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The fields are stript of all their stores,
The herbage fades anon.

The pastures, lately strew'd with flow'rs,
The woods with foilage gay,

Now stand despoil'd of all their pride-
Their beauty fades away.

Yet here and there the turnips green,
In plots, are seen around;

And still to keep our hopes alive,

The wheat springs from the ground.

But, lo! the thickening clouds condense,
Pregnant with chilling snow;
Hark! how the winds, press'd by the cold,
Through leafless forests blow.

Now, sudden, in a copious birth,

Is pour'd, the whit'ning storm ;
Now, nor the face of earth is seen,
Nor cattle tame do roam.

Wild beasts of earth, and fowls of heaven,
Draw near our habitations,

Compell'd hy hunger, forth they rove,
And leave their wonted stations.

The fleecy tribe, from food debarr'd,
Dig for it with their feet;

Or round the shepherd range themselves,
And for their fodder bleat

The

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The tim'rous hare now digs her den
Among the deep piled snow,
Or in the thick plantation seeks
For shelter from her foe.

The Robin, social little bird,
Takes up his haunt with men;
The sparrow, ev'n the rav'nous fowls,
Join messmates with the hen.
The lake, congeal'd by frost, appears
A sea of shining glass;

And o'er the surface of the pool,
On skates the school-boys pass.
Yet now and then a fresh'ning breeze
Dissolves the cumb'rous snow;
And down the wide extended flood,
With floating ice does flow..
But soon again the water's breadth,
God slackens by his breath,
And seals the hand of every man
From lab'ring in the earth.

Sk, 1813.

PRISON-THOUGHTS;

OR

THE STATE OF A MURDERER'S MIND UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH.

Sent for insertion in the Cheap Magazine, while the impression of the scene from which they are taken is fresh in the minds of the public.

TH

HE clock strikes twelve,-another day is gone,
I'm in a cell, all dreary and alone;
Night's sable mantle covers nature's face,
A darksome cloud o'erhangs this dismal place-
A peaceful slumber seals up ev'ry eye;
The iron fetters round my ancles ply:
On homely couches some their heads recline;
Some lie on beds of down-a prison's mine.
With yawnings wild my prison walls resound,
Demons and fiends reverberate the sound;
My mind for shelter roams from place to place;
But still dread despair stares me in the face.
In vain I cry for death my eyes to close;
In vain I try in sleep to drown my woes.
If slumbers for a moment seal my eyes,
I see the INFANT'S looks!-I hear its cries!

One

One night, asleep, I dream'd the babe did stray
Upon a flow'ry bank. I heard it say:

O wicked woman! wretch! well may'st thou dread
An awful tempest bursting on thy head.

Stern justice pleads. From men, and from the skies,
The blood of innocence for vengeance cries;
Conscience defil'd-a mind on murder bent-
An infant smil'd, thy heart did not relent.
These impious hands, how active in the deed!
One held the spoon, the other held my head;
The deadly poison down my throat thou forc'd!
Murder of murders! crime of crimes the worst!
Satan had veil'd thy face.-The veil he drew
Aside, and said: "Look at the action now.'
What panic seiz'd thy limbs, when to and fro
Thou walk'd, and wish'd, and wouldst, but couldst not go.
Suspected, seiz'd, tried, and sentenc'd.-Elate,
The day draws on when thou shalt meet thy fate.
Men shall in vengeance push thee from the world;
By devils down to hell thou'lt then be hurl'd!
There, fiercest pains, without one ray of light;
There, darkness reigns through an eternal night.
Thus said-and lo! I saw a shining throng;
Sweetly they sung; the INFANT join'd their song.
Fain, fain would I have stept to where it was ;
But, Oh! an awful gulf, I could not pass:
I try'd to walk,-my feeble limbs did shake ;-
I turn'd, and look'd, and lo! a burning lake;
A noise I heard, which fill'd my mind with dread;
A band appear'd, with Satan at their head:

He called out to his infernal crew:

'Seize on the wretch'!-th' obedient demons flew.
A bellish rage their ev'ry look bespoke ;
They grasp'd me hard; I struggl❜d, and awoke
All faint, all agitation, all despair.

A cold and icy sweat dropp'd from my hair.
Thus, nightly dreams add vigour to my grief;
The morning comes, but brings me no relief.
But now the day draws on shall end the strife,
The last, the most eventful of my life.-
A day, in which, before yon rising sun
Has run his race, my race too shall be run;
A day, in which, this vile polluted frame
Shall be expos'd to infamy and shame;
A day, in which, my naked soul shall face
The JUDGE,-then pass to its appointed place.
Here, dreams delude, here, fancies have perplex'd ;
There, all's reality, and all is fix'd,

H. H.

W

AN ENIG MA.

HILST trav'ling thro' this transitory scene,
Each has a friend his steps to guide:
Would thoughtless men to wayward error lean?
Such friends their conduct ever chide.

Some men embrace the friendly lesson given;
By it anew direct their ways;

Embrace it as the messenger of Heav'n,

And give to Heav'n their grateful praise.
But some there are, too proud and too self-taught,
To follow admonition's call-

To follow counsels tho' with wisdom fraught;
The love of sin their hearts enthral.

Tho' spurn'd, neglected from their thoughts, yet still
This ready monitor is true;

He marks their sin; and curbs their guilty will;
And ope's their very thoughts to view.

The less inclin❜d are they to change their course,
The more such counsels they reject,
Tho' their delusive pleasures gall them worse,
When they in private do reflect.

This friend is ever with us to advise,

Gives unask'd judgment on our deeds;
We will obey the dictate if we're wise,
His counsel to amendment leads.

Then youthful reader NAME this friend (severe
Yet just) in simple poetry;

His hints obey; and rest in mem❜ry dear
Of him who thus writes.

An Answer in VERSE is requested.

RAHCUEDI.

NOTES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The communication respecting the Deaf and Dumb Institutionthe favours of G. D. P-G. MN.-R. D.-SILYAB-D and a GALLOVIDIAN, are received. Also, the poem on Beauty-the Widow-A Parent's Offerng—the Acrostics by RAHCUEDI-the verses by ADOLESCENS SAMOHT LLUBNRUT-R. R.-N. S.-S. S.B.-Band D

HADDINGTON:

Printed and Published, MONTHLY, by G. MILLER & SON.

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TERENCE waits upon Lord L. after his return from America.

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Terence reaches L.-Castle... His reception... Turns schoolmaster...Is treated with neglect... An antidote against repining... The danger of dissipation and early pride exemplified in the history of Brother Dick and Sister Pol...Method adopted by Lewis to reclaim his brother... Dick and his wife arrive in Scotland...Settle among their connections...Lewis also returns...A good servant meets his reward.

TERENCE on reaching L.-Castle, found that the honoured lady had been five months reposing with the ancestors of his lordship's illustrious house,-but the memory of her excellencies lived in every heart, except in his whose weaknesses her prudence had veiled, and whose comfort she bad uniformly preferred to her own. At first his lordship's grief was outrageous, but in four months he became a daily visitor at the family-physician's house; and it began to be whispered, that the doctor's beautiful daughter VOL. II.

E.

would

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