24. "What a nice morsel for my poor fatherless ones," cooed the dove, and, pecking at the ant, was just flying away with it in quite a sentimental style, when the hawk, seeing this, screamed out, "what a pretty plump dove for a dinner! Providence has ordained that I should eat her." He was carrying her off, when the eagle darted upon him, and soaring to his aerie on the summit of an inaccessible rock, composedly made a meal of both hawk and dove. Then picking his teeth with his claws, he exclaimed with great complacency, "What a glorious thing it is to be king of

birds!"

25. "Humph," exclaimed I, rubbing my eyes, for it seemed I had been half asleep, "humph, a man is not so much worse than his neighbors, after all," and shaking off the spell that was over me, bent my steps homeward, wondering why it was, that it seemed as if all living things were created for the sole purpose of preying on each other.

PAULDING.

QUESTIONS.-By what authority does man hold dominion over animals? Does this include the right to torture them, or to kill them unnecessarily? Under what circumstances is it right to kill them? On what account are the animals, in this fable, supposed to be incensed at man? How did they show, by their own conduct, the folly of finding fault with others? When we see faults in others, where should our attention be directed? In what way can we make the best use of the faults of others?

TO TEACHERS.

Frequent examination in grammatical construction will add interest to the reading lesson, and will be highly profitable to the pupil. A few questions of this kind are occasionally inserted in this book, merely as examples of the manner of conducting this exercise. This and all the collateral exercises should receive due attention, for this alone will redeem the reading exercise from its usual prosy and monotonous character, and give to it proper variety, interest, and profit.

ARTICULATION.

Truly, trusty, thrifty, throttl'd, through, thrall.

Truly he is trusty and thrifty. The brute was with difficulty throttl'd. Through the storm and danger's thrall. He has many cents, and but little sense. The prince bought some prints.

LESSON XLVIII.

PRONOUNCE Correctly.-Mel-an-chol-y, not mel-un-chul-y: meadows, not mead-ers: hol-lows, not hol-luz: rust-le, pro. rus'l: beau-te-ous, not beau-che-ous: up-land, not up-lund: youth-ful, not youth-f'l: cold not cole: moist, not mois: friend, not fren: flowers, not flow-uz.

1. Wail'-ing, a. lamenting, mourning. 3. Glade, n. an open place in the forest Sear, a. dry, withered. Glen, n. a valley, a dale.

THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS.

1. THE *melancholy days are come,
The saddest of the year,
Of wailing winds, and naked woods,
And meadows, brown and sear.
Heaped in the hollows of the grove,
The withered leaves lie dead;
They rustle to the teddying gust,
And to the rabbit's tread.

The robbin and the wren have flown,
And from the shrub the jay,

And from the wood-top calls the crow

Through all the gloomy day.

2. Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers,
That lately sprang and stood

In brighter light and softer airs,
A beauteous + sisterhood?

Alas! they all are in their graves;
The gentle race of flowers

Are lying in their lowly beds,

With the fair and good of ours.
The rain is falling where they lie,
But the cold November rain
Calls not from out the gloomy earth
The lovely ones again.

S. The wall-flower and the violet,

They perished long ago,

+

And the brier-rose and the orchis died

Amid the summer's glow;

But on the hill, the golden rod,

And the aster in the wood,

And the yellow sun-flower by the brook
In autumn beauty stood,

Till fell the frost from the clear, cold heaven,
As falls the plague on men,

And the brightness of their smile was gone
From upland, glade, and glen.

+

4. And now, when comes the calm, mild day,
As still such days will come,

To call the squirrel and the bee
From out their winter home;

When the sound of dropping nuts is heard,
Though all the trees are still,
And twinkle in the smoky light

The waters of the trill,

The south wind searches for the flowers
Whose fragrance late he bore,
And sighs to find them in the wood
And by the stream no more.

5. And then I think of one, who in
Her youthful beauty died,

The fair, meek blossom that grew up
And faded by my side;

In the old, moist earth we laid her,
When the forest cast the leaf,

And we wept that one so lovely
Should have a life so brief:
Yet not unmeet it was that one,
Like that young friend of ours,
So gentle and so beautiful,
Should perish with the flowers.

W 3. BRYANT.

QUESTIONS. To what season of the year do these lines refer? Why are they called the melancholy days? How are the woods and leaves described? What is meant by the "eddying gust?" What birds are common at this season? What flowers are mentioned as having died one after the other? What is said about the squirrel, and the bee, and the nuts? What is said of the south wind? Describe, in your own language, the event referred to, in the last stanza.

Explain the inflections, and point out the emphatic words in this lesson. Parse "To call," in the 4th stanza. Parse "twinkle" in the same (It has "waters" for its nominative.) Name all the adjectives in the 1st stanza, and compare each. Which verbs in the last stanza are in the potential mood? Which are the adjectives in the same stanza, and what does each one qualify? What does the word adjective mean.

REMARK.

LESSON XLIX.

Avoid reading in a faint and low tone. This is a very common fault, and should be carefully guarded against.

PRONOUNCE Correctly.-Trow (pro. tro), not trou: gath-ers, not geth-uz: to'-ward, not to-ward': un-heard (pro. un-herd), not un-heerd.

1. Trow, v. suppose, think.

Trap'-pings, n. ornaments.

3. In-ter-ve'-ned, p. situated between. [person. 4. Tint'-ings, n. colorings.

2. Im'-be-cile, n. (pro. im'-be-cil) a sick 5. Sti'-fled, v. suppressed, checked.

IT SNOW S.

1. "It snows!" cries the School-boy, "Hurrah!" and his shout Is ringing through parlor and hall,

While swift as the wing of a swallow, he's out,

And his playmates have answered his call;

It makes the heart leap but to witness their joy,
Proud wealth has no pleasures, I trow,

Like the rapture that throbs in the pulse of the boy,
As he gathers his treasures of snow;

Then lay not the trappings of gold on thine heirs,
While health, and the riches of nature, are theirs.

2. "It snows!" sighs the Imbecile, "Ah!” and his breath
Comes heavy, as clogged with a weight;

+

While, from the pale aspect of nature in death,
He turns to the blaze of his grate;

And nearer and nearer, his soft-cushioned chair
Is wheeled toward the life-giving flame;
He dreads a chill puff of the snow-burdened air,
Lest it wither his delicate frame;

+

Oh! small is the pleasure existence can give,

When the fear we shall die only proves that we live !
3. "It snows!" cries the Traveler, "Ho!" and the word
Has quickened his steed's +lagging pace;

The wind rushes by, but its howl is unheard
Unfelt the sharp drift in his face;

For bright through the tempest his own home appeared,
Ay, though leagues intervened, he can see:
There's the clear, glowing hearth, and the table prepared,
And his wife with her babes at her knee;

Blest thought! how it lightens the grief-laden hour,
That those we love dearest are safe from its power!

4. "It snows!" cries the Belle, "Dear, how lucky!" and turns From her mirror to watch the flakes fall;

Like the first rose of summer, her dimpled cheek burns,
While musing on sleigh-ride and ball:

There are visions of conquests, of splendor, and mirth,
Floating over each drear winter's day;

But the tintings of Hope, on this storm-beaten earth,
Will melt like the snowflakes away :

Turn, turn thee to Heaven, fair maiden, for bliss;
That world has a pure fount ne'er opened in this.

5. "It snows!" cries the Widow, "Oh God!" and her sighs
Have stifled the voice of her prayer;

Its burden ye'll read in her tear-swollen eyes,
On her cheek sunk with fasting and care.

'Tis night, and her fatherless ask her for bread;
But He gives the young ravens their food,"

And she trusts, till her dark hearth adds + horror to dread,
And she lays on her last chip of wood.

Poor sufferer! that sorrow thy God only knows;
'Tis a most bitter lot to be poor, when it snows!

MRS. S. J. HALE

QUESTIONS.-Why does the school-boy rejoice when it snows? Why does the sick man receive no pleasure from the same source? What feelings are excited in him by the snow storm? What effect does it have upon the traveler, and what does he think about? Why does the belle congratulate herself, and of what are her dreams? widow's troubles in a time like this?

What are the poor