The Sixth Reader of the Popular Series

7. “The prophet, after predicting the liberation of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon, and their restoration to their own country, introduces the song, in which the earth itself triumphs, with the inhabitants thereof; the fir-trees and the cedars of Lebanon exult with joy, and reproach the humbled power of a ferocious enemy. Even the ghosts of princes, and the departed spirits of kings, rise up from Hades to insult and deride the fallen monarch of Babylon, and comfort themselves with the view of his calamity."-But one must read this prophetic song, to appreciate its beauties.

II.-Israel's Song of Triumph over Babylon.-Isaiah.

1. How hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.

2. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth: it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?

3. Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit, also, upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I

will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.

4. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms? that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet.

5. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord. I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.

6. Bishop Lowth has the following remarks upon the style and composition of this wonderful poem :

"How forcible is its imagery, how diversified, how sublime! How elevated the diction, the figures, the sentiments! The Jewish nation, the cedars of Lebanon, the ghosts of departed kings, the Babylonish monarch, the travellers who find his corpse, and, last of all, JEHOVAH himself, are the characters which support this beautiful lyric drama. One continued action is kept up, or rather a series of interesting actions are connected together in an incomparable whole. This, indeed, is the principal and

distinguished excellence of the sublime ode,-and is displayed in its utmost perfection in this poem of Isaiah, which may be considered as one of the most ancient, and certainly the most finished specimen of that species of composition which has been transmitted to us.

7. "The personifications here are frequent, yet not confused; bold, yet not improbable: a free, clevated, and truly divine spirit pervades the whole; nor is there anything in this ode to defeat its claim to the character of perfect beauty and sublimity. If, indeed, I may be indulged in the free declaration of my own sentiments, I do not know a single instance in the whole compass of Greek and Roman poetry, which, in every excellence of composition, can be said to equal, or even to approach it."

8. We find in the following lines similar sentiments regarding Hebrew poetry in general:—

Let those, who will, hang rapturously o'er
The flowing eloquence of Plato's page,-
Repeat, with flashing eye, the sounds that pour
From Homer's verse as with a torrent's rage;
Let those, who list, ask Tully to assuage
Wild hearts with high-wrought periods, and restore
The reign of rhetoric; or maxims sage

Winnow from Seneca's sententious lore.

Not these, but Judah's hallowed bards, to me
Are dear: Isaiah's noble energy;

The temperate grief of Job; the artless strain
Of Ruth and pastoral Amos; the high songs
Of David; and the tale of Joseph's wrongs,
Simply pathetic, eloquently plain.-Aubrey de Vere.

INDEX:

WITH BRIEF SKETCHES OF AUTHORS FROM WHOM THERE ARE SELEC-
TIONS, OR TO WHOM PROMINENT REFERENCE IS MADE, IN THE

FOREGOING PAGES.

ADDISON, Joseph, 1672-1717. [pp. 7,
24, 32, 141.]

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey,-b. at Ports-
mouth, N.H., in 1809,-poet, essayist, and
novelist; author of that charming ballad
"Babie Bell"; a frequent contributor to
magazines. [p. 286.]

Alison, Sir Archibald, 1792-1867,-a Brit-
ish essayist and historian. His principal
work is "History of Europe from the Com-
mencement of the French Revolution to the
Restoration of the Bourbons." [p. 433.]

Ames, Fisher, 1758-1808,-an American
orator, statesman, and political writer of
the Federalist party. [p. 96.]

Arnold, Edwin, an English journalist,
author of "The Light of Asia," and other
poems. [p. 255.] "He who Died at Azan."

Arnold, Matthew, an English critic and
poet,,-b. in 1822. Professor of Poetry at
Oxford. [pp. 157, 425.]

Baine, William. [p. 334.] "The Archery
of William Tell."

Bancroft, George, LL.D., an American
historian and statesman,-b. in Worcester,
Mass., in 1800. [p. 89.]

Bayne, Rev. Peter, a Scottish writer of
critical articles in the Edinburgh Magazine.
[p. 486.]

Beattie, Dr. James, 1735-1803,-a Scottish
poet, author of "The Minstrel," and of an
essay on "The Nature of Truth." [p. 189.]

Beers, Mrs. E. L., author of the well-
known lyric, "All Quiet along the Poto-
mac." [p. 219.]

Bethune, Rev. Geo. W., 1805-1862,-a
popular American divine, poet, and wit.
[p. 87.]

Blair, Hugh, 1718-1800,-a Scottish di-
vine and author. Blair's "Rhetoric" is a
standard college text-book. [p. 345.]

Bowen, Francis, b. at Charlestown,
Mass., in 1811,-Professor of Moral Phi-
losophy in Harvard College, former editor
of the North American Review. [p. 526.]

Brontë, Charlotte, 1824-1855,-daughter
of the curate of Haworth, in Yorkshire,
England. By her novel of "Jane Eyre"
she suddenly attained remarkable popu-
larity. She and her two sisters became
widely known under the assumed names
of Currer, Acton, and Ellis Bell.

Brougham, (Lord) Henry, 1778-1868,-a
celebrated statesman, Lord Chancellor of
England, one of the founders of the Edin-
burgh Review, for a quarter of a century one
of its ablest contributors, and a zealous
advocate of popular education. [p. 88.]
Brown, Henry Armitt. [p. 483.] "Oration
at Valley Forge."

BROWNING, Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett,
1809-1861. [pp. 8, 397, 479.]

BROWNING, Robert,-b. in 1812. [pp.
8, 79, 514.].

BRYANT, William Cullen, 1794-1878.
[pp. 8, 371, 382.]

BULWER, Sir Edward George Lytton,
1805-1873. [pp. 313, 431.]

BUNYAN, John, 1628-1688. [pp. 121,
126.]

Burke, Edmund, 1730-1797,-a celebrated
English statesman, author, and orator;-
regarded by Macaulay as above every other
orator, ancient or modern. [p. 204.]

BURNS, Robert, 1759-1796. [pp. 7, 8,
147, 230.]

Butterworth, Hezekiah. "The Con-
queror." [p. 138.]

Byrom, John, 1691-1763,-an English
pastoral poet. "St. Philip Neri." [p. 172.]
BYRON, (Lord) George Gordon, 1788-
1850. [pp. 7, 57, 59, 60, 78, 87, 94, 96, 189,
221, 241, 337, 407.]

Calhoun, John C., 1782-1850,-an Ameri-
can statesman, born in Abbeville, S.C.
"Government and Liberty." [pp. 307,467.]
CAMPBELL, Thomas, 1799-1844. [pp.
7, 78, 406.]

Carlyle, Thomas, 1795-1881,-a Scottish
historian, biographer, translator, moralist,
and satirist, who has been called "The
Censor of the Age." His principal wri-
tings are German translations, forty bio-
graphical essays, "Life of Schiller," "Sar-
tor Resartus," "Chartism," "Life of Fred-
eric the Great," and "The French Revolu-
tion," the latter the ablest of his works.
[pp. 176, 231, 234, 347, 409.]

Cary, Alice, 1820-1871,-an American
author, b. near Cincinnati, Ohio. She
wrote many graceful poems and charming
descriptions of domestic life, and was a fre-
quent contributor to the periodicals of the
country. [p. 270.]

Chateaubriand (shä-to-bre-äng'), Fran-
çois Auguste, 1768-1848,-a French author
and statesman. His "Genius of Christian-
ity" first brought him into notice as an
able writer. [p. 260.]

Chaucer, Geoffrey,-b. in London, proba-
bly about the year 1328, d. 1400,-is the
author who first gave consistency and per-
manence to the prose and poetry of Eng-
land. [p. 5.]

Choate, Rufus, 1799-1860,-a celebrated
American lawyer. He was elected United
States Senator to fill the unexpired term
of Daniel Webster. [p. 491.] "A Love of
Reading."

Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 106-43 B.C.,-a
philosopher and statesman, and the greatest
of Roman orators. [pp. 31, 41, 97, 428.]
"Oration against Catiline."

COLERIDGE, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834.
[pp. 8, 56, 57, 116, 167, 278.]

Collier, Thomas S. [p. 109.] "Haroun
Al Raschid."

Collins, William, 1721-1759,-an English
poet, who wrote some of the finest odes
in the language, among which are "How
Sleep the Brave," and "The Passions," an
ode set to music. [pp. 167, 304.]

COWPER, William, 1731-1800. [pp. 7,
38, 94, 121, 188, 209.]

Coxe, Rev. Arthur Cleveland,-b. in 1818,-
Bishop of the Diocese of Western New
York, author of "Christian Ballads," and
of other collections of poems. [p. 140.]
"Historic Old England."

Croly, Rev. George, 1780-1860,-an Eng-
lish divine, and a voluminous writer in
many departments,-poetry, history, prose,
fiction, polemics, politics, etc. [p. 430.]
"Catiline's Reply."

Cunningham, Allan, 1784-1842,-a Scot-
tish poet and miscellaneous writer,-a
happy imitator of the old Scotch ballads.
[p. 403.]

Curtis, George William,-b. in Provi-
dence, R.I., in 1824,-author of "Nile
Notes of an Howadji," "Lotus Eating,"
"The Potiphar Papers," and "The Howadji
in Syria," a popular lecturer, a constant
contributor to Harper's Monthly, and editor
of Harper's Weekly. [p. 457.] "Under the

Palms."

Demosthenes, 385-322 B.C.,-a celebra-
ted Athenian statesman and orator. [p.32.]
De Quincey, Thomas, 1786-1859,-known
as "the English Opium-Eater." His most
distinguished work is the "Confessions of
an English Opium-Eater," in which he re-
counts his experience with the opium-
eating habit. [p. 280.]

Derzhavin, 1743-1816,-a Russian lyric
poet and statesman. He holds the highest
place among the bards of his country. [p.
53.] "Ode to God." See Fifth Reader, p. 70.
DICKENS, Charles, 1812-1870. [pp. 96,
509.]

Dimitry, Charles,-b. in 1838,-an Ameri-
can journalist, novelist, and poet. [p. 437.]
"Viva Italia!"

Dorr, Mrs. Julia C. R.,-b. in Charleston,
S.C., in 1825,-a novelist, poet, and fre-
quent contributor, in both prose and verse,
to periodicals. [p. 507.] "Three Days."
DRYDEN, John, 1631-1700. [pp. 6, 25,
92, 114, 130, 132.]

Ellis, Rev. Geo. E.,-b. in Boston in
1815,-author of several biographies, and
a frequent contributor to periodical litera-
ture. [p. 354.] "Sentiment and Music."

EMERSON, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882.
[pp. 8, 423, 486.]

EVERETT, Edward, 1794-1865. [pp. 7,
95, 96, 271, 305, 363.]

Farrar, Frederic W., D.D., Canon of
Westminster, author of "The Life of
Christ." [p. 195.]

Felton, Cornelius Conway, 1807-1862,—
Professor and President of Harvard Col-
lege. [p. 502.]

Flammarion, Camille, a French scientific
writer, author of "The Atmosphere." [p.
380.]

Froissart, Jean, 1337-1410,-b. in France,
-a great traveller, an admirer of heroic
deeds, an instinctive courtier, delighted
with feasts and pageants, an amusing and
vivacious chronicler. His "Chronicles of
England, France, and the adjoining Coun-
tries," written in French, but early trans-
lated into English, embrace the annals of
the fourteenth century, from 1326 to 1400.
[p. 5.]

Froude, James Anthony, an English his-
torian, b. in 1818,-author of "The His-
tory of England from the Fall of Wolsey
to the Death of Elizabeth,"-12 vols. [pp.
122-124.]

Garrick, Darid, 1716-1777,-the greatest
of English actors, also author of some
dramas. [p. 178.]

Gilfillan, Rec. George,-b. in 1813,-an
English author, critical and biographical.
The best-known of his works is his "Gal-
lery of Literary Portraits." [p. 455.]

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749-1832.
[p. 200, and note, pp. 205, 340.]

GOLDSMITH, Oliver, 1728-1774. [pp. 7,
77, 179, 198.]

Gough, John B.,-b. in England in 1817,
-was originally an editor, and afterward
became celebrated as a temperance lecturer.
[p. 217.]

Grattan, Henry, 1746-1820,-an Irish
statesman and orator,-b. in Dublin. [pp.
69, 70.]

GRAY, Thomas, 1716-1771. [pp. 7, 21,
53, 187.]

Greene, Albert G.,-b. in Providence,
R.I., in 1802,-author of "The Baron's
Last Banquet," and "Old Grimes." [p.206.]

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