down to drink, dipping their long beards in the spring. The richest goblet then was of birch bark.

11. Governor Winthrop drank here, out of the hollow of his hand. The elder Higginson here wet his palm and laid it on the brow of the first town-born child. For many years it was the watering place, and, as it were, the washbowl of the vicinity, whither all decent folks resorted to purify their visages, and gaze at them afterward—at least the pretty maidens did-in the mirror which it made. On Sabbath days, whenever a babe was to be baptized, the sexton filled his basin here, and placed it on the communion table of the humble meetinghouse which partly covered the site of yonder stately brick one. Thus one generation after another was consecrated to Heaven by its waters, and cast its waxing and waning shadows into its glassy bosom, and vanished from the earth as if mortal life were but a flitting image in a fountain. Finally, the fountain vanished also. Cellars were dug on all sides, and cart loads of gravel flung upon its source, whence oozed a turbid stream, forming a mud puddle at the corner of two streets.

12. In the hot months, when its refreshment was most needed, the dust flew in clouds over the forgotten birthplace of the waters, now their grave. But in the course of time a Town Pump was sunk into the source of the ancient spring; and when the first decayed, another took its place, and then another, and still another, till here stand I, gentlemen and ladies, to serve you, with my iron goblet. Drink, and be refreshed! The water is pure and cold as that which slaked the thirst of the red Sagamore beneath the aged boughs, though now the gem of the wilderness is treasured under these hot stones, where no shadow falls but from the brick buildings.

And be it the moral of my story, that, as the wasted and long-lost fountain is now known and prized again, so shall the virtues of cold water, too little valued since your fathers' days, be recognized by all.

13. Your pardon, good people! I must interrupt my stream of eloquence, and spout forth a stream of water, to replenish the trough for this teamster and his two yoke of oxen, who have come from Topsfield, or somewhere along that way. No part of my business is pleasanter than the watering of cattle. Look! how rapidly they lower the watermark on the sides of the trough, till their capacious stomachs are moistened with a gallon or two apiece, and they can afford time to breathe it in with. sighs of calm enjoyment. Now they roll their quiet eyes around the brim of their monstrous drinking vessel. An ox is your true toper.

Nathaniel Hawthorne.

NOTE. In cases where a long and difficult lesson is met with, it is suggested that the piece be treated as a whole, but considered, first, in regard to its words (spelling and pronunciation); second, in regard to forms and technicalities (language lessons); third, in regard to the meaning of the words as they are used in the piece; fourth, the historical, biographical, and other allusions; fifth, the style and thought of the piece; sixth, its elocution. In this way a piece like the one here given may profitably occupy the time of six recitations, and the pupil learn more from it than from a dozen easy pieces.

FOR PREPARATION.-I. The author of this piece ranks as the first of American prose writers. Explain the allusions to "March meeting" (1) (for choosing town officers); "town treasurer" (2); "dramseller on the mall at muster day " (măll, a public shaded walk); “Cognac" (5); “Endicott" and "Winthrop " (11); "Sagamore" (12). Locate Salem on your map (the scene of this "stream of eloquence "), and the other places mentioned.

II. Explain spelling and pronunciation of trough (trawf), phy-şi’cian (fi-zish'un), Єo'-gnae (kōn'yák), fi'-er-y, fĕr'-ule (fĕr'ril), leaf-strewn (-strun), prě ́-cious (prèsh ́us), buşi'-ness (biz'nes), çěl'-larş, ōōzed, rěm-inis'-çen-çeş.

III. Explain the composition of the words tiptop, manifold, rightfully, outcry, darksome, immemorial.

IV. Give, in your own words, the meaning of perpetuity, guardian, promulgating, municipality, trudged, potations, rubicund, miniature, Tophet, hospitality, titillation of the gout (see XLVIII., note I.), vicinity, consecrated, interrupt, replenish.

V. Who is talking in this piece? Explain the metaphors, "birthplace of waters, now their grave" (12); "stream of eloquence" (13). Explain the assertions in verses 2, 3, 4, and 5, showing in what sense the Pump can boast of being "the head of the fire department," "physician of the board of health," etc., etc. Follow out the personification of the Pump in each Note the style of the piece, and account for its liveliness. Change one of the paragraphs into a dull, monotonous one, expressing the same ideas.

verse.

LXXXVI. THE EVE BEFORE WATERLOO.

1. There was a sound of revelry by night,
And Belgium's capital had gathered then
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright
The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men.
A thousand hearts beat happily; and when
Music arose with its voluptuous swell,

Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again,
And all went merry as a marriage bell.

But, hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell!

2. Did ye not hear it?-No; 'twas but the wind,

Or the car rattling o'er the stony street.

On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet!
But, hark! that heavy sound breaks in once more,
As if the clouds its echo would repeat;

And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before!

Arm! arm! it is-it is the cannon's opening roar!

3. Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro,
And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress,
And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago
Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness;
And there were sudden partings, such as press
The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs
Which ne'er might be repeated: who could guess
If ever more should meet those mutual eyes,
Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise!

4. And there was mounting in hot haste: the steed,
The mustering squadron, and the clattering car,
Went pouring forward with impetuous speed,
And swiftly forming in the ranks of war;
And the deep thunder peal on peal afar;
And near, the beat of the alarming drum
Roused up the soldier ere the morning star;
While thronged the citizens with terror dumb,
Or whispering with white lips, "The foe! They come !
they come!"

5. And wild and high the "Cameron's Gathering" rose!
The war note of Lochiel, which Albyn's hills
Have heard and heard, too, have her Saxon foes:
How in the noon of night that pibroch thrills,
Savage and shrill! But with the breath which fills
Their mountain pipe, so fill the mountaineers
With the fierce native daring which instills
The stirring memory of a thousand years,

And Evan's, Donald's fame rings in each clansman's ears!

6. And Ardennes waves above them her green
Dewy with Nature's tear-drops, as they pass,
Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves,
Over the unreturning brave-alas!

leaves,

Ere evening to be trodden like the grass
Which now beneath them, but above shall
In its next verdure, when this fiery mass
Of living valor, rolling on the foe,

grow

And burning with high hope, shall molder cold and low.

7. Last noon beheld them full of lusty life,
Last eve in Beauty's circle proudly gay;

The midnight brought the signal sound of strife-
The morn, the marshaling in arms-the day,
Battle's magnificently stern array!

The thunderclouds close o'er it, which when rent
The earth is covered thick with other clay,
Which her own clay shall cover, heaped and pent,
Rider and horse-friend, foe-in one red burial blent!
Lord Byron.

66

FOR PREPARATION.-I. An extract from "Childe Harold," Canto III. Locate on the map the scenes of this poem. How far from Belgium's capital? (LXXXVIII.). "Lochiel "; Albyn's hills, and her Saxon foes"; "Cameron's Gathering"; "pibroch"; "Evan's, Donald's fame "—explain these allusions. This forest of Ardennes (probably the same as Shakespeare's forest of Arden) is the wood of Soignies. Have you read, in Thackeray's "Vanity Fair," the description he gives of this night in Brussels ? (The occasion was the ball given by the Duchess of Richmond. Wellington told his officers to be present, as he wished to conceal from the people of Brussels the near approach of the battle.)

II. Chiv'-al-ry (shiv'-), vo-lup'-tu-ous, glow'-ing, squad'-ron, Loehiēl', Al′-byn (ǎl'bin), pi'-broeh, Ar-děnnes' (-děn ́), griēv'-ing, vẽr'-dure, bur'-i-al (běr'ri-al).

III. Explain the effect of the dashes and exclamation points in this piece. IV. Revelry, chivalry, squadron, impetuous, clansman, blent (blended). V. Note the coloring of the picture: first, the revelry; beauty and chivalry; happy hearts; music and merry social intercourse; each one absorbed in the pleasure of the moment, thoughtless of the welfare of the country or