we would like, if we could, to give additional weight to the matter by assuring the reader that we have tried the rule and find it most excellent. Many a fly has left our face of itself, and peaceably at that, just because we had not time to strike at it; and because we did not choose to apply our strength in that direction. When any one attempts, by any base remarks or misrepresentations, to attract our attention towards his little self, the most he can hope for is a hasty mutter, which does not disturb our regular current of thoughts, and which, being interpreted, would be something like that of Nehemiah: "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?"

Lest, however, my own opinion and mode of doing should still not convince all in favor of a "dignified silence," the reader will please take the following, which is testimony on which he can infallibly rely:

"And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered them to never a word."

HOW SOFTLY ON THE BRUISED HEART.

How softly on the bruised heart

A word of kindness falls,

And to the dry and parched soul

The moist'ning tear-drop calls;
O, if they knew, who walk the earth,
'Mid sorrow, grief and pain,

The power a word of kindness hath,
'Twere paradise again.

The weakest and the poorest may
The simple pittance give,

And bid delight to withered hearts
Return again and live;

Oh, what is life if love be lost?

If man's unkind to man

Or, what the heaven that waits beyond
This brief and mortal span?

As stars upon the tranquil sea,

In mimic glory shine,

So words of kindness in the heart

Reflect the source divine;

Oh, then be kind, whoe'er thou art,
That breathest mortal breath,
And it shall brighten all thy life,
And sweeten even death.

BE HAPPY.-If we are cheerful and contented, all Nature smiles. with us; the air seems more balmy, the sky more clear, the ground has a brighter green, the trees have a richer foliage, the flowers a more fragrant smell, the birds sing more sweetly, and the sun, moon, stars and all appear more beautiful.

ANDREW JACKSON.

BY SPERO.

THE most fitting monument of the character of a great man is an unprejudiced exhibition of his public and noble acts.

The biography of the heroes and statesmen of our country is fraught with encouragement to the hearts of her aspiring youths, especially those who have set out in life without the advantage of wealth, or of friends to direct them onward to an eminent position. Among the numerous eminent men of our country, of whom many have filled the office of President, there is one who appears to stand out as one of the first of the bright stars, and one whose name has for many years been familiar to the American peopleAndrew Jackson. He was mighty in word and deed; and when he addressed their understanding their hearts were filled with overflowing gratitude and veneration. Both in civil and military life he was alike in every respect, "the hero they loved and the chieftain they admired.'

This strong and devoted attachment was, however, not universal. There was a strong minority, not only respectable in numbers, but mighty in intellect, in moral influence, and social dignity, who had quite a different opinion of his character. By them his qualifications as a statesman were derided; and although his military services were not denied, his enemies were not always willing to award him the honor of them. The discussion of his merits was fierce and bitter. But now, if it has not entirely ceased, the tone in which it was conducted has been greatly modified.

"Death, the king of terrors, is merciful as well as severe." When it strikes a great man to the ground, it interposes between him and his enemies the most secure shield that can be bestowed upon his character. When the career of a distinguished hero and statesman is closed, his opponents are ready to fall in and assist in the applause of him and his noble deeds. Taking, as we propose doing, a correct view of his character, it must be acknowledged that Andrew Jackson deserves to stand among the first men of his time. As a soldier he was acknowledged to have many prominent qualities; as a patriot he stood as one of the main pillars of this mighty republic; and as a statesman he was unrivalled by any of his competitors.

Andrew Jackson was born in the back settlements of South Carolina about ten years before the Declaration of Independence. About his father little or nothing is known, having died when his son was but a child, leaving him to depend upon his mother, as sole protector of him and two brothers.

When the tide of war rolled towards her neighborhood, she,

with the devotion of a Spartan mother, sent forth her three sons to battle against oppression, and assist in securing their country's freedom-the youngest being but fourteen years old. During the contest one of the brothers was lost, and another survived but a short time, when she was left with but one on whom to center her affection. She too, whilst rendering aid to afflicted soldiers, was stricken down by the hand of death, thus severing her and her only son, who was left unprovided for in a country where not a drop of his kindred blood flowed in the veins of any living creature.

*

After peace was made, he worked a while at the trade of a saddler, then resumed his literary pursuits, completed his education, read law, was admitted to the bar, and soon afterwards removed to Nashville, Tennessee.

There was the commencement of his practice. He had all kinds of veterans to contend with, yet he succeeded by fidelity and per

severance.

When he was barely of constitutional age he was elected to public office, and from that time he was continually in possession of offices, all of which he resigned previous to the expiration of his term, cxcept one-that one he resigned back to the people after holding it as long as Washington before him.

In February, 1812, the President was authorized to accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers. Fifteen hundred Tennesseans volunteered, provided they could have General Jackson to command them. He placed himself at their head, and marched them to Natchez.

In a short time an order was despatched to him to deliver all his stores and provisions to General Wilkinson, and dismiss his men. He declined this demand upon his own responsibility, marched his army to a secure place, and then dismissed them. His order of proceeding was approved by the War Department, from which time his fame spread far and wide through the country, and was one grand means of making known his valor and foresight. A few months afterwards terror was spreading through the land, by the atrocious and daring deeds of slaughter committed by the Indians. Every eye was turned upon Jackson. The Governor and deputies of the legislature called to see him while lying sick, and told him the demand there was for his services. His reply was: "All that is left of me belongs to my country; and in two weeks I shall be on my horse, if there is a spark of life in my body. In the meantime, raise the standard of Fayetteville, and let every man that can strike a blow gather around it.' They told him the treasury was empty, and had no means by which they could equip an army. But he having made a deposit in Nashville, ordered

No monument perpetuates her virtues; and, if there was a column raised above her grave that would pierce the very skies, no greater praise could be inscribed upon it than this, that she was worthy to be the mother of Andrew Jackson.

them to take seven thousand dollars to supply them with everything appertaining to an army. He took the field, according to his promise, when he was crowned with victories.

The provisions purchased with his own money being exhausted, his army became discontented and proposed starting home. After waiting some time for provisions, he consented they should leave; but he said if there were two men of his army who would stay he would perish on the field. One hundred and twenty-five men volunteered to stay. The rest had scarcely left when the longlooked for supplies arrived; the General pursued and overtook them and ordered them to return to the camp, which they refused to do. Here was a trying time; he placed himself in front of them, and declared he would shoot the first man that would attempt to pass. The muskets along the line were levelled, but only one was fired, the ball passing over his head. He sat in his saddle unmoved. "Return," said he, "to your duty, or take the life of your general-you have your choice.

His unmoved boldness sunk deep into their hearts; they wavered a moment, and then all returned to their camp.

"He was as constant as the northern star,

Of whose true, fixed, and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament."

He who served his country, through a long and useful life, has long since sunk into the tomb; but his name is still fresh in the memory of every American, whose heart throbs with emotions of veneration on hearing the name of "Old Hickory.”

His name had power to rally the nation, and proved a shield to the American people, and, therefore, deserves to stand prominent. Well may we exclaim in the language of the poet

How shall we rank thee on glory's page,

Thou more than soldier and just less than sage!
All thou hast been reflects less fame on thee,
Far less than all thou hast forborne to be."

In all coming time, whenever a true American shall be found, if there be one pulse within his free-born bosom that beats more proudly than another, he will feel it throb when he hears the name of Andrew Jackson.

UNFADING hope! when life's last embers burn,
When soul to soul, and dust to dust return!
Heav'n to thy change resigns the awful hour!
Oh! then thy kingdom comes! immortal power!
What though each spark of earth-born rapture fly
The quivering lip, pale cheek, and closing eye!
Bright to the soul thy seraph hands convey
The morning dream of life's eternal day-
Then, then, the triumph and the trance begin!
And all the phoenix spirit burns within!

GOD IS NEAR!

GOD is everywhere present. This is wonderful. It is solemn. It is comforting to saints. It is terrible to sinners. Because the scriptures speak of God as dwelling in Heaven, we forget that it also speaks of him as present on the earth. To us he is, practically, a God afar off, and not near at hand; though we are assured, He is not far from every one of us.

God is in the world, and the marks of his presence are around us, if we only had sufficient seriousness to see them. If a farmer should, on rising in the morning, find that a number of doors had been broken open during the night, that the fruit had been taken from his vines and trees, that some of his animals and fowls were gone, he would at once say there has been a thief here! Why then, when he goes forth over his fields and sees that the moth, rust, and mildew are in his grain, that the hail and the storm have prostrated it, that floods have devastated his meadows-why does he not now say: God was here! I have been unthankful-I have not acknowledged God in the gifts of his hand, and therefore has he visited me in a way to make me think of Him! Or suppose sickness, misfortune, death, come into the family-why do we not then see and feel that God was here? These are the merciful strokes of his chastising hand!

Ah! are we not practical infidels with the scriptures open before us? We do not believe in a God near at hand, around us in all our ways. A God without whose notice neither a sparrow nor a hair can fall to the ground. Well does the Saviour ask, when the Son of Man shall come, think you that he shall find faith upon the earth? Thine eye my bed and path surveys,

My public haunts and private ways;
Thou knowest what 'tis my lips would vent,
My yet unuttered words intent.

Within thy circling power I stand,
On every side I find thy hand;
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,

I am surrounded still with God.

The veil of night is no disguise,

No sereen from thy all-searching eyes;

Through midnight shades thou find'st thy way,
As in the blazing noon of day.

O may these thoughts possess my breast,
Where'er I rove, where'er I rest!
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to give, for God is there.

H. H.

To all men, and at all times, the best friend is virtue; and the best companions are high endeavors and honorable sentiments.