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THE DRUNKARD'S RESOLUTION.

Drop, O drop some golden handfulls-
Let her freely come and glean.

Never mellow furrows crumbled
Softly to her childish tread-
She but sowed in stony places,

And the seed is choked and dead.
Therefore, let her rest among you,
When the sunbeams fiercely shine—
Barley, reapers, let her, with you,
Dip her morsel in the wine.

And entreat her not to leave you
When the harvest work is o'er,
Nor depart from following after,
Even to the threshing-floor.

But, when stars through fields of shadow
Herald in the evening gray,
Fill her veil with beaten measures,

Send her empty not away.

Then the city round about her,
As she moveth by, shall stir,
As it moved to meet Naomi

Home from famine-yea, for her.
And the Lord, whose name is Mercy,
Steadfast by your deed shall stand,
And shall make her even as Rachel,
Even as Leah, in the land.

(Sober.)

THE DRUNKARD'S RESOLUTION.

(To his bottle.)

OUCH thee! No, viper of vengeance!
I'll break thy head against the wall.

Did you not promise?-aye-
To make me strong as Samson—
And rich-rich as Croesus--
(I'll wring thy villainous neck,)
And wise-wise as Solomon-
And happier than the happiest ?

(Tasting.)

ADVICE TO A YOUNG LAWYER.

(Feeling good.)

But instead of this-villain!
You've stripped me of my flocks;

Left my pocket as empty as a cuckoo's nest
In March; fooled me out of my senses;
Made me ragged; made me wretched,
And then laid me in a ditch.

Touch thee! sure as there's vengeance
In this fist, I'll scar the moon
With thy broken skull!

But-one embrace before thou diest ;
"Tis best to part in friendship—

Ah! thou hast some virtue yet!
I always thought 'twas best

To give the devil his due;

And-(tasting)—though devil thou art,

(Feeling better.) Thou hast a pleasant face

(Tasting.)

(Feeling best.)

A sparkling eye—a ruby lip—

A blushing cheek-and thy breath-
"Tis sw-e-eter than the

Bre-e-ezes that e-ver gambolled

Till the break of day,

A-a-mong the beds of ros-es.

My honey-(tasting)—thou shalt not die—
I'll stand by thee day and night,

And fight like Her (hic) cules;

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I'll tea-a-ch the parson (hic) a little wisdom;
I'll pre-a-ch (hic) temperance too;

I'll live on mil (hic)k and ho-n-ey,

And― (falling)-be-be-the-ha-hap-pi-est man on earth (hic).

ADVICE TO A YOUNG LAWYER.

BE brief, be pointed; let your matter stand

In order, lucid and compact, at hand;

Spend not your words on trifles, but condense;
Strike with the mass of thought, not drops of sense;
Press to the close, with vigor once begun,

And learn-how hard the task!-to cease when done.

308

THE ELOQUENCE OF THE EAST AND WEST.

Who draws a labored length of reasoning out,

Puts straws in line for winds to whisk about
Who draws a tedious length of reasoning o'er,
Counts but the sands on ocean's boundless shore.
The palm in law is gained, as battle fought,
Not by the numbers but the forces brought.
What boots success in skirmish or in fray,
If rout and ruin follow close the day?

He who would win his cause, with power must frame
Points of support, and look with steady aim;
Attack the weak, defeat the strong with art,
Strike but few blows, but strike them to the heart;
All scattered fires but end in smoke and noise,
The scorned of men, the idle jeer of boys.
Keep, then, this first great precept ever near:
Short be your speech, your matter strong and clear,
Earnest your manner, warm and rich your style,
Severe in taste, yet full of grace the while;
So may you reach the loftiest height of fame,
And leave, when life is past, a deathless name.

TH

THE ELOQUENCE OF THE EAST AND WEST.
R. N. MAFFITT.

HE eloquence of the West, as contrasted with that of the East, presents many striking peculiarities. The eloquence of the East is sober, condensed, metaphysical; that of the West is free, lofty, agitating, grand, impassioned. The East is pure, chastened down to a defiance of critical censure, sharpened to a fineness too razor-like to climb the mountains or carve the rocks; the West defies and transcends criticisms, un bosoms mighty thoughts, applies motives to the human mind as strong as the rush of a whirlwind, in language varied, yet strong, and, if ever defective, yet grand. The thoughts of the West are large. In the East, a river means the brawling and foaming Merrimac, the mountain-fed Kennebec, or the poetic Connecticut. In the West, the same word means the proud flow of waves too wide to roar and cincturing half the globe in their course. In the East, a plain means a patch of

THE BRIDAL OF MALAHIDE.

309

earth hedged by circumambient mountains, defended on either hand by rock and water. In the West, a plain means a patch of territory over which the sun rises and sets through a thousand successive horizons, and above whose carpet of verdure heaven spreads out half her stars. In the East, a wind means a blast which whistles with the mountain-beech or maple, or plays fitfully with the falling snow. In the West the same word means the roaring impulse which accumulates about the head-waters of the far-wandering Missouri, passes a distance in which Europe might be laid out in length and breadth, and pours its vast volume of tornado into the Gulf of Mexico.

THE BRIDAL OF MALAHIDE.-GERALD GRIFFIN.

HE joy-bells are ringing in gay Malahide,

THE

The fresh wind is singing along the sea-side;
The maids are assembling with garlands of flowers,
And the harp-strings are trembling in all the glad bowers.

Swell, swell the gay measure! roll trumpet and drum!
'Mid greetings of pleasure in splendor they come !
The chancel is ready, the portal stands wide,
For the lord and the lady, the bridegroom and bride.

Before the high altar young Maud stands arrayed!
With accents that falter her promise is made—
From father and mother forever to part,
For him and no other to treasure her heart.

The words are repeated, the bridal is done,
The rite is completed-the two, they are one;
The vow, it is spoken all pure from the heart,
That must not be broken till life shall depart.

Hark! 'mid the gay clangor that compassed their car,
Loud accents in anger come mingling afar!
The foe's on the border! his weapons resound

Where the lines in disorder unguarded are found!

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THE BRIDAL OF MALAHIDE.

As wakes the good shepherd, the watchful and bold,
When the ounce or the leopard is seen in the fold,
So rises already the chief in his mail,

While the new-married lady looks fainting and pale.

"Son, husband, and brother, arise to the strife,
For sister and mother, for children and wife!
O'er hill and o'er hollow, o'er mountain and plain,
Up, true men, and follow! let dastards remain !"

Farrah! to the battle! They form into line-
The shields, how they rattle! the spears, how they shine!
Soon, soon shall the foeman his treachery rue--

On, burgher and yeoman! to die or to do!

The eve is declining in lone Malahide :

The maidens are twining gay wreaths for the bride;
She marks them unheeding-her heart is afar,
Where the clansmen are bleeding for her in the war.

Hark! loud from the mountain-'tis victory's cry!
O'er woodland and fountain it rings to the sky!
The foe has retreated! he flees to the shore;
The spoiler's defeated-the combat is o'er!

With foreheads unruffled the conquerors come-
But why have they muffled the lance and the drum ?
What form do they carry aloft on his shield?
And where does he tarry, the lord of the field?

Ye saw him at morning, how gallant and gay!
In bridal adorning, the star of the day:
Now, weep for the lover-his triumph is sped,
His hope, it is over! the chieftain is dead!

But, oh, for the maiden who mourns for that chief,
With heart overladen, and broken with grief!
She sinks on the meadow :-in one morning-tide,
A wife and a widow, a maid and a bride!

Ye maidens attending, forbear to condole!
Your comfort is rending the depths of her soul.

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