And bring pale Death upon him in his prime. His nights to rest, and live while live he might ?" To breathe the vital áir, What is 't to live? Consume the fruits of earth, and doze away 2. Oh! when the mighty GoD from nothing brought Burst forth, the sun was set in heaven,— And earth was clothed in beauty; when the last, Lives not as well,-lives not as long, as he Who drags out years of life, without one thought,- 3. How shall we measure life? Not by the years,- Its cleansing from pollution and from sin,— 4. When in the silent night, all earth lies hushed It soars from earth,—it dwells in angels' homes,— 7. His years, 'tis true, are few, his life is long; 8. The spark of pure Divinity, which shines Yes; his life is long,- LESSON XCV. EXPLANATORY NOTES.-1. It is generally supposed that the cities SODOM and GOMORRAH, the destruction of which is mentioned in the 19th Chapter of Genesis, were situated where is now the DEAD SEA. 2. TI' BER is the river of Italy, on whose banks the city of Rome is situated. EU RO' TAS is a river of Greece, on the banks of which stood SPARTA, the great capital of Laconia, and also numerous villages and towns. CEPHIS' SUS is the name of three rivers of Greece, on the banks of one of which Athens is situated. This is doubtless the one, to which reference is here had. 3. ENNUI (en wa) is a term denoting lassitude, gloominess. VALLEY OF THE JORDAN AND DEAD SEA. From the French of CHATEAUBRIAND. 1. CONCEIVE two long chains of mountains running parallel from north to south, without projections, without recesses, without vegetation. The valley which lies between these mountains, resembles the bottom of a sea, from which the waves have long ago withdrawn,-banks of gravel, a dried bottom, rocks covered with salt, deserts of moving sand, here and there stunted arbutus shrubs grow with difficulty on that arid soil; their leaves are covered with the salt which had nourished their roots, while their bark has the scent and taste of smoke. 2. Instead of villages, nothing but the ruins of towers is to be seen. Through the midst of the valley flows a discolored stream which seems to drag its lazy course unwillingly toward the lake. Its course is not to be discerned by the water, but by the willows and shrubs which skirt its banks, and in which the Arab conceals himself to way-lay and rob the pilgrim. 3. Such are the places rendered famous by the maledictions of Heaven. That river is the Jordan. That lake is the Dead Sea. It appears with a serene surface; but the guilty cities' which are embosomed in its waves, have poisoned its waters. Its solitary abysses can sustain the life of no living thing; no vessel ever plowed its bosom; its shores are without trees, without birds, without verdure; its water, frightfully salt, is so heavy that the highest wind can hardly raise it. 4. I had seen the great rivers of America, with the pleasure which is inspired by the magnificent works of nature. I had hailed the Tiber2 with ardor, and sought the Eurotas and Cephissus; but on none of these occasions did I experience the intense emotion which I felt on approaching the Jordan. Not only did that river recall the earliest antiquity, and a name rendered immortal in the finest poetry, but its banks were the theater of the miracles of our religion. Judea is the only country which recalls the earliest recollections of man, and our first impressions of Heaven; and thence arises a mixture of feeling in the mind, which no other part of the world can produce. 5. In traveling in Judea, an extreme feeling of ennui3 frequently seizes the mind, from the sterile and monotonous aspect of the objects which are presented to the eye. But, when journeying on through these pathless deserts, the expanse seems to spread out to infinity before you, the ennui disappears, and a secret terror is experienced, which, far from lowering the soul, elevates and inflames the genius. These extraordinary scenes reveal the land, desolated by miracles; that burning sun, the impetuous eagle, the barren fig-tree, all the poetry, all the pictures of Scripture, are there. 6. Every name recalls a mystery; every grotto speaks of the life to come; every peak re-echoes the voice of a prophet. God himself has spoken on these shores;-these dried-up torrents, these cleft rocks, these tombs rent asunder, attest His resistless hand. The desert appears mute with terror; and you feel that it has never ventured to break silence since it heard the voice of the Eternal. 1. 2. 8. LESSON XCVI. ELIJAH'S INTERVIEW.* ON Horeb's rock the prophet stood,- 'Twas but the whirlwind of His breath, It ceased. The air grew mute,—a cloud CAMPBELL When, through the mountain, deep and loud, (<) An earthquake thundered on; The frighted eagle sprang in air, The wolf ran howling from his lair; 'Twas but the rolling of His car,— 'Twas still again, and Nature stood And calmed her ruffled frame; Down to the depth the ocean fled,— That lightened through the troubled sky. 4. (p.) At last a voice, all still and small, Rose sweetly on the ear; Yet rose so shrill and clear that all In Heaven and earth might hear. * Consult the 19th Chapter of 1 Kings, 11th and 12th verses. |