DEFINITIONS.-Căn'ni-balş, human beings that eat human flesh. Reg'i-ment, a body of troops, consisting usually of ten companies. Ag-gress'ors, those who first commence hostilities. Věn'i-şon (pro. věn ́ĭ-zn, or věn'zn), the flesh of deer. Ex-çess'eş, misdeeds, evil acts. Con-děmn'est (pro. kon-děm ́est), censure, blame. NOTES.-Charles II. was king of England from A. D. 1660 to 1685. William Penn (b. 1644, d. 1718) was a noted Englishman who belonged to the sect of Friends. He came to America in 1682, and founded the province which is now the state of Pennsylvania. He purchased the lands from the Indians, who were so impressed with the justice and good-will of Penn and his associates, that the Quaker dress often served as a sure protection when other settlers were trembling for their lives. XXIV. WHAT I LIVE FOR. 1. I LIVE for those who love me, For all human ties that bind me, 2. I live to learn their story, To emulate their glory, And follow in their wake; Whose deeds crown History's pages, And Time's great volume make. 3. I live to hail that season, When man to man united, 4. I live for those who love me, For the cause that needs assistance, And the good that I can do. Wake, the track in the train of. of great value to DEFINITIONS.-1. As-signed' (pro. as-sind'), allotted, marked out. 2. Em ́ū-lāte, to strive to equal or excel, to rival. left by a vessel in the water; hence, figuratively, Bärd, a poet. Mär'tyr, one who sacrifices what is him for the sake of principle. Sāģe, a wise man. 3. Hail, to salute. XXV. THE RIGHTEOUS NEVER FORSAKEN. 1. It was Saturday night, and the widow of the Pine Cottage sat by her blazing fagots, with her five tattered children at her side, endeavoring by listening to the artlessness of their prattle to dissipate the heavy gloom that pressed upon her mind. For a year, her own feeble hand had provided for her helpless family, for she had no supporter: she thought of no friend in all the wide, unfriendly world around. 2. But that mysterious Providence, the wisdom of whose ways is above human comprehension, "had visited her with wasting sickness, and her little means had become exhausted. It was now, too, midwinter, and the snow lay heavy and deep through all the surrounding forests, while storms still seemed gathering in the heavens, and the driving wind roared amid the neighboring pines, and rocked her puny mansion. 3. The last herring smoked upon the coals before her; it was the only article of food she possessed, and no wonder her forlorn, desolate state brought up in her lone bosom all the anxieties of a mother when she looked upon her children and no wonder, forlorn as she was, if she suffered the heart-swellings of despair to rise, even though she knew that He, whose promise is to the widow and to the orphan, can not forget his word. 4. Providence had, many years before, taken from her her eldest son, who went from his forest home to try his fortune on the high seas, since which she had heard no tidings of him; and, in her latter time, had, by the hand of death, deprived her of the companion and staff of her earthly pilgrimage, in the person of her husband. Yet to this hour she had upborne; she had not only been able to provide for her little flock, but had never lost an opportunity of ministering to the wants of the miserable and destitute. 5. The indolent may well bear with poverty while the ability to gain sustenance remains. The individual who has but his own wants to supply, may suffer with fortitude the winter of want; his affections are not wounded, his heart is not wrung. The most desolate in populous cities may hope, for charity has not quite closed her hand and heart, and shut her eyes on misery. 6. But the industrious mother of helpless and depending children, far from the reach of human charity, has none of these to console her. And such a one was the widow of the Pine Cottage; but, as she bent over the fire, and took up the last scanty remnant of food to spread before her children, her spirits seemed to brighten up, as by some sudden and mysterious impulse, and Cowper's beautiful lines came uncalled across her mind: "Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust him for his grace; 7. The smoked herring was scarcely laid upon the table, when a gentle rap at the door and the loud barking of a dog, attracted the attention of the family. The children flew to open it, and a weary traveler, in tattered garments, and in apparently indifferent health, entered, and begged a lodging and a mouthful of food. Said he: "It is now twentyfour hours since I tasted bread." The widow's heart bled anew, as under a fresh complication of distresses; for her sympathies lingered not around her fireside. She hesitated not even now; rest and a share of all she had, she proffered to the stranger. "We shall not be forsaken," said she, or suffer deeper for an act of charity." 66 8. The traveler drew near the board, but when he saw the scanty fare, he raised his eyes toward heaven with astonishment: "And is this all your store?" said he; "and a share of this do you offer to one you know not? then never saw I charity before! But, madam," said he, continuing, "do you not wrong your children by giving a part of your last mouthful to a stranger?" 9. "Ah," said the poor widow-and the tear-drops gushed into her eyes as she said it-"I have a boy, a darling son, somewhere on the face of the wide world, unless Heaven has taken him away, and I only act toward you as I would that others should act toward him. God, who sent manna from heaven, can provide for us as he did for Israel; and how should I this night offend him, if my son should be a wanderer, destitute as you, and he should have provided for him a home, even poor as this, were I to turn you unrelieved away!" 10. The widow ended, and the stranger, springing from his seat, clasped her in his arms. "God indeed has provided your son a home, and has given him wealth to reward the goodness of his benefactress: my mother! oh, my mother!" It was her long lost son, returned to her bosom from the Indies. He had chosen that disguise that he might the more completely surprise his family; and never was surprise more perfect, or followed by a sweeter cup of joy. DEFINITIONS.-1. Făg'ots, bundles of sticks used for fuel. Prăt'tle, trifling talk. Dis'si-pāte, to scatter. 2. Pu'ny, small and weak. 4. Pil'grim-age, a journey. 5. Sus'te-nançe, that which supports life. Fôr'ti-tude, resolute endurance. 7. In-dif'fer-ent, neither very good nor very bad. Com-pli-ca'tion, entanglement. Sym'pa-thies, compassion. Prof'fered, offered to give. 9. Măn ́nå, food miraculously provided by God for the Israelites. XXVI. ABOU BEN ADHEM. James Henry Leigh Hunt (b. 1784, d. 1859) was the son of a West Indian, who married an American lady, and practiced law in Philadelphia until the Revolution; being a tory, he then returned to England, where Leigh Hunt was born. The latter wrote many verses while yet a boy, and, in 1801, his father published a collection of them, entitled "Juvenilia." For many years he was connected with various newspapers, and, while editor of the "Examiner," was imprisoned for two years, for writing disrespectfully of the prince regent. While in prison he was visited frequently by the poets Byron, Moore, Lamb, Shelley, and Keats; and there wrote "The Feast of the Poets," "The Descent of Liberty, a Mask," and "The Story of Rimini," which immediately gave him a reputation as a poet. His writings include various translations, dramas, novels, collections of essays, and poems. 1. ABOU BEN ADHEM (may his tribe increase!) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, |