Page images
PDF
EPUB

nied;—they were noble men, or they would never have so manfully asserted their principles;-christian men, or they would never have voluntarily retired into exile to enjoy them. Shall we complain, then, that they were not more than men, noble, christian men, as they must have been in that age of the world, not to have guarded and maintained the rights they had so dearly purchased? Let us do justice to their memory, and when we hear of their cruelties, let us recount a few of their sufferings; when we hear of their persecutions, let us remember that they considered them only acts of self-defence ;—and when we are told that they erred in thus laying the foundation of this great empire, let us view it in all its length and breadth and glory, and give the lie to the unjust and undeserved aspersion.

I

LESSON LXV.

THE CHILD OF EARTH.

The following illustration of the hold which the endearments of earth have upon the human heart, was written by the HON. MRS. NORTON, of England, for whose country the description of the seasons is better suited than for ours, though the moral is equally applicable wherever man is found.

Fainter her slow step falls from day to day,

Death's hand is heavy on her darkening brow; Yet doth she fondly cling to earth, and say, "I am content to die-but, oh! not now!Not while the blossoms of the joyous spring Make the warm air such luxury to breatheNot while the birds such lays of gladness singNot while bright flowers around my footsteps wreathe. Spare me, great God, lift up my drooping brow

am content to die-but, oh! not now!"

The spring hath ripened into summer time;

The season's viewless boundary is past; The glorious sun hath reached his burning prime; Oh! must this glimpse of beauty be thy last? "Let me not perish while o'er land and lea, With silent steps, the Lord of light moves on; Not while the murmur of the mountain-bee Greets my dull ear with music in its tone! Pale sickness dims my eyes and clouds my I am content to die-but, oh! not now!"

brow

Summer is gone; and autumn's soberer hues Tint the ripe fruits, and gild the waving corn;The huntsman swift the flying game pursues, Shouts the halloo! and winds his eager horn. "Spare me awhile, to wander forth and gaze

Ôn the broad meadows and the quiet stream, To watch in silence while the evening rays

Slant through the fading trees with ruddy gleam! Cooler the breezes play around my brow—

I am content to die-but, oh! not now!"

The bleak wind whistles; snow showers far and near
Drift without echo to the whitening ground;
Autumn hath passed away, and, cold and drear,
Winter stalks on, with frozen mantle bound;
Yet still that prayer ascends. "Oh! laughingly
My little brothers round the warm hearth crowd,
Our home-fire blazes broad, and bright, and high,

And the roof rings with voices light and loud;
Spare me awhile! raise up my drooping brow!
I am content to die-but, oh! not now!"

The spring is come again-the joyful spring!
Again the banks with clustering flowers are spread;
The wild bird dips upon its wanton wing:-

The child of earth is numbered with the dead!

[graphic]

The following Fable is an imitation of one in French, by BARBE. It is intended for quite a young pupil.

"My dears," said a Hen to her children, one day,
"Whenever you go on the common to p lay
Be sure not to go near the terrible well,
For adown it your father and grandfather fell,
And left me a widow: so shun it, my dears,
If ever you wish to arrive at my years

Of discretion." She said, and the young ones the more
Wished to visit the well they ne'er thought of before;
Prohibition had made them quite anxious to know
What there was in the well that should frighten Ma so,
And a restless propensity somehow had got 'em,
To see how their ancestors fared at the bottom.

So once, when their mother was busy at home,
They slyly departed to have a good roam,
And call at the well, for why should they fear,
So cautioned and guarded as all of them were?
The young cock came first, and, as if in a glass,
A rival he saw looking up in his face.

He then flapped his wings and set up a crow,
And seeing with anger the rooster below
Crowed always as he did, and strutted and acted
In mockery of him, he grew quite distracted,
And could bear it no longer; so downward he flew,-
And slept with his fathers.-Now this is all true!

The moral addresses you, mothers, who fear Some danger afar, when no danger is near, And put into the heads of your children what brings The mischief you dread, on the poor little things.

LESSON LXVII.

THE FISHES' TOILET.-EDITOR.

The play upon names in the following piece is never tolerated i serious poetry. The hint, of which this is an expansion, may be foun in one of MRS. SIGOURNEY's poems. The Dr. Smith appealed to the last line, is the author of an amusing description of the fishes Massachusetts. Some of the lines contain puns, which are "expres sions where a word has two meanings at the same time," as the wor scent, at the end of the thirteenth line, or, "expressions in which tw words are used that agree in sound, but differ in sense." Of this latte description are many conundrums, a species of low wit, which, like puns, must be very rarely used, if at all. The piece requires a pup somewhat advanced.

'Tis said, a gallant bark that bore

The cast-off fashions of the day
From la belle France to this fair shore,
Was scuttled on the way,

And all the stock of toilet ware,

To mend the coarse, or deck the fair,
To the bottom went, and every fish
That owned a whim, or felt a wish
To imitate the lords of air,

Rushed to the spot to get her share.
The Lump-fish seized a pair of Stays
And squeezed the blood into her face;
The Eel, too lank on every side,
A Bishop to her back applied;

The Frog-fish thrust her flippers wet
Into a ruffled Pantalette;

The Flounder and her cousin Plaice
Put on a Frill of Brussels-Lace.
The Chub, while saying fie upon it,
Tried on a pretty Cottage Bonnet ;
The Shark, to enlarge his mighty maw,
Tied a large Pocket on before.
The Carp to rail at those who pass,
Hung round her neck a Quizzing Glass;
The Sculpins on their thorny heads,
Tore ruffled Night-caps into shreds;
The Whiting found of Rouge a box ;
The Grayling seized some Auburn-locks ;
The Gold-fish on her interest bent,
Seized on some Musk and made a Scent;
The Sun-fish seized a Parasol;
The Seal a box of Wafers stole;
The Ale-wife as her cask was low,
Secured a bottle of Noyau;

A Cologne bottle pleased the Smelt;
The Porpoise fat, about to melt,
Sported a Fan; a sulky Pout
Applied Rose-ointment to his snout;
The Swell-fish finding it afloat,
Put on a large Hooped petticoat;

« PreviousContinue »