N°

LOVE.

O outward mark we have to know
Who thine, O Chrift, may be,
Until a Chriftian love doth show
Who appertains to thee:
For knowledge may be reach'd unto,
And formal juftice gain'd,

But till each other love we do,
Both faith and works are feign'd.

Love is the sum of those commands,
Which Thou with thine doft leave;
And for a mark on them it ftands,
Which never can deceive:
For when our knowledge folly turns,
When shows no fhew retain,
And zeal, itself to nothing burns,
Then love fhall ftill remain.

George Wither.

H'

THE SPILT PEARLS.

IS courtiers of the Caliph crave "Oh, say how this may be, That of thy flaves, this Ethiop flave Is beft beloved by thee?

"For he is hideous as the night:
Yet when has ever chose

A nightingale for its delight
A huelefs, scentless rose?"

The Caliph then-"No features fair
No comely mien are his :
Love is the beauty he doth wear,

And love his glory is.

"Once when a camel of my train
There fell in narrow street,

From broken cafket rolled amain
Rich pearls before my feet.

"I nodding to my flaves, that I

Would freely give them these, At once upon the spoil they fly, The coftly boon to seize.

"One only at my fide remained Befide this Ethiop, none:

He, moveless as the fteed he reined,
Behind me fat alone.

"What will thy gain, good fellow, be,

Thus lingering at my fide?'

'My king, that I fhall faithfully Have guarded thee,' he cried.

"True servant's title he may wear,
He only, who has not,

For his lord's gifts, how rich soe'er,
His lord himself forgot!""

So thou alone doft walk before
Thy God with perfect aim,
From Him defiring nothing more
Befide himself to claim.

For if thou not to Him aspire,
But to his gifts alone,
Not love, but covetous defire,

Has brought thee to his throne.

While such thy prayer, it climbs above
In vain - the golden key

Of God's rich treasure-house of love,
Thine own will never be.

Trench.

Tranflated from Saadi.

FAITH THAT WORKETH BY LOVE.

WHO

HO keepeth not God's word, yet saith,
I know the Lord, is wrong;

In him is not that bleffed faith

Through which the truth is ftrong; But he who hears and keeps the word, Is not of this world, but of God.

The faith His word hath caused to fhine

Will kindle love in thee;

More wouldst thou KNOW of things divine,
Deeper thy LOVE must be ;

True faith not only gives thee light,
But ftrength to love and do the right.

He is in God, and God in him,

Who ftill abides in love;

'Tis love that makes the Cherubim

Obey and praise above;

For God is love, the loveless heart
Hath in His life and joy no part.

C. F. Gellert. 1757.

ACTIVE DUTY.

A

ARISE!

RISE! ye lingering saints, arise ! Remember that the might of grace, When guilty flumbers sealed your eyes, Awakened you to run the race; And let not darkness round you fall, But hearken to the Saviour's call.

Arise!

Arise! because the night of fin
Muft flee before the light of day;

God's glorious Gospel, fhining in,
Muft chase the midnight gloom away:

You cannot true disciples be

If you ftill walk in vanity.

Arise! although the flesh be weak,
The spirit willing is and true,
And servants of the Mafter seek
To follow where it guided to.
Belovéd! oh, be wise indeed,
And let the spirit ever lead.

Arise!

Arise !