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LIKE Abraham ascending up the hill
To sacrifice, his servants left below,

That he might act the great Commander's will
Without impeach to his obedient blow;
Even so the soul, remote from earthly things,
Should mount salvation's shelter, mercy's wings.

ROBERT SOUTHWELL.

THOUGH round him numerous tribes,

Sworn foes to Heaven's dread Ruler, pitch their tents,
No wayward doubts or coward fears appal

The Patriarch's soul. By the bright hope sustained,
That in his seed all nations should be blest,

Calm and unmoved the delegated seer

Submissive bends to the Eternal Will.

SAMUEL HAYES.

ADAM-EDEN-EVE-THE FALL.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. GENESIS, i, 27.

By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. ROMANS, V, 12.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. I. CORINTHIANS, XV, 21, 22.

The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. I. CORINTHIANS, XV, 45.

THOU man thy image mad'st, in dignity,
In knowledge and in beauty like to thee;
Placed in a heaven on earth: without his toil,
The ever flourishing and fruitful soil
Unpurchased food produced: all creatures were
His subjects, serving more for love than fear.

SANDYS.

O, HAPPY pair,

Lords of fair Eden's blooming range, where earth,
Benignant parent, from her verdant lap
Spontaneous poured immortal sweets, and gave
Whate'er could minister delight! Too soon,
Alas, this scene was closed: behold them now,
So lately rich in happiness, and blessed
With converse of the Living God, o'erwhelmed
In misery, and tortured by the stings
Of conscious guilt!

SAMUEL HAYES.

FOR contemplation he, and valour formed;
For softness she, and sweet attractive grace;
He for God only, she for God in him:
His fair large front and eye sublime, declared
Absolute rule; and hyacinthine locks
Round from his parted forelock manly hung
Clustering, but not beneath his shoulders broad:
She as a veil down to the slender waist,
Her unadorned golden tresses wore
Dishevelled, but in wanton ringlets waved
As the vine curls her tendrils: which implied
Subjection, but required with gentle sway,
And by her yielded, by him best received.

MILTON.

POOR man! How happy once in thy first state! When yet but warm from thy great Maker's hand, He stamped thee with His image, and well pleased, Smiled on his last fair work!

BLAIR

WHAT weaker breast,

Since Adam's armour failed, dares warrant his?
That, made by God of all His creatures best,
Straight made himself the worst of all the rest:

ADAM

EDEN- EVE THE FALL.

If any strength we have, it is to ill;

But all the good is God's, both power and will: The dead man cannot rise, though he himself may kill. GILES FLETCHER.

TROOPS of unknown diseases, sorrow, age,
And death assail him with successive rage.
Hell let forth all her furies: none so great
As man to man, ambition, pride, deceit;

Wrong armed with power, lust, rapine, slaughter reigned,
And flattered vice the name of virtue gained.

SANDYS.

WHEN by his Word God had accomplished all,
Man to create He did a council call;
Employed His hand to give the dust He took
A graceful figure and majestic look;

With His own breath conveyed into his breast
Life and a soul fit to command the rest.

WALLER.

DIFFERENCE of good and ill for man to know
Was needless sure, while with the fearless eye
Of an obedient son, he might look up

To the Almighty Father of his race,

And claim his guidance.

JOHN HEY.

LET us make now, Man in our image, Man

In our similitude, and let them rule

Over the fish and fowl of sea and air,

Beast of the field, and over all the earth,
And every creeping thing that creeps the ground.
This said, He formed thee, Adam, thee, O Man,
Dust of the ground, and in thy nostrils breathed
The breath of life: in His own image He
Created thee, in the image of God
Express.

MILTON.

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HER rash hand, in evil hour,
Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she ate!
Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat,
Sighing, through all her works gave signs of woe,
That all was lost!

MILTON.

THE ADVENT-THE SECOND COMING.

LET the floods clap their hands, let the hills be joyful together before the Lord; for He cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall He judge the world, and the people with His truth. PSALM xcvi, 8, 9.

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Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. ISAIAH, xl, 3, 4, 5.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. ISAIAH, Ixi, 1, 2.

THE chariot! the chariot! its wheels roll on fire,
As the Lord cometh down in the pomp of his ire;
Self-moving it drives on its pathway of cloud,

And the heavens with the burthen of Godhead are bow'd!

The glory! the glory! by myriads are pour'd

The host of the angels to wait on their Lord,

And the glorified saints and the martyrs are there,

And all who the palm-wreath of victory wear.

H. H. MILMAN.

WELL then, my soul, joy in the midst of pain;
Thy Christ, that conquered hell, shall from above
With greater triumph yet return again,

And conquer His own justice with His love-
Commanding earth and seas to render those
Unto His bliss, for whom He paid His woes.

HENRY WOTTON.

THE ADVENT-THE SECOND COMING.

WHEN Thou, attended gloriously from Heaven,
Shall in the sky appear, and from Thee send
The summoning archangels to proclaim
Thy dread tribunal, forthwith from ail winds
The living, and forthwith the cited dead
Of all past ages, to the general doom
Shall hasten.

MILTON.

MESSIAH Comes! Let furious discord cease;
Be peace on earth before the Prince of Peace!
Disease and anguish feel His blest control,
And howling fiends release the tortured soul!
The beams of gladness Hell's dark caves illume,
And mercy broods above the distant gloom.

BISHOP HEBER.

MESSIAH comes! ye rugged paths, be plain;
The Shiloh comes, ye towering cedars bend;
Swell forth, ye valleys; and, ye rocks, descend ;
The withered branch let balmy fruits adorn,
And clustering roses twine the leafless thorn;
Burst forth, ye vocal groves, your joy to tell—
The God of Peace redeems His Israel.

C. H. JOHNSON

HE comes not in the pride of martial pomp,
High in triumphal chariot, while around
The poor remains of vanquished kingdoms grace
The trophied car; not such as Judah's sons,
By empire's flattering dreams misled, conceived,
Vindictive monarch over prostrate Rome.
Beyond the confines of this nether world,
At the right hand of the Almighty Sire,
Enthroned he sits; no partial King, to all
Who unfeigned homage offer, He, benign,
The treasure of His boundless love vouchsafes.
SAMUEL HAYES,

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