This world is but the wreck of souls,
Where the rough sea in tumult rolls

Its fearful waves,
But heaven a house for us hath reared,
Rich with celestial bloom prepared,

Beyond the grave!

Life's genial current, stay it must,
And earth again reclaim our dust,

“Till time shall cease ;''
Then, ah! how sweet, the sound I hear,
"Good tidings,” such as angels bear

From realms of peace

That when we shall resign our breath,
And in submission bow to death,

We hope to find
A pure and happier scene of bliss,
Where we shall greet the sons of peace,

Of heav'nly mind.

Why then complain of transient things,
Time lends to life his wide spread wings,

To waft us on;
Thus by strong sweeping pinions borne,
More fleet than dews of early morn,

We soon are gone.

Fly then ye moments, swifter far,
Than the pale gleam when shoots a star,

There's naught to lose ;
Life, in ethereal grandeur waits,
And when we pass the Empyrean gates,

THERE, is repose.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MONTHLY REPOSITORY.

BY REV. JOHN DOW.
The incipient numbers of your work, design'd
To please, to comfort, and improve the mind,
Have met my eye-and from a brief review,
I'm led to say “Your good design pursue : '
To give a relish to the mind of youth,
For useful reading and for love of truth,
Is nobly done—such labors justly claim
A grateful tribute, meed of modest fame.
Knowledge, deriv'd from entertaining facts,
Inspires pleasure, and a zest contracts,
Gives an impetus to the expanding mind,
And prompts to virtuous acts of ev'ry kind :
Hence stores of various matter, culi'd with care,

Compose a cabinet of jewels, where

The mental pow'rs if virtuously inclin'd,
Behold their lustre, and a treasure find."
From the first pages of the work in view,
I think 'twill greatly please, and profit too,
Will illustrate the noble object sought,
And prove, that“ reading is the food of thought,"
I recommend to all who books explore,

This cheap appendage to their fam’ly store,
May its contents reverb'rate from the tongue,
And prove a blessing to both old and young !

EDUCATION.

BY JOHN BOWRING.
A child is born-Now take the gem and make it

A bud of moral beauty. Let the dews
Of knowledge, and the light of virtue, wake it

In rich fragrance and in purest hues;
When passion's gust and sorrow's tempest shake it,

The shelter of affection ne'er refuse,
For soon the gathering hand of death will break it,

From its weak stem of life--and it shall lose
All power to charm; but if that lovely flower
Hath swelled one pleasure, or subdued one pain
O who shall say that it has lived in vain,

However fugitive its breathing hour ?
For virtue leaves its sweets wherever tasted,

And scattered truth is never, never wasted.

SUNBEAMS AND SHADOWS. "Oh! life is like the summer rill, where weary daylight dies ; We long for morn to rise again, and blush along the skies. For dull and dark that stream appears, whose waters, in the day, All glad in conscious sunniness, went dancing on their way. But when the glorious sun hath woke and looked upon the earth And over hill and dale there float the sounds of human mirth;: We sigh to see day hath not brought its perfect light to all, For with the sunshine on those waves, the silent shadows fall. Oh ! like that changeful summer rill, our years go gliding by, Now bright with joy, now dark with tears, before youth's eager eye. And thus we vainly pant for all the rich and golden glow, Which young hope, like an early sun, upon its course can throw. Soon o'er our half-illumin'd hearts the stealing shadows come, And every thought that woke in light receives its share of gloom, And we weep while joys and sorrows both are fading from our view, To find, wherever sunbeams fall, the shadow cometh too !”.

AND LIBRARY OF

Entertaining Knowledg..

VOL. I.

FEBRUARY, 1831.

No. 9.

ROCK BRIDGE IN VIRGINIA. The annexed engraving is said to be a correct representation of this great natural curiosity. It is situated in the county of Rockbridge, to which it has given name, and is viewed as one of the most sublime and izpusing productions of nature. It is on the ascent of a hill, which appears to have been cloven through its length by some mighty convulsion. The following account will, we presume, be read with much interest.

On a lovely morning, towards the close of Spring, I. found myself in a very beautiful part of the Great Valley of Virginia. Spurred onward by impatience, I beheld the sun rising in splendor, and changing the blue tints on the tops of the lofty Alleghany mountains into streaks of the purest gold, and nature seemed to smile in the freshness of beauty. A ride of about fifteen miles, and a pleasant woodland ramble of two, brought myself and companion to the great Natural Bridge.

Although I had been anxiously looking forward to this time, and my mind had been considerably excited by expectation, yet I was not altogether prepared for the visit. This great work of nature is considered by many as the second great curiosity in our country, Niagara Falls being the first. I do not expect to convey a very correct idea of this bridge, for no description can do this.

The natural bridge is entirely the work of God. It is of solid limestone, and connects two huge mountains ogether by a most beautiful arch, over which there is a great wagon road. Its length from one mountain to che other, is nearly 80 feet, its width about 35, its thick.