THE RETURN OF THE DOVE.

(Suggested by THE PICTURE BY MR. GEO. Fred. Watts, R.A., IN THE ROYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION OF 1869.)

"And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth."-Genesis viii. 11.

S round the wat❜ry waste

The shades of evening gather far and wide,

Herald of peace, thou fliest on with haste

Across the trackless tide.

Impelled by Him, whose might

Calmed the fierce flood and bade the billows rest,
Thou need'st no landmark to direct thy flight
Back to thy floating nest.

The fresh green olive-tree

Tempts thee in vain thy mission to delay :
A "leaf pluckt off" the happy sign to be,
Thou turnest back thy way.

The tidings thou dost bring

Will earn for thee, fair dove, a welcome sweet,
A place where thou shalt fold thy restless wing
And ease thy weary feet.

Speed on, thou blessed bird!

Bearer of better hope to sinful man

Than eager eyes have seen or ears have heard

Since first his course began :

Emblem of that sweet peace

Which by the grace of God to man is giv'n, When floods of fear and storms of sorrow cease At the command of Heav'n;

When over trouble's sea

Flies to the fainting soul the Holy Dove,

The messenger of joy and liberty

From the great God of love.

THE CALLING OF THE CHILDREN. *

"He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom." -Isaiah xl. 11.

"Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God."-Mark x. 14.

T is the voice of Him

IT

Who bids the children come

To joys that never shall grow dim,
Within His happy home.

They hear that blessed voice;
It soothes their wild alarms :
Their loving little hearts rejoice;
They fly into His arms.

He folds them to His breast;
They nestle fondly there,

And in His tender keeping rest,
For ever young and fair,—

Safe from the blight of sin,
From pain, and grief, and hate,
Where death can never enter in

To change their blest estate.

* Written upon some little children who died of a fever.

Not here, not here below,

Are they whose loss ye weep: A morn no mortal eyes can know

Has roused them from their sleep.

Not in the ground they lie, Not in the churchyard rest; But in the mansions of the sky, Upon the Saviour's breast.

I

A VISION OF JOY.

"And there shall be no more curse."-Revelation xxii. 3.

HAD a vision, fair without a stain,

Of that sweet rest the ransomed people gain, Where never enters any grief or pain.

I watched, when on that region's threshold bright, Upon the eyes hidden till then in night,

In beams of beauty burst the living light.

Then to the deaf their loving Master spoke :
Their slumb'ring sense to heed that summons woke;
And on their ears the angels' anthem broke.

The thankful dumb regained their loosened tongue,
And their Redeemer's praise enraptured sung,
Till Heaven's walls with new-found voices rung.

While, rising joyfully their Lord to meet,
I saw the lame leap lightly on their feet,
And hasten on upon the golden street.

Not one who entered that celestial door
With him one trace of earth's pollution bore
To that sweet rest which lasts for evermore.