At length have yielded, and the joyous poor
Crowd eager through the wondrous avenue.

Oh, throw them wider still: the infant race
Shall learn to lisp Hosanna on their way.

Who would not be a Christian? Who but now Would share the Christian's triumph and his hope? His triumph is begun. 'Tis his to hail,

Amid the chaos of a world convulsed,

A new creation rising. 'Mid the gloom
Which wraps the low concerns of states and kings
He marks the morning star, sees the far East
Blush with the purple dawn; he hears a trump,
Louder than all the clarions and the clang
Of horrid war, swelling, and swelling still,
In lengthening notes, its all-awakening call,-
The trump of Jubilee. Are there not signs,
Thunders, and voices in the troubled air?

Do

ye not see, upon the mountain tops,

Beacon to beacon answering? Who can tell

But all the harsh and dissonant sounds which long

Have been-are still-disquieting the earth,
Are but the tuning of the varying parts

For the grand chorus which shall usher in

The hastening triumph of the Prince of Peace? Yes; His shall be the kingdoms. He shall come,

Ye scoffers at his tarrying. Hear ye not

E'en now the thunder of his wheels?

Awake,

Thou slumbering world! E'en now the symphonies

Of that blest song are floating through the air,

Peace, peace on earth, and glory be to God.

NOTES

TO

THE STAR IN THE EAST.

a

Page 5.

The mumming priests usurp'd the christen'd fane.

"Either from design or accident, a chapel was dedicated to Venus on the spot which had been sanctified by the death and resurrection of Christ." Gibbon's Decline and Fall, c. 23. Dio Cassius affirms, that in the place where the temple of God had been, Adrian erected one to Jupiter. On the site of these pagan temples Christian churches were subsequently erected. But, in many instances, the edifice was left standing, and appropriated to the purpose of Christian worship.

b Page 6.

Again the nameless horrors of the siege

Were acted o'er.

When the ill-fated city was at length taken by storm, the carnage exceeded all description. The "pious" Godfrey, on entering it, set the example of avenging upon the helpless Saracens the Christian blood which had been spilled. Three days were

devoted to a promiscuous massacre. On the third day after the victory, three hundred men, to whom Tancred and Gaston de Bearn had promised protection, and had given a standard as a warrant for their safety, were murdered in cold blood by the soldiery. The subjugated and defenceless inhabitants, women with children at the breast, girls and boys, were dragged into the public places, and deliberately butchered; while the synagogues were set on fire, and great numbers of Jews perished in the flames. Seventy thousand Moslems is the total number, according to Gibbon, of those who were put to the sword; and the infection of the dead bodies, he adds, produced an epidemic disease. Yet the conquerors could still reserve a multitude of captives, whom interest or lassitude persuaded them to spare. See Gibbon's Decline and Fall, c. lviii.; and Mills's History of the Crusades, vol. i.

The conqueror blush'd to take

His golden crown, yet not refused the name,
King of Jerusalem.

Godfrey of Bouillon was elected king of Jerusalem by the unanimous voice of the army; and "his magnanimity," says Gibbon, "accepted a trust as full of danger as of glory. But, in a city where his Saviour had been crowned with thorns, the devout pilgrim rejected the name and ensigns of royalty; and the founder of the kingdom of Jerusalem contented himself with the modest title of Defender and Baron of the Holy Sepulchre." Gibbon, c. lviii. The speech attributed to Godfrey on this occasion is, that he would not wear a crown of gold, where his Saviour had worn a crown of thorns. The title of king, however, if not assumed by Godfrey during his short reign, was claimed by his successors; and he is uniformly mentioned as the first Christian king of Jerusalem.

d Page 6.

Then pilgrims came

Crouching to Turkish lords, and rival sects

Bargain'd and quarrell'd for the sepulchre.

"The occupation of the holy places is the great object of contention. They are in the hands of the Turks, by whom the right of occupation is sold to the highest bidder." Jowett's Christian Researches, p. 430. See also Richardson's Travels, vol. ii. p. 331.

Great Juggernaut's copartners, shared the gains
Of his lewd triumphs, winking at the cheat.

"The temple of Juggernaut (in Orissa) is under the immediate control of the English government, who levy a tax on pilgrims as a source of revenue." See Buchanan's Christian Researches, p. 143.

f Page 9.

Yea, and at Doorga feasts, the Christian fair
Did graceful homage to the mis-shaped gods,

And pledged the cup of demons.

See 1 Cor. x. 20, 21.-" At some of these nantches (balls given in honour of the doorgas, or idols) I have seen two hundred persons sit down to a sumptuous supper, where champagne circulated like water, and the richest ices were melted in the most costly liquors. Of these suppers the Hindoos, of course, will not partake; but they enter the apartment, congratulate the guests, and see that the European tavern-keepers, employed to prepare them, provide every thing on a liberal scale..... Some sit and look at the dances, while others promenade round the virandas to view the household gods, hundreds of whom are placed in conspicuous situations; some half-elephant, half-man; others with