(283)
liturgy of the Romans, whirled round, to encompass the four cardinal points of the world. It is remarkable, that a derivative of the Arabic word (which corresponds to the Hebrew סהר, and is interpreted scindere secare se in orbem, inde notio circinandi, mox gyrandi et hinc à motu versatili, fascinavit, incantavit) signifies, in the Koran, the glimmering of twilight; a sense deducible from the shapeless glimpses of objects, when hurried round with the velocity here described, and very applicable to the sudden disappearance of Carathis, who, like the stone in a sling, by the progressive and rapid increase of the circular motion, soon ceased to be perceptible. Nothing can impress a greater awe upon the mind than does this passage in the original.
Page 226.—They at once lost the most precious gift of heaven—Hope.
It is a soothing reflection to the bulk of mankind, that the commonness of any blessing is the true test of its value. Hence, Hope is justly styled "the most precious of the gifts of heaven," because, as Thales long since observed—ὁις αλλο μηδεν, αυτη παρεστιν—it abides with those who are destitute of every other. Dante's inscription over the gate of hell was written in the same
