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How different the

ister to the supply of sensual wants.

scene to the man whose mind is stored with knowledge!
For him the mystery is unfolded, the veil lifted up, as 20
one after another he turns the leaves of the great volume
of creation, which is filled in every page with the char-
acters of wisdom, power, and love; with lessons of truth
the most exalted; with images of unspeakable loveliness
and wonder; arguments of Providence; food for medi- 25
tation; themes of praise. One noble science sends him
to the barren hills, and teaches him to survey their
broken precipices. Where ignorance beholds nothing
but a rough inorganic mass, instruction discerns the in-
telligible record of primal convulsions of the world; the 30
secrets of ages before man was; the landmarks of the
elemental struggles and throes of what is now the terra-
queous globe. Buried monsters, of which the race are
now extinct, are dragged out of deep strata, dug out of
eternal rocks, and brought almost to life, to bear witness 35
to the power that created them. Before the admiring
student of nature has realized all the wonders of the
elder world, thus, as it were, recreated by science, anoth-
er delightful instructress, with her microscope in her
hand, bids him sit down, and learn at least to know the 40
universe in which he lives, and contemplate the limbs,
the motions, the circulations of races of animals, disport-
ing in their tempestuous ocean -a drop of water.
Then, while his whole soul is penetrated with admira-
tion of the power which has filled with life, and motion, 45
and sense, these all but non-existent atoms, -oh! then,
let the divinest of the muses, let astronomy approach,
and take him by the hand; let her

"Come, but keep her wonted state,
With even step and musing gait,
And looks commencing with the skies,
Her wrapt soul sitting in her eyes:"

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Let her lead him to the mount of vision; let her turn her heaven-piercing tube to the sparkling vault; through that let him observe the serene star of evening, and see 55 it transform into a cloud-encompassed orb, a world of rugged mountains and stormy deeps; or behold the pale beams of Saturn, lost to the untaught observer amidst myriads of brighter stars, and see them expand into the broad disk of a noble planet, the seven attendant 60 worlds, the wondrous rings, a mighty system in itself, borne at the rate of twenty-two thousand miles an hour, on its broad pathway through the heavens; and then let him reflect that our great solar system, of which Saturn and his stupendous retinue are but a 65 small part, fills itself, in the general structure of the universe, but the space of one fixed star; and that the power which filled the drop of water with millions of living beings, is present and active throughout this illimitable creation! Yes, yes,

"The undevout astronomer is mad!"

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EXERCISE IX.

Sublimity of Ossian's Poems.-Blair.

All the circumstances of Ossian's composition are favorable to the sublime, more perhaps than to any other species of beauty. Accuracy and correctness, artfully connected narrations, exact method and proportion of parts, we may look for in polished times. The gay and 5 the beautiful will appear to more advantage in the midst of smiling scenery and pleasurable themes. But amidst the rude scenes of nature, amidst the rocks and torrents,

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and whirlwinds and battles, dwells the sublime. It is the thunder and lightning of genius. It is the offspring 10 of nature, not of art. It is negligent of all the lesser graces, and perfectly consistent with a certain noble disorder. It associates naturally with that grave and solemn spirit which distinguishes our author. For the sublime is an awful and serious emotion, and is heightened 15 by all the images of Trouble, and Terror, and Darkness. Simplicity and conciseness are never-failing characteristics of the style of a sublime writer.

He rests on the majesty of his sentiments, not on the pomp of his expressions. The main secret of being 20 sublime, is to say great things in few and plain words; for every superfluous decoration degrades a sublime idea. The mind rises and dwells, when a lofty description or sentiment is presented to it, in its native form. But no sooner does the poet attempt to spread out this 25 sentiment or description, and to deck it round and round with glittering ornaments, than the mind begins to fall from its elevation; the transport is over; the beautiful may remain, but the sublime is gone. Hence the concise and simple style of Ossian gives great advantage to 30 his sublime conceptions, and assists them in seizing the imagination with full power.

EXERCISE X.

Influence of Wordsworth upon Poetical Taste.
H. T. TUCKERMAN.

It is not easy to estimate the happy influence Wordsworth has exerted upon poetical taste and practice, by the example he has given of a more simple and artless

style. Like the sculptors who led their pupils to the anatomy of the human frame, and the painters who 5 introduced the practice of drawing from the human figure, Wordsworth opposed, to the artificial and declamatory, the clear and natural in diction. He exhibited, as it were, a new source of the elements of expression. He endeavored, and with singular success, 10 to revive a taste for less exciting poetry. He boldly tried the experiment of introducing plain viands at a banquet, garnished with all the art of gastronomy.

He offered to substitute crystal water for ruddy wine, and invited those accustomed only to "a sound of rev- 15 elry by night," to go forth and breathe the air of mountains, and gaze into the mirror of peaceful lakes. He aimed to pursuade men that they could be "moved by gentler excitements" than those of luxury and violence. He essayed to calm their beating hearts, to cool their 20 fevered blood, to lead them gently back to the fountains that "go softly." He bade them repose their throbbing brows upon the lap of Nature. He quietly advocated the peace of rural solitude, the pleasure of evening walks among the hills, as more salutary than more ostentatious 25 amusements. The lesson was suited to the period. It came forth from the retirement of Nature as quietly as a zephyr; but it was not lost in the hum of the world. Insensibly it mingled with the noisy strife, and subdued it to a sweeter murmur. It fell upon the heart of youth, 30 and its passions grew calmer. It imparted a more harmonious tone to the meditations of the poet. It tempered the aspect of life to many an eager spirit, and gradually weaned the thoughtful from the encroachments of false taste and conventional habits. To a commercial 35 people, it portrayed the attractiveness of tranquillity. Before an unhealthy and flashy literature, it set up a standard of truthfulness and simplicity. In an age of

mechanical triumph, it celebrated the majestic resources of the universe.

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To this calm voice from the mountains, none could listen without advantage. What though its tones were sometimes monotonous, they were hopeful and serene. To listen exclusively, might indeed prove wearisome ; · but in some placid moments those mild echoes could not 45 but bring good cheer. In the turmoil of cities, they refreshed from contrast; among the green fields, they inclined the mind to recognize blessings to which it is often insensible. There were ministers to the passions, and apostles of learning, sufficient for the exigencies of 50 the times. Such an age could well suffer one preacher of the simple, the natural, and the true; one advocate of a wisdom not born of books, of a pleasure not obtained from society, of a satisfaction underived from outward activity. And such a prophet proved William 55 Wordsworth.

EXERCISE XI.

Characteristics of Bonaparte's Ambition.-CHANNING.

The burst of admiration, which his early career called forth, must have had a particular influence in imparting to his ambition that modification by which it was characterized, and which contributed alike to its success and its fall. He began with astonishing the world, with pro- 5 ducing a sudden and universal sensation, such as modern times had not witnessed. To astonish as well as to sway by his energies, became the great aim of his life. Henceforth to rule was not enough for Bonaparte. He wanted to amaze, to dazzle, to overpower men's souls, by 10 striking, bold, magnificent, and unanticipated results.

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