Forth hath she gone, from dewy field, And used to fondest care, To try the desert—will it yield One shelter from the glare? Where Innocence is shamed to quail Before the worldling’s mirth; And beautiful will learn to veil Its scorned, yet heavenly birth. Forth so she went, yet ’mid the pest, The blast of noxious night; A lamp burned stedfast at her breast, And cast its certain light. And oft she heard a mellowed tone Streaming above the din; A Voice that loves the pure and lone, And strengthens them within. O! there was joy, even unto pain, When, passed those days so drear, As music, Fanny’s steps again Fell on each aged one’s ear. And who, the gladdest of the glad, Stands at the gate? I pray. Is’t he who then a very lad So wept her going away? ’Tis he, who, while he fed his flowers, (Stronger her bright chain grew,) Saw constantly through haunted hours Those eyes of gentlest blue. * * * * * =THE ATMOSPHERE AND ITS CURRENTS.= [Illustration] It has been mentioned as a part of the planetary constitution of our globe, that a gaseous envelope environs its mass, the atmosphere, which requires the attention of the astronomer, on account of its influence in displacing the celestial bodies, and contributing to their visibility, by refracting and reflecting the rays of light. This elastic fluid is the scene of interesting phenomena, and performs important functions in the economy of nature. Besides being essential to the life of man, and the animal races, whose existence would terminate in a few minutes without the respiration of it; the exhalation of moisture from the surface of the earth is mainly owing to the common air we breathe, which receives and sustains the vapors formed into clouds, distributes them over different regions by its incessant motions, and tempers by its currents those extremes of heat and cold to which various localities are subject. It is in these last-named offices that the atmosphere demands the notice of the physical geographer. The consideration of its actual constitution does not belong to his province, but a general view of the fluid may be appropriate before we proceed to those agitations and changes which are in constant action, and upon which the welfare of organized beings so materially depends.