Reading Made Easy for Foreigners

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Title: Reading Made Easy for Foreigners - Third Reader
Author: Hülshof, John L.
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Reading Made Easy for Foreigners - Third Reader" ***

READING MADE EASY FOR FOREIGNERS

Third Reader

JOHN L. HÜLSHOF

TEACHER OF MODERN LANGUAGES IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

OF NEW YORK CITY

HINDS, NOBLE & ELDREDGE

31-33-35 West 15th Street, New York City

HINDS, NOBLE & ELDREDGE

PREFACE

This Reader is intended more particularly for pupils in Class A of the
public evening schools.

The pupils of this class may be considered as having passed the
transition stage of which mention was made in the Second Reader, and as
having entered upon the last stage in acquiring the English language.

They have not only acquired a considerable vocabulary, but have now a
practical mastery of our vernacular. They use English in their
conversation; in short, they have acquired the power of expressing
their feelings and thoughts in the English language. Notwithstanding
all this, they are conscious of the fact that their _language_ is less
idiomatic than that of the native born, and their power over the
written expression is wofully weak.

To remedy these defects, they flock to the evening schools. They have
decided to make this country their permanent home, and they are deeply
interested in everything appertaining to our government, our
institutions, our literature, in fact our civilization.

A glance at the contents of this reader will convince the experienced
teacher that the reading material is many-sided enough to satisfy the
demands of both teacher and pupils.

That this series of readers may become a powerful incentive in
implanting right ideals of social conduct, and lay the foundation of
true American citizenship, is the heartfelt wish of

THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

REMARKS TO THE TEACHER

LESSONS.

I. FLAG DAY
II. BREATHE PURE AIR
III. COFFEE
IV. OUR NATIONAL FLAG
V. PRESS ON
VI. RESIGNATION
VII. STATUE OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK HARBOR
VIII. INDEPENDENCE
IX. NEWFOUNDLAND
X. THE USE OF TRIFLES
XI. ROSA BONHEUR
XII. ALEXANDER AND THE ROBBER
XIII. THE AMERICAN INDIAN
XIV. THE FIRST STEAMBOAT
XV. KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION
XVI. TACT AND TALENT
XVII. GEORGE WASHINGTON, PART I
XVIII. BEHAVIOR
XIX. ESSENCE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
XX. THE ART OF OBSERVATION
XXI. LETTERS
XXII. REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES
XXIII. ALI BABA
XXIV. BIRDS
XXV. SLEEP
XXVI. CURIOUS BIRDS' NESTS
XXVII. BUSINESS QUALIFICATIONS
XXVIII. ABBREVIATIONS OF NAMES OF STATES
XXIX. THE SUN
XXX. IVORY
XXXI. FLOWERS
XXXII. THE MOSQUITO
XXXIII. SELF-RELIANCE
XXXIV. FRANKLIN'S TOAST
XXXV. HUMANITY REWARDED
XXXVI. WORK PROCLAIMS A WORKMAN
XXXVII. REPUBLICS
XXXVIII. FALSE NOTIONS OF LIBERTY
XXXIX. THE VOICE
XL. THE INTREPID YOUTH
XLI. AUTUMN
XLII. WORDS AND THEIR MEANING
XLIII. HOW TO SELECT A BOY
XLIV. SALT
XLV. STUDIES
XLVI. RULES OF BEHAVIOR
XLVII. USING THE EYES
XLVIII. THE AFFECTION AND REVERENCE DUE A MOTHER
XLIX. WHEAT
L. COUNTENANCE AND CHARACTER
LI. THE VALUE OF TIME
LII. THE STUDY OF CIVICS
LIII. THE SEA AND ITS USES
LIV. WONDERLAND
LV. OUR COUNTRY TO-DAY, PART I
LVI. OUR COUNTRY TO-DAY, PART II
LVII. PICTURES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY
LVIII. THOMAS A. EDISON
LIX. ABRAHAM LINCOLN
LX. ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE DEDICATION OF
THE CEMETERY AT GETTYSBURG
LXI. WAGES
LXII. LOVE FOR THE DEAD
LXIII. ECONOMY OF TIME
LXIV. GEORGE STEPHENSON, THE ENGINEER
LXV. GEORGE WASHINGTON, PART II
LXVI. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
LXVII. NOBILITY REWARDED

POETRY

SELECTION.

I. A CITY STREET
II. THE SHIP OF STATE
III. BE TRUE
IV. BRING BACK MY FLOWERS
V. "OLD IRONSIDES"
VI. TREASURE TROVE
VII. THE HERITAGE
VIII. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
IX. THE SWORD OF BUNKER HILL
X. THE HUNTERS
XI. MY FATHERLAND
XII. WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE
XIII. PRAYER IN BATTLE
XIV. THE RETORT
XV. A PSALM OF LIFE
XVI. THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET
XVII. OFT IN THE STILLY NIGHT
XVIII. THE PICKET OF THE POTOMAC
XIX. COLUMBIA, THE GEM OF THE OCEAN; OR,
RED, WHITE, AND BLUE
XX. RECESSIONAL
XXI. HUMAN PROGRESS
XXII. GIVE ME THE PEOPLE

MISCELLANEOUS

CHARACTERISTIC OF HEROISM CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE FREEDOM OF THOUGHT USEFUL INFORMATION WISE SAYINGS

REMARKS TO THE TEACHER

Complete answers should be given by the pupils. The simple words "yes"
or "no" do not constitute an answer in these exercises; such
expressions give no practice in the use of the language.

The teacher should prepare himself thoroughly for each lesson in order
to ask many pointed questions relative to the reading matter.

The entire time spent in reading the lesson and questioning the class
should not exceed thirty minutes. Too much detail will only confuse
and fatigue the pupils. Five or six words that present any difficulty
_either in spelling or pronunciation_ may be selected from the reading
lesson for dictation. Such words should not be given singly, but
rather in short sentences.

These sentences may first be read by the class from the blackboard and
then copied. After new slips have been distributed, the same sentences
should then be written from dictation (the writing on the blackboard
being covered or erased in the meantime). The pupils are afterwards
required to compare their work with that on the board and make the
necessary corrections themselves.

READING MADE EASY FOR FOREIGNERS

THIRD READER

LESSON I

FLAG DAY

In this fair land of ours you can see the Stars and Stripes floating
over every public school. This beautiful flag stands for our country.
Every American is proud of his country's flag. It stands for all that
is good and dear to an American. It stands for Liberty. It proclaims
liberty to all. Every star stands for liberty. Every stripe stands
for liberty. It stands for liberty of thought and liberty of speech as
well.

The first American flag was made in June, 1777, by Mrs. Ross, in the
city of Philadelphia. When General Washington saw the flag, he was
delighted with it. Every American is not only delighted with it, but
he loves the dear old flag. The fourteenth day of June of each year is
set apart as Flag Day.

"_I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands;
one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all_."

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ABOVE LESSON ACCORDING TO THE RATIONAL METHOD.

_See Remarks to the Teacher, Page vii_.

What kind of a land is ours? What is meant by the stars and stripes?
Over what buildings do we see the flag floating? What kind of a flag
is it? For what does our flag stand? For what else does it stand?
What does our flag proclaim? Who is proud of the flag? What does our
flag tell to all the people? How many stars are there in the flag?
For what does each star stand? When was the first American flag made?
By whom was it made? In what city was it made? What did Washington
think of it when he saw it? How do we Americans look upon the flag?
When is Flag Day? etc., etc.

DICTATION EXERCISES

_See Remarks to the Teacher, Page vii_.

Our country has a _beautiful_ flag. This flag _proclaims_ or declares
liberty to the people. I am _delighted_ with my country's flag. I
pledge _allegiance_ or _fidelity_ to my flag. Our nation is
_indivisible_; it cannot be parted.

SELECTION I

A CITY STREET

I love the woods, the fields, the streams,
The wild flowers fresh and sweet,
And yet I love no less than these
The crowded city street;
For haunts of men, where'er they be,
Awake my deepest sympathy.

I see within the city street
Life's most extreme estates;
The gorgeous domes of palaces;
The dismal prison gates;
The hearths by household virtues blest,
The dens that are the serpent's nest.

I see the rich man, proudly fed
And richly clothed, pass by;
I see the shivering, houseless wretch
With hunger in his eye;
For life's severest contrasts meet
Forever in the city street.

Hence is it that a city street
Can deepest thoughts impart,
For all its people, high and low,
Are kindred to my heart;
And with a yearning love I share
In all their joy, their pain, their care.

_Mary Howitt_.

_Questions_: Can you put this little poem in prose? Tell what you
admire in nature. Then tell what you observe in the city. Tell about
the rich and where they live. Also about the poor and how they are
housed and clothed. Let us write a composition together.

LESSON II

BREATHE PURE AIR

Some boys were playing hide-and-seek one day, when one of their number
thought it would be good sport to hide little Robert in a large empty
trunk. He did so and then turned the key in the lock. The little
fellow in the chest was very quiet indeed, and they almost forgot about
him. After some time they thought of him and some one went to the
trunk and asked: "Hello, Robert. Do you want to come out now?" No
answer came. They opened the trunk and found poor little Robert nearly
dead. The doctor had to be called, and he worked long and hard to
restore the poor boy to health.

The air which we breathe out is not fit to be breathed in again. We
soon use up, in this way, all the pure air about us. So we must have a
fresh supply. As soon as Robert had breathed in all the good air that
was in the trunk, there was nothing left but poisoned air. If fresh
air had not been given to him by opening the trunk, he could not have
lived three minutes longer.

Nothing is so needful to health as good, pure air. Whether you are in
the schoolroom or in the house, remember this. Bad air is so much
poison, and the more we breathe it the worse it gets. The poison is
carbonic acid, and to breathe it long is certain death.

Not many years ago, during a storm at sea, a stupid sea-captain ordered
his passengers to go below in the hold of the vessel. Then he covered
up the hold, so that no fresh air could enter. When the storm was over
he opened the hold, and found that seventy human beings had died for
want of pure air.

Through his gross ignorance of the laws of life, he had done all this
mischief. Remember what I say: insist on having good air; for impure
air, though it may not always kill you, is always bad for your health.

LESSON III

COFFEE

Coffee is made from the berries of a tree called the coffee plant, or
coffee tree. This tree grows in some of the hot countries of the
world, as Brazil, Cuba, Arabia, and Java. The best coffee comes from
Arabia. But most of the coffee that is used in this country comes from
Brazil.

When first known, the coffee tree was a wild shrub growing among the
hills of Caffa, in the northeastern part of Africa. But when people
learned what a pleasant drink could be made from its berries, they
began to take it into other countries, where they cultivated it with
much care.

There is an old story told of a shepherd who, it is said, was the first
to use this drink. He noticed that after his goats had fed on the
leaves of a certain tree--the coffee plant--they were always very
lively and wakeful. So he took some of the leaves and berries of the
plant, and boiling them in water, he made a drink for himself. He
found it so pleasant to the taste that he told some of his neighbors
about it. They tried it and were as much pleased as himself. And so,
little by little, the drink came, after a while, into common use.

The coffee plant is a beautiful little tree, growing sometimes to the
height of twenty feet. It has smooth, dark leaves, long and pointed.
It has pretty, white blossoms, which grow in thick clusters close to
the branches. Its fruit looks a little like a cherry; and within it
are the coffee berries, two in each cherry.

When ripe, the red fruit turns to a deep purple and is sweet to the
taste. In Arabia the fruit is allowed to fall on mats placed under the
trees; but in other countries it is commonly gathered as soon as it is
ripe, and it is then dried by being placed on mats in the sun.

After the outside part has been removed the berries are again dried.
They are then put in sacks and boxes to be sent into other parts of the
world.

LESSON IV

OUR NATIONAL FLAG

There is a national flag. He must be cold indeed who can look upon its
folds rippling in the breeze without pride of country. If he be in a
foreign land, the flag is companionship and country itself with all its
endearments. Who, as he sees it, can think of a state merely? Whose
eyes, once fastened upon it, can fail to recognize the image of the
whole nation? It has been called a "floating piece of poetry."

Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because it
represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence. It is
a piece of bunting lifted in the air, but it speaks sublimely, and
every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white
proclaim the original union of thirteen states. Its stars of white on
a field of blue proclaim the union of the states. A new star is added
with every new state. The very colors have a language, which was
understood by our fathers.

White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice. Thus the
bunting, stripes and stars together, make the flag of our
country--loved by all our hearts and upheld by all our hands.

SELECTION II

THE SHIP OF STATE

Thou, too, sail on, O ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity, with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate.

We know what Master laid thy keel,
What Workman wrought thy ribs of steel,
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope,
What anvils rang, what hammers beat,
In what forge and what a heat
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!

Fear not each sudden sound and shock,
'Tis of the wave, and not the rock;
'Tis but the flapping of the sail,
And not a rent made by the gale.
In spite of rock and tempest's roar,
In spite of false lights on the shore,
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea.
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee;
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears,
Are all with thee,--are all with thee.

_H. W. Longfellow_.

LESSON V

"PRESS ON"

This is a speech, brief, but full of inspiration, and opening the way
to all victory. The secret of Napoleon's career was this,--under all
difficulties and discouragements, "Press on." It solves the problem of
all heroes; it is the rule by which to weigh rightly all wonderful
successes and triumphal marches to fortune and genius. It should be
the motto of all, old and young, high and low, fortunate and
unfortunate, so called.

"Press on." Never despair; never be discouraged, however stormy the
heavens, however dark the way; however great the difficulties, and
repeated the failures, "Press on."

If fortune hath played false with thee today, do thou play true for
thyself to-morrow. If thy riches have taken wings and left thee, do
not weep thy life away; but be up and doing, and retrieve the loss by
new energies and action. If an unfortunate bargain has deranged thy
business, do not fold thy arms, and give up all as lost; but stir
thyself and work the more vigorously.

If those whom thou hast trusted have betrayed thee, do not be
discouraged, do not idly weep, but "_Press on_." Find others: or, what
is better, learn to live within thyself. Let the foolishness of
yesterday make thee wise to-day.

LESSON VI

RESIGNATION

Rabbi Meir, the great teacher, sat one Sabbath day in the school of the
holy law, and taught the people. The rabbi had two sons, who were
youths of great promise and well instructed in the law. On that
Sabbath day they both died.

Tenderly their mother bore them to an upper chamber, laid them on her
bed, and spread a white sheet over their bodies.

In the evening Rabbi Meir came home. "Where are my sons," asked he,
"that I may give them my blessing?"

"They are gone into the school of the law," was his wife's reply.

"I looked around me," said he, "and I did not see them."

She set before him a cup; he praised the Lord for the close of the
Sabbath, drank, and then asked again, "Where are my sons, that they may
also drink of the wine of blessing?"

"They cannot be far off," said his wife, as she placed food before him
and begged him to eat.

When he had given thanks after the meal, she said, "Rabbi, allow me a
question."

"Speak, my beloved," answered he.

"Some time ago," said she, "a certain one gave me jewels to keep for
him, and now he asks them back. Shall I give him them?"

"My wife should not need to ask such a question," said Rabbi Meir.
"Would you hesitate to give anyone back his own?"

"Oh, no," replied she, "but I did not like to give them back without
your knowing beforehand." Then she led him to the upper chamber,
stepped in, and took the covering off the bodies.

"Oh, my sons," sobbed the father, "my sons, my sons!" The mother
turned herself away and wept.

Soon, however, his wife took him by the hand and said: "Rabbi, have you
not taught me that we must not refuse to give back what was intrusted
to us to keep? See, the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: the
name of the Lord be blessed."

And Rabbi Meir repeated the words, and said from the depths of his
heart, "Amen."

LESSON VII

STATUE OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK HARBOR

"Liberty," or Bartholdi's statue, was presented to the United States by
the French people in 1885. It is the largest statue ever built. The
great French sculptor Bartholdi made it after the likeness of his
mother. Eight years were consumed in the construction of this gigantic
image. Its size is really enormous. The height of the figure alone is
fully one hundred and fifty feet. Forty persons can find standing room
within the mighty head, which is fifteen feet in diameter. A six-foot
man, standing upon the lower lip, can hardly reach the eyes of the
colossal head. The index finger is eight feet long, and the nose is
over three feet long. Yet the proportion of all the parts of the
figure is so well preserved that the whole statue is in perfect harmony.

The materials of which the statue is composed are copper and steel.
The immense torch which is held in the hand of the giantess is three
hundred feet above tidewater.

The Colossus of Rhodes was a pigmy compared with this huge wonder.

LESSON VIII

INDEPENDENCE

Scholars, who are enjoying the priceless blessings of that liberty
which cost our forefathers so much treasure and so much blood,--have
you read the Declaration of Independence? If you have not, read it; if
you have, read it again; study it; make its noble sentiments your own,
and do not fail to grave deep in your memories these immortal lines:--

"We hold these truths to be self-evident; That all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;
that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles,
and organizing its powers in such forms, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their safety and happiness."

SELECTION III

BE TRUE

Thou must be true thyself,
If thou the truth wouldst teach;
Thy soul must overflow, if thou
Another's soul would'st reach;
It needs the overflow of hearts
To give the lips full speech.

Think truly, and thy thoughts
Shall the world's famine feed;
Speak truly, and each word of thine
Shall be a fruitful seed;
Live truly, and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed.

_Anonymous_.

LESSON IX

NEWFOUNDLAND

Newfoundland is an island about the size of New York State. It belongs
to England. The cod fisheries there are very extensive.

The people of Newfoundland are strong, healthy and industrious. They
are law-abiding, and serious; crime is very rare among them. Their
kindness and hospitality to strangers who visit the country are
proverbial. Kindness to the poor and unfortunate is a marked feature
in the character of the people. When business is poor they are ready
to share their last morsel with those in distress.

The fishermen are the working classes of the country. During the
height of the fishery season, and when fish are abundant, their labors
are severe; but during winter they are for the most part in a condition
of enforced idleness. Much of the work of curing the fish is done by
women and girls, and their labors are often very heavy. When the
fisheries are over, there are boats, nets, etc., to repair, stages to
look after, and fuel to be cut in the woods and hauled over the snow.

If the fishery has been successful, then the fisherman has a balance
coming to him after paying for his summer supplies, and is enabled to
lay in a stock of provisions for the winter.

Winter is the season for enjoyment among the fishermen. This season
for fireside enjoyments, home-born pleasures, is welcome. They have
their simple social enjoyments of various kinds. Dancing is a favorite
winter amusement among the fishermen and their families. Weddings are
celebrated with great festivity.

Newfoundland is often regarded as the very paradise of sportsmen. Its
countless lakes and ponds abound with trout of the finest description,
and these bodies of water are the abodes of the wild goose, the wild
duck, and other fresh-water fowl.

The pine forests are the home of numerous wild animals. The fox, the
bear and the caribou furnish the highest prizes for the hunter.

SELECTION IV

BRING BACK MY FLOWERS

A child sat by a limpid stream,
And gazed upon the tide beneath;
Upon her cheek was joy's bright beam,
And on her brow a blooming wreath.
Her lap was filled with fragrant flowers,
And, as the clear brook babbled by,
She scattered down the rosy showers,
With many a wild and joyous cry,
And laughed to see the mingling tide
Upon its onward progress glide.

And time flew on, and flower by flower
Was cast upon the sunny stream;
But when the shades of eve did lower,
She woke up from her blissful dream.
"Bring back my flowers!" she wildly cried;
"Bring back the flowers I flung to thee!"
But echo's voice alone replied,
As danced the streamlet down the lea;
And still, amid night's gloomy hours,
In vain she cried, "Bring back my flowers!"

O maiden, who on time's swift stream
Dost gayly see the moments flee,
In this poor child's delusive dream
An emblem may be found of thee.
Each moment is a perfumed rose,
Into thy hand by mercy given,
That thou its fragrance might dispose
And let its incense rise to heaven;
Else when death's shadow o'er thee lowers,
Thy heart will wail, "Bring back my flowers!"

_Lucy Larcom_.

LESSON X

THE USE OF TRIFLES

A certain painter once said he had become great in his art by never
neglecting trifles. It would be well for all of us to follow that
simple and easy rule. No man's house but would be more comfortable,
and no family but would be more cheerful, if the value of trifles and
the art of using them were better understood. Attention to trifles is
the true art of economy.

We must, however, take care not to confound economy with parsimony.
The former means a frugal and judicious use of things without waste,
the latter a too close and sparing use of things needed. Now a person
who understands the use of little things is economical; for instance.
If you wipe a pen before you put it away it will last twice as long as
if you do not.

Generally the habits we acquire in our youth we carry with us into old
age; hence the necessity of proper training in childhood. A woman who
attends to trifles and has habits of economy will not hastily throw
away bits of cotton or worsted, nor will she waste soap by letting it
lie in the water. She will keep an eye to the pins and matches,
knowing that the less often such things are bought, the more is saved.
She will not think it above her care to mend the clothes or darn the
stockings, remembering that "_a stitch in time saves nine_."

LESSON XI

ROSA BONHEUR

Rosa Bonheur was born at Bordeaux, France, the daughter of a painter.
Her father was her first teacher in art.

At an early age, when most children draw in an aimless way, her father
guided his little girl's efforts with his own experienced hand. He
taught her to study and sketch from nature instead of relying on copies.

As a child she cared nothing for dolls and toys, but loved animals
dearly. Is it any wonder, then, that she took them for her subject
when she began to paint?

In her childhood she had two dogs and a goat for pets, and later on
kept a sheep in her Parisian apartment. Still later, when she had
become a distinguished woman, her studio included a farmyard.

Her animal paintings are so real and life-like that a study of the
faces of all the horses in that wonderful picture, "The Horse Fair,"
will reveal distinctly different expressions in each face.

Although most simple in her personal habits and in her life, Rosa
Bonheur was the greatest woman artist that ever lived.

"The Horse Fair," Rosa Bonheur's most famous painting, was bought by an
American gentleman and presented by him to the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, in New York.

LESSON XII

ALEXANDER AND THE ROBBER

_Alexander_--What! art thou that Thracian robber, of whose exploits I
have heard so much?

_Robber_--I am a Thracian, and a soldier.

_Alexander_--A soldier!--a thief, a plunderer, an assassin, the pest of
the country; but I must detest and punish thy crimes.

_Robber_--What have I done of which you can complain?

_Alexander_--Hast thou not set at defiance my authority, violated the
public peace and passed thy life in injuring the persons and properties
of thy fellow-subjects?

_Robber_--Alexander, I am your captive. I must hear what you please to
say, and endure what you please to inflict. But my soul is
unconquered; and if I reply at all to your reproaches, I will reply
like a free man.

_Alexander_--Speak freely. Far be it from me to take advantage of my
power, to silence those with whom I deign to converse.

_Robber_--I must, then, answer your question by another. How have you
passed your life?

_Alexander_--Like a hero. Ask Fame, and she will tell you. Among the
brave, the bravest; among sovereigns, the noblest; among conquerors,
the mightiest.

_Robber_--And does not Fame speak of me too? Was there ever a bolder
captain of a more valiant band? Was there ever--but I scorn to boast.
You yourself know that I have not been easily subdued.

_Alexander_--Still, what are you but a robber,--a base, dishonest
robber?

_Robber_--And what is a conqueror? Have not you too gone about the
earth like an evil genius, plundering, killing without law, without
justice, merely to gratify your thirst for dominion? What I have done
in a single province with a hundred followers, you have done to whole
nations with a hundred thousand. What; then, is the difference, but
that you were born a king, and I a private man; you have been able to
become a mightier robber than I.

_Alexander_--But if I have taken like a king, I have given like a king.
If I have overthrown empires, I have founded greater. I have cherished
arts, commerce, and philosophy.

_Robber_--I too have freely given to the poor what I took from the
rich. I know, indeed, very little of the philosophy you speak of, but
I believe neither you nor I shall ever atone to the world for the
mischief we have done it.

_Alexander_--Leave me. Take off his chains, and use him well. Are we,
then, so much alike? Alexander like a robber? Let me reflect.

LESSON XIII

THE AMERICAN INDIAN

Not many generations ago, where you now sit, surrounded with all that
makes life happy, the rank thistle nodded in the wind, and the wild fox
dug his hole unscared. Here lived and loved another race of beings.
Beneath the same sun that rolls over your heads, the Indian hunter
pursued the panting deer; he gazed on the same moon that smiles for
you, and here too the Indian lover wooed his dusky mate.

Here the wigwam blaze beamed on the tender and helpless, the council
fire glared on the wise and daring. Here they warred; and when the
strife was over, here curled the smoke of peace.

Here, too, they worshiped; and from many a dark bosom went up a pure
prayer to the Great Spirit. He had written His laws for them, not on
tables of stone, but He had traced them on the tables of their hearts.
The poor child of nature knew not the God of revelation, but the God of
the Universe he acknowledged in everything around.

He beheld Him in the star that sunk in beauty behind his lonely
dwelling; in the flower that swayed in the morning breeze; in the lofty
trees as well as in the worm that crawled at his feet.

All this has passed away. Four hundred years have changed the face of
this great continent, and this peculiar race has been well-nigh blotted
out. Art has taken the place of simple nature, and civilization has
been too strong for the savage tribes of the red man.

Here and there a few Indians remain; but these are merely the degraded
offspring of this once noble race of men.

SELECTION XI

MY FATHERLAND

There is a land, of every land the pride,
Beloved by Heaven o'er all the world beside,
Where brighter suns dispense serener light,
And milder moons imparadise the night.
O land of beauty, virtue, valor, truth,
Time-tutored age, and love-exalted youth!
The wandering mariner, whose eye explores
The wealthiest isles, the most enchanting shores,
Views not a realm so bountiful and fair,
Nor breathes the spirit of a purer air.
In every clime, the magnet of his soul,
Touched by remembrance, trembles to that pole;
For, in this land of Heaven's peculiar race,
The heritage of nature's noblest grace,
There is a spot of earth supremely blest,
A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest,
Where man, creation's tyrant, casts aside
His sword and scepter, pageantry and pride,
While, in his softened looks, benignly blend
The sire, the son, the husband, brother, friend.
Here woman reigns; the mother, daughter, wife,
Strew with fresh flowers the narrow way of life;
In the clear heaven of her delightful eye,
An angel guard of love and graces lie;
Around her knees domestic duties meet,
And fireside pleasures gambol at her feet.
"Where shall that land, that spot of earth be found?"
Art thou a man?--a patriot?--look round;
Oh, thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam,
That land thy country, and that spot thy home.

_James Montgomery_.

LESSON XXIX

THE SUN

How far away from us is the sun? Are we to answer just as we think, or
just as we know? On a fine summer day, when we can see him clearly, it
looks as if a short trip in a balloon might take us to his throne in
the sky, yet we know--because the astronomers tell us so--that he is
more than ninety-one millions of miles distant from our earth.

Ninety-one millions of miles! It is not easy even to imagine this
distance; but let us fancy ourselves in an express-train going sixty
miles an hour without making a single stop. At that flying rate we
could travel from the earth to the sun in one hundred and seventy-one
years,--that is, if we had a road to run on and time to spare for the
journey.

Arriving at the palace of the sun, we might then have some idea of his
size. A learned Greek who lived more than two thousand years ago
thought the sun about as large as the Peloponnesus; if he had lived in
our country, he might have said, "About as large as Massachusetts."

As large as their peninsula! The other Greeks laughed at him for
believing that the shining ball was so vast. How astonished they would
have been--yes, and the wise man too--if they had been told that the
brilliant lord of the day was more than a million times as large as the
whole world!

LESSON XXX

IVORY

How many articles are made of ivory! Here is a polished knife-handle,
and there a strangely-carved paper-cutter. In the same shop may be
found albums and prayer-books with ivory covers; and, not far away,
penholders, curious toys, and parasol-handles, all made of the glossy
white material.

Where ivory is abundant, chairs of state, and even thrones are made of
it; and in Russia, in the palaces of the great, floors inlaid with
ivory help to beautify the grand apartments. One African sultan has a
whole fence of elephants' tusks around his royal residence; the
residence itself is straw-roofed and barbarous enough, both in design
and in structure. Yet imagine that ivory fence!

The elephants slain in Africa and India in the course of a year could
not furnish half the ivory used in the great markets of the world
during that time. Vienna, Paris, London and St. Petersburg keep the
elephant-hunters busy, yet it is impossible for them to satisfy all the
demands made upon them, and the ivory-diggers must be called upon to
add to the supply.

Every spring, when the ice begins to thaw, new mines or deposits of
fossil ivory--a perfect treasure of mammoths' tusks--are discovered in
the marsh-lands of Eastern Siberia. There are no mammoths now--unless
we call elephants by that name; yet their remains have been found upon
both continents. In the year 1799, the perfect skeleton of one of
these animals was found in an ice-bank near the mouth of a Siberian
river. As the vast ice-field thawed, the remains of the huge animal
came to light.

The traders who search for mammoths' tusks around the Arctic coasts of
Asia make every effort to send off, each year, at least fifty thousand
pounds of fossil ivory to the west along the great caravan road. So
great is the demand, however, that this quantity, added to that sent by
the elephant-hunters, is not large enough to make ivory cheap in trade
or in manufacture.

SELECTION XII

WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE

Woodman, spare that tree!
Touch not a single bough!
In youth it sheltered me,
And I'll protect it now.
'Twas my forefather's hand
That placed it near his cot:
There, woodman, let it stand;
Thy ax shall harm it not.

That old familiar tree,
Whose glory and renown
Are spread o'er land and sea,--
And wouldst thou hew it down?
Woodman, forbear thy stroke!
Cut not its earthbound ties!
Oh, spare that aged oak,
Now towering to the skies!

When but an idle boy
I sought its grateful shade;
In all their gushing joy,
Here, too, my sisters played.
My mother kissed me here,
My father pressed my hand:
Forgive this foolish tear,
But let that old oak stand.

My heart-strings round thee cling,
Close as thy bark, old friend;
Here shall the wild bird sing,
And still thy branches bend.
Old tree, the storm still brave!
And, woodman, leave the spot!
While I've a hand to save,
Thy ax shall harm it not.

_George P. Morris_.

LESSON XXXI

FLOWERS

He who cannot appreciate floral beauty is to be pitied, like any other
man who is born imperfect. It is a misfortune not unlike blindness.
But men who reject flowers as effeminate and unworthy of manhood reveal
a positive coarseness.

Many persons lose all enjoyment of many flowers by indulging false
associations. There are some who think that no weed can be of interest
as a flower. But all flowers are weeds where they grow wild and in
abundance; and somewhere our rarest flowers are somebody's commonest.

And generally there is a disposition to undervalue common flowers.
There are few that will trouble themselves to examine minutely a
blossom that they have often seen and neglected; and yet if they would
question such flowers and commune with them, they would often be
surprised to find extreme beauty where it had long been overlooked.

It is not impertinent to offer flowers to a stranger. The poorest
child can proffer them to the richest. A hundred persons turned into a
meadow full of flowers would be drawn together in a transient
brotherhood.

It is affecting to see how serviceable flowers often are to the
necessities of the poor. If they bring their little floral gift to
you, it cannot but touch your heart to think that their grateful
affection longed to express itself as much as yours.

You have books, or gems, or services that you can render as you will.
The poor can give but little and can do but little. Were it not for
flowers, they would be shut out from those exquisite pleasures which
spring from such gifts. I never take one from a child, or from the
poor, without thanking God, in their behalf, for flowers.

CHARACTERISTIC OF HEROISM

The characteristic of heroism is its persistency. All men have
wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when you have
chosen your part, abide by it, and do not weakly try to reconcile
yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be the common, nor the
common the heroic.

_R. W. Emerson_.

LESSON XVIII

BEHAVIOR

There is always a best way of doing everything, if it be to open a
book. Manners are the happy ways of doing things. They form at last a
rich varnish, with which the routine of life is washed, and its details
adorned. Manners are very communicable; men catch them from each other.

The power of manners is incessant,--an element as unconcealable as
fire. The nobility cannot in any country be disguised, and no more in
a republic or a democracy than in a kingdom. No man can resist their
influence. There are certain manners which are learned in good
society, and if a person have them, he or she must be considered, and
is everywhere welcome, though without beauty, or wealth, or genius.
Give a boy address and accomplishments, and you give him the mastery of
palaces and fortune wherever he goes.

Bad behavior the laws cannot reach. Society is infested with rude,
restless, and frivolous persons who prey upon the rest. Bad manners
are social inflictions which the magistrate cannot cure or defend you
from, and which must be intrusted to the restraining force of custom.
Familiar rules of behavior should be impressed on young people in their
school-days.

LESSON XIX

ESSENCE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES

1. Congress must meet at least once a year.

(Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.)

2. One State cannot undo the acts of another.

3. Congress may admit any number of new States.

4. One State must respect the laws and legal decisions of another.

5. Every citizen is guaranteed a speedy trial by jury.

6. Congress cannot pass a law to punish a crime already committed.

7. Bills of revenue can originate only in the House of Representatives.

8. A person committing a crime in one State cannot find refuge in
another.

9. The Constitution forbids excessive bail or cruel punishment.

10. Treaties with foreign countries are made by the President and
ratified by the Senate.

11. Writing alone does not constitute treason against the United
States. There must be an overt act.

12. An Act of Congress cannot become law over the vote of the President
except by a two-thirds vote of both Houses.

13. The Territories each send one delegate to Congress, who has the
right to debate, but not the right to vote.

14. An officer of the Government cannot accept any title of nobility,
order or gift without the permission of Congress.

15. Only a natural-born citizen of the United States can become
President or Vice-President of the United States.

SELECTION VIII

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER

1. Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming;
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:
Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

2. On that shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner; oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

3. And where are the foes who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war, and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave;
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

4. Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, "In God is our trust";
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

_Francis Scott Key_.

USEFUL INFORMATION

To obtain a good knowledge of pronunciation, it is advisable for the
reader to listen to the examples given by educated persons. We learn
the pronunciation of words, to a great extent, by imitation. It must
never be forgotten, however, that the dictionary alone can give us
absolute certainty in doubtful cases.

"If the riches of the Indies," says Fenelon, "or the crowns of all the
kingdoms of the world, were laid at my feet in exchange for my love for
reading, I would despise them all."

That writer does the most good who gives his reader the greatest amount
of knowledge and takes from him the least time. A tremendous thought
may be packed into a small compass, and as solid as a cannon ball.

"Read much, but not many works," is the advice of a great writer.

LESSON XX

THE ART OF OBSERVATION

The Indian trapper is a man of close observation, quick perception and
prompt action. As he goes along, nothing escapes him. Often not
another step is taken until some mystery that presents itself is fairly
solved. He will stand for hours in succession to account for certain
signs, and he may even spend days and weeks upon that same mystery
until he solves it.

I rode once several hundred miles in the company of such an experienced
trailer, and asked him many questions about his art. Near the bank of
a small river in Dakota we crossed the track of a pony. The guide
followed the track for some distance and then said: "It is a stray
black horse, with a long bushy tail, nearly starved to death; it has a
broken hoof on the left fore foot and goes very lame; he has passed
here early this morning."

I could scarcely believe what was said, and asked for an explanation.
The trailer replied: "It is a stray horse, because he did not go in a
straight line; his tail is long, for he dragged it over the ground; in
brushing against a bush he left some of his black hair; he is very
hungry, because he nipped at the dry weeds which horses seldom eat; the
break of his left fore foot can be seen in its track, and the slight
impression of the one foot shows that he is lame. The tracks are as
yet fresh, and that shows that he passed only this morning, when the
earth was soft."

In this manner the whole story was accounted for, and late in the
afternoon we really did come across a riderless horse of that
description wandering aimlessly in the prairies.

SELECTION IX

THE SWORD OF BUNKER HILL

He lay upon his dying bed,
His eye was growing dim,
When, with a feeble voice, he called
His weeping son to him:
"Weep not, my boy," the veteran said,
"I bow to Heaven's high will;
But quickly from yon antlers bring
The sword of Bunker Hill."

The sword was brought; the soldier's eye
Lit with a sudden flame;
And, as he grasped the ancient blade,
He murmured Warren's name;
Then said: "My boy, I leave you gold,
But what is richer still,
I leave you,--mark me, mark me, now,--
The sword of Bunker Hill.

"'Twas on that dread immortal day,
I dared the Britons' band;
A captain raised his blade on me,
I tore it from his hand;
And while the glorious battle raged,
It lightened Freedom's will;
For, boy, the God of Freedom blessed
The sword of Bunker Hill.

"Oh, keep this sword,"--his accents broke,--
A smile--and he was dead;
But his wrinkled hand still grasped the blade,
Upon the dying bed.
The son remains, the sword remains,
Its glory growing still,
And eighty millions bless the sire
And sword of Bunker Hill.

_William R. Wallace_.

The battle of Bunker Hill was fought on the 17th of June, 1775, in
Charlestown, Massachusetts. The Americans, after having twice repulsed
double their number of the English, were compelled to retreat for want
of ammunition. This was the first actual battle of the Revolutionary
War.

NOTE:--Joseph Warren, a distinguished American general and patriot,
born in Massachusetts in 1741, graduated at Harvard College in 1759.
He was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.

LESSON XXI

LETTERS

_Notes of Invitation_.

FORMAL NOTE.

March 8, 1909.

_Mr. Joseph H. Curtis_:--

The pupils of Class A, Public School No. -- most cordially invite Mr.
and Mrs. Joseph H. Curtis to attend the Closing Exercises to be held in
the school on Thursday evening, March eleventh, at eight o'clock.

INFORMAL NOTE.

February 2, 1909.

_My dear Mr. Curtis_:--

May we have the pleasure of your company at dinner Tuesday evening,
February ninth, at seven o'clock?

Sincerely yours,

CHARLES STORY.

406 Elm Street.

INFORMAL REPLY TO ABOVE INVITATION.

February 4, 1909.

My dear Mr. Story:--

I thank you for your kind invitation to dine with you Tuesday evening,
but a previous business engagement makes it impossible for me to be
present. I am very sorry.

Cordially yours,

HENRY CURTIS.

215 Cedar Street.

FORMAL NOTE.

Mr. and Mrs. George H. Baldwin request the pleasure of the company of
Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Gray on Thursday evening, March fourth, at eight
o'clock.

315 Madison Avenue.

FORMAL REPLY TO ABOVE INVITATION.

Mr. Henry S. Gray regrets that he is unable to accept the invitation of
Mr. and Mrs. George H. Baldwin for Thursday evening, at eight o'clock.

506 Myrtle Avenue.

INFORMAL LETTER.

ROCHESTER, N. Y., March 1, 1909.

My dear Friend:--

I arrived here yesterday afternoon in the best of spirits. I am
staying here at a nice, quiet hotel, and expect to remain here for the
next few days. Rochester is so different from the great Metropolis.
This morning I went to see the University and some other public
buildings. I am delighted with my trip. From here I intend to proceed
to Buffalo and to Niagara Falls. From there I shall write you a much
longer letter.

Please give my kindest regards to all the family.

Cordially yours,

HENRY FIELD.

LESSON XXII

REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES

The rapid settlement and improvement of many parts of our country have
been greatly aided by the invention of various kinds of machinery. The
work of many hands can now be done by one machine, and thus a great
saving of human labor is effected.

In former times, the crops of wheat and oats, rye and barley, were
gathered with a sickle; the grain was thrashed with a flail; the grass
in the meadows was cut with a scythe. But, now, all this is changed;
on the great prairies of the West, the wheat, rye and oats are cut by
the reaper, and with a steady hum the thrashing-machine does its work
of cleaning the grain.

The scythe has given place to the mowing machine, and the sickle and
flail have been laid away as relics of other times. Thus the machinery
invented by the genius and skill of man, not only lightens the labor of
the farmer, but it performs the work which formerly required the united
effort of many men. Many foreign countries send to the United States
for mowers and reapers, because it is here these machines have reached
their highest perfection.

LESSON XXIII

ALI BABA

Ali Baba was a poor Persian wood carrier, who accidentally learned the
magic words "_Open Sesame_," "_Shut Sesame_," by which he gained
entrance into a vast cavern, in which forty thieves had stored their
stolen treasures. He made himself rich by plundering these stores of
wealth, and through the cunning of Morgiana, his female slave, Ali Baba
succeeded in destroying the whole band of thieves. He then gave
Morgiana her freedom and married her to his own son.

LESSON XXIV

BIRDS

In the United States there are a great many birds. Many of them live
in the woods; others are found in the fields. Some are seen in the
gardens, and a few are kept in our houses. The eagle builds her nest
upon the highest rock, while the wren forms her snug and tiny nest in
the way-side hedge. The swallow plasters her nest upon the gable of
the house or under the eaves of the barn. Out in the wheat-field we
hear the whistle of the quail. The noise of the ducks and geese comes
to us from the pond. The birds of prey dart downward through the air.
Everywhere we find the birds.

In autumn the migratory birds leave us, but they return in the spring.
Even in March we hear the call of the robin. At the same time the bold
and saucy blue-jay pays us his first visit. One hears the sweet songs
of the birds from May until October. Some of them remain with us
during the winter.

There are many things that birds can do. The swallows fly with the
greatest ease. The ostrich runs rapidly. Swimming birds dive with
much skill. The owl moves noiselessly through the night air. Birds of
prey search out their victims with keen vision.

Nearly all birds build skillfully made nests with their bills and feet.
Some make them out of straw, and the little birds usually line them
with wool. The large birds of prey build theirs from small sticks and
twigs. For the most part they hatch the eggs with the warmth of the
body. Many birds are highly valued on account of their eggs, while
others are prized for their flesh and feathers. Still others charm us
with their songs.

LESSON XXV

SLEEP

Of all the wonderful things about us, sleep is one of the most
wonderful. How it comes, why it comes, how it does its kind, helpful
work, not even the wisest people are able to tell. We do not have much
trouble in seeking it, it comes to us of itself. It takes us in its
kindly arms, quiets and comforts us, repairs and refreshes us, and
turns us out in the morning quite like new people.

Sleep is necessary to life and health. We crave it as urgently as we
do food or drink. In our waking hours, rest is obtained only at short
intervals; the muscles, the nerves, and the brain are in full activity.
Repair goes on every moment, whether we are awake or asleep; but during
the waking hours the waste of the tissues is far ahead of the repair,
while during sleep the repair exceeds the waste. Hence a need of rest
which at regular intervals causes all parts of the bodily machinery to
be run at their lowest rate. In other words, we are put to sleep.

Sleep is more or less sound, according to circumstances. Fatigue, if
not too great, aids it; idleness lessens it. Anxious thought, and
pain, and even anticipated pleasure, may keep us awake. Hence we
should not go to bed with the brain excited or too active. We should
read some pleasant book, laugh, talk, sing, or take a brisk walk, or
otherwise rest the brain for half an hour before going to bed.

The best time for sleep is during the silence and darkness of night.
People who have to work nights, and to sleep during the day, have a
strained and wearied look.

The amount of sleep needed depends upon the temperament of each
individual. Some require little sleep, while others need a great deal.

Eight hours of sleep for an adult, and from ten to twelve hours for
children and old people is about the average amount required.

Some of the greatest men in history are known to have been light
sleepers. Most of the world's great workers took a goodly amount of
sleep, however. Sir Walter Scott, the great writer, took eight hours
of sleep, and so did the famous philosopher Emanuel Kant. Children
need more sleep than grown people. They should retire early and sleep
until they awake in the morning.

When fairly awake we should get up. Dozing is unhealthful, especially
for young people.

"Early to bed and early to rise,
Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."

LESSON XXVI

CURIOUS BIRDS' NESTS

Among the most curious nests are those made by the birds called
weavers. These feathered workmen serve no apprenticeship; their trade
comes to them by nature; and how well they work at it! But then you
must admit that Nature is a skillful teacher and birds are apt scholars.

The Baltimore oriole is a weaver, and it makes its nest out of bark,
fine grass, moss, and wool, strengthening it, when circumstances
permit, with pieces of string or horse-hair. This nest, pouch-shaped,
and open at the top, is fastened to the branch of a tree, and sometimes
is interwoven with the twigs of a waving bough. The threads of grass
and long fibers of moss are woven together, in and out, as if by
machinery; and it seems hard to believe that the little birds can do
such work without help.

The tailor-bird of India makes a still more curious nest: it actually
sews, using its long, slender bill as a needle. Birds that fly, birds
that run, birds that swim, and birds that sing are by no means rare;
but birds that sew, seem like the wonderful birds in the fairy-tales.
Yet they really exist, and make their odd nests with great care and
skill. They pick out a leaf large enough for their nest, and pierce
rows of holes along the edges with their sharp bill; then, with the
fibers of a plant or long threads of grass, they sew the leaf up into a
bag. Sometimes it is necessary to sew two leaves together, that the
space within may be large enough.

This kind of sewing resembles shoemakers' or saddlers' work; but, the
leaf being like fine cloth and not like leather, perhaps the name
"tailor-bird" is the most appropriate for the little worker. The bag
is lined with soft, downy material, and in this the tiny eggs are
laid--tiny indeed, for the tailor-bird is no larger than the
hummingbird. The weight of the little creature does not even draw down
the nest, and the leaf in which the eggs or young birds are hidden
looks like the other leaves on the trees; so that there is nothing to
attract the attention of the forest robbers.

Another bird, called the Indian sparrow, makes her nest of grass-woven
cloth and shaped like a bottle. The neck of the bottle hangs downward,
and the bird enters from below. This structure, swinging from a high
tree, over a river, is safe from the visits of mischievous animals.

Is it any wonder, then, that birds and their nests have always been a
source of delight to thinking man?

With no tools but their tiny feet and sharp little bills, these
feathered songsters build their habitat, more cunningly and artfully
than any artisan could hope to do even after a long apprenticeship.

SELECTION X

THE HUNTERS

In the bright October morning
Savoy's Duke had left his bride.
From the Castle, past the drawbridge,
Flowed the hunters' merry tide.

Steeds are neighing, gallants glittering
Gay, her smiling lord to greet,
From her splendid chamber casement
Smiles the Duchess Marguerite.

From Vienna by the Danube
Here she came, a bride, in spring,
Now the autumn crisps the forest;
Hunters gather, bugles ring.

Hark! the game's on foot; they scatter;
Down the forest riding lone,
Furious, single horsemen gallop.
Hark! a shout--a crash--a groan!

Pale and breathless, came the hunters;
On the turf, dead lies the boar,
But the Duke lies stretched beside him,
Senseless, weltering in his gore.

In the dull October evening,
Down the leaf-strewn forest road,
To the Castle, past the drawbridge,
Came the hunters with their load.

In the hall, with torches blazing,
Ladies waiting round her seat,
Clothed in smiles, beneath the dais
Sat the Duchess Marguerite.

Hark! below the gates unbarring,
Tramp of men and quick commands.
"'Tis my lord come back from hunting,"
And the Duchess claps her hands.

Slow and tired, came the hunters;
Stopped in darkness in the court.--
"Ho! this way, ye laggard hunters.
To the hall! What sport, what sport?"

Slow they entered with their Master;
In the hall they laid him down;
On his coat were leaves and blood-stains,
On his brow an angry frown.

Dead her princely, youthful husband
Lay before his youthful wife;
Bloody 'neath the flaring torches:
And the sight froze all her life.

In Vienna by the Danube
Kings hold revel, gallants meet;
Gay of old amid the gayest
Was the Duchess Marguerite.

In Vienna by the Danube
Feast and dance her youth beguiled.
Till that hour she never sorrowed;
But from then she never smiled.

_Matthew Arnold_.

WISE SAYINGS

A room hung with pictures is a room hung with thoughts.

A fig for your bill of fare.
Show me your bill of company.

Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair.

No evil can befall a good man, either in life or death.

It is well to think well; it is divine to act well.

They are never alone who are accompanied with noble, true thoughts.

We find in life exactly what we put into it.

Too much rest is rust.

Order is heaven's first law.

The difference between one boy and another is not so much in talent as
in energy.

LESSON XXVII

BUSINESS QUALIFICATIONS

Attention, application, accuracy, method, punctuality and dispatch are
the principal qualities required for the efficient conduct of business
of any sort. It is the precept of every day's experience that steady
attention to matters of detail lies at the root of human progress, and
that diligence, above all, is the mother of what is erroneously called
"good luck."

A French statesman, being asked how he contrived to accomplish so much
work, and at the same time attend to his social duties, replied, "I do
it simply by never postponing till to-morrow what should be done
to-day." It was said of an unsuccessful public man that he used to
reverse this process, his maxim being, "never to transact to-day what
could be postponed till to-morrow."

But bear in mind this: there may be success in life without success in
business. The merchant who failed, but who afterward recovered his
fortune, and then spent it in paying his creditors their demands in
full, principal and interest, thus leaving himself a poor man, had a
glorious success: while he who failed, paid his creditors ten cents
only on a dollar, and afterward rode in his carriage and occupied a
magnificent mansion, was sorrowfully looked on by angels and by honest
men as lamentably unsuccessful.

True success in life is success in building up a pure, honest,
energetic character--in so shaping our habits, our thoughts, and our
aspirations as to best qualify us for a higher life.

LESSON XXVIII

ABBREVIATIONS OF NAMES OF STATES

Ala. Alabama, Mont. Montana,
Alaska. Alaska, Nebr. Nebraska,
Ariz. Arizona, Nev. Nevada,
Ark. Arkansas (sa), N. H. New Hampshire,
Cal. California, N. J. New Jersey,
Colo. Colorado, N. Mex. New Mexico,
Conn. Connecticut, N. Y. New York,
Del. Delaware, N. C. North Carolina,
Fla. Florida, N. Dak. North Dakota,
Ga. Georgia, O. Ohio,
Idaho. Idaho, Okla. Oklahoma,
Ill. Illinois (noi), Ore. Oregon,
Ind. Indiana, Pa. Pennsylvania,
Ind. T. Indian Ter., R. I. Rhode Island,
Ia. Iowa, S. C. South Carolina,
Kans. Kansas, S. Dak. South Dakota,
Ky. Kentucky, Tenn. Tennessee,
La. Louisiana, Tex. Texas,
Me. Maine, Utah. Utah,
Md. Maryland (mer) Vt. Vermont,
Mass. Massachusetts Va. Virginia,
Mich. Michigan, Wash. Washington,
Minn. Minnesota, W. Va. West Virginia,
Miss. Mississippi, Wis. Wisconsin,
Mo. Missouri, Wyo. Wyoming.

*The words Utah, Idaho and Alaska are not abbreviated.

SELECTION XI

MY FATHERLAND

_James Montgomery_.

LESSON XXIX

THE SUN

LESSON XXX

IVORY

SELECTION XII

WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE

_George P. Morris_.

LESSON XXXI

FLOWERS

LESSON XXXII

THE MOSQUITO

Mosquitoes are found in many parts of the world where there are pools
of water. They swarm along the rivers of the sunny south and by the
lakes of the far north. The life of one of these troublesome little
fellows is well worth some attention.

Did you ever hear about the little boats that they build? They lay
their eggs on the water, in which the sun's warmth hatches them out.
The insect leaves the water a full-fledged mosquito ready to annoy man
and beast with its sting.

The eyes of this insect are remarkable. They are so large that they
cover the larger part of the head. Its feelers are very delicate, and
look as if they were made of the finest feathers. Its wings are very
pretty, and with them it makes a humming noise.

The organ, which the female mosquito alone employs on her victims, is
called a trunk, or proboscis. This trunk is a tube, inside of which is
a bundle of stings with very sharp points. When she settles on your
face or hands, she pierces the skin, extracts some blood, and at the
same time injects a little poison; this produces the feeling which
proves so annoying.

LESSON XXXIII

SELF-RELIANCE

Of all the elements of success none is more vital than
self-reliance,--a determination to be one's own helper, and not to look
to others for support. It is the secret of all individual growth and
vigor, the master-key that unlocks all difficulties in every profession
or calling. "Help yourself, and Heaven will help you," should be the
motto of every man who would make himself useful in the world. He who
begins with crutches will generally end with crutches. Help from
within always strengthens, but help from without invariably enfeebles.

It is said that a lobster, when left high and dry among the rocks, has
not instinct and energy enough to work his way back to the sea, but
waits for the sea to come to him. If it does not come, he remains
where he is and dies, although the slightest effort would enable him to
reach the waves. The world is full of human lobsters,--men stranded on
the rocks of business, who, instead of putting forth their energy, are
waiting for some grand billow of good fortune to set them afloat.

There are many young men, who, instead of carrying their own burdens,
are always dreaming of some Hercules, in the shape of a rich uncle, or
some other benevolent relative, coming to give them a "lift." In
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, pecuniary help to a beginner is not
a blessing, but a calamity. Under the appearance of aiding, it weakens
its victims, and keeps them in perpetual slavery and degradation.

Let every young man have faith in himself, and take an earnest hold of
life, scorning all props and buttresses, all crutches and
life-preservers. Instead of wielding the rusted swords of valorous
forefathers, let him forge his own weapons; and, mindful of the
Providence over him, let him fight his own battles with his own good
lance.

SELECTION XIII

PRAYER IN BATTLE

Father, I call to Thee.
Roaring enshrouds me, the din of the battle,
Round me like lightning the leaping shots rattle.
Leader of battles, I call to Thee.
Father, Thou lead me.

Father, Thou lead me.
Lead me to victory, lead me to death;
Lord, at Thy pleasure I offer my breath.
Lord, as Thou wilt, so lead me.
God, I acknowledge Thee.

God, I acknowledge Thee.
So when the thunders of battle are breaking,
As when the leaves of the autumn are shaking,
Fountain of grace, I acknowledge Thee.
Father, Thou bless me.

Father, Thou bless me.
Into Thine hand I my being resign;
Thou didst bestow it--to take it be Thine.
Living and dying, O bless me.
Father, I honor Thee.

Father, I honor Thee.
Not for earth's riches unsheath we the sword;
'Tis our hearts we protect; 'tis Thy temples, O Lord;
So railing or conquering, I honor Thee.
To Thee, God, I yield me.

To thee, God, I yield me.
Round me when death's fiery tempest is rushing,
When from my veins the red currents are gushing,
To Thee, O my God, do I yield me.
Father, I call to Thee.

_Theo. Körner_.

LESSON XXXIV

FRANKLIN'S TOAST

Long after Washington's judicious and intrepid conduct in respect to
the French and English had made his name familiar to all Europe, Dr.
Franklin chanced to dine with the English and French ambassadors, when
the following toasts were given:--

The British ambassador, rising, said: "England,--the sun whose bright
beams enlighten and fertilize the remotest corners of the earth."

The French ambassador, glowing with national pride, but too polite to
dispute the previous toast, said: "France,--the moon whose mild,
steady, and cheering rays are the delight of all nations, consoling
them in darkness, and making their dreariness beautiful."

Dr. Franklin then arose, and, with his usual dignified simplicity,
said: "George Washington,--the Joshua who commanded the sun and moon to
stand still, and they obeyed him."

LESSON XXXV

HUMANITY REWARDED

Joseph the Second, Emperor of Germany, once received a petition in
favor of a poor old officer, with a family of ten children, who was
reduced to the utmost poverty.

After making inquiries respecting the man, and satisfying himself of
his worth, the Emperor determined to judge of his necessities by
personal observation.

Accordingly he went alone to the house of the officer, whom he found
seated at table, with eleven children around him, dining upon
vegetables of his own planting.

The Emperor, who was disguised as a private citizen, after some general
conversation with the officer, said: "I heard you had ten children, but
I see here eleven."

"This," replied the officer, pointing to one, "is a poor orphan, whom I
found at my door. I have endeavored to obtain for him the assistance
of persons who could better afford to provide for him, but have not
been able to succeed; and of course, I could do no better than share my
little portion with him."

The Emperor, admiring the generous humanity of the poor man,
immediately made himself known to him, and said, "I desire that all
these children may be my pensioners, and that you will continue to give
them examples of virtue and honor.

"I grant you one hundred florins per annum. for each, and also, an
addition of two hundred florins to your pension. Go tomorrow to my
treasurer, where you will receive the first quarter's payment, together
with a lieutenant's commission for your eldest son. Henceforth I will
be the father of all the family."

LESSON XXXVI

WORK PROCLAIMS A WORKMAN

A certain baron had an only son, who was not only a comfort to his
father, but a blessing to all who lived on his father's land. Once,
when the young man was away from home, a gentleman called to see his
father, and using the name of God irreverently, the good old baron
reproved him.

"Are you not afraid," said he, "of offending the great Being who reigns
above, by thus using His name in vain?" The gentleman said he neither
feared nor believed in a being he could not see.

The next morning the baron showed the gentleman a beautiful painting
that adorned his hall. The gentleman admired the picture very much,
and, when told by the baron that his son painted it, said: "Your son is
an excellent painter."

The baron then took his visitor into the garden, and showed him many
beautiful flowers, arranged in the most perfect order. "Who has the
direction of this garden?" said the gentleman. "My son," said the
baron. "Indeed," said the gentleman; "I begin to think he is something
uncommon."

The baron then took him into the village, and showed him a small, neat
cottage, where his son had established a school, in which a hundred
orphans were fed and taught at his expense. "What a happy man you
are," said the gentleman, "to have so good a son!"

"How do you know that I have so good a son?" replied the baron.
"Because I have seen his works," said the gentleman, "and I know he
must be talented and good." "But you have never seen him," said the
baron. "I have seen what he has done, and am disposed to love him,
without having seen him," said the gentleman.

"Can you see anything from that window?" asked the baron. "The
landscape is beautiful," said the gentleman; "the golden sun, the
mighty river, the vast forest, are admirable. How lovely, and pleasant
and cheerful, every object appears!"

"How happens it," said the baron, "that you could see such proof of my
son's existence, in the imperfect work of his hands, and yet you can
see no proof of the existence of a Creator, in the wonders and beauties
which are now before you? Let me never hear you say again that you
believe not in the existence of God, unless you would have me think
that you have lost the use of your reason."

LESSON XXXVII

REPUBLICS

The name Republic is written upon the oldest monuments of mankind. It
has been connected in all ages with the noble and the great in art and
letters.

It might be asked, what land has ever felt the influence of liberty,
that has not flourished like the spring? With regard to ourselves, we
can truly say that we live under a form of government the equal of
which the world has never seen. Is it, then, nothing to be free? How
many nations in the history of the world have proved themselves worthy
of being so?

Were all men as enlightened, as brave and as self-respecting as they
ought to be, would they suffer themselves to be insulted by any other
form of government than a republic? Can anything be more striking or
more sublime, than the idea of a republic like ours; which spreads over
a territory far more extensive than that of the ancient Roman empire?

And upon what is this great and glorious combination of states, so
admirably united, really founded? It is founded upon the maxims of
common sense and reason, without military despotism or monarchical
domination of any kind. The people simply govern themselves, and the
government is of the people, by the people and for the people.

FREEDOM OF THOUGHT

We must have an end of all persecution of ideas.

I condemn the government of France and Prussia when they oppress the
Jesuits.

I condemn the government of Russia when it oppresses the Jews.

I affirm that to persecute ideas is like persecuting light, air,
electricity, or the magnetic fluid.

Ideas escape all persecution. When repressed they explode like powder.

LESSON XXXVIII

FALSE NOTIONS OF LIBERTY

People talk of liberty as if it meant the liberty of doing what a man
likes. The only liberty that a man should ask for is the privilege of
removing all restrictions that prevent his doing what he ought to do.

I call that man free who is able to rule himself. I call him free who
has his flesh in subjection to his spirit; who fears doing wrong, but
who fears nothing else.

I call that man free who has learned that liberty consists in obedience
to the power and to the will and to the law that his higher soul
approves. He is not free because he does what he likes, but he is free
because he does what he ought.

Some people think there is no liberty in obedience. I tell you there
is no liberty except in loyal obedience. Did you ever see a mother
kept at home, a kind of prisoner, by her sick child, obeying its every
wish and caprice? Will you call that mother a slave? Or is this
obedience the obedience of slavery? I call it the obedience of the
highest liberty--the liberty of love.

We hear in these days a great deal respecting rights: the rights of
private judgment, the rights of labor, the rights, of property, and the
rights of man.

I cannot see anything manly in the struggle between rich and poor; the
one striving to take as much, and the other to keep as much, as he can.
The cry of "My rights, your duties," we should change to something
nobler. If we can say "My duties, your rights," we shall learn what
real liberty is.

LESSON XXXIX

THE VOICE

A good voice has a charm in speech as in song. The voice, like the
face, betrays the nature and disposition, and soon indicates what is
the range of the speaker's mind.

Many people have no ear for music; but everyone has an ear for skillful
reading. Every one of us has at some time been the victim of a cunning
voice, and perhaps been repelled once for all by a harsh, mechanical
speaker.

The voice, indeed, is a delicate index of the state of mind.

What character, what infinite variety, belongs to the voice! Sometimes
it is a flute, sometimes a trip-hammer; what a range of force! In
moments of clearer thought or deeper sympathy, the voice will attain a
music and penetration which surprise the speaker as much as the hearer.

LESSON XL

THE INTREPID YOUTH

It was a calm, sunny day in the year 1750; the scene a piece of forest
land in the north of Virginia, near a noble stream of water.
Implements for surveying were lying about, and several men composed a
party engaged in laying out the wild lands of the country.

These persons had apparently just finished their dinner. Apart from
the group walked a young man of a tall and compact frame. He moved
with the elastic tread of one accustomed to constant exercise in the
open air. His countenance wore a look of decision and manliness not
usually found in one so young.

Suddenly there was a shriek, then another, and several in rapid
succession. The voice was that of a woman, and seemed to proceed from
the other side of a dense thicket. At the first scream, the youth
turned his head in the direction of the sound. When it was repeated,
he pushed aside the undergrowth and, quickening his footsteps, he soon
dashed into an open space on the bank of the stream, where stood a rude
log cabin.

It was but the work of a moment for the young man to make his way
through the crowd and confront the woman. The instant her eye fell on
him, she exclaimed: "Oh, sir, you will do something for me. Make them
release me, for the love of God. My boy, my poor boy is drowning, and
they will not let me go." "It would be madness; she will jump into the
river," said one, "and the rapids would dash her to pieces in a moment."

The youth scarcely waited for these words, for he recollected the
child, a fine little boy of four years old, who was a favorite with all
who knew him. He had been accustomed to play in the little inclosure
before the cabin, but the gate having been left open, he had stolen
out, reached the edge of the bank, and was in the act of looking over,
when his mother saw him.

The shriek she uttered only hastened the catastrophe she feared; for
the child lost its balance, and fell into the stream. Scream now
followed scream in rapid succession, as the agonized mother rushed to
the bank.

One glance at the situation was enough. To take off his coat and
plunge in after the drowning child were but the actions of a moment.

On went the youth and child; and it was miraculous how each escaped
being dashed to pieces against the rocks. Twice the boy went out of
sight, and a suppressed shriek escaped the mother's lips; but twice he
reappeared, and with great anxiety she followed his progress, as his
tiny form was hurried onward with the current.

The youth now appeared to redouble his exertions, for they were
approaching the most dangerous part of the river. The rush of the
waters at this spot was tremendous, and no one ventured to approach,
even in a canoe, lest he should be dashed in pieces. What, then, would
be the youth's fate, unless he soon overtook the child? He urged his
way through the foaming current with desperate strength.

Three times he was on the point of grasping the child, when the waters
whirled the prize from him. The third effort was made above the fall;
and when it failed, the mother groaned, fully expecting the youth to
give up his task. But no; he only pressed forward the more eagerly.

And now, like an arrow from the bow, pursuer and pursued shot to the
brink of the precipice. An instant they hung there, distinctly visible
amid the foaming waters. Every brain grew dizzy at the sight. But a
shout of exultation burst from the spectators, when they saw the boy
held aloft by the right arm of the young hero. And thus he brought the
child back to the distracted mother.

With a most fervent blessing, she thanked the young man for his heroic
deed. And was this blessing heard? Most assuredly; for the
self-sacrificing spirit which characterized the life of this youth was
none other than that of George Washington, the First President of the
United States.

LESSON XLI

AUTUMN

September has come. The fierce heat of summer is gone. Men are at
work in the fields cutting down the yellow grain, and binding it up
into sheaves. The fields of corn stand in thick ranks, heavy with ears.

The boughs of the orchard hang low with the red and golden fruit.
Laughing boys are picking up the purple plums and the red-cheeked
peaches that have fallen in the high grass. Large, rich melons are on
the garden vines, and sweet grapes hang in clusters by the wall.

The larks with their black and yellow breasts stand watching you on the
close-mown meadow. As you come near, they spring up, fly a little
distance, and light again. The robins, that long ago left the gardens,
feed in flocks upon the red berries of the sumac, and the soft-eyed
pigeons are with them to claim their share. The lazy blackbirds follow
the cows and pick up crickets and other insects.

At noon, the air is still, mild, and soft. You see blue smoke off by
the distant wood and hills. The brook is almost dry. The water runs
over the pebbles with a soft, low murmur. The goldenrod is on the
hill, the aster by the brook, and the sunflower in the garden.

The twitter of the birds is still heard. The sheep graze upon the
brown hillside. The merry whistle of the plowboy comes up from the
field, and the cow lows in the distant pasture.

As the sun sinks in the October haze, the low, south wind creeps over
the dry tree-tops, and the leaves fall in showers upon the ground. The
sun sinks lower, and lower, and is gone; but his bright beams still
linger in the west. Then the evening star is seen shining with a soft,
mellow light, and the moon rises slowly in the still and hazy air.

November comes. The flowers are all dead. The grass is pale and
white. The wind has blown the dry leaves into heaps. The timid rabbit
treads softly on the dry leaves. The crow calls from the high
tree-top. The sound of dropping nuts is heard in the wood. Children
go out morning and evening to gather nuts for the winter. The busy
little squirrels will be sure to get their share.

SELECTION XIV

THE RETORT

One day, a rich man, flushed with pride and wine,
Sitting with guests at table, all quite merry,
Conceived it would be vastly fine
To crack a joke upon his secretary.

"Young man," said he, "by what art, craft, or trade
Did your good father earn his livelihood?"
"He was a saddler, sir," the young man said;
"And in his line was always reckoned good."

"A saddler, eh? and had you stuffed with Greek,
Instead of teaching you like him to sew?
And pray, sir, why did not your father make
A saddler, too, of you?"
At this each flatterer, as in duty bound,
The joke applauded, and the laugh went round.

At length the secretary, bowing low,
Said (craving pardon if too free he made),
"Sir, by your leave I fain would know
Your father's trade."

"My father's trade? Why, sir, but that's too bad!
My father's trade? Why, blockhead, art thou mad?
My, father, sir, was never brought so low:
He was a gentleman, I'd have you know."

"Indeed! excuse the liberty I take;
But if your story's true,
How happened it your father did not make
A gentleman of you?"

_G. P. Morris_.

LESSON XLII

WORDS AND THEIR MEANING

I tell you earnestly, you must get into the habit of looking intensely
at words, and assuring yourself of their meaning, syllable by syllable,
nay, letter by letter. You might read all the books in the British
Museum, if you could live long enough, and remain an utterly
illiterate, uneducated person; but if you read ten pages of a good
book, letter by letter,--that is to say, with real accuracy,--you are
forevermore, in some measure, an educated person.

The entire difference between education and non-education (as regards
the merely intellectual part of it) consists in this accuracy. A
well-educated gentleman may not know many languages, may not be able to
speak any but his own, may have read very few books; but whatever word
he pronounces, he pronounces rightly.

An ordinarily clever and sensible seaman will be able to make his way
ashore at most ports; yet he has only to speak a sentence to be known
for an illiterate person; so also the accent, or turn of expression of
a single sentence, will at once mark a scholar.

Let the accent of words be watched, and closely; let their meaning be
watched more closely still. A few words, well chosen, will do the work
that a thousand cannot do, when every one of those few is acting
properly, in the function of one another.

LESSON XLIII

HOW TO SELECT A BOY

A gentleman advertised for a boy, and nearly fifty applicants presented
themselves to him. Out of the whole number he selected one and
dismissed the rest.

"I should like to know," said a friend, "on what ground you selected
that boy, who had not a single recommendation?"

"You are mistaken," said the gentleman; "he has a great many. He wiped
his feet when he came in, and closed the door after him, showing that
he was careful. He gave his seat instantly to that lame old man,
showing that he was thoughtful. He took off his cap when he came in
and answered my questions promptly, showing that he was gentlemanly.

"He picked up the book which I had purposely laid on the floor and
replaced it on the table, and he waited quietly for his turn, instead
of pushing and crowding; showing that he was honorable and orderly.
When I talked to him I noticed that his clothes were brushed and his
hair in order. When he wrote his name I noticed that his finger-nails
were clean.

"Don't you call those things letters of recommendation? I do; and I
would give more for what I can tell about a boy by using my eyes ten
minutes than for all the letters he can bring me."

LESSON XLIV

SALT

Salt is an every-day article, so common that we rarely give it a
thought; yet, like most common things, it is useful enough to be ranked
among the necessaries of life. "I could not live without salt," would
sound to us exaggerated in the mouth of any one. Have you ever fancied
that you could do without it?

How would meat taste without salt? Would not much of our vegetable
food be insipid, if we neglected this common seasoning? And even the
"daily bread" demands its share.

Where is this salt found, that we prize so little, yet need so much?
The sea furnishes some, and salt-mines and salt-springs give the rest.
Most of the salt used in this country is obtained from the water of
certain springs. Among the richest of these springs are those at
Salina, now a part of the city of Syracuse, New York. Forty gallons of
water from these wells yield one bushel of salt.

LESSON XLV

STUDIES

Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief
use for delight is in privateness; for ornament, in discourse; and for
ability in the judgment and disposition of business.

To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for
ornament is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the
humor of a scholar.

Crafty men contemn studies; simple men admire them; and wise men use
them. Read not to contradict and confute, or to believe and take for
granted, or to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be
chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts;
others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly,
and with diligence and attention.

Reading makes a full man; conference, a ready man; and writing, an
exact man.

SELECTION XV

A PSALM OF LIFE

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
"Life is but an empty dream!"
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way,
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting;
And our hearts, though strong and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle,
Be a hero in the strife.

Trust no future, however pleasant;
Let the dead past bury its dead:
Act,--act in the living present,
Heart within, and God o'erhead.

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

_H. W. Longfellow_.

LESSON XLVI

RULES OF BEHAVIOR

Every action in company ought to be done with some sign of respect to
those present.

In presence of others, sing not to yourself with a humming noise, nor
drum with your fingers or feet.

Speak not when others speak; sit not when others stand; speak not when
you should hold your peace; walk not when others stop.

Turn not your back to others, especially in speaking; jog not the table
or desk on which another reads or writes; lean not on any one.

Be no flatterer; neither play with any one that delights not to be
played with.

Read no letters, books, or papers, in company; but when there is a
necessity for doing it, you must ask leave. Come not near the books or
writings of any one so as to read them, unless desired.

When another speaks, be attentive yourself, and disturb not the
audience. If any one hesitates in his words, help him not, nor prompt
him, without being desired; interrupt him not, nor answer him till his
speech is ended.

Be not curious to know the affairs of others, neither approach to those
that speak in private.

Make no show of taking great delight in your victuals; feed not with
greediness; lean not on the table; neither find fault with what you eat.

Let your discourses with men of business be short.

Be not immoderate in urging your friend to discover a secret.

Speak not in an unknown tongue in company, but in your own language,
and as those of quality do, and not as the vulgar.

LESSON XLVII

USING THE EYES

The difference between men consists, in great measure, in the
intelligence of their observation. The Russian proverb says of the
non-observant man, "He goes through the forest and sees no firewood."

"Sir," said Johnson, on one occasion, to a fine gentleman, just
returned from Italy, "some men will learn more in the Hampstead stage
than others in the tour of Europe." It is the mind that sees as well
as the eye.

Many, before Galileo, had seen a suspended weight swing before their
eyes with a measured beat; but he was the first to detect the value of
the fact. One of the vergers in the cathedral at Pisa, after filling
with oil a lamp which swung from the roof, left it swinging to and fro.
Galileo, then a youth of only eighteen, noting it attentively,
conceived the idea of applying it to the measurement of time.

Fifty years of study and labor, however, elapsed before he completed
the invention of his pendulum,--an invention the importance of which,
in the measurement of time and in astronomical calculations, can
scarcely be overvalued.

While Captain Brown was occupied in studying the construction of
bridges, he was walking in his garden one dewy morning, when he saw a
tiny spider's-net suspended across his path. The idea occurred to him,
that a bridge of iron ropes might be constructed in like manner, and
the result was the invention of his Suspension Bridge.

So trifling a matter as a straw may indicate which way the wind blows.
It is the close observation of little things which is the secret of
success in business, in art, in science and in every other pursuit in
life.

LESSON XLVIII

THE AFFECTION AND REVERENCE DUE A MOTHER

What an awful state of mind must a man have attained, when he can
despise a mother's counsel! Her name is identified with every idea
that can subdue the sternest mind; that can suggest the most profound
respect, the deepest and most heartfelt attachment, the most unlimited
obedience. It brings to the mind the first human being that loved us,
the first guardian that protected us, the first friend that cherished
us; who watched with anxious care over infant life, whilst yet we were
unconscious of our being; whose days and nights were rendered wearisome
by her anxious cares for our welfare; whose eager eye followed us
through every path we took; who gloried in our honor; who sickened in
heart at our shame; who loved and mourned, when others reviled and
scorned; and whose affection for us survives the wreck of every other
feeling within. When her voice is raised to inculcate religion, or to
reprehend irregularity, it possesses unnumbered claims of attention,
respect and obedience. She fills the place of the eternal God; by her
lips that God is speaking; in her counsels He is conveying the most
solemn admonitions; and to disregard such counsel, to despise such
interference, to sneer at the wisdom that addresses you, or the aged
piety that seeks to reform you, is the surest and the shortest path
which the devil himself could have opened for your perdition. I know
no grace that can have effect; I know not any authority upon earth to
which you will listen, when once you have brought yourself to reject
such advice.

USEFUL INFORMATION

The officials and clerks by whom the people's business in the
administration of the government is carried on, constitute the Civil
Service. About five thousand of these officials are appointed by the
President alone or with the consent of the Senate; about fifteen to
twenty thousand more are appointed under what is known as the
"Civil-Service Rules," and the remainder of our office-holders are
appointed by heads of departments.

Competitive examinations for admission to the Civil Service are held at
regular intervals by a Board of Examiners in each of the principal
cities of the United States. Men and women receive the same pay for
the same work in government service.

The salary of the President of the United States is $75,000 a year.
The Vice-president receives $8,000; Cabinet officers, $8,000; Senators,
$5,000 and mileage. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court receives
$10,500. Ministers to foreign nations receive from $5,000 to $18,000
annually. The amount varies with the importance of the post.

The total number of Indians in the United States is about 250,000,
Alaska not included. The most numerous tribes are the Cherokee and
Choctaw Indians. The Apaches are the most savage. About half of the
Indian tribes are now partly civilized and are self-supporting.

WISE SAYINGS

The first business of a state is the education of its citizens.

Every child has a right to the best education.

The highest motive of school government is to give the child the power
and necessary reason to control himself.

We have no right to teach anything that does not go through the
intellect and reach the heart.

Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.

LESSON XLIX

WHEAT

Wheat was unknown in America till it was brought over by Europeans, but
it is now grown to an immense extent in the temperate regions of both
North and South America. Our country is the greatest wheat granary in
the world. The production of this grain in the United States is over
five hundred millions of bushels a year.

The great "wheat belt" of the United States is in the Northwest,--in
Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the neighboring states.
California also is a splendid country for this cereal, and California's
wheat crop is every year worth more than were ever her stores of gold.

People who live in cities and towns get their bread for the most part
at the baker's; so that in many families the good old art of
bread-making is almost forgotten. Then it must be said that it is the
exception rather than the rule when one finds really good home-made
bread. This is a great pity.

Now, let me add one hint for the benefit of the girls. In the English
language there is no nobler word than _Lady_. But go back to its
origin, and what do we find that it means? We find that it means _She
that looks after the loaf_.

WISE SAYINGS

Shallow men believe in luck; strong men in pluck.

If there is honor among thieves, they stole it.

Have a time and place for everything, and do everything in its time and
place.

You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make
it.

You will always find those men the most forward to do good, or to
improve the times, who are always busy.

Trifles make perfection, yet perfection is no trifle.

LESSON L

COUNTENANCE AND CHARACTER

We know men by their looks; we read men by looking at their faces--not
at their features, their eyes, their lips, because God made these; but
a certain cast of motion, and shape and expression, which their
features have acquired. It is this that we call the countenance.

And what makes this countenance? The inward and mental habits; the
constant pressure of the mind; the perpetual repetition of its acts.
You detect at once a conceited, or foolish person. It is stamped on
his countenance. You can see on the faces of the cunning or
dissembling, certain corresponding lines, traced on the face as legibly
as if they were written there.

As it is with the countenance, so it is with the character. Character
is the sum total of all our actions. It is the result of the habitual
use we have been making of our intellect, heart and will. We are
always at work, like the weaver at the loom. So we are always forming
a character for ourselves. It is a plain truth, that everybody grows
up in a certain character; some good, some bad, some excellent, and
some unendurable. Every character is formed by habits. If a man is
habitually proud, or vain, or false, he forms for himself a character
like in kind.

The character shows itself outwardly, but it is wrought within. Every
habit is a chain of acts, and every one of those acts was a free link
of the will. For instance, some people are habitually false. We
sometimes meet with men whose word we can never take, and for this
reason they have lost the perception of truth and falsehood. They do
not know when they are speaking the truth and when they are speaking
falsely. They bring this state upon themselves. But there was a time
when these same men had never told a lie.

A good character is to be more highly prized than riches.

SELECTION XVI

THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET

1. How dear to the heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view!
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild-wood,
And every loved spot which my infancy knew;
The wide-spreading pond, and the mill which stood by it,
The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell;
The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,
And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well:
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket.
The moss-covered bucket, which hung in the well.

2. That moss-covered vessel I hail as a treasure;
For often, at noon, when returned from the field,
I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure,
The purest and sweetest that nature can yield.
How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing,
And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell;
Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflowing,
And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well:
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket arose from the well.

3. How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it,
As poised on the curb it inclined to my lips!
Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it,
Though filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips.
And now, far removed from the loved situation,
The tear of regret will intrusively swell,
As fancy reverts to my father's plantation,
And sighs for the bucket which hangs in the well;
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket, which hangs in the well.

_Samuel Woodworth_.

LESSON LI

THE VALUE OF TIME

The value of time has passed into a proverb,--"Time is money." It is
so because its employment brings money. But it is more. It is
knowledge. Still more, it is virtue.

Time is more than money. It brings what money cannot purchase. It has
in its lap all the learning of the past, the spoils of antiquity, the
priceless treasures of knowledge. Who would barter these for gold or
silver? But knowledge is a means only, and not an end. It is valuable
because it promotes the welfare, the development and the progress of
man. And the highest value of time is not in knowledge, but in the
opportunity of doing good.

Time is opportunity. Little or much, it may be the occasion of
usefulness. It is the point desired by the philosopher where to plant
the lever that shall move the world. It is the napkin in which are
wrapped, not only the talent of silver, but the treasures of knowledge
and the fruits of virtue. Saving time, we save all these.

Employing time to the best advantage, we exercise a true thrift. To
each of us the passing day is of the same dimensions, nor can any one,
by taking thought, add a moment to its hours. But, though unable to
extend their duration, he may swell them with works.

It is customary to say, "Take care of the small sums, and the large
will take care of themselves." With equal wisdom may it be said,
"Watch the minutes, and the hours and days will be safe." The moments
are precious; they are gold filings, to be carefully preserved and
melted into the rich ingot.

Time is the measure of life on earth. Its enjoyment is life itself.
Its divisions, its days, its hours, its minutes, are fractions of this
heavenly gift. Every moment that flies over our heads takes from the
future, shortening by so much the measure of our days.

The moments lost in listlessness, or squandered in dissipation, are
perhaps hours, days, weeks, months, years. The daily sacrifice of a
single hour during a year comes at its end to thirty-six working days,
an amount of time ample for the acquisition of important knowledge, and
for the accomplishment of great good. Who of us does not each day, in
many ways, sacrifice these precious moments, these golden hours?

Seek, then, always to be usefully occupied. Employ all the faculties,
whether in study or in manual labor, and your days shall be filled with
usefulness.

LESSON LII

THE STUDY OF CIVICS

Few people have the time to undertake a thorough study of civics, but
everyone ought to find time to learn the principal features of the
government under which he lives. We should know also of the way in
which our government came into existence, and how this government is
administered to-day. Such knowledge is necessary for the proper
discharge of the duties of citizenship.

All kinds of political questions are discussed daily in the newspapers
and voted on at times at the polls, and it is the duty of every man to
try to understand them. For if these questions are not intelligently
settled, they will be settled by the ignorant, and the result will be
very bad.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. People sometimes think
that, because our national government is called a republic, and we have
free schools and free libraries and other such free institutions, our
liberty is forever secure. Our government is indeed a wonderful
structure of political skill, and generally runs so very smoothly that
we almost think it will run of itself. Beware!

In order that the government of the nation, of the state, of the city
or the town shall be properly administered, it is necessary that every
citizen be watchful to secure the best officers for its government.

USEFUL INFORMATION

The great obelisk in Central Park, New York, is one of the most noted
monoliths in the world. It was quarried, carved and erected about the
time of Abraham, to commemorate the deeds of an ancient Pharaoh. Five
hundred years later the conquering Sesostris, the bad Pharaoh of the
Bible, carved on its surface the record of his famous reign.

Now Sesostris, or Rameses II, reigned one thousand years before the
Trojan war, so that all the symbols now seen on the obelisk were
already very old in the days of Priam, Hector and Ulysses. The Roman
poet Horace says that there were many brave men before Agamemnon, but
there was no Homer to put their valiant deeds in verse. Sesostris was
an exception. He escaped oblivion without the aid of Homer, and the
figures upon the hard granite of Cleopatra's Needle tell us even now,
after more than thirty-five centuries, of the reign of that remarkable
king.

LESSON LIII

THE SEA AND ITS USES

It is a common thing in speaking of the sea to call it "a waste of
waters." But this is a mistake. Instead of being a waste and a
desert, it keeps the earth itself from becoming a waste and a desert.
It is the world's fountain of life and health and beauty, and if it
were taken away, the grass would perish from the mountains, the forests
would crumble on the hills. Water is as indispensable to all life,
vegetable or animal, as the air itself. This element of water is
supplied entirely by the sea. The sea is the great inexhaustible
fountain which is continually pouring up into the sky precisely as many
streams, and as large, as all the rivers of the world are pouring into
the sea.

The sea is the real birthplace of the clouds and the rivers, and out of
it come all the rains and dews of heaven. Instead of being a waste and
an incumbrance, therefore, it is a vast fountain of fruitfulness, and
the nurse and mother of all the living. Out of its mighty breast come
the resources that feed and support the population of the world. We
are surrounded by the presence and bounty of the sea.

It is the sea that feeds us. It is the sea that clothes us. It cools
us with the summer cloud, and warms us with the blazing fires of
winter. We make wealth for ourselves and for our children out of its
rolling waters, though we may live a thousand leagues away from its
shore. Thus the sea, though it bears no harvest on its bosom, yet
sustains all the harvest of the world. If like a desert itself, it
makes all the other wildernesses of the earth to bud and blossom as the
rose. Though its own waters are as salt and wormwood, it makes the
clouds of heaven drop with sweetness.

The sea is a perpetual source of health to the world. Without it there
could be no drainage for the lands. It is the scavenger of the world.
The sea is also set to purify the atmosphere. Thus the sea, instead of
being a waste of waters, is the very fountain of life, health and
beauty.

LESSON LIV

WONDERLAND

Many of you have read of the remarkable geysers of Iceland and the more
remarkable ones in New Zealand, of grand cañons in Arizona, of deep
mountain gorges in Colorado, of stupendous falls in Africa, of lofty
mountains covered with snow in Europe, of elevated lakes in South
America, of natural bridges in Virginia; but who has ever conceived of
having all these wonders in one spot of the earth, and forever free as
a great National Park, visited each summer by thousands of native and
foreign travelers?

Travelers report that this corner of the earth seems to be not quite
finished by the great Creator. Through all this region volcanic action
has been exceedingly vigorous. The effect of fire upon the rocks is
plainly visible and widely spread. Whole mountains of volcanic rock
exist. Floods of lava everywhere abound. The last feeble evidence of
this gigantic force is to be seen in the hot springs on Gardiner River
and on many other streams, and in the strange action of the geyser
basins.

There are sixteen important geysers in this section, and innumerable
inferior ones. One geyser is called the "Giantess." It throws a great
mass of water to a small height, surging and splashing in all
directions. One of the most noted geysers is called the "Castle
Geyser," because of its size and general appearance. The opening of
the geyser tube is circular, and about three feet in diameter.

When this geyser is about to spout, a rumbling is heard as of thousands
of tons of stones rolling round and round. Louder and louder grows the
noise and disturbance, till it has thrown out a few tons of water and
obtained apparent relief.

These are warnings to the observers to retreat to a safe distance. In
a few moments the geyser increases in noise, the earth even trembles,
and then a great column of water is hurled into the air.

Another geyser is "Old Faithful," so called because he plays regularly
every sixty-five minutes. The crater is quite low, and contains an
opening which is only the widening of a crack extending across the
whole mound. On the summit are a number of beautiful little pools,
several feet deep, filled with water so clear that a name written in
pencil on a piece of stone and placed at the bottom of the deepest pool
is seen as clearly as if held in the hand. Another remarkable fact is,
that the water does not efface the name, even after months of
submersion.

Old Faithful begins with a few feeble jets. Soon every spasm becomes
more powerful, till with a mighty roar, up comes the water in a great
column. This rises to the height of one hundred and thirty feet for
the space of about five minutes. After the column of water sinks down
there is a discharge of steam.

The "Beehive Geyser" is named after the shape of its cone. The water
and steam issue from the opening in a steady stream, instead of in
successive impulses, as in the two mentioned above. No water falls
back from this geyser, but the whole mass appears to be driven up into
fine spray or steam, which is carried away as cloud, or diffused into
the atmosphere.

The names of some of the other well-known geysers are the "Giant,"
"Grotto," "Soda," "Turban," and "Young Faithful." The tremendous force
with which some of these hot springs even now act, and the
peculiarities of the earth's formation in this section of our country,
may give us some faint idea of the phenomena through which our little
world has passed until it became the dwelling-place of man.

LESSON LV

OUR COUNTRY TO-DAY

_PART I_

The United States is one of the youngest nations of the world.
Civilized men first went to England nearly twenty centuries ago, but
since Columbus discovered America only four centuries have passed.
Each of these four centuries has a character of its own and is quite
unlike the others. The first was the time of exploring, the second of
colonizing, the third of deciding who should rule in America, and the
fourth of growth and development.

During the first century explorers from France, England, and Spain
visited the New World, each claiming for his own country the part that
he explored. Each hoped to find gold, but only the Spaniards, who went
to Mexico and Peru, were successful. There was little thought of
making settlements, and at the end of the first century the Spanish
colonies of St. Augustine and Santa Fe were the only ones on the
mainland of what is now the territory of the United States.

During the second century much colonizing was done. The French settled
chiefly along the Saint Lawrence River; the English settled along the
Atlantic coast of North America; the Spanish in Mexico and South
America; the Dutch by the Hudson River; the Swedes by the Delaware.
The European nations discovered that it was worth while to have
American colonies.

During the third century there was a long struggle to see which nation
should rule in America. England and France were far ahead of the
others, but which of them should it be? The French and Indian Wars
gave the answer, "England." Then another question arose; should it be
England or the Thirteen Colonies? The Revolutionary War answered, "The
Colonies." At the end of the third century the United States had been
established, and the land east of the Mississippi was under her rule.

In the last century there has been a great gain in people and in land.
To-day there are thirty times as many people in this country as there
were then.

USEFUL INFORMATION

It may not be generally known that we have in the nickel five-cent
piece of our American coinage a key to the tables of linear measures
and weights. The diameter of a nickel is exactly two centimeters, and
its weight is five grammes. Five nickels in a row will give the length
of the decimeter, and two of them will weigh a decagram. As the
kiloliter is a cubic meter, the key of the measure of length is also
that of capacity.

Among the North American Indians polished shells were used as currency.
This money was called _wampum_ and was recognized by the colonists.
Six white shells were exchanged for three purple beads, and these in
turn were equivalent to one English penny.

LESSON LVI

OUR COUNTRY TO-DAY

_PART II_

How has it come about that the number of people in the United States
has increased with such rapidity? It is partly because more have been
born than have died, and partly because so many have come from foreign
countries. Fifty years ago large villages were common in which there
were hardly any foreigners. Now one-sixth of the whole number of
inhabitants of the United States are people who were born in some other
country.

These people are glad to come because the workingmen of America receive
higher wages than those of any other country, and because in America a
man is free to rise to any position that he is fitted to hold. The
country is ready to give the education that will prepare her citizens
to rise to high positions. It is believed that an educated man is
likely to make a better citizen than an ignorant man, and therefore the
public schools of the United States are entirely free. Then, too,
there are public libraries not only in the cities but in many of the
little villages, so that men who are too old to go to school may
educate themselves by reading. There is opportunity to use all kinds
of knowledge in carrying on the manufactures of the country. Almost
everything that used to be made by hand is now made by machinery, and
the skill to invent a machine that will work a little better than the
one in use is always well rewarded. Knowledge is also needed to
develop the mineral wealth of the country. Within the limits of the
United States are metals, coal, natural gas, and petroleum, and it is
the skill and inventive genius of her citizens that have brought such
great wealth to the country from these products.

This inventive genius has also given us rapid and cheap transportation.
In the old days a man had to make or raise most things for himself.
Manufactured articles that could be made very cheaply in one place
became exceedingly dear when they had to be carried long distances by
wagons over poor roads. Many delicate kinds of fruit would spoil on
such long journeys. Now, fruit can be sent from California to Maine in
fine condition. Cheap and rapid transportation is a great convenience.
Business men need not live in the cities near their offices,--the steam
or electric cars will carry them eight or ten miles in the time that it
would take to walk one mile. The postal service and the telegraph are
sure and rapid. So also is the telephone. No wonder, then, that our
commerce has reached the fabulous sum of one billion, five hundred
million dollars in one year.

What the United States will become tomorrow, will lie in the hands of
those who are the children of to-day.

LESSON LVII

PICTURES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY

On the southern bank of the James River in Virginia stand the ruins of
an old church. Its crumbling tower and broken arch are almost hidden
by the tangled vines which cover it. Within the walls of the
church-yard may be found a few ancient tombstones overgrown with ivy
and long grass.

This is all that remains of the first English settlement in
America,--the colony of Jamestown, Virginia.

This first permanent English settlement in the New World was made in
the year 1607, more than a hundred years after the discovery of America
by Columbus. Some attempts to colonize had been made by the English
before this time. The most important of these was undertaken by the
famous but unfortunate Sir Walter Raleigh.

Raleigh obtained from Queen Elizabeth a grant of a vast territory, to
be called Virginia, in honor of Elizabeth, the "virgin queen." It
extended from the Hudson River to the boundary of what is now Georgia.

In attempting to colonize Virginia, Raleigh spent a large fortune. But
his colonies never prospered. The settlers returned home disgusted
with the hardships of the wilderness. In 1589 Raleigh sold his rights
to a stock company.

Nevertheless the enterprise which proved too difficult for Raleigh was
carried out during Raleigh's lifetime, under the leadership of the
famous John Smith.

The idea of colonizing Virginia had been growing wonderfully. In 1606
a company of "noblemen, gentlemen, and merchants," called the London
Company, obtained from King James the First a charter for "planting and
ruling" South Virginia.

The company had gathered together a band of men willing to try their
fortunes in Virginia, and they were just about to embark when Smith
reached London. To Smith's bold and roving disposition the idea of a
New World was irresistible, and he joined the colonists.

In the last month of the year 1606, the party--in all, one hundred and
five men--set sail in a little fleet of three vessels commanded by
Captain Newport.

On the 23d of May, 1607, after a weary and distressing voyage, the
Virginia colonists landed. They commenced the settlement of Jamestown.
When the king's sealed instructions were opened, and the names of the
seven directors were made known, it was found that John Smith was to be
one of the seven. Through the jealousy of Wingfield, who was chosen
president, he was not allowed to take his place in the council.

But this did not prevent his being the ablest man among them, and the
colonists were soon glad to turn to him for guidance. For now their
condition was most deplorable. They were surrounded by hostile
Indians; the provisions they had brought from England were soon
consumed; and the diseases caused by the hot, moist climate in a short
time reduced their number by one-half.

Besides, the colonists were a troublesome class to deal with. Many of
them were broken-down "gentlemen," who despised hard work. A very few
were farmers or mechanics or persons fitted for the life they sought.

Day by day Smith made his influence more and more felt. He soon became
the head of the colony. He put in force the good old rule that he who
would not work should not eat.

Many strange adventures are told about John Smith during the two years
he remained in Virginia. He left the colony in the autumn of 1609 on
account of a severe wound which he received, and which obliged him to
return to England to be cured.

The colonists, having lost the guidance of this resourceful man, were
soon reduced to great want; still they held out and later on became a
flourishing colony.

LESSON LVIII

THOMAS A. EDISON

One of the greatest inventors of the age is Thomas A. Edison, and his
whole life is an interesting story for young people. His mother had
been a teacher, and her greatest wish for her son was that he should
love knowledge and grow up to be a good and useful man.

When Edison was only twelve years of age, he secured a position as
train boy on the Grand Trunk Railroad in one of the western states. He
went through the train and sold apples, peanuts, papers, and books. He
had such a pleasant face that everybody liked to buy his wares. He
traded some of his papers for things with which to try experiments. He
then fitted out an old baggage car as a little room in which he began
his first efforts in the way of inventions.

One of the things he did while working as a train boy was to print a
paper on the train. The "London Times" spoke of it as the only paper
in the world published on a train. It was named the "Grand Trunk
Herald."

Young Edison worked as a train boy for four years, and he had in that
time saved two thousand dollars, which he gave to his parents.

Once he thought he would like to read all the books in the city
library. He read for a long time, but he found that he could not
finish all the books. He then made up his mind that one would have to
live a thousand years in order to read all the books in that library,
so he gave up the idea.

One day he bought a book on electricity. Soon after that the basement
of his home was filled with many odd things. He used a stovepipe to
connect his home with that of another boy, and through this the boys
could talk when they wished.

A kind friend taught young Edison how to telegraph, and in five months
he could operate well and was given a position. He worked very hard,
night and day, so that he could learn all he could about electricity.
He lost place after place because he was always trying some new idea.
When he first proposed to send four messages on one wire at the same
time, he was laughed at by the people; but Edison succeeded. Later on
he invented the phonograph. His greatest invention is the incandescent
light, which is used for lighting purposes.

Mr. Edison loves his work, and although he is now a very wealthy man,
he keeps on inventing and working every day. It is said that he
sometimes works for twenty-four hours, day and night, without food or
rest, until he has perfected some new invention. Mr. Edison is a true
type of an American gentleman.

SELECTION XVII

OFT IN THE STILLY NIGHT

Oft in the stilly night,
Ere slumber's chain has bound me,
Fond memory brings the light
Of other days around me;
The smiles, the tears
Of boyhood's years,
The words of love then spoken;
The eyes that shone,
Now dimm'd and gone,
The cheerful hearts now broken.
Thus in the stilly night,
Ere slumber's chain has bound me,
Sad memory brings the light
Of other days around me.

When I remember all
The friends, so linked together,
I've seen around me fall,
Like leaves in wintry weather,
I feel like one
Who treads alone
Some banquet hall deserted,
Whose lights are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
And all but he departed.
Thus in the stilly night,
Ere slumber's chain has bound me,
Sad memory brings the light
Of other days around me.

_Thomas Moore_.

LESSON LIX

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Abraham Lincoln, the restorer of the Union, the sixteenth president of
the United States, was born in Kentucky on the twelfth of February,
1809. His father was a typical backwoodsman, and young Lincoln grew up
among frontier surroundings. The Lincoln family came originally from
Pennsylvania. At a later period the Lincolns moved south to Virginia,
and again they migrated to Kentucky. It was here that the grandfather
of Abraham Lincoln lost his life in a battle with the Indians.

The first seven years of Lincoln's life were spent in the wilds of
Kentucky. In 1816 his father left that state and moved northward to
Indiana, but here the surroundings were not much better. A rude
blockhouse, with a single large room below and a low garret above, was
the home of our young hero. Every hardship and privation of the
pioneer's life was here the lot of our growing youth. But he loved the
tangled woods, and hunting and fishing were his delight.

There were no schools there, and Abraham learned a little reading and
writing from a man who shared the poor blockhouse with the Lincoln
family. For writing, a slate was used, and now and then a pine board,
or even some flat stone upon which the figures were traced with
charcoal. His books were few, but he read them over and over again,
and the impressions they made on him were so much the deeper. In this
way Lincoln acquired the rudiments of education. When Abraham was
scarcely nine years old, his excellent mother died. His father married
again, and fortunately for young Lincoln, his stepmother was a lady of
refinement, who took the greatest interest in her rugged but talented
step-son. She sent him to a private school for a while, and Abraham
learned many useful things and easily kept at the head of his class.
His stepmother also procured more books for him, for Abraham was a most
ardent reader, and he spent all his leisure time in reading and
self-culture. Being tall of stature and well built, young Lincoln had
to help his father on the farm a great deal, and the only time left for
study was late at night or in the early morning.

Thus our future president grew up to manhood; a sturdy, awkward, but
honest backwoodsman, with a sound mind in a healthy body.

When Lincoln was about eighteen years old, his father again moved
northward, this time to Illinois. Here Abraham continued to work and
to improve his mind as best he might. Borrowing books from some law
office, he studied them at night and returned them in the morning. His
honesty and true merit were soon recognized by the rest of the
community where he lived, and he was elected to represent the people in
the legislature.

Lincoln became a lawyer of more than ordinary ability, and although his
appearance remained somewhat ungainly, he easily won his lawsuits by
the clear and logical conclusions which he advanced over those of his
opponents. He had thus secured a splendid law-practice and had settled
in Springfield, Illinois, when he became the republican candidate for
president of the United States in 1860, and was elected the same year.

The country at this time was agitated over two great questions: the
question of slavery and that of secession. The South was ready to
separate from the North, and the entire country was in a most critical
condition. Such was the state of affairs when Abraham Lincoln took the
oath of office as president of the United States. Lincoln was scarcely
three weeks in office when the great war of the Rebellion between the
North and the South broke out; a war of which there is no parallel in
history. Brother fought against brother, and father against son. Here
it was that Lincoln showed his heroic courage, and by his indomitable
will kept the reins of government firmly in his hands, thus saving the
country from utter anarchy. The war continued with unrelenting vigor
for two years, and its horrible consequences were sorely felt
throughout the land. In September, 1862, Lincoln issued his famous
Emancipation Proclamation, by which slavery was forever banished from
this country. Still the warring did not cease. In 1864 Lincoln was
elected for a second term in office. The people knew his noble
character and they had full confidence in him.

At last peace seemed to be in sight. The North had sacrificed the
blood of thousands of its men as well as the wealth of its treasuries.
The South, in the same manner, had not only lost tens of thousands of
its bravest men, but it was utterly ruined, on account of the terrible
punishment the war had inflicted upon that sunny land.

Richmond, the stronghold of the rebellion, had fallen, and victory was
on the side of the Union. Amidst universal rejoicings, there came the
saddest news. On the 14th day of April, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was
assassinated.

The whole nation was thrown into deepest mourning. The noble heart of
Lincoln beat no more. He is called the "Martyr President."

His remains were taken to Springfield, Illinois, where they rest at the
foot of a small hill in Oakwood Cemetery. A simple monument, with the
name--"Lincoln"--upon it, is the only epitaph of him, who next to
Washington was the greatest man of our glorious Republic.

LESSON LX

ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE DEDICATION OF THE CEMETERY AT GETTYSBURG

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this
continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a
great civil war testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived
and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field
of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a
final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that the nation
might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate--we cannot consecrate--we
cannot hallow--this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who
struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or
detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say
here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the
living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they
who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us
to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from
these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which
they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly
resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation,
under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of
the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the
earth.

_Abraham Lincoln_.

November 19th, 1863.

SELECTION XVIII

THE PICKET OF THE POTOMAC

"All quiet along the Potomac," they say,
"Except now and then a stray picket
Is shot as he walks on his beat to and fro,
By a rifleman hid in the thicket."
'Tis nothing--a private or two now and then
Will not count in the tale of the battle;
Not an officer lost--only one of the men
Breathing out all alone the death-rattle.

All quiet along the Potomac to-night,
Where the soldiers lie peacefully dreaming,
Their tents in the ray of the clear autumn moon,
And the light of the watch-fires gleaming.
A tremulous sigh from the gentle night wind
Through the forest leaves slowly is creeping,
While the stars up above, with their glittering eyes,
Keep watch while the army is sleeping.

There's only the sound of the lone sentry's tread,
As he tramps from the rock to the fountain,
And thinks of the two in the low trundle-bed
Far away in the hut on the mountain.
His musket falls slack; his face, dark and grim,
Grows gentle with memories tender,
As he mutters a prayer for the children asleep,
For their mother,--may heaven defend her!

The moon seems to shine as serenely as then,
That night when the love, yet unspoken,
Lingered long on his lips, and when low-murmured vows
Were pledged, never more to be broken.
Then, drawing his sleeve roughly over his eyes,
He dashes the tears that are welling,
And gathers his gun closer up to its place,
As if to keep down the heart-swelling.

He passes the fountain, the blasted pine-tree--
The footstep is lagging and weary;
Yet onward he glides through the broad belt of light,
Towards the shade of a forest so dreary.
Hark! Was it the night wind that rustled the leaves?
Is it moonlight so suddenly flashing?
It looked like a rifle-- "Ha, Mary, good-night!"
His life-blood is ebbing and dashing.

All quiet along the Potomac to-night,
No sound save the rush of the river;
But the dew falls unseen on the face of the dead--
The picket's off duty forever.

_Ethel L. Beers_.

LESSON LXI

WAGES

Wages are a compensation given to the laborer for the exertion of his
physical powers, or of his skill and ingenuity. They must, therefore,
vary according to the severity of the labor to be performed, or to the
degree of skill and ingenuity required. A jeweller or engraver, for
example, must be paid a higher rate of wages than a servant or laborer.
A long course of training is necessary to instruct a man in the
business of jewelling or engraving, and if the cost of his training
were not made up to him in a higher rate of wages, he would, instead of
learning so difficult an art, betake himself to such employments as
require hardly any instruction.

A skilled mason, who has served a long apprenticeship to his trade,
will always obtain higher wages than a common laborer, who has simply
to use his mere bodily strength. Were it not so, there would be
nothing to induce the mason to spend many years in learning a trade at
which he could earn no higher wages than the man who was simply
qualified to carry lime in a hod, or to roll a wheelbarrow.

The wages of labor in different employments vary with the constancy and
inconstancy of employment. Employment is much more constant in some
trades than in others. Many trades can be carried on only in
particular states of weather, and seasons of the year; and if the
workmen who are employed in these cannot easily find employment in
others during the time they are thrown out of work, their wages must be
proportionally raised. A journeyman weaver, shoemaker, or tailor may
reckon, unless trade is dull, upon obtaining constant employment; but
masons, bricklayers, pavers, and in general all those workmen who carry
on their business in the open air, are liable to constant
interruptions. Their wages, accordingly, must be sufficient to
maintain them while they are employed, and also when they are
necessarily idle.

From the preceding observations it is evident that those who receive
the highest wages are not, when the cost of their education, and the
chances of their success, are taken into account, really better paid
than those who receive the lowest. The wages earned by the different
classes of workmen are equal, not when each individual earns the same
number of dollars in a given space of time, but when each is paid in
proportion to the severity of the labor he has to perform, and to the
degree of previous education and skill it requires. So long as each
individual is allowed to employ himself as he pleases, we may be
assured that the rate of wages in different employments will be
comparatively equal.

SELECTION XIX

COLUMBIA, THE GEM OF THE OCEAN; OR,
THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE

1. O Columbia, the gem of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free,
The shrine of each patriot's devotion,
A world offers homage to thee.
Thy mandates make heroes assemble,
When Liberty's form stands in view,
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the red, white and blue.

CHORUS.

When borne by the red, white and blue,
When borne by the red, white and blue,
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the red, white and blue.

2. When war winged its wide desolation.
And threatened the land to deform,
The ark then of freedom's foundation,
Columbia, rode safe thro' the storm;
With her garlands of vict'ry around her,
When so proudly she bore her brave crew,
With her flag proudly floating before her,
The boast of the red, white and blue.

CHORUS.

3. The wine-cup, the wine-cup bring hither,
And fill you it true to the brim;
May the wreaths they have won never wither,
Nor the star of their glory grow dim.
May the service united ne'er sever,
But they to their colors prove true.
The Army and Navy forever,
Three cheers for the red, white and blue.

CHORUS.

_David T. Shaw_.

LESSON LXII

LOVE FOR THE DEAD

The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be
divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal--every other affliction to
forget; but this wound we consider it a duty to keep open--this
affliction we cherish and brood over in solitude. Where is the mother
who would willingly forget the infant that perished like a blossom from
her arms, though every recollection is a pang? Where is the child that
would willingly forget the most tender of parents, though to remember
be but to lament? Who, even in the hour of agony, would forget the
friend over whom he mourns? Who, even when the tomb is closing upon
the remains of her he most loved--when he feels his heart, as it were,
crushed in the closing of its portal--would accept of consolation that
must be bought by forgetfulness?

No, the love which survives the tomb is one of the noblest attributes
of the soul. If it has its woes, it has likewise its delights; and
when the overwhelming burst of grief is calmed into the gentle tear of
recollection--when the sudden anguish and the convulsive agony over the
present ruins of all that we most loved is softened away into pensive
meditation on all that it was in the days of its loveliness--who would
root out such a sorrow from the heart? Though it may sometimes throw a
passing cloud over the bright hour of gayety, or spread a deeper
sadness over the hour of gloom, yet who would exchange it, even for the
song of pleasure or the burst of revelry? No, there is a voice from
the tomb sweeter than song. There is a remembrance of the dead to
which we turn even from the charms of the living. Oh, the grave! the
grave! It buries every error--covers every defect. From its peaceful
bosom spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections. Who can
look down upon the grave even of an enemy, and not feel remorse that he
should ever have warred with the poor handful of earth that lies
mouldering before him?

LESSON LXIII

ECONOMY OF TIME

One of the most important lessons to be learned in life is the art of
economizing time. A celebrated Italian was wont to call his time his
estate; and it is true of this as of other estates of which the young
come into possession, that it is rarely prized till it is nearly
squandered. Habits of indolence, listlessness, and sloth, once firmly
fixed, cannot be suddenly thrown off, and the man who has wasted the
precious hours of life's seed-time finds that he cannot reap a harvest
in life's autumn. Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost
knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine; but lost
time is gone forever. In the long catalogue of excuses for neglect of
duty, there is none which drops more often from men's lips than the
want of leisure. People are always cheating themselves with the idea
that they would do this or that desirable thing, "if they only had the
time." It is thus that the lazy and the selfish excuse themselves from
a thousand things which conscience dictates should be done. Now, the
truth is, there is no condition in which the chance of doing any good
is less than in that of leisure.

Go, seek out the men in any community who have done the most for their
own and the general good, and you will find they are--who?--Wealthy,
leisurely people, who have plenty of time to themselves, and nothing to
do? No; they are almost always the men who are in ceaseless activity
from January to December. Such men, however pressed with business, are
always found capable of doing a little more; and you may rely on them
in their busiest seasons with ten times more assurance than on idle men.

The men who do the greatest things do them, not so much by fitful
efforts, as by steady, unremitting toil,--by turning even the moments
to account. They have the genius for hard work,--the most desirable
kind of genius.

SELECTION XX

RECESSIONAL

God of our fathers, known of old--
Lord of our far-flung battle-line--
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine--
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget.

The tumult and the shouting dies--
The captain and the kings depart--
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget.

Far-called our navies melt away--
On dune and headland sinks the fire--
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre.
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget.

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe--
Such boasting as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law--
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget.

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard--
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard,--
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord. Amen.

_Rudyard Kipling_.

SELECTION XXI

HUMAN PROGRESS

All is action, all is motion,
In this mighty world of ours;
Like the current of the ocean,
Man is urged by unseen powers.

Steadily, but strongly moving,
Life is onward evermore;
Still the present is improving
On the age that went before.

Duty points with outstretched fingers,
Every soul to action high;
Woe betide the soul that lingers--
Onward! onward! is the cry.

Though man's form may seem victorious,
War may waste and famine blight,
Still from out the conflict glorious,
Mind comes forth with added light.

O'er the darkest night of sorrow,
From the deadliest field of strife,
Dawns a clearer, brighter morrow,
Springs a truer, nobler life.

Onward! onward! onward, ever!
Human progress none may stay;
All who make the vain endeavor
Shall, like chaff, be swept away.

_J. Hagan_.

LESSON LXIV

GEORGE STEPHENSON, THE ENGINEER

A famous engineer, named Stephenson, was the first person to
demonstrate the fact that an engine could be built which would draw a
train of cars on a railway. He was an Englishman. His parents were
poor, and the whole family had to live in one room. George was one of
six children; none of them were sent to school, because they had to
work for their living.

From an early age George had assisted his father in tending the fires
of the steam engine which worked the machinery of a large coal mine.
He devoted himself to the study of this engine until he had mastered
every detail of its construction. In 1813, a rich nobleman entrusted
him with money to carry out his favorite plan of building a "traveling
engine," as he then called it.

He made an engine that was fairly successful, as it drew eight loaded
cars on a railway at a speed of four miles an hour. But he was not
contented; he knew that he could do much better. Soon afterward, he
was employed to construct another engine, in which he made some great
improvements that enabled it to go twice as fast as the other.

Accounts of Stephenson's great invention crept into print, and people
began to have faith in the locomotive. In 1822, a company began to
build a line of railway between two towns named Stockton and
Darlington. Stephenson was employed to construct the road-bed and
build the engines. It was completed three years later, and was the
subject of great popular curiosity.

Great crowds came to see the line opened. Stephenson himself drove the
first engine. The train consisted of thirty-four cars. The signal was
given and the train started. Great was the sensation as it moved off,
and still greater was the admiration of the people at Stockton when the
train arrived there after a safe journey. Thus, in 1825, was opened
the first railway ever made for public use.

Stephenson was soon engaged in constructing a railway between
Manchester and Liverpool. But now a storm of opposition broke out.
Pamphlets and newspaper articles were written, making fun of
Stephenson, and declaring that the new railroad would be a failure. It
was claimed that the engine would certainly set fire to the surrounding
country, that it would explode and kill the passengers, and that it
would run over the people before they could get out of its way.

A committee was appointed by the English Parliament to look into the
matter. They sneered at Stephenson as a lunatic, when he assured them
that he could run his engine at twelve miles an hour. One of these
wise men said to him: "Suppose a cow were to get in the way of an
engine running at that rate of speed, wouldn't that be a very awkward
circumstance?" "Yes," answered Stephenson, "very awkward for the cow."

But the consent of Parliament was at last obtained, and the line was
completed in 1830, after many great obstacles had been overcome. It
was shown that a train could be run at thirty miles an hour with
safety, and thus the enemies of Stephenson were silenced.

Stephenson superintended the building of many other lines of railroad,
and lived to see his best hopes realized. He became quite wealthy, and
many honors were bestowed upon him. Nevertheless he remained always a
simple, kindly man, even in his years of prosperity.

When England had experienced such success with railways, it was not
long before America began building railroads on a large scale.

More than three hundred thousand miles of railroads are now in
operation in the United States, and many more miles are added each
year. The great systems of railways, with their modern improvements
for fast travel, are a triumph of skill, energy and enterprise.

LESSON LXV

GEORGE WASHINGTON

_PART II_

The boundary war between France and the British possessions in America
had been the cause of the war from 1753 to 1759 in which Washington and
thousands of his countrymen did gallant services. It ended with the
surrender of Quebec, by which France lost her foothold in the Ohio
valley and all the territory east of the Mississippi.

Ten years later, the whole aspect had changed. The same country, for
which our forefathers in the colonies had sacrificed some of their
noblest sons, was now beginning to oppress these very colonies. By
unjust taxation, England tried to replenish her treasury, which a
protracted war across the seas had made empty. But though the war
against the French in the interest of England had cost the colonies in
America some of its best blood, it had not been without its salutary
lesson. America had learned its own strength as well as the weakness
of the British soldiers and her public officials. Washington, above
all, knew these facts too well. He was, however, no agitator, and for
many reasons was deeply attached to old England. He, therefore,
cautioned reserve and forbearance without sacrificing his patriotism.

In the meantime the Revolution came to an outbreak. Washington was
called upon by his compatriots to lead them on to liberty. After
careful examination and due consideration he consented, and Washington
took command of the colonial troops in the war against England. "It is
my intention," said he, "if needs be, to sacrifice my life, my liberty
and all my possessions in this holy cause."

Thus, we see him leading the army, animated with the noblest
sentiments. General Washington was now forty-three years of age and in
the full power of manhood. His personality was distinguished and his
bearing serene. He electrified the whole army.

The Colonial troops, however, were not at all times equal to the
well-drilled English soldiers, and General Washington had a difficult
task before him. But what the Americans lacked in military tactics,
they doubly possessed in enthusiasm and courage.

From Lexington and Boston, Bunker Hill and Concord, through
Connecticut, New York, Philadelphia, Valley Forge, and from Princeton
to Morristown was a wearisome march. Want of provisions for the army
under his command, as well as many other disappointments, might well
have discouraged any but the stoutest heart. General Washington was a
hero, and he trusted in God and the ultimate success of the country's
just cause. When at last the American army was in sorest distress,
there came unexpected help from many quarters.

Such noble and self-sacrificing men as Lafayette, Steuben, Kosciusko,
De Kalb and De Grasse arrived to aid our new republic, and after an
unrelenting war of six long years, British rule was forever banished
from the land.

On the 4th of December, 1782, General Washington took leave of the
continental army. His memorable speech on that occasion is a
masterpiece of unselfish patriotism.

He retired to his home at Mount Vernon, followed by the heartfelt
blessings of a grateful people. His private life was one of regularity
in all his doings. His hospitality was renowned, and Mount Vernon soon
became a much frequented, much beloved place of reunion for many
distinguished visitors.

Not a great many years was Washington permitted to enjoy his
well-merited repose in his country home. The same country of which he
had been the successful liberator, now called upon him to lead and
guide this newly established government. Washington was chosen the
First President of the United States of America in 1789.

It was at this time that he wrote in his diary: "To-day I take leave of
private life and domestic happiness with feelings of regret, and am
preparing to enter upon my official career. I hope I shall be able to
realize the expectations my country has placed in me."

His journey from Mount Vernon to New York became one of triumph. He
was met with the greatest enthusiasm throughout the country wherever he
passed. He took his oath of office in New York City where the
sub-treasury now stands.

Washington was elected a second time for the presidency. His
presidential career was characteristic of the man and the hero.

An equitable and conservative government was administered by him, and
the young republic was prosperous and progressive during his two terms
of office.

Having returned once more to his beloved Virginia home, Washington now
spent his declining years in much needed rest and quiet recreation.

In the fall of the year 1799 Washington was seized with a malignant
fever. The best medical aid proved unavailing, and the Father of our
Country died on the 14th day of December. His last words were: "Let me
die in peace; I am not afraid to die, it is a debt we all must pay."

The exemplary life and the many noble achievements of this truly great
man stand almost unique in the history of nations.

LESSON LXVI

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Benjamin Franklin was born poor, but nothing could keep him ignorant.
His genius and strong will were wealth enough for any man. At the age
of twelve he was apprenticed to his brother James, who was a printer.
At the same time--perhaps a little later--he used to sell his own
ballads in the streets of Boston.

At twenty-one years of age he was a master printer in Philadelphia, in
his shop on Market Street. He had been at school in Boston for two
years, but after the age of ten he had been obliged to teach himself:
he was too poor to spend even those early years in a schoolhouse. Yet
he learned without such helps as schools and schoolmasters afford. He
studied Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, and German, and lived to hear
two continents call him the greatest philosopher of his time.

He discovered that lightning and electricity are the same, and taught
men how to guard their houses against the thunder-bolt. To his great
mind it seemed that all things came alike: no invention was too simple,
and no idea too lofty. Whatever had to be done was worth doing in the
best and simplest way: that was the ruling principle of Benjamin
Franklin's life.

He was an earnest and fearless patriot, always on the side of the
people and their rights. His strong will, his cool manner, and his
bold spirit made him an enemy not to be scorned by England. "What used
to be the pride of the Americans?" asked a member of the English
Parliament in 1776. And Franklin, then pleading the cause of the
colonies before the House of Commons, replied, "To indulge in the
fashions and wear the manufactures of Great Britain."

The Englishman, sure that Franklin would be less ready to answer,
continued: "What is now their pride?" And in a flash the old
philosopher of threescore and ten said, "To wear their old clothes over
again till they can make new ones." Years had not broken the strong
will or dulled the sharp wit.

His efforts to secure for the Americans the aid of France can never be
forgotten by the American people. Burgoyne's surrender made the French
believe that the patriots' cause was worthy of assistance, but it is
quite certain that the eloquence of Dr. Franklin, as the French people
called the Great American, had opened the way for all that followed.

Whatever favor he met with in society, whatever honor he received,
whatever fame he acquired at home or abroad, he turned all to account
for the good of his country.

SELECTION XXII

GIVE ME THE PEOPLE

Some love the glow of outward show,
The shine of wealth, and try to win it:
The house to me may lowly be,
If I but like the people in it.

What's all the gold that glitters cold,
When linked to hard and haughty feeling?
Whate'er we're told, the noblest gold
Is truth of heart and honest dealing.

A humble roof may give us proof
That simple flowers are often fairest;
And trees whose bark is hard and dark
May yield us fruit, and bloom the rarest.

There's worth as sure among the poor
As e'er adorned the highest station;
And minds as just as theirs, we trust,
Whose claim is but of rank's creation.

Then let them seek, whose minds are weak,
Mere fashion's smile, and try to win it:
The house to me may lowly be,
If I but like the people in it.

_Charles Swain_.

LESSON LXVII

NOBILITY REWARDED

A rich man, feeling himself growing old, called his three sons around
him and said: "I am resolved to divide my goods equally among you. You
shall each have your full share, but there is one thing which I have
not included in the share of any one of you. It is this costly diamond
which you see in my hand. I will give it to that one of you who shall
earn it by the noblest deed. Go, therefore, and travel for three
months; at the end of that time we will meet here again, and you shall
tell me what you have done."

The sons departed accordingly, and traveled three months, each in a
different direction. At the end of that time they returned; and all
came together to their father to give an account of their journey.

The eldest son spoke first. He said: "On my journey a stranger
entrusted to me a great number of valuable jewels, without taking any
account of them. Indeed, I was well aware that he did not know how
many the parcel contained. One or two of them would never have been
missed, and I might easily have enriched myself without fear of
detection. But I did no such thing; I gave back the parcel exactly as
I had received it. Was not this a noble deed?"

"My son," said the father, "simple honesty cannot be called noble. You
did what was right, and nothing more. If you had acted otherwise, you
would have been dishonest, and your deed would have shamed you. You
have done well, but not nobly."

The second son now spoke. He said: "As I was traveling on my journey
one day, I saw a poor child playing by the edge of a lake; and, just as
I rode by, it fell into the water, and was in danger of being drowned.
I immediately dismounted from my horse, and, wading into the water,
brought it safe to land. All the people of the village where this
occurred can bear witness of the deed. Was it not a noble action?"

"My son," replied the old man, "you did only what was your duty, and
you could hardly have left the innocent child to die without making an
effort to save it. You, too, have acted well, but not nobly."

Then the third son came forward to tell his tale. He said: "I had an
enemy, who for years has done me much harm and sought to take my life.
One evening, during my late journey, I was passing along a dangerous
road which ran beside the summit of a steep cliff. As I rode
cautiously along, my horse started at sight of something lying in the
road. I dismounted to see what it was, and found my enemy lying fast
asleep on the very edge of the cliff. The least movement in his sleep,
and he must have rolled over, and would have been dashed to pieces on
the rocks below. His life was in my hands. I drew him away from the
edge, and then woke him, and told him to go on his way in peace."

Then the old man cried out, in a transport of joy: "Dear son, the
diamond is thine; for it is a noble and godlike thing to help the
enemy, and to reward evil with good."

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE--1776.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776.

_The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America_.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people
to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,
and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal
station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a
decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely
to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate
that Governments long established should not be changed for light and
transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that
mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than
to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under
absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off
such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and
such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former
Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great
Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having
in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these
States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for
the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should
be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend
to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of
Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and
formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records,
for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his
measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with
manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions to cause others
to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of
Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise;
the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of
invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that
purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing
to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the
conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent
to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their
offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of
Officers to harass our People, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the
Consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to
the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to
our constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to
their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed men among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders
which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world;

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent;

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury;

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring
Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging
its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument
for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and
altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments;

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested
with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government, here, by declaring us out of his
Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and
destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to
compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with
circumstances of Cruelty, and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most
barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas
to bear arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their
friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to
bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian
Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction
of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in
the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only
by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every
act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free
People.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have
warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to
extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of
the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured
them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations,
which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.
They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.
We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our
Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in
War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in
General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by
Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and
declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free
and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to
the British Crown and that all political connection between them and
the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved: and
that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War,
conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and do all
other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And
for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the
Protection of Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our
Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.[1]

THE PREAMBLE.

"We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the
common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America."

ARTICLE I.

THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

Section I.--The Congress in General.

"All legislative powers herein granted, shall be vested in a Congress
of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives."

Section II.--The House of Representatives.

1. "The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen
every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors
in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of
the most numerous branch of the State Legislature."

2. "No person shall be a Representative, who shall not have attained to
the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of
that State in which he shall be chosen."

3. "Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the
several States which may be included within this Union, according to
their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the
whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a
term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all
other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years
after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and
within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall
by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for
every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one
Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of
New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight,
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York
six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six,
Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia
three."[2]

4. "When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies."

5. "The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other
officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment."

Section III.--The Senate.

1. "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators
from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years, and
each Senator shall have one vote."

2. "Immediately after they shall be assembled, in consequence of the
first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be, into three
classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated
at the expiration of the second year; of the second class, at the
expiration of the fourth year; and of the third class, at the
expiration of the sixth year; so that one-third may be chosen every
second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise,
during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the executive
thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the
Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies."

3. "No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age
of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States,
and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for
which he shall be chosen."

4. "The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided."

5. "The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President
_pro tempore_, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall
exercise the office of President of the United States."

6. "The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When
the President of the United States is tried, the Chief-Justice shall
preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of
two-thirds of the members present."

7. "Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office
of honor, trust, or profit, under the United States; but the party
convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment,
trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law."

Section IV.--Both Houses.

1. "The times, places, and manner of holding elections for Senators and
Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature
thereof; but the Congress may at any time, by law, make or alter such
regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators."

2. "The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by
law appoint a different day."

Section V.--The Houses Separately.

1. "Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall
constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn
from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of
absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, as each House
may provide."

2. "Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of
two-thirds, expel a member."

3. "Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and, from time
to time, publish the same, excepting such parts as may, in their
judgment, require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of
either House, on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of
those present, be entered on the journal."

4. "Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any
other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting."

Section VI.--Privileges and Disabilities of Members.

1. "The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for
their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury
of the United States. They shall, in all cases, except treason,
felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their
attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to,
and returning from, the same; and for any speech or debate in either
House, they shall not be questioned in any other place."

2. "No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he
was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of
the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments
whereof shall have been increased, during such time; and no person,
holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either
House during his continuance in office."

Section VII.--Mode of Passing Laws.

1. "All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments,
as on other bills."

2. "Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the
President of the United States; if he approve, he shall sign it, but if
not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it
shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their
journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration,
two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be
sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it
shall like-wise be reconsidered, and, if approved by two-thirds of that
House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both
Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the
persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal
of each House, respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the
President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been
presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had
signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its
return, in which case it shall not be a law."

3. "Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a case
of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the United
States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by
him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of
the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and
limitations prescribed in the case of a bill."

Section VIII.--Powers Granted to Congress.

1. "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties,
imposts, and excises, to pay the debts, provide for the common defence
and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and
excises shall be uniform throughout the United States."

2. "To borrow money on the credit of the United States."

3. "To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several
States, and with the Indian tribes."

4. "To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on
the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the United States."

5. "To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and
fix the standard of weights and measures."

6. "To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and
current coin of the United States."

7. "To establish post-offices and post-roads."

8. "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing,
for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to
their respective writings and discoveries."

9. "To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court."

10. "To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high
seas, and offences against the law of nations."

11. "To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make
rules concerning captures on land and water."

12. "To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that
use shall be for a longer term than two years."

13. "To provide and maintain a navy."

14. "To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and
naval forces."

15. "To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of
the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions."

16. "To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia,
and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service
of the United States; reserving to the States respectively, the
appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia,
according to the discipline prescribed by Congress."

17. "To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over
such district (not exceeding ten miles square), as may, by cession of
particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of
the Government of the United States, and to exercise like authority
over all places, purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the
State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines,
arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings," and

18. "To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by
this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any
department or officer thereof."

Section IX.--Powers Denied to the United States.

1. "The migration or importation of such persons, as any of the States,
now existing, shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by
the Congress, prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight;
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten
dollars for each person."

2. "The privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ shall not be suspended
unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may
require it."

3. "No bill of attainder, or _ex post facto_ law, shall be passed."

4. "No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in
proportion to the _census_ or enumeration, herein before directed to be
taken."

5. "No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State."

6. "No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or
revenue, to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall
vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or
pay duties, in another."

7. "No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of
appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the
receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published, from
time to time."

8. "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no
person, holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall,
without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument,
office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or
foreign state."

Section X.--Powers Denied to the States.

1. "No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation;
grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit;
make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts,
pass any bill of attainder, _ex post facto_ law, or law impairing the
obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility."

2. "No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely
necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all
duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be
for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws
shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress."

3. "No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of
tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war, in time of peace, enter into any
agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as
will not admit of delay."

ARTICLE II.

THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

Section I.--President and Vice-President.

1. "The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United
States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four
years, and together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term,
be elected as follows:

2. "Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof
may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Senators
and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress:
but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust
or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector."

3. "[3]The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by
ballot for two persons, of whom one, at least, shall not be an
inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a
list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each;
which list they sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of
the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the
Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the
Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the
votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of
votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole
number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have
such a majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of
Representatives shall immediately choose, by ballot, one of them for
President; and if no person have a majority, then, from the five
highest on the list, the said House shall, in like manner, choose the
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by
States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds
of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a
choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person
having the greatest number of votes of the Electors shall be the
Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal
votes, the Senate shall choose from them, by ballot, the
Vice-president."

4. "The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and
the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the
same throughout the United States."

5. "No person, except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the
United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall
be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be
eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of
thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United
States."

6. "In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of
the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-president, and the
Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death,
resignation, or inability both of the President and Vice-president,
declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer
shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President
shall be elected."

7. "The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a
compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during
the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not
receive within that period any other emolument from the United States,
or any of them."

8. "Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the
following oath or affirmation: 'I do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I
will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States,
and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the
Constitution of the United States.'"

Section II.--Powers of the President.

1. "The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of
the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when
called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the
opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive
departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their
respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and
pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of
impeachment."

2. "He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present
concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers, and
consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the
United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided
for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law
vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper,
in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of
Departments."

3. "The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may
happen, during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions, which
shall expire at the end of their next session."

Section III.--Duties of the President.

"He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the
state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures
as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary
occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of
disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he
may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall
receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that
the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers
of the United States."

Section IV.--Impeachment of the President.

"The President, Vice-president, and all civil officers of the United
States, shall be removed from office, on impeachment for, and
conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

ARTICLE III.

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.

Section I.--United States Courts.

"The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme
Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to
time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and
inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and
shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation,
which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office."

Section II.--Jurisdiction of the United States Courts.

1. "The Judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity,
arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all
cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to
all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to
which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two
or more States; between a State and citizens of another State, between
citizens of different States, between citizens of the same State,
claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State,
or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or subjects."

2. "In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and
consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court
shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before
mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as
to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as
the Congress shall make."

3. "The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be
by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said
crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any
State, the trial shall be at such place, or places, as the Congress may
by law have directed."

Section III.--Treason.

1. "Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war
against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and
Comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in
open court."

2. "The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason,
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or
forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted."

ARTICLE IV.

Section I.--State Records.

"Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts,
records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the
Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts,
records, and proceedings shall be proved and the effect thereof."

Section II.--Privileges of Citizens.

1. "The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and
immunities of citizens in the several States."

2. "A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime,
who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on
demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be
delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the
crime."

3. "No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws
thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence of any law or
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall
be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may
be due."

Section III.--New States and Territories.

1. "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no
new State shall be formed, or erected, within the jurisdiction of any
other State; nor any State be formed, by the junction of two or more
States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of
the States concerned, as well as of the Congress."

2. "The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful
rules and regulations respecting the territory, or other property,
belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall
be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of
any particular State."

Section IV.--Guarantee to the States.

"The United States shall guaranty to every State in this Union a
republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against
invasion; and, on application of the Legislature, or of the executive
(when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence."

ARTICLE V.

POWER OF AMENDMENT.

"The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the
application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States,
shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either
case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this
Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the
several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one
or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress;
Provided, that no amendment, which may be made prior to the year one
thousand eight hundred and eight, shall, in any manner, affect the
first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and
that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal
suffrage in the Senate."

ARTICLE VI.

PUBLIC DEBT, SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION, OATH OF OFFICE, RELIGIOUS
TEST.

1. "All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the
adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United
States, under this Constitution, as under the Confederation."

2. "This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme
law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby,
anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary
notwithstanding."

3. "The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members
of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial
officers, both of the United States, and of the several States, shall
be bound, by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office
or public trust under the United States."

ARTICLE VII.

RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION.

"The ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient
for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so
ratifying the same."

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the States present, the
seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the twelfth.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.

ARTICLES IN ADDITION TO, AND AMENDMENT OF, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.[4]

_Proposed by Congress and ratified by the Legislatures of the several
States, pursuant to the fifth article of the original Constitution_.

Article I.--Freedom of Religion, etc.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Article II.--Right to Bear Arms.

"A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be
infringed."

Article III.--Quartering Soldiers on Citizens.

"No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without
the consent of the owner; nor, in time of war, but in a manner to be
prescribed by law."

Article IV.--Search-Warrants.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place
to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Article V.--Trial for Crime, etc.

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in
actual service, in time of war, or public danger; nor shall any person
be subject, for the same offence, to be twice put in jeopardy of life
or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case, to be a witness
against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use,
without just compensation."

Article VI.--Rights of Accused Persons.

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature
and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses
against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his
favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence."

Article VII.--Suits at Common Law.

"In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no
fact, tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of
the United States, than according to the rules of the common law."

Article VIII.--Excessive Bail.

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

Article IX.--Rights Retained by the People.

"The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

Article X.---Reserved Powers of the States.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people."

Article XI.

"The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to
extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against
one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens
or subjects of any foreign State."[5]

Article XII.--Mode of Choosing the President and Vice-president.

1. "The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by
ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall
not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name
in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct
ballots the person voted for as Vice-president; and they shall make
distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all
persons voted for as Vice-president, and of the number of votes for
each, which lists they shall sign, and certify, and transmit, sealed,
to the seat of government of the United States, directed to the
President of the Senate; the President of the Senate shall, in the
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person having
the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if
such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed;
and if no person have such majority, then, from the persons having the
highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as
President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by
ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall
be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote;
a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from
two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be
necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not
choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon
them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the
Vice-president shall act as President, and in case of the death, or
other constitutional disability, of the President."

2. "The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-president
shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole
number of Electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then,
from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the
Vice-president; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of
the whole number of Senators; and a majority of the whole number shall
be necessary to a choice."

3. "But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of
President, shall be eligible to that of Vice-president of the United
States."

Article XIII.--Abolition of Slavery.

1. "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall
exist within the United States or any place subject to their
jurisdiction."

2. "Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation."

Article XIV.--Right of Citizenship, etc.

1. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject
to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of
the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the
United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty,
or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

2. "Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of
persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right
to vote at any election for the choice of Electors for President and
Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the
executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the
Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such
State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United
States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion
or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in
the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the
whole number of male citizens, twenty-one years of age, in such State."

3. "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or
Elector of President and Vice-president, or hold any office, civil or
military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having
previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of
the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an
executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution
of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion
against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But
Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such
disability."

4. "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by
law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for
services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be
questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume
or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or
rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or
emancipation of any slave, but all such debts, obligations, and claims
shall be held illegal and void."

5. "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this article."

Article XV.--Right of Suffrage.

1. "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

2. "The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation."

[1]The Articles of Confederation proved by experience inadequate to the
wants of the people of the United States, and they were supplanted by
the Constitution.

"The American Constitution, with its manifest defects, still remains
one of the most abiding monuments of human wisdom, and it has received
a tribute to its general excellence such as no other political system
was ever honored with."--FREEMAN.

[2]This clause has been superseded by Amendment XIV., Sect. 2.

[3]This clause has been amended and superseded by the Twelfth Amendment
to the Constitution. By the provisions of the original clause the
person in the electoral college having the greatest number of votes
(provided he had a majority of the whole number of electors appointed)
became President, and the person having the next greatest number of
votes became Vice-president, thus giving the Presidency to one
political party and the Vice-Presidency to another. In the year 1800
the Democratic Republicans determined to elect Thomas Jefferson
President and Aaron Burr Vice-president. The result was that each
secured an equal number of votes, and neither was elected. The
Constitution then, as now, provided that in case the electoral college
failed to elect a President, the House of Representatives, voting as
States, should elect. The Federalists distrusted and disliked
Jefferson; the Democratic Republicans and some of the Federalists
distrusted and disliked Burr. The vote in the House on the
thirty-sixth ballot gave the Presidency to Jefferson and the
Vice-Presidency to Burr. In order to prevent a repetition of so
dangerous a struggle, the Twelfth Amendment, by which the electoral
votes are cast separately for the candidates for President and for
Vice-President, was proposed by Congress Dec. 12, 1803, and declared in
force Sept. 25, 1804.

[4]More than seven hundred amendments to the Constitution have been
proposed since it was adopted. Several are usually proposed at each
session of Congress.

The first twelve articles of amendment to the Federal Constitution were
adopted so soon after the original organization of the Government under
it in 1789 as to justify the statement that they were practically
contemporaneous with the adoption of the original (JUSTICE MILLER, _U.
S. Supreme Court_).

[5]In the case of Chisholm _vs_. The State of Georgia, the Supreme
Court decided that under Article III., Section 2, of the Constitution a
private citizen of a State might bring suit against a State other than
the one of which he was a citizen. This decision, by which a State
might be brought as defendant before the bar of a Federal court, was
highly displeasing to the majority of the States in 1794. On the 5th
of March of that year the Eleventh Amendment was passed by two-thirds
of both houses of Congress, and declared in force January 8, 1798.
Practically, the amendment has been the authority for the repudiation
of debts by several States.

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Reading Made Easy for Foreigners - Third Reader" ***

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