tender and so affectionate, not the beautiful bosom beneath which it beat; but that calm, deep, and unending affection, that brings no blushes to the cheek, no sigh to the breast, no tear to the eye, but in freedom and confidence bestows its day-light smiles on its object, and unconsciously shows itself in many a little token of gratitude and respect. Besides, Allan Lorimer was a man humbly born, and he looked on to a humble life, as the happiest of lots. Had love, as a passion, sought to take possession of his mind, his reason would have resisted the impulse. For believe it not that we have no power over love! Let us know well ourselves and our condition-their natural powers, duties, and destinies; and with that aid from above which is never withheld from them who beseech it in humility and truth, we may walk our way through the world, delighting in all that is beautiful, without being disturbed or enslaved, and blest with the due measure of all life's holiest affections.

It is the Sabbath-day, and the little kirk can never hold that congregation assembled in the church-yard, and covering even the tombstones and the circle of the old mossy wall. Lo a tent is pitched facing the Braes, and from it the preacher will address his flock. Walking between the aged pastor, whose earthly services, in the eye of his great Task-master, are now near their close, and his own father, Allan Lorimer, in the sacred garb, is seen to approach. It is the first Sabbath of his assistant ministry, and his soul overflows with a holy joy. His friends of the Castle bow reverently to him as he passes by; he sees

his own mother and his sister Alice, and almost thinks he hears them sob; on Alice leans, with downcast eyes streaming with tears, one to whom he is betrothed, the orphan grandchild of the aged pastor who ere long must drop the body; and now he stands in his place in all the beauty of pious youth, with hands uplifted to implore a blessing! There is the church-tower,-there the shadow of the sycamores,-there the sound of the doves cooing in the belfry, there his brother's grave! A lark at that moment rises, as if let loose from among the silent congregation, and carries up its hymns to heaven. For a moment that hour flashes back on his memory, when beneath the birch-tree on the knoll, he felt himself called upon by a voice within his own soul; and, ere he opens his lips in public prayer, he ventures to breathe to himself in a whisper, the words he then uttered before his wondering sister" Gracious Father! if it be thy will, accept me as a Servant of thy Holy Word."

Aug. 1826.

THE DROUGHT.

BY JAMES MONTGOMERY.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord: I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth, and the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel."-HOSEA ii. 21, 22.

WHAT strange, what fearful thing hath come to pass? The ground is iron, and the skies are brass :

Man, on the withering harvest, casts his eye,

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Give me your fruits in season, or I die;"

The timely fruits implore their parent-Earth,
"Where is thy strength to bring us forth to birth?"
The Earth, all prostrate, to the Clouds complains-
"Send to my heart your fertilizing rains ;"

The Clouds invoke the Heavens-" Collect, dispense
Through us your healing, quickening influence;"

The Heavens to HIM that rules them raise their moan

Command thy blessing, and it shall be done."

-The Lord is in his temple :-hushed and still,
The suppliant Universe awaits his will.

He speaks and to the clouds the Heavens dispense
With lightning speed, their genial influence:
The gathering, breaking clouds pour down the rains :
Earth drinks the bliss thro' all her eager veins.
From teeming furrows start the fruits to birth,
And shake their riches on the lap of Earth:
Man sees the harvests grow beneath his eye,
Turns, and looks up with rapture to the sky;
All that have breath and being then rejoice,
All Nature's voices blend in one great voice;
"Glory to God, who thus Himself makes known!"
-When shall all tongues confess HIM GOD ALONE?
Lord, as the rain comes down from heaven-the rain
That waters Earth, and turns not thence again,
But makes the tree to bud, the corn to spring,
And feeds and gladdens every living thing;
So come thy Gospel o'er a world destroyed,
In boundless blessings, and return not void :
So let it come, in universal showers,

To fill Earth's dreariest wilderness with flowers,
-With flowers of promise, fill the wild within
Man's heart, laid waste and desolate by sin:
Where thorns and thistles curse the infested ground,
Let the rich fruits of righteousness abound;

And trees of life, for ever fresh and green,

Flourish, where only trees of death have been :

Let Truth look down from heaven, Hope soar above,
Justice and Mercy kiss, Faith work by Love;
Heralds the year of jubilee proclaim;

Bow every knee at the Redeemer's name;
Nations new-born, their fathers' idols spurn;
The ransomed of the Lord with songs return;

Through realms, with darkness, thraldom, guilt, o'erspread,
In light, joy, freedom, be the spirit shed.
Speak thou the word :-to Satan's power say,
But to a world of pardoned sinners—“ Peace!”

"Cease!"

Thus, in thy grace, O God, Thyself make known, Then shall all tongues confess THEE GOD ALONE!

Sheffield, Aug. 1826.