4. I have seen man in the pride of his strength; his cheeks glowed with beauty; his limbs were full of activi ty; he leaped; he walked; he ran; he rejoiced in that he was more excellent than those. I returned: he lay stiff and cold on the bare ground; his feet could no longer move, nor his hands stretch themselves out; his life was departed from him; and the breath out of his nostrils. Therefore do I weep, because DEATH is in the world; the spoiler is among the works of God; all that is made must be destroyed; all that is born most die : let me alone, for I will weep yet longer.

SECTION XI.
Immortality.

BARBAULD.

1. I HAVE seen the flower withering on the stalk, and its bright leaves spread on the ground.-I looked again :it sprung forth afresh; its stem was crowned with new buds, and its sweetness filled the air.

2. I have seen the sun set in the west, and the shades of night shut in the wide horizon: there was no color, nor shape, nor beauty, nor music; gloom and darkness brooded around.-I looked: the sun broke forth again from the east, and gilded the mountain tops; the lark rose to meet him from her low nest, and the shades of darkness fled away.

3. I have seen the insect, being come to its full size, languish, and refuse to eat: it spun itself a tomb, and was shrouded in the silken cone: it lay without feet, or shape, or power to move. I looked again; it had burst its tomb; it was full of life, and sailed on colored wings through the soft air; it rejoiced in its new being.

4. Thus shall it be with thee, O man! and so shall thy life be renewed. Beauty shall spring up out of ashes, and life out of the dust. A little while shalt thou lie in the ground, as the seed lies in the bosom of the earth: but thou shalt be raised again; and thou shalt never die any

more.

5. Who is he that comes to burst open the prison doors of the tomb; to bid the dead awake; and to gather his redeemed from the four winds of heaven? He descends on a fiery cloud; the sound of a trumpet goes before him; thousands of angels are on his right hand. It is Jesus,

the Son of God; the Savior of men; the friend of the good. He comes in the glory of his Father;' he has received power from on high.

6. Mourn not, therefore, child of immortality! for the spoiler, the cruel spoiler, that laid waste the works of God, is subdued. Jesus has conquered death:-child of immortality! mourn no longer.

SECTION XII.

Heaven.

BARBAULD.

1. The rose is sweet, but it is surrounded with thorns: the lily of the valley is fragrant, but it springs up amongst the brambles. The spring is pleasant, but it is soon past: the summer is bright, but the winter destroys its beauty. -The rainbow is very glorious, but it soon vanishes away: life is good, but it is quickly swallowed up in death.

2. There is a land where the roses are without thorns: where the flowers are not mixed with brambles. In that land, there is eternal spring, and light without any cloud. The tree of life grows in the midst thereof; rivers of pleasure are there, and flowers that never fade. Myriads of happy spirits are there, and surround the throne of God with a perpetual hymn.

3. The angels with their golden harps sing praises continually, and the cherubim fly on wings of fire !-This country is heaven; it is the country of those that are good; and nothing that is wicked must inhabit there. The toad must not spit its venom amongst turtle-doves; nor the poisonous henbane grow amongst sweet flowers. Neither must any one that does ill, enter into that good land.

4. This earth is pleasant, for it is God's earth; and it is filled with many delightful things. But that country is far better: there we shall not grieve any more, nor be sick any more, nor do wrong any more; there the cold of winter shall not wither us, nor the heats of summer scorch us. In that country there are no wars nor quarrels, but all dearly love one another.

5. When our parents and friends die, and are laid in the cold ground, we see them here no more; but there we shall embrace them again, and live with them, and be separated no more. There we shall meet all good men,

There we shall see

whom we read of in holy books. Abraham, the called of God, the father of the faithful; and Moses, after his long wanderings in the Arabian desert; and Elijah, the prophet of God; and Daniel, who escaped the lions' den; and there the son of Jesse, the shepherd king, the sweet singer of Israel. They loved God on earth; they praised him on earth; but in that country they will praise him better, and love him more.

6. There we shall see Jesus, who is gone before us to that happy place; and there we shall behold the glory of the high God. We cannot see him here, but we will love him here. We must be now on earth, but we will often think of heaven. That happy land is our home; we are to be here but for a little while, and there for ever, even for eternal ages.

BARBAULD.

CHAPTER V.

DIALOGUES.

SECTION I.

CANUTE AND HIS COURTIERS.

Flattery reproved.

Canute. Is it true, my friends, as you have often told me, that I am the greatest of monarchs?

Offa. It is true, my liege; you are the most powerful of all kings.

Oswald. We are all your slaves; we kiss the dust of your feet.

Offa. Not only we, but even the elements, are your slaves. The land obeys you from shore to shore; and the sea obeys you.

Canute. Does the sea, with its loud boisterous waves, obey me? Will that terrible element be still at my bidding?

Offa. Yes, the sea is yours; it was made to bear your ships upon its bosom, and to pour the treasures of the world at your royal feet. It is boisterous to your enemies, but it knows you to be its sovereign.

Canute. Is not the tide coming up?

Oswald. Yes, my liege; you may perceive the swell already.

Canute. Bring me a chair then; set it here upon the sands.

Ofa. Where the tide is coming up, my gracious lord? Canute. Yes, set it just here.

Oswald. (Aside.) I wonder what he is going to do! Offa. (Aside.) Surely he is not so silly as to believe us. Canute. O mighty Ocean! thou art my subject; my courtiers tell me so; and it is thy duty to obey me. Thus, then, I stretch my sceptre over thee, and command thee to retire. Roll back thy swelling waves, nor let them presume to wet the feet of me, thy royal master.

Oswald. (Aside.) I believe the sea will pay very little regard to his royal commands.

Offa. See how fast the tide rises!

Oswald. The next wave will come up to the chair. It is folly to stay; we shall be covered with salt water.

Canute. Well, does the sea obey my commands? If it be my subject, it is a very rebellious subject. See, how it swells, and dashes the angry foam and salt spray over my sacred person ! Vile sycophants! did you think I was the dupe of your base lies? that I believed your abject flatteries! Know, there is but one Being whom the sea will obey. He is sovereign of heaven and earth, King of kings, and Lord of lords. It is only he who can say to the ocean, "Thus far shalt thou go, but no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." A king is but a man, and a man is but a worm. Shall a worm assume the power of the great God, and think the elements will obey him? May kings learn to be humble from my example, and courtiers learn truth from your disgrace!

SECTION II.

THE TWO ROBBERS.

DR. AIKIN.

We often condemn in others what we practise ourselves.

ALEXANDER the Great in his tent. A man with a fierce countenance, chained and fettered brought before him. Alexander. WHAT, art thou the Thracian robber, of whose exploits I have heard so much?

Robber. I am a Thracian, and a soldier、

Alexander. A soldier !—a thief, a plunderer, an assas sin! the pest of the country! I could honor thy courage, but I must detest and punish thy crimes.

Robber. What have I done of which you can complain?

Alexander. Hast thou not set at defiance my authority; violated the public peace, and passed thy life in injuring the persons and properties of thy fellow-subjects?

Robber. Alexander, I am your captive-I must hear what you please to say, and endure what you please to inflict. But my soul is unconquered; and if I reply at all to your reproaches, I will reply like a free man.

Alexander. Speak freely. Far be it from me to take the advantage of my power, to silence those with whom I deign to converse !

Robber. I must then answer your question by another. How have you passed your life?

tell you.

Alexander. Like a hero. Ask Fame, and she will Among the brave, I have been the bravest : among sovereigns, the noblest: among conquerors, the mightiest.

Robber. And does not Fame speak of me too? Was there ever a bolder captain of a more valiant band? Was there ever-But I scorn to boast. You yourself know that I have not been easily subdued.

Alexander. Still, what are you but a robber-a base, dishonest robber?

Robber. And what is a conqueror? Have not you, too, gone about the earth like an evil genius, blasting the fair fruits of peace, and industry; plundering, ravaging, killing without law, without justice, merely to gratify an insatiable lust for dominion? All that I have done to a single district with a hundred followers, you have done to whole nations with a hundred thousand. If I have stripped individuals, you have ruined kings and princes. If I have burned a few hamlets, you have desolated the most flourishing kingdoms and cities of the earth. What is then the difference, but that as you were born a king, and I a private man, you have been able to become mightier robber than I ?

Alexander. But if I have taken like a king, I have given like a king. If I have subverted empires, I have