never-ending eternity. It is too pure and holy an hour for worldly communion. Our schemes of selfish enjoyment-our, dreams of ambition, love, honor and fame, are alike forgotten. Diviner and more soul stirring are the thoughts that generate in our bo soms. Could the spirit but take its departure from the clayey tenement while gazing upon the wonders of the starry spheres, Death would be robbed of half its horrors, and the soul would soar without a pang. Yon star seems to shed a more radiant light upon me than its fellows, and seems to vie in lustre with the moon herself. Keep the eye fixed upon a certain spot, and myriads of gems that crown the brow of heaven, and before unknown, are discovered. How sublime the reflection of the omnipotence and power of Him who set these emblems of his greatness in the sky. Can these last forever? I ask myself, have they the elements of perpetuity within them? "The heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." These, then, must fade!-yes, all must fade. Every thing around us betokens decay-all of man's creation droop and wither, giving signs of eventual dissolution; but these stars are the same as they always were, shining with a brighter lustre, if possible, than ever; and these, whose summits man never reached, nor defined their extent, shall fade at the fiat of the Almighty! But not till the work of redempti shall be finished, will this take place. n the dead shall arise from their tombs, ed in the garments of immortality-when wicked receive their sentence, and the teous their reward-then shall these sser lights" but leave their resting places ine forever in the presence of the Holy CELIA. For the Ladies' Garland. STANZAS. I saw thee in the morn of life, 183 Of hope's young natal day, I saw thee-years had passed away, Save lines of care; Which had their furrows traced The smile that lit thy glowing cheek, I saw thee-but thy beauty gone! Stood mourning friends, that shed They laid thee in the silent grave→→→ Closed over thee-then left thee HOMER. Not a ray of pure spiritual lumination shines through the sweet visions of the father of poetry. The light of his genius, like that of the moon as he describes it in the eighth Iliad, is serene, transparent, and heavenly fair; it streams into the deepest glades, and settles on the mountain tops of the material and social world; but for all that concerns the spiritual nature, it is cold, watery, and unquickening. The great test of the elevation of the poet's mind, and of the refinement of the age in which he lived, is the distinctTHE DISCIPLINE OF LIFE. ness, power, and purity with which he conLet man regard this world merely as a pre-ceives the spiritual world. In all else he may paratory stage, to a future and eternal state of existence. Let him consider his misfortunes, sufferings and miseries, as intended to prepare him the better for a world of undying glory and happiness, and let him persevere in a course of virtue and usefulness, in contempt of the malignity of his enemies and the storms of adversity that beat around him, and he will infallibly attain to that perfection and happiness hereafter, which should constitute the true end and aim of all human exertion and pursuit. be the observer and the painter; but in this dread sphere he must assume the province which his name imports: he must be the maker-creating his own spiritual world by the highest action of his mind, upon all the external and internal materials of thought. If ever there was a poetical vision, calculated not to purify and to exalt, but to abase and to sadden, it is the visit of Ulysses to the lower regions. The ghosts of the illustrious departed are drawn before him by the reeking fumes of the recent sacrifice; and the hero stands guard with his drawn sword, to drive away the shade of his own mother from the gory trench, over which she hovers, hankering after the raw blood. Does it require an essay on the laws of the human mind to show that the intellect which contemplates 184 The Snow Storm-Females,-Comfort. the great mystery of our being, under this ghastly and frivolous imagery, has never been born to a spiritual life, nor caught a glimpse of the highest heaven of nature. THE SNOW STORM. The cold wind swept the mountain's height And pathless was the dreary wild, And 'mid the cheerless hours of night A mother wandered with her child. As through the drifted snow she press'dThe babe was sleeping on her breast. And colder still the winds did blow, And darker hours of night came on, She stript her mantle from her breast, She smiled to think that it was warm. At dawn, a trav❜ler passed by, And saw her 'neath a snowy veilThe frost of death was in her eye, Her cheek was cold, and hard and paleHe moved the robe from off the child; The babe looked up and sweetly smiled. FEMALES-COMFORT VOL. 11. [tence of wealth would be to secure themselves against the rude visitings of the elements. Perhaps the very wealthy do. Actual wants and luxuries supplied, there is abundance left for the purchase of elegancies. The lat ter class of commodities are from their very character most prominent, as they are intended to be. We are often surprised at the heroic contempt which our fair women seem to entertain|| for COMFORT. In the arrangement of their attire, elegance and fashion seem to be the only points consulted-and with heroism and fortitude which would do honor to a Brahmin, they resolutely refuse to case their frail bodies in attire fit to resist the inclemency of the season. Shoes with soles as light as paper are worn by the women for their neatness, while men more wisely put on boots with soles half an inch thick. Every other part of the apparel of men and women seems to present the same contrast, as if the ladies were the stronger, instead of the weaker, as we are in the habit of considering them. Imitation suggests to the less wealthy a desire to ape their richer neighbors. With the imitators the order of purchase is reversed. They look first to the preservation of such appearances as shall make them assimilate in externals to the pecuniary rank of their models. Hence come cheerless drawing rooms, abundant in ornament and deficient in comfort. Hence come lean larders, half furnished kitchens, poorly filled or empty fuel repositories. Hence the disposition to That consumption, and the whole dreadful class of bronchial diseases spring from it, is evident. We pity the poor woman to whom poverty denies articles of clothing essential to comfort-but even in their rags the poor are generally better protected against the weather than the fashionables "in all their glory." If corporeal suffering is indeed an inconvenience, one would naturally fancy that the first wish of those possessed of compe-l defraud the daily cheer To boast one splendid banquet, once a year. Thousands whose property will just enable them to support a splendid misery, thus immolate comfort, and deny themselves necessaries, and all to weave a veil over their actual penury-which veil after all is so transparent that the veriest child may see through it. So goes the march of vanity from the inhabitants of the neutral ground between rich and poor, down to the very poorest. Each class is engaged in a continual struggle to appear of a wealthier grade than that which it occupies. In dress, upon which topic we started, the same foolish feeling is manifested -the same sacrifice of health and enjoyment to display and discomfort. The money that properly expended with reference to one's own actual needs, might make him or her happy, so far as money is capable of producing happiness, is wasted in foolish endeavors to support a state beyond the reach of the vain mortal who struggles for it. And not only the evils of such a course are present, but future. Many a one who might have saved a competence, has wasted the opportunity on the shrine of vanity; and when the need of the neglected provision arrives, the poor devotees fall from the unequal race in pursuit of fashion, into abject penury and ungilded poverty. Then, they see the folly of their previous course, when no possibility is left to them to undo it; and their distress is cheered by the malicious taunts of former rivals who rejoice at their downfall. Kings are always something of a Dalia Lama; honored and revered outlaws; sacrifices to society, whose welfare often requires one visible being above the law, just to fill a place, that no continual quarrel for it shall disturb the peace. No. 8. The Crucifixion-Duty of Mothers. For the Ladies' Garland. Amazing sight! how touching, how sublime! Dear Lord, and shall we crucify thee still? We shudder at the Jews' inhuman crime, And weep our dying Lord on Calvary's sacred hill. While in the distance we behold the scenes That oft were witness of thy nightly prayer; The brook of Cedron sweetly intervenes Among the distant hills and prospects fair. The Mount of Olives next attracts our view, And the dread scenes that on that night transpire., The spacious city of thy chosen race, In all its grandeur rises to our view, How fall'n into dishonor and disgrace, How soon it witnessed thy prediction true! Ye spacious palaces, ye gardens fair, 185 men; for they are the ones who keep the character of men in its proper elevation."Our duty to the community, which must be discharged by the education of a whole race, comprises many unobtrusive, almost invisible points, which in detail may seem trivial, or at least desultory, but which are still as important as the rain-drop to the cistern, or the rill to the broad stream. A long period allotted to study; a thorough implantation of domestic tastes, and a vigilant guardianship over simplicity of character, are essential to the daughters of a republic. That it is wise to give the greatest possible extent to the season of tutelage, for those who have much to learn, is a self-evident proposition.If they are to teach others it is doubly important. And there is no country on earth, where so many females are employed in teaching, as in our own. Indeed, from the position that educated women here maintain, it might not be difficult to establish the point, that they are all teachers, all forming other beings upon the model of their own example, however Where faithful Abraham's sons were wont to dwell; unconscious of the fact. To abridge the edu How soon your glory vanished into air, And your proud temple into ruins fell. DUTY OF MOTHERS. BY MRS. SIGOURNEY. cation of the educator, is to stint the culture of a plant, whose "leaves are for the healing of the nations." I was delighted to hear a young lady say, at the age of nineteen, "I cannot bear to think yet of leaving school; I have scarcely begun to learn." With propriety might she express this sentiment, though she was eminent both in studies and accomplishments,if the great Michael Angelo could adopt for his motto, in his nineteenth year," ancora imparo," and "yet I am learning." It has unfortunately been too much the custom in our country, not only to shorten the period allotted to the education of our sex, but Mothers best discharge their duty to the to fritter away even that brief period, in concommunity, by training up those who shall tradictory pursuits and pleasures. Parents give it strength and beauty. Their unwea have blindly lent their influence to this usage. ried labors should coincide with the aspirations To reform it, they must oppose the tide of of the Psalmist, that their "sons may be as fashion and of opinion. Let them instruct plants grown up in their youth; their daugh- their daughters to resist the principle of conters as corner stones, polished after the simili- forming in any respect to the example of those tude of a palace." They would not wish to around them, unless it is rational in itself, and leave to society, where they had themselves correctly applicable to them as individuals.— found protection and solace, a bequest that|| A proper expenditure for one, would be ruinwould dishonor their memory. ous extravagance in another. So, if some inWe, who are mothers, ought to feel pecu-discreet mothers permit their young daughliar solicitude with regard to the manner inters to waste in elaborate dress and fashionable which our daughters are reared. Being more constantly with us, and more entirely under our control than sons, they will be naturally considered as our representatives, the trustee tests of our system, the strongest witnesses to a future generation of our fidelity or neglect. parties the attention which should be devoted to study, need their example be quoted as a precedent? To do as others do, which is the rule of the unthinking, is often to copy bad taste and erring judgment. We use more discrimination in points of trifling import.— We pause and compare patterns ere we pur"Unless women," said the venerable Fel-chase a garment, which, perchance, lasts but lenberg, "are brought up with industrious and for a single season. Why should we adopt religious habits it is vain that we educate thell with little inquiry,-or on the strength of 186 Duty of Mothers. VOL. II. doubtful precedent,-a habit, which may tual knowledge, is now qualified to take an stamp the character of our children forever? active part in the sphere which she embelWhen circumstances require, the youngest lishes. Adorned with that simplicity which girl should be taught not to fear to differ from attracts every eye, when combined with good her companions, either in costume, manners, breeding, and a right education, she is arrayed or opinion. Singularity for its own sake, and in a better panoply than the armor of Semievery approach to eccentricity, should be de-ramis, or the wit and beauty of Cleopatra, for precated and discouraged. Even necessary whom the Roman lost a world. variations from those around, must be managed with delicacy, so as not to wound feelings, or exasperate prejudice. But she who dares not to be independent, when reason or duty dictate, will be in danger of forfeiting decision of character, perhaps integrity of principle. For Simplicity of language, as well as of garb and manner, is a powerful ingredient in that art of pleasing, which the young and lovely of our sex are supposed to study. The conversation of children is rich in this charm.— Books intended for their instruction or amusement, should consult their idiom. Ought not Simple attire, and simple manner, are the females to excel in the composition of elenatural ornaments of those who are obtaining mentary works for the juvenile intellect, assotheir school education. They have the beauty ciated as they are with it, in its earliest and of fitness, and the policy of leaving the mind least constrained developments? The talfree for its precious pursuits. Love of display, ented and learned man is prone to find himevery step towards affectation, are destructive self embarrassed by such a labor. The more of the charms of that sweet season of life.- profound his researches in science, and the Ceremonious visiting, where showy apparel,|| knowledge of the world, the farther must he and late hours prevail, must be avoided. I retrace his steps, to reach the level of infanfeel painful sympathy for those mothers, who tine simplicity. Possibly, he might ascend expose their young daughters to such excite-among the stars, and feel at home; but to ments, yet expect them to return unimpaired search for honey dew in the bells of flowers, and docile, to the restraints of school disci- and among the moss cups, needs the beak of pline. "Those who forsake useful studies," the humming-bird, or the wing of the buttersaid an ancient philosopher, "for useless spec- fly. He must recall with a painful effort the ulations, are like the Olympic gamesters, who|| far-off days, when he "thought as a child, abstained from necessary labors, that they spake as a child, understood as a child." might be fit for such as were not so." tunate will he be, if the "strong meats," on Shall I allude to the want of expediency, which he has so long fed, have not wholly inin exhibiting very young ladies in mixed so- disposed him to relish the "milk of babes." ciety? Their faces become familiar to the If he is able to arrest the thoughts and feelpublic eye. The shrinking delicacy of their ings, which charmed him when life was new, privileged period of life escapes. The dews he will still be obliged to transfuse them into of the morning are too suddenly exhaled.- the dialect of childhood. He must write in a They get to be accounted old, ere they are foreign idiom, where, not to be ungrammatical mature, more is expected of them than their is praise, and not utterly to fail is victory.unformed characters can yield, and if their Perhaps in the attempt he may be induced to discretion does not surpass their years, they exclaim with the conscious majesty of Milton, may encounter severe criticism, perhaps cal-"my mother bore me a speaker of that which umny. When they should be just emerging God made my own, and not a translator." as a fresh opened blossom, they are hackneyed to the common gaze, as the last year's Souvenir, which by courtesy or sufferance, maintains a place on the centre-table, though its value has deteriorated. Is not the alternative either a premature marriage, or an obsolete continuance in the arena of fashion, with a somewhat mortifying adherence to the fortunes of new candidates, as grade after grade,|| they assert their claims to fleeting admiration, or vapid flattery? It has been somewhere asserted, that he who would agreeably instruct children, must become the pupil of children. They are not, indeed, qualified to act as guides among the steep cliffs of knowledge which they have never traversed; but they are most skilful conductors to the green plats of turf, and the wild flowers that encircle its base. They best know where the violets and king cups grow, which they have themselves gathered, and where the clear brook makes mirthful music in its pebbly bed. How much more faithfully does the mother perform her duty, who brings forth to soci- Have you ever listened to a little girl tellety, no crude or superficial semblance of good- ing a story to her younger brother or sister? ness, but the well ripened fruit of thorough, What adaptation of subject, circumstance, and prayerful culture. Her daughter associated epithet? If she repeats what she has heard, with herself, in domestic cares, at the same how naturally does she simplify every train time that she gathered the wealth of intellec-"of thought. If she enters the region of in No. 8. Disappointed Friendship. vention, how wisely does she keep in view the taste and comprehension of her auditor. Ah, how powerful is that simplicity, which so readily unlocks and rules the heart, and which, seeming to have nothing, possesseth all things." 66 187 her influence, she may acquit herself of her immense responsibilities. Her debt to the community must be paid through her children, or through others whom she may rear up, to dignify and adorn it. Aristotle said, "the fate of empires depended on education." But that in woman dwelt any particle of that conservative power, escaped the scrutinizing eye of the philosopher of Greece. The far sighted statesmen of our times have discovered it. A Prussian legisla promulgated the principle, that "to the safety and regeneration of a people, a correct state of religious opinion and practice was essential, which could only be effected by proper attention to the early nurture of the mind." He foresaw the influence which the training of infancy would have, upon the welfare of a Those who are conversant with little children, are not always disposed sufficiently to estimate them, or to allow them the high rank which they really hold in the scale of being. In regarding the acorn, we forget that it comprises within its tiny round the future oak.tor, at the beginning of the present century, It is this want of prospective wisdom, which occasions ignorant persons often to despise childhood, and renders some portions of its early training seasons of bitter bondage. "Knowledge is an impression of pleasure," said Lord Bacon. They who impart it to the young, ought not to interfere with its original nature, or divide the toil from the reward.-nation. Educated females ought especially to keep bright the links between knowledge and happiness. This is one mode of evincing gratitude to the age in which they live, for the generosity with which it has renounced those prejudices, which in past times circumscribed the intellectual culture of their sex. May I be excused for repeatedly urging-standing in need as she does, of all the them to convince the community that it has lost nothing by this liberality? Let not the other sex be authorized in complaining that the firesides of their fathers were better regulated than their own. Give them no chance to throw odium upon knowledge, from the faults of its allies and disciples. Rather let them see, that by a participation in the bless-guarding the unsheathed weapon-let not this ings of education, you are made better in every domestic department, in every relative duty-more ardent in every hallowed effort of benevolence and piety. I cannot believe that the distaste for household industry, which some young ladies evince, is the necessary effect of a more expanded system of education. Is it not rather the abuse of that system? or may it not radically be the fault of the mother, in neglecting to mingle day by day, domestic knowledge with intellectual culture?-in forgetting that the warp needs a woof, ere the rich tapestry can be perfect? I am not prepared to assert that our daughters have too much learning, though I may be compelled to concede that it is not always well balanced, or judiciously used. Education is not indeed confined to any one point of our existence, yet it assumes peculiar importance at that period when the mind is most ductile to every impression. Just at the dawn of that time, we see the mother watching for the first faint tinge of intellect, more than they who watch for the morning." At her feet a whole generation sit as pupils.Let her learn her own value, as the first educator, that, in proportion to the measure of 66 Let our country go still farther, and recognize in the nursery, and at the fireside, that hallowed agency, which, more than the pomp of armies, shall guard her welfare, and preserve her liberty. Trying as she is, in her own isolated sphere, the mighty experiment, whether a republic can ever be permanent checks which she can command, to curb faction, cupidity and reckless competitionrich in resources, and therefore in danger from her own power-in danger from the very excess of her own happiness, from that knowledge which is the birth-right of her people, unless there go forth with it a moral purity, our dear country, slight the humblest instrument that may advance her safety, nor forget that the mother kneeling by the cradle bed, hath her hand upon the ark of a nation. Hartford, Conn., 1838. For the Ladies' Garland. DISAPPOINTED FRIENDSHIP. And the birds all around were so merrily singing, I'd have sunshine and music and flowers all the way. Ah! how vain was the thought! now the sun is declining, The birds are all fled, and the flowers are all gone; They have all passed away, when the sun ceased his shining, And a thorn pierced the hand where a rosy once Twas to me a fair rose that with fondness I cherish'd, ish'd, And has left me at evening the wounds of a thorn. E. |