Then a song and a cheer for the bonnie green stack,
Climbing up to the sun wide and high;

For the pitchers and rakers, and merry haymakers,
And the beautiful midsummer sky!

Come forth, gentle ladies-come forth, dainty sirs,
And lend us your presence awhile;

Your garments will gather no stain from the burs,
And a freckle won't tarnish your smile.

Our carpet's more soft for your delicate feet
Than the pile of your velveted floor!

And the air of our balm-swath is surely as sweet
As the perfume of Araby's shore.

Come forth, noble masters, come forth to the field,
Where freshness and health may be found;

Where the wind-rows are spread for the butterfly's bed,
And the clover-bloom falleth around.

Then a song and a cheer for the bonnie green stack, Climbing up to the sun wide and high ;

For the pitchers and rakers, and merry haymakers, And the beautiful midsummer sky!

"Hold fast!" cries the waggoner, loudly and quick, And then comes the hearty “Gee-wo!”

While the cunning old team-horses manage to pick A sweet mouthful to munch as they go.

The tawny-faced children come round us to play,
And bravely they scatter the heap;

Till the tiniest one, all outspent with the fun,
Is curl'd up with the sheep-dog, asleep.

Old age sitteth down on the haycock's fair crown,
At the close of our labouring day;

And wishes his life, like the grass at his feet,
May be pure at its "passing away.”

Then a song and a cheer for the bonnie green stack, Climbing up to the sun wide and high;

For the pitchers and rakers, and merry haymakers, And the beautiful midsummer sky!

ELIZA COOK, 1818 –

HUMILITY.

THE bird that soars on highest wing,
Builds on the ground her lowly nest;
And she that doth most sweetly sing,
Sings in the shade when all things rest:
-In lark and nightingale we see
What honour hath humility.

When Mary chose the "better part,”

She meekly sat at Jesus' feet;

And Lydia's gently-open'd heart

Was made for God's own temple meet.

-Fairest and best adorn'd is she

Whose clothing is humility.

The saint that wears heaven's brightest crown,

In deepest adoration bends;

The weight of glory bows him down,

Then most when most his soul ascends;

-Nearest the throne itself must be

The footstool of Humility.

JAMES MONTGOMERY, 1771-1854.

BELIEVE IN GOD.

"GOD, my brothers, will not leave us,
Still His heaven is o'er us bent;
His commandments are not grievous,
Do His will and be content.
Only Truth and Love shall flourish,
In the end, beloved mates;

Only Charity can nourish

Those whom Charity creates.

Believe in God.

"You have wrongs by forge and furnace,

You have darkness, you have dread;

But you work in radiant harness,

And your God is overhead.

Does not night bring forth the morning?
Does not darkness father light?
Even now we have forewarning,
Brothers, of the close of night.

Believe in God.

"Many, many are the shadows
That the dawn of truth reveals ;
Beautiful on life's broad meadows
Is the light the Christian feels.
Evil shall give place to goodness,
Wrong be dispossess'd by right;

Out of old chaotic rudeness

God evokes a world of light.

Believe in God.

"Do ye toil? Oh, freer, firmer,

Ye shall grow beneath your toil;

Only craven spirits murmur,

Lightly rooted in the soil.

Through the gloom and through the darkness, Through the danger and the dole,

Through the mist and through the murkness

Travels the great human soul.

Believe in God.

"Ye have often read the story
Of the Hero of our race,
How the gloom outran the glory

And the wrath outran the grace ;

How He trod the earth in sorrow,
Yet left bliss where'er He trod,
How He died, yet on the morrow
Sprang from death to light and God.
Believe in God.

“In His love and His endurance,
In His manliness sublime,
Labour shone with bright assurance
Of a holier, happier time.
Then, my brothers, love and labour,
As the Hero-God before;
Learn to bless a needy neighbour,

Even from a scanty store.

Believe in God.

"Fades the prophet's lovely vision, While ye talk of force for force, Golden hopes and dreams Elysian

Fly from death on his white horse. Trust me there is strength in weakness, There's a greatness lies in love,

The persistency of meekness

Makes you like the Christ above.

Believe in God.

"Have you never felt the pleasure Of forgiving fraud and wrong, Rippling through your soul like measure

Sweet of sweetest poet's song?