Expects his death from me? Which is the man,
Whom Israel sends to meet my bold defiance?

Dav. The election of my sov'reign falls on me. Gol. On thee! on thee! by Dagon, 'tis too much. Thou curled minion! thou a nation's champion! 'Twould move my mirth at any other time; But trifling's out of tune. Begone, light boy! And tempt me not too far.

Dav. I do defy thee,

Thou foul idolater! Hast thou not scorn'd
The armies of the living God I serve?

By me he will avenge upon thy head

Thy nation's sins and thine. Arm'd with his name,
Unshrinking, I dare meet the stoutest foe
That ever bath'd his hostile spear in blood.

Gol. Indeed! 'tis wondrous well! Now, by my gods, The stripling plays the orator! Vain boy!

Keep close to that same bloodless war of words,
And thou shalt still be safe. Tongue-valiant warrior
Where is thy sylvan crook, with garlands hung,
Of idle field flowers? Where thy wanton harp,
Thou dainty-finger'd hero? Better strike
Its note lascivious; or, the lulling lute
Touch softly, than provoke the tempest's rage.
I will not stain the honor of my spear

With thy inglorious blood. Shall that fair cheek
Be scarr'd with wounds unseemly? Rather go,
And hold fond dalliance with the Syrian maids;
To wanton measures dance; and let them braid
The bright luxuriance of thy golden hair;
They, for their lost Adonis, may mistake
Thy dainty form.

Dav. Peace, thou unhallow'd railer!

O tell it not in Gath, nor let the sound

Reach Askelon, how once your slaughter'd lords, By mighty Samson found one common grave: When his broad shoulder the firm pillars heav'd, And to its base the tott'ring fabric shook.

Gol. Insulting boy; perhaps thou hast not heard The infamy of that inglorious day,

When your weak hosts at Eben-ezer pitch'd
Their quick-abandon'd tents. Then, when your ark,
Your talisman, your charm, your boasted pledge
Of safety and success, was tamely lost!

And yet not tamely, since by me 'twas won.
When with this good right-arm, I thinn'd your ranks,
And bravely crush'd, beneath a single blow,
The chosen guardians of this vaunted shrine,
Hophni and Phineas. The fam'd ark itself,
I bore to Ashdod.

Dav. I remember too,

Since thou provok'st th' unwelcome truth, how all
Your blushing priests beheld their idol's shame;
When prostrate Dagon fell before the ark,
And your frail god was shiver'd. Then Philistia,
Idolatrous Philistia flew for succour

To Israel's help, and all her smitten nobles
Confess'd the Lord was God, and the blest ark,
Gladly, with reverential awe restor❜d!

Gol. By Ashdod's fame thou ly'st. Now will I meet thee,

Thou insect warrior! since thou dar'st me thus!
Already I behold thy mangled limbs,

Dissever'd each from each, ere long to feed
The fierce blood-snuffing vulture. Mark me well!
Around my spear I'll twist thy shining locks,
And toss in air thy head all gash'd with wounds;
Thy lips, yet quiv'ring with the dire convulsion
Of recent death! Art thou not terrified?

Dav. No.

True courage is not mov'd by breath of words;
But the rash bravery of boiling blood,
Impetuous, knows no settled principle.
A feverish tide, it has its ebbs and flows,
As spirits rise or fall, as wine inflames,
Or circumstances change. But inborn courage,
The gen'rous child of fortitude and faith,

Holds its firm empire in the constant soul;
And, like the stedfast pole star, never once
From the same fix'd and faithful point declines.

Gol. The curses of Philistia's gods be on thee!
This fine drawn speech is meant to lengthen out
That little life thy words pretend to scorn.

Dav. Ha! say'st thou so? Come on then! Mark us well.

Thou com'st to me with sword, and spear, and shield!
In the dread name of Israel's God, I come;
The living Lord of Hosts, whom thou defy'st!
Yet though no shield I bring; no arms, except
These five smooth stones I gather'd from the brook,
With such a simple sling as shepherds use;
Yet all exposed, defenceless as I am,
The God I serve shall give thee up a prey
To my victorious arm. This day I mean
To make th' uncircumcised tribes confess
There is a God in Israel. I will give thee,
Spite of thy vaunted strength and giant bulk,
To glut the carrion kites. Nor thee alone;
The mangled carcasses of your thick hosts
Shall spread the plains of Elah; till Philistia,
Through all her trembling tents and flying bands,
Shall own that Judah's God is God indeed!

In this good spear I trust.

Dav. I trust in Heaven!

The God of battles stimulates my arm,
And fires my soul with ardour, not its own.

AN ORATION ON THE POWERS OF ELOQUENCE, WRITTEN FOR AN EXHIBITION OF A SCHOOL IN BOSTON, 1794.

MIDST the profusion of interesting and brilliant

A objects in this assembly, should the speakerbe able

to engage the attention of a few eyes, and a few ears, he will esteem his reception flattering. To another is allotted the pleasing task of closing the evening, with remarks on Female Education.* It is mine to recommend the POWERS OF ELOQUENCE, and to show the influence which it justly challenges, over the senses, passions and understandings of mankind.

Eloquence consists in a capacity of expressing, by the voice, attitude, gesture, and countenance, the emotions of the heart. To this art, Demosthenes and Cicero owe their immortality; by this, the late earl of Chatham gained his celebrity; and to this, are the great politicians, now in Europe, indebted for their distinction. Eloquent men begin to be heard with attention in our Congress; pulpit orators gain crowds, and eloquent lawyers gain causes.

When the enlightened Statesman is discussing the interests of a country, on which are grafted his fortune, fame and life, he must be eloquent. When the general harangues a brave soldiery, at the eve of a battle, on which depend their liberties and lives, he must be eloquent. When the compassionate lawyer, without hope of reward, advocates the cause of the suffering widow, or injured orphan, he must be eloquent.

But when true eloquence is introduced into the sacred desk, how elevated is the subject of the passion on the cross! With what animating zeal can the preacher call on his hearers, to "open a highway for their God!" With what rapture can he burst from the gloom of types and figures, into the brightness of that everlasting Gospel which brought " life and immortality to light!" With what heaven-taught joy can he hail the star in the East! and with what semblance of reality may he lead the imaginations of his audience to a sight of the babe in the manger! If he feel such subjects he must be eloquent and irresistible.

May we now look back and trace the progress and influence of Eloquence on different subjects, and at

*See American Preceptor, p. 47.

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various periods? How do we feel its power, when we hear David expressing the appearing of the Highest! "He bowed the heavens also, and came down, and darkness was under his feet; he rode upon a cherub, and did fly, and he was seen upon the wings of the wind."

Who can hear, without emotion, the sublime eloquence of the prophet Isaiah, when he announces the future glory of the Church? "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land; wasting nor destruction within thy borders: but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates, Praise.",

But in what language has the prophet Habakkuk described the majesty of the Creator? "Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet: he stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations: the everlasting mountains were scattered: the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting." Let us pass in respectful silence the eloquence of Him, who "spake, as never man spake:"

But our attention is immediately arrested by the defence of Paul before Agrippa; in which he describes a light from heaven, above the brightness of the mid-day sun; when he declaress conversion, and commission to be a minister, and witness of those things, which he had seen, and of those things, in which the Saviour would appear unto him." Whereupon," says he, "O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision."

Nor can we fail to mention that eloquence, which made Felix tremble on his throne. Nor can we read, unmoved, Paul's solemn account of the resurrection; when, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead shall be raised, and we shall be changed." But when we come to the vision on the isle of Patmos, where the glory of heaven was unveiled to a man of God, we are lost in the majesty and sublimity of the description of things, which must be hereafter; and must close the sacred scriptures, convinced of the irre