make their escape with speed; but that gate made such a creaking that it waked Giant Despair, who, rising hastily to pursue his prisoners, felt his limbs to fail, for his fits took him again, so that he could by no means go after them. Then they went on, and came to the king's high-way, and so were safe, because they were out of his jurisdiction.

9. Now, when they were gone over the stile, they began to contrive with themselves what they should do at that stile to prevent those who should come after from falling into the hands of Giant Despair. So they consented to crect there a pillar, and to engrave upon the side thereof this sentence: "Over this stile is the way to Doubting Castle, which is kept by Giant Despair, who despiseth the king of the celestial country, and seeks to destroy his holy pilgrims." Many, therefore, that followed after, read what was written and escaped the danger.

LVII.-ROCK ME TO SLEEP.

MRS. ELIZABETH AKERS.

1. Backward, turn backward, O Time! in your flight,
Make me a child again, just for to-night!
Mother, come back from the echoless shore,
Take me again to your heart, as of yore;
Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care,
Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair;
Over my slumbers your loving watch keep-
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep!

2. Backward, flow backward, O swift tide of years!
I am weary of toil, I am weary of tears;
Toil without recompense, tears all in vain,
Take them, and give me my childhood again!

I have grown weary of dust and decay,
Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away,
Weary of sowing for others to reap;
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep!

3. Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,
Mother, O mother! my heart calls for you!
Many a summer the grass has grown green,
Blossomed and faded, our faces between;
Yet with strong yearning and passionate pain,
Long I to-night for your presence again;
Come from the silence so long and so deep-
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep!

4. Over my heart, in the days that are flown,
No love like mother-love ever has shone.
No other worship abides and endures

Faithful, unselfish, and patient, like yours;
None like a mother can charm away pain

From the sorrowing soul and the world-weary brain;
Slumber's soft calm o'er my heavy lids creep;

Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep!

5. Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold, Fall on your shoulders again as of old; Let it fall over my forehead to-night, Shielding my eyes from the flickering light; For oh! with its sunny-edged shadows once more, Haply will throng the sweet visions of yore; Lovingly, softly its bright billows sweepRock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep!

6. Mother, dear mother! the years have been long Since last I was hushed by your lullaby song;

Sing then again,-to my soul it shall seem
Womanhood's years have been only a dream;
Clasp to your arms in a loving embrace,

With your soft, light lashes just sweeping my face,
Never hereafter to wake or to weep;

Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep!

LVIII. WE SHOULD NOT DESPISE SMALL BE GINNINGS.

ANONYMOUS.

1. A traveler through a dusty road
Strewed acorns on the lea;

And one took root and sprouted up

And grew into a tree.

Love sought its shade at evening-time
To breathe its early vows,

And age was pleased, in heat of noon,
To bask beneath its boughs.

The dormouse loved its dangling twigs;
The birds sweet music bore;

It stood a glory in its place,—
A blessing evermore.

2. A little spring had lost its way
Amid the grass and fern;
A passing stranger scooped a well,
Where weary men might turn;
He walled it in and hung with care,
A ladle to the brink,-

He thought not of the deed he did,

But judged that toil might drink.

He passed again, and lo! the well,

By summers never dried,

Had cooled ten thousand parching tongues, And saved a life beside.

3. A dreamer dropped a random thought;
"Twas old and yet 'twas new,-
A simple fancy of the brain,
But strong in being true.
It shone upon a genial mind,
And lo! its light became
A lamp of light, a beacon ray,
A monitory flame.

The thought was small, its issue great,

A watch-fire on the hill;

It sheds its radiance far adown,

And cheers the valley still.

4. A nameless man amid a crowd
That thronged the daily mart,
Let fall a word of hope and love,
Unstudied from the heart,-

A whisper on the tumult thrown,—
A transitory breath;

It raised a brother from the dust,-
It saved a soul from death.

O germ! O fount! O word of love!
O thought at random cast!
Ye were but little at the first,
But mighty at the last.

LIX.-FAREWELL ADDRESS.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

J. The unity of government, which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, - the support of your tranquillity at home and your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly prize.

2. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively, though often covertly and insidiously, directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with a jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.

3. To the efficacy and permanency of your union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliance, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible