And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel, writing in a book of gold.
Exceeding peace had made Ben-Adhem bold;
And to the presence in the room he said,

"What writest thou?" The vision raised its head,
And, with a voice made all of sweet accord,

Answer'd, "The names of those who love the Lord."
66 And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spake more low,
But cheerily still, and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow-men.”

The angel wrote, and vanish'd. The next night,
It came again, with a great wakening light,
And show'd the names whom love of God had bless'd,
And lo! Ben-Adhem's name led all the rest.

LESSON CXLVII.

CHARITY.

BIBLE.

1. THOUGH I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

2. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there

be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

3. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

LESSON CXLVIII.

THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

1. HARK! the warning needles click,
Hither thither-clear and quick.
He who guides their speaking play,
Stands a thousand miles away!
Here we feel the electric thrill
Guided by his simple will;

Here the instant message read,

Brought with more than lightning speed.
Sing who will of Orphean lyre,
Ours the wonder-working wire!

2. Let the sky be dark or clear,
Comes the faithful messenger;
Now it tells of loss and grief,
Now of joy in sentence brief,
Now of safe or sunken ships,
Now the murderer outstrips,
Now of war and fields of blood,
Now of fire, and now of flood.

Sing who will of Orphean lyre,
Ours the wonder-working wire!

3. Think the thought, and speak the word,
It is caught as soon as heard,

4. Marvel!-triumph of our day,
Flash all ignorance away!
Flash sincerity of speech,
Noblest aims to all who teach;
Flash till Power shall learn the Right,
Flash till Reason conquer Might;
Flash resolve to every mind;
Manhood flash to all mankind!

Sing who will of Orphean lyre,
Ours the wonder-working wire!

LESSON CXLIX.

OUR NATIONAL BANNER.

EDWARD EVERETT.

1. ALL hail to our glorious ensign! courage to the heart, and strength to the hand, to which, in all time, it shall be intrusted! May it ever wave in honor, in unsullied glory, and patriotic hope, on the dome of the capitol, on the country's stronghold, on the tented plain; on the wave-rocked topmast.

2. Wherever, on the earth's surface, the eye of the American shall behold it, may he have reason to bless it! On whatsoever spot it is planted, there may freedom have a foothold, humanity a brave champion, and religion an altar.

3. Though stained with blood in a righteous cause, may it never, in any cause, be stained with shame. Alike, when its gorgeous folds shall wanton in lazy holiday triumphs on the

summer breeze, and its tattered fragments be dimly seen through the clouds of war, may it be the joy and the pride of the American heart.

4. First raised in the cause of right and liberty, in that cause alone may it for ever spread out its streaming blazonry to the battle and the storm. Having been borne victoriously across the continent, and on every sea, may virtue, and freedom, and peace forever follow where it leads the way.

LESSON CL.

THE AMERICAN FLAG.

J. RODMAN DRAKE.

DR. JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE was born in the city of New York in 1795, and died in 1820.

1. WHEN Freedom, from her mountain-hight,
Unfurl'd her standard to the air,

She tore the azure robe of night,
And set the stars of glory there.
She mingled with its gorgeous dyes
The milky baldric of the skies,
And striped its pure celestial white
With streakings of the morning light;
Then, from his mansion in the sun,
She call'd her eagle bearer down,
And gave into his mighty hand
The symbol of her chosen land.

2. Majestic monarch of the cloud,

Who rear'st aloft thy regal form,
To hear the tempest trumpings loud,
And see the lightning glances driven,

When strive the warriors of the storm,
And rolls the thunder-drum of heaven,-
Child of the sun, to thee 'tis given
To guard the banner of the free,
To hover in the sulphur-smoke,
To ward away the battle-stroke,

336

And bid its blendings shine afar
Like rainbows on the cloud of war,
The harbingers of victory.

3. Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly,
The sign of hope and triumph high.
When speaks the signal-trumpet tone,
And the long line comes gleaming on,-
Ere yet the life-blood, warm and wet,
Has dimm'd the glistening bayonet,
Each soldier's eye shall brightly turn
To where thy sky-born glories burn;
And, as his springing steps advance,
Catch war and vengeance from the glance.
And, when the cannon-mouthings loud
Heave in wild wreaths the battle-shroud,
And gory sabres rise and fall,

Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall;
Then shall thy meteor-glances glow,

And cowering foes shall fall beneath
'Each gallant arm that strikes below
That lovely messenger of death.

4. Flag of the seas! on ocean's wave
Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave;
When death, careering on the gale,
Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail,
And frighted waves rush wildly back
Before the broadside's reeling rack,
Each dying wanderer of the sea
Shall look at once to heaven and thee,
And smile to see thy splendors fly
In triumph o'er his closing eye.

5. Flag of the free heart's hope and home!
By angel hands to valor given,
Thy stars have lit the welkin-dome,

And all thy hues were born in heaven.