V. 9. Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. 10. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. 11. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. 12. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. 13. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.' Extract from Isaiah II. V. 2. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3. And many people shall go and say, "Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths :" for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any 5. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.' more. 'Expression' as before. The Pleasures of Youthful Piety.-Alison. 'In every part of Scripture, it is remarkable with what singular tenderness the season of youth is always mentioned, and what hopes are afforded to the devotion of the young. If these, then, are the effects and promises of youthful piety, rejoice, O young man, in thy youth !-rejoice in those days which are never to return, when religion comes to thee in all its charms, and when the God of nature reveals himself to thy soul, like the mild radiance of the morning sun, when he rises amid the blessings of a grateful world. If already Devotion hath taught thee her secret pleasures ;-if, when Nature meets thee in all its magnificence or beauty, thy heart humbleth itself in adoration before the Hand which made it, and rejoiceth in the contemplation of the wisdom by which it is maintained; if, when Revelation unveils her mercies, and the son of God comes forth to give peace and hope to fallen man, thine eye follows with astonishment the glories of his path, and pours at last over his cross those pious tears which it is a delight to shed;-if thy soul accompanieth him in his triumph over the grave, and entereth on the wings of faith into that heaven "where he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high," and seeth the " society of angels and of the spirits of just men made perfect," and listeneth to the "everlasting song which is sung before the throne :"-If such are the meditations in which thy youthful hours are passed, renounce not, for all that life can offer thee in exchange, these solitary joys. The world which is before thee,-the world which thine imagination paints in such brightness,-has no pleasures to bestow which can compare with these. And all that its boasted wisdom can produce, has nothing so acceptable in the sight of Heaven, as this pure offering of thy youthful soul.' 'Expression' as before, but moderated. The Enjoyments of the Poor in Spring.-Duncan. This is truly the glad season of the year. Wherever we turn our eyes, Nature wears a smile of joy, as if, freed from the storms and the cold of winter, she revelled in the well enhanced luxury of spring. The lengthening day, the increasing warmth of the air, and the gradually deepening green of the awakened earth, excite in every breast a lively sense of gratitude, and pleasingly affect the imagination. A walk among the woods or fields, in a calm spring day, when the trees are bursting forth into beauty, and all the land is echo ing with song, may well soothe the stormiest passions, and inspire that "vernal delight," which is "able to drive away all sadness but despair." The mind sympathizes with the joy of inanimate Nature, and rejoices to behold the reviving beauty of the earth, as if itself had escaped from a period of gloom to bask in the sunshine of hope and enjoyment. 'We are familiar with the joys of spring as felt or sung by poets and other ardent lovers of Nature. They form the burden of many a poetic strain, and excite to many a meditative reverie. They have inspired enthusiasm and deep delight, ever since there was an eye to witness, or a mind to feel, the harmony and loveliness of this gorgeously-arrayed and breathing world. They are the source of exquisite emotion to every mind, in which dwells a sense of beauty and creative design. They also light the brow of care, and bring back the flush of health and hope to the pale and wasted cheek. And not only by the rich and the enlightened,-by the children of luxury and mental refinement,— —are the fine and indescribable delights of this season deeply felt and valued; spring is also a time of increased enjoyment to the poor. It fills the inmates of many an humble dwelling with gladness, and makes even desponding poverty smile, and hope for better days. There is something in the flowery sweetness and genial warmth of spring, that kindles in the rudest bosom feelings of gratitude and pleasure. The contrast to the cold and desolation of winter, is so striking and agreeable, that every heart, unless it be hardened by the direst ignorance and crime, is melted to love and pious emotion; and breathings of deep-felt adoration escape from the most untutored lips. The carols of the ploughman, as he traverses the field, the live-long day, and turns up the fresh soil, seem to bespeak a lightsome heart, and evince the joyousness of labour. The shepherd, as he sits upon the hill-side, and surveys his quiet flock, with its sportive companies of lambs,—those sweetest emblems of innocent mirth,-feels a joy and calm satisfaction, that is heightened by the recollection of the vanished snow-storms of recent winter, and of all the anxieties and toils attending his peculiar charge. Even the hard-working mechanic of the village or town, shares the general gladness of the season. As he strolls in sweet relaxation into the glittering fields, or along the blossoming hedgerows and lanes, haply supporting with his hand the tottering footsteps of his child, or carrying the tender infant in his arms, he breathes the freshening air, treads the reviving turf beneath his feet, and inhales the first faint perfumes, and listens to the first melodies of the year, with an enjoyment that his untaught powers of expression cannot describe.' Composure, Serenity, and Complacency. 'Pure Tone' swelling to 'Orotund,' 'Moderate' Force, 'Median Stress,' 'Middle' Pitch, 'Moderate' Inflection, 'Moderate Movement,' Pauses, and Emphasis. Hymn. Mrs. Steele. 'Father, whate'er of earthly bliss Thy sovereign will denies, ""Give me a calm, a thankful heart, 'Oh! let the hope that thou art mine, My life and death attend Thy presence through my journey shine, 'Expression' as before, but carried nearer to that of Joy, by a slight increase of Force, rise of Pitch, and quickening of 'Movement.' Extract from Isaiah XI. V. 1. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots: 2. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; 3. and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears; 4. but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 6. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.' 'Expression' as before, but softened and levelled by the influence of Tranquillity. Religious Retirement.-Logan. 'Religious retirement takes off the impression which the neighbourhood of evil example has a tendency to make upon the mind. The world, my friends, is not in general a school of virtue, it is often the scene of vanity and vice. Corrupted manners, vicious deeds, evil communications, surround us on every side. To avoid the pollution with which the world is infected, to keep off the intrusion of vain and sinful thoughts, enter into thy chamber, and shut thy doors around thee. There the wicked cease from troubling, there the man who is wearied of the world is at rest. There the glare of external objects disappears, and the chains that bound you to the world, are broken. There you shut out the strife of tongues, the impertinences of the idle, the lies of the vain, the scandal of the malicious, the slanders of the defamer, and all that world of ini |