and luxuriant shrubs and splendid flowers were disposed to produce the most brilliant effect. These are usually called hanging gardens.

Cyrus, king of Persia conquered Babylon, B. C. 538; and Xerxes, on his return from his Grecian expedition, laid it in ruins. Alexander of Macedon proposed to rebuild Babylon, but he did not live to effect that intention. Soon after the death of Alexander, B. C. 332, 500,000 of the inhabitants of Babylon were withdrawn to Seleucia, and after that time Babylon became the desolate place described by the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah's prophecies are dated from 760, to 798, B. C. and though this was nearly two centuries before the captivity of his countrymen, and more than four previous to the ruin of Babylon, the prophet foretels the restoration of the Jews, and the desolation of their oppressors.

The 14th chapter of Isaiah contains a gracious promise of God's mercy to his people, and a sublime and highly poetical denunciation of Divine vengeance against the proud power which enslaved them.

"For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppresAnd it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.

sors.

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"That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming it stirrith up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we ? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and

the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds: I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.

"But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evil doers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord. I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.

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"The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed so shall it stand; that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders." The consummateness of the destruction which was foreshown by Isaiah, is yet more expressively described in the Apocalypse of St. John.

"That great city, Babylon, shall be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee: and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee." Rev. c. 18, v. 21—23.

It is proper to remark that St. John, who wrote this passage, lived long after the destruction of Babylon, and it is supposed he did not intend to represent the ruin of Babylon herself, but of Rome. Rome, from her magnitude and splendour, was sometimes called a second Babylon; she was at the submit of her glory when the apostle wrote the prophetic book of the Revelations, and he foresaw that her fate nearly resembled that of the Chaldean Babylon.

FAIRIES.

Belief in Fairies was once a popular superstition all over Europe, and it still exists in some countries. The peasantry of Ireland and of Devonshire yet regard these imaginary beings as taking an important part in human affairs; and the children of France, Germany, and England, take delight in reading Fairy Tales.

Fairies are represented in these tales to be either benevolent or malignant, and to resemble men and women in their love and hate. Those who have read Shakspeare's Midsummer Night Dream, know that Oberon was the king, and Titania the queen of the fairies. The fairies were rural spirits in human figure, and so diminutive that they could pass through a keyhole. They were also regarded as interesting themselves in household matters. Shakspeare describes them thus.

FAIRIES' VAGARIES.

Singing and dancing being all their pleasure,
They'll please you most nicely, if you'll be at leisure
To hear their sweet chaunting; it will you delight,
And cure melancholy at morning and night.
Come follow, follow me,
You Fairie elves that be:
And circle round this green,

Come follow me your queen,
Hand and hand let's dance around,

For this place is Fairie ground.

When mortals are at rest,
And snoring in their nest,
Unheard or unespyed,

Through key-hole we do glide:
Over tables, stools, and shelves,
We trip it with our fairy elves.

And if the house be foul,
Of platter, dish, or bowl,
Up stairs we nimbly creep,
And find the sluts asleep;

Then we pinch their armes and eyes,
None escapes, none espies.

But if the house be swept,
And from uncleannesse kept,
We praise the house and maid,
And surely she is paid:
For we do use before we go
To drop a tester* in her shoe.

Upon the mushroom's head,
Our table-cloth we spread,
A grain o' the finest wheat
Is manchet that we eat;

The pearly drops of dew we drink,
In acorne-cups filled to the brink.

The tongues of nightingales
With unctuous juice of snails,
Betwixt two nut-shells strewed,

Is meat that's easily chewed:

The brains of rennes, the beards of mice, Will make a feast of wondrous price.

Over the tender grass

So lightly we can pass,

The young and tender stalk
Ne'er bows whereon we walk;
Nor in the morning dew is seen,
Over-night where we have been.

The grasshopper, gnat, and flie,
Serve for our minstrels three,
And sweetly dance awhile
'Till we the time beguile :

And when the Moon-calf hides her head,

The glow-worm lights us unto bed.

A small piece of money.

THE FAIRIES' GROTTO.

Here, in cool grot and mossy cell,
We rural fays and fairies dwell;
Though rarely seen by mortal eye,
When the pale moon ascending high,
Darts through yon limes her quivering beams,
We frisk it near these crystal streams.
Her beams reflected from the wave,
Afford the light our revels crave;
This turf, wi h daisies broidered o'er,
Exceeds, we think, the marble floor;
Nor yet for artful strains we call,
But listen to the waterfall.

Would you then taste our tranquil scene,
Be sure your bosoms are serene;
Devoid of hate, devoid of strife,
Devoid of all that poisons life;

And much it 'vails you, in their place,
To graft the love of human race.

And tread with awe these favoured bowers,

Nor wound the shrubs, nor bruise the flowers;
So may your path with sweets abound,
So may your couch with rest be crowned!
But harm betide the wayward swain
Who dares our sacred haunts profane !

WHAT IS HOME?

That is not home, where day by day
I wear the busy hours away;
That is not home, where lonely night
Prepares me for the toils of light;
'Tis hope, and joy, and memory, give
A home in which the heart can live :
These walls no lingering hopes endear,
No fond remembrance chains me here.
Cheerless I heave the lonely sigh—
Eliza, canst thou tell me why?
'Tis where thou art, is home to me,
And home without thee cannot be.

Shenstone.