I WILL sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever:
With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to
all generations.

For I have said: Mercy shall be built up for ever:
Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
I have made a covenant with my chosen,

I have sworn unto David my servant,

Thy seed will I establish for ever,

And build up thy throne to all generations.

And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord:
Thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord?
Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto
the Lord?

God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints And to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee?

Or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

Thou rulest the raging of the sea :

When the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; Thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm. The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine :

As for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

The north and the south thou hast created them :

Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.

Thou hast a mighty arm :

Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne:

Mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound :

They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.

In thy name shall they rejoice all the day :
And in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
For thou art the glory of their strength :
And in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
For the Lord is our defence;

And the Holy One of Israel is our king.

PSALM 1xxxix. 1-18.

AUGUST 10.

"FOR I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."

MATT. V. 20.

SHALL it be said, O Lord! shall it be said
That men must be incited on their path
Of trial through this world by hope or dread
Of human accident in life or death?

Why on this world's vain wisdom waste we
breath,

Follies of false philosophy, inbred?

Why preach the recompense that virtue hath-
The worth of character-the glory shed
On patriotic deeds? Should we not ever
Make Right our rule, which is immutable;
Nor fear a fall when strong in Principle?
Good works are acts of Faith.
The deed from the design, and the endeavour :
But makes the basis of His law God's will!

Christ does not sever

SIR AUBREY DE VERE.

WHERE lies the land to which the ship would go?
Far, far ahead, is all her seamen know.

And where the land she travels from? Away,
Far, far behind, is all that they can say.

On sunny noons, upon the deck's smooth face,
Linked arm in arm, how pleasant here to pace;
Or, o'er the stern reclining, watch below
The foaming wake far-widening as we go.

On stormy nights, when wild north-westers rave, How proud a thing to fight with wind and wave ! The dripping sailor on the reeling mast

Exults to bear, and scorns to wish it past.

Where lies the land to which the ship would go?
Far, far ahead, is all her seamen know.

And where the land she travels from? Away,
Far, far behind, is all that they can say.

ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH.

NOTHING is sweeter than Love, nothing more courageous, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller nor better in heaven and earth; because Love is born of God, and cannot rest but in God, above all created beings. He that loveth, flieth, runneth, and rejoiceth; he is free and is not bound.

He giveth all for all, and hath all in all; because he resteth in One Highest above all things, from whom all that is good flows and proceeds.

Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility; for it thinks all things lawful for itself and all things possible.

It is therefore able to undertake all things, and it completes many things, and brings them to a conclusion, where he who does not love, faints and falls down.

Love watcheth, and, sleeping, slumbereth not. Though weary, Love is not tired; though pressed, it is not straitened, though alarmed, it is not confounded; but as a lively flame and burning torch, it forces its way upwards, and securely passes through all.

Love is subject and obedient to its superiors; unto itself mean and despised, unto God devout and thankful, trusting and hoping always in Him, even when God imparteth no relish of sweetness into it; for without sorrow none liveth in Love.

THOMAS À KEMPIS. 1380.

WE asked not to be born: 'tis not by will
That we are here beneath the battle-smoke,
Without escape; by good things as by ill,
By facts and mysteries enchained : no cloak
Of an Elijah, no stairs whereupon

Angels ascending and descending shine
Over the head here pillowed on a stone,

Anywhere found; so say they who repine. But each year hath its harvest, every day

Some clang of cymbals, laughter, or sweet moan; Yea, thought itself is triumph, nor would I pray For rest, or shrink, if I could but command Courage of heart,-courage of heart and hand.

Courage of heart and hand, Faith first of all:
Such is the prayer of the perplexed man,
Mistrusting the still voice, and its true call

To work; opposed it may be by the ban
Of social ills. Prayer answered by desires
Within the soul for more than sense receives,
And by sky-pointing fingers of fair spires,

From whose kind creeds the refuged mortal weaves Protecting garments for this pilgrim-strife,

Passing from world to world. But let us here, With full breast bare to all the winds of life, And ready hand, and answering eye and ear, Gain faith and courage through self-harmony; Cheerful in strong repose,—fearless to live or die.

WILLIAM BELL SCOTT.