ever be able to deny the wisdom of thy decrees, or to fathom the depths of thy counsels? Satan, and impious man alone dare resist thy will. Would that the heavens were acquainted with the whole extent of thy designs, most powerful Father! Thou art about to form, at the foot of Calvary, an eternal union between Christians and Idolaters; thou hast selected another Peter for the faithful; the Pagans also shall have their victim. This victim shall be chosen from among the virgins, to expiate the impurity of pagan rites. The spouse destined for the Martyr, and snatched by him from the altars of the idols, shall incite him to glory. Thou wilt not utterly abandon the victims delivered to the fury of the corrupt Spirits. Thy legions are about to arm; they will fly to the defence of Christians; I myself will sustain the Martyr devoted for the safety of his brethren; and my divine Mother will protect the virgin whom the decrees of eternity summon to thy tabernacles."

Immanuel ceased: all the inhabitants of heaven cast down their astonished eyes towards the earth. Seated at the foot of her Son's throne, Maria feels emotions of compassion: from the height of heaven she suffers the first tokens of her love to fall on the tender victim confided to her care. The palms of the Martyrs suddenly re-bloom in their immortal hands; the burning squadron opens its glorious ranks, to prepare a place for

the espoused Martyrs between Felicitas and Perpetua, between the illustrious Stephen and the great Maccabeus. Michael, the conqueror of the old dragon, brandishes his dreadful lance; the celestial soldiers cover themselves with their glittering coats of mail; the bucklers of diamond and of gold, the quiver of the Almighty, the flaming swords, are removed from the eternal armories; the chariot of Immanuel trembles on its axle which flashes thunders and lightnings; the Cherubim impetuously move their wings, and enkindle the fury of their eyes.* the Anointed redescends to the table of the elders, who present for his benediction two robes newly washed in the blood of the lamb; the all-powerful Father enshrouds himself in the depths of his eternity, and from the Holy Spirit suddenly bursts a flood of light so vivid, that creation is lost in darkness. The choirs of Saints and Angels then raise the song of glory:

"Glory to God in the highest! Enjoy on earth peaceful days, ye who walk in the paths of goodness and of charity! Lamb of God, thou takest

Forth rushed with whirlwind sound

The chariot of paternal Deity

Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel undrawn,
Itself instinct with Spirit, but convoy'd

By four Cherubic shapes ; &c.

Par. lost, v. vi, 1. 749.

away the sins of the world! Oh miracle of purity and innocence, thou permittest victims springing from nothing to imitate thee to devote themselves to death for the deliverance of sinners! Servants of Christ, whom the world persecutesbe not troubled on account of that happiness which the wicked enjoy: they do not, it is true, experience those sufferings which drag them to the chambers of death; they seem ignorant of the tribulations of life; they wear pride, like a collar of gold, around their necks; they become inebriated at unholy tables; they laugh-they sleep-as if they never had committed evil; they die with composure upon couches which they have wrested from the widow and the orphan; but where do they go?

"The fool hath said in his heart, "there is no God!" Let God arise! Let his enemies be scattered! He advances; the pillars of heaven are shaken; the bottom of the ocean, and the bowels of the earth are unveiled before the Lord. A devouring flame issues from his mouth; he flies mounted upon the Cherubim; he darts on every side his consuming arrows! Where now are the children of the wicked? Seven generations have rolled away since the iniquity of their fathers, and God comes to visit the children with his anger: he comes at the time appointed for the punishment of a guilty race; he comes to awake the sinner in his palace of cedar and aloes, and to destroy the phantom of his fleeting felicity."

Happy is he who, journeying with sorrow through the vale of his pilgrimage, seeks God as the source of blessedness! Happy he, whose iniquities are pardoned; who finds his glory in his penitence! Happy he who raises in silence the edifice of good works, like the temple of Solomon, where was heard neither the sound of the ax, nor of the hammer whilst the illustrious architect was building the house of the Lord. Ye who on earth eat your bread with tears, repeat in praise of the Most High the holy song:

"Glory to God in the highest."

THE ARGUMENT.

Cyrillus, the Christian family, Demodocus and Cymodocea retire to an island situated at the confluence of the Ladon and the Alpheus, to listen to the narrative of Eudorus. Eudorus commences his narration. Origin of the family of Lasthenes. It takes arms against the Romans in their invasion of Greece. The eldest of the family is obliged to go to Rome as a hostage. The family of Lasthenes embraces Christianity. Infancy of Eudorus. He departs at the age of sixteen years to take his father's place at Rome, Tempest. Description of the Archipelago. Arrival of Eudorus into Italy. Description of Rome. Eudorus contracts an intimate friendship with Jerome, Augustine and the prince Constantine. Eudorus is introduced at Court. Dioclesian. Galerius. Court of Dioclesian. The sophist Hierocles, pro-consul of Achaia, and the favourite of Galerius. Enmity between Eudorus and Hierocles. Eudorus falls into the temptations of youth and forgets his religion. Marcellinus, bishop of Rome. He threatens Eudorus with excommunication, unless he returns into the bosom of the church. Excommunication of Eudorus. Amphitheatre of Titus. Presentiment of Eudorus.