In the Beginning primal darkness flung Her veil o’er chaos, void and formless all; The brooding Spirit o’er the waters hung; The father’s fiat moved the empty pall: “Let there be Light!” Forthwith _Creation_ sprung Glad into being. Thy _Creating_ Love, Lord, I believe! Mine unbelief remove. _H. H. Weld._ CROWN. In that day shall the Lord of Hosts be for a _crown_ of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people.--Isaiah, xxviii. 5. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Now they do it to obtain a corruptible _crown_; but we an incorruptible.--I. Corinthians, ix. 24, 25. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a _crown_ of righteousness.--II. Timothy, iv. 7, 8. They who die in Christ are bless’d-- Ours be, then, no thought of grieving! Sweetly with their God they rest, All their toils and troubles leaving: So be ours the faith that saveth, Hope that every trial braveth, Love that to the end endureth, And, through Christ, the _crown_ secureth! _Bishop Doane._ The way to bliss lies not on bed of down, And he that had no cross deserves no _crown_. _Quarles._ How much do they mistake, how little know Of kings, and kingdoms, and the pains which flow From royalty, who fancy that a _crown_, Because it glistens, must be lin’d with down. With outside show, and vain appearance caught, They look no further, and by folly taught, Prize high the toys of thrones, but never find One of the many cares which lurk behind. The gem they worship, which a _crown_ adorns, Nor once suspects that _crown_ is lin’d with thorns. O might reflection folly’s place supply, Would we one moment use her piercing eye, Then should we know what woe from grandeur springs, And learn to pity, not to envy kings. _Churchill._ CROSS--CRUCIFIXION. And he that taketh not his _cross_, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.--Matthew, x. 38. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let Him be _crucified_. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath He done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let Him be _crucified_.--Matthew, xxxvii. 22, 23. For the preaching of the _cross_, is to them that perish, foolishness; but unto us, which are saved, it is the power of God.--I. Corinthians, i. 18. But we preach Christ _crucified_, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.--I. Corinthians, i. 23, 24.