THE CRUSHED BUD.

ONE little bud adorned my bower,
And shed sweet fragrance round;
It grew in beauty, hour by hour,
Till, ah! the spoiler came in power,
And crushed it to the ground.

Yet not forever in the dust

That beauteous bud shall lie;
No!-in the garden of the just,
Beneath God's glorious eye, we trust,
'T will bloom again on high.

THE GATHERED BUD.

HAVE we not knelt beside his bed,
And watched our first-born blossom die?
Hoped, till the shade of hope had fled,
Then wept till feeling's fount was dry?
Was it not sweet in that dark hour,
To think, 'mid mutual tears and sighs,
Our bud had left its earthly bower,
And burst to bloom in Paradise?

ALARIC A. WATTS. SENTENCES FROM THE SCRIPTURES.

IT is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good.

I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because Thou didst it.

The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.

But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.

In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of Thy law.

It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

MIDNIGHT.

FAR off the clocks are striking,
'Tis midnight's deepest shade,
The lamp but feebly glimmers, —
Thy little bed is made.

Around the house go mourning
The winds so drearily;
Within we sit in silence,
And listen, as for thee.

Dreaming that we shall hear thee
Knock softly at the door,
Aweary with thy wandering,
Glad to return once more.

Poor fools! thus to dissemble!

The fond hope will not stay;

We wake and feel too surely

Thy home is far away.

FROM THE GERMAN OF EICHENDORFF.

MOTHER, WHAT IS DEATH?

"MOTHER, how still the baby lies!
I cannot hear his breath;
I cannot see his laughing eyes-
They tell me this is death.

"My little work I thought to bring,
And sat down by his bed,
And pleasantly I tried to sing -
They hushed me - he is dead.

"They say that he again will rise,
More beautiful than now;
That God will bless him in the skies
O, mother, tell me how!"

"Daughter, do you remember, dear, The cold, dark thing you brought, And laid upon the casement here, A withered worm, you thought?

"I told you that Almighty power Could break that withered shell, And show you, in a future hour, Something would please you well.