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    " Some young children were amusing themselves beside the spot . When they heard the first notes they ceased their eport , and drew nearer the musicians . One little laughing boy ventured to sit on the ground beside the elder minstrel , and gradually nestled himselr ~ o close that his head rested on the lap of the old man i hildren instinctively discover those who love the young . " As Azib continued to play , the child , tired and heated yiith . exercise , murmured , as he looked innocently in the old man ' face , — ' Who will give me some of those delicious fruits ? I wish I had some ,, for I am very thirsty —and they are so good !/ h

    " ' Here , my little fellow , ' said te minstrel fondly , ' take this money . I will give you and your companions what you desire . Go to any stall you please , and select the largest bunches , or the sweetest dish , or fruits that you like best . Then come back to show me your purchases , and hear some music ' " Up started the delighted urchins , and noisily hurried away to expend the welcome gratuity . Azib had ceased to play when his father spoke , and now expressed his joy at the pleasant scene . "' Ah , father , is not this like home ? How pleased those merry faces look ! See ! the darlings already return , loaded with the spoils of orchards and gardens . '

    " As Azib said this , the children hastened to the minstrels , and one after another offered and pressed portions of their fruits upon them , and would not be denied . If to humour one teazing child they accepted some trifling tribute of his gratitude , another would pleasingly insist on the same honour being done himself . At last , however , these affectionate contentions were ended , and the whole of the children clustered about the persons of the musicians . " As a contrast to these pictures read this : — ALONE IN THE DESERT .

    " When Jonas at length raised his head , the monk was scarcely visible—only a dim speck in the remote horizon . The sun was toiling in his burning course . The heavens were growing yellow and inflamed . The sands reflected the scorching heat . All around was dry , withered , and dead . Jonas rose , and went to some neighbouring rocks that had pierced the sands . He sought everything and everywhere for a change , and some relief to the oppressive sultriness . The naked rocks felt like heated metal to his touch : he could not stay there . With his sword he loosed the baked soil , and with his hands dug a hole in the earth . He crouched down there , and then heaped the loose sand on his person , for protection against the direct rays of the sun . The position was no better : he felt as if in a bath , where the water was getting hotter every instant to boil him alive .

    " A rustling in the air attracted his attention . He looked around , and saw some vultures lazily flapping their wings beside the dying horse . They had scented death a hundred miles off , and were first at the feast ; or , perhaps , their telescopic eye , raised some thousand feet above the plains of the Haouran , where they greedily watched the labours of Moslem and Christian for their benefit , had suddenly marked the banquet spread for them in the desert . The dismal sight troubled the conscience of Jonas . lie rose and went to the animal , which had been his favourite steed . The horse was not yet dead , but writhed under the horrid effects of the poison which the monk had administered . Jonas could not look on the creature ' s dying tliroes . With his gword he put an end to them ; and thus he found himself surely doomed . The ship was wrecked that could alone bear him from the rock on which he stood in this miserable ocean of sand : he had burnt the last plank .

    " The birds of prey rejoiced in their unclean feast Before the dull eyes of the horse had time to ^ laze , the foul beaks of the vultures had torn them from their sockets . Jonas once attempted to drive the creatures away ; but it was needless trouble . They scarcely moved before his menaces . His strength was unequal to the task of covering his carcase with stones and sand . What was the use ! If he deprived the vultures of their choice dish by day , the hyena and the jackal would have tlie more by night . Could their ravenous scent be escaped , or their hunger deceived by a thin covering of earth ? Jonas , therefore , left the spot , and the vultures returned . " Day drugged heavily on . The fierce sun poured down floods of aerial heat ; the atmosphere was tuill ' ocating . A dead calm reigned . Theie wan no houimI to bo heard , no object to be Been moving in all the wide

    expanse . Nothing broke the dreary monotony of the Bcene . Except a few withered tufts of low coarse grass which studded the ground every two or three yards , it wan every where h . iihJ , Hand ; hometimeH rock slightly protruding , then Hand again , but all equally arid and g lowing . Of water , or moisture , tlierc was not u drop . The horizon seemed to Hinoke with the firen of a thousand volcanoes ; a lurid hue overspread the heavens . Jonas grew very faint . The pangHof ' hm long abstinence were scarcely endurable . lie moved reMlensly ubout , not earing in what direction he went . Death wa « on every Hide . In the end , he only found himself where he had been in the morning . In vain he Btraincd vision to detect Koine distant Hpeck that might bring relief : no help was near . The faithful Zuba wan ignorant of his danger , and , if n ' ot himself in trouble , was doubtk'na wandering ( ur away in search of bin umHter .

    " Atone time , Jonas happened to find himuclf on the top of a sriMll eminence . II « " looked dcbpairingly on every Hide . Then a Hiidden joy filled hi « heart . Could he believe his own eyes ? There , just before him , lay a beautiful lake , in whose watern , smooth and K litterin « as burnished « ilvcr , were reflected Home Hlitf lit dinUnt . elovatioiiH , uimilar to the ono on which he Blood . O bletmed night!—how had it not been ttevn before ? Jonas hurried U ) plunge hiuiBclf in the calm , delicious element . Alas ! it wan enchantment all . There wan really no lake—no water . Mysterious exhalations from th « diHaolving earth floated on , and hid the surface of the ground . To the spectator above , they Kcemed riven * uud wea , •; of pan > di ic ;

    but when he ran forward and sought to drink , —O mockery ! they were molten sands and airs from hell Then Jonas recollected the mirage , and cursed his own stupidity . Yet the optical delusion still lasted during the middle hours of day . There—but now farther onwards , lay the same charming vision—the same bountiful lake ! Avaunt , ye juggling fiends of the desert Jonag was not to be betrayed a second time . " Evening approached ; , and the sensitive ear of our hero detected the distant cries of wild beasts . They were rushing to the remains of the vultures' festival . He had in his heart wished that speedy death would relieve him of his tortures ; but instinct warned him to fly before the f * of those ferocious creatures . He wandered farther

    ang away till he reached a slight hollow , where gjew a few nettles and briers , and among them a small group of prickly acacias . The sight gave him new vigour . There , he thought , water might be found . He madly tore up the withered plants by the roots in his search , but found not a drop . The acacias which he saw lived in sand and the hottest air . Their hardy- shoots penetrated into minute crevices of the rock , and drew from thence the scantiest supply of moisture ; or rather , their leaves imbibed it from the niggard dews of night , inappreciable by the senses of man . But those rocks and stunted trees yielded him no refreshment . The graceful foliage of the acacia , and the brilliant hue of its blossoms , mocked at his despair . They could bloom and flourish where proud

    man died . " The sun sunk , not so much amid flames as in the steady glow of a furnace ; and the crook-backed moonwhite , clear , cold , and stern in appearance , made the scorched Jonas shiver as in an ague . Hot fits succeeded the cold . That « vas a fearful night The yells of wild beasts resounded from a distance . A fever was in his veins ; a burning fire in his brain . When he attempted to speak , a short , hoarse bark was all the sound he could produce . His throat was parched ; the saliva he spat was scanty , frothy , and viscid . His whole skin was burning , dry , and inflamed . He was slowly withering and reducing to a mummy . The energy of a restless feebleness moved him hither and thither , without an object , without a hope . The scenes of his past life rose in fearful vividness before him . The smoke and

    struggles of Antioch—his early education—Zaba and their common generous saviour—the bloody wars in Persia—the death of more than parent there—the virtues and heroism of the deceased Jonas—his own wild wishes , hopes , and fears , his pleasures , and social companions in Damascus—the beloved Eudocia , tender and confiding—Heraclea , imperious and revengeful , glorying in hi * sufferings—the generous Thomas—the dreadful monk—and the shadows of a thousand other memorable persons and events , all flitted , sadly or triumphantly , before the sickened , writhing Jonas . And this was to be the end of all his proud thoughts , his godlike sense of enjoyment , his hopes of a brilliant future ! He was to die , like a dog , unheeded and alone ! His flesli was to fill the maws of ravenous creatures ; his bones to bleach in the fierce sun ! The thoughts were madness , but they recurred again and again

    " Night passed , and again the diligent fiery ball rolled high up in the eastern sky . Another day of oven-heat ! The air was a yellow burning vapour , sulphurous and pestilential . " Jonas had now grown very weak . His eyes were inflamed by the excessive glare , the heat and thirst : be could but dimly see the surrounding rocks . His skin was hot and dry : the fluids of the body were gradually evaporating , llis throat was contracted , and he felt himself being slowly choked , lie tried to feel his pulse , but it long escaped his feeble though highly sensitive fingers . When at last he fancied that he could detect the vital

    movement , it was small and rapid , more like a nervous quivering than the full steady beat of natural pulsation . Jonas felt that the hand of death was upon him . Despair had succeeded to anxiety , and lethargy to restlessness . He now awaited his time , not perhaps in clearness of mind and philosophic composure , ' but in constitutional sullcnness and obtuHeness to farther sensation . " His mind occasionally wandered , and then would he scftly mutter the ravings of an inextinguishable fancy . Misshapen things , and otherthings of beauty and life , of love and joy , fluttered for an instant before him . Eudocia — an angel of delight , hovered near : she bore a bowl of water in her hands , and offered him drink . lie greedily seined the dish and put it to his lips buV before he could

    taste , a rapacious bird had waved his glossy wings , and a hot current of air instantly dried up the liquid . The branches of the acacia drooped , and moaned the piteous drought ; and a shower of its perishing leaves , mingled with blossoms , fell upon the dying man . With a shriek , the beauteous vision of his love disappeaied . In her Ktead came croaking , hiHsing , creeping slimy things , that crawled upon and ( It filed his body . Vultures , with the Kowiis and cowls of monks , and talnna like . sandalled feet , sat motionless around , and waited patiently for the dainty meal . Their eyes , which sometimes shone green and ghustly like ein (! i aids , and anon glowed fierily as carbuncles , never winked or wandered fiom his own , but pierced deep into the f ^ iddy brain .

    " After a time , and when ho had long lain as if dead , his htill acute hearing marked the whirring sweep of the loathsome , dreadful creatures , an they whirled a short ( light before beginning the glorious feast . He openep his swelled eyelids , uud dimly saw above him a forest o ( scruggy naked headn , besmeared with blood and fat , having strong gaping bnaku uud eyes like * noon day huiih With ii feeble effort he waved his hands , and the filthy forms disappeared , uttering short angry ucreiims , and leaving fetid odours behind . " Then he would partially recover from Inn deliiium , to find himself growing weaker and Icsh conscious of sensible objects .

    " Honietiuies his maddened fancy would summon up the beautiful plainu of Damascus , or paint the sublime iernrx of Ileinion or Lebanon . diverts—rivers of

    delicious life-giving water would then flow , and fountains sparkle before his longing sick desire . But he was another Tantalus ; he could not taste . Those lavish snowa and ice-fields of the mountain—those floods and sweet streams of the plain , which refreshed and glorified t he happy land , were not for him . He saw magnificent groves , through which gleamed long green alleys , starry with flowers . The balmy air—but balmy only to his imagination , rang with the cheerful song of birds—it was loaded with aromatic scents . But soon a puff of hot vapour , set in motion by a restless vulture , swept over the beauteous picture * and turned all again into the frightful desert . "

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    c . knight ' s national shakspere . The Comedies , Histories , Tragedies , and Poems of William Shakspere . Edited by Charles Knight . ( TheNational Edition . ) Vol . 1 . Comedies . Charles Knight . ' Shakspeare considered from the industrial point of view" would not be an unfruitful topic for an essay . Let some of the Manchester School essay it . If " employment" be really the great ideal of life , how magnificently has Shakspeare realized

    it ! Think of the crowds to whom he has given bread ( with no inconsiderable spread of butter)—the actors , editors , printers , papermakers , booksellers , and crities . Calculate what Charles Knight alone has done with " the swan "—how many transcribers , printers , papermakers , booksellers , &c , has he given employment to with his Pictorial Shakspere , his Cabinet Shakspere , his Library Edition , his One volume Edition , and now his new National Edition ! What it is to have faith

    Charles Knight ' s faith in Shakspeare is of indestructible energy ; no sooner are the proof-sheets of one undertaking dry , than passing his hand across that kind and noble brow of his , he exclaims , " What next ? What work ' not unbecoming men who strove with gods ' remains for me to do ? I see—another Shakspeare : the public demands another and a cheaper ! Don ' t talk to me about the market already supplied—the market cannot

    be supplied ! Every instant a new Shakspeare reader comes into the world ! I see unborn possibilities of subscribers ! I will at once bring out a new edition : it shall be even more perfect than the last : some word shall be altered , some comma restored ; you may think the alteration trifling , but nothing is trifling that helps to remove the weather stains of Time upon that monument of an Immortal . " So he resolves ; he brings out a new edition : and the nublic justifies his faith bv edition ; and the public justifies his faith by

    greedily clutching at the new work ; for the public associates his name with that of Shakspeare as one whose love has been unbounded , whose labour has been dictated by love , and whose enterprise has given earnest of success . The National Edition volume one stands before us . It is the last undertaking—as yet . We dare not predict that " another yet another" will not succeed it . Meanwhile , it is the last . It is handsome ; printed boldly across the page ; with liberal margins for the annotations of loving pencils : contains the best features of the Pictorial Edition ;

    and presents itself as a truly serviceable volume ior the library . The text—as usual with this editoris founded upon that of the first folio ; that which Mermnings and Condell published from ( as they declare ) Shakspeare ' s own MSS . We think that their preface brings the question to this isKiie : either they were impudent pretenders and their assertion about Shakupeare ' s papers is a lie , or else their text , making allowunces for unavoidable typographical errors , must be the sole standard . The present edition has a graceful dedication to Maoready .

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    liOOICH ON OUR TABLK . Monk ; or , the Fall of the Kepuldic and the Iteslitration of the Monarch ;/ in Hnffltmd , UiliU . Hy M . ( ini / . ol . TiaiiHlutml ii <>'" tins 1 ' ieiioh by A . K . Scolilc . ( ISolin ' a Shilling Heiien . ) J II . <) . Holm . A f » ood translation of ( Inizot ' a excellent work , with the quotations verified , and the diplomatic corres pondeiiC'i added as an uppendix ( for th « licut time in KiiK 11 " . ''} . An analytical imlex is alwo given , which will be useful . ljely ' n portrait of Monk iH aflixed . Philip Auxustui ; or . the llrothers in Ann * . Hy <>• • * - H - J ' " '" - ( Tim Parlour Librury . ) buns anil M'lniy"' - This is one of the very bent hooka JameH ban written- — and , in npite of the dreary volumea he ban ho prodi gally thrown upon the market of late yeurB , JamoH ht » s written Home good romances : this ih of them . It i- > piintetl m more legible character thuu usual with thia Berien . indeed it in as agreeable a volume , an ono would wiwh to have . ' /' aim and Tniilitions of llunuani . liy I'Vuncin an < l TIk'io a 1 ' uUzky . 3 voU . H . Co ll '"" - 1 'iiemr . Jiy J . do J <; in . W . H . Orr and <'" - Catholicity , . Spiritual and Intellectual ; an Attempt at f ' tndi ^ eating the Harmony of fuitth and Knmvledn « - A Horic «>« " ~ oourn »! M . liy Thomuu WiUon , M . A . J . Chap "'' " - Three Letters on Direct Lcuulntutn by the People : or , TrueJ >' - mocracy . Hy M . . KitUinfUaiinen . ¦>• W'i" «'" - Tltc Last n ' ar and Ifijintive Peace in / twope . liy Victor < . ' <> " - Hi . l .-nmt , . 1 . Wilson .

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    300 Zfyt lit a $ l ft * [ Saturda y

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 29, 1851, page 300, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1876/page/16/