Then headstrong Hope, who mocks at whining Care, Asked: "Comrade, why?"

The soul of me, perhaps, could never say
How such was done;

But on that long to be remembered day,

I fought - and won!

RALPH M. THOMSON.

O Lord, Thou art our refuge and strength. We have found Thee so. Our calm has been broken. Strange creatures of our tortured imagination have thrust at us in the dark. Vision paled. Angel ministries were withdrawn. All our doubts and fears revived. Our conquered sins stood upon. their feet again. The mountains flowed down under our feet, and our ideals, even our trust in Thee slipped away, but hope did not wholly die. A light was in the window of our Father's House. A breath of flower-laden air came to our prison tunnel. Following it we found the sunlight and was in our Father's world. We have been where a man need only go once and there Thou hast held us. O, we know Thee now. We know our trust is now wholly in Thee. O Lord, Thou art our refuge and our strength. Amen.

W. M. TUFTS.

Why look we to another world

For heaven's glory to appear, When now on every side unfurled, Are tokens telling God is here?

The maple's budding feathery red;

Through blackened twigs the warm sap flows; Spring's birth proclaims, There are no dead, And through the world a new hope glows.

Thus quickens us the Life divine,
And lifts our thoughts above the sod,
To see in all Love's power sublime,
And every bush aflame with God.

ELIZABETH EARL JONES.

us

Almighty and ever-gracious Father who art not only in heaven but who art Emmanuel with we rejoice that Thou art already manifesting Thyself in the beauty and splendor of the Springtime that Thou art preparing to multiply the loaves and the fishes, and to cause the fields and orchards to yield their increase. Look, we beseech Thee, upon Thy children with Thy divine favor. May the warmth of Thy love and the light of Thy truth and the energy of Thy spirit quicken within us a new life causing us to manifest the beauty of holiness and enabling us in due season to bring forth in abundance the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Amen.

CHARLES F. SHAW.

A welcome to the gladsome month of May,
With sunny smiles and sweetly fragrant flowers,
As once adorned the legendary bowers
In fairy pictures of our childhood's day.
Welcome, the glories of this queen of Spring,
Whose sights and sounds give pledges, heralding
Throughout her realms, a more than regal reign
Of tropic splendor crowned with golden gain.
Last of the vernal months, we love her best:
Upon the threshold of a winter past,
She shuts the door and promises sweet rest

From angry storm and from the chilling blast.
The smiles upon her face are wondrous fair,
And Heaven's own incense floats upon the air.
HENRY W. COLBY.

We thank Thee, O God, for the warm breath of Spring, with its blossoming beauty, its fragrance of flower, its budding roses, its growing grain, all reminding us of the early days of childhood, sweet with the aroma of hope and cheer. Grant us, our Father, the power to cast off every wintry doubt, and greeting the life of the Spirit, to grow into the likeness of our dear Lord and Master, and may the warm rays of Thy sunshine, and the genial, refreshing and copious showers of Thy grace, cause us to grow up in Thee, our living Head, until we shall reflect some of Thy beauty and glory to the world. Amen.

T. J. BROWN.

"If the world were only wiser,"
Said the Man.

"If the world were only wiser,
I could win and dare and do,

I could make my dreams come true,
If the world were only wiser.”

HERBERT N. CASSON.

Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the world. just as it is. With all its ups and downs, with all its summers and winters, with all its health and disease, it is Thy world. We ask not that the air may be softer, nor the earth harder, nor the sea deeper, nor the world wiser. We ask only that we may be able to stand upon our feet and quit ourselves like men. Amen.

GEORGE L. PERIN.

The fragrances of May are on the air,
Our shy New England air, yet interblent
With breath of rosy orchards and with rare
Arbutus scent,

Sweet as the Orient.

The songs of May are on the dulcet air,
Blithe carols, trills, melodious mating calls,
These hidden brooks have tunes as debonair
As waterfalls

That silver Alpine walls.

Life, pulsing, poignant life is in the air,
The winter-wasted heart, that dares blaspheme
By weary apathy and bleak despair

The joy supreme,

Re-blossoms into dream.

KATHARINE LEE BATES.

Author of Life, accept, we pray, the grateful praises of Thy children everywhere. Hills and vales, in living green arrayed, are praising Thee; flowers fling upon the breeze their incense, rare and fragrant: the blending choruses of birds re-echo in the skies. Life we need; life abundant we ask of Thee; life increasing give to us, we beseech Thee, in the name of Christ who said, "I am the Life." Renew us within, daily, hourly, until each soul's o'erflowing fulness shall both glorify Thee and enrich our fellow-men. Amen.

OTTO BRAND.