The God of ages, thou revoltest reverence.

FIRE-WORSHIPPER. Thou hadst a father!--think of his gray hairs,

Houseless, and cuffed by such a storm as this.

ABRAHAM. God is thy father, and thou own'st not Him.

FIRE-WORSHIPPER. I have a wife, as aged as myself,

And if she learn my death, she'll not survive it,

No, not a day; she is so used to me;

So, propped up by her other feeble self.

I pray thee, strike us not both down.
ABRAHAM. [Still urging him.]

God made

Husband and wife, and must be owned of them,
Else He must needs disown them.

FIRE-WORSHIPPER.

We have children—

One of them, sir, a daughter, who next week

Will all day long be going in and out,

Upon the watch for me. Spare, O, spare her!
She's a good creature, and not strong.

Mine ears

ABRAHAM.
Are deaf to all things but thy blasphemy,
And to the coming of the Lord and God,

Who will this night condemn thee.

[ABRAHAM pushes him out; and remains alone speaking.]

For if ever

God came at night-time upon the world,

"Tis now this instant. Hark to the huge winds,

The cataracts of hail, and rocky thunder,

Splitting like quarries of the stony clouds,

Beneath the touching of the foot of God.

That was God's speaking in the heavens that last,
An inward utterance coming by itself.

What is it shaketh thus Thy servant, Lord,

Making him fear, that in some loud rebuke

To this idolater, whom Thou abhorrest,

Terror will slay himself? Lo, the earth quakes
Beneath my feet, and God is surely here.

THE VOICE.

[A dead silence; and then a still small voice.]

Abraham!

ABRAHAM. Where art Thou, Lord? and who is it that speaks So sweetly in mine ear, to bid me turn

And dare to face thy presence?

THE VOICE. Who but He

Whose mightiest utterance thou hast yet to learn?

I was not in the whirlwind, Abraham;

I was not in the thunder, or the earthquake;

But I am in the still small voice.

Where is the stranger whom thou tookest in?

ABRAHAM. Lord, he denied Thee, and I drove him forth.
THE VOICE. Then didst thou what God Himself forbore,

Have I, although he did deny me, borne

With his injuriousness these hundred years,

And couldst thou not endure him one sole night,

And such a night as this?

ABRAHAM. Lord! I have sinned,

And will go forth, and if he be not dead,

Will call him back, and tell him of Thy mercies
Both to himself and me.

[THE VOICE retires while it is speaking; and a fold of the tent is turned back, disclosing the FIRE-WORSHIPPER, who is calmly sleeping, with his head on the back of a house-lamb.]

ABRAHAM. O loving God! the lamb itself 's his pillow, And on his forehead is a balmy dew,

And in his sleep he smileth. I, mean time,

Poor and proud fool, with my presumptuous hands,
Not God's, was dealing judgments on his head,
Which God Himself had cradled! Oh, methinks
There's more in this than prophet yet hath known,
And Faith, some day, will all in love be shown.

-Leigh Hunt.

8. THE WINNING OF JULIET.

JULIET. Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek, For that which thou hast heard me speak to-night, Fain would I dwell on form, fain, fain deny What I have spoke: but farewell compliment! Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say, Ay; And I will take thy word; yet, if thou swear'st, Thou mayst prove false; at lovers' perjuries, They say Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo, If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully: Or if thou think'st I am too quickly won, I'll frown and be perverse, and say thee nay, So thou wilt woo; but else not for the world. In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond ; And therefore thou mayst think my 'havior light. But trust me, gentleman, I will prove more true Than those that have more cunning to be strange. I should have been more strange, I must confess, But that thou overheard'st, ere I was 'ware, My true love's passion: therefore pardon me And not impute this yielding to light love,

Which the dark night hath so discovered.

ROMEO. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear,

That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops.

JULIET. O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,

That monthly changes in her circled orb,

Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

ROMEO. What shall I swear by?

If my heart's dear love

JULIET. Well, do not swear: although I joy in thee, I have no joy of this contract to-night;

It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden:

Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be

Ere one can say, It lightens. Sweet, good night!

This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.
Good night, good night! as sweet repose and rest
Come to thy heart, as that within my breast!

ROMEO. Oh, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?
JULIET.

What satisfaction canst thou have to-night? ROMEO. The exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine. JULIET. I gave thee mine before thou didst request it : And yet I would it were to give again.

ROMEO.

Wouldst thou withdraw it? for what purpose, love?

JULIET. But to be frank, and give it thee again.
And yet I wish but for the thing I have:

My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.

CLASS TALK.

Physical Perfection-Personal Beauty.

subject is so all-engrossing, so all-powerful in its influence upon the mind, affections and conduct of mankind as personal beauty. It is one of the greatest incentives to the arts and the industries of the world. It is this that keeps two-thirds of the inventive genius at work in devising methods and material for adornment, and how gigantic the systems for putting the result of the invention into the market, particularly that which goes to adorn womankind! To comprehend this, one has only to walk down the leading business avenues of our large cities and look into the shops, where is seen such an endless variety of articles and styles, from the "love of a hat" to the sweethued shoe; from the latest coiffure and enamel-box and other beautifiers for the human form, to the daintiest and dearest hosiery, not to mention silks, satins, plushes, etc., etc.

What a temptation all this is to one's personal pride, if not vanity, to be well dressed, to look one's best! But how at variance with the true principles and philosophy of personal beauty, and how false that education which seeks in outward adornment alone the gratification of innate or cultivated desire for beauty! Yet what can we expect when the subject is so imperfectly comprehended by the masses?

The study of physical perfection-embracing proportion, symmetry, simplicity, variety, grace, and strength, and its development should be made a part of the curriculum of every school.