2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

I have thought,

A brother's and a sister's love was much.
I know a brother's' is, for I have loved
A trusting sister; and I know how broke
The heart may be with its own tenderness.
But the affection of a delicate child

For a fond father', gushing as it does
With the sweet springs of life, and living on
Through all earth's changes,

Must be holier!

The wind bore on

The leaden tramp of thousands. Clarion notes
Rang sharply on the air at intervals';
And the low, mingled din of mighty hosts,
Returning from the battle, poured from far,
Like the deep murmur of a restless sea.

Jephthah led his warriors on

Through Mizpeh's streets. His helm was proudly set',
And his stern lip curled slightly', as if praise
Were for the hero's scôrn. His step was firm,
But free as India's leopard; and his mail,
Whose shekels none in Israel might bear',
Was lighter than a tassel on his frame.
His crest was Judah's kingliest, and the look
Of his dark, lofty eye might quell a lion.

He led on; but thoughts

Seemed gathering round which troubled him.
Upon his forehead were distinctly seen,
And his proud lip was painfully compressed.
He trod less firmly`; and his restless eye
Glanced forward frequently, as if some ill

The veins

He dared not meet, were there. His home was near,
And men were thronging, with that strange delight

They have in human passions, to observe

The struggle of his feelings with his pride.

He gazed intently forward.

A moment more',

And he had reached his home; when lo! there sprang

One with a bounding footstep', and a brow

Like light, to meet him. O how beautiful!

Her dark eye flashing like a sun-lit gem,
And her luxuriant hair', 't was like the sweep
Of a swift wing in visions. He stood still,

7.

As if the sight had withered him. She threw
Her arms about his neck; he heeded not.
She called him "Father," but he answered not.
She stood and gazed upon him. Was he wroth'?
There was no anger in that blood-shot eye.
Had sickness' seized him? She unclasped his helm,
And laid her white hand gently on his brow.
The touch aroused him. He raised up his hands,
And spoke the name of Gōd, in agony.

She knew that he was stricken, then; and rushed Again into his arms, and with a flood

Of tears she could not stay, she sobbed a prayer
That he would tell her of his wretchedness.
He told her, and a momentary flush

Shot o'er her countenance: and then', the soul
Of Jephthah's daughter wakened, and she stood
Calmly and nobly up, and said, “'T is well`;
And I will die!"

8. And when the sun had sēt,

Thēn shē wās dēad—but nōt by violence.

XL.-TREASURES OF THE DEEP.

FROM MRS. HEMANS.

1. WHAT hidest thou in thy treasure caves and cells,
Thou hollow-sounding and mysterious main'?
Pale glistening pearls, and rainbow-colored shells,
Bright things, which gleam unrecked of, and in vain.
Keep`, keep thy riches, melancholy sea!

We ask not such from thee'.

2. Yet more, thy depths have more !-What wealth untold, Far down, and shining through their stillness, lies? Thou hast the starry gems, the burning gold,

Won from ten thousand royal argosies.

Sweep o'er thy spoils, thou wild and wrathful main'!

Earth claims not these again.

3. Yet more, thy depths have more! Thy waves have rolled

Above the cities of a world gone by!

Sand hath filled up the palaces of old:

Sea-weed o'ergrown the halls of revelry:

Dash o'er them', ocean, in thy scornful play!

Man yields thêm to decay.

4. Yet more

thy billows and thy depths have more`!
High hearts and brave are gathered to thy breast!
They hear not now the booming waters roar,

The battle thunders will not break their rest.
Keep thy red gold and gêms, thou stormy grave'!
Give back the true and brave.

5. Give back the lost and lovely! those, for whom

The place was kept at board and hearth so long,
The prayer went up through midnight's breathless gloom,
And the vain yearning woke 'mid festal song!
Hold fast thy buried isles', thy towers o'erthrown',
But all is not thine own!

XLI.-BATTLE IN HEAVEN.

FROM MILTON.

JOHN MILTON, the acknowledged prince of British poets, was born in Tondon, in 1608. In early life, he was a diligent student, and before he ttained the age of seventeen, knew six languages almost as familiarly s his own. His immortal poem, the Paradise Lost, was written after he was stricken with blindness. In the latter part of his life he lived in retirement, and died in 1674.

This lesson is adapted to the cultivation of a low tone.

1. To whom in brief thus Abdiel stern replied:
Reign thou in hell, thy' kingdom; let me serve
In heaven God ever blest, and his divine
Behests obey, worthiest to be obeyed;
Yet chains in hell, not realms, expect`: meanwhile,
From me, returned, as erst thou saidst, from flight,
This greeting on thy impious crest receive.

2. So saying, a noble stroke he lifted high,

3.

Which hung not, but so swift with tempest fell
On the proud crest of Satan, that no sight,
Nor motion of swift thought, less could his shield,
Such ruin intercept. Ten paces huge
He back recoiled'; the tenth', on bended knee
His massy spear upstayed: as if on earth
Winds under ground, or waters forcing way,
Sidelong had pushed a mountain from his seat,
Half sunk with all his pines.

Now storming fury rose
And clamor such as heard in heaven till now
Was never; arms on armor clashing, brayed
Horrible discord, and the madding wheels

4.

Of brazen chariots raged: dire was the noise
Of conflict; over head the dismal hiss
Of fiery darts in flaming volleys flew,
And flying vaulted either host with fire.
So under fiery cope together rushed
Both battles main, with ruinous assault
And inextinguishable rage. All heaven
Resounded; and had earth been then, all earth
Had to her center shook. What wonder? where
Millions of fierce encountering angels fought
On either side, the least of whom could wield
These elements, and arm him with the force
Of all their regions.

Long time in even scale

The battle hung; till Satan, who that day
Prodigious power had shown, and met in arms
No equal, ranging through the dire attack
Of fighting seraphim confused, at length

Saw where the sword of Michael smote, and felled
Squadrons at once; with huge two-handed sway,
Brandished aloft, the horrid edge came down
Wide-wasting; such destruction to withstand,
He hasted, and opposed the rocky orb
Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield
Of vast circumference. At his approach,
The great archangel from his warlike toil
Surceased', and glad, as hoping here to end
Intestine war in heaven, the arch-foe subdued.
5. Now waved their fiery swords, and in the air
Made horrid circles; two broad suns their shields
Blazed opposite, while expectation stood

In horror: from each hand with speed retired,
Where erst was thickest fight, the angelic throng,
And left large fields, unsafe within the wind
Of such commotion; such as, to set forth
Great things by small, if, nature's concord broke,
Among the constellations war were sprung,
Two planets, rushing from aspect * malign
Of fiercest opposition, in mid-sky

Should combat, and their jarring spheres confound.

* Observe the improper pronunciation of the word "aspect," required by the poetic accent. In this case, an equal degree of force may be given to each syllable.,

XLII.-PAUL'S DEFENSE BEFORE KING AGRIPPA.

FROM THE BIBLE.

[THIS should be read in a medium tone, between high and low.]

1. THEN said Agrippa unto Paul: Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth his hand and answered for himself.

2. I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself, this day, before thee, touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews'; especially, because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. My manner of life from my youth', which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem', know all the Jews; who knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the straitest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.

3. And now, I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers'; unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa', I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which things I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.

4. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and, being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. Whereupon, as I went to Damascus, with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O King', I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue', Saul', Saul', why persecutest thou me'? it is hard