THE COMET.

THE WEALTH OF POVERTY.

179

ISAIAH xxix. 19.-"The poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel."

Grateful for Small Mercies.-A touching story is told of a poor woman with two children, who had not a bed on which they could lie, and scarcely any clothes to cover them. It was the depth of winter; they were nearly frozen, and the mother took a cellar door off the hinges, and set it up before the corner, where they crouched down to sleep partially screened from the cutting wind. One of the children whispered to her mother, when she complained of their hard lot, "Mother, what do those children do who have no cellar door to put in front of them ?"

THE BEGINNING OF SIN.

PROVERBS i. 10.-"My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." The Worm at the Root.-A company was walking in Sudbrook Park, when Dr. Ellis drew attention to a large sycamore tree decayed to the core. "That fine tree," said he, was killed by a single worm.' Two years previously the tree was as healthy as any in the park, when a woodworm, about three inches long, was observed to be forcing its way under the bark of the trunk. It then caught the eye of a naturalist who was staying there, and he remarked, "Let that worm alone, and it will kill the tree." This seemed very improbable, but it was agreed that the black-headed worm should not be disturbed. After a time it was discovered that the worm had tunnelled its way a considerable distance under the bark. The next summer the leaves of the tree dropped off very early, and in the succeeding year it was a dead rotten thing, and the hole made by the worm might be seen in the very heart of the once noble trunk. "Ah!" said one who was present, "let us learn a lesson from that single How many who once promised fair for usefulness in the world and the Church have been ruined by a single sin!"

tree.

THE COMET.

MYSTERIOUS visitant! whose beauteous light

Among the wondering stars so strangely gleams;

Like a proud banner in the train of night,

The unblazoned flag of Deity it streams:
Infinity is written in thy beams;

And thought in vain would through the pathless sky
Explore thy secret course: thy circle seems

Too vast for time to grasp;-oh! can that eye,
Which numbers hosts like thee, this atom earth descry?

O Thou, my every hope, my only fear;

Father of lights, round whom the systems roll, With all their suns and comets, sphere on sphere, Thy all-pervading energy, the soul,

Thyself the centre of the mighty whole!
When death shall purge the film of sense away,
And truth with irresistible control

Shall seize my ravished mind,—that awful day
How shall my soul sustain,-that infinite survey!

Then shall I shudder at the guilty past,
And feel Thy awful presence on my heart;
Was it at Thee, O God, my sins I cast?
Oh! on my trembling soul Thy mercy dart,
For now I feel how terrible Thou art!
Thou wert all-present, and I saw Thee not;

Thou art my bliss, and yet I said, "Depart; Murmured, though boundless mercy fixed my lot: And wilt Thou own the soul that Thee so oft forgot?

Oh wondrous thought! the high and holy One,
Inhabiting eternity, will make

The humble soul His dwelling-place; the sun
Whose rising beams on orbs innumerous break,
Does shine as much for the poor reptile's sake:
To Him is nothing great—is nothing small;
He fills a world,-He bids the insect take
His being full of bliss ;- He formed them all;

He guides the comet's course,-He marks the sparrow's fall.
Man-man, though in the dust his insect-birth,
Beholds his nature unto God allied;

Linked to the golden throne this creature earth,
By ties that shall eternally abide;

Let suns, let systems perish-Jesus died.
Nor shall one vital spark be quenched in night,
Which God has kindled :-here, my soul, confide,
Safe in the arms of everlasting might,

And circled with the beams of uncreated light.

CONDER.

THE

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Biblical Works for Reference.

The Biblical Cyclopædia; or, Dictionary of Eastern Antiquities, Natural History, Sacred Annals, and Biography, &c. Edited by JOHN EADIE, D.D., LL.D. With Maps, &c. Price 78. 6d. cloth boards.

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The Four Gospels and the One Christ. A Study and a Guide.
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Paul the Apostle. Feap. 8vo., cloth, 1s. Containing Scenes from his Life, Labours, and Travels; Illustrations by GILBERT, and Maps.

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