It was the calm and silent night!
Seven hundred years and fifty-three
Had Rome been growing up to might,
And now was queen of land and sea!
No sound was heard of clashing wars,
Peace brooded o'er the hush'd domain;
Apollo, Pallas, Jove, and Mars,
Held undisturb'd their ancient reign,
In the solemn midnight,
Centuries ago!
'Twas in the calm and silent night!
The senator of haughty Rome
Impatient urged his chariot's flight,
From lordly revel rolling home.
Triumphal arches, gleaming, swell
His breast with thoughts of boundless sway;
What reck'd the Roman what befell
A paltry province far away,
In the solemn midnight,
Centuries ago?
Within that province far away
Went plodding home a weary boor;
A streak of light before him lay,
Fallen through a half-shut stable-door
Across his path. He paused, for naught
Told what was going on within;
How keen the stars, his only thought;
The air, how calm, and cold, and thin,
In the solemn midnight,
Centuries ago!
Oh, strange indifference! low and high
Drowsed over common joys and cares;
The earth was still, but knew not why;
The world was listening--unawares!
How calm a moment may precede
One that shall thrill the world forever!
To that still moment, none would heed,
Man's doom was link'd, no more to sever,
In the solemn midnight,
Centuries ago!
It is the calm and silent night!
A thousand bells ring out, and throw
Their joyous peals abroad, and smite
The darkness, charm'd and holy now;
The night that erst no shame had worn,
To it a happy name is given;
For in that stable lay, new-born,
The peaceful Prince of Earth and Heaven,
In the solemn midnight,
Centuries ago!
STABILITY OF CHRISTIANITY.--_Rev. T. H. Stockton, House of
Representatives, March 19th_, 1860.
I contemplate the heaven and earth of the old world: the overrulings
of Providence and changes of society there. I think of the passing
away of the whole circle of ancient Mediterranean civilization. I
think of the dark ages of Europe. I think of the morning of the
Reformation, and the fore-gleamings of "the latter-day glory." I think
of Art, and her printing-press; of Commerce, and her compass; of
Science, and her globe; of Religion, and her Bible. I contemplate the
opening of the heaven and earth of the New World: the overrulings of
Providence and changes of society here. I think of the passing away
of savage simplicities, and of the rude semblances of civilization in
Mexico and Peru, and of earlier and later declensions. I think of the
gracious reservation of our own inheritance for present and nobler
occupancy. I think of our Revolution, and its result of Independence.
I think of our first Union, first Congress, first prayer in Congress,
and first Congressional order for the Bible; and of our wonderful
enlargement, development, and enrichment since. And, in view of
all--of the whole heaven and whole earth of the whole world; and of
all changes, social and natural, past, present, and future; profoundly
and unalterably assured, as I trust we all are, that the truth as it
is "in Jesus" is the only stability in the universe--I feel justified,
in invoking, this day, your renewal of our common and constant
confession--that: Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the words
of Christ shall never pass away. And, standing where we do, on the
central summit of this great Confederacy, unequalled in all history
for all manner of blessings,--if we did not so confess Christ; if we
did not cherish the simple confidence of His primitive disciples,
and hail the coming of our Lord with hosannas; if we could ignobly
hold our peace,--the very statues of the Capitol "would immediately
cry out;" the marble lips of Columbus, Penn, and Washington, of War
and Peace, of the Pioneer, and of Freedom, would part to praise His
name; and the stones of the foundation and walls, of the arcades and
corridors, of the rotunda and halls, would respond to their glad and
grand acclaim.
From Maine to Florida, from Florida to Texas, from Texas to
California, from California to Oregon, and from Oregon back to Maine;
our lake States, gulf States, and ocean States; our river States,
prairie States, and mountain States, all unite in confessing and
blessing His name, beholding His glory, surrounding His throne, high
and lifted up, and ever crying, like the six-winged seraphim, one to
another, far and near, from the North and the South, from the East and
the West: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is
full of His glory!"