2. "In one of the most stupendous of the Egyptian mausole'ums--a vaulted passage hewn in the solid rock, with recesses hollowed out on each side-were numerous massive tombs of granite, each eight feet wide and fifteen feet long, fit burial-places of a line of kings! Thirty of these massive tombs have recently been opened, and on the walls are tablets which record the birth, and death, and burial—not of the Pharaohs or the Ptol'emies of the land, but of the Sacred Bulls reposing there! These were the gods of Egypt; and Egypt was mother of the arts, and civilizer of the earth!

3. "But, notwithstanding all this, the fact that the valley of the Nile is one vast sepulchre-for the mountains were honey-combed into burial-places, and even the pyramids were tombs-shows that the Egyptians were not a gay and thoughtless people. And they not only thought much about death, but of another life, also. In numerous sculptures, and in frescos found on the walls of tombs, are represented funeral processions moving forward to the great Hall of Judgment, where the god Osi'ris sits upon his throne, as the judge of all mankind.

4. “Beside him is the scribe-the recording angel, who keeps a record of the deeds done in the body. Forty-two judges sit there, also, each with his question, on the answer to which depends the destiny of the departed soul. But beyond this point--the judgment-seat-all is dark; for what that destiny is, the sculptures and frescos do not reveal; and they furnish nothing that can relieve the doubts of a troubled mind, or the sorrows of a heavy heart!"

Rev. H. M. Field.

5. On the last day of February we reached Cairo, on our return voyage, and there we remained until the 25th of March. Then we returned to Alexandria, where we have just passed six days; and to-morrow, the 1st of April, we expect to sail for other Mediterranean ports,

and for Gibraltar again. From Gibraltar we expect to make the long-long ocean voyage to India, by way of the Cape of Good Hope. We might have taken the shorter route, by the Suez Canal and the Red Sea; but, in a council held on board of the steamer, the longer voyage has been determined upon.

CHAPTER XXVI.—PROGRESS AND ADVENTURE.

I.-Stage-Coaches, and Railways.

1. One evening, at Wilmot Hall, just after Mr. Wilmot had returned home, weary with weeks of business travel, the conversation chanced to turn upon the great changes that have been witnessed, in our own time, in the modes of public conveyance. "It is wholly within my recollection," said Mr. Wilmot, "that steam has been introduced as a motive power; and now the iron railway spreads its net-work over our whole land, and the good old-fashioned stage-coach is no more seen on the main routes of travel. It has been driven to the by-roads, and out-of-the-way places, and is now met with only as a relic of a by-gone age."

2. "Just as the Indians have been driven away toward the setting sun, by the advancing tide of civilization,'" remarked Col. Hardy. "That is what our Western progress, as a nation, is called. The lumbering stage-coach was too slow for this fast age, and it had to get out of the way." 3. "But I liked it," said Mr. Wilmot; "and many pleasant associations are connected with it in my experience; for I have rode in it thousands of miles. Many pleasant acquaintances, too, I have made, when travelling in that way."

4. "And some odd ones, too, I presume," remarked Uncle Philip, who had been sitting at the table, reading, to himself, from a volume of Dr. Johnson's works. "But a stagecoach journey," he continued, "has often furnished the best of opportunities for studying human nature, as Dr. Johnson describes to us in one of his essays."

5. "O, I like Dr. Johnson!" said Lulu. "I like his Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, and The Vanity of Human Wishes."

"Here is the essay, which you may read aloud," said Uncle Philip, "if the others would like to hear it." As all assented, Lulu took the book, and read as follows:

A Stage-Coach Adventure.

1. It has been remarked by more than one writer, that every individual has a passion-duly restrained in most cases though it may be for appearing to be something more, or better, or greater, than he really is. This passion is often, and, indeed, usually, restrained by the intimate knowledge of our character and circumstances in life, which we are aware that others possess. But how readily it snatches an interval of liberty, and how freely it expands itself when the weight of restraint is taken away, must have fallen under the observation of most students of character; and as I myself had lately an opportunity to discover, as I took a journey into the country in a stage-coach, with companions who happened to be entirely unacquainted with one another.

2. It might be expected that in a stage-coach, under such circumstances, with no expectation on the part of the passengers of ever meeting again, it would be of little importance to any one of the party what conjectures the others should form concerning him. Yet so it is, that as all think themselves secure from detection, all assume that character in which they are most desirous to appear; and

on no other occasion is the general ambition of superiority more freely indulged.

3. On the day of our departure, in the twilight of the morning, I ascended the vehicle with three men and two women, my fellow-travellers. As we took our places in the coach, it was easy to see, by the very affectation of haughty civility with which the compliments of the day were passed and received by my companions, that each was endeavoring to impress his fellows with a deferential respect for his own importance.

4. The first ceremony of courtesy being over, we sat silent for a long time, as if endeavoring to impart dignity to the occasion. It may always be noticed that silence has a tendency to propagate itself; and that the longer it continues, the more oppressive becomes the chilliness of reserve: so, on the present occasion, we began to long for conversation; but no one seemed inclined to descend from his dignity by first proposing a topic of discourse.

5. At length a corpulent gentleman, who had equipped himself for the journey with a scarlet surtout, and a very large hat with a broad brim, drew out his watch, looked at it for some little time in silence, and then held it dangling from his finger. This was doubtless understood by all present as an invitation to ask the time of the day; but the kindly proffer was allowed to pass unheeded. Seemingly determined not to be thus baffled, the gentleman's desire to introduce a conversation so far overcame his resentment, that he let us know, of his own accord, that it was nearly six o'clock, and that in two hours we should be at breakfast.

6. To our reproach, his condescension was utterly thrown away, for we all continued obdurate. The ladies held up their heads, as if to impress us with their gentility in not yielding to such advances, while I amused myself with watching their behavior. Of the other two, one seemed to occupy himself in counting the trees as we drove past

them; while the other drew his hat over his eyes, and pretended to fall into a slumber. The benevolent gentleman, to show that he was not depressed by our discourtesy, hummed a tune, and beat time upon a snuff-box.

7. Thus universally displeased with one another, and not much delighted with ourselves, we came at length to the little inn appointed for our morning's repast, when we all began to recompense ourselves for the constraint of silence, by numerous questions and orders to the people that attended us.

8. Finally, being all seated around the same table, and our wants having been supplied, the gentleman in the red surtout looked again upon his watch, told us that we had half an hour to spare, but he was sorry to see us so little inclined to conversation,- that all fellow-travellers were for the time upon the same level, and that it was always his way to make himself one of the company.

9. "I remember," said he, "that it was on very much such a morning as this that I and Lord Mumble and the Duke of Tenterden were out upon a ramble: we called at a little house much like the one we are now in; and the landlady, I warrant you, not suspecting to whom she was talking, was so free and easy with us, and made so many merry answers to our questions, that we were all ready to burst with laughter.

10. "At last, the good woman, happening to overhear me whisper to the duke, and call him by his title, was so surprised and confounded, that we could scarcely get another word from her; and the duke never meets me, from that day to this, but he talks of the little house, and quarrels with me for so terrifying the landlady."

11. The corpulent gentleman had scarcely time to congratulate himself upon the good impression which he had produced upon the company, on account of the good society to which, it was evident, he had been accustomed, when one of the ladies, having reached out for a plate on a