212 POETRY AND SCHOOLS.

us read no German, we must insist on her producing
the English. |

Mrs. Barry. I will spare Mary the confusion of
reading her own verses, which I find here enclosed in
the other papers; so here they are—we can have them
before the strawberries are served :—

‘* Ye unseen powers that ever stand and wait
Upon the heavenly Majesty, in love,
Say, do ye ever flag upon the wing,
And sink, like us, when ye should lightly move?
Or doth the sacred power that, flowing in,
Guides all ‘your impulses, so lift you high,
That ye are ever active, ever glad?
Ah, woe is me! I would be angel too;
But the flesh drags, and I am scarcely man!
Sink then I will, since I am slow to rise,
And bending, plunge me in my nothingness,
_ Content in humble thought that Christ is all.’

After the reading of the verses, which were pro-
nounced respectable by the critics, King Donald came
forward with the information that he was about to
honour the anniversary of Mary’s marriage with a
specimen of strawberries, which he had brought with
great care from the garden at the Oaks. These being
of superior kinds, were added to the stores from Dr.
Smith’s little beds. A table, spread under the elms,
had a pastoral look, which became almost Arcadian,
when heaps of the ruddy fruit were seen to alternate
with pitchers of cream. The conversation soon turned
on the case in hand, and learned opinions were expressed