For thee, to loathing languors all resign'd, If no fond joy sits smiling in thy eyes, No nymph of heavenly birth shall crown thy love, BEATTIE. The sensations of pleasure which the contemplation of Infancy imparts, are not peculiar to the Mother alone; both parents are alive to them. INFANTS, when asleep, are invested with a degree of fascination; their innocency and helplessness make a deep impression on the heart. A Father thus pours forth his feelings, with the pathos of genuine poetry: DEAR BABE! that sleepest cradled by my side, And momentary pauses of the thought! With tender gladness, thus to look at thee; And think that thou shalt learn far other lore, And in far other scenes Great universal Teacher-he shall mould Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee: Smokes in the sun-thaw ;-whether the eave-drops fall Quietly shining to the quiet moon! Like those, my BABE! which, ere to-morrow's warmth drops, Will catch thine eye, and with the novelty Suspend thy little soul; then make thee shout, COLERIDGE. A Mother's effusion on the same subject, her Sleeping Infant, replete with tenderness, will be equally acceptable: The ponderous clouds one vast mass forming Dreadful winds, the heart appalling, Through the leafy woodlands roar; Hark! that awful peal of thunder, Yet amidst this dread commotion, My dearest-may thy future slumbers Then when LIFE's tempest howls around thee, Still may its silent dictates teach thee Then, smiling midst the threatened danger, MRS. KENDAL. The general charms of INFANCY are thus prettily illustrated : Whence the delight, sweet INFANCY, Delights to bend its look on thee! FAWCETT. To these queries, the innocence of INFANCY is deemed a sufficient reply: Hence the delight, SWEET INFANCY, FAWCETT. But, in introducing these poetical passages to the reader as exemplifying the traits of INFANCY, it would be unpardonable to omit noticing Dr. Watt's Cradle Hymn, so justly admired for its simplicity and piety; two stanzas of which shall be here transcribed: Hush! my dear, lie still and slumber, Sleep, my BABE, thy food and raiment, All thy wants are well supplied! Thus have I endeavoured to illustrate the apparently insignificant, but truly interesting period. of Infancy. It is MAN in embryo—it is the germ from which springs, under a proper education, the intelligent, the respectable, and the useful member of the community. How are the corporeal functions enlarged and invigorated! How are the intellectual energies augmented and expanded! NEWTON, hanging on his mother's breast, exhibited the ordinary spectacle of pitiable imbecility. And yet this illustrious Infant was destined to ascertain the laws of Nature-to measure the circumference of the earth-and to disclose the secrets of the universe! But what renders an Infant still more interesting is, that what is rising up into Man, may be transformed into the CHRISTIAN, indulging the hopes, and cherishing the exalted prospects of immortality. Though it is indeed a melancholy fact, that so large a portion of the human race die in Infancy, yet the lovely germs, rudely and prematurely shaken from off the Tree of Life, shall not perish : HAPPY INFANT, early blest, All our gaiety is vain, All our laughter is but pain; Is an Innocence like thine! Under such trying dispensations, parental grief can be assuaged only by the assurance of the mild and benevolent Saviour of the world; OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Touching upon the death of Infants, I shall just add that there is only one other circumstance that can be deemed more calamitous, the decease of MOTHER and Child in her first accouchement ! And now rushes on the mind the recent melancholy event by which the whole British nation has been agitated, and overwhelmed with sorrow. The PRINCESS CHARLOTTE OF WALES, whose mind was enriched with the treasures of knowledge, whose soul was embellished with every grace, and whose D |