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So long as you your crime conceal,
You cannot light and gladsome (1) feel;
Your little heart will seem oppress'd, (2)
As if a weight were on your breast;
And e'en your mother's eye to meet,
Will tinge (3) your face with shame and heat."

(1) Gladsome-happy. (2) Oppress'd-burthened.
(3) Tinge-colour, mark.

Endure anything rather than descend to utter an untruth or frame an equivocation. A just teacher, or a wise parent will readily forgive an offence, provided that it is confessed in an open and sincere manner. Remember as long as you live that a lie has never, or will ever, avail anything. It is sure to be discovered sooner or later, and the punishment will be severe but just. Little boys and girls, recollect Ananias and Sapphira.

THE BLIND BOY'S BEEN AT PLAY MOTHER.

The Blind Boy's been at play, mother,

And

merry games we had;

We led him on our way, mother,

And every step was glad.

But when we found a starry flower,

And praised its varied hue,

A tear came trembling down his cheek,
Just like a drop of dew.

We took him to the mill, mother,

Where falling waters made
A rainbow o'er the rill, mother,

As golden sun-rays played;
But when we shouted at the scene,

And hailed the clear blue sky,
He stood quite still upon the bank,

And breathed a long, long sigh.

We asked him why he wept, mother,
Whene'er we found the spots
Where periwinkle crept, mother,
O'er wild Forget-me-nots:

"Ah me!" he said, while tears ran down

As fast as summer showers,

"It is because I cannot see

The sunshine and the flowers."

Oh, that poor sightless boy, mother,
Has taught me I am blest,
For I can look with joy, mother,
On all I love the best,

And when I see the dancing stream,

And daisies red and white,

I'll kneel upon the meadow sod,

And thank my God for sight.

E. COOK.

A poor blind boy goes out to play with his companions, but he cannot see the beautiful blue sky, or the lovely flowers, or the green grass, and is sad poor boy when those with him shouted at the glorious scene; and hailed the clear blue sky! How thankful then should those little boys be that are not blind, and who can see the faces of those that love them, and every thing about them,―let them therefore remember the poor blind boy, and love the good God who gave them sight.

A CHILD'S EVENING PRAYER.

Ere on my bed my limbs I lay,

God grant me grace my prayers to say ;—
O God! preserve my mother dear

In strength and health for many a year;

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And, oh! preserve my father too,
And may I pay him reverence due,-
And may I my best thoughts employ
To be my parents hope and joy;
And, oh! preserve my brothers both
From evil doings and from sloth,(1)
And may we always love each other,
Our friends, our father, and our mother,
And still, O Lord, to me impart (2)
An innocent and grateful heart,

That after my last sleep I may

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Awake to thy eternal 3 day! AMEN.

COLERIDGE.

(1) Sloth-idleness. (2) Impart-teach. (3) Eternal-everlasting.

LUCY GRAY.

Oft had I heard of Lucy Gray,
And when I crossed the wild,
I chanced to see, at break of day,
The solitary child.

No mate, no comrade, Lucy knew,
She dwelt on a wild moor, (1)
The sweetest thing that ever grew
Beside a human door.

You yet may spy the fawn (2) at play,

The hare upon the green;
But the sweet face of Lucy Gray,

Will never more be seen.

(1) Moor-a marsh, or wide extent of uncultivated ground. (2) Fawn-a young deer

'To night will be a stormy night,-
You to the town must go;

And take a lantern, child, to light
Your mother through the snow.'

That, father, will I gladly do;

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Tis scarcely afternoon;

The minster clock has just struck two,

And yonder is the moon.'

At this, the father raised his hook,
And snapped a faggot band;
He plied his work ;-and Lucy took
The lantern in her hand.

Not blither (3) is the mountain roe;
With many a wanton stroke,
Her feet dispersed the powdery snow,
That rises up like smoke.

The storm came on before its time;
She wandered up and down;
And many a hill did Lucy climb,
But never reached the town.

The wretched parents, all that night
Were shouting far and wide;"
But there was neither sound nor sight,
To serve them for a guide.

At day-break on a hill they stood,

That overlooked the moor;

And thence they saw the bridge of wood, A furlong from their door.

(3) Blither-merrier, gayer.

And turning homeward, now, they cried,
'In heaven we all shall meet!'
When in the snow, the mother spied
The print of Lucy's feet.

Then downward from the steep hill's edge,
They tracked (4) the foot-marks small;
And through the broken hawthorn hedge,
And by the long stone wall.

They followed, from the snowy bank,
The foot-marks one by one,

Into the middle of the plank,

And further there were none !

Yet some maintain, that, to this day,
She is a living child;

That you may see sweet Lucy Gray,
Upon the lonesome wild.

O'er rough and smooth she trips along,

And never looks behind;

And sings a solitary song,

That whistles in the wind.

(4) Tracked-traced.

WORDSWORTH.

The subject of these verses is a little girl, who is bid by her Father on a winters' day, to take a lantern and light her mother home who is gone to the neighbouring town. She starts off in a cheerful manner in the afternoon, crosses the moor all covered with snow, the evening coming on she loses her way, her parents getting uneasy at her not returning sooner, seek her, follow her track into the middle of the plank, but further there were none!' Such was the sad fate of poor Lucy Gray.

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