SUNSET is glorious, and the break of day;
The full moon in a cloudless frosty sky,
Amid the everlasting stars on high,
Dimming their sheen with her o'erpowering ray,
Is beautiful; the infant life of spring;
The carol of young birds upon the wing;
The prime of Summer, and autumnal tints,
And Winter's hoary dew, are beautiful;

The walking wind, whose airy footstep prints Deep dimples on the wave, her whispering song, As the thick leaves of June she plays among, Her cooling kisses when the eve grows dull,

And breath that stole its balm from buds half-cleft,
With thoughts of beauty all are interweft.

The chasms, and crags, and cataracts (headlong
That hurl themselves a thousand fathoms down),
Of mountains huge, whose unclimbed summits frown
Defiance at Time, and with a bar as strong

As death, keep back the raging hurricane,
That ever beats its angry wings in vain
Against its moveless rocks; the stormy deep,

Dashing to heaven its water-spouts of spray,
When all the winds are wakened from their sleep,
Like hungry lions howling after prey;
The hundred-throated thunder; and the flash
Of volleyed fire; and yawning earthquake's crash,
Make thought ascend like flaming fire on high,
And shake the soul with dread sublimity.

But there is something lovelier in the mind
Of man, than sunset, or the break of day,
Or all the new-born life of lusty May,
Or moon, or stars, or music-breathing wind;

And there is something grander in his soul,
Than mountains with their cataracts and crags:
Or thunder, or the lightning's crooked jags,

Or tempest, or the angry ocean's roll;
And, therefore, though I look on Nature's face
With meditative eyes, and scan her grace
With looks of love, and listen to her voice
With deep attention, learning her sweet lore,
And in her boundless loveliness rejoice -
The eternal mind of man can move me more.

LESSON CXIII.

Meum and Tuum. BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY.

Charity begins at home. - Old Proverb.

ONE Sabbath morn, in the year 17-, the Octagon chapel, in the gay and then fashionable city of Bath, was crowded to excess. A collection was to be made at the end of the service, in aid of the funds for supporting the Bridewell charity-school. Let it not be supposed that the majority of the congregation assembled for the humane purpose of clothing the bodies of a hundred boys in dowlas shirts, and blue coats, or their lower limbs in rhubarb-colored garments, and pepper-and-salt worsted hose, no such thing, FASHION, that freakish and despotic tyrant, had converted a sacred edifice into a rendezvous* of her votaries. A young clergyman, possessing a regular set of features, a complexion in which the lily and the rose were blended, a remarkably fine set of teeth, a profusion of ambrosial curls, delicately shaped hands, a winning tone of voice, and a happy flow of language, had obtained a vast and rapid popularity amongst the female portion of the congregation. The mild doctrines, the mellifluous tones, and the personal appearance of the divine had induced one of his most devoted admirers to call him "The Beauty of Holiness," and by this somewhat profane sobriquett was he known throughout Bath † Pron. so-bre-kay.

*Pron. ran-day-yoo.

And now, having told our readers why so large an assemblage were gathered together, we must beg them to suppose that all have retired home, much edified and improved, and that one o'clock on the Monday morning has arrived.

The boys of the Bridewell school were let out for their brief hour of play; some ten or twelve of the youngsters, in a remote corner of the yard, had gathered into a cluster, listening with open mouths and upraised brows, to something strange and wonderful, related by a lad named Harry Vowles. The narrator was one of the brightest and best-behaved boys in the school, fond of his books, and although not so robust as many of his companions, was usually their leader in all sports and pastimes.

No sooner were the "tender juveniles "seated in due order upon their forms, than one of the other boys made his way to the desk of the master, and intimated, almost in a whisper, that he had something of vast importance to communicate; he was ordered to ascend the steps, and place himself close to the ear of the ever-willing listener. In a few moments, the master, his face flushed with emotion, and his eyes darting angry glances towards the seat which Harry occupied, called out his name in a tone that seemed to prophesy the speedy application of the cane or birch.

"Come hither, you young viper!" he roared; come hither, you Vowles, I say, and let me hear this cock-and-abull story, you've invented, about what happened yesterday at the chapel-door."

"There's not a bit of invention in it, sir, no more than anything about either bulls or cocks. I vow and protest that I saw the gentleman who held the plate for the collection take both silver and gold off the salver, and put the money into his waistcoat and small-clothes pockets."

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Do you know what you're talking about, you wicked young wretch? " demanded the master. Why, that was Dr. Mitchell, one of the first physicians of the city, lives in the

Circus, and keeps his carriage and a host of servants.

Now

come, Vowles, confess 't is a big story, and I'll let you off with a caning; but if you stick to your text, I'll flay you alive!" "I never told a lie in my life, sir," the boy replied, “and punishment won't force me to do so."

"We'll try that, my fine fellow, by and by! A mighty pretty thing, indeed, for a charity-boy like you, to go about taking away the characters of your betters. But " and here the "learned and humane " Mr. Murch chuckled at his being able to institute something like a cross-examination "Vowles, I have a question now to put, which will call upon all your talent as a story-teller to answer. It is this” and, thus saying, he took off his spectacles, wiped both glasses very deliberately with his handkerchief, held them to the light to ascertain if his operation had been successful, placed them carefully on the bridge of his nose, and then, with an air worthy of an Old Bailey practitioner, continued, "Now, boy, we will, for argument's sake, suppose for a moment that such an impossible thing did take place, how could you, from your place in the gallery, see what was going on at the door! There I have you at a dead lock!"

Vowles, no way daunted, calmly replied, "I was not in the gallery, sir; the heat was so great, that I was forced to get into the air, and stood close to the street: when I heard the congregation coming out, I placed myself behind one of the folding-doors, just opposite where the gentleman stood - Dr. Mitchell, you call him - and through the slit where the hinges are I saw what I have said, and do say again."

"O, ho! my young gentleman, have I caught you in your, own trap? What, mouching, as well as lying-now you shall smart for it!"

The pedagogue kept his word; poor Harry was severely chastised, and with a swelling heart went home to his widowed mother, to whom he recounted the punishment he had received. The good soul doted on her son, and shed abundance of tears

at the recital; but her natural good sense soon admonished her that even dutiful boys will sometimes commit faults, and she strictly questioned Harry on the possibility of his being mistaken as to the abstraction of money from the plate. Nothing could shake his testimony; he never wavered for a moment in his plain, straight-forward story. The widow came to the conviction that her child had been most unjustly punished, and, wisely concluding that any appeal to Mr. Murch would be unavailing, determined on calling next morning upon one of the most active governors of the Blue Coat School, in the hope that her poor boy's wrongs might be redressed, and the doubt of his veracity removed.

Mrs. Vowles found little difficulty in obtaining audience of the humane gentleman she sought. She told her child's story with a mother's eloquence, and speedily won the good offices of her auditor.

This is a strange business, a very serious accusation against a person hitherto looked upon as an honest and upright man," observed Sir Walter Gardiner; it must and shall be strictly investigated. All we can hope, for the credit of human nature, is that, if Doctor Mitchell did put money into his pockets, it was only to make room for other donations, and your boy, not aware of this, regarded the action as dishonest, and, child-like, told the story as he believed it. But Murch was much to blame for punishing the little fellow without making due inquiries; rely on it, he will be strongly censured for out-stepping his duty. However, if you will leave the matter in my hands, I may be able to have justice done to all parties concerned; meantime, caution your son to say nothing more about the affair, till I give him leave to do so."

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The widow curtseyed her acquiescence, and withdrew.

Two Sundays after the one, to which we have already alluded, the chapel was again densely crowded, "The Beauty of Holiness" advocating, upon this occasion, the cause of the