Of Praise, as that exercise of devotion in which all forms of faith may with one accord unite. Praise is The differing world's agreeing sacrifice; For the following verses I am indebted to Palgrave's Treasury of Sacred Song: Frail Life! in which, through mists of human breath, O harmless Death; whom still the valiant brave, And all the good embrace, who know the grave The Divine Emblems of John Bunyan (1628-88), A Book for Boys and Girls, published 1686, was only known to be existing in its shorter form until 1889, when a copy of the original work was discovered, and secured to the British Museum. It has now been reprinted in facsimile. It is, as its editor calls it, a sort of religious Æsop, homely and unpolished, but not without touches of imagination worthy of the writer of Pilgrim's Progress. He addresses it to children, with a sort of apology. They may call him, he says, a baby, for playing with them, but he would fain let them see how the 'fingle-fangles' on which they dote may be gins and snares to entangle and destroy their souls. I give two or three illustrations from it : UPON THE WEATHERCOCK. Brave weathercock, I see thou 't set thy nose Face it with Antichrist in each disguise.3 1 Gondibert, canto 6, lxxxiv. 2 From Palgrave's Treasury of Sacred Song, lxxxvi. 3 John Bunyan's Divine Emblems, etc., 1686; ed. with Life by J. Brown, D.D., 1889, No. Ixix. OF THE MOLE IN THE GROUND. A mole's a creature very smooth and slick, Poor idle mole, that thou should'st love to be So he gets earth, to have of heaven a share.1 The following is upon the same subject as his wellknown sermon :— UPON THE BARREN FIG-TREE. What, barren here! in this so good a soil! Art thou not planted by the water side? Hast not been digg'd about and dungéd too? Bear fruit, or else thy end will cursed be! He that about thy roots takes pain to dig, The utmost end of patience is at hand; Thy standing nor thy name will help at all, 1 2 Id. The Scriptural Poems ascribed to Bunyan on Job, Daniel, etc., are of doubtful authenticity, and, at all events, are very prosy. Thomas Flatman (1633-88), a barrister-at-law, published in 1674 some Poems and Songs, which passed through three or four editions. Among them are a Thought on Death, several lines of which Pope closely imitated in his Dying Christian, and two rather pretty morning and evening hymns. The latter of these is as follows: Sleep! drowsy sleep! come, close mine eyes, Sweet slumber, come and chase away The toils and follies of the day: On your soft bosom will I lie, Forget the world, and learn to die. O Israel's watchful Shepherd, spread But save Thy suppliant free from harms Clouds and thick darkness are Thy throne, Oh, dart from thence a shining ray, And then my midnight shall be day! In Richard Baxter (1615-91) the English Church. lost, under Charles the Second's Act of Uniformity, a good and true-hearted man, of whom any church might have been proud. He had received holy orders from the Bishop of Winchester in 1638, and, though he soon after adopted several Nonconformist opinions, remained throughout his life wide and generous in his sympathies. In 1640 he was invited to help the Vicar of Kidderminster, but through most of the Civil War was with the Parliamentary army, ever using his influence and 1 Poems and Songs by T. Flatman, 1676, p. 45. The poems of Henry Vaughan (1621-95) contain, amid a good deal that is rather strained and tedious, some passages worthy of taking a very high place in English sacred verse. He was one of twin brothers in an ancient and honourable Welsh family connected with the Earls of Worcester. They were together at Jesus College, Oxford, in 1638, when Charles was holding his court in that city. The two brothers, Henry and Thomas, attached themselves zealously to the Royal side. Thomas took up arms in the King's cause, then became ordained to the living of his own birthplace, was ejected by the Parliamentary Commissioners, retired to Oxford and devoted his time to alchymy and Rosicrucianism. He wrote some fair poetry in English and Latin. Henry, meanwhile, had left Oxford to study medicine in London, where he became acquainted with Ben Jonson and other literary men of that day. He took his M.D. degree and settled in his old home at Newton, practising his profession, and employing his leisure in literature. In 1649 he had a long and severe illness, during which he became impressed with deeper religious feelings than heretofore. He became acquainted with the poems of George Herbert, read them with delight, and was much influenced by them in his compositions. In 1650 he published the first part of his Silex Scintillans (Sparks from the Flint). This was in poetry. During the next few years his writings were chiefly essays and meditations in prose. In 1655 he published the second part of the Silex Scintillans. This was his last publication.1 During the forty years that followed he lived quietly in his pleasant home by the Esk, and died at the age of seventy-three. Nothing which he wrote is finer than the following, his In Memoriam of dear friends :- 1 Some, however, of his miscellaneous verses, chiefly of an early date, were published in 1678 by one of his Oxford friends. They are all gone into the world of light It glows and glitters in my cloudy breast Or those faint beams in which the hill is drest I see them walking in an air of glory, O holy hope, and high humility, High as the heavens above! These are your walks, and you have showed them me, Dear, beauteous death; the jewel of the just! What mysteries do lie beyond thy dust, Could man outlook that mark! He that hath found some fledged bird's nest may know, At first sight, if the bird be flown; But what fair dell or grove he sings in now That is to him unknown. And yet, as angels in some brighter dream So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes O Father of eternal life and all Resume Thy spirit from this world of thrall FROM HIS VERSES 'ON THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT.' O day of life, of light, of love, The only day dealt from above! 1 Silex Scintillans, Pt. ii.: H. Vaughan's Poems, ed. by H. F. Lyte, |