Musing.

The birds ever singing to me Are emblems of innocent love , Typify ing what we may be ' When our souls are happy above . ^ I muse , sweet sounds from afar , Like murmurs that float o'er the sea

, Gomroiugle to pleasantly jar , And come with the breezes to me . Can it be that Spirits of Air , The souls of the Blessed and Good , When mortals a message they bear , That their purport may be understood ,

By influence or essence unseen , A spell o ' er the senses they cast , That maketh us live o ' er each scene Of life that was blissfully pass'd 1 If so , then it is when we dream , But whisp ' rings of friends that we hear ,

An exchange of thought it doth seem , And union with those that are dear . The message that comes on the wind Brings tidings of joy to my heart ; 'Tis sweetly confiding to find That love is of heaven our part . The sorrows of earth are but brief

, The joys of eternity last ; 'Tis better to live without grief , And cheerful instead of downcast . Then come ye bright visions to me , O ' er my senses be casting your spell ; When musing alone by the sea ,

My soul on such fancies shall dwell . JOHN SAFFERY , J . D ., De Shurland Lodge , No . 1089 .

An Old, Old Story.

AN OLD , OLD STORY .

CHAPTER IV . Wir sitzen so frblich beisammen , Wir haben reinande so lieb . A C ARLSBAD DITTY . LIE memorable picnic had come and gone the way of all such events and all such

arrangements in this world , and the party at the Cedars had fallen back into their formal life of easy-going comfort and placidit y . Like many other similar affairs of the * ndthe icnic had turned out somewhat

, p ™ U and certainly very commonplace , t oor j \ ir _ Williams especially thought so , ils he had but small chance of getting a word in eVeu with the fair Lucy—for with " alter Mainwaring on the one side , and

Col . Mackintosh on the other , she seemed to be with an escort whose vig ilance was never relaxed , and whose presence was a great impediment to a silly or a spoony young man . But to do Lucy justice , she was not a bit of a flirt . She was herself

perfectly happy in the company of her two chief friends , and though Miss Margerison was most cordial to Mr . Williams , it was quite patent to the most careless observer , that Mr . Mainwaring and the Colonel looked on Mr . Williams as not belonging to their little party .

Poor man ! It is a sad thing , is it not , the sense of worth unappreciated , of love rejected 1 It is curious , however , how we all get over the " most dreadful trial of outlives , " when we tell all . whom we can decently borewith lagubrious tones and

, lengthened faces , that " we shall never recover it , no never ! " But yet we do . Emily Maitland , as she now is , ( nee Bonner ) , once thought when she gave up Frank Mortimer and married Walter Maitlandas she said to please her " dear

, parents" ( he being a much better parti , by the way ) , " that it was a very great trial for her , for she had known what it was to love and to be loved . "

I saw her the other day , the best of wives and the cheeriest of women . She has got a daughter Ethel coming out , as good-looking and as dangerous as herself , and as she told me confidentially , "knowing from experience , how young girls' affections may be wronglbestowedshe is very

y , anxious that her darling and pretty Ethel should make no mistake , and should pick up the right man . " And I quite agree with her . There is Willie Hope . Willie once told all his friends distinctly , that " if Edith Manners married the Honourable Thomas

de Lacy , he should go to India , and should never get over it . " But strange to say he has . Edith Manners did marry the Honourable Thomas ; Willie Pope did not go to India , and has long got over it . He wentdown into Scotland to " shoot grouse , " with his uncle , the gallant General . He met a Scotch lassie with a nice little

fortune , ringlets and two blue eyes , who sang , " Cam ye by Athol , " and " Are ye sure the news is true , " & c , & c , ( as I once heard them say of old , ) so effectively , that Willie has long been , to his uncle ' s