3. The dark blue sky closed round, Upon the circling waste; She cast her eyes around; Famine and thirst were there: And then the wretched mother bowed her head, A sudden cry of wonder From Thalaba, aroused her; She raised her head, and saw Where, high in air, a stately palace rose. Amid a grove embowered, Stood the prodigious pile. Trees of such ancient majesty, Towered not on Yemen's happy hills, 4. They entered, and through aromatic paths, 5. At length, upon a mossy bank, Which o'er him bent its living canopy, They saw a man reclined. Young he appeared; for on his cheek there shone The morning glow of health, And the brown beard curled close around his chin He slept, but, at the sound Of coming feet awaking, fixed his eyes In wonder on the wanderer and her child. Relieve the widow and the fatherless! 6. He heard, and he looked up to heaven, "It is a human voice! I thank thee, O my God! How many a year hath passed, Since the sweet sounds have visited my ear! It is a human voice!" 7. To Zeinab turning, he said, "O mortal, who art thou, Whose gifted eyes have pierced The shadow of concealment, that hath wrapt For countless days have passed, The bowers of Irem trod,— Save only 1, a miserable wretch, 8. Fearless, and scarce surprised- All other feebler feelings overpowered- I was a wife beloved, The happy mother of a numerous race. Of all my offspring this alone is left. He gave,-He takes away!" QUESTIONS.-1. How many persons are introduced in this lesson, and who are they? 2. Where were the mother and child? 3. How is the desert described? 4. Why did Thalaba utter a cry? 5. Whom did they find? 6. How long had he dwelt there? 7. Had he any companions? 8. How was he affected at the sound of a human voice? 9. What account did the mother give of herself, in the last verse? To what does him relate, fifth line, fourth verse? In what tone of voice should the quotation, fifth verse, be read? In what the quotation, last verse? Where is Yemen ? Ans. in Arabia Felix. LESSON XCV. SPELL AND DEFINE-1. Gross, dull; stupid; thick. 2. Converted, changed from a bad life to a good one. 3. Verily, most truly. 4. Tribulation, severe affliction. 5. Persecution, suffering, inflicted for religious or other principles. 6. Parable, a fable, or relation of something as real, from which a moral is drawn for instruction. Parable of the Sower.-BIBLE. 1. THE same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 2. And he spake many things unto them in parables, say. ing, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side, and the fowls came and devoured them up. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth; and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and, because they had no root, they withered away. And some feli among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 3. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables; because they seeing, see not; and hearing, they hear not; neither do they understand. 4. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: for this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 5. But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 6. Hear ye, therefore, the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way-side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for awhile; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 7. He also that received seed among the thorns, is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that receiveth seed into the good ground, is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty. QUESTIONS.-1. Where was Jesus teaching when he uttered this para ble? 2. How did he describe the sower? 3. What did his disciples ask him? 4. What reason did he give for speaking in parables? 5. To whom did he explain this parable 6. How did he explain it ? LESSON XCVI. SPELL AND DEFINE-1. Ad'vent, a coming. 2. Globe, a round body. 3. Disseminated, scattered, as seed in sowing. 4. Le vant', literally means, East; here means, Turkey in Asia. 5. Paganism, the worship of false gods. 6. Authen'ticated, established as true by authority. 7. "Announcement, the act of giving notice. Time and Place of the Savior's Advent.-ABBOTT. 1. THERE is something interesting, in the time and place selected for the Savior's advent. This earth being a globe, of course its surface has no geographical center; but if we take into view its moral and political condition, and history, it has some parts far more suitable than others to be radiant points, from which any extraordinary message from heaven is to be disseminated. It would be difficult to find a place more suitable for, such a purpose, than the very country, chosen by Jehovah as the scene of the sufferings and death of Christ. 2. Look upon the map, and you find that the land of Canaan is situated upon the eastern coast of the Mediterranean sea; and if you look east, west, north, and south, at the various connections of this spot, you will find that no other on earth, will compare with it for the purpose for which it was selected. Egypt and the other regions of Africa on the south, are balanced by Syria and the Caucassian countries on the north. There were the Persian and Assyrian empires on the east, and there were the Greek and Roman empires on the west. India and China, with their immense multitudes, are upon one side, and modern France, and England, and Germany, with their vast political power, on the other. 3. Then look upon the Mediterranean sea, on the borders of which Canaan lies,-bathing as it does the shores of three quarters of the globe, and bearing upon its bosom almost every ship that sailed for the first five thousand years of the earth's history. Palestine is a most remarkable spot for such a purpose. If no such communication had ever been made from heaven, and the earth had remained in darkness and paganism to the present day, its history having remained, in other respects, the same as it has been, and we had looked over it to find the best place for an embassy from above, Judea would have been the very spot. We should have pointed to the Levant, and said, hère is the moral cen ter of the world. If a missionary from heaven is to be sent let him be stationed hère. 4. It is astonishing how much of the interesting history of the human race, has had for its scene the shores of the Mediterranean. Egypt is there. There is Greece. Xerxes, Darius, Solomon, Cesar, Hannibal, knew no extended sea but the Mediterranean. The mighty armies of Persia, and the smaller but invincible bands of the Grecians, passed its tributaries. Pompey fled across it-the fleets of Rome and Carthage, sustained their deadly struggles upon its waters; and until the discovery of the passage round the Cape of Good Hope, the commerce of the world passed through the ports of the Mediterranean. 5. If we go back to ancient ages, we find the Phenician sailors the first who ventured upon the unstable element-slowly and fearfully steering their little barks along the shores of this sea; and if we come down to modern times, we see the men of war of every nation, proudly plowing its waves, or riding at anchor in its harbors. There is not a region upon the face of the earth, so associated with the rec ollection of all that is interesting in the history of our race, as the shores of the Mediterranean sea; nor a place more likely to be chosen by the Creator, as the spot where He would establish His communication with men, than the land of Judea. 6. The time of the Savior's advent, is as worthy of notice, as the place. The world had been the scene of war and bloodshed for many centuries-empire after empire had arisen from the ruins of the preceding, none, however, obtaining a very general sway. At last the Roman power obtained universal ascendency, and all was at peace. A very considerable degree of civilization and knowledge, pre◄ vailed over a great part of the then known world; and every |