-Twas not a palace proud and fair
He chose for His first home;
No dazz-ling pile of grandeur rare,
With pillar-d hall and dome;
Oh no! a stable, rude and poor,
Received Him at His birth;
And thus was born, unknown, obscure,
The Lord of Heaven and Earth.

No band of anxious menials there,
To tend the new-born child,
Joseph alone and Mary fair
Upon the infant smiled;
No broidered linens fine had they
Those little limbs to fold,
No baby garments rich and gay,
No tissues wrought with gold.

Come to your Saviour-s lowly bed,
Ye vain and proud of heart!
And learn with bowed and humbled head
The lesson -twill impart;
-Twill teach you not to prize too high
The riches vain of earth-
But to lay up in God-s bright sky
Treasures of truer worth.

And you, poor stricken sons of grief,
Sad outcasts of this life,
Come, too, and seek a sure relief
For your heart-s bitter strife;
Enter that village stable door,
And view that lowly cot-
Will it not teach you to endure,
And even bless your lot?