And the one universal Lord. They need Bend their protecting shadow o'er their graves, In the deep sabbath of a heart too full For words or tears,-here let us strew the sod LESSON CLII.-TRUTH.-H. W. LONGFELLOW. O holy and eternal Truth! Thou art Öf uncreated being! Who can find, 5 By diligent searching,-who can find out thee, The Incomprehensible,-the Deity! 10 The human mind is a reflection caught That heavenward wings its daring flight away The soul of man, though sighing after thee, 20 The reach of human power, though not of human love Vainly Philosophy may strive to teach The secret of thy being. Its faint ray Misguides our steps. Beyond the utmost reach Of truth is shining on the longing eye, Distant, unchanged,-changeless,-pure an. high! And yet thou hast not left thyself without 5 Within us and around, forbids to doubt, Of what we are and shall be evermore, We doubt, and yet believe, and tremble and adore! LESSON CLIII.-THE FIRST SETTLERS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. Two hundred years ago, the place* on which we stand was an uncultivated forest. The rough and vigorous soil was still covered with the stately trees, which had been, for ages, intermingling their branches and deepening the 5 shade. The river, which now bears, on its bright and pure waters, the treasures of distant climates, and whose rapid current is stemmed and vexed by the arts and enterprise of man, then only rippled against the rocks, and reflected back the wild and grotesque thickets which over10 hung its banks. The mountain, which now swells on our left, and raises its.verdant side, "shade above shade,” was then almost concealed by the lofty growth which covered the intervening plains. Behind us, a deep morass, extending across to the northern creek, almost enclosed the little 15" Bank," which is now the seat of so much life and industry. It was then a wild and tangled thicket, interspersed with venerable trees and moss-grown rocks, and presenting, here and there, a sunny space, covered with the blossoms and early fruit of the little plant that gave it its name. 20 This" Bank," so wild and rude, two hundred years ago, was first impressed with the step of civilized man. The influence of local association is strong and universal. There is no one who has not felt it; and if it were possible, it would be useless to withdraw the mind from its 25 effects. We owe many of our deepest emotions, our highest and most ennobling feelings, to the suggestions of external nature. The place which has been distinguished by the residence of one whom we love and admire, kindles in our minds a thousand conceptions, which we can scarcely * Portsmouth. analyze or describe. The moral beauty of character and sentiment, is insensibly blended with the beauty of natural scenery; memory and fancy, alike excited, pass from one object to another, and form combinations of beauty and 5 grandeur, softened and shaded by time and distance, but having enough of life and freshness, to awaken our feelings and hold undisputed dominion of our hearts. Here, then, let us indulge our emotions. On this spot, our forefathers trod. Here, their energy and persever10 ance, their calm self-possession and practical vigor, were first called into action. Here, they met and overcame difficulties, which would have overpowered the imagination, or subdued the fortitude, of ordinary men. All that we see around us, are memorials of their worth. It was 15 their enterprise that opened a path for us, over the waters. It was their energy that subdued the forest. They founded our institutions. They communicated to us our love of freedom. They gave us the impulse that made us what 20 we are. It cannot then be useless to live along the generations that have passed, and endeavor to identify ourselves with those who have gone before us. Who and what were they, who thus fill our imaginations, and, as they rise before us, bring to our minds so many recollections of high senti25 ment, and steady fortitude, and sober enthusiasm? In what school were they formed? and what favorable circumstances impressed upon them that character of enduring energy, which even their present descendants may claim, as their best inheritance? The answer to these 30 questions, is the subject, to which your attention will be directed. The character of individuals is always influenced, in a greater or less degree, by that of the nation in which they live. Sometimes, indeed, a great genius appears, who seems 35 not to belong either to his age or country; as a sunny day in winter will sometimes swell the buds, and call forth the early flowers, as if it belonged to a milder season, or happier climate. But, in general, to form an accurate opinion of the character of an individual, it becomes necessary to 40 estimate that of his nation, at the time, in which he lived. Our ancestors were Englishmen; were merchant-adventurers; were Puritans. The elements of their character are therefore to be found in the national character of England, modified in the individuals by the pursuits of con merce, and the profession of an austere but ennobling form of religion. Such were the men from whom we derive our origin; and such were the circumstances which impressed upon 5 them that peculiar character, which it is hoped the lapse of two centuries has not yet obliterated. We may justly be proud of such a descent; for no ancestry in the world, is half so illustrious, as the Puritan founders of New England. It is not merely that they were good men, and reli10 gious men, exhibiting in their lives an example of purity, and temperance, and active virtue, such as no other community in the world could present; but they possessed the dazzling qualities of human greatness. Do we love to dwell upon scenes of romantic adventure? Does our im15 agination kindle at the thought of distant enterprise, among a strange people, exposed to constant and unusual peril? Do we turn with delight to those bold and heroic achievements which call forth the energy of our nature, and, by that deep excitement which belongs to the hopes and haz20 ards of war, awaken us to a new consciousness of existence? All this is found in the history of our ancestors. They were heroes, as well as pilgrims, and nothing is wanting, but the pen of genius, to make their prowess and adventures the theme of a world's admiration. 25 I have already alluded to the force of local association; and I would again advert to it in considering the ties which ought to bind us to our native land. Other countries may possess a richer soil and a gentler sky; but where shall we find the rude magnificence of nature so 30 blended with scenes of enchanting beauty, as among our mountains and lakes? Believe me, it is because our country is yet unexplored, that her scenes of beauty and grandeur, her bright waters and swelling hills, her rich pasturage of living green, mingled with fresh flowers, and 35 skirted with deep and shady forests; her fields teeming with life and vegetation; her mountains rising into the dark blue sky, and blending their summits with the purple clouds; her streams rushing from the hill-side, and hastening to mingle with the sea, or lingering in the solitude of 40 her valleys, and sparkling in the glorious sunshine ;-it is because these are unexplored, that they are unsung. The time is not far distant, when the poet will kindle into rapture, and the painter glow with emotion, in delineating our romantic scenery. But it is our moral associations that must bind us for ever to the land of our fathers. It is a land of equal rights, its soil is not polluted by a slave. It is a land of religious freedom; no hierarchy can here exalt its head, no pontiff 5 can hurl his thunders over a trembling and prostrate multitude. It is a land of industry and toil; affording in this a constant pledge of the manly virtues. It is a land of knowledge and progressive improvement. In no part of the world is so liberal a provision made by law for public 10 instruction. It is a land whose inhabitants have already fulfilled the high duties to which they have been called Other nations have gathered more laurels in the field of blood; other nations have twined more garlands and sung louder praise for their poets and orators and philosophers, 15 but where have romantic courage and adventurous skill been more strikingly exhibited? Where has practica! wisdom been better displayed? In the hour of danger, her sons have been foremost in the battle. In every contest for the rights of mankind, her voice has always been 20 raised on the side of freedom. And now that she stands possessed of everything which civil and political liberty can bestow, she is vigilant and jealous for the preservation of her rights, and is among the first to resist encroach ment. LESSON CLIV.-SCROOGE AND MARLEY.- -Charles Dickens. Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it and Scrooge's 5 name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a doornail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a cof10 fin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it; or the country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail. 15 Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Scrooge and Marley were partners íor I don't know how many years. Scrooge was his sole |