Of Jove, and she that from her radiant urn Of men and their affairs, and to shed down This mighty city, smoothes his front, and far Of the dark heights that bound him to the west; Dark and sad thoughts awhile—there's time for them With melancholy looks, to tell our griefs, And make each other wretched; this calm hour, Emblems of power and beauty! well may they Shall sit him down beneath the farthest west, 112.-TAULER. JOHN G. WHITTIER. Tauler, the preacher, walked, one autumn day, And as he walked he prayed. Even the same Then, as he mused, he heard along his path The dry, dead linden-leaves; and, looking up, "Peace be unto thee, father!" Tauler said, "God give thee a good day!" The old man raised Slowly his calm blue eyes. "I thank thee, son; But all my days are good, and none are ill." Wondering thereat, the preacher spake again, "God give thee happy life.' The old man smiled, "I never am unhappy.” Tauler laid His hand upon the stranger's coarse gray sleeve: Sad as the grave it leads to." "Nay, my son, And for the happiness of which I spake, I find it in submission to His will, And calm trust in the holy Trinity Of Knowledge, Goodness, and Almighty Power." Silently wondering, for a little space, Stood the great preacher; then he spake as one Who, suddenly grappling with a haunting thought Which long has followed, whispering through the dark Strange terrors, drags it, shrieking into light: ་་ 'What if God's will consign thee hence to Hell?" 'Then,” said the stranger cheerily, “be it so. What Hell may be I know not; this I know,- One arm, Humility, takes hold upon A sudden light, Tears sprang in Tauler's eyes. Set like the white moon where the hills of vine My prayer is answered. God has sent the man Long sought, to teach me by his simple trust, So, entering with a changed and cheerful step In the noon-brightness the great Minster's tower, 113. IF I WERE A VOICE. CHARLES MACKAY. If I were a voice, a persuasive voice, That could travel the wide world through, I would fly on the beams of the morning light, And tell them to be true. I'd fly, I'd fly o'er land and sea Telling a tale, or singing a song, In praise of the right, in blame of the wrong. If I were a voice, a consoling voice, I'd fly on the wings of air; The homes of sorrow and guilt I'd seek, I'd fly, I'd fly o'er the crowded town, If I were a voice, a pervading voice, I'd find them alone on their beds at night, I'd fly more swift than the swiftest bird, I'd make their error clear. I'd fly, I'd fly on the wings of day, 114.-THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. Will anybody deny that the Government at Washington, as regards its own people, is the strongest Government in the world at this hour? And for this simple reason: because it is based on the will, and the good will, of an instructed people. Look at its power! I am not now discussing why it is, or the cause which is developing this power; but power is the thing which men regard in these old countries, and which they ascribe mainly to European institutions; but look at the power which the United States have developed! They have brought more men into the field, they have built more ships for their navy, they have shown greater resources than any nation in Europe at this moment is capable of. Look, also, at the quiet which has prevailed at their elections, at which you may see far less disorder than you have seen lately in three of the smallest boroughs in England. Look at their industry. Notwithstanding this terrific struggle, their agriculture, their manufactures and commerce proceed with an uninterrupted success. They are ruled by a President, chosen, it is true, not from some worn-out royal or noble blood, but from the people, and the one whose truthfulness and spotless honor have claimed him universal praise; and now the country that has been vilified through half the organs of the press in England during the last three years, and was pointed out, too, as an example to be shunned by many of your statesmen, that country, now in mortal strife, affords a haven and a home for multitudes flying from the burdens and the neglect of the old governments of Europe; and, when this mortal strife is over-when peace is restored, when slavery is destroyed, when the Union is cemented afresh, then Europe and England may learn that an instructed democracy is the surest foundation of government, and that education and freedom are the only sources of true greatness and true happiness among any people. 1863. 115.-BATTLE OF BLENHEIM. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 'Twas on a summer evening, And by him sported on the green, She saw her brother Peterkin Roll something large and round, In playing there, had found; He came to ask what he had found, Old Kasper took it from the boy, Who stood expectant by; And then the old man shook his head, "'Tis some poor fellow's skull,” said he, "I find them in the garden, For there's many here about; The plowshare turns them out! "Now tell us what 'twas all about," "Now tell us all about the war, |