during his last moments. He rests at Mount Auburn, long the scene of his summer rambles, in a beautiful spot, which overlooks the groves of his Alma Mater.

Though none who knew him can help feeling sorrow at his early departure, yet they will feel that they mourn for themselves, and not for him. For in the death of one so pure and elevated, what other room is there for sorrow? And here let them remember that he lives even for them; lives in every kind word or holy thought he gave utterance to; lives in every high purpose he fostered in those around him; in every recollection that inspires new ardor in the performance of duty; in those desires to be with him in brighter worlds, amid purer intelligences, which force upon them the conviction that such happiness can only be granted to those of a like pure spirit. They are, indeed, deprived of his immediate presence, and no longer hear from his lips the words of affection or of truth. But the memory of the past is blessed to them. The saddest thought of all is, they cannot witness and profit by that further development of intellect and moral power, which they had counted so much upon. But reason and revelation alike teach, that it is going on where the departed is encumbered with fewer hindrances, and that they will, if found worthy, enjoy the results in eternity.

We would not speak of Mr. Hildreth as having realized the idea of duty which revealed itself to him in the sanctuary of his soul. To say so would be simply to disparage the beauty and elevation of his conceptions. Undoubtedly, he had his conflicts, his victories, and his defeats. But they were carried on upon heights unknown to most. He speaks, indeed, in one of his letters, of feeling" often the jar and discord of low passions; but he seemed almost unconscious of the existence of the

temptations which are a snare to so many. And, if he ever was called upon to contend with them, his "victory was so complete as almost to hide that there had ever been a struggle." Of surpassing loveliness and beauty of countenance, of the most winning manners, and persuasive eloquence, he was gifted with all those outward graces, that ensure to truth the welcome which it so frequently fails of finding. But these should hardly be mentioned, when we might speak of an affectionate disposition, of generous feelings, of true independence of character, of an intuitive love of the good and beautiful, of an intuitive hatred of the low and false. More than all, we should

commemorate his zeal for truth, his faith in God, and his purpose of devoting himself to his service.

It is possible, indeed, that Mr. Hildreth's purpose of studying divinity might have been frustrated by the physical weakness before alluded to; which must, at any rate, have prevented the usual attention to many branches of theological study.. He hoped that the affection was only temporary. Had it proved lasting, it is not unlikely that he would have accepted the Professorship at Cambridge, which we have learned, since his death, would probably have been offered to him. But, in either or any place, his Maker would have commanded the highest service of his powers. Alluding to his weak eye-sight, he says, in one of his letters;

"When Nature is so harmonious, and vocal only with love and praise, why should my soul feel often the jar and discord of low passions? Each day reveals to me new knowledge of myself; each day have I to accord some new string, that will not vibrate in unison with the great harmonies of the world. When I see others around me, laboring and striving in depths of knowledge which are shut up against me, it causes an involuntary sadness for the moment. But this I believe, that, if here I am

not able to gratify my love for study, in another sphere of being I shall not fail through the weakness of a physical_constitution. Here, at least, can I worship the Ideal, here can I strive after and imitate it."

The following paragraphs, extracted from his letters, will show some of the feelings with which he regarded life and death.

"Jan. 10th, 1838. It was a beautiful evening when I arrived in Boston. The streets were crowded with people, some returning home from the day's toil and business, others wandering for pleasure with loud voices along the sidewalks, and others with sad hearts returning to their miserable dwellings. There is something, I know not what, which almost always affects me to tears, in such a sight as I then witnessed. I thought, as I looked up at the tranquil stars, and the still moon, which were gazing from their far depths at the restless, busy multitudes beneath them, how soon these loud tongues and merry bosoms, these aching hearts and weary hands would be silent, and at rest. Another generation, and yet another would succeed, as happy, as careless, as wretched as that which had gone before. Man dies, moulders, is forgotten. A stranger treads where he has trod, a stranger sits by his fireside, and repeats not his name. VOL. XXVII. 3D S. VOL. IX. NO. I. 17

-

But ah! from those bright worlds, from the pure sky above me, and more audibly still from the deep recesses of my own soul, a voice cried, It is not so; man lives! You may miss him from this visible scene of things, you may lay his body in the dust, but he lives; lives where there are no heads made hoary with white hairs, where no arms are spent and weary with thankless, bitter toil. More than this, far more, he lives with Christ and God a spiritual life.”

"Feb. 17th. — If we acknowledge a revelation of God's goodness and power in the external world, in the material forms around us, if we say that these are good, (and cold, lifeless, and ungrateful must he be who denies this,) still more do I believe that there is a revelation of the same love and power in the spiritual nature of God's noblest works, the heart and soul of man. If, in the world of sense, he has not left himself without a witness, I know that here also he speaks, and loudly."

"March 2d. - The doctrine is a cold, heartless, and false one, that all the enjoyments of life, all happiness and bright hours, are limited to childhood and youth. There is for every age a store of delights reserved, if we are not unjust and untrue to ourselves. As though this beautiful world, these blue skies, these clouds and winds, these woods and rivers, were only intended to give pleasure to the few first years of our dwelling among and beneath them! As though the stars did not ever call us to God, and fill the soul with love and adoration! As though sunrise and twilight did not speak to us in their silent grandeur, and bid us be glad, and feast our hearts with beauty, sublimity, and high hopes! As though we could not, when we please, go back in memory to by-past hours, and live them all over again! God is good; if we are unhappy, He does not make us so; of that be sure. Besides the ever-varying scenes of beauty that the external world displays to us, have we not moral perfection and beauty to contemplate and strive after? Has Jesus lived and died in vain? Have all good men given us their examples for no use or benefit? Have we not powers to develop and cultivate? affections to cherish and enlarge? Let us not, then, talk of unhappiness, when there is so much glorious work to be done; so many heavens around and within us, if we will but look about and examine ourselves."

"March 10.—I was much surprised to hear of Mr. G―'s death. The ways of Providence are truly incomprehensible. Yet do we not believe that all is right? Do we not believe that there is a just and holy and merciful God, to whose word we should bow with all humility and reverence? Would that my faith were increased and strengthened."

The thought of his own mortality was often present to Mr. Hildreth's mind. How vividly so must it have been to have prompted the following sentences. At the end of his "Life," in the "Class Book," he had written, “Died

—, 18—,

;" leaving blanks for the insertion of the time and place of his death. With what an emphasis must this warning strike upon the ear, borne as it were from beyond the grave!

66

Stop, thou! whoever thou art, that recordest the day of my death. Stop! and ere thou writest the fatal word, breathe one prayer of peace to my parted spirit! Have I wasted my life in a vain pursuit after phantom pleasures? Have I left nothing for the good of my fellow-men ?

"Not so do thou! The bubble pleasure breaks in thy grasp, and study is a weariness to the flesh. There is but one way for thee, the narrow path; but one burden, the yoke that is easy and light. If I have been mistaken in my choice, and I tremble while I write it, thou art not left without warning. If thou hast chosen aright, this warning will cheer thee onward ; if wrong, oh! let it call thee back with a thunder-peal. But if all is well with me, I pray, classmate, it may be so with thee."

The present writer must repeat, in conclusion, that he did not undertake to give any complete account of the lives of his friends; he has tried to present that aspect of their characters, which was most familiar to him. He has not attempted to describe the filial piety which graced the fireside of home, or to paint the visions of future enjoyment in their society, which the Providence of God has so mysteriously dispelled. Still less could he look into the sanctuary of their souls, and listen to those communings with their Maker, which, to be without alloy, must be unknown to all created beings. What was most affectionate and holy in their hearts is left to the conception of those like them in spirit. The purity of their outward lives must have flowed from a pure source within. "They both died young; but who can say that either died untimely? Rather be it. thought, that they had done their work; they had fitted themselves for immortality; and as for the work of the world, what God purposes, God will do, using indifferently the agencies of good and evil, as of day and night, sunshine and storm."*

* Hartley Coleridge.

C. S. W.

NOTICES AND INTELLIGENCE.

The School Library. Published under the sanction of the Board of Education in Massachusetts. We received, a short time since, the Prospectus of this Library, issued by Marsh, Capen, Lyon, & Webb, Boston. More recently we have been permitted to look over the Introductory Essay, which is to preface the whole work. And the more we see and think of this great enterprise, the more do we admire it, and anticipate the highest and best results. But its success will depend mainly on the reception and encouragement given it by the community. It is important, therefore, that the plan should be fully understood.

In April, 1837, the Legislature of Massachusetts authorized by law a certain expenditure, by each school district in the State, for the purchase of a District School Library. The Board of Education promptly decided to cause to be prepared a collection of books for this special purpose, to be called THE SCHOOL LIBRARY. They determined that no work should be admitted into this Library, unless approved by every member of the Board, that the best writers in the country should be employed to prepare either original or selected works, that the plan should embrace every department of science and literature,that no works of a sectarian or partisan character should be admitted, that the taste and pursuits, the instruction and interests, of all classes should be consulted in the selection,—and that the mechanical execution, as well as the intellectual character, should be specially regarded, so as to furnish uniform volumes, in fair and durable form, and at a moderate expense. These are the general features of the plan. And having seen one volume already printed, and a list of those that are to follow, we have reason to believe that all that is promised will be performed. The entire Library is to embrace two series of fifty volumes each, one 18mo. the other 12mo. The first, or Juvenile Series, is intended for children of ten or twelve years of age, and under,

the other Series, for those older, and for parents. They are to be, not class or text books, but reading books, such as will interest and instruct children, and occupy their leisure hours. It is intended to draw particularly from the departments of History and Biography, preference being given to works relating to our own country. The plan will also include such branches of Natural Philosophy and Natural History as are most practical and generally useful, and regard will be had to the theory and practice of agricultural and mechanical pursuits, on which infor