EVENING.

Abide with us, for it is towards evening, and the day is far spent.

St. Luke xxiv. 29.

'TIS gone, that bright and orbed blaze,
Fast fading from our wistful gaze;

Yon mantling cloud has hid from sight
The last faint pulse of quivering light.

In darkness and in weariness

The traveller on his way must press,
No gleam to watch on tree or tower,
Whiling away the lonesome hour.

Sun of my soul! Thou Saviour dear,
It is not night if Thou be near:
Oh may no earth-born cloud arise
To hide Thee from thy servant's eyes.

When round thy wondrous works below
My searching rapturous glance I throw,

Tracing out Wisdom, Power, and Love, In earth or sky, in stream or grove ;—

Or by the light thy words disclose Watch Time's full river as it flows, Scanning thy gracious Providence, Where not too deep for mortal sense:—

When with dear friends sweet talk I hold,

And all the flowers of life unfold ;

Let not my heart within me burn,
Except in all I Thee discern.

When the soft dews of kindly sleep
My wearied eyelids gently steep,
Be my last thought, how sweet to rest
For ever on my Saviour's breast.

Abide with me from morn till eve,
For without Thee I cannot live:
Abide with me when night is nigh,
For without Thee I dare not die.

Thou Framer of the light and dark,

Steer through the tempest thine own ark :

Amid the howling wintry sea
We are in port if we have Thee".

The Rulers of this Christian land,
'Twixt Thee and us ordained to stand,—
Guide Thou their course, O Lord, aright,
Let all do all as in thy sight.

Oh by thine own sad burthen, borne
So meekly up the hill of scorn,

Teach Thou thy Priests their daily cross
To bear as thine, nor count it loss!

If some poor wandering child of thine
Have spurn'd, to-day, the voice divine,
Now, Lord, the gracious work begin;
Let him no more lie down in sin.

Watch by the sick: enrich the poor

With blessings from thy boundless store :
Be every mourner's sleep to-night

Like infant's slumbers, pure and light.

b Then they willingly received Him into the ship: and immediately

the ship was at the land whither they went. St. John vi. 21.

Come near and bless us when we wake,
Ere through the world our way we take :
Till in the ocean of thy love

We lose ourselves in heaven above.

ADVENT SUNDAY.

Now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Romans xiii. 11.

AWAKE-again the Gospel-trump is blown

From year to year it swells with louder tone,
From year to year the signs of wrath

Are gathering round the Judge's path,

Strange words fulfill'd, and mighty works achiev'd,
And truth in all the world both hated and believ'd.

Awake! why linger in the gorgeous town,
Sworn liegemen of the Cross and thorny crown?
Up from your beds of sloth for shame,

Speed to the eastern mount like flame,

Nor wonder, should ye find your King in tears,
Even with the loud Hosanna ringing in his ears.

Alas! no need to rouse them long ago

They are gone forth, to swell Messiah's show:
With glittering robes and garlands sweet

They strew the ground beneath his feet:

All but hearts are there—O doom'd to prove

your

The arrows wing'd in Heaven for Faith that will not love!

Meanwhile He paces through th' adoring crowd,
Calm as the march of some majestic cloud,

That o'er wild scenes of ocean-war

Holds its still course in heaven afar :

Even so, heart-searching Lord, as years roll on,
Thou keepest silent watch from thy triumphal throne:

Even so, the world is thronging round to gaze

On the dread vision of the latter days,

Constrain'd to own Thee, but in heart

Prepared to take Barabbas' part:

"Hosanna" now, to-morrow "Crucify,"

The changeful burden still of their rude lawless cry.

Yet in that throng of selfish hearts untrue
Thy sad eye rests upon thy faithful few,

Children and childlike souls are there,
Blind Bartimeus' humble prayer,