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pressed blindly on those in front, there was the appearance of an imminent risk that the leaders of the herd would be precipitated on the concealed party, in which case the destruction of every one of them was certain. Each of our adventurers felt the danger of his situation in a manner peculiar to his individual character and circumstances.

11. The old man, who had stood all this while leaning ou his rifle, and regarding the movements of the herd with a steady eye, now deemed it time to strike his blow. Leveling his piece at the foremost bison, with an agility that would have done credit to his youth, he fired.

12. The animal received the bullet on the matted hair between his horns, and fell to his knees; but, shaking his head, he instantly arose, the very shock seeming to increase his exertions. There was now no longer time to hesitate. Throwing down his rifle, the trapper stretched forth his arms, and advanced from the cover with naked hands, directly towards the rushing column of the beasts.

13. The figure of a man, when sustained by the firmness and steadiness that intellect only can impart, rarely fails of commanding respect from all the inferior animals of the creation. The leading bisons recoiled, and, for a single instant, there was a sudden stop to their speed, a dense mass of bodies rolling up in front, until hundreds were seen floundering and tumbling on the plain.

14. Then came another of those hollow bellowings from the rear, and set the herd again in motion. The head of the column, however, divided; the immovable form of the trapper cutting it, as it were, into two gliding streams of life. Middleton" and Paul instantly profited by his example, and extended the feeble barrier by a similar exhibition of their own per

sons.

15. For a few moments, the new impulse given to the animals in front served to protect the thicket. But, as the body of the herd pressed more and more upon the open line of its defenders, and the dust thickened so as to obscure their per

• Names of the persons engaged in the hunting excursion.

sons, there was, at each instant, a renewed danger of the beasts breaking through.

16. It became necessary for the trapper and his companions to become still more and more alert; and they were gradually yielding before the headlong multitude, when a furious male darted by Middleton, so near as to brush his person, and at the next instant swept through the thicket with the velocity of the wind.

17. All their efforts would have proved fruitless, however, against the living torrent, had not Asinus, whose domains had just been so rudely entered, lifted his voice in the midst of the uproar. The most sturdy and furious of the animals trembled at the alarming and unknown cry, and then each individual brute was seen madly pressing from that very thicket, which, the moment before, he had endeavored to reach with the same sort of eagerness as that with which the murderer seeks the sanctuary.

18. As the stream divided, the place became clear; the two dark columns moving obliquely from the copse to unite again at the distance of a mile on its opposite side. The instant the old man saw the sudden effect which the voice of Asinus had produced, he coolly commenced reloading his rifle, indulging, at the same time, in a most heartfelt fit of his silent and peculiar merriment.

19. The uproar which attended the passage of the herd, was now gone, or rather it was heard rolling along the prairie, at the distance of a mile. The clouds of dust were already blown away by the wind, and a clear range was left to the eye, in that place where, ten minutes before, there existed such a strange scene of wildness and confusion.

LESSON LXXIII.

SONG OF THE PILGRIMS.

UPHAM.

1. THE breeze has swelled the whitening sail,
The blue waves curl beneath the gale,
And, bounding with the wave and wind,
We leave old England's shores behind;
Leave behind our native shore,

Homes, and all we loved before.

2. The deep may dash, the winds may blow,
The storm spread out its wings of woe,
Till sailors' eyes can see a shroud
Hung in the folds of every cloud;

Still, as long as life shall last,

From that shore we'll speed us fast.

3. For we would rather never be,

Than dwell where mind can not be free,
But bows beneath a despot's rod
E'en where it seeks to worship God.
Blasts of heaven, onward sweep!
Bear us o'er the troubled deep!

4. O, see what wonders meet our eyes!
Another land and other skies!
Columbian hills have met our view!
Adieu! Old England's shores, adieu!
Here, at length, our feet shall rest,
Hearts be free, and homes be blest,

5. As long as yonder firs shall spread
Their green arms o'er the mountain's head;
As long as yonder cliff shall stand,

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6. Now to the King of kings we 'll raise -
The pæan loud of sacred praise,

More loud than sounds the swelling breeze,
More loud than speak the rolling seas!
Happier lands have met our view!
England's shores, adieu! adieu!

LESSON LXXIV.

WESTERN EMIGRATION.

HUMPHREYS.

[The reader may scan the following piece, and tell to what kind of poetry, and to what form it belongs. See page 68.]

1.

2.

3.

WITH all that's ours, together let us rise,
Seek brighter plains, and more indulgent skies;
Where fair Ohio rolls his amber tide,

And nature blossoms in her virgin pride;

Where all that Beauty's hand can form to please,
Shall crown the toils of war with rural ease.

The shady coverts and the sunny hills,
The gentle lapse of ever-murmuring rills,
The soft repose amid the noontide bowers,
The evening walk among the blushing flowers,
The fragrant groves that yield a sweet perfume,
And vernal glories in perpetual bloom,

Await
you there; and heaven shall bless the toil;
Your own the produce, and your own the soil.

There cities rise, and spiry towns increase,
With gilded domes and every art of peace.
There Cultivation shall extend his power,
Rear the green blade, and nurse the tender flower;
Make the fair villa' in full splendors smile,

And robe with verdure all the genial soil.

a Pa'an; a song of triumph.

b Villa; a country seat, or farm,

4.

5.

There shall rich Commerce court the favoring gales
And wondering wilds admire the passing sails,
Where the bold ships the stormy Huron brave,
Where wild Ontario" rolls the whitening wave,
Where fair Ohio his pure current pours,
And Mississippi laves the extended shores.

And thou, Supreme! whose hand sustains this ball,
Before whose nod the nations rise and fall,

Propitious smile, and shed diviner charms
On this blest land, the queen of arts and arms;
Make the great empire rise on wisdom's plan,
The seat of bliss, and last retreat of man.

LESSON LXXV.

THE INDIAN, AS HE WAS, AND AS HE IS.

SPRAGUE.

1. Nor many generations ago, where you now sit circled with all that exalts and embellishes civilized life, 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; gazing on the same moon that smiles for you, the Indian lover wooed his dusky mate.

2. Here the wigwam blaze beamed on the tender and helpless, the council-fire glared on the wise and daring. Now they paddled the light canoe along your rocky shores. Hero they warred; the echoing whoop, the bloody grapple, the defying death-song, all were here; and when the tiger strife was over, here curled the smoke of peace.

3. Here, too, they worshiped; and from many a dark bosom went up a pure prayer to the Great Spirit. He had not writ

a On-ta'ri-o. b Mis-sis-sip'pe. The origin of the Indians in this country is unknown. The most reasonable supposition seems to be, that they came over from the bastern continent by way of Bhering's strait.

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