11. When the procession had passed, the iron gate was closed, and the multitude behind were left to. look through the railing, while the crowded company of ladies and gentlemen, who had been admitted, went on, and gathered round the place of interment. Every place in this part of the Abbey was soon occupied, every nook and corner filled. Some climbed upon the pedestals of the different monuments, and others stood clinging to iron railings. The choir of singers was arranged on one side of the grave; the bishops and dignitaries of the church stood near.

12. After the procession had thus been arranged at the grave, the body was taken from the bier and laid at the mouth of the tomb. While the preparations were making to lay it in the earth, the choir began to sing in those most impressive words of the Burial Service, "I am the Resurrection and the Life." * * "Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live." * * "He cometh up and is cut down like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay. In the midst of life we are in death."

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13. While these solemn passages were sung, the body was deposited in its last resting-place, and the clergyman who conducted the obsequies of this his deceased brother, pronounced over the opened grave, which had just received its tenant, "We commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; looking for the general resurrection in the last day, and the life of the world to come,

through our Lord Jesus Christ."

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14. And the chcir responded, "I heard a voice form heaven, saying unto me, Write from hence

forth, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; even so saith the Spirit; for they rest from their labours."

Thus closes the earthly history of William Wilberforce, the Christian statesman. He has left, however, in the hearts of the Christian world, a far more permanent monument, than the majestic pile of buildings which covers his mortal remains.

LESSON ΧΙ.

A CHRISTMAS HYMN.

1. Он lovely voices of the sky,

Which hymn'd a Saviour's birth!
Are ye not singing still on high,
Ye that sang "Peace on earth?"
To us yet speak the strains,
Wherewith, in times gone by,
Ye bless'd the Syrian swains,
Oh voices of the sky!

2. Oh clear and shining light, whose beams
That hour heaven's glory shed

Around the palms, and o'er the streams,
And on the shepherd's head!

Be near through life and death,
As in that holiest night
Of hope, and joy, and faith,
Oh clear and shining light!

3. Oh star! which led to Him, whose love
Brought down man's ransom free,
Where art thou? midst the host above
May we still gaze on thee?

In heaven thou art not set;
Thy rays earth may not dim;
Send them to guide us yet,

Oh star which led to Him!

MRS. HEMANS.

LESSON ΧΙΙ.

THE LOST CHILD FOUND.

1. A FEW years since a child was lost in the woods. He was out with his brothers and sisters gathering berries, and accidentally was separated from them and lost. The children after looking in vain for some time in search of the little wanderer, returned just in the dusk of the evening, to inform their parents that their brother was lost and could not be found. The woods at that time were infested with bears. darkness of a cloudy night was rapidly coming on, and the alarmed father, gathering a few of his neighbours, hastened in search of the lost child.

The

2. The mother remained at home, almost distractèd with suspense. As the clouds gathered and the darkness increased, the father and the neighbours, with highly excited fears, traversed the woods in all directions, and raised loud shouts to attract the attention of the child. But their search was in vain. They could find no trace of the wanderer; and as they stood under the boughs of the lofty trees, and listened, that if possible they might hear his feeble voice; no sound was borne to their ears but the melancholy moaning of the wind as it swept through the thick branches of the forest. The gathering clouds threatened an approaching storm, and the deep darkness of the night had already enveloped them.

3. It is difficult to conceive what were the feelings of that father. And who could imagine how deep the agony which filled the bosom of that mother, as she heard the wind, and beheld the darkness in which her child was wandering? The search continued in vain till nine o'clock in the evening. Then one of the party was sent back to the village to collect the inhabitants for a more extensive search.The bell rung the alarm, and the cry of fire resounded through the streets. It was, however, ascertained that it was not fire which caused the alarm, but that the bell tolled to spread the more solemn tidings of a child lost.

4. Every heart sympathized in the sorrows of the distracted parents. Soon the multitudes of the people were seen ascending the hill upon the declivity of which the village was situated, to aid in the search. Ere long the rain began to fall, but no tidings came back to the village of the lost child.Hardly an eye was that night closed in sleep, and there was not a mother who did not feel for the agonized parents. The night passed away, and the morning dawned, and yet no tidings came. At last those engaged in the search met together, and held a consultation. They made arrangements for a more minute and extended search, and agreed that in case the child was found, a gun should be fired to give a signal to the rest of the party.

5. As the sun arose the clouds were dispelled, and the whole landscape glittered in the rays of the bright morning. But that village was deserted and still. The stores were closed, and business was hushed. Mothers were walking the streets with sympathizing countenances and anxious hearts.There was but one thought there-what has become of the lost child? All the affections and interests of the community were flowing in one deep and broad channel towards the little wanderer.

6. About nine in the morning, the signal gun was fired which announced that the child was found, and for a moment how dreadful was the suspense! Was it found a mangled corpse, or was it alive and well? Soon a joyful shout proclaimed the safety of the child. The shout was borne from tongue to tongue, till the whole forest rung again with the joyful acclamations of the multitude. A commissioned messenger rapidly bore the tidings to the distracted mother. A procession was immediately formed by those engaged in the search. The child was placed upon a platform, hastily constructed from the boughs of trees, and borne in triumph at the head of the procession.

7. When they arrived at the brow of the hill, they rested for a moment, and proclaimed their success with three loud and animated cheers. The procession then moved on, till they arrived in front of the dwelling, where the parents of the child resided. The mother, who stood at the door, with streaming eyes and throbbing heart, could no longer