Chapter 26

THRALL' DOM, bondage; slavery. IG NO' BLE, mean; degraded. HORDE, clan; tribe. FEUD' AL, pertaining to military tenure. DES' POTS, tyrants. PAL' TRY, mean; contemptible. RAP' INE,(_rapin;_) plunder; violence. FOR SOOTH', in truth; in fact. RUF' FIAN, robber; cut-throat. SERV' ILE, slavish; cringing. LIM' NERS, painters. DIS CI' PLE, learner; follower. CORSE, corpse; dead body. BRAWL, wrangle; contention. DIS TAIN' ED, sullied; stained. ECH' O ED, resounded.

RIENZI'S ADDRESS TO THE ROMANS.

[Footnote: RI EN' ZI, the last of the Roman Tribunes, was born in Rome about the year 1310. He was assassinated Oct. 8th, 1354 He was a person of extraordinary eloquence. In his day, Rome was a prey to contending factions of nobles. This kept the city in constant turmoil, and subjected the people to continual abuse and tyranny. It was the endeavor of Rienzi to arouse them to a resolution to be free.]

MISS MITFORD.

1. Friends! I come not here to _talk_. You know too well The story of our thralldom. We are _slaves!_ The bright sun rises to his course, and lights A race of _slaves!_ He sets, and his last beam Falls on a _slave_: not such as, swept along By the full tide of power, the conqueror leads To crimson glory and undying fame; _But base, ignoble slaves!_ slaves to a horde Of petty tyrants, feudal despots, lords, Rich in some dozen paltry villages; Strong in some hundred spearmen; only great In that strange spell,--_a name_.

2. Each hour, dark fraud, Or open rapine, or protected murder, Cries out against them. But this very day, An honest man, my neighbor,--there he stands, Was struck, _struck_ like a dog, by one who wore The badge of Ursini; because, forsooth, He tossed not high his ready cap in air, Nor lifted up his voice in servile shouts, At sight of that great ruffian!

3. (f.) Be we _men_, And suffer such dishonor'? MEN, and wash not The stain away in blood'? Such shames are common! I have known deeper wrongs. I, that speak to ye, I had a brother once, a gracious boy, Full of gentleness, of calmest hope, Of sweet and quiet joy; there was the look Of heaven upon his face, which limners give To the beloved disciple!

4. How I loved That gracious boy! Younger by fifteen years, Brother at once, and son! He left my side, A summer bloom on his fair cheek,--a smile Parting his innocent lips. In one short hour, That pretty, harmless boy was slain! (_p_.) I saw The corse, the mangled corse, and then I cried For vengeance! (_ff_.) _Rouse ye, Romans!_--ROUSE YE, SLAVES! Have ye brave sons? Look in the next fierce brawl To see them die! Have ye fair daughters? Look To see them live, torn from your arms, distained, Dishonored; and if ye dare call for justice, Be answered by the lash!

5. Yet this is Rome, That sat on her seven hills, and, from her throne Of beauty, ruled the world! Yet we are Romans! Why, in that elder day, to be a Roman, Was greater than a king! And once again,-- Hear me, ye walls, that echoed to the tread Of either Brutus! Once again I swear, The eternal city shall be free!

QUESTIONS.--1. In what condition did the writer say the Roman people were? 2. What wrongs are complained of? 3. What special cases are mentioned? 4. What are the people exhorted to do? 5. What is the meaning of the suffix _dom_, in the word _thralldom?_ See ANALYSIS, page 142, Ex. 189. 6. What is the meaning of the suffix _less_, in the word _harmless?_ See page 140, Ex. 187. 7. How, according to the notation mark, should the first part of the third verse be read? 8. What rule for the rising inflections, third verse? See page 28, Rule I.

* * * * *

LESSON CX.

MUL' TI PLY, increase; continue. COL'TER, part of the plow that cuts the sod. GE' NI AL, productive. BE NIG' NANT, kind; bounteous. SAUN' TER ING, loitering. WOOD' BINE, honeysuckle. RE SPLEN DENT, splendid, beautiful. PO' TENT, powerful. ROAD' STEAD, place where ships may anchor. RE LI' ANT, trusting; depending. PES TI LEN' TIAL, infectious; noxious. PER PET' U AL, continual. STER' ILE, barren.

[Headnote 1: LE ON' I DAS, the celebrated Spartan leader who, with three hundred men, perished in the effort to resist the Persian hosts, at the mountain pass of Thermopylae, (B.C., 480.)]

[Headnote 2: MARS' TON, that is, Marston Moor, a place in Yorkshire, England, memorable for the defeat of Charles I., (in 1644,) by the forces of Cromwell and others.]

[Headnote 3: BAN' NOCK BURN, a village in Stirlingshire, Scotland, famous for the battle between the patriots, under Robert Bruce, and the English invading army, under Edward II., fought, June 25, 1314.]

[Headnote 4: AR MA' DA, a great naval armament sent by Philip II. of Spain, in 1588, for the conquest of England. It failed utterly, however, of its object, having been scattered and disabled by violent storms.]

SONG OF THE FORGE.

1. Clang! clang! the massive anvils ring,-- Clang! clang! a hundred hammers swing, Like the thunder-rattle of a tropic sky, The mighty blows still multiply: Clang! clang! Say, brothers of the dusky brow, What are your strong arms forging now?

2. Clang! clang!--we forge the _colter_ now-- The colter of the kindly plow; Benignant Father, bless our toil; May its broad furrow still unbind To genial rains, to sun and wind, The most productive soil!

3. Clang! clang!--our colter's course shall be On many a sweet and sunny lea, By many a streamlet's silver tide, Amidst the song of morning birds, Amidst the low of sauntering herds, Amidst soft breezes which do stray Through woodbine-hedges and sweet May, Along the green hill's side.

4. When regal Autumn's bounteous hand, With wide-spread glory clothes the land,-- When, to the valleys, from the brow Of each resplendent slope, is rolled A ruddy sea of living gold, We bless,--we bless the PLOW.

5. Clang! clang!--again, my mates, what glows Beneath the hammer's potent blows? Clink! clank!--we forge the _giant chain_, Which bears the gallant vessel's strain, 'Midst stormy winds and adverse tides; Secured by this, the good ship braves The rocky roadstead and the waves Which thunder on her sides.

6. Anxious no more, the merchant sees The mist drive dark before the breeze. The storm-cloud on the hill; Calmly he rests, though, far away In boisterous climes, his vessel lay Reliant on our skill.

7. Say, on what sands these links shall sleep, Fathoms beneath the solemn deep`? By Afric's pestilential shore',-- By many an iceberg, lone and hoar',-- By many a palmy western isle, Basking in spring's perpetual smile',-- By stormy Labrador'?

8. Say, shall they feel the vessel reel, When, to the battery's deadly peal, The crashing broadside makes reply'? Or else, as at the glorious Nile, Hold grappling ships, that strive the while, For death or victory'?

9. _Hurrah!_--cling! clang!--once more, what glows, Dark brothers of the forge, beneath The iron tempest of your blows The furnace's fiery breath?

10. Clang! clang!--a burning torrent, clear And brilliant, of bright sparks is poured Around and up in the dusky air, As our hammers forge the SWORD.

11. The _sword!_ a name of dread; yet when Upon the freeman's thigh 'tis bound, While for his altar and his hearth,-- While for the land that gave him birth, The war-drums roll, the trumpets sound, How _sacred_ is it then!

12. Whenever for the truth and right It flashes in the van of fight, Whether in some wild mountain pass As that where fell Leonidas [Headnote 1]; Or on some sterile plain and stern, A Marston [Headnote 2] or a Bannockburn [Headnote 3]; Or, mid fierce crags and bursting rills, The Switzer's Alps, gray Tyrol's hills,-- Or, as when sunk the Armada's [Headnote 4] pride, It gleams above the stormy tide,-- Still, still, whene'er the battle word Is LIBERTY, when men do stand For _justice_ and their _native land_, Then Heaven bless THE SWORD!

QUESTIONS.--1. What things are mentioned as being forged? 2. What is said of the colter? 3. What, of the iron cable? 4. What, of the sword?

* * * * *

LESSON CXI.

BEN E FAC' TION, gift; favor. E LATE', flushed with success. IN HER' ENT, natural. PER FEC' TION, excellence. VIG' ILS, watchfulness. UN BRIB' ED, not influenced by gifts. CON SO LA' TION, comfort. AV' E NUE, way; entrance. A TROC' I TIES, enormities. MOCK' ER Y, derision; ridicule. FAC' UL TIES, powers of the mind. CA PAC' I TIES, abilities.

CHOICE EXTRACTS.

I.

SWIFTNESS OF TIME.

IDLER.

Let him that desires to see others happy, make haste to give while his gift can be enjoyed, and remember that every moment of delay takes away something from the value of his benefaction. And let him who proposes his own happiness, reflect, that while he forms his purpose, the days roll on, and "the night cometh when no man can work."

II.

THE SHIP OF STATE.

LONGFELLOW.

Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Humanity, with all its fears, With all the hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate! We know what Master laid thy keel, What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, What anvils rang, what hammers beat, In what a forge, and what a heat, Were shaped the anchors of thy hope.

III.

THE TRUE HERO.

HORACE BUSHNELL.

The true hero is the great, wise man of duty,--he whose soul is armed by truth and supported by the smile of God,--he who meets life's perils with a cautious but tranquil spirit, gathers strength by facing its storms, and dies, if he is called to die, as a Christian victor at the post of duty. And, if we must have heroes, and wars wherein to make them, there is none so brilliant as a war with wrong,--no hero so fit to be sung as he who hath gained the bloodless victory of truth and mercy.

IV.

HEART ESSENTIAL TO GENIUS.

W.G. SIMMS.

We are not always equal to our fate, Nor true to our conditions. Doubt and fear Beset the bravest, in their high career, At moments when the soul, no more elate With expectation, sinks beneath the time. The masters have their weakness. "I would climb," Said Raleigh, gazing on the highest hill,-- "But that I tremble with the fear to fall." Apt was the answer of the high-souled queen: "If thy heart fail thee, never climb at all!" The heart! if that be sound, confirms the rest, Crowns genius with his lion will and mien, And, from the conscious virtue in the breast, To trembling nature gives both strength and will.

V.

EDUCATION.

ADDISON.

I consider a human soul without education, like marble in the quarry, which shows none of its inherent beauties until the skill of the polisher fetches out the colors, makes the surface shine, and discovers every ornamental cloud, spot, and vein that runs through the body of it. Education, after the same manner, when it works upon a noble mind, draws out every latent virtue and perfection, which, without such helps, are never able to make their appearance.

VI.

THE VANITY OF WEALTH.

DR. JOHNSON.

No more thus brooding o'er yon heap, With av'rice painful vigils keep; Still unenjoyed the present store, Still endless sighs are breathed for more. Oh! quit the shadow, catch the prize, Which not all India's treasure buys! To purchase Heaven has gold the power'? Can gold remove the mortal hour? In life, can love be bought with gold? Are friendship's pleasures to be sold? No; all that's worth a wish--a thought, Fair Virtue gives unbribed, unbought. Cease then on trash thy hopes to bind; Let _nobler views_ engage thy mind.

VII.

CONSOLATION OF THE GOSPEL.

A. ALEXANDER.

Oh, precious gospel! Will any merciless hand endeavor to tear away from our hearts, this last, this sweetest consolation? Would you darken the only avenue through which one ray of hope can enter? Would you tear from the aged and infirm poor the only prop on which their souls can repose in peace? Would you deprive the dying of their only source of consolation? Would you rob the world of its richest treasure? Would you let loose the flood-gates of every vice, and bring back upon the earth the horrors of superstition, or the atrocities of atheism? Then endeavor to subvert the gospel; throw around you the firebrands of infidelity; laugh at religion, and make a mockery of futurity; but be assured that for all these things, God will bring you into judgment.

VIII.

THE LIGHT OF HOPE.

O.W.B. PEABODY.

1. Oh, who that has gazed, in the stillness of even, On the fast-fading hues of the west, Has seen not afar, in the bosom of heaven, Some bright little mansion of rest, And mourned that the path to a region so fair Should be shrouded with sadness and fears;-- That the night-winds of sorrow, misfortune, and care, Should sweep from the deep-rolling waves of despair, To darken this cold world of tears?

2. And who that has gazed, has not longed for an hour, When misfortune forever shall cease; And Hope, like the rainbow, unfold, through the shower, Her bright-written promise of peace? And, oh! if that rainbow of promise may shine On the last scene of life's wint'ry gloom, May its light in the moment of parting be mine; I ask but one ray from a source so divine, To brighten the vale of the tomb.

IX.

PAMPERING THE BODY AND STARVING THE SOUL.

EDWARD EVERETT.

1. What`! feed a child's body, and let his soul hunger'? pamper his limbs, and starve his faculties'? Plant the earth, cover a thousand hills with your droves of cattle, pursue the fish to their hiding-places in the sea, and spread out your wheat-fields across the plain, in order to supply the wants of that body which will soon be as cold and as senseless as the poorest clod, and let the pure spiritual essence within you, with all its glorious capacities for improvement, languish and pine'?

2. What`! build factories, turn in rivers upon the water-wheels, unchain the imprisoned spirits of steam, to weave a garment for the body, and let the soul remain unadorned and naked'? What`! send out your vessels to the furthest ocean, and make battle with the monsters of the deep, in order to obtain the means of lighting up your dwellings and workshops, and prolonging the hours of labor for the meat that perisheth, and permit that vital spark, which God has kindled, which He has intrusted to our care, to be fanned into a bright and heavenly flame,--permit it, I say, to languish and go out'?

3. What considerate man can enter a school, and not reflect, with awe, that it is a seminary where immortal minds are training for eternity'? What parent but is, at times, weighed down with the thought, that _there_ must be laid the foundations of a building which will stand, when not merely temple and palace, but the perpetual hills and adamantine rocks on which they rest, have melted away`!--that a light may _there_ be kindled which will shine, not merely when every artificial beam is extinguished, but when the affrighted sun has fled away from the heavens`?

* * * * *

LESSON CXII.

FRUIT' AGE, collection of fruits. WAX' ES, grows; increases. JU' BI LANT, joyous. TINGE, imbue. GLO' RI FI ED, exalted to glory. UN WA' RY, incautious. FAM' ISH ED, afflicted with hunger. BAN' ISH ED, driven out; expelled. RE NEW' ED, made new again. MA TUR' ING, ripening. VINT' AGE, produce of the vine. DIS LOY' AL TY, unfaithfulness. BE QUEATH' ED, left by inheritance. CON SID' ER ATE, thoughtful.

RE VIV' I FY, (RE, _again_; VIV, _live_; IFY, _to make_;) to make alive again, to bring to life; renew.

WE ALL DO FADE AS A LEAF.

GAIL HAMILTON.

1. "_We all do fade as a leaf_." Change is the essence of life. "Passing away," is written on all things; and passing away is passing on from strength to strength, from glory to glory. Spring has its growth, summer its fruitage, and autumn its festive in-gathering. The spring of eager preparation waxes into the summer of noble work; mellowing in its turn into the serene autumn, the golden-brown haze of October, when the soul may robe itself in jubilant drapery, awaiting the welcome command, "Come up higher," where mortality shall be swallowed up in life.

2. Why, then, should autumn tinge our thoughts with sadness. We fade as the leaf, and the leaf fades only to revivify. Though it fall, it shall rise again. Does the bud fear to become a blossom, or the blossom shudder as it swells into fruit; and shall the redeemed weep that they must become glorified'? Strange inconsistency`! We faint with the burden and the heat of the day. We bow down under the crosses that are laid upon our shoulders. We are bruised and torn by the snares and pitfalls which beset our way, and into which our unwary feet often fall.

3. We are famished, and foot-sore, and travel-stained, from our long journey, and yet we are saddened by tokens that we shall pass away from all these,--away from sin and sorrow, from temptation and fall, from disappointment, and weary waiting, and a fearful looking-for of evil, to purity and holiness, and the full fruition of every hope,--bliss which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived,--to a world whence all that made this dreary is forever banished, and where all that made this delightful is forever renewed and increased,--a world where the activities and energies of the soul shall have full scope, and love and recognition wait upon its steps forever.

4. Let him alone fear, who does not fade as the leaf,--him whose sources are not in God, and who does not draw his life thence,--him whose spring is gathering no strength, whose summer is maturing no fruit, and whose autumn shall have no vintage. Is not this the real sorrow of us all? not a dread of change, but a secret consciousness of wasted power,--of disloyalty to God, as the supreme object of our love and service.

5. Yet even here the fading leaf brings hope. Our future is always before us. The past is fixed. No tears can wash away its facts. Let us waste no vain regrets upon it; but, from the wisdom which its very mistakes and sins have bequeathed us, start afresh on the race. Though yesterday we were weak, and selfish, and indolent, let us to-day--at this moment--begin to be strong, and brave, and helpful, and just, and generous, and considerate, and tender, and truthful, and pure, and patient, and forgiving. "Now" is a glorious word. "HENCEFORTH" is always within our grasp.

QUESTIONS.--1. To what are we compared? 2. What is said of change? 3. What change takes place in the leaf? 4. What, in man? 5. Who have reason to fear? 6. What is said of the past and the future?

* * * * *

LESSON CXIII.

UN HEED' ED, not regarded. EX POS' ED, unprotected. EX HORT' ED, urged; persuaded. AT TUN' ED, put in tune. ES SEN' TIAL, real; true. AN NOUNC' ED, proclaimed.

TEACHINGS OF NATURE.

POLLOCK.

1. The seasons came and went, and went and came, To teach men gratitude; and, as they passed, Gave warning of the lapse of time, that else Had stolen unheeded by: the gentle flowers Retired, and, stooping o'er the wilderness, Talked of humility, and peace, and love. The dews came down unseen at evening tide. And silently their bounties shed, to teach Mankind unostentatious charity.

2. With arm in arm the forest rose on high, And lesson gave of brotherly regard; And, on the rugged mountain brow exposed, Bearing the blast alone, the ancient oak Stood, lifting high his mighty arm, and still To courage in distress exhorted loud. The flocks, the herds, the birds, the streams, the breeze, Attuned the heart to melody and love.

3. Mercy stood in the cloud, with eye that wept Essential love; and, from her glorious brow, Bending to kiss the earth in token of peace, With her own lips, her gracious lips, which God Of sweetest accent made, she whispered still, She whispered to Revenge, Forgive! forgive!

4. The Sun, rejoicing round the earth, announced Daily the wisdom, power, and love of God. The Moon awoke, and, from her maiden face Shedding her cloudy locks, looked meekly forth, And, with her virgin stars, walked in the heavens,-- Walked nightly there, conversing as she walked Of purity, and holiness, and God.

5. In dreams and visions, sleep instructed much. Day uttered speech to day, and night to night Taught knowledge: silence had a tongue: the grave, The darkness, and the lonely waste, had each A tongue, that ever said, Man! think of God! Think of thyself! think of eternity!

6. Fear God, the thunders said; Fear God, the waves; Fear God, the lightning of the storm replied; Fear God, deep loudly answered back to deep. And, in the temples of the Holy One, Messiah's messengers, the faithful few, Faithful 'mong many false, the Bible opened, And cried: Repent! repent, ye Sons of Men! Believe, be saved.

QUESTIONS.--1. What do the seasons teach? 2. What, the trees? 3. What, the sun and moon? 4. What, Messiah's messengers?

* * * * *

LESSON CXIV.

BE DECK' ED, adorned. AR RAY', dress; attire. MAN' TLED, spread; rushed. DE VO' TION, attachment. I DOL A TROUS, excessive. SEV' ER ED, rent; sundered. EN CIR' CLED, inclosed; surrounded. SA' BLES, mourning clothes. GIFT' ED, talented. FOUND ED, established. AL LURE', (AL, _to_; LURE, _draw_;) draw to; entice.

PASSING UNDER THE ROD.

[Footnote: These lines are founded on the following passage of Jewish history:--"It was the custom of the Jews to select the tenth of their sheep after this manner: The lambs were separated from their dams, and inclosed in a sheep-cot, with only one narrow way out; the lambs hastened to join the dams, and a man, placed at the entrance, with a rod dipped in ocher, touched every tenth lamb, and so marked it with his rod, saying, 'LET THIS BE HOLY.' Hence, God says by his prophet, '_I will cause you to pass under the rod_.'"]

MARY S.B. DANA.

1. I saw the young bride, in her beauty and pride, Bedecked in her snowy array; And the bright flush of joy mantled high on her cheek, And the future looked blooming and gay: And with a woman's devotion she laid her fond heart At the shrine of idolatrous love; And she anchored her hopes to this perishing earth, By the chain which her tenderness wove. But I saw, when those heartstrings were bleeding and torn, And the chain had been severed in two, She had changed her white robes for the sables of grief, And her bloom for the paleness of woe! But the Healer was there, pouring balm on her heart, And wiping the tears from her eyes; And He strengthened the chain He had broken in twain, And fastened it firm to the skies! There had whispered a voice,--'twas the voice of her God: "I love thee--I love thee--_pass under the rod!_"