Page images
PDF
EPUB

7. Then will I tear from your pennon fair The stars ye have set in triumph there;

My olive-branch on the blast I'll launch,

The fluttering stripes from the flagstaff wrench,

And

away I'll flee; for I scorn to see

A craven race in the land of the free !

QUESTIONS.-1. Where does the eagle build its nest? 2. Describe it flights. 3. Where does it love to dwell? 4. Of what is the eagle a type! 5. What warning does it give to the people of this country? 6. What is there peculiar in the construction of the first, third, and fifth lines of each verse?

LESSON LXXXVIII.

AN' THEM, ode; song.
DÄUNT LESS, bold; fearless.

WAG ED, carried on.

UN AW ED, undismayed.
SCROLL, гon of paper; document.

COUNT' LESS, unnumbered.

ROY' AL, regal; noble.

U' NI VERSE, whole creation.

BAF FLED, frustrated.

TY RAN' NIC, oppressive; despotic.
CURB, check; restrain.

SUC CEED' ING, following.

HURL' ED, thrown.

PEAL' ED, resounded.

1 HEL' LES PONT, now the Dardanelles, a narrow strait between Asia and Europe.

2 XERXES, (zerks' ees,) the celebrated king of Persia, during his famous expedition into Greece, caused a bridge of boats to be built over the Hellespont; but the work having been destroyed by a storm, he was greatly enraged against the sea, and ordered it to be lashed, and fetters to be cast into it to restrain its violence.

THE ARMY OF REFORM.

SARAH JANE LIPPINCOT

1. YES, ye are few, and they were few,
Who, daring storm and sea,

Once raised upon old Plymouth rock
66 The anthem of the free."

2. And they were few at Lexington,
To battle, or to die,-

That lightning-flash, that thunder-peal,
Told that the storm was nigh.

3. And they were few, who dauntless stood,
Upon old Bunker's hight,

And waged with Britain's strength and pride
The fierce, unequal fight.

4. And they were few, who, all unawed

By kingly "rights divine,"

[ocr errors]

The Declaration, rebel scroll;*
Untrembling dared to sign.

5. Yes, ye are few; for one proud glance
Can take in all your band,
As now against a countless host,
Firm, true, and calm, ye stand.

6. Unmoved by Folly's idiot laugh,
Hate's curse, or Envy's frown,-
Wearing your rights as royal robes,
Your manhood as a crown,———

7. With eyes whose gaze, unvailed by mists,
Still rises, clearer, higher,-

With stainless hands, and lips that Truth
Hath touched with living fire,-

* The reference is to the Declaration of Independence, made July 4th,

[ocr errors]

8. With one high hope, that ever shines
Before you as a star,-

One prayer of faith, one fount of strength,
A glorious few ye are !

9. Ye dare not fear, ye can not fail, Your destiny ye bind

To that sublime, eternal law

That rules the march of mind.

10. See yon bold eagle toward the sun
Now rising free and strong,
And see yon mighty river roll
Its sounding tide along!

11. Ah! yet near earth the eagle tires,
Lost in the sea, the river;

But naught can stay the human mind,―
Tis upward, onward, ever!

12. It yet shall tread the starlit paths,
By highest angels trod,

And pause but at the farthest world
In the universe of God.

13. 'Tis said that Persia's baffled king,
In mad, tyrannic pride,
Cast fetters on the Hellespont,'
To curb its swelling tide:

14. But freedom's own true spirit heaves The bosom of the main;

It tossed those fetters to the skies,

And bounded on again!

15. The scorn of each succeeding age
On Xerxes' head was huried,

2

And o'er that foolish deed has pealed
The long laugh of a world.

16. Thus, thus, defeat, and scorn, and shame,
Is his, who strives to bind

The restless, leaping waves of thought,
The free tide of the mind.

QUESTIONS.-1. Who raised the anthem of the free on Plymouth Rock? 2. What is said of the few on Bunker's Hight? 3. How many signed the Declaration of Independence? Ans. 56. 4. What is said of the eagle? 5. Of the human mind? 6. Of Freedom? 7. Where is the Hellespont?

LESSON LXXXIX.

FRESH EN ED, grew brisk or strong.
FIT FUL LY, at intervals.
IN DI CA' TION, sign; token.
EN THU' $I A$M, strong feeling.
AP PRE HEND ING, fearing.
A BAN' DON, give up; forsake.
HAW' SER$, cables; large ropes.
VOL UN TEER' ED, offered willingly.
IN' TER VAL, intervening time.

DE VOTED, doomed; ill-fated.
THWARTS, seats placed across a boat.
GUAR' AN TY, warrant.

IN EV'I TA BLY, certainly; surely.
AC CU MU LA TED, collected, heaped.
STAN' CHION, (stan' shun,) small post.
VI ED, strove; contended.

DIS' LO CA TED, out of joint; disjointed.
AMPU TA TED, cut off.

THE LAST CRUISE OF THE MONITOR.

GREENVILLE M. WEEKS.

1. On the afternoon of December 29th, 1862, she put on team, and, in tow of the "Rhode Island," passed Fortress Monroe, and out to sea. As we gradually passed out, the wind freshened somewhat; but the sun went down in glorious clouds of purple and crimson, and the night was fair

and calm above us, though, in the interior of cur little vessel, the air had already begun to lose its freshness. We suffered more or less from its closeness through the night, and woke in the morning to find it heavy with impurity, from the breaths of some sixty persons, composing the officers and

crew.

2. Sunshine found us on deck, enjoying pure air, and watching the east. During the night we had passed Cape Henry, and now, at dawn, found ourselves on the ocean, the land only a blue line in the distance. A few more hours, and that had vanished. No sails were visible; and the Passaic, which we had noticed the evening before, was now out of sight. The morning and afternoon passed quietly; we spent most of our time on deck, on account of the confined air below, and, being on a level with the sea, with the spray dashing over us occasionally, amused ourselves with noting its shifting hues and forms, from the deep green of the first long roll, to the foam-crest and prismatic tints of the falling

wave.

3. As the afternoon advanced, the freshening wind, the thickening clouds, and the increasing roll of the sea, gave those most accustomed to ordinary ship-life, some new experiences. The little vessel plunged through the rising, waves, instead of riding them, and, as they increased in violence, lay, as it were, under their crests, which washed over her continually; so that, even when we considered ourselves safe, the appearance was that of a vessel sinking.

4. "I'd rather go to sea in a diving-bell!" said one, as the waves dashed over the pilot-house, and the little craft seemed buried in water. "Give me an oyster-scow !" cried another," any thing! only let it be wood, and something that will float over, instead of under the water!" Still she plunged on; and about 6. 30 P.M., we made Cape

« PreviousContinue »