In space uncircumscribed and limitless,-
Oh! think you then the undebaséd soul
Can calmly give itself to sleep, to rest?

No! In the solemn stillness of the night

It soars from earth, it dwells in angels' homes
It hears the burning song, the glowing chant,
That fills the sky-girt vaults of heaven with joy.
It pants, it sighs, to wing its flight from earth,
To join the heavenly choirs and be with God.

And it is joy to muse upon the written page,
Whereon are stamped the gushings of the soul
Of genius; where in never-dying light

It glows and flashes as the lightning's glare;
Or where it burns with ray more mild, more sure,
And wins the soul, that half would turn away

From its more brilliant flashings. These are hours
Of holy joy, of bliss so pure that earth
May hardly claim it. Let his lamp grow dim
And flicker to extinction; let his cheek
Be pale as sculptured marble, and his eye
Lose its bright lustre, till his shrouded frame
Is laid in dust, himself can never die.

His years, 'tis true, are few, his life is long;
For he has gathered many a precious gem;
Enraptured, he has dwelt where master minds
Have poured their own deep musings, and his heart
Has glowed with love to Him who framed us thus,
Who placed within this worthless tegument
The spark of pure Divinity which shines
With light unceasing.

Yes, his life is long,

Long to the dull and loathsome epicure's,-—

Long to the slothful man's, the groveling herds', Who scarcely know they have a soul within,— Long to all those who, creeping on to death, Meet in the grave, the earth-worm's banquet-hall, And leave behind no monuments for good.

AGAINST GOVERNMENT EXTRAVAGANCE

-CRITTENDEN.

The bill under consideration is intended to authorize the Treasury Department to issue ten millions of Treasury Notes, to be applied to the discharge of the expenses of Government. Habits of extravagance, it seems, are hard to change. They constitute a disease; ay, sir, a very dangerous one. That of the present administration came to a crisis about eight months ago, and it cost the patient ten millions of Treasury Notes to get round the corner. And now it is as bad as ever. Another crisis has come, and the doctors ask for ten millions more. The disease is desperate. Money or death! They say, if the bill is rejected, Government must "stop." What must stop? The laws? The judicial tribunals? The Legislative bodies? The institutions of the country? No, no, sir! All these will remain and go on. What stops, then? Its own extravagance,that must stop, and "there's the rub!" Besides, sir, I must really be permitted to say, that, if to keep this Administration on its feet is to cost ten millions of extraordinary supply every six or eight months, why, Mr. President, the sooner its fate is recorded in

the bills of mortality the better. Let me know how this money is to be applied. I never will vote a dollar on the mere cry of "exigency!"—"crisis!" I will be behind no man in meeting the real necessities of my country, but I will not blindly or heedlessly vote away the money of the people or involve them in debt. If the government wants money, let it borrow it. If extravagance or necessity shall bring a national debt upon us, let it come openly, and not steal upon us in the disguise of Treasury Notes. "O! but it is no debt," say gentlemen; "it is only issuing a few notes, to meet a crisis." Well, sir, whether it be a national debt, I will not say. This I know, it will be followed, whatever it is, with the serious and substantial consequence, that the people of the United States will have to pay it, every cent of it, and with interest. Sir, I desire to see this experimenting Administration forced to make some experiments in economy. It is almost the only sort of experiment to which it seems averse. Its cry is still for money, money, money! But, for one, I say to it, "Take physic, Pomp!" Lay aside your extravagance. Too much money has been your bane. And I do not feel myself required by any duty to grant you more at present. If I did, it would not be in the form proposed by the bill.

LEONIDAS TO HIS THREE HUNDRED

Ye men of Sparta, listen to the hope with which the gods inspire Leonidas! Consider how largely our death may redound to the glory and benefit of

our country. Against this barbarian king, who in his battle array reckons as many nations as our ranks do soldiers, what could united Greece effect? In this emergency there is need that some unexpected power should interpose itself; that a valor and devotion, unknown hitherto even to Sparta, should strike, amaze, confound, this ambitious despot! From our blood, here freely shed to-day, shall this moral power, this sublime lesson of patriotism proceed. To Greece it shall teach the secret of her strength; to the Persians, the certainty of their weakness. Before our scarred and bleeding bodies, we shall see the great king grow pale at his own victory and recoil affrighted. Or, should he succeed in forcing the pass of Thermopylae, he will tremble to learn, that in marching upon our cities he will find ten thousand after us equally prepared for death. Ten thousand, do I say? O, the swift contagion of a generous enthusiasm! Our example shall make Greece all fertile in heroes. An avenging cry shall follow the cry of her affliction. Country! Independence! From the Messenian hills to the Hellespont, every heart shall respond; and a hundred thousand heroes, with one sacred accord, shall arm themselves in emulation of our unanimous death. These rocks shall give back the echo of their oaths. Then shall our little band, the brave three hundred, from the world of shades revisit the scene; behold the haughty Xerxes, a fugitive, re-cross the Hellespont in a frail bark; while Greece, after eclipsing the most glorious of her exploits, shall hallow a new Olympus in the mound that covers our tombs.

Yes, fellow-soldiers, history and posterity shall consecrate our ashes. Wherever courage is honored through all time, shall Thermopyla and the Spartan three hundred be remembered. Ours shall be an immortality such as no human glory has yet attained. And when ages shall have swept by, and Sparta's last hour shall have come, then even in her ruins shall she be eloquent. Tyrants shall turn away from them, appalled; but the heroes of liberty, the poets, the sages, the historians of all time, shall invoke and bless the memory of the gallant three hundred of Leonidas.

LOVE OF COUNTRY AND HOME

-JAMES MONTGOMERY.

There is a land, of every land the pride,
Beloved by heaven o'er all the world beside;
Where brighter suns dispense serener light,
And milder moons imparadise the night:
There is a spot of earth supremely blest,
A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest,
Where man, creation's tyrant, casts aside
His sword and sceptre, pageantry and pride,
While in his softened looks benignly blend
The sire, the son, the husband, brother, friend.—
"Where shall that land, that spot of earth, be
found?"

Art thou a man? A patriot? Look around!
O, thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam,
That land thy country, and that spot thy home!

On Greenland's rocks, o'er rude Kamchatka's plains,
In pale Siberia's desolate domains;