P. I thought that would puzzle you. It relates to time as giving opportunity for doing anything. It is to be seized as it presents itself, or it will escape, and cannot be recovered. Thus the proverb says, "Take Time by the forelock." Well-now you understand what emblems are ?

C. Yes, I think I do. I suppose the painted sugarloaves over the grocer's shop, and the mortar over the apothecary's, are emblems too?

P. Not so properly. They are only the pictures of things which are themselves the objects of sight, as the real sugar-loaf in the shop of the grocer, and the real mortar in that of the apothecary. However, an implement belonging to a particular rank or profession, is commonly used as an emblem to point out the man exercising that rank or profession. Thus a crown is considered as an emblem of a king; a sword or spear, of a soldier; an anchor, of a sailor; and the like.

C. I remember Captain Heartwell, when he came to see us, had the figure of an anchor on all his buttons. P. He had. That was the emblem or badge of his belonging to the navy.

C. But you told me that an emblem was a visible sign of an invisible thing; yet a sea-captain is not an invisible thing.

P. He is not invisible as a man, but his profession is invisible.

C. I do not well understand that.

P. Profession is a quality, belonging equally to a number of individuals, howsoever different they may be in external form and appearance. It may be added or taken away without any visible change. Thus, if Captain Heartwell were to give up his commission, he would appear to you the same man as before. It is plain, therefore, that what in that case he had lost, namely, his profession, was a thing invisible. It is one of those ideas of the understanding which I before mentioned to you, as different from a sensible idea.

C. I comprehend it now.

P. I have got here a few emblematical pictures. Suppose you try whether you can find out their meaning.

C. Oh, yes-I should like that very well.

P. Here is a man standing on the summit of a steep cliff, and going to ascend a ladder which he has planted against a cloud.

C. Let me see!-that must be Ambition, I think. P. How do you explain it ?

:

C. He has got very high already, but he wants to be still higher so he ventures up the ladder, though it is supported only by a cloud, and hangs over a precipice.

P. Very right. Here is now another man, hoodwinked, who is crossing a raging torrent upon stepping stones.

Č. Then he will certainly fall in. I suppose he is one that runs into danger without considering whither he is going.

P. Yes; and you may call him Fool-hardiness. Do you see this hand coming out of a black cloud, and putting an extinguisher upon a lamp ?

C. I do. If that lamp be the lamp of life, the hand that extinguishes it must be Death.

P. Very just. Here is an old half-ruined building, supported by props; and the figure of Time is sawing through one of the props.

C. That must be Old age, surely.

P. It is. The next is a man leaning upon a breaking crutch.

C. I don't well know what to make of that.

P. It is intended for Instability; however, it might also stand for False Confidence. Here is a man poring over a sun-dial, with a candle in his hand.

C. I am at a loss for that too.

P. Consider a sun-dial is made only to tell the hour by the light of the sun.

C. Then this man must know nothing about it.

P. True and his name is therefore Ignorance.

Here is a walking-stick, the lower part of which is set in the water, and it appears crooked. What does that denote ?

C. Is the stick really crooked?

P. No; but it is the property of water to give that appearance.

C. Then it must signify Deception.

P. It does. I dare say you will at once know this fellow who is running as fast as his legs will carry him, and looking back at his shadow.

C. He must be Fear or Terror, I fancy.

P. Yes; you may call him which you please. But who is this sower, that scatters seed in the ground?

C. Let me consider. I think there is a parable in the Bible about seed sown, and it there signifies something like Instruction.

P. True; but it may also represent Hope, for no one would sow without hoping to reap the fruit. What do you think of this candle held before a mirror, in which its figure is exactly reflected?

C. I do not know what it means.

P. It represents Truth; the essence of which consists in the fidelity with which objects are received and reflected back by our minds. The object is here a luminous one, to show the clearness and brightness of Truth. Here is next an upright column, the perfect straightness of which is shown by a plumb-line hanging from its summit, and exactly parallei to the side of the column.

P. Yes

The

C. I suppose that must represent Uprightness. or, in other words, Rectitude. strength and stability of the pillar also denote the security produced by this virtue. You see here a woman disentangling and reeling off a very perplexed skein of thread.

C. She must have a great deal of patience.

P. True. She is Patience herself. The brooding hen, sitting beside her, is another emblem of the same quality that aids the interpretation. Whom do you

think this pleasing female is, that looks with such kindness upon the drooping plant she is watering. C. That must be Charity, I believe.

P. It is; or you may call her Benignity, which is nearly the same thing. Here is a lady sitting demurely, with one finger on her lip, while she holds a bridle in her other hand.

C. The finger on the lip, I suppose, denotes Silence. The bridle must mean confinement. I should almost fancy her to be a school-mistress.

P. Ha! ha! I hope, indeed, many school-mistresses are endued with her spirit, for she is Prudence or Discretion. Well-we have now got to the end of our pictures, and upon the whole you have interpreted them very prettily.

C. But I have one question to ask you, papa! In these pictures, and others that I have seen of the same sort, almost all the good qualities are represented in the form of women. What is the reason of

that?

P. It is certainly a compliment, my dear, either to woman's person or mind. The inventor either chose the figure of a female to clothe his agreeable quality in, because he thought that the more agreeable form, and therefore best suited it; or he meant to imply that the female character is really the more virtuous and amiable. I rather believe that the former was his intention, but I shall not object to your taking it in the light of the latter.

C. But is it true-is it true?

P. Why, I can give you very good authority for the preference of the female sex in a moral view. One Ledyard, a great traveller, who had walked through almost all the countries of Europe, and at last died in an expedition to explore the internal parts of Africa, gave a most decisive and pleasing testimony in favour of the superior character of women, whether savage or civilized. I was so much pleased with it, that I put great part of it into verse; and if it will

not make you vain, I will give you a copy of my lines.

LEDYARD'S PRAISE OF WOMEN.
THROUGH many a land and clime a ranger,
With toilsome steps I've held my way,
A lonely unprotected stranger,

To all the stranger's ills a prey.

While steering thus my course precarious,
My fortune still has been to find
Men's hearts and dispositions various,
But gentle Woman ever kind.

Alive to every tender feeling,

To deeds of mercy ever prone;
The wounds of pain and sorrow healing,
With soft compassion's sweetest tone.
No proud delay, no dark suspicion,
Stints the free bounty of their heart;
They turn not from the sad petition,
But cheerful aid at once impart.

Form'd in benevolence of nature,
Obliging, modest, gay, and mild,
Woman's the same endearing creature
In courtly town and savage wild.

When parched with thirst, with hunger wasted,
Her friendly hand refreshment gave;
How sweet the coarsest food has tasted!
What cordial in the simple wave!

Her courteous looks, her words caressing,
Shed comfort on the fainting soul:
Woman's the stranger's general blessing
From sultry India to the Pole.