Expiring, lays the warbling world ǎsleep,

Sweetest of birds! sweet Philomēla,' charm
The listening shades, and teach the. night His praise.
10. Ye chief, for whom the whole creation smiles,
At once the head, the heart, and tongue of all,
Crown the great hymn! in swarming cities vast,
Assembled men, to the deep organ join

The long-resounding voice, oft breaking clear,
At solemn pauses, through the swelling bāss;
And, as each mingling flame increases each,
In one united ardor rise to heaven.

Or, if you rather choose the rural' shade,
And find a fane in every sacred grove,
There let the shepherd's flute, the virgin's lay,
The prompting seraph,' and the poet's lyre,
Still sing the God of Seasons as they roll.
11. For me, when I forget the darling theme,
Whether the blossom blows, the summer ray
Russets the plain, inspiring Autumn gleams,
Or Winter rises in the blackening east,
Be my tongue mute, my fancy paint no more,
And, dead to joy, forget my heart to beat!-
Should fate command' me to the furthèst verge
Of the green earth, to distant barbarous climes,
Rivers unknown to song,-where first the sun
Gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beam
Flames on the Atlantic isles,-'tis naught to me;
Since God is ever present, ever felt,

In the void waste as in the city full;

And where He vital breathes, there must be joy.
12. When even at last the solemn hour shall come,
And wing my mystic' flight to future worlds,
I cheerful will obey; there, with new powers,
Will rising wonders sing. I can not go

1 Phil`o me' la, from Philomela,
daughter of Pandion, king of Athens,
who was supposed to have been
changed into a nightingale; hence,
the nightingale.
'Rural, (ro ral).

'Seraph, (Eng., plural, ser aphs; Heb., pl., sěr a phím), an angel of the highest order.

4 Command, (kom månd^). 'Mys' tic, obscure; involving some hidden meaning.

Where Universal Love not smiles around,
Sustaining all yon orbs, and all their suns;
From seeming evil still educing good,
And better thence again, and better still,
In infinite progression. But I lose
Myself in him, in Light ineffable!'

Come then, expressive Silence, muse His praise.

JAMES THOMSON.

JAMES THOMSON was born at Ednam, near Kelso, Roxburgh County, Scotland, September 11th, 1700, and died August 27th, 1748. He was the author of the 'Seasons," a work which alone would have perpetuated his name. Though born a poet, he seems to have advanced but slowly, and by reiterated efforts, to refinement of taste. The first edition of the "Seasons" differs materially from the second, and the second still more from the third. Every alteration was an improvement in delicacy of thought and language. That the genius of Thom son was purifying and working off its alloys up to the termination of his exist. ence, may be seen from the superiority in style and diction of his last poem, the "Castle of Indolence," to which he brought not only the full nature, but the perfect art of a poet. As a dramatic writer he was unsuccessful. He was in poverty in early life, but through the influence of Lord Lyttleton, he obtained a pension of £100 a year, from the Prince of Wales, and an office which brought him £300 per annum. He was now in comparative opulence, and his residence at Kew-lane, near Richmond, was the scene of social enjoyment and lettered ease. He was friendly, shy and indolent. His noted lines in favor of early rising, commencing—

were written in bed.

Falsely luxurious, will not man awake,
And springing from the bed of slōth, &c.,

tant.

SECTION II.

I.

3. NEVER DESPAIR.

HERE is no trait of human character so potential' for weal

Before its irresistible energy the most formidable obstacles become as cobweb barriers in its path.' Difficulties, the terror of which causes the pampered sons of luxury to shrink

1 In ĕf fa ble, not capable of being expressed in words; untold; unspeakable.

powerful; mighty; forcible.
'Path, (påth).

Păm' pered, fed or gratified in 'Potential, (po tên' shal), efficient; ordinately or unduly.

back with dismay, provoke from the man of lofty determination only a smile. The whole history of our race-all nature, indeed -teems with examples to show what wonders may be accomplished by resolute perseverance and patient toil.

2. It is related of Tamerlane,' the celebrated warrior, the terror of whose arms spread through all the Eastern nations, and whom victory attended at almost ěvèry step, that he once learned from an insect a lesson of perseverance, which had a striking effect on his future character and success.

2

3. When closely pursued by his enemies-as a contemporary tells the anecdote-he took refuge in some old ruins, where, left to his solitary musings, he espied an ant tugging and striving to carry a single grain of corn. His unavailing efforts were repeated sixty-nine times, and at each several time, so soon as he reached a certain point of projection, he fell back with his burden, unable to surmount it; but the seventieth time he bōre ǎway his spoil in triumph, and left the wondering hero reänimated and exulting in the hope of future victory.

5. How pregnant' the lesson this incident conveys! How many thousand instances there are in which inglorious defeat ends the career of the timid and desponding, when the same tenacity of purpose would crown it with triumphant success ! Resolution is almost omnipotent. Sheridan' was at first timid, and obliged to sit down in the midst of a speech. Convinced of, and mortified at, the cause of his failure, he said one day to a friend, "It is in me, and it shall come out."

5. From that moment he rose, and shōne, and triumphed in a consummate' eloquence. Here was true moral courage. And it was well observed by a heathen moralist, that it is not because things are difficult that we dare not undertake them.

1 Tǎm' er lāne, called also Timour the Tartar, was born 1335. He became sovereign of Tartary, and subdued Persia, India and Syria. With an army of 200,000 men, in a battle fought at Angora, on the 20th of July, 1402, he defeated the Turkish army, composed of 300,000 men, and made their emperor, Bajazet, prisoner. He was on the point of invading China, when he was seized with a violent

fever, and died soon after taking the field, 18th February, 1405.

2 Con těm pora ry, living, acting, or happening at the same time.

'Pregnant, full of consequences. • Richard Brinsley Sheridan, see Biographical Sketch, p. 126.

5 Con sum' mate, carried to the utmost extent or degree; complete; perfect.

Dare, (dår), see Note 2, p. 22.

6. Be, then, bold in spirit. Indulge no doubts-they are traitors. In the practical pursuit of our high aim, let us never. lose sight of it in the slightest instance: for it is more by a disregard of small things, than by open and flagrant offenses, that men come short of excellence. There is always a right and a wrong; and if you ever doubt, be sure you take not the wrong. Observe this rule, and every experience will be to you a means of advancement.

T

II.

4. NOW.

HE venerable Past-is past;

"Tis dark, and shines not in the ray :
'Twas good, no doubt-'tis gone at last-
There dawns another day.

Why should we sit where ivies creep,
And shroud ourselves in charnels deep?
Or the world's yesterdays deplōre,
Mid crumbling ruins mossy hōar?

2. Why should we see with dead men's eyes,
Looking at WAS from morn to night,
When the beauteous Now, the divine To BE,
Woo with their charms our living sight?

Why should we hear but echoes dull,
When the world of sound, so beautiful,
Will give us music of our own ?
Why in the darkness should we grōpe,
When the sun, in heaven's resplendent cope,
Shines as bright as e'er it shōne?

3. Abraham'saw no brighter stars

Than those which burn for thee and me.
When Homer' heard the lark's sweet song'
Or night-bird's lovelier melody,

'A' bra ham, the patriarch of the Jews, born and died more than two thousand years B. C.

'Hō' mer, the most distinguished of poets, called the "Father of Song."

He is supposed to have been an Asi. atic Greek, though his birth-place, and the period in which he lived, are not known.

' Song, see Note 1, p. 23.

They were such sounds as Shakspeare' heard,
Or Chaucer,' when he blessed the bird;
Such lovely sounds as we can hear.—

4. Great Plato' saw the vernal

year

Send forth its tender flowers and shoots,
And luscious autumn pour its fruits;
And we can see the lilies blow,
The corn-fields wave, the rivers flow;
For us all bounties of the earth,
For us its wisdom, love, and mirth,
If we daily walk in the sight of God,
And prize the gifts he has bestowed.
5. We will not dwell ămĭd the graves,
Nor in dim twilights sit ălōne,
To gaze at moldered architraves,*

Through painted windows cobwebbed o'er,

Nor know the beauty of the night

Save by the moonbeam on the floor :

But in the presence of the sun,

Or moon, or stars, our hearts shall glow;
We'll look at nature face to face,

And we shall LOVE because we KNOW.

6. The present needs us. Every age
Bequeaths the next for heritage
No lazy luxury or delight-

But strenuous labor for the right;
For Now, the child and sire of Time,
Demands the deeds of earnest men
To make it better than the past,
And stretch the circle of its ken.

1 See Biographical Sketch, p. 383. 2 Geoffrey Chaucer, (cha ́sår), called the day-star and father of English poetry, born about 1328, and died in 1400. His great work is "The Canterbury Tales."

* Pla' to, a very celebrated philosopher of ancient Greece, was born

about 430 B. C., and died in his eightieth year.

Architrave, (årk' i tråv), the part of a roof which rests on the top of a column, designed to represent the beam which supports the roof.

Plinth, a flat, round, or square base or foundation for a column.