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GOD IS LOVE.

O CHILD of grief, why weepest thou? Why droops thy sad and mournful brow? Why is thy look so like despair?

What deep sad sorrow lingers there?

Thou mourn'st perhaps for some one gone,
A friend, a wife, a little one;

Yet mourn not, for thou hast above
A Friend in GoD, and "God is love."

Was it remorse that laid thee low?
Is it for sin thou mournest so?
Surely thou bear'st a heavy grief;
Yet, mourner, there is still relief.

There's One on high can pardon give,
Who gave His life that thou may'st live;
Seek, then, for comfort from above;
Thy Friend is GOD, and "GOD is love."

Has cold unkindness wounded thee?
Does thy loved friend now flee from thee?
O turn thy thoughts from earth to heaven,
Where no such cruel wounds are given.

In all the varying scenes of woe,
The lot of fallen man below,

Still lift thy tearful eye above;
And hope in GOD, for "GOD is love."

Sweet is the thought, time flies apace;
This earth is not our resting place;
And sweet the promise of the LORD,
To all who love His Name and Word.

Thou, weeping pilgrim, dry thy tears;
Comfort on every side appears;
An eye beholds thee from above,
The eye of GOD, and "GOD is love."

SIMPLICITY OF THE GOSPEL.

O How unlike the complex works of man
Heaven's easy, artless, unencumbered plan!
No meretricious graces to beguile,
No clustering ornaments to clog the pile;
From ostentation as from weakness free,
It stands like the cerulean arch we see,
Majestic in its own simplicity.
Inscribed above the portal, from afar
Conspicuous, as the brightness of a star,

Legible only by the light they give,

Stand the soul-quickening words,-Believe and Live.

COWPER.

66

ON BEING CALLED A SAINT.

A SAINT! O would that I could claim
The privileged, the honoured name,
And confidently take my stand,
Though lowest in the saintly band.

Would, though it were in scorn applied,
That term the test of truth could bide!
Like kingly salutations given,

In mockery to the King of heaven!

A saint! and what imports that name,
Thus branded in derision's game?

Holy, and separate from sin,

To good-nay e'en to GoD akin.”

Is such the meaning of the name
From which a Christian shrinks with shame ?
Yes, dazzled by the glorious sight,
He owns his crown is all too bright.

And ill might son of Adam dare,
Alone such honour's weight to bear
But fearlessly he takes the load,
United to the SON of GOD.

A saint! O scorner, give some sign,
Some seal to prove the title mine;

;

And warmer thanks thou shalt command,

Than bringing kingdoms in thy hand.

Oh! for an interest in that name,
When hell shall ope its jaws of flame,
And sinners to their doom be hurled,
When scorned saints "shall judge the world."

How shall the name of saint be prized,
Though now neglected and despised,
When truth shall witness to the LORD,
That none but "saints shall judge the world."

REV. JOHN MARRIOTT.

HAPPINESS.

TRUE happiness is not the growth of earth, The search is useless if you seek it there; "Tis an exotic of celestial birth,

And only blossoms in celestial air. Sweet plant of Paradise! its seed is sown

In here and there a plant of heavenly mould. It rises slow and buds; but ne'er was meant To blossom here: the climate is too cold.

DIVINE LOVE.

FAITH, Hope, and Love were questioned what they

thought

Of future glory which religion taught.

Now Faith believed it firmly to be true,

And Hope expected so to find it too.

Love answered, smiling with a conscious glow,

Believe? expect? I know it to be so.

TO BE WITH CHRIST.

TO JESUS, the crown of my hope,
My soul is in haste to be gone;
O bear me, ye cherubim, up,
And waft me away to His Throne.

My SAVIOUR, whom absent I love,
Whom not having seen, I adore;
Whose Name is exalted above
All glory, dominion, and power.

Dissolve thou these bonds, that detain
My soul from her portion in Thee;
Ah! strike off this adamant chain,
And make me eternally free.

BYROM.

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