face, gazed upon him, and gave him our hands without speaking. As soon as he could command himself" My children," said he, "God has given you a good mother ; but he is about to take her away from you. You will not see her much longer. She is visited by a disease which is hurrying her to the grave, and we can do nothing but weep, and give her back to God. But we must not weep," said he, bursting into tears, "for she is only going home; going to be happy, which she has not been here. It would be wrong to mourn, for she is only going to sleep a sweet sleep, and we shall all, by and bye, sleep too, and then shall all rise together, if we have been good."

Not many days after this, my mother called me to her, as I sat in the chamber, and, kissing my cheek-" You are old enough," said she, "to know what death means, and to learn a lesson from it. I am soon to die. I have known it for a long time, and have perfectly prepared my mind to meet the event. I have no longer reluctance or fear. And now, my dear son, while I speak to you, perhaps for the last time,

And

hear my parting counsel. I have tried to teach you your duty, and to fill your mind. with religious principles. Do not swerve from those principles. They are my support now, they always have been my support. You will need them as much as I do. if you would cherish them, and have them strong, I charge you never pass a day without prayer.-Promise me this, and I shall feel easy." I kissed her hand, and bowed my head; for I could not speak. She put her hand beneath the pillow, and taking thence a locket, containing a braid of her own hair, she gave it to me. "I do not know," said she, "that departed spirits are acquainted with what happens to the friends they have left on earth; but if they are, I shall never cease to watch your life with maternal solicitude. Think of this whenever your eyes meet this memorial of my love. Reflect that, perhaps I see you, and remember the promise you have made me; or, if not so"-she added in a voice of inconceivable expressiveness,-"reflect that God sees you, and bears witness whether you keep that promise or not. My dear

son, farewell! a mother's parting blessing is on your head; and do Thou, O Father, bless him, and make him thine!" She kissed me again, and sunk back exhausted.

It seems as if I still heard her voice, and gazed upon her composed, but animated features. And it is one of the joyful anticipations of my approaching removal from earth, that I shall again see that face, and be united to her pure spirit, never to part again. I had no spirit, after this, to leave her side, or to engage in any occupation. I was suffered to remain near her; to see the gradual approach of dissolution; and to witness the tranquillity and cheerfulness with which christian faith can await the appalling summons. She was too weak to say much, but sometimes gave a word of encouragement, admonition, or blessing, to those who were near her, and after she became unable to speak, she still looked unutterable things, and smiled upon those who did her any little offices of kindness.All was peace within and without; and gently at last did she sink asleep in Jesus, without a groan or a struggle, and with an

expression on her face as if she had already caught a glimpse of the glory to come.

There are some who would keep children from the chamber of death, and remove from their minds, as soon as possible, the impressions which sorrow may have made. They little consider the natural buoyancy of the mind, and the tendency of all feeling to pass away from a young heart. My father was one of those who thought the solemn impressions of such a season should be deepened, and pains taken to make them lasting. He thought that much might be done to give right views of the value and purposes of existence, and to get ready that frame of mind which is best fitted to meet and endure the changes of the world. By his conversation, therefore, and instruction, for a long period, he kept fresh the feelings to which this sad event had given birth.He did not converse a great deal in the formal way; it was not his habit, and he rather avoided it, from a persuasion that it was not an effectual mode of addressing young persons. I do not think that he ever made a long harangue to his children upon any

subject. His custom was to seize moments when their minds were cheerful and at ease, or when any remarkable event had excited their attention, and by a few concise, pointed remarks, sometimes by only one single emphatic expression, convey the important lesson. He would then leave it to work upon their minds. And it would often happen that the words would sink down into. their hearts, and never be forgotten. I can recall many examples of forcible sayings thus uttered, which were of great use to me afterward; but am certain that the same sentiment, diluted into a formal speech of fifteen or twenty minutes, would have made no impression, and been altogether lost.

Upon the present occasion, he pursued his customary course. He spoke seldom ; but because seldom, I dwelt the more upon what he did say. I forgot nothing. And as he directed my reading, and the whole oceupation of my time, I was, for a long season, prevented from returning to the sports of my childhood, or regaining the frolicksome dispositions of boyhood.