Attempt > Volume 3

54 THE ATTEMPT.
" O ! bless the Lord, who by His grace.
Hath brought me to this hour;
And over devils, men and sin.
Hath given me mighty power.
" All who have wronged me, I forgive.
As I have been forgiv'n;
For who could harbour thought of ill.
So near the gate of heav'n 1
" And you, dear children in the faith.
Who, dwelling 'neath the cross.
From cruel hands of godless foes,
Must suffer pain and loss.
" God grant that pure and free from sin.
Your life's full stream may flow,
That still your feet, by grace upheld.
In duty's path may go !"
The triumph-song of faith hath ceased,
The guilty deed is o'er;
The holy martyr's clarion voice
On earth shall sound no more.
No more on earth, but evermore,
'Mid seraph-throngs above,
His lips, from every sin-taint free,
Shall sing the Saviour's love.
And even, amid that curious crowd,
Who here are met to see
A good man meet a fearful death,
With calm tranquillity—
Hath crept a strange and solemn awe.
That checks rude mirth and jest;
For, who unmoved could hear the Lord
In cruel death confessed 1
But mark among the gathered throng,
Yon fail' and slender youth,
Whose very soul seems wrapt around
This witness for the truth !
From eyes that flash with righteous wrath.
Rains sorrow's sacred flood;
As with sad breast, and darkened brow,
He views the scene of blood.
Mourn on, mourn on, thou tender heart !
Not many years shall flee,
Ere many a heart and many an eye
Shall mourn and weep for thee.
The foeman's vengeance is not slaked.
The cross awaits thee too;
A cruel pathway thou must tread,
Ei"e heav'n's gates meet thy view.
Meigeag Bheag.
The martyr, whose death is described in these verses, was Donald Cargill. The
youth who beheld with such emotion the death of his revered friend, was James
Renwick, who himself suffered martyrdom some years after.