further and he sits complacently in the feat of the "fcornful." Now his doom is sealed! Thus it was with Babylon's proud king; not content with having been an idolator all his life, against his better knowledge-for the judgment that befell his forefather, Nebuchadnezzar, must have instructed him he would ridicule the true religion, he would insult the Majesty of Heaven. He sends for the sacred vessels of the Sanctuary, that he and his companions may magnify themselves over the captive tribes of Ifrael. But behold! in the midst of his blafphemous revelry, the Hand-the terrible hand, appears, and the presumptuous monarch, after having seen his doom recorded on the wall of his own palace, is suddenly cut down, and his kingdom given to another. "My heart is fixed." Ps. cviii. 1. "I press toward the mark for the prize."-PHIL. iii. 14. DECISION AND PERSEVERANCE. See where the Alps rear up their giant brow ! King of the mounts, with coronet of snow; Scorning all time and change, his stalwart form, HERE the Alps lift up their snow-capped heads in awful fublimity; their icy pinnacles tower above the clouds; their colossal forms arife, mountain on mountain piled. To all save the bounding chamois or his intrepid pursuer, they appear inacceffible; here vast overhanging precipices threaten destruction, and there the treacherous abyss lies concealed, ready to engulf the unwary traveller; Winter reigns supreme upon his throne of defolation; eternal tempests increase the horror of the scene. In vain does the famished traveller search for some stunted lichen, or the smallest animal, to save him from approaching death; he sees nothing but boundless feas of ice-no signs of life are there-it seems the very tomb of nature; the folemn folitude is broken only by the roar of the tempeft or the thunder of the avalanche. 66 Yet over all these obstacles Napoleon would advance; he inquires of the engineer Marescot, who has just explored the wild passes of the St. Bernard, if it is possible to pass. "Barely poffible," answers the officer. "Very well," says Napoleon, en avant," "advance," and at the head of his army of above 30,000 men, with their arms, horses, and artillery, he commences the arduous passage. The mountains seem to bid defiance to the utmost efforts of the martial hoft; but dangers and difficulties deter him not; like the gale that wafts the vessel sooner into port, they only urge him on toward the object of his ambition; he conducts the army over flippery glaciers, wide yawning ravines, and eternal snows; he braves the fury of the tempeft, and the crash of the avalanche-and overcoming every obstacle, he fwoops upon Italy like the Alpine eagle upon his prey. In the conduct of Napoleon in this instance, we have a striking example of decision and perseverance. If we can "out of the eater bring forth meat," and "from the strong bring forth sweetness," it will be well. The importance of possessing a decided character is best seen in its results, as the value of a tree is best known by its fruits; by its aid Napoleon accomplished the objects of his ambitionfame, and wealth, and glory, and power. With it, a man attains that which he sets his heart upon; without it, he becomes easily discouraged and fails. With it, he controls his own movements, and influences also the conduct of others; without it, he loses his own individuality, and becomes a creature of circumftances. In fine, man without decifion, is like a rudderless vessel, toffed upon an uncertain sea; while the decided character, like the genius of the storm, commands the winds and the waves, and they obey him. The importance of decision being so apparent, it becomes an interesting inquiry, "How can it be obtained?" After a proper object of pursuit is selected, it seems essential that a fuller knowledge of the object should be secured; no pains ought to be spared in order to obtain a perfect knowledge of the object or profeffion, in all its parts; this is necessary to the foundation of fuch a character. The traveller who knows his way walks with a firm step, while he that is in doubt about his path advances with hefitation. Another thing deemed essential, is Confidence in the object of our choice, that it will yield us satisfaction; possessing a knowledge of our route, and a belief that at the end of our journey we shall be at home, the things that difcourage others have no influence at all upon us. So it is with the decided character, in the path he has chosen. Does opposition present itself? he assumes the attitude of a gladiator, determined to conquer or die. Does danger appear, as it did to Shadrach and his companions, when the burning fiery furnace stood in their path? he burns the more |