on the decision of the hour. Then, words have lost their power, rhetoric is vain, and all elaborate oratory contemptible. Even genius itself then feels rebuked and subdued, as in the presence of higher qualities.

Then, patriotism is eloquent; then, self-devotion is eloquent. The clear conception, out running the deductions of logic, the high purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every feature, and urging the whole man onward, right onward, to his object—this is eloquence.

LESSON LXXII.

OUR NATIVE LAND.

WE come, a youthful, happy band,
Rejoicing in our native land;

A rich inheritance we claim,

Our fathers' deeds our fathers' fame.

In other lands, we read in story,

Are kings, and thrones, but 'tis our glory
That we are free;-no tyrants frown

no man who wears a crown!

In freedom's cause we'll bravely dare
To climb the steeps of fame, and share
A nation's love-a priceless gem-
Who wins it, wants no diadem!

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THE SKATERS.

AWAY, away, with a curve and a dash,
A light and a bounding spring,

For the racing steed and the lightning's flash,
Only vie with the skater's fling.

Then away o'er the plain of the glassy stream,
Will I speed in my airy flight,

And I'll laugh at the car with its hissing steam,
And spurn at its boasted might.

Now away do I skim o'er the slippery field,
Like a bird in the calm blue sky,

And declare to the winds that I never will yield,
As I proudly go dashing by.

LESSON LXXIII.

SCOTLAND.

SCOTLAND!-There is magic in the sound. Statesmen-scholars-divines - heroes and poets- do you want exemplars worthy of study and imitation? Where will you find them brighter than in Scotland? Where can you find them purer than in Scotland? Here no Solon, indulging imagination, has pictured the perfectibility of man. No Lycurgus, viewing him through the medium of human frailty alone, has left for his government an iron code graven on eternal adamant. No Plato, dreaming in the luxurious gardens of the

Academy, has fancied what he should be, and bequeathed a republic of love. But sages, knowing their weakness, have appealed to his understanding, cherished his virtues, and chastised his vices.

Friends of learning! would you do homage at the shrine of literature? Would you visit her clearest founts? Go to Scotland. Are you philosophers, seeking to explore the hidden mysteries of mind?-Bend to the genius of Stewart! Student, merchant, or mechanic, do you seek usefulness?-Consult the pages of Black and of Adam Smith. Grave barrister! would you know the law-the true, the sole expression of the people's will?—There stands the mighty Mansfield!

LESSON LXXIV.

JACK HALYARD'S SPEECH.

YOUNG men, Americans, far from you be that mean spirit, which is satisfied with half-way excellence. Strive to gain the highest badge of honor for yourselves, and for your country. Be greatly good. Now is the time to store your minds with knowledge, and form your hearts to virtue. It is the condition of our being, that all which is most valuable is to be diligently sought. They who would win the prize, must exert themselves earnestly in the race, and not fall back, nor turn aside for small obstacles.

Young men of America, can you be ignorant of the high duties to which you are called? Will you pass

away the prime of your days in careless indolence, and cheat the hopes of your friends? Can you be contented to crawl through the world with infamy, and die without doing any thing worthy of your character

as men?

My young countrymen,-your lot is cast in a land where empire is built on truth and justice; where the rights of man are cherished: you are to follow where a Washington has led, and where victory can gain no laurels in a bad cause.

LESSON LXXV.

THE LOSS OF NATIONAL CHARACTER.

THE loss of a firm national character, or the degradation of a nation's honor, is the inevitable prelude to her destruction. Behold the once proud fabric of a Roman empire—an empire carrying its arts and arms into every part of the eastern continent; the monarchs of mighty kingdoms dragged at the wheels of her triumphal chariots; her eagle waving over the ruins of desolated countries. Where is her splendor, her wealth, her power, her glory? Extinguished for ever. Her moldering temples, the mournful vestiges of her former grandeur, afford a shelter to her muttering monks. Where

are her statesmen, her sages, her philosophers, her orators, her generals? Go to their solitary tombs and inquire. She lost her national character, and her destruction followed.

The ramparts of her national

pride were broken down, and Vandalism desolated her classic fields.

Place their example before you.. Let the sparks of their veteran wisdom flash across your minds, and the sacred altars of your liberty, crowned with immortal honors, rise before you. Relying on the virtue, the courage, the patriotism, and the strength of our country, we may expect our national character will becomes more energetic, our citizens more enlightened, and may hail the age as not far distant when will be heard, as the proudest exclamation of man: I am an American.

LESSON LXXVI.

THE CAPTIVE CHIEF.

PALE was the hue of his faded cheek,
As it leaned on his cold damp pillow;
And deep the heave of his troubled breast,
As the lift of the ocean billow:

For he thought of the days when his restless foot
Through the pathless forest bounded,
And the festive throng by the hunting-fire,
Where the chase song joyously sounded.
He had stood in the deadly ambuscade,

While his warriors were falling around him;
He had stood unmoved at the torturing stake,
Where the foe in his wrath had bound him ;
He had mocked at pain in every form-

Had joyed in the post of danger;

But his spirit was crushed by the dungeon's gloom, And the chain of the ruthless stranger.

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