A gentle bearing crowned each act,
A kindness all thine own.

And what if form, and face, and mien
Did not in thee unite-

In mind, a beauteous dawn appeared,
It spoke a radiant light:

There was a spell about thee, child—
A magic o'er thee cast;

To see thee, was to love thee still-
To love thee till the last.

But all the love, and hope, and joy,
Thus treasured up in thee,

Have fled, as (soon or late) our dreams
Of earthly bliss must flee :

The autumn winds have o'er thee passed,

E'en in thy blooming hour,

And perished are thy sweets from earthThou fair and fragrant flower.

And I should life and health remainWhen summer months draw nigh,

Shall miss the music of thy voice,
The lustre of thine eye;

Shall miss thee in the garden walk,
Where thy light footsteps strayed-
And on the lawn with verdure crowned
Where thou so oft hast played.

Ah!-Yes, 'tis past, and I shall see
That cherub smile no more;
And with thy stricken parent's love,
I must thy loss deplore.

But HE, who gives and takes at will-
By whom thy light was given-

In perfect wisdom called thee hence,

To dwell with Him in heaven.

THE LISTENER.

(HARLOTTE had a constant desire to hear what

C everybody was day tog ind she was so mean as

everybody was saying, and she was so mean as to listen at doors, and hide herself, that she might have an opportunity of discovering things that were not intended for her to know.

Her mother often told her, that a listener is almost as bad as a thief. A thief steals money, or property that belongs to other people; and a listener steals the secrets of others. All persons who are in the habit of listening, make themselves appear mean and contemptible, and deserve to be despised and punished.

When her father and mother wished to have any conversation, which they did not wish her to hear, they sent Charlotte out of the room; but she would remain at the door listening. Once when she was listening at the door, with her ear close to the keyhole, one of her curls got entangled in the key, and

when her father suddenly opened the door, she was pulled forward into the room, and her nose so much hurt that it bled.

When she knew that her mother had visiters in the parlor, or that her father had gentlemen there on business, she would quit her lessons, or her playthings, and creep softly down stairs, and listen at the door; or would slip into the garden, and crouch down under the open window, that she might hear what they were saying.

Once when she was stooping half double under the parlor window, her father, not knowing she was there, finding a fly in a glass of beer that he was about to drink, went to the window to throw it out, and emptied the whole of it on Charlotte's head.

One evening, when she had been sent to her bed, she heard the door-bell ring, and the voices of a gentleman and lady who had come to visit her father and mother. After awhile, her curiosity to hear the conversation became so great, that she got up, intending to listen at the parlor door. As she stole down stairs, barefoot, and in the dark, holding by the banisters, she fell over a bucket of water, which the chamber

maid had left on the landing, while she went to get the pitchers to fill them for the night.

The bucket and Charlotte rolled down stairs together, and so great was the noise, that every one in the house, even the visiters, ran into the entry to see what was the matter. She was wet all over in the fall, and very much hurt, and she had to confess that she was coming down stairs to listen, when she fell over the bucket.

At another time, when she heard her mother say that she expected two ladies at three o'clock on particular business, Charlotte went into the front parlor before the time of their arrival, and hid herself under a large lolling-chair. Here she lay until the ladies. arrived, and her mother came down to them. A dog, belonging to one of the ladies, ran directly to the chair, and began to snuff, and scratch, as if he had found something.

The lady said, "I think Carlo must have scented a cat under the chair." Charlotte's mother went directly to the chair, but before she reached it, the dog had lifted the curtain with his nose, and discovered the girl; who, overcome with shame and confusion,