Sanders' Union Fourth Reader Part 69

12. In she plunged boldly, No matter how coldly The rough river ran-- Picture it--think of it, Dissolute Man!

13. Take her up tenderly, Lift her with care, Fas.h.i.+oned so slenderly, Young, and so fair!

14. Peris.h.i.+ng gloomily, Spurred by contumely, Cold inhumanity, Burning insanity, Into her rest, Cross her hands humbly, As if praying dumbly, Over her breast!

15. Owning her weakness, Her evil behavior, And leaving, with meekness, Her sins to her Savior!

LESSON XCVII.

RE' QUI EM, hymn in honor of the dead.

WED, joined; united.

HENCE' FORTH, hereafter.

DROOP, languish; fail.

AF FEC TION, love.

DIM' MED, dull; obscured.

A REQUIEM.

1. Breathe low, thou gentle wind, (pl) Breathe soft and low; The beautiful lies dead!

The joy of life is fled!

And my lone heart is wed Henceforth to woe!

2. That thou should'st droop and die At early morn!

While yet thy graceful dew A joyous fragrance drew From every flower that grew Life's path along!

3. The green earth mourns for thee, Thou dearest one; A plaintive tone is heard, And flower and leaflet stirred, And every fav'rite bird Sings sad and lone.

4. Pale is thy brow, and dimmed Thy sparkling eye!

Affection's sweetest token Is lost fore'er and broken!

The last kind word is spoken,-- Why did'st thou die?

5. Breathe low, thou gentle wind, Breathe soft and low; The beautiful lies dead!

The joy of life is fled!

And my lone heart is wed Henceforth to woe!

QUESTIONS.--1. What rule for changing _y_ into _i_ in the word _beautiful?_ See a.n.a.lYSIS, page 13, Rule XI. 2. Why are _r_ and _m_ doubled in the words _stirred, dimmed?_ See Rule IX. 3. What is the meaning of the suffix _let_, in the word _leaflet?_ See page 240, Ex.

185.

LESSON XCVIII.

LUX U' RI ANT, rich; plentiful.

UN OS TEN TA' TIOUS, plain; not showy.

RE VER EN' TIAL, deeply respectful.

RE CEP' TA CLE, place of reception.

SEM' I CIR CLE, half-circle.

REC OG NI' TION, act of knowing.

AG RI CUL' TUR AL, relating to farming.

BEN E DIC' TION, blessing.

DI' A RY, note-book; journal.

SO JOURN' ED, resided for a while.

AC CLA MA' TIONS, shouts.

TRI UMPH' AL, relating to victory.

GRAT U LA' TION, rejoicing.

IN AUG U RA' TION, act of investing with office.

EN FRAN' CHIS ED, freed; liberated.

[Headnote 1: SAR COPH' A GUS, (SARCO, _flesh_; and PHAGUS, _that which eats or devours_,) is made up of two Greek words, signifying together _flesh-eating_, and was applied by the ancients to a species of stone, used for making coffins. Hence, sarcophagus came to signify a _stone-coffin_. The form of the plural in Latin, is _sarcophagi_.]

[Headnote 2: BAS' TILE, (_bas' teel_,) an old state prison in Paris, built in 1369, and destroyed by a mob in 1789.]

VISIT TO MOUNT VERNON.

A.C. RITCHIE.

1. At this moment, we drew near the rude wharf at Mount Vernon; the boat stopped, and the crowd of pa.s.sengers landed. By a narrow pathway we ascended a majestic hill thickly draped with trees. The sun scarcely found its way through the luxuriant foliage. We mounted slowly, but had only spent a few minutes in ascending, when we came suddenly upon a picturesque nook, where a cl.u.s.ter of unostentatious, white marble shafts, shot from the greenly sodded earth, inclosed by iron railings.

Those unpretending monuments mark the localities where repose the mortal remains of Was.h.i.+ngton's kindred.

2. Just beyond stands a square brick building. In the center you see an iron gate. Here the crowd pauses in reverential silence. Men lift their hats and women bow their heads. You behold within, two sarcophagi.

[Headnote 1] In those moldering tombs lie the ashes of the great Was.h.i.+ngton and his wife. Not a word is uttered as the crowd stand gazing on this lowly receptacle of the dust of America's mighty dead.

3. Are there any in that group who can say, "this was _our_ country's father'?" If there be, can they stand pilgrims at that grave without Was.h.i.+ngton's examples, his counsels, his words, heretofore, it may be, half-forgotten, stealing back into their minds, until the sense of reverence and grat.i.tude is deepened almost to awe? Do they not feel that Was.h.i.+ngton's spirit is abroad in the world, filling the souls of a heaven-favored people with the love of freedom and of country, though his ashes are gathered here'?

4. Some one moves to pa.s.s on; and, with that first step, the spell is broken; others follow. Herman and Jessie linger last. After a period of mute and moving reflection, they turn away and slowly approach the mansion that, in simple, rural stateliness, stands upon a n.o.ble promontory, belted with woods, and half-girdled by the sparkling waters of the Potomac, which flow in a semicircle around a portion of the mount.

5. The water and woodland view from the portico is highly imposing. But it was not the mere recognition of the picturesque and beautiful in nature, that moved Herman and Jessie. They would have felt that they were on holy ground, had the landscape been devoid of natural charm.

Here the feet of the first of heroes had trod, and here, in boyhood, he had sported with his beloved brother Lawrence.

6. In those forests, those deep-wooded glens, he had hunted, when a stripling, by the side of old Lord Fairfax; here he took his first lessons in the art of war; to this home he brought his bride; by this old-fas.h.i.+oned, hospitable-looking fireside, he sat with that dear and faithful wife; beneath yonder alley of lofty trees he has often wandered by her side; here he indulged the agricultural tastes in which he delighted; here resigned his Cincinnatus vocation, and bade adieu to his cherished home at the summons of his country.

7. Here his wife received the letter which told her that he had been appointed Commander-in-chief of the army; here, when the glorious struggle closed at the trumpet notes of victory--when the British had retired--when, with tears coursing down his benignant, manly countenance, he had uttered a touching farewell--bestowed a paternal benediction on the American army, and resigned all public service-- _here_ he returned, thinking to resume the rural pursuits that charmed him, and to end his days in peace!

8. Here are the trees, the shrubbery he planted with his own hands, and noted in his diary; here are the columns of the portico round which he twined the coral honeysuckle; the ivy he transplanted still clings to yonder garden wall; these vistas he opened through yon pine groves to command far-off views! Here the valiant Lafayette sojourned with him; there hangs the key of the Bastile [Headnote 2] which he presented.

9. Here flocked the ill.u.s.trious men of all climes, and were received with warm, unpretending, almost rustic hospitality. Here the French Houdon modeled his statue, and the English Pine painted his portrait, and caused that jocose remark, "I am so hackneyed to the touches of the painters' pencil, that I am altogether at their beck, and sit like 'Patience on a monument!'"

10. Then came another summons from the land he had saved, and he was chosen by unanimous voice its chief ruler. Thousands of men, women, and children, sent up acclamations, and called down blessings on his head, as he made his triumphal progress from Mount Vernon to New York, to take the presidential oath. The roar of cannon rent the air. The streets through which he pa.s.sed, were illuminated and decked with flags and wreaths. Bonfires blazed on the hills. From s.h.i.+ps and boats floated festive decorations. At Gray's Ferry, he pa.s.sed under triumphal arches.

11. On the bridge across the a.s.sumpink, at Trenton, (the very bridge over which he had retreated in such blank despair, before the army of Cornwallis, on the eve of the battle of Princeton,) thirteen pillars, twined with laurel and evergreens, were reared by woman's hands. The foremost of the arches those columns supported, bore the inscription, _"The Defender of the Mothers will he the Protector of the Daughters."_ Mothers, with their white-robed daughters, were a.s.sembled beneath the vernal arcade. Thirteen maidens scattered flowers beneath his feet, as they sang an ode of gratulation. The people's hero ever after spoke of this tribute, as the one that touched him most deeply.

13. When his first presidential term expired, and his heart yearned for the peace of his domestic hearth, the entreaties of Jefferson, Randolph, and Hamilton, forced him to forget that home for the one he held in the hearts of patriots, and to allow his name to be used a second time. A second time he was unanimously elected to preside over his country's welfare. But, the period happily expired, he thankfully laid aside the mantle of state, the scepter of power, and, five days after the inauguration of Adams, returned here to his Mount Vernon home. And here the good servant, whom his Lord, when He came, found watching and ready, calmly yielded up his breath, exclaiming, "It is well!" and his spirit was wafted to Heaven by the blessings of his enfranchised countrymen.

QUESTIONS.--1. Where is Mount Vernon? 2. What is said of Was.h.i.+ngton's tomb? 3. Mention some of the things which he did here? 4. What demonstrations were made by the people, as he went to New York to take the oath of office? 5. Did he serve more than one term as President?