Implore His counsel an' assisting might ; They never sought in vain that sought the Lord

aright!"

But, hark! a rap comes gently to the door; Jenny, wha kens the meaning o' the same, Tells how a neebor lad cam o'er the moor To do some errands, and convoy her hame. The wily mother sees the conscious flame Sparkle in Jenny's e'e, and flush her cheek; With heart-struck, anxious care, inquires his name, While Jenny hafflins is afraid to speak; Weel pleased the mother hears it's nae wild, worthless rake.

Wi' kindly welcome Jenny brings him ben, A strappan youth, he takes the mother's eye; Blythe Jenny sees the visit's not ill ta'en; The father cracks of horses, pleughs and kye. The youngster's artless heart o'erflows wi' joy,

But, blate and laithfu', scarce can weel behave; The mother, wi' a woman's wiles, can spy

What makes the youth sae bashfu' an' sae grave; Weel pleased to think her bairn's respected like the lave.

The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face They round the ingle form a circle wide; The sire turns o'er wi' patriarchal grace The big ha' bible, ance his father's pride; His bonnet reverently is laid aside,

His lyart haffets wearing thin an' bare; Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide, He wales a portion with judicious care,

And 'Let us worship God!' he says, with solemn air.

They chant their artless notes in simple guise; They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim : Perhaps Dundee's wild warbling measures rise, Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name; Or noble Elgin bears the heavenward flame, The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays : Compared with these, Italian trills are tame;

The tickled ears no heartfelt raptures raise, Nae unison hae they with our Creator's praise.

The priest-like father reads the sacred page, How Abram was the friend of God on high; Or Moses bade eternal warfare wage With Amalek's ungracious progeny; Or how the royal bard did groaning lie Beneath the stroke of Heaven's avenging ire; Or Job's pathetic plaint and wailing cry; Or rapt Isaiah's wild, prophetic fire; Or other holy seers that tune the sacred lyre,

Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme, How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed; How he, who bore in heaven the second name, Had not on earth whereon to lay his head;

How his first followers and servants sped;
The precepts sage they wrote to many a land;
How he who lone in Patmos banished,

Saw in the sun a mighty angel stand;
And heard great Babylon's doom pronounced by
Heaven's command.

Then, kneeling down, to heaven's eternal King The saint, the father, and the husband prays;

Hope 'springs exulting on triumphant wing,' That thus they all shall meet in future days; There ever bask in uncreated rays,

No more to sigh, or shed the bitter tear, Together hymning their Creator's praise, In such society, yet still more dear,

While circling time moves round in an eternal sphere.

Then homeward all take off their several way, The youngling cottagers retire to rest;

The parent pair their secret homage pay, And proffer up to Heaven the warm request That He, who stills the raven's clamorous nest, And decks the lily fair in flowery pride, Would, in the way his wisdom sees the best, For them and for their little ones provide ; But chiefly in their hearts with grace divine preside.

BURNS.

HYMN OF A HERMIT,

THOU, Lord! who rear'st the mountains' height,
And mak'st the cliff with sunshine bright,

Oh grant that I may own thy hand
No less in every grain of sand!

2

With forests huge of dateless time
Thy will hath hung each peak sublime;
But withered leaves beneath a tree
Have tongues that tell as loud of Thee,

3

While clouds to clouds through ages call,
Thou pour'st the thundering waterfall;
But every silent drop of dew

Reflects thy ordered world to view.

4

In all the immense, the strange, the old,
Thy presence careless men behold;

In all the little, weak, and mean,

By faith be thou as clearly seen.

5

Teach, Thou! that not a leaf can grow
Till life from thee within it flow;

That not a speck of dust can be,
O Fount of Being! save by thee.

6

Instruct my soul, by shows distraught,
Too vast and loud for peaceful thought,
That every quiet mote and gleam
With Thee, to musing spirits, beam.

7

Inspire me, Thou, in every glance
Of all our dreams confuse as chance,
In every change of mortal things,
To see a power from thee that springs,

8

In every human word and deed,
Each flash of feeling, will, or creed,
To know a plan ordained above,
Begun and ending all in love.

9

So smallest bubbles here on earth
With me shall claim a heavenly birth,
And each faint atom passing by
Seem bright with thine eternal eye.

10

So best we learn what light sublime
Is hid within the clouds of time,
Whose darkness, dreadful though it be,
From those who seek conceals not Thee.

STERLING.