it. How thou standest like a post! Has Mercury struck thee with his enfeebling rod; or art thou ashamed to betray thy awkwardness? If he would permit me, I would teach thee to dance in a way that thou hast not yet seen. I would make thee caper and leap like a buck. But what else canst thou do, thou bragging rascal? What can I do pistol; and his It was your He is not well Duellist. O, heavens! must I bear this? with this fellow? I have neither sword nor shade seems to be twice as strong as mine. Mercury. You must answer his questions. own desire to have a conversation with him. bred, but he will tell you some truths which you must hear in this place. It would have been well for you if you had heard them above. He asked of you what you could do besides eating and dancing? Duellist. I sang very agreeably. Savage. Let me hear you sing your death-song, or the war-whoop. I challenge you to sing;-the fellow is mute.Mercury, this is a liar. He tells us nothing but lies. Let me pull out his tongue. Duellist. The lie given me! - and, alas! I dare not resent it. O, what a disgrace to the family of the Pushwells! Mercury. Here, Charon, take these two savages to your care. How far the barbarism of the Mohawk will excuse his horrid acts, I leave Minos to judge; but what excuse can the Englishman plead? The custom of duelling? An excuse this, that, in these regions, cannot avail. The spirit that made him draw his sword in the combat against his friend, is not the spirit of honor; it is the spirit of the furies, of Alecto herself. To her he must go, for she has long dwelt in his merciless bosom. I Savage. If he is to be punished, turn him over to me. understand the art of tormenting. Sirrah,* I begin with this * Pron. Sar-rah. kick, as a tribute to your boasted honor. Get you into the boat, or I will give you another. I am impatient to have you condemned. Duellist. O my honor, my honor, to what infamy art thou fallen! A MOUSE, weary of living in the continual alarm, attendant on the carnage committed among her nation by Mitis and Rodilardus, thus addressed herself to the tenant of a hole near her own. "An excellent thought has just come into my head; — I read in some book which I gnawed a few days ago, that there is a fine country, called the Indies, in which mice are in much greater security than here. In that region, the sages believe that the soul of a mouse has been that of a king, a great captain, or some wonderful saint, and that after death it will probably enter the body of a beautiful woman, or mighty pōtentate. If I recollect rightly, this is called metempsychosis. Under this idea, they treat all animals with paternal charity, and build and endow hospitals for mice, where they are fed like people of consequence. Come, then, my good sister, let us hasten to a country, the customs of which are so excellent, and where justice is done to our merits." Her neighbor replied, "But, sister do not cats enter these hospitals? If they do, metempsychosis must take place very soon, and in great numbers; and a talon or a tooth might make a fakir,* or a king; a miracle we can very well do without.”. "Do not fear," said the first mouse, "in these countries order is completely established; the cats have their houses as well as we ours, and they have their hospitals for the sick, separate *Pron. fah-keer from ours.' After this conversation, our two mice set out together, contriving the evening before she set sail, to creep along the cordage of a vessel, that was to make a long voyage. They got under way, and were enraptured with the sight of the sea, which took them from the abominable shores on which cats exercise their tyranny. The sail was pleasant, and they reached Surat, not like merchants, to acquire riches, but to receive good treatment from the Hindoos. They had scarcely entered one of the houses fitted up for mice, when they aspired to the best accommodation. One of them pretended to recollect having formerly been a Bramin on the coast of Malabar, and the other protested that she had been a fine lady of the same country, with long ears; but they displayed so much impertinence, that the Indian mice lost all patience. A civil war commenced, and no quarter was given to the two Franks, who pretended to impose laws on the others; when, instead of being eaten by cats, they were strangled by their own brethren. From this it is evident, that it is useless to go far in search of safety; as, if we are not modest and wise, we only go into danger; and if we are so, we may be secure at home. LESSON XXVIII. The Lord and the Judge.-LOMONOSOV.* The assembled gods of earth. "How long," he said, "How long will ye protect impiety, And let the vile one raise his daring head? "T is yours my laws to justify redress * From "Bowring's Specimens of Russian Poets." ""Tis yours to guard the steps of innocence, Be 'gainst the strong, the helpless one's defence, They hear not see not - know not for their eyes Are covered with thick mists-they will not see; Gods of the earth! ye kings! who answer not There's none to judge you; - know, like ours, your lot Is pain and death :— - ye stand on judgment's brink. And ye, like fading autumn-leaves, will fall; Your throne but dust. - your empire but a grave Your martial pomp a black funereal pall Your palace trampled by your meanest slave. God of the righteous! O our God! arise, LESSON XXIX. Hope triumphant in Death. CAMPBELL. UNFADING Hope! when life's last embers burn, Then, then, the triumph and the trance begin! O deep enchanting prěl'ude to repose, Daughter of Faith, awake, arise, illume The dread unknown, the chaos of the tomb! Melt, and dispel, ye spectre doubts, that roll Cimmerian darkness on the parting soul! Fly, like the moon-eyed herald of Dismay, Chased on his night-steed by the star of day! The strife is o'er the pangs of Nature close, And life's last rapture triumphs o'er her woes. Hark! as the spirit eyes, with eagle gaze, The noon of Heaven, undazzled by the blaze, On heavenly winds that waft her to the sky, Float the sweet tones of star-born melody; Wild as that hallowed anthem, sent to hail Bethlehem's shepherds in the lonely vale, When Jordan hushed his waves, and midnight still Watched on the holy towers of Zion hill! |