WEBSTER AND THE WOODCHUCK. BOSTON TRAVELER. 1. EBENEZER WEBSTER, the father of Daniel, was a farmer. The vegetables in his garden had suffered considerably from the depredations of a woodchuck, which had his hole or habitation near the premises. Daniel, some ten or twelve years old, and his older brother Ezekiel, had set a trap, and finally succeeded in capturing the trespasser. 2. Ezekiel proposed to kill the animal, and end, at once, all further trouble from him; but Daniel looked with compassion upon his meek, dumb captive, and offered to let him again go free. The boys could not agree, and they appealed to their father to decide the case. 3. "Well, my boys," said the old gentleman, "I will be the judge. There is the prisoner, (pointing to the woodchuck,) and you shall be the counsel, and plead the case for and against his life and liberty." 4. Ezekiel opened the case with a strong argument, urging the mischievous nature of the criminal, the great harm he had already done; said that much time and labor had been spent in his capture, and now, if he were suffered to live and go again at large, he would renew his depredations, and be cunning enough not to suffer himself to be caught again. 5. He urged, further, that his skin was of some value, and that, to make the most of him they could, it would not repay half the damage he had already done. His argument was ready, practical, to the point, and of much greater length than our limits will allow us to occupy in relating the story. 6. The father looked with pride upon his son, who became a distinguished jurist in his manhood. "Now, Daniel, it is your turn: I'll hear what you have to say." 7. It was his first case. Daniel saw that the plea of his brother had sensibly affected his father, the judge; and as his large, brilliant, black eyes looked upon the soft, timid, expression of the animal, and he saw it tremble with fear in its narrow prison-house, his heart swelled with pity, and he urged, with eloquent words, that the captive might again go free. 8. "God," he said, "had made the woodchuck; he made him to live, to enjoy the bright sunlight, the pure air, the free fields and woods. God had not made him, or any thing, in vain; the woodchuck had as much right to life as any other living thing. 9. "He was not a destructive animal, as the wolf and the fox were; he simply ate a few common vegetables, of which they had plenty, and could well spare a part; he destroyed nothing except the little food he needed to sustain his humble life; and that little food was as sweet to him, and as necessary to his existence, as was to them the food upon their mother's table. 10. "God furnished to them food; he gave them all they possessed; and would they not spare a little for the dumb creature, that really had as much right to his small share of God's bounty, as they themselves had to their portion'? 11. "Yea, more, the animal had never violated the laws of his nature or the laws of God, as man often did; but strictly followed the simple, harmless instincts he had received from the hand of the Creator of all things. Created by God's hand, he had a right-a right from God-to life, to food, to liberty; and they had no right to deprive him of either." 12. He alluded to the mute, but earnest pleadings of the animal for that life, as sweet, as dear to him, as their own was to them, and the just judgment they might expect, if, in selfish cruelty and cold heartlessness, they took the life they could not restore—the life that God alone had given. 13. During this appeal, the tears had started to the old man's eyes, and were fast running down his sun-burnt cheeks: every feeling of a father's heart was stirred within him; he saw the future greatness of his son before his eyes; he felt that God had blessed him in his children, beyond the lot of most men. 14. His pity and sympathy were awakened by the eloquent words of compassion, and the strong appeal for mercy; and, forgetting the judge in the man and father, he sprang from his chair, (while Daniel was in the midst of his argument, without thinking he had already won his case,) and, turning to his older son, dashing the tears from his eyes, exclaimed, "Ezekiel, Ezekiel, you let that woodchuck go!" QUESTIONS-1. What did Ezekiel propose to do with the woodchuck after he was caught? 2. What argument did he offer for so doing? 3. What did Daniel wish to do with him? 4. What argument did he offer? 5. What was their father's decision? ཀ LESSON XV. SOLVE, explain; work out. IN' DO LENT, idle; lazy. CON' SCIOUS, self-perceived; felt. DO IT YOURSELF. 1. Do not ask the teacher or some classmate to solve that hard problem. Do IT YOURSELF. You might as well let him eat your dinner 'as "do your sums" for you. It is in studying as in eating; he who does it, gets the benefit, and not he who sees it done. In almost any school, the teacher learns more than the best scholars, simply because he is compelled to solve all the difficult problems, and answer all the questions of the indolent pupils. 2. Do not ask your teacher to parse that difficult word, or assist you in the performance of any of your studies. DO IT YOURSELF. Never mind, though they do look dark. Do not ask even a hint from any one. TRY AGAIN. Every trial increases your ability, and you will finally succeed by dint of the very wisdom and strength gained in the effort, even though, at first, the problem was beyond your skill. It is the study, and not the answer, that really rewards your labor. 3. Look at that boy, who has just succeeded after six hours of hard study. How his large eye is lit up with a proud joy, as he marches to his class! He treads like a conqueror ! And well he may. Last night his lamp burned, and this morning he waked at dawn. Once or twice he nearly gave it up. He had tried his last thought; but a new thought strikes him, and he ponders the last process. He tries once more, and succeeds; and now mark the air of conscious strength with which he pronounces his demonstration. 4. His poor, weak schoolmate, who gave up that same problem, after his first trial, now looks up to him with something of a wonder, as a superior being. And he is his superior. That problem lies there, a great gulf between those boys who stood side by side yesterday. 5. The boy who did it for himself, has taken a stride upward, and what is better still, has gained strength to take other and better ones. The boy who waited to see others do it, has lost both strength and courage, and is already looking for some good excuse to give up school and study forever. 6. DO IT YOURSELF. Remember the counsel given to the artist, who lay reclining upon his couch, and wondering what the fates would work out for him. Directing his attention to a block of unhewn marble, with a chisel lying by its side, the sculptor in the vision is represented as thus addressing him: "Sir, "There's the marble, there's the chisel, Thou alone must shape thy future, Heaven send thee strength and skill!" QUESTIONS.-1. Who is benefited in studying? 2. What really rewards the labor of study? 3. What is said of the boy who succeeded after six hours of hard study? 4. What, of the boy who gave up, after the first trial? 5. What counsel was given to the artist who wondered what the fates would work out for him? How are the words to be read, which are printed in Italics and in capitals? See page 22, Note III. LESSON XVI. SLACK' EN, relax; lessen. OUT STRIP' PED, outrun; excelled. VIC TO RY, conquest; triumph. UT'TER MOST very best. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER. 1. Life is a race, where some succeed, 'Tis luck, at times, at others, speed, |