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AMELIA M. STARKWEATHER.

MELIA MINERVA STARKWEATHER was born in Starkville, town of Stark, Herkimer county, N. Y. At the age of four her parents removed to Bergen, Genesee county, N. Y. Being settled in her new home, she almost immediately began her school career. Her higher education was received in Cary Collegiate Seminary, at Oakfield, N. Y. Here her love for rhyming began to manifest itself, and her compositions from time to time were written in verse. Before she had finished her graduating course, she was stricken with inflammation of the eyes, which left them in a chronic state of weakness; and for several years she retired almost entirely from society, pursuing however, although with difficulty, her vocation as teacher, which she began at the age of fifteen. Her first poem, entitled "Out in the Cold," was published in the Progressive Batavian. Occasionally other poems followed this, until her removal to Titusville, Pa., where she took a position as teacher in primary work. From time to time she was offered the principalship of the several schools in the city, but she could not quite make up her mind to give up the care of the little ones, especially as the charge of this department afforded her more leisure out of school for writing, as well as time for her beloved Sunday-school work. There always existed in her heart a genuine love and sympathy for little children, and she showed this, not only in her remarkable tact in their management, but also in her tender care and solicitude for their welfare. During her residence in Titusville, Miss Starkweather entered the lecture field, and was received with great favor wherever she appeared upon the platform. She served, most efficiently, the Home Missionary Society as president, for three years. In the midst of all this work she still continued her writing, which now took the form of hymns and poems for children, with occasional stories in prose. Four years ago she prepared and published through a leading firm of Boston, her charming little volume entitled, "Tom Tits and Other Bits." In these poems and stories, many of which are gems in their way, the author has shown a special gift in representing the playful moods of children, and in picturing them to us in all their purity and beauty. "The Robin" was written as a recitation for a little girl friend, and was adapted to bring out a sweet bird trill, of which she was master. The two songs, "The Cricket" and "The Owl,” have become quite popular in the public schools. Her hymns, of which she has written some twelve or

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prelate whose literary genius is so versatile and brilliant that it is almost impossible to decide whether as an orator, a poet or a scholar, he is most distinguished. In each character his intellectuality is luminous; with the added charm that in these prodigal mental possessions the power of each is enhanced by the graces of all. It is with his fame as a poet, however, that we have chiefly here to doa fame wide and enviable, and destined to endure as long as there are those to whom exalted fancy and imagination clothed in crystalline beauty of diction are a pleasure and delight.

A. Cleveland Coxe was born in Morris Co., N. J., May 10, 1818, the son of the Rev. Samuel Hanson Cox, D. D., LL. D., a clergyman celebrated for his eloquence and ability. Two years afterwards the parents of the future Bishop removed to the Metropolis, where his childhood and boyhood were passed. At twenty years of age he was graduated with notable distinction from the University of New York, and at twenty-three from the General Theological Seminary of the same city. His pastoral career first at Morrisania, N. Y., then at Hartford, Conn., and later in brilliant succession at Baltimore and at New York, is still remembered by those who foresaw in the ideal young churchman the militant prelate of after days. Dr. Coxe was consecrated to the Episcopate in Trinity Church, Geneva, N. Y., on January 4, 1865, and in the April following succeeded the illustrious Bishop De Lancey, as Ordinary of Western New York. During his whole ministry as Deacon, Priest and Bishop, he has shown an unselfish and unwavering devotion to what he has believed to be right. Not only is this true of ecclesiastical affairs, but of temporal concerns as well. In 1861-'63 he was the idolized Rector of Grace Church, Baltimore, yet he did not for a moment hesitate to display to his Southern parishioners his magnificent loyalty to the flag of the North. The same high consecration to duty has led him in a spiritual sense, to make his muse a sound of glory in the armies of the Church "under whose colors he has fought so long." His "Christian Ballads," published while yet in the full flush of his early manhood, won him instant recognition both here and abroad, and his later volume, "The Paschal," rivals the earlier religious poems in their bloom of inspiration, while exceeding them in the sweeter perfume of perfected scholarship and rounded thought. They have the religious intensity of Faber with the linguistic strength of Newman.

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Indeed were it not that the chief characteristic of the Bishop's English is its firmness and vitality, it might well be described with lesser praise as exquisite in its wonderful precision of expression. His words are the photographs of his ideas, or rather, perhaps the stately etchings of thoughts that have for background the fairy realm of the imagination. He is essentially a poet of a meditative tone, yet shining through his verse there is always the radiance of that glory which gleams beyond the Delectable Mountains.

In lighter vein, one of his best works is "The Ladye Chace," a metrical romance of extraordinary power and beauty. It recites the loves of Edgar and Elfreda, the treachery of Athwold, and the means which England's headstrong monarch took to avenge his courtier's deceit. The narrative is told with absorbing interest, and here and there throughout its course are interspersed gems and scintillations of delightful reflection and philosophy. "The Layde Chace" is a poem that deserves to rank in general literature with Scott's "Marmion" or "The Lady of the Lake." In poetic finish and chaste diction, it is even superior to either. The old Saxon legend is invested with a charm which takes us back a thousand years as if it were a tale of yesterday. This is the province of genuine poesy, that like the wand of Merlin, it makes all things subject to its present spell. The Bishop's other poetical works are "Advent: a Mystery; ""Anthanasion; " "Halloween;" and "Saul." In addition to these, a considerable mass of unpublished treasures is said to be laid up in the Bishop's portfolio. It is a matter of no small regret that a complete edition of his works has not been issued, for his collected poems will not only be a perennial delight to lovers of pure ideals, but also a lasting memorial of a life singularly high, unselfish and sincere. R. B. M.

THE HEART'S SONG.

IN the silent midnight watches,
List-thy bosom-door!
How it knocketh, knocketh, knocketh,
Knocketh evermore!

Say not 'tis thy pulse's beating;
'Tis thy heart of sin;

'Tis thy Saviour knocks, and crieth, Rise, and let me in!

Death comes down with reckless footstep To the hall and hut;

Think you Death will stand a-knocking Where the door is shut?