Christian Morals.

some , who , though they would fain reach happiness , and though they offer themselves to true education , yet are rejected by her , as reprobates , and are disowned . The blessings they seek , it seems , are not for them ; though we are not told that they come improperly prepared to receive them .

We AA"ill conclude by noticing what may seem a defect in the "Table . " It is that there is no mention of a Supreme Being in it . But perhaps this is a seeming , ana not a real defect . At any rate one of our own sacred books , that of Esther , contains no mention of , or allusion toa deity .

, We have now finished with the " Table "—its imagery , morality , Christianity , and Masonry ; and could Avish the little work were more generally read in schools . T . II . P .

Visit To Stratford-On-Avon And Its Vicinage.

VISIT TO STRATFORD-ON-AVON AND ITS VICINAGE .

Br BEO . GEOEGE MAEKKAM TAVEB-DEEE , Author of "Sliahspere : his Tunes anj , Contemporaries , " d-j "Far from the sun and Summer gale , In thy green lap was Nature's Darling laid , AVhat time , where lucid Avon siray'd , To him the mihty mother did unveil

g Her awful force : the dauntless child Stretclr'd forth his little arms , and smiled . 'This pencil take , ' she said , ' whose colours clear Richly paint the vernal year : Thine too these golden keys , immortal boy ! This can unlock the gates of Joy ; Of Horrors that , and thrilling Fears ,

Or ' ope the sacred source of sympathetic Tears . '" GIIAY ' S Ode on the Progress of Poetry . There are few things afford me greater pleasure than to visit sylvan scenes and historic sites ; and , much as I would like to see other lands , I ha've no Avish to go abroad until I have thoroughly explored every nook and corner of my nati \ e isle . I am well enough content to know other countries only through the medium of pictures and books : but for this dear old Albion—the land of my

forefathers and of myself , the birthplace also of my wife and our children—this beloved island for which so many brave men , whose blood is in my own veins , haAre liAred and laboured , haA'e fought and died—I have an intense desire to see it , from the Land ' s Eud to John o' Groats ; to look from every mountain dovra upon the plains and A ^ alleysand from the plains and valleys up to the

sky-, kissed hills ; to linger by lakes and rivers , and to thread my way through what yet remains of our ancient forests ; to muse on the sands and cliffs of the sea-shore ; to worshi p in old churches and cathedrals ; to contemplate by the ruins of castles and monasteries ; to tread battle fields , once red with human gore , now green with

the grassy sAvard on Avhich the lambkin plays Avithout dismay ; to look upon every spot where a martyr has died ; to enter the birthplace of the gifted and the good ; and reverently to visit those tombs of the departed great , which so forcibly remind one of the great truth , that " a time will comeand the wisest of us know net how soon "

, , when our OAVU brief lives will be brought to a close , as those of the bravest , the wisest , and the best have been before us . But most especially had I longed , from my childhood , to visit the good old town of Stratford-on-Avon ; the place where my beloved Shakspere was born and reared ; the town with whicheven during his

resi-, dence in London , he never ceased to ha \ -e' some connection ; nud to which , after his retirement from the stage , he returned to spend the evening of his life , and to lay his mortal remains , after his matchless spirit had " shuffled

off , " its "mortal coil . " But ever had there been some barrier to my visit . Sometimes I had duties to perform Avhich would not admit of my absence from home ; but oftener , because I was , like certain "tenant bodies , " mentioned by our brother , Eobert Burns—" scant o ' cash , " and the funds necessary for the journey were

obliged to be devoted to other purposes . More than once had I not , without considerable effort , got money and time apparently to unite iu favouring me A \ ith a good opportunity for my long AA'ished for pilgrimage ; but , alas ! when the time came , interest and duty alike told me that it would be wise on my part to forfeit my OAVU tripand

, spend the money over " change of air" for one of the best of wives , AVIIO in all difficulties has stood firml y by me , when less fragile forms perhaps would have forsook me . Difficulties are not always a curse , though to the coAvard and the base they are eA'er so ; but , to the brave of heart , they are only trials ; and , if Ave Avill but

learn to endure them with patience and humility , the Most High will eventually turn them into blessings for us " with healing on their wings . " And now that I look back upon my visit to Stratford-on-Avon—for I did get it at last—it does not diminish from the exquisite pleasure of the recollection , that Whitsuntide after

Whitsuntide , I forfeited my life-long wished for trip , in order that the faithful wife of my bosom , and the mother of my children , mig ht have her failing health reinvigorated by a , n " out" ( as the Lancashire people say ) instead ; for , as my true friend , Charles Swain , has truly in his delig htful poem of " The Mind .- "—

1 "Love ? I will tell thee Avhat it is to love ! It is to build with human thoughts a shrine , AVlicro Hope sits brooding like a beauteous doA-e ; Where Time seems young—and Life a thing divine . All tastes—all pleasures—all desires combine To consecrate this sanctuary of bliss , Above—the stars in shroudless beauty shine , —

Around—the streams their flowery margins kiss , — And if there ' s heaven on earth , that heaven is surely this Yes , this is love , —tho steadfast and the true ; Tho immortal glory Avhickhath never set ; The best , the brightest boon the heart e ' er knew : Of all life's SAveets the very SAveetest yet ! Ohwho but can recal the eve they met

, To breathe , in some green Avaik their first young vow , Whilst summer flowers Avith moonlight dews were wet , And Avinds sigh'd soft around the mountain ' s brow , — And all was rapture then , Avhich is but memory now . The true Freemason Avill always find pleasure iu the performance of his duty , whether it be to Godhis neighbour ,

, or himself ; or , what is most Masonic of all , to the three combined , not to speak it profanely , as a sort of trinity in unity . For , as one ( Wordsworth ) who was a Freemason in his heart , though perhaps he knew it not , has well observed : —

Possessions vanish , and opinions change , And passion holds a fluctuating seat , Jlufc , subject neither to eclipse nor wane , Duty remains . Great , therefore , was my joy , when , at Whitsuntide , 1859 , I was enabled to reconcile my visit to

Stratfordon-Avon and its vicinage , not only with convenience but with duty ; and Avhen I inform the reader that , though previously , my whole life had , with little exception , been passed among bucolic scenes , for upwards of four years I hail been pent up in the cotton district , labouring to teach and elevate poor ragged children , whose clothes

had , many of them , been picked out of rag-bags , and nearly all were loaded with miasina , and that our premises Avere considered about the Avorst adapted for the Avork of any in England , I dtall not task human