ST. MATTHEW xxvii. 59. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb. HE that has watched beside the bed Where parting life is laid, And marked the hues that o'er it spread He best can tell, and only he, the keen, Harder and harder still the breath The lab'ring bosom draws; Fast gathering are the dews of death, The faint pulsations pause: Now cold the hand, now glazed the hollow eye, All, all is silence round. None dare That awful calm to break: Sad meaning looks each heart prepare, That soon the soul will take Her everlasting flight from earth, and leave The fond and faithful heart unchecked to grieve. 'Tis past; that groan, and all is o'er: Now freely thou mayst weep, Nor sigh, nor tear, shall pain him more, Thou wilt not break that sleep; And thou mayst kiss those wan and faded cheeks, Nought shall disturb him till th' archangel speaks. Now to the silent grave convey Who once was all thine own; For the last time he leads the way Oh! fatal penalty of guilt and sin, May none exemption from that warfare win? None, none may hope t' escape that doom, Mourning or mourned we lie; The brightest, fairest from the tomb Proclaim that all must die; That all alike in brief yet certain term Must make the clay their bed, and feed the worm. Thus the disciples watching stood, The fatal cross beside, What time the angry water flood Of God poured forth its tide On their devoted Master's holy head, Till the loud cry proclaimed-" "Tis finished!" With breaking heart behold them take The sacred body down; Fit for the tomb the corpse they make. The blood-wet, thorny crown, With careful hand they move from off his brow, Kiss every wound, and o'er him weeping bow. They've laid him in the grave; a stone Upon the mouth is rolled. Had ever grief like theirs been known? Shall earth again behold High hope so crushed? "We deemed," they cry, "'twas he Israel to save, our own Messiah to be." With faltering steps they homeward hie, Affection's work is done: The pale cold moon illumes the sky, That day's dread course is run. But oh! how lonesome that dear home appears- Their thoughts are with the buried dead, Sleep flies their heavy lids; The shades of night will soon be fled, But misery rest forbids; And stunned by such tremendous blow, Each promise they forget, and cling to woe. 177 EASTER SUNDAY. Morning Lessons, Exodus xii. Evening Lessons, Exodus xiv. ALMIGHTY GOD, who through Thine only begotten Son Jesus Christ has overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech Thee, that as by Thy special grace preventing us, Thou dost put into our minds good desires; so by Thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. "This is the feast of feasts," the great day, the highest festival, the day which the Lord hath made : joyfully therefore the Church summons her whole family together to celebrate it with becoming reverence and gratitude. And great indeed is the cause of her exultation-the power of death is for ever destroyed, Satan is vanquished, the door of life is opened to us, the ransom of our peace has not only been paid, but the purchase has been accepted, and in pledge and proof thereof the hostage is discharged. Few, very few, it is to be hoped, can remain unmoved on this blessed occasion. It is but a morbid feeling that leads us to delight in melancholy retrospects, or to dwell on images of woe. The heart was made for cheerfulness, and in proportion as we regain the purity and innocence which was forfeited through sin, we become more susceptible of those pleasurable emotions which alone deserve the name of such, because we approach nearer and nearer to Him who is the fount and source of pleasure. A lively and holy joy is not less appropriate at present than were humiliation and sorrow during the previous week; and, in fact, as the latter have been sincere and deep, so will our happiness now be the more sensibly felt. Nor is that happiness the exclusive portion of any rank or order of Christ's members. Various indeed are the conditions of mankind, and sore is the travail that is frequently given to the sons of men, but none except the obstinately impenitent are precluded from the blissful sensations which the event we now celebrate naturally causes. High and low, rich and poor, one with another," may, on this high festival, as on Christmas day, rejoice before the Lord, and offer to Him the sacrifice of a grateful heart: for as Christ was born for all, so likewise for all did he rise from the grave, and lead captive death. 66 The primitive Christians on this day formally |