of the age. "When," said he, "O king, you and your minis ters are seated at table in the depth of winter, and the cheerful fire blazes on the hearth in the middle of the hall, a sparrow perhaps, chased by the wind and snow, enters at one door of the apartment, and escapes by the other.

3 "During the moment of its passage, it enjoys the warmth; when it is once departed, it is seen no more. Such is the nature of man. During a few years his existence is visible; but what has preceded, or what will follow it, is concealed from the view of mortals. If the new religion offers any information on subjects so mysterious and important, it must be worthy of our attention." To these reasons the other members assented.

4. Paulinus was desired to explain the principal articles of the Christian faith; and the king expressed his determination to embrace the doctrine of the missionary. When it was asked, who would dare to profane the altars of Woden, Coiffi accepted the dangerous office. Laying aside the emblems of the priestly dignity, he assumed the dress of a warrior; and despising the prohibitions of Saxon superstition, mounted the favorite charger of Edwin. By those who were ignorant of his motives, his conduct was attributed to temporary insanity.

5. But disregarding their clamors, he proceeded to the nearest temple, and bidding defiance to the gods of his fa thers, hurled his spear into the sacred edifice. It stuck in the opposite wall; and, to the surprise of the trembling spectators, the heavens were silent, and the sacrilege was unpunished. Insensibly they recovered their fears, and, encouraged by the exhortations of Coiffi, burnt to the ground the temple and th surrounding groves

141. CLEANLINESS.

ADDISON.

1. CLEANLINESS may be defined to be the emblem of purity of mind, and may be recommended under the three following .eads as it is a mark of politeness, as it produces affection, nd as it bears analogy to chastity of sentiment. First, it is a mark of politeness, for it is universally agreed upon, that no one unadorned with this virtue, can go into company without giving a manifold offence; the different nations of the world are as much distinguished by their cleanliness, as by their arts and sciences; the more they are advanced in civilization, the more they consult this part of politeness.

2. Secondly, cleanliness may be said to be the foster-mother of affection. Beauty commonly produces love, but cleanliness preserves it. Age, itself, is not unamiable while it is preserved clean and unsullied; like a piece of metal constantly kept smooth and bright, we look on it with more pleasure than on a new vessel cankered with rust. I might further observe, that as cleanliness renders us agreeable to others, it makes us easy to ourselves; that it is an excellent preservative of health; and that several vices, both of mind and body, are inconsistent with the habit of it.

3. In the third place, it bears a great analogy with chastity of sentiment, and naturally inspires refined feelings and passions; we find from experience, that through the prevalence of custom, the most vicious actions lose their horror by being made familiar to us. On the contrary, those who live in the neighborhood of good examples, fly from the first appearance of what is shocking: and thus pure and unsullied thoughts are naturally suggested to the mind, by those objects that perpetually encompass us when they are beautiful and elegant in heir kind.

4. In the East, where the warmth of the climate makes cleanliness more immediately necessary than in colder countries, it is a part of religion; the Jewish law (as well as the Mohammedan, which in some things copies after it), is filled

with bathings, purifications, and other rites of the like nature; and we read several injunctions of this kind in the Book of Deuteronomy.

142. THERE WERE MERRY DAYS IN ENGLAND.

J. E. CARPENTER.

Go call thy sons: instruct them what a debt

They owe their ancestors; and make them swear
To pay it-by transmitting down entire

Those sacred rights to which themselves were born."

AKENSIDE.

1. THERE were merry days in England-and a blush is on my

brow,

When I think of what our land has been, and what our homes are now;

When our peasantry and artisans were good as well as brave,

And mildly heard the blessed truths the old religion gave.

There were merry days in England when a common lot we felt,

When at one shrine, and in one faith, the peer and peasant knelt ;

A faith that link'd in holy bonds the cottage and the throne,

Before a thousand priests uprose-with each a creed-his own!

2 There were merry days in England, when on the village

green,

The good old pastor that they loved, amid his flock was

seen;

The parish church, that, even then, had seen an earlier

day,

There only, like their forefathers, the people went to pray

There were merry days in England-now mark the Sabbath day,

How many scoff the fanes wherein their good forefathers lay;

Some "new light" glitters in their path-but let the truth be told,

And who can say he's happier now than those who lived of old?

3 There were merry days in England-ere England's direst foes

To clamor forth sedition, in their wickedness arose ;

To riot in the scenes from which, once, Britons would

recoil;

To wreck a thousand hearths and homes, and-fatten on the spoil!

There were merry days in England-ere those traitors snapp'd the chord

The bond of faith and truth that bound the poor man to the lord;

When the people loved their rulers, their religion, and their

laws,

And the welfare of the nation was to all a sacred cause.

There were merry days in England-there were joys we never knew,

Ere our poor men were so many, and our rich men were so

few;

When by honor and integrity our sires would stand o

fall

Before the great King MAMMON was the king that govern'

all!

143. MEMORY AND HOPE.

PAULDING.

JAMES KIRKE PAULDING, born at Pawlings, on the Hudson, in 1779. Pauld Ing's writings are voluminous, and many of them of great interest. The best known, are "The Dutchman's Fireside," and "Westward Ho!"

1. HOPE is the leading-string of youth; memory the staff o age. Yet, for a long time they were at variance, and scarcely ever associated together. Memory was almost always grave, nay, sad and melancholy. She delighted in silence and repose, amid rocks and waterfalls; and whenever she raised her eyes from the ground, it was only to look back over her shoulder. Hope was a smiling, dancing, rosy boy, with sparkling eyes, and it was impossible to look upon him without being inspired by his gay and sprightly buoyancy. Wherever he went, he diffused gladness and joy around him; the eyes of the young sparkled brighter than ever at his approach; old age, as it cast its dim glances at the blue vault of heaven, secmed inspired with new vigor; the flowers looked more gay, the grass more green, the birds sung more cheerily, and all nature seemed to sympathize in his gladness. Memory was of mortal birth, but Hope partook of immortality.

2. One day they chanced to meet, and Memory reproached Hope with being a deceiver. She charged him with deluding mankind with visionary, impracticable schemes, and exciting expectations that led only to disappointment and regret; with being the ignis fatuus of youth, and the scourge of old age. But Hope cast back upon her the charge of deceit, and maintained that the pictures of the past were as much exaggerated by Memory, as were the anticipations of Hope. He declared that she looked at objects at a great distance in the past, h in the future, and that this distance magnified every thing "Let us make the circuit of the world," said he, "and try the experiment." Memory reluctantly consented, and they went their way together.

3. The first person they met was a school-boy, lounging lazily along, and stopping every moment to gaze around, as if unwilling to proceed on his way. By and by, he sat down,