s it rose on the gale,
Found Bob at the plow, and his wife at the pail.

A neat little cottage in front of a grove,
Where in youth they first gave their young hearts up to love,
Was the solace of age, and to them doubly dear,
As it called up the past, with a smile or a tear.

Each tree had its thought, and the vow could impart,
That mingled in youth, the warm wish of the heart:
The thorn was still there, and the blossoms it bore,
And the song from its top seemed the same as before.

When the curtain of night over nature was spread,
And Bob had returned from the plow to his shed,
Like the dove on her nest, he reposed from all care,
If his wife and his youngsters contented were there.

I have passed by his door when the evening was gray,
And the hill and the landscape were fading away,
And have heard from the cottage, with grateful surprise,
The voice of thanksgiving, like incense arise.

And I thought on the proud, who look down with scorn,
On the neat little cottage, the grove and the thorn,
And felt that the riches and tinsels of life,
Were dross, to contentment, with Bob and his wife.

* * * * *

[FROM DICKENS'S HOUSEHOLD WORDS.]

CLASS OPINIONS.

A FABLE.

A lamb strayed for the first time into the woods, and excited much
discussion among the other animals. In a mixed company, one day, when
he became the subject of a friendly gossip, the goat praised him.

"Pooh!" said the lion, "this is too absurd. The beast is a pretty
beast enough, but did you hear him roar? I heard him roar, and, by the
manes of my fathers, when he roars he does nothing but cry ba-a-a!"
And the lion bleated his best in mockery, but bleated far from well.

"Nay," said the deer, "I do not think so badly of his voice. I liked
him well enough until I saw him leap. He kicks with his hind legs in
running and, with all his skipping, gets over very little ground."

"It is a bad beast altogether," said the tiger. "He cannot roar,
he cannot run, he can do nothing--and what wonder? I killed a man
yesterday, and, in politeness to the new comer, offered him a bit;
upon which he had the impudence to look disgusted, and say, 'No, sir,
I eat nothing but grass.'"

So the beasts criticized the lamb, each in his own way; and yet it was
a good lamb, nevertheless.

* * * * *

AUTHORS AND BOOKS.

* * * *