stone, 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. When I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little. competitions, factions, and debates, of mankind. When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great day when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our appearance together. Addison. 13. THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER.· There are some who say, "What good to pray? God is too far above us to hear creatures so insignificant." And who has made these creatures so insignificant? Who but God has given them thought, sentiment, and the faculty of speech? And if He has been thus good towards them, was it to abandon them afterwards, and repel them far from Him? Verily, I say to you, whoever says in his heart that God despises his works, the same blasphemes God. There are others who say, "What good to pray to God? Does not God know better than we what we have need of?" Yes; God knows better than you what you have need of; and that is why He would have you ask it of Him; for God is himself your first need, and to pray to God is to begin to possess God. The father knoweth the wants of his son; must the son therefore never make a request of his father, nor thank him for his benefits? There sometimes passes over the land a wind which dries the plants, and then we see their withered stems droop towards the earth; but, moistened by the dew, they recover their freshness, and lift up their languishing heads. The world has its scorching winds which pass over the soul of man, and make it arid. Prayer is the dew which refreshes the soul. - De Lammenais. 14. DEATII. O, death dark hour to hopeless unbelief! hour to which, in that creed of despair, no hour shall succeed! being's last hour! to whose appalling darkness even the shadows of an avenging retribution were brightness and relief — death! - what art thou to the Christian's assurance? Great hour! answer to life's prayer; great hour that shall break asunder the bond of life's mystery; hour of relcase from life's burden; hour of reunion with the loved and lost, what mighty hopes hasten to their fulfilment in thee! What longings, what aspirations, breathed in the still night, beneath the silent stars; what dread emotions of curiosity; what deep meditations of joy; what hallowed impossibilities shadowing forth realities to the soul, all verge to their consummation in thee! O, death! the Chris tian's death! What art thou, but a gate of life, a portal of heaven, the threshold of eternity! — Dewey. CXLIX. ADAM AND ORLANDO. Orlando. WHY, whither, Adam, wouldst thou have me go A thievish living on the common road? This I must do, or know not what to do: I rather will subject me to the malice Of a diverted blood, and bloody brother. Adam. But do not so; I have five hundred croen, Which I did store, to be my foster-nurse, When service should in my old limbs lie lame, Orl. O, good old man! how well in thee appears When service sweat for duty, not for meed!. Adam. Master, go on, and I will follow thee, At seventeen years many their fortunes seek; SHAKSPEARS. CL. A SISTER PLEADS FOR A BROTHER'S LIFE. Isabella. I AM a woful suitor to your honor, Please but your honor hear me. Angelo. Well; what's your suit? Isab. There is a vice, that most I do abhor, Ang. Well; the matter? Isab. I have a brother is condemned to die : I do beseech you, let it be his fault," And not my brother. 121 Ang. Condemn the fault, and not the actor of it! Why, every fault 's condemned, ere it be done : Mine were the very cipher of a function, To fine the faults, whose fine stands in record," Isab. O just, but severe law! Must he needs die? Ang. Maiden, no remedy. Isab. Yes; I do think that you might pardon him, Isab. But can you, if you would? Ang. Look! what I will not, that I cannot do. Isab. But might you do 't, and do the world no wrong If so your heart were touched with that remorse Ang. He's sentenced; 't is too late. Isab. Too late? why, no: I, that do speak a word, No ceremony that to great ones 'longs,141 Isab. I would to Heaven I had your potency, No! I would tell what 't were to be a judge, Ang. Your brother is a forfeit of the law, Isat Alas! alas! Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once; Ang. Be you content, fair maid; It is the law, not I, condemns your brother: It should be thus with him; - he must die to-morrow. Isab. To-morrow? O, that's sudden! Spare him, spare him.' He 's not prepared for death! Even for our kitchens We kill the fowl of season: shall we serve Heaven With less respect than we do minister To our gross selves? Good, good, my lord, bethink you : There's many have committed it. Ang. The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept : Those many had not dared to do that evil, If the first man that did the edict infringe EI Had answered for his deed: now, 't is awake; But, where they live, to end. Isab. Yet show some pity! Ang. I show it most of all when I show justice; For then I pity those I do not know, Which a dismissed offence would after gall; And do him right, that, answering one foul wrong, Lives not to act another. Be satisfied: Your brother dies to-morrow; be content. Isab. So you must be the first that gives this sentence, And he, that suffers! O, it is excellent To have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous To use it like a giant. Could great men thunder EI For every pelting, petty officer Would use his heaven for thunder; nothing but thunder, Thou rather, with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt, Split'st the unwedgeable and gnarled oak, Than the soft myrtle: - But man, proud man! Drest in a little brief authority, Most ignorant of what he 's most assured, His glassy essence, -like an angry ape, Plays such fantastic tricks before high Heaven We cannot weigh our brother with ourself: That in the captain 's but a choleric word, Ang. Why do you put these sayings upon me? Go to your bosom : Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know A natural guiltiness, such as is his, Let it not sound a thought upon your tongue Against my brother's life. Ang. [Aside. She speaks, and 't is Such sense, my sense breeds with it. [To her.] Fare you well Ang. I will bethink me. Come again to-morrow. Isab. Hark, how I'll bribe you! Good, my lord, turn back Isab. Ay, with such gifts that heaven shall share with you. Or stones, whose rates are either rich or poor, Ang. Well; come to me To-morrow. Isab. Heaven keep your honor safe! SHAKSPEARE. CLI. THE MIND ITS OWN EDUCATOR. 1. KNOWLEDGE and virtue, or, in other words, intellectual and moral improvement, are mainly the mind's own work. The ordinary processes of direct instruction are, at best, but means, facilities, and aids, - of immense importance, it is true, but which presuppose in the mind to which they are applied an active, self moving coöperation. None can carry us up the hill of learning It must be done, if done, by the strain upon our own sinews by the wrenching of our own muscles, by the indomi |