face. At this moment of painful uncertainty, the mother drew her close to her side, and kissed her fondly, when at once the truth flashed upon the child, and all mistrust and anxiety disappeared from her flushed face, as, with an expression of exceeding joy, she eagerly nestled in the bosom of her parent, and yielded herself to her embraces. the

After this, the beads were all unheeded, playthings which were offered to her were utterly disregarded; her playmates, for whom but a moment before she gladly left the stranger, now vainly strove to pull her from her mother; and though she yielded her usual instantaneous obedience to my signal to follow me, it was evidently with painful reluctance. She clung close to me, as if bewildered and fearful; and when, after a moment, I took her to her mother, she sprang to her arms, and clung to her with eager joy." The subsequent parting was affecting.

"Laura accompanied her mother to the door, clinging close to her all the way, until they arrived at the threshold, where she paused and felt around, to ascertain who was near her. Perceiving [or feeling] the matron, of whom she is very fond, she grasped her with one hand, holding on convulsively to her mother with the other, and thus she stood for a moment-then she dropped her mother's hand-put her handkerchief to her eyes, and, turning round, clung sobbing to the matron, while her mother departed with emotions as deep as those of her child."

111

A WELCOME TO SPRING.
THRICE welcome, sweet reviving Spring,
I love to feel thy breezes blow,
To hear thy happy songsters sing,
To see thy lowly flowerets grow.

I love the fragrance in the breeze,

That sighs through every budding grove : And gladly each spare moment seize, 'Mong pure delights like these to rove.

I love to rove o'er daisied hill,

Or verdant vale, or grassy plain;

Or linger by some rippling rill,
And sing of spring's return again.
But ah! my heart, wilt thou not swell,
With love to Jesus, Lord of all?
May every fond emotion tell

His praise, whose mercies hourly fall.
Nottinghamshire,

E. M. M.

THE Horse is believed to exist in a finer state in Arabia than in any other part of the world. He is there remarkable for his elegant form and great spirit and swiftness, as well as for a gentleness of demeanour even more extraordinary, though it is probably in part the effect of the circumstances in which he lives. Arabian horses are of medium stature, and of a brown colour, with short black tails and manes. Formerly many lived in a wild state in the deserts which cover so much of the soil of Arabia, and were caught, not by the chase-for that was impossible

-but by entangling them in concealed pits; after which they were reduced to subjection by hunger and fatigue. But for many years, in consequence of the great demand for Arabian horses, they are rarely seen in a wild state. As domesticated animals, they are numerous, being very useful to the people in their wandering and predatory life, and forming a valuable article of commerce. The same breed has been spread into Barbary, and thence into Spain, Italy, and other European countries. They were introduced into England in the seventeenth century, and, having since been bred with great care, there is perhaps no country out of Arabia itself where they are in a finer state. They are what we usually call blood, or race horses.

The horse probably has existed in the same condition in Arabia from the earliest ages. The country of Job being in Arabia, and the book which bears his name being probably 3500 years old, we may consider the following passage as descriptive of an Arabian war-horse of that early age:"Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage. He saith

among the trumpets, Ha, Ha! and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains and the shouting." He is involved in the most ancient superstitions of the people. They believe him to be endowed with a nature superior, not in degree only, but in kind, to that of other animals, and to have been framed by the Almighty with a special regard to the convenience of man and the setting forth of his person. It is one of their old proverbs, that, after mar, the most eminent creature is the horse; the best employment is that of rearing it; the most delightful posture is that of sitting upon its back; and the most meritorious of domestic actions is that of feeding it.

When the animal is born, the owner carefully receives it in his arms, and so cherishes it for several hours, washing and stretching its tender limbs, and caressing it as he would a baby. In time, he places it on its legs, and from its first movements prognosticates its future excellencies or defects. He ties the ears together over its head, that they may assume an upward-pointed direction, and presses the tail outwards that it may be carried high. At the end of a month the colt is weaned, and for the space of a hundred days after it is allowed no food but camel's milk. Gradually, and with great care, it is accustomed to eat wheat and barley. Some, however, feed it with a paste composed of dates; others, for the sake of encouraging spirit, give