A matron arose, and spoke:

'My father of the Eagle, you have the spirit of a fox, and the 'prudent slowness of a tortoise. I wish to polish the chain of 'friendship with you, and together let us plant the tree of peace. 'But let us change the customs of our ancestors wherever they are 'evil. Let us have slaves who cultivate our fields, and let us hear 'no longer the shrieks of prisoners, which send pangs to the hearts 'of mothers. I have spoken.'

(Continuation forthcoming.)

A GLEAM OF YOUTH.

BY DIDYMUS.

The golden dreams, the glowing thoughts,
The dreams and thoughts my boyhood knew,
When all was warm, serene and bright,
Without a cloud of sombre hue:
When all around, the earth, the air,
Seem'd with inelodious music fill'd;
And things esteem'd as trifles now,

My lively soul with rapture thrill'd:-
Those blissful dreams of careless days;
Those finer feelings, one by one,
Have left me as the sparkling dew
Before a melting summer sun:

The chilling cares of busy life

Have hushed the uncongenial strings

The music-fountains of the heart

From whence its sweetest breathing springs,

And all is dark: Maturer years

With sober pleasures may be rife,

But give, O give me back once more

The feelings of my early life.

A THOUGHT.

SELECTED.

I am apt to think, the man

That could surround the sum of things and spy

The heart of God, and secrets of his realm,
Would speak but love. With him the bright result
Would change the hue of intermediate scenes,
And make one thing of all theology.

GAMBOLD.

Random Thoughts by an Occasional Writer.

GREATNESS OF CHARACTER.-No. III.

(CONCLUSION.)

Ignorance is the great arch-enemy of man, whether we regard him in his collective or individual capacity. It has reversed the decrees of providence in his behalf, and degraded him in the scale of being.

For whereas he was created equal with his fellow men, and endowed by his creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness: it has made him the victim of fraud, chicanery and crime, covered his eyes with a film and lifted over him a scourge.

Approaching him in the light of his dearest interests, it has deceived, misled and betrayed him.

It has ever taught him he was wisest when he was most foolish. It has called tyranny and oppression by the sacred name of patriotism; and confounded the holy cause of religion with the contemptible mummery of cabalistic jugglers and priests.

As long as he acknowledged its dominion, it was in vain that he sought a remedy in other quarters.

It was in vain, that, often goaded to despair, he rose like the strong man in his wrath, and precipitated a common vengeance on his foes for like the strong man, he was blind, and he brought down the same destruction on himself.

It was in vain, that he fought ten thousand battles on ten thousand fields, to establish his equality; and heralds proclaimed his emancipation, and temples were dedicated to gods blind as himself invoking their auspicious countenance and favor.

Man was still haunted by his unseen enemy. If he resorted to strategy he never could elude it, and if for a moment it seemed vanquished, it soon returned in some deceitful shape, and took a deeper advantage and stronger hold upon him.

He wanted light. At length light has dawned upon him, the light of knowledge.

The world has been cheered by the wakening beams of that light, and groped its way back from the realms of barbarism.

If knowledge was an essential element in the rising prosperity and grandeur of the nations, it is a no less indispensable requisite to the formation of a great individual character.

"Without a genius learning soars in vain,

And without learning genius sinks again,

Their force united, crowns the sprightly reign."

It must not be understood however that knowledge is greatness. It is possible to be very learned, and yet not truly great.

The knowledge, therefore, which exerts a great moral influence for the good of man, must stand associated with other virtues.

What avails it to the cause of humanity, that a mighty intellect has arrayed itself in armor, and is prepared to wage a successful warfare upon the kingdom of darkness, if it can be bribed or bought to desert the standard of truth, or to turn its powers against it.

What avails it, that Hercules, is bowing himself at the pillars of the temple of error so long as it is doubtful to whom the victory shall enure: whether the old house shall be razed and removed, only, that another of broader foundation and more imposing superstructure may be erected on the same site.

What avails it, that the tongue is eloquent in the cause of virtue, while the life and manners of the man are more eloquent in the cause of vicc.

Confidence is the bond of all social intercourse and the vital essence of every moral influence.

If she deign to lend her aid to the intelligent advocate of truth he must triumph.

If she deny it, the talents of an angel are vain and powerless. It was not the learning and genius alone of Luther, large as they undoubtedly were, that triumphed at Worms. Nor of Hampden, that established a great principle of liberty in England, since incorporated into all the constitutions of these States. Nor of Adams, Hancock, Chase and Franklin, that enabled them to display the mysteries and beauties of American independence before their admiring countrymen. No, there was a steadfast reliance upon the incorruptible integrity and stainless honor of these illustrious men.

And this was no small part of the means, by which they accomplished the several ends which have come down to us in glorious association with their names.

But the question recurs, how was this confidence acquired, that through it, such important results might follow.

How came it to pass, that other men of equal, perhaps superior understanding and information, commanded less influence?

What qualified them especially to sway the mighty moral power? Was it a sign from heaven? a pillar of cloud by day, of fire by night? Nothing of the kind. The whole enigma is solved in this: They were honest men.

This they had testified by lives of purity. They had always exhibited to the world a sense of justice that could not stoop to betray a trust reposed.

That would sooner perish than deny its admiration of virtue. And more than this: their hearts were moulded to the steady purpose as well as the high resolve.

Firmness is a virtue that must enter largely into the composition of every valuable individual character.

It is absolutely indispensable to draw out into their proper sphere, and develop in their full proportions all the other elements. How many persons are there in the world whose intelligence is quite sufficient to show them the path of duty, and whose honest natures incline them to pursue it, but whose pusillanimity is such that they are overcome by every obstacle, real or imaginary.

By firmness I mean not only a contempt for physical danger when duty requires it, but also a disregard of every cause or consequence calculated to induce a departure from the line of action. we know to be the right one.

The soldier is firm who stands by his colors in the hour of battle.

The statesman has the same need of firmness when in the Legislative hall he finds some unworthy popular clamor to be resisted, some deep laid plot of treachery to be exposed, some dear object of his own to be sacrificed upon the altar of the public good.

In fact it has been deemed by some much easier to brave a peril of the former than the latter kind.

It has not unfrequently happened that the man who could dare the "bellowing cannon's mouth" with unblenching resolution, has fallen a ready victim to the first moral danger that presented itself.

Tell us we are to be assailed, and we promptly summon all our latent energies to our support.

It may be this is the reason why we more successfully contend with mere personal perils, while moral dangers more insidious in their approach, more questionable in their shape, more constant in their assaults, more variable in their modes of attack, will often undermine and sap the strength of a citadel, which had otherwise withstood all the fury of fire and sword.

Of this truth the conduct of Benedict Arnold is a melancholy illustration. Of General Arnold, Dr. Ramsey in his history of the Revolution thus speaks:

'He had been among the first to take up arms against Great 'Britain and to widen the breach between the parent state and the "Colonies. His distinguished military talents had procured him. 'every honor a grateful country could bestow. Poets and painters 'had marked him as a suitable subject for the display of their re'spective abilities. He possessed an elevated seat in the hearts of 'his countrymen, and was in the full enjoyment of a substantial 'fame for the purchase of which the wealth of worlds would have been insufficient."

But withal, General governed by principle. otism, there lurked an

Arnold was a man whose life was not Beneath the splendid exterior of patriitching, palm? a love of money, and a

love of dissipation, which, notwithstanding his reputation, rendered his character, in reality, miserably small and contemptible.

It could not be expected that the man who would resort to paltry peculations and frauds upon a quarter-master's department, could stand up longer in defence of his country, than he found his private interest in the account.

So true it is, that virtue is always consistent with herself, and that he who is faithless in one respect, should never be trusted in another. That such a man, however brilliant his achievements or bright his prospects, should eventually terminate his career in infamy, seems to be nothing more nor less, than the dictate of that eternal justice, which rules in the moral universe of God.

If the fate of General Arnold suggested no other reflections than such as were personal to himself, the littleness of his character would still be strongly marked.

Aside from all considerations of duty, and looking merely to the question of policy, as bearing on the destiny of the individual man, how much wiser was the conduct of Joseph Reid, who on receiving a letter from the British Commissioner Johnston, attempting to bribe him as a member of the continental congress, promptly replied: 'I am not worth purchasing, but such as I am, the King of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it.'

Personal integrity is to be maintained by repelling indignantly and instantly every insinuation of a base, unworthy motive.

Once the man pauses, to consider whether he shall perpetrate an act he knows must degrade him, his ruin is already effected. On the other hand a man may sink in the estimation of the world, he may be frowned upon by former friends, his country may turn away distrustingly from him, he may even be constrained to 'wander upon foreign strands' and to break the bitter bread of the exile. Yet if he retains in his own breast a consciousness of unsullied purity, he possesses a treasure worth more than all he has lost. He carries with him a peace of mind, a calm serenity of soul, which will prove a fortress to his happiness, against which the storms of adversity may beat and blow in vain.

Such a man may live like Aristides the Just, to return in some dark hour of the public affairs, and by his timely service, make glad the bosom of an ungrateful country.

Let it be conceded, the honest man may not always reach the pinnacle of earthly honor. The avenues to that place may be too impure for his passage through them; or the follies of the world may have made the prize an imaginary one, unworthy his regard. True greatness, it may be remarked, lies not in the vanities of men, it is not with the pageant or the pomp, but with the man himself, and gifts of place and power can not confer it.

Some one has asked, what can more enhance the gratification