2. There rose the choral' hymn of praise, With Priest's and Warrior's voice between. 4 Forsaken Israel wanders lone! Our fathers would not know THY ways, 3. But present still, though now unseen 5 And, O! where stoops on Judah's path 6 4. Our harps we left by Babel's streams,* And mute are timbrel, trump, and horn. 8 Omens of coming ill. 5 TEM'PER. Soften or moderate. 1 CHŌ'RAL. Sung by a choir, or by | 4 POR-TENTS'. many persons together. 2 TIM'BREL. An ancient Hebrew 6 GEN'TILE. drum, consisting of a brass hoop, The name applied by Jews to foreign nations. over which a piece of skin was 7 CEN'SER. A vessel in which incense stretched. is burned. by a sense of sin; penitent. 8 ZION. A hill in Jerusalem; a figu- 8 CŎN'TRĪTE. Repentant; oppressed rative term for Jerusalem. * BABEL'S STREAM. The River Euphrates, on which Babylon was situated. XXIV. — THE SOLDIER'S DREAM. CAMPBELL. [Thomas Campbell was born in Glasgow, July 27, 1777, and died in Boulogne (bô-lōn'), France, June 15, 1844. His first poem, "The Pleasures of Hope," was published in 1799, and was universally read and admired. His " Gertrude of Wyoming" was published in 1809, and was received with equal favor. It contains passages of great descriptive beauty, and the concluding portions are full of pathos; but the story moves languidly, and there is a want of truth in the costume, and of probability in the incidents. His genius is seen to greater advantage in his shorter poems, such as "O'Connor's Child," "Lochiel's Warning," "Hohenlinden," "The Battle of the Baltic," and "Ye Mariners of England." These are matchless poems, with a ring and power that stir the blood, and at the same time a magic of expression which fastens the words forever to the memory.] 4 1. OUR bugles' sang truce'; for the night cloud had lowered3, And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky, And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered, The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die. 2. When reposing that night on my pallet of straw, By the wolf-scaring fagot that guarded the slain, At the dead of the night a sweet vision I saw, And thrice, ere the morning, I dreamt it again. 3. Methought from the battle-field's dreadful array, Far, far I had roamed on a desolate track; 'Twas autumn, and sunshine arose on the way To the home of my fathers that welcomed me back. 4. I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft In life's morning march, when my bosom was young; I heard my own mountain-goats bleating aloft, And knew the sweet strain that the corn reapers sung. 5. Then pledged we the wine cup, and fondly I swore From my home and my weeping friends never to part. My little ones kissed me a thousand times o'er, And my wife sobbed aloud in her fulness of heart. 6. "Stay, stay with us rest! thou art weary and worn; And fain was their war-broken soldier to stay; But sorrow returned with the dawning of morn, And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away. 1 BU'GLE. A military wind instru-SEN'TI-NĚL. A soldier on watch or ment of music. guard, and thus figuratively applied to the stars. 2 TRUCE. A temporary suspension of hostilities. 5 PALLET. A small or rude bed. • LÖŴ'FRED. Appeared dark; gloomy. 6 FAIN. Willing; glad; desirous. XXV.-WASHINGTON. HENRY LEE. [Henry Lee was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, January 29, 1756, and died March 25, 1816. He served with great distinction as a cavalry officer dur ing the revolutionary war, and was afterwards member of Congress and gov ernor of Virginia. He was the author of "Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States." He was a member of Congress at the time of the death of Washington, and was selected by the House of Representatives to pronounce a eulogy upon the departed hero and statesman, from which the following is an extract.] 1. FIRST in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was as edifying' to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting. 2 2. To his equals he was condescending; to his inferiors kind; and to the dear object of his affections exemplarily tender. Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence, and virtue always felt his fostering hand; the purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues. 3. His last scene comported with the whole tenor of his life although in extreme pain, not a sigh, not a groan escaped him; and with undisturbed serenity he closed his well-spent life. Such was the man America has lost! Such was the man for whom our nation mourns! 4. Methinks I see his august image, and hear, falling from his venerable lips, these deep-sinking words: "Cease, sons of America, lamenting our separation: go on, and confirm by your wisdom the fruits of our joint counsels, joint efforts, and common dangers. Reverence religion; diffuse knowledge throughout your land; patronize the arts and sciences'; let liberty and order be inseparable companions; control party spirit, the bane of free government; observe good faith to, and cultivate peace with, all nations; shut up every avenue to foreign influence; contract rather than extend national connection; rely on yourselves only; be American in thought and deed. Thus will you give immortality to that Union, which was the constant object of my terrestrial labors. Thus will you preserve, undisturbed to the latest posterity, the felicity of a people to me most dear: and thus will you supply (if my happiness is now aught to you) the only vacancy in the round of pure bliss high Heaven bestows." 1 ĚD'I-FY-ING. Tending to improve by instruction; instructive. 2 EX'EM-PLA-RI-LY. In such a way as to be an example to others. 8 COM-PORT'ED. Was suitable; ac corded. 5 6 arts is understood to mean, the practical application of knowledge to the uses of life; the term sciences, the various departments of learning and knowledge. 5 TER-RES TRI-AL. Earthly. 1 ÄRTS AND SÇI'EN-CES. The term FE-LIÇ'I-TY. Happiness. XXVI. - COUSIN DEBORAH'S LEGACY. CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL. 1. COUSIN DEBORAH was an old, unmarried lady, who had no other property than a moderate life annuity'. The furniture of her house was faded and antique; the linen was well darned; the plate was scanty, and worn thin with use and frequent scouring; the books were few, and in no very good condition. She had no jewels or trinkets; her days were passed in a dreary state of tranquillity, stitching, stitching, stitching forever, with her beloved huge workbox at her elbow. That wanted nothing; for it was abundantly fitted up with worsted, cotton, tape, buttons, bodkins, needles, and such a multiplicity of reels and balls that to enumerate them would be a tedious task. 2. Cousin Deborah particularly prided herself on her darning; carpets, house linen, stockings, all bore unimpeachable testimony to this branch of industry. Holes and thin places were hailed with delight by her; and it was whispered- but that might be a mere matter of scandal that she even went so far as to cut holes in her best table cloths for the purpose of exercising her skill and ingenuity in repairing the fractures. Be that as it may, the work-box was as much a companion to her as dogs or cats are to many other single ladies. She was lost without it her conversation always turned on the subject of thread papers and needle cases; and never was darning cotton more scientifically rolled into neat balls, than by the taper fingers of Cousin Deborah. 3. The contents of that wonderful work-box would have furnished a small shop. As a child, I always regarded it with a species of awe and veneration; and without daring to lay a finger on the treasures it contained, my prying eyes greedily devoured its mysteries, when the raised edge revealed its mountains of cotton and forests of pins and needles. And I have no doubt that Cousin Deborah first regarded me with favor in consequence of being asked by my mother to give me a lesson in darning-a most necessary accomplishment in our family, as I was the eldest of many brothers and sisters; and, though very happy among ourselves, the circumstances of our dear parents rendered the strictest industry and frugality absolutely indispensable in order to make both ends meet." |