And woe for him, whose wakeful soul,
With lone aspirings fill'd,

Would have lived o'er some immortal scroll,
While the sounds of earth were still'd.

And yet a deeper woe,

For the watchers by the bed,

Where the fondly loved, in pain lay low,
And rest forsook the head.

For the mother, doom'd unseen to keep
By the dying babe her place,
And to feel its flitting pulse, and weep,
Yet not behold its face!

Darkness, in chieftain's hall!

Darkness, in peasant's cot!

While Freedom, under that shadowy pall,
Sat mourning o'er her lot.

Oh! the fireside's peace we well may prize,
For blood hath flow'd like rain,
Pour'd forth to make sweet sanctuaries
Of England's homes again!

Heap the yule-faggots high,

Till the red light fills the room! It is home's own hour, when the stormy sky Grows thick with evening gloom.

Gather ye round the holy hearth,

And by its gladdening blaze,

Unto thankful bliss we will change our mirth, With a thought of the olden days.

HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS:

OH! lovely voices of the sky
Which hymn'd the Saviour's birth,
ye not singing still on high,
Ye that

Are

sang, "Peace on earth"? To us yet speak the strains

Wherewith, in time gone by,

Ye bless'd the Syrian swains,

Oh! voices of the sky!

Oh! clear and shining light, whose beams That hour Heaven's glory shed, Around the palms, and o'er the streams,

And on the shepherd's head.

Be near, through life and death,

As in that holiest night
Of hope, and joy, and faith-

Oh! clear and shining light!

Oh! star which led to Him, whose love Brought down man's ransom freeWhere art thou ?-'midst the host above, May we still gaze on thee?

In Heaven thou art not set,
Thy rays earth may not dim
Send them to guide us yet,

Oh! star which led to Him!

25

CHRIST STILLING THE TEMPEST.

"But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves; for the wind was contrary."

St. Matthew, xiv. 24:

FEAR was within the tossing bark,
When stormy winds grew loud;
And waves came rolling high and dark,
And the tall mast was bow'd.

And men stood breathless in their dread,
And baffled in their skill-

But One was there, who rose and said
To the wild sea, "Be still!"

And the wind ceased-it ceased!-that word
Pass'd through the gloomy sky;
The troubled billows knew their Lord,
And sank beneath his eye.

And slumber settled on the deep,

And silence on the blast,

As when the righteous falls asleep,

When death's fierce throes are past.

Thou that didst rule the angry hour,
And tame the tempest's mood-
Oh! send thy spirit forth in power,
O'er our dark souls to brood!

Thou that didst bow the billow's pride, Thy mandates to fulfil

Speak, speak to passion's raging tide, Speak and say "Peace, be still! ”