Save

May we practically say to the poor and the destitute, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled. Provide of Thy goodness for the poor! the children of the needy! As the snow cometh down from heaven, and watereth the earth, and causeth it to bring forth and bud,-so may the freezing blast, the waste-howling tempest, of calamity and grief, cleanse and fertilise Thy Husbandry. May all the fruit be to take away sin. Then stay Thy rough wind in the day of the east wind!

SPRING.

THOU renewest the face of the earth! The Winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come; and the voice of the dove is heard in the land. For this pleasant change we bless Thee! The small rain is on the tender herb. Our senses might have been closed against all this vernal beauty, and melody, and fragrance. Our hearts might have been too sad for any enjoyment of the exhilarating scene. We drink in the universal gladness. The little hills rejoice. The spices of the gardens flow out. So may the earth yield its spiritual increase;

may it breathe to Thee as the smell of a field which Thou hast blessed! As the earth bringeth forth its bud, and as the garden causeth the things which are sown in it to spring forth, so, O Lord God! cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations! May we catch the spirit which stirs and excites in all around us, which attunes, rejoices, beautifies, all,-renew our strength, unfold our life, blossom and bud, filling the face of the world with fruit!

SUMMER.

THOU hast kindled lights in the firmament of Heaven to divide the day from the night; and to be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years! We thank Thee for these fair skies, these genial airs, these verdant fields! For the beauty and incense of flowers, for the rich foliage and bearing of trees, for the ripened grain of the summer threshing-floor! The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing. Sun of Righteousness arise upon the deadness of our world! Call forth the seeds of holy prayer long since sown into it. Awaken the

germs of truth and love. May we gather instruction and improvement now as the insect, with provident instinct, lays up during this season its store. May our soul be as a watered garden! May it grow as the lily, and its beauty be as the olive-tree, and its scent be as Lebanon! Let Our Beloved come into His garden, and eat His pleasant fruits! Never may it be the cry of any among us, The Summer is past, and we are not saved! May we improve the acceptable time! May our character be bright, our heart be glowing, our life be fruitful, as this Summertide!

AUTUMN.

THOU hast made every thing beautiful in its time! Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? Ours has been the feast of ingathering. The herb is matured which is for the service of man. The seed is in the barn. We lack not any thing. How unwearied is Thy beneficence! Thou hast heard the prayer of Jezreel, and not the less because the heavens have heard the earth, and the earth has heard the corn and the wine and the oil. Whatever the causes

which intermediately operate, Thou workest all in all. But now the day shortens and the glow of our landscape declines.

The grass withereth Surely the people is grass. We all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Oh when the angel-reapers shall come forth, may our faith and holiness be found as the full corn in the ear! May we come to our grave as the shock of corn in its season! Let none

and the flower fadeth. Surely

of us be as stubble which the fire consumes, or as the chaff which the wind scatters. Give us the inheritance which fadeth not away, the fruit which is ever yielded by the tree of life, the sun which no more goes down, the new heavens and the new earth in which dwelleth righteousness!

ON GOING TO A FUNERAL.

THOU takest away, and none can hinder! The gates of death fly open at Thy command! We are summoned to carry forth our dead, and bury all that remains out of our sight. When we move in the melancholy train, when we as mourners go about the streets, when we follow the bier that holds the precious dust,-let us

not sorrow as those who have no hope; let not Thy consolations be small with us; let us believe that, notwithstanding the sad impression of our senses, death is abolished; let us see in the dismal accompaniments, nothing but the ensigns of a victory. May we realise the sure supports of the Gospel under this bereavement. May we stand on the margin of the grave, as anointed for our burial. May it be as though the tomb of Bethany was in sight. May we hear the lofty, tender, announcement: I am the Resurrection and the Life! May we weep, as Jesus wept. May it be as if the grave of Olivet were nigh at hand,—just forsaken of Him Who could not see corruption,-all around the Sepulchre, a garden, and Angels lingering there!

ON RETURNING FROM A FUNERAL.

O LORD, to Whom belong the issues from death! We return to our tent from the house appointed for all living. We have beheld it opening for our friend who sleepeth. There we have laid

him. The dust has returned to the earth as it was, and the spirit has returned to God who gave it. We dare not feel desolate in even this deserted dwelling. We would rejoice as well