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horse, making the earth smoke and thunder as they came, burst in a headlong gallop upon them.

7. But round those steady squares rolled a fierce devouring fire, emptying the saddles of those wild horsemen with frightful rapidity, and strewing the earth with the bodies of riders and steeds together. Again and again did those splendid squadrons wheel, re-form and charge with deafening shouts, while their uplifted and flashing cimeters gleamed like a forest of steel through the smoke of battle; but that same wasting fire received them, till those squares seemed bound by a girdle of flame, so rapid and constant were the discharges.

8. Before their certain and deadly aim, as they stood fighting for existence, the charging squadrons fell so fast that a rampart of dead bodies was soon formed around them. Behind this embankment of dead men and horses, this band of warriors stood and fought for six dreadful hours, and was still steadily thinning the ranks of the enemy, when Napoleon debouched with a single division on Mount Tabor, and turned his eye below.

9. What a scene met his gaze! The whole plain was filled with marching columns and charging squadrons of wildly galloping steeds, while the thunder of cannon and fierce rattle of musketry, amid which now and then was heard the blast of thousands of trumpets, and strains of martial music filled the air. The smoke of battle was rolling furiously over the hosts, and all was confusion and chaos in his sight.

10. Amid the twenty-seven thousand Turks that crowded the plain, and enveloped their enemy like a cloud, and amid the incessant discharge of artillery and musketry, Napoleon could tell where his own brave troops were struggling, only by the steady simultaneous volleys which showed how discipline was contending with the wild valor of overpowering numbers. The constant flashes.from behind that rampart of dead bodies, were like spots of flame on the tumultuous and chaotic field.

11. Napoleon descended from Mount Tabor with his little band, while a single twelve-pounder, fired from the hights, told the wearied Kleber that he was rushing to the rescue.

Then for the first time he took the offensive, and pouring his enthusiastic followers on the foe, carried death and terror over the field. Thrown into confusion, and trampled under foot, that mighty army rolled turbulently back toward the Jordan, where MURAT was anxiously waiting to mingle in the fight.

12. Dashing with his cavalry among the disordered ranks, he sabered them down without mercy, and raged like a lion amid the prey. This chivalric and romantic warrior declared that the remembrance of the scenes that once transpired on Mount Tabor, and on these thrice consecrated spots, came to him in the hottest of the fight, and nerved him with ten-fold courage.

13. As the sun went down over the plains of Palestine, and twilight shed its dim ray over the rent, and trodden, and deadcovered field, a sulphurous cloud hung around the summit of Mount Tabor. The smoke of battle had settled there where once the cloud of glory rested, while groans, and shrieks, and cries, rent the air. Nazareth, Jordan, and Mount Tabor! what spots for battle-fields !

LESSON XLIX.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.-1. ESDRAELON is a plain of Palestine, often mentioned in sacred history. It has been from the earliest history often the scene of bloody conflicts. It is situated south of the plain of Galilee.

MOUNT TABOR.-CONTINUED.

J. T. HEADLEY.

1. ROLL back eighteen centuries, and again view that Mount. The day is bright and beautiful, as on the day of battle, and the same rich oriental landscape is smiling in the same sun. There is Nazareth, with its busy population,-the same Nazareth, from which Kleber marched his army; and there is Jordan; rolling its bright waters along, the same Jordan, along whose banks charged the glittering squadrons of Murat's cavalry; and there is Mount Tabor,--the same, on which Bonaparte stood with his cannon; and the same beautiful plain where rolled the smoke of battle, and struggled thirty thousand men in mortal combat.

2. But how different is the scene that is passing there. The Son of God stands on that hight, an casts his eye over the quiet valley, through which Jordan winds its silvery current. Three friends are beside Him. They have walked together up the toilsome way, and now they stand, mere specks on the distant summit. Far away to the north-west, shines the blue Mediterranean, all around is the great plain of Esdraelon' and Galilee,―eastward the lake of Tiberias dots the landscape, while Mount Carmel lifts its naked-summit in the distance.

3. But the glorious landscape at their feet is forgotten in a sublimer scene that is passing before them. The son of Mary --the carpenter of Nazareth-the wanderer, with whom they have traveled on foot many a weary league, in all the intimacy of companions and friends, begins to change before their eyes.* Over his garments is spreading a strange light, steadily brightening into intenser beauty, till that form glows with such splendor that it seems to waver to and fro, and dissolve in the still radiance.

4. The three astonished friends gaze on it in speechless admiration, then turn to that familiar face. But lo! a greater change has passed over it. That sad and solemn countenance which has been so often seen stooping over the couch of the dying, entering the door of the hut of poverty, passing through the streets of Jerusalem, and pausing by the weary way-side ―aye, bedewed with the tears of pity,-now burns like the sun in his mid-day splendor. Meekness has given way to majesty, sadness, to dazzling glory,-the look of pity, to the grandeur of a God.

5. The still radiance of Heaven sits on that serene brow, and all around that divine form flows an atmosphere of strange and wondrous beauty. Heaven has poured its brightness over that consecrated spot, and on the beams of light, which glitter there, Moses and Elias have descended, and, wrapped in the same shining vestments, stand beside him. Wonder follows wonder, for those three glittering forms are talking with each other, and amid the thrilling accents are heard the words,

* Read the 17th Chapter of Matthew.

"Mount Olivet," "Calvary !"-" the agony and the death of the crucifixion !"

6. No wonder a sudden fear came over Peter, that paralyzed his tongue, and crushed him to the earth, when, in the midst of his speech, he saw a cloud descend like a falling star from heaven, and, bright and dazzling, balance itself over those forms of light, while from its bright foldings came a voice, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him!"

7. How long the vision lasted we can not tell; but all that night did Jesus, with his friends, stay on that lonely mountain. Of the conversation that passed between them there, we know nothing; but little sleep, we imagine, visited their eyes that night; and as they sat on the high summit, and watched the stars, as they rose one after another above the horizon, and gazed on the moon as she poured her light over the dim and darkened landscape, words were spoken, that seemed born of Heaven, and truths never to be forgotten were uttered in the ears of the subdued and reverent disciples.

8. O, how different is Heaven and earth! Can there be a stronger contrast than the BATTLE and TRANSFIGURATION of Mount Tabor? One shudders to think of Bonaparte and the Son of God on the same mountain,—one with his wasting cannon by his side, and the other with Moses and Elias just from Heaven. But no after desecration can destroy the first consecration of Mount Tabor; for, surrounded with the glory of Heaven, and honored with the wondrous scene of the TRANSFIGURATION, it stands a SACRED MOUNTAIN on the earth.

LESSON L.

THE BATTLE FIELD.

MRS. HEMANS.

1. I LOOKED on the field, where the battle was spread,
When thousands stood forth in their glancing array;
And the beam from the steel of the valiant was shed
Through the dun-rolling clouds that o'ershadowed the fray.

2. I saw the dark forest of lances appear,

As the ears of the harvest unnumbered they stood, I heard the stern shout as the foemen drew near,

Like the storm that lays low the proud pines of the wood 3. Afar, the harsh notes of the war-drum were rolled, Uprousing the wolf from the depth of his lair; On high to the gust streamed the banner's red fold, O'er the death-close of hate, and the scowl of despair.

4. I looked on the field of contention again,

When the saber was sheathed, and the tempest had past, And the wild weed and thistle grew rank on the plain, And the fern softly sighed in the low wailing blast.

5. Unmoved lay the lake in its hour of repose,

[blue; And bright shone the stars through the sky's deepened And sweetly the song of the night-bird arose,

[dew. Where the fox-glove lay gemmed with its pearl-drops of 6. But where swept the ranks of that dark frowning host, As the ocean in might-as the storm-cloud in speed! Where now were the thunders of victory's boast— The slayer's dread wrath, and the strength of the steed? 7. Not a time-wasted cross,-not a moldering stone,—

To mark the lone scene of their shame or their pride; One grass-covered mound told the traveler alone,

Where thousands lay down in their anguish, and died!

8. O, glory! behold thy famed guerdon's extent;

For this, toil thy slaves through their earth-wasting lot; A name like the mist, when the night-beams are spent— A grave with its tenants unwept and forgot.

9. What is glory? What is fame?
The echo of a long lost name;
A breath, an idle hour's brief talk;
The shadow of an arrant naught;
A flower that blossoms for a day,
Then quickly vanishes away.

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