The Little Child's Poet's Corner.

THE CUCKOO.

HAIL! beauteous stranger of the grove,
Thou messenger of Spring!
How Heaven repairs thy rural seat,
And woods thy welcome sing.

What time the daisy decks the green
Thy certain voice we hear;
Hast thou a star to guide thy path,
Or mark the rolling year ?

Delightful visitant! with thee

I hail the time of flowers,

And hear the sounds of music sweet
From birds among the bowers.

The schoolboy wandering through the wood,
To pull the primrose gay,

Starts, the new voice of Spring to hear,
And imitates the lay.

Soon as the pea puts on its bloom,

Thou fliest thy vocal vale,

An annual guest in other lands,

Another Spring to hail.

THE DOUBLE PRAYER.

A MOTHER bent above the couch
Where her tired children lay,
Tired, in the evening time,

Of the pleasures of the day.
Already, on one's rosy cheek,
The hue of sleep was cast;
The other heard his mother's step,
And called her, as she past,
To give him yet another kiss!
The dearest and the last.

"Good night, my darling one," she said, "But hast thou said thy prayer, That God, and his good Angels,

Should keep thee in their care ?”
The child arose, and kneeling
Beside his little cot;

Prayed, as a child can only pray,
Whom doubt assaileth cot:

Alas! that knowledge should but dim
The lustre of our lot!

His young face looked so pure and good,
So full of hope and lightness,
She sighed to think that earthly ill
Must ever mar its brightness:

But hush! the little prayer is said,
And registered in Heaven:
The parting blessing for the night,
With many a kiss, is given;
And closing were his heavy eyes,
Where sleep so long had striven.

But the little brother turned and sighed,
As though some restless dream
Was casting its dark shadow,

Where sunshine else had been:
And the child, though weary, rose again,
And knelt upon the floor,
To say that simple prayer again,

That he had said before:

A mortal could not wish it less,
Nor Angels have it more.

And when the prayer was finished,
He said, as to explain-
"This, God, is for my brother,
He won't forget again."
And then the smile came stealing
To the little sleeper's face;
And both were soon unconsciously
Entwined in one embrace,

The bursting songs of Angels

Re-echoed round that place.

APA," said little John Wilson, "why are the Jews so different in appearance to other people? I should know one, any where, from his peculiar appearance and his manner of talking."

MR. W.-"That may be true, John,

to a certain extent; the Jews have preserved a great national resemblance, for they were interdicted, by the divine command, from marrying among the people with whom they lived when taken captives: this peculiar resemblance has been handed down through many generations."

JOHN." Papa, I should like to hear more about the Jews: you promised to tell Emma and myself something

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about them, in connexion with Queen Esther's history. Will you do so now, if you please?"

MR. W. "Yes, John, if you like,-their history and sufferings are full of interest. At the period of Queen Esther's history, the Jews had their kingdom invaded by Shalmaneser, the King of Assyria, who conquered it. He collected the inhabitants, together, put them under the direction of proper leaders, and transported them into the country of the Medes and Assyrians,—or Persia.

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The Israelites from thence spread themselves, by degrees, over the northern parts of Asia; and neither they, nor their posterity, ever returned to their own country, which was given to other inhabitants sent from the provinces of Asia. Thus an end was put to the kingdom of Israel, by a total ruin of the ten tribes that composed it.

"In the year of the world, 3398, Jerusalem was besieged by King Nebuchadnezzar, who took King Jehoiakim prisoner, bound him in chains, and carried him, with Daniel and other noble youths, to Babylon."

JOHN. 66

Was this the beginning of what is called the captivity, papa?"

MR. W. "Yes, John, the Babylonish captivity, which lasted for seventy years. Nebuchadnezzar took possession of the sacred vessels and treasury of the Temple which Solomon had finished with so much art and magnificence. The people dwindled away and sunk by degrees.

JOHN. "Was that the end of the Kingdom of Judah, also?"

MR. W. "No. That took place some time after, in the year 3416. Judah was abandoned under the follow