haps generally neglected in the village where she resided; and with an especial knowledge of, and interest in her father's household, she added, "I wish to read it to my dear parents, who-".. "

"Well, dear Ann," said Edgar in a soothing tone, "you shall have it; as it is late in the evening, I will proceed, and finish this interesting account."

'Far different was the scene in this sequestered cottage. A bell announced the readiness of the table, and all the inmates assembled in the supper room. The whole company consisted of the elder Harrod, his son, his niece a pleasant maiden between thirty and forty years of age Mr. Gray and myself. After we were introduced by the sire to his niece, the whole company knelt while the old gentleman craved a blessing from "the Giver of every good and every perfect gift." Our repast was abundant without superfluity grateful without luxury very like those to which we were accustomed when I was at home. When supper was over, all knelt again, while thanks were returned by the venerable host. At the conclusion of both the invocation and thanksgiving, the young gentleman resident solemnly responded, "Amen."

The whole company, together with the servant who followed the group, withdrew from the supper room, and having entered the drawing room, the elder Harrod solemnly announced the commencement of the evening service; the whole of.

1

which was conducted in conformity with the prescriptions of the established church,— a chapter in the New Testament being read, followed by prayers and the "Gloria Patri " or Doxology, which latter was accompanied with the performance upon the organ by the younger Harrod.

After the conclusion of the religious exercises, we seated ourselves in a familiar circle, and the remainder of the evening passed away very agreeably in conversation upon literature, science, and religion, and "soft repose " ensued..

At an early hour we were awakened by the ringing of a bell, used to call the family to morning devotions, and in a few minutes we found ourselves in the midst of this pious family about to engage in duties for which we had hitherto cherished little regard, but which-owing to the winning courteousness and intelligence of those whose hospitality we were enjoying, followed with the blessing of Almighty God—now began to be pleasant, ay, delightful employments. We knelt in prayer; and never before had I perceived so much intrinsic beauty in the "Common Prayer Book," although for so many years we were accustomed to attend the ministrations of the Gospel at the "St. 's church" on the hill at never have I before had any correct estimate of the value of prayer, and of its soul-enkindling spirit,' notwithstanding our former familiarity with that

and

"man of prayer," Parson, to whom you will recollect this epithet was often applied.'

'After breakfast,

upon the refusal of our venerable host to receive pecuniary compensation for his Christian hospitality, and receiving a hearty welcome, together with an invitation to revisit the cottage, to examine the library and the extensive eabinet of specimens in conchology, mineralogy, and entomology, which this aged genius had been collecting during a long series of years, for the purposes of self-improvement and the instruction of his charge, (all of which we hastily viewed as we passed through the several rooms which contained them) we prepared our packs and staves, acknowledged the politeness and generosity of the residents, and reluctantly left "Glen Cot," while "farewell" dropped from each one's lips, and tears bedewed the cheeks of all.'

"O, Edgar!" exclaimed Ann, joyfully, "I must have the letter now, and repair home. It will be a soft proposal to my parents, the power of which -I firmly believe will effect a thorough reformation of our family."

"I willingly give it you, dear Ann. It has softened my own heart and that of my dear parents.

May it do as much for thee! Let us away."

MATERNAL AFFECTION.

WHAT theme so thrilling as a mother's love?
What recollections half so dear, what thoughts,
What rife imaginings so sweet as those

That picture forth the sainted form of her,
Who, with devoted spirit, used to kneel
Year after year, nor e'er forgot at night
And morn to come, and at my bedside pray
And weep for her loved son? Oh, I have heard
Of one, who, for the love she bore to them,
Drained every vein to stay the mortal life
Of her fond offspring *— sacrificing self

To gird their famished loins, — but never have

I known more true devotion of the soul,

Than that which lit my mother's bosom. Her's

Was the sweet sacrifice of spirit, which,

Like incense rises unto God: her prayers

And tears, the life-blood of the soul poured out
For me. Blessed be God, she had a fount
To draw from, that shall never dry, but give
Perennial life to her pure spirit, and
To all who taste its flowings!

A mother who thus pleads for you with God?.
Be sure, she loves you with a purer love.
Prize her as a bright gift of Heaven, nor let
Her oft-repeated sacrifices rise

For you in vain.

* A woman of Ancona, heart-broken by the exhaustion of her two sons, and helpless of other relief, opened a vein in her left arm; and having prepared and disguised the blood which flowed from it with spices and condiments, presented them with the beverage thus prolonging the existence of her children, even at the price of that tide of life by which her own was supported.

SKETCHES VENET. HIST.

THE DEAD STRANGER.

Ad astra rediit.'- GOETHE'S EPITAPH.

THE mourners one by one are gathering, and
The sable corse-bier 's at the cottage door,
To bear away youth's spirit-mantle from
The hearth of his adoption in a land

Far from his father's house. I chanced to know

The nobleness of his fled spirit, and

It seemed that, rather than expelled by droop

Of physical strength, its greatness burst the bands
Of its incarceration, to ascend

To spheres of more congenial influences

For, in the bloom of health, his manly form

Fell from its stateliness to quick decay,

Like a dashed vase whose fragments are past gathering.

Wake, wake, imagination, from thy dreams
Of earth! Put on thy purest garments, and
Take to thyself a censer fragrant with
The offerings of truth: arise- ascend
And worship at the hallowed altar of
Departed worth. Lovely rememberings
And sad come up, and image forth from death
The living in his strength; that I may catch
Lucernal radiance from his walk, to light
My way through Earth's meanderings, to bliss.
Faithful ye are. The deep-tinged lineaments
Of his exalted character are spread
Before me, and, blent up with vividness

Of recollected strength and beauty, seem

To inspire the clay that lies here; and though dead,
Alonzo speaks in all his wonted charms

And eloquence. I see him when the tide
Of trouble 's beating high with pitiless surge
Upon his father's roof, surrender all