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profit to the natives from the numerous fishes that are found in its waters.

5. Shall I describe to thee the fructifying vapors that rise from the moist earth, or the cool breezes wafted over the rippled face of the waters? Shall I speak of the sweet song of the birds, or of the rich luxuriance of the flowering plants? What charms me beyond all else is the calm repose of the spot.

6. It is only visited occasionally by huntsmen; for my wilderness nourishes herds of deer and wild goats, but not bears and wolves. What other spot could I exchange for this? Alcmaan, when he had found the Echinades, would not wander farther.

7. When I see every ledge of rock, every valley and plain covered with new-born verdure, the varied beauty of the trees, and the lilies at my feet decked by Nature with the double charm of perfume and color; when in the distance I see the ocean, towards which the clouds are borne onward, my spirit is overpowered by a sadness not wholly devoid of enjoyment.

8. When in autumn the fruits have passed away, the leaves have fallen, and the branches of the trees, dried and shrivelled, are everlasting and regular change in Nature, to feel the harmony of the wondrous powers pervading all things-he who contemplates them with the eye of the soul, feels the littleness of man among the grandeur of the universe.

ST. BASIL

THE

88. THOU ART BEAUTIFUL, O SEA!

HE Sea offers us a lovely spectacle when its surface is bright, or when, rippling gently under the wind, it is tinted with purple and green; when, without beating violently upon the shore, it surrounds the earth, and caresses her with its wild embraces. But it is not this which constitutes, in the

eyes of God, the grace and beauty of the Sea: it is its works which makes it beautiful.

2. See here the immense reservoir of water which irrigates and fertilizes the earth, and which penetrates into her bosom to reappear in rivers, in lakes, and in refreshing fountains; for in traversing the earth it loses its bitterness, and is almost civilized by the distance it travels.

3. Thou art beautiful, O Sea! because in thy vast bosom thou receivest all the rivers, and remainest between thy shores without ever overleaping them. Thou art beautiful, because the clouds rise from thee. Thou art beautiful, with thine isles spread over thy surface, because thou unitest, by commerce, the most distant countries-because, instead of separating them, thou joinest the nations, and bearest to the merchant his wealth, and to life its resources.

4. But if the Sea is beautiful before men and before God, how much more beautiful is that multitude, that human sea, which has its sounds and murmurs, voices of men, of women, and of children, resounding and rising up to the throne of God!

ST. BASIL.

89. VENERABLE BEDE.

LIND with old age, the Venerable Bede

BLIN

Ceased not, for that, to preach and publish forth
The news from Heaven the tidings of great joy.
From town to town-through all the villages-
With trusty guidance roamed the aged saint,
And preached the Word with all the fire of youth.

2. One day, his boy had led him to a vale

That lay all thickly sowed with mighty rocks.
In mischief, more than malice, spake the boy :
"Most reverend father, there are many men
Assembled here, who wait to hear thy voice."
The blind old man, so bowed, straightway rose up,

Chose him his text, expounded, then applied;
Exhorted, warned, rebuked, and comforted,
So fervently, that soon the gushing tears
Streamed thick and fast down to his hoary beard.

3. When, at the close, as seemeth always meet,
He prayed, "Our Father," and pronounced aloud,
"Thine is the kingdom and the power, thine
The glory now and through eternity,"

At once there rang, through all that echoing vale,
A sound of many voices, crying,

"Amen! most reverend sire, Amen! Amen!"

4. Trembling with terror and remorse, the boy
Knelt down before the saint, and owned his sin;
"Son," said the old man, "hast thou, then, ne'er read,
'When men are dumb, the stones shall cry aloud ?'—
Henceforward, mock not, son, the word of God!
Living it is, and mighty, cutting sharp,

Like a two-edged sword. And when the heart
Of flesh grows hard and stubborn like the stone,
A heart of flesh shall stir in stones themselves."

90. TO THE CHRISTIANS OF ROME.

[St. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH:-This holy bishop governed the Church of Antioch for forty years. Having escaped the cruel persecution of Domitian, he obtained the crown of martyrdom in the pacific one under the reign of Trajan.

This emperor, so lauded by Pliny, his panegyrist, and by modern writers, cruelly commanded the martyrdom of the holy bishop, whom he sent from Antioch to Rome under the escort of soldiers more ferocious even than the animals for whom Ignatius was destined; we may conclude from such an example what was the tolerance of philosophic writers. Although Trajan issued no edict against the Christians, yet he permitted their persecution.

The most celebrated epistle of Ignatius is addressed to the Christians of Rome, to persuade them not to obtain the revocation of the sentence of martyrdom pronounced upon him How often are the last words of Socrates

quoted! Why should not tl: noble eloquence of an Ignatius and a Polycarp be household words amongst us?]

THE

HE commencement is well; if I am permitted to obtain the portion reserved for me, all will be well. But, alas! I fear your too tender compassion for me! You will supplicate the Almighty for me, and He will hear your prayers; He will spare me because you ask it, and then I must commence anew my course.

2. But remember! I also wish to please God as you please Him; if you love me with a true charity, you will let me go to enjoy my God.

3. Never shall I have a more favorable occasion to be united to Him; nor you to honor Him by a good work. If you speak not of me to Him, I shall go to God; but if, yielding to a false compassion for this miserable flesh, you bring me back to the labor of this life, what is it but to double the length and multiply the cares of my soul's journey towards her home?

4. Ah! can you procure me a greater blessing than to be immolated to God when the altar is prepared? I ask you only to unite yourselves to my sacrifice with canticles of thanksgiving in honor of the Father and of Jesus Christ His Son, whilst I offer the victim. You are forbidden to envy in aught, envy not, then, my felicity; you have instructed others, be faithful to your own precepts.

5. Occupy yourselves solely with this thought-to obtain for me by your prayers courage to overcome the enemy within and the enemy without, that I may thus wear truly and in very deed, not merely the name, but the reality of a Christian and a Bishop. I declare now to all the churches, that, provided you place no obstacles in the way, I shall with joy embrace the martyr's crown. I shall serve as food to lions and bears, but oh! how speedy such a path to heaven!

6. I am the wheat of God; would that, being ground between the teeth of beasts, I might become bread worthy to be offered to Christ. Pray with me that the beasts may tear me

to pieces, that they may become my tomb, leaving no frag ment of my body unconsumed. I do not command you,Peter and Paul could do so, for they were apostles; but what am I, save one condemned by wicked men? They were free, but I am yet a slave.

7. If I suffer, then shall I be a freedman of Christ, then shall I arise to true liberty. Now, in my chains, I desire nothing in this world-only that the beasts may be eager for their prey. If they shrink, as they have often done heretofore, I myself will urge them to the attack; I will seek to arouse their native violence.

8. Forgive me, but I know my own interests; the price of victory is Jesus Christ; what higher reward can be bestowed? Now only do I commence to be his disciple; all created things in the visible or invisible world are indifferent to me; my only desire is to possess my Saviour.

9. What, then, is there to dread in the scorching fire, in the slow and cruel death of the Cross; in the jaws of the famished tigers, in the lions of the amphitheatre; what though my bones be scattered, my limbs mangled, my body broken; what though demons exhaust upon me their rage? I am ready for all torments, provided I enjoy my Jesus.

10. Ah! what would it serve me to possess all the riches, all the grandeur of the earth? It is more glorious to die for my God, than to reign over the whole world. I seek Him who died for me; I desire Him who rose again for my sake.

11. Leave me liberty to imitate the sufferings of my God; do not snatch me from life in seeking to save me from death; let me run towards that pure and vivid light. He whose heart is already filled with this light will comprehend my desire, and he will have compassion on me, for he knows the strength of the bonds which draw me to my Beloved.

12. The fire which animates and impels me can suffer no diminution; rather He who liveth and speaketh in me calls me continually Hasten thou; come to my Father. If, before you, I shrink from the array of torments, sustain my courage.

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