letter, addressed to him by Mother Seton, will serve to show the difficulties she had to contend with, and the eloquence of her pen in pleading the cause of religion and humanity : 12. "Will you permit the great distance between us to be forgotten, for a moment, and suffer the force of those sentiments which your liberality and kindness to us have created, to act without reserve in speaking to you on a subject I bę lieve you think interesting? The promising and amiable perspective of establishing a house of plain and useful education, retired from the extravagance of the world, connected also with the view of providing nurses for the sick and poor, an abode of innocence and refuge of affliction, is, I fear, now disappearing under the pressure of debts contracted at its very foundation. 13. "Having received the pensions of our boarders in advance, and with them obliged not only to maintain ourselves, but also to discharge the endless demands of carpenters and workmen, we are reduced now to our credit, which is poor indeed. The credit of twenty poor women, who are capable only of earning their daily bread, is but a small stock, particularly when their flour-merchant, grocer, and butcher, are more already in advance than they are willing to afford. 14. "What is our resource? If we sell our house to pay our debts, we must severally return to our separate homes. Must it be so, or will a friendly hand assist us, become our guardian protector, plead our cause with the rich and powerful, serve the cause of humanity, and be a father to the poor? Would Mrs. Harper be interested for us, or is this an extravagant dream of female fancy? Oh, no; Mrs. Harper has a heart of pity, she has proved it, unsolicited. If we were relieved but from a momentary embarrassment, her name would be blessed by future generations; for, so simple and unpretending is our object, we cannot fail of success if not crushed in our beginning. The Rev. Mr. Dubourg has exerted himself continually for us, and bestowed all he could personally give. From him we are to expect no more. 15. What shall we do? How dare I ask you, dear sir, the question? But, if addressing it to you gives you a mo ment's displeasure, forgive; and, considering it as any other occurrence of life which is differently judged of according to the light in which it is viewed, then blot it out, and be assured, whatever may be your impression of it, it arose from a heart filled with the sentiment of your generosity, and overflowing with gratitude and respect. Dear Mrs. Harper, tell your sweet pieces to look at the price of a shawl or veil, and think of the poor family of St. Joseph's. December 28th, 1811." 16. Happily for religion and society, the institution was rescued from its impending danger by the timely aid of its friends; and though it had to struggle on amidst difficulties and trials, it gradually became more and more consolidated, and an instrument of great and extensive good in the hands of Divine Providence. 39. THE PARROT. CAMPBELL. THOMAS CAMPBELL, a native of Scotland, died in 1844. His principal poems are the "Pleasures of Hope," and "Gertrude of Wyoming;" but his genius is seen to greater advantage in his shorter poems, such as "The Exile of Erin," "O'Connor's Child," "Lochiel's Warning," "Hohenlinden," "The Battle of the Baltic," &c. These are matchless poems, containing a magic of expression that fastens the words forever upon the memory. No poet of our times has contributed so much, in proportion to the extent of his writings, to that stock of established quotations which pass from lip to lip and from pen to pen, without thought as to their orig 1. THE deep affections of the breast, By human hearts. 2 A parrot, from the Spanish Main, Full young, and early caged, came o'er, 8. To spicy groves where he had won 4 For these he changed the smoke of turf 5. But, petted, in our climate cold He lived and chatter'd many a day; 6. At last, when, seeming blind and dumb, 7 He hail'd the bird in Spanish speech; 40. PORTRAIT OF A VIRTUOUS AND ACCOMPLISHED WOMAN. FENELON. FRANCIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE FENELON, archbishop of Cambray, in France, was born at Perigord, 1651; died, at Cambray, 1715. No prelate of the Church, in any age, has left behind a greater name than Fénelon. It was truly said of him, that he was one of the meekest and most amiable of men. His works are numerous, and in high repute. They are chiefly on spiritual subjects. Those best known to the English reader, are the "Adventures of Telemachus," "Treatise on the Education of a Daughter," and "Treatise on the Love of God." 1. ANTIOPE is mild, simple, and wise; her hands despise not labor; she foresees things at a distance; she provides against all contingencies; she knows when it is proper to be silent; she acts regularly and without hurry; she is continually em ployed, but never embarrassed, because she does every thing in its proper season. 'The above poem records an incident which actually took place. 2. The good order of her father's house is her glory, it adds greater lustre to her than beauty. Though the care of all lies upon her, and she is charged with the burden of reproving, refusing, retrenching (things which make almost all women hated), yet she has acquired the love of all the household; and this, because they do not find in her either passion, or conceitedness, or levity, or humors as in other women. By a single glance of her eye, they know her meaning, and are afraid to displease her. 3. The orders she gives are precise; she commands nothing but what can be performed; she reproves with kindness, and in reproving encourages. Her father's heart reposes upon her as a traveller, fainting beneath the sun's sultry ray, reposes himself upon the tender grass under a shady tree. 4. Antiope is a treasure worth seeking in the most remote corners of the earth. Neither her person nor her mind is set off with vain ornaments; and her imagination, though lively, is restrained by her discretion. She never speaks but through necessity; and when she opens her mouth, soft persuasion and simple graces flow from her lips. When she speaks, every one is silent; and she is heard with such attention, that she blushes, and is almost inclined to suppress what she intended to say; so that she is rarely ever heard to speak at any length. 41. EXECUTION OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. MISS AGNES STRICKLAND. AGNES STRICKLAND is the author of "Lives of the Queens of England and Scotland." As a biographer, she is noted for her careful and erudite researches, and is generally considered impartial. In her "Life of Mary Stuart," she forcibly vindicates the persecuted, traduced, and beautifu queen from the dark imputations from which even Mary's friends hav not always sufficiently defended her memory. Miss Strickland is a native of England. 1. BEFORE Mary proceeded further in her preparations for the block, she took a last farewell of her weeping maidens, kissing, embracing, and blessing them, by signing them with the cross, which benediction they received on their knees. 2 Her upper garments being removed, she remained in her petticoat of crimson velvet and camisole, which laced behind, and covered her arms with a pair of crimson-velvet sleeves. Jane Kennedy now drew from her pocket the goldbordered handkerchief Mary had given her to bind her eyes With this she placed a Corpus Christi cloth-probably the ame in which the consecrated wafer sent to her by the Pope had been enveloped. Jane folded it corner-wise, kissed i, nd with trembling hands prepared to execute this last office; but she and her companion burst into a fresh paroxysm of hysterical sobbing and crying. 3. Mary placed her finger on her lips reprovingly. "Hush !" said she; "I have promised for you. Weep not, but pray for me" When they had pinned the handkerchief over the face of their beloved mistress, they were compelled to withdraw from the scaffold; and "she was left alone to close up the tragedy of life by herself, which she did with her wonted courage and devotion." Kneeling on the cushion, she repeated, in her usual clear, firm voice, In te Domine speravi— "In thee, Lord, have I hoped; let me never be put to confusion." 4. Being then guided by the executioners to find the block, she bowed her head upon it intrepidly, exclaiming, as she did so, In manus tuas "Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." The Earl of Shrewsbury raised his baton, in performance of his duty as Earl Marshal, to give the signal for the coup-de-grâce; but he averted his head at the same time, and covered his face with his hand, to conceal his agitation and streaming tears. 5. A momentary pause ensued; for the assistant-executioner perceived that the queen, grasping the block firmly with both hands, was resting her chin upon them, and that they must have been mangled or cut off if he had not removed them, which he did by drawing them down and holding them tightly in his own, while his companion struck her with the axe a cruel, but ineffectual blow. Agitated alike by the courage of the royal victim, and the sobs and groans of the sympathizing spectators, he missed his aim and inflicted a deep wound on the side of the skull |