"The shadows round the inland sea
Are deepening into night,
Slow up the slopes of Ossipee
They chase the lessening light.
Tired of the long day's blinding heat
I rest my languid eye,

Lake of the Hills! where, cool and sweet,
Thy sunset waters lie!

"Along the sky, in wavy lines,
O'er isle and reach and bay,
Green belted with eternal pines,
The mountains stretch away.
Below, the maple masses sleep

Where shore with water blends,
While midway on the tranquil deep
The evening light descends."

The following extract from his "Summer by the Lake-side," giving expression to the deeper feelings awakened by the outward beauty he delineates, will perhaps form a not inappropriate conclusion to this chapter:

"Transfused through you, O mountain friends!
With mine your solemn spirit blends,
And life no more hath separate ends.

"I read each misty mountain sign,

I know the voice of wave and pine,
And I am yours, and you are mine.

"Life's burdens fall, its discords cease,
I lapse into the glad release

Of Nature's own exceeding peace.

"O, welcome calm of heart and mind!
As falls yon fir-tree's loosened rind
To leave a tenderer growth behind:

"So fall the weary years away;
A child again, my head I lay
Upon the lap of this sweet day.

"This western wind hath Lethean powers,
Yon noon-day cloud Nepenthe showers,
The lake is white with lotus flowers!

"Rocked on her breast, these pines and I
Alike on Nature's love rely;

And equal seems to live or die,

"Assured that He whose presence fills
With light the spaces of these hills,
No evil to His creatures wills,

"The simple faith remains, that He
Will do, whatever that may be,
The best alike for man and tree."

MARTHA SMITH.

VOICE FROM SOUTHAMPTON.-No. XXI.

SKATING, chess, cricket! But why should these pastimes be placed within the precincts of the lively Packet Port? Chiefly this-firstly, that all three are "sciences" (if we may be allowed the term) which have their representative clubs here; and, secondly, that each of them has a large number of admirers and aspiring amateurs within the borders of the Society of Friends;-consequently, therefore, I presume they must be amongst the readers of the Friends' Quarterly Examiner, who are fondly supposed by the Editor to be in fact the Society itself, save a few scattered individuals in remote or benighted districts where the fame of the Buff-coloured Quarterly has not yet penetrated. If there be any such unenlightened spots, I trust the advancing stream of progress will in this

day of electric light, combined with cheap postage, float the Friends' Quarterly into notice and what is more, into the pockets of subscribers who have hitherto lived in the dark in relation to its varied contents.

It will be, I expect, generally admitted that, as already hinted, the recreations of skating, chess, and cricket are each very popular amongst the members of our Society. In the many towns in which Friends are resident there are generally to be found lovers of chess amongst them, if but a couple of homes or lodgings exist so that "return matches" may be played in each other's houses, and there are votaries of skating wherever a sheltered pond, however small, is available; and also amateur cricketers, if a fairly good ground is anywise procurable for practice.

To attempt to explain the partiality of the Friends of both sexes for chess might take us into depths beyond the ordinary scope of these unpretentious papers. Perhaps the readiest solution of the problem might be, that as cards and dice and similar games are usually excluded in their families, and draughts are somewhat tame for aspirants who have "finished" their education so far as school instruction is concerned, the Friends when young have taken to chess with an extra zest, as combining the excitement of a hand-to-hand struggle for victory with the exercise of a lively intellect in attack, and studious caution in the concentration of forces. None but an enthusiast at chess can comprehend the pleasure of marshalling forces on either side for the attack, and then perhaps by some unexpected "discovery check" or counter move, breaking through all the machinations of your opponent, scattering his men and causing his game to "fall to pieces" in hopeless confusion because the key-stone of his position has been undermined by stratagem rather than forced by overwhelming superiority of pieces. Well do we remember long years

ago a contest at this mimic warfare-as it has been aptly termed a warfare possibly in which the inborn. pugnacity of even a hereditary Friend has opportunity of letting itself out without injuring his fellowcreatures beyond possibly that of lessening their selfesteem. It occurred at a chess soirée in the aforesaid Packet Port, when, at twenty or twenty-five chess tables were seated, all engrossed in silent study and with anxious hope or foreboding (as the case might be) depicted on many of their countenances, some forty or fifty "duellists" of both sexes, each carrying on their own schemes of attack and defence, watched by an audience forbidden either to speak, or point, or predict the coming catastrophe to friend or foe. At one of these reunions, which so tend to foster the spirit of chess and to improve its practice amongst the masses, a well known veteran-a retired colonel in the army sat vis-à-vis with a member of the Peace Societyyoung and ardent and with the now half-forgotten, yet well-remembered, "Friends' coat," which the youthful in those days wore on full-dress occasions. The experienced veteran was not a match for the friendly enthusiast. Battle after battle was fought, but still did the peaceable stripling outstrip the warrior, until at last, retiring from the table with a courtesy which concealed his inward chagrin at such repeated defeats, he acknowledged himself rather overmatched, but ready to resume the struggle on a future occasion.

If space allowed on this branch of the subject we might allude to the fraternal feeling which the love of chess induces. On another occasion, when, many years since, as "Spectator" and wishing also to become a performer at a chess tourney at Reading, we inquired of a fellow-traveller in a railway carriage the situation of the chess rooms. Finding I was a chessplayer, he insisted on my going home with him to tea,

after which he and his family would introduce me at the soiree. This friendship founded, without introduction, upon a mutual love for the royal game, continued for years, but the subject of it has long since been called beyond this world's concerns.

However much parlour-play may be followed up, nothing but club-play and book study can lift any person into the category of a "strong player" or firstclass amateur. The openings are so essential to be practised as well as studied, that any real proficiency in play can only be arrived at by a systematic practice in some of the best and most popular openings. Like all other things, a good foundation is essential for a firm superstructure, and a defect in the first few moves becomes exaggerated as the game goes on. The exhaustive analysis of openings in such works as "Staunton's Handbook of Chess" is beyond the patience of most; but the less elaborate treatises by Walker, Boden, Horwitz, and others, will sufficiently fortify the ordinary player when taking odds against the scientific onslaught of a professional. It is a mistake to suppose that in playing against such antagonists it will avail to try an early variation " under the idea that your opponent may thus be overcome. We can recall with profitable humility an opportunity of this kind, when playing against that champion and knight-errant of chess-Mr. Staunton -he giving the odds of a rook. He opened with the Evans's gambit, and, we, fearing his perfect knowledge of this fierce attack, and relying on a superiority of pieces, attempted a "defence" unknown probably to professor or amateur; the early result was a woeful cramping of pieces and confusion, whilst the conclusion which pretty shortly followed was painfully similar to the experience of the veteran colonel of whom we have already spoken.

One special advantage in the game of chess is that