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48 Juvenile Letters.

praises of that Saviour, who said, "of such is the kingdom of heaven." As the afflicted mother viewed her agonizing child, she often repeated the following pathetic lines.

A MOTHER's ADDRESS TO HER DYING INFANT.

TENDER, softest, infant mild,
Perfect, sweetest, loveliest child!
Transient lustre, beauteous clay,
Smiling wonder of a day!
Ere the last convulsive start
Rends thy unresisting heart;
Ere the long enduring swoon
Weighs thy precious eyelids down,
Ah! regard a mother's moan,
Anguish sharper than thy own.
Fairest eye, whose dawning light,
Late with rapture fill'd my sight,
Ere thy orbs extinguish'd be,
Bend their trembling beams on me!
Drooping sweetness, verdant flower,
Blooming, withering in an hour!
Ere thy gentle breath sustains
Latest, faintest, mortal pains,
Here a suppliant let me be,
Partner in thy destiny!
We

Juvenile Letters. 49

We came to Connecticut river at Walpole, a very pleasant town, surrounded with high mountains. This is a place of considerable business, for an inland town. There is a printing office here, a bookstore, and several shops of English goods. I suppose I feel more partial towards the place, on account of being exceedingly pleased with my landlady where we stopped to dine. Here are falls in the river, which make a formidable appearance; and a spacious bridge, directly over them. We crossed this bridge, and viewed the locks and canals on the Vermont side. We also crossed another bridge, of superior workmanship, at Windsor, a very pretty town in Vermont. Between Hanover and Norwich is another bridge, of a similar kind. But in dwelling upon bridges, I have forgotten to mention towns, mountains, &c. Of the latter, there is no end to the number, or to their forms and magnitudes. Of the former, Charlestown is celebrated in the history of Indian wars. I was there Mrs. Johnson was taken captive, whose narrative you have read; and there she
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