And there's a smile on nature's face, Are glimmering thro' the vast profound. But there's a smile, 't is sweeter still, It is the smile of innocence, Of sleeping infancy's light dream; It dances round the dimpled cheek, The three last most beautiful stanzas must have been inspired by the sleeping infant on her lap, and they seem to have reflected her soul's image; as we have seen the little inland lake catch and give back the marvellous beauty of the sunset clouds. "Soon after her marriage," says Mrs. Davidson, "her sister, Mrs. Townsend, removed to Canada, and many circumstances combined to interrupt her literary pursuits, and call forth, not only the energies of her mind, but to develope the filial devotion and total sacrifice of all selfish feelings, which gave a new and elevated tone to her character, and showed us that there was no gratification either in pursuance of mental improvement, or personal ease, but must bend to her high standard of filial duty." Her mother was very ill, and, to add to the calamity, her monthly nurse was taken sick, and left her-the infant, too, was ill. cretia sustained her multiplied cares with firmness and efficiency: the conviction that she was doing her Lu duty gave her strength almost preternatural. I shall again quote her mother's words, for I fear to enfeeble by any version of my own, the beautiful example of this conscientious little being. "Lucretia astonished us all; she took her station in my sick room, and devoted herself wholly to the mother and the child; and when my recovery became doubtful, instead of resigning herself to grief, her exertions were redoubled, not only for the comfort of the sick, but she was an angel of consolation to her afflicted father; we were amazed at the exertions she made, and the fatigue she endured; for with nerves so weak, a constitution so delicate, and a sensibility so exquisite, we trembled lest she should sink with anxiety and fatigue. Until it ceased to be necessary, she performed not only the duty of a nurse, but acted as superintendent of the household." When her mother became convalescent, Lucretia continued her attentions to domestic affairs: "She did not so much yield to her ruling passion as to look into a book, or take up a pen (says her mother), lest she should again become so absorbed in them as to neglect to perform those little offices which a feeble, affectionate mother had a right to claim at her hands. As was to be expected from the intimate union of soul and body, when her mind was starved, it became dejected and her body weak; and, in spite of her filial efforts, her mother detected tears on her cheeks, was alarmed by her excessive paleness, and expressed her apprehensions that she was ill. 66 No, mamma," she replied, "not ill, only out of spirits." Her mother then remarked, that of late, she never read or wrote. She burst into tears,- -a full explanation followed, and the generous mother succeeded in convincing her child that she had been misguided in the course she had adopted, that the strongest wish of her heart was to advance her in her literary career, and for this she would make every exertion in her power; at the same time she very judiciously advised her to intersperse her literary pursuits with those domestic occupations so essentia! to prepare every woman in our land for a housewife. her probable destiny. This conversation had a most happy effect; the stream flowed again in its natural channel, and Lu cretia became cheerful, read and wrote, and practisec drawing. She had a decided taste for drawing, anc excelled in it. She sung over her work, and in every way manifested the healthy condition that results from a wise obedience to the laws of nature. We trust there are thousands of young ladies in our land, who at the call of filial duty would cheerfully perform domestic labour; but if there are any who would make a strong love for more elevated and refined pursuits, an excuse for neglecting these coarser duties, we would commend them to the ex ample of this conscientious child. She, if any could might have pleaded her genius, or her delicate health, or her mother's most tender indulgence, for a failure, that in her would have hardly seemed to us a fault. During this summer, she went to Canada with he. mother, where she revelled in an unexplored library and enjoyed most heartily the social pleasures at he. sister's. They frequently had a family concert of music in the evening. Mrs. Townsend (her sister) accompanied the instruments with her fine voice. Lucretia was often moved by the music, and particularly by her favourite song, Moore's "Farewell to my Harp;" this she would have sung to her at twilight, when it would excite a shivering through her whole frame. On one occasion, she became cold and pale, and was near fainting, and afterwards poured her excited feelings forth in the following address: TO MY SISTER. When evening spreads her shades around, To fancy's sportive ear is given; When the broad orb of Heaven is bright, Then, when our thoughts are raised above The song which thrills my bosom's core, "T were almost sacrilege to sing When sleeping in my grass-grown bed, And, sister, sing the song I love? We insert here a striking circumstance that occurred during a visit to her sister the following year. She was at that time employed in writing her longest published poem, "Amir Khan." Immediately after breakfast she went to walk, and not returning to din ner, nor even when the evening approached, Mr. Townsend set forth in search of her. He met her, and as her eye encountered his, she smiled and blushed, as if she felt conscious of having been a little ridiculous. She said she had called on a friend, and, having found her absent, had gone to her library, where she had been examining some volumes of an Encyclopedia to aid her, we believe, in the oriental story she was employed upon. She forgot her dinner and her tea, and had remained reading, standing, and with her hat on, till the disappearance of daylight brought her to her senses. In the interval between her visits, she wrote several letters to her friends, which are chiefly interesting from the indications they afford of her social and affectionate spirit. We subjoin a few extracts. She had returned to Plattsburgh amid the bustle of a Fourth of July celebration. We found," she says, 66 our brother Yankees had turned out well to celebrate the Fourth. The wharf from the hill to the very edge of the water, even the rafts and sloops, were black with the crowd. If some very good genius, who presided over my destiny at that time, had not spread its protecting pinions around me, like everything else in my possession, I should have lost even my precious self. What a truly lamentable accident it would have been just at that moment! We took a carriage, and were extricating ourselves from the crowd, when Mr. had pressed himself through, came to shake hands and bid good-bye. He is now on his way to Well! here is health, happiness, and a bushel of love to all married people! Is it possible, you ask, that sister Lue could ever have permitted such a toast to pass her lips? We arrived safely at our good old home, and found everything as we left it. The chimney swallows had taken up their residence in the who |