Drop down behind the solemn hills,
O Day, with golden skies!
Serene above its fading glow,

Night, starry crowned, arise !
So beautiful may Heaven be,
When Life's last sunbeam dies!

C. M. PACKARD.

AN EVENING HYMN.

LORD, should we oft forget to sing

A thankful evening song of praise,
This duty they to mind might bring
Who chirp among the bushy sprays.
For to their perches they retire,
When first the twilight waxeth dim;
And every night that sweet-voiced choir
Shuts up the daylight with a hymn.

Ten thousand-fold more cause have we
To close each day with praiseful voice,
To offer thankful hearts to Thee,
And in Thy mercies to rejoice.
Therefore for all Thy mercies past,
For those this evening doth afford,
And which for times to come Thou hast,
We give Thee hearty thanks, O Lord!

George WithER, 1588-1667.

THE

ALL'S WELL.

HE day is ended. Ere I sink to sleep
My weary spirit seeks repose in Thine:
Father! forgive my trespasses, and keep
This little life of mine.

With loving kindness curtain Thou my bed;
And cool in rest my burning pilgrim-feet;
Thy pardon be the pillow for my head,
So shall my sleep be sweet.

At peace with all the world, dear Lord, and Thee,
No fears my soul's unwavering faith can shake;
All's well! whichever side the grave for me

The morning light may break!

HARRIET MCEWEN KIMBALL.

IN

MIDNIGHT HYMN.

N the mid silence of the voiceless night, When, chased by airy dreams, the slumbers flee,

Whom in the darkness doth my spirit seek,
O God, but Thee?

And if there be a weight upon my breast,
Some vague impression of the day foregone,
Scarce knowing what it is, I fly to Thee,

And lay it down.

Or if it be the heaviness that comes
In token of anticipated ill,

My bosom takes no heed of what it is,
Since 'tis Thy will.

For oh, in spite of past and present care,
Or any thing beside, how joyfully

Passes that silent, solitary hour,
My God, with Thee.

More tranquil than the stillness of the night, More peaceful than the silence of that hour, More blest than any thing, my spirit lies Beneath Thy power.

For what is there on earth that I desire
Of all that it can give or take from me,
Or whom in heaven doth my spirit seek,
O God, but Thee.

ANON. Found in a chest, in an English cottage.

EVENING DEVOTION.

ERE on my bed my limbs I lay,

It hath not been my use to pray
With moving lips or bended knees;
But silently, by slow degrees,
My spirit I to Love compose,
In humble trust mine eyelids close,

With reverential resignation,

No wish conceived, no thought expressed!
Only a sense of supplication,

A sense o'er all my soul imprest
That I am weak, yet not unblest,
Since, in me, round me, everywhere,
Eternal Strength and Wisdom are.

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE.

LIFE AND DUTY.

ODE TO DUTY.

TERN Daughter of the Voice of God!

STERN

O Duty! if that name thou love

Who art a light to guide, a rod

To check the erring, and reprove ;
Thou, who art victory and law

When empty terrors overawe;

From vain temptations dost set frec,

And calm'st the weary strife of frail humanity!

There are who ask not if thine eye

Be on them; who, in love and truth,
Where no misgiving is, rely

Upon the genial sense of youth ;
Glad hearts! without reproach or blot,

Who do thy work, and know it not :

Long may the kindly impulse last !

But thou, if they should totter, teach them to

stand fast!

Serene will be our days and bright,

And happy will our nature be,

When love is an unerring light,

And joy its own security.