ousness, that dignity combined with tenderness, that prudent reserve unmixed with haughtiness, that calm patriotism so modest and yet so heroic, that courage without fierceness, that energy without rashness, that purity without a spot, that earnest self-denying industry, that wise forecast, that prudent economy, that constellation of high moral qualities, whose mild light sweetly gilds the gloom of external circumstances, and makes woman a "spotless form of beauty," arms her with power to move the soul, to win the affections, to attain the ideal excellence of SCHILLER'S QUeen Elizabeth OF SPAIN, who moved

"With inborn and unboastful majesty,
Alike from careless levity remote
And a behavior schooled by selfish rules,
Alike removed from rashness and from fear.
With firm and fearless step she ever walked

The narrow path of duty — all unconscious

That she won worship, where she never dreamed
Of approbation"?

Qualities like these can grow to harmonious perfection by nothing less than God in your soul. Their semblances may be produced by simple self

culture; but they will be only as jewels of paste compared with genuine stones. His presence will adorn you with genuine excellence, render you independent of life's changing joys, satisfy you, and enable you to extract what of pure pleasure exists in earthly things. Thus may your life pass,

"That every hour

Shall die as dies a natural flower

A self-reviving thing of power;

That every thought and every deed
May hold within itself the seed

Of future good and future need."

CHAPTER III.

INFLUENCE.

ATHER UP MY INFLUENCE, AND BURY IT WITH ME!" exclaimed a youth, whose unforgiven spirit was sinking into the invisible world. Idle request! Had he begged his friends to bind the free winds, to chain the wild waves, to grasp the fierce lightning, or make a path for the sand

blast, his wish would have been more feasible; for past influence is unchangeable. The sceptical thought that fell as a seed of evil from the lip and grew in the heart of the listener into defiant infidelity, the light word that pierced the spirit like a poisoned dart, the angry glance which stirred the soul to anguish and made tears flow at the midnight hour, are alike beyond

our reach. The mind thus wounded sighs on, and after we are dead the chords vibrate which our fingers touched. The measure of that influence, for weal or woe, will lie hidden, a terrible secret, until the day when the spirit, blindly driven to despair and guilt, or blasted by sceptical thought, shall stand writhing and wretched to confront those by whom the offence came, and to teach that influence is immutable and eternal!

Such are the fearful sentiments contained in a fugitive poem which once met my eye. They are thoughts peculiarly adapted to the consideration of a young lady; for, whatever may be her grade in society, her talents or opportunities, it is a necessary condition of her existence that she must exert this potential thing we call influence. It is not a matter

of choice. She cannot say she will not exercise it, for she must. From every glance of her eye, every word of her lips, every act of her life, there goes forth, in a greater or less degree, an invisible power, which produces an effect upon the minds around her. This power to affect others is influence. It is a gift

of Heaven to every human being. Whether it shall be productive of evil or good, is for each possessor to determine. It is like the rod of Moses, which was either the prolific instrument of plague and woe, or the means of driving evil and destruction from the land, as the inspired will of its great owner determined. Thus with this precious gift. It may scatter pestilence, desolation and death, or it may bring forth life and beauty; it may be a harp of sweetest melody, making glad the heart of the world, or it may be a discordant trumpet, rousing the passions of mankind to angry and tempestuous strife, as its possessor may decide.

Will you imagine yourself in one of the vast cathedrals of Europe? Behold its spacious aisles and lofty galleries, crowded with masses of spectators of all ranks and of every age, from the graybearded patriarch of eighty to the fawn-like girl of five or six. Suppose yourself placed before the keys of its magnificent organ, and required to execute a piece of music, with the information that certain keys, bearing particular marks, have the power, if