But, if you chance to fall behind,
Ne'er slacken your endeavor;

Just keep this wholesome truth in mind:
'Tis better late than never!

2. If you can keep ahead, 'tis well;
But never trip your neighbor;
'Tis noble when you can excel
By honest, patient labor.
But, if you are outstripped, at last,
Press on, as bold as ever;
Remember, though you are surpassed,

'Tis better late than never!

3. Ne'er labor for an idle boast
Of victory o'er another;

But, while you strive your uttermost,
Deal fairly with a brother.
Whate'er your station, do your best,

And hold your purpose ever;
And, if you fail to beat the rest,
'Tis better late than never!

4. Choose well the path in which you run,Succeed by noble daring;

Then, though the last, when once 'tis won,
Your crown is worth the wearing.

Then never fret, if left behind,

Nor slacken your endeavor;
But ever keep this truth in mind:

'Tis better late than never!

5. Yet, would you cure this sad defect,
Repining's unavailing ;

Begin, at once, and now correct
This very common failing.

This day resolve,-this very hour,

Nor e'en a moment wait;

Go, make this better maxim yours,—
'Tis better never late!

QUESTIONS.-1. To what is life compared, first verse? 2. What advice is given you chance to fall behind? 3. How ought you to treat your competitors? 4. What is a very common failing? 5. How may it be cor rected? 6. What is the use of the apostrophe in the word repining's, fifth verse ?

WHY wouldst thou leave me, O gentle child?
Thy home on the mountains is bleak and wild,
A straw-roofed cabin with lowly wall;
Mine is a fair and a pillared hall,

Where many an image of marble gleams,
And the sunshine of picture forever streams.

BOY.

Oh, green is the turf where my brothers play,
Through the long bright hours of the summer-day;

They find the red cup-moss where they climb,
And they chase the bee o'er the scented thyme;
And the rocks where the heath-flower blooms they know,
Lady, kind lady! oh, let me go!

LADY.

Content thee, boy, in my bower to dwell;
Here are sweet sounds which thou lovest well,-

Flutes on the air in the stilly noon,

Harps which the wandering breezes tune,

And the silvery wood-note of many a bird
Whose voice was ne'er in thy mountains heard.

ΒΟΥ.

My mother sings, at the twilight's fall,
A song of the hills, far more sweet than all;
She sings it under our own green tree,
To the babe half-slumbering on her knee;
I dreamed, last night, of that music low,—
Lady, kind lady! oh, let me go !

LADY.

(pl) Thy mother hath gone from her cares to rest;
She hath taken the babe on her quiet breast;
Thou wouldst meet her footstep, my boy, no more,
Nor hear her song at the cabin-door:

Come thou with me to the vineyards nigh,
And we'll pluck the grapes of the richest dye.

ΒΟΥ.

Is my mother gone from her home away'?-
But I know that my brothers are there at play;

I know they are gathering the fox-glove's bell,

Or the long fern leaves by the sparkling well;

Or they launch their boats where the bright streams flow, Lady, kind lady! oh, let me go!

LADY.

Fair child, thy brothers are wanderers now,
They sport no more on the mountain's brow;
They have left the fern by the spring's green side,
And the streams where the fairy barks were tried :
Be thou at peace in thy brighter lot,

For thy cabin-home is a lonely spot.

ΒΟΥ.

Are they gone, all gone from the sunny hill'?
But the bird and the blue fly rove o'er it still,
And the red deer bound in their gladness free,
And the heath is bent by the singing bee,

And the waters leap, and the fresh winds blow,-
Lady, kind lady! oh, let me go!

QUESTIONS.-1. What kind of words are straw-roofed, heath-flower, wood note, &c.? 2. What is the use of the apostrophes in the words o'er, ne'er, twilight's, &c.?

LESSON

AP PAR ENT LY, evidently.
CEN TU RY, hundred years.
GI GAN' TIC, very large.
SPECIES, Sort ;-
kind.

DI MEN' SION, size; bulk.

SUB LIME', grand; magnificent. [ance.
UN MO LEST ED, free from disturb-
DIS PERS' ED, separated; scattered.

XVIII.

CLAM' OR OUS, noisy; importunate.
IN DE CIS' ION, doubt; irresolution.
POIS' ED, balanced.

AT MOS PHERE, surrounding air.
TAL' ON$, claws.

DIS TRI BU' TION, division.

Ec' STA SY, excessive joy; transport.
PER' SE CUT ED, harassed; injured.

THE OLD EAGLE TREE.

REV. JOHN TODD.

1. In a remote field stood a large tulip tree, apparently of a century's growth, and one of the most gigantic of that splendid species. It looked like the father of the surrounding forest. A single tree, of huge dimensions, standing all alone, is a sublime object.

2. On the top of this tree, an old eagle, commonly callco the "Fishing Eagle," had built her nest every year, for many years, and, unmolested, raised her young. What is remarkable, as she procured her food from the ocean, this tree stood full ten miles from the sea-shore. It had long been known as the "Old Eagle tree."

3. On a warm, sunny day, the workmen were hoeing corn in an adjoining field. At a certain hour of the day, the old eagle was known to set off for the sea-side, to gather food for her young. As she this day returned with a large fish in her claws, the workmen surrounded the tree, and, by yelling, and hooting, and throwing stones, so scared the poor bird that she dropped her fish, and they carried it off in triumph.

4. The men soon dispersed; but Joseph sat down under a bush near by, to watch, and to bestow unavailing pity. The bird soon returned to her nest without food. The eaglets at once set up a cry for food, so shrill, so clear, and so clamorous, that the boy was greatly moved.

5. The parent bird seemed to try to soothe them; but their appetites were too keen, and it was all in vain. Sle then perched herself on a limb near them, and looked down into the nest with a look that seemed to say, "I know not what to do next."

6. Her indecision was but momentary; again she poised herself, uttered one or two sharp notes, as if telling them to