Patriotic Effusions. Rocks of my country! let the cloud And rise ye like a fortress proud My spirit greets you as ye stand I have left sunny skies behind And music in the southern wind, The breathings of the myrtle flowers The pilgrim's voice, at vesper hours, The isles of Greece, the hills of Spain, For thine the Sabbath peace, my land; And thine the dead, the noble band That make thee holy earth. Their voices meet me in thy breeze; Their cloud hath mingled with the tide Oh, be it still a joy, a pride, To live and die for thee!-Mrs Hemans 23. The Dead Sea. Attained'; reached. Crusa'ders; champions of the cross. Des'erts; barren lands. Vicin'ity; neighbourhood. Discharge'; pouring out. Pil'grim; wanderer. Defiles'; ravines, narrow passes. Provoked'; roused, called forth. Direct'; immediate. Ven'geance; punishment. Almight'y; omnipotent. Steril'ity; barrenness. Remembered; recollected. Slug'gish; still. Erup'tion; breaking out. Subterra'neous ; under ground. THE burning sun of Syria had not yet attained its highest point in the horizon, when a Knight of the Red Cross, who had left his distant northern home, and joined the host of the crusaders in Palestine, was pacing slowly along the sandy deserts which lie in the vicinity of the Dead Sea, or, as it is called, the lake Asphaltites, where the waves of the Jordan pour themselves into an inland sea, from which there is no discharge of wa ters. The warlike pilgrim had toiled among cliffs. and precipices during the earlier part of the morn ing; more lately, issuing from those rocky and dangerous defiles, he had entered upon that great plain, where the accursed cities provoked, in ancient days, the direct and dreadful vengeance of the Omnipotent. The toil, the thirst, the dangers of the way, were forgotten, as the traveller recalled the fearful catastrophe which had converted into an arid and dismal wilderness the fair and fertile valley of Siddim, once well watered, even as the garden of the Lord, now a parched and blighted waste, condemned to eternal sterility. Crossing himself as he viewed the dark mass of rolling waters, in colour, as in quality, unlike those of every other lake, the traveller shuddered as he remembered, that beneath these sluggish waves lay the once proud cities of the plain, whose grave was dug by the thunder of the hea-> vens, or the eruption of subterraneous fire, and whose remains were hid even by that sea which holds no living fish in its bosom, bears no skiff on its surface, and, as if its own dreadful bed were the only fit receptacle for its sullen waters, sends not, like other lakes, a tribute to the ocean. The whole land around, as in the days of Moses, was "brimstone and salt; it is not sown, nor beareth, nor groweth any grass thereon:" the land as well as the lake may be termed dead, as producing nothing having resemblance to vegetation, and even the very air was entirely devoid of its ordinary winged inhabitants, deterred probably by the odour of bitumen and sulphur which the burning sun exhaled from the waters of the lake, in steaming clouds, frequently assuming the appearance of water-spouts. Masses of the slimy and sulphureous substance called naphtha, which floated idly on the sluggish and sullen waves, supplied those rolling clouds with new vapours, and seemed to give awful testimony to the truth of the Mosaic history. Upon this scene of desolation the sun shone with almost intolerable splendour, and all living nature appeared to have hidden itself from the rays, excepting the solitary figure which moved through the flitting sand at a foot's pace, and appeared the sole breathing thing on the wide surface of the plain.-Sir W. Scott. Song of Emigration. There was heard a song on the chiming sea, Of fresh green lands, and of pastures new, A murmur of farewell Told, by its plaintive tone, 'Away, away o'er the foaming main !' -This was the free and the joyous strain— We will shape our course by a brighter star. There are plains whose verdure no foot hath press'd, . And whose wealth is all for the first brave guest. But alas! that we should go,' -Sang the farewell voices then From the homesteads warm and low, "We will rear our homes under trees that glow, 6 Of the flowering orchard trees, All, all our own shall the forests be, • We will track each step through the wavy grass; • We will chase the elk in his speed and might, And bring proud spoils to the hearth at night. But Oh! the grey church-tower, And the sound of Sabbath-bell, 'We will give the name of our fearless race 6 ‹ Which our children loved, to dwell Home, home and friends, farewell!' Mrs. Hemans. 24. Animals. Possessed'; endowed with, having. Sensa'tion; feeling, perception. Spontaneous; voluntary. Locomo'tion; power of moving from place to place. Dif'fer; vary. Respect'; regard, relation. Inter'nal; interior, inland. Regions; climates, tracts of country. Temperate; mild, moderate. Furnished; supplied. Preserva'tion; safety, protection. Cun'ning; stratagem, artifice. Swift'ness; agility, fleetness. Forfeited; lost. AN animal is a being possessed of the powers of sensation, and spontaneous locomotion; besides those of vegetation and generation; which two latter are common to vegetables as well as animals. Animals, like vegetables, differ in their sizes and powers, with respect to the places of their growth. Those produced in a dry sunny soil, are strong and vigorous, though not luxuriant: those again produced in a warm and moist climate are luxuriant, tender, and much larger than |