Sanders' Union Fourth Reader Part 74

They looked upon the high, blue air, And felt their spirits glow, Resolved to live or perish there,-- TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

6. The warrior's red right arm was bared, His eyes flashed deep and wild: Was there a foreign footstep dared To seek his home and child'?

The dark chiefs yelled alarm, and swore The white man's blood should flow, And his hewn bones should bleach their sh.o.r.e, TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

7. But lo! the warrior's eye grew dim,-- His arm was left alone; The still, black wilds which sheltered him, No longer were his own!

Time fled,--and on the hallowed ground His highest pine lies low,-- And cities swell where forests frowned, TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

8. Oh! stay not to recount the tale,-- 'Twas b.l.o.o.d.y, and 'tis past; The firmest cheek might well grow pale, To hear it to the last.

The G.o.d of Heaven who prospers us, Could bid a nation grow, And s.h.i.+eld us from the red man's curse,-- TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

9. Come, then,--great shades of glorious men, From your still glorious grave!

Look on your own proud land again, O bravest of the brave!

We call you from each mouldering tomb, And each blue wave below, To bless the world ye s.n.a.t.c.hed from doom, TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

10. Then to your harps!--yet louder,--higher And pour your strains along; And smite again each quivering wire, In all the pride of song!

(f.)Shout for those G.o.dlike men of old, Who, daring storm and foe, On this blessed soil their anthem rolled, TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

QUESTIONS.--1. Who are meant by _G.o.dlike men of old_? 2. Why did they flee to this country? 3. Who warred against them?

LESSON CVI.

SE RENE' LY, calmly; quietly.

SUR MOUNT', rise above; overcome.

TRAMP, tread, or travel.

EB' ON, black, as ebony.

GUARD' I AN, defender; protector.

CHIV' AL RIC, brave; heroic.

MAIL, defensive armor.

EX ALT', lift up.

FRAIL' TY, weakness.

BLIGHT' ED, blasted.

RE NOWN', fame; celebrity.

STEAD' FAST, firm; resolute.

IN TER VENE', (INTER, _between_; VENE, _to come_;) come between; interpose.

SUC CEED', (SUC, _after;_ CEED, _to come;_) come after; follow.

PRESS ON.

PARK BENJAMIN.

1. _Press on!_ there's no such word as fail!

Press n.o.bly on! the goal is near,-- Ascend the mountain! breast the gale!

Look upward, onward,--never fear!

Why shouldst thou faint? Heaven smiles above, Though storms and vapor intervene; That Sun s.h.i.+nes on, whose name is Love, Serenely o'er Life's shadowed scene.

2. _Press on!_ surmount the rocky steeps, Climb boldly o'er the torrent's arch: He fails alone who feebly creeps; He wins, who dares the hero's march.

Be thou a hero! let thy might Tramp on eternal snows its way, And, through the ebon walls of night, Hew down a pa.s.sage unto day.

3. _Press on!_ if once and twice thy feet Slip back and stumble, harder try; From him who never dreads to meet Danger and death, they're sure to fly.

To coward ranks the bullet speeds; While on their b.r.e.a.s.t.s who never quail, Gleams, guardian of chivalric deeds, Bright courage, like a coat of mail.

4. _Press on_! if Fortune play thee false To-day, to-morrow she'll be true; Whom now she sinks she now exalts, Taking old gifts and granting new.

The wisdom of the present hour Makes up her follies past and gone: To weakness strength succeeds, and power From frailty springs;--_press on_! PRESS ON!

5. _Press on_! what though upon the ground Thy love has been poured out like rain?

That happiness is always found The sweetest, which is born of pain.

Oft 'mid the forest's deepest glooms, A bird sings from some blighted tree, And, in the dreariest desert, blooms A never-dying rose for thee.

6. Therefore, _press on_! and reach the goal, And gain the prize, and wear the crown: Faint not! for, to the steadfast soul, Come wealth, and honor, and renown.

To thine own self be true, and keep Thy mind from sloth, thy heart from soil; _Press on_! and thou shalt surely reap A heavenly harvest for thy toil!

QUESTIONS.--1. What encouragement is given to those who press on? 2. Who fails, and who wins? 3. What is said of those who never dread to meet danger and death? 4. How are they rewarded, who press on?

LESSON CVII.

EX PAND, develop; enlarge.

EL E VATE, raise; dignify.

VAR RI A BLE, changeable.

PHAN TAS MA GO' RIA, magic lantern; illusive representations.

UN' DU LA TING, waving; irregular.

MO BIL'I TY, movableness; readiness to move.

DO' CILE, teachable; obedient.

CE LES' TIAL, heavenly.

DIS' SI PATES, scatters, or confuses.

IN FIN' I TY, boundlessness.

GYM NAS' TIC, athletic exercise.

O PAC' I TY, state of being opaque or dark.

PA THET' IC, feeling; tender.

IN DOM' I TA BLE, unconquerable.

CO-OP' ER ATE, work with; join with.

MOUNT PER' DU, one of the high summits of the Pyrenees mountains, in Spain. The name signifies "Lost Mountain;" in allusion, probably, to its peak being lost in the clouds.

THE THREE FORMS OF NATURE.

FROM THE FRENCH OF MICHELET.

1. There are three forms of Nature, which especially command and elevate our souls, release her from her heavy clay and earthly limits, and send her, exulting, to sail amidst the wonders and mysteries of the Infinite.

_First_, there is the unstable _Ocean of Air_ with its glorious banquet of light, its vapors, its twilight, and its s.h.i.+fting phantasmagoria of capricious creatures, coming into existence only to depart the next instant.

2. _Second_, there is the fixed _Ocean of the Earth_, its undulating and vast waves, as we see them from the tops of "the earth o'er gazing mountains," the elevations which testify to antique mobility, and the sublimity of its mightier mountain-tops, clad in eternal snows. _Third_, there is the _Ocean of Waters_, less mobile than air, less fixed than earth, but liable, in its movements, to the celestial bodies.