were happy, and if I
Could join them; or if they would return
To us again; and told them, mother dear,
How lonely we had felt since they departed,
And left us in our grief; and how we missed
Their pleasant voices and their merry laugh;
For though you said 'twas wrong to wish them back,
I could not think but you would welcome them.
They were too happy in their angel home,
To think of coming back to earth again;
And neither, said they, could I stay with them,
Because my time was not yet come. But they
Would look upon us from their high abode,
And ask our Saviour's blessing on us both;
And soon his arms would open, and his voice
Would call on us to follow them; and they
Would welcome us to those bright realms above,
Where they, with angels, now have found a home;
Where all shall find a home, a resting-place,
After the toils of earth. Where skies are bright,
And spring forever reigns. Where flowers shall bloom
In never-fading freshness, nor be touched
By winter's frost. And, more than all, where love
Unites all hearts in one great brotherhood,
Nor separation comes to break the chain.

THE INFLUENCE OF SABBATH SCHOOLS.

"Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined,"--is an adage as true as
it is ancient. One's character, happiness, and usefulness, during his
whole life, depends, in no small measure, upon early education. The
child taught to disregard the Sabbath, and lightly to esteem the
instructions of the Sabbath school, grows to manhood devoid of aught
that can entitle him to the society and respect of the good and
virtuous. With a soul shrouded in midnight darkness, he gropes his way
through life, and at the grave sinks into oblivion, "by none esteemed,
by all forgot." However we may hope for such a soul, through the mercy
of God, as we surely do, it is not now qualified to enter upon and fully
appreciate the purity and joys of Christ's kingdom.

We seldom hear of the execution or imprisonment of one who regarded in
youth the Sabbath school. Indeed, I think it impossible for one who has
been successfully taught to reverence and to love the teachings of Jesus
of Nazareth, to become an outcast from society. It is true, envy, with
its envenomed tongue, and malice, with its still more poisonous breath,
may assail even such a one; but their shafts will fall harmless at his
feet. The shield of his soul they cannot pierce. They cannot eradicate
from the heart the influence of the high and holy lessons whic