"THE MAN ANSWERED, AND SAID UNTO THEM, WHY HEREIN IS A MARVELLOUS THING, THAT YE KNOW NOT FROM WHENCE HE IS, AND YET HE HATH OPENED MINE EYES."

PEACE, babbler! is this wisdom thou dost teach?
Instructing simple folk, that Jesus wrought
No miracle, from God no message brought,
But that his servants childish fables preach!
Why herein is a marvel-This same tale

Hath swayed mankind near twice ten hundred years,
Triumphing over mortal hopes and fears.
Whence is it? Whereby doth it still prevail?
Before I communed with the Gospel-book,

I groped my way in darkness, like one born
Blind; now, into my inmost self I look;

Who hath dispelled my night and made it morn?
Thou know'st not whence it is?
Then let me say,

It is the Light of Heaven that causes day.

ACTS XXIX. 19.

"MANY OF THEM ALSO WHICH USED CURIOUS ARTS BROUGHT THEIR BOOKS TOGETHER, AND BURNED THEM BEFORE ALL MEN: AND THEY COUNTED THE PRICE OF THEM, AND FOUND IT FIFTY THOUSAND PIECES OF SILVER."

So should it be.-Before the face of men

And angels, bring forth thy forbidden treasures, That win for thee fame, power, and guilty pleasures; Cast them upon the blazing pile, and then,—

When on the accursed ashes thou hast trod

Then reckon what it cost thee, and bless God.

But what? The Devil's lore thou dost not learn
From parchment and strange-lettered scrolls? Then burn
The tablet of thy heart, if it be there

His wicked arts are written and employed

By thee, perhaps, for viler ends than were Those books th' Ephesian sorcerers destroyedBurn that; and not until thy treasure lies Consumed and trampled tell the sacrifice.

PAUL, from his prison-house of heathen thrall,
Besought his children in the faith, to pray

That God would give him heart and tongue to say
Boldly the words which he was charged withal.
With limbs unfetter'd, but with heart pent round
By fear of obloquy, and lust of praise

Or riches, and the dread of evil days, We, the ambassadors of Christ, are bound

In this world's straiter bondage, and must call On friends, and flock, to join their prayers to ours, That, unsubdued in spirit by our thrall,

We

may rebuke the world, and the world's

powers.

Lord-for thy latter servants wear a chain—

Touch thou their lips, that they speak not in vain.

"FOR ALL SEEK THEIR OWN, NOT THE THINGS WHICH ARE JESUS CHRIST'S."

Or whom spake Paul?-of those who set their hand
Unto the plough with him, and by his side
Laboured yet more they laboured to provide

Their own good things, men's favour, gold, and land.
What! came they to their Master with mask'd pride,

Craving to serve, that so they might be great,

Might get them riches, place, and power to guide

A nation's councils-mitres, robes, and state?

O man of God, who now, as heretofore,

Dost lull thy conscience with the thought part,

Part only, of thy work 's thine own, and more

Thy Master's,-thou who, with divided heart, Wouldst serve that Master still, but on a throne

The flock is Jesus Christ's; all else thine own.

that

2 THESSALONIANS III. 5.

"THE PATIENT WAITING FOR CHRIST."

I KNEW a youthful mother, whose fair boy
So stirred the quiet bosom where he lay,
That she was always dreaming of the day
When he should be her staff, and pride, and joy.
And manhood's glorious day of strength arrived;
But, while her hope was blossoming, he went
O'er Indian seas, on fame and wealth intent.
And then a second span of life she lived

In patient, fruitless waiting for a time,
When, in his altered form and sun-burnt face,

A mother's eye, despite of years and clime, Should read the lines no other eye can trace. Meek spirit! thou didst learn to wait for one,

Who, when He comes, will bring with Him thy son.