LESSON LXXV.

WORDS FOR SPELLING AND DEFINING.

PASS'ING, exceeding; extremely. { ANʼ GLER, fisherman.

3. For science and for books, he said,
He never had a wish;
No school to him was worth a fig,
Except a school of fish.

4. He ne'er aspired to rank or wealth,
Nor cared about a name;

For, though much famed for fish was he,
He never fished for fame!

5. Let others bend their necks at sight
Of Fashion's gilded wheels;

He ne'er had learned the art to "bob"
For any thing but eels.

6. A cunning fisherman was he,
His angles all were right;
The smallest nibble at his bait

Was sure to prove a "6 bite!"

7. All day this fisherman would sit
Upon an ancient log,

And gaze into the water, like
Some sedentary frog;

8. With all the seeming innocence
And that unconscious look,
That other people often wear,
When they intend to "hook!"

9. To charm the fish he never spoke,
Although his voice was fine;
He found the most convenient way
Was just to drop a line!

10. And many a gudgeon of the pond,
If they could speak to-day,

Would own, with grief, this angler had
A mighty taking way.

11. Alas! one day this fisherman
Had taken too much grog,.
And, being but a landsman, too,
He couldn't "keep the log"!

12. 'Twas all in vain with might and main
He strove to reach the shore;
Down-down he went, to feed the fish
He'd baited oft before!

13. The jury gave their verdict, that
'Twas nothing else but gin,

Had caused the fisherman to be
So sadly taken in ;

14. Though one stood out upon a whim,
And said the angler's slaughter,

To be exact about the fact,
Was clearly, gin-and-water !

15. The moral of this mournful tale,
To all is plain and clear,-

That drinking habits bring a man
Too often to his bier;

16. And he who scorns to "take the pledge,"

And keep the promise fast,

May be, in spite of fate, a stiff
Cold-water man at last.

QUESTIONS.-1. In what does much of the wit of this piece consist? Ans. In playing upon words, which have double meanings. What is the moral, as given in the last two stanzas?

LESSON LXXVI.

WORDS FOR SPELLING AND DEFINING.

TEEM' ING, fertile; productive.
PIONEERS', those that go ahead
to clear away obstructions.
CAP TUR ED, taken.
WHOLE' SOME, healthy.
DE SPITE', in spite of.

WI LY, cunning; crafty.
HER MIT, solitary.
So JIAL, familiar.

SUS TAINED, upheld; supported.
VERDURE, greenness; herbage.
HALT ING, stopping.

FIFTY YEARS AGO.

W. D. GALLAGHER.

1. A song for the early times out west,
And our green old forest home,
Whose pleasant memories freshly yet
Across the bosom come:

A song for the free and gladsome life,
In those early days we led,

With a teeming soil beneath our feet,
And a smiling heaven o'erhead!
O, the waves of life danced merrily,
And had a joyous flow,

In the days when we were pioneers,
FIFTY YEARS AGO!

2. The hunt, the shot, the glorious chase,
The captured elk or deer;

The camp, the big, bright fire, and then
The rich and wholesome cheer;
The sweet, sound sleep, at dead of night,
By our camp-fire blazing high,—
Unbroken by the wolf's long howl,
And the panther springing by.
O, merrily passed the time, despite
Our wily Indian foe,

In the days when we were pioneers,
FIFTY YEARS AGO!

3. We shunned not labor; when 'twas due,
We wrought with right good will;
And, for the home we won for them,
Our children bless us still.

4. We felt that we were fellow-men;
We felt we were a band,
Sustained here in the wilderness,
By Heaven's upholding hand.

(d) And, when the solemn Sabbath caine,
We gathered in the wood,

And lifted up our hearts in prayer
To God, the only Good.

Our temples then were earth and sky;
None others did we know,

In the days when we were pioneers,
FIFTY YEARS AGO!

5. Our forest life was rough and rude,
And dangers closed us round;
But here, amid the green old trees,
Freedom we sought and found.
Oft through our dwellings wint'ry blasts
Would rush with shriek and moan;
We cared not-though they were but frail,
We felt they were our own!

O, free and manly lives we led,
Mid verdure or mid snow,

In the days when we were pioneers,
FIFTY YEARS AGO!

6. But now our course of life is short; And as, from day to day,

We're walking on with halting step, (p.) And fainting by the way,

Another land, more bright than this,
To our dim sight appears,

And, on our way to it, we'll soon
Again be pioneers!:

And, while we linger, we may all
A backward glance still throw
To the days when we were pioneers,
FIFTY YEARS AGO!

QUESTIONS.-1. What scenes does the author refer to, as having transpired fifty years ago? 2. To what other land may those who have been pioneers in this world, look forward?

LESSON LXXVII.

WORDS FOR SPELLING AND DEFINING.

AS SO CI A'TIONS, communities. As so' CI ATE, join company.

CAR NIVO ROUS, flesh-eating.

EX PANDED, drawn out.
CON SPIO U Ous, prominent.
TRANS PORTING, conveying from
one place to another.

PE RUS' ING, reading attentively.
MOD' EL, pattern.

AS SI DU I TY, diligence.

CON STRUCT ING, building.

INSTINCTS, natural impulses.
STIM U LATE, urge or spur on.
SO LIC' I TUDE, anxiety.
CHRYS A LIDS, insects in their
second state, passing to their
perfect form.
DEX TER I TY, skill.

SUB TER RANE AN, under ground.
CEL' E BRA TED, distinguished.

AN NI HI LA TED, brought to RE MOT EST, most distant.

nothing.

AN TIQ UI TY, olden times.

SOCIETY OF ANIMALS.

SMELLIE.

1. It is needless to remark that man holds the first rank in animal associations. If men did not assist each other, no operation of any magnitude could possibly be effected. A single family, or even a few families united, like other carnivorous animals, might hunt their prey, and procure a sufficient quantity of food.

2. Man, even in his most uninformed state, possesses the germs of every species of knowledge and of genius. But they must be cherished, expanded, and brought gradually to perfection. It is by numerous and regularly-established societies alone, that such glorious exhibitions of human intellect can be produced.

3. Next to the intelligence exhibited in human society,