Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

Dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

Thus hath said thy Lord, the Eternal, and thy God, who will ever plead for his people.

THY SAVIOUR

To Him who sends a drought

To parch the fields forlorn,

The rain to flood the meadows with mud, The blight to blast the corn,

To Him I leave to guide

The bolt in its crooked path,

To strike the miser's rick, and show
The skies blood-red with wrath.

A spade! a rake! a hoe!

A pickaxe, or a bill!

A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow,

A flail, or what ye will—

The corn to thrash, or the hedge to plash, The market-team to drive,

Or mend the fence by the cover side,

And leave the game alive.

Ay, only give me work,

And then you need not fear

That I shall snare his worship's hare,
Or kill his grace's deer;

Break into his lordship's house,

To steal the plate so rich;

Or leave the yeoman that had a purse
To welter in a ditch.

Wherever Nature needs,

Wherever Labour calls,

No job I'll shirk of the hardest work,
To shun the workhouse walls;

Where savage laws begrudge

The pauper babe its breath,

And doom a wife to a widow's life,
Before her partner's death.

No parish money, or loaf,

No pauper badge for me,

A son of the soil, by right of toil
Entitled to my fee.

No alms I ask, give me my task:
Here are the arm, the leg,

The strength, the sinews of a Man,
To work, and not to beg.

Still one of Adam's heirs,

Though doom'd by chance of birth To dress so mean, and to eat the lean, Instead of the fat of the earth;

To make such humble meals

As honest labour can,

A bone and a crust, with a grace to God,

And little thanks to

man!

WE

E have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?

Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

Surely the Lord is present in this place; and I knew it not.

And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?

May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable before thee, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.

Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou shalt go, Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.

Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.

I will do all things, father, which thou hast commanded me.

Give me wisdom.

A spade! a rake! a hoe!

A pickaxe, or a bill!

A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow,
A flail, or what ye will—

Whatever the tool to ply,

Here is a willing drudge,

With muscle and limb, and woe to him
Who does their pay begrudge!

Who every weekly score

Dock's labour's little mite,

Bestows on the poor at the temple door,
But robb'd them over night.

The very shilling he hoped to save,
As health and morals fail,

Shall visit me in the New Bastile,

The Spital, or the Gaol!

-THOMAS HOOD, "The Lay of the Laborer"

A

"GIVE TO THE POOR"

He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.-SOLOMON

But times are alter'd; trade's unfeeling train
Usurp the land, and dispossess the swain:
Along the lawn where scatter'd hamlets rose,
Unwieldy wealth and cumbrous pomp repose;
And every want to oppulence allied,
And every pang that folly pays to pride.
Those gentle hours that plenty bade to bloom,
Those calm desires that ask'd but little room,
Those healthful sports that grac'd the peaceful scene,
Liv'd in each look, and brighten'd all the green;

These, far departing, seek a kinder shore,

And rural mirth and manners are no more.-GOLDSMITH

ND when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

Send her out of thy holy heaven, and from the throne of thy majesty, that she may be with me, and may labour with me, that I may know what is acceptable with thee.

And put thou words in my mouth, and strengthen the resolution in my heart.

For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

Mine own vineyard have I not kept.

Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

All that shall be good and best before his eyes, I will do. And whatsoever shall please him, that shall be best to me all the days of my life.

The desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.

All things that the Lord hath spoken we will do, we will be obedient.

The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?