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8. There were dames with their kerchiefs tied over their caps,
To see if their poultry were free from mishaps;
The turkeys all gobbled, the geese screamed aloud,
And the hens crept to roost in a terrified crowd.

9. There was rearing of ladders, and logs were laid on,
Where the thatch from the roof threatened soon to be gone.
But the wind had passed on, and had met, in a lane,
With a schoolboy who panted and struggled in vain;
For it tossed him, and twirled him, then passed, and he stood
With his hat in a pool, and his shoes in the mud.

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PRONUNCIATION.-Proc'css 27a, de-spise' 1, ed'i-fice 5a, de-spond′ent 1, re-mem′ber 1, de-term'in-a-tion 1 and 29.

LITTLE BY LITTLE.

1. EDWIN was looking at a large building in process of construction just opposite his father's house. He watched the workmen from day to day as they carried up the bricks and mortar, and placed them in their proper order.

2. His father said to him, "My son, you seem to be very much taken with the bricklayers; pray, what are you thinking about? Have you any intention of learning the trade?"

3. "No, sir; but I was thinking what a little thing a brick is, and yet that great house is built by laying one brick on another.”

4. "Very true, my son. Never forget that. Just so it is in all great works. All learning is only one little lesson added to another. 5. "If a man could walk all around the globe, it would be by continuing to put one foot before the other. Your whole life will be Drop added to drop

made up of one little moment after another. makes the ocean.

6. "Learn from this not to despise little things. Learn also not to be discouraged by great labors. The greatest labor becomes easy, if divided into parts.

7. "You could not jump over a mountain, but step by step takes you to the other side. Do not fear, therefore, to attempt great

things. Always remember that the whole of yonder lofty edifice is only brick on brick."

8. "Father, do you remember the proverb you repeated to me the other day?". ""What proverb, my son?"

9. "Patience and perseverance overcome mountains. That proverb, I suppose, means that, though a difficulty may be so great as to appear like a mountain, yet patience and perseverance will in time overcome it."

10. "Yes, my son. A certain distinguished man had for his device a mountain and a man with a pick-axe digging at it, with the motto, Little by little. In this way, little by little, the greatest difficuities have been overcome, and the greatest things accomplished.

11. "It would seem impossible for a number of little insects to commence at the bottom of the ocean and build up islands; yet the coral-insects have filled whole seas with islands, little by little. 12. "A Chinese ode says:

Nothing is difficult beneath the sky;
Man only fails because he fails to try.

13. "Tradition says that Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, was in his youth of so impatient a temper that he could not endure the drudgery of learning, and, in his desponding hours, he determined to give up the attempt to learn.

14. "One day, as he was returning home with a full determination to go to school no longer, he happened to pass by a half-witted old woman, who was rubbing a small bar of iron on a whetstone.

15. "When the young student asked her the reason of this strange employment, she replied, 'Why, sir, I have lost my knitting-needle, and just thought I would rub down this bar to make me another.'

16. "The words acted like magic on the young philosopher, who returned to his books with ten-fold diligence; and whenever he felt impatient and despondent he would say to himself, ‘If a halfwitted old woman has resolution enough to rub down a bar of iron to a needle, it would be disgraceful in me to have less perseverance, when the highest honors of the empire are before me.""

17. Here Edwin said, "Father, the poem I learned yesterday is, I believe, on the same subject." "Well, Edwin, repeat it," said his father.

"Little drops of water, little grains of sand,
Make the boundless ocean and the pleasant land;
And the little moments, humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages of eternity.

So our little errors lead the soul astray

From the paths of virtue, oft in sin to stray;
Little deeds of kindness, little words of love,

Make our earth an Eden, like the heaven above."

LESSON XXXIV.

GLADE, level opening, or intervale.
HEAV'ING, Swelling in waves.
MIRROR, reflecting a true image.
SAITH (seth), old form of says.
SE-RENE', calm and clear.

STREAM LET, a small stream; so beamlet, a small beam or ray.

SILVER-Y, having the luster of silver, white.

TU-MULT'U-OUs, violently agitated.

PRONUNCIATION.-Foun'tain 3c, silver-y 3b, cheer'ful 22, ves'sels 4b, tu mult u

ous 3e.

WHAT SAITH THE FOUNTAIN?

1. WHAT saith the fountain,
Hid in the glade,
Where the tall mountain
Throweth its shade?

2. "Deep in my waters, reflected serene
All the soft beauty of heaven is seen;
Thus let thy bosom, from wild passions free,
Ever the mirror of purity be."

3. What saith the streamlet,
Flowing so bright,

Clear as a beamlet

Of silvery light?

4. "Morning and evening still floating along,
Upward forever ascendeth my song.
Be thou contented, whatever befall,
Cheerful in knowing that God is o'er all."

5. What saith the river,

Majestic in flow,
Moving for ever

Calmly and slow ?

6. "Over my surface the great vessels glide,
Ocean-ward borne by my strong-heaving tide.
Work thou too, brother, life vanisheth fast,-
Labor unceasing,- rest cometh at last."

7. What saith the ocean,
Boundless as night;
Tumultuous in motion,
Resistless in might?

8. "Fountain to streamlet, streamlet to river,
All in my bosom commingle for ever;
Morning to noontide, and noontide to night,
Soon will eternity vail thee from sight."

W. W. CALDWELL.

LESSON XXXV.

Ex-CESS', improper indulgence of appe- | DIS-CERN', to distinguish, to see.

tite or passion, intemperance. EX'TRI-CATE, to disentangle, to free. LAB'Y-RINTH, a place full of intricate winding passages.

OB-SCURE', dark.

PRO-JECTION, throwing forward; a part jutting out.

RE-SENT MENT, anger.

PRONUNCIATION.-Ob-scure' 16, and 29, dis-cern 33, nearly 22, sev'er-al 36, proceed'ed 2d, ef-fect'u-al-ly 3a, ex-cess' 1, an'cient 34, a-round' lf, asked 29.

THE LAMP.-A FABLE.

1. A YOUTH was once walking along in the obscure passages of an ancient building. The place was rough and dark, and in some parts he could hardly discern the objects around him. Several times he ran against the stone pillars and projections that came in his way, and severely wounded his flesh.

2. In one instance he was plunged headlong down a flight of steps; and at last he fell into a pit. Having extricated himself from this with much difficulty, he was so disheartened that he burst into

tears.

3. While he stood weeping in the dark passage, a door opened in the floor, through which a flood of light burst forth; and immediately a lovely female was before him. She had a winning smile upon her face, and asked in gentle tones what he desired.

4. "Give me a lamp! pray give me a lamp!" said the boy, "to guide me through this labyrinth!" No sooner was the request made than it was granted; a lamp was in the boy's hand, and the fairy image disappeared.

5. The youth now tripped gayly forward; but pretty soon he ran so fast that the light of the lamp was nearly extinguished, and several times he suffered the same injuries he had suffered before he received it. At last he proceeded so rapidly, in his impatience to get forward, that the lamp went out, and left him to grope his way in total darkness.

6. There is a meaning in this fable, if we desire to find it. The lamp may be likened to reason, which God has given as our guide in life. This is the light to show us the dangers and evils that beset our path. If we bear it steadily, it will continue bright, and serve us effectually; but if we become impatient-if we allow our passions to hurry us onward- -the light of the lamp will grow dim, and in some moment of excess it will go out, leaving us in obscurity or total darkness.

7. How often does it happen that the passions of men completely blind them! How often is the lamp of reason blown out in the haste and violence of our wishes, our prejudices, or our resentment!

LESSON XXXVI.

BLITHE, joyous, merry.
BUN, a kind of cake.
LARK, a singing-bird. The skylark rises
in the air while it sings, and is heard
even when out of sight.

PIKE STAFF, the wooden pole of a pike. A pike is a military weapon, consisting of a long pole with a pointed steel

head.

SIM'I-LE, a comparison.

PRONUNCIATION.— Sim'i-le 25, deaf 35, solid lc, yellow 6, sleek 35.

[blocks in formation]

as round as a cheese

As tall as a steeple -
As broad as 'tis long- and as long as you please.

ACID, sour.

LESSON XXXVII.

AUBURN, reddish brown.

GAR LAND, a wreath worn on the head. LAN'GUID, flagging, drooping, indisposed to exertion.

RIV'U-LET, a small stream.

TANNED, browned by the sun.
TRANS-PARENT, (Latin trans, across,
through, and parco, to appear,) allow.
ing bodies to appear through; admit-
ting the passage of light.
UN-A-WARES', suddenly, unexpectedly.

PRONUNCIATION. Maid'en 4d, ap-proach'es 1f, garland 1a, be-gin' 1, and 29, parched 9, are 33, par'tridge 9, beard 22, hearth 33.

THE SEASONS.

SPRING.

1. WHO is this beautiful maiden that approaches, clothed in a robe of light green? She has a garland of flowers on her head, and flowers spring up wherever she sets her foot.

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