Of beauty. In his hand he held a book:
He open'd it and never light appear'd

So fair as that on his majestic brow,

For now the sun had risen, and its beams

Shot far into the cave.

John gaz'd with awe

He knew not why-on that majestic man. And well might he have gaz'd with reverence; For here, in this rude spot, he only saw

Men, the most dark and savage of their kind, Murd❜rers, and ruthless criminals, in chains. He spoke to them of truth and righteousnessHe spoke of an OFFENDED GOD! some look'd To the bright sun, defying; others turn'd

Mutt'ring: He spoke of pity, and they heard,

E'en as the relentless hurricane

Hears the last prayer of the faint mariner,

Whom wintry waves had dash'd upon the rocks.

Yet ever with the gentlest offices,

With tears and pray'rs, the holy exile strove

To wake their better feelings; for he laid

His hands upon the sick, and they look'd up

With hope, and bless'd him; and, restor'd to strength,

Forgot the vows they made; Him, too, who died
He laid, in his last rest, and said a pray'r,
A pray'r of peace and charity to God,*

Leaving that God of Righteousness to judge.
So pass'd this ancient holy man his days,
Peaceful, amid the banish'd criminals,

Banish'd and poor himself, but living thus,

* I have heard of a man, calling himself a Christian, refusing to say all the words of our sublime and affecting funeral service, because be, being the judge, considered the dead as having departed in unforgiven sin! Now I will fearlessly say, that no sinner ever departed to the mercy-seat of God so unlike a Christian, as this judge! and his hypocrisy must be as detestable as his uncharitableness, for he had assented, before God, in his church, to those prayers which he dared to mutilate.

Among the sternest of their kind, he pray'd
For their Salvation :-so he pass'd his days
Peaceful, but sad; and now, with anxious gaze,
He turn'd his look to the mysterious man,
Who, stedfastly beholding him, thus spoke:

The voice of prophecy has been fulfill'd : 'Where is the Temple? where Jerusalem ? 'Ah! wretched city! Famine, War, and Woe, Have done their destin'd work! The living, drops 'Dead on the carcase he is burying:*

That famish'd babe is black: Oh! turn away y!

All-all is silent now: and THOU hast seen

This prophecy fulfill'd, for not one stone,

Of beautiful and sacred Solima,

Is left upon another! HE, WHO DIED,†

*Josephus.

These words were not then recorded, but they had been

spoken, and could never have been forgotten.

"When he beheld the city, o'er it wept,

"And said, "OH! DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM ?

"WEEP NOT FOR ME, BUT FOR YOUR LITTLE ONES!" The tender words-dost thou remember them?

"JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM, HOW OFT

"WOULD I HAVE GATHER'D UP THOSE LITTLE ONES,

"E'EN AS A HEN, BENEATH A MOTHER'S WING

"BUT YE WOULD NOT: AND NOW, BEHOLD, YOUR

"HOUSE

"IS LEFT UNTO YOU DESOLATE!"

· Alas!

'How desolate! But e'en in those last days

'Warning was given, if yet they would repent.

'A bloody sword, like a red comet, hung

Above the temple, and a strange sad light

Sat on the altar-while the inner gate,

Untouch'd, at midnight, burst its brazen bars,

'And stood wide open; armed men did fight

'Amid the clouds; and, in the dead of night,

The pale priest heard a voice-"Depart!"

"Depart!"*

So the fair city of Jerusalem

Perish'd but, lo! CHRIST'S HOLY CHURCH shall

'rise

Rise from its ashes-yea, is risen now

Its glorious gates shall never be cast down,

Till He, the KING OF GLORY, shall appear.

'He, founded it upon a Rock-a Rock,

Which time, the rushing earthquake, or the

'storm,

While earth endures-shall never shake!

• Old man,

Beloved of the Lord, would'st thou know more?

'What things shall be HEREAFTER? rise and mark!

* Josephus.