EXERCISES ON POETRY.

Exercise 1.-To Illustrate Rule 1, page 69.

1. The Assyrian came down | like the wolf | on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears | was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls night | ly on deep | Galilee.

2. Like the leaves of the forests when summer is green, That host with their banners at sun set were seen;— Like the leaves of the forests when autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay wither'd and strown.

3. For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd; And the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still.

4. And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there roll'd not the breath of his pride;—
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

5. And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

6. And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

Exercise 2.-To Illustrate Rule 2, page

Of man's first disobedience,

and the fruit..

Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste.
Brought death into the world, || and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, || till one greater Man . .
Restore us, || and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, heavenly muse, || that on the sacred top..
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, || didst inspire . .

That shepherd, || who first taught the chosen seed,
In the beginning || how the heavens and earth ..
Rose out of chaos! Or, if Sion hill

Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook, that flowed
Fast by the oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian mount while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.

70.

Lo! the poor Indian! || whose untutored mind.. Sees God in clouds, || or hears him in the wind; His soul, proud science never taught to stray Far as the solar walk, || or milky way;

Yet simple nature to his hope has given,
Behind the cloud-topped hill, an humbler heaven;
Some safer world in depth of woods embraced,
Some happier island in the watery waste,
Where slaves once more their native land behold,
No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for gold.
TO BE, contents his natural desire,

He asks no angel's wing, no seraph's fire;
But thinks, admitted to that equal sky,
His faithful dog shall bear him company.

PART II.*

EXERCISES IN READING.

LESSON I.

PRE-EMINENCE OF AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS.

BANCROFT.

1. THE United States of America constitute an essential por tion of a great political system, embracing all the civilized nations of the earth. At a period when the force of moral opinion is rapidly increasing, they have the precedence in the practice and the defence of the equal rights of man. The sovereignty of the people is here a conceded axiom, and the laws, established upon that basis, are cherished with faithful patriotism.

a

2. While the nations of Europe aspire after change, our constitution engages the fond admiration of the people, by which it has been established. Prosperity follows the execution of even justice; invention is quickened by the freedom of competition; and labor rewarded with sure and unexampled returns. Domestic peace is maintained without the aid of a military establishment; public sentiment permits the existence of but few standing troops, and those only along the seaboard and on the frontiers.

3. A gallant navy protects our commerce, which spreads its banners on every sea, and extends its enterprise to every clime. Our diplomatic relations connect us on terms of equality and honest friendship, with the chief powers of the world;

* For explanations in relation to Part II, see preface.

a Axiom; a self-evident truth. b Diplomatic, pertaining to public ministers or

envoys.

while we avoid entangling participation in their intrigues, their passions, and their wars. Our national resources are developed by an earnest culture of the arts of peace. Every man may enjoy the fruits of his industry; every mind is free to publish its convictions.

4. Our Government, by its organization, is necessarily identified with the interests of the people, and relies exclusively on their attachment for its durability and support. Nor is the constitution a dead letter, unalterably fixed; it has the capacity for improvement; adopting whatever changes time and the public will may require, and safe from decay, so long as that will retains its energy.

5. New states are forming in the wilderness; canals intersecting our plains and crossing our highlands, open numerous channels to internal commerce; manufactures prosper along our watercourses; the use of steam on our rivers and railroads annihilates distance by the acceleration of speed. Our wealth and population, already giving us a place in the first rank of nations, are so rapidly cumulative," that the former is increased fourfold, and the latter is doubled, in every period of twentytwo or twenty-three years.

6. There is no national debt; the community is opulent; the government economical; and the public treasury full. Religion, neither persecuted nor paid by the state, is sustained by the regard for public morals and the convictions of an enlightened faith. Intelligence is diffused with unparalleled universality; a free press teems with the choicest productions of all nations and ages. There are more daily journals in the United States than in the world beside.

7. A public document of general interest is, within a month, reproduced in at least a million of copies, and is brought within the reach of every freeman in the country. An immense concourse of emigrants of the most various lineage is perpetually crowding to our shores; and the principles of liberty, uniting all interests by the operation of equal laws, blend the discordant elements into harmonious union.

8. Other governments are convulsed by the innovations and eforms of neighboring states; our constitution, fixed in the a Cu'mulative; augmenting.

affections of the people, from whose choice it has sprung, neutralizes the influence of foreign principles, and fearlessly opens an asylum to the virtuous, the unfortunate, and the oppressed every nation.

of

9. And yet it is but little more than two centuries, since the oldest of our states received its first permanent colony. Before that time the whole territory was an unproductive waste. Throughout its wide extent, the arts had not erected a monument.

10. Its only inhabitants were a few scattered tribes of feeble barbarians, destitute of commerce and of political connection. The ax and the plowshare were unknown. The soil which had been gathering fertility from the repose of centuries, was lavishing its strength in magnificent but useless vegetation. In the view of civilization, the immense domain was a solitude.

LESSON II.

THE LAST NIGHT OF THE VOYAGE.

SHAW.

1. THOSE who have deserved the most at the hands of this world, have often fared the worst. Poverty and persecution have been the lot of genius; the stake and the cross, the reward of piety. We have a striking illustration of this, in the treatment which Christopher Columbus received from his fellow men.

2. A nobler man never breathed this air; and yet, he was murdered with obloquy! He whose merit a crown could not have met, was glad of a refuge in the grave. Succeeding generations have made retribution to his memory; but justice is mockery to the dead. The repose of Columbus would have been as sweet, and his eternal glory as great, without our fruitless homage.

3. We have followed this wonderful man with growing in

a Domain'; national dominion. b Obloquy; disgrace. c Retribution; recom pense.