Lying low before Thy throne,
Crushed my heart in dust, I groan;
Grace be to a suppliant shown.

After this life there is an account to be given unto the righteous Judge, by whom all must be judged.

THE DAWNING.

Henry Vaughan.

A

H! what time wilt Thou come? when shall that crie

"The Bridegroom's coming!" fill the sky?

Shall it in the evening run,

When our words and works are done?
Or will Thy all-surprising light
Break at midnight,

When either sleep, or some dark pleasure
Possesseth mad man without measure?
Or shall these early fragrant hours

Unlock Thy bowers;

And with their blush of light descry
Thy locks crown'd with Eternitie?
Indeed it is the only time

That with Thy glory doth best chime;
All now are stirring, every field
Full hymns doth yield;

The whole Creation shakes off night,
And for Thy shadow looks the light:

Stars now vanish without number,
Sleepie planets set and slumber,
The pursie clouds disband and scatter,
All expect some sudden matter;
Not one beam triumphs, but from far
That Morning Star.

O, at what time soever Thou,
Unknown to us, the heavens wilt bow,
And, with Thy angels in the van,
Descend to judge poor careless man,
Grant I may not like puddle lie
In a corrupt securitie,

Where, if a traveller water crave,
He finds it dead, and in a grave;
But, as this restless, vocal spring
All day and night doth run, and sing,
And though here born, yet is acquainted
Elsewhere, and flowing keeps untainted;
So let me, all my busie age,
In Thy free services engage;
And though (while here) of force I must
Have commerce sometimes with poor
dust,
And in my flesh, though vile and low,
As this doth in her channel, flow,
Yet let my course, my aim, my love,
And chief acquaintance be above;
So when that day and hour shall come,
In which Thyself wilt be the sun,
Thou'lt find me dressed and on my way,
Watching the break of Thy great day.

THE CREED.

Bost thou believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth?

And in Jesus Christ His only-begotten Son our Lord? And that He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; that He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; that He went down into hell, and also did rise again the third day; that He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; and from thence shall come again at the end of the world, to judge the quick and the dead?

And dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Catholick Church; the Communion of Saints; the Remission of sins; the Resurrec= tion of the flesh; and everlasting life after death? Answer. All this E stedfastly believe.

Dost thou believe in God the Father Almighty?

I

THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

SAY to thee—do thou repeat

R. C. Trench.

To the first man thou mayest meet
In lane, highway, or open street,—

That he and we and all men move
Under a canopy of love,

As broad as the blue sky above;

That doubt and trouble, fear and pain
And anguish, all are shadows vain,
That death itself shall not remain ;

That weary deserts we may tread,
A dreary labyrinth may thread,
Through dark ways underground be led;

Yet, if we will one Guide obey,
The dreariest path, the darkest way
Shall issue out in heavenly day;

And we, on divers shores now cast,
Shall meet, our perilous voyage past,
All in our Father's house at last.

And ere thou leave him, say thou this,
Yet one word more,-They only miss
The winning of that final bliss,

Who will not count it true, that Love,
Blessing, not cursing, rules above,
And that in it we live and move.

And one thing further make him know,-
That to believe these things are so,
This firm faith never to forego,

Despite of all that seems at strife
With blessing, all with curses rife,
That this is blessing, this is life.

Dost thou believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth?

THE VOYAGE OF EARTH.

J. S.

HIS

grey

THI round world, so full of life,

Of hate and love, and calm and strife,

Still ship-like on for ages fares,

And holds its course so smooth and true,
For all the madness of the crew,-

It must have better rule than theirs.

F. S.

Is

S life a sea? O, no, 'tis steadier far.

Is life a land? O, no, too fast 'tis driven.

It is, beneath its guiding heavenly Star,

An island floating towards the coast of Heaven.