this old poetry may seem at first harsh and strangetheir taste having been formed in a different school. Such readers will be amply repaid for whatever effort

it

may cost them to grapple with its first difficulties.

There is much and precious instruction to be gathered amongst these old poems. They have a strength and depth in them which many more graceful verses have not. They enshrine thoughts worthy to be treasured up in the heart, instead of feebly expressing with much reiteration-what may be called the sentimentality of religion. The love of God was not to these men a passing emotion; it was their principle of life. They and their works should be had in honour amongst us.

The poems of Herbert in this volume are reprinted from the edition of 1641, but the modern spelling of later editions has been followed.

Many of Vaughan's poems were transcribed at first from the copy of the first edition (1650) of his "Silex Scintillans, or Sacred Poetry and Private Ejaculations," in the British Museum Library; but the second, which appeared in his lifetime (1655), and is probably the more correct, and which also contains about fifty additional poems, has since been consulted; for which purpose it was kindly lent by its possessor, the Rev. H. F. Lyte. It is a rare and valuable book. The old spelling has here been retained, except where there seemed any risk of its obscuring the sense.

Nothing has been taken from the writings of any living English poet without the author's express

permission, which has always been most readily and kindly granted. Those poems which have not before been published are distinguished by an asterisk prefixed to each. Two of them, however, viz., those at pp. 41 and 123, had already been printed for private circulation.

Where only part of a short poem has been retained, the word "Part" is prefixed to the portion thus selected. But no liberty has been taken with the poetry itself. The words of the several writers (in the case of some living authors with their latest corrections) have been faithfully given in every instance. Not one word in the whole volume has been knowingly and wilfully altered.

In a very few instances it was found necessary to trust, at least for the present, to compilations; but wherever it was possible, the best editions of the author's works have been consulted.

T. V. F.

NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

To the two hundred and twenty-six pieces of the former edition, all of which are here retained, seven others have been added, which will be found at pp. 253, 257, 260, 262, 266, 270, 301. The work has been carefully revised, and a few changes, chiefly verbal, have been made in the introductory address. T. V. F.

SUNNINGDALE,
May 2, 1850.

HYMNS AND POEMS

Peace be to this house, and to all that dwell in it.

Remember not, Lord, our iniquities, nor the iniquities of our forefathers: Spare us, good Lord, spare Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy most precious blood, and be not angry with us for ever.

Answer. Spare us, good Lord.

Peace be to this house, and to all that dwell in it.

PEACE.

Henry Vaughan.

MY

soul, there is a country
Afar beyond the stars,

Where stands a winged sentry

All skilful in the wars.

There, above noise and danger,

Sweet Peace sits crowned with smiles,

And One born in a manger

Commands the beauteous files.

He is thy gracious friend,
And (O my soul, awake!)
Did in pure love descend,

To die here for thy sake.
It thou canst get but thither,
There grows the flower of peace,
The rose that cannot wither,
Thy fortress and thy ease.
Leave then thy foolish ranges;
For none can thee secure,
But One, who never changes,
Thy God, thy Life, thy Cure.

Peace be to this house, and to all that dwell in it.

F. S.

HE more by thought thou leav'st the crowd

THE

behind,

Draw near by deeper love to all thy kind;
So shall thy heart in lowly peace be still,
And earthly wisdom serve a Heavenly will.

7. S.

N°

O holier truth has reached us from above
Than this, Love errs not but by want of

Love.

Peace be to this house, and to all that dwell in it.

B

IRDS have their quiet nest,

7. S. Monsell.

Foxes their holes, and man his peaceful bed;
All creatures have their rest,-

But Jesus had not where to lay His head.

Winds have their hour of calm,

And waves, to slumber on the voiceless deep :
Eve hath its breath of balm,

To hush all senses and all sounds to sleep.

The wild deer hath his lair,

The homeward flocks the shelter of their shed; All have their rest from care,

But Jesus had not where to lay His head.

And yet He came to give

The weary and the heavy-laden rest;
To bid the sinner live,

And soothe our griefs to slumber on His breast.

What then am I, my God,

Permitted thus the paths of peace to tread?
Peace, purchased by the blood

Of Him who had not where to lay His head!

I, who once made Him grieve;

I, who once bid His gentle spirit mourn ;
Whose hand essayed to weave

For His meek brow the cruel crown of thorn :