Though sullied and dishonoured, still divine;
Dim miniature of greatness absolute!
An heir of glory! a frail child of dust!
Helpless immortal! insect infinite!
A worm! a god! I tremble at myself,
And in myself am lost. At home a stranger,
Thought wanders up and down, surprised, aghast,
And wondering at her own. How reason reels!
Oh! what miracle to _man_ to _man_!
_Young._
Say, why was _man_ so eminently rais’d
Amid the vast creation; why ordain’d
Through life and death to dart his piercing eye,
With thoughts beyond the limits of his frame;
But that the Omnipotent might send him forth
In sight of mortal and immortal powers,
As on a boundless theatre, to run
The great career of justice; to exalt
His generous aim to all diviner deeds;
To chase each partial purpose from his breast;
And through the mists of passion and of sense,
And through the tossing tide of chance and pain,
To hold his course unfaltering; while the voice
Of truth and virtue, up the steep ascent
Of nature, calls him to his high reward--
The applauding smile of Heaven?
_Akenside._
Traveller, as roaming over vales and steeps,
Thou hast, perchance, beheld in foliage fair
A willow bending o’er a brook--it weeps,
Leaf after leaf, into the stream, till bare
Are the best boughs, the lovliest and the brightest,
Oh! sigh, for well thou may’st, yet as thou sighest,
Think not ’tis o’er imaginary woe;
I tell thee, traveller, such is mortal _man_,
And so he hangs o’er fancied bliss, and so,
While life is verging to its shortest span,
Drop one by one his dearest joys away,
Till hope is but the ghost of something fair,
Till joy is mockery, till life is care,
Till he himself is unreflecting clay.
_Henry Neele._
Whate’er of earth is formed, to earth returns
Dissolved: the various objects we behold--
Plants, animals, this whole material mass--
Are ever changing, ever new. The soul
Of _man_ alone, that particle divine,
Escapes the wreck of worlds, when all things fail:
Hence the great distance ’twixt the beasts that perish,
And God’s bright image, _man’s_ immortal race.
_Somerville._
Prostration vile, an alienate from God
_Man_ is, and shall his fallen nature rise,
Her height regain, and fill ethereal thrones?
Many a cloud of evil shall be burst,
Ere that day come, severe and dread the strife
Of sullied nature with the soul of _man_,
Whate’er his climate, character, or creed,
Temptation, like a spirit, tracks his path.
_R. Montgomery._
And what is _man_? In outward guise
Let him be prince, or peer, or slave,
Or poor and weak, or great and wise--
A mortal, tending to the grave:
Such are all _men_--from earth we came,
Earth doth her own poor dust reclaim.
_H. H. Weld._
But, of Thy works, through sea and land,
Or the wide fields of ether wending,
In _man_ Thy noblest thoughts are blending;
_Man_ is the glory of thy hand;--
_Man_ modelled in a form of grace,
Where every beauty has its place;
A gentleness and glory sharing
His spirit, where we may behold
A higher aim, a nobler daring:
’Tis Thine immortal mould.
_Jacob Bellamy._
When the Almighty Fiat, from the gloom
Of chaos drawn to light, had now arranged
The jarring seeds, the last, the most sublime
Of all His works, was _Man_ called forth; to him
The Sovereign Word gave empire o’er the whole.
_Samuel Hayes._
MARRIAGE.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.--Genesis, ii. 24.
And the third day there was a _marriage_ in Cana of Galilee; and the
mother of Jesus was there:
And both Jesus was called, and his disciples to the _marriage_.--John,
ii. 1, 2.
_Marriage_ is honourable in all.--Hebrews, xiii. 4.
Blessed are they which are called unto the _marriage_ supper of the
Lamb.--Revelations, xix. 9.
Save the love we pay
To Heaven, none purer, holier than that
A virtuous woman feels, for him she’d cleave
Thro’ life to. Sisters part from sisters--brothers
From brothers--children from their parents--but
Such woman from the husband of her choice,
Never.
_Sheridan Knowles._
Joy, serious and sublime,
Such as doth nerve the energies of prayer,
Should swell the bosom, when a maiden’s hand,
Filled with life’s dewy flowerets, girdeth on
That harness which the ministry of death
Alone unlooseth, but whose fearful power
May stamp the sentence of Eternity.
_Mrs. Sigourney._
Look down, O Thou
Who wast at Cana! Bless the rite that’s past!
Help me to put a wedding-garment on
For the great _marriage_ supper; and to wear
Thy choice of ornaments, while I await
The coming of the Bridegroom.
_Hannah F. Gould._
There are smiles and tears in that gathering band,
Where the heart is pledged with the trembling hand.
What trying thoughts in the bosom swell,
As the bride bids parents and home farewell!
Kneel down by the side of the tearful fair,
And strengthen the perilous hour with prayer.
_Henry Ware, Jun._
MARTYRDOM.
And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of
bonds and imprisonment;
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with
the sword: they wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented;
(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in
mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.--Hebrews, xi. 36, 37, 38.
I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus,
and for the Word of God.--Revelations, xx. 4.
The Sacred Book, its value understood,
Received the seal of _martyrdom_ in blood.
These holy men, so full of truth and grace,
Seem, to reflection, of a different race;
Meek, modest, venerable, wise, sincere,
In such a cause they could not dare to fear;
They could not purchase earth with such a price,
Or spare a life too short to reach the skies.
From them to thee conveyed along the tide,
Their streaming hearts poured freely when they died;
Those truths which neither use nor years impair,
Invite thee, woo thee, to the bliss they share.
_Cowper._
In vain the Roman lord
Waved the relentless sword,
And spread the terrors of the circling flame;
In vain the heathen sought,
If chance some lurking spot,
Might mar the lustre of the Christian name:
The Eternal Spirit, by His fruits confessed,
In life secured from stains, and steel’d in death, the breast.
_Bishop Mant._
The Son of God is gone to war,
A kingly crown to gain;
His blood-red banner streams afar;
Who follows in his train?
--Who best can drink his cup of woe,
Triumphant over pain;
Who boldest bears his cross below,--
He follows in his train.
The _martyr_ first, whose eagle-eye
Could pierce beyond the grave;
Who saw his Master in the sky,
And call’d on him to save:
Like him, with pardon on his tongue,
In midst of mortal pain,
He pray’d for them who did the wrong:
--Who follows in the train?
_Heber._
When persecution’s torrent blaze
Wraps the unshrinking _martyr’s_ head,
When fade all earthly flowers and bays,
When summer friends are gone and fled,
Is he alone in that dark hour,
Who owns the Lord of love and power?
Or waves there not around his brow,
A wand no human arm may wield,
Fraught with a spell no angels know,
His steps to guide, his soul to shield?
Thou, Saviour, art his Charmed Bower,
His Magic Ring, his Rock, his Tower.
_Keble._
In rendering to the Lord what is the Lord’s,
Doth not the thought of violence bring shame?
Think ye, He gave the branching forest-tree
To furnish fagots for the funeral pyre,
Or bid His sunrise light the world, to see
Pale, tortured victims perish there by fire?
_Mrs. Norton._
The blood of _martyrs_, living still,
Makes the ground pregnant where it flows,
And for their temporary ill
Thereon eternal triumph grows.
_J. A. Heraud._
Thy children, even as _martyrs_ perished:
Those first-loved fruits that sprang from thee,
From which thy heart was doomed to sever,
In praise of God, shall bloom for ever,
Unhurt, untouched, by tyranny.
_Vondel._
MEEKNESS.
The Lord lifteth up the _meek_.--Psalm cxlvii. 6.
The Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the _meek_
with salvation.--Psalm cxlix. 4.
Blessed are the _meek_: for they shall inherit the earth.--Matthew, v.
5.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am _meek_ and lowly in
heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.--Matthew, xi. 29.
O, what a doctrine of almighty depth
Messiah founded, when His truth declar’d
In _meekness_ lies the majesty of man!
At once the wisdom of the world was dumb,
And fortune blasted on her throne of bliss.
The ways of pleasantness, the paths of peace,
Are dim and narrow, tracks of noiseless gloom
Which glory flies, and grandeur seldom walks:
The poor in spirit, and the _meek_ in heart,
Who thirst and hunger for Thy righteous word.--
Oh! these are blest, for Thine unerring voice
Hath call’d them so.
_R. Montgomery._
Behold! where, in the friend of man,
Appears each grace divine:
The virtues, all in Jesus met,
With mildest radiance shine.
To spread the rays of heavenly light;
To give the mourner joy;
To preach glad tidings to the poor,
Was His divine employ.
’Midst keen reproach and cruel scorn,
Patient and _meek_ He stood;
His foes, ungrateful, sought His life;--
He laboured for their good.
_Enfield._
_Meek_ souls there are, who little dream
Their daily strife an angel’s theme;
And that the end they take so calm,
Shall prove in heaven a martyr’s palm.
_Anon._
MEETING.
And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark
thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
And there I will _meet_ with thee, and I will commune with thee from
above the mercy seat.--Exodus, xxv. 21, 22.
O, when a mother _meets_ on high
The babe she lost in infancy,
Hath she not then for pains and fears,
The day of woe, the watchful night,
For all her sorrows, all her tears,
An over-payment of delight?
_Southey._
O, ’tis one scene of parting here,
Love’s watchword is farewell!
And almost starts the following tear,
Ere dried the last that fell!
’Tis but to feel that one most dear
Is needful to the heart,
And straight a voice is muttering near,
Imperious, Ye must part!
But happiest he, whose gifted eye
Above this world can see,
And those diviner realms descry,
Where partings cannot be;
Who, with One changeless Friend on high,
Life’s various path has trod,
And soars to _meet_, beyond the sky,
The ransomed and their God.
_Townshend._
Oh, what an all-glorious _meeting_,
In yonder bright world we shall know;
When glorified spirits are greeting
The friends they left mourning below.
Earth’s friendships renewed shall then heighten
The loud-rolling anthem of praise;
While each happy spirit shall brighten
At the feet of the ancient of days.
_W. J. Brock._
MERCY.
All the paths of the Lord are _mercy_ and truth unto such as keep his
covenant and his testimonies.--Psalm xxv. 10.
The Lord is good to all: and His tender _mercies_ are over all His
works.--Psalm cxlv. 9.
He that hath _mercy_ on the poor, happy is he.--Proverbs, xiv. 21.
Blessed are the _merciful_: for they shall obtain _mercy_.--Matthew, v.
7.
Be ye therefore _merciful_, as your Father also is _merciful_.--Luke,
vi. 36.
Ye Sacred Writings! in whose antique leaves,
The wondrous deeds of heaven recorded lie,
Say what might be the cause, that _mercy_ heaves
The dust of sin above the starry sky,
And lets it not to dust and ashes fly?
Could Justice be of sin so over-woo’d,
Or so great ill be cause of so great good,
That, bloody man to save, man’s Saviour shed his blood.
Here, when the ruin of that beauteous frame,
Whose golden building shin’d with every star
Of excellence, deform’d with sin became;
_Mercy_ rememb’ring peace in midst of war,
Lift up the music of her voice to bar
Eternal fate, lest it should quite erase
That from the world, which was the first world’s grace.
And all again into their nothing--chaos--chase.
_Giles Fletcher._
Why, all the souls that were, were forfeit once;
And He that might the vantage best have took,
Found out the remedy. How would you be,
If He which is the top of judgment, should
But judge you, as you are? O, think on that!
And _mercy_ then will breathe within your lips,
Like men new made.
_Shakspere._
It is an attribute of God himself,
And earthly power doth then show liker God’s,
When _mercy_ seasons justice.
_Shakspere._
When winter fortunes cloud the brows
Of summer friends,--when eyes grow strange,--
When plighted faith forgets its vows,
When earth and all things in it change,--
O Lord, thy _mercies_ fail me never--
Where once thou lovest, thou lovest for ever!
_John Quarles._
_Mercy_ is the highest reach of wit,
A safety unto them that save with it:
Born out of God, and unto human eyes,
Like God, not seen, till fleshly passion dies.
_Lord Brooke._
’Tis He supports my mortal frame,
My tongue shall speak His praise,
My sins would rise His wrath to flame,
And yet His wrath delays.
On a poor worm Thy power might tread,
And I could ne’er withstand,
Thy justice might have crushed me dead,
But _mercy_ held Thy hand.
_Watts._
Hard is his fate who builds his peace of mind
On the precarious _mercy_ of mankind;
Who hopes for wild and visionary things,
And mounts o’er unknown seas with vent’rous wings.
_Crabbe._
Though Nature her inverted course forego,
The day forget to rest, the time to flow,
Yet shall Jehovah’s servants stand secure,
His _Mercy_, fixed, eternal shall endure;
On them her everlasting rays shall shine,
More mild and bright, and sure, O sun! than thine.
_Bishop Lowth._
How are thy servants bless’d, O Lord!
How sure is their defence!
Eternal wisdom is their guide,
Their help, Omnipotence!
In foreign realms, and lands remote,
Supported by thy care,
Through burning climes I pass’d unhurt,
And breathed in tainted air.
In midst of dangers, fears, and death,
Thy goodness I’ll adore;
And praise thee for thy _mercies_ past,
And humbly hope for more.
_Addison._
With grief opprest, and prostrate in the dust,
Shouldst Thou condemn, I own thy sentence just.
But oh! Thy softer titles let me claim,
And plead my cause by _Mercy’s_ gentle name.
_Mercy_, that wipes the penitential tear,
And dissipates the horrors of despair;
From righteous Justice steals the vengeful hour,
Softens the dreadful attributes of power,
Disarms the wrath of an offended God,
And seals my pardon in a Saviour’s blood.
_Mrs. Carter._
O, Thou, whose piercing thought
Doth note each secret path,
For _mercy_ to Thy Throne we fly
From man’s condemning wrath.
How fearless should our trust
In thy compassion be,
When from our brother of the dust
We dare appeal to Thee.
_Mrs. Sigourney._
Believe, and fear not! in the blackest cloud
A sunbeam hides; and from the deepest pang,
Some hidden _mercy_ may a God declare!
_R. Montgomery._
By all the tender _mercy_
God hath shown to human grief,
When fate, or man’s perverseness,
Denied and barr’d relief,--
By the helpless woe which taught me
To look to Him alone,
From the vain appeals for justice
And wild efforts of my own,--
By thy light--thou unseen future,
And thy tears--thou bitter past,
I will hope--though all forsake me--
In His _Mercy_ to the last!
_Mrs. Norton._
If Heaven
Did in the balance of strict justice weigh
The iniquity of men, who could abide
Its judgment? Did not _mercy_ temper wrath,
Eternal ruin would o’erwhelm mankind.
_Samuel Hayes._
_Mercy_ descends
From heaven, and o’er the penitential heart,
Rent by the agonizing pains of guilt,
Spreads the soft blessings of internal peace.
_Samuel Hayes._
Mankind are all pilgrims on life’s weary road,
And many would wander astray
In seeking eternity’s silent abode,
Did _Mercy_ not point out the way.
_G. P. Morris._
I hear a sound that comes from far;
It fills my soul with joy and love;
Not seraphs’ voices sweeter are,
That echo through the courts above.
’Tis _mercy’s_ voice that strikes my ear,
From Calvary it sounds abroad;
It soothes my soul and calms my fear;
It speaks of pardon bought with blood.
And is it true that many fly
The sound that bids my soul rejoice,
And rather choose with fools to die,
Than turn an ear to _mercy’s_ voice.
With such, I own, I once appeared,
But now I know how great their loss;
For sweeter sounds were never heard,
Than _mercy_ utters from the cross.
_Kelly._
Lord have _mercy_ when we strive
To save, through Thee, our souls alive!
When the pampered flesh is strong,
When the strife is fierce and long;
When our wakening thoughts begin
First to loathe their cherished sin,
And our weary spirits fail,
And our aching brows are pale,
Oh, then have _mercy_, Lord!
_H. H. Milman._
MESSAGE.
I have a _message_ from God unto thee.--Judges, iii. 20.
The priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law
at his mouth: for he is the _messenger_ of the Lord of Hosts.--Malachi,
ii. 7.
Behold I will send my _messenger_, and he shall prepare the way before
me.--Malachi, iii. 1.
This is the _message_ that ye heard from the beginning, that we should
love one another.--I. John, iii. 11.
Gently hast thou told
Thy _message_, which might else in telling wound,
And in performing end us.
_Milton._
O for a _message_ from above
To bear my spirit up!
Some pledge of my Creator’s love
To calm my terrors and support my hope!
Let waves and thunders mix and roar;
Be thou my God, and the whole world is mine:
While thou art Sovereign, I’m secure;
I shall be rich till Thou art poor;
For all I fear, and all I wish, Heaven, Earth, and Hell, are thine.
_Watts._
Oh, there are _messengers_ of wrath,
And _messengers_ of love;
And each one goeth on his path,
Commissioned from above.
Eternal justice sends the one,
Mercy the other guides;
Their ways at times so nearly run,
That scarce a line divides.
Which, oh my soul! shall come to thee,
When my last hour is near?
What shall the awful _message_ be,
That thou shalt trembling hear?
Momentous question! yet, alas!
But little heed I pay,
Although I see the _messengers_
Speed by me every day.
_Egone._
MESSIAH.
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the _Messiah_ the
Prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street
shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
And after threescore and two weeks shall _Messiah_ be cut off, but not
for himself.--Daniel, ix. 25, 26.
We have found the _Messias_, which is, being interpreted, the
Christ.--John, i. 41.
The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay,
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;
But, fixed, His word, His saving power remains;
Thy realm for ever lasts, thy own _Messiah_ reigns.
_Pope._
_Messiah_ comes!--Let furious discord cease;
Be peace on earth before the Prince of Peace!
Disease and anguish feel His blest control,
And howling fiends release the tortured soul!
The beams of gladness Hell’s dark caves illume,
And mercy broods above the distant gloom.
_Bishop Heber._
_Messiah_ comes! ye rugged paths be plain;
The Shiloh comes, ye towering cedars bend;
Swell forth ye valleys; and, ye rocks descend;
The withered branch let balmy fruits adorn,
And clustering roses twine the leafless thorn;
Burst forth, ye vocal groves, your joy to tell--
The God of Peace redeems His Israel.
_C. H. Johnson._
Rising from His cross and passion,
Lo! the King _Messiah_ reigns;
Lord! the strength of Thy salvation
His triumphant joy sustains;
Crowned with conquest
Now th’ eternal throne He gains.
Joy and triumph crown the Saviour,
Seated on the throne above;
There exalted in Thy favour,
Safely trusting in Thy love:
King of Sion!
Never shall Thy throne remove!
_Goode._
MIND.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose _mind_ is stayed on thee;
because he trusteth in thee.--Isaiah, xxvi. 3.
To be carnally _minded_ is death; but to be spiritually _minded_ is
life and peace.
Because the carnal _mind_ is enmity against God.--Romans, viii. 6, 7.
A double-_minded_ man is unstable in all his ways.--James, i. 8.
Mylo, forbear to call him blest,
That only boasts a large estate:
Should all the treasures of the west
Meet, and conspire to make him great,--
Should a broad stream with golden sands
Through all his meadows roll,--
He’s but a wretch, with all his lands,
That wears a narrow soul.
Were I so tall as reach the pole,
Or grasp the ocean with my span,
I must be measured by my soul:
The _mind_’s the standard of the man.
_Watts._
When coldness wraps this suffering clay,
Ah, whither strays the immortal _mind_?
It cannot die, it cannot stay,
But leaves its darken’d dust behind.
_Byron._
The insate _mind_, but from without supplied,
Languishes on a weak imperfect food;
If sustenance more spiritual be denied,
With flame consuming on itself ’twill brood.
_Sir E. Brydges._
My voice proclaims
How exquisitely the individual _Mind_
(And the progressive powers perhaps no less
Of the whole species,) to the External world
Is fitted:--and how exquisitely too--
Theme this but little heard of among men--
The External world is fitted to the _Mind_;
And the Creation, (by no lower name
Can it be called,) which they with blended might
Accomplish--this is our high argument.
_Wordsworth._
MINISTRY.
Ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the
_ministers_ of our God.--Isaiah, lxi. 6.
We will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the _ministry_ of
the word.--Acts, vi. 4.
If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be
a good _minister_ of Jesus Christ.--I. Timothy, iv. 6.
Their _ministry_ performed, and race well run,
Their doctrine and their story written left,
They die.
_Milton._
From essences unseen, celestial names,
Enlight’ning spirits and _ministerial_ flames,
Lift we our reason to that Sovereign Cause,
Who blessed the whole with life.
_Prior._
God gives us _ministers_ of love,
Which we regard not, being near;
Death takes them from us, then we feel
That angels have been with us here!
As mother, sister, friend, or wife,
They guide us, cheer us, soothe our pain;
And when the grave has closed between
Our heart and theirs, we love--in vain.
_Aldrich._
Oh, thou who once on earth, beneath the weight
Of our mortality did’st live and move,
The incarnation of profoundest love;
Who, on the Cross, that love didst consumate,--
Whose deep and ample fulness could embrace
The poorest, meanest of our fallen race!
How shall we e’er that boundless debt repay?--
By long, loud prayers in gorgeous temples said?
By rich oblations on thine altars laid?--
Ah no! not thus thou didst appoint the way.
When thou wast bowed our human woe beneath,
Then as a legacy thou didst bequeath
Earth’s sorrowing children to our _ministry_;
And as we do to them, we do to thee.
_Anne C. Lynch._
MIRACLES.
After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea
of Tiberias.
And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his _miracles_
which he did on them that were diseased.--John, vi. 1, 2.
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by _miracles_, and
wonders, and signs.--Acts, ii. 22.
And God wrought special _miracles_ by the hands of Paul.
So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or
aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went
out of them.--Acts, xix. 11, 12.
God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with
divers _miracles_.--Hebrews, ii. 4.
O, what a scale of _miracles_ is here--
Its lowest round high planted in the skies;
Its towering summit lost, beyond the thought
Of man or angel.
_Young._
A _miracle_, with _miracles_ enclosed,
Is man; and starts his faith at what is strange?
What less than wonders from the Wonderful;
What less than _miracles_, from God can flow?
Admit a God--that mystery supreme,
That Cause uncaused, all other wonders cease.
_Young._
Who! O, who shall tell
His acts _miraculous_? When His own decrees
Repeals He, or suspends; when by the hand
Of Moses or of Joshua, or the mouths
Of His prophetic seers, such deeds He wrought,
Before the astonished sun’s all-seeing eye,
That faith was scarce a virtue. Need I sing
The fate of Pharaoh, and his numerous band,
Lost in the reflux of the watery walls,
That melted to their fluid state again?
Need I recount bow Samson’s warlike arm
With more than mortal nerves was strung, to o’erthrow
Idolatrous Philistia? Shall I tell
How David triumphed, and what Job sustained?
--But, O supreme, unutterable mercy!
O love unequalled, mystery immense,
Which angels long to unfold! ’Tis man’s redemption
That crowns Thy glory, and Thy power confirms.
_Smart._
When God came down from Heaven, the Living God,
What signs and wonders marked His stately way?
Brake out the winds in music where He trode?
Shone o’er the heavens a brighter, softer day?