OUT of the bosom of the dark, deep tomb Ye witness 'gainst me, with your speech severe. As though my latest moment were at hand, When that dread sentence comes with awful power, TO SINNERS. SONNET CLXXXII. IT will it will come soon! O listen, then, THE ADVENT. "The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple."--Mal. iii. 1. "They brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord."-Luke ii. 22. CAME He arrayed in dazzling flame, Whilst thunders pealed his lofty name? Or past He in a whirlwind by? Whilst far within the arched fane A second time did Sinai dare To hear his trumpet's sound? He came but not around him wait Cease thy mysterious theme, weak lute! Presents Himself, a woman's child, Lyra Apostolica. Γνοῖεν δ', ὡς δὴ δηρὸν ἐγὼ πολέμοιο πέπαυμαι. NO. XX. THE LORD THY GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE." 1.-NADAB AND ABIHU. "AWAY, or ere the Lord break forth! Cannot abide the spark of earth, "Twill lighten, and not spare.” "Nay, but we know our call divine, What boots it where we light the shrine. God of the unconsuming fire, On Horeb seen of old, Stay, Jealous One, thy burning ire It may not be controll'd. The Lord breaks out, th' unworthy die Lo! on the cedar floor The rob'd and mitred corses lie Be silent and adore. E. H. Yet sure a holy seed were they, Th' atoning blood had drench'd them o'er, Silence, ye brethren of the dead, Then bear them as they lie, their brows Nor leave unwept their desert grave, Nor burns it only then: The poor that are not poor in heart,- We loathe it, o'er and o'er again," The murmurers in the camp, must feel the blazing dart. Far from the Lord's tent door, And therefore bold to sin, are they : "What should we know of Faith's high lore!" Oh! plead not so-there's wrath in store, And temper'd to our crimes the lightnings find their way. The promised fields and vineyards fair? Are these-ye cannot blind them quite- KORAH. "And we too, Levites though we be, Did we not hear the Mountain Voice Our censers are as yours: we dare you to the shrine." Where was their place at eve? Ye know, And altars scath'd with fires of woe! The shuddering ear long time will haunt. Dire is the fame for you in store: Th' atoning altar must inlay ; 4.-ELIJAH AND THE MESSENGERS OF AHAZIAH. OH! surely Scorner is his name, In mockery own them "men of God," O'er whom he gaily shakes the miscreant spoiler's rod. But if we be God's own indeed, Then is there fire in Heaven, be sure, Wing'd are they all, and aimed on high, Against the hour when Christ shall hear his martyrs' cry. Oh! tell me not of royal hosts- To tell their Lord how dire the church's lightnings burn. CORRESPONDENCE. The Editor begs to remind his readers that he is not responsible for the opinions 1 THE CONVOCATION OF THE PROVINCE OF CANTERBURY. NO. III. I AM fearful of tiring the reader with the minute details of the quarrel which took place in the convocations of 1700 and following years, yet it has been my object, as it shall be in the sequel, to confine my account of it to those points which involved some question of right or privilege between the two houses, or between both and the crown. In continuing the history, I will only remark that such a dissention scarcely can occur again. It arose from a new upper house being grafted by a new king on an old clergy; whereas, in a settled state of things, there is a regular and close connexion between the bishops and the lower house, the members of the latter being appointed for the most part either by the crown or the episcopal bench. I say it scarcely can recur; because it is not to be supposed that the great body of the clergy will ever again find themselves called upon to shift their allegiance to new bishops at the command of a foreigner scarcely seated on the throne. Comparing the two houses with each other, the dignified and temperate conduct of the upper house forces itself upon the notice of the reader. However, it should be remembered that nothing is so easy as composure, good humour, and good sense, when we have matters in the main our own way. Let those laugh who win, is a familiar proverb. The bishops were at this time on the winning side; they had the king with them, and their political principles had gained the victory. Besides, a sort of constitutional tranquillity and clearDess of head are often the attendants on the cold, unenthusiastical temper which had, at that era, triumphed in church and state, as may be illustrated in the case of some well-known writers of that and a more recent date. At the same time, there were members of the upper house as free from the charge of placidity and insensibility as any of the lower. On one occasion, Burnet, whose writings had been attacked by the lower house, was provoked to interpose, in answer to a question from the prolocutor to the archbishop, on some immaterial point of dissention," This is fine, indeed, the lower house will not allow a committee to inspect their books, and now they demand to see ours!" and on the prolocutor replying that he asked nothing but what he was concerned to know, and what of right he might demand, Burnet returned, "This is according to your usual insolence." "Insolence, my lord!" said the prolocutor, "do you give me that word ?" "Yes, insolence!" replied the historian, "you deserve that word and worse. Think what you will of yourself, I know what you are." VOL. VII.-Jun. 1835. F |