avenge his wrongs?

No voice that shall be heard in his defence? no sentence to be passed on his oppressor?

Yes, the sad eye of the tortured pleadeth pathetically for him ;

tion at his woes;

Yea, all the pity upon earth shall call down a curse upon the cruel ;

Yea, the burning malice of the wicked is their own exceeding punishment.

The Angel of Mercy stoppeth not to comfort, but passeth by on the other side,

damned.-Tupper.

184. ANNIHILATION. Absurdity of

WHY life, a moment? infinite, desire?
Our wish, eternity? our home, the grave?
Heaven's promise dormant lies in human hope :
Who wishes life immortal proves it too.
Why happiness pursued, though never found?
Man's thirst of happiness declares it is,
For nature never gravitates to nought:
That thirst, unquench'd, declares it is not here.
Why cordial friendship riveted so deep,
As hearts to pierce at first, at parting, rend,
If friend and friendship vanish in an hour?
Is not this torment in the mask of joy ?
Why by reflection marr'd the joys of sense?
Why past and future preying on our hearts,
And putting all our present joys to death?
Why labours reason?-instinct were as well!
Instinct far better-what can choose can err.
O, how infallible the thoughtless brute !
'Twere well his holiness were half as sure.
Reason with inclination, why at war?
Why sense of guilt? why conscience up in arms?
Conscience of guilt is prophecy of pain,
And bosom counsel to decline the blow.
Reason with inclination ne'er had jarr'd,
If nothing future paid forbearance here.
These, a thousand pleas uncall'd,

All promise, some insure, a second scene;
Which, were it doubtful, would be dearer far
Than all things else most certain; were it false,
What truth on earth so precious as the lie?
This world it gives us, let what will ensue ;
This world it gives, in that high cordial, hope;

When rocks shall melt, and mountains vanish, these
Shall know their treasure-treasure, then, no more.
Are there (still more amazing!) who resist
The rising thought? who smother, in its birth,
The glorious truth? who struggle to be brutes?
Who through this bosom-barrier burst their way,
And, with reversed ambition, strive to sink?
Who labour downwards through the opposing
powers

Of instinct, reason, and the world against them,
To dismal hopes, and shelter in the shock
Of endless night?-night, darker than the grave's!-
Who fight the proofs of immortality?
With horrid zeal, and execrable arts,
Work all their engines, level their black fires,

To blot from man this attribute divine
(Than vital blood far dearer to the wise),
Blasphemers and rank atheists to themselves?

Young.

186. ANNIHILATION. License of
DUTY! Religion !-These, our duty done,
Imply reward. Religion is mistake.
Duty !—there's none, but to repel the cheat.
Ye cheats, away! ye daughters of my pride,
Who feign yourselves the favourites of the skies!
Ye towering hopes, abortive energies,

That toss and struggle in my lying breast
To scale the skies, and build presumptions there,
As I were heir of an eternity-

Vain, vain ambitions! trouble me no more.
Why travel far in quest of sure defeat?
As bounded as my being be my wish.

All is inverted; wisdom is a fool.

Sense! take the rein; blind passion! drive us on; And ignorance, befriend us on our way;

Ye new, but truest patrons of our peace!

Yes, give the pulse full empire; live the brute,
Since, as the brute, we die . . . . the sum of man,
Of Godlike man, to revel and to rot !- Young.

187. ANT. Lesson from the

TURN to the prudent ant thy heedful eyes,
Observe her labours, sluggard, and be wise :
No stern command, no monitory voice
Prescribes her duties, or directs her choice;
Yet, timely provident, she hastes away

To snatch the blessings of the plenteous day;
When fruitful summer loads the teeming plain,
She crops the harvest and she stores the grain.
How long shall sloth usurp the useless hours,
Unnerve thy vigour, and enchain thy powers;
While artful shades thy downy couch enclose,
And soft solicitation courts repose?
Amidst the drowsy charms of dull delight,
Year chases year with unremitted flight,
Till want now following, fraudulent and slow,
Shall spring to seize thee like an ambush'd foe.

188. ANTIQUITY. Charms of

THERE is a power

Johnson.

And magic in the ruin'd battlement,
For which the palace of the present hour
Must yield its pomp, and wait till ages
Are its dower.-Byron.

189. ANXIETY: deprecated.

BE still, my soul, let nothing stir
Thee from the sweet repose
Of those who to their God refer
Their joys, their cares, their woes.

Be quiet, why this anxious heed

About thy tangled ways?

God knows them all, He giveth speed,
And He allows delays.

What though He let thee not perform
Some good and loved design?

Thou would'st not wish Him to conform

His perfect will to thine!

My God! the hearing ear impart,
To hear Thee tell Thy will,
And then bestow the ready heart
All meekly to fulfil.

190. ANXIETY: how to get rid of it.

HAST Thou within a care so deep, It chases from thine eyelids sleep?

To thy Redeemer take that care,
And change anxiety to prayer.

Hast thou a hope with which thy heart
Would almost feel it death to part?
Entreat thy God that hope to crown,
Or give thee strength to lay it down.

Hast thou a friend whose image dear May prove an idol worshipp'd here? Implore the Lord that nought may be A shadow between heaven and thee.

Whate'er the care which breaks thy rest-
Whate'er the wish that swells thy breast,
Spread before God that wish, that care,
And change anxiety to prayer.

191. ANXIETY. Misery of

PERPETUAL anguish fills his anxious breast,
Not stopt by business, nor composed by rest;
No music cheers him, nor no feast can please.
Dryden.

Thou hast seen many sorrows, travel-stained pilgrim of the world,

But that which hath vexed thee most, hath been the looking for evil;

And though calamities have crossed thee and misery

been heaped on thy head,

Yet ills that never happened have chiefly made thee wretched.

Verily, evils may be courted, may be wooed and won by distrust.

Ask for good, and hope it; for the ocean of good is fathomless;

Ask for good, and have it; for thy Friend would see thee happy;

But to the timid heart, to the child of unbelief and dread,

That leaneth on his own weak staff, and trusteth in the sight of his eyes,

The evil he feared shall come, for the soil is ready for the seed.

Therefore look up, sad spirit; be strong, thou coward heart,

Or fear will make thee wretched, though evil follow

not behind.

Cease to anticipate misfortune,—there are still many

chances of escape;

But if it come, be courageous, face it and conquer thy calamity.

There is not an enemy so stout as to storm and take the fortress of the mind,

Unless its infirmity turn traitor, and fear unbar the

gates.

Up, up, the day is breaking,

Say to thy cares, Good night!

Thy troubles from thee shaking

Like dreams in day's fresh light. Thou wearest not the crown,

Nor the best course canst tell;

God sitteth on the throne,

And guideth all things well.

Trust Him to govern, then :
No king can rule like Him.
How wilt thou wonder when

Thine eyes no more see dim,
To see those paths which vex thee,
How wise they were and meet;
The works which now perplex thee,
How beautiful, complete!

Faithful the love thou sharest ;

All, all is well with thee;

The crown from hence thou bearest With shouts of victory.

In thy right hand to-morrow

Thy God shall place the palms. To Him who chased thy sorrow, How glad will be thy psalms!

196. APPAREL. Costly

Paul Gerhardt.

POOR Soul, the centre of my sinful earth,
Fool'd by those rebel powers that thee array,
Why dost thou pine within, and suffer dearth,
Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,

Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend ?
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,

Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body's end? Then soul, live thou upon thy servant's loss,

And let that pine to aggravate thy store; Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross;

Within be fed, without be rich no more:

So shalt thou feed on death, that feeds on men ; And, death once dead, there's no more dying then.-Shakespeare.

And least of all the pair that once was white.
Have a good hat; the secret of your looks
Lies with the beaver in Canadian brooks.
Virtue may flourish in an old cravat,

But man and nature scorn the shocking hat.

Be shy of breast-pins; plain, well-iron'd, white, With small pearl buttons,-two of them in sight,

Is always genuine, while your gems may pass,
Though real diamonds, for ignoble glass.
O. W. Holmes.

199. APPEARANCES. Care for

APPEARANCES to save, his only care;
So things seem right, no matter what they are.
Churchill.

200. APPEARANCES: deceptive.

APPEARANCES deceive, And this one maxim is a standing rule,Men are not what they seem.-Havard. The deepest ice that ever froze

Can only o'er the surface close;

The living stream lies quick below,

And flows, and cannot cease to flow.—Byron.

'Tis not the fairest form that holds

The mildest, purest soul within ; 'Tis not the richest plant that folds

The sweetest breath of fragrance in.-Dawes. Within the oyster's shell uncouth

The purest pearl may hide :-

Trust me you'll find a heart of truth

Within that rough outside.—Mrs Osgood.

Alas! I am but woman, fond and weak, Without even power my proud, pure love to speak;

But oh, by all I fail in, love not me
For what I am, but what I wish to be.

Mrs Osgood.

The wicked giant, Bali, had obtain'd

Supreme control from heaven down to hell;
He all the humbler deities had chain'd;
Like rain his cruelties unmeasured fell.
The highest gods in fear a session call'd,

And argued vengeful plans for many an hour:
From far below he upward look'd, and brawl'd
An arrogant defiance to their power.
At length divinest Vishnu forward stepp'd,

While round the senate mighty plaudits ran, And vow'd himself-his consort Lakshim weptThe foe to disenthrone, and ransom man.

The heavenly synod praised him, though they fear'd His failure through some one of million harms. On earth, a puny man, he soon appear'd,

And, as a beggar, ask'd of Bali alms.

"What wouldst thou have?' the horrid despot said, And gave the shrinking dwarf a scornful glance.

O fool! premonish'd by no mystic dread,

And reading nought beneath that countenance!

The little timid mendicant replies,

'Give me so much of thy dominion's space— The boon is small, but will for me suffice—

As I can only by three steppings pace.'

The blinded Bali, mocking, gave assent,

And look'd upon him with contemptuous eye. Swift grew the dwarf through such immense extent, That one step spann'd the earth, one more, the sky!

Then looking round, with haughty voice he said,
'The third where shall I take? O Bali, tell!'
At Vishnu s feet the tyrant placed his head,
And instantaneously was thrust to hell.

Oriental, tr. by W. R. Alger.

A palace may unfold its gates,
And show its gilded halls,
While at the gates no gladness waits,
No joyful footstep falls.

A prison may have iron bars,

And walls of massive stone,

Yet through the bars may shine the stars
Of light and love alone.

A home may show to outward view
A dome of crystal light,

While to a few, who see things through,

There reigns the gloom of night.

But many a home all dark to sight,
Through poverty and cares,

Is full of light in darkest night,
For angels walk the stairs.

BE calm in arguing: for fierceness makes
Error a fault, and truth discourtesy.
Why should I feel another man's mistakes
More than his sickness or his poverty?
In love I should: but anger is not love,
Nor wisdom neither; therefore gently move.
Calmness is great advantage: he that lets

Another chafe, may warm him at his fire;
Mark all his wanderings, and enjoy his frets,
As cunning fencers suffer heat to tire.
Truth dwells not in the clouds: the tower that's
there

Doth often aim at, never hit, the sphere.-Herbert.

Let argument bear no unmusical sound,
Nor jars interpose, sacred friendship to grieve.
Ben Jonson.

In argument with men a woman ever
Goes by the worse, whatever be her cause.-Milton.

When men argue, th' greatest part O' the contest falls on terms of art,