3. We say our hearts are great, and can not yield; Truth's school for certain did this same allow, To scorn to lie, to scorn to do a wrong. To scorn a freeborn heart slave-like to bind. 5. But if for wrongs we needs revenge must have, And let our hate prevail against our mind. QUESTIONS.-1. What is here said to be the "fairest action of human life"? 2. What is said of contending with an unworthy foe! 3. What will a noble heart scorn? 4. What sort of vengeance, if any, should we ever take. LESSON LXVIII. SPELL AND DEFINE-1. MAN' I FOLD, of different kinds; numerous 2. FORE GONE, gone before. 3. FELL, cruel; inhuman. 4. DE RIDE, mock; ridicule. 5. PAR DON ED, forgiven. 6. VEN' GEANCE, punish ment in return for injury. 7. RE SENT' MENT, a deep sense of injury. FORGIVENESS. 1. () O God! my sins are manifold, And all my guilty deeds foregone, Wilt thou release my trembling soul, That to despair is driven? Forgive!" a blesséd voice replied, BISHOP HEBER 2. My foemen, Lórd, are fierce and fell; 3. Seven times, O Lord, I've pardoned them; But let them dread my vengeance now, "Forgive!" the voice in thunder spake, "Or never be forgiven !" QUESTIONS.-1..What is the object of this piece? 2. What passages, in the Bible, teach the same doctrine? Why the rising inflection on Lord and King? Note I. p. 30. Why the falling inflection on forgive? Rule VIII. p. 31. LESSON LXIX. 2. SPELL AND DEFINE.-1. DEC o RA TED, adorned; beautified. DES' TIN ED, appointed; ordained. 3. DI UR' NAL, daily. 4. PROG'E NY, offspring. 5. MIN' IS TER, serve; contribute to. 6. JU' BI LEE, great rejoicing. 7. VEG E TA BLE, pertaining to plants. 8. EN DƯ'ED, possessed of; having. 9. IN' CENSE, odors of spices and gums burned in religious rites. 10. DED' I CA TED, Consecrated. THE EARTH BEFORE THE CREATION OF MAN. 1. The earth was now completely furnished and decorated to receive her destined king and master. The sun, the moon, and the stars, were shedding their kindly influences upon her; she and her fellow planets had commenced their annual and diurnal revolutions; the plants and flowers, her first-born progeny, had sprung out of her bosom, and covered her with ver dure and beauty. 2. The fruit and forest trees, flourishing in all their glory of leaf, blossom, and fruit, were ready to minister to the support, comfort, and enjoyment of their future lord: the sea, the air, the earth, were each filled with their appropriate inhabitants, and throughout the whole creation was beauty, and grace, and life, and motion, and joy, and jubilee. 3 But still, in the midst of all this apparent glory and activity of vegetable and animal life in the newcreated world, there was not a single being endued with reason and understanding; one that could elevate its thought above the glorious and wonderful spectacle to the great Author of it, or acknowledge and adore its Creator. 4. Amidst this infinite variety of beings, there was not a single one which, to a material body, added an immaterial immortal soul; so that there was still a great blank in creation. A wonderful and magnificent temple was reared, and shone in glory and beauty, but there was as yet no priest therein, to offer up incense to the Deity to whom it was dedicated. QUESTIONS.-1. What was the condition of the earth just before the existence of man? 2. What sort of being was needed in order to complete the work of creation? 3. Where, in the Bible, is the account of the creation of man? LESSON LXX. SPELL AND DEFINE.-1. PO LIT' IC AL, pertaining to a nation or state; public. 2. DIS PENS A' TION, that which has been dispensed or al lotted; an allotment. 3. IN TEL' LI GENCE, understanding; knowledge. 4. GRAND' EUR, greatness. 5. EX ALT', raise; lift up. 6. DIG' NI FY, to render worthy of regard. 7. AS SID' U OUS, constant in application; diligent. 8. EL' E VATE, raise; exalt. 9. EL' E MENT, first principle. 10. TRANS MIT', deliver over. 11. POS TER I TY, descendants. 12. IN DEX, that which points out; mark. 13. HER ALD RY, art or practice of blazoning arms or ensigns. 14. DRAG' ONS, a fierce kind of serpent much celebrated in the middle ages. 15. HEL' METS, defensive armor for the head. 16. AG' RI CUL TURE, the tilling of the soil; farming. 17. OP PRESS' OR, one that oppresses; a tyrant 18. UN MO LEST' ED, not disturbed, or harmed. 19. COM PETE', rival one another. MORAL DIGNITY OF LABOR. STEPHEN H. TYNG. 1. Human talent, industry, wisdom, and skill, under the favoring blessing of Heaven, must now go forth to sow and to gather in the harvest of the earth. We are teaching lessons of political economy which the world has never heard before. It is a noble dispensation for our country. Other nations may see us, but not with the vines or olives of Italy or France; nor with the oranges and grapes of Spain or Portugal; nor even the rich and glowing verdure, and teeming harvests of England and lowland Scotland. 2. The magnificence of their time-honored architecture we have not attained. And yet there are intelligence, prosperity, dignity, independence, and selfrespect marking the laboring classes of our population which lift us far above all envy of the grandeur and glory of European display. They see that we have a people, flourishing and prosperous beyond comparison. 3. It is the province of America to build, not palaces, but men; to exalt, not titled stations, but general humanity; to dignify, not idle repose, but assiduous industry; to elevate, not the few, but the many; and to make herself known, not so much in individuals, as in herself; spreading to the highest possible level, but striving to keep it level still, universal education, prosperity, and honor. 4. The great element of this whole plan of effort and instruction, is the moral, relative dignity of labor; an element which we are to exalt in public estimation in the highest possible degree, and transmit to our families and to posterity, as the true greatness of the country and the world. 5. We are to look at this enlarging elevation of the working classes of men-a fact which may be considered the main index of our age-not as a difficulty to be limited, but as an attainment in which we greatly rejoice. And, if our heraldry is in the hammer, and the ax, and the awl, and the needle, we are to feel it a far higher honor than, if in their place, we could have dragons, and helmets, and cross-bones, and skulls. 6. Our country's greatness is to be the result, not of foreign war, but of domestic peace; not of the plunder of the weak, but of the fair and even principles of a just commerce, a thriving agriculture, and beautiful and industrious art. Let us glory in every thing that indicates this fact, as an index also of our desire for renown. This great lesson-honor to the working classes, in the proportion of their industry and merit-the world will yet completely learn. 7. And when the great, exalting, leveling system of Christianity gains its universal reign, mountains will be brought down, and valleys will be filled; a highway shall be made for human prosperity and peace for the elevation, and dignity, and security, of man- -over which no oppressor's foot shall pass; the poorest of the sons of Adam shall dwell unmolested and fearless beneath his own vine and fig-tree; the united families of earth shall all compete to acquire and encourage the arts of peace, nation shall not rise up against nation, and men shall learn war no more. QUESTIONS.-1. With what observations does this piece commence? 2. In what respect are we lifted far above European display? 3. What is the province of America? 4. What is said of the moral dignity of labor in the 4th paragraph? 5. What of " our heraldry" in the 5th paragraph? 6. How does the piece close? LESSON LXXI. SPELL AND DEFINE.-1. TRIB' UTE, something said or done in token of regard. 2. BAY' O NET, a short broad dagger attached to a gun. 3. TENT ED, Covered with tents. 4. HE ROES, Warriors; brave men. 5. VALIANT, Courageous; brave. 6. SPOIL, booty. 7. CRAFT, art or trade. 8. COM' PEN SATE, to pay for. Avoid blending the termination of one word with the beginning of another, as woodman's sacks for woodman's ax, let tart for let art hero strue for heroes true, &c. |