The spring was past, the summer gone; Still vacant stood the Scottish throne: But scarce had autumn's mellow hand Waved her rich banner o'er the land, When rang the shouts, from tower to tree, That Scotland's Queen was on the sea.

Swift spread the news o'er down and dale, Swift as the lively autumn gale;

Away, away, it echoed still,

O'er many a moor and Highland hill,
Till rang each glen and verdant plain
From Cheviot to the northern main.
Each band attuned the loyal 'lay,

And for Dunedin "hied away;

Each harp was strung in woodland bower,
In praise of beauty's bonniest flower.
The chiefs forsook their ladies fair;
The priest his beads and book of prayer;
The farmer left his harvest day;
The shepherd all his flocks to stray;
The forester forsook the wood,
And hasted on to 'Holyrood.

After a youth by woes o'ercast,
After a thousand sorrows past,
The lovely Mary once again
Set foot upon her native plain;

Kneeled on the pier with modest grace,
And turned to heaven her beauteous face.
'Twas then the caps in air were blended,
A thousand thousand shouts ascended;
Shivered the breeze around the throng;
Gray barrier cliffs the peal prolong ;
And every tongue gave thanks to heaven,
That Mary to their hopes was given.

Her comely form and graceful 3mien
Bespoke the Lady and the Queen ;
The woes of one so fair and young
Moved every heart and every tongue.
"Driven from her home, a helpless child,
To brave the winds and billows wild;
An exile bred in realms afar,
Amid commotions, broils, and war.
In one short year her hopes all crossed,—
10A parent, husband, kingdom lost!
And all ere eighteen years had shed
Their honours o'er her royal head.
For such a Queen, the Stuarts' heir,
A Queen so courteous, young, and fair,
Who would not every foe defy?

Who would not stand? who would not die?
Light on her airy steed she sprung,

Around with golden laurels hung;
No chieftain there rode half so free,
Or half so light and gracefully.
How sweet to see her ringlets pale
Wide waving in the Southland gale,

Which through the broomwood blossoms flew,
To fan her cheeks of rosy hue!

Whene'er it heaved her bosom's screen,
What beauties in her form were seen!
And when her courser's mane it swung,
A thousand silver bells were rung.
A sight so fair on Scottish plain
A Scot shall never see again!

When Mary turned her wondering eyes
On rocks that seem to prop the skies;
On palace, park, and battled pile;
On lake, on river, sea, and isle ;
O'er woods and meadows bathed in dew,
To distant mountains wild and blue;
She thought the isle that gave her birth
The sweetest, wildest land on earth.
Slowly she "ambled on her way
Amid her lords and ladies gay;
Priest, abbot, layman, all were there,

And Presbyter with look severe.

There rode the lords of France and Spain, Of England, Flanders, and "Lorraine, While serried thousands round them stood, From shore of 16Leith to Holyrood.

Though Mary's heart was light as air,
To find a home so wild and fair;

To see a gathered nation by,
And rays of joy from every eye;

Though frequent shouts the "welkin broke,
Though courtiers bowed, and ladies spoke,
An absent look they oft could trace
Deep settled on her comely face.
Was it the thought, that all alone

She must support a rocking throne;
That Caledonia's rugged land
Might scorn a lady's weak command,
And the Red Lion's haughty eye
Scowl at a maiden's feet to lie?

No; 'twas the notes of Scottish song,
Soft pealing from the countless throng.
So mellowed came the distant swell,
That on her ravished ear it fell
Like dew of heaven, at evening close,
On forest flower or woodland rose.
For Mary's heart, to nature true,
The powers of song and music knew:
But all the choral measures 20bland,
Of anthems sung in southern land,
Appeared an useless pile of art,
Unfit to sway or melt the heart,
Compared with that which floated by,
Her simple native melody.

As she drew near the Abbey stile,
She halted, reined, and bent the while :
She heard the Caledonian lyre

Pour forth its notes of "runic fire;

But scarcely caught the ravished Queen
The minstrel's song that flowed between.
Entranced upon the strain she hung.
'Twas thus the gray-haired minstrel sung:
"O Lady dear, fair is thy noon,

But man is like the inconstant moon:
Last night she smiled o'er lawn and lea;
That moon will change, and so will he.

Thy time, dear Lady, 's a passing shower;

Thy beauty is but a fading flower;

Watch thy young bosom and maiden eye,

For the shower must fall, and the floweret die."

JAMES HOGG.

1 factious broils, the dissensions of political and religious parties. lea, meadow or pasture-land. northern main, the Atlantic Ocean,

hied, went.

7

5

12

10

bounding the north of Scotland. lay, song. Dunedin, Edwin's Hill, the Gaelic or Highland name for Edinburgh, which means Edwin's town. Holyrood, the royal palace of the ancient Scottish sovereigns. mien, look; air; carriage. driven from her home; she was sent to France to be safe from the English, who wished to marry her to their young King Edward VI. a parent, etc. In 1560, Mary lost her mother and her husband, who was king of France. She thus ceased to be queen of France. "amble, the movement of a horse when he first lifts the two feet on one side and then those on the other side of his body. Presbyter, one who belongs to the form of worship prevailing in Scotland. and having no bishops. 13 Flanders, now Belgium and Holland. "Lorraine, now a province of Germany. 15 serried, pressed or crowded closely together. 16 Leith, the port of Edinburgh, situated on the Frith of Forth. "welkin, the vault of the sky and the clouds. 18 Caledonia, the ancient Roman name of Scotland. 19 Red Lion, an emblem of Scotland. 20 bland, soft, soothing. 21 runic, belonging to the ancient races of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Scotland, and other parts of northern Europe.

COWPER'S TAME HARES.

ap-pel'-la-tive

ha-bit'-u-at-ed

symp'-toms

sig-nif-i-cant-ly mis-in-ter' pret ir-re-sis'-ti-ble IN the year 1774, being much indisposed both in mind and body, incapable of 'diverting myself either with company or books, and yet in a condition that made some diversion necessary, I was glad of anything that would engage my attention, without fatiguing it. The children. of a neighbour of mine had a 2leveret given them for a plaything; it was at that time about three months old. Understanding better how to tease the poor creature than to feed it, and soon becoming weary of their charge, they readily consented that their father, who saw it pining and growing leaner every day, should offer it to my acceptance. I was willing enough to take the prisoner under my protection, perceiving that, in the management of such an