THE STUPENDOUS DUEL.

And when the Saviour fasted

In loneliness and need, -(He who five thousand persons

Could with five fishes feed: Who by his simple fiat,

Could change to bread each stone), When He, on the high mountain-top

Was weary and alone,

Took place the fearful duel

'Twixt Satan and his LordThe contest for the souls of men,

On whom God's wrath was pour’d; Lest mercy and forgiveness

Upon their lot should beam, Through Jesus bearing all their guilt,

Their lost souls to redeem.

And Satan fought his fiercest

His Master's work to maim, And all his weapons poised

With most unerring aim; But Jesus proved the stronger

In that most awful fray, And in the majesty of God

Drove the foul fiend away.

And when had foiled the Victor

His adversary's power,
The Angels to Him minister'd

In that momentous hour;
And Jesus from that solemn day

And that stupendous strife,
Went forth to save our sin-dyed souls

And win eternal life.

*
*

* Then, strike your harps, Archangels !

And Angels, wake your song! Ye Cherubim and Seraphim,

Your sacred notes prolong!
Shine forth, O sun, thy brightest !

Fill, moon, thy silver horn!
And flee away, each speck of cloud

That would obscure the dawn !

And ocean, roll thy mightiest !

Blow, winds, your trumpet-blast! And beasts and light-winged warblers,

Joy o'er the Victory past: And ransom'd souls in chorus

Praise Him, extol, adore, And crown the Warrior Son of God,

Most blest for evermore!

KIEFEST AMONG YEN YHOUSAND.

“ My Beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand."-Song of Sol. v. 10.

HIEFEST among Ten Thousand! The haughty kings of earth

Boast of their ancient lineage, their heraldry and birth;
But unto Thee alone, O Christ! the matchless name is given,

“ONLY BEGOTTEN Sox or God," the glorious King of Heaven !

Chiefest among Ten Thousand! The wealthy oft unfold

Their title-deeds and jewelry, their silver and their gold ;
But every glittering world above, that gems the midnight sky,

Is but a jewel in Thy crown, most mighty and most high!

Chiefest among Ten Thousand ! 'Neath many a crushing blow,

And many a weary weight of grief, Thy children are laid low; But Thou, the Man of Sorrows all, Gethsemane's dark sod

Alone didst dye with bloody sweat, Thou stricken Son of God !

Chiefest among Ten Thousand! Thy servants in old days

Spake in Thy name as they were taught in grand prophetic lays ; But Thou the chiefest Prophet art, and Thou alone canst see

All that in ages past has been, and evermore shall be !

Chiefest among Ten Thousand! Thine honoured martyr-band

Have shed for love of Thee their blood in many a pagan land! But Thou alone on Calvary's cross, by pangs of death o'ertaken,

Didst cry aloud, “My God, My God! WHY HAST THOU ME FORSAKEN ?”

Chiefest among Ten Thousand! By Aaron and his train

In ancient days full many a lamb was sacrificed and slain; But Thon, their Antitype, as Lamb atonement mad'st for sin,

As Priest, to the most Holy Place, for ever entered'st in.

Chiefest among Ten Thousand! The Church, Thy chosen bride,

Leaning upon her Lord beloved and walking by His side, Doth find in Him of lovers all the only certain rest,

The Altogether Lovely One, the Fairest and the Best.

Chiefest among Ten Thousand ! Be Thou our Guide and stay:

Chiefest among Ten Thousand ! Be with us night and day: Chiefest among Ten Thousand! We look to Thee alone;

Naught but Thy blood most precious can for our sins atone.

Chiefest among Ten Thousand in every hour of need

Chiefest among Ten Thousand, do Thou Thy children feed; And may we bask in streams of love that, flowing from Thy face,

Shall kindle in our lukewarm hearts each noble Christian grace.

And when Thy love has led us on a few more days or years

Along the chequered scenes of life, 'midst earthly smiles and tears, Chiefest among Ten Thousand, O grant that evermore,

We dwell with Thee in realms of bliss, to love Thee and adore.

THE CUERLASTING ARM$.

“ The eternul God is thy Refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”—Deut. xxxiii. 27.

F thou indeed would'st love thy Lord and My disciple be,

Take up thy cross, the world forsake, and straightway follow Me; Thy new-made wife, thine own loved life, thy merchandize, thy farms :

Bereft of all, but underneath the Everlasting Arms.

Be grave and scorn to trifle ; thy life is not for play:

Talents and time are not thine own: work while 'tis called to-day; And if I bid thee quit the world and its engrossing charms,

Remember underneath thee still the Everlasting Arms!

Thou canst not draw Me close to thee to lovingly enfold,

Whilst on thy heart thou bearest those weighty bags of gold; Sell that thou hast and give away, the poor require thine alms :

See underneath thine empty purse the Everlasting Arms !

Though sorrow for awhile may bend thee abject in the dust,

Despair thou not, but upward look, and place in Me thy trust; Thou yet shalt turn thy bitter cries to joy's triumphant psalms,

That anderneath thy woes were stretch'd the Everlasting Arms.

The sun shall smite thee' not by day, nor the pale moon by night,

My angels shall encompass thee to guide thy steps aright;
My truth thy shield and buckler are to ward off threatening harms,

And underneath thy weary feet the Everlasting Arms.

If world or flesh or devil should try to lure astray,

And seek to make thee wander from the straight and narrow way; Engraved in letters all of blood thy name's upon My palms,*

And underneath thy tempted soul the Everlasting Arms.

The peace the worldling knoweth not shall dwell within thine heart,

For have I not My promise given, “My peace shall not depart”? Above the boisterous storms of earth are Heaven's eternal calms,

And underneath the tempest-toss'd the Everlasting Arms.

I'll make thy bed in sickness if rack'd with ceaseless pain,

Without the true Physician all human skill is vain;
Upon thy smarting wounds I'll place famed Gilead's soothing balms,

And underneath thine aching limbs the Everlasting Arms.

Why should'st thou then despondent be, why anxious or distress’d,

“My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest”; Thy Saviour's love o'ershadowing thee, what need for thy alarms,

And underneath thy breaking heart the Everlasting Arms?

The Ever LASTING ARMS! Oh, blessed, blessed thought!

To rest in them in Heaven above, all earthly battles fought;
No sighs, no tears, no cries, no fears, no conscience-smiting qualms !
But underneath for evermore the Everlasting Arms.

* Isaiah, xlix. 16.

THEGOODNESS & BEAUTY OF THE LORD JESUS.

“For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty! Corn shall make the young men cheerful and new wine the maids.” .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zech. ix, 17.

OW great is His goodness, how great is His beauty,

Surpassing in fairness the children of earth!
Though mortals may sing and immortals may echo,

Yet none shall e'er mention the whole of His worth.

II.

For His beauty and worth are from ages eternal,

As broad as eternity, boundless as space!
All goodness and beauty save His are but fleeting,
And merely reflections of infinite grace.

ІІІ.
And so great is His goodness, so great is His beauty,

No pen can describe it, or pencil pourtray,
Though the pen or the pencil or brush were a sunbeam,
And ink were supplied from the fountain of day.

IV.
Grand is the monarch of the day at his meridian height,
Grand is the moon majestic, pale empress of the night,
Grand is each tiny planet-world that studs the radiant blue,
Grand is each tiny twinkling star that darkness brings to view.
He comes with glorious rays of light and with intensest heat,
She comes with soft effulgence to guide benighted feet;
They come, those countless glittering spheres, to upward fix our eye,
While in amazement we exclaim, “ WHAT is that deep blue sky ?"

But how great is His goodness, how great is His beauty,

Surpassing in grandeur the sun and the sky;
More fair than yon moon though so fair and so lovely,

And yonder bright stars—This DAY STAR FROM ON HIGH!

Bright is the princely sapphire reflecting heaven's own blue,
Bright is the royal ruby of deepest blood-red hue;
Bright is the varied topaz and emerald grassy green,
Bright is the crystal diamond, the jewels' matchless queen.
They come to shine on courtly crowns or beauty's beaming face,
To add renown to royalty, and gracefulness to grace!
To make more fair the fairest on brow or diadem,
The amethyst and carbuncle, the pearl and every gem.

But how great is His goodness, how great is His beauty!

Beside Him earth's jewels are paltry and poor;
His Home is the azure, this Calvary-dyed Ruby,

This PEARL OF GREAT PRICE, THIS SUPERB KOH-I-NOOR ! *

Rich is the luscious produce that crowns the fertile year,
Rich is the golden grain that swells, and fills the waving ear ;

* Koh-i-noor, i.e. Mountain of Light.

THE GOODNESS AND BEAUTY OF THE LORD JESUS.

Rich are the rosy apples that in the orchards shine,
Rich are the purple clusters upon the graceful vine.
To fill man's heart with gladness the lands their bounty pour,
And with their wealth replenish his basket and his store:
To stay him with the staff of life and cool his fever'd tongue,
For which to our all-gracious God our thankful hymns be sung;

But how great is His goodness, how great is His beauty :

Descended from Heaven is this Bread and this Wine ;
As the apple-tree chief midst the trees of the forest-

Who alone treads the wine-press, Himself is the Vine.

VII.

Choice are the damask roses our gardens that adorn,
Choice are the drooping lilies without one spot or thorn;
Choice are the spice and frankincense, the spikenard and the myrrh,
Choice on the hill of Lebanon the cedar and the fir.
They come in all their pride of life with foliage and with bloom,
To gratify our taste in form, in colour, and perfume:
And when their beauties pass from sight before decay and death,
They leave behind mementos in their sweet undying breath.

But how great is His goodness, how great is His beauty,

The red Rose of Sharon, unrivall'd in fame;
In life He breath'd tenderness, love and compassion,

Then dying, gave pardon through faith in His name.

VIII.

Sweet is the fragile snowdrop above the frozen ground,
Sweet through the leafless branches the warbler's earliest sound,
Sweet is the wild flowers' fragrance upon the sunless air,
Sweet is the yellow primrose, so tender and so fair:
They come when hearts are sad and chill'd by winter's icy hand,
When last year's sweets have perished from the cold and cheerless land;
They come as blessed harbingers of a resurrection morn,
And point to summer as to noonday points the early dawn;

But how great is His goodness, how great is His beauty,

Firstfruits from the dead and Firstborn from the tomb;
The graveclothes discarding and cerements bursting-

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD FROM THE SEPULCHRE'S GLOOM !

And how great is His goodness, how great is His beauty !

How lofty His mission, how peerless His taste!
More radiant than dewdrop and softer than moonbeam,

Than violet more modest, and lily more chaste !

How great then thy goodness, how great then thy beauty,

Oh mortal-immortal !-son, daughter of earth,
If, thy face towards thy Lord, on thy heart is reflected,

The heart of Christ Jesus, the Source of all worth !