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LESSON IV.

8 SINEWS, tendons, or what supplies 6. COM'PE-TEN-CY, enough for one's sup

strength.

3. PRIN CI-PLES, moral sentiments.

5. IN-TOX'I-CA-TING, causing drunkenness. 5. Ex-CEPTED, left out, not included.

port.

6. TRAN-QUIL'LI-TY, quietness, peacefulness. 7. GAME, play for amusement or money. 7. CHANCE, luck, accident.

ERRORS.-Comp'ny for com'pa-ny; hans for hands; at-ten' for at-tend'; pres'unce for presence; nev'ah for nev'er.

MAXIMS TO GUIDE THE YOUNG.

1. KEEP good company or none.

Never be idle. If your

hands can not be usefully employed, attend to the cultivation of your mind.

2. Always speak the truth. Make few promises. up to your engagements.

him in the face.

Live

When you speak to a person, look

3. Good company and good conversation are the very sinews of virtue. Good character is above all things else. Never listen to loose or idle conversation. You had better be poisoned in your blood than in your principles.

4. Your character can not be essentially injured except by your own acts. If any one should speak evil of you, let your life be so virtuous that none will believe him.

5. Always speak and act as in the presence of God. Drink no intoxicating liquor. Ever live, misfortunes excepted, within your income. When you retire to bed, think over what you have done during the day.

6. Never speak lightly of religion. Make no haste to be rich, if you would prosper. Small and steady gains give competency with tranquillity of mind.

7. Never play at any game of chance. Avoid the temptation, through fear that you may not withstand it. Earn your money before you spend it. Never run in debt, unless you see a way to get out of it.

8. Never borrow if you can possibly avoid it. Be just be

M*

fore you are generous. Keep yourself innocent, if you would be happy. Save while you are young, to spend when you are old.

9. Never think what you do for religion is time or money misspent. Always go to church when you can. Read some

portion of the Bible every day.

10. Often think of death, and of your accountability to God. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.

QUESTIONS.-What is a maxim? What is the first maxim given? What is the second? &c. Give the elements in the word conversation.

1. COM-MU'NI-CATE, to impart.

LESSON V.

1. AC-QUIRE', to gain, to obtain.

3. GLAN'CING, turning suddenly.

3. LAND'SCAPE, a portion of country seen at one view.

11. PRO-DUCED, brought into being, made. 13. PROC'ESS, a gradual course.

13. REA'SON-ING, deducing unknown truths from known truths.

15. DE-SIGN', aim, object, purpose.

9. PHI-LOS'O-PHERS, persons profoundly 18. STRUCTURE, manner of organization.

skilled in science.

10. DIS MAL, dreary, gloomy.

11. VOL'UME, a book.

19. CON-TRIV'ANCE, invention.

20. IN-TEL'LI-GENT, well informed.

30. IN-VIS'I-BLE, that can not be seen.

ERRORS.-Long for a-long'; set for sat; sev'ral for sev'e-ral; geth'er-ed for gath'er-ed; blieve for be-lieve'; an'i-muls for an'i-mals.

TRUTHS FROM THE BOOK OF NATURE.-J. P. McCORD.

[Conversational and Argumentative. See Rule for reading Rhetorical Dialogue, page 125, and Rule 2, page 112.]

1. DOCTOR CRAMER was a man who went along through the world with his eyes open. He therefore saw much more than many others saw; nor did he gather knowledge for himself alone. He was as willing to communicate it to others, as he was anxious to acquire it.

2. One day, as he sat in the cool shade, several of his grandchildren gathered around him. They were very fond of him,

and he was equally fond of them. Nothing suited them better than to stand and listen to his pleasant and instructive conversation.

3. " My children," said he, glancing his eye over the wide landscape, "how fair a world this is! It is a book full of beautiful pictures. I am sure there is a God who made it.” 4. "Indeed, sir," exclaimed Albert, "who ever doubted that?"

5. "You will learn, some day, that no notion is too strange to get into men's heads. Some have even believed, or at least have pretended to believe, that there is no God."

6. "Then," asked Albert, "how was the earth made? And where did the trees, and the birds, and the animals come from?"

7. "Why," replied the Doctor, "those wise fools say that, if the world had a beginning at all, it was the work of chance!" 8. "I do not see how chance could make it," was Albert's

answer.

9. "It would take a very sharp eye to see that," said the Doctor. "How all things could happen to get a proper shape, and to fall into the right place, is more, I think, than those philosophers could tell. No one ever saw chance build a

stone wall, or make a pin.

10. "If there were no God," said Eliza, "how dismal the world would be! I should dread to be in it."

11. "But," continued the Doctor, "our abode is not so dark and cold. There is a God who fitted its parts together, and painted the beautiful pictures that adorn it. Or, if we consider the world as a volume full of curious facts and useful lessons, I am just as sure that he produced it, as that any book had an author. Now, Albert, how do you know that

some one made your Arithmetic?"

12. "Why, sir, I know it, because the author's name is on the title-page."

13. "Very well; but you would know, if no name were on t, that some mind produced it. You find the letters formed

into words, and the words placed so as to make sense.

Wherever, too, an example is solved, you see a process of reasoning, and every figure in its proper place. This is the work of mind.

14. "Should some one suggest that your book had no author, you would tell him that you knew better. You would tell him there were many marks of thought about it, and that there could not be thought without a thinker.

15.-" "In a similar manner, the book of nature shows that there must be a mind that produced it. It bears the marks of order, thought, design. Or, if a few irregularities appear, they are as inconsiderable as the error of a letter or two in a printed volume.

16. "The sun pursues his regular course for the benefit of the earth. No streams run up hill; all flow, in obedience to a common law, in just that direction in which the great wants of the world require them. The trees all strike their roots downward to take a firm hold of the ground, and to draw nourishment from it.

17. "The soil yields a variety of plants, some for food, some for medicine, and some to please with their beauties. The different kinds of creatures are placed in situations suited to their natures. Some live in water; some walk on the earth; and some fly through the air.

18. "You may see in the structure of any living animal similar proofs of order and design. Just consider your own frame, for example. How well it is put together! Every part is in the right place. Your eyes are not on the top of your head. Your nose is not on your chin, nor your mouth under your ear. Both arms are not hung on one side; nor does one foot turn forward while the other turns backward. So you see that, though no name is visible on the great volume of nature, it clearly had an author.”

19. "I see that clearly," interrupted Eliza; "for, as you said, order and contrivance are the work of mind."

20. "Let us pursue this point a little further," said the

Doctor.

"In a watch, the several parts are nicely fitted to one another. A certain object is manifestly aimed at in the construction of the whole, to regulate its motion so as to point off the passing hours. This is full proof that an intelligent mind contrived, and made it.

21. "Now just reason in the same way about the works of nature. Your own bodies show everywhere most striking proofs of design. They are constructed with joints to aid their motion; and these joints vary in form, each being adapted to its particular office.

22. "Your thumb is placed opposite your fingers to enable you to grasp whatever you wish, and to hold it with firmness. Your teeth are just the things to grind bread and meat. They are placed, too, exactly where you want them; and, after the food has been ground, your stomach is ready to receive it, and to work day and night to keep you strong and healthy.

23. "The ears are placed upon the side of the head, that they may receive the sounds from behind and before, as well as laterally. Had they been placed upon the top of the head, or behind it, or before it, they would but poorly perform the office for which they were designed. And most quadrupeds have the additional power, which man does not possess, of moving their ears at pleasure, and directing them to the place from which the sounds proceed.

24. "What improvement could be made in the construction of your eyes? They are clearly designed to show your feet where to walk; to guide your hands in their movements; to make you acquainted with the world around you; and how admirably they are suited to their purpose!

25. "They are set in front of the head; you can turn them from side to side, and direct them to what is near, or to what is far away; and they are apt to tell you the truth about the size, form, color, and situation of objects. How well, too, the brow, the lids, and lashes protect them against injuries from too strong a light, or from the dust whirled about by the

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