The dew-draps gem the clover leaves,
The laverock sings aboon,
The blae-berry bush wi' spring revives,
And it will blossom soon;
I canna leave the bonnie brae
Where waves the new-sprung fern,
Where oft I 've pass'd the summer's day,
And look'd upon the burn.
I canna leave the green-croft well,
Its waters cool and clear,
For oft its pleasant murmurs dwell
Like music in mine ear;
The elder bush, the garden bower,
Where robin sings sae sweet,
The auld gray dike, the bee-house tower,
The cosie garden seat.
HORATIUS BONAR, D.D.
One of the most esteemed of living Scottish theological writers, Horatius Bonar, is likewise favourably known as a sacred lyric poet. He is a native of Edinburgh, where his father, the late James Bonar, Esq., a man of eminent piety and accomplished scholarship, held the office of a Solicitor of Excise. His ancestors for several successive generations were ministers of the Church of Scotland. He was educated at the High School and the University of his native city. After engaging for some time in missionary labour at Leith, he was ordained to the ministry at Kelso in November 1837, and has since prosecuted his pastoral duties in that place. His first literary efforts appeared in the shape of religious tracts, now published in a volume under the title of "The Kelso Tracts." He next published the work by which he has become most widely known, "The Night of Weeping," which was followed by other two works of the same series, "The Morning of Joy," and "The Eternal Day." Of his subsequent publications, the more conspicuous are, "Prophetical Landmarks," "The Coming and the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus," "A Stranger Here," "Man; his Religion and his World," "The Story of Grace," "The Blood of the Cross," and "The Desert of Sinai, or Notes of a Tour from Cairo to Beersheba." Dr Bonar was for many years editor of the Presbyterian Review; he now edits The Quarterly Journal of Prophecy. The following spiritual songs, well adapted for music, are from his volume entitled "Hymns of Faith and Hope."
THE MEETING PLACE.
Where the faded flower shall freshen,
Freshen never more to fade;
Where the shaded sky shall brighten,
Brighten never more to shade:
Where the sun-blaze never scorches,
Where the star-beams cease to chill;
Where no tempest stirs the echoes
Of the wood, or wave, or hill:
Where the morn shall wake in gladness,
And the noon the joy prolong,
Where the daylight dies in fragrance,
'Mid the burst of holy song:
Brother, we shall meet and rest
'Mid the holy and the blest!
Where no shadow shall bewilder,
Where life's vain parade is o'er,
Where the sleep of sin is broken,
And the dreamer dreams no more;
Where the bond is never sever'd,
Partings, claspings, sob and moan,
Midnight waking, twilight weeping,
Heavy noontide, all are done:
Where the child has found its mother,
Where the mother finds the child,
Where dear families are gather'd
That were scatter'd on the wild:
Brother, we shall meet and rest
'Mid the holy and the blest!
Where the hidden wound is healèd,
Where the blighted life re-blooms,
Where the smitten heart the freshness
Of its buoyant youth resumes;
Where the love that here we lavish
On the withering leaves of time,
Shall have fadeless flowers to fix on
In an ever spring-bright clime:
Where we find the joy of loving,
As we never loved before,
Loving on, unchill'd, unhinder'd,
Loving once and evermore:
Brother, we shall meet and rest
'Mid the holy and the blest!