his fellow-prisoner to rid him of life. "Cut my throat-shoot me!" he exclaimed, in the wildest tones; "trample me to death! My parents! how can I ever look them in the face again!" Again and again he besought his room-mate to kill him, at the same time beating his head against the stone floor with such violence, that the former at last seized him, and held him by main force, while with loud outcries he alarmed the officers of the prison. The turnkey soon came, and, after vainly endeavouring to soothe the excited youth, he determined on calling in medical aid. Dr. H. G. Clark, the city physician, was accordingly summoned, and soon was in attendance on the prisoner. Dr. C., after a careful examination of his patient, pronounced him in a very high state of fever,-and stated further, that he would not live a great while longer in such a place, and under such excitement. He, however, did all that could be done to alleviate his immediate sufferings, and then brought his case to the knowledge of Mr. Charles Spear. That gentleman, with the promptness he always shows on such occasions, repaired to the jail, learned the story of the sufferer, became his bail, and had him removed immediately to his own house. Doctor Clark still attended him; but he grew worse so rapidly, and his delirious paroxysms became so frequent and so violent, that additional medical aid was deemed advisable. Drs. Channing and Bigelow were accordingly called in, and consulted in the case, who, after several visitations, gave their opinion that the

sufferer was in a dying state, and that nothing short of a miracle could save him.

"We should have mentioned before, that the young man at first resolutely refused to tell anyone the names or circumstances of his friends and relatives. It was only when the good Samaritan visited him in prison, and had won his confidence by kind and judicious words, which so easily reached the heart, that he disclosed the fact, that his father was an Episcopal minister, in the town of in the He also stated that

interior of the State of

he had wealthy relatives, among whom was a sister, who was married to a merchant. When, therefore, the physicians gave their opinions as to the issue of the case, Mr. Spear felt it his duty to inform the father of the youth; and he accordingly sent on a message, detailing the circumstances, and telling him if he wished to see his boy alive again, to lose no time in hastening to his bed-side.

"In an interval of calmness, when consciousness and reason had returned for a time, the sufferer was informed of what had been done, and asked if it would not relieve his mental suffering to see his father once more.

"O, no,' he replied; let me die rather, I have brought dishonour upon his gray hairs, and how can I look upon his face again! Let me die; but have pity on my poor father.'

"These paroxysms of remorse and passionate cries, varied at intervals by delirious turns, lasted three days, and all the while the sufferer was

evidently sinking lower, and approaching nearer that grave he so wildly coveted.

"On Thursday evening of last week, the father arrived, and drove immediately to Mr. S. When the young sufferer was informed, as a matter of precaution, that his parent was already in the house, waiting below, and would soon be with him, he covered his face, and uttered a piercing groan :— "I can't see him!' he exclaimed, turning to Mr. S., 'I can't I can't!'

"At that moment the white-haired father entered; but let us draw a veil over what followed. No words can adequately describe that scene,-where the strong man bent in agony over the bed of his erring child, and that child, burying his head in the pillow, shook with the throes of unutterable grief!

"On Saturday evening, the married sister of the young man arrived; and we further learn that his mother is also on the way-she having been unable to accompany her husband. It is thought, however, the latter will be too late, though the patient has already lingered longer than was expected.

"The doctors, as we have already stated, entertain no hope of his recovery, and it is feared that each convulsion will be his last. But who that reads this tale does not hope that it may be otherwise! Who will not utter a prayer that this youth-so talented, so amiable as he is represented, the victim of a single error-may yet live to wipe out the

stain upon his character; and to learn to look back upon these terrible scenes as but a providential ordeal, through which his soul passed, as through a furnace, and was purified!"

I cannot, perhaps, do better than close my topic by an illustration of quite an opposite character; one as pleasing as the preceding one is painful.

"I once knew a young man," says the Hon. H. Mann, "who, on removing from the country to the city, was introduced to a very respectable circle of persons, about his own age, who were in the habit of meeting periodically, for the nominal purpose, at least, of conversation and social improvement. But any looker-on at their symposia, might not have been uncharitable, had he supposed that the supper, the wine, and cigars, constituted the principal attraction.

"He became one of their number, and for a time enjoyed the hilarity, and shared the expense of the entertainments; but, at last, rebuked by his conscience for this mode of spending his time and his money, he quietly withdrew from the club, though without abandoning his intimacy with its members. Through one of their number he learned the average cost of their suppers,—and taking an equal sum from his own scantily filled purse, he laid it aside as a fund for charity.

"At the end of a single season, he found himself possessed of one hundred dollars, wholly made up of these sums saved from genteel dissipation. This amount he took to a poor but most exemplary

family, consisting of a widow and several small children, all of whom were struggling as if for life, and against a series of adverse circumstances, to maintain a show of respectability, and to provide the means of attending the public school.

"The bestowment of this sum upon the disheartened mother and the fatherless children, together with the sympathy and counsel that accompanied it, seemed to put a new heart into the bosom of them all. It proved the turning-point in their fortunes. Some small debts were paid, the necessary school books, and a few articles of domestic clothing were obtained, the children sprung forward in their studies, equalling or outstripping all competitors; and, at the present time, they are all among the most respectable, exemplary, and useful citizens in the State. Now it would be to suppose myself not among men, but among fiends, were I to ask the question, as doubtful of the answer, which of these young men extracted the greatest amount of happiness from his hundred dollars! Nor can such charity fail to benefit him who gives as much as him who takes."

GAMBLING is a topic which I had not intended to make a particular subject of remark. But further reflection induces me to offer in this connexion a few words of caution on this subject.

As to the professional gambler, little need be said of him. He is an outlaw. His occupation is a sort of piracy-but with this difference: the pirate boldly risks his life in his freebooting excur