Ye mind me of my mother's care,
Which overflowed on me;

And, on my children, shed the grace,
Of its benignity.

Sweet mother, these Autumnal leaves,
With hectic beauty, bright,

Tell how, through long and lingering years,
You faded on our sight;

And, then, they tell, of that bright time,
When God, His saints shall bring;

And heaven's own beauty all, be thine-
The Resurrection Spring.

ALL SAINTS DAY, 1858.

TO MARGARET HARRISON DOANE,

BAPTIZED ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS, MDCCCLVIII.

"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them which shall be heirs of salvation? "

MARGARET, Sweetest-that means, Pearl-
You are, now, a Christian girl;

In the pure, baptismal wave,

Sin and death have found a grave;

Through the blood of Him, who died:

Christ, for sinners, crucified.

Sweetest Margaret, darling girl,
Be, henceforth, the Saviour's pearl!
This is all the Angels' day;
Excellent, in strength are they;
Made, in Christ, salvation's heir,
You are, now, the Angels' care.

Margaret, darling, sweetest girl,
Seek, in Christ, the priceless pearl.

Be a pearl, in holiness;
Be a pearl, in preciousness;
Then, forevermore be set,
In the Saviour's coronet.

RIVERSIDE, September 29, 1858.

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS,

WITHOUT MY MOTHER.

"One who mourneth for his mother."

SWEET Mother, eight and fifty years,

Thy Christmas blessings crowned my brow;

Thy seat is vacant, by my side;

And Christmas comes, without thee, now.

A shadow creeps, across my hearth ;
The cypress twines the holly-bough;
I cannot frame the Christmas phrase:
For Christmas comes, without thee, now.

Along the line of threescore years,

In gifts and prayers, like tracks in snow, I trace thy ever-living love:

But Christmas comes, without thee, now.

And yet, sweet Mother, though the thought Will choke and tear, my bursting breast; And tears o'ercast this joyous day;

I would not call thee, from thy rest.

Safe in the Paradise of God,

Thy home is with the holy dead; Where Christmas boughs are ever green; And the Christ-feast is always spread. CHRISTMAS, 1858.

END OF VOLUME I.