"Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!" Isa. v. 8.

WHEN mirth is full and free,

Some sudden gloom shall be;

When haughty power mounts high,
The Watcher's axe is nigh.

All growth has bound; when greatest found,
It hastes to die.

And when thine eye surveys
With fond adoring gaze,

And yearning heart, thy friend,
Love to its grave doth tend.
All gifts below, save truth, but grow
Towards an end.

Newman.

December 24.

"Ye shall be holy, for I am Holy.'

Lev. xi. 44.

HOLY every day should be,

Holiest that I give to Thee;
When my voice to Thee I raise,
Let my soul ascend in praise;
When my knee is bent before Thee,
Let my bended heart adore Thee;
Thou art holy, -Father, make
Sinners such, for Jesus' sake!

Monsell.

"Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord thy God."-Deut. vi. 17; xiii. 4. LORD, who didst the Prophets teach

To prepare Thy way of old!

And by Thine Apostles preach
Truths of wisdom manifold.
Teach us to behold Thee, Lord,
Present in the sacred page,
Living Word in written Word;
Coming thus to every age.

So when, as a scroll, is past,
Heaven, and earth with all its strife,
May we see our names at last
Written in the Book of Life!

Bishop Wordsworth.

December 26.

"Ye shall keep My Sabbaths, and reverence My Sanctuary."-Lev. xxvi. 2.

THE Sabbath bells ring sweetly from the tower

Of the old church, which on the hill-side stands,

And tell in soft, persuasive tones, the hour
Of prayer and hymn and lifting holy hands.
And now the bells' soft chiming call is ended,
And the old church resounds with living voices;
And many tongues in harmony are blended,
And many a trembling heart in God rejoices.
Time flies, and generations come and go,

And change and death assert their gloomy reign;

But still the tide of life shall ebb and flow,

And God and truth unchangeable remain.

"Ye shall seek Me and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.'

"

Jer. xxix. 13.

AN hour with Thee ! When earliest day

Dapples with gold the eastern gray,
Oh, what can frame my mind to bear
The toil and turmoil, cark and care,
New griefs, which coming hours unfold,
And sad remembrance of the old ?—

One hour with Thee.

Sir W. Scott.

December 28.

"Ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”" Deut. xi. 19.

OH!

I! not as strangers, not unknown,
Shall we behold our Maker's throne;

Rising in joy when those are by

Who nursed and won us to the sky;
Who brought us first around their knee,
Father of all! to speak of Thee;
Who taught us first our hymns to say,
And form'd our infant lips to pray.
Oh! we shall love, from that safe shore,
To think of storms that fright no more;
And love to trace, when all is won,
The fight we fought, the race we run.
W. Sewell.