sae pure can bide the touch
Of a hand red--wet wi' sin"!

The stars were shooting to and fro,
And wild-fire filled the air,
As that ladie follow'd thae bonnie bairns
For three lang hours and mair.

"Oh, where dwell ye, my ain sweet bairns?
I'm woe and weary grown!"
"Oh, ladie, we live where woe never is,
In a land to flesh unknown."

There came a shape which seem'd to her
As a rainbow 'mang the rain;
And sair these sweet babes plead for her,
And they pled and pled in vain.

"And O! and O!" said the youngest babe,
"My mither maun come in;"
"And O! and O!" said the eldest babe,
"Wash her twa hands frae sin."

"And O! and O!" said the youngest babe,
"She nursed me on her knee."
"And O! and O!" said the eldest babe,
"She's a mither yet to me."

"And O! and O!" said the babes baith,
"Take her where waters rin,
And white as the milk of her white breast,
Wash her twa hands frae sin."

* * * * *

Original.

MY LITTLE NIECE, MARY JANE.

This little girl was doubtless one of those whom the Savior early
prepares for their removal to his pure and holy family above. The sweet,
lovely, and attractive graces of a sanctified childhood, shone with a
mild luster throughout her character and manners, as she passed from one
period of intelligence to another, until she had reached the termination
of her short journey through earth to heaven.

Peace to thy ashes, gentle one! "Light lie the turf" upon thy bosom,
until thou comest forth to a morning, that shall know no night!

After the birth of this their first child, the parents were continually
reminded of the shortness and uncertainty of life, by repeated
sicknesses in the social circle, and by the sudden death of one of their
number, a beloved sister.

Whether it was that this had its influence in the shaping of the
another's instructions, or not, yet such was the fact, that the subject
of a preparation for early death, was not unfrequently the theme, when
religious instruction was imparted. The mind of the mother was also
impressed with the idea of her own responsibility. She felt that the
soul of the child would be required at her hands, and that she must do
all in her power to fit it for heaven. Hence she was importunate and
persevering in prayer, for a blessing upon her efforts; that God would
graciously grant his Spirit, not only to open the mind of