Around her throne the vivid planets roll,
And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole
O'er the dark trees a yellow verdure spread,
And tipt with silver every mountain's head.
Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise,
A flood of glory bursts from all the skies.
The conscious swains, rejoicing in the night,
Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light.
So many flames before proud Ilion blaze,

And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays!

HOMER.

NATURE shrinks from the ghastly apparition of its own Horror. corruption; will not believe it in good earnest; thinks it may be retained (in part at least) with impunity; flies from the sight to sensuality and vain amusements. It is a Solemnly. dreadful thing for man, captivated as he is by the spirit of the world, to be told that he must die to it by a deep abhorrence of his state. This shows the necessity of that Teaching, divine touch upon our spirits called FAITH; and the effect, whenever it is produced, proves the reality of it.

ADAMS.

SIN AND DEATH.

BEFORE the gates there sat

On either side, a formidable shape.

The one seem'd woman to the waist, and fair,
But ended foul in many a scaly fold
Voluminous and vast, a serpent arm'd
With mortal sting: about her middle round
A cry of hell-hounds, never ceasing, barked
With wide Cerberean mouths, full loud, and rung
A hideous peal; yet when they list would creep,
If aught disturb'd their noise, into her womb,
And kennel there; yet there still bark'd and howl'd
Within unseen.

The other shape,

If shape it might be call'd that shape had none,
Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd,
For each seem'd either; black it stood as night,

Describing.

Suspicion.
Disgust.

Terror.

Apprehension.

Awe.

Terror.

Premising

Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell,

And shook a dreadful dart; what seem'd his head
The likeness of a kingly crown had on.

MILTON.

As beauty of body, with an agreeable carriage, pleases the eye, and that pleasure consists in observing that all the parts have a certain elegance, and are proportioned to each Conclud- other; so does decency of behaviour which appears in our lives, obtain the approbation of all with whom we converse, from the order, consistency, and moderation, of our words and actions.

ing.

Reflecting.

WHEN I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate passion expires; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow.

Teaching. To acquire a thorough knowledge of our own hearts and characters; to restrain every irregular inclination; to subdue every rebellious passion; to purify the motives of our conduct; to form ourselves to that temperance which no pleasure can seduce; to that meekness which no provocation can ruffle; to that patience which no affliction can overwhelm; and to that integrity which no interest can shake: this is the task, which, in our sojourn here, we are required to accomplish.

Gloomily.

CONSCIENCE.

THE mind, that broods o'er guilty woes,
Is like the Scorpion girt by fire,

In circle narrowing as it glows,
The flames around their captive close,
Till inly search'd by thousand throes.
And maddening in her ire;
One sad and sole relief she knows,
The sting she nourish'd for her foes,

Whose venom never yet was vain,
Gives but one pang, and cures all pain,
And darts into her desperate brain.
So do the dark in soul expire,
Or live like Scorpion girt by fire;
So writhes the mind remorse hath riven,
Unfit for earth, undoom'd for heav'n;
Darkness above, despair beneath,
Around it flame, within it death!

Despera tion. Warning.

BYRON.

You cannot, my Lords, you cannot conquer America; Remonwhat is your present situation there? We do not know the worst; but we know that in three campaigns we have done nothing, and suffered much. You may swell every Rising expense, accumulate every assistance, and extend your traffic to the shambles of every German despot: your attempts will be for ever vain and impotent-doubly so, indeed, from this mercenary aid on which you rely; for it in irritates, to an incurable resentment, the minds of your adversaries, to overrun them with the mercenary sons of rapine and plunder, devoting them and their possessions to the rapacity of hireling cruelty. If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms;—Never, energy. never, never! CHATHAM.

FROM what happened in the Mount of Transfiguration, Teaching. we may infer not only that the separated spirits of good men live and act, and enjoy happiness, but that they take

D

Cheerful solemnity.

Teaching.

Pensively.

Urging.

Solemnly

Remonstrance.

some interest in the business of this world, and even that their interest in it has a connexion with the pursuits and habits of their former life. The virtuous cares which occupied them on earth follow them into their new abode. Moses and Elias had spent the days of their temporal pilgrimage in promoting among their brethren the knowledge and the worship of the true God. They are still attentive to the same great object; and, enraptured at the prospect of its advancement, they descend on this occasion to animate the labours of Jesus, and to prepare him for his victory over the powers of hell. FINLAYSON.

As long as life its term extends,
Hope's blest dominion never ends;
For while the lamp holds on to burn,
The greatest sinner may return.
Life is the season God hath given
To fly from hell, and rise to heaven;
That day of grace fleets fast away,
And none its rapid course can stay.
The living know that they must die;
But all the dead forgotten lie;
Their mem❜ry and their name is gone,
Alike unknowing and unknown.
Their hatred and their love is lost,
Their envy bury'd in the dust;
They have no share in all that's done
Beneath the circuit of the sun.
Then what thy thoughts design to do
Still let thy hands with might pursue;
Since no device nor work is found,
Nor wisdom underneath the ground.
In the cold grave, to which we haste,
There are no acts of pardon past:
But fix'd the doom of all remains,
And everlasting silence reigns.

PARAPHRASE IX. ECCL.

O, who can hold a fire in his hand,
By thinking on the frosty Caucasus?

Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite,
By bare imagination of a feast;
Or wallow naked in December's snow,
By thinking of fantastic summer's heat?
O, no! the apprehension of the good,
Gives but the greater feeling to the worse:
Fell sorrow's tooth doth never rankle more,
Than when it bites, but lanceth not the sore.

SHAKSPEARE,

Inculcat

CONTEMPLATE the great scenes of nature, and accustom Incu yourselves to connect them with the perfections of God. All vast and unmeasurable objects are fitted to impress the soul with awe. The mountain which rises above the neighbouring hills, and hides its head in the sky-the sounding, unfathomed, boundless deep-the expanse of heaven, where above and around no limit checks the wondering eye-these objects fill and elevate the mind--they produce a solemn frame of spirit, which accords with the sentiment of religion. From the contemplation of what is great and magnificent in nature, the soul rises to the Author of all. We think of the time which preceded the birth of the universe when no being existed but God alone.

MOODIE.

If hush'd the loud whirlwind that ruffled the deep,
The sky, if no longer dark tempests deform;
When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep?
No!--Here's to the pilot that weather'd the storm.*

At the footstool of power let flattery fawn,

Let faction her idols extol to the skies;
To virtue, in humble retirement withdrawn,
Unblam'd may the merits of gratitude rise.
And shall not his memory to Britain be dear,
Whose example with envy all nations behold;
A statesman unbiass'd by int'rest or fear,
By pow'r uncorrupted, untainted by gold?

*The Right Honourable William Pitt.

CANNING.

Gratitude.

Veneration.

Contempt.

Admiration.

Delight.

Admira tion.