regardless of all the laws of health?  But, my dear mother, the past is beyond recall; and now I leave to you the dear little ones from whom I must soon part for ever.  I feel calmer than I have felt for some time.  The bitterness of the last agony seems over.  But I do not see you, nor you, dear husband!  Give me your hands.  Here, let my head rest on your bosom.  It is sweet to lie thus—­Anna—­dear child!  Mary—­sweet, sweet babe!”—­

The lips of the young wife and mother moved feebly, and inarticulate whispers fell faintly from her tongue for some moments, and then she sank to sleep—­and it was a sleep from which none wake in the body.

Thus, at the age of twenty-six, abused and exhausted nature gave up the struggle; and the mother, who had violated the laws of health, sank to the earth just at the moment when her tenderest and holiest duties called loudest for performance.

Who, in this brief and imperfect sketch, does not recognise familiar features?  Amanda Beaufort is but one of a class which has far too many representatives.  These are in every town and village, in every street and neighbourhood.  Why do we see so many pale-faced mothers?  Why are our young and lovely females so soon broken down under their maternal duties?  The answer, in far too many cases, may be found in their early and persevering transgression of the most palpable physiological laws.  The violation of these is ever followed, sooner or later, in a greater or less degree, by painful consequences.  Sometimes life is spared to the young mother, and she is allowed to linger on through years of suffering that the heart aches to think of.  Often death terminates early her pains, and her babes are left a legacy to the cold charities of an unfeeling world.  How sad, how painful the picture!  Alas! that it is a true one.

JUST GOING TO DO IT.

Every man has some little defect of character, some easily-besetting sin that is always overtaking him, unless he be ever on the alert.  My friend, Paul Burgess, was a man of considerable force of mind; whatever he undertook was carried through with much energy of purpose.  But his leading defect was a tendency to inertia in small matters.  It required an adequate motive to put the machinery of his mind in operation.  Some men never let a day pass without carefully seeing after every thing, little or great, that ought to be done.  They cannot rest until the day’s work is fully completed.  But it was very different with Paul.  If the principal business transactions of the day were rightly performed, he was satisfied to let things of less consideration lie over until another time.  From this cause it occurred that every few weeks there was an accumulation of things necessary to be done, so great that their aggregate calls upon his attention roused him to action, and then every thing was reduced to order with an energy, promptness, and internal satisfaction that