XXX. From the Cradle to the Grave.

O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth; and hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works; Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not, until I have showed Thy strength unto this generation and Thy power to everyone that is come. —Psalm liii. 17, 18.

HOU, who dost dwell alone

Thou, who dost know thine own

Thou to whom all are known

From the cradle to the grave,—
Save, oh, save!

From the ingrained fashion

Of this earthly nature
That mars Thy creature ;

From grief that is but passion;
From mirth that is but feigning;
From tears that bring no healing;
From wild and weak complaining;
Thine old strength revealing,
Save, oh, save!

O let the false dream fly
Where our sick souls do lie

Tossing continually.

O where thy voice doth come

Let all doubts be dumb:

Let all words be mild:

All strifes be reconciled:

All pains beguiled.

Light bring no blindness;

Love no unkindness;

Knowledge no ruin;

Fear no undoing.

From the cradle to the grave

Save, oh, save!

MATTHEW ARNOLD.

The Inner Life.

Before all things guard thy heart; for out of it are the issues of life.-Proverbs iv. 23.

Whether it is given to a man to do much or to do ltttle-so that his heart be to God-ward, he is accepted. -The Pharisees.

Try to reach thine own heart which is the greater pilgrimage; a heart which is single is preferable to a thousand Caabas.—Muhammadan.

I.

Duties of the Heart.

Now set your heart and your soul to seek the .-I. Chronicles xxii. 19.

Lord your God.

I delight to do Thy will, O God, yea, Thy Law is within my heart.—Psalm xl. 8.

'S is well known to all, our duties towards God are of two kinds: those which we perform with our body and are visible, and those which appertain to the heart and are invisible. I have inquired diligently to know what is their mutual relation, and to that end consulted the three sources of our faith, viz: Reason, Revelation, and Tradition, and I have found all three to agree in the conclusion that the duties of the heart are the foundation of those of the body, so that the latter lose all religious meaning if the heart and the mind of the doer have no part in them. Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving, Study of the Law, Tabernacles, M'susah, in fact, the whole body of Rituals and Ceremonials is vain, if not done with the whole being of the observer, that is to say, with the body and the soul; for without the inward desire to approach to God and become united with Him, the Rituals differ in nothing from our ordinary actions. In view of this conclusion, I resolved to compose these treatises, in which I shall show: How