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his guest; and, upon his expressing this desire, the stranger assured him that he would answer his enquiries that evening after sun-set. Accordingly, as night approached, he led him forth upon the balconies of the palace, which overlooked the wealthy and populous city

6. Innumerable lights from its busy streets and splendid palaces were now reflected in the dark bosom of its noble river; where stately vessels, laden with rich merchandise from all parts of the known world, lay anchored in the port. This was a city in which the voice of the harp and the viol, and the sound of the mill-stone, were continually heard—and craftsmen of all kinds of craft were there-and the light of a candle was seen in every dwelling and the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride were heard there.

7. The stranger mused awhile upon the glittering scene; and listened to the confused murmur of mingling sounds. Then suddenly raising his eyes to the starry firmament, he fixed them with an expressive gaze on the beautiful evening star which was just sinking behind a dark grove that surrounded one of the principal temples of the city. "Marvel not," said he to his host," that I am wont to gaze with fond affection on yon silvery star.

8. "That was my home-yes, I was lately an inhabitant of that tranquil planet; from whence a vain curiosity has tempted me to wander. Often had I beheld, with wondering admiration, this brilliant world of yours, even one of the brightest gems of our firmament and the ardent desire I had long felt to know something of its condition, was at length unexpectedly gratified. I received permission and power from above to traverse the mighty void, and to direct my course to this distant sphere.

9. "To that permission, however, one condition was annexed, to which my eagerness for the enterprise induced me hastily to consent-namely, that I must thenceforth remain an inhabitant of this strange earth, and undergo all the vicissitudes to which its natives are subject. Tell me, therefore, I pray you, what is the lot of man-and explain to me more fully than I yet understand, all that I hear and see around me."

10. "Truly, sir," replied the astonished noble, "although I am altogether unacquainted with the manners and customs, products and privileges of your country, yet, methinks, I cannot but congratulate you on your arrival in our world; especially since it has been your good fortune to alight on a part of it affording such various sources of enjoyment as this our opulent

and luxuriant city. And be assured it will be my pride and pleasure to introduce you to all that is most worthy the attention of such a distinguished foreigner."

11. Our adventurer, accordingly, was presently initiated into those arts of luxury and pleasure which were there well understood. He was introduced by his obliging host to their public games and festivals-to their theatrical diversions and convivial assemblies; and in a short time he began to feel some relish for amusements, the meaning of which, at first, he could scarcely comprehend.

12. The next lesson which it became desirable to impart to him, was the necessity of acquiring wealth, as the only means of obtaining pleasure. A fact which was no sooner understood by the stranger, than he gratefully accepted the offer of his friendly host to place him in a situation in which he might amass riches.

13. To this object he began to apply himself with diligence; and was becoming in some measure reconciled to the manners and customs of our planet, strangely as they differed from those of his own, when an incident occurred which gave an entirely new direction to his energies. It was but a few weeks after his arrival on our earth, when, walking in the cool of the day with his friend, in the outskirts of the city, his attention was arrested by the appearance of a spacious enclosure near which they passed. He inquired the use to which it was appropriated.

14. "It is," replied the nobleman, "a place of public interment." "I do not understand you," said the stranger. "It is the place," repeated his friend," where we bury our dead." "Excuse me, sir," replied his companion, with some embarrassment. "I must trouble you to explain yourself yet further." The nobleman repeated the information in still plainer terms. "I am still at a loss to comprehend you perfectly," said the stranger, turning deadly pale. "This must relate to something of which I was not only totally ignorant in my own world, but of which I have, as yet, had no intimation in yours.

15. "I pray you, therefore, to satisfy my curiosity; for if I have any clue to your meaning, this, surely, is a matter of more mighty concernment than any to which you have hitherto directed me." 66 My good friend," replied the nobleman, "you must be indeed a novice among us, if you have yet to learn that we must all, sooner or later, submit to take our place in these dismal abodes.

16. " Nor will I deny that it is one of the least desirable of the circumstances which appertain to our condition; for which

reason it is a matter rarely referred to in polished society; and this accounts for your being hitherto uninformed on the subject. But truly, sir, if the inhabitants of the place from whence you came are not liable to any similar misfortune, I advise you to betake yourself back again with all speed; for be assured there is no escape here-nor could I guaranty your safety even for a single hour!"

17. Alas!" replied the adventurer, "I must submit to the conditions of my enterprise, of which, till now, I little understood the import. But explain to me, I beseech you, something more of the nature and consequence of this wondrous change, and tell me at what period it commonly happens to man." While he thus spoke, his voice faltered, and his whole frame shook violently; his countenance was as pale as death.

18. By this time his companion, finding the discourse becoming more serious than was agreeable, declared he must refer him to the priests for further information, this subject being very much out of his province. "How!" exclaimed the stranger, "then I cannot have understood you. Do the priests only die? are not you to die also?"

19. His friend, evading these questions, hastily conducted his importunate companion to one of their magnificent temples, where he gladly consigned him to the instructions of the priesthood. The emotion which the stranger had betrayed, when he received the first idea of death, was yet slight in comparison with that which he experienced as soon as he gathered, from the discourses of the priests, some notions of immortality, and ofthe alternative of happiness or misery in a future state.

20. But this agony of mind was exchanged for transport, when he learned that, by the performance of certain conditions before death, the state of happiness might be secured. His eagerness to learn the nature of these terms, excited the surprise and even the contempt of his sacred teachers. They advised him to remain satisfied for the present with the instructions he had received, and defer the remainder of the discussion till to-morrow.

21. “How!" exclaimed the novice, "say ye not that death may come at any hour? may it not come this hour? and what if it should come before I have performed these conditions? O! withhold not the excellent knowledge from me a single moment!" The priests, suppressing a smile at this simplicity, then proceeded to explain their theology to their attentive auditor.

22. But who can describe the ecstasy of his happiness, when he was given to understand the required conditions were, gene

rally, of easy and pleasant performance, and the occasional difficulties, which might attend them, would entirely cease with the short term of his earthly existence. "If, then, I understand you rightly," said he to his instructors, "this event which you call death, and which seems in itself strangely terrible, is most desirable and blissful.

23. "What a favor is this which is granted to me, in being sent to inhabit a planet in which I can die!" The priests again exchanged smiles with each other; but their ridicule was wholly lost on the enraptured stranger. When the first transports of his emotion had subsided, he began to reflect with more uneasiness on the time he had already lost since his arrival.

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24. "Alas! what have I been doing?" exclaimed he. "This gold which I have been collecting, tell me, reverend priests, will it avail me any thing when the thirty or forty years are expired, which you say, I may possibly sojourn in your planet?" Nay," replied the priests, "but verily you will find it of excellent use so long as you remain in it."

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25. "A very little of it shall suffice me," replied he; "for consider how soon this period will be past. What avails it W hat my condition may be for so short a season? I will betake myself from this hour, to the grand concerns of which you have so charitably informed me."

26. Accordingly, from that period, continues the legend, the stranger devoted himself to the performance of those conditions on which, he was told, his future welfare depended—but, in so doing, he had an opposition to encounter wholly unexpected, and for which he was even at a loss to account.

27. By thus devoting his chief attention to his chief interests, he excited the surprise, the contempt, and even the enmity of most of the inhabitants of the city; and they rarely mentioned him but with a term of reproach, which has been variously rendered in all the modern languages. Nothing could equal the stranger's surprise at this circumstance; as well as that of his fellow-citizens appearing, generally, so extremely indifferent as they did, to their own interests.

28. That they should have so little prudence and forethought as to provide only for their necessities and pleasures for that short part of their existence in which they were to remain on this planet, he could consider as the effect of disordered intellect so that he even returned their incivilities to himself with affectionate expostulation, accompanied by lively emotions of compassion and amazement.

29. If ever he was tempted for a moment to violate any of the conditions of his future happiness, he bewailed his own madness with agonizing emotions; and to all the invitations ne received from others to do any thing inconsistent with his real interests, he had but one answer "Oh," he would say, “I am to die-I am to die."

LESSON LII.2

Earthquake in Calabria.-GOLDSMITH.

1. IN 1638, the celebrated father Kircher, and four others, were on a journey to visit Mount Etna, and the wonders in Calabria, the southern extremity of Italy. Having hired a boat, they left Messina in Sicily, for Euphemia a city in Calabria. Having crossed the strait, they landed at the promontory of Pelorus, where they were detained, for some time, by bad weather.

2. At length, wearied by delay, they resolved to prosecute their voyage. But scarcely had they quitted the shore, when all nature seemed to be in motion, and although the air was calm and serene, the sea became violently agitated, covered with bubbles-the gulf of Charybdis* seemed whirled round in an unusual manner,-Mount Etna sent forth vast volumes of smoke and Strombolit belched forth flames, with a noise like peals of thunder.

3. Alarmed for their safety, they rowed with all possible haste for the shore;-but no sooner had they landed, than their ears were stunned with a horrid sound, resembling that of an infinite number of carriages driven fiercely forward,-wheels rattling, and thongst crackling. This was followed by a most dreadful earthquake, which shook the place so violently, that they were thrown prostrate on the ground. This paroxysm having ceased, they started for Euphemia, which lay within sight, but looking towards the city, they perceived a frightful dark cloud resting upon the place. Having waited until the cloud had passed away,-wonderful to tell,-no city was there; -it had totally sunk;-and in its place a dismal and putrid lake was seen. All was a melancholy solitude,—a scène of

hideous desolation.

* Charybdis, a dangerous whirlpool on the coast of Sicily.

† Stromboli, an island in the Tuscan sea, belonging to Sicily. On 't is a volcano.

Thong, a strap of leather, used as a whip.

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