er, who is to invent as well as to utter, to carry on an operation of the mind as well as to produce sound, enters upon the work without preparatory discipline, and then wonders that he fails!

3. If he were learning to play on the flute for public exhibition, what hours and days would he spend in giving facility to his fingers, and attaining the power of the sweetest and most impressive execution! If he were devoting himself to the organ, what months and years would he labor, that he might know its compass and become master of its keys, and thus be able to draw out at will all its various combinations of harmonious sounds, and its full richness and delicacy of expression.

4. And yet he will fancy that the grandest, the most complex, the most expressive of all instruments, which the infinite Creator has fashioned. by the union of an intellectual soul with the powers of speech, may be played upon without study or practice. He comes to it a mere uninstructed tyro, and thinks to manage all its stops. and command the whole compass of its varied and comprehensive power! He finds himself a bungler in the attempt, is mortified at his failure, and settles in his mind for ever, that the attempt is vàin.

5. Success in every art, whatever may be the natural talent, is always the reward of industry and pains. But the instances are numerous of men of the finest natural genius, whose beginning has promised much, but who have degeneated wretchedly as they advanced in life, because they trusted to their gifts, and made no effort to improve. That there have never been other men of equal natural endowrients with Cicero and Demosthenes, none could venture to suppose; but who have ever so devoted themselves to their art, or become equal in excellence?

6. If those great men had been content, like others, to continue as they began, and had never made those persevering efforts for improvement, what would their countries. have been benefited from their genius, or the world have known of that fame? They would have been lost in the undistinguished crowd that sunk to oblivion around them. Of how many will this remark prove true. who, by application, might become eminent and useful! What encouragement is thus given to the industrious! With such encouragement, how inexcusable is the negligence, which suffers the most interesting and important truths to seem heavy and

dull, and fall ineffectual to the ground, through mere sluggishness in the delivery!

QUESTIONS.-1. What erroneous opinion is quite universally entertained? 2. How do they acquire any other art, as singing, or playing on an instrument? 3. What is said in regard to Cicero and Deinosthenes? 4. To whom does their example give encouragement? 5. How did Demosthenes become a great orator? (See School Reader, Third Book, Les. LXXXIX.) 6. Can we expect to become correct speakers or readers without pains and labor? 7. Who were Cicero and Demosthenes? Ans. The former was the greatest Roman orator; the latter, the greatest Grecian orator.

For what does it stand in the phrase, 'He comes to it,' &c., fourth verse? What Rule for the inflections as marked at the end of the fourth verse?

LESSON LXXI.

SPELL AND DEFINE.-1. Con sum'mate, perfect; complete. 2. Cable, a strong rope, used to retain a ship at anchor. 3. Massive, very heavy. 4. Threads, passes through, as a narrow channel. 5. Tor'tu ous, winding. 6. Monetary, relating to money. 7. Facetious, full of pleasantry; merry; sportive. 8. Repartee', a ready and witty reply. 9. Comedian, an actor or writer of comedy. 10. Vociferousness, loudness of voice. 11. Hulk, the body of a vessel of any kind. 12. Emerging, coming out. Reflections on the Burning of the Lex 'ngton.-WM. C. BROWN.

[This steamboat took fire while making its passage from New York to Providence, R. T., in Jan. 1840. The wea her was intensely cold, a d of about 150 passengers on board, but three or four escaped.)

1. A FIRE on the water is always te rific. The ribs of oak will stand against the roaring winds and dashing waters, and the hardy mariner can sleep soundly amid the storms of heaven. The storm is the season not of great dánger ordinarily, but of great exèrtion, and of the exèrcise of the consummate skill of seamanship and having passed it safely, it is remembered rather as an exploit than a péril.

2. Not so with a fire at sea. No securing of hatches, clearing of decks, lashing of boats, or double reefing of sails can prepare for a fire. Strong cables and massive anchors are of no use, for the most terrible of elements when uncontrolled has broken loose from the power which governed it, and has asserted its supremacy in the work of death. 3. Let the reader fancy himself looking down upon the Lexington, as she wheels away from the pier at New-York, and gallantly threads her way up the East River, and through

the tortuous channel of Hurl Gate. The Sound opens before her as the last gray of the twilight is fading over the waters, and the chill night-wind, penetrating every nook on deck, drives all to the cabins. Let us look in upon them. The passions and purposes of the human bosom are at work, and even in this thoroughfare we may read something of human character.

4. Gathered in groups here and there are the merchants who chance to meet acquaintances, reviewing the condition of monetary and mercantile affairs, and gathering from mutual hints the elements of future commercial enterprises. At the tables are seated several parties of card players, spending the energies of deathless minds in the efforts to use skillfully certain pieces of figured paste-board, and ever and anon some triumphant exclamation tells a crowd, which has gathered around, that a crisis in the game has passed, and victory has decided upon her favorites.

5. In a more social attitude around the stoves are several old sea-captains, who have been long absent, and are now returning to their tenderly remembered fire-sides, and the affections of the delighted group, which awaits their coming. You may see their weather-beaten faces lighted up with smiles as they talk of their past adventures, and remember that having passed their perils, they are almost home. If any man is worthy of a warm greeting, when he turns his footsteps homeward, it is a magnanimous and upright seaman.

6. Yonder is the scholar, pacing up and down in deep abstraction, and farther on, a company apparently bound in the bonds of some common "sorrow, and only now and then uttering some word of condolence, and sadly thinking of their mutual sorrows. A merry and facetious band are amusing themselves by calling forth and listening to the lively sallies and witty repartees of a much-admired comedian.

7. In another apartment may be seen the widow in her weeds, sadly reflecting that he, who had often passed along the same route with her in health and hope, was now a corpse on board, borne toward his last resting place. There are also mothers who have called their children around them, and are watching them with all a mother's anxiety and a mother's hope. On deck, busy in the duties of their charge, or lounging wearily around the engines, are to be seen the hands of the boat, listless as ever-thoughtless alike of the future and the present.

8. A world in miniature is here. The hopes and fears, the love and hate, the ambition and despair, the mirth and sorrow of the millions of our race, have their representatives here. An hour has passed. Some are beginning to prepare for a night's repose, and others are entering with more interest into the amusements of the evening.

9. But hark! What cry is that from the deck, which starts every passenger to his feet, and hurries up the gangway all who are near it? It is, "Fire! fire!" "The boat is on fire," is echoed from every lip, and the whole company rushes confusedly from the cabin. "Where? where?" is asked by scores of voices, and the vociferousness of the question, and the fierceness of the struggle for a sight of it, prevent the answer being given.

10. The boat is headed for the shore, while first the fitful bursts of smoke, and then the frightful flames denote that she is doomed. A boat is thrown over, and is instantly. loaded, but the steamer in her watery path plays the tempest's part, and the frail boat is ingulfed in the waves, which she heaves from her quivering sides! Another fares the same fate. The life-boat, the last resort, is let down, but is caught in the wheel and lost!

11. At last, as the frightful company begin to hope they may reach the shore, a crash is heard, and all is still! The wheels cease to move, and the hulk sways heavily amid the roaring flames. Now comes the scene of terror! Listen to the shrieks which pierce the very heavens; the horrid groans of some in their feverish agony, and the plaintive exclama tions of others who think of the home and friends they can never see again, while now and then, at intervals of these, may be heard, as on board the fated Kent, or the wrecked Home, the solemn prayer, commending the soul of the supplicator to God, and even, if the ear mistakes not, the song of triumph, like that sung by an apostle in the dungeon of Nero.

12. The flames rush on, licking up the water which continues to be thrown, as if in mockery. One after another has fled to the remotest part of the boat, that he may preserve life a little longer, or has crawled over, and is clinging to the guard-braces, while over head the fire crackles and hisses, triumphing in their subjugation. Some have thrown over bales of cotton, or other articles of freight, and are float'ng upon them, while others, maddened by the intolerable

heat which is every moment growing more and more terrible, have cast themselves into the sea, and are struggling as desperately with the waves as if there was a chance of Can a moment of more horrible, agonizing suspense be imagined?

13. But amid this raging destruction, the Christian stands as the sun among the flying clouds of heaven, calm and serene; one moment lost in the confusion, the next emerging from it to utter words of comfort, or raise a prayer to God for the pardon of the guilty and horror-stricken. Moment of terror! It chills the blood to think of it! But

that moment passes. The burned mass begins to settle. Each end of the boat sways for a moment in the yielding waters, and the eddying of the troubled waves tells that the Lexington, with her unfortunate passengers and crew, rests where the sea sings for ever the dirge of the lost!

QUESTIONS.-1. What is said of a storm on the water? 2. What of a fire? 3. How is the course of the Lexington described? 4. What is said of the merchants? 5. The card players? 6. The sea-captains? 7. How is the scholar described? 8. The facetious Land? 9. The widow ? 10. What is said of the boat hands? 11. What, of the small boats? 12. Describe the conclusion of the scene. 13. Do you know of any other boat, since the burning of the Lexington, that has met with a similar fate?

What Rule can you give for the inflections as marked, first verse? What causes peril to have the rising, and exploit, the falling inflection, first verse? (Les. VIII. Note III.) What inflection at the exclamations, ninth verse? (Rule VII.) With what different modulations of voice should the ninth and last verses be read? Why does the direct question, ending the twelfth verse, take the falling inflection? (Rule I. Note I.)

LESSON LXXII.

SPELL AND DEFINE.-1. Versed, skilled. 2. Abstruse, difficult to be understood; concealed. 3. Alchimy, the pretended science of changing all metals into gold, and finding a remedy for all diseases. 4. Inevitable, not to be avoided. 5. Irksome, tiresome. 6. Temporary, existing for a short time. 7. Acquisition, any thing gained. 8. Frontispiece, an ornamental figure fronting the first page of a book. 9. Cement, a sticky substance for joining bodies closely together. 10. Volatile, light and trifling; fickle.

The Art of Memory.-IMPERIAL MAG.

Desiderius. How do you advance in your studies, my friend?

Erasmus. But very indifferently In this respect it would