Most wrongfully accused. The charge they bring
Would be a theme for merriment alone,

Were they not bent upon a cruel test-
They'll drown their wretched victim for a witch!

TRAVELLER.

It were in vain

To reason with a crowd so obstinate

-And mischievous in their intentions:-stand aside,
And I will strive to lead them to adopt
A better ordeal.- -My good friends, restrain
This violence: there is no need to drag
Yon wretched creature to the river's brink;
You have a surer test within your reach-
You all have Bibles? In a Christian land,
'Twere sin to doubt it. Place within the scales
The sacred volume of the Scriptures, and,
However small, however light it be,

Nay, should one leaf alone remain, 'twill sink
Like lead to earth, while the convicted witch
Shall fly above the beam: but should the book
Be lightest in the scale, then be assured

That

you have wronged this woman.-Who shall say That she is guilty, if this holy book

FIRST RUSTIC.

This Bible's somewhat large,

"Twill weigh the beldam down. Now, neighbour Giles,
Your scales are handy.- -We have been to blame;
She has outweighed the sacred volume,-see,
It seems a feather in the balance.

TRAVELLER.

Friends!

Go to your homes, and ponder on the word
Of Him who graciously vouchsafed to give
That holy volume to a sinful world.

Oh, know ye not, that when the blessed Son
Of light and peace gave up his life for us,
The power of evil spirits was destroyed?
Live not in ignorance of Him who chained
The fiends of darkness, and to all mankind
Offered a free redemption.

Has the Bible saved me?

WITCH.

TRAVELLER.

The word of God has saved you! O, repent,
And turn in humble thankfulness to him

Who will preserve your soul. You now rejoice
Because your wretched body has escaped

From present peril: but a nobler boon

Courts your acceptance. Flee away from sin,

And seek a blessed immortality.

ELLINOR.

Thanks, thanks, good sir; it was a happy thought.

TRAVELLER.

Lady, in this my pilgrimage I've learned,
In every evil chance of my sad life,
To seek for aid, for comfort, and for strength,
From holy writ. Study with humble zeal
This blessed book, and you will never need
Another counsellor. Those rustics feared
The word of God; and, Lady, may I say,
Your influence was weak, because they heard
Nothing, save worldly wisdom, to oppose
Their idle superstition.

FROM THE PERSIAN.

BY THE REV. THOMAS GREENWOOD.

WHAT time the sun, at this sweet season,
The east with transient beauty stains,
Say, mortal, dost thou know the reason
Why the bird of morn complains?

'Day's bright mirror,"-thus he sings, "To me a mournful truth discloses ; A night of life has spread its wings And fled, while man in sloth reposes."

PSALM CXXXIII.

BY JOSIAH CONDER.

O, HOW goodly is the sight,
Israel! when thy sons unite;
When a sacred truce succeeds
Angry feuds and hostile deeds,
And as brethren, side by side,
Peacefully thy tribes abide !-

Like the holy unction shed
Upon Aaron's reverend head,

That with costliest odours blended,
Copious on his beard descended,
Thence distilling on his vest ;-
Like the genial dews that rest,
Hermon on thy pastoral heights;-
peace its calm delights,

Spreads that

Shedding heavenly fragrance round:

Richest blessings there abound.

For where love His saints unites,

Peace, and heaven, and God are found.

THE MORNING RAMBLE.

BY THE REV. F. A. COX, LL. D.

WHOEVER has a touch of that romantic sensibility which so frequently imparts a charm to the sunshiny days of youth, and renders the mind susceptible of exquisite pleasure while contemplating the scenes of nature, can easily imagine the enchantment of a ramble through woodlands and groves and hills and dales, trodden for the first time and unexpectedly, by the solitary and musing stranger.

The morning was not indeed one of which poets sing: it was not one of those clear, cloudless, glowing seasons, which fill us with thoughts of primeval paradise, where there was no thorn in the path or in the bosom of innocent man, and no shade upon the brightness of his bliss. Still it was a day of spring, and overspread with a few welcome clouds which, after a season of drought, were ever and anon dropping down fatness upon the pastures of the wilderness. The little hills, covered with budding plenty and verdant smiles, were beginning to rejoice on every side. The snow-white blossoms of the thorn powdered every hedge-row; the gentle breeze wafted a thousand