GULLS.

Pleasant it was to view the sea-gulls strive
Against the storm, or in the ocean dive,

With eager scream, or when they dropping gave
Their closing wings to sail upon the wave;
Then as the winds and waters raged around,
And breaking billows mix'd their deafening sound,
They on the rolling deep securely hung,
And calmly rode the restless waves among.
Nor pleas'd it less around me to behold,
Far up the beach the yesty sea-foam roll'd;
Or from the shore upborne, to see on high
Its frothy flakes in wild confusion fly;

While the salt spray, that clashing billows form,
Gave to the taste a feeling of the storm.

GEORGE CRABBE, 1754-1882

THE FOUNTAIN.

Into the sunshine,

Full of light,

Leaping and flashing,
From morn till night.

Into the moonlight,

Whiter than snow,
Waving so flower-like,

When the winds blow!

Into the starlight,

Rushing in spray,

Happy at midnight

Happy by day!

Ever in motion,

Blithesome and cheery,

Still climbing heavenward,

Never aweary;

Glad of all weathers,

Still seeming best,

Upward or downward,

Motion thy rest;

Full of a nature

Nothing can tame,

Changed every moment-
Ever the same;

Ceaseless aspiring,

Ceaseless content, Darkness or sunshine,

Thy element;

Glorious fountain!

Let my heart be

Fresh. changeful, constant
Upward, like thee!

J. R. LOWELL.

Fairies.

"THEY inhabit the interior of green hills, chiefly those of "THEY

a conical form, on which they lead their dances by moonlight, impressing upon the surface the marks of circles, which sometimes appear yellow and blasted, sometimes of a deepgreen hue, and within which it is dangerous to sleep or to be found after sunset.

"They are heard sedulously hammering in linns, precipices, and rocky or cavernous situations, where, like the dwarfs of the mines, mentioned by Georg. Agricola, they busy themselves in imitating the actions and the various employments of men. The brook of Beaumont, for example, which passes in its course by numerous linns and caverns, is notorious for being haunted by the Fairies; and the perforated and rounded stones, which are formed by trituration in its channel, are termed, by the vulgar, fairy-cups and dishes. A beautiful rea

son is assigned by Fletcher for the fays frequenting streams and fountains. He tells us of

A virtuous well, about whose flowery banks
The nimble-footed Fairies dance their rounds
By the pale moonshine, dipping oftentimes
Their stolen children, so to make them free
From dying flesh and dull mortality.'

Faithful Shepherdess.

There is upon the top of Minchmuir, a mountain in Peebleshire, a spring called the Cheese Well, because, anciently, those who passed that way were wont to throw into it a piece of cheese as an offering to the Fairies, to whom it was consecrated.

"The usual dress of the Fairies is green, though, on the moors, they have been sometimes observed in heath-brown, or in weeds dyed with the stoneran, or lichen. They often ride in invisible procession, when their presence is discovered by the shrill ringing of their bridles."-Minstrelsy of Scottish Border.

The seed of the fern, from its singular manner of growth, was supposed to be under the especial protection of the Queen of the Fairies. It was believed to have the quality of rendering whoever carried it about him invisible, and to be also of great use in charms and incantations. But the difficulties of gathering this mysterious seed were very great indeed; it was supposed to be only visible on St. John's Eve, and at the very moment when the Baptist was born. How the rustic population accounted for the fact that it might, in reality, be found on the fronds both before and after that day, one can not say; but they probably held this to be a delusion of the Fairies. It is certain, at least, that they supposed the important magic seed itself only to be attainable on that one evening in the year. But even at the right hour to collect this seed was no easy task, the Fairies resorting to all kinds of devices to prevent human hands from gathering it. A certain individual who flattered himself that he had succeeded in his errand, and supposed that "he had gotten a quantity of it, and