and commented on its beauties, a distressing conviction seized the mind of Laura, that they should no more visit that spot in company.This she expressed to Eustace, upon whose mind, a class of emotions of the most crushing influence,descended with the intelligence. They passed on. The angle of a copse was crossed by them; a narrow pass required Eustace's assistance-it was given;-every touch, every look, was now thrillingly felt. Their friend was still skipping on in front of them, through a scented field of clover flowers. They still followed, and as they passed, a declaration, chaste as it was sincere, met the ear of Laura, while a reciprocity of feeling was experienced and expressed. Time rolled on, and still their affection grew, when an unexpected circumstance arose, and pointed to a period, not far distant, when that which to each of them appeared but as the prelude of death, SEPARATION!— must take place. The effect produced upon the constitution of Eustace was not less deep and destructive, although less perceptible, than on the delicate frame of Laura. The time drew rapidly only, with, in appearance to them, unusual celerity-one day only intervened when the painful farewell sound was to be heard. That day they walked again over the ground which they had before walked in company, and for the last time, visited some spots on which memory had affixed a signet never to be obliterated. The shades of evening gathered-night came on-the last chaste embrace was given-their hands seemed unable to let go their hold of each other-but they parted. The adieu was felt, rather than heard. They parted forever!Morning dawned again, but not as formerly for Eustace and Laura. He took one, long, long look at her window, and then rushed to the conveyance which was to bear him far, far away from her who was dear to his heart, and, "Midst earth's gay millions lov'd alone." VOL. II. she paced her room, O, what a change will not a few hours effect!" Once, after Eustace's arrival at the place of his destination, Laura received from him information of the fact. He endeavored to console, but the unmanageable wildness of his own anguish was too plainly discoverable in the disjointed epistle which he furnished, to be passed over. Affliction is keen sighted, and Laura's eye, naturally so, now became doubly penetrating. Eustace directed her to Him who is a "very present help in time of trouble," and to his protection and blessing recommended her. The comfort was received, but the consolation could not save a shattered frame-she drooped for a few weeks, sunk, and died! By her express desire, a journal of her own keeping was forwarded, through a friend, to Eustace. He pressed the pledge of undying affection to his bosom, and, in a short period after its arrival, his spirit followed Laura's, in the full assurance of faith, into that world, "Where virtuous friends shall meet, 'Where kindred minds, arrayed in light, THE LANDSCAPE AT HOME. And the mantle of twilight around me is spread, Oh, think that when last I beheld this fair view, That hope promised fair, and my soul was serene, And that Home shed its magic around the mild scene. And still I will hope, that as time rolls around, That a pure hour of happiness yet will be found— The distress of mind under which Laura had labored, during the hours of the past night, had so far overcome her, that her enfeebled system was sunk in profound sleep at the time of Eustace's departure: but when at length the obvious influence of slumber wore A WOMAN may be of great assistance to off, she awoke to all the anguish of a mind to her husband, in business, by wearing a cheerwhich, now, no earthly specific could be ap- ful smile continually upon her countenance. plied. She arose, and as the painful convic-| A man's perplexities and gloominess are intion pressed upon her, that every passing mo- creased a hundred fold when his better half ment bore Eustace still farther and farther moves about with a continual scowl upon her from her, an agony almost insupportable was brow. borne by her. She looked back to the past evening, to the comparative happiness she No false pride, or foolish ambition to appear enjoyed while in his company, and then as well as others, should ever induce a person dwelling once more upon her present bereaved to live beyond the income of which he is cer state, clasped her hands, and sighed out, as" tain. No. 5. Scraps of Thought--The Shipwrecked Mariner restored. For the Ladies' Garland. SCRAPS OF THOUGHT.-No. I. BY REV. DANIEL WISE. Sweet, unutterably sweet, are the hallowed ties of friendship and of love. Though the band, which unites two kindred spirits, is softer than a silken girdle, yet the union is more firm than the deep-laid foundations of our cloud capped mountains-these shall "melt with fervent heat" and disappear amid the desolation of matter and the downfall of the doomed universe-but that shall endure fresh and vigorous, as primeval spring, as long as a spark of immortality remains. Imperishable as the glorious natures it binds, it shall resist the fearful shocks of ruin which will demolish the universe and overturn the empire of man. Death cannot break it. He may rob us of the bodies of our beloved ones-he may ruthlessly tear them from our embrace and drag them to the solitude of his own dark chambers, but the deathless affection triumphs over separation, and the band of union is unbroken. The departed hovers, on pinions of celestial growth, over the dwelling of the living, and, like a guardian angel, watches over their safety. The living feel the proximity of the dead, and in the silence of the evening hour hold mysterious communion with their sainted friends. They seem floating on the bosom of the clouds, and every murmuring zephyr seems vocal with their voice of invitation to the bareaved, bidding them hasten to the happy home of the virtuous and the pure. The wheels of time bear them rapidly to the dark borders of eternity-a pain-a struggle-a pang, and dropping their afflicted bodies they soar to better climes, and soon are met by their exulting friends who conduct them to abodes of ineffable bliss; their union is then complete and indissoluble beyond the power of accident or evil-its endurance shall be co 109 A Massachusetts vessel from Charleston, bound to Norfolk, when a short time out was capsized; but upon cutting the lanyards, the masts went by the board, and she righted.— Six days afterwards she was fallen in with by a Russian vessel, the crew taken off and carried to Europe. The friends of the crew had long given them up as lost, when lo! a letter arrived informing them of their safety. The Poet has seized the moment when the supposod widow in her weeds, while telling her son the cause of her grief, receives the joyful news of her long mourned husband's safety. THE WRECKED MARINER RESTORED "Mother, oh, tell me why you weep- Soon to the breeze his sail he spread, equal with the throne and empire of Deity. Naught but a waste of waters wild. Thrice happy are the possessors of such a love," Long have I watched with aching breast for though poor as Lazarus they have a trea-Yon heaving ocean's foaming crest— sure worth more than all the wealth of Gol conda's mine. AFFECTION. Long has my midnight taper gleamed, It is not "Hope" alone which "springs eternal in the human breast." Affection!" that divine spark from the altar of God's holy presence that bright unsullied flame, which the waves cannot quench, nor the floods drown. Affection ever springs there and ever must-for it is co-eternal with the spirit of man. We may feel ourselves isolated-cut off from the yearning sympathies of home" But, mother, do not weep so now; and kindred-nay, we may deem our hearts He may have 'scaped the ocean's foam, proof against every assault of humanity; but|| the latent love of our species dies not, and a word "a thing of air, a look"-vill frequently call forth its wasteless energies. Deep wrapt within his sea-weed shroud, And round him many a monster leaps Health may be beaming from his brow, 110 66 "Overlook Nothing"-The Devoted Wife. Yes, you are left, my lovely boy- Washington, May, 1838. VOL. II. the careless it will seem at best but a blank, or perhaps a scene of confusion, "without form or comeliness," possessing little to excite curiosity or admiration. To the young especially would we recommend habits of close and careful observation. We would say to them, "overlook nothing." Do not despise the day of small things. Endeavor to turn the leisure time you may have -the money you may earn or inherit-the privileges you may enjoy,-in short, every thing to the best possible account. Take care of the minutes and cents, and the hours and dollars will take care of themselves. He who learns to regard his leisure moments as valueless, and habitually squanders for trifles the small sums of money he may have, because they are small-will never be learned nor rich. The secret of success is to be careful of little things. "Spend no moment but in purchase of its worth, And what it's worth, ask death beds, they can tell." "OVERLOOK NOTHING." The celebrated Talleyrand is said to have adopted in early life the above sentiment as his device, and to have strictly adhered to it throughout the whole course of his long and eventful public career. And surely no man whose name history has given, has more fully and strikingly than himself, verified the remark of another of his distinguished countrymen,-"that there is no mischance which a clever man may not turn to his own advantage." Talleyrand always kept his eyes laski, many incidents of the most thrilling open, turned every thing to the best account, nature occurred-among others, one which and contrived, with singular sagacity and deserves commemoration, as showing the insuccess, to make every breeze waft him on-estimable value of woman's love, is faintly ward, and every event, however untoward, contribute to his advancement. And we cannot help thinking that the posession or want of a habit of accurate observation-a fixed purpose "to overlook nothng," perseveringly adhered to, occasions not a few of the great differences which we notice between different individuals. Some men seem to go through the world with their eyes skut-others keep them always open. The latter, at every step, are adding to their stock of knowledge, and correcting and improving their judgment by experience and observation. They keep their minds ever awake, and active, and on the alert-gathering instruction from every occurrence, watching for favorable opportunities, and seeking, if possible, to turn even their failures and mischances to their advantage. Such persons will rarely have. occasion to say, “I have lost a day,”—or "to weep o'er hours that flew, More idly than the summer's wind." They will make every event the occasion of improvement, and will find "books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in every thing." To the attentive observer, even nature itself will appear a vast scroll written all over by the finger of God, with instructive, though sometimes mysterious characters,-while to THE DEVOTED WIFE. In the awful disaster which befel the Pu "There described in the following verses. I come, my love!" and springing upon the taffrail, leaped into the sea, and they perished together!" The radiant stars were shining out, As the gallant barque pursued her route, Hush'd was the roaring tempest's voice, Calm was the ocean wave, Nor thought that spot his grave. The midnight came, its gentle breath When sudden rose the wail of death, A burst like thunder sinote the air, Oh God! It was a fearful sight: To see them meet their doom; And in the solemn gloom of night; Blanch'd was bold manhood's brow of pride, And in that crowd was a loving pair, "Oh! where art thou, my dear," she cried 66 SUNDAY IN THE COUNTRY. BY W. HOWITT. But let as away into the far, far country! Into the still, pure, unadulterated country. Ah! here indeed is a Sabbath! What a sunny peace, what a calm yet glad repose, lies on its fair hills, over its solemn woods. How its flowery dales and deep secluded valleys, reflect the holy tranquility of heaven. It is morning, and the sun comes up the sky as if he knew it was a day of universal pause in the workings of the world: he shines over the glittering dews, and green leaves, and ten thousand blossoms; and the birds fill the blue fresh air with a rapture of music.The earth looks new and beautiful as on the day of its creation: but it is as full of rest as if it drew near its close,-all its revolutions past, all its turbulence hushed, all its mighty griefs healed, its mysterious destinies accomplished; and the light of eternity about to break over it with a new and imperishable power. Man rests from his labors and every thing rests with him. There lie the weary steeds that having dragged the chain and smarted under the lash; that have pulled the plough and the ponderous wagon, or flown over hill and dale at man's bidding; there they lie on the side of the sunny field; and the very sheep and cattle seem imbued with their luxurious enjoyment of rest. The farmer has been walking in his fields, looking over this gate and that fence, into enclosures mottled with grass like a carpet, or rich green 111 corn growing almost visibly, at his cattle, and the shady quiet of his house. And it is a shady quiet. The sun glances about its porch, and flickers amongst the leaves on the wall, and the sparrows chirp and fly to and fro; but the dog lies and slumbers on the step of the door, or only raises his head to snap at the flies that molest him-the very cat, coiled up on a sun-bright border of the garden, sleeps voluptuously; within all is cleanness and rest. There is none of the running and racketing of the busy week day; the pressing of curds, and the shaping and turning of cheese; the rolling of a barrel churn and the scouring of pails; the pumping and slopping, and working and chattering, and scolding of dairy-maids; all that can be dispensed with; and what must be done, is quietly, and is early away. There is a clean cool parlor; the open windows lets in the odor of the garden, the yet cool and delicious odor, and the hum of bees, flowers stand in their pots in the window; gathered flowers stand on the breakfast table; and the farmer's comely wife, already dressed for the day,as she sees him come in, sits down to pour out his coffee. Over the croft-gate the laborers are leaning, talking of the last week's achievements, and those of the week to come; and in many a cottage garden, the cottagers, with their wives and children, are wandering up and down admiring the growth of this and that, and every one settles in his own mind, that his cabbages and peas and beans, are the best in the whole country; and that as for the currants and gooseberries, apricots and strawberries, there never were such crops since trees and bushes grew. But the bells ring out from the old church tower. The parson issuing from his peasant parsonage; groups of peasantry are already seen streaming over the upland towards the village; in the lanes gay ribbons and Sunday gowns glance from between the trees; and every house sends forth its inhabitants to worship. Blessings on the old gray fabrics that stand on many a hill, and in many a lowly hollow, all over this beloved country; for, much as we reprobate that system of private or political patronage by which unqualified, unholy, and unchristian men have sometimes been thrust into their ancient pulpits, I am of Sir Walter Scott's opinion, that no places are so congenial to the holy simplicity of the Christian worship as they are. They have an air of antiquity about them, and stand so venerably amid the most English scenes, and the tombs of the generations of the dead, that we cannot enter them without having our imagination and our heart fully impressed with every feeling and thought that can make us love our country and yet feel that it is not our abiding place. Those antique arches, those low massy doors, were raised in day 112 Sunday in the Country. VOL. II. holy tranquility, in which twilight drops down upon innumerable roofs, and prayers ascend from countless hearths, in city and field, on earth and mountain, and then 'tis gone: the Sabbath is ended. But blessings, and ten thousand blessings, be upon the day; and let myriads of thanks stream up to the throne of God for this divine and regenerating gift to man. As I have sate that are long gone by, around the walls, nay, beneath our very feet, sleep those who in their generations, each in his little sphere, helped to build up England to her present pitch of greatness. We catch glimpses of that deep veneration, of that unambiguous simplicity of our mind and manner that we would fain hold fast amid our growing knowledge and its inevitable remodelling of the whole framework of society. We are made to feel ear-in flowery dale, with the sweetness of May nestly the desire to pluck the spirit of faith, the integrity of character, and the whole heart of love to king and country, out of the ignorance and blind superstition of the past. Therefore it is that I have always loved the church,—that I have delighted to stroll far through the summer fields, and hear still on-brightness,—a time, and a perpetually recurward their bells ringing happily, to enter and sit down amongst its rustic congregation, better pleased with their murmur of responses, and their artless but earnest chant, than all the splendor or parade of more lofty fabrics. around me, on a week day, I have thought of all the millions of immortal creatures toiling for their daily life in factories and shops, amid the whirl of machinery, and greedy cravings of mercantile gain, and suddenly this golden interval of time has lain before me all its ring time, in which the iron clasp of earthly tyranny is loosed, and Peace, Faith and Freedom, the angels of God, come down and walk once more amongst us! Puritan rigidity and French dissipation. Let our children and our servants, and those who toil for us in vaults, shops and factories, between the intervals of solemn worship have freedom to walk in the face of heaven and the beauties of earth; for in the great temple of Nature stand together-Health and Piety. For myself I speak from experience; it has always been my delight to go out on a Sunday, and like Isaac, meditate in the fields, and especially in the sweet tranquility, and the gathering shadows of evening; and never in the temple or the closet did more hallowed influence fall upon my heart. With the twilight and a hush of earth a tenderness has stolen upon me; a desire for every thing pure and holy; love for every creature on whom God has stamped the wonder of his handiwork; but especially to every child of humanity; and then I have been made to feel that there is no oratory like that which has heaven for its roof, and no teaching like that of the spirit which created and still overshadows the world with its infinite wings. Ten thousand blessings on this day, the But Sunday morning is past; and afternoon friend of man and beast. The bigot would is rolling away; but it shall not roll away rob it of its healthful freedom, and cause him with its own power of happiness shed on ev- to walk with demure steps and downcast eyes, ery down, and into every beautiful vale in this and the libertine would desecrate all its sober kingdom. Closed are the doors of the church, decorum on the other. God and the round but opened are those of tens of thousands of heart and sterling sense of Englishmen predwellings to receive friends and kindred.-served it from those evils. Let us still avoid And around the pleasant tea-table happy groups are gathered in each other's houses, freed from climbing, pressing, enslaving cares of the six days; and sweetly and full of renewing strength to the heart does the evening pass away. And does it not roll as sweetly where by many a cottage-door the aged grandfather and grand-mother sit with two generations about them, and bask in another glorious Sabbath sun-set? And is it not sweet where cheerful friends stroll through the delicious fields, in high or cheerful talk; along the lane or broom engoldened hill side; or down into the woodland valley, where the waters run clear and chimingly amid the dripping grass and brooklime, and the yellow beams of the descending sun glance serenely among the trees? And is it not sweet when on some sequestered style, sit two happy lovers; or where they stray along some twilight path, and the woodbine and the wild rose are drooping their flowery boughs over them, while earth and heaven supremely lovely in themselves take new and divine hues from their own|| passionate spirits; and youth and truth are theirs; the present is theirs in love; the future is theirs in high confidence; all that makes glorious the life of angels is theirs for the time! Yes! all through the breadth of this great land, through its cities, its valleys, its fields, its liberated millions are walking in the eye of heaven, drinking in its sublime calm, refreshed by its gales, soothed by the peaceful beauty A pleasant cheerful WIFE is as a rainbow set in the sky when her husband's mind is tossed with storms and tempests, but a dissatisfied and fretful wife, in the hour of trouble, is like one of those who were appointed to torture lost spirits. Look only to your own interests; enter not of the earth. There is a pause of profound and "into the cabals, disputes or quarrels of others. |