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Hark! now the song is louder still,

While through the heavens these words resound,

"He once was dead, but now he lives

"He once was lost, but now is found."

Then shall we still go on to sin,

And choose this earth instead of heaven?

No, let us give our hearts to God,

And have our sins, through Christ forgiven.

Then, when a few more suns have set,
When death at last shall close our eyes,
The joy of angels shall increase,

As up to yonder heaven we rise.

Isle of Wight.

ALBERT.

A BRITISH TRIUMPH IN THE OLDEN TYME. [When the VICTORS AT AZINCOUR returned to England, they were met at the old Watering of St. Thomas, in the Kent-road, on the 23rd November, 1415, with much pomp and circumstance. "The Maior of London," says Hollingshed "and the aldermen, apparelled in orient grained scarlet; and four hundred commoners clad in beautiful murtie, well mounted and trimlie horssed, with rich collars and great chaines, met the king at Blackheath rejoising at his return and the clergy of London, with rich crosses, sumptuous copes and massie censers received him at St Thomas a Waterings with solemn procession."

Old John Lydgate the monk of Bury, a contemporary writer, has described this pageant with considerable enthusiasm, and some poetic feeling. A free paraphrase of his verses, as far as they are connected with this place, follows. The opening of the fifth stanza relates to St. Thomas a Watering, though it is not mentioned by name.]

THE king from Eltham rode, and with him came
His pris'ners, noble lords, and men of name;
And as he reached Blackheath, with anxious eyes
Beneath his feet, beheld the city rise.

"Hail royal London!" he exclaimed with joy,

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"Christ keep thee still from all that dare annoy!'
And, as he blessed it, made the wish a prayer,
Commending it to his dear Saviour's care.
Wete ye right well, that thus it ought to be
Glory to Thee, most holy Trinity!

The mayor and aldermen, in scarlet dight,
With rev'rence bowed before th' entrancing sight.
"Hail!" said the mayor, "thou conqueror, all hail!
"The grace of God has made thine arms prevail.

"Hail duke! hail prince! hail comely king! once more
"To the proud precincts of the British shore!
"Ruler of realms, and worthiest lord of all,

"Thy God except, before thy face we fall,
"And to the fairest flower of knighthood raise
"The shout of welcome, and the voice of praise !"
Wete ye right well, that thus it ought to be,
Glory to Thee, most holy Trinity!

"Here all your city has come forth to meet
"Their victor-king, and worship at his feet,
"To magnify his name, and welcome give
"To him for whom we die, for whom we live!"
"Graunt mercy, sires," the gracious king replied,
As forth tow'rd London he began to ride;
And thus, upon St. Clement's day, with song
And shout, and glad array, they moved along.
Wete ye right well, that thus it ought to be,
Glory to Thee, most holy Trinity!

The lordly flower of France, in wild amaze
Beheld this pageantry with solemn gaze;

"It fares," they said, (how well we know !)" with these
"Our English foes, as with a swarm of bees;
"Just like a hive, the land its myriads yields-
"Their stings, how fatal on our battle fields!
"So keen, so quick, that, girded for the fight
"Our harness proves no barrier to their might."
Wete ye right well, that thus it ought to be,
Glory to Thee, most holy Trinity!

Onward they moved; but ere the bridge they gain,
To meet the pomp, came forth a priestly train;
"King of the English, hail!" with conscious pride,
"Flower of the earth, and knight of God!" they cried.
Now as they reach the bridge, on either hand
High o'er the gate, behold a giant stand,
In stern defiance frowning on the foe
To bid the French becoming deference show.
Wete ye right well, that thus it ought to be,
Glory to Thee, most holy Trinity!

The drawbridge, now, that moving host comes nigh,
Where two fair tow'rs rear their proud forms on high,

An antelope and lion placed beside,

And over them, Saint George, the nation's pride,
Circled by saints, who cease not to proclaim
"Blessed is he, who cometh in God's name;

"The grace of God, with God's own knight doth spring,
"And triumphs with the conquests of our king!”

Wete ye right well that thus it ought to be,
Glory to Thee, most holy Trinity!

ON A CEDAR TREE,

Now growing in the west of England, which is said to have been brought, when young, from Lebanon,

A GLORY doth enshrine thee, cedar tree!
That thou to Lebanon dost owe thy birth;

That thy young roots first shot in holy earth;
Therefore, thou art a charm, a mystery.

It is for this, so oft we gaze on thee,

Though few fair branches do from thee outspring;
No shelter now" for fowl of every wing,'

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As thou in thine own mountain site would be!
No shadowing shroud in this, the stranger clime;
Thou standst not towering in thy height sublime.
Yet even in thy native soil, they say
Thou livest now; but on thine old renown-
"Lebanon is ashamed and hewéd down,"t
She is become a trembling, a decay.
"A child may number thee," so few thou art,
For God hath said thy glory shall depart.

THE EARTH IS NOT MY REST.
THIS world is not my home; delightful thought!
I'm but a stranger, and a pilgrim here;
Where every sweet is with some bitter fraught;
Where hope is followed by a restless fear.
Enjoyment here, in all its forms, alas!
Is subject to the force of dire decay;
Pleasures, though long anticipated, pass
Swift as the fleeting moments of a day.

*Ezekiel xvii. 23. † Isaiah xxxiii. 9.

E. L. A.

'Tis vain to wish for solid happiness,
It cannot live in such a soil as earth;
Experience shews me, that unsullied bliss
Is an exotic of celestial birth.

Then why should objects of a transient date,
Employ these powers design'd for nobler joys;
And why should blessings so divinely great,
Be held in contrast with mere trifling toys?

Time bears me onward to the world above,
'Tis only there that sweet perennials grow,
And from the fountain of eternal love
Refreshing streams through all its borders flow.

O happy land of never fading light!
Would that the warfare of this world was o'er !
How gladly would I take my farewell flight,
Cross the dark flood, and gain thy peaceful shore.

My best affections are already there,

And soon, how soon! th' unshackled soul would be
Released from all disquietude and care,

And rais'd to light and immortality!

Then onward let me press with strength renewed,
Content a little longer here to roam-

Till, every foe o'ercome, and sin subdued
I burst my fetters and reclaim my home!

Lambeth.

BLISS.

CATHERINE.

SAY, where shall bliss be found? in vain we scale
Etherial heights, or tread the lowly vale;
O'er ocean's foaming crest direct our course,
Or track the rushing torrent to its source,
Pace the wild desert o'er, or hardier try
To brave the horrors of a polar sky;
Pierce the thick umbrage of primeval woods,
Or thread the mazes of the silver floods.
In vain Golconda spreads her glittering store
Of adamantine gems renowned of yore,
That, like the spangles on night's glowing vest,
Each in its turn irradiates the rest.

In vain, Arabia spreads her balmy strand,

Ten thousand odours deck her spicy land;

And sable Afric pours her gold in vain,(7

And spreads her treasures on the arid plain.
In vain we seek it here, in vain we roam,
And find full oft this earth is not our home;
That real bliss, an inmate of the skies,
The scenes of mingled strife and error flies;
That nought below can satisfy the soul,
And only he who formed can make it whole.

E. S. E.

TRUE WISDOM.

They, and they only, are accounted wise,
Who seek for happiness beyond the skies;
And ever mindful of their latter end,
Secure an interest in the sinner's Friend.
Reader! be this thy first, thy constant care,
Trust thou in Christ alone, and thou shalt share

Pardon and peace on earth, and joys above,

Where nought but praise is heard, nought felt but love.

HEREAFTER.

EAR hath not heard the songs that rise

From heav'n's adoring companies,

Eye hath not dared that burning light
Where saintly myriads "walk in white,"
Nor can the heart's imaginings
Conceive of half these glorious things.

Yet this we know-the straitened heart
Though now we witness but in part,
Ere long will overflow with bliss,
For we shall see Him as he is;
Him, who ascended up on high,
And captive led captivity.

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