To solemnize the great mysterious day!

Ye patriarchs, from whom the Savior draws
His mortal lineage, to that sun repair

Which lights redemption's theater! From thence
Ye may your great Redeemer view! A day
Jehovah sanctifies; a holy day

Greater than that which by your festal songs,
Ye mighty seraphim, was solemnized,

When, from creation pausing, God proclaimed
His primal Sabbath. Then, full well ye know,
Angelic powers, how bright young Nature smiled,
How fresh and lovely; how the morning stars,
With you, to their Creator homage paid.
Behold, a greater work the eternal Son

Will soon accomplish! Haste then, angels, haste!
Proclaim it through creation! Lo, the day
Of the Messiah's free obedience comes,
The Sabbath of the eternal covenant!"

Eloa ceased. All Heaven in silence heard, -
Their eyes uplifted toward the sanctuary.
To Gabriel then a sign the Almighty made,
And swift the seraph to the throne advanced,
And secret charge received to bear behest
To Uriel, the sun's regent, and to those
Who o'er the earth bear rule, of high import,
Touching the Savior's death. Their golden seats
Meantime the high seraphic powers now left,
By Gabriel followed. Ere he yet approached
The mystic altar of the earth, his ear

Caught the deep murmured sighs, which low were breathed, In fervent wishes for the expected hour

Of man's salvation. There distinct arose

The voice of Adam, who through ages wept
His hapless fall. This was the altar seen

By him in Patmos, the high-favored seer

Of the new covenant: thence he heard the voice
Of martyred saints descend, whose plaintive cries
Mourned the delay of vengeance. Toward this spot
Gabriel advanced; when swift the first of men,
Eager to meet the coming seraph, flew.

A form impalpable of luster clear
Enveloped Adam's spirit, beautiful

As that fair thought which the creative mind
In model imaged for the form of Man,
When, from the sacred earth of Paradise,

Fresh from his Maker's hand, youthful he sprung.
With radiant smile, which o'er his beaming brow
Celestial light diffused, Adam drew near,
And earnest spoke. "Hail, gracious messenger!
While I thy lofty mission heard, my soul
In joy was rapt. May I then view the form
Of manhood by the Savior worn, that form
Of mercy, in whose meek disguise he deigns
My fallen race to save! Show me the trace,
O seraph, of my Savior's earthly path:
My eye with awe shall view the distant track.
But may the first of sinners tread the spot
Whence the Messiah raised his face to heaven
And swore to ransom man? Maternal earth,
How do I sigh once more to visit thee!

I, thy first habitant! Thy barren fields.

By God's dread curse defaced, where now in garb
Of frail mortality, such earthly frame

As in the dust I left, the Savior walks,

Would lovelier meet mine eyes than thy bright plains,

Thou long-lost Paradise!" Adam here paused.

To whom the seraph: "I will speak thy wish.

To the Redeemer: should his will divine
Grant thy petition, he will summon thee
His lowliest humiliation to behold."

Now had the angelic host all quitted heaven,
Spreading to distant spheres their separate flight.
Gabriel alone descended to the earth,

Which by the neighboring stars, as each rolled by
Its splendid orb, was hailed with joyful shouts.
The salutations glad reached Gabriel's ear

In silver tones : 66

Queen of the scattered worlds

Object of universal gaze! Bright spot,

Again selected for the theater

Of God's high presence! Blest spectatress thou

Of his Messiah's work of mystery!"

Thus sung the spheres; and through the concave vast

Angelic voices echoed back the sounds.

Gabriel exulting heard, and swift in flight

Reached earth's dim surface. O'er her silent vales

Refreshing coolness and deep slumber hung

Yet undisturbed; dark clouds of mist still lay
Heaped heavily upon her mountain-tops.

Through the surrounding gloom Gabriel advanced
In search of the Redeemer. Deep within

A narrow cleft which rent the forked height
Of sacred Olivet, oppressed by thought
The Savior sleeping lay; a jutting rock

His resting-place. With reverence Gabriel viewed
His tranquil slumber, and in wonder gazed
On that hid majesty which man's frail form,
By union with the Godhead, had acquired.
Still on the Savior's face the traces beamed
Of grace and love; the smile of mercy there
Still lingered visible; still in his eye
A tear of pity hung. But faintly showed.
Those outward tokens of his soul, now sunk
In sleep profound. So lies the blooming earth
In eve's soft twilight veiled; her beauteous face,
Scarce recognized, so meets the inquiring eye
Of some close-hovering seraph, while aloft
In the yet lonely sky, the evening star

Shoots her pale radiance, calling from his bower
The contemplative sage. After long pause,

Gabriel thus softly cried: "O Thou, whose eye
Omniscient searches heaven! who hear'st my words,
Though wrapped in sleep thy mortal body lies!
I have fulfilled thy mission.

While my course
Returning I pursued, a fervent prayer
Adam implored me to convey. Thy face,
O gracious Savior, he on earth would see!
Now must I hasten, by Jehovah sent
On glorious ministration. Be ye hushed,
All living creatures! Every moment's space
Of this swift-flying time, while here yet lies
The world's Creator, dearer must ye deem
Than ages passed in duteous zeal for man.
Be still, ye whispering winds, as o'er this hill
Of lonely graves ye sweep, or sighing breathe
Your gentlest melodies! Descend, ye clouds,
And o'er these shades drop coolness and repose,
Deep and refreshing! Wave not your dark heads,
Ye tufted cedars! Cease, ye rustling groves,
While your Creator sleeps!" The seraph's voice
In whispers low now sunk; and swift he flew
To join th' assembled watchers, who, with him
(The faithful ministers of God's high will)
Governed with delegated rule the earth.
Thither he hastened to proclaim the approach
Of man's atonement by his Savior paid.

THE KORAN.

KORAN, the well-known sacred book of the Mohammedans. The word is variously written Coran, Kur'an, Qur'ân, or with the article, Alcoran, Al-Koran, El-Qur'ân. It is derived from a word meaning to chant, to recite, or to read aloud, especially as an act of Divine service.

The Koran is perhaps the most widely read book in the world. It is the text-book in all Mohammedan schools. All Moslems know large parts of it by heart. Devout Moslems read it through once a month. Portions of it are recited in the five daily prayers, and the recitation of the whole book is a meritorious work frequently performed at solemn or festival anniversaries. What Arabic science there is, has the Koran as its object; and the ambition of every devout Moslem student is to apprehend the divine philosophy which it is supposed to contain.

SELECTIONS FROM THE KORAN.

(From "The Sacred Books of the East.")

THE OPENING CHAPTER.

IN the name of the merciful and compassionate God. Praise belongs to God, the Lord of the worlds, the merciful, the compassionate, the ruler of the Day of Judgment! Thee we serve, and thee we ask for aid. Guide us in the right path, the path of those thou art gracious to; not of those thou art wroth with, nor of those who err.

THE CHAPTER OF THE NIGHT.

In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.

By the night when it veils!

And the day when it is displayed!

And by what created male and female!

Verily, your efforts are diverse!

But as for him who gives alms and fears God,

And believes in the best,

We will send him easily to ease!
But as for him who is niggardly,
And longs for wealth,

And calls the good a lie,

We will send him easily to difficulty!

And his wealth shall not avail him
When he falls down [into hell]!

Verily it is for us to guide;

And verily, ours are the hereafter and the former life!
And I have warned you of a fire that flames!

None shall broil thereon but the most wretched, who says it is a lie and turns his back.

But the pious shall be kept away from it — he who gives his wealth in alms, and who gives no favor to any one for the sake of reward, but only craving the face of his Lord the most High; in the end he shall be well pleased!

THE CHAPTER OF THE DAWN.

In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.

By the dawn and ten nights!

And the single and the double!

And the night when it travels on!

Is there in that an oath for a man of common-sense? Hast thou not seen how thy Lord did with Ad?— with Iram of the columns? the like of which has not been created in the land?

And Tharmud when they hewed the stones in the valley? And Pharaoh of the stakes?

Who were outrageous in the land, and did multiply wickedness therein, and thy Lord poured out upon them the scourge

of torment.

Verily, thy Lord is on a watch-tower! and as for man, whenever his Lord tries him and honors him and grants him favor, then he says, "My Lord has honored me;" but whenever he tries him and doles out to him his subsistence, then he says, "My Lord despises me!"

Nay, but ye do not honor the orphan, nor do ye urge each other to feed the poor, and ye devour the inheritance [of the weak] with a general devouring, and ye love wealth with a com

plete love!

Nay, when the earth is crushed to pieces, and thy Lord