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THIS accomplished lady, who has written such beautiful and touching poetry, was born of a family in which genius may be said to be hereditary, being granddaughter to the celebrated Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Having lost her father at an early period of life, the education of Caroline, the future poetess, was chiefly conducted by her mother, who devoted herself to the happiness of her children with a zeal and affection, of which none but a woman and a mother can be susceptible. Her cares were nobly repaid by the genius and accomplishments of her daughters, and especially of the subject of this notice; and such was their early proficiency, that Caroline and her sister, before the age of twelve, had filled two manuscript volumes with their verses. As Mrs. Sheridan, how. ever, was a mother who studied the solid happiness rather than the celebrity of her children, she kept works of fiction carefully out of their way, and rather discouraged than promoted these efforts of genius; so that when Mrs. Norton published her poem, entitled The Undying One, she had read fewer novels and romances than most young people of her age.

At the age of nineteen, Miss Sheridan became the Honourable Mrs. Norton, by her marriage with the brother of Lord Grantley; but the infelicity of this union, and the unfortunate results, are too well known to require further mention. Of her poetry, it is almost impossible to speak in terms of sufficient commendation. It is not enough to say, that it possesses all the elegance and tenderness which are to be expected from a female pen; it also exhibits, with these qualities, a strength of thought, and a depth of feeling, which are generally looked for in the other sex only. As the charms of intellectual exertion, next to the duties of religion, form the chief solaces of the afflicted and persecuted, we trust that a still brighter literary career than the past is to be fulfilled by the future productions of Mrs. Norton.

'WOMAN'S DEVOTEDNESS.

And be not thou cast down, because thy lot
The glory of thy dream resembleth not.
Not for herself was woman first create,
Nor yet to be man's idol, but his mate.
Still from his birth his cradled bed she tends,
The first, the last, the faithfullest of friends;
Still finds her place in sickness or in woe,
Humble to comfort, strong to undergo;
Still in the depth of weeping sorrow tries
To watch his death-bed with her patient eyes!
And doubt not thou-(although at times deceived,
Outraged, insulted, slander'd, crush'd, and grieved;
Too often made a victim or a toy,

With years of sorrow for an hour of joy;

Too oft forgot 'midst Pleasure's circling wiles,

Or only valued for her rosy smiles-)

That, in the frank and generous heart of man,

The place she holds accords with Heaven's high plan;
Still, if from wandering sin reclaim'd at all,

He sees in her the angel of recall;

Still, in the sad and serious hours of life,
Turns to the sister, mother, friend, or wite;
Views with a heart of fond and trustful pride
His faithful partner by his calm fire-side;
And oft, when barr'd of Fortune's fickle grace,
Blank ruin stares him darkly in the face,
Leans his faint head upon her kindly breast,
And owns her power to soothe him into rest-
Owns what the gift of woman's love is worth
To cheer his toils and trials upon earth!

From The Dream.

RECOLLECTIONS.

Do you remember all the sunny places,
Where in bright days, long past, we play'd together?
Do you remember all the old home faces

That gather'd round the hearth in wintry weather?
Do you remember all the happy meetings,

In summer evenings round the open door

Kind looks, kind hearts, kind words, and tender greetings, And clasping hands whose pulses beat no more?

Do you remember them?

Do you remember all the merry laughter;
The voices round the swing in our old garden:
The dog that, when we ran, still follow'd after;
The teasing frolic sure of speedy pardon?
We were but children then, young happy creatures,
And hardly knew how much we had to lose-
But now the dreamlike memory of those features
Comes back, and bids my darken'd spirit muse.

Do you remember them?

Do you remember when we first departed

From all the old companions who were round us,
How very soon again we grew light-hearted,

And talk'd with smiles of all the links which bound us?

And after, when our footsteps were returning,

With unfelt weariness, o'er hill and plain;

How our young hearts kept boiling up, and burning,
To think how soon we'd be at home again:

Do you remember this?

Do you remember how the dreams of glory
Kept fading from us like a fairy treasure;

How we thought less of being famed in story,
And more of those to whom our fame gave pleasure?
Do you remember, in far countries, weeping,
When a light breeze, a flower, hath brought to mind
Old happy thoughts which till that hour were sleeping,
And made us yearn for those we left behind?

Do you remember this?

Do you remember when no sound 'woke gladly,
But desolate echoes through our home were ringing,
How for a while we talk'd-then paused full sadly,
Because our voices bitter thoughts were bringing?
Ah me! those days-those days! my friend, my brother,
Sit down and let us talk of all our woe,

For we have nothing left but one another;—
Yet where they went, old playmate, we shall

go

Let us remember this.

WOMAN'S COURAGE.

Warriors and statesmen have their meed of praise,
And what they do or suffer men record;

But the long sacrifice of woman's days

Passes without a thought-without a word;

And many a holy struggle for the sake

Of duties sternly, faithfully fulfill'd—

For which the anxious mind must watch and wake,
And the strong feelings of the heart be still'd—
Goes by unheeded as the summer wind,

And leaves no memory and no trace behind!
Yet, it may be, more lofty courage dwells

In one meek heart which braves an adverse fate,

Than his, whose ardent soul indignant swells

Warm'd by the fight, or cheer'd through high debate:
The soldier dies surrounded;-could he live
Alone to suffer, and alone to strive?

Answer, ye graves, whose suicidal gloom
Shows deeper horror than a common tomb!
Who sleep within? The men who would evade
An unseen lot of which they felt afraid.
Embarrassment of means, which work'd annoy-
A past remorse-a future blank of joy-
The sinful rashness of a blind despair—

These were the strokes which sent your victims there.

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EVENING.

Oh! dear to him, to all, since first the flowers
Of happy Eden's consecrated bowers

Heard the low breeze along the branches play,
And God's voice bless the cool hour of the day.
For though that glorious Paradise be lost,
Though earth by blighting storms be roughly cross'd,
Though the long curse demands the tax of sin,
And the day's sorrows with the day begin,
That hour, once sacred to God's presence, still
Keeps itself calmer from the touch of ill,

The holiest hour of earth. Then toil doth cease-
Then from the yoke the oxen find release—
Then man rests pausing from his many cares,
And the world teems with children's sunset prayers!
Then innocent things seek out their natural rest,
The babe sinks slumbering on its mother's breast;
The birds beneath their leafy covering creep,
Yea, even the flowers fold up their buds in sleep;
And angels, floating by, on radiant wings,
Hear the low sounds the breeze of evening brings,
Catch the sweet incense as it floats along,
The infant's prayer, the mother's cradle song,
And bear the holy gifts to worlds afar,
As things too sacred for this fallen star.

From The Dream.

MOSES AMONG THE BULRUSHES.

When the mournful Jewish mother
Laid her infant down to rest,
In doubt, and fear, and sorrow,
On the water's changeful breast;
She knew not what the future
Should bring the sorely tried:
That the High Priest of her nation,
Was the babe she sought to hide.

No! in terror wildly flying,

She hurried on her path;
Her swoln heart full to bursting
Of woman's helpless wrath;
Of that wrath so blent with anguish,
When we seek to shield from ill

Those feeble little creatures

Who seem more helpless still!

Ah! no doubt, in such an hour,
Her thoughts were harsh and wild;
The fiercer burn'd her spirit,

The more she loved her child;
No doubt, a frenzied anger
Was mingled with her fear,
When that prayer arose for justice
Which God hath sworn to hear.
He heard it! From His heaven,
In its blue and boundless scope,
He saw that task of anguish,

And that fragile ark of hope;
When she turn'd from that lost infant
Her weeping eyes of love,

And the cold reeds bent beneath it-
His angels watch'd above!
She was spared the bitter sorrow
Of her young child's early death,
Or the doubt where he was carried
To draw his distant breath;
She was call'd his life to nourish
From the well-springs of her heart,
God's mercy re-uniting

Those whom man had forced apart!

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