God, from a beautiful necessity, is love in all He doeth ;

Love, a brilliant fire, to gladden or consume.

The wicked work their woe by looking upon love and hating it;

The righteous find their joy in yearning on its loveliness for ever.

Proverbial Philosophy.

66

APRIL 11.

By love serve one another."-Gal. v. 13.

Duty may regulate the hours of life towards others; Love takes charge of its moments.

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APRIL 12.

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”—Ps. xc. 12.

Behold thou art! it is enough; that present care be

thine;

Leave thou the past to thy Redeemer-entrust the future to thy Friend.

But for to-day, child of man, tend thou charily the

minutes

The harvest of thy yesterday, the seed-corn of thy

morrow.

Proverbial Philosophy.

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APRIL 13.

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out."-Rev. iii. 12.

Then-for God was gracious to his soul-his better thoughts returned !

Pass along, pilgrim of life, go to thy grave unfearing; The terrors are but shadows now, that haunt the vale of death.

For the prison-gate of matter shall be broken, and the shackled soul go free,

For ever-happy fate !-to ripen into perfection for ever!

This is the blessing of obedience-obedience the child of faith.

Glorious hopes, and ineffable imaginings, crowd our holy theme,

For Christ hath died, and we in Him; by faith his all

is ours;

Cross and crown, and love, and life, and we shall reign in Him!

Selected from Proverbial Philosophy.

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APRIL 14.

O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast loosed my bonds."-Ps. cxvi. 16.

There is a reaper whose name is Death,
And with his sickle keen,

He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,
And the flowers that grow between.

"Shall I have naught that is fair?" saith he; "Have naught but the bearded grain? Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me, I will give them all back again."

He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes,
He kissed their drooping leaves;

It was for the Lord of Paradise

He bound them in his sheaves.

"My Lord hath need of these flow'rets gay;"

The Reaper said, and smiled; "Dear tokens of the earth are they,

Where He was once a child.

“They shall all bloom in fields of light,
Transplanted by my care;

And saints upon their garments white,
These sacred blossoms wear."

And the mother gave, in tears and pain,
The flowers she most did love;
She knew she should find them all again,
In the fields of light above.

O, not in cruelty, not in wrath,
The Reaper came that day;

"Twas an angel visited the green earth,

And took that flower away.

LONGFELLOW.

Adieu, mère! les anges m'attendent.

APRIL 15.

"We are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.". 2 Cor. v. 8.

At once and for ever! At once-for absent from the body we are present with Him. So near is Jesus now, that (like the infant waking from its dream, it

looks up, and lo! the mother sits beside it,) waking up from this life-dream, the first sight is Jesus as He is. At once--no flight through immensity-no pilgrimage of the spheres-for the everlasting arms are the first resting-place of the disembodied soul. It will be in the bosom of Immanuel that the emancipated spirit will inquire, "Where am I?" and read in the face of the Lord Jesus the answer-"For ever with the Lord."-Mount of Olives.

APRIL 16.

"Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling."—Ps. cxvi. 7, 8.

Oh, darling! since all life for death is moulded,
And every cradled head some tomb must fill,
A little sooner only hast thou folded

Thy helpless hands, that struggled, and are still :
A little sooner thy Creator's will

Hath called thee to the life that must endure; And in that heaven his gathered saints shall fill, Hath "made thy calling and election sure."

His work in thee being done, was thy death prema

ture?

MRS. NORTON.