That death seems but a covered way

Which opens into light,

Wherein no blinded child can stray
Beyond the Father's sight;

That care and trial seem at last,
Through memory's sunset air,
Like mountain-ranges overpast,
In purple distance fair;

That all the jarring notes of life
Seem blending in a psalm,

And all the angles of its strife
Slow rounding into calm.

And so the shadows fall apart,
And so the west winds play;
And all the windows of my heart
I open to the day.

J. G. WHITTIER.

Tokens of the Better Country.

THE PALM-TREE.

T waved not through an eastern sky,
Beside the fount of Araby;

It was not fanned by southern breeze,

In some green isle of Indian seas,
Nor did its graceful shadow sleep
O'er stream of Afric, lone and deep.

But fair the exiled palm-tree grew
'Mid foliage of no kindred hue;
Through the laburnum's drooping gold
Rose the light shaft of Orient mould,
And Europe's violets, faintly sweet,
Purpled the moss-beds at its feet.

Strange looked it there: the willow streamed Where silvery waters near it gleam'd,

The lime-bough lured the honey-bee

To murmur by the desert's tree,
And showers of snowy roses made
A lustre in its fanlike shade.

There came an eve of festal hours,
Rich music filled the garden bowers;
Lamps, that from flowering branches hung,
On sparks of dew soft colours flung;
And bright forms glanced-a fairy show—
Under the blossoms, to and fro.

But one, a lone one, 'mid the throng,
Seemed reckless all of dance and song;
He was a youth of dusky mien,
Whereon the Indian sun had been,-
Of crested brow, and long black hair:
A stranger,-like the palm-tree there.

And slowly, sadly, moved his plumes,
Glittering athwart the leafy glooms;
He passed the pale green olives by,
Nor won the chesnut flowers his eye:
But when to that sole palm he came,
Then shot a rapture through his frame.

To him, to him, its rustling spoke,
The silence of his soul it broke :

It whispered of its own bright isle,
That lit the ocean with a smile;

Aye, to his ear that native tone

Had something of the sea-wave's moan.

His mother's cabin-home, that lay
Where feathery cocoas fringed the bay,
The dashing of his brethren's oar,
The conch-note heard along the shore,-
All through his wakening bosom swept :
He clasped his country's tree, and wept.

Oh, scorn him not! the strength whereby
The patriot girds himself to die,
The unconquerable power which fills
The freeman battling on his hills,-

These have one fountain, deep and clear;

The same whence gushed that childlike tear.

MRS. HEMANS.

Nature's Teachings.

HERE'S not a tint that paints the rose
Or decks the lily fair,

Or streaks the humblest flower that blows,

But God has placed it there.

There's not of grass a single blade

Or leaf of loveliest green,

Where heavenly skill is not displayed

And heavenly wisdom seen.

There's not a star whose twinkling light
Shines on the distant earth,

And cheers the silent gloom of night,
But God has given it birth.

There's not a place on earth's vast round,

In ocean deep, or air,

Where skill and wisdom are not found,-
For God is everywhere.

Around, beneath, below, above,

Wherever space extends,

There He displays His boundless love,

And power with mercy blends.

In heaven the sun will ever shine:

No glories fade above;

There countless hosts will ever sing

Of God's redeeming love.

REGINALD HEBER.

Hymn of Praise.

ROSE of Sharon! fruitful Vine!
O Lily pure and undefiled!

Plant of renown, whose Branch Divine
Grafts sweetness in our nature wild.

All things in earth, or air, or sea,
But emblems of Thy glory be,

And serve their end in serving Thee.

O Pearl of price! rich Treasure found,
Better than gold and rubies rare!
Sweet dew that glads the thirsty ground,

And breathes heaven's fragrance through the air!
All things in earth, or air, or sea,

But emblems of Thy glory be,

And serve their end in serving Thee.

O Sun of Righteousness, whose wings

With healing on the world arise !

Bright Morning-star, whose daybreak brings
Glad tidings to the meek and wise!

All things in earth, or air, or sea,
But emblems of Thy glory be,

And serve their end in serving Thee.