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RUTH..

WHEN the sunlight kissed the hill-tops,

In the dew of early morn,

Ruth went out behind the reapers
Through the golden shocks of corn.

Then said Boaz to the reapers,

66 'Here be all that each man leaves: Trouble not the Jewish maiden;

Let her glean among the sheaves."

Long the master loved to linger,
Looking backward o'er the plain,
Seeing there a sweeter treasure
Than the summer-scented grain.

Ruth no longer haunts the pastures,
Sobs no more amid the corn,
Follows not the other reapers
Through the dewy fields of morn ;

But the harvest-songs, from meadow,
Slumberous hillside, billowy plain,"
Bear the tidings, she is mistress
Over all the rustling grain.

THE DIVINE STANDARD.

"Even as Christ also loved the Church."

LET us, if we would form a correct idea of

what should be the state of our hearts

towards the woman of our choice, think of that affection which glowed in the breast of the Saviour, when he lived and died for his people. We can possess, it is true, neither the same kind nor the same degree of regard; but surely, when we are referred to such an instance, if not altogether as a model, yet as a motive, it does teach us that no weak affection is due, or should be offered, to the wife of our bosom. We are told by the Saviour himself, that, if he laid down his life for us, it is our duty to lay down ours for the brethren; how much more for the

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friend that sticketh closer than a brother"! And, if it be our duty to lay down our life, how much more to employ it, while it lasts, in all the offices of an affection, strong, steady, and inventive! She that, for our sake, has forsaken the comfortable home, and the watchful care, and the warm embrace, of her parents, has a right to expect in our regard that which shall make

86

her forget her father's house,'

and cause her

to feel, that, with respect to happiness, she is no loser by the exchange. Happy the woman (and such should every husband strive to make his wife) who can look back without a sigh upon the moment when she quitted forever the guardians, the companions, and the scenes of her childhood!

John Angell James.

"A PRUDENT WIFE FROM THE LORD."

ONOR and riches are the inheritance of

HONOR

fathers; but a prudent wife is from the Lord." Wealth may descend to us; but a wife, a true, loyal, devoted wife, is the gift of God. She cannot be inherited; she cannot be purchased by wealth or power: she is the gift of God.

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." It is a most significant and instructive fact, that the same comparison is employed here, which, in another passage, is made respecting religion itself. And, next to the direct agency of the Holy Spirit, there is no influence so precious, so potent upon the heart

of a man, religious or irreligious, as a Christian wife. The unbelieving husband is thus made to see the beauty of pure and undefiled religion; the attractiveness of that adorning which is inward; the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which, in the sight of God, is of great price. And it is hardly too much to say, that one upon whom such an influence is lost, and by whom it is despised, is lost to every thing, will despise every thing, which is lovely and of good report.

Rankin.

HABIT

ACQUAINTANCE.

more

ABIT and long life together are necessary to happiness, and even to love, than is generally imagined. No one is happy with the object of his attachment until he has passed many days, and, above all, many days of misfortune, with her. The married pair must know each other to the bottom of their souls: the mysterious veil which covered the two spouses in the primitive church must be raised in its inmost folds, how closely soever it may be kept drawn to the rest of the world.

THE BRIDAL RING.

THE MAIDEN AND THE WIFE.

HE lover watched his graceful maid,

THE

As 'mid the virgin train she strayed,
Nor knew her beauty's best attire
Was woven still by the snow-white choir.
At last she came to his hermitage

Like the bird from the woodland to the cage:
The
gay enchantment was undone,

A gentle wife, but fairy none.

R. W. Emerson,

L

LOVE CANNOT CHANGE.

ET me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:
Oh, no! It is an ever-fixèd mark,

That looks on tempests, and is never shaken ;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be

taken.

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