Ye vipers! whom my warning could not move
Timely to flee from the impending wrath
Now fallen on your head; whom I indeed
With water, Christ hath now with fire baptiz'd:
Barren ye were of fruits, which I prescrib'd
Meet for repentance, and behold! the axe
Is laid to the unprofitable root

Of every sapless tree, hewn down, condemn'd
And cast into the fire. Lo! these are they,
These shadowy forms now floating in your sight,
These are the harbingers of ancient days,
Who witness'd the Messias, and announc'd
His coming upon earth. Mark with what scorn
Silent they pass you by: them had ye heard,
Them had ye noted with a patient mind,
Ye had not crucified the Lord of Life:
He of these stones to Abraham shall raise up
Children, than you more worthy of his stock;
And now his winnowing fan is in his hand,
With which he'll purge his floor, and having stor'd
The precious grain in garners, will consume
With fire unquenchable the refuse chaff.

THE WONDERS OF NATure.

OW mighty! how majestic! and how mysterious are nature's works! When the air is calm, where sleep the stormy winds? In what chambers are they reposed, or in what dungeons confined? But when He," who holds them in his fist," is pleased to awaken their rage, and throw open their prison doors, then, with irresistible impetuosity, they rush forth, scattering dread, and menacing destruction.

The atmosphere is hurled into the most tumultuous confusion. The aerial torrent bursts its way over moun tains, seas, and continents. All things feel the dreadful shock. All things tremble before the furious blast. The forest, vexed and torn, groans under the scourge.

G 2

He

Her sturdy sons are strained to the very root, and almost sweep the soil they were wont to shade. The stubborn oak, that disdains to bend, is dashed headlong to the ground; and, with shattered arms, with prostrate trunk, blocks up the road. While the flexile reed, that springs up in the marsh, yielding to the gust, (as the meek and pliant temper, to injuries, or the resigned and patient spirit, to misfortunes) eludes the force of the storm, and survives amidst the wide-spread havoc.

For a moment, the turbulent and outrageous sky seems to be assuaged; but it intermits its warmth, only to increase its strength. Soon the sounding squadrons of the air return to the attack, and renew their ravages with redoubled fury. The stately dome rocks amidst the wheeling clouds. The impregnable tower totters on its basis, and threatens to overwhelm whom it was intended to protect. The ragged rocks are rent in pieces; and even the hills, the perpetual hills, on their deep foundations are scarcely secure. Where now is the place of safety? when the city reels, and houses become heaps! Sleep affrighted flies. Diversion is turned into horror. All is uproar in the elements; all is consternation among mortals; and nothing but one wide scene of rueful devastation through the land.

The ocean swells with tremendous commotions. The ponderous waves are heaved from their capacious bed, and almost lay bare the unfathomable deep. Flung into the most rapid agitation, they sweep over the rock; they lash the lofty cliffs, and toss themselves into the clouds. Navies are rent from their anchors; and, with all their enormous load, are whirled swift as the arrow, wild as the winds, along the vast abyss. Now they climb the rolling mountain; they plough the frightful ridge; and seem to skim the skies. Anon they plunge into the opening gulf; they lose the sight of day; and are lost themselves to every eye.

How vain is the pilot's art; how impotent the mariner's strength! "They reel to and fro, and stagger

like a drunken man." Despair is in every face, and death sits threatening on every surge. But when Omnipotence pleases to command, the storm is hushed to silence; the lightnings lay aside their fiery bolts, and the billows cease to roll:

DIALOGUE ON PHYSIOGNOMY.

Enter FRANK and HENRY.

Frank. IT appears strange to me that people can be so imposed upon. There is no difficulty in judging folks by their looks. I profess to know as much of a man, at the first view, as by half a dozen years acquaintance.

Henry. Pray how is that done? I should wish to learn such an art.

Fr. Did you never read Lavater on Physiognomy? Hen. No. What do you mean by such a hard word? Fr. Physiognomy means a knowledge of men's hearts, thoughts, and characters, by their looks. For instance, if you see a man, with a forehead jutting over his eyes like a piazza, with a pair of eyebrows, heavy like the cornice of a house; with full eyes, and a Roman nose, depend on it he is a great scholar, and an honest man.

Hen. It seems to me I should rather go below his nose to discover his scholarship.

Fr. By no means: if you look for beauty, you may descend to the mouth and chin; otherwise never go below the region of the brain.

Enter GEORGE.

Geor. Well, I have been to see the man hanged. And he is gone to the other world, with just such a great forehead and Roman nose, as you have always been praising.

Fr. Remember, George, all signs fail in dry weather.

Geor. Now, be honest, Frank, and own that there

is nothing in all this trumpery of yours. The only way to know men is by their actions. If a man commit burglary, think you a Roman nose ought to save him from punishment?

Fr. I don't carry my notions so far as that; but it is certain that all faces in the world are different ; and equally true, that each has some marks about it, by which one can discover the temper and character of the person.

Enter PETER.

Peter. [to Frank.] Sir, I have heard of your fame from Dan to Beersheba; that you can know a man by his face, and can tell his thoughts by his looks. Hearing this, I have visited you without the ceremony of an introduction.

Fr. Why, indeed, I do profess something in that

way.

Pet. By that forehead, nose, and those eyes of yours, one might be sure of an acute, penetrating mind.

Fr. I see that you are not ignorant of physiog

nomy.

Pet. I am not; but still I am so far from being an adept in the art, that, unless the features are very remarkable, I cannot determine with certainty. But yours is the most striking face I ever saw. There is a certain firmness in the lines, which lead from the outer verge to the centre of the apple of your eye, which denotes great forecast, deep thought, bright invention, and a genius for great purposes.

Fr. You are a perfect master of the art. And to show you that I know something of it, permit me to observe, that the form of your face denotes frankness, truth, and honesty. Your heart is a stranger to guile, your lips, to deceit, and your hands, to fraud..

Pet. I must confess that you have hit upon my true character; though a different one, from what I have sustained in the view of the world.

Fr.

Fr. [to Henry and George.] Now see two strong examples of the truth of physiognomy. [While he is speaking this, Peter takes out his pocket-book, and makes off with himself.] Now, can you conceive, that without this knowledge, I could fathom the character of a total stranger?

Hen. Pray tell us by what marks you discovered that in his heart and lips was no guile, and in his hands, no fraud?

Fr. Aye, leave that to me; we are not to reveal our secrets. But I will show you a face and character, which exactly suits him. [Feels for his pocket-book in both pockets, looks wildly and concerned.]

Geor. [Tauntingly.] Aye, " in his heart is no guile, in his lips no deceit, and in his hands no fraud ! Now we see a strong example of the power of physiognomy !"

Fr. He is a wretch! a traitor against every good sign! I'll pursue him to the ends of the earth. [Offers to go.]

Hen. Stop a moment. His fine honest face is far enough before this time. You have not yet discovered the worst injury he has done you.

Fr. What's that? I had no watch or money for him to steal.

Hen. By his deceitful lips, he has robbed you of any just conception of yourself; he has betrayed you into a foolish belief that you are possessed of most extraordinary genius and talents. Whereas, separate from the idle whim about physiognomy, you have had no more pretence to genius or learning than a common school-boy. Learn henceforth to estimate men's hands by their deeds, their lips, by their words, and their hearts, by their lives.

ORATION