sounds; and the nostril, which can not protect itself from hateful odors. 3. Moreover the hand cares not only for its own wants, but, when the other organs of the senses are rendered useless, takes their duties upon it. The hand of the blind man goes with him as an eye through the streets, and safely threads for him all the devious way: it looks for him at the faces of his friends, and tells him whose kindly features are gazing on him; it peruses books for him, and quickens the long hours by its silent readings. 4. It ministers as willingly to the deaf; and when the tongue is dumb and the ear stopped, its fingers speak eloquently to the eye, and enable it to discharge the unwonted office of a listener. 5. The organs of all the other senses, even in their greatest perfection, are indebted to the hand for the enhancement and the exaltation of their powers. It constructs for the eye a copy of itself, and thus gives it a telescope with which to range among the stars; and by another copy on a different plan, furnishes it with a microscope, and introduces it into a new world of wonders. 6. It constructs for the ear the instruments by which it is educated, and sounds them in its hearing till its powers are trained to the full. It plucks for the nostril the flower which it longs to smell, and distills for it the fragrance which it covets. As for the tongue, if it had not the hand to serve it, it might abdicate its throne as the lord of taste. In short, the organ of touch is the minister of its sister senses, and, without any play of words, is the handmaid of them all. 7. And if the hand thus munificently serves the body, not less amply does it give expression to the genius and the wit, the courage and the affection, the will and the power, of man. Put a sword into it, and it will fight for him; put a plow into it, and it will till for him; put a harp into it, and it will play for him; put a pencil into it, and it will paint for him; put a pen into it, and it will speak for him, plead for him, pray for him. 8. What will it not do? What has it not done? A steam engine is but a larger hand, made to extend its powers by the little hand of man. An electric telegraph is but a longer pen for that little hand to write with. All our huge cannon and other weapons of war, with which we so effectually slay our brethren, are only Cain's hand made bigger, and stronger, and bloodier. 9. What, moreover, is a ship, a railway, a lighthouse, or a palace, — what, indeed, is a whole city, a whole continent of cities, all the cities of the globe, nay, the very globe itself, in so far as man has changed it, but the work of that giant hand, with which the human race, acting as one mighty man, has executed its will! 10. When I think of all that human hands have done of good and evil, I lift up my own hand, and gaze upon it with wonder and awe. What an instrument for good it is! what an instrument for evil! And all the day long it never is idle. We unwisely restrict the term handicraftsman, or hand-worker, to the more laborious callings. It belongs to all honest, earnest men and women, and is a title which each should covet. 11. For the carpenter's hand there is the saw, and for the smith's hand the hammer; for the farmer's hand, the plow; for the miner's hand, the spade; for the sailor's hand, the oar; for the painter's hand, the brush; for the sculptor's hand, the chisel; for the poet's hand, the pen. For each of us there is some instrument we may learn to handle: for all there is the command, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." LANGUAGE STUDY. I. Write the analysis of: active (agere); devious (via); eloquently (loqui); perfection (facere); constructs (struere), expression (premere). II. In paragraph select a complex sentence. What kind of sentence is paragraph 9? Analyze the following sentence: "Put a sword into it, and it will fight for him; put a plow into it, and it will till for him; put a harp into it, and it will play for him; put a pencil into it, and it will paint for him; put a pen into it, and it will speak for him, plead for him, pray for him." III. Copy the following sentences, substituting synonyms for the Italicised words: "Touch, as embodied in the hand, is in many respects the most wonderful of the senses. It puts away from it the things which it hates, and beckons towards it the things which it desires. Its fingers enable it to discharge the unwonted office of a listener." 15. If I were a Voice. eon-sōl'ing, comforting, cheering, | per-sua'sive, tending to persuade. giving relief. exhorting. PREPARATORY NOTES. "If I were a Voice" is one of the stirring lyrics of Charles Mackay (1814-1889), a native of Scotland. In his songs he has one great purpose at heart, from which he never deviates,― the promotion of human virtue and human happiness, 1. If I were a voice, a persuasive voice,— That could travel the wide world through, I would fly on the beams of the morning light, And speak to men with a gentle might, And tell them to be true. I'd fly, I'd fly o'er land and sea, Telling a tale, or singing a song, In praise of the right-in blame of the wrong. 2. If I were a voice,-a consoling voice,- The homes of sorrow and guilt I'd seek, I'd fly, I'd fly o'er the crowded town, And teach them to rejoice again. 3. If I were a voice,-a pervading voice,I'd seek the kings of earth; I'd find them alone on their beds at night, And whisper words that should guide them right,— I'd fly more swift than the swiftest bird, 4. If I were a voice,—an immortal voice,— I'd make their error clear. I'd fly, I'd fly on the wings of day, LANGUAGE STUDY. I. Write the analysis of: priceless; truthful; unknown. Write the analysis of: suffer (ferre); immortal (mors); liberty (liber). II. What adjective clause modifies "voice" (1)? What adjective clause and adjective phrase modify "Truths" (3)? What adverbial phrase modifies “fly.” (4)? Of what is "I'd" (2) an abbreviation? III. Of the two sentences in stanza 1, which is a period nition 15.) Which a loose sentence? (See Definition 16.) point out an example of personification. (See Definition 4.) (See DefiIn stanza 3 |