The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1894-10-26
/ KINGS, XVIII, 81.

i KINGS, XVIII, 81.
so God, have mercy!" a mother cried,
As she humbly knelt at the cradle side.
80 God, have mercy and hear my prayer,
And take my babe in thy tender care.
The Angel of Death is in the room,
And is calling loud for my babe to come.
Thou, thou alone, hast power to save;
o God, have mercy It's all crave"
A tiny grave, meath willows shade,
Tclleth the answer the Merciful made
80 Father in Heaven, protect my boy
From the wiles of Folly, from Sins decoy ;
From the snares of Temptation in Life's
dark sea.
Gaurd him and keep him pure for thee"
So mother prayed as her darling one
Went forth to battle the world alone
Alone, save the blessing his mother gave,
And that prayer to God to keep and save.
A murderer's gibbet, high in air,
Answered the trusting mothers prayer.
A father and mother knelt them down
Together, before the Eternal One,
And with trusting hearts implored that
heaven
Would gaurd the flower its grace had
given
Would keep their blossoming daughter
pure,
And gaurd her aye from the Tempter's
lure;
And from every stain wonld keep her free
AS the lilies that bloom in eternity.
A self-slain lost one, seduced, betrayed,
Was the only answer Heaven made.
A beautiful maiden knelt to pray
For the life of loved one far away
Away in the fields where life and death
Hang poised in the scales that tip with a
breath.
80 Father of Mercics, protect the heart
Of him I love from the foeman's dart.
When the death-bolts rain on the charg-
ing field,
Be thou his strength and guide and
shieldF'
A mangled corpse and solGiers grave
Were the answer the Father of Mercies
gave.
The night was dark on the oceans breast,
And the waves rolled high in wild unrest,
Where stately bark was dashing on
Toward breakers crest, with the rud-
der gone.
Around the capstan, in wild despair,
The crew had gathered, and Joined in
prayer,
To Him who only had power to save,
To deliver from watery grave.
A crash and gulphing wave alone
Were the answers of the Omnipotent
At noon of night, in the city's heart,
When slumber reigned DER home and
mart,
The fire-fiend burst from his secret place,
And wrapped all things in his fierce en-
brace,
Oh, how many frenzied prayer
To heaven for safety rent the air
For homes! for lives for loves-and
then
The flames that crisped them sneered-
"Amen."
Homes, friends, and loved ones, crisped
and charred,
Told how heaven the prayer had heard.
From the earliest dawn of natures birth,
Since sorrow and sin first darkened the
earth,
From sun to sun, from pole to pole,
Where the waves of humanity roll,
The breezy robe this planet wears
Has quivered and echoed with countless
prayers.
Each hour million knees are bent,
A million prayers to Heaven are sent;
There's not summers beam but sees
Some humble suppliant on his knees;
There's not breeze that murmurs by
But watts some faithful prayer on high /;
There's not woe afflicts our race
But some one bears to the Throne of
Grace;
And for every temptation our souls may
meet
We ask for grace at the Mercy Seat.
The beams smile on, and Heaven serene
Still bends, as though no prayer had been,
And the breezes moan, as still they wave,
"When man is po,oerless, Hearen cannot
sdue."