mitted to the Patriarchs, by them to the Kings of Israel and the Prophets; by them it was preserved till Daniel's seventy weeks were accomplished; then, at the appointed time, Justice appeared on the hill of Calvary, and Mercy presented to him the important deed. 20. "Where,' said Justice, ' is the Son of God?' Mercy answered, behold him at the bottom of the hill, bearing his own cross; and then he departed and stood aloof, at the hour of trial. Jesus ascended the hill, while in his train followed his weeping church. 21. "Justice immediately presented him the deed, saying, this is the day when this bond is to be executed. When he received it, did he tear it in pieces and give it to the winds of heaven? No, he nailed it to the cross, exclaiming, It is finished. 22. "Justice called on holy fire to come down and consume the sacrifice. Holy fire descended, it swallowed his humanity, but when it touched his Deity it expired-and there was darkness over the whole heavens: but 'Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will to men.' -This, said the Welchman, is but a specimen of Christmas Evans. 999 LESSON CII. 1. WHAT is earthly happiness? that phantom of which we hear so much, and see so little? whose promises are constantly given and constantly broken, but as constantly believed? that cheats us with the sound instead of the substance, and with the blossom instead of the fruit? 2. Like Juno,* she is a goddess in pursuit, but a cloud in possession; deified by those who cannot enjoy her, and despised by those who can. Anticipation is her herald, but Disappointment is her companion; the first addresses itself to our imagination, that would believe, but the latter to our experience that must. 3. Happiness, that grand mistress of the ceremonies in the dance of life, impels us through all its mazes and meanderings, but leads none of us by the same route. Aristippust pursued her in pleasure, Socratest in wisdom, and Epicurust in both; she received the attentions of each, but bestowed her endear+A Grecian philosopher. * A heathen goddess. ments on neither; although, like some other gallants, they all boasted of more favours than they had received. 4. Warned by their failure, the stoic* adopted a most paradoxical mode of preferring his suit; he thought, by slandering, to woo her; by shunning; to win her; and proudly presumed, that by fleeing her, she would turn and follow him. 5. She is deceitful as the calm that precedes the hurricane; smooth as the water on the verge of the cataract; and beautiful as the rainbow, that smiling daughter of the storm; but, like the miragef in the desert, she tantalizes us with a delusion that distance creates, and that contiguity destroys. 6. Yet, when unsought, she is often found, and when unexpected, often obtained; while those who seek for her the most diligently, fail the most, because they seek her where she is not. 7. Antony sought her in love; Brutust in glory; Cesart in dominion; the first found disgrace,-the second disgust,the last ingratitude, and each destruction. To some she is more kind, but not less cruel; she hands them her cup, and they drink even to stupefaction, until they doubt whether they are men with Philip, or dream that they are gods with Alexander. 8. On some she smiles as on Napoleon, with an aspect more bewitching than an Italian sun; but it is only to make her frown the more terrible, and by one short caress to embitter the pangs of separation. Yet is she, by universal homage and consent, a queen; and the passions are the vassal lords that crowd her court, await her mandate, and move at her control. 9. But, like other mighty sovereigns, she is so surrounded by her envoys, her officers, and her ministers of state, that it is extremely difficult to be admitted to her presence-chamber, or to have any immediate communication with herself. Ambition, Avarice, Love, Revenge, all these seek her, and her alone; alas! they are neither presented to her, nor will she come to them. 10. She despatches, however, her envoys unto them-mean and poor representatives of their queen. To Ambition, she Stoics, a set of heathen philosophers, who prided themselves in an affected indifference to pleasure or pain. + A curious phenomenon, supposed to result from an inverted image of the sky intermixed with the ground scenery. They are seen principally in he African deserts. A Roman General. A king of Macedon. $ Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France in 1804. sends power; to Avarice, wealth; to Love, jealousy; to Revenge, remorse; alas! what are these, but sɔ many other names for vexation or disappointment. 11. Neither is she to be won by flatteries or by bribes; she is to be gained by waging war against her enemies, much sooner than by paying any particular court to herself. Those that conquer her adversaries, will find that they need not go to her, for she will come unto them. 12. None bid so high for her as kings; few are more willing, none more able, to purchase her alliance at the fullest price. But she has no more respect for kings than for their subjects; she mocks them indeed with the empty show of a visit, by sending to their palaces all her equipage, her pomp, and her train, but she comes not herself. What detains her? She is travelling incognita* to keep a private assignation with Contentment, and to partake of a tete-a-tetet and a dinner of herbs in a cottage. 13. Hear then, mighty queen! what sovereigns seldom hear, the words of soberness and truth. I neither despise thee too little, nor desire thee too much; for thou wieldest an earthly sceptre, and thy gifts cannot exceed thy dominion. Like other potentates, thou also art a creature of circumstance, and an ephemerist of Time. 14. Like other potentates, thou also, when stripped of thy auxiliaries, art no longer competent even to thine own subsistence; nay, thou canst not even stand by thyself. Unsupported by Content on the one hand, and by Health on the other, thou fallest an unwieldy and bloated pageant to the ground. LESSON CIII. 1 William Tell.||—KNOWLES. GESLER, the tyrant-SARNEM, his officer-and WM. TELL, a Swiss peasant. Sar. Down, slave, upon thy knees before the governor, And beg for mercy. Ges. Does he hear? Sar. He does, but braves thy power. [To Tell] Down, slave, And ask for life. *In disguise, or in private. + Tete-a-tete, face to face, or a private conversation. Ephemeris, a daily journal. William Tell, an illustrious Swiss patriot, and one of the heroes who restored liberty to their oppressed country, in 1307. Herman Gesler, the Austrian governor, suspecting that a conspiracy was formed against him, and Ges. [To Tell] Why speakest thou not? Ges. Wonder? Tell. Yes, that thou shouldst seem a man. Tell. A monster. Ges. Ha! Beware!-think on thy chains. Tell. Though they were doubled, and did weigh me down Prostrate to earth, methinks I could rise up Erect, with nothing but the honest pride Ges. Darest thou question me? - It cannot take away the grace of life- Its port erect with consciousness of truth- Its fair report that's rife on good men's tongues :- Than it can pluck his brightness from the sun, Ges. But it can make thee writhe. Tell. It may, and I may say, Go on, though it should make me groan again. Tell. From the mountains. Ges. Canst tell me any news from them? Tell. Ay;--they watch no more the avalanche.* wishing to ascertain the spirit of the people, ordered his hat to be raised on a pole, and homage to be paid to it as to himself. Tell refused to do homage to the hat, and was immediately seized and carried before the governor. Gesler ordered him to shoot an arrow at an apple placed on the head of his own son, or else be dragged with his child to immediate death. He shot the apple off his son's head,-and soon after shot Gesler. The Swiss, roused to arms by the conduct of Tell, drove away their Austrian masters, and established the independence of their country, A. D. 1307. * Pronounced av-a-lanch', a vast body of snow sliding down a mountain. Tell. Because they look for thee. The hurricane Tell. They thank kind Providence it is not thou. As something they must lose, and had far better Ges. 'Tis well. I'd have them as their hills Tell. But they do sometimes smile. Ges. Ah!--when is that? Tell. When they do pray for Ges. Dare they pray for that? vengeance. Tell. They dare, and they expect it, too. Ges. From whence? Tell. From Heaven, and their true hearts. Ges. [To Sarnem.] Lead in his son. Now will I take . Exquisite vengeance. [To Tell, as the boy enters.] I have des tined him To die along with thee. Tell. To die! for what? he's but a child. Ges. He's thine, however. Tell. He is an only child. Ges. So much the easier to crush the race. Tell. He may have a mother. Ges. So the viper hath And yet who spares it for the mother's sake? Ges. But first, I'd see thee make A trial of thy skill with that same bow. Tell. What is the trial? Ges. Thou look'st upon thy boy as though thou guessest it. Tell. Look upon my boy! what mean you? |