There is a Presence spiritually vast Around Thy _Church_, arisen Saviour! cast; A holy effluence, an unspoken awe, A sanctity which carnal eye ne’er saw,-- A pure, impalpable, almighty sense Of peace, by reconciled Omnipotence,-- That hallows, haunts, and makes a Christian mind Rich in all grace, celestially refined: Mere Nature’s worshippers can never feel The fulness of that high seraphic zeal Which veileth all things with religious light, And works unwearied in Jehovah’s sight; Thought, dream, and action, ev’ry pulse of soul The awe of Christ will solemnly control: Girt by the Spirit, wheresoe’er they rove, True faith is feeding on His breath of love. _R. Montgomery._ How sweetly wide this Sabbath morn The chime of village bells is sent O’er the hamlets, o’er the fields, With Sabbath sunshine blent. The noble hears and quits his hall-- The peasant quits his cottage-home; All cheerfully, all pleasantly, To _church_ the people come. They come from far-off heathy moors, From lonely farms, from quiet dells, Led strongly, irresistibly, By the sweet chime of Sabbath bells. Across the fields, across the green, From shades emerge they to the light; And seen in groups, or singly seen, It is a charming sight. _Richard Howitt._ CITY. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, the _city_ of the great King.--Psalm xlviii. 2. Except the Lord keep the _city_, the watchman waketh but in vain.--Psalm cxxvii. 1. Thou shalt be called The _city_ of righteousness; the faithful _city_.--Isaiah, i. 26. How doth the _city_ sit solitary that was full of people! All her gates are desolate.--Lamentations, i. 1, 4. For he looked for a _city_ which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.--Hebrews, xi. 10. And the _city_ had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.--Revelations, 21, 23.