devoured them; the pike had seized them; there were none found of so great a multitude.

I have seen a man in the pride of his strength; his cheeks glowed with beauty; his limbs were full of activity; he leaped; he walked; he ran; he rejoiced in that he was more excellent than those. I returned he lay stiff and cold on the bare ground; his feet could no longer move, nor his hands stretch themselves out; his life was departed from him; and the breath out of his nostrils.

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Therefore do I weep, because DEATH is in the world; the spoiler is among the works of God; all that is made must be destroyed; all that is born must die: let me alone, for I will weep yet longer.

BARBAULD.

SECTION XI.

Immortality.

I HAVE seen the flower withering on the stalk, and its bright leaves spread on the ground.-I looked again it sprung forth afresh; its stem was crowned with new buds, and its sweetness filled the air.

I have seen the sun set in the west, and the shades of night shut in the wide horizon: there was no colour, nor shape, nor beauty, nor music; gloom and darkness brooded around.-I looked : the sun broke forth again from the east, and gilded the mountain tops; the lark rose to meet him

from her low nest, and the shades of darkness

fled away.

I have seen the insect, being come to its full size, languish, and refuse to eat it spun itself a tomb, and was shrouded in the silken cone; it lay without feet, or shape, or power to move.-I looked again: it had burst its tomb; it was full of life, and sailed on coloured wings through the soft air; it rejoiced in its new being.

Thus shall it be with thee, O man! and so shall thy life be renewed. Beauty shall spring up out of ashes, and life out of the dust. A little while shalt thou lie in the ground, as the seed lies in the bosom of the earth: but thou shalt be raised again; and thou shalt never die any more.

Who is he that comes to burst open the prison doors of the tomb; to bid the dead awake; and to gather his redeemed from the four winds of heaven? He descends on a fiery cloud; the sound of a trumpet goes before him; thousands of angels are on his right-hand. It is Jesus, the son of God: the Saviour of men; the friend of the good. He comes in the glory of his Father; he has received power from on high.

Mourn not, therefore, child of immortality! for the spoiler, the cruel spoiler, that laid waste the works of God, is subdued. Jesus has conquered death-child of immortality! mourn no longer.

BARBAULD

SECTION XII.

Heaven.

THE rose is sweet, but it is surrounded with thorns the lily of the valley is fragrant, but it

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springs up amongst the brambles. The spring is pleasant, but it is soon past: the summer is bright, but the winter destroys its beauty. The rainbow is very glorious, but it soon vanishes away; life is good, but it is quickly swallowed up in death.

There is a land, where the roses are without thorns; where the flowers are not mixed with brambles. In that land, there is eternal spring, and light without any cloud. The tree of life grows in the midst thereof; rivers of pleasure are there, and flowers that never fade. Myriads of happy spirits are there, and surround the throne of God with a perpetual hymn. The angels with their golden harps sing praises continually, and, the cherubim fly on wings of fire!-This country is Heaven it is the country of those who are good; and nothing that is wicked must inhabit there. The toad must not spit its venom amongst turtledoves; nor the poisonous henbane grow amongst sweet flowers. Neither must any one who does ill, enter into that good land.

This earth is pleasant, for it is God's earth: and it is filled with many delightful things. But

that country is far better: there we shall not grieve any more, nor be sick any more, nor do wrong any more; there the cold of winter shall not wither us, nor the heat of summer scorch us. In that country, there are no wars, nor quarrels; but all dearly love one another.

When our parents and friends die, and are laid in the cold ground, we see them here no more; but there we shall embrace them again, and live There we with them, and be separated no more. shall meet all good men, whom we read of in holy books. There we shall see Abraham, the called of God, the father of the faithful; and Moses, after his long wanderings in the Arabian desert; and Elijah, the prophet of God; and Daniel, who escaped the lions'.den; and there the son of Jesse, the shepherd king, the sweet singer of Israel. They loved God on earth; they praised him on earth but in that country they will praise him better, and love him more.

There we shall see Jesus, who is gone before us to that happy place; and there we shall behold the glory of the high God. We cannot see him here, but we will love him here. We must be now on earth, but we will often think on heaven. That happy land is our home; we are to be here but for a little while, and there for ever, even for eternal ages.

BARBAULD.

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CHAPTER V.

DIALOGUES.

SECTION I.

CANUTE AND HIS COURTIERS.

Flattery reproved.

CANUTE.

Is it true, my friends, as you have often told me, that I am the greatest of monarchs?

OFFA.

It is true, my liege; you are the most powerful of kings.

OSWALD.

We are all your slaves; we kiss the dust of your feet.

OFFA.

Not only we, but even the elements, are your slaves. The land obeys you from shore to shore; and the sea obeys you.

CANUTE.

Does the sea, with its loud boisterous waves, obey me? Will that terrible element be still at my bidding?