and, sometimes, they were seen sitting under a canopy of flowers, with their eyes fixed on each other's faces, as though they could never look away; sometimes, they appeared walk. ing along the banks of the Nile, on one of those sweet nights When wandering youths and maidens watch her beam, Through all these scenes of endearment the two elder perLens stood by ;-their calm countenances touched with a share of that bliss, in whose perfect light the young lovers were Dasking. Thus far, all was happiness;—but the sad lesson of mortality was yet to come. In the last picture of the series, one of the figures was missing. It was that of the young maiden, who had disappeared from among them. On the brink of a dark lake stood the three who remained; while boat, just departing for the City of the Dead, told too plainly the end of their dream of happiness. This memorial of a sorrow of other times-of a sorrow, ancient as death itself—was not wanting to deepen the melancholy of my mind, or to add to the weight of the many bodings that pressed upon it. After a night, as it seemed, of anxious and unsleeping hought, I rose from my bed, and returned to the garden. I found the Christian alone-seated, under the shade of one of his trees, at a small table, on which there lay a volume unolled, while a beautiful antelope was sleeping at his feet. Struck by the contrast which he presented to those haughty priests, whom I had seen surrounded by the pomp and gorgeousness of temples, "Is this, then," thought I, "the faith before which the world now trembles-its temple the desert, its treasury a book, and its High Priest the solitary dweller of the rock ?" He had prepared for me a simple but hospitable repast, of which fruits from his own garden, the white bread of Olyra, and the juice of the honey-cane, formed the most costly luxuries. His manner to me was even more cordial and fatherly than before; but the absence of Alethe, and, still more, the aminous reserve, with which he not only, himself, refrained from all mention of her name, but eluded the few inquiries, by which I sought to lead to it, seemed to confirm all the apprehensions I had felt in parting from her. She had acquainted him, it was evident, with the whole history of our flight. My reputation as a philosopher-my desire to become a Christian-all was already known to the zealous anchoret, and the subject of my conversion was the very first on which he entered. Oh, pride of philosophy, how wert thou then humbled, and with what shame did I stand in the presence of that venerable man, not daring to let my eyes encounter his, while, with unhesitating trust in the sincerity of my intention, he welcomed me to a participation of his holy hope, and imprinted the Kiss of Charity on my infidel brow! Embarrassed as I could not but feel by the humiliating consciousness of hopocrisy, I was even still more perplexed by my almost total ignorance of the real tenets of the faith to which I professed myself a convert. Abashed and confused, and with a heart sick at its own deceit, I listened to the animated and eloquent gratulations of the Christian, as though they were words in a dream, without any link or meaning; nor could disguise, but by the mockery of a reverent bow, at every pause, the total want of self-possession, and even of speech, under which I laboured. A few minutes more of such trial, and I must have avowed my imposture. But the holy man perceived my embarrassment; and, whether mistaking it for awe, or knowing it to be ignorance, relieved me from my perplexity by, at once, changing the theme. Having gently awakened his antelope from its sleep, "You have doubtless," he said, "heard of my brother-anchoret, Paul, who, from his cave in the marble mountains, near the Red Sea, sends hourly the blessed 'sacrifice of thanksgiving' to heaven. Of his walks, they tell me, a lion is the companion; but, for me," he added, with a playful and significant smile, "who try my powers of taming but on the gentler animals, this feeble child of the desert is a far fitter playmate." Then, taking his staff, and putting the time-worn volume which he had been perusing into a large goat-skin pouch, that hung by his side," I will now," said Le, "conduct thee over my rocky kingdom, that thou mayest see in what drear and barren places that sweet fruit of the spirit' Peace, may be gathered." To speak of peace to a heart throbbing, as mine did, at that moment, was like talking of some distant harbour to the mariner sinking at sea. In vain did I look around for some sign of Alethe;-in vain make an effort even to utter her name. Consciousness of my own deceit, as well as a fear of awakening in the mind of Melanius any suspicion that might tend to frustrate my only hope, threw a fetter over my spirit, and checked my tongue. In humble silence, there fore, I followed; while the cheerful old man, with slow, but firm step, ascended the rock, by the same ladders which I had mounted on the preceding night. During the time when the Decian Persecution was raging, many Christians, as he told me, of the neighbourhood, had taken refuge under his protection, in these grottos; and the small chapel upon the summit, where I had found his flock at prayer, was, in those awful times of suffering, their usual place of retreat, where, by drawing up these ladders, they were enabled to secure themselves from pursuit. The view, from the top of the rock, extending on either side, embraced the two extremes of fertility and desolation; nor could the Epicurean and the Anchoret, who now stood gazing from that height, be at any loss to indulge their re spective tastes, between the living luxuriance of the world on one side, and the dead, pulseless repose of the desert on the other. When we turned to the river, what a picture of animation presented itself! Near us to the south, were the graceful colonnades of Antinoe, its proud, populous streets, and triumphal monuments. On the opposite shore, rich plains, all teeming with cultivation to the water's edg seemed to offer up, as from verdant altars, their fruits to the sun; while, beneath us, the Nile, From this scene, on one side of the mountain, we had but u turn round our eyes to the other, and it was as if Nature her self had become suddenly extinct;-a wide waste of sands, bleak and interminable, wearying out the sun with its sameness of desolation;-black, burnt-up rocks, that stood as barriers, at which life stopped;-while the only signs of ani mation, past or present, were the foot-prints, here and there, of an antelope or ostrich, or the bones of dead camels, as they lay whitening at a distance, marking out the track of the caravans over the waste. After listening, while he contrasted, in a few eloquen: words, the two regions of life and death on whose confines we stood, I again descended with my guide to the garden that we had left. From thence, turning into a path along the mountain-side, he led me to another row of grottos, facing the desert, which had been once, he said, the abode of these brethren in Christ, who had fled with him to this solitudə from the crowded world—but which death had, within a few short months, rendered tenantless. A cross of red stone, and a few faded trees, were the only traces these solitaries had left behind. A silence of some minutes succeeded, while we descended to the edge of the canal; and I saw opposite, among the rocks, that solitary cave, which had so chilled me with its aspect on the preceding night. Beside the bank we found one of those rustic boats, which the Egyptians construct of planks of white thorn, bound rudely together with bands of papyrus. Placing ourselves in this boat, and rather impelling than rowing it across, we made our way through the foul and shallow flood, and landed directly under the site of the cave. This dwelling was situated, as I have already mentioned, on a ledge of the rock; and, being provided with a sort of window, or aperture, to admit the light of heaven, was so> counted, I found, far more cheerful than the grottos on the other side of the ravine. But there was a dreariness in the whole region around, to which light only lent additional bor ror. The dead whiteness of the rocks, as they stood, like ghosts, in the sunshine ;-that melancholy pool, half-lost in the sands; all gave to my mind the idea of a wasting world. To dwell in a place so desolate seemed to me a living death i and when the Christian, as we entered the cave, said, “Here is to be thy home," prepared as I had been for the worst, all my resolution gave way;-every feeling of disappointed pas sion and humbled pride, which had been gathering round my neart for the last few hours, found a vent at once, and I burst into tears. Accustomed to human weakness and, perhaps guessing at some of the sources of mine, the good Hermit, without appearing to take any notice of this emotion, proceeded to expatiate, with a cheerful air, on, what he called, the comforts of my dwelling. Sheltered from the dry, burning wind of the south, my porch would inhale, he said, the fresh breeze of the Dog-star. Fruits from his own mountain-garden should furnish my repast. The well of the neighbouring rock would supply my beverage; and "here," he continued-lowering his voice into a more solemn tone, as he placed upon the table the volume which he had brought-" here, my son, is that well of living waters,' in which alone thou wilt find lasting refreshment or peace!" Thus saying, he descended the rock to his boat; and, after a few plashes of his oar had died upon my ear, the solitude and silence that reigned around me was complete. CHAPTER XVII. WHAT a fate was mine!-but a few weeks since, presiding over that gay Festival of the Garden, with all the luxuries of existence tributary in my train; and now-self-humbled into a solitary outcast-the hypocritical pupil of a Christian anchoret-without even the excuse of religious fanaticism, or any other madness, but that of love, wild love, to extenuate my fall! Were there a hope that by this humiliating waste of existence, I might purchase now and then a momentary glimpse of Alethe, even the depths of the desert, with such a chance, would be welcome. But to live-and live thus without her, was a misery which I neither foresaw nor could endure. Hating even to look upon the den to which I was doomed, I hurried out into the air, and found my way, along the rocks, to the desert. The sun was going down, with that blood-red hue, which he so often wears, in this climate, at his setting. I saw the sands, stretching out, like a sea to the horizon, as if their waste extended to the very verge of the world-and, the bitterness of my feelings, rejoiced to see so large a portion of creation rescued, even by this barren liberty, from the encroaching grasp of man. The thought seemed to relieve my wounded pride, and, as I wandered over the dim and boundless solitude, to be thus free even amidst blight and desolation, appeared to me a blessing. The only living thing I saw was a restless swallow, whose wings were of the same hue with the gray sands over which he fluttered. Why (thought I) may not the mind, like this bird, partake of the colour of the desert, and sympathise in its austerity, its freedom, and its calm?"-thus vanly endeavouring, between despondence and defiance, to encounter with some degree of fortitude what yet my heart sickened to contemplate. But the effort was unavailing. Overcome by that vast solitude, whose repose was not the slumber of peace, but rather the sullen and burning silence of hate, I felt my spirit give way, and even love itself yielded to despair. Taking my seat on a fragment of a rock, and covering my eyes with my hands, I made an effort to shut out the overwhelming prospect. But all in vain-it was still before me, with every additional horror that fancy could suggest; and when, again looking forth, I beheld the last red ray of the sun, shooting across the melancholy and lifeless waste, it appeared to me like the light of that comet which once desofated this world, and thus luridly shone out over the ruin that it had made! Appalled by my own gloomy imaginations, I turned towards the ravine; and, notwithstanding the disgust with which I had fled from my dwelling, was not ill pleased to find my way, over the rocks, to it again. On approaching the cave, to my astonishment, I saw a light within. At such a moment, any vestige of life was welcome, and I hailed the unexpected appearance with pleasure. On entering, however, I found the chamber all as lonely as I had left it. The light I had seen carne from a lamp that burned brightly on the table; beside it was unfolded the volume which Melanius had brought, and upon the open leaves-oh, joy and surprise-lay the wellown cross of Alethe! into a bower. She had here reminded me, by this sacred memorial, of the vow which I had pledged to her under the Hermit's rock; and I now scrupled not to reiterate the same daring promise, though conscious that through hypocrisy alone I could fulfil it. Eager to prepare myself for my task of imposture, I sat down to the volume, which I now found to be the Hebrew Scriptures; and the first sentence, on which my eyes fell, was -"The Lord hath commanded the blessing, even Life for evermore!" Startled by these words, in which it appeared to me as if the Spirit of my dream had again pronounced his assuring prediction, I raised my eyes from the page, and re peated the sentence over and over, as if to try whether in these sounds there lay any charm or spell, to re-awaken that faded illusion in my soul. But, no-the rank frauds of the Memphian priesthood had dispelled all my trust in the pro mises of religion. My heart had again relapsed into its gloom of scepticism, and, to the word of "Life," the only answer it sent back was, "Death!" Being impatient, however, to possess myself of the elements of a faith, upon which-whatever it might promise for hereafter I felt that all my happiness here depended, I turned over the pages with an earnestness and avidity, such as never even the most favourite of my studies had awakened in me. Though, like all who seek but the surface of learning, I flew desultorily over the leaves, lighting only on the more promi nent and shining points, I yet found myself, even in this un disciplined career, arrested, at every page, by the awful, the supernatural sublimity, the alternate melancholy and grandeur of the images that crowded upon me. I had, till now, known the Hebrew theology but through the platonising refinement of Philo;-as, in like manner, for my knowledge of the Christian doctrine I was indebted to my brother Epicureans, Lucian and Celsus. Little, therefore, was my mind prepared for the simple majesty, the high tone of inspiration-the poetry, in short, of heaven that breathed throughout these oracles. Could admiration have kindled faith, I should, that night, have been a believer; so elevated, so awed, was my imagination by that wonderful book-its warnings of wo, its announcements of glory, and its unrivalled strains of adoration and sorrow. Hour after hour, with the same eager and desultory curt osity, did I turn over the leaves;—and when, at length, I lay down to rest, my fancy was still haunted by impressions it had received. I went again through the various scenes of which I had read; again called up, in sleep, the bright im ages that had passed before me; and when awakened as early dawn by the solemn Hymn from the chapel, imagined that I was still listening to the sound of the winds, sighing mournfully through the harps of Israel on the willows. Startling from my bed, I hurried out upon the rock, with a hope that, among the tones of that morning choir, I might be able to distinguish the sweet voice of Alethe. But the strain had ceased;-I caught only the last notes of the Hymn, as, echoing up that lonely valley, they died away into the silence of the desert. With the first glimpse of light I was again eagerly at my study, and, notwithstanding the frequent distraction both of my thoughts and looks towards the distant, half-seen grottos of the Anchoret, continued my task with unabating persever ance throughout the day. Still alive, however, only to the eloquence, the poetry of what I studied, of its claims to au thority, as a history, I never once paused to consider. My fancy alone being interested by it, to fancy alone I referred all that it contained; and, passing rapidly from annals to prophecy, from narration to song, regarded the whole but as a tissue of oriental allegories, in which the deep melancholy of Egyptian associations was interwoven with the rich and sensual imagery of the East. Towards sunset I saw the venerable Hermit, on his way, across the canal, to my cave. Though he was accompanied only by his graceful antelope, which came snuffing the wild air of the desert, as if scenting its home, I felt his visit, even thus, to be a most welcome relief. It was the hour, he said, of his evening ramble up the mountain-of his accustomed visit to those cisterns of the rock, from which he drew nightly his most precious beverage. While he spoke, I observed in his and one of those earthen cups, in which it is the custom What hand, but her own, could have prepared this recepof the inhabitants of the wilderness to collect the fresh dew tion for me 1-The very thought sent a hope into my heart, among the rocks. Having proposed that I should accom before which all despondency fled. Even the gloom of the pany him in his walk, he proceeded to lead me, in the direc *esert was forgotten, and my rude cave at once brightened || tion of the desert, up the side of the mountain that rose above my dwelling and which formed the southern wall or screen of the defile. Near the summit we found a seat, where the old man paused to rest. It commanded a full view over the desert, and was by the side of one of those hollows in the rock, those natural reservoirs, in which are treasured the dews of night for the refreshment of the dwellers in the wilderness. Having learned from me how far I had advanced in my study"In yonder light," said he, pointing to a small cloud in the east, which had been formed on the horizon by the haze of the desert, and was now faintly reflecting the splendours of sunset-" in the midst of that light stands Mount Sinai, of whose glory thou hast read; upon whose summit was the scene of one of those awful revelations, in which the Almighty has renewed from time to time his communication with Man, and kept alive the remembrance of his own Providence in this world." After a pause, as if absorbed in the immensity of the subject, the holy man continued his sublime theme. Looking back to the earliest annals of time, he showed how constantly every relapse of the human race into idolatry has been followed by some manifestation of Divine power, chastening the strong and proud by punishment, and winning back the humble by love. It was to preserve, he said, unextinguished upan earth, that great and vital truth-the Creation of the world by one Supreme Being, that God chose, from among the nations, an humble and enslaved race-that he brought them out of their captivity "on eagles' wings," and, still surrounding every step of their course with miracles, has placed them before the eyes of all succeeding generations, as the depositaries of his will and the ever-during memorials of his power. Passing, then, in review the long train of inspired interpreters, whose pens and whose tongues were made the echoes of the Divine voice, he traced throughout the events of successive ages, the gradual unfolding of the dark scheme of Providence-darkness without, but all light and glory within. The glimpses of a coming redemption, visible even through the wrath of Heaven;-the long series of prophecy through which this hope runs, burning and alive, like a spark along a chain; the slow and merciful preparation of the hearts of mankind for the great trial of their faith and obedience that was at hand, not only by miracles that appealed to the living, but by prophecies launched into the future to carry conviction to the yet unborn;-" through all these glorious and beneficent gradations we may track," said he, "the manifest footsteps of a Creator, advancing to his grand, ultimate endthe salvation of his creatures." After some hours devoted to these holy instructions, we returned to the ravine, and Melanius left me at my cave; praying, as he parted from me-with a benevolence which I but ill, alas! deserved--that my soul might, under these lessons, be "as a watered garden," and, ere long, "bear fruit unto life eternal." Next morning, I was again at my study, and even more eager in the awakening task than before. With the commentary of the Hermit freshly in my memory, I again read through, with attention, the Book of the Law. But in vain did I seek the promise of immortality in its pages. "It tells me," said I, "of a God coming down to earth, but of the ascent of Man to heaven it speaks not. The rewards, the punishments it announces, lie all on this side of the grave; nor did even the Omnipotent offer to his own chosen servants a hope beyond the impassable limits of this world. Where, then, is the salvation of which the Christian spoke? or, if Death be at the root of the faith, can Life spring out of it?" Again, in the bitterness of disappointment, did I mock at my own willing self-delusion-again rail at the arts of that traitress, Fancy, ever ready, like the Delilah of this wondrous book, to steal upon the slumbers of Reason, and deliver him up, shorn and powerless, to his foes. If deception, thought I, be necessary, at least let me not practice it on myself;in the desperate alternative before me, let me rather be even hypocrite than dupe. These self-accusing reflections, cheerless as they rendered my task, did not abate, for a single tiomers, my industry in pursuing it. I read on and on, with a sort of sullen apathy, neither charmed by style, nor transported by imagery-the fatal blight in my heart having communicated itself to my imagination and taste. The curses and the blessings, the glory and the ruin, which the historian recorded, and the prophet had predicted, secmed all of this world-all temporal and earthly. That mortality, of which the fountain-head had tasted, tinged the who e stream; and when I read the words, "all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again," a feeling, like the wind of the desert, came witheringly over me. Love Beauty, Glory, every thing most bright and worshipped apoa earth, appeared to be sinking before my eyes, under this dreadful doom, into one general mass of corruption and silence. Possessed by the image of desolation I had thus called up, I laid my head upon the book, in a paroxysm of despair Death, in all his most ghastly varieties, passed before me; and I had continued thus for some time, as under the influence of a fearful vision, when the touch of a hand upon my shoulder roused me. Looking up, I saw the Anchoret stand ing by my side;-his countenance beaming with that sublime tranquillity, which a hope, beyond this earth, alone can be stow. How I did envy him! We again took our way to the seat upon the mountainthe gloom within my own mind making every thing around more gloomy. Forgetting my hypocrisy in my feelings, I proceeded at once to make an avowal to him of all the doubts and fears which my study of the morning had awakened. "Thou art yet, my son," he answered, "but on the thresh hold of our faith. Thou hast seen but the first rudiments of the Divine plan;--its full and consummate perfection bath not yet opened upon thy mind. However glorious that mani festation of Divinity on Mount Sinai, it was but the forerunner of another, still more glorious, which, in the fulness of time, was to burst upon the world; when all, that before had seem ed dim and incomplete, was to be perfected, and the promi ses, shadowed out by the spirit of prophecy,' realized;— when the seal of silence, under which the future had so long lain, was to be broken, and the glad tidings of life and im mortality proclaimed to the world!" Observing my features brighten at these words, the pious man continued. Anticipating some of the holy knowledge that was in store for me, he traced, through all its wonders and mercies, the great work of Redemption, dwelling in detail upon every miraculous circumstance connected with it-the exalted nature of the Being, by whose ministry it was no complished, the noblest and first created of the Sons of God, inferior only, to the one, self-existent Father;—the mysterious incarnation of this heavenly messenger;-the miracles that authenticated his divine mission;—the example of obedience to God and love to man, which he set, as a shining light, be fore the world for ever;-and, lastly and chiefly, his death and resurrection, by which the covenant of mercy was sealed, and "life and immortality brought to light." "Such," continued the Hermit, "was the Mediator, promised through all time, to make reconciliation for iniquity,' to change death into life, and bring healing on his wings to a darkened world. Such was the last crowning dispensa tion of that God of benevolence, in whose hands sin and death are but instruments of everlasting good; and who, through apparent evil and temporary retribution, bringing all things out of darkness into his marvellous light,' proceeds watchfully and unchangingly to the great, final object of his providence the restoration of the whole human race to purity and happiness!" With a mind astonished, if not touched, by these discourses, I returned to my cave, and found the lamp, as before, ready lighted to receive me. The volume which I had been hith erto studying, was replaced by another, which lay open up、 the table, with a brancl. of fresh palm between its leaves. Though I could not doubt to whose gentle and guardian hand I was indebted for this invisible watchfulness over my studies there was yet a something in it, so like spiritual interposition, that it struck me with awe;-and never more than at this moment, when, on approaching the volume, I saw, as the light glistened over its silver letters, that it was the very Book of Life of which the Hermit had spoken! The midnight hymn of the Christians had sounded through the valley, before I had yet raised my eyes from that sacred volume; and the second hour of the sun found me again over its pages. CHAPTER XVIII. In this mode of existence I had now passed some days;my mornings devoted to reading, my nights to listening, under the wide canopy of heaven, to the holy eloquence of Melani The perseverance with which I inquired, and the quickness with which I learned, soon succeeded in deceiving my benevolent instructor, who mistook curiosity for zeal, and knowledge for belief Alas! cold, and barren, and earthly was that knowledge the word without the spirit, the shape without the life. Even when, as a relief from hypocrisy, I persuaded myself that I believed, it was but a brief delusion, a faith, whose hope crumbled at the touch-like the fruit of the desertshrub, shining and empty! But, though my soul was still dark, the good Hermit saw not into its depths. The very facility of my belief, which might have suggested some doubt of its sincerity, was but regarded, by his innocent zeal, as a more signal triumph of the truth. His own ingenuousness led him to a ready trust in others; and the examples of such conversion as that of the philosopher, Justin, who, during a walk by the sea-shore, received the light into his soul, had prepared him for illuminaHons of the spirit, even more rapid than mine. During all this time, I neither saw nor heard of Alethe ;For could my patience have endured through so long a privation, had not those mute vestiges of her presence, that welcomed me every night on my return, made me feel that I was still living under her gentle influence, and that her sympathy hang round every step of my progress. Once, too, when I ventured to speak her name to Melanius, though he answered not my inquiry, there was a smile, I thought, of promise upon his countenance, which love, far more alive than faith, was ready to interpret as it desired. At length-it was on the sixth or seventh evening of my solitude, when I lay resting at the door of my cave, after the study of the day-I was startled by hearing my name called loudly from the opposite rocks; and looking up, saw, upon the cliff near the deserted grottos, Melanius and-oh! I could not doubt-my Alethe by his side! Though I had never, since the first night of my return from the desert, ceased to flatter myself with the fancy that I was still living in her presence, the actual sight of her once more made me feel for what a long age we had been separated. She was clothed all in white, and, as she stood in the last remains of the sunshine, appeared to my too prophetic fancy like a parting spirit, whose last footsteps on earth that pure glory encircled. With a delight only to be imagined, I saw them descend the rocks, and, placing themselves in the boat, proceed directly towards my cave. To disguise from Melanius the mutual delight with which we again met was impossible ;-nor did Alethe even attempt to make a secret of her joy. Though blushing at her own happiness, as little could her frank nature conceal it, as the clear waters of Ethiopia can hide their gold. Every look, every word, bespoke a fulness of affection, to which, doubtful as I was of our tenure of happiness, I knew not how to respond. I was not long, however, left ignorant of the bright fate that awaited me; but, as we wandered or rested among the rocks, learned every thing that had been arranged since our parting. She had made the Hermit, I found, acquainted with all that had passed betwren us; had told him, without reserve, every incident of our voyage-the avowals, the demonstrations of affection on one side, and the deep sentiment that gratitude had awakened on the other. Too wise to regard ? affections so natural with severity-knowing that they were of heaven, and but made evil by man-the good Her:nit had heard of our attachment with pleasure; and, fully satisfied as to the honour and purity of my views, by the fidelity with which I had delivered my trust into his hands, saw, in my affection for the young orphan, but a providential resource against that friendless solitude in which his death must soon eave her. he added, "of that New Life into which she had been initiated." I raised my eyes to hers as he spoke, but withdrew them again, dazzled and confused. Even her beauty, to my imagi nation, seemed to have undergone some brightening change; and the contrast between that open and happy countenance, and the unblest brow of the infidel that stood before her, abashed me into a sense of unworthiness, and almost check ed my rapture. To that night, however, I look back, as an epoch in my existence. It proved that sorrow is not the only awakener of devotion, but that joy may sometimes quicken the holy spark into life. Returning to my cave, with a heart full, even to oppression, of its happiness, I could find no other relief to my overcharged feelings, than that of throwing myself on my knees, and uttering, for the first time in my life, a heart-felt prayer, that if, indeed, there were a Being who watched over mankind, he would send down one ray of his truth into my darkened soul, and make it worthy of the blessings, both here and hereafter, proffered to it! My days now rolled on in a perfect dream of happines Every hour of the morning was welcomed as bringing nearer and nearer the blest time of sunset, when the Hermit and Alethe never failed to visit my now charmed cave, where he smile left, at each parting, a light that lasted till her return Then, our rambles, together, by starlight, over the mountain our pauses, from time to time, to contemplate the wonders of the bright heaven above us; our repose by the cistern of the rock; and our silent listening, through hours that seemed minutes, to the holy eloquence of our teacher;—all, all was happiness of the most heart-felt kind, and such as even the doubts, the cold lingering doubts, that still hung, like a mist, around my heart, could neither cloud nor chill. As soon as the moonlight nights returned, we used to ven ture into the desert; and those sands, which had lately looked so desolate, in my eyes, now assumed even a cheerful and smiling aspect. To the light, innocent heart of Alethe, every thing was a source of enjoyment. For her, even the desert had its jewels and flowers; and, sometimes, her delight was to search among the sands for those beautiful pebbles of jas per that abound in them ;-sometimes her eyes would sparkle with pleasure on finding, perhaps, a stunted marigold, or one of those bitter, scarlet flowers, that lend their dry mockery of ornament to the desert. In all these pursuits and pleasures the good Hermit took a share-mingling occasionally with them the reflections of a benevolent piety, that lent its own cheerful hue to all the works of creation, and saw the con soling truth, "God is Love," written legibly every where Such was, for a few weeks, my blissful life. Oh, morninga of hope! oh, nights of happiness! with what melancholy pleasure do I retrace your flight, and how reluctantly pass to the sad events that followed. During this time, in compliance with the wishes of Melanius, who seemed unwilling that I should become wholly estranged from the world, I used occasionally to pay a visit to the neighbouring city, Antinoe, which, being the capital of the Thebaid, is the centre of all the luxury of Upper Egypt. But here, so changed was my every feeling by the all-absorbing passion which now possessed me, that I sauntered along, wholly uninterested by either the scenes or the people that surrounded me, and, sighing for that rocky solitude where my Alethe breathed, felt this to be the wilderness, and that the world. Even the thoughts of my own native Athens, that at every step were called up, by the light Grecian architecture of this imperial city, did not awaken one single regret in my heartone wish to exchange even an hour of my desert for the best luxuries and honours that awaited me in the Garden. I saw As, listening eagerly, I collected these particulars from their the arches of triumph;-I walked under the superb portico, discourse, I could hardly trust my ears. It seemed a happi- which encircles the whole city with its marble shade;-1 aess too great to be true, to be real; nor can words convey stood in the Circus of the Sun, by whose rose-coloured pillars any idea of the joy, the shame, the wonder with which I lis- the mysterious movements of the Nile are measured ;-on all tened, while the holy man himself declared that he awaited these proud monuments of glory and art, as well as on the but the moment, when he should find me worthy of becoming gay multitude that enlivened them, I looked with an unheedmember the Christian Church, to give me also the hand of ing eye. If they awakened in me any thought, it was the Alethe in that sacred union, which alone sanctifies love, and mournful idea, that, one day, like Thebes and Heliopolis, this makes the faith, which it pledges, holy. It was but yester pageant would pass away, leaving nothing behind but a few day, he added, that his young charge, herself, after a prepa-mouldering ruins-like sea-shells found where the ocean has ration of prayer and repentance, such as even her pure spirit required, had been admitted, by the sacred ordinance of baptiam, into the bosom of the faith;-and the white garment she Ware, and the ring of gold on her finger, were symbols," 44 been-to tell that the great tide of Life was once there! But, though indifferents to all that had formerly at tracted me, there were subjects, once alien to my heart, on which it was now most tremblingly alive; and some rumours THE MIRROR LIBRARY. which had reached me, in one of my visits to the city, of an expected change in the policy of the Emperor towards the Christians, filled my mind with apprehensions as new as they were dreadful to me. The toleration and even favour which the Christians enJoyed, during the first four years of the reign of Valerian, had removed from them all fear of a renewal of those horrors, which they had experienced under the rule of his predecessor, Decius. Of late, however, some less friendly dispositions nad manifested themselves. The bigots of the court taking alarm at the rapid spread of the new faith, had succeeded in filling the mind of the monarch with that religious jealousy, which is the ever-ready parent of cruelty and injustice. Among these counsellors of evil was Macriar us, their Pretorian Prefect, who was by birth an Egyptian, and had long made himself notorious-so akin is superstition to intolerance -by his addiction to the dark practices of demon-worship and magic. From this minister, who was now high in the favour of Valerian, the new measures of severity against the Christians were expected to emanate. All tongues, in all quarters, were busy with the news. In the streets, in the public gardens, on the steps of the temples, I saw, everywhere, groups of inquirers collected, and heard the name of Macrianus upon every tongue. It was dreadful, too, to observe, in the countenances of those who spoke, the variety of feeling with which the rumour was discussed, according as they feared or desired its truth—according as they were likely to be among the torturers or the victims. Alarmed, though still ignorant of the whole extent of the danger, I hurried back to the ravine, and, going at once to the grotto of Melanius, detailed to him every particular of the intelligence I had collected He listened to me with a composure, which I mistook, alas! for confidence in his own security; and, naming the hour for our evening walk, retired inte his grotto. At the accustomed time, accompanied by Alethe, he came to my cave. It was evident that he had not communicated to her the intelligence which I had brought, for never hath brow worn such happiness as that which now played around hers:-it was alas. not of this earth. Melanius, himself, though composed, was thoughtful; and the solemnity, almost approaching to melancholy, with which he placed the hand of Alethe in mine-in the performance, too. of a ceremony that ought to have filled my heart with joy-saddened and alarmed me. This ceremony was our betrothment-the act of plighting our faith to each other, which we now solemnized an the rock before the door of my cave, in the face of that calm, sunset heaven, whose one star stood as our witness. After a blessing from the Hermit upon our spousal pledge, I placed the ring-the earnest of our future union on her finger; and, in the blush, with which she surrendered to me her whole heart at that instant, forgot every thing but my happiness, and felt secure even against fate! We took our accustomed walk that evening, over the rocks and on the desert. So bright was the moon-more like the daylight indeed of other climes-that ve could plainly see the tracks of the wild antelopes in the tand; and it was not without a slight tremble of feeling in ris voice, as if some melancholy analogy occurred to him as he spoke, that the good Hermit said, "I have observed, in the course of my walks, that wherever the track of that gentle animal appears, there is, almost always, found the foot-print of a beast of prey near it." He regained, however, his usual cheerfulness before we parted 7 fixed the following evening for an excursion, on the other side of the ravine, to a point looking, he said, "towards that northern region of the desert, where the hosts of the Lord encamped on their departure out of bondage." Though, when Alethe was present, all my fears even for herself were forgotten in that perpetual element of happiness, which encircled her like the air that she breathed, no sooner was I alone, than vague terrors and bodings crowded upon me. In vain did I endeavour to reason away my fears, by dwelling only on the most cheering circumstances-on the everence with which Melanius was regarded, even by the Pagans, and the inviolate security with which he had lived through the most perilous periods, not only safe himself, but affording sanctuary in the depths of his grottos to others. Though somewhat calmed by these considerations, yet, when at length I sunk off to sleep, dark, horrible dreams took possession of my mind. Scenes of death and of torment passed confusedly before me; and, when I awoke, it was with the fearful impression that all these horrors were real. CHAPTER XIX. tient to be relieved from my suspense, I threw myself into AT length, the day dawned-that dreadful day! Impa my boat-the same in which we had performed our happy voyage-and, as fast as oars could speed me, hurried away to the city. I found the suburbs silent and solitary, but, as I approached the Forum, loud yells, like those of barbarians in combat, struck on my ear, and, when I entered it—reat God, what a spectacle presented itself! The imperial edict against the Christians had arrived during the night, and already the wild fury of bigotry was let loose. Under a canopy, in the middle of the Forum, was the tribu of Osiris-stood at the bottom of the steps that led up to his nal of the Governor. Two statues-one of Apollo, the other judgment seat. Before these idols were shrines, to which the devoted Christians were dragged from all quarters by the soldiers and mob, and there compelled to recant, by throwing incense into tae flame, or, on their refusal, hurried away torture and death. It was an appalling scene;-the con sternation, the cries of some of the victims-the pale, silent resolution of others;-the fierce shouts of laughter that broke from the multitude, when the dropping of the frankincense on the altar proclaimed some denier of Christ; and the fiendlike triumph with which the courageous Confessors, who avowed their faith, were led away to the flames ;-never could I have conceived such an assemblage of horrors! Though I gazed but for a few minutes, in those minutes I felt and fancied enough for years. Already did the form of Alethe appear to flit before me through that tumult :—I heard them shout her name; -her shrick fell on my car: and the very thought so palsied me with terror, that I stood fixed and statue-like on the spot. Recollecting, however, the fearful preciousness of every moment, and that-perhaps, at this very instant-some emiswildly out of the Forum, and made my way to the quay. saries of blood might be on their way to the Grottos, I rushed the multitude, and was already under the portico leading dow In this state of torture I remained till the arrival of the Tribune. Absorbed in my own thoughts, I had not perceived his entrance;-till, hearing a voice, in a tone of friendly sur prise, exclaim, "Alciphron!" I looked up, and in this legion military command, the year before, at Athens, and was one ary Chief recognised a young Roman of rank, who had held of the most distinguished visiters of the Garden. It was no cordiality to greet me, but, having heard him order my irstant time, however, for courtesies:-he was proceeding with all release, I could wait for no more. Acknowledging his kindthrough the streets, and, in a few minutes was on the river. ness but by a grasp of the hand, I flew off, like one frantic, the detached parties should arrive, and, by a timely flight My sole hope had been to reach the grottos before any of ill-fated delay that had occurred rendered this hope almost across the desert, rescue, at least, Alethe from their fury. The desperate; but the tranquillity I found every where as I pro |