No: for this world is ever bright
With a pure radiance all its own :
And streams of uncreated light

Flow round it from the eternal throne.

There, forms that mortals may not see,
Too glorious for the eye to trace,
And clad in peerless majesty,
Move with unutterable grace.

In vain the philosophic eye
May seek to view the fair abode,
Or find it in the curtain'd sky;
It is the dwelling place of God!

Youths Instructor.

3. The Month of May.

Fa'vourite; esteemed, cherished. Descrip'tion; representation, expression of qualities. Originally; at first. Lav'ished; liberally bestowed. Ut'tered; expressed. Climates; regions. Really; indeed, truly. Splen'dour; brilliancy, brightness. Invigorate; strengthen. Overpow'ering; oppressing. Espec'ially; particularly. Reck'oned; calculated. Perfect; complete, thorough. Sustain'ed; suffered. Fes'tival; season of enjoyment. Adorn'ed; decorated. Ver'dure; greenness. Fra'grance; perfume. Occur'; happen.

MAY has ever been the favourite month in the year for poetical description, but the praises originally lavished upon it were uttered in climates more southern than our own. In such, it really unites all the soft beauties of spring with the splendour of summer, and possesses warmth enough to cheer and invigorate, without over

powering. With us, especially since we have reckoned by the new style, great part of the month is yet too chill for a perfect enjoyment of the charms of nature, and frequent injury is sustained by the flowers and young fruits during its course, from blights and blasting winds. Mayday, though still observed as a rural festival, has often little pleasure to bestow, except that arising from the name; while the scanty garlands composed in honour of the day, rather display the infancy, than the luxuriant youth of the year.

The latter part of the month, however, on the whole, is, even in this country, sufficiently profuse of beauties. The earth is covered with the freshest green of the grass and young corn, and adorned with numerous flowers opening on every side. The trees put on all their verdure, the hedges are rich in fragrance from the snowy blossoms of the hawthorn, and the orchards display their highest beauty in the delicate bloom of the apple blossoms.

One boundless blush, one white-empurpled shower
Of mingled blossoms.-Thomson.

All these promising signs of future plenty are, however, liable to be cut off by the blights which peculiarly occur in this month, and frequently commit most dreadful ravages. The history and cause of blights are by no means exactly discovered, and it is a subject which, from its actual importance, well deserves a minute inquiry. There appear to be three kinds of blights: the first occurs in the early spring, about the time of the blossoming of the peach, and is nothing more than a dry frosty wind usually from the north or north-east, and principally affects the blossoms,

A 2

'corn.

causing them to fall off too soon, and consequently to become unproductive. Both the other kinds of blights occur in this month, affecting principally the apple and pear-trees, and sometimes the One of these consists in the appearance of an immense multitude of small insects of a brown or black, or green colour, attacking the leaves of plants, and entirely encrusting the young stem. These pests are, I believe, always found to make their appearance after a north-east wind; and it has been supposed by many that they are actually conveyed hither by the wind.

For oft engendered by the hazy north,
Myriads on myriads, insect armies warp,

Keen in the poison'd breeze; and wasteful eat
Through buds and bark, into the blacken'd core
Their eager way.-Thomson.

The last kind of blight follows a south or southeast wind, unaccompanied by insects; and the effects of it are visible in the burnt appearance of all leaves and shoots that are exposed to that quarter. It attacks all vegetables, but those suffer most from it which are the loftiest, and the leaves of which are the youngest; the oak therefore is peculiarly injured.

A cold and windy May is, however, accounted favourable to the corn; which, if brought forward by early warm weather, is apt to run into stalk, while its ears remain thin and light.

The leafing of trees is commonly completed in this month. It begins with the aquatic kinds, such as the willow, poplar and alder; proceeds to the lime, sycamore, and horse-chesnut, and concludes with the oak, beech, ash, walnut and mulberry these last, however, are seldom in full leaf till June.- Picture of the Seasons.

May.

'Tis May! 'tis May! the sky-larks sing,
The swallow tribe is on the wing,
The emerald mead is fresh and gay,
And smiles the golden orb of day.

'Tis May! 'tis May! the voice of love
Inspiring calls to yonder grove;
Then let us to the shades repair,

There's health, and mirth, and music there.

'Tis May! 'tis May! air, earth and flood,
With life and beauty are endued;
Myriads of forms creep, glide, and soar,
Exultant through the genial hour.

'Tis May! 'tis May! why should not man
Embrace the universal plan,

Enjoy the seasons as they roll,

And love, while love inspires the soul.

Tis May! 'tis May! the flowers soon fade,
Soon voiceless grows the sylvan shade,
The insect falls 'mid autumn's gloom,
And man is hastening to the tomb.

'Tis May! 'tis May! the flowers revive,
Again the insect revellers live;
But man's last bloom no charms restore,
His youth, once passed, returns no more.

4. Anecdotes.

British Traveller,

Pal'ace; residence of a king. Can'dour; purity of mind. Faults; failings. Indebt'ed; obliged. Reproach'ing; blaming, censuring. Indulgent; mild, gentle. Endow'ed; gifted. Nevertheless'; notwith

standing. Reserved'; silent, taciturn. Qualifica'tion; accomplishment. Philos'opher; a lover of wisdom. Opin'ion; conceit, notion. Murmuring; repining. Replied'; answered. Peas'ant; countryman, hind. Magnan'imous; great-minded.

Prudence, Resignation, &c.

1. My palace and my ears, said Hiero I. king of Syracuse, shall always be open to any one who will speak truth to me with freedom and candour.

2. Zeno, the philosopher, having met a young man who, with a high opinion of himself, and an idea that he was clever, was always forward to speak, said to him: "Recollect, young man, that nature has given us two ears, and only one mouth, to inform us that we should be more ready to hear than to speak."

3. Philip, king of Macedon, was desirous of being told of his faults, and said that he was indebted to the Athenian orators for reproaching him on account of them.

4. The friends of the emperor Trajan having one day told him that he was very kind and indulgent; "I wish," replied he, "to behave myself to my subjects as I would wish kings to behave to me if I were reduced to lead a private life.

5. Charles V. king of France, surnamed the Wise, was endowed in a high degree with a talent for conversation, but was nevertheless very reserved in speaking. "It is a high qualification to be able to speak well," said one of his courtiers, on a certain occasion. "It is true," replied the king, but it is of no less importance to know when to be silent."

16. A young prince, who was heir apparent to the throne of Navarre, died in his 16th year. He was