INVOCATION TO RAIN IN SUMMER.

O GENTLE, gentle summer rain,

Let not the silver lily pine,
The drooping lily pine in vain

To feel that dewy touch of thine-
To drink thy freshness once again,
O gentle, gentle, summer rain!

In heat the landscape quivering lies ;
The cattle pant beneath the tree;
Through parching air and purple skies
The earth looks up, in vain, for thee;
For thee for thee, it looks in vain,
O gentle, gentle, summer rain.

Come thou, and brim the meadow streams,
And soften all the hills with mist,

O falling dew! from burning dreams

By thee shall herb and flower be kissed, And Earth shall bless thee yet again,

O gentle, gentle, summer rain.-W. C. Bennett.

SELF-EXAMINATION.

LET not soft slumbers close mine eyes,

Before I've recollected thrice

The train of actions through the day:

Where have my feet marked out their way;
What have I learnt where'er I've been,
From all I've heard-from all I've seen?

What know I more, that's worth the knowing?
What have I done, that's worth the doing?

What have I sought, that I should shun?
What duties have I left undone;

Or into what new follies run?
These self-inquiries are the road
That leads to virtue and to God.

HUMILITY.

THE bird that soars on highest wing
Builds on the ground her lowly nest;
And she that doth most sweetly sing

Sings in the shade, where all things rest;
In lark and nightingale we see

What honour hath humility.

When Mary chose "the better part,"

She meekly sat at Jesus' feet;

And Lydia's gently opened heart

Was made for God's own temple meet:

Fairest and best adorned is she

Whose clothing is humility.

The saint that wears heaven's brightest crown

In deepest adoration bends:

The weight of glory bows him down

Then most, when most his soul ascends:

Nearest the throne itself must be

The footstool of humility.

James Montgomery.

"NO ONE WILL SEE ME."

"No one will see me," said little John Day,
For his father and mother were out of the way,
And he was at home all alone;

"No one will see;" so he climbed on a chair,
And peep'd in the cupboard to spy what was there,
Which of course he ought not to have done.

There stood in the cupboard, so sweet and so nice,
A plate of plum-cake in full many a slice,

And apples so ripe and so fine.

"Now no one will see me," said John to himself,
As he stretch'd out his arm to reach up to the shelf:
"This apple at least shall be mine."

John paused, and put back the nice apple so red,
For he thought of the words his kind mother had said,

When she left all these things in his care:

“And no one will see me,” thought he, "is not true; For I've read that God sees us in all that we do, And is with us everywhere."

Well done, John; your father and mother obey,
Try ever to please them, and mind what they say,
Even when they are absent from you;

And never forget, that, though no one be nigh,
You cannot be hid from the glance of God's eye,
Who notices all that you do.

NEAT LITTLE CLARA.

"LITTLE Clara, come away,
Little Clara, come and play;
Leave your work, Maria's here,
So come and play with me, my dear."

"I will come, and very soon,
For I always play at noon;
But must put my work away,
Ere with you I come and play.

"First my bodkin I must place
With my needle in their case ;
I like to put them by with care,
And then I always find them there.

"There's my cotton, there's my
Thimble in its little bed;

thread;

All is safe-my box I lock,
Now I come 'tis twelve o'clock."

WE SHALL SEE JESUS.

I THINK I should like to have been at the place
Where dear little children were brought;
And then to have looked at the Saviour's kind face,
When blessings upon them were sought:

How He placed His kind hand on each little head,
And smiled when His blessing was given;

And, speaking of all the dear children, He said,
“Of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Yet though I was absent from that lovely sight,
And did not His blessing obtain,

If I go to the Saviour and ask Him aright,

I cannot go to Him in vain.

Then, saved by His love, and blessed by His grace,
I shall see Him in heaven some day,
And then I may look at His glory-bright face,
And no one shall send me away.

EVENING.

IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE.

THE day is past, the sun is set,

And the white stars are in the sky;
While the long grass with dew is wet,
And through the air the bats now fly.

The lambs have now lain down to sleep,
The birds have long since sought their nests;
The air is still; and dark and deep

On the hill side the old wood rests.

Yet of the dark I have no fear,

But feel as safe as when 'tis light;

For I know God is with me there,

And He will guard me through the night.

For God is by me when I pray;

And when I close mine eyes in sleep, I know that He will with me stay,

And will all night watch by me keep.

For He who rules the stars and sea,
Who makes the grass and trees to grow,
Will look on a poor child like me,
When on my knees I to Him bow.

He holds all things in His right hand,
The rich, the poor, the great, the small;
When we sleep, or sit, or stand,

Is with us, for He loves us all.-Thomas Miller.

THOUGHTLESS JULIA.

JULIA did in the window stand;

Mamma, then sitting by, Saw her put out her little hand And try to catch a fly.

"Pray do not hurt the pretty thing,"
Her prudent mother said;
"Crush not its leg or feeble wing,
So beautifully made.

"The fly can feel as well as you, And sun and air enjoy ;

So

pray take care, in all you do,

No insect to destroy.

"In papa's book, 'Take not away

The life you cannot give,

For all things have (you'll read one day)
An equal right to live.'"