her. These merits, however, might easily escape a young observer. But I dare say you did not fail to notice Sir Henry B's lady, who was declaiming with so much enthusiasm, in the midst of a circle of gentlemen which she had drawn around her, upon the beau ideal. No indeed, mamma; I never heard so much fire and feeling-and what a flow of elegant language! I do not wonder her eloquence was so much admired. She has a great deal of eloquence and taste: she has travelled and is acquainted with the best works of art. I am not sure, however, whether the gentlemen were admiring most her declamation or the fine turn of her hands and arms. She has a different attitude for every sentiment. Some observations which she made upon the beauties of statues seemed to me to go to the verge of what a modest female will allow herself to say upon such subjects, but she has travelled. She was sensible that she could not fail to gain by the conversation, while beauty of form was the subject of it. Pray what did, thegreat poet, bring to the pic-nic, for I think he hardly opened his mouth? He brought his fame. Many would be gratified with merely seeing him who had entertained them in their closets; and he who had so entertained them had a right to be himself entertained in that way which he had no talent for joining in. Let every one, I repeat, bring to the entertainment something of the best he possesses, and the pic-nic table will seldom fail to afford a plentiful banquet. LESSON XX. Lines written in the Church Yard of Richmond, Yorkshire, England. Matt. xvii. 4.-HERBERT KNOWLES. Methinks it is good to be here, If thou wilt let us build: but for whom? Nor Moses, nor Elias appear, But the shadows of eve, that encompass the gloom, The abode of the dead and the place of the tomb. -Merits, deserts, claims, excellencies, good qualities. Beau ideal, bồ-i-dè'âl, imaginary standard of perfect beauty. -Fire, excited sensation, passion, caloric, heat. Taste, nice judgment, delicate and correct feeling. ture. Sure, shure, certain. Declamation, from declaim, speaking. -Turn, gesticulation, movement, gesture. -Sentiment, expression, feeling, opinion, principle. .Statues, images, solid representations of any living beings. -Verge, edge, margin, limit. Allow, permit, grant as good, suffer. -Sensible, convinced, knowing, abounding in sense. -Subject, topic, matter, one living under the dominion of another. -Travelled, been abroad, labored, toiled. Spell beauties, closets, entertainment, joining. Gratified, pleased, delighted, requited with a recom pense. Closets, close places, places of retirement, from close. -Right, just claim, privilege, justice. -Way, manner, method, path, road. Afford, yield, furnish, bear the expense. Banquet, feast, sumptuous entertainment. Table, furnished with food for the body or the mind. Give the passage in Matthew here referred to. Eve, evening, twilight. Encompass, surround, envelope, environ, Shall we build to ambition? oh no ; Affrighted he shrinketh away; For see they would pin him below In a small narrow cave, and begirt with cold clay To beauty? oh no; she forgets Nor knows the foul worm, that he frets The skin, which but yesterday fools would adore Shall we build to the purple of pride, The trappings which dizzen the proud? And here's neither dress nor adornment allow'd To riches? Alas! 'tis in vain, Who hid, in their turns have been hid, The treasures are squander'd again, To the pleasures which mirth can afford? Oh here! is a plentiful board, But the guests are all mute, on their pitiful cheer, Shall we build to affection and love? Ah no! they have withered and died, Or fled with the spirit above. Friends, brothers and sisters are laid side by side," Yet none have saluted and none have replied. Unto sorrow? the dead cannot grieve, Not a sob, not a sigh meets mine ear Which compassion itself could relieve; Ah sweetly they slumber, nor hope love nor fear, Peace, peace is the watchword, and the only one here. .Build, erect a tabernacle, or tent. Wielded, displayed, brandished, set off. Frets, defaces, despoils, teases, eats, feeds upon. Why is it foolish to love mere beauty ? Tint, hue, die, color, charm. Purple, red garments, which kings wore. -Pride, high self-esteem, proud men, haughtiness. Dizzen, distract, bewilder, make them lose their sen ses. Winding sheet, cloth wrapped around the dead. In vain, to no purpose, useless, fruitless, idle. Squandered, spent, lavished, expended. Tinsel, metal plate inscribed with the name of the dead. Why is the coffin lid called dark. Jeer, scoff, taunt, biting jest, sarcasm, witticism. Is build used figuratively, or literally? .Withered, faded, languished, often said of flowers. None. From what derived? Why is the grave called the land of silence? Compassion itself the most compassionate person, "The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him.” Why are the dead said to slumber? Watchword, sign used by sentinels to recognize each other. Unto death? to whom monarchs must bow? And here there are trophies enough; Beneath the cold dead and around the dark stone Are the signs of a sceptre, which none must disown. The first tabernacle to Hope we will build, And look for the sleepers around us to rise; The second to Faith, which ensures it fulfilled, The third to the Lamb of the great sacrifice, Who bequeathed us them both, when he rose to the skies. LESSON XXI. The Pensioner.--CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR. A few years since, for the restoration of my health, I resolved to visit the waters of Lake George, and the country adjacent. This section of country is well known; for independent of its neighborhood to the fort, and battle ground of Ticonderoga, where many a warrior bled in our revolutionary struggle, its scenes, in themselves, are objects of great interest. The passing stranger can scarcely refrain from feeling very sublime emotions, as he rambles over the ground, and surveys the ruins of the old fort, now almost gone to decay. He cannot well refrain, if he possesses a tolerable share of imagination, from calling to his mind the heroes, and struggles of other times. He will fancy he can almost hear the savage yell, and see uplifted the murderous tomahawk-can almost hear the roar of thundering cannon, and see fall the groups of the dying. But grand, awful, and interesting as may be the emotions, which imagination and recollection awaken, while recalling the deeds of days gone by; they can scarcely transcend those, which he feels, while he surveys the sublime scenes opened to his view, in every direction around Lake George. The beautiful transparency of the waters, and the grandeur of the neighboring mountains, which seem to rise out of the very waves, and by which they |