midnight
But another , and yet a more stirring and important thought obtruded upon his reflections . It was one he had never seriously considered before , and it now operated upon him with irresistible power . It was a thought of things _ beyond _ the grave . The stillness of midnight , the million stars above him , the blue eternal expanse through which they were distributed -- the repose of the invisible winds , that late had howled around him -- the never-ceasing flow of the ice-bound stream before him , and the continual change of hill and valley -- now desolate , and clothed in frosty vestments , and anon with verdure and variegated beauty -- constrained him to acknowledge in the secret portals of his breast that there was a great , ever-existing Creator . He then called to mind the many impressive lessons of a pious mother , which he had subsequently disregarded . He remembered the things she had read to him in the book of books -- the words of prayer she taught him to utter every eve , ere he closed his eyes in slumber -- and he _ now _ repeated that humble petition with all the fervency of a chastened spirit . He felt truly convinced of the fallacy of setting the heart and the affections altogether on the things of this world , where mortals are only permitted to abide but a brief space ; and a hearty repentance of past errors , and a firm resolve to obey the requisitions of the Omnipotent in future , were in that hour conceived and engraven indelibly upon his heart .