But where Thou dwellest, Lord,
No other thought should be,
Once duly welcom'd and ador'd,

How should I part with Thee?

Bethlehem must lose Thee soon, but Thou wilt

grace

The single heart to be thy sure abiding-place.

Thee, on the bosom laid
Of a pure virgin mind,

In quiet ever, and in shade,

Shepherd and sage may find;

They, who have bow'd untaught to Nature's sway, And they, who follow Truth along her star-pav'd way.

The pastoral spirits first

Approach Thee, Babe divine,

For they in lowly thoughts are nurs❜d,

Meet for thy lowly shrine:

Sooner than they should miss where Thou dost

dwell,

Angels from Heaven will stoop to guide them to thy cell.

Still, as the day comes round

For Thee to be reveal'd,

By wakeful shepherds Thou art found,

Abiding in the field.

All through the wintry heaven and chill night air, In music and in light Thou dawnest on their prayer.

O faint not ye for fear

What though your wandering sheep,
Reckless of what they see and hear,

Lie lost in wilful sleep?

High Heaven in mercy to your sad annoy Still greets you with glad tidings of immortal joy.

Think on th' eternal home,

The Saviour left for you;

Think on the Lord most holy, come
To dwell with hearts untrue :

So shall ye tread untir'd his pastoral ways,

And in the darkness sing your carol of high praise.

ST. STEPHEN'S DAY.

Ile, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Acts vii. 55,

AS rays around the source of light
Stream upward ere he glow in sight,
And watching by his future flight
Set the clear heavens on fire;

So on the King of Martyrs wait
Three chosen bands, in royal state',

And all earth owns, of good and great,

Is gather'd in that choir.

"A3

Wheatly on the Common Prayer, c. v. sect. iv. 2. there are three kinds of martyrdom, the first both in will and deed, which is the highest; the second in will but not in deed; the third in deed but not in will; so the Church commemorates these martyrs in the same order: St. Stephen first, who suffered death both in will and deed; St. John the Evangelist next, who suffered martyrdom in will but not in deed; the holy Innocents last, who suffered in deed, but not in will."

c 2

One presses on, and welcomes death :
One calmly yields his willing breath,
Nor slow, nor hurrying, but in faith
Content to die or live:

And some, the darlings of their Lord,
Play smiling with the flame and sword,
And, ere they speak, to his sure word
Unconscious witness give.

Foremost and nearest to his throne,
By perfect robes of triumph known,
And likest Him in look and tone,
The holy Stephen kneels,
With stedfast gaze, as when the sky
Flew open to his fainting eye,

Which, like a fading lamp flash'd high,
Seeing what death conceals.

Well might you guess what vision bright Was present to his raptur'd sight,

Even as reflected streams of light

Their solar source betray

The glory which our GoD surrounds, The Son of Man, th' atoning wounds

He sees them all; and earth's dull bounds
Are melting fast away.

He sees them all-no other view
Could stamp the Saviour's likeness true,
Or with his love so deep embrue

Man's sullen heart and gross

"Jesu, do Thou my soul receive:
“Jesu, do Thou my foes forgive :"
He who would learn that prayer, must live
Under the holy Cross.

He, though he seem on earth to move,
Must glide in air like gentle dove,
From yon unclouded depths above

Must draw his purer breath;

Till men behold his angel face
All radiant with celestial grace TM,
Martyr all o'er, and meet to trace

The lines of Jesus' death.

m And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Acts vi. 15.