eighty feet up in the green cloud, arms as big as English forest trees branch off; and that out of their forks a whole green garden of vegetation has tumbled down twenty or thirty feet, and half climbed up again. You scramble round the tree to find whence this garden has sprung: you cannot tell. The tree-trunk is smooth and free from climbers; and that mass of verdure may possibly belong to the very cables which you met ascending into the green cloud twenty or thirty yards back, or to that deep tangle, a dozen yards on, which has climbed a tall tree, and then a taller one again, and then a taller still, till it has climbed out of sight and possibly into the lower branches of the big tree.

Adapted from Rev. C. KINGSLEY'S At Last, by permission of Messrs. MACMILLAN and Co.

PEACE.

1. LOVELY, lasting peace below,

Comforter of every woe,

Heavenly born, and bred on high,
To crown the favourites of the sky.

2. Lovely, lasting peace, appear;
This world itself, if thou art here,
Is once again with Eden bless'd,
And man contains it in his breast.

1 Verdure, green plants.

GOLDSMITH.

HAL AND HIS FRIENDS.

I. HAL had a plot of garden-ground,
And when his work was done,
He loved to sit beneath the trees
And watch the setting sun;

And thither came the friends he loved-
'Twas Tom and Dick and Ben;
Quoth Hal, 'We've oft been happy here-
And so we shall again!

2. No store have we of worldly wealth, But we are sages all;

And if our fortunes are not great,

Our wishes are but small.

When we began to earn our bread
Our years were four and ten,

And since that day we've paid our way-
And so we shall again!

3. 'We never hide the truth we feel
To flatter rich or poor;

And stoutly bear, as men should do,
The griefs we cannot cure;
And if like others we have erred,
Or stumbled now or then,

We've always held our heads erect-
And so we shall again!

4. With cheerful hearts we've plodded on
Through many a stormy day;
Enjoyed the light, and loved the right,
And plucked the flowers of May.
We've done our best, and hoped the rest,
Tho' poor yet honest men;

And always found our pathway clear-
And so we shall again!'

CHARLES MACKAY.

THE OPENING OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851.

1. IN the year 1851 a sight was witnessed the like of which has never happened before, and which, in the nature of things, can never be repeated. They who were so fortunate as to see it hardly knew what most to admire, or in what words to express the sense of wonder, and even of mystery, which struggled within them.

2. In a building that could easily have held twice as many, 25,000 persons were arranged in order round the throne of their sovereign. Around them, amidst them, and over their heads was displayed all that is useful or beautiful in nature and in art. Above them rose a glittering arch, far more lofty and spacious than the vaults of even our noblest cathedrals. On either side the vista1 seemed

Vista, the view, the prospect.

almost boundless. Under it was enthroned a youthful matron, the queen of this land, surrounded by her family, her court, her ministers; by the representatives of other countries, and by all who had any share in the suggestion or management of the great undertaking. The minister of religion was there to ask a blessing on the work; the song of loyalty and the anthem of praise rose from the whole assemblage.

3. Many who were present were reminded of that day when all ages and climes shall be gathered round the throne of their Maker. There was so much that seemed accidental, and yet had a meaning, that no one could be content with simply what he saw. A taste of no common order had contributed to the illusion, not to say the reality, of the scene. The fresh foliage of two lofty elms, dwarfed by the height of the dome, the numerous tropical plants that served to tell the extended reign of the sovereign whose throne they adorned, splendid fountains, and the brightness of the decoration, all helped to produce an effect so grand and yet so natural, concerning which there had been so much of hope and so much of fear, that it hardly seemed to be put together by design, or to be the outcome of human skill and labour.

4. Such was the ceremony of May 1, 1851. Fortune favoured the courageous and persevering little band who first undertook and resolved to 1 Illusion, the deceptive appearance.