TO TENT AND CROFT.

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And the Angel of the Lord was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. —II Samuel, 24:16.

MARCH 25th is the Day of Annunciation. Lady-Day, or Day
of Annunciation is only an abridgment of Our Lady's Day,
and is peculiarly dedicated to the Virgin Mary, from its having
been the season when the angel announced to her that she should
bring forth a Son. (Luke 1 :31.) Its near approach to the vernal
equinox, one of the natural divisions of the year, was—it may be
supposed—the reason of its being called Quarter Day.
                                                                 —George Soane.

It is not surprising that, in the ages when art was the handmaid
of religion, few painters thought of portraying Mary without
her attendant train of angels. Botticele has an exquisite
picture in the Florence gallery of the blessed one writing her
''Magnificat.'' Her babe is in her lap, and her face is the reflec1
tion of the words she spoke in such sweet and humble exaltation
to Elizabeth. But the shadow of the future is in the faces of the
angels who look on with a love thrice tender from the pity of it
—as if wondering that she should forget the sword of Simeon'.
Who has not been held awe-struck by the masterpiece of the
Dresden gallery—nay, of the world ! The Madonna di San Sisto ?
Surely the Sanzios brush was guided by an angel 's hand !
                                                                                 -M.

Coming forth, descending from on high
I saw two angels, each with sword of fire,
Truncated flames, of forms that points deny.
Verdant as new-born leaflets their attire
Was seen, while they with green wings onward drove,
Beaten and blown in many a breezy spire.
                                                    —Dante.

In the old days God sent his angels oft
To men in threshing-floors, to women pressed
With daily tasks; they came to tent and croft,
And whispered words of blessing and of rest.
                             —Margaret E. Sangster.