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THE EMPTY BIRD'S NEST.

AND thou, my sad little lonely nest,
Hast often been sought as the peaceful rest,
Of a weary wing and a guiltless breast!
And where is thy builder now?

And what has become of the helpless brood,
For which the mother, with daily food,
Came flitting so light from the spicy wood,
To her home on the waving bough.

The fowler, perhaps, has hurled the dart,
Which the parent bird has received in her heart,
And her tender orphans are scattered apart,
So wide, they never again

In the warm, soft cell of love can meet,

And thou hast been filled with the snow and the sleet,
By the hail and the winds have thy sides been beat,
And drenched by the pitiless rain.

Though great was the toil which thy building cost,
With thy fibres so neatly coiled and crossed,
And thy lining of down, thou art lorn and lost,

A ruin beyond repair!

So I'll take thee down, as I would not see,
Such a sorrowful sight on the gay green tree;
And when I have torn thee, thy parts shall be,
Like thy tenants dispersed in air.

Thou hast made me think of each heart-woven tie;
Of the child's first home, and of her, whose eye
Watched fondly o'er those, who were reared to die,
Where the grave of a distant shore

Received to its bosom the stranger's clay;
For when, as thy birds, they had passed away,
'T was not to return, and the mother and they
In time were to meet no more!

THE SOUL.

THE Soul is that which thinks, learns, reasons, reflects, remembers within us; that which is conscious of its own existence, and of the existence of innumerable beings and substances around us. It is of far greater worth and dignity than the bodily frame in which it resides; a spiritual being which is to remain when the body decays; possessing a peculiar life, a life which may indeed be improved or made worse, but which can never cease to be.

To live is not enough, though forever; but to live in everlasting bliss is a point of the highest inquiry, and surely deserves our utmost attention and concern.

The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years;
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth;
Unhurt, amidst the war of elements,

The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds.

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Perhaps indulgent nature meant,
By such a lamp bestow'd,
To bid the traveller, as he went,
Be careful where he trod :

Nor crush a worm whose useful light
Might serve, however small,
To show a stumbling stone by night,
And save him from a fall.

Whate'er she meant, this truth divine,
Is legible and plain;

'Tis power Almighty bids him shine,
Nor bids him shine in vain.

Ye proud and wealthy, let this theme
Teach humbler thoughts to you,
Since such a reptile has its gem,
And boasts its splendor too.

UNREASONABLE FEAR.

UNREASONABLE fear is an unjust and ridiculous fear of any creature whatever, or of any occurrences of life; it is a timorous spirit, which subjects the whole nature to the power and tyranny of the passion of fear, beyond all reasonable grounds; as, for instance, a fear of being alone, or in the dark; a perpetual fear of evil accidents, by fire, or water, or wicked men: a disquieting fear of ghosts and apparitions; of little, inconsiderable animals, such as spiders, frogs and worms; fear of poverty or calamity of any kind, whereby we are too often restrained from our present duty, and our lives made very uncomfortable. All manner of fear becomes irregular when it rises to an excessive degree, and is superior to the danger.

MODESTY.

MODESTY is a humble opinion of our own merit, when compared with that of others. So refined a compliment to the superiority of those with whom we converse, cannot fail of prepossessing them in our favor, and conciliating them to our own interests. The wise author and governor of nature, has implanted a love of modesty in the breast of every one, that its opposite vices, presumption and affectation, may be checked by universal reprobation.

But, however amiable modesty may appear in men, it is the peculiar ornament of the fair sex, and is essential to the beauty of every other accomplishment. While modesty remains, the most homely form has a beauty; and when this beauty is lost, the finest form only reminds us, that it is impossible for a woman to be amiable without it.

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Modesty is not only confined to the face, she is there only in shadow and effigy, but is in life and motion in the words."

THE FEAR OF GOD.

THE fear of God is an inward, thoughtful sense of God and his infinite perfections, with a respect to him as the universal governor and judge of the world, which will excite us steadily to please him, and make us tremble to offend him. The fear of God is the wisdom, the glory and happiness of nations, the stability of thrones, and the basis of all solid greatness, in every kingdom and empire upon earth.

The rejecting the fear of God ruined the old world, before the flood, burned Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, drowned the Egyptians, destroyed Nineveh, tore up Babylon by the roots, and consumed Jerusalem in flames.

THE POPLAR FIELD.

THE poplars are felled, farewell to the shade,
And the whispering sound of the cool colonnade;
The winds play no longer, and sing in the leaves,
Nor Ouse on his bosom their image receives.

Twelve years have elapsed, since I last took a view,
Of my favorite field, and the bank where they grew;
And now in the grass behold they are laid,
And the tree is my seat, that once lent me a shade.

The blackbird has fled to another retreat,

Where the hazels afford him a screen from the heat,
And the scene where his melody charmed me before,
Resounds with his sweet flowing ditty do more.

My fugitive years are all hasting away,
And I must ere long be as lowly as they,

With a turf on my breast, and a stone at my head,
Ere another such grove shall arise in its stead.

"T is a sight to engage me if anything can,
To muse on the perishing pleasures of man ;
Though his life be a dreain, his enjoyments, I see,
Have a being less durable even than he.

WIT BY THE WAY SIDE.

In the neighborhood of Haddam Castle, Dumfriesshire, there is a tower called repentance. A pleasant answer of a shepherd's boy to Sir Richard Steele, founded on the name of this tower, is thus related: - Sir Richard, having observed a boy lying on the ground, and very attentively reading his bible, asked if he could tell him the way to Heaven? "Yes, sir," said the boy, "you must go by that tower."

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