XLI.

"Last night, when we were all asleep,
Out of his bed did this gallows-bird creep;
Piet Pieterszoon's boots and spurs he put on,
And stole my best horse, and away he was gone.

XLII.

"Now Alit, my wife, did not sleep so hard, But she heard the horse's feet in the yard; And, when she jogged me, and bade me wake, My mind misgave me as soon as she spake.

XLIII.

"To the window my good woman went,
And watched which way his course he bent;
And, in such time as a pipe can be lit,

Our horses were ready with bridle and bit.

XLIV.

Away, as fast as we could hie,

We went, Piet Pieterszoon and I;

And still on the plain we had him in sight;

The moon did not shine for nothing that night.

XLV.

"Knowing the ground and riding fast, We came up with him at last;

And-would you believe it? Father Kijf,

The ungrateful wretch would have taken my life, If he had not missed his stroke with a knife.

XLVI.

"The struggle in no long time was done,
Because, you know, we were two to one;
But yet all our strength we were fain to try,
Piet Pieterszoon, my son, and I.

XLVII.

"When we had got him on the ground,
We fastened his hands, and his legs we bound
And across the horse we laid him then,

And brought him back to the house again."

XLVIII.

"We have robbed the gallows and that was ill done;' Said I to Piet Pieterszoon, my son,

'And restitution we must make

To that same gallows, for justice' sake.'

XLIX.

"In his suit of irons the rogue we arrayed,
And once again in the cart he was laid;
Night not yet so far was spent,

But there was time enough for our intent;
And back to the triple tree we went.

L.

"His own rope was ready there,

To measure the length we took good care;

And the job which the bungling hangman begun,
This time, I think, was properly done,

By me and Piet Pieterszoon, my son.'

EXERCISE VIII.

JAMES ABRAHAM HILLHOUSE was born in New Haven, Ct., Sept. 28th, 1789, and died near the same place, Jan. 4th, 1841. He was a writer of considerable merit, both in prose and verse. The following is from a drama by him, entitled HADAD. In this play, Hadad is represented as a person of the royal blood of Damascus, detained as a hostage in Jerusalem. The TAMAR, here introduced, is a daughter of Absalom, who is described (II. Sam., chap. xiv. v. 27) as "a woman of fair countenance." Absalom, in furtherance of his ambitious projects, is disposed to give her in marriage to Hadad; nor is

she herself averse to the alliance, as will appear in the dialogue. NATHAN is the celebrated prophet who so pointedly rebuked king David (II. Sam., chap. xii.).

1 THEBES, the "hundred-gated city," was situated in Upper Egypt. It was said to have 20,000 war-chariots, and a circuit of not less than 17 miles. Its flourishing era lasted nearly eight centuries, that is, from B. C. 1600 to B. c. 800. The site of the city is now a desert, or occupied by a few straggling villages.

2 Palibō'thra, or Palimbō'thra, a celebrated city of ancient India, now known by the name of Patna.

3 SEREN/DIB, an old name for the island of Ceylon; so called by the Arabs.

ILIUM is only another name for ancient Troy in Asia Minor.

5 ELI ́SHAH'S ISLES, so called from Elishah, a son of Javan (Gen. x. iv.). His descendants are supposed to have peopled Greece, especially the southern part, as also the islands of the Ægean Sea.

6 MEM/NON is represented by most Greek writers as king of Ethiopia. He fought against the Greeks in the Trojan War, and was slain by Achilles.

'URIM and THUмMIM, lights and truths; a kind of ornaments on the breastplate of the high priest, in virtue of which he gave answers to the people in certain cases of appeal to God.

SCENE FROM HADAD.

JAMES A. HILLHOUSE.

An Apartment in Absalom's House. Nathan and Tamar.

Nath. But tell me, hast thou ever noted

Amidst his many shining qualities

Aught strange or singular ?-unlike to others?

That caused thy wonder? even to thyself

Moved thee to say, "How?-Wherefore's this?"

Tam. Never.

Nath. Nothing that marked him from the rest of men ?

Hereafter you shall know why thus I question.

Tam. O, yes, unlike he seems in many things,

In knowledge, eloquence, high thoughts.

Nath. Proud thoughts

Thou mean'st?

Tam. I'm but a young and simple maid;

But, father, he, of all my ears have judged,

Is master of the loftiest, richest mind.

Nath. How have I wronged him! deeming him more apt For intricate designs, and daring deeds,

Than contemplation's solitary flights.

Tam. Seer, his far-soaring thoughts ascend the stars, Pierce the unseen abyss, pervade, like light,

The universe, and wing the infinite

Nath. (fixing his eyes upon her)

What stores of love, and praise, and gratitude
He thence must bring to Him whose mighty hand
Fashioned their glories, hung yon golden orbs
Amidst His firmament; who bids

The day-spring know his place, and sheds from all
Sweet influences; who bars the haughty sea,
Binds fast his dreadful hail, but drops the dew
Nightly upon His people! How his soul,

Returning from its quest through Earth and Heaven,

Must glow with holy fervor! Doth it, maiden?

Tam. Ah! father, father, were it so indeed, I were too happy!

Nath. How!-expound thy words.

Tam. Though he has trod the confines of the world,

Knows all its wonders, and almost has pierced

The secrets of eternity, his heart

Is melancholy, lone, discordant, save

When love attunes it into happiness.

He hath not found, alas! the peace which dwells
But with our fathers' God.

Nath. And canst thou love

One who loves not Jehovah ?

Tam. O, ask not.

Nath. (fervently.)

My child! thou wouldst not wed an Infidel?

Tam. (in tears) O, no! O, no!

Nath. Why then this embassage? Why doth your sire Still urge the king? Why hast thou hearkened it?

Tam. There was a time when I had hopes,-when truth

Seemed dawning in his mind,-and sometimes still,
Such heavenly glimpses shine, that my fond heart
Refuses to forego the hope, at last,

To number him with Israel.

Nath. Beware,

Or thou❜lt delude thy soul to ruin. Say,
Doth he attend our holy ordinances?

Tum. He promises observance.

Nath. Two full years

Hath he abode in Jewry.

Tam. Prophet, think

How he was nurtured-in the faith of Idols;
That impious worship long since he abjured
By his own native strength; and now he looks
Abroad through Nature's works, and yet must rise.
Nath. Speaks he of Moses?

Tam. Familiar as thyself.

Nath. I think thou said'st he had surveyed the world?
Tam. O father, he can speak

Of hundred-gated Thebes,1 towered Babylon,
And mightier Nineveh, vast Palibothra,'
Serendib anchored by the gates of morning,
Renowned Benares, where the Sages teach
The mystery of the soul, and that famed Ilium
Where fleets and warriors from Elishah's Isles'
Besieged the Beauty,* where Memnon fell:-
Of pyramids, temples, and superstitious caves.
Filled with strange symbols of the Deity;
Of wondrous mountains, desert-circled seas,
Isles of the ocean, lovely Paradises,

Set like unfading emeralds in the deep.

Nath. Yet manhood scarce confirms his cheek.
Tam. All this

His thirst of knowledge has achieved; the wish
To gather from the wise eternal Truth.

* Helen.