LESSON CV.

HAR' BIN GER, forerunner; precursor.
UN PILLAR ED, unsupported by pillars.
UN YIELD' ING, stubborn.

DE CREES' edicts; laws.
HAL' LOW ED, sacred; consecrated
MOLD' ER ING, decaying.

TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

GRENVILLE MELLEN.

1. WAKE your harp's music !—louder,—higher,
And pour your strains along;

And smite again each quivering wire,
In all the pride of song!

(f.) Shout like those godlike men of old,
Who, daring storm and foe,

On this blessed soil their anthem rolled,
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

2. From native shores by tempests driven,
They sought a purer sky;

And found, beneath a milder heaven,
The home of Liberty!

An altar rose, and prayers,-a ray
Broke on their night of woe,-
The harbinger of Freedom's day,
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

3. They clung around that symbol too,
Their refuge and their all;

And swore, while skies and waves were blue,

That altar should not fall!

They stood upon the red man's sod,

'Neath heaven's unpillared bow,

With home, a country, and a God,-
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

4. Oh! 'twas a hard, unyielding fate
That drove them to the seas;
And Persecution strove with Hate,
To darken her decrees:

But safe, above each coral grave,
Each booming ship did go,—
A God was on the western wave,—
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

5. They knelt them on the desert sand,
By waters cold and rude,
Alone upon the dreary strand
Of oceaned solitude!

They looked upon the high, blue air,
And felt their spirits glow,
Resolved to live or perish there,—
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

6. The warrior's red right arm was bared,
His eyes flashed deep and wild:
Was there a foreign footstep dared

To seek his home and child'?

The dark chiefs yelled alarm, and swore
The white man's blood should flow,

And his hewn bones should bleach their shore,
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

7. But lo! the warrior's eye grew dim,—
His arm was left alone;

The still, black wilds which sheltered him,
No longer were his own!

Time fled,—and on the hallowed ground
His highest pine lies low,-

And cities swell where forests frowned,
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

8. Oh! stay not to recount the tale,—
'Twas bloody, and 'tis past;

The firmest cheek might well grow pale,
To hear it to the last.

The God of Heaven who prospers us,

Could bid a nation grow,

And shield us from the red man's curse,—
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

9. Come, then,-great shades of glorious men,
From your still glorious grave!
Look on your own proud land again,

O bravest of the brave!

We call you from each moldering tomb,

And each blue wave below,

To bless the world ye snatched from doom,-
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

10. Then to your harps !—yet louder,—higher
And pour your strains along;

And smite again each quivering wire,
In all the pride of song!

(f) Shout for those godlike men of old,
Who, daring storm and foe,

On this blessed soil their anthem rolled,
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

QUESTIONS.-1. Who are meant by godlike men of old? they flee to this country? 3. Who warred against them?

2. Why did

LESSON CVI.

SE RENE LY, calmly; quietly.
SUR MOUNT', rise above; overcome.
TRAMP, tread, or travel.

EB' ON, black, as ebony.

GUARD' I AN, defender; protector.
CHIVAL RIC, brave; heroic.

MAIL, defensive armor.
EX ALT', lift up.
FRAIL TY, weakness.

BLIGHT ED, blasted.

RE NOWN', fame; celebrity.
STEAD' FAST, firm; resolute.

IN TER VENE', (INTER, between VENE, to come ;) come between; interpose. SUC CEED', SUC, after; CEED, to come ;) come after; follow.

PRESS ON.

PARK BENJAMIN.

1. PRESS ON! there's no such word as fail!
Press nobly on! the goal is near,—
Ascend the mountain! breast the gale!
Look upward, onward,-never fear!
Why shouldst thou faint? Heaven smiles above,
Though storms and vapor intervene ;
That Sun shines on, whose name is Love,
Serenely o'er Life's shadowed scene.

2. Press on! surmount the rocky steeps,
Climb boldly o'er the torrent's arch:
He fails alone who feebly creeps;
He wins, who dares the hero's march.
Be thou a hero! let thy might
Tramp on eternal snows its way,
And, through the ebon walls of night,
Hew down a passage unto day.

3. Press on! if once and twice thy feet
Slip back and stumble, harder try;
From him who never dreads to meet

Danger and death, they're sure to fly.

To coward ranks the bullet speeds;
While on their breasts who never quail,
Gleams, guardian of chivalric deeds,
Bright courage, like a coat of mail.

4. Press on! if Fortune play thee false
To-day, to-morrow she'll be true;
Whom now she sinks she now exalts,
Taking old gifts and granting new.
The wisdom of the present hour

Makes up her follies past and gone:
To weakness strength succeeds, and power
From frailty springs;-press on! PRESS ON!

5 Press on! what though upon the ground
Thy love has been poured out like rain?
That happiness is always found

The sweetest, which is born of pain.
Oft 'mid the forest's deepest glooms,
A bird sings from some blighted tree,
And, in the dreariest desert, blooms
A never-dying rose for thee.

6. Therefore, press on! and reach the goal,
And gain the prize, and wear the crown :
Faint not! for, to the steadfast soul,
Come wealth, and honor, and renown.
To thine own self be true, and keep

Thy mind from sloth, thy heart from soil;
Press on! and thou shalt surely reap

A heavenly harvest for thy toil!

QUESTIONS.-1. What encouragement is given to those who press on? 2. Who fails, and who wins? 3. What is said of those who never dread to meet danger and death? 4. How are they rewarded, who press on?