"Little Jim," or the Collier's Home.
"Man may educate the head, nature alone can teach the heart."
The cottage was a thatched one, the outside old and mean,
Yet everything within that cot was wondrous neat and clean;
The night was dark and stormy, the wind was howling wild,
A patient mother sat beside the death-bed of her child—
A little worn-out creature, whose once bright eyes were dim—
It was a collier's only child, they called him "Little Jim."
And, oh ! to see the briny tears fast hurrying down her cheek.
As she offered up a prayer, in thought, she was afraid to speak,
Lest she might waken one she loved far dearer than her life.
For she had all a mother's heart, had that poor collier's wife.
With hands uplifted, see she kneels beside the sufferer's bed,
And prays that He will spare her child and take herself instead;
She gets her answer from the boy, soft fall the words from him—
"Mother, the angels do so smile and beckon little Jim.
