ERRORS.-2. Gran'der for grand'eur; 3. shad'ers for shadows; 4. in'jer-ies for in'ju-ries; 5. ann'cient for än'cient; 7. furce'ly for fiercely; 8. char-ac-ter-estics for char-ac-ter-is'tics; 8. per-served for pre-serv'ed.

INDIAN ELOQUENCE.

[The learner may point out the substitutes in the first four verses of this piece, and tell what element each represents. See Table of Substitutes, p. 21.] 1. Ar a time when barbarous nations elsewhere had lost their primitive purity, we find the American Indian" the only true child of nature, the best specimen of man in his native simplicity. We should remember him as a study of human nature, as an instance of a strange mixture of good and evil passions.

2. We perceive in him, fine emotions of feeling and delicacy, and unrestrained systematic cruelty; grandeur of spirit, and hypocritical cunning; genuine courage, and fiendish treachery. He was like some beautiful spar, part of which is regular, clear, and sparkling; while a portion, impregnated with clay, is dark and forbidding.

b

3. But while we regard the Indians with admiration, as a wonderful exhibition of the workmanship of the Creator, we should dearly cherish the remains of their oratory, as the only relic of their literature, and the most perfect emblem of their character, their glory, and their intellect. In these, we see developed the motives which animated their actions, and the light and shadows of their very

soul.

NOTES. See Indian, p. 131, note b. b The American Indians had no written lit. erature, although their spoken language is said to be energetic and expressive.

4. The iron incasement of apparent apathy in which the savage had fortified himself, impenetrable at ordinary moments, is laid aside in the council-room. The genius of eloquence bursts the swathing bands of custom, and the Indian stands forth accessible, natural, and legible. We commune with him, listen to his complaints, understand, appreciate, and even feel his injuries.

5. As Indian eloquence is a key to their character, so is it a noble monument of their literature. Oratory seldom finds a more auspicious field. A wild people and region of thought, forbade feebleness; uncultivated, but intelligent and sensible, a purity of idea, chastity combined with energy of expression, ready fluency and imagery, now exquisitely delicate, now soaring to the sublime, all united to rival the efforts of any ancient or modern orator.

6. What can be imagined more impressive than the warrior, rising in the council-room, to address those who bore the same sacred marks of their title to fame and the chieftainship? The dignified stature, the easy repose of limbs, the graceful gesture, the dark, speaking eye, excite equal admiration and expectation.

7. We would anticipate eloquence from an Indian. He has animating remembrances, a poverty of language which exacts rich and apposite metaphorical allusions, even for ordinary conversation; a mind which, like his body, has never been trammeled and mechanized by the formalities of society, and passions which, from the very outward restraint imposed upon them, burn more fiercely within.

8. They have not many speeches remaining on record, but even in this small number, there is such a rich, yet varied vein of all the characteristics of true eloquence, that we rise from their perusal with regret, that so few have been preserved.

QUESTIONS. 1. What is the best specimen of man in his native simplicity? 2. To what may he be compared? 3. Why should we cherish the remains of Indian oratory? 3. Had the American Indians any written literature? 6. What makes the Indian orator impressive? 7. Why should we anticipate eloquence from an Indian? 8. What is said of the number of Indian speeches on record?

LESSON LX.

Spell and Define.

1. Brood, the young birds hatched at one 3. Pro-pi'tious, ready to bestow blessings.

ERRORS.1. Sing'in for sing'ing; 2. sor'rer-liss for sor'row-less; 3. sack red-ly for sa'cred-ly; 4. vis'ige for vis'age; 8. hoss for horse; 8. wite for white.

GEEHALE.-AN INDIAN LAMENT.

H. R. SCHOOLCRAFT.

1. THE blackbird is singing on Michigan's shore
As sweetly and gayly as ever before;

For he knows, to his mate, he at pleasure can hie,
And the dear little brood she is teaching to fly.
The sun looks as ruddy, and rises as bright,
And reflects o'er the mountain as beamy a light,

As it ever reflected, or ever expressed,

When my skies were the bluest, my dreams were the best.

2. The fox and the panther, both beasts of the night,
Retire to their dens on the gleaming light,

And they spring with a free and a sorrowless track,
For they know that their mates are expecting them back.
Each bird and each beast, it is blessed in degree;

All nature is cheerful, all happy but me.

3. This snake-skin," that once I so sacredly wore,
I will toss, with disdain, to the storm-beaten shore;
Its charms I no longer obey nor invoke,

Its spirit hath left me, its spell is now broke.

NOTE. -a Gee-hale'; an Indian chief. b See Manito, p. 277, note a

I will raise up my voice to the source of the light;
I will dream on the wings of the blue-bird at night;
I will speak to the spirits that whisper in leaves,
And that minister balm to the bosom that grieves;
And will take a new Manito, such as shall seem
To be kind and propitious in every dream.

a

4. O, then I shall banish these cankering sighs,
And tears shall no longer gush salt from my eyes;
I shall wash from my face every
cloud-colored stain;

Red,

red shall alone on my visage remain!
I will dig up my hatchet, and bend my oak bow;
By night and by day I will follow the foe;

Nor lakes shall impede me, nor mountains, nor snows
His blood can alone give my spirit repose.

5. They came to my cabin when heaven was black;
I heard not their coming, I knew not their track;
But I saw, by the light of their blazing fusees,
They were people engendered beyond the big seas.
My wife and my children, — O, spare me the tale!
For who is there left that is kin to Geehale?

THE INDIAN HUNTER.

ELIZA COOK.

6. Он, why does the white man follow my path, Like the hound on the tiger's track?

Does the flush on my dark cheek waken his wrath?

Does he covet the bow on my back?

NOTES.a Man'i-to; a name, among the Indians, for a magical preparation whose virtues are somewhat like those of an amulet. A figure of an animal, a feather, a horn, a bird's beak, a snake-skin, or some other object, is consecrated, with various charms, by the sorcerer or doctor of the tribe or village, and worn by the individual for whom it is intended as his manito or medicine.

He has rivers and seas, where the billows and breeze
Bear riches for him alone;

And the sons of the wood never plunge in the flood,
Which the white man calls his own.

7. Why, then, should ne come to the streams wnere none But the red-skin dares to swim?

Why, why should he wrong the hunter, one

Who never did harm to him?

The Father above thought fit to give

The white men corn and wine;

There are golden fields where they may live,

But the forest shades are mine.

8. The eagle hath its place of rest,
The wild horse, where to dwell;

And the Spirit that gave the bird its nest,
Made me a home as well.

Then back, go back from the red man's track,
For the hunter's eyes grow dim

To find that the white man wrongs the one
Who never did harm to him.

9. You say they all have passed away,
That noble race and brave;

That their light canoes have vanished
From off the crested wave;

That, 'mid the forests where they roamed,

There rings no hunter's shout;

But their name is on your waters,

NOTE.

You may not wash it out.

—a There are a large number of lakes and rivers in the United States, that still retain the names which were given to them by the Indians.

QUESTIONS. Who was Geehale? 3. What is meant by a manito? 9. What is meant by the Indian names being on the waters?