put down-'he thought it would be better if he should die young, and go and be with his Saviour.'

The writer of this has no knowledge of the science of surgery; he believes it among the rich blessings which a God of benevolence has given to alleviate the distresses that sin has occasioned in the world; and though relief in all such cases must be through the medium of suffering, he conceives that the relief itself is intended to teach the lesson of the evil of sin, which first brought death into the world, and all our woes.' The operation must have been one of delicacy and interest, and somewhat out of the ordinary course; for when the surgeon came, he was attended by seven other gentlemen of the profession who were desirous of being witnesses. Without being able technically to describe the process, it will suffice to observe, that the flesh was separated from the lower jaw, from ear to ear; and the jaw, thus released from the contraction, was restored to its place. It is not, however, in the skill and success of a difficult and dangerous operation, that in this case the lively interest exists. It is in the moral up-bearing of the infant sufferer; he did not require to be tied, and would not take an opiate to stupify him or to lull the pain. There was an inward principle superior to fear and to pain; the principle of an assured hope of

blessedness beyond the grave, should the operation be fatal.

As soon after the operation as he was at all permitted to use his mouth for speaking, he told his mother, that when the doctor first began to cut him, he thought he could not bear it and live, but that he prayed to God, that he would be pleased to help him to bear it, and after that he did not feel near so much pain.'

One of the medical gentlemen who was present, and who had witnessed many awful cases from the field of battle as an army surgeon, said he had never seen one which had excited in his mind such an intense degree of interest, as was awakened by the patient suffering of this delicate and feeble little boy.

By the mercy of God's providence, the operation was not only successfully performed, but it accomplished the purpose for which it was designed; and although it has left the scar of the surgeon's knife over the whole surface of the lower jaw, it has restored the little sufferer to the comfortable enjoyment of his life. He now lives, and may be seen earliest among his fellows at the Sunday school, with a happy countenance, and an eye radiant with the gratitude which to this day dwells in his heart. He is not in that rank of life, in which there will be any proba

bility that he will ever read this little narrative; but, even should he do it in after life, he will have additional cause of thankfulness, if he finds that in the heart of any reader, one single sentiment has been awakened, calculated to impress more durably on the mind, the value of religion in an hour of trial— religion, which can uphold the spirit of the man, and give to a feeble child an energy which falls little short of supernatural.

TO THE EVENING STAR.

1

QUEEN of the twilight hour,

I hail thy soothing reign; How still beneath thy power

Are valley, hill and plain. How fair thy beauty glows, Sparkling in yonder west, As if a snow white rose,

Dew-bright on evening's breast.

Thou seemest a vesper light,
Lit at this hour of praise,

On heaven's high altar bright,
While earth her incense pays.
Then, by thy hallowed beams,

From nature's book I'll pray,
And catch the bliss that seems
Luxuriant in thy ray.

X. X. X.

THE EMPTY BIER.

"THOU empty bier, that standest here
Alone by the church-yard gate;
Say, whose the door thou'lt pause before,
Thy burden next to wait?"

The bier replied-"My range is wide,
And my hours of rest but few;
But the ways are known to one alone,
Which I must hence pursue.

"I first may seek her form, whose cheek Is fresh in its maiden bloom;

On me to lie with a rayless eye,

At the threshold of the tomb.

"The youth who last sped by so fast

With the nerve and the glow of health,