What “lowly” virtue does the following stanza suggest?

The bird that sings on highest wing,
Builds on the ground her lowly nest;
And she that doth most sweetly sing,
Sings in the shade when all things rest.

Montgomery.

Name the two birds referred to.

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25

sears flecked de signed’ strait’ened il lu’mined

A SONG OF DUTY.

Sorrow comes and sorrow goes;
Life is flecked with shine and shower;
Now the tear of grieving flows,
Now we smile in happy hour;
Death awaits us, every one—­
Toiler, dreamer, preacher, writer—­
Let us then, ere life be done,
Make the world a little brighter!

Burdens that our neighbors bear,
Easier let us try to make them;
Chains perhaps our neighbors wear,
Let us do our best to break them. 
From the straitened hand and mind,
Let us loose the binding fetter,
Let us, as the Lord designed,
Make the world a little better!

Selfish brooding sears the soul,
Fills the mind with clouds of sorrow,
Darkens all the shining goal
Of the sun-illumined morrow;
Wherefore should our lives be spent
Daily growing blind and blinder—­
Let us, as the Master meant,
Make the world a little kinder!

Denis A. McCarthy.

From “Voices from Erin.”

Angel Guardian Press, Boston, Mass.

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26

Sod’ om spright’ ly the o lo’ gi an his’ to ry To bi’ as cre at’ ed pro ceed’ ed sep’ a ra ted min’ is ter Au gus’ tine crit’ i cise cat’ e ehism de ter’ mined As cen’ sion Res ur rec’ tion

AN EVENING WITH THE ANGELS.

“Well, James,” said a kind-voiced mother, “you promised to tell Maggie all about the Catechism you heard this afternoon at school.”

“All right, mother,” answered sprightly James, “anything at all to make Maggie happy.  Let’s begin right away.”

“Maggie, you said,” continued James, “that you never could find out when the angels were created.  Neither could our teacher tell me.  And I’m told St. Augustine could only make a guess when they were created.

“He thought the angels were created when God separated the light from the darkness.  But that’s no matter, anyhow.  We’re sure there are angels; that’s the chief point.”

“Are you quite certain?” asked Maggie.

“To be sure I am,” said James.  “If I met a man in the street I would know he must have a father and a mother, although I had never heard when he was born.”

“That’s so,” chimed in the proud mother.

“Well, then, mother, many angels have been seen on earth, and they must have been created some time.  Let me tell you some of the places where it is said in the Bible that angels have been seen, and where they spoke, too.”