then what would they give to be where they once were."

Laft fummer I noticed a little incident that may serve to illuftrate our subject; the fame thing, no doubt, is of frequent occurrence. An infect had entered the house and was upon the back of a chair; having walked to the end, it very circumspectly employed its feelers above, below, and all around. Afcertaining that the fide was flippery and precipitous, it turned round and went back again; this it did feveral times, nor would it leave its pofition until it could do fo with fafety. And yet man-man, with the powers almost of an angel, rushes blindly on to ruin.

It is well known that the elephant, when about to cross a bridge, puts his foot down inquiringly to afcertain its ftrength, nor will he proceed unless he is fatiffied the bridge is fufficiently strong to fupport him; but the tranfgreffor ventures on the bridge of fin, beneath which rolls the river of eternal woe, bearing with him the weight of his immortal interefts, the "vast concerns of an eternal ftate."

By the laws of motion, the boy fliding or skating on the ice cannot eafily ftop himself, and sometimes he rushes into the openings or airholes, that are often found on the furface, and meets with an untimely end.

It is fo with the laws of fin; the finner increases his momentum as he advances; from hearkening to the counsel of the "ungodly," he proceeds to the way of open " finners,"-a little

further and he fits complacently in the feat of the "fcornful." Now his doom is fealed!

Thus it was with Babylon's proud king; not content with having been an idolator all his life, against his better knowledge-for the judgment that befell his forefather, Nebuchadnezzar, must have inftructed him-he would ridicule the true religion, he would infult the Majesty of Heaven. He fends for the facred veffels of the Sanctuary, that he and his companions may magnify themselves over the captive tribes of Ifrael. But behold in the midft of his blafphemous revelry, the Hand-the terrible hand, appears, and the prefumptuous monarch, after having feen his doom recorded on the wall of his own palace, is fuddenly cut down, and his kingdom given to another.

"My heart is fixed."-Ps. cviii. 1. "I prefs toward the mark for the prize."-PHIL. iii. 14.

Scorning all time and change, his stalwart form,
Endures the peltings of eternal storm;
In awful pride, enthroned above the skies,
Peaks upon peaks in matchlefs grandeur rife:
'Mid frowning glaciers, on whofe icy creft
The favage vulture builds its craggy nest,
The fathomlefs abyfs extends beneath,

And leads the traveller to the realms of death:
Napoleon comes in queft of fame and power,
He fcans the mounts that high above him tower.
Though "barely poffible," he will "advance,"
And in Italia plant the flag of France;
In vain the mountain, like a dreadful ghost,
Rifes to frighten the advancing host.

O'er towering cliff and yawning gulf he speeds,
He means to pass, nor aught of danger heeds;
He fcales the fummit with his conquering train,
And like the vulture fwoops upon the plain.

HERE the Alps lift up their fnow-capped heads in awful fublimity; their icy pinnacles tower above the clouds; their coloffal forms arise, mountain on mountain piled. To all fave the bounding chamois or his intrepid purfuer, they appear inacceffible; here vaft overhanging precipices threaten deftruction, and there the treacherous abyss lies concealed, ready to engulf the unwary traveller; Winter reigns fupreme upon his throne of defolation; eternal tempefts increase the horror of the scene. In vain does the famished traveller fearch for fome ftunted lichen, or the smalleft animal, to fave him from approaching death; he fees nothing but boundless feas of ice-no figns of life are there-it seems the very tomb of nature; the folemn folitude is

broken only by the roar of the tempeft or the thunder of the avalanche.

Yet over all thefe obftacles Napoleon would advance; he inquires of the engineer Marefcot, who has juft explored the wild paffes of the St. Bernard, if it is poffible to pass. "Barely poffible," anfwers the officer. Very well," fays Napoleon, "en avant," "advance," and at the head of his army of above 30,000 men, with their arms, horses, and artillery, he commences the arduous paffage. The mountains seem to bid defiance to the utmost efforts of the martial hoft; but dangers and difficulties deter him not; like the gale that wafts the veffel fooner into port, they only urge him on toward the object of his ambition; he conducts the army over flippery glaciers, wide yawning ravines, and eternal fnows; he braves the fury of the tempeft, and the crash of the avalanche-and overcoming every obftacle, he fwoops upon Italy like the Alpine eagle upon his prey.

In the conduct of Napoleon in this inftance, we have a striking example of decifion and perfeverance. If we can "out of the eater bring forth meat," and "from the ftrong bring forth sweetness," it will be well.

The importance of poffeffing a decided character is best seen in its results, as the value of a tree is best known by its fruits; by its aid Napoleon accomplished the objects of his ambitionfame, and wealth, and glory, and power. With it, a man attains that which he fets his heart