a single star and beautiful, stept forth in the firmament. Trembling with wonder and delight in new found existence, she looked abroad, and beheld nothing in heaven nor on earth resembling herself. But she was not long alone; now one, then another, then a third, and a fourth resplendent companion had joined her, till light after light stealing through the gloom, in the lapse of an hour, the whole hemisphere was brilliantly bespangled.

The planets and stars, with a superb comet flaming in the zenith, for a while contemplated themselves and each other; and every one from the largest to the least was so perfectly well pleased with himself, that he imagined the rest only partakers of his felicity, he being the central luminary of the whole universe, and all the hosts of heaven beside, displayed around him in graduated splendor. Nor were any undeceived with regard to themselves, though all saw their associates in their real situations and relative proportions, self knowledge being the last knowledge acquired in the sky or below it, -till, bending over the ocean in their turns, they discovered what they imagined, at first, to be a new heaven, peopled with beings of their own species; but when they perceived further, that no sooner had any of their company touched the horizon, than he instantly disappeared, they then recognised themselves in their individual forms, reflected beneath, according to their places and configurations above, from seeing others, whom they previously knew, reflected in like manner.

By an attentive, but mournful self-examination in that mirror, they slowly learned humility, but every one learned it only for himself, none believing what others insinuated respecting their own inferiority, till they reached the western slope, from whence they could identify their true images in the nether element. Nor was this very surprising-stars being only vsiible points without any distinction of limbs, each was all eye, and though he could see others most correctly, he could neither see himself, nor any part of himself-till he came to reflection! The comet, however, having a long stream of brightness streaming sunward, could review that, and did with ineffable self-complacency :-indeed, after all pretension to precedence, he was at length acknowledg

Stept forth, appeared, shone out, broke out. .Firmament, ether, sky, heavens, blue concave, blue

expanse.

Resplendent, shining, luminous, giving back light. -Light, that which proceeds from the sun or a luminous body, star, to give light, the medium through which we see.

-Lapse, fall, mistake, course, progress, process. .Hemisphere, half the world, half the globe; from two Greek words, signifying half, and globe.

Bespangled, adorned with spangles, besprinkled with shining orbs.

Planets, bodies that revolve round a central body. Comet, heavenly body that revolves at irregular distances, blazing star.

-Zenith, point directly overhead, top, summit.
Central, middle, placed in the centre.

Hosts of heaven, celestial beings, constellations of stars, heavenly bodies.

Graduated, regularly measured, decreasing in degrees.

Relative proportions, magnitudes viewed in relation to each other.

What is the last knowledge acquired in the sky or below it?

What is self-knowledge? Why is it not easily attained?

-Species, division, rank, order, kind.

Horizon. ho-ri'zon, where the heavens and earth seem to meet.

Configurations, shapes, forms, figures.

Mirror, reflector, looking glass, instrument throwing back rays of light.

Had each star to learn humility for himself? Is that the case with individuals of the human race?

Insinuated, hinted, obliquely informed.
Identify, recognize, verify, make certain.
-Images, pictures, statues, idols, ideas, profiles.
Nether, under, lower, what is beneath.

-Element, rudiment, first principle, water.

Is self-reflection in men necessary to self-knowledge? Sunward, towards the sun; from sun and ward.

1

ed king of the hemisphere, if not by universal assent, by the silent envy of all his rivals. But the object which attracted most attention, was a slender thread of light, that scarcely could be discovered through the blush of evening, and vanished soon after night-fall, as if ashamed to appear in so scanty a form, like an unfinished work of creation. It was the moon,-the first new moon; timidly she looked round upon the glittering multitude, that crowded through the dark serenity of space, and filled it with life and beauty. Minute, indeed they seemed to her, but perfect in symmetry, and formed to shine forever; while she was unshapen, incomplete, and evanescent. In her humility, she was glad to hide herself from their keen glances, in the friendly bosom of the ocean, wishing for immediate extinction.

When she was gone, the stars looked one at another with inquisitive surprise, as much as to say, "what a figure ;" it was so evident they all thought alike, and thought contemptuously of the apparition, (though at first they almost doubted whether they should not be frightened,) that they soon began to talk freely concerning her of course, not with audible accents, but in the language of intelligent sparkles, in which stars are accustomed to converse with telegraphic precision from one end of heaven to the other,—and which no dialect on earth so nearly resembles as the language of the eye, -the only one, probably, that has survived in its purity not only the confusion of Babel, but the revolutions of all ages. Her crooked form which they deemed a violation of the order of nature, and her shyness, equally unlike the frank intercourse of stars, were ridiculed and censured from pole to pole; for what good purpose could such a monster have been created, not the wisest could conjecture; yet to tell the truth, every one, though glad to be countenanced in the affectation of scorn by the rest, had secret misgivings concerning the stranger, and envied the delicate brilliancy of her light, that seemed but a fragment of a sunbeam, (they, indeed, knew nothing of the sun,) detached from a long line, and exquisitely bended.

Precedence, pré-se' dense, priority in time, place, &c. superiority.

Thread of light. What is meant by this expression? Nightfall, close of the day, time of evening, twilight. -Multitude, heavenly host, throng, clusters of stars. Serenity, tranquillity, calmness.

Minute, me-nute', small, little min' nit, 60th part of an hour, to put down short hints.

.Symmetry, regular proportion, exact adaptation of parts.

Unshapen, misshapen, not shaped regularly.

.Evanescent, ev-â-nes' sent, vanishing, imperceptible. Bosom, surface, breast, figurative expression, secure place.

Extinction, annihilation, excision.

Spell ocean, immediate, limbs, ineffable.

Contemptuously, with contempt, insignificantly. Apparition, appearance, visibility, vision, spectre, ghost.

Audible accents, in tones which could be heard.
Intelligent, sensible, what has meaning, intelligible.
-Sparkles, sparks, particles of fire, to emit sparks.
Converse, kon'-verse, talk, communion: kon-verse',
to hold intercourse with.

.Telegraphic, conveying intelligence by signals.
Precision, fidelity, accuracy, nicety, exactness,
Dialect, language, branch of language.

What language has survived in its purity?
Confusion, disorder, irregularity.

Babel, Babylon, tower of Babel; give some account of it. Gen. xi.

Crooked, bended, bent, crescent.

Shyness, reservedness, modesty, bashfulness.

Pole to pole... What do you understand by this? See App.

-Conjecture, guess, suppose, imagine.

.Affectation, vanity, artificial appearance, insincerity. Misgivings, doubts, want of confidence in one's own opinion.

Envied, coveted, longed for, wish the possession of. Sun-beam, ray from the sun, particle of sun-light. Exquisitely, eks' kwè-zit-lè, perfectly, completely,

LESSON XXXV.

The same, continued.

All the gay company, however, quickly returned to the admiration of themselves and the inspection of each other. What became of them, when they descended into the ocean, they could not determine; some imagined that they ceased to be; others, that they transmigrated into new forms; while a third party thought it probable as the earth was evidently convex, that their departed friends travelled through an under-arching sky, and might hereafter re-ascend from the opposite quarter.— In this hypothesis, they were confirmed by the testimony of the stars that came from the east, who unanimously asserted, that they had been pre-existent for several hours in a remote region of the sky, over continents and seas, now invisible to them; and moreover, that when they rose here, they had actually seemed to set there.

At

Thus the first night passed away. But when the east began to dawn, consternation seized the whole army of celestials, each feeling himself fainting into invisibility, and as he feared into nothingness, while his neighbors were, one after another, totally disappearing. length, the sun arose and filled the heavens, and clothed the earth with his glory. How he spent that day belongs not to the history; but it is elsewhere recorded, that, for the first time in eternity, the lark on the wings of the morning sprang up to salute him, the eagle at noon looked undazzled on his splendor, and when he went down beyond the deep, Leviathan was sporting amidst the multitude of waves.

Then again in the evening, the vanished constellations awoke gradually, and on opening their eyes were so rejoiced at meeting together-not one being wanting of last night's Levee-that they were in the highest good humor with themselves and one another. Tricked in all their beams, and darting their lengthened influence, they exchanged smiles and endearments, and made vows of affection eternal and unchangeable; while from this nether orb, the song of the nightingale rose out of darkness, and charmed even the stars in their courses,