PROPHECY.

(See Tone Drills Nos. 55, 144, 210.)

[Prophecy cannot be said to have a distinct tone. It is usually composed of Conviction, tinged with Omination or Awe. Sometimes there is mingled with it Joy, Anger or Hatred.]

The Utter Destruction.

ISAIAH XXXIV.

Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the Lord hath indignation against all nations, and fury against all their host: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stink of their carcases shall come up, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig tree. For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down from Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of the lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

And the wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of recompense in the controversy of Zion And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the pelican and the porcu

pine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein and he shall stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness.

They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of jackals, a

court for ostriches. And the wild beasts of the desert shall ⚫ meet with the wolves, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; yea, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest. There shall the arrowsnake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under shadow: yea, there shall the kites be gathered, every one with her mate.

The Great Restoration.

ISAIAH XXXV.

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees; say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompence of God he will come and save you.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and the streams on the desert. And the glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water: in the habitation of jackals, where they lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be

called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon, they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there; and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

PARENTHESIS.

Truth in Parenthesis.

THOMAS HOOD.

I really take it very kind

This visit, Mrs. Skinner

I have not seen you such an age-
(The wretch has come to dinner!)
Your daughters, too-what loves of girls!
What heads for painters' easels!
Come here, and kiss the infant, dears—
(And give it, p'rhaps, the measles!)

Your charming boys I see are home.
From Reverend Mr. Russell's-
'Twas very kind to bring them both-
(What boots for my new Brussels!)
What! little Clara left at home?
Well, now, I call that shabby!
I should have loved to kiss her so-
(A flabby, dabby babby!)

And Mr. S., I hope he's well?

But, though he lives so handy,
He never once drops in to sup—
(The better for our brandy!)
Come, take a seat-I long to hear

About Matilda's marriage;

You've come, of course, to spend the day
(Thank Heaven! I hear the carriage!)

What! must you go?-next time I hope.
You'll give me longer measure.
Nay, I shall see you down the stairs-
(With most uncommon pleasure!)
Good bye! good bye! Remember, all,
Next time you'll take your dinners-
(Now, David-mind, I'm not home,
In future, to the Skinners.)

TRANSITION.

Ode to My Infant Son.

THOMAS HOOD.

Thou happy, happy elf!

(But stop-first let me kiss away that tear,)

Thou tiny image of myself!

(My love, he's poking peas into his ear!) Thou merry, laughing sprite!

With spirits feather light,

Untouched by sorrow, and unsoiled by sin (Dear me! the child is swallowing a pin!)

Thou little, tricksy duck!

With antic toys so funnily bestuck,

Light as the singing bird that wings the air, (The door! the door! he'll tumble down the stair!) Thou darling of thy sire!

(Why, Jane, he'll set his pinafore afire!)

Thou imp of mirth and joy!

In love's dear chain so strong and bright a link,
Thou idol of thy parents!-(Drat the boy!
There goes my ink!)

Thou cherub-but of earth;

Fit playfellow for fays by moonlight pale.

In harmless sport and mirth,

(That dog will bite him if he pulls his tail!)
Thou human humming-bee, extracting honey
From every blossom in the world that blows,
Singing in youth's Elysium ever sunny,
(Another tumble-that's his precious nose!)
Thy father's pride and hope!

(He'll break the mirror with that skipping-rope!)
With pure heart newly stamped from nature's mint-
(Where did he learn that squint?)

Thou young domestic dove!

(He'll have that jug off, with another shove!) Dear nursling of the hymeneal nest!

(Are those torn clothes his best?)

Little epitome of man!

(He'll climb upon the table-that's his plan!) Touched with the beauteous tints of dawning life, (He's got a knife!)

Thou enviable being!

No storms, no clouds, in thy blue sky foreseeing,
Play on, play on,

My elfin John !

Toss the light ball-bestride the stick,

(I knew so many cakes would make him sick!)
With fancies buoyant as the thistle-down,
Prompting the face grotesque, and antic brisk,
With many a lamb-like frisk,

(He's got the scissors, snipping at your gown!)
Thou pretty opening rose!

(Go to your mother, child, and wipe your nose!)
Balmy and breathing music like the south,
(He really brings my heart into my mouth!)
Fresh as the morn, and brilliant as its star,