CXIII. (Athanasian Creed.) "Seek we some realm where virgin souls may pray In faith untarnished by the sophist's scorn, And duly raise on each diviner morn The Psalm that gathers in one glorious lay All chants that e'er from heaven to earth found way : Majestic march! as meet to guide and time Man's wandering path in life's ungenial clime, As Aaron's trump for the dread Ark's array. Creed of the saints, and Anthem of the Blest, And calm-breathed warning of the kindliest love That ever heaved a wakeful mother's breast, (True love is bold, aud gravely dares reprove,) Who knows but myriads owe their endless rest To thy recalling, tempted else to rove? Y. CXIV. "And they who grudge the Omnipotent His praise, What wonder if they grudge the dead his hope ? The irreverent restless eye finds room and scope, E'en by the grave, to wrangle, pry, and gaze. Heaven in its mercy hides, but man displays; Heaven throws a gleam, where they would darken all; A shade, where they, forgetting worm and pall, Sing triumph;-they excite, but Heaven allays. Alas, for England's mourners, if denied The soothing tones of Hope, though faint and low, Than sing a hopeless dirge, or coldly chide Y. CXV. (Length of the Prayers.) "But Faith is cold, and wilful men are strong, It drowns the Eternal Word, the Angelic Song; Steals out of Church, and leaves the Choir unseen Wit ever busy, Learning ever new, Unsleeping Fancy, Eloquence untired ;— Y. CXVI. Sons of our Mother! such the indignant strain Of heavenly Centinels yet lingering here; And what if, blending with the chant austere, A soft inviting note attune the close? "We go ;-but faithful hearts will find us near, Who cling beside their Mother in her woes, Who love the Rites that erst their fathers loved, Nor tire of David's Hymn, and JESUS' Prayer :Their quiet Altars, wheresoe'er removed, Shall clear with incense sweet the unholy air; In persecution safe, in scorn approved, Angels, and He who rules them, will be there." CAPTIVITY. CXVII. ་་ 'Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." THERE is one only Bond in the wide earth And so is cast upon the face of things A many webs to fetter down the Truth; While the vexed Church, which gave in her fair youth Prime pattern of the might which order brings, But dimly signals to her distant seed, There strongest found, where darkest in her creed. |