o God for causing them to "suck of the abundance of the seas,
and of treasures hid in the sand." This text, which they had never
before observed particularly, was ever after endeared to them.

1949

THE BEECH TREE'S PETITION.

O leave this barren spot to me:
Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree!
Though bush or floweret never grow
My dark unwarming shade below;
Nor summer bud perfume the dew,
Of rosy blush, or yellow hue!
Nor fruits of autumn, blossom-born,
My green and glossy leaves adorn;
Nor murmuring tribes from me derive
Th' ambrosial amber of the hive;
Yet leave this barren spot to me:
Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree!

Thrice twenty summers I have seen
The sky grow bright, the forest green;
And many a wintry wind have stood
In bloomless, fruitless solitude,
Since childhood in my pleasant bower
First spent its sweet and sportive hour,
Since youthful lovers in my shade
Their vows of truth and rapture made;
And on my trunk's surviving frame
Carved many a long-forgotten name.
Oh! by the sighs of gentle sound,
First breathed upon this sacred ground;
By all that Love has whisper'd here,
Or Beauty heard with ravished ear;
As Love's own altar honor me:
Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree!

--_Thomas Campbell._

(This piece was written for Miss Mary Campbell, the poet's sister; it
appeared first in the _Morning Chronicle_.

The tree, the subject of the lines still ornaments the grounds at
Ardwell, in Scotland, the seat of James Murray McCulloch, Esq.)

1950

Like a tree, am I sheltering others by my life?

1951

The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skilful
pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.

1952

TROUBLE.

When I waken in the morn
I'm sad, I must confess,
To think that ere I can go out
I must get up and dress.

1953

_Deuteronomy xxii, 4._--"Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or ass fall
down by the way, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt surely help him
lift them up again."

Mr. George Herbert, the poet, when walking to Salisbury, saw a poor
man, with a poorer horse, fallen under his load. Mr. Herbert perceiving
this, put off his canonical coat, and helped the poor man to unload, and
after to load his horse. The poor