phant hands the ruins of the sanctuary; and wished to have no other recompense for the good he had rendered to his country, than the honour of having done it some service. This valiant man pursuing, with a courage invincible, the enemy whom he had compelled to a shameful flight, received at last his death's wound, falling, as it were, overwhelmed in the triumph he had achieved. On the first report of this disastrous event, all the cities of Judah were deeply affected; rivers, of tears flowed from the eyes of their inhabitants; they were in one moment overcome mute, immoveable. After a long and mournful silence, they at last cried out in one voice broken by sighs which sadness, pity, fear, forced from their hearts, How, is the mighty fallen who saved the people of Israel?" At these words, all Jerusalem wept more and more; the roofs of the temple shook; the Jordan was troubled, and all its banks re-echoed the mournful strains, How, is the mighty fallen who saved the people of Israel?" "

·

In 1686, Flechier was nominated to the bishopric of Lavaur; on which occasion, Louis XIV. paid him the following handsome compliment. "I have," said he, "made you wait some time for a place which you have long deserved; but I was unwilling sooner to deprive myself of the pleasure of hearing you."

EXCOMUNICATION.

When the court of Rome, under the pontificates of Gregory IX. and Innocent IV., set no bounds to their ambitious projects, they were opposed by the Emperor

A

Frederic, who was of course anathematized. curate of Paris, a humourous fellow, got up in his pulpit, with the bull of Innocent in his hand. You know, my brethren," said he, "that I am ordered to proclaim an excommunication against Frederic. I am ignorant of the motive. All that I know is, that there exists between this prince and the Roman Pontiff great differences, and an irreconcilable hatred. God only knows which of the two is wrong. Therefore, with all my power, I excommunicate him who injures the other; and I absolve him who suffers, to the great scandal of all Christianity."

QUAKER PREACHING.

Sewel, who is more generally known by his Dutch and English Dictionary, than as an English writer, relates the following anecdote of his mother, Judith Zinpsenning, who visited England, and was much esteemed there among the quakers. Being at a meeting in London, and finding herself stirred up to speak of the loving kindness of the Lord to those that feared him, she desired one Peter Sybrands to be her interpreter; but he, though an honest man, being not very fit for that service, one or more friends told her they were so sensible of the power by which she spoke, that though they did not understand her words, yet they were edified by the life and power that accompanied her speech; and, therefore, they little regretted the want of interpretation. And so she went on without any interpreter !

HOTTENTOT PREACHING.

Mr. Campbell, the missionary, mentions in his Travels in South Africa, that during his stay at Graaf Reynet, Boozak and Cupido, two converted Hottentots, frequently "addressed the Heathen;" and he gives the following among other specimens of their oratorical powers.

"Before the missionaries," said Boozak, "came to us, we were as ignorant of every thing as you now are. I thought then I was the same as a beast; that when I died, there would be an end of me; but after hearing them, I found I had a soul that must be happy or miserable for ever. Then I became afraid to die. I

hunt lions or eleBut when I heard

was afraid to take a gun into my hand, lest it should kill me; or to meet a serpent, lest it should bite me. I was then afraid to go to the hill to phants, lest they should devour me. of the Son of God having come into the world to die for sinners, all that fear went away. I took my gun again, and without fear of death, went to hunt lions, and tigers, and elephants."

The following specimen from a sermon of the other convert, Cupido, is in a higher strain.

"He illustrated," says Mr. Campbell," the immortality of the soul, by alluding to the serpent, who, by going between the two branches of a bush which press against each other, strips himself once a year of his skin. 'When we find the skin,' said he, we do not call it the serpent; no, it is only the skin: neither do we say the serpent is dead; no, for we know he is alive, and has only cast his skin."" The serpent he

compared to the soul, and the skin to the body of

man."

THE RIVAL ORATORS.

Æschines having drawn up an accusation against one Ctesiphon, or rather against Demosthenes, a time was fixed for hearing the trial. No cause ever excited so much curiosity, or was pleaded with so much pomp. People flocked to it from all parts," says Cicero, "and they had great reason for so doing; for what sight could be nobler than a conflict between two orators, each of them so excellent; both formed by nature, improved by art, and animated by perpetual dissensions and an insuperable jealousy. The disposition of the people, and the juncture of affairs, seemed to favour Æschines; but, notwithstanding, he lost his cause and was sentenced to banishment for his rash accusation. He then went and settled in Rhodes, where he opened a school of eloquence, the fame and glory of which continued for many ages. He began his lectures with the two orations that had occasioned his banishment. Great encomiums were given to that of Eschines; but when they heard that of Demosthenes, the plaudits and acclamations were redoubled; and it was then that he spoke these words, so generous in the mouth of an enemy: "But what applauses would you have bestowed, had you heard Demosthenes speak it himself!"

CARACTACUS.

Caractacus, after defending himself with invincible bravery against the Romans, who had invaded his

dominions, was treacherously seized and betrayed to his enemies, by whom he was sent, with the rest of his family, in chains to Rome. The behaviour of Caractacus, in that metropolis of the world, was truly great. When brought before the emperor, he appeared with a manly and undaunted countenance, and thus addressed himself to Claudius. "If in my prosperity the moderation of my conduct had been equivalent to my birth and fortune, I should have come into this city, not as a captive, but as a friend; nor would you, Cæsar, have disdained the alliance of a man born of illustrious ancestors, and ruler over several nations. My present fate is to me dishonourable, to you magnificently glorious. I once had horses; I once had men; I once had arms; I once had riches; can you wonder then I should part with them unwllingly? Although, as Romans, you may aim at universal empire, it does not follow that all mankind must tamely submit to be your slaves. If I had yielded without resistance, neither the perverseness of my fortune, nor the glory of your triumph, had been so remarkable. Punish me with death, and I shall soon be forgotten. Suffer me to live, and I shall remain a lasting monument of your clemency."

The manner in which this noble speech was delivered, affected the whole assembly, and made such an impression on the emperor, that he ordered the chains of Caractacus and his family to be taken off; and Agrippina, who was more than an equal associate in the empire, not only received the captive Britons with great marks of kindness and compassion, but confirmed to them the enjoyment of their liberty.