mand the Sabbath, and keep it with His own; and the eighth age is to be "sublime above all the ages, when the dead of the earth shall arise, and the just shall see for ever the face of Christ, and be like the angels on the heavenly heights." Two other hymns, attributed to Bede by Daniel, may be translated at length :

ON THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD.

(Hymnum canamus gloriæ.)

A hymn of glory let us sing;

New hymns throughout the world shall ring;
By a new way none ever trod,

Christ mounteth to the throne of God.

The apostles on the mountain stand-
The mystic mount-in Holy Land;
They, with the Virgin-mother, see
Jesus ascend in majesty.

The angels say to the eleven,
"Why stand ye gazing into heaven?
This is the Saviour-this is He!
Jesus hath triumph'd gloriously!"

They said the Lord should come again,
As these beheld Him rising then,
Calm soaring through the radiant sky,
Mounting its dazzling summits high.

May our affections thither tend,
And thither constantly ascend,
Where, seated on the Father's throne,
Thee reigning in the heavens we own!

Be Thou our present joy, O Lord,
Who wilt be ever our reward;

And as the countless ages flee,

May all our glory be in Thee!

ON THE INNOCENTS.

(Hymnum canentes martyrum.)

A hymn of martyrs let us sing,
The innocents remembering,

Of whom in tears was earth bereaved,
But heaven with songs of joy received;

Whose angels through eternity

The heavenly Father's face shall see,
And to His grace their praises bring-
A hymn of martyrs let us sing.

The following was known to Bede, and as such may have a peculiar interest, besides its general value as shewing the way in which the judgment-day was pictured to the Christians of his time :

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

Suddenly to all appearing the great day of God shall come,
As a thief at darkest midnight on an unsuspecting home;
Brief, indeed, shall all the glory of this age be seen to be,
When the world and all things in it shall have vanish'd visibly.
Then the clangour of the trumpet, sounding clear from depth
to height,

All the dead and all the living to Christ's judgment-seat shall cite;

Dazzling in majestic glory shall the Judge from heaven descend,

And the radiant hosts of angels worshipping on Him attend. Blood-red then the moon's soft lustre, and the sun grows dark on high;

Earth from end to end shall tremble, pale stars falling from the sky;

Terrible, before the presence of that justest Judge outpouring, Flames of fire the earth and heavens and the ocean's depths

devouring.

On His throne, sublime enthroned, shall the King of Glory sit,
Dreadful hosts of mighty angels terribly surrounding it.
At His right hand then the angels` the elect of men shall
gather;

While the wicked, on the left hand, trembling, herd like goats together.

"Come, ye blessed," He will say, "and enter on the kingdom fair,

By the Father's love prepared for you, ere the ages were.

Ye who with a brother's kindness succour'd Me, distress'd

and poor,

Rich with everlasting riches, reap love's guerdon evermore.” The redeem'd with joy exclaiming, ask Him, "When, O Christ our King,

Did we see Thee poor and needy, and to Thee our succour bring?"

Then that Mighty Judge shall answer,

humility,

"When in your

On the needy home and raiment ye bestow'd, ye gave it me.”

Nor will He the bitter sentence of the wicked long delay,
The "Depart from me, ye cursed, from my presence far away;
Me, imploring aid and pity, have ye scornfully rejected;
Naked, gave to me no clothing; sick and poor, my woes
neglected."

Then the wicked cry, astonished, "When, O great and glorious
King,

Did we see Thee sick and needy, and to Thee no succour bring?" And that mighty Judge shall answer, "When ye, in your

luxury,

To the poor refused your aid and pity, ye refused it Me."

Backward, then, the wicked rushing, plunge into the quenchless fire,

Where the worm shall never perish, nor the raging flame expire;

Where the dark infernal prison Satan with his slaves is

keeping,

Where they gnash their teeth in anguish, where are ceaseless groans and weeping.

But the faithful to the heavenly country are upborne on high, ’Mid the band of happy angels in the kingdom of the sky, To Jerusalem Celestial blessed citizens they come,

"Vision" true "of peace" unfading, and their bright unchanging home,

Where the multitudes unnumber'd gaze on Christ the King divine:

See Him with the Father's glory evermore resplendent shine.

Wherefore all the wiles and malice of the ancient serpent flee, Gold and luxury and weakness, if ye in that home would be; Be with purity engirded, as a radiant zone complete,

Let your lamps be brightly shining, and go forth the King to meet.

CHAPTER VII.

ST BERNARD.

NEVER was there a biography which more fully mirrored the history of the age, and at the same time more truly reflected the light common to all ages and all hearts, than that of Bernard of Clairvaux. The local and the

sky colour are wonderfully blended in it. It is at once essentially medieval and deeply human; it is probably the one because it is the other. Bernard was no contemplative philosopher enthroned on high above the perplexities and conflicts, the sympathies and errors of his time. He was a man mingling freely with his fellowmen, not beckoning them up to him, but leading them on with him, and pressing on with them—often, indeed, sharing their mistakes, but oftener drawing them onward and upward with himself, by the common attraction of that adored Saviour and Son of man, whose character and whose redeeming love were so deeply engraven on his heart.

He was born A.D. 1091, at Fontaines, near Dijon, of a knightly family. His early training was received, not from monks, but from his mother, the Lady Aletta; and its influence seems to have remained on him through his

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