Thy sun shall never more go down ;
A ray from heaven itself descended,
Shall light thy everlasting crown—

Thy days of mourning all are ended.
My own elect and righteous land!
Thy branch, for ever green and vernal,
Which I have planted with this hand,
Live thou shalt, in life eternal.

This piece, throughout, is an address to a people chosen by God for his own.-The Jews believe that they were this people, and that their city, Jerusalem, is the metropolis of this happy nation; but they, whose God is the Lord, form this people every where." He that worketh righteousness" of all nations, belongs to the great family of the just, and the places where he abides is holy, for he dwelleth in God, and God in him.

MRS. BARBAULD.

Anna Lætitia Barbauld was the daughter of Dr. Aikin: she is memorable for her happy talent in instructing the young, for her accomplishments, her elegant criticisms, her excellent moral writings in poetry and prose, and above all, for her sincere piety and exemplary conduct through life. This lady died at the age of eighty-one, near London, March, 1825.

In the third chapter of Habakkuk the prophet gives a sublime description of God's power, and of his displeasure against the wicked. The whole passage is highly figurative, only a small part of it can be literally understood. But the "terrors of the Lord" did not alarm the prophet: he knew that the meek, and they who seek righteousness, are safe in the day of God's anger; and though he trembled at the indignation of God against the transgressor, he trusted in the mercy which endureth for ever; and he says,

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Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Mrs. Barbauld has paraphrased this passage thus:

Praise to God, immortal praise,
For the love that crowns our days;
Bounteous source of every joy!
Let thy praise our tongues employ.
For the blessings of the field;
For the stores the gardens yield;
For the vine's exalted juice;
For the generous olive's use.
Flocks that whiten all the plain;
Yellow sheaves of ripened grain;
Clouds that drop their fattening dews;
Suns that temperate warmth diffuse
All that spring with bounteous hand,
Scatters o'er the smiling land;
All that liberal autumn pours
From her rich o'erflowing stores :

:

These to thee, our God! we owe,
Source whence all our blessings flow
And for these our souls shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise.
Yet should rising whirlwinds tear
From its stem the ripening ear;
Should the fig tree's blasted shoot
Drop her green untimely fruit :

Should the vine put forth no more,
Nor the olive yield her store:

Though the sickening flocks should fall,

And the herds desert the stall;

Should thine altered hand restrain

Vernal showers and latter rain ;
Blast each opening bud of joy,
And the rising year destroy:

Still to thee our souls shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise;
And, when every blessing's flown,
Love thee-for thyself alone!

MISS WILLIAMS.

Helen Maria Williams was an English Lady, long resident in France. She subsisted by the exertion of her talents, as a writer and translator, and was considered an ornament to society from the elegance of her conversation, and the liberality of her sentiments. Miss Williams died in Paris in 1829. A single specimen of her poetry will serve to inspire reverence for her piety.

GOD SEEN IN ALL.

My God! all nature owns thy sway;
Thou giv'st the night and thou the day:
When all thy loved creation wakes,
When morning, rich in lustre, breaks,
And bathes in dew the opening flower,
To thee we owe her fragrant hour;
And when she pours her choral song,
Her melodies to thee belong.

Or, when in paler tints arrayed,
The evening slowly spreads her shades;
That soothing shade, that grateful gloom,
Can more than day's enlivening bloom,
Still every fond and vain desire,
And calmer, purer thoughts inspire;
From earth the pensive spirit free,
And lead the softened heart to thee.

In every scene thy hands have dressed,
In every form by thee impressed,
Upon the mountain's awful head,

Or where the sheltering woods are spread;
In every note that swells the gale,
Or tuneful stream that cheers the vale,
The cavern's depth, or echoing grove,
A voice is heard of praise and love.

As o'er thy works the seasons roll,
And soothe with change of bliss the soul,
O never may their smiling train
Pass o'er the human sense in vain!

But oft as on their charms we gaze,
Attune the wondering soul to praise;
And be the joys that most we prize,
The joys that from thy favour rise.

BABYLON.

And now from out the watery floor
A city rose, and well she wore
Her beauty, and stupendous walls,
And towers that touched the stars, and halls
Pillared with whitest marble, whence
Palace on lofty palace sprung;

Where, amongst silver waterfalls,

Cedars and spice-trees and green bowers,

And sweet winds playing with all the flowers
Of Persia and Araby,

Walked princely shapes: some with an air
Like warriors, some like ladies fair

Listening, and, amidst all, the king

Nebuchadnezzar rioting

In supreme magnificence.

This was famous Babylon.

Barry Cornwall.

Babylon was the capital of Chaldea or Babylonia. The exact site of Babylon is disputed, and it is equally doubtful who was its founder; but Nebuchadnezzar, about six centuries before Christ, repaired, extended, and adorned it, so that its magnificence was the boast of this vain-glorious monarch.-" Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty ?"

In scripture this magnificence is extolled in many places-The "great Babylon ;" the "glory of kingdoms;" the "beauty of Chaldea's excellency ;" and "the praise of the whole earth,” besides many other laudatory expressions, are applied to this ancient city. Babylon was a square enclosed by walls, and each of its sides measured, according to some writers, fifteen miles. The Assyrian monarchs dwelt there in all the splendour of oriental luxury. This city was embellished by gardens supported by arches, in terraces raised one above another on which the soil was sufficiently deep to permit the growth of large trees;

and luxuriant shrubs and splendid flowers were disposed to produce the most brilliant effect. These are usually called hanging gardens.

Cyrus, king of Persia conquered Babylon, B. C. 538; and Xerxes, on his return from his Grecian expedition, laid it in ruins. Alexander of Macedon proposed to rebuild Babylon, but he did not live to effect that intention. Soon after the death of Alexander, B. C. 332, 500,000 of the inhabitants of Babylon were withdrawn to Seleucia, and after that time Babylon became the desolate place described by the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah's prophecies are dated from 760, to 798, B. C. and though this was nearly two centuries before the captivity of his countrymen, and more than four previous to the ruin of Babylon, the prophet foretels the restoration of the Jews, and the desolation of their oppressors.

The 14th chapter of Isaiah contains a gracious promise of God's mercy to his people, and a sublime and highly poetical denunciation of Divine vengeance against the proud power which enslaved them.

"For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.

"That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecu ted, and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. Hell from beneath is moved for. thee to meet thee at thy coming it stirrith up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we ? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and