"Even thou, mighty in thy ruin, wast once an acorn, trodden into the wet soil of this spot, perhaps, by the foot of some animal. Here thou didst germinate and shoot upward—at first a single twig. Year after year passed on, and thou wert all that time in danger of perishing. But this was not thy fate. Many years more, and then, behold a tree-and when five hundred summers had gone over thee, thou didst stand like the mighty monarch of this forest. Hundreds of years again passed away, and every returning year robbed thee of thy beauty and strength, and now thou hast fallen!

"What generations hast thou seen pass away! I could not trace back my ancestors to the days of thy youth. Perhaps, couldst thou speak, thou wouldst tell a strange tale of all thou hast seen. Of Norman kings who hunted with hound and horn over these lands, then all wild and barren; and after them Plantagenets, and Tudors, and Stuarts, in their turn, glanced beneath thy branches in full chase. Thou didst outlive them all, and for a thousand years, it may be, hast occupied the very spot on which thou didst first unfold thy tender branches to the sunbut thou art fallen at last!"

Yes! here all living things die. Oaks fall at last; but I, ah, how soon! My days will never number a

tithe of thine! And yet, why should I thus forget my higher destiny? Trees must perish, but I, even I, thanks, everlasting thanks to JESUS, shall live for In him I have ETERNAL LIFE!

ever.

"Perish the oak, and fade the flower!
But firm the Word of God remains."

THE WISH.

I HAVE looked on many a pleasant spot of this delightful earth, All radiant with the summer light, which calls the wild things

forth;

And my heart has drank in happiness from many a lovely thing,
From rosy tints of wilding flowers, and insects' rainbowed wing,
And shining of the sunny grass, and dancing leaflets bright,
And glimmering of the twinkling stars when skies are still at night.

And I've heard full many a 'witching tone of summer breezes borne;

And carol of the blythesome lark that loves the dewy morn;

And singing of the sparkling founts, and sound of tuneful showers,
That make the lone woods musical, and wake the languid flowers;
And merry hum of blissful things that bask in beamy light,
And leaves with gentle winds bestirred in the fair and sweet
twilight.

But another sight I fain would see, majestic, grand, and wild,
That I have longed to look upon e'en from a very child;
And other tones I fain would hear, deep, thrilling, and sublime,
Which have aye been pealing solemnly e'er since the birth of time;

'Tis the ocean's foam-fringed heaving waves that I so fain

would see,

And the music I would listen to is the billow's melody.

Oh! to see it in its gentleness, so like a cradled child,

As I've seen it with my spirit's eye, all beautiful and mild, When its glistening waves of emerald hue caress the golden shore, And strew the sands with roseate shells fresh from its treasure

store;

Oh! to hearken its low breathings then, to list its dreamy moan,
To have one's spirit quieted with its calmly lulling tone.

Or to witness it in wrathful mood when fearful storms begin;
To hear the wild contentious strife, the fierce incessant din,
When monstrous waves dash furiously upon some rocky shore,
And darkling skies frown angrily amid the wild uproar :
Oh! then it were indeed a joy at which my heart would leap,
To be a near the scene and watch the grandeur of the deep.

Ocean, I dwell afar from thee, upon an inland spot,

And to behold thee calm or wild may never be my lot;

But thou shalt dwell within my heart a thing of which to dream,
When lulled into drowsiness beside some tinkling stream;
Or when enrapt I fix my gaze upon the glowing sky,

I will fancy it that part of thee where the blessed islets lie.

Well, I shall one day look upon a far more glorious sight
Than even thee, thou grand and dread, thou beautiful and bright,
When my eyes are cleared of earthly film, and my spirit soars away
To mingle with the unbodied throng, and bask in blissful day;
Then I shall see the streams of time sweeping in wild commotion,
And losing all their vasty waves in the eternal ocean.

Leicester.

R. W.

THE MOON.

PALE MOON, how pleasant 'tis to see thee shine
When all beneath are sunk in slumber sweet;
Then to behold thy quivering dancing beams
Rest on the glossy leaves of yonder oak,
And lightly float upon that rippling stream.
I love to watch the sea beneath thy light,
It looks as if of molten silver formed,
So still, so motionless, so beautiful!

I love to see thee, pale bright Moon, because
Thou art the same, e'en now, as when,
In days of yore, good Abram kept his flocks,
And weary Jacob stretched himself to sleep,
And laid his head upon a stone to rest!

If thou couldst speak what wonders unto us
Thou couldst disclose; the things of former years,
When man was first created, and the acts
Of times long hid in the dull mist of ages:
What fields for fancy here! how strange
To think that Adam, Noah, all

The patriarchs of old, have gazed on thee!
Yes, even then the same as I now see thee
When Israel's Captain, heaven inspired,
Arrested thy fair course at his command:
But ah! a cloud has hid thee from my sight,
Thou'rt gone! and I must bid thee now farewell.

CLARICE.

"SHOOT fair, Harry!" said Charles, as he rested his hands on his knees, and stooped to watch him; "Keep to your mark, my boy! and dont fub." "I shall see fair play," said Robert, as he lay down on his side by the ring; "And so shall I," said George, as he stood with a hand in each pocket and his cap cocked lightly on his head, watching, like an umpire, the movements of his little play-fellows, on one fine Monday evening in March, when the days were getting longer, and marbles had, as the boys say, come in again.