So should the inner change, he ween'd,
With the outward sign accord;
And holy Basil crost himself,
And blest our gracious Lord.

"Well hast thou done," said he, " my son, And faithfully fought the fight; So shall this day complete, I trust, The victory of the night..

“I fear'd that forty days and nights
Too little all might be;

But great and strange hath been the change
One night hath wrought in thee."

"O Father, Father!" he replied,
"And hath it been but one?
An endless time it seem'd to me!
I almost thought Eternity

With me had been begun.

"And surely this poor flesh and blood Such terrors could not have withstood, grace had not been given ;

If

But when I claspt the blessed Cross,
I then had help from Heaven.

"The coldness from my heart is

But still the weight is there,

gone;

And thoughts which I abhor, will come And tempt me to despair.

"Those thoughts I constantly repel;
And all, methinks, might yet be well,
Could I but weep once more,
And with true tears of penitence
My dreadful state deplore.

"Tears are denied ; their source is dried! And must it still be so?

O Thou, who from a rock didst make
The living waters flow,

"A broken and a bleeding heart
This hour I offer Thee;

And, when Thou seest good, my tears
Shall then again be free!"

A knocking at the door was heard
As he ended this reply;
Hearing that unexpected sound,
The Bishop turn'd his eye,

And his venerable Mother,

Emmelia the Abbess, drew nigh.

“We have not ceased this mournful night," Said she, "on Heaven to call ;

And our afflicted Cyra

Hath edified us all.

0 4

"More fervent prayers from suffering heart,
I ween, have ne'er been sent;
And now she asks, as some relief,
In this her overwhelming grief,
To see the penitent.

"So earnestly she ask'd, that I
Her wish would not defer;
And I have brought her to the door,
Forgive me, Son, if I err.”

"Hard were I did I not consent
To thy compassionate intent,
O Mother," he replied;

And raising then his voice, "Come in,
Thou innocent!” he cried.

That welcome word when Cyra heard,
With a sad pace and slow,

Forward she came, like one whose heart
Was overcharged with woe.

Her face was pale, . . long illness would
Have changed those features less;
And long-continued tears had dimm'd
Her eyes with heaviness.

Her husband's words had reach'd her ear
When at the door she stood;

"Thou hast pray'd in vain for tears," she said, "While I have pour'd a flood!

"Mine flow, and they will flow; they must;

They cannot be represt!

And oh that they might wash away

The stigma from thy breast!

"Oh that these tears might cleanse that spot, ..
Tears which I cannot check!"
Profusely weeping as she spake,
She fell upon his neck.

He clasp'd the mourner close, and in
That passionate embrace,

In grief for her, almost forgot
His own tremendous case.

Warm as they fell he felt her tears,
And in true sympathy,

So gracious Heaven permitted then,
His own to flow were free.

And then the weight was taken off,
Which at his heart had prest ; .
O mercy! and the crimson spot
Hath vanish'd from his breast!

At that most happy sight,
The four with one accord
Fell on their knees, and blest

The mercy of the Lord.

"What then! before the strife is done

Would ye of victory boast ?"

Said a Voice above: " they reckon too soon, Who reckon without their host!"

"Mine is he by a Bond Which holds him fast in law :

I drew it myself for certainty, And sharper than me must the Lawyer be Who in it can find a flaw !

"Before the Congregation,
And in the face of day,

Whoever may pray, and whoever gainsay,
I will challenge him for my Bondsman,
And carry him quick away!"

"Ha, Satan! dost thou in thy pride,"
With righteous anger Basil cried,
"Defy the force of prayer?

In the face of the Church wilt thou brave it?
Why then we will meet thee there!

"There mayest thou set forth thy right,
With all thy might before the sight
Of all the Congregation :

And they that hour shall see the power
Of the Lord unto salvation !"