himself to inviolable fidelity, by the most solemn engage

ments.

"It has always been a maxim with us," says he, "that it is never allowable, upon any pretence whatsoever, to commit injustice, not even in regard to those who injure us, nor to return evil for evil; and that when we have once engaged our word, we are bound to keep it inviolably; no interest being capable to dispense with it."

Some time after the death of Socrates, the Athenians became sensible of their shameful outrage, which appeared in all its horrours. Athens was in universal mourning and consternation. The accusers were called to an account, and condemned to death, banishment, and treated with every kind of contumely; so that some of them killed themselves.

Although Socrates discovered extraordinary sagacity in the perception of moral truth, it appears, from his construing his penetrating prompt judgment into a personal genius, or demon, that he had not divested his mind of the influence of the fantastic chimeras that were generally prevalent in those dark ages of ignorance and superstition. Another evidence of this, is, his faith in oracles, in sacrifices to imaginary fabulous deities, in a multiplicity of gods, &c.

"The excellent instructions which Socrates delivered to the Athenians, in relation to the practical moral duties, entitled him to their respect and gratitude; but they still remained idolatrous, and "too superstitious," until, five hundred years after him,-" PAUL stood in the midst of Mars hill," and declared unto them the God" that dwelleth not in temples made with hands !"

LESSON XCVII.

The African Chief.-U. S. LITERARY GAZETTE.

CHAIN'D in the market-place he stood,

A man of giant frame,

Amid the gathering multitude

That shrunk to hear his name,

All stern of look and strong of limb,

His dark eye on the ground: And silently they gaz'd on him, As on a lion bound.

Vainly, but well, that chief had fought→→
He was a captive now;
Yet pride, that fortune humbles not,
Was written on his brow:

The scars his dark broad bosom wore
Showed warrior true and brave:
A prince among his tribe before,
He could not be a slave.

Then to his conqueror he spake"My brother is a king:

Undo this necklace from my neck,

And take this bracelet ring,

And send me where my brother reigns, And I will fill thy hands

With store of ivory from the plains,

And gold dust from the sands."

'Not for thy ivory nor thy gold
Will I unbind thy chain;
That bloody hand shall never hold
The battle-spear again.

A price thy nation never gave

Shall yet be paid for thee;

For thou shalt be the Christian's slave

In land beyond the sea.'

Then wept the warriour chief, and bade

To shred his locks away;

And, one by one, each heavy braid

Before the victor lay.

Thick were the platted locks, and long, And deftly hidden there

Shone many a wedge of gold among

The dark and crisped hair.

"Look, feast thy greedy eye with gold, Long kept for sorest need:

Take it-thou askest sums untold-
And say that I am freed.

Take it, my wife, the long, long day
Weeps by the cocoa tree,

And my young children leave their play,
And ask in vain for me."

'I take thy gold,-but I have made
Thy fetters fast and strong,
And ween that by the cocoa shade
Thy wife shall wait thee long.'
Strong was the agony that shook
The captive's frame to hear,
And the proud meaning of his look
Was chang'd to mortal fear.

His heart was broken-craz'd his brain-
At once his eye grew wild :
He struggled fiercely with his chain,
Whisper'd, and wept, and smil'd;
Yet wore not long those fatal bands,
And once, at shut of day,

They drew him forth upon the sands,
The foul hyena's prey.

LESSON XCVIII.

The Family Bible.-ANONYMOUS.

How painfully pleasing the fond recollection
Of youthful connexions and innocent joy,
When blest with parental advice and affection,
Surrounded with mercies-with peace from on high-
I still view the chairs of my sire and my mother,
The seats of their offspring, as rang'd on each hand;
And that richest of books, which excell'd every other-
That Family Bible that lay on the stand:

That Bible, the volume of God's inspiration,

At morn and at evening could yield us delight; And the prayer of our sire was a sweet invocation, For mercy by day, and for safety through night. Our hymns of thanksgiving with harmony swelling, All warm from the heart of a family band,

Half rais'd us from earth to that rapturous dwelling
Describ'd in the Bible that lay on the stand:
That richest of books which excell'd every other,
That Family Bible that lay on the stand.

Ye scenes of tranquillity, long have we parted;
My hope's almost gone, and my parents no more :
In sorrow and sadness I live broken-hearted,

And wander unknown on a far distant shore.
Yet how can I doubt a dear Saviour's protection,
Forgetful of gifts from his bountiful hand:
Oh let me with patience receive his correction,
And think of the Bible that lay on the stand:
That richest of books which excell'd every other,
The Family Bible that lay on the stand.

Blest Bible, the light and the guide of the stranger;
With thee I seem circled by parents and friends:
Thy kind admonition shall guide me from danger-
On thee my last lingering hope then depends.
Hope wakens to vigour, and rises to glory,

I'll hasten and flee to the promised land; For refuge lay hold on the hope set before me, Reveal'd in the Bible that lay on the stand.

Hail rising the brightest and blest of the morning, The star which has guided my parents safe home, A beam of thy glory my pathway adorning,

Shall scatter the darkness and brighten my gloom.
As the eastern sages, to worship the stranger,
In ecstasy hasten to Canaan's land-

I'll bow to adore him, but not in a manger,
He's seen in the Bible that lay on the stand.

Though age and misfortune press hard on my feelings,
I'll flee to the Bible, and trust in the Lord :
Though darkness should cover his merciful dealings,
My soul is still cheer'd by his heavenly word.
And now from things earthly my soul is removing;
I soon shall shout glory with heaven's bright band,
In raptures of joy be forever adoring

The God of the Bible that lay on the stand:
The old-fashioned Bible, the dear blessed Bible,
The Family Bible that lay on the stand.

LESSON XCIX.

Night.-MONTGOMERY.

NIGHT is the time for rest:

How sweet, when labours close,
To gather round our aching breast
The curtain of repose;

Stretch the tired limbs, and lay the head

Upon our own delightful bed!

Night is the time for dreams,

The gay romance of life,

When truth that is, and truth that seems,

Blend in fantastic strife ; Ah, visions less beguiling far

Than waking dreams by daylight are!

Night is the time for toil ;

To plough the classic field,
Intent to find the buried spoil
Its wealthy furrows yield;
Till all is ours that sages taught,
That poets sang, or heroes wrought.

Night is the time to weep;

To wet with unseen tears
Those graves of memory, where sleep
The joys of other years;

Hopes that were angels in their birth,
But perished young, like things of earth.

Night is the time to watch;

Ön ocean's dark expanse
To hail the Pleiades, or catch

The full moon's earliest glance,

That brings into the home-sick mind

All we loved, and left behind.

Night is the time for care;
Brooding on hours mispent,
To see the spectre of despair
Come to our lonely tent;