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6. Among her moral qualities, the most conspicuous, perhaps, was her magnanimity. She betrayed nothing little or selfish, in thought or action. Her schemes were vast, and executed in the same noble spirit in which they were conceived. She never

employed doubtful agents or sinister measures, but the most direct and open policy. She scorned to avail herself of advantages offered by the perfidy' of others.

7. Where she had once given her confidence, she gave her hearty and steady support; and she was scrupulous to redeem any pledge she had made to those who ventured in her cause, however unpopular. She sustained Ximenes in all his obnoxious but salutary reforms. She seconded Columbus1 in the prosecution of his arduous enterprise, and shielded him from the calumny of his enemies. She did the same good service to her favorite, Gonsalvo de Cordova; and the day of her death was felt, and, as it proved, truly felt, by bōth, as the last of their good fortune.

8. Artifice and duplicity' were so abhorrent to her character, and so averse from her domestic policy, that when they appear in the foreign relations of Spain, it is certainly not imputable to her. She was incapable of harboring any petty distrust, or latent malice; and, although stern in the execution and exaction of public justice, she made the most generous allowance, and even, sometimes, advances, to those who had personally injured her.

9. But the principle which gave a peculiar coloring to every feature of Isabella's mind, was piety. It shone fōrth from the věry depths of her soul with a heavenly radiance, which illuminated her whōle character. Fortunately, her earliest years had been passed in the rugged school of adversity, under the eye of a mother who implanted in her serious mind such strong principles of religion, as nothing in after life had power to shake.

'Per' fi dy, treachery; falsehood.-2 Cardinal Ximenes, born 1437, died 1517. He was the queen's confessor.- Obnoxious (ob nåk' shus), odious; unpopular.- Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America. Born 1436, died 1506.-5 Cål' um ny, the uttering of a false charge, proceeding from hatred against another.- Gonsalvo of Cordova, called also the Great Captain," was a Spanish warrior, distinguished by his victories over the Moors in Spain, and the French in Naples. Borr 1443, died 1515.-' Du plic' i ty, double-dealing; deceitfulness

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10. At an early age, in the flower of youth and beauty, she was introduced to her brother's court; but its blandishments, so dazzling to a young imagination, had no power over hers; for she was surrounded by a moral atmosphere of purity, "driving far off each thing of sin and guilt." Such was the decorum of her manners, that, though encompassed by false friends and open enemies, not the slightest reproach was breathed on her fair name in this corrupt and calumnious' court.

WM. H. PRESCOTT

156. BELSHAZZAR.

1. BELSHAZZAR is king! Belshazzar is lord!

And a thousand dark nobles all bend at his board;
Fruits glisten, flowers blossom, meats steam, and a flood
Of the wine that man loveth runs redder than blood;
Wild dancers are there, and a riot of mirth,
And the beauty that maddens the passions of earth;
And the crowds all shout, till the vast roofs ring—
"All praise to Belshazzar, Belshazzar the king!"

2. "Bring forth," cries the monarch, "the vessels of gold
Which my father tore down from the temples of old;
Bring forth, and we'll drink, while the trumpets are blown,
To the gods of bright silver, of gold, and of stone;
Bring forth!" and before him the vessels all shine,
And he bows unto Bääl,2 and he drinks the dark wine;
While the trumpets bray, and the cymbals3 ring,-
Praise, praise to Belshazzar, Belshazzar the king!"

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3. Now what cometh-look, look!-without menace, or call?
Who writes with the lightning's bright hand on the wall?
What pierceth the king like the point of a dart?
What drives the bold blood from his cheek to his heart?

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1 Ca lum' ni ous, slanderous.- Bà' al, an idol or false god of the Assyrians and Chaldeans.- Cym' bal, a flat musical instrument, in a cir cular form, producing, when two are struck together, a sharp, ringing sound.--Men' ace, a threat; the show of probable evil to come.

"Chaldeans! Magicians! the letters expound !"
They are read—and Belshazzar is dead on the ground!
Hark! The Persian is come on a conqueror's wing;
And a Mede's on the throne of Belshazzar the king!

B. W. PROCTER.

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157. CHARACTER OF HENRY CLAY.

E was indeed eloquent-all the world knows that. He held the keys to the hearts of his countrymen, and he turned the wards' within them with a skill attained by no other master. But eloquence was, nevertheless, only an instrument, and one of many that he used. His conversation, his gestures, his věry look, was magisterial, persuasive, seductive, irresistible. And his appliance of all these was courteous, patient, and indefăt′igable.

2. Defeat only inspired him with new resolution. He divided opposition by his assiduity of address, while he rallied and strengthened his own bands of supporters by the confidence of success which, feeling himself, he easily inspired among his followers. His affections were high, and pure, and generous, and the chiefest among them was that one which the great Italian poet designated as the charity of native land. In him, that charity was an enduring and overpowering enthusiasm, and it influenced all his sentiments and conduct, rendering him more impartial between conflicting interests and sections, than any other statesman who has lived since the Revolution.

3. Thus, with great versatility of talent, and the most catholic equality of favor, he identified every question, whether of domestic administration or foreign policy, with his own great name, and so became a perpetual Tribune of the people. He needed only to pronounce in favor of a measure, or against it,

1 Wards, the inner parts of a lock.—2 Maġ is tè' ri al, like a master; commanding. As si du' i ty, constant or close application or diligence ; persevering attention. Ver sa til'i ty, the faculty of easily turning one's mind to new subjects.- Cåth' o lic, embracing the whole; liberal.

"Trib' une, in ancient Rome, an officer chosen by the people to protect them from the oppressions of the nobles.

herc, and immediately popular enthusiasm, excited as by a magic wand, was felt, overcoming and dissolving all opposition in the senate-chamber.

4. In this way, he wrought a change in our political system, that, I think, was not foreseen by its founders. He converted this branch of the legislature from a negative position, or one of equilibrium' between the executive and the house of representatives, into the active, ruling power of the republic. Only time can disclose whether this great innovation shall be beneficent, or even permanent.

5. Certainly, sir, the great lights of the senate have set. The obscuration' is no less palpable to the country than to us, who are left to grope our uncertain way here, as in a labyrinth, oppressed with self-distrust. The time, too, presents new embarrassments. We are rising to another and more sublime stage of national progress-that of expanding wealth and rapid territorial ǎg'grandizement.3

6. Our institutions throw a broad shadow across the St. Lawrence, and, stretching beyond the valley of Mexico, reach even to the plains of Central America, while the Sandwich Islands and the shores of China rec'ognize their renovating influence. Wherever that influence is felt, a desire for protection under those institutions is awakened. Expansion seems to be regulated, not by any difficulties of resistance, but by the moderation which results from our own internal constitution. No one knows how rapidly that restraint may give way. Who can tell how far or how fast it ought to yield?

7. Commerce has brought the ancient continents near to us, and created necessities for new positions-perhaps connections or colonies there-and with the trade and friendship of the elder nations, their conflicts and collisions are brought to our doors and to our hearts. Our sympathy kindles, or indifference extinguishes, the fires of freedom in foreign lands. Before we shall be fully conscious that a change is going on in Europe, we may find ourselves once more divided by that eternal line of

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1 E qui lib' ri um, equality of weight, or power. Ob scu ra' tion, the state of being obscured, or darkened. - 'Ag' grand ize ment, exaltation; act of becoming great.- Rên' o våt ing, restoring to a good state; renewing.

separation that leaves on the one side those of our citizens who obey the impulses of sympathy, while on the other are found those who submit only to the counsels of prudence. Even prudence will soon be required to decide whether distant regions, east and west, shall come under our own protection, or be left to ǎg'grandize' a rapidly spreading domain of hostile despotism. 8. Sir, who among us is equal to these mighty questions? I fear there is no one. Nevertheless, the example of Henry Clay remains for our instruction. His genius has passed to the realms of light, but his virtues still live here for our emulation. With them there will remain, also, the protection and favor of the Most High, if, by the practice of justice and the main'tenance of freedom, we shall deserve them.

9. Let, then, the bier pass on. We will follow with sorrow, but not without hope, the reverend form that it bears to its final resting-place; and then, when that grave opens at our feet to receive so ĕs'timable a treasure, we will invoke the God of our fathers to send us new guides, like him that is now withdrawn, and give us wisdom to obey their instructions.

WM. H. SEWARD.

1.

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158. TAULER.

AULER, the preacher, walk'd one autumn day,
Without the walls of Strasbourg,3 by the Rhine,

Pondering the solemn Miracle of Life;

As one who, wandering in a starless night,
Feels, momently, the jar of unseen waves,
And hears the thunder of an unknown sea,
Breaking along an unimagined shore.

2. And as he walk'd he pray'd. Even the same
Old prayer with which, for half a score of years,
Morning, and noon, and evening, lip and heart
Had groan'd: "Have pity upon me, Lord!

'Ag' grandize, to make great; to enlarge; to dignify.--Em u là'tion, effort to equal or surpass.- Strasbourg (strås' berg), a strongly fortified city of France, on its east frontier.

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