SCRIPTURE READING UNION. SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THREE MONTHS. OLD TESTAMENT DAILY CHAPTERS FOR FEBRUARY. 1 1 Chron. xix. 81 Chron. xxvi. 15 2 Chron. iv. 22 2 Chron. 1234567 47 xi. March 1st commences with 2 Chron. xviii., and April 1st with Nehemiah iii. The readings for the intermediate days can easily be calculated at the rate of one chapter a day. NEW TESTAMENT READINGS FOR THREE MONTHS. [ASSOCIATES read only these New Testament portions.] DAILY TEXTS FOR FEBRUARY. Th W Ye serve the Lord Christ. Col. iii. 24. F S SU M Lev. xxvi. 11. LOVEST THOU ME? John xxi. 16. F S SU M Tu 16 Th F 18 S 26 Seek the Lord and His strength. Num. xiv.19. 1 Chron. xvi. II. Keep thy soul diligently. Deut. iv. 9. MY GOD SHALL SUPPLY ALL YOUR NEED. Phil. iv.] God gave...as He promised. I Kings v. 12. (Ash Wed.) I have sinned against Him. Micah vii. 9. Search me, O God. Ps. cxxxix. 23. God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. ix. 7. SU WHILE THEY ARE YET SPEAKING, I WILL HEAR. Tu Ye shall be a blessing. Zech. viii. 13. 50 HOUSES OF FARLIAMENT AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY. THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT AND HIS is only a very small portion of the great City of London, but it is a very important part, for it contains the buildings in which the great Council of our Nation has just again gathered, and where all the business of the country is done. Parliament has met on this spot for many hundreds of years now, but the actual building in which they now meet has not been erected for very long. Each one of our readers has one who represents him in that great assembly. But when you voted for your member your work was not done. You have still the responsibility of prayer. Do not forget this, when each Sunday many will hear the "Prayer for the High Court of Parliament," and others will hear it being prayed for in different words. Join in the prayer, whether read or spoken, with all your heart. A great trial of strength has just taken place in its walls. All know who Charles Bradlaugh is, and how he denies God; but all do not know the terribly persistent way in which he speaks everywhere in awful words against our Lord Jesus Christ. If he were admitted into Parliament it would be practically denying God. Our Constitution is founded on the Law of God; every one of our righteous laws is based on the Bible; and how, therefore, could one be admitted to make laws who wants to do away with the foundation on which they rest? Parliament has rejected him by a large majority, but the struggle is only beginning. Let each of our readers see what they can do, and how they can show that they are on God's side, putting aside all personal thoughts. The tall tower on the left is the Clock Tower. It is easier to tell the hour by it by night than it is by day, for its face is transparent, and it is illuminated from within. Westminster Abbey stands close by. Wonderful things have happened within its walls. Our Queen was crowned there, and many kings and queens are buried there. England's greatest poets, heroes, historians, and philanthropists lie there: "In the great Minster transept And the choir sings, and the organ rings HILL-SIDE PARABLES. HILL-SIDE PARABLES. BY REV. STENTON EARDLEY. 51 Y mother taught me in my earliest days how nature speaks to us, and with many voices, of God and things unseen,. and those lessons stick to one, when many others fall away. There are a great many objects in this world around us which I have been listening to all my life; some whisper and some call, some teach and some warn, some are like a deep, stern command, and some give one the feeling of the dewy hour of summer after sun, and the love of the loved ones gone. There are a great many more parables of nature than dear Mrs. Gatty has written, and when once the faculty of seeing them has been awakened, it becomes a perpetual joy, and more than that, goes towards shaping our mental character. I remember, I think one of the very first experiences of poetic delight in making nature express for me the sentiment of a boy's heart. It was thus: I had behaved ill to my mother, and had then said, miserably enough, that I was sorry for it, and was of course, instantly forgiven. My heart was so moved that I went alone and concocted a few verses to give her, of which I can only recall that our Derbyshire wild thyme came to my aid in expressing the feeling of compunction for my misconduct and admiration of her loving forgiveness: "Like mountain-thyme, which sweetest smells, Well, in the school which says there is wisdom and love in nature, and things high and things deep-deeper than we have any bucket to go down and fetch them up—and yet, lying close about us, with tender eyes and blossom smiles like common flowers, in that school I am yet. It has a good many forms, and the one I love dearest is up among God's hills; the air is so sweet there, and still, and trampling feet don't drown the fairy whispers around, and you can think. In a mountain ramble on the lower Alps of the Engadin, I had a beautiful little innings one spring morning last year. I think I carried out my bat for six ; let me now tell you how I scored two of them. I had been told that on the hill-sides thereabout were to be found curious places called by the natives Moffètè, and with a slight direction I set forth to find one. What I found I will describe presently, but something else claims the space of ten lincs |