In sweet concert with this prophetical lesson sings the transported psalmist: Thou, Lord,' in thy sacred humanity, hast ascended up on high: ascended from the low caverns of the tomb to the highest throne in the highest heavens. Thou hast led captivity captive;' hast abolished death, that universal tyrant, and subdued those powers of darkness which had enslaved the whole world. Like a glorious and triumphant conqueror, thou hast also received gifts;' not merely for thy own fruition, but to confer on others, by way of honorary and enriching largess. What-are those gifts, Theron?

Ther. The gifts of the gospel, I suppose; pardon of sin, the influences of the Holy Spirit, and those other privileges of Christianity which constitute the present happiness of mankkind, and prepare them for future bliss.

Asp. You rightly judge. And for whom were those royal, those heavenly doqatives received? If you have an inclination to bestow à sword set with diamonds, a finely-wrought piece of plate, or an exquisitely finished picture, what names present themselves to your thoughts? what persons are the objects of your choice? The approved friend or distinguished favourite, I make no question. But for whom, let me ask again, since it is a point of the last importance, were those heavenly donatives received?

Ther. Let me recollect. Thou receivedst gifts,' not It denotes the most audacious and the most flagitious impiety. It denotes that rebellion which is as the sin of witchcraft, and that stubbornness which is as the iniquity of idolatry.' Yet, all virulent and execrable as it is, it does not suppress the yearnings of divine pity, nor snpersede the exercise of divine forgiveness. With a word derived from the same root, Saul, when exaspe rated almost to madness, upbraids Jonathan; and we know persons so extremely incensed never speak in the softest terms, never touch the subject with a feather, but make their tongue like a sharp sword.

May I venture to add, that our translators seem to mistake the proper application of the aforementioned passage? They repre sent Saul's invective, flying as wide of the mark as it is overcharged with malice. Son of the perverse rebellious woman!' This might be asserted without the least impeachment of Jona than's personal loyalty. Besides, is it not excessively indecent, as well as absolutely unreasonable, to reflect upon the mother for the misdemeanors of the son! Surely the clause should be rendered, in perfect consistence with the genius of the original, Thou son of perverse rebellion; or, more agreeably to the English idiom, Thou perverse rebellious wretch! 1 Sam. xx. 30.

for fallen angels, but for men;' and not for thy friends, but for thy enemies;' yea for the rebellious' also. Mer. ciful heaven, what a word is this! And does it come from the God of truth? Gifts! divine giffs! gifts of unspeakable value and eternal duration! and these to be conferred on enemies, on the rebellious! wretches who are destitute of all gracious qualifications, who deserve not the least favour, but have reason to expect the frowns of indignation and the sword of vengeance!

Asp. Thus it is written in those sacred constitutions, which are far more steadfast and unalterable than the law of the Medes and Persians: thus it is spoken by the mouth of that Almighty Being, with whom there is no variableness nor the least shadow of turning. Let us not, my dear friend, by unreasonable unbelief frustrate all these promises, and reject our own mercies. Let us not, by an evil heart of unbelief, make God a liar, and make ourselves of all creatures most miserable.

But see, the clouds which hung their agreeable sables to damp the ardour and abate the glare of day, are departing. The sun has been colouring their fleecy skirts, and spreading over the floating screen a variety of interchangeable hues. Now he begins to edge them with gold and shine them into silver; a sure indication that, like the glittering but transitory toys which they represent, they will be soon swept from the horizon, and seen no more. The bright orb, while we are speaking, bursts the veil; and, from a voluminous pomp of parting clouds, pours a flood of splendour over all the face of nature. We shall quickly perceive this open situation too hot to consist with pleasure, and must be obliged to seek for shelter in the shady apart. ments of the house.

Will you admit me, Theron, into those shady apartments?

Ther. Admit you, Aspasio! I am surprised at your question. I thought you had known me better; and am sorry it should be needful to assure you, that my house is as much your own as it is mine. The more

Psalm 1xviii. 18,

freely you command it, the more highly you will oblige me.

Asp. May I believe you, Theron? Do you speak from your heart? Or must I conclude, that you plausi. bly profess what you have no intention to perform? Would you be pleased, if I should obstinately persist in these dishonourable suspicions, notwithstanding all your friendly protestations?

Ther. My dear Aspasio, I see your design: I see, and am ashamed;-ashamed to think that I should fancy myself more punctual in my professions than God is true to his word. Lord, I believe! help thou mine unbelief!'

DIALOGUE XVI.

Harvest scene-Philenor's gardens-Statues-Grove of greens-Nature of true Faith-Its sure foundations and firm supports.

OUR friends had agreed upon a visit to Philenor. They rode through a fine, open, fruitful country, which was covered with crops of ripened corn, and occupied by several parties of rustics gathering in the copious harvest.

The rye, white and hoary as it were with age, waved its bearded billows, and gave a dry husky rustle before the breeze. The wheat, laden with plenty, and beauti fully brown, hung the heavy head, and invited by its bending posture the reaper's hand. Plats of barley. and acres of oats stood whitening in the sun : (upright and perfectly even, as though the gardener's shears had clipped them at the top, they gratified the spectator's eye and gladdened the farmer's heart, Beans, partly clad in native green, partly transformed and tawny with the parching ray, were preparing the last employ for the crooked weapon. Some of the grain lay flat in regular rows on the new-made stubble; some was erected in graceful shocks along the bristly ridges; some, conveyed homewards on the loaded, waggon, nodded over the groaning axle.

The villages seemed to be empty, and all their inha bitants poured into the plains. Here were persons of each sex and of every age. The lusty youths, stooping to their work, plied the sickle, or swept with their scythes the falling ranks: the sprightly females followed, binding the handfuls into sheaves, or piling the swarths into hasty cocks. Dispersed up and down were the chil dren of the needy, gleaning the scattered ears and picking their scanty harvest, Nor were the old people absent, but crawling into the sun or sitting on a shady eminence, they beheld the toils, the pleasing toils they once sustained.

This is the most joyful period of the countryman's life, the long-expected crown of all his labours. For this he broke the stubborn glebe, and manured the im. poverished soil; for this he bore the sultry beams of summer, and shrunk not from the pinching blasts of winter; for this he toiled away the year in a round of ceaseless but willing activity; knowing that the hus bandman must labour before he partakes of the fruits." And will not the blessed hope of everlasting life, will not the bright expectations of consummate bliss, animate us with an equally cheerful resolution, both to resist the temptations and discharge the duties of our present state?

Short seemed the way, and quick passed the time, as they travelled through such scenes of rural abundance and rural deligbt. Before they were aware, the horses stopped at Philenor's seat; where they found, to their no small disappointment, that the master was gone abroad]: they alighted however, and took a walk in the gardens.

The gardens, at proper intervals and in well-chosen situations, were interspersed with pieces of statuary.

2 Tim. i. 6. Beza thinks, that in settling the construction of this verse, the adverb pоrov; should be connected with the participle коTIWVTа. If so, the translation exhibited above may bid fair for acceptance; and one of the most celebrated historians may have the honour of commenting on the greatest of the apostles Næ illi falsi sunt, qui diversissimas res] expectant, ignavia voluptatem, et præmia virtutis.' Sallust. 1. e. They are beyond all dispute most egregiously mistaken, who hope to unite those incompatible things, the pleasures of indolence and the rewards of industry.

At the turn of a corner you are not shocked with a naked gladiator, or a beastly Priapus, but agreeably surprised with the image of Tully. He is just risen from his seat, and upon the point of addressing himself to isome important oration. A reverential awe appears in his countenance, such as silently acknowledges he is going to plead before the rulers of the world: sedate at the same time, and collected in himself, he seems conscious of superior eloquence, and emboldened by the justice of his cause: his thoughtful aspect and gracefully expanded arm speak to the eye, before the tongue has uttered a syllable.

You enter an alley lined on either side with a verdant fan, and having no variety of objects to diversify the intermediate space, your view is conducted to a magnificent building at the end. As you walk along, contemplating the masterly performance in architecture, an unexpected opening diverts your attention, and presents you with some striking imitation of vir tuous or heroic life. Not the Macedonian madman, nor Sweden's royal knight-errant, nor Cæsar, infamously renowned for his slaughtered millions, but the truly gallant Czar; a drawn sword in his hand, and a commanding majestic sternness on his brow. The weapon is held in the most menacing posture, and many a spectator has been observed to start back with apprehensions of fear. It is that gloriously severe attitude in which the grateful citizens of Narva beheld him, and in which all posterity will admire him; when he turned upon his own victorious but ungovernable troops, and threatened to drench the dagger in their hearts if they did not immediately desist from rapine and slaughter, immediately allow quarter to their vanquished foes.

Under a circular dome, supported by pillars of the Doric order, and in a spot where several walks centre, stands, not the Venus a Medicis, corrupting while it captivates the world, but a Spartan mother. Her ha

As soon as the soldiers were masters of the town (Narva), they fell to plunder, and gave themselves up to the most enor mous barbarities. The czar ran from place to place, to put a stop to the disorder and massacre. He was even obliged to kill with his own hand several Muscovites who did not hearken to his orders," Voltaire's Hist. Charles XII.