2 HOME AMUSEMENTS.

RIDDLE II.

ITT WAS whispered in heaven, twas muttered in hell,
And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell ;

On. the confines of earth ’twas permitted to rest,

And the depths of the ocean its presence confessed ;

*T will be found in the sphere when it’s riven asunder,

Be seen in the lightning, and heard in the thunder ;

"T'was allotted to man in his earliest breath,

Attends at his birth, and awaits him in death ;

Presides o’er his happiness, honour, and health,

Is the prop of his house and the end of his wealth ;

In the heaps of the miser ’tis hoarded with care,

But-is sure to be lost in the prodigal heir.

It begins ev'ry hope, ev’ry wish it must bound,

With the husbandman toils, and with monarchs is

crowned.

Without it the soldier and seaman may roam,

But woe to the wretch that expels it from home.

In the whispers of conscience its voice will be found,

Nor e’en in the whirlwind of passion be drowned.

It will soften the heart ; though deaf to the ear,

Twill make it acutely and instantly hear.

But in shade let it rest, like a delicate flower ;

Oh! breathe on it softly—it dies in an hour !