ost perfect, the finest love-song in our or in any language; the
love being affectionate more than passionate, love in possession not in
pursuit?

"Oh, wert thou in the cauld blast
On yonder lea, on yonder lea,
My plaidie to the angry airt,
I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee:
Or did Misfortune's bitter storms
Around thee blaw, around thee blaw,
Thy bield should be my bosom,
To share it a', to share it a'.

"Or were I in the wildest waste,
Sae black and bare, sae black and bare,
The desert were a paradise,
If thou wert there, if thou wert there:
Or were I monarch o' the globe,
Wi' thee to reign, wi' thee to reign,
The brightest jewel in my crown
Wad be my queen, wad be my queen."

The following is Mr. Chambers' account of the origin of this
song:--Jessy Lewars had a call one morning from Burns. He offered, if
she would play him any tune of which she was fond, and for which she
desired new verses, that he would do his best to gratify her wish. She
sat down at the piano, and played over and over the air of an old song,
beginning with the words--

"The robin cam' to the wren's nest,
And keekit in, and keekit in:
'O weel's me on your auld pow!
Wad ye be in, wad ye be in?
Ye' se ne'er get leave to lie without,
And I within, and I within,
As lang 's I hae an auld clout,
To row ye in, to row ye in.'"

Uncle now took his candle, and slunk off to bed, slipping up noiselessly
that he might not disturb the thin sleep of the sufferer, saying in to
himself--"I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee;" "If thou wert there, if
thou wert there;" and though the morning was at the window, he was up by
eight, making breakfast for John and Mary.

* * * * *

Love never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail;
whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge,
it shall vanish away; but love is of God, and cannot fail.

_ARTHUR H. HALLAM._

"PRAESENS _imperfectum,--perfectum, plusquam perfectum_
FUTURUM."--GROTIUS.

"_The idea of thy life shall sweetly creep
Into my study of imagination;
And every lovely organ of thy life
Shall come apparelled in more precious habit--
More moving delicate, and full of life,
Into the eye and prospect of my soul,
Than when thou livedst indeed._"

MUCH AD