And thought strange sleep'enchained her soul,

For no fond voice replied.
6 That eve, I knelt me down in wo

And said a lonely prayer,
Yet, still my temples seemed to glow

As if that hand were there.
7 Years fled-and left me childhood's joy,

Gay sports and pastimes dear,
I rose a wild and wayward boy,

Who scorned the curb of fear.
8 Fierce passions shook me like a reed,

Yet, ere at night I slept,
That soft hand made my bosom bleed,

And down I fell and wept. 9 Youth came—the props of Virtue reeled !-

But oft at day's decline,
A marble touch my brow congealed-

Blest Mother! was it thine ? 10 In foreign lands I traveled wide,

My pulse was bounding high,
Vice spread her meshes at my side,

And pleasure lured my eye;
11 Yet, still that hand, so soft and cold,

Maintained its mystic sway,
As when amid my curls of gold

With gentle force it lay.
12 And with it breathed a voice of care

As from the lowly sod,
“My son-my only one--beware!

Nor sin against thy God."
13 Ye think, perchance, that age hath stole

My kindly warmth away,
And dimmed the tablet of the soul;

Yet when with lordly sway,
14 This brow the plumed helm displayed

That guides the warrior throng ;
Or beauty's thrilling fingers strayed

These manly locks among,

15 That hallowed touch was ne'er forgot!

And now, though Time hath set
Ilis frosty seal upon my lot,

These temples feel it yet.
16 And if I e'er in heaven appear,

A mother's holy prayer,
A mother's hand, and gentle tear,
That pointed to a Savior dear,
Have led the wanderer there.

LESSON CXIV.

of an

Relief of the Soldiers of the Revolution.—SPRAGUE. 1 GENTLEMEN tell us, that the law is too liberal ; that

it goes too far, and they would repeal it. They would take back even the little which they have given! And is this possible? Look abroad upon this wide extended land, upon its wealth, its happiness, its hopes; and then turn to the aged soldier, who gave you all, and see him descend in neglect and poverty to the tomb! The time is short. A few years and these remnants of a former age will no longer be seen. Then we shall in

dulge unavailing regrets for our present apathy : for, 2 how can the ingenuous mind look

upon

the

grave injured benefactor? How poignant the reflection, that the time for reparation and atonement has gone for ever! In what bitterness of soul shall we look back upon the infatuation which shall have cast aside an opportunity, which never can return, to give peace to our consciences ! We shall then endeavor to stifle our convictions, by empty honors to their bones.

We shall raise high the monument, and trumpet loud their deeds,

but it will be all in vain. It cannot warm the hearts 3 which shall have sunk cold and comfortless to the earth. This is no illusion. How often do we see, in our public Gazettes, a pompous display of honors to the memory of some veteran patriot, who was suffered to linger out his latter days in unregarded penury!

i

“ How proud we can press to the funeral array
Of him whom we shunned in his sickness and sorrow
And bailiffs may seize his last blanket to-day,

Whose pall shall be borne up by heroes to-morrow." We are profuse in our expressions of gratitude to 4 the soldiers of the revolution. We can speak long and

loud in their praise, but when asked to bestow something substantial upon them, we hesitate and palter. To them we owe every thing, even the soil which we tread, and the air of freedom which we breathe.

Let us not turn them houseless from habitations which they have erected, and refuse them even a pittance from the exuberant fruits of their own labors.

How sleep the brave, who sink to rest,
By all their country's wishes blessed!
When spring, with dewy fingers cold,
Returns to deck the hallowed mould,
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than fancy's feet have ever trod.

By fairy hands their knell is rung,
By forms unseen their dirge is sung ;
There honor comes, a pilgrim gray,
To bless the turf that wraps their clay ;
And Freedom shall awhile repair,
To dwell a weeping hermit there !-Collins.

LESSON CXV.

Comfort ye my People.—BIBLE.
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people!
Saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her,
That her warfare is accomplished,
That her iniquity is pardoned:
For she hath received of the Lord's hand
Double for all her sins.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,

Prepare ye the way of the Lord;

Make straight in the desert a highway for our God! 2 Every valley shall be exalted,

And every mountain and hill shall be made low:
And the crooked shall be made straight,
And the rough places plain :
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together:

For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.--
The voice said, Cry! And he said, What shall I cry?

All flesh is grass,

And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the 3 field :

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth :
Because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it:
Surely the people is grass.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth :
But the word of our God shall stand for ever.
0 Zion, that bringest good tidings! get thce up

into the high mountain ;
0 Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings!

Lift up thy voice with strength;
4 Lift it up, be not afraid ;
Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold

your

God!
Behold! the Lord your God will come with strong hand,
And his arm shall rule for him :
Behold! his reward is with him,
And his work before him.
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd :
He shall gather the lambs with his arm,
And carry them in his bosom,

And shall gently lead those that are with young. 5 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

And meted out heaven with the span,
And comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
And weighed the mountains in scales,
And the hills in a balance ?
Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or, being his counselor, hath taught him?
With whom took He counsel, and who instructed him,
And taught him in the path of judgment,

And taught him knowledge,
6 And showed to him the way of understanding?

Behold! the nations are as a drop of a bucket,
And are counted as the small dust of the balance :
Behold! he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
Nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
All nations before him are as nothing ;
And they are counted to him less than nothing, and

vanity.

To whom then will ye liken God? 7 Or what likeness will ye compare unto him ? The workman melteth a graven image And the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, And casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation Chooseth a tree that will not rot; He seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a

graven image, that shall not be moved. Have

ye not known ? have ye not heard ? Hath it not been told you from the beginning ? 8 Have ye not understood from the foundations of the

earth? It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, And spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in : That bringeth the princes to nothing ; He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea—they shall not be planted; Yea—they shall not be sown: 9 Yea-their stock shall not take root in the earth : And He shall also blow upon them, and they shall

wither, And the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

To whom then will ye liken Me, Or shall I be equal ? Saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold ! Who hath created these things? That bringeth out their host by number: 10 He calleth them all by names: by the greatness of his

might, (for that he is strong in power) Not one faileth.