Constitutional Whig

CHRISTMAS ODE.

The following beautiful Ode was presented to one city's subscribers by the carriers on Christmas morning. It is the production of a lady of Richmond, who wrote it in her 14th year.

That Day, which Angels welcomed with delight,
Again returns, by Time's increasing flight;
When HE, whose coming sainted Bards of old.
In rapturous strains of pious joy foretold:
Humbly and meek, on Mercy's errand came,
Vengeance to lull, and quench with blood its flame;
To stop the bolt by angry Justice hurled,
And from destruction save a sinking world.

Hark! now when night in solemn stillness reigns,
And no rude sound disturbs the silent plains;
When all appear in still repose to sleep,
Save the lone Shepherds who their vigils keep;
What strain divine, in soft harmonious notes,
Through the still air with heavenly accents floats?
Angels descend, with songs of sacred mirth,
To hail the Morn that gives a SAVIOUR birth.

Thro' morning's mists, a STAR resplendent gleams,
And guides the Eastern Sages by its beams;
Till where the Holy Infant smiling lay,
It stood—and brightly flashed its sacred ray.

Inspired with joy, and fired with holy zeal,
Before his face the astonished Sages kneel:
Their choicest gifts they spread before his feet,
And as their King, the "Babe of Bethlehem" greet.

The STAR which then its guiding lustre shed,
And on their way the wond'ring Sages led,
Shone the bright emblem of that STAR whose light,
Shall chase the mists of Superstition's night;
When o'er those climes where darkest ignorance reigns,
And streaming blood her cruel altar stains,
The "Star of Jacob" shall its beams display,
And point to Heaven the erring pilgrim's way.

When pure Religion shall her reign extend,
And at her shrine adoring nations bend,
No cruel knife, or barb'rous rite shall claim
The victim's life, to feed the raging flame
No frantic widow shall the pile ascend
And with her cries the pitying bosom rend,
While bright the domes with scorching fury rise,
And roll their smoking columns to the skies.

Again to the
system which prevails in India. of
devoting themselves
Where now with savage yell of loud acclaim
They fill the air and shout some idol's name:
Where Juggernaut with cruel sway presides,
And in his pond'rous Car, triumphant rides,
While crush'd beneath its wheels of grating sound,
Some victim's blood streams smoking on the ground;
The pious tongue shall glad Hosannas raise,
And tune with rapture sacred Hymns of praise.

Religion! source of never ending joy,
Whose sacred power can every vice destroy.
Whose gentle precepts with persuasive art
Expand the soul, and humanise the heart;
No victim's blood thy spotless altar dyes,
Nor dire groans within thy temples rise:
But, smiling Peace upon thy Courts attends,
And o'er thy shrine forgiving Mercy bends.

There too, Benevolence by Pity stands,
And deals her favours with unsparing hand;
She only waits occasion to bestow
Her liberal gifts, and bid her blessings flow,
Then in this land, where with resplendent light,
Religion's rays diffuse their lustre bright,
Will not Benevolence exert her sway?
Will not each heart her gen'rous laws obey:
And should she reign within the bounteous soul,
And sway the bosom by her soft control,
Cannot the "Carrier," on this sacred day,
So often greeted by his grateful lay,
When "Christmas" comes the circling year to close,
And from his toils to yield him some repose,
A trifling boon, or small reward obtain,
From those o'er whom her gen'rous dictates reign?

His tiresome round with weary steps he treads,
When wintry snow the dazzling plain o'erspreads,
Before your view to place the historic page,
Fraught with events that mark the present age;
Or else around instruction's brows to bind,
The wreath by gay Amusement's hand entwined,
Your leisure hours he strives to entertain,
By laughing jest or Poet's idle strain.

Juggernaut—The principal Idol of India. He is placed in a stupendous Car, drawn by his Worshippers. Those who wish to sacrifice their lives to the God, prostrate themselves before the Car, and are crushed to death by the wheels, which roll slowly over them.