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There being great danger of drifting ashore, the sails were hoisted, fore and aft; and the vessel put about, in order to get her before the wind, and keep her off the land.

5. She soon became unmanageable; and, the tide setting strong to the south, she drifted in that direction. It rained heavily during the whole time; and the fog was so dense that it became impossible to tell the situation of the vessel.

6. At length, breakers were discovered close to leeward; and the Ferne Lights,* which then became visible, revealed their imminent peril. An attempt was made to run her between two of the Ferne Islands, but to no purpose; and, at three o'clock on Friday morning, she struck with tremendous force against the outer, or Long-stone Island.

7. At the moment the vessel struck, most of the passengers were below, and many of them asleep in their berths. One, alarmed by the shock, started up, and rushed upon deck. When he reached it, he found every thing in confusion; and, seeing part of the crew hoisting out a boat, he sprung into it.

8. The raging of the sea instantly separated it from the vessel; and, though several other passengers attempted to reach it, they were unsuccessful, and perished in the attempt. The boat itself escaped, by being providentially guided through an outlet of which the crew were not aware; and, after being exposed to the storm all night, it was picked up by a sloop, and carried into Shields.†

9. In less than five minutes after the vessel struck, a second shock separated her into two parts. The stern, quarterdeck, and the cabin were instantly borne away through a narrow passage in the rocks, which runs with considerable violence even in temperate weather; but, when the weather is tempestuous, it rushes with a force truly terrific!

*Ferne Lights, the lights from the two light-houses on Ferne Islands. These islands are seventeen in number, small and rocky, off the eastern coast of England, about four miles from the main land.

Shields, an important seaport town at the mouth of the Tyne, on the northeas* oast of England.

10. The fore part of the vessel, in the mean time, remained fast on the rock. A few passengers who remained still clung to it, though every instant expecting to share the fate of their unfortunate companions, whom they had seen swept away by the raging element.

11. In this dreadful situation, their cries attracted the notice of Grace Darling, the daughter of the keeper of the Ferne Light-house. With a noble heroism, she immediately determ ined to attempt their rescue, in spite of the raging of the storm, and the almost certain destruction which threatened to attend it.

12. She hastily aroused her father, who launched his boat at day-break, and, with a generous sympathy worthy of the father of Grace Darling, prepared to proceed to their rescue. The gale, in the mean time, continued unabated; and the boiling of the waves threatened speedy destruction to their frail boat.

13. It was, therefore, with the most fearful forebodings, that he undertook the perilous enterprise. After watching the wreck for some time, they discovered living beings still clinging to it; and the gallant young woman, with matchless intrepidity, seized an oar, and entered the boat.

14. This was enough. Her father followed, and, with the assistance of his daughter, conducted the skiff over the foaming billows to the spot where the wreck appeared. By a dangerous and desperate effort, the father was landed on the rock; and, to prevent the boat from being dashed to pieces, it was rowed back a short distance, and kept afloat by the skillfulness and dexterity of the noble-minded young woman.

15. At length, the whole of the survivors, consisting of five of the crew and four of the passengers, were taken from the wreck, and conveyed to the light-house, where she administered to their wants, and, for three days and three nights, anxiously waited on the sufferers, and soothed their afflictions.

16. This perilous achievement, unexampled in the feats of female courage, was witnessed by the survivors in silent won

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der. The weather continued so tempestuous that the main land could not be reached till the Sabbath. Then the nine persons, saved by the gallant heroism of the Darlings, were landed in safety; thus making the entire number saved from the wreck, eighteen. All the others perished.

17. Those who found refuge on the rock on which the vessel struck suffered severely during the night from the cold and heavy seas which, at intervals, washed over them. The female passenger who escaped sat, with her two children firmly grasped in each hand, long after the buffetings of the waves had deprived them of life. The captain and his wife were washed from the wreck, clasped in each other's arms, and were both drowned.

18. This noble act of heroism, which has few parallels, has not been without its reward. Besides the great satisfaction of saving nine fellow-creatures from certain destruction, the fame of the heroic deed has spread far and wide; and its praise has been on every tongue.

19. Artists of no mean talents have portrayed the scene; and its memory will be thus preserved. Valuable presents have been bestowed upon the brave and generous actors; and much has been done to manifest the public sympathy and approbation of the daring and disinterested deed.

20. We see here portrayed in the most glowing colors, that generous sympathy which pervades the breast of woman. Ever solicitous to relieve the afflictions and woes of humanity, no danger is too great for her to risk, and no hardships too severe for her to endure.

QUESTIONS.-1. What left Hull one evening? 1. How many passengers were on board? Where is Forfarshire? Where is Hull? 2-10. Describe what occurred to the steamer and passengers. Where is Berwick Bay? What is meant by Ferne Lights? What, and where, is Shields? 11. Whose attention was attracted by the cries of the wrecked crew and passengers? 12-14. What did she do? 15. Did she succeed in rescuing any? 15. How many? 16. How many were finally saved? 16. How many perished? 17. Were the captain and his wife saved? 18-20. What is said of this noble act of heroism? - What is the general character of this lesson? How should such composition be read? Point out the substitutes in the first paragraph. In the senond, &c., &c.

LESSON XIX. (7

1. DIS-CLOSE', to make known.

1. MYS'TE-RY, profound secret.
2. MURMURS, low, purling sounds
3. HEAVING, Swelling, rising.
3. THRILLED, rolled, sent forth.

3. PEAL, a loud sound.

4 CON-CEAL'ED, hid from view.
5. E-TERNAL, having no end.
7. EMBLEM a symbol or sign.
10. REV'EL, merriment, noisy mirth.

ERRORS.- - Wild dit for wild it; sol'um for sol'emn; a no-tion for an ocean; chil drun for chil'dren.

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That strain of solemn music from the sea,
As though the bright air trembled to disclose
An ocean mystery.

Again a low, sweet tone,

Fainting in murmurs on the listening day,
Just bade the excited thought its presence own,
Then died away.

Once more the gush of sound,

Struggling and swelling from the heaving plain,
Thrilled a rich peal triumphantly around,

And fled again.

O boundless deep! we know

Thou hast strange wonders in thy gloom concealed, -
Gems, flashing gems, from whose unearthly glow

Sunlight is sealed.

And an eternal spring

Showers her rich colors with unsparing hand

Where coral trees* their graceful branches fling

O'er golden sand.

Coral trees, corals of different colors branching out into the form of trees. The coral is a very small animal belonging to the class called Radiata. Its shell is composed principally of carbonate of lime; and when the animal dies, the shell remains

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But tell, O restless main !

Who are the dwellers in thy world beneath,
That thus the watery realm can not contain
The joy they breathe?

Emblem of glorious might!

Are thy wild children, like thyself, arrayed
Strong in immortal and unchecked delight
Which can not fade?

Or to mankind allied,

Toiling with woe, and passion's fiery sting,
Like their own home, where storms or peace preside,
As the winds bring?

Alas for human thought!

How does it flee existence worn and old,

To win companionship with beings wrought

Of finer mold!

'Tis vain! the reckless waves

Join with loud revel the dim ages flown,
But keep each secret of their hidden caves,

Dark and unknown!

QUESTIONS. What is the subject of this lesson? 1-3. What is said of this kind of music? 4,5. What do we know of the boundless deep? What is meant by "coral trees"? 6-8. What inquiries are here made? 6, 7. What is meant by "the restless main," and "the emblem of glorious might"? 9. What is meant by "human thought"? 9. What, by "existence"? 9. What, by "beings wrought of finer mold"? 9. What comparison is here made? 10. Is the human mind fully able to comprehend the mysteries of the ocean? To which kind of poetry does this piece belong? With what inflection should the exclamatory sentences be read? See Rule 6, page 85.

and becomes a kind of stone. Millions of these shells become aggregated together, in different forms and of different colors, depending upon the species; so that islands, hundreds of miles in extent, are sometimes formed of them.

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