And with a fuller voice than the wind, a deeper tone than the bird, Came the answer from the solemn sea, that Nature, pausing, heard,-- 'The corn will be garnered, the lark will be hushed at the frown of the wintry weather, The sun will fly from the snow-piled sky, but I go on for ever!'" It would be a pleasure to reproduce some of her poems dealing with the romantic legends of her native shire, but the space at our disposal does not permit this; they may, however, be found in her published works. We close with some pretty lines on the bells she loved so well:-- THE WHITBY BELLS. "The Whitby bells, so full and free, They ring across the sunny sea, That the great ocean god, who dwells 'Mid coral groves and silvery shells, Wakes to the summons joyously. O'er the purpling moors and ferny dells Sound the sweet chimes, and bird and bee Pause, hearing over land and lea The Whitby bells. And as the mellow music swells One listener to the Whitby bells Feels all the days that used to be, Speak in the blended harmony; They shrine life--death--and their farewells, The Whitby bells." A Poet and Novelist of the People: Thomas Miller. On the roll of self-taught authors, Thomas Miller is entitled to a high place, and amongst Victorian men of letters he holds an honourable position. He enriched English literature with many charming works on country life and scenes. Although his career was not eventful, it is not without interest, furnishing a notable instance of a man surmounting difficulties and gaining distinction. He was born on August 31st, 1808, at Gainsborough, a quaint old Lincolnshire town, situated on the banks of the river Trent. His father held a good position, being a wharfinger and shipowner; he died, however, when his son was a child, without making provision for his wife, who had to pass some years in pinching poverty. Young Thomas received a very limited education at school, and according to his own account he only learned "to write a very indifferent hand, and to read the Testament tolerably." His playmate was Thomas Cooper, the Chartist and Poet, and this notable man, in his autobiography, has much to say about the boyhood of our hero. Mrs. Miller, to provide for her family, had to sew sacks. Says Thomas Cooper, "She worked early and late for bread for herself and her two boys; but would run in, now and then, at the back door, and join my mother for a few whiffs at the pipe. And then away they would go again to work, after cheering each other, to go stoutly through the battle of life."