A FRAGMENT. Vain fool! and impudent as vain! What though he flings around his feet 'Tis seen by us, and thou may'st see't, Subdue thyself to his control; Submit?-prefer (for reason's blind) The sword that Israel bathed in blood, Sharply, but kindly, sent with God Their little ones to dwell! Boston, Jan., 1843. 41 as easy. [Written for the Young Lady's Friend.] A FRAGMENT. BY MRS. ELIZABETH W. TRUE. ** From this time I thought of book lessons Soon my ear caught a sighing sound; turning to listen, I saw a pining form. Here, indeed, was a new, a hard, a heart-rending lesson. There was no music in that sigh, for it soon became a groan; no loveliness in that ghastly countenance, for soon the eye was glazed and nearly closed. Death was taking my infant sister; and yet she did not die. The day passed, and her dying eyes still rolled upon me. Gazing, and weeping, I exclaimed, why is this? Why this delay, why this agony, and why this death? As I stooped to look more closely, I saw a smile. That glare became celestial brightness. The groan ceased-the contest was ended. With this lesson I labored hard. What questions now arose ! And one perplexed me more than all. Why that smile so sweet, which restored the loveliness of those features so long distorted by the dreadful contest? Engaged in these and many other questions, weeks and months led me along, until I was awaked at the midnight hour to take another lesson; the last, of which I shall now speak. The voice which broke my slumber was hollow and hoarse. The night passed, and by the first light of day I went to behold the form from which the sound proceeded. Ah! 'twas one I knew! One upon which I had often reclined. I watched, day after day, its movements; until, loth to take the lesson, I had nearly persuaded myself to have mistaken the call. But soon the tomblike sound again broke midnight silence. The lesson I must take. Those limbs once so active, became tremulous; consumption had claimed "the marrow for food, the blood for drink." The frequent tear, sigh, and wish, of the invalid, came to me with deep language. Weeks brought me onward; and at the midnight hour again I woke-called by a whisper. But O, what a whisper! It bade me go and look upon a death-bed. I went I beheld! Scene of scenes, to me! Lesson of lessons! A call of heart and intellect too. I grasped the dying hand, (for I was wont to grasp that very hand,) and listened to half-uttered words. Disease seemed ready for a final triumph over both body and spirit. was not long so. I saw the spirit resuming more than its former healthful vigor; its limits seemed to be broken; words became distinct; the countenance shone with intelligence, while death, compelled to make the falling body his only prey, seemed with eagerness to be hastening his work. This lesson, hard as it was, and given in tones so stern, was made welcome by the melody of accompanying strains; for, by that dying tongue, the name of Jesus was pronounced, with shouts of salvation. That sacred room seemed to resound with hosannas from the heavenly choir, as the spirit departed. I saw the last moving of those guardian eyes! They are closed! My father is in eternity. But it Friend, hast thou ever seen a death-bed? Hast thou ever seen a parent die? Dennysville, Me., Jan., 1843. CONFIDENCE. There is something very winning and endearing in confidence. Who could take away the life of a bird that fled to his bosom from the pounce of the hawk? Or who could take advantage of having him in his hand to deprive the little trembler even of his liberty? Nothing is ever lost by trusting in the ingenuous and noble-minded: they always feel a responsibility to repay the confidence reposed in them. What, then, may we not expect from the God of all comfort?-William Jay. METHOD. 43 [Written for the Young Lady's Friend.] METHOD, ESSENTIAL IN ALL THE DEPARTMENTS OF LIFE. BY SOPHIA C. S. WEYMOUTH. Who does not admire the system and order which every where pervade the works of the Almighty? On the annual return of the seasons we can depend—the rising and setting sun has never disappointed our expectations. We know, and can trace, the course of the heavenly luminaries, and never have we looked in vain to find them in their appropriate spheres. And, while in contemplation of this "great system of perfections," we are lost in wonder, in view of the mighty power which thus beautifully and harmoniously governs all, and are led to exclaim, "What is man that Thou art mindful of him?" We admire the effect of a cause which we cannot comprehend. We admire it, not for its beauty and harmony alone, but as resulting in the best good of man. Seed time and harvest have never failed to call for the labors of the industrious cultivator of the soil. Each tree, shrub, and flower, has its appropriate time to bud and blossom; and the same system and order we admire in the heavens above us, can every where be traced throughout the earth we tread. From every thing around we can read instruction, if we but seek it "amid familiar things." Let, then, the system and order which pervade the universe, extend into all the departments of life. Let every thing have its appropriate time and place, and double the amount of labor, both intellectual and physical, may be performed. I might refer, for proof of this, to innumerable examples; but it would be useless to bring forward the history of those with whom every one must be acquainted. Daily observation and experience cannot fail to teach us this truth. With the young, especially-those whose habits and characters are forming for the future-should this be observed; and may I not add, more especially by young ladies, whose habits may hereafter so much influence the happiness of the domestic circle? It matters not what their station in life may be, whether rich or poor, there exists, if not the same necessity, the same moral and divine obligation to dispose of their time in the best possible manner; and this can only be done by that systematic arrangement which assigns to each engagement its respective time, and to each article under their con trol its respective place. That young lady who neglects to form habits of order and punctuality while under the paternal roof, who there excuses herself from all responsibility and care, and thus goes forth into the world to encounter it all unprepared, will find, to her sorrow, that she has neglected to lay the foundation on which to erect the superstructure of domestic happiness. However limited our sphere of action may be, this principle may be cultivated, and called into exercise. In the arrangement of a school-girl's apartment, and the disposition of her time, it may as effectually be developed as in the more important transactions of life. She who suffers such confusion to pervade her table, that to find a book is a labor to tax her patience, or who, after the arrival of the school-hour, must tarry to disorder yet more sadly her already disordered wardrobe, ere she can find some necessary article of dress, must-unless an important reformation be effected— detract from, rather than add to, the enjoyment of the social home-circle. The simple motto, a time and place for every thing, and every thing in its time and place, would prevent all unnecessary labor, and add two-fold to the individual happiness of all concerned. I have entered the cottage of the poor where this motto was observed, and admired the air of cheerfulness and quiet which reigned around; and from that I have turned to the dwelling where wealth has lavished, with a liberal hand, all the luxuries as well as necessaries of life, and felt, amid the disorder which was every where apparent, that the home of the former was far the most enviable. Where the mistress is deficient in this respect, servants can seldom be found disposed, even were it possible for them, to atone for the deficiency. The importance of forming early those habits which are so materially to influence our enjoyment through life, will readily be admitted by all. Let then the young lady who has heretofore neglected the cultivation of this important trait of character, commence now, and if she has the command of the whole, or a part of her time, let that which she can control be judiciously and systematically disposed of. If she has left school, or, in accordance with the common expression," finished her education," she must feel the necessity of a more extensive acquaintance with the general branches to which her attention has been directed, than she could derive from the condensed and limited information con IMMORTALITY.- -RUSSIAN LADIES. 45 tained in her school-books; and, in order to pursue a course of reading to advantage, a portion of time must be appropriated to that purpose. Some may urge, that they can secure no portion of time exempt from interruption, which they can thus methodically observe. To such I would say, deduct one hour in the twenty-four from the usual number allotted to sleep, and the object will be effected. One can experience little or no inconvenience from retiring an hour later, or rising an hour earlier; and in that time something can be accomplished; and when we reflect that in one year the hours thus employed will amount to three hundred and sixty-five, we confidently assert that much may be. Thus let every period of the day bring with it its allotted employment, and that which would otherwise prove a task, will be almost imperceptibly performed. "Order is Heaven's first law," and but for the disorder occasioned by man, the same might be said of earth. Strong, Me., January, 1843. IMMORTALITY. Must I be left forgotten in the dust, When faith relenting lets the flower survive? Must Nature's voice, to man alone unjust, Bid him, though doomed to perish, hope to live? Is it for this, fair virtue oft must strive With disappointment, penury, and pain? No! heaven's eternal spring shall yet arrive, And man's majestic beauty bloom again, Bright through the eternal year of love's triumphant reign. Beattie. RUSSIAN LADIES.-The Russian ladies bear the reputation of being "soft savages." In England, you hear people constantly pouring out anathemas, on account of the American fondness for tobacco. What would they say if they saw, as I did yesterday, two Russian ladies-a Countess, whose husband has an European celebrity, and her daughter, a pretty girl of "sweet sixteen," dressed in the very pink of Persian fashion, (as elegant morning dresses as man ever admired or woman longed for,) smoking cigars! They had been thus occupied for some hours, if one might judge from the salival deposits at their feet, on the highly varnished floors.-Dr. Mackenzie. |