For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

ISAIAH lv.

MAY 16.

"AND now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three : but the greatest of these is charity."

I COR. xiii. 13.

LOVE is the star by which our course we steer;
Love for our kind its image glassed below;
And when the breeze of hope begins to blow,
The radiance spreads of that dilated sphere
O'er Life's dark waters, nearer and more near.
A silver path that star appears to throw
Toward us, and with light that plain to sow
Which shakes beneath the shock of our career.
Thus is the brightness of our heavenly home
Itself a beacon unto those that stray;
The beacon thus becomes the glittering way
To all whom hope impels her seas to roam.
What then is Hope? A Faith that dares to move.
And what is Faith? The happy rest of Love.

AUBREY DE Vere.

"WHERE hast thou gleaned to-day?"

RUTH ii. 19.

WHATE'ER thou dost, do well,-it may not stand

An hour, it may for centuries endure,

But thou shalt have performed thy Lord's command, And thy reward shall be for ever sure.

It may not be a palace thou dost rear,

It may be but a cottage for the poor;

No matter, 'tis the Lord's; be of good cheer,
Palace or cottage, thy reward is sure.

Here thou must learn to work: earth is God's school:

Let not thy hours in idleness be spent ;

Bow thy stiff neck, thy stubborn spirit rule,
What thy Lord sets thee, do, and be content.

When He has tried and fully proved thy worth,
Found thee obedient, diligent, and true,
Then He will take thee from His school of earth,

And in His heaven-world give thee work to do.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN.

INEFFABLE is the union of man and God in every act of the soul. The simplest person, who in his integrity worships God, becomes God; yet for ever and ever the influx of this better and universal self is new and unsearchable. It inspires awe and astonishment. How dear, how soothing to man, arises the idea of God, peopling the lonely place, effacing the scars of our mistakes and disappointments! When we have broken our God of tradition, and ceased from our God of rhetoric, then may God fire the heart with His presence. It is the doubling of the heart itself, nay, the infinite enlargement of the heart with a power of growth to a new infinity on every side. It inspires in man an infallible trust. He has not the conviction, but the sight, that the best is the true, and may in that thought easily dismiss all particular uncertainties and fears, and adjourn to the sure revelation of time, the solution of his private riddles. He is sure that his welfare is dear to the heart of being. In the presence of law to his mind, he is overflowed with a reliance so universal that it sweeps away all cherished hopes and the most stable projects of mortal condition in its flood.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

Centennial of his birthday
May 25,1903

LORD, thou has been favourable unto thy land;
Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.
Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people;
Thou hast covered all their sin.

Thou hast taken away all thy wrath ;

Thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine

anger.

Turn us, O God of our salvation,

And cause thine anger towards us to cease.

Wilt thou be angry with us for ever?

Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?

Wilt thou not revive us again :

That thy people may rejoice in thee?

Shew us thy mercy, O Lord,

And grant us thy salvation.

I will hear what God the Lord will speak :

For he will speak peace unto his people, and to his

saints;

But let them not turn again to folly.

Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him ;

That glory may dwell in our land.

Mercy and truth are met together;

Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth shall spring out of the earth ;

And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good;
And our land shall yield her increase.
Righteousness shall go before him ;

And shall set us in the way of his steps.

PSALM 1XXXV.

ETERNAL God! preserver of all those
(Without respect of person or degree)
Who in Thy faithfulness their trust repose,
And place their confidence alone in Thee;
Be Thou my succour; for Thou know'st that I
On Thy protection, Lord, alone rely.

Surround me, Father, with Thy mighty power,
Support me daily by Thine holy arm,

Preserve me faithful in the evil hour,

Stretch forth Thine hand to save me from all harm.
Be Thou my helmet, breast-plate, sword, and shield,
And make my foes before Thy power yield.
Teach me the spiritual battle so to fight,
That when the enemy shall me beset,
Armed cap-à-pie with the armour of Thy light,
A perfect conquest o'er him I may get ;
And with Thy battle-axe may cleave the head
Of him who bites that part whereon I tread.
Then being from domestic foes set free,
The cruelties of men I shall not fear ;

But in Thy quarrel, Lord, undaunted be,
And for Thy sake the loss of all things bear;
Yea, though in dungeon locked, with joy will sing
An ode of praise to Thee, my God, my King.

THOMAS ELLWOOD. 1669.