8. "I believe I may at last flatter myself with having found the end of my wanderings. The hopes of being united with thee-or I should rather say, my pleasant dreams, for hopes have been justly termed the waking dreams of men-have remained unfulfilled. God has suffered me to find a place, such as has often flitted before our imaginations; for that which fancy has shown us from afar is now made manifest to me. A. high mountain, clothed with thick woods, is watered to the north by fresh and overflowing streams; at its foot lies an extended plain rendered fruitful by the vapors with which it is moistened; the surrounding forest, crowded with trees of dif ferent kinds, incloses me as in a strong fortress.

9. "This wilderness is bounded by two deep ravines: on the one side the river rushing in foam down the mountain, forms an almost impassable barrier; while on the other, all access is impeded by a broad mountain ridge. My hut is so situated on the summit of the mountain, that I can overlook the whole plain, and follow throughout its course, the Iris, which is more beautiful, and has a more abundant body of water, than the Strymon near Amphipolis.

10. "The river of my wilderness, which is more impetuous than any other that I know of, breaks against the jutting rock, and throws itself foaming into the abyss below; an object of admiration to the mountain wanderer, and a source of profit to the natives, from the numerous fishes that are found in its waters. Shall I describe to thee the fructifying vapors that rise from the moist earth, or the cool breezes wafted over the rippled face of the waters?

11. "Shall I speak of the sweet song of the birds, or of the rich luxuriance of the flowering plants? What charms me beyond all else, is the calmness of this spot. It is only visited occasionally by huntsmen; for my wilderness nourishes herd of deer and wild goats, but not bears and wolves. Wha other spot could I exchange for this? Alemacon, when he had found the Echinades, would not wander farther."

12. In this simple description of scenery and of forest life, feelings are expressed which are more intimately in unison with those of modern times, than any thing that has been transmitt

ed to us from Greek or Roman antiquity. From the lonely Alpine hut, to which St. Basil withdrew, the eye wanders over the humid and leafy roof of the forest below. The place of rest, which he and his friend Gregory of Nazianzen had long desired, is at length found. The poetic and mythical allusion t the close of the letter falls on the Christian ear like an echo rom another and earlier world.

13. Basil's Homilies on the Hexameron also give evidence of his love of nature. He describes the mildness of the constantly clear nights of Asia Minor, where, according to his expression, the stars, "those everlasting blossoms of heaven," elevate the soul from the visible to the invisible.

14. When in the myth of the Creation, he would praise the beauty of the sea, he describes the aspect of the boundless ocean-plain, in all its varied and ever-changing conditions, 'gently moved by the breath of heaven, altering its hue as it reflects the beams of light in their whiter blue, or roseate hues, and caressing the shores in peaceful sport." We meet with the same sentimental and plaintive expressions regarding nature in the writings of Gregory of Nyssa, the brother of Basil the Great.

15. "When," he exclaims, "I see every ledge of rock, every valley and plain, covered with new-born verdure; the varied beauty of the trees, and the lilies at my feet decked by nature with the double charms of perfume and of color; when in the distance I see the ocean, toward which the clouds are onward borne, my spirit is overpowered by a sadness not wholly devoid of enjoyment.

16. "When in autumn, the fruits have passed away, the leaves have fallen, and the branches of the trees, dried and shrivelled, are robbed of their leafy adornments, we are iustinctively led, amid the everlasting and regular change of nature, to feel the harmony of the wondrous powers pervading all things. He who contemplates them with the eye of the soul, feels the littleness of man amid the greatness of the Universe."

17. While the Greek Christians were led by their adoration of the Deity, through the contemplation of his works, to a

poetic delineation of nature, they were at the same time, during the earlier ages of their new belief, and owing to the peculiar bent of their minds, full of contempt for all works of human art. Thus Chrysostom abounds in passages like the following:

18. "If the aspect of the colonnades of sumptuous buildings would lead thy spirit astray, look upward to the vault of heaven, and around thee on the open fields, in which herds graze by the water's side. Who does not despise all the creations of art, when, in the stillness of his spirit, he watches with admiration the rising of the sun, as it pours its golden light over the face of the earth; when; resting on the thick grass beside the murmuring spring, or beneath the sombre shade of a thick and leafy tree, the eye rests on the far-receding and hazy distance ?"

19. Antioch was at that time surrounded by hermitages, in one of which lived Chrysostom. It seemed as if Eloquence had recovered her element-freedom-from the fount of nature in the mountain regions of Syria and Asia Minor, which were then covered with forests.

45. THE VIRGIN MARTYR.

MASSINGER.

PHILIP MASSINGER was born at Salisbury, A. D. 1584. The "Virgin Martyr," the first printed of Massinger's works, appeared in 1622; but there can be little doubt that he had written much before that period. His literary career was a constant struggle, for fortune never smiled upon him. His writings breathe a spirit incomparably nobler and manlier than that of his contemporaries generally; they are wholly free from the sery le political maxims, and, in a large measure, from the grave offences against religion and morals with which the stage in his time abounded. Li merit consists less in the vigor with which they dolineate passion ther in their dignity and refinement of style, and the variety of their versifica in To wi they have no pretensions.

The place of execution. Antonius, Theophilus, Dorothea, &c.
Ant.
See, she comes ;-
How sweet her innocence appears! more like
To Heaven itself than any, sacrifice

That can be offer'd to it. By my hopes
Of joys hereafter, the sight makes me doubtful

In my belief; nor can I think our gods
Are good, or to be served, that take delight
In offerings of this kind; that, to maintain
Their power, deface this masterpiece of nature,
Which they themselves come short of. She accenda,
And every step raises her nearer heaven!

*

She smiles,

Unmoved, by Mars! as if she were assured
Death, looking on her constancy, would forget
The use of his inevitable hand.

Theo. Derided too! Dispatch, I say!
Dor.

Thou fool!

Thou gloriest in having power to ravish

A trifle from me I am weary of.

What is this life to me? Not worth a thought.
Or, if it be esteem'd, 'tis that I lose it

To win a better even thy malice serves
To me but as a ladder to mount up

To such a height of happiness, where I shall
Look down with scorn on thee and on the world;
Where, circled with true pleasures, placed above
The reach of death or time, 'twill be my glory
To think at what an easy price I bought it.
There's a perpetual spring, perpetual youth;
No joint-benumbing cold, or scorching heat,
Famine nor age, have any being there.
Forget for shame your Tempè; bury in
Oblivion your feign'd Hesperian orchards :-
The golden fruit, kept by the watchful dragon,
Which did require a Hercules to get it,
Compared with what grows in all plenty there,
Deserves not to be named. The Power I serve

Laughs at your happy Araby, or the
Elysian shades; for He hath made his bowers

Better, indeed, than you can fancy yours.

Enter Angelo, in the Angel's habit.

Dor. Thou glorious minister of the Power I serve
(For thou art more than mortal), is't for me,
Poor sinner, thou art pleased awhile to leave
Thy heavenly habitation, and vouchsafest,
Though glorified, to take my servant's habit?
For, put off thy divinity, so look'd

My lovely Angelo.

Angelo.

Know, I am the same:

And still the servant to your piety.

Your zealous prayers and pious deeds first won me
(But 'twas by His command to whom you sent them)
To guide your steps. I tried your charity,
When, in a beggar's shape, you took me up,
And clothed my naked limbs, and after fed,
As you believed, my famished mouth. Learn all,
By your example, to look on the poor

With gentle eyes; for in such habits often
Angels desire an alms. I never left you,

Nor will I now; for I am sent to carry
Your pure and innocent soul to joys eternal,
Your martyrdom once suffer'd.

46. QUEEN ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY.

MONTALEMBERT.

COUNT MONTALEMBERT is one of the most distinguished statesmen and noblemen of France. He is cherished by every Catholic heart for his lefence of Catholic principles, his opposition to godless education, and steady devotion to the interests of the Church.

1. GENEROSITY to the poor, particularly that exercised by princes, was one of the most remarkable features of the age in which she lived; but we perceive that in her, charity did not proceed from rank, still less from the desire of acquiring praises or purely human gratitude, but from an interior and heavenly inspiration. From her cradle, she could not bear the sight of a poor person without feeling her heart pierced with grief, and