List not those cries! How strangely do they blend
With the sweet bells from yonder gothic tower,
Pealing athwart the water. Such the contrast
Of wild religious awe to earthly clamour,

For on the morrow, and the morrow's morrow,
At this still hour those bells will still peal on;
But these harsh sinful cries, the moment's offspring,
Will with the moment pass to nought away,
They, and the passions, even as briefly raging;
And, as the echo of those cries, borne far
Up the deep silvery Thames, there dies in air
In the dim distance, seeming well to blend
With the calm beauty of the hour, and heighten
The melody of silence; so the thought

On this vain uproar shall in future years
Prove but a gentle memory! since we shared
The cares it wooed to life, together.-Archer Gurney.

Stop, O stop the passing bell!
Painfully, too painfully,

It strikes against the heart, that knell,
I cannot bear its tones-they tell

Of misery, of misery!

All that soothed and sweetened life,
In the mother and the wife-

All that would a charm have cast
O'er the future, as the past-
All is torturing in that knell!
Stop, O stop the passing bell!

Stop it! no-but change the tone,
And joyfully, ah, joyfully,
Let the altered chimes ring on,
For the spirit that hath flown,
Exultingly, exultingly!

She hath left her couch of pain,
She shall never feel again,
But as angels feel!-afar,
Chimed beyond the morning star,
Agony and death unknown!
Let the joyful chimes ring on!

Robert Story.

BENEFICENCE-BENEVOLENCE.

THOU openest thine hand, they are filled with good.--Psalm civ. 28. Give, and it shall be given unto you.--Luke, vi. 38.

Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.--I. Corinthians, vii. 3.

Be rich in good works, ready to distribute.-I. Timothy, vi. 18.

NATURE all

Is blooming and beneficent, like Thee.

Thomson.

Some high or humble enterprize of good
Contemplate, till it shall possess thy mind,
Become thy study, pastime, rest, and food,
And kindle in thy heart a flame refined.

Pray Heaven for firmness thy whole soul to bind
To this thy purpose-to begin, pursue,

With thoughts all fixed, and feelings purely kind;
Strength to complete, and with delight review.
And grace to give the praise where all is ever due.
Rouse to some work of high and holy love,
And thou an angel's happiness shalt know,—
Shall bless the earth, while in the world above
The good begun by thee shall onward flow
In many a branching stream, and wider grow;
The seed that in these few and fleeting hours
Thy hands unsparing and unwearied sow,
Shall deck thy grave with amaranthine flowers,
And yield thee fruits divine in heaven's immortal bowers.
Charles Wilcox.

The heart has tendrils like the vine,
Which round another's bosom twine,
Outspringing from the parent tree
Of deeply-planted sympathy.

Whose flowers are hope, its fruits are bliss;
Beneficence its harvest is.

J. Bowring.

Trees, and flowers, and streams
Are social and benevolent; and he

Who oft communeth in their language pure,
Roaming among them at the cool of day,
Shall find, like him who Eden's garden dressed,
His Maker there to teach his listening heart.

Mrs. Sigourney.

BENEFIT.

BLESSED be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.--Psalm lxviii. 19.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.--Psalm ciii. 2.

Without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.--Philemon, 14.

OFFERED life

Neglect not, and the benefit embrace
By faith, not void of works.

I gaze upon the thousand stars
That fill the midnight sky;
And wish, so passionately wish,
A light like theirs on high.
I have such eagerness of hope
To benefit my kind;

I feel as if immortal power
Were given to my mind.

Milton.

Miss Landon.

Why are springs enthroned on high,
Where the mountains kiss the sky?
'Tis that thence their streams may flow.
Fertilizing all below.

Why have clouds such lofty flight,
Basking in the golden light?
'Tis to send down genial showers
On this lower world of ours.

Why does God exalt the great?
'Tis that they may prop the state;
So that toil its sweets may yield,
And the sower reap the field.

Riches why doth He confer?
That the rich may minister
To the children of distress,
To the poor and fatherless.
Does He light a Newton's mind?
'Tis to shine on all mankind.
Does He give to Virtue birth?
'Tis the salt of this poor earth.

Josiah Conder.

BENIGNITY.

SURELY goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. --Psalm xxiii. 6.

Thou Lord art good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.--Psalm lxxxvi. 5.

The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all 'his works.--Psalm cxlv. 9.

THIS turn hath made amends! Thou hast fulfilled
Thy words, Creator bounteous and benign,
Giver of all things fair!

Milton.

He comes not in the pride of martial pomp,
High in triumphal chariot, while around
The poor remains of vanquished_kingdoms grace
The trophied car; not such as Judah's sons,
By empire's flattering dreams misled, conceived,
Vindictive monarch over prostrate Rome.
Beyond the confines of this nether world,
At the right hand of the Almighty Sire,
Enthroned he sits; no partial King, to all
Who unfeigned homage offer, He, benign,
The treasure of His boundless love vouchsafes.
Samuel Hayes
Divinest creed! and worthy to be taught
By Him, the Saviour, who thy tidings brought;
Thou wert the first, descending from above,
To teach the nations that their God was love;
That ire eternal dwelt not on His face,

But love and pity, and redeeming grace.

And all the joy this world since then has known,
Springs from this creed, and springs from this alone;
Whatever triumphs has been gained by mind
O'er Error, Hate, and Ignorance combined;
Whatever progress man may yet have made,
Owes all its worth to Thy benignant aid.

O, Saviour! gracious and benign,
Warm and illume this heart of mine,
Disperse the fogs and mists of sin,
And let no evil lurk therein:
Let me Thy love and goodness sce--
Thy merciful benignity.

C. Mackay.

Anon.

AND beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.--Luke, xxiv. 27.

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.--John, v. 39.

The holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. --II. Timothy, iii. 15, 16.

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope.--Romans, xv. 4.

The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.--Ephesians, vi. 17.

WHENCE, but from Heaven, could men unskilled in arts,
In several ages born, in several parts,

Weave such agreeing truths? or how, or why,
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie!
Unasked their pains, ungrateful their advice,
Starving their gain, and martyrdom their price.

Dryden.

So has this book entitled us to Heaven,
And rules to guide us to that mansion given;
Tells the conditions how our peace was made,
And is our pledge for the great Author's aid.
His power in nature's ample book we find,
But the less volume doth express his mind.

A critic on the sacred book should be
Candid and learned, dispassionate and free:
Free from the wayward bias bigots feel,
From fancy's influence, and intemperate zeal.

Within this ample volume lies

The mystery of mysteries;

Happiest they of human race

To whom their God has given grace,
To read, to fear, to hope, to pray,
To lift the latch, to force the way:
And better had they ne'er been born,
That read to doubt, or read to scorn.

Waller.

Cowper.

Sir Walter Scott.