A BIRTH-DAY PRAYER.

ART Thou the Life?

To Thee, then, do I owe each beat and breath, And wait Thy ordering of the hour of death,

In peace or strife.

Art Thou the Light?

To Thee, then, in the sunshine or the cloud,
Or in my chamber lone or in the crowd,

I lift my sight.

Art Thou the Truth?

To Thee, then, loved and craved and sought of yore, I consecrate my manhood o'er and o'er,

As once my youth.

Art Thou the Strong?

To Thee, then, though the air is thick with night, I trust the seeming-unprotected Right,

And leave the Wrong.

Art Thou the Wise?

To Thee, then, do I bring each useless care,
And bid my soul unsay her idle prayer,
And hush her cries.

Art Thou the Good?

To Thee, then, with a thirsting heart I turn,
And stand, and at Thy fountain hold my urn,
As aye I stood.

Forgive the call '

I cannot shut Thee from my sense or soul,
I cannot lose me in the boundless whole,
For Thou art All!

FRANCIS E. ABBOT.

PRAYER.

AT first I prayed for sight;

Could I but see the way,

How gladly would I walk

To everlasting day.

I asked the world's deep love,

Before my eyes to ope,

And let me see my prayers fulfilled,
And realized, my hope;

But God was kinder than my prayer,
And mystery veiled me, everywhere.

And next, I prayed for strength,
That I might tread the road
With firm, unfaltering pace,
To Heaven's serene abode.
That I might never know

A faltering, failing heart;

But manfully go on,

And reach the highest part.

But God was kinder than my prayer,

And weakness checked me everywhere.

And then, I asked for faith ;
Could I but trust my God,
I'd live in heavenly peace,

Though foes were all abroad.
His light, thus shining round,
No faltering should I know;
And faith in heaven above

Would make a heaven below;
But God was kinder than my prayer,
And doubts beset me everywhere.

And now I pray for love,

Deep love to God and man;

A love that will not fail,

However dark His plan.

That sees all life in Him,

Rejoicing in His power;

And faithful, though the darkest clouds
Of gloom and doubt may lower.
And God was kinder than my prayer,
Love filled, and blessed me, everywhere.

EDNAH D. CHENEY.

FIRST-DAY THOUGHTS.

N calm and cool and silence, once again

IN

I find my old accustomed place among

My brethren, where, perchance, no human tongue Shall utter words; where never hymn is sung, Nor deep-toned organ blown, nor censer swung,

Nor dim light falling through the pictured pane !
There, syllabled by silence, let me hear

The still small voice which reached the prophet's ear;
Read in my heart a still diviner law

Than Israel's leader on his tables saw!

There let me strive with each besetting sin,
Recall my wandering fancies, and restrain
The sore disquiet of a restless brain;
And, as the path of duty is made plain,
May grace be given that I may walk therein,
Not like the hireling, for his selfish gain,
With backward glances and reluctant tread,
Making a merit of his coward dread,

But, cheerful, in the light around me thrown,
Walking as one to pleasant service led;
Doing God's will as if it were my own,

Yet trusting not in mine, but in his strength alone!

J. G. WHITTier.

"Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence ?"

I

CANNOT find Thee! Still on restless pinion

My spirit beats the void where Thou dost dwell;

I wander lost through all Thy vast dominion,

And shrink beneath Thy Light ineffable.

I cannot know Thee! Even when most adoring
Before Thy shrine I bend in lowliest prayer;
Beyond these bounds of thought, my thought upsoaring,
From furthest quest comes back; Thou art not there.

Yet high above the limits of my seeing,
And folded far within the inmost heart,

And deep below the deeps of conscious being,
Thy splendor shineth; there, O God, Thou art.

I cannot lose Thee! Still in Thee abiding
The End is clear, how wide soe'er I roam;

The Law that holds the worlds my steps is guiding,
And I must rest at last in Thee, my home.

ELIZA SCUDder.