Lowell he breathes the sweet air of leafy June, when "heaven tries the earth if it be in tune." Birds and fountains sing to him, and the universe is clothed with new life. The next part, entitled Heroism and Adventure, is remarkably spirited and attractive. Narratives in both prose and poetry, excite to the highest pitch the reader's admiration for the heroic and give this part of CROWN JEWELS an absorbing interest. "The Heart of the Bruce," "The Draw-Bridge Keeper," "The Fate of Virginia," by Lord Macaulay, "Jim Bludso," and many other heroic adventures, make the most daring creations of romance seem tame and powerless in comparison.

Sea Pictures comprise the most vivid descriptions of the sea ever gathered into one volume. The jolly tar who braves the dangers of the great deep, the treasures of coral and pearl hidden beneath the waves, the light-house that guides the weary mariner, the awful grandeur of the ocean-these and many other themes, treated by the most brilliant authors, render Sea Pictures peculiarly fascinating.

Under the title of Patriotism and Freedom the patriotic songs and epics which have aroused nations and helped to gain victories are collected.

Following these stirring appeals to the patriotic emotions is an unrivaled collection of the world's best thoughts, classified under Sentiment and Reflection. Here are the famous "Elegy" of Gray; Longfellow's "Psalm of Life"; "Evening Bells," by Moore; "The Last Leaf," by Holmes; the song of the "Irish Famine;" the "Wants of Man," by John Quincy Adams; Poe's mystic "Raven,” etc., etc.

Ballads of Labor and Reform present a fine collection of songs and poems peculiarly appropriate to the times. Here labor is dignified, and its magnificent achievements celebrated. Hood's "Song of the Shirt," and Charles Mackay's "Good Time Coming," are specimens of the numerous beautiful and touching productions.

The next part of CROWN JEWELS treats of Rural Life. Here are exquisite pictures of life in the country, such as the "Harvest Song," by Eliza Cook; "The Farmer's Wife," by Paul Hayne; "The Horseback Ride," by Grace Greenwood; "On the Banks of the Tennessee," by W. D. Gallagher;" the reader follows the "Ploughman," and "Mowers;" he rambles away with the "Angler" and "Barefoot Boy," and returns to enjoy the hospitality of the "Busy Housewife."

A number of exquisite productions are classified under the title of Sorrow and Adversity. Here Dickens describes the "Last Hours of Little Paul Dombey;" Charles Lewis tells "Bijah's Story;" Mrs. Stowe contributes a beautiful selection entitled "Only a Year;" Tom Hood with his "Bridge of Sighs" makes the breast heave and the lip quiver.

The next department comprises Persons and Places. The great authors, ex-, plorers, heroes, statesmen, orators, patriots, and painters of ancient and modern times are immortalized. Classic Athens; sacred Jerusalem; the golden Orient; sunny Italy; Thebes, with her hundred gates; Naples, whose every adjacent cliff flings on the clear wave some image of delight;" the Isles of Greece, "where burning Sappho loved and sung;" Russia's village scenes and Scotland's Highlands and old abbeys, are all commemorated in a manner that entrances the reader.

Then follow selections relating to Religious Life. In this department alone are nearly one hundred gems, each with its own peculiar beauty and attraction, by Pope, Cowper, Mrs. Sigourney, the Cary sisters, Newman, Ella Wheeler, and scores of others. The songs which have been sung clear round the globe, which have cheered the desponding, and brought peace to the troubled, are here set in attractive array.

Under the title of Childhood and Youth is an admirable collection of pieces interesting to young persons. Children and young people will read something, and only the best reading matter should be placed in their hands.

In Dramatic Selections are the masterpieces of the world's great dramatists. The sublime creations of Shakespeare, Coleridge, Knowles, Addison, Joanna Bailie, and others, and the sparkling effusions of Sheridan, Jerrold, and their compeers, are here presented for the instruction and delight of every reader.

Poetical Curiosities and Humorous Readings make up an extensive collection of quaint, curious and witty productions which are greatly relished by all readers. Irish wit, Scotch wit, German wit, Yankee wit, and every other kind of wit are given a place, and the great humorists, who have made the world healthier and better by making it laugh, here indulge in their favorite pastime.

By no possible arrangement could a greater variety of thoughts and topics be presented, while the Gems, both those that are new and those that are old favorites, are the finest, and most captivating in the literature of all ages.

In addition to the myriad of attractive features already named, the work is a Treasury of the Choicest Music. A great variety of songs and popular pieces by authors whose fame fills the earth, affords a source of entertainment for the home. These have been selected with great care, and charm all lovers of music. The aim has been to insert only the finest melodies, the sweetest songs that musical genius has produced.

This valuable work is elegantly embellished with a Galaxy of the most Beautiful Steel Plate Engravings, by artists of world-wide renown. The most entrancing scenes are reproduced in these charming pages, forming a magnificent picture gallery. CROWN JEWELS is a work of Art, and each of its many superb illustrations is a beauty and a delight.

The book contains a Biographical Dictionary, giving in concise form those facts concerning the most renowned authors which the reading public desire to know. This is a very valuble feature of the book.

3

LOVE LIGHTENS LABOR,

a

GOOD wife rose from her bed one morn,
And thought with a nervous dread

Toil without recompense, tears all in vain,—
Take them, and give me my childhood again!
I have grown weary of dust and decay,—
Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away;

Of the piles of clothes to be washed, and more Weary of sowing for others to reap ;—
Than a dozen mouths to be fed.

There's the meals to get for the men in the field,

And the children to fix away

To school, and the milk to be skimmed and churned;
And all to be done this day.

It had rained in the night, and all the wood
Was wet as it could be ;

There were puddings and pies to bake, besides
A loaf of cake for tea.

And the day was hot, and her aching head
Throbbed wearily as she said,

"If maidens but knew what good wives know,
They would not be in haste to wed!"

"Jennie, what do you think I told Ben Brown?"
Called the farmer from the well;

And a flush crept up to his bronzèd brow,
And his eyes half bashfully fell;

"It was this," he said, and coming near

He smiled, and stooping down,

Rock me to sleep, mother,-rock me to sleep!
Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,
Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you!
Many a summer the grass has grown green,
Blossom'd and faded, our faces between :
Yet, with strong yearning and passionate pain,
Long I to-night for your presence again.
Come from the silence so long and so deep ;--
Rock me to sleep, mother,-rock me to sleep!
Over my heart in the days that are flown,
No love like mother-love ever has shone;
No other worship abides and endures,—
Faithful, unselfish, and patient like yours:
None like a mother can charm away pain
From the sick soul and the world-weary brain.
Slumber's soft calms o'er my heavy lids creep ;—
Rock me to sleep, mother,―rock me to sleep!
Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold,

Kissed her cheek—"'twas this, that you were the best Fall on your shoulders again as of old;

And the dearest wife in town!"

The farmer went back to the field, and the wife
In a smiling, absent way
Sang snatches of tender little songs

She'd not sung for many a day.

And the pain in her head was gone, and the clothes
Were white as the foam of the sea;

Her bread was light, and her butter was sweet,
And as golden as it could be.

"Just think," the children all called in a breath,
"Tom Wood has run off to sea!

"He wouldn't, I know, if he'd only had

As happy a home as we."

The night came down, and the good wife smiled
To herself, as she softly said:

"Tis so sweet to labor for those we love,-
It's not strange that maids will wed!"

ROCK ME TO SLEEP.

ACKWARD, turn backward, O Time, in your
flight,

Make me a child again just for to-night!
Mother, come back from the echoless shore,
Take me again to your heart as of yore;
Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care,
Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair;
Over my slumbers your loving watch keep ;-
Rock me to sleep, mother,-rock me to sleep!
Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years!
I am so weary of toil and of tears,—

Let it drop over my forehead to-night,
Shading my faint eyes away from the light;
For with its sunny-edged shadows once more
Haply will throng the sweet visions of yore;
Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep ;—
Rock me to sleep, mother,-rock me to sleep!
Mother, dear mother, the years have been long
Since I last listen'd your lullaby song:
Sing, then, and unto my soul it shall seem
Womanhood's years have been only a dream.
Clasp'd to your heart in a loving embrace,
With your light lashes just sweeping my face,
Never hereafter to wake or to weep ;-
Rock me to sleep, mother,―rock me to sleep!
ELIZABETH AKERS ALLEN.

a

NOBODY'S CHILD.

LONE in the dreary, pitiless street,
With my torn old dress and bare cold feet,
All day I've wandered to and fro,

Hungry and shivering and nowhere to go;
The night's coming on in darkness and dread,
And the chill sleet beating upon my bare head;
Oh! why does the wind blow upon me so wild?
Is it because I'm nobody's child?

Just over the way there's a flood of light,
And warmth and beauty, and all things bright:
Beautiful children, in robes so fair,
Are caroling songs in rapture there.
I wonder if they, in their blissful glee,
Would pity a poor little beggar like me,