THE MANSIONS OF GLORY.

"In my Father's house are many mansions."-John xiv. 2.

Soon to the dust we speed,
Our homes in ruins lie;
But goodlier mansions are decreed
To all who faithful die.

Reared by no mortal hand,
Fashioned by skill divine,

Secure their strong foundations stand,
And bright their glories shine.

Now burdened with their load,
The saints look up and sigh,
And slowly tread the narrow road
That leads them to the sky.

But soon they burst their chain,
And, free as angels are,
Released from earthly care and pain,
Their Saviour's kingdom share.

Then be the silent dust

Our home when God shall call;

Death strikes, but cannot slay the just-
His arrows blunted fall.

Serve we the Lord of life?

Then we but seem to die,

And pass from mortal toil and strife
To mansions in the sky.

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES AN INCOM

PARABLE TREASURE.

LINES PREFIXED TO AN

EDITION OF THE

BIBLE OF A.D. 1612.

HERE is the spring where waters flow,
To quench our lust of sin,

Here is the tree where truth doth grow,
To lead our lives therein.

Here is the Judge that ends the strife,
When men's devices fail,

Here is the bread that feeds the life,
That death can not assail.

The tidings of salvation dear,
Come to our ears from hence,
The fortress of our faith is here,
The shield of our defence.

Read not this Book in any case,

But with a single eye;

Read not, but first desire God's grace
To understand thereby.

Pray still in faith with this respect,

To fructify therein,

That knowledge may have this effect,
To mortify thy sin.

Then happy thou in all thy life,
Whate'er to thee befalls,
Yea, doubly blessed shalt thou be,
When God thy Saviour calls.

Calls thee from a world of sin,
Of sorrow and of care,
To leave this world and enter in,
Where saints his glory share.

"EBENEZER.'

I. Samuel vii. 12.

"EBENEZER, hitherto,"

Now through sun, and now through shower, With the help of God in view,

Have I reached the present hour.

Many a cloudy day has passed,

Many a summer sun shone bright, Yet the sky most overcast

Has been pierced, at length, by light.

Light to cheer, and clouds to warn,—
So I tread my journey by,
Till the rising of that morn,

When no cloud shall veil the sky.

As I travel, let me own

To what arm my help is due; And mark each monitory stone,

66

Ebenezer, hitherto."

EDMESTON.

• The stone of help.

GOD OUR HOPE.

"Casting all your care upon him."-I. Peter v. 7.

OH! help me Lord to cast my care
On Thee, most merciful and kind;
A heavier load than I can bear
Is pressing on my weary mind;
A load of bitter earthly grief,

A load of sorrow and of sin;
And when my spirit seeks relief,

Dark troubled thoughts arise within.

But thou hast promised, gracious Lord,
To lighten all thy people's woes;
Be it according to thy word,

And let my soul on Thee repose.
Help me to trust thy mighty power,
And bless Thee for thy tender love;
And in my trial's darkest hour

Let faith and hope ascend above!

When I remember Jesus bore

Our sins' and sorrows' heaviest weight, And gave his life that we no more Might sink forlorn and desolate.

That thought shall calm my troubled breast,

And bid each doubt and murmur cease;

In Thee my soul shall find her rest,
In thee is everlasting peace.

SELF-EXAMINATION.

Is all in order set, my house, my heart?
Does no besetting sin still claim a part?
No cherished error, loth to quit its place,
Hinder within my soul the work of grace ?
Did I each day for the great day prepare
By righteous deeds, by sin-subduing prayer?
Did I each night, each day's offence repent,
And each unholy thought and word lament?
Still have my ready hands th' afflicted fed,
And ministered to Want her daily bread?
Did I to gratify some sudden gust

Of thoughtless appetite, some impious lust
Of pleasure or of power, such sums employ
As would have filled a poor man's heart with joy?
Did my firm faith to heaven point the way?
Did charity to all my actions sway?
Did I unjustly seek to build my name
On the piled ruins of another's fame?
Did I still live as born one day to die,

And view the eternal world with constant eye?
If so I lived, if so I kept thy word,
In mercy view, in mercy hear me, Lord!
For oh how strict so'er I kept thy law,
From mercy only all my hope I draw;
My holiest deeds indulgence will require,
The best but to forgiveness can aspire ;
If Thou my purest services regard,
'Twill be with pardon only, not reward.

H. MORE.