Still kind and forbearing where justice condemned,

Led them thirsting and weary to Horeb's high rock.

"Strike! Prophet of mine!" The allpowerful rod,

Like a bolt of red lightning tore open the stone,

And, glittering bright in the splendor of God,

A river of life murmured joyfully down.

So from Hope's Horeb rock may the rod of our faith

Draw forth, in these days, the bright river of love,

As we toil through the desert dominion of Death

To our home in the Canaan of Glory above.

F. J. OTTARSON.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

Exodus xx.

THE Great Almighty spake, and thus said he:

I am the Lord thy God; and I alone From cruel Egypt's thraldom set thee free:

And other Gods but me thou shalt have none.

Have mercy, Lord, and so our hearts incline,

That we may keep this blessed Law of thine.

Thou shalt not make an image, to

adore,

Of aught on earth, above it, or below:

A carved work thou shalt not bow before;

Nor any worship on the same bestow.

For I, thy God, a jealous God am known,

And on their seed the fathers' sins

correct,

Until the third and fourth descent be gone:

But them I always love, that me affect.

Have mercy, Lord, and so our hearts incline,

That we may keep this blessed Law of thine.

The Name of God thou never shalt abuse,

By swearing, or repeating it in vain: For him that doth his Name profanely

use,

The Lord will as a guilty-one arraign.

Have mercy, Lord, and so our hearts incline,

That we may keep this blessed Law of thine.

To keep the Sabbath holy, bear in mind; Six days thine own affairs apply thou

to;

The seventh is God's own day, for rest assign'd,

And thou no kind of work therein shalt do.

Thou, nor thy child, thy servants, nor thy beast;

Nor he that guest-wise with thee doth

abide;

For after six days labour God did rest,

And therefore he that day hath sanctify'd.

Have mercy, Lord, and so our hearts incline,

That we may keep this blessed Law of thine.

See that unto thy parents thou do give Such honour, as the child by duty

owes;

AARON'S BREASTPLATE. "Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial. Aaron shall bear the

names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart. when he goeth in unto the holy place. for a memorial before the Lord continually.”—Exodus xxviii. 12, 29.

IN the wondrous breastplate golden,
Safely on His bosom holden,

See the jewels from the mine!
Amethyst and onyx wearing
Mystic marks, and each one bearing
Traces of the hand divine.

Sapphires 'mid the gorgeous cluster
Sparkle with celestial luster,

Like the crystal dome above; Ruby rare and topaz blending In that glory never-ending,

Safe upon the breast of love.

Emerald and beryl throwing Chastened hues, the fairer growing As the jasper blends the rays; Chrysoprase, like king's attire, Glowing like a star of fire,

Or a soul that loves to praise.

Who the love and pain can measure,
Ere revealed this hidden treasure,
One by one in dazzling light?
On His breast our High Priest wears
them,

On His shoulder, see, He bears them,
Ever in our Father's sight.

ANNA SHIPTON.

HOPES IN THE WILDERNESS. (From "The Song of the Manna Gatherers.")

WE beside the wondrous river

In the appointed hour shall stand,
Following, as from Egypt ever,
Thy bright cloud and outstretched
hand:

In Thy shadow,
We shall rest on Abraham's land.

Not by manna showers at morning

Shall our board be then supplied, But a strange pale gold adorning Many a tufted mountain side, Yearly feed us, Year by year our murmurings chide.

There, no prophet's touch awaiting,

From each cool deep cavern start Rills, that since their first creating Ne'er have ceased to play their part. Oft we hear them

In our dreams with thirsty heart.

Deeps of blessing are before us:
Only while the desert sky

And the sheltering cloud hang o'er us
Morn by morn obediently,

Glean we manna,

And the song of Moses try.

JOHN KEBLE (1792-1866).

MOUNT SINAI.

FROM Sinai's top the lightnings flashed; The thunders rolled around-aroundAs if the heavenly orbs had clashed

Together with destructive bound, And down their shattered fragments hurled

Upon a desolated world.

And on the mount there hung a cloud, Dark as the midnight's darkest gloom;

And blew a trumpet long and loud,

Like that which shall awake the tomb; And terror, like a sudden frost, Fell on the Israelitish host.

In radiant fire, the mighty God
Descended from His heavenly throne;
And on the mountain where He trod,
A pavement as of sapphire-stone,
Appeared like glittering stars of even,
When storms have left the deep-blue
heaven.

And as the wondering people turned
To see the glory of the Lord,
The smoke-as if a furnace burned
Within the mountain, swelled and
roared,

And all its lofty summits shook
Like sedge leaves by a summer brook.

And Moses from the trembling crowd
Went up to God's dark secret place,
And heard, from the surrounding
cloud,

His message to the Hebrew race, Who vowed with fervor and accord To keep the covenant of the Lord.

For they had marked the trump that blew,

The fires that gleamed, the peals that roared

In shadowed glory shine to view

The presence of the eternal Lord, Bright as His mercy chose to giveFor none can see His face and live.

HORATIUS BONAR (1808-1889).

MOSES ON MOUNT SINAI.

Up a rough peak, that toward the stormy sky

From Sinai's sandy ridges rose aloft,

Osarsiph, priest of Hieropolis,

Now Moses named, ascending reverently

To meet and hear the bidding of the Lord.

But, though he knew that all his ancient lore

Traditionary from the birth of Time, And all that power which waited on his hand,

Even from the day his just instinctive wrath

Had smote th' Egyptian ravisher, and all

The wisdom of his calm and ordered mind

Were nothing in the presence of his God;

Yet was there left a certain seed of pride,

Vague consciousness of some self