The childless parents first he led
Into the chamber of the dead,-

Then of His train the Chosen Three!
Softly he stepped, and silently
They knelt around the bed
On which the just departed lay:-
Yet the sad Mother turned away
From that pale corps, so coldly fair;
Faith yet was struggling with Despair;
And still on Jesus fixed her eye,
Lest Doubt should win the mastery-
The father's glance was rooted there.-
Yes, on that form he seemed to look
As if the spirit had not fled,

As if the grave would yield its prize-
And moved not, till the Saviour spoke
His mandate to the unconscious dead-
"Maiden I say to thee, Arise!"

XXVIII.

O Father! dost thou view on earth
The marvel of a heavenly birth?
O Mother! dost thou clasp again
Thy child without a mother's pain?
Do ye,
O faithful, favoured Three!

Again behold the victory
O'er Death, or is it on the dead
Your steadfast glance is riveted?
No! 'tis not on the dead they gaze ;-
The wondering father looks not now
On the pale cheek-the still cold brow!
The mother, rapt in mute amaze,
No longer turns on that closed eye
The glance that vainly asks reply!
For lo! her fringed lids unclose!
Her eyes with living lustre beam,—
As if she woke from calm repose,
Or from a bright and blessed dream!
And look! again the faded rose

Glows round her lips;-they seem to move!
Is it a warm and breathing smile?

Or doth the witchery of love
With false, illusive spell beguile?
Oh, no! she rises,-she revives!

"Tis not a dream! She lives! She lives!
The life-the glad reality

Beams on her cheek-burns in her eye!
Fresh graces to the Maid are given,
As she had dwelt awhile in Heaven;
And then returned to lower earth,
To show what forms of angel-birth
Are tenants of the sky!

From the Iris.

THE MADONNA AND CHILD.

BY THE REV. THOMAS DALE, M. A.

I.

WHEN from Thy beaming throne

O High and Holy One!

Thou cam'st to dwell with those of mortal birth;

No ray of living light

Flashed on th' astonished sight,

To show the GODHEAD walked his subject earth:

II.

Thine was no awful form,
Shrouded in mist and storm,

Of Seraph, walking on the viewless wind;
Nor didst thou deign to wear

The port, sublimely fair,

Of Angel-heralds, sent to bless mankind.

III.

Made like the sons of clay,
Thy matchless glories lay

In form of feeble infancy concealed;
No pomp of outward sign
Proclaimed the Power Divine;

No earthly state the heavenly guest revealed!

IV.

Thou didst not choose thy home
Beneath a lordly dome;

No regal diadem wreathed thy baby brow;
Nor on a soft couch laid,

Nor in rich vest arrayed,

But with the poorest of the poor wert Thou!

V.

Yet she, whose gentle breast
Was Thy glad place of rest ;-

In her the blood of royal David flowed:
Men passed her dwelling by
With proud and scornful eye;

But Angels knew and loved her mean abode.

VI.

There softer strains she heard

Than song of evening bird,

Or tuneful minstrel in a queenly bower; And o'er her dwelling lone

A brighter radiance shone

XXIX.

It was to glance from her to Him;

As if the dazzled eye was dim,

And scarce could look the gratitude

Which, e'en to bursting, filled each breast,—

To Him it was not unexpressed!

Their hearts before him open lay!

Emotions, that for utterance strove,
Joy, Wonder, Adoration, Love,
Needed to Him no vain display
Of words: nor paused He but to say,
"Receive your daughter from the tomb
Undoubting-for with mortal food
Soon shall ye hail her strength renewed,
And health restored in all its bloom.
Henceforth in solemn silence seal
The pangs ye felt, the joys ye feel;
For life restored, for guilt forgiven,
Your praises shall be heard in Heaven!"

VII.

For there the Mystic Star

That sages led from far,

To pour their treasures at her Infant's feet,
Still shed its golden light;—

There, through the calm, clear night,

Were heard Angelic Voices, strangely sweet.

VIII.

O happiest thou of all

Who bare the deadly thrall

Which, for one mother's crime, to all was giv'n;

Her first of mortal birth

Brought Death to reign on earth,— But THINE brings Light and Life again from heaven!

II.

Happiest of Virgins thou,

On whose unruffled brow

Blends maiden meekness with a mother's love!
Blest in thy Heavenly Son,
Blest in the Holy One,

Whom man knows not below, though Angels hymned above!

From the Iris.

THE OFFERING.

BY JOSIAH CONDER, ESQ.

For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.- Heb. x. 14.

I.

WITH blood-but not his own-the awful sign At once of sin's desert and guilt's remission, The Jew besought the clemency Divine,

The hope of mercy blending with contrition. Sin must have death! Its holy requisition

The Law may not relax. The opening tomb Expects its prey; mere respite, life's condition; Nor can the body shun its penal doom. Yet, there is mercy: wherefore else delay

To punish? Why the victim and the rite? But can the type and symbol take away

The guilt, and for a broken law requite? THE CROSS unfolds the mystery.-Jesus died: The sinner lives: the Law is satisfied!

II.

With blood-but not his own-the Jew drew

near

The mercy-seat, and Heaven received his prayer.

Yet still his hope was dimmed by doubt and fear:

"If Thou shouldst mark transgression, who might dare

To stand before thee?" Mercy loves to spare And pardon but stern justice has a voice, And cries-Our God is holy, nor can bear

Uncleanness in the people of his choice. But now ONE OFFERING, ne'er to be renewed, Hath made our peace for ever. This now gives

Free access to the Throne of Heavenly Grace.
No more base fear and dark disquietude.
He who was slain-the Accepted Victim!—

lives,

And intercedes before the Father's face.

From the Gem.
HEAVEN AND EARTH.

BY J. MONTGOMERY, ESQ.

BEHOLD yon bright array
Before the sapphire throne!

There young nor old, there rich nor poor,
There bond nor free, are known.

At once they strike their lyres;
At once break off,—and all,
With trembling joy, and silent love,
In adoration fall,

BY THE HON. AND REV. BAPTIST W. NOEL, M.A.
THERE is a tender sadness in that air,
While yet devotion lifts the soul above;
Mournful though calm, as rainbow glories
prove

The parting storm, it marks the past despair:
Heedless of gazers, once with flowing hair
She dried His tear-besprinkled feet, whose
love

Powerful alike to pardon and reprove,

Took from her aching heart its load of care. Thenceforth nor time, nor pain could e'er efface

Her Saviour's pity through all worldly scorn
To her he had a glory and a grace,
Which made her humbly love and meekly

From the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.

MISSIONS IN CEYLON.

THE awful tendency of Buddhism, to increase the natural indisposition of the human mind to every thing sacred and divine, is strongly marked in the following communications from Mr. Bridgnell. A deathlike apathy pervades the regions of error where Buddhism prevails, and renders the outpouring of the Holy Spirit peculiarly desirable, to arouse the followers of the deified philosopher from their "sleep of death." Prayer to God ought continually to be made for them, by all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth, and are desirous of the glad tidings of the Gospel being rendered to them the power of God unto salvation.

The remarks on the proposed introduction of caste into the Christian church are just and merited.

GETUANA.

Extract of a Letter from Mr. Bridgnell, dated October 10th, 1828.

Not long since, I had a conversation of about two hours' length, with six of the Buddhist Priests. I gave each of them my Tract on Idolatry, and the Parables of our Lord, translated by Brother Gogerly. In the course of conversation, I asked, if any egregious and manifest error were discovered in any system of religion, whether there would not be sufficient reason to conclude that the whole was a system of error. They answered, that it would; and that a system of religion which was false in any of its parts, might justly be suspected to be true in none. I asked if they heartily conceded this point. They answered, "Why should we not?” "What," said I, "said I, "is your opinion of the doctrine of the existence of an almighty Creator, and of our account of the origin of all things?" They wished to know exactly, in the first place, what were our doctrine and sentiments, on the subject referred to. I told them of "God that made the world, and all things therein;" but they asked, with evident incredulity, "Who, then, made the sun, moon, and stars?" I answered, that Almighty God "created heaven and, the things that therein are; and the earth, and the things that therein are; and the sea, and the things which are therein." "Was man, then, originally Rel Mar Vor IV

"Your

created?" "Yes: when God 'made the earth,' He also created man upon it.'" "But was the soul of man created?" "Yes: Jehovah our God' formeth the spirit of man within him.'" Here they were evidently much astonished, and seemed to say, "What new doctrine is this? Thou bringest certain strange things to our ears." I told them, that some of their tribe with whom I had conversed confessed to me that, in their opinion, the doctrine of an almighty Creator of all things was not inconsistent with their religion; but I had no sooner made the observation, than they answered and agreed that it was utterly repugnant to the whole fabric of Buddhism. doctrines," said I," with respect to the origin, size, and form of the earth, and the cause of the regular succession of day and night, are, if I mistake not, incorporated with, and considered to be an essential part of, the religious system of Buddha." They said, I was not mistaken on that subject. "If, then," I continued, "I can demonstrate that the doctrines of Buddha, with respect to the size and form of the earth, are wrong, will it not follow, as a very probable, if not a certain, consequence, that his doctrine, with respect to the origin of the earth, must be wrong also? and will there not be reason to suspect, at least, that the whole system of Buddhism is built on error?" "O! that we cannot believe, we cannot believe that," exclaimed they all. "Well, but," I replied, "you must not be afraid: this follows from your own concession made but just now." The inferior Priests, who had long been very restless, began now to be very urgent with the Anunāyakaunānse, or Chief Priest of ninety, to proceed on his journey: however, I prevailed on him to stay longer. He then gave me a ridiculous account from his books, of the manner in which the earth was produced from, and is supported by, the water; and how the water was produced from, and is supported by the wind; and how the wind was produced from, and is supported by

nothing that he knew of, or could tell any thing about. With regard to the shape of the earth, he learnt from the books that it was round; but whether by this was meant round like an orange, or round like a dollar, was more than he could tell, as the books did not explain: he supposed, however, its form was not spherical. Its size he next spoke of; but the only thing he pretended to know on this

H

subject was, that it was more than two lacs of yodunnas,* or three millions and two hundred thousands of miles through! As to the regular succession of day and night, he affirmed that it was occasioned by the revolutions made by the sun round the great rock, mahamēra, which was situated in the midst of the sea; the height of which above the plane of the earth's surface was upwards of one lac of yodunnas, or one million six hundred thousand English miles! After having enlarged considerably on the fact of the earth's having been circumnavigated, and other circumstances tending to prove that the earth is a vast globe, I spoke to them of the accurate knowledge possessed by Europeans respecting the earth, and the system of our universe. I described to them the ease with which they could find out their way in the trackless ocean, and point out, with the utmost precision, the situation of the smallest island found in the mighty waters. I told them this knowledge was obtained from actual observation, and that they need not doubt of its being correct. I showed them my compass, with which they appeared mightily pleased. I gave them our views of the annual revolution of the earth round the sun, and its diurnal motion round its own axis. Then I told them, that we had detected at least two of the grossest errors in their system of religion, namely, the doctrines respecting mahamera, and the carth's diameter; or rather, speaking after the manner of Buddhists, the earth's ghanakama, or thickness. As to the former, the huge rock they spoke of, we had ascertained, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that there was no such rock as they described; and with regard to the latter, having demonstrated that the earth is a vast globe, less than twenty-five thousand miles in circumference, we were sure its diameter could not exceed eight thousand miles. They knew not what to reply. I thought of that couplet

"A man convinced against his will,
Is of the same opinion still."

After a while, having heard me speak of the infinite importance of knowing the truth in religion, but especially the truth concerning God, and the way of salvation, one said, "Our religion is good for us; and your religion is good for you." I said, "No; a false religion is good for nobody: and of two religions which directly contradict each other, one must be false." I exhorted them seriously to consider what they had heard. They thanked me, and hastened away.

Shortly after this, I had another long conversation with four Priests in our chapel, which they had come to see. After I had spent about half an hour with them, "both hearing them and asking them questions," the most pert and loquacious individual of the party said, "It is in vain for us to argue; for we do not understand you, nor can you understand us. I was surprised at this, and sent immediately for Ferdinandusz, our School Visiter, to whom, in English, I recapitulated the observations which had been made on both sides.

* A lac is one hundred thousand; and each yodunna contains sixteen English miles.

He interpreted the whole to them: but they still persisted in saying, "We don't understand." I directed Ferdinandusz to ask them to point out what words, or sentences, or parts of sentences, they had not understood; but they could not specify one unintelligible word or expression which either of us had used; and, from the connected course of the conversation, it was evident we had, from the beginning, well understood each other. Ferdinandusz says this is a very common trick; and that, when overpowered in argument, they uniformly present this plea. I have now, however, driven them out of this subterfuge. I then, through Ferdinandusz, spoke to them at considerable length of our Lord and of his Christ." The idea of an omnipresent Spirit they pretended to think absurd; and said, it was impossible to worship, or believe in the existence of, any Being of whom we could picture no image to our minds; since, according to their notions, every thing that has existence has some outward and visible form of existence. I asked, could he picture to himself the image of his own soul? No: but an image of his person would easily be made; and when he himself ceased to be visible, he should at once cease to be; that is, his transmigrations and his existence, according to the genuine doctrines of Buddha, will end together. In answering, I said, are we not continually inspiring and expiring something which is essentially necessary to the support of our existence ?" "Yes." "What do you name that something?" "Air." "Can we find a place in this wide world where we shall not find air to breathe ?" "No." "You are sure that air exists; of course, then, you must have seen it, and can tell me its colour and shape ?" "We have not seen it: we cannot tell." Well, then," said I, "if one of the creatures which the only true and Almighty God has made is thus invisible, and, as to our world, omnipresent, why should it be thought a thing incredible with you,' that He himself, though invisible to us, should be present every where?" I then declared to them how "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." The Priest before distinguished said, "If you should talk to us on these subjects till it is quite dark, you could not make us change our religion: we cannot change our religion." I told them that my earnestness did not arise from the prospect of any worldly advantage that would accrue to me, since, if every Buddhist and Buddhist Priest in the whole island were converted to Christianity by my instrumentality, I should gain nothing by it but the satisfaction of mind which I should experience in having turned them from the darkness of destructive error to the light of saving truth. "My earnestness,' said I, "arises from the deep conviction I feel of your imminent and awful danger: for your good I speak plainly, for you are in danger of eternal damnation!'" They seemed exceedingly interested, and, I thought, somewhat affected, with what they heard, and departed with apparent reluctance; being, as they said, though not convinced of the truth of what I had advanced, yet well assured of the great good will with which every thing I said had been spoken. I gave each of them two Tracts.