ADDRESS TO MR JOHN FAIRLIE.
With beaming smiles; their looks of reverend love
To thee, thou honour'd sire, sweet welcome prove.
Though not with toast, and speech in phrases meet,
This night, my friend, may I thy presence greet,
Nor join to celebrate with pupils, friends,
This happy day-not mine their wish transcends
The grateful meed of well-earned praise to pour,
With honours due, in this auspicious hour.
Friend of thy country's fathers' church, and mine,
Firm in her sacred cause, through storm and shine,
Guard well her rights; invoke the God of might,
Though enemies roar, let God defend the right:
He'll purge and purify His church, and there
He'll make us joyful in His house of prayer.
My friend, farewell! calm be the hour, and bright,
When on thy spirit's eye the shores of light,
Dress'd in celestial radiance, gently swell,
In hope to meet thee there. Again, farewell!
M. FAIRLIE, Esq., VIEWFIELD HOUSE,
ON RECEIVING HIS PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT.
My valued friend, long tried and true,
Thanks warm, sincere, I render you,
And haste to say with high regard
I viewed your photographic card.
Your form and features pleased to scan,
God's noblest work, an honest man.
To calls of business prompt and ready,
In principle and practice steady;
Of honour bright, unstained, unsullied,
Calm, civil, yet must not be bullied;
No pleasure-seeker, given to roam,
And why? you answer, "Home, sweet home."
A gentle, graceful, loving wife,
A babe the angel of my life,
And duteous children growing up
To prop my life and wreathe my cup
With flowers and fruits of filial love.
May peace on earth, a home above,
Be theirs the mimic form to trace
No more, but seeing face to face
All these to whom such bliss is given:
They take no photographs in heaven.
MRS M. FAIRLIE OF VIEWFIELD HOUSE.
WHEN hands are united, and hearts are entwined, And the bond of affection endorsed by the mind; When the heart's warm devotion our reason approves, And respect ever dwells with the graces and loves;
Then home is a temple where peace is enshrined,
And the hearth is her altar, where nothing unkind
Is offered. The priestess is mother and wife:
Her offerings the fruits of her love and her life.
Such a home I have seen; it is thine. May it prove For ever the temple of virtue and love!
May the flame on the altar, unwavering and clear, The hearth cheer and brighten through many a year!
REV. DR. GARDNER OF BOTHWELL,
ON COMPLETING THE FIFTIETH YEAR OF HIS MINISTRY.
PASTOR revered, beloved! the Muse would fain
Join on fair "Bothwell banks" the jubilant strain
Raised by thy grateful people; fifty years
Look down upon thy labours sown in tears—
The precious seed beneath thy watchful care
Hath sprung, bloom'd, ripen'd into harvests fair.
Returning with thy sheaves, rejoicing, thou
Uplift'st to heaven thy venerable brow;
For there thy treasure, there thy heart, and there
Thy treasures reap'd on earth are garner'd, where
They wait to join thee, ripe and full of days,
In heaven's eternal jubilee of praise.
A stranger I, forgive this simple lay,
I wish'd to greet thee-wish'd to hail the day,
O aged shepherd, when thy flock approve,
With honours meet and tokens of their love,
Thy ministrations. May the call come late
For thee, a chosen guest, to take thy seat
At marriage-supper of the Lamb, and swell
The choir of heaven with harp and song! Farewell!
REV. DR. JOHN MUIR,
OF ST. JAMES' PARISH, GLASGOW,
On the occasion of the Jubilee held to celebrate the completion of the Fiftieth Year of his Ministry.
SERVANT OF GOD! through fifty honoured years,
With fears and hopes, with prayerful cries and tears,
With watchful care and ever-active zeal,
With loving skill that wounded but to heal,
Thou led'st the flock committed to thy care
By waters still, and pastures green and fair;
Kept watch and ward, when danger was abroad,
Upon thy towers. Church of the living God!
Pillar and ground of truth! what time the cry,
"Raze, raze her quite," went forth; when floods rose high;
When schism foaming forth reproach, and hate
Beat on her walls and thundered at the gate
Thou, with thy brother veterans, stemmed the tide,
For God, in midst of her, was on our side.
Even now, when thousand voices join to sing
The hymn of jubilee, a jarring string
Mars the grand symphony-a hostile tone
Of vengeful meaning, to our ears has gone.
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