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546  ELIZA L. SPROAT.

"A name whose glory waxeth bright,
With still increasing fire;
A name to stand while ages pass,
And make a world admire:
Oh, may there be some spirit near,
My soul's high wish to bear:"
But the angels stood with drooping wings,
Nor moved to waft her prayer.

"Oh, God," she pray'd, "thou infinite,
Oh, grant my darling power;
The might of sol that sways a host
As fierce wind sways a shower:
And may there be some spirit near
My fervent wish to bear"-
But the steadfast angels sadly stood,
Nor moved to waft her prayer.

"Oh God, who art all Beautiful,
Oh, make my darling fair;
That he may still from life draw love
Life's essence sweet and rare.
So every heart shall be a harp,
Beneath his touch to sound."
But the shuddering angels sadly stood, 
And droop'd their wings around.

"But if," she pray'd, "thou God of love,
He may not grasp at fame,
Oh, grant him strength to face serene
A cold world's cruel blame.
And if he shrink from earthly power,
Nor aim to swap the time,
Gird thou his soul to cope with sin-
A conqueror sublime.

CATHERINE A. DUBOSE.   547

And should he sometime fail to strike
Ea heart to love's great tone,
Oh, may he tune to seraph height
The music of his own.
Now may there be some spirit near
My humble wish to bear."
The angels rose on rushing wings,
And bore to God her prayer.

CATHERINE A. DUBOSE.

CATHERINE ANN, daughter of the Rev. William Richards, is a native of England, but came with her father and his family to this country at a very early age.  She has since resided in Georgia, where, in 1849, she was married to Mr. Charles W. Dubose, a laywer highly esteemed for his professional skill.  Her own family is one of superior talent and thorough cultivation.  Mr. Wm. C. Richards of Charleston, the editor of "The Southern Literary Gazette," and author of an ingenious little work called "The Shakspeare Calendar;" and Mr. Thos. A. Richards of New York, a painter, poet, and gentleman of equal modesty and genius, are her brothers.  "With an acute intelligence," says one well fitted to give a correct opinion of this lady, "and a pure heart, cultivated under the happiest social circumstances, and powerfully guided by a devoted religious faith, her character is eminently sincere, cheerful, and hopeful, marking her productions less with the fitful gleams of a wayward fancy than with a uniform tone of pure moral thought, tender sympathy, and delicate feeling."  As a standard of her poetical capacity, however, we prefer to give the following fine descriptive poem instead of quoting the verses distinguished by those womanly qualities.  Mrs. Dubose is still very young; and her pieces have only appeared within a year or two, through the medium of her brother's Gazette.