An ox, and mule, stand and behold,-
And wonder,

That a stable should enfold

Him, that can thunder.

Chorus. O what a gracious God have we!

How good, how great! —ev'n as our misery.

The third Hymn: of Christ's Birth in an Inn.

THE blessed Virgin travail'd without pain,
And lodged in an inn;

A glorious star the sign,

But of a greater guest than ever came that way;·
For there He lay,

That is the God of night and day,

And over all the pow'rs of heaven doth reign.
It was the time of great Augustus' tax,

And then he comes,

That pays all sums,

Ev'n the whole price of lost humanity,

And sets us free

From the ungodly empery

Of sin, and Satan, and of death.

O make our hearts, blest God, thy lodging place;

And in our breast

Be pleas'd to rest,

Which, to the world dispensed by his hand,

Made it stand

Fix'd in amazement to behold that light,

Which came

From the throne of the Lamb,

To invite

Our wretched eyes (which nothing else could see
But fire, and sword, hunger, and misery)

To anticipate, by their ravish'd sight,
The beauty of celestial delight.
Mysterious God, regard me when I pray;
And, when this load of clay

Shall fall away,

O let thy gracious hand conduct me up,
Where on the Lamb's rich viands I may sup:
And, in this last supper, I

May, with thy friend, in thy sweet bosom lie,

For ever, in eternity. Hallelujah.

Upon the Day of the Holy Innocents.
MOURNFUL Judah shrieks and cries
At the obsequies

Of their babes, that cry

More that they lose their paps, than that they die. He, that came with life to all,

Brings the babes a funeral,

To redeem from slaughter him,

Who did redeem us all from sin.

They, like himself, went spotless hence,
A sacrifice to innocence;

Which now does ride
Trampling upon Herod's pride;

Passing, from their fontinels of clay,
To heaven a milky and a bloody way.
All their tears and groans are dead,

And they to rest and glory fled;

Lord, who wert pleas'd so many babes should fall,
Whilst each sword hop'd that ev'ry of the all
Was the desired King: make us to be

In innocence like them, in glory, Thee. Amen.

Upon the Epiphany, and the three wise Men of the East coming to worship Jesus.

A COMET, dangling in the air,

Presag'd the ruin both of death and sin;
And told the wise men of a king,

The King of glory, and the Sun
Of righteousness, who then begun
To draw towards that blessed hemisphere.
They, from the furthest east, this new
And unknown light pursue,

Till they appear

In this blest infant King's propitious eye,
And pay their homage to his royalty.
Persia might then the rising sun adore;
It was idolatry no more.
Great God, they gave to thee
Myrrh, frankincense, and gold;

But, Lord, with what shall we

Present ourselves before thy majesty,
Whom thou redeem'dst when we were sold?
W' have nothing but ourselves, and scarce that neither,
Vile dirt and clay;

Yet it is soft, and may
Impression take:

Accept it, Lord, and say, this thou hadst rather;
Stamp it, and on this sordid metal make

Thy holy image, and it shall outshine

The beauty of the golden mine. Amen.

A MEDITATION OF THE FOUR LAST THINGS,

DEATH, JUDGMENT, HEAVEN, AND HELL;

FOR THE TIME OF LENT ESPECIALLY.

A Meditation of Death.

DEATH, the old serpent's son,

Thou hadst a sting once, like thy sire, That carried hell, and ever-burning fire:But those black days are done;

Thy foolish spite buried thy sting

In the profound and wide

Wound of our Saviour's side:

And now thou art become a tame and harmless thing, A thing we dare not fear,

Since we hear,

That our triumphant God, to punish thee
For the affront thou didst him on the tree,
Hath snatch'd the keys of hell out of thy hand,
And made thee stand

A porter to the gate of life, thy mortal enemy.
O Thou, who art that gate, command that he
May, when we die,

And thither fly,

Let us into the courts of heaven, through thee!

Of the Day of Judgment.

GREAT Judge of all, how we vile wretches quake!
Our guilty bones do ache;

Our marrow freezes, when we think
Of the consuming fire
Of thine ire,-

And horrid phials, thou shalt make
The wicked drink;

When thou the winepress of thy wrath shalt tread
With feet of lead.

Sinful rebellious clay! what unknown place
Shall hide it from thy face!

When earth shall vanish from thy sight,
The heavens that never err'd,

But observ'd

Thy laws, shall from thy presence take their flight, And kill'd with glory, their bright eyes stark dead Start from their head:

Lord, how shall we,

Thy enemies, endure to see

So bright, so killing majesty?

Mercy, dear Saviour: thy judgment seat

We dare not, Lord, intreat;

We are condemn'd already, there.

Mercy! vouchsafe one look

On thy book

Of life; Lord, we can read the saving Jesus, here, And in his name our own salvation see:

O BEAUTEOUS God, uncircumscribed treasure

Of an eternal pleasure,

Thy throne is seated far
Above the highest star,