MAY 31.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"— Ps. xxvii. 1.

The evil of yesterday is gone; that which is appointed for to-morrow is not yet arrived. Would it not be well if we could live with the Lord by the day?

NEWTON.

66

JUNE 1.

And they brought young children unto Him." -St. Mark, x. 13.

Hold the little hands in prayer, teach the weak knees their bending;

Let him see thee speaking to thy God, he will not forget it afterwards.

When old and grey, will he feelingly remember a mother's tender piety.

Proverbial Philosophy.

JUNE 2.

"Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense."-Solomon's Song, iv. 6.

And this is human happiness!

"Tis to have

Its secret and its evidence are writ
In the broad book of Nature.
Attentive and believing faculties;

I

To go abroad, rejoicing in the joy
Of beautiful, and well-created things;
To love the voice of waters, and the sheen
Of silver fountains leaping to the sea;
To thrill with the rich melody of birds,
Living their life of music; to be glad
In the gay sunshine, reverent in the storm;
To see a beauty in the stirring leaf,

And find calm thoughts beneath the whispering trees;

To see, and hear, and breathe, the evidence

Of God's deep wisdom in the natural world,

"This Christ-bought world wherein His Spirit moves!"

N. P. WILLIS.

66

JUNE 3.

Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us."-St. Luke, i. 78.

Christ cheers the prospect. Everything connected with Him has light and gladness thrown round it. I look out of my window: the scene is scowling— dark-frigid-forbidding! I shudder, my heart is chilled. But let the sun break forth from the cloud -I can feel-I can act-I can spring.

Cecil's Remains.

JUNE 4.

My prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time ”—Ps. lxix. 13.

"My mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips." -Ps. lxiii. 5.

Let us go by this rule in our devotions: whatever is the matter of our care, let it be the matter of our prayers; and let us allow no care which we cannot in faith spread before God. And whatever is the matter of our rejoicing, let it be the matter of our thanksgiving; and let us withhold our hearts from all those joys which do not dispose us for the duty of praise.

PASCAL

JUNE 5.

86

Wherefore comfort one another with these words."-1 Thess. iv. 18.

He who puts forth one depressing thought, aids Satan in his work of torment; he who puts forth one cheering thought, aids the Lord in his work of beneficence.

JUNE 6.

He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good."-St. Matt. v. 46.

How many scenes and sights to-day,
Have basked beneath the self-same ray;
Since first the glowing morning broke,
And larks sprang up, and lambs awoke ;
And fields, with glistening dew-drop bright,
Seemed changed to sheets of silver white.

Where'er its ray has broken in,

Have light, and heat, and order been ;—
So gentle love in Christian heart
Doth help, and hope, and peace impart ;
Nor turns away, when griefs oppress,
But ever shines, and shines to bless.

Go gently down, thou golden gleam !
And as I watch thy fading beam,
So let me learn, like thee, to give
Pleasure and blessing while I live ;-
With kindly deed, and smiling face,-
A sunbeam in my lowly place.

Moral Songs.