much feared, seemed to draw near to him as å friend and comforter, his refuge and strength," a věry present help in time of trouble."

10. My unele rose, and I saw him walk to the room of the departed one. He uncovered the face. It was set with the seal of death; but oh, how surpassingly lovely! The brilliancy of life was gone, but that pure, transparent 1 face was touched with a mysterious,2 triumphant brightness, which seemed like the dawning of heaven.

11. My uncle looked long and earnestly. He felt the beauty of what he gazed on; his heart was softened, but he had no words for his feelings. He left the room unconsciously, and sat in the front door.

3

12. The morning was bright, the bells were ringing for chûrch, the birds were singing merrily, and little Edward's pet squirrel 3 was frolicking åbout the door. My uncle watched him as he ran up one tree, and then down, and up another, and then over the fence, whisking his brush, and chattering just as if nothing was the matter.

13. With a deep sigh, uncle Abel broke fōrth: "How happy that creature is! Well, the Lord's will be done!" That day the dust was committed to dust, amid the lamentations of all who had known him.

14. Years have påssed since then, and all that was mortal of my uncle has long since been gathered to his fathers; but his just and upright spirit has entered the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Yes, the good man may have had opinions which the philosophical 4 scorn, and weaknèssès at which the thoughtless smile; but death shall change him into all that is enlightened, wise, and refined; for he shall awake in "His likeness," and "be satisfied."

1 Transparent (trans pâr'ent), admitting the passage of light; open; bright.

MRS. STOWE.5

American authoress, was born in Litchfield, Conn, June 15, 1812. She haswritten frequently for periodicals,

2 Mys tē'ri ous, secret; not easily and published several novels, one of understood.

3 Squirrel (skwŭrʼrel).

4 Phil' o soph' ic al, skilled in philosophy; deeply learned; wise.

5 Harriet Beecher Stowe, an

which, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," has had a wider circulation than any other work of fiction in the English language. She is one of the most popular and successful of living writers.

M

V.

57. THE DYING CHILD.

1.

OTHER, I'm tired, and I would fain 1 be sleeping;
Let me repose upon thy bosom seek;
But promise me that thou wilt leave off weeping,
Because thy tears fall hot upon my cheek.
Here it is cold; the těmpèst ravèth madly;

But in my dreams all is so wondrous bright ;—
I see the angèl children smiling gladly,

When from my weary eyes I shut out light.

2.

Mother, one stands beside me now! and listen!
Dost thou not hear the music's sweet accord ??
See how his white wings beautifully glisten!

Surely, those wings were given him by our Lord!
Green, gold, and red are floating all around me;

They are the flowers the angel scatteròth,
Shall I have also wings whilst life has bound me?
Or, mother, are they given ålōne in death?

3.

Why dost thou clåsp me as if I were going?
Why dost thou press thy cheek thus unto mine?
Thy cheek is hot, and yet thy tears are flowing;
I will, dear mother, will be always thine!
Do not thus sigh-it marrèth my reposing;
And if thou weep, then I must weep with thee!
Oh! I am tired-my weary eyes are closing;

Look, mother, look! the angel kissèth me!

ANDERSEN.3

1 Fain, with joy or pleasure; at Odensee, April 2, 1805. His writ gladly.

2 Ac cord', the union of different sounds, which is agreeable to the ear; agreement of things.

3 Hans Christian Andersen, å Danish poet and novelist, was born

ings generally are very popular. His novel, "Improvisatore," his charming "Fairy Tales" for children, and many of his other works, have been translated into almost every modern language. He died in 1875.

SECTION XVI.

I.

58. THE MERRY SUMMER MONTHS.

1.

HEY come! the merry summer months of beauty, song, and flowers;

bowers.

Up, up, my heart! and walk åbroad; fling cark1 and câre åside;
Seek silent hills, or rest thyself where peaceful waters glide;
Or, underneath the shadow vast of patriarchal tree,

Scan through its leaves the cloudless sky in rapt tranquillity.

2.

The gråss is soft, its velvet touch is grateful to the hand;
And, like the kiss of maiden love, the breeze is sweet and bland;
The daisy and the buttercup are nodding coûrteously;

It stirs their blood with kindèst love, to bless and welcome thee:
And mark how with thine own thin locks-they now are silvery gray—
That blissful breeze is wantoning, and whispering, "Be gay!"

3.

There is no cloud that sails along the ocean of yon sky,

But hath its own winged mariners to give it melody;

Thou seest their glittering fans outspread, all gleaming like red gold ;
And hark! with shrill pipe musical, their merry course they hold.
God bless them all! those little ones, who, far åbove this earth,
Can make a scoff2 of its mean joys, and vent3 a nobler mîrth.

4.

But soft! mine ear upcaught å sound—from yonder wood it came!
The spirit of the dim green glade did breathe his own glad name;—
Yes, it is he! the hermit bird, that, apart from all his kind,
Slow spells his beads monotonous to the soft western wind;
Cuckoo! Cuckoo ! he sings again-his notes are void of art;
But simplèst strains do soonèst sound the deep founts of the heart.

5.

Good Lord! it is å gracious boon 5 for thought-crazed wight like me, To smell again these summer flowers beneath this summer-tree!

1 Cark, å state of anxiety or op

pression under câre; solitude.
2 Scoff, mockery; reproach.
3 Vent, to utter; to pour fōrth.

4 Mo not' o nous, presenting a tiresome sameness.

5 Boon, å gift; a present.

6

Wight, å being; a person.

To suck once mōre in every breath their little souls ȧway,
And feed my fancy with fond dreams of youth's bright summer day,
When, rushing fōrth like untamed cōlt, the recklèss truant' boy
Wandered through greenwoods all day long, å mighty heart of joy!

6.

I'm sadder now- I have had cause; but oh! I'm proud to think
That each pure joy-fount, loved of yōre,2 I yet delight to drink ;—
Leaf, blossom, blade, hill, valley stream, the cälm, unclouded sky
Still mingle music with my dreams, as in the days gone by.
When summer's loveliness and light fall round me dark and cold,
I'll beâr indeed life's heaviëst cûrse-å heart that hath waxed old!
MOTHERWELL.3

I

II.

59. SUMMER.

THANK heaven ěvèry summer's day of my life that my

lot was humbly cåst within the hearing of romping brooks, and beneath the shadow of oaks. And from all the tramp and bustle of the world, into which fortune has led me in these latter years of my life, I delight to steal ȧway for days and for weeks together, and bathe my spirit in the freedom of the old woods, and to grow young again lying upon the brook-side, and counting the white clouds that sail along the sky, softly and tranquilly—even as holy memories go stealing over the vault 4 of life.

2. Two days since, I was sweltering in the heat of the city, jostled by the thousand eager workers, and pånting under the shadow of the walls. But I have stolen away; and, for two hours of healthful regrowth into the darling påst, I have been (bin) lying, this blessed summer's morning, upon the gråssy bank of å stream that babbled me to sleep in boyhood. Dear old stream! unchanging, unfaltering-with no harsher notes now than then-never growing old, smiling in your silver

1 Truant (tro'ant), idle, and shirking duty; loitering.

2 Yōre, of yore, of old time; long since; long ågō.

3 William Motherwell, å Scottish poet and joûrnalist, was born in Glasgow, Oct. 13, 1797, and died in that city, Nov. 1, 1835.

4 Vault (valt), à continued arch or curved covering.

5 Jostled (jos'ld), run against and shaken; caused to totter or move unsteadily; distûrbed by crowding.

" Băb'bled, made å constant mûrmûring noise; uttered words imperfectly.

rustle and cälming yourself in the broad, plăcid pools; I love you as I love å friend.

3. But now that the sun has grown scalding hot, and the waves of heat have come rocking under the shadow of the meadow oaks, I have sought shelter in à chamber of the old farm-house. The window-blinds are closed; but some of them are sadly shattered, and I have intertwined in them a few branches of the late blossoming white ȧzālēå,1 so that every puff of the summer âir comes to me cooled with fragrance.

4. A dimple or two of the sunlight still steals through my flowery screen, and dånces, as the breeze moves the branches, upon the ōaken floor of the farm-house. Through one little gap, indeed, I can see the broad stretch of meadow, and the workmen in the field bending and swaying to their scythes. I can see, too, the glistening of the steel, as they wipe their blades; and can just cătch, floating on the air, the measured, tinkling thwack of the rifle 2 stroke.

5. Here and thêre å lark, scâred from his feeding-place in the grass, soars up, bubbling forth his melody in globules of silvery sound, and settles upon some tall tree, and waves his wings, and sinks to the swaying twigs. I hear, too, a quail piping from the meadōw fence, and another trilling his ǎnswering whistle from the hills. Nearer by, the tyrant king-bird is poised on the topmōst brånch of å veteran peâr-tree; and now and then dashes down, assassin-like, upon some hōme-bound, honey-laden bee, and then, with å smack of his bill, resumes his predatory watch.

4

6. As I sit thus, watching through the interstices 5 of my leafy screen the various images of country life, I hear distant mutterings from beyond the hills. The sun has thrown its shadow upon the pewter diäl, two hours beyond the meridian line. Great cream-colored heads of thunder-elouds are lifting åbove

1 A zāle a, å class of flowering plants, mostly natives of China or North America.

2 Rifle, à fhin blade or strip of wood covered with emery or similar material,used for sharpeningscythes; also, ȧ whetstone for a scythe,

3 Glŏb'ule, å little globe,

6

4 Prěd'a to ry, hungry; given to plunder.

5 In'ter stice, that which comes between or separates one thing and another; an empty space between things; å hole.

"Me ri'i an, the point directly overhead'; mid-day.