9. My story teaches (every tale should beâr Some useful lesson to enrich the mind— Ο IV. 64. COMPENSATION. SAXE.? NE day an Antelope was lying with her fawn at the foot of the flowering Mimosa.5 The weather was intensely 6 sultry, and a Dove, that had sought shelter from the heat among the leaves, was cooing above her head. 2. "Happy bird!" said the Antelope-"happy bird! to whom the air is given for an inheritance, and whose flight is swifter than the wind. At your will you alight upon the ground, at your will you sweep into the sky, and fly races with the driving clouds: while I, poor I, am bound a prisoner to this miserable earth, and wear out my pitiable life crawling to and fro upon its surface." 9 3. Then the Dove answered, "It is sweet to sail ǎlong the sky, to fly from land to land, and coo among the valleys; but, Antelope, when I have săte above amidst the branches, and watched your little one close its tiny lips upon your breast, and feed its life on yours, I have felt that I could strip off my wings, 1 Mŏr'al, the inner meaning of a fable, narrative, or occurrence ; the practical lesson which any thing is intended or fitted to teach. 2 John G. Saxe, an American poet and journalist, was born in Highgate, Franklin Co., Vermont, June 2, 1816. His poems abound in fine wit and satire. 3 An'te lope, an animal almost midway between the deer and goat. Its horns are almost always round and ringed. The eyes of some varieties are large, black, and very beautiful. 4 Fawn, a young deer; a deer of the first year. 5 Mi mō'sa, a family of pod-bearing plants, of many varieties, including the sensitive plant. 6 In tense'ly, to an extreme degree. Sul'try, very hot, burning, and oppressive. 8 In hĕr'it ance, land, money, or other property received as a right on the death of a parent or other ancestor; possession. 'Pĭt'i a ble, deserving pity; sor rowful; wretched. lay down my plumage, and remain all my life upon the ground, ōnly once to know such blessèd enjoyment." 4. The breeze sighed among the boughs of the Mimosa, and a voice came trembling out of the rustling leaves: "If the Antelope mourns her destiny,1 what should the Mimosa do? The Antelope is the swiftèst among the animals. It rises in the morning: the ground flies under its feet-in the evening it is a hundred miles away. 5. "The Mimosa is feeding its old age on the same soil which quickened its seed-cell into activity. The seasons roll by me, and leave me in the old place. The winds sway among my branches, as if they longed to bear me away with them; but they påss on, and leave me behind. The wild birds come and go. The flocks move by me in the evening on their way to the pleasant waters. I can never move. My cradle must be my grave.' 6. Then from below, at the root of the tree, came a voice which neither bird, nor Antelope, nor tree had ever heard, as a Rock Crystal from its prison in the limestone, followed on the words of the Mimosa. 7. "Are ye all unhappy?" it said. "If ye are, then what am I? Ye all have life. You! O Mimosa! you, whose fair flowers year by year come again to you, ever young, and fresh, and beautiful-you who can drink the rain with your leaves, who can wanton with the summer breeze, and open your breast to give a hōme to the wild birds-look at me, and be ashamed. I ōnly am truly wretched." 8. "Alas!" said the Mimosa, "we have life, which you have not, it is true. We have also what you have not, its shadowdeath. My beautiful children, which year by year, I bring out into being, expand in their loveliness only to die. Where they are gone I too shall soon follow, while you will flash in the light of the låst sun which rises upon the earth." FROUDE.2 1 Děs'ti ny, that to which any person or thing is appointed, intended, or doomed. 'James Anthony Froude, an English historian and journalist, son of the late Archdeacon Froude, was born at Dartington Rectory, Fotness, Devonshire, in 1818. He is a bold and original thinker, and a finished writer. SECTION XVIII. I. 65. DESTINY OF AMERICA: TH HE Muse,1 disgusted at an age and clime In distant lands now waits a better time Producing subjects worthy fame: 2. In happy climes, whêre, from the geniäl sun 3. In happy climes, the seat of innocence, 4. Thêre shall be sung another golden age, The good and great inspiring epic rage, 5. Not such as Europe breeds in her decay: 6. Westward the course of empire takes its way: A fifth shall close the drāmå1 with the day: Muse, one of the nine fabled goddesses of the ancients, originally of song, and afterward of all kinds of poetry, and of the arts and sciences. 2 Pěd'ant ry, a boastful display of knowledge of any kind. 3 Ep'ic, containing narrative or recital; relating to an epic or heroic poem, in which the deeds of some great hero are narrated. BERKELEY.' 4 Dra'ma (or drä må), a story which is acted, not related; a number of connected events ending in some interesting or striking result. 5 George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, was born at Thomastown, County of Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1684, and died at Oxford, England, in 1753. He was the author of several works. He visited Aměrică in 1728. II. 66. OUR COUNTRY'S HONOR OUR OWN. I PROFESS to feel a strong attachment to the liberty of the United States-to the constitution and free institutions of the United States-to the honor, and I may say the glory, of this great government and great country. 2. I feel ěvèry injury inflicted upon this country, almost as a personal injury. I blush for every fault which I think I see committed in its public councils, as if they were faults or mistakes of my own. 3. I know that, at this moment, thêre is no object upon earth so attracting the gaze of the intelligent and civilized nations of the earth as this great Republic. All men look at us, all men exămine our course, all good men are anxious for a favorable result to this great experiment of Republican liberty. 4. We are on a hill, and can not be hid. We can not withdraw ourselves either from the commendation or the reproaches of the civilized world. They see us as that star of empire which hälf a century ago was predicted1 as making its way westward. 5. I wish they may see it as a mild, plăcid, though brilliant orb, making its way athwart the whole heavens, to the enlightening and cheering of mankind; and not a meteor 2 of fire and blood, terrifying the nations. WEBSTER.3 III. 67. THE YOUNG AMERICAN. S CION1 of a mighty stock Hands of iron-hearts of oak 1 Pre dict'ed, presaged; fore- ican orators, jurists, and statesmen, showed; foretold. * Mē ́te or, a fire-ball or other shining body seen in the sky; any appearance in the atmosphere, as clouds, rain, snow, &c. 3 Daniel Webster, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of Amer was born in Salisbury, N. H., Jan. 18, 1782. His works, arranged by his friend Edward Everett, were pub lished in six volumes, in 1851. He died at Marshfield,Mass.,Oct 24, 1852. 4 Sci'on, a shoot or twig of a plant; hence, a descendant; an heir. Follow with unflinching tread 2. Craft and subtle treachery, 3. Honesty with steady eye, Love that gently winnèth hearts— 4. Prudent in the council train, 5. Where the dews of night distil 6. Thither tûrn the steady eye, 7. Let thy noble motto be, 8. Läugh at danger far or near; 9. So shall peace, a charming guest, |