EMMA.

  A floweret on the grassy mound
    Of buried hopes sprang up;—­
  Tears fell upon its bursting leaves
    And gemmed its opening cup.

  But such a rosy sun-light fell
    Upon those tear-drops there,
  That no bright crystals of the morn
    Such diamond-hues might wear.

  No glancing wing of summer-bird
    Was ever half so gay
  As that fair flower—­no insect’s hues
    Shone with such changeful play.

  It nodded gaily to the touch
    Of every wandering bee,
  Its petals tossed in every breeze,
    And scattered odors free.

  And they who watched the pleasant plant
    In its bright bursting bloom,
  Hailed in its growth their bower of rest,—­
    Solace for years to come.

  But He who better knew their need
    Laid its fair blossoms low;—­
  Between their souls and heaven’s clear light
    Tendril nor leaf might grow.

  Then oh! how sad the grassy mounds
    Its graceful growth had veiled!—­
  How sere and faded was their life,
    Its fragrance all exhaled;—­

  Till from the blue o’erarching sky,
    A clearer beam was given,
  A light that showed them labor here,
    And promised joy in heaven.

* * * * *

Original.

GLEANINGS BY THE WAYSIDE.  No. 2.

I shall attempt to show by an every-day sort of logic, rather than by any set argument, that young children, when religiously educated, do at a very early age comprehend the being of a God,—­that the mind is so constituted that to such prayer is usually an agreeable service,—­that in times of sickness or difficulty, or when they have done wrong, they do usually find relief in looking to God for relief and for forgiveness.

I have known quite young children, in a dying state, when their parents have hesitated as to the expediency of referring, in the presence of the child, to the period of dissolution as near, in some paroxysm of distress at once soothed and quieted by the strains of agonizing prayer of the father, that relief might be afforded to the little sufferer, commending it to Jesus.

From my own early experience I cannot but infer that young children do as readily comprehend the sublime doctrine of a superintending providence as the man of gray hairs.  We know from reason and revelation that the heavens declare the glory of God, and that the earth showeth forth his handiwork—­day unto day utterreth speech, and night unto night showeth forth knowledge of him.

As soon therefore as a child begins to reason and to ask questions, “Who made this?” and “who made that?” it can understand that “the great and good God made heaven and earth.”  Indeed this truth is so self-evident that the heathen who have not the Bible are said to be without excuse if they do not love and worship the only living and true God, as God.