Hover'd thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son, Thus many a sad to-morrow came and went, I learn'd at last submission to my lot, But, though I less deplored thee, ne'er forgot.' Mrs Hartley leaned her head upon her husband's shoulder, unable to restrain the tears that were springing to her eyes. "If Heaven only spares me to my children, it is all I ask," she murmured. "I will be patient with and forbearing towards them. I will discharge my duties with unwearied diligence. Who can fill a mother's place? Alas! no one. If any voice had been as full of love for him when a child, if any hand had ministered to him as tenderly, this touching remembrance of his mother would never have been recorded by Cowper: "Thy nightly visits to my chamber made, That thou might'st find me safe and warmly laid; The biscuit or confectionery plum; The fragrant waters on my cheeks bestow'd By thy own hand, 'till fresh they shone and glow'd: Thy constant flow of love, that knew no fall, Could Time, his flight revers'd, restore the hours I prick'd them into paper with a pin, (And thou wast happier than myself the while, "Ah, who could be unkind to a motherless one?" "The lot of an orphan child is not always as sad a one as must have been that of young Cowper," said Mr Hartley, "for it is but rarely that a child possesses the delicate or rather morbid sensibility that characterized him." "I could not bear to think that any child of mine would remember me with less tenderness," replied Mrs Hartley. "Even though it embitter his whole life." "No-no. It was the mother's selfishness, not the mother's love that spoke," she instantly returned. verse. "To recur to what we were first talking about," said Mr Hartley, after a pause. "There cannot be a doubt that the whole life of the child is affected by the mother's character, and the influences she has brought to bear upon him. I could point to many instances that have come under my observation to illustrate this. The father of one of my schoolmates was a man of highly cultivated mind and polished manners; his mother was the reThe son is like the mother. As a man he did not rise in society at all, and is now the keeper of a billiard saloon. In another instance, the father was a lowminded man, and inclined to dissipation. Nearly the whole burden of the support of the family fell upon the mother; but her children always came to school neat and clean. Their behaviour was good, and they studied with diligence. Only one of four sons turned out badly. Three of them are now merchants in good business; and the mother's declining years are blessed by their kindest attentions. You see then, Anna, how much you have to encourage you." "If there was nothing to encourage me, love and duty would make me persevere." "But there is much. Cast thy bread upon the waters, and it shall be found after many days.'" CHAPTER VI. CORRECTING A FAULT. "THERE are two faults in Clarence and Henry," said Mrs Hartley one day to her husband, "that I am at a loss how to correct. They are bad faults, and will affect their characters through life, if not judiciously corrected now. Clarence looks with an envious eye upon every thing that Henry has, and manages, sooner or later, to get possession of it by his brother's consent. Henry soon tires of what he has, and is easily induced to part with it to Clarence for some trifling consideration. It is not long, however, before he wants it back again, and then trouble ensues. Sometimes I think I will make a law that neither Clarence nor his brother shall part with any thing that has been given to him. But I am afraid of the effect of this. It will foster a selfish spirit. It will allow of no generous self-sacrifice for the good of others." "I think with you, that the effect would not be good. Still, it is very important that a certain feeling of property in what each one has should be preserved. As far as this can be accomplished, without strengthening the selfish tendency of our nature, it should be done. It causes each one not only to protect his own rights, but to regard the rights of his neighbours." "I see all that very clearly. The happy medium is what I desire to attain. As things are now, the disposition which Clarence has to appropriate every thing to himself is fostered, and Henry is losing that just regard to his own rights that he ought to have. Now, what ought I to do? Can you devise a plan ?" N "Not so well as you can. But let me sec. Suppose you try this mode for a while. Make a law, that if Henry give Clarence any of his playthings, the right to possess them shall be as perfect as if you or I had presented them to Clarence as his own. The practical working of this will, in a short time, make Henry reflect a little before he relinquishes his property to his brother." “That will do, I think,” said Mrs Hartley. "There will be no harm in trying it at any rate.” On the next day she gave Clarence a new book, and Henry a humming-top. "This "Now let me tell you something," she said. book belongs to you, Clarence, and this top to you, Henry. I hope they will please you very much, and that you will take good care of them. You can lend them to each other, if you choose; but I would rather you would not give them to each other. Should either of you do so, the one who gives his book or his top away, cannot reclaim it. Do you understand, Henry?" "O yes, ma'am, I understand; I'm not going to give any body my top, I know." "Very well, my son. You can do so if you wish; but remember, after you have once given it away you cannot get it back again." "Why can't I, mother?" asked the little boy. "Because, after you have given any thing away, it is no longer yours." "I'm not going to give it away," he said, in a positive voice, as he ran off to spin his top in the play-room. For about an hour Clarence was very much interested in his book, while Henry continued to spin his top with |