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the expiration of the first year the fleet will number only eighty-five thousand two hundred and sixty-nine sail, having lost, in that brief period, fourteen thousand six hundred and thirty-one and the loss of the red squadron will be considerably greater than that of the white.

5. During the second year, five thousand two hundred and sixty-seven sail will founder, and go down into the ocean depths, leaving eighty thousand one hundred and two afloat on the 1st of January, 1872. If we pass on to the end of five years, the sailing fleet will be diminished to seventyfour thousand two hundred and one.

6. During the next ten years the losses will be comparatively less, and at the end of this period, sixty-eight thousand six hundred and twenty-seven will express the sailing strength of this fleet of life. The white squadron will now begin to suffer more than the red, and after a cruise of twenty-five years, or in 1895, the two squadrons will be nearly equal, leaving afloat, at this period, sixty-three thousand five hundred and eighty-one.

7. During the first thirty years of the great battle of life, the losses on both squadrons are nearly equal; but from this time it is the greatest in the red squadron. Of the twenty-four thousand five hundred and thirty-one still afloat in 1940-seventy years from the time of sailing,-twelve thousand seven hundred and eight belong to the white, and eleven thousand eight hundred and twenty-three to the red.

8. But disasters thicken upon the battered fleet, so that at the end of eighty years only about nine thousand four hundred will remain. No longer can we then sing

"Merrily, merrily goes the bark,
Before the gale she bounds;"

but languidly she floats, with patched and tattered sails, spliced cordage, and timbers ready to start asunder.

9. Passing over a period of twenty years more—one hundred years from the time of starting, and possibly sixteen may then be in sailing trim;-but in a very brief time thereafter the last hulk of the great fleet of one hundred thousand must disappear,—not a wreck—not a vestige remaining on the great ocean of Life.

10. Truly, Life may well be compared to a voyage; and Time the sea on which we sail.

"Give thy mind sea-room: keep it wide of earth,
That rock of souls immortal: let loose thy cord;
Weigh anchor; spread thy sails; call every wind;
Eye the great pole-star; make the land of Life."

The voyage will then end with a delightful prospect:

"Land ahead! Its fruits are waving

On the hills of fadeless green,

And the living waters laving

Shores where heavenly forms are seen.'

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LESSON XLII.

SIMILES OF HUMAN LIFE.

I. THE LIFE OF MAN. -BEAUMONT.

LIKE to the falling of a star, •
Or as the flights of eagles are,
Or like the fresh spring's gaudy hue,
Or silver drops of morning dew,
Or like a wind that chafes the flood,
Or bubbles which on water stood,—
E'en such is man.

II. SUCCESSION OF HUMAN BEINGS.

Like leaves on trees the life of man is found',
Now green in youth', now withering on the ground';
Another race the following spring supplies,—

They fall successive', and successive rise':

So generations in their course decay;

So flourish these', when those have pass'd away'.

III. DEATH OF THE YOUNG AND FAIR.

[Simile and Repetition. See p. 245.]—Anon.

She died in beauty,-like a rose blown from its parent stem; She died in beauty, like a pearl dropp'd from some diadem; She died in beauty,—like a lay along a moonlit lake;

She died in beauty,-like the song of birds amid the brake;

She died in beauty,-like the snow on flowers dissolved

away;

She died in beauty,-like a star lost on the brow of day;She lives in glory,—like Night's gems set round the silver

moon;

She lives in glory,-like the sun amid the blue of June.

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2. Roses bloom', and then they wither',
Cheeks are bright', then fade and die',
Shapes of light are wafted hither',
Then', like visions', hurry by';
Quick as clouds at evening driven
O'er the many-colored west,
Years are bearing us to heaven ̄,
Home of happiness and rest.

V. TIME NOT TO BE RECALLED.

1. Mark that swift arrow'; how it cuts the air',How it outruns the following eye'!

Use all persuasions now', and try

If thou canst call it back', or stay it there'.
That way it went'; but thou shalt find
No track is left behind.

2. Fool'! 'tis thy life', and the fond archer thou"! Of all the time thou'st shot away,

'I'll bid thee fetch but yesterday',

And it shall be too hard a task for thee to do.

Simile.

Besides repentance', what canst find'
That it hath left behind'?

VI. DEATH LOVES A SHINING MARK.-YOUNG.

Death loves a shining mark, a signal blow;
A blow, which, while it executes', alarms';
And startles thousands with a single fall.
As when some stately growth of oak or pine,
Which nods aloft and proudly spreads her shade,
The sun's defiance, and the flock's defense;
By the strong strōkes of lab'ring hinds subdu'd,
Loud groans her last, and rushing from her height,
In cumb'rous ruin, thunders to the ground:
The conscious forest trembles at the shock,
And hill, and stream, and distant dale resound.

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1. Life bears us on like the stream of a mighty river. Our boat at first glides down the narrow channel, through the playful murmuring of the little brook and the winding of its grassy border. The trees shed their blossoms over our young heads, the flowers on the brink seem to offer themselves to our young hands; we are happy in hope, and we grasp eagerly at the beauties around us-but the stream hurries on, and still our hands are empty.

2. Our course in youth and manhood is along a wider and deeper flood, amid objects more striking and magnificent. We are animated by the moving picture of enjoyment and industry passing before us'; we are excited by some shortlived disappointment'. The stream bears us on, and our joys and our griefs are alike left behind us.

3. We may be shipwrecked', but we can not be delayed'; whether rough or smooth, the river hastens toward its home, till the roar of the ocean is in our ears, and the tossing of its waves is beneath our feet, and the land lessens from our eyes, and the floods are lifted up around us, and we take our leave of earth and its inhabitants, until of our farther voyage there is no witness save the Infinite and Eternal.

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LESSON XLIII.

CHARACTER OF ALLUSIONS.

[Analysis.-1. What is an Allusion? To what we may allude, and why.-2. Santa Anna's allusion. The meaning of most classic allusions.-3. Allusions used in describing a mob. In what the comparison consists.-4. Examples of allusions. a Youthful excesses. b Plagiarisms of modern poets. Corruption disguised.5. d Eloquence. e Inundation of lawless power. ' False philosophy. Stagnation of science.-6, 7, 8. h Allusions from Holmes.-9. Great extent of allusions. Those mentioned in fiction.-10. Rule for their formation. Too much use of them.]

1. AN Allusion is an implied comparison, which consists in a reference to something supposed to be known to the hearer or reader, but not explicitly mentioned. We may allude to facts in history, or to any thing whatever in art, literature, or science, for the purpose of adding force or beauty to the thought which we wish to express; and it is always with an implied comparison between the thought and the object used for illustration.

2. Thus, when the vainglorious Mexican General, Santa Anna, on falling into the hands of General Houston, after the battle of San Jacinto, said to him, "You have conquered the Napoleon of the West," the allusion is one that almost any person would understand, and also the comparison implied in it. But the meaning of most allusions met with in scholarly writings is such as none but persons of somewhat extensive reading can appreciate.

3. Thus, when it is said, in describing a mob, "The mob is a monster', with the hands of Bri a're us', but the head of Poly phe'mus-strong to execute', but blind to perceive';" the allusion is, first, to the mythological Briareus, who is described as having a hundred hands; and, second, to the one-eyed giant Polyphemus, whose sight was destroyed by Ulysses and, his companions. The beauty and force of the allusion are readily perceived by classical scholars, and the

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