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5. Thou gavest her costly gems, they say, When thy heart first fondly sought her Dear father, one nuptial gift, I pray, Bestow on thy weeping daughter.

6. My eye even now on the treasure falls, I covet and ask no other;

;

It has hung for years on our ancient walls; 'Tis the portrait of my mother!

7. To-morrow, when all is in festal guise,
And the guests our rooms are filling,
The calm, meek gaze of these hazel eyes
Might thy soul with grief be thrilling;

8. And a gloom on thy marriage banquet cast,
Sad thoughts of their owner giving;
For a fleeting twelvemonth scarce has past
Since she mingled with the living.

9. If thy bride should weary or offend,
That portrait might awaken feelings
Of the love of thy fond departed friend,
And its sweet and kind revealings;

10. Of her mind's commanding force, unchecked
By feeble and selfish weakness;
Of her speech, where dazzling intellect
Was softened by christian meekness.

11. Then, father, grant that at once, to-night,
Ere the bridal crowd's intrusion,

I remove this portrait from thy sight,
To my chamber's still seclusion.

12. It will nerve me to-morrow's dawn to bear,It will beam on me protection,

When I ask of Heaven in faltering prayer,
To hallow thy new connexion.

13. Thou wilt waken, father, in pride and glee, To renew the ties once broken;

But nought on earth remains to me,
Save this sad and silent token.

4. The husband's tears may be few and brief, He may woo and win another;

But the daughter clings in unchanging grief To the image of her mother!

115. THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER.-Pope.

1. Father of all! in every age,

In every clime, adored,

By saint, by savage, and by sage,
Jehovah, Jove, or Lord!

2. Thou great First Cause, least understood, Who all my sense confined

To know but this, that Thou art good,
And that myself am blind;

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4. What conscience dictates to be done,
Or warns me not to do,

This, teach me more than hell, to shun,
That, more than heaven, pursue.

5. What blessings thy free bounty gives,
Let me not cast away;

For God is paid, when man receives;
To enjoy, is to obey.

6. Yet not to earth's contracted span,
Thy goodness let me bound,
Or think thee Lord alone of man,
When thousand worlds are round.

7. Let not this weak, unknowing hand
Presume thy bolts to throw;
And deal damnation round the land,
On each I judge thy foe.

8. If I am right, thy grace impart,
Still in the right to stay;

If I am wrong, Oh! teach my heart
To find that better way!

9. Save me alike from foolish pride,
Or impious discontent,

At aught thy wisdom has denied,
Or aught thy goodness lent.

10. Teach me to feel another's wo;
To hide the fault I see;
That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me.

11. Mean though I am, not wholly so,
Since quicken'd by thy breath;
O, lead me wheresoe'er I go;
Through this day's life or death!

12. This day be bread and peace my lot;
All else beneath the sun,
Thou know'st if best bestow'd or not,
And let thy will be done.

13. To thee, whose temple is all space,
Whose altar, earth, sea, skies!
One chorus let all beings raise!
All nature's incense rise.

Alexander Pope was born at London, in the year 1688. He possessed great poetical talents. His "Essay on Man" is very beautiful in language, and elaborate in disquisition. His "Universal Prayer" is a production of no ordinary merit. It should not be read in a hurried manner, and yet with earnestness. It seems to me, that a pause should be made at the end of a line in poetry, only when the construction is such as would render one proper and necessary in prose. The productions of poetical genius need no effort, on the part of the reader, to distinguish, by his elocution, the former from the latter.

"God

Pope was crooked, and when tauntingly told so, he would say, mend me.' งา His constitution was feeble; but by abstaining from the use of intoxicating drinks, and poisonous tobacco, he lived until the 56th year of his age.

116. REFLECTIONS AT SEA.-Rev. Howard Malcom.

1. Amid the numerous discomforts of a long sea voyage, one is thrown upon his own resources, both for improvement and pleasure. But the mind, accustomed to view with intelligent and devout contemplation the works of God, can seldom be without materials, for lofty and purifying thought. And, surely the wide ocean and wider sky present a rich field, for the expatiation of our noblest thoughts.

2. Pacing the deck, or leaning against the bulwarks, towards setting sun, it would seem as though the most gross and thoughtless mind must rise, and expand, and feel delight. Far and near rolls "old ocean." Before Jehovah spread out the fairer scenery of the dry land, these restless billows swelled and sparkled, beneath the new-made firmament.

3. Thousands of years their wide expanse remained a trackless waste,

Unconquerable, unreposed, untired,

And rolled the wild, profound, eternal bass,
In nature's anthem."

The storm then found no daring mariner to brave its fury, and the gentle breeze no repose on the fair canvass of the lordly ship. Age after age, the fowls of heaven and the tenants of the deep, held undisputed empire.

4. But now, every ocean is added to the dominion of man. He captures its rulers, he makes its surges his highway, and so dexterously adjusts his spreading canvass, as to proceed in the yery face of the winds, to his desired haven. But O! how many have found in these same billows, a grave! How many a gallant ship has "sunk like lead in the mighty waters," where beauty and vigor, wealth and venerableness, learning and piety, find undistinguished graves!

5. To these lone deserts of pure waters, man pursues his brother with murderous intent; the silence is broken by thundering cannon; the billows bear away the stain of gore, and

all that storm ever swallowed up, have been outnumbered by the victims of battle. O, war! when will thy horrid banner be for ever furled!

6. Reflection, following the chasing waves, passes on to the shores they lave, and there looks over nations, and beholds men in their manners, customs, follies, and crimes, their loves and hates, their joys and sorrows, their enthusiastic pursuit of wealth, and amazing disregard of Heaven. How interminable and salutary are the thoughts thou inspirest, ocean! whether we regard thy age, thy beauties, thy silence, thy treasures, thy services to man, thy praise to God, or the scenes which have been acted on thy surface !

7. But while we thus muse and speculate, the glories of sunset fade into sober gray, the billows take a deeper tinge, stars multiply, and soon we stand beneath the firmament glowing with ten thousand fires. Here are vaster, sublimer fields for thought.

8. "Hail, Source of Being! Universal Soul

Of heaven and earth! Essential Presence, hail!
To Thee I bend the knee; to Thee my thoughts
Continual climb; who, with a master hand,
Hast the great whole into perfection touched."

9. How ennobling and purifying is the study of astronomy! How delicious the Christian's hope of soon roaming among these works of infinite wisdom and power, ever learning, adoring, rejoicing, improving; ever becoming more full of God, and of glory, and of joy.

This extract is from Rev. Mr. Malcom's "Travels in South Eastern Asia."

117. SPEECH TO THE LADIES.-D. Webster.

1. Ladies, I am very sure I owe the pleasure I now enjoy, to your kind disposition, which has given me the opportunity to present my thanks and my respects to you, thus collectively, for the unbounded hospitality I have received in this city. It is registered, I assure you, on a grateful heart in characters of

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