fully, and were high officers in his service when, at the head of a conquering army, he drove the English invaders from the soil of Scotland, and rendered her again a free and independent kingdom.

QUESTIONS.-1. Describe the room in which the Scotch woman resided. 2. What is meant by a "stag of ten?" 3. Who did the stranger prove to be? 4. Who joined Bruce? 5. What did Bryce and his men then do?

པ

LESSON XXXIV.

PROS PER I TY, success; good fortune.
DIG' NI FIE$, elevates; ennobles.
SUS TAIN' ED, endured; suffered.
AD VERS' I TY, calamity; misfortune.
UN ERR' ING, sure; certain.
FOR LORN', forsaken; wretched.
CAN' O PY, covering overhead.

DE VOID', destitute. [the eider-duck.

EI DER-DOWN, fine, soft feathers from

IM MERS' ED, inwrapped; sunk.
Gos' SA MER Y, like gossamer; filmy.
RE COIL' ED, started back.
FOIL' ED, frustrated; defeated.
RO MANCE, fiction.

TRIV' I AL, Small; trifling.

CON FIDE', trust; believe.
AD VERSE, contrary; opposite
PÄLM, token of victory.

ROBERT BRUCE AND THE SPIDER.

1. Nor in prosperity's broad light,

Can reason justly scan

BERNARD Barton.

The sterling worth which, viewed aright,

Most dignifies the man.

Favored at once by wind and tide,

The skillful pilot well may guide

The bark in safety on;

Yet, when his harbor he has gained,
He who no conflict hath sustained,

No meed has fairly won.

2 But in adversity's dark hour
Of peril and of fear,

When clouds above the vessel lower,
With scarce one star to cheer;

When winds are loud, and waves are high,
And ocean, to a timid eye,

Appears the seaman's grave;
Amid the conflict, calm, unmoved,
By truth's unerring test is proved
The skillful and the brave.

3. For Scotland and her freedom's right
The Bruce his part had played;
In five successive fields of fight
Been conquered and dismayed.
Once more, against the English host
His band he led, and once more lost
The meed for which he fought;
And now, from battle faint and worn,
The homeless fugitive forlorn

A hut's lone shelter sought.

4. And cheerless was that resting-place
For him who claimed a throne;

His canopy, devoid of grace,
The rude, rough beams alone;

The heather couch his only bed,

Yet well I know had slumber fled
From couch of eider-down;

Through darksome night to dawn of day,
Immersed in wakeful thought he lay,

Of Scotland and her crown.

5. The sun rose brightly, and its gleam
Fell on that hapless bed,

And tinged with light each shapeless beam
Which roofed the lowly shed;

When, looking up with wistful eye,
The Bruce beheld a spider try

His filmy thread to fling

From beam to beam of that rude cot;
And well the insect's toilsome lot

Taught Scotland's future king.

6. Six times his gossamery thread
The wary spider threw :

In vain the filmy line was sped;
For, powerless or untrue,

Each aim appeared and back recoiled
The patient insect, six times foiled,
And yet unconquered still;

And soon the Bruce, with eager eye,
Saw him prepare once more to try
His courage, strength, and skill.

7. One effort more, the seventh and last,— The hero hailed the sign!

And on the wished-for beam hung fast
The slender silken line.

Slight as it was, his spirit caught

The more than omen; for his thought

The lesson well could trace,
Which even “he who runs may read,"
That perseverance gains its meed,
And patience wins the race.

(<)

8. Is it a tale of mere romance'?
Its moral is the same,

A light and trivial circumstance'?
Some thought, it still may claim.
Art thou a father'? teach thy son
Never to deem that all is done,

While aught remains untried;

To hope, though every hope seems crossed,
And when his bark is tempest-tossed
Still calmly to confide.

9. Hast thou been long and often foiled
By adverse wind and seas'?
And vainly struggled, vainly toiled,
For what some win with ease'?
Yet bear up heart, and hope, and will,
Nobly resolved to struggle still,

With patience persevere ;

Knowing, when darkest seems the night,
The dawn of morning's glorious light
Is swiftly drawing near.

10. Art thou a Christian? shall the frown
Of fortune cause dismay'?

The Bruce but won an earthly crown,
Which long hath passed away;
For thee a heavenly crown awaits;
For thee are oped the pearly gates,-
Prepared the deathless palm:
But bear in mind that only those
Who persevere unto the close,

Can join in Victory's psalm.

QUESTIONS.-1. Will smooth seas and favoring gales make a skillful mariner? 2. What will make skillful and brave men? 3. In what respect is adversity better than prosperity? 4. What story illustrates this fact? 5. How many times did the spider try, before it succeeded? 6. In how many

battles had Bruce been defeated? 7. What important lesson is taught youth? 8. What encouragement is given to the Christian?

LESSON XXXV.

PATRI OTIC, having love of country. { O' DI OUS, hateful; offensive.
OB $ER VA'TION, remark; expression.
POP' U LAR, well received; prevailing.
E QUALITY, Sameness of social posi-
AUDI BLE, that may be heard. [tion.
DE TER MIN ED, fully resolved.
HE$' I TATE, Scruple.

BRA' Vo, well done.

BROILS, wrangles; quarrels.

RE NOWN' ED, famed; celebrated.

COUNT ESS, wife of a count or earl.
FAG-END', the meaner part.
NO BIL' I TY, noble rank.
BUR LESQUE, (bur lesk',) ridicule.
HE RED' I TA RY, coming by descent.
CON' STI TUTES, forms; composes.
APH' O RI$M$, precepts; maxims.
TEM' PO RA RY, continuing for a time.
BECK, sign with the hand; nod.

1LA VÄTER, (John Gaspar,) a celebrated physiognomist, that is, one skilled in the art of determining character by the external features, born in Zurich, in 1741.

That part of this dialogue uttered by Caroline, should be read in a very earnest and spirited style,-that uttered by Horace in a more grave, deliberate, and candid manner.

WEALTH AND FASHION.

Caroline. What a pity it is that we are born under a Republican government!

Horace. Upon my word, Caroline, that is a patriotic observation for an American.

Caroline. Oh, I know that it is not a popular one! We must all join in the cry of liberty and equality, and bless our stars that we have neither kings nor emperors to rule