THE USEFUL.

THEY are not great alone who live to do some mighty

deed,

Who listen not to sorrow's cry unless when millions

plead;

Life's duties gather silently along the lone roadside, And Christ-like spirits will not wish for scenes of wealth and pride.

They are the really useful who, with humble, reverent

heart,

Unseen by earth's admirers, seek to do their secret

part.

Applauding lips and flattering smiles may fascinate too

well,

And praise from multitudes will cause the weak, vain heart to swell;

But better than the fading flowers which numbers round may fling,

Would be the Saviour's smile upon some lowly offering. The " cup of water in His name may bring His bless

ing down

More richly than the lofty deeds that win a world's renown!

The cooling touch that stays awhile one painful throbbing smart,

Or nerves to calm endurance still a faint and sinking

heart;

The look of gentle warning that will check a sinful deed; The lips that breathe the word of love which is the

spirit's need;

The tones which rouse the nerveless soul to rise at duty's call

Oh!" He who sees in secret" will in love regard them

all.

Then cheer thee, lowly worker-though the world regard thee not,

There is an eye that notes thee, and will bless thy humble lot.

Press forward to the rest that will be thine when time

is past,

Nor weary of thy silent work, for know thy God at last Will openly reward thee "-and methinks 'twere sweet to be

Partaker in the welcome He will give to such as thee. M. FARNINGHAM.

LIGHT IN DARKNESS.

"All things work together for good to them that love God."-ROM. viii. 28.

How weary and how worthless this life at times

appears!

What days of heavy musing, what hours of bitter tears! How dark the storm-clouds gather along the wintry

skies,

How desolate and cheerless the path before us lies!

And yet these days of dreariness are sent us from above, They do not come in anger, but in faithfulness and love; They come to teach us lessons which bright ones could not yield,

And to leave us blest and thankful when their purpose is fulfilled.

They come to draw us nearer to our Father and our Lord,

More earnestly to seek His face, to listen to His word, And to feel, if now around us a desert land we see, Without the star of promise what would its darkness be?

They come to lay us lowly, and humbled in the dust, All self-deception swept away, all creature hope and trust;

Our helplessness, our vileness, our guiltiness to own, And flee for hope and refuge, to Christ, and Christ

alone.

They come to break the fetters which here detain us

fast,

And cause our long reluctant hearts to rise to heaven at

last,

And brighten every prospect of that eternal home, Where grief and disappointment and fear can never

come.

Then turn not in despondence, poor weary heart, away, But meekly journey onwards, through the dark and cloudy day,

Even now the bow of promise is above thee painted bright,

And soon a joyful morning shall dissipate the night.

Thy God hath not forgot thee, and when He sees it

best,

Will lead thee into sunshine, will give thee bowers of

rest;

And all thy pain and sorrow, when the pilgrimage is

o'er,

Shall end in heavenly blessedness, and joys for ever

more!

THE UNSEEN WORLD.

but the

"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, things which are not seen are eternal."—2 COR. iv. 18.

SOMETIMES amid the hurry, toil and strife,
The claims, the urgencies, the whirl of life,
The soul-perhaps in silence of the night,
Has flashes,-transient intervals of light ;
When things to come, without a shade of doubt,
In terrible reality stand out.

Those lucid moments suddenly present

A glance of truth, as though the heavens were rent,
And through that chasm of pure celestial light,
The future breaks upon the startled sight;
Life's vain pursuits and Time's advancing pace
Appear with death-bed clearness face to face;
And Immortality's expanse sublime,

In just proportion to the speck of Time!
While Death, uprising from the silent shades,
Shows his dark outline ere the vision fades :
In strong relief against the blazing sky,
Appears the shadow as it passes by.

Though overwhelming to the dazzled brain,
These are the moments when the mind is sane:
For then a hope of Heaven,—the Saviour's cross,
Seem what they are-and all things else but loss.
Oh! to be ready-ready for that day,

Would we not give Earth's fairest toys away ?
Alas! how soon its interests cloud the view,
Rush in and plunge us in the world anew.

JANE TAYLOR.

NOT NOW.

"He that had been possessed with the devil, prayed Him that he might be with Him."-MARK V. 18.

NOT now, my child,-a little more rough tossing-
A little longer on the billows' foam,-
A few more journeyings in the desert-darkness,
And then the sunshine of thy Father's Home!
Not now, for I have wand'rers in the distance,
And thou must call them in with patient love;
Not now, for I have sheep upon the mountains,
And thou must follow them where'er they rove.
Not now, for I have loved ones sad and weary ;
Wilt thou not cheer them with a kindly smile?
Sick ones, who need thee in their lonely sorrow;
Wilt thou not tend them yet a little while?

Not now, for wounded hearts are sorely bleeding,
And thou must teach those widowed hearts to sing;
Not now, for orphans' tears are thickly falling;

They must be gathered 'neath some sheltering wing.

Not now,-for many a hungry one is pining ;
Thy willing hand must be outstretched and free;
Thy Father hears the mighty cry of anguish,

And gives His answering messages to thee.

Not now, for dungeon walls look stern and gloomy,
And pris'ners' sighs sound strangely on the breeze-
Men's prisoners, but thy Saviour's noble free-men ;
Hast thou no ministry of love for these?

Not now, for hell's eternal gulf is yawning,
And souls are perishing in hopeless sin;
Jerusalem's bright gates are standing open,-
Go to the banished ones, and fetch them in!