dark o'er the way";
Temptations and trials beset me, 'tis true,
Yet gladly I'd stay where there's so much to do.

O I would live longer--not "away from my Lord"--
For ever he's with me, fulfilling his word;
In sorrow I lean on his arm, for he's near,
In darkness he speaks, and my spirit doth cheer.

Yes, I would live longer some trophy to win,
Some soul to lead back from the dark paths of sin;
Some weak one to strengthen, some faint one to cheer,
And heaven will be sweeter for laboring here.

But--would I live longer? How can I decide,
With Jesus in glory, still here to abide?
O Lord, leave not the decision to me,
Where best I can serve thee, Lord, there let me be.

--L. Kinney.

THERE IS NO DEATH

There is no death! the stars go down
To rise upon some fairer shore,
And bright in heaven's jeweled crown
They shine forever more.

There is no death! the dust we tread
Shall change, beneath the summer showers,
To golden grain, or mellow fruit,
Or rainbow-tinted flowers.

There is no death! the leaves may fall,
The flowers may fade and pass away--
They only wait, through wintry hours,
The warm sweet breath of May.

There is no death! the choicest gifts
That Heaven hath kindly lent to earth
Are ever first to seek again
The country of their birth;

And all things that, for grief or joy,
Are worthy of thy love and care,
Whose loss has left us desolate,
Are safely garnered there.

* * * * *

They are not dead! they have but passed
Beyond the mists that blind us here,
Into the new and larger life
Of that serener sphere.

They have but dropped their robe of clay
To put their shining raiment on;
They have not wandered far away--
They are not "lost" or "gone."

Though disenthralled and glorified,
They still are here and love us yet;
The dear ones they have left behind
They never can forget.

--J. C. McCreery.

PROSPICE (LOOK FORWARD)

Fear death?--to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face;
When the snows begin, and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place,
The power of the night, the press of the storm,
The post of the foe;
Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form?
Yet the strong man must go;
For the journey