WILLIAM DOUGLAS.

 THE SHIP OF STATE.

 A president of a well-known college writes me that “The Ship of State”
 was his favourite poem when he was a boy, and did more than any other
 to shape his course in life.  Longfellow (1807-82).

    Sail on, sail on, O Ship of State! 
    Sail on, O Union, strong and great! 
    Humanity, with all its fears,
    With all the hopes of future years,
    Is hanging breathless on thy fate! 
    We know what Master laid thy keel,
    What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel,
    Who made each mast, and sail, and rope;
    What anvils rang, what hammers beat,
    In what a forge and what a heat
    Were forged the anchors of thy hope! 
    Fear not each sudden sound and shock—­
   ’Tis of the wave, and not the rock;
   ’Tis but the flapping of the sail,
    And not a rent made by the gale! 
    In spite of rock, and tempest roar,
    In spite of false lights on the shore,
    Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! 
    Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee. 
    Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
    Our faith, triumphant o’er our fears,
    Are all with thee, are all with thee!

HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.

 The Constitution and Laws are here personified, and addressed as “The
 Ship of State.”

 AMERICA.

“America” (Samuel Francis Smith, 1808-95) is a good poem to learn as a poem, regardless of the fact that every American who can sing it ought to know it, that he may join in the chorus when patriotic celebrations call for it.  My boys love to repeat the entire poem, but I often find masses of people trying to sing it, knowing only one stanza.  It is our national anthem, and a part of our education to know every word of it.

    My country, ’tis of thee,
    Sweet land of liberty,
        Of thee I sing;
    Land where my fathers died,
    Land of the Pilgrims’ pride;
    From every mountain side,
        Let freedom ring.

    My native country, thee—­
    Land of the noble free—­
        Thy name I love;
    I love thy rocks and rills,
    Thy woods and templed hills;
    My heart with rapture thrills,
        Like that above.

    Let music swell the breeze,
    And ring from all the trees
        Sweet freedom’s song;
    Let mortal tongues awake;
    Let all that breathe partake;
    Let rocks their silence break—­
        The sound prolong.

    Our fathers’ God, to Thee,
    Author of liberty,
        To Thee we sing: 
    Long may our land be bright
    With freedom’s holy light: 
    Protect us by Thy might,
        Great God, our King.

S.F.  SMITH.

 THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS.

“The Landing of the Pilgrims,” by Felicia Hemans (1749-1835), is a poem that children want when they study the early history of America.