3. He said he felt it to be a privilege to be silent when such men were discoursing: but that he felt it a duty to comply with this request; "but," said he, "if I must give my opinion, I should say you had no good preachers in England." "No!" said Mr. L. "No," said he, "that is, I mean, no such preachers as we have in the principality."

4. "I know," said Mr. L., “you are famous for jumping in Wales, but that is owing, I suppose, as much to the strain of preaching which the people hear, as to the enthusiasm of their characters." Indeed," said the Welchman, "you would jump too, if you heard and understood such preaching."

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5. " Why," said Mr. L., "do you not think I could make them jump, if I were to preach to them?" "You make them jump!" exclaimed the Welchman, “you make them jump! a Welchman would set fire to the world, while you were lighting your match."

6. The whole company became very much interested in this new turn of the subject, and unanimously requested the good man to give them some specimen of the style and manner of preaching in the principality.

7. "Specimen," said he, "I cannot give you; if John Elias was here, he would give you a specimen indeed. Oh! John Elias is an excellent preacher." Well, said the company, give us something that you have heard from him.

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8. "Oh, no!" said he, I cannot do justice to it; besides, do you understand the Welch language?" They said no, not so as to follow a discourse. "Then," said he, "it is impossible for ye to understand, if I were to give you a specimen."

9. But, said they, cannot you put it into English? "Oh!" said he, "your poor meagre language would spoil it; it is not capable of expressing those ideas which a Welchman can conceive; I cannot give you a specimen in English without spoiling it."

10. The interest of the company was increased, and nothing would do but something of a specimen, while they promised to make every allowance for the language.

11. "Well," said the Welchman, "if you must have a piece, I must try; but I don't know what to give you; I do not recollect a piece of John Elias; he is our best preacher. I must think a little ;—well, I recollect a piece of Christmas Evans.

12. "Christmas Evans was a good preacher, and I heard him a little time ago, at an association of ministers. He was preaching on the depravity of man by sin; of his recovery by the death of Christ, and he said- Brethren, if I were to pre

sent to you, in a figure, the condition of man as a sinner, and the means of his recovery by the cross of Jesus Christ, I should present somewhat in this way.

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13. Suppose a large grave-yard, surrounded by a high wall, with only one entrance, which is by a large iron gate, which is fast bolted; within these walls are thousands and tens of thousands of human beings, of all ages and of all classes, by one epidemic disease bending to the grave; the grave yawns to receive them, and they must all die; there is no balm to relieve them, no physician there—they must perish.

14. "This is the condition of man as a sinner-all, all have sinned, and the soul that sinneth it shall die. While man was in this deplorable state, Mercy, the darling attribute of Deity, came down and stood at the gate, looking at the scene, and wept over it, exclaiming, oh, that I might enter, I would bind up their wounds, I would relieve their sorrows—I would save their souls.

15. "While Mercy stood weeping at the gate, an embassy of angels, commissioned from the court of Heaven to another world, passing over, paused at the sight-and Heaven forgave that pause-and seeing Mercy standing there, they cried, Mercy, Mercy, can you not enter? Can you look upon this scene and not pity? Can you pity and not relieve? Mercy replied, I can see, and in her tears added, I can pity, but I cannot relieve. 16. d Why can you not enter? Oh, said Mercy, Justice has barred the gate against me, and I cannot, must not unbar it. At this moment, Justice himself appeared, as it were to watch the gate. The angels inquired of him, why will you not let Mercy in? Justice replied, my law is broken, and it must be honored: die they, or Justice must.

17. "At this, there appeared a form among the angelic band, like unto the Son of God, who, addressing himself to Justice, said, what are thy demands? Justice replied, my terms are stern and rigid; I must have sickness for their health, I must have ignominy for their honor, I must have death for life.— Without shedding of blood there is no remission.

18. "Justice, said the Son of God, I accept thy terms; on me be this wrong, and let Mercy enter. When, said Justice, will you perform this promise? Jesus replied, four thousand years hence, upon the hill of Calvary, without the gates of Jerusalem, I will perform it in my own person.

19. "The deed was prepared and signed in the presence of the Angels of God, Justice was satisfied, and Mercy entered, preaching salvation in the name of Jesus; the deed was com

mitted to the Patriarchs, by them to the Kings of Israel and the Prophets; by them it was preserved till Daniel's seventy weeks were accomplished; then, at the appointed time, Justice appeared on the hill of Calvary, and Mercy presented to him the important deed.

20. "Where,' said Justice,' is the Son of God? Mercy answered, behold him at the bottom of the hill, bearing his own cross; and then he departed and stood aloof, at the hour of trial. Jesus ascended the hill, while in his train followed his weeping church.

21. "Justice immediately presented him the deed, saying, this is the day when this bond is to be executed. When he received it, did he tear it in pieces and give it to the winds of heaven? No, he nailed it to the cross, exclaiming, It is finished.

22. "Justice called on holy fire to come down and consume the sacrifice. Holy fire descended, it swallowed his humanity, but when it touched his Deity it expired-and there was darkness over the whole heavens: but 'Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will to men.""—This, said the Welchman, is but a specimen of Christmas Evans.

LESSON CII.
Happiness.-LACON.

1. WHAT is earthly happiness? that phantom of which we hear so much, and see so little? whose promises are constantly given and constantly broken, but as constantly believed? that cheats us with the sound instead of the substance, and with the blossom instead of the fruit?

*

2. Like Juno, she is a goddess in pursuit, but a cloud in possession; deified by those who cannot enjoy her, and despised by those who can. Anticipation is her herald, but Disappointment is her companion; the first addresses itself to our imagination, that would believe, but the latter to our experience that must.

3. Happiness, that grand mistress of the ceremonies in the dance of life, impels us through all its mazes and meanderings, but leads none of us by the same route. Aristippust pursued her in pleasure, Socratest in wisdom, and Epicurust in both; she received the attentions of each, but bestowed her endearA heathen goddess. + A Grecian philosopher.

ments on neither; although, like some other gallants, they all boasted of more favours than they had received.

4. Warned by their failure, the stoic* adopted a most paradoxical mode of preferring his suit; he thought, by slandering, to woo her; by shunning, to win her; and proudly presumed, that by fleeing her, she would turn and follow him.

5. She is deceitful as the calm that precedes the hurricane; smooth as the water on the verge of the cataract; and beautiful as the rainbow, that smiling daughter of the storm; but, like the miraget in the desert, she tantalizes us with a delusion that distance creates, and that contiguity destroys.

6. Yet, when unsought, she is often found, and when unexpected, often obtained; while those who seek for her the most diligently, fail the most, because they seek her where she is not.

7. Antony sought her in love; Brutust in glory; Cesart in dominion; the first found disgrace, the second disgust,the last ingratitude,—and each destruction. To some she is more kind, but not less cruel; she hands them her cup, and they drink even to stupefaction, until they doubt whether they are men with Philip, or dream that they are gods with Alexander.

8. On some she smiles as on Napoleon,§ with an aspect more bewitching than an Italian sun; but it is only to make her frown the more terrible, and by one short caress to embitter the pangs of separation. Yet is she, by universal homage and consent, a queen; and the passions are the vassal lords that crowd her court, await her mandate, and move at her control.

9. But, like other mighty sovereigns, she is so surrounded by her envoys, her officers, and her ministers of state, that it is extremely difficult to be admitted to her presence-chamber, or to have any immediate communication with herself. Ambition, Avarice, Love, Revenge, all these seek her, and her alone; alas! they are neither presented to her, nor will she come to them.

10. She despatches, however, her envoys unto them-mean and poor representatives of their queen. To Ambition, she

Stoics, a set of heathen philosophers, who prided themselves in an affected indifference to pleasure or pain.

+ A curious phenomenon, supposed to result from an inverted image of the sky intermixed with the ground scenery. They are seen principally in the African deserts.

sends power; to Avarice, wealth; to Love, jealousy; to Revenge, remorse; alas! what are these, but so many other names for vexation or disappointment.

11. Neither is she to be won by flatteries or by bribes; she is to be gained by waging war against her enemies, much sooner than by paying any particular court to herself. Those that conquer her adversaries, will find that they need not go to her, for she will come unto them.

12. None bid so high for her as kings; few are more willing, none more able, to purchase her alliance at the fullest price. But she has no more respect for kings than for their subjects; she mocks them indeed with the empty show of a visit, by sending to their palaces all her equipage, her pomp, and her train, but she comes not herself. What detains her? She is travelling incognita* to keep a private assignation with Contentment, and to partake of a tete-a-tetet and a dinner of herbs in a cottage.

13. Hear then, mighty queen! what sovereigns seldom hear, the words of soberness and truth. I neither despise thee too little, nor desire thee too much; for thou wieldest an earthly sceptre, and thy gifts cannot exceed thy dominion. Like other potentates, thou also art a creature of circumstance, and an ephemerist of Time.

14. Like other potentates, thou also, when stripped of thy auxiliaries, art no longer competent even to thine own subsistence; nay, thou canst not even stand by thyself. Unsupported by Content on the one hand, and by Health on the other, thou fallest an unwieldy and bloated pageant to the ground.

LESSON CIII.

William Tell.-KNOWLES.

GESLER, the tyrant-SARNEM, his officer-and WM. TELL, a Swiss peasant. Sar. Down, slave, upon thy knees before the governor, And beg for mercy.

Ges. Does he hear?

Sar. He does, but braves thy power. [To Tell] Down, slave, And ask for life.

* In disguise, or in private.

+ Tete-a-tete, face to face, or a private conversation.

Ephemeris, a daily journal.

William Tell, an illustrious Swiss patriot, and one of the heroes who restored liberty to their oppressed country, in 1307. Herman Gesler, the Austrian governor, suspecting that a conspiracy was formed against him, and