Sir Thomas More, when a youth, painted for his father’s house in London a hanging with nine pageants, with verses over each. There were Childhood, Manhood, Venus and Cupid, Age, Death, and Fame. In the sixth pageant was painted the image of Time, and under his feet was lying the picture of Fame that was in the sixth pageant. And over this seventh pageant was (spelling modernised): TIME. I whom thou seest with horologe in hand Am named Time, the lord of every hour: I shall in space destroy both sea and land. O simple Fame, how darest thou man honour, Promising of his name an endless flower! Who may in the world have a name eternal, When I shall in process destroy the world and all? In the eighth pageant was pictured the image of Lady Eternity, sitting in a chair under a sumptuous cloth of state, crowned with an imperial crown. And under her feet lay the picture of Time that was in the seventh pageant. And above this eighth pageant was written as follows: ETERNITY. Me needeth not to boast: I am Eternity, The very name signifieth well That mine empire infinite shall be. Thou mortal Time, every man can tell, Art nothing else but the mobility Of sun and moon changing in every degree; When they shall leave their course, thou shalt be brought, For all thy pride and boasting, unto naught. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Life, and Length of Days. --------------------- LIFE—A RIVER. PLINY has compared a River to Human Life; and Sir Humphry Davy was a hundred times struck with the analogy, particularly among mountain scenery. A full and clear River is the most poetical object in nature; and contemplating this, Davy wrote: “The river, small and clear in its origin, gushes forth from rocks, falls into deep glens, and wantons and meanders through a wild and picturesque country, nourishing only the uncultivated tree or flower by its dew or spray. In this, its state of infancy and youth, it may be compared to the human mind, in which fancy and strength of imagination are predominant; it is more beautiful than useful. When the different rills or torrents join, and descend into the plain, it becomes slow and stately in its motions; it is applied to move machinery, to irrigate meadows, and to bear upon its bosom the stately barge;—in this mature state, it is deep, strong, and useful. As it flows on towards the sea, it loses its force and its motion; and at last, as it were, becomes lost and mingled with the mighty abyss of waters.”