The high spirit, sound sense, and open-hearted frankness | to consider his house as his own quarters while he reof the young captain gained his favor and his confidence; mained in the Vineyard-a needful exercise of his hospihe made him his chief aide-de-camp, and always employed tality, for the island which now contains some of the most him in military business or missions of special trust or splendid hotels in New England, had few places of acimportance. Strong in the Old World prejudices, which commodation for travelers then, the best of them being a at length led to the ruin of his army, and his own untimely timber house in Edgar Town with the sign of Adam and fate, it was Braddock's fixed opinion that all provincials Eve, which was said to be as scanty of comforts or conrequired looking after in military matters; and thinking veniences and as primitive in its fashion as the sign of the Martha's Vineyard and the adjoining islands might be in hostelry might suggest. The invitation was gratefully acserious danger on that account, he sent his confidential cepted, the captain was marshaled to the interior, duly "THE COLONEL RECEIVED CAPTAIN FITZORMOND WITH THE STATELY COURTESY OF HIS AGE.' aide-de-camp with instructive dispatches to Colonel Mayhew, the only governor they had at that time, and general orders to make himself acquainted with their means of defense, number of defenders, and other particulars equally interesting to a veteran commander. The colonel received Captain FitzOrmond with the stately courtesy of his age, which the Puritan gentleman knew how to practice as well as the most accomplished citizen of the world. He expressed his happiness in making the acquaintance of an officer so distinguished as General Braddock's aidede-camp, and hoped the captain would do him the honor welcomed by the lady of the mansion, and regularly introduced to the entire family. Mrs. Mayhew had a weighty concern on her mind that day and for many days after, that the early dinner might be got up in a style fit to set before a "king's officer," and the honor of her cuisine thereby maintained. Her two maids found themselves sharers in the importance of the occasion; and the matron afterward remarked, that her daughter's assistance in household business was not only active, but devoted. Through all the years in which he had presided over the isles of Duke's County and their militia, the colonel had never dreamt of so much most dressy wear allowed by the sober fashions of Edgar Town-she was apt to be impatient of the work, but had grown remarkably industrious of late-and the captain at a writing-table close by, arranging his report for General Braddock. duty to be done, as he found set forth in General Brad- | embroidery for cambric aprons and handkerchiefs, the dock's dispatches. Out of zeal for the service, and consideration for a man who might have been his grandfather, Captain FitzOrmond would have willingly taken the whole upon himself, but the sturdy New Englander would not hear of his responsibility being compromised in that manner. Though he served in the King's army, and came from the old country, the young aide-de-camp had been sent merely to accompany him on a military survey of the islands, and make his report to the general in command; it was as much as could be properly intrusted to his youth and inexperience, and nothing more would Colonel Mayhew permit him to do. They went together, now in a fishing-boat, then in an Indian canoe, from island to island, throughout that county of the sea, inspecting the defenses, which in one instance consisted of a crazy watch-house, in another of an old sentry-box perched on a promontory, from which a good look-out might be kept, and in most cases of nothing at all but the deep surrounding waters. They also reviewed the county militia; every island had its company; many of the companies were but six or seven strong, few of them were more numerous than ten, and all their arms were considerably out of repair. An enemy had not been seen on these coasts since they were colonized in the first half of the preceding century. Modern men would have agreed with Captain FitzOrmond, that no enemy would think it worth his while to invade them. At the time of our story, fishing villages stood where fashionable watering-places are now to be seen, and rough farms occupied the sites of splendid mansions with tastefully laid out grounds. However, Duke's County was part of George the Second's American dominions, and General Braddock required an accurate report of its military strength. The colonel was not less punctilious in making the survey, and between his methodical mode of procedure, the miles of salt water to be got over, and the occasional opposition of wind and tide, three weeks elapsed before it was fairly finished. Meantime, Captain FitzOrmond was hospitably entertained by the Mayhews; from every inspecting expedition he returned home with the colonel a welcome guest to the whole family. His visit was a break in the routine of their well-regulated household life; the charm of novelty was in it, and the captain was good company in himself. Unassuming, courteous and good-natured, he was the man to be popular in any circle, large and small. The colonel admired his military knowledge and respectful deference to the opinions of his seniors; Mrs. Mayhew liked him because he could tell of scenes and places in the old country which her grandmother used to talk about when she was a child; for the young officer had been born in the ancestral Hampshire. Even the serious-minded and devoted Mark partially laid aside his studies for the captain's company, talked with him of the great meetings he had seen at Wesley's sermons in Moorfields, and tried to engage him in his own schemes for converting the Indians. To Marian above all the rest, FitzOrmond's converse was most interesting. Belonging to a world outside the Puritan pale, he had much to tell of things that fascinated her youthful fancy, though forbidden among her people; describing many of the scenes and customs of town life, such as the Court promenades in Kensington Gardens, the brilliant assemblies and routs that himself had shared in. These subjects were generally discussed when the pair happened, as they sometimes did, to be left together, and the rest of the family were other ways engaged; Marian would sit at her It was surprising how many hours the two could spend, and what interest they seemed to take, in these slow and sober employments; but their real interest was in each other. To both had come the time when the heart makes its first and truest choice of a companion for life's journey; & beautiful time of warm affections, fond hopes, and fairy dreams rarely realized on earth. The choice may be ill directed, for then the imagination reigns over the judg ment, and if so, few greater evils darken the lot of man. Time and distance may divide the luckless pair, fortune may open gulfs, or build up barriers between them, but that mutual election is never wholly canceled; it was free by its nature, and did not depend on external influence or association, so that they who have met as strangers from opposite ends of the earth are thereby made kin for ever. The two that sat in Colonel Mayhew's plainly-furnished parlor were not yet a month acquainted; their birthplaces were in different hemispheres; their early training and surroundings had been still more different; but their hearts were linked by a band not to be broken, though neither profession nor pomise had yet passed between them. The survey was finished, the report duly drawn out, and Captain FitzOrmond was to take his departure by the mail-packet advertised to sail for Boston in the evening, when it was supposed wind and tide would be favorable. Marion and he were alone in the parlor once more, father and mother were engaged with letters which the said packet had brought. A mail reached the Vineyard once a week, and a trusty old postman spent three days in distributing throughout the island its correspondence with the mainland, leaving the good people another week to get up their replies, while the packet generally sailed homeward the same evening; and the captain was bound to go with it. He was talking against time, like a man that had to bring on some subject important to himself; his theme was the pageants and festivities with which London had celebrated the recent wedding of the Prince of Wales, known in after years as George III., "The Tyrant of America," and the young Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg. "His royal highness has some odd ways," said FitzOrmond, prefacing an on dit of the day. "At the first sight of his bride-elect, he took her for a waiting-maid belonging to Lady Sarah Lennox, the beauty who had refused him, and was about to inquire for her mistress, but some considerate courtier stopped him in time. An awkward mistake, was it not?-worse than mine when I had the pleasure of first seeing you, Miss Mayhew; none but a half-witted fellow could have made the like. What an impertinent puppy you must have thought me !" "Indeed, I did not," said Marian, "because I guessed you were from the old country, where customs are differ ent, and the ladies dress better than we do." "I am ashamed of myself," said the captain. "I have been looking for a proper apology every day since, and could find neither courage nor words; but now that I am going away, never to see you more, maybe, Miss Mayhew, will you forgive me for being such a fool, and think of me sometimes, kindly if you can, as a poor soldier who will be proud to die for his country and yours, and whose last thought shall be of you?" Her head was bowed over the embroidery, but he saw the crimson flush that mantled her fair face, and he took greater courage to declare his feelings, adding, "My family are of the best blood in Hampshire, but not of the best estate; and I am a younger son with nothing to offer you but a stainless name and an honest heart." "There is no earthly honor equal to that;" and the Puritan girl looked up with arch coquetry. "But has not Captain FitzOrmond made the same offer to some highborn lady in England before he crossed the Atlantic ?" "No, madam; I declare upon my honor and conscience you are the only woman I have ever loved, or ever shall love ;" and the impassioned young man threw himself on his knees before her. The action was not so strange in that generation as it would seem in ours, but a thing expected from fervent wooers. Many such remnants of the extravagant and absurd homage paid to ladies in the chivalric ages yet lingered among the upper ranks of society, but according to the lessons of Marian's youth, it was an act of downright idolatry, which merited sharp rebuke from every Christian. "Clarence-captain," she said, “get up, for both our sakes. What would any of our people think if they saw you?" The expression of her face made FitzOrmond spring to his feet, but as he did so, Marian saw what he did not a countenance blank with astonishment and indignation; for in the open doorway, all unseen till then, stood the yet upright and portly figure of Colonel Mayhew! [To be continued in our next number.] "HOME, SWEET HOME." THE Song "Sweet Home" is known to everybody, although comparatively few know that he who wrote so touchingly of home died himself, nearly thirty years ago, in a foreign land. John Howard Payne was born at No. 33 Broad Street, New York, in 1791. His father, William Payne, was, for a time, a celebrated teacher of English and elocution in the best schools of Boston, and afterward in New York. The "cottage" in which John Howard Payne spent his earliest and sweetest years, and of which he retained such fondly cherished memories, was a homestead at Easthampton, on the east end of Long Island. Howard's precocity was altogether remarkable. When a mere boy of twelve, residing with his father at Boston, he read, studied and wrote poetry. At thirteen he wrote for the press, and edited the Thespian Mirror. His father and mother were religious persons, and carefully guarded his mind from the dangers to which these gifts and distinctions exposed him. His eldest brother, a merchant in New York, at this time generously supported his parents and the whole family; but he was overtaken by business reverses which prevented him from being longer able to do so. At this juncture Howard removed to New York, and took a situation as clerk in a mercantile firm. His brother soon after died. The routine of unintellectual employment being somewhat uncongenial to young Payne's refined tastes and aspirations, several literary friends, who esteemed and recognized his abilities, enabled him to obtain the advantages of a college education. Just after leaving Union College, his mother, to whom he was tenderly attached, died; and the father's increased embarrassments obliged him to look to his sons for help. Howard nobly came forward to the rescue, and by his literary exertions rendered the needed assistance. In 1812 he went to London, and gained many friendsnotably Sir Henry Bishop, Kemble, etc. He afterward for some time traveled on the Continent, and then returned to America. In later years the United States Government, in recognition of his estimable character and genius, appointed him American Consul at Tunis, where he died on the 1st of April, 1852. A monument was erected to his memory there, in the Christian Cemetery of St. George, "by his grateful country." A bronze bust of him has also been placed in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, exhibiting the careworn and furrowed features of a face which had seen the Summers and Winters of over threescore years. But the truest and most enduring memorial of him will ever be found in the two brief stanzas "Home, Sweet Home," which are lovingly enshrined in hearts that are— "True to the kindred points of heaven and home." For the following interesting history of the song, given in Payne's own words, we are indebted to the Rev. J. B. Waterbury, D.D.: ་ "When questioned, while at New Orleans, on the subject of the music of the song Home, Sweet Home,' Payne told his personal friend, Mr. James Rees, of Philadelphia : 'I first heard the air in Italy. One beautiful morning, as I was strolling alone amid the delightful scenery, my attention was arrested by the sweet voice of a peasant-girl, who was carrying a basket laden with flowers and vegetables. This plaintive air, so trilled out, with so much sweetness and simplicity, the melody at once caught my fancy. I accosted her, and after a few moments' conversation, I asked her for the name of the song, which she could not give me. But, having a slight knowledge of music my. self, I requested her to repeat the air, which she did, while I dotted down the notes as well as I could. It was this air that suggested the words of "Home, Sweet Home," both of which I sent to Bishop. He happened to know the air perfectly well, and adapted the music to the words. The words of the song were written in Paris, and not in London, as has been frequently stated.'” HOME, SWEET HOME. 'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, There's no place like home! An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain! AN EXCITED CONGREGATION. The New England States were never more deeply in suspense than when waiting the result of General Gates's campaign to prevent the march of Burgoyne's army. The following anecdote exhibits the deep anxiety which pervaded all classes: The indecisive action at Bemis Heights but deepened the suspense, and during the following days every clatter of hoofs upon the road was a startling sound, for all hearts were awaiting fresh news. On an October Sabbath a large congregation filled that same church in Sharon from which four hundred men had been sent forth at the news from Lexington. The pastor, Mr. Smith, had prepared a sermon with triumph; the people looked at one another with speaking faces. Horse and rider approached, stopped at the church; yet not a person in the congregation stirred. A solemn awe rested upon all. The next moment the foam-bespattered horseman walked hurriedly up the aisle, and stretched out a piece of paper to the pulpit. The pastor's face blanched and his hand quivered with excitement, as he stooped to take the message. As he opened the paper, he looked like one struck dumb with sudden joy; then, with choking voice and streaming eyes, he cried: "Burgoyne has surrendered!" The scene of confusion that followed-the sobs of women and the prayers of men-was as pure a service of praise as that sanctuary ever witnessed. THE BROWN THIS elegant songster is the mocking-bird of the North. He arrives in the Eastern and Middle States about the 10th of May. At that season he may be seen, perched on the highest twig of a hedge, or on the topmost branch of a tree in a bushy locality, singing his loud and welcomesong, that may be heard at a distance of half a mile. when several snakes attack the old birds at once, they succeed in robbing the nest of its eggs or young, and sometimes destroy the parents. Their nest is composed of the small dead twigs of trees, lined with the fine fibres of roots. They lay from three to five eggs, with a greenish background, thickly spotted with light-brown, giving the whole egg a brownish appearance. The eggs are hatched about twelve days after incubation has commenced. The brown thrasher is very fond of cherries and berries, and helps himself from the nearest garden. His principal food consists of worms, insects and grubs. If he steals cherries, he is but taking his just dues, as he destroys hundreds of insects injurious to vegetation every week he stays with us. THE BROWN THRUSH. The brown thrasher sings most just after sunrise and before sunset, but may be heard singing at intervals during the day. By some people he is supposed to imitate the notes of other birds, but this is a mistake. I have never heard the brown thrasher sing any notes but its own, of which he has a variety. Some parts of his song resemble the notes of the cat-bird (Mimus Carolinensis), and may be taken for such by the common observer; but to the ear of the naturalist, the difference is very perceptible. The brown thrasher sings most of the time for about two weeks after his arrival from the South. He then begins to look for a mate, until he finds one to suit him. They now both go in search of a place to build their nest. The place selected is generally under a fallen tree or fence-rail, but is often placed in a thick bush or tree, a few feet from the ground. The brown thrasher often has severe battles with the black, garter, adder and black water-snakes, who attempt to devour its eggs or young. In these battles the thrush is generally victorious; but on some occasions, The brown thrasher leaves the Eastern and Middle States, on his migration South, about the last of September, and does not make his appearance among us again until the following May. NIEBUHR. NIEBUHR, one of the greatest of German historians, though skeptical himself and a bitter writer against those holding opposite views, could yet "feel it right to educate his son in a way that must have led to the deepest reverence for the very letter of the inspired records." These are his own words: "He (his son) shall believe in the letter of the Old and New Testaments, and I shall nurture in him, from his infancy, a firm faith in all that I have lost, or feel uncertain about." THE LITANY. BY THE LATE ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, DEAN OF THE Litany is one of the most popular parts of the English Prayer-book. Many who have no special feeling for other portions of the Liturgy never fail to delight in this. Let us examine its peculiarities, that we may see what we should lose if we lost it, what we gain by having it. I. First, as to its origin. It is one of the parts of the Prayer-book which has its origin in a time neither primitive nor reformed. For four hundred years there were no |