All the earth and air
With thy voice is loud
As, when night is bare,
From one lonely cloud

The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is overflowed.

What thou art, we know not;

What is most like thee?

From rainbow clouds there flow not

Drops so bright to see,

As from thy presence showers a rain of melody.

Teach us, sprite or bird,

What sweet thoughts are thine:

I have never heard

Praise of love or wine

That panted forth a flood of rapture so divine.

We look before and after,

And pine for what is not:

Our sincerest laughter

With some pain is fraught:

Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Teach me half the gladness

That thy brain must know,
Such harmonious madness

From my lips would flow,

The world should listen then as I am listening now.

SHILLEY.

THE GLORY OF THE CREATOR.

The spacious firmament (1) on high,
With all the blue ethereal (2) sky,

3

And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.

4

The unwearied sun from day to day,
Does his Creator's power display,
And publishes in every land,

The work of an Almighty hand.

Soon as the evening shades prevail,
The moon takes up her wondrous tale,
And nightly, to the list'ning earth,
Repeats the story of her birth.

While all the stars that round her burn,
And all the planets 5 in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,

And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What though in solemn silence, all

Move round this dark terrestrial ball;
What though no real voice nor sound
Amidst these radiant 7 orbs be found.-

In Reason's ear they all rejoice,

And utter forth a glorious voice

For ever singing, as they shine,
"The hand that made us is divine."

(1) Firmament-the heavens.

ADDISON.

(2) Ethereal-pure.

(3) Spangled-sparkling, dotted with stars.

(4) Original-Creator, God who formed this glorious world.

(5) Planets-bodies which revolve round the Sun, and not like stars being fixed. The earth on which we live is a planet.

(6) Terrestrial-belonging to the earth.

(7) Radiant shining.

These beautiful verses tell the reader how the 'unwearied sun,' and the glorious lights which we see dotting the sky on a clear night, are so many witnesses to the glory and power of God, their Creator and designer. Every little boy and girl therefore should love, and worship, and fear God who is so great, wise and good. They should be careful in keeping His commandments, that is, by always speaking the truth under all circumstances; by never taking anything which does not belong to them; by obeying and loving their Parents, and by being humble, contented and happy.

They should likewise be attentive and diligent in learning their lessons, and be ever ready and happy to listen to the instructions of their Teacher, so that they may become in time clever men, and useful to their Relations, as well as being able to provide for their own and others wants.

DESTRUCTION OF THE ASSYRIANS.

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts 1 were gleaming in purple and gold,
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
Like leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown. 2

For the Angel of death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed,
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still.

(1) Cohorts-troops of soldiers.-(2) Strown-scattered.

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;

And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock beaten surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, 3
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.

BYRON.

(3) Wail-grief.

THE WOUNDED EAGLE.

Eagle! this is not thy sphere!
Warrior-bird, what seek'st thou here?
Wherefore by the fountain's brink
Doth thy royal pinions 1 sink?
Wherefore on the violet's bed

Layest thou thus thy drooping 2 head?
Thou, that hold'st the blast 3 in scorn,
Thou, that wear'st the wings of morn!
Eagle! wilt thou not arise ?

(1) Pinions-wings.-(2) Drooping-hanging over.—(3) blast-storm.

Look upon thine own bright skies!
Lift thy glance!—the fiery sun
There his pride of place hath won,
And the mounting lark is there,
And sweet sound hath filled the air.

Hast thou left that realm on high ?—
Oh, it can be but to die!
Eagle, Eagle! thou hast bowed
From thine empire o'er the cloud!
Thou that hadst ethereal (4) birth,
Thou hast stooped too near the earth,
And the hunter's shaft 5 hath found thee!
Wherefore didst thou leave thy place,
Creature of a kingly race?

Wert thou weary of thy throne?
Was the sky's dominion lone?

Chill and lone it well might be,

Yet that mighty wing was free!
Now the chain is o'er it cast,

From thy heart the blood flows fast.
Wo for gifted souls and high!

Is not such their destiny.(6)

MRS. HEMANS.

(4) Ethereal-belonging to the air.—(5) Shaft—arrow.
(6) Destiny-fate, lot.

The Eagle has ever been associated with majesty and nobility. By savage nations he is the symbol of courage and independence. The young Indian warrior glories in his Eagle's plume, as the most distinguished ornament with which he can adorn himself. The dress of the Highland Chieftain is incomplete without this badge of high degree. And there is truly something grand in the character of this bird! It loves to dwell on some high and inaccessable rock, from whence it can see and watch for miles round; its rapid flight, powerful make and strength, all render it a noble and sovereign bird.

I