7. This is the prowess, and these the hardy achievements which are to enroll your names among the great men of the earth. QUESTIONS.-1. What must be the education of every individual? 2. In what were the ancients right? 3. How does it appear from facts that we must be the architects of our own fortunes? 4. What can the best seminary of learning only afford us? 5 Where is mount Chimborazo, above which the condor flies? What Antithetic terms in the second verse? What Rule is given for their inflection? What inflections before each dash in the sixth verse, and why? LESSON XVII. Spell and Define.—1. Agitated, violently moved. 2. Lowering gloomy. 3. Dirge, a song expressive of sorrow. 4. Decline, refuse 5. Prime, best state. NOTE. In reading this piece, the faltering voice of a dying man, the stifled accents of his contrite son, the stern expression of the minister, and the affectionate tones of the wife, should all be represented. The Penitent Son-at the Death-Bed of his Father.— WILSON. 1. ERE the psalm was yet over, the door was opened, and a tall. fine-looking man entered, but with a lowering, dark countenance, seemingly in sorrow, in misery, and remorse. Agitated, confounded, and awe-struck by the melancholy and dirge-like music, he sat down on a chair, and looked with a ghastly face towards his father's death-bed. 2. When the psalm ceased, the father said with a solemn voice, My son, thou art come in time to receive thy father's blessing. May the remembrance of what shall happen in this room. win thee from the error of thy ways. Thou art here to witness the mercy of thy God and Savior, whom thou hast denied." 3. The minister looked, if not with a stern, yet with an upbraiding countenance, on the young man, who had not recovered his speech, and said, "William! for three years past your shadow has not darkened the door of the house of God. They who fear not the thunder, may tremble at the still small vòice: now is the hour for repentance, that your father's spirit may carry up to heaven tidings of a contrite soul, saved from the company of sinners." 4. The young man, with much effort, advanced to the bed-side, and at last found voice to say, "Father, I am not without the affections of nature-and I hurried home as soon as I heard that the minister had been seen riding towards our house. I hope that you will yet recover- -and if ever I have made you unhappy, I ask your forgivenessfor though I may not think as you do on matters of religion, I have a human heart. Father-I may have been unkind, but I am not cruel. I ask your forgiveness." 5. "Come nearer to me, William; kneel down by the bed-side, and let my hand find the head of my beloved son, for blindness is coming fast upon me. Thou wert my firstborn, and thou art my only living son. All thy brothers and sisters are lying in the church-yard, beside her whose sweet face thine own, William, did once so much resemble. Long wert thou the joy, the pride—aye, too much the pride my soul. of 6. "If thy heart has since been changed. God may inspire it again with right thoughts. Could I die for thy sakecould I purchase thy salvation with the outpouring of my blood-but this the Son of God has done for thee, who hast denied Him! I have sorely wept for thee-aye, William, when there was none near me even as David wept for Absalom-for thee, my son, my son!" 7. A long deep groan was the only reply; but the whole body of the kneeling man, was convulsed; and it was easy to see his sufferings, his contrition, his remorse, and his despair. The pastor said, with a sterner voice and austerer countenance than were natural to him, "Know you whose hand is now lying on your rebellious head? But what signifies the word father to him who has denied God, the Father of us all?" 8. "Oh! press him not so hardly," said the weeping wife, coming forward from a dark corner of the room, where she had tried to conceal herself in grief, fear, and shame; "spare, oh! spare my husband--he has ever been kind to me :" and with that she knelt down beside him with her long, soft, white arms mournfully and affectionately laid across his neck. 9. "Go thou, likewise, my sweet little Jamie," said the dving man, "go even out of my bosom, and kneel down beside thy father and thy mother, so that I may bless you all The child did as that solemn voice commanded, at once." and knelt down somewhat timidly by his father's side; nor did that unhappy man decline encircling in his arms the child, too much neglected, but still dear to him as his own blood, in spite of the deadening and debasing influence of infidelity. 10. Put the Word of God into the hands of my son, and let him read aloud to his dying father the 25th, 26th, and 27th verses of the eleventh chapter of the gospel according to St. John." The pastor went up to the kneelers, and with a voice of pity, condolence, and pardon, said, "There was a time when none, William, could read the scriptures better than couldst thou-can it be that the son of my friend hath forgotten the lessons of his youth ?" 11. He had not forgotten them: there was no need for the repentant sinner to raise his eyes from the bed-side. The sacred stream of the gospel had worn a channel in his heart, and the waters were again flowing. With a choked voice he said, "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." 12. "That is not an unbeliever's voice," said the dying man, triumphantly; "nor, Williám, hast thou an unbeliever's heart. Say that thou believest in what thou hast now read, and thy father shall die happy!" "I do believe; and as thou forgivest me, so may I be forgiven by my Father, who is in heaven." 13. The father seemed like a man suddenly inspired with a new life. His faded eyes kindled-his pale cheek glowed —his palsied hand seemed to wax strong and his voice was clear as that of manhood in its prime."Into thy hands, O God, I commit my spirit." And so saying, he gently sunk back on his pillow, and I heard a sigh. 14. There was then a long, deep silence; and the father and mother, and child rose from their knees. The eyes of us all were turned towards the white, placid face of the figure now stretched in everlasting rest; and without lamentations, save the lamentations of the resigned soul, we stood around THE DEATH-BED OF THE FATHER. QUESTIONS.-1. How did the son appear, when he entered the room? 2. In what manner did the father address him? 3. In what manner did the minister? 4. What did the young man say and do? 5. How did his father address him in the next two verses? 6. Who is represented as speaking in the eighth verse? 7. What did the father wish to have done, tenth verse? 8. Did he read or repeat from memory? 9. What evidence that the son had become penitent? 10. How did the father appear? 11. Describe his death. How should the different speakers in this piece be represented? Why opposite inflections on thunder and voice, third verse? What inflection on renworse, seventh verse, and why? (Rule VI.) LESSON XVIII. SPELL AND DEFINE.-1. Dauntless, without fear. 2. Steersman, one that steers a ship. 3. Poised, having an equal weight on each side of its support. 4. Blithesome, causing joy. 5. Illumed, lighted. 6. Helin, an instrument for steering a ship. 7. Anchor, an iron instrument for holding a ship at rest in water. The Compass.-LON. EVAN. MAG. 1. THE storm was loud,-before the blast Their foaming crests the billows reared, 2. Yet dauntless still the steersman stood, Where poised the needle bright and slim, The compass meets his eye. 3. Thence taught his darksome course to steer, But braved the whirlwinds' headlong might, 4. And what is of the Christian's life, Through which, without one blithesome ray He must his vessel steer! way, 6. Then firmly let him grasp the helm, QUESTIONS.-1. What is described in the first verse? 2. By what did the steersman direct the ship? 3. How does the Christian's life resemble the seaman's? 4. What compass has he for his guide? 5. What is meant by Canaan's happy shore'? The succession of what similar sounds in the first line, second verse, is calculated to occasion a faulty articulation? Why does Compass begin with a capital, fifth verse? How is taught parsed, third verse What causes the difficulty of giving a distinct articulation to the last three words of the second line, fourth verse? (Les. II. Note 1.) On · which syllable does the metrical accent fall in this poetry? (See Les XII. 2.) Does it occur regularly in each verse? LESSON XIX. SPELL AND DEFINE.-1. Sat'raps, governors of provinces. 2. Festival, a feast; the time of feasting. 3. Solitary, single; lonely. 4. Wand, a conjuror's rod, supposed to possess magical influence; a staff of authority. 5. Monarch, a king. 6. Lore, learning. 7. Seers, those who explain vision; prophets. 8. Sage, wise. 9. Canopy, a covering over the head. Vision of Belshazzar.-BYRON. In that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain, and Darius, the Median, took the kingdom.-BIBLE. 1. THE king was on his throne, The satraps thronged the hall; In Judah deemed divine- The godless heathen's wine! 2. In that same hour and hall, Along the letters ran, And traced them like a wand. |