You wash with tears the bloody page
Which human crimes deform;

When vengeance threats, your prayers ascend
And break the gathering storm.

As down the summer stream of vice
The thoughtless many glide;
Upward you steer your steady bark,
And stem the rushing tide.

Where guilt her foul contagion breathes,
And golden spoils allure;
Unspotted still your garments shine,
Your hands are ever pure.

Yet yours is all through History's rolls,
The kindling bosom feels;

And at your tomb, with throbbing heart,
The fond enthusiast kneels.

In every faith, through every clime,

Your pilgrim steps we trace;

And shrines are dress'd, and temples rise,

Each hallow'd spot to grace;

And paeons loud, in every tongue,
And choral hymns resound;

And lengthen'd honours hand your name

To time's remotest bound.

Proceed! your race of glory run,

Your virtuous toils endure !

You come, commission'd from on high,
And your reward is sure.

-MRS. BARBAULD.

CHOICE OF HERCULES.

One of the most instructive fables of antiquity represents Hercules (when arrived at years of reflection) as retiring into a solitary place to consider his future course of life. There, we are told, he was accosted by two females, one named Virtue, and the cther Pleasure; each of whom was desirous to prevail upon him to join her votaries. Pleasure presented to him her various allurements, and offered to him a life of ease and indulgence. Virtue displayed to him the fallacy of her rival's pretensions, and showed him that true happiness could be found only in her service, she did not however attempt to deceive him by false expectations: she fairly told him that he would have to overcome difficulties; to pass through various trials; to exercise fortitude and self-denial; to make many sacrifices; and to undergo many labours and dangers: but then it would not be for nothing. She showed him that, by the wise appointment of the gods, there was no valuable object of pursuit which was to be acquired by any other means; and that thus alone he could gain the applause and esteem of the wise and good, the pleasures of self-approbation, and the favour of the gods. Hercules, we are told, was decided by her representations; and his decision was a wise one. -REV. DR. CARPENTER.

VICE.

Vice is the disease of daily conduct.

“ DHAMMAPADA.

Vices are learned without a teacher.

-OLD ITALIAN PROVERB.

* From the Buddhist Canon, translated by Beal.

Vice stings us, even in our pleasures, but virtue con

soles us, even in our pains.

--COLTON.

Seek to do good, shun evil, and take heed:
For as thou actest, so too shalt thou speed.
Ever in good dost thou incline to tread?
Thou shalt then aye behold upraised thy head.
But if in vice thou walkest, thou shalt see,
Thyself down trampled by adversity.

-"ANWAR-I-SUHAILI." #

The guilty never rest:

Dismay is always near;

There is a midnight in the breast,

No morn shall ever cheer.

-J. BAILLIE.

Alas! of all

The myriad ills which may the mind enthral,

Vice stands the first and last! the fiend whose

wings

Scatter destruction like a deathly pall;

That o'er each orb of faith her shadow flings

And poisons with her lips God's noblest, holiest springs.

-CHARLES SWAIN.

There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.

“ BIBLE-ISAIAH 48".

The fear of the Lord prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

* Translated by Eastwick.

"BIBLE-PROVERBS 10."

The true way to attack vice is by setting up something else against it.

-THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH.

Worthy occupation is the most successful antagonism to vice of every kind. He who has on hand enough work to do, and is intent on doing it, has no time to foster and gratify a wanton imagination. His tastes and pleasures are too elevated and inspiring to assort with grovelling and vicious desires.

-WINSLOW.

Indeed there is but one complete safe-guard from the deceitful sophistry of vicious inclinations; it is to repress their false representations by the considerations of religion. Reflect whether God can approve of the conduct to which they prompt; and if not, be assured that it is sinful, and that, however pleasing its appearance, it cannot fail to be injurious to your best interests and in all probability to the best interests of others. -REV. DR. CARPENTER.

When pleasure tempts with its seductions, have the courage to say "No" at once. The little monitor within will approve the decision; and virtue will become stronger by the act. When dissipation invites, and offers its secret pleasures, boldly say "No". If you do not, if you acquiesce and succumb, virtue will have gone from you, and your self-reliance will have received a fatal shock. The first time may require an effort; but strength will grow with use. It is the only way of meeting temptations to idleness, to self-indulgence, to folly, to bad custom, to meet it at once with an indignant “No”. There is indeed great virtue in a "No", when pronounced at the right time.

-SMILES.

It is never too late to turn from the error of our ways.
-SENECA.

Fruitless is sorrow for having done amiss, if it issuenot in a resolution to do so no more. And in forming this resolution no time is to be lost. He who doth not resolve to-day will be much less disposed to resolve tomorrow. Procrastination in many cases is dangerous; in this, it is often fatal.

-BISHOP HORNE.

For he that once hath missed the right way
The further he doth go, the further he doth stray

A little hole in a ship sinks it, so a little sin some times produces a man's utter ruin. We should guard against "small vices" as well as great errors.

That a man should continuously live a life of virtue
Is one of the duties of man, I say, enquire if you like..
An honest man is respected among the people,
He becomes very happy and his probity shows him
to be a wise man.

As you wish others to do good unto you,

So you ever do good unto them, and you will not
be unhappy.

A misbehaved wicked man never becomes happy,
One who has sense never courts vice.

The greatness of a man of wicked deeds does not
last long,

Vice always brings innumerable misfortunes in its train.

Good old ways of past times should not in the least. be swerved from;