9. Then was our Lord by heathen lips confess'd,
When the centurion cri'd, "In very truth
This righteous Person was the Son of God;"
The rest, in heart assenting, stood abash'd,
Watching in silence the tremendous scene.

10.

11.

12.

The recollection of his gracious acts,
His dying pray'rs and their own impious taunt
Now rose in sad review; too they wish'd

The deed undone, and sighing smote their breasts.
Straight from God's presence went that angel forth,
Whose trumpet shall call up the sleeping dead
At the last day, and bade the saints arise
And come on earth to hail this promis'd hour,
The day-spring of salvation.

Forth they came

From their dark tenements, their shadowy forms
Made visible as in their fleshly state,

And through the holy city here and there

Frequent they gleam'd, by night, by day, with fear
And wonder seen of many: holy seers,

Prophets and martyrs from the grave set free,
And the first fruits of the redeemed dead.

They, who with Christ transfigur'd on the mount
Were seen of his disciples in a cloud

Of dazzling glory, now, in form distinct,
Mingling amidst the public haunts of men,
Struck terror to all hearts: Ezekiel there,
The captive seer, to whom on Chebar's banks
The heaven's were open'd and the fatal roll
Held forth with dire denunciations fill'd,
Of lamentation, mourning and of wo,
Now falling fast on Israel's wretched race:
13. He too was there, Hilkiah's holy son,

With loins close girt, and glowing lips of fire
By God's own finger touch'd: there might be seen
The youthful prophet, Belteshazzar nam'd
Of the Chaldees, interpreter of dreams,
Knowledge of God bestow'd, in visions skill'd,
And fair, and learn'd, and wise: the Baptist here
Girt in his hairy mantle, frowning stalk'd,
And pointing to his ghastly wound, exclaim'd
14. Ye vipers! whom my warning could not move
Timely to flee from the impending wrath

15.

Now fallen on your head; whom I indeed
With water, Christ hath now with fire baptiz'd:
Barren ye were of fruits, which I prescrib'd
Meet for repentance, and behold! the axe
Is laid to the unprofitable root

Of every sapless tree, hewn down, condemn'd
And cast into the fire. Lo! these are they,
These shadowy forms now floating in your sight,
These are the harbingers of ancient days,
Who witness'd the Messias, and announced
His coming upon earth.

Mark with what scorn
Silent they pass you by: them had ye heard,
Them had ye noted with patient mind,

Ye had not crucified the Lord of life:

He of these stones to Abraham shall raise up
Children, than you more worthy of his stock;
And now the winnowing fan is in his hand,
With which he'll purge his floor, and having stor'd
The precious grain in garners, will consume
With fire unquenchable the refuse chaff.

CUMBERLAND.

LESSON XCIV.

Female Character.

[From an unpublished Address, delivered at Ipswich, at the opening of the Female Academy in that place.]

1. When we survey the works of creation, we see a variety of objects adapted to please the eye and to charm the soul. But of all objects on earth one is pre-eminently interesting.

2. To man, even in his primeval state, Eden with all its beauties, with all that was pleasant to the eye and good for food, was unable to impart complete happiness, till his social wants were supplied by a companion suitable to himself. And were the days of original innocence to return; were earth through all its climes to bloom with another Eden; still to social man it would be a wilderness, were no daughters of Eve to be seen walking up and down in it. 3. Woman is interesting, partly, we must confess, be

cause her Creator has adorned her person with superior grace and loveliness. Though the creating and forming power of God is always perfect, and therefore incapable of improvement, yet, since human skill improves with practice, it was not without reference to the superior workmanship of woman, that while Adam was formed immediately from the earth, Eve was formed out of Adam.

4. But it is not the outward form--it is not the gentle, the affectionate, the attractive manner chiefly, that renders woman so interesting--it is not because she has an eye that sparkles with brilliancy, that she so enchains intelligent man; it is because through that eye there looks out a mind as intelligent as his own; a mind capable of deep penetration, capable of flying with thought as on a seraph's wings from world to world; because through that window there looks out a heart, susceptible of every kind, benevolent, and generous emotion; in a word, because within there dwells a soul, capable of vast accessions of knowledge, qualifying her to fill most important spheres, to discharge most weighty duties, to exert a most extensive and happy influence; a soul capable, through grace, of enjoying a blessed immortality, and of preparing others for that immortality.

5. If we glance at those domestic relations which woman sustains, she appears in attitudes highly interesting.

6. Is she a daughter? She has a strong hold on the parental bosom. By her kind, discreet, obedient, dutiful conduct, she contributes greatly to the happiness of those who tenderly love her and who are her natural guardians and guides. Or by the opposite conduct she disappoints their hopes, and pierces their hearts with sorrow, proportion to the superior strength and tenderness of parental affection, is the happiness or misery resulting from the kind or unkind deportment of a daughter.

Just in

7. Is she a sister? If intelligent and virtuous, she sheds the most kindly influence on the little circle of kindred spirits in which she daily moves.

8. Is she a wife? The relation is most endearing, and its duties most important. Taken originally from a place near man's heart, she is ever to be his most kind, affectionate, and faithful partner. To contribute to his happiness is always to be her first earthly care. It is hers, not merely to amuse his leisure hours, but to be his intelligent com

panion, friend, and counsellor; his second self; his constant and substantial helper, both as to the concerns of this life, and as to his eternal interests. She is to do him good all the days of her life. And by so doing to dwell in the vicinity of his heart, till separated by death."

9. Is she a mother? It is hers in no small degree to form the character of the next generation. Constantly with her children, having the chief care of them in infancy and early childhood, the most susceptible, the forming period of life, to her, in an important sense, are committed the character and the destiny of individuals and nations. Many of the most distinguished and of the most excellent men this or any country has produced, were indebted under God for their weight of character, chiefly to the exertions of their mothers during their early childhood.

10. Many a child has been saved from a profligate life on earth and from eternal ruin, through the affectionate remembrance of the soft hand and the fervent prayers of a kind christian mother. The following anecdote speaks to the heart. "When I was a little child," said a pious man, “my mother used to bid me kneel beside her, and place her hand upon my head while she prayed.. Ere I was old enough to know her worth, she died, and I was left much to my own guidance.

11. Like others, I was inclined to evil passions, but often felt myself checked, and as it were drawn back by the soft hand upon my head. When I was a young man, I travelled in foreign lands and was exposed to many temptations; but when I would have yielded, that same hand was upon my head, and I was saved. I seemed to feel its pressure, as in days of my happy infancy, and sometimes there came with it a voice in my heart, a voice that must be obeyed O do not this wickedness, my son, nor sin against God."

12. Thus viewed in her domestic relations, woman appears in a highly interesting light. So she does when seen in other stations. See her taking an active part in various benevolent associations. There she exerts an influence in the cause of humanity and of religion, the most powerful and beneficial. Like an angel of mercy on the wing, she performs her part with promptitude and compassion. AMERICAN SPECTATOR.

LESSON XCV.

Extract from the Eulogy on Dr. Franklin, pronounced by the Abbe Fauchet in the Name of the Commons of Paris, 1790.

1. A second creation has taken place; the elements of society begin to combine together; the moral universe is now seen issuing from chaos, the genius of liberty is awakened and springs up, she sheds her divine light and creative powers upon the two hemispheres. A great na tion, astonished at seeing herself free, stretches her arms from one extremity of the earth to the other, and embraces the first nation that became so: the foundations of a new city are created in the two worlds; brother nations hasten to inhabit it. It is the city of mankind!

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2. One of the first founders of this universal city was the immortal FRANKLIN, the deliverer of America. The second founders, who accelerated this great work, made it worthy of Europe. The legislators of France have rendered the most solemn homage to his memory. They have › said, "A friend of humanity is dead: mankind ought to be overwhelmed with sorrow! Nations have hitherto only worn mourning for kings; let us assume it for a Man, and let the tears of Frenchmen mingle with those of Americans, in order to do honour to the memory of one of the Fathers of Liberty!"

3. The city of Paris, which once contained this philosopher within its walls, which was intoxicated with the pleasure of hearing, admiring, and loving him; of gathering from his lips the maxims of a moral legislator, and of imbibing from the effusions of his heart a passion for the public welfare, rivals Boston and Philadelphia, his two native cities, (for in one he was born as it were a man, and in the other as a legislator) in its profound attachment to his merit and his glory.

4. It has commanded this funeral solemnity, in order to perpetuate the gratitude and the grief of this third country, which, by the courage and activity with which it has profited by his lessons, has shown itself worthy of having him at once for an instructor and a model.

5. In selecting me for the interpreter of its wishes, it has declared, that it is less to the talents of an orator, than to the patriotism of a citizen, the zeal of a preacher of liber