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But see! where Egypt comes! with steed and car,

And thousands, panting for the spoils of war; Bold waves her plume, and proud her banners gleam,

As now they bask in Victory's golden beam: The war-trump speaks: madd'ning she spurns the shores,

And through the yawning surges headlong pours.

But where is Egypt now? Where all her might,

Her steeds, her cars, her thousands armed for fight?

Where is the banner'd pride that waved so high?

And where the trump that told of victory ?— All, all are past! the chained and fettered deep,

Loosed from its bonds, at one tremendous

sweep

Whelmed all their hopes, and not a wreck is seen,

To tell to future times, that they had been!

THE SONG OF MIRIAM. Ex. xv. 20, 21.

T. MOORE.

SOUND the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea!

Jehovah hath triumph'd! his people are free! Sing-for the pride of the tyrant is broken; His chariots, his horsemen, all splendid and brave,

Who shall return to tell Egypt the story. Of those she sent forth in the hour of her pride?

The Lord hath look'd out from his pillar of glory,

And all her brave thousands are dash'd in the tide !

Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea!

Jehovah hath triumph'd! his people are free!

BALAK AND BALAAM. Numb. xxiii, xxiv.

ANON.

UPON the hill the Prophet stood; King Balak in the rocky vale, Around him, like a fiery flood, Flashed to the sun his men of mail.

'Twas morn ;-'twas noon;-the sacrifice Still rolled its sheeted flame to heaven; Still on the Prophet turned their eyes, Nor yet the fearful CURSE was given.

'Twas eve; the flame was feeble now, Dried was the victim's purple blood; The sun was rushing broad and low Upon the murmuring multitude.

"Now curse, or die!"-The gathering roar
Around him, like a tempest, came;
Again the altar streamed with gore;
And blushed again the sky with shame.

The Prophet was in prayer;-he rose,
His mantle from his face he flung;
He listened, where the mighty foes

How vain was their boasting! the Lord hath To Heaven their evening anthem sung.

but spoken,

And chariots and horsemen are sunk in the

wave:

He saw their camp, like endless clouds, Mixed with the horizon's distant blue;

Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark Saw on the plain their marshalled crowds;

sea !

Jehovah hath triumph'd! his people are free!

Praise to the Conqueror! praise to the Lord! His word was our arrow-his breath was our sword!

Heard the high strain their trumpets blew.

A sudden spirit on him came,
A sudden fire was in his eye;
His tongue was touched with hallowed flame,
The "Curser" swelled with prophecy.

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Ere the coming day is done,
Such shalt thou be, such thy son,
Fare thee well, but for a day;
Then we mix our mouldering clay,
Thou, thy race, lie pale and low,
Pierced by shafts of many a bow:
And the falchion by thy side
To thy heart thy hand shall guide:
Crownless, breathless, headless fall,
Son, and sire, the house of Saul."

Wing'd from the sea the gathering mists arise,

And floating waters darken all the skies; The King with shifted reins his chariot sends, And wide o'er earth the airy flood descends; With mingling cries dispersing hosts applaud,

And shouting nations own the living God.

ELIJAH ON MOUNT CARMEL.

1 Kings xviii. 41, 45.

DARWIN.

ELIJAH IN THE WILDERNESS. 1 Kings xix.

MONTGOMERY.

THUS prayed the prophet in the wilderness, "God of my fathers, look on my distress;

THUS when Elijah mark'd from Carmel's My days are spent in vanity and strife;

brow

In bright expanse the briny flood below; Roll'd his red eyes amid the scorching air, Smote his firm breast, and breathed his ardent prayer;

High in the midst a massy altar stood, And slaughter'd offerings press'd the piles of wood;

While Israel's chief the sacred hill surround, And famish'd armies crowd the dusty ground; While proud Idolatry was leagued with dearth,

And wither'd famine swept, the desert earth,

"Oh! Mighty Lord! thy wo-worn servant hear,

Who calls thy name in agony of prayer; Thy fanes dishonour'd, and thy prophets slain,

Lo! I alone survive of all thy train!

Oh, send from Heaven thy sacred fire, and

pour

O'er the parch'd land the salutary shower,

So shall thy priest thy erring flock, recal,And speak in thunder, thou art Lord of all."

He cried, and kneeling on the mountainsands,

Stretch'd high in air his supplicating hands.

Oh! that the Lord would please to take my

life!

Beneath the clods through this lone valley spread,

Now might I join the generations dead."

Heaven deigned no answer to the mur

muring prayer,

Silence that thrill'd the blood alone was there;

Down sank his weary limbs, slow heav'd his breath,

And sleep fell on him with a weight like death:

Dreams, raised by evil spirits, hover'd near, Throng'd with strange thoughts, and images

of fear.

The Abominations of the Gentiles came;Detested Chemosh, Moloch clad with flame, Ashtaroth, queen of heaven, with moony

crest,

And Baal, sun-like, high above the rest, Glared on him, gnash'd their teeth, then sped

away,

Like ravening vultures to their carrion-prey; Where every grove grew darker with their

rites,

And blood ran reeking down the mountain

heights.

But to the living God, throughout the land, Descending flames the dusky shrine il- He saw no altar blaze, no temple stand;

lume,

Fire the wet wood, the sacred bull consume;

Jerusalem was dust, and Zion's Hill,

Like Tophet's valley, desolate and still.

The prophet drew one deep despairing groan, And his heart died within him like a stone.

"I have been very jealous for thy cause, Lord God of Hosts! for men make void thy laws:

An angel's touch the dire entrancement Thy people have thrown down thine altars,

broke,

"Arise and eat, Elijah!"-He awoke, And found a table in the desert spread, With water in the cruise beside his head; He bless'd the Lord who turn'd away his

prayer,

And feasted on the strength-reviving fare; Then sweeter slumber o'er his senses stole, And sunk, like life new-breathed, into his soul.

A dream brought David's city to his sight; Shepherds were watching o'er their flocks by night;

Around them uncreated splendour blazed, And heavenly hosts their hallelujahs raised : A theme, unknown since Sin to Death gave birth,

"Glory to God, good-will and peace on earth,"

They sung; his heart responded to the strain, But memory sought to keep the words in vain.

The vision changed.--Amid the gloom serene,
One star above all other stars was seen :
It had a light, a motion of its own,
And o'er a lowly shed in Bethlehem shone :
He look'd, and lo! an infant, newly born,
That seemed cast out to poverty and scorn;
Yet, Gentile kings its advent came to greet,
Worshipp'd, and laid their treasures at his
feet.

Musing what this mysterious babe might be,
He saw a sufferer stretch'd upon a tree!
Yet while the victim died by man abhorr'd,
Creation's agonies confess'd him LORD.

Again the angel smote the slumberer's side; "Arise and eat; thy journey's long and wide."

He rose and ate; then, with unfailing force, Through forty days and nights, upheld his

course.

slain

Thy prophets,-I, and I alone, remain : My life with reckless vengeance they pur

sue;

And what can I against a nation do ?"

"Stand on the mount before the Lord, and

know,

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That wrath or mercy at my will I show.' -Anon the Power that holds the winds lets fly

Their devastating armies through the sky: Then shook the wilderness, the rocks were rent,

As when Jehovah bow'd the firmament, And trembling Israel, while he gave the law, Beheld his symbols, but no likeness saw : The storm retired, nor left a trace behind; The Lord pass'd by-He came not with the wind.

-Beneath the prophet's feet, the shuddering ground

Clave, and disclosed a precipice profound, Like that which open'd to the gates of hell, When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram fell; Again the Lord pass'd by, but unreveal'd; He came not with the earthquake:—all was seal'd.

-A new amazement! vale and mountain turn'd

Red as the battle-field with blood: then burn'd

Up to the stars, as terrible a flame
As shall devour this universal frame.
Elijah watch'd it kindle, spread, expire:
The Lord pass'd by,-He came not with the
fire.

-A still small whisper melted on his ear;
He wrapt his mantle round his face with

fear;

Darkness that might be felt, involved him;
-dumb

Horeb, the mount of God, he reach'd and lay With expectation of a voice to come.
Within a cavern till the cool of day.

"What dost thou, here, Elijah ?"-Like

the tide,

Brake that deep voice through silence :-he replied,

He stood upon the threshold of the cave, Like one, long dead, new-risen from the

grave

In the last judgment.-Came the voice and

cried,

"What dost thou here, Elijah!" He replied,

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