This is the famous stone That turneth all to gold; For that which God doth touch and own SIGHS AND GROANS. O Do not use me After my sins! look not on my desert, But on Thy glory; then Thou wilt reform, And not refuse me, for Thou only art O do not urge me! For what account can Thy ill steward make? O do not blind me! I have deserved that an Egyptian night Should thicken all my powers, because my lust Hath still sew'd fig-leaves to exclude Thy light; But I am frailty and already dust; O do not grind me! O do not fill me With the turn'd vial of Thy bitter wrath; A part whereof my Saviour emptied hath, But O reprieve me! For Thou hast life and death at Thy command; Thou art both Judge and Saviour, feast and rod, Cordial and corrosive. Put not Thy hand Into the bitter box; but, O my God, My God, relieve me! X ROBERT HERRICK. ROBERT HERRICK was descended from an old family in Leicestershire. His father, Nicholas Herrick, was a goldsmith in Cheapside, London. He was born in London, in 1591, and was educated at Westminster School. He entered St. John's College, Cambridge, about 1615. Taking orders, he was preferred to the vicarage of Dean Prior, Devonshire. He was deprived of his living under the Protectorate, when he returned to London. At the Restoration, in 1660, he re-obtained his charge. He died in 1674. Herrick published his "Noble Numbers,” in 1647. His "Hesperides" appeared in the following year. An edition of his works, with a memoir, was published in London, in 1859. LITANY TO THE HOLY SPIRIT IN the hour of my distress, When temptations me oppress, And when I my sins confess, Sweet Spirit, comfort me. When I lie within my bed, Sweet Spirit, comfort me. When the house doth sigh and weep, When the artless doctor sees When his potion and his pill Sweet Spirit, comfort me. When the passing-bell doth toll, Come to fright my parting soul, Sweet Spirit, comfort me. When the tapers now burn blue, When the priest his last hath pray'd, And I nod to what is said, 'Cause my speech is now decay'd, Sweet Spirit, comfort me. When, God knows, I'm toss'd about, Either with despair or doubt, Yet before the glass be out, When the tempter me pursueth When the flames and hellish cries Fright my ears and fright mine eyes, And all terrors me surprise, Sweet Spirit, comfort me. When the judgment is reveal'd When to Thee I have appeal'd, MRS. HERVEY. ELEANORA LOUISA MONTAGU was born in Liverpool, in 1811. She began at an early period to contribute to periodicals. In 1839, she published "The Landgrave; a dramatic poem." She married, in 1843, Thomas Kebble Hervey, editor of The Athenzum, who died in 1859. Mrs. Hervey is the writer of several interesting works, both in prose and verse. THE DAUGHTER OF GILEAD. (Contributed.) "And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains."-Fud, xi. 37. THERE'S a wail upon the mountains; it resounds o'er Gilead's heights; 'Tis the cry of Jephthah's daughter, for her girlhood's lost delights. Ere the summer moon declineth, she, too, shall pass away, Untimely cropp'd in beauty, as a budding thorn of May. "Alas! thy vow, my father! 'Twas a bitter vow for thee. There, in silence, on the mighty hills, the stars are seen to glow, Where she bows her head o'er Gilead in the meekness of her woe. Across her breast her arms she folds; and, kneeling on the sod, With steadfast gaze, looks upward, as the mountains look, to God. "O Thou that dwellest above the cloud, and ridest on the beam, There are steps along the mountain-side, where beautiful and slow, ROWLAND HILL. ROWLAND HILL, the celebrated preacher and wit, was sixth son of Sir Rowland Hill, Bart. He was born on his father's estate of Hawkstone, Shropshire, on the 23rd August, 1744. He studied at Eton, afterwards at the University of Cambridge, where he graduated. Contrary to the wishes of his family, he entered the Church, receiving orders in 1774. He subsequently adhered to the Calvinistic Methodists. In 1782, Surrey Chapel, Blackfriars Road, London, was erected for his use. There he afterwards preached during six months each year, employ. ing the other half-year chiefly in itinerating. He died on the 11th April, 1833. He published in 1790 a thin 16mo, entitled "Divine Hymns, attempted in Easy Language, for the Use of Children." The following hymn is transcribed from his "Collection of Psalms and Hymns." London, 1830. 8th edition. GLORY OF THE SAINTS. EXALTED high at God's right hand, These are the saints beloved of God, Brighter than angels, lo! they shine, Their order what, and whence came they. Through tribulation great they came ; They bore the cross, and scorn'd the shame; Within the living temple blest, In God they dwell, and on Him rest. And does the cross thus prove their gain? The wonders of redeeming grace? Hunger they ne'er shall feel again, |