Gifts of frankincense, with sweet song of birds, Down at thy feet, and stormy Winter speak - But now we come Methinks we see thee, as in olden time,— Of the might that clothed We know not-Heaven can tell. Rise, noble pile! And show a race unborn who rests below,- Ye, who stand, With thrilling breast, and kindling cheek, this morn, Viewing the tribute that Virginia pays To the blest Mother of her glorious Chief, Ye, whose last thought upon your nightly couch, Led by your teachings and your prayers to GOD. LESSON XLV. The Sunbeam.-MRS. HEMANS. THOU art no lingerer in monarch's hall; Thou art walking the billows, and ocean smiles— To the solemn depths of the forest shades, Thou art streaming on through their green arcades; I looked on the mountains -a vapor lay, I looked on the peasant's lowly cot- To the earth's wild places a guest thou art, Thou tak'st through the dim church aisles thy way, And thou turn'st not from the humblest grave, Sunbeam of summer! Oh, what is like thee? LESSON XLVI. Christmas in England.-IRVING. THERE is nothing in England that exercises a more delightful spell over my imagination, than the lingerings of the holyday customs and rural games of former times. They recall the pictures my fancy used to draw in the May morn ing of life, when as yet I only knew the world through books, and believed it to be all that poets had painted it; and they bring with them the flavor of those honest days of yore, in which, perhaps with equal fallacy, I am apt to think the world was more homebred, social, and joyous than at pres ent. I regret to say that they are daily growing more and more faint, being gradually worn away by time, but still more obliterated by modern fashion. They resemble those picturesque morsels of Gothic architecture, which we see crunbling in various parts of the country, partly dilapidated by the waste of ages, and partly lost in the additions and alterations of latter days. Poetry, however, clings with cherishing fondness about the rural game and holyday revel, from which it has deriv ed so many of its themes-as the ivy winds its rich foliage about the Gothic arch and mouldering tower, gratefully repaying their support, by clasping together their tottering remains, and, as it were, embalming them in verdure. stean, uni mas jiesiken chames where I fowed so if comeste it. Society has are a me migrenet mi eerunt ae; but it 7 V is ang en eniarces is tomeöred lesbaga ta ines iresde deigns. The tratinonary customs if gaten-terred mosquity, its and red; vasslings, have passed #way wra the tarda rastes and sucat muor-houses, in which they were cleared. They concerted with the shadowy nail. the great caken glery, and the tapestried parlor, but are mined he the brit showy s saloons and gay drawing-roots of the modern na Shorn, however, as it is, of its ancient and festive honors, Christmas is still a period of delightful excitement in England. It is gratifying to see that home feeling completely aroused, which holds so powerful a place in every Polish bosom, preparations making on every side for the social at is again to unite friends and kindred-the presd cheer passing and repassing, those tokens of quickeners of kind feelings—the evergreens about houses and churches, emblems of peace --all these have the most pleasing effect in producing fond associations, and kindling benevolent sympathies. Even the sound of the waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the midwatches of a winter night with the effect of perfect harmony. As I have been awakened by them in that still and solemn hour, when deep sleep falleth upon man,' I have listened with a hushed delight, and connecting them with the sacred and joyous occasion, have almost fancied them into another celestial choir, announcing peace and good-will to mankind. How delightfully the imagination, when wrought upon by these moral influences, turns every thing to melody and beauty! The very crowing of the cock, heard sometimes in the profound repose of the country, 'telling the nightwatches to his feathery dames,' was thought by the common people to announce the approach of this sacred festival: 'Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes, Amidst the general call to happiness, the bustle of the spirits, and stir of the affections, which prevail at this period, what bosom can remain insensible? It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling-the season for kindling not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart. The scene of early love again rises green to memory beyond the sterile waste of years, and the idea of home, fraught with the fragrance of home-dwelling joys, reanimates the drooping spirit-as the Arabian breeze will sometimes waft the freshness of the distant fields to the weary pilgrim of the desert. LESSON XLVII. Sports of New Year's Day.-PAulding. THE morning was still, clear, and frosty. The sun shone with the lustre, though not with the warmth, of sumnier, and his bright beams were reflected, with indescribable |