was followed by every eye with silent malignity: the poor suspended their supplication, when he passed by: though he was known by every man, yet no man saluted him. 5. Such had long been the life of Carazan, and such was the character which he had acquired, when notice was given by proclamation, that he was removed to a magnificent building in the center of the city, that his table should be spread for the public, and that the stranger should be welcome to his bed. The multitude soon rushed like a torrent to his door, where they beheld him distributing bread to the hungry, and appărel to the naked, his eye softened with compassion, and his cheek glowing with delight. Every one gazed with astonishment at the prodigy;2 and the murmur of innumerable voices increasing like the sound of approaching thunder, Carazan beckoned with his hand attention suspended the tumult in a moment; and he thus gratified the curiosity which procured him audience. 6. "To him who touches the mountains and they smoke, the Almighty and the most merciful, be everlasting honor! he has ordained sleep to be the minister of instruction, and his visions have reproved me in the night. As I was sitting alone in my hārem,3 with my lamp burning before me, computing the product of my merchandise, and exulting in the in'crease of my wealth, I fell into a deep sleep, and the hand of Him who dwells in the third heaven was upon me. I beheld the angel of death coming forward like a whirlwind, and he smote me before I could deprecate1 the blow. At the same moment, I felt myself lifted from the ground, and transported with astonishing rapidity through the regions of the air. 7. "The earth was contracted to an atom beneath; and the stars glowed round me with a luster that obscured the sun. The gate of paradise was now in sight; and I was intercepted by a sudden brightness which no human eye could behold. The irrevocable sentence was now to be pronounced; my day of probation was past; and from the evil of my life nothing could be taken away, nor could any thing be added to the good. 'Ma lig'nity, bitter anger; bitterness.- Prod'i gy, a surprising thing; a wonder.3 Hà'rem, a place in Eastern dwelling-houses allotted to the women. Dep' re cate, pray earnestly against.— Ir rẻv'o ca ble, that can not be recalled.- Pro bà' tion, moral or preparatory trial. When I reflected that my lot for eternity was cast, which not all the powers of nature could reverse, my confidence totally forsook me; and while I stood trembling and silent, covered with confusion and chilled with horror, I was thus addressed by the radiance that flamed before me. 8. "Carazan, thy worship has not been accepted, because it was not prompted by love of God; neither can thy righteousness be rewarded, because it was not produced by love of man : for thy own sake, only, hast thou rendered to every man his due; and thou hast approached the Almighty only for thyself. Thou hast not looked up with gratitude, nor around thee with kindness. Around thee, thou hast indeed beheld vice and folly; but if vice and folly could justify thy parsimony,' would they not condemn the bounty of Heaven? 9. "If not upon the foolish and the vicious, where shall the sun diffuse his light, or the clouds distill their dew? Where shall the lips of the spring breathe fragrance, or the hand of autumn diffuse plenty? Remember, Carazan, that thou hast shut compassion from thy heart, and grasped thy treasures with a hand of iron; thou hast lived for thyself; and, therefore, henceforth forever thou shalt subsist alone. From the light of heaven, and from the society of all beings, shalt thou be driven; solitude shall protract the lingering hours of eternity, and darkness aggravate the horrors of despair.' 10. "At this moment, I was driven, by some secret and irresistible power, through the glowing system of creation, and passed innumerable worlds in a moment. As I approached the verge of nature, I perceived the shadows of total and boundless vacuity deepen before me, a dreadful region of eternal silence, solitude, and darkness! Unutterable horror seized me at the prospect, and this exclamation burst from me with all the ve'hemence of desire: 'Oh that I had been doomed forever to the common receptacle of impenitence and guilt! There society would have alleviated the torment of despair, and the rage of fire could not have excluded the comfort of light. Or, if I had 1 'Pår' si mo ny, sparingness in the use of money; avarice; meanness. Va cù'ity, space without matter; emptiness.- Vè' he mence, violent ardor; eagerness. been condemned to reside in a comet, that would return but once in a thousand years to the regions of light and life, the hope of these periods, however distant, would cheer me in the dread interval of cold and darkness, and the vicissitudes would divide eternity into time.' 11. "While this thought passed over my mind, I lost sight of the remotest star, and the last glimmering of light was quenched in utter darkness. The agonies of despair every moment increased, as every moment augmented my distance from the last habitable world. I reflected with intolerable anguish, that when ten thousand thousand years had carried me beyond the reach of all but that Power who fills infinitude, I should still look forward into an immense abyss of darkness, through which I should still drive, without succor and without society, further and further still, forever and forever. I then stretched out my hands toward the regions of existence, with an emotion that awakened me. 12. "Thus have I been taught to estimate society, like every: other blessing, by its loss. My heart is warmed to liberality; and I am zealous to communicate the happiness which I feel, to those from whom it is derived; for the society of one wretch, whom in the pride of prosperity I would have spurned from my door, would, in the dreadful solitude to which I was condemned, have been more highly prized than the gold of Africa, or the gems of Golconda." 13. At this reflection upon his dream, Carazan became suddenly silent, and looked upward in ecstasy of gratitude and devotion. The multitude were struck at once with the precept and example; and the caliph,' to whom the event was related, that he might be liberal beyond the power of gold, commanded it to be recorded for the benefit of posterity. HAWKESWORTH. 'Gol con' da, a fortified town in Hindostan, which has been noted as a place of deposit for diamonds, which are brought hither from the plains at the base of Neela Hulla mountains, on the banks of Kistnah and Pennar rivers, no mines existing in the vicinity. A large amount of treasure is supposed to be kept here, as Europeans or native strangers are not usually allowed to enter the gates.- Ec' sta sy, extreme joy or pleasure; overpowering emotion.- Cål' iph, a successor, or representative of Mohammed; the highest ruler among the Mohammedans. 1. 129. FRIENDSHIP. E have been friends together, In sunshine and in shade, Since first beneath the chestnut-trees But coldness dwells within thy heart, 2. We have been gay together; We have laugh'd at little jests; Shall a light word part us now? 3. We have been sad together; O'er the grass-grown graves, where slumber'd The voices which were silent there Would bid thee clear thy brow; We have been sad together; Shall a light word part us now? MRS. NORTON. 130. FORGIVE AND FORGET. WHEN streams of unkindness as bitter as gall, 1. WHEN Bubble up from the heart to the tongue, And Meekness is writhing in torment and thrall, In the heat of injustice, unwept and unfair, None, none but an angel of God can declare, 2. But, if the bad spirit is chased from the heart, With the wrong so repented the wrath will depart, 3. To forget? It is hard for a man with a mind, To blot out all insults and evils behind, Then how shall it be? for at every turn And the ashes of injury smolder and burn, 4. Oh, hearken! my tongue shall the riddle unseal, Remember thy follies, thy sins, and thy crimes, Yet Mercy hath seven by seventy times 5. Brood not on insults or injuries old, Count not their sum till the total is told, And if all thy harms are forgotten, forgiven, Now mercy with justice is met; Oh, who would not gladly take lessons of heaven, 6. Yes, yes; let a man when his enemy weeps, 1 Pên' i tence, sorrow of heart for sins or offenses.- Contrition (kon. trish' un), deep sorrow for sin. |