3. Come to the festal board to-night,

For friendship, there, with stronger chain, Devoted hearts already bound

For good or ill, will bind again

I went

4. Nature and art their stores outpoured; Joy beamed in every kinding game,

10. And where is he, that tower of strength,

Whose fate with hers for life was joined ?
How beats his heart, once honor's throne?
How high has soared his daring mind?

11. Go to the dungeon's gloom to-night;
His wasted form, his aching head,
And all that now remains of him,
Lies. shuddering, on a felon's bed.

12. Ask you of all these woes the cause?
The festal board, the enticing bowl,
More often came, and reason fled,

And maddened passions spurned control.

13. Learn wisdom, then. The frequent feast
Avoid; for there, with stealthy tread
Temptation walks, to lure you on,

Till death, at last, the banquet spread.

14. And shun, oh shun, the enchanted cup!
Though now its draught like joy appears,
Ere long it will be fanned by sighs,

And sadly mixed with blood and tears.

DEFINITIONS.1. Fes'tal, mirthful, joyous. Gär'land-ed, adorned with wreaths of flowers. 3. De-vōt'ed, solemnly set apart. 4. En-hançe', increase. 6. Săn'dered, separated. 7. Glim'merings, faint views, glimpses. 8. Ro'şe-ate, blooming, rosy. 11. Fěl'on, a public criminal. 12. En-tiç'ing, attracting to evil. Spûrned, rejected with disdain. 13. Lure, to attract, to entice. 14. Enchant'ed, affected with enchantment, bewitched.

NOTES.-8. Golconda is an ancient city and fortress of India, formerly renowned for its diamonds. They were merely cut and polished there, however, being generally brought from Parteall, a city farther south.

XIX. HOW TO TELL BAD NEWS.

Mr. H. and the Steward.

Mr. H. HA! Steward, how are you, my old boy? How do things go on at home?

Steward. Bad enough, your honor; the magpie's dead. H. Poor Mag! So he's gone. How came he to die? S. Overeat himself, sir.

H. Did he? A greedy dog; why, what did he get he liked so well?

S. Horseflesh, sir; he died of eating horseflesh.

H. How came he to get so much horseflesh ?

S. All your father's horses, sir.

H. What are they dead, too?

S. Ay, sir; they died of overwork.

H. And why were they overworked, pray?

S. To carry water, sir.

H. To carry water! and what were they carrying water for?

S. Sure, sir, to put out the fire.

H. Fire! what fire?

S. O, sir, your father's house is burned to the ground. H. My father's house burned down! and how came it set on fire?

S. I think, sir, it must have been the torches.

H. Torches! what torches ?

S. At your mother's funeral.

H. My mother dead!

S. Ah, poor lady! she never looked up, after it.

H. After what?

S. The loss of your father.

H. My father gone, too?

S. Yes, poor gentleman! he took to his bed as soon as he heard of it.

(5.-6.)

H. Heard of what?

S. The bad news, sir, and please your honor.

H. What! more miseries! more bad news!

S. Yes, sir; your bank has failed, and your credit is lost, and you are not worth a shilling in the world. I made bold, sir, to wait on you about it, for I thought you would like to hear the news.

XX. THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM.

Robert Southey (b. 1774, d. 1843) was born in Bristol, England. He entered Balliol College, Oxford, in 1793. In 1804 he established himself permanently at Greta Hall, near Keswick, Cumberland, in the "Lake Country," where he enjoyed the friendship and society of Wordsworth and Coleridge, other poets of the "Lake School." He was appointed poet laureate in 1813, and received a pension of £300 a year from the government in 1835. Mr. Southey was a voluminous writer in both prose and verse. As a poet, he can not be placed in the first rank, although some of his minor poems are very happy in thought and expression. Among his most noted poetical works are "Joan of Arc," "Thalaba the Destroyer," "Madoc,' Roderick," and the "Curse of Kehama."

99 66

1. Ir was a summer evening,

Old Kaspar's work was done,
And he, before his cottage door,
Was sitting in the sun;

And by him sported on the green,
His little grandchild Wilhelmine.

2. She saw her brother Peterkin
Roll something large and round,
Which he beside the rivulet,

In playing there, had found;
He came to ask what he had found,

That was so large, and smooth, and round.

3. Old Kaspar took it from the boy,
Who stood expectant by;

And then the old man shook his head,
And, with a natural sigh,

""Tis some poor fellow's skull," said he,
"Who fell in the great victory.

4. "I find them in the garden, For there's many hereabout; And often when I go to plow,

The plowshare turns them out; For many thousand men," said he, “Were slain in that great victory."

5. "Now tell us what 't was all about,"
Young Peterkin he cries;
While little Wilhelmine looks up
With wonder-waiting eyes;

"Now tell us all about the war,
And what they killed each other for."

6. "It was the English," Kaspar cried,
"Who put the French to rout,
But what they killed each other for,
I could not well make out;
But everybody said," quoth he,
"That 't was a famous victory:

7. "My father lived at Blenheim then,
Yon little stream, hard by;

They burnt his dwelling to the ground,
And he was forced to fly;

So, with his wife and child he fled,

Nor had he where to rest his head.