Listen! that eloquent whisper upspringing, 3. Labor is life!-'Tis the still water faileth; Keep the watch wound; for the dark rust assaileth: Play the sweet keys, wouldst thou keep them in tune 4. Labor is rest-from the sorrows that greet us; Work,-and pure slumbers shall wait on thy pillow; 5. Droop not, though shame, sin, and anguish are round thee; Bravely fling off the cold chain that hath bound thee; Look on yon pure heaven smiling beyond thee; -a clod. Rest not content in thy darkness,— Work for some good, be it ever so slowly; Let thy great deeds be thy prayer to thy God. QUESTIONS.-1. Why should we not pause? 2. What examples of industry do we see in Nature? 3. How are the effects of idleness and industry illustrated in the 3d stanza? 4. In what sense may labor be said to be rest? 5. What exhortation in the last stanza? 6. What is meant by the term "world-Sirens" in the 4th stanza? 7. For what should we labor? 8. What should our great deeds be? Which lines of this poetry rhyme with each other? What pause after darkness, 5th stanza? When is this pause generally made? Bee p. 43. LESSON CX. WORDS FOR SPELLING AND DEFINING. STATE LI NESs, grandeur. PRO CLAIM', publish; announce. DE FEAT ED, frustrated. air surrounding the earth. U NI TY, oneness. LAW. RICHARD HOOKER. 1. The stateliness of houses, the goodliness of trees, when we behold them, delighteth the eye; but that foundation which beareth up the one, that root which ministereth to the other nourishment and life, is in the bosom of the earth concealed; and, if there be occasion, at any time, to search into it, such labor is then more necessary than pleasant, both to them which undertake it, and for the lookers-on. 2. In like manner, the use and benefit of good laws, all that live under them, may enjoy with delight and comfort, albeit the grounds and first original causes from whence they have sprung, be unknown, as, to the greatest part of men, they are. 3. Since the time that God did first proclaim the edicts of His law upon the world, heaven and earth have hearkened unto His voice, and their labor hath been to do His will. He made a law for the rain; He gave His decree unto the sea that the waters should not pass His commandment. 4. Now, if Nature should intermit her course, and leave altogether, though it were for awhile, the observation of her own law; if those principal and mother elements of the world, whereof all things in this lower world are made, should lose the qualities which now they have; if the frame of that heavenly arch erected over our heads, should loosen and dissolve itself; if celestial spheres should forget their wonted motions, and, by irregular volubility, turn themselves any way as it might happen; if the prince of the lights of heaven, which now, as a giant, doth run his unwearied course, should, as it were, through a languishing faintness, begin to stand and to rest himself; if the moon should wander from her beaten way; the times and seasons of the year blend themselves by disordered and confused mixture; the winds breathe out their last gasp; the clouds yield no rain; the earth be defeated of heavenly influence; the fruits of the earth pine away, what would become of man himself, whom these things do now all serve? See we not plainly that obedience of creatures unto the law of Nature, is the stay of the whole world? 5. Of Law there can be no less acknowledged than that her seat is the bosom of God; her voice the harmony of the world; all things in heaven and earth do her homage; the very least, as feeling her care, and the greatest, as not exempted from her power. Both angels and men, and creatures of what condition soever, though each in different sort and manner, yet all, with uniform consent, admiring her as the mother of their peace and joy. 6. Law governs the sun, the planets, and the stars. Law covers the earth with beauty, and fills it with bounty. Law directs the light, and moves the wings of the atmosphere; binds the forces of the universe in harmony and order, awakens the melody of creation, quickens every sensation of delight, molds every form of life. 7. Law governs atoms and governs systems. Law governs matter and governs thought. Law springs from the mind of God, travels through creation, and makes all things one. It makes all material forms one in the unity of system; it makes all minds one in the unity of thought and love. ΤΑΡΡΑΝ. QUESTIONS.-1. To what are human laws, with respect to their foundations, compared? 2. What is said to be the stay of the whole world? 3. What must be acknowledged of law? 1. What do you say? What?' I really do not understand you. Be so good as to explain yourself again.-Upon my word, I do not.-O, now I know! you mean to tell me it is a cold day. Why did you not say at once: "It is cold" wish to inform me it rains or snows, pray "It rains :" "it snows;" or, if you think I look well, and you choose to compliment me, say: "I think you look well." to-day." If you say: 2. "But," you answer, "that is so common, and so plain, and what every body can say." Well, and what if they can? Is it so great a misfortune to be understood when one speaks, and to speak like the rest of the world? I will tell you what, my friend; you and your fine-spoken brethren want one thing-you do not suspect it, and I shall astonish you-you want common sense. 3. Nay, this is not all: you have something too much; you possess an opinion that you have more sense than others. That is the source of all your pompous nothings, your cloudy sentences, and your big words without a meaning. Before you accost a person, or enter a room, let me pull you by your sleeve, and whisper in your ear: "Do not try to show off your sense: have none at all: that is your part Use plain language, if you can; just such as you find others use, who, in your idea, have no understanding; and then, perhaps, you will get credit for having some." QUESTIONS.-1. Why was not the speaker understood, at first? 2. What reason is assigned why he thus spoke? 3. What advice is given, in the last paragraph? 4. Are not many readers also, as well as speakers, often misunderstood, or unintelligible for the want of a distinct articulation? Why the rising inflection on say and what, 1st paragraph? LESSON CXII. WORDS FOR SPELLING AND DEFINING. SUIT OR, petitioner. REME DY, cure. IN FRINGE, break; transgress. RE MISSNESS, carelessness. UN WEDGE A BLE, not to be split. PROF A NATION, irreverence of CHOL' ER IC, passionate. BLASPHE MY, impious language SHEKEL, an ancient Jewish coin valued at about £1 168. 6d. The part represented as spoken by Isabella, in this dialogue, should be read in a subdued, but earnest tone of voice, as one pleading for the life of a brother; while that spoken by Angelo. should be expressed in a firm tone of voice, indicative of sternness and inflexibility, except toward the close, where he says: "I will bethink me," &c., when it should become somewhat subdued. A FOND SISTER'S LOVE. Isabella. I am a woful suitor to your honor; Please but your honor hear me. Angelo. Well, what's your suit? SHAKSPEARE Isab. There is a vice that most I do abhor, And most desire should meet the blow of justice, For which I would not plead, but that I must. Ang. Well; the matter? Isab. I have a brother is condemned to die; I do beseech you, let it be his fault, And not my brother. Ang. Condemn the fault, and not the actor of it? Why every fault's condemned cre it be done; Mine were the very cipher of a function, To find the faults, whose fine stands in record, Isab. O just, but severe law! I had a brother, then ;-must he needs die? Ang. Maiden, no remedy. Isab. Yes; I do think that you might pardon him, And neither Heaven nor man grieve at the mercy. Ang. I will not do't. |