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AMERICAN COMMON-SCHO ›L

[PART II

Before the regent of the skies

Men shrink, and veil their dazzled eyes;
But thou, in regal majesty,

Hast kingly rank as well as he;
5 And with a steady, dauntless gaze
Thou meet'st the splendor of his blaze.

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Bird of Columbia! well art thou
An emblem of our native land;
With unblenched front and noble brow,
Among the nations doomed to stand;
Proud, like her mighty mountain woods;
Like her own rivers, wandering free;
And sending forth from hills and floods,
The joyous shout of liberty!

[1] 15 Like thee, majestic bird! like thee,
She stands in unbought majesty,

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With spreading wing, untired and strong,
That dares a soaring far and long,

That mounts aloft, nor looks below,

[II] 20 And will not quail though tempests blow. The admiration of the earth,

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In grand simplicity she stands;
Like thee, the storms beheld her birth,
And she was nursed by rugged hands;
25 But, past the fierce and furious war,
Her rising fame new glory brings,
For kings and nobles come from far
To seek the shelter of her wings.
And like thee, rider of the cloud,
30 She mounts the heavens, serene and proud,
Great in a pure and noble fame,
Great in her spotless champion's name,
And destined in her day to be
Mighty as Rome,-more nobly free.

35 My native land! my native land!

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To her my thoughts will fondly turn;
For her the warmest hopes expand,
For her the heart with fears will yearn.
Oh! may she keep her eye, like thee,
Proud eagle of the rocky wild,
Fix'd on the sun of liberty,

By rank, by faction unbeguiled;

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Remembering still the rugged road
Our venerable fathers trod,

When they through toil and danger press'd,
To gain their glorious bequest,

And from each lip the caution fell

To those who follow'd, "Guard it well."

LESSON XLII.-THE LAST EVENING BEFORE ETERNITY.—
J. A. HILLHOUSE.

[The following extract is intended as an exercise in 'low' pitch of utterance. A deep, and comparatively hollow tone, pervades the reading of this piece, as it is characterized by the deepest solemnity. As an exercise in elocution, it is designed to cultivate the power of full and clear utterance, on a low key,-an attainment more difficult than most others, but of the greatest service to appropriate expression, in all solemn passages, whether in sacred or secular coinposi tions.]

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By this, the sun his westering car drove low;
Round his broad wheels full many a lucid cloud
Floated, like happy isles in seas of gold:
Along the horizon castled shapes were piled,
Turrets and towers, whose fronts embattled gleamed
With yellow light: smit by the slanting ray,
A ruddy beam the canopy reflected;

With deeper light the ruby blushed; and thick
Upon the seraphs' wings the glowing spots
Seemed drops of fire. Uncoiling from its staff,
With fainter wave, the gorgeous ensign hung,
Or, swelling with the swelling breeze, by fits
Cast off, upon the dewy air, huge flakes
Of golden lustre. Over all the hill,

The heavenly legions, the assembled world,
Evening her crimson tint for ever drew.

Round I gazed

Where in the purple west, no more to dawn,
Faded the glories of the dying day.

Mild-twinkling through a crimson-skirted cloud,
The solitary star of evening shone.

While gazing wistful on that peerless light,
Thereafter to be seen no more, (as oft

In dreams strange images will mix,) sad thoughts

*For an example of 'very low' utterance, see LESSON ILVI

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Passed o'er my soul. Sorrowing I cried, "Farewell,
Pale, beauteous planet, that display'st so soft,
Amid yon glowing streak, thy transient beam,
A long, a last farewell! Seasons have changed,
Ages and empires rolled, like smoke, away,
But thou, unaltered, beam'st as silver fair

As on thy birthnight! Bright and watchful eyes,
From palaces and bowers, have hailed thy gem
With secret transport! Natal star of love,
And souls that love the shadowy hour of fancy,
How much I owe thee, how I bless thy ray!
How oft thy rising o'er the hamlet green,
Signal of rest, and social converse sweet,
Beneath some patriarchal tree, has cheered
The peasant's heart, and drawn his benison!
Pride of the West! beneath thy placid light
The tender tale shall never more be told,-
Man's soul shall never wake to joy again:
Thou set'st for ever,-lovely orb, farewell!"

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LESSON XLIII.-THE CHARACTER OF JESUS.-S. C. THACHER.

[This extract is intended for practice on the 'middle', or average pitch of the voice, which belongs to serious communication in public. reading or speaking, when not descending to the key of solemnity, nor rising to that of mere conversation. A moderately grave strain pervades the utterance, in such cases, and serves, if not overdone, to give earnestness and dignity to expression.]

We find, in the life of Jesus, a union of qualities, which had never before met in any being on this earth. We find imbodied in his example the highest virtues both of active and of contemplative life. We 5 see united in him a devotion to God the most intense, abstracted, unearthly, with a benevolence to man the most active, affectionate, and universal. We see qualities meet and harmonize in his character, which are usually thought the most uncongenial. We see a force of character, 10 which difficulties cannot conquer, an energy which calamity cannot relax, a fortitude and constancy which sufferings can neither subdue nor bend from their purpose; connected with the most melting tenderness and sensibility of spirit, the most exquisite susceptibility to every soft and 15 gentle impression. We see in him the rare union of zeal

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and moderation, of courage and prudence, of compassion and firmness; we see superiority to the world without gloom or severity, or indifference or distaste to its pursuits and enjoyments.

In short, there is something in the whole conception and tenor of our Saviour's character so entirely peculiar, something which so realizes the ideal model of the most consummate moral beauty; something so lovely, so gracious, so venerable and commanding, that the boldest 10 infidels have shrunk from it overawed, and, though their cause is otherwise desperate, have yet feared to profane its perfect purity. One of the most eloquent tributes to its sublimity, that was ever uttered, was extorted from the lips of an infidel. "Is there anything in it," he exclaims, 15 "of the tone of an enthusiast, or of an ambitious sectary? What sweetness, what purity in his manners; what touching grace in his instructions; what elevation in his maxims; what profound wisdom in his discourses; what presence of mind, what skill and propriety in his an20 swers; what empire over his passions! Where is the man, where is the sage, who knows how to act, to suffer, and to die, without weakness and without ostentation?

"When Plato paints his imaginary just man covered with all the ignominy of crime, and yet worthy of all the 25 honors of virtue, he paints in every feature the character of Christ. What prejudice, what blindness must possess us, to compare the son of Sophroniscus to the son of Mary! How vast the distance between them! Socrates, dying without pain and without ignominy, easily sustains his 30 character to the last; and if this gentle death had not honored his life, we might have doubted whether Socrates, with all his genius, was any thing more than a sophist. The death of Socrates, philosophizing tranquilly with his friends, is the most easy that one could desire; 35 that of Jesus, expiring in torture, insulted, mocked, execrated by a whole people, is the most horrible that one can fear. Socrates, when he takes the poisoned cup, blesses him who weeps as he presents it; Jesus, in the midst of the most dreadful tortures, prays for his infuriated 40 executioners.-Yes! if the life and death of Socrates are those of a sage, the life and death of Jesus are wholly divine."

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LESSON XLIV.-WOMAN.-MISS C. E. BEECHER.

[The following piece exemplifies the medium, or average tone of ordinary, earnest conversation, in private company, and has its pitch higher on the scale, than the preceding lesson. The animation of the style, however, should not be permitted to carry the note up to the key of mere vivacity and exhilaration. The prevailing note, in the reading of this extract, is, properly, that of lively but respectful communication.]

It is to mothers and to teachers, that the world is to look for the character, which is to be enstamped on each succeeding generation; for it is to them that the great business of education is almost exclusively com5 mitted. And will it not appear by examination, that neither mothers nor teachers have ever been properly educated for their profession? What is the profession of a woman? Is it not to form immortal minds, and to watch, to nurse, and to rear the bodily system, so fearfully and 10 wonderfully made, and upon the order and regulation of which, the health and well-being of the mind so greatly depend?

But let most of our sex, upon whom these arduous duties devolve, be asked,- Have you ever devoted any 15 time and study, in the course of your education, to a preparation for these duties? Have you been taught any thing of the structure, the nature, and the laws, of the body which you inhabit? Were you ever taught to understand the operation of diet, air, exercise, and modes of 20 dress, upon the human frame? Have the causes which are continually operating to prevent good health, and the modes by which it might be perfected and preserved, ever been made the subject of any instruction?"

Perhaps almost every voice would respond,-" No; we 25 have attended to almost every thing more than to this: we have been taught more concerning the structure of the earth, the laws of the heavenly bodies, the habits and formation of plants, the philosophy of language, than concerning the structure of the human frame, and the laws 30 of health and reason." But is it not the business, the profession of a woman, to guard the health, and form the physical habits of the young? And are not the cradle of infancy, and the chamber of sickness, sacred to woman alone? And ought she not to know, at least, some of the 35 general principles of that perfect and wonderful piece of mechanism committed to her preservation and care?

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