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praise. The sincerity of truth would be their most perfect praise. And the Father approved the angel's words, and not long after appeared the race, gifted with the muses and with song. This is the ancient story; and in consonance with its spirit, I say: It is God's peculiar work to benefit, and His creatures' work to give Him thanks.

ET gratitude within each breast

Exert its high control;

Its presence, like an angel-guest,

Shall sanctify the soul.

PHILO JUDEUS.

III.

The thought of God.

Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.—Psalm xcvii. 11.

THOU Great Giver of all blessings, preserve us from error! Remove all shadows from our minds and enable us to follow the laws of that eternal reason by which Thou guidest the world. Thus honored by a knowledge of Thy righteous laws, we shall be enabled to honor Thee as feeble mortals should, and offer to Thee incessant hymns of praise. For neither mortal nor immortal beings can be engaged in nobler service than celebrating the Divine Mind which presides over all nature. CLEANTHES.

ALL things that are in heaven and in earth praise

Seen and the Hidden.

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God. He is the Mighty, the Wise, at once the Every creature knoweth its prayer and its praise. The East and the West are God's; therefore, whichever way ye turn, there is the face of God. He will guide unto Himself all who turn to Him. Have faith and let your hearts rest securely on the thought of God.

E still my light upon my way,
My pilgrim staff and rod,

My rest by night, my strength by day,
O, blessed thought of God.

IV.

Feeling After God.

MOHAMMED.

With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful; with an upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright; with the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward.-Psalm xviii. 25, 26.

THE powers of God are ubiquitous; not merely for

the benefit of pre-eminent men, but also for those who seem to be insignificant. To them, too, God gives that which harmonizes with the capacity and measure of their souls.

Who is there so without reason and soul as never, either voluntarily or involuntarily, to conceive a notion of God? For a sudden apparition of the good fre

quently flits past even the wickedest; but they cannot retain or keep hold of it. . . For it quickly passes away from those who have lived beyond the bounds of law and justice; as, indeed, it would never have visited them at all if it were not to convict those who chose evil instead of good.

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And

PHILO JUDEUS.

ye shall find Me, if ye search for Me with all your heart.-Jeremiah xxix. 12, 13,

FTER a man has acquired the true knowledge of God, it must be his aim to surrender his whole being to Him and to have his heart constantly filled with longing after Him. . . Our intellectual power, which emanates directly from God, joins us to Him. You have it in your power to strengthen that bond, or to weaken it until it breaks. It will be strengthened if

you love God above all other things, and weakened if you prefer other things to Him. All religious acts, such as the reading of Scripture, praying and performing of ordinances, are only means to fill our mind with the thought of God and free it from worldliness. If, however, we pray with the motion of our lips, and our face toward the wall, but think all the while of our business, read the Law and think of the building of our house, perform ceremonies with our limbs only, whilst our hearts are far from God, then there is no difference between these acts and the digging of the ground, or the hewing of wood.

HE anxious strife, the eager race,

The cares of self for Thee I leave;
Put forth Thy hand, Thy hand of grace,
Into the ark of love receive,

Take this poor fluttering soul to rest,
And still it, Father; on Thy breast.

MOSES MAIMONIDES.

VI.

MA

Let There Be Light.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good.Genesis i, 3.

ARK well, my soul, this first creative word of the Almighty and let not the night of sorrows so settle over and envelop thy heart that no brightness can pierce it. Close not the eye against a star of hope if it

rise in the gloomy sky. Flee not from the streak in the East, which announces the return of the morning. It is God who says: "Let there be light:" and wilt thou answer: Nay, it shall be darkness? It is God who says: "the light is good:"and wilt thou answer : It is not good for me? Rather say to thyself with the Seer: Arise, shine! for my light is coming.

G. G.

Who is there amongst you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servants, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the Lord and stay upon his God.—Isaiah, l, 10.

EAR on, brave soul, bear on thy load;

But let no deeper shadows fall

Across thy steep and rocky road

Than He doth send who ruleth all.

VII.

JT

The Goodness of God.

Only goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of God for all the length of time.-Psalm xxiii, 6.

cannot be said of God that He directly creates evil, or that He has the intention to create it; this is impossible. His works are all good and perfect. He only produces existence, and all existence is good. But evils are of a negative character and cannot be acted upon... The Book which enlightened the darkness of

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