BRIGHTEST AND BEST

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid.
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.
Cold on His cradle the dew-drops are shining,
Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall;
Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,
Maker, and Monarch, and Saviour of all.
Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion,
Odors of Edam, and offerings divine,
Gems of the mountain, and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?
Vainly we offer each ample oblation;
Vainly with gifts would His favor secure:
Richer by far is the heart's adoration;
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.
Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid.
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.
--Reginald Heber.

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BETHLEHEM.
From a picture owned by the Detroit Photograph Company, and used by its kind permission.

This picture shows the town, looking in from the Church of the Nativity.

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THE THREE KINGS.

There came three kings, ere break of day,
All on Epiphanie;
Their gifts they bare all rich and rare,
All, all, Lord Christ, for Thee:
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are there,
Where is the King? O where? O where?
The star shone brightly overhead,
The air was calm and still,
O'er Bethlehem fields its rays were shed,
The dew lay on the hill:
We see no throne, no palace fair,
Where is the King? O where? O where?
An old man knelt at a manger low,
A Babe lay in the stall;
The starlight played on the infant brow,
Deep silence lay o'er all.
A maiden bent o'er the Babe in prayer:--
There is the King! O there! O there!
--Christmas Hymn of the 16th Century.

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JOY TO THE WORLD

Joy to the world, the Lord is come:
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns:
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground:
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.
--Isaac Watts.