W

GOD'S WORKS.

HO made the sky that looks so blue?
Who made the grass so green?

Who made the flowers that smell so sweet,

In pretty colors seen?

Response.*

'Twas God our Father, great in power,

Oh! let us all his name adore.

Who made the little bird to fly?

How sweetly she has sung!
And, though she soars so very high,
She'll not forget her young.

Response.

'T was God our Father, great in power; Oh! let us all his name adore.

Who made the sun that shines so bright,

And gladdens all we see?

It comes to give us heat and light;
How thankful should we be!

Response.

'T was God our Father, great in power; Oh! let us all his name adore.

Who made the moon and stars so high,
The darkest night to cheer?

How bright they shine on yonder sky,
Oft as the heavens are clear!

Response.

'Twas God our Father, great in power;

Oh! let us all his name adore.

*By the school or a class.

THE

EXCELSIOR.

HE shades of night were falling fast,
As through an Alpine village passed
A youth, who bore, mid snow and ice,
A banner with the strange device,
"Excelsior!"

His brow was sad; his eye beneath,
Flashed like a falchion from its sheath;
And like a silver clarion rung

The accents of that unknown tongue,
"Excelsior!"

In happy homes he saw the light
Of household fires gleam warm and bright:
Above, the spectral glaciers shone;
And from his lips escaped a groan,
66 Excelsior!"

"Oh! stay," the maiden said, "and rest
Thy weary head upon this breast!".
A tear stood in his bright blue eye;
But still he answered with a sigh,
"Excelsior!"

“Beware the pine-tree's withered branch! Beware the awful avalanche !"

This was the peasant's last good night;A voice replied, far up the height,

"Excelsior!"

At break of day, as heavenward
The pious monks of Saint Bernard
Uttered their oft-repeated prayer,
A voice cried through the startled air,
66 • Excelsior!"

A traveller, by the faithful hound,

Half buried in the snow was found,
Still grasping in his hand of ice
That banner with the strange device,
"Excelsior!"

There, in the twilight cold and gray,
Lifeless but beautiful he lay;

And from the sky, serene and far,
A voice fell, like a falling star,
"Excelsior!"

Y

MY HANDS, HOW NICELY.

My hands, how nicely are they made,

To hold, and touch, and do!

I'll try to learn some honest trade
That will be useful too.

My eyes, how fit they are to read,
To mind my work, and look;
I ought to think of that, indeed,
And use them at my book.

My tongue, 't was surely never meant

To quarrel or to swear!

To speak the truth my tongue was sent,

And also given for prayer.

My thoughts, for what can they be given?

For thinking, to be sure;

That I might think of God and heaven,
And learn my faults to cure.

ABOUT STUDY.

ELLA Are you going to school this morning, Maria?

Maria. No, I do not like to go to school, and, besides, it does me no good. I am going to stay at home to-day. Ella. Did your mother say that you might?

Maria. No; but she always lets me stay at home whenever I want to. When I learn a lesson, it always goes in at one ear and goes out at the other, and that is all the good it does me.

Ella. That is because you do not fix your attention upon it.

Maria. Well I cannot fix my attention upon it, and I have quite despaired of ever being as good a scholar as you are. But there is one study that I cannot get, and nobody can ever make me understand or like it, and that is Arithmetic. I am sure I shall miss on the next lesson, for I cannot get it.

Ella.

What is the lesson?

Maria. Well, you pretend to be so good a scholar, but yet you don't know where our lessons are.

Ella. But you know, Maria, that I have just been put into a higher class, and do not get the same lessons that you do. Maria. Oh, dear! you are always getting into higher classes, while I have to stay in one class for years, and study hard, and then I do not know any more for it. Well, the lesson is in Addition.

Ella. Oh, that is very easy! and if you will come to my house to-morrow afternoon, I think I can soon make you understand it.

Maria. Well, but Geography is even worse than Arithmetic. I am always sorry when Wednesday comes, for I am sure to miss; and our teacher gives us such long lessons, it is too bad.

Ella. When do you generally begin to get your Geography lesson?

Maria. Oh, I generally begin to get it Wednesday morning.

Ella. Well, my plan is to learn a part of it every day, and I seldom miss; and my advice to you is to do the same. Will you try?

Maria. Yes; and I do not ing that study is of some use. to prepare for school now, I afternoon.

know but you are right in sayIf it were not too late for me would go; but I will go this

Ella. I am glad to hear you say so, and I think you will soon begin to like study and school. But do not forget to come to-morrow, so that I can show you how to get your Arithmetic lesson.

Maria. I certainly will not.

DOWN

THE VIOLET.

OWN in a green and shady bed,
A modest violet grew;

Its stalk was bent, it hung its head
As if to hide from view.

And yet it was a lovely flower,
Its colors bright and fair;

It might have graced a rosy bower,
Instead of hiding there.

Yet there it was content to bloom,
In modest tints arrayed;

And there diffused a sweet perfume
Within the silent shade.

Then let me to the valley go,

This pretty flower to see,
That I may also learn to grow
In sweet humility.