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not pity? Can you pity and not relieve? Mercy replied, I can see, and in her tears added, I can pity, but I cannot relieve."

16. "Why can you not enter ? Oh, said Mercy, Justice has barred the gate against me, and I cannot, must not unbar it. At this moment, Justice himself appeared, as it were to watch the gate. The angels inquired of him, why will you not let Mercy in? Justice replied, my law is broken, and it must be honored: die they, or Justice must."

17. "At this, there appeared a form among the angelic band, like unto the Son of God, who, addressing himself to Justice, said, what are thy demands? Justice replied, my terms are stern and rigid; I must have sickness for their health, I must have ignominy for their honor, I must have death for life.— Without shedding of blood there is no remission."

18. "Justice, said the Son of God, I accept thy terms; on me be this wrong, and let Mercy enter. When, said Justice, will you perform this promise? Jesus replied, four thousand years hence, upon the hill of Calvary, without the gates of Jerusalem, I will perform it in my own person."

19. "The deed was prepared and signed in the presence of the Angels of God, Justice was satisfied, and Mercy entered, preaching salvation in the name of Jesus; the deed was committed to the Patriarchs, by them to the Kings of Israel and the Prophets; by them it was preserved till Daniel's seventy weeks were accomplished; then, at the appointed time, Justice appeared on the hill of Calvary, and Mercy presented to him the important deed."

20. "Where, said Justice, is the Son of God? Mercy answered, behold him at the bottom of the hill, bearing his own cross, and then he departed and stood aloof, at the hour of trial. Jesus ascended the hill, while in his train followed his weeping church."

21. "Justice immediately presented him the deed, saying, this is the day when this bond is to be executed. When he received it, did he tear it to pieces and give it to the winds of heaven? No, he nailed it to the cross, exclaiming, It is finished."

22. "Justice called on holy fire to come down and consume the sacrifice. Holy fire descended, it swallowed his humanity, but when it touched his Deity it expired-and there was darkness over the whole heavens: but 'Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will to men." "This, said the Welchman, is but a specimen of Christmas Evans.

LESSON CII.

Happiness.-LACON.

1. What is earthly happiness? that phantom of which we hear so much, and see so little? whose promises are constantly given and constantly broken, but as constantly believed? that cheats us with the sound instead of the substance, and with the blossom instead of the fruit?

2. Like Juno,* she is a goddess in pursuit, but a cloud in possession; deified by those who cannot enjoy her, and despised by those who can. Anticipation is her herald, but Disappointment is her companion; the first addresses itself to our imagination, that would believe, but the latter to our experience, that

must.

3. Happiness, that grand mistress of the ceremonies in the dance of life, impels us through all its mazes and meanderings, but leads none of us by the same route. Aristippust pursued her in pleasure, Socratest in wisdom, and Epicurust in both ; she received the attentions of each, but bestowed her endearments on neither; although like some other gallants, they all boasted of more favors than they had received.

4. Warned by their failure, the stoic‡ adopted a most paradoxical niode of preferring his suit; he thought, by slandering, to woo her; by shunning, to win her; and proudly presumed, that by fleeing her, she would turn and follow him.

5. She is deceitful as the calm that precedes the hurricane ; smooth as the water on the verge of the cataract; and beautiful as the rainbow, that smiling daughter of the storm; but, like the mirage|| in the desert, she tantalizes us with a delusion that distance creates, and that contiguity destroys.

6. Yet, when unsought, she is often found, and when unexpected, often obtained; while those who seek for her the most diligently, fail the most, because they seek her where she is not.

7. Anthony sought her in love; Brutus in glory; Cæsar in dominion; the first found disgrace,-the second disgust,the last ingratitude,—and each destruction. To some she is

* A heathen goddess.

A Grecian philosopher.

Stoics, a sect of heathen philosophers, who prided themselves in an affected indifference to pleasure or pain.

A curious phenomenon, supposed to result from an inverted image of the ky intermixed with the ground scenery. They are seen principally in

an deserts.

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more kind, but not less cruel; she hands them her cup, and they drink even to stupefaction, until they doubt whether they are men with Philip, or dream that they are gods with Alexander.*

*

8. On some she smiles as on Napoleon,† with an aspect more bewitching than an Italian sun; but it is only to make, her frown the more terrible, and by one short caress to embitter the pangs of separation. Yet is she, by universal homage and consent, a queen; and the passions are the vassal lords that crowd her court, await her mandate, and move at her control.

9. But, like other mighty sovereigns, she is so surrounded by her envoys, her officers, and her ministers of state, that it is 'extremely difficult to be admitted to her presence-chamber, or to have any immediate communication with herself. Ambition, Avarice, Love, Revenge, all these seek her, and her alone; alas! they are neither presented to her, nor will she come to them.

10. She despatches, however, her envoys unto them-mean and poor representatives of their queen. To Ambition, she sends power; to Avarice, wealth; to Love, jealousy; to Revenge, remorse; alas! what are these, but so many other names for vexation or disappointment.

11. Neither is she to be won by flatteries or by bribes; she is to be gained by waging war against her enemies, much sooner than by paying any particular court to herself. Those that conquer her adversaries, will find that they need not go to her, for she will come unto them.

12. None bid so high for her as kings; few are more willing, none more able, to purchase her alliance at the fullest price. But she has no more respect for kings than for their subjects; she mocks them indeed with the empty show of a visit, by sending to their palaces all her equipage, her pomp, and her train, but she comes not herself. What detains her? She is travelling incognita to keep a private assignation with Contentment, and to partake of a tete a tete|| and a dinner of herbs in a cottage.

13. Hear then, mighty queen! what sovereigns seldom hear, the words of soberness and truth. I neither despise thee too

A king of Macedon.

† Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France in 1804.

In disguise, or in private.

Tete a tete, face to face, or a private conversation.

on the extent of misery which then ensues. The victims of the sword are, perhaps, least the objects of pity; they have fallen by an instant death, and are removed from the consciousness of the woes they have left behind. I extend my views to their surviving relatives, and friends. I bewail the lascerated ties of nature. I sympathise with the widow and the orphan. My heart bleeds for parental agonies. I depict the warm vows of a genuine affection forever lost; the silent throb of exquisite anguish; the tear which perhaps is forbidden to flow; and, from such a contemplation, I turn away with a sensibility that represses exultation for victory, however brilliant, and for success, however complete."

4. The warrior clapped his hand on his sword; he looked with indignation, but still was mute. The Sage went on. "I almost forget the name of enemy, when I reflect on the misery of man. The malignant passions that excite hostilities, between nations or individuals, seldom return on the aggressors' heads. Were this the case, moral justice would be satisfied, and reason would have less to censure or lament. But when the innocent suffer for the guilty, who can think without concern, or withhold commiseration, though fell necessity may sanction the devastations of war.'

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5. "Do you mean to insult me, Sir ?" sternly demanded the Hero. "This canting hypocritical affectation of sentiment I will not brook. But you are too insignificant for my resentment." "I confess my insignificance, (rejoined the Sage) my actions have never been blazoned in gazettes; yet I have neither been idle nor uselessly employed. As far as my abilities would allow, I have endeavored to make mankind wiser and better. If I have failed to increase the stock of human happiness, my heart does not accuse me of diminishing its supplies. Few have an opportunity of doing much good; but the most insignificant and contemptible are qualified to do harm."

6. Here the Hero and the Sage parted; neither was able to convince the other of the importance of his services; the former ordered his coach, and was gazed at with admiration by the unthinking mob; the latter retired to his garret, and was forgotten.

LESSON C.

The Blind Preacher.-WIRT.

1. I HAVE been, my dear S―, on an excursion through the countries which lie along the eastern side of the Blue

Ridge ;* a general description of that country and its inhabit ants, may form the subject of a future letter. For the present,

I must entertain you with an account of a most singular and interesting adventure, which I met with in the course of my.

tour.

2. It was one Sabbath, as I travelled through the county of Orange, that my eye was caught by a cluster of horses tied near an old, ruinous, wooden house, in the forest, and not far from the road side. Having frequently seen such objects before, in travelling through these states, I had no difficulty in understanding that this was a place of religious worship. Devotion, alone, should have stopped me to join in the duties of the congregation, but I must confess that curiosity to hear the preacher of such a wilderness, was not the least of my

motives.

3. On entering the house, I was struck with his preternatural appearance. He was a tall and very spare old man; his head, which was covered with a white, linen cap, his shrivelled hands, and his voice, were all shaking under the influence of a palsy; and a few moments convinced me that he was blind. The first emotions which touched my breast, were those of mingled pity, and veneration.

4. But ah! Great God! how soon were all my feelings changed! It was a day of the administration of the sacrament, and his subject, of course, was the passion of our Saviour. I had heard the subject handled a thousand times. I had supposed it exhausted long ago. Little did I expect that in the wild woods of America, I was to meet with a man whose eloquence would give to this topic a new and more sublime pathos, than I had ever before witnessed.

5. As he descended from the pulpit, to distribute the mystic symbols, there was a peculiar, a more than human solemnity in his air and manner, which made my blood to run cold, and my whole frame to shiver. He then drew a picture of the sufferings of our Saviour;—his trial before Pilate ;—his ascent up Calvary:—his crucifixion, and his death. I knew the whole history; but never, until then, had I heard the circumstances so selected, so arranged, so colored! It was all new, and I seemed to have heard it for the first time in my life. His enunciation was so deliberate, that his voice trembled on every syllable; and every heart in the assembly, trembled in unison.

• A ridge of mountains in Virginia, east of the Allegany range.

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