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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/15040-doc.doc b/15040-doc.doc Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c9b58b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/15040-doc.doc diff --git a/15040-doc.zip b/15040-doc.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2baac73 --- /dev/null +++ b/15040-doc.zip diff --git a/15040-pdf.pdf b/15040-pdf.pdf Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3002e35 --- /dev/null +++ b/15040-pdf.pdf diff --git a/15040-pdf.zip b/15040-pdf.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4b1226c --- /dev/null +++ b/15040-pdf.zip diff --git a/15040.txt b/15040.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2e5db1a --- /dev/null +++ b/15040.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13347 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader +by William Holmes McGuffey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader + +Author: William Holmes McGuffey + +Release Date: February 14, 2005 [EBook #15040] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MCGUFFEY'S FIFTH ECLECTIC READER *** + + + + +Produced by Don Kostuch + + + + + +ECLECTIC EDUCATIONAL SERIES. + + +McGUFFEY'S + +FIFTH ECLECTIC READER. + +REVISED EDITION. + +McGuffey Editions and Colophon are Trademarks of + +John Wiley & Sons, Inc. +New York-Chichester-Weinheim-Brisbane-Singapore-Toronto + + +Copyright, 1879, by VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG & CO. +Copyright, 1896, by AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. +Copyright, 1907 and 1920, by H. H. VAIL. +M'G. REV 5TH EC. +EP 310 + + + +PREFACE. + +The plan of the revision of McGUFFEY'S FIFTH READER is the same as that +pursued in the other books of the REVISED SERIES. The book has been +considerably enlarged, but the new pieces have been added or substituted +only after the most careful consideration, and where the advantages to be +derived were assured. + +It has been the object to obtain as wide a range of leading authors as +possible, to present the best specimens of style, to insure interest in +the subjects, to impart valuable information, and to exert a decided and +healthful moral influence. Thus the essential characteristics of +McGUFFEY'S READERS have been carefully kept intact. + +The preliminary exercises have been retained, and are amply sufficient for +drill in articulation, inflection, etc. The additional exercises on these +subjects, formerly inserted between the lessons, have been omitted to make +room for other valuable features of the REVISED SERIES. + +A full understanding of the text is necessary in order to read it +properly. As all the books of reference required for this purpose are not +within the reach of the majority of pupils, full explanatory notes have +been given, which, it is believed, will add greatly not only to the +interest of the reading lessons, but also to their usefulness from an +instructive point of view. + +The definitions of the more difficult words have been given, as formerly; +and the pronunciation has been indicated by diacritical marks, in +conformity with the preceding books of the REVISED SERIES. + +Particular attention is invited to the notices of authors. Comparatively +few pupils have the opportunity of making a separate study of English and +American literature, and the carefully prepared notices in the REVISED +SERIES are designed, therefore, to supply as much information in regard to +the leading authors as is possible in the necessarily limited space +assigned. The publishers have desired to illustrate McGUFFEY'S READERS in +a manner worthy of the text and of the high favor in which they are held +throughout the United States. The most celebrated designers and engravers +of the country have been employed for this purpose. + +It has been the privilege of the publishers to submit the REVISIED SERIES +to numerous eminent educators in all parts of the country. To the careful +reviews and criticisms of these gentlemen is due, in a large measure, the +present form of McGUFFEY'S READERS. The value of these criticisms, coming +from practical sources of the highest authority, can not well be +overestimated, and the publishers take this occasion to express their +thanks and their indebtedness to all who have thus kindly assisted them in +this work. + +Especial acknowledgment is due to Messrs. Houghton, Osgood +& Co. for their permission to make liberal selections from their +copyright editions of many of the foremost American authors +whose works they publish. + + + +CONTENTS. + +INTRODUCTORY MATTER. + + SUBJECT. + I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS + II. ARTICULATION + III. INFLECTIONS + IV. ACCENT + V. EMPHASIS + VI. MODULATION + VII. POETIC PAUSES + EXERCISES + + + +SELECTIONS IN PROSE AND POETRY. + + TITLE. AUTHOR. +1. The Good Reader +2. The Bluebell +3. The Gentle Hand T. S. Arthur. +4. The Grandfather C. G. Eastman. +5. A Boy on a Farm C. D. Warner. +6. The Singing Lesson Jean Ingelow. +7. Do not Meddle +8. Work Eliza Cook. +9. The Maniac +10. Robin Redbreast W. Allingham. +11. The Fish I Did n't Catch Whittier. +12. It Snows Mrs. S. J. Hale. +13. Respect for the Sabbath Rewarded +14. The Sands o' Dee Charles Kingsley. +15. Select Paragraphs Bible. +16. The Corn Song Whittier. +17. The Venomous Worm John Russell. +18. The Festal Board +19. How to Tell Bad News +20. The Battle of Blenheim Southey. +21. I Pity Them +22. An Elegy on Madam Blaize Goldsmith. +23. King Charles II. and William Penn Mason L. Weems. +24. What I Live For +25. The Righteous Never Forsaken +26. Abou Ben Adhem Leigh Hunt. +27. Lucy Forrester John Wilson. +28. The Reaper and the Flowers. Longfellow. +29. The Town Pump Hawthorne. +30. Good Night Peter Parley. +31. An Old-fashioned Girl Louisa M. Alcott. +32. My Mother's Hands +33. The Discontented Pendulum. Jane Taylor. +34. The Death of the Flowers Bryant. +35. The Thunderstorm Irving. +36. April Day Mrs. C. A. Southey. +37. The Tea Rose +38. The Cataract of Lodore Southey. +39. The Bobolink Irving. +40. Robert of Lincoln Bryant. +41. Rebellion in Massachusetts State Prison J. T. Buckingham. +42. Faithless Nelly Gray Hood. +43. The Generous Russian Peasant Nikolai Karamzin. +44. Forty Years Ago +45. Mrs. Caudle's Lecture Douglas Jerrold. +46. The Village Blacksmith Longfellow. +47. The Relief of Lucknow "London Times." +48. The Snowstorm Thomson. +49. Behind Time +50. The Old Sampler Mrs. M. E. Sangster. +51. The Goodness of God Bible. +52. My Mother +53. The Hour of Prayer Mrs. F. D. Hemans. +54. The Will +55. The Nose and the Eyes Cowper. +56. An Iceberg L. L. Noble. +57. About Quail W. P. Hawes. +58. The Blue and the Gray F. M. Finch. +59. The Machinist's Return Washington "Capital." +60. Make Way for Liberty James Montgomery. +61. The English Skylark Elihu Burritt. +62. How Sleep the Brave William Collins. +63. The Rainbow John Keble. +64. Supposed Speech of John Adams Daniel Webster. +65. The Rising T. R. Read. +66. Control your Temper Dr. John Todd. +67. William Tell Sheridan Knowles. +68. William Tell Sheridan Knowles. +69. The Crazy Engineer +70. The Heritage Lowell. +71. No Excellence without Labor William Wirt. +72. The Old House Clock +73. The Examination. D. P. Thompson. +74. The Isle of Long Ago B. F. Taylor. +75. The Boston Massacre Bancroft. +76. Death of the Beautiful Mrs. E. L. Follen. +77. Snow Falling J. J. Piatt. +78. Squeers's Method Dickens. +79. The Gift of Empty Hands Mrs. S. M. B. Piatt. +80. Capturing the Wild Horse Irving. +81. Sowing and Reaping Adelaide Anne Procter. +82. Taking Comfort Whittier. +83. Calling the Roll Shepherd. +84. Turtle Soup C. F. Briggs. +85. The Best Kind of Revenge +86. The Soldier of the Rhine Mrs. C. E. S. Norton. +87. The Winged Worshipers Charles Sprague. +88. The Peevish Wife Maria Edgeworth. +89. The Rainy Day Longfellow. +90. Break, Break, Break Tennyson. +91. Transportation and Planting of Seeds H. D. Thoreau. +92. Spring Again Mrs. Celia Thaxter. +93. Religion the only Basis of Society W. E. Channing. +94. Rock Me to Sleep Mrs. E. A. Allen. +95. Man and the Inferior Animals Jane Taylor. +96. The Blind Men and the Elephant J. G. Saxe. +97. A Home Scene D. G. Mitchell. +98. The Light of Other Days Moore. +99. A Chase in the English Channel Cooper. +100. Burial of Sir John Moore Charles Wolfe. +101. Little Victories Harriet Martineau. +102. The Character of a Happy Life Sir Henry Wotton. +103. The Art of Discouragement Arthur Helps. +104. The Mariner's Dream William Dimond. +105. The Passenger Pigeon Audubon. +106. The Country Life R. H. Stoddard. +107. The Virginians Thackeray. +108. Minot's Ledge Fitz-James O'Brien. +109. Hamlet. Shakespeare. +110. Dissertation on Roast Pig Charles Lamb. +111. A Pen Picture William Black. +112. The Great Voices C. T. Brooks. +113. A Picture of Human Life Samuel Johnson. +114. A Summer Longing George Arnold. +115. Fate Bret Harte. +116. The Bible the Best of Classics T. S. Grimke. +117. My Mother's Bible G. P. Morris. + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + +SUBJECT. ARTIST. + +The Good Reader H. F. Farny. +The Fish I Did n't Catch H. F. Farny. +The Corn Song E. K. Foote. +I Pity Them. W. L. Sheppard. +The Town Pump Howard Pyle. +Good Night J. A. Knapp. +The Tea Rose C. S. Reinhart. +Forty Years Ago H. Fenn. +The Old Sampler Mary Hallock Foote. +The Old Sampler Mary Hallock Foote. +About Quail Alexander Pope. +The Crazy Engineer H. F. Farny. +Squeers's Method Howard Pyle. +Turtle Soup W. L. Sheppard. +Hamlet Alfred Fredericks. + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +1. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. + +The great object to be accomplished in reading, as a rhetorical exercise, +is to convey to the hearer, fully and clearly, the ideas and feelings of +the writer. + +In order to do this, it is necessary that a selection should be carefully +studied by the pupil before he attempts to read it. In accordance with +this view, a preliminary rule of importance is the following: + +RULE 1.--Before attempting to read a lesson, the learner should make +himself fully acquainted with the subject as treated of in that lesson, +and endeavor to make the thought and feeling and sentiments of the writer +his own. + +REMARK.--When he has thus identified himself with the author, he has the +substance of all rules in his own mind. It is by going to nature that we +find rules. The child or the savage orator never mistakes in inflection or +emphasis or modulation. The best speakers and readers are those who follow +the impulse of nature, or most closely imitate it as observed in others. + +II. ARTICULATION. + +Articulation is the utterance of the elementary sounds of a language, and +of their combinations. + +An Elementary Sound is a simple, distinct sound made by the organs of +speech. + +The Elementary Sounds of the English language are divided into Vocals, +Subvocals, and Aspirates. + +ELEMENTARY SOUNDS.--VOCALS. + +Vocals are sounds which consist of pure tone only. A diphthong is a union +of two vocals, commencing with one and ending with the other. + +DIRECTION.--Put the lips, teeth, tongue, and palate in their proper +position; pronounce the word in the chart forcibly, and with the falling +inflection, several times in succession; then drop the subvocal or +aspirate sounds which precede or follow the vocal, and repeat the vocals +alone. + +Table of Vocals. + + Long Vocals. +Vocal as in Vocal as in +----- ----- ----- ----- +a hate e err +a hare i pine +a far o no +a pass u tube +a fall u burn +e eve oo cool + + Short Vocals +Vocal as in Vocal as in +----- ----- ----- ----- +a mat o hot +e met u us +i it oo book + + + +Diphthongs. +Vocal as in +------ -------- +oi, oy oil, boy +ou, ow out,now + +REMARK 1.--In this table, the short sounds, except u, are nearly or quite +the same in quality as certain of the long sounds. The difference consists +chiefly in quantity. + +REMARK 2. The vocals are often represented by other letters or +combinations of letters than those used in the table; for instance, a is +represented by ai in hail, ea in steak, etc. + +REMARK 3.--As a general rule, the long vocals and the diphthongs should be +articulated with a full, clear utterance; but the short vocals have a +sharp, distinct, and almost explosive utterance. + + + +SUBVOCALS AND ASPIRATES. + +Subvocals are those sounds in which the vocalized breath is more or less +obstructed. + +Aspirates consist of breath only, modified by the vocal organs. + +Words ending with subvocal sounds should be selected for practice on the +subvocals; words beginning or ending with aspirate sounds may be used for +practice on the aspirates. Pronounce these words forcibly and distinctly +several times in succession; then drop the other sounds, and repeat the +subvocals and aspirates alone. Let the class repeat the words and elements +at first in concert, then separately. + +Table of Subvocals and Aspirates. +Subvocal as in Subvocal as in +-------- ----- -------- ----- +b babe p rap +d bad t at +g nag k book +j judge ch rich +v move f life +th with th Smith +z buzz s hiss +z azure(azh'ure) sh rush + + + +REMARK.--These sixteen sounds make eight pairs of cognates. In +articulating the aspirates, the vocal organs are put in the position +required in the articulation of the corresponding subvocals; but the +breath is expelled with some force without the utterance of any vocal +sound. The pupil should first verify this by experiment, and then practice +on these cognates. + +The following subvocals and aspirates have no cognates. + + SUBVOCALS. + +Subvocal as in Subvocal as in +-------- ----- -------- ----- +l mill r rule +m rim r car +n run w win +ng sing y yet + +ASPIRATES + +Aspirate as in +-------- ----- +h hat +wh when + + + +SUBSTITUTES. + +Substitutes are characters used to represent sounds ordinarily represented +by other characters. + +TABLE OF SUBSTITUTES. + +Substitute for as in Substitute for as in +---------- --- ----- ---------- --- ----- +a o what y i hymn +e a there c s cite +e a freight c k cap +i e police ch sh machine +i e sir ch k chaos +o u son g j cage +o oo to n ng rink +o oo would s z rose +o a corn s ah sure +o u work x gz examine +u oo pull gh f laugh +u oo rude ph f sylph +y i my qu k pique +qu kw quick + + + +FAULTS TO BE REMEDIED. + +DIRECTION.--Give to each sound, to each syllable, and to each word its +full, distinct, and appropriate utterance. + +For the purpose of avoiding the more common errors under this head, +observe the following rules: + +RULE II.--Avoid the omission of unaccented vowels. + +EXAMPLES. + +Incorrect Correct Incorrect Correct +--------- ----------- ---------- --------- +Sep'rate sep-a-rate Ev'dent ev-i-dent +met-ric'l met-ric-al mem'ry mem-o-ry +'pear ap-pear 'pin-ion o-pin-ion +com-p'tent com-pe-tent pr'pose pro-pose +pr'cede pre-cede gran'lar gran-u-lar +'spe-cial es-pe-cial par-tic'lar par-tic-u-lar + + + +RULE III.--Avoid sounding incorrectly the unaccented vowels. + +EXAMPLES. + +Incorrect Correct Incorrect Correct +---------- ----------- ------------ ------------ +Sep-er-ate sep-a-rate Mem-er-ry mem-o-ry +met-ric-ul met-ric-al up-pin-ion o-pin-ion +up-pear ap-pear prup-ose pro-pose +com-per-tent com-pe-tent gran-ny-lar gran-u-lar +dum-mand de-mand par-tic-e-lar par-tic-u-lar +ob-stur-nate ob-sti-nate ev-er-dent ev-i-dent + + +REMARK I.--In correcting errors of this kind in words of more than one +syllable, it is very important to avoid a fault which is the natural +consequence of an effort to articulate correctly. Thus, in endeavoring to +sound correctly the a in met'ric-al, the pupil is very apt to say +met-ric-al'. accenting the last syllable instead of the first. + +REMARK 2.--The teacher should bear it in mind that in correcting a fault +there is always danger of erring in the opposite extreme. Properly +speaking, there is no danger of learning to articulate too distinctly, but +there is danger of making the obscure sounds too prominent, and of reading +in a slow, measured, and unnatural manner. + +RULE IV.--Utter distinctly the terminating subvocals and aspirates. + +EXAMPLES. + +Incorrect Correct Incorrect Correct +--------- ------- --------- ------- +An' and Mos' mosque +ban' band near-es' near-est +moun' mound wep' wept +mor-nin' morn-ing ob-jec' ob-ject +des' desk sub-jec sub-ject + + +REMARK 1.--This omission is still more likely to occur when several +consonants come together. + + +EXAMPLES. + +Incorrect Correct Incorrect Correct +--------- -------- --------- ---------- +Thrus' thrusts Harms' harm'st +beace beasts wrongs' wrong'st +thinks' thinkst twinkles' twinkl'dst +weps' weptst black'ns black'n'dst + + +REMARK 2.--In all cases of this kind these sounds are omitted, in the +first instance, merely because they are difficult, and require care and +attention for their utterance, although after a while it becomes a habit. +The only remedy is to devote that care and attention which may be +necessary. There is no other difficulty, unless there should be a defect +in the organs of speech, which is not often the case. + +RULE V.--A void blending syllables which belong to different words. + +EXAMPLES. + +INCORRECT. CORRECT. +---------- ------------ +He ga-zdupon. He gazed upon. +Here res tsis sed. Here rests his head. +Whattis sis sname? What is his name? +For ranninstantush. For an instant hush. +Ther ris sa calm, There is a calm. +For tho stha tweep. For those that weep. +God sglorou simage. God's glorious image. + + +EXERCISES IN ARTICULATION. + +This exercise and similar ones will afford valuable aid in training the +organs to a distinct articulation. + + Every vice fights against nature. + Folly is never pleased with itself. + Pride, not nature, craves much. + The little tattler tittered at the tempest. + Titus takes the petulant outcasts. + The covetous partner is destitute of fortune. + No one of you knows where the shoe pinches. + What can not be cured must be endured. + You can not catch old birds with chaff. + Never sport with the opinions of others. + The lightnings flashed, the thunders roared. + His hand in mine was fondly clasped. + They cultivated shrubs and plants. + He selected his texts with great care. + His lips grow restless, and his smile is curled half into scorn. + Wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness. + O breeze, that waftst me on my way! + Thou boast'st of what should be thy shame. + Life's fitful fever over, he rests well. + Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? + From star to star the living lightnings flash. + And glittering crowns of prostrate seraphim. + That morning, thou that slumber'd'st not before. + Habitual evils change not on a sudden. + Thou waft'd'st the rickety skiffs over the cliffs. + Thou reef'd'st the haggled, shipwrecked sails. + The honest shepherd's catarrh. + The heiress in her dishabille is humorous. + The brave chevalier behaves like a conservative. + The luscious notion of champagne and precious sugar. + +III. INFLECTIONS. + +Inflections are slides of the voice upward or downward. Of these, there +are two: the rising inflection and the falling inflection. + +The Rising Inflection is that in which the voice slides upward, and is +marked thus ('); as, + + Did you walk'? Did you walk. + +The Falling Inflection is that in which the voice slides downward, and is +marked thus ('); as, + + I did not walk'. I did not walk. + +Both inflections are exhibited in the following question: + + Did you walk' or ride'? walk or ride. + +In the following examples, the first member has the rising and the second +member the falling inflection: + +EXAMPLES.[1] + + Is he sick', or is he well'? + Did you say valor', or value'? + Did you say statute', or statue'? + Did he act properly', or improperly'? + +[Footnote 1: These questions and similar ones, with their answers, should +be repeatedly pronounced with their proper inflection, until the +distinction between the rising and falling inflection is well understood +and easily made by the learner. He will be assisted in this by +emphasizing strongly the word which receives the inflection, thus. Did +you RIDE' or did you WALK'?] + +In the following examples, the inflections are used in a contrary order, +the first member terminating with the falling and the second with the +rising inflection: + +EXAMPLES. + + He is well', not sick'. + I said value', not valor'. + I said statue', not statute'. + He acted properly', not improperly'. + + +FALLING INFLECTIONS. + +Rule VI.--The falling inflection is generally proper wherever the sense is +complete. + +EXAMPLES. + + Truth is more wonderful than fiction'. + Men generally die as they live'. + By industry we obtain wealth'. + + +REMARK.--Parts of a sentence often make complete sense in themselves, and +in this case, unless qualified or restrained by the succeeding clause, or +unless the contrary is indicated by some other principle, the falling +inflection takes place according to the rule. + + +EXAMPLES + + Truth is wonderful', even more so than fiction'. + + Men generally die as they live' and by their actions we must judge of + their character'. + + +Exception.--When a sentence concludes with a negative clause, or with a +contrast or comparison (called also antithesis), the first member of which +requires the falling inflection, it must close with the rising inflection. +(See Rule XI, and paragraph 2, Note.) + +EXAMPLES. + +No one desires to be thought a fool'. + +I come to bury' Caesar, not to praise' him. + +He lives in England' not in France'. + + +REMARK.--In bearing testimony to the general character of a man we say: + + He is too honorable' to be guilty of a vile' act. + +But if he is accused of some act of baseness, a contrast is at once +instituted between his character and the specified act, and we change the +inflections, and say: + + He is too honorable' to be guilty of such' an act. + +A man may say in general terms: + + I am too busy' for projects'. + +But if he is urged to embark in some particular enterprise, he will +change the inflections, and say: + + I am too busy' for projects'. + +In such cases, as the falling inflection is required in the former part by +the principle of contrast and emphasis (as will hereafter be more fully +explained), the sentence necessarily closes with the rising inflection. +Sometimes, also, emphasis alone seems to require the rising inflection on +the concluding word. See exception to Rule VII. + +(5.-2.) + + +STRONG EMPHASIS. + +RULE VII.--Language which demands strong emphasis generally requires the +falling inflection. + +EXAMPLES. +1. Command or urgent entreaty; as, + + Begone', + Run' to your houses, fall' upon your knees, + Pray' to the Gods to intermit the plagues. + + 0, save' me, Hubert' save' me I My eyes are out + Even with the fierce looks of these bloody men. + + +2. Exclamation, especially when indicating strong emotion; as, + + 0, ye Gods'! ye Gods'! must I endure all this? + + Hark'! Hark'! the horrid sound + Hath raised up his head. + + +For interrogatory exclamation, see Rule X, Remark. + + + +SERIES OF WORDS OR MEMBERS. + +3. A series of words or members, whether in the beginning or middle of a +sentence, if it does not conclude the sentence, is called a commencing +series, and usually requires the rising inflection when not emphatic. + +EXAMPLES OF COMMENCING SERIES. + + Wine', beauty', music', pomp', are poor expedients to heave off the load + of an hour from the heir of eternity'. + + I conjure you by that which you profess, + (Howe'er you came to know it,) answer me; + Though you untie the winds and let them fight + Against the churches'; though the yeasty waves + Confound and swallow navigation' up; + Though bladed corn be lodged, and trees blown down'; + Though castles topple on their warders' heads'; + Though palaces and pyramids do slope + Their heads to their foundations'; though the treasures + Of nature's germens tumble altogether', + Even till destruction sicken'; answer me + To what I ask' you. + + +4. A series of words or members which concludes a sentence is called a +concluding series, and each member usually has the falling inflection. + +EXAMPLE OF CONCLUDING SERIES. + +They, through faith, subdued kingdoms', wrought righteousness' obtained +promises', stopped the mouths of lions', quenched the violence of fire', +escaped the edge of the sword', out of weakness were made strong', waxed +valiant in fight', turned to flight the armies of the aliens'. + + +REMARK.--When the emphasis on these words or members is not marked, they +take the rising inflection, according to Rule IX. + +EXAMPLES. + + They are the offspring of restlessness', vanity', and idleness'. + Love', hope', and joy' took possession of his breast. + +5. When words which naturally take the rising inflection become emphatic +by repetition or any other cause, they often take the falling inflection. + +Exception to the Rule.--While the tendency of emphasis is decidedly to the +use of the falling inflection, sometimes a word to which the falling +inflection naturally belongs changes this, when it is emphatic, for the +rising inflection. + +EXAMPLES. + + Three thousand ducats': 't is a good round sum'. + It is useless to point out the beauties of nature to one who is blind'. + +Here sum and blind, according to Rule VI, would take the falling +inflection, but as they are emphatic, and the object of emphasis is to +draw attention to the word emphasized, this is here accomplished in part +by giving an unusual inflection. Some speakers would give these words the +circumflex, but it would he the rising circumflex, so that the sound would +still terminate with the rising inflection. + +RULE VIII.--Questions which can not be answered by yes or no, together +with their answers, generally require the falling inflection. + +EXAMPLES. + +Where has he gone'? Ans. To New York'. +What has he done'? Ans. Nothing'. +Who did this'? Ans. I know not'. +When did he go'? Ans. Yesterday'. + + +REMARK.--It these questions are repeated, the inflection is changed +according to the principle stated under the Exception to Rule VII. + + +RISING INFLECTION. + +RULE IX.--Where a pause is rendered proper by the meaning, and the sense +is incomplete, the rising inflection is generally required. + +EXAMPLES. + +To endure slander and abuse with meekness' requires no ordinary degree of +self-command', + +Night coming on', both armies retired from the field of battle'. + +As a dog returneth to his vomit', so a fool returneth to his folly'. + +REMARK.--The person or object addressed, in ordinary conversation, comes +under this head. + +EXAMPLES. + +Fathers'! we once again are met in council. + +My lords'! and gentlemen'! we have arrived at an awful crisis. + +Age'! thou art shamed. + +Rome'! thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods! + + +Exception.--Where a word which, according to this rule, requires the +rising inflection, becomes emphatic, it generally has the falling +inflec-tion; as, when a child addresses his father, he first says, +Father'! but if he repeats it emphatically, he changes the inflection, and +says, Father'! Father'! The falling inflection is also used in formal +address; as, Fellow--citizens', Mr. President', etc. + +EXAMPLES. + +When we aim at a high standard, if we do not attain' it, we shall secure a +high degree of excellence. + +Those who mingle with the vicious, if they do not become depraved', will +lose all delicacy of feeling. + +RULE X.--Questions which may be answered by yes or no, generally require +the rising, and their answers the falling inflection. + +EXAMPLES. + +Has he arrived'? Yes'. +Will he return'? No'. +Does the law condemn him'? It does not'. + +Exception.--If these questions are repeated emphatically, they take the +falling inflection, according to Rule VII. + +EXAMPLES. + +Has he arrived'? +Will he return'? +Does the law condemn him'? + +REMARK.--When a word or sentence is repeated as a kind of interrogatory +exclamation, the rising inflection is used according to the principles of +this rule. + +EXAMPLES. + +You ask, who would venture' in such a cause! Who would venture'? Rather +say, who would not' venture all things for such an object! + +He is called the friend' of virtue. The friend'! ay! the enthusiastic +lover' the devoted protector' rather. + +So, also, when one receives unexpected information he exclaims, Ah'! +indeed'! + +REMARK.--In the above examples the words "venture," "friend," "ah," etc., +may be considered as interrogatory exclamations, because if the sense were +carried out it would be in the form of question; as, "Do you ask who would +venture'?" "Do you say that he is the friend' of virtue?" "Is it +possible'?" and thus they would receive the rising inflection according to +this rule. + + + +RISING AND FALLING INFLECTIONS. + +RULE XI.--The different members of a sentence expressing comparison, or +contrast, or negation and affirmation, or where the parts are united by or +used disjunctively, require different inflections; generally the rising +inflection in the first member, and the falling inflection in the second +member. This order is, however, sometimes inverted. + +1. Comparison and contrast. This is also called antithesis. + +EXAMPLES. + +In all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God; by honor', and +dishonor'; by evil' report, and good' report; as deceivers', and yet +true'; as unknown', and yet well' known; as dying', and behold we live'; +as chastened', and not killed'; as sorrowful', yet always rejoicing'; as +poor', yet making many rich'; as having nothing', yet possessing all' +things. + +Europe was one great battlefield, where the weak struggled for freedom', +and the strong for dominion'. The king was without power', and the nobles +without principle', They were tyrants at home', and robbers abroad'. + + +2. Negation and affirmation. + +EXAMPLES. + + He desired not to injure' his friend, but to protect' him. + We desire not your money', but yourselves'. + I did not say a better' soldier, but, an elder'. + +If the affirmative clause comes first, the order of the inflections is +inverted. + +EXAMPLES. + + He desired to protect' his friend, not to injure' him. + We desire yourselves', not your money'. + I said an elder' soldier, not a better'. + +The affirmative clause is sometimes understood. + + We desire not your money'. + I did not say a better' soldier. + The region beyond the grave is not a solitary' land. + + +In most negative sentences standing alone, the corresponding affirmative +is understood; hence the following. + +REMARK.--Negative sentences, whether alone or connected with an +affirmative clause, generally end with the rising inflection. + + +If such sentences are repeated emphatically, they take the falling +inflection according to Rule VI. + +EXAMPLES. + + We do not' desire your money. + I did not' say a. better soldier. + +3. Or used disjunctively. + + Did he behave properly', or improperly'? + + Are they living/, or dead'? + + Is he rich', or poor'? + + Does God, having made his creatures, take no further' care of them, or + does he preserve and guide them'? + +REMARK.--Where or is used conjunctively, this rule does not apply; as, +Will the law of kindness' or of justice' justify such conduct'? + + + +CIRCUMFLEX. + +The circumflex is a union of the rising and falling inflections. Properly +speaking, there are two of these, the one called the rising circumflex, in +which the voice slides down and then up; and the other, the falling +circumflex, in which the voice slides upward and then downward on the same +vowel. They may both be denoted by the same mark, thus, (^). The +circumflex is used chiefly to indicate the emphasis of irony, of contrast, +or of hypothesis. + +EXAMPLES. + +1. Queen. Hamlet, you have your father much offended. + Hamlet. Madam, you have my father much offended. + +2. They offer us their protec'tion. Yes', such protection as vultures give + to lambs, covering and devouring them. + +3. I knew when seven justices could not make up a quarrel; but when the +parties met themselves, one of them thought but of an if; as, If you said +so, then I said so; O ho! did you say so! So they shook hands and were +sworn brothers. + +REMARKS.--In the first example, the emphasis is that of contrast. The +queen had poisoned her husband, of which she incorrectly supposed her son +ignorant, and she blames him for treating his father-in-law with +disrespect. In his reply, Hamlet contrasts her deep crime with his own +slight offense, and the circumflex upon "you" becomes proper. + +In the second example the emphasis is ironical. The Spaniards pretended +that they would protect the Peruvians if they would submit to them, +whereas it was evident that they merely desired to plunder and destroy +them. Thus their protection is ironically called "such protection as +vultures give to lambs," etc. + +In the third example, the word "so" is used hypothetically; that is, it +implies a condition or supposition. It will be observed that the rising +circumflex is used in the first "so," and the falling, in the second, +because the first "so" must end with the rising inflection and the second +with the falling inflection, according to previous rules. + + + +MONOTONE. + +When no word in a sentence receives an inflection, it is said to be read +in a monotone; that is, in nearly the same tone throughout. This +uniformity of tone is occa-sionally adopted, and is fitted to express +solemnity or sublimity of idea, and sometimes intensity of feeling. It is +used, also, when the whole sentence or phrase is emphatic. In books of +elocution, when it is marked at all, it is generally marked thus (---), as +in the lines following. + +EXAMPLES. + +Hence! loathed melancholy! +Where brooding darkness spreads her jealous wings, +And the night raven sings; +There, under ebon shades and low-browed rocks, +As ragged as thy locks, +In deep Cimmerian darkness ever dwell. + + + +IV. ACCENT. + +In every word which contains more than one syllable, one of the syllables +is pronounced with a somewhat greater stress of voice than the others. +This syllable is said to be accented. The accented syllable is +distinguished by this mark ('), the same which is used in inflections. + +EXAMPLES. + + Love'ly, re-turn', re-mem'ber, + Con'stant, re-main', a-sun'der, + Mem'ber, a-bide', a-ban'don, + Win'dow, a-tone', rec-ol-lect', + Ban'ner, a-lone', re-em-bark', + +REMARK.--In most cases custom is the only guide for placing the accent on +one syllable rather than another. Sometimes, however, the same word is +differently accented in order to mark its different meanings. + +EXAMPLES. + +Con'jure, to practice enchantments. Con-jure', to entreat. +Gal'lant, brave. Gal-lant', a gay fellow. +Au'gust, a month. Au-gust', grand. + +REMARK.--A number of words used sometimes as one part of speech, and +sometimes as another, vary their accents irregularly. + +EXAMPLES. + +Pres'ent, noun. Pres'ent, adjective. Pre-sent', verb. +Com'pact, noun. Com-pact', adjective. Com-pact', verb. + +In words of more than two syllables there is often a second accent given, +but more slight than the principal one, and this is called the secondary +accent; as, car'a-van'', rep''ar-tee', where the principal accent is +marked (') and the secondary (''); so, also, this accent is obvious in +nav''-i-ga'tion, com''pre-hen'sion, plau''si-bil'i-ty, etc. The whole +subject, however, properly belongs to dictionaries and spelling books. + + + +V. EMPHASIS. + +A word is said to be emphasized when it is uttered with a greater stress +of voice than the other words with which it is connected. + +REMARK 1.--The object of emphasis is to attract particular attention to +the word upon which it is placed, indicating that the idea to be conveyed +depends very much upon that word. This object, as just stated, is +generally accomplished by increasing the force of utterance, but +sometimes, also, by a change in the inflection, by the use of the +monotone, by pause, or by uttering the words in a very low key. Emphatic +words are often denoted by italics, and a still stronger emphasis by SMALL +CAPITALS or CAPITALS, according to the degree of emphasis desired. + +REMARK 2.--Emphasis constitutes the most important feature in reading and +speaking, and, properly applied, gives life and character to language. +Accent, inflection, and indeed everything yields to emphasis. + +REMARK 3.--In the following examples it will be seen that accent is +governed by it. + +EXAMPLES. + + What is done cannot be undone. + There is a difference between giving and forgiving. + He that descended is the same that ascended. + +Some appear to make very little difference between decency and indecency, +morality and immorality, religion and irreligion. + +REMARK 4.--There is no better illustration of the nature and importance of +emphasis than the following examples. It will he observed that the meaning +and proper answer of the question vary with each change of the emphasis. + +EXAMPLES. + +QUESTIONS. ANSWERS. +--------- -------- +Did you walk into the city yesterday? No, my brother went. + +Did you walk into the city yesterday? No, I rode. + +Did you walk into the city yesterday? No, I went into the country. + +Did you walk into the city yesterday? No, I went the day before. + + + +ABSOLUTE EMPHASIS. + +Sometimes a word is emphasized simply to indicate the importance of the +idea. This is called absolute emphasis. + +EXAMPLES. + + To arms! they come! the Greek! the Greek! + Woe unto you, PHARISEES! HYPOCRITES! + Days, months, years, and ages shall circle away. + +REMARK.--In instances like the last, it is sometimes called the emphasis +of specification. + + + +RELATIVE EMPHASIS. + +Words are often emphasized in order to exhibit the idea they express as +compared or contrasted with some other idea. This is called relative +emphasis. + +EXAMPLES. + +A friend can not be known in prosperity; an enemy can not be hidden in +adversity. + +It is much better to be injured than to injure. + +REMARK.--In many instances one part only of the antithesis is expressed, +the corresponding idea being understood; as, + + A friendly eye would never see such faults. + +Here the unfriendly eye is understood. + +King Henry exclaims, while vainly endeavoring to compose +himself to rest, + + "How many thousand of my poorest subjects + Are at this hour asleep!" + +Here the emphatic words thousand, subjects, and asleep are contrasted in +idea with their opposites, and if the contrasted ideas were expressed it +might be in this way: + + While I alone, their sovereign, am doomed to wakefulness. + + + +EMPHATIC PHRASE. + +Sometimes several words in succession are emphasized, forming what is +called an emphatic phrase. + +EXAMPLES. + +Shall I, the conqueror of Spain and Gaul, and not only of the Alpine +nations but of the Alps themselves--shall I compare myself with this +HALF--YEAR--CAPTAIN? + +Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the LAST TEN +YEARS. + + And if thou said'st I am not peer + To any lord in Scotland here, + Lowland or Highland, far or near, + Lord Angus-THOU-HAST-LIED! + +EMPHATIC PAUSE. + +The emphatic expression of a sentence often requires a pause where the +grammatical construction authorizes none. This is sometimes called the +rhetorical pause. Such pauses occur chiefly before or after an emphatic +word or phrase, and sometimes both before and after it. + +EXAMPLES. + +Rise--fellow-men! our country--yet remains! +By that dread name we wave the sword on high, +And swear for her--to live--with her--to die. + +But most--by numbers judge the poet's song: +And smooth or rough, with them is--right or wrong. + +He said; then full before their sight +Produced the beast, and lo!--'t was white. + + + +VI. MODULATION. + +Modulation includes the variations of the voice. These may be classed +under the heads of Pitch, Compass, Quantity, and Quality. + +PITCH AND COMPASS. + +If anyone will notice closely a sentence as uttered in private +conversation, he will observe that very few successive words are +pronounced in exactly the same key or with the same force. At the same +time, however, there is a certain PITCH or key, which seems, on the whole, +to prevail. + +This keynote, or governing note, as it may be called, is that upon which +the voice most frequently dwells, to which it usually returns when +wearied, and upon which a sentence generally commences, and very +frequently ends, while, at the same time, there is a considerable play of +the voice above and below it. + +This key may be high or low. It varies in different individuals, and at +different times in the same individual, being governed by the nature of +the subject and the emotions of the speaker. It is worthy of notice, +however, that most speakers pitch their voices on a key too high. + +The range of the voice above and below this note is called its COMPASS. +When the speaker is animated, this range is great; but upon abstract +subjects, or with a dull speaker, it is small. If, in reading or speaking, +too high a note be chosen, the lungs will soon become wearied; if too low +a pitch be selected, there is danger of indistinctness of utterance; and +in either case there is less room for compass or variety of tone than if +one be taken between the two extremes. + +To secure the proper pitch and the greatest compass observe the following +rule: + +RULE XII.--The reader or speaker should choose that pitch in which he can +feel himself most at ease, and above and below which he may have most room +for variation. + +REMARK 1.--Having chosen the proper keynote, he should beware of confining +himself to it. This constitutes monotony, one of the greatest faults in +elocution. One very important instrument for giving expression and life to +thought is thus lost, and the hearer soon becomes wearied and disgusted. + +REMARK 2.--There is another fault of nearly equal magnitude, and of very +frequent occurrence. This consists in varying the pitch and force without +reference to the sense. A sentence is commenced with vehemence and in a +high key, and the voice gradually sinks until, the breath being spent, it +dies away in a whisper. + +NOTE--The power of changing the key at will is difficult to acquire, but +of great importance. + +REMARK 3.--The habit of singsong, so common in reading poetry, as it is a +variation of pitch without reference to the sense, is a species of the +fault above mentioned. + +REMARK 4.--If the reader or speaker is guided by the sense, and if he +gives that emphasis, inflection, and expression required by the meaning, +these faults speedily disappear. + +REMARK 5.--To improve the voice in these respects, practice is necessary. +Commence, for example, with the lowest pitch the voice can comfortably +sound, and repeat whole paragraphs and pages upon that key with gentle +force. Then repeat the paragraph with increased force, taking care not to +raise the pitch. Then rise one note higher, and practice on that, then +another, and so on, until the highest pitch of the voice is reached. +Reverse the process, and repeat as before until the lowest pitch is +obtained. + +NOTE.--In these and all similar exercises, be very careful not to +confound pitch and force. + + + +QUANTITY AND QUALITY. + +The tones of the voice should vary also in quantity, or time required to +utter a sound or a syllable, and in quality, or expression, according to +the nature of the subject. + +REMARK.--We notice a difference between the soft, insinuating tones of +persuasion; the full, strong voice of command and decision; the harsh, +irregular, and sometimes grating explosion of the sounds of passion; the +plaintive notes of sorrow and pity; and the equable and unimpassioned flow +of words in argumentative style. + +The following direction, therefore, is worthy of attention: + +The tones of the voice should always correspond both in quantity and +quality with the nature of the subject. + +EXAMPLES. + +Passion and Grief + + "Come back! come back!" he cried, in grief. + "Across this stormy water, + And I'll forgive your Highland chief, + My daughter! O, my daughter!" + + +Plaintive + I have lived long enough: my way of life + Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf: + And that which should accompany old age, + As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, + I must not look to have. + + +Calm + A very great portion of this globe is covered with water, which is + called sea, and is very distinct from rivers and lakes. + + +Fierce Anger + + Burned Marmion's swarthy cheek like fire, + And shook his very frame for ire, + And--"This to me?" he said; + "And 't were not for thy hoary beard, + Such hand as Marmion's had not spared + To cleave the Douglas' head! + + +Loud and Explosive + + "Even in thy pitch of pride, + Here, in thy hold, thy vassals near, + I tell thee thou 'rt defied! + And if thou said'st I am not peer + To any lord in Scotland here, + Lowland or Highland, far or near, + Lord Angus, thou hast lied '" + + +REMARK 1.--In our attempt to imitate nature it is important to avoid +affectation, for to this fault even perfect monotony is preferable. + +REMARK 2.--The strength of the voice may be increased by practicing with +different degrees of loudness, from a whisper to full rotundity, taking +care to keep the voice on the same key. The same note in music may be +sounded loud or soft. So also a sentence may be pronounced on the same +pitch with different degrees of loudness. Having practiced with different +degrees of loudness on one key, make the same experiment on another, and +then on another, and so on. This will also give the learner practice in +compass, + + + +VII. POETIC PAUSES. + +In poetry we have, in addition to other pauses, poetic pauses. The object +of these is simply to promote the melody. + +At the end of each line a slight pause is proper, whatever be the +grammatical construction or the sense. The purpose of this pause is to +make prominent the melody of the measure, and in rhyme to allow the ear to +appreciate the harmony of the similar sounds. + +There is, also, another important pause, somewhere near the middle of each +line, which is called the caesura or caesural pause. In the following +lines it is marked thus (||): + +EXAMPLES. + + There are hours long departed || which memory brings, + Like blossoms of Eden || to twine round the heart, + And as time rushes by || on the might of his wings, + They may darken awhile || but they never depart. + +REMARK.--The caesural pause should never be so placed as to injure the +sense. The following lines, if melody alone were consulted, would be read +thus: + + With fruitless la || bor Clara bound, + And strove to stanch || the gushing wound; + The Monk with un || availing cares, + Exhausted all || the church's prayers. + +This manner of reading, however, would very much interfere with the proper +expression of the idea. This is to be corrected by making the caesural +pause yield to the sense. The above lines should be read thus: + + With fruitless labor || Clara bound, + And strove || to stanch the gushing wound; + The Monk || with unavailing cares, + Exhausted || all the church's prayers, + + + +EXERCISES. + +I. DEATH OF FRANKLIN. +(To be read in a solemn tone.) + +Franklin is dead. The genius who freed America', and poured a +copious stream of knowledge throughout Europe', is returned unto the bosom +of the Divinity'. The sage to whom two worlds' lay claim, the man for whom +science' and politics' are disputing, indisputably enjoyed au elevated +rank in human nature. + +The cabinets of princes have been long in the habit of notifying the death +of those who were great', only in their funeral orations'. Long hath the +etiquette of courts', proclaimed the mourning of hypocrisy'. Nations' +should wear mourning for none but their benefactors'. The representatives' +of nations should recommend to public homage' only those who have been the +heroes of humanity'. + + +II. BONAPARTE. + +He knew no motive' but interst'; acknowledged no criterion' but success'; +he worshiped no God' but ambition'; and with an eastern devotion', he +knelt at the shrine of his idolatry'. Subsidiary to this, there was no +creed' that he did not profess'; there was no opinion' that he did not +promulgate': in the hope of a dynasty', he upheld the crescent'; for the +sake of a divorce', he bowed before the cross'; the orphan of St. Louis', +he became the adopted child of the republic'; and, with a parricidal +ingrati-tude', on the ruins both of the throne and the tribune, he reared +the throne of his despotism'. + +At his touch crowns' crumbled'; beggars' reigned'; systems' van-ished'; +the wildest theories' took the color of his whim'; and all that was +venerable' and all that was novel', changed places with the rapidity of a +drama'. Nature had no obstacle' that he did not surmount'; space, no +opposition' he did not spurn'; and whether amid Alpine rocks',--Arabian +sands',--or Polar snows',---he seemed proof' against peril', and empowered +with ubiquity'. + + + +III. HAMLET ON SEEING THE SKULL OF YORICK. + +Alas, poor Yorick'! I knew him', Horatio'; a fellow of infinite jest', of +most excellent fancy'. He hath borne me on his back' a thousand times'; +and now', how abhorred my imagination is'! My gorge rises' at it. Here +hung those lips that I have kissed', I know not how oft', Where be your +gibes' now? your gambols'? your songs'? your flashes of merriment', that +were wont to set the table on a roar'? Not one', now, to mock your own +grinning'? quite chopfallen'? Now get you to my lady's chamber' and tell +her', let her paint an inch thick' to this favor' she must come'; make her +laugh at that'. + + + +IV. DESCRIPTION OF A BATTLE. + +Yet still Lord Marmion's falcon flew' +With wavering flight', while fiercer grew + Around, the battle yell. +The border slogan rent the sky', +A Home'! a Gordon'! was the cry'; + Loud' were the clanging blows'; +Advanced',--forced back',--now low',--now high', + The pennon sunk'--and rose'; +As bends the bark's mast in the gale', +When rent are rigging', shrouds', and sail', + It wavered 'mid the foes'. +The war, that for a space did fail', +Now trebly thundering swelled the gale', + And Stanley'! was the cry; +A light on Marmion's visage spread', + And fired his glazing eye':-- +With dying' hand', above his head', +He shook the fragment of his blade', + And shouted',--"Victory'! +Charge', Chester', charge'! On' Stanley', on'!"-- + Were the last words of Marmion. + + + +V. LORD ULLIN'S DAUGHTER. + +For the inflections and emphasis in this selection, let the pupil be +guided by his own judgment. + +A chieftain to the Highlands bound, + Cries, "Boatman, do not tarry! +And I'll give thee a silver pound, + To row us o'er the ferry." + +"Now, who be ye would cross Loch-Gyle + This dark and stormy water?" +"Oh! I'm the chief of Ulva's isle, + And this, Lord Ullin's daughter. + +"And fast before her father's men + Three days we've fled together, +For should he find us in the glen, + My blood would stain the heather. + +"His horsemen hard behind us ride; + Should they our steps discover, +Then who will cheer my bonny bride, + When they have slain her lover?" + +Out spoke the hardy Highland wight + "I'll go, my chief--I'm ready: +It is not for your silver bright, + But for your winsome lady: + +"And, by my word! the bonny bird + In danger shall not tarry; +So, though the waves are raging white, + I'll row you o'er the ferry." + +By this, the storm grew loud apace, + The water wraith was shrieking; +And, in the scowl of heaven, each face + Grew dark as they were speaking. + +But still, as wilder grew the wind, + And as the night grew drearer, +Adown the glen rode armed men, + Their trampling sounded nearer. + +"Oh I haste thee, haste!" the lady cries + "Though tempest round us gather, +I'll meet the raging of the skies, + But not an angry father." + +The boat has left the stormy land, + A stormy sea before her; +When, oh I too strong for human hand, + The tempest gathered o'er her. + +And still they rowed, amid the roar + Of waters fast prevailing; +Lord Ullin reached that fatal shore, + His wrath was changed to wailing. + +For sore dismay through storm and shade + His child he did discover; +One lovely hand she stretched for aid, + And one was round her lover. + +"Come back! come back!" he cried, in grief, + "Across this stormy water; +And I'll forgive your Highland chief, + My daughter! O, my daughter!" + +'T was vain: the loud waves lashed the shore, + Return or aid preventing; +The waters wild went o'er his child, + And he was left lamenting. + + --Thomas Campbell + + + +ALPHABETICAL LIST OF AUTHORS. + + Name. Name. +1. ALCOTT, LOUISA M. 45. LAMB, CHARLES +2. ALLEN, Mrs. E. A. 46. LONDON TIMES +3. ALLINGHAM, W. 47. LONGFELLOW +4. ARNOLD, GEORGE 48. LOWELL +5. ARTHUR, T. S. 49. MARTINEAU, HARRIET +6. AUDUBON 50. MITCHELL, DONALD G. +7. BANCROFT 51. MONTGOMERY, JAMES +8. BIBLE, THE 52. MOORE +9. BLACK, WILLIAM 53. MORRIS. G. P. +10. BRIGGS, C. F. 54. NOBLE, L. L. +11. BROOKS, C. T. 55. NORTON, MRS. C. E. S. +12. BRYANT 56. O'BRIEN, FITZ-JAMES +13. BUCKINGHAM, J. T. 57. PIATT, J. J. +14. BURRITT, ELIHU 58. PIATT, MRS. S. M. B. +15. CAMPBELL, THOMAS 59. PROCTER, ADELAIDE ANNE +16. CHANNING, WILLIAM ELLERY 60. READ, T. B. +17. COLLINS, WILLIAM 61. RUSSELL, JOHN +18. COOK, ELIZA 62. SANGSTER, MRS. M. E. +19. COOPER, JAMES FENIMORE 63. SAXE, J. G. +20. COWPER 64. SHAKESPEARE +21. DICKENS 65. SHEPHERD +22. DIMOND, WILLIAM 66. SOUTHEY, MRS. C. A. +23. EASTMAN, C. G. 67. SOUTHEY, ROBERT +24. EDGEWORTH, MARIA 68. SPRAGUE, CHARLES +25. FINCH, F. M. 69. STODDARD. R. H. +26. FOLLEN, MRS. E. L. 70. TAYLOR, B. F. +27. GOLDSMITH. 71. TAYLOR, JANE +28. GOODRICH, S. G. 72. TENNYSON +29. GRIMKE', THOMAS S. 73. THACKERAY +30. HALE, Mrs. S. J, 74. THACKER, CELIA +31. HARTE. FRANCIS BRET 75. THOMPSON, D. P. +32. HAWES, W. P. 76. THOMSON, JAMES +33. HAWTHORNE 77. THOREAU, H. D. +34. HELPS, ARTHUR 78. TOOD, JOHN +35. HEMANS, FELICIA D. 79. WARNER, CHARLES DUDLEY +36. HOOD, THOMAS 80. "CAPITAL" (WASHINGTON) +37. HUNT, LEIGH 81. WEBSTER +38. INGELOW, JEAN 82. WEEMS, MASON L. +39. IRVING 83. WHITTIER +40. JERROLD, DOUGLAS 84. WILSON, JOHN +41. JOHNSON, SAMUEL 85. WIRT, WILLIAM +42. KEBLE, JOHN 86. WOLFE, CHARLES +43. KINGSLEY, CHARLES 87. WOTTON, SIR HENRY +44. KNOWLES, SHERIDAN + + + +McGuffey's Fifth Reader + + + +1. THE GOOD READER. + +1. It is told of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, that, as he was +seated one day in his private room, a written petition was brought to him +with the request that it should be immediately read. The King had just +returned from hunting, and the glare of the sun, or some other cause, had +so dazzled his eyes that he found it difficult to make out a single word +of the writing. + +2. His private secretary happened to be absent; and the soldier who +brought the petition could not read. There was a page, or favorite boy +servant, waiting in the hall, and upon him the King called. The page was a +son of one of the noblemen of the court, but proved to be a very poor +reader. + +3. In the first place, he did not articulate distinctly. He huddled his +words together in the utterance, as if they were syllables of one long +word, which he must get through with as speedily as possible. His +pronunciation was bad, and he did not modulate his voice so as to bring +out the meaning of what he read. Every sentence was uttered with a dismal +monotony of voice, as if it did not differ in any respect from that which +preceded it. + +4. "Stop!" said the King, impatiently. "Is it an auctioneer's list of +goods to be sold that you are hurrying over? Send your companion to me." +Another page who stood at the door now entered, and to him the King gave +the petition. The second page began by hemming and clearing his throat in +such an affected manner that the King jokingly asked him whether he had +not slept in the public garden, with the gate open, the night before. + +5. The second page had a good share of self-conceit, however, and so was +not greatly confused by the King's jest. He determined that he would avoid +the mistake which his comrade had made. So he commenced reading the +petition slowly and with great formality, emphasizing every word, and +prolonging the articulation of every syllable. But his manner was so +tedious that the King cried out, "Stop! are you reciting a lesson in the +elementary sounds? Out of the room! But no: stay! Send me that little girl +who is sitting there by the fountain." + +6. The girl thus pointed out by the King was a daughter of one of the +laborers employed by the royal gardener; and she had come to help her +father weed the flower beds. It chanced that, like many of the poor people +in Prussia, she had received a good education. She was somewhat alarmed +when she found herself in the King's presence, but took courage when the +King told her that he only wanted her to read for him, as his eyes were +weak. + +7. Now, Ernestine (for this was the name of the little girl) was fond of +reading aloud, and often many of the neighbors would assemble at her +father's house to hear her; those who could not read themselves would come +to her, also, with their letters from distant friends or children, and she +thus formed the habit of reading various sorts of handwriting promptly and +well. + +8. The King gave her the petition, and she rapidly glanced through the +opening lines to get some idea of what it was about. As she read, her eyes +began to glisten, and her breast to heave. "What is the matter?" asked the +King; "don't you know how to read?" "Oh, yes! sire," she replied, +addressing him with the title usually applied to him: "I will now read it, +if you please." + +9. The two pages wore about to leave the room. "Remain," said the King. +The little girl began to read the petition. It was from a poor widow, +whose only son had been drafted to serve in the army, although his health +was delicate and his pursuits had been such as to unfit him for military +life. His father had been killed in battle, and the son had a strong +desire to become a portrait painter. + +10. The writer told her story in a simple, concise manner, that carried to +the heart a belief of its truth; and Ernestine read it with so much +feeling, and with an articulation so just, in tones so pure and distinct, +that when she had finished, the King, into whose eyes the tears had +started, exclaimed, "Oh! now I understand what it is all about; but I +might never have known, certainly I never should have felt, its meaning +had I trusted to these young gentlemen, whom I now dismiss from my service +for one year, advising them to occupy their time in learning to read." + +11. "As for you, my young lady," continued the King, "I know you will ask +no better reward for your trouble than the pleasure of carrying to this +poor widow my order for her son's immediate discharge. Let me see whether +you can write as well as you can read. Take this pen, and write as I +dictate." He then dictated an order, which Ernestine wrote, and he signed. +Calling one of his guards, he bade him go with the girl and see that the +order was obeyed. + +12. How much happiness was Ernestine the means of bestowing through her +good elocution, united to the happy circumstance that brought it to the +knowledge of the King! First, there were her poor neighbors, to whom she +could give instruction and entertainment. Then, there was the poor widow +who sent the petition, and who not only regained her son, but received +through Ernestine an order for him to paint the King's likeness; so that +the poor boy soon rose to great distinction, and had more orders than he +could attend to. Words could not express his gratitude, and that of his +mother, to the little girl. + +13. And Ernestine had, moreover, the satisfaction of aiding her father to +rise in the world, so that he became the King's chief gardener. The King +did not forget her, but had her well educated at his own expense. As for +the two pages, she was indirectly the means of doing them good, also; for, +ashamed of their bad reading, they commenced studying in earnest, till +they overcame the faults that had offended the King. Both finally rose to +distinction, one as a lawyer, and the other as a statesman; and they owed +their advancement in life chiefly to their good elocution. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Pe-ti'tion, a formal request. 3. Ar-tic'u-late, to utter +the elementary sounds. Mod'u-late, to vary or inflect. Mo-not'o-ny, lack +of variety. 4. Af-fect'ed, unnatural and silly. 9. Draft'ed, selected by +lot. 10. Con-cise', brief and full of meaning. 11. Dis-charge', release. +Dic'tate, to utter so that another may write it down. 12. Dis-tinc'tion, +honorable and notable position. Ex-press', to make known the feelings of. + + +NOTES.--Frederick II. of Prussia (b. 1712, d. 1788), or Frederick the +Great, as he was called, was one of the greatest of German rulers. He was +distinguished for his military exploits, for his wise and just government, +and for his literary attainments. He wrote many able works in the French +language. Many pleasant anecdotes are told of this king, of which the one +given in the lesson is a fair sample. + + + +II. THE BLUEBELL. + +1. There is a story I have heard-- + A poet learned it of a bird, + And kept its music every word-- + +2. A story of a dim ravine, + O'er which the towering tree tops lean, + With one blue rift of sky between; + +3. And there, two thousand years ago, + A little flower as white as snow + Swayed in the silence to and fro. + +4. Day after day, with longing eye, + The floweret watched the narrow sky, + And fleecy clouds that floated by. + +5. And through the darkness, night by night, + One gleaming star would climb the height, + And cheer the lonely floweret's sight. + +6. Thus, watching the blue heavens afar, + And the rising of its favorite star, + A slow change came--but not to mar; + +7. For softly o'er its petals white + There crept a blueness, like the light + Of skies upon a summer night; + +8. And in its chalice, I am told, + The bonny bell was formed to hold + A tiny star that gleamed like gold. + +9. Now, little people, sweet and true, + I find a lesson here for you + Writ in the floweret's hell of blue: + +10. The patient child whose watchful eye + Strives after all things pure and high, + Shall take their image by and by. + + + DEFINITIONS.--2. Rift, a narrow opening, a cleft. 3. Swayed, swung. 5. + Height (pro. hite), an elevated place. 7. Pet'als, the colored leaves of + a flower. 8. Chal'ice, a cup or bowl. Bon'ny, beautiful. + + + +III. THE GENTLE HAND. + +Timothy S. Arthur (b. 1809, d. 1885) was born near Newburgh, N.Y., but +passed most of his life at Baltimore and Philadelphia. His opportunities +for good schooling were quite limited, and he may be considered a +self-educated man. He was the author of more than a hundred volumes, +principally novels of a domestic and moral tone, and of many shorter +tales--magazine articles, etc. "Ten Nights in a Barroom," and "Three Years +in a Mantrap," are among his best known works. + +1. When and where it matters not now to relate--but once upon a time, as I +was passing through a thinly peopled district of country, night came down +upon me almost unawares. Being on foot, I could not hope to gain the +village toward which my steps were directed, until a late hour; and I +therefore preferred seeking shelter and a night's lodging at the first +humble dwelling that presented itself. + +2. Dusky twilight was giving place to deeper shadows, when I found myself +in the vicinity of a dwelling, from the small uncurtained windows of which +the light shone with a pleasant promise of good cheer and comfort. The +house stood within an inclosure, and a short distance from the road along +which I was moving with wearied feet. + +3. Turning aside, and passing through the ill-hung gate, I approached the +dwelling. Slowly the gate swung on its wooden hinges, and the rattle of +its latch, in closing, did not disturb the air until I had nearly reached +the porch in front of the house, in which a slender girl, who had noticed +my entrance, stood awaiting my arrival. + +4. A deep, quick bark answered, almost like an echo, the sound of the +shutting gate, and, sudden as an apparition, the form of an immense dog +loomed in the doorway. At the instant when he was about to spring, a light +hand was laid upon his shaggy neck, and a low word spoken. + +5. "Go in, Tiger," said the girl, not in a voice of authority, yet in her +gentle tones was the consciousness that she would be obeyed; and, as she +spoke, she lightly bore upon the animal with her hand, and he turned away +and disappeared within the dwelling. + +6. "Who's that?" A rough voice asked the question; and now a heavy-looking +man took the dog's place in the door. + +7. "How far is it to G--?" I asked, not deeming it best to say, in the +beginning, that I sought a resting place for the night. + +8. "To G--!" growled the man, but not so harshly as at first. "It's good +six miles from here." + +9. "A long distance; and I'm a stranger and on foot," said I. "If you can +make room for me until morning, I will be very thankful." + +10. I saw the girl's hand move quickly up his arm, until it rested on his +shoulder, and now she leaned to him still closer. + +11. "Come in. We'll try what can be done for you." There was a change in +the man's voice that made me wonder. I entered a large room, in which +blazed a brisk fire. Before the fire sat two stout lads, who turned upon +me their heavy eyes, with no very welcome greeting. A middle-aged woman +was standing at a table, and two children were amusing themselves with a +kitten on the floor. + +12. "A stranger, mother," said the man who had given me so rude a greeting +at the door; "and he wants us to let him stay all night." + +13. The woman looked at me doubtingly for a few moments, and then replied +coldly, "We don't keep a public house." + +14. "I'm aware of that, ma'am," said I; "but night has overtaken me, and +it's a long way yet to G--." + +15. "Too far for a tired man to go on foot," said the master of the house, +kindly, "so it's no use talking about it, mother; we must give him a bed." + + +16. So unobtrusively that I scarce noticed the movement, the girl had +drawn to her mother's side. What she said to her I did not hear, for the +brief words were uttered in a low voice; but I noticed, as she spoke, one +small, fair hand rested on the woman's hand. + +17. Was there magic in that touch? The woman's repulsive aspect changed +into one of kindly welcome, and she said, "Yes, it's a long way to G--. I +guess we can find a place for him." + +18. Many times more during that evening, did I observe the magic power of +that hand and voice--the one gentle yet potent as the other. On the next +morning, breakfast being over, I was preparing to take my departure when +my host informed me that if I would wait for half an hour he would give me +a ride in his wagon to G--, as business required him to go there. I was +very well pleased to accept of the invitation. + +19. In due time, the farmer's wagon was driven into the road before the +house, and I was invited to get in. I noticed the horse as a rough-looking +Canadian pony, with a certain air of stubborn endurance. As the farmer +took his seat by my side, the family came to the door to see us off. + +20. "Dick!" said the farmer in a peremptory voice, giving the rein a quick +jerk as he spoke. But Dick moved not a step. "Dick! you vagabond! get up." +And the farmer's whip cracked sharply by the pony's ear. + +21. It availed not, however, this second appeal. Dick stood firmly +disobedient. Next the whip was brought down upon him with an impatient +hand; but the pony only reared up a little. Fast and sharp the strokes +were next dealt to the number of half a dozen. The man might as well have +beaten the wagon, for all his end was gained. + +22. A stout lad now came out into the road, and, catching Dick by the +bridle, jerked him forward, using, at the same time, the customary +language on such occasions, but Dick met this new ally with increased +stubbornness, planting his fore feet more firmly and at a sharper angle +with the ground. + +23. The impatient boy now struck the pony on the side of the head with his +clinched hand, and jerked cruelly at his bridle. It availed nothing, +however; Dick was not to be wrought upon by any such arguments. + +24. "Don't do so, John!" I turned my head as the maiden's sweet voice +reached my ear. She was passing through the gate into the road, and in the +next moment had taken hold of the lad and drawn him away from the animal. +No strength was exerted in this; she took hold of his arm, and he obeyed +her wish as readily as if he had no thought beyond her gratification. + +25. And now that soft hand was laid gently on the pony's neck, and a +single low word spoken. How instantly were the tense muscles relaxed--how +quickly the stubborn air vanished! + +26. "Poor Dick!" said the maiden, as she stroked his neck lightly, or +softly patted it with a childlike hand. "Now, go along, you provoking +fellow!" she added, in a half-chiding, yet affectionate voice, as she drew +up the bridle. + +27. The pony turned toward her, and rubbed his head against her arm for an +instant or two; then, pricking up his ears, he started off at a light, +cheerful trot, and went on his way as freely as if no silly crotchet had +ever entered his stubborn brain. + +28. "What a wonderful power that hand possesses!" said I, speaking to my +companion, as we rode away. + +29. He looked at me for a moment, as if my remark had occasioned surprise. +Then a light came into his countenance, and he said briefly, "She's good! +Everybody and everything loves her." + +30. Was that, indeed, the secret of her power? Was the quality of her soul +perceived in the impression of her hand, even by brute beasts! The +father's explanation was doubtless the true one. Yet have I ever since +wondered, and still do wonder, at the potency which lay in that maiden's +magic touch. I have seen something of the same power, showing itself in +the loving and the good, but never to the extent as instanced in her, +whom, for want of a better name, I must still call "Gentle Hand." + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Vi-cin'i-ty, neighborhood. 16. Un-ob-tru'-sive-ly, not +noticeably, modestly. 17. Re-pul'sive, repelling, forbid-ding. 18. +Po'tent, powerful, effective. Host, one from whom another receives food, +lodging, or entertainment. 20. Per'emp-to-ry, commanding, decisive. 21. +A-vailed', was of use, had effect. 22. Al-ly', a confederate, one who +unites with another in some purpose. 25. Tense, strained to stiffness, +rigid. Re-laxed', loosened. 20. Chid'ing, scolding, rebuking. 27. +Crotch'et, a perverse fancy, a whim. 30. In'stanced, mentioned as an +example. + + + +IV. THE GRANDFATHER. + +Charles G. Eastman (b. 1816, d.1861) was born in Maine, but removed at an +early age to Vermont, where he was connected with the press at Burlington, +Woodstock, and Montpelier. He published a volume of poems in 1848, written +in a happy lyric and ballad style, and faithfully portraying rural life in +New England. + +1. The farmer sat in his easy-chair + Smoking his pipe of clay, + While his hale old wife with busy care, + Was clearing the dinner away; + A sweet little girl with fine blue eyes, + On her grandfather's knee, was catching flies. + +2. The old man laid his hand on her head, + With a tear on his wrinkled face, + He thought how often her mother, dead, + Had sat in the selfsame place; + As the tear stole down from his half-shut eye, + "Don't smoke!" said the child, "how it makes you cry!" + +3. The house dog lay stretched out on the floor, + Where the shade, afternoons, used to steal; + The busy old wife by the open door + Was turning the spinning wheel, + And the old brass clock on the manteltree + Had plodded along to almost three. + +4. Still the farmer sat in his easy-chair, + While close to his heaving breast + The moistened brow and the cheek so fair + Of his sweet grandchild were pressed; + His head bent down, all her soft hair lay; + Fast asleep were they both on that summer day. + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Hale, healthy. 3. Man'tel-tree, shelf over a fireplace. +Plod'ded, went slowly. 4. Heaving, rising and falling. + + + +V. A BOY ON A FARM. + +Charles Dudley Warner (b. 1829,--) was born at Plainfield, Mass. In 1851 +he graduated at Hamilton College, and in 1856 was admitted to the bar at +Philadelphia, but moved to Chicago to practice his profession. There he +remained until 1860, when he became connected with the press at Hartford, +Conn., and has ever since devoted himself to literature. "My Summer in a +Garden," "Saunterings," and "Backlog Studies" are his best known works. +The following extract is from "Being a Boy." + +1. Say what you will about the general usefulness of boys, it is my +impression that a farm without a boy would very soon come to grief. What +the boy does is the life of the farm. He is the factotum, always in +demand, always expected to do the thousand indispensable things that +nobody else will do. Upon him fall all the odds and ends, the most +difficult things. + +2. After everybody else is through, he has to finish up. His work is like +a woman's,--perpetually waiting on others. Everybody knows how much easier +it is to eat a good dinner than it is to wash the dishes afterwards. +Consider what a boy on a farm is required to do,--things that must be +done, or life would actually stop. + +3. It is understood, in the first place, that he is to do all the errands, +to go to the store, to the post office, and to carry all sorts of +messages. If he had as many legs as a centiped, they would tire before +night. His two short limbs seem to him entirely inadequate to the task. He +would like to have as many legs as a wheel has spokes, and rotate about in +the same way. + +4. This he sometimes tries to do; and the people who have seen him +"turning cart wheels" along the side of the road, have supposed that he +was amusing himself and idling his time; he was only trying to invent a +new mode of locomotion, so that he could economize his legs, and do his +errands with greater dispatch. + +5. He practices standing on his head, in order to accustom himself to any +position. Leapfrog is one of his methods of getting over the ground +quickly. He would willingly go an errand any distance if he could leapfrog +it with a few other boys. + +6. He has a natural genius for combining pleasure with business. This is +the reason why, when he is sent to the spring for a pitcher of water, he +is absent so long; for he stops to poke the frog that sits on the stone, +or, if there is a penstock, to put his hand over the spout, and squirt the +water a little while. + +7. He is the one who spreads the grass when the men have cut it; he mows +it away in the barn; he rides the horse, to cultivate the corn, up and +down the hot, weary rows; he picks up the potatoes when they are dug; he +drives the cows night and morning; he brings wood and water, and splits +kindling; he gets up the horse, and puts out the horse; whether he is in +the house or out of it, there is always something for him to do. + +8. Just before the school in winter he shovels paths; in summer he turns +the grindstone. He knows where there are lots of wintergreens and sweet +flags, but instead of going for them, he is to stay indoors and pare +apples, and stone raisins, and pound something in a mortar. And yet, with +his mind full of schemes of what he would like to do, and his hands full +of occupations, he is an idle boy, who has nothing to busy himself with +but school and chores! + +9. He would gladly do all the work if somebody else would do the chores, +he thinks; and yet I doubt if any boy ever amounted to anything in the +world, or was of much use as a man, who did not enjoy the advantages of a +liberal education in the way of chores. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Fac-to'tum, a person employed to do all kinds of work. +In-dis-pen'sa-ble, absolutely necessary. 2. Per-pet'u-al-ly, continually. +3. Cen'ti-ped, an insect with a great number of feet. 4. E-con'o-mize, to +save. Dis-patch', diligence, haste. 6. Pen'-stock, a wooden tube for +conducting water. 8. Chores, the light work of the household either within +or without doors. + + + +VI. THE SINGING LESSON. + +Jean Ingelow (b. 1830, d.1897) was born at Boston, Lincolnshire, England. +Her fame as a poetess was at once established upon the publication of her +"Poems" in 1863; since which time several other volumes have appeared. The +most generally admired of her poems are "Songs of Seven" and "The High +Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire," She has also written several +successful novels, of which, "Off the Skelligs" is the most popular. +"Stories Told to a Child," "The Cumberers," "Poor Mat," "Studies for +Stories," and "Mopsa, the Fairy" are also well known. Miss Ingelow resided +in London, England, and spent much of her time in deeds of charity. + +1. A nightingale made a mistake; + She sang a few notes out of tune: + Her heart was ready to break, + And she hid away from the moon. + She wrung her claws, poor thing, + But was far too proud to weep; + She tucked her head under her wing, + And pretended to be asleep. + +2. A lark, arm in arm with a thrush, + Came sauntering up to the place; + The nightingale felt herself blush, + Though feathers hid her face; + She knew they had heard her song, + She felt them snicker and sneer; + She thought that life was too long, + And wished she could skip a year. + +3. "O nightingale!" cooed a dove; + "O nightingale! what's the use? + You bird of beauty and love, + Why behave like a goose? + Don't sulk away from our sight, + Like a common, contemptible fowl; + You bird of joy and delight, + Why behave like an owl? + +4. "Only think of all you have done; + Only think of all you can do; + A false note is really fun + From such a bird as you! + Lift up your proud little crest, + Open your musical beak; + Other birds have to do their best, + You need only to speak!" + +6. The nightingale shyly took + Her head from under her wing, + And, giving the dove a look, + Straightway began to sing. + There was never a bird could pass; + The night was divinely calm; + And the people stood on the grass + To hear that wonderful psalm. + +6. The nightingale did not care, + She only sang to the skies; + Her song ascended there, + And there she fixed her eyes. + The people that stood below + She knew but little about; + And this tale has a moral, I know, + If you'll try and find it out. + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Saun'ter-ing, wandering idly, strolling. Snick'er, to +laugh in a half-suppressed manner. 4. Crest, a tuft growing on an animal's +head. 5. Di-vine'ly, in a supreme degree. 6. Mor'al, the practical lesson +which anything is fitted to teach. + +NOTE.--The nightingale is a small bird, about six inches in length, with a +coat of dark-brown feathers above and of grayish, white beneath. Its voice +is astonishingly strong and sweet, and, when wild, it usually sings +throughout the evening and night from April to the middle of summer. The +bird is common in Europe, but is not found in America. + + + +VII. DO NOT MEDDLE. + +1. About twenty years ago there lived a singular gentleman in the Old Hall +among the elm trees. He was about three-score years of age, very rich, and +somewhat odd in many of his habits, but for generosity and benevolence he +had no equal. + +2. No poor cottager stood in need of comforts, which he was not ready to +supply; no sick man or woman languished for want of his assistance; and +not even a beggar, unless a known impostor, went empty-handed from the +Hall. Like the village pastor described in Goldsmith's poem of "The +Deserted Village," + + "His house was known to all the vagrant train; + He chid their wand'rings, but relieved their pain; + The long-remembered beggar was his guest, + Whose beard descending swept his aged breast." + +3. Now it happened that the old gentleman wanted a boy to wait upon him at +table, and to attend him in different ways, for he was very fond of young +people. But much as he liked the society of the young, he had a great +aversion to that curiosity in which many young people are apt to indulge. +He used to say, "The boy who will peep into a drawer will be tempted to +take something out of it; and he who will steal a penny in his youth will +steal a pound in his manhood." + +4. No sooner was it known that the old gentleman was in want of a boy than +twenty applications were made for the situation; but he determined not to +engage anyone until he had in some way ascertained that he did not possess +a curious, prying disposition. + +5. On Monday morning seven lads, dressed in their Sunday clothes, with +bright and happy faces, made their appearance at the Hall, each of them +desiring to obtain the situation. Now the old gentleman, being of a +singular disposition had prepared a room in such a way that he might +easily know if any of the young people who applied were given to meddle +unnecessarily with things around them, or to peep into cupboards and +drawers. He took care that the lads who were then at Elm Tree Hall should +be shown into this room one after another. + +6. And first, Charles Brown was sent into the room, and told that he would +have to wait a little. So Charles sat down on a chair near the door. For +some time he was very quiet, and looked about him; but there seemed to be +so many curious things in the room that at last he got up to peep at +them. + +7. On the table was placed a dish cover, and Charles wanted sadly to know +what was under it, but he felt afraid of lifting it up. Bad habits are +strong things; and, as Charles was of a curious disposition, he could not +withstand the temptation of taking one peep. So he lifted up the cover. + +8. This turned out to be a sad affair; for under the dish cover was a heap +of very light feathers; part of the feathers, drawn up by a current of +air, flew about the room, and Charles, in his fright, putting the cover +down hastily, puffed the rest of them off the table. + +9. What was to be done? Charles began to pick up the feathers one by one; +but the old gentleman, who was in an adjoining room, hearing a scuffle, +and guessing the cause of it, entered the room, to the consternation of +Charles Brown, who was very soon dismissed as a boy who had not principle +enough to resist even a slight temptation. + +10. When the room was once more arranged, Henry Wilkins was placed there +until such time as he should be sent for. No sooner was he left to himself +than his attention was attracted by a plate of fine, ripe cherries. Now +Henry was uncommonly fond of cherries, and he thought it would be +impossible to miss one cherry among so many. He looked and longed, and +longed and looked, for some time, and just as he had got off his seat to +take one, he heard, as he thought, a foot coming to the door; but no, it +was a false alarm. + +11. Taking fresh courage, he went cautiously and took a very fine cherry, +for he was determined to take but one, and put it into his mouth. It was +excellent; and then he persuaded himself that he ran no risk in taking +another; this he did, and hastily popped it into his mouth. + +12. Now, the old gentleman had placed a few artificial cherries at the top +of the others, filled with Cayenne pepper; one of these Henry had +unfortunately taken, and it made his month smart and burn most +intolerably. The old gentleman heard him coughing, and knew very well what +was the matter. The boy that would take what did not belong to him, if no +more than a cherry, was not the boy for him. Henry Wilkins was sent about +his business without delay, with his mouth almost as hot as if he had put +a burning coal in to it. + +13. Rufus Wilson was next introduced into the room and left to himself; +but he had not been there ten minutes before he began to move from one +place to another. He was of a bold, resolute temper, but not overburdened +with principle; for if he could have opened every cupboard, closet, and +drawer in the house, without being found out, he would have done it +directly. + +14. Having looked around the room, he noticed a drawer to the table, and +made up his mind to peep therein. But no sooner did he lay hold of the +drawer knob than he set a large bell ringing, which was concealed under +the table. The old gentleman immediately answered the summons, and entered +the room. + +15. Rufus was so startled by the sudden ringing of the bell, that all his +impudence could not support him. He looked as though anyone might knock +him down with a feather. The old gentleman asked him if he had rung the +bell because he wanted anything. Rufus was much confused and stammered, +and tried to excuse himself, but all to no purpose, for it did not prevent +him from being ordered off the premises. + +16. George Jones was then shown into the room by an old steward; and being +of a cautious disposition, he touched nothing, but only looked at the +things about him. At last he saw that a closet door was a little open, +and, thinking it would be impossible for anyone to know that he had opened +it a little more, he very cautiously opened it an inch farther, looking +down at the bottom of the door, that it might not catch against anything +and make a noise. + +17. Now had he looked at the top, instead of the bottom, it +might have been better for him; for to the top of the door was +fastened a plug, which filled up the hole of a small barrel of shot. +He ventured to open the door another inch, and then another, till, +the plug being pulled out of the barrel, the leaden shot began to +pour out at a strange rate. At the bottom of the closet was placed a +tin pan, and the shot falling upon this pan made such a clatter that +George was frightened half out of his senses. + +18. The old gentleman soon came into the room to inquire what was the +matter, and there he found George nearly as pale as a sheet. George was +soon dismissed. + +19. It now came the turn of Albert Jenkins to be put into the room. The +other boys had been sent to their homes by different ways, and no one knew +what the experience of the other had been in the room of trial. + +20. On the table stood a small round box, with a screw top to it, and +Albert, thinking it contained something curious, could not be easy without +unscrewing the top; but no sooner did he do this than out bounced an +artificial snake, full a yard long, and fell upon his arm. He started +back, and uttered a scream which brought the old gentleman to his elbow. +There stood Albert, with the bottom of the box in one hand, the top in the +other, and the snake on the floor. + +21. "Come, come," said the old gentleman, "one snake is quite enough to +have in the house at a time; therefore, the sooner you are gone the +better." With that he dismissed him, without waiting a moment for his +reply. + +22. William Smith next entered the room, and being left alone soon began +to amuse himself in looking at the curiosities around him. William was not +only curious and prying, but dishonest, too, and observing that the key +was left in the drawer of a bookcase, he stepped on tiptoe in that +direction. The key had a wire fastened to it, which communicated with an +electrical machine, and William received such a shock as he was not likely +to forget. No sooner did he sufficiently recover himself to walk, than he +was told to leave the house, and let other people lock and unlock their +own drawers. + +23. The other boy was Harry Gordon, and though he was left in the room +full twenty minutes, he never during that time stirred from his chair. +Harry had eyes in his head as well as the others, but he had more +integrity in his heart; neither the dish cover, the cherries, the drawer +knob, the closet door, the round box, nor the key tempted him to rise from +his feet; and the consequence was that, in half an hour after, he was +engaged in the service of the old gentleman at Elm Tree Hall. He followed +his good old master to his grave, and received a large legacy for his +upright conduct in his service. + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Lan'guished, suffered, sank away. Im-pos'. tor, a +deceiver. 3. A-ver'sion, dislike. In-dulge', to give way to. Pound, a +British denomination of money equal in value to about $4.86. 4. +Ap-pli-ca'tion, the act of making a request. 9. Con--ster-na'tion, +excessive terror, dismay. Prin'ci-ple, a right rule of conduct. 12. +Ar-ti-fi'cial (pro. ar-ti-fish'al), made by art, not real. +In-tol'er-a-bly, in a manner not to be borne. 14. Sum'mons, a call to +appear. 19. Ex-pe'ri-ence, knowledge gained by actual trial. 23. +In-teg'ri-ty, honesty. Leg'a-cy, a gift, by will, of personal property. + + + +VIII. WORK. + +Eliza Cook (b. 1817, d. 1889) was born at London. In 1837 she commenced +contributing to periodicals. In 1840 the first collection of her poems was +made. In 1849 she became editor of "Eliza Cook's Journal." + +1. Work, work, my boy, be not afraid; + Look labor boldly in the face; + Take up the hammer or the spade, + And blush not for your humble place. + +2. There's glory in the shuttle's song; + There's triumph in the anvil's stroke; + There's merit in the brave and strong + Who dig the mine or fell the oak. + +3. The wind disturbs the sleeping lake, + And bids it ripple pure and fresh; + It moves the green boughs till they make + Grand music in their leafy mesh. + +4. And so the active breath of life + Should stir our dull and sluggard wills; + For are we not created rife + With health, that stagnant torpor kills? + +5. I doubt if he who lolls his head + Where idleness and plenty meet, + Enjoys his pillow or his bread + As those who earn the meals they eat. + +6. And man is never half so blest + As when the busy day is spent + So as to make his evening rest + A holiday of glad content. + + +DEFINITIONS.--3. Mesh, network. 4. Rife, abounding. Stag'nant, inactive. +2. Tor'por, laziness, stupidity. 5. Lolls, reclines, leans. + + + +IX. THE MANIAC. + +1. A gentleman who had traveled in Europe, relates that he one day visited +the hospital of Berlin, where he saw a man whose exterior was very +striking. His figure, tall and commanding, was bending with age, but more +with sorrow; the few scattered hairs which remained on his temples were +white almost as the driven snow, and the deepest melancholy was depicted +in his countenance. + +2. On inquiring who he was and what brought him there, he started, as, if +from sleep, and, after looking around him, began with slow and measured +steps to stride the hall, repeating in a low but audible voice, "Once one +is two; once one is two." + +3. Now and then he would stop, and remain with his arms folded on his +breast as if in contemplation, for some minutes; then again resuming his +walk, he continued to repeat, "Once one is two; once one is two." His +story, as our traveler understood it, is as follows: + +4. Conrad Lange, collector of the revenues of the city of Berlin, had long +been known as a man whom nothing could divert from the paths of honesty. +Scrupulously exact in an his dealings, and assiduous in the discharge of +all his duties, he had acquired the good will and esteem of all who knew +him, and the confidence of the minister of finance, whose duty it is to +inspect the accounts of all officers connected with the revenue. + +5. On casting up his accounts at the close of a particular year, he found +a deficit of ten thousand ducats. Alarmed at this discovery, he went to +the minister, presented his accounts, and informed him that he did not +know how it had arisen, and that he had been robbed by some person bent on +his ruin. + +6. The minister received his accounts, but thinking it a duty to secure a +person who might probably be a defaulter he caused him to be arrested, and +put his accounts into the hands of one of his secretaries for inspection, +who returned them the day after with the information that the deficiency +arose from a miscalculation; that in multiplying, Mr. Lange had said, once +one is two, instead of once one is one. + +7. The poor man was immediately released from confinement, his accounts +returned, and the mistake pointed out. During his imprisonment, which +lasted two days, he had neither eaten, drunk, nor taken any repose; and +when he appeared, his countenance was as pale as death. On receiving his +accounts, he was a long time silent; then suddenly awaking, as if from a +trance, he repeated, "Once one is two." + +8. He appeared to be entirely insensible of his situation; would neither +eat nor drink, unless solicited; and took notice of nothing that passed +around him. While repeating his accustomed phrase, if anyone corrected him +by saying, "Once one is one," his attention was arrested for a moment, and +he said, "Ah, right, once one is one;" and then resuming his walk, he +continued to repeat, "Once one is two." He died shortly after the traveler +left Berlin. + +9. This affecting story, whether true or untrue, obviously abounds with +lessons of instruction. Alas! how easily is the human mind thrown off its +balance; especially when it is stayed on this world only, and has no +experimental knowledge of the meaning of the injunction of Scripture, to +cast all our cares upon Him who careth for us, and who heareth even the +young ravens when they cry. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Ex-te'ri-or, outward appearance. De-pict'ed, painted, +represented. 3. Con-tem-pla'tion, continued attention of the mind to one +subject. 4. Rev'e-nues, the annual income from taxes, public rents, etc. +Scru'pu-lous-ly, carefully. As-sid'u-ous, constant in attention. +Fi-nance', the income of a ruler or a state. Def'i-cit, lack, want. +Duc'at, a gold coin worth about $2.00. 6. De-fault'er, one who fails to +account for public money intrusted to his care. 9. Ob'vi-ous-ly, plainly. +In-junc'tion, a command. + + + +X. ROBIN REDBREAST. + +William Allingham (b. 1828, d. 1889) was born at Ballyshannon, Ireland. +His father was a banker, and gave him a good education in Irish schools. +He showed his literary tastes at an early date, contributing to +periodicals, etc. In 1850 he published his first volume of poems; in 1854 +his "Day and Night Songs" appeared, and in 1864 a poem in twelve chapters +entitled "Lawrence Bloomfield in Ireland," His reputation was established +chiefly through his shorter lyrics, or ballad poetry. In 1864 he received +a literary pension. + +1. Good-by, good-by to Summer! + For Summer's nearly done; + The garden smiling faintly, + Cool breezes in the sun; + Our thrushes now are silent, + Our swallows flown away,-- + But Robin's here in coat of brown, + And scarlet brestknot gay. + Robin, Robin Redbreast, + O Robin dear! + Robin sings so sweetly + In the falling of the year. + +2. Bright yellow, red, and orange, + The leaves come down in hosts; + The trees are Indian princes, + But soon they'll turn to ghosts; + The leathery pears and apples + Hang russet on the bough; + It's autumn, autumn, autumn late, + 'T will soon be winter now. + Robin, Robin Redbreast, + O Robin dear! + And what will this poor Robin do? + For pinching days are near. + +3. The fireside for the cricket, + The wheat stack for the mouse, + When trembling night winds whistle + And moan all round the house. + The frosty ways like iron, + The branches plumed with snow,-- + Alas! in winter dead and dark, + Where can poor Robin go? + Robin, Robin Redbreast, + O Robin dear! + And a crumb of bread for Robin, + His little heart to cheer. + +Note.--The Old World Robin here referred to is quite different in +appearance and habits from the American Robin. It is only about half the +size of the latter. Its prevailing color above is olive green, while the +forehead, cheeks, throat, and breast are a light yellowish red. It does +not migrate, but is found at all seasons throughout temperate Europe, Asia +Minor, and northern Africa. + + + +XI. THE FISH I DID N'T CATCH. + +John Greenleaf Whittier was born near Haverhill, Mass., in 1807, and died +at Hampton Falls, N.H., in 1892. His boyhood was passed on a farm, and he +never received a classical education. In 1829 he edited a newspaper in +Boston. In the following year he removed to Hartford, Conn., to assume a +similar position. In 1836 he edited an antislavery paper in Philadelphia. +In 1840 he removed to Amesbury, Mass. Mr. Whittier's parents were Friends, +and he always held to the same faith. He wrote extensively both in prose +and verse. As a poet, he ranked among those most highly esteemed and +honored by his countrymen. "Snow Bound" is one of the longest and best of +his poems. + +1. Our bachelor uncle who lived with us was a quiet, genial man, much +given to hunting and fishing; and it was one of the pleasures of our young +life to accompany him on his expeditions to Great Hill, Brandy-brow Woods, +the Pond, and, best of all, to the Country Brook. We were quite willing to +work hard in the cornfield or the haying lot to finish the necessary day's +labor in season for an afternoon stroll through the woods and along the +brookside. + +2. I remember my first fishing excursion as if it were but yesterday. I +have been happy many times in my life, but never more intensely so than +when I received that first fishing pole from my uncle's hand, and trudged +off with him through the woods and meadows. It was a still, sweet day of +early summer; the long afternoon shadows of the trees lay cool across our +path; the leaves seemed greener, the flowers brighter, the birds merrier, +than ever before. + +3. My uncle, who knew by long experience where were the best haunts of +pickerel, considerately placed me at the most favorable point. I threw out +my line as I had so often seen others, and waited anxiously for a bite, +moving the bait in rapid jerks on the surface of the water in imitation of +the leap of a frog. Nothing came of it. "Try again," said my uncle. +Suddenly the bait sank out of sight. "Now for it," thought I; "here is a +fish at last." + +4. I made a strong pull, and brought up a tangle of weeds. Again and again +I cast out my line with aching arms, and drew it back empty. I looked at +my uncle appealingly. "Try once more," he said; "we fishermen must have +patience." + +5. Suddenly something tugged at my line, and swept off with it into deep +water. Jerking it up, I saw a fine pickerel wriggling in the sun. "Uncle!" +I cried, looking back in uncontrollable excitement, "I've got a fish!" +"Not yet," said my uncle. As he spoke there was a plash in the water; I +caught the arrowy gleam of a scared fish shooting into the middle of the +stream, my hook hung empty from the line. I had lost my prize. + +6. We are apt to speak of the sorrows of childhood as trifles in +comparison with those of grown-up people; but we may depend upon it the +young folks don't agree with us. Our griefs, modified and restrained by +reason, experience and self-respect, keep the proprieties, and, if +possible, avoid a scene; but the sorrow of childhood, unreasoning and +all-absorbing, is a complete abandonment to the passion. The doll's nose +is broken, and the world breaks up with it; the marble rolls out of sight, +and the solid globe rolls off with the marble. + +7. So, overcome with my great and bitter disappointment, I sat down on the +nearest hassock, and for a time refused to be comforted, even by my +uncle's assurance that there were more fish in the brook. He refitted my +bait, and, putting the pole again in my hands, told me to try my luck once +more. + +8. "But remember, boy," he said, with his shrewd smile, "never brag of +catching a fish until he is on dry ground. I've seen older folks doing +that in more ways than one, and so making fools of themselves. It's no use +to boast of anything until it's done, nor then, either, for it speaks for +itself." + +9. How often since I have been reminded of the fish that I did not catch. +When I hear people boasting of a work as yet undone, and trying to +anticipate the credit which belongs only to actual achievement, I call to +mind that scene by the brookside, and the wise caution of my uncle in that +particular instance takes the form of a proverb of universal application: +"NEVER BRAG OF YOUR FISH BEFORE YOU CATCH HIM." + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Gen'ial, cheerful. 3. Haunts, places frequently visited. +Con-sid'er-ate-ly, with due regard to others, kindly thoughtful. 4. +Ap-peal'ing-ly, as though asking for aid. 6. Mod'i-fied, qualified, +lessened. Pro-pri'e-ties, fixed customs or rules of conduct. Ab-sorb'ing, +engaging the attention entirely. 7, Has'sock, a raised mound of turf. 9. +An-tic'i-pate, to take before the proper time. A-chieve'ment, performance, +deed. + + + +XII. IT SNOWS. + +Sarah Josepha Hale (b. 1788?, d.1879) was born in Newport, N.H. Her maiden +name was Buell. In 1814 she married David Hale, an eminent lawyer, who +died in 1822. Left with five children to support, she turned her attention +to literature. In 1828 she became editor of the "Ladies' Magazine." In +1837 this periodical was united with "Godey's Lady's Book," of which Mrs. +Hale was literary editor for more than forty years. + +1. "It snows!" cries the Schoolboy, "Hurrah!" and his shout + Is ringing through parlor and hall, + While swift as the wing of a swallow, he's out, + And his playmates have answered his call; + It makes the heart leap but to witness their joy; + Proud wealth has no pleasures, I trow, + Like the rapture that throbs in the pulse of the boy + As he gathers his treasures of snow; + Then lay not the trappings of gold on thine heirs, + While health and the riches of nature are theirs. + +2. "It snows!" sighs the Imbecile, "Ah!" and his breath + Comes heavy, as clogged with a weight; + While, from the pale aspect of nature in death, + He turns to the blaze of his grate; + And nearer and nearer, his soft-cushioned chair + Is wheeled toward the life-giving flame; + He dreads a chill puff of the snow-burdened air, + Lest it wither his delicate frame; + Oh! small is the pleasure existence can give, + When the fear we shall die only proves that we live! + +3. "It snows!" cries the Traveler, "Ho!" and the word + Has quickened his steed's lagging pace; + The wind rushes by, but its howl is unheard, + Unfelt the sharp drift in his face; + For bright through the tempest his own home appeared, + Ay, though leagues intervened, he can see: + There's the clear, glowing hearth, and the table prepared, + And his wife with her babes at her knee; + Blest thought! how it lightens the grief-laden hour, + That those we love dearest are safe from its power! + +4. "It snows!" cries the Belle, "Dear, how lucky!" and turns + From her mirror to watch the flakes fall, + Like the first rose of summer, her dimpled cheek burns! + While musing on sleigh ride and ball: + There are visions of conquests, of splendor, and mirth, + Floating over each drear winter's day; + But the tintings of Hope, on this storm-beaten earth, + Will melt like the snowflakes away. + Turn, then thee to Heaven, fair maiden, for bliss; + That world has a pure fount ne'er opened in this. + +5. "It snows!" cries the Widow, "O God!" and her sighs + Have stifled the voice of her prayer; + Its burden ye'll read in her tear-swollen eyes, + On her cheek sunk with fasting and care. + 'T is night, and her fatherless ask her for bread, + But "He gives the young ravens their food," + And she trusts till her dark hearth adds horror to dread., + And she lays on her last chip of wood. + Poor sufferer! that sorrow thy God only knows; + 'T is a most bitter lot to be poor when it snows. + + + DEFINITIONS.--1. Trow, to think, to believe. Trap'pings, ornanents. 2. + Im'be-cile, one who is feeble either in body or mind. 3. In-ter-vened', + were situated between. 4. Mus'ing, thinking in an absent-minded way. + Con'quests, triumphs, successes. Tint'ings slight colorings. 5. Sti'fled, + choked, suppressed. + +REMARK.--Avoid reading this piece in a monotonous style. Try to express +the actual feeling of each quotation; and enter into the descriptions with +spirit. + + + +XIII. RESPECT FOR THE SABBATH REWARDED. + +1. In the city of Bath, not many years since, lived a barber who made a +practice of following his ordinary occupation on the Lord's day. As he was +on the way to his morning's employment, he happened to look into some +place of worship just as the minister was giving out his text--"Remember +the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." He listened long enough to be convinced +that he was constantly breaking the laws of God and man by shaving and +dressing his customers on the Lord's day. He became uneasy, and went with +a heavy heart to his Sabbath task. + +2. At length he took courage, and opened his mind to his minister, who +advised him to give up Sabbath work, and worship God. He replied that +beggary would be the consequence. He had a flourishing trade, but it would +almost all be lost. At length, after many a sleepless night spent in +weeping and praying, he was determined to cast all his care upon God, as +the more he reflected, the more his duty became apparent. + +3. He discontinued his Sabbath work, went constantly and early to the +public services of religion, and soon enjoyed that satisfaction of mind +which is one of the rewards of doing our duty, and that peace which the +world can neither give nor take away. The consequences he foresaw actually +followed. His genteel customers left him, and he was nicknamed "Puritan" +or "Methodist." He was obliged to give up his fashionable shop, and, in +the course of years, became so reduced as to take a cellar under the old +market house and shave the poorer people. + +4. One Saturday evening, between light and dark, a stranger from one of +the coaches, asking for a barber, was directed by the hostler to the +cellar opposite. Coming in hastily, he requested to be shaved quickly, +while they changed horses, as he did not like to violate the Sabbath. This +was touching the barber on a tender chord. He burst into tears; asked the +stranger to lend him a half-penny to buy a candle, as it was not light +enough to shave him with safety. He did so, revolving in his mind the +extreme poverty to which the poor man must be reduced. + +5. When shaved, he said, "There must be something extraordinary in your +history, which I have not now time to hear. Here is half a crown for you. +When I return, I will call and investigate your case. What is your name?" +"William Reed," said the astonished barber. "William Reed?" echoed the +stranger: "William Reed? by your dialect you are from the West." "Yes, +sir, from Kingston, near Taunton." "William Reed from Kingston, near +Taunton? What was your father's name?" "Thomas." "Had he any brother?" +"Yes, sir, one, after whom I was named; but he went to the Indies, and, as +we never heard from him, we supposed him to be dead." + +6. "Come along, follow me," said the stranger, "I am going to see a person +who says his name is William Reed, of Kingston, near Taunton. Come and +confront him. If you prove to be indeed he who you say you are, I have +glorious news for you. Your uncle is dead, and has left an immense +fortune, which I will put you in possession of when all legal doubts are +removed." + +7. They went by the coach; saw the pretended William Reed, and proved him +to be an impostor. The stranger, who was a pious attorney, was soon +legally satisfied of the barber's identity, and told him that he had +advertised him in vain. Providence had now thrown him in his way in a most +extraordinary manner, and he had great pleasure in transferring a great +many thousand pounds to a worthy man, the rightful heir of the property. +Thus was man's extremity God's opportunity. Had the poor barber possessed +one half-penny, or even had credit for a candle, he might have remained +unknown for years; but he trusted God, who never said, "Seek ye my face," +in vain. + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Ap-par'ent, clear, plain. 3. Gen-teel', fashionable, +elegant. Re-duced', brought to poverty. 4. Vi'o-late, to break, to +profane. 5. In-ves'ti-gate, to inquire into with care. Di'a-lect, a local +form of speech. 6. Con-front', to face, to stand before. 7. At-tor'ney +(pro. at-tur'ny), a lawyer. I-den'ti-ty, the condition of being the same +as something claimed. Trans-fer'ring, making over the possession of. +Ex-trem'i-ty, greatest need. Op-por-tu'ni-ty, favorable time. + + + +XIV. THE SANDS O' DEE. + +Charles Kingsley (b.1819, d.1875) was born at Holne, Devonshire, England. +He took his bachelor's degree at Cambridge in 1842, and soon after entered +the Church. His writings are quite voluminous, including sermons, +lectures, novels, fairy tales, and poems, published in book form, besides +numerous miscellaneous sermons and magazine articles. He was an earnest +worker for bettering the condition of the working classes, and this object +was the basis of most of his writings. As a lyric poet he has gained a +high place. The "Saint's Tragedy" and "Andromeda" are the most pretentious +of his poems, and "Alton Locke" and "Hypatia" are his best known novels. + + +1. "O Mary, go and call the cattle home, + And call the cattle home, + And call the cattle home, + Across the sands o' Dee!" + The western wind was wild and dank with foam, + And all alone went she. + +2. The creeping tide came up along the sand, + And o'er and o'er the sand, + And round and round the sand, + As far as eye could see; + The blinding mist came down and hid the land-- + And never home came she. + +3. Oh, is it weed, or fish, or floating hair?-- + A tress o' golden hair, + O' drowned maiden's hair, + Above the nets at sea. + Was never salmon yet that shone so fair + Among the stakes on Dee. + +4. They rowed her in across the rolling foam, + The cruel, crawling foam, + The cruel, hungry foam, + To her grave beside the sea; + But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle home, + Across the sands O' Dee. + +Notes.--The Sands O' Dee. + The Dee is a river of Scotland, noted for its salmon fisheries. + O' is a contraction for of, commonly used by the Scotch. + +RKMARK.--The first three lines of each stanza deserve special attention in +reading. The final words are nearly or quite the same, but the expression +of each line should vary. The piece should be read in a low key and with a +pure, musical tone. + + + +XV. SELECT PARAGRAPHS. + +1. O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds +among the people. Sing unto him; sing psalms unto him; talk ye of all his +wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name; let the heart of them rejoice +that seek the Lord. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his +wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. + +2. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast +set thy glory above the heavens. When I consider thy heavens, the work of +thy fingers; the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained; what is man, +that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? +For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned +him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the work +of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet. O Lord, our Lord, +how excellent is thy name in all the earth! + +3. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God; in him +will I trust. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I +deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He +shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; +I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and +show him my salvation. + +4. O come, let us sing unto the Lord, let us heartily rejoice in the +strength of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with +thanksgiving, and show ourselves glad in him with psalms. For the Lord is +a great God, and a great King above all gods. O worship the Lord in the +beauty of holiness; let the whole earth stand in awe of him. For he +cometh, for he cometh, to judge the earth; and with righteousness to judge +the world, and the people with his truth. + +5. Oh that men would praise the Lord' for his goodness, and for his +wonderful works to the children of men! They that go down to the sea in +ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, +and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy +wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven; +they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble; +they reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their +wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth +them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the +waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he +bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the Lord +for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! + +6. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in +green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my +soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. +Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear +no evil; for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. +Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou +anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely, goodness and +mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I1 will dwell in the +house of the Lord forever. + --Bible. + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Mar'vel-ous, wonderful. 2. Or-dained', appointed, +established. Do-min'ion (pro. do-min'yun). supreme power. 5. Ha ven, a +harbor, a place where ships can lie in safety. + + + +XVI. THE CORN SONG. + +1. Heap high the farmer's wintry hoard! + Heap high the golden corn! + No richer gift has Autumn poured + From out her lavish horn! + +2. Let other lands, exulting, glean + The apple from the pine, + The orange from its glossy green, + The cluster from the vine; + +3. We better love the hardy gift + Our rugged vales bestow, + To cheer us, when the storm shall drift + Our harvest fields with snow. + +4. Through vales of grass and meads of flowers + Our plows their furrows made, + While on the hills the sun and showers + Of changeful April played. + +5. We dropped the seed o'er hill and plain, + Beneath the sun of May, + And frightened from our sprouting grain + The robber crows away. + +6. All through the long, bright days of June, + Its leaves grew green and fair, + And waved in hot midsummer's noon + Its soft and yellow hair. + +7. And now, with Autumn's moonlit eves, + Its harvest time has come; + We pluck away the frosted leaves + And bear the treasure home. + +8. There, richer than the fabled gift + Apollo showered of old, + Fair hands the broken grain shall sift, + And knead its meal of gold. + +9. Let vapid idlers loll in silk, + Around their costly board; + Give us the bowl of samp and milk, + By homespun beauty poured! + +10. Where'er the wide old kitchen hearth + Sends up its smoky curls, + Who will not thank the kindly earth + And bless our farmer girls! + +11. Then shame on all the proud and vain, + Whose folly laughs to scorn + The blessing of our hardy grain, + Our wealth of golden corn! + +12. Let earth withhold her goodly root; + Let mildew blight the rye, + Give to the worm the orchard's fruit, + The wheat field to the fly: + +13. But let the good old crop adorn + The hills our fathers trod; + Still let us, for his golden corn, + Send up our thanks to God! + From Whittier's "Songs of Labor." + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Hoard, a large quantify of anything laid up. Lav'ish. +profuse. 4. Meads, meadows. 9. Vap'id, spiritless, dull. Samp, bruised +corn cooked by boiling. + + +Notes.--8. According to the ancient fable, Apollo, the god of music, sowed +the isle of Delos, his birthplace, with golden flowers, by the music of +his lyre. + + + +XVII. THE VENOMOUS WORM. + +John Russell (b. 1793, d. 1863) graduated at Middlebury College, Vt., in +1818. He was at one time editor of the "Backwoodsman," published at +Grafton, Ill., and later of the "Louisville Advocate." He was the author +of many tales of western adventure and of numerous essays, sketches, etc. +His language is clear, chaste, and classical; his style concise, vigorous, +and sometimes highly ornate. + +1. Who has not heard of the rattlesnake or copperhead? An unexpected sight +of either of these reptiles will make even the lords of creation recoil; +but there is a species of worm, found in various parts of this country, +which conveys a poison of a nature so deadly that, compared with it, even +the venom of the rattlesnake is harmless. To guard our readers against +this foe of human kind is the object of this lesson. + +2. This worm varies much in size. It is frequently an inch in diameter, +but, as it is rarely seen except when coiled, its length can hardly be +conjectured. It is of a dull lead color, and generally lives near a spring +or small stream of water, and bites the unfortunate people who are in the +habit of going there to drink. The brute creation it never molests. They +avoid it with the same instinct that teaches the animals of India to shun +the deadly cobra. + +3. Several of these reptiles have long infested our settlements, to the +misery and destruction of many of our fellow citizens. I have, therefore, +had frequent opportunities of being the melancholy spectator of the +effects produced by the subtile poison which this worm infuses. + +4. The symptoms of its bite are terrible. The eyes of the patient become +red and fiery, his tongue swells to an immoderate size, and obstructs his +utterance; and delirium of the most horrid character quickly follows. +Sometimes, in his madness, he attempts the destruction of his nearest +friends. + +5. If the sufferer has a family, his weeping wife and helpless infants are +not unfrequently the objects of his frantic fury. In a word, he exhibits, +to the life, all the detestable passions that rankle in the bosom of a +savage; and such is the spell in which his senses are locked, that no +sooner has the unhappy patient recovered from the paroxysm of insanity +occasioned by the bite, than he seeks out the destroyer for the sole +purpose of being bitten again. + +6. I have seen a good old father, his locks as white as snow, his step +slow and trembling, beg in vain of his only son to quit the lurking place +of the worm. My heart bled when he turned away; for I knew the fond hope +that his son would be the "staff of his declining years," had supported +him through many a sorrow. + +7. Youths of America, would you know the name of this reptile? It is +called the WORM OF THE STILL. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Rep'tiles, animals that crawl, as snakes, liz-ards, etc. +Re-coil', to start back, to shrink from. 2. Co'bra, a highly venomous +reptile inhabiting the East Indies. In-fest'ed, troubled, annoyed. 3. +Sub'tile, acute, piercing. In-fus'es, intro-duces. 4. Ob-structs', +hinders. De-lir'i-um, a wandering of the mind. 5. Ran'kle, to rage. +Par'ox-ysm, a fit, a convulsion. 7. Worm, a spiral metallic pipe used in +distilling liquors. Still, a vessel used in distilling or making liquors. + + + +XVIII. THE FESTAL BOARD. + +1. Come to the festal board tonight, + For bright-eyed beauty will be there, + Her coral lips in nectar steeped, + And garlanded her hair. + +2. Come to the festal board to-night, + For there the joyous laugh of youth + Will ring those silvery peals, which speak + Of bosom pure and stainless truth. + +3. Come to the festal board to-night, + For friendship, there, with stronger chain, + Devoted hearts already bound + For good or ill, will bind again. + I went. + +4. Nature and art their stores outpoured; + Joy beamed in every kindling glance; + Love, friendship, youth, and beauty smiled; + What could that evening's bliss enhance? + We parted. + +5. And years have flown; but where are now + The guests who round that table met? + Rises their sun as gloriously + As on the banquet's eve it set? + +6. How holds the chain which friendship wove? + It broke; and soon the hearts it bound + Were widely sundered; and for peace, + Envy and strife and blood were found. + +7. The merriest laugh which then was heard + Has changed its tones to maniac screams, + As half-quenched memory kindles up + Glimmerings of guilt in feverish dreams. + +8. And where is she whose diamond eyes + Golconda's purest gems outshone? + Whose roseate lips of Eden breathed? + Say, where is she, the beauteous one? + +9. Beneath yon willow's drooping shade, + With eyes now dim, and lips all pale, + She sleeps in peace. Read on her urn, + "A broken heart." This tells her tale. + +10. And where is he, that tower of strength, + Whose fate with hers for life was joined? + How beats his heart, once honor's throne? + How high has soared his daring mind? + +11. Go to the dungeon's gloom to-night; + His wasted form, his aching head, + And all that now remains of him, + Lies, shuddering, on a felon's bed. + +12. Ask you of all these woes the cause? + The festal board, the enticing bowl, + More often came, and reason fled, + And maddened passions spurned control. + +13. Learn wisdom, then. The frequent feast + Avoid; for there, with stealthy tread + Temptation walks, to lure you on, + Till death, at last, the banquet spread. + +14. And shun, oh shun, the enchanted cup! + Though now its draught like joy appears, + Ere long it will be fanned by sighs, + And sadly mixed with blood and tears. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Fes'tal, mirthful, joyous. Gar'land-ed, adorned with +wreaths of flowers. 3. De-vot'ed, solemnly set apart. 4. En-hance', +increase. 6. Sun'dered, separated. 7. Glim'mer-ings, faint views, +glimpses. 8. Ro'se-ate, blooming, rosy. 11. Fel'on, a public criminal. 12. +En-tic'ing, attracting to evil. Spurned, rejected with disdain. 13. Lure, +to attract, to entice. 14. En-chant'ed, affected with enchantment, +bewitched. + + +NOTES.--8. Golconda is an ancient city and fortress of India, formerly +renowned for its diamonds. They were merely cut and polished there, +however, being generally brought from Parteall, a city farther south. + + + +XIX. HOW TO TELL BAD NEWS. + +Mr. H. and the Steward. + +Mr. H. Ha! Steward, how are you, my old boy? How do things go on at home? + +Steward. Bad enough, your honor; the magpie's dead. + +H. Poor Mag! So he's gone. How came he to die? + +S. Overeat himself, sir. + +H. Did he? A greedy dog; why, what did he get he liked so well? + +S. Horseflesh, sir; he died of eating horseflesh, + +H. How came he to get so much horseflesh? + +S. All your father's horses, sir. + +H. What! are they dead, too? + +S. Ay, sir; they died of overwork. + +H. And why were they overworked, pray? + +S. To carry water, sir. + +H. To carry water! and what were they carrying water for? + +S. Sure, sir, to put out the fire. + +H. Fire! what fire? + +S. O, sir, your father's house is burned to the ground. + +H. My father's house burned down! and how came it set on fire? + +S. I think, sir, it must have been the torches. + +H. Torches! what torches? + +S. At your mother's funeral. + +H. My mother dead! + +S. Ah, poor lady! she never looked up, after it. + +H. After what? + +S. The loss of your father. + +H. My father gone, too? + +S. Yes, poor gentleman! he took to his bed as soon as he heard of it. + +H. Heard of what? + +S. The bad news, sir, and please your honor. + +H. What! more miseries! more bad news! + +S. Yes, sir; your bank has failed, and your credit is lost, and you are +not worth a shilling in the world. I made bold, sir, to wait on you about +it, for I thought you would like to hear the news. + + + +XX. THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM. + +Robert Southey (b. 1774, d. 1843) was born in Bristol, England. He entered +Balliol College, Oxford, in 1793. In 1804 he established himself +permanently at Greta Hall, near Keswick, Cumberland, in the "Lake +Country," where he enjoyed the friendship and society of Wordsworth and +Coleridge, other poets of the "Lake School." He was appointed poet +laureate in 1813, and received a pension of 300 Pounds a year from the +government in 1835. Mr. Southey was a voluminous writer in both prose and +verse. As a poet, he can not be placed in the first rank, although some of +his minor poems are very happy in thought and expression. Among his most +noted poetical works are "Joan of Arc," "Thalaba the Destroyer," "Madoc," +"Roderick," and the "Curse of Kehama," + +1. It was a summer evening, + Old Kaspar's work was done, + And he, before his cottage door, + Was sitting in the sun; + And by him sported on the green, + His little grandchild Wilhelmine. + +2. She saw her brother Peterkin + Roll something large and round, + Which he beside the rivulet, + In playing there, had found; + He came to ask what he had found, + That was so large, and smooth, and round. + +3. Old Kaspar took it from the boy, + Who stood expectant by; + And then the old man shook his head, + And, with a natural sigh, + " 'T is some poor fellow's skull," said he, + "Who fell in the great victory. + +4. "I find them in the garden, + For there's many hereabout; + And often when I go to plow, + The plowshare turns them out; + For many thousand men," said he, + "Were slain in that great victory." + +5. "Now tell us what 't was all about," + Young Peterkin he cries; + While little Wilhelmine looks up + With wonder-waiting eyes; + "Now tell us all about the war, + And what they killed each other for." + +6. "It was the English," Kaspar cried, + "Who put the French to rout, + But what they killed each other for, + I could not well make out; + But everybody said," quoth he, + "That 't was a famous victory: + +7, "My father lived at Blenheim then, + Yon little stream, hard by; + They burnt his dwelling to the ground, + And he was forced to fly; + So, with his wife and child he fled, + Nor had he where to rest his head. + +8. "With fire and sword, the country round + Was wasted, far and wide; + And many a nursing mother then, + And newborn baby died; + But things like that, you know, must be + At every famous victory. + +9. "They say it was a shocking sight + After the field was won; + For many thousand bodies here + Lay rotting in the sun: + But things like that, you know, must be + After a famous victory. + +10. "Great praise the Duke of Marlboro' won, + And our young prince, Eugene." + "Why, 't was a very wicked thing!" + Said little Wilhelmine. + "Nay, nay, my little girl!" quoth he, + "It was a famous victory. + +11. "And everybody praised the Duke + Who this great fight did win." + "But what good came of it at last?" + Quoth little Peterkin. + "Why, that I can not tell," said he, + "But 't was a glorious victory." + +NOTES.--The Battle of Blenheim, in the "War of the Spanish Succession," +was fought August 13, 1704, near Blenheim, in Bavaria, between the French +and Bavarians, on one Ride, and an allied army under the great English +general, the Duke of Marlborough, and Eugene, Prince of Savoy, on the +other. The latter won a decisive victory: 10,000 of the defeated army were +killed and wounded, and 13,000 were taken prisoners. + + + +XXI. "I PITY THEM." + +1. A poor man once undertook to emigrate from Castine, Me., to Illinois. +When he was attempting to cross a river in New York, his horse broke +through the rotten timbers of the bridge, and was drowned. He had but this +one animal to convey all his property and his family to his new home. + +2. His wife and children were almost miraculously saved from sharing the +fate of the horse; but the loss of this poor animal was enough. By its aid +the family, it may be said, had lived and moved; now they were left +helpless in a land of strangers, without the ability to go on or return, +without money or a single friend to whom to appeal. The case was a hard +one. + +3. There were a great many who "passed by on the other side." Some even +laughed at the predicament in which the man was placed; but by degrees a +group of people began to collect, all of whom pitied him. + +4. Some pitied him a great deal, and some did not pity him very much, +because, they said, he might have known better than to try to cross an +unsafe bridge, and should have made his horse swim the river. Pity, +however, seemed rather to predominate. Some pitied the man, and some the +horse; all pitied the poor, sick mother and her six helpless children. + +5. Among this pitying party was a rough son of the West, who knew what it +was to migrate some hundreds of miles over new roads to locate a destitute +family on a prairie. Seeing the man's forlorn situation, and looking +around on the bystanders, he said, "All of you seem to pity these poor +people very much, but I would beg leave to ask each of you how much." + +6. "There, stranger," continued he, holding up a ten dollar bill, "there +is the amount of my pity; and if others will do as I do, you may soon get +another pony. God bless you." It is needless to state the effect that this +active charity produced. In a short time the happy emigrant arrived at his +destination, and he is now a thriving farmer, and a neighbor to him who +was his "friend in need, and a friend indeed." + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Em'i-grate, to remove from one country or state to +another for the purpose of residence, to migrate. 2. Mi-rac'u-lous-ly, as +if by miracle, wonderfully. A-bil'i-ty, power, capability. 3. +Pre-dic'a-ment, condition, plight. 4. Pre-dom'i-nate, to prevail, to rule. +5. Lo'cate, to place. Des'ti-tute, needy, poor. 6. Des-ti-na'tion, end of +a journey. Thriv'ing, prosperous through industry, economy, and good +management. + + + +XXII. AN ELEGY ON MADAM BLAIZE. + +Oliver Goldsmith (b. 1728, d. 1774) was born at Pallas, or Pallasmore, in +the parish of Forney, Ireland. He received his education at several +schools, at Trinity College, Dublin, at Edinburgh, and at Leyden. He spent +some time in wandering over continental Europe, often in poverty and want. +In 1756 he became a resident of London, where he made the acquaintance of +several celebrated men, among whom were Dr. Johnson and Sir Joshua +Reynolds. His writings are noted for their purity, grace, and fluency. His +fame as a poet is secured by "The Traveler," and "The Deserted Village;" +as a dramatist, by "She Stoops to Conquer;" and as a novelist, by "The +Vicar of Wakefield." His reckless extravagance always kept him in +financial difficulty, and he died heavily in debt. His monument is in +Westminster Abbey. + +1. Good people all, with one accord, + Lament for Madam Blaize, + Who never wanted a good word-- + From those who spoke her praise. + +2. The needy seldom passed her door, + And always found her kind; + She freely lent to all the poor-- + Who left a pledge behind. + +3. She strove the neighborhood to please, + With manner wondrous winning: + She never followed wicked ways-- + Unless when she was sinning. + +4. At church, in silks and satin new, + With hoop of monstrous size, + She never slumbered in her pew-- + But when she shut her eyes. + +5. Her love was sought, I do aver, + By twenty beaux and more; + The king himself has followed her + When she has walked before. + +6. But now, her wealth and finery fled, + Her hangers-on cut short all, + Her doctors found, when she was dead-- + Her last disorder mortal. + +7. Let us lament, in sorrow sore; + For Kent Street well may say, + That, had she lived a twelvemonth more-- + She had not died to-day. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Ac-cord', agreement of opinion, consent. 2. Pledge, +personal property delivered to another as a security for a debt. 6. +Hang'ers-on, followers. Mor'tal, destructive to life. + + +XXIII. KING CHARLES II AND WILLIAM PENN. + +King Charles. Well, friend William! I have sold you a noble province in +North America; but still, I suppose you have no thoughts of going thither +yourself? + +Penn. Yes, I have, I assure thee, friend Charles; and I am just come to +bid thee farewell. + +K.C. What! venture yourself among the savages of North America! Why, man, +what security have you that you will not be in their war kettle in two +hours after setting foot on their shores? + +P. The best security in the world. + +K.C. I doubt that, friend William; I have no idea of any security against +those cannibals but in a regiment of good soldiers, with their muskets and +bayonets. And mind, I tell you beforehand, that, with all my good will for +you and your family, to whom I am under obligations, I will not send a +single soldier with you. + +P. I want none of thy soldiers, Charles: I depend on something better than +thy soldiers. + +K.C. Ah! what may that be? + +P. Why, I depend upon themselves; on the working of their own hearts; on +their notions of justice; on their moral sense. + +K.C. A fine thing, this same moral sense, no doubt; but I fear you will +not find much of it among the Indians of North America. + +P. And why not among them as well as others? + +K.C. Because if they had possessed any, they would not have treated my +subjects so barbarously as they have done. + +P. That is no proof of the contrary, friend Charles. Thy subjects +were the aggressors. When thy subjects first went to North +America, they found these poor people the fondest and kindest +creatures in the world. Every day they would watch for them to +come ashore, and hasten to meet them, and feast them on the best +fish, and venison, and corn, which were all they had. In return for +this hospitality of the savages, as we call them, thy subjects, +termed Christians, seized on their country and rich hunting +grounds for farms for themselves. Now, is it to be wondered at, +that these much-injured people should have been driven to +desperation by such injustice; and that, burning with revenge, they +should have committed some excesses? + +K C. Well, then, I hope you will not complain when they come to treat you +in the same manner. + +P. I am not afraid of it. + +K.C. Ah! how will you avoid it? You mean to get their hunting grounds, +too, I suppose? + +P. Yes, but not by driving these poor people away from them. + +K.C. No, indeed? How then will you get their lands? + +P. I mean to buy their lands of them. + +K.C. Buy their lands of them? Why, man, you have already bought them of +me! + +P. Yes, I know I have, and at a dear rate, too; but I did it only to get +thy good will, not that I thought thou hadst any right to their lands. + +K.C. How, man? no right to their lands? + +P. No, friend Charles, no right; no right at all: what right hast thou to +their lands? + +K.C. Why, the right of discovery, to be sure; the right which the Pope and +all Christian kings have agreed to give one another. + +P. The right of discovery? A strange kind of right, indeed. Now suppose, +friend Charles, that some canoe load of these Indians, crossing the sea, +and discovering this island of Great Britain, were to claim it as their +own, and set it up for sale over thy head, what wouldst thou think of it? + +K.C. Why--why--why--I must confess, I should think it a piece of great +impudence in them. + +P. Well, then, how canst thou, a Christian, and a Christian prince, too, +do that which thou so utterly condemnest in these people whom thou callest +savages? And suppose, again, that these Indians, on thy refusal to give up +thy island of Great Britain, were to make war on thee, and, having weapons +more destructive than thine, were to destroy many of thy subjects, and +drive the rest away--wouldst thou not think it horribly cruel? + +K. C. I must say, friend William, that I should; how can I say otherwise? + +P. Well, then, how can I, who call myself a Christian, do what I should +abhor even in the heathen? No. I will not do it. But I will buy the right +of the proper owners, even of the Indians themselves. By doing this, I +shall imitate God himself in his justice and mercy, and thereby insure his +blessing on my colony, if I should ever live to plant one in North +America. + --Mason L. Weems. + +DEFINITIONS.--Can'ni-bals, human beings that eat human flesh. Reg'i-ment, +a body of troops, consisting usually of ten companies. Ag-gress'ors, those +who first commence hostilities. Ven'i-son (pro. ven'i-zn, or ven'zn), the +flesh of deer. Ex-cess'es, misdeeds, evil acts. Con-demn'est (pro. +kon-dem'est), censure, blame. + + +NOTES.--Charles II. was king of England from A.D. 1660 to +1685. William Penn (b. 1644, d. 1718) was a noted Englishman +who belonged to the sect of Friends. He came to America in 1682, +and founded the province which is now the state of Pennsylvania. +He purchased the lands from the Indians, who were so impressed +with the justice and good will of Penn and his associates, that the +Quaker dress often served as a sure protection when other settlers +were trembling for their lives. + + + +XXIV. WHAT I LIVE FOR. + +1. I live for those who love me, + Whose hearts are kind and true; + For the heaven that smiles above me, + And awaits my spirit, too; + For all human ties that bind me, + For the task my God assigned me, + For the bright hopes left behind me, + And the good that I can do. + +2. I live to learn their story, + Who suffered for my sake; + To emulate their glory, + And follow in their wake; + Bards, patriots, martyrs, sages, + The noble of all ages, + Whose deeds crown History's pages, + And Time's great volume make. + +3. I live to hail that season, + By gifted minds foretold, + When man shall live by reason, + And not alone by gold; + When man to man united, + And every wrong thing righted, + The whole world shall be lighted + As Eden was of old. + +4. I live for those who love me, + For those who know me true; + For the heaven that smiles above me, + And awaits my spirit, too; + For the cause that needs assistance, + For the wrongs that need resistance, + For the future in the distance, + And the good that I can do. + + +DEFINITIONS.--l. As-signed' (pro. as-sind'), allotted, marked out. 2. +Em'-u-late, to strive to equal or excel, to rival. Wake, the track left by +a vessel in the water, hence, figuratively, in the train of. Bard, a poet. +Mar'tyr, one who sacrifices what is of great value to him for the sake of +principle. Sage, a wise man. 3. Hail, to salute. + + + +XXV. THE RIGHTEOUS NEVER FORSAKEN. + +1. It was Saturday night, and the widow of the Pine Cottage sat by her +blazing fagots, with her five tattered children at her side, endeavoring +by listening to the artlessness of their prattle to dissipate the heavy +gloom that pressed upon her mind. For a year, her own feeble hand had +provided for her helpless family, for she had no supporter: she thought of +no friend in all the wide, unfriendly world around. + +2. But that mysterious Providence, the wisdom of whose ways is above human +comprehension, had visited her with wasting sickness, and her little means +had become exhausted. It was now, too, midwinter, and the snow lay heavy +and deep through all the surrounding forests, while storms still seemed +gathering in the heavens, and the driving wind roared amid the neighboring +pines, and rocked her puny mansion. + +3. The last herring smoked upon the coals before her; it was the only +article of food she possessed, and no wonder her forlorn, desolate state +brought up in her lone bosom all the anxieties of a mother when she looked +upon her children: and no wonder, forlorn as she was, if she suffered the +heart swellings of despair to rise, even though she knew that He, whose +promise is to the widow and to the orphan, can not forget his word. + +4. Providence had many years before taken from her her eldest son, who +went from his forest home to try his fortune on the high seas, since which +she had heard no tidings of him; and in her latter time had, by the hand +of death, deprived her of the companion and staff of her earthly +pilgrimage, in the person of her husband. Yet to this hour she had +upborne; she had not only been able to provide for her little flock, but +had never lost an opportunity of ministering to the wants of the miserable +and destitute. + +5. The indolent may well bear with poverty while the ability to gain +sustenance remains. The individual who has but his own wants to supply may +suffer with fortitude the winter of want; his affections are not wounded, +his heart is not wrung. The most desolate in populous cities may hope, for +charity has not quite closed her hand and heart, and shut her eyes on +misery. + +6. But the industrious mother of helpless and depending children, far from +the reach of human charity, has none of these to console her. And such a +one was the widow of the Pine Cottage; but as she bent over the fire, and +took up the last scanty remnant of food to spread before her children, her +spirits seemed to brighten up, as by some sudden and mysterious impulse, +and Cowper's beautiful lines came uncalled across her mind: + + "Judge not the Lord by feeble sense. + But trust him for his grace; + Behind a frowning Providence + He hides a smiling face." + +7. The smoked herring was scarcely laid upon the table, when a gentle rap +at the door, and the loud barking of a dog, attracted the attention of the +family. The children flew to open it, and a weary traveler, in tattered +garments and in apparently indifferent health; entered, and begged a +lodging and a mouthful of food. Said he: "It is now twenty-four hour's +since I tasted bread." The widow's heart bled anew, as under a fresh +complication of distresses; for her sympathies lingered not around her +fireside. She hesitated not even now; rest, and a share of all she had, +she proffered to the stranger. "'We shall not be forsaken," said she, "or +suffer deeper for an act of charity." + +8. The traveler drew near the board, but when he saw the scanty fare, he +raised his eyes toward heaven with astonishment: "And is this all your +store?" said he; "and a share of this do you offer to one you know not? +then never saw I charity before! But, madam," said he, continuing, "do you +not wrong your children by giving a part of your last mouthful to a +stranger?" + +9. "Ah," said the poor widow--and the tear-drops gushed into her eyes as +she said it--"I have a boy, a darling son, somewhere on the face of the +wide world, unless Heaven has taken him away, and I only act toward you as +I would that others should act toward him. God, who sent manna from +heaven, can provide for us as he did for Israel; and how should I this +night offend him, if my son should be a wanderer, destitute as you, and he +should have provided for him a home, even poor as this, were I to turn you +unrelieved away!" + +10. The widow ended, and the stranger, springing from his seat, clasped +her in his arms. "God indeed has provided your son a home, and has given +him wealth to reward the goodness of his benefactress: my mother! oh, my +mother!" It was her long lost son, returned to her bosom from the Indies. +He had chosen that disguise that he might the more completely surprise his +family; and never was surprise more perfect, or followed by a sweeter cup +of joy. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Fag'ots. bundles of sticks used for fuel. Prat'tle, +trifling talk. Dis'si-pate, to scatter. 2. Pu'ny, small and weak. 4. +Pil'grim-age, a journey. 5. Sus'te-nance, that which supports life. +For'ti-tude, resolute endurance. 7. In-dif'fer-ent, neither very good nor +very bad. Com-pli-ca'tion, entanglement. Sym'pa-thies, compassion. +Prof'fered, offered to give. 9. Man'na, food miraculously provided by God +for the Israelites. + + + +XXVI. ABOU BEN ADHEM. + +James Henry Leigh Hunt (b. 1784, d. 1859) was the son of a West Indian, +who married an American lady, and practiced law in Philadelphia until the +Revolution; being a Tory, he then returned to England, where Leigh Hunt +was born. The latter wrote many verses while yet a boy, and in 1801 his +father published a collection of them, entitled "Juvenilia." For many +years he was connected with various newspapers, and, while editor of the +"Examiner," was imprisoned for two years for writing disrespectfully of +the prince regent. While in prison he was visited frequently by the poets +Byron, Moore, Lamb, Shelley, and Keats; and there wrote "The Feast of the +Poets," "The Descent of Liberty, a Mask," and "The Story of Rimini," which +immediately gave him a reputation as a poet. His writings include various +translations, dramas, novels, collections of essays, and poems. + +1. ABOU BEN ADHEM (may his tribe increase!) + Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, + And saw within the moonlight in his room, + Making it rich and like a lily in bloom, + An angel writing in a book of gold. + +2. Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold; + And to the presence in the room he said, + "What writest thou?" The vision raised its head, + And, with a look made of all sweet accord, + Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord." + +3. "And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so," + Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, + But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then, + Write me as one that loves his fellow-men." + +4. The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night + It came again, with a great wakening light, + And showed the names whom love of God had blessed; + And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest. + +NOTE.--The above selection is written in imitation of an +oriental fable. + + + +XXVII. LUCY FORESTER. + +John Wilson (b. 1785, d. 1854), better known as "Christopher North," was a +celebrated author, poet, and critic, born at Paisley, Scotland, and +educated at the University of Glasgow and at Oxford. In 1808 he moved to +Westmoreland, England, where he formed one of the "Lake School" of poets. +While at Oxford he gained a prize for a poem on "Painting, Poetry, and +Architecture." In 1820 he became Professor of Moral Philosophy in the +University of Edinburgh, which position he retained until 1851. He gained +his greatest reputation as the chief author of "Noctes Ambrosianae," +essays contributed to Blackwood's Magazine between 1822 and 1825. Among +his poems may be mentioned "The Isle of Palms" and the "City of the +Plague," This selection is adapted from "The Foresters," a tale of +Scottish life. + +1. Lucy was only six years old, but bold as a fairy; she had gone by +herself a thousand times about the braes, and often upon errands to houses +two or three miles distant. What had her parents to fear? The footpaths +were all firm, and led to no places of danger, nor are infants themselves +incautious when alone in then pastimes. Lucy went singing into the low +woods, and singing she reappeared on the open hillside. With her small +white hand on the rail, she glided along the wooden bridge, or tripped +from stone to stone across the shallow streamlet. + +2. The creature would be away for hours, and no fear be felt on her +account by anyone at home; whether she had gone, with her basket on her +arm, to borrow some articles of household use from a neighbor, or, merely +for her own solitary delight, had wandered off to the braes to play among +the flowers, coming back laden with wreaths and garlands. + +3. The happy child had been invited to pass a whole day, from morning to +night, at Ladyside (a farmhouse about two miles off) with her playmates +the Maynes; and she left home about an hour after sunrise. + +4. During her absence, the house was silent but happy, and, the evening +being now far advanced, Lucy was expected home every minute, and Michael, +Agnes, and Isabel, her father, mother, and aunt, went to meet her on the +way. They walked on and on, wondering a little, but in no degree alarmed +till they reached Ladyside, and heard the cheerful din of the children +within, still rioting at the close of the holiday. Jacob Mayne came to the +door, but, on their kindly asking why Lucy had not been sent home before +daylight was over, he looked painfully surprised, and said that she had +not been at Ladyside. + +5. Within two hours, a hundred persons were traversing the hills in all +directions, even at a distance which it seemed most unlikely that poor +Lucy could have reached. The shepherds and their dogs, all the night +through, searched every nook, every stony and rocky place, every piece of +taller heather, every crevice that could conceal anything alive or dead: +but no Lucy was there. + +6. Her mother, who for a while seemed inspired with supernatural strength, +had joined in the search, and with a quaking heart looked into every +brake, or stopped and listened to every shout and halloo reverberating +among the hills, intent to seize upon some tone of recognition or +discovery. But the moon sank; and then the stars, whose increased +brightness had for a short time supplied her place, all faded away; and +then came the gray dawn of the morning, and then the clear brightness of +the day,--and still Michael and Agnes were childless. + +7. "She has sunk into some mossy or miry place," said Michael, to a man +near him, into whose face he could not look, "a cruel, cruel death to one +like her! The earth on which my child walked has closed over her, and we +shall never see her more!" + +8. At last, a man who had left the search, and gone in a direction toward +the highroad, came running with something in his arms toward the place +where Michael and others were standing beside Agnes, who lay, apparently +exhausted almost to dying, on the sward. He approached hesitatingly; and +Michael saw that he carried Lucy's bonnet, clothes, and plaid. + +9. It was impossible not to see some spots of blood upon the frill that +the child had worn around her neck. "Murdered! murdered!" was the one word +whispered or ejaculated all around; but Agnes heard it not; for, worn out +by that long night of hope and despair, she had fallen asleep, and was, +perhaps, seeking her lost Lucy in her dreams. + +10. Isabel took the clothes, and, narrowly inspecting them with eye and +hand, said, with a fervent voice that was heard even in Michael's despair, +"No, Lucy is yet among the living. There are no marks of violence on the +garments of the innocent; no murderer's hand has been here. These blood +spots have been put here to deceive. Besides, would not the murderer have +carried off these things? For what else would he have murdered her? But, +oh! foolish despair! What speak I of? For, wicked as the world is--ay! +desperately wicked--there is not, on all the surface of the wide earth, a +hand that would murder our child! Is it not plain as the sun in the +heaven, that Lucy has been stolen by some wretched gypsy beggar?" + +11. The crowd quietly dispersed, and horse and foot began to scour the +country. Some took the highroads, others all the bypaths, and many the +trackless hills. Now that they were in some measure relieved from the +horrible belief that the child was dead, the worst other calamity seemed +nothing, for hope brought her back to their arms. + +12. Agnes had been able to walk home to Bracken-Braes, and Michael and +Isabel sat by her bedside. All her strength was gone, and she lay at the +mercy of the rustle of a leaf, or a shadow across the window. Thus hour +after hour passed, till it was again twilight. "I hear footsteps coming up +the brae," said Agnes, who had for some time appeared to be slumbering; +and in a few moments the voice of Jacob Mayne was heard at the outer +door. + +13. Jacob wore a solemn expression of countenance, and he seemed, from his +looks, to bring no comfort. Michael stood up between him and his wife, and +looked into his heart. Something there seemed to be in his face that was +not miserable. "If he has heard nothing of my child," thought Michael, +"this man must care little for his own fireside." "Oh, speak, speak," said +Agnes; "yet why need you speak? All this has been but a vain belief, and +Lucy is in heaven." + +14. "Something like a trace of her has been discovered; a woman, with a +child that did not look like a child of hers, was last night at +Clovenford, and left it at the dawning." "Do you hear that, my beloved +Agnes?" said Isabel; "she will have tramped away with Lucy up into Ettrick +or Yarrow; but hundreds of eyes will have been upon her; for these are +quiet but not solitary glens; and the hunt will be over long before she +has crossed down upon Hawick. I knew that country in my young days, What +say you, Mr. Mayne? There is the light of hope in your face." "There is no +reason to doubt, ma'am, that it was Lucy. Everybody is sure of it. If it +was my own Rachel, I should have no fear as to seeing her this blessed +night." + +15. Jacob Mayne now took a chair, and sat down, with even a smile upon his +countenance. "I may tell you now, that Watty Oliver knows it was your +child, for he saw her limping along after the gypsy at Galla-Brigg; but, +having no suspicion, he did not take a second look at her,--but one look +is sufficient, and he swears it was bonny Lucy Forester." + +16. Aunt Isabel, by this time, had bread and cheese and a bottle of her +own elder-flower wine on the table. "You have been a long and hard +journey, wherever you have been, Mr. Mayne; take some refreshment;" and +Michael asked a blessing. + +17. Jacob saw that he might now venture to reveal the whole truth. "No, +no, Mrs. Irving, I am over happy to eat or to drink. You are all prepared +for the blessing that awaits you. Your child is not far off; and I myself, +for it is I myself that found her, will bring her by the hand, and restore +her to her parents." + +18. Agnes had raised herself up in her bed at these words, but she sank +gently back on her pillow; aunt Isabel was rooted to her chair; and +Michael, as he rose up, felt as if the ground were sinking under his feet. +There was a dead silence all around the house for a short space, and then +the sound of many voices, which again by degrees subsided. The eyes of all +then looked, and yet feared to look, toward the door. + +19. Jacob Mayne was not so good as his word, for he did not +bring Lucy by the hand to restore her to her parents; but dressed +again in her own bonnet and gown, and her own plaid, in rushed +their own child, by herself, with tears and sobs of joy, and her +father laid her within her mother's bosom. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Brae, shelving ground, a declivity or slope of a hill. +Pas'times, sports, plays, 4. Ri'ot-ing, romping. 5. Heath'er, an evergreen +shrub bearing beautiful flowers, used in Great Britain for making brooms, +etc. 6. In-spired', animated, enlivened. Su-per--nat'u-ral, more than +human. Brake, a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles. +Re-ver'ber-at-ing, resounding, echoing. In-tent', having the mind closely +fixed. 8. Plaid (pro. plad), a striped or decked overgarment worn by the +Scotch. 9. E-jac'u-lat-ed, ex-claimed. 11. Scour, to pass over swiftly and +thoroughly. + + +Note.--The scene of this story is laid in Scotland, and many of the words +employed, such as brae, brake, heather, and plaid, are but little used +except in that country. + + + +XXVIII. THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS. + +Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (b. 1807, d. 1882), the son of Hon. Stephen +Longfellow, an eminent lawyer, was born in Portland, Maine. He graduated +at Bowdoin College in 1825. After spending four years in Europe, he was +Professor of Modern Languages and Literature at Bowdoin till 1835, when he +was appointed to the chair of Modern Languages and Belles-lettres in +Harvard University. He resigned his professorship in 1854, after which +time he resided in Cambridge, Mass. Longfellow wrote many original works +both in verse and prose, and made several translations, the most famous of +which is that of the works of Dante. His poetry is always chaste and +elegant, showing traces of careful scholarship in every line. The numerous +and varied editions of his poems are evidences of their popularity. + +1. There is a Reaper whose name is Death, + And, with his sickle keen, + He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, + And the flowers that grow between. + +2. "Shall I have naught that is fair?" saith he; + "Have naught but the bearded grain? + Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me, + I will give them all back again." + +3. He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes, + He kissed their drooping leaves; + It was for the Lord of Paradise + He bound them in his sheaves. + +4. "My Lord has need of these flowerets gay," + The Reaper said, and smiled; + "Dear tokens of the earth are they, + Where he was once a child. + +5. "They shall all bloom in the fields of light, + Transplanted by my care, + And saints, upon their garments white, + These sacred blossoms wear." + +6. And the mother gave in tears and pain + The flowers she most did love; + She knew she should find them all again + In the fields of light above. + +7. O, not in cruelty, not in wrath, + The Reaper came that day, + 'T was an angel visited the green earth, + And took the flowers away. + + +DEFINITIONS.--3. Sheaves, bundles of grain. 4. To'ken (pro. to'kn), a +souvenir, that which is to recall some person, thing, or event. 6. +Trans-plant'ed, removed and planted in another place. + + + +XXIX. THE TOWN PUMP. + +Nathaniel Hawthorne (b.1804, d.1864) was born in Salem, Mass. He graduated +at Bowdoin College in 1825. His earliest literary productions, written for +periodicals, were published in two volumes--the first in 1837, the second +in 1842--under the title of "Twice-Told Tales," "Mosses from an Old +Manse," another series of tales and sketches, was published in 1845. From +1846 to 1850 he was surveyor of the port of Salem. In 1852 he was +appointed United States consul for Liverpool. After holding this office +four years, he traveled for some time on the continent. His most popular +works are "The Scarlet Letter," a work showing a deep knowledge of human +nature, "The House of the Seven Gables," "The Blithedale Romance." and +"The Marble Faun," an Italian romance, which is regarded by many as the +best of his works. Being of a modest and retiring disposition, Mr. +Hawthorne avoided publicity. Most of his works are highly imaginative. As +a prose writer he has no superior among American authors. He died at +Plymouth, N. H., while on a visit to the White Mountains for his health. + +[SCENE.--The corner of two principal streets. The Town Pump +talking through its nose.] + +1. Noon, by the north clock! Noon, by the east! High noon, too, by those +hot sunbeams which fall, scarcely aslope, upon my head, and almost make +the water bubble and smoke in the trough under my nose. Truly, we public +characters have a tough time of it! And among all the town officers, +chosen at the yearly meeting, where is he that sustains, for a single +year, the burden of such manifold duties as are imposed, in perpetuity, +upon the Town Pump? + +2. The title of town treasurer is rightfully mine, as guardian of the best +treasure the town has. The overseers of the poor ought to make me their +chairman, since I provide bountifully for the pauper, without expense to +him that pays taxes. I am at the head of the fire department, and one of +the physicians of the board of health. As a keeper or the peace, all water +drinkers confess me equal to the constable. I perform some of the duties +of the town clerk, by promulgating public notices, when they are pasted on +my front. + +3. To speak within bounds, I am chief person of the municipality, and +exhibit, moreover, an admirable pattern to my brother officers by the +cool, steady, upright, downright, and impartial discharge of my business, +and the constancy with which I stand to my post. Summer or winter, nobody +seeks me in vain; for all day long I am seen at the busiest corner, just +above the market, stretching out my arms to rich and poor alike; and at +night I hold a lantern over my head, to show where I am, and to keep +people out of the gutters. + +4. At this sultry noontide, I am cupbearer to the parched populace, for +whose benefit an iron goblet is chained to my waist Like a dramseller on +the public square, on a muster day, I cry aloud to all and sundry, in my +plainest accents, and at the very tiptop of my voice. "Here it is, +gentlemen! Here is the good liquor! Walk up, walk up, gentlemen, walk up, +walk up! Here is the superior stuff! Here is the unadulterated ale of +father Adam! better than Cognac, Hollands, Jamaica, strong beer, or wine +of any price; here it is, by the hogshead or the single glass, and not a +cent to pay. Walk up, gentlemen, walk up and help yourselves!" + +5. It were a pity if all this outcry should draw no customers. Here they +come. A hot day, gentlemen. Quaff and away again, so as to keep yourselves +in a nice, cool sweat. You, my friend, will need another cupful to wash +the dust out of your throat, if it be as thick there as it is on your +cowhide shoes. I see that you have trudged half a score of miles to-day, +and, like a wise man, have passed by the taverns, and stopped at the +running brooks and well curbs. Otherwise, betwixt heat without and fire +within, you would have been burnt to a cinder, or melted down to nothing +at all--in the fashion of a jellyfish. + +6. Drink, and make room for that other fellow, who seeks my aid to quench +the fiery fever of last night's potations, which he drained from no cup of +mine. Welcome, most rubicund sir! You and I have been strangers hitherto; +nor, to confess the truth, will my nose be anxious for a closer intimacy, +till the fumes of your breath be a little less potent. + +7. Mercy on you, man! The water absolutely hisses down your red-hot +gullet, and is converted quite into steam in the miniature Tophet, which +you mistake for a stomach. Fill again, and tell me, on the word of an +honest toper, did you ever, in cellar, tavern, or any other kind of +dramshop, spend the price of your children's food for a swig half so +delicious? Now, for the first time these ten years, you know the flavor of +cold water. Good-by; and whenever you are thirsty, recollect that I keep a +constant supply at the old stand. + +8. Who next? Oh, my little friend, you are just let loose from school, and +come hither to scrub your blooming face, and drown the memory of certain +taps of the ferule, and other schoolboy troubles, in a draught from the +Town Pump. Take it, pure as the current of your young life; take it, and +may your heart and tongue never be scorched with a fiercer thirst than +now. + +9. There, my dear child, put down the cup, and yield your place to this +elderly gentleman, who treads so tenderly over the paving stones that I +suspect he is afraid of breaking them. What! he limps by without so much +as thanking me, as if my hospitable offers were meant only for people who +have no wine cellars. + +10. Well, well, sir, no harm done, I hope! Go, draw the cork, tip the +decanter; but when your great toe shall set you a-roaring, it will be no +affair of mine. If gentlemen love the pleasant titillation of the gout, it +is all one to the Town Pump. This thirsty dog, with his red tongue lolling +out, does not scorn my hospitality, but stands on his hind legs, and laps +eagerly out of the trough. See how lightly he capers away again! Jowler, +did your worship ever have the gout? + +11. Your pardon, good people! I must interrupt my stream of eloquence, and +spout forth a stream of water to replenish the trough for this teamster +and his two yoke of oxen, who have come all the way from Staunton, or +somewhere along that way. No part of my business gives me more pleasure +than the watering of cattle. Look! how rapidly they lower the watermark on +the sides of the trough, till their capacious stomachs are moistened with +a gallon or two apiece, and they can afford time to breathe, with sighs of +calm enjoyment! Now they roll their quiet eyes around the brim of their +monstrous drinking vessel. An ox is your true toper. + +12. I hold myself the grand reformer of the age. From my spout, and such +spouts as mine, must flow the stream that shall cleanse our earth of a +vast portion of its crime and anguish, which have gushed from the fiery +fountains of the still. In this mighty enterprise, the cow shall be my +great confederate. Milk and water! + +13. Ahem! Dry work this speechifying, especially to all unpracticed +orators. I never conceived till now what toil the temperance lecturers +undergo for my sake. Do, some kind Christian, pump a stroke or two, just +to wet my whistle. Thank you, sir. But to proceed. + +14. The Town Pump and the Cow! Such is the glorious partnership that shall +finally monopolize the whole business of quenching thirst. Blessed +consummation! Then Poverty shall pass away from the land, finding no hovel +so wretched where her squalid form may shelter itself. Then Disease, for +lack of other victims, shall gnaw his own heart and die. Then Sin, if she +do not die, shall lose half her strength. + +15. Then there will be no war of households. The husband and the wife, +drinking deep of peaceful joy, a calm bliss of temperate affections, shall +pass hand in hand through life, and lie down, not reluctantly, at its +protracted close. To them the past will be no turmoil of mad dreams, nor +the future an eternity of such moments as follow the delirium of a +drunkard. Their dead faces shall express what their spirits were, and are +to be, by a lingering smile of memory and hope. + +16. Drink, then, and be refreshed! The water is as pure and cold as when +it slaked the thirst of the red hunter, and flowed beneath the aged bough, +though now this gem of the wilderness is treasured under these hot stones, +where no shadow falls, but from the brick buildings. But, still is this +fountain the source of health, peace, and happiness, and I behold, with +certainty and joy, the approach of the period when the virtues of cold +water, too little valued since our father's days, will be fully +appreciated and recognized by all. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Per-pe-tu'i-ty, endless duration. 2. Pro-mul'gat-ing, +announcing. 3. Mu-nic-i-pal'i-ty, a division of a country or of a city. 4. +Mus'ter day, parade day. Sun'dry, several. Un-a-dul'ter-at-ed, pure, +unmixed. Co'gnac (pro. Kon'yak), a French brandy. 6. Po-ta'tions, +drinkings. Ru'bi-cund, inclining to red-ness. 7. To'phet, the infernal +regions. 10. Tit-il-la'tion, tickling. 11. Re-plen'ish, to fill again. 14. +Mo-nop'o-lize, to obtain the whole. Con-sum-ma'tion, completion, +termination. Squalid, filthy. 15. Pro-tract'ed, delayed. 16. Slaked, +quenched. + + + +XXX. GOOD NIGHT. + +Samuel Griswold Goodrich (b. 1793, d. 1860) was born in Ridgefield, Conn. +Mr. Goodrich is best known as "Peter Parley," under which assumed name he +commenced the publication of a series of Juvenile works about 1827. He +edited "Parley's Magazine" from 1841 to 1854. He was appointed United +States consul for Paris in 1848, and held that office four years. He was a +voluminous writer, and his works are interesting and popular. His +"Recollections of a Lifetime" was published in 1857, and "Peter Parley's +Own Story" the year after his death. + +1. The sun has sunk behind the hills, + The shadows o'er the landscape creep; + A drowsy sound the woodland fills, + As nature folds her arms to sleep: + Good night--good night. + +2. The chattering jay has ceased his din, + The noisy robin sings no more; + The crow, his mountain haunt within, + Dreams 'mid the forest's surly roar: + Good night--good night. + +3. The sunlit cloud floats dim and pale; + The dew is falling soft and still, + The mist hangs trembling o'er the vale, + And silence broods o'er yonder mill: + Good night--good night. + +4. The rose, so ruddy in the light, + Bends on its stem all rayless now; + And by its side a lily white, + A sister shadow, seems to bow: + Good night--good night. + +5. The bat may wheel on silent wing, + The fox his guilty vigils keep, + The boding owl his dirges sing; + But love and innocence will sleep: + Good night--good night. + + + +XXXI. AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL. + +Louisa May Alcott (b. 1833, d. 1888) was born at Germantown, Pa., of New +England parentage. Her parents afterwards returned to New England, and +most of her life was spent in Concord, Mass. During the Civil War she went +to Washington and nursed the wounded and sick until her own health gave +way. As a child she used to write stories for the amusement of her +playmates, and in 1857 published her first book, "Flower Fables." Her +first novel, "Moods," appeared in 1865. "Little Women," published in 1868, +is a picture of her own home life. "An Old Fashioned Girl," from which +this extract is adapted, was published in 1870, and is one of her most +popular books. + +1. Polly hoped the "dreadful boy" (Tom) would not be present; but he was, +and stared at her all dinner time in a most trying manner. + +2. Mr. Shaw, a busy-looking gentleman, said, "How do you do, my dear? Hope +you'll enjoy yourself;" and then appeared to forget her entirely. Mrs. +Shaw, a pale, nervous woman, greeted her little guest kindly, and took +care that she wanted for nothing. + +3. Madam Shaw, a quiet old lady, with an imposing cap, exclaimed, on +seeing Polly, "Bless my heart! the image of her mother--a sweet woman--how +is she, dear?" and kept peering at the newcomer over her glasses till, +between Madam and Tom, poor Polly lost her appetite. + +4. Her cousin Fanny chatted like a magpie, and little Maud fidgeted, till +Tom proposed to put her under the big dish cover, which produced such an +explosion that the young lady was borne screaming away by the +much-enduring nurse. + +5. It was, altogether, an uncomfortable dinner, and Polly was very glad +when it was over. They all went about their own affairs; and, after doing +the honors of the house, Fan was called to the dressmaker, leaving Polly +to amuse herself in the great drawing-room. + +6. Polly was glad to be alone for a few minutes; and, having examined all +the pretty things about her, began to walk up and down over the soft, +flowery carpet, humming to herself, as the daylight faded, and only the +ruddy glow of the fire filled the room. + +7. Presently Madam came slowly in, and sat down in her armchair, saying, +"That's a fine old tune; sing it to me, my dear. I have n't heard it this +many a day." + +8. Polly did n't like to sing before strangers, for she had no teaching +but such as her busy mother could give her; but she had been taught the +utmost respect for old people, and, having no reason for refusing, she +directly went to the piano and did as she was bid. + +9. "That's the sort of music it's a pleasure to hear. Sing some more, +dear," said Madam, in her gentle way, when she had done. + +10. Pleased with this praise, Polly sang away in a fresh little voice that +went straight to the listener's heart and nestled there. The sweet old +tunes that one is never tired of were all Polly's store. The more she +sung, the better she did it; and when she wound up with "A Health to King +Charlie," the room quite rung with the stirring music made by the big +piano and the little maid. + +11. "That's a jolly tune! Sing it again, please," cried Tom's voice; and +there was Tom's red head bobbing up over the high back of the chair where +he had hidden himself. + +12. It gave Polly quite a turn, for she thought no one was hearing her but +the old lady dozing by the fire. "I can't sing any more; I'm tired," she +said, and walked away to Madam in the other room. The red head vanished +like a meteor, for Polly's tone had been decidedly cool. + +13. The old lady put out her hand, and, drawing Polly to her knee, looked +into her face with such kind eyes that Polly forgot the impressive cap, +and smiled at her confidently; for she saw that her simple music had +pleased her listener, and she felt glad to know it. + +14. "You mus'n't mind my staring, dear," said Madam, softly pinching her +rosy cheek, "I haven't seen a little girl for so long, it does my old eyes +good to look at you." Polly thought that a very odd speech, and could n't +help saying, "Are n't Fan and Maud little girls, too?" + +15. "Oh, dear, no! not what I call little girls. Fan has been a young lady +this two years, and Maud is a spoiled baby. Your mother's a very sensible +woman, my child." + +16. "What a queer old lady!" thought Polly; but she said "Yes'm," +respectfully, and looked at the fire. "You don't understand what I mean, +do you?" asked Madam, still holding her by the chin. "No'm; not quite." + +17. "Well, dear, I'll tell you. In my day, children of fourteen and +fifteen did n't dress in the height of the fashion; go to parties as +nearly like those of grown people as it's possible to make them; lead +idle, giddy, unhealthy lives, and get blase' at twenty. We were little +folks till eighteen or so; worked and studied, dressed and played, like +children; honored our parents; and our days were much longer in the land +than now, it seems to me." + +18. The old lady appeared to forget Polly, at the end of her speech; for +she sat patting the plump little hand that lay in her own, and looking up +at a faded picture of an old gentleman with a ruffled shirt and a queue. +"Was he your father, Madam?" + +19. "Yes, my dear; my honored father. I did up his frills to the day of +his death; and the first money I ever earned, was five dollars which he +offered as a prize to whichever of his six girls would lay the handsomest +darn in his silk stockings." + +20. "How proud you must have been!" cried Polly, leaning on the old lady's +knee with an interested face. + +21. "Yes; and we all learned to make bread, and cook, and wore little +chintz gowns, and were as gay and hearty as kittens. All lived to be +grandmothers; and I'm the last--seventy next birthday, my dear, and not +worn out yet; though daughter Shaw is an invalid at forty." + +22. "That's the way I was brought up, and that's why Fan calls me +old-fashioned, I suppose. Tell more about your papa, please; I like it," +said Polly. + +23. "Say, 'father.' We never called him papa; and if one of my brothers +had addressed him as 'governor,' as boys now do, I really think he'd have +him cut off with a shilling." + + +DEFINITIONS.--3. Im-pos'ing, having the power of exciting attention and +feeling, impressive. 4. Mag'pie, a noisy, mischievous bird, common in +Europe and America. 12. Van'ished, disappeared. Me'te-or, a shooting star. +13. Con'fi-dent-ly, with trust. 17. Bla-se' (pro. bla-za'), a French word +meaning surfeited, rendered incapable further enjoyment. 21. In'va-lid, a +person who is sickly. + + + +XXXII. MY MOTHER'S HANDS. + +1. Such beautiful, beautiful hands! + They're neither white nor small; + And you, I know, would scarcely think + That they are fair at all. + I've looked on hands whose form and hue + A sculptor's dream might be; + Yet are those aged, wrinkled hands + More beautiful to me. + +2. Such beautiful, beautiful hands! + Though heart were weary and sad, + Those patient hands kept toiling on, + That the children might be glad. + I always weep, as, looking back + To childhood's distant day, + I think how those hands rested not + When mine were at their play. + +3. Such beautiful, beautiful hands! + They're growing feeble now, + For time and pain have left their mark + On hands and heart and brow. + Alas! alas! the nearing time, + And the sad, sad day to me, + When 'neath the daisies, out of sight, + These hands will folded be. + +4. But oh! beyond this shadow land, + Where all is bright and fair, + I know full well these dear old hands + Will palms of victory bear; + Where crystal streams through endless years + Flow over golden sands, + And where the old grow young again, + I'll clasp my mother's hands. + + + +XXXIII. THE DISCONTENTED PENDULUM. + +Jane Taylor (b. 1783, d. 1824) was born in London. Her mother was a writer +of some note. In connection with her sister Ann, Jane Taylor wrote several +juvenile works of more than ordinary excellence. Among them were "Hymns +for Infant Minds" and "Original Poems." Besides these, she wrote "Display, +a Tale," "Essays in Rhyme," and "Contributions of QQ." Her writings are +graceful, and often contain a useful moral. + +1. An old dock that had stood for fifty years in a farmer's kitchen, +without giving its owner any cause of complaint, early one summer's +morning, before the family was stirring, suddenly stopped. Upon this, the +dial plate (if we may credit the fable) changed countenance with alarm; +the hands made a vain effort to continue their course; the wheels remained +motionless with surprise; the weights hung speechless; and each member +felt disposed to lay the blame on the others. At length the dial +instituted a formal inquiry as to the cause of the stagnation, when hands, +wheels, weights, with one voice, protested their innocence. + +2. But now a faint tick was heard below from the pendulum, who spoke thus: +"I confess myself to be the sole cause of the present stoppage; and I am +willing, for the general satisfaction, to assign my reasons. The truth is, +that I am tired of ticking." Upon hearing this, the old clock became so +enraged that it was upon the very point of striking. "Lazy wire!" +exclaimed the dial plate, holding up its bands. + +3. "Very good!" replied the pendulum; "it is vastly easy for you, Mistress +Dial, who have always, as everybody knows, set yourself up above me,--it +is vastly easy for you, I say, to accuse other people of laziness! you who +have had nothing to do all your life but to stare people in the face, and +to amuse yourself with watching all that goes on in the kitchen. Think, I +beseech you, how you would like to be shut up for life in this dark +closet, and to wag backward and forward year after year, as I do." + +4. "As to that," said the dial, "is there not a window in your house on +purpose for you to look through?" "For all that," resumed the pendulum, +"it is very dark here; and, although there is a window, I dare not stop +even for an instant to look out at it. Besides, I am really tired of my +way of life; and, if you wish, I'll tell you how I took this disgust at my +employment. I happened, this morning, to be calculating how many times I +should have to tick in the course of only the next twenty-four hours; +perhaps some one of you above there can give me the exact sum." + +5. The minute hand, being quick at figures, presently replied, "Eighty-six +thousand four hundred times." "Exactly so," replied the pendulum. "Well, I +appeal to you all, if the very thought of this was not enough to fatigue +anyone; and when I began to multiply the strokes of one day by those of +months and years, really it was no wonder if I felt discouraged at the +prospect. So, after a great deal of reasoning and hesitation, thinks I to +myself, I'll stop." + +6. The dial could scarcely keep its countenance during this harangue; but, +resuming its gravity, thus replied: "Dear Mr. Pendulum, I am really +astonished that such a useful, industrious person as yourself should have +been seized by this sudden weariness. It is true, you have done a great +deal of work in your time; so have we all, and are likely to do; which, +although it may fatigue us to think of, the question is, whether it will +fatigue us to do. Would you now do me the favor to give about half a dozen +strokes to illustrate my argument?" + +7. The pendulum complied, and ticked six times at its usual pace. "Now," +resumed the dial, "may I be allowed to inquire if that exertion is at all +fatiguing or disagreeable to you?" "Not in the least," replied the +pendulum; "it is not of six strokes that I complain, nor of sixty, but of +millions." + +8. "Very good," replied the dial; "but recollect that, although +you may think of a million of strokes in an instant, you are +required to execute but one; and that, however often you may +hereafter have to swing, a moment will always be given you to +swing in." "That consideration staggers me, I confess," said the +pendulum. "Then I hope," resumed the dial plate, "that we shall all +return to our duty immediately; for the maids will be in bed if we +stand idling thus." + +9. Upon this, the weights, who had never been accused of light conduct, +used all their influence in urging him to proceed; when, as if with one +consent, the wheels began to turn, the hands began to move, the pendulum +began to swing, and, to its credit, ticked as loud as ever; while a red +beam of the rising sun, that streamed through a hole in the kitchen, +shining full upon the dial plate, it brightened up as if nothing had been +the matter. + +10. When the farmer came down to breakfast that morning, upon looking at +the clock, he declared that his watch had gained half an hour in the +night. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. In'sti-tut-ed, commenced, began. Pro-test'ed, solemnly +declared. 4. Cal'cu-lat-ing, reckoning, computing. 5. Pros'pect, +anticipation, that to which one looks forward. 6. Ha-rangue' (pro. +ha-rang'), speech. Il-lus'trate, to make clear, to exemplify. 7. +Ex-er'tion (pro. egz-er'shun), effort. 8. Ex'e-eute, to complete, to +finish. Con-sid-er-a'tion, reason. + + + +XXXIV. THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS. + +William Cullen Bryant (b. 1794, d. 1878) was born in Cummington, Mass. He +entered Williams College at the age of sixteen, but was honorably +dismissed at the end of two years. At the age of twenty-one he was +admitted to the bar, and practiced his profession successfully for nine +years. In 1826 he removed to New York, and became connected with the +"Evening Post"--a connection which continued to the time of his death. His +residence for more than thirty of the last years of his life was at +Roslyn, Long Island. He visited Europe several times; and in 1849 he +continued his travels into Egypt and Syria, In all his poems, Mr. Bryant +exhibits a remarkable love for, and a careful study of, nature. His +language, both in prose and verse, is always chaste, correct, and elegant. +"Thanatopsis," perhaps the best known of all his poems, was written when +he was but nineteen. His excellent translations of the "Iliad" and the +"Odyssey" of Homer and some of his best poems, were written after he had +passed the age of seventy. He retained his powers and his activity till +the close of his life. + +1. The melancholy days are come, + The saddest of the year, + Of wailing winds, and naked woods, + And meadows brown and sear. + Heaped in the hollows of the grove + The autumn leaves lie dead; + They rustle to the eddying gust, + And to the rabbit's tread. + The robin and the wren are flown, + And from the shrubs the jay, + And from the wood top calls the crow + Through all the gloomy day. + +2. Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, + That lately sprang and stood + In brighter light and softer airs, + A beauteous sisterhood? + Alas! they all are in their graves; + The gentle race of flowers + Are lying in their lowly beds + With the fair and good of ours. + The rain is falling where they lie; + But the cold November rain + Calls not from out the gloomy earth + The lovely ones again. + +3. The windflower and the violet, + They perished long ago, + And the brier rose and the orchis died + Amid the summer's glow; + But on the hill, the golden-rod, + And the aster in the wood, + And the yellow sunflower by the brook, + In autumn beauty stood, + Till fell the frost from the clear, cold heaven, + As falls the plague on men, + And the brightness of their smile was gone + From upland, glade, and glen, + +4. And now, when comes the calm, mild day, + As still such days will come, + To call the squirrel and the bee + From out their winter home; + When the sound of dropping nuts is heard, + Though all the trees are still, + And twinkle in the smoky light + The waters of the rill, + The south wind searches for the flowers + Whose fragrance late he bore, + And sighs to find them in the wood + And by the stream no more. + +5. And then I think of one, who in + Her youthful beauty died, + The fair, meek blossom that grew up + And faded by my side. + In the cold, moist earth we laid her, + When the forest cast the leaf, + And we wept that one so lovely + Should have a life so brief; + Yet not unmeet it was that one, + Like that young friend of ours, + So gentle and so beautiful, + Should perish with the flowers. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Wail'ing, lamenting, mourning. Sear, dry, withered. 3. +Glade, an open place in the forest. Glen, a valley, a dale. 4. Un-meet', +improper, unfitting. + + + +XXXV. THE THUNDERSTORM. + +Washington Irving (b. 1783, d. 1859). This distinguished author, whose +works have enriched American literature, was born in the city of New York. +He had an ordinary school education, and began his literary career at the +age of nineteen, by writing for a paper published by his brother. His +first book, "Salmagundi," was published in 1807. Two years later he +published "Knickerbocker's History of New York." In 1815 he sailed for +Europe, and remained abroad seventeen years, during which time he wrote +several of his works. From 1842 to 1846 he was minister to Spain. The last +years of his life were passed at "Sunnyside," near Tarrytown, N.Y. He was +never married. "The Life of Washington," his last work, was completed in +the same year in which he died. Mr. Irving's works are characterized by +humor, chaste sentiment, and elegance and correctness of expression. The +following selection is from "Dolph" in "Bracehridge Hall." + +1. In the second day of the voyage, they came to the Highlands. It was the +latter part of a calm, sultry day, that they floated gently with the tide +between these stern mountains. There was that perfect quiet which prevails +over nature in the languor of summer heat. The turning of a plank, or the +accidental falling of an oar, on deck, was echoed from the mountain side +and reverberated along the shores; and, if by chance the captain gave a +shout of command, there were airy tongues that mocked it from every cliff. + + +2. Dolph gazed about him, in mute delight and wonder, at these scenes of +nature's magnificence. To the left, the Dunderberg reared its woody +precipices, height over height, forest over forest, away into the deep +summer sky. To the right, strutted forth the bold promontory of Antony's +Nose, with a solitary eagle wheeling about it; while beyond, mountain +succeeded to mountain, until they seemed to lock their arms together and +confine this mighty rive in their embraces. + +3. In the midst of this admiration, Dolph remarked a pile of bright, snowy +clouds peering above the western heights. It was succeeded by another, and +another, each seemingly pushing onward its predecessor, and towering, with +dazzling brilliancy, in the deep blue atmosphere; and now muttering peals +of thunder were faintly heard rolling behind the mountains. The river, +hitherto still and glassy, reflecting pictures of the sky and land, now +showed a dark ripple at a distance, as the wind came creeping up it. The +fishhawks wheeled and screamed, and sought their nests on the high, dry +trees; the crows flew clamorously to the crevices of the rocks; and all +nature seemed conscious of the approaching thunder gust. + +4. The clouds now rolled in volumes over the mountain tops; their summits +still bright and snowy, but the lower parts of an inky blackness. The rain +began to patter down in broad and scattered drops; the wind freshened, and +curled up the waves; at length, it seemed as if the bellying clouds were +torn open by the mountain tops, and complete torrents of rain came +rattling down. The lightning leaped from cloud to cloud, and streamed +quivering against the rocks, splitting and rending the stoutest forest +trees. The thunder burst in tremendous explosions; the peals were echoed +from mountain to mountain; they crashed upon Dunderberg, and then rolled +up the long defile of the Highlands, each headland making a new echo, +until old Bull Hill seemed to bellow back the storm. + +5. For a time the scudding rack and mist and the sheeted rain almost hid +the landscape from the sight. There was a fearful gloom, illumined still +more fearfully by the streams of lightning which glittered among the +raindrops. Never had Dolph beheld such an absolute warring of the +elements; it seemed as if the storm was tearing and rending its way +through the mountain defile, and had brought all the artillery of heaven +into action. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Lan'guor (pro. lang'gwer), exhaustion of strength, +dullness. 3. Re-marked', noticed, observed. Pred-e-ces'-sor, the one going +immediately before. Clam'or-ous-ly, with a loud noise. 4. Bel'ly-ing, +swelling out. De-file', a long, narrow pass. 5. Rack, thin, flying, broken +clouds. El'e-ments, a term usually including fire, water, earth, and air. + + +NOTES.--1. The Highlands are a mountainous region in New York, bordering +the Hudson River above Peekskill. + +2. The Dunderberg and Antony's Nose are names of two peaks of the +Highlands. + +4. Bull Hill, also called Mt. Taurus, is 15 miles farther north. + + + +XXXVI. APRIL DAY. + +Caroline Anne Southey (b. 1786, d.1854), the second wife of Southey the +poet, and better known as Caroline Bowles, was born near Lymington, +Hampshire, England. Her first work, "Ellen Fitzarthur," a poem, was +published in 1820; and for more than twenty years her writings were +published anonymously. In 1839 she was married to Mr. Southey, and +survived him over ten years. Her poetry is graceful in expression, and +full of tenderness, though somewhat melancholy. The following extract +first appeared in 1822 in a collection entitled, "The Widow's Tale, and +other Poems." + +1. All day the low-hung clouds have dropped + Their garnered fullness down; + All day that soft, gray mist hath wrapped + Hill, valley, grove, and town. + +2. There has not been a sound to-day + To break the calm of nature; + Nor motion, I might almost say, + Of life or living creature; + +3. Of waving bough, or warbling bird, + Or cattle faintly lowing; + I could have half believed I heard + The leaves and blossoms growing. + +4. I stood to hear--I love it well-- + The rain's continuous sound; + Small drops, but thick and fast they fell, + Down straight into the ground. + +5. For leafy thickness is not yet + Earth's naked breast to screen, + Though every dripping branch is set + With shoots of tender green. + +6. Sure, since I looked, at early morn, + Those honeysuckle buds + Have swelled to double growth; that thorn + Hath put forth larger studs. + +7. That lilac's cleaving cones have burst, + The milk-white flowers revealing; + Even now upon my senses first + Methinks their sweets are stealing. + +8. The very earth, the steamy air, + Is all with fragrance rife! + And grace and beauty everywhere + Are flushing into life. + +9. Down, down they come, those fruitful stores, + Those earth-rejoicing drops! + A momentary deluge pours, + Then thins, decreases, stops. + +10. And ere the dimples on the stream + Have circled out of sight, + Lo! from the west a parting gleam + Breaks forth of amber light. + +* * * * * * * + +11. But yet behold--abrupt and loud, + Comes down the glittering rain; + The farewell of a passing cloud, + The fringes of its train. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Gar'nered, laid up, treasured. 6. Studs, knobs, buds. 7. +Cleav'ing, dividing. 10. Dim'ples, small depressions. Am'ber, the color of +amber, yellow. + + + +XXXVII. THE TEA ROSE. + +1. There it stood, in its little green vase, on a light ebony stand in the +window of the drawing-room. The rich satin curtains, with their costly +fringes, swept down on either side of it, and around it glittered every +rare and fanciful trifle which wealth can offer to luxury, and yet that +simple rose was the fairest of them all. So pure it looked, its white +leaves just touched with that delicious, creamy tint peculiar to its kind: +its cup so full, so perfect its head bending, as if it were sinking and +melting away in its own richness.--Oh! when did ever man make anything to +equal the living, perfect flower! + +2. But the sunlight that streamed through the window revealed something +fairer than the rose--a young lady reclining on an ottoman, who was thus +addressed by her livelier cousin: "I say, cousin, I have been thinking +what you are to do with your pet rose when you go to New York; as, to our +consternation, you are determined to do. You know it would be a sad pity +to leave it with such a scatter-brain as I am. I love flowers, +indeed,--that is, I like a regular bouquet, cut off and tied up, to carry +to a party; but as to all this tending and fussing which is needful to +keep them growing, I have no gifts in that line." + +3. "Make yourself easy as to that, Kate," said Florence, with a +smile; "I have no intention of calling upon your talent; I have an +asylum in view for my favorite." + +4. "Oh, then you know just what I was going to say. Mrs. Marshall, I +presume, has been speaking to you; she was here yesterday, and I was quite +pathetic upon the subject; telling her the loss your favorite would +sustain, and so forth; and she said how delighted she would be to have it +in her greenhouse; it is in such a fine state now, so full of buds. I told +her I knew you would like to give it to her; you are so fond of Mrs. +Marshall, you know." + +5. "Now, Kate, I am sorry, but I have otherwise engaged." + +"Whom can it be to? you have so few intimates here." + +"Oh, it is only one of my odd fancies." + +"But do tell me, Florence." + +"Well, cousin, you know the little pale girl to whom we give sewing?" + +6. "What! little Mary Stephens? How absurd, Florence! This is just another +of your motherly, old-maidish ways; dressing dolls for poor children, +making bonnets, and knitting socks for all the little dirty babies in the +neighborhood. I do believe you have made more calls in those two vile, +ill-smelling alleys behind our house than ever you have in Chestnut +Street, though you know everybody is half dying to see you; and now, to +crown all, you must give this choice little bijou to a seamstress girl, +when one of your most intimate friends, in your own class, would value it +so highly. What in the world can people in their circumstances want with +flowers?" + +7. "Just the same as I do," replied Florence, calmly. "Have you not +noticed that the little girl never comes without looking wistfully at the +opening buds? And don't you remember, the other morning she asked me so +prettily if I would let her mother come and see it, she was so fond of +flowers?" + +8. "But, Florence, only think of this rare flower standing on a table with +ham, eggs, cheese, and flour, and stifled in that close little room, where +Mrs. Stephens and her daughter manage to wash, iron, and cook." + +9. "Well, Kate, and if I were obliged to live in one coarse room, and +wash, and iron, and cook, as you say; if I had to spend every moment of my +time in toil, with no prospect from my window but a brick wall and a dirty +lane, such a flower as this would be untold enjoyment to me." + +10. "Pshaw, Florence; all sentiment! Poor people have no time to be +sentimental. Besides, I don't believe it will grow with them; it is a +greenhouse flower, and used to delicate living." + +11. "Oh, as to that, a flower never inquires whether its owner is rich or +poor; and poor Mrs. Stephens, whatever else she has not, has sunshine of +as good quality as this that streams through our window. The beautiful +things that God makes are his gifts to all alike. You will see that my +fair rose will be as well and cheerful in Mrs. Stephens's room as in +ours." + +12. "Well, after all, how odd! When one gives to poor people, one wants to +give them something useful--a bushel of potatoes, a ham, and such things." + +13. "Why, certainly, potatoes and ham must be supplied; but, having +ministered to the first and most craving wants, why not add any other +little pleasures or gratifications we may have it in our power to bestow? +I know there are many of the poor who have fine feeling and a keen sense +of the beautiful, which rusts out and dies because they are too hard +pressed to procure it any gratification. Poor Mrs. Stephens, for example; +I know she would enjoy birds, and flowers, and music as much as I do. I +have seen her eye light up as she looked upon these things in our drawing. +room, and yet not one beautiful thing can she command. From necessity, her +room, her clothing,--all she has, must be coarse and plain. You should +have seen the almost rapture she and Mary felt when I offered them my +rose." + +14. "Dear me! all this may be true, but I never thought of it before. I +never thought that these hard-working people had any ideas of taste!" + +15. "Then why do you see the geranium or rose so carefully nursed in the +old cracked teapot in the poorest room, or the morning-glory planted in a +box and twined about the window? Do not these show that the human heart +yearns for the beautiful in all ranks of life? You remember, Kate, how our +washerwoman sat up a whole night, after a hard day's work, to make her +first baby a pretty dress to be baptized in." "Yes, and I remember how I +laughed at you for making such a tasteful little cap for it." + +16. "True, Kate, but I think the look of perfect delight with which the +poor woman regarded her baby in its new dress and cap was something quite +worth creating; I do believe she could not have felt more grateful if 1 +had sent her a barrel of flour." + +17. "Well, I never thought before of giving anything to the poor but what +they really needed, and I have always been willing to do that when I could +without going far out of my way." + +18. "Ah! cousin, if our heavenly Father gave to us after this mode, we +should have only coarse, shapeless piles of provisions lying about the +world, instead of all this beautiful variety of trees, and fruits, and +flowers," + +19. "Well, well, cousin, I suppose you are right, but have mercy on my +poor head; it is too small to hold so many new ideas all at once, so go on +your own way;" and the little lady began practicing a waltzing step before +the glass with great satisfaction. + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Ot'to-man, a stuffed seat without a back. 3. A-sy'lum, a +place of refuge and protection. 4. Pa-thet'ic, moving to pity or grief. 6. +Bi-jou' (pro. be-zhoo'), a jewel. Cir'cum-stanc-es, condition in regard to +worldly property. 10. Sen-ti-ment'al, showing an excess of sentiment or +feeling. 13. Com-mand', to claim. Rap'-ture, extreme joy or pleasure, +ecstasy. 14. Taste, the faculty of discerning beauty or whatever forms +excellence. 15. Yearns, longs, is eager. + + + +XXXVIII. THE CATARACT OF LODORE. + +1. "How does the water + Come down at Lodore?" + My little boy asked me + Thus once on a time; + And, moreover, he tasked me + To tell him in rhyme. + +2. Anon at the word, + There first came one daughter, + And then came another, + To second and third + The request of their brother, + And to hear how the water + Comes down at Lodore, + With its rush and its roar, + As many a time + They had seen it before. + +3. So I told them in rhyme, + For of rhymes I had store, + And 't was in my vocation + For their recreation + That so I should sing; + Because I was Laureate + To them and the King. + +4. From its sources which well + In the tarn on the fell; + From its fountains + In the mountains, +Its rills and its gills; + Through moss and through brake, + It runs and it creeps + For a while, till it sleeps + In its own little lake. + +5. And thence at departing, + Awakening and starting, + It runs through the reeds, + And away it proceeds, + Through meadow and glade, + In sun and in shade, + And through the wood shelter, + Among crags in its flurry, + Helter-skelter, + Hurry-skurry. + +6. Here it comes sparkling, + And there it lies darkling; + Now smoking and frothing + Its tumult and wrath in, + Till, in this rapid race + On which it is bent, + It reaches the place + Of its steep descent. + +7. The cataract strong + Then plunges along, + Striking and raging + As if a war waging +Its caverns and rocks among; + +8. Rising and leaping, + Sinking and creeping, + Swelling and sweeping, + Showering and springing, + Flying and flinging, + Writhing and ringing, + Eddying and whisking, + Spouting and frisking, + Turning and twisting, + Around and around + With endless rebound; + Smiting and fighting, + A sight to delight in; + Confounding, astounding, +Dizzying, and deafening the ear with its sound + +9. Collecting, projecting, + Receding and speeding, + And shocking and rocking, + And darting and parting, + And threading and spreading, + And whizzing and hissing, + And dripping and skipping, + And hitting and splitting, + And shining and twining, + And rattling and battling, + And shaking and quaking, + And pouring and roaring, + And waving and raving, + And tossing and crossing, + And guggling and struggling, + And heaving and cleaving, + And moaning and groaning, + And glittering and frittering, + And gathering and feathering, + And whitening and brightening, + And quivering and shivering, + And hurrying and skurrying, + And thundering and floundering; + +10. Dividing and gliding and sliding, + And falling and brawling and sprawling, + And driving and riving and striving, + And sprinkling and twinkling and wrinkling; + +11. And thumping and plumping and bumping and jumping, + And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing; + And so never ending, but always descending, + Sounds and motions forever and ever are blending, + All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar, + And this way the water comes down at Lodore. + --Abridged from Southey. + + +DEFINITIONS.--4. Tarn, a small lake among the mountains. Fell (provincial +English), a stony hill. Gills (provincial English), brooks. 10. Brawl'ing, +roaring. Riv'ing, splitting. + + +NOTES.--1. Lodore is a cascade on the banks of Lake Derwentwater, in +Cumberland, England, near where Southey lived. + +3. Laureate. The term probably arose from a custom in the English +universities of presenting a laurel wreath to graduates in rhetoric and +versification. In England the poet laureate's office is filled by +appointment of the lord chamberlain. The salary is quite small, and the +office is valued chiefly as one of honor. + +This lesson is peculiarly adapted for practice on the difficult sound +"ing". + + + +XXXIX. THE BOBOLINK. + +1. The happiest bird of our spring, however, and one that rivals the +European lark in my estimation, is the boblincoln, or bobolink as he is +commonly called. He arrives at that choice portion of our year which, in +this latitude, answers to the description of the month of May so often +given by the poets. With us it begins about the middle of May, and lasts +until nearly the middle of June. Earlier than this, winter is apt to +return on its traces, and to blight the opening beauties of the year; and +later than this, begin the parching, and panting, and dissolving heats of +summer. But in this genial interval, Nature is in all her freshness and +fragrance: "the rains are over and gone, the flowers appear upon the +earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the +turtle is heard in the land." + +2. The trees are now in their fullest foliage and brightest verdure; the +woods are gay with the clustered flowers of the laurel; the air is +perfumed with the sweetbrier and the wild rose; the meadows are enameled +with clover blossoms; while the young apple, peach, and the plum begin to +swell, and the cherry to glow among the green leaves. + +3. This is the chosen season of revelry of the bobolink. He comes amid the +pomp and fragrance of the season; his life seems all sensibility and +enjoyment, all song and sunshine. He is to be found in the soft bosoms of +the freshest and sweetest meadows, and is most in song when the clover is +in blossom. He perches on the topmost twig of a tree, or on some long, +flaunting weed, and, as he rises and sinks with the breeze, pours forth a +succession of rich, tinkling notes, crowding one upon another, like the +outpouring melody of the skylark, and possessing the same rapturous +character. + +4. Sometimes he pitches from the summit of a tree, begins his song as soon +as he gets upon the wing, and flutters tremulously down to the earth, as +if overcome with ecstasy at his own music. Sometimes he is in pursuit of +his mate; always in full song, as if he would win her by his melody; and +always with the same appearance of intoxication and delight. Of all the +birds of our groves and meadows, the bobolink was the envy of my boyhood. +He crossed my path in the sweetest weather, and the sweetest season of the +year, when all nature called to the fields, and the rural feeling throbbed +in every bosom; but when I, luckless urchin! was doomed to be mewed up, +during the live-long day, in a schoolroom. + +5. It seemed as if the little varlet mocked at me as he flew by in full +song, and sought to taunt me with his happier lot. Oh, how I envied him! +No lessons, no task, no school; nothing but holiday, frolic, green fields, +and fine weather. Had I been then more versed in poetry, I might have +addressed him in the words of Logan to the cuckoo: + + "Sweet bird, thy bower is ever green, + Thy sky is ever clear; + Thou hast no sorrow in thy song, + No winter in thy year. + + "Oh. could I fly, I'd fly with thee! + We'd make, with joyful wing, + Our annual visit o'er the globe, + Companions of the spring." + +6. Further observation and experience have given me a different idea of +this feathered voluptuary, which I will venture to impart for the benefit +of my young readers, who may regard him with the same unqualified envy and +admiration which I once indulged. I have shown him only as I saw him at +first, in what I may call the poetical part of his career, when he, in a +manner, devoted himself to elegant pursuits and enjoyments, and was a bird +of music, and song, and taste, and sensibility, and refinement. While this +lasted he was sacred from injury; the very schoolboy would not fling a +stone at him, and the merest rustic would pause to listen to his strain. + +7. But mark the difference. As the year advances, as the clover blossoms +disappear, and the spring fades into summer, he gradually gives up his +elegant tastes and habits, doffs his poetical suit of black, assumes a +russet, dusty garb, and sinks to the gross enjoyment of common vulgar +birds. His notes no longer vibrate on the ear; he is stuffing himself with +the seeds of the tall weeds on which he lately swung and chanted so +melodiously. He has become a bon vivant, a gourmand: with him now there is +nothing like the "joys of the table." In a little while he grows tired of +plain, homely fare, and is off on a gastronomic tour in quest of foreign +luxuries. + +8. We next hear of him, with myriads of his kind, banqueting among the +reeds of the Delaware, and grown corpulent with good feeding. He has +changed his name in traveling. Boblincoln no more, he is the reedbird now, +the much-sought-for tidbit of Pennsylvanian epicures, the rival in unlucky +fame of the ortolan! Wherever he goes, pop! pop! pop! every rusty firelock +in the country is blazing away. He sees his companions falling by +thousands around him. Does he take warning and reform? Alas! not he. Again +he wings his flight. The rice swamps of the south invite him. He gorges +himself among them almost to bursting; he can scarcely fly for corpulency. +He has once more changed his name, and is now the famous ricebird of the +Carolinas. Last stage of his career: behold him spitted with dozens of his +corpulent companions, and served up, a vaunted dish, on some southern +table. + +9. Such is the story of the bobolink; once spiritual, musical, +admired, the joy of the meadows, and the favorite bird of spring; finally, +a gross little sensualist, who expiates his sensuality in the larder. His +story contains a moral worthy the attention of all little birds and little +boys; warning them to keep to those refined and intellectual pursuits +which raised him to so high a pitch of popularity during the early part of +his career, but to eschew all tendency to that gross and dissipated +indulgence which brought this mistaken little bird to an untimely end. + + --From Irving's "Birds of Spring." + + +DEFINITIONS.--En-am'eled, coated with a smooth, glossy surface. 3. +Sen-si-bil'i-ty, feeling. 4. Mewed, shut up. 5. Var'let, a rascal. Versed, +familiar, practiced. 6. Vo-lup'tu-a-ry, one who makes his bodily enjoyment +his chief object. 7. Bon vi-vant (French, pro. bon ve-van'), one who lives +well. Gour-mand (French, pro. goor'man), a glutton. Gas-tro-nom'ic, +relating to the science of good eating. 8. Cor'pu-lent, fleshy, fat. +Ep'i-cure, one who indulges in the luxuries of the table. Vaunt'ed, +boasted. 9. Ex'pi-ates, atones for. Lard'er, a pantry. Es-chew', to shun. + + +NOTES.--5. John Logan (b. 1748, d.1788). A Scotch writer of note. His +writings include dramas, poetry, history, and essays. 8. The ortolan is a +small bird, abundant in southern Europe, Cyprus, and Japan. It is fattened +for the table, and is considered a great delicacy. + + +XL. ROBERT OF LINCOLN. + +1. Merrily swinging on brier and weed, + Near to the nest of his little dame, + Over the mountain side or mead, + Robert of Lincoln is telling his name: + "Bobolink, bobolink, + Spink, spank, spink. + Snug and safe is that nest of ours. + Hidden among the summer flowers. + Chee, chee, chee." + +2. Robert of Lincoln is gaily dressed, + Wearing a bright black wedding coat: + White are his shoulders, and white his crest, + Hear him call in his merry note: + "Bobolink, bobolink, + Spink, spank, spink, + Look what a nice new coat is mine; + Sure, there was never a bird so fine. + Chee, chee, chee." + +3. Robert of Lincoln's Quaker wife, + Pretty and quiet, with plain brown wings, + Passing at home a patient life, + Broods in the grass while her husband sings: + "Bobolink, bobolink, + Spink, spank, spink, + Brood, kind creature; you need not fear + Thieves and robbers while I am here. + Chee, chee, chee." + +4. Modest and shy as a nun is she, + One weak chirp is her only note; + Braggart and prince of braggarts is he, + Pouring boasts from his little throat: + "Bobolink, Bobolink, + Spink, spank, spink, + Never was I afraid of man, + Catch me, cowardly knaves, if you can. + Chee, chee, chee." + +5. Six white eggs on a bed of hay, + Flecked with purple, a pretty sight! + There as the mother sits all day, + Robert is singing with all his might: + "Bobolink, bobolink, + Spink, spank, spink, + Nice good wife that never goes out, + Keeping house while I frolic about. + Chee, chee, chee." + +6. Soon as the little ones chip the shell, + Six wide mouths are open for food; + Robert of Lincoln bestirs him well, + Gathering seeds for the hungry brood.. + "Bobolink, bobolink, + Spink, spank, spink, + This new life is likely to be + Hard for a gay young fellow like me. + Chee, chee, chee." + +7. Robert of Lincoln at length is made + Sober with work, and silent with care; + Off is his holiday garment laid, + Half forgotten that merry air: + "Bobolink, bobolink, + Spink, spank, spink, + Nobody knows but my mate and I + Where our nest and our nestlings lie. + Chee, chee, chee." + +8. Summer wanes; the children are grown; + Fun and frolic no more he knows; + Robert of Lincoln's a humdrum crone; + Off he flies, and we sing as he goes: + "Bobolink, bobolink, + Spink, spank, spink, + When you can pipe that merry old strain, + Robert of Lincoln, come back again. + Chee, chee, chee." + + --William Cullen Bryan. + + + +XLI. REBELLION IN MASSACHUSETTS STATE PRISON. + +1. A more impressive exhibition of moral courage, opposed to the wildest +ferocity under the most appalling circumstances, was never seen than that +which was witnessed by the officers of our state prison; in the rebellion +which occurred some years since. + +2. Three convicts had been sentenced, under the rules of the prison, to be +whipped in the yard, and, by some effort of one of the other prisoners, a +door had been opened at midday communicating with the great dining hall +and, through the warden's lodge, with the street. + +3. The dining hall was long, dark, and damp, from its situation near the +surface of the ground; and in this all the prisoners assembled, with clubs +and such other tools as they could seize in passing through the workshops. + + +4. Knives, hammers, and chisels, with every variety of such weapons, were +in the hands of the ferocious spirits, who are drawn away from their +encroachments on society, forming a congregation of strength, vileness, +and talent that can hardly be equaled on earth, even among the famed +brigands of Italy. + +5. Men of all ages and characters, guilty of every variety of infamous +crime, dressed in the motley and peculiar garb of the institution, and +displaying the wild and demoniac appearance that always pertains to +imprisoned wretches, were gathered together for the single purpose of +preventing the punishment which was to be inflicted on the morrow upon +their comrades. + +6. The warden, the surgeon, and some other officers of the prison were +there at the time, and were alarmed at the consequences likely to ensue +from the conflict necessary to restore order. They huddled together, and +could scarcely be said to consult, as the stoutest among them lost all +presence of mind in overwhelming fear. The news rapidly spread through the +town, and a subordinate officer, of the most mild and kind disposition, +hurried to the scene, and came calm and collected into the midst of the +officers. The most equable-tempered and the mildest man in the government +was in this hour of peril the firmest. + +7. He instantly dispatched a request to Major Wainright, commander of the +marines stationed at the Navy Yard, for assistance, and declared his +purpose to enter into the hall and try the force of firm demeanor and +persuasion upon the enraged multitude. + +8. All his brethren exclaimed against an attempt so full of hazard, but in +vain. They offered him arms, a sword and pistols, but he refused them, and +said that he had no fear, and, in case of danger, arms would do him no +service; and alone, with only a little rattan, which was his usual walking +stick, he advanced into the hall to hold parley with the selected, +congregated, and enraged villains of the whole commonwealth. + +9. He demanded their purpose in thus coming together with arms, in +violation of the prison laws. They replied that they were determined to +obtain the remission of the punishment of their three comrades. He said it +was impossible; the rules of the prison must be obeyed, and they must +submit. + +10. At the hint of submission they drew a little nearer together, prepared +their weapons for service, and, as they were dimly seen in the further end +of the hall by those who observed from the gratings that opened up to the +day, a more appalling sight can not be conceived, nor one of more moral +grandeur, than that of the single man standing within their grasp, and +exposed to be torn limb from limb instantly if a word or look should add +to the already intense excitement. + +11. That excitement, too, was of a most dangerous kind. It broke not forth +in noise and imprecations, but was seen only in the dark looks and the +strained nerves that showed a deep determination. The officer +expostulated. He reminded them of the hopelessness of escape; that the +town was alarmed, and that the government of the prison would submit to +nothing but unconditional surrender. He said that all those who would go +quietly away should be forgiven for this offense; but that if every +prisoner were killed in the contest, power enough would be obtained to +enforce the regulations of the prison. + +12. They replied that they expected that some would be killed,--that +death would be better than such imprisonment; and, with that look and tone +which bespeak an indomitable purpose, they declared that not a man should +leave the hall alive till the flogging was remitted. At this period of the +discussion their evil passions seemed to be more inflamed, and one or two +offered to destroy the officer, who still stood firmer and with a more +temperate pulse than did his friends, who saw from above, but could not +avert, the danger that threatened him. + +13. Just at this moment, and in about fifteen minutes from the +commencement of the tumult, the officer saw the feet of the marines, on +whose presence alone he relied for succor, filing by the small upper +lights. Without any apparent anxiety, he had repeatedly turned his +attention to their approach; and now he knew that it was his only time to +escape, before the conflict became, as was expected, one of the most dark +and dreadful in the world. + +14. He stepped slowly backward, still urging them to depart before the +officers were driven to use the last resort of firearms. When within three +or four feet of the door, it was opened, and closed instantly again as he +sprang through, and was thus unexpectedly restored to his friends. + +15. Major Wainright was requested to order his men to fire down upon the +convicts through the little windows, first with powder and then with ball, +till they were willing to retreat; but he took a wiser as well as a bolder +course, relying upon the effect which firm determination would have upon +men so critically situated. He ordered the door to be again opened, and +marched in at the head of twenty or thirty men, who filed through the +passage, and formed at the end of the hall opposite to the crowd of +criminals huddled together at the other. + +16. He stated that he was empowered to quell the rebellion, that he wished +to avoid shedding blood, but that he would not quit that hall alive till +every convict had returned to his duty. They seemed balancing the strength +of the two parties, and replied that some of them were ready to die, and +only waited for an attack to see which was the more powerful; swearing +that they would fight to the last, unless the punishment was remitted, for +they would not submit to any such punishment in the prison. Major +Wainright ordered his marines to load their pieces, and, that they might +not be suspected of trifling, each man was made to hold up to view the +bullet which he afterward put in his gun. + +17. This only caused a growl of determination, and no one blenched or +seemed disposed to shrink from the foremost exposure. They knew that their +number would enable them to bear down and destroy the handful of marines +after the first discharge, and before their pieces could be reloaded. +Again they were ordered to retire; but they answered with more ferocity +than ever. The marines were ordered to take their aim so as to be sure and +kill as many as possible. Their guns were presented, but not a prisoner +stirred, except to grasp more firmly his weapon. + +18. Still desirous to avoid such a tremendous slaughter as must have +followed the discharge of a single gun, Major Wainright advanced a step or +two, and spoke even more firmly than before, urging them to depart. Again, +and while looking directly into the muzzles of the guns which they had +seen loaded with ball, they declared their intention "to fight it out." +This intrepid officer then took out his watch, and told his men to hold +their pieces aimed at the convicts, but not to fire till they had orders; +then, turning to the prisoners, he said: "You must leave this hall; I give +you three minutes to decide; if at the end of that time a man remains, he +shall be shot dead." + +19. No situation of greater interest than this can be conceived. At one +end of the hall, a fearful multitude of the most desperate and powerful +men in existence, waiting for the assault; at the other, a little band of +disciplined men, waiting with arms presented, and ready, upon the least +motion or sign, to begin the carnage; and their tall and imposing +commander, holding up his watch to count the lapse of three minutes, given +as the reprieve to the lives of hundreds. No poet or painter can conceive +a spectacle of more dark and terrible sublimity; no human heart can +conceive a situation of more appalling suspense. + +20. For two minutes not a person nor a muscle moved; not a sound was heard +in the unwonted stillness of the prison, except the labored breathings of +the infuriated wretches, as they began to pant between fear and revenge: +at the expiration of two minutes, during which they had faced the +ministers of death with unblenching eyes, two or three of those in the +rear, and nearest the further entrance, went slowly out; a few more +followed the example, dropping out quietly and deliberately: and before +half of the last minute was gone, every man was struck by the panic, and +crowded for an exit, and the hall was cleared, as if by magic. + +21. Thus the steady firmness of moral force and the strong effect of +determination, acting deliberately, awed the most savage men, and +suppressed a scene of carnage, which would have instantly followed the +least precipitancy or exertion of physical force. + --J. T. Buckingham. + + "It may be that more lofty courage dwells + In one weak heart which braves all adverse fate + Than does in his whose soul indignant swells, + Warmed by the fight, or cheered through high debate." + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Warden, a keeper, one who guards, 4. En-croach'ment, +unlawful intrusion on the rights of others. Brig'ands, robbers, those who +live by plunder. 5. Mot'ley, composed of various colors. De-mo'ni-ac, +devil-like. 6. Sub-or'di-nate, inferior in power. 7. Ma-rines, soldiers +that serve on board of ships. De-mean'or, be-havior, deportment. 8. +Par'ley, conversation or conference with an enemy. 9. Re-mis'sion (pro. +re-mish'un), pardon of transgression. 11. Im-pre-ca'tions, curses, prayers +for evil. Ex-pos'tu-lat-ed, rea-soned earnestly. 12. In-dom'i-ta-ble, that +can not be subdued or tamed. 17. Blenched. gave way, shrunk. 18. +In-trep'id, fearless. 19, Re-prieve', a delay of punishment. 21. +Pre-cip'i-tan-cy, headlong hurry. + + + +XLII. FAITHLESS NELLY GRAY. + +Thomas Hood (b. 1798, d. 1845) was the son of a London bookseller. After +leaving school he undertook to learn the art of an engraver, but soon +turned his attention to literature. In 1821 he became sub-editor of the +"London Magazine." Hood is best known as a humorist; but some of his poems +are full of the tenderest pathos; and a gentle, humane spirit pervades +even his lighter productions. He was poor, and during the last years of +his life suffered much from ill health. Some of his most humorous pieces +were written on a sick bed. + +1. Ben Battle was a soldier bold, + And used to war's alarms; + But a cannon ball took off his legs, + So he laid down his arms! + +2. Now, as they bore him off the field, + Said he, "Let others shoot, + For here I leave my second leg, + And the Forty-second Foot!" + +3. The army surgeons made him limbs; + Said he, "They're only pegs: + But there's as wooden members quite, + As represent my legs!" + +4. Now Ben, he loved a pretty maid, + Her Name was Nelly Gray; + So he went to pay her his devoirs, + When he'd devoured his pay. + +5. But when he called on Nelly Gray, + She made him quite a scoff; + And when she saw his wooden legs, + Began to take them off! + +6. "O Nelly Gray! O Nelly Gray! + Is this your love so warm'? + The love that loves a scarlet coat + Should be more uniform!" + +7. Said she, "I loved a soldier once, + For he was blithe and brave; + But I will never have a man + With both legs in the grave! + +8. "Before you had these timber toes, + Your love I did allow, + But then, you know, you stand upon + Another footing now!" + +9. "O false and fickle Nelly Gray! + I know why you refuse: + Though I've no feet--some other man + Is standing in my shoes! + +10. "I wish I ne'er had seen your face; + But, now, a long farewell! + For you will be my death;--alas! + You will not be my NELL!" + +11. Now when he went from Nelly Gray, + His heart so heavy got, + And life was such a burden grown, + It made him take a knot! + +12. So round his melancholy neck, + A rope he did entwine, + And for the second time in life. + Enlisted in the Line! + +13. One end he tied around a beam, + And then removed his pegs, + And, as his legs were off, of course + He soon was off his legs. + +14. And there he hung till he was dead + As any nail in town: + For, though distress had cut him up, + It could not cut him down! + + +DEFINITIONS.--4. De-voirs' (French, pro, de-vwor'), respects: compliments. +5. Scoff, an object of ridicule. 6, U'ni-form (adj.), consistent, (noun) +military dress. 7. Blithe, merry, gay. + + +NOTES.--2. Forty-second Foot. Infantry in the army is spoken of as "the +foot," and the "Forty-second Foot" means the Forty-second Regiment of +Infantry. + +3. Members. Persons elected to Parliament in Great Britain are called +"Members," and are said to represent those who elect them. + +12. The Line is another name for the regular infantry. + + + +XLIII. THE GENEROUS RUSSIAN PEASANT. + +1. Let Vergil sing the praises of Augustus, genius celebrate merit, and +flattery extol the talents of the great. "The short and simple annals of +the poor" engross my pen; and while I record the history of Flor Silin's +virtues, though I speak of a poor peasant, I shall describe a noble man. I +ask no eloquence to assist me in the task; modest worth rejects the aid of +ornament to set it off. + +2. It is impossible, even at this distant period, to reflect without +horror on the miseries of that year known in Lower Volga by the name of +the "Famine Year." I remember the summer, whose scorching heats had dried +up all the fields, and the drought had no relief but from the tears of the +ruined farmer. + +3. I remember the cold, comfortless autumn, and the despairing rustics, +crowding round their empty barns, with folded arms and sorrowful +countenances, pondering on their misery, instead of rejoicing, as usual, +at the golden harvest. I remember the winter which succeeded, and I +reflect with agony on the miseries it brought with it. Whole families left +their homes to become beggars on the highway. + +4. At night the canopy of heaven served them as their only shelter from +the piercing winds and bitter frost. To describe these scenes would be to +harm the feelings of my readers; therefore, to my tale. In those days I +lived on an estate not far from Simbirsk; and, though but a child, I have +not forgotten the impression made on my mind by the general calamity. + +5. In a village adjoining lived Flor Silin, a poor, laboring peasant,--a +man remarkable for his assiduity and the skill and judgment with which he +cultivated his lands. He was blessed with abundant crops; and his means +being larger than his wants, his granaries, even at this time, were full +of corn. The dry year coming on had beggared all the village except +himself. Here was an opportunity to grow rich. Mark how Flor Silin acted. +Having called the poorest of his neighbors about him, he addressed them in +the following manner: + +6. "My friends, you want corn for your subsistence. God has blessed me +with abundance. Assist in thrashing out a quantity, and each of you take +what he wants for his family." The peasants were amazed at this unexampled +generosity; for sordid propensities exist in the village as well as in the +populous city. + +7. The fame of Flor Silin's benevolence having reached other villages, the +famished inhabitants presented themselves before him, and begged for corn. +This good creature received them as brothers; and, while his store +remained, afforded all relief. At length, his wife, seeing no end to the +generosity of his noble spirit, reminded him how necessary it would be to +think of their own wants, and hold his lavish hand before it was too late. +"It is written in the Scripture," said he, "Give, and it shall be given +unto you.'" + +8. The following year Providence listened to the prayers of the poor, and +the harvest was abundant. The peasants who had been saved from starving by +Flor Silin now gathered around him. + +9. "Behold," said they, "the corn you lent us. You saved our wives and +children. We should have been famished but for you; may God reward you; he +only can; all we have to give is our corn and grateful thanks." "I want no +corn at present, my good neighbors," said he; "my harvest has exceeded all +my expectations; for the rest, thank heaven: I have been but an humble +instrument." + +10. They urged him in vain. "No," said he, "I shall not accept your corn. +If you have superfluities, share them among your poor neighbors, who, +being unable to sow their fields last autumn, are still in want; let us +assist them, my dear friends; the Almighty will bless us for it." "Yes," +replied the grateful peasants, "our poor neighbors shall have this corn. +They shall know it is to you that they owe this timely succor, and join to +teach their children the debt of gratitude due to your benevolent heart." +Silin raised his tearful eyes to heaven. An angel might have envied him +his feelings. + --Nikolai Karamzin. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Ex-tol', to elevate by praise. An'nals, history of +events. En-gross', to occupy wholly. El'o-quence, the power of speaking +well. 2. Drought (pro. drout), want of rain or water. 4. Es-tate', +property in land. 5. Gran'a-ry, a storehouse far grain. 6. Sub-sist'ence, +means of support. Pro-pen'si-ties, bent of mind, inclination. 10. +Su-per-flu'i-ties, greater quantities than are wanted. Suc'cor, aid, help. + + +NOTES.--l. Vergil was the greatest of Roman poets. He was born in the year +70 B.C., and died 19 B.C. + +Augustus Caesar was emperor of Rome in the latter portion of Vergil's +life, and received many compliments in the verses of his friend the poet. + +2. Lower Volga is a district in eastern Russia, bordering on the Caspian +Sea, and takes its name from the river Volga. + +4. Simbirsk is a town of eastern Russia, on the Volga. + + + +XLIV. FORTY YEARS AGO. + +1. I've wandered to the village, Tom, + I've sat beneath the tree, + Upon the schoolhouse playground, + That sheltered you and me; + But none were left to greet me, Tom, + And few were left to know, + Who played with me upon the green, + Just forty years ago. + +2. The grass was just as green, Tom, + Barefooted boys at play + Were sporting, just as we did then, + With spirits just as gay. + But the master sleeps upon the hill, + Which, coated o'er with snow, + Afforded us a sliding place, + Some forty years ago. + +3. The old schoolhouse is altered some; + The benches are replaced + By new ones very like the same + Our jackknives had defaced. + But the same old bricks are in the wall, + The bell swings to and fro; + Its music's just the same, dear Tom, + 'T was forty years ago. + +4. The spring that bubbled 'neath the hill, + Close by the spreading beech, + Is very low; 't was once so high + That we could almost reach; + And kneeling down to take a drink, + Dear Tom, I started so, + To think how very much I've changed + Since forty years ago. + +5. Near by that spring, upon an elm, + You know, I cut your name, + Your sweetheart's just beneath it, Tom; + And you did mine the same. + Some heartless wretch has peeled the bark; + 'T was dying sure, but slow, + Just as that one whose name you cut + Died forty years ago. + +6. My lids have long been dry, Tom, + But tears came in my eyes: + I thought of her I loved so well, + Those early broken ties. + I visited the old churchyard, + And took some flowers to strew + Upon the graves of those we loved + Just forty years ago. + +7. Some are in the churchyard laid, + Some sleep beneath the sea; + And none are left of our old class + Excepting you and me. + And when our time shall come, Tom, + And we are called to go, + I hope we'll meet with those we loved + Some forty years ago. + + + +XLV. MRS. CAUDLE'S LECTURE. + +Douglas Jerrold (b. 1803, d. 1857) was born in London. A midshipman's +appointment was obtained for him, but he quit the naval service in a few +years. He was then apprenticed to a printer. By improving his leisure +hours he made himself master of several languages, and formed the habit of +expressing his thoughts in writing An essay on the opera of Der Freischutz +was his first published literary production. Before he was twenty-one +years of age, he wrote "Black-eyed Susan," one of the most popular dramas +of modern times. Several other popular plays followed this. He was a +regular contributor to the London "Punch," from the second number, and +edited, at different times, several papers and magazines. As a humorist, +he occupies the first rank. The most noted of his works are his plays, and +"Mrs Caudle's Curtain Lectures," "Saint Giles and Saint James," "Bubbles +of a Day," and "Chronicles of Clovernook." + +1. Well, Mr. Caudle, I hope you're in a little better temper than you were +this morning. There, you need n't begin to whistle: people don't come to +bed to whistle. But it's like you; I can't speak that you don't try to +insult me. Once, I used to say you were the best creature living: now, you +get quite a fiend. Do let you rest? No, I won't let you rest. It's the +only time I have to talk to you, and you shall hear me. I'm put upon all +day long: it's very hard if I can't speak a word at night; besides, it is +n't often I open my mouth, goodness knows! + +2. Because once in your lifetime your shirt wanted a button, you must +almost swear the roof off the house. You did n't swear? Ha, Mr. Caudle! +you don't know what you do when you're in a passion. You were not in a +passion, wer'n't you? Well, then, I don't know what a passion is; and I +think I ought by this time. I've lived long enough with you, Mr. Caudle, +to know that. + +3. It's a pity you hav'n't something worse to complain of than a button +off your shirt. If you'd some wives, you would, I know. I'm sure I'm never +without a needle and thread in my hand; what with you and the children, +I'm made a perfect slave of. And what's my thanks? Why, if once in your +life a button's off your shirt--what do you cry "oh" at? I say once, Mr. +Caudle; or twice, or three times, at most. I'm sure, Caudle, no man's +buttons in the world are better looked after than yours. I only wish I'd +kept the shirts you had when you were first married! I should like to know +where were your buttons then? + +4. Yes, it is worth talking of! But that's how you always try to put me +down. You fly into a rage, and then if I only try to speak, you won't hear +me. That's how you men always will have all the talk to yourselves: a poor +woman is n't allowed to get a word in. A nice notion you have of a wife, +to suppose she's nothing to think of but her husband's buttons. A pretty +notion, indeed, you have of marriage. Ha! if poor women only knew what +they had to go through!--what with buttons, and one thing and +another,--they'd never tie themselves up,--no, not to the best man in the +world, I'm sure. What would they do, Mr. Caudle?--Why, do much better +without you, I'm certain. + +5. And it's my belief, after all, that the button was n't off the shirt; +it's my belief that you pulled it off that you might have something to +talk about. Oh, you're aggravating enough, when you like, for anything! +All I know is, it's very odd that the button should be off the shirt; for +I'm sure no woman's a greater slave to her husband's buttons than I am. I +only say it's very odd. + +6. However, there's one comfort; it can't last long. I'm worn to death +with your temper, and sha'n't trouble you a great while. Ha! you may +laugh! And I dare say you would laugh! I've no doubt of it! That's your +love; that's your feeling! I know that I'm sinking every day, though I say +nothing about it. And when I'm gone we shall see how your second wife will +look after your buttons! You'll find out the difference then. Yes, Caudle, +you'll think of me then; for then, I hope, you'll never have a blessed +button to your back. + +7. No, I'm not a vindictive woman, Mr. Caudle: nobody ever called me that +but you. What do you say? Nobody ever knew so much of me? That's nothing +at all to do with it. Ha! I would n't have your aggravating temper, +Caudle, for mines of gold. It's a good thing I'm not as worrying as you +are, or a nice house there'd be between us. I only wish you'd had a wife +that would have talked to you! Then you'd have known the difference. But +you impose upon me because, like a poor fool, I say nothing. I should be +ashamed of myself, Caudle. + +8. And a pretty example you set as a father! You'll make your boys as bad +as yourself. Talking as you did all breakfast time about your buttons! and +of a Sunday morning, too! And you call yourself a Christian! I should like +to know what your boys will say of you when they grow up! And all about a +paltry button off one of your wristbands! A decent man would n't have +mentioned it. Why don't I hold my tongue? Because I won't hold my tongue. +I'm to have my peace of mind destroyed--I 'm to be worried into my grave +for a miserable shirt button, and I'm to hold my tongue! Oh! but that's +just like you men! + +9. But I know what I'll do for the future. Every button you have may drop +off, and I won't so much as put a thread to 'em. And I should like to know +what you'll do then! Oh, you must get somebody else to sew 'em, must you? +That's a pretty threat for a husband to hold out to his wife! And to such +a wife as I've been, too: such a slave to your buttons, as I may say. +Somebody else to sew 'em'! No, Caudle, no; not while I'm alive! When I'm +dead--and, with what I have to bear, there's no knowing how soon that may +be--when I 'm dead, I say--oh! what a brute you must be to snore so! + +10. You're not snoring? Ha! that's what you always say; but that's nothing +to do with it. You must get somebody else to sew 'em, must you? Ha! I +should n't wonder. Oh, no! I should be surprised at nothing now! Nothing +at all! It's what people have always told me it would come to; and now the +buttons have opened my eyes! But the whole world shall know of your +cruelty, Mr. Caudle. After the wife I've been to you. Caudle, you've a +heart like a hearthstone, you have! + + +DEFINITIONS.--5. Ag'gra-vat-ing, provoking, irritating. 6. Sink'ing, +failing in strength. 7. Vin-dic'tive, revengeful. 8. Pal'try, mean, +contemptible. + + + +XLVI. THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. + +1. Under a spreading chestnut tree + The village smithy stands; + The smith, a mighty man is he, + With large and sinewy hands; + And the muscles of his brawny arms + Are strong as iron bands. + +2. His hair is crisp, and black, and long, + His face is like the tan; + His brow is wet with honest sweat, + He earns whate'er he can, + And looks the whole world in the face, + For he owes not any man. + +3. Week in, week out, from morn till night, + You can hear his bellows blow; + You can hear him swing his heavy sledge, + With measured beat and slow, + Like a sexton ringing the village bell, + When the evening sun is low. + +4. And children coming home from school + Look in at the open door; + They love to see the flaming forge, + And hear the bellows roar, + And catch the burning sparks that fly + Like chaff from a threshing floor. + +5. He goes on Sunday to the church, + And sits among his boys; + He hears the parson pray and preach, + He hears his daughter's voice + Singing in the village choir, + And it makes his heart rejoice. + +6. It sounds to him like her mother's voice + Singing in Paradise! + He needs must think of her once more, + How in the grave she lies; + And with his hard, rough hand he wipes + A tear out of his eyes. + +7. Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing, + Onward through life he goes; + Each morning sees some task begin, + Each evening sees its close; + Something attempted, something done, + Has earned a night's repose. + +8. Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend, + For the lesson thou hast taught! + Thus at the flaming forge of life + Our fortunes must be wrought; + Thus on its sounding anvil shaped + Each burning deed and thought! + --Longfellow. + + + +XLVII. THE RELIEF OF LUCKNOW. + +[From a letter to the "London Times," by a lady, the wife of an officer at +Lucknow.] + +1. On every side death stared us in the face; no human skill could avert +it any longer. We saw the moment approach when we must bid farewell to +earth, yet without feeling that unutterable horror which must have been +experienced by the unhappy victims at Cawnpore. We were resolved rather to +die than to yield, and were fully persuaded that in twenty-four hours all +would be over. The engineer had said so, and all knew the worst. We women +strove to encourage each other, and to perform the light duties which had +been assigned to us, such as conveying orders to the batteries, and +supplying the men with provisions, especially cups of coffee, which we +prepared day and night. + +2. I had gone out to try to make myself useful, in company with Jessie +Brown, the wife of a corporal in my husband's regiment. Poor Jessie had +been in a state of restless excitement all through the siege, and had +fallen away visibly within the last few days. A constant fever consumed +her, and her mind wandered occasionally, especially that day, when the +recollections of home seemed powerfully present to her. At last, overcome +with fatigue, she lay down on the ground, wrapped up in her plaid. I sat +beside her, promising to awaken her when, as she said, her "father should +return from the plowing." + +3. She fell at length into a profound slumber, motionless and apparently +breathless, her head resting in my lap. I myself could no longer resist +the inclination to sleep, in spite of the continual roar of the cannon. +Suddenly I was aroused by a wild, unearthly scream close to my ear; my +companion stood upright beside me, her arms raised, and her head bent +forward in the attitude of listening. + +4. A look of intense delight broke over her countenance; she grasped my +hand, drew me toward her, and exclaimed: "Dinna ye hear it? dinna ye hear +it? Ay. I'm no dreaming: it's the slogan o' the Highlanders! We're saved! +we're saved!" Then flinging herself on her knees, she thanked God with +passionate fervor. I felt utterly bewildered; my English ears heard only +the roar of artillery, and I thought my poor Jessie was still raving; but +she darted to the batteries, and I heard her cry incessantly to the men, +"Courage! courage! Hark to the slogan--to the Macgregor, the grandest of +them a'! Here's help at last!" + +5. To describe the effect of these words upon the soldiers would be +impossible. For a moment they ceased firing, and every soul listened with +intense anxiety. Gradually, however, there arose a murmur of bitter +disappointment, and the wailing of the women, who had flocked to the spot, +burst out anew as the colonel shook his head. Our dull Lowland ears heard +only the battle of the musketry. A few moments more of this deathlike +suspense, of this agonizing hope, and Jessie, who had again sunk on the +ground, sprang to her feet, and cried in a voice so clear and piercing +that it was heard along the whole line, "Will ye no believe it noo? The +slogan has ceased, indeed, but the Campbells are comin'! D' ye hear? d' ye +hear?" + +6. At that moment all seemed indeed to hear the voice of God in the +distance, when the pibroch of the Highlanders brought us tidings of +deliverance; for now there was no longer any doubt of the fact. That +shrill, penetrating, ceaseless sound, which rose above all other sounds, +could come neither from the advance of the enemy nor from the work of the +sappers. No, it was indeed the blast of the Scottish bagpipes, now shrill +and harsh, as threatening vengeance on the foe, then in softer tones, +seeming to promise succor to their friends in need. + +7. Never, surely, was there such a scene as that which followed. Not a +heart in the residency of Lucknow but bowed itself before God. All, by one +simultaneous impulse, fell upon their knees, and nothing was heard but +bursting sobs and the murmured voice of prayer. Then all arose, and there +rang out from a thousand lips a great shout of joy, which resounded far +and wide, and lent new vigor to that blessed pibroch. + +8. To our cheer of "God save the Queen," they replied by the well-known +strain that moves every Scot to tears, "Should auld acquaintance be +forgot." After that, nothing else made any impression on me. I scarcely +remember what followed. Jessie was presented to the general on his +entrance into the fort, and at the officers' banquet her health was drunk +by all present, while the pipers marched around the table playing once +more the familiar air of "Auld Lang Syne." + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. A-vert', to turn aside. En-gi-neer', an officer in the +army, who designs and constructs defensive and offensive works. 2. Siege, +the setting of an army around a fortified place to compel its surrender. +3. Pro-found', deep. 4. Slo'gan, the war cry or gather-ing word of a +Highland clan in Scotland. Fer'vor, intensity of feel-ing. 6. Pi'broch, a +wild, irregular species of music belonging to the Highlands of Scotland; +it is performed on a bagpipe. Sap'pers, men employed in making an approach +to a fortified place by digging. 7. Res'i-den-cy, the official dwelling of +a government officer in India. Si-mul-ta'ne-ous, happening at the same +time. + + +NOTES.--Lucknow, a city in the British possession of India. In 1857 there +was a mutiny of the native troops, and the British garrison of 1700 men +was besieged by 10,000 mutineers. After twelve weeks' siege, fresh British +troops forced an entrance, and the town was held until relieved three +weeks later by the arrival of Sir Colin Campbell, as above described. + +1. Cawnpore, also a city of India, near Lucknow, which was besieged during +the mutiny. After surrendering, the English, two thirds of whom were women +and children, were treacherously massacred. + +4. The inhabitants of the northern part of Scotland are called +Highlanders; those of the southern part, Lowlanders. The dialect of the +former is very peculiar, as shown in the language of Jessie Brown; as, +dinna for did not, a' for all, no for not, noo for now, auld for old. +Macgregor and Campbell are names of Highland clans or families. + +Whittier's poem, "The Pipes at Lucknow," and Robert T. S. Lowell's "The +Relief of Lucknow," are descriptive of this same incident. + + + +XLVIII. THE SNOWSTORM. + +James Thomson (b. 1700, d.1748) was born at Ednam, in the shire of +Roxburgh, Scotland. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and +afterwards studied for the ministry, but in a short time changed his plans +and devoted himself to literature. His early poems are quite +insignificant, but "The Seasons," from which the following selection is +taken; and the "Castle of Indolence," are masterpieces of English poetry. + +1. Through the hushed air the whitening shower descends, + At first thin wavering; till at last the flakes + Fall broad and wide and fast, dimming the day, + With a continual flow. The cherished fields + Put on their winter robe of purest white. + 'T is brightness all: save where the new snow melts + Along the mazy current. + +2. Low the woods + Bow their hoar head; and ere the languid sun + Faint from the west emits its evening ray, + Earth's universal face, deep-hid and chill, + Is one wild dazzling waste, that buries wide + The works of man. + +3. Drooping, the laborer ox + Stands covered o'er with snow, and then demands + The fruit of all his toil. The fowls of heaven, + Tamed by the cruel season, crowd around + The winnowing store, and claim the little boon + Which Providence assigns them. + +4. One alone, + The Redbreast, sacred to the household gods, + Wisely regardful of the embroiling sky, + In joyless fields and thorny thickets leaves + His shivering mates, and pays to trusted man + His annual visit. + +5. Half-afraid, he first + Against the window beats; then, brisk, alights + On the warm hearth; then, hopping o'er the floor, + Eyes all the smiling family askance, + And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is; + Till, more familiar grown, the table crumbs + Attract his slender feet. + +6. The foodless wilds + Pour forth their brown inhabitants. The hare, + Though timorous of heart, and hard beset + By death in various forms, dark snares and dogs, + And more unpitying men, the garden seeks, + Urged on by fearless want. The bleating kind. + Eye the bleak heaven, and next the glistening earth, + With looks of dumb despair; then, sad dispersed, + Dig for the withered herb through heaps of snow + +7. Now, shepherds, to your helpless charge be kind, + Baffle the raging year, and fill their pens + With food at will; lodge them below the storm, + And watch them strict; for from the bellowing east, + In this dire season, oft the whirlwind's wing + Sweeps up the burden of whole wintry plains + In one wide waft, and o'er the hapless flocks, + Hid in the hollow of two neighboring hills, + The billowy tempest 'whelms; till, upward urged, + The valley to a shining mountain swells, + Tipped with a wreath high-curling in the sky + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Ma'zy, winding. 2. Hoar, white or grayish white. E-mits', +sends forth, throws out, 3. Win'now-ing, separat-ing chaff from grain by +means of wind. Boon, a gift. 4. Em--broil'ing, throwing into disorder or +contention. 5, A-skance', side-ways. 6. Wilds, woods, forests. Be-set', +hemmed in on all sides so that escape is difficult. 7. Dire, dreadful, +terrible. Waft, a current of wind. Whelms', covers completely. + + +NOTE.--4. Household gods. An allusion to the belief of the ancient Romans +in the Penates--certain gods who were supposed to protect the household +and all connected with it. The idea here expressed is, that the Redbreast +was secure from harm. + + + +XLIX. BEHIND TIME. + +1. A railroad train was rushing along at almost lightning speed. A curve +was just ahead, beyond which was a station where two trains usually met. +The conductor was late,--so late that the period during which the up train +was to wait had nearly elapsed; but he hoped yet to pass the curve safely. +Suddenly a locomotive dashed into sight right ahead. In an instant there +was a collision. A shriek, a shock, and fifty souls were in eternity; and +all because an engineer had been behind time. + +2. A great battle was going on. Column after column had been precipitated +for eight hours on the enemy posted along the ridge of a hill. The summer +sun was sinking in the west; reenforcements for the obstinate defenders +were already in sight; it was necessary to carry the position with one +final charge, or everything would be lost. + +3. A powerful corps had been summoned from across the country, and if it +came up in season all would yet be well. The great conqueror, confident in +its arrival, formed his reserve into an attacking column, and ordered them +to charge the enemy. The whole world knows the result. Grouchy failed to +appear; the imperial guard was beaten back; and Waterloo was lost. +Napoleon died a prisoner at St. Helena because one of his marshals was +behind time. + +4. A leading firm in commercial circles had long struggled against +bankruptcy. As it had large sums of money in California, it expected +remittances by a certain day, and if they arrived, its credit, its honor, +and its future prosperity would be preserved. But week after week elapsed +without bringing the gold. At last came the fatal day on which the firm +had bills maturing to large amounts. The steamer was telegraphed at +daybreak; but it was found, on inquiry, that she brought no funds, and the +house failed. The next arrival brought nearly half a million to the +insolvents, but it was too late; they were ruined because their agent, in +remitting, had been behind time. + +5. A condemned man was led, out for execution. He had taken human life, +but under circumstances of the greatest provocation, and public sympathy +was active in his behalf. Thousands had signed petitions for a reprieve; a +favorable answer had been expected the night before, and though it had not +come, even the sheriff felt confident that it would yet arrive. Thus the +morning passed without the appearance of the messenger. + +6. The last moment was up. The prisoner took his place, the cap was drawn +over his eyes, the bolt was drawn, and a lifeless body swung revolving in +the wind. Just at that moment a horseman came into sight, galloping down +hill, his steed covered with foam. He carried a packet in his right hand, +which he waved frantically to the crowd. He was the express rider with the +reprieve; but he came too late. A comparatively innocent man had died an +ignominious death because a watch had been five minutes too late, making +its bearer arrive behind time. + +7. It is continually so in life. The best laid plans, the most important +affairs, the fortunes of individuals, the weal of nations, honor, +happiness, life itself, are daily sacrificed, because somebody is "behind +time." There are men who always fail in whatever they undertake, simply +because they are "behind time." There are others who put off reformation +year after year, till death seizes them, and they perish unrepentant, +because forever "behind time." + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Col-li'sion, the act of striking together violently. 2. +Pre-cip'i-tat-ed, urged on violently. Re-en-force'ments, additional +troops. 3. Corps (pro. kor), a body of troops. Re-serve', a select body of +troops held back in case of special need for their services. 4. +Bank'rupt-cy. inability to pay all debts, insolvency. Re-mit'tanc-es, +mouey, drafts, etc., sent from a distance. Ma-tur'ing, approaching the +time fixed for payment. 5. Prov-o-ca'tion, that which causes anger. 6. +Ig-no-min'i-ous, infamous. 7. Weal, prosperity, happiness. + + +NOTES.--3. Emmanuel Grouchy was one of Napoleon's marshals at the battle +of Waterloo, fought in 1815 between the French under Napoleon, and the +English, Dutch, and German troops under Wellington. + +Napoleon Bonaparte (b. 1769, d. 1821) was born on the island of Corsica. +At school he was "studious, well-behaved, and distinguished in +mathematical studies." In 1785 he was commissioned as a sublieutenant in +the army. From this obscure position he raised himself to the head of the +army, and in 1804 was elected emperor of the French. He is almost +universally acknowledged to have been the greatest general the world has +known. + + + +L. THE OLD SAMPLER. + +1. Out of the way, in a corner + Of our dear old attic room, + Where bunches of herbs from the hillside + Shake ever a faint perfume, + An oaken chest is standing, + With hasp and padlock and key, + Strong as the hands that made it + On the other side of the sea. + +2. When the winter days are dreary, + And we're out of heart with life, + Of its crowding cares aweary, + And sick of its restless strife, + We take a lesson in patience + From the attic corner dim, + Where the chest still holds its treasures, + A warder faithful and grim. + +3. Robes of an antique fashion, + Linen and lace and silk, + That time has tinted with saffron, + Though once they were white as milk; + Wonderful baby garments, + 'Boidered with loving care + By fingers that felt the pleasure, + As they wrought the ruffles fair; + +4. A sword, with the red rust on it, + That flashed in the battle tide, + When from Lexington to Yorktown + Sorely men's souls were tried; + A plumed chapeau and a buckle, + And many a relic fine, + And, an by itself, the sampler, + Framed in with berry and vine. + +5. Faded the square of canvas, + And dim is the silken thread, + But I think of white hands dimpled, + And a childish, sunny head; + For here in cross and in tent stitch, + In a wreath of berry and vine, + She worked it a hundred years ago, + "Elizabeth, Aged Nine." + +6. In and out in the sunshine, + The little needle flashed, + And in and out on the rainy day, + When the merry drops down plashed, + As close she sat by her mother, + The little Puritan maid, + And did her piece in the sampler, + While the other children played. + +7. You are safe in the beautiful heaven, + "Elizabeth, aged nine;" + But before you went you had troubles + Sharper than any of mine. + Oh, the gold hair turned with sorrow + White as the drifted snow. + And your tears dropped here where I'm standing, + On this very plumed chapeau. + +8. When you put it away, its wearer + Would need it nevermore, + By a sword thrust learning the secrets + God keeps on yonder shore; + And you wore your grief like glory, + You would not yield supine, + Who wrought in your patient childhood, + "Elizabeth, Aged Nine." + +9. Out of the way, in a corner, + With hasp and padlock and key, + Stands the oaken chest of my fathers + That came from over the sea; + And the hillside herbs above it + Shake odors fragrant and fine, + And here on its lid is a garland + To "Elizabeth, aged nine." + +10. For love is of the immortal, + And patience is sublime, + And trouble a thing of every day, + And touching every time; + And childhood sweet and sunny, + And womanly truth and grace, + Ever call light life's darkness + And bless earth's lowliest place. + --Mrs. M. E. Sangster. + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Ward'er, a keeper, a guard. 3. An-tique', old, ancient. +Saf'fron, a deep yellow. 4. Cha-peau', a hat. 8. Su-pine', listless. 10. +Im-mort'al, undying. + + +NOTES.--6. Puritan. The Puritans were a religious sect who fled from +persecution in England, and afterwards settled the most of New England. + +A sampler is a needlework pattern; a species of fancywork formerly much in +vogue. + + + +LI. THE GOODNESS OF GOD. + +1. Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord, my God, thou art very great; thou +art clothed with honor and majesty: who coverest thyself with light as +with a garment; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain; who layeth +the beams of his chambers in the waters; who maketh the clouds his +chariot; who walketh upon the wings of the wind; who maketh his angels +spirits, his ministers a flaming fire; who laid the foundations of the +earth, that it should not be removed forever. + +2. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood +above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder +they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys +unto the place which thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound +which they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth. + + +3. He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. +They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild asses quench their +thirst. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which +sing among the branches. He watereth the hills from his chambers; the +earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. + +4. He caused the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of +man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth; and wine that maketh +glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which +strengtheneth man's heart. + +5. The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he +hath planted, where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir +trees are her house. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and +the rocks for the conies. + +6. He appointed the moon for seasons; the sun knoweth his going down. Thou +makest darkness, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forest do +creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat +from God. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them +down in their dens. Man goeth forth unto his work, and to his labor until +the evening. + +7. O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: +the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein +are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the +ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. These +wait all upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. + +8. That thou givest them they gather; thou openest thine hand, they are +filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest +away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth +thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth. + +9. The glory of the Lord shall endure forever: the Lord shall rejoice in +his works. He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the +hills, and they smoke. + +10. O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his +wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the +sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. + +11. O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds +among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his +wondrous' works. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice +that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord, and his strength; seek his face +evermore. + +12. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the +judgments of his mouth. He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all +the earth. I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise +to my God while I have my being. + --Extracts from the Bible. + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Found'ed, built, established. 3. Hab-i-ta' tion, place of +abode. 5. Ref 'uge, shelter, protection. Co'ny, a kind of rabbit. 6. +Ap-point'ed, ordained. + + +NOTES.--5. Cedars of Lebanon. A species of cedar, of great magnificence, +formerly abundant in Mt. Lebanon and the Taurus Range in Asia Minor, but +now almost entirely destroyed. The wood is durable and fragrant, and was +used in the construction of costly buildings, such as the palace of David +and Solomon's Temple. + +7. Leviathan. This name is applied in the Old Testament to some huge water +animal. In some cases it appears to mean the crocodile, but in others the +whale or a large sea serpent. + + + +LII. MY MOTHER. + +1. Often into folly straying, + O, my mother! how I've grieved her! + Oft I've heard her for me praying, + Till the gushing tears relieved her; + And she gently rose and smiled, + Whispering, "God will keep my child." + +2. She was youthful then, and sprightly, + Fondly on my father leaning, + Sweet she spoke, her eyes shone brightly, + And her words were full of meaning; + Now, an autumn leaf decayed; + I, perhaps, have made it fade. + +3. But, whatever ills betide thee, + Mother, in them all I share; + In thy sickness watch beside thee, + And beside thee kneel in prayer. + Best of mothers! on my breast + Lean thy head, and sink to rest. + + + +LIII. THE HOUR OF PRAYER. + +Felicia Dorothea Hemans (b. 1794, d. 1835) was born in Liverpool, England. +Her maiden name was Browne. Her childhood was spent in Wales. Her first +volume of poems was published in 1808; her second in 1812. In 1812 she was +married to Captain Hemans, but he left her about six years after their +marriage, and they never again lived together. She went, with her five +sons, to reside with her mother, then living near St. Asaph, in North +Wales. Mrs. Hemans then resumed her literary pursuits, and wrote much and +well. Her poetry is smooth and graceful, and she excels in description. +Many of her poems are exceedingly beautiful. + +1. Child, amid the flowers at play, + While the red light fades away; + Mother, with thine earnest eye, + Ever following silently; + Father, by the breeze at eve + Called thy harvest work to leave; + Pray! Ere yet the dark hours be, + Lift the heart, and bend the knee. + +2. Traveler, in the stranger's land, + Far from thine own household band; + Mourner, haunted by the tone + Of a voice from this world gone; + Captive, in whose narrow cell + Sunshine hath not leave to dwell; + Sailor, on the darkening sea; + Lift the heart and bend the knee. + +3. Warrior, that from battle won, + Breathest now at set of sun; + Woman, o'er the lowly slain + Weeping on his burial plain; + Ye that triumph, ye that sigh, + Kindred by one holy tie, + Heaven's first star alike ye see; + Lift the heart, and bend the knee. + + + +LIV. THE WILL. + +Characters.--SWIPES, a brewer; CURRIE, a saddler; FRANK MILLINGTON; and +SQUIRE DRAWL. + +Swipes. A sober occasion, this, brother Currie. Who would have thought the +old lady was so near her end? + +Currie. Ah! we must all die, brother Swipes; and those who live the +longest outlive the most. + +Swipes. True, true; but, since we must die and leave our earthly +possessions, it is well that the law takes such good care of us. Had the +old lady her senses when she departed? + +Cur. Perfectly, perfectly. Squire Drawl told me she read every word of the +will aloud, and never signed her name better. + +Swipes. Had you any hint from the Squire what disposition she made of her +property? + +Cur. Not a whisper; the Squire is as close as an underground tomb; but one +of the witnesses hinted to me that she had cut off her graceless nephew, +Frank, without a shilling. + +Swipes. Has she, good soul, has she? You know I come in, +then, in right of my wife. + +Cur. And I in my own right; and this is no doubt the reason why we have +been called to hear the reading of the will. Squire Drawl knows how things +should be done, though he is as air-tight as one of your beer barrels. But +here comes the young reprobate. He must be present, as a matter of course, +you know. [Enter FRANK MILLINGTON.] Your servant, young gentleman. So your +benefactress has left you at last. + +Swipes. It is a painful thing to part with old and good friends, Mr. +Millington. + +Frank. It is so, sir; but I could bear her loss better had I not so often +been ungrateful for her kindness. She was my only friend, and I knew not +her value. + +Cur. It is too late to repent, Master Millington. You will now have a +chance to earn your own bread. + +Swipes. Ay, ay, or the sweat of your brow, as better people are obliged +to. You would make a fine brewer's boy, if you were not too old. + +Cur. Ay, or a saddler's lackey, if held with a tight rein. + +Frank. Gentlemen, your remarks imply that my aunt has treated me as I +deserved. I am above your insults, and only hope you will bear your +fortune as modestly as I shall mine submissively. I shall retire. [Going: +He meets SQUIRE DRAWL.] + +Squire. Stop, stop, young man. We must have your presence. Good morning, +gentlemen; you are early on the ground. + +Cur. I hope the Squire is well to-day. + +Squire. Pretty comfortable, for an invalid. + +Swipes. I trust the damp air has not affected your lungs again. + +Squire. No, I believe not. But, since the heirs at law are all convened, I +shall now proceed to open the last will and testament of your deceased +relative, according to law. + +Swipes. [While the SQUIRE is breaking the seal,] It is a trying thing to +leave all one's possessions, Squire; in this manner. + +Cur. It really makes me feel melancholy when I look around and see +everything but the venerable owner of these goods. Well did the Preacher +say, "All is vanity." + +Squire. Please to be seated, gentlemen. [He puts on his spectacles and +begins to read slowly.] "Imprirmis; whereas, my nephew, Francis +Millington, by his disobedience and ungrateful conduct, has shown himself +unworthy of my bounty, and incapable of managing my large estate, I do +hereby give and bequeath all my houses, farms, stocks, bonds, moneys, and +property, both personal and real, to my dear cousins, Samuel Swipes, of +Malt Street, brewer, and Christopher Currie, of Fly Court, saddler." [The +SQUIRE here takes off his spectacles, and begins to wipe them very +leisurely.] + +Swipes. Generous creature! kind soul! I always loved her! + +Cur. She was good, she was kind;--and, brother Swipes, when we divide, I +think I'll take the mansion house. + +Swipes. Not so fast, if you please, Mr. Currie. My wife has long had her +eye upon that, and must have it. + +Cur. There will be two words to that bargain, Mr. Swipes. And, besides, I +ought to have the first choice. Did I not lend her a new chaise every time +she wished to ride? And who knows what influence-- + +Swipes. Am I not named first in her will? and did I not furnish her with +my best small beer for more than six months? And who knows-- + +Frank. Gentlemen, I must leave you. [Going.] Squire. [Putting on his +spectacles very deliberately.] Pray, gentlemen, keep your seats, I have +not done yet. Let me see; where was I? Ay, "All my property, both personal +and real, to my dear cousins, Samuel Swipes, of Malt Street, brewer,"-- + +Swipes. Yes! + +Squire. "And Christopher Currie, of Fly Court, saddler," + +Cur. Yes! + +Squire. "To have and to hold, IN TRUST, for the sole and exclusive benefit +of my nephew, Francis Millington, until he shall have attained the age of +twenty-one years, by which time I hope he will have so far reformed his +evil habits, as that he may safely be intrusted with the large fortune +which I hereby bequeath to him." + +Swipes. What is all this? You don't mean that we are humbugged? In trust! +How does that appear? Where is it? + +Squire. There; in two words of as good old English as I ever penned. + +Cur. Pretty well, too, Mr. Squire, if we must be sent for to be made a +laughingstock of. She shall pay for every ride she has had out of my +chaise, I promise you. + +Swipes. And for every drop of my beer. Fine times, if two sober, +hard-working citizens are to be brought here to be made the sport of a +graceless profligate. But we will manage his property for him, Mr. Currie; +we will make him feel that trustees are not to be trifled with. + +Cur. That we will. + +Squire. Not so fast, gentlemen; for the instrument is dated three years +ago; and the young gentleman must be already of age, and able to take care +of himself. Is it not so, Francis? + +Frank. It is, your worship. Squire. Then, gentlemen, having attended to +the breaking of the seal, according to law, you are released from any +further trouble about the business. + +DEFINITIONS.--Dis-po-si'tion, disposal. Grace'less, depraved, corrupt. +Rep'ro-bate, one morally lost. Lack'ey, an attending servant, a footman. +De-ceased', dead. Con-vened', met together, assembled. Im-pri'mis (Latin), +in the first place. Chaise (pro. shaz), a kind of two-wheeled carriage. +Re-formed', returned to a good state. Prof'li-gate, a person openly and +shamelessly vicious. In'stru-ment (a term in law), a writing expressive of +some act, con-tract, etc. + + +NOTES.--Terms having the same, or nearly the same, meaning, as, "will and +testament," "give and bequeath," "to have and to hold," "sole and +exclusive," are commonly joined in this way in legal documents. + +Personal property usually consists of things temporary and movable, while +real property includes things fixed and immovable such as lands and +tenements. + + + +LV. THE NOSE AND THE EYES. + +William Cowper (b. 1731, d. 1800) was the son of an English clergyman, and +was born in Great Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, England. He was sent to +Westminster School when he was ten years of age, and he remained there, a +diligent student, eight years. He then studied law, and was admitted to +the bar, but he never practiced his profession. He was appointed to a +clerkship in the House of Lords when he was about thirty years old, but he +never entered upon the discharge of his duties. He became insane, and was +sent to a private asylum. After his recovery, he found a home in the +family of the Rev. Mr. Unwin. On the death of this gentleman, he resided +with the widow till her death--most of the time at Olney. His first +writing's were published in 1782. "The Task," some hymns, a number of +minor poems, and his translations or Homer, composed his published works. +His insanity returned at times, and darkened a pure and gentle life at its +close. + +1. Between Nose and Eyes a strange contest arose; + The spectacles set them, unhappily, wrong; + The point in dispute was, as all the world knows, + To which the said spectacles ought to belong. + +2. So Tongue was the lawyer, and argued the cause, + With a great deal of skill and a wig full of learning, + While chief baron Ear sat to balance the laws, + So famed for his talent in nicely discerning. + +3. "In behalf of the Nose, it will quickly appear, + And your lordship," he said, "will undoubtedly find, + That the Nose has the spectacles always to wear, + Which amounts to possession, time out of mind." + +4. Then, holding the spectacles up to the court, + "Your lordship observes, they are made with a straddle + As wide as the ridge of the Nose is; in short, + Designed to sit close to it, just like a saddle. + +5. "Again, would your lordship a moment suppose + ('T is a case that has happened, and may happen again) + That the visage or countenance had not a Nose, + Pray, who would or who could wear spectacles then? + +6. "On the whole it appears, and my argument shows, + With a reasoning the court will never condemn, + That the spectacles plainly were made for the Nose, + And the Nose was as plainly intended for them." + +7. Then shifting his side (as a lawyer knows how), + He pleaded again in behalf of the Eyes: + But what were his arguments, few people know, + For the court did not think them equally wise. + +8. So his lordship decreed, with a grave, solemn tone, + Decisive and clear, without one if or but, + That whenever the Nose put his spectacles on, + By daylight or candlelight,--Eyes should be shut. + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Ar'gued, discussed, treated by reasoning. Dis-cern'ing +(pro. diz-zern'ing), marking as different, distinguishing, 3. Be-half', +support, defense. 8. De-creed', determined judicially by authority, +ordered, + + + +LVI. AN ICEBERG. + +Louis Legrand Noble (b. 1813, d. 1882) was horn in Otsetgo County, New +York. When twelve years of age, he removed with his family to the wilds of +Michigan, but after the death of his father he returned to New York to +study for the ministry, which he entered in 1840. About this time he +published his first productions, two Indian romances in the form of poems, +entitled "Pewatem" and "Nimahmin." Mr. Noble lived for a time in North +Carolina, and later at Catskill on the Hudson, where he became a warm +friend of the artist Cole. After the latter's death he wrote a memorial of +him. Other works of this author are "The Hours, and other Poems," and +"After Icebergs with a Painter," from which this selection is taken. + +1. We have just passed a fragment of some one of the surrounding icebergs +that had amused us. It bore the resemblance of a huge polar bear, reposing +upon the base of an inverted cone, with a twist of a seashell, and +whirling slowly round and round. The ever-attending green water, with its +aerial clearness, enabled us to see its spiral folds and horns as they +hung suspended in the deep. + +2. The bear, a ten-foot mass in tolerable proportion, seemed to be +regularly beset by a pack of hungry little swells. First, one would take +him on the haunch, then whip back into the sea over his tail and between +his legs. Presently a bolder swell would rise and pitch into his back with +a ferocity that threatened instant destruction. It only washed his satin +fleece the whiter. + +3. While Bruin was turning to look the daring assailant in the face, the +rogue had pitched himself back into his cave. No sooner that, than a very +bulldog of a billow would attack him in the face. The serenity with which +the impertinent assault was borne was complete. It was but a puff of +silvery dust, powdering his mane with fresher brightness. Nothing would be +left of bull but a little froth of all the foam displayed in the fierce +onset. He too would turn and scud into his hiding place. + +4. Persistent little waves! After a dash, singly, all around, upon the +common enemy, as if by some silent agreement underwater, they would all +rush on at once, with their loudest roar and shaggiest foam, and overwhelm +poor bear so completely that nothing less might be expected than to behold +him broken in four quarters, and floating helplessly asunder. Mistaken +spectators! Although, by his momentary rolling and plunging, he was +evidently aroused, yet neither Bruin nor his burrow was at all the worse +for all the wear and washing. + +5. The deep fluting, the wrinkled folds, and cavities, over and through +which the green and silvery water rushed back into the sea, rivaled the +most exquisite sculpture. And nature not only gives her marbles, with the +finest lines, the most perfect lights and shades, she colors them also. +She is no monochromist, but polychroic, imparting such touches of dove +tints, emerald, and azure as she bestows upon her gems and skies. + +6. We are bearing up under the big berg as closely as we dare. To our +delight, what we have been wishing and watching for is actually taking +place: loud explosions, with heavy falls of ice, followed by the +cataract-like roar, and the high, thin seas, wheeling away beautifully +crested with sparkling foam. If it is possible, imagine the effect upon +the beholder: this precipice of ice, with tremendous cracking, is falling +toward us with a majestic and awful motion. + +7. Down sinks the long water line into the black deep; down go the +porcelain crags and galleries of glassy sculpture--a speechless and awful +baptism. Now it pauses, and returns: up rise sculptures and crags +streaming with the shining white brine; up comes the great encircling +line, followed by things new and strange--crags, niches, balconies, and +caves; up, up, it rises, higher and higher still, crossing the very breast +of the grand ice, and all bathed with rivulets of gleaming foam. Over goes +the summit, ridge, pinnacles, and all, standing off obliquely in the +opposite air. Now it pauses in its upward roll: back it comes again, +cracking, cracking, cracking, "groaning out harsh thunder" as it comes, +and threatening to burst, like a mighty bomb, into millions of glittering +fragments. The spectacle is terrific and magnificent. Emotion is +irrepressible, and peals of wild hurrah burst forth from all. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Cone, a solid body having a circular base, from which it +tapers gradually to a point. 2. Swells, waves. 3. Se-ren'i-ty, quietness, +calmness. 5. Ex'qui-site, exceedingly nice, giving rare satisfaction. +Sculp'ture, carved work. Mon'o-chro-mist, one who paints in a single +color. Pol-y-chro'ic, given to the use of many colors. 7. Pin'na-cles, +high, spirelike points. Ob-lique'ly, slantingly. Ir-re-press'i-ble, not to +be restrained. + + +Notes--Only about one eighth of an iceberg appears above the surface of +the water. When one side of it grows heavier than another, through unequal +melting and the action of the waves, the whole mass rolls over in the +water in the manner so well described in this lesson. + + + +LVII. ABOUT QUAIL. + +William Post Hawes (b. 1803, d.1842) was born in New York City. and was a +graduate of Columbia College. He was a lawyer by profession. His writings +consist mainly of essays, contributed to various newspapers and magazines, +and show great descriptive power. He was a frequent contributor to the +"Spirit of the Times," under the title of "Cypress, Jr.," on various +sporting topics. After his death a collection of his writings was +published in two volumes, entitled, "Sporting Scenes" and "Sundry +Sketches." + +1. The quail is peculiarly a domestic bird, and is attached to his +birthplace and the home of his forefathers. The various members of the +aquatic families educate their children in the cool summer of the far +north, and bathe their warm bosoms in July in the iced waters of Hudson +Bay; but when Boreas scatters the rushes where they had builded their +bedchambers, they desert their fatherland, and fly to disport in the sunny +waters of the south. + +2. The songsters of the woodland, when their customary crops of insects +and berries are cut off in the fall, gather themselves to renew their +loves and get married in more genial climes. Presently, the groves so +vocal, and the sky so full, shall be silent and barren. The "melancholy +days" will soon be here; only thou, dear Bob White, wilt remain. + +3. The quail is the bird for me. He is no rover, no emigrant. He stays at +home, and is identified with the soil. Where the farmer works, he lives, +and loves, and whistles. In budding springtime, and in scorching +summer--in bounteous autumn, and in barren winter, his voice is heard from +the same bushy hedge fence, and from his customary cedars. Cupidity and +cruelty may drive him to the woods, and to seek more quiet seats; but be +merciful and kind to him, and he will visit your barnyard, and sing for +you upon the boughs of the apple tree by your gateway. + +4. When warm May first wooes the young flowers to open and receive her +breath, then begin the cares and responsibilitie of wedded life. Away fly +the happy pair to seek some grassy tussock, where, safe from the eye of +the hawk and the nose of the fox, they may rear their expectant brood in +peace. + +5. Oats harvest arrives, and the fields are waving with yellow grain. Now +be wary, O kind-hearted cradler, and tread not into those pure white eggs +ready to burst with life! Soon there is a peeping sound heard, and lo! a +proud mother walketh magnificently in the midst of her children, +scratching and picking, and teaching them how to swallow. Happy she, if +she may be permitted to bring them up to maturity, and uncompelled to +renew her joys in another nest. + +6. The assiduities of a mother have a beauty and a sacredness about them +that command respect and reverence in all animal nature, human or +inhuman--what a lie does that word carry--except, perhaps, in monsters, +insects, and fish. I never yet heard of the parental tenderness of a +trout, eating up his little baby, nor of the filial gratitude of a spider, +nipping the life out of his gray-headed father, and usurping his web. + +7. But if you would see the purest, the sincerest, the most affecting +piety of a parent's love, startle a young family of quails, and watch the +conduct of the mother. She will not leave you. No, not she. But she will +fall at your feet, uttering a noise which none but a distressed mother can +make, and she will run, and flutter, and seem to try to be caught, and +cheat your outstretched hand, and affect to be wing-broken and wounded, +and yet have just strength to tumble along, until she has drawn you, +fatigued, a safe distance from her threatened children and the young hopes +of her heart; and then will she mount, whirring with glad strength, and +away through the maze of trees you have not seen before, like a close-shot +bullet, fly to her skulking infants, + +8. Listen now. Do you hear those three half-plaintive notes, quickly and +clearly poured out? She is calling the boys and girls together. She sings +not now "Bob White!" nor "Ah! Bob White!" That is her husband's love call, +or his trumpet blast of defiance. But she calls sweetly and softly for her +lost children. Hear them "Peep! peep! peep!" at the welcome voice of their +mother's love! They are coming together. Soon the whole family will meet +again. + +9. It is a foul sin to disturb them; but retread your devious way, and let +her hear your coming footsteps, breaking down the briers, as you renew the +danger. She is quiet. Not a word is passed between the fearful fugitives. +Now, if you have the heart to do it, lie low, keep still, and imitate the +call of the hen quail. O mother! mother! how your heart would die if you +could witness the deception! The little ones raise up their trembling +heads, and catch comfort and imagined safety from the sound. "Peep! peep!" +They come to you, straining their little eyes, and, clustering together +and answering, seem to say, "Where is she? Mother! mother! we are here!" + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. A-quat'ic, frequenting the water. 2. Vo'cal, having a +voice. 3. I-den'ti-fied, united. Cu-pid'i-ty, eager desire to possess +something. 4. Tus'sock, a tuft of grass or twigs. 5. Cra'dler, one who +uses a cradle, which is an instrument attached to a scythe in cutting +grain. 6. U-surp'ing, seizing and holding in possession by force. 7. +Af-fect', to pretend. 9. De'vi-ous, winding. + + +NOTE.--l. Boreas is the name which the ancient Greeks gave to +the north wind. + + + +LVIII. THE BLUE AND THE GRAY. + +1. By the flow of the inland river, + Whence the fleets of iron have fled, + Where the blades of the grave grass quiver, + Asleep are the ranks of the dead;-- + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Under the one, the Blue; + Under the other, the Gray. + +2. These, in the robings of glory, + Those, in the gloom of defeat, + All, with the battle blood gory, + In the dusk of eternity meet;-- + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Under the laurel, the Blue; + Under the willow, the Gray. + +3. From the silence of sorrowful hours, + The desolate mourners go, + Lovingly laden with flowers, + Alike for the friend and the foe;-- + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Under the roses, the Blue; + Under the lilies, the Gray. + +4. So, with an equal splendor, + The morning sun rays fall, + With a touch, impartially tender, + On the blossoms blooming for all;-- + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Broidered with gold, the Blue; + Mellowed with gold, the Gray. + +5. So, when the summer calleth, + On forest and field of grain, + With an equal murmur falleth + The cooling drip of the rain;-- + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Wet with the rain, the Blue; + Wet with the rain, the Gray. + +6. Sadly, but not with upbraiding, + The generous deed was done: + In the storm of the years that are fading, + No braver battle was won;-- + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Under the blossoms, the Blue; + Under the garlands, the Gray. + +7. No more shall the war cry sever, + Or the winding rivers be red; + They banish our anger forever, + When they laurel the graves of our dead;-- + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Love and tears, for the Blue; + Tears and love, for the Gray. + --F. M. Finch. + +NOTE.--The above touching little poem first appeared in the "Atlantic +Monthly" in September, 1867. It commemorates the noble action on the part +of the women at Columbus, Miss., who in decorating the graves strewed +flowers impartially on those of the Confederate and of the Federal +soldiers. + + + +LIX. THE MACHINIST'S RETURN. + +[Adapted from a letter written by a correspondent of the Washington +"Capital."] + +1. On our way from Springfield to Boston, a stout, black-whiskered man +sat immediately in front of me, in the drawing-room car, whose maneuvers +were a source of constant amusement. He would get up every five minutes, +hurry away to the narrow passage leading to the door of the car, and +commence laughing in the most violent manner, continuing that healthful +exercise until he observed that some one was watching him, when he would +return to his seat. + +2. As we neared Boston these demonstrations increased in frequency and +violence, but the stranger kept his seat and chuckled to himself. He +shifted the position of his two portmanteaus, or placed them on the seat +as if he was getting ready to leave. As we were at least twenty-five miles +from Boston, such early preparations seemed extremely ridiculous. He +became so excited at last that he could not keep his secret. Some one must +be made a confidant; and as I happened to be the nearest to him, he +selected me. + +3. Turning around suddenly, and rocking himself to and fro in his chair, +he said, "I have been away from home three years. Have been in Europe. My +folks don't expect me for three months yet, but I got through and started. +I telegraphed them at the last station--they've got the dispatch by this +time." As he said this he rubbed his hands, and changed the portmanteau on +his left to the right, and then the one on the right to the left. + +4. "Have you a wife?" said I. "Yes, and three children," was the answer. +He then got up and folded his overcoat anew, and hung it over the back of +the seat. "You are somewhat nervous just now, are you not?" said I. + +5. "Well, I should think so," he replied. "I have n't slept soundly for a +week. Do you know," he went on, speaking in a low tone, "I am almost +certain this train will run off the track and break my neck before I get +to Boston. I have had too much good luck lately for one man. It can't +last. It rains so hard, sometimes, that you think it's never going to +stop; then it shines so bright you think it's always going to shine; and +just as you are settle in either belief, you are knocked over by a change, +to show you that you know nothing about it." + +6. "Well, according to your philosophy," I said, "you will continue to +have sunshine because you are expecting a storm." "Perhaps so," he +replied; "but it is curious that the only thing which makes me think I +shall get through safe is, I fear that I shall not." + +7. "I am a machinist," he continued; "I made a discovery; nobody believed +in it; I spent all my money in trying to bring it out; I mortgaged my +home--everything went. Everybody laughed at me--everybody but my wife. She +said she would work her fingers off before I should give it up. I went to +England. At first I met with no encouragement whatever, and came very near +jumping off London Bridge. I went into a workshop to earn money enough to +come home with: there I met the man I wanted. To make a long story short, +I've brought home 50,000 Pounds with me, and here I am." + +8. "Good!" I exclaimed. "Yes," said he, "and the best of it is, she knows +nothing about it. She has been disappointed so often that I concluded I +would not write to her about my unexpected good luck. When I got my money, +though, I started for home at once." + +9. "And now, I suppose, you will make her happy?" "Happy!" he replied; +"why, you don't know anything about it! She's worked night and day since I +have been in England, trying to support herself and the children decently. +They paid her thirteen cents apiece for making shirts, and that's the way +she has lived half the time. She'll come down to the depot to meet me in a +gingham dress and a shawl a hundred years old, and she'll think she's +dressed up! Perhaps she won't have any fine dresses in a week or so, eh?'" +10. The stranger then strode down the passageway again, and getting in a +corner where he seemed to suppose that he was out of sight, went through +the strangest pantomime,--laughing putting his mouth into the drollest +shapes, and swinging himself back and forth in the limited space. + +11. As the train was going into the depot, I placed myself on the platform +of the car in front of the one in which I had been riding, and opposite +the stranger, who, with a portmanteau in each hand, was standing on the +lowest step, ready to jump to the ground. I looked from his face to the +faces of the people before us, but saw no sign of recognition. Suddenly he +cried, "There they are!" + +12. Then he laughed outright, but in a hysterical way, as he looked over +the crowd in front of him. I followed his eye and saw, some distance back, +as if crowded out by the well-dressed and elbowing throng, a little woman +in a faded dress and a well-worn hat, with a face almost painful in its +intense but hopeful expression, glancing rapidly from window to window as +the coaches passed by. + +13. She had not seen the stranger, but a moment after she caught his eye. +In another instant he had jumped to the platform with his two +portmanteaus, and, pushing his way through the crowd, he rushed towards +the place where she was standing. I think I never saw a face assume so +many different expressions in so short a time as did that of the little +woman while her husband was on his way to meet her. + +14. She was not pretty,--on the contrary, she was very plain-looking; but +somehow I felt a big lump rise in my throat as I watched her. She was +trying to laugh, but, God bless her, how completely she failed in the +attempt! Her mouth got into the position to laugh, but it never moved +after that, save to draw down at the corners and quiver, while her eyes +blinked so fast that I suspect she only caught occasional glimpses of the +broad-shouldered fellow who elbowed his way so rapidly toward her. + +15. As he drew close, and dropped the portmanteaus, she turned to one +side, and covered her face with her hands; and thus she was when the +strong man gathered her up in his arms as if she were a child, and held +her sobbing to his breast. + +16. There were enough staring at them, heaven knows; so I turned my eyes +away a moment, and then I saw two boys in threadbare roundabouts standing +near, wiping their eyes on their sleeves, and bursting into tears anew at +every fresh demonstration on the part of their mother. When I looked at +the stranger again he had his hat drawn over his eyes; but his wife was +looking up at him, and it seemed as if the pent-up tears of those weary +months of waiting were streaming through her eyelids. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Ma-neu'vers, movements. 2. Dem-on-stra'-tions, expression +of the feelings by outward signs. Port-man'teau (pro. port-man'to), a +traveling bag, usually made of leather. Con-fi-dant', one to whom secrets +are intrusted. 3. Dis-patch', a message. 6. Phi-los'o-phy, reasoning. 7. +Ma-chin'ist, a constructor of ma-chines and engines. Mort'gaged (pro. +mor'gajd), given as security for debt. 9. Ging'ham, a kind of cotton cloth +which is dyed before it is woven. 10. Pan'to-mime, acting without +speaking, dumb show. 12. Hys-ter'ic-al, convulsive, fitful. + + + +LX. MAKE WAY FOR LIBERTY. + +James Montgomery (b. 1771, d. 1854) was born in Irvine, Ayrshire, +Scotland. His father, a Moravian preacher, sent him to a Moravian school +at Fulneck, Yorkshire, England, to be educated. In 1794 he started "The +Sheffield Iris," a weekly paper, which he edited, with marked ability, +till 1825. He was fined and imprisoned twice for publishing articles +decided to be seditious. His principal poetical works are "The World +before the Flood," "Greenland," "The West Indies," "The Wanderer in +Switzerland," "The Pelican Island," and "Original Hymns, for Public, +Private, and Social Devotion." Mr. Montgomery's style is generally too +diffuse; but its smoothness and the evident sincerity of his emotions have +made many of his hymns and minor poems very popular. A pension of 300 +Pounds a year was granted to him in 1833. + +1. "Make way for Liberty!" he cried; + Made way for Liberty, and died! + +2. In arms the Austrian phalanx stood, + A living wall, a human wood! + A wall, where every conscious stone + Seemed to its kindred thousands grown; + A rampart all assaults to bear, + Till time to dust their frames should wear + A wood like that enchanted grove, + In which, with fiends, Rinaldo strove, + Where every silent tree possessed + A spirit prisoned in its breast, + Which the first stroke of coming strife + Would startle into hideous life: + So dense, so still, the Austrians stood, + A living wall, a human wood! + +3. Impregnable their front appears, + All horrent with projected spears, + Whose polished points before them shine, + From flank to flank, one brilliant line, + Bright as the breakers' splendors run + Along the billows to the sun. + +4. Opposed to these, a hovering band, + Contending for their native laud; + Peasants, whose new-found strength had broke + From manly necks the ignoble yoke, + And forged their fetters into swords, + On equal terms to fight their lords; + And what insurgent rage had gained, + In many a mortal fray maintained: + Marshaled once more at Freedom's call, + They came to conquer or to fall, + Where he who conquered, he who fell. + Was deemed a dead or living Tell! + +5. And now the work of life and death + Hung on the passing of a breath; + The fire of conflict burned within; + The battle trembled to begin; + Yet, while the Austrians held their ground, + Point for attack was nowhere found; + Where'er the impatient Switzers gazed, + The unbroken line of lances blazed; + That line 't were suicide to meet, + And perish at their tyrants' feet; + How could they rest within their graves, + And leave their homes the home of slaves? + Would they not feel their children tread + With clanking chains above their head? + +6. It must not be: this day, this hour, + Annihilates the oppressor's power + All Switzerland is in the field, + She will not fly, she can not yield; + Few were the numbers she could boast, + But every freeman was a host, + And felt as though himself were he + On whose sole arm hung victory. + +7. It did depend on one, indeed: + Behold him! Arnold Winkelried! + There sounds not to the trump of fame + The echo of a nobler name. + Unmarked he stood amid the throng, + In rumination deep and long, + Till you might see with sudden grace, + The very thought come o'er his face; + And by the motion of his form: + Anticipate the bursting storm; + And by the uplifting of his brow, + Tell where the bolt would strike, and how. + But 't was no sooner thought than done; + The field was in a moment won. + +8. "Make way for Liberty!" he cried: + Then ran, with arms extended wide, + As if his dearest friend to clasp; + Ten spears he swept within his grasp: + "Make way for Liberty!" he cried, + Their keen points met from side to side; + He bowed among them like a tree, + And thus made way for Liberty. + +9. Swift to the breach his comrades fly; + "Make way for Liberty!" they cry, + And through the Austrian phalanx dart, + As rushed the spears through Arnold's heart; + While instantaneous as his fall, + Rout, ruin, panic, scattered all. + An earthquake could not overthrow + A city with a surer blow. + +10. Thus Switzerland again was free, + Thus Death made way for Liberty! + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Pha'lanx, a body of troops formed in close array. +Con'scious, sensible, knowing. Kin'dred, those of like nature, relatives. +Ram'part, that which defends from assault, a bulwark. 3. Im-preg'na-ble, +that can not be moved or shaken. Hor'rent, standing out like bristles. 4. +In-sur'gent, rising in opposition to authority. 13. An-ni'hi-lates, +destroys. 7. Ru-mi-na'tion, the act of musing, meditation. 9. Breach, a +gap or opening made by breaking. + + +NOTES.--The incident related in this poem is one of actual occurrence, and +took place at the battle of Sempach, fought in 1386 A.D., between only +1,300 Swiss and a large army of Austrians. The latter had obtained +possession of a narrow pass in the mountains, from which it seemed +impossible to dislodge them until Arnold von Winkelried made a breach in +their line, as narrated. + +Rinaldo is a knight in Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered" (Canto XVIII, 17-40), +who enters an enchanted wood, and, by cutting down a tree in spite of the +nymphs and phantoms that endeavor in every way to stop him, breaks the +spell; the Christian army are thus enabled to enter the grove and obtain +timber for their engines of war. + + + +LXI. THE ENGLISH SKYLARK. + +Elihu Burritt (b. 1810, d. 1879). "the learned blacksmith," was born in +New Britain, Conn. His father was a shoemaker. Having received only a +limited amount of instruction at the district school, he was apprenticed +to a blacksmith about 1827. During his apprenticeship he labored hard at +self-instruction. He worked at his trade many years, from ten to twelve +hours each day, but managed, in the meantime to acquire a knowledge of +many ancient and modern languages. He made translations from several of +these, which were published in the "American Eclectic Review." In 1844 he +commenced the publication of "The Christian Citizen." His leading literary +works are "Sparks from the Anvil," "A Voice from the Forge," "Peace +Papers," and "Walks to John o' Groat's House." From the last of these the +following selection is abridged. + +1. Take it in all, no bird in either hemisphere equals the English lark in +heart or voice, for both unite to make it the sweetest, the happiest, the +welcomest singer that was ever winged, like the high angels of God's love. +It is the living ecstasy of joy when it mounts up into its "glorious +privacy of light." + +2. On the earth it is timid, silent, and bashful, as if not at home, and +not sure of its right to be there at all. It is rather homely withal, +having nothing in feather, feature, or form to attract notice. It is +seemingly made to be heard, not seen, reversing the old axiom addressed to +children when getting noisy. + +3. Its mission is music, and it floods a thousand acres of the blue sky +with it several times a day. Out of that palpitating speck of living joy +there wells forth a sea of twittering ecstasy upon the morning and evening +air. It does not ascend by gyrations, like the eagle and birds of prey. It +mounts up like a human aspiration. + +4. It seems to spread its wings and to be lifted straight upwards out of +sight by the afflatus of its own happy heart. To pour out this in +undulating rivulets of rhapsody is apparently the only motive of its +ascension. This it is that has made it so loved of all generations. + +5. It is the singing angel of man's nearest heaven, whose vital breath is +music. Its sweet warbling is only the metrical palpitation of its life of +joy. It goes up over the rooftrees of the rural hamlet on the wings of its +song, as if to train the human soul to trial flights heavenward. + +6. Never did the Creator put a voice of such volume into so small a living +thing. It is a marvel--almost a miracle. In a still hour you can hear it +at nearly a mile's distance. When its form is lost in the hazy lace work +of the sun's rays above, it pours down upon you all the thrilling +semitones of its song as distinctly as if it were warbling to you in your +window. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Ec'sta-sy, overmastering joy, rapture. 2. Ax'i-om, a +self-evident truth. 3. Pal'pi-tat-ing, throbbing, fluttering. Wells, +pours, flows. Gy-ra'tions, circular or spiral motions. 4. Af--fla'tus, +breath, inspiration. Un'du-la-ting, rising and falling like waves. +Rhap'so-dy, that which is uttered in a disconnected way under strong +excitement. Gen-er-a'tion, the mass of beings at one period. 5. +Met'ric-al, arranged in measures, as poetry and music. Roof 'tree, the +beam in the angle of a roof, hence the roof itself. Ham'let, a little +cluster of houses. + + + +LXII. HOW SLEEP THE BRAVE. + +William Collins (b. 1721, d. 1759) was born at Chichester, England. He was +educated at Winchester and Oxford. About 1745, he went to London as a +literary adventurer, and there won the esteem of Dr. Johnson. His "Odes" +were published in 1746, but were not popular. He was subsequently relieved +from pecuniary embarrassment by a legacy of 2,000 Pounds from a maternal +uncle; but he soon became partially insane, and was for some time confined +in an asylum for lunatics. He afterwards retired to Chichester, where he +was cared for by his sister until his death. + +1. How sleep the brave who sink to rest + By all their country's wishes blessed! + When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, + Returns to deck their hallowed mold, + She there shall dress a sweeter sod + Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. + +2. By fairy hands their knell is rung; + By forms unseen their dirge is sung; + There honor comes a pilgrim gray, + To bless the turf that wraps their clay; + And Freedom shall awhile repair + To dwell a weeping hermit there! + + + +LXIII. THE RAINBOW. + +John Keble (b. 1792. d. 1866) was born near Fairfax, Gloucestershire, +England. He graduated at Oxford with remarkably high honors, and +afterwards was appointed to the professorship of poetry in that +university. Since his death, Keble College, at Oxford, has been erected to +his memory. In 1835, he became vicar of Hursley and rector of Otterbourne, +and held these livings until his death. His most famous work is "The +Christian Year," a collection of sacred poems. + +1. A fragment of a rainbow bright + Through the moist air I see, + All dark and damp on yonder height, + All bright and clear to me. + +2. An hour ago the storm was here, + The gleam was far behind; + So will our joys and grief appear, + When earth has ceased to blind. + +3. Grief will be joy if on its edge + Fall soft that holiest ray, + Joy will be grief if no faint pledge + Be there of heavenly day. + + + +LXIV. SUPPOSED SPEECH OF JOHN ADAMS. + +Daniel Webster (b. 1782, d. 1852) was born in Salisbury, N.H. He spent a +few months of his boyhood at Phillips Academy, Exeter, but fitted for +college under Rev. Samuel Wood, of Boscawen, N.H. He graduated from +Dartmouth College in 1801. He taught school several terms, during and +after his college course. In 1805, he was admitted to the bar in Boston, +and practiced law in New Hampshire for the succeeding eleven years. In +1812, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. In +1816, he removed to Boston, and in 1827 was elected to the United States +Senate, which position he held for twelve years. In 1841, he was appointed +Secretary of State. He returned to the Senate in 1845. In 1850, he was +reappointed Secretary of State and continued in office until his death. He +died at his residence, in Marshfield, Mass. Mr. Webster's fame rests +chiefly on his state papers and speeches. As a speaker he was dignified +and stately, using clear, pure English. During all his life he took great +interest in agriculture, and was very fond of outdoor sports. + +1. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my +heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that, in the beginning, we aimed +not at independence. But + + "There's a divinity that shapes our ends." + +The injustice of England has driven us to arms; and blinded to her own +interest, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within +our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is ours. Why then +should we defer the declaration? Is any man so weak as now to hope for a +reconciliation with England, which shall leave either safety to the +country and its liberties, or security to his own life and his own honor! +Are not you, sir, who sit in that chair, is not he, our venerable +colleague, near you, are you not both already the proscribed and +predestined objects of punishment and of vengeance? Cut off from all hope +of royal clemency, what are you, what can you be, while the power of +England remains, but outlaws? + +2. If we postpone independence, do we mean to carry on, or to give up, the +war? Do we mean to submit, and consent that we shall be ground to powder, +and our country and its rights trodden down in the dust? I know we do not +mean to submit. We NEVER shall submit! Do we intend to violate that most +solemn obligation ever entered into by men, that plighting, before God, of +our sacred honor to Washington, when, putting him forth to incur the +dangers of war, as well as the political hazards of the times, we promised +to adhere to him in every extremity with our fortunes and our lives? I +know there is not a man here, who would not rather see a general +conflagration sweep over the land, or an earthquake sink it, than one jot +or tittle of that plighted faith fall to the ground. For myself, having +twelve months ago, in this place, moved you that George Washington be +appointed commander of the forces raised, or to be raised, for the defense +of American liberty; may my right hand forget her cunning, and my tongue +cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate or waver in the support I +give him. + +3. The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through. And if the war +must go on, why put off the Declaration of Independence? That measure will +strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. Nations will then treat +with us, which they never can do while we acknowledge ourselves subjects +in arms against our sovereign. Nay, I maintain that England herself will +sooner treat for peace with us on the footing of independence, than +consent, by repealing her acts, to acknowledge that her whole conduct +toward us has been a course of injustice and oppression. Her pride will be +less wounded by submitting to that course of things, which now +predestinates our independence, than by yielding the points in controversy +to her rebellious subjects. The former, she would regard as the result of +fortune; the latter, she would feel as her own deep disgrace. Why, then, +do we not change this from a civil to a national war? And since we must +fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state to enjoy all the +benefits of victory, if we gain the victory. + +4. If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall not fail. The cause +will raise up armies; the cause will create navies. The people--the +people, if we are true to them, will carry us, and will carry themselves, +gloriously through this struggle. I care not how fickle other people have +been found. I know the people of these colonies; and I know that +resistance to British aggression is deep and settled in their hearts, and +can not be eradicated. Sir, the Declaration of Independence will inspire +the people with increased courage. Instead of a long and bloody war for +the restoration of privileges, for redress of grievances, for chartered +immunities, held under a British king, set before them the glorious object +of entire independence, and it will breathe into them anew the spirit of +life. + +5. Read this declaration at the head of the army; every sword will be +drawn, and the solemn vow uttered to maintain it, or perish on the bed of +honor. Publish it from the pulpit; religion will approve it, and the love +of religious liberty will cling around it, resolved to stand with it or +fall with it. Send it to the public halls; proclaim it there; let them see +it who saw their brothers and their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill +and in the streets of Lexington and Concord, and the very walls will cry +out in its support. + +6. Sir, I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I see--I see clearly +through this day's business. You and I, indeed, may rue it. We may not +live to see the time this declaration shall be made good. We may die; die +colonists; die slaves; die, it may be, ignominiously and on the scaffold. +Be it so: be it so. If it be the pleasure of Heaven that my country shall +require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready at the +appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But while I do live, +let me have a country, or at least the hope of a country, and that a FREE +country. + +7. But whatever may be our fate, be assured--be assured that this +Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood; but +it will stand, and it will richly compensate for both. Through the thick +gloom of the present I see the brightness of the future as the sun in +heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we are in our +graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with +thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations. On its +annual return they will shed tears,--copious, gushing tears; not of +subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of +gratitude, and of joy. + +8. Sir, before God I believe the hour is come. My judgment approves the +measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, +and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it; +and I leave off as I began, that, live or die, survive or perish, I am for +the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and, by the blessing of God, +it shall by my dying sentiment; independence now, and INDEPENDENCE +FOREVER. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Rec-on-cil-i-a'tion, renewal of friendship. Col'league +(pro. kol'leg), an associate in some civil office. Pro-scribed', doomed to +destruction, put out of the protection of the law. Pre-des'tined, decreed +beforehand. Clem'en-cy, mercy, indulgence. + + + +Notes.--Mr. Webster, in a speech upon the life and character of John +Adams, imagines some one opposed to the Declaration of Independence to +have stated his fears and objections before Congress while deliberating on +that subject. He then supposes Mr. Adams to have replied in the language +above. + +1. The quotation is from "Hamlet," Act V, Scene 2. + +You, sir, who sit in that chair. This was addressed to John Hancock, +president of the Continental Congress. Our venerable colleague refers to +Samuel Adams. After the battles of Concord and Lexington, Governor Gage +offered pardon to all the rebels who would lay down their arms, excepting +Samuel Adams and John Hancock. + + + +LXV. THE RISING. + +Thomas Buchanan Read (b. 1822, d. 1872) was born in Chester County, +Pennsylvania. In 1839 he entered a sculptor's studio in Cincinnati, where +he gained reputation as a portrait painter. He afterwards went to New +York, Boston, and Philadelphia, and, in 1850, to Italy. He divided his +time between Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and Rome, in the latter years of +his life. Some or his poems are marked by vigor and strength, while others +are distinguished by smoothness and delicacy. The following selection is +abridged from "The Wagoner of the Alleghanies." + +1. Out of the North the wild news came, + Far flashing on its wings of flame, + Swift as the boreal light which flies + At midnight through the startled skies. + +2. And there was tumult in the air, + The fife's shrill note, the drum's loud beat, + And through the wide land everywhere + The answering tread of hurrying feet, + While the first oath of Freedom's gun + Came on the blast from Lexington. + And Concord, roused, no longer tame, + Forgot her old baptismal name, + Made bare her patriot arm of power, + And swelled the discord of the hour. + +3. The yeoman and the yoeman's son, + With knitted brows and sturdy dint, + Renewed the polish of each gun, + Recoiled the lock, reset the flint; + And oft the maid and matron there, + While kneeling in the firelight glare, + Long poured, with half-suspended breath, + The lead into the molds of death. + +4. The hands by Heaven made silken soft + To soothe the brow of love or pain, + Alas! are dulled and soiled too oft + By some unhallowed earthly stain; + But under the celestial bound + No nobler picture can be found + Than woman, brave in word and deed, + Thus serving in her nation's need: + Her love is with her country now, + Her hand is on its aching brow. + +5. Within its shade of elm and oak + The church of Berkley Manor stood: + There Sunday found the rural folk, + And some esteemed of gentle blood, + In vain their feet with loitering tread + Passed 'mid the graves where rank is naught: + All could not read the lesson taught + In that republic of the dead. + +6. The pastor rose: the prayer was strong; + The psalm was warrior David's song; + The text, a few short words of might,-- + "The Lord of hosts shall arm the right!" + +7. He spoke of wrongs too long endured, + Of sacred rights to be secured; + Then from his patriot tongue of flame + The startling words for Freedom came. + The stirring sentences he spake + Compelled the heart to glow or quake, + And, rising on his theme's broad wing, + And grasping in his nervous hand + The imaginary battle brand, + In face of death he dared to fling + Defiance to a tyrant king. + +8. Even as he spoke, his frame, renewed + In eloquence of attitude, + Rose, as it seemed, a shoulder higher; + Then swept his kindling glance of fire + From startled pew to breathless choir; + When suddenly his mantle wide + His hands impatient flung aside, + And, lo! he met their wondering eyes + Complete in all a warrior's guise. + +9. A moment there was awful pause,-- + When Berkley cried, "Cease, traitor! cease! + God's temple is the house of peace!" + The other shouted, "Nay, not so, + When God is with our righteous cause: + His holiest places then are ours, + His temples are our forts and towers + That frown upon the tyrant foe: + In this the dawn of Freedom's day + There is a time to fight and pray!" + +10. And now before the open door-- + The warrior priest had ordered so-- + The enlisting trumpet's sudden soar + Rang through the chapel, o'er and o'er, + Its long reverberating blow, + So loud and clear, it seemed the ear + Of dusty death must wake and hear. + And there the startling drum and fife + Fired the living with fiercer life; + While overhead with wild increase, + Forgetting its ancient toll of peace, + The great bell swung as ne'er before: + It seemed as it would never cease; + And every word its ardor flung + From off its jubilant iron tongue + Was, "WAR! WAR! WAR!" + +11. "Who dares"--this was the patriot's cry, + As striding from the desk he came-- + "Come out with me, in Freedom's name, + For her to live, for her to die?" + A hundred hands flung up reply, + A hundred voices answered "I!" + + +DEFINITIONS.--l. Bo're-al, northern. 3. Yeo'man, a freeholder, a man +freeborn. Dint, stroke. 5. Man'or, a tract of land occupied by tenants. +Gen'tle (pro. jen'tl), well born, of good family. 7. Theme, a subject on +which a person speaks or writes. 8. Guise, external appearance in manner +or dress. 10. Soar, a towering flight. + + +NOTES.--2. Forgot her ... name. The reference is to the meaning of the +word "concord,"--harmony, union. + +4. Celestial bound; i.e., the sky, heaven. + +6. The pastor. This was John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, who was at this +time a minister at Woodstock, in Virginia. He was a leading spirit among +those opposed to Great Britain, and in 1775 he was elected colonel of a +Virginia regiment. The above poem describes his farewell sermon. At its +close he threw off his ministerial gown, and appeared in full regimental +dress. Almost every man in the congregation enlisted under him at the +church door. Muhlenberg became a well-known general in the Revolution, and +after the war served his country in Congress and in various official +positions. + + + +LXVI. CONTROL YOUR TEMPER. + +John Todd, D.D. (b. 1800, d. 1873), was born in Rutland, Vt. In 1842 he +was settled as a pastor of a Congregational Church, in Pittsfield, Mass, +In 1834, he published "Lectures to Children"; in 1835, "The Student's +Manual," a valuable and popular work, which has been translated into +several European languages; in 1836, "The Sabbath-School Teacher"; and in +1841, "The Lost Sister of Wyoming." He was one of the founders of the +Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. + +1. No one has a temper naturally so good, that it does not need attention +and cultivation, and no one has a temper so bad, but that, by proper +culture, it may become pleasant. One of the best disciplined tempers ever +seen, was that of a gentleman who was naturally quick, irritable, rash, +and violent; but, by having the care of the sick, and especially of +deranged people, he so completely mastered himself that he was never known +to be thrown off his guard. + +2. The difference in the happiness which is received or bestowed by the +man who governs his temper, and that by the man who does not, is immense. +There is no misery so constant, so distressing, and so intolerable to +others, as that of having a disposition which is your master, and which is +continually fretting itself. There are corners enough, at every turn in +life, against which we may run, and at which we may break out in +impatience, if we choose. + +3. Look at Roger Sherman, who rose from a humble occupation to a seat in +the first Congress of the United States, and whose judgment was received +with great deference by that body of distinguished men. He made himself +master of his temper, and cultivated it as a great business in life. There +are one or two instances which show this part of his character in a light +that is beautiful. + +4. One day, after having received his highest honors, he was sitting and +reading in his parlor. A roguish student, in a room close by, held a +looking-glass in such a position as to pour the reflected rays of the sun +directly in Mr. Sherman's face. He moved his chair, and the thing was +repeated. A third time the chair was moved, but the looking-glass still +reflected the sun in his eyes. He laid aside his book, went to the window, +and many witnesses of the impudence expected to hear the ungentlemanly +student severely reprimanded. He raised the window gently, and then--shut +the window blind! + +5. I can not forbear adducing another instance of the power he had +acquired over himself. He was naturally possessed of strong passions; but +over these he at length obtained an extraordinary control. He became +habitually calm, sedate, and self-possessed. Mr. Sherman was one of those +men who are not ashamed to maintain the forms of religion in their +families. One morning he called them all together, as usual, to lead them +in prayer to God; the "old family Bible" was brought out, and laid on the +table. + +6. Mr. Sherman took his seat, and placed beside him one of his children, a +child of his old age; the rest of the family were seated around the room; +several of these were now grown up. Besides these, some of the tutors of +the college were boarders in the family, and were present at the time +alluded to. His aged and superannuated mother occupied a corner of the +room, opposite the place where the distinguished judge sat. + +7. At length, he opened the Bible, and began to read. The child who was +seated beside him made some little disturbance, upon which Mr. Sherman +paused and told it to be still. Again he proceeded; but again he paused to +reprimand the little offender, whose playful disposition would scarcely +permit it to be still. And this time he gently tapped its ear. The blow, +if blow it might be called, caught the attention of his aged mother, who +now, with some effort, rose from the seat, and tottered across the room. +At length she reached the chair of Mr. Sherman, and, in a moment, most +unexpectedly to him, she gave him a blow on the ear with all the force she +could summon. "There," said she, "you strike your child, and I will strike +mine." + +8. For a moment, the blood was seen mounting to the face of Mr. Sherman; +but it was only for a moment, when all was calm and mild as usual. He +paused; he raised his spectacles; he cast his eye upon his mother; again +it fell upon the book from which he had been reading. Not a word escaped +him; but again he calmly pursued the service, and soon after sought in +prayer an ability to set an example before his household which would be +worthy of their imitation. Such a victory was worth more than the proudest +one ever achieved on the field of battle. + + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Con-trol', subdue, restrain, govern. Cul'ture, +cultivation, improvement by effort. Dis'ci-plined, brought under control, +trained. 2. In-tol'er-a-ble, not capable of being borne. 3. Def 'er-ence, +regard, respect. 4. Rep'ri-mand-ed, reproved for a fault. 6. +Su-per-an'nu-a-ted, impaired by old age and infirmity. 8. A-chieved', +gained. + + +NOTE.--Roger Sherman (b. 1721, d. 1793) was born at Newton Massachusetts, +and until twenty-two years of age was a shoemaker. He then removed to +New Milford, Connecticut, and was soon afterward appointed surveyor of +lands for the county. In 1754, he was admitted to the bar. At various +times he was elected a judge; sent to the Legislature, to the Colonial +Assembly, and to the United States Congress; made a member of the +governor's council of safety; and, in 1776, a member of the committee +appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence, of which he was one of +the signers. + + + +LXVII. WILLIAM TELL. + +James Sheridan Knowles (b. 1784, d. 1862), a dramatist and actor, was born +in Cork, Ireland. In 1792 his father removed to London with his family. At +the age of fourteen, Sheridan wrote an opera called "The Chevalier de +Grillon." In 1798 he removed to Dublin, and soon after began his career as +an actor and author. In 1835 he visited America. In 1839 an annual pension +of 200 Pounds was granted him by the British government. Several years +before his death he left the stage and became a Baptist minister. The best +known of his plays are "Caius Gracchus," "Virginius," "Leo, the Gypsy," +"The Hunchback," and "William Tell," from the last of which the following +two lessons are abridged. + +SCENE 1.--A Chamber in the Castle. Enter Gesler, Officers, and Sarnem, +with Tell in chains and guarded. + +Sar. Down, slave! Behold the governor. + Down! down! and beg for mercy. + +Ges. (Seated.) Does he hear? + +Sar. He does, but braves thy power. + +Officer. Why don't you smite him for that look? + +Ges. Can I believe + My eyes? He smiles! Nay, grasps + His chains as he would make a weapon of them + To lay the smiter dead. (To Tell.) + Why speakest thou not? + +Tell. For wonder. + +Ges. Wonder? + +Tell. Yes, that thou shouldst seem a man. + +Ges. What should I seem? + +Tell. A monster. + +Ges. Ha! Beware! Think on thy chains. + +Tell. Though they were doubled, and did weigh me down + Prostrate to the earth, methinks I could rise up + Erect, with nothing but the honest pride + Of telling thee, usurper, to thy teeth, + Thou art a monster! Think upon my chains? + How came they on me? + +Ges. Darest thou question me? + +Tell. Darest thou not answer? + +Ges. Do I hear? + +Tell. Thou dost. + +Ges. Beware my vengeance! + +Tell. Can it more than kill? + +Ges. Enough; it can do that. + +Tell. No; not enough: + It can not take away the grace of life; + Its comeliness of look that virtue gives; + Its port erect with consciousness of truth; + Its rich attire of honorable deeds; + Its fair report that's rife on good men's tongues; + It can not lay its hands on these, no more + Than it can pluck the brightness from the sun, + Or with polluted finger tarnish it. + +Ges. But it can make thee writhe. + +Tell. It may. + +Ges. And groan. + +Tell. It may; and I may cry + Go on, though it should make me groan again. + +Ges. Whence comest thou? + +Tell. From the mountains. Wouldst thou learn + What news from thence? + +Ges. Canst tell me any? + +Tell. Ay: they watch no more the avalanche. + +Ges. Why so? + +Tell. Because they look for thee. The hurricane + Comes unawares upon them; from its bed + The torrent breaks, and finds them in its track. + +Ges. What do they then? + +Tell. Thank heaven it is not thou! + Thou hast perverted nature in them. + There's not a blessing heaven vouchsafes them, but + The thought of thee--doth wither to a curse. + +Ges. That's right! I'd have them like their hills, + That never smile, though wanton summer tempt + Them e'er so much. + +Tell. But they do sometimes smile. + +Ges. Ay! when is that? + +Tell. When they do talk of vengeance. + +Ges. Vengeance? Dare they talk of that? + +Tell. Ay, and expect it too. + +Ges. From whence? + +Tell. From heaven! + +Ges. From heaven? + +Tell. And their true hands + Are lifted up to it on every hill + For justice on thee. + +Ges. Where's thy abode? + +Tell. I told thee, on the mountains. + +Ges. Art married? + +Tell. Yes. + +Ges. And hast a family? + +Tell. A son. + +Ges. A son? Sarnem! + +Sar. My lord, the boy--(Gesler signs to Sarnem to keep + silence, and, whispering, sends him off.) + +Tell. The boy? What boy? + Is 't mine? and have they netted my young fledgeling? + Now heaven support me, if they have! He'll own me, + And share his father's ruin! But a look + Would put him on his guard--yet how to give it! + Now heart, thy nerve; forget thou 'rt flesh, be rock. + They come, they come! + That step--that step--that little step, so light + Upon the ground, how heavy does it fall + Upon my heart! I feel my child! (Enter Sarnem + with Albert, whose eyes are riveted on Tell's bow, + which Sarnem carries.) + 'T is he! We can but perish. + +Alb. (Aside.) Yes; I was right. It is my father's bow! + For there's my father! I'll not own him though! + +Sar. See! + +Alb. What? + +Sar. Look there! + +Alb. I do, what would you have me see? + +Sar. Thy father. + +Alb. Who? That--that my father? + +Tell. My boy! my boy! my own brave boy! + He's safe! (Aside.) + +Sar. (Aside to Gesler.) They're like each other. + +Ges. Yet I see no sign + Of recognition to betray the link + Unites a father and his child. + +Sar. My lord, + I am sure it is his father. Look at them. + That boy did spring from him; or never cast + Came from the mold it fitted! It may be + A preconcerted thing 'gainst such a chance. + That they survey each other coldly thus. + +Ges. We shall try. Lead forth the caitiff. + +Sar. To a dungeon? + +Ges. No; into the court. + +Sar. The court, my lord? + +Ges. And send + To tell the headsman to make ready. Quick! + The slave shall die! You marked the boy? + +Sar. I did. He started; 't is his father. + +Ges. We shall see. Away with him! + +Tell. Stop! Stop! + +Ges. What would you? + +Tell. Time,-- + A little time to call my thoughts together! + +Ges. Thou shalt not have a minute. + +Tell. Some one, then, to speak with. + +Ges. Hence with him! + +Tell. A moment! Stop! + Let me speak to the boy. + +Ges. Is he thy son? + +Tell. And if + He were, art thou so lost to nature, as + To send me forth to die before his face? + +Ges. Well! speak with him. + Now, Sarnem, mark them well. + +Tell. Thou dost not know me, boy; and well for thee + Thou dost not. I'm the father of a son + About thy age. Thou, + I see, wast horn, like him, upon the hills: + If thou shouldst 'scape thy present thraldom, he + May chance to cross thee; if he should, I pray thee + Relate to him what has been passing here, + And say I laid my hand upon thy head, + And said to thee, if he were here, as thou art, + Thus would I bless him. Mayst thou live, my boy, + To see thy country free, or die for her, + As I do! (Albert weeps.) + +Sar. Mark! he weeps. + +Tell. Were he my son, + He would not shed a tear! He would remember + The cliff where he was bred, and learned to scan + A thousand fathoms' depth of nether air; + Where he was trained to hear the thunder talk, + And meet the lightning, eye to eye; where last + We spoke together, when I told him death + Bestowed the brightest gem that graces life, + Embraced for virtue's sake. He shed a tear! + Now were he by, I'd talk to him, and his cheek + Should never blanch, nor moisture dim his eye-- + I'd talk to him-- + +Sar. He falters! + +Tell. 'T is too much! + And yet it must be done! I'd talk to him-- + +Ges. Of what? + +Tell. The mother, tyrant, thou dost make + A widow of! I'd talk to him of her. + I'd bid him tell her, next to liberty, + Her name was the last word my lips pronounced. + And I would charge him never to forget + To love and cherish her, as he would have + His father's dying blessing rest upon him! + +Sar. You see, as he doth prompt, the other acts. + +Tell. So well he bears it, he doth vanquish me. + My boy! my boy! Oh, for the hills, the hills, + To see him bound along their tops again, + With liberty. + +Sar. Was there not an the father in that look? + +Ges. Yet 't is 'gainst nature. + +Sar. Not if he believes + To own the son would be to make him share + The father's death. + +Ges. I did not think of that! 'T is well + The boy is not thy son. I've destined him + To die along with thee. + +Tell. To die? For what? + +Ges. For having braved my power, as thou hast. Lead + them forth. +Tell. He's but a child. + +Ges. Away with them! + +Tell. Perhaps an only child. + +Ges. No matter. + +Tell. He may have a mother. + +Ges. So the viper hath; + And yet, who spares it for the mother's sake? + +Tell. I talk to stone! I talk to it as though + 'T were flesh; and know 't is none. I'll talk to it + No more. Come, my boy; + I taught thee how to live, I'll show thee how to die. + +Ges. He is thy child? + +Tell. He is my child. (Weeps.) + +Ges. I've wrung a tear from him! Thy name? + +Tell. My name? + It matters not to keep it from thee now; + My name is Tell. + +Ges. Tell? William Tell? + +Tell. The same. + +Ges. What! he, so famed 'bove all his countrymen, + For guiding o'er the stormy lake the boat? + And such a master of his bow, 't is said + His arrows never miss! Indeed! I'll take + Exquisite vengeance! Mark! I'll spare thy life; + Thy boy's too; both of you are free; on one + Condition. + +Tell. Name it. + +Ges. I would see you make + A trial of your skill with that same bow + You shoot so well with. + +Tell. Name the trial you + Would have me make. + +Ges. You look upon your boy + As though instinctively you guessed it. + +Tell. Look upon my boy? What mean you? Look upon + My boy as though I guessed it? Guessed the trial + You'd have me make? Guessed it + Instinctively? You do not mean--no--no, + You would not have me make a trial of + My skill upon my child! Impossible! + I do not guess your meaning. + +Ges. I would see + Thee hit an apple at the distance of + A hundred paces. + +Tell. Is my boy to hold it? + +Ges. No. + +Tell. No? I'll send the arrow through the core! + +Ges. It is to rest upon his head. + +Tell. Great heaven, you hear him! + +Ges. Thou dost hear the choice I give: + Such trial of the skill thou art master of, + Or death to both of you, not otherwise + To be escaped. + +Tell. O, monster! + +Ges. Wilt thou do it? + +Alb. He will! he will! + +Tell. Ferocious monster! Make + A father murder his own child! + +Ges. Take off his chains if he consent. + +Tell. With his own hand! + +Ges. Does he consent? + +Alb. He does. (Gesler signs to his officers, who proceed to take + off Tell's chains; Tell unconscious what they do.) + +Tell. With his own hand! + Murder his child with his own hand? This hand? + The hand I've led him, when an infant, by? + 'T is beyond horror! 'T is most horrible! + Amazement! (His chains fall off.) What's that you've + done to me? + Villains! put on my chains again. My hands + Are free from blood, and have no gust for it, + That they should drink my child's! Here! here! I'll + Not murder my boy for Gesler. + +Alb. Father! Father! + You will not hit me, father! + +Tell. Hit thee? Send + The arrow through thy brain? Or, missing that, + Shoot out an eye? Or, if thine eye escape, + Mangle the cheek I've seen thy mother's lips + Cover with kisses? Hit thee? Hit a hair + Of thee, and cleave thy mother's heart? + +Ges. Dost thou consent? + +Tell. Give me my bow and quiver. + +Ges. For what? + +Tell. To shoot my boy! + +Alb. No, father, no! + To save me! You'll be sure to hit the apple. + Will you not save me, father? + +Tell. Lead me forth; + I'll make the trial! + +Alb. Thank you! + +Tell. Thank me? Do + You know for what? I will not make the trial. + To take him to his mother in my arms! + And lay him down a corse before her! + +Ges. Then he dies this moment, and you certainly + Do murder him whose life you have a chance + To save, and will not use it. + +Tell. Well, I'll do it; I'll make the trial. + +Alb. Father! + +Tell. Speak not to me: + Let me not hear thy voice: thou must be dumb, + And so should all things be. Earth should be dumb; + And heaven--unless its thunders muttered at + The deed, and sent a bolt to stop! Give me + My bow and quiver! + +Ges. When all's ready. + +Tell. Ready!-- + I must be calm with such a mark to hit! + Don't touch me, child!--Don't speak to me!--Lead on! + + +DEFINITIONS.--Come'li-ness, that which is becoming or graceful. Port, +manner of movement or walk. At-tire', dress, clothes. Tar'-nish, to soil, +to sully. Av'a-lanche, a vast body of snow, earth, and ice, sliding down +from a mountain. Vouch-safes', yields, conde-scends, gives. Wan'ton, +luxuriant. Net'ted, caught in a net. Fledge'ling, a young bird. +Rec-og-ni'tion, acknowledgment of ac-quaintance. Pre-con-cert'ed, planned +beforehand. Cai'tiff (pro. ka'tif), a mean villain. Thral'dom, bondage, +slavery. Scan, to examine closely. Neth'er, lower, lying beneath. Blanch, +to turn white. Gust, taste, relish. + + +NOTE.--William Tell is a legendary hero of Switzerland. The events of this +drama are represented as occurring in 1307 A.D., when Austria held +Switzerland under her control. Gesler, also a purely mythical personage, +is one of the Austrian bailiffs. The legend relates that Gesler had his +cap placed on a pole in the market place, and all the Swiss were required +to salute it in passing in recognition of his authority. Tell refusing to +do this was arrested, and condemned to death. This and the following +lesson narrate how the sentence was changed, and the result. + + + +LXVIII. WILLIAM TELL. (Concluded.) + +SCENE 2.--Enter slowly, people in evident distress--Officers, Sarnem, +Gesler, Tell, Albert, and soldiers--one bearing Tell's bow and +quiver--another with a basket of apples. + +Ges. That is your ground. Now shall they measure thence + A hundred paces. Take the distance. + +Tell. Is the line a true one? + +Ges. True or not, what is 't to thee? + +Tell. What is 't to me? A little thing. + A very little thing; a yard or two + Is nothing here or there--were it a wolf + I shot at! Never mind. + +Ges. Be thankful, slave, + Our grace accords thee life on any terms. + +Tell. I will be thankful, Gesler! Villain, stop! + You measure to the sun. + +Ges. And what of that? + What matter whether to or from the sun? + +Tell. I'd have it at my back. The sun should shine + Upon the mark, and not on him that shoots. + I can not see to shoot against the sun: + I will not shoot against the sun! + +Ges. Give him his way! Thou hast cause to bless my mercy. + +Tell. I shall remember it. I'd like to see + The apple I'm to shoot at. + +Ges. Stay! show me the basket! there! + +Tell. You've picked the smallest one. + +Ges. I know I have. + +Tell. Oh, do you? But you see + The color of it is dark: I'd have it light, + To see it better. + +Ges. Take it as it is; + Thy skill will be the greater if thou hitt'st it. + Tell. True! true! I did not think of that; I wonder + I did not think of that. Give me some chance + To save my boy!-- + I will not murder him, + If I can help it--for the honor of + The form thou wearest, if all the heart is gone. + (Throws away the apple with all his force.) + +Ges. Well: choose thyself. + +Tell. Have I a friend among the lookers-on? + +Verner. (Rushing forward.) Here, Tell. + +Tell. I thank thee, Verner! + He is a friend runs out into a storm + To shake a hand with us. I must be brief. + When once the bow is bent, we can not take + The shot too soon. Verner, whatever be + The issue of this hour, the common cause + Must not stand still. Let not to-morrow's sun + Set on the tyrant's banner! Verner! Verner! + The boy! the boy! Thinkest thou he hath the courage + To stand it? + +Ver. Yes. + +Tell. Does he tremble? + +Ver. No. + +Tell. Art sure? + +Ver. I am. + +Tell. How looks he? + +Ver. Clear and smilingly. + If you doubt it, look yourself. + +Tell. No, no, my friend: + To hear it is enough. + +Ver. He bears himself so much above his years-- + +Tell. I know! I know! + +Ver. With constancy so modest-- + +Tell. I was sure he would-- + +Ver. And looks with such relying love + And reverence upon you-- + +Tell. Man! Man! Man! + No more! Already I'm too much the father + To act the man! Verner, no more, my friend! + I would be flint--flint--flint. Don't make me feel + I'm not--do not mind me! Take the boy + And set him, Verner, with his back to me. + Set him upon his knees, and place this apple + Upon his head, so that the stem may front me. + Thus, Verner; charge him to keep steady; tell him + I'll hit the apple! Verner, do all this + More briefly than I tell it thee. + +Ver. Come, Albert! (Leading him out.) + +Alb. May I not speak with him before I go? + +Ver. No. + +Alb. I would only kiss his hand. + +Ver. You must not. + +Alb. I must; I can not go from him without. + +Ver. It is his will you should. + +Alb. His will, is it? + I am content, then; come. + +Tell. My boy! (Holding out his arms to him.) + +Alb. My father! (Rushing into Tell's arms.) + +Tell. If thou canst bear it, should not I? Go now, + My son; and keep in mind that I can shoot; + Go, boy; be thou but steady, I will hit + The apple. Go! God bless thee; go. My bow! + (The bow is handed to him.) + Thou wilt not fail thy master, wilt thou? Thou + Hast never failed him yet, old servant. No, + I'm sure of thee. I know thy honesty, + Thou art stanch, stanch. Let me see my quiver. + +Ges. Give him a single arrow. + +Tell. Do you shoot? + +Soldier. I do. + +Tell. Is it so you pick an arrow, friend? + The point, you see, is bent; the feather, jagged. + That's all the use 't is fit for. (Breaks it.) + +Ges. Let him have another. + +Tell. Why, 't is better than the first, + But yet not good enough for such an aim + As I'm to take. 'T is heavy in the shaft; + I'll not shoot with it! (Throws it away.) Let + me see my quiver. + Bring it! 'T is not one arrow in a dozen + I'd take to shoot with at a dove, much less + A dove like that. + +Ges. It matters not. + Show him the quiver. + +Tell. See if the boy is ready. + (Tell here hides an arrow under his vest.) + +Ver. He is. + +Tell. I 'm ready too! Keep silent, for + Heaven's sake, and do not stir; and let me have + Your prayers, your prayers, and be my witnesses + That if his life's in peril from my hand, + 'Tis only for the chance of saving it. (To the people.) + +Ges. Go on. + +Tell. I will. + O friends, for mercy's sake keep motionless + and silent. (Tell shoots. A shout of exultation + bursts from the crowd. Tell's head drops on his + bosom; he with difficulty supports himself on his bow.) + +Ver. (Rushing in with Albert.) The boy is safe, no + hair of him is touched. + +Alb. Father, I'm safe. Your Albert's safe, dear father. + Speak to me! Speak to me! + +Ver. He can not, boy! + +Alb. You grant him life? + +Ges. I do. + +Alb. And we are free? + +Ges. You are. (Crossing angrily behind.) + +Alb. Open his vest, + And give him air. (Albert opens his father's vest, + and the arrow drops. Tell starts, fixes his eyes + on Albert and clasps him to his breast.) + +Tell. My boy! My boy! + +Ges. For what + Hid you that arrow in your breast? Speak, slave! + +Tell. To kill thee, tyrant, had I slain my boy! + + +DEFINITIONS.--Ac-cords', grants, concede. Is'sue (pro. ish'u), event, +consequence. Stanch, sound, strong. Jag'ged, notched, uneven. Shaft, the +stem of an arrow upon which the feather and head are inserted. Quiv'er, a +case for arrows. + + +NOTE.--The legend further relates that on the discovery of the concealed +arrow Tell was again put in chains. Gesler then embarked for another +place, taking Tell with him. A storm overtook them, and Tell was released +to steer the boat. In passing a certain point of land now known as "Tell's +Rock" or "Leap," Tell leaped ashore and escaped: then going to a point +where he knew the boat must land, he lay concealed until it arrived, when +he shot Gesler through the heart. + + + +LXIX. THE CRAZY ENGINEER. + +1. My train left Dantzic in the morning generally about eight o'clock; but +once a week we had to wait for the arrival of the steamer from Stockholm. +It was the morning of the steamer's arrival that I came down from the +hotel, and found that my engineer had been so seriously injured that he +could not perform his work. I went immediately to the engine house to +procure another engineer, for I supposed there were three or four in +reserve there, but I was disappointed. + +2. I heard the puffing of the steamer, and the passengers would be on hand +in fifteen minutes. I ran to the guards and asked them if they knew where +there was an engineer, but they did not. I then went to the firemen and +asked them if anyone of them felt competent to run the engine to Bromberg. +No one dared to attempt it. The distance was nearly one hundred miles. +What was to be done? + +3. The steamer stopped at the wharf, and those who were going on by rail +came flocking to the station. They had eaten breakfast on board the boat, +and were all ready for a fresh start. The train was in readiness in the +long station house, and the engine was steaming and puffing away +impatiently in the distant firing house. + +4. It was past nine o'clock. "Come, why don't we start?" growled an old, +fat Swede, who had been watching me narrowly for the last fifteen minutes. +And upon this there was a general chorus of anxious inquiry, which soon +settled to downright murmuring. At this juncture some one touched me on +the elbow. I turned, and saw a stranger by my side. I thought that he was +going to remonstrate with me for my backwardness. In fact, I began to have +strong temptations to pull off my uniform, for every anxious eye was fixed +upon the glaring badges which marked me as the chief officer of the train. + +5. However, this stranger was a middle-aged man, tall and stout, with a +face of great energy and intelligence. His eye was black and +brilliant,--so brilliant that I could not gaze steadily into it, though I +tried; and his lips, which were very thin, seemed more like polished +marble than human flesh. His dress was black throughout, and not only set +with exact nicety, but was scrupulously clean and neat. + +6. "You want an engineer, I understand," he said in a low, cautious tone, +at the same time gazing quietly about him, as though he wanted no one to +hear what he said. "I do," I replied. "My train is all ready, and we have +no engineer within twenty miles of this place." "Well, sir, I am going to +Bromberg; I must go, and I will run the engine for you." "Ha!" I uttered, +"are you an engineer?" "I am, sir--one of the oldest in the country--and +am now on my way to make arrangements for a great improvement I have +invented for the application of steam to a locomotive. My name is Martin +Kroller. If you wish, I will run as far as Bromberg; and I will show you +running that is running." + +7. Was I not fortunate? I determined to accept the man's offer at once, +and so I told him. He received my answer with a nod and a smile. I went +with him to the house, where we found the engine in charge of the fireman, +and all ready for a start. Kroller got upon the platform, and I followed +him. I had never seen a man betray such a peculiar aptness amid machinery +as he did. He let on the steam in an instant, but yet with care and +judgment, and he backed up to the baggage carriage with the most exact +nicety. + +8. I had seen enough to assure me that he was thoroughly acquainted with +the business, and I felt composed once more. I gave my engine up to the +new man, and then hastened away to the office. Word was passed for all the +passengers to take their seats, and soon afterward I waved my hand to the +engineer. There was a puff, a groaning of the heavy axletrees, a trembling +of the building, and the train was in motion. I leaped upon the platform +of the guard carriage, and in a few minutes more the station house was far +behind us. + +9. In less than an hour we reached Dirschau, where we took up the +passengers, that had come on the Konigsberg railway. Here I went forward +and asked Kroller how he liked the engine. He replied that he liked it +very much. "But," he added, with a strange sparkling of the eye, "wait +until I get my improvement, and then you will see traveling. Why, I could +run an engine of my construction to the moon in four and twenty hours?" + +10. I smiled at what I thought his enthusiasm, and then went back to my +station. As soon as the Konigsberg passengers were all on board, and their +baggage carriage attached, we started on again. Soon after, I went into +the guard carriage and sat down. An early train from Konigsberg had been +through two hours before, and was awaiting us at Little Oscue, where we +took on board the Western mail. + +11. "How we go," uttered one of the guards, some fifteen minutes after we +had left Dirschau. "The new engineer is trying the speed," I replied, not +yet having any fear. But ere long I began to apprehend he was running a +little too fast. The carriages began to sway to and fro, and I could hear +exclamations of fright from the passengers. "Good heavens!" cried one of +the guards, coming in at that moment, "what is that fellow doing? Look, +sir, and see how we are going." + +12. I looked at the window, and found that we were dashing along at a +speed never before traveled on that road. Posts, fences, rocks, and trees +flew by in one undistinguished mass, and the carriages now swayed +fearfully. I started to my feet, and met a passenger on the platform. He +was one of the chief owners of our road, and was just on his way to +Berlin. He was pale and excited. + +13. "Sir," he gasped, "is Martin Kroller on the engine?" + +"Yes," I told him. + +"What! didn't you know him?" + +"Know?" I repeated, somewhat puzzled; "what do you mean? He told me his +name was Kroller, and that he was an engineer. We had no one to run the +engine, and--" + +"You took him!" interrupted the man. "Good heavens, sir, he is as crazy as +a man can be! He turned his brain over a new plan for applying steam +power. I saw him at the station, but did not fully recognize him, as I was +in a hurry. Just now one of your passengers told me that your engineers +were all gone this morning, and that you found one that was a stranger to +you. Then I knew the man whom I had seen was Martin Kroller. He had +escaped from the hospital at Stettin. You must get him off somehow." + +14. The whole fearful truth was now open to me. The speed of the train was +increasing every moment, and I knew that a few more miles per hour would +launch us all into destruction. I called to the guard and then made my way +forward as quickly as possible. I reached the back platform of the tender, +and there stood Kroller upon the engine board, his hat and coat off, his +long black hair floating wildly in the wind, his shirt unbuttoned at the +front, his sleeves rolled up, with a pistol in his teeth, and thus glaring +upon the fireman, who lay motionless upon the fuel. The furnace was +stuffed till the very latch of the door was red-hot, and the whole engine +was quivering and swaying as though it would shiver to pieces. + +15. "Kroller! Kroller'!" I cried, at the top of my voice. The crazy +engineer started, and caught the pistol in his hand. Oh, how those great +black eyes glared, and how ghastly and frightful the face looked! + +"Ha! ha! ha!" he yelled demoniacally, glaring upon me like a roused lion. + +"They said that I could not make it! But see! see! See my new power! See +my new engine! I made it, and they are jealous of me! I made it, and when +it was done, they stole it from me. But I have found it! For years I have +been wandering in search of my great engine, and they said it was not +made. But I have found it! I knew it this morning when I saw it at +Dantzic, and I was determined to have it. And I've got it! Ho! ho! ho! +we're on the way to the moon, I say! We'll be in the moon in four and +twenty hours. Down, down, villain! If you move, I'll shoot you." + +This was spoken to the poor fireman, who at that moment attempted to rise, +and the frightened man sank back again. + +16. "Here's Little Oscue just before us," cried out one of the guard. But +even as he spoke, the buildings were at hand. A sickening sensation +settled upon my heart, for I supposed that we were now gone. The houses +flew by like lightning. I knew if the officers here had turned the switch +as usual, we should be hurled into eternity in one fearful crash. I saw a +flash,--it was another engine,--I closed my eyes; but still we thundered +on! The officers had seen our speed, and knowing that we would not be able +to stop, in that distance, they had changed the switch, so that we went +forward. + +17. But there was sure death ahead, if we did not stop. Only fifteen miles +from us was the town of Schwetz, on the Vistula; and at the rate we were +going we should be there in a few minutes, for each minute carried us over +a mile. The shrieks of the passengers now rose above the crash of the +rails, and more terrific than all else arose the demoniac yells of the mad +engineer. + +"Merciful heavens!" gasped the guardsman, "there's not a moment to lose; +Schwetz is close. But hold," he added; "let's shoot him." + +18. At that moment a tall, stout German student came over the platform +where we stood, and saw that the mad-man had his heavy pistol aimed at us. +He grasped a huge stick of wood, and, with a steadiness of nerve which I +could not have commanded, he hurled it with such force and precision that +he knocked the pistol from the maniac's hand. I saw the movement, and on +the instant that the pistol fell, I sprang forward, and the German +followed me. I grasped the man by the arm; but I should have been nothing +in his mad power, had I been alone. He would have hurled me from the +platform, had not the student at that moment struck him upon the head with +a stick of wood, which he caught as he came over the tender. + +19. Kroller settled down like a dead man, and on the next instant I shut +off the steam and opened the valve. As the free steam shrieked and howled +in its escape, the speed began to decrease, and in a few minutes more the +danger was passed. As I settled back, entirely overcome by the wild +emotions that had raged within me, we began to turn the river; and before +I was fairly recovered, the fireman had stopped the train in the station +house at Schwetz. + +20. Martin Kroller, still insensible, was taken from the platform; and, as +we carried him to the guard room, one of the guard recognized him, and +told us that he had been there about two weeks before. + +"He came," said the guard, "and swore that an engine which stood near by +was his. He said it was one he had made to go to the moon in, and that it +had been stolen from him. We sent for more help to arrest him, and he +fled." + +"Well," I replied, with a shudder, "I wish he had approached me in the +same way; but he was more cautious at Dantzic." + +At Schwartz we found an engineer to run the engine to Bromberg; and having +taken out the western mail for the next northern mail to carry along, we +saw that Kroller would be properly attended to, and then started on. + +21. The rest of the trip we ran in safety, though I could see the +passengers were not wholly at ease, and would not be until they were +entirely clear of the railway. Martin Kroller remained insensible from the +effects of the blow nearly two weeks; and when he recovered from that, he +was sound again; his insanity was all gone. I saw him about three weeks +afterward, but he had no recollection of me. He remembered nothing of the +past year, not even his mad freak on my engine. But I remembered it, and I +remember it still; and the people need never fear that I shall be imposed +upon again by a crazy engineer. + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Com'pe-tent, fit, qualified. 4. Junc'ture, point of time, +crisis. Re-mon'strate, to present strong reasons against any course of +proceedings. 7. Apt'ness, fitness, suitableness. 8. Com-posed', calm. 11. +Ap-pre-hend', to entertain suspicion or fear of. 14. Ten'der, a car +attached to a locomotive to supply it with fuel and water. 18. Pre-ci'sion +(pro. pre-sizh'un), accuracy, exactness. + + + +NOTE.--This incident is said to have taken place on the railway following +the valley of the Vistula. River, in Prussia, from Dantzic to Bromberg. +The cities mentioned are all in Prussia, excepting Stockholm, which is the +capital of Sweden. + + + +LXX. THE HERITAGE. + +James Russell Lowell (b. 1819, d.1891) was born in Cambridge, Mass., and +was graduated from Harvard College. He entered the profession of law; but, +in 1843, turned aside to publish "The Pioneer, a Literary and Critical +Magazine." In 1855 he was appointed professor of Belles-lettres in Harvard +College. From 1877 to 1885 he was U.S. Minister, first to Spain, +afterwards to Great Britain. Lowell's powers as a writer were very +versatile, and his poems range from the most dreamy and imaginative to the +most trenchant and witty. Among his most noted poetical works are "The +Biglow Papers," "A Fable for Critics," "The Vision of Sir Launfal," "The +Cathedral," and "The Legend of Brittany;" while "Conversations on some of +the Old Poets," "Among my Books," and "My Study Windows," place him in the +front rank as an essayist. + +1. The rich man's son inherits lands, + And piles of brick, and stone, and gold, + And he inherits soft white hands, + And tender flesh that fears the cold, + Nor dares to wear a garment old; + A heritage, it seems to me, + One scarce would wish to hold in fee. + +2. The rich man's son inherits cares; + The bank may break, the factory burn, + A breath may burst his bubble shares, + And soft white hands could hardly earn + A living that would serve his turn; + A heritage, it seems to me, + One scarce would wish to hold in fee. + +3. The rich man's son inherits wants, + His stomach craves for dainty fare; + With sated heart, he hears the pants + Of toiling hinds with brown arms bare! + And wearies in his easy-chair; + A heritage, it seems to me, + One scarce would wish to hold in fee. + +4. What doth the poor man's son inherit? + Stout muscles and a sinewy heart, + A hardy frame, a hardier spirit; + King of two hands, he does his part + In every useful toil and art; + A heritage, it seems to me, + A king might wish to hold in fee. + +5. What doth the poor man's son inherit? + Wishes o'erjoyed with humble things, + A rank adjudged by toil-won merit, + Content that from employment springs, + A heart that in his labor sings; + A heritage, it seems to me, + A king might wish to hold in fee. + +6. What doth the poor man's son inherit? + A patience learned of being poor, + Courage, if sorrow come, to bear it, + A fellow-feeling that is sure + To make the outcast bless his door; + A heritage, it seems to me, + A king might wish to hold in fee. + +7. O rich man's son! there is a toil + That with all others level stands: + Large charity doth never soil, + But only whiten soft, white hands,-- + This is the best crop from thy lands; + A heritage, it seems to me, + Worth being rich to hold in fee. + +8. O poor man's son! scorn not thy state; + There is worse weariness than thine + In merely being rich and great: + Toil only gives the soul to shine, + And makes rest fragrant and benign; + A heritage, it seems to me, + Worth being poor to hold in fee. + +9. Both, heirs to some six feet of sod, + Are equal in the earth at last; + Both, children of the same dear God, + Prove title to your heirship vast + By record of a well-filled past; + A heritage, it seems to me, + Well worth a life to hold in fee. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Her'it-age, that which is inherited, or taken by descent, +from an ancestor. 3. Sat'ed, surfeited, glutted. Hinds, peasants, +countrymen. 5. Ad-judged', decided, determined. 8. Be-nign' (pro. +be-nin'), having healthful qualities, wholesome. + + +NOTES.--1. To hold in fee, means to have as an inheritance. 9. Prove +title. That is, to prove the right of ownership. + + + +LXXI. NO EXCELLENCE WITHOUT LABOR. + +William Wirt (b. 1772, d. 1834) was born in Bladensburg, Md. He was +admitted to the bar in 1799, and afterwards practiced law, with eminent +success, at Richmond and Norfolk, Va. He was one of the counsel for the +prosecution in the trial of Aaron Burr for treason. From 1817 to 1829 he +was attorney-general for the United States. In 1803 he published the +"Letters of a British Spy," a work which attracted much attention, and in +1817 a "Life of Patrick Henry." + +1. The education, moral and intellectual, of every individual, must be +chiefly his own work. Rely upon it that the ancients were right; both in +morals and intellect we give the final shape to our characters, and thus +become, emphatically, the architects of our own fortune. How else could it +happen that young men, who have had precisely the same opportunities, +should be continually presenting us with such different results, and +rushing to such opposite destinies? + +2. Difference of talent will not solve it, because that difference is very +often in favor of the disappointed candidate. You will see issuing from +the walls of the same college, nay, sometimes from the bosom of the same +family, two young men, of whom one will be admitted to be a genius of high +order, the other scarcely above the point of mediocrity; yet you will see +the genius sinking and perishing in poverty, obscurity, and wretchedness; +while, on the other hand, you will observe the mediocre plodding his slow +but sure way up the hill of life, gaining steadfast footing at every step, +and mounting, at length, to eminence and distinction, an ornament to his +family, a blessing to his country. + +3. Now, whose work is this? Manifestly their own. They are the +architects of their respective fortunes. The best seminary of +learning that can open its portals to you can do no more than to +afford you the opportunity of instruction; but it must depend, at +last, on yourselves, whether you will be instructed or not, or to +what point you will push your instruction. + +4. And of this be assured, I speak from observation a certain truth: THERE +IS NO EXCELLENCE WITHOUT GREAT LABOR. It is the fiat of fate, from which +no power of genius can absolve you. + +5. Genius, unexerted, is like the poor moth that flutters around a candle +till it scorches itself to death. If genius be desirable at all, it is +only of that great and magnanimous kind, which, like the condor of South +America, pitches from the summit of Chimborazo, above the clouds, and +sustains itself at pleasure in that empyreal region with an energy rather +invigorated than weakened by the effort. + +6. It is this capacity for high and long-continued exertion, this vigorous +power of profound and searching investigation, this careering and +wide-spreading comprehension of mind, and these long reaches of thought, +that + + "Pluck bright honor from the pale-faced moon, + Or dive into the bottom of the deep, + And pluck up drowned honor by the locks;" + +this is the prowess, and these the hardy achievements, which are to enroll +your names among the great men of the earth. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Mor'al, relating to duty or obligation. Ar'-chi-tects, +builders, makers. Des'ti-ny, ultimate fate, appointed condition. 2. +Can'di-date, one who seeks after some honor or office. Gen'ius (pro. +jen'yus), a man of superior intellectual powers. Me-di-oc'ri-ty, a middle +state or degree of talents. Me'di-o-cre (pro. me'di-o-kr), a man of +moderate talents. 3. Re-spec'tive, particular, own. 4. Ab-solve', set +free, release from. Fi'at, a decree. 5. Con'-dor, a large bird of the +vulture family. Em-pyr'e-al, relating to the highest and purest region of +the heavens. 6. Ca-reer'ing, moving rapidly. Prow'ess (pro. prou'es), +bravery, boldness. + + +NOTES.--5. Chimborazo (pro. chim-bo-ra'zo), is an extinct volcano in +Ecuador, whose height is 20,517 feet above the sea. + +6. The quotation is from Shakespeare's "King Henry IV," Part I, Act II +Scene 3. + + + +LXXII. THE OLD HOUSE CLOCK. + +1. Oh! the old, old clock of the household stock, + Was the brightest thing, and neatest; + Its hands, though old, had a touch of gold, + And its chimes rang still the sweetest; + 'T was a monitor, too, though its words were few, + Yet they lived, though nations altered; + And its voice, still strong, warned old and young, + When the voice of friendship faltered: + "Tick! tick!" it said, "quick, quick, to bed: + For ten I've given warning; + Up! up! and go, or else you know, + You'll never rise soon in the morning!" + +2. A friendly voice was that old, old clock, + As it stood in the corner smiling, + And blessed the time with merry chime, + The wintry hours beguiling; + But a cross old voice was that tiresome clock, + As it called at daybreak boldly; + When the dawn looked gray o'er the misty way, + And the early air looked coldly: + "Tick! tick!" it said, "quick out of bed: + For five I've given warning; + You'll never have health, you'll never have wealth, + Unless you're up soon in the morning!" + +3. Still hourly the sound goes round and round, + With a tone that ceases never: + While tears are shed for bright days fled, + And the old friends lost forever! + Its heart beats on, though hearts are gone + That beat like ours, though stronger; + Its hands still move, though hands we love + Are clasped on earth no longer! + "Tick! tick!" it said, "to the churchyard bed, + The grave hath given warning; + Up! up! and rise, and look at the skies, + And prepare for a heavenly morning!" + + + +LXXIII. THE EXAMINATION + +Daniel Pierce Thompson (b. 1193, d. 1868) was born at Charlestown, Mass., +but soon removed with his father to Vermont, where he lived until twenty +years of age, on a farm. His means of schooling were most limited, but he +was very ambitious and seized every opportunity. By his own efforts he +earned enough money to carry him through Middlebury College, where he +graduated in 1820. He then went to Virginia as private tutor, and while +there was entered at the bar. He shortly returned to Vermont, and opened a +law office in Montpelier. In time he was elected a judge, and later +secretary of state. From his college days Mr. Thompson was a writer for +the various magazines. Among his novels may be mentioned "Locke Amsden, +the Schoolmaster," "May Martin, or the Money Diggers," "The Green Mountain +Boys," and "The Rangers, or the Tory's Daughter." + +1. "Have you any questions to ask me in the other branches, sir?" asked +Locke. + +"Not many," replied Bunker. "There is reading, writing, grammar, etc., +which I know nothing about; and as to them, I must, of course, take you by +guess, which will not be much of a guess, after all, if I find you have +thought well on all other matters. Do you understand philosophy?" + +2. "To what branch of philosophy do you allude, sir?" + +"To the only branch there is." + +"But you are aware that philosophy is divided into different kinds; as, +natural, moral, and intellectual." + +"Nonsense! philosophy is philosophy, and means the study of the reasons +and causes of the things which we see, whether it be applied to a crazy +man's dreams, or the roasting of potatoes. Have you attended to it?" + +"Yes, to a considerable extent, sir." + +3. "I will put a question or two, then, if you please. What is the reason +of the fact, for it is a fact, that the damp breath of a person blown on a +good knife and on a bad one, will soonest disappear from the well-tempered +blade?" + +"It may be owing to the difference in the polish of the two blades, +perhaps." replied Locke. + +4. "Ah! that is an answer that don't go deeper than the surface," rejoined +Bunker, humorously. "As good a thinker as you evidently are, you have not +thought on this subject, I suspect. It took me a week, in all, I presume, +of hard thinking, and making experiments at a blacksmith's shop, to +discover the reason of this. It is not the polish; for take two blades of +equal polish, and the breath will disappear from one as much quicker than +it does from the other, as the blade is better. It is because the material +of the blade is more compact or less porous in one case than in the other. + + +5. "In the first place, I ascertained that the steel was, made more +compact by being hammered and tempered, and that the better it was +tempered the more compact it would become; the size of the pores being +made, of course, less in the same proportion. Well, then, I saw the reason +I was in search of, at once. For we know a wet sponge is longer in drying +than a wet piece of green wood, because the pores of the first are bigger. +A seasoned or shrunk piece of wood dries quicker than a green one, for the +same reason. + +6. "Or you might bore a piece of wood with large gimlet holes, and another +with small ones, fill them both with water, and let them stand till the +water evaporated, and the difference of time it would take to do this +would make the case still more plain. So with the blades: the vapor +lingers longest on the worst wrought and tempered one, because the pores, +being larger, take in more of the wet particles, and require more time in +drying." + +7. "Your theory is at least a very ingenious one," observed Locke, "and I +am reminded by it of another of the natural phenomena, of the true +explanation of which I have not been able to satisfy myself. It is this: +what makes the earth freeze harder and deeper under a trodden path than +the untrodden earth around it? All that I have asked, say it is because +the trodden earth is more compact. But is that reason a sufficient one?" + +8. "No," said Bunker, "but I will tell you what the reason is, for I +thought that out long ago. You know that, in the freezing months, much of +the warmth we get is given out by the earth, from which, at intervals, if +not constantly, to some extent, ascend the warm vapors to mingle with and +moderate the cold atmosphere above. + +9. "Now these ascending streams of warm air would be almost wholly +obstructed by the compactness of a trodden path, and they would naturally +divide at some distance below it, and pass up through the loose earth on +each side, leaving the ground along the line of the path, to a great depth +beneath it, a cold, dead mass, through which the frost would continue to +penetrate, unchecked by the internal heat, which, in its unobstructed +ascent on each side, would be continually checking or overcoming the frost +in its action on the earth around. + +10. "That, sir, is the true philosophy of the case, you may depend upon +it. But we will now drop the discussion of these matters; for I am +abundantly satisfied that you have not only knowledge enough, but that you +can think for yourself. And now, sir, all I wish to know further about you +is, whether you can teach others to think, which is half the battle with a +teacher. But as I have had an eye on this point, while attending to the +others, probably one experiment, which I will ask you to make on one of +the boys here, will be all I shall want." + +"Proceed, sir," said the other. + +11. "Ay, sir," rejoined Bunker, turning to the open fireplace, in which +the burning wood was sending up a column of smoke, "there, you see that +smoke rising, don't you? Well, you and I know the, reason why smoke goes +upward, but my youngest boy does not, I think. Now take your own way, and +see if you can make him understand it." + +12. Locke, after a moment's reflection, and a glance round the room for +something to serve for apparatus, took from a shelf, where he had espied a +number of articles, the smallest of a set of cast-iron cart boxes, as are +usually termed the round hollow tubes in which the axletree of a carriage +turns. Then selecting a tin cup that would just take in the box, and +turning into the cup as much water as he judged, with the box, would fill +it, he presented them separately to the boy, and said, + +"There, my lad, tell me which of these is the heavier." + +13. "Why, the cart box, to be sure," replied the boy, taking the cup, +half-filled with water, in one hand, and the hollow iron in the other. + +"Then you think this iron is heavier than as much water as would fill the +place of it, do you?" resumed Locke. + +"Why, yes, as heavy again, and more too--I know it is," promptly said the +boy. + +14. "Well, sir, now mark what I do," proceeded the former, dropping into +the cup the iron box, through the hollow of which the water instantly rose +to the brim of the vessel. + +"There, you saw that water rise to the top of the cup, did you?" + +"Yes, I did." + +"Very well, what caused it to do so?" + +15. "Why, I know well enough, if I could only think: why, it is because +the iron is the heavier, and as it comes all around the water so it can't +get away sideways, it is forced up." + +"That is right; and now I want you to tell what makes that smoke rise up +the chimney." + +16. "Why,--I guess," replied the boy, hesitating, "I guess,--I guess I +don't know." + +"Did you ever get up in a chair to look on some high shelf, so that your +head was brought near the ceiling of a heated room, in winter? and did you +notice any difference between the air up there and the air near the +floor?" + +17. "Yes, I remember I have, and found the air up there as warm as +mustard; and when I got down, and bent my head near the floor to pick up +something, I found it as cold as could be." + +"That is ever the case; but I wish you to tell me how the cold air always +happens to settle down to the lower part of the room, while the warm air, +somehow, at the same time, gets above." + +18. "Why, why, heavy things settle down, and the cold air--yes, yes, +that's it, I am sure--the cold air is heavier, and so settles down, and +crowds up the warm air." + +"Very good. You then understand that cold air is heavier than the heated +air, as that iron is heavier than the water; so now we will go back to the +main question--what makes the smoke go upwards?" + +19. "Oh! I see now as plain as day; the cold air settles down all round, +like the iron box, and drives up the hot air as fast as the fire heats it, +in the middle, like the water; and so the hot air carries the smoke along +up with it, just as feathers and things in a whirlwind. Well! I have found +out what makes smoke go up--is n't it curious?" + +20. "Done like a philosopher!" cried Bunker. "The thing is settled. I will +grant that you are a teacher among a thousand. You can not only think +yourself, but can teach others to think; so you may call the position +yours as quick as you please." + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. In-tel-lec'tu-al, treating of the mind. 3. Tem'-pered, +brought to a proper degree of hardness. 4. Com-pact', closely and firmly +united, solid, dense. 4. Por'ous, full of pores or minute openings. 6. +E-vap'o-rat-ed, passed off in vapor. 7. In-gen'ious (pro. in-jen'yus), +well formed, skillful. 7. Phe-nom'e-non, whatever is presented to the eye. +8. In'ter-vals, spaces of time. 12. Ap-pa-ra'tus, utensils for performing +experiments. + + +NOTE.--Locke Amsden is represented as a bright young student in search of +a position as teacher of a district school in Vermont. Mr. Buuker, the +"Examining Committee," is a queer, shrewd old farmer, who can neither read +nor write, but by careful observation has picked up a large amount of +valuable information. The story opens in the midst of the examination. + + + +LXXIV. THE ISLE OF LONG AGO. + +Benjamin Franklin Taylor (b. 1819, d. 1887) was born at Lowville, N.Y. He +graduated at Madison University, of which his father was president. In +1845 he published "Attractions of Language." For many years he was +literary editor of the "Chicago Journal." Mr. Taylor wrote considerably +for the magazines, was the author of many well-known favorite pieces both +in prose and verse, and achieved success as a lecturer. + +1. Oh, a wonderful stream is the river of Time, + As it runs through the realm of tears, + With a faultless rhythm and a musical rhyme, + And a boundless sweep and a surge sublime, + As it blends with the ocean of Years. + +2. How the winters are drifting, like flakes of snow, + And the summers, like buds between; + And the year in the sheaf--so they come and they go, + On the river's breast, with its ebb and flow, + As it glides in the shadow and sheen. + +3. There's a magical isle up the river of Time, + Where the softest of airs are playing; + There's a cloudless sky and a tropical clime, + And a song as sweet as a vesper chime, + And the Junes with the roses are staying. + +4. And the name of that isle is the Long Ago, + And we bury our treasures there; + There are brows of beauty and bosoms of snow-- + There are heaps of dust--but we love them so!-- + There are trinkets and tresses of hair; + +5. There are fragments of song that nobody sings, + And a part of an infant's prayer, + There's a lute unswept, and a harp without strings; + There are broken vows and pieces of rings, + And the garments that she used to wear. + +6. There are hands that are waved, when the fairy shore + By the mirage is lifted in air; + And we sometimes hear, through the turbulent roar, + Sweet voices we heard in the days gone before, + When the wind down the river is fair. + +7. Oh, remembered for aye be the blessed Isle, + All the day of our life till night-- + When the evening comes with its beautiful smile, + And our eyes are closing to slumber awhile, + May that "Greenwood." of Soul be in sight + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Realm, region, country. Rhythm, the harmonious flow of +vocal sounds. Rhyme, a word answering in sound to another word. Surge, a +great, rolling swell of water. 3. Ves'per, pertaining to the evening +service in the Roman Catholic Church. 6. Mi-rage' (pro. me-razh'), an +optical illusion causing objects at a distance to seem as though suspended +in the air. 7. Aye (pro. a), always, ever. + + +NOTES.--5. A lute unswept, that is, unplayed. + +7. Greenwood is a notes and very beautiful cemetery at the southern +extremity of Brooklyn, N.Y. The expression means, then, the resting place +of the soul. + + + +LXXV. THE BOSTON MASSACRE. + +George Bancroft (b. 1800, d. 1891) was born at Worcester, Mass. He was an +ambitious student, and graduated at Harvard College before he was eighteen +years of age. He then traveled in Europe, spending some time at the German +universities. On his return, in 1822, he was appointed tutor in Greek at +Harvard. His writings at this time were a small volume of original poems, +some translations from Schiller and Goethe, and a few striking essays. Mr. +Bancroft has held numerous high political offices. In 1838 he was +appointed collector of the port at Boston; in 1845 he was made secretary +of the Navy; in 1849 he was sent as United States Minister to Great +Britain; and in 1867 he was sent in the same capacity to Prussia. The work +which has given Mr. Bancroft his great literary reputation is his "History +of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent." The +first volume appeared in 1834. Philosophical in reasoning, interesting, +terse in style, and founded on careful research, under the most favorable +advantages, the work stands alone in its sphere. + +1. The evening of the fifth came on. The young moon was shining brightly +in a cloudless winter sky, and its light was increased by a new-fallen +snow. Parties of soldiers were driving about the streets, making a parade +of valor, challenging resistance, and striking the inhabitants +indiscriminately with sticks or sheathed cutlasses. + +2. A band, which poured out from Murray's barracks, in Brattle Street, +armed with clubs, cutlasses, and bayonets, provoked resistance, and a fray +ensued. Ensign Maul, at the gate of the barrack yard, cried to the +soldiers: "Turn out, and I will stand by you; kill them; stick them; knock +them down; run your bayonets through them." One soldier after another +leveled a firelock, and threatened to "make a lane" through the crowd. + +3. Just before nine, as an officer crossed King Street, now State Street, +a barber's lad cried after him: "There goes a mean fellow who hath not +paid my father for dressing his hair;" on which, the sentinel stationed at +the westerly end of the customhouse, on the corner of King Street and +Exchange Lane, left his post, and with his musket gave the boy a stroke on +the head, that made him stagger and cry for pain. + +4. The street soon became clear, and nobody troubled the sentry, when a +party of soldiers issued violently from the main guard, their arms +glittering in the moonlight, and passed on, hallooing: "Where are they? +where are they? Let them come." + +5. Presently twelve or fifteen more, uttering the same cries, rushed from +the south into King Street, and so by the way of Cornhill towards Murray's +barracks. "Pray, soldiers, spare my life," cried a boy of twelve, whom +they met. "No, no, I'll kill you all," answered one of them, and knocked +him down with his cutlass. They abused and insulted several persons at +their doors and others in the street; "running about like madmen in a +fury," crying, "Fire!" which seemed their watchword, and, "Where are +they? Knock them down." Their outrageous behavior occasioned the ringing +of the bell at the head of King Street. + +6. The citizens, whom the alarm set in motion, came out with canes and +clubs; and, partly by the interference of well-disposed officers, partly +by the courage of Crispus Attucks, a mulatto, and some others, the fray at +the barracks was soon over. Of the citizens, the prudent shouted, "Home! +home!" others, it is said, cried out, "Huzza for the main guard! there is +the nest;" but the main guard was not molested the whole evening. + +7. A body of soldiers came up Royal Exchange Lane, crying, "Where are the +cowards?" and, brandishing their arms, passed through King Street. From +ten to twenty boys came after them, asking, "Where are they? where are +they?" "There is the soldier who knocked me down," said the barber's boy; +and they began pushing one another towards the sentinel. He loaded and +primed his musket. "The lobster is going to fire," cried a boy. Waving his +piece about, the sentinel pulled the trigger. + +8. "If you fire you must die for it," said Henry Knox, who was passing by. +"I don't care," replied the sentry, "if they touch me, I'll fire." "Fire!" +shouted the boys, for they were persuaded he could not do it without leave +from a civil officer; and a young fellow spoke out, "We will knock him +down for snapping," while they whistled through their fingers and huzzaed. +"Stand off !" said the sentry, and shouted aloud, "Turn out, main guard!" +"They are killing the sentinel," reported a servant from the customhouse, +running to the main guard. "Turn out! why don't you turn cut?" cried +Preston, who was captain of the day, to the guard. + +9. A party of six, two of whom, Kilroi and Montgomery, had been worsted at +the ropewalk, formed, with a corporal in front and Preston following. With +bayonets fixed, they "rushed through the people" upon the trot, cursing +them, and pushing them as they went along. They found about ten persons +round the sentry, while about fifty or sixty came down with them. "For +God's sake," said Knox! holding Preston by the coat, "take your men back +again; if they fire, your life must answer for the consequences." "I know +what I am about," said he hastily, and much agitated. + +10. None pressed on them or provoked them till they began loading, when a +party of about twelve in number, with sticks in their hands, moved from +the middle of the street where they had been standing, gave three cheers, +and passed along the front of the soldiers, whose muskets some of them +struck as they went by. "You are cowardly rascals," they said, "for +bringing arms against naked men." "Lay aside your guns, and we are ready +for you." "Are the soldiers loaded?" inquired Palmes of Preston. "Yes," he +answered, "with powder and ball." "Are they going to fire upon the +inhabitants?" asked Theodore Bliss. "They can not, without my orders," +replied Preston; while "the town-born" called out, "Come on, you rascals, +you bloody backs, you lobster scoundrels, fire, if you dare. We know you +dare not." + +11. Just then, Montgomery received a blow from a stick which had hit his +Musket; and the word "fire!" being given by Preston, he stepped a little +to one side, and shot Attucks, who at the time was quietly leaning on a +long stick. "Don't fire!" said Langford, the watchman, to Kilroi, looking +him full in the face; but yet he did so, and Samuel Gray, who was standing +next Langford, fell lifeless. The rest fired slowly and in succession on +the people, who were dispersing. Three persons were killed, among them +Attucks, the mulatto; eight were wounded, two of them mortally. Of all the +eleven, not more than one had any share in the disturbance. + +12. So infuriated were the soldiers that, when the men returned to take up +the dead, they prepared to fire again, but were checked by Preston, while +the Twenty-ninth Regiment appeared under arms in King Street. "This is our +time," cried the soldiers of the Fourteenth; and dogs were never seen more +greedy for their prey. + +13. The bells rung in all the churches; the town drums beat. "To arms! to +arms!" was the cry. "Our hearts," said Warren, "beat to arms, almost +resolved by one stroke to avenge the death of our slaughtered brethren;" +but they stood self-possessed, demanding justice according to the law. +"Did you not know that you should not have fired without the order of a +civil magistrate?" asked Hutchinson, on meeting Preston. "I did it," +answered Preston, "to save my men." + +14. The people would not be pacified or retire till the regiment was +confined to the guardroom and the barracks; and Hutchinson himself gave +assurances that instant inquiries should be made by the county +magistrates. One hundred persons remained to keep watch on the +examination, which lasted till three hours after midnight. A warrant was +issued against Preston, who surrendered himself to the sheriff; and the +soldiers of his party were delivered up and committed to prison. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. In-dis-crim'i-nate-ly, without distinction. 2. En-sued', +followed, resulted from. En'sign (pro. en'sin). an officer of low rank. +Fire'lock, an old-style musket, with flintlock. 7. Bran'-dish-ing, +waving, flourishing. 13. Self'-pos-sessed, undisturbed, calm in mind, +manner, etc. 14. Pac'i-fied, calmed, quieted. War'rant, a writ authorizing +an officer to seize an offender. + + +NOTES.--This massacre took place Monday, March 5, 1770. + +5. Cornhill is the name of a street in Boston. + +7. Lobster was the epithet applied to a British soldier by the Americans +on account of his red coat. + +8. Henry Knox (b. 1750, d. 1806) was then a bookseller in Boston. He +afterwards became one of the American generals. + +8. Ropewalk. The active trouble resulting in the massacre arose from a +soldier's being thrashed the Friday before at Gray's ropewalk, where he +had challenged one of the workmen to fight; other soldiers joined in the +affray from time to time, but were always worsted. + +13. Warren. This was Joseph Warren (b. 1741, d. 1775), the American +patriot, killed shortly after at Bunker Hill. + +Thomas Hutchinson was at this time lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. +Although born in Boston, he sided with the British government in the +troubles before the Revolution, and sailed for England in 1774. + + + +LXXVI. DEATH OF THE BEAUTIFUL. + + +Eliza Lee Fallen (b. 1787, d. 1859) was born in Boston, Mass. Her maiden +name was Cabott. In 1828, she married Charles Follen, Professor of the +German language and its literature in Harvard University. Her principal +works are "Sketches of Married Life," "The Skeptic," "Twilight Stories," +and "Little Songs." For several years Mrs. Follen was editor of the +"Children's Friend." + +1. The young, the lovely, pass away, + Ne'er to be seen again; + Earth's fairest flowers too soon decay, + Its blasted trees remain. + +2. Full oft, we see the brightest thing + That lifts its head on high, + Smile in the light, then droop its wing, + And fade away and die. + +3. And kindly is the lesson given; + Then dry the falling tear: + They came to raise our hearts to Heaven; + They go to call us there. + + + +LXXVII. SNOW FALLING. + +John James Piatt (b. 1835,--) was born in Dearborn County, Ind., and is +of French descent. He began to write verses at the age of fourteen, and +has been connected editorially with several papers. Several editions of +his poems have been issued from time to time, each edition usually +containing some additional poems. Of these volumes we may mention: "Poems +in Sunshine and Firelight," "Western Windows," "The Lost Farm," and "Poems +of House and Home." + +1. The wonderful snow is falling + Over river and woodland and wold; + The trees bear spectral blossom + In the moonshine blurr'd and cold. + +2. There's a beautiful garden in Heaven; + And these are the banished flowers, + Falling and driven and drifted + Into this dark world of ours. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Wold, a plain or open country, a country without wood +whether hilly or not. Spec'tral, ghostly. 2. Ban'ished, condemned to +exile, driven away. + + + +LXXVIII. SQUEERS'S METHOD. + +Charles Dickens (b. 1812, d. 1870). This celebrated novelist was born in +Portsmouth, England. He began his active life as a lawyer's apprentice, in +London; but soon became a reporter, and followed this occupation from 1831 +to 1836. His first book was entitled "Sketches of London Society, by Boz." +In 1837 he published the "Pickwick Papers," a work which established his +reputation as a writer. His other works followed with great rapidity, and +his last, "Edwin Drood," was unfinished when he died. He visited America +in 1842 and in 1867. He is buried in Westminster Abbey. Mr. Dickens +excelled in humor and pathos, and was particularly successful in +delineating the joys and griefs of childhood. His writings have a tendency +to prompt to deeds of kindness and benevolence. The following extract is +taken from "Nicholas Nickleby," one of the best of his novels. + +1. "Come," said Squeers, "let's go to the schoolroom; and lend me a hand +with my school coat, will you?" + +Nicholas assisted his master to put on an old fustian shooting jacket, +which he took down from a peg in the passage; and Squeers, arming himself +with his cane, led the way across a yard to a door in the rear of the +house. + +"There," said the schoolmaster, as they stepped in together; "this is our +shop, Nickleby." + +2. It was such a crowded scene, and there were so many objects to attract +attention, that at first Nicholas stared about him, really without seeing +anything at all. By degrees, however, the place resolved itself into a +bare and dirty room with a couple of windows, whereof a tenth part might +be of glass, the remainder being stopped up with old copy books and paper. + + +3. There were a couple of long, old, rickety desks, cut and notched, and +inked and damaged in every possible way; two or three forms, a detached +desk for Squeers, and another for his assistant. The ceiling was supported +like that of a barn, by crossbeams and rafters, and the walls were so +stained and discolored that it was impossible to tell whether they had +ever been touched by paint or whitewash. + +4. Pale and haggard faces, lank and bony figures, children with the +countenances of old men, deformities with irons upon their limbs, boys of +stunted growth, and others whose long, meager legs would hardly bear their +stooping bodies, all crowded on the view together. There were little faces +which should have been handsome, darkened with the scowl of sullen, dogged +suffering; there was childhood with the light of its eye quenched, its +beauty gone, and its helplessness alone remaining. + +5. And yet this scene, painful as it was, had its grotesque features, +which, in a less interested observer than Nicholas, might have provoked a +smile. Mrs. Squeers stood at one of the desks, presiding over an immense +basin of brimstone and treacle, of which delicious compound she +administered a large installment to each boy in succession, using for the +purpose a common wooden spoon, which might have been originally +manufactured for some gigantic top, and which widened every young +gentleman's mouth considerably, they being all obliged, under heavy +corporeal penalties, to take in the whole bowl at a gasp. + +6. "Now," said Squeers, giving the desk a great rap with his cane, which +made half the little boys nearly jump out of their boots, "is that +physicking over?" + +"Just over," said Mrs. Squeers, choking the last boy in her hurry, and +tapping the crown of his head with the wooden spoon to restore him. "Here, +you Smike: take away now. Look sharp!" + +7. Smike shuffled out with the basin, and Mrs. Squeers hurried out after +him into a species of washhouse, where there was a small fire, and a large +kettle, together with a number of little wooden bowls which were arranged +upon a board. Into these bowls Mrs. Squeers, assisted by the hungry +servant, poured a brown composition which looked like diluted pincushions +without the covers, and was called porridge. A minute wedge of brown bread +was inserted in each bowl, and when they had eaten their porridge by means +of the bread, the boys ate the bread itself, and had finished their +breakfast, whereupon Mr. Squeers went away to his own. + +8. After some half-hour's delay Mr. Squeers reappeared, and the boys took +their places and their books, of which latter commodity the average might +be about one to eight learners. A few minutes having elapsed, during which +Mr. Squeers looked very profound, as if he had a perfect apprehension of +what was inside all the books, and could say every word of their contents +by heart, if he only chose to take the trouble, that gentleman called up +the first class. + +9. Obedient to this summons there ranged themselves in front of the +schoolmaster's desk, half a dozen scarecrows, out at knees and elbows, one +of whom placed a torn and filthy book beneath his learned eye. + +"This is the first class in English spelling and philosophy, Nickleby," +said Squeers, beckoning Nicholas to stand beside him. "We'll get up a +Latin one, and hand that over to you. Now, then, where's the first boy?" + +10. "Please, sir, he's cleaning the back parlor window," said the +temporary head of the philosophical class. + +"So he is, to be sure," rejoined Squeers. "We go upon the practical mode +of teaching, Nickleby; the regular education system. C-l-e-a-n, clean, +verb active, to make bright, to scour. W-i-n, win, d-e-r, der, winder, a +casement. When the boy knows this out of book, he goes and does it. It's +just the same principle as the use of the globes. Where's the second boy?" + + +11. "Please, sir, he is weeding the garden," replied a small voice. + +"To be sure," said Squeers, by no means disconcerted, "so he is. B-o-t, +bot, t-i-n, tin, n-e-y, ney, bottinney, noun substantive, a knowledge of +plants. When he has learned that bottinney means a knowledge of plants, +he goes and knows 'em. That's our system, Nickleby: what do you think of +it?" + +"It's a very useful one, at any rate," answered Nicholas, significantly. + +12. "I believe you," rejoined Squeers, not remarking the emphasis of his +usher. "Third boy, what's a horse?" + +"A beast, sir," replied the boy. + +"So it is," said Squeers. "Ain't it, Nickleby?" + +"I believe there is no doubt of that, sir," answered Nicholas. + +"Of course there is n't," said Squeers. "A horse is a quadruped, and +quadruped's Latin for beast, as everybody that's gone through the grammar +knows, or else where's the use of having grammars at all?" + +"Where, indeed!" said Nicholas, abstractedly. + +13. "As you're perfect in that," resumed Squeers, turning to the boy, "go +and look after my horse, and rub him down well, or I'll rub you down. The +rest of the class go and draw water up till somebody tells you to leave +off, for it's washing day to-morrow, and they want the coppers filled." + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Fus'tian, a kind of cotton stuff, including corduroy, +velveteen, etc. 2. Re-solved', made clear, disentangled. 4. +De-form'i-ties, misshapen persons. Stunt'ed, checked in growth. Mea'ger, +thin, lean. 5. Gro-tesque' (pro. gro-tesk'), fanciful, absurd. +Ad-min'is-tered, gave, dispensed. In-stall'ment (literally, part of a +debt), part, portion. Cor-po're-al, bodily. 6. Phys'ick-ing, doctoring, +treating with medicine. 7. Di-lut'ed, weakened by the addition of water. +8. Com-mod'i-ty, article, wares. Pro-found', intellectually deep, wise. +Ap-pre-hen'sion, comprehension, knowledge. 10. Tem'po-ra-ry, for the time +being. 11. Dis-con-cert'ed, confused, abashed. Sig-nif 'i-cant-ly, with +meaning. 12. Ab-stract'-ed-ly, in an absent-minded way. + + +NOTES.--1. Mr. Squeers is represented as an ignorant, brutal teacher, many +of whom were to be found in Yorkshire, England, at the time of this story. + + +Nicholas Nickleby is a well-educated, refined young man, who has just +obtained the position of assistant teacher, not knowing Squeers's true +character. + +6. Smike is a poor scholar, disowned by his parents, and made almost +idiotic by harsh treatment. + +The novel from which this story is abridged, aided greatly in a +much-needed reform in the Yorkshire schools; and the character of Squeers +was so true to life, that numerous suits were threatened against Mr. +Dickens by those who thought themselves caricatured. + + + +LXXIX. THE GIFT OF EMPTY HANDS. + +Mrs. S. M. B. Piatt (b, 1835,--) was born near Lexington, Ky. While still +a young girl she began to write poetry, which was well received. In 1861 +she was married to the poet John James Piatt. Mrs. Piatt's poetry is +marked by tender pathos, thoughtfulness, and musical flow of rhythm. The +following selection is from "That New World." + +1. They were two princes doomed to death; + Each loved his beauty and his breath: + "Leave us our life and we will bring + Fair gifts unto our lord, the king." + +2. They went together. In the dew + A charmed bird before them flew. + Through sun and thorn one followed it; + Upon the other's arm it lit. + +3. A rose, whose faintest flush was worth + All buds that ever blew on earth, + One climbed the rocks to reach; ah, well, + Into the other's breast it fell. + +4. Weird jewels, such as fairies wear, + When moons go out, to light their hair, + One tried to touch on ghostly ground; + Gems of quick fire the other found. + +5. One with the dragon fought to gain + The enchanted fruit, and fought in vain; + The other breathed the garden's air + And gathered precious apples there. + +6. Backward to the imperial gate + One took his fortune, one his fate: + One showed sweet gifts from sweetest lands, + The other, torn and empty hands. + +7. At bird, and rose, and gem, and fruit, + The king was sad, the king was mute; + At last he slowly said: "My son, + True treasure is not lightly won. + +8. Your brother's hands, wherein you see + Only these scars, show more to me + Than if a kingdom's price I found + In place of each forgotten wound." + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Doomed, destined, condemned. 2. Charmed, bewitched, +enchanted. 3. Blew, blossomed, bloomed. 4. Weird, tainted with witchcraft, +supernatural. Quick, alive, living. 6. Im-pe'ri-al, royal. 7 Mute, silent. + + + +LXXX. CAPTURING THE WILD HORSE. + +1. We left the buffalo camp about eight o'clock, and had a toilsome and +harassing march of two hours, over ridges of hills covered with a ragged +forest of scrub oaks, and broken by deep gullies. + +2. About ten o'clock in the morning we came to where this line of rugged +hills swept down into a valley, through which flowed the north fork of Red +River. A beautiful meadow, about half a mile wide, enameled with yellow, +autumnal flowers, stretched for two or three miles along the foot of the +hills, bordered on the opposite side by the river, whose banks were +fringed with cottonwood trees, the bright foliage of which refreshed and +delighted the eye, after being wearied by the contemplation of monotonous +wastes of brown forest. + +3. The meadow was finely diversified by groves and clumps of trees, so +happily dispersed that they seemed as if set out by the hand of art. As we +cast our eyes over this fresh and delightful valley, we beheld a troop of +wild horses quietly grazing on a green lawn, about a mile distant, to our +right, while to our left, at nearly the same distance, were several +buffaloes; some feeding, others reposing, and ruminating among the high, +rich herbage, under the shade of a clump of cottonwood trees. The whole +had the appearance of a broad, beautiful tract of pasture land, on the +highly ornamented estate of some gentleman farmer, with his cattle grazing +about the lawns and meadows. + +4. A council of war was now held, and it was determined to profit by the +present favorable opportunity, and try our hand at the grand hunting +maneuver which is called "ringing the wild horse." This requires a large +party of horsemen, well mounted. They extend themselves in each direction, +at a certain distance apart, and gradually form a ring of two or three +miles in circumference, so as to surround the game. This must be done with +extreme care, for the wild horse is the most readily alarmed inhabitant of +the prairie, and can scent a hunter a great distance, if to windward. + +5. The ring being formed, two or three ride toward the horses, which start +off in an opposite direction. Whenever they approach the bounds of the +ring, however, a huntsman presents himself, and turns them from their +course. In this way they are checked, and driven back at every point, and +kept galloping round and round this magic circle, until, being completely +tired down, it is easy for hunters to ride up beside them and throw the +lariat over their heads. The prime horses of the most speed, courage, and +bottom, however, are apt to break through and escape, so that, in general, +it is the second-rate horses that are taken. + +6. Preparations were now made for a hunt of this kind. The pack horses +were now taken into the woods and firmly tied to trees, lest in a rush of +the wild horses they should break away. Twenty-five men were then sent +under the command of a lieutenant to steal along the edge of the valley +within the strip of wood that skirted the hills. They were to station +themselves about fifty yards apart, within the edge of the woods, and not +advance or show themselves until the horses dashed in that direction. +Twenty-five men were sent across the valley to steal in like manner along +the river bank that bordered the opposite side, and to station themselves +among the trees. + +7. A third party of about the same number was to form a line, stretching +across the lower part of the valley, so as to connect the two wings. +Beatte and our other half-breed, Antoine, together with the ever-officious +Tonish, were to make a circuit through the woods so as to get to the upper +part of the valley, in the rear of the horses, and drive them forward into +the kind of sack that we had formed, while the two wings should join +behind them and make a complete circle. + +8. The flanking parties were quietly extending themselves out of sight, on +each side of the valley, and the residue were stretching themselves like +the links of a chain across it, when the wild horses gave signs that they +scented an enemy; snuffing the air, snorting, and looking about. At length +they pranced off slowly toward the river, and disappeared behind a green +bank. + +9. Here, had the regulations of the chase been observed, they would have +been quietly checked and turned back by the advance of a hunter from among +the trees. Unluckily, however, we had our wildfire, Jack-o'-lantern little +Frenchman to deal with. Instead of keeping quietly up the right side of +the valley, to get above the horses, the moment he saw them move toward +the river he broke out of the covert of woods and dashed furiously across +the plain in pursuit of them. This put an end to all system. The +half-breeds, and half a score of rangers, joined in the chase. + +10. A way they all went over the green bank. In a moment or two the wild +horses reappeared, and came thundering down the valley, with Frenchman, +half-breeds, and rangers galloping and bellowing behind them. It was in +vain that the line drawn across the valley attempted to check and turn +back the fugitives; they were too hotly pressed by their pursuers: in +their panic they dashed through the line, and clattered down the plain. + +11. The whole troop joined in the headlong chase, some of the rangers +without hats or caps, their hair flying about their ears, and others with +handkerchiefs tied round their heads. The buffaloes, which had been calmly +ruminating among the herbage, heaved up their huge forms, gazed for a +moment at the tempest that came scouring down the meadow, then turned and +took to heavy, rolling flight. They were soon overtaken; the promiscuous +throng were pressed together by the contracting sides of the valley, and +away they went, pellmell, hurry-skurry, wild buffalo, wild horse, wild +huntsman, with clang and clatter, and whoop and halloo, that made the +forests ring. + +12. At length the buffaloes turned into a green brake, on the river bank, +while the horses dashed up a narrow defile of the hills, with their +pursuers close to their heels. Beatte passed several of them, having fixed +his eye upon a fine Pawnee horse that had his ears slit and saddle marks +upon his back. He pressed him gallantly, but lost him in the woods. + +13. Among the wild horses was a fine black mare, which in scrambling up +the defile tripped and fell. A young ranger sprang from his horse and +seized her by the mane and muzzle. Another ranger dismounted and came to +his assistance. The mare struggled fiercely, kicking and biting, and +striking with her fore feet, but a noose was slipped over her head, and +her struggles were in vain. + +14. It was some time, however, before she gave over rearing and plunging, +and lashing out with her feet on every side. The two rangers then led her +along the valley, by two strong lariats, which enabled them to keep at a +sufficient distance on each side to be out of the reach of her hoofs, and +whenever she struck out in one direction she was jerked in the other. In +this way her spirit was gradually subdued. + +15. As to Tonish, who had marred the whole scene by his precipitancy, he +had been more successful than he deserved, having managed to catch a +beautiful cream-colored colt about seven months old, that had not strength +to keep up with its companions. The mercurial little Frenchman was beside +himself with exultation. It was amusing to see him with his prize. The +colt would rear and kick, and struggle to get free, when Tonish would take +him about the neck, wrestle with him, jump on his back, and cut as many +antics as a monkey with a kitten. + +16. Nothing surprised me more, however, than to witness how soon these +poor animals, thus taken from the unbounded freedom of the prairie, +yielded to the dominion of man. In the course of two or three days the +mare and colt went with the led horses and became quite docile. + --Washington Irving. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Gul'lies, hollows in the earth worn by water. +Di-ver'si-fied, distinguished by numerous aspects, varied. 3. Ru' +mi-nat-ing, chewing over what has been slightly chewed before. Herb' age +(pro. erb' aj), pasture, grass. 4. Prai'rie, an extensive, level tract +without trees, but covered with tall grass. Wind'ward, the point from +which the wind blows. 5. Lar'i-at, a long cord or thong of leather, with a +noose, for catching wild horses. Bot'tom, power of endurance. 8. +Flank'ing, overlooking or commanding on the side. 9. Jack-o'-lan'tern, a +light seen in low, moist grounds, which disappears when approached. 9. +Cov'ert, a covering place, a shelter. 10. Pan'ic, sudden fright (usually, +causeless fright). 11. Pro-mis'cu-ous, mingled, confused. 15. Marred, +interrupted, spoiled. Mer-cu'ri-al, sprightly, full of fire. + + + +LXXXI. SOWING AND REAPING. + +Adelaide Anne Procter (b. 1825, d. 1864) was the daughter of Bryan Waller +Procter (better known as "Barry Cornwall "), a celebrated English poet, +living in London. Miss Procter's first volume, "Legends and Lyrics," +appeared in 1858, and met with great success; it was republished in this +country. A second series, under the same name, was published in 1860; and +in 1862 both series were republished with additional poems, and an +introduction by Charles Dickens. In 1861 Miss Procter edited "Victoria +Regia," a collection of poetical pieces, to which she contributed; and in +1862 "A Chaplet of Verses," composed of her own poems, was published. +Besides these volumes, she contributed largely to various magazines and +periodicals. + +1. Sow with a generous hand; + Pause not for toil and pain; + Weary not through the heat of summer, + Weary not through the cold spring rain; + But wait till the autumn comes + For the sheaves of golden grain. + +2. Scatter the seed, and fear not, + A table will be spread; + What matter if you are too weary + To eat your hard-earned bread; + Sow, while the earth is broken, + For the hungry must be fed. + +3. Sow;--while the seeds are lying + In the warm earth's bosom deep, + And your warm tears fall upon it-- + They will stir in their quiet sleep, + And the green blades rise the quicker, + Perchance, for the tears you weep. + +4. Then sow;--for the hours are fleeting, + And the seed must fall to-day; + And care not what hand shall reap it, + Or if you shall have passed away + Before the waving cornfields + Shall gladden the sunny day. + +5. Sow;--and look onward, upward, + Where the starry light appears,-- + Where, in spite of the coward's doubting, + Or your own heart's trembling fears, + You shall reap in joy the harvest + You have sown to-day in tears. + + + +LXXXII. TAKING COMFORT. + +1. For the last few days, the fine weather has led me away from books and +papers, and the close air of dwellings, into the open fields, and under +the soft, warm sunshine, and the softer light of a full moon. The +loveliest season of the whole year--that transient but delightful interval +between the storms of the "wild equinox, with all their wet," and the +dark, short, dismal days which precede the rigor of winter--is now with +us. The sun rises through a soft and hazy atmosphere; the light mist +clouds melt gradually before him; and his noontide light rests warm and +clear on still woods, tranquil waters, and grasses green with the late +autumnal rains. + +2. One fine morning, not long ago, I strolled down the Merrimac, on the +Tewksbury shore. I know of no walk in the vicinity of Lowell so inviting +as that along the margin of the river, for nearly a mile from the village +of Belvidere. The path winds, green and flower-skirted, among beeches and +oaks, through whose boughs you catch glimpses of waters sparkling and +dashing below. Rocks, huge and picturesque, jut out into the stream, +affording beautiful views of the river and the distant city. + +3. Half fatigued with my walk, I threw myself down upon a rocky slope of +the bank, where the panorama of earth, sky, and water lay clear and +distinct about me. Far above, silent and dim as a picture, was the city, +with its huge mill masonry, confused chimney tops, and church spires; near +it rose the height of Belvidere, with its deserted burial place and +neglected gravestones sharply defined on its bleak, bare summit against +the sky; before me the river went dashing down its rugged channel, sending +up its everlasting murmur; above me the birch tree hung its tassels; and +the last wild flowers of autumn profusely fringed the rocky rim of the +water. + +4. Right opposite, the Dracut woods stretched upwards from the shore, +beautiful with the hues of frost, glowing with tints richer and deeper +than those which Claude or Poussin mingled, as if the rainbows of a summer +shower had fallen among them. At a little distance to the right, a group +of cattle stood mid-leg deep in the river; and a troop of children, +bright-eyed and mirthful, were casting pebbles at them from a projecting +shelf of rock. Over all a warm but softened sunshine melted down from a +slumberous autumnal sky. + +5. My reverie was disagreeably broken. A low, grunting sound, half +bestial, half human, attracted my attention. I was not alone. Close beside +me, half hidden by a tuft of bushes, lay a human being, stretched out at +full length, with his face literally rooted into the gravel. A little boy, +five or six years of age, clean and healthful, with his fair brown locks +and blue eyes, stood on the bank above, gazing down upon him with an +expression of childhood's simple and unaffected pity. + +6. "What ails you?" asked the boy at length. "What makes you lie there?" + +The prostrate groveler struggled halfway up, exhibiting the bloated and +filthy countenance of a drunkard. He made two or three efforts to get upon +his feet, lost his balance, and tumbled forward upon his face. + +"What are you doing there?" inquired the boy. + +"I'm taking comfort," he muttered, with his mouth in the dirt. + +7. Taking his comfort! There he lay,--squalid and loathsome under the +bright heaven,--an imbruted man. The holy harmonies of Nature, the sounds +of gushing waters, the rustle of the leaves above him, the wild flowers, +the frost bloom of the woods,--what were they to him? Insensible, deaf, +and blind, in the stupor of a living death, he lay there, literally +realizing that most bitterly significant eastern malediction, "May you eat +dirt." + --Whittier. + +DEFINITIONS.--l. Tran'sient (pro. tran'shent), of short duration. +E'qui-nox, the time of year when the days and nights are of equal length, +i.e., about September 23d or March 21st. Rigor, severity. 2. +Pic-tur-esque' (pro. pik-tur-esk'), fitted to form a pleasing picture. 3. +Pan-o-ra'ma, a complete or entire view in every direction. 5. Rev'er-ie, +an irregular train of thoughts occurring in meditation. Bes'tial (pro. +bes'chal), brutish. Lit'er-al-ly, according to the first and natural +meaning of words. 6. Pros'trate, lying at length. Grov'el-er, a base +wretch. Bloat'ed, puffed out. 7. Im-brut'ed, reduced to brutality. +Har'mo-ny, the fitness of parts to each other in any combination of +things. Re'al-iz-ing, making one's own in experience. Mal-e-dic'tion, a +curse. + +NOTES.--The localities named in this selection are in the vicinity of +Haverhill, Mass., where the old Whittier homestead is situated. + +4. Claude Lorrain (b. 1600, d. 1682), whose proper name was Claude Gelee, +was a celebrated landscape painter, born in Champagne, Vosges, France. + +Nicolas Poussin (b. 1594, d. 1665) was a French painter, who became one of +the most remarkable artists of his age. His fame chiefly arises from his +historical and mythological paintings. + + + +LXXXIII. CALLING THE ROLL. + +1. "CORPORAL GREEN!" the orderly cried; + "Here!" was the answer, loud and clear, + From the lips of a soldier standing near; + And "here!" was the word the next replied. + "Cyrus Drew!" and a silence fell; + This time no answer followed the call; + Only his rear man saw him fall, + Killed or wounded he could not tell. + +2. There they stood in the fading light, + These men of battle, with grave, dark looks, + As plain to be read as open books, + While slowly gathered the shades of night. + The fern on the slope was splashed with blood, + And down in the corn, where the poppies grew, + Were redder stains than the poppies knew; + And crimson-dyed was the river's flood. + +3. For the foe had crossed from the other side + That day, in the face of a murderous fire + That swept them down in its terrible ire; + And their lifeblood went to color the tide. + "Herbert Cline!" At the call there came + Two stalwart soldiers into the line, + Bearing between them Herbert Cline, + Wounded and bleeding, to answer his name. + +4. "Ezra Kerr!" and a voice said "here!" + "Hiram Kerr!" but no man replied: + They were brothers, these two; the sad wind sighed, + And a shudder crept through the cornfield near. + "Ephraim Deane!"--then a soldier spoke: + "Deane carried our regiment's colors," he said, + "When our ensign was shot; I left him dead, + Just after the enemy wavered and broke. + +5. "Close to the roadside his body lies; + I paused a moment and gave him to drink; + He murmured his mother's name, I think; + And death came with it and closed his eyes." + 'T was a victory--yes; but it cost us dear; + For that company's roll, when called at night, + Of a hundred men who went into the fight, + Numbered but twenty that answered "here!" + --Shepherd. + + + +LXXXIV. TURTLE SOUP. + +Charles Frederick Briggs (b. 1804, d. 1877) was born on the island of +Nantucket. When quite young, however, he became a resident of New York +City. In 1845, in conjunction with Edgar A. Poe, he began the publication +of the "Broadway Journal;" he was also connected with the "New York +Times," and the "Evening Mirror;" also as editor from 1853 to 1856 with +"Putnam's Magazine." Mr. Briggs wrote a few novels, some poetry, and +numerous little humorous tales and sketches. The following selection is +from "Working a Passage; or, Life on a Liner," one of his best stories. + +1. Among the luxuries which the captain had provided for himself and +passengers was a fine green turtle, which was not likely to suffer from +exposure to salt water, so it was reserved until all the pigs, and sheep, +and poultry had been eaten. A few days before we arrived, it was +determined to kill the turtle and have a feast the next day. + +2. Our cabin gentlemen had been long enough deprived of fresh meats to +make them cast lickerish glances towards their hard-skinned friend, and +there was a great smacking of lips the day before he was killed. As I +walked aft occasionally, I heard them congratulating themselves on their +prospective turtle soup and forcemeat balls; and one of them, to heighten +the luxury of the feast, ate nothing but a dry biscuit for the twenty-four +hours preceding, that he might be prepared to devour his full share of the +unctuous compound. + +3. It was to be a gala day with them; and though it was not champagne day, +that falling on Saturday and this on Friday, they agreed to have champagne +a day in advance, that nothing should be wanting to give a finish to their +turtle. It happened to be a rougher day than usual when the turtle was +cooked, but they had become too well used to the motion of the ship to +mind that. + +4. It happened to be my turn at the wheel the hour before dinner, and I +had the tantalizing misery of hearing them laughing and talking about +their turtle, while I was hungry from want of dry bread and salt meat. I +had resolutely kept my thoughts from the cabin during all the passage but +once, and now I found my ideas clustering round a tureen of turtle in +spite of all my philosophy. + +5. Confound them, if they had gone out of my hearing with their exulting +smacks, I should not have envied their soup, but their hungry glee so +excited my imagination that I could see nothing through the glazing of the +binnacle but a white plate with a slice of lemon on the rim, a loaf of +delicate bread, a silver spoon, a napkin, two or three wine glasses of +different hues and shapes, and a water goblet clustering round it, and a +stream of black, thick, and fragrant turtle pouring into the plate. + +6. By and by it was four bells: they dined at three. And all the +gentlemen, with the captain at their head, darted below into the cabin, +where their mirth increased when they caught sight of the soup plates. +"Hurry with the soup, steward," roared the captain. "Coming, sir," replied +the steward. In a few moments the cook opened the door of his galley, and +out came the delicious steam of the turtle. + +7. Then came the steward with a large covered tureen in his hand, towards +the cabin gangway. I forgot the ship for a moment in looking at this +precious cargo, the wheel slipped from my hands, the ship broached to with +a sudden jerk; the steward had got only one foot upon the stairs, when +this unexpected motion threw him off his balance, and down he went by the +run, the tureen slipped from his hands, and part of its contents flew into +the lee scuppers, and the balance followed him in his fall. + +8. I laughed outright. I enjoyed the turtle a thousand times more than I +should have done if I had eaten the whole of it. But I was forced to +restrain my mirth, for the next moment the steward ran upon deck, followed +by the captain, in a furious rage, threatening if he caught him to throw +him overboard. Not a spoonful of the soup had been left in the coppers, +for the steward had taken it all away at once to keep it warm. In about an +hour afterwards the passengers came upon deck, looking more sober than I +had seen them since we left Liverpool. They had dined upon cold ham. + + +DEFINTIONS.--1. Re-served', kept back, retained. 2. Lick'er. ish, eager or +greedy to swallow. Aft, toward the stern of a vessel. Pro-spec'tive, +relating to the future. Force'meat, meat chopped fine and highly seasoned. +Unc'tu-ous, fat. 5. Glaz'ing, glass or glass-like substance. Bin'na-cle, a +box containing the compass of a ship. 6. Gal'ley, the kitchen of a ship. +7. Tu-reen', a large deep vessel for holding soup. Gang'way, a passageway. +Lee, pertaining to the side opposite that against which the wind blows. +Scup'pers, channels cut through the side of a ship for carrying off water +from the deck. Cop'pers, large copper boilers. + + +NOTE.--6. Four bells; i.e., two o'clock. + + + +LXXXV. THE BEST KIND OF REVENGE. + +1. Some years ago a warehouseman in Manchester, England, published a +scurrilous pamphlet, in which he endeavored to hold up the house of Grant +Brothers to ridicule. William Grant remarked upon the occurrence that the +man would live to repent of what he had done; and this was conveyed by +some talebearer to the libeler, who said, "Oh, I suppose he thinks I shall +some time or other be in his debt; but I will take good care of that." It +happens, however, that a man in business can not always choose who shall +be his creditors. The pamphleteer became a bankrupt, and the brothers held +an acceptance of his which had been indorsed to them by the drawer, who +had also become a bankrupt. + +2. The wantonly libeled men had thus become creditors of the libeler! They +now had it in their power to make him repent of his audacity. He could not +obtain his certificate without their signature, and without it he could +not enter into business again. He had obtained the number of signatures +required by the bankrupt law except one. It seemed folly to hope that the +firm of "the brothers" would supply the deficiency. What! they who had +cruelly been made the laughingstock of the public, forget the wrong and +favor the wrongdoer? He despaired. But the claims of a wife and children +forced him at last to make the application. Humbled by misery, he +presented himself at the countinghouse of the wronged. + +3. Mr. William Grant was there alone, and his first words to the +delinquent were, "Shut the door, sir!" sternly uttered. The door was shut, +and the libeler stood trembling before the libeled. He told his tale and +produced his certificate, which was instantly clutched by the injured +merchant. "You wrote a pamphlet against us once!" exclaimed Mr. Grant. The +suppliant expected to see his parchment thrown into the fire. But this was +not its destination. Mr. Grant took a pen, and writing something upon the +document, handed it back to the bankrupt. He, poor wretch, expected to see +"rogue, scoundrel, libeler," inscribed; but there was, in fair round +characters, the signature of the firm. + +4. "We make it a rule," said Mr. Grant, "never to refuse signing the +certificate of an honest tradesman, and we have never heard that you were +anything else." The tears started into the poor man's eyes. "Ah," said Mr. +Grant, "my saying was true! I said you would live to repent writing that +pamphlet. I did not mean it as a threat. I only meant that some day you +would know us better, and be sorry you had tried to injure us. I see you +repent of it now." "I do, I do!" said the grateful man; "I bitterly repent +it." "Well, well, my dear fellow, you know us now. How do you get on? What +are you going to do?" The poor man stated he had friends who could assist +him when his certificate was obtained. "But how are you off in the +meantime?" + +5. And the answer was, that, having given up every farthing to his +creditors, he had been compelled to stint his family of even common +necessaries, that he might be enabled to pay the cost of his certificate. +"My dear fellow, this will not do; your family must not suffer. Be kind +enough to take this ten-pound note to your wife from me. There, there, my +dear fellow! Nay, do not cry; it will all be well with you yet. Keep up +your spirits, set to work like a man, and you will raise your head among +us yet." The overpowered man endeavored in vain to express his thanks; the +swelling in his throat forbade words. He put his handkerchief to his face +and went out of the door, crying like a child. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Ware'house-man (English usage), one who keeps a wholesale +store for woolen goods. Scur'ril-ous, low, mean. Li'bel-er, one who +defames another maliciously by a writing, etc 2. Au-dac'i-ty, bold +impudence. Sig'na-ture, the name of a person written with his own hand, +the name of a firm signed officially. De--fi'cien-cy, want. 3. +De-lin'quent, an offender. Parch'ment, sheep or goat skin prepared for +writing upon. 5. Stint, to limit. + + +NOTE.--l. Acceptance. When a person upon whom a draft has been made, +writes his name across the face of it, the draft then becomes "an +acceptance." The person who makes the draft is called "the drawer;" the +person to whom the money is ordered paid writes his name on the back of +the draft and is called "an indorser." Paper of this kind frequently +passes from hand to hand, so that there are several indorsers. + + + +LXXXVI. THE SOLDIER OF THE RHINE. + +Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton (b. 1808, d. 1877) was the grand-daughter +of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. She wrote verses and plays at a very early +age. "The Sorrows of Rosalie," published in 1829, was written before she +was seventeen years old. In 1827 she was married to the Hon. George +Chapple Norton. The marriage was an unhappy one, and they were divorced in +1836. Her principal works are "The Undying One," "The Dream, and Other +Poems," "The Child of the Islands," "Stuart of Dunleith, a Romance," and +"English Laws for English Women of the 19th Century." She contributed +extensively to the magazines and other periodicals. + +1. +A soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers, +There was lack of woman's nursing, there was dearth of woman's tears; +But a comrade stood beside him, while his lifeblood ebbed away, +And bent, with pitying glances, to hear what he might say. +The dying soldier faltered, as he took that comrade's hand, +And he said: "I nevermore shall see my own, my native land; +Take a message and a token to some distant friends of mine, +For I was born at Bingen,--at Bingen on the Rhine. + +2. +"Tell my brothers and companions, when they meet and crowd around +To hear my mournful story in the pleasant vineyard ground, +That we fought the battle bravely, and when the day was done, +Full many a corse lay ghastly pale beneath the setting sun; +And, 'mid the dead and dying, were some grown old in wars,-- +The death wound on their gallant breasts, the last of many scars; +But some were young, and suddenly beheld life's morn decline,-- +And one had come from Bingen,--fair Bingen on the Rhine. + +3. +"Tell my mother that her other sons shall comfort her old age, +For I was aye a truant bird, that thought his home a cage. +For my father was a soldier, and, even when a child, +My heart leaped forth to hear him tell of struggles fierce and wild; +And when he died, and left us to divide his scanty hoard, +I let them take whate'er they would, but kept my father's sword; +And with boyish love I hung it where the bright light used to shine, +On the cottage wall at Bingen,--calm Bingen on the Rhine. + +4. +"Tell my sister not to weep for me, and sob with drooping head, +When the troops come marching home again, with glad and gallant tread, +But to look upon them proudly, with a calm and steadfast eye, +For her brother was a soldier, too, and not afraid to die; +And if a comrade seek her love, I ask her in my name +To listen to him kindly, without regret or shame, +And to hang the old sword in its place (my father's sword and mine), +For the honor of old Bingen,--dear Bingen on the Rhine. + +5. +"There's another,--not a sister; in the happy days gone by, +You'd have known her by the merriment that sparkled in her eye; +Too innocent for coquetry,--too fond for idle scorning,-- +O friend! I fear the lightest heart makes sometimes heaviest mourning! +Tell her the last night of my life--(for, ere the moon be risen, +My body will be out of pain, my soul be out of prison), +I dreamed I stood with her, and saw the yellow sunlight shine +On the vine-clad hills of Bingen,--fair Bingen on the Rhine. + +6. +"I saw the blue Rhine sweep along: I heard, or seemed to hear, +The German songs we used to sing, in chorus sweet and clear; +And down the pleasant river, and up the slanting hill, +The echoing chorus sounded, through the evening calm and still; +And her glad blue eyes were on me, as we passed, with friendly talk, +Down many a path beloved of yore, and well-remembered walk; +And her little hand lay lightly, confidingly in mine,-- +But we'll meet no more at Bingen,--loved Bingen all the Rhine." + +7. +His trembling voice grew faint and hoarse; his grasp was childish weak, +His eyes put on a dying look,--he sighed and ceased to speak. +His comrade bent to lift him, but the spark of life had fled,-- +The soldier of the Legion in a foreign land was dead! +And the soft moon rose up slowly, and calmly she looked down +On the red sand of the battlefield, with bloody corses strewn; +Yes, calmly on that dreadful scene, her pale light seemed to shine, +As it shone on distant Bingen,--fair Bingen on the Rhine. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Le'gion (pro. le'jun), division of an army. Dearth (pro. +derth), scarcity. Ebbed, flowed out. 2. Corse, a dead body. 4. Stead'fast, +firm, resolute. 5. Co-quet'ry, trifling in love. 6. Cho'rus, music in +which all join. Yore, old times. + + +NOTE.--l. Bingen is pronounced Bing'en, not Bin'gen, nor Bin'jen. + + + +LXXXVII. THE WINGED WORSHIPERS. + +Charles Sprague (b. 1791, d. 1875) was born in Boston, Mass. He engaged in +mercantile business when quite young, leaving school for that purpose. In +1825, he was elected cashier of the Globe Bank of Boston, which position +he held until 1864. Mr. Sprague has not been a prolific writer; but his +poems, though few in number, are deservedly classed among the best +productions of American poets. His chief poem is entitled "Curiosity." + +1. Gay, guiltless pair, + What seek ye from the fields of heaven? + Ye have no need of prayer, + Ye have no sins to be forgiven. + +272 ECLECTIC SERIES. + +2. Why perch ye here, + Where mortals to their Maker bend? + Can your pure spirits fear + The God ye never could offend? + +3. Ye never knew + The crimes for which we come to weep; + Penance is not for you, + Blessed wanderers of the upper deep. + +4. To you 't is given + To wake sweet Nature's untaught lays; + Beneath the arch of heaven + To chirp away a life of praise. + +5. Then spread each wing, + Far, far above, o'er lakes and lands, + And join the choirs that sing + In yon blue dome not reared with hands. + +6. Or, if ye stay + To note the consecrated hour, + Teach me the airy way, + And let me try your envied power. + +7. Above the crowd, + On upward wings could I but fly, + I'd bathe in yon bright cloud, + And seek the stars that gem the sky. + +8. 'T were Heaven indeed, + Through fields of trackless light to soar, + On Nature's charms to feed, + And Nature's own great God adore. + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Perch, to light or settle on anything. 3. Pen'-ance, +suffering for sin. 4. Lays, songs. 5. Choir (pro. kwir), a collection of +singers. Dome, an arched structure above a roof; hence, figuratively, the +heavens. 6. Con'se-crat-ed, set apart for the service of God. 8. +Track'less, having no path. + + +NOTE.--This little poem was addressed to two swallows that flew into +church during service. + + + + +LXXXVIII. THE PEEVISH WIFE. + +Maria Edgeworth (b. 1767, d. 1849) was born near Reading. Berkshire, +England. In 1782 her father removed with his family to Edgeworthtown, +Ireland, to reside on his estate. She lived here during the remainder of +her life, with the exception of occasional short visits to England, +Scotland, and France. She was educated principally by her father, and they +were colaborers in literary productions, among which were "Essays on +Practical Education," and the "Parent's Assistant." Her novels and tales +were written without assistance, and her fame as a writer rests on them. +The best known of these are "Castle Rackrent," "Moral Tales," "Tales of +Fashionable Life," "Frank," "The Modern Griselda," and "Helen." Miss +Edgeworth excels in the truthful delineation of character, and her works +are full of practical good sense and genuine humor. + +Mrs. Bollingbroke. I wish I knew what was the matter with me this morning. +Why do you keep the newspaper all to yourself, my dear? + +Mr. Bolingbroke. Here it is for you, my dear; I have finished it. Mrs. B. +I humbly thank you for giving it to me when you have done with it. I hate +stale news. Is there anything in the paper? for I can not be at the +trouble of hunting it. + +Mr. B. Yes, my dear; there are the marriages of two of our friends. + +Mrs.B. Who? Who? + +Mr. B. Your friend, the widow Nettleby, to her cousin John Nettleby. + +Mrs. B. Mrs. Nettleby? Dear! But why did you tell me? + +Mr. B. Because you asked me, my dear. + +Mrs. B. Oh, but it is a hundred times pleasanter to read the paragraph +one's self. One loses all the pleasure of the surprise by being told. +Well, whose was the other marriage? + +Mr. B. Oh, my dear, I will not tell you; I will leave you the pleasure of +the surprise. + +Mrs. B. But you see I can not find it. How provoking you are, my dear! Do +pray tell me. + +Mr. B. Our friend Mr. Granby. + +Mrs. B. Mr. Granby? Dear! Why did you not make me guess? I should have +guessed him directly. But why do you call him our friend? I am sure he is +no friend of mine, nor ever was. I took an aversion to him, as you +remember, the very first day I saw him. I am sure he is no friend of mine. + + +Mr. B. I am sorry for it, my dear; but I hope you will go and see Mrs. +Granby. + +Mrs. B. Not I, indeed, my dear. Who was she? + +Mr. B. Miss Cooke. + +Mrs. B. Cooke? But, there are so many Cookes. Can't you distinguish her +any way? Has she no Christian name? + +Mr. B. Emma, I think. Yes, Emma. + +Mrs. B. Emma Cooke? No; it can not be my friend Emma Cooke; for I am sure +she was cut out for an old maid. + +Mr. B. This lady seems to me to be cut out for a good wife. + +Mrs. B. Maybe so. I am sure I'll never go to see her. Pray, my dear, how +came you to see so much of her? + +Mr. B. I have seen very little of her, my dear. I only saw her two or +three times before she was married. + +Mrs. B. Then, my dear, how could you decide that she was cut out for a +good wife? I am sure you could not judge of her by seeing her only two or +three times, and before she was married. + +Mr. B. Indeed, my love, that is a very just observation. + +Mrs. B. I understand that compliment perfectly, and thank you for it, my +dear. I must own I can bear anything better than irony. + +Mr. B. Irony? my dear, I was perfectly in earnest. + +Mrs. B. Yes, yes; in earnest; so I perceive; I may naturally be dull of +apprehension, but my feelings are quick enough; I comprehend too well. +Yes, it is impossible to judge of a woman before marriage, or to guess +what sort of a wife she will make. I presume you speak from experience; +you have been disappointed yourself, and repent your choice. + +Mr. B. My dear, what did I say that was like this? Upon my word, I meant +no such thing. I really was not thinking of you in the least. + +Mrs. B. No, you never think of me now. I can easily believe that you were +not thinking of me in the least. + +Mr. B. But I said that only to prove to you that I could not be thinking +ill of you, my dear. + +Mrs. B. But I would rather that you thought ill of me than that you should +not think of me at all. + +Mr. B. Well, my dear, I will even think ill of you if that will please +you. + +Mrs. B. Do you laugh at me? When it comes to this I am wretched indeed. +Never man laughed at the woman he loved. As long as you had the slightest +remains of love for me you could not make me an object of derision; +ridicule and love are incompatible, absolutely incompatible. Well, I have +done my best, my very best, to make you happy, but in vain. I see I am not +cut out to be a good wife. Happy, happy Mrs. Granby! + +Mr. B. Happy, I hope sincerely, that she will be with my friend; but my +happiness must depend on you, my love; so, for my sake, if not for your +own, be composed, and do not torment yourself with such fancies. + +Mrs. B. I do wonder whether this Mrs. Granby is really that Miss Emma +Cooke. I'll go and see her directly; see her I must. + +Mr. B. I am heartily glad of it, my dear; for I am sure a visit to his +wife will give my friend Granby real pleasure. + +Mrs. B. I promise you, my dear, I do not go to give him pleasure, or you +either, but to satisfy my own curiosity. + + +DEFINITIONS.--I'ron-y, language intended to convey a meaning contrary to +its literal signification. De-ri'sion, the act of laughing at in contempt. +In-com-pat'i-ble, that can not exist together. + + + +LXXXIX. THE RAINY DAY. + +1. The day is cold, and dark, and dreary; + It rains, and the wind is never weary; + The vine still clings to the moldering wall, + But at every gust the dead leaves fall. + And the day is dark and dreary. + +2. My life is cold, and dark, and dreary; + It rains, and the wind is never weary; + My thoughts still cling to the moldering Past, + But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast, + And the days are dark and dreary. + +3. Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; + Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; + Thy fate is the common fate of all, + Into each life some rain must fall, + Some days must be dark and dreary. + --Longfellow. + + + +XC. BREAK, BREAK, BREAK. + +Alfred Tennyson (b. 1809, d. 1892) was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, +England. He graduated at Trinity College, Cambridge. His first volume of +poems was published in 1830, but it made little impression and was +severely criticised. On the publication of his third series in 1842, his +poetic genius began to receive general recognition. Mr. Tennyson was made +poet laureate in 1850, and was regarded as the foremost living poet of +England. For several years his residence was on the Isle of Wight. In +1884, he was raised to the peerage. + +1. Break, break, break, + On thy cold gray stones, O sea! + And I would that my tongue could utter + The thoughts that arise in me. + +2. Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, + That he shouts with his sister at play! + Oh, well for the sailor lad, + That he sings in his boat on the bay! + +3. And the stately ships go on + To their haven under the hill; + But oh for the touch of a vanished hand, + And the sound of a voice that is still! + +4. Break, break, break, + At the foot of thy crags, O sea! + But the tender grace of a day that is dead + Will never come back to me. + + + +XCI. TRANSPORTATION AND PLANTING OF SEEDS. + +Henry David Thoreau (b. 1817, d. 1862). This eccentric American author and +naturalist was born at Concord, Mass. He graduated at Harvard University +in 1837. He was a good English and classical scholar, and was well +acquainted with the literature of the East. His father was a maker of lead +pencils, and he followed the business for a time, but afterwards supported +himself mainly by teaching, lecturing, land surveying, and carpentering. +In 1845 he built himself a small wooden house near Concord, on the shore +of Walden Pond, where he lived about two years. He was intimate with +Hawthorne, Emerson, and other literary celebrities. His principal works +are "Walden, or Life in the Woods," "A Week on Concord and Merrimac +Rivers," "Excursions," "Maine Woods," "Cape Cod," "A Yankee in Canada," +and "Letters to Various Persons." In descriptive power Mr. Thoreau has +few, if any, superiors. + +1. In all the pines a very thin membrane, in appearance much like an +insect's wing, grows over and around the seed, and independent of it, +while the latter is being developed within its base. In other words, a +beautiful thin sack is woven around the seed, with a handle to it such as +the wind can take hold of, and it is then committed to the wind, expressly +that it may transport the seed and extend the range of the species; and +this it does as effectually as when seeds are sent by mail, in a different +kind of sack, from the patent office. + +2. There is, then, no necessity for supposing that the pines have sprung +up from nothing, and I am aware that I am not at all peculiar in asserting +that they come from seeds, though the mode of their propagation by Nature +has been but little attended to. They are very extensively raised from the +seed in Europe, and are beginning to be here. + +3. When you cut down an oak wood, a pine wood will not at once spring up +there unless there are, or have been quite recently, seed-bearing pines +near enough for the seeds to be blown from them. But, adjacent to a forest +of pines, if you prevent other crops from growing there, you will surely +have an extension of your pine forest, provided the soil is suitable. + +4. As I walk amid hickories, even in August, I hear the sound of green +pignuts falling from time to time, cut off by the chickaree over my head. +In the fall I notice on the ground, either within or in the neighborhood +of oak woods, on all sides of the town, stout oak twigs three or four +inches long, bearing half a dozen empty acorn cups, which twigs have been +gnawed off by squirrels, on both sides of the nuts, in order to make them +more portable. The jays scream and the red squirrels scold while you are +clubbing and shaking the chestnut trees, for they are there on the same +errand, and two of a trade never agree. + +5. I frequently see a red or a gray squirrel cast down a green chestnut +burr, as I am going through the woods, and I used to think, sometimes, +that they were cast at me. In fact, they are so busy about it, in the +midst of the chestnut season, that you can not stand long in the woods +without hearing one fall. + +6. A sportsman told me that he had, the day before--that was in the middle +of October--seen a green chestnut burr dropped on our great river meadow, +fifty rods from the nearest wood, and much farther from the nearest +chestnut tree, and he could not tell how it came there. Occasionally, when +chestnutting in midwinter, I find thirty or forty nuts in a pile, left in +its gallery just under the leaves, by the common wood mouse. + +7. But especially, in the winter, the extent to which this transportation +and planting of nuts is carried on, is made apparent by the snow. In +almost every wood you will see where the red or gray squirrels have pawed +down through the snow in a hundred places, sometimes two feet deep, and +almost always directly to a nut or a pine cone, as directly as if they had +started from it and bored upward,--which you and I could not have done. It +would be difficult for us to find one before the snow falls. Commonly, no +doubt, they had deposited them there in the fall. You wonder if they +remember the localities or discover them by the scent. + +8. The red squirrel commonly has its winter abode in the earth under a +thicket of evergreens, frequently under a small clump of evergreens in the +midst of a deciduous wood. If there are any nut trees, which still retain +their nuts, standing at a distance without the wood, their paths often +lead directly to and from them. We, therefore, need not suppose an oak +standing here and there in the wood in order to seed it, but if a few +stand within twenty or thirty rods of it, it is sufficient. + +9. I think that I may venture to say that every white-pine cone that falls +to the earth naturally in this town, before opening and losing its seeds, +and almost every pitch-pine one that falls at all, is cut off by a +squirrel; and they begin to pluck them long before they are ripe, so that +when the crop of white-pine cones is a small one, as it commonly is, they +cut off thus almost everyone of these before it fairly ripens. + +10. I think, moreover, that their design, if I may so speak, in cutting +them off green, is partly to prevent their opening and losing their seeds, +for these are the ones for which they dig through the snow, and the only +white-pine cones which contain anything then. I have counted in one heap +the cores of two hundred and thirty-nine pitch-pine cones which had been +cut off and stripped by the red squirrel the previous winter. + +11. The nuts thus left on the surface, or buried just beneath it, are +placed in the most favorable circumstances for germinating. I have +sometimes wondered how those which merely fell on the surface of the earth +got planted; but, by the end of December, I find the chestnut of the same +year partially mixed with the mold, as it were, under the decaying and +moldy leaves, where there is all the moisture and manure they want, for +the nuts fall fast. In a plentiful year a large proportion of the nuts are +thus covered loosely an inch deep, and are, of course, somewhat concealed +from squirrels. + +12. One winter, when the crop had been abundant, I got, with the aid of a +rake, many quarts of these nuts as late as the tenth of January; and +though some bought at the store the same day were more than half of them +moldy, I did not find a single moldy one among those which I picked from +under the wet and moldy leaves, where they had been snowed on once or +twice. Nature knew how to pack them best. They were still plump and +tender. Apparently they do not heat there, though wet. In the spring they +are all sprouting. + +13. Occasionally, when threading the woods in the fall, you will hear a +sound as if some one had broken a twig, and, looking up, see a jay pecking +at an acorn, or you will see a flock of them at once about it, in the top +of an oak, and hear them break it off. They then fly to a suitable limb, +and placing the acorn under one foot, hammer away at it busily, making a +sound like a woodpecker's tapping, looking round from time to time to see +if any foe is approaching, and soon reach the meat, and nibble at it, +holding up their heads to swallow while they hold the remainder very +firmly with their claws. Nevertheless, it often drops to the ground before +the bird has done with it. + +14. I can confirm what William Barton wrote to Wilson, the ornithologist, +that "The jay is one of the most useful agents in the economy of nature +for disseminating forest trees and other nuciferous and hard-seeded +vegetables on which they feed. In performing this necessary duty they drop +abundance of seed in their flight over fields, hedges, and by fences, +where they alight to deposit them in the post holes, etc. It is remarkable +what numbers of young trees rise up in fields and pastures after a wet +winter and spring. These birds alone are capable in a few years' time to +replant all the cleared lands." + +15. I have noticed that squirrels also frequently drop nuts in open land, +which will still further account for the oaks and walnuts which spring up +in pastures; for, depend on it, every new tree comes from a seed. When I +examine the little oaks, one or two years old, in such places, I +invariably find the empty acorn from which they sprung. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Mem'brane, a thin, soft tissue of interwoven fibers. 2. +Prop-a-ga'tion, the continuance of a kind by successive production. 4. +Port'a-ble, capable of being carried. 7. Trans-por-ta'tion, the act of +conveying from one place to another. 8. De--cid'u-ous, said of trees whose +leaves fall in autumn. 11. Ger'mi-nat-ing, sprouting, beginning to grow. +14. Or-ni-thol'o-gist, one skilled in the science which treats of birds. +E-con'o-my, orderly system, Dis-sem'i-nat-ing, scattering for growth and +propagation. Nu-cif 'er-ous, bearing nuts. + + + +XCII. SPRING AGAIN. + +Celia Thaxter (b. 1836, d. 1894), whose maiden name was Laighton, was born +in Portsmouth, N.H. Much of her early life was passed on White Island, one +of a group of small islands, called the Isles of Shoals, about ten miles +from the shore, where she lived in the lighthouse cottage. In 1867-68, she +published, in the "Atlantic Monthly," a number of papers on these islands, +which were afterwards bound in a separate volume. Mrs. Thaxter was a +contributor to several periodicals, and in strength and beauty of style +has few equals among American writers. The following selection is from a +volume of her poems entitled "Drift Weed." + +1. I stood on the height in the stillness + And the planet's outline scanned, + And half was drawn with the line of sea + And half with the far blue land. + +2. With wings that caught the sunshine + In the crystal deeps of the sky, + Like shapes of dreams, the gleaming gulls + Went slowly floating by. + +3. Below me the boats in the harbor + Lay still, with their white sails furled; + Sighing away into silence, + The breeze died off the world. + +4. On the weather-worn, ancient ledges + Peaceful the calm light slept; + And the chilly shadows, lengthening, + Slow to the eastward crept. + +5. The snow still lay in the hollows, + And where the salt waves met + The iron rock, all ghastly white + The thick ice glimmered yet. + +6. But the smile of the sun was kinder, + The touch of the air was sweet; + The pulse of the cruel ocean seemed + Like a human heart to beat. + +7. Frost-locked, storm-beaten, and lonely, + In the midst of the wintry main, + Our bleak rock yet the tidings heard: + "There shall be spring again!" + +8. Worth all the waiting and watching, + The woe that the winter wrought, + Was the passion of gratitude that shook + My soul at the blissful thought! + +9. Soft rain and flowers and sunshine, + Sweet winds and brooding skies, + Quick-flitting birds to fill the air + With clear delicious cries; + +10. And the warm sea's mellow murmur + Resounding day and night; + A thousand shapes and tints and tones + Of manifold delight, + +11. Nearer and ever nearer + Drawing with every day! + But a little longer to wait and watch + 'Neath skies so cold and gray; + +12. And hushed is the roar of the bitter north + Before the might of the spring, + And up the frozen slope of the world + Climbs summer, triumphing. + + + +XCIII. RELIGION THE ONLY BASIS OF SOCIETY. + +William Ellery Channing (b. 1780, d. 1842), an eminent divine and orator, +was born at Newport, R.I. He graduated from Harvard with the highest +honors in 1798, and, in 1803, he was made pastor of the Federal Street +Church, Boston, with which he maintained his connection until his death. +Towards the close of his life, being much enfeebled, he withdrew almost +entirely from his pastoral duties, and devoted himself to literature. Dr. +Channing's writings are published in six volumes, and are mainly devoted +to theology. + +1. Religion is a social concern; for it operates powerfully on society, +contributing in various ways to its stability and prosperity. Religion is +not merely a private affair; the community is deeply interested in its +diffusion; for it is the best support of the virtues and principles, on +which the social order rests. Pure and undefiled religion is to do good; +and it follows, very plainly, that if God be the Author and Friend of +society, then, the recognition of him must enforce all social duty, and +enlightened piety must give its whole strength to public order. + +2. Few men suspect, perhaps no man comprehends, the extent of the support +given by religion to every virtue. No man, perhaps, is aware how much our +moral and social sentiments are fed from this fountain; how powerless +conscience would become without the belief of a God; how palsied would be +human benevolence, were there not the sense of a higher benevolence to +quicken and sustain it; how suddenly the whole social fabric would quake, +and with what a fearful crash it would sink into hopeless ruin, were the +ideas of a Supreme Being, of accountableness and of a future life to be +utterly erased from every mind. + +3. And, let men thoroughly believe that they are the work and sport of +chance; that no superior intelligence concerns itself with human affairs; +that all their improvements perish forever at death; that the weak have no +guardian, and the injured no avenger; that there is no recompense for +sacrifices to uprightness and the public good; that an oath is unheard in +heaven; that secret crimes have no witness but the perpetrator; that human +existence has no purpose, and human virtue no unfailing friend; that this +brief life is everything to us, and death is total, everlasting +extinction; once let them thoroughly abandon religion, and who can +conceive or describe the extent of the desolation which would follow? + +4. We hope, perhaps, that human laws and natural sympathy would hold +society together. As reasonably might we believe that were the sun +quenched in the heavens, our torches would illuminate, and our fires +quicken and fertilize the creation. What is there in human nature to +awaken respect and tenderness, if man is the unprotected insect of a day? +And what is he more, if atheism be true? + +5. Erase all thought and fear of God from a community, and selfishness and +sensuality would absorb the whole man. Appetite, knowing no restraint, and +suffering, having no solace or hope, would trample in scorn on the +restraints of human laws. Virtue, duty, principle, would be mocked and +spurned as unmeaning sounds. A sordid self-interest would supplant every +feeling; and man would become, in fact, what the theory in atheism +declares him to be,--a companion for brutes. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Com-mu'ni-ty, society at large, the public. Dif-fu'sion, +extension, spread. En-light'ened, elevated by knowledge and religion. 2. +Fab'ric, any system composed of connected parts. Erased', blotted out. 3. +Per'pe-tra-tor, one who commits a crime. Ex-tinc'tion, a putting an end +to. 4. Fer'ti-lize, to make fruitful. A'the-ism, disbelief in God. +Sen-su-al'i-ty, indulgence in animal pleasure. + + + +XCIV. ROCK ME TO SLEEP. + +Elizabeth Akers Allen (b. 1832,--) was born at Strong, Maine, and passed +her childhood amidst the picturesque scenery of that neighborhood. She +lost her mother when very young, but inherited her grace and delicacy of +thought. Shortly after her mother's death, her father removed to +Farmington, Maine, a town noted for its literary people. Mrs. Allen's +early pieces appeared over the pseudonym of "Florence Percy." Her first +verses appeared when she was twelve years old; and her first volume, +entitled "Forest Buds from the Woods of Maine," was Published in 1856. For +some years she was assistant editor of the "Portland Transcript." The +following selection was claimed by five different persons, who attempted +to steal the honor of its composition. + +1. Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight, + Make me a child again, just for to-night! + Mother, come back from the echoless shore, + Take me again to your heart as of yore; + Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care, + Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair; + Over my slumbers your loving watch keep;-- + Rock me to sleep, mother,--rock me to sleep! + +2. Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years! + I am so weary of toil and of tears; + Toil without recompense, tears all in vain; + Take them, and give me my childhood again! + I have grown weary of dust and decay,-- + Weary of flinging my soul wealth away; + Weary of sowing for others to reap;-- + Rock me to sleep, mother,--rock me to sleep! + +3. Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue, + Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you! + Many a summer the grass has grown green, + Blossomed and faded, our faces between: + Yet with strong yearning and passionate pain, + Long I to-night for your presence again. + Come from the silence so long and so deep;-- + Rock me to sleep, mother,--rock me to sleep! + +4. Over my heart in the days that are flown, + No love like mother love ever has shone; + No other worship abides and endures, + Faithful, unselfish, and patient like yours: + None like a mother can charm away pain + From the sick soul, and the world-weary brain. + Slumber's soft calms o'er my heavy lids creep;-- + Rock me to sleep, mother,--rock me to sleep! + +5. Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold, + Fall on your shoulders again, as of old; + Let it drop over my forehead to-night, + Shading my faint eyes away from the light; + For with its sunny-edged shadows once more, + Haply will throng the sweet visions of yore; + Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep;-- + Rock me to sleep, mother,--rock me to sleep! + +6. Mother, dear mother, the years have been long + Since I last listened your lullaby song; + Sing, then, and unto my soul it shall seem + Womanhood's years have been only a dream! + Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace, + With your light lashes just sweeping my face, + Never hereafter to wake or to weep:-- + Rock me to sleep, mother,--rock me to sleep! + + + +XCV. MAN AND THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. + +1. The chief difference between man and the other animals consists in +this, that the former has reason, whereas the latter have only instinct; +but, in order to understand what we mean by the terms reason and instinct, +it will be necessary to mention three things in which the difference very +distinctly appears. + +2. Let us first, to bring the parties as nearly on a level as possible, +consider man in a savage state, wholly occupied, like the beasts of the +field, in providing for the wants of his animal nature; and here the first +distinction that appears between them is the use of implements. When the +savage provides himself with a hut or a wigwam for shelter, or that he may +store up his provisions, he does no more than is done by the rabbit, the +beaver, the bee, and birds of every species. + +3. But the man can not make any progress in this work without tools; he +must provide himself with an ax even before he can cut down a tree for its +timber; whereas these animals form their burrows, their cells, or their +nests, with no other tools than those with which nature has provided them. +In cultivating the ground, also, man can do nothing without a spade or a +plow; nor can he reap what he has sown till he has shaped an implement +with which to cut clown his harvest. But the inferior animals provide for +themselves and their young without any of these things. + +4. Now for the second distinction. Man, in all his operations, makes +mistakes; animals make none. Did you ever hear of such a thing as a bird +sitting on a twig lamenting over her half-finished nest and puzzling her +little head to know how to complete it? Or did you ever see the cells of a +beehive in clumsy, irregular shapes, or observe anything like a discussion +in the little community, as if there were a difference of opinion among +the architects? + +5. The lower animals are even better physicians than we are; for when they +are ill, they will, many of them, seek out some particular herb, which +they do not, use as food, and which possesses a medicinal quality exactly +suited to the complaint; whereas, the whole college of physicians will +dispute for a century about the virtues of a single drug. + +6. Man undertakes nothing in which he is not more or less puzzled; and +must try numberless experiments before he can bring his undertakings to +anything like perfection; even the simplest operations of domestic life +are not well performed without some experience; and the term of man's life +is half wasted before he has done with his mistakes and begins to profit +by his lessons. + +7. The third distinction is that animals make no improvements; while the +knowledge, and skill, and the success of man are perpetually on the +increase. Animals, in all their operations, follow the first impulse of +nature or that instinct which God has implanted in them. In all they do +undertake, therefore, their works are more perfect and regular than those +of man. + +8. But man, having been endowed with the faculty of thinking or reasoning +about what he does, is enabled by patience and industry to correct the +mistakes into which he at first falls, and to go on constantly improving. +A bird's nest is, indeed, a perfect structure; yet the nest of a swallow +of the nineteenth century is not at all more commodious or elegant than +those that were built amid the rafters of Noah's ark. But if we compare +the wigwam of the savage with the temples and palaces of ancient Greece +and Rome, we then shall see to what man's mistakes, rectified and improved +upon, conduct him. + +9. "When the vast sun shall veil his golden light + Deep in the gloom of everlasting night; + When wild, destructive flames shall wrap the skies, + When ruin triumphs, and when nature dies; + Man shall alone the wreck of worlds survive; + 'Mid falling spheres, immortal man shall live." + --Jane Taylor. + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Dis-tinc'tion, a point of difference. Im'ple-ments, +utensils, tools. Wigwam, an Indian hut. 3. Bur'rows, holes in the earth +where animals lodge. 4. Dis-cus'sion, the act of arguing a point, debate. +5. Me-dic'i-nal, healing. 8. En-dowed', furnished with any gift, quality, +etc. Fac'ul-ty, ability to act or perform. Rec'ti-fied, corrected. + + + +XCVI. THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT. + +John Godfrey Saxe (b. 1816, d.1887), an American humorist, lawyer, and +journalist, was born at Highgate, Vt. He graduated at Middlebury College +in 1839; was admitted to the bar in 1843; and practiced law until 1850, +when he became editor of the "Burlington Sentinel." In 1851, he was +elected State's attorney. "Progress, a Satire, and Other Poems," his first +volume, was published in 1849, and several other volumes of great merit +attest his originality. For genial humor and good-natured satire, Saxe's +writings rank among the best of their kind, and are very popular. + +1. It was six men of Indostan, + To learning much inclined, + Who went to see the elephant, + (Though all of them were blind,) + That each by observation + Might satisfy his mind. + +2. The first approached the elephant, + And, happening to fall + Against his broad and sturdy side, + At once began to bawl: + "God bless me! but the elephant + Is very like a wall!" + +3. The second, feeling of the tusk, + Cried: "Ha! what have we here, + So very round, and smooth, and sharp? + To me 't is very clear, + This wonder of an elephant + Is very like a spear!" + +4. The third approached the animal, + And, happening to take + The squirming trunk within his hands, + Thus boldly up he spake: + "I see," quoth he, "the elephant + Is very like a snake!" + +5. The fourth reached out his eager hand, + And fell about the knee: + "What most this wondrous beast is like, + Is very plain," quoth he; + " 'T is clear enough the elephant + Is very like a tree!" + +6. The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, + Said: "E'en the blindest man + Can tell what this resembles most: + Deny the fact who can, + This marvel of an elephant + Is very like a fan!" + +7. The sixth no sooner had begun + About the beast to grope, + Than, seizing on the swinging tail + That fell within his scope, + "I see," quoth he, "the elephant + Is very like a rope!" + +8. And so these men of Indostan + Disputed loud and long, + Each in his own opinion + Exceeding stiff and strong, + Though each was partly in the right, + And all were in the wrong! + + + +XCVII. A HOME SCENE. + +Donald Grant Mitchell (b. 1822,--). This popular American writer was born +in Norwich, Conn. He graduated at Yale in 1841. In 1844 he went to +England, and, after traveling through that country on foot, spent some +time on the continent. His first volume, "Fresh Gleanings, or a New Sheaf +from the Old Fields of Continental Europe, by Ik Marvel," was published in +1847, soon after his return home. He revisited Europe in 1848. On his +return, he published "The Battle Summer." Mr. Mitchell has contributed to +the "Knickerbocker Magazine," the "Atlantic Monthly," and several +agricultural journals. His most popular works are "The Reveries of a +Bachelor," 1850, and "Dream Life," 1851. Besides these, he has written "My +Farm of Edgewood," "Wet Days at Edgewood," "Doctor Johns," a novel "Rural +Studies," and other works. He is a charming writer. In 1853 he was +appointed United States consul at Venice. In 1855 he settled on a farm +near New Haven, Conn., where he now resides. The following selection is +from "Dream Life." + +1. Little does the boy know, as the tide of years drifts by, floating him +out insensibly from the harbor of his home, upon the great sea of +life,--what joys, what opportunities, what affections, are slipping from +him into the shades of that inexorable Past, where no man can go, save on +the wings of his dreams. + +2. Little does he think, as he leans upon the lap of his mother, with his +eye turned to her, in some earnest pleading for a fancied pleasure of the +hour, or in some important story of his griefs, that such sharing of his +sorrows, and such sympathy with his wishes, he will find nowhere again. + +3. Little does he imagine that the fond sister Nelly, ever thoughtful of +his pleasures, ever smiling away his griefs, will soon be beyond the reach +of either; and that the waves of the years which come rocking so gently +under him will soon toss her far away, upon the great swell of life. + +4. But now, you are there. The fire light glimmers upon the walls of your +cherished home. The big chair of your father is drawn to its wonted corner +by the chimney side; his head, just touched with gray, lies back upon its +oaken top. Opposite sits your mother: her figure is thin, her look +cheerful, yet subdued;--her arm perhaps resting on your shoulder, as she +talks to you in tones of tender admonition, of the days that are to come. + +5. The cat is purring on the hearth; the clock that ticked so plainly when +Charlie died is ticking on the mantel still. The great table in the middle +of the room, with its books and work, waits only for the lighting of the +evening lamp, to see a return to its stores of embroidery and of story. + +6. Upon a little stand under the mirror, which catches now and then a +flicker of the fire light, and makes it play, as if in wanton, upon the +ceiling, lies that big book, reverenced of your New England parents--the +Family Bible. It is a ponderous, square volume, with heavy silver clasps, +that you have often pressed open for a look at its quaint, old pictures, +for a study of those prettily bordered pages, which lie between the +Testaments, and which hold the Family Record. + +7. There are the Births;--your father's and your mother's; it seems as if +they were born a long time ago; and even your own date of birth appears an +almost incredible distance back. Then there are the Marriages;--only one +as yet; and your mother's name looks oddly to you: it is hard to think of +her as anyone else than your doting parent. + +8. Last of all come the Deaths;--only one. Poor Charlie! How it looks!--" +Died, 12 September, 18--, Charles Henry, aged four years." You know just +how it looks. You have turned to it often; there you seem to be joined to +him, though only by the turning of a leaf. + +9. And over your thoughts, as you look at that page of the Record, there +sometimes wanders a vague, shadowy fear, which will come,--that your own +name may soon be there. You try to drop the notion, as if it were not +fairly your own; you affect to slight it, as you would slight a boy who +presumed on your acquaintance, but whom you have no desire to know. + +10. Yet your mother--how strange it is!--has no fears of such dark +fancies. Even now, as you stand beside her, and as the twilight deepens in +the room, her low, silvery voice is stealing upon your ear, telling you +that she can not be long with you;--that the time is coming, when you must +be guided by your own judgment, and struggle with the world unaided by the +friends of your boyhood. + +11. There is a little pride, and a great deal more of anxiety, in your +thoughts now, as you look steadfastly into the home blaze, while those +delicate fingers, so tender of your happiness, play with the locks upon +your brow. To struggle with the world,--that is a proud thing; to struggle +alone,--there lies the doubt! Then crowds in swift upon the calm of +boyhood the first anxious thought of youth. + +12. The hands of the old clock upon the mantel that ticked off the hours +when Charlie sighed and when Charlie died, draw on toward midnight. The +shadows that the fireflame makes grow dimmer and dimmer. And thus it is, +that Home,--boy home, passes away forever,--like the swaying of a +pendulum,--like the fading of a shadow on the floor. + + +DEFINITIONS.--l. In-ex'or-a-ble, not to be changed. 4. Wont'ed, +accustomed. Ad-mo-ni'tion (pro. ad-mo'nish'un), counseling against fault +or error. 13. Pon'der-ous, very heavy. Quaint (pro. kwant), odd and +antique. 7. In-cred'i-ble, impossible to be believed. Dot'-ing, loving to +excess. 9. Vague (pro. vag), indefinite. Pre-sumed', pushed upon or +intruded in an impudent manner. + + + +XCVIII. THE LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS. + +Thomas Moore (b. 1779. d. 1852) was born in Dublin, Ireland, and he was +educated at Trinity College in that city. In 1799, he entered the Middle +Temple, London, as a student of law. Soon after the publication of his +first poetical productions, he was sent to Bermuda in an official +capacity. He subsequently visited the United States. Moore's most famous +works are: "Lalla Rookh," an Oriental romance, 1817; "The Loves of the +Angels," 1823; and "Irish Melodies," 1834; a "Life of Lord Byron," and +"The Epicurean, an Eastern Tale." "Moore's excellencies," says Dr. Angus, +"consist in the gracefulness of his thoughts, the wit and fancy of his +allusions and imagery, and the music and refinement of his versification." + +1. Oft in the stilly night + Ere slumber's chain has bound me, + Fond memory brings the light + Of other days around me: + The smiles, the tears + Of boyhood's years, + The words of love then spoken; + The eyes that shone, + Now dimmed and gone, + The cheerful hearts now broken! + Thus in the stilly night + Ere slumber's chain has bound me, + Sad memory brings the light + Of other days around me. + +2. When I remember all + The friends so linked together + I've seen around me fall + Like leaves in wintry weather, + I feel like one + Who treads alone + Some banquet hall deserted, + Whose lights are fled + Whose garlands dead, + And all but he departed. + Thus in the stilly night + Ere slumber's chain has bound me, + Sad memory brings the light + Of other days around me. + + + +XCIX. A CHASE IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL. + +James Fenimore Cooper (b. 1789, d. 1851). This celebrated American +novelist was born in Burlington, N.J. His father removed to the state of +New York about 1790, and founded Cooperstown, on Otsego Lake. He studied +three years at Yale, and then entered the navy as a common sailor. He +became a midshipman in 1806, and was afterwards promoted to the rank of +lieutenant; but he left the service in 1811. His first novel, +"Precaution," was published in 1819; his best work, "The Spy," a tale of +the Revolutionary War, in 1821. The success of "The Spy" was almost +unprecedented, and its author at once took rank among the most popular +writers of the day. "The Pilot" and "The Red Rover" are considered his +best sea novels. "The Pioneers," "The Last of the Mohicans," "The +Prairie," "The Pathfinder," and "The Deerslayer" are among the best of his +tales of frontier life. The best of his novels have been translated into +nearly all of the European languages, and into some of those of Asia. "The +creations of his genius," says Bryant, "shall survive through centuries to +come, and only perish with our language." The following selection is from +"The Pilot." + +1. The ship which the American frigate had now to oppose, was a vessel of +near her own size and equipage; and when Griffith looked at her again, he +perceived that she had made her preparations to assert her equality in +manful fight. + +2. Her sails had been gradually reduced to the usual quantity, and, by +certain movements on her decks, the lieutenant and his constant attendant, +the Pilot, well understood that she only wanted to lessen the distance a +few hundred yards to begin the action. + +"Now spread everything," whispered the stranger. + +3. Griffith applied the trumpet to his mouth, and shouted, in a voice that +was carried even to his enemy, "Let fall--out with your booms--sheet +home--hoist away of everything!" + +4. The inspiring cry was answered by a universal bustle. Fifty men flew +out on the dizzy heights of the different spars, while broad sheets of +canvas rose as suddenly along the masts, as if some mighty bird were +spreading its wings. The Englishman instantly perceived his mistake, and +he answered the artifice by a roar of artillery. Griffith watched the +effects of the broadside with an absorbing interest as the shot whistled +above his head; but when he perceived his masts untouched, and the few +unimportant ropes, only, that were cut, he replied to the uproar with a +burst of pleasure. + +5. A few men were, however, seen clinging with wild frenzy to the cordage, +dropping from rope to rope, like wounded birds fluttering through a tree, +until they fell heavily into the ocean, the sullen ship sweeping by them +in a cold indifference. At the next instant, the spars and masts of their +enemy exhibited a display of men similar to their own, when Griffith again +placed the trumpet to his mouth, and shouted aloud, "Give it to them; +drive them from their yards, boys; scatter them with your grape; unreeve +their rigging!" + +6. The crew of the American wanted but little encouragement to enter on +this experiment with hearty good will, and the close of his cheering words +was uttered amid the deafening roar of his own cannon. The Pilot had, +however, mistaken the skill and readiness of their foe; for, +notwithstanding the disadvantageous circumstances under which the +Englishman increased his sail, the duty was steadily and dexterously +performed. + +7. The two ships were now running rapidly on parallel lines, hurling at +each other their instruments of destruction with furious industry, and +with severe and certain loss to both, though with no manifest advantage in +favor of either. Both Griffith and the Pilot witnessed, with deep concern, +this unexpected defeat of their hopes; for they could not conceal from +themselves that each moment lessened their velocity through the water, as +the shot of the enemy stripped the canvas from the yards, or dashed aside +the lighter spars in their terrible progress. + +8. "We find our equal here," said Griffith to the stranger. "The ninety is +heaving up again like a mountain; and if we continue to shorten sail at +this rate, she will soon be down upon us!" + +"You say true, sir," returned the Pilot, musing, "the man shows judgment +as well as spirit; but--" + +9. He was interrupted by Merry, who rushed from the forward part of the +vessel, his whole face betokening the eagerness of his spirit and the +importance of his intelligence.-- + +"The breakers!" he cried, when nigh enough to be heard amid the din; "we +are running dead on a ripple, and the sea is white not two hundred yards +ahead." + +10. The Pilot jumped on a gun, and, bending to catch a glimpse through the +smoke, he shouted, in those clear, piercing tones, that could be even +heard among the roaring of the cannon,-- + +"Port, port your helm! we are on the Devil's Grip! Pass up the trumpet, +sir; port your helm, fellow; give it to them, boys--give it to the proud +English dogs!" + +11. Griffith unhesitatingly relinquished the symbol of his rank, fastening +his own firm look on the calm but quick eye of the Pilot, and gathering +assurance from the high confidence he read in the countenance of the +stranger. The seamen were too busy with their cannon and the rigging to +regard the new danger; and the frigate entered one of the dangerous passes +of the shoals, in the heat of a severely contested battle. + +12. The wondering looks of a few of the older sailors glanced at the +sheets of foam that flew by them, in doubt whether the wild gambols of the +waves were occasioned by the shot of the enemy, when suddenly the noise of +cannon was succeeded by the sullen wash of the disturbed element, and +presently the vessel glided out of her smoky shroud, and was boldly +steering in the center of the narrow passages. + +13. For ten breathless minutes longer the Pilot continued to hold an +uninterrupted sway, during which the vessel ran swiftly by ripples and +breakers, by streaks of foam and darker passages of deep water, when he +threw down his trumpet and exclaimed-- + +"What threatened to be our destruction has proved our salvation.--Keep +yonder hill crowned with wood one point open from the church tower at its +base, and steer east and by north; you will run through these shoals on +that course in an hour, and by so doing you will gain five leagues of your +enemy, who will have to double their trail." + +14. Every officer in the ship, after the breathless suspense of +uncertainty had passed, rushed to those places where a view might be taken +of their enemies. The ninety was still steering boldly onward, and had +already approached the two-and-thirty, which lay a helpless wreck, rolling +on the unruly seas that were rudely tossing her on their wanton billows. +The frigate last engaged was running along the edge of the ripple, with +her torn sails flying loosely in the air, her ragged spars tottering in +the breeze, and everything above her hull exhibiting the confusion of a +sudden and unlooked-for check to her progress. + +15. The exulting taunts and mirthful congratulations of the seamen, as +they gazed at the English ships, were, however, soon forgotten in the +attention that was required to their own vessel. The drums beat the +retreat, the guns were lashed, the wounded again removed, and every +individual able to keep the deck was required to lend his assistance in +repairing the damages to the frigate, and securing her masts. + +16. The promised hour carried the ship safely through all the dangers, +which were much lessened by daylight; and by the time the sun had begun to +fall over the land, Griffith, who had not quitted the deck during the day, +beheld his vessel once more cleared of the confusion of the chase and +battle, and ready to meet another foe. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Frig'ate, a war vessel, usually carrying from +twenty-eight to forty-four guns, arranged in two tiers on each side. +Eq'ui-page (pro. ek'wi-paj), furniture, fitting out. 4. Ar'ti-fice. +skillful contrivance, trick. Broad'side, a discharge of all the guns on +one side of a ship, above and below, at the same time. 7. Man'i-fest, +visible to the eye, apparent. 11. As-sur'ance (pro. a-shur'ans), full +confidence, courage. 13. Sway, control, rule. + + +NOTES.--2. The Pilot, who appears in this story, under disguise, is John +Paul Jones, a celebrated American naval officer during the Revolution. He +was born in Scotland, in 1747, and was apprenticed when only twelve years +old as a sailor. He was familiar with the waters about the British +Islands, and during part of the war he hovered about their coasts in a +daring way, capturing many vessels, often against heavy odds, and causing +great terror to the enemy. + +8. The ninety, refers to a large ninety-gun ship, part of a fleet which +was chasing the American vessel. + +10. The Devil's Grip; the name of a dangerous reef in the English Channel. + +13. One point open. Directions for steering, referring to the compass. + +14. The two-and-thirty; i.e., another of the enemy's ships, carrying +thirty-two guns. + + + +C. BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE. + +Charles Wolfe (b. 1791, d. 1823), an Irish poet and clergyman, was born in +Dublin. He was educated in several schools, and graduated at the +university of his native city. He was ordained in 1817, and soon became +noted for his zeal and energy as a clergyman. His literary productions +were collected and published in 1825. "The Burial of Sir John Moore," one +of the finest poems of its kind in the English language, was written in +1817, and first appeared in the "Newry Telegraph," a newspaper, with the +author's initials, but without his knowledge. Byron said of this ballad +that he would rather be the author of it than of any one ever written. + +1. Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, + As his corse to the rampart we hurried; + Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot + O'er the grave where our hero we buried. + +2. We buried him darkly, at dead of night, + The sods with our bayonets turning, + By the struggling moonbeam's misty light, + And the lantern dimly burning. + +3. No useless coffin inclosed his breast, + Not in sheet nor in shroud we wound him; + But he lay like a warrior taking his rest, + With his martial cloak around him. + +4. Few and short were the prayers we said, + And we spoke not a word of sorrow; + But we steadfastly gazed on the face of the dead + And we bitterly thought of the morrow. + +5. We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed, + And smoothed down his lonely pillow, + That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head, + And we far away on the billow! + +6. Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone + And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him; + But little he'll reck, if they'll let him sleep on + In a grave where a Briton has laid him. + +7. But half of our heavy task was done, + When the clock struck the hour for retiring + And we heard the distant random gun + That the foe was sullenly firing. + +8. Slowly and sadly we laid him down, + From the field of his fame, fresh and gory; + We carved not a line, we raised not a stone, + But we left him alone with his glory! + + +DEFINITIONS.--3. Mar'tial (pro. mar'shal), military. 6. Up-braid', to +charge with something wrong or disgraceful, to reproach. Reck, to take +heed, to care. 7. Ran'dom, without fixed aim or purpose, left to chance. + + +NOTE.--Sir John Moore (b. 1761, d. 1809) was a celebrated British general. +He was appointed commander of the British forces in Spain, in the war +against Napoleon, and fell at the battle of Corunna, by a cannon shot. +Marshal Soult, the opposing French commander, caused a monument to be +erected to his memory. The British government has also raised a monument +to him in St. Paul's Cathedral, while his native city, Glasgow, honors him +with a bronze statue. + + + +CI. LITTLE VICTORIES. + +1. "O Mother, now that I have lost my limb, I can never be a soldier or a +sailor; I can never go round the world!" And Hugh burst into tears, now +more really afflicted than he had ever been yet. His mother sat on the bed +beside him, and wiped away his tears as they flowed, while he told her, as +well as his sobs would let him, how long and how much he had reckoned on +going round the world, and how little he cared for anything else in +future; and now this was the very thing he should never be able to do! + +2. He had practiced climbing ever since he could remember, and now this +was of no use; he had practiced marching, and now he should never march +again. When he had finished his complaint, there was a pause, and his +mother said, + +"Hugh, you have heard of Huber?" + +"The man who found out so lunch about bees?" said Hugh. "Bees and ants. +When Huber had discovered more than had ever been known about these, and +when he was sure that he could learn still more, and was more and more +anxious to peep into their tiny homes and curious ways, he became blind." + +3. Hugh sighed, and his mother went on. + +"Did you ever hear of Beethoven? He was one of the greatest musical +composers that ever lived. His great, his sole delight was in music. It +was the passion of his life. When all his time and all his mind were given +to music, he suddenly became deaf, perfectly deaf; so that he never more +heard one single note from the loudest orchestra. While crowds were moved +and delighted with his compositions, it was all silence to him." Hugh said +nothing. + +4. "Now do you think," asked his mother--and Hugh saw that a mild and +gentle smile beamed from her countenance--"do you think that these people +were without a Heavenly Parent?" + +"O no! but were they patient?" asked Hugh. + +"Yes, in their different ways and degrees. Would you suppose that they +were hardly treated? Or would you not rather suppose that their Father +gave them something better to do than they had planned for themselves?" + +5. "He must know best, of course; but it does seem very hard that that +very thing should happen to them. Huber would not have so much minded +being deaf, perhaps; or that musical man, being blind. + +"No doubt their hearts often swelled within them at their disappointments; +but I fully believe that they very soon found God's will to be wiser than +their wishes. They found, if they bore their trial well, that there was +work for their hearts to do far nobler than any the head could do through +the eye or the ear. And they soon felt a new and delicious pleasure which +none but the bitterly disappointed can feel." + +"What is that?" + +6. "The pleasure of rousing the soul to bear pain, and of agreeing with +God silently, when nobody knows what is in the breast. There is no +pleasure like that of exercising one's soul in bearing pain, and of +finding one's heart glow with the hope that one is pleasing God." + +"Shall I feel that pleasure?" + +"Often and often, I have no doubt; every time you can willingly give up +your wish to be a soldier or a sailor, or anything else you have set your +mind upon, you will feel that pleasure. But I do not expect it of you yet. +I dare say it was long a bitter thing to Beethoven to see hundreds of +people in raptures with his music, when he could not hear a note of it." + +7. "But did he ever smile again?" asked Hugh. + +"If he did, he was happier than all the fine music in the world could have +made him," replied his mother. + +"I wonder, oh, I wonder, if I shall ever feel so!" + +"We will pray to God that you may. Shall we ask him now?" Hugh clasped his +hands. His mother kneeled beside the bed, and, in a very few words, prayed +that Hugh might be able to bear his misfortune well, and that his friends +might give him such help and comfort as God should approve. + +8. Hugh found himself subject to very painful feelings sometimes, such as +no one quite understood, and such as he feared no one was able to pity as +they deserved. On one occasion, when he had been quite merry for a while, +and his mother and his sister Agnes were chatting, they thought they heard +a sob from the sofa. They spoke to Hugh, and found that he was indeed +crying bitterly. + +"What is it, my dear?" said his mother. "Agnes, have we said anything that +could hurt his feelings?" + +"No, no," sobbed Hugh. "I will tell you, presently." + +9. And, presently, he told them that he was so busy listening to what they +said that he forgot everything else, when he felt as if something had +gotten between two of his toes; unconsciously he put down his hand as if +his foot were there! Nothing could be plainer than the feeling in his +toes; and then, when he put out his hand, and found nothing, it was so +terrible, it startled him so! It was a comfort to find that his mother +knew about this. She came, and kneeled by his sofa, and told him that many +persons who had lost a limb considered this the most painful thing they +had to bear for some time; but that, though the feeling would return +occasionally through life, it would cease to be painful. + +10. Hugh was very much dejected, and when he thought of the months and +years to the end of his life, and that he should never run and play, and +never be like other people, he almost wished that he were dead. + +Agnes thought that he must be miserable indeed if he could venture to say +this to his mother. She glanced at her mother's face, but there was no +displeasure there. On the contrary, she said this feeling was very +natural. She had felt it herself under smaller misfortunes than Hugh's; +but she had found, though the prospect appeared all strewn with troubles, +that they came singly, and were not so hard to bear, after all. + +11. She told Hugh that when she was a little girl she was very lazy, fond +of her bed, and not at all fond of dressing or washing. + +"'Why, mother! you?" exclaimed Hugh. + +"Yes; that was the sort of little girl I was. Well, I was in despair, one +day, at the thought that I should have to wash, and clean my teeth, and +brush my hair, and put on every article of dress, every morning, as long +as I lived." + +"Did you tell anybody?" asked Hugh. + +12. "No, I was ashamed to do that; but I remember I cried. You see how it +turns out. When we have become accustomed to anything, we do it without +ever thinking of the trouble, and, as the old fable tells us, the clock +that has to tick so many millions of times, has exactly the same number of +seconds to do it in. So will you find that you can move about on each +separate occasion, as you wish, and practice will enable you to do it +without any trouble or thought." + +"But this is not all, nor half what I mean," said Hugh. + +13. "No, my dear, nor half what you will have to bear. You resolved to +bear it all patiently, I remember. But what is it you dread the most?" + +"Oh! all manner of things. I can never do like other people." + +"Some things," replied his mother. "You can never play cricket, as every +Crofton boy would like to do. You can never dance at your sister's +Christmas parties." + +14. "O mamma!" cried Agnes, with tears in her eyes, and with the thought +in her mind that it was cruel to talk so. + +"Go on! Go on!" cried Hugh, brightening. "You know what I feel, mother; +and you don't keep telling me, as others do, and even sister Agnes, +sometimes, that it will not signify much, and that I shall not care, and +all that; making out that it is no misfortune, hardly, when I know what it +is, and they don't. Now, then, go on, mother! What else?" + +15. "There will be little checks and mortifications continually, when you +see little boys leaping over this, and climbing that, and playing at the +other, while you must stand out, and can only look on. And some people +will pity you in a way you will not like: and some may even laugh at you." + +"O mamma!" exclaimed Agnes. + +"Well, and what else?" said Hugh. + +16. "Sooner or later you will have to follow some way of life determined +by this accident instead of one that you would have liked better." + +"Well, what else?" + +"I must ask you, now. I can think of nothing more; and I hope there is not +much else; for, indeed, I think here is quite enough for a boy, or anyone +else, to bear." + +"I will bear it though; you will see." + +17. "You will find great helps. These misfortunes of themselves strengthen +one's mind. They have some advantages too. You will be a better scholar +for your lameness, I have no doubt. You will read more books, and have a +mind richer in thoughts. You will be more beloved by us all, and you +yourself will love God more for having given you something to bear for his +sake. God himself will help you to bear your trials. You will conquer your +troubles one by one, and by a succession of LITTLE VICTORIES will at last +completely triumph over all." + --Harriet Martineau. + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Af-flict'ed, overwhelmed, dejected. Reck'-oned, +calculated, counted. 3. Com-pos'er, an author of a piece of music. +Or'ches-tra, a body of instrumental musicians. 7. Ap-prove', sanction, +allow. 10. De-ject'ed, discouraged, low-spirited. + + +NOTES.--2. Francois Huber (b. 1750, d. 1831) was a Swiss naturalist. He +became blind at the age of fifteen, but pursued his studies by the aid of +his wife and an attendant. + +2. Ludwig van Beethoven (pro. ba'to-ven; b. 1770, d. 1827) was born at +Bonn, Prussia, but passed most of his life at Vienna. + + + +CII. THE CHARACTER OF A HAPPY LIFE. + +Sir Henry Wotton (b. 1568, d. 1639) was born at Bocton Hall, Kent, +England. He was educated at Winchester and Oxford. About 1598 he was taken +into the service of the Earl of Essex, as one of his secretaries. On the +Earl's committal to the Tower for treason, Wotton fled to France; but he +returned to England immediately after the death of Elizabeth, and received +the honor of knighthood. He was King James's favorite diplomatist, and, in +1623, was appointed provost of Eton College. Wotton wrote a number of +prose works; but his literary reputation rests mainly on some short poems, +which are distinguished by a dignity of thought and expression rarely +excelled. + +1. How happy is he born and taught, + That serveth not another's will; + Whose armor is his honest thought, + And simple truth his utmost skill! + +2. Whose passions not his masters are, + Whose soul is still prepared for death, + Untied unto the worldly care + Of public fame, or private breath; + +3. Who envies none that chance doth raise, + Or vice; who never understood + How deepest wounds are given by praise; + Nor rules of state, but rules of good: + +4. Who hath his life from rumors freed, + Whose conscience is his strong retreat; + Whose state can neither flatterers feed, + Nor ruin make oppressors great; + +5. Who God doth late and early pray, + More of his grace than gifts to lend; + And entertains the harmless day + With a religious book or friend. + +6. This man is freed from servile bands, + Of hope to rise, or fear to fall; + Lord of himself, though not of lands; + And having nothing, yet hath all. + + + +CIII. THE ART OF DISCOURAGEMENT. + +Arthur Helps (b. 1813, d. 1875) graduated at Cambridge, England, in 1835. +His best known works are: "Friends in Council, a Series of Readings and +Discourses," "Companions of my Solitude," and "Realmah," a tale of the +"lake dwellers" in southern Europe. He has also written a "History of the +Spanish Conquests in America," two historical dramas, and several other +works. Mr. Helps was a true thinker, and his writings are deservedly +popular with thoughtful readers. In 1859 he was appointed secretary of the +privy council. + +1. Regarding, one day, in company with a humorous friend, a noble vessel +of a somewhat novel construction sailing slowly out of port, he observed, +"What a quantity of cold water somebody must have had down his back." In +my innocence, I supposed that he alluded to the wet work of the artisans +who had been building the vessel; but when I came to know him better, I +found that this was the form of comment he always indulged in when +contemplating any new and great work, and that his "somebody" was the +designer of the vessel. + +2. My friend had carefully studied the art of discouragement, and there +was a class of men whom he designated simply as "cold-water pourers." It +was most amusing to hear him describe the lengthened sufferings of the man +who first designed a wheel; of him who first built a boat; of the +adventurous personage who first proposed the daring enterprise of using +buttons, instead of fish bones, to fasten the scanty raiment of some +savage tribe. + +3. Warming with his theme, he would become quite eloquent in describing +the long career of discouragement which these rash men had brought upon +themselves, and which he said, to his knowledge, must have shortened their +lives. He invented imaginary dialogues between the unfortunate inventor, +say of the wheel, and his particular friend, some eminent cold-water +pourer. For, as he said, every man has some such friend, who fascinates +him by fear, and to whom he confides his enterprises in order to hear the +worst that can be said of them. + +4. The sayings of the chilling friend, probably, as he observed, ran +thus:--"We seem to have gone on very well for thousands of years without +this rolling thing. Your father carried burdens on his back. The king is +content to be borne on men's shoulders. The high priest is not too proud +to do the same. Indeed, I question whether it is not irreligious to +attempt to shift from men's shoulders their natural burdens. + +5. "Then, as to its succeeding,--for my part, I see no chance of that. How +can it go up hill? How often you have failed before in other fanciful +things of the same nature! Besides, you are losing your time; and the yams +about your hut are only half planted. You will be a beggar; and it is my +duty, as a friend, to tell you so plainly. + +6. "There was Nang-chung: what became of him? We had found fire for ages, +in a proper way, taking a proper time about it, by rubbing two sticks +together. He must needs strike out fire at once, with iron and flint; and +did he die in his bed? Our sacred lords saw the impiety of that +proceeding, and very justly impaled the man who imitated heavenly powers. +And, even if you could succeed with this new and absurd rolling thing, the +state would be ruined. What would become of those who carry burdens on +their backs? Put aside the vain fancies of a childish mind, and finish the +planting of your yams." + +7. It is really very curious to observe how, even in modern times, the +arts of discouragement prevail. There are men whose sole pretense to +wisdom consists in administering discouragement. They are never at a loss. +They are equally ready to prophesy, with wonderful ingenuity, all possible +varieties of misfortune to any enterprise that may be proposed; and when +the thing is produced, and has met with some success, to find a flaw in +it. + +8. I once saw a work of art produced in the presence of an eminent +cold-water pourer. He did not deny that it was beautiful; but he instantly +fastened upon a small crack in it that nobody had observed; and upon that +crack he would dilate whenever the work was discussed in his presence. +Indeed, he did not see the work, but only the crack in it. That +flaw,--that little flaw,--was all in all to him. + +9. The cold-water pourers are not all of one form of mind. Some are led to +indulge in this recreation from genuine timidity. They really do fear that +all new attempts will fail. Others are simply envious and ill-natured. +Then, again, there is a sense of power and wisdom in prophesying evil. +Moreover, it is the safest thing to prophesy, for hardly anything at first +succeeds exactly in the way that it was intended to succeed. + +10. Again, there is the lack of imagination which gives rise to the +utterance of so much discouragement. For an ordinary man, it must have +been a great mental strain to grasp the ideas of the first projectors of +steam and gas, electric telegraphs, and pain-deadening chloroform. The +inventor is always, in the eyes of his fellow-men, somewhat of a madman; +and often they do their best to make him so. + +11. Again, there is the want of sympathy; and that is, perhaps, the ruling +cause in most men's minds who have given themselves up to discourage. They +are not tender enough, or sympathetic enough, to appreciate all the pain +they are giving, when, in a dull plodding way, they lay out argument after +argument to show that the project which the poor inventor has set his +heart upon, and upon which, perhaps, he has staked his fortune, will not +succeed. + +12. But what inventors suffer, is only a small part of what mankind in +general endure from thoughtless and unkind discouragement. Those +high-souled men belong to the suffering class, and must suffer; but it is +in daily life that the wear and tear of discouragement tells so much. +Propose a small party of pleasure to an apt discourager, and see what he +will make of it. It soon becomes sicklied over with doubt and despondency; +and, at last, the only hope of the proposer is, that his proposal, when +realized, will not be an ignominious failure. All hope of pleasure, at +least for the proposer, has long been out of the question. + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Des'ig-nat-ed, called by a distinctive title, named. 5. +Yam, the root of a climbing plant, found in the tropics, which is used for +food. 6. Im-paled', put to death by being fixed on an upright, sharp +stake. 8. Di-late', to speak largely, to dwell in narration. 10. Rise +(pro. ris, not riz), source, origin. Pro-jec'tor, one who forms a scheme +or design. + + + +CIV. THE MARINER'S DREAM. + +William Dimond (b. 1780, d. 1837) was a dramatist and poet, living at +Bath, England, where he was born and received his education. He afterwards +studied for the bar in London. His literary productions are for the most +part dramas, but he has also written a number of poems, among them the +following: + +1. In slumbers of midnight the sailor boy lay; + His hammock swung loose at the sport of the wind; + But watch-worn and weary, his cares flew away, + And visions of happiness danced o'er his mind. + +2. He dreamed of his home, of his dear native bowers, + And pleasures that waited on life's merry morn; + While Memory each scene gayly covered with flowers, + And restored every rose, but secreted the thorn. + +3. Then Fancy her magical pinions spread wide, + And bade the young dreamer in ecstasy rise; + Now, far, far behind him the green waters glide, + And the cot of his forefathers blesses his eyes. + +4. The jessamine clambers in flowers o'er the thatch, + And the swallow chirps sweet from her nest in the wall; + All trembling with transport, he raises the latch, + And the voices of loved ones reply to his call. + +5. A father bends o'er him with looks of delight; + His cheek is impearled with a mother's warm tear; + And the lips of the boy in a love kiss unite + With the lips of the maid whom his bosom holds dear. + +6. The heart of the sleeper beats high in his breast; + Joy quickens his pulses,--all his hardships seem o'er; + And a murmur of happiness steals through his rest,-- + "O God! thou hast blest me,--I ask for no more." + +7. Ah! whence is that flame which now bursts on his eye? + Ah! what is that sound that now 'larums his ear? + 'T is the lightning's red glare painting hell on the sky! + 'T is the crashing of thunders, the groan of the sphere! + +8. He springs from his hammock,--he flies to the deck; + Amazement confronts him with images dire; + Wild winds and mad waves drive the vessel a wreck; + The masts fly in splinters; the shrouds are on fire. + +9. Like mountains the billows tremendously swell; + In vain the lost wretch calls on Mercy to save; + Unseen hands of spirits are ringing his knell, + And the death angel flaps his broad wings o'er the wave! + +10. O sailor boy, woe to thy dream of delight! + In darkness dissolves the gay frostwork of bliss! + Where now is the picture that Fancy touched bright,-- + Thy parents' fond pressure, and love's honeyed kiss? + +11. O sailor boy! sailor boy! never again + Shall home, love, or kindred, thy wishes repay; + Unblessed and unhonored, down deep in the main, + Full many a fathom, thy frame shall decay. + +12. No tomb shall e'er plead to remembrance for thee, + Or redeem form or fame from the merciless surge; + But the white foam of waves shall thy winding sheet be, + And winds in the midnight of winter thy dirge. + +13. On a bed of green sea flowers thy limbs shall be laid,-- + Around thy white bones the red coral shall grow; + Of thy fair yellow locks threads of amber be made, + And every part suit to thy mansion below. + +14. Days, months, years, and ages shall circle away, + And still the vast waters above thee shall roll; + Earth loses thy pattern forever and aye; + O sailor boy! sailor boy! peace to thy soul! + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Ham'mock, a hanging or swinging bed, usu-ally made of +netting or hempen cloth. 4. Trans'port, ecstasy, rapture. 5. Im-pearled' +(pro. im-perled'), decorated with pearls, or with things resembling +pearls. 7. 'Lar'ums (an abbreviation of alarums, for alarms), affrights, +terrifies. 12. Dirge, funeral music. + + +NOTES.--13. Coral is the solid part of a minute sea animal, corresponding +to the bones in other animals. It grows in many fantastic shapes, and is +of various colors. + +Amber is a yellow resin, and is the fossilized gum of buried trees. It is +mined in several localities in Europe and America; it is also found along +the seacoast, washed up by the waves. + + + +CV. THE PASSENGER PIGEON. + +John James Audubon (b. 1780, d. 1851). This celebrated American +ornithologist was born in Louisiana. When quite young he was passionately +fond of birds, and took delight in studying their habits. In 1797 his +father, an admiral in the French navy, sent him to Paris to be educated. +On his return to America, he settled on a farm in eastern Pennsylvania, +but afterward removed to Henderson, Ky., where he resided several years, +supporting his family by trade, but devoting most of his time to the +pursuit of his favorite study. In 1826 he went to England, and commenced +the publication of the "Birds of America," which consists of ten +volumes--five of engravings of birds, natural size, and five of +letterpress. Cuvier declares this work to be "the most magnificent +monument that art has ever erected to ornithology." In 1830 Audubon +returned to America, and soon afterwards made excursions into nearly every +section of the United States and Canada. A popular edition of his great +work was published, in seven volumes, in 1844, and "The Quadrupeds of +America," in six volumes,--three of plates and three of letterpress, in +1846-50. He removed to the vicinity of New York about 1840, and resided +there until his death. + +1. The multitudes of wild pigeons in our woods are astonishing. Indeed, +after having viewed them so often, and under so many circumstances, I even +now feel inclined to pause and assure myself that what I am going to +relate is a fact. Yet I have seen it all, and that, too, in the company of +persons who, like myself, were struck with amazement. + +2. In the autumn of 1813 I left my house at Henderson, on the banks of the +Ohio, on my way to Louisville. In passing over the Barrens, a few miles +beyond Hardinsburgh, I observed the pigeons flying, from northeast to +southwest, in greater numbers than I thought I had ever seen them before, +and feeling an inclination to count the flocks that might pass within the +reach of my eye in one hour, I dismounted, seated myself on an eminence, +and began to mark with my pencil, making a dot for every flock that +passed. + +3. In a short time, finding the task which I had undertaken impracticable, +as the birds poured in in countless multitudes, I rose, and, counting the +dots then put down, found that one hundred and sixty-three had been made +in twenty-one minutes. I traveled on, and still met more the farther I +proceeded. The air was literally filled with pigeons; the light of noonday +was obscured as by an eclipse; and the continued buzz of wings had a +tendency to lull my senses to repose. + +4. Whilst waiting for dinner at Young's inn, at the confluence of Salt +River with the Ohio, I saw, at my leisure, immense legions still going by, +with a front reaching far beyond the Ohio on the west, and the beech wood +forests directly on the east of me. Not a single bird alighted, for not a +nut or acorn was that year to be seen in the neighborhood. They +consequently flew so high that different trials to reach them with a +capital rifle proved ineffectual; nor did the reports disturb them in the +least. + +5. I can not describe to you the extreme beauty of their aerial evolutions +when a hawk chanced to press upon the rear of a flock. At once, like a +torrent, and with a noise like thunder, they rushed into a compact mass, +pressing upon each other towards the center. In these almost solid masses, +they darted forward in undulating and angular lines, descended and swept +close over the earth with inconceivable velocity, mounted perpendicularly +so as to resemble a vast column, and, when high, were seen wheeling and +twisting within their continued lines, which then resembled the coils of a +gigantic serpent. + +6. As soon as the pigeons discover a sufficiency of food to entice them to +alight, they fly round in circles, reviewing the country below. During +their evolutions, on such occasions, the dense mass which they form +exhibits a beautiful appearance, as it changes its direction, now +displaying a glistening sheet of azure, when the backs of the birds come +simultaneously into view, and anon suddenly presenting a mass of rich, +deep purple. + +7. They then pass lower, over the woods, and for a moment are lost among +the foliage, but again emerge, and are seen gliding aloft. They now +alight; but the next moment, as if suddenly alarmed, they take to wing, +producing by the flappings of their wings a noise like the roar of distant +thunder, and sweep through the forests to see if danger is near. Hunger, +however, soon brings them to the ground. + +8. When alighted, they are seen industriously throwing up the withered +leaves in quest of the fallen mast. The rear ranks are continually rising, +passing over the main body, and alighting in front, in such rapid +succession, that the whole flock seems still on wing. The quantity of +ground thus swept is astonishing; and so completely has it been cleared +that the gleaner who might follow in their rear would find his labor +completely lost. + +9. On such occasions, when the woods are filled with these pigeons, they +are killed in immense numbers, although no apparent diminution ensues. +About the middle of the day, after their repast is finished, they settle +on the trees to enjoy rest and digest their food. As the sun begins to +sink beneath the horizon; they depart en masse for the roosting place, +which not unfrequently is hundreds of miles distant, as has been +ascertained by persons who have kept an account of their arrivals and +departures. + +10. Let us now inspect their place of nightly rendezvous. One of these +curious roosting places, on the banks of the Green River, in Kentucky, I +repeatedly visited. It was, as is always the case, in a portion of the +forest where the trees were of great magnitude, and where there was little +underwood. I rode through it upwards of forty miles, and, crossing it in +different parts, found its average breadth to be rather more than three +miles. My first view of it was about a fortnight subsequent to the period +when they had made choice of it, and I arrived there nearly two hours +before sunset. + +11. Many trees, two feet in diameter, I observed, were broken off at no +great distance from the ground; and the branches of many of the largest +and tallest had given way, as if the forest had been swept by a tornado. +Everything proved to me that the number of birds resorting to this part of +the forest must be immense beyond conception. + +12. As the period of their arrival approached, their foes anxiously +prepared to receive them. Some were furnished with iron pots containing +sulphur, others with torches of pine knots, many with poles, and the rest +with guns. The sun was lost to our view, yet not a pigeon had arrived. +Everything was ready, and all eyes were gazing on the clear sky, which +appeared in glimpses amidst the tall trees. Suddenly there burst forth the +general cry of, "Here they come!" + +13. The noise which they made, though yet distant, reminded me of a hard +gale at sea passing through the rigging of a close-reefed vessel. As the +birds arrived and passed over me, I felt a current of air that surprised +me. Thousands were soon knocked down by the pole men. The birds continued +to pour in. The fires were lighted, and a magnificent as well as wonderful +and almost terrifying sight presented itself. + +14. The pigeons, arriving by thousands, alighted everywhere, one above +another, until solid masses, as large as hogsheads, were formed on the +branches all round. Here and there the perches gave way under the weight +with a crash, and falling to the ground destroyed hundreds of the birds +beneath, forcing down the dense groups with which every stick was loaded. +It was a scene of uproar and confusion. I found it quite useless to speak +or even to shout to those persons who were nearest to me. Even the reports +of the guns were seldom heard, and I was made aware of the firing only by +seeing the shooters reloading. + +15. The uproar continued the whole night; and as I was anxious to know to +what distance the sound reached, I sent off a man, accustomed to +perambulate the forest, who, returning two hours afterwards, informed me +he had heard it distinctly when three miles distant from the spot. Towards +the approach of day, the noise in some measure subsided; long before +objects were distinguishable, the pigeons began to move off in a direction +quite different from that in which they had arrived the evening before, +and at sunrise all that were able to fly had disappeared. + + +DEFINITIONS.--5. A-e'ri-al, belonging or pertaining to the air. 6. A-non', +in a short time, soon. 8. Mast, the fruit of oak and beech or other forest +trees. 10. Ren'dez-vous (pro. ren'de-voo), an appointed or customary +place of meeting. Sub'se-quent, following in time. 15. Per-am'bu-late, to +walk through. + + +NOTES.--The wild pigeon, in common with almost every variety of game, is +becoming more scarce throughout the country each year; and Audubon's +account, but for the position he holds, would in time, no doubt, be +considered ridiculous. + +9. En masse (pro. aN mas), a French phrase meaning in a body. + +[Transcriber's note: The last Passenger Pigeon died at the Cincinnati Zoo +on September 1, 1914. Population estimates ranged up to 5 billion, +comprising 40% of the total number of birds in North America in the 19th +century.] + + + +CVI. THE COUNTRY LIFE. + +Richard Henry Stoddard (b. 1825,--) was born at Hingham, Mass., but +removed to New York City while quite young. His first volume of poems, +"Foot-prints," appeared in 1849, and has been followed by many others. Of +these may be mentioned "Songs of Summer," "Town and Country," "The King's +Bell," "Abraham Lincoln" (an ode), and the "Book of the East," from the +last of which the following selection is abridged. Mr. Stoddard's verses +are full of genuine feeling, and some of them show great poetic power. + +1. Not what we would, but what we must, + Makes up the sum of living: + Heaven is both more and less than just, + In taking and in giving. + Swords cleave to hands that sought the plow, + And laurels miss the soldier's brow. + +2. Me, whom the city holds, whose feet + Have worn its stony highways, + Familiar with its loneliest street,-- + Its ways were never my ways. + My cradle was beside the sea, + And there, I hope, my grave will be. + +3. Old homestead! in that old gray town + Thy vane is seaward blowing; + Thy slip of garden stretches down + To where the tide is flowing; + Below they lie, their sails all furled, + The ships that go about the world. + +4. Dearer that little country house, + Inland with pines beside it; + Some peach trees, with unfruitful boughs, + A well, with weeds to hide it: + No flowers, or only such as rise + Self-sown--poor things!--which all despise. + +5. Dear country home! can I forget + The least of thy sweet trifles? + The window vines that clamber yet, + Whose blooms the bee still rifles? + The roadside blackberries, growing ripe, + And in the woods the Indian pipe? + +6. Happy the man who tills his field, + Content with rustic labor; + Earth does to him her fullness yield, + Hap what may to his neighbor. + Well days, sound nights--oh, can there be + A life more rational and free? + +NOTE.--5. The Indian pipe is a little, white plant, bearing a white, +bell-shaped flower. + + + +CVII. THE VIRGINIANS. + +William Makepeace Thackeray (b. 1811, d. 1863). This popular English +humorist, essayist, and novelist was born in Calcutta. He was educated at +the Charterhouse school in London, and at Cambridge, but he did not +complete a collegiate course of study. He began his literary career as a +contributor to "Fraser's Magazine," under the assumed name of Michael +Angelo Titmarsh, and afterwards contributed to the column of "Punch." The +first novel published under Thackeray's own name was "Vanity Fair," which +is regarded by many as his greatest work. He afterwards wrote a large +number of novels, tales, and poems, most of which were illustrated by +sketches drawn by himself. His course of "Lectures on the English +Humorists" was delivered in London in 1851, and the following year in +several cities in the United States. He revisited the United States in +1856, and delivered a course of lectures on "The Four Georges," which he +repeated in Great Britain soon after his return home. In 1860 he became +the editor of "The Cornhill Magazine," the most successful serial ever +published in England. + +1. Mr. Esmond called his American house Castlewood, from the patrimonial +home in the old country. The whole usages of Virginia, indeed, were fondly +modeled after the English customs. It was a loyal colony. The Virginians +boasted that King Charles the Second had been king in Virginia before he +had been king in England. English king and English church were alike +faithfully honored there. + +2. The resident gentry were allied to good English families. They held +their heads above the Dutch traders of New York, and the money-getting +Roundheads of Pennsylvania and New England. Never were people less +republican than those of the great province which was soon to be foremost +in the memorable revolt against the British Crown. + +3. The gentry of Virginia dwelt on their great lands after a fashion +almost patriarchal. For its rough cultivation, each estate had a multitude +of hands--of purchased and assigned servants--who were subject to the +command of the master. The land yielded their food, live stock, and game. + +4. The great rivers swarmed with fish for the taking. From their banks the +passage home was clear. Their ships took the tobacco off their private +wharves on the banks of the Potomac or the James River, and carried it to +London or Bristol,--bringing back English goods and articles of home +manufacture in return for the only produce which the Virginian gentry +chose to cultivate. + +5. Their hospitality was boundless. No stranger was ever sent away from +their gates. The gentry received one another, and traveled to each other's +houses, in a state almost feudal. The question of slavery was not born at +the time of which we write. To be the proprietor of black servants shocked +the feelings of no Virginia gentleman; nor, in truth, was the despotism +exercised over the negro race generally a savage one. The food was plenty: +the poor black people lazy and not unhappy. You might have preached negro +emancipation to Madam Esmond of Castlewood as you might have told her to +let the horses run loose out of the stables; she had no doubt but that the +whip and the corn bag were good for both. + +6. Her father may have thought otherwise, being of a skeptical turn on +very many points, but his doubts did not break forth in active denial, and +he was rather disaffected than rebellious, At one period, this gentleman +had taken a part in active life at home, and possibly might have been +eager to share its rewards; but in latter days he did not seem to care for +them. A something had occurred in his life, which had cast a tinge of +melancholy over all his existence. + +7. He was not unhappy,--to those about him most kind,--most affectionate, +obsequious even to the women of his family, whom he scarce ever +contradicted; but there had been some bankruptcy of his heart, which his +spirit never recovered. He submitted to life, rather than enjoyed it, and +never was in better spirits than in his last hours when he was going to +lay it down. + +8. When the boys' grandfather died, their mother, in great state, +proclaimed her eldest son George her successor and heir of the estate; and +Harry, George's younger brother by half an hour, was always enjoined to +respect his senior. All the household was equally instructed to pay him +honor; the negroes, of whom there was a large and happy family, and the +assigned servants from Europe, whose lot was made as bearable as it might +be under the government of the lady of Castlewood. + +9. In the whole family there scarcely was a rebel save Mrs. Esmond's +faithful friend and companion, Madam Mountain, and Harry's foster mother, +a faithful negro woman, who never could be made to understand why her +child should not be first, who was handsomer, and stronger, and cleverer +than his brother, as she vowed; though, in truth, there was scarcely any +difference in the beauty, strength, or stature of the twins. + +10. In disposition, they were in many points exceedingly unlike; but in +feature they resembled each other so closely, that, but for the color of +their hair, it had been difficult to distinguish them. In their beds, and +when their heads were covered with those vast, ribboned nightcaps, which +our great and little ancestors wore, it was scarcely possible for any but +a nurse or a mother to tell the one from the other child. + +11. Howbeit, alike in form, we have said that they differed in temper. The +elder was peaceful, studious, and silent; the younger was warlike and +noisy. He was quick at learning when he began, but very slow at beginning. +No threats of the ferule would provoke Harry to learn in an idle fit, or +would prevent George from helping his brother in his lesson. Harry was of +a strong military turn, drilled the little negroes on the estate, and +caned them like a corporal, having many good boxing matches with them, and +never bearing malice if he was worsted;--whereas George was sparing of +blows, and gentle with all about him. + +12. As the custom in all families was, each of the boys had a special +little servant assigned him: and it was a known fact that George, finding +his little wretch of a blackamoor asleep on his master's bed, sat down +beside it, and brushed the flies off the child with a feather fan, to the +horror of old Gumbo, the child's father, who found his young master so +engaged, and to the indignation of Madam Esmond, who ordered the young +negro off to the proper officer for a whipping. In vain George implored +and entreated--burst into passionate tears, and besought a remission of +the sentence. His mother was inflexible regarding the young rebel's +punishment, and the little negro went off beseeching his young master not +to cry. + +13. On account of a certain apish drollery and humor which exhibited +itself in the lad, and a liking for some of the old man's pursuits, the +first of the twins was the grandfather's favorite and companion, and would +laugh and talk out all his infantine heart to the old gentleman, to whom +the younger had seldom a word to say. + +14. George was a demure, studious boy, and his senses seemed to brighten +up in the library, where his brother was so gloomy. He knew the books +before he could well-nigh carry them, and read in them long before he +could understand them. Harry, on the other hand, was all alive in the +stables or in the wood, eager for all parties of hunting and fishing, and +promised to be a good sportsman from a very early age. + +15. At length the time came when Mr. Esmond was to have done with the +affairs of this life, and he laid them down as if glad to be rid of their +burden. All who read and heard that discourse, wondered where Parson +Broadbent of James Town found the eloquence and the Latin which adorned +it. Perhaps Mr. Dempster knew, the boys' Scotch tutor, who corrected the +proofs of the oration, which was printed, by the desire of his Excellency +and many persons of honor, at Mr. Franklin's press in Philadelphia. + +16. No such sumptuous funeral had ever bean seen in the country as that +which Madam Esmond Warrington ordained for her father, who would have been +the first to smile at that pompous grief. + +17. The little lads of Castlewood, almost smothered in black trains and +hatbands, headed the procession and were followed by my Lord Fairfax, from +Greenway Court, by his Excellency the Governor of Virginia (with his +coach), by the Randolphs, the Careys, the Harrisons, the Washingtons, and +many others; for the whole country esteemed the departed gentleman, whose +goodness, whose high talents, whose benevolence and unobtrusive urbanity, +had earned for him the just respect of his neighbors. 18. When informed of +the event, the family of Colonel Esmond's stepson, the Lord Castlewood of +Hampshire in England, asked to be at the charges of the marble slab which +recorded the names and virtues of his lordship's mother and her husband; +and after due time of preparation, the monument was set up, exhibiting the +arms and coronet of the Esmonds, supported by a little, chubby group of +weeping cherubs, and reciting an epitaph which for once did not tell any +falsehoods. + + +DEFINTIONS.--1. Pat-ri-mo'ni-al, inherited from ancestors. 6. +Dis-af-fect'ed, discouraged. 7. Ob-se'qui-ous, compliant to excess. 12. +Black'a-moor, a negro. 17. Ur-ban'i-ty, civility or courtesy of manners, +refinement. 18. Ep'i-taph (pro. ep'i-taf), an inscription on a monument, +in honor or in memory of the dead. + + +NOTES.--2. Roundhead was the epithet applied to the Puritans by the +Cavaliers in the time of Charles I. It arose from the practice among the +Puritans of cropping their hair peculiarly. + +3. Patriarchal. 5. Feudal. The Jewish patriarch, in olden times, and the +head of a noble family in Europe, during the Middle Ages, when the "Feudal +System," as it is called, existed, both held almost despotic sway, the one +over his great number of descendants and relations, and the other over a +vast body of subjects or retainers. Both patriarch and feudal lord were +less restricted than the modern king, and the feudal lord, especially, +lived in a state of great magnificence. + +15. Proofs. When matter is to be printed, a rough impression of it is +taken as soon as the type is set up, and sent to the editor or some other +authority for correction. These first sheets are called proofs. + +"His Excellency" was the title applied to the governor. + + + +CVIII. MINOT'S LEDGE. + +Fitz-James O'Brien (b. 1828, d. 1862) was of Irish birth, and came to +America in 1852. He has contributed a number of tales and poems to various +periodicals, but his writings have never been collected in book form. Mr. +O'Brien belonged to the New York Seventh Regiment, and died at Baltimore +of a wound received in a cavalry skirmish. + +1. Like spectral hounds across the sky, + The white clouds scud before the storm; + And naked in the howling night + The red-eyed lighthouse lifts its form. + The waves with slippery fingers clutch + The massive tower, and climb and fall, + And, muttering, growl with baffled rage + Their curses on the sturdy wall. + +2. Up in the lonely tower he sits, + The keeper of the crimson light: + Silent and awe-struck does he hear + The imprecations of the night. + The white spray beats against the panes + Like some wet ghost that down the air + Is hunted by a troop of fiends, + And seeks a shelter anywhere. + +3. He prays aloud, the lonely man, + For every soul that night at sea, + But more than all for that brave boy + Who used to gayly climb his knee,-- + Young Charlie, with his chestnut hair, + And hazel eyes, and laughing lip. + "May Heaven look down," the old man cries. + "Upon my son, and on his ship!" + +4. While thus with pious heart he prays, + Far in the distance sounds a boom: + He pauses; and again there rings + That sullen thunder through the room. + A ship upon the shoals to-night! + She cannot hold for one half hour; + But clear the ropes and grappling hooks, + And trust in the Almighty Power! + +5. On the drenched gallery he stands, + Striving to pierce the solid night: + Across the sea the red eye throws + A steady crimson wake of light; + And, where it falls upon the waves, + He sees a human head float by, + With long drenched curls of chestnut hair, + And wild but fearless hazel eye. + +6. Out with the hooks! One mighty fling! + Adown the wind the long rope curls. + Oh! will it catch? Ah, dread suspense! + While the wild ocean wilder whirls. + A steady pull; it tightens now: + Oh! his old heart will burst with joy, + As on the slippery rocks he pulls + The breathing body of his boy. + +7. Still sweep the specters through the sky; + Still scud the clouds before the storm; + Still naked in the howling night + The red-eyed lighthouse lifts its form. + Without, the world is wild with rage; + Unkenneled demons are abroad; + But with the father and the son + Within, there is the peace of God. + +NOTE.--Minot's Ledge (also called the "Cohasset Rocks") is a dangerous +reef in Boston Harbor, eight miles southwest of Boston Light. It has a +fixed light of its own, sixty-six feet high. + + + +CIX. HAMLET. + +William Shakespeare (b. 1564, d. 1616), by many regarded as the greatest +poet the world has ever produced, was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, +England. He was married, when very young, to a woman eight years his +senior, went to London, was joint proprietor of Blackfriar's Theater in +1589, wrote poems and plays, was an actor, accumulated some property, and +retired to Stratford three or four years before his death. He was buried +in Stratford church, where a monument has been erected to his memory. This +is all that is known of him with any degree of certainty. + +Shakespeare's works consist chiefly of plays and sonnets. They show a +wonderful knowledge of human nature, expressed in language remarkable for +its point and beauty. + +(ACT I, SCENE II. HAMLET alone in a room, of the castle. +Enter HORATIO, MARCELLUS, and BERNARDO.) + +Hor. Hail, to your lordship! + +Ham. I am glad to see you well: + Horatio,--or I do forgot myself. + +Hor. The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever. + +Ham. Sir, my good friend; I'll change that name with you: + And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio?-- + Macellus? + +Mar. My good lord-- + +Ham. I am very glad to see you. [To Ber.] Good even, sir. + But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg? + +Hor. A truant disposition, good my lord. + +Ham. I would not hear your enemy say so, + Nor shall you do mine ear that violence, + To make it truster of your own report + Against yourself: I knew you are no truant. + But what is your affair in Elsinore? + We'll teach you to drink deep ere you depart. + +Hor. My lord, I came to see your father's funeral. + +Ham. I pray thee, do not mock me, follow-student; + I think it was to see my mother's wedding. + +Hor. Indeed, my lord, it followed hard upon. + +Ham. Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked meats + Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. + Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven + Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio! + My father!--methinks I see my father. + +Hor. Where, my lord? + +Ham. In my mind's eye, Horatio. + +Hor. I saw him once; he was a goodly king. + +Ham. He was a man, take him for all in all, + I shall not look upon his like again. + +Hor. My lord, I think I saw him yesternight. + +Ham. Saw? who? + +Hor. My lord, the king your father. + +Ham. The king my father! + +Hor. Season your admiration for a while + With an attent ear, till I may deliver, + Upon the witness of these gentlemen, + This marvel to you. + +Ham. For God's love, let me hear. + +Hor. Two nights together had these gentlemen, + Marcellus and Bernardo, on their watch, + In the dead vast and middle of the night, + Been thus encounter'd. A figure like your father, + Armed at point exactly, cap-a-pie. + Appears before them, and with solemn march + Goes slow and stately by them: thrice he walk'd + By their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes, + Within his trucheon's length; whilst they, distill'd + Almost to jelly with the act of fear, + Stand dumb and speak not to him. This to me + In dreadful secrecy impart they did; + And I with them the third night kept the watch: + Where, as they had deliver'd, both in time, + Form of the thing, each word made true and good, + The apparition comes: I knew your father; + These hands are not more like. + +Ham. But where was this? + +Mar. My lord, upon the platform where we watch'd. + +Ham. Did you speak to it? + +Hor. My lord, I did; + But answer made it none: yet once methought + It lifted up its head and did address + Itself to motion, like as it would speak; + But even then the morning cock crew loud, + And at the sound it shrunk in haste away, + And vanish'd from our sight. + +Ham. 'T is very strange. + +Hor. As I do live, my honor'd lord, 't is true; + And we did think it writ down in our duty + To let you know of it. + +Ham. Indeed, indeed, sirs, but this troubles me, + Hold you the watch to-night? + +Mar. Ber. We do, my lord. + +Ham. Arm'd, say you? + +Mar. Ber. Arm'd, my lord. + +Ham. From top to toe? + +Mar. Ber. My lord, from head to foot. + +Ham. Then saw you not his face? + +Hor. Oh, yes, my lord; he wore his beaver up. + +Ham. What, look'd he frowningly? + +Hor. A countenance more in sorrow than in anger. + +Ham. Pale or red? + +Hor. Nay, very pale. + +Ham. And fix'd his eyes upon you? + +Hor. Most constantly. + +Ham. I would I had been there. + +Hor. It would have much amazed you. + +Ham. Very like, very like. Stay'd it long? + +Hor. While one with moderate haste might tell a hundred. + +Mar. Ber. Longer, longer. + +Hor. Not when I saw't. + +Ham. His beard was grizzled,--no? + +Hor. It was, as I have seen it in his life, + A sable silver'd. + +Ham. I will watch to-night; + Perchance 't will walk again. + +Hor. I warrant it will. + +Ham. If it assume my noble father's person, + I'll speak to it, though hell itself should gape + And bid me hold my peace. I pray you all, + If you have hitherto conceal'd this sight, + Let it be tenable in your silence still; + And whatsoever else shall hap to-night, + Give it an understanding, but no tongue: + I will requite your loves. So, fare you well: + Upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve, + I'll visit you. + + +DEFINITIONS.--Tru'ant, wandering from business, loitering. Trust'er, a +believer. At-tent', attentive, heedful. De-liv'er, to communicate, to +utter. Cap-a-pie' (from the French, pro. kap-a-pee'), from head to foot. +Trun'cheon (pro. trun'shun), a short staff, a baton. Bea'ver, a part of +the helmet covering the face, so constructed that the wearer could raise +or lower it. Ten'a-ble, capable of being held. + + +NOTES.--What make you from Wittenberg? i.e., what are you doing away from +Wittenberg? + +Wittenberg is a university town in Saxony, where Hamlet and Horatio had +been schoolfellows. + +Elsinore is a fortified town on one of the Danish islands, and was +formerly the seat of one of the royal castles. It is the scene of +Shakespeare's "Hamlet." + +Hard upon; i.e., soon after. + +Funeral baked meats. This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral +feasts. + +My dearest foe; i.e., my greatest foe. A common use of the word "dearest" +in Shakespeare's time. + +Or ever, i.e., before. + +Season your admiration; i.e., restrain your wonder. + +The dead vast; i.e., the dead void. + +Armed at point; i.e., armed at all points. + +Did address itself to motion; i.e., made a motion. + +Give it an understanding, etc.; i.e., understand, but do not speak of it. + +I will requite your loves, or, as we should say, I will repay your +friendship. + + + +CX. DISSERTATION ON ROAST PIG. + +Charles Lamb (b. 1775, d. 1834) was born in London. He was educated at +Christ's Hospital, where he was a schoolfellow and intimate friend of +Coleridge. In 1792 he became a clerk in the India House, London, and in +1825 he retired from his clerkship on a pension of 441 Pounds. Lamb never +married, but devoted his life to the care of his sister Mary, who was at +times insane. He wrote "Tales founded on the Plays of Shakespeare," and +several other works of rare merit; but his literary fame rests principally +on the inimitable "Essays of Elia" (published originally in the "London +Magazine"), from one of which the following selection is adapted. + +1. Mankind, says a Chinese manuscript, which my friend M. was obliging +enough to read and explain to me, for the first seventy thousand ages ate +their meat raw, clawing or biting it from the living animal, just as they +do in Abyssinia to this day. + +2. This period is not obscurely hinted at by their great Confucius in the +second chapter of his "Mundane Mutations," where he designates a kind of +golden age by the term Cho-fang, literally the Cooks' Holiday. The +manuscript goes on to say that the art of roasting, or rather broiling +(which I take to be the elder brother), was accidentally discovered in the +manner following: + +3. The swineherd, Ho-ti, having gone out into the woods one morning, as +his manner was, to collect mast for his hogs, left his cottage in the care +of his eldest son, Bo-bo, a great lubberly boy, who, being fond of playing +with fire, as younkers of his age commonly are, let some sparks escape +into a bundle of straw, which, kindling quickly, spread the conflagration +over every part of their poor mansion till it was reduced to ashes. + +4. Together with the cottage,--a sorry, antediluvian makeshift of a +building, you may think it,--what was of much more importance, a fine +litter of newborn pigs, no less than nine in number, perished. China pigs +have been esteemed a luxury all over the East from the remotest periods we +read of. + +5. Bo-bo was in the utmost consternation, as you may think, not so much +for the sake of the tenement, which his father and he could easily build +up again with a few dry branches, and the labor of an hour or two, at any +time, as for the loss of the pigs. While he was thinking what he should +say to his father, and wringing his hands over the smoking remnants of one +of those untimely sufferers, an odor assailed his nostrils unlike any +scent which he had before experienced. + +6. What, could it proceed from? Not from the burnt cottage,--he had smelt +that smell before,--indeed, this was by no means the first accident of the +kind which had occurred through the negligence of this unlucky young +firebrand. Much less did it resemble that of any known herb, weed, or +flower. A premonitory moistening at the same time overflowed his nether +lip. He knew not what to think. + +7. He next stooped down to feel the pig, if there were any signs of life +in it. He burnt his fingers, and to cool them he applied them in his booby +fashion to his mouth. Some of the crumbs of the scorched skin had come +away with his fingers, and for the first time in his life (in the world's +life, indeed, for before him no man had known it) he tasted--crackling! +Again he felt and fumbled at the pig. It did not burn him so much now; +still he licked his fingers from a sort of habit. + +8. The truth at length broke into his slow understanding that it was the +pig that smelt so, and the pig that tasted so delicious; and surrendering +himself up to the newborn pleasure, he fell to tearing up whole handfuls +of the scorched skin with the flesh next it, and was cramming it down his +throat in his beastly fashion, when his sire entered amid the smoking +rafters, armed with a retributory cudgel, and, finding how affairs stood, +began to rain blows upon the young rogue's shoulders as thick as +hailstones, which Bo-bo heeded not any more than if they had been flies. + +9. His father might lay on, but he could not beat him from his pig till he +had fairly made an end of it, when, becoming a little more sensible of his +situation, something like the following dialogue eusued: + +"You graceless whelp, what have you got there devouring? Is it not enough +that you have burnt me down three houses with your dog's tricks, and be +hanged to you! but you must be eating fire, and I know not what? What have +you got there, I say?" + +"O father, the pig, the pig! do come and taste how nice the burnt pig +eats!" + +10. The ears of Ho-ti tingled with horror. He cursed his son, and he +cursed himself that he should ever have a son that should eat burnt pig. + +Bo-bo, whose scent was wonderfully sharpened since morning, soon raked out +another pig, and, fairly rending it asunder, thrust the lesser half by +main force into the fists of Ho-ti, still shouting out, "Eat, eat, eat the +burnt pig, father! only taste! Oh!" with such like barbarous ejaculations, +cramming all the while as if he would choke. + +11. Ho-ti trembled in every joint while he grasped the abominable thing, +wavering whether he should not put his son to death for an unnatural young +monster, when the crackling scorching his fingers, as it had done his +son's, and applying the same remedy to them, he in his turn tasted some of +its flavor, which, make what sour mouths he would for a pretense, proved +not altogether displeasing to him. In conclusion (for the manuscript here +is a little tedious), both father and son fairly sat down to the mess, and +never left off till they had dispatched all that remained of the litter. + +12. Bo-bo was strictly enjoined not to let the secret escape, for the +neighbors would certainly have stoned them for a couple of abominable +wretches, who could think of improving upon the good meat which God had +sent them. Nevertheless strange stories got about. It was observed that +Ho-ti's cottage was burnt down now more frequently than ever. Nothing but +fires from this time forward. Some would break out in broad day, others in +the night-time; and Ho-ti himself, which was the more remarkable, instead +of chastising his son, seemed to grow more indulgent to him than ever. + +13. At length they were watched, the terrible mystery discovered, and +father and son summoned to take their trial at Pekin, then an +inconsiderable assize town. Evidence was given, the obnoxious food itself +produced in court, and verdict about to be pronounced, when the foreman of +the jury begged that some of the burnt pig, of which the culprits stood +accused, might be handed into the box. + +14. He handled it, and they all handled it; and burning their fingers, as +Bo-bo and his father had done before them, and nature prompting to each of +them the same remedy, against the face of all the facts, and the clearest +charge which the judge had ever given,--to the surprise of the whole +court, townsfolk, strangers, reporters, and all present,--without leaving +the box, or any manner of consultation whatever, they brought in a +simultaneous verdict of "Not Guilty." + +15. The judge, who was a shrewd fellow, winked at the manifest iniquity of +the decision; and when the court was dismissed, went privily, and bought +up all the pigs that could be had for love or money. In a few days his +lordship's townhouse was observed to be on fire. + +16. The thing took wing, and now there was nothing to be seen but fire in +every direction. Fuel and pigs grew enormously dear all over the district. +The insurance offices one and all shut up shop. People built slighter and +slighter every day, until it was feared that the very science of +architecture would in no long time be lost to the world. + +17. Thus this custom of firing houses continued till in process of time, +says my manuscript, a sage arose, like our Locke, who made a discovery +that the flesh of swine, or indeed of any other animal, might be cooked +(burnt, as they called it) without the necessity of consuming a whole +house to dress it. + +18. Then first began the rude form of a gridiron. Roasting by the string +or spit came in a century or two later; I forget in whose dynasty. By such +slow degrees, concludes the manuscript, do the most useful, and seemingly +the most obvious, arts make their way among mankind. + +19. Without placing too implicit faith in the account above given, it must +be agreed that if a worthy pretext for so dangerous an experiment as +setting houses on fire (especially in these days) could be assigned in +favor of any culinary object that pretext and excuse might be found in +Roast Pig. + + +DEFINITIONS.--3. Youn'kers, young persons. 4. An-te-di-lu'-vi-an +(literally, existing before the flood), very ancient. Make'shlft, that +which answers a need with the best means at hand. 6. Pre-mon'i-to-ry, +giving previous warning. 8. Re-trib'u-to-ry, rewarding, retaliating. 12. +En-joined', ordered, commanded. l3. Ob-nox'-ious (pro. oh-nok'shus), +liable to censure, offensive. 18. Dy'nas-ty, sovereignty, reign. 19. +Im-plic'it, trusting without doubt. Cu'li-na-ry, relating to the kitchen. + + +NOTES.--1. Abyssinia is a country of eastern Africa. + +2. Confucius (pro. Con-fu'she-us; the Chinese name is Kong-fu-tse', pro. +Kong-foot-sa') was a celebrated Chinese philosopher (b. 551 B.C.) who did +much for the moral improvement of his country. + +The Golden Age was supposed to be that period in the various stages of +human civilization when the greatest simplicity existed; the fruits of the +earth sprang up without cultivation, and spring was the only season. + +13. Pekin is the capital of China. An assize town is a town where the +assizes, or periodical sittings of a court, are held. + +17. Locke (b. 1632, d. 1704) was one of the most illustrious of English +philosophers. + + + +CXI. A PEN PICTURE. + +William Black (b. 1841,---) is one of the leading modern novelist of +England. The scenes of his stories are for the most part laid in Scotland, +and he excels in the delineation of Scotch character. But his most +remarkable power is seen in those vivid, poetical descriptions of scenery, +of which the following selection, adapted from "The Princess of Thule," is +a good example. Mr. Black's most noted works, in addition to the one +named, are: "A Daughter of Heth," "The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton," +"Kilmeny," and "McLeod of Dare." + +1. Lavender had already transformed Sheila into a heroine during the half +hour of their stroll from the beach and around the house; and as they sat +at dinner on this still, brilliant evening in summer, he clothed her in +the garments of romance. + +2. Her father, with his great, gray beard and heavy brow, became the King +of Thule, living in this solitary house overlooking the sea, and having +memories of a dear sweetheart. His daughter, the Princess, had the glamour +of a thousand legends dwelling in her beautiful eyes; and when she walked +by the shores of the Atlantic, that were now getting yellow under the +sunset, what strange and unutterable thoughts must appear in the wonder of +her face! + +3. After dinner they went outside and sat down on a bench in the garden. +It was a cool and pleasant evening. The sun had gone down in red fire +behind the Atlantic, and there was still left a rich glow of crimson in +the west, while overhead, in the pale yellow of the sky, some filmy clouds +of rose color lay motionless. How calm was the sea out there, and the +whiter stretch of water coming into Loch Roag! The cool air of the +twilight was scented with sweetbrier. The wash of the ripples along the +coast could be heard in the stillness. + +4. The girl put her hand on her father's head, and reminded him that she +had had her big greyhound, Bras, imprisoned all the afternoon, and that +she had to go down to Borvabost with a message for some people who were +leaving by the boat in the morning. + +"But you can not go away down to Borvabost by yourself, Sheila," said +Ingram. "It will be dark before you return." + +"It will not be darker than this all the night through," said the girl. + +5. "But I hope you will let us go with you," said Lavender, rather +anxiously; and she assented with a gracious smile, and went to fetch the +great deerhound that was her constant companion. And lo! he found himself +walking with a Princess in this wonderland, through the magic twilight +that prevails in northern latitudes. Mackenzie and Ingram had gone to the +front. The large deerhound, after regarding him attentively, had gone to +its mistress's side, and remained closely there. + +6. Even Sheila, when they had reached the loftiest part of their route, +and could see beneath them the island and the water surrounding it, was +struck by the exceeding beauty of the twilight; and as for her companion, +he remembered it many a time thereafter, as if it were a dream of the sea. + + +7. Before them lay the Atlantic--a pale line of blue, still, silent, and +remote. Overhead the sky was of a clear, thin gold, with heavy masses of +violet cloud stretched across from north to south, and thickening as they +got near the horizon. Down at their feet, near the shore, a dusky line of +huts and houses was scarcely visible; and over these lay a pale blue film +of peat smoke that did not move in the still air. + +8. Then they saw the bay into which the White Water runs, and they could +trace the yellow glimmer of the river stretching into the island through a +level valley of bog and morass. Far away towards the east lay the bulk of +the island,--dark green undulations of moorland and pasture; and there, in +the darkness, the gable of one white house had caught the clear light of +the sky, and was gleaming westward like a star. + +9. But all this was as nothing to the glory that began to shine in the +southeast, where the sky was of a pale violet over the peaks of +Mealasabhal and Suainabhal. There, into the beautiful dome, rose the +golden crescent of the moon, warm in color, as though it still retained +the last rays of the sunset. A line of quivering gold fell across Loch +Roag, and touched the black hull and spars of the boat in which Sheila had +been sailing in the morning. + +10. That bay down there, with its white sands and massive rocks, its still +expanse of water, and its background of mountain peaks palely covered by +the yellow moonlight, seemed really a home for a magic princess who was +shut off from all the world. But here, in front of them, was another sort +of sea, and another sort of life,--a small fishing village hidden under a +cloud of pale peat smoke, and fronting the great waters of the Atlantic +itself, which lay under a gloom of violet clouds. + +11. On the way home it was again Lavender's good fortune to walk with +Sheila across the moorland path they had traversed some little time +before. And now the moon was still higher in the heavens, and the yellow +lane of light that crossed the violet waters of Loch Roag quivered in a +deeper gold. The night air was scented with the Dutch clover growing down +by the shore. They could hear the curlew whistling and the plover calling +amid that monotonous plash of the waves that murmured all around the +coast. + +12. When they returned to the house, the darker waters of the Atlantic and +the purple clouds of the west were shut out from sight; and before them +there was only the liquid plain of Loch Roag, with its pathway of yellow +fire, and far away on the other side the shoulders and peaks of the +southern mountains, that had grown gray and clear and sharp in the +beautiful twilight. And this was Sheila's home. + + +DEFINITIONS.--2. Gla'mour (pro. gla'moor), witchery, or a charm on the +eyes, making them see things differently from what they really are. 3. +Loch (pro. lok), a lake, a bay or arm of the sea. 7. Peat, a kind of turf +used for fuel. 11. Cur'lew (pro. kur'lu), an aquatic bird which takes its +name from its cry. Plov'er (pro. pluv'er), a game bird frequenting river +banks and the sea-shore. + + +NOTES.--Of the characters mentioned in this selection, Sheila is a young +Scotch girl living on the small island of Borva, which her father owns; it +lies just west of Lewis, one of the Hebrides. Ingram is an old friend and +frequent visitor, while Lavender, a friend of Ingram's, is on his first +visit to the island. + +2. Thule (pro. Thu'le) is the name given by an ancient Greek navigator, +Pytheas, to the northernmost region of Europe. The exact locality of Thule +is a disputed point. + +3. Loch Roag (pro. Rog') is all inlet of the sea, west of Lewis, in which +Borva is situated. + +4. Borvabost, a little town at Borva. Bost means an inhabited place. + +9. Mealasabhal and Suainabhal are mountains on the island of Lewis. Bhal +is Gaelic for mountain. + + + +CXII. THE GREAT VOICES. + +Charles T. Brooks (b. 1813, d. 1833)[1] was born at Salem, Mass., and was +the valedictorian of his class at Harvard College, where he graduated in +1832. He shortly afterwards entered the ministry, and had charge of a +congregation at Newport, R.I. He was a great student of German literature, +and began his own literary career by a translations of Schiller's "William +Tell." This was followed by numerous translations from the German, mainly +poetry, which have been published from time to time, in several volumes. +Of these translations, Goethe's "Faust," Richter's "Titan" and "Hesperus," +and a humorous poem by Dr. Karl Arnold Kortum, "The Life, Opinions, +Actions, and Fate of Hieronimus Jobs, the Candidate," deserve especial +mention. Mr. Brooks also published a number of original poems, addresses, +etc. + +[Transcriber's Note 1: The correct dates are June, 20 1813 to +June 14, 1883.] + +1. A voice from the sea to the mountains, + From the mountains again to the sea; + A call from the deep to the fountains,-- + "O spirit! be glad and be free." + +2. A cry from the floods to the fountains; + And the torrents repeat the glad song + As they leap from the breast of the mountains,-- + "O spirit! be free and be strong." + +3. The pine forests thrill with emotion + Of praise, as the spirit sweeps by: + With a voice like the murmur of ocean + To the soul of the listener they cry. + +4. Oh! sing, human heart, like the fountains, + With joy reverential and free, + Contented and calm as the mountains, + And deep as the woods and the sea. + + + +CXIII. A PICTURE OF HUMAN LIFE. + +Samuel Johnson (b. 1709, d. 1784). This remarkable man was born in +Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. He was the son of a bookseller and +stationer. He entered Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1728; but his poverty +compelled him to leave at the end of three years. Soon after his marriage, +in 1736, he opened a private school, but obtained only three pupils, one +of whom was David Garrick, afterwards a celebrated actor. In 1737, he +removed to London, where he resided most of the rest of his life. The most +noted of his numerous literary works are his "Dictionary," the first one +of the English language worthy of mention, "The Vanity of Human Wishes," a +poem, "The Rambler," "Rasselas," "The Lives of the English Poets," and his +edition of Shakespeare. An annual pension of 300 pounds was granted him in +1762. + +In person, Johnson was heavy and awkward; in manner, boorish and +overbearing; but his learning and his great powers caused his company to +be sought by many eminent men. + +1. Obidah, the son of Abnesina, left the caravansary early in the morning, +and pursued his journey through the plains of Hindostan. He was fresh and +vigorous with rest; he was animated with hope; he was incited by desire; +he walked swiftly forward over the valleys, and saw the hills gradually +rising before him. + +2. As he passed along, his ears were delighted with the morning song of +the bird of paradise; he was fanned by the last flutters of the sinking +breeze, and sprinkled with dew by groves of spices; he sometimes +contemplated towering height of the oak, monarch of the hills; and +sometimes caught the gentle fragrance of the primrose, eldest daughter of +the spring; all his senses were gratified, and all care was banished from +his heart. + +3. Thus he went on, till the sun approached his meridian, and the +increasing heat preyed upon his strength; he then looked round about him +for some more commodious path. He saw, on his right hand, a grove that +seemed to wave its shades as a sign of invitation; he entered it, and +found the coolness and verdure irresistibly pleasant. He did not, however, +forget whither he was traveling, but found a narrow way, bordered with +flowers, which appeared to have the same direction with the main road, and +was pleased, that, by this happy experiment, he had found means to unite +pleasure with business, and to gain the rewards of diligence without +suffering its fatigues. + +4. He, therefore, still continued to walk for a time, without the least +remission of his ardor, except that he was sometimes tempted to stop by +the music of the birds, which the heat had assembled in the shade, and +sometimes amused himself with picking the flowers that covered the banks +on each side, or the fruits that hung upon the branches. At last, the +green path began to decline from its first tendency, and to wind among the +hills and thickets, cooled with fountains, and murmuring with waterfalls. + +5. Here Obidah paused for a time, and began to consider whether it was +longer safe to forsake the known and common track; but, remembering that +the heat was now in its greatest violence, and that the plain was dusty +and uneven, he resolved to pursue the new path, which he supposed only to +make a few meanders, in compliance with the garieties of the ground, and +to end at last in the common road. + +6. Having thus calmed his solicitude, he renewed his pace, though he +suspected he was not gaining ground. This uneasiness of his mind inclined +him to lay hold on every new object, and give way to every sensation that +might soothe or divert him. He listened to every echo, he mounted every +hill for a fresh prospect, he turned aside to every cascade, and pleased +himself with tracing the course of a gentle river that rolled among the +trees, and watered a large region, with innumerable circumvolutions. + +7. In these amusements, the hours passed away uncounted; his deviations +had perplexed his memory, and he knew not toward what point to travel. He +stood pensive and confused, afraid to go forward lest he should go wrong, +yet conscious that the time of loitering was now past. While he was thus +tortured with uncertainty, the sky was overspread with clouds, the day +vanished from before him, and a sudden tempest gathered round his head. + +8. He was now roused by his danger to a quick and painful remembrance of +his folly; he now saw how happiness is lost when ease is consulted; he +lamented the unmanly impatience that prompted him to seek shelter in the +grove, and despised the petty curiosity that led him on from trifle to +trifle. While he was thus reflecting, the air grew blacker and a clap of +thunder broke his meditation. + +9. He now resolved to do what remained yet in his power; to tread back the +ground which he had passed, and try to find some issue where the wood +might open into the plain. He prostrated himself upon the ground, and +commended his life to the Lord of nature. He rose with confidence and +tranquillity, and pressed on with his saber in his hand; for the beasts of +the desert were in motion, and on every hand were heard the mingled howls +of rage, and fear, and ravage, and expiration; all the horrors of darkness +and solitude surrounded him; the winds roared in the woods, and the +torrents tumbled from the hills. + +10. Thus, forlorn and distressed, he wandered through the wild without +knowing whither he was going or whether he was every moment drawing nearer +to safety or to destruction. At length, not fear but labor began to +overcome him; his breath grew short, and his knees trembled, and he was on +the point of lying down, in resignation to his fate, when he beheld, +through the brambles, the glimmer of a taper. He advanced toward the +light, and finding that it proceeded from the cottage of a hermit, he +called humbly at the door, and obtained admission. The old man set before +him such provisions as he had collected for himself, on which Obidah fed +with eagerness and gratitude. + +11. When the repast was over, "Tell me," said the hermit, "by what chance +thou hast been brought hither; I have been now twenty years an inhabitant +of this wilderness, in which I never saw a man before." Obidah then +related the occurrences of his journey, without any concealment or +palliation. + +12. "Son," said the hermit, "let the errors and follies, the dangers and +escapes, of this day, sink deep into your heart. Remember, my son, that +human life is the journey of a day. We rise in the morning of youth, full +of vigor, and full of expectation; we set forward with spirit and hope, +with gayety and with diligence, and travel on awhile in the straight road +of piety toward the mansions of rest. In a short time we remit our fervor, +and endeavor to find some mitigation of our duty, and some more easy means +of obtaining the same end. + +13. "We then relax our vigor, and resolve no longer to be terrified with +crimes at a distance, but rely upon our own constancy, and venture to +approach what we resolve never to touch. We thus enter the bowers of ease, +and repose in the shades of security. Here the heart softens, and +vigilance subsides; we are then willing to inquire whether another advance +can not be made, and whether we may not at least turn our eyes upon the +gardens of pleasure. We approach them with scruple and hesitation; we +enter them, but enter timorous and trembling, and always hope to pass +through them without losing the road of virtue, which we for a while keep +in our sight, and to which we propose to return. + +14. "But temptation succeeds temptation, and one compliance prepares us +for another; we, in time, lose the happiness of innocence, and solace our +disquiet with sensual gratifications. By degrees we let fall the +remembrance of our original intention, and quit the only adequate object +of rational desire. We entangle ourselves in business, immerge ourselves +in luxury, and rove through the labyrinths of inconstancy till the +darkness of old age begins to invade us, and disease and anxiety obstruct +our way. We then look back upon our lives with horror, with sorrow, and +with repentance; and wish, but too often vainly wish, that we had not +forsaken the paths of virtue. + +15. "Happy are they, my son, who shall learn, from thy example, not to +despair, but shall remember that though the day is past, and their +strength is wasted, there yet remains one effort to be made; that +reformation is never hopeless, nor sincere endeavors ever unassisted; that +the wanderer may at length return after all his errors; and that he who +implores strength and courage from above, shall find danger and difficulty +give way before him. Go now, my son, to thy repose: commit thyself to the +care of Omnipotence; and when the morning calls again to toil, begin anew +thy journey and thy life." + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Car-a-van sa-ry, a kind of inn in the East, where +caravans (or large companies of traders) rest at night. 5. Me-an'ders, +windings, turnings. 6. Cir-cum-vo-lu'tions, windings or flowings around. +7. De-vi-a'tions, wanderins from one's course. 9. Ex-pi-ra'tion, death. +11. Pal-li-a'tion, concealment of the most blamable circumstances of an +offence. 12. Mit-i-ga'tion, abatement, the act of rendering less severe. +14. Ad'e-quate, fully sufficient. Lab'y-rinth, a place full of winding +passages. + + + +CXIV. A SUMMER LONGING. + +George Arnold (b. 1834, d. 1865) was born in New York, but removed with +his parents to Illinois while yet an infant. There he passed his boyhood, +being educated at home by his parents. In 1849 the family again removed to +Strawberry Farms, Monmouth County, N.J. When eighteen years old he began +to study painting, but soon gave up the art and devoted himself to +literature. He became a journalist of New York City, and his productions +include almost every variety of writings found in the literary magazines. +After his death, two volumes of his poems, "Drift: a Seashore Idyl," and +"Poems, Grave and Gay," were edited by Mr. William Winter. + +1. I must away to the wooded hills and vales, + Where broad, slow streams flow cool and silently + And idle barges flap their listless sails. + For me the summer sunset glows and pales, + And green fields wait for me. + +2. I long for shadowy founts, where the birds + Twitter and chirp at noon from every tree; + I long for blossomed leaves and lowing herds; + And Nature's voices say in mystic words, + "The green fields wait for thee." + +3. I dream of uplands, where the primrose shines + And waves her yellow lamps above the lea; + Of tangled copses, swung with trailing vines; + Of open vistas, skirted with tall pines, + Where green fields wait for me. + +4. I think of long, sweet afternoons, when I + May lie and listen to the distant sea, + Or hear the breezes in the reeds that sigh, + Or insect voices chirping shrill and dry, + In fields that wait for me. + +5. These dreams of summer come to bid me find + The forest's shade, the wild bird's melody, + While summer's rosy wreaths for me are twined, + While summer's fragrance lingers on the wind, + And green fields wait for me. + + + +CXV. FATE. + +Francis Bret Harte (b. 1839,--) was born in Albany, N.Y. When seventeen +years old he went to California, where he engaged in various employments. +He was a teacher, was employed in government offices, worked in the gold +mines, and learned to be a compositor in a printing office. In 1868 he +started the "Overland Monthly," and his original and characteristic poems +and sketches soon made it a popular magazine. Mr. Harte has been a +contributor to some of the leading periodicals of the country, but +principally to the "Atlantic Monthly." + +1. "The sky is clouded, the rocks are bare; + The spray of the tempest is white in air; + The winds are out with the waves at play, + And I shall not tempt the sea to-day. + +2. "The trail is narrow, the wood is dim, + The panther clings to the arching limb; + And the lion's whelps are abroad at play, + And I shall not join in the chase to-day." + +3. But the ship sailed safely over the sea, + And the hunters came from the chase in glee; + And the town that was builded upon a rock + Was swallowed up in the earthquake shock. + + + +CXVI. THE BIBLE THE BEST OF CLASSICS. + +Thomas S. Grimke (b. 1786, d. 1834). This eminent lawyer and +scholar was born in Charleston, S.C. He graduated at Yale College +in 1807. He gained considerable reputation as a politician, but is +best known as an advocate of peace, Sunday schools, and the +Bible. He was a man of deep feeling, earnest purpose, and pure +life. + +1. There is a classic the best the world has ever seen, the noblest that +has ever honored and dignified the language of mortals. If we look into +its antiquity, we discover a title to our veneration unrivaled in the +history of literature. If we have respect to its evidences, they are found +in the testimony of miracle and prophecy; in the ministry of man, of +nature, and of angels, yea, even of "God, manifest in the flesh," of "God +blessed forever." + +2. If we consider its authenticity, no other pages have survived the lapse +of time that can be compared with it. If we examine its authority, for it +speaks as never man spake, we discover that it came from heaven in vision +and prophecy under the sanction of Him who is Creator of all things, and +the Giver of every good and perfect gift. + +3. If we reflect on its truths, they are lovely and spotless, sublime and +holy as God himself, unchangeable as his nature, durable as his righteous +dominion, and versatile as the moral condition of mankind. If we regard +the value of its treasures, we must estimate them, not like the relics of +classic antiquity, by the perishable glory and beauty, virtue and +happiness, of this world, but by the enduring perfection and supreme +felicity of an eternal kingdom. + +4. If we inquire who are the men that have recorded its truths, vindicated +its rights, and illustrated the excellence of its scheme, from the depth +of ages and from the living world, from the populous continent and the +isles of the sea, comes forth the answer: "The patriarch and the prophet, +the evangelist and the martyr." + +5. If we look abroad through the world of men, the victims of folly or +vice, the prey of cruelty, of injustice, and inquire what are its +benefits, even in this temporal state, the great and the humble, the rich +and the poor, the powerful and the weak, the learned and the ignorant +reply, as with one voice, that humility and resignation, purity, order, +and peace, faith, hope, and charity are its blessings upon earth. + +6. And if, raising our eyes from time to eternity; from the world of +mortals to the world of just men made perfect; from the visible creation, +marvelous, beautiful, and glorious as it is, to the invisible creation of +angels and seraphs; from the footstool of God to the throne of God +himself, we ask, what are the blessings that flow from this single volume, +let the question be answered by the pen of the evangelist, the harp of the +prophet, and the records of the book of life. + +7. Such is the best of classics the world has ever admired; such, the +noblest that man has ever adopted as a guide. + + +DEFINITIONS.--1. Clas'sic, a work of acknowledged excellence and +authority. 2. Au-then-tic'i-ty, of established authority for truth and +correctness. Sanc'tion (pro, sank'shun), authority, support. 3. +Ver'sa-tile, readily applied to various subjects. 4. Vin di-cat-ed, +defended, justified. E-van'gel-ist, a writer of the history of Jesus +Christ. 6. Ser'aph, an angel of the highest order. + + + +CXVII. MY MOTHER'S BIBLE. + +George P. Morris (b. 1802, d. 1864) was born in Philadelphia. In 1823 he +became one of the editors of the "New York Mirror," a weekly literary +paper, In 1846 Mr. Morris and N. P. Willis founded "The Home Journal." He +was associate editor of this popular journal until a short time before his +death. + +1. This book is all that's left me now,-- + Tears will unbidden start,-- + With faltering lip and throbbing brow + I press it to my heart. + For many generations past + Here is our family tree; + My mother's hands this Bible clasped, + She, dying, gave it me. + +2. Ah! well do I remember those + Whose names these records bear; + Who round the hearthstone used to close, + After the evening prayer, + And speak of what these pages said + In tones my heart would thrill! + Though they are with the silent dead, + Here are they living still! + +3. My father read this holy hook + To brothers, sisters, dear; + How calm was my poor mother's look, + Who loved God's word to hear! + Her angel face,--I see it yet! + What thronging memories come! + Again that little group is met + Within the walls of home! + +4. Thou truest friend man ever knew, + Thy constancy I've tried; + When all were false, I found thee true, + My counselor and guide. + The mines of earth no treasures give + That could this volume buy; + In teaching me the way to live, + It taught me how to die. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader +by William Holmes McGuffey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MCGUFFEY'S FIFTH ECLECTIC READER *** + +***** This file should be named 15040.txt or 15040.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/0/4/15040/ + +Produced by Don Kostuch + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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