From the deep shadowy darkness. Thou art

bless'd,

Believing parent, that did'st calmly wait
The present help in time of wretchedness.
Thy chast'ning Heavenly Father hath beheld
Thy soul's sweet patience, and thy humble prayer
Accepted with divine beneficence:

Thine enemy, confounded, skulks away:
Thy child revives; to every branching vein,
Reanimating health again returns.

Sleep is, to him, refreshing slumber now;
Awaking now, he gaily smiles upon thee.

His small cool hand, now raised and lock'd in

thine,

Returns thy gentle pressure: soon again
The mask of sickness falling, will display,
Instead of languid eyes, and locks that cling
In spare disorder round that damp pale brow,
Bright laughing glances, breaking wildly forth
From glossy clusters of thick sunny hair.
As, by the moon attracted, ocean tides,
Returning, flood the dreary waste of sand,
And life and beauty gradually revive—
The ebbing tides of health thus readily
Obey celestial influence, and bring

Back to the wasted frame, declining life.

*

Perchance, in thy last agitated hour,

That duteous son may tenderly sustain
Thy dying form, and whisper blessings to thee
In the last gentle struggle with thy form,
So youthful now, so worn and feeble then;
And thou wilt grieve less poignantly, to part
With earthly bondage, wasted, and decay'd
In mortal faculties, but better fitted
For pure, unfading happiness in Heaven.

THE BROTHERS.

While I tread

THE BROTHERS.

It was a cold, gloomy day, and the rain fell fast; yet Arthur Western remained leaning against the wall, in one of those narrow dark alleys near Newgate; the large plashing eaves' drops fell on his shoulder, till they soaked into his sleeve; still he did not stir; he felt his eye-balls expanded, and his throat parched; he could scarcely think, for a dead weight seemed pressed upon all his mental faculties. Arthur did not long remain in that gloomy attitude, for a ray of thought darted into the darkness of his mind: he still, however, stood meditating on the idea which had presented itself to him: at last, he decided; and walked quickly away. "No time must