Mayst thou live to know and fear Him,
Trust and love Him all thy days
Then go dwell for ever near Him,
See His face, and sing His praise.

and this is the substance of all my prayers for you. In less than
a month you and I shall, I trust, be rambling over the Common,
which now looks quite beautiful.

I am ever, my dear Tom,

Your affectionate mother,

SELINA MACAULAY.

The commencement of the second half-year at school, perhaps the
darkest season of a boy's existence, was marked by an unusually
severe and prolonged attack of home-sickness. It would be cruel
to insert the first letter written after the return to Shelford
from the summer holidays. That which follows it is melancholy
enough.

Shelford: August 14. 1813.

My dear Mama,--I must confess that I have been a little
disappointed at not receiving a letter from home to-day. I hope,
however, for one to-morrow. My spirits are far more depressed by
leaving home than they were last half-year. Everything brings
home to my recollection. Everything I read, or see, or hear,