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For the last tie was broke which to feeling had bound her,
And froze e'en the fondness for life in her blood.
Her children, as mothers love, once she had loved them;
But sold were they all, save the corpse by her side;
God saw all her fears for her child, and removed them,
And her last pulse of hope with her last babe had died;
Oh, then, though she knew its young eyes first met her,
In language of smiles which the lips could not speak,
She thought that its safety in death was far better,
Than the joy she had felt when it breathed on her cheek.
And she prayed, as she turned to her strange task pre-
paring

The shroudless and coffinless rest for her child,

That soon her torn breast might her babe's sleep be sharing,

Her heart no more wrung, and her brain no more wild : For she said, while around her damp vapours aspirant, Rose chill from the moist turf which covered the grave, That earth was less cold than the heart of the tyrant, And death far less drear than the life of a slave.

"O SAVIOUR! I DO THIS FOR THEE."

Exclamation of Mrs. Comstock, of the Burman Baptist Mission, on sending her two children to the United States.

BY SPENCER WALLACE CONE.

MORN came, and in that silent bay

Beneath the Burman sky,

So motionless the vessel lay,'

You could not dream, ere close of day,

How swiftly she would fly;

How, like a mist of summer, part
From that deep inlet's quiet berth,
And sever from a mother's heart
All that she loved on earth.

A woman, in a stranger land,
Ten thousand miles away
From kindred soul or friendly hand;
A mother, too! Can heaven demand
Her life's last earthly stay?

Her children? From her throbbing breast
Cast forth the babes that on it grew,

And nightly go alone to rest

Where once they slumber'd too!

Was the cup bitter to the taste-
The cross a weary load?
Friendless and childless to be placed
Alone, amid a darkling waste,

By hostile footsteps trod?

Ah! whence shall strength to bear such ill
To woman's gentle heart be given ?
Proud man, be all thy boasting still:
Such strength descends from Heaven.

The livelong night, that mother's prayer
Went up to Christ above,

That as for her the cross He bare,

Her cross for Him she too might wear,

Supported by his love.

Oh! how she kissed them as they slept,

And sobbed that prayer each kiss between,

And closer, closer to them crept

When the first light was seen.

Morn came.

She led them to the strand,

And pointed o'er the main.
It was almost too much to stand,
And clasp in hers the little hand
She ne'er might clasp again:
It was too much to see the face

That she had pillow'd on her heart,
Turned up to plead for her embrace,
And tell them they must part!

One burning kiss-one wild good-bye!
Put off-put off from shore-
In mercy to the mother fly,
And swiftly waft them from her eye,
For she can bear no more!
She knelt and cried, as o'er the sea
Faded their forms like sunset ray,
"O Saviour, I do this for thee !"
And sobbing, turned away.

Lov'st thou thy Lord? Ask of thine heart A sacrifice like this:

And when thou dar'st with such to partThough scalding tears unmaster'd start, And wild farewell and kiss,

"Till thy dear heart-strings bursting beOh blest art thou! if thou can'st say, My Saviour! I do this for thee!

And turn to tread his way.

HYMN.

JOHN X.

CHRIST is my shepherd: can I doubt
His tender, watchful care?
He'll guide me through life's pilgrimage
To pastures fresh and fair.

Though roaring lions rage around,
They never can molest;

The path through which my Saviour guides
Will lead me home to rest.

The persecuting fires may burst
Around my feeble frame,
Still in the tempest or the storm,
I'll praise my Jesu's name.

The stormy billows ne'er shall quench

My love, O Lord, for thee;

Thou hast redeemed my soul from death,

Hast set the captive free.

Joyful I follow in the road,

My Saviour, thou hast trod,

The way, though thorny, dark and drear,

Leads upwards to my God.

Thy smile shall light, thy voice shall cheer,

Thy presence gild my way,

Thy Spirit animate my steps
To bright and perfect day.

E. C. S.

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