fiery wreck; some would fain have saved a friend almost in the last agonies; and some, strong in a savage despair, tore from them the clinched fingers that would have dragged them down, and forgot in fear both love and pity. Enveloped in flames and smoke, yet insensible as a corpse to the burning, a frantic mother flung down her baby among the crew; and, as it fell among the upward oars unharmed, she shrieked out a prayer of thanksgiving: "Go, husband, go; for I am content to die. Oh! live! live! my husband! for our darling Willy's sake." But, in the prime of life, and with his manly bosom full of health and hope, the husband looked but for a moment, till he saw his child was safe; and then, taking his young wife in his arms, sat down beneath the burning fragments of the sail, with the rest that were resigned, never more to rise up till the sound of the last trumpet, when the faithful and afflicted shall be raised to breathe for ever the pure air of Heaven. ANONYMOUS. LESSON CLVIII. THE DEAD OF THE WRECK. [The Steamer Atlantic was wrecked, in a storm, on Long Island Sound, in Nov., 1846. As soon as the boat struck, its bell commenced tolling, probably from the action of the wind upon it, and continued to toll slowly and mournfully, as long as any portion of the wreck was to be seen.] TOLL, toll, toll, Thou Bell by billows swung, And night and day thy warning words Repeat with mournful tongue! Toll for the queenly boat, Wrecked on yon rocky shore, Toll for the master bold, The high-souled and the brave, Toll for the hardy crew, Sons of the storm and blast, Who long the tyrant Ocean dared But it vanquished them at last! Toll for the man of God, Whose hallowed voice of prayer, Amid the fierce and freezing storm, Toll for the lover, lost To the summoned bridal train! His heart is cold to thee! Toll for the absent sire, Who to his home drew near, They heap the blazing hearth, Toll for the loved and fair, The whelmed beneath the tide, The broken harps around whose strings The dull sea-monsters glide! Mother and nursling sweet, Reft from the household throng, There's bitter weeping in the nest Where breathed their soul of song. Toll for the hearts that bleed 'Neath misery's furrowing trace! Toll for the hapless orphan left It hastens to them, by the breeze Near, and more near; and can it be, God of the mariner! protect Her inmates as she moves along, Through perils, which ere now had wrecked, But that thine arm is strong! Ha! she has struck! she grounds! she stands Still, as if held by giant hands! "Quick, man the boat!" away they sprang, The stranger ship to aid, And loud their hailing voices rang, And rapid speed they made; But all in silence, deep, unbroke, The vessel stood; none answering spoke. 'T was fearful! not a sound arose, No moving thing was there, To interrupt the dread repose Which filled each heart with fear. He was alone, the damp-chill mold Of years hung on his cheek; While the pen within his hand had told The tale no voice might speak: "Seventy days," the record stood, "We have been in the ice, and wanted food!" They took his book, and turned away, But soon discovered where The wife, in her death sleep, gently lay Near him in life most dear, Who, seated beside his young heart's pride, Oh, wedded love! how beautiful, Can cheer life's roughest walk, and shed There was a solemn, sacred feeling Kindled in every breast, And, softly from the cabin stealing, The fair, the young, the constant pair, And to their boat returning, each The Charnel ship, which, years before, They left her in the icebergs, where A monument of death and fear, 'Mid Ocean's solitude; And grateful for their own release, Thanked God, and sought their homes in peace. MRS. A. P. DINNIES. LESSON CXL. THE USES OF SUFFERING. BENEVOLENCE has a higher aim than to bestow enjoyment. There is a higher good than enjoyment; and this requires suffering, in order to be gained. Suffering ministers to human excellence; it calls forth the magnanimous and sublime virtues, and, at the same time, nourishes the tenderest, sweetest sympathies of our nature; it rouses us to energy and to the consciousness of our powers, and, at the same time, infuses the meekest dependence on God; it stimulates toil for the |