'Twas thus, as under shade I stood, I sung my wishes to the wood;

And, lost in thought, no more perceiv'd The branches whisper as they wav'd: It seem'd as if the quiet place, Confess'd the presence of the grace, When thus she spoke-" Go rule thy will, "Bid thy wild passions all be still, "Know God, and bring thy heart to know, "The joys which from Religion flow. "Then every grace shall prove its guest, "And I'll be there to crown the rest."

PARNELL.

My young readers are most of them too well taught to believe that a real female did give the above answer to the poet. We are not to suppose this, any more than that real birds and beasts spoke, in Æsop's fables. The poet wishing to teach us that true contentment is only to be found in the paths of religion, draws a picture of a lady, whose name was Contentment, who gives her answer to the poet who asks where true happiness and content are to be found. They are to be found in Religion." Know God," and the "joys of religion," and you will have contentment and peace.

LORD ROCHESTER'S PRAYER.

JOHN Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, lived in the reign of king Charles the second; he was a very wicked and profligate man; but, in his last sickness, he experienced such dreadful misery from the consciousness of his past sins, that the account of his sufferings and his repentance *, is calculated to make every one who reads it see the danger and wretchedness of a life spent without the fear of God. Lord Rochester died before he had completed his thirty-fourth year. He had written a great deal that was loose and profane ; but, through God's grace, he was brought to see his sin, and to seek after what was right, before he was carried off. He is said to have written the following prayer during his last illness.

To Thee, O God, at last, tho' late, I turn, Not for my sickness, but my sins I mourn;

*Bishop Burnet's history of the life and death of the Earl of Rochester.

*

For all my crimes, thy mercy I implore, And seek thy grace that I may sin no

more.

I beg thy goodness to prolong my breath, And give me life, but to prepare for death. Pardon, O pardon my transgressions past! Lord, I repent, make my repentance last: Let me again this mortal race begin,

Let me live on, but not live on to sin, Which if thy heavenly wisdom think unfit, Thy will be done;" I willingly submit. But then let mercy bear the sov❜reign sway, Or man can ne'er abide the dreadful day. Oh! by the cross and passion of thy Son, Whose sacred death the life of man has won;

By that dear blood which our redemption

cost,

And by the coming of the Holy Ghost,
Deliver me, amidst the worst to come,
In th' hour of death, and in the day of doom.

SCRIPTURE.

See that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Ephes. v. 15.

National School Magazine.

NO. 21.]

FEBRUARY 15th, 1825.

[VOL II,

SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLAND. (No. XI. Continued from p. 20.)

AFTER the death of Henry the Third, his son Edward the First became king.

E

Young Edward had, been, for some years, during his father's life time, in the Holy Land, fighting against the infidels. In this war, we read that he was wounded by a treacherous assassin with a poisoned arrow, and that his affectionate wife, queen Eleanor, sucked the poison out of the wound, and thus saved his life. Edward was returning home from the Holy Land, when he heard of the king's death. After he got to England, he was crowned king, and all the people were greatly pleased at having this bold young man, and his excellent queen, to reign over them. Edward tried to make the nation flourishing and great; and, for this purpose, he granted the people many privileges, and he made war against the Welsh, with the intention of adding Wales to his dominions. But this was not easy, for the Welsh were a brave and hardy people, and too fond of their country to give it up to the king of England. They were encouraged too, by their bards or poets, who made songs on the greatness of their country, and sung them to their harps, and thus raised the courage of