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COURS'ING. Running.

! MAG-A-ZINE'. A store-house.

WIN NOW-ING. Besting with wings. 7 A E'RI-AL. Belonging to the air. 8 EX-E-CRA'TION. A declaration of a wish of evil against some one; malediction; curse. Pölş'ING. Balancing.

REN-COUNT'ER. A meeting in contest; a casual combat.

LXXXVI.—THE SCHOLAR'S MISSION.

GEORGE PUTNAM.

[Rev. George Putnam, D. D., was born in Sterling, Massachusetts, in 1807. He was graduated at Harvard University in 1826, and in 1829 was settled over the First Congregational Church in Roxbury. The following extract is from an oration before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard.]

1. THE wants of our time and country, the constitution of our modern society, our whole position, personal and relative, forbid a life of mere scholarship or literary pursuits to the great majority of those who go out from our colleges. However it may have been in other times and other lands, here and now but few of our educated men are privileged

"From the loopholes of retreat

To look upon the world, to hear the sound
Of the great Babel, and not feel its stir."

*

2. Society has work for us, and we must go forth to do it. Full early and hastily we must gird on the manly gown,* gather up the loose leaves and scanty fragments of our youthful lore, and go out among men, to act with them and for them. It is a practical age; and our wisdom, such as it is, "must strive and cry, and utter her voice in the streets, standing in the places of the paths, crying in the chief place of concourse', at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors."

3. This state of things, though not suited to the tastes

* The toga virilis (manly gown) was put on by the young men of Rome on coming to maturity.

and qualities of all, is not, on the whole, to be regretted by educated men as such. It is not in literary production only, or chiefly, that educated mind finds fit expression, and fulfils its mission in honor and beneficence'. In the great theatre of the world's affairs there is a worthy and a sufficient sphere. Society needs the well-trained, enlarged, and cultivated intellect of the scholar in its midst; needs it, and welcomes it, and gives it a place, or, by its own capacity, it will take a place of honor, influence, and power.

3

4. The youthful scholar has no occasion to deplore the fate that is soon to tear him from his studies, and cast him into the swelling tide of life and action. None of his disciplinary and enriching culture will be lost, or useless, even there. Every hour of study, every truth he has reached, and the toilsome process by which he reached it; the heightened grace, or vigor of thought or speech he has acquired, all shall tell fully, nobly, if he will give heed to the conditions. And one condition the prime one— is, that he be a true man, and recognize the obligation of a man, and go forth with heart, and will, and every gift and acquirement dedicated, lovingly and resolutely, to the true and the right. These are the terms: and apart from these there is no success, no influence to be had, which an ingenuous mind can desire, or which a sound and far-seeing mind would dare to ask.

5. Indeed, it is not an easy thing, nay, it is not a possible thing, to obtain a substantial success and an abiding influence, except on these terms. A factitious popularity, a transient notoriety, or, in the case of shining talents, the doom of a damning fame, may fall to bad men. But an honored name, enduring influence, a sun brightening on through its circuit, more and more, even to its serene setting this boon of a true success goes never to intellectual qualities alone. It gravitates slowly, but surely,

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to weight of character, to intellectual ability rooted in principle.

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[William Cullen Bryant was born in Cummington, Massachusetts, November 3, 1794. He has resided for many years in or near the city of New York. His poetry is distinguished for its high finish, its lofty moral tone, and its admirable descriptions of American scenery.]

1. ONCE this soft turf, this rivulet's sands,
Were trampled by a hurrying crowd,
And fiery hearts and arméd hands

Encountered in the battle-cloud.

2. Ah, never shall the land forget

How gushed the life-blood of her brave,—
Gushed, warm with hope and valor yet,
Upon the soil they fought to save.

3. Now all is calm, and fresh, and still;
Alone the chirp of flitting bird,

And talk of children on the hill,

And bell of wandering kine', are heard.

4. No solemn host goes trailing by

The black-mouthed gun and staggering wain'; Men start not at the battle-cry;

O, be it never heard again!

5. Soon rested those who fought; but thou,
Who minglest in the harder strife
For truths which men receive not now, -
Thy warfare only ends with life.

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6. A friendless warfare! lingering long
Through weary day and weary year;
A wild and many-weaponed throng
Hang on thy front, and flank, and rear.

7. Yet nerve thy spirit to the proof,
And blench not at thy chosen lot!
The timid good may stand aloof,

The sage may frown-yet faint thou not!

8. Nor heed the shaft too surely cast,

The hissing, stinging bolt of scorn,
For with thy side shall dwell at last
The victory of endurance born.

9. Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again;
The eternal years of God are hers;
But Error, wounded, writhes with pain,
And dies among his worshippers.

10. Yea, though thou lie upon the dust,

When those who helped thee flee in fear, -
Die full of hope and manly trust,

Like those who fell in battle here.

11. Another hand thy sword shall wield3,
Another hand the standard wave,
Till from the trumpet's mouth is pealed
The blast of triumph o'er thy grave!

1 KINE.

Cows.

2 WAIN. A wagon.

3 WIELD. Use with the hand; handle 4 PEALED. Rung; sounded loudly.

LXXXVIII.—THE DEATH SCENE IN ION.

TALFOURD.

[Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd, an English writer, lawyer, and judge, was born in 1795, and died in 1854. He was made a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1849. He was the author of several dramatic poems, and of a biography of Charles Lamb. His plays are characterized by smooth versification, hightoned sentiment, and abundant imagery. The following is the closing scene of "Ion," the most popular of his dramas, the plot of which is taken from the mythology of ancient Greece. Ion is introduced in the beginning of the play, as a youth in attendance upon a temple of Apollo in Argos, of which Medon is high priest. Argos is wasted by a pestilence, which the oracle has declared will not cease till the line of the reigning king, Adrastus, shall have become extinct. Ion proves to be the son of Adrastus; and having assumed the crown upon the death of the latter, devotes himself to self-destruction for his country's sake. Clemanthe is the daughter of Medon, and Phocion is his son. The other characters are sages and soldiers of Argos.]

The Procession. Enter MEDON, AGENOR, PHOCION, TIMOCLES, CLEON, SAGES, and PEOPLE - ION, last, in royal robes. He advances amidst shouts.

Ion. I thank you for your greeting.- Shout no more,

But in deep silence raise your hearts to Heaven,

That it may strengthen one so young and frail
As I am, for the business of this hour.
Must I sit here?

Medon. Permit thy earliest friend,

Who has so often propped thy tottering steps,
To lead thee to thy throne, and thus fulfil
His fondest vision.

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-My son! my

What ails thee? When thou shouldst reflect the joy
Of Argos, the strange paleness of the grave

Marbles thy face.

Ion. Am I indeed so pale?

It is a solemn office I assume;

Yet thus, with Phoebus'* blessing, I embrace it.

Stand forth, Agenor!†

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[Sits on the throne'

* PHOEBUS. Another name for Apollo, one of the ancient heathen deities. ↑ Pronounced A-ge'nor.

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