to accomplish. It is the privilege of few authors to contribute largely to the general good, but almost every one may contribute something. No book perhaps is perfectly neutral; nor are the effects of any altogether indifferent. From all our reading there will be a bias on the actings of the mind, though with a greater or less degree of inclination, according to the degree of impression made, by the nature of the subject, the ability of the writer, and the disposition of the reader. And though, as was above observed, the whole may produce no general effect, proportionate to the hopes of the author; yet some truths may be picked out from among many that are neglected; some single sentiment may be seized on for present use; some detached principle may be treasured up for future practice.

"If in the records of classic story we are told, that 'the most superb and lasting monument that was ever consecrated to beauty, was that to which every lover carried a tribute,' then among the accumulated production of successive volumes, those which, though they convey no new information, yet illustrate on the whole some old truth; those which, though they add nothing to the stores of genius or of science, yet if they help to establish and enforce a single principle of virtue, they may be accepted as an additional mite cast by the willing hand of affectionate indigence into the treasury of Christian morals.

"The great father of Roman eloquence has asserted, that though every man should propose to himself the highest degrees in the scale of excellence; yet he may stop with honor at the second. or the third. Indeed, the utility of some books to some persons would be defeated by their very superiority. The writer may be above the reach of his reader; he may be too lofty to be pursued; he may be too profound to be fathomed; he may be too abstruse to be investigated; for to produce delight there must be intelligence; there must be something of concert and congruity. There must be not merely that intelligibility which arises from the perspicuousness of the author, but that also which depends on the capacity and perception of the reader. Between him who writes and him who reads, there must be a kind of coalition of interests, something of a partnership, (however unequal the

capital,) in mental property; a sort of joint stock of tastes and ideas. The student must have been initiated into the same intellectual commerce with him whom he studies; for large bills are only negotiable among the mutually opulent.

"There are perhaps other reasons why popularity is no infallible test of excellence. Many readers, even of good faculties, if those faculties have been kept inert by a disuse of exertion, feel often most sympathy with writers of a middle class; and find more repose in a mediocrity which lulls and amuses the mind, than with a loftiness and extent which exalts and expands it. To enjoy works of superlative ability, as was before suggested, the reader must have been accustomed to drink at the same spring from which the writer draws; he must be at the expense of furnishing part of his own entertainment, by bringing with him a share of the science or of the spirit with which the author writes.

"These are some of the considerations, which, while my gratitude has been excited by the favorable reception of my various attempts, have helped to correct that vanity which is so easily kindled where merit and success are evidently disproportionate.

For fair criticism I have ever been truly thankful. For candid correction, from whatever quarter it came, I have always exhibited the most unquestionable proof of my regard, by adopting it. Nor can I call to mind any instance of improvement which has been suggested to me by which I have neglected to profit.* I am not insensible to human estimation. To the approbation of the wise and good I have been perhaps but too sensible. But I check myself in the indulgence of the dangerous pleasure, by recollecting that the hour is fast approaching to all, to me it is very fast approaching, when no human verdict, of whatever authority in itself, and however favorable to its object, will avail any thing, but inasmuch as it is crowned with the acquittal of that Judge whose favor is eternal life. Every emotion of vanity

*If it be objected that this has not been the case with respect to one single passage which has excited some controversy, it has arisen not from any want of openness of conviction in me, but from my conceiving myself to have been misunderstood, and, for that reason only, misrepresented.

dies away, every swelling of ambition subsides before the consideration of this solemn responsibility. And though I have just avowed my deference for the opinion of private critics, and of public censors, yet my anxiety with respect to the sentence of both is considerably diminished, by the reflection, that not the writings but the writer will very soon be called to another tribunal, to be judged on far other grounds than those on which the decisions of literary statutes are framed; a tribunal at which the sentence passed will depend on far other causes than the observation or neglect of the rules of composition; than the violation of any precepts, or the adherence to any decrees of critic legislation.

"With abundant cause to be humbled at the mixed motives of even my least exceptionable writings, I am willing to hope that in those of later date, at least, vanity, has not been the governing principle. And if in sending abroad the present collection, some sparks of this inextinguishable fire should struggle to break out, let it be at once quenched by the reflection, that of those persons whose kindness stimulated, and whose partiality rewarded, my early efforts; of those who would have dwelt on these pages with most pleasure, the eyes of the greater part are closed, to open no more in this world. Even while the pen is in my hand, framing this remark, more than one affecting corroboration of its truth occurs. May this reflection, at once painful and salutary, be ever at hand to curb the insolence of success, or to countervail the mortification of defeat! May it serve to purify the motives of action, while it inspires resignation to its event! And may it affect both without diminishing the energies of duty, without abating the activity of labor."

HARRIET NEWELL a distinguished missionary, was the daughter of Moses Atwood, a merchant of Haverhill, Massachusetts. She was born October 10th, 1793. She was educated at Bradford academy, with Miss Hazeltine, afterwards Mrs. Judson, She was four years younger than that celebrated woman. She became pious about the same time, and there can be no doubt that the determination of Miss Hazeltine to unite herself with Mr. Judson, and to become a missionary to the East Indies, had

a great effect on her destiny. She was married at the same time with her friend, and embarked on board the same vessel for India, on the nineteenth day of February, 1812; but after reaching Calcutta, she, with her husband, was obliged to embark for the Isle of France, not being permitted to stay at Calcutta. On the eighth of October she became the mother of a daughter, who lived but five days, and was buried in the ocean. On reaching the Isle of France she lingered until the twentieth of November 1812, just nine months and a day after leaving the shores of her native land. She was indeed the first martyr in the missionary cause, but she never had the slightest opportunity to exert her activity and benevolence in a cause which she, no doubt, had near at heart. She was a young woman of fair talents and respectable acquirements, and of unquestionable piety. She had naturally a feeble constitution, which could not support the ill she was called to suffer. She died a most hopeful Christian. She wished not to survive her confinement and the loss of her babe, but was desirous of sinking into the sweet slumbers of the grave, and her wish was granted. Before her departure she had written many letters to her female friends, which are proofs of good talents, and a warm heart, devoted to the great causes of charity and religion. She left a circle of friends dear to her, to engage in the missionary cause at an early period of life, for she was only nineteen years of age at her death. In every good and great cause there must be martyrs, and she was the first among American missionaries in India, Mr. Newell survived his wife for several years, and died at Bombay of the spasmodic cholera, having probably taken the disease in attending the sick and dying. He was a man of some learning, great zeal, and well suited to his calling. The account of the death of his wife is indeed touching; it bears the marks of genuine affection, which is better than a world of poetry in speaking of the sorrows of the heart. The novelty of missionary enterprise has gone by, and the matter has become an every day business; but still it requires courage and perseverance to engage in the cause. Some have questioned the utility of their labors, but when we consider the information brought to

light by their exertions, the number of translations of the holy scriptures which they have multiplied, who would venture to say that their efforts have been useless? If ever the world is to be Christianized, it must be by multiplying the sacred volume, and by carrying it to all tongues and people.

NITROCRIS, a celebrated queen of Babylon, who built a bridge across the Euphrates, in the middle of that city, and dug a number of reservoirs for the superfluous waters of that river. She ordered herself to be buried over one of the gates of the city, and had an inscription on her tomb, which signified that her successors would find great treasures within, if ever they were in need of money; but that their labors would be but ill repaid if ever they ventured to open it without necessity. Cyrus opened it through curiosity, and was struck to find within it these words: If thy avarice had not been insatiable, thou never wouldst have violated the monuments of the dead.

OCTAVIA, grand niece of Julius Cæsar, and sister to Augustus, was the daughter of Caius Octavius and Atia, Romans of distinguished birth and virtue. She received, in the house of her parents, a strict and exemplary education; she was early accustomed to control her feelings, to discipline her imagination, to sacrifice her inclinations to others, and to impart the benefits she received. The modesty of her deportment, her unaffected and simple manners, the beauty of her person, her virtues and fine qualities, rendered her the boast and ornament of the court; while her splendid connections, and affinity to the adopted son of Cæsar, procured her the devotion of the Roman youth, who eagerly aspired to her alliance. Octavia, humble and unambitious, shunned the public homage; dreading to be made a sacrifice to political motives, she sighed after that purer happiness, which, seated in the mind, gratifies the heart and its affections. It was proposed, during the civil war between Cæsar and Pompey, that Octavia should be given to the latter as a pledge of union, and that a period might be put to the dissensions which desolated Rome; but other circumstances arising,