GRE STORY OF A BROKER HEART.

ISA. liii. 3-6. "He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. &c.".

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JOHN i. 9-11.

He was in the world, and the world "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." "And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, MATT. xxvii. 46-50, and MARK XV. 34-37. My God, why hast thou forsaken Me? &c.".

THE STORY OF A BROKEN HEART.

V.

But Thy panting heart inflated
With insatiate, seething pride,
Crush'd at length and overwhelmed
Had Thy fondest hopes belied;
And with feelings, most embittered
As Thou mused'st o'er Thy fall,
Wast Thou forced the cup to empty
Of the wormwood and the gall?

VI.

Nay, methinks, O precious Jesu,
In the ages long gone by,
Ere the rolling world was shapen,
Or the arched and azure sky,
Thou hadst, in anticipation,

Seen fair Eden's beauteous bloom,
And an angry God's displeasure,
And mankind's eternal doom:

VII.

And Thy heart so fond and loving
Mourned o'er Adam's fallen race,
And in tenderest, deep compassion
And in matchless love and grace,
Thou didst say the Law's demanding
Thou Thyself would'st all fulfil,
And responded'st to Thy Father,
"Lo, I come to do Thy will":

VIII.

And in many after ages,

Of Thy heavenly glories shorn,
Thou, in human shape and nature
Wast a Babe in Bethlehem born-
With the lowliest peasants dwelling,
Nurtured in a cattle stall,

Laid with fodder in a manger,
Thou, the mightiest Lord of all!

IX.

And from infancy to childhood,

And from childhood into youth,

And from youth to early manhood,

Thou, THE WAY, THE LIFE, THE TRUTH,

Did'st increase and gain in favour

In the sight of God and man,
But at all times contemplating
God's stupendous Gospel-plan:

X.

And Thy face was grave and anxious,
Of a melancholy cast,

As Thou thoughtest on the future,

And the present, and the past;
And whene'er Thy mind reflected
On the holiness of God,

And the base and foul pollution
Wheresoever mortal trod,

XI.

Then Thy spirit was down-stricken,
And Thy mind was overawed,
And Thy prayers, too great for utterance,
Were in yearning sighs outpoured;
But Thy heart was nerved for conflict
By the sad and solemn sight,
And with stedfastness of purpose
Thou prepared'st for the fight-

XII.

For the awful fight with Satan,
And the solemn fight with sin,
Both in life and death a Martyr,
Life for evermore to win-

Life eternal, peace and pardon,

By Thy blood on Calvary spilt,
For the sake of those whose blindness
Was but equalled by their guilt.

XIII.

And while thus, Thy soul, O Jesu!
On Thy wondrous work intent,
Was to things of less importance
Not for one half-moment lent,
Thy unfettered mind far-reaching,
And in knowledge most profound-
From eternity extending

To its broadest, utmost bound

XIV.

Viewed all the heathen darkness
Spread about on every hand,
And Thy penetrating vision

All the blackened prospect scanned; And when clustered to surround Thee Men in sin and sorrow's night, Taughtest Thou Thine eager hearers Thou wert this world's radiant Light.

THE STORY OF A BROKEN HEART.

XV.

And the while Thy heart, O Jesu!
Never once by guilt defiled,
And far tenderer than a mother's
For her helpless, new-born child,
Felt a deep and true compassion

For each human heart that bled,
And each one distressed or weary,
And each hungry one unfed;

XVI.

Though Thyself wast oft an hungered,
And wast cold with midnight air,
And unhoused,-whilst birds and foxes
Had, each one, its nest and lair-

And thou feltest love and mercy

Towards each bird and fish and beast,
Wheresoe'er was pain or suffering
In the largest or the least.

XVII.

Thus Thine heart and mind and spirit
All were saddened and oppress'd,
While Divine and human nature
Met within a single breast-
In a single breast down-weighted
By the overwhelming load

Of the total sin and suffering

That from Adam's race had flowed.

XVIII.

And were there no gentle maidens

Who beheld Thee wondrous fair,

And with all their best affections

Longed their lot with Thee to share;

And desired to sit beside Thee,

And to gaze on Thy loved face,

Or with steps unwearied follow

Thee, O Christ, from place to place?

XIX.

Ah! methinks I see thee, Jesu,
Turning on them looks of love,
And with gentlest, tend'rest accents
Pointing them to One above:
Of a heavenly Lover telling,

And Thine own unmeasured worth,
And that here Thou wast a stranger,
Having not a home on earth: