upon its back with ease, though it is so stupid, and untractable, that it cannot be directed at the will of its rider.

4. The voracity of the ostrich exceeds that of any animal. It will devour whatever it meets with, stones, wood, iron, or leather, as readily as grain or fruit. Adanson thus speaks of two ostriches which he saw at a village near the Senegal.

5. "They were so tame that two little blacks mounted together on the back of the largest no sooner did he feel their weight than he began to run as fast as he could, till he carried them several times round the village. To try their strength, I made a full-grown negro mount the smallest, and two others the largest.

6. "This burden did not seem to me at all disproportioned to their strength. At first they went at a pretty high trot, and when they were heated a little, they expanded their wings, as if it were to catch the wind, and they moved with such fleetness that they seemed to be off the ground. The ostrich moves like a partridge, and I am satisfied that those I am speaking of would have distanced the swiftest race horses that were ever in England.”

NAZARETH.

1. NAZARETH is situated about 50 miles north of Jerusalem, and contains about two thousand inhabitants. It is remarkable for having been the residence of our Saviour and his family during the first thirty years of his life. Here are many places, regarded as holy, to which pilgrims are conducted.

2. The church, to which a convent is attached, is handsome, and is erected over the cave, which is reputed to have been the residence of the Virgin Mary. When the plague rages here, the sick come eagerly to rub themselves against the church hangings and pillar, believing thus to obtain a certain cure.

3. The monks show also the workshop of Joseph, the precipice where Christ saved himself from the fury of the multitude, and the table of Christ, a much venerated object, being a stone on which it is pretended that he ate before and after his resurrection.

Gampbell

THE LAST MAN.

ALL worldly shapes shall melt in gloom,
The sun itself must die,

Before this mortal shall assume
Its immortality!
I saw a vision in my sleep,

That gave my spirit strength to sweep
Adown the gulf of time!

I saw the last of human mould
That shall creation's death behold,
As Adam saw her prime!

The sun's eye had a sickly glare,
The earth with age was wan,
The skeletons of nations were
Around that lonely man!

Some had expir'd in fight-the brands
Still rusted in their bony hands;
In plague and famine some!
Earth's cities had no sound or tread,
And ships were drifting with the dead
To shores where all was dumb.

Yet prophet-like, that lone one stood,
With dauntless words and high,
That shook the sere leaves from the wood
As if a storm pass'd by,
Saying, we are twins in death, proud Sun,
Thy face is cold, thy race is run,
'Tis mercy bids thee go.
For thou ten thousand thousand years
Hast seen the tide of human tears
That shall no longer flow.

What though beneath thee, man put forth
His pomp, his pride, his skill;
And arts that made fire, flood, and earth,
The vassals of his will:

Yet mourn I not thy parted sway,
Thou dim discrowned king of day;

For all those trophied arts,

And triumphs that beneath thee sprang, Heal'd not a passion, or a pang,

Entail'd on human hearts.

Go, let oblivion's curtain fall

Upon the stage of men,
Nor with thy rising beams recall
Life's tragedy again.
Its piteous pageants bring not back,
Nor waken flesh, upon the rack
Of pain anew to writhe;
Stretch'd in disease's shapes abhorr'd,
Or mown in battle by the sword,
Like grass beneath the scythe.

Ev'n I am weary in yon skies
To watch thy fading fire;

Test of all sumless agonies,
Behold not me expire.

My lips, that speak thy dirge of death,
Their rounded gasp and gurgling breath
To see, thou shalt not boast.
The eclipse of nature spreads my pall,
The majesty of darkness shall
Receive my parting ghost!

This spirit shall return to Him

That gave its heavenly spark;
Yet, think not, Sun, it shall be dim
When thou, thyself, art dark!

No! it shall live again, and shine
In bliss unknown to beams of thine,
By Him recall'd to breath,

Who captive led captivity,-
Who robb'd the grave of victory-

And took the sting from Death!

Go, Sun, while Mercy holds me up
On Nature's awful waste,

To drink this last and bitter cup

Of grief that man shall tasteGo, tell the night that hides thy face, Thou saw'st the last of Adam's race,

On Earth's sepulchral clod,
The dark'ning universe defy
To quench his immortality,

Or shake his trust in God!

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF FISHER AMES. 1. FISHER AMES, a distinguished statesman, and an eloquent orator, was born at Dedham, Massachusetts, in which town his father was a respectable physician. He was graduated at Harvard college, in 1774, and after a few years, commenced the study of law in Boston. He began the practice of his profession in his native village; but his expansive mind could not be confined to the investigation of the law.

2. Rising into life about the period of the American revolution, and taking a most affectionate interest in the concerns of his country, he felt himself strongly attracted to politics. His researches into the science of government were extensive and profound, and he began to be known by political discussions, published in the newspapers.

3. A theatre soon presented for the display of his extraordinary talents. He was elected a member of the convention of his native state, which considered and ratified the federal constitution; and his speeches in this convention were indications of his future eminence. The splendour of his talents burst forth at once upon his country.

4. When the general government of the United States commenced its operation, in 1789, he appeared in the national legislature as the first representative of his district, and for eight successive years he took a distinguished part in the national councils. He was a principal speaker in the debates on every important question.

5. Towards the close of this period his health began to fall, but his indisposition could not prevent him from engaging in the discussion relating to the appropriations necessary for carrying into effect the British treaty. Such was the effect of his speech of April 28, 1796, that one of the members of the legislature, who was opposed to Mr. Ames, rose and objected to taking a vote at that time, as they had been carried away by the impulse of oratory.

6. After his return to his family, frail in health and fond

of retirement, he remained a private citizen. For a few years, however, he was persuaded to become a member of the council. But though he continued chiefly in retirement, he operated far around him by his writings in the public papers. A few years before his death, he was chosen president of Harvard College, but the infirm state of his health induced him to decline the appointment. He died July 4, 1808.

7. Mr. Ames possessed a mind of a great and extraordinary character. He reasoned, but he did not reason in the form of logic. By striking allusions, more than by regular deductions, he compelled assent. The richness of his fancy, the fertility of his invention, and the abundance of his thoughts, were as remarkable as the justness and strength of his understanding.

8. His political character may be known from his writings, speeches, and measures. He was not only a man of distinguished talents, whose public career was splendid, but he was amiable in private life, and endeared to his acquaintance. To a few friends, he unveiled himself without

reserve.

9. They found him modest and unassuming, untainted with ambition, simple in manners, correct in morals, and a model of every social and personal virtue. The charms of his conversation were unequalled. He entertained a firm belief in Christianity, and his belief was founded upon a thorough investigation of the subject.

10. He read most of the best writings in defence of the Christian religion, but his mind was satisfied by a view rather of its internal than external evidences. He thought it impossible, that any man of a candid mind could read the Old Testament and meditate on its contents, without a conviction of its truth and inspiration.

11. The sublime and correct ideas, which the Jewish Scriptures convey of God, connected with the fact that all other nations, many of whom were superior to the Jews in civilization and general improvement, remained in darkness and in error on this fundamental subject, formed, in his view, a conclusive argument.

12. After reading the book of Deuteronomy, he expressed his astonishment, that any man, versed in antiquities, could have the hardihood to say, that it was the production of human ingenuity.