THE LAME CHILD.

I WILL not murmur, gracious Lord,
That Thou to others dost afford

Strength Thou deniest me;
I will not envy those who play,
And run and riot all the day
In childhood's noisy glee.

I'll rather count my little store
Of mercies and of blessings o'er;
And own, enough is given
To make me happy here below,
Until my summons come, to go
And be with Thee in heaven.

Seldom if ever do I sigh,

And wish the tedious time gone by,

While I lack sport or toy;

My tools, my books, my garden-flowers Fill up each day, and all its hours

In pleasing tasks employ.

THE PETREL.

And mine may be the better part,
Early in life to fix my heart

Where saints in glory reign;
Where yet a child may entrance win,

At once released from care and sin,
From sorrow and from pain.

117

THE PETREL.

THIS is the bird that sweeps

o'er the sea

Fearless and rapid and strong is he;
He never forsakes the billowy roar,
To dwell in calm on the tranquil shore,
Save when his mate from the tempest's shocks
Protects her young in the splinter'd rocks.

Birds of the sea, they rejoice in storms;
On the top of the wave you may see their
forms;

They run and dive, and they whirl and fly, Where the glittering foam-spray breaks on high;

And against the force of the strongest gale,
Like phantom-ships they soar and sail.

All over the ocean, far from land,

When the storm-king rises dark and grand, The mariner sees the petrel meet

The fathomless waves with steady feet, And a tireless wing, and a dauntless breast, Without a home or a hope of rest.

So, 'mid the contest and toil of life,

My soul! when the billows of rage and strife
Are tossing high, and the heavenly blue
Is shrouded by vapours of sombre hue,-
Like the petrel wheeling o'er foam and spray,
Onward and upward pursue thy way.

P. BENJAMIN.

THE MURDERED TRAVELLER.

WHEN spring to woods and wastes around Brought bloom and joy again,

The murder'd traveller's bones were found, Far down a narrow glen.

The fragrant birch above him hung

Her tassels in the sky;

And many a vernal blossom sprung,

And nodded careless by.