Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

in some sort, a degrading necessity; and they desire nothing so much on earth as an escape from it. They fulfill the great law of labor in the letter, but break it in the spirit. To some field of labor, mental or manual, every idler should hasten, as a chosen, coveted field of improvement.

6. But so he is not compelled to do, under the teachings of our imperfect civilization. On the contrary, he sits down, folds his hands, and blesses himself in idleness. This way of thinking is the heritage of the absurd and unjust feudal system, under which serfs labored, and gentlemen spent their lives in fighting and feasting. It is time that this opprobrium of toil were done away.

7. Ashamed to toil? Ashamed of thy dingy work-shop, and dusty labor-field; of thy hard hand, scarred with service more honorable than that of war; of thy soiled and weatherstained garments, on which mother nature has embroidered mist, sun and rain, fire and steam, her own heraldic hónors? Ashamed of those tokens and titles, and envious of the flaunting robes of imbecile idleness and vánity? It is treason to nature, it is impiety to Heaven; it is breaking Heaven's great ordinance. Toil, I repeat,-toil, either of the brain, of the heart, or of the hand, is the only true manhood, the only true nobility!

QUESTIONS.-1. Of what would man have been destitute, if all necessary things had been provided for him? 2. Why is it better that labor is ordained for man? 3. Why do men toil? 4. What is said of those who are not compelled to labor? 5. What, of those who are ashamed to labor?

What inflection at say, fourth verse? (Rule II. Note I.) What inflection prevails in the last verse? Why does Ordainer begin with a capital? What Rule should be regarded in order to avoid a faulty articulation? (Les. I. 4.)

LESSON XXXI.

SPEECH OF HO-NA-YU-WUS, OR FARMER'S BROTHER.

1. THE sachems, chiefs, and warriors of the Seneca Nation, to the sachems and chiefs assembled about the Great Council-fire of the State of New York.

Brothers,-As you are once more assembled in council, for the purpose of doing honor to yourselves, and justice to your country, we, your brothers, the sachems, chiefs, and warriors

of the Seneca Nation, request you to open your ears, and give attention to our voice and wishes.

2. Brothers,-You will recollect the late contest between you and your father, the great king of England. This contest threw the inhabitants of this whole island into a great tumult and commotion, like a raging whirlwind which tears up the trees, and tosses to and fro the leaves, so that no one knows whence they come, or where they will fall.

3. Brothers,―This whirlwind was so directed by the Great Spirit above, as to throw into our arms two of your infant children, Jasper Parrish and Horatio Jones. We adopted them into our families, and made them our children. We loved them and nourished them. They lived with us many years. At length the Great Spirit spoke to the whirlwind,--and it was still. A clear and uninterrupted sky appeared. The path of peace was opened, and the chain of friendship was once more made bright. Then these, our adopted children, left us to seek their relations. We wished them to remain among us, and promised, if they would return and live in our country, to give each of them a seat of land for them and their children to sit down upon.

4. Brothers, They have returned, and have, for several years past, been serviceable to us as interpreters. We still feel our hearts beat with affection for them, and now wish to fulfill the promise we made them, and to reward them for their service. We have therefore made up our minds to give them a seat of two square miles of land, lying on the outlet of Lake Erie, about three miles below Black Rock.

5. Brothers,-We have now made known to you our minds. We expect and earnestly request, that you will permit our friends to receive this our gift, and will make the same good to them, according to the laws and customs of your nation.

6. Brothers,-Why should you hesitate to make Our minds easy with regard to this our request? To you it is but a little thing; and have you not complied with the request, and confirmed the gift of our brothers, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, and Cayugas, to their interpreters? and shall we ask and not be heard?

7. Brothers, We send you this our speech, to which we expect your answer before the breaking up of your councilfire.

QUESTIONS.-1. What do the Indians mean by the Council-fire of the state of New York? Ans. The Legislature. 2. To what do they com→

pare the war with England? 3. Who came into their hands by this war? 4. Where did they go at its close? 5. Did they return to the Indians? 6. In what service did they engage? 7. What did the Indians wish to give them? 8. Whom did the speaker mean by the Oneidas, Onondagas, and Cayugas?

What inflection at Brothers, at the beginning of each verse? (Rule IV. Note I.)

LESSON XXXII.

SPELL AND DEFINE-1. PAT'RI OT ISM, love of one's country. 2. INTEGRITY, regard for truth; honesty. 3. RIVALS, those striving to excel each other. 4. CAPTURED, taken prisoner. 5. ELAPSED, passed by, or gone. 6. EMBASSY, a message proposing something. 7. ACCEDE', to agree; to consent. 8. DEJECTED, cast down. 9. EXASPERATED, enraged with madness. 10. EXTORTED, drawn from by compulsion.

PATRIOTISM ÅND INTEGRITY-STORY OF REGULUS. Аввотт.

1. THE ancient cities of Rome and Carthage stood opposite to each other, across the Mediterranean sea. As these cities grew up to power and distinction nearly together, they were the rivals and enemies of each other. There was many a hard fight between their armies and their fleets.

2. At last, Regulus, a celebrated Roman general, was sent across the sea to carry the war, if possible, to the very gates of Carthage. He was at first very successful, and he took many prisoners, and sent them to Rome. At length, however, the scale was turned, the Roman army was conquered, and Regulus himself was captured and thrown into a Carthaginian prison.

3. After some time, however, had elapsed, the Carthaginians, foreseeing that the Roman power would in the end overwhelm their own, concluded to send an embassy to Rome to offer peace. They proposed to Regulus to go on this embassy. They intrusted him with the commission, saying to him, "We wish you would go to Rome, and propose to your countrymen to make peace with us, and endeavor to pursuade them to comply. If you do not succeed, however, we expect you to return to us as our lawful prisoner. shall confide in your word."

We

4. Regulus accepted the trust. He set off to Rome, promising to return to Carthage, if the Romans should not actede to the proposal. He sailed across the sea, and up the

Tiber, and was soon approaching the gates of the great city He had determined, however, to do all in his power to pre vent a peace, knowing that it would not be for the interes; of his country to make one. He understood, therefore, that he was going to his native city, only to communicate his message, and then to return to imprisonment, torture, and death, at Carthage.

5. His wife came out of the gates to meet him, rejoicing in his return. He received her, dejected, silent, and sad. "I am a Carthaginian prisoner still," said he, "and must soon return to my chains."

6. He refused to enter the city. He had indeed a message for the senate; but the Roman senate was not accustomed to admit foreigners to their sessions within the city. He sent them word, therefore, that Regulus, no longer a Roman general, but a Carthaginian prisoner, was the bearer of a message to them, and wished them to hold, as usual, a meeting without the gates for the purpose of receiving it.

7. The senate came. They heard the proposal which the Carthaginians had sent, and the arguments of Regulus against it. The arguments prevailed. They decided against peace, and Regulus began to speak of his return.

8. " Return!" said his friends, and the senators, and all the people of Rome, "you are under no obligation to return to Carthage."

9. "I promised to return," said Regulus, "and I must keep my word. I am well aware that the disappointed and exasperated Carthaginians will inflict on me cruel tortures; but I am their prisoner still, and I must keep my word."

10. The Romans did all in their power to persuade Regulus that a promise, extorted under such circumstances, was not binding, and that he could be under no obligations to return. But all was vain. He bade the senate, and his countrymen, and his wife farewell, and was soon sailing back to the land of his enemies.

QUESTIONS.-1. Where is the Mediterranean sea? 2. What rival cities were on each side of it? 3. Who was Regulus, and what success did he have? 4. What afterward happened to him? 5. Did the Carthaginians continue successful? 6. With what message did they send Regulus to Rome? 7. What was to be his fate, if the proposal was rejected? 8. Where did he meet the senate, and what did he advise them? 9. Was he urged to remain at Rome? 10. What was his reply?

Why do Romans and Carthaginians begin with capitals? What in

flection should return have, eighth verse? (Rule I.; Note II.) With what modulation of voice should the eighth verse be read? What inflection immediately precedes the quotations in the third, eighth, and ninth verses? (Rule IV., Rem. 2.)

LESSON XXXIII.

SPELL AND DEFINE-1. RILLS, small streams. 2. FANTASTICAL, fanciful; not real. 3. DELLS, narrow openings. 4. DALES, valleys. 5. WEEN, think. 6. SPELL, magic charm. 7. YEW, an evergreen tree.

MY COUNTRY.

1. I LOVE my country's pine-clad hills,
Her thousand bright and gushing rills,
Her sunshine and her storms;

Her rough and rugged rocks that rear
Their hoary heads high in the air,
In wild fantastic forms.

2. I love her rivers, deep and wide,
Those mighty streams that seaward glide,
To seek the ocean's breast;

Her smiling fields, her pleasant vales,
Her shady dells, her flow'ry dales,
The haunts of peaceful rest.

3. I love her forests, dark and lone,
For there the wild birds' merry tone
I heard from morn till night;

And there are lovelier flowers, I ween,
Than e'er in eastern lands were seen,
In varied colors bright.

4. Her forests and her valleys fair,

Her flowers that scent the morning air,
Have all their charms for me;

But more I love my country's name,
Those words that echo deathless fame,—
66 'The land of LIBERTY."

1. O GIVE me back my native hills,

My daisied meads, and trouted rills,

« AnteriorContinuar »