[THE following lesson requires variety of tone.] 1. MEANWHILE the adversary of God and man', Satan', with thoughts inflam'd of highest design, Puts on swift wings, and toward the gates of hell, Explores his solitary flight: sometimes

2.

3.

He scours the right ́ hand coast, sometimes the left;
Now shaves with level wing the deep, then soars
Up to the fiery concave towering high.

At last, appear

Hell bounds, high reaching to the horrid roof,

And thrice three-fold the gates; three folds were brass`, Three iron, three of adamantine rock

Impenetrable, impal'd with circling fire,

Yet unconsum'd. Before the gates there sat,
On either side, a formidable shape`:

The one seemed 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 bark'd,
With wide Cerberian mouths full loud, and rung
A hideous peal.

The other shape,

If shape it might be call'd, that shape had none,
Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb;
Or substance might be called that shadow seem'd,
For each seem'd either; black it stood as night`,
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.

་

4. Satan was now at hand, and from his seat
The monster moving onward, came as fast
With horrid strides; hell trembled as he strode.
The undaunted fiend what this might be, admir'd,
Admir'd, not fear'd; God and his Son except
Created thing nought valu'd he, nor shunn'd`;
And with disdainful look thus first began:

5. (h) "Whence and what art thou, execrable shape?
That dar'st, though grim and terrible, advance

Thy miscreated front athwart my way

To yonder gates? Through them I mean to pass`, That be assur'd, without leave ask'd of thee: Retire, or taste thy folly; and learn by proof, Hell-born, not to contend with spirits of heaven." 6. To whom the goblin, full of wrath, repli'd: (h) "Art thou that traitor-angel, art thou he Who first broke peace in heaven", and faith, till then Unbroken; and in proud rebellious arms Drew after him the third part of heaven's sons, Conjur'd against the highest, for which, both thou And they, out-cast from God, are here condemn'd To waste eternal days in woe and pain ́? And reckonest thou thyself with spirits of heaven ́, Hell doom'd! and breath'st defiance here and scorn, Where I reign king; and to engage thee more, Thy` king and lord? Back to thy punishment`, False fugitive! and to thy speed add wings; Lest with a whip of scorpions, I pursue

Thy lingering, or, with one stroke of this dart, Strange horrors seize thee, and pangs unfelt before.”

7. So spake the grizzly terror, and in shape

So speaking and so threatening, grew ten-fold
More dreadful and deform. On the other side,
Incens'd with indignation, Satan stood
Unterrifi'd, and like a comet burn'd,
That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge
In the arctic sky, and from his horrid hair
Shakes pestilence and war. Each at the head
Level'd his deadly aim; their fatal hands
No second stroke intend; and such a frown
Each cast at the other, as when two black clouds,
With heaven's artillery fraught, come rattling on
Over the Caspian`; they stand front to front,
Hovering a space, till winds the signal blow
To join their dark encounter in mid air.

8. So frown'd the mighty combatants, that hell
Grew darker at the frown: so match'd', they stood`:
For never but once more was either like

To meet so great a foe. And now great deeds
Had been achiev'd, whereof all hell had rung,
Had not the snaky sorceress that sat
Fast by hell gate, and kept the fatal key,
Risen, and with hideous outcry rush'd between.

LII. GOD IS EVERYWHERE.

1. OH! show me where is He,
The high and holy One`,

To whom thou bend'st the knee,
And pray'st", "Thy will be done!"
I hear thy song of praise,

And lo! no form is near:
Thine eyes I see thee raise,
But where doth God appear?

Oh! teach me who is God, and where his glories shine,

That I

may

kneel and pray, and call thy Father mine.

2. "Gaze on that arch above`:

The glittering vault admire.
Who taught those orbs to move?
Who lit their ceaseless fire?
Who guides the moon to run
In silence through the skies?
Who bids that dawning sun

In strength and beauty rise?

There view immensity! behold! my God is there:
The sun the moon, the stars`, his majesty declare`.

3. "See where the mountains rise;
Where thundering torrents foam;
Where, vail'd in towering skies,
The eagle makes his home:
Where savage nature dwells,
My God is present too`;
Through all his wildest dells

His footsteps I pursue:

He rear'd those giant cliffs, supplies that dashing stream, Provides the daily food which stills the wild bird's scream.

4. "Look on that world of waves,

Where finny nations glide;
Within whose deep, dark caves
The ocean-monsters hide:
His power is sovereign there,
To raise, to quell the storm;
The depths his bounty share,

Where sport the scaly swarm:

Tempests and calms obey the same almighty voice,

Which rules the earth and skies`, and bids far worlds rejoice.

5. "No human thoughts can soar
Beyond his boundless might;
He swells the thunder's roar,
He spreads the wings of night.
Oh! praise his works divine!
Bow down thy soul in prayer;
Nor ask for other sign,
That God is everywhere:

The viewless spirit, He`-immortal ́, holy, blest`
Oh! worship him in faith, and find eternal rest!"

1. DEBT is of the very highest antiquity. The first debt in the history of man is the debt of nature, and the first instinct is to put off the payment of it to the last moment. Many persons, it will be observed, following the natural procedure, would die before they would pay their debts.

2. Society is composed of two classes, debtors and creditors`. The creditor class has been erroneously supposed the more enviable. Never was there a greater misconception`; and the hold it yet maintains upon opinion, is a remarkable example of the obstinacy of error, notwithstanding the plainest lessons of experience. The debtor has the sympathies of mankind. He is seldom spoken of but with expressions of tenderness and compassion-"the poor debtor!"”—and “the unfortunate debtor!" On the other hand, "harsh" and "hard-hearted" are the epithets allotted to the creditor. Who ever heard the "poor creditor," the "unfortunate creditor" spoken of? No, the creditor never becomes the object of pity, unless he passes into the debtor class. A creditor may be ruined by the poor debtor, but it is not until he becomes unable to pay his own debts, that he begins to be compassionated.

3. A debtor is a man of mark. Many eyes are fixed upon him; many have interest in his well-being: his movements are of concern: he can not disappear unheeded; his name is in many mouths`; his name is upon many books`; he is a man of note—of promissory note; he fills the speculation

of many minds`; men conjecture about him, wonder about him, wonder and conjecture whether he will pay. He is a man of consequence`, for many are running after him. His door is thronged with duns. He is inquired after every hour of the day. Judges hear of him and know him. Every meal he swallows, every coat he puts upon his back`, every dollar he borrows, appears before the country in some formal document. Compare his notoriety with the obscure lot of the creditor, of the man who has nothing but claims on the world; a landlord, or fund-holder, or some such disagreeable, hard character.

4. The man who pays his way is unknown in his neighborhood. You ask the milk-man at his door, and he can not tell his name. You ask the butcher where Mr. Payall lives, and he tells you he knows no such name, for it is not in his books. You shall ask the baker, and he will tell you there is no such person in the neighborhood. People that have his money fast in their pockets, have no thought of his person or appellation. His house only is known. No. 31 is good pay. No. 31 is ready money. Not a scrap of paper is ever made out for No. 31. It is an anonymous house; its owner pays his way to obscurity. No one knows anything about him, or heeds his movements. If a carriage be seen at his door, the neighborhood is not full of concern lest he be going to run away. If a package be moved from his house, a score of boys are not employed to watch whether it be carried to the pawnbroker. Mr. Payall fills no place in the public mind; no one has any hopes or fears about him.

5. The creditor always figures in the fancy as a sour, single man, with grizzled hair, a scowling countenance, and a peremptory air, who lives in a dark apartment, with musty deeds about him, and an iron safe, as impenetrable as his heart, grabbing together what he does not enjoy, and what there is no one about him to enjoy. The debtor, on the other hand, is always pictured with a wife and six fair-haired daughters, bound together in affection and misery, full of sensibility, and suffering without a fault. The creditor, it is never doubted, thrives without a merit. He has no wife and children to pity. No one ever thinks it desirable that he should have the means of living. He is a