A poetical squib which has gone the round of the U. S. papers is evidently based on the same original: The boy stood by the stable door And watched the pensive mule; A thoughtful attitude it wore, An air serenely cool. That boy approached its hinder end―― Let fall the pitying tears, “He’s gone to meet his brother, and His age was seven years.” [Illustration] THE BETTER LAND. “I hear thee speak of the Better Land, Thou callest its children a happy band; Mother, oh where is that radiant shore? Shall we not seek it, and weep no more? Is it where the flower of the orange blows, And the fire flies glance through the myrtle boughs?’ ――‘Not there, not there, my child!” “Is it where the feathery palm-trees rise, And the date grows ripe under sunny skies? Or ’midst the green islands of glittering seas, Where fragrant forests perfume the breeze, And strange, bright birds, on their starry wings, Bear the rich hues of all glorious things?’ ――‘Not there, not there, my child!” “Is it far away, in some region old, Where the rivers wander o’er sands of gold? Where the burning rays of the ruby shine, And the diamond lights up the secret mine, And the pearl gleams forth from the coral strand?―― Is it there, sweet mother, that better land?’ ――‘Not there, not there, my child!” “Eye hath not seen it, my gentle boy! Ear hath not heard its deep songs of joy; Dreams cannot picture a world so fair.―― Sorrow and death may not enter there; Time doth not breathe on its fadeless bloom, For beyond the clouds, and beyond the tomb, ――It is there, it is there, my child!” MRS. HEMANS. ―――― THE BEST HOTELS. “I’ve heard thee speak of a good hotel, Where they charged thee little and fed thee well; Mother, oh where is this hostel of thine, Shall we not seek it and go there to dine? Is’t in some fair city of the far North East, By the winding Wear?” “Oh! not in the least, Not there, not there, my child.” “Is’t among the people who love to boast Of their “Town Improvements” the princely cost? Who say that, to keep their bodies sound They have spent £100,000?[48] Where (when small-pox is absent[49]) Hygeia dwells, Is it there, is it there, this best of hotels!” “Not there, not there, my child.”