glory. And
all I love are with me, both small and great. All--all are here."

Such was the dream of the old oak: and while he dreamed, a
mighty storm came rushing over land and sea, at the holy Christmas
time. The sea rolled in great billows towards the shore. There was a
cracking and crushing heard in the tree. The root was torn from the
ground just at the moment when in his dream he fancied it was being
loosened from the earth. He fell--his three hundred and sixty-five
years were passed as the single day of the Ephemera. On the morning of
Christmas-day, when the sun rose, the storm had ceased. From all the
churches sounded the festive bells, and from every hearth, even of the
smallest hut, rose the smoke into the blue sky, like the smoke from
the festive thank-offerings on the Druids' altars. The sea gradually
became calm, and on board a great ship that had withstood the
tempest during the night, all the flags were displayed, as a token
of joy and festivity. "The tree is down! The old oak,--our landmark on
the coast!" exclaimed the sailors. "It must have fallen in the storm
of last night. Who can replace it? Alas! no one." This was a funeral
oration over the old tree; short, but well-meant. There it lay
stretched on the snow-covered shore, and over it sounded the notes
of a song from the ship--a song of Christmas joy, and of the
redemption of the soul of man, and of eternal life through Christ's
atoning blood.

"Sing aloud on the happy morn,
All is fulfilled, for Christ is born;
With songs of joy let us loudly sing,
'Hallelujahs to Christ our King.'"

Thus sounded the old Christmas carol, and every one on board the
ship felt his thoughts elevated, through the song and the prayer, even
as the old tree had felt lifted up in its last, its beautiful dream on
that Christmas morn.

THE LAST PEARL

We are in a rich, happy house, where the master, the servants, the
friends of the family are full of joy and felicity. For on this day
a son and heir has been born, and mother and child are doing well. The
lamp in the bed-chamber had been partly shaded, and the windows were
covered with heavy curtains of some costly silken material. The carpet
was thick and soft, like a covering of moss. Everything invited to
slumber, everything had a charming look of repose; and so the nurse
had discovered, for she slept; and well she might sleep, while
everything around her told of happiness and blessing. The guardian
ange