are made sensible of the action of the forces by which the motion is maintained, as the roaring of the fire, the beating of the piston, and the dashing of the paddle-wheels; but in the more perfect machinery which carries the earth forward on its grander voyage, no sound is heard, nor the least intimation afforded of the stupendous forces by which this motion is achieved.

4. The distance of the sun from the earth is about ninety-five millions of miles. No human mind can comprehend fully what this vast distance means. But we may

form some conception of it by such an illustration as this: A ship may leave Liverpool and cross the Atlantic to New York after twenty days' steady sail; but it would take that ship, moving constantly at the rate of ten miles an hour, more than a thousand years to reach the sun.

5. And yet, at this vast distance, the sun, by his power of attraction, serves as the great regulator of the planetary motions, bending them continually from the straight line in which they tend to move, and compelling them to circulate around him, each at nearly a uniform distance, and all in perfect harmony.

6. Let us reflect for a moment upon the wonderful force which the sun must put forth to bend out of their courses into circular orbits such a number of planets, some of them more than a thousand times larger than the earth. Were a ship of war under full sail, we can easily imagine what a force it would require to turn her from her course by a rope attached to her bow, especially were it required that the force should remain stationary, and the ship be so held as to be made to go round the force as round a centre.

7. Somewhat similar to this, but on a much grander scale, is the action which is exerted on the earth in its journey round the sun. By an invisible influence, which is called gravitation, the sun turns all the planets out of their course, and bends them into a circular orbit round himself, though they are all many million of times more ponderous than the ship, and are moving many thousand times more swiftly.

OVER THE HILL.

LXXIX.. · OVER THE HILL.

"TRA

I.

RAVELLER, what lies over the hill?
Traveller, tell to me :

I am only a child, from the window-sill
Over I cannot see."

"And what comes next?" "A little town, And a towering hill again;

More hills and valleys, up and down,

And a river now and then."

IV.

"And what comes next?" "A lonely moor

And

Without a beaten way ;

gray clouds sailing slow before
A wind that will not stay."

"And then?"

V.

"Dark rocks and yellow sand,

And a moaning sea beside."

"And then?" "More sea, more sea, more land

And rivers deep and wide."

VI.

"And then?" "O, rock and mountain and vale Rivers and fields and men,

"And is that all? Have you told the best

"No, neither the best nor the end.

On summer eves, away in the west,

You will see a stair ascend,

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VIII.

"Built of all colors of lovely stones,

A stair up into the sky,

Where no one is weary, and no one moans,

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Or wants to be laid by."

"I will go."

IX.

"But the steps are very steep;

If you would climb up there,

You must lie at the foot, as still as sleep,

A very step of the stair.”

MacDonald.

LXXX.

G

TOM BROWN STARTING FOR RUGBY.

REAT was the grief amongst the village school-boys

when Tom Brown drove off with the Squire one August morning to meet the coach on his way to school at Rugby. Each of them had given him some little present of the best that he had, and his small private box was full of peg-tops, white marbles, screws, birds' eggs, whipcord, jews-harps, and other miscellaneous boys' wealth.

2. Poor Jacob Doodle-calf, in floods of tears, had pressed upon him with spluttering earnestness his lame pet hedgehog (he had always some poor broken-down beast or bird by him); but this Tom had been obliged to refuse by the Squire's order.

3. He had given them all a great tea under the big elm in their play-ground, for which Madam Brown had supplied the biggest cake ever seen in our village; and Tom was really as sorry to leave them as they to lose him, but his sorrow was not unmixed with the pride and excitement of making a new step in life.

4. Tom and his father had alighted at the Peacock Inn, London, at about seven in the evening, and having heard with unfeigned joy the paternal order for supper, and seen his father seated coseyly by the bright fire in the coffee-room, with the paper in his hand, Tom had run out to see about

TOM BROWN STARTING FOR RUGBY.

193

him, had wondered at all the vehicles passing and repassing, and had fraternized with the boots and ostler, from whom he ascertained that the Tally-ho coach was a tiptop goer, ten miles an hour including stoppages, and so punctual that all the road set their clocks by her.

5. Then, being summoned to supper, he had regaled himself on beef-steak and oyster-sauce; had at first attended to the excellent advice his father gave him; and then began nodding, from the united effects of the supper, the fire, and the lecture; till the Squire, observing Tom's state, and remembering that it was nearly nine o'clock, and that the Tally-ho left at three, sent the little fellow to bed, with a shake of the hand and a few parting words.

6. "And now, Tom, my boy," said the Squire, "remember you are going, at your own earnest request, to be chucked into this great school, like a young bear, with all your troubles before you, earlier than we should have sent you perhaps. If schools are what they were in my time, you'll see a great many cruel, blackguard things done, and hear a deal of foul, bad talk. But never fear. You tell the truth, keep a brave and kind heart, and never listen to or say anything you would n't have your mother and sister hear, and you 'll never feel ashamed to come home, or we to see you.".

7. The allusion to his mother made Tom feel rather choky, and he would have liked to hug his father well. As it was, he only squeezed his father's hand, and looked bravely up and said, "I'll try, father."

8. "I know you will, my boy. Is your money all safe?

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"Yes," said Tom, diving into one pocket to make sure. 9. "And your keys?" said the Squire.

"All right," said Tom, diving into the other.

10. "Well, then, good night. God bless you! I'll tell Boots to call you, and be up to see you off.”

11. Tom was carried off by the chambermaid to a clean little attic; and, still thinking of his father's last words,

and the look with which they were spoken, he knelt down and prayed, that come what might, he might never bring shame or sorrow on the dear folks at home.

12. Indeed, the Squire's last words deserved to have their effect, for they had been the result of much anxious thought. All the way up to London he had pondered what he should say to Tom by way of parting advice,

some

thing that the boy could keep in his head ready for use.

13. To condense the Squire's meditation, it was somewhat as follows: "I won't tell him to read his Bible, and love and serve God; if he don't do that for his mother's sake and teaching, he won't for mine.

14. "Shall I go into the sort of temptations he'll meet with? No, I can't do that. Never do for an old fellow to go into such things with a boy. He won't understand me. Do him more harm than good, ten to one.

15. "Shall I tell him to mind his work, and say he's sent to school to make himself a good scholar? Well, but he is n't sent to school for that, at any rate, not for that mainly. I don't care a straw for Greek particles, or the digamma; no more does his mother.

16. What is he sent to school for? Well, partly because he wanted to go. If he'll only turn out a brave, helpful, truth-telling man, and a gentleman, and a Christian, that's all I want," thought the Squire; and upon this view of the case framed his last words of advice to Tom, which were well enough suited to their purpose.

17. For they were Tom's first thoughts as he tumbled out of bed at the summons of Boots, and proceeded rapidly to wash and dress himself. At ten minutes to three he was down in the coffee-room in his stockings, carrying his hatbox, coat, and comforter in his hand; and there he found his father nursing a bright fire, and a cup of hot coffee and a hard biscuit on the table.

18. "Now, then, Tom, give us your things here, and drink that; there's nothing like starting warm, old fellow."

19. Tom addressed himself to the coffee, and prattled