nance appeared more cheerful; he drew a letter from his bosom, and having kissed it, he presented it with his right hand. "6 My Lord!" said he, "I have learned by this let ter, which I received from Cosrou the Iman, who stands now before thee, in what manner life may be best improved. I am enabled to look back with pleasure, and forward with hope; and I shall now rejoice still to be the shadow of thy power at Tauris, and to keep those honors which I so lately wished to resign." The king, who had listened to Mirza with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, immediately gave the letter to Cosrou, and commanded that it should be read. The eyes of the court were at once turned upon the hoary sage, whose countenance was suffused with an honest blush; and it was not without some hesitation that he read these words.

“To Mirza, whom the wisdom of Abbas our mighty lord has honored with dominion, be perpetual health! When I heard thy purpose to withdraw the blessings of thy goernment from the thousands of Tauris, my heart was wounded with the arrow of affliction, and my eyes became dim with sorrow. But who shall speak before the king when he is troubled; and who shall boast of knowledge when he is distressed by doubt? To thee will I relate the events of my youth, which thou hast renewed before me; and those truths which they taught me, may the prophet multiply

to thee!

"Under the instruction of the physician Aluzar, I obtained an early knowledge of his art. To those who were smitten with disease, I could administer plants, which the sun has impregnated with the spirit of health. But the scenes of pain, languor, and mortality, which were perpetually rising before me, made me often tremble for myself. I saw the grave open at my feet: I determined, therefore, to contem'plate only the regions beyond it, and to despise every acquisition which I could not keep. I conceived an opinion, that as there was no merit but in voluntary poverty, and silent meditation, those who desired money were not proper objects of bounty; and that by all who were proper objects of bounty, money was despised. I, therefore, buried mine in the earth; and renouncing society, I wandered into a wild and sequestered part of the country. My dwelling was a cave by the side of a hill. I drank the running water from the spring, and ate* such fruits and herbs as I could find. To increase the austerity of my life, I frequently watched

* Pron. et.

all night, sitting at the entrance of the cave with my face to the east, resigning myself to the secret influences of the Prophet.

"One morning after my nocturnal vigil, just as I perceived the horizon glow at the approach of the sun, the power of sleep became irresistible, and I sunk under it. I imagined myself still sitting at the entrance of my cell; that the dawn increased; and that as I looked earnestly for the first beam of day, a dark spot appeared to intercept it. I perceived that it was in motion; it increased in size as it drew near, and at length I discovered it to be an eagle. I still kept my eye fixed steadfastly upon it, and saw it alight at a small distance, where I now descried a fox whose two fore-legs appeared to be broken. Before this fox the eagle laid part of a kid, which she had brought in her talons, and then disappeared.

"When I awaked, I laid my forehead upon the ground, and blessed the Prophet for the instruction of the morning. I reviewed my dream, and said thus to myself, Cosrou, thou hast done well to renounce the tumult, the business, and vanities of life: but thou hast as yet only done it in part; thou art still every day busied in the search of food; thy mind is not wholly at rest; neither is thy trust in Providence complete. What art thou taught by this vision? If thou hast seen an eagle commissioned by Heaven to feed a fox that is lame, shall not the hand of Heaven also supply thee with food, when that which prevents thee from procuring it for thyself, is not necessity, but devotion?

"I was now so confident of a miraculous supply, that I neglected to walk out for my repast, which, after the first day, I expected with an impatience that left me little power of attending to any other object. This impatience, however, I labored to suppress, and persisted in my resolution: but my eyes at length began to fail me, and my knees smote each other; I threw myself backward, and hoped my weakness would soon increase to insensibility. But I was suddenly roused by the voice of an invisible being, who pronounced these words: Cosrou, I am the angel, who, by the command of the Almighty, have registered the thoughts of thy heart, which I am now commissioned to reprove. While thou wast attempting to become wise above that which is revealed, thy folly has perverted the instruction which was vouchsafed thee. Art thou disabled like the fox? hast thou not rather the powers of the eagle? Arise, let the eagle be

6

the object of thy emulation. To pain and sickness, be thou again the messenger of ease and health. Virtue is not rest, tut action. If thou doest good to man as an evidence of thy ove to God, thy virtue will be exalted from mortal to divine; and that happiness which is the pledge of paradise, will be thy reward upon earth.'

"At these words, I was not less astonished than if a mountain had been overturned at my feet. I humbled myself in the dust; I returned to the city; I dug up my treasure; I was liberal, yet I became rich. My skill in restoring health to the body, gave me frequent opportunities of curing the diseases of the soul. I grew eminent beyond my merit; and it was the pleasure of the king that I should stand before him. Now, therefore, be not offended; 1 boast of no knowledge that I have not received. As the sands of the desert drink up the drops of rain, or the dew of the morning, so do I also, who am but dust, imbibe the instructions of the Prophet.

Believe, then, that it is he who tells thee, all knowledge is profane, which terminates in thyself; and by a life wasted in speculation, little even of this can be gained. When the gates of paradise are thrown open before thee, thy mind shall be irradiated in a moment. Here, thou canst do little more than pile error upon error: there, thou shalt build truth upon truth. Wait, therefore, for the glorious vision; and in the mean-time emulate the eagle. Much is in thy power; and, therefore, much is expected of thee. Though the Almighty only can give virtue, yet, as a prince, thou mayest stimulate those to beneficence, who act from no higher motive than immediate interest: thou canst not produce the principle, but mayest enforce the practice. Let thy virtue be thus diffused; and if thou believest with reverence, thou shalt be accepted above. Farewell! May the smile of Him who resides in the heaven of heavens be upon thee; and against thy name, in the volume of His will, may happiness be written!"

The king, whose doubts, like those of Mirza, were now removed, looked up with a smile that communicated the joy of his mind. He dismissed the prince to his government; and commanded these events to be recorded, to the end that posterity may know, "that no life is pleasing to God, but that which is useful to mankind."

LESSON XXIX.

The Planetary System.—MANGNALL. FAIR star of Eve, thy lucid ray

Directs my thoughts to realms on high;
Great is the theme, though weak the lay,
For my heart whispers God is nigh.

The Sun, vicegerent of his power,
Shall rend the veil of parting night,
Salute the spheres, at early hour,
And pour a flood of life and light.
Seven circling planets I behold,
Their different orbits all describe;
Copernicus these wonders told,
And bade the laws of truth revive.

Mercury and Venus first appear,
Nearest the dazzling source of day;
Three months compose his hasty year
In seven she treads the heav'nly way.

Next, Earth completes her yearly course;
The Moon as satellite attends;
Attraction is the hidden force,
On which creation's law depends.

Then Mars is seen of fiery hue;
Jupiter's orb we next descry;
His atmospheric belts we view,
And four bright moons attract the eye.

Mars, soon his revolution makes,

In twice twelve months the sun surrounds, Jupiter, greater limit takes,

And twelve long years declare his bounds.

With ring of light, see Saturn slow,
Pursue his path in endless space;
By seven pale moons his course we know,
And thirty years that round shall trace.

The Georgium Sidus next appears,
By his amazing distance known;
The lapse of more than eighty years,

In his account makes one alone.

Six moons are his, by Herschel shown,
Herschel, of modern times the boast;
Discovery here is all his own,
Another planetary host!

And lo! by astronomic scan,

Three stranger planets track the skies,
Part of that high majestic plan,
Whence those successive worlds arise.

Next Mars, Piazzi's orb is seen,

Four years six months, complete his round;
Science shall renovated beam,

And gild Palermo's favored ground.

Daughters of telescopic ray,

Pallas and Juno, smaller spheres,
Are seen near Jove's imperial way,
Tracing the heavens in destined years.

Comets and fixed stars I see,

With native lustre ever shine;

How great! how good! how dreadful! He,
In whom life, light, and truth combine.

Oh! may I better know his will,
And more implicitly obey;
Be God my friend, my father still,
From finite, to eternal day.

LESSON XXX.

Incentives to devotion.-H. K. WHITE.

Lo! the unlettered hind, who never knew To raise his mind excursive, to the heights Of abstract contemplation, as he sits On the green hillock by the hedge-row side, What time the insect swarms are murmuring, And marks, in silent thought, the broken clouds, That fringe, with loveliest hue, the evening sky, Feels in his soul the hand of nature rouse The thrill of gratitude, to him who formed The goodly prospect; he beholds the God Thron'd in the west; and his reposing ear