JERUSALEM.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”—Matt. xxiii. 37, 38.

JERUSALEM, Jerusalem!
Enthroned once on high!

Thou favored home of God on earth,
Thou heaven below the sky!

Now brought to bondage with thy sons,
A curse and grief to see:

Jerusalem, Jerusalem !

Our tears shall flow for thee.

Oh! hadst thou known thy day of grace,
And flock'd beneath the wing

Of him who call'd thee lovingly,
Thine own anointed king;

Then had the tribes of all the world
Gone up thy pomp to see,

And glory dwelt within thy gates,
And all thy sons been free!

"And who art thou that mournest me ?" Repli'd the ruins gray.

"And fear'st not rather that thyself

May prove a cast-away?
I am a dried and abject branch,
My place is given to thee;
But woe to ev'ry barren graft
Of thy wild olive tree!

Our day of grace is sunk in night,
Our time of mercy spent,

For heavy was my children's crime,
And strange their punishment;
Yet gaze not idly on our fall,
But sinner warned be,
Who spared not his chosen seed
May send his wrath on thee!

Our day of grace is sunk in night,
Thy noon is in its prime ;

Oh turn and seek thy Saviour's face
In this accepted time!
So, Gentile, may Jerusalem
A lesson prove to thee,
And in the New Jerusalem
Thy home forever be ! "

Heber.

PROPHECY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM.

"What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch."-Mark xiii. 37.

LIFE is a sea - how fair its face,

―――

How smooth its dimpling water's pace,

how pure!

Its canopy,
But rocks below, and tempests sleep,
Insidious, o'er the glassy deep,

Nor leave an hour secure.

Life is a wilderness, — beset

With tangling thorns, and treacherous net,
And prowled by beasts of prey.
One path alone conducts aright,
One narrow path, with little light;
A thousand lead astray.

Life is a warfare, and alike
Prepared to parley, or to strike,
The practised foe draws nigh.
O hold no truce! less dangerous far
To stand, and all his phalanx dare,
Than trust his specious lie.

Whate'er its form, whate'er its flow,
While life is lent to man below,

One duty stands confest,

To watch incessant; firm of mind,
And watch, where'er the post 's assigned,

And leave to God the rest.

'T was while they watched, the shepherd swains

Heard angels strike, to angel-strains,
The song of heavenly love:
Blest harmony! that far excels

All music else on earth that dwells,
Or e'er was tuned above.

'T was while they watched, the sages traced The star, that every star effaced,

With new and nobler shine:

They followed, and it led the way
To where the infant Saviour lay,
And gave them light divine.

'T was while they watched, with lamp in hand,

And oil well stored, the virgin band

The bridal pomp descried ;

They joined it, and the heavenly gate,
That oped to them its glorious state,

Was closed on all beside.

Watch! watch and pray! in suffering hour
Thus he exclaimed, who felt its power,

And triumphed in the strife.
Victor of Death! thy voice I hear;
Fain would I watch with holy fear,
Would watch and pray through life's career,
And only cease with life.

John Mason Good.

THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN.

"And the King shall answer and say unto them; ' Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' " Matthew xxv. 40.

A POOR wayfaring man of grief

Hath often crossed me on my way,
Who sued so humbly for relief,

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That I could never answer, Nay ;”
I had not power to ask his name,
Whither he went, or whence he came,
Yet was there something in his eye
That won my love, I knew not why.

Once, when my scanty meal was spread,
He entered; not a word he spake ;-

Just perishing for want of bread;