His friend, inspirer, guardian, and reward!) O never, never, Scotia's realm desert;

But still the patriot, and the patriot-bard,

In bright succession raise, her ornament and guard !

20. With what do they sing, which is better than the finest instrument?.

21. Name these church tunes and char

Satur-acterize them.

THERE is no flock, however watched and tended,

But one dead lamb is there!

There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended,

But has one vacant chair!

The air is full of farewells to the dying,
And mournings for the dead;

The heart of Rachel,1 for her children crying,
Will not be comforted!

Let us be patient! These severe afflictions
Not from the ground arise,

But oftentimes celestial benedictions

Assume this dark disguise.

We see but dimly through the mists and vapours;
Amid these earthly damps,

What seem to us but sad, funereal tapers,

May be heaven's distant lamps.

There is no Death!

What seems so is transition;

This life of mortal breath

Is but a suburb of the life Elysian,2
Whose portal we call Death.

She is not dead,-the child of our affection,-
Bnt gone unto that school

Where she no longer needs our poor protection,
And Christ himself doth rule.

In that great cloister's stillness and seclusion,
By guardian angels led,

Safe from temptation, safe from sin's pollution,
She lives, whom we call dead.

Day after day, we think what she is doing
In those bright realms of air;

Year after year, her tender steps pursuing,

Behold her grown more fair.

Thus do we walk with her, and keep unbroken

The bond which nature gives,

Thinking that our remembrance, though unspoken,

May reach her where she lives.

1 Rachel, see Jeremiah xxxi, 15. and Matt. ii, 18.

2 Elysian, of or belonging to Elysium. Elysium, in ancient mythology, was a place assigned to the pious souls after death, furnished with rich fields, groves, shades, streams, &c.; the seat of happiness. Heaven.

Not as a child shall we again behold her,
For when with raptures wild

In our embraces we again enfold her,
She will not be a child;

But a fair maiden, in her Father's mansion,

Clothed with celestial

grace;

And beautiful with all the soul's expansion
Shall we behold her face.

And though at times, impetuous with emotion
And anguish long suppressed,

The swelling heart heaves moaning like the ocean,
That cannot be at rest,

We will be patient, and assuage the feeling
We may not wholly stay;
By silence sanctifying, not concealing,
The grief that must have way.

1. Is there any family that escapes the visit of death?

2. What have you to tell me about Rachel ?

3. Who are represented by her? 4. What are severe afflictions to the believer in Christ?

5. Do we see things clearly in our present imperfect state?

6. What does the poet call Death? 7. What does he call our present state of existence ?

8. Where was his young daughter now, who had been snatched from them by the hand of Death?

9. What mean you by the great cloister?

Longfellow.

10. In what circumstances was she there ?

11. Do the sorrowing parents ever think about her?

12. What thoughts about their daughter often pass through their mind?

13. What mean you by the "bond which nature gives"?

14. What do the parents expect she will have become before they meet her in heaven?

15. Is there any word in Scripture to countenance such an idea?

16. Though a Christian feels deeply the loss of those he loves, need he despair? 17. What do you mean by "sleeping in Christ" ?

1 "Not as a child,"-see, Isaiah lxv, 20, and 1 Cor. xiii, 11.

NEAR yonder copse, where once the garden smiled,
And still where many a garden flower grows wild;
There, where a few torn shrubs the place disclose,
The village preacher's modest mansion rose.
A man he was to all the country dear,
And passing rich with forty pounds a year;
Remote from towns he ran his godly race,

Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change his place.
Unskilful he to fawn, or seek for power,

By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour;
Far other aims his heart had learned to prize,
More bent to raise the wretched than to rise.
His house was known to all the vagrant train,
He chid their wanderings, but relieved their pain;
The long-remembered beggar was his guest,
Whose beard descending swept his aged breast;
The ruined spendthrift now no longer proud,
Claimed kindred there, and had his claims allowed;
The broken soldier, kindly bid to stay,

Sat by his fire, and talked the night away;

Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrow done,
Shouldered his crutch, and showed how fields were won.
Pleased with his guests, the good man learned to glow,
And quite forgot their vices in their woe;
Careless their merits or their faults to scan,
His pity gave ere charity began.

Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride,
And even his failings leaned to virtue's side;
But in his duty prompt at every call,

He watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all.
And, as a bird each fond endearment tries,
To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies,
He tried each art, reproved each dull delay,
Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way.

Beside the bed where parting life was laid,
And sorrow, guilt, and pain, by turns dismayed,
The reverend champion stood. At his control
Despair and anguish fled the struggling soul;
Comfort came down the trembling wretch to raise,
And his last faltering accents whispered praise.

At church, with meek and unaffected grace,
His looks adorned the venerable place;
Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway,
And fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray.
The service past, around the pious man,
With ready zeal, each honest rustic ran;
Even children followed with endearing wile,
And pluck'd his gown to share the good man's smile.
His ready smile a parent's warmth expressed,
Their welfare pleased him, and their cares distressed;
To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given,
But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven.
As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head. Goldsmith.

1. Where had the Minister's manse stood?

2. What was his yearly income? 3. Did he eagerly seek after a rich living? 4. On what was he more bent than on lofty station in the church?

5. Name some of the "wandering train" who well knew his house.

6. Describe the old beggar.

7. How was the spendthrift treated by him?

8. How did the old soldier pass the night under his roof?

9. What was his pride?

10. How acted this good man in the discharge of his duty?

11. How does the parent bird induce the young ones to fly?

12. How did the pastor try to draw

people along the narrow way that leads to heaven?

13. At what bed-side was he often found? 14. To whom would he direct the dying sinner to flee ?

15. Describe the pastor in the pulpit. 16. Who flocked to speak with him after the service ?

17. Who gave his gown a gentle pull, and why?

18. What gave him pleasure, and what caused him distress?

19. In the midst of his earthly sorrows, where did his soul ever find rest?

20. To what is he compared in the last four lines?

21. Show the correctness of the simile, in the several points indicated by the words printed in Italics.