Fear not; there is hope and a refuge,
     And life shall yet be thine. 
    I will intercede with the Master
     And task His love divine.”

    Subdued by love that is stronger
     Than was ever an armed band,
    He became once more to the Father
     A child to feel for His hand.

    Subdued by a love that is stronger
     Than a world full of terrors and fears,
    He returned to the House of the Father
     Athrough the baptism of tears.

    Such is the beautiful legend
     Come down from ancient days,
    Of love that is young forever;
     And is he not blind who says

    That charity ever faileth,
     Or doth for a moment despair,
    Or that there is any danger
     Too great for her to dare;

    When John, the beloved disciple,
     With the faith of the Gospel shod,
    Went forth in pursuit of the robber,
     And brought him back to God?

    O Church, whose strength is the doctrine
     Of the blessed Evangelist,
    This doctrine of love undying
     Which the world can not resist!

    Put on thy beautiful garments
     In this sordid and selfish day,
    And be as of old a glory
     To turn us from Mammon away;

    Until to the prayer of thy children,
     The sweetly simple prayer,
    That bathed in the light of Heaven
     Thy courts may grow more fair,

    There comes the eternal answer
     Of works that are loving and grand,
    To remain for the generations
     The praises of God in the land.

    O Church, whose strength is the doctrine
     Of the blessed Evangelist,
    The doctrine of love undying
     Which the world can not resist!

    Go forth to the highways and hedges
     To gather the sheep that are lost,
    Conveying the joyful tidings,
     Their redemption at infinite cost.

    Proclaim there is hope and a refuge
     For every wanderer there;
    For every sin there is mercy—­
     Yea, even the sin of despair!

    O, then will thy beautiful garments,
     As once in the prime of thy youth,
    Appear in celestial splendor,
     Thou pillar and ground of the Truth!

* * * * *

XLII.

JOHN PLOUGHMAN AGAIN

THE PITH AND MARROW OF CERTAIN OLD PROVERBS.

The Rev. C.H.  Spurgeon, of London, who has furnished our readers with several specimens of “John Ploughman’s Talk,” has also published “John Ploughman’s Pictures,” some of which we present in pen and ink, without any help from the engraver.  John thus introduces himself: 

IF THE CAP FITS, WEAR IT.