public will give me a bond to employ me when I am ready to serve them. Till such a bond is signed, sealed, and delivered, I shall set my hours to the tune of "Jack's alive." To-day's the ship I sail in, and that will carry the flag, in spite of the combined powers of yesterdays and to-morrows. How. Well, Lester, you can take your choice. I shall set my hours to a more serious tune. I ask no bond of the public. If my mind is well furnished with knowledge, and that same generous public, which has so uniformly called to her service the discerning, should refuse my services, still I shall possess a treasure, which, after a few years of dissipation, you would give the world to purchase, THE RECOLLECTION OF TIME WELL SPENT. CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION. OW darkness fell On all the region round; the shrouded sun A prodigy, A prodigy, that to the world announc'd And canopied in clouds. Him, face to face, Thus the partition wall, by Moses built, Soon as those signs and prodigies were seen Of those who watch'd the cross, conviction smote Their fear-struck hearts. The sun, at noon day dark: The earth convulsive underneath their feet, And the firm rocks, in shiver'd fragments rent, Rous'd them at once to tremble and believe. Then was our Lord by heathen lips confess'd, When When the centurion cry'd, In very truth His dying pray'rs and their own impious taunts And through the holy city here and there They, who with Christ transfigur'd on the mount Of dazzling glory, now, in form distinct, With loins close girt, and glowing lips of fire Ye Ye vipers! whom my warning could not move Now fallen on your head; whom I indeed Of every sapless tree, hewn down, condemn'd Mark with what scorn Silent they pass you by: them had ye heard, He of these stones to Abraham shall raise up THE WONDERS OF NATURE. How OW mighty how majestic! and how mysterious are nature's works! When the air is calm, where sleep the stormy winds? In what chambers are they reposed, or in what dungeons confined? But when He, "who holds them in his fist," is pleased to awaken their rage, and throw open their prison doors, then, with irresistible impetuosity, they rush forth, scattering dread, and menacing destruction. The atmosphere is hurled into the most tumultuous confusion. The aerial torrent bursts its way over mountains, seas, and continents. All things feel the dreadful shock. All things tremble before the furious blast. The forest, vexed and torn, groans under the scourge. G 2 Her Her sturdy sons are strained to the very root, and almost sweep the soil they were wont to shade. The stubborn oak, that disdains to bend, is dashed headlong to the ground; and with shattered arms, with prostrate trunk, blocks up the road. While the flexile reed, that springs up in the marsh, yielding to the gust, (as the meek and pliant temper, to injuries, or the resigned and patient spirit, to misfortunes) eludes the force of the storm, and survives amidst the wide-spread havoc. For a moment, the turbulent and outrageous sky seems to be assuaged; but it intermits its warmth, only to increase its strength. Soon the sounding squadrons of the air return to the attack, and renew their ravages with redoubled fury. The stately dome rocks amidst the wheeling clouds. The impregnable tower totters on its basis, and threatens to overwhelm whom it was intended to protect. The ragged rocks are rent in pieces; and even the hills, the perpetual hills, on their deep foundations are scarcely secure. Where now is the place of safety? when the city reels, and houses become heaps! Sleep affrighted flies. Diversion is turned into horror. All is uproar in the elements; all is consternation among mortals; and nothing but one wide scene of rueful devastation through the land. The ocean swells with tremendous commotions. The ponderous waves are heaved from their capacious bed, and almost lay bare the unfathomable deep. Flung into the most rapid agitation, they sweep over the rocks; they lash the lofty cliffs, and toss themselves into the clouds. Navies are rent from their anchors; and, with all their enormous load, are whirled swift as the arrow, wild as the winds, along the vast abyss. Now they climb the rolling mountain; they plough the frightful ridge; and seem to skim the skies. Anon they plunge into the opening gulf; they lose the sight of day; and are lost themselves to every eye. How vain is the pilot's art; how impotent the mariner's strength!"They reel to and fro, and stagger |