O let the Earth bless the Lord: yea, let it praise him, and magnify him forever. O ye Mountains and Hills, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him forever. O all ye Green Things upon the Earth, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him forever. O ye Wells, bless ye the Lord: praise him and magnify him forever. O ye Seas and Floods, bless ye the Lord: praise him and magnify him forever. O ye Whales, and all that move in the Waters, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him forever. O all ye Fowls of the Air, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him forever. O all ye Beasts and Cattle, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him forever. O ye Children of Men, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him forever. O let Israel bless the Lord: praise him, and magnify him forever. O ye Priests of the Lord, bless ye the Lord: praise him and magnify him forever. O ye Servants of the Lord, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him forever. O ye Spirits and Souls of the Righteous, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him forever. O ye holy and humble Men of heart, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him forever. O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him forever. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. [_End of Required Reading for December._] FOOTNOTE: [C] Babylon—the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency!—Isaiah xiii: 19. Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth.—Jeremiah li: 43. ATHEISTIC SCIENTISTS. By JOHN STUART BLACKIE. There is a sort of men whose faith is all In their five fingers, and what fingering brings, With all beyond of wondrous great and small, Unnamed, uncounted in their tale of things; A race of blinkards, who peruse the case And shell of life, but feel no soul behind, And in the marshaled world can find a place For all things, only not the marshaling Mind. ’Tis strange, ’tis sad; and yet why blame the mole For channelling earth?—such earthy things are they; E’en let them muster forth in blank array, Frames with no pictures, pictures with no soul. I, while this dædal dome o’erspans the sod, Will own the builder’s hand, and worship God. * * * * * “My friend, whoever has experienced misfortunes knows that when a mountain-wave of ills comes upon mortals, they are wont to fear all things; but when the gale of fortune blows smoothly, they are confident that the same deity will constantly propel their bark with a favorable breeze.”—_Æschylus._ POISON IN COMMON THINGS. By PROF. P. A. SIMPSON, M. A., M. D.