To wipe our falling tears, To heal and bless,—Jesus, the Son of God!

Upon yon silent peak

1 see the foreglow break,

That tells of glory earth has never known;
The glory of the King,
To whom all tribes shall bring

The homage, and the honour, and the crown.

Sing out, ye sons of men,

A louder, loftier strain!
Lift up your voice, O happy Bethlehem!

Let psalm and hymn ascend,

And with the incense blend Arising from thy shrine, Jerusalem!

«lbe Sons of Xife.

SWEET song of life! oh, sound again,—
Sound in this realm of death and pain,
A louder, sweeter, fuller strain!

Sweet song of life! breathe out again
Thy low, long, lingering refrain,
And bind us in thy blessed chain.

Be it a song of sympathies,
Knitting together good and wise,
As wave o'er wave its ripples rise.

A varied, ever-winding song,
To which all cadences belong,
Plaintive or glad, serene or strong;

The relics of an ancient lay,
The sunshine of an August day,
The grandeur of great minstrelsy.

Be it a song the soul to fill,
Its tumults to control or still,
To nerve the ever-trembling will.

Song of the everlasting age!
Our children's children's heritage;
Song of the mighty pilgrimage!

Song of the future and the past,
Of love that shall for ever last,
O'er us thy spell celestial cast.

Oh! die not down, but sweetly rise
Above the jar of broken sighs,
Above earth's din of angry cries.

Come up and fill the happy air,
Chime in with all the good and fair,
Oh! chime away all sin and care.

Awake! as once in Eden's bloom,
When Paradise contained no tomb,
Thy healing melody resume.

Pervade this being with thy strain,
Charm from our limbs this binding chain,
Let all this soul be song again.

Dear song of life! pass not away;
Fair music of eternal day,
For ever, ever with us stay!

Filled with thy solemn melody

Let sky and earth, let land and sea,

For ever and for ever be!

Cbe Cratnimi.
(from The Dutch.)

"D ELOV^D children, let the Master train you!

-L' Surely to you He meaneth nothing ill;

His love to you can never know decreasing,
He knoweth what He does,—'tis wisdom still.
Patience in heavy days of dark distress
Works out for you the heavenly blessedness.

At last to enter the eternal glory,

The dross of earth, and all life's base alloy, For ever purged by the Divine Refiner; Ah, this is bliss! this is of joys the joy! God's dearest child is he who, longest tried, Thus enters in, refined and purified.

Crg of tbe ffiee&g.

(the Annual Intercession.)

ALL the earth this day is crying
** To the Lord of all the earth;
All Thy churches, Lord, are pleading

As they wait the glorious birth,—
Birth of the new earth and heavens,

Long deferred, but promised long,—
Birth of nations to the glory

That shall fill all lands with song.

Never was the world more needy,

Human hearts more sad and poor; Crying blindly for a healer,

Seeking not the heavenly cure. Never was the harvest greater;

Yet the reapers, where are they? Far and few, where most are needed,

Fainting in the heat of day.

Father, in this day of weakness,

Weary hand, and fainting knee, In this hour of fear and darkness,

Now for help we turn to Thee! Let the sighing of the needy

Come into Thy listening ear; Let Thy people, in their pleading,

Know Thee gracious, find Thee near!

These our cries of sin and weakness

On Thy mercy-seat we lay,
To Thy heavenly love appealing,

There we leave them, Lord, this day. There the sprinkled blood shall own them

As we lay them at Thy feet, Perfumed with the priestly fragrance,

Incense ever pure and sweet.

Montreux. Jan. 1873.

let there is •Room.

WET there is room! The Lamb's bright hall of

¹ song, With its fair glory, beckons thee along.

Room, room, still room; oh, enter, enter now!

Day is declining, and the sun is low,
The shadows lengthen, light makes haste to go.
Room, room, still room; oh, enter, enter now!

The bridal hall is filling for the feast;
Pass in, pass in, and be the Bridegroom's guest.
Room, room, still room; oh, enter, enter now!

It fills, it fills, that hall of jubilee;
Make haste, make haste, 't is not too full for thee.
Room, room, still room; oh, enter, enter now!

Yet there is room! Still open stands the gate,—
The gate of love; it is not yet too late.

Room, room, still room; oh, enter, enter now!

Oh, enter in! That banquet is for thee;
That cup of everlasting joy is free.

Room, room, still room; oh, enter, enter now!

All heaven is there, all joy; go in, go in!
The angels beckon thee the prize to win.

Room, room, still room; oh, enter, enter now!

Louder and sweeter sounds the loving call; Come, lingerer, come, enter that festal hall. Room, room, still room; oh, enter, enter now!

Ere night that gate may close, and seal thy doom;

Then the last, low, long cry, 'No room, no room!'

No room, no room; O woful cry, 'No room!'

1Re=ftnitte& Companionship.

UPON this earth we lived and loved;
Ours was a fellowship of light:
The outer circle might be dark,

But all within was fair and bright,-—
A day without a night!

The friendship grew apace, and heart
Was knit to heart each gentle day

With closer bonds of truth, which seemed
As if they never could decay.
Years stole in light away!

The earth was bright to us; the sky
Bent overhead in beauty; all

Around us was a paradise.

Our sun knew neither cloud nor fall;
Life was one festival!

We said, as onward still we walked,
'This oneness cannot change or fade;

To-morrow shall be as to-day,

With brightness everywhere inlaid.'
Our spirits knew no shade.

With never-weary feet we swept
The dewy dawn, or at sweet eve

Wandered at will; life's golden links
Thus daily did we interweave.
This was for us to live!

One faith, one hope was ours,—the faith
That can the cloudiest night illume,

That seeth the unseen; the hope
That looks into the joy to come,
Foredating rest and home!

We parted: one went up, to be
Where partings are forgotten; where

Life in its fulness dwells; where love

Breathes its bright perfume through the air,
And every face is fair.

And I was left behind, to wait
A solemn while on earth, to long

For the eternal meeting, where
All sing together with one tongue
The everlasting song!

The earth is lonelier now, when he
Who walked with me its ways is gone;

But soon the loneliness is o'er,
The blank forgotten and unknown;
Not long, not long alone!

to be £ntreate&.
John iv. 10.

HARD to be won! No, no, that cannot be!
Easy to be entreated, such is He!
Kind, meek, and lowly, seeking not His own,
Thinking no evil, thinking love alone.

Swift to forgive and eager still to hear,
Bidding the far-off prodigal draw near:
'Thou wouldst have ask'd, and I, —I would have

given.'
This surely is the very gate of heaven!

No distance, and no darkness, and no frown;
He speaks in grace and pity all His own:
'What wiliest thou that I should do to thee?'
'Lord, that these eyes of mine the light may see!'

Oh, willingness above all willingness to give!
To speak the word that maketh dead men live;
To give the touch that healeth every ill;
To say to the wild tempest, 'Peace, be still!'

See, in His hand the cup of blessing, see!
All that large fulness, sinner, is for thee.
Oh, take it, as with love it overflows;
Oh, drink it! 't is the cure of all thy woes.

See how He waits to meet the coming one,
To clasp in His embrace the long-lost son!
How glad to succour in life's sore distress,
To soothe to rest each child of weariness!

How ready with His pardon and His peace,
His love, His light, and all His heaven of bliss!
Try Him; He will not, cannot say thee nay:
Trust Him, though heaven and earth should pass
away.

*

JUleep in 3esus.

THEY did not die!
They only fell asleep,
After their long day's heavy toil
Their rest is soft and deep.

They fell asleep!

And, round their peaceful bed,
Jesus the curtains of the grave

Has with His own hand spread.

And yet they wake!

Theirs is a waking sleep,
In Him whose faithful love shall watch,

And His beloved keep.

No troubled dreams!

Sweet is the rest they take,
In conscious fellowship with Him

In whom they sleep or wake.

Farewell, we say,

Until the morning light;
Brief are the hours of such a sleep;

Beloved ones, good-night!

Cbe Sailor's Xitang.

REAT Ruler of the land and sea,
Almighty God, we come to Thee,
Able to succour and to save
From perils of the wind and wave.
Keep by Thy mighty hand, oh, keep
The dwellers on the homeless deep!

Speak to the shadows of the night,

And turn their darkness into light;

Smooth down the breaker's rising crest,

Say to the billow, Be at rest!

Keep by Thy mighty hand, oh, keep
The dwellers on the homeless deep!

Soothe the rough ocean's troubled face.
And bid the hurricane give place
To the soft breeze that wafts the barque
Safely alike through light and dark.
Keep by Thy mighty hand, oh, keep
The dwellers on the homeless deep!

In storm or battle, with Thine arm
Shield Thou the mariner from harm;
From foes without, from ills within,
From deeds, and words, and thoughts of sin.
Keep by Thy mighty hand, oh, keep
The dwellers on the homeless deep!

O Son of God, in days of ill
Say to each sorrow, Peace, be still!
In hours of weakness be Thou nigh,
Heal Thou the sickness, hear the cry.
Keep by Thy mighty hand, oh, keep
The dwellers on the homeless deep!

When hidden is each guiding-star,

Flash out the beacon's light afar;

From mist, and rock, and shoal, and spray,

Protect the sailor on his way..

Keep by Thy mighty hand, oh, keep
The dwellers on the homeless deep!

Defend from the quick lightning's stroke,
And from the iceberg's crushing shock;
Take Thou the helm, and surely guide
The wanderer o'er the wayward tide.
Keep by Thy mighty hand, oh, keep
The dwellers on the homeless deep!

Good Pilot of the awful main,

Let us not plead Thy love in vain;

Jesus, draw near with kindly aid,

Say, It is I, be not afraid.

Keep by Thy mighty hand, oh, keep
The dwellers on the homeless deep!

jfingal's Cave.

'Objectae salsa spumant asperginecantes.'—
Virg. Aen. iii. 334.

BOOMING in, booming in!
Hear the slow and sullen wave
Of these waters never-resting,

As they ripple, as they rave,
Waking up the hollow silence

Of that solitary cave, Which leans like chiselled tombstone

O'er some unforgotten grave, Or floats like hull forsaken,

Which no pilot's skill could save, Or frowns like ruined fortress,

Once the dwelling of the brave.

Rushing up, rushing round!

See the surges swell and leap, Charging full each giant column

Of these cliffs so strange and steep; Falling back upon each other,

As with restless rush they sweep, O'er each rock-shelf blindly flinging

Mingled foam and tangle-heap; Or into calm soft-sinking,

See the wavelets gently creep,— Coming, going, rising, falling,

Half awake and half asleep,— O'er that pavement so fantastic,

The mosaic of the deep.

Wailing low, wailing loud!

With its sorrowful refrain,
Moaneth deep that gale of shadows,

Like a dirge above the slain;
In the calm or in the tempest,

In the sunshine or the rain,
In the soothing summer zephyr,

Or the wintry hurricane,
With the starlight in its bosom,

Or the thunder in its train,
Through these columns of the desert,

The Palmyra of the main.

Sounding on, sounding still!

In the night and in the day,
In the morn's fair flush of splendour,

In the evening calm and grey,
Beneath the sun's noon glory,

Or the moon's serener ray,
When all other sounds are silent,

And man is far away:
None to hear the mighty music,

But the sea-fowl on the spray,
Or the ear above that listens

To His own creation's lay.

Oban. Aug. 1874.

St. A.vb'& Head.

NOON! yet no sunshine! Somewhere outside the sun

Is wandering. Everywhere
The wan mist gathers, and its heavy breath

Thickens the summer air.
Vainly the pilot holds the obedient helm,

Or quits it in despair.

Then bursts the fog-horn's penetrating note, 'Beware, beware!'

The moon is up, full moon, yet not a gleam

On headland, tower, or tree;
No pearl-edged cloud alights upon the peak,

No silver on the sea.
Out sounds the fog-horn through the thickening

shade,

Thrice welcome messenger, As with weird spectre-voice it wildly shouts, 'Beware, beware!'

T is night, deep night! With careful hands they

light

The beacon's welcome blaze.
In vain, in vain; it cannot penetrate
The impenetrable haze,
o

Or help to guide the helpless mariner

Through the bewildering maze. Oh, worse than darkness, sea-mist swallowing up

All light's divinest rays! Then rushes out the fog-horn's frantic note, 'Beware, beware!'

Oh, mist more terrible than winter-storm,

More perilous than darkness of the night,
Palsying the pilot's skill, and making vain

The trusted potency of light!
Art thou now settling down upon our world,

Mocking the age which man has named the

bright? One hope remains, though sad, the fog-horn's note,

Like voice of one far out of mortal sight,— The voice that crieth in the wilderness,

To time's bemisted traveller, 'Beware, beware!'

The mist has gathered round us on all sides,

Stifling the burdened air,
Dissolving sun, and sea, and cliff

In one unmeaning glare,
From the vast varied vision of the deep

Effacing all things fair.
Shadows and chaos seem returned to earth,

But let not faith despair;
Above, beyond this mist, unquenchable,

The Light is everywhere!

Sept. 1877.

Watcb=lRigbt.

WATCH, brethren, watch!
The year is dying;
Watch, brethren, watch!

Old Time is flying.

Watch as men watch the parting breath, Watch as men watch for life or death. Eternity is drawing nigh, Eternity, eternity!

Pray, brethren, pray!

The sands are falling;
Pray, brethren, pray!

God's voice is calling.
Yon turret strikes the dying chime,
We kneel upon the edge of Time.
Eternity is drawing nigh,
Eternity, eternity!

Praise, brethren, praise!

The skies are rending;
Praise, brethren, praise!

The fight is ending.
Behold, the glory draweth near,
The King Himself will soon be here!
Eternity is drawing nigh,
Eternity, eternity!

Look, brethren, look!

The day is breaking;
Hark, brethren, hark!

The dead are waking.
With girded loins we ready stand,
Behold, the Bridegroom is at hand!
Eternity is drawing nigh,
Eternity, eternity!