27. We do not know how the matter will be decided. 28. The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. 29. It has a purpose, and that purpose gives it its character. 30. Not a ripple stirred on the glassy surface of the lake. 31. Nothing ever passed through his hands without receiving improvement, and no person ever went into his company without gaining wisdom. 32. He who has made the acquisition of a judicious and sympathizing friend, may be said to have doubled his mental resources. 33. One by one the singing birds come back. 34. The proper business of friendship is to inspire life and courage. 35. Hark! — that heavy sound breaks in once more. 36. The sea-birds screamed as they wheeled around. 37. He felt the cheering power of spring; It made him whistle, it made him sing. 38. What lessons of golden wisdom this old chair might utter! 39. They deserved respect; for they were good men as well as brave. 41. When the stranger had finished the story of his adventures, he looked around at the attentive faces of the listeners. 42. One of the hardest things in this world is, to see the difference between real dangers and imaginary ones. 43. "Welcome, brave stranger!" cried she. expecting you." 44. How fleet is a glance of the mind! 45. They are slaves who dare not be In the right with two or three. "We were SELECTIONS FOR THOUGHT ANALYSIS. To the Teacher. -Question pupils upon the following selections, leading them to state, step by step, the office of each sentence and to trace the relations that the different sentences bear to one another. Call for the meanings of unusual words and phrases, for the explanation of all allusions, and require the pupil to give in his own words the substance of each thought. 1. THE BIRTHDAY OF WASHINGTON. The birthday of the "Father of his Country"! May it ever be freshly remembered by American hearts! May it ever reawaken in them a filial veneration for his memory; ever re-kindle the fires of patriotic regard to the country which he loved so well; to which he gave his youthful vigor and his youthful energy during the perilous period of the early Indian warfare; to which he devoted his life, in the maturity of his powers, in the field; to which again he offered the counsels of his wisdom and his experience as president of the convention that framed our Constitution; which he guided and directed while in the chair of state, and for which the last prayer of his earthly supplication was offered up when it came the moment for him so well, and so grandly, and so calmly, to die! He was the first man of the time in which he grew. His memory is first and most sacred in our love; and ever hereafter, till the last drop of blood shall freeze in the last American heart, his name shall be a spell of power and might. RUFUS CHOATE. II. THE CONSTITUTION. What is the Constitution? It is the bond which binds together millions of brothers. What is its history? Who made it? monarchs, crowned heads, lords, or emperors? No, it was none of these. The Constitution of the United States, the nearest approach of mortal to perfect political wisdom, was the work of men who purchased liberty with their blood, but who found that, without organization, freedom was not a blessing. They formed it, and the people, in their intelligence, adopted it. And what has been its history? Has it trodden down any man's rights? Has it circumscribed the liberty of the press? Has it stopped the mouth of any man? Has it held us up as objects of disgrace abroad? How much the reverse! It has given us character abroad; and when, with Washington at its head, it went forth to the world, this young country at once became the most interesting and imposing in the circle of civilized nations. How is the Constitution of the United States regarded abroad? Why, as the last hope of liberty among men. Wherever you go, you find the United States held up as an example by the advocates of freedom. The mariner no more looks to his compass, or takes his departure by the sun, than does the lover of liberty abroad shape his course by reference to the Constitution of the United States. DANIEL WEBSTER. III. WHAT CONSTITUTES A STATE? What constitutes a state? Not high-raised battlement or labored mound, Thick wall or moated gate; Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned ; Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride; Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. With powers as far above dull brutes endued In forest, brake, or den, As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude; Men who their duties know, But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain, And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain; SIR WILLIAM JONES. IV. DUTIES OF AMERICAN CITIZENS. This lovely land, this glorious liberty, these benign institutions, the dear purchase of our fathers, are ours; ours to enjoy, ours to preserve, ours to transmit. Generations past, and generations to come, hold us responsible for this sacred trust. Our fathers, from behind, admonish us with their anxious paternal voices; posterity calls out to us from the bosom of the future; the world turns hither its solicitous eyes — all, all conjure us to act wisely and faithfully in the relation which we sustain. We can never indeed pay the debt which is upon us; but by virtue, by morality, by religion, by the cultivation of every good principle and every good habit, we may hope to enjoy the blessing through our day, and to leave it unimpaired to our children. Let us feel deeply how much of what we are and of what we possess we owe to this liberty and these institutions of government. Nature has, indeed, given us a soil which yields bounteously to the hands of industry; the mighty and fruitful ocean is before us, and the skies over our heads shed health and vigor. But what are lands, and seas, and skies, to civilized man, without society, without knowledge, without morals, without religious culture? and how can these be enjoyed, in all their extent and all their excellence, but under the protection of wise institutions and a free government? There is not one of us who does not, at this moment and at every moment, experience in his own condition and in the condition of those most near and dear to him, the influence and the benefits of this liberty and these institutions. Let us then acknowledge the blessing; let us feel it deeply and powerfully; let us cherish a strong affection for it, and resolve to maintain and perpetuate it. V. DANIEL WEBSTER. PATRIOTISM. Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land! Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned, |