THE BUBBLES.

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ject for the pen or the pencil. In such a historythe builders of Babel would be among the first andmost prominent actors: how that bubble burst iswell known. The builders of the pyramids hadduration for . their object: knowing that Deathwould put out the bubble of their existence, theyimagined they could perpetuate the memory oftheir names and exploits by a work that the handof Time could not destroy ; but where is the his-tory of their makers, or the names they weremeant to perpetuate ?

But, leaving the bubbles of antiquity, our owntimes have had their full share, both in magni-tude and importance ; nor have their effects beenless on the civilized world than any that havepreceded them; and, though the mightiest of themhas burst, the recollection of its character stillremains, and will long remain impressed on theminds of the present generation.

The bubble alluded to, and its final breaking atSt. Helena, will doubtless be anticipated; forstill, " in the mind's eye," its portentous form is