СНАРТЕER XX. THE PRISONER'S ADDRESS TO HIS MOTHER. 1. MY MOTHER! Can there be any whose eye shall rest on these two words, whose heart can fail to respond—my mother! Sweet, gentle, tender, and full of love, comes to us that melting term; and hard, indeed, must that heart be which can resist its influence. Even those who have never known a mother's care, cannot have refrained from the indulgence of imaginings of all that she might have been; and the influence of those dreams of what they have been deprived must have been for good,- for the contemplation alone of what is lovely in character, or endearing in its relations to us, has the effect to soften the heart and make it better. 2. If then there is a holy, hallowed atmosphere thrown around the simple relation of mother, how much more powerful does that influence become when extending over our infant years, moulding the character and forming the habits. And, if the heart should for a moment prove truant, and the hour of temptation should be too powerful for the else controlling hand of habit and principle, how does the angel spirit of a mother's teachings breathe upon the soul, and lead it back to repentance and virtue. Witness the testimony of one who has sunk low, indeed, in misery and vice, and listen to the penitent prisoner's address to his long-lost mother. 3. I've wandered far from thee, mother, Far from our happy home; I've left the land that gave me birth, In other climes to roam; And Time, since then, has rolled his years, Yet still I've often thought of thee I'm thinking of thee now. THE PRISONER'S ADDRESS TO HIS MOTHER. 4. I'm thinking of those days, mother, When, with such earnest pride, You watched the dawnings of my youth, With hopes of future joy, And thy bright fancy honors wove, 85 I know thou wouldst not chide, mother, 9. I know thy tender heart, mother, Still beats as warm for me As when I left thee, long ago, To cross the broad blue sea; 10. But ah! there is a thought, mother, That thy free spirit may have flown And as I wipe the tear away, There whispers in my ear A voice that speaks of heaven and thee, CHAPTER XXI. TO THE DOMESTIC NEEDLE. 1. THOU burnished, busy bit of steel, I do but tell thee what I feel, When of the arts of human weal I hail thee queen : Thy ministers the loom and wheel Have always been. 2. They once enjoyed the fireside gleam, When industry bore sway supreme, And wives were more than some now seem Of late, enslaved by flood and steam, They work apart! 3. But though thy body-guard be gone, Thou shalt maintain thy rightful throne, In spite of patents, be it known, And tailors, too. 4. Thou hast a patent-right to bless, Which Yankee wit can ne'er make less; For better means it cannot "guess," With all its crowing, To cure the curse of nakedness, Than simple sewing. 5. In truth it is thy glorious feat To make creation's work complete : In woman's hand should have its seat, 6. They talk about a bow or quiver, Hearts wounded by them to a fever, And vows of love to last forever, Such is the riddle; But love, I think, must sometimes shiver 7. The real darts, I must declare, Which pierce us from the real fair, And bind us to them, pair to pair, Are needles threaded, And plied by those to whom we are, 8. I envy not the latest fashion, In which the latest fool may dash on, And which the tailor makes the cash on, To wear a coat the tender passion Has made me gratis. 9. What if the fit be not commended, 'T will fit the wearer; And even if the coat be mended, 'T will grow the dearer. 10. Show me the wife that's on the watch For every little rent or scratch, And cures it with a timely patch, Before you know it, She is a woman fit to match A lord or poet. 11. Than home no place can more delight her; Her heart is bright; her smile is brighter; Her heart makes every other lighter, And his the most Whose greatest joy is to requite her, Her pride and boast. 12. Here I must leave thee, queen of hearts, To shoot thy polished, barbless darts, And bind the perforated parts With skill creative; Of paradise thy art of arts Was well a native. 13. If sin it was that gave thee birth, To shivering mortals here on earth The warmest friend. 14. While love has happiness to make, Thy crown no man shall ever take, |