CII.—A BIRTH-DAY OFFERING.

CII.—A BIRTH-DAY OFFERING.DR. NEWMAN.Dr. John Henry Newman, a distinguished Catholic Ecclesiastic, was formerly a minister of the Established Church in England, and leader of what has been called the Puseyite movement. He is a man of very remarkable ability.

DR. NEWMAN.

Dr. John Henry Newman, a distinguished Catholic Ecclesiastic, was formerly a minister of the Established Church in England, and leader of what has been called the Puseyite movement. He is a man of very remarkable ability.

1. Dear Frank, this morn has ushered inThe manhood of thy days;A boy no more, thou must beginTo choose thy future ways;To brace thy arm, and nerve thy heart,For maintenance of a noble part.2. And thou a voucher[628]fair hast given,Of what thou wilt achieve,Ere age has dimmed thy sunlit heavenIn weary life’s chill eve;Should Sovereign Wisdom in its graceVouchsafe to thee so long a race.3. My brother, we are linked with chainThat time shall ne’er destroy;Together we have been in pain,Together now in joy;For duly I to share may claimThe present brightness of thy name.4. My brother, ’tis no recent tieWhich binds our fates in one,E’en from our tender infancyThe twisted thread was spun;—Her deed, who stored in her fond mindOur forms, by sacred love enshrined.[629]5. In her affection all had share,All six, she loved them all;Yet on her early-chosen PairDid her full favor fall;And we became her dearest theme,Her waking thought, her nightly dream.6. Ah! brother, shall we e’er forgetHer love, her care, her zeal?We cannot pay the countless debt,But we must ever feel;For through her earnestness were shedPrayer-purchased blessings on our head.7. Though in the end of days she stood,And pain and weakness came,Her force of thought was unsubdued,Her fire of love the same;And e’en when memory failed its part,We still kept lodgment in her heart.8. And when her Maker from the thrall[630]Of flesh her spirit freed,No suffering ’companied the call,—In mercy ’twas decreed,—One moment here, the next she trodThe viewless mansion of her God.9. Now then at length she is at rest,And, after many a woe,Rejoices in that Saviour blest,Who was her hope below;Kept till the day when he shall ownHis saints before His Father’s throne.10. So it is left for us to proveHer prayers were not in vain;And that God’s grace-according loveHas fallen as gentle rain,Which, sent in the due vernal[631]hour,Tints the young leaf, perfumes the flower.11. Dear Frank, we both are summoned nowAs champions of the Lord;—Enrolled am I, and shortly thouMust buckle on thy sword;A high employ, nor lightly given,To serve as messengers of heaven!12. Deep in my heart that gift I hide;I change it not away,For patriot-warrior’s hour of pride,Or statesman’s tranquil[632]sway;For poet’s fire, or pleader’s skillTo pierce the soul and tame the will.13. O! may we follow undismayed[633]Where’er our God shall call!And may His Spirit’s present aidUphold us lest we fall!Till in the end of days we stand,As victors in a deathless land.

1. Dear Frank, this morn has ushered inThe manhood of thy days;A boy no more, thou must beginTo choose thy future ways;To brace thy arm, and nerve thy heart,For maintenance of a noble part.

1. Dear Frank, this morn has ushered in

The manhood of thy days;

A boy no more, thou must begin

To choose thy future ways;

To brace thy arm, and nerve thy heart,

For maintenance of a noble part.

2. And thou a voucher[628]fair hast given,Of what thou wilt achieve,Ere age has dimmed thy sunlit heavenIn weary life’s chill eve;Should Sovereign Wisdom in its graceVouchsafe to thee so long a race.

2. And thou a voucher[628]fair hast given,

Of what thou wilt achieve,

Ere age has dimmed thy sunlit heaven

In weary life’s chill eve;

Should Sovereign Wisdom in its grace

Vouchsafe to thee so long a race.

3. My brother, we are linked with chainThat time shall ne’er destroy;Together we have been in pain,Together now in joy;For duly I to share may claimThe present brightness of thy name.

3. My brother, we are linked with chain

That time shall ne’er destroy;

Together we have been in pain,

Together now in joy;

For duly I to share may claim

The present brightness of thy name.

4. My brother, ’tis no recent tieWhich binds our fates in one,E’en from our tender infancyThe twisted thread was spun;—Her deed, who stored in her fond mindOur forms, by sacred love enshrined.[629]

4. My brother, ’tis no recent tie

Which binds our fates in one,

E’en from our tender infancy

The twisted thread was spun;—

Her deed, who stored in her fond mind

Our forms, by sacred love enshrined.[629]

5. In her affection all had share,All six, she loved them all;Yet on her early-chosen PairDid her full favor fall;And we became her dearest theme,Her waking thought, her nightly dream.

5. In her affection all had share,

All six, she loved them all;

Yet on her early-chosen Pair

Did her full favor fall;

And we became her dearest theme,

Her waking thought, her nightly dream.

6. Ah! brother, shall we e’er forgetHer love, her care, her zeal?We cannot pay the countless debt,But we must ever feel;For through her earnestness were shedPrayer-purchased blessings on our head.

6. Ah! brother, shall we e’er forget

Her love, her care, her zeal?

We cannot pay the countless debt,

But we must ever feel;

For through her earnestness were shed

Prayer-purchased blessings on our head.

7. Though in the end of days she stood,And pain and weakness came,Her force of thought was unsubdued,Her fire of love the same;And e’en when memory failed its part,We still kept lodgment in her heart.

7. Though in the end of days she stood,

And pain and weakness came,

Her force of thought was unsubdued,

Her fire of love the same;

And e’en when memory failed its part,

We still kept lodgment in her heart.

8. And when her Maker from the thrall[630]Of flesh her spirit freed,No suffering ’companied the call,—In mercy ’twas decreed,—One moment here, the next she trodThe viewless mansion of her God.

8. And when her Maker from the thrall[630]

Of flesh her spirit freed,

No suffering ’companied the call,

—In mercy ’twas decreed,—

One moment here, the next she trod

The viewless mansion of her God.

9. Now then at length she is at rest,And, after many a woe,Rejoices in that Saviour blest,Who was her hope below;Kept till the day when he shall ownHis saints before His Father’s throne.

9. Now then at length she is at rest,

And, after many a woe,

Rejoices in that Saviour blest,

Who was her hope below;

Kept till the day when he shall own

His saints before His Father’s throne.

10. So it is left for us to proveHer prayers were not in vain;And that God’s grace-according loveHas fallen as gentle rain,Which, sent in the due vernal[631]hour,Tints the young leaf, perfumes the flower.

10. So it is left for us to prove

Her prayers were not in vain;

And that God’s grace-according love

Has fallen as gentle rain,

Which, sent in the due vernal[631]hour,

Tints the young leaf, perfumes the flower.

11. Dear Frank, we both are summoned nowAs champions of the Lord;—Enrolled am I, and shortly thouMust buckle on thy sword;A high employ, nor lightly given,To serve as messengers of heaven!

11. Dear Frank, we both are summoned now

As champions of the Lord;—

Enrolled am I, and shortly thou

Must buckle on thy sword;

A high employ, nor lightly given,

To serve as messengers of heaven!

12. Deep in my heart that gift I hide;I change it not away,For patriot-warrior’s hour of pride,Or statesman’s tranquil[632]sway;For poet’s fire, or pleader’s skillTo pierce the soul and tame the will.

12. Deep in my heart that gift I hide;

I change it not away,

For patriot-warrior’s hour of pride,

Or statesman’s tranquil[632]sway;

For poet’s fire, or pleader’s skill

To pierce the soul and tame the will.

13. O! may we follow undismayed[633]Where’er our God shall call!And may His Spirit’s present aidUphold us lest we fall!Till in the end of days we stand,As victors in a deathless land.

13. O! may we follow undismayed[633]

Where’er our God shall call!

And may His Spirit’s present aid

Uphold us lest we fall!

Till in the end of days we stand,

As victors in a deathless land.

[628]Vouchˊ-er, a warrant; a testimony.[629]En-shrinˊ-ed, enclosed.[630]Thrall, bondage.[631]Verˊ-nal, belonging to Spring.[632]Tranˊ-quil, peaceful; undisturbed.[633]Un-dis-mayedˊ, with courage.

[628]Vouchˊ-er, a warrant; a testimony.

[629]En-shrinˊ-ed, enclosed.

[630]Thrall, bondage.

[631]Verˊ-nal, belonging to Spring.

[632]Tranˊ-quil, peaceful; undisturbed.

[633]Un-dis-mayedˊ, with courage.

Back to Index Next