Again, fare thee well! I am summon'd away!
Assur'd, though I go to the land of the stranger,
Above, there is One will watch over thy way,
In trial support, and deliver in danger.

Should fortune so will it, that since we must part,
By that bosom so fair I should ne'er be forgot,
How great were the solace of this anxious heart,
How honor'd, how happy, how welcome my lot.

THE ISRAELITES' PRAYER ON THE EVE OF BATTLE.

Hear me, thou God, who reign'st on high,

Cloth'd in immortal majesty,

Where angels loud hosannahs sing

To Israel's Judge, and Israel's King.

To-morrow o'er the purpled plain
Grim devastating death will reign;
To-morrow myriads breathe their last
At thy destroying angel's blast.

I raise no craven prayer to live,
Nor slaughter'd thousands to survive;
No, King of battle, victory's Lord,
I pray thee guide my country's sword.

Leader of Judah, Lord of hosts,
Confound the foeman's braggart boasts;
They trust in horsemen, spear and shield-
Oh! let them to Jehovah yield.

O thou, most powerful in might,
All-wise, omnipotent in fight,

Avert their arrows, break their bow,
And lay the vaunting boasters low.

Thou gracious God, great King of kings,
When arm to arm respondent rings,
And neighing chargers fiercely bound,
When armed warriors gather round,

When troop meets troop, and band meets band, With foot to foot, and hand to hand,

In Israel's cause, oh! grant that I

Or meet with death, or victory!

C. D.

TO LOVE.

Love! thou 'rt an idol thought;
And hast thy charms, 'tis true;
Though with vexation fraught,
How keenly art thou sought;
But well our pains we rue!

Thy happy reign is fleet,

And brief thy promis'd joys;

Thy smile oft hides deceit,

Thy bliss though truly sweet,

Where sweetest, soonest cloys.

Who ne'er has known thy spell
Must less than mortal be;

Thy whims no tongue can tell ;
To thee, and thine, farewell,

Thy chains are not for me.

Experience told me this,

And bade me spurn love's call,-
Should I forswear his bliss,
I know from whom a kiss
Would surely ruin all.

ON SCANDAL.

Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit eundo.-VIRGIL.

It is my intention to trouble you with a few remarks upon that most disgraceful, but, at the same time, most general vice, Scandal, by which so many innocent persons are calumniated, so many excellent characters lost, and so many individuals utterly undone in the good opinion of the world. It is not only confined to the circulation of any little peccadillo of our neighbours, but it is too often exaggerated by envious fiction. We find this vice prevalent in every rank of life to a greater or less degree. At the evening tea party, where a number of those, who are

"At the years

Which certain people call' a certain age,'

Assemble (for it is not so gratifying to the younger branches of society), it is their greatest delight to calumniate their neighbours, and even their most intimate acquaintance, discovering every petty foible, and too often spreading false reports, that may injure an innocent person's reputation for life.

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Have you heard," said Lady H. "of the intrigue between Captain L. and Miss Julia Flirt?" "Oh! no!" ejaculates Miss G, "do, pray, tell us all about it." Well," proceeds Lady H. Mrs. L. had occasion the other day to go to the Captain's study, and there she saw her husband on his knees." "How disgraceful!" who is so fond of his wife." "So he seems," said Miss G. "but pray don't interrupt her." "The Captain," Lady H. continues, " was on his knees at Miss Flirt's feet, and when his wife entered, he pretended to be picking up his pocket handkerchief, but looked so flurried, that Mrs. L. could not be mistaken." Oh! the

exclaims Mrs. R——,

Captain L

monster," shrieked Mrs. R- "but Miss Flirt is Yes," says Miss G. but

certainly very pretty."

then she uses rouge.

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Thus they calumniate their friends-the report is circulated by each; it is eagerly listened to, and as readily believed. The reputations of innocent women are lost. They are shunned by their acquaintance, and entirely in consequence of a vilifying and false assertion, spread abroad by some invidious old dowager. The village gossip hastily communicates to her next neighbour some little misdemeanour of her friend; the story goes from door to door, till it becomes the common topic of conversation. The unfortunate victim loses his character; he is looked upon with contempt by all around him, and, finally, his family is ruined-for what is so valuable to man as his character?

Nor is this so prevalent vice confined to the fair sex only; for although men cannot find so much time to scandalize their acquaintance, yet, many a malicious report, at another's expence, is discussed over a bottle of old port. The man of business tells you that Mr. S. is in the King's Bench, and that Mr. W.'s father was a tailor. The Newmarket lord, speaking of one of his friends, says he is a very good sort of fellow, but I hear, from excellent authority, that he has a great intercourse with blacklegs. Although it may be agreeable to those who spread abroad false rumours, yet, it is too often productive of the most serious consequences to those unfortunate beings concerning whom the reports are circulated. How careful, then, ought we to be in believing, and still more so, in repeating, evil reports of others. How laudable would be our conduct to endeavour to remove or disprove such assertions; or, at all events, with Christian charity, to make every allowance for the imputed misconduct of our neighbours.

F. DARLINGTON.

HYPOCRISY.

An evil soul producing holy writ,
Is like a villain with a smiling face,-
A goodly apple rotten at the core.

:

SHAKSPEARE.

There is no character so degrading to the dignity of man, or reckoned so base and contemptible by the world in general, as the artful and designing hypocrite, No one believes his protestations; no one confides in him; every one dreads him; and all shun him as the greatest plague inflicted on mortals. And why? His principles, it must be obvious to all, are in direct opposition to truth, to honor, to justice, and, in short, to every quality which can adorn or exalt the human mind. How lamentable, then, must the prevalence of this odious and dangerous character appear to all who are in any way concerned for the happiness and welfare of the human species for turn where we will, to nations either civilized or barbarous, ancient or modern, however widely separated by time or space, we still discover hypocrisy pre-eminently conspicuous. If we unroll the ample stores of history, both sacred and profane, in the one, we find it nearly coeval with the creation, and conducing principally to the woeful fall of our first parents; and, in both, we may easily trace it through succeeding centuries, the pest and plague of mankind, deservedly stigmatized, and held up to unqualified reprobation. If we look around us in those circles which fall under our more immediate observation, do we not every where discover the artful deceiver? The political duplicity of the wily statesman, the assumed righteousness of the Pharisaical pretender to sanctity, and the low cunning we experience in the daily intercourse of life, are all branches, more or less in magnitude, of the grand trunk of hypocrisy. Can we, then, conceive any advantages to accrue from deception, since it is so generally practised among men? None but those which are momentary, and