tead of the lotos of the Ganges and the
Nile, there shall bloom the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Vale.
But as the empires of Buddha and Muhammad fall, a new Empire shall
prevail!
"_Kings shall bow down before Him,
And gold and incense bring;
All nations shall adore Him,
His praise all people sing.
To Him shall prayer unceasing
And dally vows ascend;
His kingdom still increasing,
A kingdom without end_."
IV. THE WORLD-MARCH: OF PRELATES AND EVANGELISTS
[LYONS]
_O Majesty throned, O Lord of all Light,
Shine down on our spirits and scatter the night;
As Adam received his life-impulse from Thee,
Endued with all fulness, we quickened would be_
_Let all that we know--love, learning, and power--
Melt down in Thy Presence, and flame in this hour;
Anoint us and bless us and lift our desire
And grant us to speak as with tongues touched with fire_!
_Life flows as a dream--its pleasures are dear:
The world is about us--temptation is near;
Oh, guide us, and shew us the pathway to God
The feet of the prophets aforetime have trod_!
_The bells cease their chime,--the hosts enter in:
May many be purged of their sloth and their sin!
Cheer Thou the despondent, the weary, the sad,
Rouse all to rejoicing, that all may be glad_.
_And when life is o'er, and each must depart
In quaking and silence,--abide with each heart;
The songs of Thy saints then caught up to the skies,
As waves of great waters shall thunderous rise_!
ANNA ROBERTSON BROWN LINDSAY
In Malory's _Morte d'Arthur_ there is the legend of the Sword of Assay.
In the church against the high altar was a great stone, four-square,
like unto a marble stone. In the midst of it was an anvil of steel, a
foot high, and therein stood a naked sword by the point. About the sword
there were letters written, saying, "Whoso pulleth out this sword of
this stone and anvil, is righteous king born of all England." Many
assayed to pull the sword forth, but all failed, until the young Arthur
came, and, taking the sword by the handle, lightly and fiercely pulled
it out of the stone! By this token he was lord of the land.
Each man's life is proved by some Sword of Assay. The test of a man's
call to the ministry is his power to seize the Sword of the Spirit:
wield the spiritual forces of the world,
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