sorrow, envy and hate, by absence from those whom we love, and by union with those whom we dislike, by hunger and thirst, by disease and emaciation, by growth and decline, by old age and death ?"

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Surely we see the things of this world tending to decay, even as these biting gnats and other insects; even as the grass of the field, and the trees of the forest, which spring up and then perish. But what are they?--Others, far greater, have been archers mighty in battle, and some have been kings of the whole earth.

Sudhumna, Bhuridhumna, Indradhumna, Cuvalayaswa, Yanvanaswa, Avadhyaswa, Aswapati, Sasabindu, Havisehandra, Barishsha, Nahusha, Suryati, Yayati, Vicrava, Acshayasena, Priyavrata, and the

rest.

Marutta likewise, and Bharata, who enjoyed all corporeal delights, yet left their boundless prosperity, and passed from this world to the next.

"But what are they?-Others yet greater, Gandawas, Asuras, Racshasas, companies

of spirits, Pisachas, Uragas, and Grahas, have, we have seen, been destroyed.

"But what are they?-Others greater still have been changed; vast rivers dried; mountains torn up; the pole itself moved from its place; the cords of the stars rent asunder; the whole earth itself deluged with water: even angels hurled from their stations."

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May that soul of mine, which mounts aloft in my waking hours, as an ethereal 'spark, and which, even in my slumber, has a like ascent, soaring to a great distance, as an emanation from the light of lights, be united by devout meditation with the spirit supremely blest, and supremely intelligent!

May that soul of mine, by an agent similar to that with which the low-born perform their menial works, and the wise, deeply versed in sciences, duly solemnise their sacrificial rites; may that soul, which was itself the primæval oblation placed within all creatures, be united by devout

meditation with the spirit supremely blest, and supremely intelligent!

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May that soul of mine, which is a ray of perfect wisdom, pure intellect and permanent existence, which is the unextinguishable light fixed within created bodies, without which no good act is performed, be united by devout meditation with the spirit supremely blest, and supremely intelligent!

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May that soul of mine,-in which, as an immortal essence, may be comprised whatever has past, is present, or will be hereafter; by which the sacrifice, where seven ministers officiate, is properly solemnized;-be united by devout meditation with the spirit supremely blest, and supremely intelligent!

"May that soul of mine, into which are inserted, like the spokes of a wheel in the axle of a car, the holy texts of the Rigveda, the Saman, and the Yajush; into which is interwoven all that belongs to created forms, be united by devout meditation with

the spirit supremely blest, and supremely intelligent!

May that soul which guides mankind, as a skilful charioteer guides his rapid horses with reins;-that soul which is fixed in my breast, exempt from old age, swift in its course, may it be united by divine meditation with the spirit supremely blest, and supremely intelligent!"

What is here said of the soul alludes to the belief of the Hindus, that it is an emanation of the divine essence; and future happiness, according to the Vedanta school, consists in being united with that essence, at the same time retaining a consciousness of existence.

In the translation of a fragment of a Sanscrit work entitled: Instruction for the Ignorant, it is said:

Restrain, O ignorant man, thy desire of wealth, and become a hater of it in body, understanding, and mind: let the riches thou possessest be acquired by thy own good actions; with those gratify thy soul.

"The boy so long delights in his play, the youth so long pursues his beloved, the old so long brood over melancholy thoughts, that no man meditates on the Supreme Being.

"Who is thy wife, and who thy son? How great and wonderful is this world! who thou art, and whence thou comest? Meditate on this, my brother, and again on this.

"Be not proud of wealth and attendants, and youth; since time destroys all of them in the twinkling of an eye: check thy attachment to all these illusions, like Maya; fix thy heart on the foot of Brahma, and thou wilt soon know him.

"As a drop of water moves on the leaf of the Lotos; thus, or more slippery, is human life: the company of the virtuous endures here but for a moment; but that is the vehicle to bear thee over land and

ocean.

"To dwell in the mansion of gods at the foot of a tree; to have the ground for a