The poor, oppressed, honest man
Had never, sure, been born,

Had there not been some recompense

To comfort those that mourn:

"O Death! the poor man's dearest friend,

The kindest and the best!

Welcome the hour my aged limbs

Are laid with thee at rest.

The great, the wealthy, fear thy blow,
From pomp and pleasure torn;

But O, a blest relief to those

That weary-laden mourn!"

ROBERT BURNS.

Spell and pronounce: - alternate, remorse, wealthy, adorn, inhumanity, licentious, relief, petition, ill-matched, cruelty, lordlings, oppressed, independent, inwoven, partial, and misspending.

Synonyms. - constrain — compel; force; drive; impel; urge; press. licentious-unrestrained; uncurbed; uncontrolled; unruly; riotous; ungovernable; wanton; profligate; dissolute; loose; lax; sensual; impure; unchaste; lascivious; immoral. remorsecompunction; regret; anguish; compassion. recompense-repayment; compensation; remuneration; amends; satisfaction; reward; requital. adorn-deck; decorate; embellish; ornament; beautify; grace; garnish; dignify; exalt; honor.

Robert Burns (1759-1796) was a Scottish peasant of wonderful genius, whose only education was that afforded by the common country schools. His poems were first published by himself in 1786, for the purpose of getting money to enable him to emigrate to Jamaica. Having realized a profit of £20 by this venture-an enormous sum in his eyes-he engaged passage, and was about to set sail, when his plans were changed by a letter from Dr. Blacklock inviting him to Edinburgh, and advising a second edition of his poems. The new edition brought him the handsome sum of £700, while his wonderful abilities and humble position created a profound sensation in the literary and social circles of that famous old town. Fêted on all sides, he fell into the habit of drinking to intoxication,-a habit from which he never entirely recovered, in spite of many attempts at reform. He was only thirty-seven when he died.

The eyes of the crowd beheld, with dismay, a vast vapor shooting from the summit of Vesuvius in the form of a gigantic pine-tree; the trunk, blackness-the branches, fire!-a fire that shifted and wavered in its hues with every moment, now fiercely luminous, now of a dull and dying red, and that again blazed terrifically forth with intolerable glare!

There was a dead, heart-sunken silence, through which there suddenly broke the roar of the lion, that was echoed back from within the building by the sharper and fiercer yells of its fellow-beast. Dread seers were they of the Burden of the Atmosphere, and wild prophets of the wrath to come!

Then there arose on high the universal shrieks of women; the men stared at each other, but were dumb. At that moment they felt the earth shake under their feet; the walls of the theater trembled ; and, beyond, in the distance, they heard the crash of falling roofs; an instant more, and the mountain cloud seemed to roll toward them, dark and rapid, like a torrent; at the same time, it cast forth from its bosom a shower of ashes mixed with vast fragments of burning stone!

Over the crushing vines, over the desolate streets, over the amphitheater itself, far and wide,

with many a mighty splash in the agitated sea, fell that awful shower!

No longer thought the crowd of vengeance or of sport; safety for themselves, was their sole thought. Each turned to fly-each dashing, pressing, crushing against the other. Tramping recklessly over the fallen, amid groans, and oaths, and prayers, and sudden shrieks, the enormous crowd vomited itself forth through the numerous passages.

Whither should they fly! Some, anticipating a second earthquake, hastened to their homes to load themselves with their more costly goods, and escape while it was yet time; others, dreading the shower of ashes that now fell fast, torrent upon torrent, over the streets, rushed under the roofs of the nearest houses, or temples, or sheds (shelter of any kind), for protection from the terrors of the open air. But darker and larger and mightier spread the cloud above them. It was a sudden and more ghastly night rushing upon the realm of noon!

How the darkness gathers! What sudden blazes of lightning! How they dart and quiver!

What sound is that?-the hissing of fiery water! What! does the cloud give rain as well as flame?

Amid the other horrors, the mighty mountain now cast up columns of boiling water. Blent and kneaded with the half-burning ashes, the streams fell like seething mud over the streets in frequent intervals.

The streets were already thinned; the crowd had hastened to disperse itself under shelter; the ashes began to fill up the lower parts of the town; but, here and there, you heard the weary footsteps