The reverend champion stood. At his control,
Despair and anguish fled the struggling soul;
Comfort came down the trembling wretch to raise
And his last faltering accents whispered praise.

4. At church, with meek and unaffected grace,
His looks adorned the venerable place;
Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway,
And fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray.
The service past, around the pious man,
With ready zeal, each honest rustic ran;
E'en children followed, with endearing wile,

And plucked his gown, to share the good man's smile
His ready smile a parent's warmth expressed;
Their welfare pleased him, and their cares distressed;
To them his heart, his love, his griefs, were given,
But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven.
As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.

GOLDSMITH.

1. Ar a period in the world's history so distant that it may be called fabulous, on a beautiful day in summer, a certain blind traveller was groping his way through a thick forest. Suddenly he was accosted by a stranger, who said, in a bland but commanding voice, "Give me your hand, and I will lead you out of this wood to the Palace of Probation, whither every one must go who is found here." Thus saying, the stranger seized the blind man's hand, and conducted him some distance to an immense palace, the portal of which opened at their approach, and closed as they entered.

2. No sooner had the blind man crossed the threshold than a flash of light smote his eyes, and the sense of vision was imparted as if by miracle. At first he drew back, fearing that objects would fall on him; but he soon accustomed himself to measure distances by sight, and then it was with admiration and pleasure that he gazed about him. He stood in an immense rotunda or circular hall, the ceiling of which, of incalculable height, was of solid crystal, and lighted by a luminous clock, which indicated the time with a precision that no chronometer could equal. He looked around for his conductor, but the latter had disappeared. 3. Although no host appeared to give the new-comer welcome,

it was evident that every preparation for his arrival had beeD made. Servants were in attendance to minister to every want. He was thirsty, and, as if by enchantment, a fountain leaped up close at nand. He was hungry, and fruit seemed to stoop from the boughs of trees in the hanging gardens which variegated the splendid and immeasurable interior. He was sleepy, and a sable curtain was let down before his eyes, shutting out the gărish light, and inviting to repose.

4. He slept long and serenely, and when he awoke, lo! the curtain had been lifted, and the great dome of the palace was lighted up with a crimson radiance which gradually became more golden and intense.EI A man of venerable aspect was seated by his side, who said, "I am the stranger who guided you through the forest; and my name is Experience." "And who," asked the traveller, "is the owner of this grand palace? I would like to pay my respects to him."

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5. "There are men, whom I have guided here as I have you,” replied Experience, "who say that the palace is the mere work of chance, and that it has no other owner than the guests who enter it.". "But who built and furnished it?" returned the traveller. "Who provided all those servants, so mute and yet so attentive? The order, the grandeur, the punctuality of all the arrangements for the reception and comfort of guests, show that some great and good sovereign must be the proprietor."

6. "There are some who do not agree with you," said the old man. "Listen to me, my son! This day you shall go forth among the guests, and take your lot with them. I leave you to your own resources henceforth. You will learn that, as a certain amount of physical labor is essential to health, the sovereign owner has made it a general condition of the entertainment of all, that food and raiment shall be supplied only at the price of labor. The distribution of this labor among the guests he has left to their justice." - "And do they not distribute it aright?" inquired the new guest.

7. "Alas, no!" was the reply. "It has been estimated that, if all would give three hours out of the twenty-four to manual labor, an abundance for all would be secured, and ample time left for study and wholesome diversion. But you will find the guests quarrelling, many of them, among themselves, and trying to overreach one another. Almost every one tries to shift his task upon his neighbor, or to accumulate more than his share of the bounties which the good sovereign has supplied."

8. Why do people stay here?" asked the inexperienced guest Because," replied the old man, "the least favored inmate cannot but see that the capabilities of happiness are placed

within his reach. None pass the threshold of the outermost door but with regrets and tears. Some charge their past chagrins upon envious or malevolent opponents; others, upon false friends; others, upon their own misconduct. Few can fail to acknowledge that the means of enjoyment which the asylum offers, were they but used aright, would be all-sufficient for all." The stranger ceased, and took his leave; and the traveller went forth among the guests.

9. Many years after this conversation, as the same traveller sat meditating on the past, and gloomily anticipating the future, the messenger whose duty it was to conduct guests from the palace beckoned to him to leave. It was with a thrill of pain that the traveller received the signal, notwithstanding he was at that moment arraigning in his mind the justice and wisdom of the unseen master. The disorders and inequalities, the crimes and discontents, prevalent among the guests, were a subject of sorrowful reflection. And yet the traveller shuddered at the thought of his departure.

10. "Why is it," he said to himself, "that the sovereign master of this palace, if there be a master, does not interfere to prevent those scandalous scenes of spoliation and violence among his guests, which the good behold with so much regret and dismay? It was only this morning that I saw a most worthy family shamefully plundered, while the villains who committed the robbery were left to enjoy their ill-got spoils, without molestation. Such abuses are as repugnant to every notion of justice as they are inconsistent with the strict management of a wellordered household."

11. While revolving these sad thoughts, the messenger who had beckoned him to depart drew nigh; but, ere he could take the hand of the traveller, Experience, his old friend, interposed, and said to the latter, "Dost thou suppose that thou hast witnessed the end of these things? The sovereign has seen all, heard all. The palace is so constructed that not a whisper which is uttered there fails to reach his ears. Not a deed is committed which he cannot see. Not a thought is conceived, the motion of which in the brain does not make undulations in the atmosphere that reach him and vibrate its meaning.

12. 66 Know that, by a power inconceivable to all save him by whom it is exerted, he obliges all travellers who cross this forest to sojourn for a period, longer or shorter, in this Palace of Probation, in order that their qualities of mind and heart may be developed and tested amid scenes the best fitted for their exercise and confirmation. Indulgent but just, he will await all who have soʻjourned here, in a more magnificent palace, the Palace of

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Compensation, contiguous to this you are about to quit, but compared with which the present is little better than a hovel.

13. "Thither, by an irresistible power, of which this messenger who awaits you is an agent, the steps of all will be directed. It is there that each guest will find his deserts according to his conduct and character. It is there that all will recognize the sacred requisitions of justice." Light seemed to pour upon the soul of the pilgrim, now that he was departing, even as it had upon his eyes at the moment of his entrance. All was explained, all was clear! He was no longer bewildered by afflicting doubts as to the character of the sovereign whose hospitality he had enjoyed. At once consoled for the past and reassured for the future, he said, with a joyful alacrity, to the messenger, “Lead on !"

14. Already through the opening portal, rising above the haze of the distance, the traveller sees the stupendous outlines of the second palace. The style of the architecture of that portion of the building presented to his view is somewhat austere, but, as he advances, it assumes a softer and sublimer grace. He is eager to enter its magnificent precincts. He has no fear for the future. He has been seen by the master, whose hospitality he has not abused. He carries with him a conscience void of offence. That is enough.

ORIGINAL TRANSLATION FROM THE FRENCH.

CIII. THE DISCONTENTED MILLER.

1. WHANG, the miller, was naturally avaricious; nobody loved money better than he, or more respected those who had it. When people would talk of a rich man in company, Whang would say, "I know him very well; he and I have been long acquainted; he and I are intimate." But, if ever a poor man was mentioned, he had not the least knowledge of the man; he might be very well, for aught he knew; but he was not fond of making many acquaintances, and loved to choose his company.

2. Whang, however, with all his eagerness for riches, was poor. He had nothing but the profits of his mill to support him; but, though these were small, they were certain; while it stood and went he was sure of eating; and his frugality was such that he every day laid some money by, which he would at intervals count and contemplate with much satisfaction. Yet still his acquisi tions were not equal to his desires; he only found himself above want, whereas he desired to be possessed of affluence.

3. One day, as he was indulging these wishes, he was informed

that a neighbor of his had found a pan of money under ground, having dreamed of it three nights running before. These tidings were daggers to the heart of "Here am I," says Whang. poor he, "toiling and moiling from morning till night for a few paltry farthings, while neighbor Thanks only goes quietly to bed and dreams himself into thousands before morning. O, that I could dream like him! With what pleasure would I dig round the pan! How slyly would I carry it home! not even my wife should see me and then, O, the pleasure of thrusting one's hand into a heap of gold up to the elbow!"

4. Such reflections only served to make the miller unhappy; he discontinued his former assiduity; he was quite disgusted with small gains, and his customers began to forsake him. Every day he repeated the wish, and every night laid himself down in order to dream. Fortune, that was for a long time unkind, at last, however, seemed to smile on his distresses, and indulged him with the wished-for vision. He dreamed that under a certain part of the foundation of his mill there was concealed a monstrous pan of gold and diamonds, buried deep in the ground, and covered with a large flat stone.

5. He concealed his good luck from every person, as is usual in money dreams, in order to have the vision repeated the two succeeding nights, by which he should be certain of its truth. His wishes in this, also, were answered; he still dreamed of the same pan of money in the very same place. Now, therefore, it was past a doubt; so, getting up early the third morning, he repaired alone, with a mattock in his hand, to the mill, and began to undermine that part of the wall to which the vision directed him.

6. The first omen of success that he met was a broken ring; digging still deeper, he turned up a house-tile, quite new and entire. At last, after much digging, he came to a broad flat stone, but then so large that it was beyond man's strength to remove it. "Here!” cried he, in raptures, to himself; "here it is; under this stone there is room for a very large pan of diamonds indeed. I must e'en go home to my wife, and tell her the whole affair, and get her to assist me in turning it up."

ΕΙ

7. Away, therefore, he goes, and acquaints his wife with every circumstance of their good fortune. Her raptures on this occa sion may easily be imagined. She flew round his neck and em braced him in an ecstasy of joy; but these transports, however did not allay their eagerness to know the exact sum; returning, therefore, together to the same place where Whang had bee digging, there they found - not, indeed, the expected treasure — but the mill, their only support, undermined and fallen.

GOLDSMITH.