.

In every life there is a stream
Whose waters flow,
Dark as the current of a dream,
And seem to throw
On cup and hall and summer beam
A sign of wo!

In every life there is a ray
That shineth still,
From noon to night and night to day,
Through every ill;
And serves to light our solemn way
Go where we will.

Oh, traveler! of that stream beware
Which cannot glow;
It floweth only where a snare
Is lying low,
To deal upon thee unaware
A fatal blow.

Oh, traveler! seek that gentle ray
Which constant gleams,
So beautiful that none can say
Like what it seems;
The star predestined on thy way
To throw its beams.

For in that stream of leafless shade
A fiend is hid;
And on thy fall his heart is laid,
Thy fall amid
The sinner's shriek and shroud and spade
And coffin-lid.

And in that ray so pure and bright
A buoyant form,
Will bear thee through the darkest night
Away from harm;
Swift as the rainbow's graceful flight
Out of the storm.

Let fate be stern--let fortune fly--
Their chastening rod
Strikes not the soul whose strength is high
Above its clod;
Thy heart may bleed to breaking nigh--
But trust in God!

GEMS FROM LATE READINGS.

BY MISS ELLEN PICKERING.

"An humble appreciation of your powers might save you pain; but I
doubt if your humility exceeds your knowledge. Fascinated by harmony
of tone and grace of manner, you perceive not a deficiency in
energy--a want of moral courage. You close your eyes against every
token of an over-sensitiveness to ridicule, veiled beneath the more
graceful cloak of fastidious taste. You will not understand that pride
and weakness fashion a character which, however seemingly amiable in
many other points, is not such as to repay the devotion of a woman's
love. A strong mind will make itself known; and where all is perfect
harmony, no unmodulated tone, no sudden and impulsive movement, no
springing into action, there is art, and that may not be trusted--or
there is over-refinement, wasted powers, a trivial mind, without a
noble aim--or there is weakness, which fears ridicule--a moral
cowardice: or there is mediocrity, that cannot rise above the common
herd--that dares not dare--that may pass unnoted in prosperity, but
whose powers rise not in advers