THE SAVIOUR'S BIRTH. JOHN THE BAPTIST. THE last and greatest herald of heaven's King, "O sola magnarum urbium." EDWARD CASWALL, to whom we are indebted for many of the very best translations from the Latin, was born at Yately, Hampshire, England, July 15, 1814, and was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he was of marked proficiency in the classics. He took orders in the Church of England, but in 1847 was received into the Catholic Church at Rome. In 1850 he was admitted to the congregation of the Oratory at Birmingham, and later was re-ordained as priest. BETHLEHEM! of noblest cities None can once with thee compare; Thou alone the Lord from heaven Didst for us incarnate bear. Fairer than the sun at morning Was the star that told his birth; To the lands their God announcing, Hid beneath a form of earth. By its lambent beauty guided, See, the Eastern kings appear; See them bend, their gifts to offer, Gifts of incense, gold, and myrrh. Offerings of mystic meaning!— Incense doth the God disclose; Gold a royal child proclaimeth; Myrrh a future tomb foreshows. |