or frown upon the oppressor? At last, thou hast seen these withering and perishing from the land, like flowers swept by the winds of winter. And yet another race, not purer, but stronger, have taken their places, and have gathered themselves around thy rock foundations as the waves of the sea. What shall be the story of their destinies ? O, thou lone, dark mountain, there is an awe upon my spirit as I look upon thee, and ponder the mysteries of knowledge that are buried in thy cold and unsympathizing bosom! Ages have rolled by thee into the fathomless ocean of the past; empires have risen and gone down; laurels have been gathered and have faded; glorious fires have been kindled on the altar of fame, and have gone out; generations upon generations have passed on in their funeral marches to the cities of the dead; but there thou standest, undisturbed by the changes going on below and around, unmoved by the ceaseless raging of the tide of time and revolution. There thou art in thy place, as God made thee, stern, solemn, and silent. O that thou couldst speak to us! Nevertheless, not speaking, how many and impressive are the lessons thou dost teach!

But the moon hath gone down, and the stars have come out to take their accustomed places. Let us consider them for a few moments, ere the

tokens of the morning shall appear again. How countless is the host of them! How various in size and brilliancy! And beautiful, very beautiful, and religious withal, is their light. Hast thou ever pondered the mystery of the stars? How strange and spiritual is the influence that gathereth upon us as we gaze upon them earnestly and silently! How the heart drinketh in their light, as it were the breathings of love from the departed! And we half believe that they see and know, almost we feel as if they were looking down through our eyes into the secret depths of our being; and we grow pure with the feeling.

"Ye stars, which are the poetry of heaven!

If in your bright leaves we would read the fate
Of men and empires, 't is to be forgiven,
That, in our aspirations to be great,

Our destinies o'erleap their mortal state,
And claim a kindred with you; for ye are

A beauty and a mystery, and create

In us such love and reverence from afar,

That fortune, fame, power, life, have named themselves a star."

But look up again, and, with the astronomer, mark out the distances of the stars, and also their revolutions; measure them, weigh them, and consider well the wondrous skill and harmony

of their stupendous machinery. Ay, prepare thyself, and, science-winged, direct thy flight upward and onward to the outermost planet of our system. There take thy stand, and look, as thine eye shall serve thee, into the immeasurable depths beyond,-world upon world, sun upon sun, system upon system, far on and on, without end and without bound! Thy soul crieth out, with amazement and awe, "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty!" But thou shalt take thy stand higher up into the heavens; and thou shalt not look upon planets whirling around their suns, but thou shalt see systems upon systems, far-stretching, circling in unbroken harmony around their mightier com

mon centre.

And now another flight, and thy post of observation fixed still farther up, and the field of thy vision broader and grander, and thou shalt behold uncounted clusters of systems, comet-bound, sailing in silent and solemn majesty around a yet more mighty and more far-controlling central sun! And then and there consider, if thou wilt, that this is but the beginning,- that thou hast only reached the suburbs of the great city of God! And, if thou canst feel this, thy soul, filled with the vastness and wondrous beauty of the universe, shall bow itself down, and worship with reverence and joy; and from its

depths a voice shall be heard,-"O thou Almighty Creator, there is no God like unto thee; neither are there any works like unto thy works! Thou only art GOD, glorious in holiness, and doing wonders! "

But the east is grey, and the morning cometh again; so fare thee well, and God be with thee till we meet again.

THE RECALL.

"Is all the counsel that we two have shared,
the hours that we have spent,

When we have chid the hasty-footed time,
For parting us,- O, and is all forgot?"

Midsummer's Night Dream.

HAST thou forgotten that old drooping elm,

Whose wavy boughs hung o'er a clear, bright spring? Whose shade through childhood's hours we made our realm,

And peopled it with every fairy thing? And how the wind's low, melancholy sigh Crept tremulously by ?

How the bright leaves would shower upon our heads
Night's jeweled gifts unto their parent tree?

And the blue violets, from their mossy beds,
Would lift their dewy eyes to smile on thee,
While the soft murmurs of the crystal spring
In their dark bells would ring?

Hast thou forgotten all? The sweet wild-rose
We borrowed from the verdant brookside glen,
And with our little hands and garden hoes,
Planted it firmly in the earth again?

It has grown tall, and twines around the door

Would thou wert here once more!