If they should forsake me, what should I do?
Where should I bear my sad heart to?
Some one surely would be my stay,
Some one must love me better than they.

"Yes, fair child, there is One above,
Who loves thee with an unchanging love;
He who form'd those frail dear things,
To which thy young heart fondly clings;
Though each and all should forsake thee, still
He would protect thee through every ill!—
Oh! is not such love worth all the rest ?
Child! it is God who loves thee best!"

MARY ANN BROWN.

PIETY IN CHILDHOOD.

SWEET is the time of spring,

When nature's charms appear, When birds with ceaseless pleasure sing, And hail the opening year :

But sweeter far the spring

Of wisdom and of grace,

When children bless and praise their King, Who loves the youthful race.

PIETY IN CHILDHOOD.

Sweet is the dawn of day,

When light just streaks the sky, When shades and darkness pass away, And morning's beams are nigh:

But sweeter far the dawn.

Of piety in youth,

When doubt and darkness are withdrawn

Before the light of truth.

Sweet is the early dew,

Which gilds the mountain-tops,
And decks each plant and flower we view
With pearly glittering drops :—

But sweeter far the scene,
On Zion's holy hill,

When there the dew of youth is seen
Its freshness to distil.

Sweet is the opening flower,

Which just begins to bloom,
Which every day and every hour
Fresh beauties will assume:

But sweeter that young heart,
Where faith, and love, and peace,

Blossom and bloom in every part
With sweet and varied grace.

41

Oh, may Life's early Spring And Morning, ere they flee, Youth's dew, and its fair blossoming, Be given, my God, to Thee.

THE HAPPIEST HOME.

OH! bright are the mansions prepared by the Lord

For those who obey Him, and trust in His word! No longer on earth, He is hid from our sight In the house of His Father, that dwelling of light!

And there has provided a glorious abode, And made it the home of the children of God.

This earth, we are sure, cannot long be our rest; Our places by others must soon be possess'd; And therefore has Jesus those mansions prepared

For all who believe what His word has declared, Who tread the strait path all His people have trod,

And seek the bright home of the children of God.

THE CHILDREN AND THE SQUIRREL. 43

There Christ, the Good Shepherd, His people will feed!

To fountains of waters His flock He will lead ! No more shall they hunger! The Lord will provide

For those whom in mercy and love He shall guide

Through death's gloomy vale, with His staff and His rod,

And give them a home with the children of God.

No night shall be there! no disease, no decay! All tears from all faces will God wipe away! No friend shall depart, and no enemy come To trouble the peaceful enjoyment of home! This earth for a season must be our abode, But heaven is the home of the children of God! CONDER.

THE CHILDREN AND THE SQUIRREL.

MERRILY sang the crickets forth

One fair October night;

And the stars look'd down, and the Northern Crown

Gave its strange fantastic light.

A nipping frost was in the air;
On flowers and grass it fell,

And the leaves were still, on the eastern hill,
As if touch'd by a fairy-spell.

To the very top of the tall nut-trees
The frost-king seem'd to ride;

With his wand he stirr'd the chestnut-burrs,
And straight they were open'd wide.

And squirrels and children together dream'd Of the coming winter's hoard;

And

many, I ween, were the chestnuts seen In hole or garret stored.

The children are sleeping in feather-beds,

Poor Bun in his

He courts

repose

mossy nest;

with his tail on his nose,

On the others warm blankets rest.

Late in the morning the sun gets up

From behind the village-spire;

And the children dream that the first red

gleam

Is the chestnut-trees on fire!