SCENE 5TH.

Wise Virgins, singing.

First Virgin begins, leads.

Let us leave our evil way,
Sin exchange for grace,
Better far for One to say,
"Take a higher place,"
Than that in the banquet-hall,

Where friends the Bridegroom meet,

He should say before them all, "Take the lowest seat."

First Wise Virgin, speaking.

Oh! let us heed the Angel's voice,
Then we though mortal may rejoice,
Nor shrink when Death by night or day,
Bids us his stern behest obey;
His dart unseen hangs o'er us all
Now may our care avert its fall.
Since all are bidden, young and old,
To share Heaven's pleasures manifold,
Let us make ready for the feast,
The greatest of us and the least.

Sweet sisters, listen to this truth,
Say, shall we dream away our youth,
Nor heed the Bridegroom's marriage call

Till death or age o’ertake us all ?

Shall we not rather now prepare,

His promised joys with Him to share,

Our garments white, our earthly sorrows o'er, And Heaven's unending bliss for us in store?

Second Wise Virgin, speaking.

Yea, verily, we will to-day

Press forward on the heavenly way,
With eager heart and spirit pure,
Those godlike blessings to procure,
Our lamps shall burn with golden light,
Far better in the Master's sight
Are they, than garlands such as these
Which perish in the passing breeze;
So shall we gain our home above,
A long eternity of love.

First Foolish Virgin, speaks.
Sisters, I will guide your choice.
Heed not yonder warning voice,
I can better counsel give;
We have long time yet to live,
In the written Law GOD saith
That He wills no sinner's death,
Who repenting, lives anew,-
This advice I give to you;
GOD's Sweet mercy is so great,
We will trust in it and wait,
Here of joy will take our fill,
GOD do with us as He will.
Soon enough our eyes may weep,
Let us now our revel keep,
Chasing thought and care away,-
Leave yon bigot soul to pray.

Second Foolish Virgin, speaks.

We will follow where you lead,
Nor like yonder saint will shine,
She of praise and prayer hath need,
We to earthly joys incline.
"Until Easter" I will wait,

Till I take a nun's estate,

Then when earth no more is fair,
Veil my face, and bind my hair.
GOD to every one of us

Hath a kingdom given,

Nor will S. Peter bar to us

The open gate of Heaven.

SCENE 6TH.

The Foolish Virgins abandon themselves to dancing and other delights.

Angel.

Now silence for awhile.

Third Wise Virgin, begins to sing.

When men shall hate and scorn us,
As castaway and vile,
When all shall guilty find us,

And friends no longer smile;

The Foolish Virgins are seen feasting. One is sleeping. Third Foolish Virgin, sings warningly.

Let us awake from sleep,

And trim our lamps aright,

Let us arouse from slumbers deep,
And CHRIST will give us light.

The same, speaking.

Oh, help! oh, help! for GOD is near,
His righteous punishment I fear;
Far from His anger would I fly,
Why are we idle still,-oh, why?
If we repent not of our sin
No crown of glory shall we win;
As foolish virgins sit we here,
While no good works on us appear.
Truly from sin we must arise,
Lest we be taken by surprise,

We know not of the day or hour

When comes the Bridegroom in His power;

Ah! little we for Him have done,
Deceitful joys our hearts have won,
Now mourn we o'er our evil choice,
As fools, while all around rejoice.

Fourth Foolish Virgin.
Nay, let us to the wise ones go,
Ourselves upon their mercy throw,
And earnestly and meekly plead
That they would help us in our need,
Of precious oil give us a share,
That we our lamps may yet prepare.

Then all arouse and get up.

Angel.

Silence.

(To be continued.)

Reviews and Notices.

We are very glad to find that Mr. Frank Shaw, Vicar of Eastry, has been encouraged to go on to a second part of his Bible-Class Notes on S. Matthew's Gospel, (G. J. Palmer.) They belong to a class of books that will be found to be of great value to clergymen and catechists. At the same time we should not advise any one to attempt to reproduce these notes in catechising. They are rather a quarry from whence ideas may be gathered. Further, though extending to a very great length, they are by no means exhaustive. The Bible in fact never can be exhausted, and Mr. Shaw is so conscious of this fact that he advises those who use his Notes to have them interleaved, with the view of adding to the stock which he has provided. We shall be aiding then we think the purpose which Mr. Shaw has in view if we mention two or three omissions which we have quite casually observed. Mr. Shaw notes that sitting" was the posture employed by our LORD for teaching, and accordingly he cites all the instances which he has gathered,-but, strange to say, he omits all the teaching recorded by the Apostles when He " sat down and the twelve Apostles with Him," (S. Luke xxii. 14,) which included the Institution of the Eucharist "after they had supped," and all those conversations related by S. John in chapters xiv.—xvii. 2. In the various illustrations of our LORD's Poverty we miss the necessity for actually working a miracle in order that He should have wherewithal to pay the tribute-money. 3. In commenting on our LORD'S "fulfilment of the Law," though he enumerates

all the Types and Prophecies which our LORD fulfilled in His own person, Mr. Shaw omits to mention how He still continues to fulfil the Law in the fact, that the Two great Sacraments of the Gospel, the Sunday, the Threefold Ministry, and the Three great Christian Festivals, are all " fulfilments" of Levitical Institutions. In these, as in other ways, the Law was an outline (not "shadow" as the A.V. translates the Greek word) of good things to

come.

We are glad to see that Mr. Hodges has commenced another Series of Tales, which differ from the "Curate's Budget," in the circumstance that each one of these monthly parts contains four or five stories. The general title is Lights and Shadows: Stories of everyday Life, and they are edited by the authoress of " A Trap to catch a Sunbeam." It is always a sign of healthy progress to see Tracts and Tales develope into Series. The first two parts are very promising,-but we would suggest to the Editor to make each tale end in the number in which it begins. Continuations in short tales are very inconvenient.

The Rev. Christopher Thompson has published a Paper on Church Music (Church Printing Company,) which we strongly recommend to all Managers of Choirs who desire an intelligent and devotional rendering of their Services. Mr. Thompson strongly advocates the use of the Gregorian Tones, and organs (at least in small choirs) of moderate proportions.

True stories always seem to touch the heart, and they are specially valuable when belonging to a position in life which has a marked character of its own. For His Sake, by A. Stuart King, (Mowbray,) is the sketch of a sailor lad, and will be acceptable to many readers.

The author of "The Daily Life of a Christian Child,” which was a favourite many years ago, has just put out a small Poem on a very large subject, The Second Advent, (Pitman,) of which we can praise both the conception and the execution.

We do not ever remember to have met with so suggestive a volume of Sermons as one entitled Village Homilies, by the Rev. Walter Meller, of S. John's College, Oxford, (Skeffington.) Each Sermon is really a Poem,—though from the circumstance of their having, as it appears, been written for a "Village" Congregation, they are unusually brief and even sketchy. If we might venture a word of advice to the author, we would say, Persevere, and take great pains with your Sermons: evidently you have a facility of composition, and fertility of imagination: therefore cultivate the talent which you have got; it is worth all the pains you can bestow on it.

It seems to mark a new stage in the progress of Catholicism among us that we are ceasing to be dependent on foreign sources for the supply of the highest kind of devotional literature. French writers do not suit the English taste it is with great pleasure therefore that we welcome Mr. Carter's Spiritual Instructions on the Religious Life, (Masters,) which strikes us as the result of his most matured powers, and consequently more restrained and