have this care for the body which he is about to leave to the worms? Nay, he is a believer in Jesus as "the resurrection and the life;" this belief prompts his dying words; and it shall have to be said of him, as of Joseph, that "by faith" yea, "by faith," he "gave commandment concerning his bones." GOD'S-ACRE. H. W. LONGFELLOW. I LIKE the ancient Saxon phrase, which calls God's-Acre! Yes, that blesséd name imparts Into its furrows shall we all be cast, In the sure faith that we shall rise again Then shall the good stand in immortal bloom With that of flowers which never bloomed on earth. With thy rude ploughshare, Death, turn up the sod, This is the place where human harvests grow. THEY ARE ALL GONE. HENRY VAUGHAN. THEY are all gone into a world of light, It glows and glitters in my cloudy breast Or those faint beams in which the hill is dressed I see them walking in an air of glory, Whose light doth trample on my daysMy days which are at best but dull and hoary, Mere glimmerings and decays. These are your walks, and ye have showed them me, To kindle my cold love. 54 IN AFFLICTION LOOK TO JESUS. Dear, beauteous Death-the jewel of the just Shining nowhere but in the dark; What mysteries do lie beyond thy dust, Could man outlook that mark! He that hath found some fledged bird's nest may know At first sight if the bird be flown; And yet as angels, in some brighter dreams, And into glory peep. IN AFFLICTION LOOK TO JESUS. OCTAVIUS WINSLOW. In each season of affliction, to whom can we more appropriately look than to Jesus? He was preëminently the man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. If you would tell your grief to one who knew grief as none ever knew it; if you would weep upon the bosom of one who wept as none ever wept; if you would disclose your sorrow to one who sorrowed as none ever sorrowed; if you would bare your wound to one who was wounded as none ever was wounded, then, in your affliction, turn from all creature sympathy and succor, and look to Jesus: to a kinder nature, to a tenderer bosom, to a deeper love, to a more powerful arm, to a more sympathizing friend, you could not take your trial, your affliction, and your sorrow. He is prepared to imbosom himself in your deepest grief, and to make your circumstances all his own. So completely and personally is he one with you, that nothing can affect you that does not instantly touch him. God's family is a sorrowing family. "I have chosen thee," he says, "in the furnace of affliction." "I will leave in the midst of thee a poor and an afflicted people." The history of the church finds its fittest emblem in the burning, yet unconsumed, bush which Moses saw. Man is "born to sorrow; but the believer is "appointed thereunto." It would seem to be a condition inseparable from his high calling. If he is a "chosen vessel," it is in the "furnace of affliction." If he is an adopted child, "chastening" is the mark. If he is journeying to the heavenly kingdom, his path lies through "much tribulation." But if his sufferings abound, much more so do his consolations. To be comforted by God may well reconcile us to any sorrow with which it may please our heavenly Father to invest us. Go and breathe your sorrows into God's heart, and he will comfort you. Blessed sorrow if, in the time of your bereavement, your grief, and your solitude, you are led to Jesus, making him your Savior, your Friend, your Counsellor, and your Shield. Blessed loss, if it be compensated by a knowledge of God, if you find in him a Father now, to whom you will transfer your ardent affections, upon whom you will repose your bleeding heart, and in whom you will trust. BROKEN TIES. HOME JOURNAL. 'TIS something very sad To place our hand in Memory's, and retrace come Of life as all one sunbright holiday. How vividly they seem to stand again Those dear companions of my morning time— Their silvery laughter, like the chime of bells, |