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Can all that optics teach unfold
Thy form to please me so,
As when I dreamt of gems and gold
Hid in thy radiant bow?

When science from creation's face
Enchantment's veil withdraws,
What lovely visions yield their place
To cold material laws!

And yet, fair bow, no fabling dreams,
But words of the Most High,
Have told why first thy robe of beams
Was woven in the sky.

When o'er the green undeluged earth

Heaven's covenant thou didst shine,
How came the world's grey fathers forth
To watch thy sacred sign!

And when its yellow lustre smiled
O'er mountains yet untrod,
Each mother held aloft her child
To bless the bow of God.

Methinks thy jubilee to keep,
The first made anthem rang
On earth delivered from the deep,
And the first poet sang.

Nor ever shall the Muse's eye
Unraptured greet thy beam:
Theme of primeval prophecy,
Be still the poet's theme!

The earth to thee her incense yields,
The lark thy welcome sings,
When glittering in the freshened fields
The snowy mushroom springs.

How glorious is thy girdle cast
O'er mountain, tower, and town,
Or mirrored in thy ocean vast,
A thousand fathoms down!

As fresh in yon horizon dark,
As young thy beauties seem,
As when the eagle from the ark
First sported in thy beam.

For, faithful to its sacred page,
Heaven still rebuilds thy span,
Nor lets the type grow pale with age
That first spoke peace to man.

CAMPBELL

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THEY were busily at work in Mrs. Gee's large workroom, those young needlewomen. In one part of the room three sewing-machines, attended by their ministering directresses, were merrily whirling and whirring, and making quick progress in seaming, hemming, and stitching; while in another part of the room were some half-score of nimble-fingered seamstresses, employed in the elaboration of delicate trimmings and the more complicated manipulations in the

DECEMBER, 1867.

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art of dressmaking, which could not be entrusted to the aforesaid machines.

It was a very comfortable room, well ventilated and nicely carpeted, with a pleasant look-out from the windows. on to the flat-leaded roof of a projecting parlour below~~ pleasant, because the nakedness of the dull roof was almost covered and hidden by evergreen shrubs in pots and boxes prettily arranged. It was winter, near the end of the year. In spring the shrubs would be removed, and replaced by a fresh arrangement of flowering plants, which through the whole summer would regale and cheer the happy company in the workroom with a succession of lovely tints and delicious perfumes.

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The happy company in the workroom! This is not written ironically, but in sober earnest. Mrs. Gee was a loving disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in her ordinary calling she did not think of putting her religion the shelf," but made manifest that it is possible to be "not slothful in business" while "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." Her Christian consideration embraced the whole course of her large and prosperous business. Her customers liked and respected her because she was moderate and conscientious in her charges; also, because she did not promise what she knew herself to be unable to perform. Her employées loved her because not only was the law of kindness on her lips, but in her heart. Whatever might be the case in other establishments, they were not overworked, ill-fed, and uncared for. On the contrary, Mrs. Gee really entertained the notion that her assistants and dependents were not only very much, but altogether like herself in all matters of humanity and feeling; and she treated them accordingly. They were made to understand and feel that their employer really cared for them—not only cared, too, for their personal comfort, but for their souls. Don't smile incredulously, reader; dressmakers have souls.

If you had looked round on the young people as they sat busily plying their needles, you could not have wished to see a more cheerful looking company. There were no sallow, unwholesome countenances; no bodily frames showing symptoms of early distortion because of long sitting at what is generally considered to be an unhealthy occupation; no discontented, scowling faces. Several were pious young women, for Mrs. Gee preferred giving employ

ment to such; and others, who were not thus decided, were under the restraint of religious association, and were modest, well-conducted, and intelligent.

Mrs. Gee's workroom was a sight worth seeing by curious female eyes on that particular winter's day. For some time almost all the young seamstresses had been busy in preparing a bridal outfit for a young lady whose wedding-day was quickly drawing near, and only the last few finishing strokes were needed to be put to some of the garments preparatory to their being packed up and sent to their destination. Meanwhile the room was gay and bright with those rich and rare joint products of the loom and needle, which may be better imagined than described.

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There, I think I have put the last stitch to that," said Lucy Smith, as she snipped asunder the silken thread which connected her needle with the beautiful robe which she then held up to the admiring gaze of her companions. It was the wedding-dress.

"Isn't it lovely?" she asked, with pardonable enthusiasm. And then Lucy sighed very gently, and yet just audibly. It might have been a sigh of relief, that the responsible work was turned out of hand without accident; or it might have been a sigh of regret that she could never expect to wear such an expensive robe on any possible occasion.

The other young women looked up at the object of admiration thus held at arm's length by flushed little Lucy, and gave it due meed of praise.

"Four hundred pounds! They say that Miss K-'s father gave her a cheque for four hundred pounds, only to provide her own wedding outfit," said Lucy.

"He can very well afford it, I suppose," another remarked, "if all that is said is true. He is thought to be the richest man in C- and he has certainly settled a

large fortune on his daughter." "And Miss K-'s husband, that is to be, is very rich too, isn't he?" asked a third speaker.

"He is said to be," replied the other; "at any rate he has spent a great deal of money in furnishing the house they are to live in; and he would hardly be allowed to marry Miss K- if he were not pretty nearly as well off as her father."

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Well, it does not matter to us," said Lucy, as she tenderly conveyed the beautiful and delicate dress to a glazed

wardrobe; "only"

And then she filled in the un

finished sentence with another gentle sigh.

Only what, Lucy?" The voice was Mrs. Gee's, who had entered the workroom while the little conversation was going on, and had noticed her young dressmaker's flushed face and her scarcely audible sigh.

Mrs. Gee was lovingly disposed towards Lucy Smith. She had known Lucy from childhood, before she received her into her employ as an outdoor apprentice first, and afterwards as an assistant, or regular hand; and she had always found her teachable and trustworthy. Lucy was intelligent, and, for her station, well-educated; so too was Mrs. Gee; and this similarity had drawn out the employer's sympathies towards her dependant. Another reason why Mrs. Gee had an almost tender regard for Lucy was, that they were not only fellow Christians sisters in the common faith, and members of the same church—but that the instructions and affectionate solicitude, the example and the prayers of the pious tradeswoman had been instrumental in bringing her young servant to religious decision. In a spiritual and Scriptural sense, therefore, Mrs. Gee and Lucy stood to each other in the relationship of mother and child.

It was very kindly, then, that Mrs. Gee interposed the interrogatory, "Only what, Lucy ?”

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Only it must be pleasant to be rich, ma'am," said Lucy, straightforwardly, but with a little blush.

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I am not sure that it must be pleasant, my dear; that would depend on circumstances. Riches do not make up the sum of human happiness. They are not even a principal ingredient in it."

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'No, ma'am, I suppose not," said Lucy, who by this time had resumed her seat and taken up a fresh piece of work which was waiting for her.

"And yet, Lucy, you sighed as though you almost envied Miss K- the happiness which seems to lie before her, and which you fancied to be beyond your reach," said the lady, with a smile.

"I don't think I envy her, ma'am; I am sure she is not really to be envied," returned the "for dressmaker; young I do not believe that riches have made her happy, at any rate."

"Perhaps not, Lucy; but we will not speculate upon that," said Mrs. Gee, rather checkingly; for she did not

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