First let him shun the haunts of vice,
Sin-feast, or heathen sacrifice;
Fearing the board of wealthy pride,
Or heretic, self-trusting guide,

Or where the adulterer's smiles preside.

Next, as he threads the maze of men,
Aye must he lift his witness, when
A sin is spoke in Heaven's dread face,
And none at hand of higher grace
The Cross to carry in his place.

But if he hears and sits him still,
First he will lose his hate of ill;
Next, fear of sinning, after, hate;
Small sins his heart then desecrate,
And last, despair persuades to great.

JEREMIAH.

CXXIII.

"Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans."

THEY say,

"The man is false, and falls away :"

Yet sighs my soul in secret for their pride; Tears are mine hourly food, and night and day I plead for them, and may not be denied.

They say,

"His words unnerve the warrior's hand,

And dim the statesman's eye, and disunite The friends of Israel :" yet, in every land,

My words, to Faith, are Peace, and Hope, and Might.

They say, "The frenzied one is fain to see

Glooms of his own; and gathering storms afar ;— But dungeons deep, and fetters strong have we." Alas! heaven's lightning would ye chain and bar?

Ye scorners of th' Eternal! wait one hour;
In His seer's weakness ye shall see his power

*

CXXIV.

"I have set thee this day over the nations, and over the kingdoms,"

"THE Lord hath set me o'er the kings of earth,
To fasten and uproot, to build and mar;

Not by mine own fond will: else never war
Had still'd in Anathoth the voice of mirth,
Nor from my native tribe swept bower and hearth :
Ne'er had the light of Judah's royal star

Fail'd in mid heaven, nor trampling steed and car
Ceased from the courts that saw Josiah's birth.

'Tis not in me to give or take away,

But He who guides the thunder-peals on high,
He tunes my voice, the tones of His deep sway
Faintly to echo in the nether sky.

Therefore I bid earth's glories set or shine,

And it is so my words are sacraments divine."

γ

CXXV.

"This man is worthy to die: for he hath prophesied against this city."

"No joy of mine to invite the thunder down,
No pride, th' uprising whirlwind to survey.
How gradual from the north, with hideous frown,
It veers in silence round th' horizon gray,
And one by one sweeps the bright isles away,
Where fondly gazed the men of worldly peace,

Dreaming fair weather would outlast their day. Now the big storm-drops fall-their dream must

cease

They know it well, and fain their ire would wreak
On the dread Arm that wields the bolt; but He
Is out of reach, therefore on me they turn ;-
On me, that am but voice, fading and weak,

A withered leaf inscrib'd with heaven's decree, And blown where haply some in fear may learn.”

y.

*

CXXVI.

"I said, I will not make mention of him.... But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire."

"SAD privilege is mine to show

What hour, which way, the bitter streams will flow.
Oft have I said, ' enough—no more

To uncharm'd ears th' unearthly strain I pour !'
But the dread word its way would win,
Even as a burning fire my bones within,
And I was forc'd to tell aloud

My tale of warning to the reckless proud."
Awful warning! yet in love

Breath'd on each believing ear,

How Heaven in wrath would seem to move
The landmarks of a thousand year,

And from the tablets of th' eternal sky
The covenant oath erase of God most high.

That hour, full timely was the leaf unrolled,

Which to the man belov'd the years of bondage told,
And till his people's chain should be outworn,
Assigned him for his lot times past and times unborn.