ADDRESS TO THE INDOLENT. Rude Nature's state had been our 129 118 state to-day; No cities e'er their towery fronts had raised, No arts had made us opulent and gay; With brother-brutes the human race had grazed; None e'er had soared to fame, none honored been, none praised. But should your hearts to fame unfeeling be, Ah! what avail the largest gifts of Heaven, O, who can speak the vigorous joy of health,Unclogged the body, unobscured the mind! The morning rises gay, with pleasing stealth, The temperate evening falls serene and kind. In health the wiser brutes true gladness 91 find. See! how the younglings frisk along the meads, As May I comes on, and wakes the balmy 57 wind; Rampant with life, their joy all joy exceeds: Yet what but high-strung health this dancing pleasaunce breeds? There are, 166 I see, who listen to my lay, Would you, then, learn to dissipate the band Here to mankind E indulged : — control desire ; THOMSON. L. THE TEACHINGS OF NATURE. 1. AMONG the disciples of Hillel, the wise teacher of the sons of Israël, was one named Sa'both, who was averse to labor; and he gave himself up to slōth and idleness. But Hillel sorrowed over the youth, and resolved to turn him from the error of his ways. For this purpose, he led him out into the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem.E There was here a stagnant pool, full of worms and insects, and covered with sli'my weeds. 2. When they reached the valley, Hillel laid his staff upon the ground and said, “ We will rest here on our way." But the youth wondered, and answered, "How, master! by this loathsome pool? Dost thou not see the poisonous vapor that ascends therefrom?". 'Thou art right, my son!" answered the teacher; "this pool is like the soul of the sluggard. Who would tarry near it?" 66 3. Hillel now led the youth to a barren field, upon which grew naught but thorns and thistles, that choked the wheat and the healthful herbs. Hillel here leaned upon his staff, and said, "Behold, the soil of this field is good, and it is able to bring forth useful and salutary fruits. But it has been forgotten and neglected. Therefore it now produces prickly thorns and thistles, and poisonous weeds; snakes and toads dwell therein. In the pool thou didst see the soul,118 here recognize the life of the sluggard." 66 4. Then Saboth was filled with shame and repentance, and he said, Master, wherefore I dost thou lead me into these waste and dreary places? They are the rebuking emblems of my soul and of my life." And Hillel said, "As thou wouldst not hearken to my words, I have tried whether the voice of Nature would not speak with greater power to thee." 5. Saboth then clasped his teacher's hand, and said, “O, it has penetrated my heart, and thou wilt, henceforth, see that a new life has arisen within me.' And so it was. Saboth became an active and industrious youth. Hillel then led him into a fair and fertile valley, by the banks of a clear stream, which flowed in pleasant windings between fruitful trees, flowering meadows, and dark-green bushes. 'A CHASE ON THE ICE. 131 6. "Behold," said the old man to the delighted youth," the emblem of thy new and active life! Nature, which hath warned thee, may now reward thee also.” "And mine own heart," replied the youth, with emotion, "and the approbation of my faithful teacher." The charms and beauty of Nature can truly delight him only who in her life views his own. FROM THE GERMAN. LI. - A CHASE ON THE ICE. 1. DURING the winter of 1844, being in the northern part of Maine, I had much leisure for the sports of a new country. To none was I more passionately addicted than to skating. The sequestered lakes, frozen by intense E cold, offer a wide plain to the lovers of this pastime. Often 65 would I bind on my skates, and glide away up the glittering river, threading every mazy streamlet that flowed on toward the parent ocean, and feeling every pulse bound with the joyous exercise. It was dūring one of these excursions that an adventure befell me, that I can rarely think upon, even now, without a certain thrill of astonishment.E 2. I had left a friend's house one evening, just before dusk, with the intention of skating a short distance up the noble Kennebec, which, under its icy crust, flowed directly before the door. The air was clear, calm, and bracing. The new moon silvered the lofty pines, and the stars twinkled with rare brilliancy from their dark-blue depths. In the stillness, the solitūde and magnificence of the scene, there was an effect almost preternatural upon the mind. I had gone up the river nearly two miles, when, coming to a little stream which emptied into a larger, I turned in to explore its course. Fir and hemlock trees of a century's growth met overhead, and formed an evergreen archway, radiant with frost-work. ΕΙ EI 3. All was dark within; but I was young and fearless, and, as I peered into the unbroken forest, I laughed in very joyousness. My wild hurrah rang through the woods, and I stood listening to the echo" that reverberated again and again, until all was hushed. Occasionally from some tall oak a night-bird would flap its wings. I watched the owls as they fluttered by, and I held my breath to listen to their distant hooting. ΕΙ 4. All of a sudden,91 a sound arose, which seemed to proceed from the very ice beneath my feet. It was loud and tremendous at first, and ended in a long yell. I was appalled. Coming on the ear amid such an unbroken solitude, it sounded like a blast from an infernal trumpet. Presently I heard the twigs on the shore EI snap as if from the tread of some animal. The blood rushed to my forehead with a bound that made my skin burn; but I felt a strange relief that I had to contend with things of earthly and not spiritual mould. My energies returned. The moon shōne through the opening by which I had entered the forest, and, considering this the best direction for escape, I shot towards it like an arrow. 5. The opening was hardly a hundred yards distant, and the swallow could not have skimmed them more swiftly; yet, as I turned my eyes to the shore, I could see two dark objects dashing through the underbrush at a pace nearly double that of my own. By their great speed, and the short yells which they gave, I knew 33 at once that they were of the much-dreaded species known as the gray wolf. The untamable fiercenesss and untiring strength of this animal, "With its long gallop, that can tire The hound's deep hate, the hunter's fire," render it an object of dread to benighted travellers. The bushes that skirted the shore now seemed to rush by me with the velocity of light, as I dashed on in my flight. 6. The outlet was nearly gained; one second more, and I would be comparatively safe; but my pursuers suddenly appeared on the bank directly above me, which rose to the height of some ten feet. There was no time for thought; I bent my head and darted wildly forward. The wolves sprang, but, miscalculating my speed, sprang behind, while their intended prey glided out upon the river. In'stinct turned me towards home. How my skates made the light icy mist spin from the glassy surface! The fierce howl of my pursuers again rang in my ears. I did not look back; I thought of the dear ones awaiting my return, and I put in play every faculty of mind and body for my escape. I was perfectly at home on the ice; and many were the days I had spent on my skates. 7. Every half-minute an alternate yelp from my pursuers told me they were close at my heels. Nearer and nearer they came; I could hear them pant. I strained every muscle 47 in my frame to quicken my speed. Still I could hear close behind me the pattering of feet, when an involuntary motion on my part turned me out of my course. The wolves, unable to stop and as unable to turn, slipped and fell, sliding on f far ahead, their tongues lolling out, their white tushes gleaming from their red mouths, their dark, shaggy breasts freckled with foam; and, as they slid on, they howled with redoubled rage. 8. The thought occurred to me, that by thus turning aside THE PARTICULAR LADY. 133 The whenever they came too near, I could avoid them; for, from the peculiar formation of their feet, they cannot run on ice except in a right line. I immediately acted on this plan. The wolves, having regained their feet, sprang directly towards me. race was renewed for twenty yards up the stream; they were 29 already close on my back, when I glided round and dashed past them. A fierce howl greeted my evolution, and the wolves slipped upon their haunches, and again slid onward, presenting a perfect picture of baffled, bloodthirsty rage. 9. Thus I gained, at each turning, nearly a hundred yards. This was repeated two or three times, the wolves getting more excited every moment, until, coming opposite the house, a couple of stag-hounds, aroused by the noise, bayed furiously from their kennels. Quickly taking the hint, the wolves stopped in their mad career, turned skulkingly, and fled. I watched them till their dusky forms disappeared over a neighboring hill. Then, taking off my skates, I wended my way to the house, grateful to Providence for my escape, and determined never to trust myself again, if I could help it, within the reach of a gray wolf. LII. -THE PARTICULAR LADY. ΕΙ Did 1. I AM far from being opposed theoretically to habits of neatness and order; but we sometimes see a good propensity carried so far as to interfere with the comfort of others. you ever live with a particular lady?— one possessed not simply with the spirit, but the demon of tidiness, who will give you a two hours' 141 lecture upon the sin of an untied shoe-string, and raise a hurricane about your ears on the enormity of a fractured glove? who will be struck speechless at the sight of a pin instead of a string, or set a whole house in an uproar, on finding a book on the table instead of in the book-case? Those who have had the misfortune to meet with such a person will know how to sympathize with me. I have passed two whole months with a particular lady. 2. I had often received very pressing invitations to visit an old school-fellow, who is settled in a snug parsonage, about fifty miles from town; but something or other was continually occurring to prevent me from availing myself of them. But, on the 17th of June (I shall never forget it, if I live to the age of old Parr), having a few spare weeks at my disposal, I set out for my chum's residence. He received me with his wonted cordiality; but I fancied that he looked a little more care-worn than |