Page images
PDF
EPUB

Queen of Night; but never did I behold such a brilliant moonlight night as this.

8. Who could help bringing to mind the sublimities of Job and of David,-"The hoary frost of heaven, who hath engendered it? The waters are hid, as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.". "By the breath of the Mighty God, ice is produced, and the waters which were spread on all sides, are held in chains." "He The Psalmist says, giveth the snow, like wool, He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."-Well may poets look to the falling snow-flake for their images of purity and innocence, ere it receives the stain of earth. I know of no fitter emblem.

9. Such a winter's night! and the skies! the skies! So resplendent in brightness are the hosts of heaven at this moment, that they should be contemplated by every lover and student of the works of God. Their numbers who can count, their twinkling beauty who can describe, as onward they roll in the deep blue of midnight? In their contemplation are inspired "thoughts that wander through eternity," with an elevation of feeling, as if we were separated from the toils and tumults of earth, and exalted into a higher state of being than that in which we toiled through the day! These heavens tell us of a WISDOM and POWER we can not search or estimate. There we seem to stand more immediately in the vailed presence of the Infinite Majesty, who "laid the foundations of the earth, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy."

QUESTIONS.-1. Describe the appearance of frosted trees. 2. What is said of the appearance of shrubs, bushes, &c.? 3. What, of the weight sustained by a single tree? 4. What was the appearance at sunset? 5. What passages of Scripture did the scene bring to mind? 6. Of what is the snow. flake an emblem? 7. What is said of the skies?

LESSON LXXIII.

SPLEN' DOR, brightness; glory.
E TER NAL LY, everlastingly.
WAY'-WEA RY, tired; fatigued.
GAZE, eager look.

Ev' ER GREEN, always green.

LONG' ED, earnestly desired.
RE POSE, rest; quietude.
RAN' SOM ED, redeemed.
PAL' ACE, mansion; abode.
UN CEAS' ING LY, constantly.

THE MOUNTAINS OF LIFE.

JAMES G. CLARK.

1. THERE's a land far away, 'mid the stars, we are told, Where they know not the sorrows of time,

Where the pure waters wander through valleys of gold,
And life is a treasure sublime;

'Tis the land of our God, 'tis the home of the soul,
Where the ages of splendor eternally roll,—
Where the way-weary traveler reaches his goal,
On the evergreen Mountains of Life.

2. Our gaze can not soar to that beautiful land,
But our visions have told of its bliss;

And our souls by the gale from its gardens are fanned,
When we faint in the desert of this;

And we sometimes have longed for its holy repose,
When our spirits were torn with temptations and woes,
And we've drank from the tide of the river that flows
From the evergreen Mountains of Life.

3. Oh! the stars never tread the blue heavens at night,
But we think where the ransomed have trod;
And the day never smiles from his palace of light.
But we feel the bright smile of our God.

We are traveling homeward, through changes and gloom, To a kingdom where pleasures unceasingly bloom,

And our guide is the glory that shines through the tomb, From the evergreen Mountains of Life.

QUESTIONS.-1. What is said of that land far away? 2. How do we know there is such a land? 3. Of what do the stars remind us?

LESSON LXXIV.

IM AG IN A RY, not real.
AN TIO I PATE, take beforehand.
PRE FER RED, chosen.
OC CUR' RED, happened.
SUS TAIN', support; uphold.
PER MIT', allow.

IN VIS' I BLE, unseen.
EN CHAIN', bind; fasten.
FORE BOD' ING, dread of evil.
IN VEN' TION, contrivance.
CON FER RED, bestowed.
AP PRE HEN' SION, dread; fear.

IMAGINARY EVILS.

1. LET to-morrow take care of to-morrow;
Leave things of the future to fate;
What's the use to anticipate sorrow?
Life's troubles come never too late.
If to hope overmuch be an error,

CHARLES SWAIN

"Tis one that the wise have preferred; And how often have hearts been in terror Of evils that never occurred.

2. Have faith, and thy faith shall sustain thee;
Permit not suspicion and care

With invisible bonds to enchain thee,

But bear what God gives thee to bear.

By His Spirit supported and gladdened,
Be ne'er by forebodings deterred;

But think how oft hearts have been saddened
By fears of what never occurred!

3. Let to-morrow take care of to-morrow;

Short and dark as our life may appear,
We may make it still darker by sorrow,
Still shorter by folly and fear;
Half our troubles are half our invention,
And often from blessings conferred,
Have we shrunk in the wild apprehension
Of evils that never occurred!

How may we be 4. Whence pro

QUESTIONS.-1. What is said of imaginary evils? 2. supported under trials? 3. What tends to shorten life? ceed half our troubles? 5. What rule for doubling the r and d in such words as occurred, saddened, &c.? See SANDERS' NEW SPELLER, page 168, Rule II.

как

LESSON LXXV.

WASTE, desolate region.
PRO CEED', come forth.
CHASM, gap; opening.
COILS, folds; convolutions.
MAN' I FEST, plain; evident
PRE SERVER, protector.

AL LE GI ANCE, duty; loyalty.

RAY, make bright; adorn.
EX PAND', Swell; dilate.
FA' THER LAND, native land.
GUER' DON, reward; recompense.
PROF FER, offer; tender.
PITE OUS, mournful; sorrowful.
IM PET U OUS LY, furiously.

allure.

AT TRACT, (AT, to; TRACT, draw,) draw to;
IN VEST', (IN, to; VEST, clothe;) clothe in or with; inclose; surround.
PRO TEST', (PRO, before; TEST, witness;) witness before; openly declare.

1 PYTHON is the name of a large serpent. fabled to have been slain by the god Apollo.

SIR WALTER AND THE LION.

A. WALCHNER

1. SIR WALTER of Thurn, over the Syrian waste,
Rides away with a flowing rein;

But he hears a groan that checks his haste,
As if death were in the strain.
He spurs his steed

Whence the sounds proceed;

And there, from a rocky chasm, arise
Fierce cries of pain, that assail the skies;
And his horse uprears

In excess of fears,

As the glance of a lion attracts his eyes.

2. Fierce struggling there in the monster folds
Of a serpent that round him twines;
Sir Walter a moment the scene beholds,
Then to save the beast inclines.

His good sword stout

From its sheath leaps out,

When down it falls on the Python's' crest,
And cleaves the coils that the lion invest;
And the noble beast,

From its thrall released,

Shows grateful joy most manifest.

3. He shakes his mane, and bends his form,
And licks his preserver's hand,

As if he yields allegiance warm
To his supreme command.

Like the faithful hound

To be constant found,

« PreviousContinue »