Poetry.

Poetry .

HARVEST AND VINTAGE . BY A . J . DUGAXNE . 1 dreamed of a marvellous harvest , I dreamed of a threshing-floor ,

Where men , like grain , by angels twain , Were garnered in measureless store—All bound in sheaves , like corn in the leaves , And flailed from husk to core , And the angles sung , with voices sweet , " Out of the grain the dross we beat , Out of the chaff we winnow the wheat—True souls are the wheat of a nation ?"

I dreamed of a wonderful vintage , I dreamed of a winepress red , Where men , like grapes , by angel-shapes Were trodden with wrathful tread ; As grapes ye work , to must and to murk , And crush them shred by shred .

And the angels sang , with tongues divine , " Out of the murk the must we fine , Out of the grapes we mellow the wine-Brave hearts are the wine of a nation I "

I would that my dreams were real—That angels this land might beat , And scourge our sod with the flails of God , And scatter the chaff from the wheat , And mightily tread , in our winepress red , All dross beneath their feet ;

That our souls might sing , in joyous strain , " Out of the chaff the wheat we gain , Out of the murk the wine we drain—The wheat and the wine of our nation !"

I pray that the angel of Freedom May strive with the Angel of War , Till'men , like grain , these winnowers twain , Shall flail from husk to core ; Till men , like wine , in libation divine , To Thee , 0 God , they pour ;

And for evermore sing , with tongues divine , " God of the true . ' this wheat is thine ! God of the free ! receive this wine , The heart aud the soul of our nation ' . " —PBAIBIE FAEJIEB .

A FABLE . — " I have something more to ask you , " said a young eagle to a learned , melancholy owl ; " men say there is a bird named Merops , who , when ho rises in the air , flies with his tail upwards , his head towards the ground ; is that true ? " "Cerainly not ! " answered the owl , " it's only a foolish tradition of man . He is himself a Merops ; for he would fly to heaven without a moment losing sig ht of earth . "

Obituary.

Obituary .

ANOTHER OF BURNS' COTEMPORARIES GONE . ( From our own Correspondent . ) " We're wearin' awa ' To the land o' the leal . " We have this week to record the demise , at London , of Bro . John Hamilton , at the ripe age of 8-4 years ; formerly factor in

the service of the Marquis of Hastings , and also in that of the Duke of Portland . While the iron hand of death is ever and anon snapping , link by link , the chain connecting our own times with those of Caledonia's Bard , it is but rarely , indeed , that one can discover in the removal of the contemporaries of Burns the breaking of

a link in the " bright piaternal chain , " binding the Craftsmen of the present century to those forming the mystic circle of its immediate predecessor . The name of Hamilton is honourably associated with the personal history of Robert Burns long before the fame of his genius had introduced him to the notice of his countrymen ; and the brother whose death we are now called

upon to chronicle was the eldest son of a gentleman and brother whose memory is still revered on account of the generous patronage which he extended towards the Bard in the early stages of his poetical career . When the horizon of the Bard ' s prospects was dark and forbidding , in consequence of the failure of his first efforts at husbandry on his own account on the farm of Mossgeil , —when the sensibilities of his soul were moved by

the most poignant grief at the prospect of eternal separation from the wife of his bosom , —and when on the eve of becoming a voluntary exile from his native land , it wa then that the friendship of Gavin Hamilton for Burns stood out in bold relief in all its native purity ; and it was acting on his advice that the bard determined to launch upon the

literary world the first edition of bis poems , which , as we all know , were dedicated to . the same noble-minded benefactor . At that period of Burns' history , our deceased brother , John Hamilton , was the " weecurlie John" mentioned in the following lines of that dedication : —

" May health and peace with mutual rays , Shine on the evening of his days , Till his wee curlie John ' s ier-oe ; When ebbing life nae mail- shall flow , The last sad mournful rites bestow . " And the breathings of the poet's affection for bis open-hearted and open-handed patron , as given expression to in the concluding

stanzas of the same piece , are [ so redolent of the spirit of Masonry as to justify their being here quoted : — " But if ( which powers above prevent ) That iron-hearted carl , want , Attended in his grim advances , By sad mistakes and black mischances , While hopes and joys , and pleasures fly him ,

Make you as poor a dog as I am , Your humble servant then no more ; For who would humbly serve the poor , But by a poor man's hopes in heaven !

While recollection's power is given , If in the vale of humble life , The victim sad of fortune's strife , I thro' the tender gushing tear , Should recognise my master dear , If friendless , low , we meet together , Then , Sir , your hand , my friend and brother !" Nor did the Poet ' s muse content itself with singing the

virtues of Gavin Hamilton , but must needs pay homage to the charms of another member of the same family , Charlotte . Hamilton ( Gavin ' s eldest sister ) , was the theme of the beautiful